Ream of Paper = 4 Hours of Peace & Quiet

Carter and Taylor made some fun paper crafts this week. Here are some videos of their inventions. Carter made an astronaut suit, and Taylor made a robot that turns good and bad.


Can you tell that at our house we just LOVE paper? It is our best toy. When we get low on paper the kids ration it out and then remind me several times a day that I need to buy more. The last time we ran out I told them that I couldn't get any until Monday. When Monday came around, it was like a holiday. I was a hero when I showed up with a huge new ream of paper. The next time I feel unappreciated, I'm going to go out and buy a package of paper - maybe even colored paper to make it extra special. I'll be the BEST MOM EVER!

Here's a great picture that describes perfectly the relationship between Carter and Taylor. The sign on Taylor's chest reads "Astronat Assitiant." Taylor is always so happy to be serving Carter. I wonder if he will ever out-grow that. (He's holding a microphone to communicate with Carter)

Check this out too! I remembered it when I saw the assistant costume. We found this sign on Carter's wall a few months ago.

In case you can't read it:

"Carter - Set's up activites and Is the Comander

Taylor - Is Gopher and gets stuff for Carter"

Our Cute Little Wyatt

Here are some updated pictures of Wyatt. He is now 4 months, and just LOVES his fingers!

We like to start introducing table foods with the good stuff!

More Carter Creations

Who'd have ever thought you could make a costume out of K'nex? This is a ninja costume equipped with clubs, a sword, fighting sticks and a Chinese star. (plus a whole bunch of other stuff only ninjas would understand)

Also, I thought I'd show Carter's Valentine box that won the "Best Engineering" award in his class. It turned out pretty cool.

More Fun Quotes

Taylor and I had a discussion this week about neighbors. It started when he told me that his friend believed in monsters, but that they weren't scary because they lived far away -- like heaven and Satan. He then explained that "Heaven and Satan are neighbors. They're in the same ward."

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Today in church (during a Sharing Time lesson about families) Mallory announced to the primary "I don't have a family. My family is dead." The Primary leader tried to convince her that her family wasn't dead, but she stood her ground and kept insisting that her family was dead.

I'll tell you, every time someone says the words "You should have heard what Mallory said in ..." I am completely terrified. She never holds back.

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And then today (granted, he was suffering from a bad cold/cough and was feeling grumpy) Josh told us what he really thought of the "new" version of "Happy Birthday" that the kids sing.
"I want to find the person who started saying 'Cha cha cha' during the Happy Birthday song and kick them in the face."

If it was you, you'd better watch out!

Snowfest & the Snow Eater

Today we went to Rexburg's Snowfest. Snowfest is an annual festival of games and snow activities in the park around the corner from our house. It is one of those things that ALMOST makes winters in Rexburg bearable, so we make sure we go every year.

This year they added a booth with a bunch of spray bottles containing colored water for the kids to spray in the snow. I thought that was a great idea, and all the color splotches looked cool.

The kids also had fun sledding, searching for gold coins, riding the horse & carriage, and bowling.


Although we had fun, we'll be lucky if Mallory doesn't end up with some disease. She kept eating the trampled-on snow and dirty slush. What's up with that?!! Everytime I turned around she was stuffing it in.

Then - in the bath tonight she kept drinking the soapy water.

I'll never understand why dirty snow and bathwater taste better than just about everything I cook. Maybe that explains why Josh is so thin. :)

(I know the snow in the video looks clean, but it's not)

--------------------------GOOD NEWS------------------------------------
After posting this, I happened to run into a NY Times article that claims dirt is good for the immune system. We all need to start eating snow!

Are We Really This Cheap?

Josh and I have been participating in a "Health Challenge" hosted by our Insurance Company. At the end of the year, we get some insurance refund money for every challenge we complete.

Challenge number one is to cut out sugar (like desserts, cookies, candy, treats, soda, etc...) from our diets for 2 months. We also need to exercise 5 times a week for the 2 months. We can cheat for 12 days on the diet (which sounds like a lot, but is only like 1, occasionally 2 days a week).

How much refund money would you expect for cutting out sugar? $10 a day? $5? $1? How about upwards of 50 cents? Yup- that's the magic number. How lame is that?! I'm probably just a big wimp, but is the hardest diet I have ever been on. You really ought to try it. :)

Yeah sure, it is probably good for us blah blah blah...

Some of our friends were wise and dropped out at the beginning, but now that we have made it half-way, we can't let the suffering be for NOTHING so onward we tread.

Whine whine whine, whine whine whine.

Do you know what DOESN'T sound good right now? A big bowl of Moose-tracks Ice Cream. I mean, honestly, who would want that? I'm going for a big bowl of spinach!

Taylor's Birthday

Last week was Taylor's 6th Birthday. Here are some pictures from the big day and his party.

Taylor wanted Transformers and Bakugun balls. He has a pretty decent collection now.












On his actual Birthday, Taylor got to blow out a candle on a cookie. I know- sort of lame. Don't feel bad for him though - ANY form of sugar makes that kid happy. Plus, he had birthday cake the Sunday before and birthday cake at his party. (Besides, Josh and I are on a no-sugar diet and don't need any more temptation around the house)







Josh is the best Simon-Says leader ever. I'm thinking of hiring him out for some extra cash. He has the kids do all sorts of clever things. My favorite was:
"Simon says turn your hands into spiders."
"Simon says have the spiders fight each other"
"Now have a spider bite your neighbor."
That got everyone.

Other games included "Squeak Piggy, Squeak", a Bean-bag toss, a Transformer Candy-Walk (like a cake-walk with Transformer pictures), and a "suck the napkin with a straw" relay.

I'm also posting this very uncharacteristic video of Taylor. It was so surprising seeing him act crazy in front of everyone. He's normally very reserved. He must have been VERY happy. (It might also be a result of the Marshmallow Mateys for breakfast plus the Mike-n-Ikes and marshmallows that we gave as game prizes).