Rainy Tuesday

Heidi and I both REALLY needed to get out of the house yesterday, so even though it was rainign we took a walk. I prepared five little ziploc bags for her, with red, orange, yellow, green and purple paper swatches. I told her it was a treasure hunt and she had to find something to put in each bag that matched the paper. We had SO MUCH fun, especially puddle jumping and eating chicken noodle soup when we got home to warm up (it was 40-degrees! and James came with us in his stroller). Hooray for Spring flowers!
looking down the valley
Heidi the Color Hunter
Puddle Jumper!

The Booty (we lost the purple bag on our walk, but it had a lilac in it!)

Good times!

Now we're going on a treasure hunt at the grocery store! Have a good day at your house!

Let Them Eat Dirt!

When I got adusted last week with my chiro/nutritionist, Dr. Doblebower, we talked about how I had been sick and that somehow my kids had not getten sick at all. I said, "The funny thing is that my healthiest kid is the one who eats dirt all the time." His eyes lit up and he told me he had just come from a nutrition conference and in one of the first presentations about asthma and childhood illnesses, they had an opening powerpoint slide that said something like,

"So what's missing from our children's diets?"

follwed by a picture of a kid eating a mud pie. Not unlike this, I suppose: Yep, there's my girl with super-immunity, who only gets SICK once a year!

(photo courtesy of Michaela Claar)

You can read some points about the rest of our nutrition/immunity conversation in this article, and this one, and this one.

So, to sum it up:

• 
  Early exposure to nature (dirt, animals, etc.) helps the body build up immunity and reduces allergies and asthma
  
• Early exposure to common viruses and bacteria does the same thing to help children resist or recover quickly from common childhood illnesses
  Use fewer chemicals in the home for cleaning (plain soaps, hot water, and vinegar usually disinfect just fine)
  
• To boost the immune system, include the following in your diet: Vitamin C and other antioxidants in fruits, veggies, especially berries, calcium in milk and in supplements, and iron in meats and beans. Zicam, Airbourne, or high-quality supplements containing Echinacea and golden seal (these are expensive but effective, and my nutrituionist recommends products form Australia where they are regulated) can help when you feel a cold or flu coming on.
• Let Them Eat Dirt!
  

Heidi & The Sugar Bug

Heidi had a dental check up on April 27th and Dr. Orton found a tiny sugar bug on a lower right molar (poor Heidi didn't get Daddy's super teeth!). So on Monday 5/14, she got the sugar bug out and a shiny filling in... Here she is wearing her "clown nose" to get some "giggle gas"
There's Dr. Orton doing her teeth...
...and Heidi's so happy when he's all done!
(Dr. Orton is great with the kids, and it helps that he's our bishop, too)

Gettin' Exercise...

I have started taking Heidi places and doing things that make her run around to get exercise. So instead of calling this "playing," she says, "I need exercise!" I took her to Sacajawea Park the other day and we spent about two minutes at each spot: a quick slide or two at Pompey's playground, then RUN across the soccer fields to the Merry-go-Round, then RUN to the swings, then RUN to the teeter-totter and back to the car...lots of exercise for mom & James, too! We were sad to find the latch of the baby swing broke, so James couldn't swing very high...:(
But Heidi had fun swinging and singing!
Look at her happy grin!

11:20am on Wednesday...

...and Heidi is just wandering aroud the house with her mega blocks chanting, "Order in the court, order in the court..."

11:21am: Now it's "Order in your car! Order in your car!"

How 'bout order in your room, missy? Or maybe order in your brain?

Heh, heh.

Here's another Heidism (while watching "Little Einsteins", the Rossini episode):
"See that, mom? They found the Panda Bear. They followed his Putt-frints...see? There's putt-frints in the ground."

Stayin' Alive

Photo courtesy of LauraJamie, Laura, Kristen, Sam & Jared on Jamie's porch 04.26.07

The Plague has spread to Heidi, who has a fever but no other symptoms besides a little sniffle and the grumps. We are having a jammie day, watching Playhouse Disney & PBSKids in bed, eating sliced fruit and juice and water and Tylenol and snuggling. I am a little better today (hooray for the upswing!), but I am savoring this time to snuggle my otherwise rambunctious Heidi-Lynners. I told Heidi she's probably sick from all the dirt she's eaten the past week. See her in action HERE at Laura's blog (great pix of their visit with us; scroll down to see crazy video).

Heidi's Family Night Party

Heidi had her friend-party on Monday night, which we combined with Family Night.

Here you can see the adults in our great room--there's Dad Melin, Angie, and Me on the left, and then the Sister Missionaries (Sister Bly-left, and Sister Hanna-right), with the Gonzales family in the middle.
Michaela Claar, Breana Arakawa, Addie, Boston & Alexander Winsor eating dinner in our backyard.
Me and James in the kitchen
Breana, Heidi, and TJ eat cupcakes...
...with Alexander, Danny, and Addie
Cakeface!
Presents! (Doodlebears, puzzles, dinosaurs)
Later, Heidi wore her Doodle Bear decoder glasses to bed...

Good Night, Crazy Birthday Girl!

Oh, to be THREE!

Heidi's Birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we just had a little cake and ice cream at Grandma's house that night... Here's the Princess with her cake (love that face!)
...and here is her REAL smile!
Opening her Aqua Doodle with Grandpa and Cousin Danny
The birthday girl was quite pleased (see her approving smile?!) with her cool book from her Great-Grandpa & Grandma Elrey...thanks for always remembering, Gram & Gramp!
James loved the rapping paper.

On This Date in History...

...April 15, 2004, our Heidi Lynners was born!
Happy Third Birthday, Heidi!






Heidi's Third Birthday on Vimeo

New Heidi-ism

Sometimes when Rich is referee-ing the girls, he says, "Addie, you worry about you, and Heidi worry about Heidi!"

Heidi has turned this on us, so that when we tell her not to do domething, she says, "Mom, you worry about you and I worry about me!"

Week in Review: Heidi Last Wednesday

I had some stickers set aside for Heidi's Potty Chart... ...this is what Heidi thinks of the Potty Chart....
...gotta love'er.

The First Day of Grandpa

I've decided to celebrate GRANDPA BILL'S 82nd BIRTHDAY (March 29th) with (a) the card we mailed off yesterday and (b) and THREE-PART blog-a-thon. So, Poppy, here's your first special birthday wish from Heidi...






Heidi Loves You on Vimeo

Another Old Video to Make You Smile

Bubble Monsters on Vimeo

Pictures of a Monday

Heidi went on a date with Grandma Rosalie this morning and she came home with these daffodils for me...what a great way to start the week!
Tonight, James sat in hs chair and kept me company while I cooked up the stir fry we had for dinner (the girls also helped me make Crab Rangoon wontons like we had the Arakawas last week)
Look at my cutie pie in his highchair!
Here's the yummy dinner I made for mi familia for Family Night
Rich used a power raker to liven up our lawn and then he cleaned up the garage for FHE.
The girls were outside "helping" dad while I made dinner. Do you LOVE Heidi's dirt-n-snot Hitler mustache? That girl...ugh! Nothin' like a little mudpie appetizer.

If Heidi Lives to See Three...

Dear Heidi,

I wanted to congratulate you on winning The Battle of the Wills, round 2, 338. You have once again shown me who’s boss around here, as far as eating and peeing go. I also wanted to thank you for peeing about a gallon on the floor at the same exact time on both Monday and Tuesday this week (our two fruitless Potty-Immersion days)—now at least I know I can sit you on the potty at 10:20am each day and something might happen. I also wanted to say kudos on being able to withhold ALL of your business ALL day (except for said accidents) until we put the pull-ups on you at bedtime. Now I know that you do indeed have bladder control and you’re just not using it to spite me. I can handle that. But just remember—you have to use the potty if you want to go to Addie’s cool school next year. So don’t’ come cryin’ to me when you get kicked out of preschool for being obstinate about using the toilet.

Love, Mom

PS: I forgot to tell you thanks for freshening up the nursery room carpet with baby powder today while you were supposedly napping. Now everything smells baby-fresh—even the vacuum! And how fun for you, all buck-naked and powder-white, to get to take a bath in the middle of the afternoon! I kept a straight face and made you feel really sorry, but I was DYING inside because you looked so funny and I had to snap this picture for Daddy because I told him over the phone that you looked like E.T. when he was dying. You are the answer to every prayer I ever said for patience, my dear, and I love you even through my gritting teeth!

Oh, the Ingratitude

As Heidi pushed her breakfast away and yelled, "I don't WANT this, MOM!" (we are all a little cranky today due to her NEVER sleeping last night and waking all of us up several times), I thought about how rude my kids can be sometimes. And I remembered how my little brother Sam would say, "Hey, let's save this for later," when he didn't want to eat something or got full. It was so cute and sweet.

What would that be like? My brothers Sam & Willy and my stepdad Guido, circa 1996

Totally Awesome Santa

Last year, Santa came on a fire truck with gifts for everyone... This year, he(she) came on a stick horse wearing sunglasses, shouting, "Get your OWN baby!"
Addie's third visit with Santa this year (or Heidi Claus, as she's known around here)
James checking out Addie this afternoon.

PS: Happy Birthday, Sara! We love you! Hey, did you know your birthday is on Santa Lucia Day? COOL!