Cutting off his Catholics

Fisher is becoming aware of the perennially unkempt status of his hair. This morning he asked Jarad:

Dad can you cut off Catholics?

Huh?

Of course, he was referring to his unruly cowlicks, two in front and two in back, that make his thick wiry hair so hard to tame.

Speaking of "kids say the darndest things..." As I type this I am listening to five preschoolers discussing the piles of grapes they all have in front of them. Case's BFF Sambrown declared he loves grapes, but he's not going to eat them all because he'll get diarrhea.

Tess: Like Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid?
Sam: No it's when you poop a lot.
Grant: I know of a sickness where you puke a lot.
Tess: When you have DIE-arreah do you DIE?

Love these kids. Love their snacktime conversation even more.

Tess + Cassidy Make a Plan

Tess wrote a book tonight. She sat down to write to her pen pal Cassidy, the daughter of one of my old friends (by which I mean longtime friend!) and decided instead to illustrate a story for her.

She drew the pictures and then told me what to write.

Here is her masterpiece. It actually gives a pretty revealing glimpse into the way her little brain works!

Front cover:
Page one:
Tess and Cassidy were great friends. They liked to play with each other. They liked each other a lot. When they first started playing, their moms said it was time to go. This made them sad.

Page two:
They went with their moms. But there was something wrong. Tess went in Cassidy's car. Cassidy went in Tess's car.


Page three:
The moms were frustrated. They called each other on their phones. They had to switch back.


Page four:
They met back at the park and held hands. They got to play together more. Their plan worked.


THE END
Back cover:

Clever Emma

Today Jarad bore a quite eloquent testimony at church, reiterating President Monson's admonition that it is the duty of all worthy young men to serve a mission. Unfortunately Fisher was home with the chickenpox, and was unable to hear Jarad speak. So around the dinner table we were asking Emma if she could tell Fisher what Dad had talked about at church. Here's a little glimpse into the conversation after it became evident she needed some hints:

Dad: What did I say everyone should go on?

Emma: A diet?

Mom: When Fisher is 19, what will he be going on?

Emma: Twenty! (and this led into a romping rendition of Leisl and Rolf's Sound of Music duet...)

Jarad and I recognized the futility at that point, but we all had a good laugh at Em's clever responses. I'm sure if she'd listened to Jarad's testimony she wouldn't have missed the opportunity to go off on a "duty" tangent a la Nacho Libre.

We Survived Five!!

Hard to believe that we have survived five years as parents of twins. It has gone by so fast, but I have loved every minute of it (except maybe the potty training and binkie-weaning minutes). They honestly love each other so much. Each is so aware of the other, and knows exactly where the other one is at any given moment. When they are apart and come back together, it is always a joyous reunion. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of tousles, but there is no question that these two love each other tons.

They got tons of great presents (including Leapsters from G&G Stastny!) BUT the best part of the day for Case wasn't the presents... He was sick and "got to" stay home from church. In his eyes this was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

Keeping with tradition, here are five things I love about each of them:

TESS

1. She loves to have her back tickled and often nuzzles up to me on the couch asking for a back tickle
2. Tess will be a wonderful mother. She is always surrounded by her "babies" -- Strawberry the dog, Lady the PillowPet, Polly Pockets, Build A Bears, Barbies, Webkinz... you name it, she is pushing it around in a stroller or telling us to be quiet because her babies are sleeping.
3. When she tries to be grown up and tells me "Dora is for babies"
4. She talks a blue streak when she wants to
5. Her "beautiful" singing voice (she calls it her beautiful voice when she tries to sing like Ariel)

CASE

1. First thing in the morning, no matter what, Case locates his mama and has to have his morning hug.
2. I love how he and Fisher are great buds. And I love the way Case says Fishaw.
3. Every week in Sacrament Meeting Case falls asleep on my lap. Do you think I could possibly get him to nap during the week? Never, but ALWAYS on Sunday.
4. How he calls pants "long-sleeved shorts"
5. His infectious laugh. Even when he's mad he's laughing.

We threw them a little party with their friends at the park -- can you tell they requested a green party?

Treasure Loop

On Veteran's Day we took an early morning hike with our friends the Maxwells. Their kids and ours all match up in ages and they all get along so well. And Jarad and I kind of like the parents too (ha ha).

The trail we were hiking is called the Treasure Loop in the area of the fabled Lost Dutchman's mine. Of course we played up the idea that we'll be looking for the lost treasure. So the kids scramble up the mountain and we stop for snacks at this natural playground. They had so much fun playing around on these rock faces. But no treasure was to be found.

On the way up

Tessie and Tommy

All the kiddos having their snack

Climbing around on the playground

Then just as we were about to leave one of the kids discovered a treasure box! With jewelry and coins and all sorts of fun stuff in it. Of course I'm looking at Micah wondering how she planted that box of goodies without me noticing, and she's thinking the same thing about me. Someone had left this cute treasure box, accompanied by a note encouraging families to replenish the treasure box the next time the make the trek up there so that other kids can "find" the treasure. What a fun surprise that was!

Showing off their treasure...

Animal Farm

We took our preschool to Superstition Farm for a field trip last November. What fun they had learning about chickens, cows, goats, horses!! Who am I kidding. The most fun they had was on the hay ride and drinking custom-flavored milk from the dairy's Milk Bar.

Here are a few pics of the kiddos at the "Animal Farm"

Tessie and her BFF Hailey

Tess and Case on the hayride

Tessie grooming a goat

Tessie holding a chicken

Case and his chicken

Fall Break Fun

What?!? It's almost Christmas and I haven't written about our Fall Break trip? Shame on me...

We had grand plans this year to go to Moab for Fall Break to spend a few nights camping and days hiking around Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. We had gone there a few summers ago, but it was in July and too darned hot to really enjoy. Plus the twins were just little and we couldn't do much more than 1/2 mile at a time.

Anyway, that was the plan. It was mapped out. We were good to go. Until about two days before departure. We started to wonder why we were driving 8 hours to camp somewhere we've already been when there are so many National Parks and Monuments in Arizona that we've never been to! Yes, it's true. We had NEVER taken our kids to the GRAND CANYON. What kind of Arizonans are we (disclaimer: I am NOT and never will be an Arizonan).

So we mapped out our new route to include all those points of interest we always just pass by without a second thought on our way out of the state: Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, Wupatki and Sunset Crater. And of course, the Grand Canyon. And the kids each earned FOUR Junior Ranger badges on this trip! Not bad for three days.

Day one: Montezuma & Tuzigoot and Camping at Mormon Lake

The kids inside a room at Tuzigoot



We loved the bark on the Sycamore trees.



Tessie in front of Montezuma Castle. How'd ya like to carry the groceries up to that apartment??



I didn't get any photos of our super cool campsite setup OR of Fisher's large black bag full of puked-upon clothing and bedding. It was AWESOME. After spending a day visiting the ruins we found a spot to camp and got all set up. After a dinner of PBJ, hot cocoa and s'mores the kiddos were ready to tuck it in for the evening. It was bout 5:30 p.m. The sun was still up. But it was chilly. Anyway, we coaxed them into staying out of the tents by telling stories by the fire (Jarad trumped us all with a 40-minute story full of pirates, treasure and intrigue) and playing some Uno. At some point Fisher mentioned his stomach didn't feel well. I didn't think much of it. My bad. At about midnight I heard him start to cough and I knew what was next. I'll spare you the details, but I will say that I couldn't get our tent unzipped fast enough. And thank Heaven I had thought to buy a few extra jugs of water for the trip. After a long, cold night of little sleep for all of us, Fisher was the first one up, ready for day two of our adventure. We tossed the "black bag" into the car-top carrier and were on our way. With a barf bowl at the ready.

Day Two: The Grand Canyon

Everyone was taking family pictures for their Christmas cards. This one didn't make the cut -- we have a way cooler one :)





As part of the kids' Junior Ranger requirements we went to a Ranger Talk, an educational program about condors. Along with about 50 other people, we sat for 45 minutes listening to a volunteer ranger tell us all about these endangered birds, and how there are a few in the Canyon but that they hadn't seen any for a few weeks. During the talk Jarad nudges me and hands me the binoculars. He had found two birds that fit the physical description and flying/soaring patterns the ranger was talking about. Sure enough, Jarad had spotted the condors that had eluded the ranger folk! Before long they made their way over to where we were sitting and the whole crowd went wild. The ranger was a bit put out that everyone was more excited about seeing the real thing than watching him use a condor puppet to describe how mommy condors teach baby condors to eat. It was really very cool to watch them. But alas, no photos of the birds.

Our only previous experience at the Grand Canyon had been, er, um, unpleasant. So we were not at all excited about taking the kids there. We felt obligated to let them get their Junior Ranger badge. But I'm so glad we did! It was so much better than we expected and we had a great day there. We'll plan to stay longer next time!

We got back to Flagstaff after dark and, not wanting a repeat of the camping experience of the night before, we got a hotel room. Showers and cable TV are always welcome after a couple of days away from home :)

Day 3: Sunset Crater and Wupatki

We've been making family trips from Arizona to Utah for 12 years now. I see the signs to Sunset Crater every time and it was NOTHING like what I expected! First, they have one of the best visitors centers we've come by on our travels. The kids LOVED it. They would have been totally happy if we'd just stopped there. Highly recommend it! But the walk back to the crater also was very educational and interesting. Of course no photos of that.



Wupatki was another Indian ruin. Their Junior Ranger program was better than the others and the kids had fun exploring the different villages. These pictures aren't of Wupatki but of another ruin along the road before reaching the visitors center. By the time we were at Wupatki the kids were done with my camera and with each other. I had to sneak the last one during their swearing in for their Wupatki Junior Ranger badges.