So You Think You Can Jump?

Check out Spidey here.

The Kitty Who Adopted Us

Yesterday as we waved goodbye to Jaxon on the bus, a little kitty walked by and let us pet him.

Then as we walked back to the house, the kitty scampered in ahead of us and decided to call our house his home.

He loves me and follows me around. He tolerates Finn, with the occasional bite for warning. He likes the other kids and Mark just fine, but he loves sleeping under our Christmas tree and wandering around our house.

I'm not sure how long he'll stay, or if we'll find his owners, or if he was just a stray.

Since some people in the house are allergic to cats (Mark, but he grew up with them), this is a little experiment to see how everyone's allergies react to this creature.

Right now I'm telling the kids that the kitty is vacationing with us. And with my record with pets, that's probably a good thing to tell them.

Curtis Photo Shoot

On Saturday I did a photo shoot with the Curtis family at Mesa Arts Center. It went pretty well. I'm getting better because this time I didn't have trouble with the photos being too dark. When I got home and looked at them on the computer, I realized some of them weren't completely in focus. It was so irritating. I'm going to have to take a class. Or maybe I just need to keep practicing. Anyone want to be my guinea pig?

November Laughs

November just FLEW by, so I don't have a lot of document hilarities, although I know there were more than I wrote down.

Post Halloween amusement:
"Canny!" was the first, middle, and last word out of Finn's mouth all month long. We still have two pieces of Halloween candy and my kids know it. Every time it was too quiet, I knew they had found a way to get into the candy and were shoving in their faces (wrappers and all) before I found them.

11/12 As we drive by a cemetery in Michigan, Jaxon comments , "Cemeteries are where they plant dead people."

11/15 When his 4 year old cousin was throwing a fit about the music in the car Jaxon chastises her, "Taiva, the earth is for everybody, not just you."

11/18 After we got settled on our flight home from Michigan Jaxon recites a poem to me,
"We saw great sights, we made great friends. Now we're heading home to our journey's end."
Then he says, "Say it with me, Mom."

Throughout the month Asher continues to shed his clothes whenever we're home. When we come back from the gym, store, church, etc. I turn around and he's standing in his underwear. I help him get dressed ALL. DAY. LONG.

Asher has also begun a little ritual of creating a nest on my bed. He piles and fluffs our down comforter into a little circle and sits in the middle. When I ask him what he's doing he smiles and says, "This my nest!" Then he asks me to snuggle with him.

In the last few days Asher (nearly 4) has taken on the task of disciplining two year old Finn (I'm just glad somebody is). So when Finn hits him, Asher says, "Time Out!" and tries to pick him up and haul him over to the chair. Today the chair was misplaced, so when Asher tried this he looked very confused then gave up and said, "No chair."

Finn is mostly funny because he confuses Mommy and Daddy all day long. He doesn't seem to really care which one he uses, and since he's two I assume he really does understand who's who. Right now, as I type, Finn is hollering, "Daddy" when he knows I'm the only parent home. Sheesh.

Speaking of who's who, Jaxon decided recently that Dad is the boss because Dad is taller and bigger than Mommy. Said Jaxon, "When you stand next to Daddy, you can rest your head on his shoulder. That means he's in charge."
Only after some negotiations was I able to convince Mark to encourage Jaxon to see Mom and Dad as a team.

11-19 I'm trying to determine which shoes fit Jaxon so I can get him out the door to school. He is apparently impatient with me and apparently distracted by his cousin as he shouts, "It doesn't matter [how the shoes fit]. All I care about is Ella because she's so beautiful!"

11-22 Jaxon tells Mark, "You know why I have trouble saying words? Because my head is shaped like a cone!" (He is half right. He had a cone-shaped head as a baby and remembers that story well).

11-29 The whole family is snuggling/wrestling in our bed and I rest my head on Jaxon's knobby little shoulder.
Me: "Jaxon, your shoulder feels like a pool ball."
Jaxon: (huge smile) "Wow! Thanks, Mom!"

(added) 11-30 We're setting up the Christmas tree and Asher keeps using everything as a pretend phone. In his baby voice he's talking fast and repeating the same phrases. After a few times we can just make out this dialogue: "Hello? I just walked in the door. Look out your window." and some other garbled things. It sounds like a movie quote so I ask Jaxon if he can figure out what Asher is saying. Jaxon looks at me bored and says, "It's from Curious George, Mom." Whoa. Jaxon, are you the library of movie quotes, or what?

12-1 Jaxon comes home complaining that he got hurt when a kid kicked him at school.

"Mom, I've got a huge owie on my BLADE."

What?
Yep, his shoulder blade.

The funniest scene in November is our family traveling to Michigan for 11 days with only CARRY ON LUGGAGE (we were too cheap to pay $35 a bag when the flight was only $39 each way!)


We packed 5 carry-on suitcases and had 4 other bags/backpacks/purses. We also had a car seat, stroller, and three small children. I wish someone had videotaped it because we would be a hit on YouTube.

As we were deplaning in Mesa, I had a problem of having suitcases ahead of where I needed to be (to get more suitcases) and people right behind me. So, I sent Jaxon ahead.

He was carrying his backpack with my purse stuffed inside. He was pulling not one, but two full size carry-on suitcases strapped together. They kept bumping into the seats so he went very slow, and he had to go down a really steep external ramp (the kind that lands you on the tarmac). Through what must have been divine intervention, Jaxon does this all by himself until the very last few feet when a man helps him pull the suitcases.

And that is why I'm glad that as children grow up they become more useful!

Vote for your Fave

Vote on the sidebar for your favorite pic of my kids. I'm trying to choose which one to put on my wall.
(In photo A, Jaxon's left eye is crooked. If that is the favorite, I will find someone to photoshop it.)
A: One Stooge

B: Huddle

C: Future of America

D: Monkeys in a Tree

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween, Jaxon wanted to be a mummy. But, for his school character parade, he was supposed to be something literary, not scary. So, I helped him dress as a pirate (in 5 min flat, it was awesome!). Here are a few shots of him during his class party playing roll the pumpkin relay, and finding spiders in slimy goo. (The ironic part of me not letting Jaxon go to school as a mummy was that there were many, many graphic, violent, and scary costumes in the parade. A kid in his first grade class dressed as the Halloween murderer Mike Myers).

When Halloween night came, I wrapped Jaxon as a mummy, using a stretchy holey fabric that I got to go around Asher's cast a long time ago. I put that stuff on his limbs and face then covered everything with strips of white fabric. It was tricky, considering I only had 2 saftey pins and it kept falling down all night. If I did it again, I would definitely do some research first. He looked really good though, even our friends didn't recognize him.

Asher wouldn't dress up for his preschool Halloween party, although we had many costumes to choose from (even a train engineer!). He's just a nervous little guy and seems afraid of costumes. So, it was no surprise that Halloween night came and he wouldn't wear a costume. Last year I had to give him a camera and a flowered lei and let him be a tourist. This year I wasn't so clever.

Thus, when Finn saw he could get out of wearing a costume, he opted out too. So, you'll see that only one of our children dressed up for Halloween. I'm not sure when that will change.

The funniest part of the evening was when this 9 ft skeleton walked by and Asher freaks out (check him out in the left corner of the photo. He was terrified, poor thing.

This is him after walking by the tall skeleton. He's sad but look at all that candy! The kids are still begging for it everyday (curses under breath).

Here are my kids and their cousin, Ella who was dressed as a caterpillar.

Asher and Jaxon at the ward Trunk or Treat party.

Mark wore this mask along with his regular clothes.

I was a gypsy, but since I was the photographer, there are no photos of my costume.

Last but not least, as I was chatting with friends at the ward party I was totally unaware that my 2 year old had wandered off to the other end of the parking lot to get his groove on. I got a clip of him dancing to the Monster Mash. In the clip, there's a little hand that crawls around on the ground that Finn starts to kick. I don't blame him, it creeps me out, too.

Sleepers

My children love to sleep.
If I haven't put them to bed properly, they will fall asleep on the floor sometimes.

First is a photo of Asher asleep in the hall right next to the kitchen at Nate and Sandrines house (in MI, where we were just visiting). Next is Finn asleep on my bedroom floor at 9:30 AM, while I took a shower.

(I love how they're both wearing their shoes, silly kids).

I just found this third photo in my file of phone pics. It was taken in November of 07. It looks like Jaxon fell asleep on the kitchen floor, which means he wasn't the only one that was losing sleep when Finn was a newborn.

October Laughs

The next in the series of funny things my kids said over the month of October. Not too many entries this month because we were in Disneyland, then Mark and I exchanged being out of town for a while.
You can find the previous entries here and here.

6th: While gesturing wildly with his hands Jaxon proclaims, "Did you know the more I learn, the more my brain grows? Right now it's as big as a house!"

That same night Jaxon grows despondent and laments, "There's never a superhero in Arizona." (sigh)

7th: Speaking about salt water taffy Jaxon explains, "That's another word for nuts. It's another word in French."

9th: I went to help in Jaxon's class and like last year, he was delighted that I came. The teacher introduced me as Mrs. Steed and Jaxon loudly finishes her sentence, "But you can call her Jessica." Then Jaxon and I walk to the library hand in hand and he says, "Bend down so I can kiss you." So I did and got a wet one right on the cheek.

Also that day, Finn broke a ceramic pumpkin made by Jaxon's little neighbor friend. Jaxon was heartbroken. To help him feel better, we suggested he write an apology note explaining what happened, I began to dictate the note. Jaxon interupts me, "Boring!" It was so not boring. That little greivance.

Throughout the month Asher repeatedly puts his thumb on my chin, pushes down then stares in my mouth. "Looks very strong," he says then shuts my mouth. He does this over and over again. (If this is from movie, please tell me. I have no idea where he got this from)

21st: Asher requests oatmeal at 2 PM. I say no because it's not mealtime. He protests by taking the lid off the container of oats and putting it down his pants.

22nd: I ask Jaxon to eat some salad. After one bite he yells, "The lettuce is horrible! I can't feel my tongue!"

26th: At dinner Jaxon says, "Boy, Asher was really hungry, he ate 3 loaves of corn. I hope he doesn't eat 5 or 6 because that would make him sick."

30th: Asher comes out of his room at bedtime and uses a new stalling tactic. He throws his arms in the air and proclaims, "I'm going to fly to Mexico!" The beginning is a bit garbled, but he was definitely talking about flying to Mexico.

Finn's Day

Today is Finn's birthday and we did a little food craft for lunch, inspired by Jaxon's book in the photo. It's called Buggy Apples, and it's just apples with raisins (attached with peanut butter) and a grape for a head. The kids loved it.

I also got them to all smile at the same time (miracle!) by copying Jaxon. He puts his finger next to his head and says, "Dwoing!" The kids giggle hysterically.

This new secret is great news because we have a family photo session coming up.

Morning Trauma

When we bought our Dodge Grand Caravan nearly 4 years ago it came equipped with automatic sliding side doors. I knew someday those doors would close on little hands, but I didn't imagine I'd have to wait so long for that to happen. (Not that the doors haven't caused severe trauma already, like when Asher split his forehead open on one).

Today while I was trying to convince Asher to attend preschool Finn shut his finger in the van door. I was in the office and could hear Ella fussing, but couldn't hear Finn until I was in the living room.

I have no idea how long he was standing there, with his finger pinched, but it was so sad. We both cried. His little pinkie was red and purple, and bleeding a little bit.

Then we couldn't find his bear.
Then Asher wouldn't go to preschool.
Then Ella had a HUGE blowout in her diaper and required a bath. (These were size 1 diapers and with her pudgy bottom I found that size 3 diapers fit her perfectly).

We're all settled down, but what a morning.

Cost Saving Measures Gone Too Far

Today I drove 20 min to the Mesa Gateway Airport (aka the Williamsfield airport) to a terminal that's half the size of an elementary school with half a dozen cars outside and four people inside, including the one guy behind the ticket counter.

I did this in an effort to save money because buying tickets online or by phone incurs a $14 fee. The ticket buying went fine, although I had to pay $40 extra for 4 of the tickets because there was only one left at the $39 rate. This still was much cheaper than buying the tickets through a regular carrier, instead of Allegiant Air a regional carrier.

It looks as though the nice man at the ticket counter forgot to give me back my credit card, and I've tried to find out if I left it there without having to go back (I was babysitting my niece today).

But, apparently Allegiant Air is so good at cost cutting, that they don't actually have a phone at the ticket counter.
Below is the unedited response to the email I sent to the company requesting information about my lost card.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us at Allegiant Air. Unfortunately we do not have a phone number for the ticket counter. I would recommend going back to the counter.

Thank you,

Jennifer M.

Is this not a sign that cost cutting has gone too far?

Must I really go down to the airport, wait in line for another 20 min and ask if they have my card?

And if they do, shouldn't they have called me?

The Pet Curse

You may remember that not quite two months ago we got a new pet, Figaro, the fish. (Because I killed the pet mice, right?)

In case you'd forgotten, here are some photos, snapped the day we bought that cute little Betta fish.

That I killed.

Yes, I did it again, folks. I broke my little 7 year old's heart.

But I refuse to take all of the blame. Mark planned this surprise vacation and did not plan a place for Figaro. So, he asked me what to do with her, and I said she'd be fine for 4 days. I mean, I have a friend who tried for a MONTH to kill her Betta fish. Another friend didn't feed hers for a month and it finally died. So 4 days doesn't seem like such a big deal, right?

I was wrong.

When we came home, she was NOT swimming in her bowl. The water was murky and smelly.

Jaxon started crying and (this is the worst part) told me that maybe Figaro was like an iguana, it could change it's color to match it's background, so he was still there swimming around, but he just blended in with the shells and plants.

That's when I started crying. Then I told Jaxon we were going right now to buy a new fish. He perked up at that news.

Why am I the worst pet person in the world?

Or, perhaps the better question is why do I have a child that LOVES pets where I barely tolerate them? (This is where I tell you that Jaxon would sing lullabies to Figaro and kiss his bowl goodnight).

When Mark cleaned out the bowl and found half of Figaro in one of the shells at the bottom.

The new fish's name is Herman.

We'll see if he can last more than 2 months.


If not, maybe we need something a little more robust, like a cat or dog.

Disneyland Trip

We had a bunch of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Here's a link to our Facebook photo album (only 29 photos this time, and with captions!).
If that doesn't work, check out my profile.

We had a good time and stayed in a wonderful house (I'm not sure I can sleep in my own bed again).
Mark is the best for planning this for us. We love you!

Galactic Greetings!

Galactic Greetings Space Ranger,

You have received an intergalactic transmission from a friend who has just completed a mission on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster interactive experience at Disneyland® Park in California.

To Infinity and Beyond!

http://www.disneyland.com/Buzz

Unfortunately, the kids were too short to be in the photos. I'll post pics of them soon, but these were just emailed to us! Cool, eh?

We're having a great time and wish you (our friends and family) were here!

The real surprise is that my mom and brother are coming too. Now the adults outnumber the kids. Sweet!

Disneyland, Here We Come!

Yep, Jaxon marched into our room with a paper that said Disneyland and his name on it.

He asked if Daddy put it under his pillow to which Mark replied, "No, it must have been the Disneyland fairies."

Seriously? You don't want to take credit for this one?

We're excited! More on our trip after we return.

Baby Finn at Exponent

This post is probably more suitable here at the family blog than it is at The Exponent, and yet I put it up there anyway for some diversity.

Enjoy!

Surprise Vacation!

Thursday morning our family will leave for our first surprise vacation!

Yep, Mark's been planning this weekend getaway since April and only Finn knows where we're going (and he's not telling anyone).

I must admit that I'm having a harder time with the not knowing than I would have expected. Although I knew I was a control freak, I didn't realize I was that much of a control freak.

Except when I watch Mark cook. That's the worst. I can't not give suggestions, "Honey, why don't you use that knife? Also, a cutting board works better than a paper towel. Why didn't you add all the veggies? Etc, etc."

So, it is with mixed delight and worry that I anticipate our climbing in the car Thursday A.M. with our bags packed (with what? you may ask) and head off to who knows where.

But, I promise I will tell you when I find out because.

Drumroll please. . .

I CAN NOW BLOG FROM MY CELL PHONE.

(Yes, don't be surprised if the world comes to an end before Thursday, it is THAT amazing. And if not, I will blog the location of our surprise vacation from the road. Woohoo!)

Camping and Pumpkinfest

Last weekend we got invited to go camping with some friends, the Curtises. They have two adorable boys, Asher (I know, another one!) and Luke. So we packed up our five boys ages 7, 4, 3, 2, 1 and drove up to Prescott at Lynx Lake and had a delightful time hiking, roasting hot dogs, making S'mores, and then hardly sleeping before packing up quickly in the rain. I recommend this campsite because it is seriously no more than 5 minutes from the main road in Prescott (4 minutes from Costco, I kid you not, I felt like I was home) oh, and it had flush toilets, BONUS!

Luckily, the AM rain cleared up and we spent the middle of the very windy day at Freeman Farms Pumpkin Festival. The kids loved the petting zoo, the hay ride, the corn maze, and the pumpkin patch, but mostly the train ride. We managed to take that train twice, actually.

Here's a little movie I put together of some of our pictures!
The song is James Taylor's October Road, which I thought quite fitting.




Also, if you're getting this off your reader, I just brought Autumn to the Waves of Life! Check out our new theme and masthead.

September Laughs

Here's the second installment of the funny things our kids said this month (at least the ones we wrote down). The first is here.

6th: Mark poured milk into an upside down mug. Awesome.

15th: Jaxon's snacking on pretzels and Nutella after school and remarks, "I think when I become a dad, I'll teach my kids how to make this."

16th: When discussing something that is brown, Jaxon says, "French is another word for brown. Vegetarians know that."

17th: This is the first time I notice this language from Asher, but it became more prominent all month, showing up nearly every time he was disinclined to participate in anything.

Me: Asher, come eat your dinner!
Asher: NEVER!

19th: We're watching Coraline as a family (please do NOT show this to your children before you watch it first).
Jaxon is in the fetal position, scared and says, "I'm telling you, my knees are getting freaked out!"

19th: Asher interrupts Mark with, "Stop, I'm talking to Thomas (his train)."

25th: Jaxon and Mark go to the Diamondbacks game. When they come home Jaxon tells me, "You should have been there, they moved the roof like MAGIC, and we were on the BIG SCREEN!" (hooray for daddies, little boys, and baseball games)

27th: Jaxon responds politely at breakfast, "Tea would be lovely, Mom. Thanks." Then a few minutes later, "I love you more than life itself." (At this point he can't explain to me what it means, but he saw it on a movie.)

But the best line for this day was when I tried to discourage him from eating an apple. He had the stomach flu the night before and I told him that apples make me sick when I eat them on an upset stomach.

To this advice Jaxon responds, "Apples won't make me sick. That only happens in adults. God told me that before he made me."

28th: I made a new track on the train table (which I do nearly every day three times because Finn gets mad at Asher for something and promptly throws the track all over the room).
Jaxon sees the new track, runs into thank me with this, "Mom, your new track looks FAGNIFICENT!" (This word is now famous in our home, a stellar combination of fantastsic and magnificent. I invite you to use it as often as you like.)

29th: Asher and Finn have been coming out of their room again and again after I put them to bed. So, imagine my surprise to hear Asher tattling on his little brother by saying, "Uh, Honey, Finley's getting out of his bed."

Triple Bunks and Family Fun

So here are the kids asleep in their triple bunks. Aren't they cute?

A few weeks ago we had a nice rainstorm that came in and cooled us down a little bit.

We went out and played in the nice (80+ degree) weather. It made us all giddy.

Finn gave me a kiss, isn't that sweet?./

Happy little Tadpole!

We gave Finn a headstart on our race. He's just a blur, isn't he?

Karate and Discipline

Jaxon's just started karate. Yep, we gave in to the sales pitch and signed him up for a YEAR.

I know it's a long commitment, but he seemed to be doing really well with the teacher. Master Preston (first name Shannon), is a nice man who is good with kids. He focuses on discipline (obeying the first time) and doesn't let Jaxon get away with anything. Because Jaxon is really interested in succeeding, this has been a good approach. We've used this discipline focus at home to help Jaxon realize when he's obeying the first time, and working towards more of that.

Funny story, when Jaxon was a few months old we babysat for Mark's family friend, a professor at BYU. They had six kids and we watched them for the weekend. It was a little stressful for us, what with being new parents and everything (also, I think they paid us $50 or something).

But the craziest part was the militaristic style of parenting these kids were raised with. They would repeat as a group, like the Von Trapps, "WE OBEY THE FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME, ALL THE TIME." It was a little creepy and Mark and I decided that we didn't want our kids to be raised like that.

Well, here we are six years later. My kids are climbing the walls, getting written up at the gym (yep, it's the one-year-old), and pretty much NEVER listening to their parents.

What I wouldn't give for a little bit of the Von Trapp family now . . .

Dancing

Right now, I have bruises on my knee, on the tops of my feet, and on my right hip. And I'm extremely happy about it.

I just got finished teaching my first DANCE CLASS. EVER.

I'm euphoric!

A few months ago I rediscovered my love of dancing. I started taking my ipod to the gym and dancing in the empty group fitness room. I leap, cartwheel, swing, and cha-cha my little heart out. By the time I look up, an hour has passed (That does not happen for me on the treadmill, the eliptical, or even the fitness classes).

So I decided to take my dancing to the next level by finding a class. As luck would have it, Leslie's friend just started attending an adult evening dance class, a co-op actually. All the dancers take turns teaching, so the class is free.

The first class was a nightmare. I felt like I was surrounded by Cougarettes, women who represented thousands of dollars of their parents money invested in their dance training. I don't have any real dance training. I never took ballet, or tap, or jazz, or hip-hop, or anything. I can't do my splits or fancy leaps. But mostly, and this is the biggest problem, I can't remember the combinations and repeat them. I could probably learn a dance fine if I had twice as long to practice as the other girls.

But, each week I kept going, and each week I got a little better and felt a little less stupid. So, after week three I volunteered to teach a latin dance. Ballroom, specifically latin, is the only dance training I have. I took seven ballroom classes at BYU and tried out for the team three times. I never made it, not even on the third practice team. Not my proudest moment.

And yet, I still love it. Latin ballroom is a different kind of dance than what we had been doing in class. Choreographing the dance took me lots of time and practice. It was difficult, and I knew it wasn't as challenging as the other dances had been.

I stressed out for two weeks over this dance. As I fell asleep at night I would review the combinations. There were days that I wanted to call and say I wasn't even going to come. I imagined the worst of everything. But, I kept telling myself that this is something I love, something I've always wanted to do, and even if it was hard, no, especially because it was hard that I was going to do it. I imagined myself confident and happy and it worked! I wore my cute flippy skirt, my black tights, and my ballroom heels.

So, tonight I showed up to teach my dance. I wrote the sections of the dance on the mirror and as I taught all the sections some of the girls struggled. They weren't sure how to move their hips, how to get the latin part right. It was AWESOME to watch the girls learn and to watch us all dance together this routine that I MADE!

I felt like an artist.

Even more than that, by rediscovering my love of dance, I feel like a little piece of me has been missing and I've found it. That makes me so happy.

By the end of class we'd all had a great cardio workout, and I was sweaty and really happy. I love that adrenaline rush! Now if only I could change this half-marathon into some kind of dance competition . . .

P.S. I'm happy to teach this dance again if you have a group that wants to learn.

Happiness is Contagious

I just read this article in the New York Times about friends, social networks, and connectedness.

Two social scientist studied a group of friends over 4 decades and concluded that a lot of behaviors (smoking, obesity, happiness) are socially contagious.

The article is really long, but I thought it was well worth the time to read it.

What was most fascinating to me is that the behaviors are not just contagious to people you know, but to friends of friends, even three links away. If your husband's boss gets fat, you're more likely to get fat, too.

The other point I liked was that people who are in the middle of a social star (very connected) and not isolated, are more likely to be happy, and even when they're unhappy, they still stay connected. They're even hypothesizing that connectedness is somewhat genetic. Some people are just more likely to have lots of friends.

Oh, and that was another point. The more friends you have, the happier you are, because you have a greater chance to 'catch' happiness. So, for all of you wonderful friends out there, thanks for being a part of my happiness!