Drewby was talking in his sleep just now.  Just a-sleeping on the couch.  He said, “Is there anything on me that starts with the letter T?”  I said, “Nope.  No wait, you have toes … and they start with the letter T.”  He must be somewhat coherent because he said “Oh good” and fell back asleep.

Is it a sign that perhaps at least his subconscious is watching too much TV?

Daddy:  Duke is so loving and gentle with all of us.  He would never hurt any of us on purpose.  Katey is just the right height though and sometimes he knocks her down or hits her when he wags his tail.

Jacob:  Duke follows me where ever we go.  One time I went to a friends house and Duke followed.  He barked loud at my friends mom because he probably thought they were trying to take me.

Joshua:  He is a great guard dog.  And he goes with me on my chore to feed the chickens.

Autumn:  Duke is so fast.  I run with him outside a lot.  Like by the house and by the flowers that are by the house and …

Andrew:  I like when he’s outside with Autumn and me.

Mommy:  I love that Duke has a sheep dog instinct and herds all the children.  It comes in handy when they are wandering too close to the edge of our property.  I also love how he puts his paw up on my lap when I stop scratching behind his ears.  He is just sure I should not be done yet.

Katey:  (in bed again – but tonight when she was saying her prayer she blessed “Dukey” quite loudly)

One little funny fact:  Duke must have his food and water in the dining room near where we eat.  We tried the laundry room – no luck, the sun room and then the corner of the kitchen – nope on those.  He refused to eat until we moved it back to the dining room.  Silly pup.

We sure love our black lab and something mix of a sweet dog.  He is so patient and just a little bit quirky.  Perfect!

8 February 2010

Jacob:  Daddy and I both love electronics.  Taking apart things and making something out of them.

Autumn:  I like when Daddy reads me stories.  Like when he tucks me in bed – so snuggly warm.

Andrew:  Me too!

Joshua:  Daddy is a very great cook.  He makes german pancakes and french toast and grilled cheese and pb&j and hamburgers and cheeseburgers.  And when he makes cheeseburgers he puts in TWO pieces of cheese and when he cooks he even puts in a little love.

Andrew:  Me too!  Even I love cheese grilled sandwiches.

Joshua:  and Daddy is a genius!!

Katelyn’s turn, but she was sleeping already.  She loves when Daddy does “piggies” on her toes and she’s loves that he always does both feet.

Mommy:  Daddy is a great provider.  He takes care of us financially and he also provides us with lots of love.  Lots of hugs and kisses…

Daddy:  And don’t forget tickles!

and Caleb loves all the snuggles and that Daddy is very good at burping him.

Daddy:  You know, Katey also loves when I rock the Donald Duck talk.

Mommy:  That’s true.  You make us laugh lots – all of us.

Joshua:  Daddy – sing “Jingle Bells” like Donald Duck.  Now, “Silver Bells” …

Can you feel the love?

Thanksgiving afternoon I caught Andrew and Calvin finishing up the yummy Grandma Alder-inspired berry jello with whipped cream.  Yum!  I understand the desire.

The best part was when Calvin looked up, saw me and said, “We were pretending it was vegetable soup.”

Oh, okay then.  Carry on.

p.s.  Sam made the yummy jello.  He also made pistachio salad with colored marshmallows.  He said he wanted to be everybody’s favorite uncle.  I think it worked.  ;)

I know most of the past entries have been things Andrew has done/said lately, but he is just on a roll and I don’t want to forget these.  So funny, he is.

3 November 2009

When something (even semi-) crazy happens, Andrew slaps his forehead and says “Oh, Brother!”  with a big old eye roll.  Not sure where he picked it up.  I’ll update if I find out.  Anyway, this day he asked why I was going out to the other room AGAIN.  ”To do laundry bud” is what I said.  He slapped his forehead and said, “Oh Sister!”.  

I know, tell me about it.

4 November 2009

Andrew said his “billy button” has a nickname.  It is “Jelly Belly”.  We were eating yummy Coldstone-inspired Jelly Belly jelly beans at the time and I’m sure his billy button is now thrilled to have a nickname.

Jim Bob started a fun tradition tonight for part of family night.  Spotlighting one of our youngsters.  They always love being the center of attention. Jacob had a fun talent tonight – showing off his looooong legs as he ran through the living room and kitchen.  silly fun kid.  So, Jacob finished his talent and Daddy up and says it’s time to focus on Andrew, aka Drewby.  He is now 2 1/2 years old. Drewby just grinned so big and let all the funny, good, charming, quirky things be said.  The list?

* He loves directing music.  He does it during church, when we sing as a family, during movies and oh, anytime.  He has a “leading-singing” stick (that was commandeered from the back of a kite) that he carries with him everywhere – even to bed.  SO sweet.

*He loves music videos.  Daddy wasn’t sure if his favorite was the “Ooh Ooh song” (Sugarland), “Gone, Gone, Gone” (Allison Krauss and Robert Plant), or “Crush” (David Archuleta).  Andrew piped right up with “Gone, Gone, Gone“.   So, that’s his favorite for now.  He loves jamming to that one.  It is so catchy!  And the video has bubbles, disco balls and tinsel.  :)  

Andrew also really thinks it’s cool that there is a piano by the water in the “Crush” song.  so cute.

* Drewby is a GOOD sharer.  He even offers sucks of his suckers to his siblings … and parents.  But only if they offer in return.  He loves his cowboy boots (no photo yet – for shame!) and every time we put them on he says “Erin loves these”.  Erin is his western-swinging, hay-bucking beautiful aunt.  Andrew also loves his adorable motorcycle jacket from his aunty Ruth.  He calls her Ruth-a.

*Andrew is fascinated by computers.  He even loves the one that has been broken for 10 months and is just a shell of a thing.  He also carries treasures around with him all day.  Tools, trains, and a camel I guess where his buds this time.  He is a happy-go-lucky, wonderful, essential puzzle piece in our family.  His hair is always messy – not to mention his face, but he sure is cute!  We LOVE our sweetheart Drewby.

That’s right – I’m back!  Expect more so very SOON!

I *know* that this magazine, Wondertime, is in print just for me. It is the bestest one in the wide whole world (to steal a phrase from my three-year-old son, Joshua).

The subtitle of the magazine is “Celebrate your child’s love of learning”. It is full of ideas to do just that. It is by the makers of Family Fun magazine, another of my favorites. Family Fun is full of fun crafts, recipes and travel ideas. I have subscribed to it for years and have used lots of ideas from it.

This magazine though is full of learning-related articles. The articles I have read have been about imaginary friends, teaching your children how to work, and how to answer those science questions that come up (like why is the ocean salty). This issue also has a fun article on “outing your inner child” that teaches adults how to play again and one on learning games for the wading pool. Fabulous! The writers are top notch and there is enough content to keep this reader happily busy for a while. Add in the ideas I plan on using from this magazine and it is well worth the money.

I love the focus of this magazine. The photography is simply gorgeous and the feel of this magazine is amazing. The magazine is a larger one, the pages are thicker and they smell wonderful. Yeah, I might be a tad obsessed. Especially since it’s only my second issue, the second issue ever printed. But I believe in love at first sight. And this is it.

Oh my, tonight I got so busy working on a fun scrapbooking layout that I lost track of time.  It is now tomorrow and I forgot to post on my blog.  However, I am still awake so I will make a quick post.  I guess I will use my final quote from yesterday as well, and try a little harder tomorrow.    Courage.

The layout I am working on is this week’s entry for the Ultimate Digi-Scrapper Contest.  That’s right I entered a contest.  It began May 1 and will end June 4.  Each week a number of people are eliminated until there is one winner.  The challenges thus far have been neat and the prizes are unbelievable.  We are in the Second Round (wahoo – I made it).  There were 388 (at the last count I saw) that entered, and 200 made it to the next round.  The first challenge was to “Put your best photo forward” and scrap one of your favorites.  My layout is here.  After the contest I will post the picture for the actual layout.

For this week we are to scrap about ourselves – “Through Your Eyes”.  An “all about me” page, which I have not done before.  So it has been a challenge and also fun.  It’s good to get some of this stuff down for the future generations to see and know.  Jim Bob was a sweetheart and did a photo shoot of me yesterday.  We got some fun pictures and I am using four of them on my layout.  I *think* it is finished and will post it tomorrow.  Link coming soon. 

Night all!

Happy Sunday to everyone! I hope yours was wonderfully enjoyable!

Our kiddos were sick this morning. Jim Bob and I discussed today how good they are, even when sick. We woke up to Jacob calling from his bedroom. He just said that he had thrown up. No screaming, thrashing around, nothing. So calm and sweet. Autumn threw up later this morning. She was also calm, looked down at her clothes and hands and said, “messy” in this little voice. Awww. So, definitely not hard as a mommy to take care of them and snuggle the day away. I called and took care of my church responsibilities and then stayed home with the young uns. Jim Bob went to church and taught Sunday School. He said it went well. always a good thing to hear. The afternoon was spent napping and then we visited family in the evening because the kiddos were doing much better. Our brother John leaves for his 2 year mission this Wednesday. We were thankful to spend some time with him tonight. He will make a great missionary, but we will all miss him too. Especially a sweet little girl he calls “princess”.

p.s. Happy National Scrapbooking Day to everyone (yesterday). Happy National Astronomy Day as well (yesterday too). My love for Astronomy was rekindled when we visited the Lowell Observatory in Arizona last year. It was full of wonderful exhibits and information. I could have stayed there all day. But alas, the Grand Canyon called too. Anyway, two of my loves all on one day – beauty! Plus I watched the National Collegiate Gymnastics Championship on TV yesterday morning. That was pretty darn neat too. Happy, happy.