Cal has the cutest teacher this year. She's been doing a lot leading up to Veteran's Day. A few Veterans came to speak to the kids and she had them each do a project. Cal went with his cub scout troop to put flags in all the graves at the LA Veterans Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend, so he wrote a paper about that and made this poster. We had a lot of fun working on it together. My favorite part: "Thank You Veterans! Love, Cal"
And finally, we've all been tagged, so I guess it's time to catch up. First the kids - 5 things about each of them:

Cal: He's pretty sure he's the 3rd parent in the house and I remind him daily to, "let me be the mom." He loves adult conversation - sports and politics are his current topics of choice. He loves to go out to eat, but is a horribly picky eater. He isn't a big fan of chores, but for some reason never gives me a hard time about taking dirty diapers to the outside trash - he just jumps up and does it. He's realizing that Owen copies everything he does and tries to be a good example.

Owen: He loves to wrestle with Cal and Dad, unfortunately, he takes it a bit too far with his other little friends. He is very independent and loves to do everything himself - always reminding me, "I do myself." He has the cutest stutter right now: when I'm talking, he'll interrupt and say, "No, no, no, no, no, I want chockit miwk (chocolate milk)." He's already talking about going to school and doing homework like Cal. (Is it ridiculous to bribe him with school if he'll go potty in the toilet?) He always wants to be involved: If we're working in the yard, he wants gloves on and the big shovel.

Tessa: She's a diva - serious attitude already. She comes un-glued if anyone else has my attention - even the phone ringing has become a signal for her to throw a fit. She loves babies - if she sees a baby carrier anywhere, she has to go inspect to see if there's anything of interest inside. She is still such a snuggly girl and loves to cuddle and sing with me before bedtime. She's pretty sure she can keep up with the big kids already and follows them everywhere. She only speaks when it suits her - she won't repeat much, but she says "cheese" when I pull out the camera.

(Thanks Stacie - it was fun to just reflect on my kids individually for a few minutes!)

And now for a tag about Kirt:

What is your husbands name? Kirt (newsflash)
How long have you guys been married? 11 years
How long did you date? not sure - from first date to marriage: 3 1/2 years, but 2 year mission in the middle
How old is he? older than me - that's all that counts!
Who is taller? Kirt
Who can sing best? Is that proper grammar? Am I avoiding the question?
Who is smarter? Book smart - Kirt. Commonsense - I may have the edge there.
Who does laundry? Me. (I was surprised when I went out of town that Kirt did his own laundry without calling to ask how to work the washing machine.)
Who pays the bills? Kirt brings home the bacon and I spend it.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? At night - Kirt. By morning - Owen.
Who mows the lawn? Kirt loves to when he gets a chance, but I usually beat him to it.
Who cooks dinner? Usually me - however Kirt did make his Grandma Peterson's famous cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate on Sunday.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Kirt has this funny way of not actually saying that he's wrong, but acknowledges it in his own way and tries to fix whatever was bugging me.
Who kissed who first? Kirt - what kind of girl do you think I am?
Who wears the pants? Depends on the decision and who feels more passionately about the subject. Both of us are pretty good to back down if we know it's important to the other. It may surprise some to know that Kirt wears the decorating pants. We still have a queen size quilt on our king size bed because Kirt can't find the perfect bedding (unless I was willing to spend $700).

(Thanks Ali - Kirt will be so excited to read all about himself!)

Not done yet... McKenna tagged me with the "8 things about me". Click here to read what I had to say about that. Although, I will say that Grey's Anatomy was getting out of control and I was considering a boycott, but they fired one of the characters in the storyline, so I may be back. If not, in its place, our family is super excited about the return of The Amazing Race - it's our Sunday night wind-down show.