A Year of Funnies

Here is the recap of all the funny things the kids have said this year, at least the ones I wrote down. Enjoy!

1/26
Whenever I tell Logan he's made a good choice he goes through this list, with me saying "yes" after each one: "It makes Jesus happy? It makes Santa Claus happy? It makes the reindeer happy? It makes Mommy happy? It makes Daddy happy?" Good to know where his dad and I fall on the list of people (and animals) he wants to please...

1/29
On the way to church Ali said, "I can get out my books after the Spaceship stands up, right Mom?" Smiling, and knowing she meant "Bishop" I just answered yes:)

2/8
A: I like black dogs.
L: I like hot dogs!
 
2/16
After scolding him for teasing, Logan tells me, "Logan didn't tease. It was Gary (his middle name). He's the mean one!" Apparently he has an evil alter-ego...

3/25
A: "Mommy, I love you all day long!"

3/28
A&L had a costume party for their first friend birthday party. When I told Logan he looked cute in his Spiderman costume, he quickly corrected me and said, "No, Mom, I look COOL!"

4/3
Ali, who is afraid of dogs, hid behind me as we passed one at the park. After it was gone, she said (in a happy/surprised/relieved voice), "Mommy! He didn't eat me!"

4/25
Whenever Logan is sad that I'm scolding him, he tells me "You are making my heart go away!" As far as I know, he came up with this phrase himself, and I think it is a pretty good way to describe that feeling you get when someone makes you feel bad.

4/30
A&L heard us talking about Then Hunger Games and L says, "I want to play hunger games!" and A says, "Me too! I want to play Hungry games!"

5/8
L: "Daddy is my favorite friend!"

5/13
Logan gave me a great big hug and said, "I'm SO glad I'm your Mom!' Not quite accurate, but I'll take it nonetheless!

8/14
L:"Being a kid is no fun! I want to change into a Daddy, but it's taking too long!"

8/15
A: "If someone is sad it's raining, Heavenly Father could use His imagination and send a rainbow to their house!"

8/19
A: Buzzzz Buzzzz
Me: Are you a bee?
A: No, Mom, I'm PRETENDING to be a bee!"

8/30
A: (Loudly) "Hey Mom! That guy has stamps all over his arms!" (He had tattoos)

9/2
L: "I'm gonna have a good night. I can't wait to see my dreams!"

9/19
Ali was saying goodbye to her Grandma and she said, "Bye, Gram...graham cracker!" So clever!

9/22
Someone asked Eli his name (which has hasn't mastered saying yet; there are a lot of words he hasn't mastered), and he said, "ME!" and then joined us laughing, looking very pleased with himself:)

9/26
L:"When I'm a Daddy I'll loose all my hair."

10/4
A: "Sparkles are wonderful. They make my heart feel warm and happy inside."

10/8
Jason: "Touchdown!"
L: "Touchdown! Touchdown...touchUP! TouchUP! Hahhahah!"

10/10
Logan was crying because he could find me (I was in the basement; he was upstairs with his dad, grandparents, aunt and others who love him...) I asked Ali why he has crying. She said, in an overly patient voice (as though what she was saying should be very obvious to me), "Mom, we just love you." How can you argue with that?
 
10/15
L: "I'm trying, but the crying won't stop!"  

10/19
A: "Mom, you're kind of magic."

10/24
Me: "One of the bad guys Batman fights is Two-Face."
L: "Yea, Toothpaste!"
 
10/31
L: "I am Spiderman. I have a spider on my shirt, but don't worry, it's not a real spider just a picture of one."

11/1
A: "Look I got butterscotch fingers! (Butterfingers)"

11/9
L: "I'm not myself today."

11/11
L: "MMM..this is yummy like a sunset."

11/16
L: "Heavenly Father made my eyes magic!"

11/20
A: "I found these two rocks for you and Daddy, but you have to share with him."

11/23
Me: "Let's move the hair off your face."
A: "But my hair is invited to my face!"

12/2
A: "Hey, mom, you're wearing smarty pants!" (I was wearing jeans with designs on the back pockets.)

12/4
Jason was asking Logan about a friend Logan had over that day. Jason said, "I can't remember her name." Logan looked at Jason with a confused and slightly hurt look, and said, "Umm...Logan." Poor boy! Logan thought Jason had said "I can't remember YOUR name!" :)

12/5
Ali was practicing how to spell Mom and Dad. Then she said, "Those words go together, Mom and Dad. They should be stuck together." Amen!

12/7
Eli and I were having a picnic with the play food. He didn't seem to care what was on the menu--cookies, beans, bread, chicken, etc were all fine--but when I handed him the broccoli (which he's never even tasted in real life) he threw it away. I handed it back to him, and he threw if further away saying, "NO!" All I could do was laugh, and think, "Grandpa Quillen would be proud!"

12/10
L: "This is yummy like Halloween."

12/13
Jason was talking about the people he home teaches as "my families" and Ali exclaims, "But Daddy! You only have ONE family--US!"

12/17
E's first joke: I was trying to get him to eat peas, which he hates, and he says, "Eww! A diaper!" Great, more potty humor!

12/19
Eli's language has exploded lately. One of his new favorite and oft repeated words is "shoot" which, unfortunatly sounds a lot like a certain other word...

12/26
E often asks for meatballs for breakfast. He means marshmallows, as in Lucky Charms, but it makes me giggle all the same.

Food Face

The Wedding

My sister Emily married her sweetheart Brandon Rains today in the Denver temple. I was so glad I got to be there (especially since I missed my flight going out there and had to spend most of the day in the airport hoping to fly standby on sold out flights...). It was a cold, sunny day. She was a blissfully happy and beautiful bride, and we're glad Brandon's a part of the family now.

The women

 The parents

 The men

It was a nice day. My cute little ones were home in Illinois with their dad. I missed them especially at the reception and when we were taking family pictures; but otherwise it was a nice little break where I just got to a daughter and sister and only had to take care of me. And I knew they were having a fantastic time with their dad, so everyone was happy!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful, magical Christmas season this year. Logan especially LOVES holidays, and helps us be sure to enjoy every moment and not forget any parts. We enjoyed seeing Santa at the mall and at the ward party. Eli was always the most excited about seeing him while Ali still won't talk to him. She was the one who told me that these men were only "helper Santas" because, of course, the "real Santa" is busy at the North Pole this time of year. Maybe that's why she's not interested in talking to the Santas we saw.

We got to do two nativities this year. We invited two families over to do one with us a few days before Christmas (it was a little crazy, but very fun, with 5 extra little and very wild boys at our house), and one with the cousins on Christmas Eve. Logan didn't want to participate in the second one, but enjoyed being an angel the first time. Eli enjoyed being an angel the second time, and didn't want to take off his costume until long after then show. Ali especially liked being the sheep in the first show:)

And here we are Christmas morning before everyone came down. Technically, the basketball hoop was for Eli, the kitchen for Ali, and the Batcave for Logan. In actuality, Daddy plays the most with the basketball hoop, Eli plays the most with the kitchen, and all the kids love the batcave, which-thankfully-Logan is happy to share.

One of the biggest hits of the day was this great doggy guitar from the Quillen Grandparents. All the kids love the 50 or so silly dog related songs it plays.

We had a great day, and are glad that days later all the toys are still being played with, loved, and shared. Merry Christmas!

New 'Do

We were considering growing out Ali's hair, but the longer it got, the more tangles there were. So she asked me to cut it short again. As always, I took off more than I meant to, but I actually love it! And notice the headband; that is her new style. She loves that it doesn't pull her hair like rubberbands do, and I love that it takes about 5 seconds to do it this way, so most days she can be seen sporting one. Isn't she lovely?

Chocolate Bananas

Logan found a recipe for chocolate bananas in the Friend magazine and just had to try it.

I thought, "Great! It will get them to eat a banana!" Wrong. They managed to get all the chocolate off with minimal banana bites.

And this one was THE BIGGEST mess when he was done. So was the whole end of the table he was sitting at. So were his clothes. Wow, it really was impressive.

But it was a fun thing to make with my kids, so I guess it was worth it. Just this once, anyway.

Ali and Ella

Ali was thrilled the other day when we got to watch my friend's kids, especially baby Ella. She loves helping take care of babies. And she really was helpful. Ella doesn't love being away from her mom, and so wants to be held a lot. Ali was more than happy to do so. And it didn't take Ella long to decide that was ok with her.

Eli gets a little jealous when there are people littler than him around, so he wanted some attention too. Ali was happy to have two friends to read to! What a great helper!

Artist

When you ask Logan what he's good at, he'll tell you he's a good artist. And he is. And he does it a lot; these pictures were one morning's work. I got him a bulletin board for his room to display his art, but it must not be public enough because the fridge is still is first choice to display his numerous works.

Time for Scriptures

Eli knows we read scriptures right before bed, and he's often the one to go get them off the shelf for us. Cutie.

Circus!

A friend of ours helps to promote the circus when it comes each year. Because of this, we got free kids' tickets and 40% off adult tickets! Had that not been the case, I am sure we wouldn't have gone, and certainly wouldn't have sat four rows away from the action, but we did, and it was fabulous!

Among our favorite acts were the ones with the animals (dogs, lions, and elephants, oh my!), the acrobats (such strength and skill), and the motorcycles in that big-but not very big-metal ball (such bravery!).

I think Eli actually liked it the best of all our kids; he danced and clapped the whole time. Logan told me afterwards that is favorite thing was looking at all the toys he wished I would buy him and was annoyed that I didn't. Great, so glad I took him somewhere fun! But when pressed, he admitted the motorcycles were pretty cool. Ali liked "all the parts" and finally elaborated that she liked the girls that did acrobatics up high in the balls.

It really was a great show.

Writing

I made these writing worksheets for Ali and Logan, and our goal is to practice with them every day. Ali loves it and is so proud of herself when she is done.

Logan does not love it, and is happy about it only when he's done...But he is improving and a little candy bribe seems to help with the motivation.

It is amazing to watch this learning process. In a year or so they will be reading and writing on their own. Amazing.

Death Wish

Between his chipmunk-cheek eating tendencies and his chair acrobatics, mealtimes feel somewhat like a death-trap with this one.

Mild Winter=Happy Me!

So, it is December 2nd, 65 degrees, and I have my windows open! I am loving this winter so far. One warmish day we decided to go back to Cantigny. It wasn't as warm as it was supposed to be, but there was FOG! I find fog so magical and SO enjoyed being out in it.

The only problem with the fog was that it made the tanks wet and slippery. After a few close calls, I declared the tank climbing over. But we'd only been there for about 15 minutes. So we decided to check out the war museum. It is awesome, but I'd never taken the kids in there because I was afraid it might be a little too scary for them. Nope. They wanted to go through again and again; I called it enough after three times! Eli loved the guys in the bunkers and trenches with their "Hi"s:

A bombed-out city from World War I:

We had a GREAT time!

Letters to Santa

Have you written your letters to Santa yet? Technically we haven't either, but we've sent him plenty of pictures colored especially for him:)