The Spotlight's On Daniel

Daniel got a new set of wheels this weekend...pegs and wheels.

General Conference is a week away. To get our kids excited about it, we put together a little goodie basket full of treats, crafts, and other reverent things to keep their little hands busy for eight hours. I set the goodie basket on the piano the week prior to General Conference. The basket of goodies and fun things just sits there and teases them all week driving them crazy with anticipation.

Well, two days ago, Daniel couldn't take the anticipation any longer. After begging me to let him open the dinosaur egg making kit about 876345087623049587234587 times, he took matters into his own hands and said,

"Mom, should we pray for General Conference to come sooner?"

to which I replied,

"We can't change the date of conference, but we could pray for the time to pass quickly."

Then....silence.

A couple minutes later Daniel goes upstairs. Still silence.

He comes back downstairs and sits next to me on the couch. He is quiet for a while...but then he can't contain his excitement any longer and bursts out with,

"Mom! Conference is going to come sooner!"

I think my heart melted right there.

A few minutes later, Daniel totally side swiped James and pegged him down. This led to a brotherly wrestle and giggle. Then me heart melted one more time.

James

I can not get enough of this guy lately. Allow me to explain.

Last night we had burritos for dinner. Burritos as in a whole bunch of yummy stuff wrapped up in a white tortilla. From his corner of the table I hear...

"5,4,3,2,1 and lift off of the Delta 2 rocket with the Mars exploration rover."

With cheese falling out of the upright burrito, James proceeds to shoot the rocket burrito into the air. Who would've thought such an ordinary dinner could turn into a rocket launch?

One of my favorite things to do is to help him get dressed. First of all, he has a big head. So all his shirts reach a certain point of tension before they pop off his head. And then, he is so ticklish. If you just touch his little belly he starts giggling uncontrollably. His laugh is so contagious so I can't help but tickle him even more...to the point that tears are coming out of both our eyes from laughing so hard.

And speaking of dressing, I still make him wear his old t-shirts that are about 2 sizes to small. Do you remember Gus Gus in Cinderella? That is what I think of every time I see his little belly poking out from under his shirt.

The way he talks will just melt your heart. He says "lellow" (yellow) and "toot" and "act u a lly" (with his finger pointed in the air as if he was making a statement), and my new favorite is "bwoogers".

The little guy loves having the whole family circled in together. He wouldn't harm a flea. He is a little ray of sunshine. I want to go squeeze him right now while he is off dreaming. Good night little James.

Bubblegum, Bubblegum, In A Dish...

Tonight's activity and treat for Family Home Evening was learning how to blow bubblegum bubbles.

First, get a nice big wad of gum.

Then, chew it up real good.

Spread it over your tongue, like this.

Now, blow air into it.

Whoops, drop it on the floor.
Pick it up and put it back in your mouth with all sorts of crunchies in it.

Watch out for prickly fingers.

The Lepruchaun Was Here

When some edible thing is this bright, you know it is either...

really good for you

or

really bad for you.

Sunday Dinner

A Rare Delicacy

And that folks, is what Anna thinks of creamed spinach.

The Sun Will Come Out

Yesterday was gorgeous...sunny and warmer
(funny how I think 40's is warmer now).
The air was crisp and cool, but the sunshine was warm.
So we pumped up all our bike and stroller tires and headed out.

We made some stops along the way, for climbing...

...and snacks.

Dinner last night was a hot dog roast over an open fire in our neighbor's backyard.
Mmmmmmmm.

Welcome Spring.

Lost and Found

We lost a couple of things in January. Namely our sidewalk, grass, and everything else in our yard. We almost lost our garage with all the snow we had pile up around it to get to our cars. But with the warmer temperatures, we have found everything again. We also found all our bike/scooter equipment and busted that out this afternoon. It felt so good to get out and ride bikes again.

But with all this finding, I'm afraid we have lost our great snow fort. I'm not too sad about that.

Look At Those Cheeks

I fell off the blogging bandwagon. I lost a little bit of the blogging fuego. But I'm back. Besides, with cute pictures like this, how can I not post them for the world to see?

Boston Massacre

Saturday was the 241st anniversary of the Boston Massacre. We went to the annual re-enactment. It was pretty amazing. I didn't like studying history until we moved East. I feel like I've been playing catch up ever since we moved to Virginia six years ago.

They asked the crowd to participate in the re-enactment. We yelled things like "Huzzah!" and "Lobsters!" at these guys. I don't think I'd ever said "huzzah" before, but I rather like it. Maybe I will start using it more often...I don't really know what it means though. I hope it is not a bad word. If it is, I don't want to know.