random bits o' fun

Cookies & Cousins

With Bracan & Rachel in a mad rush to move out of their house, Lucy and Alice spent several hours at our house. She & Benjamin have a love-hate relationship, but cookie time helped them sit next to each other without *too* many issues.

Fancy Dancin' Alice

The girls were headed to ballet that afternoon, so Alice did some sweet dance moves for us.

Playtime at Seattle Hill Elementary

Another day of moving, another day of playing for the kiddos. A potty break cut the playtime short a bit, but I think they had a good time using up some pent-up energy!

Self-Portrait: Blur

Still trying to figure out how to use our Rebel Xsi. Thought this picture was kind of fun, even though it's nicely blurred. At least it helped cover up the fact that I wasn't wearing any make-up that morning!

This Kid Sort-a Likes to High-Five

He would do this 24/7 if his hands didn't start to hurt after a while. Suffice to say, this little activity is easily one of his favorite past-times these days.

Aye, Aye - Captain!

I'm not certain why, but Benjamin is totally obsessed with this little pirate captain figure. It's common to find him wandering around saying, "Where's Captain? Where's Captain? Where's Captain?", until we drop what we are doing and lead the recovery effort.

Loving the Linear Life

(with special guest, The Captain)

Another obsession, as of late? Lining things up. He's been doing it with all of our water bottles for a while, but now it's pretty much anything: newspaper, VHS tapes, books, sheet music, boxed pantry goods. While making dinner last night, I didn't notice his latest line of stuff and tripped over an army of Betty Crocker cake boxes and Jiffy cornbread mixes.

Cute Things Come in Small Packages

I bought these Popsicle-brand pops because they noted they were specially made for kid-size mouths. When I opened this first pop, I nearly exploded with cuteness glee. Maybe it's just me, but mini-anything is off-the-charts adorable.

Think I Hear Black Diamond Calling...

This kid LOVES to climb. And he is pretty good at it too. Combined with his problem-solving skills, this kid is unstoppable. I watched, in equal parts amazement and horror, as he teetered on the edge of the chair, barely able to finger the edge of his ultimate prize, the Fascinating Telephone. But even more amazing, he adeptly eased his center-of-gravity lower and shimmied back onto the chair and then onto the floor. No worries, I was standing close-by, just in case he fell - but he never even wobbles.

Book of Mormon Stories, kiddo version

This week's FHE lesson was spent in Benjamin's "My First Book of Mormon Stories". He loves books and was particularly transfixed by Alma & the Angel. Strangely, he was also very intrigued by King Benjamin. These three names were repeated throughout the evening, and so we would crack the book again so that he could point to them.

Toothbrush Love

Yep, that is Ariel; there is no need to rub your eyes or adjust those reading glasses. My brother's wife, Rachel, told us electric toothbrushes solved their kids's issues with this hygiene hatred. I took her up on the advice, rushing to the store as soon as we got home from our reunion. Thanks to her great advice, we are the proud parents of a tooth-brushing fanatic. The only problem is that I'm cheap. I wanted to use an awesome coupon I had for an electric toothbrush, which meant I had to stick with the brand on the coupon, Oral-B. Albertson's had a wide selection of Oral-B electric kids toothbrushes; they had the whole line of Disney Princesses! Needless to say, Dave was thrilled when I showed up with Princess Ariel. BUT, Benjamin now actually enjoys brushing his own teeth, so we just go with it.