Logan Pants and More

Today, while Joe was visiting a family that he home-teaches, I left the kids playing together and went up to my room, shut the door, and ate some dark chocolate mini Hershey candy bars while I stretched out on my bed. The silence and aloneness was lovely.

I spent a few minutes laughing to myself while I though about Logan. He gets up early. Like 5 a.m. early. So that he can spend time reading, playing on the computer, and making Pokemon cards before going to school. He doesn't want to wake up his brothers, so he gets dressed in the dark, and sometimes his attire can be a little interesting.

Like the time that his pants were on backwards.

Or the other day, just as he was getting ready to walk out the door, I heard Joe say to him, "Go ask your  mom if those are your pants." (I'm giggling just writing this down.) So he walks into the kitchen and says, "Are these my pants?" I look at him, and they fit him perfectly (most of his pants are pretty big, as you can see above). I tell him to pull up his shirt, and when he does, I see that the jeans are pretty tight around the waste with heart pockets that are pretty tight on his bum. Apparently they had somehow been put in his folded laundry pile (ok, it must've been me, but that's unusual!), and he had just pulled a pair of pants out of his drawer in the dark. I wish I had a picture, but he's probably glad I don't. When I asked Joe about it he said, "Well, I thought they looked a little too fashionable (think boys wearing skinny jeans) on him." We all had a good laugh, but good thing we caught it before he got to school.

************************
Also, ever since my pregnancy with Ammon I have been getting extremely hot at night. Part of that is that we live in a warm area. Part of it is that I grew up in PA and we didn't have heat upstairs where we slept, so I prefer it to be very cold when I sleep. And it doesn't help that for some crazy reason the master bedroom is the hottest room in the house (even after closing all the vents, AND turning the heat down to 60 degrees!). So, without embarrassing myself too much, let me just say that I have been extremely uncomfortable temperature-wise when I sleep. In fact, I have been contemplating going to get my blood taken to see if I am going through menopause at the age of 30!!

I bought a duvet cover.

My plan was to put a very, very thin, old quilt (hardly thicker than a sheet) inside of it so that I would still have a blanket, but one that would not make me sweat all night.

Tell me, please, how you keep the blanket from bunching up inside of the duvet?

But I have slept better this past week than I have for a very, very long time.

Lucky for me that my husband is a good sport. :)

what we've been doing:

Things I found around the house:

 Logan's schedule.
Click on it to enlarge.
Notice what time he gets up?
Yeah. . . 

Madison's "teast" (test). 

No matter how early we get her up, she will use the time

to not get ready for school. The thing is, she makes Logan tardy, 

but her teacher never marks her tardy! 

One day we really got onto her about getting

ready more quickly, and I think this is her plan

to be on time. 

Also, it looks like both kids are fighting over 

who gets to set the table.

I got tired of all the backpacks, shoes, and jackets piling up 

at the bottom of the stairs. Ideally, they all have a place

in the kids' rooms, but it just wasn't happening! Now there is a 

hook for each child. I don't know what we'll do if there is a #5. 

 We have a huge bathroom at this house--not fancy, 

but huge. I've been thinking for a while that it was 

a little out of control--I avoided cleaning it because

I just didn't love being there. For about $20, and using what I already

had, I got it cleaned up and feeling a little bit nicer. 

 I wanted something on the walls, but you know me--it 

needs to mean something. Also, art is kind of expensive.

Someday I will get something cooler (and bigger), but for now. . .

I bought some $3 frames from WalMart  and 

put in some pictures from China. 

 Joe took most of them--this is before we had
digital cameras and photoshop.

Isn't he an amazing photographer?

In real life they look even better, because here you can see

my shadows and the flash from the camera. Plus,

it's a picture of a picture.

 The top one is us on the Great Wall of China. 

I still want to put more on the walls, and I want something 

 on the divider between the tub and toilet, but

for now, I love it!! 

The humans are all alive

Lost a fish this week. We tried adding two Cories to the tank (I'm hoping that they will somehow magically clean the bottom of the tank so that I don't have to, hahaha). One died the next morning and I had to be the one to get it out and flush. :( I named the other Cory "Dracula" because it is white, ugly, and has fangs. The gal at petsmart said it would die without a friend to school with. She had some tongue rings, so I guess she knows what she's talking about, and I am expecting the worst.

Logan and Madison had their first soccer games today. Madison made a goal. And touched the ball with her hands. Joe went to Logan's game (that was at the same time) and reported back that he did well (except when he kicked the ball towards the wrong goal). Having never played or even seen a soccer game, I think today went well. I expect much improvement over the next ten weeks. I will also take pictures.

Today we went for the hike I've been wanting to take for over a month. It was perfect outside. And it wasn't paved!! It's kind of odd to have to drive 30+ minutes and pay money in order to walk in nature--I grew up just crossing the street to take a walk in the woods. Joe carried Ammon in the backpack, Grant and I walked 5 minutes behind everyone else, and Logan and Madison spent the time running back and forth between Dad and Mom. Logan wore his soccer gear plus dress shoes (I guess he forgot his change of clothes). Madi wore a sweater and capris, and Grant wore his jacket upside down.  It was a lovely day. 

The Nice Lady

You know I'm not talking about me.

A few weeks ago I made a last-ditch effort to inspire the kids to make their beds and keep their rooms clean--for a whole week.

Bribery.

The winner got a date with me to a destination of his or her choice.

Logan won hands-down and he chose the bookstore.

In our family the bookstore means Half-Priced-Books because we are too cheap to buy books at full-price (especially when you can check them out and return them (no storage!) for free to the library).

So we went and I gave him a $5 budget.

While he was agonizing over $25 worth of books a nice lady (if I tell you her race am I racist?) asked me discreetly if she could buy one of his books for him "because she is so happy to see a boy who loves to read and wants him to be able to get the books he wants." At first I felt a little embarrassed. . . I mean, $5 was the budget, I wasn't trying to discourage reading. But then I realized she was trying to be nice, so she gave Logan $3 to cover an extra book, and he told her thank-you. In the moment I said, "What do you say?" and she said, "He said thank-you," and Logan said, "Thank you," again. I felt kind of bad about that.

On the way home from our date I told Logan I would either take him to get a root beer float or we could get supplies for root beer floats and share with everyone at home. He chose to share with everyone at home, and I thought that was pretty cool.

That was two weeks ago.

Today they asked me who was winning for the week. I explained that the offer had expired, but in case you are wondering, it's a tie. . . for messiest room.

ear infection/a dr. visit i haven't forgotten

I've only taken a child to the doctor for an ear infection once. When Logan was a year old (plus or minus some months) I asked the dr. to take a look at his ears because he was unusually cranky and had been playing with his ear. The dr. looked at me and said something very similar to, "You just have a cranky baby." When I re-mentioned the ear-touching he said something like, "He is discovering something fun and flappy on his body."

For this reason I have never taken a child to the dr. for displaying ear-infection symptoms (and I wait until I know they are really sick to take them in for any other reason, as well). Good thing our dr. friends have told us just to give babies tylenol and wait the ear infection out. So far it has worked.

Today Ammon is unusually cranky and he keeps tugging on his ears.

Logan's Baptism

Logan got baptized the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Happily, both grandparents were able to attend. We are grateful for the good example he sets for his brothers and sister. 

For your viewing pleasure I have included every single picture we took that day. 

At least we can laugh, right? 

The Symptoms

On Friday (Joe's birthday, no less), I got out of the shower at 8:30 a.m. (yah, I 'm lazy) and noticed I had 7--SEVEN--missed calls. My showers aren't that long, so I knew someone was really trying to get hold of me. I had two messages--one from the school nurse telling me that Madison was sick, and one from Joe telling me that Madison threw up at school.

I felt kind of bad, because that morning she had been whining about being tired and not wanting to go to school, but I brushed it off and told her she'd have fun once she got there. She normally loves school, so I should have listened and thought to myself, "Something must be wrong. She doesn't normally act this way."

I loaded the kids up in the van and went to pick her up at school. When we got home I told her to get her jammies on and to lay down and watch a movie in the play room. Her words: "Yay! Being sick is kind of fun." She watched a few movies (and Grant got to profit form her sickness, too). I made macaroni and cheese for lunch, and Madison begged to eat it. "Girl, you just threw up! You can't eat mac and cheese!" The rest of the day I gave her the BRAT diet--applesauce, dry toast, apple juice. She was running around and playing and laughing. Definitely not sick symptoms.

The next morning she was lethargic and begged to eat some cold cereal. I think she was just weak from not eating much the day before. She gobbled up 3 bowls of cereal, an apple, apple juice, and toast. 

Yesterday Logan started saying he didn't feel well, so we kept him in and let him watch movies and read books all day. This morning we figured he had somehow skipped the throwing up part and told him to start getting ready for church. All of a sudden, he said, "I'm gonna' throw up!" We grabbed the bowl and let him do his thing, and then told him to go watch some church movies. I stayed home with him and Ammon (who now has his first fever, poor baby). That was about 11:00. I started warming up leftover (homemade) mac and cheese for lunch and Logan begged me to let him eat some. 

Logan has been feeling fine the rest of the day. For dinner I made some chili. I asked Logan what sounded good to him, and he said cold cereal. The other kids were wildly jealous and wishing they had been sick today while they ate chili and salivated over Logan's rice crispies. 

Apparently this illness includes 1 throwing up incident, and cravings for mac and cheese and cold cereal. Very interesting. I'm not complaining, though.

As I mentioned, Ammon woke up from his afternoon nap with a 102. 5 fever--his first illness. We gave him some infant tylenol and he is now happily crawling around. He is still eating fine (I gave him a freeze-pop--another first, and he loved it). It is so hard to hold your little baby and feel him burning up. As a parent, I would happily feel sick for him (except that then it would be hard to take care of him, so I am glad I'm not sick). The other kids did not have a fever, so I don't know if he has it because his body is smaller or if it is a different sick germ. 

I am sure Grant will be feeling sick soon. That's the way it goes when you have kids. 

In honor of Thanksgiving, we've been making feathers with blessings to put on Mr. Tom Turkey (I'll include a pic someday). Today I am thankful for good health, and for living in this time period; I know that not too long ago a sick child with a high fever or vomiting could be something very dangerous and uncertain. While I definitely wish we could avoid the sick germs, I am grateful for good doctors and medicine. 

The Boy Who. . .

Today the boy who made me a mommy turned EIGHT! Here is how his day went:

 He woke us all up at 6:00 a.m. We made everyone get dressed before opening presents. Grandma and Grandpa stuck Halloween cards in the birthday box for everyone, which explains the money, but not the funny faces.

Logan opened presents. He got some very cool Transformers from Grandma and Grandpa, a Darth Vador Lego watch from Mom and Dad, some Phinneus and Ferb school supplies, and an Optimus Prime Lego set. 

I chose a Darth Vador watch for him because I thought the Darth Vador man was very cool.

Logan requested Coffee Cake for breakfast (just a yummy (whole wheat) cake. The McGregor's don't drink coffee).

And this is what the kids did as soon as they got home from school. (Madi took this picture)

During school Mom made a cake and included another surprise toy--Master Yoda. If you were wondering, this says, "May the Force Be With You." In case you didn't know, it is pretty hard to write with those frosting spray cans. It looked easy, I thought it would be easy, but it tricked me.

Grant, Ammon, and I surprised Logan at school by joining him for lunch with a Sonic Kids Meal. Grant and Ammon were perfect and Logan was excited to see us. (The only hitch is that Grant is no longer content to stay with me at home. He spent the rest of the day talking about when he turns five he gets to go to school, too.)We will have to do it more often. 

Logan requested breakfast burritos for supper. Yum! We didn't have to fight anyone to eat!

Logan won't tell us what his wish was, but it doesn't matter because he didn't blow all of the candles out the first try. Grant was very helpful. (And Logan very understanding.)

Then for Family Home Evening we carved the Halloween pumpkin. The kids had fun sticking their hands in the slime. Logan chose what to do for the eyes, Grant chose a circle nose, and Madison picked out the mouth (they drew them on a separate piece of paper as practice). 

We lit a candle and turned off all the lights, but alas, we do not know how to make the camera's flash turn off, so you cannot see how truly spooky it really is. 

In honor of his eight years, here are eight things you should know about Logan:

1. He is very aware of others' feelings and emotions. He is also very sensitive to what people say. He loves a kind word and feels very hurt when someone is upset at him.
2. He is an awesome reader. His favorite books include Harry Potter, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and anything Star Wars.
3. Logan loves Star Wars and Transformers.
4. Logan loves to help his brothers and sister, and he is also helpful around the house.
5. He is a little shy at first, but silly and fun when he starts to feel comfortable.
6. Logan is business oriented. Once in a while he surprises us with his ideas (for example, one day while in the car he said, "If I had my own store, I would sell things cheaper so that more people would come and buy things. I would sell more, which means more money." When I went to buy a birthday treat for his class I asked him what he wanted--cupcakes or cookies; he told me "whatever is cheaper." I ended up buying the more expensive cupcakes with Transformer rings on top because 1. a few weeks ago he told me how cool he thought they were, and 2. I wanted him to know that he was totally worth the few extra dollars for cupcakes.)
7. Logan loves the gospel. He wants to start fasting, and he recently set a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon by himself. He has read through the kid-versions of the Bible and Book of Mormon many, many times. Just a few months ago he told me his favorite day of the week was Sunday because he gets to go to church.
8. Logan loves to make lists and write down his plans. I love finding his little papers all over the house--well, I love reading them; I guess it would be nice if they weren't all over the house, but oh well.

Logan, you are the best boy a mom could ask for. We love your personality, thoughtfulness, and good example. You are a wonderful big brother. Thanks for being part of our family and for being YOU!

10:00 a.m.

Wicked Mom

I'm starting to feel a lot like this lady.

I keep coming up with more and more things* for Logan to do just so that he won't have time to get on the computer to play games on starwars.com and transformers.com.

I don't know how I feel about that.

*On the other hand, he has gotten a lot done. . . including piano lessons every day this week.

As Promised

Back to school pics plus some. . .

Let's see: Grandma and Grandpa got Madi this outfit for her birthday. The shirt came with a super cute scarf that I thought we should tie in her hair, but she flat out refused, which surprised me because last year she begged me to buy her scarves. I bought her some cute sneaks, but without her, and they ended up being too big. She'll grow into them, right? So anyway, we compromised by sending her old sneaks in the backpack and wearing these adorable sandals that I would wear if they fit. I'm pretty sure she changed into the old ratty sneakers as soon as she got to school. She's persistent, I guess, and I've decided to save our fights for more important things.

I got Logan some back to school clothes, but found this snazzy cross-country shirt at a Salvation Army for $0.50. I thought it looked cool (plus I ran cross country for 6 years and haven't run a mile since). . . kind of like something from American Eagle, not that my 7-year old boy needs to be wearing stuff from American Eagle. Anyway, I bought him other new shirts, including one that had Yoda and one that had Spiderman (which I would never love, but thought he would), so I was actually really surprised that this was the outfit he chose to wear on the first day of school. He's cool like that.

And Grantee? Well he picked out his clothes too. Stripes and plaid. We didn't go anywhere today; we just stayed home and played together and cleaned up a few rooms. So I let him wear this all day. Hey--I'm cool like that (yesterday I let him wear his church pants backwards at church. OK, really I didn't notice that he'd put them on backwards until the middle of sacrament meeting and then decided to leave them. . . his teachers understand, right?!). Also, he got a little teary-eyed when Logan and Madi climbed into the back of Daddy's car, but then we went inside and life went on. . . although even I found myself thinking a few times that the house was a little too quiet.

I think everyone had a good day at school. Logan loves his teacher, Madison loves hers. Logan says second grade is "way too easy." They rode the bus home together and I called when it was taking too long to arrive to make sure that they weren't lost somewhere wondering where I was. Call me paranoid. Then I had a good long chat with the bus driver because I was MAD when she dropped the kids off on the wrong bus stop without an adult there to pick them up. . . something that the bus company reassured me (that morning) would not happen when I told them I was worried that the kids would not recognize the new neighborhood we lived in. I am lucky (and the bus company is very lucky) that I noticed 2 kids wearing bright yellow and bright pink walking in the distance. Seriously, what was that bus driver thinking? I kept trying to get them to tell me about their day, they kept asking me if they could play on the computer. The supper table conversation was a little more entertaining than usual, though. All in all, it was a good day.

I think Madi took this picture of Grant. I certainly wouldn't have taken one showing how messy her room was. But oh well. This is reality. :) The problem is that her room is too cool, and even when she's not around, all Grant wants to do is play in there. Not a good idea when Madison is in school.

And here is Madi talking on the phone. Cute girl, cute dress, although I was thinking that I should probably stop buying things for her that I would like to wear. Oh, and notice my treadmill not set up in the background. Yeah. . . working on that.

Where is Ammon? For the first time in a very long time he took two very long and much needed naps, one of which was after lunch and during Grant's naptime (which we still struggled with). I think by the end of the week I should have these boys re-trained. Yay!

Summer Day 1

I will explain what how I decided to schedule our summer days another time. But for today, I will share a piece of what went on in our home.

I read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day to the kids. We talked about some things that made a bad day, and then I gave them the assignment to write in their journals what would make a very good day. I wish I could actually show you what Logan did, but words will have to suffice. He made a little illustrated book; here's how it goes:

(p. 1)

A marvales super duper Owsom good deliteful tirific good Wondiful day!

table of contens

chapter one: time to eat

chapter two: go to school

chapter three: Huray

(p.2.)

Chapter one:

This morning I woke up early and got the table set without anybody asking and I got Braekfast.

(p.3)

I chose my favorit one. oatmeal. Except my seven broters and five sisters do not like it. But they have to eat it anyway.

(p.4)

Then it was time to eat. We all race to the table and I won. I knew it was going to be a mavales day.

(p.5)

chapter two: time for school!

I was first to get redy for school. At school I was the only one hwo got a 100 on the test. I got my number moved up to a five.

(p.6)

chapter three: Huray!

When I got home I did my favorit sport: jumping on the trampleing. I got my favorit treat before bed. That night I had good dreams.

(p.7)

And what do you think happened next? Another good day. Hurray!

(p.8)

About the auther

When Logan was a kid he read alexander and the terrible Horible verry bad day.

He rerote it. but changed a lot.

OK, maybe I'm a little biased, but besides being super cute, my 7 year old is pretty brilliant! He obviously reads a lot; his use of punctuation and arrangement of the book is pretty impressive. I also learned a lot about what a good day is to him... service, and "beating" everyone else! I have to say, it's pretty rewarding to be a mom when these experiences happen on an almost daily basis. :)

30 minutes of after-school social skills

Logan (7): plays tag, Star Wars/Transformers, jumps off of the swing

Madison (5): walks around holding hands with her friend, hugs every friend and teacher who leaves the school

Grant (3): swings, goes down the slide, runs 10 feet behind Logan and his friends

Ammon (7 weeks): sits in the stroller, looks around, breathes deeply every time a gust of wind blows in his face, looks pretty darn cute

*note: Logan, who is reading this over my shoulder, says, "Looks pretty dam(n) cute." Had to show him that it's daRn, and that the other word is actually a bad word.

Logan's Game

Last night Logan made a game for our family to play. I was the Holy Ghost and Joe was Satan. Those who followed the Holy Ghost made it to the table for brownies and ice cream. Those who followed Satan went to the dark depths of our bedroom. This means that last night I threw away all of the good strips of paper that were sitting around in the living and dining rooms. I found the rest of the papers today and decided to document what was left of Logan's game. Spelling and wording are as they were originally written by Logan.

*You have hit your brother. Go bake two spaces.
*You drink wine. go back 8 spaces.
*You don't want to go to church insted you wacht tv all day long. Go back five spaces.
*You are making the sabuth day unholly. Go bake five spaces.
*You miss a test in school and get very angry. Move bake two spaces.
*You kick a chare. Move bake Three spaces.
*You lisen to saten. Go back two spaces.
*You are not listing. Go bake one space.
*You are evle. Go back twenty spases.
*You have found saten. No disert.

I did, however, manage to save this one:
*You found jeses!

I'm happy to report that we all got dessert last night.

Four Weeks??!!

Seriously, where does the time go?

A few things about Ammon at 4 weeks:

• He's a baby. He cries sometimes.
• But, luckily, we've always been able to soothe him by holding him and
• He loves his pacifier. What a blessing!
• He's a pretty good napper.
• He just started sleeping pretty well in his crib.
• He will sleep about 5-6 hours at night, eat, and go back to sleep.
• If I need him to nap, I buckle him in the car seat, set him on top of the dryer, and turn it on. Wah-lah. It's magic.
• Instead of blow-outs, Ammon leaves little poops for me pretty much every diaper change. I'll take it. :)
• He can sleep through anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure that kids playing, vacuums running, and loud noises in general are his thing.
• He's the first of my babies that hasn't had a major pimple break-out. Knock on wood.
• He likes tummy-time more than my other kids did. Maybe because when he gets tired of it he just sets his big head to the side and the rest of his body rolls over. Or he's just the smartest baby ever, right? ;)
• He's got some big brothers and a big sister who adore him.
• Ammon was blessed 2 Sundays ago. Both Joe's parents and my parents were able to come, which was so wonderful! What stuck out: He is going to be a peacemaker in our family, a good example to his brothers and sisters, and he will live his life as a missionary. This last part really stuck out to me, because he has already become a missionary! We have found, and my parents have also commented, that people have never heard of the name "Ammon." We've had many ask us where it came from, and I know that Ammon is going to be explaining his name for the rest of his life. I hope he doesn't mind. :)

And the other kids?

• I just finalized this: Logan and Madison will be attending the Watson Science and Technology Center next year. We received a letter in the mail last fall telling us that Logan's grades and test scores qualified him for the Tech. and Classical schools in Dallas. I went to a meeting to see what it was all about and decided that if Madison could get in then we would send them both to the S&T Center. She went through 2 rounds of testing and was also accepted. What does this mean? Well, besides riding a bus, wearing uniforms, and doing extra homework, they will be in a pretty awesome school program. I'm a little nervous because I've enjoyed having them so close to home, but I think in the long run this will be a great thing for them.
• Logan just finished the 3rd Harry Potter. He's 7. I don't know how I feel about this. He understands it and really likes the series. As an English teacher (well, I have the degree), I never thought I would be for book censoring, but I just don't know that he is old enough to read Harry Potter. We told him he could watch the movies after he read the books, but he will have to wait with movie #4 because it is pg-13. Any thoughts on this topic?
• Madison is such a cute girl. She is just getting into the social scene. She and her little friends have been sending each other cute pictures with notes that go something like this, "Der Vivi, You are my best frend. Lov, Madi."
• Grant failed his last hearing test (he can hear fine, but this one sent tiny air-waves or something, that got stuck in his ear canal and didn't bounce back??? Something like that--it has to do with pressure in his ear). The last test he had he also had pressure in his ears, so now he's on an anti-biotic and allergy medicine to see if that clears it up, but if it doesn't clear up by his next visit then we will talk about what to do next. I am hopeful that this will help to improve his speech even more.

The FAM

Logan: Our ace-reader and great helper. He especially loves to read Star-Wars novels. I loved loved loved his reaction when I brought home a Darth Vador costume (that I found at a thrift store!)--which is who he wants to be for Halloween. He makes his bed and picks up his room each day before he goes to school. He's reached the age that he no longer complains about what is on his plate. He is ready and willing to do whatever we ask of him. He shows empathy for everyone around him. He is always cheerful and helpful. Is this normal? Or do we just have a really awesome kid?

Madison: Our social butterfly. She makes friends wherever she goes. Since starting kindergarten, she has developed a love for skirts, necklaces, and staring into the mirror. She and Grant like to play. And fight. Wait--switch those two. They like to fight. She would rather spend 2 hours cleaning her room than 5 minutes every morning. Still waiting for her to rejoice over our dinner selections. She gives great hugs.

Grant: Decided everyone leaving for the day wasn't so bad--after a few days of trying to sneak out with his backpack. He gets mommy all to himself. He has no one to fight with, and no one to tell mom that he is sitting on the counter pulling treats from the candy jar. The first thing he does every morning is dump out the ginormous car-box. Thanks, Grant. He would like to watch movies (Elmo and Cars), but he recently broke the DVD player while trying to install one on his own. An Early Childhood Intervention specialist is coming to our home on Tuesday to see if he needs a little shove in the language development department. The pediatrician actually said he's not too far behind (I think because he does in fact talk--you just can't understand a word of what he is saying), but Mom said, "Please! We are both frustrated that he can't communicate very well." While I want my guy to not have any problems, I'd LOVE to understand him! He has a wonderful sense of humor and likes to play jokes on everyone.

Dad: Working hard to take care of his demanding family. He's awesome. His advertising is really paying off, and I think that we will soon know that going out on our own was a wise and rewarding decision. I still have my moments. :) But can I brag for a moment? He's been going to court about 1-2 times a week. Last week after presenting his case in front of a judge he got 2 phone calls within a few hours from people who had seen him in court and wanted him to be their attorney. That's the best kind of advertising, I'd say!

Mom: Hanging in there, doing mom-things. I love it. Well, most of it. Anyone want to potty-train Grant? How about clean the fridge? But this family--it's mine!!

Until next time..........

Do You Ever...

Tell your kids that if they finish their dinner in 10 minutes they can watch a movie?

Logan came to me 5 minutes later and asked if he could help Madison finish her food.

When I said, "That's nice, but she really needs to eat something," he went into her and said,

"Sorry. Mom says I can't help you. But I'll feed you."

They watched WallE.

For you, DAD!

Hey Dad, lions are my favorite animals, better than anything else I like. I like it the best. I like the boy lions the best, but this girl lion was the only one we could see at the zoo yesterday and it was hiding. When I see lions it makes me very happy to see them.

I love you,

Logan

Dad, this is my favorite animal. I love zebras. I love giraffes too.

Love,

Madison

We are looking at giraffes here, but actually it looks like we are looking at you! HI!!!

This is at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Pepe le Pew likes to sit on Madi's tummy. Grant likes to chase Pepe.

Dad, I LOVE to ride my bike without training wheels. I didn't even fall one time! Do you think I look like a good bike rider?

(Logan again)

P.S. It was hard to reenact Grant's bathroom fun. This is the best we could get today. I took out the part where he stuck his hand in the toilet. Oops, I thought I took it out. Oh well. I washed his hands, don't worry!

P.P.S. Grant is usually happy when he walks, but today he was mad because he just wanted us to go play in the park and we were taking too long. He also gets mad if we leave before he is ready. People usually laugh and say how cute it is that he is throwing a tantrum, but I am a little worried because he's only 15 months! Can you imagine the tantrums he will throw when he is 2? Good thing you'll be around then!

As of today

"Mom, is it true? (Friend at school) was shaking his head really fast and my teacher told him he better stop or his head would fall off and dance around the room and he would be dizzy. Do you think that is true?"

--Logan

****************************************

Words Grant can say:

• bye bye
• hi
• ball
• mom
• dad
• thank you
• ha ha ha ha ha (copying my evil, deep-voice laugh)
• uh oh

****************************************

Yesterday I was getting ready to show our house and just happened to look under Madison's bed. I wish I had a picture to show you the

100's of candy wrappers hidden there. 

Really. I couldn't pick them all up in one trip. I asked her about it later and she admitted it saying, "I knew you would get mad at me, so I hid them there." All parade candy from a few weeks ago. I gave the rest away yesterday.

*****************************************

Grant took 20 steps today. 

I'm glad. I'm tired of people asking me if he's almost 1, then having to explain he's almost 15 months. He just doesn't walk yet.

Soon.

As an afterthought, I'm really just tired of being self-conscious that my baby doesn't walk yet. It's totally me. Usually the people who ask tell me their kids didn't walk until later, too. I don't even have to explain. They can see it for themselves. ***sigh

Logan's Scars

He's pretty proud of these surgery scars!