Lucy knows how to do "Ring Around the Rosies"!
It's so cute! At first I had no idea why she was toddling around and around in a circle on the kitchen floor and then plopping down only to get back up and do it again.
Then I realized she was trying to sing and I thought I could make out something like "ashes ashes we all fall down" just before she plopped her little diapered butt down on the floor with a big grin at me.
So once I caught on, I started singing too and we played Ring Around the Rosies for probably fifteen minutes without stopping. After we had "all fall down"ed, Lucy would bend her head toward me, catch my eye, and say "Gin?" And we'd get up and do it all over again, laughing wildly.
I love how kids can run with no apparent motive or direction, back and forth across the house, laughing and squealing like it's the funniest thing ever. I love how they can eat a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast every morning for a year and not get tired of it.
If I could just put the rest of life on pause and get reality off my back, I think I could literally spend the entire day doing nothing but playing with my kids and be the happiest person on the planet.

Skylar's glasses

My little Skylar - not only has she had the "my changing body" class at school, but she also just got glasses.

She's so grown up I could just cry.

George sent me this picture of her trying on glasses when they went to the eye doctor.

I used to tell Sky every other day or so, "All right, this is it and I mean it. No more growing up. You are not allowed to get any bigger."

Of course, she didn't listen to me.

Easter Egg Hunt

Pictures from the church Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday.

I took about a zillion pics of Lucy. This year she's old enough to realize that there is candy (or "na-na" as she calls it) inside the eggs.

Here are my handsome boys. They were a little disappointed that they only found a few eggs each. I was very happy about it, though.

I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of Sky at the Egg Hunt. I guess she was just too fast.

The Young Women's broadcast tonight was excellent. They're always good, but this one was especially moving for me. I definitely wish I had taken Skylar with me. She'd have loved the talks, too. It's hard to believe it's her last year in primary.

I'm going bananas

Have you ever watched an episode of the Fresh Beat Band on Nickelodeon? It's a kid show about four "teenagers" (I think they're really like 32 or something) who have a band and play a lot of music and dance. It's kind of catchy, and Drake loves to watch it. The only problem is that the songs get stuck in my head FOREVER!!!!!

So all day I'm going around singing, "We just have to go bananas. La la la la la let's go bananas!"

Lucy loves that song. She heard it playing on the TV from another room and immediately stopped what she was doing and pointed toward the living room and said, "Nanas".

And speaking of bananas, here is Princess Lucy in her favorite crown, desperately trying to get a banana from the baker's rack. Her Royal Highness is NOT happy.

Her Highness is quite content now that she's had her banana.

Our furry little houseguest

We're watching the Nicolaysen's little dog Percy for them while they're out of town. We haven't had a dog in a few years, and for some reason Drake and Lucy are PETRIFIED of dogs. They're definitely curious about dogs and they laugh and laugh with delight to see them run and play. But the second a dog comes within two feet of Drake and Lucy, they freak out and start screaming.

Anyway, Vanessa, if you read this, Percy is doing just great. He is eating and drinking and getting plenty of walking. Sky and Bart fight over who gets to take him outside. And George was actually the person who got him to start eating. Despite all the smack he talks, he has been very kind and gentle with him.

Oh, and he only peed himself once. Luckily it was in the entryway on the stone tiles. He's really being a good dog for us.

Soooo....I guess at some point (not for a while yet), we need to adopt another dog. I think Bart and Skylar are at the age now where they will really enjoy playing with him/her and can be trusted to help us feed and walk the dog. Plus Bart's doctor said that it would be a good idea to have a dog around for Bart. It would be really good for him to build a bond with a pet.

Alas- I have to go get ready for errands and work soon.

Conversations with a toddler

I had a conversation with Drake yesterday while he was busy playing Legos. It went something like this:

Me: Lucy is the prettiest girl in the world and Drake is the handsomest boy in the world.

Drake: No. Lucy is a poophead.

Me: If Lucy is a poophead, so are you. I must have two poophead kids.

Drake: Mom.... are you annoying me?



I can already tell it's going to be a continual battle of wits between the two of us.