30 May 2015

Following is a conversation with Rose Pink during nightly scriptures:

Rose Pink:  What's a 'fatling'?

Mom: A fat young cow.  Or sheep.  Or pig.  I don't know if it's specific.

Rose Pink: But not a horse?

Mom: No, people don't eat horses.

Rose Pink: What people don't eat horses?  People eat horses!

Mom: Well, not in this country.

Rose Pink: Fair. .....  Some people eat bugs.

Mom: People will eat anything when they're hungry.

Rose Pink: (outrage) I won't eat bugs!  I'll go to the fridge and get a pita!  Or see if there's leftovers.  If there's no leftovers, I'll ask Papa to make me something.  Or ask if I can make mac and cheese or scrambled eggs or something.  But I won't eat a bug just because I'm hungry!

28 May 2015

Tonight I went up to read scriptures with Rose Pink, and she showed me the paper bag puppets she's been working on.  "Look, Mom," she says.  "This one is designed to eat other puppets.  Want to see?  She's going to eat her naughty daughter."

27 May 2015

The kids in the car started telling jokes:

 

Nut Brown: What kind of car does Yoda drive?  A Toy-Yoda!

 

Rose Pink: What kind of cars live on farms?  Rams!  Also Buicks?  (me: Buicks?  Rose Pink: like the sound that a chicken makes!  Buick! Buick! Buick!)

 

Rose Pink: What happens when a Chevy and a Jeep have a baby?  Don't answer, Nut Brown!  I know you know this!  It's a SHEEP!  (Ch (Sh) + -eep)

26 May 2015

Happy birthday to me!  The kids decorated and gave me gifts - Nut Brown gave me a glass elephant, and Rose Pink made me a little bag to carry my wallet in out of Kleenex and masking tape, and Bobo gave me a ladybug clip that he loves.  Mr. Brown made kissel for me and our friends the Scotts brought cake pops to our regularly scheduled D&D night.  We put candles in the cake pops so I had a flaming bouquet to blow out.  Actually Ramses blew them out for me.

 

Sunday we attended a baptism for the Scotts' kids at their church and then drove up to the Peers' house and stayed overnight.  Spencer and I made a d20 pinata and so we played D&D and broke the pinata and had cake with them as well.  I'm pretty sure that I didn't really see my kids for most of the time that we were there.  Monday they spent pretty much the entire day on the trampoline in the backyard.   

10 May 2015

Bobo takes his first priesthood nap.  (He's never worn a long tie before!)

8 May 2015

I LOVE SPRING.  (These tulips are downtown on Belle Isle.)  We're not quite to frost-free, but the early stuff is starting to come up in my garden (peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach) and the daffodils and forsythia are just finishing.  The lawn has to be mowed again - things are growing.  The sun is out so much that I've really had a chance to recharge my solar batteries.  There is so much beauty everywhere.

7 May 2015

Happy birthday, Bobo!

We had a cinco de mayo party for him in the backyard with our favorite people.

eating on blankets

We took down our deck, so we have a big pile of scrap lumber and concrete pilings still waiting to be gotten rid of.

The pinata- we made it out of pizza box tops.  It's the Allspark from Transformers.  The kids decorated it themselves- lots of aluminum foil and sharpie markers.

Opening gifts

Blowing out candles

Bobo tells me that he's a big boy now.  I have to agree - three feels much older than two.

5 May 2015

My boys being boys.

4 May 2015

Soccer season again....

...and someone has to be entertained during the games - -

30 April 2015

There was one cookie left so I set it up on a higher shelf in the kitchen, intending to set it aside for Mr. Brown.  I heard someone in the kitchen sliding a chair on the floor, so I went in and saw Bobo, who jumped guiltily when I came in. 

 

Me: What are you doing, Bobo?

 

Bobo: You are going in the yiving woom! (living room)

 

Me: Okay, but what are you doing?

 

Bobo (pointing): I am getting that cookie!

 

So I went in the yiving woom, and he finished sliding the chair over and got the cookie.

29 April 2015

Packing lunch for Sunday, Bobo puts four cookies in a baggie.  (two in each hand)  Rose Pink came by, and I said to her, "These are the cookies for lunch.  There are four of them so I'll let you figure out how to solve the problem of four cookies for three people."  She said without hesitation, "I think we should add two more," and did so.

28 April 2015

Bobo is three!  We're having a 'cinco de mayo' party on Friday afternoon, which I guess makes it an 'uno de mayo' party. We're inviting a couple families over and we're going to have posole and chips and salsa to eat, and run around in the backyard, and then break a pinata and eat cake. He's very pleased to be three... last night for dinner we had his favorite food - pizza from Little Caesar's, and to his great joy, he's having pizza for breakfast as well.

 

Mr. Brown has also decided that three years old is time to more strongly invite potty-training.  Bobo hates to be naked so much that although he's shown the usual signs of interest in the toilet and comprehension of what happens there, he hasn't been interested at all in taking off his pants.  However, the new policy is practicing sitting on the toilet while Mr. Brown reads books, and last night he sat for probably half an hour in order to get the books.  Eventually Mr. Brown went and got a tv tray and set it up in front of him with a book so he (Mr. Brown) could get a little relief!

 

I can't believe he's three already... time goes so quickly.  He is such a joy in our family, full of laughter and fun, and is always inviting us to laugh with him.  Last night after tucking him and Nut Brown in bed, I went back in and they were in bed together and Nut Brown was reading to him.  We are all wrapped around his finger.

27 April 2015

Last Thursday was Bring Your Kids to Work Day (photo is of me and Bobo by a robot display that he found fascinating) so all three kids plus Mr. Brown came to work with me and we played all day.  They drew pictures at my desk and drove robots and built Lego robots and some of the kids jumped in the bouncy castle.  It was not as great as the previous years, partly because the weather was so bad (it was snowing) and partly because they didn't get as much time to drive robots or hang out at my office.  But I was still glad for them to come and see where I work and meet some of my coworkers.

 

Bobo is learning his letters by having them assigned to words, e.g. "P is for Papa".  He read me 'DETROIT' by saying "D is for Papa, E is for Enoch, T is Truscott, R is for Ramses, O is for O, I is Isaiah, T is for Truscott" and was very pleased with himself.  T is sometimes for Transformer (a current passion) and B is no longer for Batman, but for Bumblebee (another Transformer).  We get out the tiles from our Bananagrams game and he calls it his 'yetter homewook' and then manipulates the tiles so that they talk to each other and introduce themselves.  He identifies letters out of the blue sometimes when we are out and about.  I so love watching him learn!

18 April 2015

Some photos from our various Easter celebrations.  First, dying eggs with Grandma and Grandpa:

Second, Peeps from Grandpa:

Third- Easter dinner:

Tuesday night Rose Pink and I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy her a sports bra for soccer and discovered that the Easter candy was 90% off.  We spent $7 on a cartload of chocolate bunnies and foil wrapped coins.  It was deliciously liberating.  I bought all the kids enormous chocolate rabbits because they were 56 cents each, but I splurged and bought myself the truly gigantic chocolate bunny for 76 cents.  I filled Bobo's upcoming birthday pinata with chocolate coins for about $1.20.  It was so silly and so fun.

16 April 2015

Miscellaneous:

from this morning
Mr. Brown: What are you eating, Bobo?

Bobo: Oh! Eggs!

from this evening
Mama: Good night, Bobo.  I love you.

Bobo: Good night, Papa.  ha ha Good night, Mama.

Mama: Good night, Bobo.  Kiss!

Bobo: Good night, Satan.

Mama: ??

Bobo:  Ha ha!  You not Satan!

13 April 2015

Oh blissful sunshine!  We spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the yard, in the sunshine.  Rose Pink even acquired a bit of a burn.  I swapped the tires on the car and sharpened the lawnmower blade, and finished getting the garden ready for new dirt this week.  Rose Pink made mud dinners with multiple courses.  Nut Brown alternately helped her and helped Mr. Brown take down the porch.  The kids got into the sandbox for the first time and had a messy good time.  It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine.

Mr. Brown lately has been re-reading my astronomy textbook from college and has been full of enlightening fact about stars.  He was telling us all at dinner today that the atoms we are made from all came from the stars, and tonight at family prayer, Nut Brown thanked God for the stars, 'since we are made from them'.  What a beautiful thought!

Soccer season has started for Rose Pink, and she has a coach this year who is really working them.  He says his goal is to show improvement, and we can already see it in her.  There are fewer games, so I don't know if she's enjoying it as much, but she is definitely improving.

Having the porch down in back means that much more sunshine comes into the kitchen- so wonderful!  Mr. Brown and I keep thinking someone has left the back door open, but no, there's just more light.  I'm so glad that it's spring!

5 April 2015

Easter weekend.  We went up to an Easter egg hunt at Grant Park on Saturday morning, which Rose Pink said was more of an 'Easter egg grab', since the eggs were simply spread widely across an open field.  It was just above freezing outside, and we rode our bikes.  Brrrrr.  Between conference sessions, we went over to Kenwood Park, and Rose Pink got some soccer training and tips while the rest of us played on the swings.  Bobo was the 'Booyakinator' and Nut Brown was the Spinjitsu Ninja. 

4 April 2015

Last week my parents came to visit over my dad's spring break.  The kids love having Grandma and Grandpa here and wore them out playing War and asking to be read to.  One evening when we were going out to dinner, Grandpa asked if he could drive the Civic.  Nut Brown was in the back seat and I rode shotgun.  Everyone else rode in Flash.  As he was putting the car in reverse, Grandpa asked, "Are there any kids behind me?  No, everyone's in the other car."  He began to back up.  Nut Brown piped up, "I'm behind you, Grandpa!"

31 March 2015

What Nut Brown does in the middle of the night when he can't sleep (self-reported):

 

28 March 2015

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit over their spring break this week, and it was very cold.  We went out to dinner last night at a restaurant that had a little train going around the place over customers' heads.  Bobo was entranced.  He waved to it, and showed the train the picture he had colored of it. 

One afternoon we rode our bikes up to the park, and the kids tried out the slides, which were not very fast.  Sigh.  Rose Pink crept down one slowly and said, "Whee.... ish."  She's so funny.