jonah the moth warrior

Jonah has an immense fear of any sort of insect or small flying creature. Bees, flies, moths, spiders - all cause great fright. "Mommy! Mommy! A bee! Get it! Get it!" Annie, surprisingly, has become the defender of bugs and crawly things. I distinctly remember when her friend Nova told her not to squish a daddy long legs because it was a "living creature." I think she has actually taken this to heart and keeps telling Jonah why bugs are good. Jonah, of course, hears none of this as he is clinging to us in terror.

He spotted a moth in the house tonight and hysteria ensued. We tried convincing him that he was bigger than the moth and it couldn't hurt him but he would have none of it. He kept asking Annie to throw a pillow at it to which she replied, "But Jonah, moths are good!" So, we told him that if the moth got close to him then he could shoo it away with his hand. Evidently, "close" meant across the room on the ceiling, because as soon as he saw it again he started waving his arms madly yelling, "There it is! Shoo away! Shoo away!" He then got out his sword and stalked it around the house. We tried to get it on video, but this is the best we wound up with:

happy list 2

The Tooth Fairy.
Saturday Movie Day.
Arboretum with Michelle, Soren & Halle.
Ultrasound.
Mama's with girlfriends.
Screamer Enchilladas at Mama's.
Annie's staph infection healing.
Not missing the 7:05 ferry for the ultrasound.
Top Pot.
Small group.
Jen, the sitter.
Burgers and dogs at Christine's party.
Jonah singing.
Annie playing her violin at school.
Joel.

stuff the kids say

Jonah, after sneaking a sip of the beer Joel accidentally left out:
"Eww, Daddy. I don't like that."
(Accompanied by the best grimace ever.)

Annie, to Jonah who is marching around and singing loudly:
"Jonah, be quiet! That is hurting my tummy!"
Elizabeth:
"Annie, I don't think that can hurt your tummy."
Annie:
"Well, it's hurting the ears in my tummy!"

Jonah, in his most exasperated voice after I asked him to put his sand pail away:
"Mom! I'm busy!"
(He was throwing pine cones at a tree.)

happy list

78 degrees.
BBQ.
Annie not breaking her wrist after falling off the slide.
Gardening.
Hearing the heartbeat.
Gymnastics class with Jonah.
Hanging with neighbors.
Church tomorrow.
Listening to Annie read.
Jonah wearing underpants to bed.
Naps.
Ribs.
The Office.
Snuggling with the kids.
Jump roping.

islandfive?

Looks like we'll have to change the name of our blog this fall!

"the force is strong with this one"

This is the conversation we had with the kids tonight. I think it's the hardest Joel and I have laughed in awhile.

Joel:
"Annie, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Annie (after thinking for a minute):
"A policeman."

Elizabeth:
"Jonah, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Jonah (without even hesitating):
"Darth Vader."

mad scientist

Annie participated in her first science fair at school tonight. Being the biased parents we are, we thought her project was one of the best (the project with the tooth that dissolved in Gatorade was pretty cool, too). She cut open 12 different fruits to discover which one had the biggest seed. I think her favorite part was using the fruits to make stamps on the board. We were so proud of her because she did it almost all by herself (I helped a bit with the sharp knife and cleaning up the seeds).


At the science fair.


"Which Seed is the Biggest?"


Celebratory root beer floats afterwards.

steve's napping tip

My friend Michelle sent me this picture of her husband taking a nap with their girls. Notice the tower of pillows around and above Halle, their youngest. Evidently, the pillow enclosure was an attempt at shielding her eyes from the sun.

(Sorry, Steve. I just couldn't resist posting this one.)

conversation with annie

At dinner tonight, Joel let me know I had been "snoring a little bit" during my Saturday nap. Oh how I love the romantic things he says to me.

Annie:
"If you snore that means your nose is asleep."
Elizabeth:
"In that case, Daddy's nose must always be asleep."
Annie:
"My nose is never asleep. My nose stays awake all night."

seriously?

You have to read this article about a woman who sat on a toilet seat for 2-years. For 2-years.

springtime (well, we're hoping)

Annie took this one.

joel's 33rd

The kids made a sign for Joel and Annie got up early to hang it.


Homemade pizzas for dinner.


Joel likes cake. Really, he loves it.

something to think about

Finally got around to watching the Story of Stuff tonight.

Man, we need to make some changes. I think we may be headed back to our not-buying-anything-new experiment.

things jonah says

"Daddy! Daddy! My penis is stuck in my car seat!"
(It really wasn't.)

"Put me down or suffer the consequences!"
(Said while he was being unwillingly carried to bed.)

bedtime update

We've put Jonah back in bed 4 times already. The last time, he walked in with an arm full of books saying, "But Daddy, I found these books to read!"

He has now turned his light on and is sitting in his tent reading books. And sobbing intermittently.

bedtime resistance

For some unknown reason this past week, Jonah has begun waging an all out battle at bedtime. Joel thinks he might be getting his last 2 molars in, but whatever it is, he's raising quite a bit of hell when it comes to staying in bed. Joel, who is normally very patient, has been getting more and more frustrated - especially after putting him back into bed for the 15th time and listening to all his screaming and arguments. Here are some of Jonah's best objections:

"But, I don't want to be in my big boy bed forever!"

"I need to be wrapped up like a baby."
He didn't.

"I really don't want to go sleepy night night in my big boy bed. I'm serious!"

"But, I don't like that choice!"
When told he could choose which of his 2 beds to sleep in.

"I'm going to tell on you!"

"Stop pushing me! You're always pushing me and pushing me!"
When Joel put him in his bed.

"But milk's not yucky! Milk is yummy!"
When told he couldn't have yet another cup of milk.
" How about some apple juice then?" (Joel said no.) "But it's really yummy!"

"But I want to sleep on the ground right there!"

"But I don't want my jammies on!"

Last night we put him back in bed about 20 times, each time with screams of "But I don't want to sleep in my big boy bed! I want to sleep with Mommy!" echoing down the hall. At one point we heard him throwing all his stuffed animals into the hall - "I don't want Boopers! Boopers doesn't help me sleep!" - followed by a chair. He then crept into the hall and almost fell asleep on the floor. Around 10:30 we finally thought he was asleep so I went to check on him. He had climbed into Annie's bed to sleep with her. He then wandered into our bed sometime in the middle of the night, when we were too tired to put up a fight.

Joel's getting creative tonight and giving him the choice between sleeping in his bed or in his play tent on the floor. We'll see. The kid is very determined and a master at arguing his point.

two wheelin' it

beach picnic

After months of gloomy weather, we've had a whole week of sunshine. Up here, you make the most of the sun, so we've been hitting the parks, riding our bikes to school, roaming the neighborhood to play with the other kids and catching up on yard work. We topped off our week with a Friday night picnic at the beach.






Too bad it's blurry.




Our little Napoleon Dynamite.

sequim

My good friend, Michelle, hails from Sequim and whenever she goes home we usually head over for breakfast at the Oak Table (bacon and 49er Flapjacks - a little slice of heaven!) and to hang out at her parent's house. This time we also walked down to the Dungeness Spit to enjoy the sunshine and play on the beach.


Michelle, one of my very favorite lady mammals.


Soren, Jonah & Annie


Jaxson, Soren & Jonah making a lake.

auntie mary's wedding

Our good friend, Mary, who also happens to be Annie's godmother, got married last month. Annie got to be the flower girl - and we have never seen her so excited! The energy she had all day was astounding. Of course, she was in tears the minute the wedding was over. She was so proud of herself, though and she did a great job of walking down that enormous aisle at St. James.


Annie got to join the rest of the wedding party for her very first spa day.


Getting her hair ready.


She had a lot of sillies.


Trying to steal Auntie Mary's bouquet.


She crashed during the reception.

One of the best parts of the weekend was getting to spend it at the Bammerts, who graciously let us take over Soren's room. We even managed to squeeze around a tiny table at the reception with Steve and Michelle, where Michelle and I laughed harder than we have in a long time while trying to figure out what makes a mammal a mammal. I'm still not positive, but I gather it has something to do with breasts and not laying eggs. (Is it obvious that I skipped Biology in college?) Joel is still shaking his head at us. I do have to say, that as far as mammals go, the Bammerts are some of my favorites.