One Fun(ny) Week

Funny Features

Gabe snuggled up with me on Sunday morning to warm up his frozen toes. 

I said, "You only love me for my warmth," 

and the charmer replied, "No, I love you for your beauty."

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Gabe was assigned to be the lesson helper for Family Home Evening and 

he announced to Matt and I that he had a great idea...

Us: "What's your idea, buddy?"

Gabe: "Let's have a fire drill for when Jesus come again!"

Us: (trying NOT to laugh) "It won't work quite like that, buddy."

*Now, before you think we're preaching fire and brimstone at our house, you should know that the day before this conversation, Matt had caught Gabe and Max jumping out of their bedroom window and into the yard. He informed them that this activity was only acceptable during a fire drill, so Gabe was trying to come up with a way to jump out his window again!

He must have thought we couldn't say "no" if there was a good spiritual reason to go with it.

I told this story to our stake president and his wife, who are friends of ours, and Pres. H laughed and said, "You need to teach him that we want to be the ones whose houses DON'T burn!"

AMEN. ;D

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I've been wanting to show the movie Forever Strong to my family for quite a while,
and we found some time to do it last night. There are several heart-wrenching & heart-warming moments in there and my tenderhearted lambs were teary-eyed.
Gabe said to me afterward, "Mom, I had three waterfalls!"
Zach said it's one of his new favorite movies.
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I was in the checkout line of the grocery store, loading bags of groceries into the cart, when Jared picks up my wallet, pulls out my debit card and leans over to hand it to the cashier.

    

     Me: (Laughing) "What does that mean when your two-year-old 

knows which card in your wallet to use?"

     Cashier: "It means you spend too much money."

    

Ouch!
*I think it means he's one VERY clever toddler who doesn't miss a thing!!!

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Theater Camp

Last year, Lauren participated in a summer theater camp called "Up With Kids!" and in a week's time, these kids auditioned for the play (condensed version of Beauty & the Beast,) were assigned parts, learned their lines, choreography and songs and put on a performance of the play on Friday night.
It was a GREAT experience for her, and has really sparked her interest in theater.

This year, "Up With Kids!" was preparing the play... The Little Mermaid

Lauren, Gabe & Max all wanted to take part so they've spent M-F 9am to 3pm at theater camp 

(with the last hour of each day being a swimming party.) 

They've been making friends, learning songs, lines and dances, and having a GREAT time - so fun!

Lauren's Part: Queen Triton 
(they transferred King Triton's role to a girl. Lauren is THRILLED.)

Gabe's Parts: Grimsby (Prince Eric's Advisor,) Gnarly (merman surfer dude,) 

and one of Ursula's Sea Creatures

Max's Parts: Jetsam (Ursula's eel,) Radical (merman surfer dude,) and a Sailor.

This has been such a great learning experience for the kids. Performing really takes a lot of COURAGE. And the kids have learned a lot about creating distinct characters and having a dramatic 'range.' The boys play villains one minute, silly surfers the next and Gabe also plays stuffy, proper Grimsby as well. Gabe was really nervous about some of his lines (especially the silly surfer-dude ones.) But by Wednesday, he announced that he LOVED all of his parts. I've loved watching them make new friends, and grow throughout this week. The play is tonight and I hope to post some video highlights tomorrow.

Break a leg, guys!
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Zach

Zach wasn't interested in theater camp, but this week has been a great experience with my boys who were still at home. Zach and I have been working in the yard for a couple of hours each morning, which is a cruel irony in our family, because he and I suffer from seasonal allergies to weeds and grass seed, etc. But the great part was how much we talked. Zach is growing up SO much. I just loved listening to his thoughts, jokes, stories of books he's read and more. He's been helping me plan meals and learning to make a shopping list. He's learned to make popcorn on the stove. He's been looking at house listings with me and learning about how to shop within a budget and look for things we need in a home. After the yard work misery, Zach, Jared & I would head to the pool for an hour or two to cool off and just play. This has been a great week!