Maya and Miguel

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The TV happened to be on one afternoon when Honor woke up from her nap. Daddy turned on PBS and the rest was history...Maya and Miguel was on. This is a show about twins who are brother and sister...the comparison was fairly easy for Honor to see. She especially loved the theme song. It became one of our favorites to sing at home, except they changed the words to:

It's Honor...and Connor
Brother and Sister and Best Friends as well...

The other day I changed the words to say "It's Honor and Ariana...Sister and Sister and Best Friends as well..." Honor enjoyed that. Today at lunch, she thought it would be fun to do all the combinations she could think of, ending with, "

It's Mommy...and Daddy
Brother and Sister and Best Friends as well...

I laughed and told her that it should go

It's Mommy...and Daddy
Husband and Wife and Best Friends as well...

She laughed and called me "silly".

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Ow...

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For years and years and years and years...basically my whole life, I had dental insurance (or my parents at least had dental insurance before I was on my own).

For years and years and years and years...NO problems (well a couple of cavities in my pre-teen years, but nothing since).

I haven't had dental insurance since I moved to AZ.

I think I have a cavity.

Where is the justice in that???????

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...Thanks?

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I find it kind of patronizing the way my 4-year old son looks at me intently with those big brown eyes of his, pats me on the shoulder and says,

"You're a goooooood Mommy!"

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Great Article

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Chelleybutton pointed out this article on her facebook page and I thought it was so good I wanted to re-post it here for those who don't get facebook. Her version of this article was on an LDS site though so I found one that was on a neutral page. Orson Scott Card used to be one of my favorite authors. I still think he's a good author, I'm just into different kinds of science fiction now :-). I was disappointed to find out that he is a. a democrat (although I wasn't surprised) and b. LDS, but this article is right on the button!

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn on the Lights?

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None of That Potty Talk!

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Okay, I admit it....potty talk disgusts me. I'm not talking about the proud way my kids cheer themselves on after they've had a large BM...that's perfectly fine. But I draw the line when they start laughing hysterically while singing songs to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: "Poopie, poopie, poopie head. Poopie, poopie, poopie face. Poopie, poopie, poopie hands. Poopie, poopie, poopie, hair. Poopie, poopie, poopie, poopie...poopie, poopie, poopie, poopie." Especially when they sing these songs at the dinner table.

Don't get me wrong, I KNOW intellectually that potty talk is very normal for children who are in the process of completing potty training, or just learning how to potty train, but it still bothers me. What upsets me the most though is that Daddy is encouraging it! "Oh, let Connor be a boy! All boys go through this phase!" Well, all boys at one point or another think they are superman...should I let him jump off a roof??

Thankfully, Daddy knows when I am really ticked off and has agreed to enforce the "no poopie talk at the table" rule--this includes no discussion about fluffing, belching, peeing or any other bodily functions while we are eating our meals. As usual, our little Mommies in training have picked up on this new rule and are enforcing it with a vengeance.

"MOMMMMY...Connor is saying poopie again!" Ariana shouts from her high chair to me sitting 5 feet away on the couch.

"Cooonnnor...you know better." I calmly reply.

Connor is silent for a few minutes. Then, as if he can no longer restrain himself, a loud "POOPIE" screams forth from his lips and he giggles.

Honor jumps to the chase. "MOOOOOOOMMMMM! Connor is potty training again!"


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Well, We Know She’s Ready for Her Teenage Years…

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Daddy and Mommy were sitting on the couch after dinner for a few minutes of rest and relaxation before we dismissed the horde of energetic monsters (otherwise known as our children) from the dinner table to get their pajamas on. Cuddled up nicely in peaceful togetherness, it would have been easy to drown out the constant chatter of the children and even forget that they were up there altogether except for the one child who we are unable to keep locked up for long—Honor.

Sure enough, shortly after I sat down Honor climbed out of her chair and sidled up in front of me. “Mommy, I want to sit in your lap,” came her request in a perfect cherub imitation, utilizing her dimple to full effect. Up she came. Daddy couldn’t resist such cuteness and immediately scooped her up off my lap.

“Help me Mommy! Grab my hand!” she yelled through her giggles of delight. I grabbed for her hand and pulled both her and Daddy on top of me, with Daddy grabbing at her feet trying to pull her back. “Don't worry Mommy, I got it!” she yelled triumphantly kicking at Daddy’s hands and pushing with all her might against Daddy’s broad shoulders. Mommy giggled at her confidence.

In a final bout of strength, Honor pushed Daddy as hard as she could and let out a command in her sternest, no nonsense voice, “Get away from us you handsome boy!”…and the battle was over as both Mommy and Daddy collapsed in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

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Formality Much?

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My kids have gotten very formal on me lately...especially Honor. I've been getting "yes ma'am"'ed and "thank you mother"'ed A LOT. Always done with a cheerful tone of voice...

What is going on??? Where are they picking that up?

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What Are You Going to Be?

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Connor: I'm going to be an astronaut when I get bigger. You can be a fireman!

Honor: I want to be a astronaut too!

Connor: No. You need to be a fireman!

Honor: No...I think I will be a doctor instead. I like doctors!

Connor: Ok...I'll be a fireman.

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Oh I Forgot!!!

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As Honor was walking towards the bathroom before naptime the other day, she suddenly turned to me out of the blue and said, "I asked Jesus into my heart last week, Mommy!" "Oh" was my startled response. I don't usually refer to getting saved as asking Jesus into your heart so I am not exactly sure how she had that one so clearly (we usually say trusting Jesus with all your heart or something along those lines). She turned and ran into the bathroom leaving my heart pounding. Now, I am pretty sure she didn't know what she was saying, but I sure wish she did!

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In the Shadows

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I think it is a great testament to Samuel's personality (or the fatness of his cheeks) that, as he was riding on my shoulders outside, I could clearly see a smile on his face in his shadow.

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The Plant

Honor loves weeds. She thinks they are "beautiful little girls!" She is often found pulling the brown, dead weeds from one spot and trying to replant them in another spot. Or giving them to Mommy. It is hard to pretend to think an obviously dead weed is pretty (now I know how my parents feel about those dandelions...at least dandelions are a pretty color!) Today Honor gave me a "beautiful plant" with the following commentary:

"Here's a beautiful plant for you Mommy! You can take it for walks, sing to it, play baseball with it and play soccer with it! Take good care of it Mommy. Don't let Samuel get it!"

And then she was highly disappointed that I wouldn't bring the beautiful little plant into the house....apparently I need one MORE thing to take care of!

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Magic Found Outdoors

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Bubbles.

There is something very magical about a bubble. The way the light refracts off of its slippery outer surface into multiple rainbows as it emerges seemingly from no where, then floats ever higher into the vast, blue sky before winking out. I find myself daydreaming that its a tiny fairy or some other beautiful mythical creature dancing in the air--I can almost hear the soft, sweet melody to which she dances.

I get the same feeling from dandelion seeds. I used to drive my parents nuts blowing the seeds around as they looked at those beautiful yellow flowers as WEEDS. Such a difference of opinion!

We have a bubble pig, a bubble tiger and two bubble dogs. They have little batteries in them that cause endless amounts of bubbles to come out of their mouths with the pull of a trigger. It is hands down my favorite outside toy. The kids squeeze the lever with both hands and dance around in the multitudes of bubbles that fly around them, laughing and squealing in excitement as they try to catch the spherical rainbows. Watching the kids play in our own imaginary world is the most magical part of all.

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If It Seems Like I Write A Lot About Honor...

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...it's only because she does the funniest things out of the four small children who inhabit my house.

Today we went to the mall. Daddy talked with Mommy before we left and convinced me to allow Honor to take her baby doll with her carrier (that she likes to wear as a back pack) with us to the mall. After all, she does look VERY cute walking around with the doll on her back! So I allowed it--even though I generally hold to a strict "no inside toys outside the house" rule. Honor was very excited and diligently strapped her baby into the seat beside her. On the car ride over, Honor carried a continuous conversation with her baby:

"What was that baby?...Bird?...Bear? OH! Bear! Yes, that is a cute bear."

"Hold still baby. You're being a very good girl!"

"Can you see the cars? Look at all the cars! Yeeesss, caaarsss. VERY good!"

"It's okay honey, we'll be there in 5 minutes."

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At the mall we were a spectacle as usual. "Oh, aren't they cute?", "You must have your hands full!", "Boy, you're one busy mama!". Since I had went to JC Penney's to pick up an order I had placed online, there was now a giant box hanging out the bottom of the stroller and an even bigger bag of clothes sitting on Ariana's lap in the stroller. That was drawing extra attention to how cute Ariana is. "Oh, isn't she a big helper?" "Oh look how cute she is under that big bag!" "Oh, she's going to be a heart breaker!" This prompted Honor to make an observation stated as a question. As we were walking along, Honor looked up at me, and in a tone that suggested she was 40 instead of 4, said, "Why does everyone think Ariana is so cute???"


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At naptime I tucked Honor in. With her big, brown eyes, she looked up at me and said in the sweetest little voice, "Mommy, I love you. Look at your loving, caring heart!"

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After nap, Honor and Connor were playing Mommy/Daddy/baby with her baby doll. Pretty soon Connor took the place of the baby. This caused Honor to hug him around the neck and "carry" him around. "It's okay honey. Go sleep in your crib. Good baby!" Pretty soon Connor decided he didn't want to be the baby anymore, but Honor doesn't give up that easily. "Come back here baby! You have to take your medicine. Its okay...the medicine will only hurt for a minute..." Mommy intervened.


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Some random Honorisms:

"Ow! I porked my eye!" "Mommy! Ariana porked me! She PORKED me!"

"Look Mommy! Beetles!" said as she plucked the seeds from her green bean. Mmmmm!


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Why Is It...

...that I have absolutely no problem standing up for my children (or anyone else for that matter), but I can't do the same for myself?

I purchased some advertising for my business...which I refuse to do any more. Anyway... basically what I purchased was 60 people to fill out my personal form for more information. The person directing the traffic to my site has a guarantee that if there were any bad numbers/wrong numbers/disconnected numbers that they would replace them at no cost to me. Well, at 56 contacts, the names stopped coming in. So I called them. I told them who I was...

"Hi!" (I actually really like them as people...always remember who I am and are very nice over the phone).

"Hi Brian. Hey, I was just wondering if my campaign was still running? According to my records, I only have 56 contacts and of those 56, 6 of them were bad numbers. You said that I should have 66 total to help for any bad numbers...??"

"Oh, well, remember we talked about how you needed to change that long survey at the beginning of your campaign because you weren't getting anyone to complete it? Well, we sent so many people your way, that we can't afford to send anymore. We actually sent 100 more people your way than a typical 60 lead campaign would get."

"Oh...okay. Well, Thank you!"

"No problem. Have a great day!"


Now...here is what I would have done if I had been calling on behalf of some one else...

"Well, I purchased 60 leads. I should have at least gotten 60 leads. No where in your package deal did it say you cannot have a long survey instead of a short survey. It is not my fault that you couldn't get more people to my site. You guaranteed me 60 leads without bad numbers in it and that is what I expect to get."


But I, when talking for myself, cannot do that. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!! I was actually GRATEFUL that they gave me an extra 100 hits! I am such a pushover.

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B-A-T-H Night

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After dinner, Daddy went to watch some TV. "It's B-A-T-H night Daddy." I announced from the dinner table. Daddy grumbled under his breath.

A few minutes later I had the following conversation with Connor:

Connor: "I LIKE B-A-T s!"

Mommy: "It's B-A-T-H."

Connor: "I LIKE P-A-T-H's!"

Mommy giggled: "You don't even know what a B-A-T-H is!"

Connor: "Yes I do! It's a robot!"

Mommy: "nope...it's not a robot."

Connor: "I LIKE B-A-T-H's!"

Mommy: "What is a B-A-T-H?"

Connor: "It's a car!"


Eventually Connor learned what a B-A-T-H is...and he was right...he really DOES like baths...just not as much as robots.


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So Remember When....

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...I told Jasmine I was going to kill her for eating my chicken and I mentioned it would only be a matter of time before Honor repeated it. Well, today was that lucky day. In my defense, some of the boys in her Sunday School class at church roughhouse all the time and say things along those same lines ("I'm going to kill you!" "Bang, your dead!", etc.) so it might not have been from me that she decided to repeat that phrase, however the context in which it was said leads me to believe that she was in fact repeating me. She never goes halfway that girl.

I opened the window to allow a nice cool breeze into the house. I was about to go to the window in the other room, when I turned around to see Honor running up to the window I had just opened. Outside the neighbor's dog was barking. From my darling little 4 year old girl, I hear the loudest yell directed at that dog, "QUIET DOG! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Oh yeah. That is some exceptional parenting on my behalf...I wonder how many of my neighbors thought they should report me to CPS...

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"I'm Superman!" said Connor

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"Fly!" said Honor

"I don't have my cape!" said Connor

Duh, Honor! Connor can only fly when he has a cape. Mommy mentally adds 'cape' to the list of things to never buy Connor....

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Fire Safety Tip from Honor

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"You NEVER stick your head in a fire!"

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Another Political Video

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxhYampIl7A

I saw this video on another blog and found it amusing...made me slightly motion sick, but still amusing...


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Can Someone Remind Me When Christmas Is???

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I was walking through Wal-Mart on Thursday, OCTOBER, 9th and saw the grand beginnings of their Christmas aisles being stocked. I thought to myself, "hmmm...I always thought people celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving before they celebrated Christmas...my mistake. I guess Wal-Mart is just trying to kick off the economy by getting ready for Christmas early." Imagine my surprise when I checked my e-mail today and saw one from Fisher Price with the title, "Have you started your preschooler's gift list?" Well, as a matter of fact, I HAVE, but that's only because we get a monthly Fisher Price catalog that the kids enjoy using for their toilet magazine. But I thought I was jumping the gun a little...I guess not!

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Superheroes!

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We have some exclusive video of Lizard Boy and Spider Girl stopping the elusive Chicken Man (with a rare-seen small clip of Box Girl!).

I figure it is safe to show this video as their masks hide their "true" identities...although Lizard Boy does take off the mask at the end and lets us know that "its just me..."

Enjoy!

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Weather

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According to my weather map this morning...the High in Iowa is the SAME as the High in Arizona today--76*, the Low in Iowa is 4 degrees WARMER...57* and 53* respectively...hmmmm...is Arizona still too hot???


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Opposites

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For dinner conversation, Mommy and Daddy played the opposite game with Connor and Honor.

"What's the opposite of 'hot'?"

"Cold!"

"What's the opposite of 'big'?"

"Small!"

"What's the opposite of 'boy'?"

"Girl!"

Then Daddy thought of a good one that made the kids think...

"What's the opposite of 'Heaven'?

"mmmm...."

Connor: "no cookies!"

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School

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Everyday after lunch, Honor and Connor have a little bit of school. It is their favorite time of the day. It always amazes me how quickly they learn new concepts such as opposites, rhyming, same/different, letters and numbers. Today we were working on same/different and opposites. Both Connor and Honor zoomed through their lessons. On one of the lessons today, the instructions were to circle the animal that started with the same letter as the first item. They did great on it until we got to the last one on the page. The first item was a saw, and then the choices were a snake and a "girl" duck. This was an easy one for the kids. Connor immediately circled the snake.

"Great job Connor! Now, Honor, which animal starts with the same letter as the s--s--saw?"

"The duck!"

"The duck?? What letter does s-s-saw start with?"

"S"

"And what letter does s-s-snake start with?"

"S"

"And what letter does d-d- duck start with?"

"D"

"So which is the same as the s-s-saw, the s-s-snake or the d-d-duck?"

"Snake"

"Good! So circle it."

"But I don't want to circle the snake! I want to circle the duck with the pretty pink bow in her hair!"

Oh...silly me.

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Daaaaaad!!!

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"Dad!...Daaaad!...Daddy!....Daaaadddddyyy!" This is often heard coming from beneath the girls' bedroom door 20 minutes after bedtime or first thing in the morning. Often it is followed by, "Daddy! Let us out! I have to go potty!" or "Daddy! I'm thirsty!" or "Daddy! Ariana is hitting me again! Open the door!" As you can imagine, this is not very well received by the afore mentioned Daddy, who has been known to charge into the girls' room with a "BE QUIET!!! You are going to wake up Samuel!"

I would like to take a second to point out that they rarely call for Mommy. That is saved for when they REALLY need something--like when they've gotten sick or when they've had a nightmare and are scared. They know that asking for Mommy when they know they shouldn't will only get them in trouble. Daddy is the push-over... Of course, the times they REALLY need me are in the middle of the night so I think Daddy has the better end of the deal.

Well, it happened yet again this morning--before dawn! At 5 am, Daddy and I were woken up by a loud, "Daaaaad! Dad! Daaaaaad!" Daddy jumped out of bed, stormed into the landing, paused and walked back into our room laughing. "It's not the girls...it's Samuel. What should I do?"

"Go check on him...if I go in, he'll never go back to sleep!"

A few minutes passed and Daddy returned to bed. "He wasn't awake." Apparently, Samuel was yelling loudly in his sleep--after all, he hears the girls do it every night at bedtime!

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X

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My children know the sounds that the letters make. Their favorite is the scream that the "A" makes: "aaaaaaaaaaaa!". So they do very well learning to sound out the letters in words--and for the most part they at least get the first letter correct without skipping a beat. "What does MOON start with?" "mmmmm - M!" "What does REFRIGERATOR start with?" "rrrrrrrrr - R!" "What does KICK start with?" "kikikiki - K!" "What does CAR start with?" "a key!" (just checking to see if you were paying attention!).

For most words eXcept...Xylophone. ZYLOFONE is how that should be spelled. So with the myriad of "X" words out there, can someone please eXplain to me why xylophone is typically the picture associated with the letter "X"???? X-Ray would be much more appropriate. Or if they persist in leaving the picture of the xylophone on for letter x, the least they can do is have the "X" say "zzzzz" in the Phonics Magnet sets...just a thought...


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Musings on Girls' Night

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Daddy went camping today with Connor for the annual church men/boys camping trip. They have been looking forward to this for quite some time. Samuel is too small as of yet to join them, but maybe next year??? Anyway, this gives us "girls" a chance to hang out together (after I put Samuel to bed that is). Here are some of the highlights...

Homemade pizza--more cheese ended up in little girls' bellies than on the pizza before the pizza was actually cooked. Why is it that I can eat almost an entire large pepperoni from Pizza Hut by myself, but I get filled to the brim on homemade pizza with just two slices???

After dinner play--it always amuses me when Honor "gallops" around yelling "kitty up!"

Question asked 30 times by Honor, "is it time to eat ice cream yet??? I like PINK ice cream!" --in response to the promise that when the boys are eating S'mores on their camping trip, us girls will eat ice cream...I did not get her pink ice cream--chocolate fudge brownie :-D. Of course I tried my best to use this as a threat to behave..."HONOR! Sit down or you won't get any ice cream!" I normally don't do empty threats, but I don't have the heart to not give her ice cream on our girls' night--and she called my bluff...many times. Ice cream, however, was not served until after Samuel went to bed and it became a true "girls" night.

After dinner Cinderella was started--and yes I still have the same feelings about it as I once did. It is funny to watch Samuel "sing" along. He would have loved to stay up and watch with us, but alas, he is not a girl... I took him up to bed 10 minutes later. When I came downstairs, Honor asked the question again.

"Yes it is time for ice cream." mmmmm

Ariana was covered in chocolate within seconds. Honor was very disturbed by this and kept telling her that she needed to eat without making a mess. The lecture didn't help.

Manicure time. I am not a girly girl, but my girls are. They LOVED this--even though I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I polished their fingernails with a Seacret set my friend Amy gave me. Now that our nails were all shiny, we rubbed the lotion into our legs and feet and I painted our toe nails pink. This was the first time I had painted their toenails and they thought it was really neat. I thought it was pretty nice that Ariana's bruised toenail no longer looks black! Of course, I am not very good at this stuff so there was polish all over their toes, but they didn't care.

The girls were in bed by 9 and I had some alone time. I miss the boys, but I'm glad that I could spend quality time with my girls. This time is so precious and it is going so fast!

What a blessing it is to have girls.

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This Makes Me Sick

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I cannot believe parents would allow their children to be brainwashed like this. Even if he were to become president, you don't SING to presidents. You sing for your God, you even sing for your country--for what you're country could be--for what we are as a whole, but you don't sing for one man. He is an elected official...he isn't anyone special--anyone can grow up to be president! To give him this kind of hero worship is VERY unhealthy and when I first heard this on the radio I about threw up--it reminds me of the clips I used to watch from the Nazi era. The funny thing is, if someone made a song worshiping Bush or Reagan or even Abraham Lincoln like this, the media would be all over it. WE DON'T WORSHIP THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!! In one of the comments it said that he actually has the original version posted on his website. I couldn't find it...it might have been taken down or I just didn't see where it was.

On his official website, Obama also has a call for action for KIDS...last I heard kids can't vote. This made me sick as well. It would be a good thing for him to encourage them to be part of the democratic process, to learn about the government, to have mock debates, etc....and I guess he kind of does--as long as they make sure to talk about Obama over and over again. Here are a couple of my "favorite" suggestions:

• Host a Senator Barack Obama House Party or sleep-over.
• Draw a picture of Senator Barack Obama or "an expression of Democracy". For example, the Senator sitting in the White House or working on Capitol Hill. You can send your drawing to the Obama for America Campaign Headquarters in Chicago and it will be posted for the Senator to see.
• Create a Kids for Obama Group on My.Barackobama.com. For example, Chicago Kids for Obama or DC Kids for Obama and throw a party!

I'm sorry, but this is a sickness. He is encouraging kids to worship him. Kids do not know enough about public policy to make an informed judgment--that is why they cannot vote! But go ahead and get them brainwashed early... If parents want to teach their kids about Obama that is their business, but he shouldn't be encouraging it!

I have always had issues with his opinions on the way things should be run, but I feel this goes too far.

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Bedtime Chat With Honor

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"Mmmm...your hair smells so pretty!" I remarked after smelling Honor's freshly washed hair.

"Mommy, let me smell your hair..." I leaned down so she could smell it. Honor inhaled deeply and announced in her best 'mommy' voice, "mmmmm...your hair is so smelly too!"


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"Mommy, can I feed the chinchillas dog food in the morning?"

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Ironic Isn't It?

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