Indiana Jones Legos

I saved these for a long,long time. I have the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the Golden Fleece, the Crystal Skull, the Spear of Destiny, and the Head Statue from the beginning of the Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's all the treasures Jones found. I got the Fleece and Spear from books, the others from the movies (side note: he has not actually seen the movies, but played the Lego game, from whence cometh his immense knowledge. I felt the need to insert this lest you think my parenting has grown lax.). Here's a clip of the master artist presenting his creations.

Blog posting by Mark . . .with a little help from Mom:) Who is very impressed with her kids creativity for building all these with random legos.

Who needs earplugs?

I took James to Monster Jam tonight...and he is STILL talking about it with Mark despite our many requests for them to go to sleep. But it was awesome. And if I were 5 years old I wouldn't be able to sleep either. We stopped at the pharmacy on our way and purchased earplugs. But within about 5 minutes both James and I took them out so we could thoroughly enjoy the experience!
This video was taken at the beginning...when we were still getting accustomed to the noise. James didn't have his ears covered much longer after this race. He was mesmerized by the sights and sounds. I don't think you can fully appreciate the noise unless you were there. Our shirts and jeans were vibrating. (Come to think of it, my ears are still ringing a bit...)



Here's a close-up of El Toro Loco.

The show started out with some wheelies. Here's The Avenger.

Then they had races. There were six monster trucks at this show. You saw Pure Adrenaline and The Grave Digger in the video above. Apparently there is a "world championship" taking place in two weeks in Vegas. Several of these trucks will be participating.

After halftime it really started getting loud. These guys were doing some crazy doughnuts. You could smell the rubber melting and the smoke got pretty thick at times. Fortunately there was good ventilation! But it gave a unique kick to the hot dogs. Here was Pure Adrenaline.

Then they ended with some freestyle. They could do whatever they wanted to impress the audience. One truck flipped and another caught fire which livened things up (unintentionally, of course--it certainly engages the crowd but the drivers would rather avoid that kind of entertainment). James thought it was all cool.

And as the crowd dispersed, James and I lingered just long enough for the camera guy to catch James. It took a minute, but as soon as I got James to realize he was on the JumboTron for all the world to see he smiled cheek to cheek and scrunched his shoulders in embarrassment. What a great way to end the evening. We had a blast! And I think it was an experience a little 5 year old mind won't soon forget.

Family Home Evening

We found a way that guarantees the kids stay engaged...all of them. Mark gave his first lesson tonight. And now he says that 4 times a year is not enough. I almost got a little choked up during his lesson. He started by showing a few pictures and asking questions. Then he read a few verses from different books in the scripture. And he ended with a flannel board story of the First Vision and his testimony. It was very sweet. And he did so well!

Here's just a little snippet...

He walks!

Karen is convinced that Luke has been holding out on us. And I agree--you don't go from not walking at all to taking 3-4 steps at a time. Yet this is the first time we've ever seen him walk. And it's SO exciting...even after watching 4 other kids learn to walk. Yea for Luke!!!

Richmond - National History

If you ever see Richmond, Virginia in a TV show or movie...the Washington Monument will be shown: Our family took a day trip to Richmond today. Every once in a while, as we were walking through the capitol, we realized who had walked these very halls. It felt sacred at times. American freedoms were established here and a governing body from seceded states gathered here to preserve what they thought was just. As we briefly discussed the Civil War with the kids, we better understood the significance of that event in our nation's history.

Thomas Jefferson designed the Capitol building in 1785. If you visit his home at the Monticello and the University of Virginia you'll see some similarities. The six white columns here contain the original pine tree center posts.

I don't think I've EVER seen a painting this large. It was HUGE!!!

The Bill of Rights was ratified into the U.S. Constitution in the room below where the kids are sitting. Aaron Burr was also tried for treason in this room.

Here's a sculpture of General Robert E. Lee in the old hall of the house of delegates (the same room as above). This was the Capitol of the Confederacy from 1861-1865. Union forces took control of Richmond on April 3, 1865. Abraham Lincoln visited the Capitol the next day...just 10 days before his assassination.

Life size statue of George Washington that was placed in the rotunda in 1796.

The east and west wings were not completed until 1906.

After the Capitol, we went to the museum and White House of the Confederacy. This man below participates in all the civil war reenactments throughout the state. He could tell you ANYTHING you want to know about the civil war...a wealth of knowledge.

Here's the back of the White House. It's renovation is nearly complete and will reopen to the public in March.

Here's the front door to the White House of the Confederacy.

And on the way home...Luke was riding in style! :)

I've seen him on TV

And now Jason Wright was in our home. He's a political guru and an author (not about politics). He's written four books. And he came to a book club hosted by Karen to talk about "The Wednesday Letters." I think that's the first time a famous person has stepped inside our home. Kinda cool.

And so was he. Here's right after we met. A little awkward 'cuz I didn't even know the guy. But he and my sister Laurel are good friends so we had some bonding connection. Still a bit weird. But he pulled out his Blackberry so he could take a picture of us for Laurel...so it created a good excuse to pull out our camera. Here's the picture at the end of the night. Still, I had only known Jason for a couple of hours...but we had bonded. I have a fear of spiders...he has a fear of snakes. When I kept asking him questions even though I'm not a member of the book club he mentioned more than once how much I reminded him of Laurel.

If you haven't read his books, they come highly recommended. His second book was "Christmas Jars." It's a quick read and very moving. "The Wednesday Letters" is unrealistically possible as Karen coined the phrase tonight. Jason said that what inspires him is watching people (with a little eavesdropping here and there). He takes a real conversation or a real event and creates a story out of it. "The Wednesday Letters" came about from him hearing about a couple's "what if" conversation regarding a tragedy that would probably never happen...but could happen. He took that one conversation and created an incredible story that is founded on the principles of the Atonement.

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Jason has a couple of books coming out in the next year or so. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up on the New York Times bestseller list as his previous books have done. "Recovering Charles," his fourth book, is still on the list after 22 or 23 weeks.

It was an enjoyable evening! In order, Tiffany, Beth, Karen, Jason, Ann, Beth, and Julie.

Softer than rain

Snowfall here in central Virginia is not as quiet as other places we've lived. Have you ever been outside at night when it's snowing? It's always seemed extremely quiet. I would stand there and watch the snow fall, but I would never hear anything...I love that sound! :) But here, with all the trees, it almost sounds like rain...but much softer. And I love this sound as well. So yes, it has finally snowed here. I don't think we'll get much. But at this point I'm willing to take anything.

I love how clean snow makes the earth appear. I love the light against the dark background with a blanket of white on the ground. This picture is a perfect illustration of a welcoming home to a wandering stranger.

A new addition to our family

Nope, sorry, it's not a baby.

Gotcha though, didn't I?

Well, with our track record, I can't blame you for thinking that.

He's actually a full grown male.

A male Betta.

We would like to introduce everyone to Barry the Betta fish.

He is a good little fish, low maintenance and very hardy, which means that he should survive our inexperience. He is our first family pet and we are thoroughly enjoying having him. He is kind of ugly and cute at the same time. Anyway, that's Barry, our fun new fish!

Happy 7th Birthday, Anya!

Anya has been begging for a brown fuzzy teddy bear. She immediately named her Suzie.

Anya went shopping with mommy last night and she found a Little Mermaid cake pan. Karen is really perfecting her cake decorating abilities!

Here is Princess Anya and Princess Elizabeth in matching Princess dresses! :) I'm just a guy...but is that cute or what?!?

Anya was as happy as could be. And her brothers were nice to her today. It's crazy to think how they're all growing up so fast!

Stylish or not?

Honestly how silly does this look, tag notwithstanding? Anya picked some new sunglasses for me while we were out shopping last night. The frames are actually purple with sparkles. I can never tell which sunglasses will look good on me. They sure do make my eyes look big:)

I love homeschooling

This is one of those unexpected and great days for homeschooling.

A few weeks ago David helped out an older gentleman in our ward by taking him to pick up his daughter at the airport for a holiday visit. (The best part of that was Anya's very concerned query as to why the man let his little girl go somewhere alone. We reassured her that his little girl was all grown up and just coming to visit, that was ok with her.) She has since sent David a thank you note and all were well gratified.

Today UPS stopped and dropped off a large styrofoam box. How odd, I thought! I found it was a thank you cheesecake from this sweet sister for David's kindness to them. What I found to be even cooler(excuse the pun) was the dry ice that was used to keep the cheesecake frozen during shipping. Can we say science experiment!

So I pulled out my good old, Backyard Scientist book and located the instructions for experimenting with dry ice. We gathered the supplies and headed out into the garage for some fun. They of course loved it. We got to listen to the metal tongs scream when I picked up the dry ice, we watched water and dry ice sublimate to make, well, fog and we got to see how carbon dioxide gets trapped in soap bubbles when you add liquid detergent to the water with the dry ice. I think they learned something, but I know they had fun.


And if all else fails, we did learn how to spell our last name yesterday, so that's gotta count for something!

Backfire

No this is not about actual fire because of or relating to the previous post about our superhuman 15 month old. This is about the new house rule.

It's backfired on me. I try, I really try to find real life type cause and effect ways to teach my kids. I try to take a problem that they are creating and make it be their problem instead of mine. Hence the new rule. It was going pretty well for awhile, then the holidays came and we slacked off (who wants to be mean on Christmas Eve, and really what kid CAN stay in bed on a night like that?). Now that the holiday season is coming to a close, save for Epiphany in a couple of days, I am trying once again to be more strict. So I am trying to enforce my new rule.

The problem is that they like it.

They like staying up and doing the dishes. Apparently, it's fun for them! They don't even mind cleaning up the house.

Now don't get me wrong, I love, love, love having my little slaves do the dishes for me, but I also want the little beans to get their sleep!

The whole point of the rule was that they would not like doing the dishes (like normal kids) and want to stay in bed more. Even the three year old was happily wheeling the entire high chair over for cleaning tonight! Even after cleaning though, they still have trouble staying in their beds.

How can I motivate them to want to sleep?

Any suggestions?

Attention Negligent Parents

If you feel inadequate as a parent or think you've messed up lately with the eternal development of your child(ren), this is the post for you! I'm about to make you feel GREAT! After reading this, YOU will see yourself as the exemplary parent which everyone else aspires to be.

Luke, 15 months old, has been tearing off outlet covers recently. Three to be exact...maybe four now that I think about it a little more. He's just ripped them off...breaking them off the screw in the center that holds them to the outlets. We're not sure what the fascination is. But it has kept him occupied and been only a minor inconvenience to us.

He's also had "bruises" recently. We've noticed them on his head and on his arms. The first time we saw it, we got somewhat upset with the older kids...thinking they had pushed him down or dragged him along the carpet upstairs. They appeared to be a mix between a bruise and a carpet burn--something we didn't think Luke was capable of doing to himself.

But he was. And Karen finally had an "ah-hah" moment as to the cause of them.

Electrical entry and exit wounds? Yep. This time the one on his arm is a bit bigger than the previous ones. We don't know what position he's in or what he's doing to have the entry wound on the back side of his arm and the exit wound on his forehead. Hopefully we won't ever find out. Karen is shopping this morning and I anticipate her coming home with several more outlet protection plugs. But all those plugs that you insert in the outlet when not in use won't prevent this from happening again. What do you do when the kid just tears the entire outlet cover off the wall?

Fortunately, he's still happy...and functioning. Perhaps he has some electrically-charged super power. I gotta go because he's crying now in the kitchen. Another one of his fascinations is weaving himself through the eight kitchen chairs and over the kitchen table support beam thingy. He gets trapped every time...but always goes back for more.

Happy Anniversary To Us!!!

December 28, 1999

It's been a great nine years. And how do we amuse ourselves? Give Luke, our 15-month old, Scotch tape. Yes, tape. It frustrates him to no end because he can't figure out how to let go of it. It's quite funny.

Seriously, though...Karen and I didn't even wish each other a happy anniversary until about 5pm this evening. I thought we would at least hit our 25th anniversary before that would happen. Sunday's are crazy days for us and we both thought about it at different times but we weren't near each other when the thought crossed our minds. But we love each other just the same.

The theme is leather...so Karen bought me a much needed belt and she got herself a watch (with a leather band, of course). I couldn't bring myself to let Karen buy herself a wedding anniversary gift, so I got a killer deal on a leather jacket. She's always wanted one...and I suppose 5 kids and an obnoxious husband (at times) earned her one after 9 years.



So happy anniversary to us!!! :)

Christmas Oranges

One other quick comment about our trip to Bethlehem Village earlier this week. There was a "homeless" woman sitting by the side of the walkway path near a campfire. We huddled around the fire to warm up a bit. While standing there, I couldn't help but hear the woman asking for food and assistance...I was curious to see if anyone would approach her. When no one did, I whispered to James that he should go over to her and wish her a Merry Christmas. He walked over to her, holding my hand, and began talking with her. The woman explained how many children she had and asked if James had ever been hungry. They chatted for a few minutes and said their goodbye's. A bit further down the path we found an area where they were making bread. James took a portion of bread and walked back to the homeless woman. He placed it in her basket and we moved on. It was quite sweet. As we pulled into the garage that night, James voluntarily mentioned that he felt the Spirit as he visited with the woman that night. I think it made an impression on him.

So Christmas Eve...Aunt Laurel purchased matching pajamas for all the kids:

She also purchased the book, Christmas Oranges, and asked that I read it to the kids on Christmas Eve. We followed her instructions precisely. The story is about sharing and the Christmas Spirit. To illustrate the moral of the story, Aunt Laurel also purchased 3 chocolate oranges...knowing there would not be enough for each of the kids. Here is Mark upset that he did not get a chocolate orange:

Then we read the story:

And Anya, James, and Peter demonstrating they understood the moral of the story:

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve! We can't believe it's over already. May we all share the blessings given to us so generously from our Father in Heaven. Merry Christmas!