The Sweetest Thing

Jonny and Simon make a great pair. I really enjoy their interactions when the biggers kids are away at school. Today they made up a new game to brighten my day. Basically, they jump off the stairs and race to kiss mom and then do it again. So while I was packing boxes, I was smothered in smooches by my cute little boys.

Like father, like son

In the spring, Gary played his clarinet for a local production of the musical Crazy for You. Since Daddy was participating, the kiddodiddos really got into it. James memorized all the words to all the songs. He knew all of the characters names, and when I took him to go see the final performance, he explained a lot of things to me in whispers.
When Gary got an email announcing the auditions for their latest performance, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat all of the kids got really excited and wanted to try out. James was the only one old enough (many tears were shed over that), so last weekend, he and Gary set off to audition for the play. James sang "Slap that Bass." I would have paid money to see that! Gary sang "I can't be bothered now." He also had to do a little dance. I would have paid money to see that! (Well I did see that, when they practiced, but on the stage it would have been different.)
They both got parts! James will be in the children's chorus and Gary will be Levi, one of Joseph's brothers.
I am excited to see them explore their talents. I already knew Gary could sing, but I had no idea it interested Jimmy so much too.
You can wish them luck, (but PLEASE don't tell them 'break a leg!')

Swimming

The kids and I spent days in August at the swimming pool. I didn't want to pay for swimming lessons since last year, at least one the kids was always crying poolside instead of in the water. I figured if I exposed them to the water enough times with out any pressure to perform, they'd figure things out on their own. They did!
By the time the pool closed for the season, Jimmy could do a pretty good freestyle and backstroke and an imitation butterfly. He can also dive off of the diving board! It's a nice standing dive too. He can also do a flip. I think he spent most of his pool time in line for the diving boards. I am amazed at what he taught himself to do.
Amelia taught herself a freestyle and to swim underwater. She doesn't have much stamina, but at least she is not afraid.
Jonny wears floaties in the water an loves to jump in from the side. He did that over and over. One day he explained to me (mid jump) "I'm getting baptized!" He can really get around with floaties on. He also said he loves the feeling of being underwater and bobbing up to the top.
Simon did not like the pool at first. I think mostly, he did not like to be cold. After awhile, he would wade or toss a ball in the pool, but enjoyed being on the pool deck even more, especially when there were pretty butterflies to chase.
Sorry there aren't any pictures. They would have been cute. You'll have to use your imagination!

Some things I'd much rather blog about

Here's a brief recap of some of our summer fun in California:
-the pedal boats at Stow Lake on Grandma's birthday (even if Amelia said she and Jonny thought they might drown)
-the Exploratorium with Molly and the girls- they were real troopers, staying the entire day at the museum. I loved the shadow room that takes pictures of everyone's shadows. We really got in to that.
-trying to carve a totem pole in John and Molly's back yard (while it didn't work, it sure was a lot of fun)
-Alameda's fourth of July parade- after years of hearing about it, we finally went. The best part was my siblings running commentary on the parade entries. The best entry, in my opinion, was the dad on roller blades, pushing his daughter in a Mr Magoo car. She will remember that for a life time. The cub scouts on bikes were cool too
-watching Ginger's homemade films- Chocolate Rain anyone?
-watching the baby turtles eat snails. Really, the best part of that was the shrieks of laughter and the running nature commentary by Amelia and the cousins
-playing with my old fisher price little people with the kids
-doing yard work with my parents

What's the hold up?

When Amelia got her cast off, I planned to take a picture of all the kids lined up, hands in the air (roller coaster style)to show off all of their beautiful straight, unbroken arms. Unfortunately, when Amelia got her cast off, her arm was anything but straight. The doctor assured me that was normal (because of the extent of the damage) and that her arm would be straight after 2 to 3 weeks of normal usage. Over the course of 3 weeks, her arm relaxed from a 90 degree angle to a 30 degree angle (0 being straight.) It never progressed past that point, so she went back to the doctor.
He also told me that it was the worst broken arm he has seen in the last 5 years, including the years he spent at a trauma center. He said he has never had to refer a child for therapy on a broken arm before, but there is a first time for everything.
For the last 10 days, Amelia has been seeing an occupational therapist. She explained that the scar on the outside of her arm has matching scar tissue underneath the skin, preventing the arm from straightening and that the muscles, etc have shortened as a result. She gave Amelia (and me) a routine to follow twice a day including heat, massage and stretches. She also made a custom splint for Amelia to wear off and on through the day and all night (of course Amelia's sensitive skin reacts to the splint, but what can you do?) The good news is that it is working- her arm opens to 10 degrees now. It looks almost straight. Hopefully, it won't be long before we can put this long and drawn out chapter behind us.
So anyway, I'll give up on the whole straight arms picture for now and move on to things I'd rather remember, like the fun parts of summer vacation or the first day of school.

Cheese!

During the sacrament service at church last week, Simon had an unusual request. When Gary passed him the bread he said "I want some cheese with my bread."

Flashback!

I was just cleaning off a shelf and loading the contents into a box when I found a scrap of paper where I had scribbled a note to myself about a blog post.

Imagine that it is 2 years ago. Jonny is about 2 years old, a young 2. He was sitting at the table enjoying breakfast of milk, seconds on milk, and probably thirds on milk too, also a bowl of cereal that he looks at while he drinks milk and then dump in the trash. He started talking about the Titanic, which Jimmy was really into at the time. Here is what he said:
The Titanic sank down into the water. The icy water. The ICY water. (shivery voice.) We can go on a boat too. My bathing suit is in the car.

I was really surprised that he had so much to say about the Titanic and that he wanted to ride on a it. At least he thought it out, planning for his bathing suit.