Surprise!

What a wonderful surprise I found while taking Chloe to gymnastics tonight. I had to detour and pull over in a parking lot because I couldn't stop saying, "OH MY GOODNESS!  LOOK AT THAT!!! DO YOU SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS?! OH MY GOODNESS!"  I then proceeded to run outside, in the parking lot, with my phone, in the 28 degree weather with the wind chill making it feel like 19 degrees so that I could take this picture. Now I get to look at this wild beauty over and over and over again. And believe it or not, each time I see it, it's like a surprise all over again to me.

Reverse Ombre

So apparently, ombres and reverse ombres are all the rage these days.  I didn't even know what they were when Chloe told me that she wanted one. No, she needed one. Either that, or teal streaks in her hair. It was then that I instantly googled "reverse ombre". Hmmm. Not so bad. I could live with it. But I certainly wasn't just running right out and getting her one. After talking with Daddy, we decided that she may earn her reverse ombre.

We made a deal that if she would work on thinking before she speaks, not talking back and watching the tone of her voice, then we would agree to let her get a reverse ombre at the end of a month's time. Anything good is worth waiting for, right? She now had a huge motivating factor to work on something that is a real challenge for her. She was pumped! She couldn't wait. We also agreed that if Daddy or I caught her speaking with unkindness or talking back, the month would start all over again. 

We weren't looking for perfection, we were looking for a heart change. We knew she would mess up. That's the biggest part of learning. But having this incentive seemed to achieve something our mere words alone could not do. I found her biting her tongue a lot. Not literally, obviously. But she truly gained character during the process of purposefully keeping this task before her. I am so proud of her.

We waited slightly longer than a month. She stopped asking when she was going to get it. Then one day before school I surprised her and said, "Honey, I hope you're ready for your hair appointment this afternoon after school." The sun radiated through her smile.

She is now the proud owner of a reverse hombre and good character. Win/win!

Sixth Grade Selfies

Yesterday, as Chloe and I sat waiting in the car for Chuck she lets out a little giggle and announces:

"I feel a selfie coming on!"

Not in a million years would you have ever heard those words proceed from my mouth as a sixth grader. Number one, sixth grade. Awkward. Not my best moment in the time/space continuum for self portrait taking. Number two, our phones were still attached to the wall and were not yet equipped with tiny, microscopic cameras (much to my Dad's chagrin). Number three. It was the 80's. Enough said.

So, I'm getting to live my middle school years all over again with Chloe. So when she 'feels a selfie coming on', so do I.  We were in the car, at dark, using only a dome light. Not the best lighting for our moment of stardom. But we managed. You do what you gotta do, I suppose. We're a bit grainy, but we are rocking the pose (I've learned from the Selfie-Queen herself).

Pouty Pucker

Smirky Smile

Goofy Girls

A Small Water

Chuck and I enjoyed a quick little lunch date today. I always order water with my lunch. After sitting at the table for a while Chuck asks me:

"Is that a small water?" as he's looking directly at my small water.

To which I instantly responded, "Yes."

Then he proceeds to get out of his seat, stand up, and reach for my small water.

I'm like, "What are you doing?!"

And he's all like, "I just asked you if you wanted some more water and you said yes."

I couldn't stop laughing. Upon regaining my composure I told him that I heard him say, "Is that a small water?".  And he's like, "Why would I ever say that? I said, 'Do you want some more water?'".

Obviously, he mumbles. There is just no other reason for such a dramatic departure from what he said to what I heard.

The stupid part of this whole "conversation", if you can even call it that, is that I answered such a ridiculous question. I guess I'm just used to talking in simple sentences with my students. It did seem a little odd for Chuck to want to talk like that, but hey, I never know what kind of weird mood he's in, I can just placate him.

This is just so typical of us....and we're not even old and senile yet. We talk in circles all the time! One of us thinks we heard something which really wasn't said, yet instead of saying 'what?', we just go with it.

We're so stupid.

He thinks I can't hear and talk too quietly. I think he mumbles and doesn't listen well. We're even. This is only the tip of the iceberg people. There are just too many instances like this to recount - I just happen to remember this one today.

I choose this as my thankful for today because it made us laugh so hard. And laughter is good for the soul.

Personalities

One word: AWESOME!

Chuck found this amazing website that offers you amazing insight into your self. It's almost like these people climbed into your brain, uploaded all the juicy stuff about you that makes you tick and then wrote it out in a neat, little, tidy, eloquent, simple format so that you can better understand yourself. While you're reading your profile you'll be like, "Hey! How'd they know that?!" I tell you, it's amazing. It's uncanny. And it's so organized. I wish I could explain myself that easily to other people. I feel much more complicated than they make my personality out to be. If they can make me out to be simple and understood then they must be geniuses because I am anything but simple to understand.

We each took the test. It is so cool. Granted, I took my test at least 4 four times just to be sure because I thought they might have messed up my results the first 3 times. But when a test comes back the same 4 times in a row, you must concede that maybe they were right after all.  Chuck took the test maybe 7 times. Each time he took it, he would get a different personality. So, I'm not 100% sure what that tells us about Chuck...either he has multiple personality disorder...or he can't commit to who he wants to be...or he was over-thinking his answers....or he's just plain weird and can't be put into a personality box. Finally he was able to get the same personality 3 times in a row - so we just went with that one.

Interesting fact...all but one of us in this family are introverts. Bennett is the lone extravert. Here's the Mallott family in all their personality glory:

Chuck

Cori

Chloe

Bennett

Gavin

The funny thing is...you're probably not really all that surprised. You probably could have accurately pegged each of us given these choices. But, oh, how I wish I came with a little manual about "How To Understand Cori" to pass out to all my friends and new people I meet. "Here, flip to page 3 to see how I deal with conflict. (Hint - I don't)."  Apparently, that would make life way too easy. We wouldn't want that. 

But it is cool to learn, on a deeper level, how people's brain's work and think and how they respond to certain things, be it correction, praise, criticism, encouragement, ideas. It helps us be more understanding, patient, compassionate and less irritated with people for not doing things the way we think they should be done. In other words, it helps us better understand what it's like to walk in their shoes a teeny, tiny bit. 

Art Debut

Ninja Nose

by Chloe Grace

ValleyScare

This sweet boy decided to join our family on October 31, 2001. It was the perfect day - granted, it was weird labor with all the nurses dressed up in costumes, but other than that, it was perfect. Bennett instantly stole my heart. It was love at first sight. He was the one who calmed my heart. Being my second baby, I was scared about how I was going to do it all now that I had two kids. How could I possibly love another child as much as I love Gavin my forlorn heart wondered. But I needn't have feared for I grew a whole other heart just for Bennett. And it was instantly filled with love for him. He was a goof-ball from the very beginning, filling our lives with constant laughter. He continues to play his role to perfection. At 14, he is a young man full of character and passion. He's passionate about basketball, learning and reading.  He still loves to hangout with us and chooses his friends wisely. He has always been all about basketball....that passion just increases exponentially by the day. 

His birthday present was spending the entire day at ValleyScare. It was a chilly day which worked to our advantage since hardly anyone was there. We walked right up to every ride. We were very unlame parents as we rode all the cool roller coasters (I backed out of only 1 simply because I love my life and didn't wish to die - thankfully, everyone else made it off the ride alive and we left soon afterward as we were all a wee bit queasy). It was such an awesome day! I'm so glad Bennett had a birthday today. They call it ValleyScare the whole month of October because they have haunted houses and such all around the park. None of those opened until 5pm and we were long gone by then. It was not our intention to get scared. We were going for a more celebratory mood.

However, when we got home, our age hit us like a brick wall and Chuck and I found ourselves laying on the floor in front of the fireplace (me with a heating pad to my neck) trying to recuperate from all that fun! It's hard to keep up with the kids. I was in a constant state of nausea the entire day. I don't recall the last time I spent so much time upside down and being thrown against a wall. It was a blast, but I'm fine if we wait another 14 years to experience it again.

And as is tradition, we got into costume and went trick-or-treating. Chuck and I are dressed for a Masquerade Ball. Bennett is just plain freaky. Chloe is a Japanese girl or a Medieval page (whichever you prefer) and her friend is a whacked out Little Red Riding Hood.

All in all, it was a full, exciting, fun day. I just love Halloween because, for us, it's a celebration of Bennett and all the joy, laughter and dressing up he brings into our lives.

Tired Prayer

The other night at dinner (seriously... have we counted how many of my blogs start with that?!? I need to get a better opening line) I was sooooo tired. Unnaturally tired. Fall asleep at the table tired. Chuck was out of town (of course). I barely got food to the table (I don't even remember cooking). The kids and I sat down and I asked, "So, who wants to text tonight?"

Yes. I asked my children who wanted to text God instead of who wanted to say the blessing.

Need I go further? That describes my exhausted mental state. 

Nobody could tell if I was being sacrilegious, mocking prayer, inventing a new way to do our nightly dinner blessing or if I was truly out of my mind. There were snickers but no outright laughter right away.

Then Bennett mimics an "air text" while saying, "To: God....THX, praying hands, slice of pizza, smilely face, LOL.

That's when we lost it. 

At least we still had thankful hearts.

Austin City Limits

I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany Chuck to Austin, Texas where he was attending his favorite Design Conference, An Event Apart.  Even though I don't personally get to attend the actual conference and learn anything, I'm thrilled that Chuck gets to and I love it when I get to go with him. We've been to the one in Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. It's always a fun adventure getting to the city early and exploring together.

This year the timing was not so great though. Chuck's conference coincided with the Austin City Limits Live Music Festival. This is only a small gathering of over 450,000 people jamming to tons of live bands in the heart of Austin at Zilker Park. Right where we were. The traffic was horrible! I don't know how we do this. We have an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Take for instance the year we drove through South Dakota to get to Colorado only to find out we were following and being followed by over half a million Harleys on their way to Sturgis, SD. It is only the largest Harley gathering of it's kind each year in America. The sounds of Harley mufflers are still ringing in my ears. Loud doesn't begin to describe their noise. And everywhere we went, so did at least a thousand bikers. Not really what we would consider our type of crowd.

Then there was the time we decided to go to Washington D.C..  It was a beautifully hot day in the Capitol City.  We walked non-stop all day long. We were on our walk back to our car when what should we hear but a loud, low, distant rumbling. We couldn't fathom what it would be. Then someone told us that a parade was coming. Chuck decided to take one of the kids across the street with him in search of a pretzel for us to snack on while we watched this exciting, unknown parade. Unfortunately, his timing was bad because as soon as he was to step foot to cross the street, over 200,000 Harleys start slowly passing in front of him. We were stranded across from each other forever while all these noise machines agonizingly sputtered past us. It was so loud, my ears are still ringing to this day.

So, it would come as no surprise that we ran smack dab into the middle of yet another loud, crowd-filled, noisy festival when we didn't plan on it. It's how we roll. Chuck and I didn't end up on the same flight out there. So after picking me up at the airport, the very first thing we wanted to do in Austin was to eat at our favorite Mexican joint, Chuy's. We thought it would be cool to go to the original one in downtown Austin. Unfortunately, we learned that the original one was also in the middle of the ginormous music festival that herds of humans were flocking to at the exact same moment as we were hunting for our late lunch. It took us 45 minutes to go 6 miles.

So we were off to a great start in Austin.

At the airport, Chuck greeted me with this beautiful Yellow Rose of Texas.

We went to the Westcave Discovery Center and had an amazing tour.

This was just a stunningly beautiful ecosystem.

 

If a cactus can be beautiful, this is what it would look like.

We ate lunch at the amazing Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant. 

I hate BBQ and I loved this place.

We walked around the UT campus. This is Chuck taking a picture 

of the beautiful limestone on the wall of the LBJ library.

We saw some spectacular views including the Pedernales River.

We learned that Pedernales means flint. This river contained the most

sought after flint for tools, trade and money in all the new world at the time.

We kayaked around Town Lake and the Barton Springs with the lovely music from

Austin City Limits in the background.

I got the chance to visit my friend Margot. We met 30 years ago in 6th grade. 

We toured two arboretums, talked non-stop and ate at Torchy's Tacos in our activewear. 

It was great catching up after all these years.

 We waited for over 30 minutes at sunset/dusk to watch the bat colony soar overhead

for their famed evening meal. Apparently, the bats didn't feel like eating that night because 

we didn't see a thing. But it was a lovely night to watch a sunset over Congress Ave. bridge.

 

I visited the Capitol while Chuck was busy learning important things for work.

On our last day, we took a little jaunt out to visit Fredericksburg. It is a quaint, vibrant, 

old, German settlement known for all it's wineries. 

It was great to actually fly back together on the same plane.

We're such great traveling buddies.

Grammar Novice

It's no secret that I have a lot of issues. They are outlined in great detail over the years through this lovely little medium. Guess what? I just found one more. Great. Like I needed another one to add to my stack. 

Apparently, grammar rules have changed since I was last in school and NO ONE TOLD ME! So unfair.

Of course I had to find out the hard way. So, I'm writing this paper and asked Chuck and Gavin to edit it for me. Chuck doesn't even scan it for two seconds when he's all like, "Why are you still adding two spaces after each period? Nobody does that anymore."

And I'm all like, "So why is this the first time I'm ever hearing about this? Are you serious?! People don't double space after periods?? Are you joking? Are you just messing with my brain? You know how gullible I am. I will believe you." I was incredulous. It was like someone just told me that we can now inhabit Mars.

How is this possible? How long has this new rule been in effect and I've been left out in the dark? How do you disseminate this type of information to the general populace no longer in school? How long would I have foolishly gone on double spacing after periods? People would now be able to take one look at my paragraphs and tell right off I was a grammar novice. I was clueless as to the new and improved and hipper grammar rules. 

It would appear that I grew up using the AMA Standard. Now MLA is all the rage. Whatever. I don't even know what those acronyms stand for. And to be honest...I don't even care. Who decides what rules we are supposed to use? Life is hard enough. Now I have to worry about spacing after periods. For the love! 

The Booty Song

The other morning, on our way to church, the kids asked to play music. You know, because we can't be in the car for more than 2 minutes without music. Preferably loud music. You never know what genre of song could come spewing forth from my playlist. I have everything from Classical to Country to Pop to Rap. Let's call it eclectic.

Of all the songs, this one was the one we listened to on our way to church. A little inappropriate for the occasion. But we all like it, so we jammed.

Seriously, we're pulling into the church parking lot with this song blaring. Bennett says, "Here come those Mallotts who just love their butts." Then we do our Walk-Five-Abreast thing into the church that we're so famous for. We looked like an album cover. Maybe if it was a shot of our backside, we could have even been the album cover for "All About That Bass".

Thank you, Meghan for teaching us to accept our bootys.

The Association Game

I will be the first to tell you that these three people are crazy!! They always want to play the stupid association game with me. They like to do that...play things I hate. I don't know why. And they love to include me. I should be thankful. But I'm not. I know how this game ends....in stupidity. Every time. 

Take last night for example. They all came into my room to "tuck me in". It's that way now. I go to bed earlier than most of them because I'm old and I like to. So roles have reversed and I'm the one who gets the "tuck in" most nights. They all came and laid on the bed with me and begged to play the association game. I thought, "Sure, what's the harm in one small game when I'm just going to go to bed anyways and don't have to think about it the rest of the night."

They were giddy with excitement. Bennett's standard answer is always "potato", Gavin likes to tell people what they can and cannot think and Chloe sits and ruminates forever trying to find the perfect answer. I tell you, it's maddening. They totally don't get the whole concept of saying the first thing that pops in your head when you hear a word. And once you add Chuck to the mixture, everything just goes askew. Apparently, he only thinks of rhyming words when he hears a word. That makes this game that much more fun for me. The problem is: I'm the only normal one! At least I think I am and this is my blog, so the story is going to be told through my lens.

I had just told the kids that one of the many problems with this game is that it has no natural ending point. It just goes on and on and on. This little fact didn't seem to disturb them in the least. I began wondering how I was going to kick them off my bed so I could go to sleep. Then it happened: the natural ending.

Gavin said: Death

Bennett said: Black

Chloe said: Dying

I said: Coffin

Gavin said: Craigslist

Boom! There it is! The one word that has ZERO to do with anything. Nobody thinks of Craigslist when they hear the word "coffin". I just proved my point of how stupid the whole game was. After the entire bed finished it's massive fit of laughter, I announced that the game had reached it's logical end and we were indeed done. Thanks for playing. Game over.