I know. Another one from Alaina. I can't help myself.

Alaina, "You know how last night I said that you were the most beautiful?" (we were playing the 'no, you're more beautiful' game)

Me, "Yes."

Alaina, "Well, I didn't really think that. I was just trying to make you feel good."

Me, "Oh."

Alaina, "Yeah, I really think I'm the most beautiful but if I said that then you wouldn't feel good."

Me, "Ok."

Alaina, "But I do think you are beautiful too."

Me, "Are you just trying to make me feel good?"

Alaina, "Yes."

Me, "Maybe if you want someone to feel good, you shouldn't tell them that you are just saying nice things to make them feel good."

Alaina, "Oh. Okay. I really do think you are beautiful AND I mean it."

What a pill. She's a sweet pill but definitely a pill.

First day of school...again. The kids did great, although the twins wanted to stay all day. They are used to the full day kindergarten and here they only go for 2 1/2 hours. That will take some getting used to for us all.

We were quite the crowd walking the kids down to their new classes. Ethan was in the lead despite the fact he had no idea where he was going. Austin was so close to me that he became my indoor shadow. Alaina was chatting non-stop to the school secretary and to both her new teacher as well as Austin's. Suddenly she put her hand up, commanding all of our attention with a very authoritative, "STOP!" All eyes on the diva, she continued, "Wait a minute. Here Mom, take this." I got tossed her jacket. "And take this, too." I got her bag. And before anyone could take their eyes off of her she raised both hands up towards her self and asked us all, "Isn't my outfit so cute?" Way to be humble, girl. And ever so subtle. After she got the appropriate amount of praise she allowed us all to continue on our way with her final comment. "Yeah. I am really cute today. Where's my new class?"

Looking for a home to rent has been a frustrating ordeal. There have only been a certain amount of homes on the market and once we have seen them, our days have been pretty empty. In order to keep from going crazy we started to explore Portland. We spent one day at the OMSI science museum. They have planetarium there and an IMAX theater. The kids had so much fun running from room to room that I hardly got any pictures of them. Here are my two future astronauts.


And my future scientist. Austin says that he just loves 'science-ing.'
Another day we took the kids to the Portland children's museum. One of the first stops they took was the make-up room.
They took a lot of care getting their faces just right. And voila, perfection.Doesn't Ethan look like a snow-cone?

The next favorite place that the kiddies went to was the water room. When they finally got tired of it and wanted to move on, we all had to wait for Robert to finish up his experiments.


Here is a sweet picture of Rob and big-boy Ethan.

And during the rest of our time together, the kids have been entertaining me with the silly things that they say.

Whenever the kids refer to Charlotte they call it "our real home." "When we were at our real home, I really loved my teacher."

Robert, for some reason, seems to think that our Austin is a bit of a nerd. I couldn't figure it out. The conversation that the kids had seemed perfectly normal it me. We had nearly finished eating and the conversation was going on like this:

Mama "I love you kids more than I love chocolate."
Ethan, "I love you more than being a rock star."
Alaina, "I love you more than swimming at the pool."
Austin, "I love you more than all my 'ventions." (inventions)
This went on for another 5 minutes until Austin decided to get really crazy.
Austin, "I love you more than the Table of Contents."
And before I could stop laughing he added, "And I love you more than recycling!" That is coming from the boy who wants to be a 'garbage picker up guy so I can clean up my earth.'
I thought it was a profession of true love but Robert thought it was super nerdy. I guess sweet Austin is more like his Mom than we thought. (Can you see 6 year old me pushing up my glasses taped in the middle with my nose in a book? Yeah? 'Cause that is pretty much how it happened.) Nerds Unite!

Alaina uses a calculator like a cell phone. She walks around have lengthy conversations with imaginary people. They sound like they are two-sided, with long pauses and everything. The last one I heard made me smile. "Why do you keep calling me. *long pause* You called me like ten times already Miley Cyrus. *pause* Miley Cyrus, I can't keep talking to you all the time. *extra long pause* I know I'm your best friend, Miley Cyrus but I'm getting in the car with my brothers. *click* Whew. That Miley Cyrus is always calling on my phone."

And one last Lainy story. At church today, when I went to pick up Laina, she was chatting non-stop to her teacher. The teacher turned to me and the boys and said, "Oh. Let's see. You must be Alaina's mom. And you," pointing to Ethan, "must be the big brother I've been hearing about. Ethan, right. And you must be Austin, Alaina's twin." Turning back to me, she didn't miss a beat. "I hear you moved from Charlotte and are still looking for a house. I sure hope you find one in our ward." I'm now wondering what part of our family history Alaina didn't mention. We said our goodbyes and started out the door. As a last though her teacher said, "And Alaina. I can't wait to see you next week in that green dress that you were talking about." Looking over her shoulder, Alaina looked straight at her and said, with feeling, "And I can't wait to see your smile when your see me wearing the dress." Hair flip. Exit diva.