Govver the Fire Chief Truck

For Mommy School yesterday, Henry decided to write his own book! He came up with the whole story by himself, and I wrote it down. Then we took the pictures with the camera and put it all together. The orange dinosaur socks are an added bonus! Click the play button to start. You may want to click pause next so you can take the story at your own pace. You're going to love this:

Books, books, books

[credit to Henry Iverson for the above photograph: "Book Pressing." Artist in training.]

I've been spending a lot of time over the last couple of months doing little bookbinding workshops with girls from my Relief Society. It's been a fun project for me, and I still get a thrill every time I hold one of the finished books in my hands. Ah, bookbinding! I don't know if I will ever tire of this art form.

This is my personal favorite. I absolutely had to make a book out of this paper when I saw it. What could possibly be cooler than having a family photo album that looks so much like our living room rug that it almost gets lost in it? One thing's for sure: when the book predators come, they won't be able to steal our family photos because they won't be able to find the album! I'm sneaky that way.

Did I mention that this paper is flocked, so the green parts have a fuzzy, velvety texture? It's pretty cool.

Bet You Didn't Know

They still make onesies in size 5T. Okay, so they don't, but 10 years ago they did, and we got our hands on a nice little outfit for Henry, complete with snaps around the bottom (tricky for potty time, but well worth the hassle). The Children's Place. 10 years. I kid you not.

Daxen's Big Trip!

When the Iverson grandkids turn 12, they get to go on a trip with Grandma and Grandpa. We were lucky enough to host Daxen for his big trip (Andrea came along to keep things interesting)! It was a fun-filled week, as they really packed in all the Boston essentials. Henry and Ellis were in heaven with their week-long playmates. We stayed up so late at night playing games that our entire family switched to Utah time! We went to bed around 1:00 each night and got up around 8:30 each day. Ellis has been sleeping in until almost 9:00 every morning since they came. It's been so hard to wake up since they left that we're thinking of just staying on Utah time until we go there for Brady's wedding in July. It just might work!

Here are the trip highlights:

The Museum of Science: Henry and Daxen both LOVED this and could have stayed for hours more. I was surprised at how well Henry enjoyed the adult exhibits -- we didn't even go to the children's section! The museum is really well done for all ages.

Duck Tour: I came home with Ellis while the rest of the group went on a Duck Tour (a tour of Boston by land and sea in an amphibious vehicle). It was rainy for most of the week, including the Duck Tour, but I think they liked it a lot anyway.

Henry got to drive the Duck Tour boat in the Charles River! He was a pretty careful (and excited) driver.

The Duck Tour people gave Henry a bunch of stickers for driving so nicely. Henry is currently in the middle of a big sticker phase, so they couldn't have given a more appropriate gift! He wore these on his legs for 3 days, and when he finally took them off I had to scrub black circles off his legs from the residue.

The Freedom Trail: a Boston must! I am the obstinate sandal-wearer.

Ellis sucked on his toes for most of the trek. He was really good though and stayed happy most of the day in his stroller.

See? Told ya.

A break in the Freedom Trail at Faneuil Hall for lunch.

Looking at downtown Boston from Charlestown.

Aboard the U.S.S. Constitution -- Ellis and Grandma

Tour of Harvard's campus with the insider-expert tour guide, Ben. Here they are in front of the Baker Library where Ben's office is.

Waiting in line at Pizzeria Regina. Was the pizza worth the wait? Absolutely. We topped it off with Canolis from Mike's Pastry, of course.

Perhaps the best part of the trip was how Daxen and Henry bonded. They had so much fun playing together (well, at least Henry did), and they built many complex train tracks and lined up lots of cars. We would like to adopt Daxen for a couple of years!

We would adopt Grandpa too, if Grandma would let us! He was a pretty fun playmate as well. It took Ellis a few days to warm up to our guests, but he was pretty comfortable by the end of the week!

As if we hadn't already eaten plenty of yummy, unnecessary treats, we made sure to pick up some donuts for Linda herself at our favorite donut shop in Belmont and ate them with hot chocolate the last rainy night before they left (Summer? What's that?).

Thanks for the fun visit, Iversons and Smiths! Luckily we'll all be together again soon.

Leftover H Quotes

On a more positive note, Henry keeps cracking us up. Here you have it, the long-awaited Henry quotes:

* The skunk came and it "stinct" all the dinosaurs.

* Daddy, I spelled "cracrs!" With an exclamation point 'cause I'm excited!

* Can you sing that song about "Another oatmeal, another show?"

* I wanna be a daddy with hairs in my nose.

* [while in the car] We're stuck in traffic. Honk your horn, Mom!"

* Oh! Bankruptcy! That's kind of popular!

* I'm the superest boy in the whole world!

* I like this city! I like this WHOLE world! There is so much stuff! There's more things that we can't even do!

After watching Toy Story recently:

* Ladies and gentlemen . . . and beyond!

* Picasco -- that's what Mrs. Matato calls himself.

Clever excuses for not doing things he should do:

* Nina and Teddy didn't want me to make my bed.

* I can't [put the silverware away] because:

- I'm too busy doing this (flipping the button on the dishwasher).

- that's too much work for me!

- Ellis wants me to push this button.

* I can't come downstairs because my feet are glued to the floor.

* Oh no! Help me! I'm blind! I can't eat my dinner because I'm blind!

H: I can't paint tomorrow; I have a lot of work to do.

Dad: What kind of work?

H: I have to play.

H: I'm not taking bites because someone in my dream told me not to take bites.

Dad: Well, you still need to take bites.

H: But I don't want to be thrown in the lion's den if I take bites!

E: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

Mom: Henry, what did you do to him?

H: But you wanted me to pull Ellis' tooth out!

Conversations:

H: Do you want to buy this car? It costs 90 million dollars.

Dad: I don't have enough money. I only have 60 million dollars.

H: That's okay -- I'll just turn the 6 upside down and it will be 90 million.

Mom: Okay Henry, no more growing up! You need to stay a little boy forever.

H: But I want to marry someone!

H: Why did Jesus not create cars?

Dad: Because he only made things in the earth like trees, flowers, and mountains.

H: Santa makes cars! He's kind of like Jesus!

H: Why did you throw that bib in the garbage?

Mom: Because it had a hole in it.

H: I wanted to stick my finger in the hole -- it was a like a polar bear sticking his head in the snow.

Bonus Questions (just in case you haven't heard enough of them):

* Why did you forget?

* Why is there not a reason?

* Who gave me this [piece of Halloween candy]?

* When I was a baby, did I use Ellis' body?

* Why are they called eyebrows?

* Why can we not do the day and THEN get ready for the day?

Why me?

Okay, everybody!  Pop quiz time!  Let's see if you can come up with clear, concise definitions for each of the following words, using only words a 3-year-old would understand.  Ready?  Here we go:

Lawyer

Think

Local diners

In charge

Officially

Undetectable 

Survive

Creditors

Lend

Smuggling

3rd party

How did you do?  If you feel pretty good about your on-the-spot definitions, I would like to hire you.  PLEASE come to my house and live with me so you can answer Henry's questions!  He never stops!  I think 90% of the sentences that come out of his mouth are questions.  And we all know that a LOT of sentences come out of his mouth.  The words listed above are just a few examples of words I have been asked to define in the last week.  On one hand, I can understand where he's coming from.  I'll be the first to admit that our language is mystifying.  There are lots of words in the English language that he doesn't know yet, and I really do think it's great that he has set out to learn all of them.  

After I stumbled through my best definition of "undetectable," he asked, "What does 'tectable' mean?"  I think the idea of a word related to "undies" was puzzling him.  I can see why that might be confusing.  

After Ben tried to define the word "survive" by saying, "to survive is to live," Henry asked, "Then why does the police officer on Wall-E say, 'I don't want to survive; I want to live?'"

So yes, we all have some sympathy for Henry, the 3-year-old who wants to know and understand everything but doesn't.  The world is confusing!  Now let's have some sympathy for the mom who has to live with Henry all day and answer all of his questions, trying her hardest to keep that sweet, patient tone to her voice (it doesn't last long, folks).  Are you thinking this rant should be about over?  It has just begun.

Let's start with "WHY."  I'm pretty sure I get asked "Why?" at least 80 times a day.  Henry asks why after nearly everything I say.  

Please get your shoes on.

Why?

Because we're going to the park.

Why?

Because someone invited us.

Why?

Because they like us.

Why?

Because we're fun to be around, and we're super cool.

Why?

Because we were born that way.

Why?

[This is the point where I have a big choice to make.  I could say something about heredity and genes, but then I know the next question will be, "What is genetics?" and then we'll go into a whole new endless conversation.]  So I opt for . . .

I don't know.

Why do you not know?

I just don't know.

But WHY do you not know?

I just don't have a reason.

Why do you not have a reason?

I just don't have a reason.

Why do you not have a reason why you don't have a reason?

Yes, that last one is a direct quote from Henry that comes out nearly every day in some conversation or another.  You think this is funny?  Imagine that same conversation repeated for everything I ask him to do throughout the day (Please get dressed; Please make your bed; Please don't put a plastic bag on Ellis' head).  Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?  It's not funny.  It's torture.  It's like when someone sings "This is the song that doesn't end," and it's funny the first two times and then they keep singing it all day long.  It's like yesterday when Ben had the hiccups for three 4-hour intervals with an hour break in between.  Not funny anymore!  Torture!

An example:

Do knives get wet?

Yes.

What knives?

I don't know what knives you were talking about.

What knives get wet?

I don't know.  All knives get wet sometimes?

No, WHAT KNIVES?  

I don't know.  

What knives?

I don't know.

What knives?

I don't know.

WHAT KNIVES?

Um, paring knives.

Oh, paring knives.  What are paring knives?

Sometimes I resort to lying.  Don't judge me.  You would do the same.  This conversation happened as we were driving down the street:

(Pointing out the window) Look at that girl!  What's that girl's name?

I don't know.

What is it?

I don't know.  I've never met her.

Why do you not know it?

I've never met her.

But what is her name?

I don't know.

What IS it? 

I don't know.

What IIIIIIISSSSSSSS it?

I'm pretty sure it's Mary.

Oh, Mary?

Yep.

Hmmm, Mary.

Yes, I lie to my child.  All because "I don't know" is never an acceptable answer.  Sometimes he will be a good sport and after asking, "Is there a reason why you don't have a reason why you don't have a reason why?" I will laugh at him, and then he will laugh too, and maybe somewhere down there in that seeking mind of his, he can sense that he's being just a wee bit ridiculous.  It helps us all when we can step back and laugh.  But let me tell you, sometimes that is very hard to do.  

This child is teaching me patience.  I have a lot to learn.  Anyone want to join me?  I'm serious about my offer to let you come and live with me.  Please.  Come.  Why not?

Ben had a Birthday

It's true.  Ben had a birthday.  Almost two weeks ago.  Was it a good birthday?  Yes!  Is Ben the type that writes his own birthday blog post hoping for even more attention than he's already getting?  Apparently not.  So you can all wish him a very belated 27th birthday, thanks to my timely update here.  The big day and the weekend following it included lots of celebrating!  It also included . . .

Rain

Hence the canceled plans to do something outdoors

Hence the new plans -- the Butterfly Place!

Buying a caterpillar-butterfly kit

Ben taking the day off (what a nice boss he has!)

Family togetherness

The Cheesecake Factory

Real Salt Lake soccer tickets

A new vacuum for cleaning the car (here's hoping :)

Homemade root beer

Barbeque with friends

Trying out his new-to-us gas grill

Cake Wrecks competition! (we are big Cake Wrecks fans)

And here are some pictures to prove it:

Just Try Watching This . . .

Without smiling!

Ellis Laughs from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

It's impossible!  Today Ellis turned 9 months old, and we caught on camera the best laughs we have heard from him to date.  He has always been a very smiley baby, but so far his hasn't laughed as hysterically as Henry did as a baby.  He just seems a little more mild and reserved overall.  But somehow Henry (and Nina) triggered Ellis' funny bone today.  I challenge you to watch it without breaking into a giant grin.

I love this sweet little boy and his rumbly little laugh.  

And . . . here's a picture of the boys in their new matching shark jammies!  We haven't had to buy many clothes for Ellis, so this is their first matching outfit.  I could get used to this  :)

One More Song

I should have posted this one yesterday with "Henry's Courage."  This one is completely original, believe it or not.  It's entitled, "I am a Dog," and uses an original guitar accompaniment (with some help from Dad).  

I am a Dog from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Henry's Courage

Here's a new song composed by Henry.  

Henry's Courage from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

My favorite parts: 

• The fact that the Lord "commanded Henry to go and get a plane."  I guess you never know what the Lord is going to command next!
  
• Use of the adjective "wicked" to describe Ellis.
  
• Henry's sweet and bold obedience.  I love this kid.

One year down, four to go

A grueling, awful test this morning marked the end of the first year of my program.  Just four more years to go!  Really, though, this test was bad, and it was a fitting end to an incredibly difficult year.  Easily the most work I've ever done for school in my life--I had many, many dreams about solving economic models (complete with Greek letters!).  Now comes the wait to see if I passed (definitely not a sure thing).  Ugh.

On the upside, I've got the summer off!  Let's hear it for school vacations!  I'm not going to just be kicking my heels up, though.  I've got three research papers that I'm working on with various people, so I'll be working on those as much as possible to get them ready to be submitted to journals.  It will be a nice break from homework and tests, before I get back at it next fall.

I have to give a huge thanks to Jenn and Henry for supporting me through this year.  Not only did Jenn take excellent care of the boys and run the whole house on many a late night and weekend while I studied away, but she also had to listen to me each night trying to explain esoteric theories to her, even though she could care less about the Pareto optimal way to invest in public goods.  Henry was great, too.  At times during our dinner conversation he would break in with great questions like, "What's credit default, Dad?"  Or, "What did you learn about in Macro today?"  Or, "What games do you do in game theory?"  As funny as it is to hear a 3-year-old ask things like that, it was actually a pretty good thing to try explaining this stuff to a little kid.  Mostly, though, I just love his enthusiasm and curiosity about everything.

And Ellis?  Well, if you recall, he was born while I was in the middle of Math Camp at the beginning of the year, so he's been with me every step of the way.  I don't know if I can say that he really supported me, but he's done a great job of slobbering on a lot of things, you have to give him that.  And all of those full diapers were good excuses for me to take a few breaks from the books, right?

Twins for a day

We babysat Ellis' friend Bridger last week, and it was so fun to have twins (for a limited time, of course)!  They were so cute together, and it was fun to see how excited Ellis was to have a friend over who is almost the same age.  He was smiling and laughing the entire evening, which is really something because usually after 6pm, Ellis is done for the day.  

Bridger is a month younger than Ellis, but he taught him a few lessons about Tummy Time.  Ellis has never smiled during Tummy Time before, but ever since he saw Bridger doing it, he has started to actually enjoy it.  This child may crawl after all!
Bridger was only kind of amused by my peek-a-boo tricks.  I think he was a little scared of me.  We'll give him a few months!

Next up: twin 3-year-olds for a weekend!  Henry's friend Jack stayed with us last Friday - Sunday.  While a few things were harder with two kids (they did fight a bit when they both got tired), I found that most things were easier with the two of them.  They entertained each other for long periods so I actually got a few things done.  They also fed off each other when it was time for clean up, pajamas, and eating.  I almost thought Henry was going to start eating strawberries after he saw how much Jack liked them.  Jack asked, "Henry, do you like strawberries?" and Henry lied, "Yeah."  I kept quiet, watching to see if he would eat one.  Unfortunately, the peer pressure is not yet powerful enough for Henry.  He did eat a bite of a strawberry, but only with a wee bit of force-feeding and a lot of gagging "on the seeds."  Darn!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good twin pictures of Henry and Jack.  I kept forgetting to get the camera out during the cute moments.  I finally pulled it out during Jammie Time, but I never got the shot because it took Henry like 5 minutes to get his PJ's on and then I lost my train of thought, as any mom of twins + 1 would.  Luckily, if you squint, you can see Henry in the background wearing only his undies.

Fire at Longfellow Chapel

Some of you might be interested in seeing this clip about the fire yesterday at LDS Longfellow Chapel in Cambridge.  This is not the church we normally attend, but we have visited there and loved the building.  It is the one right across from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow house.  The fire happened during Stake Conference, and luckily no one was hurt.  Still, it looks like most of the building was destroyed.  So sad!  

The future is bright

Not only will I be DONE with the first year of my Ph.D. program next Wednesday, but people keep inventing incredible things like this.  Seriously, click on the link.  You have to wait for it to load for a minute, but it's worth it.

Sew Frustrating

6:30 am: the average wake-up time of Henry and Ellis three weeks ago.  Probably has something to do with the early sunrise, right?

$20: the amount of money I spent buying buying blackout fabric to attach to the back of the curtains in their bedroom.  Yes, I know I was probably ripped off.  I was desperate and know nothing about buying fabric.

2 weeks: the amount of time the ironing board and sewing materials sat out in the dining room waiting for me to break down and get them done.

3 hours: the amount of time I spent cutting fabric, ironing on the Stitch Witchery (I am afraid of the sewing machine), and sewing on the blackout fabric by hand.

9: Ugliness rating of the new curtains (on a scale of 1-10).  This is why you get a picture of the super hero capes I "made" out of the scraps instead of a picture of the finished product.

6:15am: the new average wake-up time of Henry and Ellis.  

Aaarrrrgghh.  And we're not even trying to be lazy and sleep in every morning.  All we're asking for is an hour in the morning to read scriptures and exercise before the sweet little monsters wake up!  And I really don't think it's possible for me to wake up any earlier than 6:00 right now.  Come on, boys!  Seven is the magic number.  YOU CAN DO IT.  PLEEEEEEEAAAAASE.    

Happy Mother's Day!

Ben is the husband of the century, as you all probably know.  He's wonderful and super-willing to do everything he can on Mother's Day to pamper me.  Last year I think I went a little overboard being the queen for the day (who, me?).  I think Ben did all the cooking and clean-up as well as taking care of Henry while I sat on the couch reading a magazine.  I remember thinking part-way through the day that it didn't seem very Mothersdayish to be pretending I wasn't a mother on the day we're supposed to be celebrating motherhood!  So  . . . this year we've had a little more of a balance.  I decided I just wanted to enjoy my boys and let Ben take care of all of those other wifely/motherly duties that seem to get in the way of just being a mom.  It's been an absolutely lovely day!  I got to sit and read with Henry and play with Ellis as long as I wanted to without worrying about the messy house (that Ben was whipping into shape before my eyes) and the Sunday dinner (that Ben was firing up on his new grill).  It was heavenly!  And when Ben discovered he had burned the grilled potatoes to the point of non-edibility (we're still learning), I sat and ate my dinner and put the Puffs (and peas!) in front of Ellis while Ben cooked up some homemade french fries.  It's kind of nice to eat dinner without having to get up a hundred times in the middle of your meal!  Let's also mention that I got a nice hour-long nap in the afternoon.  Yes, I definitely got pampered today.  A little pampering and a lot of love from my boys.  It was a great day.  And now I'm going to go eat blackberry cobbler . . . 

Some added bonuses --

A video of Ellis playing peek-a-boo all by himself!  This is his latest trick that he just started doing on Thursday.  We didn't prompt him or teach him or anything.  He just started up doing it and got this really clever/proud look on his face.  Ooh, he is sweet:

Peek-a-boo! from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Aaaaaaand some more of Jenn's creative madness, coming your way.  Mother's Day gifts for my mom:

And Ben's mom: 

Food is our friend

Let's start with a little Henry-Ellis comparison, because those are fun:

Henry

Ellis

It's fun to see them both at the same stage.  I think Ellis is starting to look more like Henry than before, but they still definitely each have their own look.  Henry sure was a chubby one!

Ellis has been loving his new life as a solids-eater.  I've been kind of slow to introduce each of the baby foods, mostly because I'm lazy.  What I didn't realize was how much he was going to LOVE the table food.  I should have started it a month ago!  Ellis has really been quite grumpy lately, and we were blaming it on teething for a long time.  When his two cute little bottom teeth cut, however, he didn't cheer up.  Our new discovery is that Gerber "Puffs" are the secret to his happiness.  We just have to keep giving them to him (one at a time because if he has two he'll get so excited that he'll drop both of them).  His happiness is living Puff to Puff right now.  Yummy!  Soon we will add other easy-to-gum solids (any ideas?).

I must say that the very best part about Ellis eating solid food is the re-introduction of that song "Millions of Peaches" into our home.  The song just jumped out of me while trying to convince Ellis to open his mouth for the peaches.  Since then, someone in our home has sung that song (or some variation of it) at least once every day for the last 3 weeks.  This has brought back many happy memories of the good old days as a really super cool (and not awkward at all) 8th grader.  I also have this really vague recollection of Tyler Squire doing an oral report about peaches and singing that song as part of the presentation.  Is anyone else lucky enough to share that memory with me?

If you enjoy watching clips of baby cuteness, here's a good one:

Ellis eats Puffs from Jenn and Ben on Vimeo.

Why I wear bright colors in the spring

I pulled this dress out of the back of the closet on Sunday, and (with the help of my sports bra and 2 people helping with the zipper) squeezed into it for our first real springy Sunday.  Why?  

1. I really can't wear black and brown when the weather is so lovely.

2. I get reactions like this out of Henry:

"Mommy, I like your colorful dress!

Because it makes me think about Jesus.

It makes me feel so good inside my heart.

Because it makes me feel the Spirit."

With a response like that, what kind of parent wouldn't dress to match the season?  Happy spring, everyone! 

"I'm a Good Artist!"

Henry got to paint last week because he saw Mommy doing it and begged for his turn.  I wish I let him paint more often.  It's just so much effort, you know.  And we don't have any washable paint --  I should probably get some.  Needless to say, it's stressful for me -- hovering over him the whole time, making sure he doesn't paint the table, chairs, or his clothes.  But Henry had such a great time, it was probably worth it!  He said, "I'm a good artist" at least 50 times while he was painting, and I agreed with him every time.  You can see from the photo that Henry "performs all different kinds of pictures."  These ones are mostly snakes, birdies, and dinosaurs.  I'm just proud of him for being so excited about it and so confident.  Hopefully his enthusiasm will continue, and you'll see more of his work!

I can't help but add my own little bit of artistic fun from the week.  New projects have been reeling in my heart since our visit to that Cape Cod art gallery, and I couldn't help but let something out.  This one was for our dear friends' 50th wedding anniversary.  Made with wood-burner, paint, and paper.  Hopefully there will be more where this came from as well!

Cape Cod Weekend

The Griffin family fun continued with a lovely weekend at Cape Cod.  A few highlights:

 
The Easter Bunny managed to find our hotel, and he hid the baskets for the morning of "Easter Saturday."  Henry acted excited and surprised about the basket and its contents.  I made up some story about the Easter Bunny leaving the aforementioned Target bag at our house on accident a week earlier because he didn't get the memo about what hotel we would be staying at.  I think I got away with it . . .

Of course, Henry remembered exactly which items he had seen in the Target bag.  He wasn't accusing at all, but he pointed them all out: "Those are the bath toys I saw in the Target bag!"  Luckily we picked up just a few extra treasures that he HADN'T seen to throw him off a little.  Maybe next year I'll be good at this.

The Heritage Museum had a showroom with 37 classic cars, some of which had been owned by celebrities.  Henry was in heaven, practically running from one car to the next.  I was surprised at how everyone in the group actually loved this museum!

Here's Henry taking us all for a spin (he's driving us to the "Please Touch" Museum, as opposed to the "Please Don't Touch" Museum).

Tanner eating a sandwich and playing Slamwich in Sandwich (that's the name of the town).  We failed to talk my parents into taking us to Ice Cream Sandwich, also in Sandwich.  

Strolling along Main Street in Chatham (the elbow of the Cape).  This was Eliza's recommendation and we loved it!  I loved all of the shops, especially the cute little book stores and the candy shop.  My favorite by far was a little art gallery called The Artful Hand.  If this had been the only thing we had seen the whole weekend, I would have been satisfied.  The gallery had work from several of my favorite artists, including Brian Andreas, Curly Girl, and Sticks.  

Sticks is the artist that first inspired my use of woodburning as a medium!  It was amazing to see some current work and get ideas, ideas, ideas!  I've been thinking about new projects pretty much every minute since we left this place; I feel so inspired to spend ALL of my bounteous free time creating!  

Awwwww . . . the children.

Now for some beach pictures.  It was a gorgeous day, for April.  You can't beat the sand, the ocean, and being with people you love.  Thanks Mom, Dad, and Tanner!

We love you!