12.23.2009

holiday cheer.

i got to spend the last couple of days with my sister and her family. i always have an enjoyable time with them, regardless of what we do. ninety-nine percent of the time, what we plan and what we do are polar opposites. that is most of the fun...all the uncertainty. during the time i spent with them, i kept thinking that i would have to make a top five or ten list of the best parts from the short amount of time. and now, as i sit here, ready to write...i can't remember all the things i thought could go on that list. oh well. i will give it a go and see where it takes us.

number one: we (as in my sister and i) were discussing with jesse (my nephew) all of the names he could go by. you see, jesse is his middle name. so he could use his first name, his initials or what he goes by now. and then, out of nowhere, he said, "or columbus." like it was totally normal to want to be called columbus. that kid is a riot and a half, i tell ya.

number two: malcolm (yes, in the middle) was watching me as i was getting ready. i was putting on make-up and he was watching (this is a little ritual we have had since he was a wee-little-lad). most of the time, he thinks it's funny when i run the brush across his cheek, but this time, he knew that make-up was for girls and not for boys. he picked up some eye shadow and asked what it was and i told him it was for my eyes and he asked if he could have some. i reminded him of what he pointed out earlier, that make-up was for girls. he then promptly set down the shadow and ran upstairs. a couple of minutes later, he showed up with his little sister, insisting that she wanted "some of the eye stuff" on her eyes. i couldn't help but giggle.

number three: in-n-out. last summer (2008), my family took a vacation to scottsdale, arizona. the resort that we stayed at was right near an in-n-out burger. during that trip, a tradition was started...the tradition is this--if there is an in-n-out nearby, we must abuse our ability to drive there, order food, eat it and repeat. like...i'm not even kidding. abuse. anyway, recently, an in-n-out opened up near my sister's house in the salt lake valley and you better believe that we ate there. but now we show greater restraint. we only ate there once. and it was amazing.

number four: taking the kids to wal-mart during a pretty busy time. mind you, the middle child had not taken a nap and is a gru-uh-mpy bear without one. i ran to grab some a couple of things and was going to meet back up with my sister and the kids. as i was walking to find her, i could hear this horrible crying/screaming and couldn't help but giggle. i knew it was little malcolm having a melt down. i was again separated from the group and proceeded to find them by listening for malcolm crying...and it worked. not that i think it's funny that he had a melt down at wal-mart...i just think it's funny that we were "that family."

number five: while i was drying my hair, malcolm came in and saw that i was listening to my ipod. he insisted that he get to listen, too. he held the little ear bud to his ear and started bopping his head. he then held the ear bud to his sister's ear, but he wouldn't let her listen long. i tried to change the song to something a little more upbeat and he asked me to change it back...wanna know what we were listening to? what he wanted me to change it back to? jay nash. that kid has some taste. (i'm gonna train one of them...i don't care which one...to love the music i love--if it's the last thing i do.)

number six: getting to help with being a "room mother" for jesse's class. we did holiday relays with his first grade class. and, while it was fun and funny, i was reminded why i chose not to be a teacher. especially an elementary teacher.

number seven: malcolm was sitting on my lap and for some reason, he started biting my fingers and hand. at first it was funny and i was messing around with him, letting him bite me and then i would shove my hand into his mouth so he couldn't really bite. i knew this wasn't going to end well, and well...it didn't. he then turned and bit my upper arm and it hurt...like really hurt. my natural reaction was to smack his back, which caused some crying. i had to apologize to him and we discussed the situation. turns out, he bit me harder than i thought...i have two lovely (and very black and blue) bruises in the shape of teeth on my arm. no more play biting, i guess.

well...that's all, i guess.
here is a picture for good measure.

me and my babies.

2 comments:

  1. They are so lucky to have you close by! We miss you! And your lucky to have them near. I miss hanging out with you and kris, and having our kids fight each other, and come out to us with scratches and bite marks. Sounds like you get the bite marks now (ha,ha). Anyway, Merry Christmas!! Miss you loads!!

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  2. i love this...just so jealous we are not closer to our aunti chelle! ;)

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