Green-ish Thumb

In the spring, Nathan and I planted seeds. We planted carrots and an assortment of flowers in various places around the house. And then like all good gardeners do, we waited. And we waited. And then we waited some more. After awhile, it became apparent to me that nothing was going to grow. And I felt terrible every time Nathan asked when the lupines would grow or where the carrots were. So we had the talk about how sometimes things just don't grow. And I'll admit that I didn't overemphasize the fact that I'm a pro at killing plants. (The only houseplant I've ever managed to keep alive was named Rambo for good reason.) I promised him we could try again next year and then he quit asking which made me feel even worse.

But we have had a wonderful surprise. We found one of our dwarf sunflowers growing in the backyard! The stalk that has been growing all summer, but it never occurred to me that it could be a sunflower because we planted the sunflowers in the front yard. But when it bloomed, it became obvious that it was indeed one of our poor little seeds from the spring. Daniel and I think that perhaps birds ate most of the sunflower seeds, but dropped several in the backyard. Nathan doesn't care how it happened, but is absolutely thrilled that one if his plants grew. His response was, "Woohoo!!! Sunflowers are growing! Sunflowers are growing!"

Techno Baby

We are all a bunch of techno-geeks around here. Kev does computer stuff all day at work and then comes home and does more computer stuff for fun. Daniel and Nathan are very proficient at the computer and look forward to getting their occasional computer time. And I do so many things on the computer that I find myself feeling hampered if I can't use it. So it should come as no surprise that Matthew is following in all of our footsteps. He is so determined to do computer stuff that I can't let him sit on my lap at the computer anymore. He just tries to grab the mouse and push buttons on the keyboard, which of course makes a tremendous mess out of whatever I'm working on. Since we had the same problem with Daniel and Nathan, over the years Kev has cleaned up and cut the cords off of an assortment of out of commission computer components so the boys could play computer to their hearts' content.

Yesterday morning I dropped Matthew off at a friend's house to be babysat. After giving the mandatory babysitting lesson (Intro to Babysitting My Kid: How to Use An Epipen), I was showing her the smorgasbord of Matthew friendly foods we keep in the diaper bag. I mentioned that he has a sippy cup as well, then happened to glance down at the pocket where the cup should have been. And discovered that Matthew had swapped out the cup for a computer mouse.

Obviously his technology is more important than food.

OCD Just Like Me

This morning Matthew had the cereal smorgasbord for breakfast. But when I dumped the second type of cereal on top of the first, he freaked out and started separating the two. After that, I was smart enough to ask him where he wanted it. End result? Five very neat little piles of cereal, nothing touching. But considering that as a child my spaghetti couldn't touch the sauce (I would dip each noodle in separately) and I still have issues when the wrong types of food touch on my plate, I suppose it was inevitable.

In addition to the latest manifestation of his inheritance, it drives him crazy when things that should be closed are left open. He can't stand to have his teeth brushed if the medicine cabinet is open. If I leave the front door open, he closes is immediately. When I leave the washing machine open so it won't smell musty inside, his OCD radar leads him right to it. And loading the dishwasher is a trial because he closes it every time I turn to pick up a new dish from the sink. But I can't really get upset with him because after all, he did get this particular quirk from me.

Poor kid never even had a chance of being normal.

How To Keep One's Self Entertained On A Summer Morning Using Only Several Sheets Of Paper, A Couple Of Sticks, And A Roll Of Tape

When I asked Nathan what it was, he told me
it was directions on how to find the little Lego.

I have no idea what the sticks are for.

Choo, Choo!

There is a guy in Farmington who has an entire (big) yard full of small sized trains to ride. he charges a reasonable fee and has lots of other trains to see. We have been there numerous times in the past and tried to go again on Saturday. Unfortunately, when we got there they were closed (contrary to what was posted on their website). So we went to the train museum in Ogden instead. The boys had a grand old time.

Daniel, The Man

On the way to church this morning, Daniel informed us all that he can't wait until December. If you're like me, the first thought you'll have is Christmas. What kid doesn't spend the entire year counting down to Christmas? But I should know that Daniel is not just any kid. He explained that he is looking forward to December because it is his birthday and he will get baptized. What a great kid!

During all of our ramblings yesterday, there was an entertaining exchange between Daniel and Nathan. We were driving past the mouth of Ogden canyon and Nathan said, "Look! It's the great Grand Canyon!" It looked like a gravel pit. Daniel was quick to inform him that it wasn't the Grand Canyon, and then there was a segue to the topic of the Bingham Copper Mine. Which of course led to the fact that you can see the copper mine from space. Then Daniel informed us that he wants to be an astronaut for two reasons. His first reason for wanting to ramble into space is that "It's gotta be fun to play ball up there." And the second reason is "to see the big hole," meaning the copper mine. Kev and I were in the front seat of the car, snorting softly to ourselves.

Without children, we wouldn't laugh nearly as much as we do.

The Nathanator

Nathan got his glasses today. They came relatively fast (only 5 days-they estimated 7 to 10), but it still seemed like forever to him. He was so excited that he was jumping up and down and hollering, "My glasses came! My glasses came!" I'm sure the excitement will wear off, but for now it will definitely be an aid in the transition period.


After last week's Evacuation Episode (and during the Crayon Crisis), Nathan drew a picture of the evacuation. In the top left corner is the scoop portion of the digger. The green is the natural gas line and the little black part just under the teeth of the digger is the natural gas leaking out. In the center of the top is one of the workers. On the far right side of the page is our house (with a purple roof) and our car driving away. I'm not sure why our car is blue, but it is. At the bottom of the page is a scared face to show how he felt. The letters kind of superimposed over the top of the picture are actually the date: Aug. 7, 2008. I think he did a pretty darn good job recording the event, especially considering that he doesn't really know how to write yet.

Woo Hoo!

Today Daniel learned how to ride his bike without the training wheels. Kev took him down to the grassy area at the end of the street and several hours later, they returned triumphant. Kev told me that as Daniel finally figured it out, his verbal mantra went something like this: "I can do this? I can do this? I can do this!!"

Daniel is very proud.