"RED"

It was Missoula Children's Theatre (I like spelling it that way--it makes me feel cultured.  Just like spelling potty like a pea pod makes me feel vegetarian) week in Wells, Nevada.  Our family was well-represented.  Clarissa starred as Little Red Riding Hood, a teen who didn't want to be treated as a child anymore and preferred to go by "Red."  Carolina was her baby sister, Baby Hood, who nearly stole the show with her singing and dancing.  Deseret was Ranger Rooney, the forest ranger who cracked corny jokes.  Liberty was one of the adorable three little pigs, always looking for new building material.  Hyrum, Morgan, Isaiah, and Liliana were part of the naughty wolfgang who were up to no good.  Ruben and Luke were cute little raccoons who tried to steal Red's picnic basket.  The show was darling, the kids did great in it, and all rejoiced in the thrill of the performance.  Here are a few pictures for the grandparents:

The Three Little Pigs (Liberty's the third from the right), Ranger Rooney (Deseret), & Little Red Riding Hood (Clarissa)

"Red" and her girlfriend

Ranger Rooney singing about the beautiful morning

That pig's got a cute smile!

Carolina's way of hiding as Baby Hood

Baby Hood singing "Stay on the Trail"

Ruben. Luke, & Kelsie as adorable raccoons

The raccoons' tails were my favorite part of their costume.

Isaiah being part of the Wolfgang

Lili as a wolf in sheep's clothing

 

Liliana

Hyrum hiding.

Morgan looking mischievous.

And now, lest my youngest three feel left out, here are some pictures of some acting they've been doing:

Marcos, acting like a train driver.

Omar, acting like he can't smile.  He is his father's son.  He is generous with his smiles, but hides them when the camera comes out.  I have yet to capture his sweet smile to my satisfaction in a picture.

And finally, little Ammon, acting like he's sorry he spilled three cups of water for the 76th time today--acting also like he cleans up after himself.  With that smile, he's rather convincing.

  

A Correction, Glasses, Smiles, and A 5K

It turns out Marianne does read my blog and she alerted me to a misspelling.  She said I spell poddy-training wrong and that it should be potty-training.  Now, I see that.  Poddy-training is underscored with a red, squiggly line and potty-training is not.  "Just think of it like a pot--you know, a chamber pot," is how Marianne put it.  That's helpful.  We do have Edgar's ipod and we had some pea pods awhile ago, but I don't associate either one with Marcos learning to use the toilet.  You never know though.  He has been known to think outside the box (or the pot, if you will), when he needs to go.

 We had eye appointments this week.  As we waited for the doctor, Lili expressed how much she would love to have glasses.  I hadn't noticed that she needed them.  She hasn't been running into things or anything, but it so happens that she does need them.  She now has them, but they hurt her nose so she doesn't wear them.  She did try them on for this picture.  We need to have them adjusted for her cute little face.  Edgar picked them up and she was not with him.

 Omar is smiling all the time--especially at night when I am up with him.  He knows I need a little encouragement at that time.  He has slept exceptionally well this week:  six to seven hours at a stretch.  That, coupled with his smiles, thrills me.

 Liliana was invited by the Johnsons (so glad they're back!) to be in a 5K yesterday.  She loved it and won for her the girls in her age group.  She decided running is her thing.  (Marianne always knew it was--she has long said that Lili was destined to be a runner.  Besides spelling, Marianne is good at a myriad of things.)  Liliana said a lot of people got these blue ribbons, but we thought it was special enough to photograph. 

And I must leave.  Edgar took all the children to our nephew's birthday celebration and I told him I would be there soon.

Beating the Heat

Nothing says summer around here like swimming in Boulder Creek.  Edgar stayed home with the two youngest boys and I took the older three and three cousins for a lovely, cooling-off time.  I became a spouting whale, as I am prone to do.  Since the Johnsons weren't there, I took the liberty of spouting off all over the place.  The Johnsons don't like my spouting.

 

To celebrate the 4th of July, Ruben made this American flag out of a piece of paper, a stick, and some tape.  He is dressed as a soldier, if you can't tell.  That hole in his mouth is where he lost a tooth this week.

 

Ammon is lucky and he knows it (as you can tell from this picture).  Every time Marcos gets a treat for doing a good job with poddy training, Ammon also gets a treat.  He had just enjoyed smearing the treat all over his face when I took this picture.  He makes at least 84 messes every day.

Isn't Omar looking particularly wise and intelligent these days?  He is changing so much all the time.

A Mini Reunion

Edgar's first day back at work is always a little sad for me.  The Johnsons have been gone and I've been missing them--especially my sister Marianne and our several-times-a-day chats.  On Friday I went to my parents' house to borrow some things (don't worry, Big Guy, I'll take good care of them and you won't even miss them).  As I walked around their place and watered the greenhouse (We had our first cucumber!), it felt like my parents have already been gone FOREVER.  It's only been about four months, so we have fourteen to go.  I was a bit melancholy, but yesterday I got a little treat to make up for it.  This lady, my dear Thelma, my sister from faraway Washington, came to my house:

 

She held my baby and gave my toddler fruit snacks.  She told me my kids are cute and folded all of my socks (even the ones from the stray sock drawer that had been hanging over my head for months).  I should have taken a picture of the little mountain of socks she folded.  It was impressive.  

 

Her dear daughter, Emma, made Lili's day by loving cats.  The two spent hours outside laughing and talking about cats.  Lili was in heaven.  Emma was an angel.  Besides the time she spent with Liliana, Emma also was the official Crystal Light maker of the day.  We enjoyed some fine beverages thanks to Emma.

 

Meanwhile, Mark, who is just as imaginative and into playing the part as my boys, made my boys so happy.  They played Army and pirate and who-knows-what-else.  Mark is the handsome redhead, by the way.  Braeden also played with my boys--marching around with them and lending an air of sophistication to their imaginings.  

 

Later my little brother Enoch (I like calling him that since he's anything but--6' 8") came with his children Isaiah (not pictured) and Savannah.  It was Savannah Eve (the night before her fourth birthday) and we sang Happy Birthday to her in her lovely pink cowgirl hat.  The tall (taller than I!), good-looking teen in the back is my oldest nephew Braeden.  Marcos was happy to jump into the picture next to his beloved Savannah.

Speaking of Marcos, we have good news and bad news about his poddy-training progress.  The good news is, he has been doing great and wearing underwear a lot and not having (many) accidents. 

The bad news is, yesterday he had an accident on our neighbor's property.  The kids wanted to go play outside at the Johnsons' home.  Since the Johnsons are gone, we thought it was a great idea.  When Marcos came home, I asked if he needed to go to the bathroom.  He cheerfully told me he had gone "yucky" (our name for number 2) on the Johnsons' "jump-o-line" (his name for trampoline).  "What?!" I asked, hoping I'd heard wrong.  "Yep.  I went yucky on their jump-o-line, and when they come back, they're going to look at their jump-o-line and say 'What?!  Somebody went yucky on our jump-o-line!'"

We look forward to the Johnsons' return and their surprise at their altered jump-o-line.