David

                                                                

 You know, normal kids take pictures of each other when they get a hold of a camera.  Or their room, or clothes, shoes, etc.  Not my daughter.  She takes pictures of naked kids in books.  I don't know if you can tell, but this is David running away without his clothes on.  I guess Dare thought it was good subject matter.

Hey, maybe this is the start of an inspired career.  After all, she wasn't the first one to think a naked David was good inspiration...

This made me laugh even more.  She gets upset when G tries to take her naked David away.

                                                              

Yay for videos!  I'm glad I had someone (Shelle) to help me figure out how to put them on my blog.  iMovie... duh.

Sunny, 68*

I thought today would be a good day to remember last week when the weather was nice, and we spent a lovely day at the zoo.

This week has been snowy and cold.

That kid next to Dare is not G.  You almost just assume it is.  But no, he is someone else's kid.

MoDA

There is an art museum in my basement.  

One day the girls thought their art was good enough to make a museum out of it.  This is just the first phase.  I imagine it will grow and grow.  I love how they named their pieces.  Here are a few of my favorites...

Abstract Girl by B.A.

The House of Doom by Rhon

The Peaceful Place by B.A.

Fire on the House by Dare

Together Forever

Nate and I went to the temple this evening.  And without detracting from the specialness of this event, I have a story to tell.  Our schedule was tight because we went to the Provo Temple to be with Trey his first time through.  We like to start these outings by kneeling together in prayer.  Nate asked the girls to keep an eye on G for a few minutes and we went to our room together.  Mads followed us and said he wanted to pray too.  As sweet as that is, we wanted to say a prayer together alone.  As Nate shut the door and locked it before Mads could come in, he starts throwing a fit outside our door.  We try to ignore it and start anyway.  Mads stops, and shortly after Dare tries to open the door.  When she figures out it's locked she starts screaming mom through the cracks.  I hear her walk away and say something about unlocking it (they can all unlock our door).  So I decide to interrupt Nate and tell her we will be out in a couple minutes.  She stops the break-in, but doesn't leave the doorway.  Then we hear a massive banging on our door.  Not just once, over and over.  It sounds like she is stepping back to get a running start, and ramming her whole body against our door.  Then I hear Dare say, "No, B.A.  They said they would be out in a minute!"  All the while, continuing her rhythmic banging.  B.A. says, "But G wants Mom sooooo bad!"  In between the bangs I can hear G wailing.  I think it was the last few bangs that did it for me.  I break into uncontrollable laughter.  As we laughed and tried to finish up, our babysitter rings the doorbell and Paris barks.  Loudly.  The whole situation seemed so comical to me.

I love my family.  I love that we can laugh together and pray together.  I love that we have 7 completely different personalities all in one place.  And it works.  It is perfect. 

This picture is hilarious, and I think it goes with  my story.  Dare is practically crying.  Rhon looks like she is annoyed and bored all at the same time.  B.A. looks happy that she is on top.  Mads is trying to figure out how to pile on, and G just wants to get in on the action.

Pay It Forward

It's a game!  Games are my favorite things in the whole world!  Thanks Marian!

So, here's how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me.  What is will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!  The catch is that you must participate as well.  Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy and paste like I did).  Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!  Come and play!

Unlike Marian, I will only be sending something to the first 3 people.  Come on people!  I have lots of Rock Band to play in my spare time!

Extra

G now has 8 teeth.

Mads has a new way of talking.  He repeats himself.  For example, he will say, "I need to go pee.  I do."  Or, "I built a tower.  I did."  He does this with pretty much every sentence that comes out of his mouth.  He does.

G's new nick name is Moto Moto.  Because we like his zestiness.

We went to a U of U gymnastics meet last night.  The girls loved it.  The two younger ones.  B.A. didn't go.

I bought Cocoa Krispies and Pop Tarts at Walmart last time.  What is wrong with me?

In fact, I don't think I have made a warm meal in 2 days!

Rhon has been screaming a lot.  For fun, of course.  But it sounds like she is dying, or watching someone die.  An activity we must cut off immediately.

March is the month of spring!  We are so excited.

Mads has a fever.  Why can't we be healthy?

Dare is developing a bad habit of never doing anything for herself.  She is constantly asking either Mads or Jack to everything for her.  And they will do it!  "Thanks Jackie Love."

March 7, 2009 is an exciting day.  Very exciting.

I just realized I said something about all the kids but B.A.  Since I can't think of any news about her, I asked her for some ideas.  She came in here and started to squawk.  When I looked at her like she was crazy, she said, "What?  I'm a velociraptor."  Then she said, "Well, bye bye" and ran off to play video games.  

Quick story:     The other night at dinner Rhon asked if we could pray like Muslims.  It seemed totally random.  Then she got down on the floor and asked which direction Mecca was, then demonstrated how they pray.  She threw out her pretend prayer rug, knelt down and bent all the way over with their arms stretched out.  Dare took a special interest in this demonstration.  She wanted to pray like Muslims too, but she kept calling them Muglins.  Nate thought that sounded like Islamic non-wizarding folk.  Dare decided they do it that way because they must not have tables to rest their elbows on.  This conversation was in now way disrespectful.  We explained that different religions have different ways of praying, and Heavenly Father is happy when anybody prays.  

The Games

G is super sick.  I am just sitting on the couch with him in my arms.  I will probably be here most of the day.  The other day I was wishing he would let me hold him the way he did when he was 6 months old.  Now all I want is for him to feel like himself again.

I have been looking at my pictures.  I found these and thought they were entertaining.  They were taken in November.

If there is ever a bag of mini marshmallows in our house, you can guarantee that we will end up throwing them at each other.  If you haven't tried this game, you are missing out on all kinds of fun.  Marshmallows are perfect because they fly well, and they don't hurt if you miss or if they hit a tooth.  I love starting this game by telling the kids to open their mouths as big as they can.  They will just sit there with their mouths open until they have a marshmallow to chew up.  In each picture there is a small, bright-white flying object.

Miss!

With G, it's just like chucking something at him.  He hasn't quite grasped the concept yet.

That one is going to make it.  Admittedly, it is hard to miss that cavernous opening.

Don't judge because my counter is so messy.  It looks like we were baking something.  Sheesh!