Blattman Chronicles

So often times I hear people say American kids are lazy. I guess we could help change that if we had a Dutch Bus, which if you ask me is pretty awesome!

So I secretly want to be a superhero. When I was younger I walked around most of my life thinking I was indestructible (That feeling now only occasionally favors me with its presence). Of course the Heroes show is just feeding my delusions. I'm amazed each week at the introduction of new super powers. The writers are so creative. All of these thoughts have led me to wander down an interesting path cognitively. What power would I have? I was joking with Will the other day telling him that I should have eyes that glow red and burn through or melt things. Honestly, if I could chose, that probably wouldn't be my power. Maybe I would fly or be really quick. Can you imagine having all of your chores done for the day in a few minutes? Oh well, I have been dealing with the notion that I am infact NOT a superhero, but can't a girl dream?

Hudson's obviously not old enough yet to go to scout camp, but doing this little craft with him made me ponder on his future experiences. Would Hudson be anything like the little smiling, foam boy on the river? If he was smiling like that, it would probably be because he has already pushed everyone else out of the canoe(Truly, he is a great kid, but ALL boy). Thank goodness I will never have to go to scout camp. I wish the best to his future leaders and offer them my thanks and appreciation in advance.

I've decided that Annie thinks she is Miss America or the Ward Greeter for the world. Riding the Gondolas (reminds me of a ski lift) at the Zoo had Annie waving and greeting every Gondola that passed by. Of course all the people in the other Gondolas waved and greeted her back with smiles. Pageantry does run in the family so who knows. I'm definitely not pushing he her that direction of my own accord. I don't have much patience for bubble-headed beauties...they remind me too much of those hollow chocolate Easter bunnies. No honey of mine is going to be any sort of bunny, chocolate or not!!

So I ended up in this cage on my last date with Will. I'm curious to see if anyone has any good captions for it. I'd like to say I could offer a prize, but I don't think I could offer more than a month's supply of ketchup packets. 

Oh the mixed emotions that come with being a mom. I do believe the disciplinary action against him would have been more severe if his little tattoo was not composed of a little smiley man. To him it is just all art!

Note to self: Looking cool doesn’t ever make anything less complicated. It looked cool in the box. Hudson likes airplanes. It was on clearance for 50 cents (that is right where it should have stayed). I would make Will build it with Hudson – Daddy/son bonding time. These were the thoughts passing through my head just moments before I bought the atrocity you see. There is nothing like a balsa wood airplane. Hudson loves puzzles and Will loves to put things together so I figured I had found the perfect match. Hudson saw the plane and begged continuously to put it together during one of Annie’s nap times. I finally caved and figured it couldn’t be THAT hard. I would just let him pop the pieces out with me and assemble them with Will. The popping took him a good 30-45 minutes. That should have been my first clue. I’m sure all of you veteran parents are chuckling and shaking your heads at me. I deserve it. When Will got home he didn’t show any interest in putting it together so I figured I ...

So embarrassingly enough it has been awhile since I have sat down to a piano and played. I only tinker on occasion. If my mom knew about my absence from the piano she would probably throttle me for wasting close to two decades of piano lessons. It was a ward choir practice that led me back to the piano. Our fabulous director chose four hour Saturday rehearsals as well as Sunday and sometimes Thursday. She was pretty hard core for a ward choir director(I attended obediently due to a promise I made my choir director at BYU. Sister Hall always said that no matter how good or bad the ward choir is, it is our duty to support the director, because she can't fulfill her calling if no one shows up). Will thought the transpiring events were a bit irrational – overzealous in the least. I think the passion for perfection stemmed from our choir director's professional opera singing days and to be quite honest there was no amount of practicing that was going to make us sound like the Mo Tab...

I found great pleasure in digging holes on our most recent trip to the beach. As I began digging in the sand I was greeted with a swirling mix of reminiscence and achievement. It feels good to dig in the sand and have a hole slowly grow before your eyes. After all, I did have high hopes as a little girl to be the first kid to actually dig to China! Did anyone else think they would be that lucky kid? Engineers aren't allowed to answer that question…I'm sure you all laughed at people like me thinking, "Go ahead sister, 26 miles of crust until the fun really begins!" Anyway, as I continued to dig I saw my escapade in the dirt transpire as a few reminders of life's lessons. Once I set a goal to dig a hole or anything else for that matter, get it done and do it well (Will your next – just kidding). Your best is all you have to give so it HAS to be good enough! Don't give up, even when a kid kicks sand in your hole or attempts to collapse your underground tunneling ...

We went to La Jolla on Saturday for a ward activity. They said look for the umbrellas. Consequently…we never found them. We found plenty of umbrellas, but no ward members. Will almost didn't find us either. La Jolla is a popular spot for tourists and all of the university kids. Parking is near impossible so Will kicked Hudson and I out and said, "Whatever you do, don't stray more than 100 feet from the flag." Simple enough instruction. He never said anything about not letting the flag stray from us! I knew we could make it down the beach and back before Will found parking so we ventured off. We were about a city block away from the flag when I decided we had better turn around. I look back and no flag. I wondered how far we had really gone if I couldn't see the flag. I remembered the lifeguard tower the flag was by and started to head back and then stopped. Turning back around, clearly confused, I see the flag about 100 feet from were I was standing-in front of me...

So I decided I wanted to spice up my blog the other day and went on the hunt for ultra cool widgets…i.e. – the clock to your left. In the process I found this fun little guy. Due to the tackiness I decided it didn't have a place other than a fun little "temporary" distraction. It functions quite simply. Put your name on one side and the love of your life on the other. Click the middle of the square and voila…I hope you can beat Will and my score of 1…that's right 1. Should I be worried?! Give it a whirl. It was actually kind of addicting. We tried tricking it, but even then we couldn't get higher than a 20. Perhaps we are doomed to misery and woe. Personally, I think we will manage!

I have come to love reading blogs. The day I figured out how to comment on blogs was most joyous! To save myself from embarassment I will not share that date. However, I thought the boxes with the weird, spooky font letters were a bit much. I had first noticed them trying to buy tickets to an event online. What is with the, "type the letters you see in the box." Eventually, I saw a special on TV talking about a scalper who outsources typing the letters in the boxes to India no joke. He can buy up tickets for main events this way faster for resale. Then Will enlightens me to computer generated spam and I now know understand the extra step. Due to my increase in blogging I notice that I am lacking when it comes to those little boxes. Over half of the time I type it wrong and the site has to give me a new set of letters. Therefore...I feel like spam.

Normally, I am not one for public confessions. Today is officially exempt from my normal habits and I'm not really sure why. This entry is not for the weak stomach or the faint of heart so if you must turn away...just kiddin'. I do write this fully aware of the heckling that may result. Anyway, I was contemplating my navel (as my dad used to say) as well as pondering life in general and came to several realizations. Here is my list. 1. I love Will. Okay, so maybe my list is short, but all of my other thoughts revolve around 1. Today I had a renewed hope and excitement of everything that is to come in our lives and was overwhelmed with all of those day to day things that Will does for me to make my life easier. Helping me unload the dishwasher, wrangling the kiddos before bed, re-parking the car in the garage so I don't take out a side mirror, playing hide 'n go seek even when there are no places to really hide, and most importantly, being a pillar of strength in a flurr...

Deciding to quit teaching after Will graduated was a no brainer…so I thought. When the day came I did not realize it would come with such mixed emotions. My passion for teaching is strong and I LOVE what I do! The challenge is exhilarating. Each year I thought I could never love the new class as much as I had the class the year before, but my heart always made room. I had been a working mom for what I felt like was so long that I didn’t know if I could handle a three and one year old all by myself. Some people laugh telling me that if I can handle 20 seven year old's or 28 twelve year old's I should be able to manage Hudson and Annie. Ha! If only it were that easy. Since then I have a new found respect for those moms who care so well for their children and make it look so easy. In my quest to effectively grow Hudson and Annie where they were planted I looked for inspiration and guidance. What can I say, Elder Ballard and Sister Hinckley had good things to say. In May of this ye...

I was thinking that I might suffer teaching withdrawals come mid-August. I no longer think this, I know it! It all started when I saw the doorbuster adds for Office Depot and Staples…glue 1 cent…rulers 5 cents… colored pencils 49 cents…notebooks…33 cents. Of course I drove around and tried to pickup on some of the sales and of course they all have limits. Tiny writing at the bottom of the page limit 3 or limit 2. Naturally, I only spent a few cents over a buck. Unfortunately, that trip did not keep me content. Off I head to Target. I couldn’t help but get a little giddy seeing the bins full of gluesticks…11 cents (I’m used to buying around 80+at the beginning of each year), they had pencils, paper, rulers, folders, erasers. I am such a sucker for a good deal too. I had to restrain myself from emptying the entire bin of gluesticks into my cart. Coming home Will sees the bag and is naturally curious, "Jessica, why do you need gluesticks and rulers?" My weak little response, ...

Annie figured out how to open the fridge this week. In doing so she now has quite the fondness for grapefruit. I’m sure this is due to the fact that it was the ONLY piece of fruit in the crisper. None the less, I was constantly finding her cuddling the grapefruit on the couch or hiding it in various locations around the house. Returning the piece of fruit to the fridge each time did not seem to deter her. She seemed to know when it was back in the fridge and would set off to free the grapefruit once again. It wasn’t until a quiet moment in her room that I understood the significance of the grapefruit as she cood the word, "Baby."  After that the grapefruit never caught sight of the fridge again. I didn’t have the heart. Naturally, yesterday it ended up with a fuzzy navel, ha! It found the trash can and I finally went out and bought Annie her first Cabbage Patch Baby. I forgot amid the the piles of trucks, Legos and cars that maybe my baby girl would like a doll of her own.

I was sitting in the DMV today wondering when my horns and pitchfork would arrive. The three hours I sat there waiting did not pass uneventful…for me at least. Needless to say I like to people watch and on this occasion several small bands of teenagers (about 16 I’m guessing) entered through out the morning bouncing in the front door. Two small groups of giggling girls and a boyfriend girlfriend set. They were truly the only people at the DMV that seemed excited to be there. Entering with hair bouncing and a boyfriend attached at the hip, the girl announces she is there for her driving test because she has just turned 16. I grinned and then smirked, wondering if she would leave as happy as she had come (yes, I know I’m slime for thinking this). Five minutes later a separate band, of once happy girls greet their mom (sitting next to me) with mixed emotions. One girl is excited she passed the driving test and the other upset for failing as she tries to convince her mom that her friend go...

Now that I am done teaching I feel like I went from being way too busy - needing 27 hours in the day, to trying to figure out how to fill up the hours and pass the time. Yesterday I let pico be the filler. In the process I had a thought provoking moment. Yes, I’m looking to pico for philosophical depth. Tasting what was supposed to be the final product, I realized the recipe majorly lacked flavor. I decided to play chef and do some improvising. In the end, the pico wasn’t too shabby. Valuable lesson learned for me: if you don’t like where life is taking you…change what you’re doing.