the one about more melt downs

Remember the story the other day about Quayd's freak out? Well, I have been going through some pictures lately and found another freak out. Well, two actually. (he he he)

#1. This is when we were trying to teach Quayd how to ride a bike without training wheels. He was NOT happy with us that day. This happened the summer before last. We had taken the training wheels off and lost one. Oops. He did not want to ride with no training wheels, so he showed us by not riding his bike for the rest of the summer.
Thank goodness the Easter Bunny brought him a new bike last year with training wheels, and he learned how to ride early last summer.

Meltdown #2 is actually kind of a sad story. Brett, Quayd and I went on vacation to South Dakota in the summer of 2005. It was such a fun trip, but on our last evening there we went to the Alpine Slide overlooking Mt. Rushmore. (In case you don't know, an Alpine Slide is one of those big slides that you ride a little cart down a mountain. You have to take a ski lift to get to it.) Well the whole way up the ski lift, Quayd was saying how he was going to ride down the slide with mom. We got to the top and looked around. There was lots of little tourist things to do. When we finally decided to go back down the mountain, we headed for the slide line. There were 2 lines. One said, "single and experienced riders only," and the other said, "double and less-experienced riders." We were all in the appropriate line. At the last minute, Quayd decided to ride with his Dad. He ran over, hoped on with Brett, I got on my cart on my side and off we went. I sped up and got ahead of them at the very top so I could take pictures. As they were catching up to me, I could hear Quayd crying. I was SO bugged! I thought to myself, "Here we are, doing something so fun, just for him and he is crying!" I was like, "Quit being a baby Quayd!" Seriously, I was MAD! Then with my camera.. Snap Snap...
Errrrrrrr!!! Big bawl baby!

Well, as they passed me, Brett yells at me to quit yelling at Quayd because he was hurt. Oh. Oops. They had wrecked on the first turn and Quayd got a NASTY burn on his hand. It was AWFUL! He still has a heinous scar from it. We ended up taking him to the doctor when we got home and they told us it was a pretty serious burn that will probably require plastic surgery someday. Since he is growing so fast right now, it would be hard, besides it will be very painful. Brett ended up with scars too. It was a pretty crazy wreck. So I guess that was a justified meltdown. The next morning, as we were headed out of town, we stopped at Mt. Rushmore. Quayd had a huge bandage on his hand. So sad! He also had bumps and bruises all over his body.


I don't know why I blogged that on an entry about Quayd's meltdowns. It really just makes me look like a bigger jerk, huh. Sorry Quayd. It was really so sad. He gets all emotional just talking about it, still to this day.

the one about my personal belongings

Prepare yourself... This will likely be the most boring post you have ever read. You can turn back now and I won't be offended. I did take lots of pictures to ease the pain, but it is still pretty lame. So here goes.

A little over a year ago, Quayd and I went to visit our FAVORITE out of town cousins. Rhonda, Amy and CJ. Us girls spent the entire weekend scrap-booking. It was a blast! Well, Amy made me a super cute checkbook cover. She buys the clear covers and makes a cute scrapbook-ey insert. Well I have had it for all of this time, and yesterday I felt like a change. So I dissected it and made my own. (front)
(back)
(inside)

When I first put it together, my checkbook register kept falling out, so I got a little clip and clipped it in there. Then I thought I would tie some cute ribbons on it and turn it into a decoration, rather than an accessory. (This is the way my mind works, I can't help it!)

Ok, so here is my confession. (Please don't tell Brett!) I actually got a new wallet yesterday. That is what triggered my new checkbook design.
Cute, huh! My old wallet had finally had it! The slots were so loose all of my stuff kept falling out and the stitches were coming apart. I looked at purses too, but I knew that I would be crossing the line if I got a new one. Besides, I love love love the purse I have right now. It is the perfect shape and size and I seriously love it SO much!!!

Why don't men understand the purse thing? Like, I LOVE purses and wallets and stuff. I get so excited over it. Do you?

Well, thanks for sticking with me through that. I know it was boring. And remember, let's keep the new wallet thing on the down low. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

the one about Memorial Day

We have been a little stressed lately because we were promised and guaranteed that Mike's headstone would be set by Memorial Day. Memorial Day has been getting closer and closer and still no headstone. Really, we just wanted that final piece to pay tribute to the man that we love.

Finally on Thursday, it was set.

I think Brett and I were the first ones to see it, because it still looked fresh and nobody else had called Gleneita to tell her it was there. We rode the motorcycle up to the cemetery, and I have to say that it was a little harder to see it than I thought. Seeing his name (and Gleneita's!) etched in stone was kind of a shocker. It looks nice though and we are happy that we finally have something to look at besides a tiny marker. It is hard to tell in my picture, but the headstone had their marriage date, sealing date and the names of their four kids. Mike served in the Navy, so they provided a foot stone too.

Gleneita and I have spent several evenings together getting the flowers and plants just right for this weekend. We finally took them up on Friday night and everything looked great. We bought a cute pot with a frog and I got some nice stuff to fill it. We also got a small pine tree and planted it in a cool barrel planter. Quayd had chosen a dog with a solar light ball in it so it would glow at night. The cross was from Grandma Lane and the big arrangement from Mike's sister, Debbie. I think it all looks very nice.

We love you Papa!

the one about Quayd's meltdown

As you know, I had a yard sale a few weeks ago. Among the things in the sale was a blue "beanie-baby" type bear that had "CTR" on its belly. Quayd had thrown a total fit for this bear in the LDS Bookstore one day and I finally gave in and bought it for him, just to shut him up. If you have kids, you know what I am talking about, so don't call Dr. Phil on me! You know you have done it too! Anyway, I think he cared about this hideous bear for 1 day, then it was lost in the toy room for a couple of years. It was an obvious choice for the yard sale. Or so I thought.....

Towards the end of our yard sale, we were desperate to get rid of things so we were wheeling and dealing. We even made a "free" box for most of our smaller toys. Guess where the blue bear ended up? And guess who found it? And guess who freaked out at his Mother for putting it there?!?!

So I let him get it out and take it home. (He threw a fit about his "Sit and Spin" too! But it didn't come home. Shhhhhhh, don't remind him.) He packed this bear around religiously for 1 day, and during that 1 day, there was a lot of drama surrounding us about that bear.

Now we are getting to the meltdown part... This all happened on Mother's day, just so you know. Brett was teasing Quayd, as usual, and Quayd started pretend hitting his dad with the bear. Brett kept telling him to quit, but as a typical 5 year old boy, he didn't. Brett finally got fed up and grabbed the bear's arm. They started a tug-of-war and... OOPS! The arm ripped! OH MY GOSH, you would have thought he ripped off Quayd's arm! Quayd was freaking out like nothing I have ever seen before. Brett and I were trying not to laugh right in his face! If you know Quayd, you know how dramatic he is so this was like a huge deal! Being the mean mom that I am, before I would console him, I snapped pictures for all of you, my blogging buddies.
See, when crap hits the fan at my house, who do I think of first? Yes, that's right. YOU!

Once Quayd stopped crying, he got MAD! Mad, mad mad. He yelled at his dad and told him, "You broke it, now you fix it!" (I can't make this crap up!) So dear old dad got a needle and thread and sewed it all up.
While he was sewing, Quayd came in, sobbing, and said, (Or should I say SHOUTED!) "Dad! Do you know that bear is the most specialist thing in the world to me!?!?! Do you even know what it says?" Brett, being the smart @%$ that he is, says, "Oh, you mean it can talk?" and then Quayd got REALLY mad and said, "NO!!!! Look at it! It says CTR! Do you even know what that means? It means Choose the Right, DAD!" It took everything we had not to laugh out loud. Before long, the bear was fixed, and Quayd was happy again.

And I haven't seen it since. Until the next yardsale, I guess.

tho one about my trip to NYC

Don't get to excited. It was a long time ago. Nearly 15 years ago to be exact, but yesterday in my post about my Uncle Kim, I mentioned my trip and my good friend Vanessa left a comment that sparked my memory. So I decided to tell you a little bit about it.

Remember how I told you uesterday that my cool Uncle Kim was a High School teacher? Well he was also involved with the Drama stuff. For a couple of years, he and the Drama teacher, Mr. Dickson took drama students to NYC. I can't really remember how it all happened, but they ended up with a odd number of people and I got to be the extra. It was very last minute and a huge surprise when he told me he was taking me. I was So excited. I was also thrilled to go with my cousin Brooke, who I idolized.

So we flew to NYC and stayed in a hotel and went to tons of Broadway Shows. We went to Macy's, Bloomingdales, the Statue of Liberty and tons of other places. I even saw Matthew Broderick!!!!! We were there the weekdend of the Tony Awards and we were the annoying people that stood out side and shouted at the stars as they got out of the limos. Since it was broadway, I didn't really know too many stars except for Matthew Broderick. We also saw him in the show he was staring in.

So the whole thing that triggered this blog is a comment from my frined Vanessa yesterday. Let me copy and paste.

"HA! I remember when you went to NYC. Didn't people on the subway scream at you because you were wearing those green foam Statue of Liberty crowns?"

You were close, Vanessa. I was actually teased on the ferry about the statue of liberty crown.


Now the subway teasing came from the shirt I bought at the musical CATS. It was all black and had two green cat eyes on the back and said CATS on the front. We walked all over the city that day, and every perv on the street said, "Here, Kitty Kitty!" It was awful and I wnated to cry!! I was so offended. I don't have a good picture of the shirt, but this is me wearing it. I was wearing white shorts and the T-Shirt. (Look how cute and skinny I was.) :( That was taken in Central Park feeding squirrels.

Anyway, it was a super fun trip and I was super excited to get to go. Thanks Kim!!!

Here are a few more pictures.

the one about my uncle kim

In honor of my Uncle Kim's Birthday, I would like to dedicate this blog to him. He actually sent me some pictures a few months ago and he wanted me to blog about him, but I just haven't yet. So I thought today was the perfect day.

Here are a few interesting facts about my FAVORITE UNCLE!!!!!
He loves to tease everyone!
He is a total prankster and he used to make me cry all the time when I was a litttle girl.
He is super smart and always has the latest and greatest toys and electronics.
He collects antiques and has come across some amazing things! (And some slightly offensive and very unusual things too!)
His real name is Dennis, but only his "new" friends call him that. He will always be Kim to me.
He is the father of my one and only cousin, Brooke.
He is my great-grandma Karren's favorite! (My mom added that part. Do you sense a little jealousy?)
He loves to travel, and when I was in 9th grade, I was lucky enough to go on a trip with him to NYC!
He taught at my old High School for several years, but he changed schools just as I entered.
He loves the theater and the arts.
He is a GREAT performer. He has been in several musicals and plays and I love to watch him.
He is so talented and creative.
He has a hot pink Christmas tree!
His favorite store is D.I. and if we get gifts from him, we know they came from there. Not because he is frugal, but because he loves to find the most unusual gifts and they are usually my favorites!
He is the best Yard Sale partner, ever!
His favorite book as a child was Zippy.
His favorite toy from his childhood was a stuffed cat with a plastic face.

He lives a few hours away now and I miss him all of the time. Even though he is "banned" from here, I sure wish he would come visit soon! He is so much fun and I love him to death! Thanks, Uncle Kim, for always bringing a smile to my face and drama to the family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

the one about Quayd's survey

My friend JoLynn emailed me these questions FOREVER ago and I have been saving them. I came across them the other day and thought it would make a cute blog. I actually posted it on Quayd's blog, but decided to put it on mine too. I just went down the list and asked him all of the questions and let him answer how he wanted to. I didn't correct him or anything, and for the record... I HATE SPAGHETTI!

My mom asked me these questions and she typed my answers just as I said them. I didn't really like answering all of them, but I did it because my mom asked me too.

1. Something Mom always says to you?
go and shower cuz you smell like a wet stinky dog
2. What makes Mom happy?
her cute little boy (that's me!)
3. What makes Mom sad?
when I don't be nice
4. How does Mom make you laugh?
when she be's a dork!
5. What was Mom like as a child?
good, cute and nice
6. How old is your Mom?
29
7. How tall is your Mom?
29 feet tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play on the computer
9. What does your Mom do when you are at School?
she lunch lady's it
10. What would your Mom be famous for?
for being so silly
11. What is your Mom not very good at?
riding her bike!
12. What does your Mom do for her job?
cooks food and serves kids. I love it because she is happy there and I get to see her at my school.
13. What is your Mom's favorite food?
spaghetti
14. What makes you proud of your Mom?
that she finally got a good job and I am happy that she got what she always wanted, a job as a lunch lady at my school
15. If your Mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?
The Mighty B 16. What do you and your Mom do together?
Hang out and we love to go to movies together because Dad doesn't like movies. We also go on dates because a date needs to be a boy and a girl. Not a boy and a boy. That would be weird, so I can't go on dates with my dad.
17. How are you and your Mom the same?
our eyes are brown and our skin is starting to get tan the same but our butts are still super white!
18. How are you and your Mom different?
my favorite color is blue and hers is purple. I am a boy and she is a girl.
19. How do you know your Mom loves you?
Because I am a nice boy. I love her and she loves me. She is sweet to me.
20. How many years have Mom & Dad known each other?
10

the one about friends with nasty ears

So this is old. I have had these pictures for awhile and I forgot to post them. I just saw them still on my memory card and I was surprised that I didn't blog it yet. Maybe I did and I am just losing my mind. If you read/see this, and you have seen it before, let me know so I can know I am not crazy.

A couple of weeks ago, Tara and Shae stopped by and they were so proud of themselves. They had bought earwax candles and they were ready to take the plunge. Tara SO didn't want me to take pictures, but I just HAD too! It is just who I am!




Shae didn't mind the pictures. Isn't she cute!!!!


So, then, strangely enough, Kandice called through all of this and mentioned that she had one candle and would like to try it. I just happened to have 1 extra so we were able to clean both ears. She came over and I just lined all of my guests up on my couches. I hate to say this and I hope I don't embarrass her, but Kandice's ears were the grossest ears I have seen yet. I KNOW!! I am shocked too!!! Actually, they weren't dirty GROSS, but sorta smelly gross. I have never gotten the least bit ill or dry heav-ey while doing other peoples ears, but I sorta did with old Kandice. Sorry friend!



I am so glad I have friends who allow me to get my kicks from their nasty body functions. I am so blessed! And I am also grateful that they allow me to publicly humiliate them on my blog!!!

the one about my modbe party

Wow!

Thank you so much Kandice for working your butt off for my super excellent ModBe party. Thank you also to all of you who came! And, thank you for all of you who weren't able to come and placed an order. It means so much to me to have all of the support! It was a swell time and I have to brag a little.... I did really well and earned a TON of free stuff! I really planned on hosting the party to help Kandice, but then I realized how good the hostess benefits are, and I was even more excited. Then when I got so much stuff for free and discounted prices, HOLY KA-MOLY! Here are just a few of the things I was able to get.





So really, thank you to all of you who came and supported Kandice and me. I am amazed and how great my turnout was. I am really not a big party person, but I am so glad I had this one! It was fun and wonderful and everything else. If you haven't checked this stuff out yet, you gotta!

Kandice's ModBe site

the one about my Mother's Day

When I woke up this morning, I found this letter waiting for me.

Mandy,

I wanted to write you a letter for Mother’s Day and tell you how much I love and appreciate you. You are such an amazing person. This last year has seen some real highs and some super lows, but the constant in all that happened was our family, and our marriage. It’s hard for me to express how much you mean to me. You really are my other half I am not whole without you. I love how we can communicate and understand the others thoughts without even being together. I love sharing our lives together, and I am so proud to have you as my wife and the mother of our boy. It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years already. Thank you for being you i.e.: loving, funny, caring, sensitive, ambitious, intelligent, spiritual, well natured, driven, successful, motherly, nurturing, good humored, awesome, crazy, outgoing, down to earth, and patient just to name a few. Thank you for fighting when you were so sick for me and Quayd. We would never be where we are today without you. Thank you for writing down your birth story, it is hard to talk about and even harder to remember. It is that time in our lives that defines who we are today, and thank you for giving people a small glance inside our story. I cherish those memories from that time, but it still scares me to death to think about it. Thank you for being such a special part of my dad’s life, I really want you to know hoe much it meant to him and I. Thank you for helping me get through such a tough time. The wound is still open in my heart but you help me keep going. Thank you for being you and understanding me and my screwed up emotions, No other person on this earth understands me the way you do so thank you. Please know that I will always be here for you, if you stumble I will steady you, if you fall I will always pick you up. You are mine and Quayd’s world. Happy Mothers day to the BEST MOM and WIFE in the WORLD.
Love, Brett

We were outside playing this afternoon and Brett took a picture of Quayd and I. As I was starting to post this, I remembered that I had some pictures of Quayd and I on my first Mother's Day. Then, something totally strange happened. I went downstairs to find them and got in my little photo storage thingie. I am pretty organized when it comes to this stuff, so it only took a second to find. I had never scrapbooked these pictures so I had them in a little file folder thing. I do most of my pictures this way, then if there is any type of memorabilia that went with the pictures, I can stick it in the folder. I had totally forgotten about this, but in the little folder was a letter my father-in-law, Mike, wrote to me on that day. Of course, I sat down, read it and cried my eyes out. I really want to share it with you. I have scanned the actual letter, but I will type the words too because his handwriting is a little tough to read.

Mandy,
Just a note to tell you how much your being in my family means to me. When you became a Mom, I became a Grand Dad. When I became a Grand Dad, you became my daughter.
I will never be able to tell you how much I love you, and just how strong I feel about you being my daughter.
You are my hero and a big part of me. If I have to share my son with someone else, I want it to be you and if I got to pick wives for my son, you would be at the top of my list.
I hope I can always be there for you when you need me and know I will always try.
I will love you to the end of time and will thank you for longer than that.
I will always love you
Dad Lane

I am so glad I found that along with these pictures.





Ok, now that I have that all of the way, I can tell you about what we did on this awesome, fun, relaxing day. Well, last night after our big nap after our big yard sale, Brett had to go to the races for the fire department. I told Quayd I wanted to go on a date. I asked him to take me to the new Chinese buffet in town. When we got there, I saw my cute sister-in-law Brynn's family. They were all there just about to be seated. They invited Quayd and I to sit with them. We did, and it was lots of fun. After our yummy dinner, Quayd and I went to Lowe's and wandered around for awhile, bought a few items, then headed for Wal-Mart. Since Quayd sold a bunch of his old toys and he helped me so much by getting ready for the sale, I told him I would buy him a new Wii game. He chose Wii Playground (and hasn't stopped playing it all day!) On our way home, I realized that we were just in time to catch a late show at the theater. So we went to Speed Racer. It was cool, and he LOVED it. We met Brett at home, and I was off to bed. They stayed up and played Wii for awhile.

This morning, we talked about going somewhere to breakfast, but decided the lines would be too long, so we decided to cook our own breakfast. We made strawberry crepes. We had so much fun sitting around the breakfast table laughing and eating! I know my plates are ugly (they are just cheap Wal-Mart plastic ones) but look how yummy the crepes look! Eating crepes on Mother's Day also reminded me of these pictures I had in my picture box. It was Quayd eating the crepe filling when he was a baby.
Wasn't he such a cute baby? He loved this stuff!!

Brett gave me money to buy clothes for Mother's Day, so look what I got. Wow, the picture doesn't do much for it, but it is 6 CUTE shirts, a pair of shorts and some Capri's. I also got 3 new pair of Teva flip flops. I am so excited for my new stuff! I needed new clothes BIG TIME!

Since it is Mother's Day, I have to take a minute and thank a few of my Mothers. Of course, my mom. She is so special to me and I love her so much. For many years, it was just she and I. I treasure those times. We grew so much during that time. I am thankful for all she has taught me and for all of the fun times we have had together. I also want to thank my Mother-in-law, Gleneita. I love her so much too! She is amazing and strong and I admire her so much. Most people have lots of scary "mother-in-law horror stories," but seriously, not me. Gleneita is AWESOME and I wouldn't trade her for anything. I worry about her so much and I try so hard to make her life less stressful, but I probably just create more stress. Really, I love her so much. I also have to give my Grandma, Doris, a shout out. I lived with her for a period of time when I was a teenager and I feel like I can never repay her for all she did for me. She is so sweet and good to me and my family. She is just always there. I can always count on her. She is my rock. (I have no good pictures of any of my three moms, so these will just have to do.
Aren't they beautiful women? I love them all so much!!

I seriously had such a great Mother's Day. It was just so relaxing and I got to spend the day with my two most favorite people! I am so blessed to be married to such a great guy and to have such a special little boy. I love Mother's Day. I always have. I love that it happens in the spring time and all of the grass, trees and flowers are starting to bloom. It makes me so grateful for the WONDERFUL life I have.