My Baby is Eleven!!!

The "Exclamation Mark" at the end of our family is eleven years old today, and what an 11 years it has been! Smiles, tears, tantrums, laughter, and I'm just referring to how I've reacted to the boy's shenanigans. In honor of our angel/devil, I've compiled a list of "fun facts" about Mark.

1. Sausages, hot dogs, spaghetti, salmon, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, pizza (cheese or pepperoni), taquitos and chicken burgers are some of his favorite foods.
2. Sadie, our dog, is his favorite "toy." He used to fear dogs but now is fearless around them thanks to Sadie.
3. He can't use the bathroom or take a shower without singing. He used to sing opera, but any old song will do now.
4. Mark loves to climb trees and collect rocks.
5. Water play is his favorite activity. Often he'll dip his head in a sink full of water and create unusual hair styles.
6. The sound of pencils and crayons snapping in two greatly amuses him. He doesn't like to write or color, but he loves breaking writing implements.
7. He is a pro at cleaning the bathroom and actually likes to clean the toilet.
8. Baseball is his least favorite sport to play. It's also my least favorite sport to watch Mark play. (Just ask Aunt Melanie.)
9. Mark is a baby lover, just like his Dad. He will hold and cuddle anyone's baby.
10. One of his dislikes is talking on the telephone. He has to be bribed to have a phone conversation most of the time.
11. When he was a baby and toddler, he couldn't be near Lance or me without putting his hand on our faces or necks or both.

I love my Mark!!!

The General Rules

Little did I know when I gave birth to Mark that I would have to be extremely specific when it came to making rules. Rules like "be kind to others," "put away your toys," "use kind words," "keep your hands to yourself," etc., just don't cut it when you are dealing with a creative child such as Mark. I should have had more foresight and I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. Only in theory, of course. In random order, here are a FEW of the rules I should have established long before Mark came on the scene:

*Don't flush and flush the toilets at school to make them overflow just to make yourself laugh.
*Don't stop up the classroom drinking fountain and make it shoot water straight in the air.
*Don't throw your homework in the bushes.
*Don't hide your homework in the school recycling bin.
*Don't stab other people's apples with your pencil.
*Don't break new pencils in half just to hear them snap. The same goes for crayons.
*Don't cut the levelor blind slats with scissors or anything else.
*Don't call someone a "winged feathered rat."
*Don't shoot the heads off Mom's flowers with an air soft gun.
*Don't carve up potatoes or any other vegetable or fruit Mom is planning to use.
*Don't write stories on your pillowcase.
*Don't carve mean words into the wood on your bunkbed.
*Don't cut the skin off your brand new $75 remote-control dragon you received for your birthday.
*Don't inhale helium at a friend's birthday party.
*Don't throw crayons in church.
*Don't tear your pant leg off during school (or at any other time or place).
*Don't put little pieces of paper in the flame of a candle without permission.
*Don't chew holes in your clothes.
*Don't smear deodorant on the bathroom mirror. Or the countertops. Or the walls.
*Don't pour bottles of shampoo down the bathtub drain.
*Don't spray water on the computer.

One general rule could cover almost every specific rule: Resist every negative and inappropriate impulse!!!!

Princess of the Nut Tree Farm

My little "Princess of the Nut Tree Farm," aka Sara, just turned 18. She is a very unique young lady and deserves a special blog post devoted just to her. So, in honor of her 18th birthday, here is a list of 18 fun facts about Princess Sara.

1. She has several nicknames--a few we've given her and several she's given herself. The one I like best is one I named her: Ladybug. For a few years, she had a string of names she wrote between her first and last names: Nightingale Captain Rose Marie Amelia Isabelle Franklin Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt Lance Myrna.
2. She loves sushi, cheeseburgers, pizza, quesadillas, nachos and salt.
3. She is a self-taught pianist, seamstress, reader, bike-rider.
4. She is fluent in Spanish and is teaching herself to read, write and speak Japanese.
5. She is good at taking tests, and aced both the WASL and ACT.
6. She does a very thorough job of cleaning when she decides to clean.
7. She prefers straight to curly hair.
8. She has a very flexible body.
9. She is extremely graceful.
10. She is extremely, extremely creative and artistic.
11. She's had two metatarsal osteotomies (bunion removal).
12. She likes to compose songs.
13. She likes to write poetry and plays.
14. She likes to sing, dance and act.
15. Her favorite school subject is psychology.
16. She loves to watch Disney movies and mysteries.
17. She enjoys rock climbing.
18. She is my only child that necessitated a call to Poison Control.

How I love my Princess!!!

My Handy Husband

As Lance prepares to tackle yet another home improvement project, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have such a "handy" husband. Lance has rarely, if ever, shied away from undertaking new endeavors. His experience comes from on-the-job (meaning in-the-home) training. Of course, Lance had experience with some types of projects before we were married (i.e. re-roofing, pool installation, etc.), and some of his experience was garnered while we were apartment managers in Mountain View, California in the early months of our marriage. However, most of his experience has been acquired over the course of the 21 years we've lived in our first (and only) home. Let's see if I can name all of the projects he has under his tool belt.

*Carpet installation (which he claims he will NEVER do again--too painful on the knees)
*Formica countertop installation
*Cabinet assemblage and installation
*Painting (interior and exterior)
*Light fixture installation
*Plumbing (garbage disposer repair and installation; numerous toilet, faucet and pipe repairs)
*Fence building
*Concrete mixing and pouring
*Concrete removal
*Brick work (sidewalk design and installation)
*Tree root and stump removal
*Sheetrock removal and installation
*Re-roofing (composite shingles)
*Patio roof design and building
*Ceramic tiling
*Baseboard installation

Some experts (i.e. civil engineer father-in-law and scientist father) and apprentices (i.e. children and willing neighbors) helped with a few of the aforementioned projects. I applaud all of Lance's efforts to make household repairs and to make our home more functional and aesthetically pleasing. He has certainly saved us LOADS of money and taught our children valuable lessons and skills.

This week Lance is gearing up to tackle a project he's never before attempted. (I make him sound like some kind of magician, but I think he really is.) He will install tile on the upstairs bathroom walls that surround our tub. Then he has a host of other projects lined up for him when he finishes the bathroom.

Hip, hip, hooray for my handsome, handy husband!!!

April Fool's Day

Normally April Fool's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I've been known to play some pretty wicked pranks over the years; however, I haven't been too "foolish" the past couple of years. I didn't do anything outlandish yesterday, but I told Mark that I enrolled him in a 5-hour a day summer writing workshop. He was not happy; in fact, he was quite angry with me for several hours even after I explained that I was only joking. What he doesn't realize is that he will be doing some summer writing exercises at home. The joke's on him!