Grammar Lesson - Mace Style

So I'm a bit of a grammar snob - can't help it, I just really hate it when words are used incorrectly. And lately the boys have started saying "gots" in place of "has". It makes me crazy and I correct them each time they say it. The other day, the boys were playing video games when Tristen said something to the effect of, "He gots one just like that," to which I responded, "Has! He HAS one!"

Suddenly, Mace hops up from the couch, runs to his room, rummages around for a minute, then comes out with his DoodleDraw. Not entirely interested, I go do something else. A couple minutes later, this sign is in front of the TV:

"So we can remember" is Mace's comment. Love that kid.

Pinewood Derby!!

Well, we may have only found out about it last Friday, but PJ made the most of those few days, and at Tristen's first Pinewood Derby, he took 2nd place in the Wolf Pack (8-year-olds) and 2nd place in the Stake (all the entries in the Derby)! Tristen wasn't too sure going into this whole thing, but was super excited by the time they were racing! Even when his car didn't take first, he was still laughing and cheering and having a glorious time. Needless, to say Mace Racer was in heaven!

Mace & the Monster

I will spin this two ways:

First, the literal. Mace has to come and put his glasses on the kitchen counter every night before bed so he won't fall asleep with them on and torque them even more than they already are. On Friday nights, he can stay up a little later and play in his room, but he's still really good about coming out and depositing the glasses before he goes to sleep. This Friday, he comes out and gets distracted by some piece of something he sees - picks it up and says, "What's this?" PJ tries to be funny and says, "Mace, it's a monster!" Now Mace, in true Mace fashion, takes a second to actually hear what dad said, then it sinks in. He drops the thing like it's on fire, jumps backward, shrieks and looks around him - trying to spot the monster in the room. PJ thinks it's hilarious - Mace, not so much. Poor dude is still terrified of so much: monsters, bugs, bees, snakes, spiders, aliens, and on and on. But he's developing a small sense of humor about it.

Second, Mace and our Monster. He and MaraJade really are best buds. I think their favorite time of the day is the mornings, when Tristen is off to school and before Mace goes. They just play and play and play. Right now, they're playing Monopoly Jr. on top of Twister. My favorite: how they play Hide and Seek. Example: Mace is the finder, Monster the hider. Mace: "1.....2......3.....4.....5.....6..78910 (how they both count), ready or not!" (Looking....Looking) then, "Where are you?" (Muffled voice) "In here!" (Run run run to "secret" location) "Found you!" (laughs and giggles of hilarity) MaraJade: "My turn now!" And over and over. It's even better when they're playing with Tristen, because once Mace finds MaraJade, Mace says, "I wonder where Tristen is?" and Monster says, "I know. I show you. Come on." Drives Tristen crazy.

They have similar interests and senses of humor, both love imaginative play, both go with the flow well, and they're wonderfully innocent still - it's just awesome to watch them. They also fight particularly spectacularly. And Mace is constantly coming in to ask, "Is MaraJade the boss?" or "Is MaraJade a grown up?" because she's such a bossy little cow - but he's the goofball who does what she says! And neither one of them can pick up worth a darn. Send them to a room to pick up 3 toys and in 5 minutes it'll be torn apart. Gotta love them.

Eo-winny-woo

Eowyn has a personality now! (And a nickname, at least for now.) From last Sunday to Monday, the switch must have flipped in her, because she started being awake longer, is happier and more alert when she is awake, and smiling and cooing and talking a ton! It's so fun - makes the icky times more worth it. Of course, it's still a trick to try and capture the cuteness in pictures or video, but here are my attempts.

I still think Eowyn looks a lot like Mace (the eyes!), but she does share some more similarities with MaraJade (mouth, for sure). It's interesting to follow this progresion (well, for me, at least). Here they all are at roughly 12 weeks - though now that I look, these aren't the best comparison shots:

Braids!

As a child, I used to love having French Braid(s). The best part? The lovely, flowing ripples you got when you released them, of course. I remember we'd leave them in as long as humanly possible (a week was awesome!) just to get the best waves.

But I actually wasn't thinking of that when I french braided MaraJade's hair - I just wanted to get it out of her face and hoped it'd last a couple of days. Well, of course it was messy in just a couple of hours, but by the next day, she had gorgeous waves! She was really mesmerized by her reflection.

Happy Easter!

A little late...

It was sort of strange, what with it being General Conference and all, but an overall nice day to remember what's most important.

Baby Update

Yes, Eowyn's still here, and though she doesn't get blogged about much, is (obviously) the biggest part of my days and nights right now.

At 10 weeks, she's no longer a little lump and is developing a cute little personality. She smiles a lot for me - not so much for other people. I tell PJ - take off her diaper! She is just like her big sister and is super happy to be bare-bottomed. I even made her laugh yesterday! Then she cried. She coos and talks to me lots.

She still sleeps a lot, although never when I need her to (of course!). My day consists of feeding and changing her, then trying to accomplish anything in the 30 minutes she'll sleep without me. Of course, when I sit and hold her, she'll sleep for 4 hours straight. But that doesn't help the state of my house, which has a certain funk to it right now that I just can't locate and don't have the time to fully investigate, let alone remedy. Fun.

Anyway. Overall, she's a very happy, pleasant little girl - when she's with her mommy. She sleeps really well at night, will sit in the swing or bouncer for a little while for me, and is such fun. And she looks so much like Mace, which is cool, since he was the most beautiful baby - really. And it'll be neat if she ends up with his eyes and eyelashes, which are totally wasted on a boy. :-)
She's going to love me for this someday.
What most of her pictures look like. The flash freaks her out.
Caught a smile! Of course, it's blurry!!