"Teacher"

This is one way our kids kill time before church on Sunday. When Rhiannon asked me to come help her alphabetize all the Webkinz by their pet names "before school started," I knew I'd better grab the camera! I think my favorite part is when Wade, er, I mean the kangaroo Hoppy, tries to figure out 8 minus 4, and then Wade, er, I mean the Webkinz, complains about it being too hard. Funny stuff! I think Rhiannon makes a good teacher--don't you? Enjoy! :)

ps. Grandpa Rich, do you recognize Wade's cover-up shirt? It's the Jurassic Park one that you "bequeathed" to me a LONG time ago. :)

ps. #2. After this video, I understand, appreciate, and fully support Jason's "moratorium" on future Webkinz purchases. :) The kids understand that we are moving from collector's-mode to get-ready-to-dejunk-and-move mode!

"Um, have you got a better idea?"

Last week I picked up this GREAT book at the library called One, by Kathyrn Otoshi. It has prompted some good discussion about how to handle bullies, especially when a friend told me about their family's experience: her 4-year-old daughter had been horribly treated by a boy at preschool and had kept quiet about it for MONTHS until the mom saw a bruise on the little girl's body. My friend said that they are still dealing with that, four years later.

Thankfully our kids haven't had to deal with bullies, YET, but it's good to be prepared...which is why Rhiannon and Wade don't blink an eye when I get started on the "What if?" game...

Wade and I had the following conversation on our walk home from taking Rhiannon to school this morning:

Me: So, Wade, what do you do if someone punches you at school and tells you that you better not say anything?

Wade: Tell your teacher, tell your mom and dad!

Me: What if a bully is being mean to your friend?

Wade: I would PUNCH him!

Me: Um, well, that may not be the BEST idea. Can you think of something better?

Wade: I would tell the teacher, tell mom and dad, and THEN I would PUNCH HIM!

I tried my best to keep a straight face as we talked that over some more. :)

MUCH better

Jason surprised us with a Wii Fit system last night. I was appalled at my calculated "age" after taking the basic balance test and figuring out my BMI: it came out to a whopping 47 years old!
I just could not take that so this morning I was on the balance board again before 7am and re-took the test and got a much better "age" of 29. That's more like it! :)

Livin' on a prayer

For Valentine's Day, we conquered a family goal and went to a "sporting event" together--a George Mason University basketball game. It was a lot of fun and very well-attended. The Patriots won the game against Northeastern, which was cool, but honestly my favorite part was listening to the college band and watching their band director, "Doc Nix." There wasn't anything corny about the band--they were GOOD. I might have been a little biased, though--what's not to love about a band that plays Coldplay, Bon Jovi, and lots of other rock songs??? :) To learn more about Doc Nix and the band known as the "Green Machine," click here: http://www.connect2mason.com/doc_nix_greenmachine

In the evening Jason and I had a great time going out to dinner with some friends. We showed up at a very busy and crowded Shiro Japanese restaurant (reminded me of Tokyo House in Ridgecrest) and didn't want to wait, so we walked across the parking lot to Tau Tau and got right in. We had a great time! Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day, too!

DC Auto Show '09

On Friday we all got on the Metro and went down to the DC Convention Center for the annual Auto Show. Jason and Wade went last year; it was fun for "us girls" to join them this time! You car enthusiasts will appreciate the pictures; if you're like me and Wade, you'll like the cars based on colors and will have to wait until I can get an "expert" to help me label the pictures to know what make they are. :)

On Saturday our new friend Roxanne was baptized. There was a great turnout for this special day--we are so happy for her and appreciate her enthusiasm and good spirit.

We're looking forward to Valentine's Day and a college b-ball experience over at George Mason. Hope you all are having a great month, too!

In other news

Not too much to report. We're all doing well. The snow from last week melted and then we got another light dusting yesterday. We've got some fun things coming up later this month. In the meantime we're just taking each day as it comes. I'm happy that I'm not complaining about the cold quite as much as I did this time last year! In other news:

--Rhiannon and I picked up some nice long t-shirts at Kohl's, in the teen girls section (size XS). She says "And they're nice." The shirts are great for wearing under her shorter shirts and help a lot to stay modest. She took a quiz on Ancient Egypt at school yesterday, and her school had a special assembly with guests called Primary Focus who performed songs about character. She said there was a guy in the group from California! Let's see, Rhiannon really enjoys pretending she's a cat lately (WARRIORS books). She was upset that I wouldn't get her a bowl of water to drink from last night. Both Wade and I said, "Just go into your human form for a minute and get it yourself." Thankfully for all of us, she did. Also from the Warriors books, she likes to make "territories" out of parts of the house with signs and blankets, etc, and INSISTS (with not too much success) that we STAY OUT of her spots. :) She's a great kid--we love her!

--Wade has nearly memorized every question on the Party Play section of the Harry Potter Scene It! DVD game. I've caught him studying the cards to that game, too, so basically he's got the upperhand when we play it with him. He also rolled two Yahtzees at Family Home Evening Monday night. I was glad he was on my team! He's learning about curiousity and "noticing things" at Joy School this week. He's still really good at tying his shoes. And I love how well he and Rhiannon play together! On Monday they went out in the backyard and hit tennis balls back and forth to each other; the next minute they might be playing with stuffed animals or Legos. I'm a lucky mom! Wade and I get to have a Mother-Son night in a couple of weeks when Jason and Rhiannon go to a hockey game. Should be fun!

--I read a kids' book yesterday called The Naked Mole Rat Letters. It was good--I'm glad Rhiannon recommended it. I'm on my second Aunt Dimity book--I really like them. I've taken a break on Inkheart--I don't know why but it was freaking me out!

--Jason hasn't had to travel anywhere for the last couple weeks--yeah!!! As usual, he is our hard-working daddy. I'm looking forward to a temple trip and movie night with him this month! I love watching him play Wii with the kids. He's a good sport when someone beats him, which isn't very often! :)

Happy Early Birthday to Aunt Chris this week! WE LOVE YOU!!!