Audrey-ism #341

We were reading a nonfiction book about airplanes today at lunch.

When we got to this page Audrey said, "Is he holding corndogs??"

Let the Underwear Bomber try to get past THAT man! Huh!

Christmas Pictures

Here is a link to view some of our Christmas pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jofannie/ChristmasDay?feat=email#

Just not feelin' it yet....

Things to do to combat holiday blahs:

1. Eat more candy canes.

2. Do something to serve someone each day.

3. Drink spiked egg nog.

4. Return any gifts that are unnecessary to give.

5. Read Christmas books to the little ones.

6. Sing my favorite carols

7. Thank God.

Julian's Party

For Julian's birthday, he invited a few of his favorite friends over and Christopher took them to a hockey game. Gone are the days of themed parties and planned games!! (Actually I know there are a lot of cool ideas for older kids) The kids didn't know each other, but all got along swimmingly. It's neat to see the kids Julian has chosen as friends...and we think he's done well for himself with a great bunch of guys.

They came home completely hyper and hungry (what else do 12 and 13 yr olds do but eat??) So we gave them snacks and they settled in for a movie. Julian chose to watch an old, classic movie instead of a new shoot-em-up modern flick. Again, very impressed and interested in his choice. Who knows what time they went to bed...but they were up bright and early playing a Wii football game. I think they could've stayed up all night playing if it weren't for us making them go to bed :o)

A Star is Born

This blog serves as an excellent medium to brag about the kids.

Claire has been taking a musical theater class on Saturdays for the past few months, which she absolutely loves. She's passed up a birthday party and a weekend at Gramma's so she wouldn't miss any classes. Now THAT says a lot for a 9 yr old kid!
On this last day of class, the kids did a mini-performance for the adults to show what they have been working on and demonstrate skills. It was so awesome to watch Claire with her twinkly eyes and sparkly spirit. I know I'm biased, but I really felt she stood out amongst her ten peers.
After class, the instructor stopped us in the hall and said that Claire was definitely ready to move to the intermediate classes. And this was only after taking one session!! We were both beaming. The instructor continued to say that if Claire was planning on auditioning for the spring stage production, this next class would help her prepare. Wow!! To hear the woman say that Claire was audition-material was so incredible. It's the stuff Christopher and I always knew about her, but love to hear from someone else.
The musical is called "Seussical" and auditions are mid-January.
Better get my Cat and Her Hat ready for an audition!!

Audrey's Awesome Art cont'd

Audrey let me know this was an apple tree on a windy day, and the girl is selling the apples that fell to the ground.

Christmas...Old Skool

Julian being a good sport with Santa....and how old is he anyway? I guess about 4yrs old. Well, he was young enough for me to get him into a nice, red Christmas sweater anyway.

I miss that little boy...

Audrey's Awesome Art

I need to show everyone how INCREDIBLE this drawing is that Audrey made this morning. There is no one in her kindergarten class that can draw with this accuracy and detail!! Audrey is a great study of Claire, who is also a beautiful artist.

Where did September go?

The gals who work across the parking lot from Christopher had this cake made for his birthday. It was a HUGE 18 inch coffee cup shaped cake that was at least 6 inches high. Filled with chocolate cake and chocolate ganache, we were in sugary bliss for a couple weeks.

These sweet ladies (they are like mother hens who watch out for Christopher and monitor all the comings-and-goings at the espresso stand) also had several electric guitars fashioned and painted from wood that are now hung and lit up. So "Rock City" has taken on a different meaning...at least to the public. The lights around the guitars look cool, especially since it gets dark at 4:30 pm here. Perhaps there will be a picture posted here sometime soon.....

This summer Christopher's sister and family came to visit Jofannie in Olympia. A neighbor offered to take a professional family photo, and thankfully the Washington weather cooperated.

Claire's got a new cute 'doo...

Audrey-isms

Audrey brings home a monthly calendar from school that has short activities to do each evening, such as writing numbers 1 to 10 or retelling a story she knows.

One evening's activity was to name 5 things that are made with apples.

Audrey paused for a really long time and then finally said, "LEMONS!!" rather proudly.

"No, honey. When you have some apples, you can make other foods out of those apples. What foods can we make from apples?"

She was not quite sure when she answered, "Lemon meatballs?"

That's our Audrey!

THIS EMAIL IS FROM AUDREY'S KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, REGARDING ME (JILL) HELPING OUT IN THE CLASS. THE PART YOU WILL LOVE READING IS THE "P.S."

Hi Jill!
I have another parent that is willing to share, and we can all just split the duties. (Me included). We are going light on the harvest party this year, but would still like to celebrate. The phone tree needs done soon, you are right. My best time to get together is on my lunch from about 12 – 12:40, or after school any day. I can also do my specialist times, if you would like to see me in the middle of the day. I will touch base with the other room parent, Tanya, and see what a good time for her is. She does p/u so I assume she is here for a few minutes before and after school.

Thanks,Matt or Matthew, Save the Mr. for the kids.

P.S. – A.D. came up to me and said “I like your haircut Mr. S.”
“Thank you,” I said, appreciating that someone noticed my recent trim.
Then a short pause.
“Why did you shave triangles right here?” Points to where my hair is showing serious recession…
My hairline is kind of a running joke in my family, so needless to say I had my whole extended family rolling on the floor laughing as I told this story. Too funny.

(Where were Mom and Dad? Perhaps sleeping in that big tent the whole time??)

What Happens When You Are Busy Vacuuming:

(Audrey gave Ethan a new haircut & comb-over)

Our summer trip to Florida...

I didn't get a lot of pictures during this trip...but my mom-in-law did. But in printed pictures which I definitely didn't have the energy to scan and download! It's amazing that I finally got this montage put together!!

We had a wonderful time there, even though Christopher had to leave early to rescue the business. (It IS hard to find good help these days. I hope we raise our children to be ethical, reliable, and thorough employees.)

Things to list:

1. Nina makes an amazing Apricot Chicken dish with the strangest combination of ingredients...but boy is it good.

2. Christopher wishes that Eric was his brother he likes him that much.

3. When you're at the table with a lot of Jewish people, they order things for you that you don't really want but they insist you "just have to try it". And you MUST try it lest you be rude.

4. I don't like the feeling of hair stuck to the back of my neck.

5. I feel nervous and wierd when my husband isn't with me when travelling.

6. Julian and Claire liked to dive for things in the hotel pool. They would dive down and come up with band-aids, hairbands with hair knotted around them, and a wad of chewed up gum. YES THIS WAS THE OLDER KIDS.

7. Some people in Florida drive 50 mph in the fast lane, and others drive 85 in the slow lane.

8. Alligator tastes "just like chicken".

9. The proper pastrami sandwich has coleslaw and Russian Dressing on it, of course on rye.

10. We are NOT beach people. Sandy butts, creepy seaweed, broiling hot sand. We are hotel pool people.

gimmefive

gimmefive reasons why i think facebook is annoying:

1. When someone posts that they found some good specials at the local grocery store.

2. When someone goes on a political rant that exceeds the given post space.

3. Getting invited to an online "food fight".

4. Seeing facebook quizzes that are called "Which Brady Bunch character are you?" or "What state best describes you?"

5. Finding myself scrolling and reading all the facebook posts.

Aunt Julie in Her First Competition with Amigo

They forgot to say "Two BLONDE sisters"...

Two sisters inherit the family ranch. Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock.

Upon leaving, the first sister tells her sister, 'When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home.'

The first sister arrives at the man's ranch, inspects the bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less.

After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news. She walks into the telegraph office, and says, 'I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home.'

The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, it will cost 99 cents a word.

But after paying for the bull, she realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word. She thinks for a few minutes then nods and says, 'I want you to send her the word "comfortable." '

The operator shakes his head. 'How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her just the word

'comfortable?'

The sister explains, 'My sister is blonde. The word is big.

She'll read it very slowly . . . 'com-for-da-bul.'

Lights, Camera, Claire!

The following are a few snippets of Claire's performance in her summer musical theater camp. It really gave Claire the "theater bug", and she decided to take more classes this school year. She's got an amazing voice, contagious cuteness, and a lotta moxie! I will look forward to posting more performances of hers throughout the year....

Audrey's 5th Birthday

Oh happy day!

Day 1: Ethan voluntarily threw his pacifier in the trash, after several days of "build-up" by the family about doing this. It took over 2 hours to get Ethan to fall asleep for nap. In fact, I think naptime turned into bedtime which solved that problem.



Day 2: My stomach was in knots from the moment I woke up, dreading this day's naptime ordeal. It only took him one hour, 3 meltdowns, and a toy towtruck placed bedside to get him to fall asleep. Things were really improving and I felt hopeful.



Day 3: Tow truck in hand, Ethan passively climbed into his bed. No crying or asking for his beloved pacifier.

We had a celebration for Ethan on his birthday with just the family. No one else. I think this was the first time, first child, to ever have a SIMPLE party. I have heard of friends who only had "family parties" for their children until they were 5 years old. The reasons for this are now obvious to me!! (I didn't have ears to hear their reasons before)

Ethan was as happy as could be. I had made this truck cake (a worthy attempt, but it looks like I need to take a Wilton Decorating Class) while he was napping and when he woke up he couldn't stop talking about it and visiting it in the dining room. He had a few gifts from his grandparents, and a couple from us. Simple. His eyes flew open wide over each gift, and his voice was thrilled to see even the clothing from grandma. I flashed back to the other kids' third birthdays' and remember piles of gifts from oversugared, overstimulated children. The noise level was like being at a Barney Live concert. This was SO much more pleasant.

I am actually looking forward to his fourth birthday....

Matchless

Can you see that Ethan is not smiling?

All day Ethan had talked about going on a hroseback ride with Aunt Julie. But, as things go in the Dayton Ranking System, the Eldest Son got to go first. Then The Eldest Daughter. Then Cowgirl Audrey (since Ethan was napping). Each ride was lengthy so when Ethan woke up from his nap he was really ready to get on with it and ride.

He saw Julie and Audrey coming up the path from his vantage point on the porch and he went running down to the corral yelling "My turn!" I was thrilled that he had decided to join in the fun, since the first days when he wanted nothing to do with the horses. When he got to the corral, he saw the other bigger horse and wanted to ride only that one. As it turns out, it is more of a wild horse and Mike said no sir.

Well, Ethan had already set his mind on riding the bigger horse and started in on a good fuss about only riding that one. We kept trying to sway him and talk him out of it, but he wouldn't budge. He finally walked away yelling his classic "Stupid! Mean!" words to the air. A few yards up the path he turned around and added, "That horse is fat!!"

The picture shows Ethan, finally cooled down, on the calmer smaller horse with Julian. The saddle hardly got warm before he got a lift down....

Santa Fe Farmers Market

While in Santa Fe, we stopped at the Farmers Market and saw these amazing young people performing. They were SO energetic and spontaneous we could've watched all day. I think they could've played all day judging by the smiles on their faces and rhythyms in their souls...

Cowboy Lil' Bit

My Favorite Cowgirl

Yoga, continued.

Making old-fashioned, hand crank ice cream

After much bribing, cajoling, begging, and pleading...we finally got Ethan to JUST SIT on the horse.

In the town square of Santa Fe, we piled into a Bicycle Shuttle for a block back to our car.

The Tent Inspectors

The Dusty Dog Ranch

Crack That Whip!

Making peanut butter pinecone bird feeders...

Julian "Peashooter" Dayton sitting by a fire he built...

Audrey is in love with the dogs (dog shown: Odalee)

got yoga?

ten things

The Top Ten Febreeze Fragrances that Didn't Make It:

1. Dumpster

2. Sour Milk

3. Sweat Socks

4. Flatulence

5. Cow Patty

6. Bottom O' the Hamper

7. Gym Locker

8. Armpit

9. Halitosis

10. Public Restroom

Mom Jeans

HA!

Inside all of us is Hope, Adventure, and a Wild Thing

The Wild Things are coming soon...

~Easter~

~Claire singing at church with Kids Choir~

DOUBLE CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TO YOUTUBE, OTHERWISE YOU ARE ONLY WATCHING HALF THE VIDEO....CLICK ON "HD" FOR BETTER QUALITY!

Are your windows clean?

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.The next morning while they are eating breakfast, The young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside."That laundry is not very clean", she said."She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, The young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

**Audrey**

This little story reminds me so much of the way Audrey's mind works... she is incredibly inventive and curious!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When Mr Johnson stopped the school bus to pick up little April for preschool, he noticed an older woman hugging her as she left the house.

"Is that your grandmother?" Mr Johnson asked.

"Yes, she's come to visit us for a week."

"How nice," Mr Johnson replied. "Where does she live?"

"At the airport," the little girl replied. "Whenever we want her, we just go out there and get her."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

McKinley, the newest baby in our family

Can you say McCutie??

By the Way...

Did I tell you that we sold our espresso stand in Las Vegas? A fellow bought it and turned it into a Jiffy Lube.

It seems to be the final chapter, the denouement, to our short novella there.

Thank you! Someone knows what I'm talkin' about:

"My [son] is in [sixth] grade but supposedly reads at the eighth-grade level. Some teachers say it is hard to find fiction that is content-appropriate for younger readers who are able to read above their expected age and grade. Recently I have been trying to supply my [son] with some classic and/or older (pre-1960s), best-loved novels to read in place of the too-easy, age-inappropriate, or scuzzy "contemporary" novels supplied by teachers or libraries."

I stumbled upon these words from an article during my search to find a list of classic literature for Julian. I immediately started "Mm-hmm"ing and sucking my teeth.

{Does anyone know what that means? Guess what? I READ IT IN A BOOK. It's the sound when you suck your tongue away from your 2 front teeth, also written as "tsk tsk" I bet 99% of you just tried it.}

Back to my original thought. I am so tired of these trashy, easy-read books that stuff the shelves of the library. It's like the tabloids and romance novels at the supermarket checkout--but for preteens!! I might as well blow Marshmallow Fluff into Julian's ear canal.

Don't get me wrong. I adore the fact that he is such an excellent, avid, and advanced reader. I love that he'll pickup a book when he's bored, and pours over the ones he likes. I love having him settle in with a book before he goes to bed.

But I've made a resolve to counter-balance the BCB's (brain-candy books) with a medicinal dose of classic literature. Julian wasn't too warm with the idea, so I decided to start with something easy like Edgar Allen Poe. Kidding~I'm kidding, people. I started with E.B. White's Trumpet of the Swan. After reading the first few pages, he said to me, "Mom, is this book exciting? I mean, does anything at all exciting happen in it??" It was a desperate plea from a BCB addict, desperately hoping that he'd get his fix via Louis the Trumpeter Swan.

I thought I was clever when I responded "Co ho! Co ho!" I thought it would intrigue him as to what this phrase meant, and perhaps he should dive into the book to find out. The plan backfired, as you probably surmised.

"MO-OOOOOOM!"

Stay tuned next week when I hand him Little Women.

Things to do with kids (#27)

27. Ride the monorail in Seattle.

parking garage for 2 hours= $7.00

lunch in Westlake Mall food court for 4 kids=$13.64

4 minute ride= $7.00

the look on Audrey's face when riding the train= priceless

My Sister-in-Law's Beautiful Family

Lori, Jaden, and Lyla


Jason, Lori, Jaden, and Lyla