Lacking in tact- yep, that's my boy!

I always hear the comment, "Kids say the darndest things." 


Sometimes it is just so funny what children say. In honor of Martin Luther King Day this last Monday, Jonathon was assigned to write a speech for his 3rd grade class. 


What did he write? I'll tell you.


"I have a dream that my brother would be nicer to me at the house. He always is being a butthead to me. My dream is important to my parents because they know he is a real pain in the butt to me. If my dream came true, I would be so glad I would say thank you to God. I would say to Steven you are a good brother since you have changed." 


Peter helped Jonathon clean up his speech. He felt that the words butt and butthead did not belong in a speech. It is funny that he would think of that word to use in his speech, but I'm sure his teacher would frown on that amongst all the laughter of the other children. After all, body humor is SO FUNNY at that age!


His speech now reads:
I have a dream that my brother will be nicer to me someday. My dream is important to me because I want to feel happy when I am with my brother. My dream is important to my parents because they want peace and harmony in our house. If my dream came true, I wold be so glad that I would say thank you to God. I would say to Steven, "You are a good brother since you have changed." If we all would be nicer to each other, it would make our house a happier place.


I love the brutal, simple honesty of kids, especially Jonathon. He always says it like it is. There is no guile in him. Everything he does is straight up. We just need to help him refine his skills and to use tact.


Another illustration of this trait is an event that occurred a couple weeks ago. His teacher, Barbara Chase, caught him cheating. She was giving the class a spelling test. Jonathon for whatever reason decided he was going to cheat, he was copying the words down from the spelling test inside his desk. She caught him red handed; he was on #18 while the class was still on #7. He got a 0 on the test. And she talked to him about cheating. Then later that same day they were doing a math drill exercise in which they had to complete as many problems as they could in 1 minute. Well, after the minute was up, Jonathon kept working. He got another 0 on that test. And, she wrote an email to me. I checked my email after dinner and read the bad news. He was sent to bed after dinner that night while Peter, Steven, Ethan, Aeron and I went to a drive in to see Sherlock Holmes and The Blind Side. He was very unhappy about that. There were tears. Also, the next day, when Peter had to go in to do some work at the high school, Jonathon had to go with him. While there, Jon had to write a letter of apology both to his teacher and to himself. We talked with Jon about how cheating really cheats him of the opportunity to gain important knowledge. Obviously we don't agree with this type of behavior, but what child hasn't tried this? I hope that he won't try this little stunt again. Otherwise, we'll have to think up a more serious punishment.

Summer haircuts and unintended consequences

Friday afternoon I gave all 4 boys haircuts. Earlier that morning I asked Jonathon if he wanted a summer haircut. He's been getting so sweaty with his long hair and when he gets sweaty, he wipes his hands across his face generally leaving black dirty streaks in the wake of his hands. So Jon got his haircut and then he commented that he didn't want it that short! I asked him, what he thought a summer cut was?

To complicate the story, Friday night before Jonathon went to bed, he took a detour through our bathroom and played with Peter's beard trimmer. I guess he wanted to give himself his own haircut. What he ended up with to my dismay was a reverse mohawk that went halfway back on his head. I discovered this Saturday morning as I was getting him ready for his soccer game at 9:30.

What had previously been a nice haircut that was a clipper size 6 on top now became a shave with a clipper size 1. He's almost bald now.

To rub in this fact, I photographed him in all his glory. He didn't seem to mind all that much, unfortunately. And at the soccer game, when I cheered for him, I cheered, "Go, Baldy go!" He didn't seem to appreciate my cheers very much. But then again, I didn't appreciate having to give him a whole new haircut.

Hopefully, Jonathon won't make that mistake again!

Ten on Tuesday

Pictures 1. Steven. 2. Aeron and my husband the Brigham Young wanna be - he's in a play at our stake and they asked him to grow a beard. 3. Bekkah. 4. Jonathon - the real wild one. 5. Classic Ethan - we had to take his picture when he got the potty seat stuck on his head. It's side splittingly funny!

Here's my Ten on Tuesday:

10. Ethan makes me laugh. He is obsessed with Batman. About six months ago, I bought him a pair of Batman Underoos and he only wants to wear the undershirt. Yesterday I had to wrestle the shirt off him so I could wash it. Then, he insisted on wearing the newly washed and slightly dry shirt to preschool. He wore Batman all day and then wore it to bed. Today he smeared ketchup on it. He doesn't like getting dirty. We took the shirt off and then he changed into his Superman pajama shirt and wore it to school. I don't fight with him anymore. If he wants to wear it, so be it. At least I can get him to wear a pair of jean shorts to school so he looks mostly presentable. I pick my battles with him.

9. My daughter, Rebekkah, is an angel. She is my right hand. She helps me tremendously with the younger kids and tasks around the house. I hope I am not doing her a disservice by relying on her too much. I need to tell her thank you more often. We do reward her too. Recently, we got her a cell phone. For Christmas she got an iPod. We don't want to spoil her but we do want to give her the things she wants within reason and she works hard.

8. Jonathon peed his pants twice today, once at school and the other after school while playing. That really ticks me off. He doesn't take the initiative to change his clothes. He stays in them until he is dry and smelly. Gross! How does an almost 8 year old boy do that? But of course he is a boy. Maybe boys are just like that.

7. I think Aeron has 5th disease. His cheeks are rosy. He had diarrhea and mild cold like symptoms today - runny nose and not feeling well. He also has a rash; some on the top of his shoulder, near his diaper area, on his ankle, and legs. It resembles a blister and is kind of blotchy. The frustrating thing is that there is nothing I can do about it. It can last from 1-3 weeks. It can be contagious. But if he has it, he has already passed the contagious period because he is contagious during the incubation period. Hopefully no one else in the family will get it. Thursday we have a doctor's appointment. We'll find out.

6. Steven just finished reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. I am proud of his reading prowess. When recently tested, he the results showed that he reads at a 12th grade level. Rebekkah, naturally being a huge fan of the Twilight series, convinced him to read the books. He has whizzed through them at lightning speeds. His teacher, Mrs. Rush, told him Monday that it has been 17 year since she had a student accumulate as many Accelerated Reader points as he has. Good job, my little book worm!

5. We had a Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. We are getting ready for the Pinewood Derby. Peter's calling at church is a Cub Scout Den Leader for the Bears. But, since he has this Cisco training class on Tuesdays, I am taking over his pack in the meantime. I enjoy it. I don't have to teach any of my boys. I like it better that way. I can be a better teacher to the Bears.

4. A couple weeks ago, I think I had walking pneumonia. That's when I had the 103.2 fever. I got antibiotics and cough syrup. The antibiotics have helped. I still have a slight fever and a chest cough. Thursday when I take Aeron in to the doctor, I am going to see him as well. I am going to ask for a chest xray. It may take a stronger antibiotic than what I was given. I hope I don't have it. I have been using an old inhaler recently to help with my chest tightness.

3. I love photography. I have been taking pictures here and there. I took this picture yesterday that I will post that I think is funny. It is of these weird cherry like looking orange spheres. If it is an edible fruit, it is one that I am not familiar with. I have thought of a funny title for the picture. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what it is. That is what I think about in my spare time. Peter is happy that I'm so taken with photography. I take some pictures of the kids. Some are OK, but I like my photos of flowers best. They are pretty. Flowers make me happy. I walk around in my neighbor's yards and in the neighborhood, photographing flowers. I probably look like a nut. Oh well.

2. I miss jewelry making. It is hard to dedicate the space to it. Plus, with all of the helpful hands this house teems with, inevitably my project gets disturbed. Also, when I start a project, I develop tunnel vision; I just want to work on the project. I will leave my other responsibilities undone. I don't have the luxury to do that right now. I have too many little people that rely on me to meet their needs.

1. I haven't read a book since I was pregnant with Aeron except Understanding Exposure. It's a photography book. Oh, and I have read the last Stephenie Meyer book too. But, what I really enjoy is audio books. I have a monthly subscription to Audible. I love audio books! Right now I am listening to a book called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is a young adult book, in the same genre as Orson Scott Card, science fiction. It is very good. It helps me get through the drudgery of my day to day chores. It also keeps my busy mind occupied.

Well, that's my ten. I've never done a Ten for Tuesday type blog entry before. I'm sure it is a little long winded. I think that should be my middle name: Bonnie windbag Gale. I like blogging. I should have included that as one of my ten.

Random little snippets

No more nursing
Aeron has now officially weaned himself. I am sad. It was one of the last vestages of babyhood and my childbearing years that I have been clinging to. Really, the only times I would nurse is in the morning when he woke up and right before bed. We have been slowly cutting it down to shorter and infrequent periods. And this weekend after our whirlwind trip to Sacramento, when I didn't have the time to nurse, he put his foot down and refused.

Granted, Aeron is 18 months old and has joined the ranks of cranky toddlers full of attitude. He would rather have a bottle on the go than sit and snuggle. I don't blame him. There is so much to see and do. 

Now I must say goodbye to the end of my nursing cuddles and snuggles. Kids grow up regardless of our efforts to keep them young. I have enjoyed nursing my kids, especially Aeron because he has enjoyed the cuddling and quiet time the longest. It has also forced me to take a break from the everyday chaos to sit down and be with him. I will continue to cuddle him, except with a bottle now. Breaking the bottle habit hasn't gone so well. Maybe in a month we'll try it again.

Jonathon and Bus 21

What can I say about Jonathon? He is such a boy! His is dirty and messy. He is the middle child and thus struggles with his position. He isn't a baby and he's not a big kid either. He will turn 8 in August. I worry about him. 

Yesterday, he got a bus ticket! No child  of mine has ever gotten a ticket before. He got it for writing on the back of a seat on the way home. What was he writing? Well, that's the funny part (although I can't tell him). He was writing, "I don't like you bus driver." When I was alone and thinking about it, I laughed. I can't help but smile. That boy was just trying to make his feelings known. He struggles with that. His older siblings tend to ignore him. The younger ones aren't old enough to understand yet.

So, yesterday after we lectured him about the importance of respecting other people's property and talked about how riding the bus is a privilege. We punished him by not letting him play on the computer or his Nintendo DS. He also lost out of the chance of going over to a friend's house to play. We also talked about the need to voice our feelings. I believe we will be revisiting this topic continuously. When he gets frustrated, he will physically lash out in anger, start to scream, or break down in tears. I really feel for him. It must be hard to be 7 and feel stuck in the middle and misunderstood. We're trying to teach him responsibility and how to appropriately express his emotions.

He had to return the ticket with our signature on it in order to ride the bus. Before I sent it back, I made a copy of it and plan to write a note to the transportation department. This particular bus driver is always SCREAMING at the kids. I think I will write that while I do not condone his behavior, maybe if there was less screaming and hostility towards the kids behavior would improve. I doubt it will accomplish very much, but I do want to make the effort. I can't excuse his behavior, but I do find it humorous. I'll can't let Jon know that I think it's funny. Jonathon just struggles to express his feelings. We'll be working on that.

Vomit on the floor makes me want to roar!

I hate throw up. On a daily basis, I have up close and personal moments with things that are equally as disgusting - like cleaning up after Ethan soils himself (we've been potty training for over 1 1/2 months now, he just can't get the hang of going #2 in the toilet).  But, I digress... back to my point - my point is that vomit is just one of those things I can't stand.

Just as I was settling in to some good sleep, Jonathon ran into our bedroom crying. Peter is having another of those late nights tonight. He's trying to fix some of the ever present computer problems at school. So I was on duty. I sat up in bed trying to reorient myself and finally woke up to the lovely sounds of someone retching in the bathroom. It was Jonathon. It turns out that as soon as Jon entered our bedroom he started spewing. He left a trail from our bedroom door to the bathroom area. By the time he got to the toilet, there wasn't much left for a finale! I am calling it the trail of tears! :)

I wanted to scream! But, I kept my composure and resumed my mommy role. I started running the bath so he could soak a bit. I tried to comfort him. I encouraged him and gave him a cup of water. 

Then I started damage control. Not only did it get on the carpet, it got on our blankets on and off the bed and the clean clothes we had surrounding our bed on the floor (yes, that's not where they go, I get it, it's my own fault!).  Vomit also got on our bed frame and the door.

Evidently, he drank red fruit punch earlier in the night. Hooray!!! It's my lucky day.

So, I started carpet cleaning at 12:30 am. This is so not fun. Earlier in the evening, my hip was hurting so bad that I took some of Peter's tylenol with codeine because plain old tylenol just wasn't doing any good. So, of course I felt all loopy. But, at least while I ran the carpet cleaner my hip wasn't hurting. I have to look on the brightside!

I just can't stand the smell of vomit especially in a room where I'm trying to relax and get a good night's rest.  Again, thinking positively about the situation, at least tomorrow I won't have to worry about cleaning the carpet, by my prompt action, I prevented the stains from setting in. Tomorrow I'll just work on cleaning up the clothes that got dirty from Jon's spew-fest. 

Well, I hope this entry brings a smile to your face. Maybe your smile is one of pity, perhaps you can identify, or maybe you are thinking to yourself, "Gee, am I glad that wasn't me." Who knows? I just thought I would provide you with a peek into my action-packed life. 

I'm not writing this with the intention of whining and complaining. This entry is more of a vent session. It is a healthy outlet for my thoughts and feelings. It's not like I can go wake up one of my kids and tell them about it or phone a friend! You get the idea.

Well, now that the carpet is well on the way toward drying and my children (Ethan and Jon) are resting most comfortably in my bed, I think I will try to get some sleep.

Pepper spray is painful!

Tuesday night Jonathon's Boy Scout Troop from school went on a tour of the Upland Police Department.  Peter wasn't feeling well that night, Steven had soccer and I had a church Relief Society Christmas meeting to go to.  So, we asked our friend Alan Ansara, who is a member of the Upland PD and his son Ryan is a playmate of Jonathon's, if Jonathon could go with them.  I knew it would be a unique opportunity for him to see the inside workings of law enforcement. So, off he went. When I got home from my meeting, Peter told me the story.  The Boy Scouts got a tour of the police department. They even got to see the SWAT team practicing.  They got to see a flash bang grenade go off.  And they got to see Police doing practice shooting at their indoor range with semi-automatic weapons.  The Boy Scouts got to see the dummies the SWAT team practices taking down.  The kind of dummies that when they are in training exercises spray pepper spray at the police.  The Boy Scouts were instructed not to touch the dummies because there was a residue of pepper spray on them.  But, Jonathon being Jonathon, touched and discovered.  Then he rubbed his eyes because he was getting tired, and rubbed his nose and his chin.  Then, came the burning.  His eyes began to burn and his skin.  I was told he cried and rubbed at his eyes, I imagine there was some screaming and moaning. That stuff hurts!  Then Alan took him to the bathroom and helped him rinse his eyes and face off.  He told Jonathon how the Police when they are training, are sprayed in the face with pepper spray.  So, Jonathon realized he wasn't alone in his misery.  It probably soothed his ego a bit as well. When I saw him, he had raccoon eyes from all the rubbing.  I heard the story and had to laugh. My son seems to be a disaster magnet! I am so grateful for a friend who provided help and caring to my child in a moment of pain and crisis.  I am grateful the effects of pepper spray are not permanent.  What a tough lesson for little man to learn.  When someone says, don't touch something, they might really mean don't touch it! My