What's That?

Everyone goes through the "Why?"s with kids. It's so fun. Sometimes we try and turn the crazy questions Canon asks back on him. But he is wise to that and and has learned to say "You tell me!" I think he picked that phrase up from me. When Seth and I are discussing things - dinner for example. Seth: "What's for dinner?" Heidi: "You tell me? Do you want to eat right now, or in an hour" or "You tell me, do you feel like chicken or beef." It is funny to hear yourself say the things your kids say. Then it hits you, Oh, they got it from me. Imagine that. I guess I'm the one he hears 90% of the day. It is pretty funny. Sometimes I think he thinks I'm not telling him the answer just to annoy him, and he insists I know where the fire trucks are going and what happened. Only lately has he accepted the "I don't know" answer somewhat begrudgingly. Usually it is "Mom, you do know."

So the Facebookers out there - saw this post from Seth. But I wanted to write it in our blog for our family journal. We were driving in the new Cube and Canon was noticing all the dials. He was watching the speedometer and asked what it was for. I told him that it shows how fast we are going. We weren't changing speed at the moment and Canon was disappointed that the dial wasn't moving. So Seth went on to explain to him that it moves with the change in speed, which was acceleration. To which Canon replied "Kind of like when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly?" What do you say to that? "Yes Canon" Hey, at least he caught the "change" word and went with it. I love having conversations with Canon. Especially as he develops his language and can have more detailed conversations. The conversations usually heads is crazy directions, but that's OK. Kids are fun, aren't they? I guess it was funny to me because half the time I really don't think he is even listening. Then he says stuff and I find out he really does listen. This morning, he came into my room and I was on the computer. He asked to watch shows, as he does every morning. I was scrapbooking, and so was slow to respond to his request. Then a couple of minutes late, he said again, "Mom, can I watch a show? I'm not throwing a fit." Holy Cow! Did that ever make me jump out of my chair and help him out. Yes, he was waiting sooo patiently. Not only was he being patient, but I realized he actually listened, internalized and was doing what I asked! And I was being slow! I'm so glad he actually listens. Maybe there is hope!

We'll look back and laugh

Martin Luther King day was spent painting. We bought paint for all the bedrooms before we moved in and only got Savana's room painted. You know how that goes, closings take longer and you don't end up with the week, before you have to start moving out of your old place, that you thought you would have. Anyway, we finally painted our bedroom. The bedroom was light periwinkle with a purple bathroom. Not a horrible color - just not us. And it just didn't go with our big log furniture. We painted the bathroom and one wall of our bedroom brown. We're crossing our fingers that it looks good when we are done. The rest of the walls will be cream.

As an update on the rest of our lives, our other exciting news of the month, is that we are driving a new car. Seth truck is over 20 years old and my Honda is 13 years old. Seth is driving farther to work, and we just wanted something that we felt like we could drive some distance without worrying too much. We want to see Niagara Falls and hopefully some close by church sites this summer. So what are we driving?? A Nissan Cube. You need to click here if you don't know what it is. I have to admit, I wasn't necessarily excited about getting a Cube. It is very funny looking. But it was either a Versa for Seth to drive to work, or the Cube for me. (Both the cheapest cars on the list :) ) We decided that the Cube might be a slightly better car because it was more up off the ground for loading kids in car seats. Now that I have driven the Cube for a couple of weeks, I have to say that I really like it. When you are inside the car - it really feels big inside. I almost feel like I'm driving a mini-van. The seat is so comfortable and the kids are at a perfect height for getting in and out of the car seats with out killing my back. Then I get out, and next to me is a cute little car. There is also a lot more space, than it looks like, behind the seat for strollers and stuff. Anyway - that is my plug for the Cube.

Ok, now for the explanation of the picture above. So while Seth was painting, I was keep myself and the kids entertained. I was changing Savana's clothes and she wanted to go say "hi" to her stuffed animals. Then she wanted to sit next to them. When I put her next to them, she just sat there, with her hands in her lap and barely moved her eyes. It was pretty funny, so I had to grab the camera. Canon wanted in on the action and jumped in the picture. As Seth noted, this will be one of those pictures you look back on in 20 years and laugh. Canon is wearing his fire engine pajamas that he wanted me to dig out of the bottom of the drawer this morning. That was his outfit for the day - ok, just until we went to the store that evening. After a little bit of effort, I did get a picture with Savana cracking a smile.

So that's our life right now. Pretty good, just can't wait for warmer weather and the sun to shine just a little more often.

The Grant Christmas Vacation

Wow - December is over. We made it to Utah and back again. It feels good to be home, but I loved visiting. To start backward, we arrived home from our trip Monday night at midnight. You would think we would got straight to bed, but Canon had been waiting for his toy crane, that Santa had left him, ever since he got the note in his stocking, that Santa had left the crane in Michigan at his parents request. (Thanks Santa, we came home with an extra suitcase as it was.) So pictures 21 and 23 (if you are on our blog, you can click on the picture above to make it bigger, so you can actually see the pictures) are of Canon with his new crane. He was so excited to get out of the car and find it. He came right inside and went looking for it. Mommy "found" it under the tree and Daddy and Canon put it together before we could go to bed. Once Canon was ready to go to bed, he jumped back out again, just to give the crane a sweet kiss and an awkward hug (watch out future girl friends!).

While in Utah we packed it all in. Canon and Seth went sledding with cousins, Canon watched Polar Express with Rohan (picture 5), went on a tour of the candy factory (picture 10), played in the sandbox during a snow storm (picture 11) and watched a lot of shows at Grandpa Bruce and Nana's house. We went to Temple Square Christmas Eve (pictures 18, 19 & 20) with a few of Seth's siblings and spent Christmas morning with Heidi's family. We stayed part of the time with Nana and Grandpa Bruce and the rest of the time at Greg's house. The time at Greg's house allowed Seth to enjoy a LOT of movies. The rest of the time was spent visit friends and family and eating a lot of food that wasn't so good for us. I think my stomach was ready for healthy food, because I went to Costco the day after we got home and bought a lot of fruit.