Fanciness

Have you met Nancy?

This is Nancy in her first adventure. She's had many since this one was published in 2005.

At first glance these look like girl books. Okay, they probably are girl books. But I read them to my boys. Why? Nancy has a fantastic vocabulary. She uses lots of large words, and then immediately explains what those fancy words mean.

Even though she's a girly-girl, I think she's swell.

Uncle Time

Speak Up

Do you ever mishear things? We do.

Cooper: (at the park, after being told there was a lizard over by a bush) So, where's the lazer?

And on a separate occasion:

Peter: Are all volcanoes distinct?

Yes they are, but he meant extinct.

Pesky similar sounding words...

A Believer's Life For Me

Girl's Camp for our Stake starts tomorrow. I'm not going at all this year, and I'm okay with that. I was able to make one contribution despite my lack of attendance. The theme is the thirteenth Article of Faith, and we're going with a pirate motif. My assignment was to rewrite the lyrics of the song "A Pirate's Life For Me" using our theme.

I think it turned out nicely.

The Song:

Yo ho, yo ho, a believer's life for me.

We're honest and forthright in all that we do:

Believe me 'earties, yo ho!

We strive to be modest; we're chaste and we're true:

Believe me 'earties, yo ho!

Yo ho, yo ho, a believer's life for me.

We seek for the praiseworthy, lovely, and good:
Believe me 'earties, yo ho.
We strive to be faithful and do what we should:

Believe me ‘earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a believer's life for me.
With charity, kindness, compassion, and grace,
Believe me 'earties, yo ho,
Benevolence shines, with a smile on our face.
Believe me 'earties, yo ho.

We’re pillars of virtue, although we are youths:

Believe me ‘earties, yo ho.

We’ll strengthen our families by living these truths:

Believe me ‘earties, yo ho.

We’ve been through a lot, and we hope to endure:

Believe me ‘earties, yo ho.

By serving our neighbors, our blessings ensure:

Believe me ‘earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a believer’s life for me.

Media Consumption

The boys have discovered the Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb.

I'm not sure this is a good thing.

On the one hand it does have lots of clever humor, and I do love cleverness. On the other hand, the main plot of each episode revolves around the two brothers causing mischief. It makes me think of an animated Calvin and Hobbes.

At least everything gets cleaned/put back to the way it was by the end of each installment.

Does this mean we've moved beyond Curious George and Word World? I don't think I'm ready for that.

Getting Ready for Sunday

I walked into Cooper's closet a few minutes ago and saw him wearing this ensemble. He informed that me he was ready for Sunday now. I get the tie, but I don't seem to recall us ever letting him wear a ball cap and slipper-socks to church.

He had a song that went with the outfit. It's both simple and to the point. Also, he may think today is Saturday.

Peter at Bat

T-ball ended yesterday. It was time. We enjoyed it, but I think we're ready to have our Tuesday and Thursday nights back. How do parents with lots of children in multiple activities keep up with everything? Between T-ball, Itty-Bitty Ball (which should have it's own post), and swim lessons, I'm exhausted.

My favorite T-ball moment was when Peter was on the pitcher's mound during the first game. He decided that he was done with the whole "watching the ball" thing and started doing an interpretive dance. It was awesome.

Here's Peter at one of his first games. See that glove? We couldn't find it before last night's game. I'm hoping we haven't lost it.

Here's Peter and his very patient coach during the last game. I think I captured the moment just before his coach told him he's right-handed and not left-handed.

I'm not sure that Peter has really gained any skills over the past month, but he did have lots of fun. And he can tell the bases apart now, so that's something.

The Still, Small Voice

During the first few minutes of Testimony meeting on Sunday, Peter turned and, with big brown eyes staring wide, began to interrogate me.

Peter: Mom, why aren't you up there? Why aren't you bearing your testimony? Do you HAVE a testimony?

Me: Yes.

Peter: Then I think you should bear it. I think you should go up.

And so I did.

Thanks Peter.

Pool Party

We celebrated Independence Day by going to Bryan's aunt and uncle's house and playing in the backyard. They had a kiddie pool and the sprinklers going. The boys had a ball. We brought Phoebe's inherited swimsuit (thank you cousin Clara) and prepped her for her first pool experience.

She was not a fan.

Don't worry, she enjoyed the rest of the day.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Starts Spitting

We've been working on our memorization skills. Hello, Lewis Carroll. Perhaps we'll do the Jabberwocky next?