Counting Blessings

My car has been making a strange noise for a couple months.  It usually only happened in the morning, when I'd start it for the first time.  But recently, it began to happen all the time. 

LaVor was out of town last week on a business trip.  I hate hate hate being home alone, especially at night.  So lots of prayers were given and answered, that The Lime and I would be safe and protected.

We definitely were blessed.

Thursday night, on the way home from my sister's house, there were some amazing clouds in the sky.  I grabbed a bite to eat at Popeye's (first time eating there and possibly the last) and The Lime and I drove up to Del Valle.

On the way up the hill, the car would do a slight jerk into 3rd gear, rather than ease into it. Since it didn't happen the rest of the night, I thought it was a fluke.

Friday after work, The Lime and I went to pick LaVor up at the airport.  Within a couple miles of our destination, the car started jerking again.  When he got into the car, he noticed it immediately and said it was the transmission (one of our ideas in regards to the noise mentioned earlier).  It got worse the longer we drove and being the crazy person I am, I began to freak out.  "What do we do?!  What if we don't make it home?!  How much will it cost to fix?!"

We made it home safely.

Then we woke up Saturday morning, got in the car and barely made it down the street before the car would no longer go into any gear.

Downside:
-It'll cost money that we don't have to fix it.

Upside:
-It happened when LaVor returned from his trip.
-He was driving when it happened.
-It didn't happen while I was on my way to work.
-He found a transmission for less than what we were expecting.
-He can fix it himself so we don't have to pay someone to do it.
-My sister is letting us borrow her car.


I'm pretty much convinced the Lord is watching over us. 

On A Roll

In the last month, I've won 2 contests; 1 for 4 free passes to the local Harvest Festival and 2 tickets to the Blink 182 concert.  I'm hoping I can add 1 more to the list.

People always tell us that we should enter pictures of The Lime into a photo contest.  While reading Parent Magazine at work the other day, I decided to do just that.  I got an e-mail yesterday letting me know our picture was in the running for the "Kid of the Week" contest.  Only problem is, the photo with the highest votes wins and The Lime is currently in 45th place.

That's where you come in.

Click on the photo and it will take you to the website.  Place your vote and feel free to pass the link on.  You can vote everyday this week, so don't forget!

Use It Or Lose It

I remember the Sunday afternoon when my parents got a call that my brother was in a motorcycle accident.  The unknown was the worst.  All we knew was that he was on his way to the hospital and was alive at that moment.

Thankfully, he made it out with (just) a broken arm and leg and tons of road burn.  A man took video from his bedroom window, and described how my brother flew in the air, several feet, and hit his head on the curb.

He took advantage of his wheelchair and went to the X-Games where he was asked for his autograph numerous times.  Those poor recipients totally got duped.

I was shocked when I went to Utah 10 years ago, and saw people speeding down the freeway on their bikes, with their hair blowing in the wind, not protected AT ALL.

California has a lot of laws and a lot of dumb laws.  But one law that I think is crucial, is that everyone riding a motorcycle must wear a helmet.  None of this "If you've over 18, you don't have to wear one" hoopla.  I haven't looked into statistics or anything (this topic really doesn't bother me that much) but I'm a firm believer in, "If you don't use it, you'll lose it."

Meaning your brain, in this case.

Red Door

There's a house down the street from us that has a red door and I get sad each time I drive/walk by it.

Our old house, meaning my family's, had a red door.

We never had our number address on our house, only on the sidewalk in front of our house, and there was generally a car parked so those numbers were blocked.  When giving someone directions, we'd say, "We're about the 11th or 12th house on your left...with the red door."

The night of my sister's first date, as a 16 year old, we also had the Missionaries over.  Elder Rothstein (right, folks?) took it upon himself to answer the red door when her date knocked.  "Is Kari home?" the boy asked.  "Nope!" and *SLAM* went the red door.  The Elder opened the door right up and said, "Just kidding!" but the boy was so embarrassed and his face resembled the shade of red on our door.

5th grade art class - Roller skating with the red door

Who knew a stinkin' door could create an entire blog post?  I miss the door and I miss the house.  Is it possible to not look forward to the Holidays because they just won't quite be the same?

I had a dream a few weeks ago that the new owners didn't change a thing about the place.  I know that's too good to be true but I'll honestly never know.  And so, I'd like to keep it the same...red door and all.

Aloha!

 a·lo·ha

1. hello; greetings.
2. farewell.

I was at Target a few weeks ago when LaVor called me to tell me the Bishopric would be coming to our house the following day to talk to me.  That only means 1 thing...a new calling.

Let me take you back 2 years.  Remember this post?  I was NOT looking forward to my new calling as the Primary Chorister.  Everyone told me how much fun it was and how I'd love every second of it.  I waited a LONG time to get to that point, but I can honestly say, I did end up loving it, for the most part.

As my last singing time, I took the kids on a "trip" (we took a 3 second airplane ride, I wrapped a piece of Hawaiian fabric around my waist and hung a shell lei around my neck) to Hawaii.  They all, thankfully, knew that Aloha was a way to say, "Hello" and "Goodbye".  And since that's what I was doing, it worked perfectly.  Aloha to the Primary Chorister and Aloha to the 1st Counselor in the Primary.

I've been wanting to teach the kids, "We'll Bring the World His Truth" since I got put into Primary but never got around to it.  So as my last wish, I had the Senior Primary sing it and I didn't last but 2 seconds before I began bawling like a baby.  The link is NOTHING compared to how my kids sang it.  There wasn't a dry adult eye in the room.

I can remember, being maybe 3 or 4, and singing that song during a Family Home Evening, and crying.  It's always been a song that can yank at my heart and last week was no exception.

The children in our ward are great kids and I'm blessed to still have the opportunity to work with them.

Tally Mark 20

-May just be in love with the Gardener.  Mondays are The Lime's favorite day.
-Is being weird with his naps.  Are we sticking with 2 or going down to 1?  Who knows.  He's crabby at night no matter what.
-Has started saying, "No" and as much as a I hate it, I also love it.  His little voice is so cute.
-After going to the A's game last week and hearing me say, "Oh no!" to all the horrible plays, The Lime now says it.  Especially if Daddy is watching or playing baseball.
-Knows that GrandPop says, "Ja" and "Nein".
-Also knows that GrandPop tickles him and takes him the the park.
-Has a little bear that LaVor's parents bought him at the Avon Walk last year, that he likes to sleep with.
-Is shy around people he's known his whole life and friendly with complete strangers.
-Prefers water and milk over anything else.  Yippee!  Although, he does ask for a sip of "bubbles" (soda) if Daddy gets one while we're out.
-Loves to "ride" his bike.  Loves when Mommy rides his bike too.  That's a sight.
-Loves homemade chocolate chip cookies.
-Likes to eat stickers.
-Is growing a little peach fuzz mustache.
-Hates watching the people get hurt on Ridiculousness. His little face cringes and he whimpers.
-Bites his nails.  I HATE this.
-But I sure love him.

All Eyes On You

I'm aware, and have been aware, that The Lime watches and hears everything we do.  Some good, some not so good.

After dinner tonight, he ran straight for my purse to get out me "lalalala" (wallet) and soon realized that I had taken all of my cards out of my "lalalala".  He grabbed my hand and led me to my room (where he thought the cards were).  We keep the doors closed or else he helps himself to a new room.  When we got to our room, he tried opening the door but couldn't (it wasn't locked, he just didn't have a good enough grip). 

What does he do next?

Goes to the dryer, which is next to the main bathroom (which door is actually locked) and grabs our hanger "key" and goes back to our door to try and unlock it.  Thankfully he's not that smart that he figured out which precise spot unlocks the door.

I know it's one of those "you had to be there" and "I love everything my kid does" moments but I got a kick out of it.