An Eclipse Party

What started as a simple science experiment in the courtyard (with our neighbor Ben telling James over and over again that he was doing it wrong, it never would work and that next time he should be the lead engineer) ended up making for a fun night watching the Eclipse as a courtyard.

James figured out (with a lot of help from google) how to make a pinhole projector and one by one our neighbors started trickling out of their homes to join in on the party (or possibly to see what the crazy inventor was up to this time!)

 The good news: IT WORKED!!!

I tried to explain to the boys what a big deal this was. The last eclipse like this happened when Daddy and I were in elementary school (1994) and we remember watching it on the playground. The next one, they say, will be in 2030. Everett, however, seemed quite unimpressed with it all. We took a picture of him with Daddy's invention just in case someday he decides that it was, in fact, a big deal. 

Talmage was WAY more interested in riding his scooter with his friends than looking at the eclipse. And yes, he is only wearing underwear. You win some, you lose some.

Some of the party peeps. My only regret was not having moon cakes or some other sweet on hand. I'll be prepared in 2030 friends, come on over!

 So, so, so, way cool. 

We were super excited/weirded out about our shadows. We took a ridiculous amount of pictures of our shadows looking like aliens.

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EV Carnival

After giving all three boys much needed summer cuts, the big one headed to school and the little two headed with me to a super fun carnival put on by Stanford for the families living in Escondido Village (EV).

T has never been willing to get his face painted. He actually screamed and cried when I tried to talk him into it at the Easter party. But this time he had the awesome idea to ask for paint on his arm instead of his face. OF COURSE he wanted a baseball, and the awesome artist put flames around it. He was very impressed. Enough, even, to ask for a basketball with Stanford flames on the other arm.

He got a tiger animal from the balloon man. Every time EV has a party they have the same man twisting balloons...and everytime T sees him he asks for a tiger. This one lasted about 3 1/2 minutes, until it was dropped on the grass and popped in a million pieces. I prepared myself for a meltdown, but Talmage actually found the whole process semi-amusing. Plus, I think he was eyeing the treat table by this point!

I probably shouldn't admit how many snow cones our family consumed on this sunny Saturday. Or how many bags of popcorn. They were provided by the University, so I pretty much let T help himself. And Evie even got a few little try's!

The biggest, most genuine Talmage smile I think I've ever caught on camera. All because a magician/comedian was talking about boiling underwear and hitting himself in the head with a balloon.

Talmage also got to ride a pony...twice! He shocked me by jumping right on and loving the whole process. He even waved at me when he rode on by. That is one brave child.

And then he went into the petting zoo and fed all of the animals. He especially liked feeding the goats, chasing the chickens and petting the bunnies.

This is an awful picture, but we got to ride in a train and both boys loved it. I put Evie in the seat next to me instead of holding him in my lap and I could tell he felt very big and loved it. He really likes to do things his brother is doing and it's really cute to watch them together.

At the end of the event the Stanford band came and performed. I don't know who was more excited--me or the kids (okay, that's an easy one, I was DEFINITELY the most excited person there about the band coming!) It was such, such, such a fun day and made me realize once again how lucky we are to be here.

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Our favorite fire station

We visited our local fire station as a family when we first arrived to Palo Alto, and T has not forgotten Sunny the firefighter who gave him a hat and gave him free reign of the ambulance. It was a great experience, so we were excited when our courtyard decided to go to the fire station together.  

All the kids took turns shooting the REAL fire hose. I'm pretty sure T would have taken it home with him if he could have.

All of the firefighters we met were kind and informative and SO patient with the kids...especially with Talmage who decided to "answer" every question, volunteer for every activity (even when other kids were chosen) and always managed to somehow get on the truck...invited or not! He's becoming more outgoing by the day and I mostly love it!

Evie is such an easy baby. He sat on the grass with two hats on his head while I chased around his brother and took pictures. What a babe!

T decided that the hat worked better (and looked cooler) when it blocked the sun from his eyes. This kid cracks me up. 

Both kids got to sit in the driver seat of the fire truck and loved, loved it! Evie was especially proud of himself while sitting in the truck. He seriously would not, or maybe could not, stop smiling.

But all those smiles came to an end when I handed him over to the fireman for a photo op. Bad idea Mom, bad idea.

This year is coming to a close and it's sad to see that many of these kids will be moving soon. The courtyard won't be the same without all our friends.

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Let's Talk About Talmage

Talmage has never been lacking in the personality department, but it seems lately that personality is running hurdles in the Olympics. He is a chatterbox of a child and says some of the funniest, sweetest, nicest things you will ever hear cross a 3-year-olds lips. And then in the next breath he is suprising you with his attitude, disrespect and plain meaness. I am loving a lot of things about having a kid who is 3, and I am detesting others. I can't be the first mom that feels this way. At least that's what I tell myself when Talmage is yelling, "Mommy Scott Wigginton, you are mean to me all of da day. You go sit on da stairs wight now," in the background. It's a stage, right? And I know it is. Just six months ago I couldn't stand that he was peeing his pants 10 times a day because he was too lazy to walk into the bathroom, and now we don't have that problem at all. Improvement!!! Talmage's personality is teaching me to take a deep breath, use my words (like I tell him to 100 times a day), have patience, explain things clearly and consistently and realize, for better or worse, that this stage won't last forever ... oh yeah, and try to enjoy the heck out of all the cute things he does.

*** 

Me: If you tell me no one more time you will go sit on the stairs, now please come over here.

T: NOse.

Me: Talmage...

T: What? I didn't say no. I says nose.  

***

T loves his tunes these days. I've barely buckled him into the carseat before he's begging for music on the radio. He knows almost all of the most popular songs, and sings them with me while displaying his new and amazing dance moves. We often have dance parties in the living room, and last week he informed me that he needed to go put his dance costume on before we continued. He came down proudly wearing his halloween costume from 2 years ago. I loved seeing that little pirate shake his booty!

***

T: I want some toast on my butter! {Not a slip of the tongue, I think I've mentioned before how much this kid adores butter}

***

When Talmage grows up, he wants to be a baseball player. Other than making his great-Grampa Harry ridiculously happy by uttering those words, he has also made our family dates to Stanford's sunken field a super fun experience. He can sit through a whole baseball game (if I have sufficient game-watching treats) and will cheer right along with the adults. He loves to yell out the batters name, and is so proud of himself when people are impressed. A few weeks ago there were fireworks after the baseball game. I realized later that these were the first fireworks we'd seen with T since he was an infant. It was so exciting to watch the sparkle in his eyes. He's adorable.

***

Me: T, that makes me so happy.
T: Oh yeah. And did it make Heavenly Father happy? And did it make KAI happy?

***

He has a thing about getting himself dressed these days. He has never been one to care about what he wears, and this has largely worked in my benefit. Alas, those days are over and now he will refuse to wear clothes and picks out his own outfit. Heaven forbid we are going somewhere and I want him to wear something specific...the battle my friends is insane. He also will come down wearing underwear over his clothes on occasion, calling himself a super hero.

***

Me: T, you are so cute.
T: No. I'm not cute. I'm a big boy. Big boys are not cute.
Me: Oh...are big boys handsome?
T: No.
Me: Gorgeous?
T: No.
Me: Are big boys awesome?
T: Yeah! Awesome! Big boys are awesome.

***

T fell out of the 2nd story window last week. I wish I could say it was the first time something like this has happened, but it's not. It was, however, more traumatic this time. He was in my room watching a show while I showered and saw some friends outside. He wanted to yell hello to his friends and while banging on the screen to get their attention he fell right through the screen and out the window. Thank goodness Stanford has installed wooden awnings outside the window. He fell onto the awning and had his arms wrapped tightly around the wooden planks while screaming for help. He was more scared than hurt but we were all just a little bit spooked.

***

T: When we're done wif Evie, can we have a sister?

***

Talmage's second surgery started this week out with a bang. It turns out the right nostril didn't heal properly so our doctor had to fix both sides on Monday. It took him awhile to wake up from the "sleepy drink" and he was a lot more sore and grumpy this time. But he got his popsicle and Cars on the big screen so it was all ok in the end. And baby bear and the white blanket came along for the ride, obviously.

***

Me: What can 3-year-olds do?
T: They can be careful wif their brothers and no knock them down.
Me: Awesome. What else can 3-year-olds do?
T: They can be happy. 3-year-olds can also be not sad.
Me: Yeah? What else?
T: 3-year-olds can play wif each other. And share.

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The best suprise EVER!

We've been sick around these parts lately. It started the day before my birthday when I ended up in Urgent Care with a nasty case of Strep Throat. I was literally spitting into a cup so that I wouldn't have to swallow, and then would be in tears when my body forced me to wet my throat. Not pretty.

  I must have passed the nasty bug onto my computer, because it died the next day. The hard drive was fried, I was told by a man at the local computer hospital, and nothing could be recovered. I bawled as I thought about all the pictures that were lost--T's NICU days, England and NYC, our various vacas, Evie's birth and subsequent surgery, blessed Stanford.  After a few days and a ridiculous estimate, my pretty little laptop left it's Palo Alto hospital and headed to Sacramento where a super talented friend actually recovered nearly every picture on that fried hard drive. T was in surgery when I got the call from him and it put the biggest smile on my face.

Anyway, continuing on with my we've-been-sick-sob-story...

T had his second nose surgery, and it didn't go quite as well as the first, but more on that later. The day after surgery he spiked a high fever and was ridiculously sick. And then I started feeling yucky, again. And then two days ago Evie started acting grumpy and before I knew it he had a 102.5 degree fever. So we've been in and out of the doctors office, but of course it's just a virus (we hope so, at least). And then James woke up with a sore throat. And all on the weekend my parents were supposed to come visit us. We cancelled the trip and I was SO disappointed.

This morning we were cleaning up after breakfast and blasting some tunes when we heard a knock at the door. I was upstairs dressing a sicky Evie when I heard two voices that were so familiar. "SUPRISE!" the voices yelled...and T's high-pitched squeal of delight let me know just who he saw behind the door. My pajama-clad body ran downstairs to see the prettiest faces in the world--my parents! They were here to scrub my floor, clean the bathroom, play with the kids and make the yummiest soup for lunch. And they came bearing gifts--my fixed computer and a new cell phone (I haven't had one in a few years!) We even talked them into staying for dinner on campus. It was so nice of them to make the trip down and it was maybe the best suprise I've ever had!

     

 

Hundreds of posts to come about our awesome May. Okay, maybe not hundreds. But probably a lot more than you want to see!

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See the resemblance?

The other day we were sitting at the table for lunch when T started staring at Evie in his highchair and then randomly said, 

"Mommy...I fink Evie wooks wike Pwesident Monson." 

Do you see the resemblance?

Evie in his high chair on the day T made the comment.

This is President Monson now. I must admit that I don't really think they look alike.

But I found this picture of President Monson as a baby and I actually think T might have hit the nail right on the head. It must be the sweet round face. 

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A Message from James:

 Happy Birthday Heather! 

Hey there, Heather fans!  This is Heather's husband James writing, and I am the President and CEO of the H.Q.W. Fan Club.  After knowing Heather for some time (4 years and 120 days, to be precise), I'm convinced that Heather is the coolest person in the galaxy.  If you are reading this post, you likely agree with me already.  However, if you are not fully persuaded that Heather is no-rocks-the-most-amazing-woman-you-ever-met, YOU WILL BE!  See reasoning below:

1. She's Hot

 

Here's a picture of Heather in her wedding gown.  As long as I've known her, Heather has been an immaculate dresser.  I'm pretty sure the photo above could have been ripped from Modern Bride.

2. She's Smart

Here, Heather is letting me borrow her graduation cap and gown.  She burned through BYU in three years, and I heard that President Samuelson frequently asked her for help with his homework.   

  

3. She Knows Celebrities

When we lived in New York, Heather scored us an exclusive meeting with Elmo.  I had never met him before (oddly, he smelled like a pastrami sandwich).  Rumor has it that Heather operates on a first-name basis with Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez (whom she affectionately calls "T-Swizzle" and "Sel-Go").

4. She Travels

I took this photo of Heather while we were in Paris.  Heather has also visited Taiwan, Spain, France, and The Bronx.  For her next trip, she wants to go to Moscow.   


5. She's Sporty

 
Heather was Captain of her high school basketball team, MVP of her college track team, and President of the chess club.  Now, she leads Stanford University's cheering section at all home games.  Go Card!

 6. She's a Great Kisser
 

I waffled about including this item in Heather's birthday post, but I couldn't resist.  Heather gives amazing kisses! (Don't get any ideas, gentlemen, she's mine!)  The kiss portrayed in this photo resulted when I told Heather that I bought her the castle in the background.

7. She's Mom of the Year

Heather is an incredible mother to our boys, Talmage and Everett.  Rearing these kids takes a lot of hard work, and Heather has always been up to the task.  I couldn't ask for a better companion in raising our family.

* * * 

Well, are you convinced now that Heather is the coolest person in the galaxy?  Nay, in the universe?  If you belong to the H.Q.W. Fan Club, you are in good company.  

Happy Birthday, My Love! 

James L. Wigginton

President & CEO, H.Q.W. Fan Club 

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