ericksen family

“: Andrew, take your time!

— Mary, to Andrew when he was screaming in the car last night…she often repeats phrases she hears, and practices them out of (sometimes in) context.

Andrew antics

Andrew is all politeness; when we ask him “how are you?” he’ll answer “guh” (good) without hesitation. Sometimes if we ask other questions, he’ll catch the questioning intonation in our voices and likewise answer “guh”. He also says prayers in his own way. He’ll fold his arms (touch his left wrist with his right hand), and whisper jibberish, then shout “Amay” (amen!)

“: In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.

— Edith Wharten, A Backward Glance

Hi this is doogie howser. Come watch me at hulu.com

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“: I didn’t know that food could taste like that.

— Mary, upon testing a cheesecake sample at Costco

this is what I picture happening when I’m away while Todd sits the kids :)

Yes, my daughter knows the hallelujah chorus

“: I had a dream last night…a tall stack of diapers with mountains, trees, and buildings on top of them

— Mary, when we started potting training her through the night…it was traumatic for her

“: I won my testimony!

— Mary, during a scripture treasure hunt

»: Our old family website
Probably about time for an update seeing as the last post was about Ericksen reunion ‘05

Love boxes, treasures, and a piano

We’ve had a FABulous week—including a great Valentines. Mary and I had fun making Valentines for friends and family, and she had fun receiving Valentines (and candy) from her classmates and friends. We made “love boxes” (see the February Friend magazine) this week for each person in our family, so we can continue the love-note writing.

We had a fun FHE this week where we went on a treasure hunt, following clues that led us to the “treasure”, the scriptures. We then went an a little scripture hunt/chase. It was SO funny…Mary was opening the scriptures, looking for “treasures” (favorite verses and/or pictures) and when she came to something she thought she liked, she said “I won my testimony!!” haha, she kept on doing that, it was hilarious. We have also had all the prophets’ pictures on our wall, in a line, to teach Mary about the succession of the prophets, leading up to the new prophet, Pres. Monson. She has enjoyed learning the song “Latter-day Prophets”, singing it over and over and over and over again…. :)

Other GREAT news, we got a PIANO this week! We’ve been looking in the classifieds for a decent used, relatively inexpensive pianos and found one we liked. We had it delivered yesterday and it’s been SO FUN playing it last night and today. it’s black, and we’re not exactly sure what brand it is because the name was painted over by the first owners. I guess some piano tuners thought it was a Baldwin, we don’t know but we’re just glad to have a piano! Both mary and Andrew have been drawn to it and have had fun playing it. When Mary gets frustrated with Andrew for playing when she’s playing, we tell her that they can just do a duet together. It was SO funny…I was playing a song and Mary wanted to play. I told her to wait her turn until I was done playing. Mary said “I know! We can play a two-tet!” haha!

“: Let’s do a two-tet

— Mary, wanting to play piano with mommy