Remembrances

First week of school: check!

It's been a good week! Usually we think of back to school as all about the kids, but this week I feel like it's been all about me. I have been getting to bed earlier (9:30, except on Thursday) and getting up earlier (before 5:30). A full night's rest has made me happier and more productive. The kids gone all day has made my house stay clean longer. Joe home for a week before seminary starts has made mornings easier and more fun (because I'm big enough admit that he's the one who makes life fun around here). Ammon and I have been having bonding time every morning--play doh, coloring, just dance, cooking, cleaning, reading--and lots and lots of playing with friends. Have I told you that I have the best friends?? In general, I have felt so very blessed and happy this week.

Logan sings every day when he gets home, "I LOVE FOURTH GRADE!!"

Madison starts out crying about not wanting to go to school, but comes home happy with stories about being friends with everyone and how smart she is.

Grant loves loves loves kindergarten and proudly shows me his green smiley face every afternoon. We did have to have a talk after he told me that he "gets green smiley faces everyday because he does what he's told and when the other kids don't he tells them what they are supposed to do." Grant--just worry about you!!

Madison dropped tacks down our carpeted stairs and yelled down to me one night, "Mom, be careful when you go upstairs. . . there might be tacks on the stairs." Yikes.

And Ammon has only had one rough morning this week, and that was after Dad had helped him to make a lunch and let him put it in his lunch box, which he then put into his backpack, and then into the car when dad took everyone to school.

Have I mentioned that I've really enjoyed having Joe home in the mornings? In case you didn't know, the youth in our church attend an early morning seminary each day at 6:00 am before school starts. Joe was asked to teach 2 years ago, and will be starting his third year on Monday. I've actually really enjoyed his calling (because like I said, this is all about me), but because the location has been moved this year it means that we will not see him at all in the mornings. :( I know that we, and the youth, will be blessed because of his service, but we will really miss him--and I will miss him the most. We spent the week trying to figure out a schedule that will make our mornings run as smoothly as possible when he isn't around to help. The kids make their own lunches after dinner the night before and then lay out their clothes for the next day before going to bed. Now. . . if only I could get them to get out of bed when I come in their rooms at 6:00--right now we are averaging about 4 remindings (begging, more like it) over 20 minutes. If you have any ideas of how to make them more independent in this area let me know. My only solution is to let them go to school hungry and in their pajamas. So anyway, this week Joe has been extra sweet and has helped with breakfast and has been taking the kids to school--including Ammon (which is why Ammon cried so much)--and giving me about 15 minutes in the morning all to myself.

Speaking of sweet, he made us breakfast this morning while I was showering, and then he took all the kids to his office--where they will watch BYU's first game of the season with him. I have to admit, I feel a little lost all by myself, though I know I should be really excited about this opportunity to do whatever I want. Shop? Read? Sleep? Clean? Blog? Work on my class? Eat in silence? Hmmm..... all of the above?

I did write and submit an assignment on my class this morning. I wrote about some of the experiences we have had over the past few years--something I had been meaning to write down for a long time. If you would like to read it, I am trying to figure out how to link it or attach it, as it's probably too long to leave as a blog post.

And speaking of pretty long, this is getting there!

Ammon marks his territory

Welp, summer is officially over, the kids are back in school, and Ammon is an only child, part-time. I needed to walk Grant to his kindergarten class this morning, so we parked and walked in together. I say together, but what really happened is that we walked together until we got on the sidewalk and then Madison and Logan sped up until they were 10 feet in front of me. I tried to call for them to come give me a hug and to tell them good luck and good bye, but all they would give me was a look over the shoulder and a fast, "bye mom." Grant stuffed his backpack in his cubby and then hurried over to a table covered in play-doh and cookie cutters. He let me take a quick picture and didn't even acknowledge I was leaving. Agh! Growing up is so wonderful and exciting and sad all rolled into a big emotional ball! So I got in the car and put on my sunglasses to hide the leaky mascara.

So far Ammon and I have played with friends at the playground, gone shopping, put away groceries, played puzzles, read books, watched a Barney episode, ate lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, and now it's nap time. It's so quiet!

Ammon did better than I expected; of course, we left the kids instead of the kids leaving us, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The best picture I could get. I wanted to take more, maybe even individual pictures, but Madison told me that was enough and climbed into the van. 

Ignore the shoe rack and focus on the ready-to-go backpacks. 

Madison's baptism actually deserves its own blogpost--but it might not happen.

Madison was baptized on Saturday with four other kids--four girls and one boy! It was such a fun, special day, although she barely ate anything and said she didn't feel well for most of the day. She looked beautiful in the white dress that her Aunt Rachel and she picked out. Both sets of grandparents and her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Aaron were able to attend. So many friends and families of the five families were there that the chapel and cultural hall were packed! Many people were left standing in the back. Luckily, I had a front row view of the ordinance, and I felt so grateful to have such a special little girl in my life.

And there she is in her baptism jumpsuit! 

So now that my busy week is over, I am wondering what I'm going to do with one child. Ok, not really! I have a feeling Ammon is going to keep me very, very busy.

Last night I gave Grant and Ammon a bath together, and then we went to their room to get dressed. The two naked little boys were laughing and pointing at each other saying, "You're naked!" "HAHAHA!" "I'm going to pee on you!" "HAHAHA!" "No, I'm going to pee on YOU!" I was sitting on the floor trying to get Ammon to come over to me to get dressed. He walked up behind me and gave me a hug. At least that's what I thought he was doing. Then he stepped back and started laughing really loudly. I felt a strange sensation on my back and felt it to see what it was--warm and wet. My life went into slow-motion as I connected the wetness with what the boys had been talking about.

. . . . . . .

I don't spank. I really don't. I'm against spanking. But I swatted that boy's nakey bum and said, "Ammon, we do NOT pee on people. That is NOT appropriate."

His eyes got all big and tears started sliding down his face (I think he was more surprised than hurt), and he said, "I'm sorry, Mama." So we hugged and made up and I told both the boys that there would be no more potty talk. We'll see how long that lasts.

I can usually find humor in things pretty quickly, but this one has taken a little longer. I was able to finally laugh about it last night when I recounted the story to my dad and Joe, who had been at a stake priesthood meeting.

So yes, I think Ammon will keep me busy. Among other things, I look forward to getting back on my treadmill, completing my English classes, swapping with parents to help out in classrooms, and going to the temple more regularly. I am not looking forward to football season. ;)

So tired that I forgot this happened

Tonight, as we were finishing dinner, Ammon started honking his nose. You know--pinch your nose and say "honk." It brought back this repressed memory, and I asked Joe about it and he confirmed that I wasn't dreaming and this event did indeed happen a few nights ago.

It was some time middle of the night o'clock and I felt Ammon climbing into bed beside me. I said something like, "Ammon, why are you in my bed?" He said something like, "I want to honk Daddy's nose." And I said, "Ok, honk his nose and then go get back in bed." And that is exactly what he did.

Remember a while back when I said I felt like a failure 

becausemy kids don't know how to dance?

Ammon is a natural.

Hooray and Thoughts

I usually don't blog this early--8:30 a.m. We just ate breakfast and I haven't even showered yet. Gasp. But as the summer is winding down and we are preparing for school to start next week, I've been thinking about all the great things we've been able to do this summer.

Traveling
Spending time with family
Sleeping in
(Or getting up early and watching Phineas and Ferb while mom sleeps in)
Playing with friends
Going swimming

We're going to miss you, summer!

Thought #1. A few weeks ago Joe bought the kids a huge bottle of bubble bath. I'm guessing 64 oz. or more. We have a ginormous master bathroom (at least it is to me--it's bigger than my bedroom growing up!) with a big garden tub that the kids like to take baths in. Anyhow, last week we went to the lake and played in the sand and water. Then it started raining and we ran back to the car (ya know--because we didn't want to get wet at the lake). We got home around noon and I sent everyone to get showered while I made lunch. Logan and Madison, of course, shower by themselves--one of the really nice things about kids growing up. I usually fill the tub up for Grant and Ammon, but this time I asked Grant if he thought he could draw his own bath. Sure. No problem. Well, not long after that I was walking through the bathroom and noticed the entire bottle of brand new bubble bath was gone! Someone (I'm guessing Grant when he filled his own bath) had a very bubbly bath. :)

Thought #2: We have the best friends. We don't have a neighborhood pool, so many of our friends have been thoughtful enough to invite us over to swim, and we've been able to go 2-3 times a week usually. The kids are all getting to be little fish, even Ammon as long as he's got floaties on. Swimming with friends is also way more fun than going swimming alone. Thank you, friends!

Thought #3: This week a friend who has kids who are similar in age invited us to go play. When I expressed a desire to get my house clean she said, "send 'em over!" She took Grant and Madison for 6 hours while Ammon napped (not the whole time, but a good chunk). So Logan and I cleaned up together and then he got to play on the computer (part of his two pepper hours) while I got to clean by myself--which is like the greatest gift a mom can have. So my house is passable and I'm feeling much more relaxed! Also, good friends make me want to be a better friend, so if you need to clean your house, let me know!

Thought #4: The only thing about having a cleaner home is that you are very sensitive over the smallest things. For example--the bathrooms were disgusting. Besides the normal dirty function of bathrooms, we have had throwing up and pooping problems at out house this week. It was a dirtier job than normal. (Although, I must say--I had assigned Logan the kids' bathroom and Madison to mop the kitchen floor and they swapped jobs--and Madison did a fantastic job in the kids' bathroom!!) So yesterday when people started using the bathroom I was like, "WHAT? You're using my clean toilet??" I even suggested that they all choose one toilet to use instead of all three.... haha! And when I walked into the kitchen and found dirty Nutella knives and crumbs all over the counter (their favorite afternoon snack) I pulled everyone in and explained that in our house we are RESPONSIBLE and RESPECTFUL, and that means that we clean up after ourselves. We've had this conversation  before, and I'm sure we will have it many more times to come, but my hope is that if we drill it in that we will produce responsible and respectful adults. Yikes! They will be adults someday!

Hooray for summer and hooray for fall and good teachers!

Just another day in paradise....

In February we went van shopping and ended up getting a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. I fell in love with it on our first over-night test drive. Leather seats, DVD player, back-up camera, Blue-tooth, and ambience lighting. AND Stow-and-Go seating in the middle and back rows. No other van offers that (except its' cheaper version Dodge Grand Caravan). It was amazing. All my Honda Odyssey friends told me that if we wanted a good van we needed to go with the Odyssey. We test drove several Odysseys but they just couldn't compete with the Town and Country. Besides, our previous van was a 2003 Chevy Venture--kind of a piece of crap (although we loved it and I almost cried when we traded it in. True story). We never had to do any major repairs on it (probably less than $1,000 over the 9 years we owned it). So surely a Chrysler would be just fine. Right? 

Since February we have put over 14,000 miles on it! It has been wonderful and comfortable for our crazy cross-country trips! We got over 28 mpg as we drove to PA. 

And then it started shaking. At first we barely noticed it, but after a few weeks there was no doubt that something was wrong. Luckily, we are still under the factory warranty. . . but not for long. So we took it in over the weekend to have it looked at and two of the gasket heads were leaking pretty badly. I googled it and everything, but I still don't really know what it means, except that I do not think a car with 34,000 miles should be having problems.

I'm kind of embarrassed to tell all of my Honda friends. I really, really hope they aren't right. :) 

Also, I'm happy to have it back. 

My house is a complete disaster. There is not a single clean room. I've reached the mess threshold, though. It's really fun. Ask my family. Hah. Here's an example of what happens: I pick up the office (or ask the kids to pick it up), then I go upstairs and get the playroom clean. I come down and find that there's a fort in the office. I tell them to clean it up. I go upstairs and all the play food, cars, and batman toys are all over the floor. I tell everyone to pick it up. I have come to the conclusion that the kids also like clean spaces because that is where they go to make a mess. AGH!! Crazy Mom! Signs of independence are everywhere. . . jelly spills in the fridge, banana peels, bread crumbs and Nutella knives on the counter. Evidence of Ammon's three different outfits (which he chose and changed by himself) ...because he spilled water and was all wet. Just another day in paradise, right?

So today I told Madison she WOULD clean her room. And then I went in to help her and started throwing stuff away, which started the wild-cry about how much she LOVED her stuffed bunny and this dirty old fake-canvas bag. It was finally clean (enough). . . and then I walked in an hour later and found FOUR board games spread out over her carpet. It was a stressful morning for all of us.

Luckily we were all in a better mood after quiet time, and we went swimming with some friends. Somehow the idea of Pho (a Vietnamese soup) came up and I could not stop thinking about it. So when Joe came home (with the van--YAY!) I suggested we go out Pho dinner (did you catch that--haha!). Even the kids enjoyed it. I felt very spontaneous--which is exciting for me because I am about the least spontaneous person in the world.

Anyway, when you get Pho, they bring out a side of herbs and vegetables that you can put in the soup--things like mint, bean sprouts, cilantro, and some sort of hot pepper. Logan was kind of playing with the hot pepper and Joe dared him to eat it in exchange for 2 hours on the computer. Computer time is a big deal at our house; it is earned and hard to come by. The deal was Logan had to keep it in his mouth for 10 seconds. Logan decided it was a good deal, so he stuck it in the side of his cheek. When Joe got to 10, Logan surprised us both and started chomping down on the pepper. Joe and I were like, "WHOA!" Then Logan's eyes got huge and he spit it out and started shoving ice into his mouth. He looked like he was going to throw up, and then he spit the ice out and ran for the bathroom. Joe went in to check on him, and Logan came out physically and visibly shaking. We all gave him our ice water and the rest of some stir-fry rice the kids had been sharing. He drank four waters in no more than two minutes. He kept shaking. It seemed to get a little better when he had a fortune cookie; he said his mouth had cooled down but his lips were still burning.

By the time we got in the car he was saying, "Oh yeah!" and high-fiving Joe. Boys. They are crazy.

Anxiety Part II

Shortly after Joe and I were married (12 years ago-wow!) I started taking 21-22 credits (of English classes!) a semester and working 20-30 hours a week. Joe was also taking a ton of credits and working 3 jobs and 30+ hours a week. We both had scholarships and had to keep our grades up to keep them. Our lives were crazy. I got to a point where I couldn't sleep because all I could do at night was think, think, think. And I was always tired and lethargic because I was so busy and not getting any sleep. I didn't realize it at the time, but I look back now and call those my bad years. I have NO desire to ever live in Rexburg again because of the craziness! I went to the doctor to try to figure out what was wrong and after talking to her for a while she said she thought I had anxiety.

Great. Not really what you want to hear when you are looking for reasons why you are tired and can't sleep. But after researching and learning about anxiety disorders, it also made a lot of sense. Basically, I get overwhelmed really easily. It becomes hard to complete tasks because I'm afraid or I don't know how to start. Being successful at whatever it is I do is really important to me, and that factors into the anxiety, too.

Over the years my life has not only become less crazy (well. . . we have added 4 crazies, but I'm not juggling school and work plus a baby), but I have learned how to keep the anxiety under control--for the most part. Some tricks I have learned include focusing on one thing at a time and planning how to accomplish the task, and then of course, following through. Lots of to-do lists.

Sometimes, though, you can't focus on one thing at a time--like if there are several events happening one after the other. Then you have to focus on them all and plan for them all. That is when the anxiety comes back.

Take this week... family coming into town (SOO excited about this, but that means feeling like my house has to look magazine clean and organized and menus planned and food bought ahead of time), Madison's baptism on Saturday (need to buy a ribbon and make a collage of her life), and school starting on Monday. For some reason everything all together is really overwhelming--even though I already have a lot of it ready. The rest of her outfit is ready, all the school supplies are bought, we have school clothes, and I am ready for everyone to go to school! But then I think. . . hair cuts, lunch supplies (should I buy new thermos's or just get juice boxes?).... I know to most people this isn't overwhelming, but for some reason it is to me. Also, it makes me irritable. . . so if you have to be around me when I'm worrying about something, I'm sorry. :)

And then, by chance, two different people asked me about teaching piano lessons today. That caused even more anxiety because I'm struggling just to teach my own kids piano--something that is really important to me! And that started a round of thinking about all of my own inadequacies and things I need to improve. No--I think I need to feel on top of what I already have going on before I start trying to take on more to do.

Luckily I have also learned some tricks to shutting off my brain at night. I need about an hour of mindless tv or reading in bed. And if that still doesn't work, then I have a book on my ipod (The Misadventures of Maude March) that I listen to with ear buds when I can't sleep. I don't think I have ever gotten past the second chapter.

And apparently blogging is another way to get it all sorted out. :) So wish me good luck this week, and tell me I'm not crazy!

Call Me Maybe

It's been a crazy week--birthdays, birthday parties, play dates, family dates, getting ready for school.

I sat down with the kids for a few minutes to go over address and phone numbers. Logan and Madison have that info down, but Grant is still practicing. So I asked Grant if he knew my phone number.

Grant: "Oh yeah, Mom."

Mom: "What is it?"

Grant: "Oh, 1-900-...."

Mom: "Wait Wait Wait a second here. Don't tell people that!!!"

It looks like we have some work to do around here! 

In other news, Grant has been doing a lot of writing lately. Another getting ready for kindergarten thing, I guess. Sometimes he just puts a bunch of letters together and asks me what it spells. I sound it out, and it might sound like, "pbtks." "No mom, that's not a word!" Ok, then. He's been getting better at sounding out words and trying to get some sounds that make up real words. 

So today he wrote me a letter. I couldn't figure it out. . . but apparently it said that Logan thought he was the man of the house and he bossed everyone around and that Grant wanted to make sure I knew that Logan was not the man of the house. The only thing I could read is "the" on the first line and "damn"  right there in the middle. I'm not sure what he was really trying to say, but *dang* that made me laugh!

And finally, I'm starting to get a little bit worried about what Ammon is going to do when everyone goes off to school and he is stuck with just me all day. I tried to talk about it with him a few days ago, and it ended in some denial crying. He asks us every day if he can go to school and when we tell him no, he  can go when he is 5, he says, "I five! I go to school!" He has a cute little backpack and when it's time for everyone to do some homework (yah, I'm that mean summer mom) he pulls out a Peter Pan coloring book and some crayons from his backpack and announces that he's doing his homework.

The End.

Madison's Birthday Post

Hey everyone! This is Madison!

Q: How old are you?
A: 8

Q: What is your favorite thing to do:
A: Be with my family

Q:What is your favorite color?
A: Rainbow

Q: What is your favorite food?
A: jiao zi, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and cold cereal

Q: What is your first memory:
A: Dropping clothes down the laundry chute in Cleveland. Sometimes I would drop toys. That was fun.

Q: What is your favorite vacation?
A: Going to visit family.

Q:What are you good at?
A: Well, I'm good at drawing, running, reading books. Sometimes I don't listen to my parents because I'm reading books.

Q: Oooh! What's your favorite book?
A: That's a hard question to answer! Probably The Boxcar Children right now. 

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A missionary for my church. Then I want to be a piano teacher, and if I have kids I want to be their teacher.

Q: What is your favorite song to play on the piano?
A: "I Know that my Savior Loves Me" and "Book of Mormon Stories"

Q: What is your favorite thing about growing up?
A: I get to learn how to do new things and get better and smarter every day. 

Q: What are some goals you have this year?
A: Be nice to my brothers, pray every night, practice piano, make friends, learn how to cook macaroni and cheese by myself. From a box.

Q: What is your favorite toy?
A: I got a doll for my birthday that is like the American Girl Dolls. I named her Scarlett. I got that name because my mom read "Gone with the Wind" and I liked the movie. Also, her clothes are scarlet. 

Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: Star Wars. All of them. 

Well, Madison, thanks for your time and happy birthday! We sure are lucky to have you in our family!

Headachy Day

The day is almost over, but I wanted to write a few memories down first. They are uncomfortable memories for people to hear, I think--the kind of information that leaves people wondering just what they should say. I apologize for making you uncomfortable, but it's ok.

August 13, 2004 was the day my brother, Ben, was killed in a car accident. We will never know exactly what happened that day, but he ran a stop sign and was hit by a van as he crossed the intersection.

On this day I always think about what I was doing the night before. We had just moved into married student housing at BYU and Joe had just started law school. Logan was having a hard time sleeping through the night, and we had gone outside the apartment to look at stars and to escape from the baby crying for just a few minutes. I had wanted to call my family that night, but knew they were camping at the county fair and wouldn't be home to answer my call. I decided not to call because the only person home would be Ben, and I didn't have anything to talk about with him. I will probably never stop regretting that decision.

The next morning Joe got up early to take a shower. I guess the phone had been ringing, but I hadn't heard it. He came in to tell me that my mom was on the phone. I faked a cheery "I'm awake!" voice and said, "Hey Mom!" She sounded tired and said, "Honey, I need to talk to you. Ben was in a car accident last night." "Oh. Well, he's all right, right?" "No honey, he died."

When someone dies unexpectedly you go through a stage of denial. They must be wrong. How could something change so suddenly? How could it possibly be true?

Gradually you come to accept it, and accept that your life will never be the same, but you get used to a new life, so to speak--one in which this is what happened and you don't know any different.

But you never stop wondering what if. . . what if I had been able to talk to Ben that night? What if he was still alive? Would he have kids? Where would he live? What would he be doing?

Ironically, when I allow myself to think about Ben and remember and feel. . . I think about how a lot of the last memories I had of him had to do with death.

I remember how my parents' dog was hit by a car near their home, my sister running barefoot and sobbing as she hugged the dog on the side of the road, and Ben driving in his white truck to pick up the dog and and take Rene home.

How he asked Joe and me to stop walking on the side of the busy road with Logan in a stroller because he feared that we would be hit by a speeding car.

We were only 15 months apart--meaning we were at times best friends, and other times biggest competitors. When we moved to Pennsylvania our two zebra finches died. We buried them in a McDonald's Happy Meal box and made a parade and banged on some sort of homemade drum as we marched around the house and mourned for those birds.

He was at times the protective brother who dared to tell me not to date boys he thought would not respect me.

Joe and I spent the summer in between undergrad and law school in PA, and Ben wanted to take 8 month old Logan with him everywhere. . . to the mall, to his friends' homes, on walks. I think it made Ben popular with the girls. He bought Logan a few outfits, which I still have and am saving to pass down to the next person in the family with a boy.

He helped us move our crazy heavy piano so that we could carry it across the country. When I told him over the phone that I was giving piano lessons, he asked how much I was charging, and then told me I needed to be charging more because I was so qualified.

I remember him cleaning cars and riding on tractors and dancing in the kitchen to country music.

I remember crying when it was his turn to drive because the rule was that the driver got to choose the music, and I hated country music.

I remember that after his funeral my dad got out some firecrackers he had found stashed in some of Ben's things--and we lit those things off and we celebrated his life.

Even though today has been a headachy day, I take comfort in this scripture in Mosiah 16:7-8

7. And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no ^asting, there could have been no resurrection.

 8 But there is a ^aresurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of ^bdeath is swallowed up in Christ.

I don't have time to write much more down tonight, but one thing I learned after this was how people mourn with those who mourn. Our friends didn't ask what they could do--they just did. They ironed our funeral clothes, painted the porch, and got the house ready for visitors from across the country. I have so much more to remember about those days, but I need to go to bed. 

Suffice it to say that I know that the sting of death can be swallowed up in Christ. I'm thankful for the knowledge I have that families can be together forever. One of these days we are going to have a grand union. 

It's the Most Emotional Time of the Year

Two weeks until school starts. TWO WEEKS. This is the time I start feeling emotional.

I feel crazy as I look around my sticky, fort-covered, toy cluttered house.

I feel grateful when I realize that in two weeks we will get back on a schedule and the house will hopefully get back to normal.

I feel nervous when I remember I'm going to have to start getting up early. Like 5:30 a.m. early.

I feel sleep-deprived when I think of Joe getting up at 4:30 a.m.

I feel sad when I think of my kids spending the majority of their time away from home.

I feel excited that a new school year brings new experiences and growth.

My heart feels flip-floppy when I realize that I'm only going to have one baby at home with me.

I feel anxious that we didn't do enough this summer; learn enough, play enough, laugh enough, dance enough, love enough.

I feel happy that we got to travel a lot and see family this summer.

I feel lost when I think of the kids growing up.

I feel like celebrating about fall and cooler weather and fun holidays.

I feel like crying when I think about Grant leaving me to start kindergarten.

I feel relief that we have time to work on perfection.

Daddy Saves the Day

Two Christmas's ago we bought Madison a fish tank, and a few weeks later we went with her to pick out some fish. A few months after that we went back to get a fish to help keep the fish tank clean. We were told to get a miniature catfish. Since then we have "killed" about 4 fish, but this little catfish has been around for almost the whole time. We have 4 little fish in the 5 gallon tank right now--and Madison changes their names every time you ask what their names are. That's how much we love them.

It looks like this (I'm too lazy to get up and take a real picture):

Anyway. A few days ago we were getting ready to say our evening family prayer when Logan yells, "Hey guys! You gotta' come in here!" He said it in an excited voice, so we thought it was good. "We don't want to get up, Logan, just tell us what it is!" "No! You need to see it for yourselves!"

Madison went in and started crying hysterically. So we get off our lazy bums to see what's going on, only to find that the fish had jumped out of the tank, which looks like this:

Don't hate on me, but I don't really like animals. I took a paper towel and poked the fish. It didn't move. I said something like, "I'm sorry Madi. I think it's gone." She cried louder. Joe, who appreciates animals 1000x more than I do, picked the fish up and commented that it was pretty dry and that we had found him too late. Then he held the fish super close to his eyes and said, "Wait a minute. I think he's trying to breathe." So he gently tipped the fish back in the tank. We watched it fall down to the bottom. And then a funny thing happened. . . we saw its gills (or whatever that part is by the mouth) start to move. Then it flipped itself the right way. There was an audible sigh of relief and some cheering, too.

That was last Monday, I think, and even though it took a while for him to start moving, the fish is still alive! Hopefully a little smarter, too. Don't Jump!!

The Birds and the Hornets

Somehow hornets have been getting into our house--3 in the past 24 hours. The kids have been freaking out, putting rooms in quarantine and researching the pests on google.com.

How long do hornets live?
What do hornets eat?

My idea was to try and ignore them and hope that somehow they disappeared.

For some reason the kids weren't satisfied with that.

Logan came up with the idea to just leave them alone and hope they starved to death when they couldn't find live plants to eat in the house. And anyway, they only live like 12 days. . .

Then he asked the question: Mom--do hornets get married?

Me (a little distracted with other things): Ah, no, only people get married.

Logan (distressed): Then my plan won't work because they'll just keep having babies and their babies will have babies and it will become a hornet house.

Me: Well they can't have babies by themselves, so that's not a problem because I only see one right now and it's probably a boy.

Logan: But you said they don't get married, so they don't need anyone else to have babies.

Me (realizing he was talking about sex): Ummm... well, you can have sex and have babies without being married. Humans are supposed to get married before they have sex, but animals and insects don't have to follow those rules.

Logan: Oh. Um. So do you think the hornet can have babies?

Me: Only if it has sex. Do you want to talk about it?

Logan: Um, that's ok. How are you going to get rid of it?

I sucked that bugger up with the vacuum cleaner.