THE DUVALL FAMILY

Kisses

2010-09-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Whenever Madison wants me to do something for her I tell her that she has to give me a kiss first. She's usually pretty good about giving me one but sometimes she throws a fit. A couple days ago she I asked her to go get a tissue and wipe her nose. She said, "First you have to give me a kiss."

Turf Toe Returns

2010-09-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks after Harrison hurt his foot the boys were playing a game of football with some neighborhood kids and Parker hurt his foot. Harrison made the comment, "man maybe you have 'turf toe' too." He was just kidding but Parker took it to heart and the following morning he came upstairs and he was wearing the ugly blue shoe. It was so funny because Parker LOVES attention and tries to get it anyway he can. I probably should have made him take it off but I figured he probably needed to get it out of his system. So he wore the shoe all day at school (he didn't have a choice because he only took one shoe). As soon as he got home from school he immediately took it off and his foot was cured.

A Bad Case of Turf Toe

2010-09-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Harrison was playing football with some of his uncles and cousins and the following morning his foot began to hurt. I didn't think too much of it until he started limping around. He was in so much pain he couldn't even get his shoe on. He was so stressed about what he was going to do at school because he knew that he wasn't going to be able to wear a shoe and walk around without it hurting. In a kidding way I suggested that he just wear one shoe. I didn't think he would really do it but to my surprise he walked out the door with only one shoe on. I knew at that point that he must really be hurting because Harrison is easily embarrassed and doesn't like to draw attention to himself.

I called and made him a doctors appointment and we found out that he has "turf toe." It is the funniest name ever but it's actually a real thing and it's very painful, it can be more painful than a broken foot. It happens quite a bit to NFL players when they play on artificial turf. It's basically when your toe gets bent the wrong way and can be made worse when you don't wear shoes that have a good arch in them, which is exactly what Harrison was wearing at the time.

The doctor gave him a special shoe that made it so Harrison couldn't bend his toe. It was definitely an ugly shoe but Harrison was willing to wear it if it meant that he wouldn't be in so much pain. So the next day Harrison wore the shoe to school and it started to feel better after a couple days. Once his toe started to feel better he quickly reverted back to wearing his normal shoes but he stayed away from any football games for the next week.

Hook-ups

2010-09-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Pieper came into my room this morning and said, "Mom I have the hook-ups." I had no clue what she was talking about and then she hiccuped and I realized what she was talking about...she had the hiccups.

Primary "Taco"

2010-09-05T18:14:00.001-07:00

Pieper had to give a talk today in primary and so I got out a short story that had some pictures to go along with it. Madison was feeling left out so I had to get one out for her to. After Sacrament Meeting Madison said, "I want to go do my taco now with Pieper."

Half a Bike

2010-08-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Pieper has been wanting a bigger bike for a long time. She has grown out of her smaller one and she doesn't like that it has training wheels because she can ride a bike without them. So while we were at Walmart the other day she saw the bikes and picked out the one that she wanted to buy, which is just like the one her cousin has. She wanted to get it that very second but I told her that she needed to do some work and pay for half of it and I would pay for the other half. She gave me the meanest look and said, "But I don't want only half a bike I want a whole one."

Potty Training

2010-08-05T17:33:00.001-07:00

We (meaning me) finally took the plunge and started potty training Madison. On Tuesday we took a trip to Walmart and bought her all the necessary supplies such as a pink toilet, the kind that you have to empty, which isn't my favorite but I figured it might be less overwhelming for her, puzzles (for entertainment), two new movies, "big girl" underwear,and some treats. We got home from the store, ate lunch, and the fun began. I put the little toilet in front of the tv in my room and I sat next to her (for four hours) until she peed on the toilet. She was so excited when she finally did it that I immediately took her to the store and bought her a new doll (that goes to the bathroom on the toilet). She has only had two accidents and they were both my fault because I had to run errands and didn't remember to ask her if she needed to go to the bathroom. But so far so good. She isn't quite 2 1/2, which is the earliest that any of my children have done it. So wish us luck that it continues on forever and ever:)

Feeding the Ducks

2010-08-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

The other night for FHE we decided to go to a local park and feed the ducks. It is one of Madison's favorite activities. Everything was going fine and everybody was happy breaking apart the bread and throwing it at the ducks and I was in the middle of telling Jeff what a peaceful night it was and how much I enjoyed doing family activities when Adriana started screaming. We looked over and realized that the reason she was so panicked was because Madison had reached over to throw a piece of bread at a duck that was in the water and she fell in. Luckily it wasn't very deep and so she could keep her head above water but it didn't even seem to faze her one bit. She was laying on her stomach (in between two big rocks)just chillin'. She didn't even cry at all. Jeff quickly pulled her out of the water and she said, "Wow that was crazy." We had to strip her down to her nothin's because she was soaking wet but she didn't seem to mind at all. Sadly enough I didn't have my camera with me because I know it would have made some awesome pictures!

No Middle Name

2010-08-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Parker was helping Adriana fill out a form yesterday and he came into the office and asked me the following question and he was completely serious..."Mom on here it says middle name. What should Adriana put since she doesn't have one? Should she just make one up?"

Lights

2010-08-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago Madison looked outside and made the comment, "Somebody turned off the lights outside." We didn't have any lights on outside so I assumed that was what she was talking about but the following day we were walking into Walmart and she said, "Somebody turned the lights back on today...and they turned on the hot one." She was talking about the sun.

Worms

2010-06-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have been blessed (cursed) with very prominent veins that stick out on the top of my hands. Nurses love to stick me with needles because there are so many veins to pick from. When I put my hand down they get even bigger and stand out even more. The other night Madison was sitting on my lap and Adriana was sitting next to me. My hand was resting on the chair next to me, which caused my veins to really stick up. Adriana said, "Wow you have worms in your hands." Madison looked at my hands and immediately began to cry. She is so scared of worms. Adriana thought it was so funny she kept saying it. Madison jumped right off my lap and went to Jeff and she would not sit with me the rest of the night. I tried to convince her that I didn't have worms in my hands but she wouldn't believe me. She gives some amazing dirty looks and for the rest of the night I was the recipient of the mean looks.

Breakfast in Bed

2010-06-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

I had a funny conversation the other morning with Madison that took me by surprise. This is how it went:

Madison: Hi mom
Me: Hi Madison, Are you hungry?
Madison: Yes. I think I want breakfast in bed.
Me: Really, what do you want to eat?
Madison: I'll have a taco.

It was so matter of fact and she knew exactly what it was that she wanted. So she enjoyed breakfast in bed while watching Dora.

Bunny Nose

2010-06-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Madison came inside the house yesterday and told me she had a "bunny" nose and needed it cleaned.

She also thinks a swimming suit is called a "swimming soup."

Madison

2010-06-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while we were at church Madison said, "I want to talk my testimony." I was amazed that she knew what people were doing when they went up to the pulpit. She's one smart cookie

A couple weeks ago Madison had done something that made me a little upset and I must have had a frown on my face because she said, "Mom, smile you're making me sad."

New Body Part

2010-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

This morning Harrison was limping around a little bit and so I asked him what was wrong. He said his leg hurt a little bit so I asked him where on his leg and he said his "knee pit." I wasn't sure I heard him right so I asked him again and sure enough he said "knee pit," which he went on to explain was the area behind his knee.

4 going on 16

2010-05-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Pieper is so emotional lately I am really getting nervous about what my life is going to be like when she's a teenager. The other night she had a melt down because she had picked out three pairs of pajamas and she couldn't decide which one to wear. This is how the conversation went (keep in mind that she was crying the entire time she was talking to me):

Pieper: I don't know which ones to wear.
Me: Wear the Spongebob ones because they're really cute.
Pieper: I know but I like the other ones too because they keep me warm.
Me: Well then just wear the warmest ones.
Pieper: But I like them all and the Spongebob ones will feel bad.
Me: Then wear all three of them.
Pieper: Then I'll get really hot.

At that point I was at a loss for words so I didn't even respond. She ended up crying herself to sleep on the kitchen floor with all the pajamas by her side. So as it turned out she didn't wear any of them.

Birthday Wishes

2010-05-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

Adriana's birthday is coming up soon and I asked her the other day what she wanted and this was her response: "I would like a new pair of shoes...(pause for a couple minutes) and LOVE." I thought she was making a joke but she was dead serious. I asked her what she meant by love and she said, "Well Parker isn't very nice to me most of the time so I thought maybe he could show me that he loved me by making me breakfast in bed."

So I'm going to have to do some bribing in order to get Parker to show her some "love."

Craving Chocolate

2010-04-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Madison was watching Dora the Explorer and she wanted some chocolate. Right at the same time that she asked me for some chocolate the business phone rang so I went into the office to answer it. I heard Madison yelling from the other room, "Oh my crap I need some chocolate." She kept repeating it over and over until I got her some. I thought I was raising a two year old but apparently she is more like 15 or 16 years old(judging by her moodiness and chocolate craving).

Ring Around the Rosies

2010-03-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

Today while Madison was "coloring" she began to sing the song "Ring Around the Rosies." This is her version of the song:

Ring around the rosies,
Pocket full of posies,
Ashton, Ashton, we all fall down.

For those of you that don't know my family...Ashton is my sister's little boy.

What Time is It?

2010-03-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I was working with Parker on some of his homework and I was supposed to make up story problems for him to figure out. One of the problems I came up with was:

If you have 2 hours and 15 minutes before you are supposed to be in bed what
time is it?

Adriana quickly piped up and said, "I know, I know...it's bedtime." She was so proud of herself for getting the correct answer.

New Name

2010-03-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Pieper has officially changed the name of St. Patrick's Day to "Thank Patrick's Day."

St. "Patrick's" Day

2010-03-15T20:42:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I was talking to Pieper about St. Patrick's Day and I told her that on Wednesday she needs to wear green or people might pinch her. She sat there for a minute and then she said, "So what about Spongebob day? What do I wear on that day...yellow?" It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about. She thinks St. Patrick's Day is in celebration of Patrick on the cartoon Spongebob. So she immediately began planning what color and outfit she is going to wear on Spongebob day. I love how children's minds work.

Counting

2010-03-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Adriana wanted Pieper to help clean their room but Pieper said she was busy wiping off the table. So Adriana began counting down so Pieper would hurry and this is how she counted...

five, four, three, two, one, one and a quarter, one and a nickel, one and a dime, one and a penny

It was the funniest thing ever and I started to laugh because I thought she was making a joke but when I looked over at her she had a very serious face.

Ya Gotta Love It!

2010-03-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

I am in a carpool with my friend for Adriana's dance class and today was my turn to take. My friend's little girl wasn't too excited about going today and started to throw a little fit so her mom said that she would be grounded if she didn't go. Then my friend said, "Adriana's mom is probably a funner mom than me anyway." Adriana quickly piped up and said, "No, she's not at all." It's amazing how honest kids are. So I guess I'm not going to be winning "mother of the year."

So if anybody has any "fun" things that I can do with Adriana I would really appreciate it.

Oops...my bad!

2010-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

I had something pretty embarrassing happen to me yesterday and I thought that I might as well share it and possibly brighten someones day.

It happened yesterday while I was picking up Pieper and Mallory from pre-school. Their teachers don't let them walk out to their parents so we have to actually walk into the school to get them. As I was walking back towards the car I got into the first black car that I saw. Pieper and Mallory were on the other side trying to open the door. I heard a lady say, "Oops wrong car" and I assumed she was talking to her daughter because she was trying to get into MY car. I looked back to the passenger side door, where Madison should have been sitting in her car seat, and got a little panic stricken because she wasn't there. NEVER did it occur to me that I was possibly in the WRONG car. Sure enough...I was. The lady was actually talking to me when she said, "wrong car." I felt like a complete IDIOT! I tried to explain to her that I had just gotten a new car and it was black as well and that I wasn't use to it yet and she just sat there looking at me like I was crazy. I pretty much felt like a fool and so I just got out of HER seat and headed back to my car where Madison was patiently waiting.

Growing Up is Hard to Do

2010-01-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

I am having mixed emotions about Harrison growing up. I am glad that he is getting older and more independent but at the same time it makes me nervous for the future. Harrison is a stubborn boy and that stubborness (is that even a word) seems to be showing more and more each day.

Last Saturday we took Harrison, Parker, and Jordan to the movie and afterwards we went to the mall to buy Harrison a new pair of shoes. Every pair that I picked out he hated for some reason. I think I have fairly good taste and I KNOW I wasn't picking out ugly shoes but for some reason he did not like anything I picked. I finally told him to show me what he wanted and of course he picked the UGLIEST shoes ever. I flat out told him that I didn't like them and that only made things worse and after that he shut down and wouldn't even talk to me but I was not going to give up so we went to try the UGLY shoes on. Secretly I was praying that they wouldn't have his size and much to my relief they didn't. Well the dang salesman who was so efficient and willing to make a sale showed Harrison another pair of even UGLIER shoes and of course he loved them.

So I decided to give in and let him buy the shoes (after Jeff reminded me that I wasn't going to be the one wearing the shoes) but my mind was quickly changed when he told us that the price was $120. I told Harrison that I was willing to pay $60 and he could pay the rest.

He sat there for a minute and after some thought he said, "Well I don't have that kind of money and even if I did I wouldn't spend it on a pair of shoes." Wow...I guess we taught him right after all. So after looking around a little bit more we settled on a pair of Addidas that are nice looking and they only cost $60.

I would have posted a picture of the shoes but unfortunately they weren't in stock so we had to have them delivered to our house and they haven't come yet.

Pieper's "23"

2010-01-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Last night Parker and Pieper put together a puppet show for us and while they were practicing their parts I was listening in and it was the funniest thing to listen to. It's amazing how big of an imagination Parker has and how involved he gets when he does storytelling or some sort of a show. He definitely loves to perform in front of people. Anyway...they had decided to put on the puppet show of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Parker was given the responsibility of being the papa bear and he said, "Oh no someone's been sitting in my chair...I'm going to go get my 22 (which is a gun for those of you who aren't fluent in gun talk...not that I am but I do know what a 22 is)" Pieper, who was playing the part of the baby bear said, "I'm going to go get my 23." She obviously had no idea what Parker was talking about but she just went with what she knew and 23 definitely comes after 22. I could not stop laughing.

Smarty Pants

2010-01-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Madison just recently learned her ABCs and it's the cutest thing ever. She has said it perfect a couple times but she usually gets stuck when it comes to Q,R,S because she says Q,R,X...and then goes on to say Y and Z. But if I correct her and say S she can keep going to the end. She has also learned how to count to ten in English and Spanish. Unfortunately, I can not take credit for this because it has been my mom that has taught it to her. Madison usually tags along with Pieper to preschool at my mom's house and she is such a parrot that she is picking up on everything. It is so fun to watch her improvement and listen to her repeat everything and anything that is said. She reminds me a lot of Harrison because he was so smart at such a young age. Much like Madison, he was speaking in full sentences at 18 months and he spoke so well that people often thought he was three years old. Madison speaks very well and she is pretty tall so she seems to be a lot older. I have to remind myself at times that she's not as old as she seems (at times I am reminded of how young she is and it's usually when she's throwing a tantrum on the floor).

Week Long Birthday

2010-01-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

I have never...in my whole life...been more excited to be done with a birthday than I was this week. Pieper had her birthday on Monday and she definitely took full advantage of being the "BIRTHDAY GIRL." In the morning Parker bumped her in the hall while he was walking past and she was so upset because he bumped her on her birthday. She made comments all day like "I don't have to do that because I'm the birthday girl" or "I don't have to be nice because I'm the birthday girl." We went to visit my Grandma that night and the first thing Pieper said when she walked in the door to Grandma was, "So today is my birthday." This makes her sound like a brat but she usually is very sweet but for some reason she got the idea that on your birthday everybody has to bow down to you and you get to rule the roost. She knew that her birthday was after Christmas so the day after she woke up and thought it was her birthday and that continued on everyday until it really was her birthday. For her birthday she gave me some ideas of what she wanted and some of the items were things like her own Maceys grocery store with a big sign out front, her own house with a bed so she could play house in it with her friends, and a car to play with in the backyard. Unfortunately she didn't get any of those presents but I think she ended up having a good day besides all the "terrible" things that happened to her and she loved the presents she got. For her birthday party she wanted to invite all her cousins (which is about 25 people) and they were going to go to Circus Circus and then Disneyland and they were going to eat cotton candy. As you can see she had big dreams for her birthday and she had definitely thought about what she wanted and how she was going to celebrate it.

Jeff the Comedian

2009-12-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

Jeff played a pretty good practical joke on me on Christmas Day. I need to give a little background so it will make sense. We have a 1999 Expedition that isn't the prettiest thing but it still runs and it gets us where we need to go. It's got a lot of miles on it and Jeff is worried that it's going to give out on us any day now. So for the past couple of months he's been talking about getting a new car, which I would love but I don't love the idea of having a car payment again so I keep telling him that we need to wait. So two days before Christmas Jeff went to pick up my present and he said, "I've got to go get your new car" and then he just laughed. So on Christmas morning when the kids got up Parker went straight to the garage and opened up the door. Jeff told Parker to shut the door so we could go open up our presents. Parker was all ancy and kept telling me that I needed to open up a particular present from Jeff. Finally Jeff gave in and he told me to open it. When I opened up the box there was a piece of paper in it that had a picture of a Denali and it had information about 0% interest for 72 months. I just sat there because I didn't know what to think. Then I noticed that it said to go and look in the garage. Then it clicked why Parker had gone to look in the garage...he was excited about my present. I just looked at Jeff and said, "Are you serious?" He just shrugged his shoulders and told me to go look. Parker was so excited he was bouncing off the walls. I was stunned, shocked, and speechless. I didn't think Jeff would really get me a new car but I knew that he had really been researching different types and so I thought maybe he had gone ahead and done it. So when we get upstairs and I start to get excited about having a new car and I open up the garage and there sits our old Expedition with a sign that says...."just kidding." I fell for it. After that Jeff felt a little (eency weency tiny bit) sorry because I really believed it but he still thought it was pretty funny.

Jeff's New Job

2009-12-26T19:06:00.001-08:00

Jeff reminded me of a funny thing that happened to him a few weeks ago and I had write it down so I wouldn't forget it. Jeff was driving down the road in our bobtail dump truck and our new neighbor, that lives a couple houses down from us, ran out to the road and began waving at Jeff so he stopped the truck and rolled down the window. The guy jumped up on the truck and said, "Hey you forgot to get my garbage." Jeff just sat there for a minute because he was a little confused and then he realized that the guy thought he was the garbage man. Jeff patiently told him that he wasn't the garbage man and that he wasn't driving a garbage truck. The guy just sat there with a distant look on his face so Jeff continued to explain that we have a landscaping business and that he was actually driving a dump truck, which hauls things like rocks and mulch not garbage. After a few minutes he must have caught on and said, "Sorry dude!" I couldn't stop laughing when he told me. I guess if landscaping slows down we can always resort to garbage collection:)

Once There Was a Snowman

2009-11-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

Madison's favorite song right now is "Once There Was a Snowman." She knows all the words to the song and will not sing it without doing the actions. Once we start singing it we usually end up singing it at least five or six times because she won't let us quit. When she wants me to sing it she'll say, "Mom, snowman" (it's not a question it's a demand). She also likes "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See." She knows all the animals in the song and their colors but her favorite animals are the brown bear and purple cat.

Princess or Football Player

2009-11-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

For those of you that know Madison will understand when I say that she is more like a football player than a princess but at least once a day she brings me one of our princess dresses and wants me to put it on her. It's funny to watch her walk around in it because at this time in her life she is not at all feminine. She is "beefy" and tough but so dang cute and cuddly at the same time. She loves to play princess or house with Pieper and Adriana but she also likes to play football with Harrison and Parker.

Love Note

2009-11-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

The other day Adriana was preparing her lunch and she brought me in a note card and asked me if I would write a note for her. I asked her why I needed to write a note and she said, "Because lots of kids get notes from their moms in their lunchbox but I never get one. So will you write me one and I'll act like I'm surprised and I promise I won't read it until tomorrow." So I wrote her a note telling her how much I loved her and I like how she always helps me out. The next day after school she got into the car and she was so excited because she had gotten a note from me.
I made a comment about it to Parker and he said, "I hope you never put one in my lunch box because that would be embarrassing. I'd just throw it away." His comment really surprised me because Parker usually likes cheesy things like that. The very next morning he said in a macho sort of way, "Mom, are you going to put a note in my lunchbox?" Right then I knew that that was his little way of letting me know that in all reality he would like one as well so I've got to remember to put a love note in his lunchbox.

Feeding the Ducks

2009-09-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we decided to take the girls to a local pond to feed the ducks. We bought two loaves of bread to take with us. The girls had such a fun time throwing the bread to the ducks. Madison really got into it and wanted to be right there among all the ducks throwing them bread. There were two really aggressive swans that would walk right up to Madison and take the bread out of her hands. Madison decided to call it quits when one of the swans mistook her finger for bread. After that she wouldn't throw any more bread to them. Adriana and Pieper didn't mind the swans and finished up the rest of the loaf. Adriana was very concerned about getting the bread to the smaller ducks because she thought they probably didn't get as much as the bigger, faster ducks. Pieper liked throwing them whole pieces of bread because they would fight over it and chase each other around. Everyone had a lot of fun and I am glad that we took the time to do it.

In a Minute

2009-09-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last week as I was getting Madison ready for her afternoon nap I asked her, "Do you want to take a nap?" I wasn't really expecting a response so she surprised me when she said, "Nope...in a minute." It was plain as day and so cute.

Family Pictures

2009-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

We had our family pictures taken today and I sure wish I had taken someone along with me to record the whole thing because I am pretty sure I could have won a big chunk of change on America's Funniest Videos. It was a JOKE...and not a very funny one. Madison was more interested in the river and throwing rocks. Pieper wanted to be in every picture except the ones that she was meant to be in. Parker got the giggles and wouldn't sit still. Getting family pictures is always such a stressful thing for me because I want them to be perfect and turn out so cute. I am not sure that we will even have any cute ones (not the fault of the photographer by any means) because nobody wanted to cooperate. So my Christmas cards this year might be missing a few kids or half of them might be pulling a face because I am pinching them from behind.

She's What?

2009-09-13T20:52:00.001-07:00

The other night as I was crocheting around a baby blanket Pieper asked me if the blanket was for Jennifer. I told her no and then she asked me if Jennifer was having a girl or boy baby. I told her that I didn't know and then kept crocheting. A couple minutes later Adriana said, "Wait...what? Is Jennifer having a baby?" I told her yes and then she said, "Oh my gosh, does she know that?"

Pieper's Voice

2009-07-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

I may be prejudice but I have to say that Pieper has got the cutest voice in the world. It's quite a bit raspy and at the end of the day it seems to be even raspier (Yes, Brett that's a real word). Her voice is also quite deep and so with those two things combined it makes a cute little voice for her. Today she told me that her voice hurts and she needs to get it fixed so people don't laugh at her. I personally hope it doesn't change because I think it's quite cute!

Family Pet

2009-07-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

I had this conversation with Pieper today while we were out taking bids:

Pieper: "Can I have a pet cat?"
Me: "No, I don't like cats."
Pieper: "Can I have another pet?"
Me: "No."
Pieper: "What animal does Dad like that I can have for a pet?"
Me: "Dad doesn't really like animals."
Pieper: "Then if I can"t have a cat that's alive can I have a dead one?"

How was I supposed to respond to that?

HUH???

2009-07-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just had the following conversation with Pieper and I had to share it:

Pieper: "Harrison won't let me watch Tinkerbell on TV."
Me: "Of course he doesn't want to watch Tinkerbell because he thinks it's a movie for girls."
Pieper: "But I really want to watch it."
Me: "Is Tinkerbell on TV?"
Pieper: "On what TV?"
Me: "In the other room."
Pieper: "Did you buy it?"
Me: "No, is it on TV?"
Pieper: "What TV?"
Me: "Did you see Tinkerbell on the TV downstairs?"
Pieper: "Do we have it?"
Me: "HUH???????????"

If this makes sense to anybody please translate and let me know what it means.

Madison's new bed

2009-07-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

My sister Janet found a cute little toddler bed at a yard sale and said I could use it for Madison until she got a little older and needed a bigger bed. She is currently sleeping in a pack & play and for those of you who know her can appreciate the fact that she is not a small little girl so there is not a lot of room for her in there. So we thought we would try the toddler bed and see how she liked it. I was a little nervous about how she would do but we put her on the bed with her blanket and cup and then turned off the lights and shut the door. We didn't hear anything all night so we assumed things were going well until about 5:00 AM. All of a sudden Madison started crying really hard. We both thought she had rolled off the bed so Jeff went to check on her. When he got to her room he could hear her crying but he could not find her anywhere. After searching for a few minutes he found her under the bed. I am not quite sure how she got under there because there is only about a four inch gap between the floor and the bed but somehow she managed. She was so scared she was shaking. It was funny and sad at the same time. The next night she did not want anything to do with her new bed. She threw a fit and started crying but I honestly think she was scared to death to be on the bed for fear that somehow she would end up underneath it again. So needless to say, she is once again sleeping in the pack & play for a few more months until we decide to try again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!

2009-07-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today's is Jeff's birthday and I wanted to share a little bit about the shopping experience I had with the kids yesterday while we were shopping for Jeff's birthday presents. Pieper and Adriana did some work for me earlier in the day so they could earn some money to buy Jeff a present. Pieper earned $2.00 and Adriana earned $5.00. While we were in the car driving to Target they were discussing what they were going to buy Jeff (most of which cost a lot more than they had) like a new outfit, his favorite candy bar, or a new bed (pretty random). As soon as we got inside the store they completely forgot all about Jeff and they began to find items such as a new purse, some jewelry, and new shoes that wanted to spend their money on. I tried to remind them that we were shopping for Jeff but they still tried to find things to buy for themselves. They finally settled on a couple presents that satisfied both their needs and Jeff's needs. Adriana bought Jeff a pack of gum and her a pack of gum and Pieper bought a package of three chapsticks and she gave one to Jeff and kept two for herself. When they got home they had the funnest time wrapping the presents and making cards. It just about killed them to wait until today to give him his presents.

That's Old

2009-07-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

My mom had the following conversation with Pieper the other day:

Mom: "Pieper, did you know it's Janean's birthday today?"
Pieper: "How old is she?"
Mom: "She's 31 years old."
Pieper: "Wow, that's old. Is she going to die now?"
Mom: "No, she still has a long time to live."

My mom was laughing because she's in her early 60's (but doesn't look a day over 50) and said that if 31 is old than she's ancient.

I love how little kid's minds work. I remember being younger and thinking that 30 sounded so old but now that I am past that (just barely) it doesn't seem so old anymore.

I'm Back

2009-07-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize for not updating this but it has been rather crazy lately with the landscaping season in full force so I haven't had a chance to do much journaling. But I would like to do better from now on and update this on a regular basis...so wish me luck:)

Adriana's Birthday

2009-05-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Adriana's birthday is coming up and she has informed me that all she wants is Taylor Swift Concert tickets and a backstage pass. That's a pretty tall order and I hope she's not too disappointed with just concert tickets and no backstage pass. She absolutely LOVES Taylor Swift. The other day one of her songs came on the radio and Adriana started to sing along. After the song was over she said, "I sound just like her don't I mom." I can't wait to see her face when I tell her that she's going to the concert. She has been asking me everyday if she can go for her birthday and I wanted to tell her so bad but instead I told her that I heard that all the tickets were gone. She thought about it for a minute and said, "Then can I watch it on TV instead?" Harrison quickly informed her that it wouldn't be on TV, which made her very disappointed. I like Taylor Swift as well so I'm looking forward to the concert.

Madison Update

2009-05-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Madison is such a fun little girl but she is currently going through a phase of wanting to be held. I don't mind holding her but she wants to be on my lap for two seconds and then she gets down and then she wants up again only to turn around and get down. Hopefully she will grow out of this stage soon. She loves to back up to things and sit down on them. If I am sitting on the floor she will walk backwards and sit on my lap. If she finds anything that is at her level she will back up to it and sit down. She is learning new words every day. Some of the new things she has learned are "hot, shoes, nose, Harrison, more, cheese, uh-huh, side (for outside), and bath." She still loves to be outside and has recently discovered the swings. She loves to be pushed in the swing and she actually doesn't mind just sitting there and hanging out without anybody pushing her. She has also discovered dogs and whenever she sees one she will start to bark and try and "pet" them (she usually just pulls their hair but in a loving way). She still has the fattest (is that even a word???) feet ever and I have only been able to find two pairs of shoes that don't squeeze her feet a bunch and leave marks. She is such a fun little girl and definitely keeps us on our toes.

Pieper's "Upcoming" Birthday

2009-05-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

Pieper is always talking about her birthday and acts as if it's just around the corner, but it's not. The other day she was talking about it again and said, "Mom for my birthday I want a bathroom." I asked her what she was going to do with a bathroom and where she would put it and she said, "I'd put it in my room so I don't have to walk very far when I need to use it."

Madison

2009-04-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Madison's favorite words right now are "don't" and "ouch." If I tell her not to do something she'll walk up to me and say "don't" just plain as day. She is such a busy little girl. She loves to follow Pieper and Adriana around and "hang out" with them as Adriana has termed it. She still loves to eat and her favorite foods are pizza, mashed potatoes, and cheese. Of course she'll eat anything, which is obvious if you look at her monster thighs, which are so fun to squeeze. She loves music and whenever we put a CD on she will start to bounce up and down and turn around. She is jabbering so much and it's funny to listen to her because I think she thinks she is really talking. She loves to go outside but I don't like her to very often because her favorite thing to do is go up and down the block stairs, which makes me so nervous. We have a big backyard for her to explore and she decides to stay at the stairs. She is such a happy baby (unless it's nap time) and such a joy to have in our family.

3 going on 16

2009-04-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

I asked Pieper to take the calculator to Jeff and she grabbed it from and then she started pushing all the buttons really fast. I said, "Pieper, hurry and take that to Dad he needs to use it." She looked at me and said, "Just a minute I'm texting really fast." What??????? How old is she...and how in the world does she know about texting? I just learned about six months ago how to do it and here my little 3 year old is pretending that she's texting.

The Story Continues...

2009-04-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

Last night Jeff and I were talking about how he feels so old because he has grey hair and about what had happened a few days ago (refer to previous post) and he was laughing at how Chris didn't say anything about Jeff not being his dad. Jeff said, "It would have been so easy for him to just nicely correct him and tell him that it's not his dad." I started to laugh because it reminded me of a contractor that Jeff has done quite a bit of work for. For some reason he got it in his head that Jeff's name was Jerry. So while they were walking around a job site one day he kept saying, "What do you think about this Jerry? How would this look over here Jerry." Jeff never corrected him because he didn't want him to feel bad. It's been over a year and every time Jeff talks to the contractor he still gets called Jerry but he has never corrected him.

Jeff's "New" Son

2009-04-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Jeff came home the other day and had the funniest story to tell me. I thought some of you might enjoy this story as much as I did.

Chris, one of the guys that works with us, was picking up some paver samples for Jeff. The owner of the company came out and asked Chris if he could get his Dad's phone number. Chris was a little caught off guard because he wasn't sure how the owner knew his dad. Once again the owner said, "Can I get your dad's number. Jeff's your dad right?" Chris didn't feel like explaining that no Jeff wasn't his dad but he simply shook his head and said yes and then gave him the phone number. So a few minutes later the owner of the company called Jeff and said, "We just got your son all loaded up with the pavers so you should be good to go."

Jeff couldn't quit laughing after he got off the phone. I am a little surprised that Jeff was taking it so lightly because he is so self-conscious of his grey hair. What's funny is that Chris is actually a year older than Jeff. Jeff said, "I must look really old and Chris must look really young."

Buster Brown

2009-04-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

I took Harrison and Parker to Famous Footwear yesterday to find some new church shoes. Much to Harrison's disappointment (and my excitement) he still has to buy shoes in the "little kids" section. After trying on several pairs of shoes we finally decided on a pair that were a great price and seemed to fit him the best. As we were walking out of the store Harrison said, "Please don't tell any of my friends that my church shoes are called Buster Brown because I will be so embarrassed."

My Babies are Getting so Big!

2009-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am sure we can all remember back to the days when we were younger and wanted a piece of clothing or a certain type of shoes that were the "in" thing at the time. I always wanted a pair of Girbaud jeans and I think I finally got them about two years after they were no longer popular but that didn't matter to me. Well my boys just informed me that the cool thing right now at their school is shirts from Aeropostal. They can't just say "Aero" they need to say the whole name. So since we had to take a trip to the mall anyway for church shoes I decided to take them into Aeropostal for a quick look. They were so excited. I didn't think they would have anything that fit them but surprisingly enough they did. Harrison fits into their XS shirts. While I was looking at their shirts Harrison and Parker were talking back and forth.

Parker: "So these shirts are pretty cool."
Harrison: "Ya, Bryson wears them all the time."
Parker: "We are going to look awesome in these."
Harrison: "Ya, I can't wait."

So I broke down and bought them a couple shirts. Parker's shirts are a little long but the sales lady reassured us that they would shrink. He wore one today even though I didn't have a chance to shrink it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he needed to wait to wear it.

Pieper's Christmas Dance

2009-03-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is the dance that Pieper did for Christmas. The recital was held at the Festival of Trees. There were quite a few people there so at first I thought she might be too nervous to do it but she did a great job and had a fun time.

Football Players

2009-03-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Santa brought Harrison and Parker complete football outfits with everything they need to be "professional" football players. Parker was so excited he wore it all day every day for at least a week. A couple nights I even found him in bed with his helmet on. They can't wait for warmer weather so they can use them in a game of football.

Now That's Thinking

2009-03-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Adriana and Pieper got a four foot tall Barbie doll house. They love it so much and play with it quite a bit. One day I was picking up after Pieper and this is what I found...

This Barbie is sleeping in the kitchen on a night stand that Pieper moved from the bedroom. If you look closely you can see that Barbie has her sunglasses on. I guess the flourescent lights must be pretty bright.

This Barbie is laying (or lying...Brett which is it?) across the the couch. She actually looks like she is floating in the air but she's not. For some reason Pieper thought she would be more comfortable there than in her bed.

I guess she couldn't find a blanket to cover the Barbie with so she just put a dresser on top of her so she would stay warm.

Best Legs Ever

2009-03-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures after Madison got out of the bath. I love her fat cheeks and I especially love her chubby, rolly, legs. Aren't they the best ever. It's no wonder I have to buy bigger pants...I can't fit them over her monster thighs.

Chug, Chug, Chug

2009-03-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

The kids started teasing Madison one day because she drinks her bottle so fast. Harrison and the other kids started to chant "chug, chug, chug, chug." Madison thought it was funny and began to copy what they were doing.

Girl's vs Boy's

2009-03-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Adriana decided it would be a good idea to have a bathroom for the boys and one for the girls so she made signs. The boy's bathroom sign was on the master bathroom door and the girl's bathroom sign was on the main bathroom door. Pieper took the signs literally and would not use the "boy's" bathroom. One day she had to go so bad but someone was in the "girl's" bathroom and she just about wet her pants. It took quite a while for me to convince her that it was okay to use the "boy's" bathroom in an emergency. When she came out she was laughing. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Now I'm a boy!" I left the signs up for about a week but then I had to take them down because it was causing too many problems with Pieper. She would actually get mad if someone went into the "wrong" bathroom.

Silly Boys

2009-03-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

The other day we were at the Olive Garden and while we were waiting to be seated Pieper looked over at the men's bathroom and said, "Look that boy's naked." Jeff and I looked over to see what she was talking about and realized that she was talking about the men's bathroom sign. I had never noticed before but on the women's bathroom sign the lady is wearing a dress but on the men's it looks like he really isn't wearing anything. You'll have to look next time. It's amazing how little kid's minds work because I would have never noticed it before.

Baby Steps

2009-02-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

This past week we were on our family vacation and Madison took three steps. She was so excited because we all started clapping and making a fuss over her. Since then she will randomly stand up and take a few steps. I'm sure it won't be long before she is walking.

Fading Polka Dots

2009-02-12T08:22:00.000-08:00

The other day while I was getting Adriana ready she said, "Why are my polka dots getting lighter?" I couldn't figure out what she was talking about and then she pointed to her nose and said, "See my polka dots are lighter." She meant her freckles. When I reminded her of what they were called she couldn't stop laughing because she had called them polka dots.

Pizza & a Tip

2009-01-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

Harrison and Parker stayed home from school today because they didn't want to go on the field trip with their school. Harrison felt like he was too masculine to go and watch boys dancing around in tights and Parker has to do everything that Harrison does so he stayed home as well. I don't let my kids stay home whenever they want but I do allow them one day, during the school year, that they can stay home. The one stipulation is that it can't be on a test day or when they are doing something really important. So Harrison and Parker decided to pick today as their one day off, which was fine with me.

While Jeff and I were out running errands Harrison decided to order pizza. So he called me up and said, "Mom I ordered some pizza..." and I had to ask him to repeat what he just said because I wasn't sure I had heard him right. But sure enough I did hear him right and he had ordered pizza from a local pizza joint. The crazy thing about the whole conversation was the fact that he was actually calling me up to ask how much of a tip he should give the delivery driver. I was amazed that someone his age would actually be concerned about how much to leave for a tip. Sometimes he amazes me with how grown up he is.

Funny Prayers

2009-01-29T22:13:00.001-08:00

I wanted to write a couple things that were said while the kids were saying their prayers.

The other night it was Adriana's turn to pray. She usually goes through the whole family and blesses everybody. Lately Madison has had a bad cough and cold and hasn't been sleeping through the night. Jeff and I will usually pray that the kids will have a good night and get the rest that they need. So Adriana got to Madison and she said, "Bless that Madison won't wake up," and she ended it there. I quickly had to add, "during the night" so that Heavenly Father didn't make Madison a sleep permanently. I had to explain to her after the prayer why I had interrupted her because I didn't feel like I could let that one go without being corrected.

Yesterday it was Pieper's turn to say the blessing on the food and it turned into a long prayer (like it usually does) and she began to bless everybody and everything in our house. I am sure that most everybody knows what I am talking about here. It's great that she wants to say the blessing on her own but we might have to limit her saying the blessing on the food because by the time she was done the food was cold and we had to rewarm it. Anyway...towards the end of the prayer Pieper said, "Please bless my mom that she will be nice to me." I didn't realize that I had done anything to offend Pieper but obviously I had and she was going to let me know it. I tried to make it up to her today by letting her run errands with me and I even bought her a pack of gum, which is currently her favorite treat.

Best Baby

2009-01-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry if this grosses anybody out...

We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful, easy-going baby. Madison is always so happy (except when Jennifer watches her or when Rich looks at her). She has been a little sick lately and consequently she's had a terrible runny nose and gunky eyes (which is so disgusting). The other morning I got Madison up and she had so much junk in her eyes she could not open them up but she sat right up when I called her name and had the biggest smile on her face. She had her eyes sealed shut but she was grinning from ear to ear and she kept moving her head around trying to find where my voice was coming from. It was so funny and I would have taken a picture but it was pretty gross.

Yucky snow

2009-01-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while Pieper was at my mom's house she decided to eat some snow. My mom told her that she was going to get sick from the dirty snow because cats and dogs go to the bathroom in it and Pieper said, "No, I won't" My mom tried to tell her that it was gross and that she could get really sick and have to go to the hospital and Pieper looked at my mom and said, "No, I won't get sick because I already am so it doesn't matter." (Pieper currently has a terrible runny nose and cough)

There is no use arguing with Pieper because she has an answer for everything. It's funny and frustrating at the same time.

I'm sorry...so sorry!

2009-01-27T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize for not writing for quite some time but life has been rather busy the past few days, weeks, months...

I just wanted to write something funny that Adriana said the other day. On the weekends our kids love to sleep in the toy room (they beg us to sleep in there on the floor). I personally think it's crazy because they would rather sleep on the floor than on their comfortable beds. Anyway...last Friday they couldn't find the remote for the TV in the toy room so they couldn't sleep in (heaven for bid they get up and change the channel by hand) there so they decided to sleep in the family room instead. After they had been downstairs for about ten minutes Adriana came upstairs and said, "I don't want to sleep downstairs because it's scary." We told her that it would be fine and that she needed to go lay down and then she said, "I don't really feel comfortable with this situation because it scares me."

I thought it was so funny that she used such big, grown up words.

Breathin'

2008-12-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

The other day Jeff and I were out delivering contractor gifts and we decided to bring Pieper along with us. Pieper is a very loud breather (is that even a word?) and at one point Jeff said to Pieper, "Is that you back there breathin'?" Pieper said, "My name's not Breathin' it's Pieper." Jeff has made a joke about it a couple more times since then and Pieper always argues with Jeff that her name isn't Breathin'.

Pieper's Pants

2008-12-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

A couple nights ago I was putting Pieper to bed and she kept getting one drink after another. After about her fifth drink I told her that she couldn't have anymore because she was going to wet her pants. She said, "No I won't," to which I replied, "Yes, if you drink too much water and then go to bed you will wet your pants." Once again she said, "No I won't...because I'm not wearing pants. I have on pajamas."

Madison Crawling

2008-11-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

Madison has finally started crawling. I was a little worried that she might never do it but she surprised me last Tuesday because I set her on the floor in my room to play with her toys and then I left the room for a minute and when I came back she was in the hall. I thought she just rolled there but when I sat her back down she got on all fours and started to crawl. She is getting faster everyday. She is so much more content since she has learned how to crawl. I think she was so bored just sitting in one spot.

The Alphabet Pieper Style

2008-11-17T11:14:00.001-08:00

Pieper came up to me yesterday and said, "Mom I know my letters so listen to me." She went on to tell me her version of the alphabet, which was "H.H.H.H.how you are S.T.U." Not too bad for a two year old.

Yesterday morning Pieper woke up before I did and she came in to my room and wanted to carry on a conversation with me but I guess I wasn't doing too well because she said, "Mom, use words not sounds. I can't understand what you're saying." I guess she didn't like the fact that I answered her by saying, "uh huh."

Tooth Troubles

2008-11-13T20:09:00.001-08:00

Last Friday Parker's tooth fell out and for some reason he decided to save it for the tooth fairy on Monday. Parker had his tooth sitting on the counter upstairs (because the tooth fairy seems to remember better when it's in plain sight) and when he went to check on it before he went to bed to make sure it was still there it was gone. He asked everybody where it was and nobody had any idea. I told him to leave a note letting the tooth fairy know that he had accidentally lost it so she would still leave him some money, which is what he did. Later that night Adriana woke up came into our room and said she couldn't sleep so I went and laid on the bed with her. I thought since she had already been asleep that it would be a quick thing but it turned out to be longer than I thought because she wouldn't fall back asleep. She kept peeking to see if I was closing my eyes and then every time I moved she would look over to see if I was leaving. At one point she even sat up and said, "Do you think the tooth fairy is going to give Parker money?" After 45 minutes she still wasn't asleep so I gave up and told her to bring her pillow and blanket into my room, which she gladly did. The next morning Parker was so excited because the tooth fairy had indeed left him money. Adriana quickly piped up and said, "I know where your tooth is...it's under my pillow. I wanted to see if the tooth fairy would leave me money instead of you." Parker responded by saying, "Adriana the tooth fairy wouldn't leave you money because she knew it was my tooth." Adriana asked how she knew and Parker said, "Because she's just like Heavenly Father and she can see everything you do." That satisfied her curiosity and then she went on to say, "But everybody in my class has lost a tooth except me." So I guess she thought she could trick everybody in her class into believing that she had lost a tooth. Parker quickly squashed her idea by telling her that everybody would look in her mouth and see that she had all her teeth and they would know she was lying.

HELP

2008-11-03T10:07:00.001-08:00

I just got Madison's pictures taken last week and I need help deciding which ones are the cutest...will somebody please help me.

The link is www.angieclaysonphoto.com. Click on "clients" in the bottom right hand corner. Enter in my password "steduv30" and then let me know which one you think is the best.

Fashion Sense of a Three Year Old

2008-10-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today while I was getting Pieper dressed she kept arguing with me that her clothes did not match. I tried to tell her that I had been getting dressed a lot longer than she had and I knew what I was doing but she wouldn't listen. To put things in to perspective a little bit let me explain that Pieper's sense of fashion is wearing around her pajamas or dance outfit. Most of the time her pajama top and bottom are mismatched and her shoes don't match. She was mad because I made her wear a pair of jeans with a pink shirt and brown flip flops. She felt like she needed to wear a pink pair of shoes to match the shirt or she wanted to change into a brown shirt. Most of the time I give in to her because it's usually easier but today I did not give in so for the greater part of the morning she cried and cried and cried.

Crazy Kid

2008-10-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

All day Friday and Saturday Parker complained about his stomach hurting but I didn't think a whole lot about it because he would say it and then act normal five minutes later. While we were at the luncheon after Grandma Pieper's funeral Parker came up to me and said, "Mom I don't feel good I think I'm going to..." I think he meant to say throw up because that's exactly what he did. I quickly grabbed a plate off the table and he threw up into that. I am amazed at how much that plate could hold (I'm going to have to find out the brand because it was one hefty plate. Maybe we could re-enact the whole thing and make a commercial out of it). I felt bad for all the people that were still eating while it happened because I am sure their appetite was ruined after that. Not even two minutes later Parker said, "Mom can I have a brownie?" I thought he was kidding but he was dead serious. He could not understand why I would not let him have one. He kept arguing that his stomach felt better and it would be fine. Needless to say, Parker never got his brownie.

Mom Knows Best

2008-10-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the 17th we left for Idaho to go to Grandma Pieper's funeral. About two hours before we left Adriana began to complain that her stomach hurt. I told her to eat a few saltine crackers and see if it calmed her stomach down. She ate two crackers and about five minutes later she threw up. Luckily she had grabbed a bowl so we didn't have a mess everywhere. I figured she must have had one to many fruit roll-ups and that she would be fine but about two minutes before we were planning on leaving Adriana threw up again but this time she didn't get it into the bowl. We quickly got her in the bath and then I told her to take some nausea medicine to calm her stomach down. She knew that it tasted yucky but she trusted me because I'm the mom and we know everything! We thought that the medicine would do the trick but we decided to bring the bowl just in case. We had been in the car about five minutes when Adriana threw up the medicine that we had just given her. So we stopped at the store to get some 7-up. I told Adriana that my mom would always buy us 7-up when our stomach hurt and it always made us feel better. So once again she trusted me and drank some. Five minutes later she threw up the 7-up. This continued until we got to Tremonton where we decided to spend the night. When we got in the hotel room I told Adriana to get in the bath tub. I explained to her that it always made me feel better to get in a warm tub and relax. She just stared at me like she didn't hear what I said so I repeated it again. She looked at me and said, "I don't want to." I thought she was just being difficult but then she said, "Everything that you do to make you feel better doesn't work for me it just makes me worse. So I'm not going to get in the tub because it will probably make me throw up again." I couldn't disagree with her because all my methods had failed. So instead she went to bed and the next morning she was better.

Grandma Pieper is with Jesus

2008-10-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Jeff's Grandma Pieper this week and when I told Pieper that she had died and that Grandma had gone to live with Jesus she said, "Oh mom can I go and live with him too?" I don't like it when my kids ask me questions like that because I don't even like to think of them leaving me so I told her, "No, not for a long time. I need you to stay here with me. Grandma Pieper is with her husband and brothers in Heaven." Then Pieper said, "Okay, will you call him for me then." I tried to explain to her about prayer and that's how we talk to Jesus but she didn't really understand what I was saying. As soon as the other kids woke up she immediately told them that Grandma Pieper had died and is now living with Jesus.

Deodorant

2008-10-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

The other day while I was taking Harrison and Parker to their friend's house we somehow got on the subject of deodorant. Harrison told me that his friend Bryson wears deodorant but earlier that day they found out that Bryson had forgotten to put it on because he stunk after playing football. So I said, "Oh how did he decide when to start wearing it? Did he start because he's in 6th grade?" Harrison said, "No, he's already had the maturation program." When he said it he acted as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world and that I should have already known why he started wearing it." Then Harrison went on to say that he thought he needed to wear deodorant because he stinks as well after he plays football. Parker quickly chimed in and said that he needed some as well. In unison they said that they wanted Old Spice deodorant, but not the original kind because it smells like soap. They want the kind that smells like you have cologne on. It was very obvious to me that they had put quite a bit of thought into the whole "deodorant" thing so I told them that I would have to think about it. So a couple days later while Jeff and I were grocery shopping we decided to pick up some deodorant for Harrison and Parker. We left it sitting on the counter so they would see it when they got home from the football game. Harrison immediately saw it and asked what it was for. I played dumb and told him to go ask his dad. So he went in and asked him and Jeff told him that we had gotten it for them so they wouldn't smell bad anymore. Harrison acted so nonchalant about it and said, "Oh okay," and then he turned around and had the biggest grin on his face. So if you are around my boys you'll have to comment on their cologne, oops...I mean deodorant.

Amelia Bedelia's twin

2008-10-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Lately Pieper has been taking things that I say quite literally, which reminds me of the Amelia Bedelia stories. I use to read them all the time when I was younger and I loved how she took everything literally. Today while we were eating pizza at the park (fat free of course) I told Pieper that she needed to finish her food before she could have a sucker. So she asked me, "How much?" I thought she was asking me how much of it she needed to eat so I said, "The whole thing!" So she tried to stuff the whole thing in her mouth in one bite. I guess she was asking me how many bites she needed to take and I basically told her one.

2008-10-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago Pieper woke up around 2:30 AM because she was all stuffed up and could barely breath so I told her that I was going to give her some medicine that would make her nose feel better. When I got back into the room with the Benadryl tablet she said, "Which nose?" I thought she meant which side would it help so I said, "Both of them." So she put the tablet up to her left nostril and tried to push it inside. I quickly realized that she wanted to know which side she was supposed to put the medicine up since I told her it was for her nose. I laughed so hard but she didn't seem to think it was very funny and she just put her down on the pillow and she was asleep within seconds.

Why I have Girls

2008-09-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was outside a minute ago looking at the flowers in my yard and Adriana and Pieper walked out with me. After a few minutes Adriana said, "I know why you had me." I asked her why and she said, "Because you needed someone to talk to when your boys were gone to the football games and that's what me and Pieper do."

Great Brother

2008-09-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Harrison is such a sweet boy. Adriana has been wanting to eat "breakfast" (really lunch) in the lunchroom at school but she is afraid to go by herself so for about three days now Harrison has been taking Adriana into the lunchroom to eat her "breakfast" and then he walks her to her classroom after she is done. On Friday the school had a breakfast pizza that they were serving so Harrison decided to get it because it had sausages on it, which are Adriana's favorite, and he knew that so he let her pick them off and eat them. It was such a small act of kindness but so sweet at the same time.

Math Homework

2008-09-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Parker is great at math and his teacher even told me that she would like to move him up a level to 4th grade math because he has really caught on (but it probably won't happen because there isn't room in the 4th grade class). But what his teacher doesn't know is that he takes forever to do his homework at home. It's like pulling teeth to get him to do it. He will literally throw himself on the ground and start complaining each time I tell him he needs to do his math homework. The math homework that he has started to do this year requires that he explain how he got the answer that he did, which is where Parker gets hung up. He does not like writing and would rather just skip over it but unfortunately for him (and me) he can't. Once he sits down to do the homework he is pretty okay it's just a matter of getting him to do it. The other day I threatened to tell his teacher how he acts when I ask him to do his homework and he took me seriously because he has done a little bit better since then.

The Library

2008-09-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

A couple days ago I took Pieper to the library for the first time this year. She had such a great time! I think she would have taken home very book in the library if I would have let her but being the mean mom that I am I only let her check out five books. She especially liked getting a stamp on each hand after we checked the books out.

While we were at the library we also had to make a bathroom stop because Pieper had to go "really bad and she couldn't wait anymore." She thought the bathroom was pretty neat as well because she was tall enough to reach the sink and the soap by herself.

Pieper also enjoyed the fact that the library has an elevator. She loves to push the buttons herself, which she usually doesn't get to do if Parker is around because he is afraid she is going to push the alarm (which she has done on more than one occasion).

When we got home from the library Pieper carried the books into the house by herself and immediately sat down and began to look at them. She spent about two hours looking at books and making up stories. Later that night she had to sleep with the books as well so they wouldn't get lost and she could find them first thing the following morning.

The next day when she got up she found her back pack and put all her books in their for easier carrying. She took her back pack every where with her. Later in the day we made another trip to the library and exchanged her books for new ones. This time we took Adriana with us and she got some of her own books (she was rather jealous of Pieper the day before).

When I was younger I loved to go to the library! My dream was to be a librarian and be able to read every book that came in the door so I would know what to recommend to the patrons. It hasn't happened yet but maybe when my kids are all grown up and moved away I will fulfill my dream.

Brotherly Love

2008-09-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

While I was on my home from picking up the kids from school Harrison told me about what had happened at lunch recess. Harrison and Parker have recess and lunch together because they are both in the multi-age program, which is a lot of fun for them because they get to be with each other a lot throughout the day. Harrison began by telling me that Parker had cried at lunch recess because their "friend" had said a mean comment about Parker. The comment was "Don't pass the ball to Parker he'll just fumble it. He sucks at playing football." So Harrison went up to their "friend" and pushed him and then said, "Don't ever say anything mean about my brother again. He is a better football than you will ever be," and then he walked off. I guess the football game continued on much as it had before after that. Then Harrison said, "You know what the best thing about it was?"

At this point I was thinking, "Something good came from this? Did any teachers see Harrison pushing his 'friend'? Is Harrison going to get kicked out of school?"

"On the next play Parker intercepted the ball and made a touchdown."

And then I came back to reality and realized that my two boys are best friends, despite the fact that they fight A LOT and they scream at each other more than I would like, they are truly best friends and would do anything for one another. I am so happy that Harrison and Parker can be friends and experience things together. I hope they will continue to be friends in the future and be able to share some really fun, exciting experiences.

Another Ear Infection

2008-09-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of days Madison has been a bear, which is not like her at all because she is usually such a happy baby. Around 3:00-4:00 PM on Monday and yesterday she started to get really fussy and wouldn't stop crying unless she was being held (by me). I love to hold her but it gets a little tricky when I am trying to cook dinner or get some work done. I debated whether I should take her to the doctor or not because she had an ear infection a couple weeks ago and the antibiotic just ended last Thursday and when I took her to the doctor last Friday for her 6 month immunizations he said her ears looked great. But I decided that I would rather be safe than sorry and I took her in to the clinic. As soon as we got into the room she perked up and was so happy. She kept smiling and laughing for no reason, which always seems to happen when I take one of my kids to the doctor. The miraculously get feeling a lot better. But when the doctor checked her right ear he said it was infected again. So we have to start up another round of antibiotics and hope that it will clear it up. If it doesn't I think I am going to check into getting tubes in her ears because we haven't even hit the cold season yet and we are already having problems.

Why?

2008-09-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

Pieper is into asking questions lately and at times it drives me crazy because everything is always followed with the question "why". Not every why question can be answered. There comes a point where you just run out of answers and that is not good enough for Pieper. It's not like she is trying to be difficult she is just curious (and probably wants to prolong whatever it is that I am asking her to do). The other day we had such a conversation and it went like this:

Me: "Eat all your food Pieper."
Pieper: "Why?"
Me: "Because it's yummy."
Pieper: "Why?"
Me: "Because I made it."
Pieper: "Why?"
Me: "Because you said you were hungry."
Pieper: "Why?"
Me: "Because you haven't eaten since breakfast."
Pieper: "Why?"
Me: "Because I didn't get you anything and it's lunch time and we don't eat all day long."
Pieper: "Why?"

So at this point am I supposed to answer why I didn't get her anything or why it is lunchtime or why we don't eat all day long? Can you see my frustration. It just gets a little confusing for me and I can't think up enough reasons for everything. Sometimes I'll just tell her "because I said" which is promptly followed by a "why" from Pieper. Hopefully we can soon grow out of this stage and start having meaningful conversations that don't involve "why."

Stubborn Girl

2008-09-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

Adriana started attending a new dance class last week, which she was so excited about. She goes to dance every Tuesday for an hour. This week she was very uncooperative and wouldn't really do what her teacher said. I was a little surprised when I talked to her teacher because Adriana loves to dance. So when I asked Adriana about it she said, "You told me that they were going to let us make up our own dances but the teacher was making us do her stuff so I didn't want to do it. I just decided to make up my own stuff." I tried to explain to her that the teacher needed to show her new dance moves so she could include them in her dance the she made up but that wasn't what she wanted to hear. I told her that she needed to learn how to dance when she is little so she can be a good dancer when she is older. So then she asked me, "Will it help me dance good at my wedding?" I told her it would so hopefully that will be enough to convince her to listen to her teacher. I guess we'll see.

Breakfast at school

2008-09-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Adriana told came to me this morning and said, "I think I'm going to eat breakfast at school in the lunchroom because if you don't have enough time to eat it at home they have it at school but I want to take my own breakfast." So she packed up her "breakfast" which consisted of a salami sandwich, BBQ chips, a fruit roll up, and a cookie (seems more like lunch to me but whatever). She was dressed and ready to go by 8:00 AM and we don't usually leave until 8:30 AM so she sat and waited with her "breakfast" in her lap. She was so excited to get out of the car when we pulled up to the school, which is very unusual for her. The past few days she has been very tentative about going to school. She loves it while she is there but getting there in the morning is a little rough and I have to bribe her with all sorts of crazy things just so she will stay. She didn't seem to care a whole lot when I told her that it was the law for her to go to school and if I didn't make her go I would get put in jail. Her response was, "Then I'll just go and live with Kaye (my neighbor)." I asked Harrison to walk her to the lunchroom and stay with her while she ate and then walk her back to her classroom. I hope she enjoyed her "breakfast" and made it back to her classroom on time.

2008-09-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I told Pieper that we were going to go to her nursery teacher's house and she said, "What? She has a house? Does she live at the church?" At first I didn't understand what she was talking about but then I realized that the only time she sees Kirsten, her teacher, is at church.

I love how innocent kids are!

Paver Pool Project

2008-09-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is a pool deck that we were working on a few weeks ago, which was in the Provo Riverbottoms. It turned out to be a great project and looked beautiful when it was all finished.

Parker had a great time playing in the unfinished pool area.

I have not had a chance to take any pictures of the completed project but will do that in the next day or two.

Graham Crackers

2008-09-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Madison does not like baby food. I'm not even sure that she doesn't like it as much as she doesn't understand how to swallow it. She just spits it back out. My mom gave me the idea to try graham crackers. She actually liked them and didn't get that little shiver that kids get when they don't like how something tastes. Obviously she got more of it on her belly and clothes but she sure had a good time attempting to eat it.

Notice all the slobber that is running down her belly. Add that to the graham crackers and we had a good old fashioned mess going on. Jeff volunteered to load the dishwasher that night and I quickly realized that it was his way of getting out of cleaning up her mess.

Slobber, Slobber, and more Slobber

2008-09-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have never had a baby slobber as much as Madison. When I get her dressed in the morning it only takes about five minutes before her shirt is drenched in the front. I seriously doubt that she is teething since all my other kids took forever to get their teeth (about one year). She pretty much has a constant flow of water streaming from her mouth.

Another breathing treatment

2008-09-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I took Madison in to the doctor again because she was not getting better and she was rather ornery so I knew that something was wrong. The doctor said that she had another ear infection (I am not sure if the previous ear infection never went away or it did and she just got another one). She was also weezing once again so we had to do another round of steriods and breathing treatments once again. I tried to distract her with some toys while I did the breathing treatment but it didn't work. She was still angry and upset the whole time.

Behind Again

2008-09-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Once again I am behind on my journaling. I am going to try and catch up a little bit so some of it might be out of order.

Pieper to the Rescue

2008-08-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Pieper is such a crazy little girl. She is sort of like a tomboy but at the same time she loves to dress up in princess dresses and play with dolls and make-up. She also has a fascination with bugs, especially "rolly pollys" or potato bugs. A few weeks ago I was outside cleaning out the garage and Pieper says, "Look what I found mom." It was a grasshopper that she was holding between her two fingers. I screamed so loud it scared her and she dropped it. She just sat there staring at me with a confused look on her face. I explained to her that I didn't like bugs and spiders so it made me afraid and I screamed. She still just sat there and stared at me like I was so dumb.

Last Friday I had my niece Laura Ann sleep over and she was afraid of a rather large fly that was crawling around on the floor. Pieper quickly ran over and began to pick the fly up but I quickly caught up to her and told her to leave it alone because it was dirty. I told her that we (meaning Jeff) needed to pick it up with some toilet paper and throw it away. Pieper met Jeff half way into the bathroom and said, "I'll do it Dad," and she did just that. She picked up the fly with the toilet paper and then flushed it down the toilet.

Earlier today Jennifer was downstairs and she started screaming because there was a huge spider. Janet and I thought she was probably overreacting a little bit and figured it was probably some small house spider. Well when we got downstairs we realized that Jennifer was not joking and there really was a huge spider. Pieper said, "I'll got get some toilet paper." I quickly put that idea out of her head because it really was a huge spider that seemed to resemble a hobo spider a little bit and it seemed to be rather aggressive and I didn't want it to jump on her or bite her. I ran upstairs and got a glass bowl and put it on top of it so it wouldn't get away. I figured it would require some more assistance so we called my dad to come up and help us. He claimed that he took care of it but we never did see the spider. Jennifer's pretty sure it crawled away.

Ab Workout

2008-08-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

For a couple months now Madison has been trying to sit up. If you lay her down on her back she will lift her head and legs up at the same time and try and sit up. It's pretty funny to watch because she gets so frustrated. You would think she would get a good ab workout but her stomach seems to be getting larger not smaller.

Pieper's Funky Outfits

2008-08-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Pieper loves to dress herself and lately she has come up with some pretty crazy outfits. Lately pajamas have been her theme (and usually she likes to wear Adriana's). I had to move her pajamas onto a higher shelf in her closet so she wouldn't be able to reach them because it was getting a little ridiculous.

So Pieper decided to bag the pajamas and get into her socks. This is one of her "special" pajama shirts that she found in the laundry.

This is another great outfit that Pieper picked out. It's a cute top and bottom but not that great mixed together.

Madison's New Toy

2008-08-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

I pulled out this toy a couple months ago because I thought Madison might enjoy it but she was a little too short so it hurt her arms to sit there so she would just cry and cry. About three weeks ago I put Madison in it and low and behold she had grown a few inches so her feet could touch the bottom.

She liked it for the most part but every once in a while she would get upset because the toy would get away from her so she couldn't chew on it anymore. She would scream at the top of her lungs at the toys because she was mad at them.

One day Harrison decided to tease Madison and he raised up the legs so she couldn't reach the bottom anymore. She was so upset with him and she cried until he lowered it back down.