A Battle Between Father and Son...Someone grab the popcorn.

As a journalist, I find myself taking in scenes in my life and thinking of how I might give them a good intro...  

     Tonight, Dad found his authority as the patriarch of the house being challenged by (duh, Duh, DUH!)...the baby. Dinner was about to start, which means blessing the food. Henry thought it had been previously agreed upon (due to the aftermath of a over-dramatic tantrum performance) that HE would pick out who he wanted to say the prayer, dad would agree, and all would be well. Sadly, however, this fantasy of Henry's is not his living reality, as he had hoped.
     Henry wanted Dad to say the prayer, but Dad wanted Millie to grace the deliciously-prepared food we would soon harbor in our bellies. When Dad insisted that he was okay giving Millie the privilege, let's just say that didn't rev Henry's respiratory engines the right way. Screaming, crying, and gnashing of teeth ensued as Millie began to speak her humble respects. The pitiful creature was escorted to his chambers to take a chill pill.

     While the seven pieces of nine enjoyed a scrumptious Mexican dish prepared by the nurturer of the home, Mama bear herself was trying her best to settle Henry down. Later a tear-stained, rosy-cheeked toddler came back out and said, "I'm sorry for screaming, can we say another prayer?" Yes, another plea to the heavens was given as he requested. Dad even agreed to say it this time. How sweet of him.

     Family Home Evening assembled shortly there after. We are, once again, venturing out of Point Cook on a little getaway inside of our #ParcellWorldTour. Everything from dominos the size of houses (okay, not really, but seriously) to go-karting and hanging (no pun intended) with some wedge-tailed eagles.

"Wedge-tailed eagles would eat bald eagles if they found one," Dad said.

     Wedge-tailed eagles eat the symbol of all America stands for for breakfast...wonderful.
Oh, Mom said we are planning our own seven out of the nine meals. We're NOT eating out every meal. Leo suggested that we make sure to eat white bread.

     The big girls are planning to go to the evening Victoria Market on Wednesday.We are? I mean, WE ARE!! Mom remarked that the evening Vic Market only happens on Wednesdays, because it's just a bunch of food. Jordan became flustered in amazement at Mom's tone of voice towards the idea of hosting an event solely featuring edible sustenance.

"It's JUST food??"

Millie wanted to come too, but Mom decided it would not the best picture.

"Because of school, and the age gap, and...we range from two-years-old to 23 to...*motioning at her and Dad* we're not going to talk about it...," Mom stated with ultimate firmness.

     It is planned that this should trip be a blast, however, should one of us die if something doesn't go as planned Mom assures we'll all make the best of it. She did so by reminiscing on a very peculiar Christmas traveling experience some odd years ago. It almost seemed irrelevant. We'll be fine, I'm sure.

     The right person needs to say the dinner prayer and everyone needs to kneel in a complete circle every night, that's all...

And that's the way it is folks.

Jess

My Brother's Grammar is Hilariously Incorrect When He's Upset

     Living in a house with five of my six siblings has been a huge throwback (slap-in-the-face, tsunami-powered wave, I got more) to what it was like before the blessed college days and roommates. Yes, that's right. I'm calling my college career blessed. For soooo many reasons I'm discovering I took for granted.

     Still, in this rush of memories and in between the bouts of my little baby brother's tantrums I'm finding his adjustments to the reality of life pretty entertaining. As I write this he is over-concerned that his remote-controlled toy train is going to get him, gouge his eyes out and devour him lest it be kept on it's set of wooden tracks. He expresses this through a series of high-pitched squeals and wails (Seriously, how does he do it? I've been trying to get my voice up there for AGES.)
     It's amazing to see the turn of emotions as Henry's excitement turns from absolute euphoria to pure horror. Lesson: NEVER set a toddler's train on any surface other than its designated path.

Tell him you want to take a picture and he's there.

     Now he's teasing me, tugging at my legs and saying, "I-i-i foound yoou!" What is this? Henry is really the only sibling whose toddler-hood I remember. That must mean that either the other six were complete bliss (including mine), or that, being the eldest, I just placed myself above all of them and never bothered to pay them any mind. However, I know for certain the former is certainly not true. Hmmm...no, you're right, there's got to be another reason, because even I surely am not that vain.

What he did when I told him to make a funny face. Silly.

     I'm officially putting in writing that all toddler's experience an inevitable "phase", if nothing more, of bi-polar disorder. Complete manic one moment, then kicking and screaming for a nap or whatever other train monster happened to befall upon their path.

     Often times when Henry is upset he begins with a sob of "___ made me sa-a-ad!" I've also noticed that even with his elite and extensive three-year-old vocabulary he slips up and says things like, "Her made me sad" and "Her hurt me" instead of "She made me sad" and "She hurt me".

He just started taking pictures.
Hey, the kid knows touch-tech like the back of his hand...almost.
He's basically a professional in the kiddie community.

Henry didn't scream, but he is NOT ready for a nap!

     So yes, as sad as it may sound, even amongst my brother's tantrums, I still find a pocketful of sunshine to pull out. It makes me smile.

Cheers,

Jess

A Purple Swamphen, a Creek, a Bunch of Bread, and a Pelican

Today could have turned out to be as uneventful as the day before, but I chose to venture out into the burning heat to toss rations of bread to some Australian fowl.

     After humoring my baby brother's eagerness to play at the nearby park, sliding down a zip-line, and bouncing on this see-saw like attraction it was time to feed the ducks. Ha, quite funny as there were hardly any ducks at all. The majority of the birds near the creek were actually purple swamphens. Beautifully unique with creepish-ly long talons and violet bellies.

Cute lil' guy, isn't he?

     While all intentions were directed at the birds, they were unfortunate to have to share their delicious bits of bread with these tiny minnows that would swim up and begin to nibble on what had already been thrown in the water. Sorry swamphens, you were just too slow for those guys, I guess.

Could decided if they were more beautiful
 or threatening looking.

     What I was most excited by was the sighting of a couple of pelicans on the way to the creek. My hope was granted satisfaction as on the way home another stop was made by the large pond (lake? that end of the creek? whatever, it was huge) where they were spotted. A first glance it seemed as though they had gone, but not to worry, they returned. What an interesting creature. A little scary-looking while at the same time beautiful.
     They were not fond of the bread at all, however they did their own scavenging for dinner. Quite cool to watch them eat. They don't chew at all, they just gulp those fish down! They call them tuna shots...ha.

     Another day in Australia and...oh! I have my first interview for an internship on Friday! Whoo-hoo! Not all hope is lost!

Cheers,

Jess

Some Warm Weather With No Sun

     You know what's weird about today? I walked out of my apartment this morning at 8:30am, the sun was not out, BUT it was really nice weather! It was that kind of cool that doesn't freeze your limbs off, but you can tell the morning is still fresh. It was obvious by the dew droplets on car windows and wet stains on the sidewalk that it had rained a little the night before. What a lovely way to walk to class. :)

     I got my favorite bagel for breakfast this morning, you won't believe it, but it really is tasty. Spinach Parmesan, and with Philadelphia original cream cheese it's delicious! Just warm it up for about eight seconds (yes, just eight) and it's the best. My tummy was happy. :) Don't you just love it when you have a fulfilling breakfast, and you feel ready to conquer the world. An amazing feeling, let me tell you.
     As I emerged from the basement of JFSB it was sprinkling, but not pouring, which is a blessing, because I forgot (or rather chose not to) bring an umbrella with me to campus. Strangely, I didn't count on it raining even though there were clouds everywhere. Ha. Silly me.

     Guess what I remembered to do? I FINALLY bought my own box of Girl Scout cookies! Yep, the best ones, Samoa. I understand your opinion may differ from mine, but the perfect combination of cookie, caramel, chocolate and toasted coconut is delicious. Funny though, I haven't opened my precious box yet. Haha. Don't worry, I'll dig into them tonight. For sure. :)

     Oh, guess what else happened? So, whenever we let Henry's, my baby brother, hair grow out it gets REALLY curly. In fact, he quite enjoys it. He'll sit there on the couch twirling it while he drinks his bottle. Alas, my mom decided he was beginning to look more like a girl instead of a boy. So, out came the shears. First, she tried cutting his hair with some traditional scissor shears, but he wouldn't stay still enough, so she switched to "electric" shears.
     Of course, I was a little nervous. I kept thinking, "Just wait 'til dad gets home and let him do it." But, she persevered and came out on top. She left the top hair of his head a little longer so he still has something to twirl. A nice little "swoop" in front.

After, we gave him a bath to wash off all the yucky hair bits all over his back and arms, which he kept getting in his mouth...

Isn't my sister a wonderful photographer?

credits to mynameismadeleine.blogspot.com

My good five for the day are...

1. Girl Scout Samoa cookies are AMAZING!

2. My baby brother's new hair cut is SO perfect

3. Spinach Parmesan bagels are the best

4. A fresh rain morning is the best way to start your day

5. Home-cooked meals beat ANY food from any gourmet restaurant. At least with my mom's cooking.


Have a good week!

Jessica Ashley

Day #6: Doctor's Appointments and Baby Brothers

     It is day six on my quest to be "complaint-free" and today has been pretty good. For the first time this week I got to get up at 7:45am, and go to my 9 o'clock class. Which was actually quite nice. We talked all about Elder Richard G. Scott and his focus on trusting in the Lord. Isn't it so true? I can't do everything by myself, what better person to trust?
     Of course, my teacher had to bring up how much emphasis he places on expressions of love, and how his wife is brought up in basically every, single one of his talks. Really sweet honestly. :)

     After that I went and sat in the Benson building for the next hour 'til it was time to leave for my doctor's appointment. Yes, I was catching up on class reading. Ah, Greek literature, so thrilling. Today, I was privileged to be reading Herodotus and Thucydides, both of which are actually Greek historians, no poets. Ha. With how many times they brought up the Trojan War and Helen of Troy, and Priam, they didn't really sound like credible historians to me. But hey, I'm not they expert. I was simply doing my best not to fall asleep while doing my reading. That seemed like quite the challenge today for some reason. I literally felt like I had accidentally swallowed a Benedryl with my morning medication dose, or even worse, some Adavan (which, by the way, has the simple purpose of "shutting things down" just so you know).

    But I succeeded. I caught up with all my Greek literature reading just in time, then it was onward to Salt Lake City. Of course I was thrilled when I got there and they handed me this thick chunk of paper work, BUT it was okay, because most of it I got to hand to my mom to fill out. Haha, ain't she the best?
     It was pretty awesome discussing the various procedures and ways in which they would be digging into my head this coming month. Oh, did I not mention I'm having surgery? Yeah, it's pretty great, always an adventure, let me tell you. Of course, during this entire discussion my baby brother (he turned two just yesterday) is having the time of his life using the removable tray of his stroller to catapult his toys over to the other side of the room. Orchestrating some lovely noise to talk over. Thankfully he stop soon after and resorted to throwing his toy around manually including throwing a book at the doctor's foot, to which the doctor playfully responded, "Ouch!".

     On the way home My mom and I tried to feed my brother an apple slice that he kept refusing while occupying himself by tossing his toy trains all over the car. After giving up on the mission, my mom handed my a homemade granola bar with a whole bunch of good stuff in it, including pumpkin and chocolate and cranberries. You won't believe it, my brother wouldn't take the apple slice, but he pointed directly at my hand and said, "Some. I some." Really... You want this concoction of pumpkin, oatmeal, cranberry, and chocolate? But you won't take a typical child's food of apple? I shrugged, and broke off a piece for him to chew, and that next thing out of his mouth? "I like it! I like it! I like it!" Of course this completely amused my mother, driving in the front seat. Clapping, and laughing, and howling, the whole deal. My brother knows what's good for him, I guess. See mom? Your kids know what they're talking 'bout. Next, I simply put my baby brother to sleep by giving him a head massage rolling the wheels of his toy trains over his head, and he promptly went to sleep. That was easy.

You know what time it is? That's right, time for my list of five. Drum roll please.

1. This morning, and the entire day has been really warm. Don't even really need my coat!

2. Pumpkin-chocolate granola bars are the BOMB

3. My baby brother, Henry, is the cutest! Even in his terrible twos...

4. Tomorrow is Friday!

5. I'm SUPER excited to get started in the journalism program!

Cheers!

Jessica Ashley