Mothers/Dance Like a Chicken Day

It kind of seemed like we were celebrating Mother's Day on Saturday this year with Peter preparing and planting the garden for me and taking care of the kids all day. But on actual Mother's Day, I woke up to this outside the bedroom door:

The kids sang at church and they did a good job. Then we got home and started celebrating National Dance Like a Chicken Day two days early. We danced like chickens.

Then we made chicken hats.

Then we drew chickens on eggs.

Then, after the kids went to bed, we cooked and packaged chicken.  Good times.

Mission calls

I've been thinking lately about when I got my mission call in the mail.  There are lots of kids in our ward getting mission calls lately, and one should get his today.

I have two favorite memories of when I got my mission call.  The first is when my parents called me to tell me it came and we agreed to meet at a place half way between where I was and where they were.  I went running up to the kitchen and the guy I was living with (oh that sounds bad) asked if it had come.  I said yes and he asked where I was going.  I said Hammet (the town where I was meeting my parents.  He asked where that was.  It was pretty funny.

Then when I opened my letter the first thing my mom saw was a passport application, and she said, "Passport application! why do you need a passport application?!?"  I laughed and told her it was my letter not hers and to stop looking at things. 

And I had no idea how to say Donetsk.  I think the nearest I could think of was like doughnuts. 

And no I'm vicariously excited for my friend who has her son's mission call in her house and is trying not to open it.  I don't know if I could do it.  Luckily I have a lot of time until that might happen to me.

Dinosaurs

Benton: Brita, can you guess what my favorite dinosaur is?
Brita: A T-rex?
Benton: No.
Brita: A triceratops?
Benton: No. It sounds like this: RAWR.
Brita: A T-rex?
Benton: Yep.

Mima and Irene

Mima calls Irene "Ene."  She always has to repeat it a few times so I know what she's talking about.  I just learned that Mima can say the other kids' names really well, she just doesn't do it usually. 

Mima like to parent.  Whenever Brita and Benton start to fight she starts yelling, "Guys!  Guys!"

I always know when Irene is spitting up because Mima will start to gag and dry heave.  It's pleasant.

Mima also likes to let me know when Irene is sad.  If I'm somewhere that Irene is not and Irene is crying, Mima will come up to me and say, "Sad. Sad."  

Irene has been sick for about five weeks of her life.  She really needs to kick this cold and start gaining weight.  She looks so little compared to the other kids' pictures when they were her age.

It's a baby!

Irene Elisabeth McNabb was born last night (Friday the 11th) at 7:28. She weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and was 20 3/4" long. She's really cute, in case there were any doubters out there. Mom and baby are both doing fine. Hopefully we'll get home this morning.

Random pictures from this summer and fall

 

Mima

When I tuck the blankets around Mima for a nap or for bed I say, "Tuck, tuck, tuck" as I'm doing it.  Now she says, "tck, tck, tck," too.  It's pretty stinking cute.

Benton

Benton is so excited to go to primary today and to have Brother and Sister Martinez as his teachers.  They were Brita's teachers this last year and for the last two weeks he's gone to class with her (because they are about the nicest people you will ever meet).  In October we had stake conference, general conference, a temple open house, and Mima started going to nursery.  After that Benton just flat out refused to go any more.  So he mostly came to primary with me.  The nursery kids (who will be this year's Sunbeam class) started coming in for singing time in December and Benton just stayed sitting on the front row.  He would participate in singing time and sharing time (sometimes sharing too much--like the time he told everyone that they hadn't bathed before church for a month [which isn't true, for the record]).  Anyways, he's so excited.

Since he had been in both senior and junior primary singing time for a few months he knew the songs for the Christmas program really well.  He and Brita were both really excited about going up and singing in sacrament meeting.  We reminded Benton before he went up that he should sing loud but pretty.  Probably shouldn't have done that.  He sang pretty.  And about three times the volume of everyone else.  He knew every word, though.

Peter played an organ solo the same day and wowed everyone there by using the chimes on the organ.  The bishopric said it was pretty funny to see everyone's expressions when the bells started.  Afterwards people would come up to Peter and say, "That was so great--who knew Benton could sing that loud."  I think Peter felt a bit ripped off in the complement department. ;)

Easy peasy.

Me: Are you ready to have four kids?
Peter: Yeah!  Are you?
Me: No.
Peter: See, it's really easy, you just get up in the morning and go to work.. And by the time you get home it's almost time for bed.

Homophones

Today when I came down from putting the older kids to bed Monica was all excited to show me Mima's latest trick.
Monica: Mima can you show Mom your elbows?  Do you remember where your elbows are?
Me: Yeah, your elbows.  [Point to my elbows.]
Mima looks at us all like we're crazy and slowly slides off the couch and heads upstairs.
Me: Are you going to bed?  ...Really?  Um, good night then.
All of us look at each other like we're crazy.
Brita (calling from upstairs): Mima's pointing to Elmos on her sheets!
Mima comes back downstairs.
Life makes sense again.