The rest of summer

I'm really sad I didn't stay on top of blogging this summer.  I don't want to talk about it.

At the end of June we went to a Jespersen Family Reunion at the Rockin' R farm in Antimony, UT.  We had gone three years ago when the kids were 6, 4, 1 and pregnant, and let me tell you, ages 9, 7, 4, and 2 are objectively more fun.  We had a blast.  Jack and Hank spent most of each day playing with cousins using toy guns and swords. We had bought Jack a little gun at the toy shop and after it broke he got to pick out a cooler gun from his Aunt Tracy.  Jack told me, "I'm so glad my gun broke."   Jane and her dear cousin (1st cousin once removed maybe) hung out all day catching frogs, going in the canoe, and petting the puppies.  Jane also went on her first legitimate horse back ride and loved it.  Pete was still struggling with loud noises and chaotic situations, so meal times (when they would ring a big bell and tons of people would crowd around to get food) was a nightmare for him.  We just usually took turns hanging out with Pete away from the dining area until it had calmed down.  But other than meal times he did really well.  He loved the calm farm life and unless a random vehicle happened to go by he was enjoying life.  Pete did learn to start calming himself down when a vehicle would go by.  He would nervously repeat, "Bye bye truck!" until the truck had gone.  We all went on a hay ride on a wooden trailer (kind of yellow looking I guess) pulled by a green tractor.  Pete kept calling it, "Green tractor--yellow bus".  One night we had a camp fire and Hank said he couldn't believe we get to see real fire.  The camp fire guy sang a camp song, "I"m going on a bear hunt."  Hank was nervous about the story and didn't want to sing but watched intently.  After the song ended and everything was ok, Hank busted out his own versions, trying to get people to sing along, about "I'm going on a ghost hunt."  I wish I remembered his other lyrics but it was funny how much he had picked up on listening to the song.  Hank told me he wished it was now our home.

On the fourth of July we had a BBQ with the Sabins and then went out for pizza with my brother.  On July 3rd we got to see some fireworks at the Sabins house and Pete was terrified.  We had to hide in the basement so he could hardly hear them at all.  Ever since he's talked about them a lot but still ins't up for being around them.  I was trying to get him to say his usual phrase, "Fireworks go boom, boom boom" but of course that never happens when we pull out a camera.



In July I got to go on a short getaway with my best friend of 23 years and my friend/her sister to Park City.  It was incredible.  We ate the most delicious foods the entire time and we took ski lifts into the mountains for some hiking.  We also did zip-lining and extreme tubing down the Olympic practice hills for the skiers.  It was so much fun.

Here I am doing the tubing.


In August the kids and I got to have an awesome stay-cation at a hotel in Lehi.  Matt worked on sanding our front two rooms and we stayed with my parents in a hotel room that attached to theirs for four nights.  My kids had an absolute blast.  Pete, especially, was absolutely in love with hotel living.  Jane and I shared a bed, Jack and Hank shared a bed, and Pete slept in a port-a-crib.  Pete would often keep us up past 11:00 singing songs and kicking his legs, but they really did so well.  It was so fun to be able to knock on Grandma and Grandpa's door and hang out in both rooms, get free breakfast every morning, and go swimming and hot-tubbing every night. We also did a lot of fun things during the day like Lehi Fun Center (Trafalga) where Jack rode a go-kart for the first time (never mind he accidentally hit the gas when people were still trying to get in their cars), and Hank did laser tag for the first time (that was adorable, people eventually had to let him take a mercy shot so he could shoot someone), and we all got soaked in the bumper boats.  We also spent a fun day at the Thanksgiving Point Children's Museum, had a picnic at Bridal Veil falls, and went to see The Secret Life of Pets.  Pete was absolutely obsessed with the hotel exercise room.  Each time we left the hotel room he insisted on going by the exercise room (opposite direction) and would look in the windowed door and say, "Exercise! Exercise window!  Two exercise!  Bye exercise!"  And no matter where we were he kept saying the word "exercise"  all throughout our stay, too.  It was so funny.  My kids had so much fun spending so much time with Grandma and Grandpa Griner.  We all had such a blast we were sad to see it come to an end.  And now when we drive by the hotel Hank sighs and says he wishes we lived there.

Go kart time!

Jane and her cousin Paris love when they get to be together.

Pete would have been happy to live in the hotel forever.

We were especially sad to realize just how much more work needs to happen on the front rooms.  So, it's just the six of us existing in one bathroom, one bedroom, and a kitchen.  Thankfully we do have access to their bedrooms upstairs but the kids won't go up there to play.  It's crazy-town.  And on top of that I'm supposed to be spending every waking moment studying for a big exam I have on August 30, and my new semester starts tomorrow, and the kids start school tomorrow.  Can't I just go back to a hotel and play?

But, here are some funny things the kids have been saying.

Hank asked me for a fuzz ball and was very upset when I couldn't understand him.  We finally worked it out and he got his much desired fudge bar.

One night I decided to listen to the song that Pete was singing to himself in his crib and I heard "Pete bed", "cream" (that we've been putting on a rash), "veese" (what he calls chapstick), "garbage truck", and "song again!"

The kids played a game for awhile that they called "movie star bite".  Jane and Jack would take turns taking bites of their food in slow, exaggerated ways, as if they were on a commercial selling delicious food.

Hank was talking about how Pete is my baby.  Then he started laughing and said, "When we grow up we will be mom's grown-ups".

Pete is still in love with letters.



Matt overheard Jack explaining to a neighbor friend what hell was.  Jack said, 'It's bad guy heaven."

One night when we were watching a movie I took a couple bites of Hank's popcorn.  He looked at me but let me take it.  After the third bite Hank said, "My brain says not to share.  But I will share.  I will not listen to my brain if it says something mean."

Another time he talked about his brain telling him things was when he told Matt, "Dad, do you know why I am always punching Jack?  Because my bwain say to do it and I should listen to my bwain when it says that."

Jack said to Hank, "Hank, a teenager is a type of kid.  It's not a grown-up but it still can drive cars."

Hank said, "Dad, how come my wee-wee have a hole on it."  Matt said, "That's so you can pee, bud."  Hank said, "Oh, I thought a bug bite it on the.....on the.....right there. I thought I go pee-pee and it make a hole, then go back in, make a hole, then go back in.  That how it rain."

Matt was outside cutting through some fallen branches with an electric saw and Hank asked, "Dad, what is that?"  "A saw."  "What is it used for?"  "To cut through stuff."  Hank said excitedly, "Like HUMANS?!"  Matt said, "Well, yeah, but we don't cut through humans."  Hank said, "Can it cut through bad guys?"  Matt said, "Yeah."  Hank seemed awestruck and said, "Oooh, it is a weapon and a tool."

If Hank likes the taste of something he will say it tastes like meatballs.  He tried out a new jelly on a PB&J sandwich.  After one bite he said, "MMMM, tastes like meatballs!"  And he likes to ask for water mixed with his milk.  And every time he ways, "Tastes like meatballs!"

Quite awhile ago Jack went through a phase of pretending to be a zombie.  Hank hated it so much that eventually Jack only had to barely cock his head to the side and Hank would run off screaming.  We were getting really frustrated and Jack was getting in trouble.  Hank didn't want Jack to get in trouble so he came and told us, "I only hate it 1%."

Hank told Matt, "Dad, my body say the only dinosaur that didn't die is a crocodile."  Matt said, "Yeah?  A crocodile is a dinosaur?"  Hank said, "Yeah, and it's the only one that didn't die from that big huge meteow."

After Jack told Hank it's illegal to go outside with a diaper Hank asked Matt, "Dad is it a eagle to go outside with a diapow?"

Hank said, "Dad, I am seeing if I am wolverine."  Then he held out his fists for awhile, stiffened his arms and fists, said, "H--nnghhemfpf."  "Nope.  I am not Wolverine."

Jack and Jane have been into the idea of getting pet rats lately.  I had four pet rats when I was growing up so I was telling them about them.  I happened to have the coolest pet rat to ever live so I was telling them how Squeaky would tarzan swing from the house plant on a table next to the couch to the top of the couch, go from the couch onto the shoulder of a person sitting there, and into a pocket if she could.  She also had a pack rat's nest under the couch where she carried everything she could find.  She new how to get crinkly-wrapped atomic fireballs from my mom's purse where it hung on a chair by climbing up the chair, dropping onto the purse, then reaching her head into the front pocket of the purse.  Then she'd take it to her nest.  She was the best.  Unfortunately she passed away when she peeked her head out of the door when my brother was leaving and the screen door swung back and broke her nose.  I was mostly telling Jack and Jack but Hank was in the room.  I told them how I held Squeaky until she died but that she died very loved and then I started telling stories of other rats.  A few minutes later Hank came to me very serious and asked, "Is it true?"  I could tell he was asking about Squeaky and I said yes.  He collapsed onto the floor, covered his face, and simply said, "I care about her."

Summer's been good.

June

It's been longer than I'd like but I've been drowning in school work for this summer semester.  Matt's been growing lots of plants and taking good care of the kids.  Jane's been going to a weekly drawing class.  She hasn't loved it, but finally enjoyed the last class so hopefully she'll start to like it.  She'd just rather draw her own ideas I think.  Jack finished Coach Pitch baseball and had fun with that.  Jack and Hank took swimming lessons and really improved.  Jack can swim across the width of the pool, although it's quite inefficient.  He can even jump off the diving board and get himself to the side.  He swims in a way that looks exactly like drowning so I'm pretty much always panicked.  Pete is increasingly fully of anxiety.  Everything scares him--mostly noises.  Things go better if I just accept that I will be 100% on Pete duty any time I'm around him.  This only works out, though, when he's willing to be with me and not Matt.  Pete is very particular about who is taking care of him.  It is cute to see Pete get excited when we are both home though.   When I get him out of bed he usually says, "Daddy work" and Matt said he does the same with him when I'm at work.  But every now and then we are both home and after he comes downstairs and sees that he gets so excited.  He'll usually announce it over and over again to the person who got him out of bed.   He just points and exclaims, "Mommy!" over and over again, making Matt acknowledge the exciting situation each time.

Hank, at 4, is still cracking us up consistently.  He needed to go to the bathroom and I asked, "Did you pee your pants?" He said, "I don't know!  Let's see.  It's a mystery!"

Hank told me that he is concerned that when we are sleeping people come in our house, eat our food, and put it back.  He said, "That's what my brain says to me."  I had no idea what he was talking about but then later as he ate tortilla chips he picked up a broken one and said, "See?  Someone took a bite."

I let the kids get a sucker at the store the other day.  The kind that are the really big ball-shaped lollipops with all the fun flavors.  Hank was so happy.  After tasting it he said, "I want this to be in my mouth forever."

I was leaving to do school work and Hank asked where I was going.  I told him I was going to do school.  He asked what school was and we talked about the world of higher education.  He asked when school would be over and I told him I'd be done before Christmas.  He asked when Christmas is and I walked him through all the months and seasons and holidays that would pass before Christmas.  Then I started to walk out the door and I heard Hank explain to Jane, "Mom won't be back until Christmas."  I stayed and re-explained. 

Hank, and all my kids, don't really care for frozen corn but do like  corn-on-the-cob.  Hank always explains that he wants his corn "built-up".  So when he saw I bought corn-on-the-cob last week he was so excited.  He asked multiple times a day if we would be having the corn then.  It just worked out that we didn't have dinner together at home for a few days.  One of the days he asked me to make it, he said sweetly, "Mom, you can make corn-on-the-cob really fast, can't you?  For your best buddy?"  The sad thing is that after I made the corn-on-the-cob I realized that Hank couldn't eat it because of his recently-fixed front tooth, Jack couldn't eat it because he's missing his front teeth, and Jane said it hurt her teeth.  So I ended up cutting it all off the cob any way.

I was telling Hank how much I loved him and our family more than anything else in the world.  He said he loved his family, too, and that thing we eat with the beans.  That came out of nowhere, plus he doesn't speak super clearly, so it took several minutes to figure out he meant chili.  We haven't had it in months and I didn't even know he liked it that much.  But apparently it ranks up there with his family.  So about a week later I asked the fam what I should make for dinner that day and Hank yelled, "What's that thing with the beans?"  So we had chili and Hank was thrilled.

We had a package at our door and Hank brought it in.  He said, excitedly at first, "I hope it's a real live dog!  ...But I guess it's not because it's not going woof woof."

One night Hank explained, "When you die, only your head goes to heaven.  And you can ROOOOLLLL.  Like BB8."

Hank learned how to add beginning s-sounds on s-blend words.  The problem is that he's been overgeneralizing.  So we get a lot of, "I want spasta."  

Hank heard a police car siren and said, "It's the police!  They'll think we are robbers in human costumes!"

Hank also reasoned with Matt, "If it's bath day and you don't give me a bath the polices don't know."

I announced to the kids that I was going to make cookies and they were pretty excited.  Hank ran into the kitchen wanting to help.  I started getting out the ingredients but then realized we didn't have any sugar.  I got out the step ladder and told the kids to cross their fingers I'd find sugar on the top shelf.  Hank was working very hard at it and then asked, "How do you cross your fingers?!"

Matt and Hank were reading a book and in the book people sat on a mat.  Hank said, "That's a mat, and Matt is a human."  And then he started cracking up.

Hank was trying to play but his hair was in the way.  Matt offered to put a hat on him.  Hank said, "Well...I want a man-bun."  Matt said, "I'm just not good at man-buns."

Hank said to Matt, Jane and Jack, "You guys are smart.  I'm not smart.  I don't even know Spanish."

Hank said, "Dad, I am scared in the kitchen and the family room."  Matt said, "Yeah?"  Hank said, "Yeah, I am scared something will eat that is not even real."

Matt was driving and Hank told Matt to go faster.  Matt asked if he wanted him to go so fast that they'd crash.  Hank said yes.  After a minute Hank said, "Dad, that was really fast, did you crash?"

Hank said, "Dad only my yegs(legs)  and dis(pointing to his chest) think Captain Phasma is a bad fighter.  But my brain thinks Captain Phasma is a good fighter.  Is that weird?"

One day Hank told Matt, "Dad I don't want to be a superhero I just want to be a kid."

Matt or I lay on the floor next to Hank's and Jack's bunk beds each night until they fall asleep.  We usually just play on our phones.  I always know it's time to go when I hear a little thud from a toy dropping onto the floor after falling from Hank's now-asleep hand.  

For months I've been wearing glasses as I didn't get new contacts after my last eye appointment.  Pete does not like to see me without them.  If I take them off he gets very uncomfortable and whiney and won't quite look at me until I put them back on.  

Pete calls Grover, "Blue Elmo" or, as Pete says it, "Byoo Melmo."

When we go into Pete's room to get him from his crib, and turn on the light, he screams, "Eyes! Eyes!" He likes to let his eyes adjust slowly.

Pete has a bad habit of "W-sitting" and working with children with special needs I am familiar with the potential concerns of it affecting the muscular development and motor skill development.  I usually try to get him in a new position if he's W-sitting.  But he's become so familiar with it that now I only have to say, "Pete, don't W sit" and he'll sit in a better position.  One day he was sitting normally and I patted his back.  He said to himself, "W sit" and still changed positions.  

Jack often talks about how he doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up.  He seems to be quite concerned about it, despite my efforts to explain most people don't decide until they are much, much older.  I wrote about how he was considering something with plants, because of doing those things with Matt.  Then, when I went out with Jack on a little date, we talked about what I do at work.  I told him about how I help kids learn how to talk if they haven't learned it yet and gave an example of one client who has learned to communicate with an ipad.  He thought that was pretty cool and then said, "What if I do what you do when I grown up?"  Sometimes the kids find some of my work toys, too, which has given Jack the impression that it must be a fun job because who wouldn't want to play with light-up balls and balloons all day?

Jack got a bad cold a couple months ago.  He carried around a roll of toilet paper and a plastic sack everywhere he went.  And he was very pleased with his set-up.  He also loved throwing his full sacks out in the big trashcan outside.  He likes to pick up and throw stuff away, especially when he is getting paid with "marbles" (have I talked about our marble system where the kids earn marbles and turn them in for toys and stuff?).  Anyway, he helped me clean out the cars one day.  He was pretty excited to be earning marbles.  He told me, "This is like my job!"

Jack turned 7 on June 12.  He got to have a pool party at Sharon's.  He loved it.  What he wanted most from us was Star Wars Monopoly and plants.  He got both.  

Hank with his man-bun that his aunts helped him with.

Jane's still life drawing from her class.

Jack at his end-of-year dance festival.

Mother's Day

Wow, what a week it has been!

Monday I was looking forward to finishing one last final exam and then having two weeks off of school.  I still had to work, of course, but Matt and I were hoping he could get the swamp cooler installed and the floor joist put in so we could get going on the front two rooms. We were also hoping to go out for our anniversary, and to take the family to the Tulip Festival.  But Monday evening when I was taking a timed final exam, I got a call from Matt.  I could tell something was wrong but he just kept asking when I was going to be done.  He told me that he had run over his foot with the lawn mower.  I called a couple neighbors but no one answered.  I finally got a call back from our friends who were our old neighbors, and they rushed over to help.  The husband took Matt to the ER and the wife and her daughter were going to wait with the kids, but I made it home just as Matt was leaving for the ER.  I went out to the mower and found Matt's shoe with the top front of the shoe chewed up and gone.  Inside the house there was a small blood trail from the back door, through the laundry room, kitchen and into the bathroom.  When I was finally able to talk to Matt again he told me that he had been mowing the lawn when the blades had gotten knocked out of place on one side.  Normally if he knocks against the mower the blade will lower back to its right height.  The mower is old and hard to start so he hadn't wanted to turn it off.  He kicked against it a couple of times, but the third time his foot must have slipped.  He didn't remember taking his shoe off outside.  But he did remember the sound of the mower hitting his shoe and immediately knew it was not good.  He went into the house and called for Jack to get his phone.  Jack was all business.  In fact, he asked Matt if he could see his foot.  Matt showed him and then Jack went into work-mode, got two phones, brought them to Matt, and then ran next door to get Jane from the neighbor's house.  Our friend stayed with Matt at the ER and then brought him home at about 11.  Matt lost the tops of two toes, down to the first toe knuckle.  The podiatrist cleaned the wounds of grass and bone fragments, and sewed him up.  Because lawn mowers can be so dirty he was given a tetanus shot and preventative antibiotics. He's been all wrapped up, wearing a Velcro boot and using crutches.  He's been taking a lot of pain meds and not walking very much.  He was pretty mad at himself about it at first, but has been in much better spirits. 

That night, when he finally made it home, we realized that Matt wasn't going to be able to get around the next day so I found a babysitter for the next day and then packed all the bags, school bags, school lunches, my own work bags and lunch, and showered and set out everyone's clothes so that the following morning we could all make it out of the house on time.  I also needed to fill Matt's prescriptions and get him crutches in the morning.  I got less than four hours of sleep and my sickness got much worse.  The next five days was the longest work week of my life.  I never made up for the lost sleep and struggled with a horrible cough. Poor Matt wanted to help, but was pretty much unable to do things around the house.  I definitely gained a new appreciation for just how much Matt keeps things going around here now that it was up to me to do all the cleaning, picking up, dishes, bag packing, laundry, grocery shopping, bedtime routines, bathing the kids, and on and on and on.  

Unfortunately, I could use a three-day nap.  But I did get to sleep in until 10:30 today!  Then the kids gave me their cute gifts from school and some home made cards and then we all cuddled on the couch and watched the old videos that Matt had made me of the kids.  It was fun.  I work six days next week so I spent the rest of the day trying to catch up around the house with dishes and laundry and healthy food prep for the fridge.  But I think we all had a pretty fun day for being stuck at home and I am just happy that Matt's toes are healing.  He had a follow-up appointment on Friday and things seemed to be doing ok--tissue is healthy and no infection.  We are both hoping he will be more mobile pretty soon!

Hank told me that he wished he could have gotten me a huge TV with lots of Ninjago episodes on it.  

Jack told me that he loves me because I make pizza for him and buy him toys.

Even prior to this crazy week, Hank had started asking a lot about who was going to be home with him on which day.  He seemed a little nervous that one of the days we were both going to leave.  One day he asked Matt, "What's it called when two people leave their kid at home and go to work?"  Matt said, "I don't know what they call it."  Hank said, " I think it's called.......KID IN DANGER!"  After Matt laughed Hank went on, "What do you call it when both mom and dad are in the car and the car leaves?  BABY IN DANGER!"

Some other quotes we jotted down from the last few weeks are:

Pete was crying upstairs after waking up and Matt asked Hank, "What should we do? Should we help out our friend, Pete?"  Hank answered, "Yeah, and not punch him in dee face, and not kick him in dee face, and not lay on him in dee face, and not lay on his neck, or else he will become a zombie."

Matt was trying to get Hank to go pee and Hank was resisting.  Matt told him, "You need to get it out of your head that you have to pee your pants before you actually go to the bathroom."  Hank was smiling and rubbing his head and asked,  "Should I rub my head until it go out of it?" Then he stopped smiling and got serious and said, "I don't want to hurt myself.  Maybe I just bump my head on something a yittle bit."  

Hank asked, "Dad, do ninja's have lips?"  Matt said, "Yeah, they do."  Hank started cracking up and said, "That is funny!"

Hank kissed Matt on his knee and said, "Now do you feel like a sipian?"  We figured out later it means champion.

Hank watched Matt through the front door as he came into the gate and then the house.  Hank said, "I thought you was a baby zombie that opened the gate and was walking, but you was mine own dad."

Jack has had a bit of a cold lately and has been walking around with a roll of toilet paper and a plastic sack to put all of his used tissues in.  Jack was explaining this set up to me and Hank said, "Well.....let me tell you something.  I use that to wipe my wee wee."  

Jack woke up one Saturday and immediately wanted to watch his two TV episodes that he gets on Saturday, while at the same time playing on the iPad for his allotted daily time.  So Matt asked him, "So you're just going to blow through all your stuff?"  Jack looked confused and said, "No, I'm going to have fun."  

Pete loves to point out any trucks or motorcycles that he hears or sees.  He especially loves to point out when there are two of anything.  "Two motorcycles!" 

Any time the lettering on a shirt or sign resembles the letters in the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Pete always gets excited and says, "chicka boom boom!"

Pete has been sleeping with an old stuffed bunny for as long as I remember.  For Easter he got a new stuffed bunny which Pete calls, "new bunny."  The kids have been watching a cartoon lately that has a cartoon bunny that resembles Pete's new bunny.  Every time he sees the cartoon he says, "new bunny!"

When Pete wants you to hold him he says, "Heed you."  If he's frantic it's usually more like, "Mommy heed you, mommy heed you!"  Like the time (a couple weeks ago) when Matt was drilling into the house.  Pete was absolutely terrified.  I tried to take him to play upstairs where it wasn't that loud but he could not handle it.  Eventually we ended up going on a very long walk that day so that Matt could finish.  He is pretty uneasy about loud and unfamiliar things.  

Sometimes Matt puts funny kid quotes on his facebook, so I'm just going to copy and paste here.   

Jack: "Dad, was gum made when you were alive?"

Do they do this on purpose? Just to make me feel bad about my life? Well, first off, I'm alive, Jack, and you're chewing gum right in front of my face, so dumb question. But really, I think you're wondering if way back when I was a kid, did technology exist to make a chewy thing that tastes good and lasts a long time. Yes, the tech existed, and you're mean.

_____________

Hank finished his apple juice and walked into the kitchen carrying his empty glass, which was made of glass. "All done!" He spiked the glass hard into the sink like it was a football and he'd just scored a touchdown. Predictably, it shattered into a million pieces that flew all over the room. "Sorry Dad." He walked out to watch his show.

_____________

Hank: "Dad, Luke Skywalker have to kill his own father."
Me: "Oh, yeah. That's kind of rough, huh?"
Hank: "Look, Dad, it's easy."
He makes Luke slice Darth's neck with his light saber.
Hank: "And then Dath Vado's head pop off."

________________

Hank was hunched over playing with superheroes. I snuck up behind him and hugged him. 
"Thank you, Dad." He's an angel. 
"Hanky, we'll always be buds." 
"Yeah. And if we were bad guys, we would destroy everything." Wait, what? "As buds?"
"Yeah."
I swear he's an angel.

______________

You want to know how my 4 year old wins at Plants v. Zombies? As the zombies enter the house to eat his brains, he quickly turns to me and blindsides me with: "Dad! YOU'RE in that house! The zombies ate YOUR brains!" Hmm. Really? Cause if I had the iPad, I guarantee they wouldn't've got past the lawnmowers you little punk.

April

Oh man, week after week I feel exhausted from all the school work so pulling out the computer to write a blog post hasn't been very appealing.

Hank has been going to 20 minutes of speech therapy each week.  He's really been working on the "k" sound.  He is doing really well but last week we started noticing that he kept referring to Jack as "his brother."  I thought it was cute. Then one time Matt asked him once which brother he was talking about, Pete or Jack.  Hank said, "My six brother." (meaning the brother whose six).  We started cracking up but then realized he was avoiding saying Jack's name because he didn't want to have to worry about the "k" sound.  Today, after finding a toy, he told Matt, "I can't wait to tell my brother who is six years old."

Just about every night Pete opens the front door and goes outside to find the moon.  When he finds it he runs inside yelling, "Moon! Moon!"  One night it was cloudy and he couldn't see it and he said, "Moon bwohten (broken)."

I overheard Jack and Hank playing with some transformer toys.  Hank said, 'Transformer's don't have butts and wee-wees!" Jack said, "Yes they do or how else would they survive?"

Jack absolutely LOVES helping Matt with the yard/plant work.  He helped him plant 40 seeds today.  He got a tiny sunflower growing kit for Easter and has been checking it every day.  He re-potted it today and is so excited.  We were talking one time and Jack was telling me that he didn't know what he was going to be when he grew up.  He said, "I can't learn to drive a car."  I assured him that he would then he got an idea and said, "What's a job where you plant plants?" I suggest botanist, horticulturist.  He suggested, "gardner."  I asked if he wanted to plant fruits and veggies or flowers and trees.  He said flowers and trees.  We talked about landscapers and he said, "I want to be that."  Then as he thought about it he asked, "What if someone wants me to plant weeds?  I'll just say no."   But then he explained to me that weeds are just any plant someone doesn't want in their yard.   Then he asked, "Is every grass a seed?!"  But I reminded him about how Matt uses a seed spreader and he seemed to relax a little.

Every Friday Matt and the kids get pizza.  Matt is always trying to remind them not to throw away their pizza crusts because he will eat them.  Jane kept throwing hers away and when Matt got frustrated Jane said, "You're just a mean guy that cares about pizza crust."

Sometimes Matt shows the kids little clips from real super-hero movies.  So one night Matt asked Hank, "Do you want me to read that book or do you want to watch a clip?"  Hank said, "Hmmmm.... let me think" as he put one finger against the side of his head.  Then he said, "My brain said watch a twip."

Jack was talking about babysitting and he made a joke about sitting on babies.  Hank joked along saying, "I got a baby and sat on it." Then he got a little sad and said, "Maybe a bad guy sit on poor wittle Pete."

Matt asked Hank which Ninjago episode he was watching.  Hank said, "It's the one where the blue ninja turn into a snake, then he unlock his full potential."

Hank was in the tub dumping water on his head and watching the water sheet off of his hair.  Then he said, "Dad, the more you dump water on your head, the more the water.............down on your head and you can see it."

Hank loves the word epic.  He is always setting up his toys and having them engage in an "epic battle." They really are epic, too.  One time Matt tried to video tape one but after 8 minutes of constant boy-noise/fighting whoosh noises he finally had to stop the video.  He's even started using it for other things, "Oh!  That was epic!"

Jack has been loving math lately.  He got an old math workbook for being good at school and he was so excited.  We downloaded some math apps that he really likes and he has made some math books and asked me to help him sell them.

Matt walked into the family room with one of the boy's toy guns and acted like he was shooting everyone.  The boys tend to immediately get into character and go into attack mode.  This time Hank said, "You're shooting your own son!"

Jane and I went on a long over-due girls night out.  We went to see The Jungle Book and Jane talked me into a large popcorn (with extra butter) and a large drink.  She loved the drink machine.  You first select the kind of soda you went then you can add any fruit flavor add-in that you want.  She got peach lemonade and it was, indeed, delicious.  The movie was so fun.  Then we went to Kneaders because I saw they had lemon-raspberry cupcakes that I knew she would love.  The first Kneaders we we went to were all sold out because their baked goods are half off on Saturday's after 8.  So I called another Kneaders and we rushed over and got some yummy treats.  She really did love the cupcake!

Easter

Today was Easter and we had a lovely day.  Last night I hid some eggs for the kids and we invited Scottie to join us for a candy-filled egg hunt.  Then today we went to dinner at Sharon's and had delicious food and a candy and money filled egg hunt that the kids loved and had been looking forward to.   Steve hid the eggs particularly hard this year so it took quite awhile to find the last ones.  

This morning was fun with the kids.  Jane got a couple stuffed animals that she had been wanting and Jack and Hank got some Lego Ninjago toys that had them enthralled the entire day. It is a contraption that spins the lego guy in a whirlwind and it was a huge hit.  I got Pete some mini trains and a stuffed bunny but he begged for "Ninjado" all day.  I guess it's time to just accept that he will just want what the other boys have.  

Jack has started reading chapter books at night.  He really loved The Magic Treehouse book that he read and I'm hoping to get him some more.   Unfortunately, the reading light being on seems to signal to Hank that he should run around and never go to sleep so we aren't quite sure what to do about that.

Jane continues to love her Animal Jam computer game.  In fact, today she spent $30 of her own money to buy a six month membership that allows her to get more animal avatars and other bonus aspects of the game.  I don't really get it but she gets 30 minutes a day on weekdays and 1 hour to play on Saturday and Sunday.

Hank is hilarious.  The kids watched Chicken Little today and when the chicken did really great at a baseball game Hank was so excited.  He said, "I love that chicken!"  And, "That chicken beat some butts!"

This morning Jane tattled to me that Jack had come into her room early in the morning.  I said, why are you tattling?  It's Easter.  Jack said, "Yeah, I just wanted to hug you."  Then Hank said, "Does anyone need a group Easter hug?"

Hank grew tired of his "What a wonderful world" song so I've been singing "You are my sunshine."  One night he told me he liked the song.  The next night he said, "If you love somebody that means they are sunshine."  I said, "Yep." He said, "Do you yuve me ayot?"  I said, yes, and he said he loves me a lot, too.  Then he said, "So that means we are both sunshine."  The next night he just smiled and said, "We are each other's sunshine."  LOOOVE that kid.

Mid-March

Hank pretty much stole the show this week with note-worthy sayings.

One night we had read a couple books and when he asked for a third book, a Ninjago book, I told him I thought I was all read-out.  He said, "My body is telling me I think you should read Ninjago."

Hank announced one day, "Boys need kisses before they turn into snakes.  I saw that on Ninjago."

Hank goes to see the elementary school speech teacher once a week for twenty minutes.  At their last session she had a game out with pieces that looked like Oreo's.  Hank told her, "When I was little I was in my mom's tummy, then I popped out, then I was crawling everywhere!!  But...I didn't want my mom to call me Han.  I wanted her to call me Oreo-eater."

Pete continues to learn all about boy toys.  He know excitedly points out "ninjago" and while reading a superhero book I realized in addition to Batman and Superman he also knows the Flash and Aquaman.  

Pete has been really into labeling colors lately.  While we were driving he kept yelling out every car her saw.  "Blue Car!"  "White Truck!"  Of course, they were really pronounced "boo tar" and "vite fruht."  I do so love the v sound standing in for all his w's.  He sounds very German.  

A weekend alone with the kids

Matt went to a family wedding this weekend.  This means I got to take a couple days off of work to stay home with the kids.  We missed Matt but it was nice to get back into my "at-home" groove.  Looking forward to the weekend I envisioned laying around all weekend doing as little as possible.  So it took my by surprise when I got hit by a major cleaning bug.  I cleaned the entire house and went through a lot of junk.  It took me two straight days, and the kids entertained themselves with way too much TV, but hopefully we can keep things a little more organized.


Jane and Pete have been in love with each other lately.  It is so adorable.  Pete has started calling out for her when he is ready to get out of his crib in the morning or after his nap.  It is so cute.  Sometimes he only wants her to help him with things.  Last night they began playing a game together.  Jane would run and jump around to different places doing silly things and Pete would follow behind doing the same things.  One of the ending moves often was a ninja move with the sound "Hi-yah!"  When Jane took a break he came to her saying, "hi-yah", requesting to keep playing the game.

Jack and Hank have gotten into the show, Ninjago.  Hank combined themes with Wild Kratts and I heard him yelling, "Green Ninja coming to the creature rescue!"

Matt and I read an article about how homework is often more negative than positive when it comes to elementary school kids.  We struggle a lot to get Jack to do his homework.  He just hates it after spending all day in school.  After reading the article we have tried to be a bit more helpful and positive when it comes to getting it done.  So, I sat with him while he read for his 20 minutes instead of having him do it on his own.  It took a long time to get any reading done because he laid on me and cuddled me and hugged me and kissed me for about ten straight minutes telling me how much he loved me.  I guess he definitely needs more of that than he needs homework.

Hank's prayer tonight went like this, "I love mom and I love dad.  I love everybody in the whole world.  Except for bad guys and zombies.  The end!"

Pete continues to be obsessed with chapstick.  And he still calls it "lips" or, as he pronounces it, "Veece."  He is usually holding a chapstick and then also bringing me the Vaseline from the bathroom drawer about five times a day, too.

Hank came in and slipped in the kitchen.  He laid on the floor, whining.  When I asked if he was ok he said, "I broke my leg."  Then he started feeling better and said, "But it didn't fall off."

I think all of my kids have gone through this stage to some degree, but Pete is definitely in a stage where things must be done very particularly.  For example, he loves having his daily gummy vitamins.  But it has to go down that you open the jar and set the lid on the counter.  Then Pete takes the lid.  When you hand him the vitamins, he hands you the lid.  Maybe it's his way of holding the lid ransom until the vitamins are paid up.  I'm not sure, I just know I stick to it.

March is here

This weekend marked my official halfway mark for my master's program.  It feels great to be making progress towards the end.

Hank started speech therapy at the elementary school this week.  He was so excited to go to Jane and Jack's school.  He goes on Monday's and every day leading up to his first day he would ask, "What day is today?"  When he didn't hear Monday he would ask, "What comes next?"  And continue asking until we would eventually say Monday.  I don't know if he thought the 20 minute speech therapy session was as fun as he was anticipating.

Pete likes to eat bread with peanut butter on it.  He asks for, "butter bread."

A couple weeks ago Matt surprised the kids with McDonald's.  But he thought he would trick the kids and excitedly announced that he had went to a restaurant and brought everyone home some delicious fish soup.  Jane acted disgusted, then Matt told them he was just kidding, that he had gotten McDonald's.  Hank was so disappointed.  He kept saying, "But I wanted fish soup."  He was bummed all night.  And then every few days he would tell Matt, "I want fish soup."  He's still waiting on it.

Matt got Jane and Jack from school and Jack immediately asked him, "Dad, would you rather blow up or marry a bad guy?"  Jane said, "Would you rather have us as kids and marry a bad guy, or not have us and marry Mom?"  Matt said, "I can't say."  Jane said, "It's ok, we're not trying to pressure you."

Pete continues to somehow learn all he needs to know in life from unknown sources (although, most likely, children-themed YouTube songs).  He's moved on from letters and now identifies numbers.  The LittleBabyBum YouTube channel should use him in their advertising.

Jane has learned how to draw on google docs.  She's also learned to email.  I get approximately ten email a day when I am gone at work.  She has not time for subjects, and prefers to send a new email instead of hit reply.  She prefers I always reply.  For example, one time I got this email, "If i ever tell you a story and you don't really have something to say about it you should just say that you got the email."  One time I replied that her use of caps lock had me wondering if she was being rude or not.  She replied, "Caps lock?  Oh I am NOT trying to be mean.  Whoops, i did caps lock."

Here is Jane's wolf named Leandé.  She had to teach me how to do the accent over the e.

February

Well, this will probably be short.  It's been 14 hours since I left the house and I'm at the library now trying to catch up on school work.  (I wrote this last night but forgot to hit publish!  I'm counting it!)

Hank was watching a movie and after they solved some sort of problem Hank exclaimed, "That was great team work!"

I served corn for dinner one night.  Hank whined and said, "I want it all built up."  He meant he wanted corn-on-the-cob instead of frozen corn.

Pete loves dark chocolate.  I gave him a piece of my 70% one time and I thought he would realize he didn't like it and I'd be able to have it all to myself.  But, no.  He loved it and wanted more and more.  I tried 84% one him one time and he did eat one bite happily, but after a minute, set it down and decided he wasn't into it.

Jane is drawing up a storm lately.  She said she realized that the types of eyes she likes to draw are...."how do you say A-N-I-M-E?"  Hahaha, I told her how to pronounce it and now she knows what genre she likes to draw.

Jack said his favorite part of school has been science.  He told me all about solids, liquids, and gases, and loved making Oobleck at school.

Pete now says lightsaber.  He knows what is important around here.

Matt's birthday

Matt turned 41 this Thursday!  We celebrated with the new Breakfast All Day fun from McDonald's.  But the real celebration happened Saturday night when Matt and I actually got to go out on a date.  We just went to dinner but it was tons of fun.

Pete continues to excite us with all of his new skills.  He has learned some colors and continues to love letters.  He's really gotten excited about V's and W's this week.  He brought me the Kix box and said, K! K!  It's so adorable when you ask him a letter.  He always says, "uh" while he's gearing up to say the letter and then explodes in excitement.  "Uh...V!"

He has started saying two-word phrases like when he's done with he handed me his empty cup and said, "Gone, bapple dooce."  

He used to hate getting his hair washed but Matt started using a wash cloth on his eyes after rinsing his head.  They call it an eye towel, pronounced, "eye tow-why" which is really catchy.

Every time Pete is in the bathtub he gets the bath toys he got for his birthday and says, "Birthday!"  One day when he was playing with those toys he surprised me by saying, "Birthday.  Happy.  Two."  I guess he really remembers his birthday fondly!

Jane keeps reading so late every night.  Each book she reads becomes a new favorite.  She is loving "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" now and nearly breaks down in tears every time she thinks about the dragon being tied up and crying.

Matt started a reward system for the kids.  They get marbles for being good listeners and getting their stuff done.  They are all doing really great.

Valentine's Week

Pete has been amazing us all week.  His talking is really taking off.  He is learning all of the names for his brother's toys:  tauntaun, vader, yoda, gun, guy, car, Flash, Batman, etc. In addition to "Watch Melmo!" he now says Wild, Wild Kratts, too.  Sometimes it's just "wile thwatts", and sometimes it's "wile, wile, wile thwatts"."  Today Matt texted me to tell me that Pete got a hold of some magnet letters and held up a V and said, "v".  Then he grabbed an A and said, "A".  And he did the same with F and G.  Matt wanted to know if I've ever shown him letters.  This is the joy of having four kids.  You have no idea how they've learned anything, but you can be reasonably sure it has something to do with what they've watched on TV.  He's been calling his chapsticks "Na-na veiss." We noticed that he called his lips, veiss, but had no idea where na-na was coming from.  And then I finally realized that the was saying Na-na yogurt, na-na bunny, etc, and realized na-na means "I want."  Towel is pronounced "Tow-why" and for some reason Jack and Matt have started saying Doo-tow-why together and it means absolutely nothing.

Hank and I were chatting one morning and he said, "I wish we were zombies.  Zombies keep going when it's nighttime.  But we are just humans.  I hate when it's nighttime."  He's been talking about it ever since.  He seems to really wish it were true.  He's elaborated how he wants zombies to eat his brains, and my brains, and dad's brains, and Jack's brains, and Jane's brains, and Pete's brains.  "Then we can all become Doctor Zombies!" (A character on Plants vs Zombies).

Matt and Hank had talked about what kind of dog we might want to get in a few years.  Hank voted for big with curly hair.  So Matt said to Hank, "When we get a dog, you want it to be big, with curly hair?"  Hank said, in all seriousness, "Yeah, and I want it to have a Boba Fett helmet."

Hank and Pete both had well-check appointments this week.  It was funny to me how they had nearly the exact same body measurements.  They are both low 90% for weight, and around 75% for height.

Hank also had an articulation appointment.  He went in the summer, but we were told to come back if we didn't see improvement in six months.  They agreed that his pronunciation hasn't improved like it should have, so we should be hearing from our school district to see if he can have some speech therapy help.

Jack has been telling some funny fibs lately.  One time it was that his teacher made the whole class look at the sun for two hours.  He kept back-pedaling on the lie and eventually said it was only for six minutes, then two minutes, then twenty seconds.  Matt told him that he texted the police about it and that they were coming to our house to question him.  Instantly Matt realized how bad that had back-fired.  Immediately both Jane and Jack were wailing.  Jack was bawling about how he wasn't going to have a teacher anymore.  The real story finally came out and I guess she did have the kids look at the sun for a second and then look at something else.

Jane and Jack had fun at their class Valentine's parties.  Jack gave out some cute Zombie valentine's (all store-bought this year!:).  And we will be having our traditional cinnamon rolls with pink frosting in the morning--also store-bought this year!

February

Hank has been so excited to talk about how old he has gotten.  He always starts by saying he started as a baby, and he was a baby when he was one, and he was a baby when he was two, but then he turned three, and then he turned four!!  And he loves to say that he will be going to Jacky's school when he turns five.  One day he was excitedly telling Matt about getting older and continued, "Then I'll be five, then I'll be six, then I'll be seven, then I'll be eight, then I'll be nine, then I'll be TEN!!"  Then he asked Matt, "Are you ten?"  Matt said that he was forty and Hank replied, "Then you will be 100! When you are 100 you will be super big!!  You will break this house!"  Then his excitement waned and he said, "I don't want to be 100.  I don't want to break this house, do you?"

Jack came running to tell Matt that Hank had bit him.  Hank was immediately following behind trying to hug him and apologize.  Matt asked what happened and Hank said, "I accidentally put my teeth in him."

Pete has been absolutely obsessed with his chapsticks.  He carries them around all the time and has to put them on before nap and bedtime.  He is also obsessed with playing upstairs.  Any time he is downstairs he says, "Pay!," which means that he wants to go upstairs to play, and he insists that a parent goes with him.  But once he is up there he plays and plays and plays with all the many toys he can find up there.

Matt wiped Hank's butt and put the toilet paper in the toilet.  Hank asked, "Why you covering the poo poo?  The poo is awesome."

Jack was playing with a whoopie cushion and Hank came in to Matt and said, "Dad, Jack hit me with his......(long pause not knowing what to call it)......fart balloon."

Matt and Hank were talking about Star Wars and Hank said, "I don't want you to stick me in a Tauntaun.  That would be disgusting, right?"

Jane has been really enjoying her books lately.  She's gotten into graphic novels which I think is a perfect combination  for her love of writing and drawing.

Matt asked Hank, "Do you think Batman wets his pants?"  Hank answered, "No, he doesn't have underwear."  Matt said, "He doesn't have underwear?"  Hank said, "And he doesn't have wee-wees."

Jane and Jack were playing with Star Wars toys and Matt overheard Jane say, "I'm never gonna let Anakin turn bad, my honey-boo."

Matt sent me some pics!  These are from our California trip.  I'm loving them!  Thanks, Matt!

January-Hank's birthday!

All weeks are busy so I guess I should stop starting each post with that description. :) But we did celebrate Hank's fourth birthday this week so that was fun.  We had a get together at Sharon's on Sunday and the boys wore Star Wars costumes and I made Star Wars cupcakes.

On his real birthday, Tuesday, he opened up some presents in the morning and got to be the special Din-o-mite kid at his preschool.  I went and told the class about Hank, and did a craft (masks and crowns) with the kids.  He was so cute.  He was really into Star Wars this year and also got a camo gun and a Purloin stuffed pokemon.  

 I didn't get to see the kids this weekend until Saturday night but Jane had a really fun weekend.  She went to a friend's birthday party with a spa theme on Friday night.  She got a foot massage and a make-over.  Then she got to go with Nate and Paris to the movies on Saturday.  They came over for pizza after.  Matt texted to let me know on Friday that he took Jane to get the present, used a 40% off coupon. wrapped the gift, and got her to the party.  He is truly amazing.

Matt told Jack recently about how he broke his tooth when he was little.  He pointed out which tooth was fake and how it looks real.  Tonight when I saw Jack and his friend jumping around on my bed I told them how I had broken my leg when I was little.  Jack paused, looked briefly down at my leg, and said to his friend, "it's fake but it looks real."  So hilarious.  I did explain to him how broken bones get fixed and how they are, indeed, still real.

Hank and Jack were playing Star Wars upstairs and Matt started going up the stairs with Pete.  Matt overheard Hank say, "Let me go see who it is."  He peeked down the stairs and announced to Jack, "It's just a baby and a daddy."

Jack pulled out his second baby tooth this week.  With both bottom teeth his permanent tooth had come in behind his baby teeth before his baby teeth came out.  I happened to be laying next to him before bed when I noticed he was really pulling it hard.  Then his hand pulled away and his eyes got big and I said, "Did you get it?"  We were both pretty excited.  

Hank talks so deliberately.  Matt and I wonder if it is because he knows he needs to talk clearly for people to understand.  His pronunciation might be getting a little better.  Anyway, I do want his friends to be able to understand him but I sure will miss some of his phrases.  Like, fruit snacks, we now all call "noot nas."  

Pete and I made a trip to the ER a couple weeks ago.  He had been crying and grabbing the front of his diaper with a panicked look while saying "wee-wee" for about a week.  We hoped it was nothing serious and hoped it would go away.  But then when I came home one evening Matt told me that Pete had on the same diaper as when he woke up and hadn't peed all day.  He had also been extremely irritable for the past few days.

We started to worry that he had had a urinary tract infection all along and had learned that if the bladder becomes too distended that it can actually keep the pee from coming out.  So I took him to urgent care, who sent me to the ER.  They got us right in and poor Pete got a catheter but hardly any pee came out.  Then the nurse told me she thinks he may have peed right before the catheter because his diaper didn't seem empty anymore.  Luckily there was still enough to test but it all came back clear.  We were discharged and Matt and I finally realized that Pete hadn't gone poo in way too long.  I guess that is a hazard of co-parenting--each parent assumes the child is pooping for the other. :)  So we started Pete on Miralax and mineral oil and the next day he woke up from his nap surrounded with a major, major blowout and things have been going much better ever since.

Pete learns words

What a busy week!  I only have a few notes jotted down, unfortunately.

First, did I ever share this picture of Jane holding her artwork for a school art show?  We were so proud of her.  Matt told her he overheard a sixth grader saying she liked it, and that was good enough for Jane.  She just couldn't believe that a sixth grader liked it! :)

On New Year's Day I thought I'd try out a potential tradition and announced that we were going to spend the day as a family completely without screens.  Jane wailed like I had told her we were going to attempt to go without eating. I had new board games that I had bought for the family.  We played those and then the kids stared at me wondering what in the world we were going to do next.  It seemed like we weren't going to be able to  Somehow we managed to survive and by the end I think the kids had finally gotten into the spirit of the day.

Jack was still into playing games for awhile after New Year's.  He had gotten out the little kid's monopoly game and asked, "Is mom or dad gonna verse me?"

Pete is learning words faster than we are aware of them.  He always surprises us by saying something new.  For awhile he was calling all of the boys' figurines "guys" but now he knows which one is the Flash and even says Yoda as "doda."  He always insists on getting dressed right away after getting changed in the morning or after his bath.  And he always asks for his clothes as if it is just one word, "shirtpants! shirtpants!"  He often adds an "e" sound to the end of his words, "shut-y" "head-y".  It's adorable.  He's into apple juice these days and always asks for "babble doo."  He loves playing with dice and every time we go to Sharon's he asks within a few minutes for the "die" and heads towards the bedroom where they are kept.  He also really likes bunnies.  He has a stuffed bunny he sleeps with, a bunny book, and some small bunny toys.  He always excitedly says "munny!"

Hank makes us laugh

Hank must be at a really quote-able age.  He's been cracking us up.

The other day Hank was completely stuck on the idea of painting our van red.  He said he didn't like gray and he wanted to paint it red.  I kept responding with something like, "Oh, maybe we can paint it someday, etc."  Then when we got home he asked me to get out the paints.  I asked why and he explained he was ready to go paint the van.

Hank was also very adamant that we make him a jet pack. He did not like being told that that wasn't going to happen.

Poor Hank is dying for his birthday to come soon.  He keeps laying on the floor whining about it and saying, "But it's taking forever!"

Hank still speaks with quite a few consonant replacements.  He can be hard to understand when you don't know what he's talking about.  So, when Hank tries to tell us what Pokemon to look up in an encyclopedia book of Pokemon it is downright impossible.

I was picking up Hank to put him in his car seat and I said, "You're getting so much heavier!"  Hank said, "Yeah, I'm getting bigger." Then he said, "I like myself." Then he laughed and said, "Everybody likes themselves!"

Several months ago Hank was at the nursery at church and Matt was next door teaching a class.  With five minutes left of church the nursery leader brought Hank into the room Matt was teaching.  Matt said the door opened and Hank yelled out, "Dad!  Poo poo coming!"  Matt was trying to wrap things up with his lesson but Hank yelled out again, "Poo poo coming!  Been coming the whole time!"

Hank seems to have been born with a very awesome approach to life in which he recognizes that the more he loves people and tells them so, the more they will love him back.  Any time he senses frustration or stress in someone he makes sure to tell them that he loves them.  One night we were having a conversation about bad guys.  Hank told me, "Nobody will ever kill me because they'll think I love everyone."

The end of 2015

Oh no, I didn't post at all in December?!  Man, that went fast.  Ok, I'll have to do a quick recap because nothing stunts my regular blogging like feeling the need to catch up on the past.

I finished up my classes for my second semester of the master's program and that felt awesome.  Only three semesters left.

In the past I've done an activity type advent with the kids where they pick a small activity to do together on each day of December.  Things like, baking a treat, watching a Christmas show, or doing a craft.  I decided to skip it this year and I can't help but wonder if my more positive feelings towards the Christmas season had something to do with simplifying what we had going on.  Next year I want to ask Matt and each child what they enjoy doing most during the holidays and make sure we do those things, but forget all the rest.

So, I can't remember much of what we did in December before heading to California on December 21.  But California was a blast.  We had to drive down through Las Vegas since the Donner Pass was predicting bad weather that day, but we made it to California in about 14 hours.  The kids did so well.  In fact, it was probably a dream day for Jack and Hank who spent the entire time on a tablet and eating junk food.  And Pete actually had a blast in California and was more agreeable than we had ever seen him.  He never minded going to new houses or new places and even didn't require that Matt and I be near him at all times.  In fact, while in California he even would bring me a book or his stuffed animal to let me know he was ready for nap or bed.  It was awesome.  Unfortunately I can't say that that has followed him back to Utah, but I'm hopeful it means he will soon become more agreeable at home, too.

While in California we went to San Francisco and went to Golden Gate Park where we learned about a new bird called a coot with striped feet, Boudain Bakery and a playground for lunch, and then of course made a trip to where Matt and I met at Sutro Baths.  We celebrated my birthday and Pete's birthday while we were there, and all of Matt's family in the area came.  It was a lot of fun.

Golden Gate Park:

Then we had a wonderful Christmas Eve at the Dickson's house and a great Christmas morning and Christmas dinner at Matt's parent's house.

Anyway, we went with the Frisby's to Monterey one day.  We went to a fun park, beautiful Lover's point which I had never seen, which is where Jane even got to see and pick up Hermit crabs, and then we thought it would be a good idea to all go to dinner together.  Ok, I'm not sure when it was the last time we took our kids to a sit down restaurant but it will probably be a very, very long time until we do it again.  They were absolutely insane.  Jack and Hank in particular, but even Pete got in on the craziness.  Things got a little better when we finally sat child-parent-child-parent-child on one side of the bench, but even so, dining out with children is quite intense.  (Think climbing, fighting, spilling, yelling, jumping, hiding under the table, etc).

(Big thank you to Jenni for all of these pictures!  Maybe someday I'll be able to add Matt's pictures!)

Dennis the Menace Park:

Lover's Point:

Dinner:

 We got to go to the Frisby's adorable new house on Sunday for dinner and the kids had a blast playing with Stella in their play room.  

The last day we were there we got to with the whole clan to Gilroy Gardens.  It was amazing. It was also freezing which is not what I expected for visiting California, but it was so crazy cold!  It was fun, though. It is an amusement park tailored for younger children and my whole family had a blast.  Hank was obsessed with looking at the map of the park and finding where we were each time we made a new stop.  And Pete was absolutely obsessed with the rides.  He would scream like crazy almost every time it was time to be taken off of a ride and we would have to reassure him we were going to a new ride and run to the next ride.  It was so fun to see him have so much fun.  And it was also so great to see Jane and Jack have so much fun with their first cousins, once removed, Pieper and Indy.  They were adorable together and I'm so glad they could play together.  Unfortunately I started to feel really sick about half way through the visit and had to go sit in the van for an hour and a half wondering if I was going to throw up.  But it didn't happen until about five minutes into starting to drive home from Gilroy Gardens.  Fortunately that was the only time I threw up, no one else got sick, and we were still able to leave for Utah the next morning.

Love this pic Matt got of Pete enjoying one of his many favorite rides:

And thanks to Jenni again for the rest of these pics of Gilroy Gardens:

The drive home went really well, too.  The kids did so fantastic.  Only Pete struggled when he was tired and he really didn't fall asleep in the car.  He did finally fall asleep around ten pm on the drive home but even then it was only off and on. We were all sad to have to come home and poor Jane even cried saying, "But California is better than Utah" to which we could all agree (except for cost of living--no thank you to $5 for an off-brand tube of hydrocortisone!).  But now that we are home it feels good to be getting back into a routine.  Although I am absolutely terrified for my new semester to begin.  Oh well, better just survive one day at a time I guess.