Oh, what a morning...

KaiKai and Mojo were late running out the door for school this morning. Not really late, just late enough to need to hurry so that Mo didn't miss her bus. When the door opened back up a few minutes later I just assumed that they had missed it. Even the crying that I heard didn't clue me in, because Mo often cries when she misses the bus. Or when she thinks the tigers might get out of their cages at the zoo and run all those miles and swim that huge river and end up in our yard eating us. Or when she misses Jesus. You know, normal things that people cry about.

Thing is, is that it wasn't Mo that was standing there crying. It was Kai. And she was crying so hard that it was hard to understand her words. And, I know this is hard to picture, but I had that look on my face. The one that shows that not only am I NOT concerned, but I'm slightly annoyed that y'all are SO dramatic about everything, and What, our dog followed you down to the bus stop again? Haven't we been over this? Now stop bawling and get to the bus. That look. The Mother of the Year oh so full of compassion look.

I felt kinda bad when I figured out that she was crying because Mo was in danger. In danger of losing her tongue. In danger of losing her tongue because she LICKED THE STOP SIGN POST. Nice.

Once I translated the scream crying into human words, I ran to get a glass of hot water to try and rescue the child who's already missing teeth from her brother knocking them out and doesn't need to also be missing a tongue. Teeth grow back. Tongues, not so much. While I did that, Kai ran frantically back to the bus stop. It turns out - how cute is this- that she was even MORE freaked out about leaving her defenseless little sis at the bus stop alone, than she was about her tongue situation. I loved that. I really loved that she was FREAKING out trying to choose between standing guard over her and running to get her help. I'm glad that wasn't an easy choice. I'm glad she wouldn't normally think to leave her down on that busy road all alone. Thank you, Kai, good job!

Getting the glass of hot water for Operation Save the Tongue proved to be more challenging than one might expect, because the water pump had frozen again and I didn't know it. Luckily there was a trickle left in the water heater and after a few minutes I got what looked like enough water together for Operation Save the Tongue and I ran the door, barefoot, wearing a robe with no belt, hair everywhere, trying to balance a glass of Save the Tongue water in one had, and a barefoot child under each arm. I peeled out down the driveway and when I got to the bus stop Mo had completed removing herself (minus 2 chunks of tongue flesh) from the sign and was cupping her hand under her chin to catch the blood.

When I got upstairs to tell Chris about it I pointed out that I've never had a child do this. I thought we all just knew better. He said that not only did he do this as a child, but he did it TWICE on the playground in grade school, and his mom was the Duty, so she got to be the one to go fetch the hot water for him. His poor mother.

Then we debriefed the children on the whole adventure, got their stories, laughed at them, acted out our versions of Kai running in place in a panic trying to decide whether to leave Mo or not, slapped some Ambesol on the wound and drove them to school. Chris thawed the water pump, and we're all back in one piece. Except for that nasty tongue wound, but I hear that they heal fast.

Photo Commentary

In lieu of catching up on months and months of posts, I'd like to share my thoughts about this picture...
Look at Uncle Dut-Dut's arm. No, not the enormous muscles threatening to tear open his shirt sleeve, the same muscles that made Kenzie very very uncomfortable, because it is her uncle, after all, and she shouldn't have those kinds of feelings looking at him. Not that. Just the girth. I chose to breed with these people. HAVE YOU SEEN MY ARMS??? I'm just saying, my poor poor baby girls, that's all I'm saying. I'm sorry. Maybe some boys are attracted to massive biceps. Good luck with that.

Now let's move on to Kaila's face. She's clearly looking at Kenzie. Her emotion is so vague though. Is it sisterly love and admiration? Is it amusement? Nope, I'm going with disdain. Definately disdain.

Back to Dut-Dut. Is he flexing for the camera? Nope. It just looks like that all the time. Freak.

See Morgan? That's a pretty constant state right now. Loose tooth. One comes out and I think we're done, then she finds another loose one and she's at it again. No wonder she's always getting sick. GET YOUR HAND OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, KID!

That's all I've got for now. That, and, if you could only see the rest of the table, you'd see the wonderous buffet that we always find at Grandma Kelley's house. There's lots of Thanksgiving foods there, but also a pizza, and some hot dogs, but no buns. Maybe some french toast. An assortment of cookies. And always ALWAYS the crockpot of spaghetti. I love this. It's fascinating to me.

A Day at the Zoo With AshAshBaby II

A Day at the Zoo with AshAshBaby

Here's a video of your kid, Jenny. See, she's all in one piece still. One day down, 7 more to go!

Chris telling one of his bedtime stories.

Our Job Here Is Done

Avery has FINALLY learned how to cross her eyes. It's pretty awesome. She also likes to cross her eyes and then reach for things, miss them, and laugh. So cute.

This video is made even more awesomer by Grant running around in the background trying to sell his dinner. I wasn't really paying attention until the end, when I told him to sit down and he said he was busy selling his dinner. Weird kids, I don't know where they get it.

Oh My Stomach

Chris just said "Heyheyhey, babe, I've got a great idea! Let's take Morgan, Kaila, and my mom to see Paranormal Activity!"...

Oh, the visual. The screaming. The LOUD praying. The scripture quoting. And Kaila's infamous California-Adventure-Ferris-Wheel-Death-Scream "WE'REGONNADIE WE'REGONNADIE WE'REGONNADIE!!!!!!!!" Although, the Death Scream will not be nearly as funny since it's not on a FERRIS WHEEL *death scream*, albeit a FERRIS WHEEL *death scream* with the following warning "The sliding cars are not for anyone with a fear of heights or falling". Thinking back on that day, I now realize that we might have wanted to heed that warning, but if we had, then we would not have experienced one of my favorite memories of all time. One that never fails to make me laugh. One that I quote every chance I get. One that had tears streaming silently down my cheeks, because in one of my greatest parenting moments ever, I was laughing so hard that I wasn't even making any sound, and was laughing THAT HARD at my terrified child.

Which is exactly why I think that we SHOULD take Morgan, Kaila, and Grandma Kelley to the movie about demonic haunting. Possibly the most terrifying subject ever. Because who knows what epic memories we could create? It's pretty much guaranteed to be unforgettable.

Just this morning the neighbor girl commented on how hard it is raining today and Morgan quickly reassured her that Don't worry! God promised that He would never flood the entire earth again!" You could pretty much fill in the unspoken I'M NOT SCARED, I'M FINE, THIS IS JUST SOME RAIN, WE'RE NOT GOING TO ALL DROWN, NOPE, GOD PROMISED. I'M OK. I'M OK. I'M OK So, I'm thinking that an absolutely terrifying, way worse than any blood & guts slasher flick, demon movie should bring some fascinating results. Possibly permanent damage, but isn't making memories always a risk?

In case you haven't seen the previews, the same preview that Chris heard about on the radio, and had to come home and turn on the tv to Penguins of Madagascar and hold himself and drown out the terror with some funny little cartoon arctic birds to try to get the RADIO AD out of his head and he still hasn't seen the TV trailer, I have posted it here for you enjoyment. Here ya go...

Boys are weird

Friday Flashback

I spent all evening looking through bins of photos for a specific one of Chris that I wanted to use for today's Friday Flashback. I never did find it, so here are my alternate choices. Both Halloween inspired.

Kenzie in the orange witch hat, Danielle W in the white wig, and Kourtney as the little kitten. I love you, Kourtney!

Me and the big girls when they weren't the big girls yet. I don't know the year. It's in our old house and the rooms weren't painted yet, so I'm thinking 2000 or 2001.

Absolutely Terrifying

Kenzie got her license...Um, congrats? Great job? I don't really know what to say here. Thanks for running to the store for me last night. That was nice and I'm sure I'll come to love you being a driver. Eventually.

No Bueno

I'm calling Nickelodeon. I have a complaint. My kids can say a multitude of things in Spanish and they have no use for it. What we need here in Vancouver is "Go, Dimitri, Go". That would be useful to us. Teach me how to say hello in Russian, will ya?

Happy Birthday Chris!

For the hubby's birthday this weekend I used Jenny to my advantage again and through her connections was able to take him to a nice hotel on Friday night. Also, thanks to my teenagers who are old enough to stay home with the littles.

I used my normal brilliant planning techniques and scheduled family pictures for the same afternoon. But I planned the location to be 45 minutes south of our house. On a Friday. See, that way we could hit rush hour trafic 4 times. First we hit it heading south on I-5 as we came into Portland. Then we got through Portland and hit the traffic of people LEAVING Portland, then, on our way home, we got to do it all over again. AND we got to do all this while trying to get our kids home and settled only to turn right back around and head back INTO Portland to surprise him with our big night away. I know. I'm awesome.

It was nice, really, to add that extra bit of tension to the always fun annual family picture event. I'm going to come right out and admit that when we arrived 30+ minutes late I realized that I had forgotten to bring a hairbrush (to make certain kids long hair look less stringy) and that I may have forgotten someone's underwear. Someone in a dress. And I forgot that the dress another kid was wearing never stays buttoned. And it buttons all down the back. So those strangers who didn't get a crotch shot from one child, got to see a child who appeared to be in the middle of disrobing.

Also, to prepare for our big night out, I had turned myself a nice shade of orange. He likes that in a woman. Who am I to deny him his birthday request? So, there we are all lined up to record for our posterity the Berg family in 2009, and we've got stringy hair, missing panties, and a mom who looks like she fell asleep in a tanning bed. Or eats alot of carrots. And yells alot. Mostly at the dad.

I'm so grateful for Photoshop.

Based on the previews I got from JenniferLynn, things should look great. She even assured me that there are things she can do to whiten me up a bit. Phew.

We did finally get to go on our date. We checked in downtown and walked over to the Newport Bay that sits down on the river. We ate from the $3 appetizer menu upstairs in the bar and managed to spend less than $15! Then we stayed up way too late watching a movie. We tried to sleep in, but it didn't work out, so we spent the morning watching those Dateline murder mystery shows. It was pretty awesome. It wasn't awesome looking at the white sheets and seeing my tan all over them. Ewww. Sorry, maid person, I hope that comes out for ya.


Here's our only picture from the night...

While we were running around getting ready for pictures and I'm all I TOLD YOU TO FIND WHITE TIGHTS!!! and WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR WHITE SHOES DON'T FIT? and the 2 youngest were like Hey! Mom's distracted. SWEET! and they plopped their non-underwear wearing butts down, grabbed the Costco pack of toilet paper from the upstairs linen closet,and sat there unwrapping each roll, throwing them gleefully over the balcony. Then they ran downstairs and stomped on every roll, so they're all flat. I could have moved them to get a picture of us heading out for our hot date, but I thought they added a dose of reality to the moment.

Who doesn't love a good wedding? (this post was started in August)

Jenny let me be her photographer's assistant for a wedding at The Grande Lodge in Forest Grove. I really wanted to go because a) I thought it would be a blast to hang with the photographer at a wedding (and I was totally right) and b) I always wanted to live there when we were kids.



It used to be the Masonic Lodge Retirement Home and we would drive by it once in awhile. It sits back off the highway on beautiful grounds and looked like a cross between the White House and a castle to me.

The wedding was pretty cool. We got a kick out of trying to count all the tattoos. Interesting assortment of characters in that bunch of folks, I tell ya. I got hit on AND invited to smoke weeeeed with the groomsmen. I did NOT take them up on that offer. Instead I drove to Fred Meyer and bought a Diet Dr Pepper because that's how I party, yo. And because McMenamin's selection of soda SUCKS and The Grande Lodge is a McMenamin's property now.

I had a great time. The flower girl loved me and got me to take lots and lots of pictures of her. I would never stay in their rooms again because they have the whole "group bathroom" set up and I'm not a fan of that. I'm also not a big fan of no tv in the room. I'm also not a fan of no air conditioning in August. If all of these things sound like I didn't love it, I did. Just not as a place to spend the night. Other than that, I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend that Jenny let me assist again.

This may seem like a re-post, but I swear it's not. It's brand new. Just now.

Grant let me know a little bit ago that he's sorry, Mom, but I missed the toilet. Nothing new to see here, folks. He's a man child. He misses the bowl.

I didn't even look up. Just said Ok, buddy, better luck next time.

He misses the bowl, but not by much, you know? You all have husbands and/or sons, you TOTALLY know what I'm talking about. Don't deny it. A little goes flying the wrong way before they get things under control. It's most likely somewhere ON the toilet. Usually the seat.

A few minutes later, Avery yelled PEEPEEPOOPOOH!!! Which you aunties know from overhearing it hundreds of times on the phone means that she's running for the toilet. Again, nothing new, go ahead, baby girl, I'm on my way in to supervise and wipe your bum when you're done. Feel free to get started without me.

Then there was a horrible head-hitting-hardwood sound and that moment of silence while they catch their breath in order to scream REALLY REALLY LOUD and you're convinced that there will be blood involved and probably an ambulance.

I did find her flat on her back. Poor baby. No blood. Just a sea of pee. The whole bathroom and some of the hall. I have NO idea how long he had been saving that one up, but it was remarkable. Her whole back was soaked. I could barely get her clothes off of her, they were so wet. The traumatic fall also caused her own bladder to release it's load, so there was that contributing factor to take into account, but it was mostly the boy's.

It leads me back to that ever present parenting question...How do you even get someone clean ENOUGH after something like that? Bleach bath? Scalding shower? Alcohol rub down?

I'm gonna go with old faithful. Ignore it. She'll get bathed EVENTUALLY, and chances are that she'll just do something equally gross between then and now anyway. Why rush these things?

8 dollars? Psshhh, that's nothing. Totally worth it for fashion's sake.

Here are the few lame pictures that we got of Kai's first game, then the camera died. This is BEFORE the urgent sock emergency phone call.

And here, HERE, is the after, with the ADORABLE 8 dollar knee socks. So cute on her. Cuter in person than in the pictures. Way cute. Too cute. Love em.

Would it be wrong to say that she's the cutest one on the team? She totally is. Even Kiki whispered it to me and she's the "older sister" and wouldn't be all that anxious to compliment the kid sister on her cuteness.

It's true, she rocks that VB uniform like the 2nd child that she is.

I may have forgot to mention...

10am phone call...

Hi. There's a volleyball game tonight that I didn't know about and it's an away game, so we're leaving from the school early, so I need you to drop off my long white socks by, like, 1 o'clock, K?

What long white socks?

The ones I need to get.

Sooo, you don't actually own any long white socks?

Right. I need you to go buy some and then bring them to the school as SOON as possible.

I didn't even know that you NEEDED long white socks.

I forgot.

Okaaaay.

Ring Ring...

And my jersey! I forgot my jersey. Thanks.

Of course I did it. And the requested knee length socks were $8. EIGHT. For the one pair.

I love this job.

Rat Tail be gone

Something for me to think about

Work
Father, where shall I work today?
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
Not that little place for me.”
And the word He spoke,
it was not stern;
He answered me tenderly:
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.
Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,And so was Galilee.
Meade McGuire

New beautiful pictures of my blessings, the children that God has given me stewardship over (compliments of..and to...JenniferLynnPhotography)

Hi-Lo

Current Highs:

• Getting to attend the Portland Temple with my hot husband. He has been a member of the church for a little over a year and attended "temple prep" classes and was interviewed by the Bishop to determine that he has a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and an understanding of the covenants that he would be making in the House of the Lord and that he is striving to keep the commandments. It was a beautiful experience and I'm still amazed that he even decided to join the church...actually I'm still amazed that he announced out of the blue to the whole congregation that he knew that it was the true church and he had known it for several years. In a few more weeks we will be going with our children to be sealed for time and all eternity as a family. Again, not something I can even get my mind around happening for us. Amazing.
• It's autumn. I love the smells and the colors and school starting and football season and crunchy leaves and having only two kids at home all day and no Kindergartner. It's much easier for two kids to get along with each other than three. Even when one of the two is Vee.
• My husband started off the morning of September 11th by gathering us together in the living room to kneel in prayer. He offered a wonderful prayer of gratitude for our safety and relative peace and asked for blessings for those who were affected by the tragedy and for the men and women serving our country in the military. It was a beautiful gesture and I'm so grateful that I have a husband who would think of that. It made me cry. Not easy to do.
• Got to hang out with Heather tonight at Mom and Dad's house. I wish I lived close enough to do that much more often.
• Kaila FINALLY returned from her family reunion trip to Hawaii. It was a very LONG week and a half and she started off the school year by missing 5 days. She was, incredibly, able to catch up on all the missed work within days of being back. Thanks to her natural brilliance and some great help from our friend Calli.
• Our friends/neighbors/Chris'-other-family have continued to take great care of us. Fixed our lawnmower (again) and found us free tires for the van and installed them for us. It was SO needed and such a blessing for us right now. This is the family that Chris goes to for a second dinner if he didn't like what I cooked. He knows that her food is guaranteed to be amazing and that he's always welcome.
• Everybody is healthy and happy and life is good!

Lows:

• The mortgage industry. Yikes.
• Searching for scholarships already. Yikes.
• Keeping up with schedules for five kids. One who is on the volleyball team (woot woot!) and one who is in too many things to even list. Yikes.
• Vee goes weeks without an accident and then days in a row where she never once makes it to the toilet. Not once. Today was one of the not once days. The last accident was while I was getting them buckled into the van to drive out to Hillsboro. I had just changed her, too. She just stood right there looking at me while she peed all over the floor of the car. Don't worry, I knelt right in it after that, so not only does the van smell of urine, but so do I. At least Jenny isn't riding in my car anytime soon. Yikes.

Highs totally outweighing the lows. Gotta love that, right?

Friday Flashback - Seahawks Edition

Baby Morgan at a Seahawks game with us and the Komps 6 years ago!

Explanation

Kenzie has pointed out that I never explained the recent takeover of my blog. I forget that not everybody is on Facebook with me and in on the jokes going on over there.

It all started when I was sitting innocently in front of my computer and Beck popped up with an instant message. It said "Have you checked your blog lately?". As terror gripped my heart I went to my blog and saw that the sister that I love, trust, and look up to, had taken over my blog and posted a video of my children condemning my parenting. Seriously...I had imagined SO much worse as I visualized all the pictures she has of me. See, she had just been here and we had followed the NW rule of no hair fixing or makeup or, ummm, shaving...anything. All this while wearing swimsuits most of the time. Once, wearing a swimsuit AND doing the Baywatch run down the beach toward the camera.

Of all the crap she could have posted, I was quite ok with the video.

It did get worse when she realized that, being the trusting and innocent younger sister that I am, I hadn't changed my password. So she posted pictures of me and refused to give me my new password. The first picture deserves an explanation...I have a huge mole on my arm and one of my loving family members had just pointed out that while the mole is gross, it's not nearly as gross as those hairs growing on it. I pointed out that I like them there. It gives me something to play with. With my tongue. That other one is just me showing my hairy pits for the camera. My children will cherish the memories some day, I am sure.

I'd like to point out that I have a full run in my hand right there. I probably won and it was probably God's way of punishing them for mocking my hairy mole.

So, in case you missed it, here's my reaction and everyone's comments on my Facebook wall:

My status update:
Amy McCumber Berg WARNING: Don't EVER give Beck your password..even if it's just because her butt is at your desk and she won't move for you to log in. She will use it for evil purposes. AND get your children involved in her wicked schemes. She's dead to me. Dead.
August 25 at 5:19pm ·


Jennifer McCumber Komp
What did she do??? Your blog???
August 25 at 5:19pm ·

Amy McCumber Berg
YES!!! Punk called Kiki today and talked to her. Should have known they were up to something.
August 25 at 5:20pm ·

Jennifer McCumber Komp
I am crying!!! This is AWESOME!!!
August 25 at 5:21pm ·

Amy McCumber Berg
Not awesome!!! Okay, their creativity is awesome. Beck is a traitor. Time for Thyroid Battle Royale II.
August 25 at 5:23pm ·

Jennifer McCumber Komp
SWEET! As long as I am not a part of it. :) It is funny though.
August 25 at 5:24pm ·

Amy McCumber Berg
You know I don't really care!!! Funny little bastards aren't they?
August 25 at 5:25pm ·

Mike Towers
My friend wants some opinions. Question: If someone keeps calling you addicted to facebook, do any of you think that would start making you actually addicted to facebook.
August 25 at 5:32pm ·

Jennifer McCumber Komp
HAHAHAHA!!!
August 25 at 5:35pm ·

Amy McCumber Berg
That's not funny.
August 25 at 5:45pm ·

Mike Towers
Oh...feed your kids, will ya.
August 25 at 5:53pm ·

Rebecca McCumber Layton
Don't you hate it when you think you've typed your password in wrong but actually someone has changed it?
August 25 at 9:37pm ·


Wait a MINUTE! She did something MORE??? And I trusted her. What a mistake.

More comments:

Moe Young
this is hilarious
August 25 at 5:39pm

Amy McCumber Berg
Don't encourage them, Moe! Tell Jay to get Beck back for me. He'll think of something brilliant!
August 25 at 5:49pm · Delete

Rebecca McCumber Layton
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
August 25 at 7:04pm

Rebecca McCumber Layton
You have NO IDEA.....
August 25 at 7:24pm

Marty Thibert
Admission is the first step to recovery. Good thing your keds are strong enough to feed themselves and help you through this trying time. LOL (Nice work!)
August 25 at 9:18pm

Amy McCumber Berg now she has taken over my gmail account too...wow!!! Nice, sister. Real nice.
August 25 at 9:39pm ·

Rebecca McCumber Layton
Too bad I'm dead to you. Maybe if I was still among the living I could tell you your new password.
August 25 at 9:41pm ·

Jennifer McCumber Komp
Wow!!!!!! Try "I am Beck's B___" or "Beck Rules". I am glad I am not part of this war.
August 25 at 9:53pm ·

Jean O'Connell Macaulay
You guys are a riot!
August 25 at 9:59pm ·

Amy McCumber Berg
Hahaha! Those would be good ones!
August 25 at 10:00pm ·


Amy McCumber Berg she gave me my new password "IlovemySissy". But you know the worst part of this whole thing? It was just so funny and I didn't do it first. That sucks.
August 26 at 10:34am ·

Charissa Palmer
i really loved the video, the girls are so great. thank them for me, i laughted tell i almost wet my pants.
August 26 at 10:38am · Delete

Lloyd Shell
Um.... Ames, now that the entire facebook world knows your password...... you are going to change it right????????
August 26 at 12:24pm · Delete

Amy McCumber Berg
Nah...I like the excitement and suspense of it being out there for just anyone to use. YES I CHANGED IT!
August 26 at 12:38pm · Delete

Ron McDonald Junior
Well, now it's IhatemySissy.
August 26 at 2:41pm · Delete

Rebecca McCumber Layton it must be hard to admit that I'm funnier than you. Oh well.
August 26 at 10:57am ·

Amy McCumber Berg
It must be hard for YOU to admit that you're so mean. At least I only make fun of myself (I'm sure deep down you're so ashamed).
August 26 at 11:06am · Delete

Rebecca McCumber Layton
ashamed? nope. Well, a little ashamed when I realized that I'd peed my pants from laughing so hard at your blog again this morning. Me funny.
August 26 at 11:17am · Delete

Amy McCumber Berg
Go turn off the light, I can sleep with it on.
August 26 at 4:42pm · Delete

Amy McCumber Berg
Is it hard for you to admit that Towers is funnier than both of us?

Quote for Today

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

(Used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech)

- Maryanne Williamson

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

You still haven't changed your password? Seriously? I could TOTALLY post anything I want here.

Help & Prayers Requested

Daddy Paranoia

Kiki is out on a group date. When Chris got home from work he asked what exactly they are doing...

They're at the park. I told you that. They're playing games.

Alone? They're at the park ALONE?

No. They're at the park TOGETHER. All 6 of them.

But, without any adults? I don't know if I feel comfortable with that. It's a big wooded park. Something could happen.

OR SHE COULD BE ON A DATE ALONE WITH A BOY IN AN EMPTY HOUSE!!! I think maybe you need to weigh your concerns and realize that she's in a pretty good situation.

True, but I know her, she wouldn't BE alone in a house with a boy doing anything. I'm not worried about HER. I'm worried about strangers.

I tell ya. Always with the dang stranger-danger. She's 16. Playing at a park in broad daylight. With 6 friends. She's FINE.

He's cute, isn't he? It's good to know that he cares.

Big Chiney Hiny

We decided to go to Big Chiney for Beck and DuWayne's anniversary. We only go there once in awhile, you know, for celebratory reasons...and it's a favorite of everybody's so we felt kinda bad leaving the kids out. We sat them down and said "Listen, you little turds, we have had enough of your crap this week. We deserve a break and, like it or not, we are going to Big Chiney without you!" Not really. Really, we snuck out and told them we'd be back in a few hours. We're chicken. They outnumber is 4 to 10 and the littlest one is really mean.

Bryce challenged Chris to a dual over how many plates of Won Tons he would eat...

This kids ate Totinos instead. I love Totinos.

Dewey took this picture while pointing out the fact that we were right where we always are...on the computer. It's not true. Sometimes we stop to count the kids and if one is missing we yell to the other ones to find the missing one.

The happy couple.

The even happier couple with their food. Funny thing was that we got Khe Sahn as our waitress again (waitress story).

Me breaking the rule that Chris set on our very first date. No salad allowed. It's a waste of buffet stomach space.

Chris sharing his hairy belly with us...again. The funny part was that Khe Sahn never once came over and rubbed any part of any of us. Even after he used his fur to try to lure her in. She wasn't the least bit interested in how cute we are. Very disappointing.

Chris didn't like it when I showed my stomach for the camera. I tried not to let his reaction hurt my feelings too much. He's lucky that he tells me many times a day that I'm hot...it makes up for the times he looks at me and cringes.