The Next Kiddodiddo

I'm happy to announce that kiddo number 5 is on the way! The due date is in May. We do plan to find out "what it is" (gender) in a couple of months. We're pretty excited!

No Particular Theme

Amelia loves doing preschool for Jonny and Simon. She subjects them to it as often as she can. Sometimes it's a cute coloring page, sometimes it intense grilling on which day of the week it is. The best part (for me) is when she sends home a note: Please talk to Simon about his behavior at school.

James has "football class" for his siblings in the afternoon. He teaches them plays and they kick the ball and pass it and run around some. The best part (for me) is watching them huddle to get directions from the coach. I'll have to take a picture of that sometime.

Amelia has several hard of hearing students in her class at school and there is an ASL interpreter who attends each day to translate. Some of the kids have sign names and I think Amelia's is really funny: it's a sign language "A" rapidly tapping on the side of the throat, to indicate the amount of noise she makes with her voice. The name was given to her by the deaf kids and I think it's quite descriptive.

Some of you have asked how the move went- so far so good! We really like the new house and the space. It seems that everyone is more relaxed, with room to do their own things. The after dinner wrestling matches/crazy time has all but disappeared. (no I did not organize or sponsor that special time of day- it just happened night after night after night.) The kiddodiddos love playing in the backyard and being able to go outside when they choose. The jacuzzi is a huge hit, especially for FHE. The new school is excellent and James and Amelia are making friends. (We all miss our old friends though- if only we could kick the colds so we could visit!) Now if only we could schedule a closing on the house...

We're Even!

Jonny's long anticapted birthday has finally come and gone. He has been looking forward to his birthday since March. Over the weekend, we celebrated the "big 4" with our special guy. I realized that I did not blog about one birthday this year, so I thought I try to find pictures and catch up.

Here is James turning 8! This is not the cake that SOMEONE licked the frosting off of... this is the replacement.

Here is Amelia so excited to blow out the candles. Isn't she cute? (age 6)
Here's Simon, with his fancy cake plate. I chose this picture because he was extremely worried about the candles on his cake and didn't look happy in the rest of the photos. (age 2)

And finally, here's Jonathan, wearing a Ninja Turtle mask, blowing out the candle on his cake. (age 4)

(and while I'm digging through old photos, this is the first day of school, from LAST YEAR! Notice the extremely short bangs- I forget which of my little hair dressers did that. We have a lot of happy memories of that school year. Hopefully this year will be just as good. Sorry no pictures. I forgot to take them.)

The Sweetest Thing

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

Like father, like son

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

Swimming

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

Some things I'd much rather blog about

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

What's the hold up?

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

Cheese!

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

Flashback!

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

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

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

A Word to the Wise

Jonny (age 3.5) just gave me an important warning. I don't know how important it could be since he used a fairly silly voice, but here goes:

"Dad, if you walk to work naked, the ArcGIS will start to get mad and tell all the workers!"

This is wrong on so many levels.

Going into business

James has tried a few get rich schemes. His latest involves what he refers to as J and J Transport. It is a service where he carries his customers on his back anywhere that they need to go. His rate: 2 cents per month. His service comes with a guarantee- if he drops you, he will give you 5 cents. Jonny was the first one to get his money in and has been enjoying piggy back rides off and on throughout the month. Amelia knows a good deal when she sees one. She prepaid for a year of J and J Transport.

Today, the kids decided to go into the restaurant business. Jimmy made up a menu. Amelia is the manager. Jimmy is the cook and waiter. Jonny is the janitor. I ordered "surprise entree" with a side of fruit and "swamp dessert"
Surprise turned out to be a ham sandwich. It was well made, with mustard and NO MAYONAISE, served with grapes on the side. I did not get so lucky with Swamp Dessert. It turned out to be half a cup of granulated sugar with globs of honey stirred in and a teaspoon of oats on top.
After trying to choke down a few bites, I came up with a scheme of my own. I asked if I could bake my Swamp Dessert. I got approval "as long as I did not add more than 4 tablespoons of extra ingredients." I stirred in a few of those cookie ingredients (you know- flour, vanilla, etc) and turned it into a cookie dough which I baked and called Baked Swamp Dessert. They were good. I could not talk the kids into trying them. I guess choking down some raw Swamp Dessert was enough for them.
If you would care to dine at the Kiddodiddo's Restaurant, please know that their rates are reasonable. If you are over 12 years, it's free. If you are under 3 it is free.

vocabulary building

Last week, we had a few dinner conversations that turned into vocabulary builders.
Gary was explaining a funny thought he had while driving home from work. It was about some duties he had to perform at church (where he used to be ward clerk.) He said something like this:
Some churches have layman clergy. But our church also has "lay accountants."
After he got through the explaining what a layman is, Jonny said, after a thoughtful pause: That is like Spiderman. He has a job, but he doesn't get paid to be Spiderman.

The second conversation began when Jonny was trying to tell us that he "go-ed" somewhere. Gary explained that he should say "went," because "goad" means to tease someone until you get a reaction.
A few days later, I was reprimanding Amelia for teasing her brother. She responded (in a rather lofty tone) "I don't tease. I goad."

How old are you?

Simon's birthday is coming up soon, so I thought it would be good to teach him to answer the typical little kid question, "How old are you?"
The conversation went like this:
Me: Simon, your birthday is coming. You are going to be 2. Can you say "I'm 2?"
Simon: no.
Me: You are one and you are going to be 2. Can you say almost 2? When I say How old are you, you say "almost 2" ok? Simon, how old are you?
Simon: How old you, Mommy?
Me: I am 30.
Simon: NO! You are 2!
Me: No, I am not 2, I am 30. How old are you?
Simon: Not quite 2.

Black Licorice and Handedness

A poll and discussion on a MyFamily site made me want to poll the general public on the following question:

The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 2)

< The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 1)

"Act now! For a limited time, you can double your salary and quintuple your rent in only six years! Call 1-800-GRAD-SCHOOL to find out how!"

Today we learned some not-so-good news about our future home. Three weeks ago, the seller's agent was preparing the short sale packet to give to the bank. The title company helped with some documents, including the HUD-1 form. The seller's agent noticed some errors on the HUD-1 and called the title company asking for corrections. They said that their person who normally does the HUD-1 was gone and whoever was filling in made the mistakes.

The next action that was taken was yesterday--three weeks later--when Tracy called our agent to see if there was any word. We were curious because our agent said the soonest we would possibly hear back was three weeks. It's a good thing Tracy followed up, because when our agent called the seller's agent, she realized that she had failed to follow up with the title company. So nothing has been done in three weeks, there is no correct HUD-1, and the bank has not even seen the short sale packet or our offer yet.

<cry type="anguished" gratuitous="true">
AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
</cry>

The good news is that the seller is still amenable to renting the house to us, so we will probably move in on or about September 22. I have no idea when we will finally own that house, but if Hope and Change solve this problem like they are solving the rest of our nation's problems...then I'm going to need a few refrigerator cartons to build our next house.

Movie Recommendation

While I have not actually sat through the entire movie Muppets in Space, I have it on good authority that it is really funny. Here's how I know.
Someone (who shall remain nameless) wet the bed twice in one week (highly unusual.) The reason, "I was lying in bed thinking about Muppets in Space. I was laughing so hard and then I was all wet."
SO go check out Muppets in Space, but make sure everyone is wearing Pull-Ups to bed for the next week, just in case.

Translation

We read the following verse 2 nights ago, while studying in the book of Daniel
Daniel 3:29
Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

James: Wait a minute. Did that just say their houses will be made into poo? They will be cut into pieces and their houses will be made into POOP?!

The kids are still laughing about that one.

I feel like Elmer Fudd

In the spring, I rented a garden plot and planted a few vegetables. (Well, I planted more than vegetables, but the ants kept eatting the seeds.)
This summer, it has been more than I can do to keep up with these plants. The zucchini provided more than 30 pounds of food, before dying while we were on vacation. The green beans produced over 15 lbs before finishing up. The peas were good too. Now all I've got left is a pumpkin plant and 3 productive tomato plants. Pounds of tomatoes. Unfortunately, they had a growth spurt while we were on vacation, just missing the tomato cages I set up. The look like huge overburdened spiders, with legs spread in every direction. Once, while the kids and I were walking up to our garden plot, we saw a cute little bunny bouncing out. It enjoyed many of the green beans. Now it is lunching on my tomatoes. Each one that reaches ripeness on the vine is covered in bunny bites. That rascally rabbit is ruining my crop! This bunny is patient. It won't settle for almost ripe. It waits until they reach perfection and then samples each one. It doesn't finish what it starts, so I am left with a bunch of inedible tomatoes. I picked a bunch of the almost ripe ones, in hopes they will ripen on the counter.

How do the kids feel about the garden? Well, there's a bunch of whining, but they have settled into jobs they like. James mans the hose, to water. Jonny takes the picked produce to Amelia, to guard (from Simon.) Amelia is the veggie guard and bathroom escort (she walks Jonny to the port o potty sometimes and takes it seriously.) Simon stumbles around alternately picking underripe vegetables and getting soaked with the hose. Gary, while not a kiddodiddo, has done his share of helping with the weeding and funding of the project.
Last time we went to the garden, Simon got excited and yelled "Garden! Garden! It's my favorite!" I was so happy to have someone to share my joy, not just tolerate it.

Chef's Surprise

Amelia had her friend Abbey over last week. Jimmy had a Dominic over too. (these are best friends from school.) While the boys pillow fought (for 2 hours straight) the girls decided to get creative in the kitchen. I tried to keep out of the way, but I could hear the discussion in the kitchen as Amelia and Abbey created their very own recipe. It had raw oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey. They measured mixed and stirred for a very long time. Then they got spoons to eat their concoction. "This is disgusting!" Amelia cried. "Yeah- lets just eat the sugar off it," Abbey agreed.
Once the friends had left and things had calmed down, Jonathan and James wandered into the kitchen. There they found the 2 bowls filled with Amelia and Abbey's creation. There were two of them, so they sat down to eat it. They ate and ate and ate. "This is good" James said. "Mmm!" said Jonny appreciativly. They ate every last bite of it and wanted more.