A Mom

So, I think I had some poor teenage boy at wit's end yesterday. Obviously he hasn't had a lot of experience with women, or at least with snippety moms ... I'm guessing he was a teenager, because he worked at a call center and sounded very young.

Anyway, he asked me who my employer was. I said I guessed it was me. He asked, "So, you're self-employed?" I said, "Well, I don't get paid." He said, "So you don't work?" I said, "I'm a mom -- of course I work!" He said, "So, your a stay-at-home mom?" I said, "Well, I don't really stay at home much, but I am a mom." At this point I could tell he had no idea what to ask or write down for his "standard" question.

I said, "You haven't really talked to a lot of moms, have you?" He said no. I said, "Well, I'm a mom, so obviously I do a lot of work, although I'm not home much, and I don't get paid." He finally acted like he got it. However, maybe he just figured he'd move on and skip all of the other "standard" questions to find out why I was calling. Poor boy!

Primary Programs ...

Since having kids, I love the annual primary program at church. This is for two reasons:

1. First and best reason of all: It gives me a one-week break from trying to keep my kids quiet during Sacrament meeting. Love that!
2. Oh, and the second reason: It's fun to watch my own kids try to sing the songs, especially when they don't know all the words.

I had plans for both this year, and both backfired on me badly. Okay, I guess I did get a break from trying to keep MY primary-aged kids quiet during Sacrament meeting; however, since I had Hilary's little girl I wasn't free. Of course I still had Shayla, so I wouldn't have been completely free even without Brynne, but with only one child there are no fights to break up. I discovered quickly that it was best to keep these two separated. But that was easy enough. Now on to my second problem ...

I couldn't see either one of my kids! Tyler was just an unfortunate event -- he sat right behind the podium. I had gotten there early enough to get a center seat (which is impressive since my ward is an early-arriving ward). I was happy about this since I have the knack for always choosing the wrong side to sit on to see my kids during programs. So, in the middle I thought I was safe. Not so. I even moved over five seats and still couldn't see him. Sigh ... so I move on to see how Zachary is doing.

I was a little worried about Zachary, because Tyler left him in the dust going up to the stage, so he was too scared to go up alone. I asked Becca to walk him up while the kids were still going up, but she just took him to the aisle and pointed to the stage. He got up on the stage but got scared and came back down with the saddest look on his face. So, Becca took him and pointed out his Primary teacher so he would get the courage to go up on stage. And he did. So, how was he doing now? WHO KNOWS?!? I don't know who planned the seating chart, but why on earth would you put 11-year-old boys in front of the 4-year-olds?!?

Needless to say, I spent the first half of the program just annoyed! I mean REALLY annoyed. Then I got a bright idea -- I could go stand on the side holding Shayla and probably see at least Tyler. So I did. I guess having Shayla to look after DID come in handy so I didn't look like a pathetic parent just trying to see her kids. Bingo. I could see Tyler. He spotted me pretty quickly and started doing a YMCA-song type thing with his arms. (He later told me that he was spelling Mom with his arms. Thanks, son!)

Eventually Zachary moved a little to the left and the 11-year-old boy in front of him moved a little to the right, so I could see Zachary. Boy did he look cute doing his sign language during that particular song. Tyler did, too, now that I could see him.

Zachary was very flushed by the time the program was over, but he did it. And I even got to see some of it. I guess that'll satisfy me for another year.

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween is almost here ...




Carving pumpkins is always fun. It seems that every year I think somehow I'm going to get away with just using a spoon to get out the seeds, but it always turns out that I have to ditch the spoon and just dig into the gooey mess with my bare hands. Maybe I'm just old if I don't WANT to dig it out w/o a spoon in the first place.

I love that Zachary drew hair and a goatee (or as he calls it, a go-a-tee) on his pumpkin. Tyler had drawn out a picture of what he wanted his jack-o-lantern to look like, and he had me cut it just like the picture. Becca messed up on hers, which made her a little grumpy. She got really grumpy when Paul fixed her error with a couple of toothpicks. Now she no longer had a reason to be grumpy, which made her even more grumpy!

Anyway, we haven't cooked the seeds in a while, but our kids have survived w/o eating them once again this year. However, Tyler did save several seeds so he can plant them and grow pumpkins in our back yard. Hmmm ... I guess there's no harm in trying. I did hear someone who said their best-grown watermelons ever were from their kids spitting out their seeds in the dirt. Tyler took his seeds to school in a Ziploc to show his classmates. I found them the other day growing mold, so I tossed them without him seeing (which is not easy to do in this house! Sometimes I feel like the kids have "garbage patrol" to make sure I haven't tossed anything "important"). So, for now we'll stick to buying pumpkins from Maceys when they go on sale for 9 cents a pound. :)

Jury Duty

How is it that two small words can create such distaste and/or fear in people? Well, my letter came in the mail this week. Jury duty. On Halloween. Halloween?!? Don't ruin a perfectly fun holiday for me! I have to miss Tyler's class carnival (I signed up to help) because I don't know how long I will be at the court ... they even specify to bring something to do so you don't get too bored.

So, today I had a brilliant idea ... If I show up in costume, do you think the judge would immediately dismiss me? What costume would be the best to get out of there quickly? A robber with a plastic gun? An escaped convict in a jail costume? Actually, either one of those might get me thrown into jail. So, let's see ... how about a protester? You know, hold up a sign saying something like, "Guilty unless proven innocent, but probably guilty!" Or maybe I should just dress as a judge with a clown wig ...

In any case, I am excited for Halloween. Isn't it a fun holiday?!? I am so excited for Shayla's costume. She's going to be a witch, and the orange and black costume actually match her hair pretty well. When I took her in for professional pics, the photographers were oohing and aahing over her like they'd never seen a girl so cute, which I'm sure they hadn't (says the mom).

My boys are going to be pirates again. They were pirates two years ago as well. They debated about firemen (which they were last year) and pirates, but when the dollar store had weapons for pirates, well, then it was obvious in their minds what they should be. Let's face it -- the dollar store just doesn't carry rubber hoses, fire hydrants or stuffed dalmatians. But I'm guessing this may not be our last year of fire fighters and/or pirates. Becca's costume idea is a cute one. She's going as the tooth fairy. I told her she should give out pennies to kids she passes while trick-or-treating.

In any case, I don't know how anyone doesn't just LOVE Halloween -- cute kids, yummy candy and awesome Halloween scrapbooking paper and embellishments. And it all boils down to scrapbooking once again ... :)

Pics will come on Nov. 1 ... as well as juicy details about my jury duty experience, which I'm hoping end up being not so juicy and more like non-existent.

Forgetting again ...

I forgot to mention (HA!) that my memory problems aren't helped by Shayla starting to walk. I forgot how much of a difference it makes when a toddler all of a sudden has both hands available while moving around instead of needing them to crawl. So, we're missing all sorts of things now -- my hairbrush, the remote, etc. Good thing she's got us wrapped around her little finger.

A friend mentioned that she noticed no pics of Shayla on the blog. Funny considering she's our main photo subject. So, to appease the masses ... ;)

Forgetful

Really. How is it that I can be so young and yet so forgetful?!? I am painfully reminded of this often. This week already I've forgotten a dentist appointment (Becca's), a friend's plan to come visit (I stood her up!), and probably countless other things ... I just haven't yet remembered what I forgot.

The best explanation that I've heard as to why moms get so forgetful is that they're the brains for so many people. You know, their husband and all their kids. Let's face it -- how many kids know where they need to be and when? And how many dads schedule or take their kids to doctor appointments, parent-teacher conferences or soccer practice? And how many husbands remember to make or go to their dentist appointment w/o their wife reminding them? If you are male and don't need any dental reminders, you are in the minority! So, according to this theory I'm now the brain for six people instead of just myself. That means I have A LOT more to remember, which sadly means I also have a lot more to forget.

I'd like to think once the kids are out of the house my brain will return to its normal "small size" and function properly. But I think by that point my brain will be worn out and just not work as well. (You know, like an old sock with a few holes in it.) That's what I'm guessing happens when you get old (not a hole in the brain, just the not working as well). I'm guessing no amount of brain exercises will fix that, but let's not get hasty and give up Sudoku.

For now, I'll try to write down a lot more and check the calendar more often -- if I remember!!! :) I remembered about the dentist appointment until the day of, and then things happened and I forgot. So sad, considering I was annoyed when they called to remind me and wanted me to call back to confirm. I didn't. Maybe that's why I forgot? It'd serve me right I suppose.

Anyone have any better theories as to why I'm losing my mind?!? :)

Freezing cold BYU game

So, we braved the forecasted weather to attend the BYU football game on Saturday. Hilary's parents had given her tickets, so we planned to enjoy a game and some reminiscing about our college days when we went to ALL the BYU football games. However, then we were blessed by our friend Jack Jenkins to receive additional tickets, which allowed my boys (Paul, Tyler and Zachary) to join us. (Hilary's boy was in Boston and therefore unable to attend and none of our girls wanted to.)

Anyway, the game was great! BYU won 42-7, so we got to sing the Cougar fight song seven+ times and watch the Army do lots of push-ups. However, at the end of the third quarter the snow started down. We were brave. We held on for at least another five minutes. And that's five minutes football time. But at the beginning of the fourth quarter we ran for it -- us and about 30,000 other fans. Needless to say, by the time we made it back to the car (with Zachary crying half of the way), snow covered the ground everywhere and it was FREEZING! It was so cold we didn't even take any pictures. (Yes, THAT cold!)

Anyway, we recovered quickly and figure it was all fun and game. We have some fun pictures of Zachary trying to hide from the snow while also trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue. And of course, there is me and Hil having our fun like we did in the good ol' days ...

Oh, I almost forgot. I thought Paul and I were true BYU fans, but I do have to embarrassingly admit that we have NEVER carved a pumpkin into a BYU football helmet to wear at any time. Maybe one day, but don't count on it!!!

Brown PR

So, what's up with the BrownPR address, anyway? Is it that I plan to open a public relations company one day called Brown Public Relations (or Brown PR for short)? Possibly so, but I guess you'll have to stay in touch with us to find out if and when that happens. Paul actually set up the address based on his initials: P.R. Brown. Mind you, it makes me happy since PR is in my blood. :) Had we chosen my initials, it just wouldn't have been the same: BrownDNoMiddleInitial.blogspot.com. I guess I could have put my name and b-day, which would have been quite fitting since my b-day is 411, and this blog may have a bit of information in it. Of course, it may also be full of hot air or sweet nothings ... I'll let you be the judge.

Blog Mania

So, blogs got really hot about five years ago when I was working in PR. Our agency kept telling us that we needed to be watching certain editors' blogs so we could see what they're thinking about products and services and such. You know, their "behind-the-scenes" thoughts when they didn't have to act unbiased. I thought blogs were the dumbest thing I ever heard of. (Okay, maybe not as dumb as a TV show based on Caveman commercials I didn't find very funny.)

Anyway, I still think they're kind of dumb. However, why not own a little slice of my own on the Web? I'd like to think I'll be humorous and witty like other blogs I've seen, but I doubt I will be. If nothing else, I will be real. As if you thought I'd be anything else ... :)