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Showing posts from April, 2009

The Last First Haircut

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Joss has been needing a haircut badly for a few weeks now, but I couldn't bring myself to make the appointment. I finally broke down and did it because I really wanted Gwen to do his hair here, rather than having a freakishly bad european haircut (they cut men's hair from the top down; now what is that about?) or, even worse, having him suffer his first trim at my hands. That would have been awful. Now some of you may remember that we brought Sebastian to Gwen for his first haircut about four years ago and that it was a complete rout: two parents, five smarties in his mouth at a time, lots of screaming and tears. We were braced for another round of it today, but Gwen decided that Rob should hold Fluff on his lap, and it made all the difference. There were a few moments when he was a little nervous, but all in all, the pictures tell the truth: he had a great time. He played with the hair clips and drooled smartie juice all over himself and didn't mind the scissors or the h

A Very Merry UnBirthday

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Yesterday we celebrated Maddie's 11th birthday. Yes, it is true, she was born in July, but as she has pointed out in increasingly petulant tones, her bad-nasty-evil parents keep dragging her out of town for the summer and she never gets to celebrate it with her friends. So we agreed that we owed her a party and we were intending to make it a half birthday and do something in January. Didn't happen. Neither did February. So when do we plan it? We celebrated during our very own McFarland Birthday Sweeps Week. Yep. My birthday was last Saturday (very lovely, thank you, maybe I'll post a picture of my darling pedicure) and Robchen's is this Friday (he is being most pestiferous about presents, but I'm going to apply firm pressure tomorrow). SO on Tuesday we had Maddie and five friends out to Color Me Mine where you paint your heart's desire on their ceramic pieces, they fire them for you and viola! You're done. This was especially nice because they decorated, th

Mormon Pop

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The other day while making lunch, Rob decided there should be a line of Book of Mormon soda. It would include the flavor Lemonihah. I suggested perhaps a Limehi to go with it. And then he came up with Grape Nephi to round it out. Can anyone think of a flavor to play off of wine bibbers? This is one of many examples that show what a great Disney imagineer he'd make. I really think I should lend him out to them for two months a year. He could just spout ideas at them for sixty days and they would spend the rest of the year winnowing them down and making them happen.

Insanities R Us

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Last week was spring break. Rob had mentioned that he had never been to Bryce Canyon, and so last Friday, when I made reservations at a motel down there, the kids and I decided to surprise him. At our house, it's easier to surprise Papa than those kidlets; especially at the end of the semester. We were going to leave Tuesday night and come back Thursday night. So I packed up the car on Monday and was all ready to put the finishing touches on it Tuesday, then Will woke up with a fever and I had a sore throat, and the weather forecast continued to get more and more dismal. We made an executive decision to tell Papa. He called in a favor so he could skip his final, and the motel graciously let us postpone for two days: Here is what it looked like on Thursday. Will was better, I was not, but we left anyway and had good roads despite flurries over the summits. We went strait to the park and directly to Sunset Point where we tumbled out of the car. We peeked over the edge and toddled d

Preschool Graduate

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Sebi just had his last day of school. Here he is at his cubby. Each morning when Papa brings him, he hangs up his coat and puts on his super-duper name tag. Unbeknownst to him, the name tag is so that lots of researching students can write up his every move behind the one-way glass. I have always wanted to hang out behind the one-way glass and watch the kids all day, but I generally have one or two things to do while he's gone. I almost never got a peek at Sebi this year. Here he is showing off his addition to the Word Wall where the kids bring in words that they see around the house. My brother will appreciate the presence of Tang (Mr. Twinkie always thought that Tang was the perfect food -- same all the way through). Of course Sebi is pointing to our contribution: the hippie tofu freakish Organic Flax Plus cereal (which is really good; Sebi and I like it with yogurt). Then Sebi has to write his name and answer a question (today's was "Does your family plant flowers o

A Green Easter

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Easter was an unusually beautiful day in between several rainy, cold, wet, miserable ones. The Easter Bunny brought pocket hymnbooks and CTR rings in German, along with too much sugar and stuff. Rob sang a solo in one of the choir numbers at church. Maddie looked like she'd grown five years overnight. We had a fancy Easter dinner where we actually used the real crystal/china/silver for the kids (they must be getting older!). Kids dyed five dozen eggs on Saturday which were hidden and searched for and then rolled down a slide (Maddie, Will and Sebi) and mashed together like maracas (Joss) on Sunday. There are still enough survivors for breakfasts in egg cups and a chef salad. And our friend Heather came to town that night to see us (ok, really her daughter at BYU) for a few days.

Eleven Months!

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Hot dog! This guy turned eleven months old on Easter Sunday. Favorite books: Maisy's Hide and Seek, Dinosaur Roar, and Little Chick (he loves to push and pull the levers and lift the flaps). Favorite song: "The Wheels On The Bus" with everything else placing a distant second. Favorite foods: banana, cheddar cheese, IKEA meatballs, pesto pasta, and mangos with a vengeance. It isn't really a word, but when he wakes up he often says "mnamnamnamna" which, being interpreted, is "feed me immediately!" He is still smiley all the time unless 1. he's thirsty, 2. I haven't noticed he needs a diaper change, or 3. it's more than half an hour after his nap time. He is getting more frustrated that he can't tell us what he wants. He still won't sign to us, but enjoys our charades. He also wants to be in the center of things. He crawls to company whenever they leave him in a room, and if he's stuck (in the highchair, for instance) he start

And Here Is What Joss Has Been Up To

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First of all, he's been growing his hair. This style reminds us of the Heat Miser character from one of those holiday specials of our childhood. The hair is getting a little scruffy, but we're just not quite ready for the last of the first haircuts. Rob wants to let it get long and curly; I'm putting the kibosh on mullets. Second, Joss has been working on walking. He took his first steps last Monday on March 30. Just walked four paces as if he'd been thinking the whole thing out in his mind. He refuses to walk on demand, but then you'll be looking elsewhere and see that he's just launched himself off of your knee and made it two feet away. Sebastian also took his first steps about six weeks before his birthday, and the day after he turned one, he was strictly a biped. We'll see what Joss decides to do (watching his friend Leah toddle was a big encouragement). Joss has also discovered the joys of dishwasher surfing. He always wants to climb up here and help