Out of the Mouths of Babes

Jeron's observation of the day: "Hey, Mom! The dishwasher sounds like it's snoring! (chuckle, chuckle) Just like Grandpa! (pretend snore, more chuckling)"

Jadee's favorite movie these days: "Ratatootie"

SNOW DAY!!

We had a beautiful BLIZZARD on Friday, January 4 with very low temperatures and snow that has stuck. This resulted in a SNOW DAY for Jeron today...NO SCHOOL! He has spent the majority of the day outside playing...he's still there! Jadee went out for about 5-10 minutes...she is our fair-weather girl.

Jeron and I tried to build a snowman on Saturday afternoon...

As you can see, the snow conditions were less than ideal! (Jeremiah shed a few tears for the missed ski day...apparently bad snowman snow is great skiing snow...) We couldn't get it to stick together to save our lives...aw, yes, the powder that skiiers dream of... Jeremiah tried to shovel in slushy snow from the culdesac, but that didn't work, either. In the end, we were left with a pile of snow with a carrot nose. It started to snow on us as we were giving up, er, I mean, finishing up. You can see the snow flying in the picture.

The sun is shining today and Jeron came in earlier to report that the snow is sticking together. I went out when the little ones went down for naps and this is what we came up with...

YAY!! What a gorgeous snowman, complete with a carrot nose, Hershey's Kiss eyes and mouth, stick arms and legs (compliments of Jeron and his needle nose pliers and the "dead" bushes out front), mittens and a scarf that we could only use for the picture (Jeron didn't want his Auntie Heather scarf left outside) and a zip tie lock of hair. You can see in the background that we have PLENTY of snow left over!

Now, I must include the following picture as proof that I was the helper in the snowman project.

Jeremiah was kind enough to take pictures of me on Saturday...as I am usually the picture taker and never to be found in the actual pictures! After we finished with snowmen, Jeron and Jeremiah went sledding down the rocks across the way...they claimed that there was plenty of snow...

Minivan Mom

If someone had told me 6 years ago that I would someday drive a minivan...I think I would have given a courtesy laugh and said, "That'll be the day!" Well, "the day" arrived last Saturday! We bought a 2005 Honda Odyssey...and the interesting thing is... I LOVE IT! My top ten reasons I love this van:

10. The doors open and close with the touch of a button.
9. The children can climb in, unassisted.
8. 6 disc changer
7. Radio and cruise control on the steering wheel
6. 8th seat
5. 7 year/100,000 mile power train warranty
4. 7 year/100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty...that we paid for, but if we never make a claim on it...we get our money back!!!
3. Built in shade screens
2. Cargo space...inside the car...as opposed to the bed of a truck...

And the #1 reason I LOVE this van...

1. The children sit far enough away from each other that there is NO TOUCHING!!! (Anyone with children knows that this means WAY less fighting and screaming! This makes the purchase of this vehicle worth every penny and then some!

So, here's to joining the ranks of all the Minivan Moms! I'm so glad to be among you!

Language by Jadee

Nettie has inspired me to write down the funny things that Jadee says and the interesting words she comes up with for things. This age of language development is the best!

popped=toasted...as in, "I don't want mine poppeded, Mom." or "I don't want mine toasted, Mom." You'll notice that she always adds an extra past tense ending.


On the way down the hill from the temple: "Look at the leaves, Mom. They are beautiful. Somebody painted them for us!"

People, especially her brothers, belong to her...as in "my Davis" and "my Jeron".

About Nephi slaying Laban in the Book of Mormon Stories book...pointing to the picture, "Look, he's dyin' him!" Translation: "Look, he's killing him!"

I want a hold=I want you to hold me

Family Prayer: "Bless that we can stay in our beds a not get a 'fpank on the bum."

"Bless Daddy that he can not catch a bee and get better." Jeremiah was sick yesterday...the only thing I can think is that she doesn't want him to catch a bug?

Jeremiah has a fancy bathroom scale...the kids love to stand on it and watch the numbers dance and come up. Jadee says, "What does my feet pound?" Translation: "How much do I weigh?" I think it comes from telling her that she weighs 27 "pounds"...?

Well, that's about two weeks of paying attention and writing down Jadee's funny language...I'm sure there will be another installment sometime in the future! I only wish I could catch all of this on video...I think part of the humor is in the sound of her voice and her cute little face. She's a gem!

Happy Halloween

Monday night we went to the Fairbanks' for a little FHE activity...

Jadee painted.

Jeron carved.

Davis played.
Jack glowed.

Tonight is the night Jeron and Jadee have been waiting for all month! They dressed up as a dragon and a princess. Maggie was a princess, too, and Dylan was the Knight in Shining Armor. We wish we could have with them to take pictures and trick-or-treat. Davis was a jack-o-lantern...we couldn't break the Nevada Higley tradition for the first Halloween costume!

We went up and down our street...and just look at their haul! I think their favorite part of the whole night was answering the door and handing out candy! It was a fun night!

Rollin', rollin', rollin'!

Davis rolled over from belly to back all by himself for the first time on Friday, October 19, 2007. He was 4 months, 4 weeks old. I thought it was an accident...but decided to document it anyway. Glad I did...I put him back on his belly and he did it again! Way to go, Davis! Next time I'll have the batteries in the video camera ready...

1. After the first roll...Mom runs for the camera.

2. Take your mark...Mom puts him back on his belly...

3. Get set...cute close up...

4. GO!! Davis rolls...note the blurry hand, foot and leg...

5. YAY, Davis!

HEY...are those teeth in that cute little mouth?! Why, yes, they are...here's a zoom in...

Davis sprouted his first little meat-ripper one day shy of sixteen weeks (Sept. 13)...that's about a week and a half before he turned 4 months! The other poked through the next day. So, the question of the day is this...can anyone beat that? I'm curious to know at what ages other people's children got their first teeth. Jeron was 5 months, Jadee was almost 7 months. My niece, Maggie, just got her first tooth on Oct. 2, at 15 months and some days...after Davis! There will be a prize for anyone who can beat Davis...but you have to comment to get it!

Cute Kids

It has been so fun for us to have our Heywood cousins just an hour away at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Fallon! Aunt Dana and I decided that we should buy matching Christmas clothes (sponsored by Grandma...thank you!) and have their pictures taken all together. John, being the brave and selfless soul that he is, set up his in-home studio and took these fabulous pictures for us...


Jadee (2), Dylan (almost 4), Maggie (1), Jeron (6) & Davis (almost 5 months)...have you ever tried to get 5 kids, aged 6 and under, to look in the same place at the same time?

Show us how you really feel about pictures, Maggie!

Conversation between Dylan and Dana:
Dylan: Jeron and Jadee are twins.
Dana: No, Jeron is older than Jadee.
Dylan: Well, Jeron and I are twins.
Dana: No, you and Jeron are cousins.
Dylan: Well, we pretended to be twins.
Dana: Oh, you pretended to be twins?
Dylan: Yeah, we pretended to be twins.

Jadee is such a good poser!

What a handsome guy!

We took these at the very end...Davis was tuckered out!

Robert Dylan Heywood

Maggie Heywood

Pretty great, I'd say, considering what we went through to get them...

1. We decided the day of that we were really going to do it (11 a.m.)

2. Which meant that Dana had to drive to Reno after getting the kids' hair cut (2 p.m.)

3. And we had to go clothes shopping (4 p.m.)

4. The clerk didn't get the red shirts in the bag (realization at 6 p.m. or so)

5. Jeremiah had to go back to get the shirts (6:20 p.m.)

6. I left Davis' shirt on the couch (6:40 p.m.)

7. Had to go back for it (6:50 p.m.)

8. We finally start pictures (7 p.m.)

9. Maggie likes to run away...

10. Davis is too tired...

11. Jadee is too ornery...

12. And Jeron and Dylan just want to watch the movie John had put on for them while they waited for me to get the shirt!

So, considering all of that...not too shabby! Thanks, again, Grandma and John!