Dinner time Dancing Queens

We had a little dance party last night jammin out to Rilo Kiley. The moves were quite hilarious. I love nights like these.



Oh great,we already have a teasing older brother.



Lucy teaching Molly how to be prissy....i don't think it is working.

Spring Fever

This first one is the kids in the kitchen,as usual, but this time I put them to good use helping me make cupcakes for a shower. Lucy has been so helpful lately. She loves helping me make dinner, and of course any treat. Rex and Molly love to eat the treats we make.


I am loving that we have had a small taste of spring this last week. No coats, riding bikes, walking to school, etc. Here are some pics I took of the kids and their cousin Ike. (Actually, Lucy was napping)

"I Love to See the Temple"

We took our kids to the Draper Temple Open House on Tuesday night, and had such a neat experience teaching them about temples and answering their many questions before and afterward. We decided to leave Molly behind with my friend, Erin. After we got there we were so grateful we didn't bring her along. With the short temple movie, shuttle to the temple, and waiting in lines , etc...(the church and their logistics. Wow!) Anyway, she would have been a real treat by the time we finally got in there. So, thank you Erin. It was perfect just to concentrate on Rex and Lucy for this particular occasion.

We have been discussing temples alot lately leading up to this, which made them so excited. And although we were mainly going for their sake, to be able to see a temple and know a little what it is, Ryan and I really were moved at how beautiful and peaceful it was, as temples always are. Being there with our children kind of brought the whole idea of temples and families home to us. We explained that to them, and I am not sure how much they understand, but the main thing is they really felt the importance of temples, and how strongly Ryan and I feel about them. We loved sharing with them about baptisms for the dead, which is so hard to describe, but they were so intrigued by the beautiful font filled with water, and helped them get a grasp of it, I think. Mostly Rex wanted to take a little swim while we were there.

Rex walked around the whole time with his little pamphlet pointing out every picture when we got to each different room. They were so reverent the whole time, and on the way out, Ryan asked Lucy if she was excited to get married in the temple one day, and she said, "Yes! The Draper temple." I guess even though she sees the Salt Lake temple all the time it means nothing since she has actually never been inside. We are so glad they enjoyed it!

Mixin' It Up

I have always loved a good mixed tape. You know the good 'ole ones from the 80's. Well for your Valentine's pleasure here is one that we put together for one of my favorite holidays. Happy Valentine's Day!!



Paul Jacobsen- You’re the Song
Jenny Lewis- Trying My Best to Love You
Tift Merritt- Another Country
Beatles- Something
Alison Krause Robert Plant- Stick With Me Baby
Beatles- All You Need Is Love
A Fine Frenzy- You Picked Me
Rilo Kiley- Give a Little Love
Bright Eyes- Make a Plan To Love Me
John Legend- Save Room
Ray La Montaigne- Empty
Low Stars- Can’t Live Without Your Love
Joshua Radin- Only You
Sarah McLachlin- I Love You
Mindy Smith
Eva Cassidy- I Know You By Heart
Coldplay- Fix You

Molly

Molly's been sick this week, and she's no stoic. Today she bounced out of it, and suddenly, it was like being reintroduced to your own sweet child. She's such a happy, energetic little girl- we had sort of forgotten. I had to take some pictures. I admit the haircut I gave her today helped too.

While she was sick she added a new word. She had already discovered "outz!" whenever she hurt herself, but "owweeee," became its own new word this week, something she now uses for any state of dissatisfaction or displeasure at all. If you put her in bed when she's not sleepy, she'll yell "Owweeee!" for a half hour, or if she needs something and you walk away for a minute-- "owweeee!" It's so funny. It took us a long time to stop wondering if she's hurt and just take it for a signal of discontent, but now we know what owweee really means.

Her other funny word is 'no.' No means 'no,' and it also means 'yes.' Say she asks for a banana, and I say "You want a banana?" And she'll say "no." That means she does. Or she'll babble something and I'll say "Really?" and she'll say "no." She understands when someone asks her a yes or no question, and she understands that 'no' is an appropriate response to such questions. It's just the only one she has, so she uses it all the time.








Molly from Ryan on Vimeo.

Lucy

Lucy from Ryan on Vimeo.

Rex

This morning Rex was reading one of the slogans on the Cap'n Crunch box, and he noted the tiny 'TM' at the end, and said "Yup, no one can copy that." I was confused for a minute but then remembered that a few months ago he had asked why the Y on Lucy's BYU t-shirt had a tiny 'TM' by it. I had explained to him (taking pride as an IP lawyer in my son's interest in our protections for intellectual property) that this meant that the way the Y was written was someone's creative idea, so they trademarked it and put a TM by it to make sure no one else could use it. That little conversation had stuck with him until now, when he casually observed that old Cap'n Crunch and his slogan ("Crunch-a-tize me, Cap'n!" was the exact phrase) were well-protected.

Well, the impact of that conversation didn't end there. Rex came into sacrament meeting after primary carrying a little piece of art*:




This piece depicts Rex playing soccer in the front yard while Lucy flies a kite. And if you're having any thoughts at all about copying this little tableau, please note the top right corner.

If Rex never follows any of my other advice, I'll know that at least I've given him the gift of intellectual property protection. And that's not nothing.



*Trademark of Rex Gregory Bell. Used with permission. This drawing shall not be distributed, copied, transmitted, altered, manipulated, or otherwise used or employed without written consent of Rex Gregory Bell. All rights reserved.

A Few Little Scenes

The first thing the kids do when they wake up is come downstairs. I guess the assumption is that obviously they must be entertained, and it's Mom and Dad's job to entertain them (whether Mom and Dad are still asleep or not). But sometimes they can tell it's early enough that we'll only greet them with the order to go back to bed, so they stay upstairs and try and entertain themselves. Their usual means of self-entertainment is to 'surprise' us by making breakfast. This consists of climbing up on the counters and getting down bowls and cups for everyone, and then getting the cereals all out and lined up on the table. Each time they do this, the display gets more elaborate, with more and more cereals, drinks and dishes making the lineup:



Today, for the first time, a sign appeared with the breakfast:



***

Rex was walking around the table (he always walks around the table while the rest of us sit at the table. He just prefers to pace). He stared into his glass of water and finally said "Dad, lately I've been noticing some odd goings in our water."

***

We were getting ready for church today and several of us had ended up in our bathroom. Macy was brushing Lucy's hair, and Molly wandered in wearing a little pink Sunday dress. Lucy looked at her for a second and said, with a pout "Why does Molly get cuter clothes than me?"

***

We went to a get-together tonight where Rex was shooting some hoops on a little Fisher Price basket. When the littler kids wanted to play in the same area, it led to confrontation that ended in a complete meltdown for Rex. It's disconcerting to see this because it almost never happens. But he completely blew his fuse and I ended up throwing him in the car to wait while the rest of us got our things together. On the way home he was still doing that thing where you try to catch your breath after a hard cry, and we sort of opened the placid post-tantrum dialogue to talk it through. He stopped his explanations of why he had been so mad, and started trying to explain how it had felt when we had come down on him and removed him from the scene. Through his whimpering, near-hiccuping sobs, he said "When you get mad at me, it starts to burn me up." We pressed him for what he meant by that. He elaborated: "It just, when you carry me out it feels like my heart starts to crack." It made us smile a little to hear him be so articulate about his feelings. Just imagine when he gets a hold of some good psychobabble in high school.

***

Every night when we put Molly to bed, the other kids ask for a hug-kiss from her. She gives a hug-kiss to Rex, but when it comes time for Lucy, Molly starts to laugh her head off and try to get away. Lucy comes to take her hug-kiss, and Molly makes the biggest flirty game about it, pulling away and pushing Lucy and laughing the whole time. She's just come to realize that Lucy is the funniest person in her life, and everything with Lucy is a game, and she loves to play along. Nothing makes Molly laugh like goofy Lucy.

***

An example of Lucy making Molly laugh:


Lucy Entertaining Molly from Ryan on Vimeo.

***

Rex and I were building some things with his toys and Molly wandered around the room generally being a tyrant. She kept grabbing things from Rex and I'd have to step in to pacify her. Then she tried to grab the thing I was working on, and starting to cry and whine when I wouldn't give it to her. Finally, I looked very seriously in the eye and said "Molly, stop it!." She pulled back and looked at me seriously for a second, and then said "Kay." Then she wandered off to find something else to boss around.