TGIF!

One of our family traditions is to have "Waffle-Day Fridays!" It's only Eggo, but the kids love it and it speeds up our breakfast time by at least 10 minutes. :) Plus, it makes the house smell so nice. Yet another reason to look forward to Fridays.

Music to My Ears...

Our drive to school in the morning is always...well...loud! With 5 kids in the back of my car it couldn't be anything BUT loud. A lot of the time the kids are singing songs - patriotic, primary, oldies, etc - but today I was hearing two songs over and over (with the wrong lyrics, no less!) and I had finally had enough:

Me - "Ok, guys, pick a new song, or do something else."

Becky - "Mom! Can you put on 'Evil'?"

Me - "WHAT?!"

Becky - "'Evil'. Please, mom?"

Jane - "Mom, I think she means 'Wicked.'"

Me - laughing so hard there was no way I was going to find the right CD before we arrived at school. Ahhh....Becky...your creative mind sure keeps me on my toes!

Personalities

I went to 41q.com and took a simple personality test. These were my results:

Your personality type:

Quiet, reflective and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.

Careers that could fit you include:

Writers, artists, counselors, social workers, English teachers, fine arts teachers, child care workers, clergy, missionaries, psychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, political activists, editors, education consultants, journalists, religious educators, social scientists.


As silly as these tests sometimes are, I actually agree with the results of this one quite a bit. I have contemplated each of these careers at one point, except for the clergy and political activists. Any of the others I wouldn't mind doing, in fact, I'd probably have a great time being employed in any of them.

A New Word

And just to prove to me that he really is a sweet little boy....

Sean had to conduct a baptism yesterday and we decided that, as a family, we'd go to the chapel to help him set it up. We worked at getting the chairs set up nicely and getting the hymn books placed - all while waiting for the AC to kick in. All the while James was in his stroller watching us work. So, of course, when the baptism started he was anxious to get out and stretch those legs. In an attempt to keep him quiet I gave him a pen and paper to draw on - his new favorite activity.

I can't really blame him for writing on himself - it was a nice pen. :) But when I tried to take it away from him he got angry and I had to take him into the hall. While we were walking the halls James went up to a picture of Jesus visiting the Nephites and, pointing to Jesus, clearly said, "Jesus." Oh, he melts my heart!

Adjustments

School started this week and we've all had a few adjustments to get used to: getting up early, long days, etc. One adjustment that James is having a hard time with is missing his siblings. He gets so excited when I tell him it's time to pick them up at school - it's terribly cute! But on that first day....

I was making lunch in the kitchen while he was playing with Duplos. When I'd finished making the lunch I went to go find James....who had migrated to my bedroom and had dumped the contents of my makeup bag onto my bed. Luckily he hadn't figured out how to open the little cases, he was just content on banging them together. I scolded him, put him out of my room and cleaned up the mess.

When I'd finished cleaning the mess I went to find James....who had snuck into his sisters' room and pulled their mirror off their wall. Luckily he hadn't broken the mirror! I scolded him, put him out of their room and cleaned up the mess.

When I'd finished cleaning THAT mess I went to find James...who had gone into the front room, pulled my purse off the table and proceeded to dump out the contents. Luckily everything was still in that pile and he hadn't hidden anything yet. I scolded him, PUT HIM IN HIS BOOSTER SEAT (see? I can learn!) and cleaned up that mess.

UNFORTUNATELY, by the time all the messes were cleaned up our sandwiches had gone stale and he didn't want to eat any of it.

James had an early nap that day.

Yesterday we went to the mall to play in the play area (I'd thought that I perhaps had neglected him a bit the previous days, getting the kids ready for school and all, so I decided to have just play/fun time with him). Apparently he wasn't in the mood to play, but to get in trouble more. He kept trying to leave the play area, climb up on the benches and walk/run/jump on them, and dump stuff out of the stroller. Just when I was wondering if we should abandon the whole thing...he got off my lap, walked up to a little girl (about his age - who was absolutely gorgeous, by the way) and slapped her across the face. I no longer wondered. We left.*

James had an early nap that day.

Today we're going to a friend's house to swim in their pool. Here's to hoping he doesn't damage their house, or pull the plug on the pool or something. He'd find a way!

* Of course, we left after I apologized PROFUSELY to the parents and scolded James and made him say sorry (which, to him, is to look at someone with a sad face and attempt a hug. The little girl did NOT want a hug!).

My Kids...

My kids are hilarious!

1. We had the kids make birthday cards for their uncle and on our way out the door Jane asked for an envelope for hers. When we're in the car the kids are comparing their cards: Jane has an envelope, Becky's is held closed by a sticker, Alex's is by itself.

Jane: "Becky, why did you use a sticker instead of an envelope?"

Becky: "I didn't want to waste my spit."

2. We were driving to IKEA so the kids could play in the play place and I could find a few things. Since we have a friend joining us for the day our car was full and all the kids were keeping an eye out for the huge blue and yellow store off the freeway. As I started exiting the freeway there was a decline in the road so all the kids threw up their hands and yelled, "Wheee!" as I went down the hill. It looked so funny in my rearview mirror!

3. Last night Becky and I were watching "What a Girl Wants" while Jane and Alex went with Sean to the Dodger game. Each time the movie started playing fun music James would get up and start dancing. He made me laugh so hard!