East Coast Road Trip 2010

For Ben's Spring Break this year, we did a repeat of last year's road trip down to visit family in Virginia, stopping along the way to visit lots of good friends. We feel so lucky to have so many loved ones within driving distance . . . even if it did take a whole week to get to all of them!

Here are some highlights (okay, a LOT of highlights, I just realized):

First stop: New Jersey! We stayed with our good friends, Jessica and Chris. We hadn't even met Karen yet (the sweet baby girl above), so it was great to catch up with them.

This was at the Liberty Science Center. I can't believe we never went there during our two years living in NJ. It was great! Henry was in love with these giant fish, and was happy that he knew the names of several of them from one of his books. Not many things are more exciting than spotting a spiny dogfish!

I love how Ellis looked with all the big kids playing at the rice table.

They just stood at the rice table, pouring rice from one container to another, for at least 30 minutes. Ellis dumped a lot of it on the floor. Harmless fun! Why did I never think of this?

Karen's fake-smile face. I love it!

I couldn't help snapping a picture of this sad Ellis face. He was trying to reach a ball in the bottom of this wooden box, and he just wasn't long enough. Sad, sad day.

Happy reunion for this threesome of boys: Evan, Aden, and Henry. These boys go way back to when they were not yet crawling! We had a great time catching up with their parents . . . wonderful friends.

This was the best picture we could get of Ellis and Jessica's dog, Seamus. The "puppy" was definitely the highlight of the NJ stop for Ellis. He exclaimed "PUPPY!" at least 3 times every time he saw the dog. He probably said it at least 200 times over the two days that we were there. And then, the unthinkable happened. Seamus bit a cookie out of Ellis' hand and nipped his finger a bit. Hence, the picture of Ellis at a good distance from the "puppy." He still loves talking about puppies, just not going near them.

Next stop: Virginia. We are lucky to have TWO of Ben's sisters living in the D.C. area now: Kara and Katie. Here, we ventured out to Mount Vernon with all of the kids. We were quite the sight to behold, especially since Ben was the only husband there ;). It was a beautiful day to be there, and we had a blast.

Looking out over the view from Washington's back yard: the Potomac River.

Katie has some good friends that live on 5 acres of land. This was so refreshing for all of us. The boys were in heaven, and I snapped way too many pictures.

I've been thinking a lot about how we could pull off living somewhere with some wide open space someday.

Could I really own a pony though?

Henry seems to fit the cowboy role pretty well.

Goats in the backyard!

Back at the house: making paper cherry blossoms with Brooke!

Getting to know little Natalie (and Lucy, but somehow I didn't any pictures of her!)

Coloring time with "Evan, my cousin" (as opposed to "Evan, my friend")

Campfire and guitar night (ever tried roasted Peeps? Yum!). Ooh, we had so much fun with these people! The boys could have spend at least 11 more days with their cousins (wink, wink). The weather was perfect too, which made it so great because we got to spend lots of time outside! Hooray for a genuine Springy Break!

On to: State College, Pennsylvania! We were amazed at how we had to drive through the middle of absolutely nowhere PA before reaching the thriving, fun college town . . . and Tenille & Nat and their family. Henry and Grant hit it right off (thanks to their mutual appreciation for train tables). I didn't get any pictures of Sadie, but she is an absolute doll. We're so glad we got to see a taste of their life and catch up with all the details. Isn't it amazing how time can pass, but some things never change? It felt like we were just continuing the same conversation we started in Provo 4 years ago (different living room, same people, and some of the same furniture).

Some of the beautiful buildings in Bellefonte. This little Victorian section of town was a big surprise after driving through Amish farmland for 2 hours.

We ended our trip with a lovely night at Amy & Dave's in Connecticut. Unfortunately, my camera died the day before we got there. But we always have a great time with Amy & Dave . . . especially so this time because we got to talk about baby sweaters and baby names. Hooray! We enjoyed some amazing mashed potato pizza and a sweet breakfast at a darling little pastry shop before we parted and headed home, back to regular life once again.

THE END (Whew!)

Re-tire-ment

Last night, Henry asked me the same thing he asks me almost every night: "What did you learn in school today, Dad?" I love it when he asks me this because it gives me a chance to try to explain what I study on a very basic level. Sometimes the conversation can take some unexpected turns, however. Here's the dinner-table chat from last night:

H: "What did you learn in school today, Dad?"

B: "Well, I learned about saving money for retirement. Do you know what retirement is?"

H: (clearly concentrating very hard) "Well...it's just...it's...uh...yeah, I know what retirement is."

B: (surprised that Henry said yes) "Well, then what is it?"

H: "It's when you get all four tires replaced on your car."

Darn this English language! How do you tell a kid that the concept he just used (connecting the prefix "re" with the base of the word "tire") is exactly correct, while at the same time telling them they are wrong?

Cereal Killer T-shirt

Tanner, my awesome brother-in-law, designed a t-shirt for the website Threadless.com (I think Jenn mentioned Threadless in her Christmas post). T-shirt designs are all user-generated--anyone can come up with a design and post it on the website. The designs with the most votes get made into t-shirts that you can actually buy. Which is all to say that you should go vote for Tanner's design, because it rules. You need to vote by Friday. Go here to check it out:

More Ellis Highlights

A few more recent Ellis hobbies:

Wearing boots of all kinds

Using almost anything as a phone. Henry told him this was shaving foam, and Ellis heard "shaving phone." He immediately picked it up and said, "Hello?" Today while he was in the bath tub, he spotted the shaving foam and reached up for it, saying "phone, phone! hello?" He also uses remote controls, Teddy Grahams, and his own feet as phones.

And now for the videos! Here's a great one of Ellis dancing in the kitchen:

Kitchen Dancing from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

This is his absolute favorite toy: a kid-sized suitcase on wheels! He literally spends hours going around "the circle" of our house with this thing. When I need to distract Ellis, I just ask him, "Where's your suitcase?" and he goes off to find it! I love how he says, "Hi!" and "Bye" every time he comes around and sees me.

Suitcase from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

I can't resist Ellis' participation in the "Slippery Fish" song:

Slippery Fish from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

And last, but not least, this is what happens when you give Ellis one cookie. It is not as cute as it may seem. Imagine a grumpy child asking for "cookie" like this for 48 hours straight. Such is my fate if I decide to make cookies. He just has to see the dough for the demands to start. And then my life is over unless I give him one. If you give an Ellis a cookie, he's going to ask for another. If you give him another, he's going to ask for another. This becomes an eternal cycle, until finally your guilt prevents you from giving him yet another cookie. And when you make that decision, you know you are subjecting yourself to this:

Cookie! from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Yes, I know we've got problems. Good thing he's cute!

Big Trouble in a Little Body

This is what Ellis has been up to recently:

I know, you're wondering why on earth I am behind the camera instead of snatching that filthy thing away from him.

Truth is, he's really cute when he runs away from me squealing with delight, holding a toilet plunger.

(those are Henry's pajamas)

(and Henry's bath toys)

Here's a sample of the little rascal in action. He's really keen on stealing stuff he thinks he shouldn't have and then running away, squealing. You can just see the look of delight that mischief evokes in his blood. He has absolutely no concept of feeling badly for doing something wrong or getting in trouble for it. Is this normal?

Dishwasher from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Horrible Hair Day

In conjunction with the Spontaneous Delight lessons in Joy School, the kids voted to have pajama day AND horrible hair day last Wednesday. Henry went with the "Mo-hog" look (his phrase), using shaving foam and baby powder to finish it off. Ellis joined along with a mini Mohawk of his own. All of the kids showed up looking pretty awesome. I thought these pictures deserved their own post:

Spontaneous Delight

The Joy School lesson plan for "Spontaneous Delight" landed on me, and I am so glad it did! As mentioned in my previous post about playing with kids, I need a little help remembering that real fun doesn't necessarily have to be planned. In fact, some of the most fun experiences come from spontaneity. This is a 4-year-old's area of expertise, so I learned a lot from these kids! I provided the shaving foam, uncovered popcorn popper, giant cardboard box, balloons, and the Honeybee Hop, and the kids did the rest! I always hoped as a child that when I became a grown-up, I wouldn't lose my imagination. Hmmm . . . I'm afraid I have lost a lot of it. Good thing I am surrounded by people who are experts at getting your imagination back! It was a fun week.

So . . . when was the last time you . . .

• did something totally spontaneous?
• made a big mess just for fun and didn't worry about the aftermath?
• made up silly new words to a song?
• giggled uncontrollably?

Give it a shot this week!

Thank Heaven for kids!

Cabin Weekend

Ben's parents sent us a sum of money for Christmas with one restriction: it had to be used to build a family memory. You don't have to ask us twice! We found this amazing cabin rental in New Hampshire, referred to us by one of my piano student's parents. We felt like it was truly a hidden gem. It's located right above Lake Winnipesaukee, and just outside the backyard is this retired ski run that we were able to use as a sledding hill. It was a DREAM for a winter retreat! The best part: it was big enough to hold three families and was only $150/night total. We loved just sitting around relaxing with friends, letting the kids run wild, playing games, sledding, eating, talking, laughing. This is my kind of vacation! I'm pretty sure it will become a tradition for us. As you can see from the pictures, we didn't get as much snow as we had hoped, but it was just enough for the 4 and under crowd. These pictures were taken just as everyone was getting worn out and the snow was starting to melt. We'll hope for better snow next year!

32 Ways to Play with Your Child Today

I am horrible at playing with my kids. I can only handle so many traffic jams and voyages across the sea on the U.F.S. ship before I am making up excuses and sneaking off to do something else. This leads to great amounts of guilt, yes. I wish I was better at this! Here's what I discovered about myself though: I really like playing with my kids if there is some structure to it, and I do feel that spending time having fun together is SO important! Also, if there is a set time for our playing together each day, everyone seems happier and looks forward to it.

After Ellis was born, we invented "Mommy School" as a way for Henry & I to get to spend positive time together. We did reading practice, coloring/tracing practice, and then the Mommy School activity. It was nice to have a special time scheduled into each day (we did it right after lunch) to spend together. Since Henry started Joy School, we haven't been as religious about Mommy School, but we still enjoy doing letter-writing practice when we can, and we still love the activities. JoDee emailed me recently asking for ideas on what to do for the activities. I typed them up in response to her, and thought it wouldn't hurt to post them here.

I kept ideas like this folded up on pieces of paper in a jar, and we could choose one each day. The rule: the ideas had to be simple enough to gather materials and prepare for it in less than 2 minutes. Most of them involve objects you probably have lying around your house. I'm looking for new, similar ideas, if you'd like to share them! I'll give you my 32 if you'll leave an idea or two in the comment section. Deal?

Here are the ideas (gathered from everywhere, from Joy School to Real Simple to the I Can Trace books):

1. Sorting (different colored beans, goldfish, whatever you have) into different cups
2. Stringing pasta or cereal to make a necklace
3. Lace ups
4. Rainbow name (write their name and trace the outline in different colors, like a rainbow)
5. Play dough
6. Typing letters
7. Tweezers/Tongs (moving objects from one bowl or basket to another with tweezers or tongs)
8. Ball/sports
9. Stickers
10. Giant drawing (trace their body and draw a life-size kid)
11. Boggle or Scrabble letters
12. Dominoes
13. Will it float? (have the child gather objects and then guess if they'll sink or float)
14. Follow the leader (sing the Peter Pan song while marching around the house, taking turns being leader)
15. Plant seeds
16. Where's my lid? (give a bunch of containers and lids and have them match them up)
17. Play a game
18. Color mixing (with cups of water and food coloring)
19. Concentration/Memory (play the game or create your own)
20. Bubbles
21. Pbskids.org
22. Fingers and toes (trace fingers and toes and color pictures of them)
23. Hide & seek surprises (have them open containers with screw-off lids with a surprise - toys you already have or tiny treats - inside)
24. "Piano lessons"
25. Bowling (make bowling pins out of household items and bowl)
26. Go for a discovery walk
27. Blanket fort
28. Story writing (have child dictate a story to you; draw or take pictures to illustrate)
29. Paper toys (print, fold, and glue a toy free from The Toy Maker or Paper Toys.
30. Blow bubbles in a cup (using a small amount of dishsoap in water, blowing with a straw!)
31. Finger-paint (with shaving foam, pudding, ketchup, or dishwasher detergent mixed with water)
32. Paint the sidewalk (with a bucket of water and paint brushes)

Scripture Power Primary Activity

I am serving in the Primary presidency in our ward right now (translation: working with the children of our church congregation). It's a fun calling that I'm really loving! I'm beginning to wonder lately if my official title should be changed from "Primary first counselor" to "Primary graphic designer." I've really enjoy pulling my rusty old Corel Draw skills out of my 1996 pocket and putting them to some use! Luckily, there is now a nearly identical freeware program called Inkscape that is much more up to date. Heaven forbid I should have to actually learn a new program! [is that how you use the phrase "heaven forbid?"]

So. Long story short. We had a fabulous quarterly activity themed "Scripture Power," focusing on how the kids can get power from learning about the scriptures. They received super hero capes with the scripture power logo on them. Then they went to stations, where they learned scripture stories and did some high-energy activities. At each station, they earned an iron-on emblem for their capes. It was super cute to see them all in their capes. Here is Henry in his.

AND let's not forget the big news. I created (half traced, half created) my first clipart! It can be found here at none other than Sugardoodle.net. Perhaps someday you can find the entire activity idea there. Who really gets around to sharing their activity ideas with others?

Henry's Tag Sale

After reading this book, Henry had a vision. He couldn't stop talking about how he wanted to have his very own Tag Sale, inviting all of his friends. The friends would all bring toys they no longer wanted, and then the kids would sell their toys to each other. "Sure," I said, "We can do that." "Okay," Henry replied, "When should everyone come? After lunch today?"

It took a little more advanced planning than that, but we worked together to pull off Henry's dream. Here's how it worked:

Upon arrival, every child was given an envelope in exchange for 5-10 unwanted toys and books. The envelope contained a set amount of play money, price tag labels for their toys (with pre-set amounts on them), and a number indicating which group they would be in.

Then the kids looked at the toys they brought, ranked them from best to worst, affixed the price tags, and dropped them in corresponding baskets.

Then, we purchased lunch. Each family brought one healthy food and one snack food, which were sold for $1 each.

There were some pretty amazing treats, like Christy's chocolate-dipped marshmallows (and other marshmallows dipped in white chocolate, caramel, and Rice Krispies). Yum!

After lunch, the store opened! Kids came to the store in groups and got to pick out new toys! Hooray for new toys!

I give Henry 100% credit for this fabulous idea. I'm glad to have a little dreamer for a son. He's got the party planning vision, which is very important.

Post Scripts, Answers, Updates

to the previous few posts:

1. Shortly after that "Kid's Music" post, Henry asked to hear Baby Beluga again. And again. Then we used several of the songs at Joy School today. Raffi is starting to grow on me. There is definitely a place for it -- it seemed the perfect soundtrack to set the mood for a kids' party or a morning of at-home adventures.

Although I never regret that my 3-year-old used to sing "Screaming Infidelities" in public.

2. The birthday banner in my birthday post came from my awesome friend Jenni Wahlen Davis. Made with her Cricut machine. What a fabulous birthday present. Yes, it is still hanging up. Right up there with my Valentine's Day decorations.

3. I am still a hard core believer in my REVOLUTION. That's not to say that I'm perfect at keeping my schedule (the Olympics were hard for me!). But I know that every time I give in to watching those figure skaters until midnight, I'm kicking myself the next morning. Still working on it.