and the answer is....

I love how the teenagers ask each other to dances. That is one thing that hasn't changed over time. I remember always wracking my brain trying to come up with some creative way to ask a guy to the dance, then waiting for an equally creative answer.

This past week Ryan asked a girl to Homecoming. He bought a package of butter, opened one cube carefully and hid a note inside the cube, then rewrapped it, put it back and resealed the package. He put her name on the outside and dropped it off on her door. After going through the package and disecting four cubes of butter, the note inside said, "look on your front porch". On the front porch was a package of microwave popcorn and a note that said, "now that I've "buttered" you up will you go to Homecoming with me?"

(I was soooo grateful eggs were not involved at this venture! ) see previous post http://kellyandvaloriechristensen.blogspot.com/2010/04/easter-egg-fiasco.html

Several days and a doorbell ring later, we found a ginormous bag of popcorn on our front porch. We spread out a tablecloth on the family room rug and dumped it out. It had some mini butterfingers in it and on one of the candy bars was a note that said, "I'd be a butterfinger not to go with you to Homecoming." Pretty creative answer to go with how he asked her. These teenagers amaze me these days! I will post dance pictures at a future date.

end of summer....

I am late getting these pictures up, but Labor Day weekend we hit the lake for some fun. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. Josh gave Mark his first lesson on the wake board, Ryan was the honorary flag holder, Cassie had a blast with her cousins and rode the knee board (although I don't have any pictures of that). Big thanks to my sister Rach and her husband Jeff who brought their boat. They are so generous with their time and their great big toy.

minivan with a sense of humor.....

I love my minivan. I know many mom's and especially dad's wouldn't be caught dead in one, but I am a minivan lover and sit proudly behind the wheel of this mom-mobile. Mine is a sandy dirt color, which works great for the biannual cleanings it receives. The windows at first seem to have a frosted glass appearance, but upon closer inspection, you'll find it's just hand prints on steroids. If I were ever in an emergency in my van, I'd be fine. The seventy-two hour food supply is already there. Just lift up any seat and you will have dehydrated french fries, chicken nuggets and even a stray m&m for dessert.

I am writing about my van today not because of any of the above reasons, but about a new talent it seems to have. My van has a sense of humor. On random occasions without any reason at all, my van will just honk. My hands can be no where near the horn and we will be driving along peacefully (well, as peacefully as a carpool of six elementary school boys can be) and suddenly it honks. My kids get a kick out of this, but it seems to always happen at inopportune moments.

One time I was sitting alone in a parking lot waiting for yet another carpool and a man walked by. He turned and looked at me upon hearing the horn and I wondered what I should do. Is their proper etiquette for this? What would Dear Abby say, smile and wave and pretend you are some crazy women trying to get attention? Or should you ignore it and pretend you have no idea who honked the horn (did I mention I'm the only car aournd?)

Another time, this happened in the drive through line when I was behind a very large truck with a large burly man at the wheel, placing his order. He stuck his head out the window and glared at me... the smiling and waving thing didn't seem to work so well that time. The worse instance occurred where I was stopped at a crosswalk and an elderly gentleman was walking across slowly with his cane. He looked startled at the rude noise emanating from my car. I felt awful. I rolled down my window and said sorry, but it didn't seem to be enough. Should I have tried to explain that it wasn't my fault, it was my car; I really was a nice person and loved older people or maybe try to see if he liked The Walt Disney movies about Herbie. I need some bumper sticker that explains the situation so I can just point to it and be on my way.

I don't know if any of you are Brian Regan fans, but he has a joke about a car with a similar problem. When I first heard it I thought, "Yes, I'm not alone!" So I just need to be behind him when my horn has a rebellious moment, and I won't have to explain. Someone will understand. (it's just the first couple minutes of this clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrwvNa2M_GU

man of the house....

Ry, Josh and Kelly have had busy schedules and were gone last night when I headed out to mow the lawn. After a few rows, Mark comes hopping out while tugging on his last shoe and announced, "Mom, I am the man of the house tonight so you go sit down and I'll mow the lawn!"

After watching him wrestle with the heavy mower for a few minutes and seeing the water breaks extending with each pass on the lawn, I took over and finished. What a cutie.

yet another crochet posting.....

I took a departure from scarfs, hats and bags and decided to try some little stuffed animals. Got to love free patterns you find on the internent.

love a boy in uniform.....

Mark earned his wolf, four arrow points and some belt loops at our last pack meeting. He worked so hard and I'm proud of him! Congratulation Mark!

fast sunday funny.....

Mark made us laugh today around the dinner table. As per typical Sunday, conversation around the table revolved around the lessons taught at church. Mark has been making vast improvements over past weeks with understanding and explaining his primary class to us. However, today he struggled and had lots of memory lapses. When asked why he didn't listen as well today he said, "It's fast sunday and when I don't get food, my brain doesn't work!"

anyone have a cow I can buy?

I have decided maybe I need to live on a farm. A cow would come in handy about now. Mark would be excited and think steak was finally in season! (joke from earlier post http://kellyandvaloriechristensen.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-season.html) But, no, I would use it for daily sustenance.

I went to the grocery store for milk today and bought 8 gallons, that might seem like I am stock piling in case cows decide to picket, but no....in a few days I will be back for eight more! Every time I go through the checkout, they inquire with shock and awe on their faces, ..."how many milk did you say you have?"

If I didn't get so tired of lugging in it one session and I had another fridge, I would buy 16! Think of the looks I would get then! Since I am not an attention getter nor do I have enduring biceps, I will settle for a couple trips a week. I guess on a positive note, in the past nearly eighteen years, only one bone has been broken in our family, despite the fact that I have three energetic, brawn before brains, boys!