My Escape Artist

It's official. Kellie is an accomplished escapee.

For weeks whenever we'd put Kellie to bed in her crib she'd stand up and try to put her little toes up and over the railing, without much success. She'd eventually get frustrated and lay down to go to sleep. Yesterday, however, about five minutes after I put her in bed I heard a door opening and closing. I have to be honest, I assumed it was Caleb getting out of his bed to go to the bathroom. After listening to the door open and close for a minute I went up to check on him. Imaging my surprise when I found not Caleb, but Kellie playing with her door.

I think she was too scared to come out and face me because when I caught her she got a scared look on her face and immediately started crying.

Consequently, Kellie earned herself a new big girl bed! We are skipping the toddler bed size and going straight to the twin, and I have to admit, we spoiled her a bit. (It is so fun to pick out girly furniture and bedding!) Daddy didn't even flinch at the price tag, and we were able to find some pretty good sales. Matt is picking up her new bed tonight so stay tuned for photos tomorrow!

Gotta Love my Kids!

Our kids have been very excited about a new baby coming to our house. I have to laugh at all the cute comments they make and thought I better write them down. Here we go:

Caleb: If the baby comes on my birthday can we name it Caleb?

Aaron: As the baby gets bigger and your tummy uncurls again...
(as if I just keep it rolled up like a sleeping bag?...)

Aaron: I'd like a girl so Kellie can have someone to play girl stuff with...

Caleb: I'd like a boy so that I can have someone to play with besides Aaron.

Kellie: (gets a confused look on her face and goes around pulling up shirts to look at tummies; first my shirt, then her shirt, and ending in Matt's shirt)

Caleb: When you have our baby Grandma will come play with me? (he was very excited to have Grandma come play with him!) Now how soon is that baby coming out?

Aaron: I want to name our baby Maria!
(I still don't know where that one came from...)

Positive!

This test was actually taken the day after Christmas, and it has been hard to keep the news to ourselves. I am now about 12 weeks along, and the chance of miscarriage goes down significantly at this point, so we're happy to start spreading the news!
We are going to have another September Baby! My due date is actually August 30, but I am always late, so I don't expect to meet the new little one until the first or second week of September. Caleb might even get to share his birthday on the 5th, but if I haven't had the baby before the 22nd (which is Aaron's day) I know I'll be crying!
We heard the heartbeat again today and finally told the kids this morning. They were so excited!

Dancing Monkeys

And the most creative excuse for not going to sleep goes to... CALEB

Mom: Caleb, why aren't you asleep yet?

Caleb: They won't let me sleep, mom!

Mom: Who won't let you sleep?

Caleb: The monkey's on my jammies. They're SINGING and DANCING. They won't let me sleep.

Kellie's Accent

This morning as I dropped Aaron off at school I told him to
"Have a good day."

I was quite surprised when the little woman in the back seat (who is still barely starting to talk) waved and said, "G'day," "G'day," "G'day," all the way home. It felt like I had a little Australian in the back seat!

"Intelligent" conversation...

We have a screen saver that shows and rotates through all our photos. It's kind of fun to watch, because it pulls from our entire selection, so sometimes pictures of when the kids were little babies pop up, and they always laugh and smile at themselves. This picture prompted an interesting conversation on the way to school today.

Aaron: Caleb was such a cute chubby faced little baby! (He had been looking at the photo I posted above)

Caleb: I was chubby?

Mom: Yes Caleb, you were very chubby and pretty cute, too!

Aaron: Why was Caleb so chubby, Mom? My pictures are never that chubby.

Mom: Well, Aaron, babies are all different, just like big people. Some are big and chubby, and some are tall and skinny...

Caleb: Was I chubby all over?

Aaron: (before mom can respond) You were REALLY chubby Caleb, right mom?

Mom: Yes, Caleb you were really chubby. I remember you had a really chubby butt, too.

(I feel I must point out at this point that I was not trying to be mean. Caleb really did have very chubby butt cheeks as a baby- which was a novelty since Aaron was such a skinny baby that he didn't have any extra padding on the backside...why I felt the need to bring that up, I still don't know...)

Caleb:(between giggles) Chubby butt?

Aaron: really really CHUBBY butt

Caleb: (big hearty laugh now) Was Aaron's butt Chubby?

Mom: No, Aaron didn't have a tush.

Caleb: (by now laughing uncontrollably)

Aaron: (laughing) What? I didn't have a butt? ( a little concerned...)

Mom: Of course you had a butt, Aaron. What I meant was that it was so skinny... I mean it wasn't chubby... I mean your butt was just smaller, Aaron... (I was fumbling here, not quite sure how to explain the difference between "butt" sizes)

Aaron: (laughing)

Caleb: (laughing even harder than Aaron)

Mom: (trying not to laugh and still fumbling for a good explanation...) You just used smaller diapers, that's all, Aaron.

Aaron: Yeah, Caleb. My butt didn't need huge diapers... (still giggling...)

Caleb: But my butt was HUGE, right mom? I needed HUGE diapers, right Mom? Did Kellie have a chubby butt, too Mom?

Mom: (trying not to laugh too much and hoping we get to the school soon so I won't have to answer all these questions) Well... hers was kind of chubby, I guess...

Aaron: Don't you know anything Caleb? Girls don't have chubby butts- and even if they do- you can't tell them they do...

Ending on that profound bit of truth from my 7 year old, we arrive at the school...

Birthday Dog!

Today is Sally's Birthday. The dog has finally reached her 1 year mark. (I can't believe we survived it!)
Here's some random facts about our dog:
1. She has three black paws and one white paw.
2. She has a white patch on her chest, kind of like a lightning bolt. It starts at her chin, zigzags down her neck and widens onto her chest.
3. She is a black lab-border collie mix.
4. She is a PARVO survivor. (as our vet bills will show!)
5. She loves her crate, and sleeps in it every night.
6. She has "sock-dar". If there is a sock within sniffing range she finds it and eats it. Sometimes she actually digests them, but most of the time she ends up throwing them back up. (eeew!)
7. She is still learning to be obedient and will be in Dog School soon!
8. The kids love her to pieces and take turns giving her dog treats.
9. She was named after the blue Porsche in the Cars movie.
10. She has started to dig. and dig. and dig. Any ideas how to break her of that habit?

She may be crazy, but we love our nutso dog.
Happy Birthday Sally Dog!

Whirlwind Weekend

I feel like I have been so busy lately and don't know whether I am coming or going. When I stopped to think about the last few days- I can see why. We've got a lot going on right now...

FRIDAY Aaron had school. I had a nice conversation with Aaron's teacher about his homework. (He's been avoiding it like the plague, but that's another story...) Caleb and Kellie run me ragged. Where do they get their energy? We ended the night with some of our favorite kids from down the street coming over to play and share dinner with us while their mom and dad went on a much deserved night out. (Our turn is next, yeah!)

SATURDAY (4 AM) Kellie wakes up screaming with runny diapers and a fever. She's been congested, and we've been watching that- but waking up in the middle of the night with all the other symptoms can only mean one thing- EAR INFECTION. By now we know the routine. Luckily the clinic had office hours and we could get her in fairly early. Listened to screaming from inconsolable child from 4- 10 am.

Basketball. Aaron's game was at 9. Unfortunately, I was the only one who went since Kellie was so sick- but I had a great time. Those kids are surprisingly good and Aaron has become quite the "DEFENSE MAN", or so his coach tells him.

Also, we had a trip to the pharmacy and a trip to the library for new reading materials. (Aaron's teacher told me that when they tested Aaron he was accurately reading 145 words per minute, which is more than anyone else in Aaron's class....) Besides, we LOVE the library.

Finished the day prepping for Aaron's Primary class, which I substituted for this week.

SUNDAY I braved church alone with two kids. Matt stayed home with Kellie. Believe it or not- the boys were actually pretty well behaved through most of church. Aaron and I had a rough time during Singing Time, which resulted in me hauling him out of the Primary room to empty his pockets so he would quit distracting the other kids and teacher with the paper clips and quarters he had smuggled into his sport coat when I wasn't watching this morning. Suffice it to say I embarrassed him to the point that he was so mad at me he refused to come back in. After ten minutes of sitting in the hall outside the Primary room I asked him if he was going to choose the right and come back in to join his class, and all he would respond was "NOT TODAY MOM," with his arms folded across his chest and a very determined angry face. He then chose to sit in the hall until Primary was over. What a stubborn little guy. After Primary he informed me that he was NOT going to get in the car with me. I was not sure what to do so I told him to enjoy his night at the church and started walking away with Caleb. Luckily, about halfway down the hall he decided to follow me and stomped all the way to the car. I was afraid I was going to have to get one of the Priesthood holders to haul him out of the church for me if he refused to budge, so I was relieved it didn't come to that.

We spent a lazy afternoon together as a family, (after Aaron came to his senses and apologized for behaving so badly.) I have felt very strongly lately that we need to make time just for us as a family. Even if it is a just a lazy afternoon together. Our schedules are often so busy that if we don't schedule time for us, we won't ever be together. It's been so nice to have that time together.

On to a new week...

PS Aaron is normally a very well behaved child, but everyone has their moments... sigh...

WHOOOO is out there?

Occasionally we glimpse owls around here. A few months ago, we spotted an owl hanging out on our shed. Last night Matt ran to the store late so we'd have milk in the morning and was amazed to find a huge owl perched on top of our house when we got back. We tried to get a picture, but being 10 o'clock at night, we weren't able to.

The novelty quickly wore off when we had to listen to it for the next hour and a half. WHOOOO knew owls were so annoying? or so loud? For those Harry Potter fans out there, I immediately felt sorry for Uncle Vernon, who had many owls plague his house over the course of a week or two. What noisy creatures they are! I can understand how someone would become unhinged listening to that day in and day out.

Please forgive the really bad use of the word"WHO", I just couldn't help myself!

A Glimpse at the Future...

For Christmas ALL my boys, (Matt included), got brand new razors. Whereas Matt's is of the expensive electric variety, the boys got squeaky tub toy razors, complete with "face foam", as Aaron puts it.
Matt declined a photo, but the boys were all too happy to pose!
Here's hoping they still like shaving in a few years when they have to do it for real!

Caleb's Sleepy Stickers

I have a four year old who has decided bedtime is (and I quote) "not fun". It doesn't seem to matter whether he has napped or not during the day, if he is really tired or not - he just has started to be a real pain in the tushie at bedtimes.

After several weeks of crying (us not him), begging (again, us, not him), threatening (mostly us, a few from him). and generally fighting the whole routine, I have devised a new system.

Caleb now has Sleepy Stickers. Every morning, if he has gone to bed without whines and fits and tantrums then he gets to put a sticker on his Sleepy Sticker page. After 10 stickers, he gets a surprise (to be determined by mom and dad.)

We tried it last night with much success! Noticeably less fighting and whining. He was so excited to put his sticker on the page today. Wish Caleb lots of luck and sweet dreams from now on! ( I hope...)

(Thanks for the idea Aunt Janice....)

Girl Stuff

The consequence of having two boys before we got a girl is that most of our toys are very "BOY" oriented.

Today, I looked over at Kellie and realized that she had a construction worker toy in one hand and Tuck (the WonderPets turtle) in the other hand. She was making kissy noises and having them hold hands as she marched them around the room together, or having them smooch.

She doesn't know the difference between 'boy stuff' and 'girl stuff'- but I have to say I feel a little bad. I might just have to break down and get that girl a Barbie...

sigh...

A Conversation with Caleb

Caleb: I want a drink mom.

Mom: In a minute, Caleb, I'm busy right now.

Caleb: But I want it NOW, Mom.

Mom: I said I'd get in it a minute. Hold on.

Caleb: But waiting isn't fun.

Mom: I'm sorry to hear that, I'll get it soon- just hang on a minute.

Caleb: But" soon" takes too long. I want it NOW.

Mom: Caleb, just knock it off, I'll get to it in a minute.

Caleb: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(kick, wail, hit) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(kick, scream, whine)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Instead of a drink, he gets Time Out. Upon calming down and being released from time out, he responds with the following:

Caleb: This wouldn't happen to me if you'd just do what I say and let me be boss.

Heaven help me...

Spelling Words/ Confessions of a "Bad Mother"

I have to say that I have had a lot of "Aaron posts" lately- I am not trying to pick him out as a favorite- he has just been on a roll lately. :)

Every week Aaron has a list of Spelling Words. He has to write each word in a sentence for homework.

Here's my 'bad mother' confession of the week: I don't always check my son's homework. Most of Aaron's homework is brainless. He could finish it with his eyes closed. He reads exceptionally well and even he has picked up on the fact that most of the worksheets are exactly the same week after week. I mean how many variations of the same piece of homework can they give? It is routine by now. I get it- he gets it- it's just time consuming. I digress.

Anyway, Aaron wrote his sentences last night. This morning as I was cramming kids into the car and gathering his papers, I happened to read one of these sentences.

The word is "SO".

Aaron's sentence: I am so never going to pet a snake.

Thank you Hannah Montana, for teaching my son that lovely INCORRECT use of the word "so". Disney should be so proud!

Of course, I did not have time to make him redo it- (bad mother- should have checked it last night) and when I tried to tell him that it was incorrect he didn't understand why. Ever on a time crunch, I did the only thing I could do. I put the paper in his backpack- sent him to school, knowing that it will be marked wrong, and left it up to his teacher to sort out.

I am such a homework wimp. I don't check his work and then I knowingly send him off with wrong answers. Way to go mom!

The Mind of my 7 year old Boy...

A few days ago I was talking to Aaron, and he was telling me all the places all over the world he wants to go see. He wants to go to Japan and Africa and Canada (?) and Hawaii and wanted to know when he could get a passport.

I told him that he could get one as soon as he had enough money to go visit all those places.

To which he said that he thought he would go as soon as he was bigger and was a dad.

I asked him if he was traveling all the time, then who was going to work and make the money to support his wife and kids so they would have a nice place to live and food to eat.

He told me that he thought his wife wouldn't mind working since he would be so busy travelling.

I asked him who would watch the kids if his wife was working.

He told me that he would watch them until he had to get on the plane, and then maybe Grandma (me?) would take them.

He then wanted to know if I had a passport.

No, I don't. But Daddy used to, when he went to Australia- and Uncle John had one when he went to South Africa for his mission.

At this point Aaron starts giggling uncontrollably.

I ask him what's so funny.

He tells me that I must be joking-that they don't need missionaries in Africa.

I asked him why not.

Between giggles he answers: "Because everybody knows that everyone in Africa is naked- and you can't go to church naked, so they must not have churches in Africa. "

What do you say to that? Evidently he has all the answers to every problem. (even if they are crazy...)

Heaven help his future bride, and heaven help me prepare him...

Letter to Santa

This is Aaron's letter to Santa that he made in school. I thought it was pretty cute.

Click on the pictures to see them larger...

Holiday Catch-up

It's time to play photo catch-up, since not all of these pictures made it on our blog last month. Here goes:

Aaron's Holiday Concert

All of the 1st graders, 2nd graders and Kindergarteners from Aaron's School.
This concert is kind of a big deal because the entire school is involved and they hold it at the Union Colony Civic Center, which is a local theater. it is free, but you have to reserve the tickets, which sold out this year, about 1800 seats.


Kellie and Grandpa J waiting at the box office.

Kellie and Grandma. "When is the show going to start?

Aaron looking good.

TUMBLEWEEDS

Because a Bug went Kachoo (all over our yard...)

Aaron has a Dr. Seuss book called "Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!" It is all about how a little bug sneezes, which causes a seed to drop, which hits a worm, which makes the worm mad, so he hits a coconut tree, which causes the coconut to fall, which bops a turtle in the head and makes him fall into a lake, which splashes a chicken who kicks a bucket, which flys through the air and lands on the farmers head, who causes his wife to call the paramedics, etc., etc., etc.

We have had our own "Little Bug that went Ka-choo" this week in the form of very big, VERY unwanted, VERY UNDESIRABLE tumbleweeds.
Our story goes like this:

We bought a house in Colorado,
Because we live in Colorado,
We sometimes get a lot of wind and
Because things fly in the wind,
Things land in our yard.
We live next to an open field
Which is not well maintained by the city or the land owners.

Because it is not well maintained,
Large quantities of tumbleweeds accumulate on the other side of our fence,
Which causes us to call the city to complain.
Because they are not quick to act,
The field stays messy.
And when a large windstorm (like we had on Monday night) occurs,
We get a pile of tumbleweeds in our yard.

Which causes us to call the city to complain, again.
Because the tumbleweeds are on our property now,
We are told it is now our problem.
Because throwing them over the fence is pointless (they just come right back over),
And because the city will do nothing to help,
We have to dispose of them ourselves.

Because we have to do it ourselves,
Matt got to buy a new toy.
The new toy is shiny and red and is called a "chipper".
(Who ever thought we'd buy one of those?)
Because he bought a new toy,
We will have lots of bags to dispose of,
and because (to quote the city) "it is our problem,"
We will have to pay Waste Management$1.75 per bag to haul it off.
(Yeah. Can you feel our excitement yet?)

Let's raise a sarcastic toast to windy nights, unwanted tumbleweeds, expensive 'toys', "compassionate" city workers, and pricey trash. Enjoy the photos.

It's Julie's Birthday!

Since I know Julie won't do this herself, I thought I'd take a few moments to reflect on a few things about Julie in honor of her 29th birthday. Here goes!

1) Julie loves her kids, even though they drive her crazy some (most?) of the time. At the end of the day, her love for our children is always evident, no matter how difficult the day may have been.
2) Julie loves her family. She works to have a relationship with each and every one of her brothers and sisters and her parents, and is always concerned for their physical and spiritual well-being.
3) Julie is a great example of compassion and service to others. She is always willing to give of herself to help those in need, and will often go out of her way to do so.
4) She loves books. I never thought anyone could read a Harry Potter book in less than two days, but I have seen Julie do it frequently. She has introduced me to some of the best books I've read (even if it does take me two months to read them).
5) Julie enjoys cooking, as long as it's not cookies because they take too long to bake when you have to keep going back and forth to the oven.
6) Julie is not particularly fond of math, which is odd because she's worked as a cashier and a bank teller. I guess you just can't escape it.
7) When we were first married, Julie didn't like to drive our car. Of course, she got used to it rather quickly. Later, when her parents let us borrow the Nissan, she wouldn't drive that either - she was too attached to the other car!
8) When Julie was a little girl, she shared a bed with her sister. Julie would frequently end up with her feet on the pillow, and often entwined her toes in Janice's hair. Thank goodness she broke that habit!
9) Julie loves holidays and always makes our home a very festive place to be.
10) Julie loves her crazy dog, although I don't think she loves the dog quite as much as she loved her cat, Morgan. I mean, really, has she ever taken a bath with the dog?

We love you Julie. Hope you day is great!