Last class

It is starting to sink in that I have taken the last of my classes in my PhD program in linguistics. How does that feel? Well... I no longer have to engage in conversations like the one below.... until such time that I have the opportunity to teach these courses.

;)

Laughing extends your life and relieves stress

So, we're moving, which means, I'm packing. Michael is at work - a real job - meaning full time and paid, which leaves me mostly on my own. Thanks to dear friends, though, I've had help packing and help watching the boys, so we're making good progress.

I took a few minutes this afternoon to sit down and read a book with Scott and my secret plot worked! He is now fast asleep. It was fun to read with him, but I admit to ulterior motives.

As I was tidying up a moment ago, I found some light blue cardstock scattered across the piano bench. 7 out of 8 pieces had some variation of this theme, scrawled in pencil in Ethan's all-caps, words-separated-only-by-commas-rather-than-spaces scrawl: "GO BYU!!!!!!!!"

The 8th page was a transcription of Scott's favorite joke, which he learned from Liz Willey:

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Interrupting cow.

Interrupting cow wh..?

MOO!

Life changes quickly!

We are moving! In a week! We found out 5 days ago. We'll be managing an apartment building across town, in a nice neighborhood, near one of my dear friends from BYU... It's close to Mr. M's summer internship, as well as closer to his school. We are absolutely thrilled!

If you want more details, you'll have to call or email.

Summer hair

I've been entertaining thoughts of chopping off my hair. Turns out, Scottie beat me to it. Michael and I were sitting at the table, finishing our lunch, when we heard a strange sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like jewelry clinking. Michael ran in and encountered our little man, who said, "I was just cutting my hair, but now I'm done cutting my hair." This is what we're used to seeing:

This is the transformation that occurred today. In the first picture, you see what he did with it. The last picture shows the completed buzz cut.

When he went and looked in the mirror, "It looks like a different person! " I don't think he'll be complaining anymore about hair that is wiggly.

My boys discover homophones*

Yesterday I took the boys to the aquarium with the pre-school. On the train ride home we met a very nice lady named Linda who gave us some literature about her faith. I didn't notice that Ethan started reading it. She seemed a bit surprised that a 5-year-old would be able to read it. I told her, "His mother was an early reader so I give her the credit. Just good genes from his mother's side.
Right Ethan?"
Ethan looked down and started tugging at his clothes.
"Actually, today I'm just wearing these shorts."

...

Scott today had an accident in his underwear so he had to change. As pulled out his tighty-whiteys he said to me, "Look! A pair of underwear! A pear is like a peach!"*

* In case you are looking for a definition of homophones.

**I was really impressed with this on two counts.
1. He recognized the homophone.
2. He recognized the relationship between items of the same class.