It's Still Winter

I'm really very tired of winter and counting the days until spring.  We haven't been up to much, but I do have a few pictures that the four of you who read this might enjoy!

After the second of our 2 major snowstorms, I braved the knee-deep snow (thigh-deep for my kiddos) and we went sledding at the park near our home.

 

What's a trip to the park without swings? The Queen loved the fact that it was easier to get into because the snow level was so high.

So much snow!

When stir-crazies really set in, we pull out the masking tape and make tracks for The Boy's Hot Wheels.

 

 

Like I said, not a whole lot going on around here, but sometimes that's nice too!

Better Late Than Never?

It's been a month, but here's the Happy Birthday post anyway!

He really wanted that Lego set!

A Lego cake (just couldn't get enough red food coloring to make the frosting red, so pink Lego it is)

Watching Lego videos while waiting for the rest of his guests to arrive at his Lego-themed party.

I was so pleased with how the party favor bags turned out!

The Boy at SIX!
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Favorite Treat: Doughnuts
Favorite Book: Geronimo Stilton
Favorite TV Show: Super Why
Favorite Movie: Over the Hedge
Loves Legos, playing racing games on the XBOX and riding his bike

He also just finished his first session of Aikido.

Testing for his yellow belt.

Receiving his yellow belt.

The Boy and his Sensei

Way to go, kid! We love you!

Trees

The Boy asked about trees this morning, wondering why we like to have them around. Between bites of his breakfast (literally, as he had to take a bite before we would give him each example) we told him how trees provide clean air, shade, and beauty. We then started talking about the different animals that live in trees, such as squirrels and birds. Wanting to contribute, The Queen excitedly added 'monkeys' to the list as she went up the stairs.

Neesha: Fruit also grows on trees.
The Boy: Like what?
Neesha: Apples and oranges.
Mark: And bananas.
The Boy: And peaches?
The Queen (hollering from upstairs): And popcorn!

Time for the popcorn blossoms!

They'll Hate This When They're Older

But I will love it forever!
We received the CD, "Popcorn Bopping" for Christmas. My kids love it.

The Boy and The Queen use their brooms for guitars most of the time, but they also function as pianos, horns and dance partners as well. Junebug usually gets into it and laughs at her silly siblings. Great for January/February stir-crazies.

Thanks, Dougalls!

Holy Golden Grahams, Batman!

It took two specially marked boxes of Golden Grahams to create this afternoon.

It's all about the simple things.

Happy Saturday

This morning we woke to the first snow of the season. I turned on the Christmas music, made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and sent the kids outside.
Maybe winter isn't so bad to start out with.

Hope of Israel, indeed

While playing swords with his friends, The Boy burst into the room brandishing his mighty weapon, a 2.5' piece of orange foam, and proclaiming...

The Boy: I have the sword of truth and right! I have the sword of truth and right!

Neesha stared at him blankly for a minute. The Boy wasn't dissuaded in the least and proceeded to sing...

The Boy: Sound the war cry, "Watch and pray!" Vanquish ev'ry foe today!

He's particularly keen on the "vanquish every foe" part.

mw

The Autumn Neesha and I moved into our Kaysville house, we took the Boy, who was just over 2.5 years old, and the Queen, who was just over 2.5 weeks, to Pack's Pumpkin Patch. While there, we caught the following image of the Boy and his personality. It's one of my favorites, and when I think of my son, this is the image that comes to mind as often as not.


Two weeks ago we took the kids up Logan Canyon to see the [green] leaves and to get some new family pictures for our wall.


When did that happen?

mw

Colorful Perfection

I dressed Junebug in a lot of pink yesterday and started singing, "The Pink of Perfection" from Disney's Summer Magic. A few moments later, The Boy commented, "Mom, your pants have a lot of teal in them. You are the teal of perfection!"

The Big Day

The Boy started Kindergarten today.

He had no tears (Mommy had a few) and had so much fun. He can't wait to go back again tomorrow. I'm definitely having mixed feelings about this guy growing up so fast.

Happy 4th!

We had a few festivities this year that I may or may not post, but I thought everyone would enjoy my 5-year-old singing "The Star Spangled Banner." I mean, who wouldn't?

The Boy starts Iddy-biddy Ball tomorrow. Over the next three weeks he'll go to Smoot Park and learn to play basketball, soccer, and baseball (t-ball, technically).

Me: Boppa used to play a lot of baseball. He was very good at it.
The Boy: Did you play baseball?
Me: I did, though I was never as good as Boppa.
The Boy: Did he hit a home run every time?!
Me: Well, no one can hit a home run every time, but Boppa sure hit a lot of home runs.
The Boy: Did you ever hit a home run?
Me: Not very many.
The Boy: How many?
Me: Maybe a dozen my last season.

**Long pause. Then, in a tone that let me know I didn't know what I was talking about (I'm growing accustomed to that tone)**

The Boy: A dozen is a full box of doughnuts.

That's my boy.

mw

A Child's Prayer

Last week The Boy noticed his Lego Star Wars Action Figure was missing it's light saber. This thing is TINY and I hadn't much hope of finding it, but promised him we would look for it Friday morning. Thursday night, he prayed that he, "would be able to find Plo Koon's light saber." I started to get nervous and prepared a little chat about needing to do his part by taking care of his toys. Friday morning came and the search began. Probably two minutes into the search The Boy ran up to me.

The Boy: "Mommy! I found it! I found Plo Koon's light saber!"
Me: !?! Where WAS it?
The Boy: "In my pocket!"
Me: !?!

He told me he heard a still small voice tell him to put his hand in his pocket. This particular pants' pocket had been through the laundry a couple times since the light saber's disappearance. It also happened to be a pair that he didn't wear regularly as they have the biggest holes of all his pants. I'm still amazed he actually found it.

Truly, so much to learn from sweet, sweet children.

Graduation Ceremony

"I can't believe you don't want to go to your own son's graduation"
"It's not a graduation! He's moving from the fourth grade to the fifth grade."
"There's a ceremony!"
"It's psychotic! We keep coming up with new ways to celebrate mediocrity..."

Helen and Bob Parr
Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles

Whether we're celebrating mediocrity or not, The Boy graduated from Preschool today. We celebrated and we are so proud!

The "ceremony" included a presentation of all the things the kids learned and did this year. It really has been a wonderful experience for him.

After the program we had lunch and played games.

We all feel so blessed that The Boy had the chance to have Teacher Lisa for preschool. She has meant so much to him and has taught him so well. We hope she's ready for The Queen in 2013!

Who You Gonna Call?

This morning the kids were watching their daily dose of PBS while I took a shower. At one point, the sound got screwed up. While the background noise and music played, you couldn't hear the voices of the characters. I used every trick in my book (meaning I turned the TV on and off, changed the channel and asked Mark). I discovered that other channels had sound and so decided that it must be the station. I explained the situation to The Boy. He insisted that I fix it and when I told him I didn't even know who to call to come fix it he told me, "Well, the Transformers are on Cybertron."

Of course, why didn't I think of that?

Later, Mark came down and The Boy filled him in. Mark reaffirmed that there wasn't anything we could do, to which he replied, "Well, Optimus Prime could fix it."

Let's get this guy over here!

5 Years Old

Saturday was The Boy's birthday.

He started the day with cinnamon rolls and balloons followed by birthday party prep. We somehow managed to entertain 7 boys for 2 hours with some cupcakes, a few games (which only lasted about 30 min.) and our backyard (thank HEAVEN it wasn't raining).
After cleanup, it was time for the family party. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles arrived to share presents, cake and ice cream.
At 5 years old, the Boy loves:
Transformers
Red
Ravioli
Reading
Curious George
Super Why
Riding his bike
Playing with friends
Preschool
His family

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy! We love you!

Poor Mommy

I took the kids to the library for story time and to check out new books yesterday. The Boy has a new fascination with Transformers and asked the librarian if she had a Transformers book. She hit the jackpot with an over-sized, 30 page documentation of one of the movies. He was thrilled. As we waited for our turn to check out our books, we had the following conversation:

The Boy: "Mommy, how much do you like Transformers?"
Me: "Not as much as you, sweetheart."
The Boy: "No, Mommy, how much?"
Me: (realizing that he wanted a quantitative answer) "One."
The Boy: (a shocked and disbelieving look, then a pitying look) "That's not very much."

Monster Truck Rally

Last Saturday my sisters upped their "favorite aunt status" by taking The Boy and my little brother to the Monster Truck Show in SLC.

The Boy sporting his ear muffs.

His favorite truck was Gravedigger, I have no idea which ones these are.He had so much fun. He's talked about and played monster trucks all week.

Thanks, Talena and Elly!

Stopping at Three

Last time I was pregnant, this happened...

This time around, we got this...

I think we'll stop at three kids, just to save The Boy's bones!

For those who don't know the story, he was jumping from a chair into a bean bag and landed wrong. We took him to the Kids Care on Saturday and they told us it was fine. Sunday they called back and said a specialist needed to take a look at it. On Monday the specialist told us that his tibia was, indeed, broken. It's not a bad break, but he's in a splint and on the couch for 2 1/2 weeks. Wish us luck!

The Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Seriously, does it get any cuter than 4-year-olds putting on a nativity play?
The Boy's preschool did a Christmas program for the residents of Country Home Retirement Center. He was a shepherd (the handsome one in the yellow bathrobe).
He makes a pretty stinkin' cute reindeer too.
I had to add this, these are the "surprised" shepherds when the angels came to tell them where to find the baby Jesus.
Happy Holidays!