The Bedtime Mantra

When J was a toddler, we did the usual things when it was bedtime. Teethbrushing, stories, prayers, songs, etc. However, as he got a little older and more aware, we had to start reassuring him of certain childhood fears such as the famed monsters, bad guys and the like. But over time, the list grew longer. He would see a movie that had something a bit scary in it, or a book and want to be reassured that those things also were not going to seize him in the night. Not only has the list grown longer, but it has evolved. Some things are not scary any more, so they have been removed from the bedtime mantra. Likewise, with awareness comes more trepidation at times, so new items have been added in place of the ones conquered. Below is the list. I thought you might get a kick out of it. Remember, each item is in reference to something specific, no matter how strange it may seem. It is repeated by us every night, even though J needs to help Daddy with it sometimes. Here's to a good night sleep with none of phantasms noted below:

No monsters

No Mike

No Sulley

No Boy

No blue monster

No green monster

No pink monster

No yellow monster

No rockets

No robots

No bad guys

No sharks

No dragons

No lions

No pirates

No Star Wars

No monsters

The Bee has left the building....

Our family had a momentous occasion last week. C lost his binky. We absolutely tore apart the house looking for it last Tuesday, when suddenly D and I paused. Did we really want to find it that badly? C is two and he definitely doesn't need it. When he turned one, we only let him have it at night. It was not allowed to leave his bed. He was very cool with this, but insisted on having it to go to bed. I even remember driving 40 minutes into town when we were camping last summer, after loosing the bee, to replace it in order to ensure we all got a decent night's sleep. However, this time we decided that it was time to carpe diem. It was obviously a sign from the fates that it was time to move on.
When he asked for it, I used the usual parental response. "Oh, you don't need a bee. Those are for babies. You are a big boy." He informed me that no, in fact, he was not a big boy, he really was a baby. I also had a few tricks in my bag, so I quietly started to put away the toy cars he was playing with. "Well," I told him, "Babies don't get to play with cars. They also don't get to eat cookies or fruit snacks. And they don't get to..." and the list went on. Well, I had him.
Now, it has been an entire week and he hasn't even asked for it. We are praying that we are the first ones to find it. No matter. I'm pretty confident that it has found a home in the vortex of lost children's items. I firmly believe that each home with small children has one.

Batter Up!!

I can't say "batter up" without thinking of the movie, A League of Their Own. It is one of my favorite movies of all time. OK, sing it with me: Batter Up! Hear the call! The time has come, for one and all, to play ball! That one and "There's no crying in baseball!!" It's all great and we are so excited to watch J play every week.

The change in him has been dramatic. He is confident, outgoing and he is actually out-eating his brother. Who would have guessed?

J has a great coach, Coach Chip. He is so patient, encouraging and loving with all of the kids. Best of all, he does it while teaching the kids teamwork and respect for each other and their elders. J is learning awesome life skills as well as the game of baseball. Well worth the $65.

J had the honor of being the very first one of the season at bat as well as the first one to score! Way to go Big J!

OK, be honest. Is this not the cutest catcher you've ever seen?

"We are the Broncos! The mighty mighty Broncos! And everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are! So we tell them! We are the Broncos that you heard so much about! Coaches lock their players up whenever we come out! Hey!!"

I had enough!

Well, as you all may have read on my previous post, I have been less than delighted with the weather that we have been having. Someone forgot to tell whomever is in charge that all of us stay out home moms wait with baited breath for sunshine, warmer weather, and the ability to send our children outside when they are driving us to the brink of insanity. So, I packed up the children, bought 3 plane tickets and took us all to California to visit Grandpa George and Grandma Elizabeth.

Brave, you say, to fly alone with two small children. Nay, I say! They were brilliant travelers. Even the flight attendants all commented on what great little guys I had with me. I was so proud of them. Never have you seen two children so excited to have a small bag of trail mix and a half of a can of soda. When we left Boise on the morning of April 1st, it was 32 degrees. When we touched down in California, it was almost 70. I almost kissed the sidewalk when we got outside. Below are some fun things that we did during our week with my grandparents. Enjoy, and remember, it is always summer somewhere in the world.

The boys were very conscientious and, when instructed, read in great detail the safety instructions that provided directions in the event of a water landing. I think they were the only ones on the plane that did so.

Tuesday night we were able to watch Grandpa sing with is barbershop group. They were awesome! They even sang the most beautiful version of Love at Home. I've only heard it at church, so to hear these men sing it in a completely different setting was a real treat. They are going to sing it in a competition next month and I really hope they win!!

Grandma has two little parakeets that the boys just loved. I almost had a heart attack when she took the cage off of its stand and let the boys play with them on the floor. I think the birds were sweating it too.

Of course we had to have story time every night with Grandma. She is a very good reader; Jonah was impressed.

It was also Grandma's birthday while we were visting. We picked out some fun new jammies for her and then went out to dinner to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Our last night in California, we stayed in a hotel close to the airport. Boppo got us a really nice room at the Holiday Inn Express so Grandpa and Grandma wouldn't have to get up early in the morning to get us to our flight on time. The kids were thrilled to have a new place to destroy. Of course, we had to have some jumping on the bed time.

Thanks for the fun visit Grandpa and Grandma! We love and miss you so much!!

Spring Break?

OK, so am I the only one who is going nuts this week? I had all of these beautiful plans to take my children to the zoo, the park, and other various OUTDOOR activities. What the heck happened? We woke up to sun this morning, but it is about 20 degrees outside. Yesterday, in between brief peekings of sunlight what did we have? How about rain, snow and last night, very painfully tiny, sharp HAIL!! Oh Hail!!

I am so grateful to the Lord for blessing us with the moisture we so desperately needed in the valley. What a blessing to live in such a beautiful land rich with activites, freedoms of all kinds with safety and health...

That said, I am feeling totally jipped of my spring break! I couldn't even spring clean because I had already done most of it last week when our family was coming for the weekend. (Did I actually complain that I don't have anything to clean?) And on top of it all my kids have had croupy, phlemy coughs all week. I make note of all these critical feelings here because this is my family journal. I will look back on this years in the future and probably laugh at myself...maybe.

I have to stop writing now, my kids are screaming at each other. I think we are all getting cabin fever... Too bad I don't have a cabin to have it in...

This picture was taken two weeks ago when we, anticipating spring, made bird feeders out of Crystal Lite canisters. This week's freaky weather washed off the peanut butter and seed, of course.

I'm making Doup!

Our oldest has had so many exciting things happening in his short little life, that I have neglected to share with you all how equally wonderful our youngest child is. He recently informed me that his favorite things are "pi-wrates" and "skewetons." He loves to play with his "guys," various small figurines that he takes to bed, in the car, and anywhere else we will let him.

Somewhere along the line, we have failed to inform him that he is younger than his brother. He has to do everything the "elder" one does. Which accounts for the more frequent bumps and bruises.

The most recent hilarious thing he told me was just this morning. He and his brother were playing in the bathtub, which usually last for about an hour, and he slipped on his bum and briefly went under the water. When I quickly righted him, he insisted on getting out and screamed, "I drownded!!" I kept calmly reassuring him that he really had not drowned. Poor little guy...

He also loves to rock out, a trait you all know he gets from me. At the McCall Winter Carnival he jammed near the stage of a live band. The area by the stage quickly became a mosh pit for toddlers and he quickly returned to mom and dad.

He is quite the little gourmet as well. He loves to "cook" and frequently makes "doup for Donah," (soup for Jonah).

Perhaps the most wonderful thing he does is when he tries to sign "I love you." Instead of the usual sign, he makes the "ok" sign with his little fingers. It has become our new way of saying "I love you" as a family. And so I say the same to all of you tonight. Sweet dreams!!

It is only the beginning...

Well, like most of my journal writing, I've become a slacker. So many things going on, so little blog time, right? However, I would be remiss if I did not make note of a momentous occasion at the Sutherland house. Our first born, our offspring, one of the lights of our life, J, registered for Kindergarten last week. We are so excited for him, but we realized that this is only the beginning of an 16+ year journey for our family.

He was quite the little man as he went to each station and showed how he knows the basics: rhyming, letters, numbers and the like. Too bad they didn't have a station for storytellling, paper crafts, math and writing. He would have aced them all. We tried not to notice that the "welcome to Kindergarten" t-shirt he received went down to his knees.

Well friends, its the beginning of the end. No more going on vacation whenever we want (like we ever did that in the first place) or sleeping in during the week. Hello to schedules, homework, sporting activities and fundraisers.

Actually, I'm pretty excited. It will be a fun new chapter in our family's life and we are going to hit the ground running. J is going to do great and we all can't wait to hear about his new adventures at the "big kid" school. Good luck. You're a Big Kid now!!