October 3, 2008

1. I made a "sleeping bag" for each of the kids' stuffed dogs out of old fabric.
2. We went and had lunch with Bob at his work and then went shopping at the outlet mall by his work.
3. I got Aaron's cold.
4. Bob is watching the BYU game on tv right now. He's such a cougar fan.
5. The kids were out of school today for a teacher in-service.
   

September 30, 2008

1. I ate 10 pumpkin chocolate chip cookies left over from FHE last night
2. Aaron's had a fever for 3 days. He was pretty grumpy today. You can tell exactly when the fever is down and when it's back because he goes from a chatty, bouncing-0ff-the-walls boy to a whiney kid who can't get happy.
3. I worked on 5 different websites for a total of 3 hours
4. I cleaned the windows inside and out.
5. Rachel spent an hour in the front yard making rock sculptures (stacking rocks in all different ways from our new desert landscaping)
   

March 29 - Monster trucks

Bob took the boys to the World Championship of Monster Trucks at the Sam Boyd Stadium. Aaron is crazy for monster trucks. Danny likes them too. They were both a little overwhelmed at the actual event, though. Aaron stayed on Bob's lap the whole time. But they did warm up a little when Bob bought a big bag of Kettle Corn for them. The Batman truck won and Aaron told everyone that for several weeks. Monster trucks have proven to be a long-term obsession for Aaron.

Camping in Valley of Fire

This weekend we went on our first family campout to Valley of Fire. We had a great time. We got there about 3:00 and got a great campsite right next to some red rock boulders. The kids spent the afternoon climbing on the big rocks and having a great time. We went to Overton for dinner at McDonalds. (We're breaking ourselves in to camping. Maybe next time we'll try cooking on the fire) We went and saw Elephant Rock and many other things in the area with Bob as our tour guide. We roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. The kids slept great in the tent. We got up and had donuts and juice for breakfast and then climbed a few rocks and headed home to be back in time for Danny's soccer game. It was a great weekend!

Punch you face out

I'm not sure where Aaron got it, but when he's really mad at someone, he tells them he's going to "Punch you face". The first time he said it, I was watching a neighbor's 2-yr-old girl named Sailor, who loves to provoke other kids. She was really making Aaron frustrated and I could tell he was on the verge of getting violent, but instead of actually acting, he says, "Punch you face, Sailor". I had such a hard time not laughing while I tried to diffuse the situation. Now it's become one of his "beloved" statements. Along with "Be my friend, Danny", when Danny is teasing him. And "let me try" when the other kids won't let him join them with whatever they are doing.

Easter

We went to Visalia for Easter this year. We had a great time. Everyone except Ryan and Venessa were there. The kids had an easter egg hunt in the backyard, they dyed eggs with Grandma and found easter baskets on Easter morning. We went to the mall to have kid easter pictures taken at Picture People. Aaron refused to cooperate, so we have a cute picture of Danny and Rachel in their Easter clothes. Aaron did just fine, however to take the expensive pictures with the Easter bunny as a consolation. We also went to the movies all together to see Horton Hears a Who. Everyone loved the Katie character in the movie and how she would create a world where everyone is a pony in they eat rainbow and poop butterflies. We all thought Rachel would fit in perfectly in that world.

Monster Truck Show

Bob took Danny and Aaron to the Monster truck show on March 29.

Biker

Bob has been working with Danny to teach him to ride a two-wheeler. Danny picked it up so quickly and now asks to ride his bike several times a day. Sometimes he just rides in front of the house and sometimes we get the bike trailer out and all ride to the park.

Danny's Birthday Party

Danny turned 6 years old. I can't believe how big he's getting. He's so smart and kind and just a good kid. He had his birthday party at our house. He had a transformer cake and dinosaur pinata. And the kids played on the trampoline and with his new toys.

Las Vegas Temple Visit

Last fast sunday, we went to the Las Vegas temple with the kids. They were so excited to go. We drove over after church and walked around and saw all the flowers and the kids ran around on the grass. And then we found a quiet part of the the lawn and had a testimony meeting. It was really nice.

Where are your brains, Aaron?

I have always posed redundant questions to my kids: What's your name? Where do you live? How old are you? What color are your eyes? Where's your nose?

In the past, I've usually taken the opportunity to ask these questions when I have a captive audience, like when I'm changing a diaper. I recently added a new question - Where are your brains? I aksed this question of Aaron and he immediately pointed to his rear end. Hmmm, that was weird (and funny).

I decided to show my new monkey trick to Jean. We had a good chuckle after which I commented "I wonder where he picked that up from?" Jean is smart. She pointed out that it probably stems from many of the diaper changing sessions. When I encounter a particularly stinky diaper, I'll say "Ohhhhh, KID'S NAME HERE, you pooped your brains out." I guess I've said this enough that Aaron has associated brains with poop. For a while he claimed to have poop for brains or at least that's what you could conclude from his response.

We've now taught him the correct anatomical location of his brains. Now when asked about his brains, he'll begin to point to his hind quarters, smirk and then point to his head. But, we didn't correct him until we got it on video.

Being a parent is awesome.

Jean Asked Me Some Questions

and here are my aswers.

1. What time did you get up this morning? Sometime around 6am. Jean and I were able to coax Aaron into our bed and let him restlessly toss and turn until 8am when it was time to do the Easter basket thing.

2. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal with brown sugar. I sometimes supplement this with a fruit shake made of bananas, strawberries, raspberries, apples and some apple juice.

3. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I bounce around. One that I've got in my car right now is Stone Temple Pilots No. 4. I like the 9th track. It's atypical of my usual tastes - it has a bit of a country sound to it.

4. What kind of car do you drive? Honda Accord with a 'custom' paint job.

5. Favorite sandwich? Burning Bridge from Gandolfo's

6. Favorite item of clothing? Jean would argue that I could never narrow it down to just one item with all of the clothes I have. I just think she's jealous. I like a new pair of dark green cargo shorts Jean bought for me at Costco.

8. What color is your bathroom? Yellow.

9. Where would you retire? Ohh, so many places to choose. Anywhere along the western or eastern foothills of Californian Sierras, anywhere along the Appalachains in NC/TN/VA/WV/MD/GA, North Central New Mexico, East of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Central Colorado . . . should I continue?

10. Most memorable birthday? My 21st was the first to come to mind - I was on my mission in Norway and some very nice members/friends had a party for me. From what I remember, they even got me some of my favorite Norwegian sodas, a cake, etc. These days I'm happy to take any birthday.

11. Favorite sport to watch? College football and in particular, BYU football.

12. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning. I've never been able to stay up late without the sandbags pulling my eyelids down.

13. What is your shoe size? 10 1/2

14. Pets? 2 Beta fish. As Jean has said below, they are survivors. They have also survived our kids feeding them and one incident where the plug on the bottom of the tank cracked leaving the fish with only an inc or so of water. They survived, but one of them had a bulging eye for a couple of weeks. I think they have brain damage.

15. What did you want to be when you were little? A B-52 pilot. At least I've heard a tape recording from when I was 3 or 4 saying that's what I wanted to be. I still think it would be fun to be a pilot. Maps/GIS and aviation are closely related.

16. What are you today? A map nerd. I do Geographic Information Systems and I love it.

17. What is your favorite candy? Reese's peanut butter cups and Zero candy bars. Watermellon-flavored jolly ranchers are a close third.

18. Your favorite flower? Do boys have favorite flowers? Tulips are nice. How about pansies?

19. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? I'm looking forward to a parents-only trip to Catalina Island with my wife. No kids for 4 days. Will we go crazy?

20. What are you listening to right now? Aaron and Rachel knocking plastic bowling pins around with plastic balls. I can also hear Jean in the distance taling with her mother.

21. What is the last thing you ate? Mac and cheese.

22. Do you wish on stars? No, but I like watching them.

23. What faith are you? I'm LDS. Just got done watching conference.

24. Who was the last person you spoke with on the phone? The wife. She let me know the DVD that I was to pick up from a Red Box on the way home from the Priesthood Session of Conference (April 2008).

25. Hair Color? brown with two or there gray hairs.

26. Name of your favorite school teacher? Mrs. Kommando from high school. She was my art teacher. Just a really nice lady that showed a genuine interest in her students and their creations (I liked to throw pots). I have a couple from the college years - Dr. Morgan (Meteorology), George Golightly (Map Analysis, Remote Sensing), Dr. Bott (Religion).

27. Chocolate or vanilla? Yes.

28. When was the last time you cried? A full on wailing and gnashing of teeth cry? When I learned my dad had been taken off of life-support. I'll occassionally get teary-eyed when I see something patriotic or think about people who serve selflessly.

29. What is under your bed? Food storage and a baseball bat.

30. What did you do last night? Attended a session of conference, finished off a Python export script for the USAF's Air Combat Command's GeoBase Office and spooked myself out by watching I Am Legend with Jean.

31. Favorite smell? Any smell I encounter on a hike or a camping trip - when I'm away from the city. Fresh air (with Terry Gross, just kidding).

32. What are you afraid of? Departing from this life as early as my father did. I want to be around as long as I can to share my life and experiences with my wife and kids (and grandkids one day - but there's no hurry; I'm pretty busy with the three that I have). I can also get a little spooked about the condition of the world - moral decay, threat of terrorism, dwindling resources, etc. I want to provide and protect my family, but these concerns can get me depressed if I think about them for too long, so, on to the next question.

33. How many towns have you lived in? Do you really want me to count? I think I'm at 20.

34. Do you make friends easily? I used to, but computers erased my people skills. Jean would probably say that first impressions aren't my strongest attribute. She and her roommates used to think that I was high on myself - that was of course before they really go to know me. Actually, I tricked her.

Done!

We've been visiting Jean's family in CA this past week and decided to take a trip to California Hot Springs, ~25 southeast of Porterville. The roads were very windy and after an hour and a half of swimming in a (very itchy) pool we started our drive back. Danny and I were the only ones that didn't get car sick. Rachel laid down and fell asleep, Jean kept still and focused her eyes on the road, while Aaron moaned and cried about a 'mess'.

It turns out that this mess came to the surface as we entered the straighter, less sickening part of our trip. Jean offered to take Aaron out of his seat just in time to have him heave the peanuts he had eaten over the past hour. Aaron had just gotten through his first effort of removing this burden from his stomach, when in between gags he tried to exclaim "Done! Done!" only to have this attempt interrupted by another gag. This event was repeated when we pulled up to the house. Aaron was apparently stating his dislike for puking and the desire to be finished with an uncomfortable and unpleasant car ride.

Done!

Danny's 1st Report Card

Danny brought home his first report card today. He's such a smart boy. He got all "exceptional"s on it. He's one of the smartest in the class, definitely the smartest boy. They are grouped by level at tables. Sometimes the kids move around a little if they are doing better or worse. Danny has always been at the smartest table and he's always been with all girls.

I don't speak spanish

Danny just learned what the word "hollow" means and he was explaining it to Rachel.
Not recognizing the word, Rachel replied, "Oh, I don't speak spanish".
I laughed and told her that word is English.
She said "I don't speak English, I speak our language."

Tagged-Bob's it

Bobby,
You need to answer all the questions that I answered in my "tagged" post.
I love you!

Kid Parties

Rachel has been having a party pretty much every day for the last couple of weeks. Her parties consist of getting out all of the toys and stuffed animals that she can and covering her floor around her bed with them. Then she gets out our portable dvd player and watches a movie or brings her coloring book and colors a picture. And there you go, the ultimate party. Sometimes she invites her brothers and sometimes she's completely content to party by herself.


P.S. Rachel's bed is a crib mattress on the floor of her brothers' room. She has a girly room with pink walls and and ponies all over, but last October, she decided she was afraid to sleep in her room by herself. So we let her sleep with her brothers on the floor of their room thinking that it would pass after halloween was over. But she still wants nothing to do with sleeping in the pink room. After a month or two of sleeping on the floor, we realized there is no end in site, so I got out the crib mattress that isn't being used and she now sleeps on that.

Go Team!

We went to a college basketball game with the kids last weekend. We had a great time even though Bob felt a little conflicted about cheering for a team other than the Cougars!
Doesn't Rachel look enthused?!

Tagged

1. What time did you get up this morning? I woke up at 6:50 am when Rachel came and got in bed with me. And then finally had to get out of bed at 7:15 because Aaron was calling for me. My 2 1/2 yr old still hasn't realized he can come out of his room in the morning without my permission.
2. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal. My kids love it more than any sugary cereal, so I might as well have some too. And then I've been on a healthy kick lately so I add wheat germ and flax seed to it.
3. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Gershwin's greatest hits. My kids love "Strike up the Band".
4. What kind of car do you drive? Toyota Sienna
5. Favorite sandwich? Chicken Pesto from Atlanta Bread Company
6. Favorite item of clothing? My new jeans my mom bought me when she came. They fit well and she bought the same ones for herself.
8. What color is your bathroom? Yellowish goldish?
9. Where would you retire? CA or Midway, UT
10. Most memorable birthday? They're all great.
11. Favorite sport to watch? College Football (go Cougs!)
12. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night--Used to be a morning person before kids!
13. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2
14. Pets? 2 Beta fish. The best pets in the world. They won't die. You only have to feed them twice a week. You don't have to get someone to take care of them if you leave for the weekend. And one of them even survived 5+ minutes on our kitchen floor before we discovered she'd tried to escape.
15. What did you want to be when you were little? Mostly the usual. My brother Casey had the interesting ambitions. He wanted to be a Milk Man or a belly button.
16. What are you today? Mommy! (and part time web designer)
17. What is your favorite candy? Jelly bellies and those candy corn pumpkins they have at halloween.
18. Your favorite flower? Tullips
19. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Valentines Day. My husband is taking me to Phantom of the Opera.
20. What are you listening to right now? My kids playing the Wii they got for Christmas from my parents.
21. What is the last thing you ate? French toast for breakfast.
22. Do you wish on stars? Just shooting stars.
23. What faith are you? I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The best decision I have ever made.
24. Who was the last person you spoke with on the phone? My husband. He still does a few projects for his old employer, so he's at work on this Saturday morning, but just for a few hours.
25. Hair Color? brownish blond?
26. Name of your favorite school teacher? My Biology 100 teacher at BYU--now I'm blanking on his name, but I can see his face. He was always talking about the "dews of heaven". Wend-I'm sure you can remind me what his name was.
27. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate.
28. When was the last time you cried? When I went to a horrible doctor who told me my back problems are hopeless and I should never run again.
29. What is under your bed? Food storage.
30. What did you do last night? It was an exciting Friday night at our house. I had some website work I had to finish up, so I sat at the computer for a few hours while my husband was in the next room playing 5 rounds of Tiger Woods golf on the wii!
31. Favorite smell? The asphalt after it rains. My mom taught me to like that. My dad thinks it smells dirty.
32. What are you afraid of? My back hurting for the rest of my life
33. How many towns have you lived in? 6
34. Do you make friends easily? I think so

Rachel and the Ponies

Rachel and I went to "My Little Pony Live" yesterday. It was completely pink and girly. Rachel was in heaven.

Our funny kids

A few funny things our kids are doing lately:

Aaron has just started asking "why". He's not quite sure how to this powerful word yet, though. We can tell he doesn't quite get it because he doesn't use it at the right times in the conversation. He just shoots it out several times while we're talking about things. He also answers all our question with "Yeah, sure". "Aaron do you want some chicken nuggets?" I ask. "Yeah, sure."
He's our little monkey. He climbs and jumps off anything he can think of. If you ask him if his name is George, he'll say, "Yeah, monkey".



Rachel loves to tell her dad and me that she has two surprises for us. And then she gives us a kiss and a hug. The favorite game for this sweet little girl, however, is "the bad guys". This started out after she watched the movie "Spirit" about wild horses and in it "the bad guys" try to catch and tame the free horses. Rachel loves to capture her little ponies in cages or tie them up with ropes. She has taught her little girlfriends the game and they play it when they get together and she frequently talks her brother and me into playing it with her also.



Danny is doing great in kindergarten. He's one of the smartest in his class. He frequently wins when they have letter and number flashcard competitions in his class. The other day he came home with his zipper stuck on his coat and asked for help with it. I asked him how he got it off at school and I realized he didn't. I asked him if he ever takes his coat off at school and he said no. I asked him why and he said that if he takes his coat off, then at the end of the day he has to take the time to go put it on before he gets in line to leave and he doesn't get to be in the front of the line. So he'd rather be hot than loose his advantage over the other coat-wearing kids in his class. We talked about it for a while and came to a compromise that at least he will unzip his coat while he's in class.