Kid Quotes

Katie: “I like it when our babysitter comes over. She draws us pictures and tells funny goats.” She got really mad when I started laughing at her saying goats over and over. Sensitive child.
Katie, eating a tamale with the corn husk still on: “This tamale is really really dry!”
Katie: “Oh NO! Not YOU again!” when I came to pick her up from playing at Gma’s.
Katie must be getting to that fun age! I love the things 4-5 year olds say!

First Day of MCP

But first, some quotes:

Katie: “Why is the baby going to take so long to come? Does it have to pack?”

Katie: “My first day of school was so awesome I could CRY!”

The first day of Kindergarten! And check out those missing teefers. That old hag the Tooth Fairy keeps forgetting to come and reward her for pulling them out all on her own. One is already growing a permanent tooth in! Sarah’s took months.

Sarah is in the second grade!

While my kids are “home schooled”, they also attend a partnership school sponsored by the neighboring school district. 1.5 days a week they go to school at a real building (okay, it’s 6 portables) and take classes like art, science, history, and PE. This trimester between the two of them, they are taking “Passport to the World” (a social studies class), a history class that includes lapbooking, K’nex and geometry, Birds of the Shrub Steppe (the steppe is the climate we live in. Later in the year they will switch to flowers and plants), PE, Karate, Crafting through the seasons, and “Be Creative! Have Fun!” which is music, art and movement all rolled into one.

I LOVE MCP. All those “fears” (MYTHS) that people have about homeschooling are totally eradicated by using the partnership program. I’m sure I could do it on my own and have similar results, but they make it so easy to do my job as a homeschooling parent. The staff and the other parents are all so supportive of each other, and are flexible. I love that they have a big library full of curriculum and other goodies that I can browse through and find the perfect helps for my home learning environment. I love most of all that all the kids are really good kids. The friendships are deeper. I have never seen or heard of any bullying in the 2.5 years we have been going. That’s a far cry from seeing it the first week we were at public school. Using this program to help in our home studies has been such a blessing to us. I’m so glad we have MCP as a resource to help our family learn. 

Kid Quotes

Mom: ”What are you doing out here? You are supposed to be doing your math.”

Sarah: “I need a number line!”

“You don’t have enough fingers for that?”

“No! 6+6? I need like a toe and a tongue!”

 

“Katie, did you know? Mom used to work at the ice cream store!”

“Mom? You worked at the ice cream store?”

“Yeah, and I worked in the theater, and I was an actor, and I was in the Army and jumped out of planes, and…”

“And you worked at the ice cream store! MOM! Your life is SO EXCITING!”

 

Sarah and Katie were discussing something that happened a few years ago and Dad said “That’s not how it happened!”

S:”Yes it is, Dad! I have a really good rememberation!”

 

S: “Mom, how old are you now?”

M: “18”

S: “Nooooo!”

M: “29”.

S: “Yeah…wait! NO!!!”

M: “sigh. I’m 32!”

S: “YEAH!!!”

Kid Quotes

Sarah, in the midst of a toilet repair: “If they are so dirty, why are they called washers?”

Reading a book with Sarah: “What is that baby wearing?”

“A bonnet.”

“Why would a baby want to wear a vomit?”

“Penis! penis penis penis penis penis penis penis penis!” We won’t talk about that one. Let’s just say that we have a child who hates clothes.

Sarah is cleaning up pancake batter she spilled in the stove, and crying about it “This is so gro-o-osss! I don’t wanna be a mom! Waaaah! I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna. I don’t like being a kid.”

Katie, “Don’t wake me up, I”m taking my dream.”

Shawn was being teased by the older boys in the neighborhood, so while they were calling him poopy baby and such, he climbed up on the top of the 3 ft. fence (they were on the other side), pulled his boy parts out, and peed in their general direction. They BARELY made it out of the way in time. Maybe that will teach them a lesson.

Kid Quotes

Me:”Are you going to save your first kiss for your husband like Josh and Anna Duggar?”

Sarah:”You and Daddy are going to pick out my husband. I will be the judge, and you and daddy can pick out my husband. I already have a wedding dress picked out!”

Sarah is watching TV, minding her own business, when along comes Shawn, and straight up throws a cup of lemonade right in her face. I'm shocked, the girls are laughing. I say "that's not funny!" she answers "why?" followed by more giggles. All I am thinking is "laundry." I really need to lighten up.

 

I’m designed a digi-scrap kit with this palette

“Okay, Sarah, when you see these colors, what do you think of?”

“Heavenly Father.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because everyone wears those colors….in Heaven. And that thing…that Mary wears…on her head…all the girls wear those.”

 

We are getting a new Bishop this Sunday with possible ward boundary changes. Sarah: “I don’t want to go to church tomorrow. I don’t want to get voted out!”

Making Movies

Tonight the girls wanted to stay up late to watch a movie. Usually when I tell them no, I add “Go watch the back of your eyelids.” So that is kind of what we did, with a twist on the making up a story sentence by sentence. We made a movie, since my kids have seen way more movies than read books. I started off by saying a man walked into the room, then I got the imaginations going with questions like: What is he wearing? What does the room look like? What is he doing in the room? Is anyone there with him?

They gobbled it up! The story went something like “A man is in a room with a hearth and white walls looking at pictures from when he was a boy. Looking at the pictures makes him happy. He is wearing a red shirt and jeans. His mom is sitting at a table wearing a green shirt, pants, and socks, and he tells her he loves her. She says that she loves him, too. It is night time. Another man comes in the room. He is wearing a tie and a white shirt and a black coat and carrying a Sunday bag. It is the woman’s husband. He brings her the bag and she says “I love you.” and He says “I love you. I brought your bag in from the car.” and she says “Thank you” and they kiss on the lips. Then they all go to sleep. right there in the kitchen. (I had to double check) zzzzzzzzzz. right there, asleep, instantly, in the kitchen. THEN a dragon comes “ROOOAR!!!” and eats the whole family. “nom nom nom” and the dragon has a little bit of the dad’s tie hanging out of it’s mouth when the little sister walks in and gets really mad at the dragon and it burps up a little puff of smoke.

Then there was another story that involved the neighbor boy making out with a Chihuahua and our cat clawing it up because she was jealous. So we took the dog to the vet and the doctor wrapped the dog up like a mummy and we gave it to John as a birthday gift, since it was already wrapped. Just a synopsis there.

I must say, this was way more fun than watching a boring old movie with my kids.

On the downhill side

There are only a few more days to send mail to John before it gets cut off. If it doesn’t get to the sorting warehouse by the end of the year, it will be returned to you. If you are sending packages, they need to have a customs form. His address is about five posts down. Do not send space available mail. Please send priority. Most of the bees in his unit will be returning home February-ish. They want time for all the mail to get to them before they come home. John will be one of the last out, since he is so awesome and they can’t do without his stellar equipment operation and leadership skills. We do not have an exact date for his return, nor will we. (so stop asking).

He dug this hole just to dig it. In reality, they needed to have some thicker, muddier material for a project, and he found water 25 feet down.

He has lost 6 inches since going to Afghanistan. Most of it is that he has to walk everywhere. The HESCOs below were all filled by John and he helped place the tower on the right. He can fill those structured sandbags better than anyone. While out in the field, he slept here on a cot for three weeks under the stars. Now he is in the field again and sleeps in an inflatable Quonset style tent made of Kevlar. It has been getting to about the high 40s during the nights, and 50s during the day.

 

I had a dream last week where I saw these bulldozers in a parade. In the dream I was also immortal. He is veeeeeerrrrrrrrry safe in Afg. He assures us not to worry about him. he has been doing lots of different tasks there and has got experience on more equipment than he did before. Right now he is building culverts and bridges. He has made gravel from old concrete, crushing it and pulling the rebar himself. he has run a convoy crew to load all the army’s trucks before they leave the base. He has loaded hundreds of HESCOs that serve as walls to protect the outposts and camps. Mostly, he’s just walked around looking like a stud. Yeah, that’s totally what he is doing. See below? There’s proof.

Kid Quotes

The girls are watching Anastasia

Katie: “is Anya a kid, or a grown-up?”

Sarah: “She’s a teenager, so she’s both. teenagers are kids AND grown-ups.”

 

“Hi, Daddy!” –Shawn saying his first two word phrase while on the phone with John.

“Bye Guys!” --Shawn saying his second two word phrase to his sisters while going to bed.

 

TV: It’s a pillow! It’s a pet! It’s a pillow pet!

Katie: I want a pillow pet!

Mom: You just want a Pillow Pet because the lady on the TV told you you want one.

Sarah: IT’S MACHINE WASHABLE!

 

Sarah, flinging her doll above her head and spinning it around: “If this was a real person, I would be on Dancing with the Stars!”

Katie: “I want a snack! I want corn because it is crunchy and sweet!” the next day…”I want a snack! I want carrots because they are crunchy and sweet!”

 

Mom:”What does a cow say?”

Shawn:”OOOOO”

Mom: “What does a horsie say?”

Shawn: “bpppppppppppppp”

Mom: “What does a lion say?”

Shawn:”ehhhhmmm” as he curls into me in fright. I think he is scared of lions.

Bring it ON!

I was all set to make the drive to Utah to visit my sister’s family for Thanksgiving. I had been planning to go with my mom and felt strongly I should leave Tuesday morning. She had to work and was trying to get me to go that evening, but I really felt like I needed to go on Tuesday morning. Sunday night, it started to snow. and snow. and snow. These pictures were of Monday morning. All my local family was calling. “Are you SUUUURE you want to travel with three children in THIS?!” “Paula, you can’t do this. You need chains.” “Are you STILL planning on going?” “You need help form another adult.” yada yada yada. My constant response was “THE LORD TOLD ME I COULD.” To me, it was as simple as that. So what if there is snow? I promised my sister I would be in her home for Thanksgiving, by golly, and it was going to happen. I almost let those voices get to me. I called off the trip Monday night. I called my sister and sent my regrets. By that time, there was even more snow.

Tuesday I awoke and it wasn’t snowing. The sky was clear. The burb had more than twice as much snow on it as you see here. I thought to myself, “Why am I not doing this again? The Lord said I could!” I checked my Facebook and there was a note from my brother-in-law saying how disappointed they were that we weren’t coming, and to please reconsider. Screw it. “Kids, get your stuff. Let’s go. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Did I say the drive was long? Yeah, that is kind of an understatement. The normally 8 hour drive took 14 hours. There was snow everywhere on I-82 except between Ontario and Mountain Home. I-84 was even closed! I had to drive around through Pocatello. You know what, though? I was so blessed. The suburban ran beautifully, the pesky check engine light didn’t even come on. The traffic was clear (I think the newscasters scared everyone off). And the kids…oh, my sweet children. I have never had a better time travelling with them than I did that day. They only fought once and it was quickly resolved. There was not any whining, they were helpful. I just couldn’t even believe how kind they were being to one another. It didn’t hurt that we have a DVD player in the car and some yet unseen movies from the Disney Movie Club that I surprised them with. We pulled into the driveway just at the tail end of the sixth movie. I could hardly see and barely walk.

Thanksgiving was amazing. I missed John. My BIL smoked an awesome turkey. My sister made her fluffy rolls and we made a five pies together. The kids had a blast playing together, as usual. This is the only picture I have of the day that I can share. Why, hello to you, too, Mr. Shawn! On Saturday night Shawn and I got to take a fun trip to the ER! I thought he swallowed a toy because he was breathing really funny. In reality he had a wicked huge tonsil and a bad sore throat. Poor guy. That night, after having a clear week, it started to snow. and snow. and snow. This is the part where I’m glad I homeschool and I had no where I *needed* to be, like work, and such. At this point I was glad the rest of the clan stayed home. My mom would have missed her surgery. I-84 was closed once again. So I stayed two more days!

My sister and I went out on the town, DI shopping, eating out, getting out for some fresh air after being in the house for 5 days with kids that all had fevers. It was working it’s way through the crowd. Tuesday, I checked the weather report and thought I could at least make it to Boise. I didn’t want to go down the 3 mile long 6% slope on ice at night, but rather during the day when it could be warmer. I got a hotel in Boise and it started to snow. and snow. and snow. Maybe I should have just driven straight through?   The next morning, it was worse. So bad they even cancelled school there. How does that happen in Idaho?! So, still not having anywhere to go, I stayed with my dear friend Sally. It was fun! The kids got up the courage to dig in the snow, sled, build snow forts, and shovel the driveway. Thanks, Sally for hosting us for a night! The chicken noodle soup was delish!

Slowly, we made our way home. Sarah started to get her turn with the fever on the way home, but hers was accompanied by body aches (more on this later). We got home and it was still light out. Our cat was still alive, that was good. We wanted to start a fire, but there was a lot of digging to do by then to make that happen.

The whole trip was a testament to me that I can do anything with the Lord’s help. I am so glad I trusted in his word. It wasn’t right for everyone else to go, but I had the promise that I would be fine. And I was! I was more than fine! I love traveling. Even with my kids alone, it’s such an adventure. I felt so free and independent (and kind of rebellious) to just take off and go.

This is how much of a facebook junkie I am, though. I told my BIL not to tell my sister I had changed my mind so I could surprise her, but because I had not posted on facebook all day, she was worried, and then figured out that I was on the road. Gee, so all I have to do to freak people out is skip facebook for a day? hmmm…..

 

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Shawn turned two!

This boy cracks me up. he was such a serious baby, but now he is coming out of his shell. Shawn LOVES trucks. anything with wheels, really. Tractors, cars, loaders, excavators, trailers. He loves it all. Shawn doesn’t talk a whole lot, most of his words are hard to understand, but he knows how to make a truck noise, the sound of sirens, and of a bulldozer backing up. He is so much like daddy. He loves trucks, cows, horses. He has dad’s eyes, nose, mouth, legs. He misses his daddy a lot and they growl at each other a lot on the phone, making animal noises. He loves to come snuggle with mama in bed first thing in the morning.

 

He might have remembered from his cousin’s birthday just what to do here. The candle was out about .2 seconds after this photo was snapped. He was so excited.

 

He dug right into his cupcake!

Here he is two years ago!

And one year ago…

and now…

Love you, Son!