Pop!

Charlotte comes to me and asks for a diaper change. (Sigh. Yes, I know, yet another old-enough-to-be-potty-trained-and-yet-ISN'T-potty-trained-kid for me.)

Then she toots.

Her eyes get really big and she says to me in a stage whisper, "Mommy, my body is popping!"

Easter--remember way back when?

I forgot about those Easter pics, mainly because stomach flu hit and hit hard on Saturday night before Easter and spoiled our whole week of spring break. So we postponed, adapted, and skipped a few of our Easter plans. (Don't tell anyone I just put the plastic eggs full of candy down in the basement to see if they'll last until next year. Do jelly beans get stale? Do kids care if jelly beans get stale?)

This month's BYU Magazine cover story is on how moms use their college education at home. Well dear English professors, you'll all be glad to know that those hours and hours of classroom instruction and writing assignments have culiminated in my ability to (quickly) write 4-verse poems leading my kids through the house on their Easter basket treasure hunt. Sorry Dr. Sorenson, it wasn't even in iambic pentameter.

It was a fun activity, even if Seth felt too sick to really enjoy it. Devilish me, I really enjoyed the crushed look on their faces when they went downstairs to see a lone Easter basket on the table with a lone egg in it (containing the first clue) and we told them they had to share the egg. Having the outside egg buried under a surprise snowfall was a bonus. So mean!

Don't ask why

This is what I found when I returned from taking Carden and Seth to school this morning. Charlotte was nowhere to be found. Claire was quite accepting of the fact that she had 4 pounds of shredded cheese in her lap. If I were trapped by 25% of my body weight in cheese, I think I would be a bit more vocal.

I am curious, though. Was Charlotte trying to share? Hoping Claire would open the package for her? Thinking Claire was ready for a better toy than the caterpillar rattle?

And tonight's special is?

Rice cereal, served any way you like it, as long as it's mushy.

After the first spoonfuls, Claire looked at Tyler as if to say, "How could you betray me?!" A cross between electroshock therapy and a lemon-sucking contest.

It can only go up from here.

Garden season opens!

In case you wondered how we've learned to garden in our oversize yard: think big. Think very big. As my gardening neighbor said when I was rolling my eyes at Tyler's truck purchase: "Kristen, we're not one of those people who garden on postage-stamp-size lots. We don't buy compost in bags."

Nope. We buy compost in 4-cubic-yard truckloads. In case you're wondering, that's about 8,000 pounds, enough to cover a 1,300-square-foot area with a 1-inch-layer of compost. When dumped in your driveway, it makes a pile about 9 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet high for the neighbors to admire, the kids to play in, and the dog to eat (and then throw up on the family room rug).

Ask me next week if I'll trade it for a condo in San Diego.

Looking cheesy

goat cheese, that is.

gotta start 'em young!

Valentine's Day

February was one long month around here, and I am officially out of wit, so I'm a bit behind in posting.

The past few years we've made Valentine's Day a family celebration as opposed to a romantic one. This year we brought out the chocolate fountain and let everyone make a mess. Anyone know when kids learn to eat neatly?

Charlotte was only interested in dipping, not eating, and we couldn't eat fast enough to keep up with her, which frustrated her no end. Carden's food kept falling off the skewer and getting lost in the chocolate. But everyone had a great time, and I was reminded why we only do this once a year!