Tuesday, February 7

Red Bluff Weekend

My cousin's wife had a family baby shower last weekend in Red Bluff and I decided it was time to visit more family too.


The kids and I stayed at my dad's house for the night. First thing the kids did when we arrived was ask if they could swim. It was a unusually warm February day, after all. The pool was anything but warm.


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Even after the one quick dip, my polar bears decided to give it another go. Second time was just as quick.


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My nephew, Leyton, also stayed the night. The kids had a great time playing together.


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On Sunday, we went to visit my grandma, the kids' only living great-grandparent. Her husband of 65-years, my grandpa, just passed away last month. It unfortunate that something like a death is what pushes me to visit more often. Death reminds you that life isn't forever and for that reminder, I am grateful.

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The kids found out that Great-Grandma had a fun ride in her living room.

We also drove to Redding to have a quick visit with my aunt, Debbie, and her family. The weekend was long and quick all at once. On the way home Sunday evening, I asked the kids "did you guys have a good time this weekend?" They said "No, it wasn't good. .... It was awesome!" Guess it's something we should do more often.



Thursday, January 26

Kid Interview

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An online friend interviewed her kids recently and shared the interview. I thought it was a great idea and decided to give it a go myself.

On December 29, 2011, I sat down each kid in front of my camera, separately, and asked them questions about me while recorded their responses. Here is a combined transcript:

What is something mommy always says to you?
Carley: Clean your room.
Josh: I love you.

What makes mom happy?
Carley: when the house is clean.
Josh: Hugging her.

What makes mom sad?
Carley: When the house is a pig sty.
Josh: Um. (thinks) We don’t.. we always leave stuff around the house.

How does mom make you laugh?
Carley: (hesitation) By doing silly faces.
Josh: Tickles me.

What was mom like as a child?
Carley: She was the old sister and took care of her baby sisters.
Josh: She had to take care of her younger sisters.

How old is mom?
Carley: Thirty-something.
Josh: Uh, 38?

How tall is mom?
Carley: Uh. (Shrugs) I don’t know.
Josh: Uh, I don’t go around and measure people.

What is mom’s favorite thing to do?
Carley: Relax.
Josh: Photography.

What does mom do when you’re not around?
Carley: Go to school. Well, she used to go to school.
Josh: Uh. (pauses) I don’t know.

If mom were to become famous, what would it be for?
Carley: For our family.
Josh: Photography.

What is mom really good at?
Carley: Being a good mom.
Josh: Taking care of the family.

 What is mom not very good at?
Carley: (thinks and pauses) She’s no mea... She’s not as mean that much so I don’t really know.
Josh: (thinks and pauses) There’s nothing she’s not that good.

What does mom do for her job?
Carley: Take care of the kids when dad is at work.
Josh: She doesn’t have a job, yet. She just graduated from college.

What is mom’s favorite food?
Carley: Uh. Chinese food?
Josh: I don’t know.

What makes you most proud of mommy?
Carley: Taking care of us.
Josh: That she is my mom. And. Yeah, that she is my mom.

If mommy were a cartoon character what would she be?
Carley: A super hero mommy.
Josh: (rubs chin and thinks) There is no cartoon character that is equivalent to my mom.

What do you and mom do together?
Carley: Do the girl dance.
Josh: We go to the park and sometimes play family games together.

How are you and mom the same?
Carley: We’re both girls and we both like to get pedicures and manicures.
Josh: We have… (thinks) I don’t know. Oh! We’re related.

How are you and mom different?
Carley: Because shes’ older than me and she likes to do more old stuff than me.
Josh: We’re the opposite sex.

How do you know your mom loves you?
Carley: Because she takes care of me and I know she loves me because she’s part of my family.
Josh: Because she takes care of us.

Where is mom’s favorite place to go?
Carley: The gym?
Josh:  (thinks) I don’t know. 

Carley was more willing to give an answer to every question. Josh was quicker to respond with "I don't know" when he really didn't know the answer.  They both know a messy, cluttered house can get under my skin! Although that doesn't seem to get them to clean more often. It seems like I should talk about other childhood memories other than caring for my sisters. And they should both know that my favorite food is sushi. 

I wish I would have started this when they were both younger. I think video taping interviews about anything could be a new tradition though.