A-Lava-Ta-A-Lava-Ta-A-Matsah!

Explanation of the title: this is one of those things in a family or in a childhood that everyone in that family knows but rarely shares.  I don't know if there is a word for this--is it "tradition?"  That doesn't quite seem to fit.  Maybe I need to invent a word...We have many of these things, mostly sayings or phrases that stick, or sometimes actual activities, that only our family knows about.  The above made-up phrase was from a game of "Telephone" that we played several months ago.  The original word was "Latitude and Longitude are awesome!"  I think Owen started that round, because he was excited about those concepts at the moment.  Anyway, the sentence morphed into the Lava-ta one stated above.  So now every now and then someone will say it and everyone will laugh.  :-)


Here are some random moments I wanted to capture:

Tommy--Our little scrapper, Tommy never fails to experience life to the fullest.  He got a doosy of a black eye at recess when the snow was starting to melt and the ice was lingering.  He slid right into a tree!  Ouch.
Tommy and Owen switched beds for awhile.  They left their clothes and belongings in their old rooms, and just moved beds.  They have established some rules around what the other one can/can't touch/do in their old rooms.  Tommy's first night in the big bed, James and I peeked our heads in and he was cavorting on the bed and gleefully shouting, "I feel like a teenager!"
The other day in the car, Tommy was busy talking and talking and asking question after question.  James asked me quietly to start recording him.  He and George and Owen had a hilarious discussion on what environment is.  FinallyTommy settled it by saying, "An environment is in nature with animals."
He keeps us laughing with his statements every day.  And he's still just so cute!  He said, "Sunday is for playing with family.  That's what Mormons do!!"

Georgie, many times a day says, "I feel bad for..." sometimes its animals, sometimes its people in books or pictures or real life.  Its very sweet to hear.

Practicing the piano--the boys have lately started saying, "Boy, does it feel good!" (another family tradition...or whats-it?) when they are done practicing for the day.  They usually work out a pretty good rotation schedule with the keyboard and the real piano, but mostly Tommy and Ryrie practice upstairs and Will and Owen downstairs.  They're the two that like my help the least, so they hide away where I won't interfere with them.

Every night the twins have a routine--they ask what's for breakfast the next day and then they say good night to me in mixed up Russian.  I say it the real way--"Spakoinoi nochi" and they respond, "Nocha Spoini."  It's a (tradition-thingy) now.  Owen and I still battle each other to come up with the last "good night" and "I love you" in all the languages we know...its a sweet little tradition that he and I have had going for a few years now.  Owen has been missing James lying on his bed at night, but now Tommy gets to be the lucky recipient.  They love the little visits they get with him on those nights.

The twins had an amazing trip to Washington DC with their grandparents, cousins--Sophie and Caleb, and Uncle Ryan. They said their favourite was going to the temple.  I loved that!  Of all the grand white monuments in DC, the temple was the best.  :-)  They have much to report and we are working on making a little memory book for them.

Easter was a great time around here.  We missed the twins, but it was also neat to see the three littles bond together without them.  Owen was an amazing older brother for the first 5 days or so.  He came up with so many ideas and kept me hopping with Easter crafts he wanted to do, switching rooms, and going on outings.  After that, he was pretty ready for Will and Ry to return and carry the torch of the Eldest.  It's tiring work!
Here are some things we made/did together:

A massive fort to celebrate the room change

Ukrainian Easter eggs--Pysankii

Tommy's broke when he was trying to do the final cleaning off of the wax--but we solved it enough to bring back his smile.

Georgie's

One side had a Christmas tree, and this side was the Easter tree (with the cross in the middle).

Georgie's invitation to the Easter bunny, and his pussy willows from our walk.

applying the melted wax to the egg.

Owen loved the blowing out part--the most difficult.

My Mom has always had an Easter tree and I have always loved the tradition.  This year the boys spent a lot of time coloring Ukrainian egg designs to hang up.  I love the little baby robin's eggs they made for the top branches as well.

Easter breakfast--Bunny pancakes!  Some look more like puppies, but hey, no one complained!

This was another day--the boys were trying for a tye-dye look with crayon shavings but it didn't work out as well as we had hoped.  I think you're supposed to put the shavings on when the eggs are piping hot, which they weren't...

Decorating for our Easter feast with Grandma and Uncle Tom's family.  Big pysankii, the Easter story, and palm fronds Grandma helped them make with their hand cut-outs.

Georgie's picture

Owen's

Tommy's