Boys and Girls

Joseph is getting so big.  He is very social and in my opinion, a very cute kid.  It seems like some of the little girls have taken notice.  Joseph does not like to talk about this kind of thing because he does not want to be teased about it.  I debate about whether I should blog about it, but I want to remember what he said.  Hmmmm.  I will still think about it.  Meanwhile, I need to write what he said down somewhere so I won't forget it.  :)

Wherein I broke his heart...

I don't enjoy washing dishes, but I know I need to get them done.  Of course, Samuel has a built in radar that lets him know if I am out of sight, I am probably in the kitchen cleaning, so he hones in and wants to help.  He LOVES to wash dishes.  Washing dishes is a longer process with my little one, so sometimes I try to get it done when he is asleep or otherwise occupied.  Yesterday I put off washing dishes until I knew Joseph would be home so they could play together and I could get it done quickly.  Samuel suggested during the day that we needed to do it before Joseph got home because, "Joseph will say, "I want to help mommy," and I don't want him to help."  Well, I was feeling the same way.  So my sneaky ploy worked and I washed everything.  

At family home evening, it was late and we told the boys it was bed time after the snack.  Samuel said, "But we need to wash dishes."  I cringed inside because I knew he wanted to help, but I had done it on my own.  I told him that I had done them.  The look on his face broke my heart.  I felt so awful that I had done them without him.  He looked at me with hurt in his eyes and asked, "you already did them?"  I said yes and that we would have more to wash tomorrow and he could help me.  Damage done.  I think I broke his little heart.  :(  I had to distract him quickly so he wouldn't cry.  

In memory of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy

Friday started off as many other days do.  I woke up in the morning and got my boys fed and Joseph ready for school.  My Joseph who is 7 and such a wonderful, sensitive, thoughtful and creative boy.  We walked to the bus stop and Samuel and I gave him hugs and kisses before he got on.  I cleaned a little and got busy working around the house.  Around 11 in the morning, I jumped on the internet, checked my email and then went to MSN.  Their breaking report was about a school in Connecticut that had a gunman break in and shoot children and adults alike.  I was horrified.  I know that it could have happened anywhere, but I cried for everyone who sent their child to school that day, as I sent my Joseph to school, only to lose them because of one person's inability to see past himself.  I do feel bad for the shooter because he must have been a lost soul, but I truly feel the pain of the parents.  I am not a poet laureate, but I wrote a small poem in memory of all the people impacted by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting:

The silent footsteps tread across our grieving hearts,

The echoes of now silent laughter, tear our souls apart,

Arms yearn for more embraces, tears slide down crying eyes,

The hopes they said “I love you,” before their child died.

Memories of their smiles, the funny things they did,

Of assuring that the monsters did not live under their bed.

But a monster came to them, donned with a human mask,

A sad and tragic figure that ravaged any in his path.

 Now, there are no more tomorrows for the hearts so young and pure,

There are only empty todays for those left behind on the Earth,

On Friday, lots of children met the Maker of all mankind,

He met them, hugged them, soothed them, and promised life divine,

He also hugged the women that served His little ones,

And told them, “Well done my good and faithful, from your duty you did not shun.”

His comfort He will give us as our faith acts as our guide,

We love and pray and mourn with them and seek solace by their sides.

Will I tell Joseph about what happened?  If he hears about it I will.  I don't want him to be scared of going to school and I want to try to help him maintain his innocence for as long as I can.  

Samuel sings

Samuel can be found singing quite often.  I like to sing too and I don't always think about the fact that I am doing it.  One day I was singing some of "Little Talks" by the group Of Monsters and Men.  I was singing the chorus in the car and Samuel kept saying "Hut."  It took me awhile to realize that he was singing the part where they say "Hey."  For whatever reason he thought they say "hut" and that is what he sings when he hears the song on the radio.

At the dinner table the other night he randomly started to sing "I will wait, I will wait for you."  It is the chorus of the song by Mumford and Sons by the same title. 

I have sung the boys the Christmas song "Nuttin' for Christmas."  Samuel took the tune and changed the words to "I am getting lots of presents because I am such a good boy." 

He also likes to sing the Star Wars Darth Vader background music.  I don't know what it is called. 

When we listen to the radio, here are some of the songs that he wants me to stop on:

"Home" by Philip Phillips
"Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"Some Nights" and "We are Young" by Fun.
"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
"Somebody that I used to Know" by Gotye
"Ho Hey" by the Lumineers who I have mistakenly called the Imagineers
"Gangham Style" by PSY
"We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift
"I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons

There are more songs, but these are some that I know he likes to listen too.  He makes up other songs that are his own tune.  I like that he likes to sing.  I have also randomly singing "Follow the Prophet" and "I am a Child of God."  He is such a cute boy.  :)

This is a test

Samuel likes to perform "science tests."  For example, he will drink from his cup and spit it back into the cup.  When we tell him not to, he says it is a science test.  He blows bubbles with his straw, it is a science test.  He unrolls the toilet paper, it is a science test.  He shakes a tree in the yard, it is a science test.  He needs a piece of candy because he needs to do a science test.  There are so many times when his science tests happen to be things that he knows he shouldn't be doing.  At least he is "applying" the scientific method.

Things I miss about Utah...

Other than the obvious family and friends and coworkers that we miss, here are a couple of random things I miss:

-Flaming Hot Cheetos with Lime (I can't find them anywhere out here)
-Stephen's Gourmet Hot Chocolate (Irish Creme, Hazelnut, Raspberry, Mint Chocolate, the list goes on).  I have looked at a few stores and apparently it should be sold around here, so I will keep hunting for it
-Our house
-the Utah Clean Air Act which forbids smoking within 25 feet from buildings
-KSL classifieds.  They just don't have a good equivalent here and Craigslist is not nearly as nice
-Cheaper rent

I will probably remember more later, but these are a few things that I could think of.

What's up...

Life is crazy busy. Joseph is in 1st grade so every morning we rush around to get ready and then we run out the door to catch the bus. Samuel enjoys the chance to be outside and Joseph loves school so it is a win/win situation. I just wanted to document some things before I forget them.

Joseph wants to do chores so he can save money for legos. We talked to him about earning a nickel for every time he made his bed, if he cleans his room he gets a quarter, setting the table is a nickel, and so forth. He wants a chore that will earn him a dollar, but we haven't thought of any yet. The other day he was talking about what he needed to get paid and the following conversation ensued:

Mommy:"Wait, I don't get paid for cleaning or washing the dishes. That is not fair."
Joseph: "Mommy you do get paid."
Mommy: "I get paid huh?"
Joseph: "Yes, you get paid in love."

I smiled when he said it. He is a funny boy. Last week he was upset because he missed Utah and his friends. He wanted to see his kindergarten teacher again too. It was a rough Friday for all of us. Samuel likes to talk as well. When we say something that he doesn't like he will tell us that he doesn't love us anymore. We tell him that we love him no matter what. When he is happy with what we say he says that he loves us again. The most common thing he says in his prayers is "bless me that I won't have any dreams." I think he has bad dreams sometimes because he will wake up shaking and crying, so we would pray that he will have good dreams, but he prefers not dreams at all. When he wakes up in the morning he will tell us with a big smile that he had no dreams. Here are a few pictures of our Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I didn't realize Joseph had taken this picture. I thought it was super cute. Those are my boys. Sometimes they are the best of friends and sometimes they fight like nothing else. Mostly they are friends.

We made a gingerbread house from scratch while we were there. Grandma made the gingerbread and Joseph and Samuel chose the house they wanted. We went and bought candy, but I forgot my camera, so when Joseph's camera died, we could not take any pictures of the finished product.

Samuel rolling his dough. He enjoyed being so hands on.

Joseph rolling his dough. He and Samuel both kept taking small pieces just to taste.

While we were there, we were able to go to a train show. The boys loved it and got to see Santa. I have come to the realization that I should never buy gifts before Thanksgiving for the boys because they change their minds constantly about what they like best. What we have already is yesterdays news. Oh well, here's hoping they won't be too disappointed with Christmas. :)

Toilet Fairy

The toilet fairy came last night and took Samuel's froggy potty for good. He left $1 which Samuel wanted to put in his piggy bank (aka Gringott's bank). I was tired of cleaning it, especially because he would dump it in the big toilet and stuff lots of toilet paper in the big toilet to boot. Well, tonight he was using the bathroom and I came in to check on him. Next to him, there was a huge wad of toilet paper that had unraveled. When I saw it, he said that Joseph had done it. I called Joe in to look because Samuel had a straight face as he told us what happened. We then called Joseph in to see if he had been the one to unravel the toilet paper. He said he hadn't. We asked Samuel who did it, and he looked at me and said, "Did you do it Mommy?" I said no. So Samuel asked Joe, "Did you do it Daddy?" Joe said no and we had already established that Joseph hadn't done it. We asked Samuel again to tell the truth and tell us who did it. He said he didn't know. Joe explained that Heavenly Father and Santa knows who did and that person wouldn't get Santa presents. I then said that if he had done it, he should say "sorry" and we wouldn't get mad at him, as long as he didn't do it again. He promptly said "Sorry" and rolled it back up. Now we will see if he does it again and tries to blame someone.

To date

Joseph started 1st grade this year. This is a picture of him on his first day of school. We walked about 10 minutes to his bus stop. The realization hit that he was not going to be with his Utah friends anymore, so he was sad when he got back. Of course, his best friends moved too. One moved to Vegas with his family and the other moved to Lehi. We have their addresses so Joseph can write them. On Friday, Joseph said that 1st grade "was an interview of kindergarten and preschool." He meant review, but so far, that is all it is. He did see 4 butterflies hatch from caterpillars in his classroom. We also signed him up for soccer and one of the boys from his team is in his class. He is starting to make friends, but he misses his BFF's from Mrs. Ferrin's class.

One day after church, Joseph came downstairs with socks on his hands and feet and socks for weapons. He was a sock monster and was throwing the socks at everyone. We laughed when we saw him. He is wearing his Phineas and Ferb socks which he stated that, "Dr. Doofenshmirtz must have built a sockinator."

Samuel has a new habit of collecting plants. It started in Utah. He wanted to carry the tomatoes or squash from the garden in the house. He also collected sticks and branches and had his "garden" in the sandbox. One day he said to me, "Heavenly Father makes me pick plants." He LOVES plants and everywhere we go, he collects them. He and I went for a walk this week. He had his cuties, a puppy and an alligator toy, and started to collect any branches he could on our walk. I convinced him to only bring home one in the end.

On a walk on a different day, he saw these flowers and wanted a picture with them. His backpack has his cuties inside so his hands could be free during our walk. My mistake. Once his hands were free, he started to gather.

No, we did not send our son to gather fire wood. This is his collection that he walked home with and which is now sitting on our porch. I tried to get him fake flowers because they don't die and leave messes in every room, but he likes the real thing. Of course, he enjoys the fake ones too. He has a vase and lots of fake flowers that he plays with. We hope he grows out of it, but our son may end up being a botanist (that isn't a bad thing). He is our little boy that eats raw onions, loves broccoli and pea popsicles (frozen veggies), and salsa. Samuel is also reallly big into volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. He likes to look through the books from the library for pictures. When in doubt with a way to distract him, show him a volcano video. We also have noticed that he is definately a lefty. He throws and writes with his left hand. At times, he does things with his right, but by and far, we have a left-handed child living in a right-handed family. He is lefty like his grandparents Rankin (I am actually not sure about Grandpa Rankin), Grandpa Nunez, his uncle Jeff, and Aunt Alison and Chrissy.

This is Joseph, daddy and Grandpa at a train show. Joseph was excited to walk around and see all the cool stuff. AS a bonus, Grandpa got him a Pokemon toy that he saw. Joseph is big into Pokemon. He has changed his career choice from video game designer to vet. He also told us we can never go on a cruise because big cruise ships leak oil into the water and kill sea turtles. That is another new love. He wants a pet turtle. _______________________________________________________________________________________ We had the elders over for dinner tonight. They asked if we read scriptures as a family. To be honest, we are not good about it, but no need to fear. Joseph was perfectly clear about our familial scripture habits. He told the elders, "we aren't the type of family that reads scriptures." Embarrassing, yes. Funny, yes. We do have FHE most weeks, but yeah, we know what we need to work on. Now we will be the example that the elders use in the future when they talk about the importance of family scripture study and how kids notice what happens in their home. "one time we met with a family on my mission..." The elders are nice. We have had them over a few different times. Tonight I made impromptu enchiladas. I had planned on making a roast for dinner, but the marinade I used was strong on the cumin. I luckily had stuff to make a Mexican dinner. It turned out better than expected. The boys and I also baked my Grandma Nunez's butter cookies yesterday. When I bit into one, it took me way back to the days of eating them at her dining room table. She always had them when we would come and visit. We also made crazy crayons out of broken crayons. _______________________________________________________________________________________ All in all, PA is a beautiful place to live. It is humid, but the scenery takes my breath away. I see it and it fills my heart with joy and gratitude. There is a cripness in the air as fall is approaching. I love it.

Quick Samuel quotes

As daddy was playing with him. Samuel jumped on top of daddy and stopped for a second: Samuel: "You look like grandpa here (points to daddy's face)." I was in the bathroom and Samuel was on his little toilet. He is aware that he has a penis and that he is a boy, but girls baffle him because I told him girls don't have a penis. Samuel: "Are you peeing out your butt?" Mommy: "No." Samuel: "But you don't have a penis. I pee through my penis." He is a funny little boy. I need to record him saying hot dogs (hot gogs). He cracks me up because he tells all these made up stories of "when I was a little boy." Amazingly he has a lot of little boy stories for being 3.

Wherein we relocate to PA

It is official. We are living in PA. It is a small town near Clarion University where Joe will be attending the M.S.L.S. program. We are renting a place that is bigger than our last home. Yesterday we got Joseph registered for 1st grade. Crazy. The drive across country was fun. We started the trip on a rainy day and got super wet and we moved into our place on a rainy day. It was a blessing in disguise because it was cooler than it probably would have been otherwise. We left UT on July 5th and drove to Yellowstone and camped for the night. It was cool and nice the next day as we did some short walks with the boys. We camped a second night in Yellowstone and were up early to drive to our next destination. We made it to Devil's Tower in Wyoming towards the evening and decided that we would visit and drive on. We got to South Dakota that night and slept in a motel. The next day we went to Mt. Rushmore and drove to Wall Drug. It is a total tourist trap but has some fun stuff for the kids. They sluiced and found fossils and we went and explored a "mine" to find rocks and gemstones. The boys both loved the pyrite. They did not love the roaring dinosaur (random) that was next to the toy store. There are lots of old west themed things all over the place. From there we drove to the Badlands. Joseph said it should be renamed "Rainbow lands" because the rocks had lots of colors. It was also nice and cool, but we just drove through and took pictures. We stayed the night in Minnesota and drove the next day. That is all we did the next couple of days. We slept for a few hours in an Ohio rest stop and drove to Jersey. We arrived a Tuesday afternoon. It was good to get some rest for a few days. Last Monday we drove into PA and met with the relief society president who showed us places to live. We chose a place and moved our stuff in. The ward was super helpful. Some of our wedding gifts were shattered in the move. We had plastic bins and they must have gotten super hot in the moving freight, so some collapsed on other ones and that is that. All in all, it is nice to be here. It is a lot more humid, but I love, love, love, love the scenery here. I will post pics when I have more time. I have distracted myself enough for the moment and should get back to unpacking. At least we have a library card here. It is a nice library but not nearly as large as Provo City Library. Lots of little things are different here, but that is what change is about. :)

In other news....

We are moving! After years of wanting to move to the East, we are moving to PA. Joe is going to grad school there and we are closing on our house either this week or next week. Once we close we drive out there. I know...shocker. We have sold all of our big furniture other than a few pieces that we felt would be good to have. We are mostly packed. Mostly. On Wednesday the big moving freight arrives and we will pack it up. So much to do so little time. It is crazy over here. In other news news,Samuel has broken the potty training barrier. He no longer needs diapers or help going to the potty. He goes on his own. Of course he likes gumballs for going potty and he no longer naps, but not having to buy diapers is awesome. We promised the boys that we would take them to Goblin Valley, so the weekend before this past weekend we went. It was a fun and very spontaneous trip. We visited Goblin Valley State Park, camped in Hanksville (and gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes), visited Natural Bridges National Monument, visited Monument Valley, visited Four Corners (and had two tired sleepy boys that were cranky about being there and ate some Fry bread), went to Mesa Verde and camped there, hiked to Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde and drove some of the loops, drove to Arches and did a couple of hikes there and then drove home. Pictures and more details will come later...

Crazy Days

To say life is busy would be an understatement. We are finishing the final preparations on our house. Tomorrow the carpet guy comes to measure and hopefully give us a good quote. Last Friday my family was sealed to Jessica, Robert, Destiny, and Kayla. It was amazing to see Kayla so grown up with her siblings. They are really beautiful children (now teenagers and pre-teens). Joseph and Samuel are getting bigger. Joseph has another loose tooth. He also did a second Great Brain project on the weathering and erosion of Goblin Valley. I will post pics later. He was excited because he got a genius rating again. He is finishing up kindergarten which is crazy. Joseph is a smart little boy. He is doing first grade math and first grade reading. I like to see him reading. One of his favorite things to do is to play video games.

Our stubborn little stinker

Samuel is quite the little talker. He is quite conversational and will talk your ear off given the chance (as long as he knows you and is comfortable with you). We have been trying to potty train him. Peeing he has down, pooping has been a challenge. We have tried all sorts of bribery, encouragement, withholding, candy, toys, and the list goes on. We were desperate. We told him that if he pooped once in the toilet we would give him a Trash Pack Garbage Truck. He did it and we gave it to him, but then he decided not to go poop in the toilet again for days. Well, last week we went to Salt Lake to pick up a chair for our house. He hadn't gone poop at all on the previous day despite sitting on the toilet for hours (with breaks). I knew he needed to go, but he was being stubborn and wouldn't go. Well, I was running lots of errands and was worried about an accident in the car. I decided to put a pull up on him to prevent an accident. My bad. Within 5 minutes of having the pull up on he pooped. We were on our way to Gymboree because he needed new sandals. There is a nice little splash area for kids to play. I told Joseph that after we left Gymboree we would go and he could run in the water. Samuel wanted to run too, but I told him that it was only for big boys who pooped in the potty. I felt so bad for not letting him go and play, but I think it triggered something for him. The next day we were going to the library and I told him he needed to poop before we left. He did. Not that it has been smooth sailing since then. He likes to carry around a toy wagon filled with little people. I had to take it away from him when he refused to poop in the toilet. The day after the first successful non crying poop, he came downstairs after dinner (he had refused to poop at all during the day). I heard him yell from downstairs, "you can keep the green car tonight mommy." I knew that he planned on pooping in his underwear. I ran downstairs and up to his toilet. It was too late. Little stinker. The past couple of days he has done a little better. I told Samuel that if he started pooping in the toilet he wouldn't need naps anymore because he is a big boy. I put him down for a nap yesterday and came downstairs to look at some stuff that I needed to get done on the computer. I hear a yell from upstairs saying "I went poop." I jumped out of my seat and ran upstairs to see if I needed to clean the accident I was sure had happened. Instead, I found him in the dark bathroom standing over his toilet with a large poop in the toilet. Wow. He had gotten out of bed and gone to the bathroom by himself. He then stated that he didn't need a nap because he went poop in the toilet. He was tired the rest of the day, but he didn't nap. I was so excited. We will see what happens today. I told him if he pooped today we would go to the little splash park today. He also names his poops when he sees them. He has told us he has done: Christmas tree poop Ice cream cone poop Monster poop City man poop Broken snake poop Banana poop Mountain poop Brown pee poop Island poop Sneaky Caterpillar poop Mushroom poop Big poop Teenie tiny poop We have started to keep track for blackmail in the future.... Also, this is how you will see Samuel if he thinks things are going to be scary or are too loud. Yesterday we went to the Art City Days in Springville with a friend and her kids. It was a lot of fun and yesterday they had lots of craft stations. If kids completed 5 crafts they got a prize. We were at the tinfoil art station and it was next to the balloon art station. Lots of popping balloons meant Samuel stayed like this for a long time. It took a lot of convincing to get him to let his arms down.

Happenings

Life has been hectic as per usual these days. Joseph started soccer last week and we have been busy with working around the house and cleaning. Just a couple of tidbits.



There was a healthy recipe contest at Joseph's school. I asked what he wanted to enter and he said soup. There is a soup we make that is super easy and Joseph and Samuel like it a lot. It is a play off of Italian wedding soup. One of the specifications was to use beans in the recipe if you could. We entered our recipe and Joseph came home from school one day and he had won the contest. He got lots of small certificates and on Tuesday of last week, they made his recipe and served it at lunch. Here is a picture of Joseph being served his winning recipe by the lunch lady.



Last weekend was also Big Guy/Little Guy at the library. There was a Star Wars theme, so there were aliens and Jedis running around the library. Joseph and Samuel had fun with their dad. Samuel refused to get into the picture with Darth Vader and the storm troopers.



Here the boys are digging for moon rocks which they got to keep. I have other things to do right now, so I will blog more later.

Some pictures

My cute boys with their long "tongues." They were happy to have their pictures taken. This was after family home evening where we played Mouse Trap.



Some of Joseph's art work from school. This is "Starry Night." I thought he did a great job on this.



Yesterday Joseph finally got his medal for his Great Brain project. He was acting shy when he got it. On the paper they have different ratings. One is Specialist, the next Expert, the next is Mastermind, and the last is Genius. That is the rating that he got on it. My smart little boy.



Joseph with another Great Brain recipient.



This is Joseph and his best friend forever, Talan. They play together often and are going to play soccer on the same team again this year.



One of these things is not like the other. The initials after mine are Joseph's forgery of Daddy's initials. You can see Joe's in the pic too. Pretty good if I do say so.



At the park one day when it wasn't super cold. They are in the pirate's ship.

So I remember

As I was getting ready for church, Samuel came to the bathroom door. He started to play the "I am so hungry game."

Samuel: "I am so hungry I can eat trees."
Mommy: "You are so hungry you can eat a tree? That means I need to go and cut one down."
Samuel: "You cut down the tree. I eat lots of leafs. Leafs look like spinach."

I love that he is making associations. He asks all the time if something is silly. He also starts to cry if he thinks he is going to get in trouble. He will ask, when we don't get upset for him doing something he shouldn't, "You not angry?" Cute boy. I love his little personality. He is also going through a stage where he wants to put ice on "owies." He won't go to sleep without having ice on his cheek or wrist or something. We usually put a piece of ice in a wrapped paper towel. Needless to say, I have been finding lots of pieces of them all over his bed and on the floor next to his bed.

Samuel conversation

Tonight was the Graduate Information Banquet. I planned the event, so I was stressed about how it would turn out. It was nice and the food was good. I was at work till almost 9:30 tonight. I got home and Joe said Samuel was waiting for me. I went in to say goodnight.

Mommy: "Do you want me to rock you?"
Samuel: "yes."

I start to get the covers ready to rock him and find a little something.
Mommy: "Samuel, what is this?"
Samuel: "It is the scorpion's claw (he had torn it off from his toy)."
Mommy: "I will be right back."

As I get the covers ready to rock him again the conversation proceeds:

Samuel: "You need to rock me because daddy is a boy; because only girls can rock little boys."

It's nice to know that I am missed. :)

Long time no blog

So any people that read my blog on a sort of regular basis. It has been awhile since I blogged, but I thought I would give some updates.


Samuel turned 3 on January 20th. He is a cute little boy with a lot of spunk. When he is happy he is adorable, when he is cranky, he is not afraid to let you know about it. Things about Samuel:
He likes berries.
He loves to mimic his older brother and considers Joseph's friends his friends.
Loves to sing and dance. He typically dances from side to side singing "ya, ya"
Is finally potty training. He is close, but not quite there.
Loves to draw.
Won't really watch TV unless we are watching Bill Nye, Funny Show (America's
Home Videos), and occasionally Scooby Doo.
Talks up a storm.


For his birthday he wanted to go to the Bean Museum. Of course, he was scared of all the animals that were there, unless they were behind glass. Here is Joe looking so excited to have his picture taken.


He started basketball a couple of weeks ago, but we haven't been the past couple of times. He refuses to play or let go of his ball. Joseph loves it and wants to go, but Samuel might have to wait a little longer. :)


He is also quite the little architect. Here he is with one of his creations. He built this all by himself, but he gets frustrated if they fall. I think we need to get him some megabloks, but that is a long time coming. We are impressed with how well he builds and balances his toys.


Joseph has been doing great also. Here we are working on his science fair project. He got a "Easy to Understand Ribbon" at the fair and today he and other science fair participants got to eat lunch (pizza) with the principal. He is reading pretty well. The other week he thought we had forgotten to sign his reading folder, so he did it himself. I will take a picture of his forging skills. He decided to Joe's initials because they were easier than mine. He did a convincing job. Joe and I laughed when we saw it, but we talked to him without laughing about why he shouldn't do that. He also told us that he likes to "relax" when he is at the computer and not do anything. He is an honest little boy. I spoke to his teacher and she said he is one of the top readers in her class and that he is a good student in math too. She also said he is a social little chap. That describes him so well.

That is all for now. I will try to post more pictures later and talk about our anniversary (which we spent finishing the science fair project).

Great Brain

Joseph has an ongoing project at school called a Great Brain project. It allows students to choose something they want to study about and do a project on it. Joseph chose the ocean. We created a diorama of the layers of the ocean with creatures that live in the different zones. He was so excited to present it at school. His teacher was impressed that he remembered everything by himself, because usually parents help their kids present. Oops. I guess I didn't get that memo. I will post pictures of his project later. Now he wants to do one on the human body.

Planets

Samuel likes to look at the stars and has done so often. I pointed out Jupiter in the sky to him. The other night we were out and about and he pointed up and said, "There is Jupiter." I looked in the direction he was pointing and sure enough, he was right. Maybe he will be an astrophysicist.

Our family

Life is crazy. I had a great birthday and had tons of fun with my family. I got a call that my uncle passed away yesterday. It is just a reminder to me that life goes by fast.

Joseph is a great kid. We love him so much. He is a very sensitive little boy. I told him about kids that had no families, food, and that were alone in the world. He started to cry because he wants them to have a family. He has been praying for that every night. Today in sacrament meeting he started to cry. I asked what was wrong. He said that he loved me so much and didn't want to be without me when he died. I told him that our family can be forever and that I was doing everything I can so that all of us can be together. It was also a good moment to stress choosing what is right and doing good things. He is also very funny. Because he is learning to read, he knows the sound "ch" makes. When were we preparing Christmas cards, he said, "Why is it Christmas, shouldn't it be Christmas (pronounced "ch"ristmas)?" He then started to sing "We wish you a merry "ch"ristmas, we wish you a merry "ch"ristmas." Joseph had a "swell" Christmas, as he likes to say.

We watch a show called Phineas and Ferb and they have a pet platypus, Perry. Perry is a secret agent and fights a bad-guy named Dr. Doofenshmurtz. He makes all kinds of -inators to take over the "tri-state area." Well, Joseph and Samuel got Perry the Platypus socks for Christmas. Joseph laughed and said, "Dr. Doofenshmrutz must have built and sock-inator and turned Perry the Platypus into socks!" Cute boy.

Samuel used the bathroom for the first time yesterday in his frog potty. He was so happy he smiled at us. Maybe he will be keen on trying some more today. He got some castle blocks and likes to build elaborate structures. He still is a very light sleeper. He is a cute kid and we love him! He likes to talk about lots of things and then he laughs like crazy. Joseph and I play a game called the "so hungry" game. Basically you say you are so hungry you could eat a ________________ (fill in the blank). Joseph usually wins because he says he can eat the universe. I was in the car with Samuel running an errand while Joe and Joseph were at home. He started to play the game with me without prompting. He said, "I so hungry I could eat the tree." I laughed and played along and said I was so hungry I could eat a truck. He then said, "I so hungry I could eat mountains and clouds." He laughed as we played. It was nice to have one on one time with him.

Joe's first day is Tuesday. We will see how it goes.