So Ben came home the other and had a rather interesting conversation with us at dinner.
Me or Katie: "So how was your day at school Ben?"
Ben: "It was good, you know we did stations, I was in the talent show..."
Me or Katie: "What?! What talent show?"
Ben: "Yeah, when the teacher asked if we wanted to be in the talent show I signed up to play the piano."
Katie: "You haven't had any piano lessons."
Ben: "Oh, I just thought I'd make up one of my little tunes like I do on our piano here at home. So the talent show was today."
Boy, sure wish we hadn't missed that one! What a crazy kid. On an unrelated note when I got up this morning Andrew was crunched into the side of his crib fast asleep saying, "Ouch....... ouch...... ouuuuuuuuuch." Is it bad that I left him there?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Superpost
As I begin this post I must admit that I have no idea how long it will be, but we'll still call it a super post since it covers one of the longest time periods of any post in our history. Also, to get this up I'm going to post the text first and publish it, but if you like the pictures you might want to check back later. Anyways, this the second post I'm writing tonight and it caused me to realize something: a blog could be a very usefull alibi. I just finished a post I had started over a month ago. But when I posted it, blogger time stamped it for when I started the post and not for when I posted it and it placed the blog in that place chronologically, which is before posts that actually posted before it. This is significant because recently a man in New York was aquitted of a crime solely on account of an online post which placed him a significant distance away from the crime when it occurred. So there you have it, start a blog post every day, but don't finish it until you know you might have needed to be somewhere else that day...
Well, talk about starting off on a tangent. Let's just go through the big events that occurred during the last month or so of our lives. Given that I've spent more time at work than at home during this period I may or may not be lying about what actually occured.
Ben's Birthday:
Ben's Birthday was awesome dispite the fact that his FAVORITE birthday tradition EVER got passed over this time. Over time we got into the habbit of hanging donuts from our dining room chandelier as a birthday tradition. The rule is that you can only use your mouth to get the donut you want down (it's kind of like bobbing for apples). This is actually a form of russian roulette since our chandelier isn't anchored into the ceiling joist like it should be. It just suspends from a 2x4 that sits loose on top of the sheetrock above, but that is a much longer story for another day.
Anyway, we bought the donuts the day before so we'd be all ready for the next morning when Grandpa called up and took Ben out for a surprise birthday breakfast before school. Ben's birthday continued on through the weekend with a celebration that night, Chuck E Cheese with friends the next day, and a family celebration at Grandma and Grandpa's the day after that but 3 days and two stale boxes of donuts later we still hadn't done donuts. It was crazy whirlwind of illness, chores, and errands that always delayed it, but despite loving his birthday I'm not sure Ben has forgiven us for not having really done donuts this year.
Thanksgiving:
We drove down to California for Thanksgiving again this year. The best part: I got my wish of driving at night which means we made it down there in 8 hours flat and back in 7 hours and 45 minutes. We tried to knock out Bebe on our first day down there and he got the hint and took off two days of work to spend with us which was awesome.
The highlight of the trip (besides Thanksgiving itself) was going to the La Brea tarpits with BeBe. The density of geologic history contained per unit volume in the ground there is simply amazing. Of course, Katie cried because the fake mammoth family was standing helpless on the banks of the tar lake while the fake mammoth mommy gets sucked into the tar. This is not a story line that was suggested by anything found there by the way. Another fun thing at the tar pits is the atrium in the center of the museum that has fake animals placed throughout it with signs saying "Please don't feed the animals" (no kidding). The kids favorite attraction was the penny funnel at the end of the museum. Andrew thought he had it figured out when he realized he could just throw the penny through the hole in the middle instead of letting it roll, and roll, and roll. Anyways, we had a total head count at the end to make sure we hadn't added to the fossil record during our stay.
Thanksgiving was the wonderful experience we've come to expect at Ahma's with the jumping castle, great turkey, and amazing pie all included.
Remember the costume contest I mentioned in my last post that actually shows up two posts back? Well the prize was a two night stay in West Wendover with tickets to see Joe Nichols. Katie and I didn't know anything about Wendover, but we did know we were excited to get a little trip with some time for each other without kids. So right after Thanksgiving dinner we hit Nini's house one last time for Christmas and to say goodbye to everybody. Then we drove through the night, dropped the kids off at with Grandma and Grandpa, and headed out to Wendover.
We almost missed it.
West Wendover spend LOTS of advertising dollars in Utah, and they absolutely had us fooled into thinking it must be something 2 or 3 times the size of Mesquite possibly. Let's just say, if you've seen the tv commercial for Wendover you've have seen ALL of Wendover including what must be the only indoor pool (commercial or residential). It's quite safe to say we're going to have to win another costume contest in order to get us back to West Wendover.
Highlights of the trip: The city landscapes in astroturf, Smiths, McDonalds. Yep, that's it. On one of our many trips to Smiths in 2 days I talked to one of the locals. It went like this:
Me: "So, are you from Wendover?"
Him: "Yep, can I help you with something?"
Me: "Is this it?"
Him: "Um, what are you looking for?"
Me: "I just thought there would be a couple of restaurants, maybe some stores, you know..."
Him: "Oh, well there's lots of places to eat. You know there's a chinese place in the strip mall, McDonalds,..."
Me: "There's a strip mall?!"
Him: "Yeah, right in back here by the titty bar."
Me: "That's a strip mall?"
Him: "Yeah, but don't park by Mike's garage. He doesn't like that."
Me: " Hmmmm"
I'm pretty sure that the so called "strip mall" was really just another name for his "titty bar". Anyway, we had an awesome time with each other, BYU won the Holy War while we were there, and the Joe Nichols concert was awesome despite the fact that I'm not much of a country music fan.
And that concludes November.
Well, talk about starting off on a tangent. Let's just go through the big events that occurred during the last month or so of our lives. Given that I've spent more time at work than at home during this period I may or may not be lying about what actually occured.
Ben's Birthday:
Ben's Birthday was awesome dispite the fact that his FAVORITE birthday tradition EVER got passed over this time. Over time we got into the habbit of hanging donuts from our dining room chandelier as a birthday tradition. The rule is that you can only use your mouth to get the donut you want down (it's kind of like bobbing for apples). This is actually a form of russian roulette since our chandelier isn't anchored into the ceiling joist like it should be. It just suspends from a 2x4 that sits loose on top of the sheetrock above, but that is a much longer story for another day.
Anyway, we bought the donuts the day before so we'd be all ready for the next morning when Grandpa called up and took Ben out for a surprise birthday breakfast before school. Ben's birthday continued on through the weekend with a celebration that night, Chuck E Cheese with friends the next day, and a family celebration at Grandma and Grandpa's the day after that but 3 days and two stale boxes of donuts later we still hadn't done donuts. It was crazy whirlwind of illness, chores, and errands that always delayed it, but despite loving his birthday I'm not sure Ben has forgiven us for not having really done donuts this year.
Thanksgiving:
We drove down to California for Thanksgiving again this year. The best part: I got my wish of driving at night which means we made it down there in 8 hours flat and back in 7 hours and 45 minutes. We tried to knock out Bebe on our first day down there and he got the hint and took off two days of work to spend with us which was awesome.
The highlight of the trip (besides Thanksgiving itself) was going to the La Brea tarpits with BeBe. The density of geologic history contained per unit volume in the ground there is simply amazing. Of course, Katie cried because the fake mammoth family was standing helpless on the banks of the tar lake while the fake mammoth mommy gets sucked into the tar. This is not a story line that was suggested by anything found there by the way. Another fun thing at the tar pits is the atrium in the center of the museum that has fake animals placed throughout it with signs saying "Please don't feed the animals" (no kidding). The kids favorite attraction was the penny funnel at the end of the museum. Andrew thought he had it figured out when he realized he could just throw the penny through the hole in the middle instead of letting it roll, and roll, and roll. Anyways, we had a total head count at the end to make sure we hadn't added to the fossil record during our stay.
Thanksgiving was the wonderful experience we've come to expect at Ahma's with the jumping castle, great turkey, and amazing pie all included.
Christmas with Nini and Bebe:
As per holiday tradition we did Christmas with Nini and Bebe while we were in California for Thanksgiving. While Nini always does a masterful job orchestrating an incredible Christmas experience for the kids, this year left us completely speechless. Oh yes, we are still in awe.
Remember the costume contest I mentioned in my last post that actually shows up two posts back? Well the prize was a two night stay in West Wendover with tickets to see Joe Nichols. Katie and I didn't know anything about Wendover, but we did know we were excited to get a little trip with some time for each other without kids. So right after Thanksgiving dinner we hit Nini's house one last time for Christmas and to say goodbye to everybody. Then we drove through the night, dropped the kids off at with Grandma and Grandpa, and headed out to Wendover.
We almost missed it.
West Wendover spend LOTS of advertising dollars in Utah, and they absolutely had us fooled into thinking it must be something 2 or 3 times the size of Mesquite possibly. Let's just say, if you've seen the tv commercial for Wendover you've have seen ALL of Wendover including what must be the only indoor pool (commercial or residential). It's quite safe to say we're going to have to win another costume contest in order to get us back to West Wendover.
Highlights of the trip: The city landscapes in astroturf, Smiths, McDonalds. Yep, that's it. On one of our many trips to Smiths in 2 days I talked to one of the locals. It went like this:
Me: "So, are you from Wendover?"
Him: "Yep, can I help you with something?"
Me: "Is this it?"
Him: "Um, what are you looking for?"
Me: "I just thought there would be a couple of restaurants, maybe some stores, you know..."
Him: "Oh, well there's lots of places to eat. You know there's a chinese place in the strip mall, McDonalds,..."
Me: "There's a strip mall?!"
Him: "Yeah, right in back here by the titty bar."
Me: "That's a strip mall?"
Him: "Yeah, but don't park by Mike's garage. He doesn't like that."
Me: " Hmmmm"
I'm pretty sure that the so called "strip mall" was really just another name for his "titty bar". Anyway, we had an awesome time with each other, BYU won the Holy War while we were there, and the Joe Nichols concert was awesome despite the fact that I'm not much of a country music fan.
And that concludes November.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Aren't you sick of Carving Pumpkins?!?!?
Well I am!!! I log into this blog everyday and I am so sick of seeing the pumpkins title with my Santa background! Funny how I log in thinking by some magical power my blog will be updated just how I picture in my mind with all the pictures I want to use and the stories to fill in from the last 2 months.Who knows if I'll actually get to update this blog tonight, but if tonight is anything like last night I will have plenty of time to get all caught up! So, really this post serves no purpose beside removing the pumpkin title from my Santa background. Mission completed.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Cornbellys
Well, there is a lot more of October that we can talk about besides carving pumpkins! So let's do the time warp again.... (come on, you know you just sang that in your mind as you read it). This is a little post that I started doing when it was appropriate so I'll finish it. The pictures have been uploaded for over a month now waiting for text. Of course, they are a 1,000 words each...
This post represents the end of a semi-Halloween tradition. "Semi" because we didn't do it every year even when we wanted to and it's over because the chances of us being in Utah for another October are slim at this point.
It turned out that we went to Cornbelly's on the perfect day. The weather was supposed to be HORRIBLE and everyone knew it, but it turned out to be perfectly fine overcast fall weather. We had the place almost completely to ourselves.
We were joined this year by cousin Haley and Ben's friend who has no name because his own mother doesn't type his name on her blog but everybody who reads this post knows exactly who it is (and especially after they see the pictures).
One of the highlights of this year's trip: we won a contest. Tucked back behind Cinderella's pumpkin carriage Katie spied two guys in cowboy gear manning an empty table. Sooooooo since we are trying to teach our children by example not to talk to strangers, Katie went up to see what they were doing. Turns out they were hosting a costume contest on account of a country radio station and the contest was in 20 minutes and no one had signed up yet. (I don't think their advertising was very good). Anyway, since we were headed to Grandma's Halloween party right after my costume just happened to be in the car. And like that I was in my very first costume contest ever. Two more people showed up right before the contest (I'm positive one of them came expressly for the costume contest) and suddenly I was guaranteed at least 3rd place. Well, as it turns out, I won first place. I don't know how great my costume was but I can tell you my competition consisted of a guy wearing a ten year old's satan costume and a woman with cereal boxes glued all over her and she was carrying a bowl and a wooden spoon. I think she was going to make chex mix if she won...
The little girl cousins of course had a blast running all over the place together. It was fun watching them dare each other into the scary stuff. Kallie made it through the haunted monster while Hailey chickened out and then Kallie hung out side the 3-d house while Hailey braved it with the boys.
Of course, the best part of Cornbelly's every year always seems to be the jumping pillows. We probably spent two thirds of our time in this area of Cornbelly's. However, we also made it through the hay bale tunnels, the corn mazes, the haunted hay rides, the bike-carts, and even though it was too cold for the pigs to race we got a special tour of the animals and their home by the owner. Awesome.
This post represents the end of a semi-Halloween tradition. "Semi" because we didn't do it every year even when we wanted to and it's over because the chances of us being in Utah for another October are slim at this point.
It turned out that we went to Cornbelly's on the perfect day. The weather was supposed to be HORRIBLE and everyone knew it, but it turned out to be perfectly fine overcast fall weather. We had the place almost completely to ourselves.
We were joined this year by cousin Haley and Ben's friend who has no name because his own mother doesn't type his name on her blog but everybody who reads this post knows exactly who it is (and especially after they see the pictures).
One of the highlights of this year's trip: we won a contest. Tucked back behind Cinderella's pumpkin carriage Katie spied two guys in cowboy gear manning an empty table. Sooooooo since we are trying to teach our children by example not to talk to strangers, Katie went up to see what they were doing. Turns out they were hosting a costume contest on account of a country radio station and the contest was in 20 minutes and no one had signed up yet. (I don't think their advertising was very good). Anyway, since we were headed to Grandma's Halloween party right after my costume just happened to be in the car. And like that I was in my very first costume contest ever. Two more people showed up right before the contest (I'm positive one of them came expressly for the costume contest) and suddenly I was guaranteed at least 3rd place. Well, as it turns out, I won first place. I don't know how great my costume was but I can tell you my competition consisted of a guy wearing a ten year old's satan costume and a woman with cereal boxes glued all over her and she was carrying a bowl and a wooden spoon. I think she was going to make chex mix if she won...
The little girl cousins of course had a blast running all over the place together. It was fun watching them dare each other into the scary stuff. Kallie made it through the haunted monster while Hailey chickened out and then Kallie hung out side the 3-d house while Hailey braved it with the boys.
Of course, the best part of Cornbelly's every year always seems to be the jumping pillows. We probably spent two thirds of our time in this area of Cornbelly's. However, we also made it through the hay bale tunnels, the corn mazes, the haunted hay rides, the bike-carts, and even though it was too cold for the pigs to race we got a special tour of the animals and their home by the owner. Awesome.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Carving Pumpkins
So, on Monday we held possibly our last annual Halloween tradition at Grandma's house. It's crazy, but we are entering the period now where possibly everything we do might be our "last".
Grandma had set up the "pumpkin patch" outside in the yard and the kids got to go pick out there pumpkins. As I was walking to the pumpkin I wanted Lisa ran ahead of me and started to pick it up. So I promptly began pointing out to her all the defects in that particular pumpkin. She was so convinced that she set it down, and I picked it up. By the time she realized that maybe that pumpkin wasn't really such a bad pick it was safely sequested as Andrew's future jack-0-lantern. A good start to the night.
Dinner was, as always, excellent and festive. Grandma had decked out the table with ideas from her new website partiesandpatterns.com (check it out... it's awesome), and I bored people with physics updates while Andrew ate off of my plate even though I had put the same exact food on his. We topped dinner off with homemade chocolate donut holes as we dove into the pumpkins.
Andrew in particular coul not stop exploring the ins and outs of a newly carved jack-o-lantern. It was a lot of fun to watch him and the other two. Kallie made me particularly nervous this year because she was very insistent on holding the carving knife herself this year and she doesn't listen to/follow instruction very well at all. And do you think we would use the dull-bladed orange-handled typical pumpkin knives? Oh, no. WE use the sharpest serrated steak knifes Grandma can find. It was a miracle that we didn't end up with a bloody pumpkin. Andrew of course has to be like the big kids.... good thing he can't tell a plastic knife from a sharp one! I can't wait for next year...
Grandma had set up the "pumpkin patch" outside in the yard and the kids got to go pick out there pumpkins. As I was walking to the pumpkin I wanted Lisa ran ahead of me and started to pick it up. So I promptly began pointing out to her all the defects in that particular pumpkin. She was so convinced that she set it down, and I picked it up. By the time she realized that maybe that pumpkin wasn't really such a bad pick it was safely sequested as Andrew's future jack-0-lantern. A good start to the night.
Dinner was, as always, excellent and festive. Grandma had decked out the table with ideas from her new website partiesandpatterns.com (check it out... it's awesome), and I bored people with physics updates while Andrew ate off of my plate even though I had put the same exact food on his. We topped dinner off with homemade chocolate donut holes as we dove into the pumpkins.
Andrew in particular coul not stop exploring the ins and outs of a newly carved jack-o-lantern. It was a lot of fun to watch him and the other two. Kallie made me particularly nervous this year because she was very insistent on holding the carving knife herself this year and she doesn't listen to/follow instruction very well at all. And do you think we would use the dull-bladed orange-handled typical pumpkin knives? Oh, no. WE use the sharpest serrated steak knifes Grandma can find. It was a miracle that we didn't end up with a bloody pumpkin. Andrew of course has to be like the big kids.... good thing he can't tell a plastic knife from a sharp one! I can't wait for next year...
Monday, October 19, 2009
Once upon a time...
He needed me to do this for him. Now he just takes his stroller for a walk by himself. Where does time go?
Friday, October 2, 2009
5 Worst Words + I've Been Looking for That!
Katie: Do you want to know the five worst words in the WHOLE world?
Me: Um.... in any language?
Katie: In any language.
Me: Sure.
Katie: When you walk by the bathroom after your son has been in there for 45 minutes and he says, "Mom? I need some help..." Yeah, there's a story behind that.
She still hasn't told me the story.
Earlier today, we were driving to the open house for Kallie's preschool and the CD player kept making a funny noise. Upon hitting eject, Katie's debit card popped out of the player. "Oh! I've been looking for that!" she exclaimed. I don't even want to know...
Me: Um.... in any language?
Katie: In any language.
Me: Sure.
Katie: When you walk by the bathroom after your son has been in there for 45 minutes and he says, "Mom? I need some help..." Yeah, there's a story behind that.
She still hasn't told me the story.
Earlier today, we were driving to the open house for Kallie's preschool and the CD player kept making a funny noise. Upon hitting eject, Katie's debit card popped out of the player. "Oh! I've been looking for that!" she exclaimed. I don't even want to know...
Chocolate What?
So Kallie asked Katie for some chocolate milk today. It seemed innocent enough. Katie obliged, but when she came back downstairs Kallie wasn't holding a cup of chocolate milk..... she had a cup full of Nestle Quik.... and nothing else. And because Kallie is such a sweet little girl she made sure to give some to her little brother. Enjoy the pics.
BYU vs. Colorado State
So last Saturday the most amazing woman in the world was out doing errands when she heard on the radio that the radio station was giving out free tickets to the football game an hour before kickoff. That happened to be five minutes away. So, she completely reversed direction, ran up to the radio station's trailer and asked if she was too late. Apparently, while the station had pages and pages of people who'd signed up to get the tickets nobody had shown up in person for the drawing, which was a requirement. And like that, Katie had two tickets to the football game.
So like the amazing woman she is, she MADE me take Ben while she stayed home with the other two. Ben and I biked down to the stadium super excited. We walked almost completely around the stadium looking for will call. Then will call claimed to not have the tickets... this eventually ended up with a phone call to the radio station where we found out that they had completely botched the whole process involving procural of the tickets. Somehow we got through the gates with a receipt printed off the internet that had the seat numbers on it.
Unfortunately, that receipt had the wrong portal number on it, which resulted in another trip around nearly the whole stadium. By the time we got to our seats BYU had already scored the first touchdown, but it was still awesome.
So like the amazing woman she is, she MADE me take Ben while she stayed home with the other two. Ben and I biked down to the stadium super excited. We walked almost completely around the stadium looking for will call. Then will call claimed to not have the tickets... this eventually ended up with a phone call to the radio station where we found out that they had completely botched the whole process involving procural of the tickets. Somehow we got through the gates with a receipt printed off the internet that had the seat numbers on it.
Unfortunately, that receipt had the wrong portal number on it, which resulted in another trip around nearly the whole stadium. By the time we got to our seats BYU had already scored the first touchdown, but it was still awesome.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Poop
Dad: Kallie, how much poop could a pooper poop, if a pooper could poop poop?
Kallie: (in complete seriousness) Um, like 30,000 I think.
Kallie: (in complete seriousness) Um, like 30,000 I think.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Y Fail
Katie has been DYING and begging and talking FOREVER about hiking the "Y" here in Provo. Well, tonight she got her chance. Auntie Amy came over for dinner and offered to watch the kids while we hiked the "Y". Let's just say Katie's desire to hike the "Y" is now cured. The first person to correctly guess how far we made it up and where these pictures were taken gets a prize...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Stories from the Summer
Over the course of the summer I tried to keep a couple of notes on what was going on... but instead of turning into blog posts they have all now simply turned into random stories in this one blog post.
I think one of the most tramatic things for our kids this year was the loss of our great dane Apollo. Apollo was a great dog and we loved him dearly, but his medical conditions and our wallets were not getting along very well, which had the effect of keeping him in obvious discomfort day to day and frustrating us as well. It's a long story, but through the Vet's office we found the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue who took him on with all of his medical problems and found him a new home. This all happened right around the time that we dropped Dandy, our lab, off at Amy and Alex's and took off for New Mexico.
Later on Ben was telling the story to someone and said," we were going to give apollo a shot, but then a lady at the shot place wanted him so we gave him to her." To which Kallie quickly added, "we gave dandy away too, but then we went and got her back."
Ben was asking me about Apollo leaving our family later and I said I didn't really have a good answer to that but only that Heavenly Father asked me to (interestingly enough, it was quite a spiritual experience). He surmised that it was a "favor". "A what?" I asked. "A favor," he replied, "you did Heavenly Father a favor." It is always interesting to learn how the children interpret these experiences.
On a completely unrelated note, we were driving back from New Mexico this summer and I was administering voice commands to the GPS system in order to keep one hand firmly on the wheel and the other on my soft drink. I don't know if Katie was feeling a little left out or just a little jealous (the GPS is female), but out of the blue she just started talking to the GPS device. She was halfway through a conversation with it before I had the heart to tell her that the GPS only has a few pre-programmed voice commands and that it can't respond to anything she throws at it. That kept us laughing for the better part of the drive.
This summer Kallie has been testing the limits of parental control a little bit, which more than a couple of nights in a row ended with her sobbing in tears. I would finally say, "Alright Kallie, you've cried, it's over, you're done crying." To which nine times out of ten she would angrily reply, "Well, I'm having oatmeal for breakfast!" I was always happy to let her have the last words on that.
Tonight Kallie was pretty darn cute again as we were driving to dinner. She was telling me all about Aunt SaraAnn's house and how there are baby dolls in the basement and she can ALWAYS find the kitchen. "The kitchen? Why?" I asked, "because it's in the middle of the house?" "No, because it's stuck to the floor, it never moves, so its always in the same spot!" she replied. Makes sense to me.
On the way home, she was telling me how she wants to say the most beautiful prayers. Prayers that Heavenly Father will always love to hear and that will make him happy. I didn't even have to ask why. "That way Heavenly Father will be happy and not shake the earth. Cause that would make the world bumpy!" She explained.
I think one of the most tramatic things for our kids this year was the loss of our great dane Apollo. Apollo was a great dog and we loved him dearly, but his medical conditions and our wallets were not getting along very well, which had the effect of keeping him in obvious discomfort day to day and frustrating us as well. It's a long story, but through the Vet's office we found the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue who took him on with all of his medical problems and found him a new home. This all happened right around the time that we dropped Dandy, our lab, off at Amy and Alex's and took off for New Mexico.
Later on Ben was telling the story to someone and said," we were going to give apollo a shot, but then a lady at the shot place wanted him so we gave him to her." To which Kallie quickly added, "we gave dandy away too, but then we went and got her back."
Ben was asking me about Apollo leaving our family later and I said I didn't really have a good answer to that but only that Heavenly Father asked me to (interestingly enough, it was quite a spiritual experience). He surmised that it was a "favor". "A what?" I asked. "A favor," he replied, "you did Heavenly Father a favor." It is always interesting to learn how the children interpret these experiences.
On a completely unrelated note, we were driving back from New Mexico this summer and I was administering voice commands to the GPS system in order to keep one hand firmly on the wheel and the other on my soft drink. I don't know if Katie was feeling a little left out or just a little jealous (the GPS is female), but out of the blue she just started talking to the GPS device. She was halfway through a conversation with it before I had the heart to tell her that the GPS only has a few pre-programmed voice commands and that it can't respond to anything she throws at it. That kept us laughing for the better part of the drive.
This summer Kallie has been testing the limits of parental control a little bit, which more than a couple of nights in a row ended with her sobbing in tears. I would finally say, "Alright Kallie, you've cried, it's over, you're done crying." To which nine times out of ten she would angrily reply, "Well, I'm having oatmeal for breakfast!" I was always happy to let her have the last words on that.
Tonight Kallie was pretty darn cute again as we were driving to dinner. She was telling me all about Aunt SaraAnn's house and how there are baby dolls in the basement and she can ALWAYS find the kitchen. "The kitchen? Why?" I asked, "because it's in the middle of the house?" "No, because it's stuck to the floor, it never moves, so its always in the same spot!" she replied. Makes sense to me.
On the way home, she was telling me how she wants to say the most beautiful prayers. Prayers that Heavenly Father will always love to hear and that will make him happy. I didn't even have to ask why. "That way Heavenly Father will be happy and not shake the earth. Cause that would make the world bumpy!" She explained.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Learning about Lies
Kallie has been having a little problem telling the truth lately.... so Katie sat down with her to have a little talk. It was going really well, right up to this point:
Katie: Who are the three people who always know when you lie?
Kallie: Um.
Katie: Which three people that matter the most always know when you lie Kallie?
Kallie: Heavenly Father and Jesus.
Katie: And the third one is... you, Kallie.
Kallie: The other two lie?!!??!!
Priceless.
Katie: Who are the three people who always know when you lie?
Kallie: Um.
Katie: Which three people that matter the most always know when you lie Kallie?
Kallie: Heavenly Father and Jesus.
Katie: And the third one is... you, Kallie.
Kallie: The other two lie?!!??!!
Priceless.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Oh yes we did...
Since Ben is starting school this year and we will have to be more "responsible", I decided I would take the kids for one last visit to California. I have to admit driving alone for 9 hours with 3 kids was a little intimating, but well worth it! Not only do I now know I can do it, but I know I can handle a kid throwing up while keeping my eyes and car on the road. Yes I have become that talented! I also learned NEVER leave home without throw-up bags (and more than one for that matter!)
Since I took over 500 pictures I will just share a few (you're welcome) that show some new things we learned while in California.
Andrew learned that the dog bowl is a much better place to get a drink of water. Not only is it his height and at his disposal 24-7, he normally never had to get a drink alone. Libby was always close by to share in that bonding experience. Libby was very kind and didn't even try once to kick him out of her bowl!
Alysa and I learned it is sooooo much funner to walk thru another person's throw-up to stand in line for the tram at Raging Water, then take the 5 minute drive to the car stuffed on the tram with people you don't know (or care to get to know), then to drive home with mom who parked in the one hour only parking right outside the front gate. They only beat us home by 45 minutes...but then how would we have gotten this cute tram picture of us? See, good trade off right?
Christopher said he already knew this one....Libby is alittle confused as to who she is. She is a 4 year old Rotweiller who not only loves to play dress up with the kids (see below), but loves to jump on the trampoline, be a life guard to the kids while they are in the pool, makes sure they fall off their bikes, and pretty much would rather be the kids mother. She would get mad at me when I would put Andrew in the side of the pool and take him out again quickly to make him laugh. She got so mad at me when I wouldn't stop she finally pushed us away from the pool and stood in front of us.
Oh yes, and she also loves this bride veil. She will run around the house with it all day and not chew it up (this is a big thing since EVERYTHING..shoes, clothes, helmets, anything plastic, or wood, or metal, or fabric..yep, EVERYTHING) must be kept high at all times. Case in point, one night we left yummy Costco lemon cakes on the kitchen counter only to come down in the morning to only a plastic container with not even a crumb in it. She also loves to have people hold her hand and she loves to give hugs.
Andrew learned the only one sure fire way to get Aunties Alysa's coke all to himself was to leave her little floaties in her drink. He is now addicted to soda (I'm sure it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that Alysa would fill his sippy cup up with Coke). Whenever we opened the fridge he would dive for the coke Alysa had left at our house. Chris finally had to drink it...and I think Andrew still looks for it in the fridge.
I learned the best way to shop is just like my mom shops. She gets all the sales people to pick out the clothes in the right sizes and bring them to her for a yes or a no. She sits on the floor and pretty much just takes over the whole entire store. The kids felt like they were movie stars having a sales person all to themselves...and constantly having a sales person ask if they liked this or that.
Ben learned to only shop in stores that had tv's for kids. He didn't complain ONCE about being in the store. He loved trying on his clothes and would even get distracted by what was on the tv. I think every store that wants mom's to spend money in them should get a little tv center for kids!
Andrew is just adorable..wait...we already knew that!
I learned we are not allowed to do ANYTHING without Libby right by our side. Shel was giving the kids a bath and feeding Ava dinner and Libby was there supervising the whole time. I have to admit, I feel very safe leaving Andrew in Shel's care...as long as Lib is there to make sure everything is shipshape. Lib even went as far as jumping in Andrew's bath one night to make sure he was ok. You can't ask for a better baby sitter than that!
I learned my Dad skips out on too many pictures! This is the only real one I got of him. I'm gonna get you next trip Dad!
It really isn't safe to let my kids help my mom feed the dogs. They get so confused. They are not used to feeding dogs their food with spoons. Poor Dandy, she has had so many spoons shoved in her mouth by Andrew since we have been home!
See what I mean!
Andrew learned it is so much more fun to drink Kool-Aid without a sippy cup! Right after his bath my mom decides to share her drink with him, which ended with Andrew just taking the whole thing for himself. Andrew was so happy and giggling like he was getting away with something. The only problem is, now if it has a lid on it at home he rejects it. Well, I figure he will get thirsty enough to take it. I'm not cleaning a baby that looks like this more than once! His legs and tummy were red for 3 days!
But he was in pure Heaven!
Ahma and Ahba's house is a land of wonderment. The kids love to go over there and pick fruit, then make them into juice. It was so cute to watch them follow Ahma from tree to tree filling up their bags. I was having Halloween flashbacks! They would get so excited with each one that was placed in their bags!
I'm hoping my kids learned I do know what I'm talking about...most times. The kids have been to the beach before, but it has been a very long time. They were fascinated with the waves, and kind of enchanted by them. Kallie was the first to fall victim. She would chase the wave back into the ocean. I told her to stay where she was and the wave would come back. That wasn't quick enough for her so she kept following it. Well, it caught up to her and tried to take her back with it! She was very scared and didn't like it one bit! She also didn't even touch the water after that!
So, you think after Ben watched all this unfold he would listen? Are you kidding me?!?! No way! A big wave was coming in and I was standing there telling him to get back it was going to be a big one...but what do I know..I'm only the mom...
Kallie learned baby powder has magical powers. You put it on, the sand falls off...AMAZING! She proceded to become whiter and whiter until I had to take the bottle away for fear that other people would think she was a ghost.
I learned these guys are as crazy as I remembered them being. You can't have a get together and not laugh! I miss living so close to them! Ahba has also taught my kids new words. You can't tell them we don't say damn since they just say "well, Ahba says it". How can you disagree with that when his favorite songs to sing are the ones with "damn" in it?
And finally, when all is said and done we learned there really is no place like home. The kids were glued to Chris from the second we got home! They really missed him, as did I. We had an amazing trip and loved every second of it! I love being able to live close enough to just head home for a week or two. I have to admit, there is nothing so exciting as turning back onto your street and seeing home again after being away for almost 2 weeks and to open the front door to a perfectly clean house, with my husband cooking us dinner. I love my life!
Since I took over 500 pictures I will just share a few (you're welcome) that show some new things we learned while in California.
Andrew learned that the dog bowl is a much better place to get a drink of water. Not only is it his height and at his disposal 24-7, he normally never had to get a drink alone. Libby was always close by to share in that bonding experience. Libby was very kind and didn't even try once to kick him out of her bowl!
Alysa and I learned it is sooooo much funner to walk thru another person's throw-up to stand in line for the tram at Raging Water, then take the 5 minute drive to the car stuffed on the tram with people you don't know (or care to get to know), then to drive home with mom who parked in the one hour only parking right outside the front gate. They only beat us home by 45 minutes...but then how would we have gotten this cute tram picture of us? See, good trade off right?
Christopher said he already knew this one....Libby is alittle confused as to who she is. She is a 4 year old Rotweiller who not only loves to play dress up with the kids (see below), but loves to jump on the trampoline, be a life guard to the kids while they are in the pool, makes sure they fall off their bikes, and pretty much would rather be the kids mother. She would get mad at me when I would put Andrew in the side of the pool and take him out again quickly to make him laugh. She got so mad at me when I wouldn't stop she finally pushed us away from the pool and stood in front of us. 
Oh yes, and she also loves this bride veil. She will run around the house with it all day and not chew it up (this is a big thing since EVERYTHING..shoes, clothes, helmets, anything plastic, or wood, or metal, or fabric..yep, EVERYTHING) must be kept high at all times. Case in point, one night we left yummy Costco lemon cakes on the kitchen counter only to come down in the morning to only a plastic container with not even a crumb in it. She also loves to have people hold her hand and she loves to give hugs. 
Andrew learned the only one sure fire way to get Aunties Alysa's coke all to himself was to leave her little floaties in her drink. He is now addicted to soda (I'm sure it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that Alysa would fill his sippy cup up with Coke). Whenever we opened the fridge he would dive for the coke Alysa had left at our house. Chris finally had to drink it...and I think Andrew still looks for it in the fridge.
I learned the best way to shop is just like my mom shops. She gets all the sales people to pick out the clothes in the right sizes and bring them to her for a yes or a no. She sits on the floor and pretty much just takes over the whole entire store. The kids felt like they were movie stars having a sales person all to themselves...and constantly having a sales person ask if they liked this or that. 
Ben learned to only shop in stores that had tv's for kids. He didn't complain ONCE about being in the store. He loved trying on his clothes and would even get distracted by what was on the tv. I think every store that wants mom's to spend money in them should get a little tv center for kids!
Andrew is just adorable..wait...we already knew that!
I learned we are not allowed to do ANYTHING without Libby right by our side. Shel was giving the kids a bath and feeding Ava dinner and Libby was there supervising the whole time. I have to admit, I feel very safe leaving Andrew in Shel's care...as long as Lib is there to make sure everything is shipshape. Lib even went as far as jumping in Andrew's bath one night to make sure he was ok. You can't ask for a better baby sitter than that!
I learned my Dad skips out on too many pictures! This is the only real one I got of him. I'm gonna get you next trip Dad!
It really isn't safe to let my kids help my mom feed the dogs. They get so confused. They are not used to feeding dogs their food with spoons. Poor Dandy, she has had so many spoons shoved in her mouth by Andrew since we have been home!
See what I mean!
Andrew learned it is so much more fun to drink Kool-Aid without a sippy cup! Right after his bath my mom decides to share her drink with him, which ended with Andrew just taking the whole thing for himself. Andrew was so happy and giggling like he was getting away with something. The only problem is, now if it has a lid on it at home he rejects it. Well, I figure he will get thirsty enough to take it. I'm not cleaning a baby that looks like this more than once! His legs and tummy were red for 3 days!
But he was in pure Heaven!
Ahma and Ahba's house is a land of wonderment. The kids love to go over there and pick fruit, then make them into juice. It was so cute to watch them follow Ahma from tree to tree filling up their bags. I was having Halloween flashbacks! They would get so excited with each one that was placed in their bags!
I'm hoping my kids learned I do know what I'm talking about...most times. The kids have been to the beach before, but it has been a very long time. They were fascinated with the waves, and kind of enchanted by them. Kallie was the first to fall victim. She would chase the wave back into the ocean. I told her to stay where she was and the wave would come back. That wasn't quick enough for her so she kept following it. Well, it caught up to her and tried to take her back with it! She was very scared and didn't like it one bit! She also didn't even touch the water after that!
So, you think after Ben watched all this unfold he would listen? Are you kidding me?!?! No way! A big wave was coming in and I was standing there telling him to get back it was going to be a big one...but what do I know..I'm only the mom...
Kallie learned baby powder has magical powers. You put it on, the sand falls off...AMAZING! She proceded to become whiter and whiter until I had to take the bottle away for fear that other people would think she was a ghost. Andrew learned to stick with Auntie Joy. You stay with her and she will take you places...normally fun ones with shakes and games and prizes.
I learned these guys are as crazy as I remembered them being. You can't have a get together and not laugh! I miss living so close to them! Ahba has also taught my kids new words. You can't tell them we don't say damn since they just say "well, Ahba says it". How can you disagree with that when his favorite songs to sing are the ones with "damn" in it?
And finally, when all is said and done we learned there really is no place like home. The kids were glued to Chris from the second we got home! They really missed him, as did I. We had an amazing trip and loved every second of it! I love being able to live close enough to just head home for a week or two. I have to admit, there is nothing so exciting as turning back onto your street and seeing home again after being away for almost 2 weeks and to open the front door to a perfectly clean house, with my husband cooking us dinner. I love my life!
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