Dragon Lawyer

How many of you have seen "Kung Fu Panda?" Well, that is one of the kids new favorites. The closing credit roll and they pretend to be kung fu experts. Well, Matthew has started to pretend that he is "the dragon laaaw-yer." (this is said in a hushed tone of great awe) "I am the (hushed awe, feel the suspense...) dragon laaaw-yer."

If you haven't see the movie this will make no sense to you so I will try to explain. The is a search for the dragon warrior who is to defeat the bad guy and bring balance to the force.... oh, wait, that's another movie. He basically will bring good things about for the people. The panda, Po, ends up being this dragon warrior. (hope I didn't spoil the movie for you.) So, Matthew really likes being the "dragon laaaw-yer."

There may truly be some dragon lawyers out there. Have any of you met one?

Forgot one Matthew-ism

One of Matthew's other favorite movies is "Pizza Pan!" The rest of the English speak nations know this movie as Peter Pan. If you think about how Wendy says Peter with her little British accent you can figure out why Matthew thinks it is Pizza. *lol* Man, I love that kid. So, I think from here on out we will call this movie "Pizza Pan" -- just like we call Toys R Us "Toys or Else" (a Ceithlinn-ism). Lots of fun. Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Kid-isms

As you know, I have two of the most adorable kids in the whole wide world. When the kids come up with a new phrase or do something that is unique to them, I call it a (fill in the blank)-ism. So, Ceithlinn's most recent... there are so many she says the most interesting things... happened the other day. When she was at school one of her friends told her she didn't want to be her friend anymore because Ceithlinn wanted to include more people in on the game they were playing. Well, you may all remember how devasting such a thing can be for a six year old. It ruined her day at school. The next morning she was saying prayer and asked God to help everyone in her class be nice so they could show loving kindness to each other. I thought that was sweet. Well, when I dropped her off at school she opened the car door and yelled hello to a passing boy. She then turned to get her bag while saying, "I told that mean boy named Jacob hi so I could show him loving kindness." I don't remember what I said to her after that, but once she was out of the car I had a very good chuckle. The concept is there, the application might be a little off... on the one hand wonderful to say hi, on the other calling him names behind his back, not so nice.

Josh and I were spending a little alone time on Sunday. We got a knock on our door and Ceithlinn asked, "Are you having a private conservation?" We said, yes and we would be out. We then talked a bit about conservation and how adorable our daughter is.

As some of you may know Matthew is very into Star Wars. We were playing around the other day with the whole good versus evil thing. At one point I laughed maniacally. He looked at me and in seriousness said, "You not a bad guy. You a mama." I guess I had been told.

Another thing that goes along with this whole loving Star Wars and superheros thing is the battle scene and commentary about the battle scene. He is apt to inform me that so-and-so is going to "die him." I just think that phrase is funny.

Though, as I write this don't know how funny it will be to others. Really, we do monitor what our kids watch. Stars Wars has no blood and neither child has seen episode 3, you know the one where Anikan falls into the hot lava stuff and becomes Darth Vader. Well, I guess he became Darth Vader first and then fell into the melting planet.... little things. Anyway, I just love the way their minds work.

Kids really are a lot of fun.

Potty Training

So, our son has finally decided that he doesn't want to wear diapers. YEAH!! So, we have been working on the whole make it to the toilet thing. He is doing pretty well, has about two accidents a day, but is usually dry in the morning. Anyway, Matthew discovered the most wonderful thing the other day when we were letting him run around the house in his underwear. He has a pocket in front....WOW! He is so excited about this little discovery. If I had known how much joy this would elicit I would have recorded it.... well, maybe. Oh, the joys of discovery.

This pocket is great because it helps him know which is the front. The other day he put his big boys on backwards and was very upset when I turned them around (with his help) and he couldn't find the pocket anymore. The tears were beginning to flow when I was able to show him it was still there. Then the big smiles and jumping returned.

It never ceases to amaze me what kids find wonderful and exciting.

We are still alive....

I know I said I hoped to write a little every day, but that just isn't happening. We are still alive and doing well. I am looking for a program to shrink pictures before I post them. I thought I had one, but that was on the "old" computer. Once I get that there will be more photos. I have some cute kids, and we sure have fun together, and I want to share that with you.

Truth be told, I am also still very techni-illiterate, well technologically challanged at least. Once I get it down though.... there will be no stopping me. I still may be a little slow, but things will happen sooner than later.

General Conference Activity Book

I was emailed this today. For those of us that want our kids engaged in Conference, but aren't ambitious enough to make a book ourselves, someone has made an activity book for us. Here is the link. This is FREE. http://deseretbook.com/conf.pdf

One of best parts of August to November to me is all the canning and jamming I do. I love the process of turning fresh fruit into something delicious for my family. A couple weeks ago this process was in full steam in our kitchen. First, Matthew and I harvested what little veggies we grew in our small garden... mostly green beans. We did have a few small delicious cucumbers and small carrots. Then, we picked the blackberries that grow behind our apartment. This is always a fun thing with him. I think I have his system down.... "one for the bucket, a dozen for me, two for the bucket, just kidding I will now eat the three that are in my bucket." My bucket gets full while his face gets juiced on and his tummy gets full. It really is wonderful!

The next day both kids helped me peel the skin off the peaches for canning. That night we got about 12 quarts, the next day almost a dozen more. Then came the pears, not quite as fast as the peaches, but very tasty. You want to know my favorite part? Sitting down with my feet up after being on them for hours and hearing the "pop" "pop" as the jars seal. At that point I know all the hard work will be paying off later on in the year when we are enjoying peach cobbler, blackberry pies and delicious fruit.

Next month I might make some apple pie filling. We still have a few quarts from last year, but I really do enjoy the process. One of my tenants said she wants to learn to can and my maintenance guy and family LOVE the pie filling for apple crisp. Maybe I will get some people together and teach them how to do for themselves. What do you think?