My World

We had our family pictures taken recently. Family pictures are a BIG DEAL for us. First, there are a lot of us, and second, the men are extremely resistent. That is except for Nolan. He may show a little dismay, but he always makes up for it by smiling sweetly and saying "I'll do whatever you ask me to do." (He says this to me, not his wife, Megan.) Reed doesn't count in the extremely resistent category since he is still willing to do whatever Kaitlin asks. Here are some of the results.

This is the real DoJo and MoJo. We still really like eachother a lot. On the flip side, we each know exactly the right thing to say to irritate the other one. Kidding aside, this just keeps getting better and better.

We have five pretty-dang-wonderful children. No complaints here. Honestly, I'm really blessed with this bunch. Can you tell from the photo who Wesley's "other mothers" are? Pretty obvious, huh? It's okay though because they've done a good job with him.

And then there were 17! We started with three daughters and two sons and now have four daughters and five sons. What I really like about all these "adopted" children is that I get to love them as if I'd given birth to them without having to live with them through their teenage years. Really painless! Like I said before, I'm blessed.

And this is the best part of having children...GRANDCHILDREN! Currently, we have six, but that number seems to change on a yearly basis. Desi & Jared are taking care of 2009 in October. Although it is hard for us mortals to imagine unconditional love, I think we come fairly close with grandchildren. This may sound a little cliche, but I'm thankful that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER.

The Pedicure Dilemma

It’s spring and I’d like to start wearing sandals, but I’ve got to do something with my toenails first. The way I see it, I’ve have two choices: (1) give myself a pedicure, or (2) go to Walmart and pay the nice Chinese man to do it for me.

Let’s discuss option #1, Do it myself. DoJo prefers this option because it is cheaper and worth a few more laughs. Here’s the problem with #1…I’m not limber enough. Yes, I “work out” regularly, but my fitness routine doesn’t include hitching my foot up to my face, which is where it needs to be in order for me to actually SEE what I’m doing! I’ve done this before, but it caused my hip to lock up and DoJo had to assist me in getting my leg back into a normal position. What I really need is better eyesight. Usually, the Mr. Magoo bifocals work just fine…until it comes to toenails. My theory is that the stress of hitching my foot up so high puts too much stress on the optic nerve, which causes everything to look more blurry, which, in turn, makes it impossible to get a paint job that doesn’t look like I was high from inhaling polish remover during the process. So much for option #1

Option #2: Walmart pedicure with the nice Chinese man who doesn’t speak redneck. I could go for a little foreign pampering except for the fear that one of my precious students would be shopping at Walmart and would see me there. The problem, you ask? It is a SHOCK to their little psyches when they see their teacher out in public. I once saw a student in the toilet paper aisle and by Monday the entire school knew what brand I used and that I bought the mega-large package. Seriously, it throws off their chi. Imagine the damage it would cause if just one of the little buggers happened to walk by while Toe-Ming was making a small mountain of dead skin with his Makita belt sander! I’m not sure either one of us (me or student) could endure the lasting effects of such an encounter.

So…it appears I have some pedicure decisions to make. (1) Add yoga to my fitness routine and buy some of those magnifying glasses Dr. McDreamy wears on Grey’s Anatomy OR (2) use DoJo’s ‘fro wig and sunglasses for a Walmart experience. I feel a humiliating experience coming on.

Cake Pops

On Saturday evening, the men were otherwise occupied with a church meeting, so the womenfolk gathered to do what they do best, cook and talk. This is what I enjoy most about having adult children...they will talk to me like I am a real human. This is opposed to having not-quite-adult-children (who shall remain nameless) who speak real slowly when I'm around...like I'm a foreigner or mentally challenged. The nice thing about these two daughters is that they ask me real questions, listen to my answers, and often ask follow-up questions. Genius runs in the family! So their genius idea is to make these cake-pops while the men are away. I was all for it since it didn't involve messing up MY kitchen. Let's just say melted chocolate and sprinkles will give me an OCD episode. (OCD also runs in the family...just in the womenfolk.) The girls got their idea from Bakerella. When I saw Bakerella's blog, I knew immediately that our cake pops were NOT going to look like hers, but, oh well, I'm always up for a challenge...and like I said before, it wasn't in my kitchen. It was a lot of fun. I mostly just watched, since Lexi and Kourtney did all the hard parts.

This is the other part that runs in the family! We like to eat what we create. Truth? Not one of us could eat more than one of those little demons. Swear to you, they were so sweet that after one bite, I could feel a sugar coma coming on. One cake pop IS one bite, so after the first one (red velvet/cream cheese covered in white chocolate), I waited a proper amount of time (20-30 seconds) before trying the chocolate/chocolate/chocolate one. Swearing again here, but I really couldn't finish it. When I woke up (on the floor), the girls were standing over me with a veggie plate and chunks of grilled chicken breast telling me that I was going to be okay. Seriously sweet, but you may want to make some just for the sugar coma...LOTS of pretty colors....oooooh! Next time we get rid of the menfolk, I'm going to introduce these girls to the pleasures of crochet. It's less self-destructive! Thanks girls for including me in all the fun and not treating me like I'm "special"!