What brothers do...

Poor girl. While I was making dinner Jayden found a Care Bear Band-Aid and decided that Karah needed it. I ran into the living room after hearing screams of protest from Karah to find this. I didn't want to take it out right away because Daddy and Uncle Jeff were very close to getting home and I wanted them to see it. Unfortunately Jayden had other plans and ripped it out of her hair before I could stop him. *Sigh* Sibling love...

Silly Daddy

Dan and Karah were having such a fun time with this game, so I tried to capture some shots of Karah in mid-air. I then decided I would try and catch her expression in the air, too. I know they aren't centered or anything, but they just cracked me up. Jay wanted in on the action, but unfortunately Daddy's arms were tired of throwing kids in the air by the time I started timing the shots for Jay right...

Uncle Jeff's Visit!

Jeff came into town for work this evening and had dinner with us.

We loved sharing our new nightly routine with him, however I

wrote down the wrong date and was expecting him tomorrow.

Luckily I felt a little inspired and made a big dinner . I did not,

however, focus the same amount of attention on the cleanliness

of my house as I have been due to the whole play-dough activities

that went on today. Bad Karlie, I know, so please ignore the mess

in the background. The kids LOVED playing with Uncle Jeff, and

it was so neat to sit back and watch them bond. He even put

Jayden, our nighttime terror, to sleep , no sweat! Thank you,

Uncle Jeff for the presents from Japan and for spending such

sweet time with us tonight!

Play Dough

The kids had a lot of energy today since we unplugged the cable. I decided it was time to start doing constructive things with our time, so I got out the Play Dough! (Doh?) Jayden LOVED it. He has a play set that has these little alien things that you put play dough inside of and when you smash it in, their "insides come out", as Jayden put it. He is such a boy. His sound effects were amazing. Tons of "BLEEEEEEHs", "AWWWWs", and "EWWWWWs" were filling my kitchen as the aliens were...mutilated? Some of them grew hair and he would give them hair cuts with his safety scissors. Karah was just sitting there, so I grabbed an alien and made it do its thing for her. She screamed. She did NOT like alien guts. It took me a while to calm her down, but she never got comfortable with it being close to her... She did warm up just enough to take a nibble and taste it, but after she spit it out she had nothing to do with it. If I put it near her, she'd scream. I think my daughter is strange. She's afraid of play dough. So, I have one kid that loves play dough and another one who is terrified of it. They really are complete opposites!!

Not So Fast Food

After we left the museum, Dan and I realized we were all starving. We debated on whether or not to get some fast food before going home. We decided that we would total the amount of the meals we would get at a fast food restaurant and then go to the grocery store to see if we could beat it. 2 kids meals and 2 adult meals would have cost us about $15.00 at Burger King (not including a dessert). I spent $22.00 at the grocery store and we've had 3 meals each from it so far! We've had fruit, Alphabet Tater Tots, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, Frosties, and drinks. Our hamburgers are custom made and yummy delicious, the kids love the snow-man shaped chicken nuggets, and after 3 full "not so fast food" meals, we STILL have stuff to make more! It may take a little longer than a restaurant, but it is much cheaper and tastes 10xs better! These pics are of the kids enjoying their Frosties. Karah started dipping her tots and nuggets in hers...so my daughter!!

The Church History Museum

I have been wanting to get out of the house with the kids the last few weeks, but I also wanted to have a family outing. I kept telling the kids we'd either go to the Church History Museum or the Aquarium, but I wanted Daddy to come along, too. I guess we could have gone during the week and then again on the weekend, but I wanted Dan to experience some of the excitement of being somewhere special with the kids for the first time in a long time...if that makes any sense at all. Plus, it is an extra person to help me juggle the kids around (Yeah, yeah, the truth came out...) So, we finally decided to reward ourselves this weekend for keeping up with our new rules and chores throughout the week and go to the museum. The kids LOVED it, especially the "I am a Child of God" exhibit. It started with a little baby nursery with baby dolls, clothes, "doctor" toys, bottles, and kid-sized rocking chairs and changing tables. Jayden worked very hard at making sure all of the babies had their hearts listened to, that their immunizations were up to date, and then he would hand them off to Karah to feed and rock. Half the babies were almost as big as Karah, and she looked so funny trying to "mother" these babies that were just about 2 inches shorter than her! She "bonded" with one little "premie" baby and loved to feed and rock it. We had a few "Code Adams" when she tried to take the baby out of the nursery area and play elsewhere. She wouldn't let Daddy or Jayden hold "her" baby, but she'd let me and I would calmly walk the baby back into the nursery while her attention was diverted. Once she noticed that her baby was missing, she'd run back into the nursery and snatch it up as fast as she could and we'd repeat the whole process again. They also had a dress up area, which she loved. I put one of the little costumes on her and she proceeded to parade around the area, flaunting and twirling for all who would look at her. And, if they didn't look at her she'd stand in front of them, twirling, smiling, and saying "Pretty" until they finally acknowledged her. Needless to say, she DEMANDED attention. They had an area where the kids could play blocks and Jay loved it. They could also put together a big puzzle on the wall that resembled a stained glass window. The wall lit up behind the pieces, and it was really cool. Both kids had a blast putting different colored pieces into their spots. As you left the exhibit (which our kids were a little reluctant to) there was a mirror with the words "I am a Child of God" above it. They played "Peek-a-Boo" with each other in the mirror, and then Karah inspected her hair and smile while Jay made silly faces. We had such a good time. I'm just mad that I left my camera at home!!

Yummy Breakfast!

Erica has been sharing some of her yummy recipes and food ideas from time to time on her blog and we have enjoyed many of them. I'm not sure how she links things, so just go to www.allrecipes.com and look up pancakes. There will be a whole-wheat apple pancake recipe (not the one with applesauce or flax). Oh my word, those are to DIE for! Make sure you use Granny Smith apples, though, because the flavor will come out much better. (I used gala apples and could barely taste the apple) It tastes like a freakin' apple pie! And it is (slightly) healthier!! The kids usually only eat one or two pancakes each (thank you Caity, for the little pancake pan! They LOVE the animals!) but today they snarffed down at least 4 each...the recipe makes a TON of 2" circular pancakes, like, maybe 25-30! They raise a LOT, too, so just a small scoop will do. (I learned the hard way-the batter grew over the edges of my skillet!)

The Wrath of My Children...

Oh boy. I thought I'd seen my kids mad before, but apparently not! I had two totally ticked off tots today! (Say that 5 times fast...lol) We have a cookie jar in our kitchen, and thanks to Daddy and Jayden's activity the other day, it is full. Well, I've been having some trouble keeping my kids away from the cookie jar. It is a glass jar and doesn't really fit in any of my cabinets, so we usually leave it out on the counter...but it usually doesn't have enticing cookies in it, either. The kids are usually pretty good about not climbing on the counters, but today they had something urging them to push the envelope a bit. Every time I turned around Jay was helping Karah onto the counter near the cookie jar. Sometimes I was too late and they already had half a cookie in their mouths. After about the 4th time, I gave up trying to get them to listen to me and I hid the cookie jar on the top shelf of our hall closet (Jay can unlock and climb all the way up the pantry...there are no shelves in the hall closet). From 3:00 pm until Dan got home (roughly 2 hours...) I had Karah following me around crying. "Iyana COOKIE!" and Jay screaming out, "I don't LIKE YOU!!" periodically. Oh my goodness! They have NEVER been so unruly/disobedient/rude/disrespectful to me! For the first half-hour after I hid the cookies Karah landed herself in time out a few times for hitting me (while screaming for a cookie) and Jayden ran around the house making messes everywhere he could! I sat them both down and told them I would throw away the cookies if they didn't start behaving, and if they were good for the rest of the day they could have a cookie after dinner. It worked, for the most part...sheesh...Cookie Monsters describes them to a T!

Band-Aid Buddies

Jayden did something to his toe when he was up in the bathroom and he won't tell me what (meaning he was participating in some naughty behavior). He had a nasty bruise on his big toe and he wouldn't calm down until I got him a Batman Band-Aid. Well, Little Miss Karah was not going to let me off the hook until she got one, too. So, I put a Care-Bear Band-Aid on the same big toe as Jayden. She was happy until she started walking around discovered that it felt funny on her toe. She couldn't get it off fast enough! I thought this picture was just so sweet...

A little about myself...

A. I like fun.
B. I don't like anything that isn't fun.
C. Cleaning isn't fun.
D. My kids are fun.

So...add my kids to cleaning, and what does that make? Chaos. Yes, chaos. I hate using a mop and prefer to hand-scrub the floor. So, I decided to let the kids help me in order to insert some fun into cleaning. My kitchen turned into a toddler water-park. Karah was more interested in playing in the water bowl than scrubbing the floor, and Jayden discovered that if he braced himself up with his arms he could run in place where the floor was wet. The ENTIRE floor was soaked. I'm not talking just wet, but SOAKED. It was "splash in the puddles" soaked, and so were they. It was fun, but it got a little dangerous at the end when they wanted to play chase. We grabbed some towels and walked on them in order to dry the floor. It is clean now, but I'm thinking about cleaning it every night after the kids go to bed in order to avoid this situation again...if I try and do it while they are awake, there is no keeping them out of it!

It WAS logical, I guess...

This morning I had a hard time getting up because the kids had a hard time sleeping last night. Dan told me he'd wake me in time for breakfast, so I got to sleep in a bit. I woke up late because my sweet husband decided that I needed more than just 10 minutes. He did wake me up in time to grab a shower, though. Again, very sweet of him! When I got out of the shower, he was standing outside the bathroom door just chuckling. I asked him what was so funny, and he told me that while I was in the shower he'd gone downstairs to iron his shirt. The kids had been playing nicely, so he just left them upstairs. When he came up, he found them each chowing down on a cookie. Before he could say anything about them breaking the "You have to ask" rule, Jay piped up and said, "I asked Karah, and she asked me, and we said it was okay." As Grandma Kathi said, there aren't any dummies in this house...

Friends Made Over Cookies...

Lately Dan and Jayden have not been getting along very well...Jayden will NOT listen to Dan, and that just ticks Dan off. They have gotten into a few arguments that just make me giggle to listen to, but then I get reminded by both of them that "It isn't FUNNY!!" It has gotten to the point where Jayden has all out said that he doesn't like Dan and they aren't friends. (The biggest insult that Jay can come up with.) Dan understands that Jay is almost 3 and that it is kind of normal for little kids to say things like "I don't like you!" when you keep them from doing what they want, but it hurt him when Jay told me he wanted a new Daddy after a fight they had over bed time. Dan and I sat down and had a "meeting" about what to do with their relationship, and decided that it was my job (since Jay would talk to me) to find out why Jayden resented Dan so much, and then we would make another plan after that. I discovered that Jayden was hurt whenever Dan left for work because he thought Dan didn't like us or want to spend time with us. I tried to explain to him that Daddy needed to go to work and get money so we could go to the store and buy things. Daddy really loved us, and because he loved us he went to work so we could have a house. He seemed understand, but when Dan got home they got into it again. Dan's problem isn't what Jay is doing, necessarily, but the disrespect that Jay has for him. So, after the kids went to bed, we had another meeting and I told Dan what Jay had told me. We decided that we would start a new daily routine to teach Jayden respect while repairing their relationship. Every morning we all wake up together and have breakfast as a family, Dan takes time with each kid to tell them he loves them and then they plan an activity to do together when he gets home. He gives them hugs and kisses and then leaves for work. Throughout the day I remind the kids of the activity they will do with Daddy when he gets home from work to keep them excited about it. Then, when Dan gets home they immediately get started on their activity while I finish getting dinner ready. Yesterday's activity was baking cookies. Jayden was so excited for Dan to get home and talked about it all day. He was watching a show he earned (he finished all of his jobs on his job-chart) when Dan got home. The kid actually turned OFF the show when he heard the door open and jumped up to meet Dan, screaming "LET'S BAKE COOKIES!!!" They were so cute and precious together. It was mainly a Daddy-Jayden project, but Karah was an excellent spectator. The funniest part was when Dan decided that Jay was old enough to add the eggs. I kept my mouth shut because this was "their time". Dan handed Jay an egg, and then said, "Crack the egg and put it in the bowl". So, Jay chucked the whole egg into the bowl as hard as he could, then exclaimed, "Yay! I cracked it!" It took Dan a few minutes to fish out all of the shells. All in all, we lost about 4 eggs because Jay decided he would help Dan put away the ingredients while the cookies were baking and tripped while he was carrying the huge carton of eggs. I asked him later if he had fun with Daddy, and he said: "Yeah, he's my best friend."

A New Fashion Statement

Before this weekend, Karah was doing WONDERFUL feeding herself with a fork and spoon. She got about 80% in her mouth and only 20% on the floor or her body. That is, until she decided that food was much more fun in the hair, on the clothes, and smeared everywhere in between. These were taken yesterday and today. The white stuff is cottage cheese (something I still won't touch, but Karah LOVES it) and the other stuff is oatmeal. It is difficult because she refuses to eat when we try to feed her, but then as soon as we've turned away from her to get on to Jayden about something, her plate or bowl is on her head. She has also discovered that bath-time is tons of fun now... I remember this time last year when she would scream and scream during bath time unless Grandpa Rick was holding her, and now she screams and screams when we take her out. I think that the food antics is her way of tricking us into bath time during the day instead of right before bed...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Lately Jayden has been all about Superman and LOVES to have a cape on. So, that means Karah must have one, too. The other day I was being silly when I was tying their capes and gave them each hoods. This is the only picture I got, unfortunately, but the kids were so funny running around. Karah had to pick the biggest "kid" blanket we had and would NOT allow me to give her a smaller one that would be easier to maneuver in...

Why?

I have just put the kids to bed, and I'm wondering "Why?". "Why" do they HAVE to argue? Most of it is pointless arguing, like when Jayden is watching a show and yells "YEAH!" when Buzz Lightyear defeats Zurg, yet again, and Karah screams from the other room "NO!", and they proceed to battle for the next 15 minutes over NOTHING! "YES!", "NO!", "YEEEEES!", "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" over and over again. Separating them does nothing, seeing as they are already in different rooms, and the only way I could get them to stop was to offer them each a cookie. Also, "Why" do they wait until Daddy gets home to behave, and when he has to leave again to work late "Why" do they feel the need to stop? "Why" do they ask me "Why" all the time? (Yes, both of them are starting that. Jay, because he's curious, and Karah, because she's a parrot.) I love my kids, and I love being a mom, I'm just wondering "Why" no one said (in a way I'd understand) it could be so darn frustrating at times!

She's too smart sometimes!!

No pictures of this, seeing as it would just be another "Karah Time-Out" picture, but I had to write about it. A big "no-no" at our house is playing with the bird cage. Karah decided that she would ignore that rule today and pull out the water and food dishes. I told her to stop, and she kept on trying to get the food dish out. I asked her if she needed a time out and she stopped, looked me dead in the eye, said "Yes!" and marched herself right over to the corner!! She stayed there, unhappy, until her time was up, then went on to play a game with Jayden. It is crazy how fast she is picking things up!!

"Mudder and Fadder"

When Jay gets mad at Dan or I, we are no longer "Mommy" or "Daddy". We become "Mudder and Fadder." Example: Jayden was mad when Dan had to go back to work. I asked him where his shoes were, and he replied with "They are in Dad--I mean, MY FADDER'S car."

I hate snow...

Believe it or not, these were taken Christmas Day before the actual storm hit. Since then, we have gotten at least another foot and a half. Jayden loves to play in the "mountains" of snow outside. While Dan was shoveling Saturday afternoon, Jay was out with him and climbed to the top of the "mountain" and screamed "I'M JOHN THE BAPTIST!!!" The Scripture Scout CD we'd been playing for the kids talked about Christ's birth and then John the Baptist, and Jay loves the song about him being a "wilderness man." I love how he's able to listen to things and then put them together. John the Baptist is an unusual "super hero", I know, but it makes me happy to know he looks up to men of God. He also loves to hear about "Pheephi" (Nephi) and Ammon.

...and here we go...

In case you were wondering, yes, I do dress my children. These pictures, I just realized, don't show that, but I really do.

Our little Sweet-tart (yes, I put tart, and not "heart") has decided to push all my limits the last few days to see how far she can go without getting put into time-out. Luckily, she's learning quickly, and now all I have to do is ask her if she wants a "time-out" and she stops, looks me in the eye, shakes her head, and says "No out, Mommy". For the most part, she corrects her behavior after that.

This last Sunday I had to teach Primary and forgot that Dan was teaching Priesthood. I didn't want to take Karah with me, so I asked the Nursery leader if I could leave her in there. They LOVED her, and told me we could bring her in from now on. They said she was so easy and they were amazed at how much she talked compared to the other kids. They also told me that Jay was super playful and protective with her. He made sure that the older kids didn't take her toys, but in a nice way. They are going to miss him when the older-nursery teacher comes back. He cracks them up with his "Puppy-Choo", "Spider-man", "Superman" and now "John the Baptist". (I'll elaborate on that in the next post...) I have such awesome kids!!

Karah's First Time-Out

The kids have been very good as far as sharing their Christmas toys. We have had a few little "bumps" in the road, but they usually consisted of Jayden taking Karah's toys and her just screaming bloody murder for it until Dan or I fixed the problem. The kids were happily playing with different toys when a small argument arose about Karah's new "Farmer Book". She'd been playing with it when Jayden started pushing the buttons and trying to take it from her. I stepped in and gave the book back to Karah and gave Jayden something else to play with. Karah walked away with the book, but apparently thought I didn't give Jayden enough discipline. She turned around, RAN as fast as she could screaming like a banshee, and layed everything she had into a slap across his face. I didn't think to grab my camera while she stayed put with her nose in the corner until it was over, but I'm pretty sure that my little girl will end up there again soon and I'll be ready. Dan and I tried to "pose" a picture, but she KNOWS what that corner means and just cried and cried with a look on her face that said "But you KNOW I didn't do anything wrong this time!" We picked her up and loved her, and let her know we knew she didn't do anything naughty, and that we were sorry for putting her in the corner unjustly. She is so sharp!!!