Explanation

I have an explanation of the poses the boys have in Caribbean outfit pictures. Kenny was either squinting in the sun or being a ham. Nathan copies everything his brother does. However, Nathan is not quite as coordinated as Kenny, so he is just leaning over at an awkward angle trying to wink. So cute!

Yo Man!

Guess Who?

Kenny's class did sharing time today. I was asked to sub in Primary last minute so I was able to watch. Everyone in a his class represented a different Old Testament prophet. He was dressed up like Noah. He did such a great job and looked adorable!

The whole experience opened up a wonderful dinner discussion. We had biscuits, eggs, and raisins (a little random, but it was good) and we took turns telling stories about different prophets and the other person had to guess which prophet the story was about. Even Nathan got into participating, only we couldn't understand most everything he said. We spent an hour at the table talking and telling stories. And both the boys finished off all their dinner! It was a good night.

Cooking With Kenny

I am always envious of those who have kids who enjoy cooking and making things with them. It's such a great bonding experience. My boys are not very interested in cooking or helping me in the kitchen.

Then Disney came out with the movie Ratatouille. Suddenly, cooking was cool! Kenny enjoys helping me in the kitchen, under one condition. I have to refer to him as Little Rat Chef instead of by his name.

Oh well, you take some and you lose some.

Just Our Luck

5 years of teaching little kids who sneeze on me, wipe their noses on my pants, and are constantly holding my hands and hugging me and I have NEVER had pink eye! I think that is a record.

Oh no, I don't have pink eye.

Poor little Nathan does!

He Does Listen in Primary!

Kenny came up to me with a popcorn kernel all hyped up with excitement. He was going outside to plant that popcorn kernel, all by himself without my help, and he was going to grow a popcorn tree! I giggled a bit and gently explained that the kernel was actually corn, like what we eat for dinner. I told him popcorn corn was corn that popped open. If he plants the kernel and it grew, he would get a corn stalk.

His eyes darkened and he stared at me for a few moments. In a very serious tone he said, "Mama, don't you know that at church we learned the popcorn popping on the tree song. You have it all wrong!!!"

And with that he marched his little self right out the back door.

And somewhere in my flower beds is a little popcorn kernel, waiting to grow into a popcorn tree.

Tractor Tipping

Cars is my boys current favorite movie. Tractor tipping is one of their favorite parts. Since they don't have tractors they use the little Lightening McQueens and trains.

Sorry

Sorry It's been awhile but we have been sick with colds and stomach flu.

Kenny... Future Attorney

During our morning routine, Chiara gets up first, gets ready for work, eats, and leaves -usually before anybody in the house is awake. (I try to wake up with her but it's soooo early!) I wake up about 7:00 to take care of the boys (get them dressed, fed, and out the door for school). Well, one day last week, the boys woke up with mommy while I slept in a little. I woke up around 7:30 to Kenny explaining something to me, which I can't remember. I looked at the clock and realized I needed to get moving.

I asked Kenny, "Did you have breakfast with Mommy?"

"Umm, Yes. We had some cereal and some B-bars," he replied.

Good, Mommy bought me some time. I can get the boys ready for school at a leisurely pace, maybe play a little, and get them to school on time. I did so, and headed downstairs with the boys to head out the door for school. I ran into the kitchen to get a b-bar (Kenny speak for granola bar) for myself, and noticed that the kitchen was spotless. The table was spotless. The counters were spotless. Everything was pristine. Definitely not a place where a five year-old and a three year-old would have devoured their morning meal.

"Kenny? Where's your breakfast stuff?"

"What?"

"Where are your cereal bowls?"

"Umm. They were clean, so I put them away."

I look in the cupboard, just to make sure... Not a bowl in sight.

"Kenny. Did you REALLY eat any cereal this morning?"

Kenny solemnly, and subtly, nodded his head from side to side in reply.

"Did you have ANY breakfast?"

Kenny responded with the same, solemn nod.

Exasperated, "Kenny... Why did you lie to me and say you had eaten breakfast? I would have gotten you some earlier, if you had told me the truth, but now it's too late. We have to go to school now."

Realizing he was in jeopardy of losing out on a previous arrangement he had made with Mommy, Kenny did his best to do some damage control. "Mommy said that if I kept my clip on green today, that I could play the Cars video game when I get home from school."

"Well, mommy might have to take your lying to me into consideration before she decides on that," I responded.

And then, courageously trying to protect his interests, he boldly asserted himself by saying the the following -word for word, an exact quote...

"But daddy... That wasn't part of the deal."

It was true. Mommy hadn't included anything about lying to daddy in her deal on playing the Cars game. The deal was, keep your clip on green, play the video game. That's it. Nothing about lying in that contract, anywhere.

"Well, unfortunately, the deal might change," I replied.

Realizing that the parents still had the upper-hand in the situation, Kenny went on to point out all of the many, many, good choices he had made in the last thirty minutes. I told Kenny that I would talk things over with Mommy, and that he would have a reply from Mommy when he got home from school.

As parents, we need to pay closer attention to the fine print in the contracts we make with our son, because obviously HE is!

FOLLOW UP: After discussing the situation with Mommy, we decided that not getting breakfast was punishment enough, and that if he kept his clip on green, we would honor Mommy's original agreement.

Kenny, at all costs that day, kept his clip on green.

"For You...Because Mamas Are Pretty"

I love all the sweet "treasures" my boys bring to me. They do so with all the love in their little hearts. It feels wonderful to know that they are thinking about me and how much they want to show me they care.

My sweet Kenny regularly brings me bouquets from the yard.


And Nathan brings me this.

Wait, wait. Is that what I think it is? I need a closer look.


That's right. Nathan brings me cockroaches. And occasionally a butterfly with broken wings.

How he catches them I have no idea. He's really not that fast. But he ALWAYS manages...somehow.

Sorry about the absence in posts, but Ken has Wednesday and Thursday off and I preferred to spend those days with him. But he's back to work and I'm back to spending my evenings alone.

Speaking of him going to work, he's getting an awesome tan working outside at the airport. That, and his blue work shirt (he looks amazing in blue), in combination with losing 35 pounds means he's looking pretty hot. I've always thought he was incredibly good looking, but now other women at stores and restaurants are noticing.! I better make some Boston Cream pies and chocolate chip cookies and fatten him up again (wink, wink.)

My Answer

It never ceases to amaze me the way our Heavenly Father guides our lives. This last weekend was General Conference.

*For those who are not of my faith, conference is conducted on a semi-annual basis and it is a precious opportunity for our prophet and leaders to instruct and uplift the members the church worldwide. Conference includes 5 different two hour sessions with many speakers on a variety of topics. The picture to the right is the Salt Lake Temple, where I was married to the love of my life in July 2000.*

During a recent church service, one of the speakers mentioned praying about a specific question and asking the Lord to help our leaders be inspired to answer our call during conference. Well, I took that challenge and I can testify that I got my answer on Sunday afternoon. It wasn't a direct answer that told me exactly what to do. The speaker was relating the well-known bible story of Abraham and Issac. I had heard and read this story many times, but as she spoke I felt a new awakening in my heart and I knew the Lord was speaking directly to me through her.

I was also very touched by Elder Ballard's words on the same afternoon. I have a particular fondness for Elder Ballard. He is a relative of my husband's and I have had the opportunity to receive a personal blessing from him as well as be sealed (married) by him. He spoke directly to the young mothers of the church. It was wonderful and just what I needed to hear. Working full time and trying to raise a family, be a wife, and care for my home often leave me feeling profoundly inadequate. His words strengthened me and I can't wait until they are out in print so I can read them again and again whenever I'm feeling down on myself.

I am so grateful for the words and testimony of the prophet. I am grateful for my understanding of the love of the Savior and our Heavenly Father. And I am grateful for General Conference and the opportunity we have to be lifted and strengthened.

Pirate Ship Park

We actually had some time together as a family this morning so we went to a local park that has equipment shaped like a pirate ship. We had a regular soap opera going on. The good pirate captain (Kenny) was sailing off into the unknown land of California to rescue the Princess (me). Unfortunately, the bad pirate (Daddy) kept thwarting his efforts. It was an epic battle- good verses evil with the damsel in distress stuck in the middle. And just to spice things up a bit, the little pirate (Nathan) kept switching between good and evil, depending on who he wanted to play with at the time. Sadly, we never saw the end of the battle. The little pirate messed his diaper and the good captain started whining and crying over something we weren't doing exactly the way he wanted.

A Date With My Boys

Ken has been working swing shift- 2 to 10. Which of course works perfectly with my day job. We've been like ship passing in the night...or early morning. Since I was going to be alone again tonight, I decided to have a date night with my boys. We went to the store and I let them each pick out some treats to share. Kenny chose Cheetos and Nathan chose Oreos wiht some root beer to wash it down. We planned on renting The Water Horse, but it doesn't come out in video until Tuesday. So we got Ratatouille...again. We should probably just buy the movie. After a fabulous meal of Spaghetti-Os and grilled cheese, we all changed into our jammies and curled up in the living room for an evening of feating on junk. It was so wonderful to have a quiet evening at home. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was missing our Daddy.

Race Cars

One of The Problems of Being The Only Girl

I don't exactly have long hair, but it is most certainly longer than anyone else's hair in this house. A few weeks back, Ken got the boys a little airplane that attaches to the ceiling and flies around in a circle. The boys love to watch this little plane go around, and around, and around. I personally, do not see the attraction, but I have learned in this testosterone filled house that boys and girls find very different things amusing. Anyways, one day I asked Ken to run to the store to get some milk while I put away some laundry.

That's when this happened.


Mom: "Kenny, go get Mama the phone please."
Kenny: "Why? What are you doing? You look funny."
Mom: "Just get me the phone."
Kenny: "Ok, just a minute Mama. I'm busy building a speeder"
Mom: "Kenny...Kenny..Kenny...Keeeennnnnnyyyy...Kenny...GET THE PHONE!"
Kenny: "Ok! Ok!!"

*dialing the phone*

Me: "Honey, where are you? Are you already at the store?"
Ken: "No, I just left our neighborhood. Why? What's wrong?"
Me: "Just come home. Please. Right now."
Ken: "Why?"
Me: (small laugh) "Just come home. Now."
Ken: (laughing) "No, no, no. Tell me what you did?"
Me: "I...um....I am a little stuck. In the boys room. Their airplane is um....in my hair.
Ken: (roaring laughter) "What?!?"
Me: "Well, it's still running and I can't turn it off and it is all tangled up and I can't get it off the string hook thing and I'm really embarrassed and I need you to come home right now and get this thing out of my hair."

Good news is he came back home to rescue me.
The bad news is he brought the camera with him.