Sunbeam Moment

We're talking about Daniel and the lion's den...

Me: Does anyone else have anything to say about this picture?
Child: They don't have eyebrows.
Me (trying not to giggle at the randomness): Who?
Child: The lions. So I think they are really nice because they don't have eyebrows.
Me: They might look nice because Daniel tamed them but they aren't really nice to people.
Child: I like unicorns.
2nd Child: I like unicorns AND butterflies.

And the conversation went more tangential from there. I'll spare you the details.

Open and Shut Them....

...Give a little CLAP!!!! (Ok I've been in Primary too long). Just wanted to show off these little beauties that are making my kitchen so much more, shall we say, modest? There were no blinds over this window in our new apartment. So on Friday, Sarah and I fired up the sewing machine and made these curtains, and a matching pair for her house. My favorite part? That we made the whole thing up! No instructions, which is a first for me, led to a finished product complete with "tie-back." And no, you don't have to button them, its fake, there's velcro on the back. Bryan breathed a big sigh of relief when he saw that. He thought I was just crazy enough to make curtains that had to be buttoned. Ha. I'm way too lazy for that.

Welcome to November...This was taken last night! Man I love it here.

Sunbeam moment

I know I promised this every week, but its been a couple of weeks since they said something hilarious. This, I think, will not disappoint. The following quote conquered several other doozy's to make it to #1 including a meltdown over a dress that didn't "twirl," random shout-out of child's full name during sharing time, interjections about painted fingernails, and a discussion regarding the patterns in shoe color among class members.

So we had a random, spontaneous, quickly resolving, symptom-less bout of gastroenteritis during our class on Sunday. One stomachache that needed to lie down on the floor quickly set off a domino effect. The second stomachache laid on the floor. By the 3rd sudden stomachache in 1 minute I was getting suspicious.

Child: I have a stomachache and I need to lay down.
Me: Well if you have a stomachache you can't have your birthday tomorrow you know.
Child: Ok nevermind, I was just kidding my stomach feels fine.

Later on, during Sharing Time, stomachache child #4 of the day approaches me.

Child: My stomach hurts.
Me: Want me to go get your dad?
Child: No.
(Debate goes on for 2 minutes about what to do and child finally decides she needs to lay on the floor...shocking. After 5 minutes of laying on the floor she comes to me again...)
Child: My stomach hurts and laying on the floor is not working.
Me: Ok, well we better go get your dad then.
Child: No
Me: What do you want to do?
Child: Play a game.
Me: Go sit in your chair.

HAHAHAHAHHA. These kids crack me up.

The Moral of the Story...

When life gives you lemons...make lemonade.
Life's not fair.
etc, etc.
The past couple of weeks have been a bit rough at the Thacker household. So I am going to share with you some important "morals" learned from these life lessons. I know you all live by the wisdom I share so maybe I can save you from some less than savory pitfalls...

First. Top ten signs an unwelcome visitor might be living in your new-to-you apartment:

1)A banana with a hole eaten out of it in the morning, on your counter.
2)Tiny poop pellets in your closets.
3)Chewed play-doh cans on the TOP SHELF of your closet.
4)Missing peices of the fresh flowers on your kitchen table.
5)A very skittish pet fish (who also resides on the kitchen table).
6)Paw prints on a glue trap, with bait missing.
7)Mouse traps sprung with no catch...2 nights in a row.
8)You feel the need to sanitize everything in the house every morning when you get up.
9)A major case of heebie jeebies. Or in my case crying breakdowns (I'm a bit of a clean freak).
10)The EH&S Rat Wrangler brings you bigger traps. Which finally lead to this....

Yep, he's alive. I couldn't bear to look at him live, so Bryan took a picture for me. Then he took him out to the trash, squeaking and hissing the whole way. Thank goodness I have a husband. Let's just say that. And lets just say that we were up until 1 a.m. last night sanitizing the house and washing everything in the kitchen.

Second. Get more boxes than you think you will need when moving. Because you have WAY more stuff than you think. And moving will make you consider becoming a hobo and living out of one grocery cart.

Third. If you can help it, try not to move into the apartment previously inhabiting by a raging schizophrenic. Our neighbor told us this place has bad "juju." She wasn't kidding. Aside from the rat, we've also had: one broken shelf, one broken light, and been locked out by a malfunctioning front door lock. In one week.

**Last but not least. Never go the ER on Halloween night during Swine Flu season. We learned that the hard way. And we are doing absolutely fine now, don't worry.**

And just for laughs, lest this post get too serious, let me show you what happens when Bryan hangs out with too many science people (read:nerds). They decide to 1)grow their facial hair for 2 weeks and 2)shave it to look just like their PI's facial hair for the official lab picture. Yes, all of the men did this. Let's just say I'm not a fan of the trimmed version, especially with that weird face...

We heart New England...

Not the Patriots of course, we are strict Charger fans around here. But we did love our trip last week. We spent 5 days in Boston (thanks to a great hotel deal from my friend Karly!), and saw all the sights to see...As well as 2 days in Vermont. I have never seen so few people in one area than in VT. I mean, seriously, it was quaint New England village after small town after farm all the way across the state. I guess that's what you get in a state where the biggest city has 40,000 people. But I digress. The leaves were gorgeous, the weather a bit less than gorgeous in Boston (it SNOWED) but beautiful in Vermont. I highly recommend this itinerary to anyone who lives on the West Coast and has never seen fall in New England. Amazing.

Several interesting points...

1)In Boston they name all important historical sites in this fashion, sort of like a madlib...(Age)(Direction)(Category of Building). It makes for some confusion when everything is named things like "Old North Church," "Old South Meeting House," "New South Church" and on and on. It really is hard to keep it all straight, but I guess they aren't known for their creativity out there.
2)I dislike being cold. And walking around a city. And getting stuck next to smelly homeless people on public transportation. But I do like public transportation, it saved our lives in Boston. Quite literally, since the people there drive like maniacs.
3)All the above said, I could live in Boston. I love it there. Vermont, not so much. Totally beautiful but I need a Target within 50 miles, you understand right?



**you can see the photos in all their full-screen glory by clicking on the slideshow**

A Sunbeam Moment

I think this will become a Sunday tradition on this blog. I have been asked to post the hilarious commentary I get, so I will pick just one snippet each week.

Today we were talking about following Jesus' kind and loving example and also being a good example for others. At the end of the lesson I asked all the kids how they will be good examples at home.

sunbeam girl: "If my baby at home doesn't follow my good example I will put her in time out, spank her, and then put her to bed. She's not a real baby though."

Well thank goodness for that. Regardless of whether the baby is real I think we missed the point of the lesson. Oh well, try again next time.

R.I.P. another Amy Butler masterpiece

Ok, so you may have wondered why I haven't posted anything crafty I've made recently. That's because THIS little beauty has been taking up the last 2 months of my life. FINALLY READY as of last night to be shipped to my sister-in-law. I barely made it since her little girl is due the end of this month. But hey, this thing was an Amy Butler level 4 (which is like average-person level 10) and had 30 steps (most with a-e substeps) involved. I may or may not have scars from all the pins stabbing me. After about 20 hours of my life, numerous pseudo-swearing episodes, and 1 broken sewing machine needle this little beauty emerged...

First, the matching changing pad...everyone needs one of those. And of course if you are Amy Butler it had to be quilted. In squares. Yes I had to sew all those lines.

Here's the inside of the bag, with "bottle pockets" and other such amenities...
For those of you baby aficionados, this will give you an idea of size. That's a babyGap box inside the bag.
And the finished product...I hope she really meant BIG.

And no, don't go getting any ideas. I'm NEVER making one of these again, not even for myself if I need one.

In other news, we went to the pumpkin patch the other day. I think we were the first ones in the city to go, since there were more employees than patrons milling around. But I loved it because it means, FALL IS HERE!


A couple of weeks ago, my sweet grandma celebrated her 89th birthday! With lots of family and friends in attendance, I think she truly enjoyed herself. Check out this ice cream cake my mom made...I get one on my birthday too...