The World Traveler...that wouldn't be me

Well, I'm insanely jealous of where Trevor is for "work" this week--Barcelona, Spain. I say "work" because it isn't really work at all. I guess one of the perks of being a geologist in the company that he works for is that he gets to go on a geology field trip once a year. This is not riding on an old rundown school bus kind of field trip, people. They stay in really nice hotels, and they run around in the hills and look at rocks all day. Not only does he get to go somewhere cool, but he gets to choose where he wants to go. Last year, I made him choose somewhere completely uncool so that wouldn't be jealous. But this year, I'm totally jealous. He left yesterday and is going to be gone for 8 days. I kept holding out hope that he was going to pull out a ticket for me, too. I kept dropping all sorts of hints that it would be the BEST surprise ever if he took me with him. He's a little slow on taking those hints, I guess. But he said IS taking me with him next year. He's choosing between Ireland and France...nice! He just found out that he's going to Brazil next month. So, my husband, is being the world traveller that I have always wanted to be. I guess I will just have to live vicariously through his adventures for a while.

Pleasantly Surprised...

Well, I make no bones about saying how much I hate Walmart. It's just not my favorite place. I avoid going there at all costs. I've always disliked it a little bit, but since moving to where I live, my dislike has grown tremendously. I don't know what it is, oh wait, yes I do. It's probably due the fact that the Walmarts by my house are old and disgusting. The parking lot smells like fried food (yuck!) and it's filthy. Oh, and I feel like there's a risk of getting mugged. Now, I don't live in the ghetto. But the city I live in does not zone. So you can have a really nice, family-friendly neighborhood right next to a porn shop, or really creepy apartments, etc. Hence, there are scary people at Walmart!

But, given all the reasons I hate Walmart, I also am a sucker for a good deal. So, I find myself there once in a while to get some grocery shopping done. Well, yesterday I finally had some free time to get to the grocery store. Both kiddos had napped and were happy, so it was ideal. But as I pulled into the parking lot of the big W, I felt the dread wash over me. I'm muttering under my breath, "I HATE this place, why do I come here?" I was also in a quandary about which child would ride in the cart and how I was going to get out of there as quickly and painlessly as possible. I was debating whether or not I should leave the baby in her carseat or just carry her in. The first option didn't seem feasible because I needed Holly to ride in the cart as well, and there wasn't room for her, the baby's carseat with the baby in it, and food, too. What to do, what to do. Well, I took the baby out of her carseat, took Holly by the hand, and we headed into the store with the plan of putting the baby in the front of the cart and letting Holly run loose (which is usually a nightmare). We got through the parking lot and into the front door, and there it was...the answer to my problem. Walmart had a new kind of grocery cart for someone just like me. It was a normal-sized cart, with a baby seat in the front on the right side and the regular seat next to it for Holly. I couldn't believe my luck. Finally, a grocery cart that makes sense! (I usually steer clear of the grocery carts with the baby seats because they usually look disgusting, but these looked pretty clean, and hey, I was desperate!)

So, short story made very long. We survived our trip to Walmart. We were in and out in no time, no tantrums occurred (by me or the kids), and our fridge is now nicely stocked for the next week or two. So, maybe I won't dig my heels in everytime I have to brave Walmart. Or maybe I will...either way, I'm sure I'll go back, and I'll be grateful for that grocery cart that at least makes my kids more manageable.

Choices

Okay, so I'm really excited that I booked our airfare to come to Utah for Christmas. We haven't been home for Christmas for the past two years. Last year, we stayed here because I was too pregnant to fly; and the year before, we stayed because my family wanted to come to our house. So, pray for snow this winter because we are coming to bask in it!

So, the past few months we have been pricing tickets and trying to find some that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. The airlines really stick it to you at Christmas time (really, would you like my first born child, too?!) Because the prices were hanging around $500 per ticket (and we are buying FOUR tickets now people), we were seriously considering driving. In fact, we had decided to drive. But every time we thought about two straight days of driving with three kids, we would get nauseous....literally. It's not a pleasant experience. Well, we finally found some reasonable tickets on Frontier for about $300 each...not bad--but not a direct flight. We have to stop in Denver, which is a risk in winter due to snow. (So please pray for NO snow on Dec. 21st.) Well, Trevor went ahead and looked at prices through Continental, which is a direct flight. They were $500 more, and we would get there a day later. To me, it was a no-brainer. Save $500, get an extra day of vacation, and take the risk of the snow in denver. But Trevor was really pushing for the direct flight. Come on, would you pay $500 more to have a flight that is two hours shorter? Granted, flying with kids is NOT fun. But it's much better than 24 hours in the car...am I right? So I booked the Frontier flight. I don't know about you, but I can think of million ways to spend that extra $500 and NOT on a direct flight. So, now I ask you...what would you do given the same choice???

In Memoriam of...The Gilmore Girls

I know this is extremely old news, but I have to have a moment of silence for the Gilmore Girls. They gave us 7 wonderful, funny, fast-talking seasons of enjoyment. For those out there who don't know who these people are, I say shame on you! Really, this was one of the funniest shows on tv. The characters were so quirky and witty. The dialog so smart and word-y. The setting was so picturesque, it made me want to take a trip to the imaginary town of Star's Hollow. When my brother started med school at Yale, I actually had the thought, "oh, maybe he'll run into Rory." (I know, she's just a character.) So, as the Fall lineup of new shows and seasons start next week, I will be thinking about the lack of Lorelai's on tv. Goodbye girls, you will be missed!

No new material...

I don't know about you guys, but as I move through my week some things happen and I immediately think "I'm going to blog about that!" But this week, I feel like I've been living in a whirlwind. With school in session, I feel busier than ever. So, yesterday, Trevor saw that I had been reading blogs, and he immediately gets this excited look on his face and says "Did you update your blog?" And, of course, I had to say "No, I've got nothin'!" Nothing exciting or funny to blog about. No funny new pictures to post. No new milestones to record. So excuse the random thoughts that I am about to blog about.
So part of the reason why I feel much busier is because I have recently acquired addtional piano students. All last year, I had 10 students. Over the summer I lost four of them due to them moving away. And summer tends to be pretty light anyway because people are out of town, etc. So as school was approaching, all the sudden my phone kept ringing with new people wanting to start piano. I've never EVER advertised that I teach piano. It all started with my friend asking me to teach her daughter. And it has just spread by word of mouth. I think piano teachers must be few and far between here in good ole Texas. And I just have a hard time saying no. (Does anyone relate?) So I've gone from 6 students to 13. And I am definitely at my limit! I'm going to have to say no if anyone else calls. Trevor thinks I'm crazy for saying yes the last couple of times. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but when you have three little ones running around unsupervised during lessons (one of them being 7 months old), it can be a tad bit stressful. Don't worry the baby is supervised...it's just the other two......
I try to make it the Y every day so I can get some exercise. But things like sick kids, doctor's appointments, playgroups, church activities, etc tend to creep into our schedule as well. Yesterday, I had a dentist appointment in the morning. After I put Grace on the bus, the other girls and I went to the dentist. (Yes, I had to take them with me because all my babysitters are back to school as well!) But, thankfully, they were very well behaved. After that was over, we decided to surprise Grace and have lunch with her at school. This is a tradition we started last year. We would always have lunch with her on Fridays. We probably won't do it every week this year, but we still like to go sometimes. They have a special parent's table set up, so it's really fun for the kids. After our lunch date, I decided I didn't want to go home yet. So, we headed to one of my favorite places for some shopping therapy. Target. Need I say more? I had nothing that I needed. I just wanted to go and wander the aisles and see what there was to see. (Can you tell that I have been cooped up in my house a little too much lately?) Right now they have some really cute stuff in their dollar section. And I also found some cute new Sunday shoes, and some new shirts and a skirt. Yeah! Nothing can put me in a good mood better than Target (or Costco) when I need to get out of the house! So, there, that's it, I'm done with my random ramblings. I hope everyone out there has had a great week!

Watch out! Here comes Trouble...

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I took these videos a few nights ago. Baby K is officially 7 months old. And she is major trouble! Since the video was taken, she now can pull herself up to a full standing position. She gets very disgruntled when I put her in her "cage." Yes, a few weeks ago I bought a play yard to help keep her contained and to give me a little sanity. But, I tell you, she's figured it out. Even though there is PLENTY of space to crawl, she gets mad when you put her into it. She wants to be free to crawl wherever her little heart desires. I'm not ready for this! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was in the hospital delivering her? They grow up way too fast.

This picture is for Grandma-Shell. These are the kilts she brought to my girls all the way from Scotland! They looked so cute today at church in their matching kilts and mary janes. (And yes, H's shirt is severely wrinkled. Maybe next time I'll iron it!)
Well, these are my cute kids. I'm not biased or anything! :) Last night, as Trevor and I were driving home from a date, we were waiting in traffic because there was a train. We were discussing the appropriate amount to pay the babysitter. We usually pay our babysitters around $6 an hour. We were jokingly saying, "but our kids are so stinkin' cute...there's gotta be a cute child discount, right?" In our boredom (waiting for the train), we calculated that we pay 10 cents per minute, and then we broke it down even further and figured out that is about 3.3 cents per child per minute. That sounds pretty cheap! So, needless to say, we did not ask for the cute kid discount. They are worth every penny!

It Starts....

Well, we got through an entire week of school, and I already have a kid home from school sick. I'm beginning to have flashbacks of our first week of Kindergarten. Last year, after three days of school G came home with pink-eye. And from that point forward, it started a string of absences. Poor G's immune system just took a beating. Between September and December, I think she missed school 11 times. I even got the dreaded letter from the school district stating that if G missed many more days, she would have to repeat Kindergarten. What? They can make them take Kindergarten again?! Come on...she's a smart kid. She wasn't behind at all...but none the less, sickness was a regular occurrence. But it got better, after Christmas, we had a string of wellness. I was ecstatic! I would notice how healthy all of us were (probably because we were all home with a new baby and going nowhere, and washing hands a lot), but of course, me being the superstitious person that I am, whenever I would have those thoughts I would put them immediately out of my head and never utter the words out loud for fear that it would jinx us. Let's just say that we knock on wood a lot around here!
Anyway, I'm really hoping that this is not foreshadowing of what is to come this school year. I hate it when she misses school. I get all bent out of shape because of what it does to our routine and schedule. How selfish of me...but I was really looking forward to some good workouts at the Y this week. They were closed all last week for cleaning, and I ate WAY too much this weekend. And you all know about the M&Ms...so clearly I need to workout! So, get well soon G! By the way....what is she sick with, you ask? Pink Eye and a really bad cold. Do you see a pattern forming here?