Clever Words

Lincoln came up to me while I was working this morning.

Link: "Mom, can I have a piece of paper?"
Me: "You bet your biscuits!"
Link: "What are bik-skits?"
Me (pinching his bum): "These are your biscuits!"
Link (pointing to his nose): "No, this is my bik-skits."
Me (laughing): "No, silly. That's your pro-bis-cus!"

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hills

Inside his head

Lincoln asked me today, "Mom, does Jesus know we're moving?" Good thinkin', Link. Who cares about Santa these days anyway? As long as Jesus knows where we are...

A 6-Year-Old Performance

We just got home from Ethan's kindergarten holiday program. It might be the most darling thing I've ever witnessed. A stage full of children waving into a dark audience; Ethan squinting to find us, waving every time he thought he maybe he did, but never actually locating us. He did a lot of squinting and waving.

The program started at 7; my children's regularly scheduled bedtime. Ethan loves to sing, and he did so with vigor when he wasn't busy stifling back-to-back yawns. Little children are adorable. They'll boogie to any kind of music; boys poking; girls twirling; everyone enchanted with the spirit of performance.

Lyrics to the best song of the night:

Don't eat a
Poinsettia
If you do
You'd betta
Get ready
To get a
Be-lly-ache!

It was not an especially spiritual program, but I am grateful for the excitement that comes alive in little children when the Spirit of Christmas settles in.

A Love Letter

Dear Pinedale,

You have not seen the last of the me. You will stumble upon me again, a visitor to Sandy Beach during your perfectly temperate summers, an out-of-towner running in the Pinedale 10k/Half Marathon, a passer-through returning to visit a handful of the best friends I've had in my adult life. Don't forget me!

Love always,
Emery

Onward, Ever Onward

The rumors are true. We're moving - again. Greg is in Baton Rouge this weekend training for a position in Iraq and I'm at home with the kidlets packing, packing, packing. I must admit, we are really good at packing up and moving out; this will be our 13th move in the less than 10 years we've been married. However, of all the moves we've made, this will be the hardest for me. I love Pinedale. I am established here. I have fabulous friends. I love my ward. I love the schools. I love Sandy Beach.

But I'm also excited. This will be a fabulous move for our family, bringing me closer to my fellow Kemp women and my children closer to all their Kemp cousins. Oh, the fun we will have!

No more diapers

Porter is potty training. Well, really, I suppose he is already trained . . . and he basically did it on his own. We still use diapers at night - mostly because I'm a chicken - but he's been in underwear for well over a week and had only 2 wet accidents and none of the others. I have never had a child who wanted to sit on the toilet more than physically necessary, but he does. And he's picked up on all his big brothers' habits. When he's finished, he yells at me, "MOM, I'M DONE POOPIN'!!" And if you listen carefully and he doesn't know you're outside the door, you'll hear him singing or, most often, straining loudly as he chants , "I'm poopin' so we can have a jowy ranchah!"

It's nice to have a house full of underwear. Major milestone: Check.