All in the Family

We often have movie nights with homemade pizza (last night was Surf's Up, which the kids didn't really enjoy). Everyone likes their pizza a different way.

I like mine bruschetta style, with a little olive oil and garlic instead of tomato sauce, topped with fresh tomato slices, fresh spinach, red onion, and mozzarella. I haven't tried it with basil yet, but I should.

Joel likes barbecue chicken pizza, with red onion.

The kids, well, the kids eat whatever I have out for them. Usually it is regular old cheese pizza with plenty of green bell pepper.

YUM. Add some breadsticks and everyone is a fan of this carb-heavy, vegetable-low dinner. I wonder if the kids will remember this tradition?

Lullaby

I found Ashley sound asleep like this yesterday afternoon. She has been loving this book lately--she finds it especially funny when the dogs fight about whether the boy dog likes the girl dog's hat.

"Do you like my hat?" Ashley will wander around saying. Then, she'll scowl as she replies to herself, "No, I do not like that hat! Goodbye! Good-BYE!" After she is done with the dialogue, she smiles shyly if she notices that I have been watching her.

Someday she will be into whatever fad the other kids are going wild over. I love soaking in these simple days; hopefully they will last me through the teenage years.

Finding and Seeking

See this boy?

Don't let that smile fool you. He is a troublemaker.

Now that he can get anywhere he wants, he always chooses the kitchen. Toys are of no interest to him anymore; he wants anything contraband, and the kitchen is the easiest place to find it.

Food scraps. Lost-and-forgotten silverware. Puddles of spilled drink.

And markers. Of course, markers. I am not the best housekeeper, but I do try to sweep often. The floor you see here is immediately after I swept. No one ate. No one drank. No one even touched any food. Yet there are plenty of crumbs left on the ground for William to swallow. The only explanation I have? I am not the best a very good housekeeper. That pretty much sums it up.

So, William practically lives under our table now.

And yes, he knows exactly what he is doing to me.

Poll

Joel and I were having a discussion the other day about our respective shower routines. I start with my hair and wash down from there, but do my face last. Joel starts at his feet/legs and works his way up.

I told him his approach doesn't make sense because it is like washing walls before your floor (all the soap drips down anyway), but he said it doesn't matter. So. . .I'm curious. How do you like to do it? Top to bottom or bottom to top?

****Edited****

Joel wants me to make it clear that I am mis-remembering his whole shower procedure. Apparently I am wrong in that he begins with his hands/arms and torso before doing his legs and feet, after which he washes his hair and face.

FYI, this was a two-minute conversation and not the subject of a marital dispute.

That is all.

*signing off*

The Basic Halloween Post

(FYI: Our cute little religious town decided to hold Halloween on Saturday this year so the kids didn't have to trick-or-treat on a Sunday. We were very happy with the arrangement.)

Halloween was fun this year at the Johnson house. Everett has wanted to be Spiderman for months now, and after a quick trip to a consignment shop, I had his costume ready. Easy, peasy.

I tried to talk Ashley into being a superhero like Everett, since she always enjoys playing pretend superheroes, but no such luck. Ashley wanted to be a princess, and a purpley sparkly princess at that. I let her pick out some inexpensive purple fabric and tulle, and I made her a dress. It took about three times as long as it needed to because since I am too cheap to buy a pattern, I make a huge amount of mistakes (a little ruching down the front hides a multitude of errors). My seam ripper and I are very well-acquainted. But, it got done and it was actually pretty fun to make.

Everett has enjoyed showing off his Spiderman moves for a few months now. He was a little sad that I was making something for Ashley to wear, therefore not paying much attention to his costume, but he was thrilled when I told him we would paint his face. Everett went around for days after that proudly pointing out to Ashley that she might be getting a new dress, but he gets his face painted. I had to make good on my promise and he was one happy boy.

Ashley doesn't even really know what a princess does. Joel sat down with her one day and said, "You know Ashley, princesses play basketball."

Ashley's reply was simple but effective: "No, they swirl!"

After a little deliberation, Ashley won, but Joel has brought it up a few times since.

After the kids were done trick-or-treating, Everett was already thinking of what he wanted to be next year.

"I think I want to be a princess, well, a boy princess," Everett said decidedly.

"Why do you want to be a princess?" I asked.

"Because, they play basketball!" he replied.

I guess someone had been listening to Joel all this time. Too bad it was the wrong child.

After about ten too many pictures, the kids forgot how to smile and so we hustled out the door.

Everett was truly a boy on a mission. He took off with an older friend and together they tore through the neighborhood (always within eyesight). All I could do was hope that he remembered his thank-yous, because I was too busy ushering along Ashley, whose pace fluctuates between mosey and wander.

After our first neighborhood, the kids sat down to enjoy some candy. Some kids (ahem, Everett) enjoyed other people's candy.

Everett and his friend were both superheroes, obviously. They have a lot of fun together and are pretty similar in that they have a lot of pent-up energy. They love to play tag; they chase each other with as much power as they can muster. The only problem is, neither is very good at stopping his pursuit in time to avoid knocking the other over.

"Show your muscles!" we said. They look pretty cute.

Here is another picture of Ashley because I've posted so many of Everett. I'm sure you have forgotten what she looks like by now.

Although the number of houses we went to was not overwhelming for Ashley, she did get tired of saying thank-you each time. When I had to remind her several times at one house without her cooperating, she finally turned to me and said huffily, "I already said thank-you!" Ashley had said it, yes, but at the previous house. I think she decided that one thank-you is enough for everyone in the neighborhood.

But, since that is not what I decided, she still had to do what I said.

I had wassail brewing in the crock-pot when we came home, but the weather was pretty warm today so we didn't really need it. It sure hit the spot, though.

Joel and I hid most of the kids' candy before they noticed. I prefer to let them binge on it so I can get it all out of the house and eliminate all that whining for more. This way they don't have quite so much to binge on in the next couple of days, and Joel has gotten his share complaint-free. Win-win.

After filling their bellies with candy, we popped the sleeper sofa open and watched Ratatouille. The kids were wiped out and went to bed easily and quickly. What a fun day!

Mr. Sandman

Everett just told me about a dream he had, so I thought I'd write it down before I forgot. I occasionally ask him if he had a dream, and he never has anything to tell me. I think after a few minutes, Everett started adding details he didn't really dream about, but it is a fun story just the same.

Everett came excitedly into the bathroom as I was washing my hands this morning.

"Mom, Mom! Guess what! That one time, there were all these skeetos (mosquitoes) and they wanted my poop and I let them go in the toilet and I flushed them away!"

"Everett, was this a dream or did this really happen?"

He grinned. "I saw it in a dream!"

"What happened in your dream?"

"I woke up and all deese skeetos were trying to eat me all over da pwace (insert a growly yum yum yum yum yum). And next I got up and next I went to the bafroom and I put them in the toiwet!"

"How did you put them in there?"

"I cwosed the wid, see? And next I fwushed (sound effect) and they were all gone!"

"What happened next?"

"Den I was back in bed and fwee cwickets came hop hop hop on top of me! And next I fwushed them down the toiwet too!"

"And then what happened?"

"Nuffing," Everett shrugged, "I just went back to sweep."

Fun stuff. I think I know exactly why he dreamed of a swarm of mosquitoes. Last night we watched the movie Ponyo, and in it, as the little boy jumps over some rocks, hundreds of insects scatter away from him. Maybe this made more of an impression on him than I thought, or maybe I'm completely off with my logic here. Either way, I'm glad to write this down so he can laugh about it later.

Progress!

One month ago, William was at the negative 3rd percentile on the growth chart for height and weight.

(He weighed just shy of 12 and a half pounds and was only 23 inches long.)

The doctor wanted me to bring him in after a month to get him weighed and measured again, so I did that today while the kids were playing at a friend's house. Guess what? He has grown! He hasn't grown much, but he has grown. Today, at seven months old, he almost weighed 14 pounds and was 24 inches long, which puts him at the 3rd percentile.

We're not in the negatives anymore! (Don't get Joel started on the statistical impossibilities of negative percentiles)

I'm truly not worried about him because he eats well and is happy and very energetic, but it is nice to see that he is growing. I'm sure he will catch up--although I'm sure we won't be able to put him front-facing in his car seat for a long while--but for now, I can't help but enjoy my sweet little guy. He is wiry and squirmy and cuddly and his big brown eyes and thick dark lashes make me melt. I love him more than words.