Out of the Mouths of Babes

Time for another self-indulgent-my-kids-are-the-cutest-things-in-the-world post. Sorry...bear with me!

-Aaron climbed into my lap the other day, gave me a tender hug, and whispered, "I love your heart."

-Aaron was looking at a picture on a calendar that showed a lion roaring and observed, "That lion's face looks just like Grandpa. A lot of animals look like Grandpa."

-We were riding to church this week and Tori was getting frustrated with Aaron, who was jabbering next to her in his typical less-than-quiet voice. She finally covered her ears and suggested that "Aaron's nickname should be Forte!"

-While grocery shopping the other day, I had Aaron in the cart in front of me and asked him for a kiss. He gave me one and I promptly asked for another one. This continued until he finally got irritated with me. "I have 5 kisses, Mom," he informed me. He gave me five kisses in rapid succession and announced that he was all out.

-Aaron: "Where are Heavenly Father and Jesus?"

Me: "In Heaven."

Aaron: "Where's Heaven?"

Me: (not really sure how to answer this one) "Where do you think it is?"

Aaron: "Up in the sky. I want to go see them."

Me: "You can't right now."

Aaron: (Looking supremely dejected) "Awww!"

-Aaron was taking forever eating his breakfast and after asking him patiently several times to stop getting distracted, I finally snapped at him, "Eat your breakfast!" He sat up straight, saluted me, and replied, "Yes Sir!"

-While at the grocery store the other day, Aaron and I were waiting in lint to check out and a little boy in the cart in front of us looked at me, clutched a bag of Cheetos possessively to his chest, and yelled at me, "My Cheetos!" Aaron stood up in our cart, pointed his finger at the boy, and warned him, "Be nice to my mom!" Thanks for coming to my rescue, little man.

-Aaron and I were in Michael's and a little boy was playing with some figurines on a shelf. Aaron rushed over to him, and very seriously warned him, "Don't touch that! You'll break things, then your mommy will be mad and you'll have to sit in the cart!" Apparently, my words must sink in on some level.

-Aaron has never really had an ounce of stranger anxiety, and lately he has taken to talking to people and making friends everywhere we go. At WinCo, we were walking down the aisles, and Aaron was waving to everyone we passed, with a chipper little, "Hi Guys!" One of the men we passed laughed and turned around, asking him, "Which office you running for, little man?" Hmmmm...Aaron for President??

-Aaron was upset because I told him he couldn't watch a Hot Wheels video he has because I found out that it has a few words in it that I don't like. He tried to convince me that the "bad words climbed up (with hand motions) and jumped out!" If it doesn't work out for him as President, there's always video editing, I suppose.

-Tori had to use the word "cliffhanger" in a sentence for her homework tonight, and she wrote, "When I grow up I want to be a cliffhanger."

Happy B-Day America! (Bucket List # 3, 13, and 17!)

We had a great fourth of July this year! We got to spend time with family and check a few items off of our summer bucket list in the process. :)

Yesterday morning we packed the kids in the car and headed up to spend the day at the cabin (List #3). Of course when we got there Todd ended up having to go to the store to try to find a part to fix something on the boat. No holiday or vacation would truly be able to pass without some kind of project demanding his attention. :) While he was gone, I read a picture book about the Declaration of Independence with Tori (Aaron sat through a few sentences), watched a little of Finding Nemo with the kids, and hung out with the Burns Family.

Aaron with Sawyer

Once Todd was back, we took the kids out on the Sea Doos (List #13)

The lake was pretty choppy from all of the boats that were out, and Aaron wasn't excited about the bumpy ride, so Todd ended up taking him back to the cabin after a fairly short ride. Tori, true to her dare devil nature, was loving the waves, so we stayed out a bit longer.

It lifted my spirits to race across the lake with my little girl giggling in front of me, the water spraying us and the wind whipping our hair. We finally headed back to the cabin where Todd did some more work and Aaron went on a boat ride while Tori and I relaxed on the dock.

After lunch we tackled List #17...fishing. This is something Tori has been begging to do for a while now, but neither Todd nor I really know how to fish, and we don't have gear. Thankfully, the gear was at the cabin, and Uncle Brad and Uncle Gabe gave us some pointers. After tearing worms in half and threading their still-writhing bodies on our hooks, I wasn't sold on the activity. Tori didn't seem to mind as much, especially after she caught her first fish.

After that, she pretty much wouldn't budge from the dock for the rest of the day, even to go with us out on the boat.

At least she had her cousins to keep her company!

After Tori had caught her fourth fish, and after several false alarms, Aaron and I FINALLY got our fish! It was the biggest of the day, so I suppose our waiting paid off. He was SO excited, jumping up and down, giving high-fives, and shouting "we did it!" at the top of his exultant little lungs!

While we waited, I passed the time making him pose for me in his oh-so-stylish-and-masculine Barbie life jacket.

When the weather warmed up this year, I dug out our life jackets and realized that Tori's old Barbie life jacket fit him perfectly. "Great," I thought. "No need to buy a new one." Apparently, Aaron did not think my solution was very "great". The first time I put it on him, he broke into full out tears. "It's PINK!" he shrieked in horror. "It has Barbie on it!" I hoped it wouldn't be an issue since he actually plays with the Barbies in Mom's toy closet sometimes. Never mind that all he does is strip them naked and rip their heads off. I was hoping it would be enough to make him tolerate the life jacket. But...no. There was a full-scale temper tantrum until he realized it was either the Barbie jacket or no swimming. I wasn't budging. He finally resigned himself to a pink summer. :)

After dinner we spent some more time on the dock until it got dark enough to put the fishing gear away and watch for fireworks. Since we didn't want to light fireworks off on the new dock, we relied on the neighbors for our entertainment. Thankfully, they rose to the occasion! The neighbors directly across the lake put on a pretty good show.

Unfortunately, they caught a tree on fire for the grand finale! Todd and the kids and I had already left, but Damon caught it all on film. Those who were still there said that it looked like only the tree burned and that nobody was hurt...I hope they were right!

Overall, the day was a great day filled with family and fun...the perfect way to celebrate our freedom and our beautiful country.

Summer Bucket List 2011

For family home evening a few weeks ago, we decided to make a "summer bucket list" to keep track of all of the things we want to do this summer as a family. I'll try to blog about them as we go, but for now, here's the list:

1. Go swimming

2. Go camping

3. Go to the cabin

4. Hike up to the waterfall, picnic at the cedars

5. Go to Seattle

6. Go to Top This

7. Climb Trees

8. Read a book as a family

9. Go horseback riding

10. Roast marshmallows

11. Go on a bike ride/rollerblades

12. Go on an ATV ride

13. Take the Sea Doos out on the lake

14. Picnic at Manito Park

15. Games at Chuck E. Cheese

16. Play at Coeur d’Alene Park

17. Go Fishing

18. Get doughnuts

19. Make ice cream

20. Silverwood