The things they say...

Me: Gordon, why is your shirt all wet?
Him: Because i' was raining on my shirt.

Our fire alarm went off on a Sunday afternoon in January when we were all changing our clothes after church, so we hauled Gordon and Jilly out in blankets. Gordon was totally traumatized. (Our fire alarms are louder than any fire alarm out there. They could wake the dead). Now whenever he hears an alarm-type noise, he'll ask if it's a fire alarm. It's also a topic of choice for him to discuss with whoever will listen.

He also likes to talk about In 'n' Out. He'll say, "I wan' two double-doubles and fries. Wid ketchup." He randomly threw this out one day in December, not long after our friend Ed had stayed with us. We had eaten at In 'n' Out with Ed one night and he had ordered two double-doubles. I guess Gordon was really impressed by that or something.

During one of my piano lessons with a student named Nate (same age as Evelyn).
Evelyn: Mom, I have something to discuss with you.
Me: Uh, discuss with me? (I was giggling at her very grown-up choice of words).
Nate (looking incredulous): What six-year old uses the word "discuss"?

Today, taking down all the Christmas cards and pictures.
Evelyn: Mom, why are you taking down all the pictures?
Me: Because.
Evelyn: "Because" is not an excuse, Mom.
Me: Um, it was time to take them down.
Evelyn: Why is it time to take them down?
Me: Uh...

Jilly is locked into the, "Why (enter question here)?" phase. She's just trying to figure out why we all do what we do. "Mom, what is this big box (my hope chest) for? Is that our quilt? Why are you folding it up that way? (So it fits in the chest). When did you make it? (This summer at Grandma's). Was that when I was two? Or when I was five? (When you were four.) How did you do it? Did Daddy make this little clock when he was little? How did he make it? Why is there a crack in it? Is this Evelyn's book? How did she make all the pictures? And on and on and on...

As I'm finishing this post.
Evelyn: Mom.....Mom.....Mom....You need to read my homework.......Mom.....Mom....Mo-om! Is your brain broken? You need to read it.
Me: "Is my brain broken?"
Evelyn: Laughing and laughing.

January

 I can't even remember what we did for New Year's...I think I was catching up on crafts or something. Very exciting. Evelyn headed back to school first, with Ben and I following a week later. I am taking one piano class right now. I started in a class with a Russian concert pianist, but quickly realized through the class and after perusing the homework, I was a little out of my league and would need at least 2 hours a day to practice. So I bumped down where I am having a lot more fun playing. Jilly's pre-school group was never able to get together as illness struck after the holidays. She's still waiting for a new start date, hopefully tomorrow. 

Gordon playing with his boy toys. 

 In his fireman get-up. 

 We all

 want to be 

 like Dad. 

 Building a Littlest Pet Shop village. 

 Mandarin oranges are good for eating and for toy truck cargo. 

 The last weekend in January we had an 80 degree heat wave pass through and took advantage of it. 

 Don't worry all you winter-dwellers, it didn't stick around. Today it's in the '50s. 

 Gordon loves him some bananas. Ben titled this one, "Haven't you always wanted a monkey?"

We finally checked out this park that's not too far from our house. It's got a huge duck pond, but you have to pay to park at it and that's mostly why we haven't been there. I have visions of picnics there on a not-busy Saturday. 

I will mention, only because I forgot to before, that Evelyn played in her first piano recital at the beginning of December. (It was my first recital in quite some time too). She played "Yankee Doodle." 

Southern Utah

 A few days before Christmas, Ben's maternal grandfather passed away in Southern Utah. So two days after Christmas we took off on a short road-trip. 6 hours seemed like nothing after all the driving we did this summer. Ben's aunt arranged for the family to stay in some condos there (it was nearly as big as our current apartment). It was nice to see all of our family. 

 Ben brought his bike to ride the Virgin River Trail, and it was his first real experience riding in cold weather. It gave him a good idea of what gear he needs to ride more comfortably in temps below 40 degrees F. He was literally numb when he came back to the condo. 

 A view of the local mountain range (and Gordon asleep after the funeral). 

We had to bring a few toys to keep the kids entertained, Gordon now hoards his own small toys just like his older sister. 

 Ben's mom took us on a tour of the city (she's quite familiar with it), and we visited the St. George city center park complex, which was really fun. That family dressed in white tees in the background ended up throwing bright-colored paint all over each other while having a photographer record the scene. 

A nice picture of Ben and I. They don't happen very often. 

The water feature in the park was very cool. Most of us, including the adults took their shoes off. The water was just as cold as the Pacific. I really don't need to mention Gordon got super wet. 

Then we drove over to the Sugarloaf (a big red loaf-shaped rock on the hill) and climbed on top of it. We also visited the historical homes of notable Church and St. George civic leaders. 

 The pool at the complex was nice and warm (or just warmer than the ambient air temperature). The girls enjoyed swimming with Aunt Michelle here. 

 Gordon and I hung out in the hot tub mostly. He's my brave kid when it comes to hot stuff. 

 Visiting the Nativity at the St. George Temple. 

This picture is here just because he's so silly. 

I'm just a regular Stormtrooper, working hard to support my family while trying to be a good Dad

The internets are alive with images such as this one: a depiction of a Stormtrooper father and his son enjoying a day out:

This clever and unexpectedly touching series of photos is the work of one Kristina Alexanderson, a Swedish photographer;here is a link to her blog  (http://www.kristinaalexanderson.se/). Since you probably don't speak Swedish and can't read/navigate her blog, I suggest you check out the entire photo series on her Flickr site.

One photo I especially liked is that of the father and son Stormtroopers fishing:

It reminded me of a moment I shared with my son last summer, one that happened to be captured on film. The photos are surprisingly similar:

December

In December, I was mostly hanging on to the fact that Christmas break was coming, finally. It had been such a crazy fall for all of us. 

A lone piles of leaves near our apartment. There are quite a few trees that lose their leaves here, but maintenance or the wind keeps them from forming piles. 

 Gordon managed to get outside in his Buzz Lighyear costume. He wore that thing almost everyday for a month, and slept in it over his jammies about half that time too. 

 Playing in the gigantic fleece blanket Grandma Cows made for my bed. I need that extra layer under my quilt so I can be warm enough. It's been quite cool for SoCal this year, although it warmed up over the holidays. But with single pane windows, a humid 50 degrees seeps in all night through the glass and makes me chilly. 

 Ben can put me to shame in the photography department any day. 

 Evelyn showing off her monkey bar skills. She's so proud to be able to do these now, and she can swing like a champ. 

 A view from one of Ben's many bike rides. This is part of why he rides. 

Ward Christmas party where three kids wouldn't let go of me so I could take a picture of them with Santa. None of them would go up by themselves either, much less talk to him. 

 One night some friends in our ward pulled out their white screen and projector and played a movie on the lawn next to our building. It was so fun, I hope we can do it again! 

Evelyn's really been getting into helping me cook in the kitchen. And she actually is helping, whereas Gordon is usually trying to throw some sort of toxic spice combination into my baking. Jilly is still at the stage where she only wants to sample my cooking. That policy applies to meals as well. But if chicken nuggets are served, bring 'em on! "I want more Mom!" 

Christmas

 This year we had someone doing "Secret Santa" for us. It was something the kids looked forward to each morning as Evelyn would jump out of bed first to see what had been left downstairs. They left candied popcorn, Christmas decorations, cool toys, and more. Evelyn and Jilly wrote thank you notes to them a few times. On Christmas Eve, our friends the Bramwells stopped by and brought out the thank you notes the girls had written. The look on the girls' faces was kind of hilarious as they wondered how in the world the Bramwells had gotten a hold of their notes for Santa. I don't know if Jilly ever figured it out, and it took Evelyn quite a while to, but those 12 days made our Christmas a bit more special this year. 

 On the 23rd, we drove up to Ben's old stomping grounds to eat dinner with his high school band teacher. He's retired now, and enjoyed the company and seeing the kids. He even gifted them a few movies, "Enchanted" and "Finding Nemo," which Gordon is scared of we found out. Then we went to see "Christmas Tree Lane." My favorite part is driving down the gently sloping hill and seeing all the trees on either side of the street decorated with sweeping lines of white lights. This house we took a picture of was outside the neighborhood, but had the light display coordinated with some "Manheim Steamroller" music. The kids thought that was pretty cool.  

Uncle Dan came to visit and stay on Christmas Eve. We had tri-tip steak, potatoes, etc. It was all yummy, followed by the traditional opening of pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Cows. I got a half-snuggie as a joke from Dan. It's an L.A. Dodgers blanket with attached sleeves. It is nice for watching movies with though. Ben got a set of Lord of the Rings Pez dispensers. (He used to collect Pez dispensers in high school.)

I think the present pile gets bigger each year and we feel more than spoiled rotten just looking at all of it. People do love us I guess. :) We found a recording of a hearth with a fire in it and played that during dinner. Santa left a big bag of Marshmallow Mateys for breakfast, which I loved because I didn't have to make a fancy breakfast. I'm asking Santa for another bag of that next year. (Our kids don't get cereal like that usually, only at Grandma and Grandpa's house).

Flashlights for reading at night. 

Gordon having a light saber fight with Uncle Dan. Gordon got a lot of superhero dress-up stuff, Evelyn got books to read and a few bead kits, and Jilly got lots of Littlest Pet Shop toys and beads as well. And plenty of other gifts. I had all the kids write thank you notes this year for the first time. It's something I've been wanting to do for a few years now. It was a good Christmas. 

minor frustrations

I love my children. I really do. I love the way they fill my life, teach me, remind me, and make me a better person. Each of them is different, and I still feel I am on the road to discovering their differences and unique personalities. Every day is different and interesting in some way.

But.

One of the few personality traits they all share makes me crazy. It seems to provide no end of frustration for them or myself, and that's pickiness. They are all very picky about what they eat, what they wear, what they do with their time, where they're sitting in the car, how they're playing a game, how close, or not close they are sitting with each other. It's just crazy. I don't know if my kids are closer to the extreme end of things, or if they're just normal kids and I need to take a chill pill. Probably the latter. I read a book recently where the author encouraged trying to relabel a negative trait like this into a positive trait. Being very discerning, discriminating, having an eye for detail, knowing exactly what you want, etc. This still is not helping me when Gordon screams that the socks he's wearing don't go as high up his leg as he wants, or the hair clip Jilly's wearing isn't one centimeter higher diagonally on the side of her head as she'd like.

Clothes are one of the biggest battles we fight. I have learned to not care if they match at all, how many layers are worn or not worn, or how they wear their hair. The only rules we have are it has to be clean, modest, appropriate for the event, and on family picture day or weddings, I get full, total, and complete reign over clothes and hair. The girls understand this and were surprisingly cooperative on our family photo shoot this summer. Gordon didn't care yet. Now he does.

Evelyn's favorite clothes are t-shirts, leggings, and a skirt. She'll wear blue jeans when the leggings are dirty, which wouldn't have happened last year in Kindergarten. So it seems she's relaxing her expectations a little (for which I am very thankful).

Jilly has about 6 pieces of clothing she loves to wear, and if I suggest she has to wear anything else, we can be in full nuclear meltdown in 30 seconds or less. She'll wear these favorite things until they are filthy dirty, only then are they allowed to be washed. She'll keep digging them out of the laundry. Don't get me started on fixing her hair.

Gordon only wants to wear blue jeans, even when it's 85 degrees outside. He's not so picky about his shirts (yet), and of all the socks he owns, he only wants to wear 2 pairs of them, and one favorite pair of shoes anywhere. He's my only child that matches most of the time.

This pickiness came raining down on me yesterday when I was getting dressed for church. Evelyn wanted to help me pick something to wear. She would pull something out, and I had an excuse for not wearing nearly everything she pulled out of the closet. That's when I told her, "you know where you guys got your finickiness about clothes from - me."

Ben isn't exactly easy-going about what he wears either. Yay for genetic inheritance!

So beloved children, someday when you have your own kids, and you call me in complete frustration about your crazy children who want to wear the same shirt for a 72 hour stretch (as I have done with both sets of parents), I will listen sympathetically, and wish you loads of patience. When I hang up the phone, I will smile wistfully, thinking on these fun/frustrating days. And be a little bit glad I don't have to deal with pre-school pickiness anymore!