A few Saturdays ago I had this brilliant idea – well, I thought it was brilliant anyway :-D. I would have the kids form each letter of the alphabet and photograph them. The plan is to use my kid alphabet to spell names and things for bookmarks or wall hangings, etc. So, here is the alphabet project complete:
Now first a disclaimer – please ignore the mess you will see in the following photos – this is our rec area, play area, hang out and be crazy area.. and this though it is cleaned frequently, it is played in more frequently. I give you:
The Basement!
so, if you walk past the stairs around the corner where you see the laundry hamper peaking out you get to our little laundry area and past that is a large unfinished storage room, which I won’t take a photo of because it’s just a bunch of shelves, bins, and food storage buckets, etc. (And I haven’t folded my laundry yet – so it is piled in baskets in the laundry area)
Now behind the couch is our play area.
The bar houses all the toy dishes – eventually we will turn that little area behind the bar into a play kitchen – right now it houses the boys’ train table. Can you tell what James has been playing with today? Yay! Dress-ups!
Now I am standing at the foot of the stairs looking into the main area of the basement.
Don’t you love our mottled gray and white paint job? Ugh. It will be the first major house change when we can do it, aside from the eggplant walls in our bedroom.
Next, and final, inside house pictures will be the second floor. Which will be soon… hopefully… once bedrooms are at least semi clean… 😀
Filed under Every Day Life
Saturday took us on our traditional fall fun day full of wagon rides, corn and hay mazes, pumpkin pickin’, and more! Feast your eyes on our crazy collages! It was an amazing day!
We started off checking to see how tall we were this fall…
And then we had to check out the goat and the alpaca
The boys were in jaw dropping awe over the old west actors and their shoot-out.
My family of pumpkins!
A trek through the corn maze.
A ride on a mini train.
Checkin out the humongous tractor!
An awesome wagon ride pulled by horses. I had a hard time getting James to quit yee-hawing and jerking his invisible reins about to get the picture!
And we wrapped all up by playing amongst the pumpkins.
I LOVE FALL!!!!
Today’s post is brought to by “The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carrol and by James.
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the Mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the jubjub bird and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought-
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead , and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the Mome raths outgrabe.
Filed under Children, James, Photography
Jacob went to his first football game with Dad and his sisters. After he got home he was so excited to tell me all about the game. In one breath the words game tumbling out in a hilarious jumble.
“The red team tries to knock the blue team down and the blue team tries to knock the red team down and the band goes doo doo doo* and the blue team knocks the red team down and that’s bad.”
*I have to note that on the “doo doo doo” it was sung and his hands came up in front of his mouth to imitate playing and instrument.
***
I was reading Paul a friend’s status on Facebook and the kids over heard. The conversation ended up flowing something like this. Now, I need to note that this friend (a piano student of mine in Oregon) has horses and had given the kids horse rides at one point and we had watched her, her brother, and mom ride in the parade (she’s in high school).
Mom reading student’s status to Dad: I hate deer! Stupid stupid stupid!
Dorothy: Why does she hate deer?
Dad looks at mom and they pass a knowing nod: Because she hit one.
Dorothy: On her horse?
A moment later Dorothy begins singing: *Jayden got ran over by a reindeer.
*The name has been changed to protect the innocent.
***
Bathtime on Saturday evening, after Mom had noted Emily’s very dirty face underneath her pirate hat, and commented that she looked the part very well.
Dad: Emily, go upstairs and take a shower in our bathroom.
Emily: No!
Dad: What did you say?
Emily: No.
Dad: Did you tell me no? Why?
Emily (after hemming and hawing and much shoulder shrugging): I’m uncomfortable doing things I don’t do very well and I don’t know how to use your shower very well.
Emily then grumpily exited the room to the family room where I was sitting with baby: Now I can’t be a real pirate because I’ll be clean!*
*I think we finally got to root of the problem there.
***
Mom, pointing to the horse pulling the wagon: Horse, James.
James: Yeehaw!
Mom: Horse.
James: Yeehaw!
Mom: Say H-o-r-se
James, bouncing up and down pretending to hold the reins: YEEEEEHAAAAW!*
*It should be noted that this has been an ongoing theme for quite some time – every time we point to a horse or a picture of a horse James says “Yeehaw!” rather than horse. 😀
***
Elizabeth was getting ready for school one night and gathering all of her things together. Paul and I sat in the family room chatting and watching her run upstairs and downstairs multiple times. Finally, she came walking through the kitchen (which we have an easy view of) towards the bathroom carrying her toothbrush.
Mom: Why are you brushing your teeth down here?
Lizard: I’m not, I’m getting everything ready for tomorrow and this way I don’t have to go upstairs after breakfast to brush my teeth.
Mom: But there’s already toothpaste on it!
Lizard: Yeah. That way its ready. (The grin on her face notes she thinks she is brilliant.)
Mom (and Dad): Ewwwww! It’ll get all dried out. And you’ll forget and end up with 5-day old toothpaste crusted on your brush that you’ll need pliers to get off. *
*She did forget about it and found her toothbrush three days later (of course after she convinced Dad that she had lost it for real and obtained a new one). She did however have the good enough sense to wash the toothpaste off after we had laughed and had our “ewww!” conversation.
***
I feel like I should have something here for Robert, since all the others are covered in this blog. But, I don’t. Well, maybe I do….
Robert is a gassy baby. Partly my fault – the reason why can by found in this post. The other day I was playing with him and doing what we call “Running Man” where we take their legs (while they are laying down) and pretend to make them run. After a couple laps around the invisible track he began farting every time I pushed his left leg toward his tummy. Which James thought was hysterical. We got quite the rhythm going and even I was chuckling after a while. 😀
We had just finished breakfast. It was one of those rare moments when we were able to all gather together at the start of the day and we had enjoyed eating breakfast together as a family. We’d had cinnamon rolls and bananas and cereal. I had gotten out the yogurt from the fridge to eat a little because I had a bad canker sore and yogurt can help those heal up faster. Anyway, we hadn’t offered any to the kids because we had only one container and there wasn’t really enough for everybody. Everyone was fine with it, no one complained. We ate breakfast in peace and I cringed as I ate and coated my canker sore in yogurt.
After breakfast we went to work clearing the table and doing dishes. We were part way through when I noticed, amidst the jungle of legs, both chair and human, beneath the table there was a little blond head sporting blue eyes. I looked a little closer and spotted a spoon in his hand. Then I saw the yogurt container sitting between his legs on the floor. Then I saw the yogurt smudges all around his lips.
After reclaiming the yogurt and sending James to the bathroom with a big sister to clean up Paul and I looked at each other and broke into laughter. I just wish that I’d had a camera on hand to get a photo of that cute little yogurt covered face hiding amongst legs under the table.
He’s a month old already! Actually he was a month old on Sunday, but I didn’t get around to taking pictures of him until today.
Filed under Bobert, Children, Photography
While we were watching General Conference on Saturday, Jacob found a car tire from one of his toy cars. He was running around playing with it until Dad noticed that it had the metal wire part attached and confiscated it so he wouldn’t poke someone’s eye out.
Jacob occupied himself with other things and quite forgot about the toy tire, until that is it was announced that the choir and congregation were going to sing. “Put your shoulder to the wheel.” I watched as Jacob suddenly became alert with the dawning of understanding. He looked at Dad who was concentrating on watching conference. Jacob poked his elbow out and started wiggling his shoulder all while looking at Dad, who coincidentally had picked up the tire some few minutes ago sitting beside him and was spinning it in his fingers.
Immediately I put the two together and started laughing. Dad looked at me, a little confused. “What?”
I nodded my head at Jacob’s wiggling shoulder. “You have the wheel.”
Dad started laughing and held it out as Jacob broke into a grin and bumped his shoulder against it. “Put shoulder to the wheel!” He announced triumphantly. The rest of the song was lost on us as we laughed and Jacob joyously bounced his shoulder on the wheel in time to the music.
Filed under Children, Humor, Jacob, Things Kids Say
Our kids like to play a game called sneaking. Basically they creep around the house and try to see if they can get by us without being seen or heard. Personally, I think they’ve probably watched one to many spy movies or shows, heh. Anyway, James appears to be picking up this tactic with great flare.
Saturday morning after breakfast (General Conference doesn’t start for us out here until noon) I was preparing a stew to go into our crockpot for dinner that night. There was one cinnamon roll left from breakfast sitting on the stove beneath a clear plastic container/lid thing. I was paying it little head as I pealed potatoes until I saw, out of the corner of my eye, little James quietly tugging a chair away from the table. I had a pretty good idea what he might be up to, but I was far too curious to stop him yet.
I turned back to my potatoes and then turned to check on him a minute or so later. He was half-way between me and the table now with the chair. He stopped, looked at me and grinned. Seeing that he was refusing to move while I was watching him I turned back to my potatoes. I was beginning to chop them now. As soon as I turned my back, I heard the subtle sounds of the chair inching its way across the wood floor. I turned back around, and again he froze, grinning at me all the time with that all too innocent grin. You know, the kind that says, “who me? I’m not up to anything.” Holding back a chuckle I turned back to my potatoes and listened to the chair scoot past me. It became a game for a while. Me spinning around every few seconds, him freezing with a grin on his face.
About the time I was dumping the potatoes in the crock pot the chair was appearing at my side by the stove. I pierced him with mommy stare as he stood innocently by the chair, all the time smiling sweetly.
I snagged the carrots and began peeling. James inched his way onto the chair. He stood on the chair for a while, watching me, smiling with his hands clenched behind his back. He could have almost been looking around at the sky, bouncing on his toes, and whistling, such was the expression on his face.
I smiled at him and concentrated on my carrots, all the while, keeping him in my peripheral vision. As I started on my second carrot I saw little fingers begin to inch their way across the stove. I looked directly at him and the fingers snapped back to being clenched behind his back. And the sky searching, toe bouncing, whistling look came back to his face. We played that game for a few minutes, each time he inched his fingers a little faster and got a little closer to that tantalizing cinnamon roll.
Finally he touched it the plastic cover. I snapped a quick gaze upon him. His hands flew up to his face and he stood motionless peering at me from between his fingers. I could almost here him thinking, “If I don’t move she can’t see me.” Part of me knew I should put an end to the game, but I was having too much fun watching.
I shook my head no at him and started chopping my carrots. His little hand would shoot out, bump the plastic, then snap back to place in front of his face, his little blue eyes watching me from between his little pudgy fingers.
I was rather impressed at the patience he was exhibiting as he tried to sneak the cinnamon roll from under my nose – keeping that smile on his face the whole time. I had moved on to the celery by the time he had the plastic cover off and was inching his hand toward the glorious treasure. His finger reached out to touch it. Mom was obviously distracted as she chopped the celery. And just as he made contact, the knife dropped to the board and mom’s hand shot out. With a firm, but gentle, “No, James,” I moved the cinnamon roll to higher ground and sent him out of the kitchen.
Perhaps I was mean to let him get as far as he did. But I was having so much fun watching him inch his way closer and closer, freezing still and hiding behind his hands. I think I’m going to have to keep a close eye on him as he gets older… 😀
By the way, I LOVE stew in the fall. It’s simple and fast and oh so yummy. You can find the recipe and a photo under the Here’s What’s Cooking tab if you are interested.
Fun and Flawed 