Another Commemoration

Also in commemoration of last year's general breakdown in health, my back has gone out.

This has never happened to me before. I find it intolerable. Everything in the house that is below waist height is a mess. For example, the bed is made and the clothes are put away, but the toys are everywhere and the dishwasher has not been unloaded.

Empathy for people with back problems: CHECK.

One Year Ago

One year ago, among other things, our dishwasher broke.

Yesterday, our hot water heater marked the anniversary by gushing its entire contents into the hall and bathroom.

The dishwasher breaking turned out to be the one bad thing last year that was actually good. Why? Because the old dishwasher was horrible and the new dishwasher is amazing. I'm hoping for a similar outcome with the new hot water heater.

Terrific Show

I just finished watching disc 3 of season 1 of Lark Rise to Candleford (available on Netflix).

It is superb. And it has an Anne of Green Gables flavor. I recommend you add it to your queue.

Validation

I read in a magazine today that play is very important for adults as well as children because it stimulates the brain.

So being fun is healthy!

The pictures showed grown women doing cartwheels.

That does not sound healthy. But one of the points of the article was that women tend to say "Nope, too dangerous" and thereby avoid fun play. (Or in my case, thereby leaving all fun play to more courageous/non-risk-averse members of the family. Which is everyone else.)

Play with husbands was also encouraged. Like tennis, I guess. But one woman's "game" of seeing whether she or her husband could fit more peas into his mouth was just gross.

Luckily, the article concluded that your should only play things that are fun to you. So I will be able to skip the cartwheels and pea-face-stuffing in my quest to be a fun mom and wife.

What's on Zeke's Mind

This morning, I spent some time reading outside while Zeke played. After a little while, he pulled his little lawn chair over to mine and sat down.

Zeke: "Hi Mom."

Me (remembering I'm fun, and closing my book): Hi Zekie. What would you like to talk about?

Zeke: Flowers.

Me: Oh. Do you like flowers?

Zeke: Yes. Pretty.

Me: Which flowers do you like?

Zeke (pointing): Those flowers. Pick flowers!

He ran off and found a clover.

Zeke (sniffing): Smell flower.

He offered me a flower, and I dutifully smelled it. And it smelled good!

Fun Mom Says NO

Victor invited me outside this afternoon to play "Stomp."

I'm fun. I went outside. I asked him to explain the rules.

"First, you climb up on something."

He climbed on top of a cozy coupe. I "climbed" on top of my lawn chair.

"Now, you run around in the street."

He ran down the driveway and ran in circles in the street. I stayed in my lawn chair.

I Very Nike You

I don't know if it's a normal substitution, but Victor often uses /n/ for /l/. He almost always uses it for the first sound in an /l/ word, but he'll also use it in the middle of a word, as in "fnowers" and "airpnane" (which is an improvement on whoreplane) "gnoves" and "choconate."

He also uses the word VERY instead of REALLY. For example, "Zeke very wants an orange" or "I very very don't want to eat any chicken."

Awareness

Today I had my six-month follow-up appointment. My doctor told me they were planning a 5K to raise awareness about gyn cancers, to let people know that women can get something besides breast cancer.

It was such a safe environment that I admitted to becoming increasingly put out with the profusion of pink ribbons during breast cancer awareness month. (Honestly, on FOOD packaging?)

I'm very glad people know to check for breast cancer. But we rare cancer folks have ribbons, too! They're teal, the color of gangrene.

Family Photos

Have you seen the site Awkward Family Photos? Wired magazine suggested it, and it is FUNNY.

Analysis, Please

Last night I had a dream that I put on black eyeshadow. But it didn't look good, so I tried to remove it with a wet Frosted Mini Wheat.

Stinky Tinky

Zeke has the profound misfortune of the nickname Stinky Tinky.

Actually, most of his nicknames involve the sound "ink," such as Tinker Tot, Zinky Tink, and Tinky.

I also call him Bingy Baby and Binger Boy (with a hard g).

He has retaliated by being, from time to time, a Stinker Tot.

Here is a fair representation of his evening prayers:

Me: Heavenly Father

Zeke: NO Heavenly Father

Me: I thank thee

Zeke: NO thank thee

Me: for my food

Zeke: NO food

Me: my house

Zeke: NO house

Me: my mom and dad

Zeke: NO mom, (with smile) Dad

Me: I ask thee

Zeke: NO ask thee

Me: to help me sleep

Zeke: NO sleep

Me: to be obedient

Zeke: NOBEDIENT

You get the idea.

Victor's Song

Victor is not always an eager singer.

(During the religious songs at preschool, he curls in on himself and does not participate.)

But he does like to invent his own songs.

About a year and half ago he invented a "Thomas Movie" that he "watched" in bed at night. It had a theme song, too. The chorus went, "Thomas and the train, whoo whoo whoo, Thomas and the train."

Once, when my cousins were visiting, he stood on an ottoman and treated us to a two minute song of his own invention that had several verses and a recurring chorus.

Tonight he invented a new song. It had a piano accompaniment and included the lyrics, "I love you, I love you."

When he had finished, he asked me if I had heard his "beautiful song." I said I had, and that I like the "I love you" lyrics.

Yes, he said. "It's a song about parents."

He says he'll play it for me again tomorrow.

Hunting Fun

On Wednesday afternoon, we received an invitation to an Easter Egg Hunt. As participants were asked to bring 12 filled eggs per child, my default response was "no, thank you."

But wait! I'm fun!

So we went to Walmart and bought 24 super discounted Easter eggs and a bag of Starburst.

We were a few minutes late to the event because we'd been on a walk that morning. (Walks are fun.)

We got there in time for some games. First was Pin the Tail on the Bunny. Victor looked horrified and retreated to the other side of the lawn. Zeke gave it a whirl, but had to take a first try without a blindfold (in which he mostly put the tail in the right spot).

Then we played Duck Duck Goose. Zeke was baffled.

Then we played Ring around the Rosie and London Bridges. Actually, I played these games with the other children after Victor and Zeke wandered off to dig in the dirt.

Then we did the actual Easter Egg Hunt. I was momentarily mortified that everyone else had darling Easter baskets while we had Walmart bags (not fun!), but then one other family asked to borrow some bags from us, so I felt better.

The under-3s got a 20-second head start, and the whole thing was over in about 4 minutes. It was tremendous fun.

The fun did not last, as I made the mistake of telling the boys they had to eat their apples before they could eat candy and cupcakes. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Victor complied, but Zeke went bananas. I didn't give in (parenting fun!), but decided to pacify him by going to the drive-thru teller instead of the ATM at the bank on the way home. Green lollipops from a vaccuum-powered tube are super fun.

Zeke Is Bamboozled

Zeke was bamboozled into work-fun today. The task was washing kitchen and bathroom trash cans. We did it outside with soap and the hose. He seemed to think it was a game.

The cost of combining fun and work was a mere set of dry clothes.

Fun Fail and Fun Prep

In the thrill of last week's fun, I neglected the house.

So today, I attempted to combine outdoor fun with sweeping out the shed. It did not work. There is no fun way to involve small boys in working around yard poisons, fertilizers, and sharp tools. The shed was swept, but we did not have much fun.

Fortunately, after Zeke went down for his nap, Victor was bamboozled into thinking that a game where we matched numbers to pictures of things (i.e. the number 18 with a picture of 18 frogs) was fun. It was also exhausting, and shortly following our "game," he joined his brother in slumber.

With my new knowledge about yard and housework being no fun, I filled the sink with lemony Lysol and scrubbed the kitchen table, chairs, cabinets, counters and floor. I also discovered the trick to my double-hung windows and washed them inside and out. Oh yeah. Then I washed the panes in the back door and fixed a broken curtain. And reorganized part of my closet. And vacuumed. And washed some clothes.

We are now fully prepared for fun tomorrow.

FHE

Tonight our Family Home Evening lesson was on Joseph Smith's first vision.

I explained that young Joseph went to many churches, but that he didn't know which church was true.

Victor blurted out, "He should go to ours. Our church is the right one."

It was a short lesson.

Easter Experiments

The Easter Bunny didn't make it to our house today. Since Victor has been telling me for weeks that he is (a) too big for the Easter Bunny and (b) a little afraid of the Easter Bunny, nobody minded.

Instead of eating Peeps and chocolate bunnies, we decided to cook the Tur-Duck-Hen that Jeremy's Grandma June sent us for Christmas.

It was very easy to cook (350 for 2 1/2 hours), and the drippings made a delicious gravy. Victor and Zeke ate some, and Victor even ate mashed potatoes for the first time. (Zeke refused.) I'm not certain I would ever purchase another turducken, but if someone sent me one, I would cook it again. But I would remember to cover it with tin foil.

Our big family tradition is the bunny cake. It is usually white, and covered with coconut. Last year I branched out and made a chocolate bunny. This year, I decided to use the leftover neon red frosting from Victor's birthday cake. I figured that it would turn a lovely pink if I mixed in half a recipe of white buttercream. Instead, it turned hot pink.

So we had a hot pink bunny this year with glittery silver whiskers. (Great idea, K!) Zeke called it
"Mom Bunny." Then he scraped frosting off its side with his plate while no one was looking.

Fun Mom at the Zoo

Fun moms can handle heat, long drives, and crowds. The more the merrier!

That being the case, we went to the zoo today. It was just us and the rest of humanity.

Highlights: the giant turtles in the water under the bridge at you walk in; the sea lions that set Zeke to shrieking "A SEAL" every time one swam by; the bus ride from one zoo entrance back to our car at the other entrance; going with another family and having someone to (a) talk to and (b) watch Zeke while I tried to find Victor, who had wandered off in the aviary.

Next time we go, I will make a few adjustments, such as bringing water and snacks, putting sunscreen on my neck (short hair memory blip), tethering the boys to the stroller in some fashion, and choosing a cold or rainy day.

As we drove home, Victor said, "That sure was a fun walk with our friends."

Spot on.