Totally Danny

Big Brother

Danny is awesome. He's like a third parent.

A couple of months back Jean was out in the front of the house with the kids as they rode their bikes and scooters. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Vegas and desert living, a yard can mean grass and trees, but it can also be comprised of rocks, drought resistant shrubs and plants (some people call these 'weeds') and faux dry river channels (miniature arroyos). We have desert landscaping in the front (all business) and grass in the back (all party) - kind of like a mullet hairdo.

I digress.

Seth was crawling around on the rocks and had started to do what most babies do with things that are within arm's reach - stick them in his mouth. Danny witnessed this activity and, with a disgusted tone, addressed Jean "Mom, are you even watching him? He's eating rocks!"

Reading Machine

Danny is a voracious reader. He was recently tested at school and reads two grade levels above his current class. He's been reading the Harry Potter series since Christmas time and enjoys them so much he's on the fifth book. It's so "bad" that we have to go back to his room 1-2 hours after we've done our bedtime routine to tell him to turn off his bed light and go to bed. Probably one of the reason he's already wearing contacts. . . .

Dressed to the Nines

Today was Wear Your Pajamas to School day, the last day of school before Spring Break. Danny and Rachel were excited. Rachel wore some of her light blue pajamas that have horses and other girly things printed on them (I'm a typical boy, so I don't remember what those other girly things are on her pajamas - I don't pay much attention to that kind of thing). Danny wore his standard 'pajamas' which usually consist of a t-shirt and some 'comfy' pants which are athletic, basketball-style, 100% polyester pants. The funny thing is that Danny typically wears the exact same thing to school everyday, he just happens to change into another pair of comfy pants and a t-shirt for bed. If only he knew.

In a lot of regards he's a lot like his Uncle Ryan. Legend has it that he loved to wear his comfy clothes to high school - sweat pants. Inseperable were Ryan and his sweat pants, or so I hear.

Losing Teeth Left and Right

It's as if all of Danny's teeth have been falling out of his mouth recently. Fortunately all of this is natural and not a result of eating too much candy or not brushing his teeth. He's got four permanents in place - they're the middle two teeth on the top and bottom. Seems like these permanent teeth have a special knack for dropping their non-permanent neighbors out of the dental subdivision. Danny now looks like a jack-o-lantern when he smiles.

Aaron's Wisdom

Aaron showers us with his knowledge on a daily basis. I thought it would be fun to share some of his recent pearls of wisdom. They're shiny.

• I was shaving in the bathroom one morning before church. Aaron walks in, sees what I'm doing and asks "Hi, Dad. Are you cutting your face?" Pretty much.
  

• I will be taking Aaron (and possibly Seth, if Jean can part with him for seven days) to see my grandparents in Virginia in a couple of months. I explained to Aaron how we will have to fly on airplanes and how much fun it would be to go on a visit far away. He seemed OK with that, thought for a few moments and asked, with a concerned tone "Do they speak our language in Virginia?" Yeah, close enough.
  

• Aaron was in a tickling match with Jean the other day. Aaron was going all out, but Jean wasn't giving enough of a laughing response to satisfy Aaron. He wanted more laughter out of her and said "Mom, I'm tickling you to get you to laugh so you'll live longer." He recently learned from the babysitter that studies show you're likely to live longer if you laugh.
  

• I'm a lock freak - I leave the home secure when I leave. Jean began her life on a farm, so she is a little more carefree when it comes to locking the house (but she does set the alarm). I brought Aaron home after dropping Danny & Rachel off at school today. Aaron tried to get in several times before I reached the door and was upset that it was locked. I told him that I like to lock the door when I leave and that mom doesn't do it as much as me. I tried to win him over to my side of thinking by telling him that we wouldn't want someone to walk into our house while we were gone and take our stuff. He replied, "They wouldn't take our stuff. They would just come in and look at it." Sure they would. Sounds like Aaron sides his mother. Point, Jean.

Happenings

Bob and Aaron doing some serious work at the counter.

Bob and Rachel went to their second Daddy-Daughter dance at Antonello Elementary. They had a great time!

We made homemade hershey's kisses for valentines day with customized tags in each one. Fun!

All three boys have loved their "silky", but Danny and Aaron sucked their thumbs with it. Since Seth doesn't suck his thumb, he chooses to suck his silky. It gets so gross and slimy! Luckily we have many, many silkies so he can get a new one for every nap.

Aaron made an Abraham Lincoln hat at Preschool. He makes so many cute things there.

One of Seth's favorite activities is taking out all the plastic bags from the drawer. He also loves to play in the drawer just below that--it has all his bottle parts in it.

Nascar

Bob got some awesome tickets to Nascar weekend here in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. He got two tickets for Fri, Sat and Sunday and he had passes to the Neon Garage, where you can see all the cars getting worked on. We're not really Nascar fans, but it was pretty fun. Friday, Bob and I and Seth and Aaron all went. They were just having time trials so it wasn't as crowded as the real thing. It was fun to see such a whole different culture there. We were definitely the only ones with a stroller! It felt like we were in the movie "Cars". Aaron thought it was great. We all enjoyed the neon garage. We only lasted about five minutes watching the cars on the track because it was so loud. Bob took Danny on Saturday. They also enjoyed the neon garage. But it was rainy that day and they had to delay the race. Danny got tired of waiting and getting wet, so they came home before the race started, but still had fun.

Rachel got her ears pierced

A few weeks ago Rachel decided she was ready to get her ears pierced. We were going to Visalia that weekend, so we decided it would be fun to do it with Grandma. So we had a girls date. Rachel, me, Gma Zonda and Gma Monte. We went to the mall on Saturday to have it done. Rachel was so brave. She just held my hand but never cried or got scared. She said it hurt for a couple of hours, but then it was fine. She's so happy with how it turned out. She chose pink sparkly flowers for her first earrings. Then we did a little shopping with her and she picked out a pink sweater and skirt to go with her earrings. We had so much fun with her. What a great girl!

Pootietorns!

I can't remember the etymology of the word 'pootietorn' - it's a concatenation of one of Rachel's nicknames, Pootie, and torn. I have no recollection of how torn got into the mix, but it did. I can however give you a working definition.

Pootietorn - a tuft or several strands of hair that, either through intentional or unintentional efforts, stick out from the rest of the hair on a head.

Basically, it's a fancy, family-made word that describes a specific type of bedhead.

I was just sifting through some photos that we took over the holidays and came across these gems. We must have promised some serious rewards/bonuses to get these three to participate. Aaron in particular looks very pleased about the event.

Bobby's Birthday

Bob is one year older. He says it's the last year he feels good about. Next year it just starts sliding down to 40.

He had an exciting birthday this year. He's been on a lucky streak lately. He listens to talk radio all the time and a couple of weeks ago they were giving away tickets to Nascar weekend. Bob called in and won. I didn't know people really win those things. The prize Bob really wanted was tickets to the MountainWest Basketball tournament. So they started giving them away last week. He called in and won two tickets to the championship game. He was happy about that, but he'd like to go to more than just one game. So there was another giveaway and he called in and won again! He won 2 tickets to the whole thing. Jackpot! He was so proud of himself. And to make it even better, his good friend, Kenton, decided to come out from Chicago to go to all the games together. They even wore matching Cougar shirts (sadly we forgot to take pictures). The night before Kenton came in and the games started, Bob could hardly sleep he was so excited. They spent three days at the basketball games and had a great time! Even when they spent 3 1/2 hours at the DMV together. And Mark was able to join them for a couple of hours on his way through town.

On Bob's actual birthday, we had pizza and sprite and chocolate cake from costco--all Bob's favorites. He got a double glasses case that Rachel made for him in her sewing class; so he can carry his regular glasses and perscription sunglasses at the same time. Danny got him a sudoku book, Aaron got him a baseball tee so they can practice together. And he got new tennis shoes for his upcoming triathlon.

We love Bob so much! He is a great friend, husband, dad and provider. He works hard and with lots of integrity at his job, which he loves. I love Bob because he's my best friend and he's so fun to be with. We work together as a great team. I love when he surprises me with dates that are already all set up including the babysitter and when he brings home flowers for no reason or leaves sweet notes for me. He's kind and helpful and loving with our family. He's so great with the kids. They love to play with him and "get tossed on the couch". He's so good at distracting them and making them feel better when they get hurt--way better at it than I am. He's always the first parent they go to when they have a bad dream in the middle of the night. Here's what the kids say is great about their dad.

Rachel-he's a great swimmer and biker and he gives us gummy candy.
Danny- he's really nice and throws us on the couch and plays with us.
Aaron - he's the greatest dad because he has the priesthood.
Rachel says Seth would say this if he could "I like dad because he makes me happy"

We love you Bobby! Happy 34th!