The Restuccia Record

Lemonade

2009-07-04T18:06:00.004-06:00

I swear, this was initiated by Brendan. I am not trying to torture him. He found la lemon and went on and on and on about how much he loves lemons.

Brendan: Where did you get this mom? From the lemon store?

Me: Sure, Bren, the lemon store.

Bren: I love the cool lemon store! I want to eat this lemon mom.

Me: I don't think you'll like it.

Bren: I will! I love them!

Me: Ok...

Bren: Squeeze the juice, please.

And so I did... and this is the result. Evan is also on the video. Just a bonus. ALSO, insisting just how much he LOVES lemon juice.

Ladies Man

2009-05-08T15:41:00.001-06:00

Brendan just came in from the garage to tell me:

Bren: Mom! I just saw a girl! And she said HI to me!
Me: Wow... what a nice girl.
Bren: Yeah. And girls love me.

TA DA!!!

2009-04-21T16:06:00.002-06:00

Dani got her braces off today! She was very concerned about the process, but made it through with out any major mishaps -- though i did hear a little girl in the back literally screaming "Ow! NO! Don't do it again!" I didn't recognize it as Dani's voice though so I didn't worry. I did think Dani would be a little happer about the removal, but when she came up to me, she said in way that those who know her can envision, head down, voice quavering, "They put a retainer in my mouth and I have to wear it for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!" I assured her that it probably wouldn't be for the whole rest of her life -- Aunt Rach is 28 and when her permanant retainer broke, they just removed it! So we're probably only looking at 20 years...

Here are the amazing before and afters!

Looks like it worked! Supposedly we'll face another round of braces in a few years, but in the meantime.... Emily has an appointment next week!

My Funny Kids

2009-03-30T06:02:00.005-06:00

Dani was in rare form yesterday. We were in the car, driving to visit some friends, and she was jabbering away in the back, as usual. This time though, instead of repeatedly repeating herself over and over and over again. She was actually conversing.

First, on the topic of having her braces removed -- she gets her braces off next week and she, for some reason, is nervous about it.

Dani: So what will they do when they take them off? Will they make my lips fall asleep?
Me: No, they don't need to numb you, they just pull them off.
Dani: And then what do they do?
Me: You lick your teeth!
Dani: WITH THEIR TONGUES??????

Ok, admittedly, this was a weird way for me to put it, but for anyone who has ever had braces removed, you will remember the divine smooth feeling your teeth have for the first few days and how IMPOSSIBLE it is to keep your tongue off of them! But oh the horror in her voice! If only I could recapture it! She misunderstood and thought I was saying that the dental assistant would lick her teeth. I kept laughing over that one for the rest of the night. Even now, I can't stop!

A couple of minutes after that, we passed a fire station...

Dani: What if the Bolingbrook fire station caught on fire?
Me: I guess they'd have to put the fire out!
Dani: No, they'd have to call the Aurora fire department to come put it out!
Me: I think they have everything they would need to put it out themselves!
Dani: But they'd be too busy getting out of the building in a single file line!

Guess she's learned a thing or two from the fire drills at school!

And one more.... this one from Evan. I took the kids to get a few spring clothes (stupid idea, since it SNOWED the next day, but it will eventually get warm again, right???). They were really excited to go and had been great sports about helping me clean up before we left, even though I kept adding just one more job and just do this one more thing and just give me one more minute. I thanked them for helping without complaining and told them I'd buy them a treat while we were at the store. Evan shared this logic:

"Well, it can't be any candy becuase we already have lots at home. And it can't be clothes becuase you're already buying clothes for us, so the ONLY choice is a toy! Right, Mom? Its the only choice there is!"

Dani's Big Day

2009-03-29T11:53:00.001-06:00

Dani turned 8 this month! She has been eagerly anticipating this day for at least 2 months now, since so much family came into town for her baptism! We had Uncle Chris, Aunt Lauree, Baby Tanner, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Adrienne, Cael, Grandma and Grandpa Rush, Rhees, Aunt Lani, and Grandma and Grandpa Knapp here for the event and she was so happy to have everyone here for her! We had all the Rush cousins together except for our newest cousin, Parker, who, at 2 weeks old, was too little to make the trip, but we are glad Aunt Rach let Rhees come with Grandma and Grandpa!

Other events surrounding Dani's birthday were:

A trip to Chicago for Giordano's Pizza and to see the Chicago River dyed green in honor of St. Patricks day. Sadly, by the time we got to the river, it was too dark to tell how green it was, but the pizza was good, and we hit the Lego store while we were in the area.

While everyone was here for the baptism, all the aunts, Grandma Rush, Emily, Dani and I went to the mall to let Dani get her ears pierced. I could hardly believe she actually wanted something as girly as pierced ears, so I figured I'd better run with it and make as big a deal out of it as I could. She thought she was pretty special when ALL the women-folk came with us to have it done. She was very brave! This was the extent of her reaction:

And the finished result!

I, personally think they are super-cute! Of course that could be becuase I am highly gratified to see her WILLINGLY engage in an act of girliness, even if I suspect its only because she wants to be like Emily. I'll take what I can get!

A New Era

2009-02-27T10:41:00.002-07:00

I think I can safely say, though with a LITTLE hesitation, that we have a fully potty-trained 3 year old. NO MORE DIAPERS! What an amazing stage to be at! For the most part, Brendan gets himself to the potty and surprisingly, cleans up his own messes when he has an accident. Every once in a while, he comes downstairs wearing a new outfit, and we can figure out what has happened. Jason was completely bewildered though, when Brendan came down the other day in this:

In case you are as confused as Jason was by this fashion-forward creation, Brendan is wearing a sweatshirt with his waist through the neck hole, one leg through an arm hole and the other leg through the body of the shirt. He was SO proud of himself! He told Jason, "See, this side is a shirt and this side is some pants!"

2009-02-20T19:59:00.002-07:00

Above we have Brendan illustrating his new invention -- the ballerina hug. Note the gracefully raised leg and the large happy smile on his face. Yesterday, the boy wrapped his little arms around my neck, balanced that leg up in the air and told me, "This is a ballerina hug, Mom. Its a happy hug."

A certain brother of mine will appreciate the the fact that that my boy shares his childhood appreciation of ballerinas... and I appreciate the fact that that said brother grew up to be a normal guy.

Cast offs

2009-02-06T06:12:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was a very full day and I was trying to hurry and get put together so I could take the girls to school and head out to get to work on my to-do list for the day. Evan showed up in my bathroom as I was drying my hair and the following took place:

Evan: My tummy really hurts.
Me: (knowing that he's been trying to fake sick for the last several days to get out of school) Have you had breakfast yet?
Evan: No
Me: Well, that's probably why you're stomach hurts. Go get some cereal and your belly will feel better. If you don't like what's down there, I'll come down in a minute and make you something.
Evan leaves and returns.
Evan: Mom, I looked and there's only a kind of cereal that NO ONE WOULD EVER EAT!

It was Rice Krispies. I made him cocoa and toast instead :)

Musician

2009-01-27T10:28:00.006-07:00

Evan and Dani both had their first piano lessons last night. They are both SUPER excited -- giggled with glee through the whole lesson. As soon as Evan got up this morning, he was on the piano, practicing. A few hours later, I just couldn't help sneaking from around the corner......

Good Morning

2009-01-27T09:05:00.003-07:00

Brendan was a total booger last night -- wouldn't eat his dinner, screaming at everyone, giving me the should of 0 Kelvin and just generally being a brat. Obviously, the boy was eligable for an early bedtime! So, I gave him a quick bath (our latest attempts at potty training may have accounted for his bad mood somewhat, and it CERTAINLY gave him a certain... aroma....) and plunked him in bed a little before 7:00. Normally when we do this he sneaks out of bed and plays in the playroom until the other kids have to go to bed. I was SHOCKED to find the boy fast asleep when we went back upstairs an hour later! I was even more amused when, around 7 a.m. this morning, he came downstairs, and greeted me with a big hug, a bright smile and, "I happy now!" The kid doesn't miss a beat!

Also, as we were getting everyone ready for school today, I told Dani to run upstairs and get me a brush so I could do her hair. She took half a step, pulled open the junk drawer and produced a hairbrush. "Ok, that will work!" I said. To which she responded, "Yeah, I thought that would be a pretty handy place to keep it!"

Test

2009-01-23T17:37:00.002-07:00

Dani brought home a math test today. One question was: What is the difference between a circle and a triangle? Dani's answer: A circle can roll, a triangle can't roll.

Mrs. B. made this note: A circle has curved lines, the triangle has straight lines.

But she didn't mark it wrong!

Baby, its cold inside!

2009-01-23T09:56:00.002-07:00

One of my and Jason's favorite arguments is whether or not the heat in the house is too high or too low. He keeps it at 68 during the day -- and that is a compromise! I've learned to deal with it by keeping lots of blankets available and wearing lots of layers -- sometimes I feel like Mr. Rogers from my childhood television watching days. I come home, take off my heavy coat and shoes and put on my inside jacket and slippers! I do draw the line at gloves though. If I feel like I need gloves on, he has to turn up the heat.

I love using evidence like the following as evidence for my side of the argument -- I found Brendan like this this morning, all of his own accord:

Report Cards

2009-01-23T09:38:00.002-07:00

The kids all brought home their report cards yesterday. Everyone did great -- Dani showed incredible improvement in all areas. Emily was upset that she only got a "meets expectations" on turning in all her work, when "exceeds expections" was a possibility. Explaining to her that she'd have to turn in extra work or turn all her work in early to EXCEED expections was no comfort. This Evan's first report card -- he got nearly all 4s and a couple of 3s. He asked what that meant (his favorite question these days.... What does________ mean? Even if he's pretty sure he knows what it is... its almost as bad as "why?") and I told him that 4s were the best score a kindergartener could get and that 3s were the next best. He smiled and walked away from me, saying to himself in a self-satisfied little voice, "Hm..... I'm pretty smart!"

Haircut

2009-01-16T09:11:00.002-07:00

Dani's hair has been getting wilder and wilder lately. Usually when that happens its time to give it a trim. I meant to take her to her favorite kids hair cut place, but I just didn't want to brave the cold, so I cut it myself!

I started with this....

and when I was done, it was this!

Oops... that's a little more than just a trim! The next day, with her natural propensity for follicular insanity, I swear she looked like a used Q-tip! But after we gave her a bath and tamed the fluff, it turned out like this

Phew! It is actually probably the best haircut she's ever had! Thank goodness for happy accidents!

And on another Dani-related note -- we are currently in the family room, watching the Disney channel. A commercial for The Incredibles just came one and she said, "Is Incredibles a good movie? Yeah.... it teaches us to... be nice to each other...... and not.... killl each other......" I guess there is a moral to every story.

The creature from the Black Lagoon

2009-01-14T19:38:00.003-07:00

Now THAT'S dirty! Ok, its not dirt -- Dani put almost an entire tub of Crayola Tub Tints in her bathwater tonight. Ick!

While I was getting her ready for bed she told me the following:

Dani: You're going to be so not tired in the morning (I canceled seminary for tomorrow). Will you not wake up at 9? 'Cause... I might want some eggs. Becuase they're my favorite.
Me: I'll get up in time to make you some eggs.
Dani: Ok, good. Mom, I made myself a goal.
Me: Oh yeah?
Dani: I'm not going to eat eggs on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday aaaaaaaaannnnddddd...... um.... Friday. (tomorrow is Thursday)
Me: Oh. Um. Great goal, Dani.

She also asked if we could have Daddy turn the heat up in the house because she was concerned that her wet hair would turn into icicles. In our house, that is a legitimate concern!

Storage

2009-01-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

Anyone else made a resolution to get their houses organized?

The cure for computer game addiction?

2008-12-15T15:35:00.003-07:00

I came home from running errands today to find Jason at the table, helping Emily and Evan with homework. Well, Evan didn't have any homework, Jason was making up addition problems for him. Evan was so proud of his work, he ran up to show me all his correct answers. After about 10 more minutes, Jason told Evan he had done enough and he could go play on the computer now. And, get this -- EVAN ASKED FOR MORE MATH PROBLEMS! This cannot be my child. Who has FUN doing math???

Hopeful

2008-12-11T15:18:00.002-07:00

Last night, in the car with the whole family

Dani: I know that Santa knows the best presents for us.
Me: Yes, he knows what you will play with the most
Dani: I think he is going to bring me a Wii.
Me: You think? I don't think Santa would bring you something that I don't want you to have.....
Dani: Maybe............ why doesn't Santa come to grown ups?
Me: Cause Santa is just for kids. We had our turn. Now its yours.
Dani: Then why do we have a stocking that says "Kimie" on it?
Me: Oh, my mom made that for me when I was really little and I just like it
Emily: Yeah, Dani, its a decoration
Dani: I think it should be a stocking for our whole family. And maybe Santa will accidentally leave a Wii in it!

Generosity

2008-12-03T20:05:00.001-07:00

Brendan: Mom, its Christmastime!
Me: It is?!?
Brendan: Yes! Look out the window!
Me: (looknig out the window) Oh, look at all the snow!
Brendan: Yes, we made it for you!

I later found out he meant that they made the footprints in the snow, but I like the idea that he would cover the ground with snow for me.

Misunderstanding

2008-12-03T20:04:00.001-07:00

Me: Evan, don't eat so many pretzels, I have frozen pizza for lunch.
Evan: I don't like that.
Me: WHAT?! You love it!
Evan: Ok..... but warm it up.

Four Eyes

2008-12-01T17:46:00.004-07:00

Last year and the year before, Dani failed hearing tests at school. She ended up having tubes put in her ears. Twice. Problem solved. So this year, Dani managed to fail the vision test at school! When we got the letter from the school I had visions of my poor kid, with coke bottle glasses, of course with one of those fancy elastic straps to keep them on her head, braces, that fuzz of red hair on her head and all her funny little behavior quirks, and shuddered at the ridicule that she would have to face.

She nagged and nagged and nagged until finally we took her to the eye doctor. So desperate was the kid to get glasses that she actually told the doc that she couldn't see the big E -- you know, the giant one at the top. I called her on the carpet on that one, and I became fairly skeptical about her NEED for glasses. The doctor had her work cut out for her with Dani, as she has always had issues for keeping her eyes fixed anywhere, especially when someone is right in her face. We have to go back to get her eyes dialated in a few weeks because the doctor couldn't see into her eyes, but the final verdict on the glasses was yes -- she just BARELY needs them, though if I had her 20/30 vision, I'd ditch the glasses and sing Hallelujah!

She's had the suckers for about 90 minutes and I've already found them on the floor. Anyone know where I can find one of those elastic band thingys?

Rude Awakening

2008-11-30T21:27:00.002-07:00

Last night, I woke up to the sound of running footsteps through my bedroom. They stopped momentarily, only to be followed by the sounds of retching and vomit splashing all over my bathroom floor.

"GET TO THE TOILET!" I yelled, and I then heard the sounds of vomit splattering all the way across my bathroom to the toilet. I jumped out of bed and flicked on the lights. Oh, what a mess. Oh, what a smell! Maybe 2% of the contents of Dani's stomach made it into the toilet, the rest of splashed all over the floor and walls of my bathroom.

"Dani!" I groaned.

Frantically, Dani defended herself, "I don't know what happened!!!" Sure. At the moment I was so annoyed I couldn't even laugh at that, much less have any sympathy for the poor kid.

So at 2 am, Jason and I mopped the bathroom floor while Dani settled back to sleep on the couch in my room with clean jammies and a barf bowl. I stayed home from church with her today, but what a surprise -- she didn't have anything close to a down day today! She was as demanding, wild and well... as Dani as always, all day long. All it took to cure her stomach bug was bathing the bathroom in puke. Why is the worst possible solution always the best one with her???

Tradition continues

2008-11-29T22:16:00.004-07:00

For the 3rd time in the last 5 years, we trek ked 90 minutes up to Sinnissippi Forest in Oregon, IL to cut down a Christmas tree. We have failed to make it up there twice since we moved a to Illinois. Once, out of stupidity (we didn't know what great thing we'd found) and once because terrible weather made traveling so far a very unsafe option. We were so happy to be able to go back this year and perform all our favorite traditions.

Tradition #1: See Santa! This year no one was afraid of the Big Guy. Even Brendan went right up to the him and said hello. When asked what they wanted for Christmas, Emily and Evan both said Webkins, Dani said legos and Bredan requested toys. Santa does not look real happy in the following picture. He must know just how good Dani has been this year.....

Tradition #2: Had our picture taken by the Sinnisippi Forest sign. This year we were lucky. Rather than choosing which parent got to be in the picture, a very nice lady offered to take our picture for us.

Tradition #3: Went on the hayride around the farm

Tradition #4: Meticulously select the perfect Christmas tree, take a family picture in front of it and chop the sucker down! This year the kids were big enough that everyone got a turn with the saw!

We were lucky to have very nice weather -- 42 balmy degrees! Its much more fun to browse and critique trees when you're not freezing your buns off! The kids all had a great time running up and down the rows of trees -- even Brendan, who couldn't manage to stay on his feet for more than 10 or 20 steps at a time!
Tradition #5: Stuffed ourselves with delicious cocoa and freshly made apple cider donuts! Brendan had a rough time with his cocoa. No matter how much I blew on it too cool it down, it was always too hot for him, unless of course, I held it to his lips and helped him EVERY TIME he wanted a sip. The donuts were also too messy for him. I guess licking sugar and cinnamon off your fingers is too much for a 3 year old to handle. More for the rest of us!

Tradition #6: Purchased a new Christmas decoration from the Christmas Shoppe. This year, we couldn't decide between 2 -- a snowman on a sled or a large red sleigh -- so we bought them both (with no objections from Jason, to my surprise!). Pictures will follow once they are on display in the house.

All in all it was a lovely day. I love holiday traditions!

Why we celebrate Thanksgiving...

2008-11-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Thanksgiving this year. We actually had company -- a rare occurance! My 7th grade locker partner/BYU college roomate, Katie Steewart and her family came down and spent a couple of days with us. The kids had a blast together and we adults had fun talking and cooking and enjoying the fact that the kids were having so much fun together than they forgot to need us! Friday we went to Chicago and checked out the lights on the Mag Mile, ate delicious pizza at Pizzeria Uno and played in the Lego store. Those Stewarts can come and make us have fun again ANYTIME!

As we were eating dinner on Thanksgiving, Evan turned in his seat to share with me:

Evan: I know what happened on the first Thanksgiving.
Me: Oh yeah? What?
Evan: The Indians brought lots of food and were friends with the Pilgrims becuase they were so sorry.
Me: Sorry? For what?
Evan: Becuase they had messed up America!

On Prayer

2008-11-08T23:28:00.002-07:00

We went to a party tonight and I took some apple cobbler as my meager contribution -- which just happens to be my kids favorite. Evan played so hard and so long that by the end of the night, he still hadn't had any cobbler. When we got home, he asked if he could have some before bed and I said no, since it was 9:30 and I needed a break, I mean, he needed his rest. Of course, Evan started to throw a fit, so I suggested it might make a good breakfast. No worse than a donut, right? He seemed pleased with that idea... eager, even. When he said family prayer tonight he made sure to include, "And please help us to remember that we can have cobbler for breakfast tomorrow. Amen."