Too much to catch up on

So we've been in Las Vegas for 2 months now and I haven't posted about the move, visiting with friends along the way here, settling in and finding cool things to do here, our brother-in-law's death, Israel's new job, my trip to Hawaii with the boys, how our entire family has become Super Mario Glaxy 2 obsessed, visits with Rueben, Evie, and the latest with our friend Nicole from NY, or anything else along the way. And I'm not going to do it right now. I'm a bit overwhelmed and need to find a place to start--which for my left-brained approach usually means chronologically--and I don't have any pics ready yet. This is the longest I've gone since moving in somewhere without giving a tour of the new digs. And now we've blown right past the just-moved-in orderliness into the s-two-active-boys-live-here-with-their-mostly-single-mother clutter. But, slowly, I will document everything.

For now, let me just say that we're adjusting to the dry heat. I use the special lotions my mom has been sending me for years morning, noon, and night. We love having central air. The boys think The Luxor pyramid is the coolest hotel ever. Next to the "fake New York" one with the outdoor roller coaster. There are slot machines in every grocery store. I found a kind of Portuguese sausage that's mostly like back home. The ward is very nice, but full of older, established families with teenage kids so I'm really, really missing our little branch full of people just like me. But there's got to be others here, right? And I've got a drawer full of clothes I have to lose weight to fit into again. There's a depressing note to end on. Now I feel like eating some ice cream. Yay! Ice cream!

Happy Father's Day!

To celebrate Father's Day we started a day early and had an awesome dinner.....made by daddy, of course (isn't the honored subject supposed to provide the meal?) with kalbi (made on our craigslist smoke 'n grill gem of a find), asparagus, bell peppers, mushrooms with our favorite lime butter sauce, and the bottle of Takwan we brought with us on our 4 day journey from Michigan. Actually, we planned on this meal being on Saturday since Iz's hospital had a dinner party planned for Sunday.....which we ended up skipping because we didn't really feel like mingling with strangers and attempting to keep our kids from breaking anything valuable at the hosting doctor's house (breaking the boss' one-of-a-kind souvenier from his trip to Zimbabwe---Yikes!). So I guess dodging that party was also how we celebrated Father's Day. I also took the kids to the library for a special Hooray for Dad storytime where they made crafts from shaving cream clay. I have no idea what Iz will do with them. Maybe I'll mount magnets on them and the go on the fridge. But it's the thought that counts. And they both made him awesome cards. Keahi even asked him the night before to sleep in so he could make another one in the morning.

And he deserves it. I love my husband. He's a good man and a good father. The fact that he questions both only solidifies it. He's kind. Honest. Works hard to provide for his family. And everyone in the family agrees that he's an excellent dancer. Here's to the father of my children. Who would rescue his sons even from gorilla robot pirates from Mars (like in the book he's reading to the kids here--pretty cool one if you're interested in finding it at the library). Hope all kids are as lucky as mine.

Another Gastronomical Anomaly

I know the last post was about breakfast and not the move or the new place but I just thought this was so cute so I had to memorialize it.

Today for breakfast Jarom requested:
-4 slices of salami...no bread
-a banana
-4 umes
-lettuce

I kept offering cereal but received endless stream of "No, thank you" followed by the next bizarre request. I think if he threw in a few slices of wax paper and a side order of rubber bands he'd be Gregory the Terrible Eater.

The Oshima Stomach

Apparently my boys inherited the Oshima Stomach (we can eat anything at any time--there's no distinct breakfast food). Take this morning for example. I'm pretty lazy about breakfast so they usually have dry cereal or cereal bars. And we keep them within reach so they can get it themselves. So today while I'm trying to do last minute packing up, the kids found the chocolate granola bars that were meant for the grownups. But I shrugged my shoulders and let them have at it. Then five minutes later Jarom brings me a bag of opened spicy pork rinds that were on the counter and asks if this can be for breakfast, too. Sure, why not. So the boys' last breakfast in Michigan consisted of chocolate granola bars and spicy pork rinds. Kervin and Tammy would be so proud.

On Demand: Heaven or Hell?

In the midst of my packing/cleaning madness, I have reason to be very grateful for the On Demand function of our cable subscription. The kids sit watching mindless shows while we try to get ready for tomorrow's move. And this has been going on for weeks since I put away most of their toys and games a while ago. So today is Memorial Day and it's gorgeous. Eighty degrees with blue skies and a light breeze. And what are my boys doing? Watching Go, Diego, Go. And later they're going over to the Smith's house to play Wii. I remember when I didn't even know what a Wii was and Keahi would watch a half hour of a movie he liked and then be done and want to go do something else. Like read. And now we have On Demand marathons. Bad, bad mommy.

The next time we move I want a full service moving company where all I do is provide some donuts and juice and watch them pack up our lives in neat, labeled boxes and my kids can play with their things right up until the move. And I want it as part of an employment package. Is that asking too much?

Free Fudge

Nope. Sorry. I'm not offering free fudge to the first 10 people who comment on this post. I'm not that generous. Plus, with how infrequently I post it would take forever to get those ten comments. Though maybe for fudge....I mean, I'd respond to just about anything for that.

Which is why I walked into Sander's Candy Shop (just across the street from our house) about 15 min. after opening to get my free half pound of caramel pecan fudge. It was part of some promotional that Hallie Owens told me about at our relief society farewell party 2 days before this blessed event. The first 2010 people who walked into any of their 7 locations got fudge. That sounds like a lot of people but there was no way I was going to take any chances. The 15min after opening was Jarom's fault for taking so long to get ready. Doesn't he realize his mommy WANTS HER FUDGE?

And later I sent Iz out for his free half pound. He asked if we really needed more fudge. I paused for a moment, considering whether he was really my sweet tooth husband or some kind of impostor. And then I sent him out.

So now we have a full pound of yummy fudge. Except that was Friday and now it's Sunday morning and we ate the first half pound in a couple hours and now there's only 1/4 pound left. And another caveat: it wasn't exactly free. Even though they just handed me my box the moment I walked in I couldn't just leave without getting something, right? So leave it to Jarom to pick out a gummy candy that ended up being 2.50. Seriously? Is there a golden ticket inside that thing? And then Iz said that all three workers stared at him expectantly after delivering their free bribe and he ended up getting one scoop of their expensive ice cream (as in $3 for a tiny scoop). So, in the end we spent $5.50 on our fudge. With a gummy and ice cream as extras.

And no, Mariko, that half pound of fudge was not the only treat we had that day. And we're not even pregnant as an excuse.

And it actually paid off

I know I've missed lots of major events including Keahi's 6th birthday and Easter but I just don't feel like a big catch up. Instead, here's a quick tribute to the glory of Joy School. I spent 3 weeks teaching unit 8 Individual Confidence and Uniqueness and it was a roller coaster ride jam-packed with looping mood swings of 6 three year olds, unlooked for twists like a child peeing in his pants while I'm holding another child's paint-covered foot for the Footprint page, and freefalling whines seeming to last forever. But, it was all worth it to see their proud faces when the finished putting together their All About Me books. And, of course, there were plenty of joyful times along the way as well: Hallie, the diplomat, declaring that all the JS kids were her best friends (after every other person had picked Sam as their favorite--except for Jarom who claimed William and Lightning McQueen as his best buds), Jarom recognizing all his classmates' name tags (hurray!he's actually listening to my attempts to teach him), and watching each of them confidently declare all the things they're talented at. Hallie is an artist and dancer. Jarom is a racer (who wants to grow up to be Lightning McQueen). I wish I were as sure in that department. So, cheers for my darling Joy School kids. And cheers that tomorrow is my last teaching day so that starting next week I'll be able to use that time for packing. Huzzah.