he's lucky he's asleep

Last night for family home evening our lesson was about Cleanliness being next to Godliness. I told the boys that it would be great if they could help me out in keeping our house picked up. This meant cleaning up their toys after they are done playing with them and putting away their clothes once they have been washed. Now Blue is not one to sit still for very long, even if it was a five minute lesson. So in an effort to reiterate what was discussed, after the lesson Colby asked Blue what we had just talked about. "Umm, be good?" It is amazing how fast kids learn this answer to any gospel question. So, I'm not sure why I was so surprised/upset when I walked into their room this afternoon and saw this aftermath. Every piece of clothing in Reed and Blue's dresser, including socks and underwear, was on the floor. I was a tad bit angry. I went downstairs to confront the culprit and found him asleep on my bed. Blue is one lucky boy right now.

alarm clock

I apparently do not have the skills to be a good alarm clock. Before school started Reed said he needed an alarm clock to wake him up every morning. I told him I could do it. Well, he gave me strict instructions on how to perform this task. I must pop up and down (kinda like a cuckoo clock) and when I am up I must say/sing "wake up Reed, wake up Reed". I have only had the opportunity to do this three times since school has started because Reed wakes up pretty early on his own usually. The three time I have been his alarm clock Reed informed me (in a disgusted voice) that I was doing it wrong. Apparently the first time I was not popping up and down correctly. The second time my tone of voice was not to his liking. And this morning I was gently rubbing his head as I was trying to wake him. Direct contact is not part of the job. I told him I was sorry. "It's okay mom, I still love you." Whew. I thought for sure I was fired not only from my alarm clock duties but from my motherly duties also.

living on a prayer

Beau has figured out how to fold his arms. More importantly, he has learned to fold his arms when we say prayers. Along with folding arms during a prayer, Beau thinks we must clap after the prayer since this is what we did the first time he folded his arms. We have reached another milestone with Beau. This past Saturday I took the boys to Prescott to visit Tess and her girls. Beau slept the entire hour and fifteen minutes to Prescott which is highly unusual for him. He usually just screams when he is in his carseat. Not only was he pleasant on the way there but on the way home he never made a peep. I thought he fell asleep again a few times but every time I looked back at him he was just zoned out watching a movie. Hallelujah! Maybe by December he will have progressed enough to drive to Utah!

getcha head in the game

Yes, I will be posting three times today (one for each son). Just for you, Heidi. We are fans, huge fans of High School Musical. I may not have teens or tweens or even any other girls in my house but that has not stopped my boys from loving and learning all the songs on High School Musical. On occasion, I have found Blue on the computer at 6:30 in the morning looking at High School Musical on the Disney channel website. Blue knows all the words to We're Breaking Free and will gladly belt it out wherever and whenever he wants. This morning he informed me that he can only wear white shirts or red shirts because that is what the basketball players wear when they are singing Getcha Head In The Game. When we are at a store and he sees all the High School Musical paraphernalia he is eager to point it out. Luckily, he has not asked to buy any of it yet. Blue is trying to decide what type of lunchbox to get for preschool: Ninja Turtles or Diego. No, he doesn't "need" a luchbox for preschool but he sure wants one.

the verdict is in

School is fun! This verdict was decided by three days to one. The first day of school was probably more overwhelming than fun for Reed but the last three days of school have been the "funnest day" (direct quote). When I ask him what makes the day so fun he tells me all of it. Here are some of the highlights I have been able to get out of our conversations:
1. He has learned to go across the monkey bars all by himself -in just four days- what an athletic specimen:).
2. He made a friend and shares his cookies from lunch with the kid -but Reed can't remember his friend's name.
3. Reed is a very slow eater. The first day at lunch he didn't get to play at lunchtime because he took too long eating. He is a fast learner though, yesterday he still had half of his lunch left in his lunchbox... Priorities: one: play, two: eat.
4. His teacher asked the students to bring a box of kleenex and glue sticks. I sent it to school with Reed and when I picked him up he said, "I don't know why we had to bring that stuff, my teacher already has a lot of it and we didn't even use it today."

This is not school related but Reed has his first loose tooth! You may be thinking that he is already missing three teeth but these were pulled by the dentist. This will be his official first loose tooth.

run, run as fast as you can

Okay, I give up! I have spent the last hour and a half (not exaggerating) trying to get a simple picture from the Internet to copy/download to my blog. I, apparently, am more computer illiterate than I thought. So you are just going to have to imagine (or click on the link at the bottom of this post) a picture of the gingerbread man. I would like to wish two of my younger brothers a very happy birthday. Anthony turned 26 yesterday and AJ turns 28 tomorrow. I was reminiscing about our childhood years and the memory that kept coming back to me was when I would chase them down the road in our neighborhood. Sometimes we were just seeing who could run the fastest (me, of course) and most of the time I was chasing them because I wanted to "punish" them. When we were young I could always catch them. I don't really remember what I would do once I caught up to them but I know they were scared. But as we got into our teen years, it was impossible to catch them and they were no longer afraid of me. I soon discovered it was best not physically chase them anymore but just let them know that I could catch them if I wanted to. I guess what it really comes down to is that I was a pretty bossy older sister and I hope you guys don't hold that against me now. I just want them to know that I am proud of them for following through with their dreams and goals. They are now wonderful men, well their ages define them as men but their wives may think otherwise :). Happy Birthday AJ and Anthony!

Not the Buttons! The Gingerbread Man Fanlisting

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED THE DAY BEFORE KINDERGARTEN

Reed started kindergarten today, sort of. It was more of an orientation for the parents. It was only one hour long and parents were asked to stay and then it was over. Pretty easy for a "first day of school". But let me tell you what I learned yesterday, the day before kindergarten. I thought it would be a good idea to do a practice run in the morning to figure out how long it will take to get ready and out the door and then drive across town to his school. Here is what I learned:
1. Make sure you have something to feed your kids for breakfast. Reed asked for cereal and I realized I didn't have enough milk to give all three of my boys cereal and milk so I offered toast and a shake. I opened my freezer and remembered we used the last of the ice over the weekend. No sweat, I sent Colby to the gas station for milk and ice.
2. Bathe at night. Reed and Blue took a bath (I tried to persuade a shower but of course it was a no go). After they got out, I thought I would wash up Beau real quick while the other two got dressed. I turn to help with Reed and Blue then turn back around to Beau and he had already pooped in the water and was squishing little "pebbles" between his fingers!
3. Mom must wake up earlier than everyone else and get ready before the kids get up. The boys were coming their hair and brushing teeth in my bathroom and I realized that I was in no condition to be seen in public!
4. Make sure you have enough gas to get to school. We finally get in the car and I notice that I don't have enough gas to make it across town ( Reed is attending a school by our new house which should be finished in December).

Okay, now for today. Everything went smoothly thanks to my practice run. When we got to Reed's classroom, all the kids were coloring. I showed Reed where his seat was and he told me he didn't want to color because it makes his arm "tired". Fine, just sit here then. And that is what he did the entire time.


A quick shout out to Amber! She watched Blue and Beau so I didn't have to take them with me. Thank you so much!

ups and downs (part one)

So here is a list of the ups and downs of my life currently:
UP'S:
*clean UP- I have a husband who loves the outdoors, hunting for days at a time without a shower. Some believe he is the true Grizzly Adams, but on date nite he "cleans up" real nice. I'm a lucky girl!
*make UP- I am amazed at the imagination of my boys. I love to listen to them play together. Whether they are playing with the kitchen utensils or a cardboard box, they "make up" some pretty interesting scenarios.
*break UP- With this imagination comes determination which leads to stubbornness which leads to disagreements(putting it lightly) and I am often called on to referee. Most of the "break ups" are necessary because Blue is teasing Reed.
*give UP- When it comes to disagreements, I pick my battles. Sometimes I must "give up" a small battle in order to win the war.

DOWN's:
calm DOWN- This is usually directed to Reed. When Reed gets excited about anything he starts bouncing of the walls and acting like a mad dog (literally- rolling around and panting). It can be something small like getting a new kind of cereal or to something bigger like going to his recent kickboarding clinic.
get DOWN- This is ALWAYS directed to Blue. Get down, stop hanging from the light bulb in the floor lamp! Get down, you're not allowed to hang from the garage door as it is opening. Get down, I don'to want you to be tempted to cut the window screen again. All of these are true events.
quiet DOWN- This is usually directed to Beau. He has picked up this terrible habit of screaming at the top of his lungs whenever he wants or doesn't want something. He scream at home when he wants to come down the stairs (yes, he knows how to come down by himself but thinks I should be the one to carry him down). He screams in the car when he wants to watch Backyardigans or when he doesn't want to watch Backyardigans. Basically, he hates his car seat.

more ups and downs to come...

star wars

I have noticed that "age appropriate" toys change with every child you have. Reed, being the first, was only exposed to age appropriate material per manufacturer. For example: We first started with Sesame Street and he absolutely loved Elmo. Then came Blue's Clue's, again Reed totally loved "Here's the mail" song and even had a Blue's Clue's birthday party at two years old. Then Scooby Doo came into the picture. Another favorite. Reed had Scooby Doo pajamas, sheets and had perfected the "scooby-dooby-doo" howl. Next was Buzz Lightyear. He had so many Buzz lightyear toys (all of which were rewards for going pee in the potty a week at a time). About this time Blue was becoming mobile. And wanted to play with whatever Reed was playing with. So, Blue skips over the whole phase of Sesame Street and Blue's Clue's and jumps right into Buzz Lightyear and then adds his own favorites of Superman, Spiderman, and Batman. Still Buzz was his first action figure. Blue would walk around shooting anyone or anything (from the birds outside to Wayne Lamb during sacrament meeting) that got in his way with his "laser" on his forearm. Reed mastered potty training and moved on from buzz. Star Wars was next. I didn't think Reed would like Star Wars but boy was I wrong! That is all he has talked about for the last two years! Blue quickly followed suit and needed his own light saber (a blue on, of course). In fact, Blue could identify any character in Star Wars just by their voice before he even learned to speak himself. I'm not sure that we are ever going to get out of the Star Wars phase. Now Beau is mobile. He completely skipped over Sesame Street, Blue's Clue's and even Buzz Lightyear and jumped right into Star Wars. The kid is obsessed with light sabers! Luckily, as toy manufacturers keep upgrading their light sabers so do we but never getting rid of the old ones. We have your basic ones that are purple, red, blue and green (yes, we have all colors). Then they came out with Darth Maul's double sided light saber (yes, proud owners of this also). And our last light saber purchase was the light sabers that change from illuminating red to blue and make a whirring noise and a crash when you hit something or someone, this would be Beau's favorite. Anyway, back to my point. Beau loves to join in on the battles between "the force" and "the dark side" much to Reed and Blue's dismay. No wonder they are growing up so fast.

observations

Here are a few observations I have made lately about my children.
Reed: He is fascinated about shadows. He likes to move around outside and try to catch his shadow going the wrong way (which will never happen, of course). I realized how much he enjoyed watching his shadow when we were walking in the parking lot of Target. He walked right into the end of a pick up that was sorta sticking out of its space. He wasn't watching where he was going but at his shadow on the ground. He looked stunned and surprised. How dare that truck jump out and get him!
Blue: He will occasionally take a nap in the afternoon. When he sleeps there is no way of waking him up. You can shake him, drop him (not on purpose), or try to bribe him with no luck. Yesterday, we went through one of those car washes at the gas stations which sound sort of like a tornado. It scared the dickens out of Beau but Blue was asleep and it didn't even phase him. Unbelievable!
Beau: Being the youngest, Beau feels left out sometimes. But his large stature has come in handy. He often will sit on Reed or Blue when they are in the middle of playing. They try to push him off and he just lays/sits there. It is hilarious. Well the other day at the park, Beau was working on his bullying skills. He was pushing the swings a little and they would come back right at his face. This ticked him off so he gave the swing a good shove and what do you know... it came back in his face just a hard. Luckily he wasn't hurt too bad (only his pride). He got a taste of his own medicine.

tribute to my mother

Have you ever read the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? Well, if you have then you know the redeeming qualities of my mom. For those of you not familiar with the story let my recap for you. It is a story of a mouse who is given a cookie. He asks for a glass of milk to go with it, then a straw for the milk, then a napkin. After eating the cookie, he moves on to the bathroom, where one things leads to another and the next thing you know he has gone through every room in house. Each task he starts reminds him of another he would like to do. In the end, the mouse winds up right where he started: in the kitchen with a cookie.
My mom is not one to sit on the couch and just relax. She has to always be on the go, with projects going on in every room of the house. For example: she can start out in the kitchen making bread (which she does very good, by the way), after starting she remembers she isn't wearing an apron so...
She goes into the adjacent laundry room to get an apron. She sees that Pierce's baseball uniform is done drying and remembers he has a game today so...
She takes the uniform into Pierce's room so he has it for his game later that day (she made sure all of her kids had clean uniforms for whatever activity we participated in), while she's in there she picks up a towel from the floor and...
Heads to the bathroom to hang up the towel. She remembers that she needs to clean the bathroom. After cleaning the hall bathroom, she then remembers that her bathroom needs to be cleaned also so...
She cleans her bathroom. She finds a button from her silky pink robe (I think all of up older children can remember this particular robe) and ...
Goes into her sewing room to get some thread so she can sew her button back on. While she is in her sewing room, she remembers that her granddaughter (take your pick of a granddaughter- I'm pretty sure she has made a dress for one occasion or another for all of her granddaughters) needs her dress sewn TODAY! No sweat. She pulls out her sewing machine and ...
Heads to the kitchen table. This is where all of her sewing gets done. While setting up, one of her dear sons walks in the door and looks famished. Without asking if they are hungry ...
She goes into the kitchen to whip them up a gourmet breakfast, lunch or snack (their wish is her command). While in the kitchen, she remembers she had started to make a batch of bread. By this time it has risen and is overflowing all over the counter. Nevertheless, her house is clean, her granddaughter's dress is finished, her son is fed, and her bread turns out beautifully!
Thanks for all you do for your family! I love you mom. Happy Birthday.

what I learned today at church

1. You can do anything you want and still be reverent as long as your arms are folded. You can roll around on the floor, whistle, kick everything out of the bag, and turn around and stare at the people sitting behind us and still be reverent...as long as your arms are folded.

2. The winner of rock, paper, scissors, is not rock if the other person played scissors or paper if the other person played rock and so forth. The true winner is the first one who can bang is fist on the other person's hand, no matter what they're playing.

the art of boardkicking

The day had finally come! Reed is taking karate and yesterday he went to a clinic for boardkicking. He was bouncing off the walls all week long. He was so excited to get his own board to use at home. Colby took him and Blue went with them, of course. Blue can't wait to be four because then he can take karate (actually taekwondo)also. We learned there are two aproaches to boardbreaking. First:


concentration and discipline. That is what Reed is all about. As you can see his hands are protecting his face (they call that the fighter stance). Perfect form requires a side kick in the middle of the board causing it to break in half. Reed performs to perfection. He is the next karate kid.
Then second approach is:


all out warfare. Blue is not so much into concentration and discipline. He figures if he just starts kicking his legs and swinging his arms the board is going to break eventually. An effective approach also. Colby is going to guide him in a different direction... cage fighting.

where there's a will there's a weigh

A Goodwill that is. Okay, I'm addicted. In Flagstaff there is a Goodwill thrift store, well actually two, but one of them is "pay by the pound". It is so awesome! It is wall to wall bins full of treasures (or junk depending on your perspective). When you get the check out everything is put on this gigantic scale and you pay by the pound. I have found many cool things here and I am in the process of training my boys to enjoy it also. When I tell the boys that we are going to Goodwill, Reed associates it with the picture of "that face that looks like it is taking a bite". My boys enjoy going through all the toys and whatever else fancies their interest that day- it's definitely a 'hands on' kind of store. Today, however, I think I reached by addiction point... I got there five minutes before 10:00(when they open) with my three boys, armed with snacks(to keep Beau occupied) and a stroller(to keep Beau restrained and shopping carts are a hot commodity there). Anyway, I got a glimpse of my competitors...there were about ten other people waiting to get in also. Who knows how long they had been waiting and not one of them was under the age of 50 and majority of them were of native american descent. You may think they were harmless and why would I call them my competitors? Well, yesterday when we were there an older lady who had a shopping cart full of kids toys and videos, good one (baby einstien and little people to name a couple). In her cart she had three different collections of little people: Noah's ark, Nativity scene, and Fire fighters. My boys do not own any of these collections (they are more into Star Wars) but that didn't stop them from oohing and awwing over her find. I blew off there remarks pretending I wasn't interested in what she found, but inside I was green with envy. You score anytime you find a big collection of the same toy whether you kids like them or not... they can learn to like them once you buy them. Anyway, we walked the store twice while I was keeping an eye on this lady. She was going through her basket deciding on her final purchases. We kept our distance, but when she set down the nativity scene in one of the bins we swooped in and snatched it. I was so pleased! Probably more excited about it than my boys. But I had scored! Okay so maybe Joseph and one of the wisemen were missing but when we got home my boys didn't notice. In fact, they played with it all afternoon fighting over who got to hold the baby Jesus. Definitely one of my better deals.