Conversation with Malia...

Malia: "Mom, will you play my game with me?"
Me: "Sure." I walk over with a cup of diet Coke in my hand.
Malia: I want some of your diet Coke.
Me: No.
Malia: Yes.
Me: No.
Malia: If you want to play my game with me, then you have to give me a drink of diet coke of else I won't let you play.

Hmmm...that's quite a threat. I wonder where she learned that kind of bargaining...

Malia's first talk

Today Malia gave a talk in primary. She was really excited to "talk in the microphone." But, she was very insistent on what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell them that the princesses did not come out at Disneyland. When I tried to tell her we would be talking about Jesus, she responded, "I don't have to if I don't want to." Uhhhh...so, I took her out during sacrament meeting and stood her up at the microphone so she could see what it would be like and she again insisted on talking about the princesses at Disneyland. I did finally succeed in getting her to agree to stuff like, "I like to come to primary and I like to read the scriptures." But, she refused to say anything living with Jesus again (the topic of the talk). When it was all said and done, she did a good job. It was hard to hear her, but she did it and she repeated what I wanted her to say without any huge incidents. It would have been pretty funny if she had said something about the princesses...though I don't think it would have really surprised anybody. Malia has already made her mark in primary...they all know her too well.

American Idol tryouts...Edwardson style

American Idol--you got nothing on us. We had our very own version of HORRIBLE karaoke style singing today. The kids were listening to our ipods (Jake and Carter were sharing mine and Bella was listening to Rick's). Anyhow, they were sitting on the ladder of the swingset outside and both Jake and Carter busted out with "Because of You" by Reba and Kelly Clarkson. I have never heard anything so hilarious and HORRIBLE at the same time. My wrestling, sports finatic, BOYS singing Kelly Clarkson and Reba! Oh, the horror of it all. And then, Bella took a turn listening to the same song. Of course, she can't tell she's singing really loud, so she busted the chorus out full volume. The poor kid just cannot sing, but she seriously believes she can (just like those cuckoo American Idol contestants). Where was my video camera????

Hap diddley appy birthdee, Peedo!

Ah, Justin! Justin, Justin, Justin. Where to start. Justin is so the life of the party. Wherever Justin is, fun follows. Somehow jokes that aren't funny are funny when he's around. Impersonations I've seen hundreds of times only get funnier each time I've seen them. It's a gift.

As Easter has just come and gone, I had occasion to relive a certain incident involving a doll's bonnet and plastic Easter eggs. What a classic moment in our lives. I also had occasion to relive a certain incident with the Nova and the Hanrion's street. Yes, he is spaztastic, but that's part of his charm, isn't it?

So Happy Birthday Justin. The man who punched a kid in the nose to save my Glow Worm in nursery. The man who threatened to flush my cabbage patch kid down the toilet if I told on him. He who is the reason I am still afraid of plastic snakes. The reason I got an A in Trig but simultaneously the reason I served my only detention in high school. That same man who laid under Adam's car at our wedding reception to tie cans to the undercarriage and later hid himself with Carter in the back seat so he could shock us when we drove away from the reception. What a riot. As brothers go, I couldn't be more blessed. Have a sup-iddley uper dee. We love you.

visitors...

Today, I walked outside to throw something in the trash and then back inside through the front door. Malia said, "Mom, open that door right now." "Why?" I asked. "Because Barbie and Repunzel are coming in." Oh, right...So, she stomped over to the door, opened it, and said quietly (to the imagnary Barbie and Repunzel), "it's okay, she's not mean, come in. Come on, come in."

And that was that. All righty then...

It's Raining Miracles!!

We got the house!! You know what that means?? Plenty of room for y'all to come and stay with us anytime. And, we have a pool! But that's not all. It gets better. Apparently, the house was appraised several months ago when the market was at its lowest point. So, the the house can only be sold at 340K instead of 375K which we were going to pay.

Somebody pinch me because I must still be dreaming. It's all so surreal!

Miracles Happen

So today was our Trial Setting Conference that Carol attended on our behalf. I got a voicemail from her asking me to call her immediately. When I called her office she was in a meeting and her office assistant let me know that Carol had left me that message a "while ago". Well excuse me for not keeping my phone next to me when I decide to take a nap! Carol's assistant asked if I could come in tomorrow at 1 p.m. Of course I said yes. Too bad I don't know what I'm coming in for.

3 hours later... I check my emails and Carol has sent me an email. Brace yourselves now, because I've got some exciting news. Justin agreed to the terms of the eval-- the terms that grant the move away and offer him the SAME custody I offered him in February of 2008 before he started this whole legal mess. $20K later, we are finally going to get what we have been asking/praying for. It looks as if Mackenzie and I will be joining Stephen and the boys in Arizona in June after Mackenzie finishes school.

Now, if only we had a house to move into...

I am grateful for the blessings that have been showered upon us recently, and for all of your prayers on our behalf. Thank you everyone!!

Why can't I wipe this retarded smile off my face??

Carter...

Three days later and this is what he looks like. He's not too happy about going to school like that either. I don't know why...he's probably a little celebrity. It's cool to have black eyes, right???

Spring Break Recap...

Spring break started off with a very early trip to san Jose where the kids competed in the State Destination Imagination competition. It was a fun day and the kids did a great job. We were all pleased that they placed well, but not high enough to go to the "global" competition which would have meant a trip to Tennessee...

Sunday, we headed off to Nana's house. We had a relaxing Monday spent with Elise. We walked to Popeye's and then Baskin Robbin's since there were too many of us to drive anywhere. It was quite a parade down the street but the kids loved it. Tuesday, we headed to California Adventure. It was an exhausting day! Jake and Carter discovered that they like roller coasters after all and went on everything! Nana and I hung with Malia in Bug land while Kristin took them on all the big kid rides. We didn't get to our hotel until 9:00 or so and dinner didn't arrive til 10:00.

The following day, we met our friends the Christophersons and the Wards and extended family for the beginning of a crazy day at Disneyland. They followed a schedule from a website that started at 8:00 in the morning. We were some of the first people in the park. We didn't stop running until 11:30 AM but we got on everything with little or no wait...folks, this is Disneyland, on SPRING BREAK and we really didn't wait more than 10 minutes for anything. We went our separate ways at lunchtime and met up later for some more fun. Kristin and nana took Bella and Malia home so the big kids and I could play. We rolled up to Nana's house at 12:35 AM. Those kids walked their little legs off!

Jake and I rode Autopia together. He was a pretty crazy driver. But we had plenty of time to take pictures since there was some car trouble up ahead of us and we had to wait for a few minutes until help arrived.

And, Easter wouldn't be Easter without an insane amount of easter eggs and candy. The kids had an Easter Egg hunt at Nana's...28 eggs each. Seriously crazy. They had a great time finding all the eggs with "baby Aurora" who my kids adore. Brett was a good sport spotting all the ones we missed...

A good time was had by all...the only mishaps the whole week were...Carter puking all over MY PILLOW in the car 1/2 mile from Nana's house at almost 1:00 in the morning after a full two days of walking our legs off. I should've expected it because he always eats too much junk and then throws it up...but I was annoyed at having to clean up barf at 1:00 in the morning. Oh, and then there's Carter's whole little mishap with the dresser...pretty sure the dresser won.

13 stitches later...Carter was just like new. Well, almost. Thanks to Nana's connections, we got right in the ER (it might've helped that Carter was bleeding everywhere) and seen by a guy who Kristin and I were in the single's ward with. I didn't recognize him, but we got to chatting and I discovered I know his wife. Carter laid so still during the stitches that I thought he was asleep. We had an enjoyable visit, got to see pictures of the Doc's kids, and were back to Easter dinner before we knew it.

How's that for a recap???

My Family Went to Disneyland Without Me and Left Me at Home By Myself to do Really Really Hard Work: DAY 5

Since it is apparent that there is no way I'll finish this job before Michelle and the kids return from going to Disneyland without me (and leaving me at home by myself to do really really hard work), per Michelle's request, I'll try to finish off the kitchen area before getting to the entry way and bathroom, so she can have her precious dishwasher and oven. Seriously, what do you need those for when you've got two hands, a sink and a microwave? 

Anyway, like a good husband, I'll do as requested. All I had left to tile was the permiter of the kitchen and eating area, and I got halfway around on Day 5. Hopefully on Day 6 I'll finish tiling the area (minus the pantry), will grout on Saturday, and seal it on Monday or Tuesday (sorry Michelle - you'll be a few days without the appliances, since the grout needs to cure for 2-3 days before it's all sealed, but we'll get 'em in sooner rather than later).

The Eagle has landed

So I spoke with my attorney's office today and they have, in their possession, Dr. Harshman's 100 page report. They haven't read it, and I work the next 3 business days so I can't go to
their office and read it til sometime next week. I don't know about you, but the suspense just might kill me.

I'll let y'all know when I know what that freakin thing says. But for now, I think we should just hug.

My Family Went to Disneyland Without Me and Left Me at Home By Myself to do Really Really Hard Work: DAYs 3 and 4

On Day 3 I managed to lay another 25 tiles, filling out the eating area and tiling around the kitchen island.

I took a day off work on Day 4 so I could spend the day tiling. I ended up the day cutting tiles, leveling the bathroom floor and pulling up a tile that broke because I didn't have any thinset under a corner (no, I haven't made that mistake again). I didn't lay any tiles today, which is a bit of a disappointment. But with all these cuts done, hopefully tomorrow after work I can lay a ton of tiles and knock out the rest of the kitchen.

My Family Went to Disneyland Without Me and Left Me at Home By Myself to do Really Really Hard Work: DAY 2

No new pictures to post, since I didn't lay any tile yesterday. I spent my afternoon going grocery shopping (so I don't put on a full 20 lbs this week eating nothing but fast food), getting my new wet tile saw working (after putting it together on Day 1, it just smashed up the tiles, instead of cutting them, but then I figured out that I installed the blade incorrectly, so all is well), weeding out some of the ugly tiles from the 70 cases I bought, and cutting a bunch of tiles for laying on day 3.

My Family Went to Disneyland Without Me and Left Me at Home By Myself to do Really Really Hard Work: DAY 1

So I’m tiling our downstairs entryway, eating area and kitchen with some beautiful 18”x18” travertine tile, which I recently bought for a pretty good price. The plan for the past couple of months has been to finish the tiling by the time Michelle returns from spring break vacation with the kids. That means I’ve got to get it done this week. Because of some setbacks, I’m a little behind schedule, but finally moving forward.

To give you some background first, I’ve spent the past few weeks getting the concrete slab prepared for the travertine tile. That included removing carpet (piece of cake), a small section of tile (not that fun, but not too terribly difficult), and removing linoleum (linoleum is THE DEVIL!!). A couple weeks ago I was complaining to Michelle about how hard it is to remove the linoleum, and told her it’s taking so long I didn’t think I’d be able to get the tile job done by the time she gets back from vacation. I had taken 2 days to gouge off like 3 square feet of linoleum, and I was really discouraged (the concrete slab may or may not bear numerous scars of abuse as I pounded at it in frustration with my scraper blade). So after my whining spout I came home from work the next day and found that Michelle had finished off the entire kitchen. Those of you who know Michelle well could probably see that one coming. Now I’m not a prideful man, so I only felt like a little bit of a jack@$$. When Michelle’s determined to get something done, she gets it done, and NOW. (Because she can’t stand clutter and chaos, every time we move, she has the entire house unpacked within 2 days.)

Of course, with the linoleum up, I still had to scrape up all the glue, which took about a week, but I finally got it done. Because the slab isn’t perfectly flat, I then decided to use a self leveling compound (“slc”) over the entire 350+ square feet of floor that I’ll be tiling over. The principal behind the slc is, you pour it, and it finds its own level, flowing to the low spots, to give you a totally flat surface. So last Thursday evening we poured the compound, with Michelle and Jake mixing it for me while I poured. (Michelle didn’t care too much for that job. Jake didn’t mind – he got $5 for an hour’s work. Maybe Michelle was upset about not getting any money herself. I offered to pay her in “other services”, but she declined. Go figure.) After it was done, we had to hide out upstairs while the stuff hardened. I came down to see how it looked at around 11 pm, and found that IT DID NOT LEVEL ITSELF!!! The stuff was completely uneven, with high and low spots all over the place, way worse than the concrete slab had been. There was no way I could tile over that. I wanted to cry (FYI, the only times I cry is when Bruce Willis sacrifices himself to save the earth by shoving Ben Affleck into the elevator thingy in Armageddon, and when Eddie saves the planet from total destruction by flying his plane into the alien spacecraft in Independence Day). After my well-earned 20 minutes of despair and self-pity, wondering how I’m ever going to get this tiling job done now, I started tearing the stuff off by breaking it up with a sledge hammer. Six hours later, having taken up about 15% of the stuff, I finally called it quits a little after 5 am, took a shower, and went to sleep for 2 hours (with my sore and no-longer-functional hands clenched in front of my chest like an invalid) before going to work. On Friday after work I rented a chisel hammer and used that to tear up the rest of the slc crap (CBP’s LevelQuick is also the DEVIL), finally finishing on Saturday afternoon.

So I got the project back to the state it was in before the self leveling nightmare, filled in a couple low spots to give me a more even surface, and was ready to start laying tile on Sunday afternoon. At the end of Day 1 (Sunday), here is what I have accomplished:


Not much, but it’s a start. Hopefully I’ll be close to done by the time Michelle and the kids return next week, so Michelle can once again enjoy those totally non-essential luxuries she so desperately depends on (i.e., oven, refrigerator and dishwasher).

Rick

H to the BD, Bunner!

Seriously, how do you not love this kid? Every time I talk to Matty I remember how much I miss living near him. And why do we love him? Celebrity Jeopardy at his mission farewell for starters. Anyone who can work "canteen boy" into a sacrament talk is a rock star in my book. In fact, because you're so darned loveable Matty, I'm going to make you a CD of all your favorite Christmas songs from when you worked in that warehouse/ stock room at BYU. Yep. My pleasure. Don't even think of thanking me. Oh, and since I haven't told you in a very long time, you're pretty. You're a girl you know. Just go ahead and explain again to Kathy about your gender confused roommate. A la la la la la la. I wish I could surprise you with balloons in the library like you did for me but alas, I'll just have to call you and serenade you on your voicemail to remind you how much you love me...er...i mean how much we love you.
And it's not just me. Babies love him.

Kids love him.

Lisa loves him, even if he does call her Trebek...

And you know you love him to. So go ahead and tell him. Come on. Birthday posts are my favorite because you all always come through on these. Let the hilarity begin!

Life lesson learned...

When we lived at UCLA, I remember Ginger (Judy's sister) saying something about how she had refused to let a pediatrician do some test or something on one of her children. For some reason, it had never occurred to me until then that you can say no to a doctor. You are the parent or the patient and you have the right to decide what's best for you (or your child). Well, today I went to the endodontist. I think this is like my 6th appointment trying to get a root canal done. (Not that I want it, by the way, just that it needs to be done). Anyhow, I had a change in insurance half way though and had to start over again. I'm tired of going to consultations so I can wait another four weeks, go to another consult, wait four weeks (for insurance approval) and then get the procedure. So today, I had an early appointment. You all may no mornings are not my forte. The dentist took an x-ray, looked at it, poked around in my mouth a bit and said, "You need a root canal." Thank you. Next. Then he got out this little stick with ice on the end of it and said he was going to put it on the cavity to see if I am sensitive to hot and cold. I said, "Absolutely not." (I had already explained to him my teeth are sensitive to hot and cold and there was no reason to test that theory on an already hurting tooth). He said, "No, it's not for pain, it's just to test sensitivity." Excellent. The answer is still "No." He seemed surprised that I was still resisting and even more surprised when he said it would just take a second and my response was still, "NO." He got mad, took off his gloves and threw them down, and said, "Unbelievable." Then he walked out.

Now people, if someone says to you, let me just take this sharp knife and cut your arm a little bit to see if it bleeds. Not a big cut, just a little one. Are you going to let them do that? ME NEITHER. Then why should I let him put ice on my tooth? I SHOULDN'T. Unfortunately, I don't have a choice as to who the specialist is and I hear he is very good, so I'm still going to have to go back. BUT, he did give me a presciption for valuum (sp?) WITH a refill. Apparently he thinks I'm high strung or something...