Potpourri

Today we will not be talking about that nasty smelling pine cone mess most people automatically think of when the word potpourri pops up. Instead, this post is just a mixture of pics and words that (I hope) go pleasingly together and is easier to stomach. Those pine cones can sure do a number on you. Just kidding.
Up top we have Benjamin. What a great mess to go with that great smile. My dad had gotten into the habit over the summer to give Ben an ice cream sandwich of his very own every night after dinner. He never had any stomach issues, and is actually still in the 35th percentile weight wise. Dad got some more the other night and yes, Ben still likes them. Now we just have to teach Mr. Independent how to clean all of himself, not just his mouth.

Hmmm, do you think the kids are still happy they have a dog? They have both done a great job keeping her food and water dish full and playing with her inside and out.

(This is supposed to be in National Geographic style. Imagine some English guy narrating.)

Here we see the Baby Bird Benjamin in his natural habitat. Aware that there is an adult with food nearby, he proceeds to initiate the "I want some of that too" dance, with its very unique stomping while running steps. This is followed by the vocalization "Num Num", as he approaches the adult with a wide open mouth ready to accept any offering.

This was Nadia's Halloween costume. She was very excited about being a cheerleader until the day before the school parade and class party. And then she became a first class worrywart. "Where will I change? I'm not wearing that costume ALL DAY. What if Mr Hughes (the principal) doesn't know Miss Johnson (the teacher) said it was okay to change in the bathroom and we get in trouble? What if Miss Johnson gets in trouble? What if there's another cheerleader there? What if I'm the only cheerleader? What if nobody likes my costume?" Now some of the questions were a little silly, but I do worry about Nadia and her self esteem. Especially since she's already a girl who sticks out in class with size and smarts. So I didn't roll my eyes and calmly went through the fears and told her it would all be okay. That smile in the picture tells me it was. P.S. She was a great BYU cheerleader. Ask her sometime to say, "GO COUGARS"! P.P.S. What was I thinking trying to make a cheerleader costume?! Why don't they make them in the big girl sizes?! UGH!!!

And Baby Makes Three

This is the final in our three part series, in which we let Benjamin shine. He is a great little boy who is not going to be my baby for much longer. He loves to play with the dog and she is very patient towards him and the other two. He also loves to throw her the ball. She will stay put while we count, "One, two, three, throw!" and then he'll throw and she'll catch.

Benjamin is also becoming very independent. Look at him with that spoon! Too bad you can't hear the "MMMM's" that come with eating strawberry yogurt. He also has a great baby bird impression when you're eating something. He comes right up to you, says "Num num" and opens his mouth and waits for you to feed him. It's pretty cute.

Benjamin loves this truck. It is just the right size to sit in the back and be pushed around, or if you lift up the back Benjamin will drive it around the house himself. He comes up to me with the truck, and slaps the back while talking Klingon to tell me to lift it so he can drive. He has got a great smile and giggle, too. I wish he'd hold still long enough to show you, but he also loves to lay down on the couch or Brandon's bed and will read. Sometimes he'll pull you over and have you help, and sometimes he wants to do it all by himself. I'm glad we have him. He's a fun boy.

This One's For The Boy

This post is all about Brandon. I felt that since Nadia had her little moment in the spotlight, the boys should be included too. Benjamin's post will come soon. Brandon goes to a really neat preshool. They teach all the regular things like shapes and letters, but they always have a craft ot other fun thing that corresponds to the letter of the week that they're focusing on. This is from "C is for Camouflage" day. Brandon wore it all day and almost didn't eat his dinner for fear that he would ruin his paint job. He finally let me get the paint from off his lips and a little around his mouth so he could actually put the fork and some food in there. Brandon really likes to take care of his toys and other "cool things".

This is a picture of two good buddies. My dad and mom are staying with us while they try to sell their house in Cache Valley. So the kids get to see them all the time. Brandon loves to jump in their laps and cuddle with them. He also likes to try to negotiate the going rate of gummi worms for finishing dinner or chores. He usually succeeds.

Brandon gets really super tired right after we say family prayer. So tired that he can't even make it across the room without falling down and falling asleep on the floor. Then Daddy has to carry him to bed where he miraculously wakes up again and asks for a story from grandma.

I know I've already posted this one, but couldn't help myself. The next day at lunch, which is when I said we could finish eating cupcakes, I asked Brandon if he would like to eat his masterpiece. "No." So I asked why. It was because there were too many candies and they would make the cupcake taste gross. After a big cleansing breath, I was calm and said it was okay to take off the candies and just eat the cupcake plain. Don't worry too much about those poor little candies, I did my motherly duty and ate them. Because I love my son. And candy.

Happy Helpers

This blog post will be just a little different. To explain a little, Nadia and Brandon are wonderful helpers. Unless it's something really important like giving mommy another diaper wipe because I had no idea Benjamin's diaper would be so bad. Anyway, they decided it would be fun to help mommy take pictures for her blog. Brandon took the first three. I have no idea what the top picture is, and neither does he, but he is VERY proud of it.

I think this one is a picture of one of the crafts he made at preschool. Too bad they don't teach photography along with phonics and reading there.

I actually like this one. I could almost see it in an art gallery. "See the way he's captured the soul of the wood. The lines and lighting are exquisite." This is a picture of Brandon's headboard.

Now it's Nadia's turn. She has decided to start off with a picture of the dog treats.

This is our fan. We use it when it's summer. (Nadia's description)

Yes, we have a phone in our house, too. And now my helpful children have helped me make a new blog post. I actually think it's kinda cute that they went around taking pics to show on here.

Miss Nadia and the Ruby Red Shoes

These are Nadia's new shoes. Ta Da. She picked them out by herself when we went to Shoe Carnival. They are constantly on her feet, unless she's in school, the tub, or bed. I am waiting for the morning when she decides to wear them to school. Oh, it will happen. She is too much like me to not try it. She will be sneaky and not tell me that she's wearing them, so I will never notice. Because how on earth can I be that attuned to know she's wearing shiny red 2 inch heels, when we live in a house with a tile floor? And then she will be amazed once again with the powers of motherhood when I tell her I know what she's wearing and to take them off and put on her school shoes.

Look at those things. Claret red faux patent leather top (with a hint of elastic), mock croc open toe bottom. Yes, they are a more "mature" shoe. Nadia measured at a 5. These came from the women's section. That's all I can think of when I try to convince myself it's okay to let a 7 year old have a two inch heel. They just don't make dress-up shoes in a size 5.

Yes, I've heard all the jokes, too. She could dress up as Dorothy next Halloween and click her heels while saying, "There's no place like Nordy's!" (Nordstrom's) Or how great she'll do in a few years in the beauty pageant circuit since we started her high heel training now.

Oh, and on a side note...
You totally thought I was joking about feeling guilty about having a post with no pictures, didn't you? I will have you know that all day I was thinking of what pics to use and how many I could cram into one post to make up for this greatest of blogging sins. So if the apple crisp at school doesn't taste right tomorrow, you'll know why.

The Pumpkin Farm

A few days before Halloween, we went to the "Pumpkin Farm" to find just the right pumpkin to make a jackolantern. We had a good time, except for Benjamin.

NOW Benjamin is happy. He's such a daddy's boy. When he's not a mama's boy.

The kids loved this mini corn maze. They would run through, go around the barn, and then come back in the maze and run through again.

Benjamin tried to help us find a pumpkin while the other two ran. He tried to be helpful and picked a few out, but they were not that great. We ended up finding one at Walmart.

The Three and 1/2 Confessions of Sarah Sharp

I've been really bad with blogging lately, but you see, some of the things that've happened this last week just don't come with pictures. There's probably a fine or maybe even the possibility of taking away my blog, but this post I have no pics. I still really wanted to blog, though, because deep down somewhere I think people might actually read this anyway. Here's our pictureless week. By the way, this is the first confession. I feel guilty about no pics.

Our new dog Jewel is a Houdini. She has figured out how to open the sliding glass door when it isn't locked and lets herself and my mom's dog Sampson back into the house. I would love to show you how she does it, but we have yet to catch her in the act. She's done it twice-once on Saturday while Nadia and I were shoe shopping, and then yesterday during church. Either that or else we have a weirdo burglar who never steals anything and wants us to have a high heating bill. I prefer the first theory. Less creepy. Now we just need to see if Jewel can learn how to drive Nadia to school in the morning so I can sleep in... I am only half joking about the dog driving Nadia to school. I have never been a morning person. So this is the half confession.

Nadia and I went shoe shopping on Saturday. She and I have been butting heads a lot lately, and Cliff and I thought maybe some mommy daughter time would snap her out of it. Okay, Cliff thought that. My idea was never let her out of her room until she's thirty and has outgrown the diva attitude. Nadia is just like me, so we really know how to push each other's buttons, but we also share a shoe fetish almost bordering on idolatry. We went to Shoe Carnival, and I told Nadia that we were going to find some FUN shoes for her. We could take as long as we wanted and she could choose whatever she wanted. Sounds like a great girl day, right? Well, it went South pretty quickly. She decided she wanted shiny black high heels, and I was okay with it. She tried on several pairs of shiny black flats and heels that would have been great Sunday shoes and found the pair she wanted. I thought great, we've bonded over shoes, had a good time, now it's Mommy's turn to have some fun. Hey, they were having buy one get one 1/2 off, so we HAD to get another pair anyway. I know you understand. Anyway. We find a pair she really likes, and then she says to me, "These will be great on the playground!" Woah. Where did she get the idea shiny fun shoes are for school? I know I am Mrs. Anal Mom USA but I tried to explain to her that these are not good school shoes, because they have a heel and NO TRACTION, and she starts whining and throwing a fit. I also hear Cliff's voice telling me how fun this is going to be, the two girls who love shoes going shoe shopping, and let me tell you it's a good thing he wasn't there or else paramedics would have been called. I don't know how I did it, but we somehow got it worked out what fun shoes were and what school shoes were, and she could have whatever she wanted as long as they were used for that purpose. A little over an hour later, we were done at the store. What shoes did Nadia get? What shoes did Sarah get? Hey, this is a confession, not a shoe show. Maybe next time. Third confession. I have been lax in giving my daughter her shoe education.

This is the last confession and the most damaging. I am addicted to Facebook. Not the actual finding friends and keeping in contact with people, but those stupid, time consuming Facebook games. I play Mob Wars, Knighthood, and have a virtual pet. Totally useless games that steal away my time and keep me from doing real things like cleaning the toilet or reading a good book. Okay, so we all know I really wouldn't clean the toilet anyway if I had the extra time. I hate cleaning the bathroom. But I also hate how on my way home from work I start thinking, "Oh no! I forgot to clean my chicken (my virtual pet) this morning! He's going to be FILTHY!"

There you have it.