Kids Say Silly Things

We were eating at a Mexican food place with my parents. Mattie was standing up in the booth and playing with the menus and salt shaker. Riley said, "Maybe Mattie's brain tells her to do bad stuff. My brain tells me to do good stuff."

When we were driving to Vern's parents house Riley was really upset that his cousins, Verlynne's boys weren't going to be there. They had gone to their other Grandma's house, their Hincha grandma. I guess it was the first time Riley realized that Verlynne's boys had a different last name. He flipped out. Granted, he was tired and needed a nap, he was beside himself that they were not his cousins anymore because they were "Hincha's". He was yelling and screaming. We explained to him that most of his cousins have different last names but are still related. Vern and I were trying not to laugh or have him see us laughing. Vern looked at me and said where did that come from? Who knows. I sure don't know. Luckily Riley got over it and the Hincha's are still his cousins and his buddies.

Mattie is saying so many words now. It's hard to keep track of all the words she can say. Tonight I heard her saying "Butt"and I thought oh no, now I have to be careful what I say with her too! I keep trying to tell her we say bottom, but she points to her bottom and says "butt". She can aslo say candy and pocket. Its really cute to hear her say pocket.

Tonight Vern was eating an ice cream and both the kids wanted some. Mattie said bite but she wanted to hold the cone herself and Vern didn't let her. She ran off stomping her feet and got on the coaster (its a little coaster with a car the kids got for Christmas), we were all sitting kind of at the foot of the coaster and it looked like she wanted to ram us. We all scrambled out of the way. Don't mess with Mattie and her food.

Dog

We have a dog in our house now. Well, not an actual dog, but my little girl who likes to play like she's a dog. My mom watched Riley and Mattie on Sunday because they both had cold/coughs and Vern and I both had to be in church. When we got home from church Mattie was crawling around the floor panting. And then she said "bone" and my mom put a bowl of animal crackers on the floor and she ate them like a dog. At first it was pretty cute to see her pretended to be a dog and hearing her say bone. But then the rest of the day at meal times she didn't want to eat at the table with us, she wanted to eat on the floor like a dog. I think she's kind of forgotten about it now thank goodness. My mom said that Riley was the one who started it, and he wanted Mattie to be a mouse and him to be a dog. But Mattie didn't want to be a mouse and acted like a dog. My kids sure are entertaining :)

The Riley Factor

I can't believe how many people I know that are sick. As of right now, knock on wood- no one in my family is sick. Well Mattie might have a cold but nothing too serious. I think Vern and Mattie had some sort of the flu when they were sick a few weeks ago. Last week Riley got the stomach bug that was going around and then I had it for days after him. I will be glad when all this sickness goes away. I am scared to send Mattie to nursery.

Riley has been quite busy lately. Vern and I decided he needed a chore chart or something to that affect. Vern found this really cool website online and we started a chart for Riley. It is awesome. Riley has morning jobs and night jobs. He gets points for each job he completes. After he completes a job, he gets on the computer and checks it off and it calculates the points. The points go towards whatever the parent comes up with. Right now we have stuff like Wii time, computer time, spending money, Disneyland fund, etc... He is so excited about it. He keeps telling his friends and Mattie that he has a job now. He is actually excited about doing his chores. His chores are basic simple stuff like brushing his teeth, making his bed, taking a bath, cleaning his room etc... Here's the website if you're interested: http://www.myjobchart.com

Last night Riley was playing with these little notebooks I found at the Target dollar section. He said that we was a scientist and was doing a lot of "speriments". He was writing down scratch marks (he recently saw an episode of Curious George, where George has a notebook and writes down scratch marks, trying to figure what was making a certain scratch mark). Riley said he was writing down Mattie's scratch marks.

Yesterday for dinner Vern and I made some boneless buffalo popcorn chicken with Frank's Red Hot Sauce. It was really strong and you could smell it through out our whole house. So we sat down at the table for dinner (Riley and Mattie were eating the chicken without the sauce) and Riley says, "What's that freaking smell?" I'm not sure why he decides to use words that are not that great and that I rarely say to repeat? I guess I am going to have to really monitor my language lol. I hardly ever say freaking.

I can't really leave Mattie out of this blog post. She has been on one the past few days. Defiant and will not listen to me. She's also suddenly gotten really attached to her blanket and wants to take it everywhere. She refused to go to bed tonight and was screaming at the top of her lungs and jumping in her crib. I had to get her back up because Vern had to get up at midnight and she was making way too much noise. When I would say it's time for bed Mattie she puts here lips together kind of like a pout/pucker and says, "No." Its so cute its hard to resist and very hard to put her in crib with her saying, "No". Here's a video of her saying "No".

The Farmer in the Hell

It was nice to get back into the routine of things this week. Riley had school and karate, I had my primary meeting, and Vern worked and went to Toastmasters. Wednesday night Vern came down with something. I think it was the same thing that Mattie had because he was shaking the first night just like she was. He is finally better and was able to go to church with us today.

Riley is still loving his Lego's. He plays with them a lot. Mattie tries to play with/destroy them too.

Riley's Lego creations

The other day Riley was playing with his Lego's and Vern and I were at the computer listening to him. He started singing the song the farmer in the dell, only he was saying, "The farmer in the hell, the farmer in the hell, I O the merry O the farmer in the hell." Vern and I looked at each other and Vern asked him to sing it again to make sure we had heard him correctly. Yep. He was singing, "the farmer in the hell". We told him that words should be the farmer in the dell. I hope he hasn't been singing his version of the song anywhere else.

Slacker

I've been a total slacker concerning the the blog. I keep meaning to update and then things happen and I don't. I usually update the blog after everyone goes to bed. I've found that that's the easiest time to do it only things keep happening at bedtime so that I can't get back up to blog.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family. It was so nice being with our family. We ended up coming back from Globe Christmas Eve and spent the night at our own house. When we woke up Christmas morning the kids were so excited. They were also able to enjoy their presents for a few hours before we had to leave. Riley's favorite stuff he got for Christmas are his Indiana Jones hat and whip and his Star Wars Lego's. He and Mattie also got a mini coaster that is a lot of fun too. Mattie's favorite stuff she got for Christmas are her doll stroller and car seat and her pop on pals carnival set.

Mattie and her stroller

Indiana Jones

Mattie in her Cinderella dress and shoes

Riley at the kids table- he was so excited to sit at the "kids table"

Grandma and Mattie

We've had kind of a bummer of a week this week. Mattie was sick for a few days this week. Wednesday evening Mattie had a temperature. Vern had to work at 12:00 a.m. that night. Around 1:00 a.m (Mattie and Riley were both in my bed) Mattie started shaking and I could not get her to stop. She did not have the chills or a temperature at this time. I tried to call Vern but couldn't get a hold of him and could not get a hold the pediatrician's office. Mattie just kept shaking and I kind of freaked out. I just wasn't sure why she was shaking like that because she had no temperature. So off we went to the ER. Riley was not the least bit cooperative and Mattie continued to shake. It was also poring rain. Vern finally called back and I told him what was going on. Luckily he hadn't left the yard yet and was able to get someone else to drive for him and he met me at the hospital. By the time we got checked in at the hospital Mattie had a fever of 104. The Doctor said that her shaking was how her body was reacting to spike that high of a temperature. The doctor said it was a virus. She continued to run a temperature until last night. I am glad to say I believe she is finally on the mend now. It was kind of a bummer because Vern had Thursday and Friday off and we really wanted to go to Globe for New Years and to play in the snow. Each night we would say, okay maybe we can go to Globe tomorrow. Then during the night her temperature would come back so we didn't end up going to Globe.

Riley goes back to school this week and he can't wait. He keeps telling me he misses preschool. I miss preschool too! It's not that I am able to do so much when he's gone, but it gives him something do and friends to interact with. I will be glad to get back into a routine again. It feels like our schedule has been chaotic since Riley's been on Christmas break. I am excited to see what this new year has in store for our family. I am hoping that Vern will become a flight instructor this year :) We'll see.

Christmas is the Season

I cannot believe it is almost Christmas time again! Where has the year gone? Last Christmas Mattie was not even walking! Riley and Mattie have both grown up a lot in one year. Mattie is starting to say a lot of words. She is starting to repeat what other people say. Today I asked her if she wanted a bowl and she said bowl. This weekend she also said party, doggy, Riley, baby, Brighton, go-gurt, more, eat, pie etc... However, when you ask her to say a certain word she usually won't say it. It has to be on her own terms.

As Christmas is fast approaching I keep thinking about what Christmas really means to me and my family . Christmas is the best time of the year. Most people are trying to be a little nicer, baking goody's and performing service for each other. The Christmas season helps us to remember the birth of baby Jesus and the wonderful gifts Christ has given to us. We are constantly reminded of Him all month long while listening Christmas music, nativity scenes displayed, decorations etc... After being a mother, Christmas means more to me now because I look at my children and think back to when they were just infants and what it must have been like for Mary. How hard it must have been to have traveled on a donkey being so pregnant and then to give birth in a stable. What a sweet and humble birth Jesus had. I am so thankful we can remember Him and celebrate His birth with our families.

Christmas to me also means celebrating and being with our families. Showing our families how much we care and love them. We have always gotten together with my Aunt Carole and her children on Christmas Eve. I am so happy that even though she passed away we still continue to do that. Everyone will come over to my parents and we will eat Mexican food- chicken enchiladas, pasole, tacos, tamales, cheese dip and yummy sweets. The children exchange gifts. After everyone goes home, my parents, Vern, me, Riley and Mattie will open up our gifts to each other. I love this. I like Christmas Eve better than Christmas. Maybe its because of the build up to Christmas or the anticipation of what is to come the next day. I just love Christmas Eve. Vern's family, well since I've been around :) will get together for Christmas dinner/lunch and open gifts Christmas afternoon. When the whole family is there it is complete chaos and everyone opens their gifts at the same time. I absolutely love it. This year everyone is going to be at Vern's parents house at different times. I think most of us will be there Sunday though which gives all the kids a chance to play with each other. Christmas afternoon, we usually get together with my Dad's sister Robyn and her family also. It's always wonderful and exciting to be with our families and share Christmas with them.

Mattie and Riley in new pjs

A Hair Cut, A Party and A Parade

We can finally live again- all of Vern's homework and tests are turned in and his Fall semester at UVU (Utah Valley University) is finished!!!!! What a relief. I can blog now! Vern was able to put up the Christmas lights and they look so good.

I have so much to blog about I don't know where to begin or what to blog about... I'll start with Riley's hair cut and the Ward Christmas party. Riley needed a haircut really bad. The last time Vern cut, it was really short and Riley freaked out afterwards. This time, I decided to take him to a place where kids get their haircut, "Cool Cuts". Everything was going okay, he sat in the firetruck chair and picked out movie. Then he went to the restroom. While he was in the bathroom the lady pulled out this mannequin head to show me the different clippers lengths of hair. It was a very strange looking head, but it did show the different lengths of hair to choose from. Riley came out of the bathroom just in time to see it. Then he refused to get back in the chair and did not want his haircut there. He said he didn't want his hair to look that head. We ended up leaving and Vern cut his hair later that day. We were having our family pictures taken that day, so we wanted his hair to look cleaned up and nice. Vern did an excellent job cutting Riley's hair.

Riley's new do

December 3rd was our ward Christmas party at Nevitt's farm. It was so fun. My mom and dad came down for it. Riley sang with the primary kids and Mattie worked her way on stage too. Santa Claus also made an appearance after the kids performed. The weather was great we were not cold at all.

Riley being a snowman

Riley and Jake

Mattie on stage

December 11th was the Globe light parade. Last year, Grandpa Perry made a float for the kids with wagons hooked together like a train. The float even won a trophy which Riley has displayed in his room. Riley was so excited for the parade and being in it. He said he was going to take his trophy in the parade. This year the only grand kids that could be in the Perry float were Riley and Mattie so Grandpa Perry reserved some seats on the old Globe Firetruck. Grandpa Perry mentioned something to Riley to the effect of Riley driving it. Well, from that point on, Riley was determined that he was going to be driving the firetruck. We got to the float and I showed him where he was supposed to ride and had a melt down. "I am supposed to drive mom". When it was time for the float to go it was only Mattie, Grandpa Perry and me on it. At the last minute my mom came running up with Riley, she had talked him into going on in. Santa was also on the firetruck and Riley was leery of him which was another reason he wanted to ride in the front of the truck. Silly boy. He ended up having a lot of fun.

The old Globe Firetruck all fixed up

Grandpa and Mattie