Just got word last night that Wally was accepted into Brigham Young University-Provo!! I am so excited for him, but at the same time...WE CAN'T BE THAT OLD!!!

Seems like yesterday Wally was just a little boy:

"I'm going at the store!" - as he rides his little tricycle around.

"This is what you call butterfinger!" - as he sticks his fingers in the butter.

"Fridg-a-frater" - his name for the refrigerator

"Did you know God has a T-shirt?" he asks Grandpa.

"No, what does it say?" Grandpa replies.

"Nobody knows..." said very mysteriously.

WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

Bond took Dinodude, Rocket & Babymoon to the park. While they were gone I did some cleaning up and got ready for bed. Rocket walks in the door and notices I am in my pajamas. Immediately, he tells me, "Hi Mom! I see you're all pajama-ed up!"

Rocket Funny

It started snowing this morning. Rocket was very excited and really wants more snow to come. He asked me, "When will the snow grow? I want more!"

Rocket Funny

The other day Rocket was outside playing with the neighbor kids. All of a sudden he comes running in the front door, slams it and looks out the window while panting really hard. I asked him what was wrong and he replies, "P____ (the neighbor girl) is trying to marry me!"

Rocket's Bedtime

As I was putting Rocket to bed tonight, he walked into his room and immediately said we needed to read his scriptures. I agreed. We sit down to read and here's our conversation:

MOM: Remember what we talked about last night?

ROCKET: Hmmm. Nope.

MOM: The baby in the basket?

ROCKET: (very excitedly!) Yeah! What was his name?

MOM: Moses.

ROCKET: That's right...Moses! He turned into a baby!

MOM: Well, he was a baby. Then he grew into a man. He lived in Egypt.

ROCKET: Egypt? Is Egypt in earth? 

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: We live in earth!

MOM: Yes we do.

ROCKET: Where is it?

MOM: Let's go look at the globe. (We go into the schoolroom to look on the globe. I point out where we are, then I point out where Egypt is. It's purple on our globe.)

ROCKET: The purple one? That's far! What's this one? (he points to the yellow country next to Egypt)

MOM: That's Libya.

ROCKET: What's this one? (he points to green one next to Libya)

MOM: That's Algeria.

ROCKET: What's this one? (he points to a pink one)

MOM: That's China.

ROCKET: China? Have I been to China?

MOM: No.

ROCKET: Oh....Have I been to Egypt?

MOM: No.

ROCKET: Oh. (We go back upstairs to read the rest of the scripture reading. I start talking about how Moses killed an Egyptian.) He killed him?

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: Wow. Moses was a baby and then he grew into a man?

MOM: Yes. (I continue reading getting to the burning bush.)

ROCKET: Where is he now?

MOM: He's on the mountain. The bush is on fire, but it's not really burning. It's a miracle.

ROCKET: What's a miracle?

MOM: A miracle is something great that happens. You're a miracle.

ROCKET: I'm a miracle?

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: Where's fire at?

MOM: Well, fire can be anywhere.

ROCKET: Is there fire in China?

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: Is there fire in Egypt?

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: Is there fire in...........(very long pause!).....what's that yellow one?

MOM: Libya?

ROCKET: Yeah! (extremely excited!) Is there fire in Libya?

MOM: Yes.

ROCKET: I've been to China.

I love this little boy! I love our nighttime conversations. He has such an imagination and he is so innocent. Why can't he stay like this forever?!

Pinewood Derby

Last night was the Pinewood Derby. The theme was Jurassic Park. This was Pokemon King's last Pinewood Derby, as he will be moving on to 11 year old scouts. He placed 2nd overall! Great job Pokemon King!

Listening to Rocket

While I'm waiting for Babymoon's bottle to heat up, I hear Rocket in Babymoon's room singing to him. He's singing, "I Love to See the Temple." There's a part of the song that says, "this is our sacred duty." This is Rocket's version of that line:

This is my secret duty.

Conversation With Rocket

I just put Rocket to bed a while ago. A few minutes ago I heard him calling me, so I went to see what he wanted.

Rocket (smiling): Guess who's my friend!

Me: Who?

Rocket: Periwinkle! (from Blue's Clues)

Me: Really? That's nice, but it's time to go to sleep.

Rocket: Periwinkle's at his house.

Me: I know. He's probably sleeping.

Rocket (sadly): I miss him. He's on the TV.

Me: I know. You can watch him tomorrow.

Rocket (even more sadly): When's he going to get out of the TV?

Me: I'm sorry, honey, but that's where Periwinkle lives. We just get to watch him on TV.

Poor Rocket seemed even more sad. Now I think I'm sad!

Dinodude's a Sleepwalker!

Sometimes we'll hear Dinodude or Rocket talking in their sleep. It's always funny to hear the conversations that go on in their minds! Lately, Rocket's been calling out Wally's name telling him to stop it. Not sure what 'it' is, but whatever 'it' is, it bothers Rocket!

Well, last night, I hear Dinodude run down the hall to the bathroom. He was sick the day before, so I assumed he was just going in there to throw up. Then he comes running in our room. (His running was very, very loud!) He goes over to Bond's side of the bed and says, "Mom!" So, I look over and say, "what's the matter?" He runs over to my side, and starts to complain, "why can't I play football?" I said, "What? It's the middle of the night. You can't play football now. Wait until tomorrow." Without a word, he goes running back out of the room and down the hall again. Then, I hear him run back in our room to Bond's side again, then to mine without saying anything. After that he goes running back into his room.

Around 4am or so, Rocket wakes up to come in our bed. I noticed that Dinodude wasn't in his bed. I was a little panicky, but then I thought maybe he just went with Bond to deliver the newspapers. When Bond came home I asked him if Dinodude had gone with him, because I didn't see him in his bed. He said Dinodude was asleep on the chair in the bonus room! Crazy kid! When I walked into the bonus room later, Dinodude shockingly said, "Mom! I went to sleep in my bed, but I woke up here!" He barely remembered anything from the night.

I'm sure it all stemmed from watching the Steelers/Ravens game. But, I guess we'll have to keep an eye out for our sleepwalker!

It's the Thought That Counts, Right?

Every day we start our schooling off by reading the Book of Mormon. We're following along with Primary and trying to read it by the end of the year. We got a little behind in the summer, so we're doubling up here and there. It takes us probably an hour to read what could normally be read in 15 minutes. Here's why:

I have Pokemon King and Dinodude read as well as myself. If I'm the only one reading, I may as well be reading to a wall! So, first they have to pick which verses they want to read. Easy? Not a chance. They both like to read the last few verses of the chapter. They both want to read only the short verses. So, it takes us 10 minutes to decide who's reading what. Can they do it without arguing? Of course not! While Pokemon King tells me what he wants to read, Dinodude is yelling out, "Hey, that's what I was going to read!" The same thing goes when Dinodude is picking. So, I finally have to tell them who's reading what. Five minutes later, we can finally start reading.

We have a small futon in our schoolroom that the boys like to sit on. As I start reading, they start annoying each other: "Move your leg!" "Get off me!" "Stop pushing me!" So, I finally say, "Everyone to the table!" Another 5 minutes gone.

We're finally in a rhythm of reading. Here's how the rest of our reading goes:

ME: And now it came to pass...(Dinodude's hand shoots up)

Dinodude: Where are we at?

Me: Verse 1. And now it came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges...(Dinodude's hand....again)

Dinodude: Can I get a drink?

Me: After we're done. (I continue) ....over the people of Nephi....

Pokemon King: Mom. Dinodude's drawing!

Me: Dinodude, please pay attention. (continuing) ...behold, when the Lamanites....(Dinodude...again)

Dinodude: Mom, Pokemon King's not sitting at the table!

Me: Pokemon King, please sit at the table. (continuing) ...awoke on the first morning of the first month... (Babymoon decides he's hungry, so we pause so I can change him and get his bottle-then I continue while feeding him) ....behold, they found...(I pause at the sound of Dinodude & Rocket fighting over the scriptures. Dinodude finally gives in and let's Rocket have his scriptures-I continue) ....Amalickiah was dead in his own tent....(Rocket's hand goes up!)

Rocket, with the scriptures open: Where are we at?

This continues throughout our entire scripture reading session. See why it takes an hour? Sometimes more! So, again, I ask...It's the thought that counts, right?

Pokemon King Funny

We stayed my my parents' house last night, due to the fact that our power went out. We had a huge windstorm from Hurricane Ike. We would've ridden it out at home, but Bond is a Steelers fan, so we invaded my parents to watch the game. They graciously offered to put us up for the night.

Well, while we were there, Pokemon King was looking at pictures of my sister and me. Here's our conversation:

PK: Who's older? You or your sister?

ME: My sister is. Why?

PK: I thought so. Most of her pictures are in black and white!

My sister is only 4 years older than me, so I thought that was real funny.

Wordy Wednesday-Field Trip

Had a field trip today. My sister set up a tour at a local Kroger. The boys did an awesome job! Of course, I forgot to take the camera, but luckily I had my phone with me. Here's a few shots:

Here's Dinodude:

Here's Rocket:

Pokemon King wouldn't let me take his picture :(

They got to see where the trucks come to deliver the food. They even got to step into the refrigerator and freezer sections! One of the stops was the pharmacy. The lady asked what the kids thought went on there. Dinodude chimes in, "I think it has something to do with cows!" (snicker, snicker!) At the end of the tour, they got to scan some items like they were a real cashier! And she even had a bag of snacks for them: Veggie Tale fruit snacks, Mickey Pretzels, Alphabet Crackers, and a drink. What a great time we all had!

Rocket Funny

As Bond was leaving for work this morning, the boys were all outside with him. It was gorgeous out! The sun was shining, it was warm and beautiful. Bond brings Rocket inside and Rocket tells me it's raining outside. I looked out the window and told him it wasn't. It was nice and sunny. He then tells me, "It's raining in Daddy's shoes!" Apparently, Bond's shoes were a little wet from walking in the grass!

FHE Monday

Today was Family Home Evening. We used to do it on Sundays, but now that church time has changed to 1-4pm, it got too hard to squeeze it in. (not that we squeeze it in, anyway!) So, we do our movie on Sunday, but have the lesson on Monday.

Tonight's lesson was given by Wally. He did a wonderful lesson on the Ten Commandments. First, he had us list all the commandments. We did pretty well. For some reason none of us thought of the one about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Hmmm, maybe we need to work on that one!!! Well, Dinodude and Pokemon King were chiming right in, but I had to laugh when Dinodude shouted out, "Thou shalt not perish!" He was so sincere and it was hard not to laugh. But, we congratulated him and told him that although it wasn't one of the ten commandments, it was a great one! We really don't want to die, right? After we listed them all, Wally gave us a word search which he so creatively invented himself. Then he had us each read some scriptures. He's growing into a fine young man and we are so proud of him!

Rocket's been saying his prayers all by himself lately. He does a great job, too! It's a wonderful thing to be able to ask who wants to say the prayer and have everyone shout, "I do!" What a beautiful sound that is! We're working on trying to get him out of his crib. He's been telling us he wants to sleep in the big bed! He has a regular size mattress on the floor, so at night that's where we say our prayers and read our stories. So, we get him in there, sing our songs, say our good nights, then I walk out of the room. Within 5 seconds, I hear, "Mom!" So, I go in and he says, "I need seep in da twib." Thankfully, he is starting to stay in the big bed longer. I'm glad he's at least trying it!

Dinodude Funny

At church yesterday, Dinodude's teacher asked if they had heard about President Hinckley (who had recently passed away). Dinodude replies, "He passed out."

Kid Funny

We have thunderstorms moving into the area. 6 year old runs up to see if they're coming our way. I tell him yes. He runs back downstairs and yells, "Get prepared people! It's coming this way!"