Humor - It's a Vivas Thing!

Apr 11 2010

Laughable Moment #25

OK, I'm going to preface this by stating that in no way do I think homelessness is funny. I have a family member who has spent most of his life homeless. In addition, B-boo started a small ministry for them. You can read more about that here. My children have a special place in their hearts for the homeless and are not lax when it comes to ministering to them in any way that they can.

That said, the other night B-boo and I were driving home from getting her a pattern for her Fashion Class at school. We came upon a cross-walk and B-boo jumped over the seat and raced to the back of the van. Yup, I knew without a doubt that there was a homeless person somewhere that I didn't see yet. He was walking across the street in front of us. B-boo quickly rolled down the window as he started to pass by us and offered him one of her bags. (We keep bags filled with a drink, snacks and hygiene items in preparation for when we come across a homeless person. This is her ministry.)

Her: "Excuse me, Sir, I have this for you." (She holds the bag out the window.)

Him: "What is it?"

Her: "It's food and a drink."

Him: "What is it?"

Her: "It's food and a drink."

Him: "Is it juice?"

Her: "Yes, it is juice."

Him: "No, it's not alcohol."

And then he walks away. The look on B-boo's face was priceless!

I told her, "Well, at least he was honest!"

And then, the shock wore off and she burst into laughter!

"Mom, I'm 15. I'm so sure I am going around with my mother passing out alcohol to homeless people!"

So I burst out laughing, too. And then we called Dad and told him what had happened.

Mar 26 2010

He’s Unique!

And you gotta love him for it!

The Smart One, that is.

He has the ability to crack you up.

He'll walk into a room, thrilled, because he's learned to do yet one more weird thing with his body.

I'm talking about him walking in to the room, so proud, because not only can he fold his tongue in half, now he's found some other weird way to roll it. It kind of looks like a bowl. I can't do it. He tried to teach me once; I thought I was going to suck my tongue down my throat and choke in the process!

He loves to run up while I try to hobble down the stairs and have me hold on to his shoulders so we can dance our way down in a conga line. Well, he dances, I hobble.

He loves to sing all of the "Free Credit Report.com" songs.

He's a huge fan of origami. I'm talking it's an obsession! And he's good at it! He's also good at Etch a Sketch.

He has his young cousin calling him the genius. His older brother is slightly bothered at how he just knows things.

He actually knows what DNA stands for; and can even spell it out!

He's amazing with nun-chucks. I don't know how he manages not to hurt himself!

Did I mention he cracks me up? Last night, B-boo was showing me her dance for dance try-outs at school. The Smart One wanted to show me his dance. I reminded him that he doesn't have a dance. He insisted he did. He was so insistent, I caved and told him to show me.

It's amazing how fast he can come up with something…and move his skinny little body in such a laughable way. Yeah, he had a dance. I was hysterical.

And he never stops. Well, except when he's asleep. And please don't wake him. He's NOT funny, when he's been woke up from his beauty sleep.

Just now, he walked into my room. He asked me to look at what he could do. And then…

he proceeded to stand in place and flop his arms back and forth like rubber bands trying to take flight…

because he wanted me to hear how funny his bones sounded when he does that because they can pop.

And then, he lies down on the bed and crawls under a blanket and moves really, really fast; because he wants to see if he can create sparks from electricity.

You see, his brain never stops working. He's always trying to come up with some new invention. He doesn't take "no" for an answer. And he rises to the challenge. For instance, he was once offered $20 by his oldest brother if he could lick his elbow. The Good-Looking One thought it would be funny watching him try, because he knew it was impossible.

He was wrong. The Smart One took the twenty bucks!

Yes, he is most definitely unique.

Mar 19 2010

Hide-n-Seek

I'm sick and tired of seeing doctors. Really. I'm tired of waiting rooms and being told to be patient and take it easy and let myself recover. It's been 5 weeks already for goodness sake! I don't want to be told it will take 14 to 16 more weeks, or even a few more weeks. I don't want to be told to stay off the stairs and stay on the couch or my bed. Who wants to spend their time laying around all the time!?!

And I was dreading this morning's appointment, too.

But then, as we sat and waited, I watched this dark haired little girl with an orange balloon playing in a little cubby while her mommy waited to see the doctor. She was so cute; about three. And then, another mommy showed up with a little red haired girl about the same age. And the dark haired cutie asked,

"You wanna pway wif me?"

And the red haired girl says,

"Yeah!"

I sat there and chuckled at their three year old conversation. It's been a long time since I've had one that young! And then, the dark haired girls asked,

"Do you wanna pway hide en seek?"

"Yeah!" was the reply.

So the dark haired girl had the red haired girl count. And she was so cute, with her head against the wall, counting in her little girl voice while the dark haired girl raced across the waiting room with her orange balloon!

And I was reminded of times when my own children hid.

I remember when my oldest, now 22, was about the same age. Grandma was watching him and she called me in a panic one day. She had looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him anywhere. This went on forever; until she discovered him hiding under the organ bench, giggling while she frantically searched for him.

Or when my youngest, not even two, was our little Houdini. One day we were all sitting in the living room watching TV. On my way into the kitchen, I asked them all not to let her out of their sight. When I walked back into the living room, she was gone. Just…like…that.

No one had seen her move. We searched the house; searched outside. Searched the garage. We searched up and down the streets. And just when we frantically ran inside to call 911, I happened to catch a glimpse of her little lime green outfit. Behind her doll stroller. She was all tucked up under; watching; giggling. Hiding.

Or B-boo. Who was a climber. So much so, that at 10 months, we had to zip her into her crib. You can read about that here. Anyway, by the time she was about 18 months, she could climb anything. And I mean anything! I'd find her *hiding* on top of our 8 ft tall entertainment center! One day, I found her hiding on top of the refrigerator. She wasn't so much about hiding, I think, as about climbing. Until she could climb no more. We couldn't let her out of our sight, because we never knew where we'd find her!

And then there was the Smart One. He didn't do a lot of *physical* hiding, but he loved to hide under bowls. As in if he wasn't wearing them as a hat, he'd hide his face under them. Under blankets. He thought he was so cute. (So did we!)

And the Talented One. I remember him hiding his face in his hands, knowing that if he couldn't see us, we couldn't see him. We'd laugh and go along with it.

So, I guess the waiting room wasn't so bad today. I had the privilege of being taken back in time; somehow how finding those memories that had been hidden up until this morning.

Mar 09 2010

Quirkiness

This morning as B-boo was in search of whipped topping, I had to laugh. You see, each morning, she has a cup of hot chocolate with whipped topping and usually a bagel with cream cheese. She's willing to eat other things for breakfast, but do NOT mess with her whipped topping. Which brings us back to last night really. Hubby had to go to the store and so I asked him to get more whipped topping because I didn't want B-boo to run out. I know she'll flip if she gets up and finds none. She just can't start her day out without it. Or the chocolate.

For the most part, her chocolate is left alone. No one else seems to have the fancy for it that she does. We're talking Ghiradelli hot chocolate. Good stuff. And whipped topping.

So hubby purchases two whipped toppings, only to find out there was already one in the freezer, bring us up to three in the freezer because there was a hidden one, no TWO in the fridge. Except, one was empty and the other almost. Which of course, threw her into a panic, because that meant she might not have whipped topping for her chocolate! But, Dad to rescue, he showed her how he'd stocked up just for her.

And speaking of chocolate, the Smart One doesn't like the good stuff; he only likes the Nestle or Swiss stuff, mixed with milk instead of water. I think he's loopy, but he leaves B-boo's chocolate alone, so it works. What he likes is the gluten free waffles. Don't let him run out, because his morning preference is a waffle sandwich. This means, waffle, egg, sausage patty, cheese, waffle. He will go without the sausage, but he prefers to have the sandwich. He also prefers certain socks for his feet. They have to fit, just right. This is really important to him.

And the Talented One; you have to make sure his bagel is completely covered with cream cheese. If he sees bagel, he'll put more cream cheese on it. He's quirky in other ways, too. For instance, he doesn't like to have his hands dirty; and please don't ask him to touch raw meat. And don't touch his hair. And he likes his own bed. Always has. As an infant, he'd stay up until placed in his crib; then he'd fall asleep. To this day, he rarely does overnights because he likes his bed.

I can't blame him for that one, though. I like my own bed, too. And my pillows have to be placed a certain way or I can't sleep. And I don't like to crawl into a bed with wrinkled sheets. If my bed is unmade for any reason, I have to make it before I can crawl into it. I know, they probably get their quirkiness from me!

The only one that seems to have no real quirkiness is the Drama Queen! She's our flipperty jibbet who just goes along for the ride! She'll sleep anywhere, eat just about anything (as long as she's not allergic to it!), and doesn't always care about what she's wearing.

The only one that is even more so than her is Chicken Noodle Butt. He'll eat anything. Sometimes hubby likes to have fun with him to see how far he'll go. As in chocolate on rice mixed with ketchup and who knows what else. The joke is if no one wants it, give it to Chicken Noodle Butt. His only "quirkiness" is his calendar. He lives by that calendar! Don't mess with it; don't argue with it.

And then…there's hubby. I'm not sure I can even go there. I'd have to say his "real" quirkiness is his feeling for food. As in, if he doesn't feel like eating it, he won't. If he's not in the mood for it, he'd rather just not eat. What a funny man. I laugh when he stands in front of a full fridge, looking for something, but finding nothing that he is in the "mood" for. You gotta love him.

Our poor kids don't stand a chance at normalness.

Mar 03 2010

Memories

Recently, Hubby has been going capturing old videos and transferring them to DVD's. We've had so much fun watching them; laughing as we remember things long forgotten. It's been fun to show our children what they were like when they were babies; the obvious love we had for them as newborns.

Yesterday, hubby came across some pictures of our dear friends from 1993! I just have to share this one and tell the story behind it!

This is my sweet friend. She ALWAYS makes me laughs. Someone once asked me to describe her, and my reply was, "She's the type that when she walks into a room, you automatically smile." We've been friends for over 17 years. We met when our husbands were working at an office supply store together. Turns out we were all the same age (give or take a few months) and we went to the same church. So, one weekend, the husbands decided the wives should meet. I was six months pregnant with the Talented One at the time. I'll never forget walking into their superbly clean, white apartment. The men introduced us, then walked into another room to do something with computers and left us standing there alone.

And we've been talking ever since!

The above picture was taken several months later, on an outing we took right after the Talented One was born. But the story to the outfit she was wearing brings back forever memories.

You see, we'd decided to go on a camping trip for Labor Day weekend. We waited and waited for them, and finally drove over to their apartment to meet them and hurry her up. When I walked into her bedroom, she was standing there, IRONING her cute little green outfit with white polka dots. To go camping. In the woods.

In her defense, she'd never been camping before; and I don't believe she's ever gone camping since.

I still laugh today at that outfit!

We had so much fun on that trip! She also took with her WHITE sweats. I'd have to say my fondest memory was sitting on the rocks, peeling potatoes.

And of our strapping young husbands, taking a bath in the freezing creek. And having the Good Looking One, six at the time, join them.

We've come a long way from "The Princess Bride" every Friday night at our house. We haven't made home made pizza in ages. They have three children now that keep them busy and her husband is gone much of the time, flying people here and there. We've a houseful of kids ourselves now!

But we are still there when it's important. We still make each other laugh. And we still have those memories.