Volume VIII, issue viii, September 2012

One Small Step for Charlie Kind

We were extremely proud of Charlie for learning some mad new skills in September!

Charlie learning to Canoodle with his Lunch. 

I heard raucous laughter from both the bigger kids and Charlie and ran into the living room to see what was causing such an outburst. This is what Eric was doing to entertain our innocent little chap.

The Jackson Three

In early September we took our annual late summer trek to Jackson Hole. We honored our trio of traditions as we hiked to Taggart Lake, swam at the Rec Center in Jackson Hole and ate ribs at Bubbas. Satisfaction!

Eve's Observation

I was involved in some project that demanded something orange, sweet and stretchy. (I don't even remember what it was. Weird.) I asked Eve, "Do they make orange fruit roll ups?" She responded thoughtfully, "According to my kid instincts, I don't think they come in orange."

Marie's Artistic Sensibilities

   In the beginning she says, "I'm Marie d'Evegnee and I'm gonna play Twinkle Little Star Marie." After that, it frankly gets a little morbid. She sings it with such cheer though, don't you think? (I'm glad she went to the "doctor," but it honestly sounds like it might have been too late.) But at least her friends help resolve the existential dilemma when they demonstrate their humanity as they say, "C'mon. . . guys, what should we do?"
   Marie's poetic soul also emerged the other day when she was upset and she observed, ""When I cry, it's raining in my eyes."

             If you think that I have fun getting her dressed for preschool, you might be right!

I don't know which is worse--the fact that they make such great dorks or the fact that they look much more like their Hafen side in all of these photos. It just comes so naturally that I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed. 

Peter's Prayers
   Peter's prayers have been evolving from their toddler stage to their Hugh Nibley stage. Earlier this year, Peter had a primary lesson about the prophet Nephi building a ship to cross the ocean to come to America. That Sunday night, Peter prayed with all sincerity, "Please help Nephi build his ship." Peter continued saying this same phrase every night for months, and even though we know from the Book of Mormon plot that Nephi's boat got the job done, his honest anxiety for Nephi's project made us hope that somehow prayers can be retroactive.
 
   This summer, Peter started to pick up on the fact that he can pray about different things that have happened during his day and that he doesn't need to say the same things in every prayer. When Eric came home from his trip, he gave each of the kids souvenirs from his adventures. Peter received a plastic axe from Mount Vernon that was filled with tiny candy cherries. In his prayer that night, Peter said, "Thanks for my present from Dad. . . which was the AWESOMEST of them ALL!"

    It was difficult for Peter to endure the long countdown to his birthday, so we started telling him how many days he had left each night. A few days before his birthday he prayed with passion, "Thanks that in four days it's my birthday. . . and then three days. . . and then two days. . . and then one day and then it's my birthday! And THEN. . . just around the corner is HALLOWEEN!"

   He opened his bright blue eyes and gasped as he cried out, "Hey! That's just like talking!"
 
   I leaned down and kissed his thankfully still-chubby cheek goodnight and said, "Yes, Peter, it is just like talking and Heavenly Father loves it when you talk to him that way." How could I not be head-over-absolute-heels in love with that kid?
 
   The night of his birthday party, Peter gratefully sang out , "Thanks for my awesome, AWESOME party!"

                        Avengers Parties with a Vengeance

    For our two September boys' birthday bashes, I thought I'd multi-task and have both parties on the same day. I honestly thought I was being somehow smart and savvy. Don't ask me why. I just remember thinking how brilliant I was because both boys would have the same theme and apparently there was something smart about that. And I'm not ashamed to say I was wrong. Dang wrong.

    What they don't tell you in the "Don't-Be-Stupid-and-Have-Two-Birthday-Parties-in-the-Same-Day Handbook" is that you will actually do twice the work and will stupidly render yourself twice as awesomely tired when you're done. Really, it's simple math. Two Parties= Two Party Hangovers. At the same time.

   Now that my confessional of idiocy is over, I will admit that both parties were fun. Dang fun. (Which is the problem with over-doing things in general. Your regret at having done so much will pretty much be exponentially balanced with how much fun you had. And that explains my party-planning philosophy.)

Here are the invitations:

 Peter and Marie and I delivered the invitations in a flurry of neighborhood flags on September 11th. I teared up a little as I watched my little super heroes joyfully run down the street with the colors of freedom waving all around them. As they looked at the flags, Marie wrinkled her nose and said, "Hey! Our costumes match the flags! Why, Mom?" As I explained to them the meaning behind those stars and stripes, I was emotional and extremely proud of our country and what it represents on so many levels.

Even Charlie got to dress up for the occasion. 

                                              I didn't think it could get any cuter than this. . .

                                                         . . . until they did THIS.

Another September highlight delightfully plunked itself in the middle of all of the Avenger madness, and that was the honor of meeting the long-awaited Zoey Hinckley. She had nine adoring fans waiting in line to hold her like she was royalty. Welcome to Zoey and congratulations to Wendy and Spencer!