YU-GI-OH is Dreamy!

WOW! I am so excited to have found my little son Brandon's currency! The child has been into Yu-Gi-Oh cards and always begs for them at the store. He has saved up money to buy them from the store, but they cost $5-$10 for a small amount of cards! So, I finally got smart and bought 1000 on ebay for about $20 plus shipping! Anyway, we got them a couple days ago, and I let Brandon know, he could earn them through chores, etc. I guess I was taking too long. Yesterday, Brandon came to me and told me we should make a chart and let him know what tasks he could do to earn cards on a daily basis. So, we made a list; he can earn a card for practicing piano, reading for 15 minutes, and 3 if his room is clean and bed is made before he leaves for school, etc. etc. So, last night we put little B to bed. About 30 minutes later he sneaks in our room. He tells me, "Mom, I don't want you to be mad, but I am so smart. I have been cleaning my room tonight, so I won't have to worry about cleaning my room in the morning." Needless to say, I was not upset and rather, I am just so thrilled that these Yu-Gi-Oh cards are the greatest motivation of his life---he even came home from school today, excited to clean a bathroom to earn some more cards. Talk about dreamy! Life doesn't get much better for a Mom! So, thank you Yu-Gi-Oh-----you have created some positive changes in my home. Don't tell little Brandon I have 1000 cards; they wouldn't seem as valuable. I have hidden my large stash! I guess we shall see how long this lasts!

2T or 24 months

So, I was looking at the cute girls target shorts on sale this week for little Maddie. Only problem is they have available both the sizes 2T and 24 months in everything!!!!! So, I tried to figure out the differences, but they list both sizes with the same width/height/weight requirements. So, who is the idiot doing both sizes if they are the same? Although, in just comparing them, it seemed that the 2T might be smaller in the waist---although, I still am not sure. So, if someone has already found out the answer to this unsolved mystery then I won't have to write to that TV show to get an answer---so please let me know. One more musing of a bored housewife!!!

I want to go to Jesus

I have to say, it was so cute today; little Benjamin (2) said, "i want to go to Jesus." I was a little alarmed (does my 2 year old have a death wish?) until I saw he had put on his black church shoes. So I asked him if he wanted to go to church. He said yes. He then began saying who knows what with a Heavenly Father and Jesus thrown in from time to time. I told him we couldn't go to church today, but did he want to say a prayer? He gave me a very hearty "YES". So, we then said a prayer out loud together. I love the sweet sincerity and love of little Benjamin. He is such a sweet, little boy!

Sunday Pics

I think my kids are starting to hate Sundays; I make them take pictures for a while---while they are all still dressed up. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa were over to help out today---5 kids and church for 2 hours (Stake Conference) is not always the funnest combination!!!! Grandpa and Ethan managed to have some fun!

Best Friends (at least for the time being)

Benjamin


















Ethan and Benjamin

In the last couple weeks, Ethan and Benjamin have become the best of friends. In fact, yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa were going to take Ethan and Brandon somewhere. Ethan asked if Benjamin was going. When I said that Benjamin was NOT going, Ethan said he didn't think he could go because he was sick. When I told him he needed to stay in bed the rest of the day since he was sick, he realized that he was NOT sick after all. It was obvious that Ethan wanted to stay with Benjamin; so if Benjamin was not going, he did not want to go either. How is that for loyalty? When Ethan came home from the outing, Benjamin gave him one of the treats he had. Those two are as thick as theives right now. It is very sweet; except when they decide to be destructive; which occurs several times a day. I can't even tell you how much cereal the two have dumped out in the last couple weeks. I have finally decided we can't buy cereal for a while!!! Anyway, it is great to see the love between siblings!

I LOVE THE WONDERPETS!!!!

OK, so I guess January is the official TV month for myself. I seem to be watching a lot of TV; for shame! However, I am gaining testimonials of certain programs. My current top TV show for kids; which I secretly love (but don't tell anyone) is WONDERPETS. Kate, with your love for animals, you would probably love the Wonderpets!!!! Although, there are not any cats! Sorry! However, WONDERPETS is brilliant! I haven't understood how fabulous it is until my son Ethan started singing their theme song around; everywhere. When my husband Brandon took our son Brandon to the Jazz game last night, I spent the night with Ethan watching WONDERPETS episodes on the laptop from the Nickelodeon website. We then played their computer games also. What a hit of a night. We both really enjoyed it. WONDERPETS is basically a kids show about 3 classroom pets that go on adventures saving other animals in need after the school day has ended. It is an opera----yes, an opera, with incredible music throughout the whole show. The writers of the music are Broadway writers; so it is very well done. So, if you have not tuned in to the Wonderpets; get with the program---you can even watch it online. So many options these days; there is no excuse for you to do anything productive during the day or night with all these fabulous websites! How cool that we could print out the WONDERPETS stickers. It took Ethan at least an hour to cut them all out. Moms, I promise this website is a winner! I love it: Take a click and have a blast with the kids for a couple hours!!!!

www.nickjr.com/playtime/cats/video/index.jhtml?playlistID=48447

This is seriously the best website for toddlers!!! I promise, don't miss out!!!! It is also great for adults like myself who love the WONDERPETS! I am so in love with the Wonderpets; that yes, I would buy a cereal or other store item if they had some WONDERPET toy inside!!!! If that doesn't tell you how fabulous and addicting this toddler show is (even for some adults) then I am not aware of what could convince you of the fabulous calibre of this show!!

I need a Bahamavention!

Have you seen some of the Bahamavention commercials? Well, despite my TIVO, somehow I have managed to watch a couple of the commercials; which I must admit I enjoy. So, just so you all know, I need a Bahamavention! Doesn't that sound good? I sure think so, however, this will occur only in my dreams! With five young children, the soonest I will be lookin' at my nice trip to the Bahamas is probably in about fifteen years! Hurry up time-----get goin' so I can go to the Bahamas!

Prison Break

Prison Break is back and it is better than ever. Between 24 (not my favorite, but Brandon's) and Prison Break (my fave) we experienced a couple of very stressful hours last night. We were on pins and needles wondering how everything could "work out" for our favorite characters! I think they should combine the two shows and have Bauer come help the gang of Prison Break! That would be a great innovation in TV; combine shows once in a while for a special. That wold be amusing. Anyway, it was a stressful night, watching our stress provoking shows, yet, somehow we cannot wait for next week. Thank goodness for Tivo so we don't have to stress during the commercials! Let me just say that I am quite the fan of Wentworth Miller!

The Mind of a Four Year Old

I have decided I just love the mind of a four year old; maybe I should be more specific. I particularly love the mind of my little Ethan. I guess to be fair; he is almost five! At any rate, once again today, we had an hour long conversation regarding the feasablity of me being Princess Leah, my brother Daniel being Luke Skywalker, and my Dad being Darth Vader. Sorry, Dad, it was just through the natural evolution of the conversation and logistics of the Star Wars story that you had to turn into the bad guy. I started out with my tease about being Princess Leah----and then the conversation went from there. It is so fun to hear how he thinks and why he "knows" that couldn't be the case. And Dad, you should be happy, he was struggling the most with you being Darth Vader. Many of his statements regarding the true identity of Princess Leah and Luke included: Well, then you would have been on the TV and you are not, (no, we had to hire actors to tell our story) and you would have weapons (we do, they are hidden), etc. etc. etc. The conversation finally came to an abrupt end when he told me the story was not real, so I couldn't be Princess Leah. Well, there was nothing more I could say. He shut me down. He had stated the truth. Anyway, it was a very fun interchange! I love to see the mind wheels turning!

Sunday!

All My Babies!

I love dressing up a little girl!

Well, yesterday was our first attempt to take all the children to church. We are hoping that Dylan won't get RSV---that's why we have been keeping him away from all the coughing church children. I had gotten them all matching Christmas outfits that they were able to wear. Getting a cute picture is the challenge with five children ages 6 and under---as you can see!!!!!