Our little American Idol

We would like to announce the newest and youngest American Idol! She is such a crack-up. Almost every day she gets her stool and pulls it into the middle of the living room and does these great interpretive performances. I have got to get this girl in a singing group!

Premonitions, or getting fat?

So I had to laugh this morning when Haela was getting dressed and commented while sticking out her belly, "See Mommy, I have a big tummy just like you!" Okay, so maybe it is time to get back to the gym if my child is noticing but I let it slide. But then during joy school (I taught today) while we were drawing pictures Haela says, "Look mommy, here is a picture of your baby!" I then asked, "you mean Enoch?" and she says, "no, your other baby!" Then I noticed she drew a picture of 5 people (not four). So then I am thinking--okay is she getting some premonition that I haven't tuned into yet?! Either way I probably should still get back to the gym!

grumpy face

Enoch has started doing this face where he squishes his eyes and nose together and breathes really loud thorugh his nose.l It is hilarious. If he does while we are drinving I about have to pull off the road to keep from wrecking the car. Kids are so darn cute.

Happy Easter!

Kelly here. Chairity made me do that so people know its me since she is reguarly the contributor. Once again we were able to experience the "Easter with an allergic child" again. We have had some pretty great ones so far and this one was right on par with the rest. Since Haela is allergic to milk, eggs, nuts and just about anything else worth eating we have to buy her special candy. Some friends from our ward have a huge easter egg hunt every year and invited us. To make it work for Haela she was given her own easter egg zone. There actually ended up being 4 zones; young kids, kids, nut free kids and Haela's zone. She still had a great time because they coralled all the kids in one place and let them all go at the same time so haela felt the excitement of being with all the other kids, even though she didn't have to compete with them for the eggs.

Haela's candy consisted of teddy grahams and fruit snacks. She also had a couple ring pops which are pure sugar. She can have the worst kinds of candy because they are pretty much sugar which she is not allergic to.

Is this the face of a grateful child or what? She ate almost all her candy before we even left their house. She has been backsliding a little on her manners. She has taken to beating up her brother at random intervals. Sometimes she is so sweet and then the next minute she is telling us that if we don't stop telling her bad things then she will be calling the easter bunny to tell him to take back our candy. (It is amazing how fast children can turn your threats around on you.) her opinion of bad things is anything that is remotely related to a punishment or a consequence. I am finding that I lean more towards Justice than mercy with her. I guess I am just afraid that if i let her get away with too much (and she gets away with tons of stuff) then she will end up a spoiled kid who has no sense of the real world. I guess I need to remember that she is only 3 and has a couple years before the world will start beating her down. She did have learning moment the other day when she was playing with a couple boys her age. We aren't sure if they told her too or she came up with the brilliant idea, but she ended up going pee in someone elses garage. Much better than the living room but we are still trying to help her understand about the importance of modesty. We sure love her and it is funny how much you can love someone who frustrates you so much. I guess I can begin to understand how my mother and wife feel every day.

Consequence of Neglect!

So, to get through these dreary days that just stubbornly don't want to leave us alone I decided I would look at cute bathing suits online to get me excited about warmth that will someday come. Yes, I know, there were a million other things I could be doing--like spending time with my kids! So while I am in front of the computer Haela seems to be playing so well but when I look over to see what she is doing I see that she has poured out the whole bottle of glue and is wiping it all over herself and the table. So, my first instinct was to get upset but then I realized it was my own fault so I just took pictures and had her help me clean it up.

No, I didn't really beat her!

Communication skills

I had to take a trip to Dallas to visit the Ace Hardware Home show a few weeks ago. I booked my flight and rented a car for it and when I showed up in Dallas the guy at the counter tryed to do the usual "For $10 more we can put you in a Chrysler 300." routine. Being frugal I always try and get the cheapest car I can fit in which is the mid range. So he says he has a PT cruiser and I am thinking of my moms PT cruiser, flashy red 4 door and pretty comfortable so I said, OK. Well I walk out to the lot and find this beauty. Yes folks a banana yellow PT convertible. If I wasn't secure in my manhood and a self proclaimed chick flick guy I would have walked back in and asked for the Ford Mustang right next to it. (Yes dad, I would rather drive a Ford than this moving banana split) I happened to get there the one day in the last 80 years that it snowed in Dallas so i didn't even get to use the convertible.




This is what I had been hoping for when I rented the car over the phone. I mean, don't these people understand that when somebody wants to rent a car in sunny Texas they want something with power, I mean come on, it is Texas.











While in Texas I flew the extra hour down to see my bro and his family down in San Antonio. We got to go and see the Alamo. It was pretty neat. Somewhat depressing to think that they all died. I was wondering how they get all the stories from the Alamo though if they all died. Anyway, I missed my flight coming home because the very mean people at Northwest Airlines wouldn't let me on my plane because I was only there a half hour early. I am asking all my fellow bloggers to boycott Northwest. Maybe in some small way we can help them in their gradual decent to bancrupcty like most other airlines. But I'm not bitter. I was really grateful for the extra day in Texas though because I got to go to church with Clint and had a really great day. Thanks bro for putting up with me.

Bonding time with Haela

Haela is really growing to be a charming young lady. She has really been able to bond with Kelly and I lately with her autonomous stage beginning to settle down! I have to admit, the two's were pretty rough and the first part of three was worse but it seems that 3 1/2 is quite enjoyable. Other than teaching her to be gentle with her brother she is getting very good at trying to be obedient (knock on wood!). She has been saying the sweetest little prayers lately. On Friday she had some friends over and they were having a ball playing together. They ate dinner with us and Haela offered the sweetest prayer. In her little voice she said, "we are SO grateful that we could play with you chudder (each other)", and "please bless Leah's ouchie to get all better" (she had pinched her finger in the drawer before dinner). Last night she told me before bed that there was an angel in her room and as she said her prayer before bed she said, "Heav'nly Fadder, thank you for sending the angel to my room." It made me wonder if there really was an angel in the room. I think the veil is much thinner for children. I love my little girl and am grateful that her temperament is getting so much better!