I *heart* my teenager

Luke, Tess and I were watching Hulu tonight, all huddled around my laptop. Luke kept texting all through TWO shows. Right in my face. It was irritating. I told him to say good bye, he'd texted enough.

Luke: It's not 10 yet, that's the rule!

Me: I don't care. You've texted enough. Say goodbye or hand me your iPod.

Luke: Then I'll have to end the conversation all awkwardly! It's not ten yet, how can I trust your rules when you change them all the time? 

Me: Remember the nights I caught you texting PAST ten? How can I trust  you when you BREAK our rules? Stop texting or give me your iPod. 

Luke (whining, seriously, the kid still whines at me!): NO! How can I be responsible if you don't trust me? 

Me: How can I trust you when you're not being responsible?" 

Luke (laughing): Well, I'm pretty sure one of us should be responsible here, and I think it should be you! You're the adult! 

Me (laughing now too): Go to bed Luke, you're bothering me. 

Luke: No! I want to whine some more! 

Me: *eye roll*

He's a good kid. 

But I am checking his iPod tomorrow and if there are any texts past 9:21, I will confiscate that thing. 

Technology makes parenting really difficult sometimes...

Kate is NINE

Birthday Suit. Earliest photo I have that is digital, she's 2 here. Pretty cute eh?

Kate turned nine on the 19th. It's her year for friend birthday party, which was easy, since she only has 2 friends out here so far. They are both named Hayley/Hailey. Kinda funny. Anyway, January is always such a bummer time to have a party, especially this colder than average year, I'm getting too many comma's in here (Eden, don't judge me!), SOOOO Kate decided to take her friends to this trampoline place called Airborne. They get an hour of jumping, and with only 3 to pay for, it's about as much as I would have spent on a party. Well, maybe not. I'm not really into 'throwing' parties, so I probably would have bought some balloons and played free games and called it good. Thank goodness Kate didn't want that. I suck at parties. They are my cryptonite.

ANYWAY. Sheesh, I'm rambling. Chris and I took the girls to Chik-Fil-A for lunch first, she opened her presents over the ice cream cones included in their meals (see?) and then we went to Airborne. Chris stayed there, while I ran to Costco real quick. They actually got extra time, like 1/2 hour, and loved it. Here's the photo proof: I don't know why they are showing you their boots. Silly girlies.

Ignore the random guy in the back. See the tramps on the walls? They can bounce off them. It's pretty cool. 

Later that night we had the grandparents/cousins over for dinner to celebrate her and Chris' 43rd, which was 2 days earlier. 

And my sister sent her a Build a Bear gift card, that she used to get this bear-- she named him Nariko. Her middle name, because, you know, it's Asian, and so are Panda's...

She's our sweet Kate. I sure love her. Happy Birthday babe! 

Home Schooling-- revisited...

I almost feel silly telling you all this, after my MANY posts about how I CANNOT home school my kids. But, despite that, we pulled Tess out of Jr. High after Christmas. Our reasons are our own, and so that I don't offend anyone, which I likely will, suffice it to say, it wasn't working FOR TESS. I'll be happy to discuss it with any of you, one on one. So I know my audience and can avoid putting my foot in my mouth. That still might happen though. Me and tact are sometimes not in harmony. 

Anyway, Paradigm High (Chris' school) has been approved to accept 7th and 8th graders next year. Tess will be in 8th grade. After much prayer and pondering, I decided I COULD do it for one semester. I might even LIKE it. 

Well, I do. Tess is pretty good about doing everything she's supposed to w/o too much harassment from me, and I get to leave the house sans Zeke, whenever I want. 

I've started going to the temple once a week. I don't have to listen to Zeke whine, "I wanna go home!" 15 minutes into our errands EVERY dang time. I can go to lunch w/ friends without having to leave as soon as he decides he's had enough. It's wonderful.

Tess and I are learning to co-exist. She gets up with the girls, and starts on her 'list'. If she goes straight through, she can be done in 4 hours. That includes 30 min of exercise and 30 min of piano practice. 

She is VERY happy not to be going to school anymore, though NOT so happy about the 'list'. She is THRILLED to be the only day time babysitter in the neighborhood, and is getting rich in the process. She made $67 last week. We opened a savings account for her. She says she's saving for a car. lol. 

Anyway... it seems to be my lot in life to always be struggling with this home schooling issue. This time, at least, it seems to be working. Fingers crossed. 

Coconut Love

So Bountiful Baskets(veggie co-op) was offering coconut oil in last weeks basket, and I'd heard wonderful things about it, so I ordered some. When I got it, I went online to see what to do with it.

OH. MY. WORD.

According to quite a few cyber space people, this is the miracle cure for every ailment, as well as the most versatile beauty care/cleaning/bug repellant product ever.

Here's a good website to peruse at your leisure...

http://www.hybridrastamama.com/p/coconut-health.html

I was reading through a list a mile long of all the great benefits of this oil, which included:

Acne cure for Luke and me
Fungal cure for feet- also for me, TMI?
Wart killer for Zeke (he has a pretty good sized plantar wart)
Energy booster, headache reliever for Chris
Skin repair (wrinkles, liver spots, age spots, acne, sagging), also me
Every kind of digestive issue

And then I read appetite depressant, and Tess looks up and says, "Why would you want to depress your appetite?"

LOL. That girl just can't fathom a reason to not want to eat!

Anyway almost everyone in my house is ingesting or using it topically now. I spread some on my toast today, then smeared some on my chapped lips and hands, and later washed my face in it (oil cleansing method). I will replace any type of oil/butter called for in any recipe and try to ingest the 3 T. daily that this site recommends. I am hoping to see miraculous results.

Deep Conversation Over Dinner

If you were a fly on the wall in the Johnson's kitchen tonight, this is the conversation you would have heard:

Tess: I want a dog!
Chris: No.
Luke: I do too. No wait, then it will shed and poop all over my room.
Chris: We would have to get one that didn't shed, but finding one that doesn't crap is pretty hard.
Kristin: Excuse me, we want a dog that doesn't poop please.
Tess: I want a dog!
Luke: I want a Labrador.
Kristin: We could only have non-shedding dogs, which is basically poodles and small dogs.
Chris: We could get a shitzu and poodle mix and call it a shit-poo.
Everyone: *hysterics*
Kristin: *trying desperately not to laugh, and look appalled at the same time*
Tess: I want a Bull dog.
Chris: We could get a shitzu, bull dog mix and call it a Bull Shit.
Everyone: *crying, peeing pants, general hysteria.*
Kristin: *laughing* Honey!
Chris: Hey, I can say whatever I want, today's my birthday.


People, this is why our children are slightly warped. It's ALL THEIR FATHER'S FAULT!

Forty Three Years

This little guy turned 43 today! 

Happiest day of his life...

Playin' wi da boyz-- before real life started

Fatherhood

2002

Hiking with the boy

2006-- College Graduate (with Ella)

2008 (Tess Baptism)

2009 Overjoyed? to become a father... again, for the last time...

2011 Walrus Chris

Favorite passtime

Second favorite pass time

2012

Happy Birthday Chris! 

Trend Setter

Luke likes to dress up. I know. Weird. Paradigm High has a dress code; collar shirts, chinos, cardigans, shine-able shoes. Most kids wear polos, but Luke likes to wear a button up and a tie. He says he likes looking 'classy'. Chris, on the other hand, who is actually supposed to wear a tie every day, seldom does.

I found this tutorial on Pinterest (my new addiction. damn you pinterest people!), and thought it was something Luke would love. He did. It's called the Trinity knot, and can be seen on the movie Inception. He and his BFF watched the tutorial, figured out how to do it, and then agreed to wear it today. They also told all their 'peeps' to wear a shirt and tie today. They plan on giving style advice.

Luke told me that their plan is this: When everyone is wearing the trinity tie, they will then move onto the Eldredge knot. Thus, staying one step ahead of the fashions they create. LOL!

I've said it before, this kid has NO self esteem issues. I was struggling to keep up with the current trends when I was in High School, Luke is taking it upon himself to SET the trends. He's quite amusing to me...

(I know-- he needs a hair cut desperately. Our stylist just moved to DC. Sigh* I'm on the hunt for another competent razor stylist if anyone knows one in So. Jordan...)

This is another photo I grabbed before he left for school one morning.

Ignorance?

Luke didn't understand what the big deal was. He said Roma had already made plans w/ her girlfriend to go somewhere after the dance, and since she was driving Roma, he didn't think it was rude to go elsewhere.

We explained that a date is pick-up to drop-off, door to door service, without exception. He feels bad.

I forget that teenage boys are just plain stupid sometimes. Luke is so mature in other ways, I assume he knows more than he actually does.

He plans to buy her chocolate and apologize. I'm sure she'll forgive him. They are friends after all, and surely she understands that boys are dumb- sometimes. Plus, she really loved that bamboo corsage. lol.

I remember well how badly my high school boyfriend treated me, and how I cried many a tear over his behavior. Years later, we discussed it, and he was honestly shocked. He said, "I don't know what to say, I was just a stupid 17 year old kid. I never meant to hurt you, I'm really sorry." Oh. Well then. I guess I should let it go...

Ah... teenage angst. SO glad it's over- for me at least. We're just beginning again with Luke.

Bother.

Dating Faux Pas

So Luke calls me the night of his date, at 11 pm and says he and all his friends want to go watch a movie, and can he stay out till 1am...

My first question should have been, "What time is Roma's curfew?"

But I figured it must be ok for her, if he was calling me. Not wanting to be the 'one' parent who said no, I said ok. He got home at midnight though, because they went to grab some food and ended up talking too long, so decided to dump the movie. I thought this was good, as watching a movie is never a good date activity in my opinion. I asked if he had a good time (he did), but it was late, so I said goodnight.

Today, Chris called to tell me Scott (Roma's dad) told him that Luke ditched Roma, who was going w/ a group to someone's house for hot chocolate, in favor of going to see a movie w/ his BFF. WTF?

Chris is worried we're raising a jerk (not his word). I am shocked really. Luke is always so conscientious and thoughtful, it just doesn't make sense that he would do that to his date. Poor Roma. I guess she went w/ the car they came with, and Luke took off w/ Steven and his friends.

Honestly, going over this kind of dating etiquette never occurred to me. We covered eating like a civilized human being, instead of the dog manners he displays at home. We talked about dancing. It never occurred to me to tell him to TAKE HIS DATE HOME. Sheesh!

He's got some 'splainin to do!

I can't wait to hear his side of this story...

First Date!

Luke went on his first date tonight. He won't be 16 till Feb. 15th, but it was his school's Winter Ball tonight, and we thought it was 'close enough'. He opted to take his friend Roma. She's the daughter of Chris' boss and best friend. She's 17. It's her first date too. They are not romantic at all, which is a plus, parentally speaking.

He was all set to order a corsage, when Chris came home and said, "Roma doesn't want a corsage, she says she doesn't like to wear plants on her wrist." So I suggested he get her some flowers to stick in a vase that she can leave home. He wanted to get her a Bonsai tree. Ooookkaaay. So off we went to the grocery store, because I have no idea where one finds a bonsai tree on a Friday night. He came out with this:

He calls it the 'Fisher of Wisdom'. I'm sure she loved it. It's right up her alley. 

They went to Village Inn for dinner, I know, LAME. He went with 4 other couples, and they all wanted to go there. He couldn't convince them to go someplace classier. He said, "I think it's a Paradigm tradition to just go somewhere cheap and have fun." Well, it saves him some cash anyway, but I still think it's lame. 

Notice his tie? It's a square end, KNIT tie.
Can you believe those are back in style?
He thinks it's 'the coolest'. *eye roll*

After dinner they are going to THE DANCE.  How original. They are actually dancing AT the dance. In my day, you only went to the dance to get your photo taken, and MAYBE dance ONE slow song, then it was on to the 'after dance activity'. These ranged from watching a movie in the canyon w/ a generator, to renting out the local Wet N Wild or Ice skating rink. I don't think I ever stayed at the dance any longer than 30 minutes. Sad really. Needless to say, dances were pretty expensive. I'm glad Paradigm students don't feel the pressure to rent limo's and tux's and go to 5 star restaurants-- for Luke's sake. It's kind of ridiculous. But I did have a lot of fun in High School 'going' to dances. 

Anyway, I keep texting Chris, "Have you snapped a photo of them yet?" And of course he hasn't, I'm going to have to bum a photo off Roma's mom to post here. What he did send me was a 10 second video of the guitarist, at The Pie, where he's eating Pizza with Roma's dad. Great chaperoning guys. 

*sigh* 

A photo OF MY CHILD ON HIS FIRST DATE is apparently too hard. I'm just going to go ahead and publish this now. I may never see a picture of the two of them, but if I do, I'll post it later.

Ooops. He just sent these. My bad. Thank you dear.

Nothing like having your father stalking you w/ his camera at your first dance. That's just how we parent...

Honest Jon

I like this guys humor. I think I've already posted his blog address. He calls it like he sees it, which is right up my alley.

SICK

Zeke has been sick for a week. We've kept him inside for a week. No friends, no church. Luckily he's a homebody and has only thrown a fit once about not being able to go see Annie. He was coughing so much he was puking. He had a blessing Sunday. This morning, along w/ his croupy cough and constantly runny nose, he said his ear hurt. Oh great. I thought, maybe it will pass. I've never had a kid who got ear infections, that I know of, because they never complained about it. I guess I got my dose of what those are like today.

I took him to the Doctor, she said his eardrum was about to rupture (which is ok apparently? huh.), and had a couple of blisters. Ick. We left w/ a Rx for an antibiotic, and some numbing drops to stick in his ear. Tylenol seemed to do the trick before the doctor, afterwards, the pain stepped up a notch and the Tylenol and numbing drops didn't touch it. He was hysterical and inconsolable, the pain was so bad. He just kept his hand on his ear, screaming/crying 'My ear hurts! My ear hurts!'

Pooped. Both of us.

After trying my essential oils and anything else I could find on google, I finally just gave him a dose of Lortab. Kate's left over pain killer from her tonsillectomy. Her dose was 8 ml. I gave him 3. After about 20 more minutes of hysteria, he finally settled down. The Pediatrician said, when adults have an ear ache, Lortab is what they prescribe, the pain is so bad. I knew he was in pain-- lots of pain-- so I gave him some. If anyone out there wants to tell me how Lortab is bad for 3 yo's, just save it. I couldn't stand to see him in so much pain. I gave him another dose 4 hrs later before it had a chance to come back. He's sleeping now.  I'm praying I don't wake up to him in full hysteria in the middle of the night.

MAN. I had no idea ear infections could be so painful! And now I'm glad my other kids seemed to have good ear immunity. Of course Zeke is the one to break all the molds and make me wonder yet again, what I have gotten myself into...

Poor guy. Nothing tears at your heart more than a sick child.

Projects for the 'well-medicated'

As proof positive that my drugs are in fact returning me to my 'normal'--  I'm back in 'project mode'. 

Here's what I've been up to the last week: 

I recovered my kitchen chairs from the nasty tan chenille, that was all stained and gross, to this 'pleather', which is way easier to clean up, and ties my black and brown cabinet theme together. 

I found this 100% wool sweater vest at the DI, and decided to try an 'upcycling' project I saw on Pinterest. I love the way it turned out, felted wool is the coolest! This will be Kate's birthday present, as she is so contented, she doesn't even want anything. It's the perfect size for a scripture bag, which is another thing she got for Christmas- a bible to match her baptism Book of Mormon. 

Here's a brief tutorial, or you can look on my pinterest page for the original instructions, which were in Japanese btw, so I just had to go by her photo's. So you start w/ a wool sweater (or vest) and felt it. Basically, just washing it in hot, w/ a cold rinse. You can google 'felting wool' and find better instructions. It's pretty easy though. So once it's felted, it won't unravel, so you cut off the sleeves and neck, like so:

Fold it in half the other way, so the handles are lined up opposite, notice the seam going up the middle of the bag now, and not the sides,  and stitch up the bottom:

 Fold the corners and pinch together, sew a triangle on each end, and cut off the top. You don't have to do this, but it gives the bag a flat bottom.

Turn right side out, and you have an awesome bag! If you use an adult size sweater, the bag will be much larger, but not as big as the original sweater, as felting shrinks the wool considerably. Notice the seam from the sweater going up the middle of the bag? That's because you folded it in half the other way.

Next comes the flower embellishments. Mine aren't nearly as artistic as the Japanese ladies, must be because I'm only half Japanese? Anyways, I still liked the way they turned out. I just rolled my scraps and stitched them into circle 'roses'. I had very little scraps, as this was a vest originally, so you'll have more to work with if you use a sweater. 

BTW, the second hand stores are full of wool sweaters that people have unintentionally partially felted by washing them in hot water. You may even find one that's already been felted! You'll know it, because it will be misshapen, and obviously smaller than it was originally. I've ruined one or two of Chris' sweaters this way. Wish I'd have saved them now... but no matter, the DI is full of them. I got this child's size vest for $4. 

Yesterday I made this hat for myself. I look TERRIBLE in hats, so I'm not modeling it, but I still have bad hair days and just want to wear a hat, so, ridiculous looking or not, I occasionally wear one.
Today I'm started on Dave's second hat, since the first one was too small. I felt really bad sending him home w/ a too small hat. He was such a great sport though, he kept wearing it perched on top of his head like gnome hat. He wouldn't hear of leaving it. Hilarious.

 Oh, and this is the afghan I made my SIL Leslie. It was my hardest project, not because it was hard, but because it was so boring to make. The same pattern over and over again, times 3, because I kept finding mistakes and had to unpick it SEVERAL times! Ugh. I like projects that take no more than 2 hours. I get too bored and end up leaving big projects sitting undone, which then drives me insane because I have unfinished projects mocking me... I'm still a little crazy as you can no doubt tell... 

Anyways, I'm still in my pajamas, and it's noon, and I haven't showered for two days, but I've been busy nonetheless. I have had zero desire to leave the house in this frigid 19* weather, and Zeke and Chris are sick, Zeke keeps wiping his snotty nose all over me, so showering seems unnecessary... maybe I'm not all the way back to normal....

Missing Photos

Here's the hat, I made 3 of these, I really like the purple, but I don't know what she's gonna wear that with- lol. (Brooke? Help her out.)The other two were gray, one w/ a purple stripe the other w/ black. The zipper flowers are cool, but they are a huge pain. Took me almost as long to make that dang flower as it did to crochet the whole hat! 

All my nieces, and Zeke's girlfriend Annie got one of these. Oh, and I think I made one for a birthday gift too. Talk about awesome/cheap/fast/bday gifts-- I'm not the only one who forgets to buy gifts and realizes it 2 hours before the party-- am I?

And I forgot to post this picture of my Christmas gift from Chris. He made these valances for me. I put on the fabric. When I brought it home, he was a bit shocked-- but I love them. I think they add so much color and character to my ALL BEIGE HOUSE. I could paint walls, but that's so much hassle, so I'm just trying to break up the beige with some color.

Speaking of painting... my dad is coming to paint Luke's room/bath tomorrow! I can hardly wait for it to be done, even though there's still a lot more after that-- finish work/paint, carpet, tile, doors, electrical, and the odds and ends. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but Tess and I are really excited to re-paint and decorate Luke's old room, and I'm SO looking forward to having that girls room organized and tiddy! With 3 girls and all their crap crammed into that room, it's a constant disaster zone. I have to ignore it to keep my sanity, because apparently anti-depressants don't cure OCD's...

Christmas 2012

This is going to be photo overload. I just want to get it all documented before I forget.

Luke opening his yoga mat (yes, he's into yoga, kundalini yoga)

Tess w/ her hand knit fingerless gloves. They are gorgeous. My SIL made me a pair too. 20 hrs. per pair. That's love I tell you. 

The traditional nativity. We have too many girls and not enough interested boys. Kate and Ella were happy to 'change sides' though. 

Ella LOVES this horse. It's weird. Kind of. 

The talent portion of our program. The cuzzies singing "Once there was a Snowman"

The traditional pose in front of the Maori nativity-- usually just my brother and SIL from NZ, but this year, all the cousins jumped in for the hell of it.

Chris got ammo from my Dad, Ryan loved his camo pants I got him. I think they may be starting a secret militia...

All 16 Nakaya cousins. Perfect geometric rate of increase. 4 kids = 16 grandkids. Even though I had to have one of Brooke's for her... Luke is the oldest, Emiko in the stroller is the LAST one. Right Melissa?!

(What is Zeke doing here?)

Ah. Proof that I CAN be a good mother. We opted to give my poor mother a break this year and do gingerbread houses on our own. I briefly entertained the idea of letting the kids invite the neighbor kids, but then came to my senses. Man, I'm glad I did. Even w/ these pre-made IKEA sets, they were a PAIN to put together. Next year, it's the pre-made Costco Gingerbread men! Hats off to Mom who held 4 of these days every year, we all got a day to invite all our friends. She made them all the night before out of graham crackers. I bet she did close to 40 houses each year. Such a great childhood memory, and one my friends still remember too--- too bad I'm not willing to repeat that for my kids... sigh*

Notice the owl hats? I made 7 of these. And 5 owl purses, which I have no photos of... Melissa? Brooke? And 4 scarves. No photos either. And 4 more hats for my SIL's, Tess, and Dave. Dave's hat was too small. I need to make him a replacement. And one afghan that I started in July for my SIL. No photo either. I'm not very good at documenting. Sadly. 

I guess you could say I was in a manic crochet phase last month. It was calming to me actually, I didn't feel any pressure, I just wanted to crochet to escape the madness of the holidays. 

I added this photo of the Christmas Eve program. Every year we take turns being 'in charge'. This year, my sister went a liiiittle overboard and set the bar WAY too high. Poor Dru and Melissa, they'll have to hire circus performers to top this year's program....

Thank goodness Ryan was taking pictures. Most of these are from him. 

Dru's being sneaky about something here, but I'm not sure about what

Ella's solo performance of "Santa caught a cold on Christmas Eve". Gotta love the public schools for teaching our kids music...

Tess played her flute and the piano, as well as 4 other nephews. We had quite the show. 

Cousins displaying their gifts

Zeke started throwing up about 8pm Christmas Eve. He was so sick he wanted NOTHING to do w/ his gifts, shoving them away when presented. He puked all night long, thankfully never in my bed, we always made it in the bowl, but it was a bad night, to say the least. Christmas morning he was better and finally opened all his gifts. Of course the Nerf gun was his favorite, with the cap gun coming in a close second, but we quickly had to set down  Rule #1: 'no face shots'. Those little darts hurt! And the caps, loud and smokey. Rule #2: No caps in the house! 

Luke is always willing to be a target

Santa brought our artist more art supplies than she can ever use up... in a few months, at least! 

Grandma gave Zeke this costume, which he wears pretty much every day. Here he is shooting webs at the camera. He's pretty much obsessed with any kind of super hero out there, and their weapons, of course.

My cute nieces w/ their Fancy Nancy dolls, and they're wearing their owl purses, but of course I cut that out of the photo, because I'm that good at photography...

So there you have it. Christmas 2012. It was great. I'm glad it's over.