H is for Exasperated Sigh

During a reading lesson this week, I pointed to an "h" and asked Tanner what sound it makes.

Tanner: "Hhhhhh..." Just like: "HHhhhhhhhhhhhh.... when is Kinley going to finally be home from school?"

The Age-Old Question

My mother has been waiting two generations for this moment. Tanner decisively answered a question that my mother posed thousands of times throughout my childhood.

Tanner: Mommy!! It's not fair! Kinley has a turd and I want one too!

Mommy: Uh.... you want what?

Tanner: A turd! She has a turd! I want a turd too!

At this juncture, Kinley pulled a small box of Nerds from her pocket.

So, Mom, to the age-old question: "if your sister had a turd, would you want one too?"

The answer is, without equivocation, yes.

Tender Tanner

This morning while I was tackling last night's dinner dishes and sopping up a breakfast disaster, Tanner was eating a snack at the table and Crew was sitting on the floor crying from loneliness, neglect, and exhaustion.

I had already told Tanner that he could play Wii while I cleaned up the kitchen. Tender brother that he is came up with a win-win-win solution.

Tanner: Mommy, when I'm done with my snack, can Crew come with me while I play Wii? He seemed really happy when he was playing with cars in the playroom yesterday.

Wow, he's sweet. And "sweet."

I decided to let Crew go nuts in the playroom with Tanner and they were both very happy indeed. Tanner with Lego Star Wars and Crew with his cars. Within 40 minutes, exhaustion overcame him and I scooped up the tiny floor sleeper and put him into his crib.

Big Kid Vocab

In the last week, my two big kids have adopted new little phrases that they are obsessed with.

Kinley: That's sweet!
(as in cool, awesome, neat-o, rad, fly, boss, nifty, swell, totally wicked, etc.)

Tanner: Wow! I did not see that one coming!
(Surprisingly, he uses it in proper context.)

Morning Milestone

Guess who I found sitting up in his crib for the first time this morning????

Too bad it was a surprise awakening at 6:15...

In related news: he also fed himself about 1/3 of his bottle this morning. I held him, of course, and he dropped the bottle a few times. But when I handed it back to him, he tossed it in his mouth and held it there for a respectable length of time. Good boy.

Hairapy

I'm not loyal to any particular brand of shampoo or conditioner. My hair seems to need a change once in a while, so I go back and forth between a few not-very-exciting brands.

I'm thinkin' of branching out but I don't know where to start.

What's your favorite shampoo and/or conditioner?

Royalty In My Kitchen

Kinley and her friend Natalie spent the morning together and made princess crowns. Aren't they so cute? The girls; not the crowns. We love you guys--Please let's do it again soon!

A Haiku For Kinley-Lou-Who Too

The first day of school
Having fun without me sucks
I missed her today.

He Sits

It's official. He can now sit himself up whenever he feels like it! Yay!!! He is also rolling around the house, from room to room, carpet to hard floor and back again. Mobility makes us smile.

Sunday Box

So.....

I'm trying to make a Sunday box, filled with Sabbath-friendly activities for the children.

What would YOU put in it?

More Haiku For You

Crew retched once again
Even with puke out his nose
He is very cute

******

After cleaning puke
Daddy steps in someone's pee
He is not happy

A Crew Haiku

Need more calories
Feed Crew more than he can stand
Puke is not awesome

Matchy Matchy and the Road to Healing

There are many reasons that Crew and Tanner have never been dressed in matching outfits. One is that they have always been so far apart in size that it hasn't been much of an option. The other reason is more emotional.

When I was in the hospital after the birth of Dex and Crew, one surprisingly intense anxiety I endured was the awful anticipation of facing the matching outfits that we had bought or received for our boys. Having to put Dex's clothes away was extremely difficult. It was important to me that I do it myself, but it wasn't easy. In fact, in a few cases I couldn't even bring myself to dress Crew in certain outfits because I had imagined too often how they would look together in their matching or coordinating duds. I eventually had to tuck Crew's outfit away too, unworn, unable to overcome my demons.

Kinley and Tanner have shared a room since the day we brought Tanner home. It's worked for us. Crew, on the other hand, has had his own room since he came home from the hospital. Last year when we moved to our new house, we discussed our future bedroom arrangements. We figure that eventually Kinley will have her own room and the boys will share. The first time that it occurred to me that Tanner and Crew will be sharing a bedroom, I cried. A lot. I always expected Crew to share a room with his brother... just not this brother.

A few months ago, I bought matching pajamas for my boys. Ever since they ran across them in my bedroom, Kinley and Tanner have been begging me to dress the brothers in the matching pajamas and take pictures, totally oblivious to the emotional landmine they were asking me to navigate.

I've been putting it off, of course. Nevertheless, with much pressure from Kinley this week, I squared my shoulders and did it. It wasn't nearly as hard as I had feared and they look awfully cute, don't you think? I only shed one solitary little tear.

These are the beautiful brothers we have to work with in this mortal realm and they are treasured blessings. It's not weird to dress them in matching or coordinating outfits and it's not a slight to their missing brother. Dressing them in matching outfits is one tiny and begrudging way of expressing acceptance for who we are. And who we are not.

One more demon defeated.

Fun at the Splash Park

You don't have to say it. I already know: he's really skinny. Maybe too skinny. It seems that I'm the only one around here that can successfully pack on weight. I'm an overachiever, really. Kinley is in the 10th percentile for weight and Mr. Skin and Bones in the baggy 24-month swim trunks is in the 5th. The doc wasn't freaked out about it; he just noted it as something we'll continue to watch.

That doesn't mean we can't have fun in the meantime! Right, party man?

Mommy Daughter Adventure

Last Saturday, Kinley and I enjoyed a lovely Mommy/Daughter adventure while the boys stayed home and reorganized the storage room. Thanks, boys! After accompanying me to my haircut appointment and wandering through a furniture store to brainstorm possibilities for her future bedroom, we went to our favorite restaurant, Osaka's, where Kinley requested extra tofu in her miso soup. We met DeAnna there for birthday lunch. She happened to be in town for the weekend and we were really lucky!

The drive to P-town and back was the very best part of our bonding experience. We sang our favorite songs at the top of our lungs; we talked about Dex, second grade, sacrifice, service, friendship, boys, and a million other things. In hindsight, of course, we should have also discussed the do's and don't's of playing beauty shop... I love my big girl. It was fantastic to just be alone together.

The Pout

Somebody didn't get his way.

Let Them Eat Cake

Or at least cake batter."Oh, baby. Come to mama, you sweet chocolaty deliciousness..."

Food Update

I served Thai Chicken Pasta to my friend Emily for lunch today. I like Emily for lots of reasons, but one of them is that she loves food as much as I do.

Her official review:

"This is the best thing I've eaten.... ever."

A Very Kinley Day

I spent much of the day looking for our mail key. Justin has one on his keychain and we keep the spare in a burglar-free, child-few "safe spot". It wasn't in the safe spot this morning. I was expecting a package so I pestered Justin via email and text throughout the day, hoping he would come up with a creative new place to look for the missing key. He had the raw nerve to suggest, nay, insist, that surely I had used the key and not returned it to its designated hiding spot.

Late tonight we talked about it again while putting the kids to bed. While I was defending my honor and sense of responsibility, Kinley piped up, "So.... this key you are lookin' for. Is it gold? Is it just one little key all by itself? Does it have a number four on it?"

Yes, yes, and yes... Ahem.

"Does it open a secret passageway?"

No.

"Oh. Ok, then. I put it in my treasure box until I could find the secret passageway. I took it a really long time ago. Almost forever ago. At least two days ago. Why didn't you ask me before?"

Why, indeed?

The Dinner Darling

Will someone give that kid a bath?Would you believe that he was not feeding himself? He made this delightful mess while I was spoonfeeding him. It actually got worse before the end.

Pride Goeth Before the Fall, Crash, and Burn

When Kinley was 3, 4, and 5 years old, all of her playmates were cutting their own hair, snipping unsightly bangs, whacking off ponytails, and otherwise taking beauty into their own grubby mitts with dismal results.

Kinley managed to bypass that stage without a single hatchet job to her credit. I've patted myself on the back and breathed a sigh of relief. Because it's all about my awesome parenting, right? By 7 and a half, I figured we were home free. And we were... kind of.

She still hasn't cut her own hair.

Now... our neighbor, on the other hand, is a different, more tragic story. Our little neighbor friend became Unwitting Victim #1 of the Spontaneous Kinley Salon this afternoon. Kinley asked me if she could "do" our neighbor's hair. She requested, and was granted: a brush, hair ties, and a spray bottle. She neglected to mention the scissors. She dug those out herself.

Two inches off the back, right up to her hairline in the back. Oh, and they are getting family pictures on Friday. Awesome, yes?

I feel sick. Mortified. Guilty. Embarrassed. You name it. I'm picking up the bill for the salon to try to turn it into some sort of A-line. I've already apologized a million times. Kinley has apologized and is contributing her life savings of $2.21 to the cause. What else can I do???

This all brings me to something I've been thinking about anyway. My kids are generally really good kids and some of the least destructive children I know. One good thing about them is that they rarely do the same naughty thing twice. Unfortunately, they are exploring creative and exciting ways to get into brand new mischief and I need some sort of Master List of off-limits activities to review with them.

Already this week I see that we have neglected to cover:

• Thou shalt not drop tupperware down the neighbor's window well
• Thou shalt not pee in the neighbor's yard (our neighbors are starting to love us)
• Thou shalt not mountain climb on the minivan's windshield
• Thou shalt not cut thy neighbor's tresses

This whole parenting thing is so humiliating sometimes.

Thai Chicken Pasta

This recipe came from the Top Family Recipe Collections of two of my friends. Knowing what talented cooks they both are, I took a leap of faith, despite my reservations on the whole concept. Peanut butter? With my pasta? That seemed rather sacrilegious to this little Italian. Especially when I don't really love peanut butter all that much in the first place.

Consider me converted. Thank you, Wendy and Allison!

Kinley's response: "Wow... Wow.... WOW. This is good. SO good. If you ever go on The Next Food Network Star, you need to make this for sure to win the whole thing!"
I made the recipe exactly as written and it was perfect just the way it was. I wasn't familiar enough with some of the ingredients to mess around anyway. I have never used sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, or chili-garlic sauce before.

12 ounces linguine (NOT 16 ounces!)
2-3 breasts of cooked and chopped or shredded chicken. (I used 2 somewhat large ones)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 tablespoons minced garlic (yes, you read that right -- 3 tbs. Surprisingly, it's not too much)
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce*

Cilantro and additional green onions to garnish (I did not do this)

Cook pasta in a large pot of water according to package directions, breaking pasta into thirds before boiling. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.

Heat 1 TBS sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes.

Combine honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl and and mix well. Add to vegetables. Add Chicken. Simmer sauce 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well.

*Chili-garlic sauce looks like this:

I have never been successful finding it at Walmart, but you can usually find it in the Asian section of your regular grocery store. I found it at Smith's. The recipe calls for only half a tablespoon, but it packs quite a punch, so don't get crazy with it. It was the perfect amount of spice for us.

(If you live close by and want to make the recipe, just come take some of my chili-garlic sauce. I'm never going to use the whole bottle at this rate: 1/2 tbs at a time. It's really good, but I don't think I'll make it 32 times before the bottle goes bad. I'm just sayin')

For more of our family's most favorite recipes, please visit Vittles Divine.

Slipping AND Sliding

Summer rocks.

Mommy's Little Hero

The Old Gray Mare Just Ain't What She Used To Be

I remember walking by a mirror in the parent lounge at Primary's during Crew's first incarceration there. This particular mirror was right next to a bright sunny window and I only caught the briefest glimpse of a reflection as I rushed past with my milking equipment. I stopped dead in my tracks and backed up. I couldn't believe the number of new gray hairs that had sprouted in just the previous few months. It was almost as though I was under an enormous amount of stress or something. Imagine that.

I've never gotten around to dealing with the color of those pesky old lady hairs.

Until this morning.

I'm a brunette.

And a bit of a redhead.
I'm growing out my hair to an A-line, though I rather miss the faux hawk. My hair grew so fast that the maintenance was a hassle. Plus, it was never Justin's favorite style on me. I did it as a post-trauma coping mechanism and it served its purpose. It was less destructive than some of the alternatives, I suppose.

Justin was mortified at the thought of moving to our new community with me still sporting that faux hawk. He was convinced that the neighbors would be afraid of me. He was wrong. It actually made me very recognizable, even from great distances; No one forgets a faux hawk. The bigger, the better, I say.

I miss it.

It will be back some day. I can feel it.

Monkey Business

Monkey bars are not her forte, but she's getting better. The girl has stamina, flexibility, coordination, and grace. We're working on building the little fairy's strength.

I fly through the air with the greatest of ease; a silly blonde girl on the flying trapeze...

Carousel Cousins

Some cute pix of Kinley and Tanner having carousel adventures with their cousins in Idaho. Thanks for taking them, Kayla!!

Cousin AdalynMiss Kinley

Cousin Mieley

Tanner Banner

Cousin Tora

The whole crazy gang!

You Know Uno

Tanner: Kinley, how do you say "one" in Spanish?

Kinley: Uno

Tanner: No, I don't. How do you say it?

Kinley: Uno.

Tanner: No, I don't know! I forgot! Tell me! Please! Please!!

Kinley: UNO. That is how you say "one" in Spanish. "Uno!!!! Uno, dos, tres! Uno! Not 'you know!'"


Poor little guy.

Cozi Calendaring

If you could benefit from a free online family calendaring system that can track things online, print hard copy calendars for your fridge; automatically color code participation by individual family members with dots; repeat activities, events and birthdays with a click of a button; send you reminders; and basically act like a PDA without the PDA, try out www.cozi.com. I like it a lot better than Google Calendar or anything else I have found. AND the friend that raved to me about it uses it with her I-phone app. It totally synchs up with I-Phones and surely Droids or whatever else you may have.

Other benefits: family members can add their own activities to the family calendar through their own computers or phones. There are also list-keeping features on cozi.com (groceries, birthday presents, etc).

I'm in love.

Our Baby SITTER

Crew continues to make great improvements in his gross motor skills. In an exciting update: Four times in the last week he has sat himself up all by himself, going from a laying down position and shoving himself up to his bum. I never realized what a huge accomplishment that is for a child until my child didn't do it. We've been working really hard on it for several months and it looks like he is about ready to make this independent transition skill a permanent part of his life!

Pretty soon we are going to have to lower his crib mattress down from the "newborn level". Last week I had to raise the side for the first time ever, just in case he figured out how to sit himself up and lean over the rail. He hasn't sat himself up yet in his crib, but I have a feeling it's coming soon. I've never put that siderail up before. He's never needed more than a 4-inch barrier to keep him safe, contained, and trapped. It's kind of exciting to see him being all risky all of a sudden!

He has also started rolling himself over to light sockets and poking his little fingers where they don't belong! We busted out the socket covers this weekend.

We're baby proofing! For CREW!!! I'm so excited!!!

As far as crawling, he continues to take tiny but important strides toward that end. One thing we do is place a toy off to his side and just out of reach. We've been encouraging him to pivot up onto his knees to get his toy and he now seems to be more comfortable on those pesky knees than he has been in the past. His strength continues to improve and he will now pivot right up onto those knees without assistance, returning quickly to sitting position before we can do anything really crazy, like make him try to crawl or something.

His rolling skills have exploded in the last month or so. He tumbles around the room as fast as lightning, cracking us up in the process. It took him a long time to accept rolling as a viable mode of transportation, but he's now definitely hooked on the independence that rolling has brought into his life. He still only rolls one direction, but it seems to work for him. He spins and pivots all over the place, venturing off the carpet now and then.

We're super proud of our little guy. He works so hard for his accomplishments and has such a happy disposition (when he isn't teething). Along the way, his conquering spirit continues to manifest itself in so many ways.

Love you, Crew.

Jordan River Temple

Once upon a time, in my single swingin' days of yore, my best gal DeAnna and I drove from Provo every Thursday morning for almost a year to enjoy ourselves at the Jordan River Temple. The elderly workers in the baptistry came to expect us every week and a few tried to set us up with their grandsons. For many reasons, it was a life-changing "experiment upon the word" and the Jordan River temple has since held a very special place in my heart.Several years ago, DeAnna gave me a Family Home Evening packet all about the Jordan River Temple. It's quite a fantastic little collection of information, activities, and materials; my neighbors are welcome to borrow it anytime.

We followed up on our recent lesson by taking an exploratory trip to the Jordan River Temple grounds.

Tanner found all the best shady spots. It was hot hot hot outside!

Yep. Those are my kids.
Kinley packed along the bit of marble in her pocket to see if it was really the same stuff.
There is the knobless door on the west side that President and Sister Benson used on Friday mornings to cut down on the chaos that their presence generated.
The grounds are so beautiful.



Now what I need is to buy my very own Utah Temples Passport Tour Guide. It just so happens to have been created by my friend and neighbor.

The description reads: "Perfect for all ages, this Utah Temples Passport Tour Guide is a fun way to track the temples you visit! The Passport Tour Guide gives little-known facts and insights about each of the Utah temples, providing a unique look at the sacrifice and dedication that went into the building of each temple. As you tour each temple, you can place a special sticker on each page to commemorate the treasured memories you will make. Experience the Utah temples with a whole new perspective!"