Rain Dance

It's been raining here the last couple of days. David believes it's because he's been doing a rain dance. He jumps while moving his hands and arms up and down like rain. We're playing along with it. I told him he was going to get in trouble for doing a rain dance while Daddy's outside at work qualifying with his weapon. He got a kick out of getting his Dad all wet. The more I told him he better stop, the more he giggled and the faster he danced. He's too cute sometimes.

Puke

Little Braden's got the puke-ups. Gotta go clean up.

"I never thought" - Thought #3

I never thought I'd ever say... "Don't put noodles in your brother's ear!"

Quotes by David... Chapter Nine

David put his fork down at the breakfast table, Braden picked it up.

David - "Where'd my fork go?"

Me - "I think Braden took it. Let me get you another one."

David - "But Braden doesn't know how to use a fork!"

Me - "He's trying. He's got to learn."

David - "Look Mom! He's trying to stab that piece of egg! He's trying and being PERSISTENT!"

Can you believe it? Persistent. I don't even know where he heard that word.

Random thoughts

We had soccer practice again yesterday. I still can't really tell if David likes it or not. He seems to, but he also seems more interested in interacting with the other kids than in playing soccer. Still, he's too cute in his little soccer cleats.
Braden is getting bigger by the day! He's got a few words, Mama, Dada, eat, bye bye, shoe, and thank you mostly... but I think he understands a lot more than what he can say.
We finally sold our car, which should take quite a bit of financial pressure off of us, but at this point we're not really feeling the relief yet. Oh well, it'll come.
Aunt Marge passed away the other day. I've only met her once, but I hope to be able to go to her funeral in Utah. I'm not sure if it'll work out or not because I've got National Guard drill this weekend.
Speaking of National Guard, it's so not coming together like I'd like it to. Apparently our range may be cancelled because my sister unit didn't order the ammunition for us like they were supposed to. Half of the soldiers are calling in looking to reschedule, and the rumor is that SSG Peralta is being a prick because I didn't do some things that he didn't ask me to do. There are a lot of things I need to do in order to get the military discipline in my unit the way it is supposed to be, but since I only work there a weekend a month, I can't seem to find the time or the interest to get it all done. Oh well, just a year and a half left and I'm outta there.
Later!

Quotes by David... Chapter Eight

We were in Wal-Mart yesterday, when a little person passed by us. She was obviously my age, but about David's size. David got excited when he saw her and said in his little cooing voice, quite loudly...

"Awww... Mom! Look at that cute little mother! I know she's a mother because she's got a purse."

At the park

After a wonderful breakfast of sweet potato hash, eggs, and homemade salsa with plenty of cilantro, we decided to take the boys to the park. David rode his bike, Braden rode his stroller, then both of them played in the fountain. David is still not real good at riding his bike, he fell off quite a few times. I'm still not sure where the problem is, except that he doesn't keep the pedals going and doesn't pay attention to where he's going. Most of the time we just pushed it for him while he walked. I think it's just more time and practice. We'll have to get in a lot more bike riding before the season ends. Here in New Mexico, we probably have until just after Halloween, so that's still plenty of time though he'll probably have to re-learn it all over again in the spring. But rather than riding his bike for most of the time, David said he has to practice running in his new shoes before he wears them to soccer practice tomorrow. I think he's pretty excited. He also spent some time trying to step on Jared's shadow. After our walk, we stopped at the fountain. Now, this is no ordinary fountain, it was built specifically for the kids to play in. It has multiple sprayers that work in a "dancing water" kind of way so the kids never know where the water is going to come from next. I wasn't real sure how Braden would do in the water, but he really seemed to love it. He didn't cry when we made him get out to go home though, but David did.

Anyone?!

Is anyone reading these? Please post a comment so I know I'm not just doing this for my love of typing.

Quotes by David... Chapter Seven

David came out of his primary class at church today wearing a yarn necklace with 4 paper hearts attached to it. I saw other kids wearing them also, the number of hearts seemed to vary by numbers of people in the child's family. I talked to him about what he learned in class, and he mentioned something about the temple, and then I asked him why he had hearts on his yarn necklace. I was fully expecting something about loving your family or love for the gospel... you know, something profound. David said, "I think it means I love my necklace."

The Fair

We took the boys to the county fair on Tuesday. We ate fair food, I had a Navajo Taco, REAL good. If I could figure out how to make fry bread I'd make them myself. Then we visited all the fair animals. Two of the cops Jared works with had animals in the fair... Brian had goats and Barric had pigs. One of the soldiers I work with, David Montoya, had pigs in the fair also. His daughter won runner up for the 4H fair princess competition... or something like that. David enjoyed the animals, Braden just continually made goat noises. Then we went to watch Jessica sing a Hannah Montana song in the kareoke contest. She didn't win, but she did well. Last, David had to ride some of the rides. He rode the little kids' rides by himself, and then also rode one of the bigger rides with Jared. Looks like he's not gonna be scared of carnival rides like someone I know (sorry Jimmy!) Okay, so Jimmy's not scared of them anymore, but he was til he was like 20.
We all some good family fun together, but how in the world did just that cost us $60?! And we certainly could've spent more than that if we weren't being careful not to!

Quotes by David... Chapter Six

Seriously, David just said

"God is Great... Beer is good... and People are crazy"

out of the blue. What a weird kid.

Quotes by David... Chapter Five

On seeing a passing car... "HE'S GOING WAY TOO FAST AND FURIOUS!"

Whew! That's over... for now.

The past three weeks have been a blur. I've completed my annual 2-week training for the national guard, along with my weekend drill and a 4-day Commanders' Conference in Taos. Beginning today, I'm back to my regularly scheduled life. Jared worked his normal schedule during that time too, but he also worked plenty of overtime. Thank goodness for Jessica, she watched the boys that whole time, and even stayed here for a few days while I was in Taos and Jared was in Albuquerque for his Coaching conference.

My first couple of days I spent a the armory. I changed everything around up there. My training NCO was on leave, I'd kinda like to be a fly on the wall when he gets back and sees that I've moved absolutely everything!

Then came 10 more days, spent at the National High School Finals Rodeo. We helped the Sherriff's department with security. It was pretty neat though because it wasn't just them. Here's the list: Besides the Sherriffs and the National Guard, there were Farmington Police, Aztec Police, Bloomfield Police, San Juan County Fire Volunteers, Farmington Fire Department, EMS, and Homeland Security. Nothing too major happened out there, just the kids playing pranks. They drove a golf cart into the river, spraypainted a horse pink, got in waterfights, and other general mischief. There were also a couple of injuries and a couple of heat injuries.

Finally, I spent 4 days in Taos. The rooms they set us up with were amazing... king size bed, fireplace, 2 bathrooms, balcony, living suite. The lectures were generally boring though.

Jessica did great with the boys... took them swimming, to the library, to the childrens museum, all kinds of cool things.

I'm glad to be back home and back to my normal routine. I think the kids are pretty glad about it too. No more National Guard stuff til the 8th.

Ride the Bull

The rodeo is in town, and we took the boys to see it. Last year at this time, we did the same thing. At the trade show last year, we tried to buy David a pair of cowboy boots. He would NOT try them on. He ran and screamed like we were trying to break his feet off. I told him that we didn't have to buy the boots if he didn't want them, but I just wanted to try them on to see what he looks like in them. Still, he ran and caused a scene. Once I calmed him down enough to talk to him through his tears, I found out that he thought that if he put on cowboy boots then he has to ride a bull!

This year, I got him to buy a pair of boots. He looks cute in them.

Each state competing brings a rodeo queen contestant. These are high school girls in sequined rodeo gear. They wear a little tiara fitted to their cowboy hat. They also carry around pictures of themselves in the same kind of getup, kinda like a senior picture, but they're all 8x10. David got a kick out of finding all of these queens and asking them for their pictures. They all signed the picture with a little note to David and David told each of them that she was the prettiest one. He's such a little Romeo.

Quotes by David... Chapter Four

I've been working security at the National High School Finals Rodeo lately. It's 105 degrees and I'm working 12 hours a day outside in my army uniform. Needless to say, I don't always smell like roses by time I get home. One day, I was taking off my socks with David sitting by my feet. He says:
"PeeYou Mom, you need another shower!"
I thought it was hilarious that he would say that. He interrupted my laughter with:
"No. Seriously Mom. You do."

Bike-cop

Jared finished his Bike-cop training on Friday. It wasn't pretty, but he passed. They gave him this cheesy little silver bicycle pin he can wear on his uniform. He's not wearing it, and I don't blame him. They rode courses 12-20 miles long, and he took a pretty good spill on Wednesday. He ended up with the kind of bruises that take a while to appear, but not almost his entire upper left leg is an ugly blackish-purple color. He's been showing it off like a badge of honor, which I guess it is.

Ol' Nan has been in the hospital for a bowel obstruction, but it looks like it's going to respond to medication and she'll be just fine.

Quotes by David... Chapter Three

I was cooking in the kitchen, David was playing with his Thomas Trains, and Braden was in his playpen. Braden began to get a little fussy, so David ran over and gave him a toy car. Braden played quietly with the car for several minutes, then became fussy again. David ran over and put the pacifier in Braden's mouth. Braden was quiet for several minutes and then began fussing again.
David put his hand on his hip, sighed, and said, "Braden, I just don't have time to take care of you right now!"

Story time

I took the boys to story time at the library yesterday. It's nice for David because he gets to sit in the middle of the room with other kids while us parents sit around the edges. The library staff did a really good job. They used different library staff for each of the different voices in the books, almost acting it out. They even had some kind of camera on the book that was broadcasting to a projector screen so all the kids could see the pictures in the book while the staff was reading. They read 3 books, sang some songs, and gave all the kids kazoos to play a little kazoo band song. The kids got to take the kazoos home with them when they were done. (Thanks a lot for the constant buzzing sound in my head now!) I may have been in luck though, because David couldn't figure out how to make it buzz... but of course I had to show him. I know I know... smart move huh? Anyhow, he's a one-kid-kazoo-band now and can play quite a few different songs. He's actually pretty good... well as good as you can be talking about a kazoo!

Family Pictures

Our family pictures (Jared's side anyhow) are now available. I just wanted to share a few.

Random Notes

Going to see Thomas the Train on Saturday! We ride at 12:15. I made David a little fake ticket and told him not to lose it. He's so excited... and it's still 2 days away!

Jared and his Dad pulled out the dead tree in front of the house yesterday... it looks good that way. I think we're going to put a flagpole there... eventually.

Shawn won his appeal today! He's back to work with 2 months of backpay, so cool.

Quotes by David... Chapter Two

Tonya arrived at our house and held out her arms to David for a hug. David ran to her, she picked him up and said, "Hey hey!"

To which David responded in song, "Hey mambo... mambo Italiano!"

(You'd have had to seen the commercial to get it.)

"I never thought" - Thought #2

I never thought I'd have to explain why you can't ride a beagle.

"I never thought" - Thought #1

I never thought I'd have to dig a baby fingernail clipping out of my contact.

We took a trip to Durango yesterday. We were all supposed to go, but Misha and her family stayed behind because her kids were sick, Tonya and Julia were busy doing stuff for the wedding, and Jared's mom had to prepare for her upcoming trip. So it was me, Jared, David, Braden, Nancy, Aubrey, Andrew, Adam, and Jessica. Adam rode up in our car. Our first stop was the fish hatchery. We got some quarters and fed the fish. Those fish must know that the people feed them because before we ever did, they were swarming toward where we were standing. David kept asking questions about why they all splash like that when we throw food in. Then we went into a very small wildlife museum right there by the fish and

David's Birthday Party

David turned 4 yesterday. We had a party for him at our house, and it turned out pretty good. In attendance were: Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lin, Uncle Mert, Julia, Shawn, Nancy, Aubrey, Andrew, Adam, Misha, Scott, Deacon, Tucker, Tonya, Jessica, Dave, and Darren. (Hope I didn't forget anyone!)
Jared cooked on the grill, I made deviled eggs (which were a pain in the hind end to peel. What the crap?! Why do sometimes they just peel great, and other times it's like impossible?!) , baked beans, and a veggie tray. Grandma and Grandpa brought the chips and dip.
The kids took turns whacking a Dale Earnhardt Jr. pinata with Jared's nightstick. Andrew finally broke it (clap here).
Then David opened his presents. He got: a cool orange Tonka truck pulling a Jetski on a trailer, a Dr. Seuss book, a set of Where's Waldo books, some Nascar toys, a pair of skates, some more pieces to his Thomas the Train track, gift cards and gifts of money from my family back in Ohio who couldn't be here, and a bicycle. (Again, I hope I didn't forget anything.) We sang happy birthday and cut the cake, and then the kids (and Tonya!)played on the slip-and-slide. Unfortunately, the cheap 'ol thing got a hole in the part that sprays the water all over it, so Jared sat by it with the hose to keep it wet for the kids (and Tonya!).
Once everyone was dried off, Misha led family home evening activities at our house, Julia gave an awesome testimony, and all went home for the evening. Good times.

Accident

Shawn, Julie, and Michael were in an accident with a drunk driver yesterday. They're a little banged up, but it looks like they'll all be fine. Their car is totaled, they're borrowing our Honda. Go figure that had to happen exactly a week before their wedding! You know, bad stuff happens when you're trying to do the right thing, that's just the way it goes. The adversary has got to try just that much harder to throw you off track when you're firmly on the right one. Still, it sucks, but at least it's a sign you're doing the right thing! When Jared and I were going to the temple, our temple clothes got left at home 4 hours away, and the whole family was fighting for a week. We'll keep them in our thoughts and hope they recover for the wedding. Right now, I've got to go prepare some salad and some birthday cakes.

Riverfest

All of Jared's family got into town about 9am yesterday, and we went to the Riverfest. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time, but not too hard, so we stayed anyway. We all walked around like a big Stock parade (although some have married into other names)... Mom, Julia, Shawn, Michael, Jared, myself, David, Braden, Nancy, Aubrey, Andrew, Adam, Tonya, and Jessica. Misha and her crew couldn't come because Scott's grandma was celebrating her 80th birthday. David loved hanging out with his cousins, he mostly hung onto Aubrey. When Aubrey could get away, she really seemed to enjoy carrying and playing with Braden. We looked at all the vendors things, some of us ate some fajitas which smelled really good, but I didn't want one. Jared wanted a roasted ear of corn, but the line was HUGE... even in the rain. The kids pet all the dogs people were walking, and pet the sherriff's horse, and played with some goats and llamas. They climbed on trees, threw rocks into the river (which scared the heck outta me because the water was moving WAY too fast), and stuck their hands into the sample hot tub some man was selling. There was a band and David was dancing like he just couldn't control himself. The other kids just watched him and laughed, but that was exactly what David was looking for, he loves to be the center of attention. Oh, Nancy did a little shimmy too. David got a free bicycle helmet they were giving away, even though he doesn't have a bike yet. He's getting one tomorrow for his birthday, he just doesn't know it yet.

Quotes by David... Chapter One

It was raining when Jared and I left his mom's house with the kids. On a normal day, Jared puts David in the car because David's booster seat is on Jared's side of the car, and I put Braden in. David's booster seat is MUCH quicker to operate than Braden's 5-point harness, but usually it's no big deal. On this day, however, because it was raining, Jared was snug in the driver's seat while I was still fumbling with Braden's harness... and getting wet. So I started giving Jared grief about being a gentleman and handling both the boys so I could stay wet. Here's how the conversation went...

Me... "Jared, I'm getting all wet!"
Jared... "You'll be alright, it's just water."
Me... "No I won't!" (Please insert sarcasm here.) "I'm a delicate flower, I'll wilt!"
Jared... "Oh no you're not. Your a hardy desert rose, you're tough."
Me... "But I wanna be a delicate flower!"

By this point the harnessing is complete and we're all in the car and moving, but the sarcastic conversation continues with me saying how sweet and fragile I am and Jared countering with statements about how I'm a tough woman and I can handle anything (he's right of course, but I'm enjoying the conversation.

Then out of the blue, David decides to put his two cents in... "Mom, if you're a delicate flower, then I wook wike a Mexican!"

I guess sarcasm isn't lost just because he's little, he's still a wisecracker.

Bugs

This morning was all about bugs.

Yesterday, came running in from outside yelling "Mama Mama! Come here I have to show you something!" This isn't an unusual occurrance around the Stock household as David is generally excitable, but he usually wants to show me his handprint in his sandbox or a bug that he swears looks like a teeny tiny chicken nugget. But this time he showed me the tiniest preying mantis I've ever ever seen. He was excited that it was still there when he went out today. It was so tiny, it was hard to get a pic of it, but I tried. That little green thingy at the top of the picture is it. To give a perspective, the blue thing on the left is a matchbox car.

Next, I found aphids (or at least that's what I think they are) all over my bushes out front. Again, I tried to take a picture of them, but they were so small that they didn't turn out on the picture. I love my bushes, in just a few weeks they'll grow these huge hibiscus looking blossoms all over. The bush in the picture grows white ones, the other grows purple. I was afraid that the bugs would kill my bushes, so we took a family outing to Lowes to get some bug spray.

David wanted to pose in front of the car before going to Lowes, so I had to take Braden's picture too.

And one of my daisies just because.

The Beginning

Goodday all and welcome to my family's blog! Thanks to cousin Kimmy for the idea... her blog is just so cute, I had to do it too.

Little Braden just turned 1 year old last Thursday. We had a little party for him. Grandma and Grandpa were there, and Aunt Misha and her family were there too. The rest of the family would have loved to be there, but couldn't for various reasons. He also had his 1 year appointment last Monday, he's 19 pounds, 31 inches. He got 4 shots, and it didn't even seem to bother him. Tough little guy!

Jared went to the emergency room on Friday. On his way to work he got sick, and went to the ER by ambulance once he got to the police station parking lot. He was diagnosed with esophagitis, but the specialist can't see him til like the end of June. Pretty ridiculous, huh? I just hope he doesn't have to feel bad all that time. It's now Monday, 4 days after the ER, and he still feels pretty crappy on and off. I'd put a picture, but Jared wouldn't appreciate a picture of him laying miserable in bed. Maybe I'll post one when I do the "He's all better!" blog. Laters!