Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Jayden's Dream

We went to Lagoon today and last night Jayden must have been really excited about it, because he had a dream.  It was really cute, and he wanted to record it.  So I thought this would be a good place.  From here on out I'll just be dictating what Jayden says.

"In my dream, we were on a roller coaster.  Courtney was scared.  When we were done Courtney found a little carousel.  It was a little carousel.  It was so little, it could only fit three ponies.  And then we all found a bigger carousel with all kinds of animals.  I found a tiger, Ethan found a giraffe, Kayleigh found a horse, Courtney found a zebra.  All of the sudden, my tiger went faster than ever.  And then all of the sudden, Kayleigh's horse was going fast as my tiger.  And then Ethan's giraffe was biting the metal on the carousel.  And then, our animals came off of the carousel.  Ethan's giraffe came off still biting the metal from the carousel.  And then, the giraffe came with the other animals.  And then my tiger scared away the people at Lagoon.  And then all our animals came out of Lagoon.  On the streets my tiger was scaring all the cars on the road.  And then we went back to Lagoon.  We got back on the carousel.  The animals came back to their regular spot and they weren't alive anymore.  The end."

Incidentally, every time Jayden rode the carousel today, he picked the tiger.  And on another subject, he was quite the flirt.  He talked to lots of teenage girls who rode next to him on the carousel, who passed him on the sky ride, as well as the girl that ran one his favorite rides, the ladybug one.  I'm not sure what he said to one particular girl, but she pointed him out to her friends when she got off the carousel :).   What a cutie!

Not to be outshined, Ethan had a moment today too.  He was riding the helicopters, and he told Jay that there was a girl riding them too, and he said hi, and she smiled at him.  Jay said it's probably because she thinks your cool.  He said back, no she thinks I'm hot!

I didn't realize till today, but I better start keeping an eye on these two players!  I had no idea I would have to start so young! :)

We all had a wonderful time and got really worn out.  Even the girls, who were NOT impressed with most of the rides we started them off with. And  though they didn't like hardly any rides all day, they found a couple of favorites.  Kayleigh tolerated the carousel, and ended up liking the boats.  She actually loved rattlesnake rapids too, once the boys talked her into going.  But the winner for both of them was the one where they get to drive a car.  Courtney went on it willingly, which was a first... and then, as they would exit, they would scream AGAIN! and run toward the entrance.  They did this until it was 9 o' clock and the ride was closing.  I can't even count how many times they rode it.

The boys were both troopers.  Ethan was a little afraid as we arrived anticipating the scariness of the rides.  But after a few rides he was sold and they both rode everything Jay threw at them all day (of course most of them were fairly tame).  Rattle snake rapids, the dragon ride by the kids area, and the ladybug and dinosaur drop were their favorites.  But they loved every one and wanted to ride them over and over.  We didn't even get to ride everything they wanted to.  We stayed till EVERY ride shut down and then reluctantly went home.  It was a great day.  Perfect weather, not too crowded, and super fun for the kids.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Nicknames and ghost stories

Yesterday I had a wonderful day with a bunch of my sisters in St George.  We went there to look at wedding dresses for Rachel (we found one by the way!).  Then we went to lunch and to a place to buy some wedding decorations.  It was such a fun day!  Great talks, and lots of laughs.
Jay was amazing, and made it a really fun day for the kids.  First, he took all four kids out all day shopping and to mcdonalds.  They called it the quest for ratchet.  (and batman too! Ethan would say).  Then they came back and told each other scary stories by the light of Ethan's light saber.  Whoever was telling the story got to hold the light saber.  Here are the highlights dictated by Jay (what he can remember a day later :)  Ethan started out:  "Once upon a time...there was a little boy who didn't have a mom or dad...or a baby.  And he lived with grandma and grandpa brown.  And the zombies broke into their house and broke all their toys.  Grandpa yelled at them, but they couldn't hear like grandpa.  And they were throwing their heads at them. " Kayleigh's story went like this: "There was monsters and skeletons, and when I saw them I said "what the heck?"  And they growled at me and I said "what the heck?"  And they started running and I said "what the heck?"  and her story pretty much followed this pattern throughout, eliciting laughter from the rest of the kids every time she would say the signature phrase.  Jayden didn't tell much of a story because he was a little scared (he's not so fond of scary story time) not to mention he wanted to play video games.  Clearly a fun day was had by all! 
While I'm writing fun kids stuff, I'm going to add some random notes that I have jotted down over the last year, but not ever transferred into here.  First is Kayleigh's Transformer name.  It was given to her about a year ago, and is frequently still used when they play different transformer games that they dream up.  Drum roll please...Baby diaper!  Yes I was surprised too.  I asked them why they kept saying baby diaper and Jayden informed me.  I don't know how he came up with it, but it has definitely stuck.  hehehehe :)
Next was from one night that Jayden was feeling reluctant to go to bed.  He said "I wish I was nocturnal"  He is such a funny, animal loving boy.  We watched a "how it's made" show where they were processing beaver pelts to be used for clothing.  I must admit I didn't like seeing it either, you could see their little faces on the pelt. :(  But Jayden, though he tried to put on a brave face, got really emotional about it.)  He is such a sensitive little cutie!
Another day, Jayden and Ethan were discussing what they wanted to be when they grow up. (Ethan: a fireman or policeman, Jayden: an astronaut and a farmer)  Kayleigh said:"I grow up, I want to be the chicken."  She also used to say disgusting in a cute way.  She would say it like "isgusting"  :)
Since I haven't taken much time to write about our baby girl, I will take a few minutes now.  Courtney is getting pretty chatty these days and has always been such a good communicator.  She is SUCH a fun baby.  I don't know if its because she might be my last, or just because she is so amusing, but I have enjoyed her so much.  (I have enjoyed ALL my little ones of course!  They each have amazing fun personalities, and all do great things!  But I digress...)  She has a personality that is so vibrant, and is VERY expressive.  This can be difficult when she is sad, because she doesn't do anything half way.  But mostly she is a happy girl, so we usually enjoy the exuberant smiles, dancing, and laughter.  Some cute courtneyisms:  Up until last week when her food was gone she would say "gah gone", now she has changed it to "ahh gone". She also says "bah" for either her sippy, or a ball.  Another favorite of mine is "gaaooo" (go). That is frequent these days :).  In fact, she loves putting on clothes or shoes, in hopes that it means she can gao   She can also say cookie almost perfectly, and a-ba-zas (applesauce).  I hope this doesn't mean she is neglected, but she often brings us things when she is hungry, like a bottle of food or a cup.  And she looks so cute! Yesterday, I left really early and Jay was woken up by someone hitting him repeatedly in the head.  It turned out to be Courtney.  She was carrying a jar of food in one arm and hitting him with the spoon in the other, whining and babbling to him.  I'm sure she was pleading the case for her hungry tummy :).  I wonder if she thinks we are really dim, because she is very careful to communicate clearly with us.  No is a very decisive shaking of the head.  Yes requires her whole body.  She rocks when she is sitting and bends her knees up and down when she is standing, combined with a big smile and sounds of excitement.  In fact, any time we give her what she wants she makes these cute little encouraging sounds.  (I LOVE IT!)  When she is trying to share a harder to understand word, she looks deeply into my eyes and seems to be carefully sounding it out.  She is something else, I tell you.  Of course, when I fail to understand her carefully constructed communication/or if I say no or take too long, things go south pretty quickly, she is good at communicating her feelings of frustration (see above ;).  But mostly we get along pretty good since her words usually are communicating a kind of food or drink and a few guesses on my part are enough to get that cute little yes dance.  When she wants something else, a book, toy or movie for instance, she also brings them to me or leads me to them and points.  She loves being a big kid, sitting on a chair, etc...and repeatedly shares her excitement about it.  Like every time she sits on a chair for instance, she makes a little noise and points down at the chair.  I cheer her on about being such a big girl and she smiles in a satisfied way.  This happens over and over again every few minutes :). 
I hope that writing brings me back to these moments with my kids.  I adore all of their little eccentricities.  I'm thankful for their patience and kindness to me.  I think they are smart, and sweet and in every way AMAZING.  I thank the Lord for these experiences.  Parenting is messy, and disorganized(in my case), full of unexpected turns, uncertainty, and a good dose of frustration sometimes.  But what a BLESSING gettting to associate closely with these priceless treasures.  I never feel able to put it into words.  Even when days are bad, my heart swells with gratitude that the Lord trusts my incapable, impatient, unkind self with this opportunity.  (Though I wish I were more capable, etc...)  But the great moments: when they do funny things that make me smile, or times when they learn something new, or moments that I get to see their innocence and I feel overwhelmed with pride at their GOOD choices and desires.  And of course all of the every day moments, holding them, watching them play, hugs, smiles...  The feelings at those times are indescribable.  SUCH joy.  Life is amazing.