Photo Catch Up

Since Gary is home, he showed me how to get the photos off of my phone, so here's a catch up from the winter months:

Here's Jonny in his Ka Potty head band and black belt! He is really great at the potty now. This picture was taken after he had exhausted himself with his cool moves.

Ah- the key lime pie that was supposed to go to the teacher appreciation lunch. Thanks, Simon for spilling it on the floor. It was delicious! (What we could salvage, that is.)

Jimmy and his friends played this candy bar game at his party. It's the one where you have to wear the coat and socks and eat a candy bar with a knife and fork. They loved the game and spent 35 minutes at it!

Here's that birthday cake that I told you about in an earlier post! Sigh.

Jimmy turned 8 and here's the photo proof! I sure love this little guy!

I always hear about worthwhile causes after the event (march for life being one) and think "I would have gone to that, if only I had known." Well, this time I knew! It was the Tea Party in Washington DC, to protest out of control stimulus spending. Here's Amelia holding my sign (don't tread on me) and Simon who had been playing with the snake prop we brought.

Here's Gary, Jonny and Simon at the protest too! Don't they look cute. Amelia is hiding behing the sign in the stroller.

If you look carefully, you will see tiny icicles of bubble stuff on the tiger's chin. I guess it really was too cold to blow bubbles outside that day.

Hmm. I guess I'll have to figure out how to flip this one later. This is our traditional ugly cake party to celebrate Uncle Arthur's birthday, he would have been 37.

Here's one of my favorite memories: the day the kids set up a store in the parking lot and sold rocks to the neighbors. I think I made up a thousand different posts about this one, but I don't remember what actually got published. They had a great time going in to business for themselves and the neighbors got a good laugh. Our next door neighbor Priscilla was still laughing a week later. (Jonny knocked on her door and gave her one for free.)

Look at me! I can still wear my Halloween costume from when I was 2!

A Walk Around the Block

Today we went for a walk around the block. Amelia wanted me to stop and photograph each flower we passed. I was a little annoyed at the request because I thought she meant I was supposed to photograph each one individually (okay, I think that was just the last straw as 3 fights had broken out between the front door and the sidewalk and I just didn't want anymore whining or requests.) It turned out she meant that I should photograph one of each variety. It also turned out to be a very pleasant stroll and the company of my children could not be beat. I really enjoyed their excitement at each new bloom . So here's a photo documentary of our journey. Please excuse my poor photography skills in advance

Sweet Hearts

Here's a photo from Amelia's girl scout daddy daughter dance. It melted my heart!

Big Kid Update

I scrolled down the last few posts and realized I've really given the bigger kids the shaft. They just don't say as many outragous/silly/strange things anymore. But they are still great and I should mention their many accomplishments.

Jimmy just finished a 6 week hockey club, an afterschool activity put on by a few of the teachers. Jimmy's team put forth a great effort and had a lot of fun. Jimmy also recently joined the cub scouts and earned his bobcat and has done a few elective activities (including 3 we were able to work into his birthday party.) He told me he wants to be a scout leader when he grows up "so he can do fun stuff with his scouts, like take nature walks." He will be getting baptized on Saturday.



Amelia has made a wonderful transition to school and got the "exceptional explorer" award (citizenship) for her class for the month of February. This isn't an award that the kids take turns getting. Some kids get it twice, some kids don't get it at all. So I was thrilled when she brought home the certificate. She also enjoys being a daisy scout and has earned about half of her daisy petals and a lot of fun patches including one for a Daddy/Daughter dance (now that was adorable!)



Here are a few things Jimmy and Amelia have done together. One sunny day last month, they set up a "nature store" in the parking lot and sold rocks and sticks to the neighbors. They only got $2 so they decided to go door to door and earned $5 more. When it was done, Jimmy complained that one guy ripped him off "he only gave me $2 for an $80 rock!" I could not afford any rocks from their store, but my balcony is covered with their surplus rocks. They can't be put back on the driveway until the price tags are removed.

To help Amelia get out of bed in the morning, I bought these really loud alarm clocks for the kids rooms. Amelia was excited because they looked cartoony (the kind with the bells on top.) She loved how WIDE awake they made her feel when she woke up. The excitement wore off after a few days and one of the clocks broke. So Jimmy and Amelia now have a wake up contest in the morning. The alarm clock that works gets left in the hall between their rooms. When it goes off, it is a race and who ever gets there first can put it in the other kids room. I love to hear those feet pounding out of bed when it goes off. The reactions are hilarious.

Oh yeah- and guess who's a big kid now- Jonny earned his black belt at Ka Potty! But this post is supposed to make up for all of the Jonny posts as of late, so pretend I didn't say that.

family relationships

Here's a question Jonathan (age 3) asked me:
When I grow up, can I be a brother?
I explained that he is already a brother for Jimmy, Amelia and Simon and isn't that great that he can be a brother now, with no waiting!
A few days later, he followed up with:
When I grow up, can I be a brother and share the bed with you and Dad?
(Sorry pal- not gonna happen!)
Deeper into the conversation, I started to understand: he wants to be MY brother when he grows up. How sweet!

Readers

I think it's funny when words from books slips into everyday speech. I have been hearing a lot of "erm" (Jimmy) and "phew"(Amelia) lately. They are so carefully pronounced, it makes me grin.

okay- must vent! Gary's on jury duty, so I can't call and whine.

Jonny just licked the frosting off of Jimmy's birthday cake- before the party.

Terror in the Bathtub

Saturday night, Jimmy (age 7) and Jonathan (age 3) were taking a bath together downstairs while Gary and I cleaned up dinner. Suddenly, we heard shouting "Help! HELP! Somebody stop Simon! HELP!" Gary ran downstairs as fast as he could and a few minutes later emerged with a tale. When he arrived, Simon was waving Jonny's underpants in the air, mid throw. He caught them just before they landed in the tub. Jonny was near hysteria when Jimmy announced "he already threw mine in." I thought that perhaps Jonny's hysteria was unusual. He's a pretty mellow guy. Then I had a flash back to Valentine's Day and I understood.

Valentine's Day Flashback
Gary and I gave the kids dinner early that night and were planning to have a dinner date of our own once they were in bed. I was "helping" Jonny and Simon in the tub. I put that in quotation marks because what I was really doing was applying make up and watching them in the mirror. Suddenly, Jonny announces in a very weepy voice "Something howibble is happening in the tub" I turned around and saw him cowering in the corner of the tub. Simon was slowly walking across the tub in the manner of a monster in a bad horror movie. Now for the "howibble" part: in each hand he was wielding a fistful of poop. Definately enough to strike terror in the heart of our recently potty trained Jonathan.

So when Jonny saw Simon flinging underpants into the tub, he couldn't be sure what would come next.

Simon Learns to Pray

Simon has learned a fair amount of words and we are starting to teach him to pray. For family night he was invited to say the opening prayer, but what he really wanted was for me to read him a Gumby book. This is how it went (you are going to have to imagine baby pronunciation because I didn't make a phonetic transcription) :
me:say "dear"
Simon: "dear"
me: say "heavenly"
Simon: Gumby
me: say "HEAVENLY"
Simon: Gumby
me: No. say "Heavenly Father"
Simon: GUMBY
Simon lost his turn because we were laughing too hard to insist he do it right.

Party Like It's 1773

This Friday is an opportunity to stand up for freedom, and we'll be there. Join us this Friday, February 27, at 12:00 PM EST in a city near you.

If you're not familiar with the Chicago Tea Party, watch this video to see what started it all.

We'll attend the D.C. event, which has its own Facebook page.

What does this have to do with kiddodiddos, you may ask? Two things: first, a chance to speak out in hopes of saving our kiddodiddos from the out-of-control federal government; second, a teaching opportunity about freedom, free speech, and the republic.

To Do...

A few months ago, Amelia made herself a "to do list" and I thought it was so cute I'd share it here. Then I got distracted. Then I lost it. I was cleaning off the desk this morning and I found it, so here you go! (Her spelling has improved much since then.)

Here's the translation:

Wake up happy

Eat breakfast

Get dressed

Amelia (dressed and happy): play trucks with Simon

Clean the kitchen table, watch tv, go shopping

Teach family night

She actually went through the day checking off things as she went! What a fun day she made.

Roomba

Our Roomba had a tragic accident involving the stairs a few months ago and it hasn't been the same since. My question is this, (directed at those who have Roombas)
How long have you had your Roomba and how is it performing?

Stammering

Yesterday, I was at the library with the kids and asked Jimmy if he had his library card.
His response after a pause:
I gave it to you. When you asked me, I was stammering because I couldn't think of a good answer. If I said "No" you would tell me to go look for it. So I had to be careful the way I answered the question.
I should have remembered he gave back his card. I was surprised that Jimmy (age 7) said "stammering." I haven't heard that word in a long time.

Overheard

Last night I overheard someone talking to Simon:

Hey Simon, can you say "bozo?" Say Bo Zo

Mmm, dirt...

Apparently a little dirt is good for you. What a relief! I guess this means the Child Services people can cancel that visit they were going to make:

This is Jonny sampling the sand in Sandy Eggo at age eight months, a few years ago.

Jonny says...

Gary cooked breakfast for the family this morning. It was a nice treat. When we were cleaning up, I noticed Jonny had not touched his eggs. I asked him about it and he said "Yeah- I justed wanted them for a souvenir."

One night, Jonny fell asleep in his clothes and we just tucked him in bed that way. When he woke up the next morning, he noticed he was in his clothes and exclaimed "Whoa! I was sleeping like a maniac!"
You probably didn't know that "maniac" is Jonny's signature word. He sometimes describes things as "maniac-ish"

Potty Training

Here's our latest attempt to convince Jonny that potty training is cool. We call it KaPotty. He earns a stripe on his karate belt for each success and loses one for each accident. When he fills up the belt, he moves up to the next color. Hopefully he'll be a KaPotty master before we know it.

Simon's Career

Yesterday I noticed Simon brushing the teeth of our rocking horse. Maybe he'll be a dentist!

Amelia's Economics

Last month, I was driving home from Amelia's girl scout meeting with all the kids loaded in the van. We drove past Jimmy's friend's house (read mansion) and he said something like:
That's (so and so's) house. He has a Wii and an Xbox 360 and a swimming pool and a trampoline and a movie theater in his house and toys EVERYWHERE. Hey! His family must be rich.
Then Amelia piped up:
No, if they bought all that stuff, they would be POOR!

Belated Christmas Wishes

Here's my attempt at a Christmas photo shoot- I wish it was a video, because you can't get a feel for the pandemonium that ensued. Maybe if you scroll down fast enough, you'll get the gist.
I wanted everyone with their feet tucked under the tree, smiling at me. Simple enough right?

Then Amelia left in a huff because Jonny poked her in the eye.

Don't you love Jonny's angelic face? He's got feigned innocence down really good.

Then they disappeared.
Then they reappeared.
Then Jimmy pulled out the mustache.

I thought that two strings of colored lights over our pre lit tree hid the fact that Simon had walked off with all the ornaments. Don't you?

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!

???

Potty training has it's share of funny moments.
Today I smelled a THE smell and asked Jonny if he was poopy. Here's what he said:
No. I'm not. I am the talking popsickle I have no bottom.

It was definately him. He couldn't fool me. I think he's the talking popsickle WITH a bottom.

Merry Christmas!

I have a small nativity set that I keep down low so that the children can arrange it as they please. This year, all of the pieces have been tightly arranged around the manger with baby Jesus. Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of a new arrangement: someone has replaced the baby Jesus with a matchbox car!

Simon's Word List

boy
cereal
cup
drink
mom-mom
Daddy
diaper
book
story
ball
tree
toy
car
go
whoa!
cool!
hair
spoon
potty
no
cheerios
cracker
cookie
pretzel
candy
bath
hug

Repetition is the Key

I had a few funny moments this month where I found myself repeating a key phrase that I never would have expected. If you keep reading, you'll see why.
I took all the kids with me to vote. I feel it's an important lesson and I gave the kids each an American Flag to wave and off we went to the polling place. While I was in the middle of filling out my ballot, I started to smell a particular smell. So I called out to the kids "Is everyone clean and dry?" Jonny called back "I am. SEE!" When I turned around, there he was standing with his pants and pullup around his ankles showing me just how dry he was. "Put your pants on!" I shouted with a surprise. Maybe if I'd kept my head and said it quiet, everyone wouldn't have turned around to stare.
The next week, I was getting the Jonny and Simon ready for the bath when JIMMY came running out of the bathroom, dripping wet from his own bath. "Look Mom!" he cried. "Knee knockers- Grandma would be so proud!" Grandma would have been very proud of his authentic knee knocking- if she had been there and IF he had been wearing a stitch of clothes. I found myself again shouting in surprise "PUT YOUR PANTS ON!!!" ( I wrote Jimmy super big because I had to repeat the name for Gary 3 times before he believed me.)

Helpful Hands

Jonny and Amelia have been my great helpers in these last few days in unique ways.

Amelia "hooved" a placemat at school (read weave, but she can't remember that word.) So I decided to include her in my latest weaving project. My last weaving project took place for Mother's Day in 2001. Jimmy was a few months old and I wove a small basket for my mother and mother in law. So it's been a while. We have no Thanksgiving decorations and since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I decided to try to weave a cornucopia to be more festive. I think perhaps I should have looked at a picture of a cornucopia before I started or maybe found a pattern or something. But here it is: a kind of wonky looking cornucopia filled with pictures of things Jonny is thankful for (his family night lesson)

Jonny was kind of glum and didn't want to do any of his usual activities, so I offered to let him help me sew. He loves to help me sew. He helped me sew a couple of quilt tops for a veteran's hospital (a pet project of a woman in my ward.) Today he helped me hem up some pants. I put him in charge of the pedal to make the machine go. I don't think I realized just how fast a sewing machine could go until I had a 3 year old at the controls!

Friends beware...

Amelia and Jonny tend to get a little carried away when friends come over. They plot ways to set traps for their friends while they anticipate their arrival. Usually, its something along the lines of "let's put a candy bar on a string and pull it when he tries to grab it" or "let's tickle him" or "let's trap him so he can't go home." I try to discourage this activity. I find it a little disturbing.
Last night at dinner time, their past time took a deranged twist.
"I'm gonna set a trap for Santa Claus," Amelia grinned.
The kids got carried away, shouting out all of the various tricks and traps they could pull on poor old Santa. Suggestions ranged from
"Let's fill our stockings with rats" to "let's poison his hot chocolate." (not poison, sleeping powder- I draw the line at poisoning Santa Claus, or anyone else for that matter.)
I couldn't believe their dastardly plans. I think I'll put up a sign warning Santa to stay away this year.

Thankful

I am thankful for ticklish kids! What are you thankful for?

It's Just a Phase

My babies have all gone through a certain phase where they love to sneak in to cupboards and drawers and steal things. I call it the "raiding phase." Jimmy used to sneak the condiments out of the fridge and line them up in his play tent. Simon loves to line up the hot sauce and tabasco. Every last one of them has loved to play in my dresser drawer, sauntering around the house in the "spoils."

I debated for a few days whether or not to post this photo. I finally decided that it perfectly documents the raiding phase and the joy which with the raiding is carried out:

Here's Simon after one of his latest raids. He's a little fuzzy because he's in the middle of a happy dance.

Copy Cat Post

A few weeks ago, my sister made a cute blog page on a Saturday afternoon. She went around the house, taking pictures of her husband and children doing whatever they happened to be doing. One was in the sand box. Another was reading a book. Hubby was mowing the lawn. Domestic bliss.
Yesterday, I found myself alone on the main floor of "the kiddodiddo ranch." This NEVER happens. (My kids feel the need to be within arm's reach at all times. I don't know why.) The house was quiet for several minutes. "AH!" I thought to myself. "Here's my chance to document my children in their natural habitat." So I grabbed the camera and ran through the house snapping photos. Here's what I found:


Simon. He was on the main floor after all, but he was quiet because he was eatting stickers. Notice cheeks full of stickers.
Put the camera down, unload cheeks and then continue on... Here's Jonny.
Just as I arrived at the bottom of the stairs, he starts walking down the stairs, hollering "MOM! MOM! MOM!" and eatting a box of Nerds. So much for finding him in his natural habitat.

I continued up the stairs and found Amelia, in her room. As soon as I walked through the door, she pulled the blanket down tight, to hid the fact that she had taken her Halloween candy to bed with her "for a little nap." ( no, you can't actually see her in the picture. The Ariel blanket/cave is in the way)
By the time I got back to the bottom of the stairs again, I found Jimmy, waving a sword and kicking a soccer ball at the front door. What you can't see is that his mouth is bright blue on the inside because it's stuffed with Jolly ranchers. (yes that's a campaign sticker on his shirt)

My last attempt to catch my children in their natural habitat ended here, at the kitchen table, where you can see the boys sharing a box of Nerds. (yes that's more campaign literature on the table. sigh.)

Now I know what it takes to get 5 minutes of peace and quiet- Halloween candy.

Fall Photos

Here's a few photos from the last month.

I guess this photo requires some explaination. I don't hang around in my wedding dress, but the kids were looking through a photo album of our wedding and asked if I still had the dress. So I put it on. Jimmy surprised me by being the most impressed with the dress . He took this picture when I wasn't looking. He loves taking pictures.

I've enjoyed watching this tree from my living room window. I love fall!

Here's a hat I made for Amelia. A friend of mine asked for help to make a beanie cap, and here's what I came up with. I wonder what she's thinking about.

Amelia went to a pumpkin patch with her school and got to bring home a pie pumpkin (yum!) She drew a face on it and I carved it for her. We carved the big one as a group.

Here's a better view- I love the freckles and rosy cheeks!

Try as I might, I could not get a decent picture of the kids in their Halloween costumes. This is as close as I got this year. Jimmy was Iron Man (You know the guy on the underpants- that's what he told me when he chose it out. Everyone ELSE seemed to know who or what Iron Man is) Jonny was a candy corn. Simon wore the sheep suit (here he is, minus the hat) and Amelia is Mulan. Too bad she's wearing her coat. The dress was very pretty.

Here's the real reason Halloween photos never ended up on the blog last Halloween: I accidently cut off Gary's head. (Jimmy was a bat, Simon was a jack o lantern, Amelia was a princess and Jonny was a dinosaur)

I'm so glad that I did get one shot with Gary's head in it. Aren't he and Simon so cute?!

Here's my last Halloween photo, a reminder of what happens when you rub a wet sucker through your hair:

Swimmer

Yesterday, Amelia and Gary had a Traumatic Experience.

Amelia was trying to play with her baby dolls and Jimmy and Jonny were playing "kidnapping pirates." Unfortunatly, the two games did not go so well together. At one point, I heard Jonny yell "Ha Ha I flushed Purple Amelia down the toilet!" (Amelia named her baby after herself)

Thanks, Gary for playing the part of Purple Amelia's dashing hero. I wish Crismon Shedds had come along!

I never saw the actual event. I was putting the very unrepentant Jonny to bed early while he playfully yelled things like "I can flush a ball down the toilet I can flush the world down the toilet!"

Perfect Fall Day

Today was a day off from school. I have no idea why. I thought it would be nice to get out and enjoy the weather before the winter chill. I am sorry I forgot my camera. I took the kids on a picnic lunch to the Dinosaur Park. It's our local favorite. It was stunning! It is situated in a wooded area and the trees were colored in autumn glory. Orange, yellow and red. Crunchy leaves everywhere we stepped. As we ate lunch, I thought to myself that it looked SO MUCH like autumn that it almost didn't seem real. The kids ran and we frolicked in the leaves and explored the trails around the park. We found a little stream and threw sticks in it. Then we used bigger sticks to fish them out. At one point Jimmy fell in. (Thankfully it was not too cold to go around with wet shoes.) I think this is my favorite way to spend an afternoon.

Politics

Last week, I had the little boys with me at the auto repair shop. While we were in the waiting room, the Martha Stewart Show was playing and Martha was calling on all parents everywhere to get their children to vote, because this election would be decided "by the youth". So for a joke, I told Jonny to make sure he votes and asked him who he would vote for. Here's the response I got:
John McCain! John McCain! (jumps up and down)
John McCain! John McCain! (growly voice)
(About this time I was thinking this would make a cute little advertisement.)
John McCain! (spins in circles)
Barak Obama is a MURDERER!

I think my jaw hit the floor when I heard that last part. And I hoped against hope that his intelligability is not as good as I think it is.

With a red face I explained that Barak Obama never murdered anybody.

Lost Tooth!

Last week, Amelia lost her first tooth. A few days later she lost another! Here's a picture of her at a tea party we had (just us girls) and you can barely see the space where her tooth would be.

The night she lost the second tooth, she ran downstairs after bedtime to tell us "Jimmy said after you lose your second tooth, the tooth fairy doesn't leave money- she takes you on a trip!!!"

Little Einsteins Funny

A few months ago, I bought Jonny some new underwear. It was "Little Einsteins" themed and I was very surprised to see this:



I immediately thought of Gary's brother David who is preparing to be a missionary for The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Not because I thought he should WEAR them, but because the little boy is getting ready for a mission too. (I know, it's not the same.)

Last night, Uncle Dave got his mission call to Fort Lauderdale, FL (speaking Creole.) We are so excited and proud of Dave for making this choice. I'll not spoil the moment with some childish prank involving the underpants. (Even though I am sorely tempted.)

Called to Serve

Today my youngest brother, Uncle Dave, received his mission call to serve in the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission. He'll be learning Haitian Creole, which is a French creole. The mission is the only one headquartered in South Florida.

Some of our relatives and a few of Dave's friends made predictions as to where he would go on his mission. You can view a map of the predictions and the beautiful part of the world where Dave will teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are willing to learn.

I am happy for Dave and I believe this will be a life-changing experience for him, as my mission in northern Brazil was for me.

Omega 3

Some of you may know that Amelia has exzema. Some of you may even know how to spell exzema (I'm not one of them.) A friend of mine recommended omega 3 supplements to help her skin. Well, after a month of omega 3 "gummy fish" her skin looks better than it ever did on the lotions and creams prescribed to her by a dermatologist. No more red patches! Not more scabs! And no more fights about putting on lotion. Ahh. Doesn't that feel better?

Leader of the Pack

Jimmy is playing NFL flag football this fall for the Green Bay Packers. He didn't get to choose his team. If he did, he would have chosen the New England Patriots (in case the Child Services people are reading this, I promise I have taught him better).

Here is a great action shot:



Look at him go! :-) By the way, that lump in his mouth is a mouth guard. They're very serious in this league.

FYI the shirt was provided by the league, and a very clever parent suggested that we all chip in a few dollars to get matching shorts and socks. That means the Packers are not only one of the most successful teams in the league at 4-1, but also the best dressed team we have seen yet!

You can get more details about the league at http://www.novaflag.com . In case you check the scores and highlights, Jimmy's Packers are in the Mites division.

Vacation Planning

Yesterday, I got a Sunday nap!!!!!! (You can tell by the number of exclamation points it's been a few years:)

While I was napping, Gary and the kids were discussing summer vacation plans. Here's Amelia's input on vacations ( and you'll have to imagine her emphatic speech):

I don't want to go to any of those "burg" places. You know WilliamsBURG. GettysBURG. They are BORING!

Good bye Jennifer Conference

Jonny looked forward to "Jennifer Conference" (read General Conference)
for a few weeks, mostly because he knew it had to come before his birthday. Maybe he liked the talks and music. Or maybe he liked the Skittles he got everytime they said "faith."
Today, he asked Gary "Can we watch Jennifer Conference." Maybe he wanted the spiritual boost. Or maybe he wanted the sugar rush.

I think next time General Conference rolls around, he won't be saying "Jennifer Conference" anymore.

The Complete Tattletale

We're having a rip-roaring General Conference Sunday, with kids going stir-crazy. They are fairly wild, and Jimmy just approached me and Tracy with the following whiny plea:

"Amelia just stepped on my back when I was on top of Jonathan on purpose."

I attempted to deadpan the only reply I thought logical, which was, "Why were you on top of Jonathan on purpose?" Tracy cracked up and Jimmy tried to take back what he had said, and when Tracy composed herself, she asked Jimmy, "Are you trying to tell on Amelia, or are you trying to tell on yourself?" It was a pretty funny moment, and it turned out that Jimmy's back was fine (surprise!).

A Few Funny Moments

I'd had a few funny moments lately that I keep forgetting to share so here they are all wrapped into one post:

Simon's first words: Go, dog, cat, shoe, Da-da, Whoa!

Jimmy's attempt to woo his classmate Jordan: A hand written copy of the Gettysburg Address?! (here's the story: Gary went in late one night to check on the kids. Jimmy was busy hand copying the Gettysburg Address. In the morning, he told me he wanted to give it to Jordan- one of the girls from the Love Bug post. If he was older- like 30 I would give him some tips for wooing girls for real!)

During our Chasti-Tea Party, I was talking with the kids about how we shouldn't have boy friends and girlfriends until age 16 (AT LEAST), Amelia mentioned something like "but Vivian and I have fun kissing the boys on the bus." (I talked to Vivian's mom the next day- she was horrified!) Needless to say no one is having fun kissing on the kindergarten bus anymore.

During and after the Olympics, the kids were fascinated with "the famous Olympic Swimmer, Michael Phelps." (Jonny never abbreviated the title.) Jonny wanted a Michael Phelps party for his birthday (thankfully he abandoned that idea.) "Michael Phelps" was the punchline for every joke (knock knock. who's there? Michael Phelps!!!).

A few weeks ago, Jimmy was listening to an old Bon Jovi cassette he found and heard the song "Some Day I'll Be Saturday Night" He asked what it meant and I explained. ("Feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night"- if you're Saturday night, it's really cool, everybody loves Saturday right?) So a few days after that conversation, he says to me "Mom, Michael Phelps IS Saturday night." Can't argue with that!

Burning Down the House

We don't usually do politics here at kiddodiddo, but the current economic situation will have such an effect on us--and our kiddodiddos--that we suggest that you watch this excellent video before you vote this November to see who in D.C. has been very very naughty. The video is entitled "Burning Down the House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?"



This video will likely be taken down by YouTube--which is owned by Google, which has its own political bias--so here are some other links that will also probably be taken down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiXwZI_YqHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01BS-pG3Il0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIVvvoDbCV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8

Also, an excellent blog post and good comments on the video and the efforts to make it go away.

The Love Bug

Tonight the PTO at Jimmy and Amelia's school held a family picnic and movie night to celebrate the installation of the new outdoor track at the school. We brought pizza and grapes and had a great time seeing friends and running around the track (the kids, not me) too many times to count.
Simon amused himself by stealing everyone's pepperoni when they weren't looking.
After the picnicking was done, we went inside to see "The Love Bug." The old one. Some of the kids attempted to sit down and watch the show. In fact they sat there and watched nicely until the popsickles and popcorn ran out. Then Jimmy wanted to go watch with his friend Caroline. So he left. After awhile, Jonny missed him and we went looking for him. There he was, near the front, sharing a blanket with Caroline. They were lying on their tummies propped up on elbows and enjoying the show. Jonny knew just what to do. He ran up and jumped between them making himself right at home. Soon Amelia came along and joined the party as well as Jordan, another friend in his class. They giggled and jostled for positions next to Jimmy. Soon they settled down again and watched for a few more minutes. Then it was time for Caroline to go. Then the fun began. Jordan told Amelia she had a crush on Jimmy. Amelia dared her to kiss Jimmy. Jonny didn't want to miss out on the fun so he shouted "I'm gonna do it. I'M gonna kiss Jimmy!" They giggled and plotted and giggled some more. They attempted to watch the movie some more. Then Jordan put her arm around Jimmy. A while later, Jimmy put his arm around Jordan. For just a second, but it counted. Jordan's mom and I had a view of the whole thing about 10 feet back. They were not as private as they thought! I watched the movie for a few minutes more. It was taking forever. Most everyone got bored and left. Not my little guys. Not Jordan. They were having too much fun. One of the other adults pulled out the movie to see how long was left: 20 more minutes. I know I heard someone say "Just shoot me now!" when they found out how long was left.
So we made it through the show. On the way out to the van, Jordan's mom said "You know the only reason it's funny is because of their age."

Yeah, I thought, a few years down the road I wouldn't be laughing. My response would be something like this:

Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered!

Summer Catch Up

I guess I'm in the mood for catching up. I spent a bit of time cleaning up photos of our trip to Utah and hope you will enjoy the results. (located in the August archive) There will be more (keep your fingers crossed) later in the week.

A Very Merry Unbirthday to you!

In 2007, I made a 2 New Year's Resolutions
1. to send each of my relatives a birthday card for his or her birthday
2. to park the van with the wheels straight EVERY TIME (I sure everyone else does this, but I had a bad habit I needed to break)

I did pretty good on my resolutions for that year. And even this year, I still park the van with the wheels straight. However, I think I have missed sending a card to everyone of my relatives. This summer (in July) I decided to make it up with what I called "birthday in July" where I would send a make up card and celebrate everyone's birthday at once. Well, it took 2 extra months to pull that one together. In the mail, each one of you precious relatives (especially those who send birthday cards ON TIME) should be receiving a card, (handmade by the kiddodiddos themselves) to celebrate you on this, your very special UNbirthday. If your birthday has already passed, sorry! And if your birthday is yet to come, happy birthday well in advance.

Cardboard Fort

Back in June the kids told me they wanted help building a cardboard fort. I have dutifully saved ALL of my cardboard boxes in the hopes of taping them together to make a decent cardboard fort with them someday. Yesterday on the way home from school, we passed by some huge sheets of cardboard on the curb waiting recycling. I went back with the van to pick them up and bring them home. Amelia and I spent some time this morning taping them together to make a fort. It's much bigger than I planned. Once the walls and roof were taped in place I declared my work was done. Jimmy and Amelia had other plans. She brought in table and chairs and they played cards. Jimmy hooked up his reading light so they could see better. Tonight, Gary and I went to check on the kids after they were asleep. I was amazed to see that Jimmy and Amelia were sleeping together with pillows and blankets and an electric fan inside the fort. Maybe I should have turned on the light and taken a picture... but really, I'd rather let them sleep.