Ode to James

James is a happy kid, what can I say! His pictures need no captions.

I've told James that Moms have eyes in the back of their heads. So now he likes to get behind me and ask me what he's doing. Or he will ask, "Mom, what do you see with your back eyes?"

James gave me a tutorial in farts the other day. It went like this:

James: Mom, you don't have to pull my finger for me to fart.

Mom: I don't?

James: No. You can just say "fire in the hole" and then fart.

Mom: What if I just farted quietly and didn't say anything about it?

James: Why?

Why do I engage in such conversations?

Ode to Spencer

What can I say about Spencer that he probably hasn't told you already? Spencer is a ball of amazing emotion and energy and verbalness. He's the funnest kid to give presents to because his reactions make you feel like you've made his year. He's got the best imagination and excitement for pretending. He is a leader and a good learner, he's got an amazing memory. He recently participated in his first official pinewood derby. The pinewood derby pictures are a pictoral essay of Spencer's personality.

Design and construction begin. . . . with swimming goggles, because he can't find his paint gun goggles.

Nervousness. . . checking out the friendly competition.

Spencer is the one standing up in the back with both fists clenched and shoulders tight.

Some people talk with their hands, Spencer talks with hid body.

Dad is in charge of the finish line? It's a good thing he's honest. It's also a good thing he gives Spencer comfort and direction.

The race is over, Spencer won. He was under strong direction to be a good sport and congratulate the other racers. Which he did, then proceeded to talk about why he most likely won.

He came up to me afterward and told me that he was speechless. . . . for a few seconds. . . . then he told me about everything.

Spencer also had a piano recital in the end of August. It was a duet recital and he played "Balloon Pop Polka" with three other students. The song involved popping and blowing up balloons. They did a great job!

Spencer is now in third grade. THIRD GRADE!! His sense of humor is maturing, the way he looks at the world is different, but there's always time for play. In fact, Mark was helping Spencer prepare a family home evening lesson that Spencer was underwhelmed with. He told Mark, "you are wasting my time, I could be playing!" This is Spencer's life philosophy.

Ode to D.J.

I love D.J. He is a very intuitive and thoughtful kid. He is very smart, especially with math and is usually always willing to help without complaining much. He loves to build things and make things with his hands. Until recently he was very set against taking piano lessons until he taught himself how to play "twinkle, twinkle" on a playground chime set and now he can't wait to start lessons. He's my kid who goes with the flow, yet sometimes if the flow isn't what he wants he's very stubborn about getting something he wants out of the deal. He's a no fear, try nearly anything kid. He recently told me that he loves Jesus more than me, which is just how it should be. Here's to our Dallin Jay:

The requested Lego Star Wars cake. If you cannot recognize it, it is a scene from the battle of Geonosis, Star Wars Episode II.

D.J.' s party invitations had to be unscrambled and put together.

It's a friend party this year!

When we were in St. George I declared a vacation from making breakfast and we had cold cereal (which my kids usually don't go for). Spencer exclaimed one morning: "D.J. is on the cereal box!"

Mom watch! Crazy nutso takes after his Uncle Jed.

D.J. finally lost one of his front teeth. Now he has a three tooth gap, two on the top, one on the bottom. His tooth booty is on the countertop. He will properly fit into second grade now.

A Vacation From A Lot of Things

We had a great vacation at the beginning of August! It was a vaction from a lot of things. The first part of our vacation was with the Davis Family, who are so good to us! While with them, we took a vacation from sanity, from wearing clothes (most of our time was in swim suits). I took a vacation from my regular swimsuit (I forgot it) and was introduced to the bottom-of-the-barrel August KMart seletion of swim suits that have a V-neck to the belly-button (I wore a cover-up) and no support. My other option was a camoflauge bikini at Sportsman's Warehouse that didn't camoflauge what I wanted. We took a vacation from cooler weather, from hydrated skin and brown dirt. We were given a free skin exfoliation with red sand and wind from mother earth and a chance to practice patience when we got stuck in it. Here are a few pictures taken with our fun Davis cousins!

Three-headed chicken:

Leaning tower of cousin:

Syncronized couins:

James the giant prune:

Cousin zone-out:

Then we went to Wheeler Peak with the Wheeler family. We took a vacation from any heat whatsoever except from the camp fire which was raging all day and most of the night. Mark and I took a vacation from sea-level as we ascended Wheeler Peak at 12,500 feet (almost to the top before vertigo and blood sugar issues kicked in). Mark and I also took a vacation from sleeping, only two to a sleeping back and added James. We took a vacation from long pants unfortunately and the boys stayed in their pajama bottoms, which were their only long pants. Oh, but we had fun and perhaps even convinced Matt to come camping again next year (provided they get a new air mattress and Loni gets a new camera).

Lehman caves that elephants and naked people can't enter:

Yes, hat, jackets, long sleeves and lots of love (awwww):

Climb every mountain (almost)!

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Now, school starts tomorrow.

Cure for Insomnia, Yours for $59.99!

I have never slept better than I have this summer. You know why? Three reasons: Spencer, D.J. and James.

This isn't the first time for me. Or the first time for other people. I have had at least five Moms tell me that they love when their kids play with my kids because their kids sleep so well that night. It's also true for Grandma's and cousins. And me. I don't even remember my dreams and usually wake up in the same position I fell asleep in.

So, I'm considering marketing my boys. I figure it would be a win-win situation. We would go to homes, that way my kids would get to play with new toys. Spencer would be in charge of imagination and drama play. D.J. would be in charge of building anything out of anything. James would be in charge of cheerleading and recruiting timid children to activities. I would be in charge of first aid and food. It doesn't even take the whole day, 3-4 hours should do it.

Now to think of a catchy jingle. . . .

July is Almost Over!?!?!? Summer fun.

I went to the library the other day and the check out lady told me that my books are due in AUGUST. My milk will expire in AUGUST. My how time flies when you're trying to keep three children from fighting with each other. Here are some pictures of fun summer days:

With no school D.J. has been in rare form, reorganizing things that I thought were organized and in their place. He decided that our swing set could be reorganized into a hammock.

A trip to Nevada in mid-July (yes, we're crazy) gave D.J. the chance to water ski for his first time! He had no qualms about trying out Aunt Wendy and Uncle Ryan's trainer ski. We had lots of fun with my two brother and my sisters-in-law. Thanks guys!

D.J. the eternal climber.

James took an iddy-biddy ball class this summer, ending in t-ball. After some trepidation, he fit right in. They played basketball for one week also and when he made a basket one time, his teacher said, "you're a stud!" He ran back into line with his hands up and loudly annouced, "I'M A STUD!"

Potato bugs are the "pet" dujour at our house. Yes, there are two potato bugs in between his pincher fingers. They made it out alive.

James' new summer talent is crossing his eyes. He came to the bank with me and some ladies just started laughing. I turned my head to see the comedy and they were laughing at James staring at one wall practicing his cross eyes.

Spencer has been waiting for three years to turn eight and finally be able to take a parks and rec archery class. It took a while to build the strength to keep the bow up and aimed. But he got it down soon enough (and without tears!) and took the arrows out of the target with much flair.

Spencer tried the trainer ski too, but didn't quite go the distance he would like. Maybe next year he will have worked up the courage to try again.

Hot Items During a Recession

I read in the newspaper a month or so ago that there are some items that are selling really well right now. I think this is very, very funny. Here are the items:

Chocolate

Pepto-Bismol

Guns

Macaroni and Cheese

Spam

There are all sorts of interesting ideas that support profits for the producers of these items. Here are my thoughts:

Mac and Cheese: This is the automatic, "I'm poor and out of time" food, next to hot dogs, ramen and apparently spam. The funny thing about eating mac and cheese is that it takes butt/marg and milk, which just experienced a price increase a few years ago, and milk and butter are not shelf-stable, they require refrigeration. Not exactly an emergency ideal. It's not really that cheap and it's not really that quick and easy to make, if you ask me. You've got to wait for the water to boil, wait for the noodles to cook and stir up the rest of the ingredients and then blow on it for your kids until it reaches just the right temperature. I'm not a fan. It is a comfort food though, and we do need comfort right now.

Spam: What can I say about Spam that has not already been said? We visited the Spam Museum (twice) while living in Minnesota. It is located in Austin, MN. The whole town smells like pork. Spam is a tried and true, get us through the depression, something you can brag about later, kind of food i.e. "back in '09 all I lived on was Spam and mac and cheese. We didn't even have enough money to buy fruits or vegetables, just Spam and mac and cheese. If we were really lucky, we could mix the two." Oddly enough, a can of Spam is $2.75. There are cheaper ways to get protein, and more of it, with less fat, than a can of Spam. But oh, the stories you can tell. Check out the Spam merchandise: http://www.spam.com/

Chocolate: It's smooth going down and tastes great. Sounds like a beer commercial. But then, it can make you a little intoxicated, which might be exactly what you want. Chocolate offers a moment of escape. Chocolate increases your serotonin levels. Chocolate is a relatively cheap indulgence, that when in the midst of recession stress, can make you feel like you are treating yourself right, at least for a minute. Unfortunately, chocolate has a tendancy to aggrivate your stomach. . . . . .

Pepto-Bismol: After the first three, I don't need to explain this. On top of the stress, we are apparently eating high fat foods that slowly digest. It's a good thing it's a happy pink color!

Guns: I can't figure the exact reason for this. Do we want to make sure that we have a way to provide food during a recession? Either by killing our own food or robbing our neighbor's food storage? Do guns make us feel more secure or more in control than we really are? What will guns do for us if the hottest commodities are mac and cheese, chocolate and perto-bismol. I'm thinking squirrel, quail or rabbit isn't going to help an upset stomach and I'm not sure pepto-bismol is up for that job. Does this mean that the people who own guns know how to clean the animals they shoot? And cook them and store them? Do we all need a hunter's safety/instruction class? Maybe if I own a gun and people know how inexperienced I am with a gun, they will live in fear wondering what crazy Lisa will do with her gun. And that will make me feel so much better that other people are living in fear, just like I am. Misery loves company. Whatever. I think I'll buy water guns. They will make me laugh. Laughter in recession is very valuable. And it's cheap.