Happy Fourth!

One of the perks of being married to an attorney is that you get to become law abiding citizens. Maybe perk isn't the right word. The other day Jonah mysteriously came home with a box of firecrackers (thank you, family!). Josh decided there was no way we were keeping them. However, can you really just throw them away? What if they blow up? Josh solved the problem by turning ourselves in, more or less. He actually called up the fire department to ask what we should do about them. After perplexing the Town of Gilbert for awhile, he was referred to the police station to turn them in for destruction. Should I be impressed or annoyed? Jonah knew exactly how he felt about it...


In the end the kids had fun going down to the police station to hand over the illegal merchandise. And we all get to feel great about being law abiding citizens again.


In other news, Jonah has found his favorite great-uncle. He had a great time at Uncle Brad's place viewing his trophies and I think we've got a future hunter in the makings here. Tonight as he was getting ready for bed he told Josh that his bedtime story had to be either a "...fishing story or a hunting story. You can choose, Dad." Lovely.


We're headed off to Haigler now to celebrate the Fourth and spend some quality time with the Allreds. Wahoo! I can't wait. Jonah is perhaps even more excited. Last night as I was putting Ellie to bed he came in and very seriously said, "Mom, we've got a big day tomorrow."
Which is why I better stop blogging now and finish (more like start) packing.

He's the Chef

Jonah is our cheese crisp maker from start to finish. I don't have to do a thing but make sure the house doesn't burn down. And admittedly, J's are even better than mine because, as you can see from the picture, there's no shortage of cheese when he's the chef. Yum! I better be choosy about what I let him learn how to cook or I may be in trouble.

The best is that he knows now to make Charlotte's and Ellie's cheese crisps first because they are the ladies. And he's the gentleman. Yes, I'd have to agree Jonah...you are quite the gentleman!

Spiders are for Kids

So is it the "incy wincy" or the "itsy bitsy" spider that climbed up the water spout? I'm never sure. Or is it in fact as Jonah recites it, the "incy bitsy" spider???

Maybe a strange thing to wonder, but then I wonder too why there are so many nursery rhymes about spiders at all. I mean, c'mon! They're not the friendliest looking creatures. And okay, so I can only recall two, but I think it must be the reason Ellie labels anything small, black and crawling around on the floor a "sfpider!" And the exclamation point isn't because she's excited to say hello.

And yet, the infamous "incy bitsy" spider rhyme is Charlotte's favorite. She laughs the hardest when the kids sing it to her. I wonder why that is?

Third time's the charm, Jonah.

Book Tag

Lolly did a book tag on her blog and I'm not sure I'm the Amy she tagged, but I'll go ahead and do it anyway. The deal is to list 10 of the most recent books I've read that I would recommend. I thought it was funny that Lolly had to go all the way back 6 months to get 10 that she would recommend. I may have to go back 10 years just to get 10, period. I'll do my best.

1. The Host. Stephanie Myer. I haven't decided if I'm a fan of hers yet, but this one was pretty cool for being an alien book. Definitely not typical and you've got to give her kuddos for the imaginative stories she creates.

2. Cold Sassy Tree. Olive Ann Burns. Loved this one. Great if you're wanting to read something witty and southern that will make you both laugh and cry.

3. The Alchemist. Paulo Coelho. Philosophical and a little out there, but I absolutely loved it. A story that encourages us each to discover our purpose in life and then have faith and courage to obtain that purpose.

4. The Good Earth. Pearl S. Buck. Okay so I didn't love this one because it was too depressing for me, but most people really do so I'm recommending it anyway (besides that I'll never make 10 if we're going to be strict with the recommendation thing). It was so well written and very interesting to learn of the Asian culture in an earlier century, but kind of a downer.

5. Journals 1986-2002. Amy L. Greer. "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train". (Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde)
This is actually really fun to do if you haven't recently. I've found that some things/people (namely me) never change. Well that's a little sad really, but I was mostly laughing!

6. Austinland. Shannon Hale. Very light and girly. Nothing deep about it. Just a cute chick book.

7. The Peacegiver. James L. Ferrell. A book about the Atonement and forgiveness, this one's a life changer. Read it!

8. Before Green Gables. Budge Wilson. A prequel to the Green Gables series, this one is for you Anne Shirley fans out there...just a little more of Anne.

9. The Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver. I'm actually still reading this one, but it has been highly recommended to me and I'm enjoying it so far. About a pastor and his family's adventures in the African Congo. It's probably about more than than, but like I said...haven't finished it yet.

10. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. Need I say more?

I tag whoever wants to take on this task!

Charlotte turns ONE!

My baby is one...and I'm NOT pregnant (even if I do still look it)! This is quite the accomplishment for me. Josh made the realization a couple Sundays ago that I was fasting for the first time in about five years! Yes, that's how long I've been either nursing or pregnant. I had serious doubts about whether or not I could go the whole day without food or water and even had nightmares about how I wasn't able to the night before (Bekki, you were the reason for my demise...in case you cared to know). It was difficult, but it was also a really neat experience that I'm happy to be having more regularly now...for a little while at least :)

Back to Char, I love her to pieces and don't think she could be any cuter. Here are a few pictures to prove it!

Four years old? I forgot the candle last minute and this is what we had. So sorry Char!
What I'm not showing you here is the video of me accidentally letting Charlotte burn herself on the candle. Bad mom on two accounts...one more strike and I'm out?

The traditional "one year old stuffing your face with cake and ice cream" camera shot. It's good to teach these things at a young age.

You can kind of see it, but she was giving "cheese!" her best shot. It sounded more like, "eeeeeeee!" Still, pretty cute I think.

Both Grandmas gave her shoes for her birthday. She has a recent shoe fetish. During sacrament meeting on Sunday, I spent the hour putting Ellie's shoes on and off of Charlotte. Well, there was a few minutes break where Jonah was flying his plastic frog around in Ellie's shoe. Why Ellie's shoes? Not really sure. But again, it's good to teach these things at a young age...the obsession with shoes I mean :)

And one more because this girl is beautiful, wouldn't you agree Lolly?

Recent Accomplishments

Jonah has shed the training wheels and is cruisin' it in true big boy fashion.



After a few days of screaming through swimming lessons, Ellie has finally decided she likes the water. She doesn't need me for any of it now. Wahoooo! Jonah...well, he's getting there.



Charlotte is walking! By the time baby #3 comes around, each new accomplishment seems a little less impressive (sorry, Char)...except for walking! That one always gets me and I love each new step. It's funny how they almost look more alien for a while walking rather than on all fours. I couldn't get the video to work and it's too bad because with Jonah screaming and banging in the background, it's proof that my "Bad Day" (see previous post) really and truly did exist...not that I really want to be reminded!
Here's a picture instead...

Bad Day

Usually when I haven't blogged in a while it's because my kids have NOT been very cute and I'm too darn frustrated with them to feel like writing about them, and this time is no different...except that it's 11:30 PM (way past my usual bedtime of 9 PM) and I can't sleep because I'm so bugged by what happened today. I had just been talking to my sister about her 'Love and Logic' class earlier today, getting some good advice, when Heavenly Father must have decided, "Ok. Now let's see if you were paying attention." Then came the tantrum of all tantrums, compliments of Jonah. I should have known not to take the kids to the grocery store at 4 in the afternoon where all three of them were running without naps, but it was actually Jonah's idea. He saw in the ad that pineapple was on sale for "2 bucks" and how can you say no to that? Well, maybe I'm a sucker. I just thought it was cute and I did actually need produce. However, that trip was anything but cute. After already humiliating myself by accidentally running into a man in a wheelchair (more than once), I was further humiliated by the tantrum Jonah threw in the store over not getting the treat he wanted (If you must know, it was gummy bears and yes I'm a mean mom for wanting to get the yogurt raisins that were on sale...hey, I thought I was being nice just for letting them have a treat in the first place!). Needless to say, we went home without any treat at all and Jonah screaming very angrily the whole way home, "Turn around! Right now! We're going back to the store!" And then when he could see I wasn't turning back and we were nearing home, "It's my turn to drive! I'm driving back to the store!" And it only got worse from there. After sending him to time-out didn't work, I picked him up and took him to his room where he then proceeded to throw books at me, hit me and yell, "Mom! You're STUPID!"...more than once. He even had Ellie yelling back at him, "No. You're stupid." It was horrible. How do you not take that personally? And how the heck do you handle it? I tried very hard not to lose my temper, I tried to talk nicely but firmly about what his options were and the consequences that would follow...I tried and I tried, but it was probably an hour before anything was even close to being resolved. And then there's still the fact that he said those hurtful things to me and I'm wondering, "Where did I go wrong? How am I such a bad mom that he would do such things?"

Oh yeah, and this morning were Jonah and Ellie's first swim lessons of the summer which they screamed through and tried to run away from (Ellie made it all the way back to the car) while I forced them back and tried to keep Charlotte from falling in the pool.

On an up note, Charlotte's taking steps! Oh Charlotte! How I really, really love you today!
Just trying to stay positive because after talking to Jonah for an hour about choices and consequences I realize that's the only logical choice for me to make.