Dancing in the Kitchen

Happy Early Mother's Day

2010-04-28T17:52:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to turn a new leaf this year. I'm trying to send cards to nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, in-laws etc. for their birthdays. Unfortunately it's been pretty hit and miss. I do know one card not to miss sending out - Mother's Day. Last year, I'm not so sure I sent one to my mom. By the time I remembered it was too late to get to her in time. This year, I'm sending it now!

Here's part of what I wrote:

"As I write this card, I have one child who's just ripped their homework in half, complaining how mean I am. Another child I've just told to return to the desk and finish ALL of his homework. I have kids who at times jam their feet in their costly shoes rather than undoing the laces. Kids who don't cooperate when it's time to clean their rooms or practice the piano. Kids who complain about what's for dinner. Kids who talk back and also fight with each other.

In looking back at my childhood, I remember my brothers and I doing all of the obnoxious things listed above. So, on this Mother's Day, I have one thing to say - thanks for letting me live to see my adulthood (and thus enjoy all the pain we inflicted on you, through my own kids)! My wish for them - that they'll have kids just like themselves someday. Love Denise"

It's a miracle that kids survive their childhood. I truly believe that there is a God, who in all His wisdom, created kids to be so cute and cuddly that I am usually able to let them live to see another day!
(can you tell what kind of day it is around here???)

It's Been Awhile...

2009-11-11T16:43:00.004-05:00

It's been a few months now that we've been in school but I figured I'd document that indeed we were there, school started, yadda yadda...
Here's Lauren and BFF Bea out on the driveway waiting for their older sibs to get on the bus for their first day of school. Buddha and friends started preschool this year, three mornings a week. I celebrated this monumental event by taking a few naps for those first days of preschool!

Lauren loves school and is a tad miffed on Tuesday's and Thursday's when she doesn't go. She does enjoy the mommy date time though. One morning while sharing a frozen yogurt at Costco Lauren said "Mommy, this date is so fun, we can do WHATEVER WE WANT!!!" So cute.

Maren started Kindergarten this year and loves every minute. She especially loves lunch recess when she see's Spencer out on the play ground. Maren has made lots of new friends this year, her other 'princess' friends ended up in different classes so she got to branch out a bit. Maren also started her first year of soccer and is quite an aggressive little lady on the field!
Spencer started grade two this year and thus far it is a big improvement on his gr 1 year. His teachers this year really love him and he is enjoying going. Spencer continues to play soccer and is having a great time.

Because our life is never dull, at the end of the same week we lost Lauren at Target, Spencer was swarmed by a bunch of nasty wasps, was stung many times, and ended up in the emergency room. His poor little body swelled up and turned blotchy white and red. It was a pretty traumatic experience for both he and I (I saw it happen). Fortunately, after a few hours in the ER, some meds and an epi shot, his hives got better. It wasn't till later that night after going to bed that I broke down crying as I relived the experience, watching Spencer screaming my name as he was being swarmed. We are so blessed to have such great friends who all pitched in to care for our other kids while we were off with Spencer. We recently did allergy testing and sure enough he is allergic to yellow jackets and a couple other varieties. Now I get to carry an epi pen and benadryl in my purse!
Dallin started grade 5 this year and is at the middle school which is grades 5-8. He gets on the bus at 7:20am which has been an adjustment for us! We are up earlier every day which generally is good so we get our day started bright and early.

Lost and Found!

2009-08-19T21:11:00.003-04:00

As a parent there are certain experience you would rather not go through. One of those is losing your kid. I haven't experienced this till today and it will stick with me for a very long time! The kids and I were at Target returning and buying some items. After we returned our stuff, I turned around and didn't see Lauren. At this point I was pretty sure she was looking around at the racks of clothes so Dallin and I started calling her name. After looking around for a couple minutes, Dallin started to get quite upset. As we were looking he pulled me into an aisle and said we needed to say a prayer (so sweet).

When I didn't find her right away I went to a store clerk and told him I needed some help finding my 3yr old daughter. When he asked what she was wearing I TOTALLY blanked. I couldn't remember. All I could remember was putting her hair in a pony tail. Fortunately Spencer jogged my memory by saying she had a green shirt on, which made me remember it was a green and white polka dot dress. I was so amazed and impressed with all the staff. I could hear on their walkie talkie's telling all staff to stop what they were doing and look for Lauren. I was also touched that a number of shoppers left their carts to also search for Lauren. After making three or more loops through the store I was pretty sure she wasn't in the store. Up till this point I was confident I'd find her in the store somewhere, looking at a Barbie or other game. Now I started thinking about the possibility of her being gone. This was now 15 minutes into looking for her. Poor Dallin (who is old enough to understand the ramifications) started crying "We have to find her, I can't live without her". This about put me over the edge but I had to stay calm or the kids would lose it. Thanks to the powers of adrenalin I was very business-like in my search, assuring the kids that we'd find Lauren.

Twenty five minutes after losing Lauren I was beginning to freak out inside, thinking of the last words I'd spoken to her, if I'd told her I loved her today, my mind going to the dark places one can go to when in such a situation. I started walking towards the front door when I saw a man and woman walking into the store holding Lauren. At this point I totally lost it. Sobbing, I picked her up and gave her a big hug. The lady said they'd seen her standing by a van (ours). She didn't seem upset at all, and later told me she was looking for me! They said she told them who she was, and her mom's name. She had left the store, and found our van. I asked them what the van looked like, and sure enough it was ours. Our car was at the end of the parking aisle, and a couple lanes away from the entrance. After boo hooing a huge thank you to the couple, we headed out. As we were leaving, a woman who was walking out at the same time said "this is a day you will NEVER forget!" Was she ever right.

I believe that she was protected as she walked through that busy parking lot and was blessed to be found by those people. I'm so grateful we found our little lady.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

2009-06-21T17:32:00.003-04:00

Recently I was given the assignment to speak in church on Father's Day. The following is the talk I gave today:

Many of you, I’m sure are familiar with the author Robert Fulghum. Among his writings, he suggests that all a person really needs to know, they learned in Kindergarten. Some of the principles he shares are: Play fair, don’t hit people, wash your hands before you eat, be aware of wonder and of course, take a nap every afternoon. In light of what day it is, I will now share with you Denise Kelly's “All I Really Need to Know I Learned from my Dad”. As a note of disclaimer, my mom was equally involved in molding me into the person I am today, but in light of it being fathers day, dad gets the credit! Here are a few of the lessons learned.

First: Be a hard worker: When I was young, the church leadership encouraged families to grow a garden, my family along with a group of others used a piece of land south of our city to split up into a number of family gardens. To say our garden was huge would be an understatement. From my recollection, it was the size of a football field. Of course I’m sure it wasn’t THAT big, but none the less, you would have to yell really loud to be heard from one end of a row to the other. Being the youngest sibling, I was not as quick a thinker as my older brothers at the time, who would convince my dad that they needed to mow the grass around the gardens, or rearrange the tools in the shed or a variety of other jobs. I on the other hand, was always relegated to weed pulling. This was the worst assignment of all, boring and tedious. I remember often declaring the job complete only to be turned around to do a better job. While this work ethic was often resented in my youth, I have come to appreciate the life lessons (and endless math facts) learned while weeding the many rows of vegetables, picking raspberries and doing other jobs. Now that I am a mother, and have also attended university where I saw many of my friends who spent their youths being pampered by their parents, I have passed on the joy of manual labour to my kids. I often chuckle when I find myself repeating phrases I heard come from my parents mouths now coming out of my mouth. While complaining about picking weeds from our grass a few weeks ago my boys were reminded that this would make them strong productive members of society, so keep picking!

Upon turning to the scriptures we see examples of hard work time and time again. In Genesis we learn of the work that went in to the creation of the world. Christ in his ministry spent countless hours labouring among his followers, bringing the word of God to the people.

Bruce R. McConkie said the following in Mormon Doctrine “Work is the great basic principle which makes all things possible both in time and in eternity.”

And finally, right about the time my parents got the idea to build their garden, President Spencer W. Kimball said: “We believe in work for ourselves and for our children. … We should train our children to work, and they should learn to share the responsibilities of the home and the yard. They should be given assignments to keep the house neat and clean, even though it be humble.

(in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 5; or Ensign, May 1976, 5).

The second lesson I learned was to pay a full tithing. From a young age we were taught of the blessings of being a full tithe payer. While we were never given an allowance, my parents found many ways for us to earn money. One way we earned money was through a family lawn care business. When I was in elementary school my dad bought a power rake and a few other machines from a neighbor who was getting out of the landscaping business. So, for the next 13 odd years of my life, we did yard clean ups for neighborhood homes. There were many times I was less than happy to do the job (especially when we happened to end up at the home of someone I knew which was very embarrassing!). Being the low one on the totem pole, as usual, I was stuck with the most unappealing job of bagging and hauling the grass left from the power rake. This experience always proved worthwhile though as I was very happy to receive my large paycheck at the end of each week. This side business my dad started for us to earn spending money as kids turned into a large successful lawn care business that employed my older brothers and I through high school and every year during university. Tithing was always on the top of the list when we got paid and my parents shared their experiences with the blessing of paying ones tithes.

Through this business my dad started and by his example, I also learned how to manage money and people. As we got older, and took over the business, we were responsible for managing client accounts, bidding on jobs, paying employees and maintaining the equipment. This experience has helped me in paying household bills and other money related matters.

I also learned how to manage people. When I ran the company I had the choice opportunity at times to deal with irrational, overly picky, and grumpy clients. While I never allowed myself to be a door mat, I also practiced restraint, patience and gave the client the benefit of the doubt. I learned through this experience how to stand up for myself, and successfully interact with a wide variety of people. When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he said “whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also”. Rather than letting ego’s or the importance of being right get in the way. I learned that by following Christ’s example we should love all people.

Another lesson I learned from my dad was to have a house of order, both physically and spiritually. First, the physical house of order. My dad loves to organize, he has one of the most organized garages I have ever seen. People will call my dad looking for random tools and other items and more often than not, my dad will have it. My dad loves an organizational challenge. Finding the right rubbermaid containers for food storage or a way to fit everything in the storage shed for the winter is right up his alley. One afternoon recently I really shocked myself. My kids and I had just filled up our sand box with fresh sand for the summer and the girls jumped right in the sand box and started digging. I instinctively said to them “jump out girls and kneel on the edge and lean over then you won’t get sand in your clothes” I couldn’t believe it. These were the exact words I had hear over and over as a child. I now understood why he would tell us to lean over the edge! While I haven’t adopted all those habits, I do appreciate the value of a physical house of order and try my best to strive for order, with four kids trying their best to do the opposite. When I was young, my mom was in a couple of car accidents which made housework difficult and painful for her to do. My dad took over the responsibility of house cleaning and we all had our jobs to help out. I value that I saw my father regularly mopping the kitchen floor, washing windows and other jobs. Early on in our marriage, I learned that Jim also had the cleaning gene that my dad has.

Having a spiritual house of order was always of utmost importance to my parents. My dad was born into an LDS family but only his mom attended church and many family members were less active. My mom was baptized at the age of 21 when she legally had the right to do so. Because of their struggles to be active church members, my parents always taught us to value our church membership and work hard to develop ourselves and our testimonies. Each morning before leaving for work and school we would gather as a family in prayer. By no means were we 100% at having family home evenings, my parents tried hard and we had the spirit in our home. When we were older kids and teenagers, we would have what was called ‘family discussion’ on Sunday’s after church. My poor mom didn’t know till years later that my oldest brother threatened my other brother and I that we were to sit there, don’t move and answer questions briefly so we would be done as quick as possible. He was much bigger than we were, so we almost always were very well behaved during our ‘family discussion’. Many nights I would walk by my parents room and see them reading their scriptures or saying their nightly prayers together. My parents were far from perfect in parenting, but it is the leading by example that I remember the most.

My dad (and mom) have a love for the scriptures. Many years ago my dad learned in General conference that if one read a chapter of the Book of Mormon every day, and five or so on Sunday, you could finish the book in the six months between general conferences. He has done this many times and through his love of the scriptures, he has shown his children the importance of them, and passed on that love. In 1Nephi 19:23 after reading many different books of scripture, Nephi says the following “I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” I appreciate that my parents made the scriptures relevant to us and applied it to the experiences that we were going through.

The most important lesson I have learned from my dad is the importance of being a loving kind parent. President Howard W. Hunter said the following to fathers:

Earn the respect and confidence of your children through your loving relationship with them. A righteous father protects his children with his time and presence in their social, educational, and spiritual activities and responsibilities. Tender expressions of love and affection toward children are as much the responsibility of the father as the mother. Tell your children you love them" ("Being a Righteous Husband and Father," Ensign, Nov 1994, 49.)

From a young age my dad would sit with me at bedtime and share with me stories from his youth. I felt like I was there with him as his grandfather gave him his first horse to ride, when he was waiting out in the rain for a bus that never came and ended up getting terribly sick, or seeing Santa and his sleigh flying through the air from an attic farmhouse window with his cousin on Christmas Eve. Through these stories, I got to know my dad as a different person than the man I knew. I saw him as a young boy, a grandson, a cousin and a son. I learned of some of the mischievous deeds of his youth, and the deep love he had for his immediate and extended family. As I grew older, and could recite the stories verbatim, my dad started reading to me from his missionary journals. Through the years of reading, I heard over and over of my dads love of the gospel and his love of the people he was teaching. He never needed to sit me down and lecture me on the importance of the scriptures, having faith, or being a good example, I learned it all through his written journals. This also was a special time of bonding with my dad. Now that I have my own family, I encourage my children to listen to stories of our childhoods and that of our parents.

I believe that there is a special bond between children and their dads. Whenever one of us was hurt or really sad, it was my dad that we would cry for. My mom of course was loving and kind, but there is something special about a dad. With my kids I encourage them to seek out their dad for the tender love that come from a dad. My parents always encouraged me to do my best and accepted me for who I was. On more than one occasion my dad has answered the telephone to a teary daughter, frustrated with schooling, tired of being pregnant, or angry about the trials of being a mom. Through these times of trial and times of happiness I have been met with words of compassion, wisdom and love.

I know my dad isn’t perfect, he, like all of us, has weaknesses and shortcomings. But, I do know that he is striving to be a good person and return to Heavenly Father. Because of this, I am trying to emulate his good habits and apply the lessons I have learned from him, into my life.

How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You?!?!?!

2009-02-16T11:03:00.002-05:00

Am I the only mom out there who has to REPEATEDLY remind her kids of the rules of the house?? Lately around here it's been
Me - "Do we bring food downstairs??"
Usually one of the girls - "No"
Me - "Then why did you bring crackers, yogurt, raisins, drink boxes, ICE CREAM?!?! downstairs??
Girl - "Sorry mommy, it was Maren/Lauren (blame each other) that brought it down.

For Christmas Santa brought our boys a voice recorder thing that can then speed up or slow down your voice. Here's things I'd record on it to be repeated throughout the day:

"We don't bring food downstairs!!!"
"Lift the seat when you pee!!!"
"Make your bed!!"
"When you practice the piano you're supposed to do more than just SIT on the piano bench!!"
"The couches are NOT a playground!!"

Anyway, the list goes on. My problem is, why is it that they don't get it through their heads??? I feel like I'm a pretty stern mom, I don't let my kids walk all over me. I'm very clear as to the rules in our house. What's the deal?!?!

Sometimes I want to just give up and let our house go to pot, don't empty the garbage, tidy rooms, do laundry etc. I wonder though....how long it would take the natives to even notice a difference??

Battle of the Mary's!

2008-12-04T11:38:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we finally got out the Christmas decorations and started making our house festive for the holidays. When the kids woke up this morning they were delighted to see some of their favourite Christmas decorations and toys. After sending the boys to school, the girls (age 5 & 3) and I started assembling our tree. While I was working, the girls were playing with a nativity (pink Mary) and started to fight about who got Mary, she is oh so beautiful and is wearing a darling pink outfit. In an effort to curb the brawl that was about to take place, I dug out our Fisher Price nativity which has a stable that plays music and lights up. So of course now that one was the centre of the fights. It really was so funny that I had to take a picture. The following is in reverse order so scroll down to the girls together, then Buddha's sad , oh so sorry for myself expression as the prized Mary was snatched out of her hand.

And finally, Cruella Deville and her 'stink eye' - and yes her hair is usually brushed but we haven't gotten around to that yet!
Here's to a long, peaceful?? Christmas season!!!

What Kind of Cookie Are You??

2008-09-13T19:01:00.002-04:00

This afternoon while cuddling with our little ladies, Jim and I were discussing what kind of cookies we would be if we were indeed cookies. So here's our list:

Jim: White chocolate chunk (VERY WHITE!)
Me: Peanut butter (tanned chick)
Dallin: Oatmeal with raisins (good for you and tasty too)
Spencer: Rocky road (a little nutty, and a lot sweet)
Maren: Butterscotch with icing (over the top, delicious)
Lauren: Ginger snap (packs a spicy punch)

So what kind of cookie are you????

Why Spencer???

2008-08-27T22:22:00.002-04:00

For those of you who know Spencer well, you will be very aware that he is an animal lover. He takes after his dear friend Jonah and is usually the kid to find the dragonfly, bugs, worms, hermit crab, minnow or other such critter in nature. When people ask what to get him for his birthday the answer is usually "get him something to do with animals". He isn't scared to pick up random creatures and is usually the kid that is called to catch or identify, and often he has an answer, (sometimes he's even right!).

Three years ago we went on a family vacation to the maritimes in Canada just before Lauren was born. At that time, Spencer had a keen (and to this day, lasting) interest in all things whale. While at St. Andrews By the Sea we went on a four hour whale watching tour. We got to see a few humpbacks, porpoises, and other sea life. During the tour, the guide spent the time educating the passengers on whales. Jim and I had a good laugh as, thanks to Spencer, we already knew most of what we were taught.
Just after that trip, some good friends gave our kids a fish tank as they were moving and didn't have the space. The kids were so excited to have their very own fish. Spencer has a real talent for naming things, stuffed animals, toys etc. He quickly came up with a unique name for his fish and did his best to help the other sibs with theirs. With the new day came an unwelcome surprise, his fish was dead. I was so sad for him and wanted to cry as I held my sobbing boyfriend in my arms as he experienced his first death - even though it was a fish. Over the next few days unfortunately the other three fish died as well. With the next round of fish came a firmer resolve and understanding that the little guys might not survive. Over the many following months we ended up with one fish who has been with us for over a year - yes, a miracle!
I have been a slacker mom over the last many months and have neglected that little fish and he/she has survived despite me not changing the water much, feeding it daily or providing it with other fishy company. This week I finally got around to changing the water, cleaning the tank and getting it ready for new inhabitants.

Today we went to the pet store and bought four new fish. Dallin and the girls each chose a goldfish. Spencer was more interested in a mini shark. This wasn't in the plan since we still had a goldfish so he decided that the playco (that I was already going to buy - great for cleaning the algae) would be his. We brought them home, and introduced them to their new home.

Just before bed tonight we were looking at the fish. Spencer's fish was swimming around kind of crazy like, usually those fish are stuck to the side of the tank and don't move around much. He/she wasn't looking very well. I tried to prepare Spencer that it might die but we were all hopeful. About an hour ago I went in to check on them only to discover Spencer's fish belly up stuck in the plants. WHY??? Not to be mean or anything, but why did it have to be Spencer's fish first??? Why not Buddha's, where she would be sad, but not as crushed. His little critter spirit has softened up in the last year, not prepared for this at all. I guess we'll make another trip to the pet store tomorrow for another fish...

Dirty Girl

2008-06-23T20:52:00.004-04:00

So here's a little song we sing to our kids, an adaptation of Grandma Dickson's cub leader days:

"Dirty Bill (we insert 'girl'), dirty girl,

lives on top of a garbage hill,

never takes a bath and never will,

eeww, pewww, dirty girl"

Our kids have loved singing it and also, coincidentally, love getting dirty! (thanks to friends Lisa and Rebecca, we learned early on that it was okay, in fact, necessary, for kids to have a little mess in life!) No Kelly child has perfected the art of getting dirty better than our dear sweet Lauren. Today we have had lots of rain. During a break in the clouds we went to the school playground to run a bit. While there, and playing with friends, all the kids were in the field running around. I was being a good mom, keeping an eye on my kids, and saw that the girls were sitting on the grass. What I didn't notice until it was too late, was that they were sitting in a HUGE mud puddle. By that time, the damage was done, clothes would need to be washed anyway, so I let them have fun. And this is the result...

Now, you'll notice that one child is slightly less muddy than the other. When I inquired to Maren about this, she informed me that "Buddha put mud on me, so I put mud on her...."

Is this the face of an innocent victim - I think not!!!

It really was quite a funny sight to see, and it only took about four shampoo treatments to get 'most' of the dirt and mud out of Lauren's hair. But dang it, I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. It was quite a show. I guess you're only 2 once right?!?!

Our Dad

2008-06-15T12:16:00.002-04:00

Another year has flown by and we are again celebrating our dad. One thing about our dad, that you can never question, is his love for his kids. He adores them, he loves them, hugs them and kisses them (sometimes a little too much!)

Anyway, here's a list we've compiled of the top things we love about our dad (in no particular order).

Our dad loves to have fun with his family. He is always willing to dig in the sand, play horsey, or engage in a water fight.

Our dad loves to play with fire.....pits. He loves to show off his scouting skills and makes a pretty awesome fire for roasting hot dogs, marshmallows, and various other things that burn!
Our dad loves hockey, which he has passed on to his kids. Two winters ago he built...for the kids (ya right), an outdoor hockey rink which was about the length of our house! He would come home from work late and pull out the hoses to groom the rink. I think he only skated on it a handful of times but enjoyed making it for his kids and their many friends who came to skate and slide.
We also love our dad because he likes to do 'outdoorsy' stuff with his family. To name a few: hiking, camping, soccer, hockey, bike riding, trail riding, trampoline jumping, and swing pushing!

There are of course too many things to write but those are just a few. We love our dad, so HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY!

Sleepy Sister

2008-06-09T13:17:00.002-04:00

So this is the post of Buddha (sometimes referred to as Lauren). She has many amazing talents, one of them being that she can fall asleep in the oddest places! Below is a picture from April, I discovered her like this in her room...

Then today the kids were downstairs playing, and I came to do some laundry and found this...

She also has a flair for fashion- especially accessories!!!

The Affair of the Mailbox

2008-05-28T15:53:00.003-04:00

So we've been painting the outside of our house for the last few days. Well, clarification - we hired someone to paint, and THEY have been painting the outside of our house. The main guy told me that if I wanted to buy new house numbers, mailbox and light that he would put them all up. I jumped at the offer as if it was left to me and my duck it wouldn't get done. So I went to Home Depot, and got all the supplies. The next day we made the sad discovery that the mailbox was too wide for the alloted space.

Trip two to Home Depot (with all four kids this time). I had so much selection (one) to choose from, the possibilities were endless. The mailbox we got had the option to have a lock on it, and a 'metalish' decal that said 'mail'. I was glad that it didn't come with the decal on it, as I kind of preferred it plain black.

After we got home I took the mail box out and decided we'd keep it, and have no decal. Later in the evening I was in the basement doing some laundry and Spencer went upstairs to get his toothbrush, and later came back and went to bed. Well, a couple hours later I went looking for the mail box to show Jim, only to my horror I discovered our mailbox now had a 'mail' decal planted on the front!!! I yelled "Ohhhh, SPENCER!!" and went and showed Jim. After looking at it he said "well, at least he got it pretty centered and level!' So, because I have no desire to go back to Home Depot with my brood, and the paint guy's last day was today, we decided to stick (haha) with it how it was...

Moisturizing

2008-05-27T22:44:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I was busy making dinner when suddenly it dawned on me - I hadn't heard or seen Lauren for awhile. Now, while I adore my toddler, I know she can get up to no good. So, I went searching and came into my bedroom only to discover Lauren sitting next to this...

She had gotten into my purse, taken out my hand cream and once she was discovered, she made a gallant effort to cover her tracks by rubbing her hands together to make it go away!

What's with the title??

2008-05-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

So what's with the title? First off, I'm a terrible decision maker so I've sat staring at the computer screen thinking "What should the title of my blog be??" Coming up with the BostonKellys thing was easy enough since that is how we are usually referred to among family. So, I reflected on titles of my friends blogs, and thought, "what is something I like to do?", I looked out the office door and see the kitchen and automatically think - dancing in the kitchen with my kids. The only thing that may top that in the kid activity department, may be dancing in the car with the kids while driving. We love to get silly and have fun. Thanks to Auntie A, we have a cool hip hop cd which everyone loves - even buddha!

The other day while driving a friends kid somewhere, a good song came on the radio so the girls and I started grooving. I said to our little friend "shake it friend!!!" to which came the reply "we don't really do that in our car" Ah well, your loss!