There are many smiles, joys, challenges and sweet moments that I don’t do justice to here but I wanted to make sure I recorded a few of the cute things the kids have said recently.

Thursday, Jonathan received his Arrow of Light and moved into the 11 year-old Boy Scouts.  Michael was in St. Paul, MN so he missed out but it was great to watch this sweet boy growing up so fast.  He’s certainly been my all-consuming handful since the get-go but that powerful kid has so much potential.  I think I’ll keep my mom pins on my jacket for a while.  He wanted to show off his wrestling moves when we got home and is getting too good for me.  James led the Court of Honor flag ceremony.  He did great.  I’m so grateful they’re mine. 

Every so often Jonathan’s quick whit shows through.  Someone shared the following story:

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that a whale swallowed Jonah.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".

James said he didn’t get it and Jonathan replied, “He was inferring that his teacher was going to hell”.  What 10 year-old uses the word, infer in his daily speech?

A couple months ago, we were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner and he stopped mid-sentence looking toward the top of the fridge with a gasp.  We all looked waiting to hear what was wrong.  He said continuing to look at the top of the fridge, “When did you get the Nutella?”  Yes, I suppose that is gasp-followed-by-silence-worthy.  It was hidden on the top of the fridge for a reason!

He has relinquished his role as the king of Reading Counts at school and tells questioning peers that he’s “retired” from Reading Counts.  Retired at 10.

Grandpa Neyens gave him a pocketknife with his initials for getting his Arrow of Light.  Grandpa asked, “What will you do if another kid has your knife?”  Jonathan replied, “Hope he doesn’t have my initials.”

The other night Michael and I were watching 24, which is getting too intense and violent for me.  Jonathan heard the movie from bed and wanted to know the details of the story.  He asked when he’d be old enough to watch it and Michael said, “24”.  That sounds about right.

James sings loud and clear at church and the chorister told the Senior Primary she wanted them to try to sing better than James.  He was thrilled to play Reverently, Quietly at church while the kids left Sharing Time.  He seems to enjoy music, writing and art.  He’s followed Jonathan into the GATE program at school although I’m pretty sure the purpose of the program is just to make parents feel good.  His coach at swim said referring to him, “James, he’s my favorite.”  James has a sweet tooth.  He told me he just can’t have sweets around because he wants to grow tall.  Gracie reminded me to write that James is growing a cucumber and sunflower from seed. 

He told the Elders a while back about one of the 10 commandments being to not want what other people have and followed up by saying, “I always break that one”.  At least he’s aware.  

He is officially the last kid in his class at school or church to have lost his two front teeth.  His gap is huge, especially since he’s also missing a tooth on the bottom.  I get to teach his class at church this year and it’s been a wonderful experience so far.  He enjoys having Drew, the boy next door to ride bikes and scooters with most days after school.  He continues to enjoy swimming.  He says he’s the best at butterfly although his fastest stroke is freestyle.

Grace gave her first talk in Primary.  She really enjoys reading and has started enjoying Ivy and Bean and the American Girl books.  I can tell she’s enjoying them because when I picked her and the boys up from school because it was raining she said, “Oh mom, it was dreadful” referring to the pouring rain.  She was dreadfully soaked indeed.  

I dropped a bag of oranges and they rolled down the driveway.  Without being asked, Gracie, who was riding her bike with a basket in front, picked them up and put them in her basket to ride them around for a while before bringing them into the kitchen.  She's a good little helper.

She likes to wrestle with Michael and says she has “Tickle Power” because she can tickle with her hair.  She says Michael has “Scratchy Power” because of his scratchy face and I have “Cuddle Power”.  She got a “Promising Writer” award at school.  Grace still loves cuddles and stories of when she was a baby.  

I walked by a pet food display at Target and have explained to Ryan that we have kids so we can’t afford a pet.  He promises he’ll take care of a dog but I figure we’ll start with a stuffed animal until he can consistently remember to wear shoes when we drive to the library. 

He was postponing going to bed the other night and insisted on gelling his hair and combing it down.  Now if I can only get him to do the same at any other time of day… 

On another occasion Ryan said he was too tired to eat dinner but not too tired to play soccer. 

He asked if we could please go to “Ding Dong”.  I couldn’t figure out what it was for a while and finally figured out he was referring to Taco Bell. 

Ryan takes pride in begin the official dish washer and does a good job.  He pulls up a chair, gets the scrub brush and shows off his skills.

He told me a couple of times that we need a bigger house because I’m getting too big for this one.  I sure hope not!  I think Ryan’s new favorite treat is frozen blueberries with peanut butter and graham crackers.  We used to tease James that he got his pretty blue eyes from eating so many frozen blueberries as a baby.  Ryan seems to have similar taste buds.   

I should once again document that we made it through another dental visit and no cavities yet!  

I was in Jr. Sharing Time at church a while back and it was cute because the person who was supposed to give a talk didn’t show up and the presidency member asked if anyone was ready to give a talk.  Ryan raised his hand high.  I was looking forward to see what he said.

Grandpa and Grandma D came for a weekend visit on Jonathan’s birthday.  We went to two educational 3-D movies at Balboa Park, Wild Africa and Monsters of the Deep.  We did a puzzle of the world, ate out twice and just enjoyed having them here.  I loved having extra hands and hearts around for the kiddos.