a couple of laughs

Patrick (my brother), was talking about somebody's chubby little baby. He called it a "fat baby."

Miranda (in a huff): "Patrick! You shouldn't say that!"

Patrick: "Why?"

Miranda (still in a mad voice): "Because he's a child of God!"

Patrick: "Yes. But he's a fat child of God."


Then yesterday, my siblings and parents and the marrieds and kids were all in the front room. Fernando and I had both recently changed stinky diapers by Sammy. Then Fernando, upon whiffing something foul, said,
"Dude, did you go poops again?"

Katie, not looking up: "Yeah...." pause... "Wait, were you talking to Sam?"

spidey

Last night Sammy couldn't (wouldn't?) sleep from around 3:30 until 6 something when I finally got up with him and Miranda who had woken up as a result. He's asleep now at 10:12 am on the floor in the family room so I guess he'll be okay. But that is beside the point of this post. This is the point:

Sam loves Spiderman.

I know this for several reasons:

1. He always asks to watch the DVD of either spiderman 1 (which is no longer working because of his constant carrying around of it) featuring the green goblin or spiderman 2 (working...for now) featuring Doc Octopus or whatever his proper name is--we call him Octopus Man--instead of asking to watch movies more 2-year-old-ish like even Cars or Bolt (which he also loves).

2. He and Miranda act out a play of Spiderman. It is by far the coolest play. It begins with Sammy as Peter Parker just walking around (literally he turns around in one spot) until he gets bit by a spider (Miranda...who informed us she is filling this role only until our new baby is born, whom she has also cast as Harry the friend/enemy of Peter/Spidey)(Which gave her another reason to be glad we are having a boy so it sounds great to me).
Then he wakes up and notices his strength increasing--really REALLY good acting here by Sammy--spikes forming on his fingers to help him climb, climbing skills he demonstrates on the couch and wall, and, not to forget, the ability to shoot webs out of his wrists.
The play continues with the Green Goblin (me) capturing MJ (Miranda again) and Spiderman thwarting me with his webs. Then Octopus Man (Fernando) captures MJ and Spiderman defeats him too (whereupon Spiderman gives out a gleeful un-manly squeal in this version) and proceeds to embrace the much taller but gorgeous MJ as the grand finale. I love this play.

3. If his constant requests to either watch the movie or perform the play (at a variety of venues, I might add) did not confirm his love for Spiderman, his recounting of the play to me at least 40 times last night as I tried to get him to sleep demonstrated the depth of his committment to the character. I think you might see Spidey back on this blog at Halloween.

4. He asked to be painted as Spiderman of course at our block party a few weeks ago and one of the sweet young women did a great job. He loved it. Even if it did leave his face pink for days.


Miranda asked to have a princess crown (also a big surprise ;)

but spent most of her time dancing like a gypsy with some other neighborhood girls for the decent, respectable members of our neighborhood. Oh well. You can't keep that kind of talent hidden.

All in all I have to say that luckily I have realized that I am a mom who actually enjoys the magnification of imaginary play and characterization to this level where it takes over our lives day after day. This realization is probably not a big revelation to those who know me but still, it helps when I am up going through the script at 4 am with my 2 year old Spiderman.

cuuutest

Sorry to be the braggy aunt, but isn't he the cutest?!!!
(You have to click on the word "he"...sorry...I can't copy the pictures here.)
(Too much technical stuff, plus my link didn't show up well...APOLOGIES.)

slimy yet satisfying

After a rainy day, the kids were wandering outside with Pa and Grandma Cynthia and about a-half-an-hour later they came in and dragged Fernando and I outside to see their "collection" of pets.

We knew they loved snails. We just didn't know how much...

the strength to bully a bull

Who, you ask yourself, has the gumption, the steeley nerves, the outright raw driving fury to attack a giant inflated bull who is wearing an aloha shirt and wranglers?
It's SUPER SAMMY. He got up some serious velocity and continuously flung himself violently against the cloved hoof, only to spring back having done absolutely ZERO damage. But of COURSE that didn't thwart his battle mood. Miranda joined and...
...the lightning-quick reaction of the seemingly oblivious giant marketing ploy was too much for her. (She did get up. She's not still in that position there at Murray Park today, weeks after the encounter, although you'd think so after such a blow.)
Is that a smile? Is the warrior possibly enjoying the fray?
Clearly it's not the size of the kids in the fight, but the size of the fight in the kids. And the fact that the bull is tethered down might have inspired some confidence.

Bye Bye to Miranda Honda

This is my cute husband happy in his car Miranda. Yes the car had the same name as our daughter. This should show how MUCH my husband loved Miranda the Honda. Miranda was always his favorite name for a girl so his Honda got it first. I insisted that we stop calling the car Miranda once the daughter Miranda was born. The Honda has been in declining health ever since. Hearbreak.

Speaking of heartbreak, this is how sad Fernando was to have to give up Miranda when she finally passed on. He passed her on to one of our home teachers who is also 16 or 17 and is looking for a car AND has a dad who can fix just about any car. So at least she's still in a good place. But he had a hard time saying goodbye.

He was reminiscing about how we had all of our dates in this car, how he used to drive up to Logan to see me in it, how we brought our kids home from the hospital in it, drove away from being married, how he had it all through his MTC teaching and EFY and BYU life...Miranda the Honda was good to us. Things become more than that when they've glued themselves to really wonderful memories. Poor Fernando.

Plus in exchange he drives a minivan.

We're having a . . .

And the next loco Seminario child will be.... (drum roll please)...

A BOY!!!

We are so excited. Miranda honestly looked me straight in the face one day and asked me, "Mom do you believe I can have feelings about things?"
Me, taken aback, "Uh....yes. Of course I do."
Miranda: "It's a girl."
Me: "Okay, but what if it's a boy?"
Miranda: "It's a girl."

So we were worried about her reaction. But she took it so well. We gave them blue slushies to help them guess what the new baby would be and when she figured it out she was happy. She says now she can have another brother to protect her in case of dogs or she has a bad dream or in case of Jumanji. So now I know her three greatest fears. Sammy seems a bit oblivious but I'm sure he will enjoy his little bro. Fernando called the new little boy "Sammy's punching bag" already so I guess we'll have to watch for that.

But we are EXCITED! YAHOO! I know Mimis and I can hold our own as we become outnumbered because, well, let's face it, we have got a lot of feminine drama going for us. Frankly, the boys need another man. We can't wait!