What will be next?

Last week in Erin's science class her teacher taught them to make "bridges" from rolled up pieces of paper and then see how many books they could stack on it without it collapsing. Cameron is always up for a challenge so this is his tower. I am not sure how many books he really got but it is a pretty big stack.

Another project he has last weekend was making his own skateboard. He took the wheels off his "real" board so he could turn it into a snowboard.

When I suggested we throw away the wheels etc. because they were just "junk" he without a doubt informed me that they indeed were NOT junk and although he didn't know what he was going to do with them he would one day need them. I am glad "one day" came along sooner than... 2 years from now. He got Louis to help him put them on another board with is much smaller than a regular skateboard and easier to use in the house. (I wonder when he will find out where I hid it?)

Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby. The Olympics of Cub Scouting!

This was a night Cameron had been anticipating for nearly 2 months. The car had been "displayed" on top of the refrigerator since its finish 1 month ago. We got to the church early and found good seats. Last week at den meeting the boys had a practice run and Cameron's car came away nicknamed "The Bullet". I had heard that several kids (and dads) were determined to juice up their cars just to beat Cameron's. Would it work? Could it be done?

There were 13 boys all hoping their car would be the fastest and then be awarded "First Place".
After several heats only one would emerge--triumphant! (Cameron's car is on the left.)

Cameron did well. He came away with two awards-- 2nd place and "coolest shape". The best part was seeing all the fun he had. The most important question after all this is, "Will Josh be back home next Christmas for Derby car #2?"

A Book Never Written

A couple of nights ago while Louis had taken Erin to basketball practice and the other girls were in the bath, Cameron and I spent some time cleaning his room. When finished we began to look at one of his Boy's Life magazines. They have a whole page of jokes at the back. One type of joke is the "Book Never Written". It is a made up book title and the "author" is supposed to be the "joke". Here are some Cameron and I made up that night.


How to Catch Flies.
By: Cal M. Newer

How to Chase Cars
By: Golden R. Treever

How to Have Fun Cleaning Your Room
By: Em Possible

Beginning Shaving
By: Nixon Kuts

How to Fly a Rocket
By: Bern N. Fuel

I’m Bored
By: Minnie Termites

These last two are courtesy of Louis

How to Ruin a Picnic
By: Aunt Coloni

How to Get Rid of Company
By: Pass N. Gas

He wants to send them in to Boy's Life and hopefully have one of the printed.

The passing of the prophet

Last night Mom and Dad called me to tell me that they had just heard that President Hinckley had passed away. He was 97 yrs old and the prophet for nearly 13 years. My initial reaction was that of sadness but quickly changed to peace and thankfulness. He had lived such a great life and was such a great man. It was time for him to be reunited with loved ones. I can only imagine the welcome home he has received in the spirit world. It is comforting to have a testimony and know how the church will function until a new prophet is called.

This morning I was preparing to tell the kids that he had died. I was at the computer reading about President Hinckley when Cameron came down. I called him over to me and solemnly told him that the prophet had died. He gave me a look and then said, "I'm hungry. What's for breakfast."
Erin got up a little later. She came down and poured herself some cereal. As she was eating I said, "Erin, Last night the prophet died." Without saying anything she looked back to her cereal bowl and kept eating.
Makenna...the more sensitive one....I called her into the kitchen...still looking/hoping for that teaching moment. "Makenna, President Hinckley died last night." I said. She looked deep into my eyes and asked, "Where are my pancakes?"
What can a mother do? Hopefully FHE will go over better than my attempt this morning. They will have a lesson on succession in the presidency.

Sided and Trimmed

This is how the house looked yesterday afternoon, with all but some of the decorative trim up.

The driveway and sidewalks are also done.

And the sheetrockers started this afternoon too.

Two Reality Checks

As I was making crepes this morning, Makenna and I had a nice conversation.

She began things by stating that she was smarter than me.

Spotting a true teaching moment, I proceeded to explain to her the meaning of the word 'deluded.' Specifically, 'You must be deluded if you think you are smarter than me.'

I continued, 'Now, someday you may become smarter than me, but today is not that day.'

She pertly replied, 'I'll be smarter than you when you are dead!'

Who can argue with that!??

Fluffies

Cameron came into our room this AM while we were still in bed, and decided to lay down next to me. He soon shifted position and laid his head on my stomach as his pillow.

"Hmmm, kinda lumpy!" he said. "And fat!" he added for good measure.

Ever the innovator of mayhem, he then sang out, "Fluff the pillow! Fluff the pillow!" and raised his head up and slammed it back down on my stomach a number of times.

Naturally, I began feeling unwell, so I said that maybe I should stay home from church, keeping Allyson home with me.

Cindy mused, 'Yes, you, Allyson and Cameron probably should stay home from church.'

Suddenly regaining my health, I promptly jumped up out of bed and went downstairs to make some crepes.

OSU SOSO RIP*

*Rest in peace, or rest in pieces--whichever....

Reason #783 that we don't need a dog.

Tonight as I was sitting at the computer, Cameron came through the room with Allyson following behind. "Mom, I am taking Allyson for a walk. See?" This is what I saw...

You see... he walked in front pulling the silky pajamas. When she got close to them he would yank them quickly away. She erupted in laughter and the whole thing started again.

Hope springs eternal

So... picture this. The kids all went back to school from Christmas break on Thursday, by Friday afternoon it was time to tackle Cameron's room (best when he is not at home---don't check the trash!). While I am sorting through all the tinfoil pieces, rocks, nails, screws, memorabilia from the Air Show 2 years ago, broken erasers, little tiny bits of old pencils, Lego pieces, etc. etc. I found a nicely folded paper. It was folded and shaped into a sort of funnel with a note inside it. Having gotten the same thing from Erin just before Christmas with a note inside gushing about what a great mom I am, I figured it was probably a nice note from Erin gushing over Cameron. "I love you and am so glad you are my brother." etc. etc..
I had all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings being so grateful for how loving my children are and I would be sure to save that wonderful note. This is what it really said,

"Cameron,
I am soooooo mad at Mom right now. Aren't you too?
Write back,
Erin"

Needless to say....out went the fuzzy feelings and into file 13 went the note. Not the first and I am sure not the last. Oh well...one can hope.

Another brick in the wall (yeah, that's Pink Floyd)

Some of our family wanted to see the house with all the brick (at least all that we could afford....!)

Offering a toast....

Cindy, domestic goddess that she is, prepared a tasty breakfast of french bread french toast this morning.

Reactions among the kids varied.

Cameron ate one bite and then ran into the bathroom. His face wan, he emerged a minute later, faintly asking, 'Does the toast have egg on it?' Receiving an answer in the affirmative, he then went on, 'I choked on the hard brown stuff [that would be the browned egg mixture] and threw up.'

Note: Cameron has a hair-trigger gag reflex--anything that he even thinks (and I stress thinks) will stick in his throat is rebuffed. As such, he hasn't eaten a nut since he choked and threw up at age 1.5. Nor will he deign to eat eggs--scrambled or fried--if there are any browned sections.

When Makenna came down, Cindy fixed her a plate with 2 big pieces of french toast, Makenna smiled, began walking to the microwave to warm it up, then stopped, turned around, smiled again, and announced to Cindy, 'I love this [french toast] even more than you!'

Allyson ate 2 bites and called it a day.

Erin and I showed our appreciation by eating it down with gusto. (Did we dare do anything else?!)

UPDATE: Later this morning as I was sitting in the frontroom Makenna came over to snuggle. As she settled into my lap, she said, 'I told Mommy that I love french toast more than her!.......And I love YOU more than I love french toast!'

Should I be flattered?!

Christmas day 2007

Lucky for us our kids don't wake up too early. Cameron and Erin were up first at 7:30. By the time we went downstairs it was 8:00 (they had to wake Makenna up---and I made them wait for me to take a shower!) This is the first year we have let them open a present on Christmas eve. Of course they all got new p.j.'s.


Allyson loved the entire day. She is a good gift opener. Probably because she has 3 older siblings to follow. Her favorite gift was this baby doll and stroller to push it in. She promptly found the little silky ribbon tied underneath its chin.

Cameron has become our little Buckeye. Since Christmas he has only taken these clothes off to sleep (that is 3 days worth of wearing.) I am washing them tonight while he sleeps. The football is from Aunt Kim and Uncle Ryan and tops his list of favorite Christmas gifts. Some other favorites of his are, MP3 player, eyeclops, Harry Potter scene it game, and rubiks cube.

One of the hightlights for Makenna was having "Cousin Josh" come. She loves him. He came home from his mission in October and she still says in her evening prayers, "We thank thee that Josh came home from his mission." She got several Polly Pocket toys, a Barbie head that has all kinds of hair clips and even a braid that grows "magically", and even her own little MP3 player.

Erin also got another MP3 player as she lost hers last year. She loves music and carried it with her all over the place so it is worth it for her to have another one. She also got an American Idol Karaoke Revolution game for the Playstation. This is Erin and her friend Kirsten doing what they did for most of the day today......singing with the game. It is a fun game---unless you are me (see previous post). She also got a manicure set, High School Musical 2 movie, cd, I love Troy heart pillow and Troy necklace (shown here). Tonight she told me that she is never going to take her necklace off. We will see if she changes her mind when her neck turns green.

We had Louis' sister Denna, and her family (Quinn, Josh, Caleb, Ben, and Jordan) along with Louis and Denna's nephew, Carlton and his family (Liz and Hunter). We feel very fortunate that for being so far away from "family" we have this much family close by. Our numbers are growing and we love it. We had a very relaxing day that involved eating, singing Karaoke, visiting the new house, and hanging out. All in all I think it was a perfect day.

I'll Huff and I'll puff and I'll not be able to blow that house down!

This is the latest photo of our new home. This was taken on December 26th. It is so much fun to see everything we picked out coming together with the design. It is so different looking at a design on paper or a little square board with brick. What a relief to see it in reality and still love it!

Not even in a bucket!

So Erin got an American Idol Karaoke game for the Playstation for Christmas. She begged me yesterday to sing for it. Everybody else had done it and she wanted to hear me sing. I know I don't have the ability to carry a tune so singing is not usually something I try to stand out in a crowd for. I sang a song titled "You and Me". Erin thought it would be a good song. So I do my best as the words scroll across the bottom of the screen and when it is all done here come the judges to tell me what they thought.
Randy: "I'm sorry. That just didn't do it for me. Dog, you were way off tune the whole song."
Woman: "The pitch was way off. I'm sorry it just wasn't any good."
Simon: "That was the worst I have ever heard. You were off tune. It was so bad I can't believe you actually wanted to sing."
Get the idea? Even an animated video game doesn't want to hear me sing! I don't think Jill Pierce will be recuiting me for the ward choir anytime soon!

Leech removal

Allyson was sticking to me like a tick on an ol' yaller dog this evening. She is definitely a daddy's girl right now.

I was here at the computer looking for something, when she came over and commandeered the mouse and the keyboard, asking to be shown pictures of dogs and cats on the Internet.

After about 5 minutes I tried to take back the mouse, and she would have nothing to do with it.

Then Cindy came to the rescue.

'Allyson,' she crooned, 'Do you want a bath?'

Allyson began replying with her stock answer, 'No,' but cut her reply off in mid-letter and instead hopped off my lap and ran into her, gushing, 'Bath! Bath! Baaatttth!'

I was thereby able to use the computer without interruption to do these two posts.

Thank goodness for warm baths on cold nights!

For some reason this timeless quote came to mind on this Christmas Eve.....

Last week I was perusing a walk down memory lane reading thru a Calvin and Hobbes collection, and I came upon a section of comic strips where in the days before Christmas Santa is pondering and Calvin is worrying if his behavior throughout the year will put the kibosh on his presents.

In the Christmas day strip, Calvin gets up and finds that he has a huge pile of presents waiting.

Filled with a child's joy of Christmas, he gaily cries out,

"Ha ha! Acquittal on all charges! Complete exoneration! Ha ha ha!"

Even if these words are not quoted verbatim, I am at least sure that the elation in our home will be along the same vein....

Erin's Christmas story

A few nights ago, Erin was at a friend's birthday party and wrote the following sweet, touching, albeit disturbing story of (at least tangentially) Christmas spirit and mayhem. According to Erin, she and a boy made up the story, acting it out as they thought it up, and then Erin later put it into words.

Erin will now proceed to type in the story. We recommend that you get your tissues ahead of time, as it ranks right up there with Ralphie's theme about a Red Rider BB gun, but much more sophisticated.

There was an out-of-the-ordinary couple, their names were Harold and Jessica.They had 2 babies and named one Germany and the other one, well, let's just say they put the other one up for adoption, because they were soon to have more of what Jessica called "its."
Harold had cheated on Jessica with a reindeer for 2 months and had 37 mutated pups, soon to be 57. jessica was furious and demanded marriage counciling. It still did not work out--Jessica had caught them 7 times in the past week. [Sad huh?] They got a divorce, but Jessica still loved Harold.

And Harold still loved the reindeer.

The End
[ p.s.][If you liked the story please mail a dollar! It's just buisness!]

Erin

Our daughter is definitely growing up, [sniffle] and we are very, very worried!
PS: (And yes, the party was chaperoned, so any 'acting out' was purely platonic.)

Fertile windmills of the mind

Kenner slept in today, and she was still in bed at 10AM after a trip to Sam's Club.

Erin informed us that Kenner had awakened but still in bed, as she had come up with a plan to make Christmas come sooner.

Yep, she figured if she spent all day in bed it would make bedtime tonight come quicker, and ergo, Santa, the reindeer, presents, etc., etc., etc.



We gently explained to her that she'd do much better to get up and not be bored out of her gourd all day.

Of course, as Cindy later belatedly related, 'Maybe we could've gotten all the kids to buy into her theory and then we could've enjoyed a nice, relaxing day!

A mind like a steel trap

I came back from shopping this morning with a half-gallon of egg nog.

Allyson, who has only experienced this fat-filled ambrosia once about a month ago, obviously recognized it for what it was and began grunting and pulling at me.

Just to make sure, I leaned her over the array of purchased items and asked, 'What do you want?'

She reached over and patted (dare I say, caressed?) the half-gallon container.

Superfluous though it may be to recount, she sucked down an entire sippy-cup of the stuff. (Though I did thin it down with milk--I'd hate be responsible for her bouncing off the walls and ceilings this AM.)

Update: Later on Cindy got a small glass container out of the frig. It was clearly full of something chocolate.

I was holding Allyson at the time (big surprise there!?) and she immediate leaned towards it and assumed the position--one finger crooked in anticipation of scooping up some chocolate stuff--and also began making small sucking noises to mimic what she was definitely planning to do.

I gave her a spoon instead.