Kids Say...

I've continued sending Jim text messages when the kids say funny things, and I'm loving having a log of it.  Here are some recent ones:
Yesterday we were in a public restroom waiting for Logan to finish up, and a little old lady walked in.  She stopped to say hello to Alex and Annie, and Annie looked up at her and asked, "Why are you old?"

Lately Logan's tummy has been sending him all sorts of signals.  For example, "My tummy is growling for some sleep!" and, "My tummy told me that I need a cord to pull that train."

Logan wanted to know what was bothering me one day, so I explained that I was frustrated about laws that make it difficult to find maternity insurance (no, I'm not pregnant...just wanting to be prepared).  I told him that there were bad men that make bad laws sometimes.  So he told me that when he grows up he is going to fight the bad men.  When I asked him how he'd fight them he said he'd yell at them.  I told him that probably wouldn't work, so he then said he'd throw stones at them.  Then he decided he'd talk to them, "We don't want you.  We want to have our babies and have them grow up."  In addition he would put bag clips on their fingers (?!) and do what Nephi did (although when questioned he didn't know what that was).  Finally, he decided to take them to jail, "I will throw them in my police car and drive them to the policeman and say, 'Here are some bad men.  They don't want us to have babies.  We want to have babies.'  Then I will consequence them."  Look out bad men, Logan is going to grow up someday and teach you a lesson!

While I was fixing my hair the other day, Logan looked at me and said, "You're really old.  Soon you'll die."  Thanks, bud.

Logan when in a sweet mood said to me one day, "When I grow up and am ten years old I will get you some roses."

Logan, "Mom, the neck of my toe hurts!"

Logan looked at me as we were reading stories one day and said, "You look like a man-girl."

I told Annie that she is my cute princess and she responded with, "No!  I'm your hot princess!"

The kids were watching snow fall and Logan said, "Heavenly Father and Jesus are doing it!"  To which Annied added, "Yeah baby Jesus!"

Logan was contemplating the sizes of things one day and he said to me, "Mom, this city is a big as your head!"

Annie, "I need shoes!"
Me, "Why?"
Annie, "Because of the snow!"
Me, "Where are you going?"
Annie, "Not anywhere!"

Logan, "Sam just looked at me and thought I was a human!  Is a human a people?  Why?  Because people are humans?  All people are a child of God!"

Logan, "I will buy you a pink firetruck, Annie."

I always love how my children understand the English language.  In Annie's mind a shirt and pants are clothes, but a shirt alone is just a 'cloh'.

Logan, "Can Heavenly Father and Jesus see our mac and cheese?"

Logan, "Personal space is usually like a bubble.  My bubble has two ear holes in it."

Logan, "We're playing bank account!"

Logan, "Elisa is maybe 4 or 5 feet long."  (He's talking about his aunt.)

Logan, "When I am a daddy and I have a wife I will want ten kids and I will always take care of them.  When we move I will make an attic and put my old toys inside for someone else.  And we'll take stuff down from there because I'll be big that time.  And there will be a spaceship with claws that swims underwater.  And when I am a grown up I will go to college and my wife will have a baby and she will nurse the baby.  That's what is going to happen when I am a grownup.  That's what is going to happen when I go to college."

The kids were pretending to get ready for bed, so they were also pretending to read scriptures.  Logan said, "And it came to pass the Lord said..." and Annie repeated.  They went back and forth like that for a while with a lot of scriptury sounding phrases.

A Few Pictures

Yesterday the kids and I made cookies.  Tonight we are going to take them around and meet our new neighbors.  Here they are ready to work play.

Cleaning up...that spatula looks clean right?

Today Alex discovered the joy of toilet paper...

And a few more house pictures for those who care to see.  This is the middle portion (AKA the family room) of our basement.  That bar came with the house and we really kind of like it.  The kids call it a "working table" and since we don't drink, the name has stuck.  To the left of where I took the picture is the play area, and to the left of the "working table" is the rest of this U shaped room where all of our boxed books currently are.  If we're here long enough I'll unpack them and that will be our library area.  There is also a large bathroom (the middle of the U), and a large laundry room (to the right) in the basement.

A couple of better pictures of our dining/ living room area:

This is probably the friendliest living room I've ever had.  I love it!  (The dog loves it too...)

Nauvoo and Carthage

On Saturday, we took the kids to Nauvoo and Carthage.  It was a cold wet day, but we really enjoyed our outing anyway.  In Nauvoo we first stopped at the temple, and then visited a couple of the pioneer places. 

Carthage was probably the highlight of our day.  Logan has been very interested in Joseph Smith lately, and especially curious about the Carthage Jail.  The moment we approached the jail, we could feel that we were on hallowed ground.  It was very powerful.

Logan really wanted his picture taken underneath the window Joseph fell from.

I didn't know much about the jail before we visited.  A large family lived in the majority of the house, while two rooms were designated as jail cells.  The family was very kind to Joseph and the others who were imprisoned there.  Because he felt one cell was unsafe from the mob because it was on the ground floor, and the other too hot because it had no windows, the jailer had the prisoners inside his own bedroom on the second floor.  That is where they were when the mob broke in.  The mob shot at his wife, who fled with two of her children, and proceeded upstairs where they killed Hyrum and Joseph.  This is the side where Joseph fell.

This is the front of the jail.

Purple Crayon Results

I finally went to work with that load of laundry that had the purple crayon all over it.  Once again, here is the before picture:

After

After:  These were also covered in purple spots, but came completely clean.  I've learned that crayon comes out of 100% cotton, but not in anything that has polyester or nylon in it.  So half my load came clean, and half didn't.  The magic formula (or not so magic depending on how you look at it): treat spots with Shout, then wash in hot water with laundry detergent, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 2 Tbs dish detergent.

Sweet Sugar Suspect

We have a little sweetheart that has been into a lot of mischief lately.  She often goes to a different part of the house and gets very quiet.  The other night we realized she was in the kitchen and went to check on her.  This is what we found:  the sugar bowl, a medicine dropper, and a medicinal measuring cup.  The evidence was all over her lips. 

Annie's First Haircut

I finally trimmed this little princess' hair last week.

Before

After...it's not a big change, but she looks a little less wild.  I'm still amazed that she has so little hair; she'll be three in a few weeks!

Progress

This move has been relatively smooth for us.  Unpacking is going great, and I feel so much less stress just being here with Jim and knowing this is where we'll be for a while.  I LOVE our house and don't want to move again for a long time...it's too bad that we're only renting it.  (It is on the market though...hmmm.)  This house has lots of space for us, several awesome built in cupboard/ closet spaces (our bedroom has his and hers closets with built in dressers), a 2 car garage (we've never had a garage!), tons of storage, and a basement with endless possibilities.  The layout is awesome too.  Anyway, I have a few pictures.

Day 1 in our new house:

I found the dining room...

...and the living room.  I should take a new picture, though, because it looks a lot better than this now.  Notice the baking soda on the couch?  Yep...on our first day here Logan threw up all over me and the furniture.  Alex also had a fever which was the beginning of some very nasty colds.

Also on day 1, a purple crayon somehow made it into the dryer.  It was a nice full load of whites, and not one article escaped unscathed.  I still haven't figured out if I can get the stains out.

Day 2:
We put together beds, and arranged Alex's room. 

We have a HUGE basement, so I designated a third of it for a play area.  The kids can run wild down there and they love it.  I also love that the toys are down a full flight of stairs...the mess can just hide.

We assembled the bunkbed and arranged the kids' room.

Day 3:

I decided to tackle this.

About 1pm it looked like this and I was ready to quit.

Meanwhile the kids had a blast playing in the boxes and paper I'd emptied.

By 4pm I finished.  I LOVE this kitchen.  Did you see how many cupboards it has?  There's another row above the ones in this picture.  I love having a dishwasher and an oven!  And I have way more counter space than I've ever had!

On day 4 I did some major cleaning, day 5 I found my own bedrom and Jim washed our car (I really should have taken before and after pictures of that...amazing), and every day since I've been super sick!  Alex was miserable for over a week with this cold, and passed it on to the rest of us.  I'm on my 4th day with it.  I'm just glad that our house was arranged enough that I could get away with not unpacking anything else while I'm feeling so sick.

A couple of random pictures:  The kids had a fun bubble bath this morning.  The water in our tub faucet comes out super fast, and it resulted in twice the normal amount of bubbles!

Ski Picture

This is a great picture from our ski trip. 
Dave, Juan, Mariah, Danielle, Sarah, Dad, Bryce, Josh, Aubrey

Moved!

Well, we've officially moved.  We had a wonderful trip in the mountains with my entire family and several family friends, and then drove all day yesterday to get here.  Considering we had three kids and a golden retriever in the backseat of our small car, it went very well.  Here are some pictures from last week:

The kids had some time with their Aunt Elisa before we left.

In the mountains, there was a sledding hill right next to the house we stayed in.  Here is Alex ready to go.

After everyone came back from skiing that same day (we skiied the next) we did some more sledding.  Bryce couldn't get enough of that hill...it had a wonderful jump that he flew over every time.

It was getting dark...

The hot tub was right next to the sledding hill.  We had some very hilarious moments where someone would hop out of the hot tub, run up the hill, sled down, and hop back in.  In all, five people did it.

Aubrey was the first one to do it.

Mariah was the second.  I have a video of her doing it...maybe I can figure out how to post it.

We were so busy having fun, that these were all of the pictures I took.  It was a great visit and so much fun to be all together with Danielle and her kids since they were in town.

On Our Way

We are officially between homes; we left yesterday and are in the mountains for a little vacation before we start the long drive.  I've been psyching myself up for this drive for weeks!  Three kids and a dog in the backseat...it's going to be interesting!  Jim took a week off of work to help us move.  It's been SO good having him here.  Poor Logan is struggling the most with everything, and it breaks my heart to see how he's been clinging to Jim.  Logan has been acting out a lot, and he won't give anyone hugs goodbye.  Yesterday, he told Jim's mom, "I can't hug you because I will miss you!"  He's been telling us that we just need to go to Iowa; I think he knows he'll feel better once we are settled.  Annie gets really sad when we talk about not seeing family and friends anymore, but otherwise she is handling things well and is excited about everything.  Alex is still the sweetest baby around.  He has been such a blessing during this stressful time.  Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent us this little guy.  Alex has actually started to crawl during the last week!  He isn't proficient yet, so he still gets a bit frustrated, but he's getting happier and happier with his progress.  I always love it when my babies crawl!