Anatomy 101

Yesterday Thornley dressed me as Padme, and proceeded to tell me how pretty I looked (really, sometimes the kid can be so sweet). Jack asked why I was wearing the green wrist bands around by arms and I told him it was because I was Queen Amadala. "You're not Queen Amadala," he tells me.
"Why not?" I ask.
"Because Queen Amadala is a girl.", he says.
"I'm a girl," I remind him.
Laughing he tells me, "No you're not."

My Cure for High Blood Pressure

Last night was the final results show for Dancing with the Stars, but it was 2 stinking hours long! Now, you all know I have anxiety issues; I read the end of the book first so I can enjoy it, and as for the final episode of my reality shows - are you kidding, talk about anxiety! I discovered (honestly, by accident) last week that if you look on MSNBC they post the results in Eastern time, so instead of waiting until 11:00 to find out the winner, I looked at 8:15 and found out who won.
Call me crazy, but it really does make watching it so much more enjoyable for me - I'm not as stressed out!
But then I did feel bad watching Mel and Maks dance, as I knew she wasn't going to win.
So now I'm down to Survivor and The Amazing Race, but wait - Jan 7th starts Dance Wars, are you kidding - Drew Lachey is the host, I'm tuning in FOR SURE!!

THAT was a final?

I am SOOOOOOOOO disappointed with the Dancing with the Stars final! Where was Drew saving a horse and riding a cowboy, or Emmitt Smith busting out with MC Hammer moves? I even liked Mario's hip hop better than the dances last night. Now, I am no pro, but I did take beginning ballroom in college, and I have to say, I think I could have given Marie a run for her money with her freestyle. Why was she breathing so hard, she hardly moved. And I love Mel B, but I've never liked a dance revolving around a chair - don't they know the judges don't like the chair moves? Mark and Cori said it best, "Who knew lap dancing was a form of freestyle?".
I called in, I logged on (using all my email addresses) trying to eliminate Marie. From there, I really don't care who wins. I like both Mel B and Helio, but I did vote for Helio - his dances were better.
So now I sit and wait for the results show - why is it 2 hours? So we can relive the PAIN of watching last night?
You know what would make it worthwhile? Bringing Drew back to show them a GOOD freestyle!

Finished Product

I missed the kick off of the Apple Cup, but the beds are made and almost everything has been moved. Here is the boys' new digs. It's hard to get a good angle so you can see the whole room, but you can at least get a feel for the new look.
I'm sure they'd be happy to give you a tour the next time you're over!

Stairway to Heaven

It's official - the boys are sharing a bedroom. After talking about it for months, and trying it out by putting Jack's mattress in Thornley's room, Adam found an amazing deal on a bunk bed. The only issue we had was who got the top bunk, but we figured since Jack still fell out of his aerobed, which was on the floor, it would be in our best interest to have Thornley take the top. It's really an awesome bed, and it came with a mattress - which we needed, since Jack's bed was a blow-up mattress. Today's task is moving some of Jack's belongings into the room, since the bed has a dresser, desk and bookshelf built in. We're hoping for a bit more organization, and more room in Jack's old bedroom, which is now an upstairs playroom. Here are some pictures.

Child Labor Laws

Isn't this illegal in the US?

My Reality Soapbox

I am tired today because I did stay up and watch After the Final Rose with Brad and the rejected gals. I must say, while he didn't articulate his thoughts well (which I probably wouldn't either in front of all those people), I do have to say I respect his decision to let both of them go. I'm sure he really liked them, but just didn't see them as being good partners for the rest of their lives. I don't know why so many people are so mad, since with the exception of Trista and Ryan and Byron and Mary, none of the relationships last anyway. I guess they want to see a happy ending, and then read a few months later that they've broken up. Who knows.
As far as Dancing with the Stars goes, truly, people need to stop voting for Marie! While I don't think Jennie is the best dancer (maybe I'm just carrying over my feelings for my dislike of her on 90210) I DO think she's better than Marie. I think from now on Helio will get all my votes (ok - so there's only one show left, but anyway...) I love Mel B and she and Max are great together, but really, Helio has come the farthest, since Mel B is a Spice Girl and all.
Speaking of Spice Girls, can you believe my husband has no idea who they are, and never heard one of their songs? I guess I need to download some for him from iTunes. People of the world, spice up your life!!
Now just speaking of spice - I'm making a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving - even making the crust! What am I thinking?!

Jack's Feast

Today was Jack's Thanksgiving Feast at preschool. I love the Thanksgiving Feast, because Teacher Karen always makes a super yummy chicken pot pie, and the kids are so cute when they sing their songs. This year's song list included Mr Turkey and Mr Duck, Shout for Joy to the Lord, and Our God is so Great. Jack sang Mr Turkey and Mr Duck with glee (see attached pictures), but for the others he just did the motions. When I asked him why he told me he only likes the turkey and duck song.


















After singing, Mrs Chrissi asked the kids what they were thankful for, and Jack replied his pop out Count Dooku light saber, which by the way he doesn't have. Perhaps that's his 3 year old way of laying on a guilt trip so we'll get it for him for Christmas.
After today's performance, I can hardly wait for the Christmas program - I hear he's quite the bell player.

I'm Shocked!

In what ABC billed to be the, "most shocking ending in Bachelor history", Brad Womack did what most should have done in the past - said goodbye to both girls. I mean, truly, I think the most shocking ending ever is the fact that Ryan and Trista are still together! I wasn't going to watch this season because I was so annoyed that Andy and Tessa broke up (I did like them together), but I watched the first show and then had to see it thru to completion. I didn't really care for either of the two girls in the end, although, I did think Deanna was the better choice for him (although, I wonder how many times she swore in front of him, because she certainly let some fly when he wasn't around).
Thank goodness all my reality shows are on different schedules! What would I do if they all ended at the same time? Maybe get caught up on cleaning and laundry - na.
Hopefully I'm not shocked by the Dancing with the Stars results show. I really hope Marie leaves this week, and that either Mel B or Helio wins.
I am going to watch After the Final Rose to see what Brad has to say for himself, but I've got to say as "shocking" as the ending was, I'm shocked past participants haven't had the guts to do the same!

Looking for a rainbow

A few weeks ago the junior highers relearned the story of Noah's Ark and God's promise to those who are faithful to Him. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ending God sends a rainbow to show Noah that He'll never flood the EARTH again. He did not promise, however, not to flood my basement again!
Last night we had the dessert portion of the progressive dinner at our house, which I really enjoy participating in. About an hour before everyone was to arrive, I went downstairs to get my trifle dish only to find that the laundry room was flooded. Apparently a few too many apple peals down the disposal, as that accompanied by standing water was on my laundry room floor!
What God did send was our friend, Steve, who happens to be a plumber, to our house who unclogged our drain for free!
I'm off to mop some floors and wash some dishes!

Don't tell the boys, but I think my car is invisible

Ever since seeing Harry Potter 2, when the Weasley's car flies the boys beg me to make our car fly. Our car can't fly, it isn't magical I tell them, but alas, it is magical - it becomes invisible when surrounded by too much testosterone. How did I learn this you may ask? I digress...
Sat. night our phone rang and it was our friend Ronda. Ronda's husband works for the Seahawks, and I was hopeful her call meant they had extra tickets for the game on Monday night, but no, she was reading scripture at church on Sunday and was having a hard time with some pronunciations and wanted to ask Adam for his help. I jokingly told her on Sunday, I had hoped she was calling with some tickets.
To my surprise she did call with tickets on Monday morning! By this time I had already made plans with some of the junior high girls to watch Sound of Music - something we've been trying to do for a few months, but have never had time. Jen and the boys were over; Ryan was learning some lightsaber battle moves from the master (that'd be Thornley), and Jen and I were lamenting about how sometimes things come up that you really want to do, but there are just too many obstacles to overcome (prior plans, no money for a babysitter, not being able to find a babysitter, etc). I reluctantly turned the tickets down, and told her how to get in touch with Pastor Brad. In the meantime I called Adam who said, "Why don't you go, you'd have a great time", and I explained to him all the obstacles in the way. As it turns out no one could use the tickets, so Adam said he'd come home early if I could find some friends to go with. Jen had gone home by this time, so I called her and asked if Mike could come home early so we could go. Mike said yes, and Jen's sister and husband were going to meet us there.
Jen and I meet at church and zip down 90 with tons of time to spare, until we reach the off-ramp. This is when magic happened and my car turned invisible. I was cut off soooooooo many times!! Or, someone would share my lane with me in their apparent attempt to "merge". I guess when you're a car full of girls NOT wearing Seahawks jerseys, you are invisible to men in jerseys on their way to the game!
An hour later we were finally off the freeway and so delusional that we agreed to pay $40 to park - too bad my car wasn't invisible to the parking lot attendant! We parked in the Safeco lot and started our trek to Will Call to get our Club passes. "Where is Will Call?" we ask someone in an event staff yellow jacket. "Right up there" is their response. No signs as to how to get to Will Call, so Jen and I wait in the security line and when we've gotten thru we ask how to cut over to Will Call. The man is totally annoyed and tells us we went the wrong way - first and certainly not the last sign issue we had. Oops! wrong Will Call, we were at player will call, not general will call. We keep walking to general will call and wait in another line - where again we're invisible to men, and, even though there were clear signs, no one abides by them. A group of guys goes to an unmarked window and immediately gets help. Female - jersey = nothing. Men + jersey = help. We finally get our passes and wait in another line (again, being cut off by men in jerseys), and are FINALLY in!!
We start looking for signs to the Club level - no signs. We ask a few times, and finally end up where we want to be. The only problem was, our tickets weren't at the Club level - Scott just gave us passes incase we were cold and wet and wanted to warm up. How does one leave the Club level and get to their seats? Good question - I'm still not sure, again no signs. Some how or another we found our way to our seats, and to a concession stand where we paid $16.50 for a foot long hot dog and beer. I should have paid $2.00 because after 1/4 of the foot, I'd had enough!
It was a fun game to watch - love that the Seahawks won 24-0. Not so fun to watch, the couple in front of us who kissed so much, that at one point in time the girlfriend had to apply Chapstick on her boyfriend's lips.
With 8 minutes to go and the Seahawks clearly securing a victory Jen and I decided to get a jump on the crowd and head out. We wandered in circles for a bit looking for a sign saying something silly like - EXIT, or stairs to street, but found none. We did find a sign that mentioned the street so exited thru that door. When we finally got to the street, we were told we couldn't be there. Ummm...ok, but how does one get to their car. Go back thru this door, turn left, turn right, turn left again. We followed the directions, because we were given no choice, since we couldn't be on the street. We were lead right into the employee locker room! Wandering aimlessly, looking lost and declaring loudly that we didn't know where we were, or where we should be going, no one helped. So we decided to take a right and then a left. The right led us into the bowels of Qwest. We were feet away from the players entrance to the field, and yet again, no sign for a way out.
So we continue wandering around, looking lost, and declaring we had no idea where we were going. Finally we found an exit to the street, but were again told we couldn't be there. "We just want to get to our car" we pleaded with the worker. "Not this way, go to the left and you'll find an exit", "We were just there, an it's a loading dock", we told her. "Yes, that's right", she replied. So what did Jen and I find? Where the player's locker room is, where they park their cars, where the employees' locker room is, and where the broadcast trailers are parked (had I remembered my camera, I would have taken a picture in front of the ESPN trailer) because that, my friends, is what we encountered on our way out of Qwest. What we didn't find? A sign saying EXIT with an arrow pointing in any direction.
Finally, back in our car (after that huge ordeal, I do think we got our $40 worth), and on our way out of the lot - again, magic happens and we are invisible. Man in car wearing jersey = right-of-way, even when I'm driving thru the parking lot and he's still in his parking "stall". Yep, just pulls right out and is heading for my car. Happened 3 times on our way out of the garage!
Jen and I did have a great time, and laughed all the way home. To hear her take on it, you can read her blog - www.theknittingqueen.blogspot.com
Just please, don't tell my boys that when surrounded my cars loaded with testosterone and football jerseys our car becomes invisible - kind of like the EXIT signs at Qwest!

Ebert & Anderson at the Movies

Today I took the boys to see Bee Movie. We met Cori and Lauren and Mason at my new favorite theater - Lincoln Square cinemas. After dropping about $50; $22 for the movie and $24 for food (we went to a 1:00 show and had to eat lunch at the theater, let's just say I could have bought 2 packs of hot dogs for what I paid for a single dog), we found our seats and anxiously awaited the beginning of the movie.
It was a good movie, not a great movie, but a good one. Some humor was above their head, which is a good thing. If they start asking about drag queen bees, I'll be in trouble.

I want a refund!

The boys have been coughing for weeks and weeks! So today I decided that I couldn't handle one more night of being woken up by one coughing, going back to sleep, only to be woken up again a short while later by the other one coughing. Someone was getting medicine - if not the boys than me (perhaps in a different form than an antibiotic - if you know what I mean). So off we go to the doctor - and I hate going to the doctor on a Monday with all the weekend sicklies, but I figured the afternoon might not be as bad as the morning. We go, I pay my co-pay (twice, since they both got checked out), we sit, we are let into the room, we sit some more, the doctor comes in (I love our pediatrician), and now this is the part that gets me - are they wheezing, no; ear infections, no; sinus infection, no; not even a cold! I paid $40 to have the doctor tell me my kids have post nasal drip!!!!!!!!!
Pardon me while I go self medicate!!

May the Force be with You

Halloween at the Anderson house was greeted with much excitement. The boys were THRILLED with their costumes. At the mission auction this year, we were the winning bidders on 2 custom designed costumes by a professional seamstress. The boys thought and though and thought some more about what they wanted to be, since this year was the first that they truly had costumes, not just stuff we found around the house that could pass as what they wanted to be (although, I must say LarryBoy and Alfred have been my personal favorites so far).
It was decided on that they wanted to be Anakin. Thornley was grown-up Anakin, before he went to the dark-side, and Jack was teenage Anakin. I even bought him the braid, but he wouldn't wear it - he kept re-enacting the part of the movie where Yoda cuts it off, so instead of loosing it, it stayed home while we went out. Oh, and did I mention that Adam decided all stages of Anakin should be represented so he was Darth Vader? Fortunately, that was a made from things around the house costume, and Thornley's Batman cape was a bit small, but nonetheless, he pulled it off.
Even though Halloween was almost a week ago, they wear their costumes daily. They put them on when they wake up, take them off to go to school and put them right back on when they get home. Thornley even wore his to the Dr today!
May the force be with you!

What you see is what you get

Earlier today the boys were eating lunch and watching a movie. Adam commented as to how he totally gets Thornley, but sometimes has a hard time understanding Jack. With Jack, there is nothing to understand - what you see is what you get. For example, tonight Jack did this -







Nothing complex, no hidden meaning; Jack thought it would be funny to put a diaper on his head, so he did.