April Fool's Day

I ran out of steam this year so it was a pretty tame April Fool's Day. I had Aaron pick up some Jello at the store for me so I could trick the kids. I made jello in clear cups so they would think I got them some juice. They tried to drink the jello and of course it didn't work. They were a bit confused. Finally after several attempts to pour the "juice" into their mouths unsuccessfully, we told them that it was jello. They tasted the jello and didn't like it. I thought it was weird that they didn't like jello because surely all kids love jello, right? Well, later when I was cleaning up the kitchen, I found the jello box and Aaron accidentally bought cranberry jello. Who knew that they sold cranberry jello outside of November? It makes me wonder if it is someone's attempt to manage a UTI.

Random Thoughts from the Kids

Here are are variety of conversations I have had with the kids.

Emma: Where is the Silverlicious book? I can't find it.
Me: I will help you find it if you come give me a hug first.
Emma: I will try looking again. [Walks off]
Apparently hugs are that awful.

John and I were having a conversation about being a rocket scientist. He got excited and wanted to be a rocket scientist. He told me that when he was 12 he would be a rocket scientist. I told him he had to finish high school, and college before he could be a rocket scientist so he would probably be almost 30. He didn't like that. He then told me that he wanted to go to haircut school instead. Later that day he changed his mind and decided to be a rocket scientist again.

John: Sometimes stuff get dirty on my bum a little bit. That is why I wear a cape.

Emma: Does John have an allergy?
Me: We don't know yet.
John: Jesus knows.

When John sticks his finger in his nose, and I tell him that it is gross, that is a guarantee that he will keep it there.

John: Can you throw me into the wall?
Aaron: I think that would hurt.
So Aaron threw him up to the ceiling instead. (He didn't actually hit the ceiling, just to be clear.)

Aaron came home from work and was changing his cloths.
John: Those are gigantic shorts!

John: My pet pet dog....
Aaron: What is your dog's name?
John: Lazy Starfish.
Aaron: Your dog's name is Lazy Starfish?
John: Yeah, he doesn't like it.
Aaron: I bet.
John: He wants to be named Starfish John. My cat's name is Special Fart Lick. They are at the vet.
Apparently at the vet they have a big rolling pin that they use to smash off the cat's claws.

During conference we play conference bingo.
John: Gambling with beans is another word for conference bingo.

Easter

Here are pictures from Easter. We were pretty tired from camping this weekend so it was low key. We did an egg hunt for the kids. At church the kids sang with the primary. John was excited for his first time to go up to the stand and sing. Actually he was excited to go up to the stand. Not much in the way of singing going on. Emma sang. At church John gave his first talk in Primary and did well. Emma complimented him on his talk. It was very sweet of her.

Bluebonnet Pictures

Every year we take family pictures at a park that plants a bunch of bluebonnets. Since we do them ourselves, they are hit or miss. This year, was a miss. There were hardly any bluebonnets. But that wasn't the worst of it. The kids just didn't have it in them to have their pictures taken. John immediately rebelled before we even got started. I wish I could say these were the out takes.

Art Work

This week we took a trip to the public library to see a piece of art work that Emma had done and was selected to be hung up in the library. It was entitled "Texture Town." It was something she made in school in art class. She painted paper and then cut it out and glued it on a big piece of paper to make the shapes of things in a town. On our way into the library a bunch of people were walking in and Emma said, "There are a lot of people going to the library! I bet they want to see a lot of art!"

Legos

As it turns out, I like legos. I don't remember having them as a child. I am pretty sure we had at least some because I know what they are but I don't remember playing with them. John has been getting into legos lately. I have been playing legos with him and enjoying it.

I have always wanted to build a lego temple whenever I see pictures of lego temples. I think it would be fun. I decided that it would be a great activity for the kids to do during conference. I asked John's preschool teacher if I could borrow her legos to find the pieces I needed to build a temple. It turns out she has a million legos. I spent the better part of a rainy day searching through legos for white pieces and gray and tan pieces (when it was apparent that I didn't have enough white pieces). And by the better part, I mean several hours. My eyes were having a hard time adjusting to looking at any distance that was longer than about 18 inches from my face. It brought back a ton of memories of my programming days. Even John commented that his eyes were "weird." John's preschool teacher had 3 more bags of legos so if I wanted to, I could spend three more days looking for the right legos.

I decided that it was worth the $45 for a temple lego set. So the Nauvoo temple is coming on Wednesday. The kids have requested the large Salt Lake temple that is supposed to take an adult 6-9 hours to complete. We will have to see how Nauvoo goes.

Competition

My kids are starting to show their competitive natures or the lack thereof depending on the child. Emma comes from the Russell camp. She is totally competitive, even beyond what I could imagine her being. It has surfaced this year I think in part due to recess at school and playing tag with her friends.

John on the other hand, doesn't have a competitive bone in his body. He is Anderson. Yesterday we were trying to herd the cats (read kids) out the door to go to the park. They were not moving. So I tried to get John to race me in getting on our socks. John wasn't quite going to win. He said, "Mom is the first winner, I am the second winner, Emma is the third winner and Daddy is a rotten egg!" There are only winners and rotten eggs. They haven't even conceived yet that there is another option that begins with the letter "l."