Thank you for taking care of my boy for 15 minutes while I tried to catch my breathe from the antics from this morning.
screaming at top of lungs while arching back and hanging head off the side of stroller for the last 1/2 mile home from a pleasant walk
driving bike inside house
accidentally dumping Fruit Loops all over chair and tile and then proceeding to mash them with a plastic cup until they were in a fine powdered rainbow
using 1/4 bottle of Palmolive - finger painting it in the grout of the tile countertops.
smashing chocolate chip granola bar into the carpet - twice (still don't know where he got that)
After peeling a Cutie and happily eating it by himself, I was thrilled to let him have seconds at his request. I guess the second orange was for an experiment. I found him jabbing a pen in and out of it - sticky everywhere.
We've been gone to Utah this weekend. Jon attended the BYU Ballroom 50th Reunion and our family got to attend the Ballroom Spring Concert at the Marriott Center.
Enjoying Hogi Yogi dessert in the remodeled restaurant and remembering the trips I made there with my college roommates.
Spending the afternoon with Jon's sister, husband, & kids.
Dining out with Jon's parents & family
Celebrating Jessica's 6th birthday with grandparents & cousins
Reading Goose Girl (a very nice read)
Photographing my cousin's daughter in new and different locations
Being with my sisters & girl chat late into the night
Hearing my Mom tell about their visit to Boston to visit the sites & see my brother & his family
Kissing my 87 year old Grandma. Hearing her tell me about how she was trained in massage and feeling her frail hands demonstrate on my very tense shoulder. Borrowing her ice pack for the pain.
Seeing my brother and his family & feasting on chicken recipe from Philippines.
Seeing the kids feed the geese & ducks at Thanksgiving point. Watching Jayson & Jessica ride ponies
Pointing out locations in Provo where Jon & I dated and got engaged.
Meeting some of Jon's ballroom buddies & their families.
NOT SO AWESOME
The $1 McChicken Sandwich in Utah is actually HOT & SPICY - way gross
Cat allergies
Sinus cold on top of cat allergies including pounding headaches each afternoon
Seeing Jessica get her finger slammed in the door
Losing Jayson who was sleeping on the floor beside my bed - finding him WAY under the bed the next morning
Never getting enough sleep
Trying to put Mom's house back together so the real estate agent could have an Open House for 3 hours.
Jayson insisted on sleeping on top of me - calling out "momma" every 15 seconds even while I was holding him
Getting gas in Primm - waiting in the gas line, waiting in the long bathroom line, waiting to get back on the freeway.
Screaming, fighting, dumping of sticky substances during the extended 10 hour drive.
Coming home and finding the flyer that announced Yearbook Pictures for the 5th Graders, the Basketball team, & the Band and realizing we missed it. Wishing that we had the info before so we could have adjusted our travel day so James could be in all those photos. Really so sad and disappointed about this.
Jon lost some seedlings that couldn't live without him in the wind and heat.
This week is the 5th Grade basketball tournament - which means we play three very important games against other Elementary Schools. Yesterday was the first. The teams seemed evenly matched, but we maintained a small lead throughout the game. I think we won by 6 points. James scored two baskets under the hoop and knocked down a bunch of rebounds. These boys MOVE on the court - it's very fun to watch. Today we started out sluggish and trailed throughout. The shots weren't falling and we had trouble keeping possession of the ball. We got down by ten. Late in the game they found their rhythm and were on fire. They closed the gap and nearly tied the game off. We took a one point loss.
Basketball season has come to a close - that's four less practices and two less games per week. Jacob played on the Magic team & Jon was the coach. This team had a knack for optimism and just trying to have fun. They lost every single game during the season. Jacob scored at several of the games. He got better at hustling down the court and he looked way cool in his sport glasses.
p.s. Most of the boys won fake mustaches in the arcade at the pizza party.
Does anybody have an English as Second Language guide for toddlers? See, my toddler is very content with his OWN language, but I'd like for him to learn ENGLISH. We do understand some of his words, but his language is a little tricky to follow.
NO = NO or "I like a dramatic and immediate response, but yes. I'd like that."
uh uh = yes (not uh Huh with an upward intonation, but the sound most of us use for no).
deet = drink
nack = fruit snack
muck = milk
mice = milk
choo choo = train or word you use when you are walking along curbs or planter beds
MINE = "don't touch that" or "I'm not sharing" or "it was given to me"
dash = trash
uh oh = "I think it's cool, but Mom probably won't like it"
bubble = bubble
ugh ugh ugh = "I want to pour the Tide in the washing machine"
toot = Fruit Loop
muh = more
My favorite is I Love You - he just mumbles whispers with the correct syllables.
ETA:
ess = eggs
deet = another word for chips
deet = treat
uh dere = up there - as in "help me sit on the countertop, I'm too tired to scale the cabinet or drag a chair over"
Jessica has had a loose tooth for a couple of weeks. It's gotten REALLY loose and Dad had tried a couple times earlier this week to flick it out. She doesn't want it to hurt, so she hasn't wanted Dad near it.
I grabbed a couple picks of it hanging on by a thread and then Dad did his flick trick again and I caught it all on camera. Wish you could hear her squeals of delight. She was SO EXCITED to loose her first tooth.
Yesterday I found two large piles of sand on my kitchen tile. As I was shooing the kids out the front door to get to the team basketball party, I found a third pile of sand in our entry way. Jayson had used his dump truck (from the sandbox) to distribute his loads.
Today (after two days of consecutive intense workouts) I got up, showered, and got dressed. I shuttled children to school, prepared Jessica's backpack for Kindergarten, started some laundry, packed a picnic lunch, & curled Jessica's hair. While I was busy, Jayson was too. He fought with his sister, peeled a couple oranges for his self serve breakfast, & insisted on pouring the detergent into the washing machine (a job that his sister wanted - thus more quarreling).
He was busy at the park as well - leaning his body out of high places, attempting to climb down ladders forward-facing, running after stranger's dogs, & finding the fruit snacks in my bag. We wouldn't know how much he loved the park if he didn't have to be removed kicking and screaming and refusing to be buckled in the car.
Once we returned home I encouraged him to go work in his sandbox (it's shaded). He had spent some time there yesterday as well, but by the time I got the video camera out he was off to other adventures. So I hurried out today to capture him playing. You'll have to excuse my chewing. I was enjoying Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies - wasn't planning on talking in the video :)
So I returned inside and linked the video footage to the computer when I heard some scrambling in my pantry. I caught him red handed on the way out to the sandbox with my canister of rice. I secured the rice, tightened the child lock, and went about my business. A few minutes later I went out to check on my little sand chef and he was having the time of his life - he had retrieved the kidney beans from the fridge and they were seasoned with sand. Seriously, we have TWO locks on the fridge - one that is pointless because a small tug will pop it open and one that's working too well - you need two hands to unlatch it.
This was ALL before 1 p.m. when we read stories and he refused to nap and instead found time to rearrange his toys.
I have an iPod now and a giftcard that's burning a hole in my pocket. Please comment and tell me your favorite tunes/artists/albums so I don't keep listening to the same six songs over and over and over.
