Opposites Attract

Sam was very intrigued when he met our friend, Stephen. He absolutely fell in love with him. This picture cracks me up - the only way they could be more opposite is if Sam were a girl.

Stephen and Karen used to rent our basement apartment when they were newlyweds. They now have one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. She's going to model some of our gowns for us, and with her beautiful hair and kissy lips, she should sell a bundle.

Sometimes, we're lucky enough to be invited over to their house for dinner. Stephen is from Ghana, and he is a great cook. He always makes enough for an army (which is almost what my family is). I think our favorite is the peanut butter soup and rice balls. Someday, when I feel like cooking again, I'll get him to teach me how to make it and will share the recipe. For now, though, it's good he cooks for an army, because we get to take home leftovers.

All It Takes is the Right Inspiration

Sam has two cousins who are 1 and 2 months older than him (Sammie and Lily). They both talk almost non-stop, and you can even understand what they are saying. Sammie even speaks some Spanish.

I know boys are OFTEN slower than girls with their language, but I couldn't help wishing Sam would speed it up a little. His cousins were leaving him in the dust. Then my good friend, Michele, read him this tractor book. That very day, he started saying:

TA-TOR (TRACTOR)

 

 

 

 

WO-WER (ROLLER)

 

 

 

 

 

BAT-BOE (BACKHOE)

 

 

 

 

 

O-I pronounced with a long o and short i (FORKLIFT)

 

 

 

WODER (LOADER)

He'll even tell you which part of a combination vehicle is the loader and which part is the backhoe.

 

 

We've also introduced him to the words for:

COO-BA pronounced like tuba (SCHOOLBUS)

 

 

 

DUH-TRUCK (DUMP TRUCK)

 

 

 

HIO-TRUCK (FIRETRUCK)

 

 

 

Apparently, all it took was the right inspiration because ever since that day, it's like the language lightbulb has turned on for him. He's so excited to say his new words and that we can understand him. He's constantly trying new words now and will mimic almost anything we say. It's so fun.

The one drawback about his passion for motorized vehicles is that he will no longer sleep in the car - it's just too exciting out there on the road. He spends hours pointing and growling (truck noises) and telling us what all the different vehicles are. He can tell them apart like you can tell apart a giraffe and an elephant. I always thought a tractor is a tractor is a tractor . . . it would appear that there is more to it than that, and Sam has now left me in the dust.

About a Garden

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~ W.E. Johns

A few years ago, I got Steve to build some raised bed planter boxes for a garden. I gave him fairly specific instructions which he followed halfway. But instead of putting good soil into them, he found fill dirt from somewhere (it was cheaper). It was typical Utah clay and was full of weed seeds. We planted a garden for three years in a row, but for various reasons, we have had limited success - in part because I got sick of fighting with the weeds that didn't need to be there.

I finally put one of my new favorite books, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, on Steve's pillow after I told him that Mel Bartholomew teaches a class at BYU Education Week (that gave him some credibility). He actually read it!!! His conversion was so profound that he even built a few planter boxes for his mom. He put bottoms on the boxes and set them up on saw horses so that his mom can garden without having to stoop over. What a good, kind son. These are our preliminary results.

We now have excellent weed free soil mix that is one part peat moss, one part vermiculite, and one part compost (the compost is a mixture of 5 different types).

All of the kids helped mix soil and load it into our 3 big planter boxes.

Sarah helped the most by keeping Sam out of Steve's car where the Sharpie is and by keeping him from removing every last stitch of clothing (although he got very close).

We were only able to get two of the three planter boxes finished that first evening, so the next day, naked Sam helped Steve finish up. I had less success than Sarah did at keeping Sam dressed that day. But at least if he's naked outside, it doesn't matter so much where he pees.

The next step, planting, will happen on Saturday, more fondly known by me as Slave Labor Day. I'll post more pictures as soon as we see some results.

I'm a Blog Slacker

I have so many things I've wanted to post about, but I haven't been able to muster up the energy or interest in actually writing something.





But this is an easy post. Any guesses on the gender? It's obvious to me, but on number 6, it had better be.

P.S. Now that the nausea seems to be mostly gone, I'll try to be better about posting.

A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

Thanks to my husband's weird naming talent, my family's nicknames are all really strange. He always starts out with a word that sort of makes sense for the person, but over time, the name keeps morphing into something else until we end up with the following:

Susan: I've had some doozies, some of which are Campy, Arrregion, Loosehead, and Holsey Womp. I don't know where some of the names came from, but others, I can't explain because my blog has to maintain a G rating for my kids. While he was calling me these strange names, he would call our dog his little sweetness. When he finally came up with Mamasuisse, I wisely and stubbornly opted to stick with it. He tries different nicknames out on me from time to time, but so far, Mamasuisse is the only one I've let stick.


Anna: Heeniequeen, Heenie, Heenie-hanna or the Heenstress. This one started when Steve saw our friends, the Hannas, name written out on our dry erase board many years ago. It started out as Hanna (pronounced Honna) and took on a life of its own from there.



Matthew: Cheemer, Cheems, Machu or Pichuage. When Matthew was little, he always protested being called by any of these names. They just aren't cool. But Steve is persistent, so he eventually prevailed, and now Matthew will answer to any of the above names, albeit grudgingly.




Sarah: Nokos or Baby Nokes. Matthew, trying to follow in his dad's footsteps, came up with a good one for her, too. He started calling her Sprph because when she was 5, she would write her A's backwards with really long tails so they looked like P's. She would get really mad about being called Sprph but has finally come to accept it as one of her names.


Abby: Originally Jeebs or Jeebikers, but most recently, Steve just calls her Abbikers. My favorite is one that Matthew came up with for her, Abbigator.

Sam: Wiguez - This one started out as Kiki. Kiki sounds like Chi-chi as in Chi Chi Rodriguez, so it became Kiki Rodriguez which eventually got shortened to Wiguez.











Molly: Xango - started out as Maui, then became Maui Xango because Xango comes from the Southeast Asian mangosteen fruit which is almost Hawaiian???









New baby: One can only imagine. It's always fun to witness the creative process in action. The names can't be forced; they have to occur naturally and spontaneously. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with this time. And if anyone wants to offer suggestions that he can use as a springboard, feel free.


While the kids may have sometimes fought the names at first, they have finally come to accept them as expressions of their father's affection for them. After all, who wants to be called something as overused as Angel or Pumpkin or Sweetheart?

I'm a Great Aunt

My niece, Sheryl, just had her first baby officially making me a great aunt. When she found out I was having a baby of my own just a few months after her, she laughed her head off for a full half hour. Is a great aunt too old to have a baby? Maybe.



Her baby is darling. He was born a little over a week ago and finally has a name, but that's for her to announce. He's got the funniest GIANT hands and feet - like a Great Dane puppy. And he seems to have Sheryl's beautiful mouth. I've seen and held him a few times, but it was just yesterday, when I really snuggled him up and got a whiff of his little baby head, that it finally struck me that I'm really going to have another baby. Wow! My life is already so hectic that it's hard to imagine adding another baby to it, but I'm excited. It's actually going to be fun!

Congratulations Sheryl! Thanks for the desperately needed kick in the pants.

New Car Needed

My poor car is in a coma.

It is not unexpected. After all, the car is approaching 10 years old (that's like 105 in car years, right?). We don't know if it will pull through or not. I'm hoping not - it's had a good life and it's time to move on. Besides, I desperately want a new car. I just need a way to pay for it. Anyone in need of several of my most expensive Christening gowns? I recommend the silk gown with hand embroidery (my personal favorite) or the silk gown with bubble hem if you really want a show stopper.

Too Sick to Post

Too tired and nauseous to think of anything to post. But even feeling as yucky as I do, this video still made me laugh.

****CENSORED****

Enjoy.

Sorry. The video clip had to come off because it raised my rating to PG.

No Candy?

This week, Abby's homework was to make her own flag. Today, her kindergarten class had a special day of crafts and games, and then they had a parade all through the school waving their flags. Abby has been so excited about today all week, especially the parade! This morning, she was even dressed with her coat and backpack on a couple of hours early. And she kept telling me to hurry because she did not want to be late!



But when I picked her up this afternoon, she was so disappointed. She didn't even get any candy. What good is a parade if no one's throwing candy!?

Interesting Facts About the Number 6

In a few recent posts, I've made reference to some sleeplessness and foul moods. To explain, here are some interesting facts about the number 6:

• Six similar coins can be arranged around a central coin of the same radius so that each coin makes contact with the central one and touches both its neighbors without a gap.
  
  
• 6 is the atomic number of carbon
  
  
• God created man on the 6th day.
  
  
• There are six points on the star of David.
  
  
• There are six strings on a guitar.
  
  
• 6 is the number of points received for a touchdown
  
  
• In numerology, 6 is the number of cooperation and the number of love and romance.
  
  
• 6 is the number of children who will be in our family by September 24, 2008

I've been a little worried about how I'm going to function with 5 children who need me and a business that, Spring - Fall, is a full time job. But so far, knock on wood, I've only been a little nauseous throughout the day. This is very much not the norm for me. It gets worse later in the day, but then I can just go to bed. I can totally live with this!

I was also worried about telling my mother. So when I went home for my grandpa's funeral, I decided to just get it over with, like ripping a bandaid off. I had Sam model a shirt I'd made for him. Once my mom understood the shirt, she looked like I'd dropped a brick on her head. She was utterly speechless for a full minute. Difficult pregnancies have made a lot of people, including my mother and mother-in-law, assume we are done. I've had a lot of frustration since Abby was born (that I know Paige relates to) regarding questions about whether we're done or not. Thankfully, though, my dad smiled, and my mom got over the shock within just over a minute.

Not being so sick had me wondering if everything was going as it should, but I had my first appointment last week. We got to see the little bean with flippers and its little heartbeat. It's always so reassuring to see that heartbeat. It's also very reassuring to see just one baby. Ever since Steve had a dream about twins in December, I've been a little nervous. Now, we just need to figure out where we're going to put everybody!