The State of the Union Address is on but I'm not watching it. I can't stay up late enough to watch the whole thing anyway, and regardless, I'm sure I'll hear all the salient sound-bites tomorrow on the radio.
I was really TIRED today, but I am proud of myself that I made myself accomplish all the things I needed to do. This afternoon I was so sleepy, I even asked the boys if they would be good while I went upstairs to take a nap, but they had been counting on going to Target (had to get a prescription there) and were very sad not to go, so I sucked it up, loaded the kids in the car, and off we went. I'm glad we did too, because I know the boys had a good time (they always do at Target). We went into the garden section and there was an area with a bunch of small house-cactuses (cacti?). I told them not to touch because the spines were sharp, and it was very sweet how protective they were of Moses, especially Joseph. He watched Mosey the whole time and pulled him away whenever he got too close for Joseph's comfort. I told them the story of when Brigham (big Brigham) got the cactus thorn stuck through his big toe in Arizona. You should have seen the look on Joseph's face as I was telling that story! His eyes got SOOO big and he just stood there transfixed as I spoke. Afterwards I worried that maybe it was too scary a story for them so I assured him it was very rare and that I'm sure we will be totally fine next time we are in Arizona. Just don't kick a cactus!
Mosey picked up this "fortune ball" in the dollar area. It is this squishy ball filled with pearlescent fluid in which floats a dice with 6 phrases on it (one on each face). The phrases are: "Absolutely," "Without a Doubt," "Perhaps," "Time will Tell," "Dream on," and "Not!" I showed the boys that you are supposed to ask a question, shake it up, and then see what the dice reads. They got SO into this thing, I'm telling you! I ended up buying the darn thing (only a dollar) because they were so funny with it. They asked every question under the sun from, "Am I going to have baked potatoes tomorrow for breakfast?" (from Brigham), to "Is my name Joseph?" (from Joseph, and to which the answer was "Not!"). They maybe took it just a bit too seriously, though, because when Brigham asked, "Will I ever have a Spiderman motorcycle?" and the answer came up, "Dream on," he was genuinely upset! I had to reassure him that it was just a toy, that the ball didn't have a brain and couldn't see the future. I had him ask the question again, and this time the answer came up "Perhaps," so he felt much better.
Here is a FUNNY story from Joseph. One day a week ago or so, we were driving home from school and he asks me, "Mom, why are workers dumb?" I was really shocked by this question. In conversations with the boys, particularly at stores, etc., I refer to the employees as "workers." And recently there have been a lot of "workers" at their school since there is something of a remodel going on. I tried to learn more by asking where they heard such a thing. They didn't know, and I asked them if they heard it from one of their friends at school. No. So I tried getting into an explanation about how workers are NOT dumb, they are just regular people doing their job. Joseph interrupted me and said, "No mom, not *workers,* oer-kers!" I tried to understand what he was saying, but with the typical 4-year-old difficulty with pronouncing "r," it was tough. Finally I asked, "What kind of workers?" And Brigham said, "The green ones with the ears that stick out the sides of their heads." I was even more confused. Then Joseph said, "The oer-ker that has a donkey." Finally it clicked! Not "workers," but "ogres!!" I guess they had been watching Shrek and there is a line in one of the movies about ogres being dumb. I totally laughed out loud sitting there in the drivers seat. Phew! I was getting really worried I was going to have to already start combating bad things my boys hear from their classmates. I explained to them that ogres aren't real, but that in Shrek the people that don't like Ogres try to make other people not like them too, by saying they are dumb. Crisis averted!
Oh, the other news is that it is bulk trash time again! Yay, time for scavenging! I found a completely new-looking computer desk, a nice office chair that Ben will probably take to work since he doesn't have a good one in his office, a little tikes car-- you know, the red ones that the child climbs into and then scoots around pushing with his feet? Mosey loves those whenever we are at someone's house who has one. I got a new little tikes picnic table, which I will use to replace the one we currently have in the backyard and which is in not as good condition. I found a little-girls 2 wheeler bike that I intended to give to one of the student families in our ward with a kid the right size, but which Joseph and Brigham really seem to like... I got a little wooden rocking horse (good prop for photos), a large metal tub (another fabulous photo prop-- you've all seen those pictures of babies sitting in the metal tub, right?), a real doctor's stethoscope which the boys have really loved, listening to each other's hearts and the like. Let's see, what else. Oh, a nice real wood high chair-- not the kind with a chair, but the kind you scoot up to the table. Moses likes it! And another interesting wooden chair with a black leather seat that I am currently using as a chair for the art table. Eventually I want to make a bench for that table, but until then, this chair is nicer than the folding chairs I was using. And the last thing that I think is REALLY cool, are these 2 inserts from an old screen door. You know how some screen doors will have a metal grate or some other kind of design on the lower half of the door? Well, someone was throwing out this screen door and the bottom part had these really interesting inserts with tree designs. I managed to slide them out so I didn't have to take the whole screen door. They will look really awesome as wall art. I will be sure to take a picture when I get them up. So are you all completely embarassed to be associated with a scrounge such as myself? If it makes you feel any better, my 3 friends Rena, Janette, and Melissa are all just as into scavenging as I am...
All right, that is it. I'm going upstairs to get ready for bed. Hope everyone's Wednesdays are great.