Chocolate

Girls' night. Lots of fun was had. Lots of chocolate was eaten. Yum!

Blogging fun

In case y'all need another blog to check, this one is fun. I really enjoy a lot of her posts. Especially this one. Makes loving our kids seem so fun, huh. I might go make some bread. Yum!

James Speak

Can I have some water? I am really, um really, uh, drinky.

James: Why did you call our Grandpa 'dad'?
Me: Because he is my dad.
James: I have a dad.

(We always tell James to go to the bathroom when he first wakes up. In the morning when he woke up instead of coming in our room like usual James laid down on the floor in the study. I went out to find him and asked...)
Me: Why didn't you come in our room?
James: I didn't want to go pee.

Sing, Sing, Sing, I like to Sing

Kim read an article in Parenting magazine (that I failed to find) saying singing to your kids helped them to listen and obey better. Like when you sing the clean up song from Barney all toddlers beginning cleaning up. Or at least some of them.

So yesterday I sang.

The results of my experiment?

Singing is very effective for getting my kids to stop a behavior. So shocking was my singing they would just freeze in place and stare at me. And laugh. Very effective for distraction and stopping behaviors and inducing happiness.

Not as a effective for starting behaviors. I would have to sing a direction several times for them to respond, if at all. The best method was when I sang "James, that's one." So I can't really attribute him putting on his shoes to my singing...it seems more related to my counting him.

The most hilarious instance however, was when I sang "James, stop pulling the books off the shelf." And James sang back, "No I won't, I won't."

Try it with your kids. It's fun.

The big six two

So Taylor just had his birthday. We celebrated with yummy chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream. He got some money to save for "the chair", a cot, and some new work slacks. Very exciting stuff. Plus technically the Jazz game counted as a birthday present as well.

We had cake and ice cream the night before. The day of he got home from work a little early so we did presents and had a delicious kabob dinner. Then a great friend took the boys for a couple hours so we could get out and have some fun before Scouts. (Same great friend picked up the present of pants. Thanks! You're wonderful!)


One of my favorite parts was James putting a "bow" on the cot. He was trying to tie this long ribbon he found in the present box around the cot. This conversation proceeded...

Me: Do you need some help?
James: No, this is a boy job.

Then when he was done he proclaimed, "Dad is going to be so happy. He will be so happy we got him presents."

And he was.

Accurate? Or no?

What Kristi Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Stress Reliever of the Day

Guess we can't have it all. According to this post no matter what we do our houses can never look like model homes. Glad I can stop worrying about that.

...maybe just one room. That no one is allowed to go in. And has no book shelves because that would really complicate the decorating scheme...