Seth and Noah have two very close friends: their shadows.
Noah's shadow is named Jackson, and Seth's shadow is named Bob.
Noah says his shadow "be's mean" to him all the time. His shadow only likes Seth. Sometimes his shadow kickes him, and he kicks back (in self defense). Also when they are playing games, his shadow always says, "Ha Ha! I win!" He may soon be looking for a new shadow.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for our family, and we had what we call student-led conferences today. It is an opportunity to talk with each child's teacher, but more importantly it is an opportunity to have each child explain their accomplishments.

At Cassandra's conference, she read a copy of a poem that she wrote. I think many who read this blog will recognize some of what is here:

I am From
by Cassandra Ivie

I am from my mother's beautiful garden, the park at the end of the block, and the roses in front of my house.
I am from sitting under fruit trees on a hot day, the herb garden and its wonderful smell, and the swing set we've had so long.
I am from my Aunt Beckie's lemon cupcakes, Grandma Ivie's yams and potatoes, and turkey on Thanksgiving.
I am from my Grandma Taylor's chili on cold winter nights, my mother's desserts after a satisfying dinner, and pumpkin pie with a mountain of whipped cream.

I am from Snowbird in the mountains, the castle park and its tunnels, and Grampa Taylor's farm.
I am from mountains and long trails, Capitol Reef in midsummer, and Grandma Ivie's back yard.
I am from rosemary's nice smell, lavendar's pretty look, and parsley's funny curl.

I am from Kit-Kat, Hannah, and Ashley.
I am from Ceci, Debbie, and Brian.
I am from "capture the flag" near hay bales, tag with my friends, and hide-n-seek with my brothers.
I am from brecelets from Melissa, stuffed animals from my mom, and my journal's secrets.

Being "In Charge"

Seth (age 5): "Mom, one day when you need someone to be in charge, will you say Seth? Cause I have never been in charge the whole week. and Noah can be in charge of Sopie and I will be in charge of all the kids"

Apparently he doesn't understand the age factor.

Dragon Food

Noah was eating trix cereal, dry. apparently it is part of a game.
Seth: "Noah, Can I please have some dragon food? Cause I'm a dragon."
Noah: "Are you a bunny? cause it's only bunny food"

Lost Parts

Deborah asked our young boys if they wanted to see play or not tomorrow.
Seth said he wanted to see it.
Deborah said, "Even though you have already seen it a bunch of times?"
Seth answered, "yes cause I kind of lost some parts"

Enough to Be Liked

This morning Deborah bribed Seth with a mini butter cup.
He really wanted a second one, so he kept trying to find an easy way to earn another.

She asked him to hand to her the baby wipes, to which he replied,
"What will you do if I give them to you?"
"Will you just like me a lot?"

Rescue Heroes

Deborah recently found a fun new way to get our two young sons, Seth (age 5) and Noah (age 3) to help:
Using an "intercom" voice you say "Calling all rescue heroes. I need a diaper. this is an emergency. Please use your jet pack and come help me."
The help comes flying in with arms out like a plane.
Unfortunately you have to wait for him to use his "rope" to pass the diaper.
But although slow, it works.

Secret Ingredients

Last night Deborah asked Seth (our 5 year old) to put water in Sophia's bottle.
He told her he knew how to put the formula in as well.
Deborah asked, "Are you sure? 4 scoops?"
He said yes, so she told him he could do it.
He brought back the bottle and smilingly said,
"Mom, I put in a secret 'gredient. It is my special recipe!"
She warily asked, "What?"
Seth replied with a big grin: "5 scoops!"
She let Sophia drink it, figuring his scoops probably weren't full anyway.
I can think of worse "secret ingredients"

Cassandra Wins 1st Place in State for Inspirations Entry

Cassandra's "Theater" piece (she had to write, direct and film it herself) won first place at her school, the region, and now the state. (Elementary Division, 3-5 grade) Jessica's theater entry also won first place. Melissa had an entry that made it to state which won high honors. Melissa and Jessica were busy attending the science fair, and so they missed this awards assembly, but they were represented by Cassandra who accepted on their behalf their trophy and other awards.

Melissa's Science Project - 2010

Melissa created an projection screen with multi-touch capabilities using infra-red light sources read from a wiimote, and adapted the the TUIO interface, to a custom Java application that she wrote. The majority of the work went into getting the bluetooth stack to work with Windows, and testing the wiimotes, but she also spent considerable time installing, configuring and writing code.

Jessica's Science Project - 2010

For her project Jessica turned on an off different electrical outlets from an iPod Touch. She set up the web server, created the web page, connected the AJAX code to a serial proxy, build an "Arduino" microcontroller, and programmed, it, and connected a custom circuit in a power strip that allowed for optically isolated control of four different power outlets. We had a lot of fun. Here she is at the State science fair with her project.

Science Fair 2010 - First Place!

Melissa and Jessica both won first place in the state science fair!

Fish Kiss

Noah was pretending to sail
Deborah said to him "I think you are a fish."
Noah: "No, I am not a fish; I am a person."
Deborah: "If you move your lips like this you can be a fish."
Noah: "That's not when I'm a fish. thats when I'm kissing too much."

Wonder who did that...

Deborah: "Noah, don't take your pull up off."

Noah: "But I need a new one."

Deborah "Why?"

Noah: "Cause somebody peed in that one last night!"

Hmmm...wonder who did that....

The Problem Is...

Quote from Seth: "Mommy, the problem is, Noah wants to do evewysing his way, and I wasnt to to evewysing my way!"

A Sucker for a Kiss

Deborah opened a sucker for Noah, and he gave her a kiss
Deborah: "You don't love me, do you?"

Noah: "I do love you, cause you opened it!"

Deborah: "Would you love me even if I didn't open it?"

Noah: "No!"

Apparently his love is quite conditional

Looking back seven months...

This isn't my usual lighthearted post of funny things the kids say, so please forgive me a few minutes of nostalgia. Thanks for letting me share with you.

This weekend I cleaned out my laptop case. It contained my copy of the pediatrician's notes from when Soph was born. Just a few excerpts:

"6/15/09 15:00 hrs. Mom scheduled for induction today. Cord prolapse noted by exam and fetal heartbeat in 60 bpm prior to c/s. From detection of cord prolapse to delivery is estimated 10/12 min. Mom +lupus anticoagulant &GBS & GD. Apgar @ 1,5,10,15 (minutes) is 0,2,6,&8. Chest compressions during first two minutes. PAP firs 10-15 minutes. CPAP currently as well..."

"Addendum, 16:45: spoke with both parents about possibility of ischemic encephalopathy (brain damage from lack of oxygen) because of prolapse cord for 10-15 min. duration. Spoke about signs and symptoms of ischemic encephalopathy and its consequences both short term and long term. Spoke about different levels of severity...."

I read through these notes as I watched my seven month old do an army crawl across the floor and squeal in delight. In the few days since, she has cut her first tooth, started sitting up on her own, and pulled herself to standing. My sweet baby who started life with an apgar score that was literally a 0: no breathing, no heartbeat, just went down for her morning nap.

Not everything in my life has turned out perfectly. But today I am remembering that miracles do happen, and I will forever be grateful for this one.

Hyrum's version of Jolly St. Nick

Our kids take what I would call "string quartet" lessons. Each is learning to play a stringed instrument. One of the Christmas songs they have been learning is "Jolly Old St. Nicholas." Hyrum decided to sing it the other day:

"Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Clean your ears this way..."

Apparently music is the best way to teach appropriate hygiene to elves and such...

Are These Waterproof?

Seth was using some rubber vehicles for sorting and counting.
Sophia is trying to help by sucking on them.
Seth: Mom, are these waterproof? Cause she licks things.

Feeding Sophia

Sophia likes sweet potatoes but is very messy with them

She thinks she should be in charge of the spoon.
I beg to differ.

and feeding her is like trying to hit a moving target

What is Today?

Noah: "Dad, what is today?"
Dad: "Today is Monday."
Noah: "No, that's not it. Mom, what is today?"
Mom: "Today is Monday."
Noah: "No, today isn't 'Monday', today is tomorrow."