Two truths and a fraud--ANSWERS

Wow, we really kept you guessing! Here are the answers:

Eric:
has never been off the North American continent (true). We've taken a few excursions to Mexican border towns and a cruise off the coast of Florida. He spoke Portuguese on his mission--in Toronto, Canada. He has never even had a passport!

has been skydiving (true). He went with a friend after graduating from high school. I'm sure he would do it again if he didn't have responsibilities like a wife and son.

has NOT already filed our 2009 tax return (fraud!). This is tricky, because he began working out our taxes in December, but he hasn't been able to actually file yet because he's still waiting for a single W-2. He anxiously checks the mail daily.

Meg:
has never read a Jane Austen novel (true). Crazy, isn't it? Even more bizarre, I have never seen any of the movies either! Barring the LDS version of Pride & Prejudice, which I don't think really counts as Jane Austen. I AM in the middle of Pride & Prejudice right now, so this one will likely be untrue as of next week. The verdict is still out on whether I like it or not.

canNOT do the splits all three ways (fraud!) I'm sure this comes as a surprise to anyone who's known me forever, because I always could! BUT, I just checked last night and with a thirty second warmup I can do right and left splits, but not middle. Not since having Scotty! For the record, I could still do middle splits when I was seven months pregnant.

wants to get Scuba certified (true). I love snorkeling and was obsessed with the ocean growing up--my amazing mom even let me paint my walls blue/green and stencil sea life all over my room. She even painted a 3 foot-long orca and it's calf on my wall! So yes, I want to get Scuba certified before Eric and I take another cruise so I can really see what's out there. No, I do not EVER plan to dive with sharks.

Scotty:
hates mashed potatoes (true). He's picky about textures and can detect any hint of mashed potato no matter what I've mixed it with. He does, however, like french fries as long as he has something to dip them in.

hates getting his hands dirty (true). One of his first coordinated gestures--before clapping his hands or waving goodbye--was brushing his hands off. As much as this kid loves food, if he gets jam on those little fingers he drops the sandwich immediately and freaks out until they get wiped. He doesn't mind food on his face, however!

Scotty dunking his breadstick in ketchup...and getting his fingers in the process!

LIKES going to bed (fraud!) Who would have thought, after all our creative parenting techniques when he was tiny (involving swings, swaddling, radio static, flashlights, pacifier catchers, etc.) that he would voluntarily put himself to bed almost every night? He'll pick up Ruffles, the dog he sleeps with, wave us goodbye, blow kisses, and go try to climb into his crib. Sometimes he plays for awhile and occasionally he still needs to cry himself to sleep for a few minutes, but he loves his routine and he likes sleeping at night. Naps are often a different story!


Thanks for playing! How did you do? I'm curious to see how well I know any of you...anyone else want to start Two Truths and a Fraud?

Two truths and a fraud.

This semester Eric is taking Business Fraud (the sequel to Business Ethics...anyone else see the irony here?). To celebrate his education in deceit, here is the Larsen Family Two Truths and Fraud game.

Want to play? Just pick which statement is a fraud.

Communicating.

It's official. Scotty communicates. Don't misunderstand me--he doesn't talk. He occasionally says mama, dada, nana, baba (for his Papa), he "yows" for cats, and "YAWR"s for lions/tigers/hippos. He says "yeah" and "no" and gets them exactly backward.

But he communicates. Teaching this kid baby sign language was the best thing I ever did. He usually strings two or three signs together, with his favorite phrase being "more" "candy" "please". Here are scotty's words:

please
milk
more (again)
food
candy/sweet
all done
thank you (he blows kisses, actually...)
drink (sometimes)

and we're working on "change" (as in, change my diaper!) and "dirty". Is it a bad sign when you're daydreaming about potty training?

Still, it is SO nice that he tells me what he wants. Now he'll walk up to me, give me a hug to sweeten me up, then take my hand and walk me to the kitchen and sign "food please". Hard not to fall for that one ;o)

"Life is the Bubbles" (aka) Childhood Role Models

Scotty's current thing is watching The Little Mermaid. Yes, this was my favorite growing up, but I have tried to expose him to other classics, including Finding Nemo, Sword in the Stone, Oliver and Company, and Toy Story. Still, he picks The Little Mermaid off the shelf every time, and will happily sit in his rocking chair during the ENTIRE thing.

It got me thinking about role models we create for our children. Nursery rhymes and disney movies: what are we THINKING?! I've devised a little guessing game to illustrate my point. I'll sum up the plot, and you identify the movie/story/song.

1. Children out for a walk, trip and fall, and break their heads open.

2. Teenager thinks she's ready to make her own decisions, disobeys dad, convinces friends to keep hiding the truth, and tries to kiss a man who doesn't even know her name. No mother in this story.

3. Mom is killed. Gets shot at. Throws his competition off a cliff. Dad says two words to him during his entire life.

4. How to recognize if you're dying of the plague.

5. Child born with birth defect. Mother is jailed for trying to protect her child. Best advice comes from a mouse.

6. Person falls off a wall and is too mangled to ever be fixed.

7. Girl is loved by her father, who dies tragically young after remarrying. Unless you have mice friends who can sew, you'll be stuck as family slave forever.

8. Parents have a beautiful and beloved child, but give her away to be raised by three strange women in a forest.

9. Have a wonderful mom and dad, but people sneak into the house anyway and steal you away. New parents want to skin you to fashion their fall wardrobe.

10. Stealing is ok if you're in a big city, and you can sing.

11. Available men in town are so undesirable that it's better to marry a different species.


Ok, in actuality, I love disney movies, and I find nursery rhymes a great way to keep Scotty entertained. But it does make me think...

Belle--great dad, no mom
Cinderella--great deceased dad (we assume), evil stepmother and stepsisters
Jasmine--doting dad, no mom
Snow White--no parents, 12 short men
Ariel--great (if stern) dad, no mom

I guess you can't be a princess if you have a mom. Oh, well. My mom is too great. I'd pick her over a princessdom anyday :o)

Gould trip to UT

Meg's family came to UT this holiday weekend! Mom, Dad, brother Andrew, his wife Misty, and their two boys, Adien and Max. Thanks for coming to visit :o) Check out the slideshow at the bottom of this post for more great pictures!Friday we met up for the Draper Temple open house. It was beautiful, particularly the celestial room, and we had a wonderful experience being there all together as a family. It was the first time my mom had all of her kids together in the celestial room! Someday I know we'll all be there together again.

Friday night we went to a family party with my dad's side. Two of my cousins on that side are pregnant! Both due the same week in July.

Saturday, we all went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. If I lived closer, I would totally buy a membership--hours of endless entertainment for Scotty and the adults had a good time as well. Scotty's favorite was the bridge, especially when his Papa Brian found hand puppets that made tremendous bridge monsters.

Eric, Scotty and I came back to Provo on Saturday night for the ward activity at Spring Haven. I don't have any pictures because we were way too busy having a blast! We played Guitar Hero world tour, volleyball, pool (in the dark...?), Wii sports, and hung out on the slides. Ok, Scotty did most of the sliding, but he also played a bit of ping pong (aka he carried around a paddle for about an hour).

We missed the family get together on Sunday at my grandpa's nursing home, but we did stop by to see him. Scotty loves the duck-themed room! I'm also hearing that my cousin is pregnant...congrats! We had babies together last time around but sorry--no fetus here :o) Her sister Cali is due in March.


On Monday the whole crew came down here and we went to the Bean museum north of campus. "It's just like a zoo--only all the animals are dead." Scotty had the most fun he's ever had there as he is now old/big enough to run around without a stroller.

We love you! Come back soon!