Chicken Dinosaurs: The Staff of Life

At our house, we will be forever grateful to the makers of Dino chicken nuggets for creating such a yummy product for our Caseybot to enjoy! Actually, not just to enjoy, but to live on. The child has basically lived on chicken dinosaurs for the past four years. It is the default food whenever he turns his nose up at the wonderful dinner I just slaved over (which is all too often); it is the after-school snack food; the just-after-breakfast treat food and all-other-times-in-between food.

OK, I admit that some of this predicament is probably my fault. I am now a firm believer in the popular nutritional theory that states babies should NEVER taste sugar before their first birthday because it prohibits their taste buds from learning to like real foods, like fruits and vegetables. Yeah, well, somebody should have told me that BEFORE I had kids. Little Casey was so dang cute as a baby that we were tempted all the time to share our sweet treats with him, and share we did. Now we are paying for it in the form of an extremely picky eater.

Last week we had a chicken emergency after I left a brand-new box of Dino nuggets in the back of the van and they spoiled. There were no chicken dinosaurs in the house! I was really panicked for a few days until I could get back to Costco in between bouts of stomach flu, fever and chest colds for more. Whew! We now have a new box of chicken dinosaurs sitting all snug and tidy in the freezer. . . and life is good.

Just Going Half Way Around the World

Eric's first trip to China and Taiwan was quick considering how far from home he went, but definitely long enough for him. He was very glad to be home, and very glad to eat "normal" food again! The food thing was actually very tricky for poor Eric because he is allergic to shrimp and other shellfish, so there really was not a lot for him to eat over there.

Eric's employer, Swire Coca-Cola, is owned by Swire Pacific Holdings, which is based in Hong Kong, so it is very common for employees from here to travel to Hong Kong and vice-versa. Eric and his collegues attended meetings in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei, Taiwan. He feels like he spent more time on airplanes than on solid ground. Although he is not anxious to go back anytime soon, he said the experience was wonderful and would love to go again when he can take me along too!

I was hoping he would have time to do some heavy duty shopping, maybe coming home with a nice silk suit for himself and some designer knock-off for me. Unfortunately, they had almost no time built in to their schedules for shopping. Crazy, I know!! They did, however, get to spend one day visiting the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

That part of the trip was his favorite, of course. The part of the Great Wall they visited is Bobaling, one of the more popular sections for tourists. Some parts were extremely steep, like climbing straight up Y mountain here in Provo. Unbelievable, considering how long ago it was built. Tiananmen Square was amazing in pure size, but it also had a rather oppressive feel about it since the security was stepped up as they prepared for an upcoming national holiday. How strange to walk by row after row of soldiers holding machine guns.

You'll never guess the first thing Eric did upon arriving home from his whirlwind trip. Yes, he went to the BYU football game. Didn't even come home first! Then he had a nice, fat juicy steak afterwards because he was "starving to death." Tyler was sooooo happy to have his Dad back, and Casey, well, he was excited to see Dad because he was bringing him nine packs of Pokemon from Tokyo airport. Little turkey!

Casey's Beloved Night-Night

(First of all, sorry for the repetition if you already saw this on Facebook. I posted it here too for those who don't Facebook.)

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Check out this poor, stringy, grey, ratty looking blanket. It belongs to my Caseybot, who is five. It literally has been loved to death! He has slept with it every night since he was born and just refuses to part with it.

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He named this night-night Peachie. Peachie has had many adventures, such as being left in the nurseries of strange wards, left at Grandma's house after sleepovers, left at home when it was needed at church, and left at umpteen friends' houses over the years.

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I'm pretty sure it will just disinegrate any minute now, and I hope Casey will survive such a cataclysmic event.

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Just make him a new one, you say? Did that!! But the new night-night, named "Bolt," is just not Peachie. Peachie can never be replaced, don't you know? I'm glad it has survived this long. I have always said, when Peachie is no more, my baby will be no more. By the time he doesn't need Peachie he won't need his Mommy either.

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So stay around, little Peachie! Let my baby stay a baby for one more day!

Birthday, Baptism, Back to School

So much has happened to our cute little family this summer. It was a busy time, but not too busy, and yet the days seemed to fly right by. I seriously cannot believe the kids are back in school -- it just seems too soon. I guess the older I get, the faster the time goes by.

This summer our Tyler turned eight. He tends to be a nervous, worrying sort of kid, so we knew he would be a bit nervous about getting baptized. Some days he was ready to do it; other days he was just too nervous. When it came time, though, he handled it like a trooper. I had to laugh at my cute little guy, looking so cute dressed in his little white jumper, cause he was jabbering to his Dad the whole time he was leading Ty down into the water. It was very silent in the room, so everyone could hear what he was saying. It was priceless! Tyler was baptized and confirmed by his Father -- who did a wonderful job, by the way. What also made this day special for Tyler was that his Grandma Anderson was able to come down from Boise and be with him.

For his birthday this year Tyler got a new Tony Hawk bike. This is a funny story in itself. Originally Ty wanted Rock Band for his birthday. I was a bit worried about this because I knew Eric would not go for a $150 birthday gift, and Ty really had his heart set on Rock Band. So we tried to talk Tyler into getting a new bike instead since his old one was getting too small, as we were sure a bike would be tons cheaper. So Tyler agreed, and Eric took him to pick out the bike. My nephew Connor, who Tyler absolutely idolizes, decided to tag along. At the store, Eric steered Tyler toward a nice Schwinn bike. Just as they were going to close the deal, Connor spotted the Tony Hawk bike. He tells Tyler to get it instead because it is "soooo coool." Of course Tyler picks it over the Schwinn. The price of the Tony Hawk bike, you ask: $150!

This year my beautiful baby boy Casey is in kindergarten. I had a hard time letting him go. I cried and cried and wished for the ability to turn him back into that cute, fat baby. I just can't let go of these precious little boys! Case wasn't extremely excited at all to go to school. He would rather stay home and play, but all his playmates are in school, so that made it a bit easier for him to go. What he does enjoy is feeling like a big boy as he walks home from school with his older brother and all their friends.

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Here is a poem Grandma Brown wrote for our Casey as he starts kindergarten:

"I'm ready," said our five-year-old Casey, so cool.

"It's time that I went down the street to school."

So he picked out some clothes (his brown hair was like silk),

His breakfast was cereal, of course without milk!

"I'm ready to go. I'm not nervous at all.

I'll dash through that door; I'll march down that hall.

I'll smile at my teacher and grin at the others.

It won't bother me if they cry for their mothers.

My gigantic brain is rarin' to go.

It can already add and subtract, don't ya know?"

Mommy is smiling, but there's a tear in her eye.

Her baby is growing. It's a sad goodbye.

Casey gives her a hug, "I love you Mom, he says."

But oh what adventures lie just ahead . . .

Casey's starin' kindergarten!!

Tyler's "lightning bolt" pose on the first day of school. I can't believe he's already in second grade.

We Love Grandma Brown

We finally got a bed and bedroom furniture for our spare bedroom. I was so excited to get that room made into a real bedroom. We've wanted to do it for a long time, and were fortunate enough to inherit a beautiful bed and chest of drawers that are practically brand new from Grandma Anderson. Now we have a place for Grandma Brown to sleep when she stays over! In the past she has had to sleep on the bottom bunk in the boys' room with a little friend next to her.

One of the first nights the bedroom was set up was a sleepover night for Grandma Brown. I was excited for her to have her own bed and room so she could get a good night's sleep. However, as you can probably guess, that was not to be the case! She had two little friends in her bed begging to sleep next to her. They just can't leave her alone. So, that night, one little boy slept next to her in the bed and the other slept on the floor. And now when she sleeps over they take turns sleeping next to her.

I have to laugh when I look in there and see all three of them cuddled in the bed, reading a bedtime story. It's very cute that they love their Grandma so much and want to be near her. And you know she loves it too, even when she gets kicked or pushed to the side of the bed in the middle of the night! She wouldn't have it any other way.