salon

Gwennie to Linus: The Wright Brothers are the right ones to fly. Ha, ha! Did you hear the joke in between?

Todd: Gwennie, you’re being a pill. Stop being a pill.
Gwennie: Stop calling me names! You always call me names when I’m being a brat.

regarding family

Linus: I’m not going to marry any members of my family because I know it’s not healthy for my body.

Linus: Gwennie’s a little dummy.
Mama: Linus, we don’t talk like that.
Linus: All right – Gwennie’s half dummy and half good.

After I tuck Linus into bed and he kisses me goodnight:
Linus: I love you more than Daddy.
Mama: Oh really? Why?
Linus: Well, actually, I like Daddy a little bit more than you. But I didn’t give him three kisses.

general conference

Linus, after we turn on the fourth two-hour session of General Conference: “I hate conference and I’m not going to watch it! Damn!” (Then, explaining helpfully: “When I say “damn,” that means I’m angry.”)

country life

Today we went on a field trip with some friends to visit the ranch of another friend. We all had a wonderful time. We fed the chickens and collected their eggs,

held 1 week old kittens,

fed hay to the horses and admired the week-old foals,

strolled through the pastures, ran from an aggressive cow, played outside and enjoyed good food and great company.

flower children

Linus: “I have three rules! One is, we can break the rules you made, because they’re not good for the house. One is, we can jump up and down when we’re strapped in our car seats. One is, we can break our doors down.”

Gwendolyn: "Why didn’t Casper get a cavity, since he only started brushing his teeth?"
Daddy: "Because when he was little, he didn’t have any teeth. He just got some recently."
Gwendolyn: "But what about when he got his first little boulder? [molar]”

prankster day

The kids call April Fool's Day "Prankster Day" and they love it. All day long they've been plotting pranks to pull on Mama and Daddy. They did the pillow on top of the door, rubber band on the vegetable sprayer, pretending to be asleep when they're supposed to be awake. I also helped them freeze little plastic dinosaurs into ice cubes to put into Daddy's water cup and drove them to the university parking lot so we could wrap Todd's steering wheel in tape (sticky side out). They thought it was a riot when Todd called from the driveway saying he needed help because he was stuck to his steering wheel. Our big prank on the kids was dessert -- we served them little bowls of mud (leftover chocolate pie all mashed up with a few gummy worms thrown in). They loved it -- the pie and the prank.My dad is a big prankster and is always trying to nab us with something on April Fool's Day. For posterity's sake, I want to document the best April Fool's prank I ever played, and it happened to be on my most deserving father. A month before Linus was due, my parents were in town and staying at a hotel. Everyone was expecting Linus to come early (but the joke was on me -- he came two days late weighing in at 10lbs, 9ozs). About 11.30pm on the night of April 1st, I called the hotel and told my parents I was in labor (mom knew about the prank ahead of time). I told my parents I needed them to come to our house and stay with Gwendolyn while Todd and I went to the hospital. We hung up, I waited a good ten minutes (enough time for them to get out of bed and start getting dressed) and then called back to tell Dad "April Fool's". One of my finest moments.

what won't they do for ice cream?

Today, Todd was able to leave work a little early, and we drove to the nearby ice cream factory. (What, you don't have one within driving distance from you?) It was a beautiful, temperate day, and we all had a great time -- especially with the tasting which followed the tour.

knitty

Today I started teaching Gwendolyn to knit. She's beyond excited and catching on fast.

dinner party, theme of "brown"

the eight legged variety

Linus is afraid of spiders. Here's why:

• A few months back, he had a horrible dream in which spiders were crawling all over his top bunk. For weeks and weeks after that, he only slept in the bottom bunk.
• Once, he climbed into his car seat and got buckled in and then noticed a large spider right above his head.
• The same day as the spider-in-the-van incident, we met Todd for lunch at our favorite local burger house and Linus looked up to see a spider descending from the ceiling on a thread of silk directly above him.
• This past week, while I was in the bathroom helping Gwennie and Casper brush their teeth one morning, Linus locked himself in his room (where he was supposed to be getting dressed for the day) and climbed under his bed where he had apparently stashed a jar of almonds. He was enjoying a little snack when he saw a large spider heading right toward him. He scrambled out from under the bed (scraping up his little back) and then couldn't get out of his room. When I finally got to him, he was a bit on the hysterical side -- poor kid! Who can blame him? He watched me kill the spider with my shoe, promised never again to take food into his room, and then begged me to call an exterminator.
  

nature spot, march

Things sure have gotten green since last month.

a few things about casper

He is saying new words right and left and understands everything. We are all enjoying being able to communicate with him in this way.

He loves to get into mischief, especially if said mischief involves making a mess. He knows how to open the dishwasher and will open it, climb in and unload it (all over the kitchen floor) for me. He knows how to get into our big buckets of rice and flour and likes to play in them. Multiple times a week, I find myself sweeping up rice and/or flour. When we are outside, he goes straight for the mud and dirt.

He has a good arm and likes to throw. This is a problem at all mealtimes and when one of the older kids is in the bath (they've been hit with toys, cups, books and the occasional item from the nature table).

He has a lot of teeth and knows how to use them. He has at least 12 and at least once a day he uses them to bite Linus. (Poor Linus! He says he wants to give Casper to another family.)

He loves to cuddle and give kisses. I love that, too.

in March we dream of cooler weather

Todd: "Get under your blankets; it's going to be a cold night."
Linus: "Maybe a front cold is coming through or maybe snow will be on the ground tonight."

charming in so many ways

Linus to Casper, who is wearing only a diaper: “That’s not modest, Casper – you can’t go out in public like that.”

Linus walks around talking about his “yokel library.” When Gwennie insists that it’s a “local library, with L, like your name,” he refuses to believe her.

Linus, to Gwendolyn: "Do you know what a Google is?"

Gwennie, while helping Todd make dinner: “I’m packing in these pigs in blankets, tight and cozy, not big and bulgy.”

Gwendolyn tells us: “I want to do [Primary] spotlight night. I want to make a fuzzball because plucking is one of my talents.”

bluebonnets for the spring equinox

day trip

Today I drove to Austin with the kids so we could lunch and play with some of our favorite people -- Granny, Grandad and Auntie Tiffany. Also, we went to Costco.

duck

The other night, Todd asked Casper if he wanted to read Duck is Dirty. Casper went and fetched the book and as they read, he said the words (“Duck,” “Quack,” “Uh-oh,” “Oops!,” and “Splash”) as he turned the pages. Then he got down from Todd's lap and went into Linus’s room, and returned with a Curious George book.  He brought it to Todd and said, “Duck!” 

Todd thought, no, sweetie, this is a book about a monkey . . . but then looked at the title and realized that it was actually the story about George going to the park to feed the ducks.  (This is one of the new generation of Curious George books, created by some kind of illustration consortium – but actually, they're a lot of fun, and our kids have gotten years of enjoyment out of them.  The point is that there are twelve nearly identical books in this slipcase, and Casper managed to find the duck one, even though there are no waterfowl on the cover.)

We’re going to sound like Mom Samuelson if we say it – and the other kids, one day, will be resentful of the child who always got these comments (we’re looking your way, Jill) – but wow! that kid’s smart.

irish breakfast

We celebrated St Patrick's Day by having some of our favorite friends over for a breakfast dinner -- waffles, hash browns, sausage, kiwi, green yogurt, and chocolate mint tofu smoothies. How lucky are we?

fairy house

green thumb

We're so thankful for the rain we got last week and for the beautiful weather ahead of us this week. We plan to spend lots of time outside getting our yard and garden ready for Spring. Casper is always anxious to lend a helping hand.

what the kids know about their father

G=Gwendolyn (6 ½ yrs)
L=Linus (3 ½ yrs)

1. What is something Daddy always says to you?
G – Sure!
L – I love you!

2. What makes Daddy happy?
G – Listening to Mama.
L – Doing things what he likes.

3. What makes Daddy sad?
G – Linus poking me in the eye.
L –Not doing things he likes.

4. How does Daddy make you laugh?
G – By playing a funny video game.
L – Tickling my ticklish spot.

5. What was Daddy like as a child?
G – He had blonde hair.
L – Maybe playing was his favorite thing.

6. How old is Daddy?
G – 36. No, 35.
L – I forgot.

7. How tall is Daddy?
G – Tall to the ceiling.
L – Really tall.

8. What is his favorite thing to watch on TV?
G – The news.
L – The news and football. I like football because I went to a football show before.

9. What does Daddy do when you're not around?
G – Sleeps.
L – Just do things he likes.

10. If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
G – He’ll sell a special kind of cat that could talk and walk without you even training it.
L – Working on the computer.

11. What is Daddy really good at?
G – Daddy’s good at hiding.
L – Printing.

12. What is Daddy not very good at?
G – Nothing.
L – Not printing.

13. What does Daddy do for his job?
G – Works at C* Library.
L – Go to C* Library.

14. What is Daddy’s favorite food?
G – Potatoes.
L – Potatoes.

15. What makes you proud of Daddy?
G – That he plays video games with me.
L – Playing with him.

16. If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
G – He would be a little boy.
L – A news. -- ?

17. What do you and Daddy do together?
G – Play video games.
L – Play Hungry Hungry Hippos together. But sometimes when he’s gone I have to play by myself.

18. How are you and Daddy the same?
G – We’re both friendly and have a lot of friends.
L – We’re not the same!

19. How are you and Daddy different?
G – Daddy has green eyes and I have blue eyes.
L – I have red hair and Daddy doesn’t.

20. How do you know Daddy loves you?
G – He says it all the time.
L – Because I’m his angel boy.

21. What does Daddy like most about your mom?
G – He loves you.
L – Doing things for her.

22. Where is Daddy’s favorite place to go?
G – To a restaurant with me.
L – To games.

what the kids know about their mother

G=Gwendolyn (6 ½ yrs)
L=Linus (3 ½ yrs)

1. What is something Mama always says to you?
G – I love you.
L – I love you.

2. What makes Mama happy?
G – Cleaning.
L – Doing things she likes, like cleaning up.

3. What makes Mama sad?
G – Disobeying.
L – Not doing things she likes.

4. How does Mama make you laugh?
G – By telling jokes.
L – By tickling my ticklish spot. I always have my ticklish spot in a different place!

5. What was Mama like as a child?
G – I don’t know.
L – I don’t know when you were a little girl.

6. How old is Mama?
G – 23
L – 5 pounds!

7. How tall is your Mama?
G – 23 feet
L – Really tall.

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
G – The news.
L – The news.

9. What does Mama do when you're not around?
G – Sleeps.
L – She does fun things.

10. If Mama becomes famous, what will it be for?
G – Obeying.
L – For your children.

11. What is Mama really good at?
G – Doing mother things like nursing her children.
L – Helping us!

12. What is Mama not very good at?
G – Climbing.
L – Doing nothing.

13. What does Mama do for her job?
G – Job? She works at helping her children do school.
L – Just helps us.

14. What is Mama’s favorite food?
G – Bean dip.
L – Potatoes!

15. What makes you proud of Mama?
G – She gives us candy.
L – Cuddling with you.

16. If Mama were a cartoon character, who would she be?
G – A happy sunshine.
L – A mama one.

17. What do you and Mama do together?
G – We do school.
L – Just play around.

18. How are you and Mama the same?
G – We both have blue eyes
L – We cuddle with each other

19. How are you and Mama different?
G – I don’t wear glasses
L – You don’t have red hair and I do!

20. How do you know Mama loves you?
G – She says it all the time.
L – I don’t know.

21. What does Mama like most about Daddy?
G – That she’s married to him.
L – This is a boring one. Can you tell me what you like most about Daddy?

22. Where is Mama’s favorite place to go?
G – To go to sleep!
L –Target.

I saw this meme on Lindy's facebook page and her kids' answers were so hilarious, I had to try with my own. Tomorrow we find out about Todd.

eight

Eight wonderful years and counting.

casper series

possible thoughts running through todd's head when this photo was taken

"What is she thinking?"
"Why is she looking at the camera that way?"
"That stray gray hair looks like it's after me!"

telling it like it is

While we were cleaning up toys in the playroom, Linus announced, “I have a new rule: We won’t pick-up any more!”
Mama: “Eww. Then our house would get really messy.”
Linus: “No it wouldn’t. We wouldn’t mess it up anymore, either.”

After Gwendolyn goes to her room to finish a crying fit which began with a broken toy teacup, I ask Linus, “Are you going to behave like this when you’re six and a half?”
Linus: “No. I’m always going to give you kisses, and I’m never going to dye my hair.”

Linus, describing a book he wants to read, “And the front [cover] is crazy – it doesn’t have too many people, just one, and he is being nice to a tree.”

on the road

Gwendolyn, fretting over a scratch on her forehead which she got from a low tree branch, "And I’ve gotta walk around in public like this!"

As Gwendolyn and Linus pretend to be the earth and moon rotating around each other, Gwennie announces, "And that’s how the earth and the moon met. And the moon was very polite, and the earth appreciated that. And then they got married."

fenced in

Our yard got a fence today. Though I'm thankful that I don't see a construction zone each time I look out my kitchen window, I would rather have my trees back.

grape juice and blue juice

Today while Casper was napping, the big kids sewed these little gnomes and named them "Grape Juice" and "Blue Juice".

18 month stats

Casper had his 18-month check up today and is 33 inches tall (75th percentile) and tips the scales at 25 pounds, 10 ounces (50th percentile). He really seems small to me, but that's only because Linus is his brother (I can't put my finger on Linee's 18 month stats to compare, but at 15 months, he was 34 1/2 inches tall and 31 pounds. How on earth did I tote that kid around for as long as I did?).

faces like angels, but looks can be deceiving

Aren't these the cutest, sweetest looking kids? Todd and I are always gushing about how cute and sweet and smart and charming they are. But today during stake conference, they were absolute monsters. All three of them. The entire time. It was a nightmare.