School cancelled!?

School was cancelled the three days before christmas because of the winter storm that was headin our way. The neighborhood boys came to "inform" us of the school closure at 7:45 am, and ended up staying for a while. Nothin like having a house full of boys. No big deal we have a wii.

The Best Day Ever

What was "The best Day Ever" according to Nathan? It was his 9th Birthday. Trents sister Sherida and her family (4 kids! and one on the way) made it into town for Christmas. They came over in the morning and played. We visited Grandma Kunz. We went to Wendy's where he ate 4 orders of chicken nuggets and a Frosty. (We love the $1 menu) Then we went bowling. Sherida's kids had never gone before so it was a real treat. Here is Nathan showing off his bowling moves.


The bowling alley had a cool little ramp thing that the ball went on so Trent could bowl. Trent beat everyone..."humbly" of course. Not! I wonder where Nathan gets his competitiveness from?

Grandpa Kunz gearing up for his turn

Sherida aka "The Pregnant Lady"Ross and ChristianMe and Jonathan. Notice all the wet spots on my shirt? I had just wrestled with Jonathan as he was throwing a ROYAL fit out in the van while I was trying to change a massive poopy diaper. My left hand had his ankles like a calf holding on for dear life as he arched and tried to roll, and poop was flying everywhere. He was hysterical, his cheeks are still red from the fit in this picture, and his head it all sweaty. The wet spots were where I literally had chunks of poop on my sweater. grrrrr! Even though I gave it a thorough washing in the bathroom it still smelled like poop, or maybe it was the poop underneath my FINGERNAILS! Poop and Vomit...story of my life I tell ya.

Eleri crashed on the floor. I wish I could do that

The final scores. Trent won with a score of 91. I had to remind him that he played with the kids so he beat a bunch of kids. Save the victory dance. :)Grandma's house for tacos.Opening presents. Trent always hated getting books for any holiday, so we had him open them first. Nathan was "gracious" and "acted" grateful.
Now this is what we're talkin about. He was much more excited about a Wii gameAnd yet another Wii game! Oh yeah! I found out my brother in law works for EA sports so we got great deals for birthday and christmas. Hallalujah!

Root beer Floats

Trent "showing" off.

Grandpa Kunz and his little hop kick type of bowling.

When I asked Nathan about his birthday, he told me "It was the best day ever". It doesn't get much better than that.

Trash Treasure Trove

Note to self. In the future BEFORE I tear apart the entire house looking for the blasted car keys...check the trash, Jonathans favorite place these days.

Christmas Miracle "Mania"

The snow is still falling! It is beautiful. I have never seen a storm like this since we have lived here. It feels like I am back in Idaho and I love it! I sent Nathan out to shovel a pathway for Trent so when the bus comes to pick him up tomorrow morning he can get down to the street. All we have is a skinny digging shovel...guess I better go buy one for the next time it snows like this...four years or so? Nathan in his own words describes what happens:

Before our little "miracles" showed up

Our church was cancelled today so this family from our ward was making the rounds and saw Nathan out there shoveling and stopped to help. It seriously saved me probably 2 hours worth of work...at least. There is a thick layer of ice on top of all the snow, so it is quite the process shoveling all of that. I have already had to go back out and shovel two more inches to try and keep the path clear for Trent. Here is some video of Nathan walking on the snow. You can hear him breaking through the ice.

This truly was such a wonderful Christmas "Miracle Mania" (as Nathan put it) It was so nice for Nathan to be on the receiving end of service. We go and do things for others, but to be on the receiving end is such a gift. Nathan keeps talking about it, and how awesome it was that they came to help. These are the times when I feel truly watched out for, and that Heavenly Father is aware of me and knows what I need. It just reaffirmed to me that we are not alone, and others can help ease our burdens. Shoveling my driveway may have seemed like a simple thing to them, but to me...it was huge and one less thing that I needed to worry about.

Winter Wonderland

Winter is here. A real Winter! Usually winter in the Northwest means freezing slushy/rain that freezes and turns the road into a solid sheet of ice. We are actually getting snow...and quite a bit! It actually feels like christmas AND looks like it. We are just loving it. The boys went over to the Morgans to sled down their semi-steep driveway. Jonathan loved being pulled around in the sled. I would ask him if he was done and he would shake his head no.

Jonathan and Annie on the sled (Jonathan is in the back)

You can see the snowflakes comin down and piling up on the bushes. It is still snowing too. It has not quit all day. Life is so good.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is upon us. I actually got up my decorations early this year, and even wrapped my presents a few days ago. Nathan was wondering if we'd ever get presents under there. I told him that the present fairy hates to wrap presents, and she'll get to it someday. I always underestimate or overestimate how much wrapping paper I need as I am cutting. I was dreaming of hiring someone to wrap the gifts. Nathan came home from school the monday before Thanksgiving and told me that he would like to put up our christmas tree. He was so excited about it, and I had visions of spending time together while we decorated the house. It was quite precious, since these days I am not so "cool" anymore and his friends are much more important. We pulled everything down out of the attic and got the three pieces to the tree out in the living room. I hadn't even put the tree stand up when Nathan said, "Mom, can I go to Trace's house". Sheesh...so much for our "quality" time. Now I had to do it because I was surrounded by bins (OK...only two bins) of stuff. It forced me to get it done though. I love looking at my christmas tree with the white lights, drinkin my hot chocolate, listening to my Time Life Christmas Music CD. (yep...ordered it off the TV) It is so "christmassy".

Nathan took this picture of me trying to put the star up. I had to rig it with a wooden spoon, and shove it down in the tree, because it is so heavy. I included this picture because he only got 1/2 of my body...I like it. The "other" half is no quite as attractive. :)

Nathan-isms

Nathan will come up with some funny stuff...he is so random sometimes. I love it. Yesterday he was standing over the garbage smashing two very ripe pears together. I had asked him to throw them away.
I asked him, "What are you doing?"
Nathan: "This segment is called, "Playing with Pears".
OK...random.

The other day he was talking about those drug commercials with the lists of all the side effects, and he started talking as if he was doing a commercial. "This drug will help your allergies. The big risk is that you can get Cancer. And a lot of other side effects that you don't -even -want- to know about.". It struck me as so funny. I laughed and laughed. I love that kid. (school is cancelled today...by the end of the day, he'll have driven me crazy "I'm bored", "what can I do?" where I list several things that he is more than welcome to do...clean the bathrooms, his room....)
P.S. We went to the Maynes last night and Nathan said something else that was funny. She made some homemade alfredo sauce and he said, "This is the best alfredo sauce that I have ever had in my whole alfredo sauce life". Amen!

Come out Come out Wherever you Are

I've been looking for my library book. You know how you are wracking your brain, because you seriously just had it two minutes ago? Well...I found it! Good thing I looked down as I was taking the garbage out. Mystery solved. I wonder who put it there? Trent? nah...Nathan?...nah? Jonathan?...OH yeah. He is into "cleaning" up these days. Found a cup in the bathroom garbage. Gives new meaning to "Trash to treasure".

WWW

Wonderful World of Wrestling. Trent and Jonathan have a nightly wrestling ritual. Jonathan literally watches at the window as Trent gets off the bus, then runs to the back door and climbs up on Trent before he is even in the door. It is SO cute. Here's the video.

My Little Drummer Boy

I LOVE the Little Drummer Boy song. I have vivid memories of listening to that record (yes I said record) over and over when I was little. So, I was tickeled pink when Nathan picked that song to play at his piano recital we had today. The "tickeled pink" quickly wore off when he only had a weeks notice to get it all ready to go before the big day. This week has not been fun getting him to practice this "Way hard song!". "I can't do it" "I don't get it!" eye rolling....tears...loud sighs...whining... I had to turn into Mommy Dearest to get him to practice and practice so he could do it. We just about killed each other this week. I am happy to report that it went well. Here is the video. I was the only one that didn't get the memo that it was "church dress". I showed up in my sweatsuit. Love that. I was the only one comfortible. :)

Wondering why I have a clock as my first picture? The recital started at 6:00pm. That is what we are talkin about people. My kind of recital. Short and sweet.

Older and Wiser?

I feel so different today. (Not) I am so much older, AND wider...I mean Wiser. :) Yep...it's my birthday. Here are some facts about that day, other than the most glorious one of all...that I was born.

# 1 song "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul. Never heard of it (Frankly I like the#1 on December 9th. "I am woman!" Yeah...much better. Even the song after my birthday is "You're so Vain". I'd take that one too)

Headlines: U.S.S.R performs Nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk. I KNEW that the earth shook when I arrived. Thought it was my magnetic personality, or gaseous abilities. heh heh.

It was a good day today. Robin had a breakfast for me with a couple of friends. Bacon, french toast, fruit salad, coffee cake, orange juice, cranberry juice AND for dessert she had her husband make me this absolutely TO DIE FOR chocolate flourless cake. Oh my. I am eating it as I type this. I can literally feel the yummy fat finding its way to my thighs. Bring it on baby! Trent and I went to the mall over the weekend (I am so NOT a mall girl...they drive me crazy. Shopping is of the devil) to buy some new jeans. I have been wearing my fat girl jeans and feeling like a total frump girl (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). We found some cute ones that look good (as good as they can over my "volumptuous" figure) and are a little bit tight. There is a price to pay for lookin good I guess. I think I'll only wear those when we go out on a date or something. Frump girl by day, Trophy Wife by night.

Nathan said to me, "You were born in 1972? That is like so 80's" I guess I need to work on some addition with him. That is his new quote though. All the kids say it around here for anything that is "old" in their eyes. "That is so 80's" Wow...I loved everything about the 80's. I'd take my stretch pants, big sweaters with a huge belt over it, and leg warmers any-day baby! And not to mention my BTH (bangs to heaven). Aqua Net was a staple in my house. Those were the days....

Chapped Lips

Nathan came home from a friends house practically in tears as he explained how much his lips hurt, and how he couldn't keep from licking them. Yes...I could see that just by looking at his red, raw, severly chapped lips. Did I comfort him and give him great words of wisdom? I guess that depends on your oponion. This is what I said:


"Nathan, if you don't stop licking your lips, they are going to end up looking like a Baboons butt."


Yep. That's what I said. Nathan stopped and looked at me and smiled.


I said, "Do you know what a Baboon's butt looks like?"



Nathan, "Yes. Red and wierd."


Me: "Yep. That is exactly what I'm talkin about."


I wonder if this little "golden nugget" of information will be passed on to his children someday when they come crying to him with licked, chapped lips? :) Here's a picture in case you never watch the Discovery Channel. I'm here for you.

It Beginneth, and Endeth

Game 1. Can we say...out of shape?

The soccer season has come and gone. I love watching soccer. Nathan is so aggressive and he is pretty good at it. It was a good season. Things I don't miss about soccer? Rain. Sitting there watching soccer in rain, trying to keep Jonathan dry. Mud. That word can speak for itself. Me hosing off Nathan after a game. Me out in the driveway with Trent holding a butter knife as I have to painstakingly pick out the mud/dirt from every tire tread. A tedious process, but necessary, and even then, there are chunks left all over the house. *sigh*. Cold. Yes...the Northwest is cold in the fall. We bundle up in September trying not to freeze our kahoonies off.

All that being said? I still love the soccer season. We did just start a new thing though. Indoor soccer. A lot of people play it, and we thought we'd give it a whirl. Can we say....heaven sent? Indoors, no mud, no cold, no rain, and STILL get to watch soccer. Oh yeah. Lovin it.

Here are a few pictures. I wanted to get a nice picture of Nathan in his soccer uniform.

Nathan...just stand there and smile please.

Let's try this again Nathan...please just stand there and smile. For the blog....priorities!

OK...so I am chuckling now, but we try one more.

Finally! That's what we're talkin about.

At the end of every season, there is always a party with the infamous trophy. Whatever happened to the days that the only one who gets trophies are the 1st and 2nd teams? Now everyone gets a trophy for every sport they ever play. Here's a picture of the trophy:

Where to put this one? On his dresser next to the "other... treasures".

Anyone who can coach a bunch of 8 years olds, is a Saint in my book!

And last but not least, this is Grayson and Jonathan at the soccer party. She followed him around for me so I could sit and enjoy the party. It was SO nice I tell ya. They even matched! I sat there as she tirelessly pulled him off of tables, away from the vending machines as he shook them mercilessly, all those fun things that toddler boys do. Life was good that night my friends. A small break...I'll take it!

Friendship

How does one know when you have a true friend? A friend that goes above and beyond the normal, "Let's do lunch" or you catch a movie every now and then. I learned that I have a true friend today. How do I know this? Check out these pictures. They are self explanatory.

What might she be doing in case you were wondering? There is a nasty smell in our house by our fireplace that we can not figure out what it is. Is there an animal that has died under the house and is causing this atrocious smell? That's where my "true" friend comes in. She got all the gear on and crawled through the teeny tiny crawl space under my house. (shiver...creepy) Did she find any dead animals or bodies, or anything stinky? No. She did find two pipes that are leaking pretty bad. There are a few things that I am thankful for.

1.) True Friends

2.) True Friends that happen to be skinny...it came in handy today as she squeezed through that tiny space. No Kunz could ever have accomplished this. We are all too "shapely".
.
3.) A nasty, stinky mysterious smell. Without it, we ( I say "we" when I had nothing to do with it) would have never ventured under the house, and never would have found the pipe problem, which potentially could have been a nightmare.

Friendship. It's a beautiful thing. You Rock Robin!

Games Galore

Have any of you ever been to the store Games Galore? (Name has been changed to protect the innocent) It is basically a big video game-ish store with rows and rows of new and used games for the Wii, Xbox...and all the other contraptions that I don't know the names of. Well...it'll be a while before they forget me at Games Galore. Jonathan was sitting in his stroller as I was perusing the aisle of games. Just minding my own business, being a good customer...when all of a sudden there was a HUGE crashing sound. I almost wanted to hit the ground and take cover. It totally freaked me out. Unbeknownst to me, my son Jonathan managed to grip one of those wire wracks and literally pull it off the wall, sending games all over the ground. I am just standing there in shock/awe. How on earth was he able to do that?

What did the teenage staff do to assist me in my dilemna? Here's our conversation.
"Hey, are you OK over there?".
"Yes, my son just managed to rip the wrack off the wall."
"Oh...OK."
End of conversation.

Did they rush over to help me replace the wrack back on the wall?
No
Did they rush over to help me put all the videos back on the wrack when I figured out how to reattach it?
No

Guess that isn't in their "job description".
After the embarrassment passed, I got a good chuckle out of it. I'll have to make sure to maintain a 5 foot perimeter around the stroller. Or I could put a glass bubble over the stroller...even better. I like it. Bubble boy.

Christmas Therapy

Christmas time. Presents, Jingle bells, candy canes, cinnamon and spice and everything nice. Oh...and did I mention therapy? Why is it that we teach our children to not talk to strangers, yet during Christmas time we forcibly put them on a bearded strangers lap wearing a red velvet suit and white gloves....freaky..(the only other person I know who wears gloves, or at least one glove is Michael Jackson, and we know he is a total freak!)...and as they are screaming we run away and stand at a distance clapping and smiling like it is a fun game? Huh...can we say "add another 10 bucks to the therapy fund?" I'll do it again next year though.

Therapy...expensive.

This picture? Priceless

Say What?

Direct Quote from Nathan:
"Holy Snap! That was wicked Awesome! Gnarly Dude!"

Not even sure what he was describing, and not sure where he heard all those words, (except for Awesome, that I say all the time), but it was Wicked Awesome!

B to the third

B B B...what does that mean? We went to Best Buy to buy Brenda her early christmas present...a laptop! Now she can use it while she is in the hospital. Anyways, I was standing there with Jonathan in the shopping cart. Jonathan kept looking over my shoulder and pointing. I figured he was playing peek a boo with someone or something. He kept doing it over and over, so I decided to take a peek at what he was so intrigued with. As I am turning my head around I am startled at what I see. It took a minute to sink in what I was actually looking at. There...on the screen TV, is a big ole picture of my butt. Yes...MY butt. The rest of my body was there also, but, my butt was the main attraction. I happened to be in the path of one of those video cameras that project it to the TV's.

Whoa. One is never fully emotionally prepared to see something like that. I was wearing my form fitting Adidas Running sweatsuit, since I am an avid runner...(ya right!) I know that I am overweight, and I have a picture in my head of what I "thought" I looked like, and boy what I saw was not how I envisioned myself looking. I have heard that the camera adds 10 pounds on, but what about the other 40 or so? How does that factor into the equation? "A picture speaks 1,000 words", Oh yes it does speak, but am I ready to listen and actually do something about it? Huh...I am eating a donut right now...does that answer your question? :) Best Buy Babe, that is what I am.

P.S. We were over eating dinner at the Morgans, when Nathan said, "My mom needs to go on a diet. Really. She needs to go on a diet." I am glad that we are all good friends. I said something like, "I know...please pass some more potatoes..." We all got a good laugh. I had to have a little chat with him about what is nice and not nice to say, he felt bad. It is total payback, because when I was a kid, I said whatever was on my mind to whoever was by me. I mortified my parents with the "honest" observations I shared so lovingly. :)

Nearest Book

Here are the rules:
Grab the nearest book.
Open it to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Here is what mine said:
"The heads around its sides were tearing themselves away from the billowing mass, dragging great chunks of flesh with them."

Huh. THIS is what Trent and Nathan are reading together at night for reading time? The hole page is about a dragon visciously being torn apart and trying to attack some children. Yikes. No wonder as they are reading together Trent and Nathan are like, "This is SO cool!" If Nathan starts having nightmares, we'll know why.

Lord of the Dance

Do you know who this is? If you don't, then we can't be friends anymore. Seriously...no more friends. heh heh. When Jonathan dances, it reminds me of the whole Riverdance thing. He really gets a movin and a groovin. Here is a little taste of the Master himself.

Neh-ked Time

Jonathan loves to be neh-ked. Each night we strip him down to his diaper for Baby Nay-ked time. I was in the back last night, and here comes Jonathan...totally naked. He figured out how to take off his diaper. Uh-oh. This is not a good thing for him to figure out yet. Looks like it might be time to pull out some duct tape. That outta do it.

The 3 Bald-igo's

Sunday was the big "shaving of the Head's" day at the hospital. I knew that Trent was kickin around shaving his head in support of his mom. Nathan was concerned because, "Dad is already pretty bald, and if he shaves it, it might not grow back!". True...maybe his will grow back red and curly? It is really an interesting/shocking thing to see your husband, after 14 years of marriage, with a bald head. He has so many scars. We had a walk down Scar Lane as he tried to remember which scar was which. He was quite the wild little guy growin up. Every time I look at Trent it makes me jump a little...I love it! I would hate to bump into him in a dark alley...he looks like a hardened criminal with his scarred bald head. Who knew I was married to such a bad boy...adds a sense of danger to our marriage. Ooh la la.

After the shaving of the heads, we had a fashion show with grandma with all the different hats and scarves, and even a wig. Nathan had to try on the wig. He then started to dance around with what he imagined a girl would dance like. It made grandpa nervous..."ya don't want to have some gene tweeked while he is wearing that wig, to make him turn out "funny" ". I had a good laugh over that one. I don't think dancin around in a wig will turn him gay Grandpa.

Here are some sample new "looks" we tried for his mom.

Who's yo mama?

Trent wanted to send out the photo at the top as our christmas card. "Where's Chemo?" or "Guess who had chemo?" He is such a funny criminal. :)

Multi Blogger

I realized something about myself. I am not good at keeping two blogs up and going at the same time. Huh...go figure! I put together a blog site for Trents mom to keep everyone posted during her chemo, and to cut down on calls that Trents dad has to make each night. So...my energy and time is going to that one. I'll still be posting here when I get a chance. So I haven't forgotten ya'll...just trying to "multi-blog".
www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendakunz

Think outside the box

We got a box in the mail the other day. The boys played with this thing for a long time. We love cheap entertainment around here.

Boog Appetit

On the way to the hospital after finding out about Brenda's leukemia on Halloween, I was sitting in the back next to Jonathan. It is rare that I am not the one doing the driving, so it was nice to be able to sit back and talk/play with Jonathan. He loves bananas and he literally inhales them. It is a quite impressive little feat for such a little guy. After he was done, I noticed (it is dark in the van) that he has a big banana chunk on his cheek. I have nothing to wipe it off with, so what is a mom to do? I swiped it off his cheek and put it in my mouth. Huh...that is definitely not a banana chunk. It is a big, ole, juicy, nasty booger. Yep. You got it. A Booger. I have never tasted someone else's boogers before. (Oh come on...you all have eaten your own boogers at least once in your life) I just chewed it up and swallowed. Boog Appetit. I can check that one off my list of "things to do" in life.

Scariest Halloween Ever

We had the scariest Halloween ever. On Friday, Brenda (Trent's mom) received a phone call from her doctor to go immediately to the hospital, with no warning of what it might be for. She has been sick with a cough and cold since June, and recently she has had a hard time breathing, or feeling like she is getting enough oxygen. We went to a Halloween Party at our friends, with lots of good food and fun. We go there every year, and her older kids take the younger kids around the neighborhood. It is such a nice gig I tell ya! We sit and eat while the older kids do all the work.

Anyways, during dinner we received a call from Brenda. She informed us that she has Leukemia. pause......WHAT did you just say? "I have leukemia". shock....silence...Brain going a mile a minute. I get off the phone and pull Trent away from the party into the hallway and I start crying telling him his mother has Leukemia. Not something I ever thought I would have to tell someone. We immediately left the party and went to the hospital (leaving Nathan behind to enjoy the festivities). They started some chemo that same day until they narrowed it down to find out exactly what kind of leukemia it is. After taking some bone marrow out, (I am glad I wasn't there to see that procedure, nothing like long needles and drilling holes through the bone...ugh!), they found out that she has Acute Mylegenous Leukemia, a rapid growing cancer in the blood. They gave her a 60% chance survival rate, after very intense chemotherapy. If she did not proceed with the chemotherapy, they gave her about 2 weeks, to maybe 2 months to live. It is very rapid.

Shock...shock...shock... There is no way to accurately describe the situation. I never thought that we would be faced with something like this. It still doesn't seem real most of the time. Trent and I have been to the hospital everyday (not an easy task with a 16 month old, I spend most the time walking the hallways). She started the intense chemo last night, so hell lays ahead of us. She'll be in the hospital for two months they said. And then 6 more months of treatment after that, and then they'll see. Stunned, shocked, alarmed....

I think the hardest part was telling Nathan about it. Trent is very good at talking and explaining things. Nathan cried and cried. He really wants to go and see her but he has a cough, and we know how that in and of itself is horrific for someone going through chemo. You can't even bring fresh fruit in, or anything that would jeopardize their immune system. On the way to church he asked me if Grandma was going to die. Not a conversation that a parent likes to have. Yes...she could die if her medicine doesn't work. And then I proceeded to tell him that none of us know when we are going to die, I could walk across the street and get killed (see...I am not the best at these discussions, the poor kid!). He started to cry in the parking lot. It is so heart breaking. I did end it with the fact that we all will see each other again after we die....that sort of thing. Man...I have had a bad headache for two days. I feel like I am in a fog.

Trents dad wished him a happy anniversary today. We didn't know what he was talking about. November 3, 1988, 20 years since he broke his neck. We had forgotten. 20 years. He has been in his chair longer than he was out of it. Wild concept. I am adding a picture of Jonathan that was taken in the waiting room at the hospital on Halloween. We actually got him to smile. I was tickeling his leg, but we caught it! It's a miracle.

Ghost, goblins, witches...kindof scary. Leukemia. Horrifying.