A Poem For You, Choobs

When Kensington's a-constipated
And feeling quite stopped up,
We give her a suppositore
To help our lil' pup.

We push it in; it cleans her out.
She starts to feel real nice.
And then we swear up and down
To feed her no more rice!

Applesauce & bananas
Could be the culprit, too.
At least that's what the nurse said
When we discussed her poo.

Now, don't worry about Miss Chooby-Pie
She feels a whole lot better.
Since we have done our very best
To keep her system reg'lar.

And Madeline Continues . . .

"Choobs doesn't know what 'Stop' means. She doesn't speak our language. She might speak Porkajeese when she grows up."

More from Madeline . . .

"Boys don't wear makeup because they like to be handsome. I like to be supa pwetty, so that's why I put on makeup. Do you think Gwammy wants to twy my spawkly lipstick Santa? I'll put it on her because she might put on too much, OK?!"

Madeline's Advice on Personal Hygiene

"It's not 'propriate to smell stinky."

Quick Quotes

Madeline informed us yesterday: "Did you know that George Washington, after he won the War, he lived at Mountain Vernon? It's in Minnesota. Did you know that his died in that house, too? Then he lived with his brother. Then he went to check on his horses. Then he got really sick. Then George Washington died. Because there was a big storm. And then he died." Wow. Preschool keeps us all enlightened.

Raleigh before bedtime the other night: "Oh, Mom! My only woosh is to ride the bus, lose a tooth, and to be in 2nd grade!!"

Ode to a Toaster

Oh, toaster of my married youth,
You've browned a thousand slices.
We've buttered them and honeyed them,
Served with OJ o'er some ice-s.

But soon the dumpster started calling
When your bottom parts fell out,
So I took a trip to Costco
And I bought a Cuisinart.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

Oh, Choobies, Your Dad Loves You!!

Thank You, Jess & Dannii!!

Jess & Dannii sent us some fun Christmas presents from Japan. Choobies is wearing hers on her head. The little notepads have a saying on them, with some obvious kinks in the translation: "A delightful day. My mind is paralyzed." We think they're great!

J.TEEEEEEE!!!!

What could be more exciting than a reunion with your best friend from high school?! Dionne had a blast seeing Jenny and getting giggly and hyper (only this time about motherhood and the old times). It was just like we left off- always so fun to see you, JENNY!! We were busting a move out on the dance floor with our kids and each other- it was a blast! (Imagine a former cheerleader and her sidekick dancing to Can't Touch This.) It was fun to see a miniature Jason- Keaton, his son- chasing Madeline around all night, tickling her!! I found her and Raleigh hiding in the girls bathroom in one of the stalls trying to keep away from him! Raleigh and Madeline had a blast, dancing out in the middle and following beautiful Kayla around trying to be like the big girls.

Tyler is a miniature Jenny with his cute round face and the same coloring as Ben. (Lucky kid!) His little eyebrows are adorable!

Dionne gets to hold Tyler!

Here's Grandpa Whitehead with his two gorgeous daughters! So cute. They got him out on the dance floor and all danced together.

A Lewis & Matthews Reunion

Chris & Amanda and Baby Briant came over for another wild picnic on the living room floor. We were all a bit tired, and then we all got the GIGGLES when we were playing an old game that Dionne's family used to play for Family Home Evening. We'll explain it sometime in person to anyone interested. Raleigh and Madeline love it. But the funny thing was watching Chris get SO into it. He and Dallas are hilarious. Amanda started laughing so hard she started crying big tears down her cheeks when we unveiled one of her chicken-leg pictures, and that got Dionne going, too. Only one person almost wet her pants this time, and it was the person who most recently had a baby . . .

Madeline, our fledgling photographer, took this picture.

Cute, cute Briant in his winter PJ's- Chris & Amanda's miracle boy!!

Madeline's New Big Bed!!

Trina was getting rid of the twin bed in her guest room to make way for a new one, so Madeline was the grateful recipient of her donation! Madeline was sick that day, and Dallas managed to sneak the bed past her and set it all up for her as a surprise. She was definitely shocked, but the first thing she did after she recovered was climb up and jump on it, even with her fever. Then she lay down and snuggled up. Very cute. Thanks, Trina!

A Fun Family (Mis)Adventure

Bart & Meridith, Phoenix, & Paige came for dinner a few weeks ago, and we had a wild picnic on the floor of our living room with CHILI for dinner (not the best for kids). You may notice that Paige isn't wearing any pants in this picture! She was missing in action for a little while, and Bart found her in the bathroom trying to clean up after herself all over the floor! But she's just the cutest little patootie . . .
Bart tried to outdo Paige when he finished his Oreo Chocolate Mousse and decided to be helpful and wash out his glass. (It broke.) So here they are together!





















Our little midget-woman.

A New Year's Victory

After hours of matching and mismatching, we finished our 1000-piece puzzle a few weeks ago, and HERE IT IS!! You can see it was an exciting victory for all of us . . .

Two Funny Bunnies

Raleigh and Madeline have been a riot this weekend. Loads of personality and lots of laughs. I took them grocery shopping at Kohler's in Highland where it's always packed on a Saturday afternoon, and there are rarely any young children there. Raleigh and Madeline had the GIGGLES. REALLY bad. I was laughing so hard I was almost crying, and they were thoroughly entertaining. They started a game of "I ONE the trash can . . . I TWO the trash can . . . I THREE the trash can . . ." until somebody "EIGHT"/ATE the trash can. (Of course, it was always Madeline who ended up eating whatever it was. In fact, Madeline ended up eating a diaper, a toilet, a pear, a "1", lips, a leg, a cow, etc.) The funny thing was, all of these upper-middle class people shopping in Kohler's were laughing right along with them, because the store was so quiet from lack of children (besides ours) that everyone could hear their hilarious conversation and SUPER LOUD giggling. And the funny thing is, this joking went on and ON the entire time we were in the store, so we were going up and down the aisles with some of the same people passing us, laughing and shaking their heads. One lady came up and told me that they were "just hysterical." Really, they were!

In other cute kid news, after Pres. Hinckley's televised funeral was over, Raleigh went up to the TV, stretched her arms out really wide, gave it a hug, and said happily, "I LOVE YOU!" (to President Hinckley.) Very sweet.