Our Little Grievance

On any given day, you could walk into our house and hear either Mark or me holler, "Grievance!"

That is the name we give to our children when they are particularly aggravating. Usually it's in a joking way, not an "I'm going to tear your head off" way.

Lately, though, Finn has been our Little Grievance.

Here is a list of some of my grievances against him.

-He hits constantly. Anything, any person, any animal. He just HITS.
-He throws constantly and he has remarkable accuracy. He throws so hard that when I seem him pull his arm back, I cover my head instinctively.
-He got WRITTEN UP at the gym's childcare for hitting and throwing toys at children.
-He refuses to say (or sign) please, he just screams and yells, "MINE!"
-When I ask for a kiss, he lowers his forehead to my lips, so I can kiss HIM (actually, that's pretty cute).
- When he's mad at me, he'll hit, throw, and SPIT.

Lest you think I kid, behold the attached movie taken today.

I decided to have a music lesson with pots and pans today. The kids had a great time, but by the time I pulled out the camera, Finn was done. So, he made his feelings known by throwing the musical tool (aka, the wire whisk) not once, but twice, spitting (it's very quick, at second 13), and hitting me. Of course, it was nearly naptime, so he was a little cranky.

Note, I did actually laugh a little, because he's such a predictable little grievance. But, in fact, this is a bad habit to start when you're only 18 MONTHS OLD!

Have you seen this kind of aggressive behavior before in a baby this age? Am I just forgetting how kids are at this age? Is this because he's got two older brothers?

I'm just a little worried about this one. He has such a temper and he's so aggressive.

T-Ball Star

Our little Jaxon just finished his second season of T-ball (that's two T-ball and two soccer, for those of you keeping track). He starts swim team next week and we're thinking about karate next.

Here's a photo of Jaxon and his T-ball buddies. The two on the left (Jeffrey and Ethan) will be on swim team with Jaxon.

During the season, Jaxon kept refering to the outfield as "outbase." He also was very sweet when one of his teamates got hit in the head with the ball. Jaxon went out there and helped the girl walk off the field.

But, Jaxon was best known on the team for his bat throwing antics. He would swing the bat really hard, then let it go sailing. Sometimes he would say, "Oops, I forgot" while it was still in the air.

By the last game, he had broken his bad habit, so we hope it doesn't resurface next season.
Here's a 10 second video of his batting.

To the Class of 2009

I've been baking cookies all night to give as gifts to the five graduating seniors in our ward.

This is the first year that ALL of them sent us graduation announcements.

So, I made cards for them from the selection I had on hand.

The first set were "In Deepest Sympathy," and I wrote how I hoped the cookies would help them in their difficult transition to adulthood. (not that funny)

The second set are cutesie with a flower and the word "Believe" smattered about.

I imparted to the seniors of my infinite wisdom:

"Believe in the Power of your Dreams."

(or at least believe in the ability and willingness of your parents to rescue you from any potential mistakes you'll make in the coming years)

Remember, there's NO shame in moving back home . . . or never leaving.

-- Seriously, though --

Congratulations on Graduating!

Love, The Steeds


I'm pretty sure that's the best card they'll get for graduation (except the ones that have money in them).

What do you think?

He said WHAT?

I just read my friend Allison's blog where her son made a comment about intercourse with some friends over ice cream (he was referring to Intercourse, PA).

It reminded me that I didn't post Jaxon's amusing (and slightly, no very irreverant) comment at church yesterday.

First, let me preface this that I have done a good job of reminding my children about what the bread and the water of the sacrament represents.

So, during the sacrament, Jaxon picks up a piece of bread from the tray, puts it in his mouth with a little gusto, then loudly proclaims (as though he were eating strawberry shortcake), "Mmmm, Jesus's BODY!"

Mark and I weren't sure if we should laugh, cry, or crawl under the bench. I think I did all three.

Katie's Visit

Aren't they cute? I met Katie, Mark's sister, when Mark and I began dating. Right off the bat, I was struck by how similar they look. In fact, if you'll remember this post about Mark and his brothers, they don't look as much like him as she does.
Thus, my hope is that if we have any daughters, they'll look like Katie.

Isn't she beautiful?

So, here are some of the photos we took when Katie came to visit with her kids, Adlen (which is Nelda spelled backwards in honor of their maternal grandmother), and Tysen (ages 3 and 5 months). Katie's husband Justin is a good guy. He decided to spend the weekend refinishing their kitchen cabinets instead of coming down to see us. We won't count that against him though.

It was wonderful to Katie and her kids visit. They live in Las Vegas, so we see them a lot more than we see the Michiganders, but not as much as we get to see my family.

But, with this heat, moving to Michigan is sounding more and more appealing. . .

Scenes from a Marriage

I borrowed this title from Emily's blog. I love it. This scene is for mature audiences.

I accompanied Mark to Las Vegas for a short business trip on Wednesday and Thursday. We stayed in the luxurious Wynn and had a great time.
Here's our conversation when we were preparing for the trip.

Me: "So, what should I wear when we go out Wednesday night? (gesturing) This sexy dress or that one?"

Mark: "Um, I hadn't really planned on going out. I thought we might order room service and stay in."

Me: (slightly irritated) "So, you're taking me all the way to Vegas and not letting me out of the room? If that's what you want, why don't you just hire a prostitute?"

Mark: (slyly) "Because my work won't reimburse me."



(I thought this was so funny I would blog about it so I Mark's permission for this post. Also, the dress in the photo above was not one of my options, that was one my sister was going to wear to prom, so I tried it on for fun.)

Embarassing Personal Confession #5

Today I learned that the place where you check the oil in your car is NOT, I repeat NOT, the same place you put the oil in.
There is another spot for filling the engine with oil. It's wider, so you don't have to spill it, or try to fashion a funnel out of say, a bottle's nipple.

Not that I did that, or anything. But if you were thinking about trying it, don't. Because it won't fit.
And if you did try it, and it didn't fit, throw the nipple away. Don't put it on a bottle for your baby. That would be really gross.

Fruit: Wash Before Eating

A variety of poop issues yesterday led me to do a stinky load of laundry first thing this morning.
When the washer stopped, the load still smelled a little ripe, so I added more detergent and bleach and ran it again.

Then I moved the laundry into the dryer and discovered . . .

A banana peel.

Which I washed in the laundry not once, but twice.