the latest on Daniel

Daniel just "unofficially" finished a year of kindergarten with Lincoln. He wasn't actually enrolled in kindergarten last year, since he didn't turn 5 until January, but he sat in on all of Lincoln's lessons and by the end of the year was performing very well in every subject. Lincoln's teacher tested him for us and agreed that it would be best if he skips kindergarten and starts 1st grade with Lincoln in the Fall. He's really excited to be a first grader and get his very own shipment of school materials when school starts.


Daniel loves to read; he's always reading labels and signs and feels very proud to sit down and read books to Jack and Stella. He even has a go at a page of Harry Potter now and then. We've been reading the Harry Potter books at bedtime and are just a couple of chapters shy of finishing the 4th book. Daniel loves nothing more than pretending he's part of the story. I can get him to do just about anything (folding laundry, cleaning the bathroom, etc.) if I can weave it into a Harry Potter plot.

He's taking summer swimming lessons through the city rec department. On the first day of lessons, he woke up at 6:30, put on his bathing suit, and came to try to drag us out of bed and get to class (which didn't start until 10:30). The next 4 hours dragged by for him, but he was probably the happiest kid there when it was time to get into the water. He loves every minute of class.

Here's looking at you, kid

Hanging out with Stella-Wella-Wacka-Bella-Boxing-Blue (his nickname for her)

at Canyonlands National Park in May

for the quote board

A couple of weeks ago, Joe attempted to persuade the boys to pick up their toys and put them away before we began the Friday night movie.

"But I just can't do that, dad," moaned Daniel.
"C'mon, how old are you?" Joe asked.
"I'm one."
"Then you're too young to be watching movies."
"Oh, I'm like 49."
"Then you should put away 49 toys before we start the show."
"Really I'm just four."

"Hey look guys-- I'm a snorkeler!!"

(that's an uninflated punching balloon and an over-active imagination)

for the quote board

"I love everything more than anybody loves something."

~Daniel

the best day ever

Tonight as we were tucking the boys into their beds, Lincoln and Daniel decided that this was the best day ever. I heartily concur. It all started with a cheerful breakfast looking out over a lovely, warm, sunny morning. We saw happy little crocuses poking their heads up through the soil, and daffodil and hyacinth leaves reaching out to the sun.

Daniel declared it a blowsy day, so we found our kite and went to the park after lunch. The wind was perfect-- just strong enough that we didn't have to run to get the kite in the air. All it took was lifting it up. Like this:

And before we knew it, we had a kite "super-duper high up".

Jack couldn't take his eyes off of it. Don't be fooled by the solemn face; he was having a grand time.

After we'd been out for a while, heavy storm clouds gathered and the temperature dropped, so we headed home for a cozy read-a-thon. We put Jack down for a nap and made cookies and hot chocolate, lit candles in the fireplace, set up the play tents and snuggled down to read a couple of chapters from The Trumpet of the Swan. (this is about our 9th time through; can you tell it's our favorite book?).

Before we knew it, rain turned to snow and a couple of inches had accumulated. The boys pulled on their snow gear and went outside to make a snow dinosaur with some neighbor kids. We finished off the day with warm soup and fresh bread and hot baths for the littles.

After a couple of weeks of sick, crabby, housebound kids and a cranky and often impatient mom, this wonderful day was a Godsend. I just hope the memory of it doesn't fade too soon.

planning ahead

The following exchange was recorded by Joe:

As we were driving home from a family night outing, Daniel asked where I got mom's ring.

Steph: At a jewlery store.
Me: It's a place called Rocky Mountain Diamond
Daniel: Is it in this city?
Steph: No, it's up in Salt Lake.
Daniel: How do you get there?
Me: You take I-15 and go North.
Daniel: Where is it in Salt Lake City
Me: It's close to 200 West and... maybe 200 South?
Daniel: What is 200 West?
Me: Are you shopping for a ring Daniel?
Daniel: No. [long pause, then quietly] I just need to know where to get a ring for my wife. [looks away through the side window]

for the quote board

"Jack loves me the most. Whenever he sees me, he screams."

~Daniel

quote board

"Mom, we woke up so early! It was at Dim."
~Daniel

dinosaur show

Daniel recently got all his dinosaurs out and organized and told Dad it was time for a dinosaur show. Prepare to be educated!

quote board

Daniel, to himself, while playing at the sink:

"This is my bubble kingdom. Obey my commandments."

for the quote board

Mama: "Daniel, you sure like to rhyme. Maybe we should start calling you Busta Rhymes."
Daniel: "No, Buster Duster Wuster!!"

little (snow) man

I swear Lincoln is 3 going on 30. He got all bundled up to go play in the snow this morning and look what he did! I promise I didn't put him up to it.


His brother, on the other hand, is running around the house naked as a jay bird (a potty training thing) and periodically trying to escape the house for a nude jaunt in the snow. I'm about ready to let him try it out, just to get him to realize that bare skin and piles of snow DON'T MIX!!

let it snow!

Back when we were having weather in the upper 50's in November, I had my doubts as to whether or not winter would ever show. Well, show it has, and just in time for Christmas too. Yippee for a white Christmas!

In honor of the snow outside, the boys and I whipped up an inside snowstorm of the warm and tasty variety. You can try it too if you'd like.

Kitchen Snowstorm: heat a stack (as many as you want) of flour tortillas in the microwave until pliable-- 30 seconds seemed to do the trick for us. Fold up the tortillas and cut like you would paper snowflakes. Fry in a bit of hot oil until lightly browned on both sides, drain on paper towels. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and enjoy! This yummy treat is even more perfect when eaten alongside a steaming mug of hot cocoa.

Halloween

I talked the boys into being superheroes this year, since we already had capes and speedos, and I didn't really feel up to making a fish costume and a sandwich costume-- which is what they told me they wanted to be back in July. Daniel kept running and shouting, "I'm here to save da day!", and they both seemed pretty thrilled to be wearing underwear (swimsuits) on the outside of their clothes. Here they are in their best superhero pose:

Joe helped the boys carve pumpkins this year. Daniel was convinced that triangle eyes and a round nose are the spookiest combination of facial feature shapes.

While Lincoln was sure that squared shapes were definitely more scary. Boo!

in which mom tries to make up for being pathetic and pregnant

Things have been a little crazy around here over the past few months. This pregnancy has been harder on me than my first two pregnancies were (maybe it's a girl?), which means that my husband, kids and house have had to suffer through more than their fair share of neglect. Sometimes it even started to resemble Lord of the Flies around here. Scary, I know.

So, when I woke up feeling pretty good a couple weeks ago (yes, we've got a major blogging delay going on here), I had to take advantage of it. My first inclination was to tackle the funky nasty mess that our house has become, but I decided instead to whip up some fun for the boys in hopes that they'd forgive me for being so pathetic lately. I think it worked.



First, we made some tissue paper collages. The boys had a blast tearing up the tissue paper and then sticking it to the contact paper that I'd taped to the wall. Contact paper is great for making collages with little kids because you don't have to worry about them smearing glue Heaven-knows-where.









This is the finished product. It looks really cool when the sun is out--promise.














Next up, we made Super Foam-erators. Basically you cut the bottom off of a plastic water bottle, cover the resulting opening with a damp piece of terry cloth (I cut up an old dish towel) and secure it all with a rubber band. Then you dip it in some bubble solution, blow through the top and find yourself with some super cool, super long foam snakes. This would have been lots more fun outside but it was cold and rainy. Would probably be fun to do in the bathtub too.






And finally, the winner of the Sweetest Kid in the Universe award: Daniel. Every Saturday, the boys take turns going on an outing with Joe, we call them turn outs. It's something Joe learned from his dad and the rules are pretty simple.
#1- kid gets to choose the activity.
#2- no distractions (i.e., no radio, cell phones, etc.)

Lincoln usually chooses to go on a bike ride with Joe and Daniel usually chooses to ride the bus and go to the "candy store" (the candy counter at the BYU bookstore). But a few weeks ago, when Joe asked Daniel what he wanted to do for his turn out, his reply was, "Go look at flowers and bring some home for Mama." This was completely his own idea. When they got to the store, he insisted on buying blue flowers, to match his blue eyes (which are still a very vivid blue), so I ended up with some lovely delphiniums and a rose that had been spray painted blue. Is he a Ladies' Man in the making, or what?!

for the quote board

And this week, a couple of gems from Daniel:

"Yeah, tub water is yucky, but water from the potty is gooooood."

"Daddy, let's pretend we're people."

green thumbs and whatnot

How time does fly! I blinked and all of a sudden, it's been almost two weeks since my last post-- and not for lack of the goin' on of stuff. Here's the run-down:

I've got a greenish thumb! We tried square foot gardening this year and love the results. There's another box next to this one, but none of the seeds in that box had sprouted yet when this picture was taken and who wants to look at a picture of plain old dirt? You may notice the throng of weeds around our gardening box. They're extremely jealous of the very good care I give to my little plants, and are trying to figure out a way to get in.

We ate our way through a Costco-sized box of Creamies (mostly while Joe was in D.C. on a business trip). For the sake of my sanity, it's best for the boys to eat ice cream treats in the tub, since with just one popsicle, Daniel can produce 5 gallons of sticky, chocolatey slobber(which he then smears all over the couch, or our bedspread, or me). I had to post this video, because everyone needs to hear how cute it is when Daniel says his whole name-- which he does frequently. WARNING: THE VOLUME ON THIS VIDEO IS REALLY LOUD. TURN YOUR COMPUTER'S VOLUME DOWN, UNLESS YOU LIKE THAT SORT OF THING.

Daniel appears to have been making friends with Provo's community of sewer rats at a recent outing to the park. And lest you think we let our kids hang out in the middle of a street-- it's the parking lot at Wasatch Elementary, and school was out for the summer, and he was totally safe and supervised and otherwise well cared for.

gone fishin'

Yesterday I overheard the boys complementing each other on their huge fish.(Daniel: "dats amazing!!') I grabbed the camera and tiptoed around the corner real sneaky like. This is what I found: In case your imagination needs a little tune-up, the bed is a boat, the floor is the ocean, and those belts are fishing poles. These boys sure do make their daddy proud!

Brainwashed Boys

It's no secret, we start our BYU brainwashing at a very young age in the Hadfield household. We begin with exposing our children to audio from Cougar football games in utero, and continue with positive reinforcements like BYU Creamery ice cream. As far as they're concerned, the happiest place on earth isn't DisneyLand, it's campus. We've apparently been successful, since both Lincoln and Daniel can sing the fight song all the way through. We finally managed to catch Daniel singing (at least part of) it on camera when we were in Florida.

Budding Geologist

Daniel loves rocks. He cannot walk past one, not even the tiniest pebble, without stooping to pick it up. Which means that his pockets are full of them, and you can't go far in our house without stepping on one. Every once in a while, he'll find a rock that is special. To the untrained eye (everyone but Daniel, and maybe Lincoln), it looks like any other rock-- could even be a chunk of concrete or asphalt. Anyhow, when he finds that special rock, he won't let it go for anything. A few days ago, he had a smooth, flat pebble that must've fit perfectly in his (not so) little fist. He managed to hold onto it through snacktime, playing with his racecars and legos, and chasing his brother. He put it in his pocket for dinnertime, but pulled it out when he was done eating to draw on it with a piece of chalk. When bedtime rolled around, there it was again, held tightly in his hand-- he insisted on falling asleep with it.

When I first noticed his indiscriminate rockhounding tendencies, I caught myself thinking that we should get some rock books from the library so that I could teach him which rocks are "officially" special, and encourage him to collect only those. The more I think of it though, I want him to hang on to his ability to find value and enjoyment in everything he sees, even humble little chunks of asphalt.