more pics for the fam

reunion

inspections

This was so funny. I had to do apartment inspections today, so I put up a notice yesterday letting everybody know I'd be coming into their apt between 10a-12p. I ring the doorbell on 114 and knock and wait just like I do on all the other apartments. No one answered. I unlock the door with the master key, open it just slightly and holler, "It's emily, are you guys here?" I step in and holler the same thing a little louder just in case they are in the back and didn't hear the doorbell. Nothing. I open a few closets. I'm looking for leaks from showers or toilets in the units above. These leaks always show up in closets. Anyway, I'm snooping about and notice their bedroom door is closed, in fact all the hallway doors are closed. I knock on the bedroom door and nothing. (alright, i'm just being paranoid...they're at work) I slowly open the door and step into the room just in time to hear a wierd sort of snort-flutter from the bed in the corner. Yep, there they were. Kristy and Ricky sacked out in bed at 11:20 am. No, they weren't naked or anything. That would have made for a better (albeit more terrifying) story, but thankfully they were just snoozing like bricks. I turned around, shut the door and ran out. Inspection complete.

The Showdown

Hold on to your hats, folks. It's gonna be one bumpy ride. My nemisis is back on the scene. This time with the wildly popualr "I'm suing you for a fake fall that happened a year and a half ago." That's right, this week, white trash sammy filed a lawsuit against our company for a slip and fall she claimed happened in March 05. My guess is she's run out of money from the other pending lawsuits, or maybe she lost...I hope, and she is looking for an easy score. I wish I could publish the 2 full pages of detailed notes on the period of time in March 05. So shady. More to come....

The anal-retentive child

How on earth did I end up with and anal-retentive child? No clue. But each day that passes confirms my suspicions about little Owen. Let me explain. Tonight i was helping sophie write her talk for Father's day. (she has to speak with 4 other primary children in sacrament meeting) and Owen was cranky and tired so i said he should just go lay down on the couch and try to fall asleep. We went back to typing thinking he'd ramble over and literally crash on the couch. A few minutes later sophie and i looked over and saw that he was making a bed by situating his spider man blanket on the couch with a pillow on one end just like we do with visitors. Then he laid down like sleeping beauty with the blanket up to his armpits and his hands directly at his side looking straight up to the ceiling. The whole time we're at the table giggling because he's so funny. Then he gets up. Apparently something isn't quite right. He walks around the room looking for more stuff and then decides to make me a bed on the floor. He brings out a sheet another blanket and more pillows. Ten minutes later my bed is complete and he focuses back on his bed. He finally discovers that he needs to tuck the blanket into the cushions so it won't move around, brings another blanket to lay on top of that one and resumes the sleeping beauty position. It must have been right that time because as he lay there looking at the ceiling he quitely dropped into slumber. No word yet whether it will take his true love's kiss to wake him in the morning.

Here's the New Soph

A few days ago she asked me if we could cut her hair. I was not really into it because i like her long hair. But then she kept talking about it and i remembered the Locks of Love segment on the Today Show. They're an organization that takes hair donations and makes them into wigs for children with cancer. We looked up the website and got the information about it. They require a minimum 10 inch ponytail and when we measured Sophie's hair and it was pretty much exactly 10 inches at the base of her neck. It would have to be pretty short. But she said she wanted to do it so we made an appointment with our hair girl and this is how it ended up. She was so nervous on the drive up and when we left the salon she was a little freaked out at just how short it was. But I think she's starting to get used to it now. We went to the mall and got her some new earrings and some hair clips and made a quick stop at the Sweet Factory.

I'm not a crazy LA mom, I swear.

Owen and i pulled up in front of a copy shop on our way to meet some friends and he looked at the window and said, "look mom, X-A-X." I looked and said oh, yeah, except that's an F, it says ffff. and i go to park and he says
f-a-x, fa-x, fax! it's fax, mom. I coudn't believe it. He read the word fax all by himself. What a big boy!

He knows the sounds of the letters and will look at words and say each letter sound seperately but this is the first he's blended the word to make sense all on his own. So, of course, when we came home I wrote down a bunch of words to see if it was a fluke. Like pot, cat, hat, etc. He was able to sound them out, too. I can't believe it. The surprising things kids do.

call for submissions

I'd love to hear your ideas. The three of us are going to be home all summer and i'm banning the TV except for one movie at night. So for a little something different i've decided to put together a netflix list of some good classic films that my kids have never seen or haven't seen in awhile. The Wizard of Oz and Annie will be on the list. We own them both and haven't watched them in a very long time. My sister's kids watch the Unsinkable Molly Brown and they love it. Might have to check that one out too. So, what were some of your favorite movies when you were a kid?

Science Fair

Sophie's project was one of three chosen from her class to be in the Science Fair. She and another friend did their project together and they decided to see which brand of crayon melted the fastest when put under heat. They had to have pictures of them doing their work which was hilarious because Sophie is pointing in every single one as if she's working and not really posing for a picture. It was cute and they were really excited to be picked.

time warp--a constant theme.

I was the oldest person at our girls night out/dinner party tonight. Of the 5 girls I was the only one with kids. The runner up is prego with twins. It was a very wierd experience because I am usually among the youngest, dang it. I also realized, as i close in on that 31st birthday of mine, that my mother had her 5th child before she turned 31 and had adopted a 10 year old somewhere inbetween all of those kids. At my age she was the mother of 6 ranging from 10 to infant.

I think and write about this a lot. Time marching on, the kids growing up. Me growing old and getting wrinkles, Doug growing old and getting all hunchy and slow. We just bought a bunch of life insurance and are getting our living wills together. It's crazy. And I am a bit obsessed. Must be the aging community around us. Every lonely widow or elderly woman couple walking her slow, hunchy husband around the block was 30 once. Just like me.