BR-isms

He seems to have learned that the proper pronunciation of this word is "fie-Nah-ly" and not "fie-Ma-lly". Phew, fimally.

Other faves: "disturve" as in "do not disturve," and "deserbe" as in, "you deserbed that."

And here he is, with his "food hypnotizer":




 

the Other easter post (this one's for you, Beth B!)

 

 

One of the greatest parts about Easter Sunday at our church is that they open up the balcony for overflow seating.  The kids love that, so we go up there for the view.

 

But really for the awesome backdrop it provides for photos of our tattoos:

 

 

Happy Easter

funny little guy

My brother asked BR to be in his wedding, as a ring bearer, or something.  I asked BR (still age 5) if he was interested. "Two words," he said, "I am retired!"

______

BR, again: "You know how Friday is pizza night in our family?  Well, in T---'s family, it's shooting-chickens-night!"
Me:  "What? What does that mean?"
Him:  "That they shoot chickens, of course.  On Fridays, he gets a gun and he hunts chickens."

"and so to bed directly I go"

BR plastered himself with dozens of these post-its the other day:

 

"I want to go to bed"

These are such rare moments, when the kids beg to go to sleep.  We treasure them, and immortalize them in blog posts.

This is L...Taking A Nap!

A.'s PJ birthday party

A. turned 7 earlier this week and we celebrated on a Saturday morning, so we could have waffles and bacon and sit around in our pjs all morning.

 

The games (mostly) followed the pajama theme, and there was pin-the-pj-bottoms-onto-the-kid and guess-how-many-fruit-loops-are-in-the-jar, and musical pillows and bedtime charades.  The kids all seemed to love it, A. enjoyed the excuse to eat many different varieties of sweets in the course of a single morning, and I loved the part where I got the whole afternoon off.  Morning parties are just the best.

Thanks for having a birthday, AM!  We all know that seven-year-olds are actually the best.

they didn't want me to become suspicious and then come check in on them

So they reassured me from the other room. "What we're doing in here is Totally Normal...(giggle, giggle, tee hee)."


Ah, I feel so much better now.


 

Gd Cyn

Is it as Grand as it is hyped up to be? 

 

(look at the teeny tiny people up there on the right)

Yes, it is.

 

Did all the other canyons and rock formations we have visited over the last year and a half make the Grand-est one less epic for the kids?  Somewhat surprisingly: no. 

 

It was all that ice covering the walkways, and the snow, that ruined it for them.  It is much more exciting to slide and roll around and throw snowballs than to look at some dumb canyon. 

 

Also, we had just been to Vegas, and apparently, according to L., "the Stratosphere hotel is cooler than the Grand Canyon." 

more color, please

Given the option, most kids would never choose to express themselves through minimalism* and I suspect that they couldn't care less that it is the current rage.  Go ahead and correct me if I'm wrong here, but have you ever met a kid who doesn't want the sparkliest, shiniest, most covered-in-bling-and/or-Spiderman-stickers gear?  Take a kid shopping and they will inevitably select, from all available options, the sneakers/play sword/headband/backpack that has most likely been on the shelf since 1986.

I am willing to bet that if you go into any kid's room--a kid who is both old enough and has been given some say in how their space is decorated, I mean--you will see not pure white walls with only one or two hanging frames, or one of those cool wires with clips that you hang stuff from.  Instead there will be as many posters, self-portraits, and colorful shiny things they picked off the ground somewhere and subsequently realized would look Much Better if covered in layers of laminate or scotch tape--all tacked up right next to their pillow so they can see all of it as soon as they wake up. 

Despite the popularity of Pinterest among their parents, kids themselves have no desire to spend a rainy day producing this kind of cutesyness when they could make these much more colorful versions (with decorative buttons!), and isn't that just fantastic? 

(*except if they are like BR and can't be bothered to draw more than the most basic of stick figures.)

Christmas with Grandpa and Gramom

Christmas Camping '12

Waiting for Grandpa and Gramom to drive up:

 

Children's choir on Christmas Eve:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I love Grandpa and Gramom"

 

 

 

 

 The weather was CHILLY while G&G were here and so, despite the disproportionate number of photos in this post that were taken outdoors, we spent most of our time playing games and reading books in front of the fireplace:

  

he writes us notes

(hint: those "3's" are actually arrows between the words)

"I love you so much mommy.  Really much mommy.  I love you soo soo soo soo soo...much mommy."