Obsessed

I think Layton has become obsessed. Obsessed with books. He just can’t get enough.

He constantly brings me books to read. Just for fun, one day, I counted how many books I read to him. Thirty-seven. Yep 37! No wonder my brain is a little addled. You read Moo Baa La La La 12 times in a row and see if you can think straight.

He has several favorites that he makes me read over and over and over. Where the Wild Things Are. Knuffle Bunny. Picture Me Having Dinosaur Fun. Dinosaur Roar. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Is it sad that after reading one of those books several times in a single day I have begun stashing them in places where he can’t see them so that I don’t have to read them again?

And you thought that he was pitiful when begging for a pancake. You haven’t seen pitiful until you say no when he brings you his favorite book to read.

Can’t you just hear that sad little cry?

So You Think You Can Dance - Kids

We love watching So You Think You Can Dance! Last week, Dallin took one look at those dancers and decided that he could dance just as good as they could and that he could could be the winner!

What do you think? Would you pick up the phone and vote for him?

I know I would. That little addition of the Charlie Brown style dance just totally won me over! Layton and Mandy were pretty good too!

Ingenuity at its Best

All that talk about cinnamon rolls last week made me hungry for some. So even though I’m supposed to be watching what I eat (yeah right!), I decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls. They were yummy. Layton especially thought so. Don’t believe me? I have proof.

Even though they were up on top of the stove, Layton found a way to get some for himself. How, you ask? He’s a midget, how did he get up there? By standing on a bucket.

Not just any bucket though. One that happened to be in Mandy and Dallin’s room. Which means that he went into their room, got the bucket, brought it into the kitchen, turned it upside down, and then stood on it.

Then he pigged out. Now that’s a baby that loves his sweets!

I can play too…

Sometimes Layton tries so hard to be a big kid like his brother and sister. Mandy and Dallin were playing a video game and he wanted to join in too. He actually climbed up into that spot between them all by himself so that he could be part of the action. He was pushing buttons just as frantically as they were.

Notice he is the only one looking at me? Mandy and Dallin couldn’t stand to look away from their game on the TV even for a moment. Thus the reason I have to limit the amount of time they play computer/video games because if I didn’t they would be lost to me forever. It is crazy how fast they learn this stuff. Mandy is only three and knows how to open up IE and click on the link to her games at PBSKids.

They take after their father in that way. Nathan has always loved technology too! He loves it even more than I do, which is saying a LOT.

I just love this picture. Mandy and Nathan have almost the exact same expression on their faces! Intense. Seriously intense. Curious George games have a way of bringing out the serious gamer in those two.

Go Cinnamon Rolls!

This weekend while watching never ending football, Dallin asked Nathan which teams were playing and which team “we” were cheering for. Nathan answered (I don’t even remember with what teams) and Dallin replied, “Oh, I really like that team” (which until that day, I’m pretty sure he had never heard of). Not to be out done, Mandy declared, “I like the Cinnamon Rolls.” After several minutes of laughter we all chimed in with how big a fan we are of cinnamon rolls too. I then asked Mandy if she wanted me to make some and she said, “No, not the ones you eat, the team.” That is when we realized she meant the SEMINOLES. So next time you hear us cheer “Go Cinnamon Rolls” during an FSU game, you’ll know why. And believe me, last Saturday day night I was doing lots of Cinnamon Roll cheering! Love that Mandy girl!

1st Date

My baby is growing up. He went out on his very first date. Chaperoned of course, because, well, he’s SIX!!!! Actually he just went to see a movie with a friend. Kaitlyn turned 6 a couple of weeks ago and rather than having a party, her mom told her that she could take a friend to see a movie. She picked Dallin. When her mom asked why, Kaitlyn said, “Because you know when a girl goes to the movies she is supposed to go with a boy.” Well, duh, right? And so, since Dallin is one of the only boys that she is friends with, he got picked. And boy was he happy. They went to see “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”. He loves the book and he loved the movie. Let’s just hope that he waits 10 more years before he goes on his next date!

A girly boy?

Mandy has taken her love of dressing up one step further. She has now decided she likes dressing up Layton too. Unfortunately for him, she likes to dress him up in her clothes. He does make a rather pretty little girl though, don’t you think? He felt a need to maintain a little of his boyish silliness by adding in a funny face!

Bedtime stories

read by six year olds are the very best kind.

Guess who found…

…my lingerie drawer.

At only three years old, Mandy absolutely knows how to work a camera.

It is pretty sad when your three year old looks better in your own lingerie than you do!

Lunch with Nana & Grandpa

During those few days that Nathan’s dad was able to visit before going overseas, Nathan took a long lunch from work and we all met up to enjoy a meal together.

Mandy was overjoyed to see her Nana and Grandpa.

Even Layton joined in on sharing the love.

We’re going to miss you Grandpa!  We hope you’re safe and settling in ok over there!

The Clown Princess

Mandy is a clown. We all know it. She loves to be goofy and make people laugh.

But it is surprising how royal she can act as well. While riding in the car, Nathan was telling the kids what chores they would need to do when we returned home. After hearing the list, Mandy brightly said, “I like presents and candy”, as though the only way we were going to get her to do anything is present gifts and lay them as an offering at the feet of our little princess.

I really think she is on to something though. The next time someone asks me to do something I am totally going to answer with, “I like presents and candy.”

I think her decree sounded so princessy to me because I’ve had royalty on the brain for the last little bit. I’ve recently discovered the books of Shannon Hale. The books I’ve read are The Goose Girl and Princess Academy. I know the titles don’t really sound that promising, but they were a surprisingly good read. They were written for a fairly young age group, I would say maybe the 9 to 14 year old crowd, but I still found lots to enjoy in them. They were many different layers to the story of intrigue, family relations, caste systems, war, and even elements of magic. And I’m not the only one who likes her stories, she won a Newberry Honor Award for the Princess Academy. Shannon Hale also happens to be LDS, which is how I found out about her in the first place. So if you are looking for a light, entertaining read, I would give them a try!

Family Reunion

Labor Day always brings with it the fun of the Jarvis family reunion.  There is always yummy food and tons of people that I don’t know.  I’m starting to recognize most people’s faces now, but since I see many of them only once a year, there are still quite a few names that elude me.  These are a some random pictures of a few of the people in attendance.  For some reason (namely that I had to watch Layton like a hawk around the pool), I didn’t get very many pictures of all the people that didn’t come out and hang around the pool.

 

 

And it wouldn’t be a family reunion without pickles!!!!

One of the biggest highlights of the day was that Nathan’s Dad was able to get a few days off from his deployment training in Wisconsin to visit with everyone before he heads off to Iraq.

The highlight of the reunion for my kids is always the pool.  Because Dallin could touch the bottom, he actually swam from one side of the pool to the other.  But because he is a chicken, he refused to try it at the deep end.

 

And Mandy, well Mandy is just Mandy.

 

Notice the grumpy expression?  It wasn’t that she was having a bad time, it was that she didn’t want me to take a picture.  Which is bizarre in an of itself because normally she begs me to take her picture.  She is a character.

And this is my favorite picture of the day.

I love little plumber pants on babies.  Now had he been 18 years old and showing a little butt crack, I would have yelled at him to pull up his drawers.  But since he is only 18 months old, I found it to be adorable :)

It was a great day for family.  Especially since we ended the day with Breanna’s baptism.

Another one of our nieces, Sarah, turned 8 yesterday.  She too chose be baptized.  We are so proud of her and Breanna for making such an important decision to follow the example of the Savior.

Family is so important to us.  And one of the great things that we love about our extended family is they all know how to have fun and don’t mind being a little goofy!

A New Baby Doll

Mandy has been wanting a new baby doll.  I think she found one.

He is the most amazing doll though.  He walks, gabbers, eats, wets his diaper, climbs tall buildings chairs in a single second, makes enormous messes, cries, laughs, and kicks a soccer ball like a pro.  Best baby doll EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Layton and the Giant Daddy

Every now and then I take a picture that immediately becomes a favorite.  This is  one of them.

Playing at the park, Layton saw Nathan climbing and decided that he wanted to try too.  Seeing them side by side like that just makes me laugh.  Layton is SSSSOOOOOOOO tiny.  Nathan literally looks like a giant beside him.

LOST

And I don’t mean the ABC television show, although it is one of my favorites. I mean Dallin’s first baby tooth. It finally came out.

It has been loose and wiggly for a while and he finally pulled it right out.

The crazy thing is that his permanent tooth was coming in right behind it. Isn’t that odd?

The tooth fairy was a bit of a bumbler though. First of all, she didn’t even have any cash on hand so instead she went out to the store late in the evening and just bought Dallin a little toy. Then the absent minded fairy completely forgot to exchange the tooth with the toy. So the next morning I had to send Dallin into the other room so that the tooth fairy could quickly set his little toy beside his tooth and then she forgot to even get the tooth. Dallin noticed this of course and so she had to come back a second night and take the tooth. She is so forgetful. What’s up with mythical creatures these days? Do you think I should contact the Fairy Workers Union and let them know about the poor service we received?

Rain, rain, DON’T go away

We have had a really wet summer this year. Many an afternoon, my kids have spent indoors due to the deluge of water outside. Last week, instead of complaining about the rain, we decided to embrace it. And WOW did we have fun. I think the pictures speak for themselves.