Severe thunderstorm warning

Our new weather radio works! It sounded a couple of warnings today on account of the cool storm that passed overhead this evening. Check out the video here. I made the file size small, so it's hard to make out the amazing clouds, but you should be able to see the lightning.

Reason #4,924...

Me: Hey Emma!
Emma: Hay is for horses eating.

Reason #4,923 why Emma makes our home a happy place

She dances around the house like a princess.

Watch your 3-year-olds around toy machines

Another 3-year-old somehow climbed inside a toy vending machine, this time in Minnesota. (Click on the title above to see the article.)

We had our own run-in with a toy machine yesterday, when Andrew learned the hard way that three-fingered claws are not effective tools for picking up shiny monster truck toys. Remember Westley's scream of ultimate suffering in the movie "Princess Bride"? It was kind of like that. When the claw descended prematurely, grasping at air as it hit bottom, Andrew instantly collapsed into a little ball on the floor, and all of Wal-Mart heard his pain.

Inigo Montoya: "Do you hear that Fezzik? That is the sound of ultimate suffering. My heart made that sound when the six-fingered man killed my father. The Man in Black makes it now."

Huh?

Tonight at the end of dinner...

Ethan: Can I have some more spaghetti?
Me: Sure, but why don't you finish the spaghetti on your plate first?
Ethan: But there's too much!
Me: I thought you wanted more?!?
Ethan: Do I have to eat all of the spaghetti on my plate?
Me: No, eat as much as you want.
Ethan: But can I have more?
Me: Yes, if you eat what's on your plate first.
Ethan: But..there's...TOO...MUCH!

This circular loop of a conversation repeated itself a couple of times. Then Ethan took a few additional bites of the spaghetti on his plate, decided he was done, and left the table to have a karate match with Andrew.

This is a mystery, I am afraid, that may forever remain unsolved.

Little League starts soon

Yes, it's that time of year again. This will be Andrew's second season and Ethan's first. To get ready for the big season, here's a cute video of Andrew from last year.

This is kind of fun

Click on different regions of the world map to hear people from around the world reading the same nonsense paragraph in English. It's fun to hear the different accents.

Mommas, don't let your daughters grow up to play football

Meet Emma, a hand-me-down victim. At least these poojies are blue like Cinderella's dress.

Bookworm

Yesterday morning, when I went into Emma's room to get her out of bed, the first thing she said was "Wanna read some books wif me?"

She loves to read. It's pretty much all she does anymore. A few weeks ago we discovered that she actually has a lot of her books memorized from all the times we've read them to her.

Here's a video of Emma reading her favorite book, "Care Bears Lucky Day." If you have a copy, follow along!

One more for the Horns

If you're going to California anytime soon, you need to check this out and let us know how it is. A superhero exhibit at the science museum? What could be better?

Leslie and Neal, this could be your ticket

You need to enter Parker in this superhero competition!

SuperEmma

Andrew and Ethan's World

The boys and I went exploring today.

It's the government's fault

Turns out Indiana is ranked second to last in preventing unplanned pregnancies. No wonder we're expecting a baby.

I knew the government had something to do with this.

A site for boys who love heroes.

I don't understand this website, but maybe Parker can figure it out.

If wishes were fishes

Andrew: Why does Mom get to have so much candy?
Me: Because she's pregrant.
Andrew: I wish I was pregnant.

Random photos

In addition to blogging lately, Andrew has been quite the photographer. It's interesting to see what catches his eye:

Speaking of rainy weather...

It sounds like someone is outside of our house right now banging the rain gutters with a ball peen hammer.

Good thing the kids are heavy sleepers.

A blogger extraordinaire

Andrew has been on a blogging spree the last couple of days. As he was going to bed tonight he was already planning out tomorrow's entries. Check it out.

The blitz

Sometimes during storms here, I lie on my back in bed, stare at the ceiling, and wonder, "What do we do if the top of the house suddenly blows away?"

The lightning in Indiana is so bright that it blinds you for the first few seconds. The thunder shakes the house, then slowly diminishes at it rolls off into the distance, like ripples in a pond. You can here it moving away in all directions.

Ethan claims, with complete delight, that the thunder that shook our house last night knocked him twice out of bed. Like an earthquake, according to the little Californian.

A photo of some Indiana lightning:

Emma and Inspector Clouseau

We haven't seen the new Pink Panther with Steve Martin yet. Judging from the previews, though, I think Emma could do a better Inspector Clouseau accent.

For some reason her "oo" sounds have lately drifted across the Atlantic, and now resemble the French "u" sound (pronounced like an "ee" with your lips puckered). For example, "poogies" have become "peeeewwgies" and "I do" sounds like "I deeeww."

Hooray for Spring

It was kinda warm out today so we went for a walk, played on the swings (you should have seen Emma's face when she saw me putting the swings back on the swingset!), and drew pictures with chalk. Ethan will be doing drawings like the guy in the link below in no time. Check out this dog he drew for Emma. It is much better than the one I drew for her:

The unluckiest criminal in the world

This guy stole a car, drove for a while, then randomly stopped at a house to ask for directions. The house he stopped at belonged to the car owner's father, who promptly called the police.

Check out this sidewalk art.

Amazing.

Breeders

I had classmates in business school who couldn't believe that I would irresponsibly bring children into the world, what with the lack of resources to go around (food, land), and all the strife. Silly me.

Silly geese

All those videos were making the site slooooooowww. So now, by popular demand, they are posted as links.

Here's a video of Emma and Mabel having fun back in December. I love the way Mabel tosses her head back while she laughs.

Click here to watch.

La Chanteuse

Here's another old video, from October 2005. But now that I know how to upload videos to my blog, why not? This is Emma getting ready for the ward choir with Ginger:

Click here to watch it.

Ethan as a hockey puck

For about a week this winter our driveway was covered in ice. This is what we did for fun:

Click here to watch it.

Adding videos to your blog

I used vimeo. It's free.

Andrew in the cash cage

At the carnival today they had a cage filled with fake money and wind. The student who grabbed the most money won an ice cream party for his or her class.

Click here to watch it.

School carnival today!

Andrew loves to read

Tonight in his bedtime prayer he said he was thankful to be able to do another book report for school.

Every now and then...

...they'll do something that makes you think you're raising 'em right. Today Ethan and Emma were arguing over the coveted corner spot on the couch, until Ethan offered to let Emma sit in his lap. Ethan does his fair share of teasing, but he also loves to take care of his little sister.

I got the kids a $19 digital camera...

...and Emma had fun taking pictures with it this afternoon.

A fun way to save your blog

This company offers a service, called BookSmart, that allows you to write and print your own books, for about $30 a pop. What's cool about the service is that you can use it to save your favorite blog entries in paper format. Go here to learn about the Blogbook product.