Atlas' Omelet

I took Paris to work with me today and she went to bed at 4:30. Needless to say she had fun... (She is winking at me) Atlas cooked dinner tonight. He even made dessert. Chocolate pudding. I love big kids.

Weekend Updates

Yesterday morning Richard found Poppet and Snowball eating together out of Poppet's bowl! We had a few close calls over the weekend where we thought the bird was a gonner. Last night when we put the chick in her (hopefully) coop, she was quite wet from being licked.
Emilia and Paris had their annual dance performance- both tapping. It amazes me how calm and chill they are when performing in front of hundreds. It was a packed house and a large studio... Rich and I took them out to eat- it was a girl's night with dad. The boys went to friends' houses.
Also this weekend I finished planting (for now) in my garden. I have had to pull out sunflowers and hollyhocks like they were dandelions! And of course Sunday brunch with blueberry streusel scones, lots of homemade granola, yogurt and hot chocolate!

Our newest addition

This afternoon we got a chick! It was abandoned near my co-worker's house and as she was telling me the sad and amazing story- the chick lived through the nigh with foxes and coyotes around, I told her we would take it. Maybe this will be a temporary pet, but for now it is great. We are hoping it is not a rooster- we aren't supposed to have livestock in the downtown area. Paris has named it snowball. It follows the kids around and is very nice!

We also have a family of quails living in our backyard- isn't he beautiful? It is so cute when they run around with their babies...

Global food CRISIS

I think that the reason food prices are on the rise is because of Genetically Modified Seeds. In the past when farmers harvested their crops, a portion of their seeds were saved for the next planting. Under current Monsanto laws, farmers cannot save seeds from their harvest of genetically modified seeds. They must be purchased every planting season. Monsanto is the giant of genetically modified seeds. They originally made round-up, the weed killer and needed seeds that would not be killed by their toxic product, thus introducing animal life into our food supply. For example, there are soybeans that glow in the dark due to jelly fish. Most recently in my local daily paper I read about human genes being mixed with goats and cows to "improve" their milk, but then that is off the subject of plants. Genetically modified crops are not producing as much as promised and not as much as traditionally grown- ie natural seeds. Click here to read more! A Monsanto official told the New York Times that the corporation should not have to take responsibility for the safety of its food products. "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food," said Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications. "Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."

death

My kids talk about death all the time. All the time.

Paris: Mom are you afraid to die?
Me: Um, no, but I don't want to. I don't want to leave you guys.
Paris: Ok, when I see a shooting star I run and get you and we can wish on it together that we will never be grandmas.
grandmas die.

Last night at the Hope for America Concert a 91 yr old lady danced and she GOT DOWN. At the end of her dance she did the splits! I was laughing so hard. It was awesome.
Enjoy this video:

joke:

Why did Tigger put his head in the toilet?
He was looking for Pooh!

Charla gave Leif a huge joke book for his birthday and when flipping through it that was the first one we read!

Spring Break

This is the first time since living in Utah that we have had a week for Spring Break. We took advantage of the time off from all activities and went to Moab, our favorite Utah destination. Since the kids are getting bigger we took more adventurous hikes and daring climbs in Arches. The three youngest cried only once and told Rich that they hated him when he boosted each on a ledge. Paris said that she hated Goblin Valley because it was too scary, but really we all had a great time and are trying to figure when we'll be returning. We saw a hundred deer- the kids' count was 183, 10 pronghorn antelope and a bear (in Spanish Fork Canyon on our way home). I think that Zion and Bryce Canyon are next before our National Park Pass expires.
On one of the longer driving segments we had this conversation: Paris to me: "Mom, is Mickey Mouse real?" Emilia and Richard together: "yes, at Disneyland-you remember!" Paris screems:"NO- I am asking MOM" Me: No, he isn't a real person like you and me". Paris: "I know Mom, he is a mouse!" Duh! I was laughing too hard to say anything else.