Alphabet Words

After school today, while the kids were eating a snack, Miriam told us the scandalous happenings at school.

Miriam: (in a shocked voice) Today {a boy in her class} called Robin the A-word!

Katie: (in a calm, I'm-not-upset-about-this tone) And what do you think about that?

Miriam: Well, it's not very nice.

(More back and forth about it...)

Katie: Miriam, do you know what the A-word is?

Miriam: No, but Robin told me it is spelled A-S-S!

Rebecca: (in the big-sister,-I-am-so-grown-up-and-knowledgeable voice) That's not even a word, Miriam!

(Later on...)

Miriam: I bet {the boy} knows all the alphabet words!

Katie: (I already have a good idea what the answer to this is...) What are alphabet words?

Miriam: You know, like the A-word... He even called me Monkey today three times!

(So monkey must be the M-word, in case you didn't know.)

(Later on... Yes, this discussion lasted into bedtime.)

Miriam: (singing) The A-word, The F-word! The A-word, the F-word!

Ah, I'm so grateful for the innocence of childhood!

Growing Pains

When children are young, sometimes they will experience growing pains. I don't remember ever having them, but I hear that it is extremely painful leg cramps due to growth spurts a child's body goes through.

We are experiencing growing pains at my house. No, they aren't the kind that cause a child to wake up at night crying out in pain. They are the kind that keep me up late crying out for help. The growth spurts occurring don't cause a child to gain a few inches. They cause a child grow in maturity. These pains don't go away with massages and Tylenol. They go away with maturing and experience.

My sweet, kind, loving child is going through a painful time. She is learning about the world, boundaries, and what it means to become more independent. This beautiful child is trying to learn who she is and who she wants to become. She is learning of the power she holds within herself-- the power to help, the power to choose, the power to become.

How do I guide you? How do I teach you in this new phase of your life? How do I help you to temper your responses? How do I guide you to want to be kind and loving? How do I direct you toward your Heavenly Father? How do I discipline without alienating you?

Know that I love you. I look at you as you are sleeping and tears come to my eyes. I want so much for you to feel of my deep love for you. I want to understand you. I want for you to open up and share your thoughts, your feelings, your hopes and dreams, your fears and insecurities. I want you to know I will help you and support you through all your ups and downs.

Eight years ago, I was excited at the impending arrival of a sweet baby girl. I didn't have the foresight then to see much past frilly newborn dresses and sweet chubby cheeks. The biggest challenges were fussiness and not sleeping at night. Now I look at a growing, maturing child and think of how simple the challenges were back then. I am trying to be up for this new challenge of parenthood. I will do my best to find out how to massage the hurts you are experiencing so that you can stand tall after this growth spurt.

Play Dough

Since the girls are back in school, Joseph gets bored with just Mom around. So I pulled out the play dough for him to play with while I try to do the dishes or cook. In general, he really likes it. He has lots of fun using the different tools we have. Of course, it is much more fun when his sisters are there to play with him, so I don't have too long to get things done.

Joseph also discovered that play dough doesn't taste that great. Hopefully he will remember that lesson! Yuck!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Wednesday the girls had off of school, and since the weather was nice, we headed over to the pumpkin patch. This year we didn't get any pumpkins from our garden, so we actually bought some from the pumpkin patch. The girls enjoyed looking over the pumpkins and choosing which one they wanted. (We had to be careful since we have already had a hard freeze.) Joseph was asleep in the van during this part of the trip, so I picked a pumpkin for him.

Once Joseph woke up, he wasn't too interested in being in any cute pictures. Oh, well. Later on he warmed up.

The pumpkin patch we went to also had animals, an inflatable slide, a hay maze and lots of areas for good pictures.

Miriam was posing again. This is only one of many she requested that I take.

We had a lot of fun, and only paid for the pumpkins! A great day for free admission!

53 Weeks

53 weeks. One year and one week. So many things can happen, so many things can change. For me, in 53 weeks, I went from having one sideways tooth and a bite that was off to having perfect teeth. How exciting.

Joseph at the Zoo

Last Wednesday, Oct 9th Joseph and I went to the zoo. Julie and Sebastian came along, and we had a great time! It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed being able to show Joseph the zoo.

At first, Joseph seemed a little confused. He normally doesn't get out of the stroller at the zoo, so he can't see much besides the bar or fence in front of the cage. So he and Sebastian had a great time playing with the bar here.

The first couple animals we saw were not easy to find. They were either in the back corner, hiding or sleeping, so Joseph didn't notice them. About the third animal we saw was the elephants. That was when Joseph first saw an animal. He was pretty excited. It was like the light bulb went off and he realized what we were doing here.

I loved this picture of the two boys. They were trying to see the ducks.

It was a successful trip to the zoo!

Water Optional

While we were on our trip, we bought some souvenirs for the kids. One thing we found was a small body board at Ron Jon's. We thought the kids would have fun playing with it at the pool. Miriam found it was fun even without water. She pulled Joseph around on it for a while, and then when he lost interest, she put one of her baby dolls on it to pull around.

The Wild Side of Florida

We spent one day seeing the part of Florida that doesn't have theme parks or restaurants. We had a great time seeing the wildlife and beautiful scenery in Florida. In the morning, we went on an "Eco Safari" at the Forever Florida Ranch.

This is the first alligator we saw. He was not very big, and only stuck his head up out of the water.
These are wild pigs that tear up the land, so the ranchers put them in a pen and then let the employees have them for meat.

Here is a mother alligator. If you notice the striped lines around her, those are the babies. The tour guide said she could see at least 10 babies.

Here is a turtle hanging out on the water.

These are long-horned cows. They keep them to show visitors what the first cows brought over by the Spanish looked like, and to butcher for their little cafe. We had some for lunch, and it wasn't the best hamburger I've ever had...

Here is an armadillo. He is sleeping. Ignore the hole in the side of his armor. Jack told me to say he is just sleeping.

There was a beautiful path built over some of the more swampy areas.

This was our fancy tour bus.

There is Spanish Moss hanging from these trees. I thought it was beautiful. It made me think of a good fantasy story where there is a sorceress living in the forest.

I was fascinated by the white sand on the streets. The tour guide told us that even though we were in central Florida, you would find sand that was like the beach because for a long time, the water level would fluctuate so much that this area was under water.

After we left the Forever Florida Ranch, we went over to the Boggy Creek Airboat Rides. While we were waiting for the ride, there was this cage with little alligators in it. After just having been in a natural area where the animals were not disturbed, it was sad to me to see these alligators crammed into this cage.

This is the airboat. The water is not very deep, so they use this big fan on the back of the boat to get around.

The area was beautiful.

The bird is standing in the water. There was so much vegetation on the water, it was hard to see the water sometimes!

Here was the view from the front of the boat at one point.

Here is the little alligator we saw in the water.

When we got back, they used the baby alligators in the cage to educate about alligators. They also let you hold the alligator and take your picture. (Please don't take your own picture, we want to sell you ours...) So we didn't hold an alligator.

It was a fabulous day. I really enjoyed the beauty of this part of the country.

First Snow

This afternoon while the kids were eating a snack after school, Rebecca told us it had started snowing. We all gathered around the window, looking at the few snowflakes falling. There weren't many of them. But it was beautiful. The snow picked up a little, and then after little more than half an hour, it stopped. None of the snow stuck, but it was still the first snow fall of the season.

I love watching the snow. It is so peaceful to watch the flakes drift and wander down from the sky. It makes me think of coziness, of wrapping up in a blanket, reading a good book and drinking hot chocolate. It makes me think of being safe and secure. I keep thinking of "comfort food"-- could there be comfort weather?

Now, if I have to go out in the cold, I'm not so happy. I have no interest in skiing or any other winter sport. I don't like to be cold. But watching the snow is wonderful.

Night Life

While we were in Florida, we decided to get dressed up and go to the Melting Pot. I was so excited to go. I know there is one less than half an hour from our home, but it still was a fabulous part of our trip. Since this was our anniversary trip, the restaurant had a nice card on the table wishing us a happy anniversary. We loved the food, especially the chocolate fondue. We also enjoyed just relaxing and visiting over a long dinner with no need to rush home to a babysitter. The next evening, we went out to the Pirate's Dinner Theater. It was a fun, cheesy performance. We might have enjoyed it more if we were younger or drunk. They seemed to talk about drinking a lot, which isn't as humorous if you don't drink.

During the pre-dinner appetizers, they did a men's beauty contest. Jack was brave enough to volunteer, so he got to be a part of the show.

Here they are doing the cha-cha. Yes, there is a woman there. She was insistent on being a part of it.

The acrobatics were impressive.

The Search is Over

I'm not sure when we discovered it. Maybe we experienced the pure pleasure while we were living in Kansas. But I know that while we were living with Jack's parents while our house was being built, we often went on dates to Applebee's. We don't drink, nor do we enjoy the bar atmosphere that comes out at night there. But they had something that we couldn't pass up.

They had the best brownie sundae we had ever had. It was fabulous. It was two wedges of brownie, with two small scoops of vanilla ice cream in between. Then it was drizzled with chocolate sauce. Maybe there were more scrumptious goodies that I have forgotten over time. It was wonderful. The kind of dessert that melts in your mouth and makes you want for more.

We went there at least a couple times a month while we were living in Loveland. (Having a built-in babysitter helped...) After we were in our home, we didn't make it to Applebee's as often. Then one night we had a babysitter. It was for the adult session of Stake Conference, as I recall. There is an Applebee's on the way home from the Stake Center, so we decided to stop in for a little indulgence. You would not believe our disappointment when, after searching the dessert menu, the server informed us that they were now doing dessert "shots" and no longer served the brownies. What?!? Why do you think we came here! You will be pleased to know that I did not make a scene. I politely ordered some mediocre dessert, and hid my shock and dismay.

Thus ensued the search. For the past several years, whenever we tried a new restaurant and felt like dessert, we would try the brownie. There has never been one that has come close to the scrumptious goodness of that lost brownie sundae. Until now.

Friday, our last full day in Florida, we were looking for somewhere to eat lunch. All the local eateries seemed to be geared toward seafood, so we decided to grab a quick lunch at TGI Friday's. We hadn't eaten there in a while, and it was safe. While we were looking at the menu, the server gestured to a dessert display on the table and told us to save room for the Brownie Obsession. That was excellent advice.

The Brownie Obsession is a square of brownie, warmed, topped with vanilla ice cream, along with chocolate and caramel sauces and pecans. The brownie literally melts in your mouth. It is amazing. By the time you get to the last few bites, it is more like brownie sundae soup, with the caramel, chocolate, and ice cream sauces mixing in with the decadent brownie. It was heavenly.

We went back for another at dinner. Good thing we don't have to go all the way to Florida to indulge. Our real anniversary is coming up...

International Drive

International Drive in Orlando is the tourist strip. All the major theme parks are right on this street, so it has also drawn many other tourist attractions. Jack and I spent the better part of Friday visiting some tourist spots on International Drive.

First, we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not. The building is really neat-looking-- it is made to look like it has been part of an upheaval and half the building is uprooted from the ground. The exhibits were a mix-- some of them were corny, others were interesting, and some were disgusting (think headhunters or head shrinking).

This car was pretty neat. It is a Model T Ford life-sized replica made completely of match sticks. Jack and I were fascinated by this. You can't read the sign, but basically it says that since medical knowledge didn't used to be as advanced as it is now, occasionally people were buried alive. To enable the person to get out of the grave, there was a bell attached to the top of the burial spot with a string inside the casket, so if you woke up, you could ring the bell and get out... Makes me grateful for living today!

This is the Throne of Love. You are supposed to put quarters in and it will tell you what category you fall into. We just took pictures.

This was an optical illusion that felt like you were spinning while you were in the tunnel. Not fun.

Here are some black lights. Kinda cool.

Our next stop was Wonder Works. It was similar to Ripley's in some ways-- same spinning hallway and odd facts. But it was much better, with lots of interactive educational displays.

We both got on the bed of nails. I realized this is probably less painful for someone with more body fat than me.

This was a really cool game. So you strap on a brain wave monitor and then try to be calm and clear your mind. This will decrease your brain activity. The ball on the table will go away from the person with the lowest brain activity. Jack won, but we both had very low brain activity. We took the longest out of all the people we watched to finish the game. I am laughing as I write this-- does this say something about us?

A little space walk...

Of course, Jack found the flight simulator game. He landed the space shuttle successfully after crashing it only once! I crashed it once and gave up.

We also went to the Titanic Museum. When you enter the museum, you are given a boarding pass with the name of one of the passengers on it. The tour is guided by two different members of the Titanic crew, accents and all. I was quite impressed with this museum. They did a great job of making the experience realistic. Then at the end of the tour, there were displays with the names of those on board and you got to see if you survived or not.

The grand staircase.

I'm the captain! Maybe that was the problem...