To Grandpa

When Lexie heard Grandpa was sick she wrote him a song to help him feel better. We hope it works. We love you!

(And a big thanks to Bunny for singing backup.)

"I'm Not Tired!"

She is one smart cookie.

The following exchange took place during tonight's Family Home Evening:

Dad: Lexie, will you choose the closing song- but not "Sunbeam" (that was the opening song & we're trying to get them to branch out).
Lexie: Oh, man. Okay, the "Follow the Leader" song.
Mom: You mean "Do As I'm Doing"?
Lexie: Yes.
Mom: What do you want us all to do?
Lexie: Jump up and down and sing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam"!

Joseph Got Tagged!

1. What is something mom always says to you? Obey
2. What makes mom happy? To obey
3. What makes mom sad? Not obeying
4. How does mom make you laugh? Tickling me
5. What was mom like as a child? Me
6. How old is your mom? 29
7. How tall is your mom? As so big
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Play games
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Be sad
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don’t know
11. What is your mom really good at? Trying to find me
12. What is your mom not very good at? Not doing something that I want her to do.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Play with me.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Everything
15. What makes you proud of your mom? She’s nice to me.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Mom
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have teeth.
19. How are you and your mom different? I’m a boy
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She tells me.

Lexie really wanted to answer all of the questions too.

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? Playing with her
3. What makes mom sad? Not obeying
4. How does mom make you laugh? Tickling me
5. What was mom like as a child? She was like a baby.
6. How old is your mom? 29
7. How tall is your mom? Taller than the window
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Have birthdays
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Prays
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don’t know
11. What is your mom really good at? Doing my hair
12. What is your mom not very good at? I don’t know.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Cook
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Pineapple
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Setting up my dollhouse
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Mom
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play dollhouse & read books
18. How are you and your mom the same? Our hair
19. How are you and your mom different? Our clothes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because she gives me hugs.

Joseph & Lexie tag: Gavin, Kennedi, Callahan, & Our cousins in Denmark

Andrew's New Trick

He's been standing on his own for a week or so now. However, it hasn't been easy to catch him in the act with a camera.

"Singing at the Park" Starring Lexie

You know how sometimes you watch musicals & they break out into song & you think, "Like that really happens in real life!" Well, today I witnessed it with my own eyes (& ears).

I was watching Lexie play with a group of boys at the park. There was a bit of "You Can't Play with Us" going on between some of the boys. Finally, Lexie & one other boy were playing together. I overheard the following conversation:

Boy: (Pointing to another boy) Let's not play with him. He's not nice.
(I wondered if I should say something, then decided I was more curious as to how she would reply.)
Lexie: But, he's still our friend.
Boy: He's mean.
Lexie: He's still our friend.
Boy: No, he's not being nice.
Lexie: (breaking into song) Yes, he's our friend. Because we are best friends, we are all friends, always be friends...

It was pretty funny. I was also very pleased with how she handled the situation. We have a sweet little girl.

She also sang while 5 or so 3-4 yr olds were trying to jump up to the monkey bars. None of them could reach. She started singing a "Try, we can try, if we keep trying, we will reach it one time" melody as they all took turns.

She bursts into song all of the time at home (esp. in the bathroom or while cleaning), but this was the first time I've seen her do it outside our home. It was really cute.

Going To Work With Daddy

For the last 3 weeks or so, Joseph has been asking to go to work with Rick. Today he got his chance. They had a base wide picnic that families were invited to attend. There was so much to do: make bracelets, make magnets, decorate visors, play on the bouncy toys/obstacle course, ring toss, bowling, bean bag toss, & much more. The fire fighters on base were there to teach kids about fire safety. They had a trailer set up with a living room, kitchen, & bedroom where they taught different aspects of fire safety. At the end, there was a "fire" (they pumped smoke in the bedroom & smoke detector went off) & we had to escape out the window. This was one of Lexie's favorite parts (& the obstacle course). There were a number of other booths with other fun things for the kids (frisbees, candy, bags, hats, etc.).

Here's Lexie in the obstacle course:

Joseph's favorite thing was bouncing in the dragon:

(And yes, Joseph dressed himself: picked out his socks & 4 of his favorite shirts.)

Poor Andrew just sat and ate his stroller:

It was a very well put on event. At one point Joseph said, "I think I could live here!" We had a lot of fun, so much so that the kids now want to go to work with Daddy everyday!

What's For Dinner?

Joseph did a great job of putting away his notebooks & magnets. The only problem is that he put them away in the fridge instead of in their proper places. He sure is a cutie.

Clipping Coupons

Thursday I was clipping coupons & the kids really wanted to help me. They took the ones I didn't want and clipped out what they needed, made their list, & were ready to go shopping.

They were a great help at the store. Albertson's was having their big Kraft sale and we had to go through a few times-what troopers! Overall, we saved an average of 70% on all our orders. Great job, kids!

I'm not sure if we're putting too much emphasis on sales & coupons, but today Joseph got really excited looking at the ads with Rick. He saw that M&M's were on sale & started jumping up and down, pumping his arms & yelling, " M&M's are on sale, we should go buy them!"

Piano & Tutu

This cute little boy of ours loves the new piano.

And Lexie's tutu...well, maybe not so much.

What Should We Pretend Today?

Like most kids, our kids love to play pretend. They will play pretend in so many different ways. Among their favorites are: Rick & Cheryl, Primary, Joy School, Witches, Baby, Builder, Maker (a Maker is someone who makes cakes), Ice Creamer, Princess, Step-Sister, & so many more! Today I caught them playing Home Teaching, another favorites. I don't know why, but that one always makes me laugh. It reminded me of pretending some of those things also as a kid. I think one of my favorites was playing Pioneers.

What were your favorite pretend things to play as a kid? What do your kids do when they play pretend?

On a side note, Lexie wanted me to show you how "very cute" her hair was for church today.

Grateful for Generous Return Policies

Last Month:

This Month:
Over the last few weeks I have been replacing the trees that didn't make it through the winter. Only five of the ten trees had to be taken out (yes, we have pretty green thumbs). Our original ten trees were two different sizes (for the sake of clarity, let's call them small and medium). Five of the six small trees died, but all of the medium trees made it (knock on wood). Of course, our local Home Depot doesn't have "small" or "medium" trees like they did last year, so we went with the "large" when replacing our dead small trees. We had some concerns that this would look funny having three different sized trees along our back fence. I commented that it would look OK, kind of like a mountain range with varying peaks and valleys (really I just didn't want to replace or move any more trees than I had to).

Today:

P.S. Thanks for your help moving trees, Brett.