The Looney Farm

Towards the end of a very long day, I found myself on the floor in my living room being mauled (lovingly) by my almost-one-year-old as my eight year old tested the volume output of our piano with songs she was making up on the fly and my five year old accompanied her by repeatedly jumping off the arm of the couch and beating a stick on the side of the piano every time he landed. The following conversation ensued:

Me: (For the love) "You guys are seriously going to send me to the looney farm!"

Them: (in unison) "Is it far?"

Starting tomorrow please forward any correspondence to Kelly King, c/o Looney Farm for Deaf and Deranged Mothers.

One of those moms....

As you can see by the pictures, our child is very advanced. (In case you can't tell, this is him taking 5 or 6 steps. In succession. Unassisted.)

He's so proud of himself. I mean, we don't really make a big deal of it or anything. The kids and I just clap and whistle and and sing and dance for him when he does it. No big deal, really. (I'm so glad I thought to pick up the burp cloth and vacuum the floor before I grabbed the camera).

And then sometimes he falls, but really, not that often. I mean, he is advanced after all. Pure genius. A prodigy.

He also says 3 words (count 'em, THREE): Kitty, cracker, and car. Rich insists this is an elongation of the truth but the truth is that Rich has never understood baby talk, and that's a cold hard fact. Often he requests my translation services, and that's for the 5 and 8 year olds.

As for Sam's other talents, he's quite adept at

• pulling all of his clothes out of his drawers
• eating trash and dirt off the kitchen floor, especially when I sweep it all in a pile just for him
• rearranging his sister's room
• eating crayons
• grabbing the cats by their tail or ears
• drooling
• turning off video game systems evidently "at the exact moment I was going to get the new high score and be crowned video game mega champion"
• "dancing" to music
  
• snuggling with mom and giving loves

How advanced is your child?

Sledding towards 2010

 

Christmas 2009

 

Things to remember about Christmas at the Kings 2009:

Opening presents is really really fun, for the giver and the receiver.

Santa really will bring you a typewriter if you ask for one.

Santa really will bring you a  netbook even if you didn't ask for one.

Grandmas and Grandpas give the best presents.

Ten-year old sons give very thoughtful presents.

We now have enough video games to open our own rental store.

And when it's all said and done, there will be both tears of joy and tears of sadness that it's over for another 365 days.

But it was merry--VERY! (Dr. Seuss)
Happy Christmas

Frosty

I know just how you feel, friend.

A few thoughts in my stocking.....

Thought #1.

Meet Linus.

Linus, AKA Sam, is almost 11 months. He'll be one NEXT MONTH. He is, among other things, an avid thumb sucker. But to complete his sucking enjoyment he must have the ever-present blankie/burp cloth/sock/kleenex or some other piece of softness clutched in his other hand, held up to his face. This is why we call him Linus. Left thumb in mouth, right hand clutching something to his face. Sometimes the poor fellow finds some raggedy dryer sheet on the floor that he makes do with until someone can find his blanket. It's a hard-knock life, kid.

Linus likes the snow.

And string cheese.

And his mom. It's mutual.

Thought #2:

It's been a wonderfully busy month for Miss Cassidy Lyn.

First a birthday, then a baptism, then lots and lots of singing with the Lehi Children's Choir....

First at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we take the annual family picture in front of the tree. I usually spend a few moments intently watching strangers to try and pick out the best person to ask to take our picture.

I'm not sure if they thought we only had three children and Garrett was some poor street urchin standing in the way or if they just had a mild case of macular degeneration, but that small, dark semi-circle in the middle of my sweater is all we got of Garrett. Way to focus on Garrett's best feature, his unruly hair....

Cass and the choir also gave a beautiful performance at the Alpine Tabernalce.

Cassidy is a great singer and we love being a part of LCC.

Thought #3:

When your 5 year old calls you downstairs to take a picture of an EXPLOSION GOING ON IN A VIDEO GAME HE IS PLAYING, it's easier to just take the picture then try to talk him out of it. And then later, when you dump your pictures from your camera to your computer, it will probably make you smile and be glad that you have said 5 year old.

Thought #4:

I recently bought a pair of jeans at Walmart. My daughter informed me they were quite stylish because they had BLING on the pockets. Only one problem. They stunk. No literally, they smelled really bad. So of course I washed them and....the smell was still there. My family wouldn't sit by me. Garrett said they smelled like the dead frog he found in Delta and carried around for 3 days. I'd have to agree. I took them back to Walmart and the return lady almost passed out. She happily refunded my $16.01. I bought diapers instead. They're pretty good at covering up smells.

Thought #5:

My favorite store EVER has to be the Postal Annex down by Best Buy. I stopped there today, laden with packages to be mailed to California for Christmas, and a not-happy Linus in the stroller. I dumped all my packages on the counter, including my Christmas cards, and for a very reasonable fee they stamped my cards, packed my presents, printed address labels and addressed the boxes. When I got home there was an email from them saying my package had shipped and when it arrives, I'll get another email. I seriously think we need more Postal Annexes in our lives. How about one for children? You know, your having one of those days when you totally understand why some animals eat their young......and you just go down to Postal Annex and drop the kids on the counter, pay a small fee, and someone else  packages up your chidlren and sends them to relatives in California. But don't worry---you'll get an email to confirm their  safe delivery.

(Just kidding, kids)

The sun, has gone, to bed and so must I....( Can you name that movie?)

But here, for your viewing entertainment, are more random pictures....

Baptisms are GR8

On Saturday December 5th our Cassidy was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a beautiful day.

She was so excited to get her very own scriptures (and a few other small gifts as well).

Cassidy was cool and calm the entire day. She could hardly wait to get in the water with her Dad. After the ordinance, as I was in the dressing room with her, we talked about how she was perfect at that moment, perfect enough to live with the Savior. She loved the idea of being able to be with Jesus. As a parent, it's just one of those days when your heart is over-filled with joy and happiness, and gratitude to Jesus Christ and His church. The blessings of the Gospel are so beautiful.

Cassidy was baptized with her friends James and McKenna.

We managed to take one outside photo despite the frigid temperatures!
Thanks to all our friends and family for supporting Cassidy. I was going to post said picture of all our friends and family but alas! my father-in-law took that photo and I don't have it yet. Just picture them in your mind....