Winter Craziness

Vivien and Justin think that snow on the trampoline is an invitation to jump at night in shorts. To Derek snow means a warm coat, boots and to find a place to stay dry. Nathan and Hyrum go all out with boots, snow pants, coats, gloves and hats as they explore every foot of our newly covered yard.

Usual night time silliness with Vivien and Justin

This is how my kids go to the grocery store on a snowy evening: dressed for bed, dressed for summer and dressed for winter conditions.

Nathan and Hyrum love the Slovak shirts that Vivien brought for us. Hyrum swaggers around the house like a rapper calling out mačka (ma-tch-ka) as he looks for the cat.

A friend of Erika's left a huge roll of wrapping plastic at our house because he didn't want it. All it took was a late night of boredom and they found something to do with it.

Derek was a little hesitant to help Erika tie on her mermaid bra but he did it anyway. She couldn't walk on her footed fin so Derek threw her over his shoulder and carried her in to show us. Then he had to pull out his pocketknife to cut if off of her. When she held it up it looked like a dress so she put that on too.

And then Derek took a turn. . . minus the bra

Erika is usually with Bret but when she and Vivien do hang out it is pure craziness. Pudding through a straw is so much better!

While we hide from the wind and cold as winter drags on, the atmosphere in our home can range anywhere from quiet and calm to just plain crazy. No matter the mood there is always plenty of love and laughter to go around; someone to play games with; pictures to color; stories to be read; and music to be danced to.

Happy Hyrum

June 2011

Hyrum's imagination is a beautiful thing. He can take ordinary items and create a fun-loving world around him. He isn't attached to any specific stuffed animal or blanket or book. He loves them all.

Today he happened to be attached to Erika's tiger and Nathan's cowboy hat - which he informed us is a police hat when turned sideways. He rode his "pet tiger" all over the house, squealing like a siren, while capturing the imaginary bad guys.

One afternoon I found Hyrum climbing in my bathroom closet looking for band aids. I wanted him to show me where he was hurt but he was very shy and determined to do it on his own. After many failed attempts (band aids and wrappers left all over my bathroom) he came to me with 2 new band aids and his shirt off. When I asked him where he wanted them he gave me a "duh" look and pointed to his nipples. I did my best to hold back hysterical laughter and simply asked him what happened. "That's where Derek shot me. Fix it afore I die." He didn't take those band aids off until the next morning when he was sure he was all better.

During battle Hyrum is always good to bring his victims back to life. After watching the first Narnia movie at least a hundred times, he picked up on Lucy's ability to do 2 drops of her special oil to save a life. Now, in his own battles he will take out the other person and then bend over them and while pretending to pour something over them will say "drip drop". That's his cue that you are alive again and he's ready to come after you again.

Our carpet is frequently "hot lava" and to get from room to room without falling in the hot lava Hyrum likes to make paths of books, couch cushions, towels, clothes and blankets. And he always counts them as he hops along his safe path. I realized one day he could count to 27 only missing 2 numbers. That's how many items he had on his path.

While I play taxi around town I occasionally listen to conference talks on my ipod. Elder Russell M. Nelson was speaking on one such occasion. "That's Jesus talking", stated Hyrum. I told him it was one of Jesus' apostles and he insisted, "no, it's Jesus". I didn't want to correct him further and ruin whatever moment he was having so we listened in silence. When we got to our destination, before the talk was over, I attempted to get him out of his carseat and noticed that he gazing off as if in deep thought. I asked him if he was okay and in a longing voice he replied, "I miss Jesus 'cause he loves me."