Crazy!

1.  Crazy Hair Day

There are two dress-up days at our school that my kids really look forward to:  Pajama Day, and Crazy Hair Day.  Here are their crazy hair-do's this year:

2.  Another thing that's crazy is eating popsicles on a cold winter's night.  We had a fire in the fireplace, and they were all bundled up in their bathrobes, and they asked for popsicles.  Actually, it isn't uncommon at all for us to indulge in cold treats all year round.  But I was trying to fit this into the "crazy" title.  Crazy to some people, maybe?

Nothing like a popsicle on a cold winter's night.  

Hurray!  Daphne finally lost that tooth.  It had been hanging there for way too long.  :)  

kid'isms

Lately, Sean has been into making random obvious statements.  At one of Hayden's many Dr. visits for his ears, Sean had a cough.  He hacked and hacked and hacked and then told the nurse very loudly, "I have a cough!"  At another recent Dr. visit, Sean informed the doctor, "My dad is ALIVE!"  The doctor (who sounds like he might be from Jamaica) laughed, "Oh, well, dat is good!"

Every week when Sunday rolls around, Sean comes into our room and says apprehensively, "Mom, what day is it?"  Me:  "Sunday"  Sean: "awww, I don't want to go to church!"  It's the same thing, EVERY week.  And sometimes he'll add something like, "I'm sick Mom, I have to stay home."  I hope this is just  a phase . . .

Daphne:  I want to come to Young Women's with you, Mom.
Dallin:  Daph, you can't go because you are not a young woman.  You're more like . . . a small girl.


Last night we were making some sugar cookies.  I used a butter substitute instead of real butter and it made the recipe too runny.  When I tried adding more flour, it kind of ruined the dough.  I told the kids sorry, but I ruined the dough.  Daphne said, "Don't worry Mom, don't feel bad.  You tried your best."  :)

Hayden is like a little First Mate at our house.  He repeats all of the parents' orders and sometimes he makes up his own.  "We go to church Don (Sean)!"  "Sit down Don!"  "At the table!" (food at the table) "Cyoze (close) you eyes!" (during a prayer). "Don't touch!" (yes, he hears that one frequently.)  And this morning when I came down to fix breakfast, he ordered me to "Put away!" (there were some boxes on the table that needed to be cleared before he could eat.)  I guess when you have five older people constantly tell you what to do, you figure out real quick how to boss people around.

 Dallin and Daphne were recently each posed with the question, 

(at different times and by different people) 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" 

 Dallin's written response:  I have know idea.  I still have a long time to think about it.

 Daphne's verbal response:  Nothing.  I just want to take care of my kids.

I loved that Daphne just wants to take care of her kids . . .  I guess about the time she has her first one she'll figure out that it's the polar opposite of "nothing."  ;)

What's the first thing that comes to mind when your 4-year-old son yells from downstairs, 

"Mom!  The pokey is up!"  

Naturally, the logical explanation for that statement is that the bathtub drain won't seal.  It couldn't be more obvious, right?  Now, what if he calls you a "slick slack?"  No idea?  Me neither.  I'm still working on that one.

Sean has come up with some funny names for his made-up games.  

He calls one "Roll the guy" 

which is a game in which you empty out the big red bucket that holds the stuffed animals, and put a person in it--I think Hayden has been the primary participant--and then Sean rolls the bucket with a "guy" inside.  The other day he came downstairs armed with a light saber and a plastic helmet and said, 

"Hey Daph--wanna play 'Kill the Girl' with me?"

  She thought for a second and then judiciously said, 

"Um, no."

Gariety #5

We went in for our ultrasound this week and for the first time ever, we found out the gender.  

 

 

Spine with legs curled up

 

feet

Gariety #5 is a GIRL!

Isn't she cute?  

So Sean was right.  He told us all along that the baby in mommy's tummy is a sister!  And now maybe he and Hayden will finally get respite from being dressed as fairy princesses with Daphne.

We haven't picked out a name yet, but

here are some of the ideas we've come up with so far:

Dallin:  Lucy, Kaitlyn, Emily

Daphne:  Kirra, Dory (like the blue fish on Nemo)

Sean:  Jocelyn, Jessie (from Toy Story 2)

Hayden:  NO! (is he two or what?)

Sharee:  Abigail

Arthur:  Charity.  Charity Gariety.  Thanks for the help, hun.

Aloha!

I apologize in advance for the number of pictures I have in this post.  I know "more isn't always better-- sometimes it's just more," but it took me so long just to narrow it down this far, and to be honest, I just want to cross this post off my to-do list.  :)  So here you go--35 pictures of our Hawaiian adventure.  (I made some of them small, so maybe those only count as half a picture?)

  

We recently returned from a Stone Family Reunion in Kona, Hawaii, on the Big Island.  My Grandparents provided the housing and we were all in charge of getting ourselves out there.  Our whole family (37 of us, I think) stayed at the Kona Plantation, which has two 8 bedroom homes, (each with their own bathroom and lanai) a pool, a tennis and basketball court, and all the fresh tropical fruit we could pick.  Above is a view of the pool and one of the houses.  It was perfect! 

We took Dallin & Daphne because they would be old enough to remember it, while Sean and Hayden stayed with our good friends, to whom we will forever be indebted!!!  

Thank you Steve and Erin--you guys are the best!  I don't really think Sean and Hayden even missed us, they had so much fun at your house.

Snorkeling in the tide pools.

Arthur teaching Dallin to snorkel.  It's kind of unnerving having your nose covered and having to breathe through that tube.  Dallin did a good job figuring it out, and Arthur was a great teacher.  Daphne didn't like the tube at all, so Arthur found a spot where she could just put her face in the water and look at some fish through the goggles.  She thought it was pretty amazing!

Our hike to Akaka Falls:

 

A little casual vine swinging.

 Beautiful Akaka Falls

The Kathy Wood Memorial 5K walk/run

Here we all are in our wackiness, getting ready to go.

I love Grammy & Grandpa sharing a kiss right there in the middle of all their crazy posterity.

Our big family Luau.

The plantation cooked a pig in the ground for us, and below, the kids are looking at the pig and balking at the tusks and teeth that are still plainly visible.  I think my Aunt Leslie actually found a tooth in her meat that night!

 

Dallin was among those chosen to learn the Tahitian hip-shakin' dance with the Polynesian dancers. This part of the evening had us all in stitches!  

We went to several beaches during our stay.  Since we don't have any beaches in New Mexico, we were just in heaven.  

 

Daphne, Dallin and Colton.

Colton is my cousin, but is the same age as Dallin, and these three had a great time playing together.

This is the village they built and they told me that it had an LDS church and a temple in it.

 

Besides day trips, we had a great time just relaxing at the plantation playing games, reading, swimming, playing tennis, riding bikes, eating delicious fruits, (starfruit, mango, pineapple, bananas, papaya, etc), and catching geckos.

 

And what family gathering would be complete without a sister "photo shoot"? (thanks Kris!)

Some of my favorite moments:

Waking up in the morning and feeling the ocean breeze through the open windows, 

Listening to the rustling of the palm trees and the sounds of the birds outside. 

Going down to the shore at the end of the day to watch the sun set.  

Sharing all of this fun with family.
You can't get much better than that.

Pinewood Derby

This was Dallin's 1st Pinewood Derby and he thought it was so fun. Dallin chose to make his car a tank. Arthur is the Cubmaster in our ward right now, so he made one too. It was a silly one with a Han Solo bobble head on top. Not very aerodynamic.

Here's Dallin painting his amazing tank.

The tank, and the bobble-head.

Dallin watching his tank race. He did pretty good!

The boys gathered around Arthur's hi-tech spread sheet that organized the races and who got first, second, third, etc.

Sean was the most excited for the Pinewood Derby of anybody, though. He asked me all day long if we were going to "the race" that evening, and even helped get shoes on Hayden when it was time to go in order to expedite the process. Now that's saying something.

The little brothers watching the races right up close.

Arthur and Dallin.

I love these boys.