Thursday, June 11, 2015

My Kids Are Dorks

Example 1: 
This leftover wrapper from one of Catherine's sneaky meals:

Example 2:
Why I thought all the clementines were gone 
(hidden in an arm of the futon): 

Example 3:
Seth considers this an appropriate scooter parking spot.
Literally THE most inconvenient spot in the house: 

Example 4:
The washcloths that are always pulled out because some little baby
likes to rub them on his face like a blanket: 

Example 5:
24 hours later, scooter reparked in the SAME SPOT: 

I blame Jon.

Adventures


Sometimes, your husband is out of town.
And it snows on March 28th.
And you hit a mysterious object on the road, which leads to a flat tire.
While at gymnastics.
And you can't loosen the bolts by yourself.

Home teachers are awesome.
So are random fathers and KYA instructors who help you out.

(Jon wasn't totally useless--he did find us a place willing to fix the tire on a Saturday!)

Ringling Brothers Circus

I got these tickets from a homeschooling group for super cheap, so I was expecting something pretty chintzy. NOT. SO.

I was completely enthralled with the entire show. Absolutely amazing. And we had terrific seats. 
Catherine, waiting for the show to start

Aaron was supposed to be babysat, but slept in until we had to leave.
I was sure he would be rotten, but he LOVED it!

Seth (not pictured) didn't sit by us.
He sat by the mom who let him play on her cell phone (not me).

And now for some circus shots: 
The elephants arrive

All the Asians on two bicycles
(Almost every performer in the circus was Asian. 
Except the clowns. Those were all American).

They had like ten bikes in this little cage and
NO ONE DIED. 

Just taming some lions and tigers

A lion on a disco ball

"Let's dangle from the ceiling and light our straps on fire!"

Dancing elephants

This was right over our heads.
Don't worry--they also flipped completely over a few times.
And, once again, NO ONE DIED.

Well done, circus. Very well done!

Rapunzel Power

This, my friends, is apparently the way to acquire Rapunzel powers.
As far as I can tell, Rapunzel powers consist of throwing clean laundry around the room.

I am not a fan of Rapunzel power.

Science Center

We thoroughly enjoyed our year-long membership at the Maryland Science Center. It was perfect for homeschooling and the kids loved it. This ended up being our last trip. It wasn't supposed to be, but the riots in Baltimore kept us away until our membership expired. Sigh.

Helping fill a giant bag with hot air

Watching it fly

Laying on a bed of nails

Pushing some "food" through an "intestine".
Gross.

Aaron just wanted to play with all the knobs.

The real reason we come here: The Kids' Room:
Thanks for being so awesome, MSC!

Aaron at 18 Months

Monkey baby

With all the craziness of moving, this post is more like Aaron at 20 months instead of 18. 

*You have THE MOST amazing curls. I am in love with your hair, and so is the rest of the world. I love watching you run down the hall at church and have five people rub your head.  Dad says I need to cut it, but I just can't! (note to self: get adorable picture of curls)

*Down to just one afternoon nap. You still love to see your crib and blanket and will happily squirm when I lay you down. Lately you've been crying after I close the door, but hopefully that phase will end soon.
Preferred nap position: 
pacifier in, one blanket on each side of face, blanket over body

*You LOVE being read to. You will bring me books to read all day. You'll also happily peruse the pictures yourself if I'm not available.

*Finally moving up to size 4 diapers. Still in 12 month waist, although you need 18 month for height.  Shirts are 18 month-2T. Size 4 shoes.
Nothing says "fashion" quite like clip-on princess dresses on footie pajamas

*You hate having your diaper changed and are in no way cooperative.

*Words: "voovf" (woof=dog), "Seh" (Seth), "Dada" (Dad, sometimes Mom), "oop" (poop, always said in a whisper while grinning), "sooh" (shoe), "jus" (juice), "side" (outside), "a num a num a num" (num-num = food) and "buh bye". You can say "please", but generally refuse. "Aight" is still there, but rare. And my favorites: "cah" and "cash" (car and crash). You sound just like little Seth.

*You are still a pretty needy little man. There was a month or two where you would freak out if I was more than three feet away from you. That was super fun. Things are better now, but you still generally communicate via whining. And, strangely enough, selfies seem to be the only foolproof method of stopping the whining (food usually works, too):

The Aaron Selfie Collection:




Eyelashes that touch your eyebrows.
Ridiculous. 



*You can be a punk when you want to be. You love hitting your siblings (especially Catherine) with various toys. Matchbox cars are your preference. I've also caught you hitting Baby Luke, which is not cool. I will not have a bully for a son!

*If we say "cheeseball!" you pull out a completely ridiculous grin. 

*You love running and chasing. You frequently turn around to make sure we're still chasing you. 

*You love your "woof woofs." They sleep with you every night. And you love to snuggle them:



*Also a big hit: climbing things. Let's just say you fall down. A lot. 

*Food is still your first and greatest love.

*You kept dropping your pacifiers behind your crib, so I finally just took them away. You couldn't have cared less.

*Nursery is not your favorite. You did fine the first week, okay the second week, and fell apart the third. I have to hand you over crying and screaming every week, but you calm down quickly. Afternoon church isn't helping anything either.
"Nursery is evil and I hate it."

*Once you warm up to her, Lydia(girl in our ward) is your favorite person. Luckily for both of us, she adores you! Once she's legal babysitting age, I am sitting pretty!

*You love taking baths, hating getting your hair washed. And you prefer to be as naked as possible.
 

*You love playing with Seth and Catherine. Chasing is your favorite game, but you're happy to join in with any game. Even sword fighting: 

Oh, my Aaron. I love your face. I love the tiny freckles showing up on your cheeks and nose. I love your crazy curls. I love how you show affection by using me as your personal jungle gym. You drive me crazy and I couldn't live without you. 

St. Patrick's Day

Apparently I was feeling pretty festive that day, because I actually made shamrock pancakes:
Things like this don't usually happen around here.

Aaron greatly enjoyed his pancakes, especially while wearing his outfit from Grandma Cathy: 

Best part? Clover booty: 

The other two also enjoy green pancakes while wearing Grandma outfits: 
(please note Catherine's "you can only eat syrup if I put your hair up" look.
Crazy curls + syrup = horrible sticky mess).

Oh, my gorgeousness. The weather that day was straight from heaven: 

"What is this warmth coming from the sky?" 
He was totally sweaty and sunburned.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I Must Love My Husband...

...or I wouldn't be doing nonsense like cooking a huge batch of stir fry at 9 pm on a Saturday:

This, my friends, is what your freezer looks like with 17 frozen meals ready to fly to Dugway, Utah: 

And what your kitchen looks like when you're done: 

I can't really complain that much. He does give me all the per diem money he would have spent on eating out. And who wants to eat out for a month anyway? Blech. But still...good thing I love him!

Snow

After all the whining I did about the lack of snow, Mother Nature decided to get back at me. First there was Catherine's birthday snow, which was lovely and perfect.

Four days later we got this storm, which was awesome. I love a good snow!
Mid storm

Catherine would NOT come inside.

A very nice pile of snow.

At this point my snow quota is happily filled. I'm ready for spring. Mother Nature gives us a gorgeous day or two of spring, and then drops this on us on the first day of spring:
I was not amused.

And then, a week later, more snow.
Catherine was ecstatic: 
I was done. Done with winter.

Sadly, winter decided to stick around until the beginning of May, at which point we had a week of spring before heading straight into summer temperatures. 

I hate you, Mother Nature.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Catherine's Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color? "Blue and green. Since I got born when I liked that." (translation: I've liked those colors since I was born)

What's your favorite food? "Pizza and fish and noodles with eggs!"

Who is your best friend? "Aaron. And Seth."

What is your favorite movie? "Rapunzel (Tangled). Since I got born when I liked that."

What is your favorite show? "Garfield. Since I got borned when I liked that."

What's your favorite toy? "Elsa. Elsa and Anna (Barbies). I like Frozen."

What's your favorite game to play? "Rapunzel. Like on the iPad, with all the princesses (Royal Salon)."

What is your favorite snack? "Marshmallows."

What's your favorite animal? "Kangaroos. Since they jump." (She had just seen one at the circus).

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A mom."

What's your favorite song? "The Rapunzel song (When Will My Life Begin?)."

What's your favorite book? "Frozen."

Do you like doing school with Mommy? "Yes. I like to draw and draw. And do my Rapunzel stuff"(random worksheets found online).

She also gave me specific details about her bedroom in the new house. It will be a Rapunzel room with a bed that sings the Rapunzel song when she sleeps in it.

*Please note that Rapunzel is actually pronounced "Reepunzel" and Frozen = "Fwozen"

*This interview was conducted while Aaron whined in the background. The. Entire. Time.