Making Smoothies

Tonight we had smoothies for dinner. We haven't had smoothies forever. First because I didn't have a blender until Christmas and then I think because I was out of the habit of it. But today we had smoothies. The kids loved helping make them. Annika loved putting the lid on the blender and pushing the buttons. We did something wrong though, because the maiden use of the blender resulted in a burning smell and a dead engine on the blender. I can't imagine how frozen blueberries, pears and peaches mixed with yogurt, mild and unfrozen bananas could've burned it out...but I think we killed the blender.

Today while shopping for a birthday present for a girl Caleb told me on the way to the store that he didn't want to go down the girl aisles because he found them so annoying. Or something like that. Cracked me up. We decided that Annika would get a present for Kairi from the girl aisle and Caleb could get one not from the girl aisle. At first he found super boy toys but I was afraid that she would open them and say it was a boy toy and not like it. when I told Caleb that, he was impressive and really started looking for things he knew Kairi liked. He wanted to get her some animals because that's what she liked to play with at our house. I knew she had animals at her house so I talked him into a game--one of those velcro ball games. He was glad because she could play it with her dad (he likes to play stuff with his dad and was mindful that Kairi was also in a divorce situation and might like to play things with her dad) and he also saw that he could play it with her. Annika found some lip gloss. I found a really annoying noise Dora card that said Happy Birthday Feliz Cumpleanos in a Dora voice over and over again...I may be getting pay back some time in the future. I thought Caleb was really thoughtful though and was really happy to see him think about other's being happy.

A few weeks ago it was Jadon's birthday. Jadon is our next door neighbor and he and Caleb play together lots. Caleb bought him legos so that he could get into them. For quite some time Caleb has just wanted to play legos and nothing else. Jadon hasn't been interested in playing legos. Granted there were some personal motives in there too but Caleb was so excited for Jadon to have his own legos so that he would start liking legos.

Babysitters

Caleb just said: Steffany is fun and bubbly and Jessica is calm and stable. I asked, "who told you that?" He said, "You did." Steffany and Jessica are babysitters. He heard me say that to someone and caught every word...

I have three babysitters: Steffany, Jessica, and Liz. Steffany I just should've had everyday. Origionally that was the plan with a back up person or something. But then I decided to pay then for better or worse I choose to have more. It's good because then they can cover for each other if needed, but really Steffany would've been just a fabulous babysitter. She's awesome with kids, has tons of experience and the kids love her. Jessica always leaves my house cleaner than I started, the kids are well dressed and cared for. They always make their beds with her. She reminds me of my mom. I know the kids are in good hands with her. Liz is Fridays. It's nice she's only one day a week. I thought she'd be okay even though she's a little odd. She is okay...but...not the best. I think I'll just keep her because it's not like she's done anything wrong, it's just the other ones are way better and everytime Liz shows up and the kids are awake Caleb starts complaining. She's just not as fun at all. Steffany and Jessica are way better. But the kids only complaint is she's boring, not that she's mean or something so I think I'll just keep her and Fridays will be boring. Although I do need to help them not complain when she comes. It's awkward.

Soggy socks

We were at the pool (Andy and Mike had taken the kids swimming and I stopped by to see them swim and helped them get out) and I was getting Annika dressed afterwards. She wanted to run around in her socks and I said something like "there aren't very many things worse than soggy socks." Then some time passed and Caleb piped up with "car accidents." We looked at him and said, "What?" Caleb, "Car accidents are worse than soggy socks. And tornados." Yes, that's right. There are lots of things worse than soggy socks. I love Caleb.

Big stickers

Annika has taken to getting out my pantyliners and sticking them around the house. I guess they are large stickers that come in pretty wrapping. I was going to attach a picture with this but figured I'd write it if I never got around to the picture part.

Christmas Break -- Part 1

After grading way too many exams and papers, I went down to Ephraim the week before Christmas.  I spent the afternoon and evening with Charity's family (it was her Grammy's birthday) and the kiddos, and then Caleb, Annika, and I headed up to Park City for a few days.  Grandpa Mike and Grandma Evie arrived in Wednesday afternoon. 

On Thursday afternoon, Annika had a girls day with Grandma Evie, and Caleb, Grandpa Mike, and I had a beautiful day of skiing at Alta.  Caleb did so, so good!  He generally skis kind of between my knees. (I don't know how conducive it is to learning to ski well, but it's super fun for us!) Caleb really started taking off on his own a bit, would hold onto the rope tow himself a bit, and would not get scared if I started going fast or making turns.  Last year Caleb just did the flattest rope tow, but this year we did a steeper rope town and went on the chair-lift!  And Alta's easy chair is no bunny hill--it's a high-speed triple chair with a long run coming down. If it's not apparent from this post--I am so proud of Caleb and so glad to have a ski buddy! And I love, love how rope tows and the easy chair are free at Alta (and all of our yard sale/thrift store equipment works great)! Below are some pictures (thanks Grandpa Mike!) of the outing.

Then Thursday evening the Keddingtons had a family get together with cousins at their place in Centerville.  It was great to see family (and the Boise State bowl game was on--and Caleb was rocking his Boise State sweatshirt!). Apparently the Keddingtons have a neighbor who plays Santa Claus for parties, etc.  He was returning from a party and saw all the cars in front of the Keddingtons--so he dropped by and surprised all of the kids.  He was great, and Caleb and Annika loved it--especially Annika!  From the moment he walked in, she wouldn't stop talking to him: "I'm so excited to see you!" "Is it cold where you live?" "You're a candy man--you bring us candy!"  When he suggested that we sing Jingle Bells, Annika just started singing and led the whole group in singing, before Santa could start the song.  It was so, so fun!  Pictures below:

Then Friday morning we went back down to my Aunt Marie's in Centerville for a scavenger hunt for the presents that "Elmer the Elf" had left for Annika and Caleb.  Annika and Caleb absolutely love Marie--she is so fun with them!  Afterward we went to Inn-n-Out in Centerville--and I'm too embarrassed to write what the kiddos ate.


Then on Christmas Eve (Saturday) we all drove down to Ephraim for Christmas.  Charity's grandparents were so nice to let me and Miley stay at their house--and Charity and her family were so welcoming in inviting me to have Christmas with them.  After a great dinner and a fun retelling of the Nativity story (which included singing "Away in a Manger" no less than six times--five of which were initiated by Annika), Charity and I put the kiddos down at her apartment and did the whole stockings thing (such a fun thing to do as a parent!).

Christmas day was great!  Copious amounts of junk food, lots of Legos and other new toys!  Caleb and Annika are very much adored by their grandparents and their Aunt Katie.  For Christmas program at church Caleb got up with the rest of kids to sing--he is so dang cute! Charity's mom has began reading chapter books with Caleb (which is so cool!), and they gave me a copy of Treasure Island to read with Caleb.  We read the first three chapters--pirate voices and all--and I'm so excited to finish it when they're up here with me next week!  

Sunday night the kiddos slept over at Charity's grandparents with me--which was super fun!  On Monday morning Great Grandad made waffles and was amazed at how many Caleb could eat.  We spent the rest of day playing legos and transformers (7/8th of the time) and Christmas songs on the guitar (1/8th)--before I headed up to Park City.  It was so nice of Charity and family (Paul, Ann, Shirley Ann, Don, Katie) to make it such a special Christmas for me and the kiddos and for allowing be to be a part of it (really--that's saying a lot about how good of people they are). 

The great thing though, is that this is only Part 1! Caleb and Annika are going to be back in Park City with me for a whole week after Saturday!  In addition to reading Treasure Island, we've got plans to visit Aunt Marie's, play with Weston (kid Caleb's age who lives next door), go swimming, and of course...play with Legos!

Annika

Funny things said today:

Annika: "I have a tiger in my tummy too but it doesn't eat my babies." Ever since we watched the Christmas devotional showing Elizabeth pregnant and talking about the birth of baby Jesus, Annika has been talking about them baby in her tummy. Then in a conversation with my mom it somehow became twins--a boy and a girl. She'll talk about how her baby is about to come out or that she already did (she usually just has the girl baby). Tonight at dinner we were playing a game I play with Caleb all the time where I say things about an animal and he has to guess what animal I'm talking about. After we did tiger Annika said the above.

Tonight during FHE (which, don't get the wrong impression--I truly wish I were more dedicated in weekly FHE, but we just have it when there is extra time before bedtime and I remember so it falls on varying days of the week and is not necessarily weekly although I hope to get better about it) Annika randomly got up and got a spoon and a cup and brought them to me telling me it was to catch spiders with. I asked her why I wanted to catch spiders and she said so I won't have them in my house. We do usually use cups to get rid of spiders but I'm not quite sure where the spoon came from. Annika makes me laugh every day. I love her with all my heart.

Halloween 2011

Annika was going to be a gypsy and Caleb was going to be Optimus Prime for Halloween. Then I found a little cowgirl dress and cowboy hat at Savers in Nampa so Annika was actually a cowgirl, but since I wanted her to wear everything (!) we had a dress-up night at my parents where my dad took pictures of the kids. He has pictures of them when they went to the carnival at the Elementary school too but I still need to get those from him so you can see her cowgirl outfit.

My mom made this gypsy costume for me when I was little. I had a black shirt to go with it. I didn't go shopping so a white shirt had to do. Oh, and I couldn't resist putting every picture I had of her on here. At first my dad just told her to stand by the white wall and smile. She does this funny stance and super toothy smile. You can see in the following pictures I was trying to get her to do other faces. However, I am glad I got a few like this because these are good things to have pictures of as well. I really like the ones of her dancing. :)

My Grammy made this dress for me when I was Annika's age (actually a bit younger). I have a picture of me in it and in a future life I will scan it and put it next to one of these. Again, trying to get Annika to smile more naturally I tried singing the itsy-bitsy spider.

Then we went into once there was a snowman

Optimus Prime! Caleb has been telling everyone for months that this is what he's going to be for Halloween. We bought this costume on clearance last year after Halloween just to be in dress-up (because they were really cheap at Wal-mart). I was thrilled when that's what he wanted to be. :) This is Caleb doing his moves. If I scroll down quickly I can see him moving like in the flip books. Don't know if it works once it's posted on the blog. :)

At first we couldn't get her to smile. So I told silly kid jokes (that make no sense but Caleb and Annika think they are hysterical and start making up their own). Actually I'm no good at making up silly kid jokes so I say something I heard them say earlier that they thought was funny and they start laughing and then go off on their own. Kid humor...it's beyond me.

I stopped at Savers in Nampa, Idaho when I was out shopping the other week because there was a big sign that said, "Halloween Costume Sale". The kids already had their costumes picked out but I couldn't resist the sign. I found these wings for a few dollars and they looked so cute! They are already fraying, sad, but they are still fun for dress-up and the tutu I made a few months ago. I didn't have a top that went well with them, but this was fun.

We ended the evening with a short FHE (which also consisted of Caleb running from one end of the long room to the other and sliding across the wood floor in his slippery costume and Annika just running generally and happily being noisy) about Thanksgiving. My parents have a tradition of making a Thankful Box the first FHE of Nov (this was more convenient this year) and we write things on pieces of paper that we are thankful for (we are supposed to add to them throughout the month but sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't) and then we read them the FHE before Thanksgiving. Anyway, here are Annika and Caleb looking at the box and me in my patched pants that I wore (I should always look nice when we're specifically taking pictures! I'll try to remember for next time).

Okay, brief recap of Halloween festivities. Friday I had the day off and we were going to do something fun...well, Caleb played at Will's but beyond that, I don't remember doing anything really fun with them. I did run in a 5k Dash at Dusk where I won a jacket and Caleb and Annika ate soup and rolls at my moms. Saturday was the carnival at the elementary school so I got them dressed up and took them over. There are just little games set up in the gym. Annika was only interested in getting the candy. Caleb liked the little games and toys better. I was pretty pleased with how patient they were standing in line. I guess looking around at everyone's costumes makes it a little easier. I enjoyed looking at the costumes too. We stopped at a friend's house on the way home and played for a bit.

Sunday we did the dress-up thing at my mom's and made sugar cookies. I was getting snappy with the kids and wanting to just be done with the cookies (I need to remember it takes longer with kids and I had not gotten it done and it was getting late) when I remembered that my friend had told me she read an article about how people under the influence of alcohol can still control their behavior to more of a degree than we thought before. Anyway, as I was getting grumpy over making cookies (which for goodness sake is supposed to be fun!) I remembered that and thought, "I am the one that decides how I act and this is not a good example for the kids--how do I feel when Caleb is acting the way I'm acting? I really don't like it and get frustrated with him and here I am!" So I was able to pull it together and they got to bed late but we made sugar cookies and took them around to my visiting teachees who I did not visit this month (so that paragraph was to show that I'm a far cry from perfect :)).

Monday morning the pre-school had a trick-or-treating parade around the college. The kids get to show off their costumes and they get candy. Again Annika just ate hers up. The lady pushing the stroller with 4 kids in it said there really wasn't anything she could do other than take it away which would've upset her so she let her eat the candy. Annika loved it. Then later tonight when I took them out it was all I could do to stop Annika from eating candy the whole time. My friend Jill (Will's mom) just lets her kids eat all they want until they are sick...I wonder how high Annika's tolerance is? I'm not sure I'll find out this year. Maybe next year. Caleb said he was going to save his until he went to college. I told him he could eat it before that because it might go bad. It's funny how kids try to be different from each other so early on. I mean the come different but as soon as Caleb saw Annika was eating hers and I made some comment about him saving his he wanted to stand out. Also a lesson I guess in being careful how I 'label' the kids by comments I make. But still funny to watch the differences. I really enjoyed trick-or-treating and I think the kids had a good time too. Annika still wants to know when she can eat all her candy.