Happiness is...

Do you remember the song "Happiness" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown?

Out of nowhere this song popped into my head the other day.  It's such a great song that I immediately started teaching/singing it to Adam.

I got as far as "happiness is two kinds of ice cream" before Adam interrupted me.

"Mom," he said, "Thomas and I are two kinds of ice cream.  I'm, you know, like, pink strawberry ice cream that's careful.  And he's chocolate that's messy and runs alllll over the place."

I laughed, and had to agree.

Special - today only: Two, two, two Adamisms for the price of one!

We just got home from watching Rio, and may I say that was a great movie.  Incredibly beautiful animation, funny, moved quickly.

In case you haven't seen it, it the storyline centers around two blue macaws named Jewel and Blue.  Jewel is a no-nonsense, take charge kind of bird.  Adam observed the following:

"Mom, Jewel doesn't take anyone being mean.  She'd beat the tuna fish outta them.  I didn't wanna say a bad word so I said tuna fish instead of, like, crap."


------

We had just stopped at  a Latin market to pick up some platinos maduros for Sunday dinner.  I was speaking to the cashier in (limited) Spanish.  Walking out the door I thought to myself, "Maybe Adam can take Spanish in school and then he can teach me and we can speak together."  Let me stress that this was a thought,  not a verbalized idea.  Out of seemingly nowhere, we have the following conversation.

Adam:  Actions speak louder than words, right?
Me: That's true, Adam (wondering where this is going).
Adam: Yeah, so I think I should learn sign language.   



...Pienso que seré la única persona para hablar español en mi casa.

Interview with an Adam (re-visited)

Mom and Dad
as described by Adam Hooten, age 8 (almost nine)

1. What is something Mommy always says?
"I think that you always say that video games are bad for you."

2. What makes Mommy happy?
“Getting a good present for Mother's Day like a good thought-up card like I'm probably gonna do this year."

3. What makes Mommy sad?

"Well, I know that Dora (the Explorer) makes you crazy mad."

4. How does your Mom make you laugh?
"Your jokes, like...What's green and has wheels?  Grass. I was kidding about the wheels."

5. What was your Mom like as a child?
Why do you ask these questions?"

6. How old is your Mom?
"Thirty-seven." (Good boy, I like that you think I'm younger than I am.
7. How tall is your Mom?
I don't know.  'Round five feet.  (Ummm.... nope, taller.)
8. What is your Mom's favorite thing to do?
“Be with Daddy."
9. What does Mom do when you’re not around?
“Watch the boys.”
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
“You would set the record for setting the record of watching the two danger-boys.”
11. What is your Mom really good at?
“Super Mario World.” (That's what he said last year.  I don't think I've even played it since before then).
12. What is your Mom not good at?
"Napping 'cause of the two little boys."

13. What does Mom do for her job?
“You type.”
14. What is Mom's favorite food?
“Jim's Family Diner.” (Uhhh, no.)
15. What makes you proud of your Mom?
“Watching me, Thomas, and Max at the very same time.”
16. If your Mom were a cartoon character who would she be?
“Well, this is on the Super-Mario World series, you know, TV.  The Amazing Flying Hammer Brother.”
17. What do you and your Mom do together?
“Watch the boys.”
18. How are you and your Mom the same?
“Our lips.  We have the same lips.”
19. How are you and your Mom different?
“I have no idea.  Oh, you're older and I'm younger.”
20. How do you know your Mom loves you?
“You show it with hugs.”
----------------------------------------------------
1.What is something Daddy always says?
“I don't know what Daddy says.”
2. What makes Daddy happy?
“A good present for Father's Day like new ties."
3. What makes Daddy sad?
“What I described for you.”
4. How does your Dad make you laugh?
“Daddy makes me laugh when he laughs."
5. What was your Dad like as a child?
“Hmm.  I have no idea.”
6. How old is your Dad?
“Forty-one."
7. How tall is your Dad?
"Around six feet."

8. What is your Dad's favorite thing to do?
“Spend time with his family."

9. What does Dad do when you’re not around?
“Watch the boys with mom or work."
10. If your Dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
“The messiest office."
11. What is your Dad really good at?
“Let's see...I don't know.  I thought and thought but I don't know.”
12. What is your Dad not good at?
“Watching kids shows with me and Thomas."
13. What does Dad do for his job?
“Electronics."

14. What is Dad's favorite food?
"How about Easter dinner?  That's my guess."

15. What makes you proud of your Dad?
“Being so nice to me, and Thomas, and Max."
16. If your Dad were a cartoon character who would he be?
“He would be more like Shaggy 'cause Shaggy's trying to shave and he's trying to grow a beard.  And he gets little hairs on his face like dad.  And Daddy also has that blondish-color hair.  And he's tall, like Shaggy."

17. What do you and your Dad do together?
“Daddy-son dates."
18. How are you and your Dad the same?
“Blonde hair."
19. How are you and your Dad different?
“I have no glasses."
20. How do you know your Dad loves you?
“He hugs me and kisses me."

Good day sunshine!

When I was younger, I hated living in Florida.  I hated the heat.  I hated the humidity.  I hated the lack of seasons.  I hated the bugs - the flying, biting, crawling, disgusting bugs.

After spending the last nine days there, I no longer hate Florida.  I still hate the bugs (ten mosquitoes, thank you very much for feasting on me).  I don't hate the heat, the humidity, or the lack of seasons.  Actually, the heat was lovely.  The humidity was refreshing.  I wouldn't know about the lack of seasons, but I could live with visiting snow rather than shoveling it.

Also, I didn't realize how culinarily deprived I've been.  I mean, I knew but I didn't fully realize it.

Have you ever read the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle?  Just in case you haven't, it describes the eating adventures of a caterpillar as he works his way through a variety of foods on his journey to become a butterfly. 

I feel like I ate my way through Boca Raton.  I ate every food I missed - corned beef on rye with mustard, bagels and lox, kasha knish, real jewish pickles, cuban lechon asado, moro rice, plantains, and amazing garlic knots.  And it was alllll delicious.  And I am still full.  And I did not become a butterfly.

I also got to shop at my favorite grocery store:  

 and brought home some of my favorite brownies from that store.  My kids love them.

I got to have dinner with this great guy:

(who drove two hours just to have dinner with his daughter).  And he drove two hours again just to have dinner with me at his house and take me to the airport.  My dad is a wonderful man.

I got to see this (up close and personal-like):

and buy souvenirs for my kids.

Okay, I did buy them souvenirs but I did not buy them alligator parts.  Not that they wouldn't have liked it.

I got to have dinner (and lunch) with great friends - the Goots and Marsha & Dom.  

As truly wonderful as all of the above was, the best part was serving Hiram, my step-dad.  Hiram has been part of my life since I was two years old.  He's the whole reason I went to Florida.  He was diagnosed with Stage I prostate cancer, and I went to be with him for his prostatectomy.  It's always an amazing opportunity to serve one of the parents who gave so much of themselves to me.  Hiram has been one of my parents for (almost) as long as I can remember.  And I had the opportunity to serve him and give to him.  I went to the pre-op appointment with him, waited at the hospital during his surgery, cared for his dog during his recovery, cooked some freezer meals for him, and cleaned the house a little.  

Our relationship is stronger for it, and I am better for it.  Thank you, Hiram, for allowing me to be there for you in your time of need.

And when I returned I came back to a colder, wetter Utah.  And while I am so happy to see my husband and kids, the sunshine still beckons.

Hope to see you again soon Florida.

And my kids are bickering.  Vacation...officially...over.

Got to have a little faith, faith, faith. I gotta have faith-uh, faith-- faith.

Best line George Michael ever warbled.

Yesterday was plain awful.  I was reminded of how fragile everything is, how everything we've worked toward can becomee undone just like that.  And I was reminded (once again) of the more important lesson of how very merciful God is. 

In early January our medical benefits got canceled due to a misunderstanding on Michael's part about some paperwork he needed to turn in.  We turned in an appeal and we were told that it shouldn't be a problem to have the benefits reinstated once the error was fixed.  And yesterday our appeal was denied.  We were told we could appeal again but that the decision was highly unlikely to be overturned.  This news made me sick to my stomach.

See, we NEED our benefits.  We use them every single week.  We use them for Frankie's therapy, for her maintenance meds, for my maintenance meds, for a growing baby who has to have shots and checkups more often.  I mean, we really use our benefits.  Frankie has therapy twice a week.  Adam has therapy once a week.  We have family therapy 2-3 times per week.  We really, really use our benefits.  And because we were confident that our benefits would be reinstated once the paperwork issue got sorted out, we have really, really used our benefits over the past three months while this whole mess was being sorted out.  We have used probably close to $15,000 worth of benefits already this year.  And we were again, confident,  those bills would be paid retroactively by our insurance provider once this whole mess was straightened out.  We were confident in the reassurances about said reinstatement (which we had received from Michael's HR reps and from the benefits management company). And we misplaced that confidence.

And when we learned that we were suddenly liable for a LOT of money in medical bills and had no hope of getting insurance reinstated by Michael's company for 2011 we were staring down the barrel of some terrible decisions and repercussions - like having to file bankruptcy because of our medical bills and not being able to afford the ESSENTIAL medical care and mental health care we needed for ourselves and our children.

Michael really loves his job.  But all in one fell swoop, contained in the word DENIED, he was going to have to find a different job or I was going to have to put our babies in daycare just so I could work for benefits.  Our whole life was going to have to change in a huge and tremendously awful way.  Just like that.

So I did the two things I know how to do.  I got on the phone.  And I prayed.  Well - I didn't pray on the phone.  I did those things separately.

God expects us to do everything we can do for ourselves.  And where we fall short, that is where He picks up the rest.  I did everything I could do.  Michael did everything he could do.  Michael's amazing boss completely went to bat for him.  I started writing our appeal letter.  And then just as quickly as this whole awful mess was started it was miraculously over.

Here's the miracle part:

In early February Michael received a letter requesting that same paperwork that had gotten messed up be sent again.  And he did re-send it.  Only that February letter was never supposed to be sent.  And that original paperwork, which was where the original error was made, was NOT supposed to be re-requested by the company.  The whole denial was based on the fact that there was an error in the original paperwork.  Can you believe that?  A company can change an entire family's life forever on a technicality.  Just like that.  So the second request that got sent out was a glitch-- a glitch!!!  A God-granted, God-given glitch.  Because that second paperwork was sent out though, because of that glitch, the legal team decided that it was in everybody's best interest to reinstate our benefits retroactively.  And, just so you know, we were told that things like this never happen.

Faith and gratitude?  Oh, yeah.   

BIG TIME.

If bird is the word what's the sentence?

Well, actually bird wasn't the word.  Today's post is about first words and sentences.

First, we define each child's first word as a word they use with correct intent.

Adam's first word was..."please."

Thomas' first word was..."hi"

And Max's first word was uttered today.

It is only used while holding the phone up to his ear.  It is:


"Hello"

Um, perhaps mommy spends a little too much time on the phone.

I honestly don't remember Adam's first sentences or phrases, but I do know what Thomas' first two complete sentences were.  The first one took place while we were in the car.

Thomas, looking outside remarked, "Look, mom, cars.  I like cars."

His second sentence was uttered as I was going upstairs to shower.  He said, "No, mom.  Don't go upstairs.  Stay here."

These are the moments that may seem so insignificant, but really are the MOST significant.  These are the moments when being a parent is worth every tough moment.

Rain, rain go away

Ever feel like it's pouring rain and your umbrella is M.I.A.?

Life is raining right now.  We are going through a very stressful time.  I cannot post the details because they are that personal, that painful.  We're going through rough times.

A long time ago I told my daughter that sometimes in life we bump our hip on the corner of the table and our reaction is minimal.  "Oh, that hurt."  And sometimes we're so stressed from other stuff that that same bump, that same pain, makes us burst into tears. 

The hip bumps that are coinciding with our tough time would be painful enough in less stressful times - Frankie and her boyfriend breaking up (causing her to be so much more volatile and eruptive), gratefully being able to pay for one car's very expensive repair only to find out that our other car now needs a repair we don't have money for, our local gym closing and the only other options being literally FIVE times the cost of the old gym AND on top of that the trainer at the new gym telling me that if I'm truly committed to getting healthy I'll find a way to raise the extra $900 they want for assessments and extra programs.  These hip bumps each bring me near (and to) tears. 

And God is good.  He always finds a way to send comfort - candles in the dark.  Old friends lifting us, comforting us as we fight to heal, a kind neighbor who doesn't ask what's wrong, only drops off dinner knowing that something's wrong, new friends who don't judge and just listen.

We are, without question, being blessed.  We've found support systems we didn't know existed.  We're taking time to really examine our lives and our priorities.  We're not gonna drown in this rain.  We're doing our best to use this water as nourishment to grow from.


So I'm not blogging much because some things must be kept to ourselves.  I know though that friends are praying for us.  And we love each of you.  And when the rain slows to a trickle we'll reach out again. 

Now if I could just find that umbrella.