Good Mom/Bad Mom

You may look at this picture of Andy's m&m's and crackers breakfast and gasp in horror. I would rather look at things in a positive light.

Here is a list of my justifications. I mean, uhhh, good things we can gather from this picture...

1. A well balanced breakfast of antioxidants and whole grains
2. His pajamas are clean - his mom must be industrious
3. His face is clean - someone must have given him a bath recently
4. He is learning his letters "Look Mom, a T with a top hat!"
5. He is obviously able to take care of himself by getting breakfast while his mom sets a wonderful example of the importance of exercise. (I was in the other room doing pilates.)
6. His smile indicates he is happy

well, well, well (or as Andrew would say, wew, wew, wew..), things aren't so bad as they seem.

Compsilators and Laughter

Imagine, if you will, Andy Roo wearing his green Robin Hood tunic, a new pair of flashy cowboy boots with big white stars on them, and a silver breastplate. This is what he chose to wear on our family walk this evening. You know how kids sometimes throw together funny combinations and it seems to work? This combo was not working. Every time I looked at him I wanted to shake my head. So anyway, while on our walk, the King of Secret Vocabulary informed us that we had better watch out because he had a Compsilator in his pocket and it was filled with poison! He then waved his stick - I mean, laser - at us and ran on ahead. I always wonder if the "special words" are a lack of understanding of the words we use, or a creative mind at work. I guess it could be both...he doesn't remember the word, but he doesn't let that get in the way. Who knows. He does make me laugh, though.

In other news: As I was out running errands this morning, Andy and Amelia were having fun as usual with each other. Andrew getting right in her face and making loud goobery noises, and Amelia kicking her feet and opening her mouth wide in delight. At one point I am assuming she had had enough. She started fussing and Andrew started consoling:

"Laaa-deee, don't be sa-ad!"

Continued fussing.

(this time giggling all the way through his words) "Laaa-deee, it's okay. You don't need to cry!"

Amelia stops fussing for a moment.

"Mom! At first I just told her she was okay, and then I put my laughter on and told her she was okay and she LIKED IT!! I should put my laughter on EVERY TIME!"

He can be such a goofy kid. And he loves his "Busta Bear." (don't ask. it's one of his many nicknames for her.) And she loves him.

In fact, tonight at dinner we had such a sweet conversation. Mike was asking the kids what they would want in a house. Andrew requested a tree house, and Jake requested "a nice room by himself." Then he decided someone would need to keep Amelia company so he would share a room with her, and Andrew could have his own room. But Andrew wanted to be with her and Jake. He stretched out his arms (he was seated at the table between Jake and Amelia) to each of them and said he loved them both. They both talked about how good it was to be together and how they didn't want anyone to be lonely, and all three had big blue eyes and smiles. It was so adorable and heartwarming to watch and listen to.

Oh brother, I am tearing up as I type this. I love my kids and I am so glad that they love each other. Amelia watches the boys like they are her heroes. She puts up with being wrapped like a burrito and rolled across the carpet, forced leg lifts, and disgustingly slobbery kisses x 20 all over her head, all with a smile and shining eyes. What a joy my children can be.

Hot Dawg!

Jacob and I were just in the kitchen getting breakfast. He was huddled on the carpet with his legs tucked up in his pajama shirt and telling me how cold he was. I said, "Oh really? I am so hot right now."

Jacob responded with, "That's exactly what I would say. I climbed into bed next to you and when I touched you, you felt like a hot hot dog on a barbeque!"

Which reminded me of a hilarious comment Mike made the other day. As I was doing make-the-jeans-fit lunges, I mentioned something about these jeans maybe being a bit too tight still. He said, "Tight jeans aren't so bad. It's sausage casings you want to avoid."

I laughed about that for the next two days. What a perfect description. (Unfortunately, I believe the set I had on were borderline casings, and yet I did not remove them.....)

So if you run into me and have the urge to put mustard on my buns.... I'll understand.

Sailor Man

Oh, my sweet Doogey Doons. I love, love, LOVE him! I was sitting here sending off some emails, and he was continuously grunting. I finally bothered to look up and check out what he was up to. He was building a ship.

It would take him about 30 full seconds to laboriously drag each pillow across the room (all of 20 feet) and hoist it up on the couch. If I had been assessing the situation from afar, I would've been convinced that each of those fluffy things weighed 10 pounds. After setting each "block," "sail," or "steering wheel" in place, he would dust off his hands and mutter something about how strong sailors were and make lots of worn out sounds on the way to get the next pillow.

Then finally a salute and a "Goodbye, Mommy! I'm sailing to Utah!"

Carrot Breath

Here she is in all her glory. She's loving her new menu.

Spring Break - Second Edition

Almost every day during Spring Break the kids had multiple playdates. Friends over here in the morning, and then off at someone else's house in the afternoon. They stayed busy and I had regular breaks. Lots of trampoline jumping, pools, and baseball.

This moment was caught one afternoon in our backyard. They all have a makeshift weapon from the toy box out back. Jake asked, "Mom, what would you think if you saw these fierce guys in your backyard?!" (or you could use Andrew's name for bad guys - "don't believe in God-ers.") Andy Roo is at that age where he is really trying to nail down what is right and what is wrong and how he's going to get to heaven...and he has some extremely sweet and profound things come out, as well as some pretty crazy ideas. Daily I hear things like; "That boy at the school just spit his gum on the sidewalk. I guess HE doesn't believe in God," or a man pulls up in a truck to pick up his daughter at the school and Dooners says resignedly, "Well, HE must be a kidnapper. I guess he won't be going to heaven." What a goose.

Thursday night we had some friends over to camp out in the backyard. What fun! Mike built a fire with the boys on the back patio and they roasted marshmallows. We made our own personal pizzas for dinner and Mike and I tried to keep a handle on the potty humor. BOYS!! What they won't come up with. My word.

That afternoon we had received the book, "The Dangerous Book For Boys" from a good friend and the boys were stoked! That night as I crawled into the tent to read a story before they all fell asleep, I was surprised to see Jacob already reading. They were all huddled around the "dangerous" book and Jake was holding a flashlight and reading about the Revolutionary War. He quickly looked up at me and then threw the book under his pillow. I took it with me when I left the tent and later he informed that I had ruined he and his friend's plan of waking up in the middle of the night and reading it.

Anyway - they were all asleep by 10:30 and slept until 8 a.m. I slept inside on the couch, expecting them to trickle in through the night, but didn't see anyone until they were inside excitedly reminding me that they were ready for the "rainbow cereal" we had bought for the sleepover. (Trix - without the bunny on the box. My poor kids; I always say, "Do you want me to spend an extra 2 bucks for a picture on a box that we're going to throw away, or do you want to get the other cereal and save the money for something cool? Works every time.)

Here are a few more pictures. (Gotta love Jake's mallow 'stache.)

The whole week was so much fun. All I thought of was playing with the boys and Amelia. I got right in with them with everything (even Lovey Dumpkins got her own Lego's to play with/chew on...not the small pieces!) and had a wonderful time. There were lots of hugs and head rubs and giggles.

Spring Break - First Edition

This past week was our Spring Break. I decided to go with the flow and see where the boys' desires carried us. I kissed household cares goodbye and we made some good memories and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

On Monday it rained all day so we played Legos. I was as into it as the boys were. We excitedly dug through all the boxes that were passed on to us, and found some good stuff. Here are some pictures of a neighborhood we were working on. **the pueblo at the top is mine. I was so delighted to find the little man I found to put out front. He made me laugh. So perfect.**

Andrew's had a Keep Out sign that he loved. He named his car lump-suh-tee. He does this sort of thing often. Eg. "Mom, you call this a sidewalk, but I call it a kunkser, okay?" Sure, Andrew. "Bye Mom! I'm going to go play out on the kunkser!"

Jacob's had a blue fountain in the front and a garage on the side. I could not believe how addictive Legos are. Sign me up for Legos Anonymous.

Jake also decided to work on another project that afternoon. He walked up to me and announced in a definitive tone, "I've decided that it's time I made another army book... of all things army." He then went to get his supplies and I didn't see him again until he needed help binding it. Here he is with a few of his pictures.

He was a little sick this day. You might be able to tell that his eyes are a bit swollen. He went over to the neighbor lady's house to thank her for some treats she had sent over, and when she answered the door she exclaimed, "Jacob, are you feeling okay?" He told her he really wasn't, and she responded, "I could tell right when I saw you. You're missing the sparkle in your eyes."
She calls him her little magpie because he is always chatting and emphatic about it all.

Our little trooper was only under the weather for a day and luckily all the rest of us were fine.

Cinnamon and Andrew

sitting in a tree....

This morning Andrew bounces over to me while I am in the kitchen making his breakfast.

A: Mom, guess what my favorite 3 spices are!

Me: Umm, cinnamon?

A: YES! (all yes's from here on out are accompanied by hands reached toward the sky and jumping up and down) Guess again!

Me: (i seriously can't think of another spice he knows of, so I throw out...) pepper and salt?

A: YES! Ooops, I mean NO! Try guessing again!

Me: Why don't you tell me!

A: Cinnamon and Spice Oatmeal, Cinnamon Toast, and Cinnamon on my applesauce!

ME: Those are your favorite spices?

A: YES! Guess which one is my favorite character of the cinnamon's!

Me: Cinnamon Toast?

A: YES! Can I have some please, Mommy Puppy?

The Possibilities....

Our trusty old dryer bit the dust 3 weeks ago. I have been hanging laundry out to dry in every conceivable spot, and made one massive trip to the laundromat. Finally enough was enough. Hanging underwear and socks is not cool. We got a great price from a friend selling their dryer and voila!


This picture shows the source of my absolute joy today. All of a sudden doing laundry is a luxury. It's like when we got a dishwasher after years of doing it all by hand. It seems so easy!! You just toss it into the machine!

SO - when I see this glorious machine, I think of the possibility of piles of clothing disappearing.

Jacob sees different possibilities.

The minute he walked in the front door he noticed the old dryer sitting right outside the laundry room.

J: What?! Why is the dryer out here?!

ME: (in a gleeful voice) Look in the laundry room!

J: Cool! We got a new dryer!

He slowly spun around with a glow beginning to widen his eyes. He walked to the old dryer with something close to reverence and said (mostly to himself):

"Ooooooh, I could use parts from this for some serious projects...."

(at this point I stifled a laugh and ran to grab the camera).

He started checking out the whole machine and "Mmmhmming" and "oh yeahing!" to himself.

I firmly let him know that no projects were going to be happening today. (I was in the middle of a project with Andrew and was not the least bit interested in having a dryer dissected in my dining room.)

Wish me luck on getting rid of the dryer before he gets home from school tomorrow!

I'm curious what possibilities he was seeing.

Yummy Mommy

Today as I am sitting in church, holding Amelia on my lap, I keep feeling something warm and moist on my arm. I finally get bothered enough to look over. Andrew is wrapped around my arm and is LICKING ME!

Me: Andrew! Please don't lick me. That's disgusting!

A: (in plaintive tone) But Mo-om, I'm so hungry!

Kite Festival!

"Now this is what I call a Party!" exclaimed Andrew as we approached this...





Today we went to the 80th annual Zilker Kite festival. It was kicked off in 1929 and then moved to the park we were at in 1936. So cool! I am a nut for all things historical, and as we walked through the throngs of people I was imagining the same crowds wearing very different clothing and flying very different kites. It's always neat to have traditions and I think this one will be a new one for our family.

Shame on me for not bringing a camera! Still not a habit yet. The kites were INCREDIBLE! We saw sharks, flying ships, dragons, box kites, squids, and one shaped like a little boy that we thought was hysterical. As "he" tried to take off he looked like he was somersaulting, then falling flat on his face, then finally flapping into the air. (The pictures above are from 3 years ago -but give you an idea).

There were hundreds and hundreds of kites. We weren't sure what to expect, so we didn't know if we could bring our little rinky dink kites. We could've! Anyone who wanted to fly anything was welcome to. As we were watching all the amazing kites, a family walked up and offered us two of their kites. We were so grateful. The boys really had so much fun trying to keep them in the air. It was incredibly windy and kites were dive-bombing everybody. There were probably a couple thousand people there and it was just fun to be in the warm outdoors, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and to be flying kites with tons of other families.

Beware the Bobcat

Last Thursday Jacob officially earned his Bobcat Badge. He did his salutes, recited his promise, and completed the necessary learning activities. All the families were invited and lots of fun was had by all. I forgot my camera, so here are a few we took after getting home.

The dads painted each symbol (stripes, paws, dots) on as they were explained to the boys. There was a lot of fanfare in the process and excitement in the room. Cookies and punch finished off the evening. Jacob's best friend, Simon, is in his den, and we always have lots of fun with his family. Tonight was no exception.

Andrew does not want to be forgotten or left behind. Here he is with his big brother, wearing his own Tiger Cubs "uniform." It's an old dark blue t-shirt with a tiger on the front. Grandma Thomason sewed on an extra den patch we had floating around. He then puts on his neckerchief and hat and is ready to roll. He wanted Dad to paint his face as well.

We are so pleased that Jacob is enjoying the beginnings of Scouting. It is something special for he and Mike to do together, and we think there are a lot of great things he will learn from it. He especially likes the "helping others" concept. He regularly does his Boy Scout duty by holding doors open for others, helping the garbage man on Thursdays, and checking the weather. He and Andrew are often known to be saying, "I'm being a good citizen, right Mom?" usually after picking up trash on our walks. Such good boys.

6 months to live

A while back my sister in law posed the question "What would you do if you had 6 months left to live?" on her blog. I started thinking about it today as I was holding sweet Amelia.

I think the first thing I would do is try to impress upon my children my love and testimony of the restored gospel here upon the earth. I would let them know that they can get answers to their questions from the scriptures, and that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I would bear witness to them that if they follow the prophet and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, they will be okay. I would record my experiences with trials and blessings for them to read and glean faith from.

Secondly I think I would plan a family vacation. One that the kids would love.

Next, I would go on a week long vacation with Mike only.

I would spend my time making memories.

I would sit my children down and tell them that Daddy would look for another Mommy to take care of them until they could be with me again. And that they should try their hardest to love her and obey her and make her laugh.

I would also try to make a special "Love Quilt" for each of them, so that when they needed a hug from me, they could wrap themselves in their blankets and feel my arms around them.

Wow, I could go on and on. I would want to write letters to everyone who has touched my life, and see as much of my family as possible. I guess this might end up being too much!

But writing this reminds me that I need to write a LOT of things down in my journal before they disappear from my memory and that the little moments through each day are forming my children. Who they will become. I need to be better at expressing my faith and better at looking past the mud on the carpet, to the child who is excitedly telling me something.

the Neighbor of the Year Award

goes to ...... (drum roll, please)

Mrs. Anderson !

Our next door neighbor has three small dogs. They all suffer from "little dog syndrome." You know, having something to prove to anything that moves. Or doesn't. (Contrary to popular belief, fences CAN be intimidated.)

Anyway, I loathe these dogs. They bark nonstop, push down the rotten boards in our fence and run around in my backyard. This often prevents my children from even playing back there. We've tried all sorts of tricks to dissuade them, but to no avail, and the people who live there are never home. I've spent far too much of my life moaning about them and scheming about how to get rid of them.

Today I had my chance.

Ding, dong! I opened the door to a good Samaritan who had found a poor lost puppy in the area and was wondering if I recognized it? She had tried calling the number on the tag and had gotten a disconnection message, had knocked on a number of doors, and was about ready to take it to the pound. It was the mangiest, most despicable one of the bunch.

The moment of truth had arrived....I hesitated....."It's my neighbor's dog," I heard my mouth say. "They're not home, but their gate is always unlocked. I'll walk over with you." With each step my head was screaming, "What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? It'll probably be a week before they even miss the dog."

The gate clicked shut, the woman left with a flurry of heartfelt thank-yous, ("You know what happens to them at the pound! I just couldn't bear it! I have my own dog at home, and I know how happy I would be if someone returned him safely!"), and I went inside and plopped down on my couch with a resigned sigh. I could already hear the dog barking out back.

At least I've got a clean conscience, right?

WANTED: Dangerous Boys

We've all heard of this best seller. It's time to combat the "playstation culture" and bring our boys outside...get their creative juices flowing. Build a thing or two.

Well folks, no purchase necessary. We're livin' it.

I walked outside this afternoon and was met with this sight:

We used to have a small red, wooden table in the backyard. There also used to be an extra fence board leftover from some repairs. We now have headstones made with love, by Jacob.

(Sorry if the picture comes across as totally creepy!)

**This conversation ensued. My voice, incredulous; his voice, very matter of fact, shrug the shoulder type....

Me: How did you do this?!

J: I just busted up the boards with some big rocks, and pried apart the table.

M: I mean, how did you nail the boards together? Where did you get the nails?

J: They were just in the table. All the boards were connected by nails, so I just pounded them out backwards with a rock and then put them where I needed them.

M: They are so sturdy!

J: Yeah, I just had Andrew hold the boards still while I was hammering.

M: So what are they?

J and A : HEADSTONES !!

J: Remember? I wanted some for this Halloween so our yard could be really creepy like Daniel's! (our neighbor) I know you aren't really a fan of "creepy," so I thought I would just make them myself!

He then demonstrated how he had laid the fence board over one large rock and then repeatedly thrown other heavy rocks until the board broke where he wanted it to.

So there you go. Headstones in an hour. Only primitive tools required.