How Many Getting-into-Heaven Points Do you Get for Posting Your Testimony(ish) on You Tube?

I've mentioned before that Greg is pretty active on you tube posting videos in an effort to help dispel myths about Mormnonism, as per Elder Ballard's suggestion (that we join the "conversation" on the internet).

Two weeks ago he came home from work and told us that he wanted to take us to the forest because he wanted to make a video with our family. During the drive we talked about how our day had gone, and right as we were about to park he told me what the plan was for the video. Apparently I was supposed to take an active role, so I had about 5 minutes while walking to the filming spot to think about it. You'll be able to tell if you decide to watch the video.

I'm posting this, not because I expect you all to watch it, but because it's a good thing to post on Sunday. (And also I sort of don't really want people to watch it anyway because in the video, besides seeing me, my husband and my kids (those are the good things), you also get see more than enough of my chins. (those are the bad things)) Greg and I talk about why we feel the restored Gospel is needed in our day, or what we appreciate about having it in our lives.

It's long. About ten minutes BUT if you have a fast connection and it will upload quickly, even if you don't plan on watching the whole thing, I at least recommend you watch from about 8:10 and watch Evie and David carefully. I wasn't aware that they were actually listening to what we said until I watched this and saw their immediate reaction to what Greg says at 8:22. I find it to be a little hilarious. Maybe it's because I'm part of this family, but I've watched that part over and over.

If you're not up for a long video or double chins, and you didn't read my older post about you tube you should TOTALLY click on the link at the top (mentioned before) to see a very funny, very short clip from Cheers related to Mormonism. Sort of.
And if you're a you tube surfer and you're interested, you can find Greg's page or whatever it's called here.

EVIDENCE

The purpose of this post is to shock Anne (I said I might post these and. . . I AM!) and make it so Gramma Lee can finally see some video (she works at BYU where you can't view things from you tube (!?!).

Proof that Aaron does the things I accuse him of in the previous post:

Exhibit A: Playing with Plastic Bag
(but first getting an sms-I believe you Americans call them text messages-because editor daddy* couldn't leave it out. And please pretend that you can't hear me calling him "hona" instead of honey in the flusteredness of trying to balance the camera AND throw the bag farther away at the same time. Add speaking into the mix, and it's apparently too much for me.)




Exhibit B: Bouncing a Ball in His Hands
(but first answering my question "Is it yummy?" about the kielbasa he's eating. That "nah" and ardent head shaking means he looooooves it, of course. Apparently it still hasn't stopped being opposite day)
It seems the editor thought this one was a little too quite, so he's added music. And he's the boss. Watch Aaron's eyes. He only looks at the ball the one time he lets it drop on purpose.




Exhibit C: Dying a Western Movie Death
WARNING: While this video contains no gore, it still may be too much for the sensitive viewer.




* Those who have ever commented on the quality of the pictures posted, like those on Evie's birthday post, should know that I do not take pictures. Greg is the photog in our family. Not I. And he does all the video editing as well.

*Before I posted this I watched these videos with Aaron over and over. He kept laughing. His favorite part was after he dies that one time and I ask him if he's okay in that annoying voice. He finds it hilarious. I don't really get why.

Oh, and speaking of texting, I have to share this. It's another one I saw on JustRandi's blog Is it Just Me?

For People Who Care

Or mostly for my kids (and myself) who love to come on my blog and watch whatever videos are posted here, especially our favorites, like this one. I think in this one I was pregnant with Aaron but didn't know it until about a week after we got home from the trip. So he was there with us, he was just too small to see. Oh, and he was a little hidden anyway, I guess.

In this one Greg has used another song from the same album as the one with Aaron singing at 7 months. I know it's a strange genre (Polish folk punk?) but we love it and the footage really brings back the feel of that awesome (only three day!) vacation. So I'm posting it here. It's about a haunted forest (ooooooo!). Cousins might like it.

Maybe They're For His Gizzard?

My kids have never been very big stick-everything-in their-mouth-ers. From the time they start to be mobile we discourage it for the most part and, for the most part, it works. None of my kids have ever tried to eat dirt or lotion or books . Unlike some babies, the number one thing that goes into their mouth is food. With a pacifier coming in second.

Part of the reason for this is that I'm a freak about dirt. Not necessarily just regular dirt, but anything that might be messy or make somebody look dirty. I learned that I was a freak about it when I was at a fast food place with someone who may or may not have been related to me, possibly as a female sibling, or not. One of my nieces was biting into a hamburger and I could see that a big-ol', ketchup covered pickle was about to fall out the end of it onto her shirt. I instinctively called out, "Tyra! Watch out!" or something. This caused my si--this person I'm referring to -- to ask me at what point I became such a freak about dirt/messes. But then, HER boys do stuff like this at the breakfast table. :)

Thus far Aaron has followed in the steps of his siblings. If he gets crumbs or anything sticky on his hands, he holds them out and open kind of waiting for the moment they will be cleaned. If his hands touch the ground outside when he's walking and loses his balance, he brushes them off the best he can and then continues walking on with his hands out and palm up until he forgets that they got dirty (3-4 seconds). I am grateful that he has this awareness.

Unfortunately, however, he has recently veered from his siblings in terms of what goes into his mouth. He rarely EVER put anything in his mouth from maybe 6 months right up until 15 months except for cell phones, which don't count, since people of all ages have a hard time resisting their delicious, electronic zing. This week however, we have seen him snacking on such tasty morsels as rocks, hair clasps (the kind with pokey claws-Mmmm!), Uno cards and balls of various sizes (I started typing "various shapes and sizes", duh; and we don't even own a football). He never actually ingests any of these objects, he just kind of puts them a little way into his mouth and sucks on or licks them a little; just to get some of the goodness off of them.

Rocks are his favorite. We've got PLENTY of rocks in our house. Evie and David used to collect rocks. A few were selected because they were pretty, but most of them were chosen because they were rocks. They use them when they're playing with cars or Polly Pocket or they make designs with them on the floor. There's a strange* thing about stuff that my kids play with. Whenever it comes time to clean things up, always (or usually; maybe sometimes) a few of those toys manage to sneak away to be found, vacuumed up, stepped on or sucked on at a later date. With rocks, lately it's mostly been the later.

We're working to fix this "problem" and already he glances up at us whenever we're around and he's got something half way to his mouth. This is evidence that he is at the first step, Recognizing that You Have a Problem. We'll see how we do from here. I captured an example of this on video. I had Greg crop it (or whatever the term is) for me and then, by the time we transferred it to my computer, it had been completely transformed without my permission. Greg has a hard time abstaining from performing his video magic on stuff. Oh well. At least now you can see at exactly what point Aaron realizes that he really can't suck on that toothpaste (since mom was watching).



And I tried three times to upload the documentation of how Aaron got into this bathroom, but it quit uploading when it was 7/8ths of the way done each time (that's about 4-5 hours of trying--UGH!--why, oh why can't BYU let people watch you tube videos!!! I WILL get it uploaded and post it ASAP.

*I'm sure you're all thinking, "That's NEVER happened at OUR house!"

He Dances, Too!

Here's Greg's latest creation. I'm finding I can't control which of his videos shows up in my sidebar. Oh well. In this one, Aaron is proving that singing isn't his ONLY talent! He dances to "LMNO" by They Might Be Giants. The video was shot the first day he started shaking his bum, and he wouldn't do it much once the camera was on, of course. So this isn't his real bum shaking dance, as it is new to him here, and he thinks it's funny, and involves more of his body. I'm still hoping to get some video of his real bum shaking, although he does it less and less often these days. Now he's more about the shoulder shrugging and arm waving.



And just in case you missed it while it was in the side bar, this one's for anyone who hasn't had their fill yet of our balcony, or for people who might want to show it to their kids for educational purposes, as it's a documentary.

You Asked for It

So I'm not a big fan of pictures of myself in general. And it's much worse when I've got the bad cut and dork glasses, which Nathan was right about in his comment on the original hair post (in that it was an unpleasant surprise when I put them on and was able to actually SEE how they look from farther than one nose length away--although for me that may be farther than it is for some).

I had Greg take a couple pictures, all of which gave me the neck of a football player, and were therefore unuseable (obviously). I decided it might be less objectionable and more informative if I shot some video so you could see all three dimensions of it. So Evie shot some for me, and I was being an excellent guide and explaining everything for y'all. Then we realized that the cheap little camera we were using doesn't have a mic. Good thing I've got the gestures going on so you know where you're supposed to look and everything. I present you with 10 seconds of Lisa's new hair and glasses:



Then I decided to also try another shot, but this time holding Aaron to bring this post a much needed element of cuteness that was desperately lacking with just the video. He doesn't have a new haircut, but he's got some glasses that he loves to wear around the house (they were Evie's and that's why they have flowers on them. That's also why he only wears them around the house.) Evie took this one for us, too! If this continues, I may have to increase her allowance! Oh wait, she doesn't get an allowance.

Then I thought, as long as I was addressing commenters, I might as well address Andrea, who mentioned-also in the comments- having once flipped my hair up. I think I might sort of vaguely remember that, but one thing I DO know is that I love hair flipped up! With this haircut I can flip it up in the back, as well as doing it under as seen here. I dislike it both ways equally. But I think Evie looks the cutest with her hair flipped.



So, if you feel inclined to comment, keep in mind that a) I'm very into honesty, and b) you can't go wrong, as you'll either be commiserating with me, or assuring me that it's not as bad as it seems. Win-win.

Last Week in Review: Aaron

This started happening, and locomotion was getting to be a little dangerous. [It's really too bad we live so far away from Hollywood because this boy should totally be getting paid for his acting skills. Besides his facial expressions, note his exclamations of surprise--if you can hear them above our laughing]



So he decided to try this instead.



And here's a bit more while he was still hyper after all the fun and attention. He's thrown in a few more of his spills, and on the last one you can hear him saying "uh oh" before he's even down. What a goofball.



Next week I'll plan to post a little of him walking for real. He's getting more and more brave.

Sleepy Baby

So it's not my fault that he's the cutest falling asleep baby ever. It's also not my fault that he was wearing the ugliest pajamas ever on this occasion. You just can't plan for stuff like this. Greg only sped up the the video. He didn't doctor it to make Aaron's feet wiggle after each time he straightens up. That's our baby's natural talent you see there. Music by They Might Be Giants