The Next Chapter in the Adventures of Adam

Yes, it has been awhile since my last post. But then I was never really that good at the journal thing. I thought that new technology would inspire me to be better and it has... to a point!

Anyways, I have to record Adam's most recent adventure as Superman (or so he thinks). So it is Sunday afternoon and I am trying to cook and get organized for the coming week. I hear the boys playing in the background so I am thinking... no fighting, playing nicely, things are good. Next thing I know, I hear Adam crying. I knew something was wrong because this cry was the pain cry different from the "my brother pinched me or talked to me wrong" cry. So I rush over to where the noise is coming from and find Adam and Luke at the bottom of the stairs. I could kind of figure out what was wrong because the boys had dragged all their pillows and blankets from their beds down the stairs and had made a little landing nest. So I ask Luke what happened and he told me that Adam jumped off the stairs. Come to find out he did not just jump, he did a runup to jump a little higher. So apparently on the way down (because you know that no matter how much you might wish that you were Superman, unfortunately the reality of gravity eventually catches up to you!) he did not quite clear the stair handrail and hit that with the heel of his foot. That was a lucky break for Mom as this meant that although the pain felt was quite high, the aftermath (ie broken bones or sprain) was relatively minor. As I was feeling around for broken bones or trying to see if he had sprained his ankle, I was thinking what fun we would have at the ER on a Sunday afternoon because with everyone else in the household away, that would mean not just one but two little boys to entertain. Not a problem right, because of course everyone knows how quickly you get seen at the Kern River Valley Hospital on a weekend!

All's well that end's well. But I am sure there will be more chapters to add to Adam's Adventures.

The Things Kids Say!

So the purpose of this blog for the most part is to document those cute things that your kids do and say so that in the future you can remember it or shame your teenage children with the evidence.

So here are some funny things that have the twins have said recently:

Adam: Harley was making some homemade rum ice cream. He of course was using pure rum to add to the mix- for those who are thinking it, YES! Anyways, Adam comes over and wants to smell the rum. So Harley lets him take a whiff and Adam says, "That is the sweetest smell I ever smelled".

Adam: At the moment, the boys have an absolute obsession with the Justice League. For those of you out there who are my peers, you may remember this cartoon from your Saturday mornings. The Justice League consists of such great characters as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, The Wonder Twins, Fire Storm etc. The arch nemesis of The Justice League is Dark Side. He talks in a kind of raspy whisper and his super power is xray beams that shoot from his eyes- kind of an interesting character. Anyways, Adam has apparently taken a bit of a shine to Dark Side because he really wants to shoot xray laser beams from his eyes. So he told me in the car the other day that he has a new father. I kind of looked at him like what? And he said, "yeah, my new father is Dark Side and then he will give me his xray superpower so I can shoot things with my eyes". I of course had Adam repeat that to Harley.

Luke: He pretended to be Dark Side all weekend. Complete with raspy voice and added a scrunchy nose so that he could add a bit of a snarl to the whole thing. He would not come when called unless we addressed him as Dark Side.

Luke: Per my post about the Beach house experience at Oceanside. As you can imagine, by the end of the day, the boys were very tired and cranky. One evening, Adam had a bit of a meltdown over some thing that I cannot now recall. I had them in the bedroom and Adam was crying and generally not coping. And I was saying to Adam, stop crying, you are tired, you need to go to sleep etc.. Luke is standing on the bed and turns his head toward me and says to me very seriously, "Mommy, leave Adam alone, he is having a Moment."

BFF's + Beach House + Beach= 100% Fun

I believe that you can never have too many BFF's (Best Friends Forever). You know the kind that you can not see or talk to for days, months, years and whenever you do get together or talk again, it seems like you have never been apart. Well I am fortunate enough to have friends like that in both the USA and Australia (you know who you are!) And last week, myself and Adam and Luke were able to meet up with the Larsen family at Oceanside. Now myself and the Larsen family go way way back. Okay, we won't count the years but it is more than 10! Here is the story

There once were three girls living together at BYU- Michele, Michelle and Julianne. They were fun loving gals and the two Michellllle's shared both a name and clothes (because they were the same height- what were the odds of that happening!). These three girls graduated, married and had some kids; okay Michelle and Julianne outdid Michele by about a ratio of 2:1 but hey, I had the twins! We have also moved, lost touch, found each other, called, emailed and just generally kept up with each other over the years. Oh yeah, and I did introduce Michelle to this really great guy I met on a leaf raking service project at BYU. 5 kids, 10+years and a few more assets to the balance sheet and this guy is still great- good catch Michelle! Anyways, it is also good to keep in touch with people that work hard and get lucky enough to own a beach house in Southern CA about a block from the beach. Add to the fact that Michelle and Dave also happened to have two boys about the same age as the twins and well you have all the makings of a pretty fab holiday. Which it was. I would have uploaded more pics except I kept forgetting to take the camera with me.

We were also lucky enough to connect at the same time with some other BYU friends (Hi Stowell family!) and have a mini-reunion on Friday at the beach. We kept the party rocking with 10 kids(the Larsen 5, Stowell 3 and Alfred 2) and some awesome burritos from To's. I mean how could you not be happy with enough food to feed 15 people all for $30. To finish off the night, we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games and managed to outlast five of the kids and one of the adults. All in all, a great trip. One for the memory books.

Taylor (My Niece) Gets Baptized

On Saturday, the 2nd August, the Alfred family traveled to Bakersfield to see my niece Taylor get baptized. The baptism itself was not scheduled until later in the day. But the event proved to be a great reason to stage a mini Luke/Merta family reunion. My Luke cousins, some whom I have not seen for many years, just all happened to be in LA for the summer. So my Aunt Joan pitched the idea that we should all gather for Taylor's baptism and also spend the day together at Kari's place. It was so nice to see my Aunt's, Uncle and cousins again. Their kids are great. For the most part, I have not been able to meet any of their children. So it was a great day to see how everyone has grown up. I have really missed being apart from all of these family things. Taylor's baptism was really good too. The boys of course were completely wired up from the days activities. And probably also from eating too many brownies and cookies. That did not help. So we get to the chapel for the baptism. I helped my sister out by looking after Bella. She can be a little bit BAD at these types of events so I thought that I would do my best to keep her and the boys quiet. As a side note, my boys have taken to hero worshipping the Bushling boys so it was perhaps too much to ask of them to sit quietly when both the Bushling boys and their cousin Austin were sitting behind them! Needless to say, I don't think they would have received any points for reverence. But the funny thing that Luke kept asking was when Jesus was going to come into the chapel. Probably gleaned that concept from my answer to his question, "Is this Jesus' house (meaning the church building) to which I replied, yes it is." So he was getting a bit disappointed that Jesus had not put in an appearance. Lucky for me, the video shown after the baptisms was the first vision. Which of course has Jesus in it. Luke was very happy to see him as was his cousin Bella who kept pointing to the screen and saying, "There is Jesus". Luke's comment was that Jesus flopped his hand (when he pointed to Joseph Smith). He is observant! Bella's crowning achievement at the baptism was when all the kids were invited to come closer to the font to witness the baptism. Bella races up to the front and then turns around to her mother and raised her dress up and says, "Mama, my diaper come off ", as she is taking off one of the tabs on her diaper. My sister moved pretty quick to head off that disaster I must say. The boys fell asleep on the way home. Adam was so tired that when I took him upstairs and changed him for bed he lifted his arms and legs but never opened his eyes. A good day is had by all when the boys conk out in the car!

Adam Wants to Work for the Postal Service

As one of the purposes of this blog is to document the cute things that the twins do, I just had to share a snippet from the other night. I was downstairs watching tv, thinking that the boys were finally asleep. I heard the sound of a door slamming upstairs and thought that I had forgotten to close one and that the wind had slammed it shut. Then a couple of minutes later, I heard another door slam shut. Okay, this means that there are twins on the loose. So I head upstairs to find out who the culprit is. I open the first bedroom door and there is Adam, awake and staring at me. He immediately asks me, "Mommy what is Luke's middle name? I say David. He then asks me, no what is is whole name, and I say Luke David Alfred. He says, Good that is what I wrote on his letter. To which I said, what letter. Adam replied, the letter I just delivered to him." So I go to the other room and look in and see Luke, sound asleep, with a piece of paper with scribbles on it (Adam's letter) across his chest. So it all comes together for me. Adam has been busy writing and delivering letters to his brother when he should have been asleep. I had to laugh but also told Adam that the postal service does not operate at bedtime.

A couple of days earlier Adam had also delivered a letter to the neighbours next door. He ran out one morning, said I have to deliver this letter to Funny Guy (our friend next door). So he runs up their driveway and sticks the letter under the morning paper. Later, my husband was next door and saw Adam's letter sitting on the counter. He let them in on their secret pen pal.

Too funny. He and Luke are still checking the post box at least six times per day. What is it about letters lately??

Pictures of Summer Fun

I could not let the summer go by without documenting how much fun and enjoyment the boys have swimming in the pool. Everyday I pick them up from preschool, the boys ask if they can go swimming. Of course the answer is always yes, unless it is raining.... We bought them flotation swimsuits because that way they could swim without us having to hold them. Also, Adam loves to jump off the diving board by himself- he thinks he is pretty big stuff. Lukie had to warm up to the idea, but now also jumps off the diving board as well. Their younger cousin Isabella has taken swimming lessons this summer and has started to swim without her flotation suit. Aunt Kari and Uncle Peter tried to convince the boys to swim without their suits- that was not well received. But I kept working on the boys and finally convinced Adam last Saturday to ditch the flotation suit. And of course HE LOVED IT. He pretty much started to swim straight away. And now wants to go without the suit on a regular basis. In fact, he told me that he is ready to go off the diving board without his suit. Adam is also tall enough now to touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow part of the pool. So he likes to jump off the side and then push off the bottom to get a breath. I then point him towards the side and he kind of does a funny arm, leg swim crawl. I think after one day, that he has done pretty well. So that will be a project to work on for the next month. I think Luke will take longer to get used to the idea. He does not like the feeling of the water coming over his head. I would love to capture the look on his face when this occurs; however, I am usually the one who is "saving him" so probably won't get that money shot. But trust me, it is pretty funny. Luke is my cautious, safe boy. Adam is Mr. Adventure. I just have to keep a very close eye on Adam so that he will make it to adulthood! Anways, thought I would also include a few swimming pics! Summertime is definately for swimming!

From the Mouth of Children

Okay, some things are just too funny not to share. Part of the night time routine is to pray with each boy before they go to sleep. The boys decide which parent they want to pray with them. Anyways, it was my night to be in favor with Luke. As I am leaning over to give him a good night kiss, he puts his hands on my cheeks and says in an earnest voice" Mommy, Jesus Christ is a superhero", to which I replied yes, he is a hero. Mommy, Jesus Christ does not fly because he does not have any wings or a cape. He floats down and then goes and gets all the bad guys." To which I said, yes, that is right he helps us fight the bad guys." What else can you say?

Another funny moment occurred in the car. A little girl from Luke's class at preschool went to Denver Colorado and brought some special chocolates back for her classmates. The chocolates were covered in paper printed with a picture of the Denver capital building. Luke held up the chocolate in the car and said "Mommy look, look, it's Jesus' house (meaning he thought it was a temple) to which I replied yes, Jesus' house is the temple but that is not a temple. Adam then pipes in and says yeah, that is Jesus' work." Which in an odd kind of way makes sense because the temple is where Jesus' work gets done. So they must be getting some concepts into their four year old heads.

Out of the mouth of babes.

Floods, Fire and Friends

My second post. One giant step for me. I am trying to make this a habit. Don't you have to do something at least seven times to make it a habit, or was that the title of a book that I am just incorporating into something? Anyways, here is what has been happening since my last post.

The Piute fire, which has been burning in the Lake Isabella mountains since June 28th is finally looking like it is almost finished. Thanks to some rain and lots of firefighters, the end is in sight. But the rain also brought flash flooding to the Lake Isabella area. Only certain parts of Lake Isabella were affected. My family has been fortunate to stay out of the path of both the fire and the floods. As most know, I commute each day to Bakersfield. This drive takes me through the canyon where the Kern River flows from the Lake. On Monday, the flash floods from the weekend had washed a lot of mud and ash from the fires into the river. The river was a dark brown color and the foam from some of the rapids was also brown in color. Luke and Adam were most interested in the change to the river. Adam told me in a surprised voice that "someone had done a pooh in the river", to which I took a teaching moment by the neck and said to him" that is right Adam, see what happens when we pooh in the river- yuck!" Both boys agreed and so hopefully I have done my part for nature! Only the future will tell.

Luke also told me last night when I was sitting on his bed after praying with him that Jesus is a superhero (they are kind of in to superheros) but he does not wear a cape, floats down and gets all the bad guys. And that he was Luke's friend. I told him that yes, Jesus is the very best hero and that he really is Luke's friend. To which Luke replied yes, okay Mommy that is enough discussion for tonight. Guess that ended the little spiritual moment!

And an unexpected bonus to my new blog- reconnection with friends(after only one post)! I suppose that is what this is all about anyway, staying in touch.

So there ends my tale of floods, fires and friends. Until next time.

Michele Alfred Enters the 21st Century!

Yes, it is true. I have finally succumbed to that age old motivator-GUILT! I know that for many of you, my efforts to "keep in touch" have been feeble at best. And for those who I am getting to know for the first time or again, time always seems to be a mitigating factor. But no more! I have seen the light and am now going to attempt to be a regular blogger. I hope to keep everyone on both sides of the Pacific Ocean up to date with everything that is happening in our family. Adam and Luke have so many cute things that they say each day that I also wanted to be sure to capture that somewhere for future use.

Currently the Alfred family is residing in Lake Isabella CA. The weather this past week has been in one word- HOT! Today it has cooled down to the low 90's(or about 33C for those of you in Australia!) I think someone told me that it got to about 113F(45C) in Bakersfield on Tues or Wed.

Adam and Luke are really enjoying summer as it means that they can go swimming everyday after school. They are also enjoying their preschool- Little Red School House. It is amazing the amount of things they learn there. Luke is attempting to read. He takes a book to bed every night and I can hear him sounding out words, sometimes singing them, before he finally drops off to sleep. Adam enjoys eating- I believe he things about food 24/7. As soon as he wakes in the morning, he immediately tells us he is starving and wants his breakfast. His favourite food for breakfast is wait for it- porridge. Yes that is right. He loves a big bowl of porridge with a little milk. He will usually consume that and then maybe take a snack for the ride to Bakersfield. I also have to have snacks in the car for the afternoon- I have made the mistake of not having any and he will cry and tell me that he is starving. I am not really sure where he puts it all because he has not an ounce of fat on his body but I am sure he is storing it all up for a massive growth spurt!

As for myself, I am enjoying my job as Senior Accountant at Norris School District. The commute is a killer- but on the whole, I can't complain. I have been able to go on some nice little mini vacations- (1) to Disneyland for the boys 4th birthday and (2) to Santa Cruz with my sister and her family and another family. Of course the Santa Cruz trip also involved a stop at some great outlet stores. For those who know me, that probably rates higher on my scale of personal happiness that most anything else. There is nothing like a bargain! And this outlet center had a Childrens Place outlet- nirvana!

Lake Isabella area is also in the midst of a large forest fire. Fortunately for us the fire is still relatively distant. But the boys absolutely love the helicopters that fly over the house at regular intervals- they are convinced that they are transformer helicopters and that when they go behind the mountain, they transform into a robot. They also have a little cottontail bunny that likes to sit on the lawn and nibble the grass. Most often, the bunny will be there in the morning and the boys will watch it through the front window. They also love to go out and check the mailbox. That is the first thought on their mind in the morning and the last task before bedtime. They probably check that mailbox at least 6-12 times a day. It's a big deal and they don't seem to mind that for the most part there is nothing there- but when there is, the excitement more than makes up for past disappointment! I am not a postal career is in the future but certainly, I never need to remember whether anyone has collected the mail for the day- just one less thing to worry about!.

Baptisms, births and birthdays will be included in my future blogs- of which I promise there will be many and be regularly updated! My mid years resolution. That's all for now!