A Daily Dose of Mischief

I mean that in a good way of course. #4 loves having his picture taken. If we lived in a bigger town he would probably be snatched up to star in a catalog photo shoot for some department store or another. He is that rare kid that likes to sit still for photos. He eats it up. We always take our camera when we go on walks or hikes, and #4 sees pretty much every large rock or fallen tree as a photo opportunity. He is constantly asking us to take his picture. Last Sunday my parents were in town and went for a walk with us. #4 kept asking for his picture to be taken, and my Dad would quietly creep into the background of the pics and make silly faces behind #4 who was trying to look his best. Here are a couple of those shots for your enjoyment.

It has been wonderful to watch... you grow from a baby your personality emerge. you get into mischief your laughter and smile you start school you grow into a big boy you enjoy the outdoors your sense of humor you just being you. We love you S! Happy Birthday!

I had a bit of a shock this week when I was buying socks for my oldest son for school. I had usually only paid attention to the smaller number on the package of socks...the one that says fits shoe size 3 to... This time I paid attention to the second number. Fits shoe size 3 to 9. No, my son does not wear a size 9 shoe. He is only in a 3 1/2, but the point is that the socks will fit size 3 to size 9 (9 in men's shoes). I wear a 10 in women's , an 8 in men's. My son and I can wear the same size of socks. The tiny baby feet that made the little footprint on his hospital birth certificate are now big enough to fit comfortably into my socks. When did my baby get so big?!

Its true...we all know it. Whether that time is five minutes of uninterrupted peace in the bathroom (haha, that never happens here), a trip to the grocery store sans children, or any other kind of escape, we all have times when we need to be alone, or at least without the kids. I must verbalize my wishes for alone time too often. There is a house for sale right next door to our church, and as we walked past it today #3 said that we should buy that house. "Then when you need to be by yourself Dad can bring all of us here." Now I feel like a bad Mom. My alone time usually consists of going to the grocery store once or twice a week. I did make an overnight escape to hang out with my Mom and Sisters a few weeks ago, and I have to say that doing that once a year just doesn't seem like enough! I hope my kids don't think that alone time is all I think about.

We went to a Birthday Party for my Mom yesterday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! It was a milestone one (I won't tell you which, she might not like that, but I will say she is not 100 yet) so we had a party at my sister's house and the kids had a great time with a water balloon toss, a beanbag toss, and fishing over the fence for prizes. At one point during the party my sister Tara who was hosting the party was nursing her baby. #4 and #5 came in and asked her what the baby was doing. She told them he was eating. They asked what he was eating and she said milk. Then one of them said "You must have his bottle in your pocket!" I guess it has been a little while since they have seen someone breast feeding.

and the time for school to begin is rapidly approaching. In preparation I have been shopping for school supplies. I remember when #1 started Kindergarten. It was so exciting going out and shopping for just the right things for school. I made sure the scissors, pencils, etc. were his favorite colors; paid the higher price to get crayola crayons and markers and lovingly wrote his name in permanent marker on each of his school supplies. I loved how excited he was to see the brand new crayons, markers and other supplies that were just for him. A few days before school was supposed to start, we gathered up all the school supplies and went down to meet the teacher and drop off the supplies. Imagine my dismay when we were greeted by the sight of a long table with plastic bins on it. We were told to sort our supplies into the various bins. That's right, Kindergarten is essentially communism. Everything was going to be shared. I had wasted my time writing #1's name on the supplies, and

Yesterday we did some shopping for school clothes and supplies. #3 was making a pretty big deal about how much he wanted transformer briefs this year, and #2 who is so much more mature at 19 months older asked me what the big deal was. The way he figures it, no one else will be seeing your bum, so it shouldn't matter. I quite agree.

I took #2 with me to the store tonight, on a quest for Ice Cream. On the way there he started talking about boys and girls and who is taller at what stages of life. I started talking explaining how girls stop growing at an earlier age than boys do, and he came up with boys being better at basketball because they are taller. This became a discussion about men's sports vs women's sports, and why there are more professional men's sports. I explained to him how it used to be that women were not allowed to do a lot of things that men were allowed to do. I talked a little bit about women's pro baseball during WWII and how once the war was over, interest in women's ball dwindled and they were expected to go back to their everyday lives. This was his response...(I am paraphrasing...I wish I could remember his exact words...I really need to tape record every single conversation I have with the boys) #2: I think that boys are better at some things because they are allow

#4: Do flies sting you? Me: No. #1: Horseflies bite sometimes. #3: What happens if they bite you? Me: You turn into a fly. #3: MOM! #1: She is just kidding. #4: Do you know what eats bugs? Me: Spiders? #4: Yeah, thats why I don't want to be a bug. Me: You could be a spider. But sometimes girl spiders eat boy spiders, so if you want to be safe you had better be a girl spider. All: EEEeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww!

I was talking with #2 in the kitchen the other day and somehow we got on the subject of kissing (I think it was because he complained about it being gross again). I told him that someday he would like kissing, but that maybe he should wait until he is engaged to kiss anyone. I told him that would make me feel better. And he said, "Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone else's DNA getting mixed up in my kids."

I have been given a non award...I'm all choked up!

#1, #3, #2, #5 and #4 outside the Johnston Ridge Visitors Center Crouching room only at the end of the Lower Ape Cave.

The following is a conversation I had with the boys after I found out that my little sister Heidi is engaged. Me: Boys guess what? Heidi and Scott are engaged! #2: Eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww! Me: What do you mean ewww? #2: That's DISGUSTING! Me: Do you even know what engaged means? #2: Yeah, it means they like to kiss a lot. Me: It means they are getting married. #2: EEEEWWWW! That's even worse! Well, I'm not going! Me: Yes you are! Not to the wedding because they are getting married in the temple, but to the reception. At this point #5 started to cry (very hard) and wailed I don't WANNA go! I thought it was good news anyway!