Mixing It Up

Ashlyn asked to watch Little People this morning after we had played for a bit. I decided it would be okay but she's been watching the same 25 min - 5 episode video for three months. We have some other videos so to change it up I grabbed another VHS from the stack. Imagine my surprise when the SAME movie began. We have two copies. That's what happens when you take on other peoples freebie give aways. You lose track of what you've got.

By the way, she liked the new video exactly as much as she liked the old one. Go figure.

Preemptive Thanks

Baby sitter hasn't arrived yet for Sunday night fireside but I found Madison had already written a thank you for coming note. I'm glad she's so grateful.

Fun Kids

Ben declared the other day that all sings end in cymbal crash. 

Jacob was playing air piano as we drove home today and was incredibly proud that he was getting all the bores right. Then he closed his eyes and STILL got all the notes but that wasn't enough. He ended his concert playing eyes closed, two pianos, one hand on each, and every note correct. Amazing talent. 

Art Class with Madison

March 15, 2014

Today I decided to make a part of my day all about Maddie Mae. 

I found my self in the unusual situation of being on campus during the time block she has art class with no other commitments. Ashlyn was napping. Jacob was staying late for his music fun class. I was elated to see it was just about time for her art class but couldn't remember who her teacher was this year. We've been here too long I guess because we had all of them! I looked in all the classrooms and didn't see her then noticed each teacher had a schedule outside their door. I checked the papers up and down the hall and found Mr Mike was in Mrs H's art class on Day A. Now I had to figure out if it was Day A or not. After asking a bunch of kids I resorted to the office. Even they didn't know and had to check. Finally I got the green light and got back to the classroom about five minutes before class started.

Maddie was elated to see me sitting in the classroom when they arrived and in true first grade fashion all the kids made me feel like the rock star I really am inside. Today was claymation day. We stacked a few Wallace and Gromit clips and a few other ones as she explained how to do this or make that and our project was to make a person with realistic size proportion and as a bonus see if they could stand up.

I made the guy and Maddie made a turtle and my guy took her turtle for a walk. It was a super fun day and so much fun to see her having fun with her peers and to see her imagination run wild. I even happened to wear the spiky pink pom pom ear rings she gave me for Christmas.

In this last picture we took my guy and laid him on the table so she could make the icy swirly things like in the movie Frozen.

Dad's Gone

Jacob said he wishes dad could make us sleep, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner and sleep again really quick so we could just be ready to go together again.

When I returned from a parenting fireside tonight by the Eyres I got Ashlyn from the babysitter and she said "Daddy home?"
"No."
"Daddy home SOON?"
"No. Daddy home JUNE."
Poor girl didn't get my rhyming game. I don't have a good answer for her and it makes me so sad. For all she knows her daddy just disappeared forever.

Fun Kids

Ben declared the other day that all sings end in cymbal crash. 

Jacob was playing air piano as we drove home today and was incredibly proud that he was getting all the bores right. Then he closed his eyes and STILL got all the notes but that wasn't enough. He ended his concert playing eyes closed, two pianos, one hand on each, and every note correct. Amazing talent. 

Shift Change

We can't seem to understand why the gas stations are so crazy busy at night. Like 10 pm on a Tuesday there are no available pumps in a station with 18 pumps. Brian figured it out tonight. We pulled in at 10:25pm on a Friday and the attendant says, "Wait ma'am. Shift change. Need to wait five minutes. Okay?" We think they must do too many shift changes and things get backed up. Probably not true but we are grasping at straws to figure out why the lines so late at night every single night. 

RAIN!!!

Its finally sprinkling after two solidkmths or horrible, terrible drought! So happy. Probably my friend who planned a pool bday party for her kid in an hour isn't so pleased.

Madison Betrothed. Again.

Sometimes I email myself little notes to help me remember I need to blog about something. I found this today and never blogged it.

"Madison loves Bink."

Bink is a kid in her class and all I remember now is that she said it over dinner one night and it went on about how they were going to get married. I hate it when I lose great memories!

Facebook Friendships

I've been thinking lately how big this upcoming move is...a life changer...and yet just a blip on the FB screen of life...how sad. People will "like" the move and comment "good luck" and "keep us updated" but does anyone really mean it? Facebook has made relationships too easy, all fluff. It took all the work out of it and makes the relationship loose any depth and "meat." Here's hoping I can stay connected in meaningful ways to close friends. This is why I have broken up with Facebook multiple times over the last year and a half. I keep going back when I'm bored and/or lonely. We all crave interaction with people, to feel connected. Sometimes it's hard to remember that it's not really connecting.

My random thoughts for the night.

New Family Picture

Since Ashlyn just turned 2 years old I figured it was time to update our blog header with a picture of her outside my belly. The picture that has been up forever had me only 5 or so months pregnant. Isn't this a cute family picture? Thanks to Nicole Ekberg Photography for getting some great shots of us in September of 2013...6 months ago. That's how we roll people. Always slowly...

Now I need to order prints for the grandparents sent to their respective Wal-Marts for pick up.

Stake Conference

On  way to church this morning (Stake Conference) we overheard Ben ask "Are you going to learn anything today?"
"Nope!" replied Jacob. "We aren't even going to our classes today at all."

I concede they didn't have kid class, but there were 2 hours of speakers they could have gleaned just the tiniest bit from...even a cute kid who spoke to the congregation broadcast across three buildings.

After church I asked for an update from Jacob, "Did you learn anything at church today?"

Shaking his head he said, "Not really."

In My Head

Children are swarming. Noise level is loud. Homework questions are being tossed across the kitchen table and I’m trying to field all the requests while keeping Jacob from going back to timeout. His buddy broke his arm today I figured a good idea would be to get him engaged in making cookies for his sad friend.

 

Ben is asking about shapes and fractions. Madison is reading the lyrics in Ben’s piano books for her reading time (counts as poetry I figure). I tell Jacob to please wash his hands and scrub them as long as it takes to sing the ABCs. I’m constantly telling the kids to write down their thinking in math so we see what they are doing when Jacob calls out, “Can I just do it in my head?” I’m stumped.

 

“Did you just ask me if you can do it in your head or was that someone else talking?”

“That was me.”
“No. You cannot just wash your hands in your mind.”

“No. I mean sing the ABCs in my head.”

“Ooooohhhhh. That makes a lot more sense. Sure. You can sing in your head.”

 

Sometimes there is just too much motion for my head to process in this house at homework time. Heaven help us when I have to start cooking dinner amongst all this mayhem again after Gina leaves us!