Thursday was exciting

Andrew rode his scooter to school on Thursday morning and posted this message on Facebook when he got to school:

So, I was riding my scooter to school this morning when some sort of bug crashed into my neck. It didn't make a mess, so I didn't worry about it.

After I sat down at my desk, I started to hear a buzzing, like there was a fly around my head or something. I kept looking around, but couldn't find anything. Meh. Stupid flies. I kept working.

10 minutes later, the buzzing hasn't stopped. Then I feel something crawling in my shirt. I panic, run to the bathroom as steadily as possible, and discover that there was a bee in my shirt. AN ACTUAL BEE WITH A STINGER. A stinger that it fortunately decided not to use (I don't know why it showed such restraint).

So now there's an angry bee flying around the men's bathroom. Sorry everyone!

An interview with Grandma

I often think about family history around General Conference, probably because the family newsletter I make up is due to be sent out the first weekend in April and October, which happens to be when conference occurs. I imagine this was by design rather than by accident, though the design was not mine. I merely inherited the system from my Auntie Colleen when I took over for her in October 2011 (she begged someone to take over for her in a message with the last issue she sent out saying, "I've done it for quite a few years now and am getting old and cranky! Haha.").

It's funny to think that I've been doing it for "so long" already. Because two-and-a-half years is long...compared to however long my aunt did it for. I rather enjoy it even if it is a headache.

Anyway, with every issue I include an article about an ancestor (as well as the news everyone sends in) so every six months, at least, I'm reminded of my family history.

In conference yesterday I enjoyed hearing Elder William R. Walker's talk about family history. He said, "the more connected we feel to our righteous forefathers, the more likely we are to make wise and righteous choices." I totally agree with that statement (it made me think of this article from The New York Times); it is so important to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," as it says in Malachi 4:6.

Miriam "helping" Grandma with some needlepoint while watching conference

Since we have Grandma staying with us we decided to do a repeat of the FHE lesson we did with Naanii—we interviewed Grandma and played Don't Eat Pete. Having the girls ask whatever question pops into their head might not be the best format for an interview but it works for our purposes.

It is wet and the sun is not sunny

Instead of staining the deck or going to soccer practice today we did rainy-day stuff. It was really coming down for a while and the kids wanted to go outside to splash in the puddles. All three of them were out there for about thirty seconds before Miriam got water inside her boots so retreated back into the house to hang out with Grandma.

Tadpoles: Day 22 (or something like that)

Yesterday Rachel remarked on how much algae the tadpoles had eaten, and indeed they seemed to have basically cleared out their tank. So it seems they finally hit the algae-eating stage. Rachel and I went on a walk to collect some more algae for them to eat.

It seems like they've nearly doubled in size once again. Their tails seem to be about 1 cm long and are plumping up nicely. They're getting rather difficult to measure since they no longer cling to the side of the tank vertically. Instead they swim around hunting algae and hiding under leaves. I had to measure this one by holding the ruler above the surface of the water—it seemed to be eating some algae-like substance that's growing on the side of the tank.

The museum and the weekend

Grandma arrived on Wednesday evening. We spent Thursday doing projects (we had a friend install a new stove, installed a couple of new light fixtures, and replaced an outlet). On Friday we were ready for some fun and took the kids to the Museum of Life and Science for the afternoon.

We went outside because it was a super busy day and outside usually feels less crowded. Besides, the weather is perfect right now. We hit the dinosaur trail first. Benjamin was so ready for a nap but got out of his stroller to walk, anyway.

Thoughtful

Just another quick story before I jump back into the swing of things (because I finally finished that newsletter but I can't blog now because I'm tired and want to go to bed):

The kids took a bath together this evening and then Rachel cut her toenails because they were disgustingly long and now that it's barefoot/sandal weather they've been getting encrusted with dirt. She came out of the bathroom and showed me her feet.

"I cut part of my skin," she said, showing me where.

"It's fine," I said. "There's no blood."

Benjamin, however, did not think it was fine. He ran off to the bathroom as quickly as he could. I jumped up to follow him. He was on his way back out of the bathroom, carrying a box of bandaids, when I intercepted him.

He was quite upset when I took the box away from him. It took both me and Rachel together to calm him down and assure him that no bandaid was necessary.

He's such a sweet little man.

Grandma's here!

Rest assured that we're having a blast with Grandma here. We've been busy playing (we went to the Museum of Life Science today) and working (we've replaced a light fixture (took us forever) and have been sanding the deck) and in my spare time I've been feverishly working on the Hancock Hummer (a family newsletter for my great-grandparents (who had twelve children who've all done their part to continue the family line—there are many, many cousins so our little publication can be rather lengthy)).

Once I finish that up (hopefully tomorrow) I'll have some time to get some post up about what's going on here because life never seems to slow down!

Potty mouth

I forgot to write yesterday that Benjamin said a four-word sentence—his biggest one to date. He still only says half-words but he said four half-words in a row!

I asked him if he wanted another push on the swing and he said, "No—wan' ge' dow'!"

So I got him down.

Our biggest hurdle to communication (besides his unwillingness to vocalize almost anything) is that when asked a question he will answer by shaking his head no and saying "Uh-uh," a good chunk of the time. 50% of the time this means no. 50% of the time this means yes. It's terrible.

Just this morning he was sitting at the table looking like he was...working hard...so I asked him if he needed to go potty.

"Uh-uh," he said, shaking his head.

"Alright," I said. "You let me know if you need to go potty."

He refuses to say the word potty and his potty sign is so fleeting, so nonchalant—he thinks I can pick up on a gentle flick of the wrist while his hand's curled into a fist...on his way to grab a car or punch his sister. I can never tell if he's signing potty or not. He's just not obvious about it.

"Pah-pah" was one of the first words either of the girls picked up on and they both used the sign beautifully.

Benjamin refuses to use actual potty words. No amelioration for him. He wants to get down to the nitty-gritty of things and prefers the terms 'pee' and 'poo.'

So it was that he announced at the breakfast table that all his hard work had paid off.

"Mom! Go poop!" he yelled to me in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, this was past tense. He didn't need to go. He already went. But he talked about it...so that's good, right?

Not all bad

Today wasn't all bad. Sure, there was a lot of crying and screaming and carrying on. I think Benjamin is working on his two-year-old molars, which might explain the attitude he was packing but I'm not sure what bee was under Miriam's bonnet, nor can I fully explain Rachel's after-school bad-itude.

At one point the girls were fighting quite obnoxiously so I told them that playtime was over and it was now chore time. I sent one inside to clear the table for dinner and the other to make sure the living room was tidy. My mistake here was that I was still outside with Benjamin taking laundry off the line.

When I heard the girls screaming at each other again I went to investigate and found that they had locked me out of the house. I was...not impressed. The girls weren't impressed that I was not impressed.

Anyway, the whole entire day wasn't terrible. Miriam and Benjamin enjoyed picking wildflowers in the backyard.

Not in Toronto: Day Four

When we got home from Trading Tables on Saturday I taught Benjamin that game where you put your feet together and roll balls back and forth. I'm sure it's not the first time he's played it but it's the first time he's been very interested in continuing it.

He kept collecting balls, plopping himself on the floor, and saying, "Ball! Momma! Ball!"