Hand in the cookie jar

B. is a climber. If he sees an opportunity for a higher vertical vantage point, he never lets it pass. I've seen him standing on the topmost edge of the little slide climber toy on our porch, with one foot on top of the other...because, you know, that extra inch might just make a difference.

Naturally, this is bad news for Mom and Dad:

And good news for B:

E: "a hundred million snails!" & B: "ROAR!"

One of the problems with blogging is that it is subject to what M. and I call the "home teaching effect". Say you're a well-intentioned home teacher (or visiting teacher), but you get busy and miss a month or two. Naturally you feel guilty about it and mean to really do a good job next month. But then, you want to do such a good job that it'll take more time than you typically have, so you put it off. Pretty soon you're pushing it out of your mind because it makes you feel bad...and then even avoiding your teachees in the halls at church. The only real cure for this self-perpetuating problem is to face up to the fact that you're never going to get around to doing a really great job, kick yourself into at least a phone call, and try to regain some semblance of self-respect.

I have this issue with blogging. (And thank-you cards, but that's another post altogether.) I keep meaning to post birthday photos, back-to-school photos, this awesome video compilation of our Disneyland trip from last December...etc. And I think, "I can't post something new if I haven't posted X yet!" But...alas, obviously this strategy isn't working for me. And so, I humbly offer a few recent photos and videos. If I get to it, I'll post that other stuff. And if I don't, at least there will be these.

This video is of E. presenting her poster in her kindergarten class when she was Friend of the Week. Notice her request at the end. When she asked, her teacher looked at me to see what I thought, and I shook my head because E. and I hadn't prepared for it. I wanted us to have another day or so to practice so everything could go smoothly. But...

Use the password: "keepsafe"

...but E. was so crushed at the prospect of not getting her single Friend of the Week request of reading the book at storytime that we went for it. (We have a great teacher who was very patient and let us do it after E. was so visibly disappointed and I agreed to it.) And just so you know, this is long and pretty boring for non-grandparents, so I forgive you if you skip most of it.

Use the password: "keepsafe"

One more. B. went as a lion to the ward Halloween party, so we taught him to roar. He just decided last week that walking was the way to go (he's been able to walk for over a month, but until last week, preferred to crawl), and he's been upright ever since.

Use the password: "keepsafe"

GOAL: Catch a Bird

Yes, they came up with this themselves.

No, they haven't caught one yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Chaos

At our house we obey the laws of thermodynamics.

As time increases, we tend toward entropy.

Benji "Talks"

Benji is becoming quite the conversationalist. We've been teaching him baby sign language, and he's starting to grasp it bit by bit. Two funny stories:

The sign for "more" is kind of like clapping, with each hand's fingers together in a point. We make this sign when Benji is eating, then give him more of whatever he's munching on. The other day he was nibbling on cheerios and bits of cheese. I was sitting near him, absent-mindedly snacking on stray cheerios from his tray. He ran out of cheese, so I made the sign for "more" to see if he made it back (which would mean he was still hungry). He looked at me, paused, and then picked up and gave me another cheerio. What a good sharer!

Today, he was eating lunch and I decided to listen to some music while doing dishes. He got excited and listened attentively. When the song was over, he started fussing so I made a sign for "music". He immediately made it back, grinning. I put on another album, and he was very pleased. BUT, then I had the nerve to start the dishes again. I turned the water on and clanked around with the plates. A few moments later, he started fussing again, making the new "music" sign and glaring at me. Apparently, my dish-doing was too loud and was interfering with his tunes! Sheesh. :)

Help Their Miracle Happen!

Good things come to those who wait...at least that is the hope for Mike's brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Aranne. This amazing couple has been waiting for two years to adopt a baby into their loving home. I can't think of anyone who would make better, more dedicated parents to a very lucky child then they would. If you know someone who is considering adoption and is looking for an adoptive family to give a baby a wonderful home, please pass on the link to Dan and Aranne's blog: http://www.danielandaranne.blogspot.com. We pray that their miracle will happen soon!

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails...that's what my little girl is made of.

The first year after we came to Berkeley, I decided to try my hand at gardening. I got myself a lovely plot in the community garden, worked hard to clear the brush, and planted a dozen rows or so of various produce. I watered diligently for several weeks and was pleased as punch as my pretty green sprouts came up. Several weeks later I noticed that my carrot seedlings looked just like my pea sprouts, which looked just like my parsley...in fact, ALL my seedlings looked identical! Identical to the area's most common weed, that is. What happened? Some sort of nasty pest ate all my tender little sprouts and so for weeks I watered the happiest weeds in the city.

Ellie loves growing things, though, so I thought we'd try again, this time with a smaller plot. We began with just a corner and planted two basil starts and six strawberry starts:


We soon discovered which pest probably did in my first horticultural attempt:


Now, Ellie has a thing for bugs and snails and all things Insecta (or rather, Gastropoda, in this case). She spent the entire gardening trip collecting snails with increasing zeal and joy. I don't mind bugs myself, but I was more than happy to let her grab up the handfuls (literally!) of snails that were hanging out in the corners of our plot. Altogether she found probably over 40 of them...and boy, was she thrilled!


These suckers are big! They are one of the varieties of snail that they eat in France. Apparently, some entreprenuring Frenchman brought them over to Oakland in the 1800's thinking he would make millions selling them as delicacies. Good for the snails -- they didn't catch on as the next tasty snack. Even better for the snails -- they LOVED our climate. Bad for the Frenchman, though: generations of gardeners now curse his name.

This is only some of Ellie's catch:


Here's my happy, happy snail girl:


Benji has learned to sit up. He likes balls. He likes holding them, chewing on them, rolling them, crawling after them, patting them, and giggling at them.

The many moods of Benji: thoughtful...


...amused...


...playful...

...and showing off... his new teeth, that is! He is just getting his third set in, bringing the grand total to six little white pearls. Looks like he has the same gap in his front teeth that Ellie has (courtesy of Mike's genes). I try not to think of our future orthodontist bills.


One last family photo, taken on the UC Berkeley campus. Can you find the scary, ferocious tiger? Hint: look for a gap in the front teeth.