I Told You So!

I was right about those 4 way stop bullies. I knew I was on to something. Thanks, Amy!

In some ways, this Portlandia show is eerily accurate. Curious? Season 1 is now on Netflix.

Kate is ever the camera hog. I was trying to take a nice, serene picture of my Sarah, when Kate jumps into screen. She can't pass up an opportunity to shine/steal the show/hog the spotlight. One of the million things I love about her.
One of the million things I love about my boy is his camera face. While Blakely grunted and tried to eat Margaret's face off, and Margaret screamed, Jacob just sat there, patiently waiting for his Mom and crazy Aunties to stop taking pictures.

So, I'm retarded, but let's not state the obvious here. On Saturday, Neal was repairing a broken drawer. I was headed to Lowe's to get a few items for something I was working on. He asked me to buy him some shims. So, I asked the nice man in the wood section where they sold their shivs. He laughed and said, "Are you planning to shank someone in prison?" Man, there's another time when the girl card can get you out of trouble. "Just smile and look like a dumb girl. Go ahead. It got you out of this scrape a couple of years ago. "

Speaking of girls, my youngest girl has us worried, but really made us laugh. While headed to Utah, we stopped in Reno for some grub at the Burger King. Reno isn't known for its fancy parts. We parked next to a pick-up truck. On the back was a lovely sillouette sticker of a naked lady in heels with an angel halo and wings. Abigail said, "Mom! Look at that pretty fairy! That's my favorite fairy! I really like it Mom!"

From now on, whenever I see those smutty stickers or mud flaps, I'm going to think of my sweet Abby. I'm ruined.

Good Bye Uncle Reese!

So much for "Three for Thursday." How does "68 for Saturday" sound?

All of those Hansen rug-rats grew up. I really like these fellas. We decided at the last minute to drive to Utah to say goodbye to my baby brother, Reese, as he leaves for Afghanistan with the Utah Guard 211th.

Very emotional.
A hangar full of family being separated.

We both have that same goofy, over-confident, high-eyebrow smile. We get it from our Dad.
These brothers have to stick together amongst all of the sisters.

How do you say goodbye to an 8 month old baby and a lovely wife?

The dumbest thing about war is that the bad guys also have mothers, fathers, siblings, wives, children, and nieces and nephews. It's crazy and nuts and adds up to a terrible math equation. American soldiers don't have a corner on the market when it comes to the smiles of their families.

My Grandpa Hansen served with the Utah Guard in WWII. They were The Timberwolves and were called up in 1942. He was in the European theater and saw some action. He left behind a young wife and a little baby.

He never talked about the war. There was no such thing as PTSD. Well, there was such a thing, but you were S.O.L. when it came to remedies for such things. Your choices were alcohol, depression, suppression, bad dreams, wrecked marriages and the like. My Dad says in hind-sight that my grandpa suffered from depression. I have a lot of compassion for my grandpa.

My grandpa spent the last few weeks of his life living at my parents house. We happened to live next door to my parents, and were able to spend some time with him. The day before he died, I had the opportunity to speak to him when he was incredibly lucid. I asked him about the war.

He told me things I don't think he'd ever told anyone else.

He said he hated it. He hated being close to guys one day, and then they were gone the next.

When the European conflict ended, my grandpa was in Cologne, Germany. Neal served a chunk of his mission there. The entire big city was rubble, with the exception of the Dom cathedral. My grandpa expressed his horror and sadness at the loss amongst the German people. He said that they were people, just like him. A young boy helped him find water so that my grandpa could shave. My grandpa kept saying, "They were regular people, just like us." I could tell that it was a sad irony and terrible realization that the enemy are our brothers and sisters and we have so much in common.

My grandpa told me of the boat ride home across the Atlantic. He said that it was like the lights had gone out in his life during the war.

Here is my brother's facebook status as he left:

"Received a blessing from my father this evening, and then I gave my wife and daughter one. It was hard, but I made it through. I am going to miss them so badly, it hurts. I feel a little like someone is dimming out the lights to my world, and I have to wait a year for them to turn it back on. I love you Laura and I love you, Blakely."

War is terrible.

The Bullies of the 4 Way Stop

If I would have waited 2.5 more seconds to take this shot, it would have been a sweet barf shot. No wonder he was crying.

According to my drivers ed tutelage from Mr. Applegate back in 1991, there are certain rules of order that apply when you meet other drivers at the 4 way stop. However, those rules don't seem to apply in the Salem-Keizer area.

What I often encounter at the 4 way stop is the "wave through." Even when it's not my turn, there is usually someone there who waves me through. I feel like they're telling me what to do and bossing me around, and I don't like it. They think they're being polite (don't get me started on the exceedingly nice drivers here), but they're a bunch of bullies.

I bet Taylor Swift isn't a bully. She seems like such a nice gal. Kate has all of her music, which means I know all of her music, and I must admit, she's kind of growing on me. I'm not a fan of country music, but that Taylor Swift is just so sweet and talented, I just can't help but like her. As much as I dislike concerts, I would probably take Kate to see her.

It's not that I don't like the musicians at the concerts I've been to, it's that I don't like the other concert goers, and it totally cancels out any love I have for the performers. Fools sing and dance at concerts, and I'm no fool. It bugs me.

Here are the concerts I've wasted my money, or a guys money on in my life:

Chicago (date's money)

INXS (my Ream's job money)

MC Hammer/Boyz 2 Men (date's money)

Z 93 Summer music festival with classic rock has-beens performing (Ream's job money)

Alanis Morrisette (my college money)

Oingo Boingo (my college money)

U2 (our poor newlywed money)

Natalie Merchant (our poor newlywed money)

After about 1999, I decided not to waste any more money on concerts. A CD with a good set of speakers is good enough for me. I'll only sing to my music when I'm totally alone - not when I'm sitting in an arena with 20,000 fools. I also enjoy Austin City Limits sometimes, because I can watch in my pj's and turn it of when I get tired.

More Surprises! And Three on Thursday.

I love the attention span of 3 year olds. Out of sight, out of mind for her box of Reese's Pieces that has been in the pantry since the Christmas Stocking Clean-up of 2011. I now have the flavor of Reese's Pieces on my breath. I must hide the box in the recycle container out in the garage before she sees it and her 3 year old memory kicks in. That kid has a crazy good memory. She's also like a GPS. It freaks me out a little. It's kind of "Rainman" ish.

So, I have noticed that blogging amongst my friends and family has been declining since last summer. Mine has been too. I was too freaking tired to blog much during the pregnancy. Now that the child is out, I'm too freaking tired to blog much. And busy. But, that doesn't mean I have given up. I've been keeping up, but not as much as I would like. I still take notes throughout the day-to-day and keep then in my secret file on my phone so that I don't forget things that pop into my mind and are blog-worthy. A friend of mine thought of a great blogging idea called "Three on Thursday." You post 3 pictures that you have taken during the week and blog about them. That way, you can stay current. And, I can get some of my blogging friends back.
Why, oh why do I have Korean cd's on my be-jeaned lap? Remember the bounty that a used car can provide? Well, add 5, count that 5, Koren cd's to our van-bounty. We were driving down to the Eugene area, and I was attempting to load some cd's into the player of the van. They wouldn't go in. So I decided to hit the eject button, and out popped 5 of these puppies.

Here's what we know about the previous owner of the van thus far:

1. He was a he, judging by the scent of after-shave that permeated the steering wheel (problem managed, by the way. The new steering wheel cover made my hands smell like rubber, so I took it off. The scent has worn away and no longer transfers to my hands).


2. He lived in Hawaii, according to Carfax.


3. He possibly had a light-sensitivity issue due to the after-market window tinting. The windows are so freaking dark, it's hard to see out the back window. Even in the day! Good for sunny Hawaii, bad for sunless Oregon.


4. If he did not have a light-sensitivity issue, then he was a Koren drug dealer or mob member. Why else would you need windows that dark?


5. He was in his 50's, judging by the scent of aftershave (definitely not Axe or any other hipster scent). Also, the back seats have no evidence that children ever set foot in that thing.


6. He wore sunglasses of a superior making, suggesting he was not often in the company of children. If he was often if the company of children, the sunglasses I found would have been either cheap gas-station variety, or broken fancy sunglasses. That also supports my theory of his age.


7. Another reason to believe his age and "lack of hanging out with children" status was the manner in which I found the change in the secret change compartment. First, it was a lot of quarters. I have yet to meet a parent of young children who has that amount of quarters in anything but the couch cracks. Quarters tend to disappear when kids are around. They were organized and bountiful. If the van was a child-riding van, the secret chamber would have been filled with candy wrappers, pennies, a car wash token or two, paperclips, toenails, chewed gum, and possible errant .22 bullets.


8. He was Korean.

Holy crap, did I miss my calling as a detective, or WHAT?

Hey! Who invited Lord Vader to the Nativity party? Or, as Abby says, "Dart Vader." She also says RD2D2 (pronounced R-dee-two-dee-two. So cute!!).

Four generations of Peton boys! It's pronounced "Pee-tun," by the way, for all of you who have never heard my last name . This could be a revelation to some of you just like I had about the pronunciation of Hermione Granger's first name. I didn't know how to read it in my head until the 4th book when she taught that eastern european quidditch player how to say her name. It seriously messed me up for a while! Up until then, I thought it was pronounced "Her-moin."

This is a picture of of my kids and Neal's grandparents. Is sure is nice to still have some grandparents around. We spent New Years Eve down at their place in Vaneta. It's always fun to go there. They have sheep and horses and dogs and cats and room for my kids to run around.

My four kiddos and four pictures. So I guess we can call today "Three + 1 Thursday."