The Whistler

Lately Malia has been pursing her lips into a little round ‘o.’ She does it all the time. We don’t know why. But this morning as she was sitting in my lap I realized that she was whistling. Nathan whistles all the time. I whistle pretty frequently. And Kev whistles to. So maybe she has been imitating our lips in an attempt to whistle. Or maybe it’s just a random skill she has picked up without intending to. Either way, she has been doing it all day and looking mighty pleased about it!

“Celebration!”

Believe it or not, Matthew has reached the end of preschool. His last day of school is Friday and in two months he will be off to kindergarten. Tonight was Matthew’s special preschool program. They sang a few songs and recited some nursery rhymes. The amazing thing is that Matthew actually stood with the other kids and sang. As much as he likes to sing, he doesn’t care for an audience. So he usually just stands to the side looking grumpy or tries to hide behind the other kids and doesn’t sing at all. But tonight he did a great job! After the program Matthew shared his preschool book with us. They have spent the entire month of May creating their books and the fun part is that it includes pictures of all Matthew’s school friends. He is equal parts excited and anxious for kindergarten so I expect there will be some emotional ups and downs as we get closer to August. But ready or not, here it comes!

 Matthew sandwiched between Jack and Nathan, two of his school friends.

Muppet Mania!

For his birthday party this year, Nathan decided he wanted a Muppets theme. How fun is that?!  For dinner we had a variety of Muppet themed cuisine:

(I forgot to take a picture of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s Punch Potion.)

After dinner we ate Kermit cupcakes.

And then we watched “The Muppets” and nibbled on a snack.

I found a printable for some Muppets pencil toppers and modified them to make magnetic bookmarks for party favors.

I had so much fun planning this party that I’m hoping I have a chance to do another Muppet themed event!

My Garden Just Doesn’t Measure Up

Earlier this week, Matthew was terribly concerned that he had missed Mother’s Day. Apparently he made his present at preschool about two weeks early so it would be ready in time and on Monday he was afraid that he had missed the day and hadn’t given me my present. I assured him that he had not missed Mother’s Day and told him I was pretty sure Miss Lisa would send his gift home in time. So he was pleased as punch to present me with a beautiful stepping stone for my garden after preschool on Friday.

(As usual, Matthew declined the opportunity to be in a photo. But he took the pictures of his gifts all by himself, so I guess that will have to do.)

Nathan also gave me the gifts he had made on Friday because he was just too excited to wait. He planted a marigold in a decorated pot at scouts and made me a bouquet of coupons and wrote me a lovely letter at school. I don’t know how all the other moms in the world feel, but I love to know what I do that is important to my kids. Sometimes the things that seem the most mundane to me are the things that mean the most to them.

 On Sunday, Nathan came home from church with a stepping stone that he made in primary and Matthew brought home a lovely paper plate flower. I love macaroni art!

Daniel made me a poster at school.  We forgot to take a picture, but he was pleased to present it to me.  And Kev is going to help me make a quilting frame.

Now we just need to finish our work on the basement so we have someplace to put a quilting frame and I need to do some serious garden work so my beautiful stepping stones don’t get lost in a sea of weeds.

Why Have I Never Done This Before?!

Last night was opera night. But one of my nieces went to prom instead. And the rest of us were not terribly excited to go see a guy kill his best friend.  (The opera this time was “Of Mice and Men.” I really, really hated that book.) So we opted to eat dinner and get pedicures instead. The little girls were invited to come and we had a great time. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t discover how awesome pedicures are until now. I would have wanted to go get one on a regular basis. As it is, now that I have discovered the wonder that is the pedicure, I’ll have to occasionally work one into my budget.

I wore sandals today even though it was a bit chilly. :-)

No, I'm Not Kidding

This morning Matthew had a field trip to the dump. Yup. The local landfill. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. I mean, I remember going to the dump with my dad when I was a kid and it smelled like the diaper pail times about a million. And smells bother me. A lot. So I really didn't want to go. But Matthew was so excited about it that we couldn't skip it. And guess what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

We met in the office and learned about how they prepare the ground for the trash so the groundwater doesn't get contaminated. We learned about how they move and compact the trash. We learned about what can and cannot be recycled. And we learned that our landfill was supposed to last for thirty more years but at the rate we're going it is only going to last another sixteen. It seems that in Utah we only recycle about 15% of our trash while nationwide the rate is about 45%. We also learned that the reason we cannot put glass in our recycling bins is that the closest location for recycling glass is in Colorado. Because Utahns don't consume many alcoholic beverages, we don't actually use anywhere near as much glass as the rest of the country. And because we don't have glass in our recycling, Salt Lake is the only place in the country that can recycle plastic soda bottles into new plastic soda bottles because there is no chance of broken glass getting into the plastic.

After the educational part, we got on a shuttle bus and rode out to the actual landfill part so the kids could see all the big trucks at work. The bus was completely enclosed so we didn't even smell anything icky. We also got to see a brand new giant hole that is nearly ready for trash. The current hole is almost full. Our guide told us it is rare to get to see a new hole that doesn't actually have trash in it yet.

So, much to my surprise, it was actually a really interesting field trip. Our guide told us the kids usually talk about garbage for weeks after visiting. Matthew is already much more willing to run things out to the recycling bin for me, so we'll see how long his fascination with garbage lasts...

Big Sigh of Relief!

Nathan had his follow-up visit with the finger specialist this afternoon. Nathan was terribly excited to get his splint off and Kev and I were just hoping that everything had healed well. Luckily for Nathan (and us), everything seems to have healed just fine. His finger is no longer drooping. In fact, it is perfectly straight and he cannot bend it right now. The doctor says that is normal and that flexibility will come back with time. He also says that a finger that heals with less than a 10 degree bend in it is considered a success and Nathan's finger is actually nice and straight. This type of injury can recur and if that were to happen Nathan would go back into a splint for six more weeks. If it should be re-injured a third time, then the doctor would do surgery. But the doc thinks that Nathan won't have any trouble because he is so young and heals quickly. But in order to prevent problems while the finger continues to heal, Nathan will wear the splint when he sleeps and during rough play for another month. He has done a great job keeping his splint on and it seems he has reaped the benefits of that!

And as a random side note, the doctor told us mallet finger is a very common injury. He sees two or three patients a day with the same injury!

Baby Picasso

Malia is getting around.  Although she doesn't crawl yet, she rolls and scoots all over.  So we have been trying to get the boys to keep their stuff off the floor.  It has been an uphill battle because Matthew's idea of picking up is to take something from one location on the floor and drop it in another location on the floor.  And all three boys have a wicked case of domestic blindness so they honestly cannot see the junk scattered all over the place.  I'm trying my darndest to keep the floor free of potential baby hazards but it is pretty much 2 against 3: Kev and I vs. the boys.  Today Matthew left a Lightning McQueen pen on the floor after I told him to get it off the table so we could eat dinner.  Malia thought it was a very exciting find:

It's a good thing she's washable.