Guilty or Not Guilty

Klark and Lanse tied a string to the air conditioner. They tied a nail to the opposite end of the string. They held the nail, ran away from the air conditioner, flipping the nail back and punctured two holes into the air conditioner. The antifreeze squirted out. Chad thinks this is an unlikely story. I think kids can do things that cannot be repeated in a thousand tries.

Who Shall I Keep?

Our first week in Idaho was spent in an accommodating room at the Days Inn. Even now, when we drive by the hotel, Della will exclaim, "there's our hotel" as if it were a previous home we moved from. The week consisted of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, coloring, reading, more peanut butter and jam sandwiches, more coloring, and the daily frightful outings to look for a place to rent. The rental market was enlightening providing us with the farm house option where the red painted pipes ran along a 6 ft ceiling matched the red bathtub but did not match the sea foam green painted cinder blocks which were the walls. There was carpet to which Klark commented, "I didn't know they made camouflage carpet." The kitchen looked like a fire hazard and the boys were thrilled with all the spiderwebs and spiders they saw in every window, crack, and corner. The carpet in the bathroom was also camouflage although not by design but due to a leaking toilet or where it's target had been miscalculated. Suitable places to rent were usually rented just that morning or met with remarks such as "Are all these children yours? I see. Your deposit will be $5000." After a weekly excursion of address finding, talking to strangers on the telephone which inevitably requires you to ignore your children, repeated nursing stops, and coming up with ideas for my children to help fool the people into thinking they are well behaved with games such as: "Okay, let's pretend we are soldiers at this house and march in a straight line, keep our hands to ourselves, and only speak when spoken too," I was delighted to find a two bedroom, 3rd story apartment available immediately. I immediately filled out the paperwork and signed all the places they told me to when a lady stepped into the room and asked the loaded questions, "Are all these children yours?" With hesitation, I confirmed that they were. "We don't have a place for you. You may only have two people per room and you exceed that number. I am sorry we cannot accommodate you." I left the apartment, called Chad to explain that we were once again homeless, and started crying. Lanse says, "Mom, why are you crying?" to which Klark replied, "She is crying because there are too many people in our family to live there. She has to decide which one of us to give away."

Only in Twin Falls

In a quaint little farm town is a quaint little grocery outlet store. A mother and her three youngest children visit this store unaware that the store only accepts cash or food stamps for its purchases. To her disgruntal, her two year old child discovers Bottlecap candy in all their splendor by eating the middle ones before reaching the checkout counter. This is where the mother learns that only food stamps or cash are acceptable and to her further disgruntal, she finds herself with neither. She disregards her groceries hoping to present the cashier with the necessary 33 cents plus tax to pay for the Bottlecaps. She only has two car wash tokens she got at a parade, broken beads, legos, and Cabela's coins. The cashier will not accept these. She goes to her van hoping to discover coins among the clutter and discard on the floor. She finds 2 cents. She gathers her children, including a nine month old daughter who was referred to twice as a boy, and goes home. She find 40 cents in her son's ball bank, puts a giant flower headband on her nine month old daughter, and returns to the grocery outlet to pay for the Bottlecaps. Her two year old child is very satisfied with the transaction and enjoys the remaining Bottlecaps on the drive home.

Mike the Mailman

Klark has been working on his handwriting. Each day he write a letter in his very best print. One letter went like this: Dear Grandma, I am sick. I need to visit you soon. Love, Klark. This letter made it's way to the mailbox without postage or envelope. The following day Klark found his letter with these words written on it: Dear Klark, I hope you feel better. Mike the Mailman. Next, Klark wrote: Dear Mike the Mailman, thank you for bringing us our mail. From, Klark. Klark included a peice of hard candy with the letter. Mike the Mailman responded: Dear Klark, thank you. My favorite candy is Snickers. Mike the Mailman. A few days later, Mike the Mailman was rewarded with a Sickers Candybar and a note that read: Dear Mike the Mailman, I do not like chocolate very much. From, Klark. Mike the Mailman responded: Dear Klark, it is too bad you do not like chocolate. Thank you for the Snickers. Mike the Mailman. Klark's latest letter reads: Dear Mike the Mailman, I really like bubble gum. Do you have some? From Klark. Updates on the correstpondence with Klark and Mike the Mailman will come.