Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

I actually really hate that song.  And I really hate when people play it at their wedding receptions.

But yesterday was a reason to celebrate; it was our Opa's 97th birthday and the A's beat the White Sox.

The Lime and I got up early and packed our bags for the drive to South San Jose.  The whole way down, The Lime kept calling, "Oooooopa?  Oooooopa?"  When we arrived, the sprinklers just happened to be pointed right at Opa's grave.  The Lime loved it but I wasn't planning on playing in the water.

Great aim!

Hurry!  Hurry!  Hurry!

Seeing how close he could get...

The Lime ran around for a  bit and he acknowledged every "Momo" that drove by, and there were a ton!  He was in heaven.  After waiting over a half hour, I was hoping the sprinklers would turn off soon.  They stayed on the entire time we were there but thankfully a worker was able to turn the ones closest to Opa off.

He refused to look at the camera.

I had to de-flood his grave with a plastic sandwich bag.  Thanks sprinklers, for drowning Opa to death...no pun intended.

 

 

 

Later that night, we headed to the A's game with Pop, courtesy of an Oral Surgeon my bosses refer to.  For a couple innings, we got to sit right along the railing of the White Sox entrance/exit into the locker room and tried to get an autograph but the players completely ignored us, including The Lime.  How could you resist this little guy?!

There were a couple extra seats around us, which allowed The Lime to have some space.  But by the bottom of the 7th inning, after pulling off his "Eye Black" baseball stickers, he had had enough.  "DeeDee home, nigh nigh!" he screamed so that's what we did. 

When we left the game, neither team had scored.  By the time we pulled onto our street, the game was over with a victory going to the A's, winning 2-0.

The A's and everyone who stayed long enough to see the win, were celebrating good times.

Retiring My Money Maker

I've only stood out for donations 3 times this year. Not so good. Especially since I don't even have 10% off my donations and I have almost 2 months left. Yikes!

I think one of the reasons why I haven't been motivated to get out with my sign is because I always get at least 1 person that tells me my sign is offensive. I'm afraid one day, I'll get a real crazy person and they'll do more than just criticize.

So for that reason, I'm retiring my sign and creating a new one. The new one isn't finished and it's not my original saying, but I think it'll be just as productive as my veteran sign.

So long, old friend.

Tally Mark 27

-A couple of weeks ago, The Lime wanted the iPad but I told him it needed batteries because it had died. So...he walks over to our drawer with the batteries, grabs a couple, walks back to me and says, "Mama! Batteries!"
-Likes us to smell his feet. "Mama! Mel!"
-Bites his stuffed animals so hard, his body starts to shake. Better them than his cousins.
-Likes to call people on the phone. His real conversations are cute, but his pretend conversations are adorable!
-Can only say A, B, C, D, I, O...but sings the tune great.
-Has a weekly date with Daddy to get "nonuts".
-Pretends our garage door opener is a harmonica.
-Is now obsessed with dog poop after our incident a couple weeks ago. If something stinks, it's always, "dog poo!"
-Likes to drive Daddy's work truck and car.
-Was heard "shifting" in his sleep the other night. He also talks about his cousins in his sleep.
-His hair is getting darker. We hope it'll lighten up in the Summer.
-Makes us smile with delight...most of the time.

Easter...A Week Late

We were blessed with a break from the rain, long enough to enjoy some time outside with LaVor's family on Easter Sunday.

Grams and Papa hosted dinner at their place, but before we ate, the kids gathered their loot.  And there was some loot to be gathered, let me tell you.

Getting the "go" from Grams.

And...

They're...

Off!

That was easy.

Gotta make sure all this hunting is worth it.

A little help from Daddy.

Showing off his collection.

The hunt was a success!

After all the eggs were found (including one from last year...yuck!), Uncle Mark threw the frisbee around with the 2 youngest boys.  They were in hog heaven!

Mark had told The Lime, "good throw!"

Then we ate dinner, which was delicious, and enjoyed listening to Uncle Troy read about the Resurrection from the scriptures.  After which, we dug into dessert which was a sugar overload but amazing, nonetheless.

Watch What You Say

One of our current bedtime books is The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor. The Lime loves it and thinks Dr. Grizzly is his personal doctor.

Several times a week, we drive by The Lime's Doctor's office. He loves his Doctor and her assistant, which I love because he actually enjoys going to visit them. In fact, last week, we drove by and he said, "Deedee go Dr. Lai?". I told him he wasn't sick and there was no reason to go visit her. I immediately thought to myself, "You shouldn't have said that! Now he's going to get sick!". And he did. Poor thing has probably forgotten what it feels like to be healthy.

But things must be getting better...he has promoted from laying on the couch to climbing on my back and saying, "Bull!"

Here's to hoping his appetite is back, too. Goldfish and smoothies don't come across as a balanced and nutritious diet.

There Are Bad People Everywhere

There were several instances growing up, where I felt unsafe in my home.  One in particular, happened when I was in, I want to say, 2nd grade.

We were all getting ready to sit down at the dinner table when we heard a commotion outside.  Two houses down from ours, a boy was beat with a tire iron by a group of 4 boys.  He was left in the neighbor's driveway, bleeding profusely.  The cops came, a crowd gathered, and I was scared.  I tried to convince my mom that we needed to move up to Fort Bragg, where my Omi lived, because nothing like that ever happened there.  She assured me that bad people were everywhere and no matter where we lived, we couldn't escape them.

I hate that she's right.  And not because I want her to be wrong, but I hate that there's bad people everywhere.

We don't live in the safest part of town but I know it could be worse.  We're mostly tired of the constant barking of dogs, which happens all.the.dang.time.  We would love to be able to go in our backyard or front yard without a symphony of barks. 

I had fasted yesterday, to know if we should move or not, but hadn't received any sort of revelation or feeling all morning.  As we pulled up to our house after church, there were 3 cops across the street, but we couldn't see anything interesting.  While reading the paper online last night, apparently there was a shooting, hence the law enforcement presence.  I certainly wasn't expecting that kind of answer.  The only details I found out were a blue SUV was the suspect vehicle and they shot at, but missed, people walking down the street.  Seriously?!  In broad daylight, on Easter Sunday, with families outside?  I don't know if I'm more mad or scared.  The Lime and I are outside all the time and the thought of creeps shooting other people obviously sends a shiver up my spine but it also makes my blood boil. 

I have this sign hanging in our home, and I agree with it 100%.  We do not need anything big or fancy but I might need to add "and safe" after small.

When it comes to shootings or dogs, I'll pick the dogs.  But I might need to start a neighborhood watch. 

For real.

The Simple Life

(What a dumb show but glad Nicole Richie cleaned up her act. Can't say the same for Paris.)

I was reading Parents magazine at work last week and came across an "Ask a question" type article. The just of the article was a parent wondering how they explained disabilities to their child. I looked at my co-worker, who is also LDS, and I said, "Being a member of the church makes life so much more simple!"

I had the chance to watch a documentary the BBC recently aired, based on Mormons and Mitt Romney. Everything mentioned seemed to be things we CAN'T do and how strict the religion is. It really makes me chuckle because I feel the exact opposite.

How nice and comforting it is to know that Heavenly Father has made us all unique. And that those who may be limited here on Earth will one day have their bodies restored to perfect form.

My co-worker shared a story with me of a girl she went to high school with, and the girls brother. The girl was pretty, smart, well-liked, and the brother had cerebral palsy. Her brother's disability took a huge toll on her, as she couldn't understand why she was given the life she had and he was given his. The girl ended up committing suicide as a result of it, while her brother went on to become a college professor!

So the next time someone says I'm limited in my religion, I'll tell them I may be according to the world's standards, but I've got a lot of hope and faith because of it.

*I was amazed that within 24 hours of writing this, I heard this talk in General Conference. Loved it!