For the last couple weeks I keep finding my ob tampons on the bathroom floor and have been wondering why. Today that mystery was solved. James knows the drawer I put them in and thinks they are chapstick for his lips!! The picture is of him showing me how to use the 'chapstick.' I am having a hard time stopping the laughter.
During scriptures James went into the kitchen and turned on the kitchen sink. Going into the kitchen to see what he was doing I find him scrubbing dishes. He looks up at me and says, 'I wash dishes.'
For Alexis birthday Grandpa Ashby gave her a target gift card. One of the items Alexis bought was flower stater kits. Some of the flowers have started to sprout. It's fun to watch. This morning she ran into my bedroom to show me another seed had sprouted.... out the bottom of the planter! Silly flower!
I'm laying in bed listening to my girls eat breakfast and talk to each other. Alexis suddenly says, 'I'll do what I want to not what I'm told.' Ariana asks where that was from and Alexis says, 'Thomas, Percy says it I think.' I'm laughing because she is quoting Thomas the Train James' current favorite show.
Saturday was Ariana's first soccer game ever. For a long time I have resisted signing the girls up for sports. I love sports but listening to my friends and how their weeknights and Saturdays are taken over by sports has left me very hesitant. Being in Idaho has brought a lot of wonderful opportunities for our family, one of which is having time to try new activities. Not teaching preschool and 15+ piano students has made trying to juggle multiple activities much more palatable. Soccer has been great so far. Several girls on Ariana's team, including the coach and his daughter live in our neighborhood. Practices are right down the street and over half the games are scheduled at Ariana's school which is only a mile from our house.
Ariana was very nervous about her first game for several days leading up to it. Friday she was close to tears. Needless to say the game went just fine, aside from James trying to run on the field. Ariana's team 'the green girls' lost 1-0 but with treat bag in hand Ariana said, 'we lost 1 to 0 but that's ok, it's only a game.' Taylor and I had been a little afraid when the other team scored because Ariana was the goalie. I braced for tears but was grateful when none came. For having never played before she is doing really well and leaning very quickly.
After picking up thousands of leaves in the fall I looked forward to spring here in Idaho. I had envisioned all these trees that lost their leaves full of blossoms in the spring. It would make up for the torture of endless raking and bagging. I imagined walking down the streets feeling like Anne of Green Gables. Spring blossoms on trees and the blub spring flowers have always brought a sense of joy to my soul. I have been extremely let down. I have found one, that's right only ONE flowering tree on my street. Almost all the trees just grow their new leaves without blossoms! At least there are several yards with tulips, daffodils, hyacinth coming up so not all is lost. To make up for the trees not blossoming and our yards lack of color I decided to plant my own little bit of spring in the little corner by the edge of our driveway. These few flowers bring a smile to my face whenever I see them. They may not be as much as I had imagined but they do still make me smile.
Books are very loved in our home. As different as James has been he seems to have the same love of books which makes me very happy. Of course the books he loves often have trains, cars or buses in them which is far different than the fairies and princesses the girls love. Watching my girls read to James I can't help smiling.
My girls are very independent these days which is nice but also means that things like hair and outfits are not so much my decision anymore. This morning everyone slept in about 30 minutes longer than we should have. As a result they requested for me to pick their outfits and let me do their hair. I had to keep hair simple because of the time but it was fun to get them all ready this morning. I love my two girls and think they both looked very cute today (even though Ariana refuses to smile normally for a camera).
James speach has started to pick up. I love listening to him talk and sing. His latest habit that started a couple weeks ago is when he really wants something he says what he wants and follows it up with, 'ok Mommy?' If he is mad about something he starts to yell with a very angry face, 'OK MOMMY, OK!!!' I know he is upset but when he is yelling those words I have a hard time not laughing.
We drive A LOT these days and one thing that has truly helped with the ten hour drive from Idaho Falls to Vegas and back is listening to books on CD. Our latest book series has been the Beyounders by Brandon Mull. Alexis has read almost all the books he has published and loves them! So much so that a couple months ago in school when the librarian did a pantomime activity where each student was to act out a character from a book and everyone else guess, before Alexis had even started her whole class yelled, 'Fabelhaven!' (Brandon Mull's first series) because she was constantly reading them and carrying them around. (she told me they got it wrong though because she thought that's what everyone would guess and picked a different book, I can't remember what she said she picked)
Tonight at dinner when I asked Alexis how her day had been she started off by telling me how disappointed she has been because she had missed the assembly with Brandon Mull today because of PACE. I was sad for her because I know she would have loved it. Alexis mentioned that he was doing a book signing tonight at Barnes and Nobel. I offered to take her after dinner. She grabbed her copy of candy shop wars and off we went. I'm so glad it was just me had Alexis that went. The line was huge and our group wasn't called until just before 10pm! There is no way I would have stayed with Ariana or James that long. Alexis and I had a wonderful night together though. Barnes in Nobel is connected to the mall so we looked at books, window shopped, bought a cute head band and a couple more Brandon Mull books. It was lovely spending the time alone with her! I feet hurt so bad by the end but it was worth it for the night and her smile. Alexis has been spending most of her freetime writing lately and was anxious to ask two questions to Brandon Mull:
When did you start writing?
How did you come up with ideas?
He told Alexis he started writing around the age of 10 after he read the Narnia series and his mind and daydreams just exploded. He'd write them down and as he got older they got bigger and more extreme.
Today right as we pulled in to Taylor's work I looked in the review mirror to see my poor little buddy throwing up several times. Of course it was on the car seat we just bought four days ago. After cleaning him up he fell asleep on the ride home and now fell asleep on me. James rarely takes naps now so two in one day means he must really not feel well. This is our first throw up illness this school year. I love him cuddling with me but am also really hoping no one else gets it.
