Parenting: Not for the Faint of Heart

You all KNOW that October 8th was a pretty BIG day (specifically midnight), right?I really don't have to explain.

But just in case............
I'll share the following.

Text convo with a 17 year old boy on October 7th.

Him: "I have an appointment tonight."

Me: thinking........with who? Teachers and coaches don't meet at night. What time? With who? It's Monday night. Church leaders don't meet with people on Monday night.

What I texted: "With who? I don't understand."

Wow!  I'm a mom!  Did I just ADMIT that I don't know something?
Why do I feel like I am walking into a trap?
Him: "COD3"

Duh! Of course!
COD3= MW3 = Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

And if it goes on sale at midnight, what time should you buy it?
Seriously? Do you even have to think about it?
MIDNIGHT!

First, you pay $5 three months in advance to "Reserve" your copy.
Then, you go to the store at 6 pm during the day before the midnight release and PRE-PAY.
Finally, you go back at 9:30 when it's 34 degrees and snowing and you sit OUTSIDE the store with 299 other idiots of your friends until the clock strikes 12.

And then, once you get your hot little hands on the game, do you come home and go to bed because it is a school night and you have to get up at 5:15?

Another STUPID question.
NO!

You MUST open it and start killing people immediately.

Because Parker is soooo responsible, he limited his play to an hour: 12:19 to 1:19 am and he still got up at 5:15 and went to seminary and then a full day of school and then lacrosse weight lifting and then long boarding.

All I can say is that I am thankful that THIS YEAR, he has his license because the last time Call of Duty came out, he didn't.
So *I* was the fool making three trips with him to the video game store.
I am so glad that I am no longer the "fool." ;)

Gina

Caramel Apples, Glitter Corn and Getting Ready for Christmas

* Come here my little pretty!
Who would like a caramel apple?

How about...............

a CARAMEL ONION?

It was part of an object lesson in my seminary (6 am Bible study class for high schoolers) class yesterday.
I doubt they will ask me to substitute again.

I was nice though.  I gave the victim a bottle of water, a trash can to spit the onion into and a REAL caramel apple.

* That was pretty RaNDoM!
And if you want some more RaNDoM, read on.
If you want EVEN MORE,
go see


She's the best Randomizer this side of............well I don't know where she lives.
Go see for yourself.


* We aren't celebrating Thanksgiving this year.
We can't.
I can't find the glitter corn.

Seriously, you can't just expect me to go on! 

No holiday table decor is complete without Glitter Corn.

Thanksgiving is cancelled.

* I know WHERE the glitter corn is.

It's SOMEWHERE in the storage room in the basement.

I can "see" myself gently sliding ears of glitter corn into gallon size ziploc bags.

Then my vision gets blurry.

But.....everything is well organized in the basement.

We have the January decor bin, the Valentine decor bin, the 2 Easter bins, the 3 Fall decor bins which are separate from the 3 Halloween bins and the 15 Christmas bins (not including the Snow Village stuff).

There is no separate Thanksgiving bin.

And it's not in the Fall decor bins.

Arrggghhhh!

Do you think it's in the Shorts - size 29-30 bin or the Jeans - size 32 bin?

* I am mailing Garrett's Christmas package to Romania today.

I already sent the Thanksgiving/Getting ready for Christmas package.

That package contained a two foot tree with decorations, battery powered lights, two stockings, Christmas candy, 2 chocolate Advent calendars and all the makings for Green Bean Casserole.

Yes, I really did send 2 cans of green beans, a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup and French Fried Onions to Romania.

What?

* Do you think I can get all of this

 in here?

 Yes.  Yes I can.  Except for the two mini candy canes that somehow didn't make it in.

Well, speaking of shoving.
I've shoved enough RaNDoM into this little post.
And it's time for me to shove off.
Happy Tuesday!
Happy RaNDoM!
Gina

Queen for the Day

Brian and I were asked to be the judges for the annual Mr. Crowfoot pageant at the singles' ward (a Mormon congregation full of NOTHING but single young men and women ages 19-30)
I have to admit that I didn't want to go.
It was Friday.
It had been a LONG week.
It was cold and I was tired.
The bed was calling my name.

But we traipsed down to the church
AND BOY AM I GLAD I DID!

Nothing will make you laugh harder than boys....
except for boys in costumes doing ridiculous things.

There were 12 contestants competing in 3 categories: Active Wear, Formal Wear and Talent.
In the active wear competition, we had guys showing off their calves, their soccer prowess, martial arts moves and of course their big guns.

Later in the talent section, we were able to see a full demonstration of this young man's nunchuck martial arts skills.

Here are all the young men in their "formal wear".  Some had interesting definitions of formal wear.  There was the contestant dressed completely in thrift store duds include a pair of red and white saddle oxfords.

There was a contestant dressed like Elvis dressed like Uncle Sam (?).  And there was a young man dressed in his father's tuxedo from about 40 years ago.  It fit.

And then............there was the talent.

I must admit that I missed parts of some of the acts...........because I was laughing so hard, my head was down on the table.

There was some piano playing, some serenading

and LOTS of dancing.
I think a couple of the contestants will be meeting with their Bishop this week.  The moves left us wondering just WHERE they had learned their moves.  I've never seen Brian laugh so hard - at the grimaces of the Bishop- and at the fact that he (Brian) no longer had ecclesiastical responsibility for ANY of these people.

And finally, two young men did a parity of Danny Kaye and Bing Cosby performing "Sisters" in White Christmas.

And of course, there was a winner - complete with a sash AND a purple and pink crown.
Oh.........their mom's must be so proud!

Gina

The Lord Knows and Loves You!

The Lord is in the details. He knows you and He cares about you and the things that you care about.
Even the little things.

I am substituting for seminary tomorrow.
(Seminary is the early morning Bible study class that Mormon high schoolers attend before school.  Early - as in 6 am early.)
I wasn't worried about substituting for seminary because
1) I LOVE teenagers.
2) I LOVE teaching.
3) I taught early morning seminary for 5 years.
and 4) I am BRILLIANT!  I kept ALL five years of lessons!  I had them on my computer and transferred them to memory sticks so that I could sell them always have them in case I needed them.

After an extremely long week,
I came home from work on Friday and thought I should get my lesson together.
My obvious first stop would be to review the lesson material I used when I taught this lesson last time.
I keep my memory sticks right here -

Right here! Wait!  Where are they?

That empty corner of my center desk drawer sent my mind into a panic.

They were here for the last two years.  They were here!

Where could they be?

Usually, I freak out.

Usually, I would start tearing through every drawer in the household.

Usually, I would cry.

But I was too tired.

And I knew that if I started, 1) I wouldn't be able to stop, 2) I wouldn't find them and 3) it wouldn't solve anything.

I told myself that I wouldn't ever be teaching seminary again and I didn't REALLY need them.

Wow - maybe I'm starting to think rationally in my old age.

So I did nothing.

Not nothing.

I DID ask Parker and Brian if by any chance they had seen them.

No and No.

Seriously, there is no reason for anyone to have seen them or used them or taken them.

And I did say a prayer that I would find them.

I was sad that 5 years and untold hours of work were GONE,

but really, screaming and yelling and weeping and wailing wouldn't bring them back.

Brian suggested that maybe, just maybe, he had copied them onto a memory stick of his (he taught seminary for a year and I SHARED!  I know!!!  It totally goes against my 3 year old self).

I check his 15 memory sticks and no, no seminary files.

Oh well.

I convinced myself to just let it go and not waste time being angry or disappointed.

Yesterday, we went to the Cub Scout Pancake Breakfast at McDonalds.

All of the little Cub Scouts were working hard to raise money.

Most of the ward showed up between 9 and 11.

Brian and I went at 8.

There weren't as many people there but we chatted with them.

As I was leaving, I stopped by a friend's table to say hello.

He mentioned that he heard that I was teaching Seminary on Monday.

Because he was an ex-Seminary teacher, he would appreciate my plight.

I told him about the missing lessons and my resignation.

He replied, "Really?  Are you sure they are gone?  When I copied all of the Pioneer Trek pictures and video this summer, I was given a memory stick full of stuff.  I didn't look at everything but I just dragged the contents of the whole stick onto my computer and saved it.  I think there were some seminary lessons on there."

"Oh yeah.  There probably were.  Those were Brian's from the year that he taught."

"Hmmm...I think there were a lot of files though.  I could check when I get home."

"Thanks.  If you have time to look, that would be great.  I never gave Brian all of my files.  Just one year. So I doubt it's what I am looking for.  Thanks though."

Last night we came home and there was an email from my friend.

He had checked his computer and found 250 MB of seminary info.

He uploaded it to a location where I could look at it and see if it was the missing files and upload it back onto my computer.

It was 800 seminary lessons, scripture mastery resources, skits, handouts, commentary and hours and hours of work.

I don't know how he got all of those files.

I don't know where the memory sticks are.

It doesn't matter.

What matters is that even though I am one, teeny, tiny, insignificant person on this whole big earth,

the Lord KNOWS me.

He CARES about what I care about.

He wants to help me.........even with things that aren't essential to my eternal salvation.

He wants me to be happy.

And when I try to submit to His will and have done ALL I can do, He will do what I can't do for myself.

Thank you Heavenly Father!  Thank you is not enough, but thank you!

Gina

Snow, Texting & a Male Beauty Pageant

Ahh Mrs. 4444, how we love you!
By Monday afternoon, Wednesday, Friday, my head is just spinning with Fragments.
Thank you for letting us get them all out!

Go on over to Half Past Kissin' Time and pay her a visit.  You can DeFrag too!

* We had a snow day on Wednesday.

Well, at least SOME of us had a snow day.
Parker slept until noon and then got up and shoveled just enough snow off the driveway to be able to longboard. He has his priorities.
Some of us slept in until 7:30 am <- I know! Totally decadent and then went to work.


* I was so excited that Cars2 was coming out on Tuesday.

Not that I was buying a copy. The only one who would care in my life is Gabriel – my 2 ½ year old nephew. Because we had already discussed the impending release, I called him first thing Tuesday morning.


Gabriel’s mom – “Oh hey…….what’s going on with you?”
Me: “Well I was actually calling to talk to the baby. I wanted to see if he was watching Cars2.”
Gabriel’s MEAN mom – “Well….I would let you talk to him, but he’s in time out. I’ll have to have him call you back.”


What?
They ‘ll have to move back ASAP. Things have obviously spiraled out of control. Who is in charge there?


* Text conversations with a certain 17 year old


“On a scale of 1 to 8 how much do you want to excuse me from 4th (period)?”


"None. None at all."


“Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you that 1 meant a lot. So does 0 mean you already excused me?”
I did not even respond.

* Is the whole world crazy?
Don't answer that.
I DO NOT care about Kim Kardashian.
I don't know WHO the Kardashians are or how they got famous enough for their own show.
I don't know their names - except for Kim.
I have never watched their show.
I did not know about her wedding nor who she married.
And so, SURPRISE!  I do not care about her divorce.
I'll go crawl back under my rock now.

* You will be jealous of my weekend.
Brian and I are going to judge a MALE beauty pageant tonight.
Yes, there are several categories.
Yes, there is a talent competition.......and evening wear.
Yes, there will be stories!

Have a great weekend!
Gina

Start Your Crock Pots!

Mark your calendars!
It's a magical moment at the Coxes.
I'm cooking!
And it's not even Sunday!


I am a good cook.
But every since Trammell left, followed by Garrett,
there is no one to cook for.
No one is EVER home.


It seems like all the days I feel motivated and chop and slice and dice
and sweat over a hot stove, no one shows up!
There's work and lacrosse practice and church and late meetings.


But I'm optimistic.
I'm busting out the crock pot for some Barbeque Pork Sandwiches!
Here's all the ingredients you will need.

Oops - not all, I forgot to "display" the garlic powder. Don't leave that out!


Do you think this 4 lb Pork Butt will feed 3?
Oh and you can borrow my vinegar if you need to.
I have a little bit extra.
And I'm bummed about those WHOLE WHEAT rolls.
That's what I get for shopping at the "healthy" grocery store.
I asked if they had anything with bleached flour and refined sugar.
They didn't.

Here's today's recipe, provided by my good friend Cathy.


Tangy Barbeque Pork Sandwiches


1 C Ketchup
1 C BBQ Sauce - any brand, any flavor
1 C Onion - just chop a whole medium onion, you don't need to measure
3 C Celery - chopped
1 C Water
2 T Brown Sugar
2 T Worchestershire Sauce
2 T Vinegar
1 t Chili Powder
1 t Salt
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Pepper
3-4 lb Pork Roast (trim off excess fat)
Buns or Rolls

Mix all the ingredients (except the roast) in the crock pot.
Place the roast in and cover with sauce.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4
Take the meat out and shred it. Put the sauce in a sauce pan and thicken it with 2 T cornstarch and 1/2 C cold water. Return meat and sauce back to crock pot and serve.


Yummy!

Halloween Aftermath

Boooooo for Halloween!
And I don't mean that in a spooky, scary kind of Boo.
I mean it in a bad, it stunk, kind of Boo.


At least it's Tuesday!
And thank heavens for Stacy who is generous enough to host all of the tired ghosts and goblins over at her place.  She'll take your left over candy too!

Click on over and pay her a visit!
It's time to get RaNDoM!

* We had 2 - TWO Trick or Treaters.
TWO!
TWO!
And they were friends who called and asked if they could come over.
Is our neighborhood dead?

* I used to give out full size candy bars, but because all of our trick or treaters have evidently grown up and gone to college, I bought a 5 pound bag of mini candy bars and planned to be generous to those who did come.

* The two who came were 2 1/2 and a 11 month old.
I let the 2 1/2 year old pick out 13 mini candy bars to "share" with her sister.

* While the adults in the household had a boring Halloween of watching Monday Night Football, answering emails and ironing sheets, the children had a ball!

* Garrett - who is serving a two year mission in Romania went to Dracula's castle....the real Dracula....if there was one.  No really, he went to the castle in Transylvania that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula!

* Trammell called at 3 pm wondering what he could be for Halloween
1) You are 22.
2) It's 3 pm on Halloween Day
Really?
Plus he wanted ideas for couple's costumes.
Bride and Groom?
Cat and Mouse?
Devil and Angel?
He liked the Devil and Angel idea.

* He called back an hour later.
"Do know how trampy devil costumes are these days?"
He decided on this

Hey - they had a good time!

* Parker had previously gone to parties dressed like this -

He makes a pretty cute cowboy doesn't he!

* Anyway, he was sick of being a cowboy, I guess and he decided to go as a "longboarder."
Maybe because it is easier to get around the neighborhood on a longboard than on an invisible horse.

* He came home with this -



* He weighed it.

In 2 hours, he collected 10 pounds of candy.

It was a Happy Halloween for him!

Ours was boring.

I will be eating leftover mini candy bars until Christmas!

But I'm not complaining!

Gina