Cops must have nothing to do on Wednesdays

Jason and I spent the day in the car yesterday driving our kids to Cabazon where my dad was nice enough to meet us and take them home with him. We don't have a date as to when they'll be back yet, but we do know it will be the end of July, so this is the longest they will spend with my mom for the summer. Since my dad isn't working any more, she probably figured they could play all day with him and then she can come home from school and spoil them. The nice thing is that they get to do all sorts of fun stuff there that they can't do here because 1) we can't afford it; 2) it's too hot to go outside. And then we don't have to worry about childcare since Jason's work took away his ability to work from home.

Anyway, the whole point to this post is that we maybe see one or two cops on our way to and from California when we go. And we know the spot that they love to hang out in, so we're careful there (because I'm sorry, but I would scream if we had to follow the speed limit all the way). Well, yesterday we seriously saw at least 10 different cops in addition to the mobile photo enforcement zones that they had set up in Az. Each of us got to have an "Oh crap!" moment when we thought we were had. While I was driving on the way out there, I couldn't see this cop hidden in the center median because he was behind this huge desert tree until I was on him going too fast. I thought for sure I'd had it, but he didn't pull out. Then on the way home, Jason was driving, and he spotted a cop on the other side as we were passing him. Jay even saw him hit his lights and come around onto our side, but he had slowed down and the cop never tried to catch up to us. We're thinking that maybe he wasn't able to get him on radar, just that he knew Jay was speeding. We were really lucky both times, and after the second one, Jay was a good boy the rest of the way home. Neither of us has had a ticket in a really long time. The last one Jay got was a year before we left Stockton, and the last one I got, I was pregnant with Cole. We're hoping to make that record last, but I think we need to have more patience with the trips--that's when we get really bad. I just can't figure out why we saw more cops on a Wednesday in the middle of the day than we did Memorial Day weekend making half of the same drive. (Oh, and the majority of the cops were in Az, so it wasn't CHP that was patrolling more). Crazy.

Burning water

I'm normally a good cook. If given a recipe, I can usually make it good on the first try, and for some reason I'm really good a grilling. Then there are nights like tonight...I thought I would be a nice wife and make one of Jason's favorite meals. Tuna noodle casserole isn't hard, and it's pretty cheap, so you would think we would eat it more often, but for some reason I really don't like it much, and so he only gets it twice a year or so. Tonight I thought would be a good night for it. So I whipped it up, thinking it was going pretty smoothly. Then when I was dishing it up, I realized that I forgot to add the tuna. Yup, the main ingredient, still sitting there safely in my pantry. I seriously can't believe I did that. I was distracted when I was cooking because I've been working all week on teacher gifts, and I'm trying to get them finished up in time to give them this week. But really, to forget that ingredient? So now I feel really bad, and I'm going to have to make it up to J in a week or two and make it right. And at least the way I screwed it up it was still edible so we didn't have to go out (oh, wait, maybe that's not a good thing). Sorry babe.

Sometimes work is nice

I got paid today to make cards and study. I don't think I had a single work thing to do all day long. And since I no longer have a financial advisor, I took over the desk in the other room and made cards in there while my desk was my study desk. That way I could study for an hour and then take a break and stamp for an hour. I kind of bit off more than I can chew with the teacher gifts, so not having anything to do at work is really nice since it gives me more time to work on them. When I'm done, I'll post pictures, but I decided to do a set of notecards for each teacher. Each set will have twelve cards and then I'll be making and decorating a box to hold them. Normally that wouldn't be too much work, but I've got to do the three for my kids and then I told our neighbor that I would make some for her. One of her kids has three teachers, so I'm making eight sets basically (I couldn't waste half a sheet of cardstock and I get two cards out of one sheet, so I figured I might as well make the eighth card for each). I'm almost halfway done with the cards though, and they're so cute so far. I have some great stamps (some aren't even Stampin' Up! if you can believe it), and the cutest paper, so I think they'll be great. Wish me luck that I get them done in time.

Met his goal

Last week at pack meeting, Cole made a goal with us to finish all the requirements for his Bobcat in one week. Last night we did the last of the requirements so that he was ready for den meeting tonight. All he needs to do now is have his den leader sign off. So if anyone wants to know the Cub Scout motto, handshake, or law, Cole's your man. :) The only bummer is that his den leader was sick tonight, so he didn't get to have it all signed off tonight, but at least he did his part. He's already started working on his Wolf, so we're pretty proud of him for that too. We think it will be cool if he gets his Bobcat and a progress towards rank bead at pack meeting this month.

In addition to doing well in scouts, Cole has also decided that he is going to be baptized. Unfortunately, our stake does baptisms once a month and by the time the next one rolls around, he and the girls will be gone for the summer. But he's planning on being baptized the first weekend in August if anyone is going to be around (and for Jason's family, he's supposed to call you and let you know but I'm sure he's forgotten, but at least there's a couple months notice for you).

Serious about scouting

I guess Cole really is serious about being a cub scout. We told him that if he worked on it, he would be able to earn his Bobcat in one week and that's what he did. He won't get it until pack meeting at the end of the month, but I'm proud of him for putting in the effort to do it. We also worked on a few Wolf achievements too, so he's working his way towards that.

One of the requirements for the Bobcat is now to have a discussion with your Cub Scout about personal safety, so we sat all the kids down last night and did a little FHE on it. I think it was really helpful for all of them, especially since they walk home from school together now (and I told them next year they're walking to and from school). My mom also got us these little kits where you keep a recent picture and note identifying features plus take down height and weight and all that in case something happens to your kid. It also had ink and a place for fingerprints (and I found out that Jason did his Eagle with fingerprinting, so he thought he was going to be a pro at it). I figure now that we took the time to get it done and have them in a safe place I'll never need them.

Good food and a good movie

Last night we decided to have a little fun with the kids before we lose them for the summer, so we wanted to take them to dinner and a movie. A new BJ's opened up nearby, so we took them to dinner there. Jason and I love BJ's in California, and the kids were so little last time we went, they don't remember eating there. So we ordered a couple pizzas with about forty minutes before our movie was going to start which should have been just enough time for the pizzas and then a pizzookie. After twenty minutes, the waitress said they should be out any minute, so we thought we were good. Well, another fifteen minutes passed with no pizza. The waitress came and apologized and told us they would do something for us since it took so long. I figured they would offer us free dessert (which we weren't going to have time for), and Jason was hoping they would comp one of the pizzas. The manager came over to apologize, and he could tell the kids were pretty cranky at this point, so he felt badly. He told us that's not typical of them (which we knew), and then told us he was buying our pizzas for us. We were both really pleasantly surprised. Especially with my recent encounters with customer service, this was really nice. So dinner out for all five of us cost $12.

After dinner we went to see the new Wolverine movie. Jay and I both like the X men, and the last one was such a disappointment. We were all pleased with this one though. Lindsay acted a little scared during the fighting sequences, but Bailey and Cole were really into it and thought it was great. We usually get popcorn and candy at the movies, but we had let the kids order root beer at dinner, and they were acting a little crazy, so we figured they had enough treats. In all, it was a fun night for all of us.