House O' Sullivans

Yesterday I pushed the kids outside to play as I usually do when they get too wild for the confines of the house.  They played together (all of them!) happily out there for a long time.  At one point I heard Zeke and Hallee laughing wildly and went to see what was so funny.  They were sitting on the lawn near one of our garden boxes, munching madly on a giant stalk of fresh broccoli.  Can you believe it?  These kids are trained so well as vegetable connoisseurs that they just pull off a sprig of broccoli (or in this case, an entire stalk!) or a leaf of lettuce and snack on it while they're out playing in the yard.  Hallee worked herself into a veritable froth of near delirium as she consumed the florets, then moved on to the stalk.  Of course, Zeke was taking the obligatory bites, the good sport that he is.  Zeke LOVES his sisters and is especially entertained by Hallee's constant antics.  The whole episode was so hilarious that I h...

I was explaining to the girls what a "white Christmas" means.  After the explanation, I said "Pretty much EVERYONE dreams of a white Christmas."  Sophie retorted, "I'M dreaming of a PINK Christmas."

For the last three years, we've gathered the White cousins that live in town and headed downtown on Trax for dinner and a tour of the Temple Square lights.  This year we all met at Kristen's house to try out the new WVC Trax line that terminates downtown.  The Trax gestapo where there, checking tickets, right after we boarded.  Good thing we are honest people and had proof of purchase.  It's so funny too, because I have NEVER seen those guys until the LAST time that I rode Trax, which was just a couple of weeks ago.  I took Sophie, Hallee, and Zeke downtown on Trax (because they think it is SO fun) to visit the Church's Museum of History and Art.  (They have a really neat interactive children's exhibit right now.)  I tried to purchase a ticket before boarding at the 33rd station, but the ticket machine was out of order.  I told the kids that we'd just pay for the roundtrip ticket when we headed home.  I got on Trax with the three little peopl...

Ha!!!  We have MOST of a kitchen.  The biggest share of the counter top is in.  (There is a small piece between the stove and the fridge that remains to be seen.)  We have a sink and faucet.  (AND they work!)  ALL of the cabinets are up (although we still need to put the crown molding on top).  The backsplash on the walls above the base cabintes still needs doing.  The kick board on the cabinets needs installed.  The base molding needs to be purchased, painted and installed around the room.  The floor is ALMOST done.  We need to put in a few more tiles then put on the reducer stuff that goes between the new floor and the surrounding existing floors.  But LOOK . . . it actually LOOKS like a kitchen!  The kids are especially loving the new floor.  We have been walking around on plywood for MONTHS and now we have a smooth (read "luxurious") new floor.  The kids have created several games that incorporate ...

Last Sunday, Sophie Gene woke up SICK.  This sweet girl LOVES primary and wanted to go even with stuff spewing from both ends, but as I fastened one of Zeke's diapers onto her, I convinced her that she needed to stay home and rest.  Hallee promised Soph that she'd bring her back a treat from church.  These girls are so thoughtful of each other--when Sophie gets any kind of a treat in primary, she insists on getting an extra to bring down to her sister in nursery.  Hal is the same way, always setting aside something to give to Soph.  When Casey, Hal, and Zeke got home from church, Hal instructed Casey to pull "the treat" that she'd saved for Sophie out of his pocket.  Casey rooted around for a while and finally pulled out ONE little lint-covered goldfish cracker.  Hallee promptly took it and brought it to her big sister.  (And Sophie was delighted.)

You'd think these kids have no toys.  They are ALWAYS dismantling my closet and their favorite items are my shoes.  These pictures are from a couple of days ago, but tonight looked just about the same.  And it's not just ONE of them.  It's ALL of them.  They think it is so funny to clomp around the house in my shoes.  It's really fun to watch them and listen to them laugh and laugh at how silly they look. My favorite was Hallee with my tall leather boots that ride up to the top of her little thighs.  Good one Hal!

This morning I heard Zeke making some unusual noises in his sister's room.  When I went to check on him, I found him playing with a horse and making some amazing sound effects.  (I think he was trying for a whinny.)

Sophie Gene's been writing her name and most of the letters of the alphabet for a long time.  Just recently, since she's started learning how to read, has she been arranging the letters into actual words.  Lots of times the words are nonsensical.  Since she's only learned the short vowels sounds, I take comfort in the fact that (to her mind) this little note that she wrote says, "Mom Day."   Of course she delivered this with a sweet, innocent smile on her face.  When I told her what she'd written she laughed in disbelief!  (Another good sign.)

This morning I was reading scriptures with the kids.  We read a bit every morning and we're in Mosiah chapter 4 right now.  Of course, with little people, we usually read just a few verses at a time.  We've been reading about the people of king Benjamin--how he called them to the temple, they set up their tents, and started to listen to his words (or read them) while he stood atop a tower.  This morning I read Mosiah 4:1--  "When king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by an angel of the Lord, he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth . . ."  It was here that I paused and asked the question: "Why do you think the people fell to the earth?"  Hallee piped up with this: "Too much talking."  That is to say, king Benjamin was talking way too long and the people started to drop like flies.  So funny.  WE'VE been reading King Benjamin's speech to his...

Last Saturday we woke up to the quiet of falling snow--the gigantic flaked kind--the kind that sticks to your nose and eyelashes.  The kids eagerly suited up (well, I suited them up actually) and we headed out.  We rolled two big snow balls for construction of a giant snow person, but the girls decided that a snow slide would be way more fun. I started telling Sophie and Hallee about how my siblings and I would make snow cones whenever it snowed.  Of course, they HAD to try it.  After lunch we had a dessert of homemade snow cones (snow in a cup with juice concentrate poured on top).   When I was a kid we always had Kool-Aid on hand, but here at the Sullivan's health resort, it was 100% real juice.  They were yummy! 

Hallee must have been hungry again.  Doesn't her mom EVER feed her?

Two of my favorite moments from today: Hallee at lunch time.  She's totally distracted (of course and like usual).  Walking around the room.  Doing everything BUT eating.  I keep reminding her to sit still and eat so that she can claim her finishing prize (a piece of her Halloween candy).  Really wanting to finish, she sits in front of her plate and chants to herself (while staring into space), "Focus, focus, focus!" Sophie and Hallee, playing in their room with the door closed.  I enter to check on them and find they are tuned into the BBC news.  So funny!

Halloween is SERIOUS business in the Sullivan family.  We started last Friday at the annual Sullivan family Halloween extravaganza in South Jordan.  Casey's parents, all of his siblings, their spouses, and all of the cousins on that side of the family dressed up, played spooky games, got hauled around the neighborhood in a trailer, enjoyed dinner together, then roasted marshmallows around a raging bonfire. Zeke dressed as the snot-nosed bunny.  Notice the way the costume's hood is SO tight and the legs are a bit high-waterish.  This is a 6-12 month sized costume.  Sorry Mr. Zeke-horse, but you sure made a cute little bunny! Sophie dressed as Cinderella (her cousin Jessie did her hair) and Hallee was a "blue monster" AGAIN.  (Hal wanted a reprise of LAST year's costume.) Casey playing a game of "Wake the Zombies" with the kids.  Noble won the ultimate game prize for his incredibly stoic zombie performance.  A round of Dia de los ...