Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Prayer Time!

A few days ago, Jonny was saying the bedtime prayer for our family and he got stuck (he tried to close it up after "thank you for the food.") "thank you for President Hinckley" I prompted. He burst out laughing. "NOT President Hinckley! President Monson!" I was surprised that my 2 year old caught my mistake.

Monday, April 28, 2008

A Manicure

Sunday, the kids were trimming their nails and Jimmy offered to paint Amelia's fingernails. I thought that was very sweet, so I set them up at the table and gave them plenty of paper towels, etc and let him have at it. He did a great job painting her fingernails and toes. He was so meticulous. He concentrated so hard, bending close so he did not miss a spot. When I checked over his handiwork, I noticed a couple of blobs of paint. Upon closer inspection, I realized he had very carefully painted over some warts!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Jimmy

Here's Jimmy school picture that I forgot to mail out. He doesn't have that adorable gap in his teeth anymore... but he's still cute. If you want a wallet size copy, just leave a comment and I'll put it in the mail.
Here's Jimmy doing Jump Rope for Heart. He sure had a great time at that event and appreciated the your support.

Name Change

Amelia has now officially requested to be called Amy. This request came shortly before her birthday last week. She writes it on all of her papers and introduces herself to others as "Amy" so I think she means it. "I like how it sounds" and "it reminds me of a beak" are some of the reasons she has given to support the switch.

that reminds me of a funny- Yesterday, I dropped her off at preschool and she was reluctant to go. She always has been reluctant to go when this teacher is in charge. Yesterday, she finally confided in me: Mom, she talks to us like we're little kids.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Sweet Serenade

A few nights ago, Jimmy sneaked out of bed to sing me a song. It was a cute little song all about reading, called "Reading." He learned it at school.
"Reading is fun-damental..." he sang soulfully. While he sang out his heart about reading books and things kids like to do (follow fashion trends, ride bikes, watch tv) Jonny sneaked up behind him and joined in: "I can read my ukelele, I can read my ukelele, I can read my ukelele.." he crowed. He sang on key and it really was quite lovely to hear the boys harmonizing together. Maybe you had to be there...
I tried to get a reprise the next morning, but neither one was up to it.

Relax!

A couple of months ago, I asked Amelia what she wanted for her birthday. She told me she wanted "one of those chairs that shake." She saw one (a massage chair) on the tv and thought it was funny. Friday, I happened to see a massage chair on display at our Costco and was reminded of her birthday wish. So I got her out of the shopping cart, put her in the chair and turned it on. I wish I could have captured the expression on her face. BIG eyes, huge grin. She sank into the chair and said "I could sit here all day!" Then it was Jonny's turn. He squealed with delight and kept turning around to see who was poking him. "Hey you,"he laughed "Hey you chair!" As if it there was a person he couldn't see. Of course, I sat in the chair too... it was great, but my reactions were not quite as dramatic. So maybe next time you're at Costco with a little one that you love, put him or her in the massage chair and see what they do... it's priceless!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

And now it's been ten years

Yesterday marked ten years from when I returned home from my mission in Brazil. Surprisingly to me, I didn't think much about it, good or bad. It's the same as if it had been eight years, or twelve. It was a defining period in my life, but I've had so many more wonderful experiences, and more trying ones, that I don't feel defined by it anymore.

Yesterday also marked the arrival of our new friend:


Shake, shake, shake your Roomba! The kids love it. Simon was a little nervous at first, but today he was watching it intently. The other kids love to watch and chase it. It also gives us a bargaining chip toward clean rooms: "okay kids, are your rooms 'Roomba Ready'?" What a great little robot! Thanks to Leslie and Jake for the suggestion (and for sharing a coupon to get Roomba for cheaper)!

Sliding with Simon



Yesterday was a glorious spring day. The blossoms were out and the weather was warm enough to spend the afternoon playing on the lawn. Simon liked sliding! I put him on the top and he would wiggle and kick until he started to slide down. At that point I would catch him and help him safely to the bottom. Toward the end, he enjoyed it and started to walk his hands forward down the slide.
Also, there is a picture of him after his morning shower. I noticed that his eyes were the same beautiful blue as the towel. Didn't the camera catch that nicely?!

Spring Break at First Landing State Park

Here's is our backwards Spring Break. I call it backwards because the pictures ended up in almost the exact opposite order that I wanted them. Enjoy!
This is the play area at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. The kids loved running around/climbing here. If you ever go to Mt Trashmore, bring your kite. From what I hear, there's always a breeze.
This is a historic light house that is on some army base. Jimmy and Amelia were the only kids tall enough to enter. So here they are, about to enter.

Here's what it looks inside a light house. The view from the top was fabulous. We could see the ocean and it was beautiful blue. As soon as we got to the top, the kids were ready to run back down the stairs. Hence no picture of the fabulous view.
On the board walk of Virginia Beach, they have this cool sculpture that is a school of fish. The kids loved running among the fish. Here is Jonny explaining to Gary that this one is his favorite.

We stayed in a lovely little cabin at First Landing State Park and the kids LOVED running in one door and out the other. Jonny paused for a picture.
Amelia loves pinecones. She was in seventh heaven at the cabin. She collected enough pinecones to line the pathway from the van to the cabin.
Jimmy found a ping pong ball under the deck and spent quite a bit of time bouncing it around on the screen porch.
At Mount Trashmore, there was a lake and Gary tried to teach us to skip rocks. I say tried because none of us actually learned.
The kids played together for hours climbing in and out of these cupboards. They called them animal cages. Jimmy was a gerbil, Amelia was a kitty and Jonny was a puppy. The cupboards were also excellent for hide and seek.


We hiked the Cypress Swamp Trail. Jimmy said it was stinky, but my sense of smell is so bad I have no idea if it was stinky or not. We check out a back pack of supplies from the ranger station. It had all kinds of things inside to make the hike interesting. The kids loved playing with this electronic bird song identifier. For awhile I thought "Gee it's wonderful to be out in nature and hear all of these birds" then I realized it was the bird machine.

Here's a picture to prove Simon was on the trip too!
Say CHEESE! I hope you enjoyed the trip!