Snakes at a preschool.

We've seen the reptile guy before, and I'll never get over how excited he is about all of his disgusting friends. This fellow here is named "Sunshine" and J is still talking about him. He's like 16 feet long and weighs 150 pounds, and you couldn't have paid me enough money to touch him. The kids loved him, though.

And yes, J is wearing his Finny shirt AGAIN. If he is dressing himself, and it's clean, that is his shirt of choice EVERY single time.

Nasty.

J also thinks the reptile guy brought a "gorilla" - - - and I keep trying to correct him that it was an "iguana" but I don't think he believes me.

Spring Boutique in Mesa On Saturday!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Relatives in town that you need to entertain? Need to get away from the kids for a couple of hours (I HEARD THAT!)?? Okay some ideas... Hunger Games movie, hello! I'm seeing it tomorrow and CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. Goodwill I believe is doing a whole-store 50% off sale on Saturday... ! Or plan to go to the temple and come see me around the corner here:

Idol

Ha ha ha!!! So SO happy Jermaine Jones is off the show and I never have to listen to him or see him again. Man, I knew he was an angry, unstable mess... Should have guessed that he was a dishonest slime ball criminal too.

Okay I digress... Down to business. Judges, will you PLEASE make up your minds whether you want people to "sing it straight" or "make it your own"?? Because I can't figure it out.

Phillip Phillips... I thought it was a great song choice for his voice, but he's just so limited. One-trick pony.

Jessica Sanchez... Her mouth might be Julia-Roberts huge, but her voice is great. But unlike what Will I Am thought, I didn't think she had enough swagger for that song. There's just some Latina vibe/rhythm a la J Lo or Gloria Estefan or Celia Cruz thing that she does NOT have. At least not yet, at sixteen.

By the way, I Love Will I Am. He oozes cool.

Heejun Han... I think he should have been singing Bryan Adams, instead of EVP. Yes, he enunciated the "chance" but he blew it on the "roman" instead of romance. I really want to keep liking his voice, but his accent is making it tough. It's like I'm rooting for him to pronounce everything right, instead of just being able to enjoy his songs.

Elise Testone... Her voice is good, but it seems she has to push each note out with various body parts... Her shoulders, her hands... It's like it's too much work for her when she sings. She lacks confidence and poise.

Colton Dixon... I liked him tonight more than I ever have before, but he still doesn't seem like the hard rocker that he's trying to be. Like, can you see him singing a Guns-n-Roses or Aerosmith song? He's just not BIG enough to be an Axel Rose or even a Chris Daughtry, he's not dramatic enough to be an Adam Lambert. I almost want him to go emo and maybe sing a Cure song?? I don't know.

Shannon Magrane... She's awkward for me. I don't like her angry face when she sings the big notes. Also seems to have to try too hard.

Deandre... I just. Don't care. Hate watching him. Hate listening to him. Can't wait til he goes away.

Skyler Laine... She was better tonight than usual, but it's laughable to put her in the same league as Hollie or Joshua. Go home, I'm tired of country music.

Erika Van Pelt... DidN't love the Bryan Adams choice, but I thought she did okay. I'm glad she covered up her relief society arms this week.

Joshua Ledet... Blow it out the box indeed! He's officially my new favorite guy this year. Ready to record, I think. Why do his eyes always look bloodshot though? Too many crawfish??

Hollie Cavanaugh... I just realized who she reminds me of... She's a grown up version of Abby Risenmay. (one of the choices I've picked out for Josh's future wife) She killed it! Love her. Effortless. She's great.

Self-sufficient snapshot.

I love my kids. I love that I can sleep in in the mornings if I want, and they get themselves breakfast, get ready for school, make their own lunches... (granted, I think that candy ends up in their lunches more often than not) and most of the time they even get their beds made without me asking. All I have to do when I get up is clean up after them, remind A to take her pill, and motivate J to get dressed and stop TALKING SO LOUDLY, holy cow. (N sometimes asks if he's hard of hearing, lol.) and then we're off to the bus stop.
99% of the time, the girls are done with homework before they get off the bus, so I rarely even look at their folders unless something needs to be signed. Their homework, and their work at school, is truly their own, and I've got nothing to do with whatever grades they get. They do dang well, considering. J and I have gotten into a rhythm with his homework too, and he knows the routine of sitting at the counter and sounding out all the words in his books. Darn those "b"s and "d"s and "g"s... they are confusing, and he has to think hard to recognize the differences. He's almost got the sight word "the" down... sheesh, I didn't realize reading was so hard. He's started to think about being gone from me at kindergarten. Yesterday he asked what my phone number was, in case he got separated from his teacher at school and he needed to call me. We worked on the phone number song a bit, but then he thought a bit more and said, wait, I need a phone too, mom, so I can call you! He's awesome. Funny.
Chores are hit and miss around here, the dishwasher and laundry are daily struggles. Sometimes the dishes are no problem for the girls, but there are a lot of times I don't want to wait for the kitchen to be clean so I end up doing their jobs myself. And I'm never patient enough to wait for J to get motivated to do his chores... but I'm hoping that will change eventually.
It's nice that the girls have been babysitting... they don't mind it at all anymore, and I'd rather pay them any day than pay a babysitter. Last night I needed to return books to the library and no one wanted to go with me, so I left the three of them alone... they actually all took baths and had jammies on by the time I got home 20 minutes later. Pretty good! Except that because they're so independent, sometimes, I miss them.

Idol.

Who I like:

Joshua Ledet.
Heejun Han.
Phillip Phillips and Colton are on the fence for me.
Jessica Sanchez.
Hollie Cavanaugh.
Erika Van Pelt and Shannon Magrane... usually, but not last night.
Elise Testone... starting to be not so much. She always looks/dresses like the drunk, slutty sorority girl.

Who I still seriously dislike:

Jermaine is on the top of that list, followed closely by Deandre and Jeremy Rosado. Also on the hate list is Smurfette, I mean, Skyler.

Finished!

Okay so nevermind that it's March 8th and I just finished my Valentines banner... at least it's done! I have tips if anyone wants to make their own...