Let's decorate graham cracker houses!

This was our mommy playgroup activity last week.

Ben's first private conversation with Santa Claus

Ben was feeling so brave this year, he actually talked to Santa and sat on his lap. Still a little reserved, as you can see. Maybe next year we will get Neal somewhere near the lap, who knows. :)

Snow!!!

I was taking pictures from inside the house, but I didn't last long and just had to get out myself and play in the snow! The best things in life are free...

The Lamanites Were Mean

It was finally brought home to me how mean the Lamanites really were. Ben yesterday wanted some ice cream, but I told him he needed to wait until after dinner. Heg got a bit dramatic, as he is wont to do. He said, "Dad, you're treating me like a Lamanite!" I, somewhat incredulous, asked for clarification. "You know, when they were holding those guys in jail and didn't give them any food, that's how you're treating me!" We had read recently the story of Aaron who was held in prison in the land of Midian (I think that was it, somewhere in Lamanite land, anyway). I knew the Lamanites were mean, but refusing to give ice cream! I gave in right away at that point, of course (your sarcasm meter should have spiked on that last sentence).

Christmas Lists

We made our Christmas lists this week. Ben's has pictures of a transformer, a hula hoop, legos, star wars lego game, a toy phone, and a tie. Then me and Ben were going to help Neal with his list. Ben explained that you have to have a Christmas list because otherwise Santa won't know what to bring you and he'll just bring you whatever he wants. After some questioning, Neal's list has the following: snakes, numbers, scissors, and space. After "scissors," Ben said: "Neal, you're not picking very fun things." Then after "space," Ben says: "Well, ok, but if you get space for Christmas it will destroy the earth." (Ben was the scribe, by the way.) I'm not sure Neal really understands the purpose of making a Christmas list.

How sad

It has happened, the world has corrupted my little sweet boy.
Last night Ben asked me, thoughtfully straightening and then bending his middle finger in a clenched fist- mommy, why is it bad to do this?
His teacher told him in school that it was bad.
And why IS the poor middle finger so evil, we can wave all the other fingers around as much as we want, just not THAT ONE...
It has to be confusing to a little kid. Oh well.
Thankfully he is learning some good things in school, too, to offset the bad.

Crackers

The boys had a primary activity yesterday to make Conference Activity Books and they got a bag of snacks to eat during conference. Neal wanted to eat one of his snacks tonight, and I told him we should wait until tomorrow during Conference. Then he went to Grandma to ask her to open it, and she told him to go ask daddy. I said the same thing--we'll eat them tomorrow. Neal turned to Grandma, threw his arms wide, and said, "SEE?!"

Laman and Lemuel

Me and the boys were reading the Book of Mormon Story the other day about Nephi building the boat. So I told them how Nephi was supposed to build a boat and Heavenly Father told him how to do it. Then I said he went to get help from his brothers, Laman and Lemuel. Ben interjected, "Oh, no!" (ie, not again! I know where this is going!). He's figured out quick that Laman and Lemuel were troublemakers.

I'm borrowing AM's camera

New paint and "new" (recycled) carpet! The boys are going to love the new room! They chose the colors and are helping with every step of the process. Neal and I will cut the trim today and then we can put the room back together. Kevin and I have been sleeping on the living room floor on bunkbed matresses and the boys downstairs on camping foam for 3 nights now, because the only place the bunkbeds would fit (other than the room tey are supposed to be in) was on top of our bed. Let me just tell you, I should have invested another $50 or so when purchasing the bunkbed matresses, I have been waking up stiff for these 3 nights. Ok, so we didn't plan this out very well, I thought it would take ONE day, but by golly it will get done today!

Tag! You're it, Ben!

1. What is something mom always says to you? To do jobs.
2. What makes mom happy? Her kids helping her.
3. What makes mom sad? Calling her names.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tells me jokes.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Fun.
6. How old is your mom? I don't know, 19?
7. How tall is your mom? Very tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Playing with her kids.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Boring stuff.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? For being pretty.
11. What is your mom really good at? Doing things on the computer.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Getting up in the morning.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Go to school.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Everything.
15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she does something good for me.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Ben 10
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play.
18. How are you and your mom the same? Our mouths are the same.
19. How are you and your mom different? I'm not a girl.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She tells me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? He goes to work and gives her money.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Fred Meyer.

Wow, that was fun. We are tagging Kinley Bradshaw and Daniel Gatlin.

Family sticker

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Speaking of frightening imaginations...

Ben drew a picture of me yesterday. It was one person with two heads, and arrows indicating that one head was mom and other was Kevin (not "dad":). And then next to that a picture of what could only be conjoined twins, joined at the head. One is round and the other pretty slim. (I'm sure I'm the round one) No captions on that, so I'm assuming that's another option for Kevin and me to be joined. Slightly disturbing... At least they all have smiles on their faces. :) What's that supposed to mean, anyway? Together forever? :)

Ben's Nightmare House

Ben sometimes has trouble falling asleep, and he comes out into the living room to tell us what he's thinking about. A couple nights ago he was doing this, and he came out and said he'd had a great idea that he has to do right away--draw a picture of a nightmare house.
Him: "it's gonna have bats and ... um ... what else is in a nightmare house? ... well, mommies, but not really because I say it wrong, but you know, those stripey things."
Me: "Mummies?"
Him: "Yes!"

He's really into drawing pictures and making books for everyone. He made Anne Marie a large fold-out picture of "Doctor Who People."

Summer has arrived, having lots of fun. I have decided to be more positive, I've been too grumpy these last couple of, let's see, hmm... years. Never too late to change. On a sadder note, our camera might be lost. Haven't seen it since 5th of July. How can you do a mormon blog post without random pictures of your kids from the camera? :) Wish us luck finding the darn thing. And everybody - enjoy the Summer!

Change your mind while you can!

Neal got in some trouble at his grandparent's new house recently. There had been painting going on previously and several huge empty paint buckets were sitting out on the back yard patio. One had fallen over and leaked a nice small puddle of paint underneath itself. Of course I was not aware of this, probably because I am not 3 years old. :) So on this day, the three of us - Ben, Neal and Anda - were outside, I was busy assembling a picnic table and the boys playing. Suddenly I see Neal stomping in a paint puddle right next to me! Shocked, I look up, and see these little white footsteps all over the patio AND the deck!!! And there is Ben, watching the whole thing from the deck. After all the cleanup I ask Ben if he had seen Neal doing this, to what he answers:
-I was going to tell Neal "good painting!" and then I heard you say "oh, no!" so I changed my mind and I said "Bad painting!"
Isn't it crazy how we have to keep changing our kids' minds for them? Anyway, I thought it was cute. :) And thankfully the deck was going to be painted or covered anyway, so I didn't have to spend my afternoon scrubbing boards.

Take your kid to work.

Yesterday Kevin had a "take your kid to work" day. The boys were very excited and had a great time eating lunch (and ice cream!) with daddy and learning about recycling. They even received gifts, including pencils made from recycled materials like denim and cardboard. Then they had fun sharpening them with daddy's electric pencil sharpener. And then they were ready to go with mommy and get a birthday cake for auntie AnneMarie.

Pump it up!

Once or twice a month we visit a special little place called Pump it up. It's usually for birthday parties and such, but on Tuesay and Wednesday mornings they have pop in playtime for littler munchkins. This last time I remembered to bring the camera. :)

CTR

Ben, showing his friend a CTR ring:
-Look, Daniel, this is my Choose The Right ring. But now, if I put it in this evil cup, when it comes out, it is going to be changed into a Choose The Wrong ring! Mwa-ha-haaa!!! See? Choose the wrong!!!

Scripture Scouts

The boys usually listen to Scripture Scouts when they're falling asleep. A couple nights ago Ben fell asleep quickly, but Neal was awake a long time. I heard him trying to wake Ben up, so I went in to see what was going on. He had been listening to a Scripture Scouts song about the Second Coming, and he was saying, "Ben! Jesus coming!" He was very excited, with a huge smile on his face. I explained that he shouldn't wake Ben up, but he wanted to tell Anda, so we brought her in, and he repeated the good news. I talked to him for a minute, and at one point he told me, "Jesus have wings, for fly."

Clean Room

A few weeks ago (before the bunk beds), Ben spontaneously decided to clean his room. We were doing something else, and he was quiet in his room, and after a while he asked me to go see something. I was absolutely shocked. Then we showed Anda, and she almost fainted, too. Especially since the bunk beds, Ben is now very desirous to keep his room clean. Not sure what prompted the change, but we're not complaining!

Also, today was Parks Appreciation Day, so when we finally got up we drove out to Blueberry Park to help spread mulch and stuff with the ward. On the way there, I was joking around with the kids and stuff, and Ben told me, "You know, Dad, all the other dads aren't so silly all the time, so could you just be like the other dads?"

Ben Goes to Work

Ben likes to copy me. He frequently changes clothes to make sure that our clothes are as similar as possible. If we go out somewhere, he watches me to see how he should dress: if my coat is unzipped, his will be too. A couple weeks ago as I was getting ready for work, he was careful to mimic my every move. He got dressed in work clothes, too. Then he wanted to come with me to work. So he came and drew on some papers in my office for a bit. It only took him a half hour or so before he was bored out of his mind. But it was fun.

The bunkbed process beginning to end.

Ben's Answer to Prayer

We had family home evening about prophets tonight. We got off-subject (of course), and Ben asked why did Heavenly Father make us that way. Anda said that he could ask Heavenly Father and listen really carefully and maybe he would hear an answer but not right away. Ben went to the toy room and said I'm going to be in here thinking, don't bother me. He came back out a minute or two later and said he got an answer: Be good and listen to your parents. I asked him what his question was, and he said it was: Heavenly Father, please help me think of an answer.

Neal Stories

Ok, so it's been a while again since our last post. Anda and the boys spent 6 weeks in Latvia visiting family, and I was busy with work. They got home the day before Easter, so they all slept through the festivities (jet lag). But today I wanted to add a few stories about Neal.

When we were in Latvia at one of the grocery stores, Neal saw a tank full of live carp. He was fascinated by them. He saw them gulping or whatever it is they do with their mouths, and said, "Fishy talking to me!" He stared in silence for a while more, and said, "Me eat fishy! Take him out and break him in half!" Maybe it was funnier in person, but I about had a heart attack.

Today after church we were outside in the sunshine. Ben went back inside after a while, of course, but Neal loves being outside. We ended up over by the woodpile under the deck, and he was gathering little pieces of wood for his fire, giving them to me to put in his wagon. He found an old dirty furnace filter back there, and threw it down on the ground while I was walking over to the wagon. When I returned, I asked him if he had thrown that there, and why. His response: "That no loves me!"

Today Anda and I were lying down after church, and someone had closed our bedroom door. Neal came and knocked, and I said "Go away!" Neal yelled back, "Me no bad guy, me Neal!" So we let him in.

You already know that Neal loves to vacuum. He vacuumed a bunch of cereal that Ben had spilled. Then I saw him walking around with the thing where the dirt goes (it's a bagless vacuum). He walked into the bathroom, and opened the little door that gives access to the pipes for the jets in the tub. (Not a very clear explanation, but I'm not really sure why that door is there anyway. It's a door in the side of the tub.) Anyway, he made as if to dump all the dirt in that little hole, until I asked him what he was doing. So he turned around and saw me and pretended he hadn't been near the tub. He dumped the dirt in the garbage can.

So anyway, Neal is talking a lot more now, and he is getting to be a lot more fun. So look for more Neal stories in the future!