Big Boy

Big J had picture day today, so last night I decided to trim the boys' hair. I usually alternate "real" haircuts with "mom" haircuts, so at least part of the time they have a decent cut. Little Man's hair was getting to the point of needing comb-over control, so I decided to give him his first official haircut.

Check out that length! I bet it was a good 6 inches.

He's had his hair trimmed 5 or 6 times, but I've never done anything more than just cut the "wings" on his sides or trim a little on his bangs.

This time I did a little boy haircut.

And then I cried.

I'm not exactly sure why, but I felt something - sad, maybe? I've never felt that way when the others got their first haircut, but for some reason this time choked me up. Even this morning when I saw him, I felt a little pang of whatever it is. I think it was because this was another step away from him being a baby and his babyhood has flown by so fast. And since I don't know if I'm going to ever have another baby or not, it made me feel something.

You have to admit he is a handsome fella, though. The final product:

Big boy!!!!

The Nanny Disaster

This weekend a friend and I went to see The Nanny Diaries. I would not recommend you waste money on this movie. Having never read the book, I assumed from the commercials that this was somewhat of a comedy and/or love story. WRONG!!! It is about how ridiculously rich people on East Side Manhatton waste their existence being petty and superficial and their kids get screwed in the process. It was just kind of depressing to me. And it wasn't even a good kind of depressing - you know, the kind where you feel sad and then there is a great resolution or life lesson or something of the sort learned at the end. What really was sad to me is that I know these type of people and situations really do exist, and I feel sad for the kids who live them.

On a brighter note, it was fun to go out regardless of the lame movie, and we did hit the Kohl's weekend sale afterward. :-)

Arbitrary Ruminations

Tori did a random thoughts meme that I thought I'd copy, since my mind is full of random thoughts. So here goes:

1. We just got our family pictures made. It's the first one since Little Man was born. We were all in dark colored tops, and I decided I do not like it near as much as the last two we've had when we were all in lighter colors. I'm making a mental "note to self" right now.

2. If you have the occasion to buy a set of workout CDs, I would suggest Cardioboost. I got mine at Costco, but it can probably be found elsewhere. It's a set of three 40 minute continuous-mix collections of 80s and 90s hits on crack. They are pumped-up to 130 - 150 beats a minute and they totally rock! You can't go wrong with songs like "Footloose", "Abracadabra", "Groove is in the Heart", "Beat It" and my boys' favorite, "Crazy Frog (Axel F. Version)". We just put it on and shake our groove thang.

3. Speaking of "Axel F", when I was in 5th grade, a group of girls and I had a sleepover and stayed up all night working on a dance routine we made up to that song....Then we performed it for our class at recess. Yes, we thought we were really good.

4. Last night I stayed up past my self-imposed bedtime of 11:00 (which I actually make about once a week) and watched "Clean House: The Messiest House in the Country". I have never watched this show before and just happened to come across it, but the premise behind it is they go into messy houses and then organize and re-do part of them. This episode was different, though, because apparently they had a contest to find the messiest house in America and then go in and re-do the entire house. OH MY GOSH!!!! A description will not do it justice. This was a 3700 square foot house that was literally cluttered from top to bottom. They hauled away 5 huge (like construction site) dumpsters full of CRAP and then had a massive yard sale and then had 2 full trucks from 1-800-Got Junk? come get what was left from the garage sale. And they still had, I swear, probaby $1000 worth of those big Rubbermaid containers stacked in rows and rows and rows in their basement of junk they just would not get rid of. I just couldn't believe it. If you want to feel awesome about your housekeeping skills, you've got to find this episode and watch it.

5. Little J had a friend over today and I heard Little J telling him a whopper. He was saying how one time he went swimming and the lifeguard had to jump in and save him because he was drowning. He was explaining in great detail how the lifeguard used his floating device to save him. In his defense, once he did slip off of an innertube that he rode down the slide with one day when we were at the pool. I guess I didn't realize how traumatic this incidence was....

6. I'm contemplating weaning Little Man. He's almost 11 months now.

7. I've been feeling like I'm getting old lately. Not physically, but just realizing how some things I remember that seem like yesterday actually occurred over a decade ago. Or thinking people seem so young. The most recent experience with this was seeing Big J's teacher. I felt like I could be her mom.

8. And last, but not least, today is my mom's 53rd birthday and my nephew Sebastian's 1st birthday. My mom is the coolest mom ever. She has more energy than me. She has better clothes than me. My kids like her better than me.... I have only met Sebastian once, but he's a cutie and I can't wait to see him again. Too bad he lives in Mexico City. Happy Birthday!!!

Just To Say I Did

I was thinking the other night about things I've done, and I realized a lot of them were because I just wanted to be able to say I'd done them. There might have been more motivation later on (or not), but the original driving force was simply to say I did. Some are big things, most are not. Some are closer to confessions than "just to say I did" activities, but after you read them, you're sure to think I'm cooler ;-)

1. I got corn rows done in my hair on the island of St. Thomas (in the U.S. Virgin Islands). But I couldn't afford to pay them for my entire head, so I just had the parts right around my face done.

2. I went spelunking in the middle of the night at a place called the Nutty Putty Cave when I was in college. These were not caves you walk into through the side of a mountain. To get in them, you go vertically down an opening and then have to slither through another tiny horizontal opening to get into the open areas. I get claustrophobic easily, so I don't know what I was thinking. And you had to rely solely on whoever said they knew the way and hope someone had left a rope or something for you climb to the various areas with. With places called "The Birth Canal" and "The Big Slide", I'm surprised I didn't die in there...

3. I was an Especially For Youth (EFY) counselor. I had attended EFY for three summers as a teenager and it made a big impression on me. When I became old enough to be a counselor, I thought it'd be cool to do and cool to say I had done. It rocked!

4. I ran in the St.George marathon. Notice the singular on that. It was purely to say I had done it.

5. Once when I was probably 10 or so, I went into a bathroom at Grandy's and while I was in there I decided I should see why people graffiti bathroom stalls. So I scratched a heart that said Jay + Heather inside of it.... Whew. I'm glad I got that off my chest.

6. I rode a camel at the Phoenix Zoo, just to say I've ridden a camel.

7. In 5th grade, I was one of the ring leaders in sinking the sub. If you've ever read the book "Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub" you'll know what I'm talking about. I read that book, and thought I should try it. At the end of the day, I went bawling to her to apologize because I felt so bad. Yeah, I'm tough like that.

8. I hiked the Y my first week as a freshman at BYU. Then I did it on numerous other occasions for fun. But the first time was just to say I had been there.

I'm sure I have more, but they'll have to be another post. What things have you done just to say you've done it?

I Will Survive

First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side

So I am glad to report that I did not turn into a whimpering mess on Big J's first day of school. I was nervous for him and weepy for a large part of the day, but today has been better. I think his ok-ness with everything helped me. He was nervous the day before, but he did great! He was so excited he was getting to the point that it was obnoxious, so it was a little easier to let him go ;-)

Yesterday, I asked him if he wanted me to walk him into his classroom and his answer was, "No, I'm fine!" And he was. He hopped out of the van and ran off with a wave. The P.E. teacher, Mrs. Chambers, was on crosswalk duty and said something to him as he went by then looked up at me . I smiled then motioned with my hand like I was wiping my tears and she nodded her head and smiled at me with a knowing smile.

I guess I will be ok..... *sigh*

you think I'd crumble

you think I'd lay down and die

Oh no, not I

I will survive

as long as i know how to love

I know I will stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give

and I'll survive

I will survive

Blessed

Last December, my husband began his own business and started working from home. He is a computer programmer (don't ask me to explain more than that, because I don't think I could). He breaks the computer programmer mold, though, because he actually has a personality. And friends. And he's good-looking. But I digress....

We had talked about him making his break from the corporate world on several occasions, however, it never felt right until last year. He was able to secure a long-term contract and other things seemed to fall into place. Whenever we decided to do this, women would ask me with a skeptical look on their face how it was going with having him around all the time. My answer then, and my answer now, is great! I never could have known the blessing him being home would be.

Don't get me wrong - he does work. And he works a lot, although according to Little J he just "sits down there and plays games all day." He has his own work area in the basement, so we can stay out of his way (and he out of mine :-) On particularly busy days, or during conference calls or whenever he is blaring one of his 3000 mp3s to think by, we just pretend he isn't here. But even on those days, we see him. He'll come up and take breaks to hang out with the kids or eat lunch with us or clean the kitchen. Oh wait, that last one I got confused with a dream I had....But the other parts are true.

If there's something going on with the boys that he wants to be at, he can be there. If we want to do something fun with the family, we don't have to wait until Saturday. Like today we decided to pick Big J up from his first day of school (well, it was just a half-day today) and surprise them by going to T-Rex Cafe. It should have been a couple of hours worth of time, but because of a huge wreck on the highway and an hour wait at the restaurant, the whole production took like 3 1/2 hours. If he had a "normal" job, there's no way we would have done that.

If Little Man is napping and I need to go somewhere, I can leave him here. He's been an easy baby anyway, but having JC home for most of his babyhood has made it even easier. The boys love having him around and so do I. I just feel really blessed.

Hollow Legs

I have three small boys. One day those boys are going to grow into large teenage boys. I think it will be at that time that we will have to take out a second mortgage on our home in order to feed them. These kids can chow!!! They have all always had healthy appetites, but it seems like lately they cannot get enough (Little J being the exception at the present moment but he is normally a big eater).

The other day for breakfast, Big J ate two bowls of cereal and two waffles. About two hours later he was eating string cheese and fruit because he was "sooooo hungry!" Little Man packs it away, too. He'll eat an entire banana and waffle for breakfast - after he's already eaten his "appetizer" of like 100 cheerios. The other day at lunch he ate 3 full chicken nuggets after he'd eaten one of those pre-packaged fruit bowls (like you can put in lunch boxes) and a thing of baby food and a piece of bread. He's only 10 months old!!!

I have friends who tell me their kids can share a kid's meal at a restaurant and barely finish it. I have no idea what they are talking about.

Spaghetti Nights - Always a Favorite

L - R: Big J, Little J, Little Man - all around the same age

Freaking Out

Today is exactly 6 days before my oldest starts first grade. Today is exactly 6 days before my oldest begins all-day school and will be gone between 8:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m., which is 7 hours and 20 minutes he will be away from home, on his own, each day - making his time away from home in his waking hours approximately 2 hours more than the time he is here. Today is exactly 6 days until my influence and status in my child's eyes begins to slowly creep downward....

I am freaking out!

The Golden Rule Debunked

When I was in fourth grade, my teacher's name was Ms. Craddock. Ms. Craddock was grumpy. Ms. Craddock was frumpy. Ms. Craddock was one of those "Dude Looks Like a Lady" ladies. She had an early 80s bad perm and a moustache.

I remember telling my mom about how mean she was one day, and my mom (no doubt seizing the moment as an opportunity to teach her moldable daughter charity) told me that sometimes people are mean on the outside because they are really sad on the inside. She suggested that maybe I could find something I liked about Ms. Craddock and tell her, because probably no one ever told her nice things. Mom suggested trying an experiement - I was to give her a sincere compliment every day for a week and see if she acted any nicer. She cautioned me to not make something up, for example, don't tell her I think she's pretty if I really don't, but to find something I really liked and compliment that.

This was a tall order.

I remember sitting in class the next day and my mom's counsel to not make something up kept ringing in my ears. I tried to think of something I liked about her. I tried to think of something I liked about her clothes. I tried to think of something I liked about her class. Finally, I decided that her turquoise shirt was a nice color (even though the pattern was hideous) so I wrote her a note that said "I like the color of your shirt" and put it on her desk.

I have to admit that in all my naivity I truly thought my nice little note was going to melt my teacher's heart and she would in return break down her tough exterior and become a changed person.

Instead, she glared at me as I brought it up and a minute later yelled at a kid to go put his name on the board. (That was the first of the warnings. If you accumulated two check marks next to your name, you were in big trouble). I told my mom that I had given her the note and nothing changed. She said to keep trying.

So I did. Every day for a week I racked my brain to come up with something nice to say to Ms. Craddock. Every day she glared at me as I dropped the note on her desk. Although I don't remember everything I wrote, I do know that by the end of the week I was lying. I think one note I even wrote said, "You are a nice teacher." I convinced myself that if I told her she was nice, maybe she would be nice.

She never acknowledged I had written her any notes, although I am pretty sure that no other kid had ever written her a note before. She never "did unto others as she would have them do unto you." And she never changed. BUT... I still remember what my mom said and what she was trying to teach me about being charitable and not judging a person. So I don't think the lesson was a complete loss. And I still believe in the Golden Rule.

10 Year Anniversary

No, this is not a celebratory post about my ten year wedding anniversary or something else happy. Today is the 10 year anniversary of my younger sister Nicole's death. I have debated whether or not I would even mention it, as I hold my memories of her and of her death very personal and dear to me. But I decided that I would, atleast in part, share some of my feelings here.

Candice Nicole is my younger sister. I am the oldest of five, and she fell third in line. Ever since she was born she had problems with her heart. I don’t know what exactly everything was, but I have the general picture. She was born with a hole in her heart and some other problems. I can remember her taking medicine for it ever since she was born. She had some green medicine she took with a dropper when she was very little.

During her earliest years, it was a roller coaster ride with the doctors trying to figure out what medications would work for her. I can remember times when she was probably three or four when she would have seizures and my parents would rush her to the hospital. One time I remember it was late at night and my mom woke us up and told us to get our things together because we were going to stay at the Andrus’s because Nicole was in the hospital again. I think it was during this same incidence that the phone rang and I remember my mom saying, “Oh my God!” (the only time I ever heard her take the Lord's name in vain) and starting to cry then telling us to hurry. It was a phone call from my Dad telling her that as he held Nicole in his arms that she suddenly went rigid because her heart stopped beating. He frantically called for the doctors and they were able to revive her. But can you imagine what a horrible experience that must have been? Earlier in the evening the doctors had suggested he go home because there was nothing he could do there. Thankfully, he had refused.

Through the course of years (and I’m not sure on the exact timeline) some other complications developed. She contracted an undetected virus in her heart that swelled it to three times its normal size. When finally controlled, the incidence left behind massive scar tissue that would prove to be a problem. She also developed tachycardia and would have attacks often. Her heart would start beating so fast that it wasn’t really doing anything except jiggling around. Most of these episodes would pass rather quickly, but she was also put on medication for this. Thus, she had a medication that controlled how strong her heart beat and a medication that controlled how fast it beat.

Through all of this, Nicole remained vibrant and vivacious. She participated in numerous activities – softball, gymnastics, piano, drill team, acting. She liked to write poems and sing. She loved movies and would often quote them at opportune times and make people laugh. She was bright and witty and wonderful.

Eventually, her diagnosis was cardiomyopathy or myocarditis. I don’t know if those are two separate conditions or different names for the same thing. It is my understanding that there are three kinds of cardiomyopathy, and Nicole had the rarest kind. There really wasn’t anything to be done for it, except, perhaps, a heart transplant, which probably wouldn’t be worth the risk because of how well she was doing. Her cardiologist was continually amazed at how much normal life she experienced. I guess most people with her prognosis weren’t as lucky. She was definitely a special case. He would say, “Whatever you’re doing, just keep on doing it!” Because, by looking at her test results, her heart shouldn’t have been holding out as long as it was. We all knew, though, that her life was the result of many heartfelt prayers and the power of the priesthood.

In high school, Nicole participated in so many things. She was on the yearbook staff, sung in the school choir that went to Carnegie Hall to perform, was on the drill team, was an active thespian and won many honors for her talents. She wanted to attend BYU so badly. I can remember reassuring her over the phone that she would get in and then crying with joy with her when she called to tell me she was accepted. For the first time in our lives we would be in the same educational institution at the same time. I was excited to share that experience with her and to build our relationship.

I had just recently returned from serving a mission in England, and so not only had I been gone for a year and a half (not counting the previous three years at college), but before I left she was barely getting old enough to where we could really relate to each other. Now, in the short time I’d been home, our relationship was growing to a new level.

My memories with her during that summer are a few precious ones I hold dear. One of the first memories I have is going to a park in the canyon with her, JC (my husband presently, but not at the time), and Alex his brother. We took a blanket and some snacks and went to hang out in the nice sunny weather. We took some crazy pictures and had fun talking. I can still remember funny things she said that day. For example, JC was wearing a T-shirt that said “Spring Fling” on the front and Nicole pointed at it and asked, “What was her name?” I didn’t get it at first, but then everyone started laughing. She was also totally flirting with Alex, although she claimed she had no romantic interest in him at all. I think it just came naturally.

Another great memory I have is inviting her over for dinner. We made pizzas while singing and dancing to the Grease album. If anyone knew anything about Nicole, they knew she loved Grease and could quote all the lines, sing all the songs, and dance all the dances. In high school, she had been cast as a Pink Lady, but then the rites could not be secured and the play was cancelled. It was engrained in her, though. I don’t remember exactly how everything evolved, I just remember the apartment ended up with a lot of people there eating pizza and listening to Grease. Pretty much anywhere she went was a party.

Another time she came out with me and a small group of guys to a place dubbed “Sliding Rock.” It was basically a natural waterslide back in the trees up in Highland, Utah. We had to park the car about a mile or so out from the actual place and then hike in. I remember hanging back and walking and talking with her because she couldn’t quite keep up with the pace all the guys were walking. She had to stop a few times along the way, and they even offered to carry her, but she wouldn’t let them and kept trekking along.

When we actually got to Sliding Rock, she never went in the water because it was so cold and the rock was a bit intimidating. But, she sat there and cheered us on as we got to the top and would almost chicken out. There was also a small pond hidden a little ways from it that was a little warmer, so we all decided to take a dip in there before going home. (No, we weren't naked!) I think she got in the pond, but I’m not sure. For some dumb reason I remember that afterward when we went back to the car I borrowed her Harvest Peach Bath and Body Works lotion. We went on and on about how good it smelt. When she died, that was one of the things I kept, and every time I wore it I thought of that day at Sliding Rock.

I also remember loving to talk to her and tease her and “sit” on her. She was so tiny! She was so loving. She wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed to give me a hug or say she loved me or that I looked pretty. She always let people know she cared about them in some way or another.

That summer was a very difficult time for me personally. Not only was I adjusting back to “normal” life after a mission, but also I was back in school, working two jobs, and in the midst of the most tumultuous relationship decisions I had ever faced. Nicole was there for me through it all. She would listen as I cried to her. She would leave me little notes of encouragement and love. She even bought me a bouquet of roses once and left it at my apartment with a sweet note. I feel like I was not the kind of support and resource she probably needed me to be because I was so wrapped up in my own feelings and affairs, but she would never let me feel that way. The last letter she wrote to me five days before her death expressed her gratitude at how much I had helped her those first few months away from home.

The Sunday night before she died, I called her around 10:00 p.m. I called her to see how she was feeling because earlier she wasn't feeling well. She said she was fine and was talking excitedly about a guy named Mike (another one!) she met down in the lobby of her dorms. She was playing the one and only song she knew how to play, Leaves on the Seine by David Lanz, and that had lured him to her.

She learned to play that song for me. She worked and worked on it during the months before she came up to BYU so she could surprise me. I had fallen in love with David Lanz’s music on my mission, and Leaves on the Seine was my favorite song of his. She knew it was special to me for several reasons, and she spent hours on end learning to play it and memorizing it. That was just how Nicole was.

That was the last time I talked to Nicole. My only consolation was that I know I told her I loved her when I said good-bye.

I cannot describe the feelings that came over me the moment I found out Nicole died, but it was the most horrible, devastating feeling I have ever felt in my entire life. A huge sob or scream or something in between the two came out and I started to cry. I felt my knees go weak as I was guided into my apartment. Everything was kind of a blur at that point. I could write for pages and pages on what took place during the next few days, but I prefer to focus on the goodness that radiated from her and the joy she brought into the lives of those she knew.

I still miss her very much. The one thing that has consoled me the most, when she died and even today, was that I know she knew I loved her, and I know she loved me. We said it openly and often to each other. It is amazing to me how much peace that brought. That is the greatest lesson I can pass on (as cliche as it may be) - tell the people you love that you love them, and do it often. You never know when you may not have that opportunity anymore.

I love you, Nicole!

Families are Forever.

A MAJOR LONG POST

I know you all have been waiting breathlessly for me to put up an updated post. We got back from our vacation about a week and a half ago, but it has been pretty crazy since then, so I haven't had a chance to give a report and overload you with vacation pics yet!

We went to Texas for JC's cousin's wedding. His cousin just happens to live very close to my parents. In fact, he got married in a church in the town I grew up in. Thankfully, it wasn't a true Mexican wedding and it only had a short ceremony and a regular-length reception. None of this 3-days-worth-of-parties, although those can be fun and we would have had the time for it. The boys had a blast gettin' jiggy with it on the dance floor and had become disheveled messes shortly after arriving.

For the rest of the week we just hung out visiting my parents and sister Ali. JC worked a lot via his laptop. We did see our friends the Danas who used to live here and moved 20 minutes from my parents. That was fun. The highlight of the week for the boys, however, was playing on the electric typewriter they found at my dad's office. This was the conversation that followed:

Big J: What is this?

Me: It's a typewriter.

Little J: A TIE-fighter!?!?

Me (laughing): No, a typewriter. You put paper in it and then push the buttons and letters go on it.

Big J: Oh! I know what this is! I've seen it on cartoons before.

That typewriter entertained them for an hour! They didn't want to leave when I said it was time to go and begged to be able to come back and play on it some more.

That Friday, we took off for the Gulf Coast. My parents had graciously offered us one of their time-share weeks, so when we requested "somewhere on a beach that we could drive to" we got San Luis Pass next to Galveston Island. It took us about 6 hours to drive there from my parents' home. My mother-in-law came with us. She was in Texas for the wedding and was saying how she didn't want to go back home yet. So I invited her to go with us. I actually highly recommend inviting your mom or mother-in-law (assuming you like them) if you have small children, because it makes mom's vacation more like a vacation. It was nice to have someone else to stay at the condo and wait for Little Man to wake up from his naps, to have someone else cook a few meals, to have someone else clean up a little...

Our little beach condo was in a less commercialized area, so we had the best of both worlds. We could literally walk out our door and be at the pool or walk about 50 feet and be on the beach, and there were minimal crowds. It was overcast and/or raining a lot of the time we were there, but it worked out perfect because we alternated "beach" days with other things and the days we chose to be on the beach all day it didn't rain. But even on our "off days" we would still take walks on the beach or go swimming in the pool. I loved laying in bed at night and hearing the ocean. It is very relaxing.

I was nervous about taking 3 small kids to the beach - I just knew someone was going to disappear out into the ocean. But my fears were unfounded. The beach is a great vacation when you want everyone to enjoy themselves and be entertained with minimal effort on your part. The boys loved playing in the waves - even Little Man. He would have crawled in and swam away if I had let him. He had no fear of the water and loved to explore the sand.

We were sandcastle-making fools! Our virgin sandcastle making experience started out sweet and simple. By the end of the week, we had entire towns of sandcastles with roads and seashell bank depositories and full fortifications. Originally, the fortifications were put up to keep the water out, but really all they needed protection from was the boys. As soon as we'd finish our masterpieces a "storm" or a "battle" or something of the like would obliterate our little sand town.

We also saw lots of wildlife (sealife?) since the beach we were on was more "primitive". We enjoyed feeding the seagulls, caught several hermit crabs and mussles, saw a flock of 27 pelicans, saw jumping fish, cranes - you name it! We also saw both a live and a dead shark! We thought the sharks were baby hammerheads, but after going to the Sea Center, we learned they were actually full-sized Bonnethead sharks.

While we were down there we visited several places. We went to the Texas Sea Center which was a little aquarium/fish hatchery place sponsored by the Texas Wildlife Association. I saw the twin of what I had always dubbed "That Big Fish that Kept Looking at Me When I Went Scuba Diving". Apparently, it is called a grouper. The one in the aquarium weighed over 300 pounds. I always knew that fish could take me...

They also had a big touch tank where the kids enjoyed getting up close and personal with the sea life. They had crabs in it that had one side of their pinchers removed. Most of them would just look at you bored, but there was one that was a little onery. We were all looking in the tank when all of the sudden Little J squeals like a little girl, yanks his hand out flinging water everywhere, and runs away. I rush over to see what happened and he declares, "THAT CRAB WAS LOOKING AT ME MEAN!!!!" I couldn't stop laughing.

We also spent a day on Galveston Island. We rode the ferry where we got to feed the seagulls off the back of the boat. We also saw some dolphins. We walked around The Strand where we ate great seafood (and I don't even like seafood!) and saw some cool things. The boys' favorite was the giant chess game in the middle of a plaza. At the end, we stopped at this old-timey ice cream shop and got "The King Split." When I ordered it, the girl goes, "Uh, do you know how big that is?" I was expecting some huge concoction like the Ziggy Piggy on Bill and Ted's, but was sadly disappointed. When they called my number and I was carrying it back to the table I did get a few wide-eyed looks and appreciative "oh yeah!"s from some guys sitting next to us, though.

We spent a day at the Johnson Space Center (NASA) in Houston. That was a lot of fun, especially for the kids. They have a building set up with all kinds of NASA-related displays, theaters, presentations and hands-on exhibits. We also got to tour the astronaut training facility and see some really big rockets.

We drove back to my parents' home the following Friday, stayed that Saturday, then drove back home on Sunday. It was a good trip. And Little Man got his first tooth while we were gone :-)