Seven?!

I can't believe EmJ is seven years old! How did that happen?! Here she is blowing out her candles...it took three tries...

EmJ didn't have a party this year, but Veronica, Clark, and La came to eat cake with us. It's such a treat to have family close by.

A new (old) camera!!

A new swimsuit...getting prepped for spring break!

I was able to go to EmJ's classroom, where they sang to her, ate cupcakes, then mauled Samantha.

And with that we look forward to Joshua's birthday (he keeps reminding me...every day...multiple times a day...). I personally am looking forward to two small get-aways, my own birthday, and opening day! Perhaps then I can focus on the desperate-for-a-party-almost-five-year-old!

Samantha

Will Play for Food

Oh, here's a better picture! Seriously, Samantha looked like a little orphan yesterday. She has a cold--baggy-eyed, red-cheeked, crusty-nosed--and coupled with her rooster hair and shoes on the wrong feet...well, it was comical. And she's comical anyway. She is so proud of her new mobility, and she lets us know. I find her constantly doing the most random things. Some favorites--standing on the bathroom stool, trying to see herself in the mirror, pretending to brush her teeth with EmJ's toothbrush (probably why she's sick, hmmm?); climbing onto the kitchen table; pulling all the toilet paper off the roll and then tearing it into teeny peices; bringing me her shoes and then standing at the door begging to be let out; and, of course, wanting to play with the big kids wherever we may be.

She's still working on her social skills, though. See the little innocent Sam? Eyeing an equally innocent friend.

Aaaaaand, then stealing his binky. I wish I had gotten a picture of her face each time she took the binky and he started screaming. She gave him this look of, "What's your problem?" Beware, kiddo, someday the kids are going to fight back, and they are all bigger than you!!

Spring Fever

Today Joshua asked if we could go on the slip and slide. Um, no. It's freezing. He said, "No, it's warm. Come outside, you can smell it getting warm!"

I will admit that for a minute today, there was a teeny bit of freshness...a springy feel to the air...and it was intoxicating! I have serious spring fever...and baseball fever.

So, instead of the slip and slide, we played baseball. Worked on Joshua's swing. He double taps just like Edgar. That's my boy!!

Treasures

For my birthday I want a treasure box. A special place to store all of the goodies I glean from the laundry pile--because it is a known fact, and should be law, that the Washer gets to keep anything they find in the laundry. Here is a list of the things I will put in my special treasure box...

*Money, lots of money, mostly coins
*Pebbles
*Beebees
*Beads
*Crayons
*Pencils
*Ballpoint pens
*Hot Wheels
*Homework, drawing, and other creations (may or may not include buttons, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, or cotton balls)

and my personal favorite....

*The two-week old YOLK from a hard-boiled EGG! Yes, I am serious. You read that correctly. Yolk. Hard-boiled egg. Yum.



In other news, Benjamin's current favorite movie is Hercules. Yesterday, as Joshua climbed over him to get in the car, Benjamin said, "Get your slimy soul off me!"

Grrrrr...

Benjamin, playing on the swingset. He just figured out how to work the glider and can sit on that swing "foe-eber"!

The kids with their buckets. See the "I Like Kyle"? Sam is in my bucket...it says, "Kirstin + Luke", but on the other side (that Luke conveniently hid) it says, "Kirstin + Yankees"!

So, I tried again and again and again to upload a walking video on here, but blogger hates me. So, here is Samantha, all tuckered out from hours of me making her walk back and forth across the room. She's cuddling her sippy, and that is an entire apple slice in her mouth.

I'm the Boss (and other stuff)

*There was a dead rat on our back patio yesterday.

*Samantha is officially a bi-ped. I'll get a video on here soon, as soon as she'll cooperate!

*Last night for family night, we decorated buckets for our garden. (I'm going to try some container gardening this year...) Luke's bucket says, "I Like Kyle." Go figure.

*Emmeline wrote me a haiku.

mother

oooo xxxx

nice fun FHE

help good teach cool

nurturer

She said, as she handed it to me, "I didn't write 'mean' or 'bad' even though sometimes you yell." Thanks, EmJ.

*Driving home on Sunday night, EmJ pitched a fit because Willie was apparently singing too loud and she couldn't concentrate, etc. I went into a monologue about how Willie can talk if he wants and she needs to just learn to deal because she's not the boss of the car conversation. Gus butted in with, "But I am the BOSS of my tractor and my Wilson!," and single-handedly derailed my tirade.

The Car Mat

Willie and Gus have a car mat. It's a small area rug with a city on it. Roads for their cars to drive one, bridges, grocery stores, parks, you get the picture.

Well, yesterday we had an incident involving the car mat, the vacuum, a very scared four year old, and a lot of smoke.

"DADDY, THE VACUUM CLEANER IS EATING MY CAR MAT!!!!!!"

My house still smells like burnt rubber. And gone are Luke's Saturday morning ranting about how his boys will learn to WORK, WORK, WORK....perhaps they are a bit young!

Testimonies

Yesterday, during family night, we were talking to the kids about testimony. Trying to help them realize times when they have felt the Spirit testifying to them, felt good when they made good choices, etc. The evening broke down with the following conversation:

Me: EmJ, can you think of a time when you felt your testimony grow?
EmJ: When I watched a movie about Joseph Smith. I think it was when I was 3.
Dad: How about you Joshua?
Joshua: Say your prayers. (That's his standard answer for everything.)
EmJ: Joshua had a testimony once, but he forgot where he put it.
Joshua: Duh, in my BRAIN!

Thinking about it has kept me chuckling all day.

Benjamin has a play food set that includes some fake ice cream cones. Today, at IKEA, he noticed a poster advertising frozen yogurt. He started asking for ice cream, and I responded that we could have some when we got home. He started sobbing, and when he finally calmed down he said, "But, I don't want pretend ice cream!"

And finally, a status update. We took Sam and Benjamin in for their checkups. Benjamin weighed in at 34 lbs (approx. 3 lbs MORE than Joshua) and 39 inches. Samantha, the pipsqueak, weighed in at 18 lbs. 4 oz. and 29 inches. Never fear, however, her head is in the 75%! Quotable quote from our adorable doctor regarding the Sam, "Oh, she's tantruming already, what a precocious girl!"