Secret Santa

THANK YOU Secret Santa!!! When we got home last night, there on our porch, was a glowing gift from a secret Santa. Hyrum said "wow" more times than I can count, and Brigham and Joy were both convinced that the gift was put there by Heavenly Father, because he loves us. And, he does. He loves us enough to send us amazing, thoughtful, and kind friends. Whoever you are, THANK YOU!

You must be kidding!

I came home from work yesterday to hear a harrowing tale. Apparently, while John was doing some work on the computer, the destruction duo (otherwise known as Brigham and Hyrum) got a carton of eggs out of the fridge. They must have been pretty quiet, because John didn't hear anything until after they had gone to the top of the stairs and thrown every egg in the carton to the bottom! John thinks that Hyrum must have been the initiator because there was only one egg that made it half way down - Brigham has a much better arm. Thank heavens the floor at the bottom of the stairs isn't carpeted!

Bats in the Belfrey

At least, that's what it looked like on Halloween, and that is my long-lapse excuse.

So, I had to show off the cool costume Mom and I finally got done for Charlie. Yes, I know. Amazing.

And, Hyrum rubbed peach juice in his hair and the result was hair-raising!

Okay, for real, I am just way busy. Between work and the commute, my spare time just doesn't justify blogging. Don't tell that I wasted this!

We had an earthquake!

Hyrum woke us up this morning crying at 4:48am. Okay, he woke me up. It would take a chainsaw to wake John. Or, appearantly, an earthquake. I guess maybe I shouldn't mind Hyrum's 1.5 hour crying jag, because it meant I was awake to feel the 3.7 richter earthquake that hit at 5:09am. Cool. The following link gives all the details from the USGS. (Don't ask me what it stands for, but it is official.)

Memorial Day

And what a memorable day it was! We went to the cove this morning to see low tide off the pier. The pier is one of John's favorite places, and so we go there all the time, but I have never been during low tide, and it was quite a different experience. We had a ton of fun looking at all the crabs, starfish and fish in the water, just a few feet away from us.

While we were walking down the pier, Hyrum happened to look down through the cracks, and was all the sudden afraid to walk anymore.

If you want to take time to watch the video, it is hilarious! After we went down on the floating dock and looked closely at the sea creatures, we went back up again and looked out at the pier. Of course, the kids had to climb up the railing, and in the process, Brigham donated one of his shoes to the sea. We waited around for about 20 minutes hoping that it's course would intersect with the floating dock and we might be able to retrieve it, but it was no use, and we now need to get a new pair of "crocs" for Brigham.

You can't tell it from the picture, but this shoe makes a great sea vessel, it was about 50 feet out from us at this point.

In the afternoon, we went to some friends for a barbecue and had a lot of fun. However, we had several exposures I could have done without. Twice, my attention was pulled away from a discussion by the sound of several kids yelling, "Sister D, Brother D!" Not only was my attention grabbed by that, but so was the entire backyard's. And, both times, there was Brigham with his pants going down and the boy parts coming out. Let's just say that our friends don't need to water their lawn in several spots now. I swear, that child is going to be thrown into a cell for indecent exposure. Of course, I may not be too far behind him. I am trying to wear more skirts (that is a whole separate post I will have to do sometime) and so I wore one all day today. And all day, it wasn't a problem. So, I didn't think anything of it at the barbecue. Until I was standing chatting with some friends when I realized that something was fluttering behind my shoulders. Yes, it was my SKIRT! Fortunately, I was wearing a slip. Even more fortunately, the backyard behind me was clear. But, that was one gathering that had to be left early for the sake of all. The breeze picked up, and even with walking around with the skirt gathered in my hands, there was danger of exposure. So, the kids had to forgo root beer floats and I can still look my friends in the eye. Ah, life.

Holy Calories, Batman!

Did you know that in one serving of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese there are 410 calories? Wow! I don't eat them anymore (except for one or two bites because I just can't resist) but I figure they are great for fattening the kids! I know, better to stuff them with highly nutritious calories, but I am not always that on top of it. So, for lunch today, the kids eat Mac and Cheese and I eat a plate of zucchini. Unfortunately, I am not sure that the zucchini is that much more nutritious after I slather it with margarine!

Sixth folder

Sixth folder, fourth (last) picture. I didn't actually have six pictures in that one! I am obviously not the world's best photographer. Poor kids, they were more than a little scared of the sprinkler. Perhaps that is because it only came out three times the whole summer. I now understand why they don't sell many outdoor water toys here. I tag Brya, Erin, KellyAnne, Linda, and Angela!

Conversation with Joy

Me - Aren't these grapes nice and crispy?
Joy - No, they taste like soap.
Me - Soap? Maybe your mouth tastes like soap.
Joy - No, my lunch didn't taste like soap. Maybe I am allergic to grapes.
Me - Hmm.
Joy - Did I used to be such a great reader before I had grapes?
Me - Um, no. You had grapes long before you were such a great reader.
Joy - That must be it. I must be allergic. Grapes make you change. That must be why I am such a great reader.

What?

John, flowers, and poor little momma bird

This is what we have been up to lately.

Yes, John is home! After having been gone for THREE months, he is now home. We felt prompted that it was time to come home, so he came. And, we couldn't be more excited.

And, Paul has found a new favorite past time. He loves to bring me flowers. If only it were something more than dandelions. I guess that would mean I would have to be growing something other than dandelions, but that would be someone else's house.

Last thing. On Saturday I was preparing to mow the backyard when I moved the out-of-commission bubble tractor.

Low and behold, there was a bird's nest with a single egg. I debated, talked to John, and decided to leave the tractor where it was. The kids had obviously left the tractor alone long enough for some crazy bird to build a nest, maybe they would continue to leave it alone. I did not remember, however, that we have had a spell of rain for a while, and the kids hadn't been outside. When I went out today, a nice warm day (yes, 51 degrees counts as warm here), I noticed that the tractor had been moved about a foot backward. I actually just mowed around the tractor, so its exact original position was pretty easy to figure out. There were now not one, but three eggs.

Tell me, what kind of a crazy bird builds a nest under a child's toy? Of course the boys noticed the nest, and even though I told them not to touch the tractor, they are a little young to understand. So now I only had two options. Keep the kids in the house until the eggs were hatched, babies raised and gone, or move the nest. I chose my sanity over the eggs. So, the eggs were relocated to a low bush in the backyard.

My big mistake was allowing the boys to see where the eggs were. About an hour later, Paul came in smeared with yolk, and I knew the eggs were gone. I felt bad, but, come on, under a tractor? What was that momma bird thinking. And, I had never actually see a bird out there. This afternoon she decided to make up for lost time. Lo and behold, I looked out the window, and there was a little bird hopping all over the long grass where the tractor used to be. She hopped over to the tractor and went under it and all over it. Then, she made a beeline for the bush where her eggs were stored. That poor momma bird made the rounds at least four more times before I finally closed the blinds because I was starting to tear up and cry over those darn eggs! My poor children must think I am demented. What other person do you know who cries so easy?

The power of a kind word

I have been feeling the need to do more lately. I mean, more for other people and the world around me. There is so much need for people to help, and I feel too busy with trying to survive to give anything more. I realized today that there is something I can do that takes no extra time or money, and only costs me a little discomfort. What is this thing? A compliment. Everywhere you go there is someone who does or is something worth complimenting. All it takes from me is to get out of my self-absorbed bubble, and pass the praise along. I did it twice while I was out this morning. I complimented two complete strangers. And, it felt great. I hope they felt great too.

Since you listened to my soapbox, I have a small reward for you. One of the great ladies in our ward took pictures of the kids the other day, and I wanted to share with you. Here they are. Thanks, Sarah.

Brigham says the funniest things. I went up to his room because his tape went off during quiet time and I knew if he was going to stay quiet for a while longer, the tape needed to be flipped over. (He is currently listening to Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingals Wilder.) I opened his door, and he was standing there looking a little tired and dazed. "Do you want me to open your window a little so it isn't so hot in here?" I asked. His answer - "Ab-sa-woot-wee." What three year old says absolutley?

Tulips

Tulips and daffodils are big around here. I mean, BIG! Today we took a trip to one of the local gardens and I don't think I even realized how many types of tulips are out there. Instead of boring you with tons of pictures of flowers, I just made a collage or two.

And, okay, I had to throw in one or two really cute smelling pictures. Next year we will head for a field instead of a garden. I think the fatalities will be less noticeable. There was only one picking, but someone fell, and a few lives were lost.

Good-Bye Stitch

Yeah! Paul got his stitches out today! And, he did remarkably well with the procedure. I only had to remind him not to move (okay, lots of reminders) and the doctor took them right out.

We didn't even have to sedate him. :) He is definitely going to have a scar, but hopefully it will fade in time.

Vox

This post really needs to be much longer, but, as usual, I am on the run and don't have time to do it justice. However, this is the long and short of it. Paul now has a Dynavox, which is a fully-functioning computer communication assistance device. It has a touch screen that he can use to navigate through picture menus to select what he wants to say. When he touches a picture of grapes, the device says, "grapes". We are really excited to see the progress he has made in the 1.5 months we have had it. And, I am finally figuring out how to program it. So, for the next week or two, I will have my camera in tow. I am just warning you that you might be the subject of a picture for the Vox. The more customized the Vox is, the more effective it is. We need pictures of all our friends and places!

reasons I love my brothers

I have brothers who are 13 and 14 years old. Since living up the street from my parents, I have discovered some things about them that just make me happy. When we go to the store (they sometimes come with me and sit in the car with the kids so I don't have to lug the whole crew), I am sometimes requested to pick an item up for them. Now, what would you expect a boy of that age to request? I mean, like a normal boy. My requests? Soda and gum. How can you not love that? And, when I went down tonight to borrow some thread, guess what I found them watching? Now, Mom and Dad are out on a date, and they didn't know I would be coming down, so this is what they were watching for their own enjoyment. "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" and "The John Bennie(?) Show". Yes, they do have a PG limit for movies, but, there are a lot more modern movies they could be watching. I love that they are so innocent. What great guys!

Poor Paul

Well, yesterday was Paul's birthday, so I was planning on posting today. He had a pretty fun day, and a birthday party to boot! It was his first, and I think (hope) all the boys had fun. Joy wasn't too impressed and thinks that Paul really should invite girls to his party next time so that she will have someone to play with. I was just excited everything went smoothly and am glad that Brigham won't be five for another year and a half. Paul had a ball party, and they all got bouncy balls and had ball "cake." Not really cake, but rice crispy treats on a stick. We don't really like cake, so we decided to find a tastier route.


Then, in the evening, Paul did the family party. He was delighted with his car and pants from Grammy and Grandpa, birthday money from Meme and dog neck pillow from Mom and Dad.
But, he was estactic when this morning came and he found the train table put together. He and the other three boys played in his room for quite a while, it was really nice.

Actually, I had to tear them away to go play with friends. Then, the unfortunate happened.

Paul is not the world's most graceful child. While playing this morning, he slipped on the linoleum and smacked his head, right between the eyes, into a chair. I didn't get a before picture, what with rushing to the emergency room and all, so you will just have to believe me that it was grusome! Blood all over the place. But, he is a trooper, and after an oral sedative, they were able to wrap him all up, strap him to a board, and stitch him up. Poor little guy has EIGHT stitches! I guess it won't be hard to remember the date on that one!

Fun with a camera

The other day, Hyrum was walking around with his cute belly sticking out. I tried to get some video of it, but I am still an ametuer video-grapher. It helps when you have a cute subject.

Then, when I really tried to capture the belly, I got knocked over and climbed on.

And jumped on. Life is just hard.

Even Brigham had to get in on the action.

A Great Deal

Guess what? I never pay to rent movies anymore! My little sister told me about this blog called Being Frugal Is Fabulous that posts a Redbox code every Monday. This code enables you to get free movie rentals on Monday. So, I just wait and rent movies on Monday, and I get the movies I want without paying anything. It is great! And, when I am really on top of it, I get the movies on Monday morning and they aren't due until Tuesday at 9pm, so it is really like two days of rentals free!

Brigham's Prayers

The absolutely most hilarious thing that happened today was Brigham's prayers tonight. I put him to bed, and we were having the normal, "Help me be a nice brother, and obey my mom," when he refused. He wouldn't say "obey my mom". "No!" Oh no, I thought, this is just way too early for this. "Obey Bob!" It took me a moment and then I realized what was going on. Brigham likes to pretend that he is various characters and always has a character that you are supposed to be. Among these play roles are are Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato. He is Larry, and I am Bob. Apparently, I should be asking him to obey Bob instead of Mom. Maybe I would get better results!

Frozen Fridge

Someone (and I have a pretty good guess who) got into my fridge and turned all the temperature controls down to the coldest setting. I noticed this morning that the milk was particularly cold and delicious, but I didn't think anything of it. Then, when I took out some boiled eggs, I saw the strangest, coolest thing I have ever seen in my fridge. The eggs looked like this:
I hope you can see the delicate ice patterns. I wasted WAY too much time time trying to photograph them and get the detail. After I put them back, I noticed that all the soup in my fridge was also frozen. I looked at the temperature controls and that's when I saw the change. I guess I will have to have a discussion with the kids about turning knobs in the fridge! I should also add, these eggs were dyed for the Spring Bunny, don't be alarmed by the colors!

Things kids say

Joy came home from school upset on Friday. We have a rule in place that if she gets a certain report from her teacher, she has to write lines, and each time it happens she adds five more to the total. Well, she got off the bus, came in the front door and said, "I have to write 20 lines! I don't like this rule, I think it is wretched and cruel!'' Wretched and cruel? Really? That seems pretty dramatic for having to write lines.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, so we decided to go the beach. Paul loves to throw rocks in the water, so he spent all his time right on the edge heartily enjoying himself. Surprisingly, Brigham isn't big on getting wet or sandy, so most of his time was spent up on the driftwood. Brigham is also an incredibly friendly little bugger, and always finds someone new to chat with. Well, while I was watching Paul, Brigham slipped off and walked about 10 feet away where a mother and daughter were sitting reading. When I turned around and saw him, I ran over to get him. He was talking earnestly to the mom, when I heard him say, with a contented sigh, "Now I have a family." What are we, chopped liver?

Hyrum Says Hi!

I have always wondered how everyone put all the cool videos on their blogs. I figured they had cool cameras that I just didn't have. Then, I noticed Brad in the mirror of one of his blogs, and realized that he was just using a regular camera! I wonder if I can do that with my camera? The answer?

Oh yeah. The photography isn't very good, but you get the idea.

Calling all Cans

I am teaching a class at Women's Conference this Saturday, and as usual, inspration has not struck until the end. I want to make handouts using tin cans, but I have a feeling that I may not able to use that much soup/mandarin oranges/mushrooms/evaporated milk/etc by then. If you have a can opener that cuts the top off in one solid piece (like Pamered Chef) and wouldn't mind donating your used cans to a good cause, I would be forever in your debt. If you just rinse them, save the lid, and give me a call, I would be happy to come pick up whatever you have used by Friday night!

My daughter, the future runway model

I was trying to get pictures of Joy in her St. Patrick's day clothes, and I was reminded of a trend. I cannot get a picture of Joy with her knowledge without out her posing. So, I went back a little way in my archives to get evidence for my suspicion. Sure enough, she is posing in every picture I could find. They are hilarious, so I thought I would share them with you.

In this one, I was just trying to get a picture of the tinfoil dinner she made to put on the blog.

Okay, this one wasn't her fault, I wanted to see the skirt. But she enjoyed it.This was two days ago. She made scrambled eggs for breakfast, and I wanted to document it.

This was this morning, with the St. Patrick's get-up. I guess you just can't fight nature.

Leprechaun Mischief

I was not aware until that leprechauns sometimes made house calls. Fortunately, Joy went to kindergarten last year and now we know better. Or, maybe it isn't a good thing. Regardless, we did get a visit from one of those little mischief makers. Over the last few days, Joy has been working on a leprechaun trap. We got the idea from Family Fun, and we really enjoyed it.

So, last night, we set our trap. The idea was that when the leprechaun climbed the ladder and stepped on the hat to claim his gold, he would fall in (the top was just a piece of felt set over an opening) and we would have him. However, he managed to knock it over and take the gold. He did leave us some gold chocolate bars inside,

but I am not sure the havoc he wrecked on our house was worth it!

Okay, it was totally worth it. Imagine this in every room of the house. Every open container of fluid was dyed green, every picture tilted crooked, rugs flipped upside down, lamps turned upside down, you can just imagine. Then, he even had the nerve to taunt us!

I, for one, was indignant! Joy was ecstatic. When she woke up and saw the crooked pictures in her room, she came racing in to my room with, "Mom! The leprechaun was here last night! He turned the pictures in my room crooked! Mom! He was here!" Every new thing she found was a surprise. Anytime she left a room and came back to something different, it was the leprechaun. Never mind the three brothers who are constantly moving things. Even Paul got into it. He noticed his train was turned upside down, and he was so excited.

Breakfast was also fun, we had shamrock rolls. Joy has decided that we need to do this every year.