2014 Kidisms

Here's the annual round-up of the funny things the kids have said through the year.  Most are from Bree, as she's learning more and more vocabulary with her own pronunciations that are so cute.  But Tess and Miles still give us some zingers too!  Enjoy.

January 2014

Breeisms:  already= alldurly

rhinoceros= rhine-a-ROSS-us!

Oh, the humor of a 6 yr old boy...Miles is in his room singing "the pooper man built his poop upon the rock!"

March 2014

Miles was looking at a "Cloud Cake" (which is one of the Twinkie knock-offs from when Hostess went bankrupt) and asked why it's called Cloud Cake. I explained that it was probably just because it had white, fluffy filling inside like a cloud. He paused and then said it should be called "Sugary Hot Dog" instead. Ha!

Bree's foot must've fallen asleep because she suddenly exclaimed, "Aah! I have BUGS on my feet! Bugs all over!" And she continued for several minutes about the bugs on her one foot. :)

May 2014

We were talking about poisonous spiders and whether or not a bite could actually kill you. We said that some can, but they are probably all far away in the Amazon somewhere. After a pause, Tess (in all seriousness) said, "but why on earth would anyone buy one of those spiders?" We were confused by her question and she said, "you know? On Amazon? Why would someone buy one?"

Bree tries to say "Holy Toledo!" and it comes out "Holy Tolodey!"

Bree noticed a weird stain/mark on her little potty chair while she was pottying and she was concerned (she probably wondered if it was poop or something--it was not; the plastic was just discolored there.) I told her it would not come off. She said, "but have you cleaned it?" yep. "but have you wiped it?" yep. "but have you washed it?" yep. "but have you scrubbed it?" yep. "but have you whacked it with a hammer?!" (Ah, that girl cracks me up!)

June 2014

Bree can't say "practicing" (as in practicing the piano), so it sounds like "praxi-deen." When we had a piano tuner here, she came running down the hall saying "Hey! Who is that praxi-deen??"

August 2014

Breeisms: girl= glill

thumb= flumb

comfy= cumpy

October 2014

Bree call M&Ms "enemans."

A little fuzzy on the concept...I gave Bree a tape measure to play with and I heard her say in her bedroom, "Hmm...how tall is my dresser? It's...5 minutes deep." ha!

November 2014

Bree came into our room the other morning and we could smell poopy pants.  (She is finally, finally potty trained, but she still wears a pull-up at night.)  Bryan said, “did you poop your pants?  Pooping your pants is for the birds!”  and Bree immediately replied in a disgusted voice, “yeah! and they poop on the windows!” 

Bree asked when we would put out our Christmas desharakuns.

December 2015
Breeism: automatic= automackit (She is very very concerned about public bathrooms with automackit flushers.)

Christmas Festivities!

We had such a good Christmas!  This is a photo-heavy post, telling about some of our fun activities...  First off was the Joy School field trip with Bree to the Ogden Christmas Village.  The weather was so nice and warm (when we went with Miles's Joy School group 3 years ago we all about froze our bums off!)  It's always fun for the kids to see the little displays and they got to visit with Mrs. Claus, who also gave them a little treat bag.  Bree was nervous to sit on her lap though.

 Tess has been singing with the school choir this year.  She's been enjoying it; they have a great choir director who makes it really fun for the kids.  Here they are at their Christmas performance.

Bryan took 2 whole weeks off work during the break and it was fantastic!  He took Miles out of school one day and they went antelope hunting, which Bryan has never hunted before.  I sure hope we like antelope jerky, because we're getting a lot of it very soon.  (Let me know if any of you want to try some...I have a feeling we'll have plenty to share!)  This was Miles's first hunting trip with Bryan and he had a great time!  But the very first thing he told me when he came home was, "Mom, we saw the part of her body that grows a baby, and there was a baby in there!  Twins!  Two little babies."  Oh man, I coulda done without that.  :(    I'm not anti-hunting at all, but I felt so sad that this doe was pregnant with twins!  Miles didn't seem upset by it though--he thought the whole thing was great.  It was a really super father-son day.

Every year our family goes to Christmas Village as well; after which we head to the dollar store and let the kids pick out gifts for their sibs and parents.  It's fun trying to be sneaky since we're all in the same store together...one parent takes a kid or two to help pick out their gifts, then we swap kids and pick out the gift for the other parent.  It's pretty fun.  After that, we always head home and watch Elf, which is probably our very favorite Christmas movie.

Here's a family photo after church the Sunday before Christmas, all dressed up in our Christmas duds.

My sweet Aunt Kathy found a super fun idea for making Christmas ornaments and she forwarded it on to me.  I'm so glad she did because this was such a great activity!  You paint the kiddos' hands with white paint and then let them gently grab an ornament.  The hand print looks like 5 little snowmen standing there.  When it dries you use markers to decorate your snowmen.  They turned out so cute!  We made a set for us and a set for each grandparent too.

(like a dummy, I didn't take photos of ours all finished, and now all the Christmas stuff is put away... but here's a Google image with a very similar one)

 

Christmas Eve is always lots of fun with Bryan's family.  We eat traditional Christmas ham and potatoes at Rebecca and Aaron's house, while the kids play together and the grown ups visit and play games.  Afterward we head home for our bamatamb traditions, which include new Christmas jammies, opening sibling gifts for each other, and opening a new family game or two.  Then we all go play our new game until the kids are tired.  Then we read The Night Before Christmas poem (the Mary Engelbreit version has the BEST illustrations) and then we read the Christmas story from the Bible before tucking the kids in bed all together in Tess's room  (just Miles and Tess for now; Bree's still little enough to zonk out in her own room.)

Christmas morning, of course, is always exciting!  I love the picture below because when we asked our sweet, sweet Miles what he wanted Santa to bring, all he would say is a new box of crayons.  Apparently all his classmates have 24-packs of colors, and Miles's is just a 16-pack.  He just wanted a 24-pack of crayons!  Bless his heart!  So when he found 2 new boxes of 24-pack crayons in his stocking he was thrilled...

Bree asked for a Tiana doll, and I asked Santa for a new dresser for Bree on her behalf.  The poor sad dresser she currently had belonged to my big sis as a kid for years, then was handed down to me for years, then was used as the dresser/changing table for Tess, Miles, AND Bree.  The thing had lived a good life, but was so, so done.

 I didn't get any great pics of Tess...most were blurry, but here she is checking out her Goldie Blox set, which is a pretty cool building set designed for girls.  She made some really fun things with it.

Downstairs waiting for us was a gift for the whole family...  air hockey on one side, pool on the other, and a removable ping pong table top.  We have had so much fun with this thing in the past week!  The kids sometimes play alone, or we play all together as a family, or Bryan and I just play.  It is great!

Tess & Miles also received Kindles.  Here they are checking them out.

One of my very favorite pictures of Christmas day is this one of Daddy painting Bree's toenails with her new nail polish.  (look carefully at her little finger...you just might see Bryan wrapped right around it! ;)

Gramma & Grampa Terry always come for a visit on Christmas morning, and then we head down to Tooele to be with the Jensen clan.  First to Papa's house for a cousin gift exchange and then up to Gma J's house for the extended family party.  It's a full day!  But so much fun.  We are always so spoiled, all around.  We feel very thankful to be able to see almost all of the family over 2 fun-filled days of festivities (we miss Bryan's sister Jennifer and her family in Ohio!)

One last picture is of Bree on Christmas night, wearing her new Elsa dress, playing with her new Play-doh princess castle.  Ah, bliss.

Merry Christmas!

Happy 7th Birthday to Miles!

Our sweet Mr. Miles's birthday was yesterday!  His "magic birthday"-- 7 years old on the 7th!  Since it was a Sunday we did most of our celebrating on Saturday.  When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he said he wanted the snow monster from Frozen.  Uuhhhhh.  Nope, not gonna happen!  I like making shaped cakes usually, but they are always very simple and basic and I knew that the snow monster was waaaayyyy beyond my very limited abilities.  So when I asked for another idea, he said a potion bottle (he's been reading Harry Potter, so I guess that's where he got the idea.)  I suggested we just do a flat cake and then HE could help decorate it!  (No, this wasn't me totally copping out on decorating, nuh-uh...this was me letting my son be creative, yeah!)  Anyway, I just drew a simple potion bottle (which actually looks more like a chemistry beaker, but it was the shape he said he wanted) and let him and Tess go to town with the piping bags.  I offered to make multiple colors of frosting, but he just wanted one.  They had fun at least!

This silly kid is nothing if not exuberant! Whatever his emotion is at the moment seems to be multiplied several times over!  (Anger is rage, sadness is devastation, happiness is euphoria, etc.) Here he is opening his present from Papa and feeling pretty excited about his new light saber.

 We invited his buddy Burke to come with us to the Classic Fun Center.  They played at the Pirate's Cove, the bouncy houses, the skating rink (riding scooters), mini bowling, and arcade games.  It was a lot of fun!

Sunday morning he opened gifts from us.  Here he is checking out his new Wall Track.

Our funny kids change into jammies the minute church gets over, even if it's over at 12:00 noon.  (I can't blame them; I immediately change into sweats myself!)  So when G&G T came to visit, he was already sporting the jams.  He loves his Nerf bow & arrow.

Here's Miles's birthday interview (along with some pics that make me nostalgic for my baby boy!)

He is currently 58 lbs. and 4 feet, 2.5 inches tall.  

What is a happy memory you have?  When I was doing the Tomato Days thing, the Bungee Cord.

What is one word to describe you?  Crazy.  

Why do you like being a kid?  Because kids are crazy and they have fun.

What do you like to do for fun?  Play tetherball.

What's your favorite thing to do with your friends?  Play "the warning game."  There's warnings and you read them.  Example:  "Warning!  There are lots of ghosts and zombies down here!  Are you sure you want to go?"  And then you go and defeat them.

What's your favorite thing to do with your family?  Play baseball with them.

What's the nicest thing you did for someone?  I made my sisters' beds.

What's your favorite song?  I like lots of songs.

What's your favorite color?  Green. 

What's your favorite movie?  Mr. Peabody and Sherman and Despicable Me 2.

What's your favorite book?  Geronimo Stilton.

What's your favorite TV show?  Chima.

What's your favorite food?  Ham & cheese soup.

What's your favorite dessert?  cake with ice cream.

Who's your best friend?  Burke.

What's a talent of yours?  I can hit the tetherball over the pole.

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Spaceman.

What's the best thing about being 7?  I get to do more stuff, like I get to go to school some more. 

Oh, we are grateful to have Miles in our family!  What a great kid he is!  Quick to mind us and usually eager to help out, we don't know what we'd do without him.  He has his moments of fighting with his sisters, but man, he can also play so nicely with each of them!  We are continually impressed by his sharp sharp mind.  His memory is fantastic!  I also LOVE hearing him as he's learning Spanish and his accent is so good! 

We love you Mr. Miles!!!

ES3 Christmas Party

Each year, for Bryan's work Christmas party, we get to have dinner and entertainment and then they put us up in a hotel room.  It is really generous of them and we enjoy it every year.  In the past it was always at Snowbird or The Canyons (I guess it was so that people could ski the next day, but we never did.)  But this year they decided to host it at the Grand America in Salt Lake.  It was Swanky, with a capital S!  Everything was super fancy (way, way fancier than we need or expect.  We are pretty low-key and this was very frou-frou.)  But we had a great time!

Here's our beautiful room and bathroom.  Everything was luxurious; marble all over the bathrooms, super plush robes, and even a free pair of slippers that Bryan has been wearing every day at home since we got back! :)

Each room had a separate sitting area and a balcony.

Here is the closet and vanity area.  (Those double doors were so pretty, but Bryan and I BOTH totally smashed our fingers opening them!  Bad design on those door handles...if you put your hand on the handle and push them open, it smashes your hand on the adjacent door.  We figured out that you need to just push on both doors at the same time (not on the handle) and you'd be OK.)  

They even had a bathroom scale, which was not so great after eating a big buffet dinner! Ha!

 Here we are on our way to dinner...

 ...and by the cool gingerbread house outside the ballroom.

We feel pretty lucky to have this night away each year.  AND, since our anniversary is December 14th, this is always a fun little anniversary treat!

4th Grade Party

I loved helping out in Tess's 4th Grade Thanksgiving Party on Tuesday.  Here are just a few pics from that day:

First they did the donuts-on-a-string eating contest.  Tess didn't win, but she still did really well and tried hard!  And, who cares who wins when you get to eat a donut, amiright?

 I had Bree with me, and she's such a little charmer that lots of kids in Tess's class just loved talking to her and playing with her.  They made little turkeys out of Oreos and candy, and Bree thought that was pretty fun.  Here is a cute pic with some of Tess's classmates.

I am thankful for so many things in my life.  First and foremost, of course, is my family.  Our little bamatamb fam is precious to me and I thank God every day for them.  I am also so grateful for the families that Bryan and I grew up in.  I'm thankful for our home and our wonderful neighborhood.  I so thankful that Bryan and I were able to get an education and I'm very thankful for Bryan's good job.  I'm thankful to live close enough to family to spend holidays together and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving together tomorrow!

Project for a Lazy Day...

Miles and I were both a little bit sick last weekend and so we just kind of laid around all day Saturday and skipped Stake Conference on Sunday.  But you can only watch so much TV before going crazy so I decided to get out this puzzle, which I bought a couple years ago on a whim but which we had not even opened yet.  It was 1000 pieces and it actually took many, many hours to do!  We worked Sunday for a long long time--it's kind of addicting!  Miles and Tess also enjoyed helping a bit here and there.  Then I did quite a bit on Monday while Bryan was at work, and then we finished it together tonight.  It is so satisfying to put that last piece in!  We decided that we need to do tricky puzzles more often!  

Halloween 2014

Our school did a Halloween parade this year!  I was really excited; in the past the kids could not even wear costumes to school at all, but we have a new principal this year and she wanted to do it.  (As a teacher I can understand how "no costumes" would be much easier & less stressful for the craziness of the holiday, but as a mom I was thrilled to see all the kids in their costumes.  And I remember doing a parade each year when I was in elementary school and I loved it!)  The parade was really fun and I loved seeing the whole school in their costumes.  Here is Tess waving to us:

 ...And Miles...

Here are a few of my other favorites from the parade: 

This was a "purple minion" from Despicable Me 2.  I wish I caught the face in the pic too, but she turned her head just as a I took it.  She looked so great!

 This one was probably my favorite.  "Bad Cop" from The Lego Movie.  It looked perfect.  The poor kid could barely walk though.

 And cute Senora Huerta... she was Dr. Suess's "Thing 1." ("Cosa 1" en espanol!--She will be Miles's teacher next year for Spanish Immersion.)

It's a little hard to see the costumes in those pictures, so here are some better close-ups.  Tess was Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter (her best friend was Hermione Granger so they had a fun time dressing alike).  Miles was a "black ninja" and he was doing his fierce eyes in this picture.  Bree was Princess Anna from the movie Frozen (there were billions of Elsas, so I'm glad that Bree wanted something just a little bit different.)

They all looked so great!  I was pooped out that night so I decided to nominate Bryan to take them Trick-or-Treating.  We thought back and realized that I was the one who had taken them every year.  Every year!  (Bryan did usually come along for the first little bit, but then he'd head home to hand out candy.)  So I said I wanted to be on candy duty.  The night was so warm and beautiful (this whole October has been glorious!) and I just sat out on my porch, rocking in the rocking chair, reading my Kindle between trick-or-treaters.  It was awesome!  I think I want that gig every year.