Fun with Puppets

Saturday we took the girls to our local puppetry center to see a puppet show. It was a bit of a risk since the show took place during nap time, but we are always looking for opportunities to expand their intellectual horizons.

There were lots of kids there, and lots of laughter from both kids and adults at the songs and antics of the various puppets. Grace clearly enjoyed the show, particularly the circus diorama with tons of little puppets. Camille was less impressed, as evidenced by our conversation on the way home:

Me: Would you like to go back and see the puppet show again?
Camille: No, I do not want to see the puppet show another day.
Me: Why not? Were the puppets too scary for you?
Camille: No, not scary.
Me: Why don't you want to see the puppets again, honey?
Camille: They were too funny.

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few highlights from the Heaton family Christmas this year...

Inspecting the Stockings Christmas Morning

Let the Unwrapping Begin!

Camille's Favorite Present

Grace's Favorite Present

Christmas Walk
Christmas Dinner

As we were putting the girls to bed, we asked them what their favorite part about Christmas was. Camille responded, "My favorite part of Christmas is baby Jesus!" We couldn't agree more.

Dentist

Today we went to the dentist. It was a really cool pediatric dentist. You get to play video games! You get to read books! You get to pick whatever movie you want while you sit in the dentist's chair and he brushes your teeth with cotton candy flavored tooth scrub! You get toys at the end!

The girls cried and cried the whole time their teeth were being checked, and didn't get to watch either Thomas or Tinkerbell, the movies set up in different chairs respectively for Grace and Camille. They sat in my lap and I leaned them over into the dentist's able hands. But, as I told the dentist, at least a screaming mouth means an open mouth, and he was able to get his gentle work done, even though it was traumatic!

What Are You? Three?

Tonight I had to remove a bead from Camille's nose. With a fine-gauge knitting needle. And a flashlight. I don't know what I would have done if the impacted object hadn't had a gargantuan hole running through it- perfect for fine-gauge knitting needles.

Since nothing like this has ever happened before, I was very surprised that I then had to give the "no putting anything in your noses or ears or anywhere else or else you won't be so lucky next time and we'll have to take you to the hospital and the doctor will have to take it out or you'll have to have surgery maybe" speech. Guess I should have said that sooner, but there's something in the power of suggestion- I thought I could avoid the inevitable all along.

Who's That Coming Down the Tracks?

For the girls' birthday, we went to "Day Out With Thomas". These pictures are terrible, but they're all I have, so there.

Here is our family after a hot day in Perris, CA

Camille and Grandma waiting in line to ride Thomas. Camille is holding her new Percy, which she was very excited to get.
Grace with Ben, half of the twin engines Bill and Ben.

Sir Topham Hatt. We were too scared to go say hi to him.

Camille at the train tables. We should have spent more time in this area- it was the funnest part!

Grace with the Lego trains. We knocked a few kids down to get this Toby to drive around.

In front of the train mural

On the train

See Thomas in the background?

This Thomas was HUGE!

We kept this a surprise until we got there. I thought the girls would be crazy excited! I thought they would be hyper the whole time running around and seeing all the stuff! I forgot the I don't really have hyper kids (usually), so they were pretty laid back. I think they liked it, though.

And the Winner Is....

It's a BOY!

Out of My Deep Blue Funk

I find that this Garfield minus Garfield comic has the solution to my laughless quandrary of a few days ago. Good thing I just got bananas at the store this morning.

Sleepytime Sal

All I want is to be able to sleep through the night. Perhaps this is my body's way of preparing me for hours of wakefulness when the baby comes, but at this point it seems like a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Make Them Laugh

I feel like I need to have some fun. I used to be real silly- in fact, people used to call me spaz. As my still spastic sister will attest, I have mellowed quite a bit. I don't have the energy to be excited or fun all the time, but I want to do something where I laugh a lot. Any ideas?

Should I Be Happy About This?

We try to encourage the girls to try out new things, and it is definitely exciting to see them master new skills. Even better is when they seem to figure out something out of the blue, without any apparent instruction form Sarah or me. However, awhile ago when I discovered the scene below, I wasn't quite sure whether or not I should be pleased.

(Editor's Note: It's Paul's belt, tied in knots, for those who can't tell.)

A Run on Sentence

When I need a reminder of how motherhood and life are supposed to be happy- like today when I walked in the girls' room after their "nap"- the duration of which they played and played- and everything smelled like cherry chapstick because everything was covered with cherry chapstick and it's my own fault anyway for leaving them "in bed" unsupervised and now they are napping because I put them back in bed while I scrubbed the cherry chapstick as a punishment (for them and me)- I read this blog (recent plane crash burn victim) or this blog (her loving sister), and feel quite a bit better.

What to Say About Prop. 8

I've been trying to think about what to write about Proposition 8. It's something that I'm passionate about and have been very involved in, butI feel like everyone else has already said all that needs to be said. Plus, many of you are involved Californians like myself, so I'm not telling you anything that you don't know. But, for those of you that aren't supporters of Prop 8, or live elsewhere, here is what I have to say:

A Somewhat Befuddled History Lesson:
Proposition 8 would add a constitutional amendment to our state constitution which would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. This supports Proposition 22 which was passed in 2000 that made more specific the California Civil Code definition of marriage. Prop 22 contained the same wording that Prop 8 currently does. As we know, California is a state of renegades, so this ruling was overturned by local leaders in San Francisco who decided to perform homosexual marriages, and California State Supreme Court, which, when ruling on several different cases, decided that Proposition 22 went against the California State Constitution.

What We Are Doing:
We (Paul and I and our church in general) have been very involved with the "Yes on Proposition 8" campaign. We've spent several hours each Saturday since the middle of August calling voters and polling them on how they will vote on election day. This has decided the rest of our campaign, which yesterday was hanging door hangers on the doors of people who said that they would vote "yes" on Prop 8. We don't try to persuade people to change their vote when we call, but they do know that we are calling on behalf of "Yes on Prop 8" and they usually don't like us for it. Santa Monica being a liberal city, we have been called bigots, been threatened, been bitten by dogs (Paul) and had our cars keyed (my friends) by people who oppose the proposition. The next 2 days we will be busy hanging more signs, passing out fliers, babysitting the kids of people who are volunteering, and voting.

Why I'm Voting Yes:
I've come to terms with publicly being in support of Prop 8. It's okay with me if you think that I am a bigot, or the other 5-letter-word that starts with B. And I don't hate you if you're voting no. I love people, and being a believer in God and his plan for us, I love people in a brotherly/sisterly way. I don't like to hurt people's feelings, and if this passes, I know that the feelings of people, gay and straight will be hurt. I feel bad about this, but I would feel worse if I went against God's plan. He created us, men and women, to live on the earth, to tame it, and to populate it. God created us, men and women, with separate identities, functions, roles, and bodies to support families and to do his will. This has not always been easy for people and families, and it doesn't always work out, but it is the thing that works best through hard work and dedication.
I'm also voting Yes on Propositon 8 because I have read about churches, religious adoption resources, schools, medical professionals, and businesses that have been affected by legal battles accusing them of discrimination against gay couples, and I fear that happening to groups and individuals in our state. I think that taking away other's rights in the name of other's "rights" is the wrong thing to do, and the point at which everything starts to go downhill.

No Other Applicants Need Apply

Yesterday we were eating at a restaurant and a little girl in the booth behind us turned around and said, "hi!"
Camille turned to her, after I said, "Say hi to the little girl" and haughtily stated, "I am only friends with Ruthie and Kate."

We then had a lecture about friendliness.

Hooray for Halloween!

We went to a Halloween party at church. After hours and hours of slaving over her costume (Thomas), Grace refused to wear it. She finally gave in after she realized that she wouldn't get any candy if she didn't wear her Thomas costume. The miracle of candy.-

Camille as Percy
Percy and Thomas, as yet unscathed

I don't have any photo coverage of Grace dressed up, because the camera ran out of batteries. Luckily, the real Halloween is still a week away. Think our cardboard boxes will last that long?

Maternal Loss of Brain Cells

When I was pregnant with the girls, I spent a lot of time on the internet looking at stuff. Okay- pregnancy has nothing to do with spending a lot of time online. Anyway, I was looking for clothes for twins, and for the life of me I could not figure out why there were matching sets for girl/boy twins and not matching sets for twins that were the same gender.
It took a while for me to realize that I could just buy two of something.

Wolfgang Puck, Where Are You?

Heard on the stairwell....

Grace: What kind of cookie do you want, Camille?
Camille: I want a pink custard purple egg sandwich cookie, please.

Love the One You're With

The other day I came into the girls' room as they were not napping and I wanted them to so I could nap also. It's selfish, I know. Camille was crying about something and as I came in, she said, "Grace says we're not twiiiiiiins!" Grace looked over from her crib and said between gritted teeth, "I didn't say we're not twins, I said we're not friends."

After the Baby Comes?

We've been constructing Thomas and Percy train costumes. Even though it's the beginning of October, I thought that we would get started, as I am very low energy. We painted a little the other day and then had to let the paint dry. Camille asked when we were going to paint Percy green. I told her that we would when the base coat dried and when I was a feeling a little better. She said, "after the baby comes?" Feels like that sometimes.

4 Stores in 2 Hours (sounds like Seven in One Blow)

Dear Whole Foods,
I hope that your new shiny self enjoyed the mini m&m's we spilled like Hansel and Gretel's trail along your aisles.
Sincerely, Camille and Grace

PS. Camille says, "when people pass our cart, I make a sound that sounds like this [cross between a growl and burp]". Perfect for our little caged lions.

Swimmy

Oddly, the children are both conked out right now- it's 10:30 a.m. and Camille is asleep on the couch in her room and Grace is asleep on the ground in the living room. I don't have the heart to wake them up and make them have fun until their real nap time, although I am sure that I will regret it later, so now I turn to blogging to entertain me. And then I will clean in our room. Okay, Paul?
Here are some pictures of the kids at the beach. We had a great summer playing at the beach. It's still warm here, but the water is getting colder- it's sad to see the season end.

Grace digging a swimming pool with Ruthie
Camille resting while everyone else works
Waiting for the waves
Hoorah! The swimming pool is complete!



Grace and Camille playing swimming pool with the blue blanket

This is also what they wear when they play basketball

Hi, My Name Is...

I love this picture taken by Rachel G- a wonderfully all-around talented person in our ward. She is the coolest, and it's exciting to have some quality work up here for once!

Spilling the Beans on the Bun in the Oven

Well, the word is out-- I am pregnant- just getting done with the 1st trimester. Our baby (only one this time, I'm afraid) is due on April 12. The girls are really excited about having a new baby brother or sister and ask daily when the baby is coming. We tell them it's after Halloween, and their birthdays, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and my birthday, and daddy's birthday, and Valentine's day, and Easter.... That's a lot of days, but they're patient and very solicitous for my well-being and the baby's too. If Camille smashes my belly, Grace says, "Camille, you're going to make the baby come out!" Yesterday Camille wanted to know when her baby was coming, I ran through the list of holidays, and she said, "yes, I know. When is Grace's baby coming?" When I told her there was only one baby and that she and Grace would have to share she was a little disappointed. They like to see pictures of how big the baby should be, and they like to recommend oatmeal whenever I am sick (which is all the time). We're excited about the addition to our family!

The Demise of Sponge Bob

We will miss him.

P.S. Sponge Bob had gumball eyes. The girls know they "can't eat gum until they are five" so Camille plucked her Sponge Bob eyes out and gave them to me. Grace gave me a mischevious look and ate her gum, swallowing it up with a, "mmm, gum!"

A Nice Mom

I was remembering today the time that my mom brought me my new glasses just before our 8th grade trip to the highschool. She brought them, it seems, just as we were getting on the bus, and I was so grateful to have them so I didn't look like a total dweeb.

Little did I know that less dweeby is still dweeby.


Update: My sweet mom sent me these pictures- to prove my point, I guess. Anyway, from the top left, there's me in 9th, 10th, 11th, 1st, 8th, and 7th grades. I think. What a looker.

Knott's Soak City

I know, I know, it's been a while. I'm just not in the mood to blog lately- may be the broken lap top- I've wasted far less time on the computer now that the only one we have around is Paul's "work" computer in our room. Nevertheless, I am happy to bring you pictures of a trip a few months ago to the water park. I went with the girls and my parents and little brothers and we had a great time- and didn't even get sunburned!

Camille a little scared of the huge slide
We pushed Grace down so she could have fun too
Grace on Turtle
Scott on Turtle
Bathing Beauties

Remembering a Time

I'm not trying to be all video all the time- I'm no vlogger, but I was thinking of Chicago, which I miss and often still think of as "home" (don't worry mom, I think of Hemet as "home" too) (don't worry, Paul, I think of Santa Monica as "home" too). I saw this video on my friend's blog recently, and it moved me immensely. For those of you reading that aren't of the LDS faith, up until 1978, only worthy males that were not of black-African descent could hold the priesthood. This is a difficult thing for me to understand- and for many people to understand, I think. Our church has some negative history with polygamy already, so explaining this to others in this modern world doesn't really make much sense.
I was touched by this video, because I am happy that all males can hold the priesthood now. I've seen how important this is in my family and in my church. I'm also touched because much of the footage in the film is taken in the ward that we just came from- a beautifully diverse ward, and the best and most interesting I've ever been in (present company excluded, of course.) I miss you, Chicagoans. I wish there was some way that we could all just be together.



PS. Hyde Park Firsters, isn't Cathy just great? Doesn't it just make you want to "Lift Every Voice and Sing"? I miss that.

Wonder Years

From my youth as a Wonder Years fan, I found this video extremely amusing.

Boys Will Be...

I haven't really been feeling it, blogwise, lately, so I apoligize for the lack of posts. Not that this will be any better, but at least it's something, right? Right?!

So I was visiting some friends from Chicago a few weeks ago. They were visiting California, and were staying with my friend's inlaws. We had a really wonderful visit with them. I miss them alot, and I was glad to get to see them and their new baby. While we were there a neighbor lady brought over a box with 5 baby bunnies inside. They were probably a month old. The kids were smitten with them. The girls wanted to hold the bunnies and the boys wanted to let the bunnies out to run around. My friend went inside with her kids, leaving her 2 year old outside with us to keep playing. He started punching the bunnies, so I told him to stop, that that isn't nice to the bunnies and it can hurt them. He was upset that I scolded him, and his grandma and neighbor lady started laughing at me. They both said at the same time, "Oh, he's a boy! You don't understand boys!"

Did I miss something here? I mean, I have noticed that boys will be... well, boys, I guess. They're pretty rambunctious in general, play differently than most girls, and want to do different things. I've noticed this even when parents (like this friend in particular) are so sweet and good, and teach their boys to be the very best. I just wonder why anyone should get away with punching the bunnies!

I told my friend, and she didn't like that he had punched the bunnies. The only weird thing is the reaction of the grandma and neighbor. Anyway, friend, I hope that you don't mind that I told this story. I think that you are the awesomest ever. Truly, you are someone I can always turn to for parenting advice, and for love and friendship in general. And he didn't even hurt those bunnies- it was just so... weird, you know?!

A Pleasing Sound

The pop on the lids of perfectly processed preserves.


Raspberry- picked by Rachel, Camille, Grace, and me at the farm on Thursday.


P.S. Use even less sugar

Life is Sweet

We just had our 5 year anniversary on the 1st. As with all important events in life, it feels like forever ago, and only yesterday. I can't believe how much has happened since then, but I must say that life with Paul has been sweet. Paul, thanks for loving me and encouraging me. You understand all of my "things"- weird whims or quirks, and they hardly ever bother you. Indeed, it seems that you find them endearing. You are a perfect parent, an awesome provider, and maker of all things fun. Thanks for loving me, and for giving me someone so great to love in return.

We Went to Utah

We went to Utah. Here are a few pictures of our trip, but as always they are not all the things that I wish I had pictures of- like us chowing down at the big meat place, where I once ate more than Uncle Sean and didn't have to eat for more than 24 hours afterward. It's where I learned that it's better to be satiated than stuffed, and it has served me well every Thanksgiving since. I don't have any pictures of our Chicago friends the Blackwelders or Crawfords, and I wish I did, because we had fun eating Josh's pizza and seeing Hiedi's amazing arts with the former and playing at Chuck-E-Cheese's with the latter, and seeing all of their kids and I miss them. I don't have any pictures of all the unhealthy food that we ate or all the open spaces that we saw. But here are a few pictures of memories that I will always have- pictured or not.

Eating ice cream for dinner in Beaver, UT at the cheese outlet. Beaver seems very pretty, and I guess I wouldn't mind living in Cache Valley.

"Hiking" to Bridal Veil falls- we loved going there, and even going in the water, even though it was extremely cold.

Fireworks for the 24th of July (Pioneer Day). I love setting off fireworks, and didn't mind spending $40 on something that lasted just a few minutes- good thing we paired up with some other guy that was setting them off so we could make a "really good show".

Grace scared of the fireworks.

Fishin'

The girls really wanted to be able to just stick the ends of their rods in the water. They couldn't understand why the fish would come to a little string way out there. When we could actually cast it out there. Which wasn't often because the rods were cheap-o. Also, we wouldn't have caught any fish, being the granola humanitarians (fishcatarians?) that we are, because Uncle Sean actually altered the hooks so they could only hold bait and not snag any fish.

Uncle Sean fishing with the Dora rod. This is funny because he is actually a great fly fisher- I wonder if the whole excursion was a huge disappointment to him. If it was he didn't let on. Uncle Sean is a very patient man. Like with the time that the girls drew with markers on all his stuff when they were supposed to be in bed asleep...

Here's the real reason for our visit, to see Paul's Grandma Berle. She's sweet as ever and was really patient with the girls, even when they wouldn't talk to her except through their kitties. "Camille, can you give Grandma Berle a hug?" "'I'll give you a hug,' said Mother Kitty."

We loved seeing Sean and Grandma- almost makes me want to drive for 10 hours in the car with my silly kids again. Thanks for a great vacation!

Home Again, Home Again

We just got back from vacation in Utah.
The girls are hyper now, being in their familiar surroundings.
Ultra hyper.

More to come.

Even More Tired of Tires

On Friday we were headed to Travel Town. It's a railway museum-- if you want to call it that. A bunch of old trains that kids can climb on. It's a lot of fun, Camille and Grace love going there and riding the little train around the park.

We didn't make it to Travel Town, though, because as we were driving to drop Paul off at work we noticed the tire making a weird noise. Sure enough, there was a screw stuck in the tire. We drove to Costco, and were 10th in line (we got there at 10:05 and it opens at 10), so we had to wait 3 hours for them to take the screw out.

The moral of the story: Don't buy tires from Costco if you're going to the one in Marina Del Rey. It's just not worth it. The service is good, but like the tire guys told me as I was griping about the incredibly awful wait time, "this is a very busy location."

Really?!

Shiny

Inspired lately by this blog, which I've posted about twice before, I made this shirt for Grace. I call it the "Hiedi," because it reminds me of my friend Hiedi, who loves bright colors and who taught me how to do this faux chenille technique for the circle on the shirt.We're excited because we get to see Hiedi and Josh and also Kyrsten and Steve and all their kids next week!


Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

They Sleep Like Sardines!

Where Do Cars Go When They Die?

Today when I was getting the girls in their carseats Camille was playing with the dome light. I told her not to because if we left the light on the battery would die. Grace said, "and then the car would go to Jesus."

They Talk Like Books

Grace and Camille talk like they are characters in a book. When they are playing with their toys, they say things like, "'Peep peep, coming through,' Thomas said." Or, "'You look like a delicious cookie,' Grace said happily."
Last night, the missionaries came over to dinner, and taught our Family Night lesson about the Plan of Salvation or Plan of Happiness (if you want to read more in detail if you click that link, look at the left sidebar and you can click on the Plan of Salvation link). It was a great lesson- the Elders had really prepared, with lots of pictures for the girls. I was really impressed. Anyway, the Plan of Salvation is God's plan for us to come and live with Him again. When the missionaries asked Grace and Camille if they would want to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again, there was a long silence, followed by Camille holding up her cat Pez dispenser and saying, "'I do!' said kitty." Kitty participated for the rest of the lesson, including identifying the letters that she knew on the missionaries' nametags.

So, does this mean that we're reading too many books to the kids? Should we let them watch more TV?! :)