A-Z? not quite

oh kelley - why does the alphabet have to be 26 letters long? i am way too tired and not feeling clever enough to do all the letters. so here is my abbreviated version - KUBITZA

K- kids. obviously, 3. the 2 boys and my daughter. i am just starting to see the end of the toddler tunnel and am enjoying everyone. another on the horizon? we can never know but it would be a surprise.

U- unknown fact about me. ugh. how unknown do we want to get here? i could go the "ice-breaker" route and talk about how i used to show horses. or i could get really transparent and talk about that time that i was 16 and got caught with a group of my friends......aw, nevermind

B- best friend. this is a hard one because i make really good friends wherever i end up. my longest ever is juliet, most unlikely is cora, in brazil is kelley, etc....get it?

I- indulgences. since i have been back in the US i would have to say Bryers mint chocolate chip icecream...it is my "after the kids go to bed" treat

T- tag 5 more. this is where i embarrassingly admit that i dont know how to tag. to me that is still a thing you do on the playground - keeping it old-school

Z-zodiac. pisces. the fish. and i am very much a fish. the constellations and their effect on our personalities are not all mystical but real forces in nature. take a peek at my sign and see if it doesnt do a good job describing me.

A- attached or single? attached to my hubby for the last 11 years.


that was kind of fun. thanks kells!!

underwear documentary

it's 10 pm and my son nathaniel is sitting by my side. we are on the couch watching a documentary on underwear.

he's not in bed because he took a very long nap this afternoon so now he is not tired. did you know that the sales of colored mens briefs beat out those of white briefs for the first time in 2006? so if the men in your life are still wearing white they may not be in touch with current trends.

nathaniel thinks that life after his bedtime is a little boring. but still funner than going to bed.

first amendment violations?

last week we had our first "public school" situation.

davian came home from school and got that question that we all loved as kids
so how was school today?
i was surprised by the response i got because it was not the expected fine.
the kids all get a writing journal and daily or weekly assignments. the first assignments she received were to write something that is important to you. so what did she write about? Jesus. she wrote about his death and resurrection and how he saved her from her sins. it was beautiful. so what was the problem? her teacher told her that she is attending a public school and she is not allowed to write anything about Jesus. the assignment was supposed to be read aloud to the class and so she was not permitted to read her entry.
of course dan and i got on the internet to see if she was really outside the line on this. we were both really surprised to discover that children have all sorts of first amendment protection when it relates to religion in the public school. we called a meeting with the teacher and the principal and to our delight the situation was rectified and her assignment was recognized as legitimate.
let me just say that we have NO issues with the teacher. she did not belittle davian or cause any problems. she was erring on the side of caution and was glad that the lines have now been better defined. i do fear however that many schools are not allowing students to express themselves.
the principal did have to take exception to the artwork that accompanied her journal entry.
wanna guess at what it was?
Jesus dying on the cross complete with lots of blood and wounds. biblically accurate but a little too violent for the schools taste. scary for other children, etc.

that's my girl!

date night

sorry i have been negligent on posting for a few days...ok, maybe more than a few.

life goes on.....school, lots of "hanging out" and a strange thing that my girlfriend likes to call date nights.

so my friend invited us out for dinner and a movie with her boyfriend. dan and i had not been to the movies since, uummm, hhhhmmmmm, i cant remember. im not just saying that to be funny. i honestly cant remember the last movie that we didnt watch on our laptops :)

dan was overcome by the nostalgia of being at the movies and gave in to his munchies. everyone else seemed to be at the concession stand - maybe they were giving something away. wrong. of course we didnt know what had happened over the last several decades since we had been to the movies. we decided to go with the #1 - 2 medium drinks and a medium popcorn. when the poor cashier pulled out these HUMUNGOUS cups i was aghast. i questioned her is THAT the medium size? she seemed a little surprised like i was shocked that i wasn't getting enough. oh, well, you can upgrade to the large for another $1.50. dan and i just started laughing because these 2 mediums were like 2 liters. i am not lying. one 2 liter a piece. i told her that i wanted to Downgrade to smalls but then she said those didnt come with the package. well then she hauled out the barrel of popcorn. she actually had to use 2 hands to put this thing up on the counter. it was frightening. we wouldn't eat all that popcorn in 6 weeks. i looked at dan and hoped he was hungry. if the sizes were not bad enough, this cute little cashier looked up at us and said, ok, that will be $17.50. dan and i turned and stared at eachother. not surprising i guess since we were getting like 10 pounds of popcorn and two 2 liters of soda.
i guess you can take the missionary out of the feild but you cant take the cheap out of the missionary. i was yelling at myself in my mind - what are you doing? are you really going to spend that much money on food that you wont even be able to finish? what if your cheap friend joy in brazil finds out about this? you've got to do something and now! so i kind of cocked my head and asked the girl how much it would be if we only bought one 2 liter. $12.50. that was better. and again in my mind i'm saying you mean to tell me that your charging $5 for a soda?? but the sense of relief at paying less and not feeling forced to finish that drink felt so sweet.
dan needed 2 arms to carry his popcorn and no, he didnt finish it all. i think he ate 1/4 of it which would be like 2 bags of microwave popcorn. the couple we were with were laughing along with us but they did seem a little grossed out that we would share a straw. how do i know this? because my friend said you're sharing your drink? aren't you gonna get 2 straws? my response - we're married. we dont need 2 straws.

but there is not anything special about seeing a movie at the theater. i had to keep my shoes on and i couldn't pause it to go to the bathroom. the one thing that i do miss about being in a theater is being around other people as they are watching movies. at this particular movie i got a chuckle when like 2 people applauded at the end. there have only been a few movies made in all time that deserved applause and this was not one of them.

dan and i had a very interesting movie watching experience in NYC. we were killing time in between our...oh, forget it, i need more time to tell this story....

worstest moms

a few months ago while driving around brazil nathaniel asked me mom, why did God make worstest moms? i couldn't imagine what he was talking about. worstest moms? yeah, mom, like moms that are really worse. worse than what i wondered. worstest than other moms. this led to a very long explanation of how God did not make mom's bad but sometimes mom's make choices that are bad and dont treat their children well. well, you are the worstest mom in the world. why are you such a worstest mom? i was really taken back. i told him that i was not a worstest mom. i don't lock him in closests, withhold food, throw him down the stairs or put out cigarrettes on his buttocks. why, in heaven's name, am i the worstest mom in the world? because you don't give me everything i want. that's why i don't like you right now.

well, if that is his criteria than i guess i do get that undesirable title. someone recently told me that she has a friend whose goal is to never have to say "no" to her child. i couldn't help it but the first thing that came out of my mouth was you've got to be kidding me!!?? what kind of idiot is she??!! so i am sorry if that is offensive but what in the world? what is wrong with saying NO? sometimes i say no to things that i could easily say yes to just so they can practice not complaining about not getting something they want.

oh man, good thing nathaniel can't read this.

another one leaves the nest

so the major happening this week was the start of school. davian started 2nd grade and nathaniel started kindergarten.

oooohhhh, mama bear was nervous to send her cubs into the woods alone! i think i was having a harder time than they were - but then i know the dangers and pitfalls that lie ahead and they don't. but it went well for both of them. davi's first day was tuesday and after i put her on the bus i couldn't help but watch the clock all day - it was the longest 8 hours i have had in a long time. but finally that bus came back and she hopped off. how was your first day of school? i asked. great!! was her reply. ahhh, sweet relief.

on wednesday nathaniel had his orientation. i think he has one of the best teachers in the world and she really helped allay some of my fears. he did better in his class than i had expected. the orientation was very long and he sat so still and quiet. when i praised him for being such a good boy he said well, mom, you need to be quiet to catch fish. ha! all those saturday afternoons on the riverbank with daddy fishing have paid off!

later that day i decided to teach him to write his name. now i know there may be someone reading this who thinks that a 5yo should already know his letters and how to write them. sorry. i guess i dropped the ball. i am nominating myself for "worstest mom" (more on that another time). well, when we named nathaniel we never considered how many letters it has and how difficult it would be for a little one to write.....n-a-t-h-a-n-i-e-l. we practiced and practiced and he did so much better than i would have thought. but our thoughts quickly turned to the little boy who sat next to him at orientation. i made the mistake of saying nathaniel, your friend Om only has 2 letters in his name. to which he replied oh man, mom, why didnt you name me Om??!! yes, why didn't i name him Om?

i managed to get him on the bus with no tears - those had come the day before. so dan, stephen and i waited patiently for the bus to let him off before lunch. there we were at the end of the driveway. from a distance we could see the big yellow blob approaching. i got the camera ready and we all took our positions. the bus came closer and closer, our anticipation of seeing our eldest boy descend the bus steps grew...closer, almost here and then whhooooossshhhhh - right on past! thats right, the bus didnt stop to let him off. all we saw of him was the blur of his little head behind the window. i put my hands up in the air and could have cried. dan wanted to chase the bus into the development it had turned into but i finally convinced him that the bus would not let a child off on some random corner with some lunatic that had chased it down flailing his arms. so we waited and waited and waited - for about another 45 minutes. thankfully the last stop was across and down the street so my mom walked over there to wait with the other family anxiously await om's return. when the bus finally went by again and stopped down the street my mom was able to tell the driver that the last little boy was supposed to have gotten off a long time ago. so the bus went to the end of the street and came back to deliver him. i felt bad for the bus driver...she seemed really nervous about passing his stop. i was just nervous that nathaniel would be scared but he seemed no worse for the wear and actually seemed to enjoy being the last one off. as it turned out, he was a late enrollment so he was not on the master bus list. no harm, no foul.

the hard thing is dealing with stephen. he goes out to the sidewalk with us twice or 3 times a day to wait for his brother and sister and it just kills him that he can't get on the bus! EVERY, and i mean, EVERY single time he has been out there he has said, me ride bus too? this is going to get really old. there are about 180 school days, times 3 buses - so that means i may have to hear this question 540 times this school year. i think stephen is also a little confused. he equally likes that he has the house to himself and yet misses nathaniel and davian. he frequently asks about them through the course of the day.

i can understands how he feels. so can davian and i suppose anyone who has ever had that conflicting feeling. i dont remember if i mentioned this in a previous post but a few days before we left brasil, davian said to me mom, i am really excited about going back to the states and seeing my grandparents but i am also really sad about leaving. how can i be happy and sad at the same time? oh davian. i tried to explain that that was a feeling she would feel almost her whole life. i told her that her dad and i and almost every other missionary feels the same way - like our hearts are trying to be in 2 places at the same time. when we are in brasil our hearts long for those we left in the states and when we are in the states our hearts long for brasil. it is a strange feeling but one that i think makes us more sympathetic.

and really this feeling turns my thoughts toward the Messiah's return. it reminds me that this world is not where we belong and how our hearts long for our heavenly home. one day our hearts will not be torn in 2 but will be wholly happy being right where they are - at home with our Lord

family reunion

toady we are just outside pittsburg to attend dan's family reunion. my family (aunt cheryl's side excluded) cant be bothered to spend time catching up and enjoying eachother via this sort of event so i am really out of my element.

last night we had a wine and cheese meet and greet. of course i hardly knew let alone recognized anyone so the opportunity to embarress myself didnt take long to present itself. i sat nathaniel down at a table with a plate full of food where a distant uncle was sitting. the the following conversation ensued:

me: nathaniel, this is your great uncle john. you can sit next to him, he doesnt bite.
uncle john: oh yes, you can sit next to me.
uncle john's wife: actually this is your uncle roger

we do have an uncle john but he is like 20 years older than uncle roger. after that i just decided not to assume that i knew anyone there. today we are going to a big RV park for festivities (i know some of you are chuckling at that) where there will be about 80 distant relatives so stay tuned for more stories. there is a black family reunion somewhere nearby today too because there are quite a few people staying at our hotel. how do i know? because they are all wearing "cook-larson family reunion september 1, 2008 parker park". so my heart swells with gratitude - i am NOT expected to wear a family shirt.