Halloween 2012

Halloween was pretty great this year.  I was also pretty excited to get it over with.  Campbell was a spider and Penny was Cinderella.  Carly took some adorable pictures of the girls and the Wilson cousins.  Here they are.

Keep reading for one of my favorite Halloween conversations.

Nate: How is my little spider?
Campbell: I'm not a spider I am a person.  It's a costume.

Side note about spiders- Penny has no problem picking them up with her bare hands.  She's brought me a few of her kills.  Gross.

Campbell and feelings

Campbell: I'm afraid of Penny's feelings.
Nate: Why are you afraid of Penny's feelings.
Campbell: If I hurt them, she will punch me.

Mother Unload

I need to keep a better record of my children's lives. I have two cute kids and it would be a shame to forget all the little things they do that make me smile/cry/laugh.

 Today Penny said Campbell's name for the first time. I've been waiting and hoping her sweet little voice would utter her big sister's name. Hopefully it improves their relationship. Penny is a cutie. She asks a lot of specific questions. I am happy and slightly bothered at the same time. Oh well. She knows that the thing on the wall is a light switch so the basics are being covered. My favorite word she says right now is Cinderella or Cinde-yeh-ya.

Penny loves to put on her packpack(backpack) and follow Campbell out to the bus. She loves jumping on the trampoline and riding her trike. She is very attached to me but when she is outdoors I quickly become non-existent. She still requires help getting down from the barstools and off of her trike. She loves watching Elmo and Mickey Mouse.

 Campbell is always full of surprises. She talks about a dog named doggy bowmuch. Apparently he is on her Christmas list. I have googled the heck out of him and he does not exist. Campbell makes up a lot of words and I am starting to wonder if doggy bowmuch is one of them. She is really good at coming up with made up names on the spot. She received a pumpkin for her birthday and quickly named it Veggie. She picked a pumpkin from the patch and quickly named it Larrio. Here is a list of some other names she has given her dogs and other plush items- Orgeo, Zally, Coke, Gilda.

 In preschool her teacher says Mother instead of Mom so now Campbell calls me Mother. When she calls me Mother I feel like I am in trouble. It's so formal and hard to get used to. I'm not going to correct her. Tonight she asked me if Nate was her Father. Perhaps she will start calling him Father instead of Dad. Here are some other funny things she has said lately-

 "Mom, I only want you to have one kid, like Carly"(she's not fond of Penny)
"Total annihilation" (Something she picked up from a movie)
 "I'm going to make my pumpkin much creepier for Halloween"
 "Winnie is adorable"

 Campbell takes a lot of things I say literally. Here are a couple of examples that have really cracked me up.
Me: Oh for crying out loud
Campbell: I'm not crying out loud

Grandma Jan: I'm tired. I'm going to hit the hay.
Campbell: Can I watch? (the visual is pretty awesome)

 Hopefully, I can do my children a solid and keep a better record of their existence. I sure love my girls and am so grateful I am a Mother.

One a Penny Two a Penny

Where does the time go, eh? Little Penny turned two in February. She is so much fun. We love her so much. Here are some fun things about Penny.

-Great hug giver. If your lucky she will dig her chin into your shoulder or face.
-Great milk drinker. She can chug it down.
-Great at spinning around.
-Celebrity look alike at the moment...Dale of the cartoon duo Chip and Dale. It will be a sad day when the gap between her front teeth is gone.
-Great at pulling hair. This technique is especially effective when her hands are sticky.
-Great at slobbery kisses. I dare you not to wipe your mouth after she plants one on.
-She loves dressing up.
-Loves wearing a coat around the house. Pretty sure I taught her this.

Happy Birthday Sweet Penny.

This is a true story about a sandwich

I have a hard time processing my feelings and an even harder time expressing them. The Bishopric came over to Jan's the other night and everyone shared something really beautiful regarding the passing of Popsy. I couldn't get up the courage and was nervous about how it would all come out. I just wanted to write down a recent experience I had with Popsy. It's a bit of a travel log so it could be a bore to read.

Popsy and I recently traveled together for the purpose of attending Nate's graduation. Nate was already in California working so we were going to meet up with him for about 24 hours of good times. We discussed driving to the airport together but I was too nervous about being late so I had my Dad drive me down. We had a long day of travel ahead of us due to delayed planes and a long layover. Our first layover was in Phoenix. I watched his bags so he could get his shoe's shined. He said the airport is the best place for a shoe shine. He spent most of the layover debating whether or not he was going to purchase some chocolate covered cashews. I could tell he was really at war with himself because he wanted to stick to his diet. We lined up to board the plane for California and he couldn't take it any longer. He had to have those cashews and darted back to the nearest gift shop to claim them. So, I nervously stood by his luggage as I watched other passengers board the plane. He made it back in the nick of time and he bought a bag for me too. I thought that was really nice of him. I don't like cashews but as it turns out the chocolate covered ones aren't too shabby. We made it to California safely and headed to Nate's temporary residence to pick him up so we could grab a late lunch. After lunch we debated if we were going to have enough time to get to the hotel and back before the graduation started. Because of traffic, we turned around and decided the best thing to do was to get ready closer to Nate's school. We ended up getting ready in a parking lot near the school. I applied my make-up in the car and Popsy was primping outside by the trunk of the car. When I was ready I stepped out of the car and smelled a hint of what Nate calls pinetree perfume. Popsy asked for my opinion about his hat. "Should I leave it on or off?" I chose off and away we went. Nate's graduation was really great. It's always been important for Nate to feel like his Dad was proud of him. He was. I could tell. It was fun to be a witness of that at the graduation.
The next morning we dropped Nate off and headed back to the airport. I remember he said "you know Nate is a cute guy" I kind of laughed because I didn't know if he was being sarcastic or not. He was being serious. And then it just made me smile because I think that is a really sweet thing for a dad to say. He was a tender guy that Popsy.

When our return flight was announced, we lined up to board the plane. I remember he was kind of miffed because I was way ahead of him in line. He checked in a couple of hours before me and some how ended up with a higher boarding number. I made sure to give him a friendly wave from the front of the southwest line.
We had a layover in Oakland and debated over what to eat. I was fine not eating because of the cost of food. He was on the same page but had a weak moment and decided to go for a ten dollar sandwich. He took it out of the plastic carton and shared the other half with me. I thought that was really nice. I grabbed a hold of the sandwich and went in for a bite and noticed some mold. I typically fear mold but the sandwich was spendy and knowing Popsy, mold probably wasn't a deal breaker. I thought about spitting it out when he wasn't looking but my napkin was really tiny. I ended up picking off the moldy bits and hid them in the napkin. I finished my unsavory sandwich and walked to the garbage can. I noticed a few stray crumbs fell on my seat when I got up. I watched Popsy look at them. It was kind of hilarious. I don't think he saw the mold. I think he was just surprised by the mess I left behind. I noticed our sandwich container hadn't made it's way to the trash yet so I made another trip. I glanced down and saw that it had an expiration date on it. According to the date, that sandwich had some living to do. It was supposed to last a little longer. I know it sounds weird but I have thought a lot about this sandwich since Popsy's passing. Not to compare him to a sandwich but I think we all felt like he was going to live longer. There wasn't any mold growing as if to warn us to love him a little more or give him bigger hugs. His expiration from this life took us by surprise. I know he was loved and I certainly felt loved by him.
If there is any unfinished business between me and Popsy it's that I never got the chance to tell him that I ate a moldy sandwich for him. I don't do that for just anyone. And ya know, I would probably do it again. I love you, Popsy.