*Day 88*

Sigh! Why does it seem like my week is so horrible when I have something important to do. We had our Young Women's New Beginnings program tonight, and I was in charge of it. So, of course, nothing seemed to go well this week, and especially today. My speaker called last night to cancel, so I got to come up with a talk in addition to getting everything ready. But, I work with good ladies so everything turned out alright. I think it was actually a pretty good program. The good part was that I was able to earn my Young Womanhood Medallion, again. It was good for me to work on goals with my young women, and, as always, I learn a lot and feel good about what I'm doing.

Photo Flashback: Logan Asleep....Finally

*Day 87*


This is Logan sleeping. He is about 1 month old. We came to Logan to visit Matt's mom. (For the Super Bowl party.) Well, we were in a strange place, and we had a new baby. And, Logan would not go to sleep. He was tired, but that isn't always enough to get a baby to go to sleep. We had tried everything. I tried, Matt tired. Nothing was working. We were all getting very tired. Matt was laying on the bed with Logan trying to get him to sleep. He finally got so frustrated at the crying that he just set him on his lap. And, walah, Logan fell asleep. I don't know how many hours we spent trying to keep him quiet so Matt's mom could sleep. We couldn't believe he just fell asleep like that, but we were relieved. We laughed at it after we had gotten some sleep ourselves.

Happy Birthday Rebeccalyn!

*Day 86*


There were only two granddaughters in our family when Rebeccalyn was born. So a girl was a welcome change. She's a little girl who loves her princesses and pink. But, she can still hold her own among the boys when they don't want to play princess.

Birthday Wishes

*Day 85*

First, Happy Birthday to my nephew Scott who turns 18 today! For Scott's birthday I want to tell a story about when he was little. One of my favorite Scott memories. We went to a birthday party for his brother, Josh. Josh got a bike for his birthday. We went down to the park with him and Scott. There was a little trail through the grass that Josh was riding his bike on. The trail was just where the grass had been worn away from kids riding their bikes there and was about as wide as a bike tire. Scott stood in the middle of the trail and yelled, "Hey, Josh, run me over!" So, Josh being a good big brother, headed straight toward Scott. Well, Scott had a good plan. He was going to jump out of the way at the last second to avoid getting run over by Josh. But, Josh, being a good big brother, also had a plan. He swerved at the last second to avoid running over his brother, but still scare him. The bad part was that they both moved off of the trail in the same direction and so Josh did indeed run Scott over. Scott wasn't hurt. Neither was Josh. Thanks Scott for the memory! We still still quote that to this day. Good Luck out there as an adult!


It is also my brother-in-law, Gregg's, birthday. The thing I like about Gregg is that he is level-headed. He has common sense, and can keep things in perspective. But the best thing is that his perspective can be very funny. He has the best subtle humor! It makes him fun to be around. I always look forward to Gregg's comments on a situation. Happy Birthday Gregg!

Chef Logan

*Day 84*

Logan has always liked to help in the kitchen. Maybe because he started going to daycare at my sisters daycare when he was 10 months old. And Lynn in super patient with the children and can allow them to do all sorts of things that would drive normal people crazy. One of those things is cooking. She can handle letting the kids help, even if it turns out to be huge mess. Of course Lynn loves baking, and just wants to pass that skill on to others. So, Logan got to help with cooking at a young age. I try to let him help me, because I think it's a good thing to teach your children. I think Logan just likes it because because he gets to snitch food.

Well, my little brother, Steven, started going to Culinary school. We were way excited for him, and us. Shortly after Steven started school, him and Andrea came to Logan to visit. We were, of course, talking about food. Matt mentioned that he loved Hollandaise sauce, and Steven said he could make it. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up planning a breakfast for Steven to cook for the Cache valley families. Without making this last too long, I will just say that it was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. The food was great, and so was the company. After that Logan took an even bigger interest in cooking. He talked about Uncle Steven a lot. He wanted to be a cook too. And he thought I must have learned everything I knew about cooking from Steven. Like, when I said you can't put metal in the microwave. And Logan says, "How do you know that, did Uncle Steven teach you that?" That was a question I heard more than once. And the other. "Did you use Uncle Steven's recipe?" Every time I've made french toast since Steven did. And, yes, I always use Steven's recipe.

For Christmas when Logan was six, his grandma gave him a chef set. Hat, apron, cookbook, utensils and pans. Logan loved it. His specialty has become scrambled eggs. He does a very good job with them. (There was a recipe in his book.) In fact the other night, I asked him what he thought we should have for dinner. With his sweet look, he said he would make dinner for me. He made scrambled eggs. What a sweet little kid. Now I just need Uncle Steven to teach him to make some other dinners. :) I love that he likes to cook. I love that he looks up to his Uncle Steven too. It's just fun to see him excited about things he's good at.

Here are his smiley face eggs with his favorite; sausage.

3 More Weeks

*Day 83*

Logan keeps asking me, "Has it been six weeks yet?" This question frustrates me because he asks it all the time. Has it been five minutes? Has it been two days? I always have to ask, "Since when?" Sometimes he knows and sometimes he doesn't. This one I figured out. He was upset that the groundhog saw it's shadow. He wanted spring to come. So he keeps asking if it's been six weeks yet. He has a countdown to spring going on. Poor kid doesn't realize that he lives in Utah and the term spring means nothing. The snow will stop whenever it wants too, and you may be wearing your coat until school gets out in June. You just never know.

But, you know it's not spring when the trees are sprouting icicles instead of blossoms.

I've never seen anything like this. The trees around our house are growing icicles. There's no snow or water on them, the icicles are just growing out if the trees. We decided that it must be tree sap. So Logan offered to test it out. "These are the best icicles I've ever tasted!" They must be tree sap, because they are sweet. We have to pick one everyday on the way home from school. (Yes, it is still below freezing here on the way home from school.) It was just a weird thing we observed. Wanted to share it with the rest of you.

Life at Daycare: Quote of the Day

*Day 82*

We had our state daycare licensing inspection toady. It's always stressful. They come in and search your house to see if they can find anything dangerous to the children. Then they ask you a ton of questions about how you take care of the children. And then we get written up because they've changed a rule and we are not in compliance. It leaves us wondering why we jump through all of these hoops just to feel like they don't trust you. At least that's how it feels. Sometimes it's frustrating. But today it went great. We had no findings. So, no follow up visit. Yeah us!

The inspector was there and the kids watch her because she's not normally there. They were asking questions about her, and I told them she came to check the house to make sure it is safe for all of them. (OK, so this might not be an exact quote because I can't remember how he said it. I'll give you the jist.) Diego says how glad he is that she came because he's afraid of monsters, and he's glad there's not any here. Man, if she was just checking for monsters, it would me much less stressful.

Snoogi Sunday: Cooking

*Day 81*

Logan would wear his snoogi anywhere, especially today because I made him walk to church, and it was really cold. He wanted to help make dinner. He usually does. So he put on his chef hat. You can't see it really well because he decided to put the colander on his head too. Unfortunately, the snoogi didn't last long in the kitchen. Logan is afraid to get it dirty. Heaven forbid having to be without it long enough to get it washed! And I was afraid that the sleeves would get too close to something hot and start a fire. At least you have the stove to keep you warm while your cooking.

Guess What? Chicken Butt!

*Day 80*

I wanted to register Logan for soccer today so, I planned on walking down to the rec center this morning to sign him up. He was busy watching cartoons so he didn't want to come until he found out I was walking. It looked like a beautiful day. Well, it was, but it was also freezing, as Logan kept reminding me for all 6 blocks to the rec enter. But, he kept going because I promised him he could look at the water after we were done. Thus, started our adventure. I learned something, every time I take Logan on a walk, I need to bring the camera. Logan doesn't like to go for walks, he likes to go exploring. So, we went exploring, but I don't have pictures. I'm going to have to take Logan back and take pictures so I can post them later.

But, I did get a funny story. So instead of pictures, you get a story. I was hurrying to get to the rec enter before registration ended. Logan decided at the last minute that he wanted to come. He hadn't eaten his breakfast because he was so busy with TV. So I put his bread into a baggie so he cold eat it on the way. We were about a block from home, when he called to me. Now, I was in a hurry, so I'm bugged that he keeps stopping. I turn around and he's saying something that I can't understand. He has a mouth full of bread, and he's a little panicky. I can't figure out what is up. Then, he's trying to give me his bag of bread. I'm asking him if he's finished, or if he wants more, and he's really not saying anything. I just don't get what he wants or what's going on, and I'd like him to keep moving. But, now he is starting to cry. Then I look up. There is a big chicken in the driveway right in front of us. And, it's walking toward the sidewalk. Then I get it. He is panicking. He is frantically trying to stuff his bread back into the bag and give it to me. He is afraid that the chicken is going to come after his bread! My son can be very sensitive. I was proud of myself, because I held my laugh in so I didn't hurt his feelings. When I finally realized his concern, I took his bread, then he went on the other side of me as we passed the chicken. The good news is that the chicken didn't attack us for our bread, and we lived to have a great adventure after we signed up for soccer.

I really didn't know he was so scared of chickens.

Picture Blankets

*Day 79*

The other day in my blog, I mentioned I slept with a blankie when I was little. I loved it, and I still have what's left of it today. I decided to post a picture.


My blanket was lovingly referred to as my "picture blanket". My mom made it for me when I was born. It has pictures on it that my brother and sisters and mom and dad colored. If you can see the pictures really well, keep in mind that Lynn was only five when I was born. Logan kindly pointed out that Sherry must not have been very old. I'm the only child that has a picture blanket. I think that's pretty cool.

When Logan was born my mom made him a picture blanket too. His cousins and me and Matt got spots on his blanket. Logan still sleeps with his on his bed. He likes blankets and cats. I put away all of his baby blankets, but he found them, and insists that he needs some of them. He has several blankets and cats that he sleeps with. I can't complain too much, he's a good sleeper, and doesn't complain about bedtime.

Pet Peeve

*Day 78*

I didn't know what to blog about today. Then I was out driving with my sister and I had an idea. I have a pet peeve! No it's not about my sister (today).


I've spent a lot of time as a pedestrian. I have my pet peeves from a pedestrian standpoint too. But, today it's a driver's pet peeve. My pet peeve is pedestrians that either don't know what the traffic signs mean, or just ignore them. In particular, when I have a green arrow, the little man on the sign still says don't walk. Don't cross the street and waste my chance to get through the intersection on a green arrow. Watch the little red hand, and wait for your turn! That's it.

Happy Birthday Cassie!

*Day 77*

I met Cassie for the first time when she was about 2 minutes, 8 seconds old. We were there when she was born, and she hasn't been able to get rid of us since. Sorry Cassie, but we're here to stay!

I love that Cassie can take the teasing we dish out. I'm glad that we are still facebook friends. We told Cassie that we could make her regret letting us be her friends. But, we like Cassie enough that we probably won't. That doesn't mean we'll stop teasing her though.

We've been teasing Cassie since she was small. Always there is the fact that she was scared of her uncles when she was little. She would run away from Roger, and wouldn't come near Matt. One day, we were at my mom and dad's, and Matt was sitting on the couch. All of the sudden, Cassie walked over and sat down right next to him. We all stared in amazement. Then we decide that she didn't really know who she was sitting by. Sure enough, a minute later, she looked over, realized it was Matt who was there, and left. She doesn't run away from Matt anymore. But, we always remind her of the time she did.


Cassie, Have a great birthday! We love the young woman you've become. And we like being your friends. I have one question. When does the countdown for next year start? (Sweet 16!)

Good Night Kitty

*Day 76*

I checked yesterday's blog to see what day I was on. I read 75. So, I got ready to put the day on today's blog and almost wrote 80. Either I've been helping Logan too much with his skip counting, or it's too late for me to be blogging. But, if I counted that way, I might catch up to Matt.

I think I've already gone over how Logan loves cats. I had a lot of stuffed animals when I was a kid, but I never cuddled up with them to sleep. I tried sometimes, but it just didn't help me sleep. I had a blanket that my mom made me when I was born. My picture blanket. But, Logan he has slept with a cat forever. When his cat collection started growing, we had to limit the number of cats he could have in bed with him. He would often use them to keep him awake. I went in to check on him last night, and he looked so cute with his cat.

Snoogi Monday: Valentine Snoogi's

*Day 75*

Well, since Matt kidnapped my blog yesterday, I took the day off. So, I didn't do snoogi Sunday. I thought that would be OK, then we celebrated Valentine's day. And now I have to post a snoogi post.

Logan loved giving people little gifts for Valentine's day. And his eyes just sparkle when you smile and hug him. It really is adorable. But, the best part for him was the gift he got from Grandma Platis. She gave him a kids snoogi. He was so excited to have this special, fuzzy, warm Valentine. Bonus: it came with fuzzy slipper socks. Backstory: I got fuzzy slipper socks for Christmas a few years ago. Logan loves them. Has even stole them out of my drawer to wear. I wanted to get him some. The last two years for Christmas, I have looked for some for him. They don't make them for boys. I was going to get some in the girls department. You know, a kind of neutral color that a boy could wear too. They don't have them. They are all girlie. So, I never found any for him. It's OK now, he got some for Valentine's. I will have to check in the morning to make sure he doesn't wear them to school.


He's trying to show his socks too, but they blend in with his snoogi. I'm glad this kid is so easy to please.

Love to Hate: NBA Edition

*Day 74*

Kristy must have forgotten that I helped set up her blog which means I know her password. So now I am blognapping her blog and getting a little revenge!

For those that know Kristy well know that she is pretty competitive and that she likes sports. But after being married for 12 years I have come to an interesting conclusion. She is loyal to her teams but I have found that she hates teams more than she loves teams.

For instance, she loves and supports the Utah Jazz. She will cheer for them and watch all the games that she can. But when they are playing a team she despises, she really hoots and hollers. But not for the Jazz, she hoots and hollers at the other team. She loves to hate her opponents. And that hate will continue forever. She still hates the Bulls and how long has it been since Michael Jordan played?

Here are her most hated rivals/opponents. Actually here are just four of them, I didn't have room to list them all! These are in no particular order and forgive me Kristy if I miss one. I am sure you will love the pictures I have chosen.

Michael Jordan
Now Kristy will admit that she does have a little, tiny shred of respect for MJ. But he was a Jazz killer and she will forever hate him for shot. That and his disrespectful Hall of Fame speech where he was all "Me! Me! Me!"

Pau Gasol
Sometimes she will mispronounce his name and call him Gas Hole. But that is probably the nicer of what she calls him. The guy is just ugly.

Kobe Bryant
Kristy hates the arrogance of this player. He is also known as a Jazz killer which definitely makes him a top player to hate. And she hates his smug look he gets when he plays. I tried to find a picture that shows it.

Derek Fisher
She did like him when he was with the Jazz but then he turned traitor and went back to the hated Lakers. Notice a trend here? She hates the Lakers but she does like Kareem. Hmmmm. Go figure.

But to be fair, she does love and support a few players too. There are a special few that she loves as much as she hates the fellas above. Most of them are Jazz men but there are a few competitors that she does like a have a good respect for.

John Stockton
Who out there doesn't like Stockton? She appreciates the toughness and determination of this gutsy player. And the shorts.

David Robinson
The only non-Jazz man to make the list. Kristy is a fan of classiness and Robinson was certainly one of the best.

Matt Harpring
She appreciates Harpring because of his tough play and the ability to make the other player frustrated and mad. Last season it was all about Harpring. All I would hear was "Harpring this" and "Harpring that". I would be more afraid of losing Kristy if he wore Stockton shorts.

Jeff Hornacek
Kristy apparently does not remember that Hornacek was once a Jazz killer when he played for the Suns. She likes Jeff for being a pure shooter and being one of the quiet ones.

So there you have it. Now I will go and change my password and make sure I am logged out when I blog.

* Please refer to comments for blog owner's interpretation. Thank You!

And HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!



And as a bonus, I snuck a banner in her blog!

Happy Valentine's Day

*Day 73*
I love my boys. They are both so sweet. We had a family Valentine celebration because it would just be sad to leave Logan out. He really loves to love people, and likes to be a part of doing special things for someone. Although, he could probably be a little better at keeping secrets. (I really have no idea what you bought with cookies at the auction last night Matt. Logan didn't say anything that would have made me guess.)

I decided I would rather celebrate Valentine's Day today, so I could rest tomorrow. I made a special dinner for my boys. Logan was excited that I put a table cloth on the table. Then we had dessert. Now I really don't get tomorrow off because I have to clean my kitchen. But, anyone looking for a lat minute Valentine gift for me will know what they can do......


White Chocolate Oreo cake by mom. Cookie flowers by Logan.

Valentine Dinner

*Day 72*

Whew! It's been busy for a day off. We had our Young Men/Young Women fundraiser tonight. The youth wanted to do something different this year. They decided to have formal dinner for the adults in our neighborhood. They wanted it to be nice and romantic. They took care of babysitting and feeding all of the kids while the adults ate.

I was in charge of cooking; for like 90 people. I was stressing about when to start cooking, so that everything was ready at the right time. And how much to cook so we had enough, but not too much. I didn't realize until the food was cooking, that I was also going to be in charge of how to get this food onto plates and served to people. Small details. Thank goodness our youth were very willing to help. They did an excellent job. We got a lot of compliments, and made some money to pay for camp this summer. The only bad part was that Matt had to eat his romantic Valentine dinner alone because I got stuck in the kitchen. And, his was the last order to be taken. And we ran out, so he was the only person that didn't get what he ordered. Guess what I'm making for dinner tomorrow?

Parent Teacher Conference: A Parent's View

*Day 71*

We went to Parent/Teacher conferences with Logan today. Nothing too surprising. He's very capable of doing his work. If he can stop talking long enough to focus on it. He has very high scores on all of his content. I wish I would have been prepared going into the conference. It would have interesting to count exactly how many times his teacher said he needed to stop talking and do his work. Of course, he had nothing to say tonight. It's probably the quietest he's ever been in her class. Maybe she really wouldn't mind if we came and sat in class with him.

When Logan was younger, I never would have guessed that he would be a talker. He acted so shy. And he can never think of anything to say if you ask him a direct question. It's hard being a parent and trying to get your kid to behave when you really have no idea what's going on everyday. I guess this is my Karma. Sorry to all the parents I had to deal with when I was teaching.

The Really Tall Kid

*Day 70*
Bear with me, because to tell the story of this picture, I first have to do a backstory. I'll try not drag it out.

My mom worked at Westridge Academy. This is a private school for troubled boys. Every year they do a fundraiser called the Scarecrow Festival. It's a big carnival with games, food, rides, facepainting. It's always around Halloween, so the boys form the school and other people will dress up. My mom used to take her grandkids even before she taught at the school. After my mom started working there, we always went to see my mom (and because she would get us tickets).

When Logan was three, I took him. We were talking to my mom when a group of boys came up. They had a quartet and were walking around singing to people. My mom knew the boys so she called them over to sing to us. Then she introduced them to us. One of these boys was walking on stilts. In future years, we would see a boy walking on stilts at the Festival. I didn't realize what impact this had on Logan until I started hearing him telling his friends that his grandma knew a really tall kid. At first I didn't know what he was talking about. Then one day, he trying to beat everyone elses story and he was telling about the really tall kid his grandma knew. Finally, I realized that really tall kid his grandma knew was the kid on stilts. Apparently he didn't realize the kid was on stilts. He just thought he was really tall.

A couple of years ago we were at the Scarecrow Festival with my family. (We didn't go last year because my mom got laid off.) I was with Logan and he saw this "kid" walking toward us. He says, "There's that kid grandma knows." (Meaning the really tall kid.) I looked at who he was looking at, and I said, "No, that's just Shawn Bradley." Shawn Bradley is a 7' 6" basketball player. He played in the NBA. At the time he was working for Westridge Academy. He was so tall that Logan thought he was the kid on stilts! They might have been the same size. We didn't see the kid on stilts that year. I think he graduated. They just hired Shawn Bradley to take his place at the Scarecrow Festival.


I mentioned that I would like to see exactly how much taller he was then me. So, my mom introduced us and my sister made me get my picture taken with him. He's really tall.

I'm just going to mention, that this wouldn't be my number one choice in basketball players to meet. I was never a Shawn Bradley fan. But, it is impressive to stand next to him to be able to appreciate how big some of these payers are. Besides, it's a pretty good blog story.

Sick

*Day 69*

So, I almost forgot I needed to blog. I've been sick and in bed most the day today. (Thanks to for Lynn for taking care of all the kids so I could go home early, and to Matt for keeping Logan busy.) But, my Nyquil is starting to kick in, and I'm not sure what will come out under it's influence, so I'm going to bed. See ya tomorrow. Hopefully well rested and feeling lots better.

Bowling

*Day 68*


As part of family night tonight, we ate leftover treats from the Super
Bowl, and did some wii bowling. Logan has never bowled on the wii before. Me and Matt, well, we have, but it's not usually pretty. We get frustrated about why our ball is curving a t the last minute and such. There aren't always happy feelings in the room afterward. Logan can get really upset when things don't go his way. So, we tried to prepare him for this. You know, reminding him that he's never played before and it might take some getting used to, so not to worry if doesn't do great at first. He'll get better with practice..... So, yeah, useless talk. He pretty much kicked our trash. His score was higher than both of our record scores were. He was the first one to knock down a strike. He danced a round the living room. Yeah, I think he had fun. I think I'm going to have to practice while he's asleep. I've been looking up hints. That's where I found this picture. For some reason, I didn't think of taking a picture of him playing. Maybe next time. If I can stand his trash talking.

Snoogi Sunday: Super Bowl Style

*Day 67*
One of the things that made us laugh at the snoogi is that in one of their commercials they tell you that it's great to wear at sporting events. They show a guy, in his snoogi, cheering for his team in the bleachers. I think I can keep myself warm at a game, without looking like a weirdo. Besides, I've never seen one in my team color. I think this is as close as our snoogi is ever going to get to a sporting event.


Logan and Matt cheering the Saints. Go Saints!

Snowy Saturday

*Day 66*
Jessica got to come play with Logan today while her mom and dad went to a wedding. Logan has been counting down the days until Jessica is coming all week. Jessica was just as excited to be at Logan's, and Matt's. (She doesn't see Matt very often, but she loves him, and always makes sure to remember him.) We played here for a while, and made some bread. Jessica is as much of a snitcher as Logan is, and I had to kick them out of the kitchen to keep them from eating all of the dough. Then we bundled ourselves up and headed to the park for some sledding. We had lots of fun. We popped two tubes and broke the handle off the sled. But then we just slid down the hills on our tummies. We made a snowman that Logan tried to destroy while Jessica was eating it. Jessica got cold so we headed back home. We splashed in some puddles on the way home. So, we were cold and wet by the time we got here. That was OK, Jessica brought some hot chocolate to share with us. Then Logan wanted to watch a movie. Him and Jessica sat on the couch under a blanket. Jessica kept saying she was cold, so I bundled her in another blanket. Then she fell asleep on the couch. She's not that hard to deal with, when her mom's not around.


I saw this picture the other day. This is when me and Sherry taught our nephew Josh to put these round things from a game we never knew how to play on our eyes. I guess we think this is an important thing to teach our nieces and nephews. Check out what we did with Jessica today.


Marbles on our eyes.


Poor tired kids. I guess that's my reward for taking them to the park.

Happy Birthday Pauline!

*Day 65*

We love Grandma Pauline. She's an awesome grandma. She likes to spoil her grandkids (and they love her for that), and has infinite patience with them. We're glad to be part of her family. She is so thoughtful and generous. Very willing to help out others, and a hard worker. Besides she's looking great these days! She has found the willpower that I am lacking to get myself into better shape.
Thanks to Jennifer for giving us the chance to get together and celebrate Grandma Pauline. Happy Birthday!

*Day 64*

Logan got into his art supplies one night and was busy cutting and gluing. He was busy and I was free, so I just let him keep going. Besides, it's fun to see what he comes up with. He sat under the "craft" table while I was working one day just cutting any scrap of paper or material he could get his hands on. He came up later and served me a whole dinner made of cardboard. This night he was happy to be using the curvy scissors. He was creating, and at first I was following what he was making. Then he added this big black thing. I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. Trying not to hurt his feelings, I did some probing. I found out that it was a garbage can. That's when I realized that I must not have a very artistic eye. It looks just like a garbage can. I can't believe I didn't see it. I guess I just wasn't expecting him to make a picture of a garbage can. I thought it was a great piece of art. Later I asked why he made a picture of the garbage can. He looked at me and said, "It's a picture of my yard." Duh! He tells me he likes to draw, but not things, just draw. I told him that's OK, a lot of people do that. It's called abstract art. I think a garbage can is pretty abstract. Maybe he's got some talent.

Life at Daycare

*Day 63*

I know this is a weird picture. But, just wait, the stories that go along with it are funny. (At least they were when they happened, I'm not so good at conveying that in writing. I'll do my best.)

In case you don't know, I work at my sister, Lynn's, house. She has run a daycare for years. I help her with her daycare and teach preschool. It's been a great job for me. It's fun, and filled with childhood wisdom and some pretty funny remarks.

So, back to my picture. This is the heat vent in the basement. Preschool is in the basement. The bathroom is upstairs. When the kids are playing in the bathroom instead of washing their hands, you can hear it in the basement through this heat vent. It has come in handy to be able to hear what's going on up there. And comical if you have a child who talks while "taking care of business". Usually we just hear mumbling or noises, and it takes us a minute to figure out what it is before we remember someone's up there. But one day..... We had read the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" Me and Lynn happened to be standing right under the heat vent when we heard a child in the bathroom talking. And they said, "White toilet paper, white toilet paper, what do you see?" Me and Lynn looked at each other, and, of course, started laughing. I couldn't stop. And I was a bit disappointed that I didn't couldn't stop laughing long enough to hear the rest. Or was I?

It also made me laugh the other day to find out that the kids have figured out the bathroom-basement connection through the heat vent. The kids were finishing washing their hands after snack, so I headed downstairs with the ones who were finished. Then plain as day, I hear Diego. "Jessica's playing in the water!" He actually got down on the floor and yelled directly into the heat vent to get help. Hey, who needs an intercom system?

Loganisms

*Day 62*
Here are some questions I have been asked by Logan.

"If a tornado is wind, why can we see it?"

"What happens if gravity runs out of batteries?"

Well, what do you think?

Backyard Friends: Ducks

*Day 61*

I saw these ducks in the tree next door. Not these exact ducks. I walked out the door and a bird flew over my head. The way it was flying I knew it was a duck. Then it surprised me by landing in the tree. I'd never seen a duck in a tree. It happened a couple more times. Same looking duck, same branch in the same tree. I was never able to get a picture, so I just stared at it, noting it's markings so I could look it up. Then, I went out the zoo to see if I could find these ducks. It's the Mandarin Duck. Not native to this area, and they are perching ducks which would explain why they were in a tree. I guess that's why I'd never seen a duck perch, they're not native to here.

During the summer Logan had swim lessons in the morning. After swimming, we would ride our bike from the pool to Lynn's for work. We would go along 400 West so we could follow the canal. It was scenic. One day we saw a beaver. We always counted the ducks. One day we counted 89 ducks in the four blocks.

Around town, we have also seen a flock of wild peacocks, and a wild turkey. I enjoy watching our fine feathered friends.