It is January

I guess the most exciting thing to happen at our house recently was the discovery of a secret club house. There is a very small crawlspace underneath the stairs down in our basement. Elinor found it, but the entrance to get into it was SO SMALL that Clark was very sad he couldn't join the girls. The next day he decided to go for (try to get in) if Abe and I promised we would call the fire department if he couldn't get out.





This next picture shows the size of hole he got his body through. I was amazed. The excitement of this secret hide-out lasted a good couple of weeks. I didn't realize that they had opened a can of paint and with Bethany's direction had begun the interior decorating of the hide-out. You'd have thought we lived in an old English manor and they had discovered a hundred year old mystery.






The girls all share a room. They seem to enjoy being together most of the time. Bethany is on the top bunk, Elinor on the bottom and Faith has a little toddler bed. Lately they all like to sleep together. I don't know how they ever fall asleep, but they think it is fun.














Here is some really exciting news! My sister, Brigitta gave birth to her second child, a very healthy baby boy! Brigham Dev Chaston. He was 7 lbs 3 oz. and born by C-section. Both baby and mother are doing great. Congratulations!!









Daddy dog pile! It wasn't quite stable enough for Cannon to be on top.












My Girls! Dressed up in dishrags and hot pads! We have probably about 4 big totes of dress up clothes and costumes, but they choose dishrags! Of course their favorite game is "poor girl" so dishrags work well.









Clark makes his own bow and arrow and Robin Hood hat. He got his instructions from the Dangerous Book for Boys we got from the library. He's been very busy with projects this week.










Bethany plays the victim of the bow. We have no shortage of drama around here.












Cannon update: He loves food-- just not baby food. He likes veggie soup, chicken enchilada, pizza, sausage and eggs. All with no teeth! He is army crawling and still not sleeping very well. He is a wiggly little guy!

"Flash-pants"

We have a cat. Her name is Flash, but we like to give ridiculous nicknames to all family members, so her nickname is Flash-pants. Where do the nicknames come from? I don't know. Is there a rhyme or reason to them? No. They just come to me. If you've ever played a board or card games with me I've probably given you a "game name". Anyway, we have a cat named Flash. We've had her for about 1 1/2 years. She is exceptionally docile and she is house-trained. Seriously, we've never used a litter box with her. She goes to the door and waits to be let out when she needs some private time. Here's the other miracle of Flash-- she is the biggest puff ball (She's quite a small cat, but super fluffy fur), but she does not shed at all. How is that? I don't know. Well the cute thing is that for a while Abe was been dead set against having Flash inside the house ever. But this cat has worked its way into Abe's good graces and now they occasionally share couch space. He really likes Flash. Just a bit ago he was trying to find Flash and he went around the house meowing in a really high meow voice-- of course he was trying to find her to put her out in the garage!

Go to cannonoaks.blogpost.com to see a great post by my dad on a recent exploration with Clark.

Who gets the punishment?

WARNING--this is a ramblings post of mother-thoughts at the end of a week!

A word to the wise: When dishing out a punishment to a child for breaking a rule, be quite certain you are not punishing yourself far worse than them. For example- When Clark gets all of his school work done he earns 45 minutes of computer time or Wii time. This arrangement has been working out well for many months now. Last night I went visiting teaching and in my absence Clark figured ,"the cat's away-the mice will play" and he took the opportunity to play more computer time. The 45 minute rule is pretty strict and he knows it, but I guess Abe doesn't really know it. In all fairness to Abe, he isn't here that often, so I shouldn't blame him (although I did anyway).
When I arrived home I wasn't too pleased and told Clark, "you'll still need to get your school stuff done tomorrow, but you won't be able to play computer or Wii".
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID decision on my part!!!
As a result he skulked around the house all day with ZERO motivation to do anything, except to tease his sisters!

Subject change-- FAITH IS POTTY TRAINED! Yea! I think some very musically talented person should put out a CD of top potty song hits! I'm sure I'm not the only mom who makes up little "potty ditties" to encourage and celebrate the proper use of the potty.

QUESTION-- Do any of you other mothers out there let the two year old go around all day with all clothes, including shoes put on backwards? I was so pleased that Faith took the initiative to get herself dressed this morning that I didn't have the heart to tell her everything was on backwards. Is that mean like when you put a shirt on inside out and nobody tells you about it so you go around all day looking like an idiot?

It might be a little early to tell, but I suspect Cannon is on the verge of becoming a better sleeper. He is finally taking longer, more organized naps and that is the first step to sleeping better at night (or so all the "experts" tell me). Oh, I hope so.

I have had a couple of new, exciting developments in my life lately. I was recently called as the Primary President in my ward. I really enjoy working in Primary and I have great ladies to work with so I'm looking forward to it. I have also started teaching piano lessons. I have six students and it's been really fun.

Book recommendation-- I just finished reading A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter and I really enjoyed it. So if you are looking for a good, uplifting read I recommend it.


All right, that is all for my ramblings tonight. It is the weekend and Abe is home and I'm going to try to be nicer than I've been the last couple of days.

No, I'm sorry, I can't watch 24

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the tv show, 24. Most men really like this show. I think they fantasize about being Jack Bauer. The first couple of seasons I could watch this show with Abe. It was very exciting and quite an adrenaline rush, although it would take me a little longer to fall asleep afterwards. NowdaysI CANNOT watch the show. I feel like I'm haveing a panic attack after just a couple of minutes. Abe is watching it up in our bedroom right now. The music alone seriously stresses me out!-the ticking clock--- it makes me feel like there is a bomb in my house! No, no, I cannot watch 24. In fact I did try to watch a bit with Abe of the season opener, but while I was watching I starting getting paranoid just thinking of all the bad things that were about to wrong in my life. No, not healthy for me.

Faith shows off her new ballerina pajamas! She was just delighted with herself.

"Adventures"

As I sit here on my comfy sofa I am listening to Abe and the kiddies playing "Adventures". That's what they call a role playing, fantasy game. I think "Adventures" sounds nicer than "Dungeons and Dragons". This is a game that I lack the creative juices to appreciate. I don't understand it. Abe has played games like this with his brothers for many many years. Not many years AGO, mind you. They still play at every family reunion. I've stopped fighting it. I don't get it, but whatever. Occasionally I hear them playing and I interject an idea. For example: someone suggests freezing whoever is on the other side of the door.
Clark: How do you know it is not a friend?
So I say: Well if you freeze them, then it won't be permanent. They will melt.
Abe looks at met like I'm an idiot--He says, "Honey. . . this is the freeze of death"

Oh, pardon me. I thought this was all make believe. Why couldn't it be a freeze that is only temporary?
Or one time Abe says, "someday I really want to play a character with his own dragon".
THIS IS IMAGINARY!!!!! Have a dragon if you want one!
Like I said- I don't understand. But they love it.

Okay. . . that's probably enough

There are a few exremely blissful days following Christmas. Everyone is contented with their new treasures. There are no major chores that need to be done. No one wants or expects real healthy sit down meals. You don't need to leave the house very often because you don't have anywhere to go. Hair doesn't get done, clothes don't match and nobody cares. You watch movies and play games any time of the day or night, and you are never really sure what day of the week or month it is.
Then comes the day after New Years and you realize,
okay. . . that is probably enough reveling. We should get back to regular life again. That is how I am feeling today. But it sure was a fun Christmas break.


Abe took Clark, Bethany and Elinor sledding on New Year's.

This sledding hill is very close to my sister's house. The kids had a great time and there were no injuries. Last year everyone had some pretty painful bumps and bruises from the same hill.


Faith LOVES Cannon. It is good that she build up a reserve of loving feelings toward Cannon because I figure in about two years he will be able to beat the tar out of her. She isn't the most assertive little girl and he is a really strong little guy.