At Whit's End

Love the way her brain works

2012-01-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

In prepping dinner, I took some frozen corn out and poured it into a bowl. I then returned the bag to the freezer and got out a bag of frozen peas. M walked up, looked at both, pointed at the corn and asked, "are those peas so cold that they're a different color?"

Fun at Cooper Spur!

2012-01-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

So when there's been all this crazy snow/ice on the road, we've stuffed the whole family into our little Camry because our Mazda's traction sucks. So it's just easier on the nerves, although being packed in so tight does lead to other things that are less easy on the nerves. Here they're still happy, if not a little crazy. We've now done this to-and-from Portland and to-and-from Mt. Hood's Cooper Spur.

What a fantastic find! We've never been there before but it was so cheap and SO completely geared towards beginners and kids. It was great. Dude even warmed up after a bit and thought it was great fun to walk up the hill to the bottom of the lift and laugh his head off at the skiiers coming by.

Aunt Patti and Uncle Jim even came, bringing their two large and very happy dogs to enjoy the snow!

Don't they look ready to ski?!

And Nana and Bopa were the ones to come up with the idea for the day. Sadly I don't have any pictures of the actual skiing because Bopa had one girl, Cooper the other, Nana was in charge of the refueling station, and I was following the little man up and down the hill.

They also had sledding off to the side, with a little rope tow to get you up there.

It wasn't the fastest sledding hill but the girls still cited it as their favorite part of the day ...

Despite how worried M looks here.

And Nana even gave it a try! Although apparently she didn't weigh enough to make it down the hill either. She stopped halfway down and had to push herself the rest of the way. She only did it once.

And before and after the little guy got worn out, this is where we spent our day. Thank heavens for the comfy couch in the little lodge! He even miraculously fell asleep amidst all the tumult. It didn't last long and this pic was snapped shortly after he awoke, from which he took like an hour to recover. He doesn't like his naps interrupted. To show his displeasure, he refused to look at the camera. In fact he sat like this, stroking his blanket for that full hour. After everybody was worn up, and the girls had even gone up the lift a few times (J will be sure to let you know that Bopa made her fall), we headed into Hood River for some yummy pizza.

Thanks so much for all the fun!!

And then it just kept snowing

2012-01-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

So after a few days of dusting, it decided to get serious and really snow. And snow, and snow, and snow. Guess who wasn't complaining?

Little dude thought it looked like loads of fun, although in all honesty, by the time he was all zipped and tucked and covered and tied up, he was less convinced.

Pretty quickly, his concerns grew. You see he couldn't move.

We solved the problem by finding him the best seat in the house!

Where he could watch all the action. And clearly, he was the only one watching since nobody else had their eyes open. Even J. Why's SHE closing her eyes? She's throwing the snowball!

He thought it was hysterical when they hit each other with the snowballs. Especially daddy. Everybody always loves that. His other favorite thing was to knock snow off of the tree branches and watch them spring back up. For some reason that was hilarious.

And despite it not being the best packing snow, the girls got right to work on building a respectable-sized snowgirl (although in all honesty, daddy did all the heavy work. they just accessorized).

They also built a rather impressive snow-brick wall to keep our snowgirl from running off and doing what snowmen do at night, but sadly, I didn't get a picture of all that hard work.

And that would be because I had to go back in pretty quickly. Little man got cold just sitting still, and I could only carry him so much so we left others to have fun in our winter wonderland. And it's a good thing they did, because the next day is started to drop freezing rain. And it did more the next day. And off and on for a week. So we had nasty snow covered in layers and layers of ice for forever! Not the easiest thing for a 7 month pregnant lady to walk around on, especially while holding a 16-month old! Just sayin. And it wouldn't melt because it wouldn't warm up and even when it did a little it didn't do us any good because our front yard doesn't get a lick of sun in the winter (should've seen all the garbage and recycling cans everybody had put out on the curb but that didn't get picked up for an extra week. Frozen solid. At least they didn't stink)! And you could hardly park your car anywhere because of what the snowplows had built up along the sides of the roads! Just a couple days ago, when it had been 2 weeks since the snow, Coop stood on our sidewalk right below our porch, and without moving at all, slid the whole way down to the street on the remaining ice. Total nightmare, but it is finally gone and we're now enjoying balmy 40 degree weather. Hardly even need a coat for that!

Every little bit counts

2012-01-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

So we haven't got the promised dump of snow by any means, but we have woke up to light dustings the last two mornings. And there's really no convincing the kids that they won't be able to make snow angels or a snowman family out of this tiny bit of snow, so here's a ton of pictures from the fun. I'm way too tired to be selective so here are pretty much all the good ones, because the kids are cute whether there's enough snow or not:

Ok, so he might have been wearing his sister's old pink snow boots. But he doesn't mind! And they keep the feet warm! At least he has such a tough, manly hat on!

Daddy wasn't answering her question, distracted by trying to get the best candid shot. She didn't appreciate being ignored. Clearly.

J has gotten rather photogenic lately, hasn't she? This snowball basically took all the snow off of the lawn to make. Gotta admire perseverance.

Yuuummm.

2012-01-08T20:10:00.000-08:00

So what's the deal with this fork-thing? You put it in your mouth and then what?

Squint smile!

Haha! This is so much fun!

Forget that silly fork. I think it's just there for show anyway. Bring on the spaghetti!

Who needs a bath?

Our Cindy Lou-Whos

2012-01-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

And their Christmas Tap/Jazz recital. Hilarious. Seriously good times.

I put them in this class because it covered both their age groups. Sadly she then split the group up into two based on age, so here's J's performance:

And here's M's (check out the serious facial expression!) with some unfortunate fuzzy problems because we had never used our still camera's video option before:

And the free dance where they let all the dancers come up and do whatever they wanted on the stage. M took them seriously and danced her heart out front and center.

Easier Said Than Done

2011-12-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

How to take good Christmas family photos.

Rule #1: Everybody keep their eyes open at the same time.

Rule #2: Don't say "Ho, ho, ho," during the photo shoot. "Cheese" works much better.

Rule #3: Don't wear your glasses ... and try to sit up straight so that you look bigger than the children if you're the daddy for example.

Rule #4: Fingers out of your mouths.

Rule #5: Keep your hands to yourself.

Rule #6: Smile.

Rule #7: No crying.

Rule #8: Remain seated ...

No seriously. Maintain order.

Rule #9: Know when you've lost, give up and wait for another day to try again. Just trying from the other side of the room isn't going to change much.

Christmas in Dairyville

2011-12-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to have new Christmas adventures! So this year we head over to Alpenrose dairy to see Santa and their Storybook Lane (They haven't had it in 6 years but it was a long-standing tradition before that). Unfortunately, we got there 15 minutes after the opened on Saturday and were given #45 to see Santa - right before we heard them call #3. An hour later they were on #25 ... so we kinda didn't wait to see Santa. But we did get to enjoy this charming little village, with a yummy bakery and a cool train set and Storybook Lane with the animals. Our little dude wasn't particularly thrilled to be there, but I think everybody else had a fun time :)

Thirsty?

2011-12-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

So the other day we went to this Family Fun Day at our local library. They have this room set up with lots of board games and Wii games, and a table of refreshments. We took advantage, and I am ashamed to say ... left quite the mess. Sorry about the popcorn Mr. Janitor. The other misadvanture had to do with our little man taking matters into his own hands when he was apparently a little thirsty. Or just curious. He kind of grabbed a whole pitcher of water, and poured it on his face. A little choking and a lot of crying later, we had ourselves a very wet little boy. So we went white trash and stripped him for the rest of the time we were there of everything but his pants, which were in decent shape. It was too cold though to go outside like that so we used the only thing we had - daddy's sweatshirt! Hilarious. He walked all the way down the hall by himself, tripping a bit as it dragged on the floor. Just our cute little Sith Lord. :)

Preschool Pajama Party

2011-12-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

Looking through pictures, I just noticed I missed posting these. Can't miss the pajama pictures. M was so thrilled about these! She laid out every single one of her jammies that morning and took hours deciding which one she would actually wear. Life is full of tough choices. Never too early to learn that :) Here she is with her friends and teachers:

M LOVES her school! It's been basically the best thing that's happened to her and possibly even the whole reason we moved to The Dalles. I do think this particular day that she was so excited about was the day her teacher laughed and told me that when they take pictures in class, M asks if she's going to put them on the blog. Her teacher thought that was hilarious. Especially when she told her she could just look at our blog and see. Like she was telling her how it's done.

Book Review - Cold River

2011-12-08T22:02:00.001-08:00

*So this is a little out of the ordinary routine, meaning there are no pictures of my cute kiddos in this post, but I am going to be reviewing books from time to time on the blog now as part of virtual book tours. I do receive the books for free so I can read it and review it but am not paid to write this nor am I told what to say. Thanks for reading!

Today I'm reviewing Liz Adair's new novel, Cold River. Here's the blurb on the back:

Mandy Steenburg thinks her doctorate in education has prepared her to run any school district - until she tangles with the moonshine-making, coon-dog-owning denizens of a tiny district in Pacific Northwest timber country. She's determined to make a difference, but the local populace still looks to the former superintendent for leadership. When Mandy lands in the middle of an old feud and someone keeps trying to kill her, instinct tells her to run. And though she has to literally swim through perilous waters, she finds a reason to stay and chance the odds.

So what did I think? Liz does a great job of describing this small town in the heart of my homeland (I've lived in the Pacific Northwest my whole life). While I've never been to the particular area described in the book, it feels like dozens of tiny towns we've driven through. I've always wondered a bit what people do there or how they come to end up in such tiny places hidden in the woods and mountains, and Liz's novel painted that picture for me.
Another thing I enjoyed were her characters. They were all very different from each other - many of them quirky and interesting to get to know. However, I do feel like in the end, the resolution and romantic relationship got wrapped up a little too quickly, not letting us fully get to know some of the characters as the dust settled and they're seen in their true colors.
Overall though, it was a pleasant, cozy, easy read. I honestly usually read a lot heavier stuff, but sometimes it's nice to read something that you can enjoy without having to work too hard. I like what Liz said about her romantic suspenses in her short bio in the back. She said, "I remember when I was a young mother with all those kids and a slender budget. I was so grateful for books that let me go places and meet people who carried on adult conversations. That's what I want to write - cheap vacations." So there you go! I think she accomplished her goal. Some things are predictable, some surprised me at the end. Basically, if you need a break or a "cheap vacation," check it out. You can purchase it here. And to learn more about the author - what she's doing and what she's reviewing - hop on over to her blog.

Hunting Christmas Trees

2011-12-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

We decided to go all out this year and make the trek to an actual Christmas tree farm and cut it down ourselves! Getting credit for doing this was so important that when we'd realized we'd forgotten the camera we went 20 minutes back to get it and yes J, "now we have to start all over again." But in case we never repeat this adventure, we need evidence that we did it so the kiddos "remember." And it was totally worth it! Gorgeous day. And quite the hilarious excursion. J was thrilled to find so many trees "her size."

M, on the other hand, was overjoyed to find trees the same size as Gumby Santa and Tinkerbell's friend, who apparently hang out. We kept momentarily losing her, and every time it was because she was on the ground somewhere playing with these guys.

Dude was just taking advantage of all the wide open spaces. He just kept running like crazy, which would've been fine except that the ground was uneven and pretty much any time he headed downhill, he laughed maniacally ... and face-planted. Didn't bother him much though. He'd get right up and do it again. Here he's giggling his head off as J is chasing him to try to get him to slow down. Pretty sure I know how that ended.

When he got to this section of the field, he went from tree to tree patting them as if to say, "nice work guys."

Then he discovered the stumps, which were understandably, quite fascinating. Naturally he had to kick them and try to stand on every one, which without fail resulted in him ending up on his face or backside.

But the fun had to end sometime - we picked one! All cute and little and perfectly shaped. Then what? Let's just say, Coop was pretty envious of the guys with the chainsaw. And dude was fascinated.

But who needs a chainsaw? We have daddy (who, incidentally, is now wearing a Dora the Explorer bandaid). And an incredible view.

Oh and one last pic just because she's looking way too grown-up. Totally freakin' us out.

Time to go vacuum up pine needles!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving weekend, we are SO very grateful for these beautiful, lively, healthy, entertaining, noisy, loving, forgiving, exasperating, hilarious, awesome kids. They each bring so much to our family! And aren't they cute?

And then it's probably about time (or way past time), to mention the other blessing that's coming our way, for which we are very grateful. We had been trying to wait until Christmas to tell everyone by showing up with a big bow on my belly, but about a week ago my belly rather inconveniently popped out and we knew we couldn't make it through Thanksgiving without someone ... or everyone noticing. So we came home early to tell our family about our upcoming arrival, expecting to make it's appearance sometime around March 19th. Yep, that makes me more than five months pregnant. And nope, we hadn't even told our moms yet. I know. We're a little bit crazy. It actually became a little bit of a game to see how long we could go with just us knowing our secret! Thankfully, it's been the easiest pregnancy and has almost flown by. For which I am very grateful too!
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you had a great one with lots of family and yummy food!

First Snow!

2011-11-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

M was SOOO excited that it snowed today! She sat at the window for the longest time, giving me updates on how much it was snowing about every 10 seconds. She kept calling it a "big snowstorm," and asking if there was enough to make a snowman yet? Eventually, (after I looked at the weather report and realized it was going to turn to rain soon) we dressed up and headed out. Fortunately, she's very easy to please because later when I told J, who was at school stuck inside sadly, that we'd made a "little" snowman, M objected, and said it was a "BIG BIG snowgirl!" Glad she was so happy. May need to have her eyesight checked.

Dude slept through our outdoor playtime, but thought it was pretty cool to wear my hat when he woke up.

He cutely kept pointing out the window and jabbering something or other. After Coop came home and took M to school though, he got serious. He brought me his shoes and then proceeded to blow me kisses as I put them on him. He was headed out.

Because he's great, when Coop got back for like the 5 minutes left of his lunch he took him outside to walk around the yard. Dude is usually pretty excited to do that actually. He walks around the square of grass a couple of times whenever we step out to get the mail or get in the car. That's all. Just circles it happily. Think he's proud of the fact that he can walk? Here he's blowing me kisses again. I think he was hoping to go to work with daddy. Sounds like fun, eh dad?

And this one was just too cute to not include. Love my boys!

Hidden Gems

2011-11-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we packed up the kids, and ventured out into the cold and fog to explore new local treasures, and were rewarded with some serious hidden gems (sorry for those who read my art blog too as this is a bit of a double post, though it was all about art on the other blog and all about the kiddos here)! We started out at the Maryhill Museum, which is this charming art museum with some pretty incredible history (like that Queen Marie of Romania dedicated it and donated royal stuffs, which the girlies loved) out in the middle of nowhere. I mean it's seriously in the middle of nowhere. I won't mention my disappointment that the winery just down the road, which is also in the middle of nowhere, had about 10x the visitors. But it was actually a blast for all, except perhaps the little man who couldn't be allowed to roam free touching everything he saw. There was a sweet Rodin exhibit downstairs, a Native American exhibit, and a post-WWII French fashion show in miniature among other things.

Then there was this great kids room, which was a serious hit. Here they are working on their self-portraits.

And here, dude is clapping at the mess he's making. Whenever he knocks over towers, dumps things out, or otherwise creates chaos, he looks at us with a huge grin and claps. Boy.

Squint smile!

And the girlies created Rodin-inspired sculptures out of tin foil which they promptly named Diana and Aphrodite. It's a long story.

Can you spot their portraits on the wall? Clue #1 - J's has red hair. Clue #2 - M's is right next to hers.

Then we enjoyed the sculpture gardens outside where J showed off by reading all the plaques as my hands went very numb. Dang it was cold!

Then we drove down the street to this enormous Stonehenge World War I Memorial built by the same guy that did the museum long time ago. It is designed to look like Stonehenge probably did back in it's heyday. Man those are some big rocks! Little man looked even smaller than normal, though that didn't stop him having a ball running around like a drunken sailor on the unsteady gravel, peek-a-booing around the stones.

Oh, I hadn't mentioned this yet. I brought this new legal pads in the cars to keep the girls busy while we drove. They got very excited about them and insisted on bringing them everywhere to write down everything they liked. At each new room, they'd plop down in the middle of the room and go to town. J brought hers to school today to share what she did this weekend. I'll scan some if it and post it later because it's some good entertainment. Love the spelling. Love what was interesting to them. Here M just made herself comfy to write about Stonehenge. Doesn't look so comfy to me.

Daddy and dude running down the hill to check out the train. We hear trains all the time in The Dalles. Dude always stops whatever he's doing, points in some random direction and says, "da?" And when given the chance, watches them pass by with some serious intensity.

Nice view, huh?

Looking back up the hill at Stonehenge.

One of the plaques. There was another big one that listed all soldiers from Klickitat county (where it is) that lost their lives in WWI, along with an additional one that lists soldiers from the county that have died in all subsequent wars and those who were taken POW. This led to some intense discussions on the way home.

Again, nice view, eh? Although it all is more impressive when the usual sunny skies are out. Maybe next time. But if you ever happened to be looking for things to do in the Columbia Gorge, we recommend both of these!

Today's bestests

2011-11-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Top 3 things I heard said today:

3. J: "Oh yeah. Here's all the junk in the trunk." (apparently she'd heard the phrase on Gnomeo and Juliet and was just incorporating it into common usage, but fortunately she still thinks it means actual junk in an actual trunk.)
2. (Sung by M) I love yooooooou with your heart that beeeeaattts in your stomach! (A few more lines into her song, J came to me and asked, Mom, do you have any idea what she's singing about?)
1. "Hey, M-M! No stripping in a parking lot!" Solid advice.

Trick-or-Treating till ya drop!

2011-10-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

Finally the big day had arrived (the countdown was just killing us)! And The Dalles does this awesome thing where they have trick-or-treating downtown from 3 to 5. Downtown is like 4 blocks by 4 blocks, which I didn't think was much until we tried to cover it with the kiddos and heavy bags of candy! It was great though, just going from storefront to storefront in daylight (apart from the one that turned out to be a serious Haunted House without warning, and you couldn't get out once in because of all the people behind you - Cooper will probably have nightmares tonight. Poor girls), and being totally done by 5! We went home, had dinner and then carved our pumpkins. Yes, we are that lame. We had not yet carved them, but now we have! I did learn at least one thing from the afternoon though. If your child is going to be a butterfly, when it comes to the wings, bigger is not better. Beautiful though they were, they posed a serious health hazard to any and every person within 10 feet. But, enjoy the pics, grumpy little dragon and all:

And now that the kids are in bed, time to take a closer look at their candy bags. You know, to make sure it's all safe and such. Yum. Kinda felt like it was a bit of a sham though, having people put candy in our little dragon's bag. As if I'm going to let him eat all that!

Happy Halloweenies

2011-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

J was very proud to finally finish her "fluffy" tissue paper pumpkin. Let's just say good thing Halloween is at the end of October or it might not have been finished in time. I'm not sure we'll be making more "fluffy" projects any time soon :)

Aren't these the most adorable treats? I saw the idea on somebody's crafting blog (I'd link to it but, let's be honest, I don't remember how I got there in the first place). I was a bit naive in not realizing the sticky mess M and I would be by the end (sometime J misses out when she's at school - we might have to destroy the evidence so she's not upset ... or make more!).

I wish you could see all this artwork better. They've worked long and hard on it. Thankfully Halloween is almost here though because we're running out of window space!

Next on the docket ... carving pumpkins.

Ah kids

2011-10-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

(M tangled up in necklaces ... for no particular reason)

Yesterday my parents and Coop's parents came to surprise the girls to watch them in our congregations' Primary program (where the kids pretty much do the whole meeting with short little talks or lines and lots of songs they've been working on all year - so cute!!). We hadn't told them but as they got close said that we had a surprise for them. They started searching the house and we said, nope, it's not here yet, but it's coming. They asked, "how will it get here?" Coop answered in a car. "What?!" And then I added, "and then it'll walk in here on it's own 8 legs." 8 legs?!? They sat dumbfounded for a minute and then M whispered in awe, "I think it's an octopus." Minutes later they arrived, and J went running out to give hugs while M ran out jumping up and down joyously announcing, "they brought the surprise in their car!" "No, no, no, THEY are the surprise, go be happy to see THEM!"

This is the view I get a lot whenever I feel a tug on my clothes. Except here he's smiling.

Also, our darling, barely one-year old is proving that he's all boy. If anybody burps, his head pops up with eyes huge, and he immediately starts alternating between laughing and fake burping. This goes on either until the girls stop laughing or he loses interest. Both of which take awhile. How has this happened already?

This morning when Coop said, "time to go J," she opened the front door and said, "Ok, let's hop!" and was off.

No pic of J in this post, but I did find this book she'd been making. Not a school project. Just for fun. It was hole punched in the corner and stuck together with a big ring. So cute!

Oh and we went to the dentist last week, and as we left, J told everyone that would listen, "I use to want to be a ballerina but now I think being a dentist would be even more fun." Not sure where she got that idea but, you know, go girl.

Back to Lee Farms

2011-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! The weather actually cooperated and we were able to go to the pumpkin patch with my mom on the one day we were in town and had time to go! And by cooperated, I mean it drizzled all morning, and let up enough for us to jump in the car in the afternoon. Little muddy, but that didn't stop these 4 cousins from lovin' it!

On the big bouncy thing, M went into wussy mode and spent most of her time like this, so the other girls spent a good chunk of time taking turns dragging her back up.

Hey look! They're actually all on their feet at once!

And now they're all sitting at the same time ... although one of the four is actually sitting on air.

On to the hayride, of course! What's a pumpkin patch without a hayride? And yes, we're having smiling issues at the moment. We have forgotten how. Let's not even talk about school pictures. Oi.

They were just all smiles all day, and even though we were there way longer than we were supposed to be, making my cousin Elena late in leaving for home in Salem (she had to leave during rush hour - ouch), we actually were shuffling the girls along. It's just that there was so much to see! We saw a ton of stinky baby pigs, goats that literally were eating M's shirt while she as laughing her head off, horsies and bunnies from the hayride, baby calves 2-3 weeks old, and fluffy little chicks. One of the time problems was that they got unlimited access to the hay maze. They'd still be there I think if we hadn't made them leave.

See what I mean about the smiling thing? No pic of J because I was the only adult there and she had a tendency to throw the chicks the second I put them in her hand because they might peck her. So I couldn't man the camera and protect the chicks at the same time. As I dragged the girlies away, they all announced that they all want baby chickies of their own. Too bad they grow into chickens.
Picking out pumpkins also took eternity because M had to handle every single one on the farm before being sure she had the right one. You think I'm kidding, don't you. I'm not. Her little cousin even mumbled, M is sure picky, as we followed her around. But it all works out. Thanks Nana!

Ever had conversations like this?

2011-10-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

They happen at our house all the time.

Seriously entertaining

2011-10-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

Lately M has been saying and doing the funniest things. For example, the other night at dinner as she was crumbling her toast into her soup she says, "When you put pieces of bread in water, it turns into tuna fish." As we all stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds, she lost a little of her certainty and added, "I think, right?"

Also she REALLY loves her alone time with me in the morning when J is at school and Dude is sleeping. She is such a chatterbox during that time! The other morning we did her giant princess puzzle. Except I'm not allowed to do any of the princess pieces. That naturally includes the princess, her horse, the castle, and the butterflies, rainbow, and swans because they're pretty and pretty is for princesses. That leaves me with a corner piece that has a frog, a couple of grass pieces and one or two sky pieces. She then gets upset at me for not working/helping her more. It's a pickle.

She also enjoys playing charades with me in the morning. They have a stack of charades cards that have words and pictures on them so it works even though she can't read what they say. But she doesn't like when I guess it too quickly, so she intentionally doesn't give good clues. "I want it to be tough for you Mama." Okay. And it was getting tougher and tougher. She tried to get me to guess ballerina by boinging around like a jack-in-the-box. Her puppy dog looked much more like a hungry lion. Her guitar impression made me think she might have been electrocuted. For one she poked the air a few times and then just stared forward with an extremely confused look on her face. That was computer (Guess I can't give her a hard time for that one though as it's most likely me at the computer that she was impersonating!). But the best was when she put her arms out and slowly flew around the room. None of the normal guesses of airplane or bird were right, so she "helped" me out by explaining that she was floating, not flying. I threw out a few others like bubble and then she got clumsy and tripped over some toys on the floor a couple of times. I asked if that was on purpose and she said, "Yeah. I'm bumping into planets." Well that kind of threw me for a loop and after a few more unsuccessful guesses I gave up and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm a human."

Candy Corn Delight

2011-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

So in preparation for General Conference this weekend, we had printed Conference packets from sugardoodle, laid out crayons and a new gigantic Dora coloring book, and prepared a few crafts to keep the girls quiet and in the same room so that they might soak in a few words. Might. At least they're there, right? We do ask them to sit reverently and listen when the prophet is speaking, but we can't expect them to sit arms folded for 8 hours in two days. Anyway, I diverge. One project that required my assistance was this awesome Halloween wreath. I'd seen it on the cover of some magazine my mom had bought, and thought it was fantastic! We didn't have the magazine with us of course, and couldn't remember much other than the rows of candy corns, so we did what we thought was best. To be a little dramatic, we first wrapped our styrofoam wreath in black ribbon, pinning it for extra security into the back. Then we glued away with our low-temp glue gun.

The girls loved it and were amazingly persistent. We only had to remove candy corns a few times when they were facing the wrong way, but they stuck with it!

Needless to say, Buddy wasn't involved but was more than happy to pose for a picture. Doesn't it look amazing?! I love it! It makes me smile to see it. We added a bow because it looked like it needed something more. Now if we can just work on closing the door a little softer our wreath might make it to Halloween!

Oh, and if you have a sec, hop over to Sew Dang Cute and click on the link for my wreath. I've never entered a craft in a contest before but there are prizes (for those who's pictures get clicked on the most) and I happened to actually have made one for once that is super cute, so hey, why not? Thanks! Happy Halloween!

Yummy Mexican food!

2011-10-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

So last week we had to bring our car into a Mazda dealership to get some stuff fixed under warranty. Saved us a few hundred plus, but the nearest dealership is back in Portland so we had to make a last minute trip. Course they found other stuff to fix that wasn't under warranty, but that's a different complaining story altogether. Yesterday they called to say it was ready for pickup - not too convenient - and Grammy and Papa very kindly decided to drive it right out to us, AND take us out to dinner! So nice!

You can't see the half of the mess in this last picture. This might be one of the reasons we don't go out much. Did anything actually get in his mouth??? We asked if they had an extra cleaning fee for people like us. I think Papa left a large tip. Oh and I almost forget to mention, speaking of dude's bad behavior - our waiter kept trying to get him to smile or wave at him. Dead pan. The whole time. I actually heard the waiter walk off mumbling, what's wrong with this kid. Happiest baby in the world. Just not too friendly. Don't take it personal.

We're still here!

2011-10-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

So I've been REALLY lame about taking pictures lately. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I feel like I spend all my time shuffling my kiddos to and from school, feeding people, and trying to convince the little guy to sleep enough so he doesn't become our little Tazmanian devil. Which, by the way, is NOT making him sound worse that he becomes when overtired. This whole boy thing is a bit crazy sometimes (He doesn't stop moving anytime, anywhere!). But here are a few things we've been up to, along with some random pics of the little guy:

1. Both girls ran in an elementary school cross country race last Thursday. It was a huge affair with 3+ elementary schools involved. Just imagine the chaos of all those kids! They both ran in the K-1 division. You should've seen the start. They were all cram-packed together and there were so many out-of-control collisions and unintended tackles. Oh well. It was just on grass at the park. But they both ran their hearts out for the .6 mi course and J placed 5th for her age girls, and got a ribbon which, of course, will be treasured forever (to give you an idea of how many kids there were, M placed 83rd in the K/1st grade division. She did have the disadvantage of starting after everybody else because she got trampled before it even started so we pulled her out and let her jump in after they'd all gone by, but she was by no means last.)

2. J's growing up too fast. Today she requested that I please put metal spoons in her lunch instead of the IKEA colorful ones because her and her friends think those are for babies.

3. She's also got a little too self-conscious. She does not want anyone at school to know her nickname is Jelly because "they would probably laugh at it. Please don't tell them!"

4. I volunteered at M's preschool to teach a fun Eric Carle art project. Check out their awesome "very hungry caterpillars." It was a blast, although I definitely need to brush up on my Spanish a bit! Vocab such as tissue paper, glue, and caterpillars just wasn't coming to mind! Can't imagine why. Used it all the time on my mission :) Or since.

5. Dude is walking. As a trick. We have video, but let's be honest, i don't know how to put it on here. Hopefully Coop can soon. It's adorable, and he really loves to do it to show off (he makes sure everybody is watching the whole time), but really does just think it's a trick like blowing kisses or clapping hands. Crawling is for getting from point A to point B. Lazy boy.

6. We went to Bend for the weekend because Coop had a work conference there, conveniently 10 minutes from my parents' vacation house. Fun times! No pics. Sorry! Bopa introduced the girls to mountain biking though. Ai yi, yi!

7. The girlies started a tap/jazz class. Hilarious. Love how they think they're doing the right tap moves as long as they're making noise!

8. We're done canning for the year (we might've got a bit ambitious this year, and by we of course I mean me, but hey, if the world ends, we'll at least have fruit for a long time - which by the way, whenever I use any food storage in an effort to rotate, J gets very distressed and says, "Mom! What'll we do on a rainy day if you use that all now?!"). Hallelujah for being done. I know Coop seconds that. Loudly. Although the fruit flies that have taken up residence in our kitchen are a bit disappointed.

Ever Feel Like This?

2011-09-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

The well-practiced "Stink Eye"

He's 1!

2011-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

How did this happen? How did he get to be 1? Arg, I'm clearly getting old, sitting here talking about how time goes too quickly, and how kids grow up too fast. But it's true!! He's 1! My baby somehow turned 1 today.

To capture this moment before it passes and we're celebrating his 16th birthday, here's a few things about him right now:

*He crawls ridiculously quickly, but then gets serious and lowers his head (to decrease wind resistance), and goes into super speed. Sometimes he plows right into things.

*He refuses to even attempt to walk on his own. Just not interested.

*He LOVES food. Upon being put in his high chair he expects food to appear immediately. If it doesn't he starts to do this move where it looks like his head is going to explode and he's trying to squeeze an imaginary beach ball.

*When he's done eating, he clears his tray using his arms like windshield wipers. It's effective.

*His favorite book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" He really loves to help turn the pages. And he turns around and makes goldfish mouths at me on that page. So cute.

*He loves to be upside-down.

*He's obsessed with climbing on everything. It's a disaster. I left the room for a minute, came back and found him climbing onto the piano keys. This is leading to a lot of falling. Thankfully nothing bad so far but he doesn't really get that it's not a good idea.

*He thinks his sisters are hilarious. He loves it when they try to make him laugh. He's not so fond of them picking him up or of

them trying to keep him from doing something he wants to do.

*His blankie signals bedtime to him. He can't resist the silkiness when he's tired. If we merely toss it on the floor, he crawls over to it, leans down, and starts rubbing his head on it.

*He loves to fold his arms when we pray. He does it once at the beginning, periodically throughout the prayer, and then quickly when we say amen as if to say he was folding them all along.

*He loves cars. He has just started to say "vroom,

vroom" when he pushes them back and forth.

*He loves to roll/throw a ball back and forth. Most of the time he drops it on his foot and it rolls to you and he smiles huge, very proud of himself. But it is the thing that keeps his attention the longest.

*He likes to stand at our screen door and wave goodbye to his daddy. In fact, after watching him drive away each day, he has started to wave at any car that drives past. He has even started saying "da" in reference to Coop.

*For months whenever we tried to get him to say Mama he'd blow a raspberry. Now he just ignores the request altogether.

*He has 1 1/2 teeth - making him the first of our children to have a tooth before they learned to walk.

*He likes to dance to music. So far his favorite is the samba music in the new animated movie Rio. He shimmies. Seriously.

*We have a Sesame Street toy where Elmo sings
ABC when you push a button. He's pretty much

become reliant on it in the car. However, he never lets the song finish before he pushes it again. When he's particularly agitated, he pushes it, starting the song over, every few seconds.

*He really likes to put the rocks in front of our house in his mouth. He looks at me each time he does, waiting for me to say no, then he tosses it, picks up a new one, and does it again.

*He's very interested in my teeth. He likes to touch them when I'm singing him to sleep. Then he starts to try to dig them out with his nails.

*Sometimes instead of laughing he does a big, open-mouthed smile and makes this slow, audible intake of breath sound. Don't know how else to describe it. Just weird.

*He loves to sit and flip through books by himself.

*He loves to open cupboards and empty them. Our collapsible strainer is his favorite. He also loves to climb inside the dishwasher. And he sprints towards the fridge anytime it's open.

*His feet and neck are extremely ticklish.

*He's a super happy baby, but not the friendliest. He can keep a straight face for a remarkable amount of time when a stranger, or even an extended family member that he hasn't seen in a few days, tries to make him smile.

Ok, I've indulged myself long enough. We love our little man. He's adorable. He's not a huge fan of birthdays though as a side note. Don't let these pictures deceive you. We first put the cupcake on his tray when we were home last weekend celebrating with family and when he reached for the candle, we all said no a little too loudly and scared him. He freaked out big time. It took 10 minutes to get him to stop crying and at least 30 to keep him from screaming at the sight of a cupcake. It took an insane amount of coaxing to convince him to eat it. But we persisted. We needed these cute pictures for posterity. And for me. We tried again tonight on his real birthday with a chocolate cake, so as not to bring up bad memories. He started whining when we sang to him, and refused to put a single bite in his mouth. He stuck his fingers in the frosting, then proceeded to try to shake it off, getting more and more frustrated when he couldn't get it off. It wasn't too long before he threw it all on the floor. Double failure. That makes us 0 for 3. Not a one of our kids have dug into their first birthday cake. What's with that? Oh well, Happy Birthday dude!

Lots of Firsts

2011-09-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

First Day of 1st grade!!! With this came a few other firsts, like the first time we'd ever left the house before 8 AM. Her school starts at 7:55! That's insane. In fact, up until Wednesday, our house rule had always been no getting out of your room until 8. It's been a rough adjustment ... for mom. She gets up fine, but is definitely not accustomed to having to get moving right away. Keeping her going so she can at least dress and eat is a tad tricky (read space case). She's cute though and was really excited to wear her backpack. The first day she first put it on at like 7:10. And then again every five minutes after that. We had to keep telling her to take it off and get clothes on first, or eat something. Naturally she was a bit timid at drop-off (daddy brings her to school on his way to work - how cool is that?) but having got to go and meet the teacher and the classroom the day before really helped. I, however, spent most of the day wandering around the house feeling totally lost. I'm just not so sure about this all-day thing. It's a really long time! Is she really old enough for this?? Am I?

Then, a few hours later at a more reasonable time of day, M had her first day of her new afternoon preschool. I haven't been so sure about parting with her either, especially because this program is a crazy 4 days a week! Twice as much as I was looking for! But she really needed something and we found this perfect preschool that is actually at J's elementary school, so I pick them both up at the same time at the same place, and the stars just seemed to align and so we went for it. And she's loving it. Absolutely loving it. She goes on and on about how it's so cool she's at the same school as J and she gets to have PE and Music and Library like the big kids, which is pretty unique. It helps her not miss her sister too much and really what was most important for her was to start learning to make friends of her own, so welcome to preschool!
And her little group got right to work playing with puzzles. For now there's only 5 little kiddos but they say the class usually fills up by the end of Sept. We'll see. I like the cozy numbers for getting comfortable.

And Dude stays with me. Thank goodness somebody does! Though if there was a first for him, it's probably first time having mom to himself. And first time we've had to be on such a rigid schedule. Wait, what am I thinking? His first is that TODAY is his 1st birthday! No, I'm not kidding. I don't have a clue how that happened so fast. More on that later. For now, he's happily going along with our new schedule, and loving all the walking back and forth to school. We live like 4 blocks away so it'd be a breeze if it weren't for the monster hill we live on. It's killing me. He doesn't mind that so much. But the heat does get to him, and all the rest of us. The first day of school it was over 100 degrees. Not okay. We were all sweaty beasts by the time we got home. I would feel just ridiculous driving when we live so close but 100 degree weather is not ok for walking up hills in. That sun is wicked hot (one of J's complaints about her 1st day was that she had THREE recesses and they were hot, hot, hot and she was too, too tired from all that hot). We're really hoping it starts to cool down a little, because I can't carry all 3 kids home. Imagine how sweaty I'd be?!

Here's us posing in front of their school at the end of the day. We made it! They're so proud to be wearing backpacks. Cracks me up. M just loved her day, "had lots of fun painting pictures for me, told the teachers [she's] an artist, but didn't have time to make friends yet." J had mixed emotions. When I asked how it went, she said "a little bit sad, and a little bit happy." I asked if it was because it was such a long day, since that was on my mind. "No because Lulu said she didn't want to be my friend, but I told her I didn't know anyone else but later she did play with me." Nothing else really mattered (Oh, and the next day, Lulu shared an Oreo with her at lunch and told J her hair was pretty, so I think it's all good now). She was exhausted, envious of some of the things M and I had got to do together while she was at school, and said she didn't want to go back, but the next morning she was up bouncing around getting ready happily. Good thing too, Coop left super early for a meeting, and I didn't even think to set an alarm clock. Glad she woke up! I would've felt so lame if she'd been late on her 2nd day! I need to get with it! For kicks, here's a good back-to-school comic. We have word confusion like this all the time in our house. Love it.

Best Corn Maze Ever

2011-09-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

We went to a few farms the other day in search of fruit for canning on our way into Portland. The girls were first enamored by this creative display.

Then we were told their corn maze was already open so we went to take a look. But this was no mere corn maze. It was also The Princess and the Pear.

Every few corners there was another bit of the story, portrayed by painted gourds in delightful fashion. It really was so cute. The girls got a kick out of it, although they were not really sure the farm could just go and change a pea into a pear just because they grew pears.

Naturally the happy ending was their favorite part. The little guy surprisingly had a blast in the maze. Whenever leaves hit us in the face or we had to push them aside or duck, he laughed out loud. He was less thrilled to be held by his sister for the picture. As we exited the girls jumped up and down and begged to go through again. However, not having been prepared for such an occasion with my Moby or anything, and since Buddy weighs quite a bit these days, my arms chose to move on. Especially since I'd already promised we could go tour the flower gardens. Gorgeous. Totally recommend checking out this farm, especially during some of their upcoming festival days such as the Salsa Sizzle, or the Pear Party! Good times.

Out "adventuring"

2011-08-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

It started as one of those lazy-day Saturdays without ambition or plan. But we decided that we should give up our homebody status for a day and go be spontaneous. So we threw the kids in the car and went exploring or "adventuring" as the girls called it. We took off down the Fruit Loop and stopped at a number of farms ...

This was the view, by the way, behind that swing:

I could've stood right here all day. It smelled incredible. We did leave this stand with the best homemade, half-frozen apple cider we've ever tasted. Yum.

And the kids got to feed the kids, and later a bunch of alpacas, which I didn't take any photos of, even though the 3 week-old alpaca babies were adorable.

Dude was very interested in the animals unless they came too close. The mama pig made him quite nervous.

Down the road a ways we found a great playground at some park/campground area, which was of course, gorgeous.

And Buddy finally got to get out of the stroller, for which he was quite happy.

We couldn't believe the views. This was just us stopping at some deserted intersection in the middle of nowhere to take a picture. Can't imagine waking up and seeing this out your window every morning!

Then we decided to stop by the beach in Hood River so the girlies could see all the river action. It was unbelievable. These guys are nuts! And those things are HUGE! And there was just this constant flow of people coming in and going out, just a mass of humanity. The energy was awesome.

I'm not sure the girls cared much though. They played in the water, oblivious to anything else. And after a really, really hot day getting in and out of the car, I don't much blame them.

The best thing of all about the day ... the kids were amazing. They were so good, no complaining, no fighting, no crying - even with us having neglectfully left our backpack full of treats and drinks and extra diapers on the kitchen table. Brilliant move. Way to go me. But to top it all, on the way home the girls shouted, "this was the best adventure day EVER!" Ahh, sweet redemption. No mention of missing rice krispie treats in their prayers that night. Ha! In fact, M said the family prayer and listed individually every single thing done, including things like finding a shell in the river. It was a really long prayer for a little girl, and it made the whole day really, really worth it for her parents!

Never quite enough

2011-08-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

We had a really full day today. We started slow like always but did manage to clean 2 rooms, do Pilates, play with princesses and color some. And, of course, we went on the much-anticipated walk/bike ride/scooter ride to J's school to see her new classroom for the first time ... in the heat of the day. We then jumped in the car and met daddy for lunch and walked through The Dalles Art Center's local show. Then we went to the library and checked out a bunch of great new books. Then we came home and ate second lunch and made awesome slushies in our ice-cream maker that we enjoyed on the porch. Then the girls watched How to Train Your Dragon while Buddy and I took naps. Then we had first dinner - enchiladas ... yum! Then while Coop and I went to a work related meeting, the girls played at a neighbor's house and had a ball. Then we rushed home and they had second dinner because they were still a little hungry. I was feeling pretty good about things. During family prayer though, J asked, "and please, please help mommy to remember to make rice krispie treats tomorrow like she promised to do today." Ouch. Really? That's the lasting impression of the day? Sigh. Guess the day wasn't quite as complete as I'd thought. Maybe I won't try as hard tomorrow :)

Fun times to be had

2011-08-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

So I know I already posted about our girl's birthday, but I did have to add this one pic of the two of them in front of the incredibly colorful cake, courtesy of Grammy and Safeway.

Then, in anticipation of this dude's birthday (which believe it or not is next month!!!!!), and because of a great deal on Craigslist we scored this fantastic play set. I know we technically should've waited until the big day but then we would've missed a month of good summer days to play on it, so we didn't wait. This pic was just cause the guy is adorable. The rest are as promised so you can see what it looks like and how much fun they're having. When I showed J a pic of it before we had it, she said, "looks like it's for babies." Her initial snootiness has not, however, stopped her from climbing over every inch of it. They all love it. It will be both better and worse once dude can maneuver around it more on his own. For now he needs my help, but on the plus side, that also means, he only goes where I want him to. I don't see that being true in the near future. Ah well.

I think it's great!

She's 6!

2011-08-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

The long-awaited birthday has finally happened. J turned 6 today. We have been counting down for a long time. She has been very extremely eager to be 6, especially because she's always the last of her friends to reach the milestone. That's what happens when your birthday is like a week before the school cut-off date. And having this birthday is very important in so many ways. Turning 6 means you get to go to 1st grade, which is both exciting and a little sad "because grades aren't as fun as kindergarten." Turning 6 is "probably why (she) was able to be patient for the first time tonight while waiting for help at dinner." Turning 6 means you should definitely start losing some teeth soon, "please mom, won't I ever lose any teeth (not looking good)?" Turning 6 means you're big enough and responsible enough to clean your room without assistance - okay so that's something I'm excited about and pushing pretty hard while she's less certain of that milestone. Turning 6 means the world to our little girl, who's not actually so little anymore. Turning 6 is really hard on mom and dad, because we don't know how it could've happened so fast, and are terrified that the next 6 will go just as fast and then where will be? I'm so not ready to go back to middle school. But I do so love this girl! I love her smile and her crazy contagious laugh. I love her spontaneity and quirky sense of humor. I love how much she cares about everyone and is sensitive to their feelings. I love how loving she is to her siblings and how she never complains when I ask her for help with her brother and with getting something when I don't have enough hands. I love her faith. I love her cuddling up beside me for no reason other than she wants to be near me. I love that she's not too old for that yet. Happy Birthday Red!

(additional baby pics for sentimental purposes. Mom is feeling it. Sniff sniff. Giggle giggle.)

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream for lunch, anyone?

2011-08-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Why have we never done this before??? It was so incredibly yummy, creamy, and rich. Red ate half of hers and was done, so Blondie finished them both off. No surprise there.

And yes, it's lunchtime and M is wearing her jammies and J is wearing who know's what in the middle of a warm summer day. So?

Best $8 I ever spent!

2011-08-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

So it's a bit hotter here in The Dalles than it had been in Sammamish. Ever. The first few days we were here I had to keep convincing the girls that they didn't need long pants and sweat shirts on. It is summer after all. And here it even feels like it. So to celebrate, and to survive, we ran to Freddie's and bought a little pool. It's super cute and is a major hit. This is basically what we are always doing. The girls were in it before 10 the other day. And why not. Even Buddy gets in on the action (he discovered he can climb in and out by himself, which he then proceeded to do back and forth for the next 20 minutes. Hey, he was happy). Ah, aren't the darling?

Little Man gets lots of help.

And lots of loving. Too much sometimes.

But he is one cool dude.

And the kiddie slide even fits right into the equation, adding even more fun unless the boy won't get out of the way. Oh, and that is some CRAZY hair!

Ah, so cute. She's really into posing for the camera lately and is always demanding that I go put the picture on the blog ASAP. She wants you all to see. She's very selfless like that. Always thinking of others.

Ball Players ... or something

2011-08-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

So I know there are WAY too many of these pics but when I was trying to narrow the field a bit, I realized that they are so funny precisely because there are so many of them. I am not at all offended if you do not make it through, but if you're in need of a good laugh, make sure to focus on the facial expressions and keep an eye on where the ball was (you'd be the only one doing so).

#1 - It's important to pose. Being cute is everything in this sport.

#2 - Keep your eye on the ball ... or at the very least, keep them open.

#3 - Keep both hands on the bat ... unless you're going for that new one-handed swing you hear so much about these days.

#4 - Stare down that ball. And the pitcher. Give them your angry eyes.

#5 - Your really angry eyes.

#6 - Swing at anything. You never know.

#7 - Enjoy what you're doing. Especially when the catcher gets hit.

#8 - Concentrate.

#9 - Focus. The bigger your eyes are, the better.

#10 - Don't forget your angry eyes. It's all about intimidation.

#11 - Point to the ball. That's what your bat is for.

#12 - Laugh out loud.

See rule #2

#13 - Be prepared when playing Catcher. The farther you back up, the less likely you are to be hit.

And just in case you thought my kids had stolen all the talent, here's some of my stellar nieces and nephew.

Good times. Hope you smiled.

More Beach Pics

2011-08-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

So the move has made me a bit negligent. Not because I've been unpacking, mind you. I gave up on that days ago. But knowing I should be packing has kept me from accomplishing anything else in the meantime. So, here, finally, are some more of our pics from our fabulous beach trip! We went to the lighthouse, and everybody except Papa and Buddy climbed all the way to the top. Pretty impressive for all those little legs.

M quite proud of the dead crab she found still in one piece.

Buddy was just along for the ride and was reasonably happy to be so.

Ok, so this is not one of our kids, but it is somebody else's kid left less than 100 feet away while Mom went to find lunch.

It did get a tad windy up there ... and down there ... and everywhere.

Ok, so doesn't it kind of look like little dude's arms are kind of large ...

J worked up the nerve, after a bit of prepping, and was able to proudly hold the mini crab while squeezing tightly to daddy's hand.

Kinda worried one of the kids were going to blow away!

All the grandkiddos!

Still happy :)

Great weather to fly a kite

2011-07-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

You don't get too many days like this on the Oregon Coast!!

Kangaroo Bday Party

2011-07-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

M's cute little gymastics friend invited her to her bday party. I went with her, since the actual party was at a Christmas tree/kangaroo farm over an hour away. I had been a bit dubious about whether it was going to be worth the trek and trouble, but check out these pics to see for yourself.

The kids feeding the mama donkey. The baby was only a day old. I didn't know a donkey could be so cute!

M petting their male African tortoise. She was very surprised and announced that he wasn't soft at all. I was surprised at how speedy he was. He followed our group around and kept up the whole time.

Seriously, how cute are the wallabies and kangaroos?

Such funny little creatures. M was all brave, and loved being around them, feeding them, petting them.

This is their big male kangaroo sunning himself. How funny does he look? The owner had to work really hard to convince him to get up from his rest. He has reason to be tired though. He's the only full-grown male, and has quite a few mates to keep track of. That and the tours coming through a few times a day wanting him to play.

But he's super nice and gentle and lets all the kids hug him. Seriously funny looking creatures!

At the end all the kids who wanted to got to hold the tiny baby kangaroo. She was happy about it I promise. In fact, M couldn't stop laughing about the fact that it was wrapped in a blanket. The farm sells the little guys. I couldn't have imagined owning a kangaroo, until you see how cute they are. Fortunately, M didn't know they could be bought as pets, so I haven't had to start deflecting that request. Oh, and then M spent the next hour sprinting around the park, having me time her laps. She just kept going. What I wouldn't give for that kind of energy!

Summer funnin'

2011-07-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Hilarious. All three of them. In their own "special" way.

That's one serious tea party.

Huh? What are you guys doin' over there?

Although it looks like M is trying to strangle her sister, this is actually a hug. Not to be confused.

One of the best things about Bend ... the swimming pool! So much fun!

And one of our favorite things about Nana and Bopa ... the kids wake up and jump in bed with them! The kiddos love it, especially as they get to watch cartoons, and mama and daddy love it because they sleep in!! Thanks Nana and Bopa!

Another thing to love about Bend ... all the awesome parks! What I sadly didn't get pics or video of were the endless hours spent riding bikes at a nearby school parking lot. They had quite the routine and Bopa was just a horn honk away. He was amazing. And thanks to him, both our girlies are now riding bikes without training wheels, and quite proud of it!

And he's just cute. No getting around that.

Aah! I'm so behind!

2011-07-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

So between that and the fact that I'm too tired to cipher through all these pictures, here are basically all the good ones from the 4th of July. Starting with the festival. Here's J in the gunny sack race:

And here's Blondie being swallowed by the gunny sack:

Flush-A-Duck race:

Flip-the-frog:

Hula Hoopin':

Red seriously working the bubble-blowin' station:

M sadly having quite a bit more trouble at the same place:

4 Happy girls excited to do some fireworks:

And way to go Nana with the yummy dessert:

And the winner is ...

2011-07-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

M won a coloring contest! She won Albertson's 4th of July coloring contest for her age division in Bend. They told her they picked her picture because she had made it so uniquely hers. That nobody but her could have colored that in that way. They could possibly be referring to the purple bear with pink paws and a half-purple, half-orange bow tie. Good thing she didn't listen to her mom who kept trying to encourage her to use red, white, and blue (which all the other kids did)! She was so stinkin' cute when I told her the store had just called and said she won. We were down by the river and her eyes went from side to side a few times as she tried to figure out what I was talking about. Then the light bulb when off and she remembered. It was like a dog perking up when it sees a squirrel. On second thought, perhaps I shouldn't compare my daughter to a dog. But she suddenly sat straight up (picture the little doggie ears going up), and her eyes got all huge and sparkly. And she gushed, "I won?! I winned da prize?!" And yes, she might have gone to the store to collect her prize in her jammies. And they did indeed take a picture of her that way to put on the wall next to her drawing (Does that make me a bad mom?). J had a bit of trouble initially with the whole thing since she had entered as well (in the 5-8 year category where an 8 year-old won that colored better than Cooper. By his admission. I didn't say it.) and had not won. But after lots of parental attempts to talk her through it and after the inevitable tears and after some more tears anytime she thought about it or it came up, she was very happy for her sister. We even caught her giving M a spontaneous hug later and whispering I'm so happy for you! Aahhh. And she was especially happy when her sis shared her loot. So way to go M! Mommy's so proud.

Flying the red, white, and blue ... and the dog

2011-07-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing says happy fourth of July like the flying dog in Bend's pet parade. Can't help but feel a little sorry for the dog. And a little jealous. That's a pretty sweet way to travel through the ridiculous crowds.

By the way, I have so many awesome pictures from the fantastic time we spent in Bend. I'll get to them soon, I promise!

La Pine Rodeo

2011-07-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

Isn't it fun sometimes to go somewhere totally outside your normal sphere of experience? Like a rodeo for example. It's like stepping into a whole other world that I didn't really knew existed. It was surprisingly entertaining even if it was a bit hot, dusty, and stinky. I can't say I have the slightest idea why people would do those crazy things but, you know. I guess good for them for doing what they love? The girls sadly lost interest rather quickly but then happily drew designs in the dirt, occasionally looking up to count how long somebody stayed on a bucking, 1-ton piece of beef.

Little dude was amazingly happy, especially for missing a nap. I think he enjoyed people watching as much as I did.

And he enjoyed being tickled. He just makes me smile.

The girls did perk up quite a bit when various rodeo princesses and queens from counties all across Oregon showed up. They posed for photos, handed out necklaces, and autographed pictures for all the kids brave enough to ask. The girls were quite determined and tracked down every princess on the grounds. Who knew princesses wore cowboy boots?!

Fun at the Zoo

2011-06-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

So this was like two weeks ago, but I'm still going to go ahead and post pics of our fun trip to our little, local zoo. It was an incredibly gorgeous, perfect day to go and we all had fun enjoying the rare sighting of the sun, the view and the animals.

There were actually live animals too, it's just that the girls were a little more interested in the sculptures. And who can blame them ... they were awesome. Dude thought they were cool too when we let him down.

And the kids weren't the only ones who played with the sculptures.

We did come away having learned a few things about real animals too. First, emus are ugly, awkward looking creatures that seem to have got the bum deal of evolution. Second, tigers have a spray zone of up to 20 feet. View closely at your own peril. For multiple reasons really. Third, cranes find Cooper to be threatening. They kept trying to intimidate him with impressively stretched necks and flapping of wings. On the other hand, the parrots didn't think too much of him. When he tried to engage one in discussion, it stared at him for awhile before saying "bye bye." He took the hint. Fourth, little dude doesn't like deer licking his hand unannounced. Other than that, he thinks animals are fascinating. Most of the animals, especially a little wallaby thought the same thing about him. It's like they found it funny that a human would be that small. Fifth, the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah currently does not have any cougars. They ran out. Bummer.

We love the Festival of the Arts!

2011-06-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

I look forward to the LO Festival of the Arts each year. It's such a cool event. And the Friday kids day is always hours of fun. Plus, this year, on Saturday they had a clay tent for the kids. For free! They spent quite awhile hand-building. It got a little messy. Then they got to use the wheel. How amazingly cute is this?!

J really loved it. She had quite a bit of help from a patient volunteer, but she was way into it. M was slightly less enthusiastic, and her vase very nearly met a nasty end, but she was also proud of her creation. Now if only we had a kiln ... anyone have one lying around?

And I won an Honorable Mention ribbon for my Columbia Gorge painting, which was exciting. Little dude very proudly wore my artist ribbon around, to the great amusement of many.

Heaven Help Us

2011-06-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

She's been telling anyone who will listen that she's a 1st grader now. How did this happen? How did she grow up so fast? I miss kindergarten already. Why can't time slow down just a little? Sad.

Happy as a Clam

2011-06-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

So I can hear his teenage self groaning when he looks back on these, but I can't help it. HE'S JUST TOO CUTE!

And if this is only the 40th percentile, what does the 100th look like?????

Buddies

2011-06-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hey! Let us out! Just think of all the things we could get into out there!

Ah mom, you took a picture of me didn't you? Did I look cute?

Feeding is serious business (Coop had given lil' dude his sippy and laid him down. M jumped in to help give him a little lovin' while he ate so he wouldn't be so lonely). Could you swallow at that angle?

Good News!

2011-06-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the picture has nothing to do with anything really. I just like his face. His cheeks are delicious. But check out my art blog to see the good news!

*Quick shameless plug that I'm a little embarrassed about - It would be REALLY cool if you became a follower of my art blog (alishabwhitman.blogspot.com) or linked to it. Cooper's working on making it so people can buy original art, prints, and greeting cards of my paintings directly from us through my website. We're hoping that the art blog will bring more traffic that way and followers and links help. You don't even have to read it to be a follower. It just gets it ranked higher, which makes it more likely that others will find it. Thanks so much!

The problem with having older sisters

2011-06-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

When I don't get there first

2011-06-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is what I find! I don't think he minds the invasion of space much though. However, I did have to put the ixnay on J holding him so that he's sitting on the bar, looking out at the room. Bad idea. Also funny though is that Buddy has taken to letting us know he's awake by standing up, and pounding on the wall. Just smacking the heck out of it. Hilarious.

Memorial Day at Gearhart

2011-06-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a fantastic time at the Oregon Coast celebrating Grandma Berne's 80th birthday! I didn't do a very good job of taking photos of the family festivities, so hopefully I can get pics from those who did. But apart from that, here's a summary of our trip:

Great weather again! What luck!! What fun!! Why do I feel so tired?

Even if I were that flexible ...

2011-05-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't sleep like this. I mean seriously.

The funny thing about this is that once a night lately he's started screaming and when we run in there, he's standing up crying because he can't figure out how to sit down. Here, he clearly fell asleep sitting up either because he couldn't figure out how to get lying down or because he couldn't bother to do so. And fell asleep. How many days would it be before you could move again if you slept like this all night?

Our Big Boy

2011-05-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

He LOVES his baths!! And I LOVE his rolls!

I LOVE his wristbands even if baseball is my least favoritest sport ever.

He LOVES real people food! Coop kinda not thinking straight the other morning just handed him a banana. His lucky/messy day!

He LOVES going on walks/runs, and doesn't even mind being very squished by big sisters! Basically, just LOVES being outside! And we LOVE him!

Somehow we made it

2011-05-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

So Saturday we got a little over-ambitious and set out to hike Twin Falls. It was steep at parts, rocky, and WAY longer than some of the little legs in our family wanted to walk. There was a lot of carrying going on. Let's just say it took us days to recover and be able to walk again. But it sure was fun, and the view was INCREDIBLE! Too bad that right after snapping a quick family shot at our destination of the bridge, the camera died. I could've cried. Seriously the view was beyond description. We'll have to go back. Someday. But here are the shots of all the distractions along the way:How tired to do they look? M in particular? Buddy had finally fallen asleep, which helped because his frantically excited flailing of all limbs had really been playing with my balance. Daddy had the biggest right to look tired as he'd been carrying girlies for awhile now as we kept thinking the bridge had to be around the next corner! We sure are lovin' our beautiful sunny days although next time, I think we'll pick a shorter hike with shorter legs in mind!

Guess who's 8 months ...

2011-05-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

And he's into everything! Dude won't hold still for anything!

And he pulls himself up to standing whenever he gets a hand or finds some other sort of leverage like the couch, forgets to hold on, and then cries when he falls over. I actually found him standing, holding on to the couch, earlier in the day on the SAME day he started crawling. One developmental milestone at a time Mister!

And the squint smile. He's been doing this lately anytime I aim the camera at him - not because of the flash. He does it the second he sees the camera. He's either anticipating the light, or he thinks he looks cute like this.

However this is how he looks the majority of the time - just suckin' away on those teethless gums. Someday Buddy. I'm sure you'll get a tooth someday. And then we'll be in all sorts of new trouble.

And he's getting WAY too big! And when he's able to accomplish really unhelpful things like this, he's SO proud of himself! Well, I guess I can't blame him. It's gotta be nice to be able to move without somebody moving you!

We're so glad he's part of our family and can't believe it's been 8 months already!!!

Forgive me while I toot my own horn ...

2011-05-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

but I can't help it. First, because "toot" is currently one of the funniest words in our house, and second because I made some awesomely slice-able, and surprisingly fluffy homemade 100% Whole Wheat bread. I'm so happy! Doesn't it look perfect?!Here's the recipe in case you want to join me in my baking bliss! It was SO ridiculously easy!

I just put the ingredients into the bread maker in this order and put it on dough mode:

1 Tbsp. Honey

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Yeast (I used Quick-Rise)

3 3/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour (Mine was specifically Bread Flour)

1/4 C. Gluten (Vital Wheat Gluten Flour)

1 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 C. Warm Water

Once it's done, warm oven while you remove dough, shape it into a loaf and put into a greased bread pan. Turn off the oven and put the dough in to rise 15-20 min. Turn the oven on to 375 and bake bread for 25 min. Enjoy!

Funny Kids

2011-05-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

J: Why is Mom going quick?

Coop: What?

J: Why is she going too quick so she can't eat breakfast?

Coop: (lightbulb) Oooh, you mean fasting? Why is she fasting?

J: Yep.

HA! Love that after I told her I was fasting, she switched the word with a synonym!

J: That's a nipt.

Coop: I'm sorry, did you just call that safety pin a nipt?

J: Well I didn't know what it was called!

Coop: So you called it a nipt?

M: The Space Needle is the BIGGEST thing in the world!

Coop: The biggest huh? Maybe you're thinking it's the tallest?

M: Nope! It's the BIGGEST in the whole world!

Coop: So it's bigger than the ocean is it?

M: Yep.

Coop: Huh. Hey J, do you think the Space Needle is the biggest thing in the world?

J: No way! (Coop was relieved and glad to hear somebody understood the way things were) Cause there are giants!

M: Why is EVERYTHING made in China?

J: Not everything's made in China M. Our monkey rug in the bathroom is made in India.

M: India IS China.

J: Is India China mom?

Me: No, it's a totally different country.

J: Well why is everything made there?

Me: Because they're communists and they make all their people work for practically nothing so they can sell stuff for really cheap.

J: What's Communists?

Me: It's a different kind of government that doesn't let the people have as much freedom. Like they tell people how to live, what to be when they grow up, how many kids to have and stuff like that and people have to do it.

J: Whao. We aren't like that here.

Me: Nope. Cause America isn't Communist.

J: Where is China mom?

Me: In China. The other side of the world.

J: Oh. I thought it was in Antarctica.

Buddy was just trying to get my attention. I wasn't responding. So he army-crawled over, bit my big toe and then looked up with a look that said, "Ha! Now you're looking. I win!"

On to the Real Reason We Came

2011-05-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

To play in the snow ... in May, on our own, self-proclaimed Spring Break!M was more excited to throw snowballs and explore (she found a hole someone had dug and said, "this is a perfect M house. I can be here every morning) than to sled. J, however, after watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time (there were lots of discussions and questions about it - the girls just could not believe that the scarecrow could really not have a brain and that the Tin Man really didn't have a heart. That's not real they insisted) was all about having "courage." Way to go her!
Possibly the best sledding picture EVER! Look at J's mouth! Hilarious!
Buddy didn't so much care for the fun in the snow, especially since he spent most of it in the car. But he did enjoy the french fries we got afterwards! Yes, I did let my 8 month-old have french fries. Third child. I'm a terrible person. But he was SO happy.
Then the next day we went skiing! FUN, FUN, FUN! The girls had a blast and SO enjoyed their lesson.

Then, since most the lifts are no longer running, including the one for the bunny hill, and since J and M REALLY wanted to "ride the ride up the mountain," we gave in and brought them up Pine Martin. Way, way up the mountain. To the top, which after a gorgeous morning, suddenly got very windy and started snowing corn snow pellets right in our faces to add to the patch of steep ice at the top. Perfect timing. Let's just say we are lucky to have all made it down in one piece. Very lucky. And then, at the bottom when all the adults were so relieved and very very sore, the girls excitedly announced, "let's go again!" That would be an even worse idea than having gone down in the first place. But we survived to ski another day ... next year.
(M couldn't even stand anymore she was so wasted. Right before I snapped the picture she collapsed, dropped her skiis, and let her helmet roll right off her head. Let's just say she was asleep in the car before she could finish arguing that she didn't want to sleep!)

We came to Bend to go skiing ...

2011-05-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures we've taken thus far:You won't hear me complaining and from those smiles, I don't think they are either!

He's Mobile! AAAAAAHHH!!! And noisy too!

2011-05-01T11:30:00.001-07:00

It's not the best crawling footage but he had just done it for the first time about 5 minutes before we got the videotape rolling, so it's more of a spastic, inchy, army-crawlish thing he's got going on. And in case you were confused, my mom was on the other end of a skype call on the laptop, which was on the ground in front of the babe, so that she could witness his new accomplishment! He's getting better and better and more confident each day (even though he still doesn't get up on all fours to do it). Which means I basically have to follow the girls around with a vacuum cleaner. Fun stuff.

Snoqualmie Falls

2011-05-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

The stars finally aligned and we had time to go "sight-seeing" on a day that was nice enough to do so! Sadly the hike is closed down until 2013, but it's still worth the drive just to see the falls!

That is some serious power! From most of the observation decks we were getting "rained on" continuously, but it wasn't raining. It was quite impressive. Kinda made our old Multnomah Falls look like a bit of a trickle.

Happy Kids!

Goofy kids.

A day for the books

2011-04-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

You'd be amazed what a problem a little thing like this sequin star could be:Especially when swallowed by a rather small human being. It's sharp, pointy edges are perfect for getting stuck in say, an esophagus, requiring surgical removal after spending all day in an ER getting poked, prodded, x-rayed, and poked, prodded, and x-rayed some more. Rough day. They had to put my baby under. And stick breathing tubes down his throat. This may have been harder on mom than on him. Kinda tough to say though as he still doesn't say much. That's partially because he doesn't know how and partially because he still has a sad little raspy, hoarse voice. Fortunately though, he doesn't look much worse for the wear (this was about 15 hours after surgery:
I told him that next time he wants attention to try something a little less dramatic like laughing. Next time he wants to distract us from our problems to learn a new trick like saying mama. Next time he wants to remind us of what's really important in life, to give us a kiss. That'll do just fine.

Tangled Wanna-bees

2011-04-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

When you don't have your own super-duper-ridiculoulsy-long hair, you find something else that will work. By the way, I did actually catch M climbing up and down this as if she were repelling down from the top bunk bed. J was holding tight to her end. The barrettes probably wouldn't have held up on their own.

My good examples

2011-04-20T08:59:00.001-07:00

For the last 20 minutes the girls have been doing a Pilates workout video. Little brother turned it on while eating the remote. They got all excited, ran and got bal-a-let leotards on and got to work. They're actually doing what they're supposed to too. Correcting each others' form. And they even grabbed some of my weights. I would have joined them but you'd have to be able to breathe for that. I'm still too sick. One downward-facing dog and I'd be plugged up for eternity and have phlegm coming out my eyeballs. You're welcome for that image.

Spring Break at Discovery Bay

2011-04-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

(Warning: picture overload making for ridiculous long post. Sorry, I couldn't help myself) Ok, so it's been a week since we got back but I am finally getting around to adding pics from our awesome week of vacation. Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandpa for letting us come enjoy their time share with them up in Discovery Bay, WA. We were SO lucky with the most incredible beautiful weather the whole time that allowed us to go explore all there is to see in Sequim amd Port Townsend WA and to enjoy the beautiful view from our room:

One of the things that we did was go to the Olympic Game Farm. What an incredible experience! Here we looked over the whole park from a really cool observation tower.

Then we got out and "fed" the llamas. By that I mean the girls held out the bread but once the llamas got close they chucked it at them giggling nervously and running away despite the fence. My brave little soldiers.

Buddy enjoyed the ride tied to mom. He LOVES being outside.

Then we got back in the car to drive through the rest of the farm. We had bought some of their bread and the animals were ready for us. Every time you turned around there was some animal sticking his head in your window. Fun but kinda freaky. Lots more nervous giggling.

Even Buddy enjoyed looking out the window ... for awhile. And there were lots of animals outside of the car to enjoy:

Some didn't look as friendly as others. Nor did they seem to want to let us pass. Not without the bread tax at least.

Others just minded their own business, but none of these guys were more than 10 feet away. It was crazy. And rather funny to see animals that are usually from all different continents and climates intermingling. Later on we got to the wolves in cages and there were all these bunny rabbits hanging out right outside the cages. Odd place to hang out if you ask me.

We had been strongly urged to roll up the windows when we got to the zebras and NOT feed them. Apparently they are mean and fond of biting. This one snuck up on my mom and she barely got it closed in time!

And this guy was just chillin' on the other side of the fence less than 5 feet away. Those dudes are BIG. And they always look like they're smiling. Kind of endearing.

Before too long Buddy had had enough. This was one of his good moments. The rest were much noisier.

And more large animals right outside the window. These guys make me think of the funny moose commentary on the movie Brother Bear about the white bottoms in their Canadian talk where they're questioning the wisdom in that and conclude "that's just poor planning."

This little fella welcomed us at the gate and trotted circles around our car for a good 15 minutes until we came across some big fellas twice his size. Then he left. Quickly. In the buffalo part of the park we were urged to not stop moving or some of the buffalos might try to move us. More nervous giggling. When we came across the big fella larger than my grandparents' SUV the girlies weren't the one ones giggling.

I know these are just geese you'd see anywheres but they have the funniest looks on their faces to me. Especially that one on the right. She's looking at us so intelligently, like she's wondering why we look so funny.

The trip got a little less noisy when I FINALLY succeeded in doing this:

Poor little dude. It's tough to be out of routine and away from your crib. Back in the apartment the girls had some practice runs for Easter. They insisted on dressing in their pearl strands and frilly gloves before looking for the eggs. I'm not totally sure where they come from honestly.

M might want to consider getting taller before the real thing.

And all too soon, it was back home again. Although we got to take a ferry on a gorgemous day so that made it a little less of a downer. Plus we were going home to daddy. YEAH!

Told you it was gorgemous!

It was a perfect way to wrap up a great week! As was dropping by daddy's work on the way home for some good old-fashioned hugs. Buddy sure made him happy by being so excited to see him that he screamed when daddy walked away. So cute!

Turning my thoughts to Easter

2011-04-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&vgnextoid=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&channelId=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=04f3a899d5e92210VgnVCM100000176f620a____

Lovin' daddy

2011-04-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

The kids and I left on a wonderful vacation for spring break (more on that later) but I meant to post this before we left. While I was running around getting us ready to leave on Monday, J and then later M took over my gmail chat with daddy. I thought this was too cute and had to share it. They love to use the hearts and smilies that you'll just have to imagine there. See if you can tell when M took over :) :

me: ile miss you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so

9:35 AM much

Cooper: oh, man, I'm going to miss you!

you'll be having so much fun with nana though!

9:36 AM me: ime nirlley crying

Cooper: oh, don't cry! really! you're going to have so much fun!

make sure nana brings her computer, and we'll skype lots!

9:39 AM me: i know bate there with out you will knot biy to gether

9:40 AM Cooper: you're right. we won't be together. But you will be home on Friday, and I'll see you then. And in the meantime, you will have SO MUCH FUN!!!

9:41 AM me: ile cry for so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so long

9:43 AM Cooper: no, just think of all the fun you'll have and you'll be happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy

9:45 AM me: i know but you youst play with me ander the woter

9:47 AM Cooper: I love playing with you in the pool! We'll do it together soon. In the summer, for sure. Nana and Mommy will have so much fun with you this week in the pool.

9:51 AM me: daer daddy i <3 u

9:52 AM hhghbvghbvfgbngbgggggggf

Cooper: I love you too, girlies!

9:54 AM me: :) :) :) :) :) :'(

9:56 AM Cooper: B-)

9:57 AM me: feet

ykjfyhhkjkhglkjnkjh

Cooper: feet?

me: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

9:58 AM Cooper: wow.

that's a lot of m's!

me: me

hjghjkbmghjkjjhujmn

0123456789-*+/=

9:59 AM ***************************************kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Cooper: you're really going crazy there!

:-o

10:00 AM me: ++++++++++++++++++++++++-~~---------------------------------------------~~**************************************////////////////////////////////////////////////========================

Why learning to spell is important

2011-03-31T11:17:00.001-07:00

M: "Grilled cheese sandwiches are just for girl." (that's what I thought I heard)

J: "No they're not. Boys can have them too."

M: "Huh uh. Only girls. That's why they're called GIRLED cheese sandwiches, right mom?"

J: "You know you don't speak French M. But Fancy Nancy does."

M: "Fancy Nancy knows how to speak Futch? I wish I knew how to speak Futch."

Hide-n-seek aka nap time

2011-03-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I mentioned to the girls that daddy would be home soon. Soon to me = 20 minutes. Soon to the girls = 20 seconds. They both started squealing and running around the house yelling hide, quick! Where should we hide? I quickly evaluated the situation. I'd just put dinner in the oven. Buddy was sleeping. If I could just convince the girlies to stay in a hiding spot, I might just be able to lie down and take a quick nap. Wouldn't that be great? But how to keep them excited to stay hidden for 20 minutes without them asking if he was here yet every 2 seconds, waking me up? Here you go:
Ta dah! I am a tricksy little hobbit, or I would be if I were a little hobbit. My brilliant scheme could only have worked better if getting them set up hadn't taken half of my power nap time.

Too Much Dora

2011-03-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

Just looking at it gets me singing "I'm a Map, I'm a Map, I'm a Map ..." And when did she start using apostrophes? We should probably start working on spelling but it's hard to correct her when this way is SO dang cute! (For those not lucky enough to be familiar with Dora, they have a map to help them get somewhere and Dora explains the steps to get there, just like J did on these papers) And I love the teamwork. M drew the map and J wrote the directions/story line. I find maps like this drawn by M nearly daily. I will also occasionally hear little Swiper sounds behind couches. I love it.

His favorite new toy

2011-03-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

And for $25 at a Used-Toy store, what's not to like? Love that smile!I wanted to insert some witty caption here but the face is just too good for anything I can think of. What do you think he's saying here?And is this not a crazy boy face? Looks like he's ready to be chasing his sisters around the playground with a worm laughing his mischevious little heart out. Fun times ahead. I can hear the squeals now.
J always had an extremely expressive face and still does actually. As a baby I remember my mom asking if I could get any normal pictures of her smiling since mostly I got crazy expressions and funny faces. While I get lots of smiles from Buddy, I don't think he's much behind her in expressiveness!

Was that in the job description?

2011-03-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

M: Mooooooom! We didn't ever do _____ today.

Me: I know honey, but we did do ____ and ____ and ____ and ____ and well, Mommy just can't do everything.

M: (looking thunderstruck) But you're the MOM!

Moses and Minnie

2011-03-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

This week J taught our Family Home Evening lesson (Family Home Evening is something we do once a week where it's basically a family night. We sing some songs together, have a lesson from the scriptures, play a game, have dessert, stuff like that). She prepared it all herself and was SO excited. M got to be the helper that held the pictures while J read her "talk." Here it is:In retrospect, not the best idea to let her learn the scriptures by watching movies. Prince of Egypt is very entertaining but what she got out of it was that God yelled at Moses so loud Moses took his shoes off. We might have to review the story in more detail next week. But so cute regardless!

Then here are M's two favorite subjects. We see slight variations of these two pictures dozens of times each week. On the left we have princess M and princess J, obviously. Can you tell me what's on the paper on the right?
Why that's Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse of course. And in case you have ever wondered about their relationship, your questions are all answered here. Minnie, as you can see, is clearly pregnant. She draws a variation of this picture probably half a dozen times each week. Hey, when you find something that works, stick with it.

Eating Pros and Woes

2011-03-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

As I think I've mentioned before buddy LOVES these new solid foods. You put him in the high chair and it's the highlight of his day. Although, you better be ready to get started because highchair = eating. Highchair does not in any way, shape, or form, equal patiently waiting until the food gets to him. But as long as the food is coming, he is an extremely happy camper.

He loves the food, he loves the cup (although he hasn't figured it out and just chomps on it), and he loves the spoon. Fortunately, we're not yet to the "I do" phase, just the quick-give-him-the-spoon-to-make-him-happy-before-he-notices-the-food's-all-gone phase.

In fact, there had yet to be a food he didn't liked. And then he met green beans. I'm not so sure about the looks of that stuff, says he.

What is this stuff? Do I like it?

Uhhhh, this tastes like ... I don't think I do.

Blah. Get it out of my mouth.

GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!

Turns out he doesn't like green beans.

Still with the feeding thing, I need advice. Buddy has had nursing trouble since day one, having to do with his acid-reflux (he's been on medicine for it), and the fact that he prefers wrestling/biting/twisting/pulling/squirming/mashing/arching/pulling off every two gulps to nicely sucking. We struggle. And his weight percentage has just continued and continued to drop until the doctor just told me to call it quits and give him formula in bottles to try to get him more food and more weight. I don't think the problem has ever been me having enough milk, but he won't keep eating long enough to get enough and thus, isn't gaining weight as he should. This has been so difficult and frustrating and I was a bit emotional about it but it's what's best for him. But now that I've accepted that, he won't take a bottle. Won't take it if it has my milk, won't take it if it has formula. We've tried three different kind of bottles/nipples and he thinks they're fun toys for a few minutes, won't suck on them at all, lets most milk that comes out dribble down his neck, and then gets mad. Coop has tried giving them to him without me around so he doesn't want me instead. No go. So here's where the much-needed advice comes in. How do we get him to take a bottle? In the meantime I've been nursing him every 2 hours in hopes that he'll get more, but I'm not so sure that it doesn't just mean more time for him to scream at me. It's so draining trying to get him to eat. So can anybody tell me how to get him to take a bottle?? Help please!

My new trick!

2011-03-10T20:10:00.001-08:00

What are you doing? Oh, I'm just sitting here.

What did you say? Oh nothing much. I'm just SITTING. Look! No hands! Hard to believe isn't it?

I'm pretty happy about it. I think I'm pretty cool now that I can sit up all by myself and go eye-to-eye with anything. Well, okay, anything that's about one foot tall. Still, pretty awesome.

And true, sometimes I fall over. But I'm no less cute when I do!

And plus, when I fall over, I can easily play with these really sweet feet. It's hard to grab them and get them in my mouth though with them kicking so fast. Oh well, it's fun to try!

Playground rules for the dolls

2011-03-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

I especially love the last one. Very important that nobody be caught "playing dog." Who knows what would happen if we let them get away with that.

Our big/little boy

2011-03-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a bunch of pictures for you to enjoy. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!! He's just so cute.
Enjoying some sister time (lots of pics of the same thing, I know, but each face is different):
Watchin' Blazers with daddy time:
Is this not a "do-you-see-what-this-crazy-chick-is-doing-to-me" face?
Cool and knows it too:
We actually got a picture with Papa! Hurray!
He loves him his baby food! Do you see how he's attacking that spoon? Wish you could see him eating live. Before he's even swallowed he starts yelling for the next bite. It is not a pretty sight when the bowl is empty.
And no joke, he grabbed this out of my hands as I walked by. My mom was holding him and he just snatched it and then did this. How does he even know that's what you do??
We can't believe how darn fast the little peanut is growing. It's rather disturbing. He has been sitting by himself the last few days. Of course he falls if he gets distracted and quickly looks to the side or something (which makes the girls laugh hysterically), but the fact that he's doing it means he's getting big WAY too fast!

What a dog!

2011-02-28T08:50:00.001-08:00

My Aunt Patti and Uncle Jim have the most beautiful dog! They got him when he was just a puppy - he looked like the softest stuffed animal you've ever seen with these huge paws. Fast forward the better part of the year and he's grown into those large paws!! Isn't he adorable? This was as close as J got. And that was only after I carried her there and plopped her down on the bench for the picture. Poor thing. She talks big and really truly does want to like dogs and play with them but once they're within 10 feet she just goes nuts. She can't be talked out of it. Believe me, we've tried. This was a moment of peace but she was not going to take her eyes off of him for a second!M has no such reservations. As you can see, he's nearly as tall as her and she just giggles away.
He, of course, needs a closer look.
She soon decided he was her pal and kept hugging him around the neck. In a rare moment of bravado, J ran over touched him at arms length when he was distracted, and booked it out of there. She kept repeating that she'd touched him until everyone acknowledged her great feat.
We brought him in briefly to see what Buddy's response would be since he's like the size of Bodie's head. We were hoping for some laughs or funny faces at least, but alas, he was more interested in the camera. Not having been around dogs before, it's like he didn't think he was real, and thus not worth bothering to look at. Bummer.
Then they were off on a walk, despite the frigid temperatures. M wanted to hold the leash but you don't need much of an imagination to foresee what would've happened if she had and Bodie had decided to run. Oh boy.

P.E. Extra Credit

2011-02-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

So J's P.E. teacher is awesome and sends out this monthly newsletter with funny things the kids say, health and exercise tips, what they're learning, and an extra credit calendar. It is full of suggestions of fun things to do with family or friends to get "extra credit" in P.E. By that he means you get a certificate and you get to sign your name on the Fitness Star Wall of Fame poster for the month. I know, cool, huh? Well I'm new to this whole kids with school, homework, papers to have signed, remembering to send the appropriate shoe wear on P.E. days and the the library book on Thursdays, etc. etc. etc. so I've glanced at it before and thought "that would be fun if I were a little more on top of things. Maybe when she's older. Afterall, she has her whole life to be an over-achiever." But I printed it out this month and put it in her homework folder for fun. And it is fun. Last night with daddy they did this: "Build a tower of pillows and practice throwing sock balls at the top pillow. Can you knock it over?" Daddy thought this was the best homework ever. Buddy, being held by daddy, was studying the whole thing as if we were from a different planet and he needed to learn as much as he could. Today we've been working on this one: "Take five pieces of newspaper and roll into a long, tight paper tube. Tape the sides so it will stay rolled. Balance the paper tube on fingers, hand, elbow, anything." Again, who knew homework could be this fun?
By the way, the ballet outfits were not required. Just for kicks. And by the way, now that I stopped being in charge, they have changed into witch costumes and are using their balancing sticks as bows and arrows to kill the crocodiles, and poke me from a safe distance away. Or I should say M is. J keeps sending her to do it. Their whispers from the hallway are rather intimidating. At least they haven't turned on each other ... yet.

A picture's worth a thousand words

2011-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

Explanation of this picture by M:

"The little guys at bottom are the bird pirates and they are hunting out of their nest. The big one is the mama bird and the blue one is the daddy parrot, no I mean the brother parrot. And the bird pirates shoot poison water up to the birds and the birds drink it cause it reached all the way to the sky to where the birds went. Their nest is on the side over there with all those little circles. And the birds have spots on them so the pirates are teasing them. There are arrows pointing at them so everyone knows that the boys and girls are girls and boys. And the trees just are long." There you have it.

Oh and I love their wee little wings and tails!

Happy Birthday Blondie!

2011-02-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Our little M is 4! Por fin! She has wanted to be 4 for the longest time, because as she tells me, after 4, you get to be 5 (which she probably wants to be because J is 5)! Nana, Bopa, Grandma and Grandpa Smith all came up for the celebration. The day before we did fun things like go to the Harry Potter exhibit (which wasn't quite as interactive nor as interesting to the kids as we had anticipated) and then other parts of the Pacific Science Center (Omsi equivalent). There was the little kids' play area:the space section:and of course, the ninety degree, splendiferous butterfly house that even Fancy Nancy would approve of:You have to be really careful not to step on them because they land everywhere. J gets freaked out when they fly right in front of her, but loves to spot the ones at rest.I had a little friend that landed on my head and stayed there for like 10 minutes. You're told not to remove butterflies that land on you so he just chilled with us. Buddy was a little oblivious. Butterflies would swoop by right in front of his face and then about 10 seconds later he'd turn his head to see what it was. Love the reaction time.
Then we picked Bopa up from the bus station and went to cousin Hannah's Ballroom dance competition, and to a restaurant for dinner. Then on her birthday, she was such a doll and waited until everybody was finally all there at about 5 PM to open her presents!! I can't believe she handled waiting that long! By that time she was a little worn out so she wasn't quite as excited as she would've been earlier but she was such a good little birthday girl.Her favorite present:I got off so easy this year! She just wanted pink cupcakes with pink frosting and pink sprinkles! Pinkalicious!Poor buddy wanted to eat cupcakes too. Next year little man!We're so glad M is part of our family! She gives the best hugs in the world as she "tries to squeeze your guts out." She is so good at twirling, which is her favorite part of dancing, and apart from a rather good booty shake is pretty much the only move she does. She livens things up with a crazy look when things are getting too quiet. She loves her baby brother and "helps" him roll over and read books and eat Saltine cracker crumbs when mom isn't looking. She is so cute and loves to snuggle up to you. She gets so excited for her big sister to get home so she can show her all the things she did that day. She loves fruit and is constantly asking for me to go buy her a watermelon and other such out-of-season fruit. She is obsessed with music as of late and often drags me into her room to hear her new favorite song that she has playing on her ancient CD player. She is so sweet and darling and hard to ever say no to as she bats her beautiful blue eyes up at us. We just love her to pieces! Happy Birthday!! (She just told me that this was much too long and that she was tired of listening to all that I wrote but I couldn't help but include these things we love about her even if they're too much for her attention span :) )

Funnies

2011-02-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Last night after giving J a kiss goodnight, Coop lightly tapped his head on hers and said it was a "love bonk." M quickly asked for him to come down to her (on the bottom bunk) and smacked her head against his forehead with all the force she could muster. She left this mark:Yet she didn't complain at all. Just was pleased with herself for giving him a "love bonk." I'll have to remember to avoid those in the future.

The other day we were watching Sound of Music. It was pretty early in the movie and the girls were asking questions about why they were marching and why Maria didn't like the whistling and such. I explained that the dad thought kids should be serious, and wear uniforms, and march, and stand still in lines, and be quiet. But that Maria thought kids should play and dance and sing and have fun. Everybody just went back to watching and then like 30 seconds later M shouted out, "SHE'S right mom!"

The other night M was, as usual, the last one standing at the dinner table. Coop stayed to help her along. She was much more interested in conversation, however. She brought up how Halloween things are pretend like mummies and ghosts, to which Coop agreed. She then added bats to which he disagreed, bringing up how we had seen them in the zoo. Unfazed, she added, "and pumpkins. They're pretend." Coop responded, "No actually, pumpkin are real." M: "No dad, they're pretend." Coop: "Remember how we carved them? They were real." M: "No, but pumpkins that talk, they are pretend." Coop: "Well yes, that's true." M: "And REAL pumpkins that talk, those are pretend too." Coop: "Well they can't be real if they talk." M: "That's because REAL pumpkins that talk are pretend and pretend pumpkins that talk are pretend too." They went back and forth arguing this one point for the next 10 minutes or so as M put off eating, during which J ran down the hallway and yelled, "No way Dad. Pumpkins that talk are FICTION!" And a few minutes later we heard her yell from her room, "That's NON-FICTION!" Good to know they are really learning stuff at school!

We love visitors!!

2011-02-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

We are really blessed to have moved to such a beautiful place with great people in our ward that's still in the Northwest, but sometimes we still really miss home. Some days more than others. So it's always nice to have visitors, since all our family and friends are clearly what we miss most about home. This weekend we got to enjoy: a new El Salvadorean restaurant with pupusas and some yummy desserts, M being sang to at Red Robin for her upcoming birthday while she shyly hid her head in Grammy's neck, baby I smiling till my cheeks hurt just watching at his grandparents, mommy and daddy going out on a real date Saturday night, Grammy helping decorate the all-important Valentine's box that couldn't wait another second although it's not needed for another week, watching Despicable Me while Grammy and Papa snoozed on the couch, and just hanging out while it rained and poured outside. Fun, fun!

We had a great time, appreciate all they did for us, and miss them already!

I'm not sure ...

2011-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

if this picture would be best described as M holding I or I squishing M. What do you think?And you know that creepy feeling when you know somebody's looking at you? Just had it. I get that all the time when I is awake. And then I look over and sure enough, he's staring straight at me, watching my every move. Kind of a creeper thing to do but as long as he gives me one of those smiles, it's all good.

And I couldn't resist throwing in this adorable sleeping pic of I. He's pretty darn cute when awake but totally angelic when sleeping. Especially when he stays sleeping. Not so much when he keeps waking throughout the night because his binky fell out or because he rolled over or because he got unwrapped or because he's already plotting how to drive his parents batty or because he's a baby and he does that. But for this moment, aaahhhh, so cute!

Insert your own dialogue here ...

2011-01-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

And add your own caption here ...

2011-01-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

Getting to know Seattle

2011-01-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

Nana and Bopa came to visit this weekend!! It was kinda last minute but was tons of fun. Bopa suggested Saturday morning that we head into Seattle and go up the Space Needle since only Coop and my mom had done that before. Then we tried to go to the Harry Potter Exhibit but it was so sadly sold out so we just had fun with in the Pacific Science Center playing around. Running on nothing but steam at this point, we drove down to Pike Place Market and walked around for another hour just to see what there was to see. We came home dirty and exhausted with lots of fun memories. Thanks for such a fun day! Can't wait until the next time they come!! Here's a bazillion pictures of the fun:

**Sorry for the lack of organization/commentary and for the explosion of pictures. I just wanted to get these pics up right away for Nana and Bopa especially to see and this was all the time I had. Hope the pictures say it all!

We may live in Washington, but ...

2011-01-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

in our house we wear green and yellow and say, "Go Ducks!" These pics are from the big game day, and despite the outcome, and despite not knowing a soul nearby that would care to join in the festivities, it was fun while it lasted!

By the way, in those first two shots dude isn't looking at the camera because he couldn't take his eyes off the game. No kidding. Go ducks!

Learning has never been so funny

2011-01-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Since J has learned to read, I've started to find the funniest notes around the house. Sometimes she does a little better than other times at sounding things out, but in her defense, English is one screwy language. Like today I found a paper that read, "Erel and Sleeepan Beeeoooode." Any ideas what she meant? If you guessed "Ariel and Sleeping Beauty" you would be correct. I use to just find words like seen here:

The combination of words was what cracked me up about that one.

Now the deciphering fun really begins:

We believe it says "First I get the cheese. Second I get the ice cream. Then I make my desert. Yummy." And in the last one, it's not so much the words that need deciphering, but the meaning:

Sketch pad for loving? No clue. But funny. Really very funny.

What's in your tummy?

2011-01-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

We've started trying to have weekly 10 minute one-on-one talks with our girls in an effort to give them time to talk to us about anything they want to (open lines of communication for the future and give them confidence that what they have to say is important), and give us the chance to get to know them better. Sounds a bit parenting bookish I know, but it's lots of fun. And being overwhelmed by being outnumbered now with 3 kids, it's helping the there's-never-enough-time-problem a little. The girls really love it. Anyway, at the end of Cooper's talk with M today he said, "I love you. Always remember that." She smiled and responded, "I'll put that question in my tummy." Totally confused he asked, "what question?" Without hesitation she answered "that you love me." Skipping the urge to define the word question, Coop moved on to "Okay ... in your tummy?" Again without any hesitation, she added, "Yep, that way I'll always remember."

Baby it's cold outside

2011-01-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Still more from Winter Break. We took a quick jaunt over to my parents' house in Bend to play until all hours of the night, shop with Christmas money, go out on a date (hooray!) to see the new Narnia movie, relax, celebrate Ninnie's birthday, and generally freeze our skin off. My dad and Andrew skiied, but it wasn't the type of conditions to take the girls, so we went sledding a couple of times, which was fun. There was a small hill around the block, mostly iced over, making for very quick turns. One day we did make it all the way up to the mountain, which is where these first three pics were taken. Sadly it was too snowy and freezing for me to deal with taking pictures of the action, so we just took a couple of shots by the car. Looks a little chilly, eh?

M was a real trooper. First run down with Ninnie they crashed, face-planted, and generally got snow in every tiny crack that wasn't well covered (turns out M had put her pants and boots on herself and not tucked them in). We went quickly inside the little cabin, dumped out the snow, re-tucked and she went back out and was at it again. A few runs later with Mama, she got a serious face full of snow. She cried until it was brushed off, then jumped up and went at it again. The powder was so deep that we had to carry her up the hill or she would've got lost. Ninnie and Wes kept giving it a go and have some really funky weight distribution issue because they'd never stay on one track. Far from it, they usually crossed a minimum of four different tracks before tumbling out. I'm not even sure how you do that. Anyway t'was fun, and very very cold times!

Back at the Bend house, it was a little more bearable outdoors:

Anatomy of a 3 Year-Old

2011-01-04T14:39:00.000-08:00

J: My ears are cold.

M: My brain is cold.

M: These are my magic pants.

Mom: Why are they magic?

M: Because they have my bones in them.

M: See Mama, I told you I had to go potty.

Mom: You were right.

M: And when my pee pees are really excited to come out of my body, they sound like this.

J: I can feel my heart beating.

M: My heart's not beating right now. It's turned off.

Mom: It's turned off?

M: Yep, it's not on.

J: How does it get turned on?

M: Well when Jesus made our bodies our hearts were turned off and then he put them in and turned them on.

M: I untied my apron all by myself. You could ask anyone.

M: I hurt my foot's hip bone.

Mom: Your what?

M: This right here (points to ankle).

M: I can do that too (waved her arm around like a character on the computer). Yeah, I'm a cool girl.

Missing Christmas

2011-01-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

I miss staying in new Christmas jammies all day. I miss being with extended family members that no longer live nearby. I miss all the not-good-for-me Christmas food overflowing from every corner of the house. I miss the Christmas lights twinkling. I miss the help from family. I miss the excitement and squeals of joy. I miss the fun of someone opening a present we gave and loving it. I miss Christmas. Sadly I didn't have my camera for Christmas Eve. Would love any of those pics from anyone who was more responsible and took pics! Thanks!

All I want for Christmas is a nice family picture.

2011-01-02T17:52:00.001-08:00

So much for that! Not a one with five normal faces ... better luck next year!

At least Isaac was more obliging in his adorable pictures of his first Christmas!

He's too too cute!

Hope everyone had a wonderfully merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-12-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

For Coop's 30th, the girls and I gave him a necklace containing 30 baggies filled with 30 different kind of 30 goodies each. Not sure that made sense, but that's what we gave him regardless ... and made him wear it to work. Hey, if we spent all that hard labor counting to 30 30+ times (tricky when one of us can only count to about 12 and when that same person was caught eating the gifts many a times), he better proudly display it! Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!

December 16th, 2010

2010-12-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

To the first grader in my Primary,

and to the 2nd grader who had a crush on my friend Laura and thus was a part of our giggly conversations when she came over to play,

and to the 3rd grader in Ms Vess' class with me whom I wrote a letter to when he moved that he kept,

and to the 8-chocolate-bar-doughnut eater (all in one sitting mind you) in Julie Cottle's seminary class (holy disgusting),

and to the freshman boy who became my best friend while dating my friend,

and to the only young man in our ward that I never managed to beat at basketball,

and to the person that I broke my mom's no-calling-a-boy-on-the-phone rule over,

and to the guy making faces at me behind his book during our performances of The Music Man, and to the junior in high school that stayed my best friend while switching to date another of my friends,

and to the teenager that t-peed my house when I turned 16,

and to the friend that left bags of licorice on my porch when I had bad days in high school,

and to the best friend that made me cry when he moved away for a few years,

and to the 19 year-old who grew up a (very) little and left on his mission to Brazil still as just-a-friend after I told him to hold that thought for a few years,

and to the missionary that I thought of lots but didn't write to as often as he'd have liked,

and to the guy I compared everyone I dated to (they never fared well by comparison) until I woke up and realized one day that I should really just date him instead ... but he was on a mission,

and to the unselfish young man that supported me whole-heartedly when I told him I was going on a mission ... and leaving a month before he'd get back from his,

and to the fish who I was sure would get away while I was gone and almost did as among others he dated another one of my friends (we don't talk about that time much),

and to the faithful friend who came to see me the day after I got home,

and to the eager beaver that went and held my hand 2 days later claiming I'd given him some sign for him to do so when really I was sweating just sitting that close to a boy,

and to the guy who finally kissed me (he was SO nervous and this time I'll admit to giving him a sign or two) and thus finally was my boyfriend even though the idea of that was so serious it scared me a bit,

and to the boyfriend who very very shortly later told me he knew he wanted to marry me and would wait however long it took until I got there too,

and to the one whom I was told to marry in answer to prayers (before I was ready for the answer - be careful not just what you pray for but when you do too),

and to the guy who laughed out loud with delight when I told him I'd got my answer,

and to my fiancee who was so cute when he proposed and tried to keep it secret but couldn't tell a convincing lie to me,

and to the handsome man in a tux that I met at the temple on August 20th 2004 to be sealed to for forever if we could just make it through all those pictures and well-wishers,

and to my husband who I kept calling husband because I could hardly believe that's what he was,

and to the brand-new daddy holding our first baby girl and crying over my shoulder,

and to the man with whom I now share a wonderful life with our three children where we pretend to be grown-up and mostly get away with it I think even though we feel like we so often have no idea what we're doing,

and to the love-of-my life who turned 30 today ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you. So much. Forever. (And no worries, you still only look about 20.)

Here Comes Santa Claus

2010-12-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

Even taking into account the cheesy grins, this is hands down the best picture we've ever got with Santa Claus - nobody's crying! Well, except for Isaac in the background, but that didn't even have anything to do with the man in red. And, by the way, we are back in our house with dry carpets and walls. The carpets have yet to be tacked back down and the floor boards need to be nailed back in, oh and our new washer needs to get here before Isaac spits/pees on every article of clothing he owns, but other than that, we're back to normal (normal for us that is, if that even fits the definition of the word). I just think I must be one of those people that these things seem to happen to. You know on Finding Nemo when Marlin tries to get rid of Dorie? What does he call her, like a distraction fish or something? I can't remember the exact words. But I think I'm just one of those kind of fish. Just as long as Cooper doesn't try to get rid of me for it, we're good! We can go back to enjoying our crazy kids in our own home, and listen to them saying things like when Meri told me this morning that she hurt her foot's hip bone, aka ankle. And we'll sit in not-so-eager anticipation of the next "distraction" to come our way!