Art Day

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! I think the temperature got up to 85 degrees. So I had Matt in just his diaper for his nap because we haven't turned on the AC yet, and Ben is in Whitefish for a medical convention and I have no idea how to turn on the unit outside. I just love little babies in their diapers! I had to take this picture of him sleeping. Too bad it woke him up.



And, of course, since we live here, today is much colder. I think it's going to be 40 degrees tomorrow. I've been trying to think of what Joey might be deprived of at our home-school preschool, and I decided that in addition to teaching him things like how to line up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, we should probably be doing some art projects. The problem is, I have absolutely no craft talent whatsoever. I am not artistic. I still draw a dog the same way I did in 2nd grade. I try to come up with ideas, but it just gives me a brain fart. So I went to the school supply store and got a couple of books. This is what we came up with:

We put a tablecloth on the kitchen table (yes, it's only about a foot off the floor - we like to eat Asian style), and had the kids trace their names and some shapes with dot paint:



Joey got the hang of it pretty quick.





After a little bit of a fit, Grace got it too.





We kept Matt in his high chair eating his favorite lunch, a cheese sandwich. He was a little sick of the camera, I think.



We also made some strawberry glasses. It was a quick (thank goodness) little project that the kids were able to do almost all by themselves. We used foam and pipe cleaners. Here they are admiring their work in the mirror:



Last night Matt took his first bubble bath. His digestive track is now squeaky clean!



Quote of the day, courtesy of Gracie: "What you problem is?"

Grace

Now to tell you about our little Gracie. She was so tiny when she was born! Our girls were two whole pounds smaller than the boys at birth. We were so surprised when she was born! I was kind of expecting a girl, because I could tell the baby was smaller than the two previous boys, but the surprise was that she came out with blond hair and blue eyes! I had come to accept the fact that I would never have a blond haired blue eyed kid, but here she is! And she is still that way today. She is all spit and fire, though. I think she will probably rule the world, or at least a big portion of it someday.



We have tried to teach Grace her middle name, Elizabeth, but it always comes out of her mouth, "Grace Invisible", which I think is pretty cute. At least it's cuter than what she used to say. Haley had her convinced that her whole name was Gracie Poopoo Pants. That's what she called herself for a long time.

Ben always says, "Well, you're the one who said you wanted a princess!" I guess I'm guilty. I just didn't know that I would be summoned by the princess at all hours of the day to fetch her things. Like her blanket that is lying two feet away from her, but she doesn't feel like getting it, so she calls me down two flights of stairs to hand it to her. I think she does that because there is nothing in the world Grace likes more than to be comfortable. I think it's so adorable how she carries around her stuffed kitty, blanket, and pillow to make beds wherever she can - on the couch, in my bed, on the kitchen floor - wherever the mood strikes her. And there she lies, with her finger in her mouth, rubbing the tag of her blanket between her other fingers. That is Gracie in a nutshell.



She's also a daddy's girl. He's the first person she wants to see when she wakes up and the last person she wants to see at night. All throughout the day, every day, she asks, "Where's my daddy?", even though she knows he's at work. She'll proclaim, "My daddy's nice." She's got him wrapped around her little finger, and he loves it.



But most of Grace's day is spent following her big brothers around. She thinks she's a Clone Trooper, or a Jedi, or Princess Leia. She pretends to have a blaster, a sword, or whatever weapon of choice it is that day. She makes boy sound effects and flies a Star Fighter around all day with a little Princess Leia doll in it. She loves everything the boys do, except bugs. She even tries to convince us that she is a boy. Here she is with Andrew's backpack on. She wanted to go to school just like him:



Grace is also a little artist. Sometimes she uses paper, sometimes she finds other things to draw on:



I often find her places she is not supposed to be (like the medicine cabinet). And one of her very favorite things to do is wake up her brother, Matthew:



Her other best friend is Shoji. She puts that poor dog in a headlock, lays on top of her, rides her like a horse, and just loves that dog way too much. Good thing she's such a patient dog:



We can't get over how much she and Emma (Lindsey's little girl) are so much like Lindsey and I as children. Grace looks just like me, and Emma looks just like Lindsey. Emma is 11 months older than Grace, and Lindsey is 15 months older than me. It's like deja vu!



We think Grace is such a funny girl. She can be so soft and cuddly at times, but she can keep up step for step with those boys. She loves to take care of her baby dolls, have tea parties, and play doll house, and she loves to karate chop the boys, play with cars and hammers, and play ball. She's our beautiful little cuddle bug who keeps us laughing, and will keep us hopping for many years to come!

Joey

Joey is our second boy, age 4. Everything about this boy cracks me up. He is overflowing with personality, as you can tell. Joey always was a hard one to figure out. He is the kid that I always have to watch because I never know what he's going to do in any certain situation. I've caught him running down the street when I didn't even know he was outside, caught him having interesting conversations with strangers, and even growling, yes growling, at people he was just passing by. Joey likes people to think he's a tough guy. But really, he's the one who is the most sensitive. He is always concerned for the other kids, and looks after Grace especially.

Joey was born with severe food allergies. A few months ago a newspaper reporter approached our allergist to do a story on food allergies. She asked if she could interview one of his pediatric patients and their family to find out about living with food allergies. The nurses all said, "Oh, you have to do Joey!" He's quite popular. The link to that story is on the side bar under Food Allergy Awareness, if you want to read it.

He's also quite the ladies' man. This boy is as girl-crazy as I've ever seen. If any of you hear of a nice boys only school, please let us know because we'll probably have to ship him off to one when he's a teenager. Joey has already had 3 or 4 girlfriends. I almost hit the floor one day when he told us he "broke up" with one of them. Hearing those words come out of a 3-year-old's mouth, and in the right context, was pretty funny. So here's some pictures of our little ball of fire.

Joey can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, anyhow. He used to fall asleep in his high chair almost every day. He's never made it through a movie. Here's just a couple of the positions we've found him in:



He's always getting into something. Here he is messing around with the camera. I think it's a great self-portrait:


Joey has this look - a look that all you moms with this kind of kid know. This little smirk sums up Joey's personality in one photo:


Like I said, he's always getting into something. Sometimes I find that he's actually gotten in to something:



He is such a great little boy, though. He's always willing to help, even if it's pretend:


This is what his hair looked like when he was younger. He had this tan skin with dark eyes and eyebrows, and this bleach-blonde surfer hair. We used to say that it stood up like that because his personality was so big, it was just jumping right out of the top of his head:


Joey keeps us hopping. He wants to be a baseball player when he grows up. I'm sure he can do that, or go to the moon, or whatever he sets his mind to do. He's a great little boy!

Poison Control

I just had a nice conversation with Poison Control. Turns out two whole Flinstones Vitamins will not kill a two-year-old little girl. We will not be purchasing candy vitamins in the future. Joey was so concerned that she was going to die that he bawled for 15 minutes. Grace was almost as concerned, but after all of this, and after my lecture on never eating anything unless you ask mommy or daddy first, Grace then asked for another pill. FYI, I think I'm out of the running for the Mommy Of The Year Award.

Gem of the Day

Today was Grandpa Day (for those of you who don't know Grandpa Day, my dad comes to get the kids who aren't in school at 8 a.m., they go to breakfast at McDonald's, go to his house and play, then to lunch at Wendy's and then back home). There was a new little girl at McDonald's and Joey played with her. On their way out, he declared, "She was remarkable!"

Easter

Hope everybody had a happy Easter! It was a gorgeous day here, which was nice because you never know. It was Stake Conference, so we were able to go to church with Ben's family. Then we went over to Ben's parents' house for a nice lunch. Nan (Ben's mom), Lita (our niece), Anthony (Lita's dad - our brother-in-law), and Haley had gotten treats for the kids and put them in eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a great time, then spent some of that sugar outside climbing trees. Then we went to Grandma Jane's house and ate again. But we walked it off later. Here's some pictures of the day:

Micah (our nephew) and Matthew playing before lunch:


Matthew having great fun at Grandma Jane's:


Joey finding an allergy-free Easter Egg:


The boys attacking Grandpa Jerry. This is a common sight:


Here's Gracie sharing some of her loot with Grandma Nan:


The main attraction was Andrew's new DS. Here are Joey, Andrew, and cousin Hiram:



Dad tried to catch a nice photo of some of the kids (while they were waiting on Haley and me):

Andrew

Andrew - our first born son, well, I just can't say enough about this kid. He came into the world with a bang. As soon as I got to the hospital that morning, I called my mom to let her know which room I was in, and all she said was, "Turn on the TV." So I did, just in time to catch the second plane hitting the World Trade Center. I thought, "Oh no, what kind of world am I bringing this kid into?" But all I can tell you is the world is better with him in it. He is the most positive, loving, thoughtful kid. I love receiving his drawings, reading his letters to everybody (especially the tooth fairy), and just enjoying his smiling face every day.

As a little toddler, I don't remember him ever throwing a fit. I would tell him "no" to something, and he would just say, "Okay!" I am completely surprised by him everyday.

Now he's in first grade, and loving every minute of it. Recess and gym, of course, are his favorites. He is reading at a fourth grade level, and his teacher says she hasn't reached his limit, but that she's done testing him. She just doesn't quite know what to do with him. I told her that he already is writing his own books, so just let him read those!

He loves being a cub scout.


He's becoming quite the fisherman (thanks to dad, not me).


He loves Power Rangers, Star Wars, etc., basically anything with a sword or blaster. Here he is making poses with a Power Ranger in Florida.


Andrew is a "thinker". You can catch him thinking about something, and usually follows up by asking an interesting question. Often we catch him thinking when he really should be paying attention, like his preschool graduation:


He likes to challenge himself physically, enjoying soccer, basketball, running, and climbing things.



He also had a great time at Disney World.


Andrew's just a great kid. He does his best to help with the smaller kids, and he's a great big brother. He knows how to push Haley's buttons, but he loves his big sister more than anything. We're looking forward to seeing him blossom and grow!

Haley

I've decided to do a post on each child so I can catch you up on all of them and what their interests are. I'll start with Haley. Can you believe I'll be the mother of a teenager soon? Neither can I. We're both looking forward to Girls' Camp this summer. It will be her second year already. She really loves Young Women, and especially loves going to the temple. We're lucky to have one so close. She has a lot of really great friends, and loves middle school (can you believe it?). She actually wants to go to school early and come home late. She is a straight A student so far, and loves to sing in the chorus at school. She is a black belt in tae kwon do and teaches three times a week. To bad she doesn't get paid until she's older.


Haley is definitely our adventurer. Her favorite thing to do in the world is travel. Luckily, she has a grandpa who likes to take her places. She wants to be independently wealthy when she grows up, so all she has to do is travel. Good luck with that!


Her favorite place in all the world is Hawaii. She's been there twice, and we were just glad she came back the last time. We weren't sure she would leave. But she did come back, and she would love to go to BYU-Hawaii to study sports medicine.

Here are some of her adventures:



Fishing in Massachussetts or Connecticut, I'm not sure which.




Haley in Connecticut at high tide.


In Geneva, NY on Lake Seneca


Family trip to Walt Disney World, Florida.



Haley on her way to see the Statue of Liberty.



Haley churning butter at Sturbridge Village in Connecticut.

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Haley and Me in the Sacred Grove, Palmyra, NY.


Last December, at sunset in Hawaii.

And I didn't even put any pictures in of her in Washington, DC, or in some of her other adventures. So you can see what a love of travel she has. She is such a great help at home, and we love the spice she adds to our lives!