I remember the sound

Just Rylie sitting on my bed doing two of her favorite things: not wearing clothes and getting into my stuff.

Christmas time

Growing up, this video was on the same VHS tape as all our Christmas movies and cartoons, so when I watch it it makes me think of Christmas. Anyway, it's kind of a classic in our family and I'm going to show it to my children so we can continue the tradition (not necessarily the watching-it-at-Christmas-tradition, just the watching-it-tradition). :)

Without number

Nathan said he had so many friends, I asked exactly how many. He said:

"There are so many that they go past the numbers and go into the ABC's."

p.s. The picture is a self-portrait of Nathan.

Rylie's lunch

When Rylie has a sandwich, she likes to either separate the components or tear it up and play with the pieces. Then the pieces play together, drink milk from her cup or even have conversations like, "Where's my head?" to which the reply might be, "I ate it all."

At least she eats (most of) her sandwiches, gradual as the process may be. Nathan causes me some anguish when he says he'd rather starve (dramatic much?) than eat a sandwich. He always wants something freshly cooked and that is not something I am always willing or able to provide.

The future

Here's a conversation I had with Nathan this morning after I explained why the neighborhood kids shrieked every time they thought their bus was coming to pick them up for school. I also told him where the elementary school was and that we'd go visit it next summer before he started kindergarten so that he'd be familiar with it and know where to go and everything when the time came (hopefully).

Nathan: What will I do when I'm 6?

Me: You'll go to first grade.

N: 7?

Me: Second grade.

N: 8?

Me: Third grade.

(I won't sport with your intelligence by typing out the rest of the ages and grades, but that's what we did)

N: 18?

Me: When you're 18 you'll hopefully go to college.

N: What's college?

Me: It's still school, but there are colleges and universities all over the country and all over the world. That's what Adrien and Shannon are doing right now. They go to school in Provo.

N: Oh. And then what number comes next?

Me: 19.

N: Okay, what happens when you're 19?

Me: Well I hope you'll go on a mission like Ian. That's what Ian did, he went to college for a year and now he's on a mission.

N: (excited laughing) Oh!

(we went on to talk about the following ages and that he'd possibly finish college at age 24 if he only did 4 years, then I told him the year after that was 25 and that's how old I was and he laughed like he didn't believe me.)

N: I think I want to go to a cheese college.

Me: What??

N: They make cheese there.

Me: I see.

N: Like... macaroni and cheese. (dissolves into laughter)

Dobby is a free elf

Adrien, Shannon, some of their friends and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at midnight when it first came out. I took a few pictures, especially since we dressed up. Can you tell what we were? We were trying to look like witches (and a wizard) who didn't know how to dress like muggles. You know, like in the books. Not all fashion-magazine-editorial-y like in the movies.

Ian was there... sort of. =)

A few of us after the movie. It was awesome. I saw it again later with Jared.

Random things

It's been forever, again. I have no excuse you haven't heard before. Anyway, the theme of today's post is that my kids are weird. They amuse me.

Rylie today:

(singing): "It's a secret, I'm a secret, there's a secret..."

and a conversation:

(scene: Our bedroom. Jared sits in the rocking chair. Nathan thrashes around on our bed. I'm sitting at the computer and Rylie walks up to Jared.)

Rylie: No! It's my rocking chair!

Me: (I never play along, I'm the boring parent) We bought that chair before Nathan was born and you think you can just come along and say it's yours? (Obviously everyone ignores me)

Jared: It's not yours.

Rylie: It's mine! Get out.

Jared: No. I'll get you.

Rylie: Nooooooo (runs off, then returns 30 seconds later with her tin of barrettes) Here. (pause) Those my swords.

Jared: Swords? These aren't swords.

Rylie: My swords! Have them.

Jared: These are barrettes. (Then he takes them away so she can't scatter them everywhere, she protests and then forgets about the whole thing less than 10 seconds later).

And this is something Nathan did the other day:

Give me something fun to do - like a life of loving you

So maybe you guys have already heard of her, but I just barely heard Brooke Fraser's single "Something in the Water" and it's so cute and catchy I wanted to share.



Anyway. I don't get her hair, unless it's what's in the water... har har. Seriously, I love her voice though. Check out her other music, too! She's actually mostly a Christian artist. If you want to read about her, you can check her wiki article here.

a visit with Santa

Just a few minutes ago I heard some loud rustling on the stairs. It was Nathan's tunnel that goes with a tent he recieved as a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Swinford. Then I heard the voices...

Nathan: No, no, no! Go through the hole and tell me what you want. (pause) Because I'm Santa.

(more rustling noises)

Nathan: What do you want?

Rylie: Ummm... that one.

Nathan: I don't have that one. You can have a whale, a shark, a dragon...

Rylie: Ummm... that one.

Nathan: No. Would you like a pirate? A whale? A painting on the wall?

(silence)

Nathan: Okay. Now go back through the tunnel.

p.s. I still think he's handsome even with food all over his face (as well as in his ear, apparently). I'm such a mom.

p.s.s. I'm aware that Nathan can be very bossy. Rylie bosses him, too, though. We've tried explaining that there are only two parents in this household, but they don't always remember.

one more...

I also made a skirt for Rylie last night. I kind of wish I'd made it slightly more a-line and gathered at the waist, but it's my first skirt, all right? Live and learn. I actually have enough of the same material to do it over again, but I haven't decided if it's worth it yet.

Here's Nathan, doing his favorite thing.

Finally!!! (kind of)

I started making a shirt for Rylie several months ago (probably in the early spring) and finally finished it today! I took pictures of the cutting and piecing process but they're on our computer that's being fixed. The finished shirt is more interesting anyway, since Rylie is in it. I'm kinda annoyed with it, not just the amateurish sewing, but also the fact that the neckline is so low!! I should go back and fix it, if I can stand doing that part over again. Also, I can't get Rylie to stop saying "cheese", and this is what her face looks like when she says it.

So I guess the moral of the story is that I'm not done, and that my relief will be short-lived. Hopefully it won't take me too long to fix the sleeves so that they're closer together and the bodice is higher.
I kind of hate sewing. I like the idea process, but the actual work is so time-consuming and frustrating. Near the end when I was growling at my sewing machine for losing the thread again, Nathan said, "If your sewing machine is killing you, maybe you should stop using your sewing machine!"p.s. Ok I feel like I need to explain this picture of Nathan. He wasn't upset or anything, he just thinks he's hilarious. I'll admit it - he is.

Authors

The house was finally quiet. The kids were in their beds. Then I heard this as I passed their door.

Nathan: (repeating some question over and over but I couldn't tell what he was saying at first)
Rylie: Poe?
Nathan: Yes. Edgar Allen Poe. Do you have any Poe?
Rylie: No.
Nathan: You're supposed to say "go fish".
Rylie: Go fish.
Nathan: Okay. Now it's your turn.

I really wish I would have stayed longer to hear more... but I also really needed to get to where I was going. By the time I returned that way, I couldn't hear anything coming from their room.

the play room and Nathan's skills

So since I last mentioned it, I've organized the playroom. I took these pictures when it wasn't perfectly clean and when the sun was setting, but I think it gets the point across. Oh and you can kinda see the swords Jared made for the kids on the bookcase!Also, Nathan is getting better at writing and drawing! Haha I'm so proud. So is he. The first picture is the first time he's written his whole first name by himself. I still had to tell him a couple of times which letter came next, though. Actually that's something we're working on... he doesn't realize that the letters still have to go in a certain order. Or that words are generally supposed to be stay on one line. I don't think it's dyslexia, though.

p.s. the last picture is a family portrait. clockwise from the top: Rylie, me, Nathan and Jared.

Rare

Saturday in the house

We stayed at home today and got a lot done around the house. Jared fixed our screens and replaced the missing one (yay! no more battles with freaky hornets!) and worked in the garden a little and I cleaned and rearranged our bedroom. Most of the house is pretty clean now. I've found places for most of the furniture I inherited from Grandma Wood and the house is looking so much better now that we have some furniture that isn't particle board. ;) The only things I can't stand to look at right now are the play room (what used to be Rylie's room) and Jared's and my closet. Both are too chaotic. But I've noticed I only have chaos when I don't know where to put things, and the toys in Rylie's old room have no place but the floor. And our closet... well that's different bag of chips. Maybe if I ever find a good system I'll show it off again. I love being organized - it just doesn't happen often.

Anyway. This morning Jared bought a circular saw to cut the screen frames down to size and when he took it out of the box Rylie said, "Oh wow! Gorgeous!"I don't have a picture of the master bedroom but it's really not picture-worthy yet anyway. I have a picture of the kids in their bunk beds, though. They really love them, but it makes it kind of impossible to have 'quiet time' in the afternoon so I've just taken to sticking Rylie back in her old room for naps in the afternoon (we haven't packed away the crib but the side is taken off).I wish I could remember something cute to say about Nathan... he's still cute, I promise. Here are a couple pictures of him to prove it.

not so typical Thursday...

I feel like I'm always telling people about how the kids are always destroying things and creating mayhem, but today... not so bad.

The kids just played on the bed for a while this morning......I put a rock in our house.After dinner we put up our bird house and the kids picked flowers for their hair.They're not really staying in bed now, but it's been a relatively easy-going day and I even had a chance to clean the kitchen. Hallelujah.

Different things in July

So I'm super behind. Surprised?

Last month we ate outside.Last month was also Rylie's second birthday, so that was fun. She had raspberry-topped chocolate cupcakes and tons of gifts.A couple of her gifts I actually made. I made her a tutu and a nightgown I (haphazardly) refashioned out of a Sally t-shirt (which I think got forever ago from Kelly, but I can't be sure). Here she is wearing both of them at the same time:
My mom came out for Rylie's birthday and was able to stay till Nathan's birthday, too! It was really nice having her here and being able to hang out with her a lot.Kelly also had her baby shower in July.And I took pictures from my window sills last month too.Good story, huh?

p.s. I just realized that in 3 of the 4 pictures of Rylie she's stuffing something in her face.