May 9-10 Guy took the three big boys to our ward's Fathers and Sons outing where they ate too many s'mores, stole one another's covers, broke a hammock and had a great time. In a couple more years maybe I'll re-name "Fathers and Sons", "Mom's Night Off!"

May 5, 2008

1. First, take at least three cookies (there is one behind Mitchell's milk cup).

2. Quickly take one bite out of each cookie so that no one else will try to put them back on the plate.

3. Keep everyone else distracted by your cuteness while you eat.

This scene awaited me as I arrived home from Choir practice. Guy was sleeping until I woke him by taking pictures. You can't let a photo op like this get away.

As we were driving around one day, Caleb asked if there would be gift shops on his mission. I replied that I was sure there would be lots of places where he could buy stuff, and he talked about how he'd spend all his money at the gift shops. It finally occurred to me (I know, I'm a little slow at times) that he was planning to spend the money we've had him setting aside from his (meager) allowance for his mission fund. So, one of these days, maybe we'll have a Family Home Evening about saving to pay FOR your mission (rather than to shop while ON your mission), but for now I don't want to disuade him from saving :-).

I'd actually forgotten all about the conversation until his Primary teacher told us last week that they'd learned all about missionary gift shops from Caleb that day. Yup, he's spreading the good word already.

April 2008 It doesn't seem to matter how often I wash him off, this boy is always a mess. Here are a couple of the more extreme cases. I love the pose with the marker belly (and yes, I am aware of how skinny this boy is). The cottage cheese masterpiece actually came together very quickly (the price you pay for turning your back on a boy while you're doing the dishes), and the picture doesn't even document how thoroughly his hair was coated.

A couple of weeks ago, Marcus's class went on a field trip to the Hogle Zoo, and he was just a little excited. The morning of the field trip, Marcus was up before either of his parents, and came into our room, fully dressed, including shoes, hat and backpack, insisting he needed to be to school on time. He truly set a "Marcus Morning Speed Record" that day.

Ironically, at the end of the day, he talked a little about the animals, but mostly he was consumed by the injustice of not being able to buy anything in the gift shop since we hadn't sent him with money (what teacher in her right mind walks a group of 2nd and 3rd graders through the gift shop anyway?). If he were able, this child would be a one-man boost to consumer spending.

April 28, 2008 I have several cute pictures of Mitchell that I'll intersperse with some stories about the other boys from the last few weeks (I've been collecting, even if I haven't been blogging). This evening, Mitchell decided he needed a bath (he usually does need one) and proceeded to teach Bear the finer points of bath-taking. Luckily, he skipped the lesson on turning on the faucet. The faucet is actually too hard for him to turn on, but Mitchell has learned what the button on top does and he thinks it's hilarious when he gets showered on.