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.

Andrew was trying on costumes and changing his mind multiple times – not allowed on Halloween Eve.  Especially since I stayed up late the night before making his pirate hat, sash, bandana and eyepatch.  But, nonetheless, that was his activity and entertainment for his aunty Liz.

He popped on his trusty pumpkin costume (two years running now.  Last year he wanted to be pumpkin pie though.  Cute – we went with it.  :) ).  This afternoon he sauntered up to Lizzy and said, “Do you love me?”  Her reply:  ”Oh yes, of course”.  His answer to that was “Do you want to eat me? …  Because I am a pumpkin?”

After much discussion between the two of us, it looks like this year he’s decided to be …  a pirate pumpkin.

edited to add:  Andrew decided at the last minute to just be a pirate like his brothers.  That was fine with me.  I think it might have had something to do with the very cool pirate swords we made Halloween afternoon that went in their sashes.  It still would have looked cute around his very ample pumpkin belly too.

While cutting his hair this last Saturday, Andrew wiggled on the barber chair.  The noise was well, familiar, so I couldn’t resist asking, “Was that your bum?”  He immediately tried to convince me that it was his elbow tooting.  Silly guy.  

When I finished his hair cut I proceeded to vacuum up the hairy mess and asked, “Do you want me to get your toes too?”  ”No” he giggled.  Thought for a split second, and then said while shaking his head a little (a sure sign that he knooooows he’s being funny): “If you vacuumed my whole body up I would say ‘Who turned the lights out?”

Wow – I love my silly thinkin’ little man.

Naptime ….. again.  Andrew asked if he could please sleep on the floor.  Switch it up – why not.  I said yes.  He asked me to make a doggy house (he’s been a puppy for weeks now).  A simple sheet hanging from his brothers’ bunk bed over to his now empty bed.  Done.  

He then snuggled down on his pillow, looked up at me with his big ol’ eyes and asked, “Can I have lots of lollypops?”  I guess he thought it was worth a shot.  So did I:

He actually said I could have 3 shots – he was feeling generous.

Me?  Not so much.  Off to sleepy land with zero lollypops.  

He did get a really big chuckle out of me though.

Nathan (our nephew, age 3) *looking down into the big bowl of cherries that he had just plopped a few into from his belly-hugging perch halfway up the dwarf tree *:

“I’m gonna make a NICE apple pie for dinner!”

Autumn (4 years old):

“I’m glad that Heavenly Father gave me arms to reach for cherries… and fingers to pick cherries and pull them off. … And I’m glad that Heavenly Father made fingers for nail polish.”

I asked Andrew tonight how old he will be on his birthday (2 days away). He said “2″. I said, “close, what’s 2 plus 1?” I got a blank stare. I continued “You’re two now buddy and you’ll be one more year on your birthday … so, 2 plus 1 – what do you get?” Andrew’s response, “CAKE!!!”

That’s my kind of math.
birthday=cake

Quick side note:  Tonight (5 January 2009)’s talent was preformed by Joshua – a whole series of somersaults across the living room.  So cute.  Now, on to our spotlight:

Katelyn Belle is our little sweetheart.  Daddy’s favorite thing about her is her little schmooshy dimple that appears in her left cheek when she gets a really big smile.  Katey gives sweet kisses and loves to make kissy sounds – often.

Katey’s other talents include tongue clicks and rolling over from her back to her belly.  She is especially quick at this when she is laid down for a nap and wasn’t quite planning on that yet.  At those times she is also very good with the pouty lip and big doe eyes.

Katey loves green beans, sweet potatoes and bananas (most of the time).  She does not care for applesauce or sugar-free strawberry jam.  She has fun little grabby hands and reaches for everything – crackers, spoons that are feeding her, magazine and newspaper “crinkly” paper and candy canes being dangled by her 2-year-old brother. 

Katey is a very good-natured little girly.  We jokingly called her the Primary mascot when I was in there often and all the girls – aged 8-11 – could not hold her enough.   We ended up taking turns and even then there wasn’t enough of our chubby-cheeked angel to go around.

The girls still line up after church to love on her.  

We all adore our sweet little Katey Belle.

I tucked Drewby into bed this evening (Jan.8).  We always tell secrets at bedtime (thanks to my incredibly wonderful sister Ruth).  Once when we were visiting “Hailey-Bailey’s Ruth”, we saw (not heard) her tell all her kiddos secrets as part of the bedtime-tucking-in routine.  She didn’t just tell her kids secrets though, she included ALL the cousins – oh, happiness.  So sweet – that was a few years ago.  This last summer she told them again, and it hit me that I could adopt that tradition.  (I know – took me a little while )  The only two requirements for a “secret” are that it must be whispered into an ear and it must start with “I love you more than…..”.  The rest is up to you.  I have been told that I am loved more than all the planets & stars in the galaxy, more than purple popsicles, pink rainbows and other as equally delicious phrases.  

Tonight Drewby told me that he loved me more than “chocolate on his tongue“.  

Or so I thought.  When I said, “chocolate on your tongue??” with a hint of wonder, he said “NO!  hee hee hee hee – chocolate in my dump truck!!”  He loves his dump truck, so it’s quite the happy secret.

Especially if he meant THIS dump truck.

{picture taken by Joshua  :)}

Joshua is the best tackler.  He is very good at surprise tackles.  Jacob said that he and Joshua have a fun “silly giggly contest”.  Here’s how it goes down:  When one of them enters a room where the other is at, they look at the one in the room until they start laughing.  I made the mistake of saying “oh, a staring contest”.  I was quickly informed it is not.  It is much different, with a whole set of rules all it’s own.  But the “silly giggly” outcome is the same, no??

Joshua gives lots of hugs and kisses to everyone in our family.  He says that “anyone can create a kiss or a hug”.  It’s one of my favorite sayings of his.  Joshua says that he is an expert at “stabilizing snowmen” and Jacob vouches for that.  

Joshua’s favorite foods shift, but he will always eat German pancakes, pizza, cheesy chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and his favorite drink is CoLD, iCy water.

Joshua received a flying man with wings for Christmas this year.  It flies all over the living room.  I think he kinda-maybe-sorta likes it:

It even made an appearance for show-and-tell.

Joshua is a dreamer, wisher like me.  He wishes on multiple stars every night.  He is not a strict wish-maker-keeper-never-tell-anyone-evah wisher (like myself) though, because he let me in on his ultimate wish:  200 packs of Winter Wonderland Wonka candy mix – a “whole forest” complete with Frosty Nerds and Snowball Gobstoppers.  Hmmm, maybe it’s better to let others know though, so they can help with the making-come-true part.  I know what he’s getting in his stocking next year.  ;)  Maybe not quite in that quantity though.

We sure do think the world of our big-smiling, loving Joshua.