A Catchy Tune

Here's the chorus of a song I sing to the kids sometimes:

"Talk talk talk don't fight or shout,
talk talk talk 'til it's all worked out"

Here's Jonny's version, (complete with a stomping dance sequence, if you can imagine!)
"Punch...
to work it out!"

Family Night Funnies

Last week, after a lovely family night, we were sitting around the table enjoying milk and cookies for a treat. Jonny, just so you know is a recovering milk- a- holic. He loves milk and used to drink so much of it that he had no room for solid food. So when he turned 2, I cut him down to 3 cups per day (down from a 60oz per day. I just filled him up every time he asked and when I figured out how much he was drinking I was astounded!)
Now that the background is out of the way, you can appreciate the story a little better.
Amelia was dipping her cookies in the milk and dropped one. The cup was quite tall and the cookie was at the bottom. "uh oh! How do I get the cookie out?" she cried.
"you could use a spoon," someone suggested.
"or some tongs!" Jimmy said, making tongs gestures with his fingers.
Only half hearing what Jimmy said, Gary exclaimed "If your tongue is that long..."
While we enjoyed a good laugh, Jonny enjoyed seconds on milk.
When it was time to go put jammies on, Jonny leaped from the table exclaiming "THAT WAS GOOD MILK!" his cookies were left untouched.

What not to do...

About 6 months ago, a friend gifted us 3 eggplant from her garden. I love eggplant parmigiana, so I was excited to receive them and prepare this lovely dish for my family. In an effort to get the kids involved and willing to try new foods, I had them look at pictures and recipes online to choose one that they would like. I prepared the eggplant according to the recipe they chose and served it for dinner that night. They wouldn't touch it. I knew that if they would just try it, they would like it. After all, it's so yummy! So I got the brilliant idea of having a "Yucky Face Contest" where each member of the family would try a bite and make the worst faces they could while they chewed and swallowed. Because, of course they would LOVE it if only they would try it. The kids were eager participants. They chewed and chewed and chewed and made the worst faces I have ever seen. I almost threw up. REALLY. It was that bad. Now I can't think about eggplant parmigiana without getting queasy.

New Age Fundraising

Jimmy's doing a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser at school and he is so excited about it. He saw the "prize" sheet and can't wait to fundraise $1000 to get them ALL.
So I am including a link to his personal fundraising webpage. Please donate, if you feel so inclined!

The Parenting Breakthrough

My sister in law recommended a book to me called "The Parenting Breakthrough." It's about raising responsible children and I fully intend to read it. Last night , I had a breakthrough of my own: I dreamed about my kids. I have never been a parent in my dreams. I dreamed Amelia was in a tricycle race and I was cheering her on. It was a difficult race because it was through an outdoor swimming pool filled with manta rays. The water was up to the seat of the bike and Amelia was upset because she wasn't able to move. I jumped from the stands and pulled her trike while she pedaled. After dodging a few manta rays, we made it to the finish line.

It has taken almost 7 years for my subconcious to recongnize something my concious has known for quite sometime: I'm a mom.

Ugly Cake Party

I would like to invite everyone to participate in an ugly cake party, to celebrate my brother Arthur's 36 birthday. When he was a teenager, he liked to bring ugly cakes to church potlucks, just to see how people would react. Usually, a small child would point to the "pretty cake" and ask for a piece and the mom would say "are you sure you want THAT one?" As Arthur died 12 years ago in a canoeing accident, I'd like to do a little something to help the kids get to know the uncle they've never met.

So, if you feel inclined, on or about FEB 22,
bake and frost a cake, (have fun with color!)
take a picture and send it to me (email is great, or if there's a way you can leave a photo comment here, do that)
eat the cake with your family and share fun memories of those who aren't with you

She's a firecracker and I like her like that!

Driving in the car the other day, the kids and I heard a song come on the radio. I think the lyrics said "she's a firecracker and I like her like that." It was something like that. Maybe you know the song. Anyway, Amelia asked what that meant. (She's been asking that a lot lately, about all of those nursery rhyme songs and they are so hard to explain ex: that Loch Lomond song)
The conversation went something like this:
A: How is a person like a firecracker.
Me: Well... what is a firecracker like?
A: I don't know what that is.
J: It's like fireworks.
Me: It is a small firework that you can light with a match and it explodes and makes a flash and loud sound. What else? How do think firecrackers make people feel?
A: But how do people explode?
Me: Well... sometimes when people get angry, they start yelling but it's suddenly. You never know when it will happen. Out of control. So how do fireworks make you feel?
A: Excited!
J: too loud!
Me: So if someone is like a firecracker, they are loud, flashy, exciting, out of control.
A: Hey! I AM LIKE A FIRECRACKER! except i'm not flashy.

Tag!

I've been tagged by my sister Leslie (see TimesandSorensens at the side)
Here's the deal
A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was home working as a data entry temp, raising money for spring/summer tuition at BYU. This was the last time I lived at home.
Later in 1998, I met my husband, Gary.

5 things on my to-do list today (2/2/08):
Go to the library
bathe the kids
help Amelia write her talk
that’s it (Should I add stuff, just so I look busy?)

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1 apples
2 cookies
3 prunes
4 cheese
5 grapes

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
I don’t think on a grand enough scale to answer this question. My first thought was laser eyes for Gary, but then what do I do with the $999,995,000 left over?
Oh yes- a small airplane for Gary, and a small farm with an air strip so he can take off and land right from home. That ought to make commuting fun! Okay. I take that back. I do know how to spend large amounts of cash. So when I’m done spoiling Gary, I’d give the rest to LDS Humanitarian aid and Heifer International.
I have lived:
Pittsburg, CA; Provo, UT; Payson, UT; University Park, PA; Isola Delle Femmine, Sicily

5 jobs that I have had:
1 intern at a early intervention center
2 telemarket researcher
3 data entry (temp work)
4 vacuum/small appliance repair
5 maintenance dispatcher

5 Things people don't know about me:
1 I really like aerobics.
2 I like fried egg and peanut butter sandwiches, although I only eat one every few years
3 As a child, I was convinced that ice cream men were kidnappers.
4 I keep a dream diary of the really bizarre dreams I have and one day hope to string them together into a Sundance Film.
5 I took an online Esperanto class once, when I felt like I was taking life too seriously. I stuck with it long enough to feel ridiculous and don’t remember a thing.

And I'll tag Holly, Tracie, and Rachel because they are the only other bloggers I know!

Snopes Mini: Go Up, Thou Bald Head

Welcome to Snopes Mini, where we debunk urban legends one at a time. In fact, I have only one myth to dispel today.

Claim: Baldness, or lack thereof, is inherited from one's mother's father.

Status: False.
I don't see the top of my own head very often. So I was pretty surprised to discover this a couple of weeks ago. I was especially surprised because I have always been taught that I would go my whole life with a full head of hair because my maternal grandfather did so.

I'm not too upset about it. I'm more amused that I didn't know, and that Tracy didn't tell me.

And what, you may ask, does this have to do with the kiddodiddos? Nothing for now, but it will in about 25 years (hee hee Jimmy!).

Jazz Tonight!

Tonight's Jazz game is in Washington, D.C., and the kiddodiddo family will be there! The game is on ESPN at 8:00 Eastern (6:00 Mountain, 5:00 Pacific). If you watch, try to find us high up in the stands. No, higher than that. Higher. A little higher. Yes, that's it, higher up than the cameras are capable of filming, so don't try to find us after all. I guess we'd better begin the treacherous ascent to our seats at about 7:30.

(Why such high seats, you ask? Maybe I'm just cheap. But I have a good reason: I can't stand to financially support someone else's team more than is necessary. Tracy came up with a better reason: if it's like last year's game, most of the cheap seats will be occupied by fellow Jazz fans.)