Boys

I received this email from our Primary President on Sunday night...

Amanda:

I hope G recovers from Primary today.

Our sharing time lesson was about how families are important in God's plan. I chose some kids at random to dress up to represent some different families from the scriptures. G was one of the ones I choose. He went out in the hall willingly enough but soon returned in tears. Apparently, the idea of dressing up was too much for him. Or maybe I didn't give him enough information about what he was going to be asked to do in advance.

I think G remained upset for a few minutes after he came back in to the primary room but hopefully he was over it by the time he got home from church and will want to come back to Primary. Who knew that dressing up could be so traumatic? I assumed that it would be something that the kids would enjoy. You can imagine that tears are NOT the reaction that the Primary president is trying to illicit. The activity went over much better with the senior Primary so maybe it is just a question of age.

Anyway, I hope that G has put it all behind him now and will look forward to Primary next Sunday.

Oh dear. The chances are pretty good that was just being stinky. Someone probably told him to wear something when he wanted to wear something else. He's that way. He doesn't like people telling him what to do. He likes to make his own decisions.

**********

While in the bath this morning, and while he was washing himself, Mads proclaimed, "My penis rocks!"

I suppose it's a good thing, and good to speak the truth if that's how he feels.

Another Trip Downtown

More American history.

I couldn't take pictures of the Star Spangled Banner exhibit, but it was amazing. It was surprisingly emotive, and reverential. I loved it.

Ooo. The castle looks creepy on a cloudy day.

Now, it's a Washington Monument picture with fog and rain.

Eazy Grilla

Mads has a new habit. And before I talk about what it is, I would like to say that I'm not proud of it. I thought it was funny at first, and that is why I took pictures. But now, I do not let him continue this practice. Well, I'll let him if he's not doing it in an embarrassing way.

Mads has recently become obsessed with money. Now, I don't think he really even knows what it means to be obsessed with money. So his desires are pretty innocent. Just so you know. I just think he likes collecting it, and he mentioned being able to buy gum whenever he wanted. He also likes counting it. In fact, he has gotten pretty good at math because of it. And he'll just be able to skip the money section in school altogether. Maybe he'll like being able to start over with rupiah in a couple of months.

I don't want anyone thinking bad about my favorite almost 5 year old in the whole world.

He is also super excited to get the wallet that I bought him off of eBay. The day we get that in the mail will be exciting to say the least.

Here he is searching for money at Target...

When asked how much money he wants, he said, "A thousand, a hundred, a million, and ten."
Nate asked him once why he was always looking for money. He said, "Because I love money!" And he just told me that money was fun.
Me - "Why do you like money so much?"

Mads - "Because they make me rich!"
He does this at any store we go to. It's amazing what that boy can find! For some reason, all the luggage stores we have been to seem to be a perfect place for finding spare change.

We went to CVS the other day in search of some Valentine's Day candy. (Don't judge me.) And B.A. just asked me if laying flat in the isle, looking under the shelves, counts as an 'embarrassing way'. Oh dear. I didn't see him doing that.

Colonial Day

So, in fourth grade, there is a big event called Colonial Day. All the kids pick a colonial era job, and research the heck out of it. Then they come in costume to school and put on a presentation for all the visitors. B.A. was a potter.

It was really great. I loved how all the kids were so enthusiastic about their trade, and they did such a good job on their presentations. I love when school is fun and educational! B.A. had a great time.
We walked because I thought parking would be difficult. I didn't realize we would have been better off wearing ice skates. Oh well, we made it without any cracked skulls. (Rhon was home from school because she was sick.)

For Two, Please

We spent most of January and into February sick. It was sucky. Each of us got sick at least once. It would be a lot easier if we all just got it at the same time, but unfortunately that's not how it usually works. It wasn't too bad, it could have been much worse. It just seemed to last a long time. There was also a lot of napping, and skipping meals. And you know if Dare takes a nap, she is not feeling good. So when I saw her asleep with G, I just had to take a picture. I think they have a special bond. They like just being together. They are so much alike it is wacky. I keep waiting to find a difference in personality, but the older they get, the more alike they become.

Passports

When we are all together in a place that doesn't see many big families, we are a spectacle, to say the least. When we went downtown to get our passports, I was expecting to get stared at, gawked at, etc. I was right to be prepared. All those things happened, and more...

Big white hallway. Looks like a hospital.

We had to get our pictures taken first. I wish I would have gotten more of my own pictures to document the occasion, but I was mostly thinking about how to get out of there as quickly and painlessly as possible. Getting my camera out might have complicated that plan. We got our pictures taken right away, and then we had to wait on them to be printed. We had to wait in a little room, with about 30 chairs crammed in it. About 20 of the chairs were occupied. We found a section that had a few chairs together and sat down, and got out the books.

I have to say that I was proud of my kids that day. They behaved perfectly. With the help of gum, they were content to sit and read while we waited.

When the pictures were done, we had to go to a new room to apply for the passports. There was no line here, but I guess processing 14 forms takes a bit of time. We waited in this room...

No, B.A. does not read with her book that close to her face. She is hiding. I had no idea that would start so soon. : (

The kids were great here too. Luckily there was way more space, and way less people. The wait was much longer, and it was lunchtime. I brought plenty of snacks, but it was pretty clear that they didn't want you eating in that room. We just brought out more gum, and did some pushups!

We were in and out of there in just over 2 hours. I think it was a miracle.

Then a couple weeks later...

What an exciting time for us! This is really happening!

Take It To Main

We tried to take our own passport photos. It didn't work out so well. Aside from lighting issues, we had to deal with difficult children. Or should I say one difficult child in particular. Here are 6 of the 473 pictures we took of G. And his commentary to go with them...

"No way I'm going to smile like you asked."

"In fact, I'm going to act grumpy."

"I'm not even going to look at you."

"Okay, I'll look, but only with one eye."

"I'm looking. Try to put this one on my passport, Suckas!"

"Watch. I'll smile. But you still won't be able to use it. Ha ha!"

Constitution Avenue

This was a few weeks ago. And I didn't get many pictures. And the ones I got are not great. But we went to the National Museum of American History. It was so COOL! We spent about 2 hours there, and we only saw about a third of the museum. So this is NMAH Part One. (I thought I may as well start using acronyms for everything. Cause that's what they do here in DC.)

It was a great time. I could do without all the questions from the kids, like, "Were TVs invented when you were a kid?" Or, "Do you remember WWI?" But then, of course, we walk by an old time station wagon with wood paneling, and I tell the kids how we had a car like that when I was a kid. It's probably confusing. I'll let it slide. This time.

Family is Forever

My beautiful, awesome, fun, amazing, cool, adventurous, happy family.

At the DC Temple.

While the Christmas lights, and the nativities from all around the world were out.

One of the nativites from Indonesia.

On The Range

So there is another tree downtown in front of the Capitol. This one, I thought, was nicer. It had a better shape. It was from Wyoming, so all the ornaments were Wyoming-ish, which is to say it had horses and cowboys all over it. It's impressive that people can even decorate a tree that big.

We also checked out the Botanical Garden again. We all love that place.

The Washington Monument.

The real Washington Monument.

Yes, I'm going to take a picture of this monument from all different locations. I'm not tired of it.

The Capitol.

The real Capitol.

The kids had tons of fun running around in the grassy area in front of the Capitol. Admittedly, they were acting a little on the crazy side, but they don't have a yard! I was just happy with the awesome weather.

ps - G gives the Washington Monument a different name every time he sees it. It usually involves the word 'castle'. I've heard Jefferson's Castle, Lincoln Monument Castle, and Washington's Castle. Now he calls it, "Washington Monument and Jefferson's Castle." Oh, also he calls himself Chester, and makes everyone else call him that too. Random.

Draw 2

Playing Uno with Dare.

It's Nerf or Nuffin'

Real smiles!

It's a Christmas miracle!

We had a great day! We slept late, opened presents, ate breakfast, then played. All day. The playing consisted of dart shooting, sword fighting, dancing, Donkey Kong-ing, puzzling, playing games, crawling around after Zhu Zhu pets, napping, eating, and crafting.

It was the best.

Christmas Eve

This Christmas season was a bit different than the ones we were growing accustomed to in Utah. In all honesty, it was a lot different. But, this was the first of many Christmases to come where we have to adjust and change, and make new exciting things to look forward to. We didn't have a house or yard, snow to play in, or neighbors to wave to while you are both shoveling the driveways. We didn't have our tree, or stockings. Or any of our decorations. But we still made our Christmas cookies. We didn't have the recipes, but after much searching, we found them (most of them, no ginger cookies) on the internet. We bought a small tree and new ornaments from the dollar store. And we just skipped stockings and replaced that tradition with new traditions. It was awesome. Everything was perfect. We had a really great weekend.

Making cookies. . .

We had a couple families over for soup, burnt bread, and chocolate cake. That was 18 people! Six adults and 12 kids. I think that's the biggest party we have hosted so far.

The kids acted out the Christmas nativity.

G was so thrilled to be Joseph. A big thanks to all the other kids for letting him have his way.

And more Rock Band. This time we banned any kids, 11 and under, from playing. Which was all but one. Sounds mean, but we enjoyed ourselves and didn't regret it.

I loved how the boys all had the same look on their face while in the video game zone.

I'm Too Tired To Go To Sleep

This was taken at about 8, on the morning of the first day of Christmas break. . .

Where is the missing child, you ask?

Here. . .
That's my girl!

She is the only one of my children who can sleep in. If it was up to her, she would stay up all night, and sleep all day. Me too, Dare. Me too.

Blue Spruce

The National Christmas Tree

We made the kids wear pants under their pants. And it took us about an hour to get out of the house. I thought it would be really cold. Mostly because of the wind, not really because of the temperature. But it wasn't. And we were only there for about 15 minutes. But it was cool to see. Really. I'm glad we did it. I don't know if I would ever take the time again, but for our first and last chance, it was worth it.