The I - Game

Do you all remember the I-Game? Mom would sit on one side of the room and and be the I-Person (I think that was what we called it) and we would all line up on the other side of the room. Someone would say "I" and then Mom would call their name and start counting while the person ran to her and touched her knee. Whatever number she got to by the time they touched her knee was how many things they had to pick up in the room. I remember that sometimes Jayson or Aaron would get to be the I-Person and when they called your name they would count as fast as they could, "one-da-three-fo-fi-sis-sevn-ay-ni-ten-levn..." And then of course the touching the knee part of the game morphed into slap-the-knee-as-hard-as-you-can, a change for which I think Jayson and Aaron would be only too happy to take the credit.
I loved the I-Game. I've actually started playing it with my boys recently because Boston is now old enough to get the concept. They think it's great. And I think its great that the room gets picked up. And so everybody is happy.

Buenos Aaron

I remember when Aaron was on his mission that he was having a hard time with the language, but then he really internalized it and even starting thinking in Spanish and then it came like a tidal wave (or something like that). Mom said people even started asking if he was from Buenos Aires because his accent was so good. So building on that, after we picked him up from the airport when he returned from his mission, we were all driving for a while--deep into the night, I think. Anyhow, we were all falling asleep, but then there was a bump in the road that jostled all the passengers. Tara had fallen asleep on Aaron's shoulder and when the car bumped, she sat up and Aaron turned to her and started saying something in Spanish and patting his shoulder. Tara just looked at him and said, "Padah, padah, padah. I don't understand Spanish." (or something like that) Aaron and the rest of us just started laughing and then he repeated that it was okay for her to rest her head on his shoulder in English. So I guess he not only started thinking in Spanish, he was dreaming in Spanish too. Having recently completed a couple of semesters of Spanish, I am truly awed at people who can speak a second language fluently. I think it is a gift.

Soft hearted Daddy- by Sundee

We were all watching a movie. At one point the story got very sad. All the girls were crying. Then we heard Dad sniffing. When we all looked at his teary eyes, he defended himself, "It's a sad movie!"

I love that my Daddy is soft hearted.

Lemon Juice- by Sundee

Jayson was in the kitchen and was going to pour lemon juice on something... A 3 or 4 year old Sundee came in with big eyes looking longingly at the "juice". Jayson, the kind, big brother that he is, asked if she wanted some. Sundee smiled and nodded vigorously. So Jayson filled a 1/4 cup measuring cup to the brim, handed it to Sundee and said, very sweetly, "Drink it all!" ...meanie...

Windbags and Bagpipes - by Jannie

I remember living on Minton and each of the sisters would individually take some time to practice singing. We sang with feeling, so sometimes we got a little loud – especially since the vaulted ceilings and wide walls reverberated the sound so well. Jayson liked things quiet. So he'd come out of his bedroom (which was also conveniently close to where the piano was) and tell whomever it was to STOP SINGING, or at least sing softer because he couldn't think with us singing so loudly. But then he would turn around and practice the bagpipes in his bedroom. Being a very new beginner, the bagpipe drones were out of tune and the bag wasn't always filled with air - so usually it sounded like a dying cow...a really LOUD dying cow. So then when he complained about our noise, we would argue that he had no room to speak. At least our "noise" sounded like music and we weren't nearly as loud as he was anyway.

One day, Charity was practicing her singing. Maybe Summer was practicing. Actually, I think it happended to me too, but anyway Somebody was practicing singing - and naturally it was loud. She was so caught up in the feeling of the song that she didn't hear Jayson sneaking out of his bedroom. And in the middle of a climactic note, Jayson crept up right behind her blew his bagpipes with all his strength! She half screamed half yelled as she whirled around, wide-eyed and shocked. But in a split second, her shock turned to fuming anger as Jayson doubled over in laughter. She started coming after him yelling – and he half ran away, half staggered away because he was laughing so hard.

Ah, the joys of a musical Scottish family.

BabyTara

I was just testing to see if I could actually post a picture. It is my lucky day. Just so ya all know. This is Tara in the spring of 1974. (between 4 and 6 months old). OOO h so cute.