A New President

Well, kids are smarter these days. And informed. We don't talk much about politics at our house (it makes me break out into a rash), so our kids haven't been exposed to much of it. Or so I thought. I went to vote early last week, and proudly wore my "I VOTED" sticker home. The kids don't miss a thing. Here's how one conversation went.

Jackson: Mom, why are you wearing that sticker?
Me: I voted today.
Jackson: Why?
Me: It's time to elect a new president. Of the United States. (I felt I needed to add this b/c in our house, a reference to "president" could be the president of the Church - the prophet.)
Jackson: (with a worried look) Why?? Did President Bushman die?!

On Election day, the questions and comments continued. I'm sad that I didn't write them all down cuz they were hilarious. Jordan was pretty excited about the whole thing.

Jordan: I'll be 11 next time we vote for a president.

The morning after elections, Jordan practically pops out of bed with his question:

Jordan: Who won???
Me: Obama.
Jordan: How do you know?
Me: (I show him the newspaper.)
Jordan: Oh, man! I wanted the OTHER guy!
Jackson: Me too! I wanted John McCain.
Me: You guys know who they are?
Jordan: Yeah. Most of the class wanted the other guy.

Then at dinner:

Jackson: Dad, Matthew said Obama wants EVERY day to be a school day except Sunday. Is that true?
Cannon: No. (It takes a minute to convince all the kids that they will NOT be going to school on Saturdays any time soon. Apparently, they had been pretty worried about this.)
Jackson: Tatum said Obama doesn't care if you kill babies. Is that true?
Cannon: (His eyes are popping out of head, and he sputters as he tries to come up with an answer! He never really came up with one. I filled in.)

Hmm. I think the boys are growing up fast. I'm going to have to start answering the hard questions!

Still Two

Don't you love two-year-olds? That is, when they're not driving you CRAZY! Of course, I'm always patient with Tanner. Oh, I do try, anyway!

I love his talking now. He is a little chatterbox and is so good at communicating with us. He has so much to say, but it is very difficult to understand most of it. I've got a pretty good handle on Tanner-ese, but I usually have to do the translating for other people. It's so cute when we can't understand what he's saying; he is confident that he knows what he's talking about and patiently repeats himself (over and over) until we understand him. We will guess what he's saying and he responds with a clipped, "no" or, "yeah" or,"YES!"

Last week, it took me three days to figure out that he had a new phrase for "lunch time." It didn't sound ANYTHING like "lunch time!" So I worked with him to make at least one or two of the right sounds so that we can tell what it is he's trying to say. He's adamant, though - he won't change his dubious pronunciation. I took a video:

Mantua SPOOKTACULAR 5K and 1K Runs

My cute, strong, athletic hubby took THIRD place in the Mantua (man too AY) halloween run on Saturday. See the three fingers? =) He ran his race while the kids and I waited, then he took the three oldest kids to run a 1K. They are all so FAST. At least, that's what Tanner kept telling me. Here they are stretching.

Here is cute Jordan. He managed to even give me a good wave as he sped past Tanner and I.



Here is Jackson as he whizzed past.



Look at him. Can you believe we didn't let Tanner run too?? What were we thinking? He managed to be a very supportive spectator once he stopped crying about being left behind. He told me how FAST they all were.



Here's Sydney showing off her prize. The kids each came home with a big Halloween tote, a whole box of Lofthouse cookies (yum), a big ol' gatorade, and some halloween candy. Score.


We like this tradition. Mantua is just over the mountain from us - very close. We'll be there next year!

GFCF Halloween!

This time of year is so stressful for moms of kids with food "issues." Everywhere you turn, someone is trying to give your kids something yummy to eat. Our society is so FOOD centered, that when someone is trying to make a child happy the first thing they think to do is give them cookies or candy. So sad. Not only does this make my kids crazy, but they usually can't have the food that other people give them anyway, because they can't have gluten or casein (dairy). We are VERY strict with Jackson and Jordan -- there is a zero tolerance level for their dietary restrictions. Tanner is on is way to being free of food allergies (he can now eat eggs and dairy when they are an ingredient in baked foods - and he has no problem with gluten), and Sydney is proud to be able to eat anything she wants (as long as her grumpy mom lets her!)

Usually at Halloween time I scour the isles at the store to see what I could buy for my kids, then don't buy much at all because even if they CAN eat it, that doesn't mean they SHOULD. I buy enough so that they can have substitutes for the treats kids are eating at their school parties. Then for trick-or-treating, I buy something non-edible. For the last couple of years we passed out glow bracelets. Way fun. Then when the kids went trick-or-treating, they brought home all their goodies, I sorted it with them and told them what they were allowed to eat based on their dietary restrictions. They got to eat a bunch before going to bed, and save a little in a baggie to put in lunch boxes for a week or so. Then Halloween candy was done! I saved all the good stuff (candy bars!!) and ate it myself over the next few weeks.

THIS year, I gave in and bought real candy. But all of it is GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free). And I'm pretty disappointed that I won't be able to confiscate the chocolate for myself this year. As a nursing mommy, I am on a no dairy diet myself!!

So here is my list of GFCF candy that everyone in our family can eat. Except Eli, of course. But he gets his later. . .

Starburst Fruit Chews - The original fruit chews, others may or may not be GFCF.
Skittles - same as above. both Starburst and Skittles have cream varieties that are not CF.
Lollipops - DumDums and Charms are GFCF, as are most lollipops that do not have a cream component in them. Tootsie Pops are a definite no no here!!!
Sweet Tarts
Spree
Smarties - Note that the Smarties necklaces reportedly contain gluten.
NECCO Wafers
Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
Gobstoppers
Bottle Caps
Pixy Sticks
Nerds
Runts
Gum - Double-Bubble, Wrigleys, Trident (NOTE: read labels and watch out for Recaldent, a casein derivative, in some gums)
Mike and Ike
Haribo Gummy Bears
Jelly Beans - Starburst, SOME Jelly Belly, Jolly Rancher, Mars
ACT II Popcorn Balls
Mary Jane's
Candy Corn and Candy Pumpkin - most of these are GFCF, but we have seen some that are not.

Now, take a look at this list. It's all sugar! My kids will be crazy for a while.

Hey here's an opportunity for one of you: come hang out with us on halloween, and you could win the grand prize of leftover chocolate!

Thanks to THOMAS (http://gfcfexperience.blogspot.com/) for listing GFCF halloween candy. See his blog for other GFCF entries and some yummy recipes!

Tag

What a fun tag from Channing. It's nice to get insight into the brains of those kiddos.

1. What does mom always say to you?
Jackson: After I get something out in my room I should put it away.
Jordan: I love you?
Sydney: I don't know.

2. What makes mom happy?
Jackson: If I obey her.
Jordan: When I do what you tell me to do.
Sydney: My smile.

3. What makes mom sad?
Jackson: If I don't obey her.
Jordan: When I don't listen.
Sydney: When I don't hurry.

4. How does mom make you laugh?
Jackson: If she tells me a joke.
Jordan: When you tickle me.
Sydney: I don't know.

5. How old is mom?
Jackson: Hmm. Uh, 32?
Jordan: Hmm. 32.
Sydney: Uh, hmm. 31.

6. How tall is mom?
Jackson: I don't know.
Jordan: 30 inches.
Sydney: I don't know.

7. What does mom like to do?
Jackson: I don't know.
Jordan: Read books and write on the computer.
Sydney: She likes to be happy.

8. What is mom's job?
Jackson: To be a mom.
Jordan: Taking care of Tanner and Eli
Sydney: To stay home and take care of Eli.

9. What is mom's favorite food?
Jackson: Steak.
Jordan: I know what it tastes like, but I can't remember what it's called. It's brown. Oh! It's steak!
Sydney: Burritos.

10. How do you know your mom loves you?
Jackson: Because she does nice things.
Jordan: Because she hugs me sometimes.
Sydney: Because you hug me and kiss me.

General Conference Activity Packets

General conference time -- yay! I love that in Utah you can just turn on the TV to watch conference. Problem is, we live on a mountainside and can't get any TV reception! Well, I also love that we can watch conference on the internet! Right in our own living room. Anybody have ideas on how to get the volume higher on my laptop? I can't figure out how to attach speakers. . .

Last conference we printed out these activity packets for the kids and they LOVED them. Everyone was so reverent that I actually was able to LISTEN. =) Try them out!

October Conference Packet - Upload a Document to Scribd

The SECOND First Day of School

Sydney is a little smartie. We have all known that for a while. She spent the summer reading chapter books. She says Jordan taught her how to read, but she taught herself how to read chapter books! When I need a break from little toddler Tanner, I tell him to take a book to Sydney, and she reads to him. She'll keep reading to him until he runs out of books to bring her!

Sydney loves school. She came home from the first day of kindergarten just glowing. She loves her teacher, her new friends, the bus - all of it. Around the third day of school I asked her a question, and her answer cracked me up.

"Did you learn anything today?"

"Yeah. We learned a new letter. But I already knew it."

"What letter did you learn?"

"Little m." Sigh.

I think she was disappointed that there were no new letters to be learned in kindergarten. Too bad they use the same alphabet in kindergarten that they use in preschool! 26 letters just isn't enough for Sydney.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks of research, meetings, testing (which, of course, she loved), and pondering, we moved her up to first grade. She is now in Mrs. Christensen's class (which, again, she is loving!)

Tanner and Sydney loved the whole first-day-of-school-photo-session thing all over again. This time, I told Tanner ahead of time that he was NOT getting on the bus. Things were much smoother this time around.



Another cool thing about first grade -- you get to eat lunch AT SCHOOL! Sydney was thrilled. I got a bill from the cafeteria. But Sydney takes her lunch! Apparently someone showed her the a la carte section. She's been loving it.