Imgainary Friends Part 2

The other day on the way home from school, Caleb was talking on the "phone" and I heard him say, "Are you kidding me?... No way.... Okay bye!" He hangs up. "Mom, that was Jisa's mom. Jisa got sick and had to go the hospital and she DIED!" Natalie started to cry. "Not she didn't! She's my friend. She didn't die!" You can't kill other people's imaginary friends.

Primary Program

Yesterday was our Primary Program. It went well.... You know how there's that kid that is half a beat behind the rest of the kids? well that was Natalie. about 5 times. She could barely see over the chair in front of her and she only sang about half the time. but she was really cute. she had her little part memorized but when it came time to actually do it she had to have help... the stinker.

You know how there is that kid who can't stop playing with his tie... well that was Caleb. it was in his mouth. it was around his head. it was around neck. back in his mouth. then he started flipping it up so that it hit his face... it was driving me crazy. when it was his turn to do his part he stood there and read it. but he knew it well enough to make eye contact a few times. He actually had 2 parts... The kid right after him was out of town. He had the first part memorized but not the second part. I don't remember the whole thing, but part of it said, "When I was baptized I promised...." Oops; they forgot to change it to make it doctrinally sound when he took over that part. But he sang his little heart out. It was so sweet. The Sunday of the program is always one of my favorites.

Imaginary Friends

For quite some time now, Natalie has had a couple of imaginary friends. Their names are Jisa (rhymes with Lisa) and Alena. Depending on the day, these two girls' ages vary, but she plays with the often. Today they "came over to play." Natalie brought them into the bathroom where I was fixing my hair, and fully expected me to have a conversation with them. This was a first for me. Talking on the telephone with them isn't too difficult, but having a conversation with imaginary friends who are supposed to be in the room with me.... its tough. (Right now she is asking me what their favorite game is... I'm afraid I have no idea.)

Sometimes Caleb decides to steal these imaginary friends. He tells Natalie that they want to play with him. He calls them on the phone and talks to them. I think he's even talked about marrying one of them.

This is a new thing for me... I never had an imaginary friend, and neither did Chad. Neither did Caleb until he had to come up with a couple friends to equal Natalie's friends. His friends are named Jakes and Caco (rhymes with Paco). I think its funny. These friends keep them entertained sometimes for hours. I'm all in favor of cheap thrills.

My update

I'm keeping busy with the kids and YWs responsibilities and keeping house (probably in that order). Its been several months since Chad and I went out on a date together, but we're hoping to get something in sometime in the next couple weeks.

So I never realized how hard it would be to be a YWs leader.... You have to find a balance between being a leader and a friend. You have to decide how much information to give when they ask things like, "How many boys have you kissed?" You have to know what issues to push. You have to know what expectations to establish when you know those expectations aren't being made at home. Its tough.

There used to be something else written here but I decided to take it off. Thanks to those who commented, sorry to those who missed it and can't figure out what the comments are referring too. Lets just say that its hard to know when to try to correct inappropriate behavior and when to let people "govern themselves." And YW are so sensitive and dramatic... its tough.

A Claire update

Claire is eating and growing and eating and belly-crawling. The other night she ate an entire can of pear slices. Not a babyfood jar... and 15 oz can. there were about 6 little pieces in her highchair, but other than that she ate every single piece. She's probably going to surpass her sister--and maybe her brother--in height before she stops growing. I would like to wean her from nursing to a bottle of formula, but she really likes to nurse. She'll usually take a bottle, but sometimes she chooses to be picky and won't take it. And part of me thinks it is silly to switch her to formula when I'm just going to switch her to milk in 3 months, but I'm ready to be done nursing. She has started pulling herself to her knees and sometimes to standing. She is pretty unsteady on her legs still, but I got a Johnny Jump-Up today that I'm going to try out. We'll see how she does.

Claire-bear loves to giggle and play. She still doesn't like to be left with anyone else besides her mom, but is getting to where she'll let dad or grandma or grandpa hold her. But she's very choosy. She also gets frustrated easily, like Caleb did at this age.

Claire is sick today... she had a runny nose last week, but it went away for a few days, and now its back, only this time its worse. Now she also has a cough. She didn't sleep very well last night, so hopefully she'll take a couple good naps today and sleep a little better tonite. I'll probably give her a couple doses of Motrin or Tylenol throughout the day. Aahh... better living thru chemistry. So thats whats up with her.

A Natalie update

Natalie misses Caleb like crazy, although I think she does enjoy having complete control over the TV during the day. She has started pre-school and LOVES it. I'm doing a co-op thing with 3 other moms I know, where we take turns teaching. There are two boys and one other girl. Most of the girls Natalie knows are either Caleb's age, or else several months younger than her. She finally has a little girl friend that is her age, and she has loved it. Preschool is Tues. and Thurs. mornings for just 2 hours, but its a fun group of kids. Last week she asked me where preschool was going to be next, and I told her it was going to be at our house. She said, "You are going to pretend to be my teacher?! Wow!" I guess thats really what I'm doing... just pretending... but it is still fun. On Monday we made applesauce, and it was fun and it was tastey.

Natalie is ALL girl. She likes anything pink, ponies, princess, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie... the list goes on. I refuse to get her anything Hannah Montana until she is at least 8 and she'll NEVER have BRATZ dolls. Her birthday is coming up next month and there are so many things she would like I don't know what to get her.

Natalie is really smart, but she's also kind of an airhead (with both of her parents being slightly airheaded she really had no hope). A lot of times we think she's not paying attention, but then she'll jump into the conversation and say something perfectly pertanant. Its amusing. So thats a Natalie update.

A Caleb update

I'm really behind on this, but it's been busy. So I'll give shorter updates on each of us. Caleb started school on August 18th. He is in all-day Kindergarten at Fort Casper Academy. They just completed a new building, and its really nice. Caleb's teacher is Mrs. Doxtater, and he things she is very pretty. She's only about 26, and this is only her 2nd year of teaching, so she's still really excited about it, which is great. It took him a few days to remember he had to raise his hand to say something, but he's gotten the hang of it. He has homework every day, but usually it is something like a ABC dot-to-dot that he has to do and color. Lame.... talk about busywork. But it is teaching him that he has to prioritize and it helps in establishing an after school routine.

On the first day of school, the parents were allowed to come into the school for the first 30 mins of school. The teacher introduced herself to the parents and the kids, and then told us she was going to read a story. She read "The Kissing Hand." Its this really cute story about a raccoon who doesn't want to go away to school. Fortunately for me, we have the book, so I knew how it ended. As it was, it was all could do to keep from breaking down in tears. Don't get me wrong... I was totally excited for Caleb to start school; he was ready and I was ready. But when it came time to walk out of that classroom it was a lot harder than I expected. I just hope I've taught him the right things to succeed.

He's still reading like there's no tomorrow. He LOVES the Magic Tree House books... its a series about this brother and sister who find this tree house with lots of books in it. If they open the book and say "I wish I were there" they are transported to that time. They are really great because they are easy to understand, but they also require him to use his imagination. They are usually 10 chapters, and anywhere from 60 to 90 pages. The downside is he can read one in about 45 mins. We bought him a new one last week and he had it finished before we got home from running errands around town. So I am trying to find some new books for him. any suggestions would be welcome. He also likes reading the Boy Scout Manual and the scripture story books.

Caleb is our little buddy. He loves music and playing and reading. He loves making Claire laugh and smile and takes his responsibility of Big Brother very seriously. an example: A couple weeks ago I had a meeting before mutual, and Chad wasn't home yet so I took the kids with me. They were playing the gym with Ramsey, the son of the YWs pres. Ramsey is a little older than Natalie, but they are in Sunbeams together. So anyway, Ramsey came into the room where we were having our meeting and said, "Sister Sundquist, Caleb said I can't marry Natalie." He and Caleb were having this argument about whether he could or couldn't marry her. It was almost getting physical. It was hilarious because Caleb was SO insistent on Ramsey not marrying her. I couldn't stop laughing. So thats a little about Caleb.