Reduce, Reuse, Replay?

I walked around the backyard the other day trying to locate Dallin and Adam.  I couldn't see them anywhere.  I began to hear their muffled voices and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw the lid to the recycle bin move.  I had discovered them, yes, inside a trash bin.

Among other things, they were tearing out pictures of toys from advertising mailers and collecting them in a large can.  Robots, remote-control cars, stuffed animals, action figures.  They played with these things for two days, like paper dolls for boys.

This is Adam's expression when I told him that he must get out of the recycle bin and that no, he wasn't allowed to play there in the future.

So in the interest of saving the planet don't buy your children toys to play with, simply let them play in the rubbish.  You'll be amazed at how much fun they'll have.

Rain on a Sun-day?

Adam said to me a few weeks ago, "I'm wearing shorts today because it's Sunday, and it's always sunny on Sunday."
This morning as the kids gathered for breakfast, the air was chilly and the skies were grey and threatening rain.  Adam came downstairs in shorts, and I sent him back upstairs to change into something warmer.  Dallin remarked, "Today is, like, the first Sunday that hasn't been sunny."

My Love

I'm in love with this man.

And I count myself one lucky woman because he loves me back.

Grill Masters

Caleb has been working toward his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts and one of the things he did was plan and help  prepare an outdoor meal.  He is growing so fast and learning so much and I love to see him working with and learning from his dad.

 Even if it is just grilling chicken for dinner.

A Flying Leap

One afternoon last week I walked into Adam's bedroom while I was talking on the phone.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Adam leap from the top of his six-foot loft bed, clear the two feet of air between beds and slam with a bounce, whooping with laughter, on the mattress in Brandt's crib.

We had a little talk about safety, appropriate behavior, and the backyard trampoline.

That night I went to cover a sleeping Brandt with a blanket before I headed off to bed and I noticed that the board that supports the mattress, which seemed fine when I put him to bed, was tilted and gravity had rolled Brandt headfirst into the lowest corner of the mattress.  I pulled him out of bed so Mitch could straighten the board, which, at his touch fell straight through to the ground.  I'm glad we spared Brandt the rude awakening.