Growing Kids

Our little Lillian brings us lots of happiness.  This morning she was up before the boys, so I brought her back to bed with me for a cuddle.  I yawned, and she looked at me with a puzzled look and then opened her mouth as wide as she could - little cutie!!

Stockton has been learning poems at pre-school and says them with great expression.  A couple of our favorites are:

Pussy Willow Kittens

Pussy willow kittens are drowsy sleepy heads
Lying with their paws on their little willow heads
If ever one should waken and stretch and meow
There would soon be lively kittens on every purry bow

and....

Chubby Little Snowman

A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny, looking for his lunch
Ate the snowman's carrot nose, nibble nibble crunch

and...

Freckles

Some girls and boys I know, have freckles on their faces
Their noses and their cheeks, and lots and lots of places
I wish that I had freckles too, for everyone to see
I wonder what I have to do, to have them land on me

and...

Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day and we have a treat
There are so many yummy things to eat
Tom Turkey is on the table, just waiting to be carved
I hope my dad soon does it, for goodness sakes I'm starved

and

Apples and Pears

If apples were pears and peaches were plums
And the roses had a different name
If tigers were bears and fingers were thumbs
I'd love you just the same

and

Friends

I'm so happy, I could climb a tree
Stand on my head and kiss a bumblebee
Swim across the ocean and ask a worm to play
Why? Because I made a new friend today

Logan is right on the edge of becoming a young man.  He still sleeps with his "cold blanky" that Grandma Wainwright made for him as a baby, and he still loves lining up his stuffed animals in his bed and sleeping with him.  We know these days are numbered, and we're grateful for him and his innocence.

Happy First Birthday, Lillian!

We are in love with our sweet girl.  This year her giggles and smiles have brought us so much happiness.  Here are some of our favorite things about Baby Lil:

1. She is learning to talk.  As of her first birthday, she can say the following words:

• Dada
• Mama
• Stockton
• Sorry, Logan, she can't say your name.  She calls you Dada.
• Grandpa
• Again, sorry Grandma, she calls you Grandpa
• Bow bow
• Uh-oh
• Bye-bye

2. She also gives friendly waves hello and good-bye.  

3. She catches the eye of any stranger at church or in the store, puts on her biggest smile, and shrugs her shoulder up to one side.

4. She doesn't rip books, she is very dainty when she handles things.

5. She has two cute bottom teeth.

6. Her hair has a darling curl in the back.

7. She has a tender heart - actually, she is extremely sensitive.  If someone takes her toy, she collapses into very sad sobs and sprawls her body out on the ground while she cries.  We haven't figured out what to do about this yet.

8.  She still gives long cuddly snuggles when she wakes up.  When she greets someone, she'll pull them in for a big hug and nestle her head in their neck.

9.  She is so sweet and affectionate with her family.  Her disposition has been so gentle and happy.

10.  She loves taking baths in the sink. 

Happy Birthday, our sweet girl.  We love you so much.

Disneyland

 We celebrated Logan's birthday in Disneyland!  Here we are resting in our room after lots of long hours in the car.

None of us can get over this darling shot of Baby Lillian.  Little Sweetie.

When Topher was six, he pulled this very sword from this very stone and was crowned King of Disneyland for the day.  He got a special pass to take all of his brothers and sisters right on all of the rides.  It is one of his happiest childhood memories - and he was so happy to relive all of the fun with our littles.

 Brave little Stockton was so scared on the first few rides.  He cried and cried and then finally said to me, "Mommy, is all of this pretend?'  After he realized that this wasn't real, he finally calmed down and had lots of fun on the rides.

Stocky and I shared the same sentiments after finally arriving to the beach after a couple of days with the crowds at Disney.

Leo Carillo 2015

We made our annual trek to the Beach this year.  Fun and happiness had by all!  My favorite shots in here are of Grandma and Grandpa Wainwright, who are still hosting this great party.

Baby Lil Meets Leo

Sweet little Baby Lillian met the beach.

Merry Christmas 2015

Back to the Beach

We're getting ready for our annual pilgrimage back to Leo Carillo State Park in sunny California.

This morning I remembered a story from last Christmas that I forgot to write down.  While packing last year for the beach, Logan, who was preparing to be a scout, decided that he needed to pack a safety kit.  He rounded up a flashlight, multi-tool, pocket knife, band-aids, a whistle, a compass and a yellow reflective safety vest that he'd purchased in a school store earlier that year. He felt very prepared, and kept it with him on the trip, just in case.

On our way home, we happened upon a bad accident.  Two cars had crashed on I-15 and we were one of the first cars to arrive.  My first thought was of the drivers, and how to help direct traffic around the black car that was blocking two lanes of traffic.  It was dark outside, and the situation was quite dangerous.  No emergency vehicles had arrived.

Logan jumped into action, and could not be restrained in the car!  He was so energized and ready to help.  It took a great deal of persuading to keep him in the car while Topher assessed the situation and checked on the drivers.  Finally, after traffic was stopped, we let him out to help.

Looking forward to another happy, and hopefully safe, trip to The Beach. :)

A few favorites from Christmases past below...

Gratitudes

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm up early this morning with Logan and Stockton talking about the Thanksgiving holiday.  We have been discussing the refugee crisis that is going on in the Middle East, and what we can do to help.  We have been talking about our blessings.

Here are some of the things Logan is grateful for this Thanksgiving:

• Pokemon
• Family
• Our Church
• The Plan of Salvation
• A home
• The earth
• Food and clean water
• TV and screen time
• A good life and everything else
• The chance to go to school
• Holidays

Here are some of the things Stockton is grateful for this Thanksgiving:

• Orange purple and blue sunset last night
• Pajammies
• Going on a trip to St. George
• I"m not happy about my pre-school friends laughing at me and I am thinking about how they can be quiet
• Mrs. Lori, who has a few good books that we don't have
• Zander and Raegan and Talmage, Harper and Davis
• Cat in the Hat
• Noah's Ark

Humpback Whales and Cotton Candy

Recent Quotes from Stockton...

"Barnacles are mysterious creatures. They grow on humpback whales for hundreds and hundreds of weeks."

"Mom, do you know why I love eating cotton candy? Because it tastes like eating a cloud."

"Mommy, you are going to have to pay me one dollar since you made me run fast and my shoes ripped.... How about 10 dollars?"

After dragging his toys, pillows and blankets to the middle of the kitchen floor while I was trying to cook dinner, I asked him what he was doing. My tone implied that he needed to get that mess cleaned up. He replied, "It is my pet zoo."

He asks me to turn on some Chinese music for him to dance to. He did a "beautiful," then "awesome," (when the music sped up) dance, which turned into a Kung Fu show.

"I am going commando crazy. I don't wear any underwear, because I am rich."

"Mom, can you take me to the dollar store?"  I ask what he wants to spend his money on, "A dishrag.  I need to clean some things." Maybe he does take after me a bit after all.

Cambridge

One of the highlights of our trip to new England was visiting the campus of Harvard. We happened upon the most incredible tour guide, a Harvard history graduate from the class of 1978. He walked us through the campus and told us so many interesting facts and stories.

John Harvard, the university's first president.

We thought it fitting that this lovely building was covered in Ivy. This lovely plant is not the reason Harvard is considered Ivy League. The name actually came from the Roman numeral four. I V. There were four original founders of Ivy League schools, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia.

Harvard has the third largest library in the world. They hold the treasures such as the Gutenberg Bible, and a collection of books bound in a human skin. The collection below ground under where I am standing houses 50 miles of shelving. There is a phone system in the underground library that students can use to call for help if they get lost, which apparently happens regularly. 

Here is Topher sending over the bridge where the Charles River flows. Men on campus are expected to jump off the bridge into this river before graduating. All of the graduates should be able to swim, thanks to an endowment provided by a woman whose son and husband were lost in the titanic. Her son was a great lover of books, and his died trying to fetch one of his books from the sinking ship. She gave millions of dollars to the university after his death, along with his collection of books, and because he died drowning, she insisted that all Harvard graduates be able to swim. Until the 1970s, every Harvard graduate had to swim 50 yards before being granted their diplomas.

Here I am with our wonderful tour guide, Dan. Harvard offers a full ride scholarship to the top 10 members of the graduating class in the neighboring high schools in Cambridge. Dan was the recipient of one of the scholarships, along with Matt Damon. Both of them were number 10 in their class. We also learned that Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were roommates at Harvard. 

We learned about the freshman dining hall is modeled after the dining hall in England where JK rolling got her inspiration for the dining hall at Hogwarts. She was one of the most famous commencement speakers at Harvard in the last hundred years.

This building is referred to Hogwarts at Harvard.

Harvard has produced eight presidents, four more than Yale. We went to this burger joint right off-campus, which was one of John F. Kennedy's favorite places to eat.

We particularly enjoyed this advertisement hanging above our table, of Ronald Regan smoking.

After our campus tour, we enjoyed visiting the Museum of Natural Historyand looking at the collections there.

Afterward, we strolled through the neighborhoods in Cambridge, and visited this home of Longfellow, where General Washington Took command of the colonial Army in 1776. 

In an act of love, at the end of our day, Topher took me to search for some darling little houses, of which there are no shortage.