Recent Happenings

We went to the Cambridge side of the Charles River to watch the Boston Fourth of July fireworks on Sunday night. The firework display was great and we had a fun time with a couple of other families that went down with us. Mary and I were concerned that our children would not be getting to bed on time. The biggest concern was about Caleb. He usually gets up at 6:15 regardless of when you put him to bed. Going to bed after 11:00 pm and getting up at 6:00 am was not going to make for a successful day on Monday. On the way back to our car, Mary said, "Caleb if you get up after 7:00 am tomorrow, I will give you 15 extra minutes of Wii time." (The children need to earn time to play the Wii. If you don't earn time, then you don't play.)

Guess what time Caleb woke up at on Saturday? 7:02 am.

At least he slept in?!?!??

---

Mary and I bought a Michael Buble CD this past week. Joshua loves a couple of his songs after I linked to one for a previous post. We have listened to the song "Home" a couple of times in the car. Yesterday, Grace said to me, "Did you notice that at the beginning of the song he says "summer day" and at the end of the song he says "winter day", Dad?"

It made me so happy to know that she was listening to the lyrics and trying to understand what message they were sending.

---

We recently went to a John Schmidt concert with our children. He is a pianist and has a fun concert personality. One of the most interesting songs that he played was this one. I thought it was cool mash-up.

---

I took the children (minus Rebecca) to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. I thought it was great movie. Powerful ideas with some real funny moments and some real poignant moments as well. I think you should go and see it if you haven't.

Are You Ready for Tomorrow?

At 2:30 pm tomorrow, the US will play Ghana in the World Cup for a spot in the quarterfinals. I hope you know where you are going to watch the game and have invited your friends over to cheer. If you need a little inspiration for how to cheer a great moment in USA soccer history, then click here.

If you want to hear the song that Weezer penned for the national team, then click here.

If you like Shakira and want to hear her World Cup song, then click here.

But whatever you do, watch tomorrow.

---

Okay, maybe you don't like soccer. You can try this link if you want to watch something mind blowing.

But I still think you should be supporting the US tomorrow.

Music Time

Joshua loves music. He has great nursery leaders at church who have taught him many Primary songs. He can often be heard singing the songs or asking someone else to sing to him.

Three nights ago we got home late from a service project and were rushing to put the children to bed. Mary and I were going back and forth between the boys' and the girls' room to get everyone settled down and tucked in. Joshua asked me to sing him a bedtime song. I sang him one song and Mary came in as I was finishing up. Joshua asked for another song, but I told him that I had promised to sing only one song and I had done that. Undeterred, Joshua asked Mary to sing him a song. Mary told him that I had song him one song and that was enough because it was too late.

As Mary left the room, she heard a little voice say in the darkness, "Awwwwww, stinky parents."

Who Taught Her That?

We dropped old clothes off at a donation spot a few days ago. It was at a church and they also had a book drop for old books and may have been collecting something else. As we drove away, Grace asked, "Mom, why don't we donate some books next time too?"

Mary replied, "Well, Dad doesn't really like to get rid of books, so we have never done it in the past."

Grace thought for a second and then said, "Dad, are you a bibliophile?"

I replied, "Grace, I sure am"

My Dad's Kind of People

The end of the school year social for the youth in our congregation was a pool party. The party started out with some munchies, so there were not too many kids in the pool. When there aren't a lot of people in the pool, you know what happens next, right? Some one gets pushed in. One of the young men pushed one of the young women in the pool. She quickly got out of the pool and was fairly upset. Why was she upset? She had her cell phone in her pocket. Now her phone was not the top of the line, but it was still a nice phone. (Honestly, it was a lot nicer than our cell phone.) Her mom was at the party, as well, but was not around when she got pushed in.

What do you think her reaction was when she found out that her daughter's cell phone had been ruined? Was she upset? Did she want the young man to pay for it? Was she mad at her daughter for carrying around the pool?

No. When she heard, she turned to the women next her and said maybe she should hand down her old iPhone and get the new iPhone 4.

That is my Dad's kind of people.

First Basketball Lesson

I taught Rebecca her first basketball lesson tonight: What is the lesson? Well, you need to break it down for both ends of the court. On the offensive side, the message is clear that she needs an above the rim game. While on the defensive end, the message is that she needs to protect the rim.

Are you wondering if I am a good basketball teacher? I need my nephew, Andrew, to come and visit to see if I can teach the same lesson to him. Then I will tell you how I do on the teaching front.

Things Not on the Recommended List

There is a person in my office with a sign outside of their cubicle. It is a poster of a 1950s era housewife with the saying, "If by "happy" you mean trapped with no means of escape…? then yes, I'm happy."

I think it is funny, but I am not sure that I would want to explain that to my boss.

---

The other day I was driving home and stopped at a red light. I was the third car in line. No other cars were coming from the other direction so we were just sitting there. Then all of the sudden, the first car goes through the red light. That happens on occasion. I thought it was weird because the direction without cars enters the police station parking lot.

There seems to be a decent chance that a police car might be heading in or out of that parking lot that you might not be able to see.

More Sleep

We can always use a little more sleep in our house. Lately, Rebecca has been trying to consolidate her nap schedule. She is moving away from two naps to one long nap. She usually starts her long nap at 10:30. The other day she missed going down for her nap in the morning. Lunch was not as successful as usual. While lunch was not a success, much of the rest of her life is. She has started walking full time. (All of our children have started walking before their first birthday. What a travesty.) She is getting into things, has learned to climb the ladder to our play structure in back, and is generally causing age appropriate trouble. Here she is playing with the camera case. She is a happy little camper and fits into the family. An illustrative story about how she belongs:

Last night, the power went out during dinner preparation time. We ordered pizza and I went to picked it up. Rebecca was grumpy and hungry. I took her with me so she would not bother Mary after a long day. We drove to the store and picked up the pizza. The minute we walked out of the store, Rebecca started hitting the pizza box. She knew what was in it and wanted to eat. I buckled her into her car seat and put the pizza boxes on the passenger's seat in front. She went ballistic. She was so upset that I had pizza and would not share it with her. She cried the whole way home. To know and love pizza and to recognize the pizza box before you are one year old means you belong to our family!

A Mother's Day Thought

I have recently finished Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is a fascinating book about a boy's search for continued connection with his father after his father died during the 9/11 attacks. I found the book really interesting and have read the last 50 pages a few times. There was one quote near the end of the book that I thought was an interesting Mother's Day thought.

I probably fell asleep, but I don't remember. I cried so much that everything blurred into everything else. At some point she was carrying me to my room. Then I was in bed. She was looking over me. I don't believe in God, but I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything ever could be. But it was also incredibly simple. In my only life, she was my mom, and I was her son.

Moms watch over their children a lot more than those children realize.

---

I really liked this book, but some people won't enjoy it as much. I found the author engaging key ideas, but some might think it heavy-handed in spots. Also, the dialogue is not always straight forward. I thought this passage might give a flavor for the writer's style. It is taken from near then end of the book where the protagonist, Oskar, is talking to another adult character in the book. Nine-year old Oskar starts by asking a question:

"You were disappointed?" "I was angry." "I'm sorry." "No. There's nothing to be sorry for. I thought about it. I thought about it all the time. My father told me where he'd left things, and what he wanted taken care of. He was responsible. He was good. It's easy to be emotional. You can always make a scene. Remember me eight months ago? That was easy." "It didn't sound easy." "It was simple. Highs and lows make you feel that things matter, but they're nothing." "So what's something?" "Being reliable is something. Being good."

Whatever you are currently reading, I hope that the book is tackling important questions and you feel something when you read.

A Gift from the Heart

Joshua walked up to Mary earlier today and asked if he could have a piece of paper.

Mary said, "Why do you want a piece of paper?"

"I want to draw a picture for you, Momma," Joshua replied. So Mary handed him a piece of paper and he said, "Thank you."

With his piece of paper in one hand, he went to the drawer and got out a pencil. He came back to Mary and said, "Mom, can you draw me a picture of a flower? I want a really, really big one, as big as the whole piece of paper."

Mary drew him a picture of a flower and handed back the paper and pencil. He returned the pencil to the drawer and then came back to Mary. He held out the flower drawing and said, "Look Mom, I drew a picture for you!"

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Mary and I went out to see the Red Sox tonight. It had been a while since we had gone downtown for a date, but we had a great time. The Sox are of to a slow start this year, but at least we got to see them finish off a sweep of the Angels. (Sorry about that Lisa and Marci.) The Sox were supposed to be a pitching and defense team this year. Tonight they won by a score of 11-6. So much for pitching and defense. But all of that does not matter because Mary and I got to go out and have a fun night together.

Feeling a Little Better

We have been bit by the injury and illness bug in our home. We usually don't get too sick, but lately we have not been able to shake it. It started with strep throat. Caleb got it, then I got, then Grace got and now Mary is getting over it. Strep is no fun and everyone has been out of it for a while. It has been a long time since Mary and I felt like that. On Monday, Mary told me that she was starting to feel better. She had moved from feeling like death to feeling terrible.

Lately, basketball has not been much kinder to me either. I usually try to play twice a week. In the last month or two, I have sprained my ankle, jammed my upper knuckle on the index finger of my right hand and tonight I dislocated my pinkie on my left hand. (Do you know how hard it is to jam the upper knuckle? I still am not sure how I managed to do that.) Hopefully, these things come in threes because I want to sit out less and play more.

Check it out....

One of my new favorite websites:

Power of Moms

Check it out sometime! I am going to be doing some editing for submissions. I love the thoughts shared by the women, ideas, motivation, and encouragement for moms. Now I need to go break up an argument, get a snack for my toddler, and take my son to soccer practice....

Sunday Thoughts

We often read scriptures together in the evenings. Grace and Caleb are good readers and they can read any of the verses. They do need help with a word here or there, but they do well. Joshua watches them and he wants to read the scriptures. We tell him that he can read the scriptures and then we try to help him read the next verse. That usually does not work out well for Joshua. He wants to be able to read by himself, like the older children. What does he read? Joshua's verse, usually has the following elements:

• And it came to pass
• I, Nephi
• remember
• A gospel phrase from whatever we have been talking about lately

(We have just finished 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon lately, which may give some context.)

Joshua has been learning the song "Follow the Prophet" in nursery. An example of something he could read as his verse would be, "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, had to remember that Jonah was swallowed by a whale." (He has never said that, but it does not sound that off from what he might say.)

It is funny to hear his interpretation of the scriptures.

---

Recently, our stake president asked us to discuss General Conference talks during family home evening meetings. Mary and I thought that was an excellent idea, but we were nervous since the attention span of our children does not usually last the 10-15 minutes of such a talk.

We decided to try it out last Monday. It went incredibly well. The kids really listened and we had a great discussion about perseverance. Obedience brings blessings. We hope that the lessons continue to have a rapt audience.

Harry and Us

In our house, we like Harry Potter. I have been reading the books to the children this year and they have really taken to them. Joshua will even listen once in a while. He definitely understands that it is a family activity, though he always wishes that it did not take so long to read a chapter. (He is usually ready for the next activity to begin before we finish a chapter.) We have had a few funny moments in our lives due to all of the Harry reading.

For example, today we went out to eat. Caleb was surprised at something as we were walking to the restaurant. The next thing I heard from him is "Merlin's beard."

On Sunday, Grace, Joshua, Rebecca and I were upstairs. Grace was goofing around and I said, "Grace, that's enough it is time for a tickle."

I picked her up and tried to get her on the bed. She said to me, "Stop that. You're Voldemort."

I looked at her and said, "No, I am not. I am Voldepoppa."

I put her on the bed and Joshua jumped over to help free Grace. We were all wrestling, so Rebecca decided to investigate. She grunted at me that she wanted to come up on the bed. I lifted her up and told Grace and Joshua that she was with me.

Grace said, "Yeah, then who is she?"

I said, "She is Voldesquirt."

After that we couldn't wrestle because we were all laughing.

Hard at Play

We love Fisher-Price Little People in our home. All of our children have loved to play with them. A few weeks ago, we took the Little People outside and played on the deck. Here are the pictures. My Grace is sure growing up fast. She went along with us and played with all of us. It is always fun when you can do something as a whole family. Here is Caleb being Caleb. He was kind enough to play with us instead of shooting baskets, which is his favorite activity recently. Joshua has always loved the panda bear he is holding. When he was a baby, he would always find the panda bear and the polar bear. The only issue now is that Rebecca also loves the panda bear. Joshua wants to make sure she does not get it and will resort to hiding it from her. Here is Rebecca holding an alligator. I guess that goes along with the last post.

Exploring the Outdoors

Rebecca loves going outside much more so than any of our other children at this stage. When we put the other children on the grass for the first time, they were upset or sat very still. This is not the case with Rebecca. Her are some pictures from her exploring on Sunday.

Doesn't she look proud that she crawled down all of these steps by herself. (And since when should she be able to climb downstairs now? Climb up, maybe, but down?) She started across the lawn to get this ball. She loves to play with any of the balls the children leave out. Here she is trying to get the ball again after Caleb moved it.

After she crossed the grass she went to the back of the swing set where the slide is located. She likes the slide. I love this picture. She has had those two front teeth. Usually, they are the only ones that you can see even though she has more. When she looks up at me like this, I like to call her the "Two Toothed Wonder."

---

We recently got this walking toy from some friends. It is adorable and has little alligators on it that move up and down with the wheels. Want to know the reason why I like it? When I see Rebecca sitting on the front of it, I think of the movie "Bedtime Stories." There is a scene where one character says that the kids are "riding up and down on the alligator." If I push Rebecca's walker while she is sitting there, that is exactly what she would be doing!

Children Watching

Lately, I have been watching Rebecca to try and understand her world. She is quickly picking up on the routines of our life. It is interesting to watch what she grasps. I am amazed at the details that she understands. Here are some examples:

• Sunday we were in the master bedroom. She found a pair of socks on the floor. She took both of the socks over to the hamper and put them in. I know she has seen us put clothes in the hamper, but it was funny that she choose to put them in the hamper for the whites instead of the one for the colors. I looked at her and told her she was a funny girl.
• Later, she was watching me change my socks. I took off my old one and it fell onto the floor near her. She saw that I was putting on new socks so she picked up the one that fell and tried to put it on. She could not do it, but she knew what I was doing with the sock and tried to do the same thing.
• Mary picked me up at work today. When Mary pulled up, Rebecca started to say, "Dada, dada, dada." No one said that we were at Dad's work, but I guess she recognizes the outside of the building or other contextual clues. She only started saying it once Mary pulled up.
• This evening, Mary had to tell Rebecca, "No." After a firm "no", Rebecca stopped what she was doing. She paused and then began to blow raspberries at Mary.

Now which of these events are actual responses to stimuli and which are coincidence? I don't know. But it is fun to see the world through her eyes as she explores all that is out there.

Children certainly grow up fast.

---

This was written while listening to "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. I think I like this song.

In with the New

Here are two pictures that Mary took of the new kitchen on Saturday night. In this picture, you can see the new counters and back splash for most of our kitchen space. This shows the new sink and faucet. We are really happy about how it looks. We had a difficult time picking out the tiles to match the counter and are excited that it all came together.

Want to know the real test of how things turned out? When I asked Mary how she felt about the new kitchen, she replied, "Giddy."

That is music to this husband's ears.

Out with the Old

Don't worry. Mary is not getting rid of me (yet). Today we got rid of our counter tops. The old counters look nice in this picture, but they are tile counter tops. They are impossible to clean and water can stay in the little cracks forever. We wanted a new counter top so we could stop fighting the tile. We hope we can show you the new counters tomorrow!

---

Because our counters are being redone, we had to eat out tonight. We got some Chinese food and the children loved it. Caleb got a great fortune cookie tonight. His fortune: "A great way to keep healthy is to eat more Chinese food." I guess the marketer got hold of the fortunes for that cookie company.

---

New England weather is something that never grows old. In the last week, we have had high temperatures in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 90s.

Ahh, the nice consistent weather of New England.