Patience

I think I know why Adora is so good at puzzles. It came from her baby blessing. With Naomi, Andy blessed her with the ability to make friends easily. Oops. Now we have a child who won't stop talking, has trouble paying attention in school, and has to be separated from the other girls in her class. :) At least she has friends. Sabian is the typical pesky brother like any boy should be. Andy had foresight into what Adora would really need to cope with her older brother and sister. He blessed her with patience. She started doing puzzles very early, at 15 months, to give her something to do while Naomi and Sabian did gymnastics. She took far more interest in them than Sabian ever did. She's also my child that enjoys books the most. She can sit in my lap while I read through a full story. She also sits and reads to her baby doll. Granted, she can still throw a tantrum like any toddler, but all in all I think that baby blessing did her some good.

Naomi is determined to get one of her creations published in Lego Brickmaster Magazine. Just in case that doesn't work out, I published it here for the world to see. I like this one.

Naomi's missing her two front teeth

The first one she lost a couple of weeks ago, and the last one on wednesday. I don't know why, but it makes me laugh. :) The bottom two haven't fully grown in so the gap is exaggerated :) Does anyone know why teeth fall out at such random times? Her cousin that was born on the same day has already lost and grown all his teeth and Naomi has only lost 4. Go figure.

Before I go to bed...

Working overtime sure burns me out quicker, but my energy was rejuvenated frequently today when I'd think, "Gymnastics start tomorrow!" We are going to put Naomi and Sabian in a class at the same time and I'm taking every Wednesday off so I can watch them. I will only have to worry about watching Adora and smiling and waving at Naomi and Sabian. It may not always be total bliss, but the anticipation of something fun and new keeps me alive.

Time to read!

I read Naomi two bedtime stories and she read the 3rd one to me with very little help. I am so proud of her. Ever since Naomi started kindergarten, I've realized what a difficult language English really is. Why do we even have the letter C when K or S would work just fine? Why do the letters bdpq all look the same only turned just right? Why do we have so many different ways to write the same letter or number? And why does giraffe start with the letter G instead of J? Despite all these crazy things we all have to learn, our children learn to read anyhow. First grade is very fast paced, but the rewards are worth it. Three cheers for Naomi! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Naomi is a First Grader!

Naomi loves her new school and is very excited. Yes, she already started. School started August 14th, which may be early to some, but it is so worth it cause we get spud harvest off. That's right, 2 weeks at the end of September and first of October, a time when no one else gets a vacation. I went to Disneyland at the end of September once; there were no lines. Imagine a theme park vacation with school age children and not having to wait in lines for more than 5 minutes and not having to make up school work upon getting back home. I know you're all jealous. :) The house next door to me is for sale if anyone is interested. I like first grade because now she can ride the bus both ways to my grandparents house too. Going to school all day makes it easier to find babysitters. I used to think kids learned to read in 1st grade, but now they start in kindergarten and fine tune their skills in first grade. Naomi only wants to learn to read so she can understand and play more video games. Go figure.

Naomi Gym Jazz Videos

Naomi had her first show off day at gym jazz on saturday, so I thought now would be a good time to show some videos from her gym class. The man in the first video is a U.S. champion gymnast who teaches a class at Naomi' gym. There is also a woman who is a world champion, though I haven't seen her yet, Andy has. Naomi likes her gymnastics. Naomi also did uneven bars, balance beam, and trampoline on show off day, but my camera battery died. I spent most of the day chasing Sabian around anyway. At least her grandmas got to watch her.

Family pictures 2008

We did a super family theme this year, which I thought was a lot of fun. My decision was mostly made by a fatigued mind that said I could get all the clothes cheap and easy since superman stuff is everywhere. Every year we get pictures, most of the money is spent on new clothes. This year it was a quick one stop shop at walmart for everyone except Sabian who found Jammies at the mall.

Why is it so impossible to get a family photo with every kid looking at the camera and smiling?

After the third time of not listening, we had to give up on telling Naomi to put her feet back down. As an afterthought, perhaps we should have had her take her shoes off so we didn't have to stare at the bottom of her shoe.

Rexburg Temple

I forgot to publish this photo back in January when we went to the open house.

GYM Jazz

We signed Naomi up for a combination of Gymnastics and Dance in one class. I was impressed with her tumbling and her work on the uneven bars. She still has a lot to learn, but she did very well for a first day, her instructor even said so. Naomi said her teacher kept asking if she'd done this before, to which she replied "I've seen it on T.V." Naomi continued to talk about gymnastics for the rest of the evening, partially because she was so excited and proud of herself, and partly I think because she loves saying the word 'gymnastics.'

I've got the cutest kids!

Duplo

Here is Naomi's latest duplo creation. She has it on her dresser, says she wants to save it forever. :) I think her daddy's "don't touch my legos" mentality is rubbing off on her.

Listen to your wife

Naomi knows when to throw in some attitude and it makes me laugh. I was downstairs with the kids waiting for Andy to come down to watch a movie with us. Sabian climbed in my lap with his blanket and wanted his sippy cup. I asked Naomi to call up the stairs for Daddy to bring it down with him. When she did, his reply was,"Tell mama to get it herself!" Rather than parroting that back to me she immediately retorted,"Don't you want to listen to your WIFE!!!" I just busted up laughing, she sure told him. His next reply was "I can't find any" after which I realized Sabian must have been listening to our conversation as he bolted up the stairs to show Daddy which drawer the sippy cups were kept in. Now he was out of excuses. I love my kids.

Spud Day

Spud Day is always fun. Andy and Steven Ran in the Spud Run, Andy did a 5k and Steven did a 10k. Steven came in 3rd over all, and won a first place medal for his age division. Andy rode his bike in the parade with Sabian riding behind him and Naomi rode her own bike beside him and did really well. We enjoyed the free baked pototoes, watched a magic show on the free stage, then met some star wars characters. Then we waited in line 4ever to get some frogs for Naomi. We then decided it was too hot, so we bought the movie Eragon and came home to watch it. Then we went to the demolition derby, but were too late to get seats, so we had to sit way up front and dodge the mud that was flung by the tires, making it a more interactive experience.

Pancake Art

This morning at breakfast I left Naomi alone with the stack of pancakes and told her to fix up her own plate while I cooked the rest. When I came back to the table, this is what she'd made. Who knew breakfast could spark such creativity. I hereby declare that pancake art is excluded from the "don't play with your food" rule.