Potty Humor

It was time to get our septic tank pumped.

I looked out the window and what did I see. . .

Happy Memorial Day!

P.S. Sarah, are you guys still going swimming today? We think we'll pass.

P.P.S. When Anika came upstairs she said, "Snow! Again!"
That's right. Because the pictures we took this morning are identical to the pictures we took yesterday morning. This will probably also be gone by noon, but somehow I can't face getting out the swimsuit just yet.

Head Trauma Week

1--Anderson startles too enthusiastically when Lissa grabs him from behind, propelling his own forehead into the corner of the newel post. He is sad that his hair keeps people from easily seeing his newest bruise.

2--Rosalie tries to scale the climbing wall at cousin Mckays' house but gets discouraged two-thirds of the way up and lets gravity get her down. With a severe head bonk she lies on Aunt Wendy's bed surrounded by female relatives who bring her pain-killer, books, blankets, and frozen hash-browns (to ice the bump) until she falls asleep.

3--Lissa gets up in the night to use the bathroom. With a sleepy sense of vertical she smacks her head hard against the door frame.

4--While removing rodent corpses from the window well, Casey comes up for a breath of fresh air. The overhanging corner of the widow well grate punctures his scalp even through his thick, knitted ski-cap. Instead of stitches, we use the time-honored method of pulling the hair together around the gash and holding it in place with an elastic.

5--Anderson learns that hanging upside-down from the bar stool can result in the bar stool falling over and landing on your face. With blood gushing from his nose he screams, "SAVE ME! I'M GONNA DIE!" The small puncture wound on the outside of his nose (where his glasses were pressed into his face) continues to ooze all through our visit to Mckay's house to see Hudson open his mission call. Lissa regrets that we didn't take a picture of all the blood on the floor before we cleaned it up.

6--While at Mckay's house, Meri tries to show cousin Chloe that she can pick her up. Chloe tries to help her by jumping. Both girls fall over and the back of Meri's head hits the tile floor with a loud thunk. She wants to go home and go to bed. In the morning her vision is no longer blurry.

While talking over the spate of injuries, we realize that only Anika and I have not sustained any head trauma recently. Should we worry?

Valentine's Revisited

In Preparation For Valentine's Day:

Meredith and Lissa wanted to do their own homemade Valentines this year. This one is Meri's.


And these are Lissa's.


(Anderson hated the ones we bought for him but they turned out to be cool after all-- "Mom, even the girls were like, "Do you want your bug tattoo? Can I have it?"")

Rosalie left me a cup of fresh squeezed monkey.


Valentine's Day:

Anika, who no longer has to do a Valentine for every kid in her class, decided to do one for every one in her family. She left us a card and a plate of heart-shaped pink pancakes for breakfast. There was a rhyme inside for each of us.



Is that my hair? Is that my hair?

Clarissa dressed up all fancy for the 6th Grade dance. (Ah, the 6th grade dance, such memories. Mostly awkward and yucky ones.) She had a great time. So did the other moms and I as we circled the floor taking pictures and remembering back when we learned the same dances taught by the same teacher.


Boy's choice


Girl's choice

I dropped in on Anderson's class. They were playing "minute to win it" games--balancing dice on a popsicle stick held between their teeth, etc. I just missed seeing Anderson hold four dice without moving. So he showed me how he looked when he did it.


Meredith wore her most pink clothing and her tights with hearts on them. She's actually wearing little sister Rosalie's skirt. (Rosalie has sworn off all clothing but her brown butterfly dress. She's been wearing it for three weeks now.) On the tray--our family night dessert, provided by Grandma and Grandpa Songer.



As always, Rosalie told me she loves me several times during the day.


What did Casey and I do for Valentine's Day?
Me: I didn't make monkey bread. And I gave away all of the sugar cookies we baked so that we could avoid temptation. Wasn't that nice of me?
Casey: Said to me, "Don't you look valentine-y!" What I heard: "Blah blah blah tiny!" (Aw, thanks, sweetheart!)

Disturbing

Rosalie threw herself on my lap and announced to cousin Ellie, "I found another one!"
Ellie squinted at me sideways and then said, "Okay."
"Another what?" I asked.
"You're in the game!" announced Rosalie.
"What am I in the game?"
"You're in the game with us," she said, patient with my apparent slowness.
I asked, "Am I your mom?"
"Yes, " she said, "Our new mom."
"What happened to your old mom?"
"We killed her." Ellie stated, "Cuz she kept us in a high tower."

I wasn't sure I wanted to be the new mom. I knew I didn't after I related this conversation to Casey and he told me he'd overheard them saying that not only had they killed the old mom, they'd eaten her.

Songer Family Update

Here's our most recent family photo:


Anika, Rosalie, Casey, Clarissa, Edith, Anderson, Meredith

Some random facts about our life in 2010--

Birthdays celebrated: 7
Total ages combined by the end of the year: 115
Number of inches added to our total height: 13
Number of pounds added to our total weight: Classified
Number of broken bones: Zero! (aside from Casey's annual Church Ball rib re-cracking)
Number of stitches:6--all on Anderson's head
Number of haircuts done by a toddler on herself: 3
Number of haircuts our son allowed on himself: Not nearly enough
Sets of braces put on a 13 year-old girl: 1 (trust me, they're there)
Years of marriage: 15 (otherwise known as the appliance replacement anniversary)

A couple of cool things we did this year--
Casey and Clarissa got to be extras in a movie made locally by the LDS church.
Casey and I got scuba certified and dived in the Caribbean during my parents' 50th wedding anniversary cruise. That was cool.
Lived through it all--you know, everyday life multiplied by 7 people over the course of 365 days=1 truly astounding experience. Can't wait to do it again.

Rosalie says

Rosalie slouched up to me, and in her most pathetic voice said, "Mom, my heart is broken!"
I asked, "What happened?"
"Meredith bit it. And kicked it."