The mind of a four year old

My computer is on the fritz, so I can't blog on it. So I can't blog about things with pictures. So I am using a different computer in the house to blog about things without pictures.

First, an anecdote.

I took Morgan and Lydia to Dairy Queen the other day. There was a little old lady in line behind us, who thought my children were adorable. (Because it's true.)

I sat with my kids on one side of the dining room, and she and her husband were on the other. That didn't stop her from making a couple trips to our table. Once, to kindly offer Morgan her maraschino cherry, (he refused it) and another time to show us a photo album of her grand-baby, whom she thought looked like Lydia, what with her blue eyes, bald head, and chubby cheeks. While at our table the the first time, I'd just sat down with Lydia in my arms, and was trying to replace the change from my order into my wallet. I had my change zipper open. I don't really know how it happened, but I want to partially blame it on Lydia. Anyway, the wallet tipped, and coins fell everywhere. The woman was quick to bend over to pick them up. Because she bent right in front of my bench, I couldn't reach down and help. But Morgan could, so I instructed him to get down and please help clean up the coins.

He said, "No, it's okay, that grandma is doing it."

Aaaaahh! That was the whole point, son.

Today I was playing with Morgan. He was pretending to be a doctor, and I his patient. By the way, Morgan says when he grows up, he is going to be a doctor, a monster truck driver, and a race car driver. Oh, and today he added a swimming lesson teacher to his future goals.

Moving along. I was the patient for Dr. Morgan. I decided to go to the doctor because I was sick. But Morgan told me that, no, I was there to have a baby. So I stuffed a doll up my shirt and went to see the doctor. I asked him to help me get my baby out of my tummy. Sage Dr. Morgan told me that the baby just had to pop out. You know, like babies do. They just pop right on out. Alright. So I laid on the couch and the baby popped out. Morgan bathed her, returned her to me, and then gave me a sticker and a lollipop for being so good. :)

Sunday's

My children and I gravitate toward the night owl side of the spectrum. Getting up is not pleasant for us. Morgan does best with it, though.

Our church is at 9:00 a.m. To get there on time with myself presentable and two kids appropriately clothed and fed, plus with a bag full of tricks to entertain the babe, requires that I get up really early. (I realize that my definition of early, may even be the definition of late, for many people.) I kind of dread Sunday mornings.

If I let her, Lydia will sleep until 10:00 or so on any given morning. I can put off getting her up on Sunday until 8:00, but that is still two hours early. Before Sacrament Meeting is even over, Lydia is loud and cranky. She generally takes a short nap during the Sunday School hour, but is awake for the rest of church. When we get home, she is ready for a real nap.

And so am I.

Today I had just gotten Lydia asleep, and was upstairs, baby monitor on. Since I wasn't in bed until close to 1:00 a.m. (pretty normal) and since the morning was early, my body was protesting it's wakeful state.

Morgan fought and fought when I told him I wouldn't play cars with him, but would nap instead. To add insult to injury, Grandma also opted on napping rather than playing. Grandpa was already asleep. Morgan's complaint? "I just want somebody to play cars with me!"

I thought he got over it.

Just before I drifted off, I hear a very unwelcome sound coming from the baby monitor. My baby. But she was awake. NOOOOOOO!!! I wanted that nap so so bad. She was happy though. Then I heard another sound. My Morgan. He was also happy, but boy did his voice make me upset!

I went down to my room and confronted the situation. Morgan's defense for waking up his sleeping sister? "I wanted to play with somebody."

But I'm pretty stubborn, so I got my nap. It took awhile, but I coaxed Lydia back to sleep, and we both took a nap in my bed.

Wishful Thinking

My birthday is coming up. Wanna know what's on my wishlist?
One of these.

The Xoom. I'd also happily accept an ipad.
I've never been one to go ga-ga over electronic things. I got my first mp3 player for my last birthday, and rarely use it. My phones have mostly been the kind that come free with the contract. If something costs more than $20, I tend to shy away from purchasing it. That's why it would seem just for me to get a Xoom. Come on, I've been saving up my ration cards for this!

So, if every friend I have donated just $1 to my birthday pot, I would probably have enough to buy the power cord.

Mother's Day

Let me tell you about my Mother's Day.
First of all, Morgan keeps careful tabs on holidays and events. Each time a holiday arrives, he asks which one is next, and then what? Then what? After that? He asks until we come full circle. On Easter he asked about all the upcoming holidays until we got back to Easter.
So he knew Mother's Day was coming.
My little four-year-old boy is astoundingly thoughtful. I've heard him approach my mom and have whispered conversations about surprising mommy on Mother's Day. Coincidentally my birthday is in another week or so. Morgan has also whispered to Grandma about that.
Anyway, on Saturday when I got up, Morgan had been up with grandma for awhile all ready. They were both acting mighty guilty. Morgan told me I couldn't go into grandma's bathroom. He also was so excited for the next morning.
Sunday morning came, and with it, precious gifts. My mom kindly got a couple mugs for my kids to paint, then helped them do it. (Which explained the blue paint in Lydia's fingernails.) Actually, Morgan painted his all by himself, and did an awesome job.
I heart snapdragon Mom.

He told me that the flower was a snapdragon, with one eye, one nose, and a mouth.
At church they gave all the ladies some flowers. Guess what I got? Yellow snapdragons.

Here is the mug from Lydia. So cute.





I also got a card. You know the cards that you open and music plays? Do you also know about the cards that you can record your voice on, so when they open, that plays? This was a mixture of both. Morgan got to sing along with "You Make Me Want to Shout." I laughed so hard I cried. I love it! Check it out.

It was a great Mother's Day. Thanks Mom, for helping my children make it special for me!

Before and After

Remember how Morgan scratched up my car? Well, I got some stuff to try to remove it. At least, make it less visible. So I got some before and after shots. Unfortunately, my car can be pretty shiny. It was really filthy when I did the before shots, but the after shots have the special buffing cream, and so the car was very reflective. Hard to see the scratch, easy to see what it reflects. (In the photo, that is.
So, here is the before on the drivers side, rear door.
And after.
The hood.

So, it helped, but it didn't fix it. The scratches remain, and they are visible.
Morgan and Lydia were outside with me. They are cute.

Swimming lessons end

Morgan graduated from swimming lessons. He did pretty good, and even got over his fear of putting his head under water. He loves doing it now, but refuses to plug his nose. What? I used to plug my nose anytime I got near water...
The last day of swimming lessons was "fun day". They got to do the slide and diving board. Morgan's kind of day. Morgan was one of two kids in the class that was brave enough to do them both without prodding, bribing, and chickening out.
He went down the slide twice.


The second time he lay on his back. I don't think it was on purpose, and I'm pretty sure the speed caught him off guard. Maybe even terrified him. Check out that face.

For the diving board, the kids had water noodles tied around their waists to aid in floating in the deep end; takes some pressure off their teacher who was probably tired from all the water treading he had to do.

Morgan was a little hesitant walking down the diving board, especially when it started bending. I think the teacher thought he'd have to work hard to get Morgan to jump, like some of the other kids, but no. He just took his time getting to the end. Once he was there, he didn't hesitate at all before jumping in.



With the noodle tied around him, Morgan was able to swim to the side by himself.
Way to go, Morgan!

Weekend in Utah

Last weekend was the first time Lydia wore her Easter dress. It's darling. She is darling. She went to my cousin's wedding reception looking very pretty.




She's just so chubby! I love it.

Our drive to and from Utah wasn't too bad. We went with my parents, so I was in the back next to Lydia. I could spoon feed her apple sauce, play with her, and, believe it or not, I could even nurse her while she remained buckled into her seat. It wasn't super comfortable, but it worked.

Morgan got a new toy from his dad, which was entertainment for the ride home. He even shared.

4 generations

I went to Utah last weekend for a cousins wedding. My grandmother was visiting from Missouri, so I took the opportunity to get a four generation picture. I don't think any of us actually look alike.

Lawn mowing

My parents live on two acres, so the lawn to mow is BIG. Hence the ride on lawnmower. A week or so ago, my dad got it all ready for the new season and my mom cut the grass. (Something she enjoys doing.)
I had something I really wanted to work on and get done. Lydia desired attention. I had an idea.



Problem solved! Mine, anyway...