Idioms

Friday is library day for Jake's class and sometimes he picks out the lamest books from the school library. One time he brought home a book that was a political statement about the poor conditions in refugee camps. Seriously? Why would a kindergartner be interested in that?
After that book, I tried to encourage him to bring home something a little less lame.
Things have gotten a little better. Last week he brought home a book called Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold. We have Parts and even though I am totally grossed out by some of the illustrations, the kids seem to like it. Maybe you have read this one before, but if not, each page is full of idioms like "my head is in the clouds" or "I sang my heart out". (Complete with pictures of a body with a detached head in the clouds, or a person singing and their heart is beating on the floor).
Jake wanted me to read it right when he got home from school. Allie was out with Mike, so it was a perfect time to sit down with the boy one on one. So I did. We started reading and I found myself explaining every single idiom on the page (there are several). The ones like "my eyes are glued to the television" or "I laughed my head off" were easy to explain, but try explaining "my ears are burning", or "hot lips", or "don't give me lip." Jake loved all the pictures and he wanted to know each one, even though I was trying to selectively read the ones I knew how to explain. He always caught me on it because each idiom came with a silly illustration and he knew if I was skipping one. Some of them I just said I couldn't explain.
As soon as I was done reading it through, he wanted to give it another go. We seriously spent at least an hour reading that book over and over.
We turned the book back in last Friday and I hadn't given it much thought since then, but yesterday Jake said "Mom, when I am doing my chores, I am going to say that I am keeping my nose to the grindstone."
Wow, I guess that hour paid off!

Another WT day at our house

Mike checks KSL every day for hot deals that he can't refuse. One day he brought home one of the treasures that he found on there. I guess this was just a reminder of his childhood and he couldn't pass it up, even though it is a junker.

I remember being in college and seeing some drunk idiots driving their snowmobile on the pavement in the spring and thinking that it was pretty trashy. I guess I shouldn't have judged because I watched my husband and kids roar off into the neighborhood on this thing and thought it was cute. Eventually they got up the canyon where there was snow, but there was also a lot of pavement to ride on before they could get there :)

Allie has been begging me for a snowman for weeks. The snow hasn't been the right type to build into a snowman until this last storm. I went out and helped her construct a cute little guy, but he got knocked over when Mike shoveled the driveway. So she wanted another one. Mike and the boys helped her, and since Mike was out there, it couldn't be the traditional snowman. Why search for eyes and buttons when you can just use spray paint?

I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product. By the time they were out of paint, he had a yellow coat, hair and cute little stick arms. He was a little lopsided and fell over once so he became a pirate with half of his face missing. Then the new snow came and he is looking terrible now. I guess these pictures will have to do.

So there we are...pretty trashy!

Snowmobiling

By the time the weekend was over and we had another day off on Monday, we were tired of sitting around our house staring at each other. We got fresh snow and Mike was itching to go snowmobiling but no one could go with him. So we did. We loaded up the kids and all the gear and went up to a little spot by Bear Lake. The snow was deep and it wasn't too cold, so it made for a great day. We rode a little trail over to the sinks and let the kids sled down the hill there. Sledding is so much more fun when you have a snowmobile to tow you back up the hill. These kids are going to grow up thinking life is easy.

The batteries on the camera were dead so I didn't get any fun tubing pictures, but it really looked fun. There was so much powder that the kids just looked like they were floating down the hill.

Now, in case you think I'm stupid for riding a snowmobile in my condition (hugely pregnant), the snow was so fluffy, it was a more gentle ride than some of the car rides we go on. Allie doesn't like to go fast, or on bumps, so I took her and we just took it easy. She kept turning around and asking me if I thought the baby was enjoying the ride.

Jake and Mike, on the other hand, were absolute crazies. They went up wild hills and sped past us like we were standing still. Jake likes speed and would keep asking Mike to go faster. We had to watch him because any time Mike would get off, Jake would peg the gas and take off on his own.

Mike was playing in the powder and turned too sharp and got bucked off, which made Jake fall off too. I was laughing at the sight of them both covered in snow from head to toe when I heard Jake's ear piercing shrieks. I think he was a little embarrassed later when he realized he wasn't hurt and he was screaming for no reason, but I can imagine that it did scare him.

It ended up being such a fun day. We are so lucky to be able to go do things like that.

Allie: "Mom, are you laughing at me?"

Me: "No, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you."

Allie: "...but I'm not laughing..."

Snow

I took all these pictures of the kids having fun in the snow. It was last month and within days, the rain had taken most of the snow away. It didn't seem fun to post these pictures when the snow was gone. Then we got another great storm and I decided to do the post.
So, this is what our kids do when there is snow...

Allie wanted to make a snow fort. She and Lily worked on it with the help of Lily's older sister Halle. The fort got pretty big and according to Allie, it just needed a top. Then the older boys came by and wrecked it. I'm glad Allie didn't mind too much. I'm also glad we got pictures first.

Jake got creative with a wagon, then he and Carson spent a long time running their monster trucks up the slide or down huge snow hills. I love looking out my kitchen window and hearing their playful giggles and happy voices.

I love snow. When it is winter and cold, we might as well have snow. I realize that people are ready for Spring and this last storm took many by surprise, but it is still February. It should be snowy!

I love bundling the kids up and sending them out to play. I am getting better about not hating the pile of snowclothes that ends up all over the floor when they are done. They are getting older and better about cleaning up after themselves (after several reminders)

N is for "nest" and "never-ending coughs"

These are old pictures, but ones I had to add. Jake woke up on a day that it was my turn to teach preschool and told me his throat was hurting. I gave him some medicine and decided that he should probably stay home from school. Then he started running, jumping, wrestling with Allie...doing all sorts of things to convince me I had made the right choice :)

So, I called the other moms of the girls who come to preschool and told them that Jake would be there and that he had a sore throat. They all said their girls had colds and didn't mind sending them anyway. So we had a class full of sickies for the day. I am guessing that is where I got my 5th cold of this pregnancy. It's awesome to cough for hours and days and months on end... I really don't think I have had more than a handful of days in the last 6 months that I haven't been hacking my guts out. I just hope it all clears up before I get my guts cut open. I don't want to be hacking my guts out when they really can fall out (how's that for a visual?)

Anyway, back to school... so that day was "N" day and for our craft, we made nests for little birds. I couldn't believe what cute little creations they all came up with. I wish the pictures could do justice...

Jake didn't make a nest, but he gets to be included in the pictures just because:)

Allie made her little momma bird to sit on the eggs, and when that was done, she made little baby birds and took the eggs out to replace them with the babies that had hatched. What a cute girl!
She also got to hang out in jammies all day because that's what you do when you get to have preschool at your own house.

So, here are the preschool girls. One is missing because after a few minutes, it was evident that she was too sick to stay:)

I have been loving our little preschool situation. The girls are really progressing and it's fun to know that I am helping them learn. Although, if truth be told, it's the other two moms that teach that are really getting through. If Allie weren't still asking for "real" preschool, I would be tempted to do this again next year too.

Forced appreciation day

Mike has never been a fan of Valentine's day. He was single for a lot of years and maybe that soured him. As for me, kids make Valentine's day fun. This year I made a trail of hearts from their bedroom to the kitchen where they found little Valentine boxes that I had made for them.
We made a fun breakfast of heart shaped pancakes, strawberries, and a yummy pink smoothie that they wouldn't touch (it was probably too healthy).

They were so excited about everything and were so good to express their love for each other and for me and Mike. It was a very loving morning.
All day, I was thinking about that and how sweet my little Jake can be with me and I hoped that it never changes. I hope they always stay sweet and respectful to me. I hope they will always let me smother them with Valentine hugs and kisses.
Tonight as I was asking the kids if they had a great Valentines' day, we had this discussion...

Me: "So did you end up having a great Valentine’s day?"
Kids: Nodding
Me: "Do you know that I love you?"
Kids: More nodding
Jake: "When we get old enough to go buy stuff and old enough to use your sewing machine and get boxes and stuff, we will make you a Valentine box to hold your love cards in just like you made for us. Then you'll know that we love you too."

Oh what a sweet boy. I don't need a box to know that they love me. I know that they always will. Sometimes I have to make myself stop worrying that one day they won't "like" me for a little while. I need to just continue to treasure each of these days like today and keep giving them squeezes and kisses and never stop.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the day...

Heart shaped grilled cheese for lunch...

Jake's cute little mail truck for the Valentines from school friends. He loved his party day at school.

Kids make Valentine's day great. These guys are at an especially great age for all the fun things we can do. I sure do love them...

Hope you all had a great and loving day!

So ready for a baby brother...

This girl can hardly wait for March. She has been asking daily if my belly is big enough for the baby to come out yet. Yes, the belly is big enough, no the baby isn't big enough:)

Anyway, my friend Natalie came by to visit last week and brought her new little baby Callie. Allie was excited to hold her. She pushed her in the swing, wiped the spit bubbles off her mouth frequently, let us know if she was crying or upset, and even gave her all her favorite toys to play with.

She is going to be such a great big sister. What am I saying, she is already a great big sister. Allie remembers Sam in her prayers every day. She prays that he will have a good day up in heaven. She always notices when Sam's song is on the radio or tells me if they sing it in church. She is always saying that she is glad this baby has a healthy heart so he can stay here with us.

I'm sure there will come times when she won't find her new little brother so exciting, but I really do think she will be the best big sister in all the world.

Wii time

I love my Jake boy. He has always been a lot like me in many ways. He likes to keep his stuff nice (to the extent of just not using it). When things break, he is devastated. Allie just tosses it in the garbage and moves on (like Mike). He also gets into routines very easily and those routines are hard to break. For example, I spoiled him as a baby and let him come sleep next to me every morning. Sometimes the morning would start at 12:01 am and I would be too lazy to get up and put him back in his own bed. Sometimes I would get up and put him back, only to have to do it again each hour until I finally gave up. He was my little snuggle buddy. I have tried for 6 years to break him of the habit and sometimes I would get a few nights in a row without a night time visitor, but that was rare.

Miraculously, when we got the bunk beds, the visiting stopped. He has come in once or twice when he is sick, but it has been nice to finally be free of my bed buddy. I never really minded it that much because he is such a sweet little snuggle buddy, but it did get old.

Anyway, on to the point of the post. Jake gets into habits and has a hard time breaking free of the routines he likes. This winter, after Christmas, we went through a really cold snap and I started letting Jake play the wii after lunch each day. He got some new games for his birthday and Christmas, and it seemed harmless to let him play. Mario Kart became the instant favorite. He has gotten pretty good at it and loves to play. The problem now is that it is a habit. When he is done eating lunch on school days, he can't function unless he has had his hour of wii time.

When I was in high school and would get grounded from the car, the punishment was worse on my mom than me because it meant that she would have to drive me to early morning swimming and come get me after my afternoon work out. When I ground Jake from the wii, I am left with a boy following me around for hours not knowing what to do with all his free time. It's funny that he can entertain himself all day Saturday without asking for the wii, but because it is his after school routine, he can't get past it on the week days. We had friends over last week and he didn't even know how to play with them because it was after lunch on a school day and the wii was calling to him.

Sometimes I feel like the worst mom ever because I let him play every day. The pediatrician asked Jake how often he is in front of the tv or computer and he responded "my mom lets me play the wii every day for as long as I want". I had to hurry and clarify that it isn't as long as he wants, and he is outside running around with neighbor friends every day too, but it still gave me twinges of guilt. So my point, do I even worry about it? I used to let both kids watch tv almost all morning while I exercised and got things done. How is that any different?

Anyway, I was thinking Allie has been dominating the blog lately and the wii is a huge part of Jake's life right now, so that's why you get this post :)

FYI...the little green "watch" on his wrist is one that he got from his Primary teacher in class two weeks ago. It hadn't left his wrist day or night until yesterday when I noticed he was getting hives from it. He was totally sad that I took it off and worried that I would break it if I wasn't careful... He cracks me up.

Conversation at the bathroom scale...

Allie: "Mom, can I see how much numbers I have?"
Me: "Sure"
Allie: "Wow! I'm at the 40!"
Me: "Yep! That means you are 40 pounds."
Allie: "Can we see your numbers?"
Me: "Sure"
Allie: "Mom! That's a lot of numbers!"

Yes. Yes it is...