Child-Proof, Schmild-Proof

I hate child-proofing devices. Hate them. When Alison was a baby she began opening and closing all the cabinets within reach. We were concerned that her fingers would get pinched (and we were sick of picking up pots and pans all the time), so we invested in some child locks for the cabinets:After Nathan installed the first one, we tested it out. Success! Both he and I had a hard time opening the cabinets! We assumed that we would quickly learn how to maneuver these new locks; after all, we were trying to protect our child. Nathan spent quite a while drilling and screwing in all of the safety locks, and as he finished up the final lock, we discovered that Alison had already discovered how to open the first cabinet. She had outsmarted the locks.

I remember visiting my sister's house and seeing that there was a lock on the refrigerator, thus preventing her 7 children from having complete access to the goods in the fridge. I was quite impressed with the device and noted that one day I would need one of those. The next time I visited her I saw that it had torn in half and was no longer serving its purpose.

So, I hate child-proof devices, and it's been years since I've purchased any child-proof anything. But, now I have Max. He's a very sweet, charismatic, handsome young boy whose smile melts me. He can pretty much get away with anything (e.g. painting his face with mascara, spilling my foundation all over his shirt, ripping Nathan's desk-top scrapbook calendar--Nathan doesn't know about this yet, losing my keys at the Outlet Mall and stranding us for 20 minutes...you get the point...and that was just today). Well, Max has full access to my double pantry and my side-by-side refrigerator, so he gets into cereal, popsicles, crackers, cheese, anything he wants all the time. It drives me crazy, so I decided to give the child-proof devices another shot. So I went and purchased these babies.

It promised to keep my children from getting into the pantry and refrigerator all the time. I was excited. So, I put these locks on and waited for it to be tested. Shortly thereafter Kaitlyn asked if she could have a snack, and I told her to wait until Alison got home and then they could have their snack together. I smiled at myself as she walked away, because I knew she wouldn't be able to get the snack without me...she would have to be obedient!

A couple of minutes later Kaitlyn walked in the room and said, "Mom, I can show you how to open these locks. And I got some peanut butter crackers." Nice. See why I hate child-proofing? And, if you're wondering if they've worked for Max, the short answer is: NO.

*note her outfit...there is more than 1 way to wear a skirt

Megan's Family Reunion Summary (2 Months Later)

We just had the family reunion with Megan's side of the family. "Just" as in 2 months ago. My excuse for just now getting to writing about this? My work and travel schedule. Megan and I calculated that I've been averaging 14 or 15 hour-days for the past 6-ish weeks. Ok, ok...you're very astute: 6 weeks is not 2 months. What about the first 2 weeks? My excuse for that? It's society's fault, and I cannot be personally held responsible. But, enough finger pointing, blaming, and excusing...let's get on with the summary!

Megan went ahead and posted a collection of photos from the reunion for me to blog about, so let's see what we've got here.

This looks like our nephew Jonah taking a quick spin on the scooter on our back patio. While it's not a Spiderman scooter, I think it still worked for him.
Aah, here's Max collapsed after a day of playing in the water and sun at Holiday World. Holiday World is like Disney World, Indiana Edition. Instead of Tomorrow Land, and Adventure Land, it has 4th of July World, Thanksgiving Land, Halloween Town, Christmas Village and Ball Point Pen Day World and it's actually pretty fun. We spent most of the day in the water park and Max finally passed out after attempting to drown all day.

The trip to Holiday World was actually an adventure in itself. We were delayed leaving because we couldn't find Ben's shoes. Then we left the garage door open and had to turn around. Then we realized that we forgot Megan's swimsuit (an important item to take to the water park) and turned around again. Then, dark black clouds filled the entire sky and it started raining like a monsoon. After calling Holiday World and receiving their assurance that it wasn't, in fact, raining there, we decided to continue our drive anyway. As we drove and drove and the rain didn't seem to ever let up we kept calling Holiday World to inquire about the conditions there and they reassured us that "it never rains in Holiday World." We got there, and sure enough it was bright, sunny and hot! It was a Festivus miracle. We had to leave at 7:00 p.m. due to rain at Holiday World. (But we had a great time on the way there and back making up a song about our adventures to the tune of "We Will, We Will Rock You".)

Continuing on the water theme, we had a blow-up pool set up in our backyard one of the days so that the kids could track water and mud into the house much easier. Here's Benj, Grant and Gavin doing their best to tackle each other in the water.

Michael discovered Heaven and started playing guitar.

Nathan discovered Michael and joined in.

Jonathan discovered Nathan and Michael and took a turn playing drums.

Leah discovered her husband, Jonathan and showed him the correct way to use drumsticks! Who needs Rockband or Guitar Hero? We had a blast playing the real thing.

Nathan discovered that if you fly all the way across the country with your family of 9, and then get up at 6:00 a.m. to play golf with the guys in the family, that the couch will attack you in the afternoon and force you unconscious.

Here's another picture of playing in the pool in the backyard with Jessica, Ammon, Benj, Grant, Garrison, Scott, Gabby and Jonah.

Kaitlyn did something fun at the reunion, probably. She loves getting her picture taken.

Ammon, on the other hand, does not love getting his picture taken. He will turn around so you can't see his face.

Bonnie, Gavin and Ali figured out how to make a water slide: you put the slide into the water.

On Sunday night we had a family talent show. Alison showed off the ninja move that she saw on Ultimate Ninja Challenge that we found on satellite one night while everyone was here.

Kaitlyn used a candlestick as a microphone to sing Taylor Swift's "Love Story." Michael acted as the M.C. for the evening and was hilarious.

We wrapped up the reunion by flying 1 row ahead of Nathan, Melissa, Maddy, Jenna, Holly, Bonnie, Ben, Amy and Ammon back to Utah to attend my sister's wedding (which I blog about in approximately 2 months). It was great to see everyone and I think they all had as much fun as we did.

First Day of Second Grade

Alison happily began 2nd grade today, so I thought I would dote on her a bit. I really loved having her home this summer. She's a happy helper and very responsible. I rarely have to remind her to unload the dishes, make her bed, practice piano, clean-up after herself, etc. She's a hard worker, likes to stay busy, wakes up early (hopefully she keeps this trend up when she attends early-morning-seminary), and enjoys learning. She is so her father.

And here she is on her first day of school. She chose her "Girls are Hoop Stars" shirt. She's a bit of a tomboy, and was upset that I made her hair too curly.Here is Alison's at-home fan club. Kaitlyn and Max are bored without having her here. They've already let me know that I'm just no fun. And these are her bus-stop buddies. What a fun group!