Question

I have a question for you all (I like to pretend that like 50 people or more read my blog, but I know it is at tops 5, but I'll just keep pretending). Have you ever heard of the notion that you actually turn your new age the moment you blow out your candles on your birthday cake? That idea has been circulating around my household lately, and it was news to me.

Kids say funny things

Here is my picture of the day: Ariel giving Dallin a piggy-back ride.
Adriana enters my room as I am getting my clothes out to take a shower, "Mom, Annika was dumping yogurt on the couch and licking it off."
"Did she lick it all the way off?" (Cuz I don't really want to go all the way down the stairs to clean it up.)


Riding in the car passing over railroad tracks Ariel asks, "Mom how do trains get on the tracks to start out with?" Now there is something to think about.

Talking about tongues

Day 32 , August 22

Day 31 August 21
The other day to try to show her off her knowledge Ariel said to Adriana, "Do you know what a tongue does?" to which Adriana replied, "Um, it wigggles?"
"No, you put something on it and it tells you if you like it or not."
Not to be outdone, Adriana asked,"Do you know what hair does?"
"It wiggles."
"No, it relaxes."

Funny. funny kids.

Name that Tune

Day 25 August 15

Adriana woke up with her pajamas like this. I think it is pretty amazing. How did she do that in her sleep?Day 26, August 16th
We went to New York City to see Emily and Jacob. It was a lot of fun (minus Nikolay getting frustrated finding parking spaces) and so good to see them and spend time. Emily went with us to the American Museum of Natural History and to Central Park and then Jacob met up with us at Max Brenner later.
Emily took this picture of us in Central Park, on our way to the Belvedere Castle. Our last family picture was in February. I guess we'll keep trying to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time.

Day 27, August 17th
I didn't remember to take my POD until it all the kids were asleep, so it was either Nikolay or Taz. I finally figured out how to get him to smile, I just laugh right before I click and that makes him laugh. I think I'll experiment more with black and white.
Day 28, August 18th
This is Annika's fake smile for the camera. She is holding walnuts that fall on the ground on our way to our trail in Lock Ridge Park. She collected 20 of them that day.
Day 29, August 19th
Dallin, Annika, and Ariel painting with sidewalk paint at a friends house.

Day 30, August 20th

The kids and I were sitting on our bed waiting for Nikolay to finish with the computer so that we could read the Book of Mormon together and have our prayer. So, we started playing "name that tune" with the xylophone. I played "I'm a Little Teacup" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Then Ariel and Adriana played songs that they are learning on the piano. After we exhausted our repertoires, they started making up songs, but the catch was that the rest of us were still supposed to guess the words to their made up songs. I was the only one who found it funny. Everyone else was trying their darnedest to guess the made up words.

Put your left foot in

Day 18 August 8
Dallin Playing Peek-a-boo
Picture of all of our hands.
Day 19 August 9
Fabric for my latest project.
My new friend, I'll just call her C, took me to a Mennonite fabric store. On the way there we saw ladies in long dresses riding bikes and wearing little white bonnets. While we were in the store two girls who looked like they were about ten, wearing long homemade dresses were looking at fabric. They were really nice and one said to the other, "This looks really cool."
Then the other replied, "Yeah look at this cool apron."
"Yeah they have really cool bonnets at this store too."
"I think everything at this store is cool!" I was surprised that they sounded just like mainstream kids.
The sales ladies were really friendly and in the middle of the transaction the phone rang and I got to hear Pennsylvanian Dutch (which is really a dialect of German) for the first time.


Two funny things with Annika and telling left from right. The first one happened a few months ago and I was helping her get her pants on. I said, "Put your left foot in. Now put your right foot in." To which she replied, "And you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around." Imagine that in a cute toddler voice, and I didn't even know she knew that song.
Yesterday I was helping her get her shoes on and I said, "This is your right foot," and we put that shoe on, then, "This is your left foot." And she said "No that is my wrong foot. This is my right foot and this is my wrong foot." Matter-of-factly looking at me like "Mom don't you know anything?"

Adriana Says:

"Mom, I know what happens if you eat too much and you are not a grown-up."
"Really, what?"
"You throw up."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What happens if you eat too much and you are a grown-up?"
"Then you have another baby."
"Really?"
"Yeah."

A little long while ago

Adriana was telling me about something and I asked her when it happened she said she didn't know so I asked her if it happened a long time ago or a little while ago and she said it happened a little long while ago. That had me cracking up so I said that I would put it on my blog. Then Annika said she was going to put it on her blog too. Funny thing is I didn't even know she had a blog.

Here is a joke from Ariel "Wouldn't it be funny if someone you didn't even know asked you if you wanted some hot chocolate?.....Get it, hot chalk like the chalk you draw with and lit like when something is on fire?"
Then I said, "We could make that into a joke like 'Why were the customers disappointed when the waiter brought them some chalk on fire?... Because they ordered some hot chocolate not hot chalk lit." She looked at me weird and thought for a little while then said, "Or 'Why were the customers disappointed when the waiter brought them hot chalk lit?...Because they ordered hot chocolate." That made me laugh even harder than our brilliant joke.

these five are for me

Here's a story that will really put my parenting abilities into question. Yesterday at the grocery store I wanted to bribe the kids to be good without spending a lot of money, so I told them that if they were good I would buy marshmallows (97 cents). I let them chose if they wanted little or big ones. They all got one marshmallow when we got home for good behavior. I thought, "Great this bag of marshmallows is going to last forever." Then today I really got into Eclipse and it was almost dinnertime. I hadn't yet even thought about what we were going to have for dinner, but wanted to read just a little bit more before Nikolay came home. So, when Ariel asked me if she could have a marshmallow, I said, "Sure if you will bring me one too and let me keep reading until Papa gets home." So of course Adriana and Annika needed one too. In a few minutes Adriana asked if she could have two marshmallows and I was like way into the book, like Edward and Jacob were going to fight, so I said, "Sure but ask Ariel to get them for you," so everyone including myself got two more marshmallows. Before you know it, Adriana is standing next to me with a handful for marshmallows and I reach my hand out for another one, and she states with a mouth full of marshmallows, "These five are for me." So, instead of trying to teach her anything (just imagine all the lessons that needed to be learned: nutrition, sharing etc...) I reward her by laughing hysterically, and having Ariel get her some more so that I can take her picture. How's that for parenting skills!


These are photos of our second trip to Silver Lake. It is my goal to get a good picture of all six of us together. I hope Emily will help me out with this one.

when I grow up

Dallin is getting so big, so fast, I feel like taking his picture every other minute so I don't miss even one moment.
Isn't Adriana so photogenic? Today I asked her if she wanted to be a missionary when she got bigger and she said no, "I want to be a princess, but can I still live here when I am a princess?" I told her that Mama was a missionary and that she probably couldn't be a princess (we have had many discussions before about the only way to become a princess is to marry a prince, and there aren't very many princes in the world available to marry) And then she asked if I was still a missionary and that she actually wanted to be a ballerina, a ballerina princess.

Before that she asked if when we are zero if we live up there. So I said "Up where, do you mean before we were born?" Then she said,"Yeah, with Jesus when we are zero."