Global Warming Part 2 / Are You Done Yet?

Last night Lex & I were running errands and went to see Grandma Cindy at work. The parking lot was pretty empty, but I wasn't sure if the University Police would be ticketing the Administration lot or not. I parked in one of the few spots with a meter and popped a quarter into the meter just in case.

Lex: "Mom, the lot is empty. Why did you park in the spot that needs money."

Me: "Just in case the police are giving parking tickets tonight."

Lex: "What is that money even for?"

Me: "Lots of things. They use the money to help maintain the parking lot. They buy paint to repaint the lines when they wear out. They buy asphalt to make the parking lot flat. And, they buy gasoline for the snow plows to plow the parking lot when it snows."

Lex: "They buy gasoline? MOM!! Gasoline is TERRIBLE!!!"

Me: "What???"

Lex: "Gasoline goes into machines and exhaust comes out. Exhaust is causing global warming, Mom. I'm still worried about the penguins. I love penguins."

I love everything that comes out of this kid's mouth! I can't for the life of me figure out what he will be when he grows up. Activist? Architect? Military Sharp Shooter? Comedian? I guess I should be glad he's got very diverse options and passions and many subjects.

------

After getting home from running errands I had to help Jonny with his Biography Book Report. He read a biography on Johnny Appleseed for two reasons. One- He liked that Johnny Appleseed has the same name as him. Two- He knew he would have to dress up like his character from the book and he wants to go to school with a pot on his head.

Crazy Kids!

Anyway, we are finally getting ready for bed and watching a little T.V. There is a ad on T.V. for some new permanent birth control called Essure. The advertisement says something about if you have found your permanent family to use Essure to permanently stop having children. Jonny turns to me and asks me if I have found my permanent family or if I am going to have more kids.

I am committed to honest conversation with my children. I believe if they are old enough to ask the questions then they are old enough to hear the answers. My answer was something like this. "I don't know what God has planned for us, Jonny. I am not planning on anymore kids, but we'll just have to see what happens."

The answer seemed to appease to Jonny. He needs to quit growing up so fast though. I thought having to have the sex talk with him while we were in Spain was enough T.M.I. for awhile...Jeez!!

Paintball

Will & I took the boys to Hobo's Alley for paintball target practice. Let's just say that if Lex decides not be be an architect (to build me a 5-Star hotel), he has a could possibly have a career as a sniper. He hit EVERYTHING he aimed at. Me...well, I won't quit my day job.

Good Luck With That...

Lex has had a sinus infection and has been running fevers for the last 3-4 days. Last night, I decided that I needed some sleep so I gave him NyQuil (only 1/2 the adult dose though). He slept SOOOO soundly! In fact, he was sleeping so heavily that I was able to pull out the EYE-SORE front tooth of his without him knowing. He didn't even skip a breath!

When he woke up this morning I told him that I had pulled out his tooth and put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. He grinned and said that he was happy his tooth was out because Grandma Cindy was going to give him $40.

Lex: "YES! Now Grandma Cindy owes me $40!"

Me: "Why would she give you $40?"

Lex: "She said that if I pulled my tooth out before dinner she would give me $40. BUT, she didn't say which dinner!"

First Game of the Spring Soccer Season

Easter Saturday- It was freezing (see the snow on the mountains) and our team lost, but Jonny was thrilled to be playing soccer again! GO SILVER BULLETS!!

Lex Will NOT Succumb to Bribery

Here is another example of how different my boys are: Lex will not pull this tooth out! His front tooth has migrated to the center of his mouth and has been loose for WEEKS!!! Grandma Cindy offered him $20 and a video game rental if he would pull out the tooth. When this didn't work, she upped the ante to $40 if he would pull the tooth out. Her attempts were futile. He still refused to pull out his tooth.

Jonny on the other hand is easily motivated. While we were in Spain Jonny lost a tooth. He asked me, "Mom, In Spain does the tooth fairy bring Dollars or Euros?".

I answer him, "Well, since the tooth fairy only has Euros in her purse right now I suppose that she will bring Euros."

Jonny replies, "Oh, well since the exchange rate is good I need to get this other loose tooth out." He proceeds to pull out 2 teeth in 6 hours so that he could get Euros (which are currently worth more than dollars). Eleven year-olds obviously think differently than 7 year-olds.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Usually dyeing eggs with the boys is fun, but dyeing the Easter Eggs was more of a formality this year. Jonny my 11-going-on-25-year-old thought he was too old to dye Easter Eggs. Lex, who wanted to dye eggs, was running 103.00 fever and felt awful (see his pink cheeks). Poor Lex! He gets sick EVERY Easter! Lex even spent his 1st Easter in the hospital with severe dehydration due to an illness.

Easter at Mountain Ridge Assisted Living

On Saturday, we went to visit Grandma-Great* at the assisted living center. I have about 101 pictures of my boys and their cousins at the senior center's Easter party. I am just posting a couple.

This is really fun for the seniors. They get to invite their grand-children for an Easter egg hunt and brunch. The boys had fun.

Grandma-Great and the Kids:


Jonny, Lex, and Scott Eating Brunch on the Patio:


Me- Having Brunch with Grandma:

Jonny & Scott:


* Why do we call her Grandma-Great? Well, this started when Jonny was a baby. My mom, Cindy, is his grandma. Gramps a.k.a. Grampa Wally is my grandpa & Jonny's Great-Grandpa. Grandma Lorene is Wally's mom, so she is Jonny's Great-Great-Grandma. Jonny couldn't understand the concept so he started calling her Grandma-Great. We thought it was cute and the nickname stuck.

Excuses, Excuses

My kids have a really bad habit of sneaking into my room to sleep in my bed. I allowed it for so long that it is partly my fault too. Lately though my back and shoulders have been hurting & I don't want them in my bed. If I am awake to catch them I send them back to their own room.

Last night Jonny tried to crawl into my bed. "Uh-uh" I shook my head at him. "Go back to your own bed."

"But Mom," he protested. "I can't sleep alone tonight! I watched a news report on T.V. about aliens and UFO's and I am scared. The aliens always abduct the helpless kids from their bed and I can see lights outside my window."

I tell him that his excuse is ridiculous and that there are no aliens outside his window. "Go to bed!" He lays down on the pillow anyway. He is 11 years old and growing. I tried to physically kick him out, but he is too heavy for me and simply smiles at my futile attempt to remove him from my room. Finally, I give up. FINE!

A Terror Ride that was No April Fool's Joke

There is still so much leftover adrenaline from yesterday that I simply can not sleep. I had the most eventful April Fools Day ever!

It snowed again yesterday morning. The roads in Davis County were fine; they didn't start to get icy/snowy until I reached North Salt Lake. Any how, there was a major accident ahead of me on the freeway. The electronic bulletin boards that stretch across the freeway suddenly changed. The new warning said, "Crash 1300 S. / Black Ice Possible / Use Caution." Well, some idiot drivers think this means, "Slam on your brakes and try to get in the passing lane!" Unfortunately for me, I was cruising along in the passing lane.

There were suddenly 100's of brake lights in front of me as traffic started slowing. Some guy tried to come into the passing lane without checking for me in his blind spot. Anyhow, I saw him coming and tried to compensate for where he was going.

Only problem here is that I was now going 60-65 MPH on a sheet of black ice. So, at 8:30am in rush hour traffic I was the next April Day's Fool to loose control of her car and hurdle helplessly off the road!

I miraculously spun 540 degrees. My car spun from the far left passing lane, across 4 lanes of traffic, and off the West side of the road. I had near misses with about 8 different cars (seriously by just millimeters). I missed every sign, post, and guardrail. I slid sideways & backwards 150 feet down the freeway embankment. And, finally, I came to a stop just 3 feet from a 15 ft. drop into the canal.

I sat in my car 100% STUNNED! A few cars stopped. Two different men ran down the hill to check on me. Those first two men that got to my car kept saying, "Oh, wow! You didn't roll! You didn't roll!" "Are you okay?" "Are you hurt?" "I'm calling 911 right now!" They both thought that I had rolled the car because it was such a steep drop to the bottom. "I thought for sure you were a goner because your car was whipping so fast and then it just dropped down the hill and I couldn't see you!"

Anyhow, I am safe! I am 100% percent convinced that there was divine intervention in my safety!

Oh, wait! There's more! It took 3 tow truck drivers to get my car out of the mud! The first tow truck driver showed up. He laughed and said, "Wow! That must have felt like a Disneyland ride." I told him, "Um...yeah...but not so Disney."

The first driver said that he only had 100 ft. of cable so he was going to have to call a 2nd tow truck driver to bring him some more cable. After the 2nd driver got there, they decided that the only way to get the car up the hill with minimal damage was in the "exact angle" that I went down the hill. But, in order to do this they were going to need a 3rd truck that had 4-wheel drive. They were excellent at their job and did get my car back up the hill as safely as possible.

So, total cost of today's damage?
The cover on the air compressor was smashed into the air compressor, replacement $76.00.
The engine mounts broke, repair $186.00.
And new allignment, $85.00.

YAY! That horrific and terrifying experience only ended up costing me $347! (So far.) I will also need 4 new tires which is going to cost me about $540 more, but that is not damage from the wreck.

THE CANAL:



CANAL FULL OF WATER:


THE TOW TRUCK DRIVERS TRYING TO DECIDE HOW TO GET THE CAR OUT:


THE CANAL IS 3 FT. IN FRONT OF MY CAR AND 4 FT. FROM THE SIDE OF IT:



LOOK AT HOW MUCH GRASS I DUG UP WITH THE CAR SLIDING SIDEWAYS: