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!

Easter Cheer

Easter Sunday was a quiet affair at our house, due to a surprise visit by the Easter Bunny on Saturday. (Silly bunny, he must have forgotten to check his calendar.)
The children sang in sacrament meeting (Jesus Once was a Little Child), and Jimmy sang very sweetly. He has done this several times before and is a seasoned pro. This was only Amelia's second time and she was determined to be angry about it. She put on her frowniest face and marched up to the front of the chapel. As the children sang, she did the signs they had been taught and slowly began to enjoy herself. Then she would realize that she was enjoying herself and (since she was determined to be angry)put on her frown again. Then the music would get to her and she'd start to smile and enjoy herself. Then she would remember she was mad and frown again. It really was quite funny to watch! When it was over, she leaned her elbows on the rail, leaned her head on her hands and sighed. She just stayed there, looking very put out for a full minute. I think someone had to tell her to sit down, but I'm not too sure. What a drama queen!

Phun with the Phone (Photo catch up)

Here are some fun photos that took and meant to share, but never did. They were taken with the camera in my cell phone, so they are kind of fuzzy. Some were taken by Jonny so they are even fuzzier. Maybe they will give you warm fuzzies!

This picture was taken one night when everyone was lying around being cute. Jimmy was doing karate chops, Jonny was admiring his double sided crochet hook, Gary and Amelia were admiring Simon. I just thought I'd document the "domestic bliss."

Jonny really wanted to take a picture of me. So here I am feeding Simon some baby food.

Third times the charm! (or maybe it was the 6th, but who was counting:)

Amelia put this headband on Simon and I thought it was a cute photo op.

Then she put it on herself. Still cute!

Then Jonny put it on. I think they would make a lovely flower garden.

Jonny couldn't resist the chance to be a baby with Simon. (and request a photo) They sure look like brothers!

Here's Jimmy in his favorite outfit- camoflauge pants and shirt. I had to explain because I'll bet you can't see him on the "lovey couch." (that's what one of the kids nicknamed the loveseat)

Jump Rope for Heart

Jimmy thanks all who sponsored him in the Red Cross Jump Rope for Heart event held at his school. He drew a cute picture of himself jumping rope and I'll put it up as soon as I get the scanner working. He did lots of jumping and bouncing around and even won a prize- it's a stick that launches a spinning glowing thing! Who wouldn't be thrilled to have one of those! It looks like a UFO if you launch it in your room after lights out!

Our Ugly Cake

All right, since I encouraged everyone to make ugly cakes, here's the one that I made. Jonny and Amelia chose the colors, inside and out. Too bad you can't see the inside. It was orange and pink and green and yellow and blue. Violent shades of each. I meant to spend the cake time telling the kids cute stories and showing them pictures of relatives near, far, and/or dead, but things didn't turn out that way. We just talked about plagarism. I don't know how it came up. It just did. Then we had to explain what that meant, which led to a discussion of who really made up "to tie my shoe, to say P-U" which lead into a discussion of things that are stinky and then... well you get the idea.

Jimmy's Birthday

Happy Birthday to you (one week late)
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Jimmy!
Happy Birthday to you!

(the post is a week late, not the party)
After a bout with the flu that knocked Jimmy out for a week, I was doubtful that he would be well for his birthday. But he was! His friends came over for an army themed party and had a great time. Jimmy insisted that they play "Don't eat Pete!" which is not an army themed game, but is well loved nonetheless. In fact, one of the party guests went home and taught her family to play that night. (http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/2007/06/dont-eat-pete.html)

Rabbit Ears

Here are our cute little spring bunnies! I accidently deleted the picture where everyone is smiling, but the kids are cute no matter what!
(you get an extra of Jonny because he loves having his picture taken right now!)
Oh yes! In the group shot, Jonny is wearing the shamrock hat that Amelia made in her Ladybugs playschool. It's adorable no matter who is wearing it!

Song Writers

Do all kids make up crazy songs, or is it just mine? Jonny's latest one line wonder "Hey I like your bottom!" cracks me up, but I hope he doesn't sing it at church!
I guess it makes sense that he notices bottoms because that's about his eye level!

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.)

Good Imagination

It was dinner time and I was holding Simon on my lap. He wiggled his index finger up and down, a very subtle movement. Jimmy exclaimed in an amazed voice:
HEY! It is like I am getting on a plane and Simon just asked to check my identification!

Hobbies

Amelia likes to rip things. I always wondered why her floor is covered in little bits of paper and why so many books are missing pages. Finally, I asked her about this. She said she just likes the sound. So I decided it was time for a new hobby. Last month she took up sewing, made a bean bag and then got bored. I offered to teach her to knit. I only know one stitch, but I figured that would be plenty for a 4 year old. I hoped that she would like the sound of the needles clicking better than the sound of ripping.

I took Amelia and the little boys to the store to buy supplies. I was very surprised when Jonathan got very excited by the knitting needles and crochet hooks. I got the fattest pair of knitting needles I could find and handed them to Amelia. Jonny insisted I buy a crochet hook for him too. I thought perhaps he was feeling left out, so I bought a large crochet hook, one that would be good for child hands.

Over the course of a few days, I taught Amelia to cast on, which she does very independantly and the basic knit stitch, which she needs minimal guidance. She does four per day because she is four.

Jonny enjoys his crochet hook. He carries it in the hammer loop of his pants. He especially likes it because it is rounded "like a rocket." He also likes knitting, because it provides a sword for each hand.

Baby Talk

I was awakened at 3:30 this morning. Not unusual. The unusual thing was that I was hearing baby talk over the baby monitor. Why in the world is Amelia talking like a baby in the middle of the night? I wondered. Then I realized, it was Simon cooing and ahh-ing and mu mu-ing! He amused himself in this manner for half an hour!

Snow!

It snowed! And the snow was perfect for frolicking with the kids. Early in the day, Amelia, Jonny and I made a snow man and tried to sled. The snow was perfect for snowmen, but too sticky for the sled. We enjoyed smacking snow from the branches and stomping around too. When Jimmy got home from school, he and I made a snow fort "together." When I was done, he climbed behind the wall of snow and gleefully exclaimed "So where's YOUR snow fort, Mom?" Finally, when it was getting dark, I thought of taking a picture or two... so enjoy these doctored photos. (they showed up black, but I was able to get shadows by playing with the contrast, etc)










Finally, after 6 years of trying, we made a snowman to be proud of. I think that having kids old enough to get the idea helped. Millie provided pinecones from her collection to make eyes and buttons for our man of snow.

The Super Hero Craze Continues

I am pleased to announce the arrival of our most elaborate super hero yet... Cookie Man (created by Jonathan.) He is "really fast" and has a costume too! (this one ups Crismon Shedds, Fire Girl and Shella Shedds who happen to "look and dress just like" Jimmy and Amelia. Cookie Man wears blue goggles and a yellow blanket for a cape. My only question is "Where's my camera when I need it?"

Jeopardy! Online Test for January 2008

Greetings, fellow Americans. It's time to register for the Jeopardy! Online Test, the first step to appearing on the world's greatest game show. A successful test may lead to an in-person tryout, and Tracy can tell you how fun that is!

Given to Fly

Tracy gave me a very thoughtful birthday present. She sent me on a discovery flight with Av-Ed Flight School. That means I went flying yesterday in a very small airplane!

The instructor and I chose a two-seat model, the Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse, tail number N781MA. I was surprised about 90 seconds after takeoff when the instructor told me to take the controls and fly a certain heading and altitude. I flew most of the flight, other than takeoff and landing. It was really fun!

You can view photos from my flying adventure. The instructor and I took some better photos with his camera, and he should be sending me those soon.

You can also view a map showing our approximate route.

Catch Up?

Sorry it's a bit out of order, but in the interest of time, I give up!
Simon was in the hospital for a few days just prior to Christmas. Jimmy remarked it was kind of scary to see Simon all hooked up. Yes, it was kind of scary, but it did help him recover from RSV and pneumonia. Here is Simon, hookeed up to his oxygen, IV/antibiotic, and oxygen monitor. While he didn't lie in the bed very much, here he is getting some much needed sleep. He mostly wanted to be held.
One day, Gary took the boys to finish Christmas shopping and Amelia came to the hospital to keep me and Simon company. We set up our spare Christmas tree (I always think of selling it on Ebay, but can never bring myself to do so) and cut out decorations for it. Also strung on the tree are the toys we found in the diaper bag. That night, before the others came back, she and I had a dinner for two, splitting the hospital meal that was brought. Amelia was great company.
Here is Simon, feeling much better after all of the treatments. He was alert and off of the oxygen and IV at this point, getting ready to go home. You can see the oxygen monitor, making his toe glow red.

Amelia was delighted to discover that she was promoted to a backless booster seat (for the car) on Christmas morning.
My brother and his wife came to celebrate Christmas with us and while they were here, his oldest daughter Sara turned 4. I was excited to make her a cookie monster cake as my own kids have not wanted cookie monster cakes on thier own birthdays. Amelia wanted a huge party with games, but the hour was late when they arrived and we settled for decorations and cake.
Simon enjoys the exersaucer that he got for Christmas, thanks to all who sent gift cards, this is what you got him!

The day after Christmas, we decided to sight see with my brother and his kids. We went to Gettysburg (I forgot the camera) and the following day we went to the National Mall. The natural history museum was overcrowded, but the monuments were not. Here we are at the Lincoln Memorial. The kids were not happy. Jimmy had contracted pink eye and the rest were tired. We strolled past the Vietnam Wall, the White House and the National Christmas Tree on the way back to the Metro Station. Here are my cute neices, Emily and Sara. They sat on my lap and ran with the kiddodiddos while their parents enjoyed the WWII Memorial.
Here is Jimmy, opening his magic set on Christmas morning. He delighted and amazed us all with his magic tricks, (especially his cousin Sara who would squeal with delight every time) until I, in a sleep deprived stupor, shouted out "hey he's got two balls!" and ruined the trick. He still has plenty of other tricks, but I kick myself just thinking of it.

Oh yeah, and Jonny found a new way to enjoy the choo choo train and Nephite temple the kids got for Christmas:

This is my hat

In nursery at church today, Jonny made a hat. It's one of those head bands that has a sentence on it about the lesson and the kids color/scribble on it.
Me: Jonny what does your hat say?
Jonny: I am a vampire.
Me: No, I am a child of...
Jonny: child of God BECAUSE I am a vampire.

An Awkward Question

The other day Jimmy asked me a hard question. He hemmed and hawed for quite a while before he finally spit it out.
Jimmy: Mom? Why.............
Mom? Why do you and Dad.............
Ummm............Why do you and Dad.......................
Why do you and Dad sometimes say Calgon take me away?



And for those of you who did not watch enough tv in the 1980's, here is an explaination courtesy of Wikipedia:
"Calgon, take me away!"

Coty's Calgon logo
This commercial was for Calgon bath and beauty products.
In this advertisement, a woman is seen in a chaotic home scenario. As tension rises, she utters her famous line "Calgon, take me away!". The next scene shows her relaxing in a luxurious bath in a quiet room.

Mom guess what? When Simon woke up I said the pledge of allegiance to him.
- Amelia
What a patriotic way to start the day.

Super Heros and Such

Yesterday, Amelia told me:
I don't like princesses anymore. I like super heroes like Superman, Bubble Gum Girl and Wind Girl. Bubble Gum Girl is made of bubble gum and she blows giant bubbles to catch bad guys in. Wind girl blows bad guys away.

I panicked for a minute, thinking about Christmas. Not to worry, today she likes princesses again.

Things that make you say hmmmm

A few quotes from recent days:
"Mom, you are kind of like a boy, because when we play I never know what you are going to say."
- Amelia, age 4

"It's Nicholas, the fish!!!!"
- Jonathan, age 2, holding up a 2 inch piece of bread crust

"This is how you do archery."
- Jimmy, age 6, while wildly waving a toilet paper tube at a plastic penguin

"It's my pistol."
- Jimmy, age 6, proudly displaying a plastic fish shoved into a paper towel tube. Jimmy chose this pistol as his quiet toy at church, but declined to put it in the church bag, "because it might go off and shoot the Donald Duck."

Humor, Interrupted

I recently had a nice conversation with the interrupting happy frog, who politely waited his turn instead of interrupting.

Here's how I got there.

As a kid, my siblings and I must have worn out our parents' patience with knock-knock jokes. I think we had a book of them. For example:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
Dewey.
Dewey who?
Dewey have to listen to all this knocking?

Or:

int repetitions = 3;//for extra annoyance, make this 4
for (int i = 3; i > 0; i++) {
Knock-knock!
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
}
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

One of my brothers, who in his strenuous defense was very young, decided that the following would be a real zinger:
Knock-knock!
Who's there?
Eggs.
Eggs who?
Eggs in your face!

For added zing, he sometimes substituted words like "eyeballs" or "glasses" for "face." I remember groaning at those knock-knock-eggs jokes. I knew that one day I would have ultra-funny children, who would all inherit my dad's humor genes, and we would have a grand time.

Fast forward to about 1998. My sister called me from college (or maybe she called me when I was at college; I can't remember) to tell me the following knock-knock joke. It's great and I hate to spoil it for you, but I have heard it told on both sides of the family so if you are related to us you have probably already heard it. Okay, here it goes:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
The interrupting cow.
The interru... ...MOOOOOOOOO!

I cracked up. After living in humor-deficient Brazil for the previous two years, I was so happy to hear a truly funny joke with an unexpected twist. The days of bad knock-knock jokes about eggs in my various body parts and accessories were long gone.

Or were they still to come?

Fast forward to about 2004, when Jimmy had become a great talker and very clever too. I was explaining the concept of knock-knock jokes to him. I told him the interrupting cow joke to illustrate. Then, for some reason I'm sure the five people I meet in heaven will ask me about and I will still be at a loss to answer, I thought I would teach this precocious but still three-year-old kiddodiddo the difference between a good knock-knock joke and a bad knock-knock joke. So I told him the eggs one. (I was young and I was foolish.) The wheels in his three-year-old mind labored furiously, and half a minute later he came back with the following knee-slapper:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
The interrupting egg...craaaack!

The interrupting egg. How quaint. It was really funny at the time, but I fear I have permanently damaged his humor quotient. We'll see.

The result is that our kids now believe that all good knock-knock jokes involve some animal or object or phrase interrupting someone. For example, here was Amelia's contribution:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
The interrupting princess!
The interrupting princess who?
(Imagine that sounds of crickets they play in movies when they want you to imagine silence, and then...)
Daaaance!

Unfortunately for Amelia and Jonathan, they have not figured out how to interrupt yet in this context. They are very good interrupters at other times, especially Amelia, but they don't get the interruption in the interrupting knock-knock jokes they concoct.

This year, two-year-old Jonathan became a major league talker, and once he learned about interrupting knock-knock jokes, he made up a two-parter. First he told us this one (dictated in his two-year-old accent):

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
The intewupting happy fwog.
The interrupting happy frog who?
(That cricket sound, then in a syrupy sweet voice...)
Wibbit, wibbit!

Next came the pièce de resistance:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
The intewupting bad fwog.
The interrupting bad frog who?
(Crickets, then in his best growling voice...)
WIBBIT! WIBBIT!

It was then, during my laughter, that I realized that kids don't have to have a grown-up sense of humor to be delightful joke tellers. They enjoy telling jokes because they want to entertain, because they see us giggling at jokes. I'm grateful for our very clever children. I hope they will always try to smile and laugh.

Our Weekend with Pooh and Friends

Friday, Jimmy came home from school with and extra backpack. It contained Rabbit and Tigger, two of Winnie the Pooh's friends. It also contained a toothbrush, a blanket, 2 movies, a book (the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), and a journal to record the wonderful things they did together. He unpacked the backpack, and set Rabbit and Tigger on the shelf, "I'm putting them up high, in case we have a pie fight."
We don't normally pie fight. In fact, we don't ever pie fight, but I can take a hint. So, I told the kids if they cleaned up their rooms, they could have a pie fight, using up the remaining whipped cream from Thanksgiving. Finally, after dinner, with their rooms clean, I handed them each a whipped cream pie on the patio. They had an unusual strategy. Jimmy began flinging handfuls of pie at Amelia, to make it last longer. Amelia decided to wait it out so she could have the last laugh. When it was over, Amelia looked kind of like the spotted dog, with splotches of whipped cream covering one eye and the rest of her body. Jimmy grinned triumphantly "Did I win?!" he asked. Rabbit and Tigger watched on from a camp chair.
We also decorated the tree, with mostly non breakable ornaments. The kids decorated one side really well (the ornaments have already begun their annual migration across the tree.) Jimmy's contribution was to place a photo ornament of himself over the star at the top of the tree! Amelia put some ballet shoes (?) on the tree. The ward party followed that night. Very well done, with a play dough activity to occupy kids on the stage during the mingle portion.
Jimmy gave a cute talk on Sunday beginning "Hi my name is Jimmy S___..." He seemed very comfortable behind the pulpit and remarked later that he liked speaking there very much.
So what did he write about in Pooh's journal? Something like: We read the book but didn't have time to watch the movie.
OH well, at least I enjoyed the time!

Thanksgiving

"I am thankful that it is fall because if it was winter, I would have to go south before transforming into a shark."
Jimmy, age 6

Oh the JOY!

To quote Lewis and Clark: O the Joy!

Today was our ward's primary program. Jimmy and Amelia each had speaking parts. And they said them into the microphone. End of story.
(Stop here if you aren't in the mood for my venting.)

To fully appreciate what happened today, we must revisit last week when (horror or horrors) Amelia was forced to wear tights to church. She hated tights, but at least they kept her underpants covered better than her (flipped up) dress. She put up such a stink over the tights, I took her to the store to buy bloomers this week, hoping to solve the modesty issue this way. Unfortunately, she didn't like bloomers any more than she liked tights. This put her in an unfortunate mood for the primary program today.

Gary always handles behavior issues at church. He says it's a man's responsibility and what ever he says to them in the lobby always seems to work, so I keep out of it. We haven't had an incident at church for months. Unfortunately, he was out of town today, (leaving for California after lovingly strapping the rest of us into the van to go to church.)
I lead the music in sacrament meeting, so I rushed the family in so I could put up the hymn numbers before the meeting. As I posted the numbers, two of my four children began crying loudly. The third was punching the others and the fourth was under the bench. I quickly asked someone else to lead the music and ushered the kids to the overflow section where we would be less of a distraction. The howling stopped, but Amelia would only stand on her chair and Jonathan kept tipping over chairs so we vacated to the lobby where I carefully explainned that the Halloween candy would be going in the trash unless they shaped up. We made another attempt at the overflow section but ended up in the lobby again. They were lined up on the couch with Simon crying, Jimmy punching Amelia (for saying "tina you fat lard, come get your dinner-" we read it on a t shirt the day before and she still thought it was funny. Why it inspired violence, I'll never know.) and Jonathan out the doors. When Jonny escaped, Jimmy thought that was hilarious and Amelia thought it was a good idea. She followed suit. Some guy offered to hold Simon while hauled the 2 squirming escape artists back into the church. Then the bishop announced it was time for the children to come forward for the primary program.
Jimmy and Amelia went to the front. Jonny, Simon, and I calmly took our places in the back. Amelia wouldn't sit down. Everyone stood up to sing. She sat down. Everyone sat down, she got up and started jumping around. Her teacher tried talking to her. She ran around in circles on the stand. Finally, sandwiched between two members of the primary presidency she sat until it was her turn to go to the microphone and say "I am thankful for Italian food." Then she bolted out the door. I caught her and she "sat" with me. Jonny got tired of Amelia having all the fun, so he decided to try some antics of his own. Fortunately, he wasn't able to figure out the door to leave. The relief society president, realizing I was outnumbered, offered to take one of the kids. I handed her Jonathan, and he sat quietly on her lap for the remainder of the meeting. Simon got fussy, so I discreetly fed him in the back of the meeting room. I didn't want to miss Jimmy give his part. Amelia amused herself by taking off her shoes and socks. At this point, Amelia decided to "haunt" the aisles by walking up and down them with a blanket over her head. Fortunately, she didn't make the "WOO" sound that real ghosts make. So I dashed up the aisle to catch her; when I caught up, I realized that I couldn't carry her and Simon so I deposited him on a nearby bench while I hauled my ghostie to the back. Then I went to retrieve my poor baby boy. Then it was time for Jimmy to say his part. We stayed long enough to hear him say "I can serve my brother Simon by giving him a hug." A nice lady I was sitting by took Simon and I firmly marched Amelia out to the lobby, where we sat VERY REVERENTLY until the end of the meeting.
I cheerfully sent the kids off to primary and nursery and settled down to enjoy Sunday School with Simon. Really, I was cheerful. Simon started to whine and I remembered "oh yeah- you have a dirty diaper." After changing his diaper I settled down in the stinky solitude that is the mother's lounge. Amelia's teacher stuck her head in the door... Drat, she found me!

I suppose I should have been mad, but I wasn't. Just a little frustrated that I didn't have enough arms!

Catch Up: Photos from the last 6 months

Jonny's other birthday suit. He was busy watching Shark Boy and Lava Girl when this photo was snapped. The morning ride to the school bus.
Halloween pumpkins- Jimmy's has an identical smile on the other side.

August was occupied by bargain Tae Kwon Do lesssons.
Take a picture of me with my ponies!
Take a picture of me with my brother!

A couple of weeks ago, I took my kids and the children of a friend to the temple grounds and visitor's centers. Here's a few photos from the trip. I really like this picture of Henry touching Jesus feet. Don't we all wish we could do that?

The kids enjoyed a quiet moment, taking in the statue of the Savior. (L-R Jonathan, Amelia, Evalyn)

Many Saturdays were spent waiting for Daddy at the airport last spring/summer. Thankfully the travel has slowed down.
One of the precious bouquets that 4 year olds give their mothers. Enjoy them while you can!
Hiding the evidence: Jonathan has a goatee of Qwik (from eatting it out of the can) and sat on the can in an attempt to hide his mischief.
Our first family fishing trip. Notice the stylish matching do rags!
Everyone has a hobby- Jonathan's happens to be spinning salad.

Halloween Lingers On

RIght before Halloween, Jimmy came home from school talking about his classroom jack o lantern. It was really gross, he said. It was totally disgusting and slimy inside. Given his comments, I figured he didn't want to carve his own pumpkin, which was decorated with Halloween-y stickers.

Two days ago, almost a full week after Halloween, he asked if he could carve his pumpkin. I was surprised, but agreed to carve out whatever he drew on the pumpkin. Our knives are REALLY sharp and I didn't want him to get hurt (as an aside, I sliced through my finger about a year after we got married and had to have it stitched- same knife, still sharp!) He drew two mouths on the pumpkin, one on each side. Similarly, I carved Amelia's pumpkin. She opted for the whole face.

At lunch yesterday, the kids amused themselves with the jack o lanterns. Jonny fed Jimmy's pumpkin rice, alternately feeding one mouth and then the other. Then he took of the lid and shouted "Hello!" I was surprised when he also provided an echo "hello!" Amelia thought that was really funny, so she did it too. Who knew jack o lanterns could be so much fun!

Book Reports

Last school year, Jimmy wrote a couple of book reports (one liners- not too much for a kindergartener) that had me laughing. His school was doing a program with a passport, where you got a stamp in your passport everytime you read a book that took place in another country.
Book Report #1 The Trojan War (He LOVES this book and told his first grade teacher all about it in great detail. She asked to borrow it and we still need it back. I think she was trying to gauge his reading level. )
Back to the kindergarten book report:
The Chrogin Horse. The griks won the wor. (The Trojan Horse. The Greeks won the war.)
Book Report #2 about the Titanic
"It wasn't the safest boat."

The memory of these book reports make me smile, and I wish I had saved them so I had them written in his cute handwriting.

PS Thanks, Mom for sending these books. He loves them so much, as well as the King Tut one. He is fascinated by things that REALLY happened.

Halloween

Just a quick note, more to follow when the day arrives, I'm sure.

After the trunk or treat party, Amelia was enjoying her candies. "I sure like these coconut ones" she remarked.

If you are the first to guess what the "coconut ones" are called, I'll mail you some!

Jonny's Belly Button

Every time Jonathan sees me feeding the baby, he pulls up his shirt and holds his belly button (an outie.) He seems to think that is where the milk for the baby comes from. Once or twice, I caught him encouraging Simon "suck my belly button." A few days ago, I noticed him "feeding" a glow in the dark lizard from his belly button.

Amelia's Theme Parks

Ever since we went to DisneyWorld, Amelia has been talking about her own theme park, Disney Love Heart. She encourages me and Jimmy to make up rides to put in her theme park.
Some of the rides include "Lava Girl's Flamethrower" (a big slide shaped like Lava Girl, where you slide down her arm and out the flame thrower she is holding) and "Turner's Big Spin" is one of those towers with the room that spins up and down and gives you a view of the park. It is shaped like a bolt and the nut is the spinning room that goes up and down. Most of her rides are okay for pregnant women, she says. This was an issue on our last vacation.

Two nights ago, she started talking about "Hershey Lovers." I thought this was her version of Hershey Park. I was wrong. She asked me and Gary to play Hershey Lovers. "What's that?" we asked.
"Well," she explained, "Mom and Dad sit on the couch and then we pretend that babies are popping out of her tummy"
"?!"
"Well, we don't really pop out of her tummy, we hide around the room and pop out."