The Bredensteiners: January 2008

Monday, January 21, 2008

Some Good News!

After I had finished mourning over the loss of my little sally's I was staring at the tank wondering what I wanted to put in it when suddenly I saw my little Sal hanging out between the log and pool! I couldn't believe it (and of course I then need to apologize to Keno for the cold shoulder he had been receiving the past few days). So, now we have decided to renovate the tank to make it harder for Sal to escape and harder for Keno to get a snack (plus, Jon just likes to make things "bigger and better"). We will keep you posted on our progress.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Sad story

So, I have a very sad tale to tell... For Christmas, Jon made me the coolest paludarium (part land/part water terrarium) for my little long-toed salamander pets that we caught in our yard several months ago. Sal and Sally were very excited about their new home; as was I-it was so neat with waterfalls and a fogger.

But that's a happy story you say...alas, Jon's cat Keno devoured my little sallys within the first two weeks (the lid was crack to let the humidity out)! I am still quite devastated as they were such cute and fun pets. They were a lot of fun to feed-as they would eat earthworms that would fling their bodies around as they slurped them up! I am now looking to find another couple of sallys or newts to inhabit my mini forest...so, keep watching for updates!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Christmas in a Nutshell

Well I have been slacking on the blogging lately (worried I will reach my max soon) so here is Christmas in a nutshell:

We cut down our tree at the same lame tree farm we went to last year that I swore I would never go to again...Jon had to move somebody ALL MORNING/AFTERNOON/LATE AFTERNOON (not that I'm complaining about my hubby doing service or anything) so we went a lot later then planned which axed the idea of going to a really cool farm with Santa, hayrides, etc. because it was too far...so, we settled for something in Snohomish. However, because I was pouting I didn't actually look anything up so we just drove around aimlessly until we found this place (which is basically what happened last year)...UGHH!! But, the tree we picked was beautiful and very tall (like 18 or so ft!).

Looking for the perfect tree.

Perfect tree found.

Cutting down the tree.

No trip would be complete without at least one melt-down!

We did gingerbread houses this year with the Higgins. Chandra and I baked all the walls (which means nothing matched up) and we got together at her house (thanks for that!!) with the kids to make/decorate their houses. The kids had so much fun but spent a lot of time hiding under the table "sneaking candy" (I swear I let them have sugar once in awhile!). A few days later Josh and Jon and I made ours. Josh really let the creative juices flow and made his very intricate while Jon and I settled for simple (I know we don't have to actually live in the house but that's just our style).

Christmas Eve we opened our new jammies then sang carols and acted out the Nativity with Josh. Clay was the angel and enjoyed sounding his "trumpet" and Kai was the baby Jesus, not quite so happy to be up past his bedtime. Josh slept over and we wrapped presents until way too late then crashed! We woke up and opened stockings, ate breakfast, showered, cleaned up (yes, we dragged out the whole present opening as is tradition in my family) then finally opened presents. Santa brought Clay a Mack with Lighting inside, Eph a dumptruck like his brothers, and Kai a "piggy bank". Jon made me a really really cool paludarium (part water part land terrarium) for my salamanders and I got him an air compressor (which he of course returned-Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Jon returning his gifts). The Higgins came over that night for a "Mexican Fiesta" (we decided to bag the traditional turkey and stuffing dinner for a quicker and more delicious (at least for Jon) meal). After dinner we played a few rounds of TWISTER-so fun. We had a great Christmas (although we missed our family)!

Modeling their new jammies.

Acting out the nativity-utter chaos!

Stockings.

Presents.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Funny Things my Kids Say

Eph: When we both grow up and live next to eachother maybe when your mother (wife) leaves and my mother (wife) leaves I can sneak up and go to your house and we can play. Clay: Adults don't play and it's not your mom it's your wife.
Mom: Ouch, my foot is really hurting! Kai: You're still alive Momma.
Kai and I were going back and forth with the,"I love you to the moon, I love you to the sun, etc." I said, "I love you to Venus" and Kai responded, "I love you to the penis"...LOL!
Clay: Ephraim, why do you always copy me? Ephraim: Because I love ya.
Kai was playing with his train the other day and I overheard him saying, "You can do it Thomas" and of course I was thinking Thomas the kid's engine, and then I heard him say, " You can do it, Thomas Monson"...LOL!
Kai always sleeps in my bed. One day I asked him why he didn't like his bed and he said,"It's too fluffy."
Whenever asked any question from "What is your name?" to "What do you want to do today?", Kai always responds with "Quesadilla".
Kai spent a couple months calling everyone "boob-butt" (boob was taken from the recent Horton Hears a Who movie).
When Kai wants to be picked up he says, "Grab me".
All my boys sing the song Paradise City by Guns N' Roses...embarassing.
When you ask Kai his name he says "Coc-head"- he means coconut head.
In between Conference sessions they played the movie "The Other side of Heaven" and during the scene where the rats are chewing on his feet Kai yells, "Wake up Dude!"
Ephraim says' That's ridiculous!"
When I ask Kai anything he shakes his head violently and says, "No-no!"
Clay told me that he was making funny faces in his class and that the girls were laughing. I asked him if the boys laughed too; he said, "no, they got mad". He told me he likes girls better then boys because they're "pretty". Oh boy!
Clay had some food stuck in his throat and I told him to drink some water to wash it down. He said, "I think I need to use a screw to get it out"- OUCH!
I told Clay that if he ate all his veggies he would be big and strong like his daddy. He said, " Well, that's not strong enough".
Clay turned to me after a meal and said, "Thanks for making dinner Mom". Then he turned to Jon and said, "Thanks, Dad". Jon responded a bit surprised, "What for, I didn't do anything?" Clay replied, "For working". WOW!
Josh came over and was checking out our pear tree in the front yard and Clay put his face up real close to him and said, "Jesus made the pears, Uncle Josh." Josh said he felt like he was in church! HA HA
Clay was being a stinker and I told him to "please be more obedient Clayton Ryan" and he responded, "I'm not Clayton I'm Nephi" and my mom told him that Nephi would be obedient to his parents. So, after some thought he replied, "Oh, I'm not Nephi".
When they don't like a food the boys say its too "spicy".
When something is too hard for the boys to do they say its too "heavy".
My boys both say, "I don't want that ever ever again, so there!"
Clay informed me the other day that he also liked Momma's milk (like baby Kai). I told him that he drank cow's milk like Mommy and Daddy and after a moments thought he said "No, I just drink seahorse milk!"