Video

if the link for the video below won't work, try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxyznixw1Os

Music soothes the savage Dani

One of Dani's latest obsesssions is the Ipod. She uses mine and Jason's constantly. We bought her her own mp3 player for her birthday, but she still prefers the Ipods. What is truly amazing is how much calmer she is and how very long can be entertained by it. She sat in the back seat of the car on the way to Connecticut and listened contentedly to it for at least 10 of the 14 hours that we drove. She even watched movies while listening to the Ipod.
You know, this is all very cute and amusing, but what will make you roll on the floor laughing is hearing Dani sing along with the music. She only knows 5-10 words of each song, so she mumbles the rest and sings the few she knows at TOP volume. We got more than a few odd looks and chuckles at Michaels the other day as she sat in the basket and muttered LOUDLY and off pitch. To witness her singing abilities, watch the following. She is singing one of her favorites, so she knows a lot more of the words, but it is still hilarious to watch. I also feel it necessary to note that this was not performing for the camera, I found her in the bedroom doing this all on her own!

Eggucation

Today, while enjoying her favorite breakfast "Bird in a Nest," better known to my own family as "Bread Eggies" and known to myself as, "Gag, Blech, Ugh," Dani informed me of the following,

"I know what eggs are made out of. They're dead chickens that haven't been fertilized."


Mmmm....appetizing!

Impromtu Trip to Connecticut

Jason has a job interview in New York this week and so we packed up the kids, jumped in the car and drove everyone out for a little surprise trip to Connecticut to see Grandma and Grandpa. Such spur of the moment shenanigans are not our typical behavior, but it was kinda fun to decide to go one day and leave the next. A simply splendid time is being had by all. The kids can't get enough of Grandma and Grandpa, we've played with cousins, worked in Aunt Tam's gift basket "warehouse," visited our old ward, had a playdate with some old friends, eaten our weight in junkfood and generally had a swell time. Its fun to have cousins to mess around with. Tegan and Eamon are quite taken with Brendan, but seem to be a little afraid of me and Jason. The other night, they both spent the night and Grandma's with us and around 7 or so the next morning, Brendan started to cry. As we were getting up to deal with him, I heard Eamon calling from the hall, "Hey.................. whoever is in there......................... your baby is crying!" Dani and Evan are both quite enamored of Eamon or "Amen" as Evan calls him. They both want to sit by him and play with him and share things with him. Poor boy will soon be completely overwhelmed, I'm sure.

It seems that I've had enough time away from the area to appreciate its finer points. The trees and hills and rocks used to drive me crazy because they obstructed the view of everything -- now, I realize how pretty they are. I used to hate most of the houses around here because they were old and run down. Now I realize that was mostly just MY house and while I do prefer newer homes at least here the houses aren't cookie-cutter copies of each other. Real estate prices are heart stoppingly high, but the taxes are actually lower here than they are in Plainfield! Trumbull had lots of great community niceties -- parks and pools (which were FREE for residents) and classes for kids. The stores that never used to be good enough for me now make me a little nostalgic (aww... there 's the store where we bought Evan's dresser. And that's the nursery where we got mulch in the spring.) And now they even have a TARGET just a few miles from my old house! If they'd built that before we moved, I might never have left! I always complained about being lonely, but seeing what friends I had makes me feel stupid for not appreciating them at the time and ten years of familiarity has made me recognize that maybe my sister-in-law isn't 100% wack job (only 75% :D) and we actually have some stuff in common! What sweet justice this will be for any of my Connecticut readers who probably couldn't wait for me to leave so I'd quit my incessant whining (as I have felt many times about my friends who can't stand Plainfield and want to return to Zion with all their whiney litttle hearts), but I will freely eat my humble pie. It's not such a bad place. It has its good points. I should have tried harder to be happy and content here. Maybe its easier to feel this way because I have found a place that it is easy to be happy and content in and I know there is nothing forcing me to move away from there, so I can see the good in other places a little more clearly. Maybe its a case of, great-place-to-visit-but-I-wouldn't-want-to-live-there gone amuck. Whether or not I could ever live here again, though, its definitely a good place to visit -- especially when I can only concentrate on the good things about it and not have to deal with any of the stresses!

Easter

Aww... the Easter pictures this year turned out much better than last year. Jason even did his magic with the timer on the camera again and got us a family picture. Are we a cute family or are we a cute family?

Financial Genius

Emily recently did some jobs and earned $14 to buy a Tamagotchi. Dani recently decided that she wants a Tamagotchi too. I told her she'd have to earn the money for hers as well. Today, she happened to find some eggs with money in them during our Easter egg hunt. She asked if $4 was enough to buy a Tamagotchi and I told her no, she'd still have to do some jobs to earn $10 more dollars. She went her merry way, but came back a few minutes later and asked, "If a do a lot, a lot, A LOT of jobs, can I earn a credit card?"

Warm and Fuzzy

The kids frequently complain that they are cold in the mornings, so last time Grandma Knapp was here, I asked her to help me make some robes for them, but she didn't bring her sewing machine and mine is broken, so she just went home and whipped up 4 adorable robes. The kids LOVE them, especially Emily, who prefers to take OFF her pajamas to wear hers because its soft and fuzzy against her skin. Thanks Gramma Knapp! You're the best!

On a side note, you GOTTA love Dani's hair and facial expression in this picture. What a spaz!

Speaking a lingo only he understands

Evan is sleeping in my room while Aunt Rach is visiting. Last night, he came downstairs with the following request:

Evan: Will you take the blue blanket off the bed?
Me: The silky one? Why?
Evan: Because it makes my feet regular. I want it off.


Huh? I took it off, even though I have NO idea what he's talking about. I guess irregular feet are the way to go.