What if....

L: What if Dad was a real King and you were a Queen?

Me: That would be fun, but what would that make you and K?

L: (after a brief pause to think) Servants. We would do what you told us too.

Me: Wouldn't you guys be prince and princesses?

L: No, the new baby will be the princess and when we have a baby boy, he will be the prince.

Hmmm, do you think we ask them to do too much?

It's beginning to "sound" like Christmas

Since no decorations have been put in place, there is no snow on the ground to speak of, and the weather is supposed to be really nice the next few days, so I can't say it's looking like Christmas. The sounds, however, are everywhere. Christmas music is already filling the radio stations, but most of all, it is the toy catalogs that started everything. Last week, the little man and I made a trip to Wal-mart. As we walked in the door, there they were, the stacks of toyland catalogs. I picked one up and let lil' L look at it while I shopped. The entire time in the store, his eyes were glued upon the toy filled pages. That afternoon, we had one in the mail, thus we had a catalog for the two children. I can't tell you how many hours....yes, hours, those catalogs have been studied. I told the children to look and circle the things they like. Didn't take too long before their vocabulary had changed to "Do you want to see what I am going to get?" Never did I promise any of the toys in there. After a few circles here and there, I thought, this will be great, we will have narrowed it down to a few things the kids would like for Christmas. Not so, for the more they looked at it (namely lil' L) the more there was to like. After a few days, we saw a commercial advertising the toy catalog for Target. F said I should stop by and pick one up. My thoughts, "Great, more toys for them to say they really want." F's reply, "Think of the hours they would be busy looking at the catalogs." We have not moved on from the Wal-mart ads, and those have been put aside, and indeed, it has helped to move us in the right direction for Christmas. We have been blessed to have each other, and I am grateful we can provide the kids with not only the bare necessities of life, but a few extra fun things, too. And yes, I will be present at some of the very early black friday sales. My sister and I are already scheming.

Disney on Ice

A friend of mine called and told me she had 3 extra tickets to Disney on Ice, wondering if we wanted to come with her. Of course! So Friday afternoon, we drove to her house, loaded up the kids (2 adults, 4 kids - one for each hand), and drove downtown. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or me! It was hard to keep the kids from asking to buy everything they had there. We had a great time and I loved being able to spent time with the kids and with my friend.The stories they featured were The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Peter Pan.

I had not been to one of these performances before and have always wanted to go. I'm glad it worked out! Thanks, Liz!!

Halloween

This Halloween (unlike most) F and I actually coordinated and dressed up, mostly because we had been invited to a Halloween party at a neighbors house. I had a hard time coming up with a theme that I liked and F wouldn't mind wearing. Just a few days before the party it came to me...Popeye and Olive Oyl (believe me, I know I don't have the height or the slim figure of Olive Oyl, but forget that!). I had the shirt and skirt for me - that held out for the holiday, the sailor hat for Popey, but Popeye's outfit and the accessories would need to be found. I drove L and I to our local DI and started searching. I found a black polo shirt (one F could wear anytime) and bright blue scrub pants (for some reason they don't make bright blue sailor pants or at least the DI was fresh out). I spent the rest of the day/evening using scraps of fabric to make Popeye's collar and Olive Oyl's collar. I think it turned out well and we got our $6's worth out of it at our ward Trunk-or-treat and on Halloween (both nights F said we should dress up!) For our party, F sprayed my hair black (don't expect to see that color on me anytime soon - black is not for me). I did not attempt that again for the other parties, seeing as how it took me 2.5 washes in the shower to get my fingers through my hair, and a total of 4 washes to have my natural color and feel back again.

The week of Halloween was busy! That Wednesday, we not only did I have a dr. appt & glucose testing, our ward held it's annual Trunk-or-Treat. F handed out candy at our car which was not decorated. I took the kids around and we gathered a little bit of candy. The next day was K's parade and party at school (which L and I attended). I love helping out in K's classroom and helping with the parties. I read the kids Halloween books and handed out donuts.

Saturday, we celebrated Halloween. We started our progressive Halloween by visiting F's grandpa at his assisted living apt. It was the first time we as a family have visited him there, and I wish we had done it more...which we will. He was pleased to see us and we had a great time visiting him and just being with him, he is 94 yrs old. After that we headed over to my grandpa's house to visit him. My sis and her kids were there, we had another great visit, but it was hard to keep the kids hands (and mine) out of the candy. From there, we went to F's parents and had pizza with them and F's sis's family before heading to their ward trunk-or-treat. It was kind of chilly and rainy, but not enough to keep the kids away! Our last stop was my parents for a little visit and some delicious "halloweenies" that my mom makes every year. We rolled into our driveway, and regrouped before heading down our street. The kids trick or treated at a hand full of houses. K told us she had enough candy and wanted to stay home and hand out candy for the rest of the night. While we were home, we only had 3 groups of people come to the door. Good thing most of the candy went out on Wed.

As for costumes: K wanted to be a witch. She and I picked out fabric and I made the dress for her. I think it turned out beautifully...if I do say so myself.

L changed his mind a few times from being Frankenstein to being a skeleton. Frankenstein won out. We have a cute book my mom gave us a few years ago called "Frank was a Monster who wanted to Dance." This is where L got his idea, but he wanted to be scary and not silly like the one in the book, who puts ants in his pants and falls apart on dancing on stage. Thanks to my sis who had a black suit, and my parents for the wig. I spent time hand stitching on the little bones on his gloves.

I think our costumes turned out great and we had a great Halloween!

4 Years Old

My, where has the time gone! Early this month, we had a whole weekend of celebration for lil' L and his 4th birthday. He was so excited that it lasted for 3 days! The actual day was filled with lots of other busy-iness, so the night before we went to dinner as a family. Usually the kids will choose a fast food restaurant, but we found it to be useful to use the coupons for free kids meals (since we don't go out to eat as a family much). He chose to go to Joe's Crab Shack, which the kids both loved. We had the servers sing to him, he was a bit surprised by the strangers singing to him and having to wear a strange hat, but I think he enjoyed it, definitely loved the playground right next to our table in the restaurant. On his birthday, he opened presents from our family. It has been a tradition from my family to have a "birthday outfit," but the one we gave him was pants and long sleeve, but the weather was quite warm, so I pulled out a new pair of shorts and t-shirt we had. lil' L has begun to like superheroes more and more, he requested an Iron Man cake, therefore he got an Iron Man and Spiderman action figures. Spiderman came with a car that shoots out a web to catch the bad guys. He also loves Toy Story, so we bought him a Toy Story car racer. He was in heaven playing with his new toys. For his big party, that came Sunday night, we invited grandparents, Patty, and Cameron. lil' L opened his presents and loved the fireman kit (with a working fire extinguisher-shoots water), his batmobile, and a car that flips over when it runs into something. Patty game him a Toy Story domino game, coloring book, and a mosiac kit (which he has loved putting together).
After working all afternoon on his cake, he told me he wanted Iron Man to be standing up so everyone could see him, but he was excited about it, and I was just glad it turned out.
lil' L never ceases to amaze us. He is so weet and very smart. He is all boy, loving to run and dress up as Superman or just dress up. We are so glad he is a part of our family. I am amazed how well he and his sister get along. They love to play with each other. He loves to cuddle, spend time with dad doing "boy stuff." He is always wanting to do things for himself, such as making himself a sandwich or his favorite lunch - quesadilla. I love spending time with him while lil' K is at school and is my little helper when we have errands or places to go. Love you, Buddy!

Free scrapbook design generated with Smilebox

Our Summer in a Nutshell

We had a great summer. Big plans to do many fun things was cut short by my lack of energy and drive (thanks to the pregnancy). But we did have fun! Both of the children took a few sessions of swimming lessons (some with their cousins), we put their skills to the test nearly each week when we made our trip over to my aunt and uncles pool. My cousin was nannying two girls and they would swim with us. It was great to lounge by the pool! The kids swam to their hearts content each and every time.

In early June, my mom hosted a picnic for the grandkids. She provided a lunch for them and a little pool for them to swim and play in. It was great to sit in the shade and chat while the kids splashed and played. We also made it up to the Museum of Natural History. They had a really cool exhibit about bugs, the down side was the crowds and the heat! Old building, no a/c. Good time though. We did make it back up there in August and wasn't as crowded or hot (mainly because we got their just after it opened).

In early July, we made one of the many summer trips to the zoo. The day we went as a family (just befor Independence day, the zoo was hosting an Armed Forces Day. Military and their families received free admission, we just happened to be there too. They had booths set up for all the different branches of the armed forces. I enjoyed seeing this old army ambulance.

On July 9th, some family and friends met up at This is Place for the Days of '47 Family Fun day. It was hot, but water and popsicles were provided. The kids had a blast riding the ponies and making crafts. We packed a lunch and enjoyed it at the playground. That was probably one of the top things to do there (at least that is what the kids would say, I could barely get lil' L out of the train!) We stayed a little later than some because the kids just had to ride the train.

On July 19, my sister and I took the kids to see the parade floats. The kids loved to see the big floats and I loved telling them about each one and it's significance. I got emotional every now and then telling them about the pioneers, but that's just me. K's favorite float was with the seagulls eating the crickets, and L's was one with a Chinese dragon and Arches National Park. Before leaving, we lined up to get balloon animals for the little ones. We were in line behind a friend of ours and the kids were all over the place. I looked and couldn't see L. I started to panic and started pacing around trying to find him. After a moment, I went toward the front of the exhibit and finally spotted him with a securtity guard, just mere seconds away from making an announcement over the intercom. In our journals the kids made of the summer, these are L's words about the whole ordeal...

"We went to the parade floats. I saw the Chinese Dragon and it was my favorite. I got lost. The fire guy came and got me. Mom came and found L. I felt sad when I was lost, but felt good when Mom came. The fire guy game me a fireman sticker."

I felt terrible that he got lost, but so grateful he was found by capable and caring people! He thought we had walked away, so he tried to find us. We stayed together and waited for-ev-er to get balloon animals, but the line hardly moved, so we ended up with no balloon animals, but we did leave all together!

In August, my family held the third annual family reunion. This year, my sister and bro-in-law made the arrangements. We spent two nights at my bro-in-laws' uncle's place in Deer Valley (did you get that?) The place was amazing!! Each suite included a full spacious bath and king size beds. The kids spent time running around in the toy room/sport court. I arranged for our whole family to get family pictures taken (especially since it has been 6 years, one new daughter in law, and six new grandchildren since the last one). The day began with terrible thundering rainstorm, but when the time came for pictures, it was absolutely beautiful! And we were successful in getting everyone there! - which was quite a feat, I was stressed about it quite a bit.

Great family pictures from my friend Emily

The second day, we spent part of the day boating/skiing/playing at Jordanelle resevoir. K was looking forward to riding on the tube and had fun doing that. L wasn't so sure, especially after his first run ended with and my youngest brother in the water. F was able to get L back on the saddle with him and give him a better run.

Our last full day, we went to Park City and rode on the Alpine Slide. K did it all by herself twice. L went one run with Dad and one run with Mom. When I rode with him, I had to try and release his kung-fu grip on the brake. We were going so slow, my mom caught up to us toward the end. The Tour de Utah was finishing up on Main Street, so a few family members went to see the bike riders, our little family met back home with my bro and his fam for some much needed rest. Because it was also, my bro-in-laws birthday, we went out to dinner as a family to Loco Lizard. It was a great vacation. Not too far from home, but far enough to get away.

My sister teaches piano closeby and she asked if we could trade lessons for K and me watching some of her brood while she taught. So, each Tuesday, she came over, taught K at our house and then left the other children to play. It was great, the kids could not get enough of each other. They are all different ages, but got a long splendidly! At the end of the summer, we had a little reading day, in which the children brought their pillows, blankets, and several books. The spent time reading to each other and keeping track of books they had read. After that, we laid out the slip n' slide and let loose outside, well the girls and lil' L did.

What a summer! I guess we did do more than I thought!

First Grader!

There has been excitement in the air as K looked forward to starting first grade. We got a surprise a few days before school started that K's class would be splitting up after lunch and heading into other first grade classes. K's teacher is needed to teach a second Kindergarten class in the afternoon. K has done so well riding the bus like a pro, excited about taking her own lunch to school and rolled with the punches of two teachers and classes. I am excited about how the school has a new class this year of children with disabilities and are integrated into the classrooms. K has already told us about the two that visit her class. She is absolutely loving school and being with her friends, as well as making new ones. Yesterday, I was at the school doing some things for PTA and saw K at the library. She showed me she had lost a tooth. She had pulled it out while "just trying to loosen it." She proudly wore a tooth necklace to house the baby tooth. When she got home that day, I asked to see her tooth. Her reply, "I lost it." She was looking at it later that afternoon in school and dropped it. So technically, she lost her one tooth twice at school. I told her since she had no tooth, the tooth fairy wouldn't be able to give her any money, K replied that it was okay because she already has enough money. I think if she writes the tooth fairy a note, she still might be able to get a little bit of money.