A Year of Quotes

1/4/14
Logan: Are we going to our own reward this Sunday? (he means "ward")

1/9/14
Logan: I turned on the TV this morning and the bad news was on.

1/23/14
Eli: It's making me frustrating!

1/26/14
Logan: My nose is drooling and it won't stop!

2/5/14
Eli: My tummy ran out of batteries!

2/9/14
s Logan is working on learning to read, he gets annoyed with words don't sound out the way they are really pronounced and he will say, "That word is a lie!" like, for instance, the word lie:)

2/10/14
Ali: My head felt like a giant picked up the house and was spinning it; I was dizzy!

2/12/14
Logan: I'm hatching a plan!

2/15/14
Logan: Do my new teeth grow from seeds?

2/20/14
I picked up Eli from preschool the other day and he loudly announced, "She's mine!"

2/23/14
Logan: I wonder where Santa's workshop is? I think when I grow up I will be a mail carrier, because they must know where it is since they bring him letters.

2/25/14
Ali: I was choking, but don't worry I didn't die.

2/27/14
On two different occasions, when I said, "Uncle JD and Aunty Lianna are bringing over Korrali," Ali and Eli said, "They're letting us KEEP her!?!" and were quite disappointed when I said no.

3/4/14
Eli: Boys don't sing.
Me: Oh? What do boys do?
Eli: Boys walk around carrying bags of money!

3/6/14
Ali: The ugliness has to stop!

3/11/14
Me: Eli put these toys in the bin.
Eli: (laughing) Silly Mommy! Ben is like my friend at church! That is a box!

3/15/14
Logan: I like mud. Boys like mud.
Ali: Some girls like mud.
Logan: Yeah, NASTY girls!

3/25/14
Ali: Mason is getting cubes in his ears.

3/27/14
Ali: I came out of Heaven first.
Logan: That's because ladies are first.

4/1/14
Logan: look at all the legs on that caterpillar! Heavenly Father must have spent a long time making him!

4/3/14

Me: You guys have new cousins named Dean and Neil.
Ali: Hey, we are like them because we were just kneeling!

4/6/14
Yesterday watching conference, every time a new speaker got up, Eli would say, "Is that the Holy Ghost? (then the next time) Is THAT the Holy Ghost?"

4/10/14
Logan (to Jason): "I love you, but I love mom best."
Ali: I love both of you the same height.

4/13/14
Logan: My skin is peeling, so it's a good thing I ordered some new skin.

4/14/14
When I ask Eli to do something, if he's feeling grouchy is response often is, "I'm busy."

4/17/14
Logan: "Mom, don't call me sweets! That would mean there are lots of Logans but there is only one of me. Call me Sweet."

4/28/14
Ali: My heart is wonderful!

4/30/14
Eli:"Someday I will be as strong as Darth Vader

5/1/14
Ali sounded out the word "but" this afternoon in her reading and dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Me trying to explain the difference between "but" and "butt" didn't really help matters...

5/7/14
Logan: Mom, are you growing a baby in your tummy?
Me: No.
Logan: Then why is your tummy squishy like that?
Me: (choosing to laugh) Because of you and your siblings!

5/12/14
Ali: Tomorrow is going to be the best day in the whole world!
Me: Why?
Ali: Because it will be warm enough to wear shorts!
It has been a long winter, but how nice to be so easy to please!

5/13/14
Ali: Bees live in bee hives because they have the same first name.

5/28/14
Today is the last day of Kindergarten and this afternoon Ali was telling me about something that used to be hard for her and said, "It was hard when I was little, like when I was in Kindergarten." I guess she grew up a lot in the space of about three hours:)

5/30/14
Ali: (in a family prayer) "I thank thee for Daddy who makes the money and for Mommy who spends it."

6/6/14
Logan wrote me a note that said,"I love you even when you fall into a pumpkin," and another where he promised to love me even if I fell into a watermelon:) Good to know:)

6/11/14
Ali: I'm mad at the clouds (for raining).

6/13/14
Ali: I'm good at walking far; my feet just take me there.

6/19/14
Logan: After my mission, before I get a wife, I am going to be an inventor and I will make machines to help you do things because you will be old.

6/20/14
Eli frequently says, "I look like Nephi," after I fix his hair, when he has a bath or beach towel around his shoulders, or other random times:)

6/21/14
Ali: I'm not a princess, I just look like one.

7/3/14
Eli: "Mommy, when you're done putting on your eyes, can you help me?" (I was doing my makeup)

7/6/14
Eli: You are tickling my bones!

7/7/14
Logan: Mom, what's it called when a great artist can't think of what to make?
Me: A block.
Logan: Yeah, I have a block.

7/11/14
Ali has had babies on the brain (I can't imagine why with all her new cousins and cousins-to-yet-come), and was playing that her stuffed camel was pregnant and about to have a baby. Here is what she was saying as she played, "I wonder when my baby will be here. Maybe I should check...oh, he's here! Yay!" Ha! If only it were that easy!

7/13/14
Eli: Mom, you look like a girl.
Me: I am a girl.
Eli: No, you're a mom!

7/14/14
Ali's excitement about the painters coming was somewhat diminished when she found out they were not, in fact, going to be painting the entryway pink.

7/25/14
Logan was teasing and Ali said, "I can't live like this!"

8/10/14
Logan: Our dishwasher sounds like a wild kid.

8/14/14
Eli got worried every time anyone mentioned that pilots were flying our airplane because he kept hearing pirates instead of pilots.

8/16/14
Eli: Mom, do you want to play Star Wars with me? I'll be Han Solo and you be Chewy.
Me: Sure.
Eli: Mom, Chewy can't talk! (the "duh" was implied)

8/27/15
Ali: what was that noise?
Me: I burped.
Ali: I didn't know parents could burp!

9/5/14
Eli: When I was a baby in your tummy I would kick you. Did it hurt?
Me: No, it didn't. You can just feel the baby moving inside of you. It's really cool.
Ali: (Horrified look on her face) I don't want to be a girl anymore.

9/9/14
Eli: Boys and girls don't go on dates, moms and dads go on dates!

9/11/14
Ali: I love you so much, I just can't explain it.

9/12/14
Eli: Mommy, when I talk I really need you to hear me.

9/25/14
Harry Potter fans will remember in the Chamber of Secrets when Harry asked the journal if it could tell him about said chamber and it's monster the journal writes, "I can't tell you, but I can show you." For some reason this line resonated with Eli and it is his new catch phrase for many occasions. If I ask what he is doing, what he's going to wear, if he's done eating, etc he often answers by saying, " I can't tell you...but I can show you," in a spooky sounding voice:)

9/27/14
Logan: Ah, just look at this lovely earth. Heavenly Father and Jesus are amazing to have made all of this! And they sure must love us a lot to have made it all for us.

9/30/14
Ali: I sit with two boys on the bus, and they are both nine or ten or something like that! Zack is my boyfriend.
Me: You can't have a boyfriend until you're sixteen!
Ali: I know, I know. I mean he is my boy-friend. But I still like sitting with him and paying games with him.
Jason: I think it's time to start driving Ali to school.

10/26/14
Logan: "(in a prayer)... Please bless the baby in Mommy's belly to turn out right."

10/29/14
Logan: When my brain works really hard does it get sweaty? And what are all those lumps on the brain; is that from when I scratch my head?

10/31/14
Me to Eli: you are cute.
Eli: I know. Do you know why I'm cute?
Me: Why?
Eli: Because I am little.

11/1/14
Logan: Girls can be sensitive. 

11/9/14
Logan woke me up at 5:55am to say, "Mom! I just woke up! Can you believe how late I slept?!" And sadly, compared to his normal 5 am, it was pretty late for him!

11/23/14
Me: Logan, I need you to clean up.
Logan: But cleaning is exhausting and frustrating!

12/12/14
Logan: I had a hectic day at school today.

12/13/14
Eli: I can't wait to eat the yummyness.

12/28/14
Jason: One of the boys I drove to the youth dance got a girl's phone number.
Logan: That. Is. Disgusting.

Headstand

Logan has been working for months on teaching himself to do a headstand. He is up to 10-15 seconds now and while it hurts my head to watch him, I have to say I am super impressed with both his skills and determination!

A Very Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We sure love this time of year, and have had a wonderful Christmas. A few days before Christmas Eli's Joy School group performed the nativity and some songs at a local nursing home. Eli was an adorable Shepard.

Then Christmas Eve we did an family nativity with Eli reprising his role as shepard, Logan as a wise man (he said to me, "Who knelt the worship Baby Jesus? That's who I want to be."), Ali as Mary, Jason as Joseph, Korrali as an angel, and Uncle JD as the inn keeper. I naarated and video taped and Auntie Lianna was an angel's helper:)

We told the kids they could wake up at 5am like normal, but that they had to wait in their rooms until 7am to wake us up to go downstairs. We set up the portable DVD player in Logan's room so they would have something extra fun to do while they waited. A little after 2am I noticed a light on and went to investigate: Ali had her light on in her room and was quietly playing...she mistook the 2 for a 5 in her excitement! I tucked her back in and then noticed the light again at promptly 5am...Logan had gotten up and woken Ali to come in his room and wait with him. Shortly thereafter Eli joined them and I had to get a picture of these three excited kids before I went back to sleep for a little while:)

Everyone was very pleased with their Christmas loot. Ali loves a new puppy game she got for her leapster, as well as her paw patrol toys and horse for her American Girl dolls.

Eli loves the pirate ship and ninja turtles Santa brought him, and often the turtles join the pirates on their adventures. He also loves his ninja turtle costume shell and weapons and paw patrol pups.

Logan made a last minute request to change his gift from Santa to be a magic hat and tricks, and we are so glad the elves hadn't made his first request yet and could make the switch because he is the greatest magician ever! He also loves his Torch lego transformer and loved his remote control helicopter for the few rides until it broke...we're hoping the store will let us get a new one!

Jason and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids love every minute of the day. We also loved having JD's family here, especially since they are moving in a week. Ali asked the other day, "Why does everyone keep moving away from us?" and I want to know the same thing! We will miss them so much!

Merry Christmas!

Santa

This year we discovered that Santa visits the little zoo a couple miles from our house every weekend in December, and this is where we will be visiting him every year in the future! There was no line and a very good Santa. We cant wait for him to visit our house in a few days!

Headgear

One of the last days of school was "wear your favorite Christmas hat or headband day" and of course we only had one Santa hat. Ali was very sad that she was't going to get to wear anything, so I suggested making one of her headbands into antlers--in the five minutes we had before the bus came! I was pretty proud of the result and was pleased that she was so grateful and happy, grinning ear to ear as she walked to the bus. 

Wanting to avoid a similar rush on future days, I bought a few Christmas headbands, but Ali still likes her homemade one the best, so Eli and I have been having fun with them instead!

Turkey Trot

Jason ran the Turkey Trot, a 5K in Naperville, on Thanksgiving again this year. He ran this year with a young man that he works with in his church calling, and they both did well and had a great time despite the 20ish degree weather. The kids and I were our unsupportive selves again this year and were sleeping (me) and watching tv (them) while Jason was out running in the cold. It is just so early! And on a holiday! And cold! But I am impressed that he does the run. Well done, Love.

Four-Eyes

A new twist on the term four-eyes?

Cardboard

I don't know why Jason and I bother buying toys for our kids-- they rarely play with them. They are, however, constantly making things.  Cardboard is the new medium of choice around here,which means any and all cardboard boxes from cereal boxes to shoe boxes to package boxes are pretty much all put to use in one project or another. And our recycle bin gets checked regularly in case I have tried to sneak a box out there without them seeing (something I admit to doing as often as I can...I sometimes think there are only so many cardboard creations one home needs at a time, but I am clearly in the minority in this thought.) The project on these couple of days were robots. Logan even helped Eli to make one, something that of course made my heart very happy.

Vampire

Yes, we realize it is nearly Christmas and that Halloween is over, but dressing up in costumes is one of Eli's favorite things to do, and it happens pretty much daily. On this day, Logan and Ali decided something was missing and painted his face for him. 

Welcome Home

Jason went out of town for work for a week, something with thankful happens very rarely. The kids missed him and were very excited for him to come home, and being the kind of kids they are, that meant that they needed to make something to commemorate the event--a welcome home banner. Cuties.

Little Chef

Eli's favorite thing to do these days is to help me cook dinner. I try and find him actually helpful things to do, but when I run out of those, generally he can find some other way to "help" that makes him just as happy.

Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago the kids asked if we could put up our tree. Since it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet I said no. But they are smart, my kids, so they set to work making their own Christmas tree. The cut out about a six-foot tree from the now ruined boxes from JD and Lianna, and then spent several hours over several days decorating it. They tore strips of green paper and then taped or glued them over the whole tree, giving it a cool texture along with the original intent of making it green, and then made a couple dozen individualized ornaments. This was a huge project. It took them probably 10-15 kid hours, four or five entire glue sticks, two rolls of tape, and who knows how many dozens of sheets of paper. But they did it, happily, together, and mostly on their own. The final product truly was amazing, and sure enough got put up in the house long before Thanksgiving.