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.