Epic Quotations

It is no secret that I have not given this blog much attention in the last year or so.  But I have been saving quotes from the kids on random scraps of paper and email messages to myself during that time.  I've tried to put them in order from most recent to older, but it's not an exact science.  I'm sure there are a few more random papers or files kickin' around somewhere, but this will have to do for now.  Enjoy! 

 Ben, Charlotte and Sam with some Jack-o-Lanterns

Oct 2013

Zach: Oh, do you think that's funny?  

Charlotte: Yes.

Zach: Okay, let's be a little bit funny.  

Charlotte: No, let's be a big, big funny!

Charlotte: Bye, Mommy!
Katie: Bye, Charlotte.  Be a good girl!
Charlotte: Be a good Mommy!

(While trying to get me to read two books or something)
Katie: Wait, are we reading this one or this one?
Charlotte: No.
Katie: I don't understand.
Charlotte: Think, Mommy!

Sept 2013
Katie: (to Zach) Hey! You didn't kiss me.
Charlotte: Daddy!  Come and kiss Mommy!
Zach: Okay, bossy cow.
Charlotte: I not a bossy cow.  I a daughter!

Charlotte: (to Zach) You so big!  You as big as a house!

(playing Star Wars)
Sam: No, that asteroid field is too treacherous.
Ben:  It's an asteroid field.  They are treacherous.  Being treacherous is their game!

Katie: Come on, Charlotte.  Let's go inside.
Charlotte: (leaning over an ant hill) No, I'm gonna stay here with the ants.  I love them.  I love this one and this one and this one.  And I love this one and this one and this one and this one...

Sam: Do you love yogurt?
Charlotte: Yes!
Sam:  And I love you!
Charlotte: No!
Sam:  I don't mean the eating kind of love.

Sam: I haven't played it in years and probably weeks.

Sam: Hey Mom! If you kick the wall right there the radiation makes this thing fall.

Ben: (to Charlotte) You smell like you usually do.
Katie: What does she usually smell like?
Ben: Baby-ish!

Katie: Come on boys, clean up your room.  I'm not asking you to move mountains.
Sam: I wish you were, then we wouldn't have to do it.

Dec '12
Ben: (Pretending to be Frodo): Gandalf! Where have you been all this time? (Responding as Gandalf) Oh, ya know, just chillaxing in this bottomless pit.

Sam: The song says the best part of Christmas is the present you give away, but that's crazy!  Who thinks that?
Katie : What is the best part of Christmas?
Sam: The present you get.

Sam: (While I was figuring out how to play Yatzee) Mom, did you look up how to play Nazi?

Oct '12
(after rattling something around in a box)
Sam: Mom, do you think there is nothing in this box?
Katie: Um... it sounds like there is something.
Sam: Well, that was just a trick of the ear.

Ben: Water is his worst fear.  That and pickaxes.

July '12
Ben: (Holding a wet towel in the bath) It's a towel fish.  I know it's a funny name, but it's not a funny fish.  If you saw one in the ocean you would want to run away.

The whole fam on a hike up to Stewart Falls earlier this month

Settling

Boxes are unpacked and removed.  Everyone's school has started.  Sleep schedules are slowly getting worked out.  Pictures are getting hung.  Cupboards are being filled.  Toys are being scattered about with reckless abandon.  So, we're slowly making this house a home.  I'll try and get the details sorted on our crazy-awesome summer and put them up, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Ketchup

So, I haven't really felt like blogging the last couple of months.  We've been up to things and having fun, I just haven't really felt like chronicling it much.  But, now it seems like I should probably just buckle down and play catch-up.      

Zach: After five long years of working towards a doctorate, Zach is finally about to become a for reallsy Ph D.  Very, very exciting.  Of course, after a year or so of serious thoughts and prayers, we've decided to go to law school at BYU.  It's scary and exciting and crazy, but we're doing it anyway.  We say goodbye to California in two weeks.  

Katie: Since we've known since January that we were going to be leaving, I've been going a little crazy going through our stuff and trimming the fat, so to speak.  On Saturday we had a yard sale where I sold the contents of 9 trash bags filled with stuff we don't really need.  I'm trying to simplify the house as much as I can before we move, partially to make the process easier, but mostly just to make our lives easier.  I've got a lot of things packed up already and have a good start, but with two weeks to go, I'm going a little bit crazy.

Ben and Sam:  Have been having great fun as usual.  They did a great job in their Spanish immersion preschool which ended last month and will now proudly answer "Si!" to most of Zach's Spanish-spoken inquiries.  They are starting school next year and I'm pretty terrified of that, but they seem pretty cool with it, though they say they don't want to leave Charlotte for that long.  Oh, and they had their two bottom teeth pulled by the dentist the other day!  Take a look for yourself.  

Ben

Sam

Charlotte: The sweetest, cutest, most loved little girl probably ever.  She's keeping herself busy being ridiculously happy one minute and terribly upset the next.  She is walking and even running around all over the place.  She is very independent and will wander all over the playground by herself if I let her.  She's starting to say little words like Mom, Da (Dad), bir (bird), and that's all I can think of right now.  But what she really does to communicate is scream and sing.  She's learned the Star Wars theme, Harry Potter theme, Jingle Bells, an a few others.  She'll just go around singing to herself.  Ridiculously cute.   

Things we've done in the last few months

• Neighborhood Carnival
• Visit from Zach's family
• Trip up to San Fransisco
• Charlotte's Birthday
• Katie's Birthday
• Garden walks
• Yard Sale
• Lots of playing around and good times

And that's the update for now.  Hopefully I'll feel like updating on a more regular basis.  We'll see.  

Boy Talk

Sorry for the long hiatus. Here are some quotes from my almost six-year-olds to make up for it.

Sam: Charlotte has a vin in the vargant!
Katie: A vin in the vargant?
Sam: Uh-huh!
Katie: What does that mean?
Sam: I don't know. Mom, sometimes when you say something you don't know what it means.

(looking at a picture of a lady doing a crazy yoga position)
Katie: Wow! That's crazy!
Sam: No, that's awesome.

(When Sam was sharing bubble gum with Ben)
Ben: What?!? Pink?!?
Sam: Ya, that's the only color they come in. Just chew it and it tastes yummy. But after a while they don't taste yummy.

(While building with legos)
Ben: Mom, I'm gonna build something that blows your mind!

(While at the store)
Sam: Can we get that?
Me: Huh?
Sam: Can we get that?
Me: Umm... well...
Sam: Oh, Mom, another thing... Can we get that?

Zach: Uh-oh, someone left a bunch of candy on the floor. I'm gonna eat it. Munch, munch, munch!
Sam: Ah! Ben, go and save my candy!
Ben: No way. Go and save your own candy.

(While drawing)
Zach: How Should the zombie's mouth be?
Sam: It's open all the time, cause they say, "aaaaaahhh..."
Ben: Ya, zombies say "ahhh" all the time.

(After Zach said he was leaving to have fun at school)
Sam: Umm... Dad, you're a grown up now, and you're married. You don't have any school now. Well, no school where you have fun.

(About a little boy Sam was playing with at the playground)
Katie: How old was he?
Sam: Well, he was pretty little. He didn't speak human yet.

Sam: Mom, you'd better pull your pants up.
Katie: Why? Can you see my bum?
Sam: No, I can see half your underwear.

(About Charlotte)
Sam: She's like the best sister I ever had!

Charlotte's First Birthday

12 Months

 

- Charlotte weighs about 22 lbs.
- She is walking around like a crazy woman
- She has gotten very good at drinking out of a cup
- She has learned how to nod and answers yes to just about any question you ask her
- She has started taking bathes in the tub and loves splashing around in there
- She loves to bring us books to read to her

a maker of lists

So, the boys are five and a half now. It's ridiculous. And it occurred to me the other day, that they are definitely not babies or toddlers anymore. Next year they are going to be in school. At preschool their teacher has them self-evaluate their work. They put a sticker next to the best letter they've drawn, so they can look at the others and see their mistakes for themselves.

So, I've been using the same basic principle with the boys and cleaning up their room. Usually I say, "go clean up their room" and they wander up there and start playing and then ask me to come help and keep playing and I start getting upset and telling them I am not their maid and so forth and so on. It's a pretty slippery slope. So, a couple of weeks ago I wrote them a list with pictures of what they were supposed to do. I gave them the list with a set of boxes for them to check off and a set for me to check off. It looked something like this:



Except I think the first one was in Crayola marker. Anyway, they did it. They went down the list and checked everything off. It was amazing. Then I came in and checked off the list, noting a stray sock or book they missed that was taken care of before I checked it of.

We've done this several times since then, and it has always resulted in a clean room. Sometimes they play for a while first. Sometimes they get right to it, but it gets done. And I don't scream. They've taken to drawing a reward for their work that they would like (usually Wii time) and I'm fine with that. I'm keeping the lists pretty simple for now, but I think I'll slowly start adding things like vacuuming or dusting. Anyway, I just thought I would share this small victory. Because it is exciting for me.

Oh and here is a picture Sam took of me and Charlotte. I really need to sit up straight.