Humorous Happenings

~ There are a lot of people out there who claim they can pick a good melon, but how many of them base their decision on both the pitch and the tone resulting from a knock? According to Aaron, a good watermelon sounds like a “resonant baritone.”

~ Britt’s weekly absences for Young Women activities resulted in Aaron creating a tradition of his own with the kids—watching American Idol together. So we all had to laugh when Emerson, after one particularly distressing episode, spoke up with deep concern during breakfast: “Mom, I wish Sayesha could come in American Idol anymore.”

~ Addy always has someone to take care of. Now that Sera’s getting old enough to move around and take care of herself (more or less), Addy has moved on. Now she makes sure we set a place at the table for “Mr. Nobody” at every meal, and she dresses up her stuffed dog “Tenny” in all Sera’s shoes and socks.

Announcement:

Weclome to the World LucyMae Zina!

Here's our adorable new niece, via Britt's sister Chelsi

May Flowers . . . FINALLY!

So, if you wait long enough, spring will come—even to Canada. It takes a bit of mental adjustment to get used to the way seasons work around here, but we’re starting to get the hang of it. May has been a funny, sunny month, even if we didn’t accomplish as much as we had hoped we would.
First of all, as you can see, we finally had a beautiful Sunday. And so you may assume that the pictures you see above are our yearly Easter pictures—because we could hardly have subjected our kids (in their spring dresses especially) to the biting winds last month. You know, back in October when we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving a full month earlier than the American version, we thought it rather silly. Now that we have a taste of Canadian winters however, we think that perhaps Easter ought to be moved a month later as well.
The next week, I celebrated Mothers’ Day in high style. I was completely knocked out by the sheer volume of darling, adorable, handmade cards and gifts I got from my little brood. They spoiled me and made me laugh, but they also made me cringe with sadness just a little, at the realization that these kids are growing up so fast, and before long they’ll be past the pop-up card and paper flower phase. It’s a good reminder that we have to enjoy these years while we have them because they’re short and they go fast!
After showering me with love and presents, Aaron and the kids worked hard whipping up French toast and an amazing omelette for me. That Aaron sure knows what I like! At church the kids each got their own flower to give me. I win.
In other news this month, I was released as Young Women’s President, and Aaron and I were called as Sunbeam teachers! Although I was sad to leave the Young Women’s program (the weekly activity schedule was incompatible with Aaron’s rehearsal schedule this fall), I can’t help being delighted at the chance to teach primary—especially with Aaron! I had struggled with not having enough time to fill my YW calling with the in the way I wanted to, and this primary calling feels so right. We have 9 (yes NINE) kids in our class, and man are they going to love us when we get through with them! Plus, Emerson gets to join us in January—the good news never ceases!
As for the kids, Theo has continued his fascination with space over the last month, starting with Addy a “Museum Club” in our basement, which basically consists of all sorts of drawings of the planets and meteors and black holes. I love seeing my kids loving on each other.
Addy and Emerson “graduated” from Joy School, as you can see above, and what a graduation it was! Last year we went so low key, with three new babies in our group and me moving a month later. But this year we had the hats and a fabulous ice-cream cake and the dads and the whole thing. It was tons of fun.
Sera has sure embraced her own unique personality this month. I say “unique,” and then proceed to compare her to Sunny Baudelaire. Seriously, I’m not sure how he did it, but I’m pretty sure Lemony Snicket somehow travelled into the future and based Sunny on Sera. She’s lightened up on the biting (thank goodness, because we’re constantly having to pull inedible objects from her mouth), but the way she speaks still makes me think of Sunny. She’ll say “jeh bla dag wit” and absolutely expect us to be able to interpret her meaning as “excuse me, but I’m quite put out that you shut the bathroom door, as I had planned to go in there and splash around in my own private swimming pool—you know, that thing you refer to as ‘the toilet.’” It’s seriously funny stuff.
So that’s the gist of our news for May—good times, although our house is neither painted nor landscaped yet. But we’re totally planning to get it done tomorrow.

Sunlight and Smiles

How cute is Sera?

Seriously?

She can walk . . .

She can surf . . .

She matches with her sister. . .

Aw.

Oh, right. And we have some other kids too.

Theo and Addy with their tree crafts for Earth Day

And Addy and Emer with their "I Am Special" Joy School crowns

Is It Spring Yet?

So we’ve made it to the end of April, and the flowers still haven’t peeked out of the ground. Sure we’ve had a day or two of 70 degree weather (exactly two, actually), but that’s obviously not enough to coax the buds onto the tree branches. The down side of this chilly equation is that the Easter pictures I planned to take after it warmed up have still not taken place. If our house was some other color than Aqua-fresh green, I’d take the pictures in front of it. But we’re talking about one of probably two pictures that will be taken of our entire family this whole year (and no I don’t mean a professional photo shoot that costs money, because we have yet to invest in those EVER), so I’d prefer looking at it in the future without cringing. Maybe you’ll see them next month.
Aaron wins for best news this month—he passed CCM’s notorious comprehensive written and oral exit exams! After seven hours of essay-writing, and another four of the most boring conversation ever, Aaron passed with flying colors! All that’s left now is finishing up the dissertation that Aaron already has a strong start on. It has been a long, hard road to get to this point, but now that we’re nearing the finish, we can see the rewards. Aaron finished the choral season with a performance of Carmina Burana, and is now looking forward to four months—yes four—before he returns to teaching for the new school year. Although we’re not to the point where we can fill those months up with vacations and playtime yet, he will have time to polish that dissertation, do some work on our house, spend time with the family, and squeeze in a cool, if work-related, trip to Copenhagen (hopefully with Britt).
In news for Theo this month, I must share an anecdote. The boys in Theo’s class at school have all gotten hard-core into Transformers. Although I, like any reasonable person, realize that vehicles which transform into robots are the end-all in cool, I haven’t been such a big fan of all the shooting games that have been part of the package. I’ve tried my best to encourage Theo to focus on the other parts of the game and leave out the violence. His response was lukewarm at best. Then, a few days ago Theo came home from school and told me that he and his friend Justin started a new game called Spies because Transformers was too violent. Yeah! Mom still has influence! Theo also started tennis classes this month and is really enjoying them.
Addy sports a new haircut this month. We planned to get our hair cut the same day in celebration of spring, but eventually I just chopped hers off for her. I think I did a pretty good job—it’s cute! I only wish I could cut my own. Her other big accomplishment this month is the perfecting of a blood-curdling scream which she has found to be extremely versatile. She unleashes it at her brothers any time they cross her, and at Aaron and I whenever we do something awful, like making her go to bed. Although it has landed her in time-out more than once, she apparently still considers it a useful tool.
Emerson continues to crack us up on a regular basis. Last night when I was serving pieces of chocolate cake to every one, Emerson spontaneously said “there’s chocolaty taste . . . in every bite!” We obviously allow way too much television. Theo also has him trained about as well as a circus monkey, to mimic all his own opinions and ideas. Ask Emerson if he likes Dora, and you’ll get a thumbs down, accompanied by “doink.” But ask him about Tom and Jerry, Theo’s favorite cartoon, and you’ll get an enthusiastic thumbs up, also accompanied by “doink.” Don’t ask us what “doink" means.
As for Sera, she continues “toddling” around the house. She’s all about climbing and throwing these days. She can get up the stairs pretty well by herself, but we don’t trust her going down yet. In the morning, she wakes Addy up by pitching all her blankets, books, and toys at her (those baby biceps are still underdeveloped, so most of her pitches fall short—phew!). Her verbal prowess continues to awe us, as she has progressed from sentences to paragraphs, and occasionally, novels. Of course, we can only make out a few of the words at this point, but this is undoubtedly more a result of our own ineptitude than hers.
As for me, chalk it up to having too many irons in the fire, but I’ve been feeling decidedly incompetent lately. I don’t have any good excuse, but house cleaning and laundry and cooking and everything else seem to take longer and longer, and I seem to accomplish less in 24 hours than I used to. I’m hoping (rather desperately) that May will be better!