Monkey See, Monkey Do

What cracks me up about this video is that Jacob has to do exactly what Maddie is doing. You'd think it would be the other way around, but typically, Jacob is the one doing what Maddie does!

Feeling like a dinosaur

One of Rachel's Facebook status updates just got me thinking. To quote her post, "perhaps this reveals my age, but will someone please explain to me why you youngins add extrrrrrra lletters to alllll of yooooour postsssss? I probably just totally did it wrong didn't I?" I have NO idea Rachel.

In 10 years, will I understand anything Jacob/Maddie writes? Will it make sense to me? If it doesn't make sense, will I, at the very least, KNOW what they are saying? Meaning, will they still be reading and writing English?

I got to googling. "teen facebook language", "teenage acronyms", "teen dictionary".

Seriously. This is what I do in my free time?

I found a site called teenchatdecoder.com. I am NOT kidding. You can type in an acronym and they will spit out its meaning. The fact that there seems to be enough demand for an entire website dedicated to "teen speak" is baffling to me. Is this what I have to look forward to? Translating my kids' vernacular via a website called "teenchatdecoder"??

I am totally freaked out. Back in the day (I say this as if I'm 100 years old), we used to trade "spirals". A "spiral" was literally a spiral notebook that you shared with a friend and you would write notes back and forth to each other in it. When you finished your note (usually about who you had a crush on and if he acknowledged you in the hall), you'd pass the "spiral" back to your friend. I kept quite a few of those spirals. We would decorate the front of them with cut outs from magazines. I distinctly remember me and Sherry's spiral was decorated with words like "tampon" and "PMS" and the thing was laminated for pete's sake. We thought that was innovative.

It's amazing how far we've come in 20 years. Technology, while I embrace it, horrifies me when it comes to my kids. When they are teenagers, I can only just hope and pray that we are both still speaking the same language...

Simon Says - "Chill Out!"

The kids and I were killing time yesterday with friendly games of racing, "red light, green light", and "Simon Says". I love how Maddie always looks to Jacob before following the commands when playing "Simon Says" (she seems to know there is a right time and a wrong time to do things). I also love it when she puts him in his place (see 2nd video).

They are hysterical!



Watch how Maddie puts Jacob in his place in this video:

Another story you might enjoy

Our swim lessons at the Y seem to be providing great blog material. I meant to post this over a week ago so I'm a little late in the delivery. But better late than never.

When we get to the Y for swim class, we have a little routine. Childwatch (the kids area where Maddie goes) doesn't open until 3:30 which is exactly when Jacob's class starts. So, we all go in to the pool area together, Jacob takes his shoes off, I hang up our swim bag and we wait on the bench until swim class starts.

On this particular day, we all walked into the pool area and Maddie and I were walking in front of Jacob. I casually say back to him "Jacob, take your shoes off". Maddie and I keep walking toward where his class meets. After about a minute, I wonder why Jacob is not right behind me. I turn around and the kid is NAKED walking toward me on the edge of the pool. NAKED!! Meaning, NO PANTS! For the entire YMCA to see!

Good lord, I nearly dropped Maddie to the floor and went running toward him saying "Jacob! What are you doing! Where are your swim shorts! Why do you not have them on?!?!?!?!"

That poor kid looked at me so confused and said "Mommy, I thought you said 'take your clothes off'".

(GASP!)

I can't ever say that the child doesn't follow directions. Even if he is like his Daddy and is seriously hard of hearing.

Needless to say, I quickly covered him up, got him dressed and we went about our day. Once again, these little people never cease to baffle me.

The highlights

I am in JBF mode again so the blog has taken a backseat. I apologize! We've been super busy too so my camera was filled with fun pics that I finally got a chance to download. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks.

Oakland Zoo with the fam. Maddie REFUSED to turn around for this picture. At almost two, she is quite opinionated.











The zoo can wear a kid out!



4th of July fun with Rachel, Iris, Krissy, Clay, Jaemie, Matt, Joe, Owen and Nathan! Iris is getting SO big.



You will see a trend with the popsicles. They are becoming a daily treat.



Case in point.



We visited the San Carlos fire station and Jacob was not shy about asking the fire fighters a million questions. And I was so impressed at how patiently he waited for his turn in the drivers seat.




Of course Maddie had to get up there too.



Roommate reunion! Priscilla was in town from Australia and Rachel and I were SO EXCITED to see her. What a fun night. It's been literally years since we've all been together.





Do you see the trend I was talking about earlier? Maddie is OBSESSED with popsicles.



And they still love each other more than anything.




These last 2 pics were taken today. For some reason, my heart aches when I look at this picture of Jacob. So handsome...and so grown up.



She is this enormously animated, talkative little girl. She loves to dance. She loves to see you dance. We've already established she loves popsicles. But mostly, she loves her big brother.



And finally, a little "Twinkle Twinkle" by the Broxterman kids:

"Dear California Driver"

I received this letter in the mail from the DMV's office. Yes, I admit, I have received 2 traffic violations within 4 months. Both of which were violations that were very specific to the neighborhood I was in, and not ones you see everywhere. Unless you live/drive there all the time, you really wouldn't know they existed. I know, I know, excuses, excuses. But still. In addition to over $300 in fines, they feel compelled to additionally reprimand me with this condescending letter? I felt as if I needed to go hide in a closet to read it, it was almost that humiliating. Good grief California. This soap box is one I'd rather not pay for in postage with my tax dollars. Go preach to someone else!

My absolute favorite quotes from this letter are:

1) "We understand that you may believe you are a good driver" TRANSLATION: You are the worst driver on the planet and don't even know it.

2) "You can choose to prevent further action from DMV by avoiding additional traffic convictions and by not causing any crashes." In my defense, I did not cause ANY crashes in my apparent "lapse in driving judgment". I made a wrong left turn out of a freaking Home Depot parking lot and I switched lanes on an empty roadway when I wasn't supposed to. These are apparently CRASH CAUSING offenses. Who knew.

3) "If you choose to continue your unsafe driving..." Am I 16 years old?

4) "We hope that you will decide to change, but the choice is yours."

I am awaiting my "12 step program for bad drivers" letter from the DMV next. Because I can only imagine that such program exists, and that they would forcefully recommend it, for horrible drivers like myself.

Geez. Enjoy.

"Dear California Driver,

Drivers with crashes and traffic convictions on their records are at a greater risk of causing future crashes. Your recent record of bad driving places you at increased risk of causing crashes, injury, and death. We do not want you to suffer those consequences and want to help you avoid them.

We understand that you may believe you are a good driver, and yet your driving record is much worse than the average California driver. While you may be a good and safe driver most of the time, your record reflects at least momentary lapses in driving judgment. At highway speeds, a moment of carelessness can become a tragedy. Good, caring people who make careless decisions while driving can cause injury or death.

In our effort to urge you to drive more safely, we are offering you a choice. You can choose to prevent further action from DMV by avoiding additional traffic convictions and by not causing any crashes. However, if you choose to continue your unsafe driving, the penalties will increase and eventually lead to probation, suspension, or revocation of your driving privilege.

We believe you are capable of making a change to become a safer driver, but it is up to you to do so. If you do not want to change, your driving will continue to present a risk to yourself and other road users. If you want to change and become a safer, more responsible driver, you can. We hope that you will decide to change, but the choice is yours.

If there is a discrepancy in your driving record, you may contact the Sacramento Department of Motor Vehicles.

This action is independent of any other action taken by the court or this department.

Department of Motor Vehicles"

A Fun Lemos Day

When Mark is out of town, I jump at every playdate opportunity -- any opportunity really -- to get out of the house and do something fun. My friends told me about a different playgroup, the "4's Summer Activity Group" and they were headed to Lemos Farm on Thursday morning. Sign me up! I've never been to Lemos during the off season when it isn't packed so I was pleasantly surprised when we were really the only ones there! We got to enjoy the train, hay ride, pony ride, and more all to ourselves. I stayed way past Maddie's nap time because we were having so much fun and for once, I didn't even care to keep on schedule!

My favorite picture of the day. Thank you Millie for taking it! I have very few good pics of me and Maddie, mostly because I'm usually the photographer. So I treasure this one. :)



Maddie on her first pony ride!!





Millie and Emma on the train with us



Jake and Emma -- I also loved that they got to hang out so much. When we are with the larger group, Jacob is usually running around crazy with the boys so it was fun to see him and Emma hang out one on one.



When I took Maddie around on the pony, I told Jacob to take some pictures of us. I love this one he took of Millie!



Jacob took this picture too -- Marcia was walking Warner on the pony next to us.



I was floored when I saw this picture of Marcia and Warner. Jacob took it! And it's fantastic!



In the bouncy house -- it's not the best picture but my goodness, could they look MORE alike?!



I definitely plan on hitting up Lemos Farm more when it's not the crazy season. We had such a great time and the kids can't wait to go again!