Crazy Eights

I've never done a tag, and I've been tagged a bunch. This one actually seemed fun so. . .

8 things I look forward to:

1. My parents visiting at the end of May.

2. Capri's dance recital.

3. Taking my kids to Washington DC someday and having a little visit and chat with Tommy J.

4. Going on a mission with Jeff. I think about this all the time, it's the one part of growing older that I'm really looking forward to.

5. Going back to Italy, Florence in particular.

6. Going back to The Isle of Mann with my brother Josh and his wife (whenever he gets around to getting married).

7. The daily deal on Missouri Star Quilt Co.

8. Reading blogs. Please don't stop writing!

9. Being a published author.

Wait, that's nine.

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Took Rome & Capri to school.

2. Ate breakfast while watching Sesame Street with Sable

3. Went to storytime at Barnes & Noble with Sable. It was kind of by accident, we went to just read books and play with trains. But storytime was starting within five minutes of us getting there. Score! It was even signing with your baby, double score! Sable learned some new signs and then got to color and eat cookies and a mini milkshake with whipped cream all for free. Triple score! OK, that's annoying.

4. Took the Rome & Capri to get $6.99 haircuts at Great Clips. Rome's hair hasn't been so short since he was a baby. Seriously.

5. Took Capri to dance class.

6. Got a snack at In a Tub during said dance class. YUM.

7. Made dinner.

8. Did baths, scriptures, books, and bed for the littles.

9. Fell asleep on the couch. Whoops.

Wait, that's 9 again. Sorry.

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Get started on at least one of the books that have been sitting in my head for ages.

2. Buy a Toyota Sienna.

3. Play an instrument.

4. Speak a foreign language.

5. Design and sew clothes.

6. Lose 10 pounds.

7. Eat out every day! This probably wouldn't help #6.

8. NEVER get another headache. EVER EVER EVER.

8 shows I watch on TV:

1. Project Runway

2. Monk

3. Psych

4. Scrubs

5. Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods

6. Corner Gas (It's not on any channel right now. Sob. It was the BEST.)

7. The Sopranos - edited on A&E

8. King of the Hill

I'm gonna add another "8" just because I think it's a good one.

8 favorite books:

1. Catcher In The Rye
JD Salinger

2. A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway

3. Jurassic Park
Michael Chrichton

4. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Judy & Ron Barrett

5. The Rule of Four
Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomasan

6. A Civil Action
Jonathan Harr

7. The Shepherd of the Hills
Harold Bell Wright

8. The Book of Mormon

I tag: Renae, Emily A., Shelly, Maggie, Corrie, Erin, Mindy, Karen, TJ, Annie, Erica, Adrienne & my Mama.

That's more than 8 but I just don't care.

Interview: Rome Valentino Runyan

Hi Rome!
Hi.
How are you today.
Good.
Are you ok?
Yeah.
Are you sure?
Mmmm. Hmmm.
OK should we do your interview?
Yeah.
Rome what is your favorite color?
Blue and green.
Favorite animal?
Tigers
Food?
Pepperoni pizza
The same as Capri?
Yeah. Pause. I changed my mind Mama, it's beans and rice with tuna.
OK
What is your favorite candy?
Smarties, ice cream
Rome, ice cream is not a candy!
How about pops? Lollipops
Yeah that's candy. So what do you like to do?
Uhhhh. I like to do cleaning up.
Really? Great!
What else?
I like to go to Silver Dollar City.
What is your favorite part about SDC?
Fire in the Hole.
How come?
Because it gots really big hills.
But last time we went you only wanted to go on it one time. How come?
Because I'm scared of the big one, the big hill. I be scared about that.
OK
What is your favorite thing to do with me?
Go on dates.
Where to?
Getting my hair cut.
For a date?
Oh no no no. I changed my mind. Gramma and Papa's house.
For a date???
Nope. Actually I want to do uh uh uh. . . I guess that's all my things. I can't think of other things. Maybe sports.
Sounds good!
Love you Rome!
I love you too!

Stories From The Street: Aren't You That Officer?

Last night Jeff gets a call from the dispatcher with a report of a large amount of brush and debris in the middle of a street. He drives to the location, a street across town from the paddlefish site. Once he gets there, a woman who lives there asks him if he'd like to use her PITCHFORK to clear the debris.

"Sure" he says.

So he starts pitchforking.

As he's going along, another woman drives by and then slows. She pokes her head out her car window and yells, "HEY, aren't you that officer who was moving the big fish the other night?!"

This is where Jeff would like to stress, the fish street was across town and there were maybe 2 cars that passed by while he was moving them.

At this point you may be thinking,

"Where is Public Works?"

"Why is Jeff now the go to guy for getting stuff out of the street?"

"What were those fish doing there the other day anyway?"

Those are really good questions.

No. I don't have any answers.

The Strongest Man In The Big Wide World

Stick around for the third song, it's sure to hit the top 10.

Interview: Capri Marina Runyan

Capri, it's good to be with you today. How are you?
Good.
So Capri. . .
What?
How's your life?
Good.
Good. That's it?
Uh huh.
Ok, so let's get to the important questions.
Alright.
What is your favorite food?
Pepperoni pizza
Favorite color?
Pink
Favorite animal?
Birds and eagles.
Favorite candy?
Lollipops and smarties. Actually EVERY kind of candy!
That's not true. You don't like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.
Nope.
Favorite TV show?
I think. . . Imagination Movers.
You think? Are you sure?
Uh huh.
Ok, so Capri. . .
What?
Where is your favorite place to go?
I think Silver Dollar City and Gramma & Papa's house.
You think?
Yup.
Who is your best friend?
Aubrey, Audree and Janelle.
What kind of things do you like to do?
I like doing cartwheels and practicing my front flips.
Front flips? What's that?
It's when you flip over. Like this. (She demonstrates with her lollipop, I still have NO idea what she's talking about.)
Ok. What else do you like to do?
I like doing new crafts and making stuff with you. AND I like going to school.
Anything else?
Nope.
What about dance class?
I like doing Uptown Girl, and The Imagination Movers.
For your recital?
Umm hmm. Pause. And I am eating a strawberry lollipop.

Another pause.

Why are you asking me all these questions?
So people can know more about you.
Did you write that I'm eating a strawberry lollipop?
Yes.

Mama & The Littles

go to the zoo.

Meet Orion

After a LONG visit to PetSmart, checking out every possible small pet option, we were about to leave empty handed. Then we walked past the Bettas. . .and walked out with this guy.

But he is a LITTLE different, he's a Crowntail Betta. Instead of, ummm, a regular one.

He's actually been with us for a few months. I just keep forgetting to introduce him.

Turns out I DID kill our last fish, Agro. It was putting him into luke warm water instead of room temperature water. Death by luke warm water, what a way to go.

SDC (That's Silver Dollar City to All those Unfortunate Enough to Have Never Been)

Last week:

What Would YOU Do For a Klondike Bar?

The other night at dinner Rome chose to not get one of these:

Because he didn't want to eat this:

1/4 of a strawberry

How about you?
What would you refuse to eat even if a Klondike bar was on the line?

Stories From the Street: Fish

Last night Jeff got a call wherein the dispatcher told him there was a large Swordfish in the middle of a street.

"What??" was his response.

On arriving at the named street he found this:

A Paddlefish.

Nearly 4 FEET LONG and 40 - 50 lbs., Jeff put on his gloves and hauled it out of the middle of the street over to the curb.

While lugging the beast, a driver stopped to tell Jeff there was ANOTHER fish on a nearby street.

No, he has absolutely no idea how they got there.

Just your friendly KC cop keeping the streets safe . . . from one of the largest freshwater fish in North America.

***NOTE***

I have just been informed, by Jeff himself, that there were actually TWO paddlefish at the first location and then a third on a street a couple blocks away.

Slice of Life #3

Easter

It was cold and rainy and muddy, but still a beautiful Easter day.

We started it off by searching for the baskets.

Then off to Stake Conference with a broadcast from Salt Lake, Elder Oaks and President Monson spoke.

Back home, some Easter pics.


Jeff had to work so it was bed for him and choruses of "when can we have the egg hunt??" for me.

101 Dalmations and popcorn, then hot rock eggs for a diversion.





Jeff awoke and we were ready for "The Hunt".

The Hunt

The Booty


The Feast

Pasta Carbonara (pasta with ham and eggs) with peppers and rosemary peasant bread. Capri made little chicks and chickens for the table.


The Reason

I read John 20: 1 - 21 to the kids for scripture study before bed. Capri was SO entranced and full of smiles.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Pre-Easter Festivites

Nothing says the day before Easter like:

A package from Gramma & Papa,

a visit with the Bunny,

and your own Easter parade.

Slice of Life #2

And The Winner Is. . .

Corrie Alonso!

Corrie wrote:
"man, look what i have to do in order to get a present from my BFF j/k but i really better win this thing j/k no i am not j/k yes i am"

She also wrote:
"i work an 8 hour graveyard shift tonight so i got nothing but time:)bring it on!"

Corrie IS my bestest friend but truly the constest wasn't rigged. It really is true that the more "tickets" you buy in a raffle the better your chances of winning, Corrie left over 200 comments!

Congrats Corrie, you crazy girl, your prize is coming soon!

True Random Number Service

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

353

Timestamp: 2009-04-07 13:30:22 UTC

Lucky #107

CONTEST CLOSED

A few posts back, 7 as you may be able to deduce with some simple subtraction, I hit my 100th post. I actually didn't even notice.

But #107, now that's something!

So I'm going to go for the gusto and offer up a prize (it's gonna be a GOOD one) to a randomly selected commenter of THIS post. Leave as many "luvs" as you please - think of them as free raffle tickets, the more you leave the better your chances.

My reputation with the post office is not very good. I can go for months and months and months without setting foot in the cursed place. The post office and the shoe store are the two guaranteed places my kids will completely lose their minds and turn into snarling, shelf destroying maniacs.

However, this time you have my promise I will mail the winner their prize in a timely manner. Maybe I'll even mail Annie her prize from way back when (ok, nearly a year ago). It's been sitting on my dresser for, well, months and months and months.

REMEMBER - the MORE comments you leave, the greater your chances of winning. A comment can be any length, even only 1 word!

I'll pick one winner Tuesday morning using the Random Number Generator online.

luvs and good luck!