Always Take Off the Training Wheels After a Professional Photo Shoot

We finally did it. We finally got the kids pictures taken at JCpenney today. We hadn't been since August 2005 so we pretty much missed a year for each of the kids, but better now than never. Wendy and Sarah took good pictures, but I didn't get any of Emily or Bradley. They looked goofy in their shots, so I will take them again another week. Wendy was out of practice so she had absolutely no idea what she was doing sitting on the stool with a crowd of people around her and Daddy jumping up and down behind the camera making funny noises. I imagine the situation could be a little frightening. We managed to get a quarter of a smile out of her when I dangled a package of fun fruits beneath the lens of the camera. Why do parents treat their kids like circus animals? Anyway, after $210 of photos, we survived the session and we even got a pretty good picture of all of them together.

Emily learned to ride her bike today without her training wheels! It's too bad I didn't get a better video of David running, flailing, and grunting along side her. It would've been a good blog video. This one will have to do.

I've been very camera lazy lately because I also missed another great blog photo of two razorback hogs wandering on the side of the highway today. I don't know if they were wild or if some lady was walking them. Nonetheless, it was a strange sight to see.

Take Kids to the Circus. Check!

We took the kids to the Cole Brothers Circus tonight.

That's $8 worth of popcorn that I'm holding. They had cool motorcycle stunts, acrobats, trapeze artists, and a flying cannon girl. Bradley's favorite act was the dancing poodles because "they were funny." (At least he didn't say "the clowns.")

Dialogue of the day:

"Sarah, would you please put your shoes in the cubby?"
Sweetly, "No."
"Sarah, please put your shoes in the cubby."
Charmingly, "I too little!"
"You're not too little."
"I am too little." Then beggingly, "Mommy, I too little, please?"

I Think I'm Sick. I Know I'm Sick. I'm Going to Die a Slow Horrible Death!

Ok, so I went through an acute episode of hypochondria the past week. I saw a dark vertical line in my left pinkie nail and right middle finger nail last Wednesday. I looked it up online and self-diagnosed it as a splinter hemorrhage. The most common cause of them are injuries to the nail, but I of course, was convinced I had the worst case scenario cause which is endocarditis, or an infection of the heart. I had no other symptoms such as fever, muscle ache, or fatigue, but I knew I was destined to die. Just as a I was recovering from the paranoia after my husband tried to reassure me that he thought I was just fine, I woke up in a night sweat. Having remembered reading that night sweats were also a symptom of endocarditis, I was doubly sure I was infected and going to die. Well, it ended up that the the splinter hemorrhages are most likely due to injury (I hope.) I noticed that I habitually chew on my pinkie nail when I sit at the computer. And the night sweats were due to a dip in my estrogen levels before my period (I hope.) So that is why I haven't posted for a few days. I have been paralyzed with paranoia. But I'm better now. I don't think I am going to die (at least not today.)

A Little Dose of Cute

Jason's First Swing Ride

The Narcoleptic Baby

What Are Potatoes Made Out of?

The kids were doing a USA puzzle today and I asked, "What do they grow a lot of in Idaho?"
They didn't know, so I answered, "Potatoes."
Then with enthusiasm, Emily said, "Mmmmmm. I love potatoes! I love them because they are juicy and made out of ketchup!"
"Huh? Do you mean you love tomatoes?"
"Oh, yeah."

I realized the influence my imaginative kids have on me. As I was getting ready to vacuum the corners of my bathroom today, I said aloud to myself, "The sword is missing." So I went downstairs to retrieve "the sword" that I had stuck in my magazine bin. A few years ago it would have simply been "the long skinny vacuum cleaner attachment."

It's All About Perspective

I showed Emily and Bradley where Australia is on the globe. Bradley saw the various lakes and said, "Mommy, that country has puddles!"


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I suppose stuffing your shirt with wipes seems like a good idea to a child under two.

Quote of the Day:

"One time in the night, I did a fake fart, and then when I did a real fart, it sounded like my fake one."

-Emily

We went to the public library this afternoon. I have been wanting to go all week because I don't think it's a good idea to take five small children to a library by myself. My goal is to read all the Newberry Medal Winner books and I wanted to get some. When we got there, I think the kids were a little overwhelmed by all the books. Emily gravitated to the leprachaun craft that other kids were making, Sarah went to the wooden puzzles and Bradley sat himself comfortably with a headset at the computer to play some computer games. So much for books. I also checked out an Electric Company DVD and in the car ride home David shouted, "HEY YOU GUYS!" Emily reacted with, "Stop being obnoxious."

I folded 3 loads of laundry this evening and after completion I realized I did not fold a single pair of Bradley's underwear. I guess he went commando all week. That's weird. Well........not that weird if you know Bradley.

David was laying down with the kids the other night in there room before they went to sleep and he remembered that he needed to make some of Sarah's Morning Moo milk for the morning. (Sarah gets really bad eczema when she drinks regular milk so we give her a powdered lactose-free milk.) David said, "Bradley remind me to make some more Morning Moo."
So immediately Bradley reminded his Daddy, "Don't forget to make Morning Moo."
"No Bradley, remind me when I leave to make some more Morning Moo."
"Ok. Daddy make some more Morning Moo when you leave."
"No Bradley, remind me when I go downstairs to make some Morning Moo."
"Daddy, make more Morning Moo when you go downstairs."

Happy 36th Birthday!

David turned 36 today. He had a normal day at work. I ventured out with the kids to Target and the grocery store. We bought Daddy Uno H2O Splash at Target. Then as I was perusing the clearance children's clothing, my kids found these T-shirts that they are wearing in the above picture. The shirts say, "My Dad is the Man." Daddy was pleased to see them wearing them when he got home. Daddy also got an American flag to hang on the house, Peter Pan DVD, and an iTunes giftcard. We celebrated with pizza and chocolate cake.

Princess Jason

I walked in the room and found this:

Can you tell this little boy has 3 older sisters?

I am reading the kids Superfudge by Judy Blume. As the girls continued drawing, I announced that we finished chapter 3 and would resume the next day with chapter 4, "Off the Wall." Sarah suavely commented, "That's cool."

This morning Sarah put her panties on backwards. David told her the big part goes on her big butt. With a smile she embellished the instruction and said, "On my big, beautiful butt."

We bought Emily a kid's crossword puzzle book this weekend. She was proud and happy to immediately know the answer to 8 across "You push this in the grocery store." However she was having difficulty spelling cart. She has trouble with placement of vowels. So I shouted out to her younger brother Bradley, "Hey Bradley, how do you spell 'cart'?" Without a moment of hesitation he shouts back, "C-A-R-T, cart." With wide eyes filled with amazement and a tinge of envy, Emily looked at me and quietly said, "He's smart!"

Daylight savings has messed up our kids circadian rhythms. I could hear Emily and Bradley talking in bed up until midnight tonight. I thought it might be entertaining to secretly listen to their conversation outside their door. I heard Bradley describe something as "this big!" and could tell he was exaggeratedly spreading his arms as wide as he could to the point where his arms were beginning to go behind him. Then I heard Emily say in a serious tone, "Bradley, you can't do that because the people behind you will think you are showing them how little."

Bathtime is one my least favorite parental duties. So I hurried through it tonight and scrubbed and rinsed the kids. Sarah was the most dissapointed for bathtime to be over. When I took her out of the tub, she cried with tears, "Mommy, I don't want to get out. I love water! I love the bath!" She's been emphasizing her love for things lately. She also loves Barbies, she loves coloring, and she loves cereal.

Happy 5 months, Jason!

There was a feather in our fried chicken.

David got the kids ready for bed (pajamas on and teeth brushed) this evening at about 8:00PM and brought them downstairs to watch American Idol. When I went to bed at 12:00AM the water was still running full blast in my bathroom sink. Ughhh! Bye bye 360 (1.5 gallons/min x 240 minutes) gallons of water! At least it wasn't the hot water.

With her arm reaching toward the kitchen counter, Wendy spoke her first sentence this morning:

"Gai gwa daw gwit."
(I want chocolate.)

Spoken like a true girl!

The tooth fairy didn't visit last night. (Whoops!) We explained to Emily that the toothfairy doesn't work on weekends. She was cool with that.

The family debated tonight whether the tooth fairy was a boy or girl. Emily confidently explained that the tooth fairy is a small, beautiful, sparkly girl, that carries a wand that she uses to turn the lost tooth into a shiny new coin. Bradley proposed that there were multiple tooth fairies, girl ones for girls and boy ones for boys. Daddy clarified that the tooth fairy was most definitely a man and proved his point with this image he found online:
Her small, beautiful, sparkly tooth fairy image was crushed. With a nervous smile Emily half giggled with a look on her face that implied she was questioning whether to continue inviting this strange man into her bedroom an additional 18 times with this whole tooth fairy pillow tradition thing.

I was craving an episode of SpongeBob this morning so I grabbed the remote and sat on the couch. I entered 026, Nickelodeon, and accidentally got Blue's Room. Bradley caught a quick glimpse of the furry blue dog and shouted, "Blue's Room!" But I corrected my error quickly and entered 132, Nick Too, and as I predicted an episode of SpongeBob was playing. Bradley protested my choice and begged for Blue's Room. I tried to persuade him that Blue was for babies and he was too old for it. Whenever I sit down to watch TV with my kids, they gravitate toward me like magnets and snuggle close almost to the point of annoyance. So by this point Emily was at my right side with her arm hooked under mine. Finally I gave in to Bradley and pressed the previous channel button. Blue was on the screen teaching about Pointillism. I said, "I guess we can watch something educational." Then Emily added with a disgusted tone, "When we watch this show, we learn."

After Bradley excused himself from the dinner table he sat down in the playroom to read Dr. Suess's Green Eggs and Ham. At the end of the book is a picture of Sam with a full belly. Bradley showed it to Daddy and said, "Look Daddy. He's fat!"
In return Daddy said, "He's fat?"
Then Bradley said, "Yeah. Like you."