Too Soon!

Look what the little monkey figured out this week. Doesn't he look so proud of himself? I am not ready for this. He also found the dog dishes and had a little snack - GROSS! I have some serious baby proofing to do this weekend. Logan will be 8 months old on the 24th. He is way ahead of any of my other babies as far as mobility is concerned. He is very independent and wants to be down to get into his own trouble as long as he can see me. He does not like to be left in a room alone and will follow me out as quickly as he can. It's like having two puppy dogs in the house right now.

Please ignore the snotty nose. Logan and Sam both have little colds this week. So far, nothing serious.

Apart from the snot, how fun is waking up to this little guy!?! Even if I did get in at 3 am after watching New Moon with 35, way too old to be so excited when a teenage boy takes of his shirt, women in my ward. I will have to make another post on my Twilight experience soon. It has definitely been memorable.

Global Warnings

You know when you pick your kids up from school and ask them what they did today, and they tell you that they can't remember. Well sometimes Jack remembers and this is what he has shared so far this week.

Mom trees make air...giggle giggle
Homework is made of trees...giggle giggle giggle
Homework causes global warnings! laughing so hard he snorts.


(learning about Pilgrims)
It was so fun today, we had a play.
My part was awesome.
We got to make up our parts, well the other boys made it up, but I didn't argue because I loved my part.
(what was your part)
I got to hold this guy down while three other Pilgrims shot him.


Did you know Marijuana was a plant that grows in fields or houses and stuff?
It is a drug and it is really bad like that crystal meth stuff.
(that's right Jack, so if anyone ever tries to give you a plant or pills or anything like that you should not accept them)
What if it is a Venus Fly Trap?
Mom, if someone gives me a Venus Fly Trap, can I please have it?
(sure)
What if someone comes into my room and they touch it because they don't know it is a Venus Fly Trap then it bites their finger off? That would be cool. Hmmm, I wonder how it swallows the finger.
(so glad he got so much out of his health class, hope he doesn't accept Marijuana from someone who tells him it is a Venus Fly Trap)

Fun, Cold Weekend

I think Jack prayed in the snow. He has been waiting and waiting for snow. Finally Friday night it came. When we woke up on Saturday there was a dusting of snow covering everything and it was COLD! We had some friends from Post Falls come down to visit us, so that they could go to the Boise State/University of Idaho football game. Tyler was sad to cancel his fishing trip that was planned with a friend from the ward, but his brilliant wife suggested he take Dan fishing before the game. They left at 7 am - did I mention that it was COLD. They fished for several hours and then bundled up for the football game at 1:00. While the men-folk were gone, Cyndi, her daughter Summer, the little monsters, and I went to the Craft Warehouse to find a project. We had fun being creative and catching up. Cyndi left 4 of her 5 kids at home with their Grandma. Dan and Cyndi have great kids that I miss very much. I got to know each of them in primary and scouts. Each have provided me with memories that I will never forget. She has a Sam who used to tell me about a rock band that he was starting. I think he was in 3rd grade at the time, and he wondered how much I would pay to come see him. Then he showed me his notebook of the songs he wrote and sang them all to me. Melody (Jack's age) talked to me like we are best friends, we shared lots of secrets, and I loved it. Jarom and I had great talks during hikes at scout camp, and Cayson tricked me out of chocolate for going potty even though in reality he was totally potty trained. Miss those guys!

When Tyler and Dan returned from the game, they were cold and tired, but grinning ear to ear to tell us all about their fishing adventures. I figured I would post their bragging pictures for all to see. We sure had fun, and we love visitors. hint hint

Dan

Best Parenting Advice Ever...

Feel free to pass this along to your friends.

Do you have too many toys in your house? Are you tired of your kids leaving their toys all over the floor? Well I have a solution for you!

Buy one of these

After a few weeks of tears, your children will start picking up the toys that they would like to keep and only those they don't care about will remain on the floor.

When your children are in tears over a toy that has been consumed or at least terribly chewed up, you will have the opportunity to have deep meaningful conversations with them. They go something like this.

"Wow, you are right, Superman is dead. That is so cool; Charlie's teeth must be made of kryptonite."
or

"No, you don't need to throw that star wars toy away; it looks like he really was in the Clone Wars now. He must have survived a great battle with the droid army."

(Your kids will think you are so cool, because you are up on all of their interests.)

You can also teach them about science.

"I guess this is one more theory to add to how the dinosaurs became extinct."

or

"Yes, I can see your striped underwear in Charlie's poop. I guess a dog his size cannot digest a whole pair of underwear."

And apparently, your kids will also learn how to give service. (bonus)

Don't walk, RUN to your nearest pet shop and pick up one of these invaluable parenting tools!

Stay tuned for my next post on how to "antique" your new furniture.

Happy Birthday Tyler

It was Tyler's birthday on Saturday. His parents came to town for the weekend and we had lots of fun. Tyler and I even got to have a date on Friday with NO KIDS. We went to a Thai restaurant, so that Tyler could have sushi and other yummy things.

On Saturday we opened presents, ate at Red Robin with the whole family, and then came home for homemade apple pie. It was fun to have Tyler's Boise Aunts and Uncle come join us. Too bad, I did not think to take a picture of everyone. I did take a picture of Tyler and the boys while he was opening presents. Can you tell how excited Jack and Sam get when someone has a birthday? I also took a picture of the pie. Tyler requests my homemade apple pie every year instead of a cake. I keep making it because he tells me over and over again how wonderful it is and it makes me feel all happy and domestic.

Thanks for being such a great husband and dad - we love you!

Big Mama

I definitely have developed a thick skin by being the mother of little boys. Even when the comments are innocent, sometimes they still leave a little bruise.

Sam: "You my big sister."
Me: "I'm not your sister, I am your mom."
Sam: "You my Big Mama, and you Logan's Big Mama too."

Jack said something about caffeine, and I told him that it had been a whole week since I had any caffeine. His reply...
"Oh, that is why you have been so grumpy."
NICE!!!!
He then came up with an idea. He said that I could have a sticker chart and every time I didn't drink Coke, I could put a sticker on the chart. When I had it filled out, I could get a prize. I asked him what the prize was and he said, a great big Coke. He was a little concerned that he might not have the money to buy me that Coke though.

p.s. I really was grumpy, but only for one day.

Proud Primary Moment

For sharing time, the kids were playing charades. Their topic was how they could serve their family. The kids had already acted out reading to a sibling, playing Legos with a brother, raking leaves, etc. There was time for one more kid, and Sister K picked Jack W's stick. I stiffened, a little nervous and a little excited to see what he would do. If nothing else, I knew he would put his all into the acting out part. Then in what seemed to be slow motion, Jack started softly barking like a dog, squatted down and made a grunting noise, and then acted out shoveling up dog poop. Not once, not twice, but over and over again. I was laughing so hard, out of embarrassment, that I had tears streaming down my face. All of the adults were looking at me. One of the little girls in my class started copying him. I had to tell her to stop, and that it was not funny.

You have to love Sister K though, she keeps a straight face and a with a smile says, "Wow Jack, that is a big responsibility. Children, when you have a dog they have to go to the bathroom outside, and if you don't clean it up then you can't play outside can you? Jack serves his family by cleaning up after the dog so that they can play in their back yard."

Jack goes back to his seat and continues with the sound effects even though I am sure lasers were shooting out of my eyes across the room into his brain!

Seriously people, can't we cancel church the day after Halloween? I have never seen 100 kids in the same room with a sugar high. It was NOT FUN!