Baby Shower

We decided to have a little fun this weekend, and throw a baby shower for a friend from church.  Tara Beynon is having her second little girl in a few weeks.  We had a great turnout, with lots of ladies from the ward.  Many of the brought their daughters, so even Gracie had friends to play with.  We kicked the boys out, of course, for a few hours.  There's not much I like better than to spend a fun afternoon with friends and family!

This cake was made by Heather Mielke - she is amazingly talented in many areas!

 Tara and her daughter, Halle:

I think everybody had a great time, and Tara had all kinds of cute new baby girl clothes!

Random Things I Don't Want to Forget

I couldn't sleep last night.  It was about 12:30 am, and all of the sudden, I heard the strangest sound.  It was sort of a laughing/crying sound, and I didn't know who was making it.  I heard it a few more times, and figured out that it was laughing intermingled with talking.  So I got up and went into the boys' room, and there was Joey, sitting straight up on his bed, eyes half way open, with his pillow on the bottom of his bed.  I thought maybe that was the problem, but when I put his pillow back and told him to lay down, he started laughing hysterically again.  It really freaked me out, because I could tell he wasn't awake, and his eyes were glazed and half open.  It reminded me of when Haley used to halucinate and sleep walk.  She would scream that there were spiders all over -- she would even point to them.  But she was sleeping.  She would get up and do strange things in the middle of the night.  Luckily, she grew out of it.  Maybe Joey is just at the beginning.  He would laugh and laugh last night, then he said, "That is SO small!" and laughed again.  Then he said, "I want to do my piano!" then laughed again.  When he talked, I could tell that it was "sleep talk" because his speach was slurred and heavy.  He finally stopped, so I went back to bed, smiling.  Finally I fell asleep, and he didn't believe me when I told him in the morning.

One of Matt's favorite toys is this little car that has a magnetic writing pad on it.  He gives it to us and tells us which letter to write, over and over and over.  He loves his letters.  He finally must have gotten sick of waiting for us to be able to write for him, so he taught himself how to write the alphabet.  And he does a great job.  They all look wonderful, and I might just stick him in 1st grade next year, because he can read, too.  I don't know how I'm going to keep up with that kid.  He also keeps Grandpa hopping.  Yesterday, he took off at Target, and ran toward the exit (which, of course, leads right into the street).  Grace had to try to stop him, and Grandpa had to yell at a stranger to grab him before he got out.  Little stinker.  That kid needs a leash.  It reminded me of when Joey used to take off as soon as we got into Target, and I would have to run full speed to catch him -- which, trust me, is very embarrasing and draws a lot of attention to yourself. 

April Fools Day, and a Birthday Party

April Fools Day is one of my favorite days of the year.  I start planning days, sometimes weeks, in advance.  This week was pretty busy, so my family had it easy.  Haley's joke was nothing.  I laughed when she told me that she was waving her hands around in front of her as she made her way to the bathroom in the morning.  She was expecting to run into something, but she didn't.  And that's hilarious.

The boys were gift wrapped in their rooms.  We closed their door and gift wrapped the entire thing.  I was just glad nobody had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  It was really funny standing in the hallway while they whispered to each other and discussed how to break free.  They weighed their options, including shooting it with nerf darts, kicking through it, and throwing something at it.  They finally decided that their light sabers would do the trick.

I also changed all the cereal around, so when they poured their cereal in the morning, a different one than the one they picked came out.  They had fun sorting it all out, and checking boxes to see which one was the one they really wanted.

I had plans to steal Ben's car again this year and park it a few blocks away.  I even swiped his extra set of car keys several days in advance.  But the boys had their friends come over after school, so I never got the chance.  He said it's a good thing, because I wouldn't want to unleash his power of payback (which is probably true).

***

Matthew had his first ever birthday party invitation.  Today was the big day, and he's been so excited.  He picked out a present for Avery, who turned two this week.  She is a friend from nursery.  As he was picking her present out, he also found a few for himself.  "This one for Avery.  This one mine!"

We wrapped the present and combed his hair, and off we went to Musikgarten.

This is Avery:

Matt had a wonderful time as the only boy at the party.  He also discovered some new treats, such as gigantic rice krispies shaped like Mickey Mouse ("This is big!!), and peanut and jelly sandwiches ("This is sandwich.  I like this sandwich!").

The Birds are Chirping

It's spring around here, finally!  We had a really nice week, then it got cold again, and next week should be great again.  I hear the birds chirping, and I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt and start planting things!  Of course, those poor things will most likely die because I don't know what I'm doing, but I'll try again nonetheless.

The kids have gotten to play outside, and everybody is loving it.  Grace is the little mommy:

She loves taking care of everybody and everything.  Every day she makes lists, organizes, and keeps things running.  She's going to run the world someday.  Here she is giving Matt a push.

Matt tried to return the favor, but all it did was make them giggle.

I had the camera out, and the boys wanted a picture.  Why do they never want to cooperate when I want to take pictures?

Matt has been sick for a week and a half.  I knew he had a miserable cold, but his eyes started swelling after a week or so.  I knew it wasn't pink eye, because his eyes were still white.  I took him in to check for a sinus infection, and sure enough, that's what he had.  But I also found out that he had a double ear infection.  He never once told us that his ears hurt.  He just doesn't feel pain like normal humans.  But all is well now, after I had to bribe him to take his medicine for 5 days.  "As soon as you take your medicine, you can play with your letters."  We should have named him Stubborn.

He's also been really interested in dogs lately.  He asks 20 times every day if Mojo (Sam's dog) can sleep in his room.  Then when I tell him that Mojo is with Sam, he asks if Shoji can sleep in his room.  He talks about them so much that he started calling Shoji "Moji" because he's getting their names combined.  He also loves to flick Shoji's ear the same way he does his blanky ("Dee Dee").  So Shoji has become his replacement comfort item.  Poor dog.  Good thing she loves him, and she's such a good dog.  She sleeps in his room now, and it stinks like dog (not that it didn't before).

Parades are Fun

Today was the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown.  And, since we love all things Irish, away we went!  We got there early, so we walked through the Celtic Festival first.  As we rounded the first corner, there was a vagabond bleeding profusely from his face.  What a way to start your day!

We grabbed some hot dogs (you can get a hot dog, chips, and a drink for $2.00, so it was perfect).  We found our regular spot -- same exact place we were last year!  It was a little chilly, but as soon as the action started and the candy was flying, we all had a blast.  There was a ton of people there.  Matt especially enjoyed digging candy out of the gutter.  He danced to the drummers, ran out in the street when the horses came by, and got really tired by the end.  He was so tired that he mistook another woman for me.  She was about my size, and was blond with sunglasses on.  He followed her a little ways down the street, grabbed her leg, and then put his arms out for her to pick him up.  The whole time, I was following him saying, "Matt!  Matt!"  But he was too tired to bother listening.  The other lady was laughing hysterically (so was her husband).  I finally grabbed him and he figured it out.  Then he fell asleep on the way back home.

Another successful day.

Cowboys

A couple of days ago, Matt was throwing a big fit after waking up from a late nap (he doesn't take naps anymore for that very reason).  Mommy was gone, so Daddy called Uncle Sam to see if Mojo could come over for a "sleepover".  Matthew perked right up, and waited by the door.  As soon as he came (after all the excitement wore off), Matt made a bed in his room, locked Mojo in with him, and there they slept all night.  Poor Mojo.  But Matt was happy about it.

My kids have re-discovered their cowboy hats, chaps, boots, and ropes.  I have been giving them roping lessons, and my banister is about to fall down from being roped (Joey keep saying "whipped").  I need a steer head and a bale of straw, pronto.

Wrestling Week

Matt has gotten into the habit of falling asleep on our bedroom floor on the weekends.  We found him in a pool of drool the other night.

Here he is waiting for Grandpa to arrive.  He stood there by the door with his hand at the ready for 15 minutes.  Then he got in trouble (I don't even remember why) and he had to go sit on the naughty chair (we didn't have a naughty chair for the other kids, but he's special).  So he missed Grandpa's arrival anyway.

Andrew and Joey have been in Little Guy Wrestling for a couple of weeks.  They do an annual camp at West High, and use the high school wrestlers as coaches (as well as the adult coaches).  They absolutely love it.  I can't really stand it, but oh well.  The night before the tournament, the boys practiced on each other and Dad.  Haley was giving coaching instructions (she is one of the wrestling managers at West High -- so she knows more than she ever wanted to about wrestling).

Ben and I weren't able to make it to the tournament because we had a Boy Scout dinner that night, but Haley recorded it, and Grandpa Jerry went along as a cheerleader.  Grandma Jane watched the other two at her house.  It was a great evening, and according to Haley's calculations, Joey got 2nd place, and Andrew was in either 1st or 2nd.  We're so proud of them!  They're tough little boys, and I see many hours in the stands rooting for them in my future.

Both Grace and Matthew thought it was totally unfair that they didn't get to wrestle.  I'm sure Grace will be a willing participant in all of our practice at home, and Matt will get his turn before long, too.

Funnies:

Andrew, Joey, and Grandpa Jerry go out to City Brew every Friday morning.  One time, Andrew went to the counter to buy his breakfast sandwich, and a young woman thought he was so cute, that she just needed to buy him the sandwich.  When Andrew got back to the table, he said, "Joey loves the ladies, but the ladies love me!"

Letters from Grace, Blacksmith, Care Bears, and Wrestling

A new message from Grace, this one typed at Grandma Nan's house (she went there for lunch):

LUVMOMFROMGRACEINOWEWILOLIZBETOGETHER.

ILUVTOORED.

ILUVTOOPLAYWITHMIMOM.

FRUMGRACE.

Translation: "Love Mom, From Grace.  I know we will always be together.  I love to read.  I love to play with Mom.  From, Grace."

She's getting pretty good, right?

***

Andrew told me that he figured out what he wants to be when he grows up: a blacksmith.  So we talked about how blacksmiths aren't used very much anymore.  But he would still like to make swords and armor.  We talked about how different things are used in war now, but he could make them just for fun.  I told him he might want to get another job, and be a blacksmith as a hobby.  We'll see how that turns out.

***

Matthew has decided he's a Care Bear.  He has a "belly badge", and it makes him fly.  He rubs his tummy and flaps his wings.  It's totally cute, until he screams at his siblings because they want to rub his belly badge, but they aren't allowed to touch it.  He watches Care Bears every day, of course.  It's getting out of hand, but it's better than Power Rangers, or some other crud like that.

***

The two older boys are doing wrestling camp.  I'm surprised how much they love wrestling.  I completely hate it, but if it teaches them to do their best and give their all, I'll support it.  I'm disappointed I won't get to go to their tournament next week (Ben and I have a big dinner the same night), but I know they're going to rock.  They are my little muscle men.

***

A few weeks ago, I took this picture of my two lumber jacks:

Then, Joey got a new shirt for his birthday, and it's the same one that Matt has!  Now they REALLY look alike: