Extra

These pictures were cracking me up because of Dare's face.  Three different pictures... exact same silly face.  I just had to share.

*     SCM took 5 steps without me forcing him.     *

*     He passed.     *

*     SCM danced.     *

*     Long weekends make me happy.     *

*     Nate got an Xbox.  I guess I'll need to get some more books.     *

*     Cleaning the house gives me no gratification.     *  

*     We ate caponata sandwiches for dinner.   Oh... so good.     *

*     Mads will pee on the potty as long as I bribe him.  Today M&Ms were there for me.     *  

*     I'm getting paid again.     *  

*     Dare wants to parachute.  It doesn't matter how.  She will jump out of an airplane, off a cliff, or off a building.     *

*     It was 74 degrees at 11 am.     *

*     The kids are grounded from gum for the rest of their lives.     *    

Hi Ya!

After many months of asking and begging, and asking some more, I signed Rhon up for a martial arts class.  She wanted to take Karate but there is a Tae Kwan Do place close.  She didn't care. They are not much different, just country of origin.  They gave her a one-on-one lesson today.  I think their goal was to get her excited and assess her ability.  She was hilarious.  The first thing the instructor (an enthusiastic 15 year old boy) talked about was respect.  He told her she should bow to her teachers.  He did it first, and he just patted his thighs, and bowed his head with a quick bend of his hips.  She tried next.  She put her hands together... fingers together, and palms pressed to each other... raised them right under her chin, and bowed so low she almost touched her knees.  Maybe I should have put her in drama classes instead.  Right after that he told her to run to a spot on the mat.  She must not have heard or understood, because she just ran around like a crazy child.  I think she was trying to show off how fast she was.  Then he showed her how to punch, kick, and block.  He told her she needed to be loud, so she made this high pitched "hi ya!"  It was possibly the cutest noise I have ever heard.  Last, he showed her how to do a push up.  She did her final bow with a little less flair than the first.  

This post would have been perfect with a picture of her in her cute uniform, but I didn't have my camera.  Bad momma. 

Life with Three

The slide show over to the side is supposed to be on this post, but over there is the best I can do.

It's good.  I like it.  I'm having fun taking them to the park, and buying them candy at the store.  It feels like I am spoiling them a bit, but it's okay.  They deserve it.  It will probably wear off soon.

Dare has really stepped up as the oldest around the house.  She is more responsible, and she doesn't cry all day.  She is like a different person.  I like it.  It's good.

Mads and Dare play really well together.  Better than I ever expected.  I used to worry that she would get bored.  She still does, but it is much better than I imagined.  And, for the most part, she is a positive influence over Mads.  It's good.  I like it.

I still very much miss my oldest angels.  Especially Rhon.  I'm not used to her being gone all day yet.  But I guess there is a good purpose for school.  I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I'm sure it's there somewhere.    

Quotes

Quotes worth quoting...

"She's really short, because she's really old."  -Dare, about someone at the Asian market.

"I can run faster than them."  -Rhon, about the Olympic sprinters.

"Freaking, freaking, freaking, freaking, freaking"  -Me, when Rhon told me we weren't allowed to say freaking.

"Uuuh huuuh..."  -Mads, when anyone says no to him.

"Everyone is talking about Michael Phelps' breaststroke, but he's got nothing on me!"  -SCM  (he thinks he's funny)

"I'm sort of out of the question of my mind."  B.A.

"So it would seem..."  Nate, in response to B.A.

Hi Ho

It was in the high 60's this morning!  Absolutely perfect weather!  I wanted the windows down on our way out to the Farmers Market and Dare kept saying she was cold.  She was meant to live in Phoenix.

August is why I have managed to love this state for so long.  It starts cooling off and all the yummy fruits and veggies are being sold at the markets.  This is my favorite time of the year.  I love going to the Farmers Market.  And the kids love it too.  When we go they know they will get samples of all kinds of things, and all the fruit they can cram in.  We love the peaches.  We managed to eat a whole box in about 9 days (1/4 bushel).  We have also found plums that we have never seen before, and made jam that is to die for.  And the corn!  Oh man, it is so good. 

Today we got apples, apricots, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, and corn.  We didn't need tomatoes because we have our own (yay), and the peaches were gone. 

They also had fresh bread, gourmet doughnuts, and Serbian cinnamon rolls.  

 

B.A. and Dare sampling a green bean.  They love to eat green beans raw.  We have them in our garden, and they will crunch them down right after picking them.

Picking corn.  I let them do the picking.  They are getting pretty good at finding the good veggies.

Here they are eating apricots.

This is a something we do almost every Saturday from August until October.  Every week the farmers bring different things.  It is fun to support local farmers, and it's a nice change of pace from the super market.  It's one other thing I will miss when I move (unless, of course, I move to Seattle or something, where there is even more variety).    

Paris

Things worked out just right this morning so I was able to go jogging at 6:15!  I know, I know... don't have a heart attack.  I've been getting up a lot earlier since I started watching Jack, and since school started.  But SCM ate at 6:00 and went back to sleep.  I can't jog unless I feed him first.  There is pain otherwise.  It was so beautiful this morning.  The weather was perfect, and the sunrise over the mountains was amazing.  I will miss that when I move.  No, I have no plans to move, but I will someday... mark my words.  I always take Paris with me to jog, and this morning I thought a lot about her.  The thoughts inspired me to write this post.

Why I Love Paris     By:  Me, with the help from my children

Paris is my dog. 

She is a Jack Russell Terrier.

She has loads of energy.

She barks a lot.

She runs a lot.  --when we jog, she always looks back at me like are you coming or what?

She can jump really high.

She loves to lick faces.  --we are glad Mads had his mouth closed in the top picture 

She cleans up after my kids.  --This is my absolute favorite thing about her.  I won't go in to all the gross things she has done, but she will clean up spills, baby puke, and snot.  Just to name a few

Do you see her cleaning the baby food off the chair?  Atta girl!  She would have cleaned his face, hands, and bib if I would have let her. 

She protects us.  --the barking can get annoying, but I know she barks because she is letting us know something is up

She lets me cuddle with her.  --it's a great stress reliever

She has a mothering instinct. -- she watches out for the kids, and when I was pregnant, she would follow me around the house and guard me

She plays with the kids. --she doesn't just tolerate them, she likes them.

She is cute.

She is always happy to see us.

She is our best friend.

This picture is a throw in because it is funny.  (Princess Leia- in case you couldn't tell)

Monday

First day of school. 

 Yes, my girls like to dress like each other.  They call it "twinners".  Last year they did it almost every day.  

Rhon was excited.  She said she made a new "best" friend... Mimi from China (I don't know if she is actually from China).  She seems motivated to get her work done on time, to avoid being in trouble and missing any time at recess.  The full day didn't bother her at all.  She almost lost her lunch box, and when I got it, it had chocolate pudding all over it.  Not off to a good start in the lunch taking department. 

B.A. didn't seem quite as excited.  She woke up with a frown on her face, and argued with me all morning.  Notice how she isn't wearing new clothes?  She insisted she was "okay with old clothes".  I think it was because I wanted her to wear something new.  She is obstinate, in the very extreme sense of the word.  Well, this way they could be twinners.  She told me a few days ago that she didn't want to go to school.  When I told her she didn't have to, that I wouldn't make her, she quickly changed her mind.  Apparently, home school doesn't appeal to her.

This is supposed to get easier for me, right?  

It seems like it is getting harder. 

I do have to say that being at home with the three little ones was more fun, and less crazy than I thought it would be.  I even took them to the store.  I couldn't believe how good they were.  I asked Dare if she like being home while the other girls were at school, and she got a sly little grin on her face and said, "YES!"  Maybe being the oldest is good for her. 

Flippy

I was inspired by Randie's hair to encourage (force) Dare to get her hair cut short.  So she got her hair cut when the older girls got theirs cut for school.  Of course Camille did it exactly how I wanted it, and it looks so cute.  Even though she didn't want it short, she is very happy with it. 

      

Olympics

My impressions of the Olympics so far:

1.  The Opening Ceremonies were the best (by far) I have ever seen.

2.  What the heck were those chicks in the bathing suits doing at the men's beach volleyball?  They weren't Chinese, so it is like they came with the Americans, like their groupies or something.

3.  I will have to listen to Nate correcting every one's Chinese pronunciations for 15 more days.

To be continued...

8/11/08   Men's Gymnastics

4.  Their muscles are unnatural.

5.  Their strength is unnatural.

6.  I want the U.S. to win, but I sort of fear for the safety of the Chinese men if they lose.

7.  I think "Vanilla Ice" (I don't know his real name) is allowed to celebrate any way he wants.  We almost thought he was going to start doing the Running Man after his high bar routine.

8/12/08 

8.  Nastia is my favorite.  She is so beautiful, and amazing to watch.

8/16/08  --  I have to catch up a bit--

 

9.  Yay for Nastia.  It couldn't have happened to a better gymnast.

10.  Did you hear Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day?  Holy crap!

11.  Those marathoners run 5.6 minute miles!  So basically it would take me almost twice as long to make it to the finish line.  That is, if I didn't die first.

New Smile #2

                                                         

Rhon's lucky day!  Not only did she lose one tooth, she lost two.  Or had them pulled, rather.  I guess permanent teeth can trap baby teeth in, and they never get loose enough to fall out.  I noticed her permanent tooth coming in behind her baby one, so I called the dentist.  He said if it wasn't loose enough he would have to pull it.  Turns out, the other one was even worse, so he pulled both out.  We got all this for the low low price of $73.  I sucks to spend money on something that should have happened on its own... completely free (well, except for "Tooth Fairy" fees). 

                                

She was perfectly excited, of course.  I think this helped her deal with the pain.  I think she was a little surprised about how tingly her face felt, and how weird two big holes in her mouth felt.  It was funny because she kept drooling without noticing until it was too late.  She also talks with a slight lisp now.  I think it is way cute.  I love telling her to say Christmas.

This was difficult for me for two reasons.  Number 1...  I am a wuss, so I couldn't even watch the dentist pull them out.  I could hear it though, and it made me cringe.  I still can't believe you can just take a pair of pliers and yank a tooth out.  Shouldn't they be more stable than that?  And 2... I cried more than once when I saw her adorable smile, and heard her sweet new way of talking.  It's just the growing up too fast thing.      

Predator

The little man is 8 months old!  He seems so big sometimes, but still so little.  Compared to all the other kids, he has done everything first.  He doesn't walk without help yet, but he is close.  He crawls on his hands and feet.  His first tooth emerged on Monday.  Before him, the earliest tooth came closer to a year.  He wants to feed himself.  When I got fed up with getting pureed carrots spit all over me, I just gave him what we were having for dinner.  So his first "human" meal was Pineapple Coconut Curry.  He only liked it when his own fat hand shoved it in. 

 (B.A. says babies aren't human.  When they start walking, they "walk like a human".  When they start talking, they "talk like a human", etc.)   

Photo by Shelle

I asked Nate to write about a certain aspect of his personality at 8 months.  Here is what he had to say:

Don't let the photo above fool you - I'm pretty sure that SCM isn't completely human (I agree with B.A. in some regards on the issue of SCM's not quite complete humanity - not all, mind you, but some).  Appearances can be, and are, deceiving.  To wit: On the exterior, SCM is merely an exceptionally cute, happy, chubby baby, with no easily discernible superhuman abilities.  That's how he seems most of the time, actually.  Lovable, good-natured, and eminently non-predacious.  Most of the time.  Until you get him around food.  Not his own food, that sits on the tray of his own high chair, and is consumed at normal speed, without anything exceptional except the mess he makes with it (which is a phenomenon unto itself).  No, it is other people's food that awakens the superhuman powers that dwell within this otherwise innocuous young child.  

This was first manifest about a month ago, when we (well, I) made some homemade blueberry muffins.  The muffins, fresh from the oven, had just cooled to an eatable temperature, and Mandie, with SCM in tow, had managed to fight her way past the other kids to nab one for herself.  SCM was perched on her hip, ostensibly observing proceedings without any particular sense of interest.  I didn't realize it at the time, but this was simply a ruse on his part (one of his powers is superhuman deviousness).  His modus operandi is to lull us (or anyone possible, really - we haven't been the only ones to fall prey to his act) in to a false sense of security.  Of course your food is safe this close to me - I'm just a little baby.  I have absolutely no designs whatsoever on that freshly baked muffin.  Do I look even remotely interested in it?  As Mandie, oblivious to the impending danger to her berry-laden comestible,  prepared to apply some butter, it happened.  With speed and violence that were shocking, with unerring accuracy and hand-eye coordination that belied his tender age, SCM struck.  Most of us have seen those nature shows where they show a coiled snake striking at an unsuspecting rodent with lightning quickness, or a great white slamming into a seal from below with enough force to take both seal and shark completely out of the water.  This was like that - multiplied by ten (and except for the gore - but that's only because muffins don't bleed).  In a fraction of a second, it was over.  Mandie was left standing there with a shocked look on her face, holding a ruined muffin fragment, and SCM was already jamming the crown of the muffin (yes, he took the best part - not an accident, I promise you) down his gullet with both hands.  Everyone else was stunned, too.  And impressed.  

Did we learn from this?  Well, a little, I guess.  We learned that we had a small child that was endowed with abilities far beyond those of most humans.  But did we modify our behavior?  Did we take precautions?  In a word, no.  That Sunday, we attended sacrament meeting as usual.  SCM was acting tired (also as usual), and was sitting on Mandie's lap, for all appearances drowsy and disinterested in the goings on around him.  The sacrament was passed, and I took a piece and handed the tray to Mandie.  She, too, took a piece, while SCM just sat there, almost inert, sleepy scowl on his face, sucking us in to his trap yet again.  You can pass that tray close to me.  What could I possibly want with a little tiny piece of white bread?  There's no danger.  Completely unsuspecting, Mandie started to pass the tray to B.A., and as her hand just began to describe the arc that would accomplish that end, SCM pounced.  Same ferocity, same accuracy, same speed, same result.  Before Mandie was even halfway through the movement of passing the tray, he had reached out, snatched a piece of bread (one piece only - he wasn't striking willy-nilly here, but with purpose), and put it in his mouth, all without upsetting the motion of the tray.   I was in awe.  Mandie was flabbergasted.  The deacon that was standing at the end of our row was trying not to laugh.  

Since these two incidents we have wised up a little, but that's not always enough to avoid the devastating effects of SCM's superhuman powers and superior predatory instincts. Nothing is safe, especially when you think it is safest - that's when he most loves to strike (the deviousness, remember?).