HomeKeeper

first primary talk

2012-01-08T15:50:00.000-06:00

Chris had the chance to give his first talk in Primary, the last Sunday in November of 2010. He did really well – spoke clearly, looked at everyone, and smiled. We were proud of him. He even wrote it himself. It was about service, and what we can do to serve. He gave a few examples of ways we could serve others, and bore his testimony about service. I should have taken a picture of him, but I forgot.

He also was able to give a talk while my family was here visiting, which was a lot of fun to be able to have them here for that. His topic was "The Scriptures teach of Jesus Christ and His Second Coming". I love that he gets the chance to do things like this from the church!

Christmas cookies

2012-01-08T15:46:00.001-06:00

Christmas cookies, a photo by sarahlw2383 on Flickr.

One of my goals for 2012 is to spend some time here, on this poor, neglected blog of mine. Please excuse me while I do a bit of catch-up in the midst of the current posts. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. My parents, brother, and sister came to visit (missed you, Jeff!) for Dave's graduation from his Master's program (yay!). Then we had a quiet Christmas break, and a wonderful Christmas day. Somewhere in there, we decorated some cookies. Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

thanksgiving feasts! (kindergarten and preschool)

2011-03-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Naomi had a Thanksgiving “feast” at preschool; there was white bread, green beans, sliced cheese, turkey lunchmeat, and applesauce. Pretty funny, but the kids loved it. Naomi even asked for more green beans! She made a pilgrim hat, and looked adorable in it. Some of the teachers put on a puppet show about the pilgrims, and the kids thought it was a riot; they laughed the whole way through.

Chris also got to have a “feast” in kindergarten, but they asked the parents not to come for that. They had three classes in one room, and I guess there wasn’t space for any more people. It was one where everyone brought something to share. He said he had a lot of fun.

family pictures 2010

2011-03-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

katie (and me too, i guess - mostly katie, though!) started a photography business! here's the link to the website: www.katiewillsonphotography.com. She's been taking our family pictures for a few years now, and i love the way these turned out! the ones with the sun flare are my favorite, i think. i totally slacked on the christmas cards this year, so no one's really seen these yet. consider this our family wishing yours a (late!) happy holidays!

Click here to see the pictures.

halloween 2010

2011-03-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Friday, the 29^th, our ward had a trunk-or-treat party. They went a little crazy, and had three bounce houses, food (chicken salad sandwiches, corn dogs, chips, cookies, and hot chocolate), games, and prizes. We had a great time! We’re really feeling like part of the ward, and that we know most everyone.

On Halloween, we took the kids to a few houses around Jonathan and Katie’s house. It was a big family affair, and a fun way to do it. Chris was Batman, Naomi a fairy, Jacob was Mario, and Lily was Princess Peach.

preschool fall festival 2010

2011-02-27T19:30:00.000-06:00

At the end of October, Naomi had a fall festival at preschool. She got to dress up in her costume (a fairy), and have lots of fun stations. After all their morning fun, another mom and I put on a class party for them. Everyone takes a turn planning a party, and I figured it would be nice to get it done at the beginning of the year. We had pizza, played a few games, decorated cookies, and made fall wreaths.

our beautiful fairy

with her pumpkin

yummy pizza for lunch

her class all dressed up

lost a tooth!

2011-01-17T20:50:00.000-06:00

chris lost his first tooth in the middle of october! it had been loose for a while, and it fell out one night while he was wiggling it. the tooth fairy was generous with the first tooth and left $2. he's lost one more since this, and got $1 for that one.

soccer

2011-01-15T16:29:00.000-06:00

Chris’s soccer season ended at the end of October, and I finally got some pictures of him playing. He had a good time, and improved his coordination a lot in the process. We put him in indoor soccer for the winter, and he's improving with that too.

kindergarten field trip

2011-01-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

In the middle of October, Chris went on his first field trip. He got to ride the bus with all the kindergarten classes to a local pumpkin patch (a different one than the one Naomi went to for her birthday party). Naomi and I were able to come along, which was fun. They had some stations they got to go to, a craft, a story, a science one, a maze, a hayride, and they each got to choose a pumpkin. It was a fun day, and I was glad I was able to come too.

his class

the whole class

i was trying to get a picture of the two of them together....

chris kinda looking at the camera...

naomi definitely not....

no thanks, mom...

no more pictures, please!

couldn't even get one of just naomi looking at me. :)

naomi's preschool open house 2010

2011-01-11T16:25:00.001-06:00

We got to go to Naomi’s preschool for her open house; we got to see her room, and all the projects she’s been working on. We had a bit of a laugh about one of them; each child had a cutout shape of a person (like a gingerbread man), with “I’m special because…” written on it. The teachers had helped each child fill in why they were special. All the other kids had put things like “Jesus loves me”. Naomi’s was the only one that was different. Hers said “I’m special because…I love yogurt!” Funny girl! She really does love yogurt! She's having a great year in preschool, and learning a lot. She can now spell her name, and write it out too, along with knowing her letters and counting to 20 (with a little difficulty around 13).

all the way back in october...

2011-01-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

so, i've been slacking here on my little 'ol blog - big time! i'm still catching up from back in october. i'd love to get all caught up to the present, but mostly my goal is just to record the things going on in our lives. so, as long as i get pictures and memories down, i'm not too stressed about how fast it happens.

at the beginning of october, naomi was invited to a birthday party at a pumpkin patch. she had a great time with her friends. they fed the goats, cows, sheep, and chickens, picked out pumpkins, went on a hayride, had a yummy lunch, and played. a fun way to kick off the fall.

october general conference

2010-12-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

This year for General Conference, the kids and I set up their own little "stations" with coloring packets, paper, markers, scissors, etc. They came up with the idea of the laundry baskets all on their own. Pretty inventive. :) They did a great job listening while the Prophet spoke, and coloring/playing quietly during the other talks. I love General Conference weekend, and it gets nicer every year as the kids get older.

chris's 6th birthday

2010-11-30T09:20:00.000-06:00

On September 30th, Chris turned 6! I can't believe he's in kindergarten, and SIX! Crazy. Anyhow, his birthday was on a Thursday this year, and he got spoiled. His school does birthdays up nicely! He had his name said on morning announcements, and got to wear a crown all day.

this kid never looks at the camera!

Dave and I brought him Sonic for lunch, and later that afternoon Naomi and I brought blue sugar cookies and juice boxes for his class. They're not allowed to bring homemade treats, or cupcakes (I guess they're too messy??). So, I got mine from Walmart. Although I would have liked to have been able to make his treats myself, it was nice to just buy them and take them up to the school.

He requested homemade pepperoni pizza, salad, and cooked carrots for dinner. Ouma, Oupa, Jon, Katie, Jacob and Lily all came over to help him celebrate.

Scooby Doo was the theme this year, so that's how I did his cake. Don't laugh too hard at how the writing turned out. Lately, by the time I'm done with the cake, I don't feel like filling up the icing bag to pipe the writing in properly, and just use those gel writers. They don't work very well!

The next day, he got to go up on stage at Friday Live (something they do every Friday at his school), and get sung to. He looked so little and cute up there. We also had his friends party that day. He wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's this year. It was so nice; all I had to do was bring the cupcakes and balloons. No games to plan, or food to make, or mess to clean up! I forgot my camera (I really have been doing better, I promise!), so the only picture we have is this one that Dave and Naomi took together. I love it!

Even though it's not documented in pictures, everyone had a good time. A lot of pizza was consumed, games were played, cupcakes eaten, and presents opened.

naomi starts preschool

2010-11-28T21:11:00.003-06:00

Okay. Here I am catching up again. I'm starting all the way back in September, and hopefully, I'll be all caught up soon.

Naomi started preschool on September 7th. She was so excited to get to go to "Chris's school", and be a big girl. She is so excited to grow up, which is cute; I do try and help her see how much fun it is to be a kid, though. She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am - 2pm, and is in the "Monkeys" class (which suits her just fine!)

The first day, we packed up her backpack with her green folder, lunchbox, snack, and cuddly things for quiet time. We had already dropped off her nap mat, and she chose her pink baby and pink blankey take to school that day (she gets to choose one stuffed animal/baby, and a blanket or blankey to bring every day). I forgot to take pictures of her first day, and I'm pretty sure that's one of those things I'll have mommy-guilt about for a long time. It was a bad year all-around for that, if you remember the non-backpack picture of Chris's first day. Thankfully, I have been pretty good about the pictures since then. I'm getting better at remembering the camera. Yay!

We got to school, and unloaded her backpack together. She has her very own cubby, which is so much fun. Up top is a section for the lunchbox, and the baby, blankey, and napmat have a section underneath. The folder goes in a bucket, and the snack has it's own bucket too. After we got everything where it belonged, she found her popsicle stick with her name on it. She gets to put her stick in a pocket, which is on a poster inside her classroom. That way they can all see which friends are there that day. It's also helped her recognize her name (which she can write all by herself now!). Once she had her stick, I signed her in, and gave her a big hug and kissed her goodbye. She went in without a problem, and had a great first day. I was a bit emotional, which was surprising to me since I didn't get emotional at all when I dropped Chris off for kindergarten the first day. Part of it is that Chris was SO ready to be in school. Another part was that Naomi is my baby, and I can't believe I'm already taking her to preschool!

She's been having a great time, and is making new friends, and learning a lot.

naomi, on chris's birthday (with pizza face :D)

ben's homecoming

2010-10-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

Dave's youngest brother, Ben, returned home from his mission at the beginning of September. Unfortunately, Sam (Dave's other brother) and his wife, Tanya, missed their flight out. So, they weren't there as Ben got off the plane, but they did make it a few hours later. The kids had fun decorating a sign for Ben.

not sure why i'm not smiling, but here we are. so excited he's home! not pictured: jonathan, katie, sam & tanya

mama and her baby. can you tell she's happy to have him home??

about to meet with the stake president

I'll spare the guys, and not post the next pictures. Not that they don't look good, I just don't think they'd like it very much! The first thing they did after Ben had been released was to go and get him a swimsuit, and take him swimming at our pool. Fun times! We girls stayed home to get dinner ready, so we could head out to our next adventure...

Dallas soccer game! Who hoo! It was a blast! Ice cream and cotton candy kept the kids happy, and the rest of us had fun cheering and chatting. The game ended with a spectacular fireworks show - one of the best I've ever seen. We had some serious fun!

The next day, Sunday, we all attended church together. It was the first Sunday of the month, so it was fast and testimony meeting. It was really nice to get to hear all the guys' testimonies, and be all together. Monday we headed up to the lake for a picnic, swimming, and sand castle building. We didn't get to see him for very long, but it sure was a fun visit. Welcome home, Ben!

balloon festival

2010-10-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

In September, we went to a balloon festival that is held every year around here. It was so fun to see it all. We went with Jonathan and Katie & co., and also met up with our friends Jared and Melissa and their kids.

getting ready to lift off

a pirate

i know this is sideways, but it's too much of a pain to change, and too cute to leave out :)

a shot of the boys, by naomi

light show after it got dark

arboretum

2010-10-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

The Tuesday after Chris started school, Naomi and I took a trip to the arboretum. It's so hot in August around here, that they only charge $1 to get in. Tuesday was our last chance to take advantage of that, so we went for a little adventure - just the two of us. We had a lot of fun. It was a great mommy-daughter thing to do.

explored cute little houses

walked under beautiful trees

saw all sorts of beautiful flowers

and fun water features

checked out the kid-sized pioneer houses

chris starts elementary school!

2010-10-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Chris started kindergarten on the 23rd of August. I can't believe he is old enough to be in kindergarten! The Thursday before, he got a chance to meet his teacher and see his class room. His teacher is really nice, and things have been going great so far. On the first day, Naomi and I walked him to his classroom and got him settled in. I explained to him that I would be there after school to pick him up, and gave him a big hug and told him I loved him. I didn't get emotional that day; mostly, because I felt that he was so ready to be there, and had been so bored at home. I did have a bit of a time the next few days, though, when I had to drop him off at the front doors. After the first day, he had to make it to his room by himself. He did do carpool drop-off at preschool last year, so it wasn't a totally foreign concept to either of us. I guess it was just that there were so many kids, and he's expected to find things on his own a lot more. I kind of felt like I was feeding him to the sharks. Fortunately, that's just my over-protective motherly instincts kicking in. He has done great, and is loving school. I am realizing how important it is to make sure he has the skills necessary to make the right choices, since he's home so much less, and making his own choices so much more. I love this kid, and am so grateful to be his mom!

dave gets his tonsils out

2010-10-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

After dealing with strep, at least twice a year since moving to America, I finally convinced Dave to see an ENT and get everything checked out. Especially since we had been passing it back and forth multiple times between our vacations. The doctor took one look at his throat and said, "Those are some angry looking tonsils! They need to come out". It is an outpatient procedure, so we were in and out in about 4 hours. The doctor also decided to take his adenoids at the same time. He felt great as he was coming out of the anesthetic, and was even chatty.

I brought him home, got him settled, called everyone to let them know how things had gone, and headed out to get his prescriptions. The first and second days were okay. He'd get sore if he talked too much, but was pretty mobile and not too sore. Day 3 and 4 weren't as nice. Getting your tonsils out as an adult is a pretty major deal. I was worried about him, and did a lot of research before he went in to the hospital about what I could feed him during recovery. What I discovered is that everyone is different as to what is tolerable, so I stocked up on lots of things so he would have choices. He ended up going with stage 1 baby food (found that idea on a website - brilliant, right?!), tons of blue Gatorade, some water, avocados, natural Cheetos (since they're mostly air, and dissolve), boiled eggs after a week or so, and occasionally a popsicle. From what I read, dairy products aren't good for people recovering from getting their adenoids/tonsils removed. They cause a build up of phlegm, which creates a need to cough. Coughing can rips the scabs off prematurely, and cause a lot of bleeding. Something I didn't want either of us to have to deal with! He did bleed a bit a few times, but didn't ever have any gushing. It took him a full two weeks to recover, but now he's back to full health. We're hoping to have put the strep behind us!

july {condensed}

2010-09-28T08:24:00.002-05:00

July was another traveling month for us. After we returned from Arizona, I unpacked and did all the laundry, so that we could pack it all up again for a trip to New York and Ontario, Canada to visit my mom's side of the family. We had a great time! We flew into Buffalo, and drove over to Palmyra where we stayed for a few nights. It was nice to see all the sights and the pageant again, and especially nice that Dave and the kids were able to experience it too. We asked the kids to be reverent while we were in the sacred grove, and they did a great job. They both said that they could feel the spirit while we were there.

Saw some church history sites

Grandin printing press


Standing on original Joseph Smith family farm, with the Palmyra temple in the background.

Saw some church history sites. Naomi LOVED my cousin Derek. Everyone else, too, but especially Derek.

Pageant getting set up. It was wonderful, and the kids were amazed.

Funny group shot.

After Palmyra, we drove up to my Aunt Marsha’s house. I wasn’t feeling too well on the drive, and hoped that it was only a cold. Unfortunately, it was strep – again! Luckily one of my uncles was able to call in a prescription for me to a Walgreens in New York. Dad and Dave drove down to pick it up for me, which was very much appreciated. Unfortunately, having strep meant that I missed almost everything about being up there. I was able to sit out on the porch for a little bit while everyone swam, but didn’t do much else. I am glad I wasn’t sick at a hotel, though.

They did lots of fun stuff without me.

Niagara Falls was our next stop. We saw the Canadian side, rode the trolley on the American side, and rode the Maid of the Mist. Riding the boat up to the falls was a blast! There is so much water coming over; it is amazing. I recently read a book that said that only 50% of the potential water actually goes over the falls – the rest is diverted for the hydroelectric plant there. And, during the night only 25% is allowed to go over. I can’t imagine what it would be like with twice as much water going over.

crossing the border

cousins

The next morning we woke up early to make it to the airport for our flight. It was delayed because of mechanical issues. Dave called to see about our connecting flight in Cincinnati, which was a good thing! If we had taken the flight out of Buffalo, we would have been stuck in the Cincinnati airport over night – we wouldn’t have been able to make any flights to DFW because of the delay. So, instead of sleeping in the airport we decided to stay in Buffalo, where we already had a hotel. Mom and Dad weren’t able to fly out either, so we had another day to spend together before leaving for home. It was a fun vacation!

That left only one week remaining in July, which I used to catch up with everything around here. What fun summer vacations we had!

june {condensed}

2010-09-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the month, I helped plan the first Primary activity our presidency had done. I think it turned out well. The kids had fun, and learned about the prophets as well. We had four stations, where a prophet of the Book of Mormon came to talk with the kids. We had Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty, Nephi building the boat, the brother of Jared and the smooth stones, and I was in charge of Samuel the Lamenite. I had someone from the ward dress up, and come tell Samuel’s story. The kids were so excited to get to meet him! After he told us his story, I had shields that I’d made for them, which said, “When I obey the Lord, I will be protected”. I gave them each a sheet of aluminum foil and a piece of paper. On the paper they wrote down something that they needed protection from. Then they wadded up the paper in the foil, which represented a rock. They practiced being protected with their shields and rocks. As you can probably imagine, they had a lot of fun throwing the “rocks” and deflecting them with their shields.

Father’s day started off well, but didn’t end so great. I made Dave a nice breakfast, and the kids gave him some presents and picked some flowers for him. I had a little sore throat, but I thought it would get better as the day progressed. Unfortunately, it got worse! By the time the third hour of church came around, I was completely miserable and nauseous too. I got Dave and the kids, and we left early. I spent the rest of the day in bed, and went to the doctor the next morning. It usually takes me a while to decide I should go to the doctor, so the fact that I went straight away shows how sick I really was. I was diagnosed with strep, and got some antibiotics. Man, was I miserable! Unfortunately, Dave’s birthday was that Wednesday and I wasn’t feeling well enough to do anything for him. He worked extra hard and took really good care of me and the kids while I was sick.

I finished up my recovery on the road out to Arizona, for a family reunion on my dad's side. I like road trips, and the kids seem to enjoy themselves as well. It was so fun to be at the family reunion and see everyone again. We spent a few days at my grandparent's house, then traveled up to Sedona. It is so gorgeous up there.

We had a barbecue

Watched the sunset over the red rocks

We all rode a ski lift up a mountain. Some of us, are a little tinsy bit nervous about heights. It's definitely genetics for me, from my dad's side. Kind of a crazy vacation for a family of people a bit anxious when near the edge of things. There was also a hot air balloon ride as well. I found out on this trip how nervous Dave gets. I guess I hadn't realized that about him before.

Posing for pictures at the top

We made it!

We also got to spend a day at the Grand Canyon, which I had never been to before.

Cousins

A rainbow over the Grand Canyon!

We stayed for the sunset

Which was amazing

We spent the night at my aunt's house, and then it was time to head back home. Unfortunately, on our way home, Dave got strep AGAIN! He had had it on our way out, and then got it again on our way back. He went to an ear, nose, and throat doctor when we got home. The doctor told him that he would have to have his tonsils out. That got taken care of in August. Kind of a crummy end to our vacation, but we had a great time seeing some beautiful places, and enjoying family.

swim lessons

2010-08-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

June started with swimming lessons, which are one of my favorite parts of the summer. Both kids did fabulous in the water, and are doing even better now. Chris was in level 1, and can swim across the pool by himself. We're working with him on his strokes and kicks, but he can swim independently. Naomi had her first year in the toddler class - without me in the water with her. She had such a great time playing the games and practicing floating, kicking, and scooping the water. Since lessons, she has started swimming short distances under water. We're pretty impressed with her lack of fear - it also means we have to watch her pretty close!

may {condensed}

2010-08-08T21:07:00.000-05:00

May was busy and fun for us. Christopher finished up T-ball, and decided that it wasn’t really the sport for him. He thought it was kind of boring, but since he’s only 5 we’ll probably try again sometime. He’s signed up for soccer in the fall, so we’ll see if he likes that one any better. It’s what he chose, so hopefully it will be fun for him.

He “graduated” from preschool, with a ceremony and everything. The kids sang a few songs, and each child got to say what they wanted to be when they grew up. Christopher said, “a Daddy”, which made me smile, of course! They each got a diploma and treats from their teachers. It’s on to kindergarten in the fall! He and I are both excited for that. He gets bored around here, so it will be fun for him to have a new adventure.

we were far away, and didn't have very good lighting. chris is on the bottom row in the blue shirt

chris and ms blythe

chris and ms. janet

with jacob in his cubby

getting ready for next year!

We celebrated Mother’s Day, which was fun. I got breakfast in bed, flowers, and cards. The kids tried extra hard to be nice to each other. We had dinner at our place, and invited Donald and Stella, and Jonathan and Katie and their kids. It was fun to spend Mother’s day together. We were also able to all get on a conference call with Ben on his mission. He comes home in September, so he’s getting close to being done.

At the end of the month, Jonathan and Katie surprised us with a trip to Forth Worth. They booked us a hotel, and watched our kids for us over the weekend. The are super duper, and we are really, really lucky to have such great family! We mostly relaxed and walked around downtown, and enjoyed each other’s company. There are a lot of fun shops to see. It was nice to get to spend some time together, just the two of us. The kids had a great time, too! Memorial Day was the standard pool and barbecue, which kick-started our summer quite nicely!

april {condensed}

2010-08-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

No pictures for April :(. My camera was acting up, so we didn't get any. Here is the month in a nutshell:

We really enjoyed General Conference. The kids are old enough now to give us the chance to listen to almost all of the talks. I enjoyed how many people spoke about families, and protecting them. It felt very pertinent to me. That Sunday, was of course, Easter. The kids got their baskets, which just had fun little toys in them. We watched Conference, then went over to Jonathan and Katie's for an egg hunt for the kids. They had fun with their cousins looking for eggs. Afterward, the kids played with their cousins, and the adults watched the last session. I helped Katie in the kitchen, and we had a yummy Easter dinner. It was a wonderful weekend!

The other fun thing was celebrating my birthday. I was completely spoiled! My friends took me out to lunch the day before, Katie watched my kids all afternoon, Donald and Stella had us all over for dinner and then kept the kids overnight so Dave and I could have a date, and Dave took me out for breakfast the next morning. What fun!

Other than that, we had a few get-togethers with some friends, which was fun. And mostly just day-to-day activities. Storytime at the library, piano lessons, preschool, T-ball practices and games, and church. It all keeps us pretty busy, but I like it better that way.

march 20-28 my parents visit

2010-05-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

(Just as a warning: There are a lot of pictures in this post. Proceed at your own risk :D)

My parent flew in Saturday the 20th. Unfortunately, they had left a beautiful, 60*, sunny day in north eastern Washington, for 30*, cloudy, and windy in Dallas! We arrived home just in time for dinner and chatting for a bit. The next day, Sunday, it snowed! Church was almost canceled, but us Texans are tough! Naomi got to open her birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They got her a new "princess" dress, with purse and sweater to go with. The pink Dora sunglasses are her own addition. :)

Monday was spent taking a lot of walks. I took Naomi to the doctor for her 3 year check up, and she's growing well. She even got a chance to walk the dog while we spent some time outside in the sunshine. I love our crazy weather!

We all enjoyed the sunny day (by Chris)

The next day was my dad's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad! It was fun to get to spend it with him. We went to the lake and had some fun.

After the lake, we celebrated with presents, cake, and ice cream. Look at all those candles!

The next day, Wednesday, we fed the ducks at the lake, took the kids to The Princess and the Frog (which was cute!), and went to Christopher's first T-ball game.

Thursday, we did the touristy thing and went to Fort Worth. We went to stockyards to watch the cattle drive and look at the museums, fun shops, and have some barbecue for lunch. Fun!

Friday, we went to Christopher's sports class, and then headed to Chuck-E-Cheese for a birthday party. Naomi's friend, Cali, is only 10 days younger than her.

My dad watched the kids afterward, so my mom and I could go shopping. It's become something of a tradition, and I love it! Katie is a saint, and watched the kids that evening so the adults could go out to dinner. We had a great time together!

Saturday we had Naomi's "Dora" friend party. We made "Swiper the Fox" sandwiches, asked Map (played by Chris) how to get to the fiesta. We had to go "through the tall buildings, over the "troll bridge" (troll also played by Chris), and that's how we got to THE FIESTA! (said in Dora voice)." The fiesta was a pinata. After that, we opened presents and had Dora cake (which came out a bit better this time) and ice cream. I think everyone had a good time, which makes it a success.

After the party, we headed over to the Allen Natatorium, which is an indoor water place. We had fun swimming, going down the slides, and floating/playing tag in the lazy river. It was a great end to a fabulous week! My parents had to leave the next morning, and we were sad to see everyone go! Who's coming to visit us next?!

catch up again!

2010-05-17T22:13:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm back to doing some catch up here. At least our lives are getting recorded, right? I'm starting all the way back in March when my sister came to visit. She arrived late Saturday the 13th. We had such fun together. The best part was that she got to be here for Naomi's birthday. Naomi turned 3! I can't believe my baby is already 3 years old! We celebrated with presents, and a Dora cake - of course!

Chris wanted to make her this doll for her birthday. He helped with as much as he could, and was so excited to give it to her. This is her smiling for the camera!

After we had set up for the family party - Naomi - showing "3" - and Amy

Opening presents with Ouma and Chris

She asked for a "pink Dora" cake for her birthday

Blowing out the candles (in her hand is a flashlight that came with the pop-up Dora book we got her)

Happy Birthday, Naomi! We love you so much, and are so glad to have you as part of our family. We love your energy and spunk!

Back again

2010-04-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

I'm back! (Did you notice I was gone? No? Didn't think so, but that's okay.) My sister was here for a week, and we had a BLAST! It was fun to have some girl time with her. My parents were here the week after that, and that was also a fabulous time. My family it totally awesome, and I love 'em! The only things that could have been better is if my brothers could have made it out (missed you guys!), and if Dave could have taken off work. I will post all about our adventures soon.

Even though I didn't post my menus for the past few weeks, I did make them. I am a negligent blogger, but I've come to live with that fact. I can also justify my behavior with the fact that I blog way, WAY more than I ever journal, or ever have journal-ed (unless you count middle school, when I felt the need to write about boys, at least once a week - I was a little boy crazy). At any rate, I will carry on. Here is the plan for this week:

Monday (today): Tostadas

Tuesday: Creamy Pasta Primavera (I'm going to make a double batch, and freeze some), baked sweet potatoes, salad

Wednesday: Ham & Cheese Quiche (my sil, Katie, made this for Easter yesterday - it was sooo good, and easy too! It's going on my freezer dinner list), green salad, fruit salad

Thursday: Tasty Pork Ribs, salad, rolls

Friday: Baked Chicken Parmigiana (this is seriously so good, and easy! it tastes like it came from a restaurant), salad, green beans

Saturday: something easy or leftovers

Sunday: Dave cooks

Monday: Chili (I'm also making a double batch of this to freeze), cornbread

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-08T15:16:00.000-06:00

Menu Plan Monday again this week! I had a nasty cold last week, so all our dinners were quick and easy. I should even admit that a take-out pizza was in there one night. Desperate times!

At any rate, I didn't ever make it grocery shopping, so I didn't have the ingredients to make most of what was on the list, anyway. I'm feeling much better this week, so we'll try again and see if I can't get these dinners cooked!

Monday: Shepherd's Pie - my version uses seasoned taco meat, instead of plain ground beef. I know it sounds weird, but my kids love it, and it's a good way to use up the extra taco meat I always have

Tuesday: Tropical Lime Chicken, couscous, salad

Wednesday: Tasty Pork Ribs, crash potatoes, salad

Thursday: Chicken quesadillas, guacamole, black beans

Friday: Breakfast: egg sandwiches on english muffins, smoothie, homemade granola squares

Saturday: Church dinner

Sunday: my sis is here!! Dave cooks

Monday: Oven fried chicken, salad, biscuits

Bathing the dog

2010-03-05T14:12:00.000-06:00

We've had a lot of precipitation around here lately. A huge (for around here, anyway) snowfall, and some pretty rainy days. Scout gets pretty stinky when he gets wet, so we gave him a bath. The kids had fun shampooing, rinsing, drying, and brushing him. Scout thinks his life is the best when he gets a bath.

family home evening

2010-03-03T15:00:00.001-06:00

we try to have an evening every week that we spend together as a family. usually we have a song, prayer, activity of some sort, short lesson, and dessert. as a side note, the kids have only wanted to play hide 'n seek, as our activity, for the longest time. we branched out last week, though, and played rock band. chris can seriously rock out on the drums! back on topic... the kids love family night. they regularly pull out all their stuffed animals and dolls to hold their own.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-01T22:57:00.001-06:00

Another week of menu planning!

I did really well this last week with sticking with what I had planned. The Clam & Potato Chowder was delish. The Crash Hot Potatoes were a definite keeper, and so was the Beef Stroganoff. Yum! Here's my plan for this week:

Tuesday: Tasty Pork Ribs (slowcooker), crash potatoes, salad, squash

Wednesday: Tropical Lime Chicken, couscous, salad

Thursday: Breakfast: omelets, toast, smoothie

Friday: Chicken quesadillas, guacamole, black beans

Saturday: Easy or Leftovers

Sunday: Dave cooks

Monday: Taco Salad

Valentine's

2010-02-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

Our Valentine's celebrations this year were pretty low-key. Christopher had a party at preschool the Thursday before. I was in charge of it with Stephanie, another mom. It was fun to put together, and I think the kids had a good time. We did a little craft with a foam picture frame and foam hearts and letters. They got to decorate sugar cookies, and play a few games. It's always fun to get to be in Chris's class with him. I didn't get any pictures (of course! :D) - it didn't work out with keeping track of Naomi, and keeping up with the parts of the party I was in charge of. The kids all had fun, though, and that's what's important.

Our Sunday was pretty typical of most of our Sundays. We got ready for church, went to church, came home, relaxed, spent time together, had dinner, put the kids to bed. Naomi has been done with mandatory afternoon naps for a few weeks now. She was having a hard time going to bed at night, so she's started having quiet time instead of nap time. It does take a bit of adjustment, though, to drop that nap. Things had been quiet in her room for a while, so I went in to check on her. It doesn't look very comfortable to me, but she had a pretty good nap in that chair.

This year I got the kids two new board games for Valentines. I've been wanting to get some new games for them, so this was a good excuse. Dave made steak and pasta with a mushroom sauce for us for dinner. It was delish!

The Saturday after, Dave's parents watched the kids for us. We dropped them off at 5, and they got to spend the night. They had a blast! Chris didn't want to come home the next morning. We took advantage of being kid free, and got some Panera. We took it to the park, and ate while watching the lake. We took a stroll around the lake at a very leisurely pace. I can't remember the last time we walked somewhere together slowly. It was peaceful and fun. We went and saw a movie after that. It was so fun to get to spend the whole evening together, uninterrupted.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-22T15:41:00.000-06:00

I have been planning a weekly menu since I first left home to go to college. It's something my mom has always done, as far as I can remember. I can't imagine making dinner without planning a weekly menu first! I don't necessarily stick to the order I arrange the dinners in, and I don't always follow my menu completely. Some days I wimp out and do something quick and easy. But, with a menu planned out for the week, I know I have the ingredients to cook healthy, delicious meals for my family until I the next time I go grocery shopping. I also keep some staples constantly stocked, which makes it easier on the nights when I'm improvising, which usually because what's on the menu just doesn't sound good that night. When that happens, I usually just move that meal on to the next week, since I know I already have all the ingredients for it.

I follow this site called "I'm an Organizing Junkie", where she lists her menu for the week. Everyone who participates links up, and then you can see what everyone's menu is for the week. Kind of fun. I have been, in my lurker fashion, just reading without linking. But, I've been wanting to have a way of documenting my menus to keep track of what I've been cooking. It seems like it will be easier to keep track of the recipes that work, so I can use them again. For this reason, I have decided to start participating in Menu Plan Monday. Here's my menu for this week:

Monday: Clam & Potato Chowder (from one of my low cholesterol cookbooks - I'll let you know how it is), leftover homemade bread, green salad

Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken (whatever strikes my fancy - bbq sauce or potatoes or orange sauce), Crash Hot Potatoes, green salad, green beans

Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff, green salad, roasted acorn squash

Thursday: Chicken tacos

Friday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, spinach salad, squash (Naomi loves squash!), garlic bread

Saturday: Leftovers or something easy

Sunday: Dave cooks - aren't I lucky?? He likes to cook, and always makes really yummy dinners for us. Yesterday he made Bunny Chow (Indian food that he used to have in South Africa) with homemade bread. Yum!

Monday: (I go shopping on Tuesday, so I always plan Monday's dinner too) Pan seared chicken, rice, green salad, green beans

Baking List: Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

this week

2010-02-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

this week has been busy and productive. we've been pluggin along - planning birthdays, family visits, summer vacations, organizing, shuffling around when to get to the gym, sports for chris, and all that normal family life stuff. this is my kind of week. i've enjoyed the busy days - like the one where i was out of the house for a solid 5 hours (not my normal m.o.), and also the more relaxed ones where we stayed home and cleaned and organized and played all day. i'm trying to take advantage of my last bits of time before chris starts kindergarten in the fall. we are all excited for him to go, but it will still be sad to not have him around during the day.

i do have to say that i'm pretty excited about some of the things going on. my *little sis is coming to visit us during her spring break at college (*i have to call her little when i can - i got the short genes, and she didn't. but she's still 8 years younger than me :D), and my parents are coming the week after during my dad's spring break (he's an institute teacher). i'm stoked! i'm having fun planning all the fun things we'll do while they're here. i'm figuring that amy will want to take a few days to detox from early morning classes and homework, so we'll take it easy with her the first few days. we'll be livin' it up with the folks, though. they're party animals - like me! he, he. leave some ideas for me in the comments about what we could do!

i also completed a little organizing project this week, which always feels like a breath of fresh air to me. i love to organize. our coat closet doubles as my craft storage, which made it really hard to hang up the coats properly. there's not really enough space to have the coats be able to hang down and move along the rack freely. plus, the kids can't reach that high, and i like them to be able to take care of as much of their own things as possible. so, my solution was to pick up two wood, unfinished coat hooks from home depot. i spray painted them, then hung them in the little walkway in our garage. it's where we already keep our shoes and gloves and such anyway, so it was the perfect place. i hung one at kid-height, and one at adult height. now the kids get out of the car, take off their shoes and put them away, and put their coats away too. ideally none of that ever even comes inside. (i did say ideally :) now, i can get to my craft supplies, and the coats get hung up nicely. there's even a bit of room left in the coat closet for our really heavy winter coats - ones that might be too heavy for the coat hooks drilled into the wall. nice and tidy and usable. perfect!

hope everyone has a fabulous week!

New Year's Eve

2010-01-31T23:44:00.000-06:00

We haven't had a whole lot going on this month. I sure enjoy January in Texas. It's nice to take it easy, and get back into the routine of life after the craziness of December and the holidays. The weather has been typical Texas - 65 degrees for a couple days, and 35 degrees the day after. The warm days have been awesome, and we've utilized them by playing outside. The cold days have also been enjoyed with hot chocolate and warm blankets. It's been a good month to rejuvenate and relax a bit.

Before the month is completely over, though, I do want to blog our New Year's Eve. We had such a fun night! This is the first year of our married lives that we've actually done something for New Year's Eve. Yah, we're party animals :) This year I was planning out what I would make for dinner that night, and realized that it would be fun for the kids to have a party. And, and much fun as parents are :), I didn't think that the four of us would constitute a party. We had over our good friends, Holly and Joey, and their kids. It was perfect - my kids adore theirs, and the grown ups get along pretty darn well too. Or, at least Joey and Holly are good actors. :) We had pizza and sparkling fruit drinks, deliciously decadent (and probably the reason for gaining a good five pounds) cheesecake, played board games and Rockband, and made some noise and wore some hats.

They left at about 9pm, and we got our kids to bed. I'm a little crazy about sleep. I have a really hard time dealing with tired, cranky, whiny kids, so I hardly ever let them stay up late. Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there! When we do party, we go all out!

Okay, so maybe it's not all that, but it was perfect for us. I like entertaining and having people over. Dave doesn't enjoy parties too much. He enjoys smaller settings with just a few people. So, we compromised by inviting over Jonathan and Katie for a party. My family has a tradition of having fondue on New Year's Eve, and it's one of my favorite traditions. Something about being able to stick my fork in a pot without getting scolded was always exciting as a kid. I also liked getting to choose the fondue fork with the coolest color on the end. Simple pleasures. :) So, I made up a traditional swiss cheese fondue with yummy bread and veggies to dip. We ate, played Rockband (our new addiction), then ended with chocolate fondue. Yum!

(We did actually get quite a few more pictures. The sparkling cider must have been spiked or something, though :) All the rest of them are not at all post-worthy! Crazy faces, blurry shots, double chins. Ahh!)

In salute to our boring selves, we didn't even watch the ball drop or anything. But, we did have the exactly right kind of night for us. Thanks you guys, for celebrating with us. You made it a great evening, and a fun way to welcome in 2010! Here's to a great year in store for us!

THREE snow falls in december?!

2010-01-10T17:28:00.001-06:00

The Tuesday after Christmas, we had ANOTHER snow fall! It sure was crazy, but a lot of fun. The kids asked to go play in it after dinner. I was sure they'd only last a few minutes, since it was dark and cold, but they toughed it out and we even built a snowman. I think it's the first one either of them have ever built. What a fun Christmas vacation!

Christmas!

2010-01-10T17:22:00.000-06:00

Christmas day was great fun! We enjoyed opening presents together, and having a nice relaxing morning. The kids enjoyed getting gifts, but also enjoyed watching us open the ones from them. We all had fun enjoying everyone's presents together. We spent some time talking with my family via web cam, playing Beatles Rockband, Mario Kart, building Hot Wheels tracks, and playing dollhouse. A fun morning. We even had snow the night before, which is a first in 20 years or something like that. The kids, on the way home, said, "Look! It's Christmas!"

We made it over to Jonathan and Katie's at a leisurely pace, after scraping the ice off the windshield. We had "brunch", which was more like lunch, but still tasty. :) After that, we just continued on in enjoying the day in a very low-key way. We have a tradition of Dave cooking Christmas dinner. He barbecues up a bunch of different meat, and I make a few salads for side dishes. It's a throw back to South African Christmas's he grew up with. A very nice day!

Last of the Christmas Advent

2010-01-10T16:59:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks like I'm back to playing catch-up. :) Oh well!

Monday the 14th we had a special Christmas Family Home Evening. We learned about the birth of the Savior, and talked about what we could do to be more like Him. Tuesday, we read a few extra Christmas stories before bedtime. I love reading, and I love reading to my kids. The seem to really enjoy books, too. Wednesday, we wrote letter to Santa. Chris asked for cowboy boots, Mario Kart Wii, Lego Star Wars for the Wii, and dry erase markers. Naomi asked for pink princess (her words :D), and a pencil. She's easy to please! Thursday was Christopher's Christmas program at preschool. He did a great job singing all the songs, and doing the motions. It was a lot of fun to watch him, and we were very proud of him.

Friday the 18th... I can't remember! All I know is that it wasn't what I had planned on. I know it was something fun, but we didn't take pictures (surprise!), and I didn't write it down. Oops! This is why I shouldn't get behind!

Saturday we had a lot of fun going to an ice skating show. It was really fun to watch. Naomi was mesmerized the whole time by the spins and jumps. We might have a future ice skater on our hands. The best part (according to me, anyway) was that it was free. We had a great time. Sunday we watched a short video of the Nativity together as a family. It's set to Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven", and I love it.

The next Monday after that we did another Christmas Family Home Evening. Tuesday we went to this really neat place, all set up for Christmas. It's a fire safety town, with building all to kid scale. They had a fire engine to drive, Santa, reindeer noses, story time, candy canes, and other fun things. The kids had a great time at that, and the grown ups enjoyed the warm weather that night. Wednesday we sat and snuggled with the lights on while reading books. Thursday was Christmas Eve. We went over to Jonathan and Katie's for some yummy food. She made cornish pasties, which is something the guys had in South Africa, and yummy soup. We did the usual Christmas Eve program, then brought the kids home to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. The kids went to bed in their new Christmas pajamas that I made. I did the jammy tops too, and I am kind of proud of myself for doing buttonholes for the first time. It was something I had been nervous about, so it's nice to have conquered that one.

And, that's the end of the Advent we did this last year. It was a lot of fun - a new tradition, I think!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:26:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Love,

David, Sarah, Chris & Naomi

p.s. i haven't forgotten about the rest of the advent activities. i will post those soon, i promise! plus, the rest of these fabulous family photos taken by my incredibly talented sister in law.

second week of the Christmas advent

2009-12-13T21:25:00.000-06:00

we have had another fun week! two of the activities i had planned didn't work out. one was just poor planning on my part, and the other was, well, a consequence for bad behavior. monday was that day. we were supposed to have a fun, Christmas family home evening. the kids were having a really hard time listening, and were fighting, and just doing all those naughty kid things. moms, you know what i'm talking about! now, i don't believe family home evening should be taken away because of bad behavior. we should spend time together as a family - no matter what. well, i guess that "no matter what" got challenged. :) hopefully they learned that it's no fun to make bad choices, and will be on better behavior. we did had a much better time for the rest of the week.

on tuesday night, we read extra Christmas bedtime stories together as a family. it's so fun to snuggle up together and read. that's one of my favorite things to do with my kids. i hope to help them develop a love of reading. wednesday night we listened to Christmas music while we watched the lights on the tree. it was nice to just sit and be still for a few minutes during the day. it didn't last too long, of course, but it was magical while it did. :)

thursday was the other day that didn't work out as planned. i had planned for us to wrap the gifts the kids had gotten last saturday. dave ended up working late, so it was just the kids and me. i realized that they would be super bored, and that it wouldn't be too much fun for them to watch me wrap. and, i would have to keep at least one of them out of the room the whole time. i decided not to set myself up for that frustration. they're not quite old enough to wrap by themselves, so what i've decided is to wrap all the gifts before hand, in brown paper. then, they can work on decorating the gifts that have been wrapped. i think that will be a lot more fun, and less frustrating for everyone. we'll do that sometime next week (after i get everything wrapped first!). so, instead, the kids helped me work on our homemade Christmas cards. they're pretty close to being done, and should be coming out sometime this week, too. here's a sneak peek:

chris did the faces, i did the hat, naomi did the hair and beard (with a little help - i don't really trust her on her own with glue just yet :D)

i think this one with the long nose is my favorite.

friday, we went to downtown frisco to see the lights. they have a bunch of lights set up that flash in time to music, which was really neat to watch. they had a fun "train" ride, which took you around to see the lights. santa was also there. chris had no fear this year, and hopped right up on his knee. naomi's only contact was to reach her hand out as far as it would go to snatch the candy cane he was offering her. i can't blame her for not wanting to sit on some strange man's knee. :) dave took pictures with his phone. i'll get them, and post them soon.

saturday was a fun, crazy day! we got up bright and early (okay, we didn't get up any earlier - my kids are early risers, but we did get dressed and moving a lot quicker than normal), and headed over to the church for breakfast. we had yummy pancakes, fruit, sausage, and hot chocolate. after we were full (and a little sticky), we went to go see santa, again. chris had some questions about how the whole thing worked, so i had to explain how santa has helpers, and that's why not all the santas look the same. he was also wondering how santa got to the church without his reindeer. he's pretty smart - we'll have to be quick on our toes if we want him to keep believing! :) i, of course, did not bring my camera. are you surprised? i didn't think so. :) a friend - much more responsible than i - was in line next to us, and took pictures of the kids with her camera. when i get those, i'll post them. it was pretty much the same scenario as the night before. naomi did manage to stand next to santa this time, though. :)

right after that, chris had a birthday party to go to. naomi and i ran errands, we picked up chris, then we cleaned the house a bit. stella came over in the afternoon and watched the kids while dave and i went shopping. thank you, stella! it was fabulous! our shopping is all done, except for a few bits and pieces. yay! that's a big thing to check off my to-do list. the kids had a great time with ouma - playing games, watching movies, eating treats. all the fun grandparent stuff.

today's fun activity was making Christmas cookies. we used the cookie press, and added sprinkles. the kids love helping in the kitchen. fun and yummy! i think we might have to bake up some more, though. we need (yes, need!) some variety. i'm thinking some no bake chocolate cookies, peanut butter kiss ones, and, if i'm feeling ambitious, some sugar cookies for me to decorate. fun, fun!

check in again next week to hear about the fun things coming up!

snow!

2009-12-13T20:47:00.000-06:00

a couple wednesdays ago, we woke up to snow! the first thing the kids said, of course, was, "can we go out and play?!" they had a great time out there. it was really wet and didn't last very long, but they experienced snow in december. how festive!

first week of the christmas advent

2009-12-07T10:21:00.000-06:00

this year, i decided to do something a little different to help us have more meaningful family time, count down the days until christmas, and get in all the fun things i want to do (with as little stress as possible!). so far, it's going really well, and i'm really happy that i did it.

instead of a traditional advent calendar with treats or little toys or something like that, what i did was number envelopes from 1 to 24. i hung them each, with a clothespin, on this decoration i had made a few years ago to hold christmas cards. originally i was just going to string some ribbon up, and clothespin the envelopes to that, but then i remembered i had this already cute and made. perfect!

each envelope has a piece of paper inside with an activity for the day. some are things we would have been doing anyway, some are really easy, and some take a little bit of work. none of them cost any money (except saturday's one, but i think that's the only one), and most only take a few minutes to do. the weekends will have activities around our area, that we like to attend. the weekdays are more of the low-key activities. what's really great about this method, is that if something comes up, and i need to change things around, all i have to do is take out the paper and put in a new one. i'm all about keeping it simple. and, speaking of keeping it simple, you might be thinking that this sounds like more work. it's not! for me anyway, i love lists and organizing my time, activities, closets, my brain - pretty much anything! this helps me feel a lot more organized, and less worried about when everything will get done. for example, one of the activities is to make christmas cookies. something i would have felt the need to do anyway, but now i have a specific day to do them, and it will (hopefully) be a fun family activity. so, no worrying in the back of my mind about when to get them done. i guess what i'm saying is that i love having my month planned out. the kids love it too. it's a little surprise every morning when they get to open a new one.

tuesday was the first, and we started by getting the christmas decorations up. usually this is a stressful, 3 day process. crazy, i know. i acted like i'd have to live with it for years, instead of for a few weeks. i'm a little weird like that. :) this year, though, i let go a little. dave and the kids did the tree without me, while i did the other decorations. that way i could just put everything out, while they got the tree up. it's nice to just have it out and done. i can't say that the three day process turns out a better result, either. i might have to not decorate a tree ever again! :) chris was so, so excited to get out the decorations, and helped a whole lot with hanging up the ornaments. he had a great time. naomi had fun, too, but more in the scope of her two-year-old attention span. she would go play, then run back to do a few ornaments, then run off to play some more.

(chris took these next two)

wednesday, the second, we talked about how serving others is the same as serving Jesus. i introduced an activity that we're going to be doing this christmas season. i bought a little basket that's serving as our manger, and some of the crinkled, shredded, gift-basket paper, which is serving as our hay. anytime someone does something nice for another person, they get to add some "hay" to the "manger". it's been fun to see the kids' eyes light up when they realize that they get to add some hay. on christmas eve, we'll add a baby doll, and see if we've made the bed soft enough for baby Jesus. hopefully it'll be a good reminder of the real meaning of the season.

thursday, the third, we made sure to do something nice for another person so we could add some hay. we also attended our stake's nativity exhibit that evening. it was beautiful, and a really spiritual, nice way to kind of kick-off the month.

friday, the fourth, the kids and i made our new ornaments for the tree. we get a new ornament every year for the kids, and this year i decided to do salt dough ornaments. the recipe is on the left sidebar. katie and lily were over, so we invited them to make some with us. they were a lot of fun to make, and turned out really cute with cookie cutters. we did a few of varying thicknesses, and i think the thicker ones turned out nicer. i was worried they wouldn't bake, and get properly dried out, but they did just fine. after they had baked and cooled, we painted them. my favorites are christopher's gingerbread man, and naomi's big pink and red star. you can tell whose are whose, because naomi loves pink! hers are all the same color. :) she loves pink, so that totally reflects her right now.

saturday, the fifth, we took the kids christmas shopping. we went to the dollar store (we're cheap, and they're kids - it's all good, right? :D), and split up - one kid and one adult. then, we switched. the kids shopped for each other and for dave and i. it was fun to watch them realize that we weren't there to get anything for them. after they realized that, they really got into getting something really great for each other. i'm excited to watch them open their gifts for each other on christmas.

today, the sixth, we watched the first presidency christmas devotional together as a family, and had hot chocolate and s'mores. ok, my indoor version of s'mores. here's the easiest way i've found to do it (if you care!). get out your broiling pan, or a cookie sheet. set your oven to broil. put parchment paper down on the pan (not totally necessary, but much easier), and put marshmallows down. group them according to how much you want on each graham cracker. for example, i was making four s'mores, so i had four groupings of marshmallows. broil them for a minute to a minute and a half, or until they're as brown and toasty as you'd like them. on your graham crackers, spread some nuetella on one side of a graham cracker. use a spatula to transfer the toasted marshmallows to one side of another graham cracker. squish the two crackers together, and serve. yum!

while we were having our delicious desserts, we had a great time watching the devotional. the kids were squirming and noisy, which was expected. i think they felt the spirit of it, though, and enjoyed the ten minutes they heard. :) i look forward to this every year, and it feels like the christmas season has officially started, now that we've watched the devotional. i love the inspiring words from the prophet and his counselors. the music was amazing, of course. what a great way to spend a sunday evening! in case you missed it, or just want to watch it again, here's the link:

http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=Christmas&event=2009&lang=english

i'm excited for all the fun things we'll do together as a family this up coming week!

trip to louisiana

2009-12-01T23:38:00.000-06:00

two sundays ago, we took a fairly impromptu trip to louisiana. it was fabulous. for one thing, i love road trips. for another, we had a really great reason for going.

dave served his mission (2 year commitment 19 year old guys, and some 21 year old gals make) in louisiana. ever since we've moved to texas, we've had intentions of making the trip over to visit. we hadn't made it over, until last sunday (22nd of november).

in dave's first area, he taught a 12 year-old boy. the mom was inactive, and the other members of the family weren't members. the boy (cole), agreed to hear the discussions, and decided to be baptized. later on, during dave's mission, he learned that cole's mom had started coming to church again, and was the relief society president. cole and dave connected on facebook a while back, which was great, because that meant we received a wedding invitation to cole's marriage. he got married in idaho, but also had an open house at his home in louisiana.

the open house was on sunday, and we decided that the four hour drive was worth it. we packed up the car, and the kids :), and started on our way. the kids are good travelers - made even better with some good audio books, paper and crayons, and a movie or two. i hadn't ever been to louisiana before, so that was a lot of fun for me. i even got to see a bayou!

we got there a couple hours before the reception, so dave had a chance to show us around. we saw some of the places he tracted, where he lived, and spent some time down by the river. it was beautiful, and really fun to see where he had spent so much time, and served so diligently.

being at the open house completely made the trip worthwhile. a lot of people remembered him, and cole's mom was so excited to see dave. she was super surprised, and touched that he would make the effort to be there. we also learned that cole's stepdad had been baptized, and is serving as the elder's quorum president. cole's younger sister was baptized, and the family was sealed in the temple in 2006. dave was more excited than he's been in a long time. it was a great experience to see how the conversion of a 12 year-old boy affected his whole family for good. it was a wonderful experience, and i'm so glad we got to be there!

we left the open house at 8:30 for the four hour trek home. the kids fell asleep before we had even gotten out of town. dave and i had the whole four hours to just talk with each other. we don't very often get a chance like that, so we really enjoyed the time together. it was a great sunday.

thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T21:10:00.000-06:00

i am finally all caught up! yay!

thanksgiving this year was so much fun! it was my first year to host and cook, and i think it all went rather well. i, of course, forgot to take any pictures. (maybe i should add "personal picture taker - on hand at all times" to my christmas wish list) which is really unfortunate, because the table turned out gorgeous! i might just have to recreate the whole thing, just to get a picture of it. i wouldn't hold your breath for that, though. :) my mom got me a beautiful fall tablecloth a few years ago for christmas, and this was the first chance i had to use it. then i had rust colored plates, our nice utensils, goblets, and beautiful white napkins with napkin rings. the centerpiece was a curved, lacquered branch from hobby lobby, with two candles, and colorful gourds places around it. i was so happy with how it all turned out.

dinner - the important part - was a hit! yay! i love cooking for people, especially when it's well received. i'm glad this kind of meal only comes around once a year (dave does christmas dinner - aren't i lucky?!), but it sure is fun to do! dave's parents came over in the early afternoon, and spent the day relaxing and playing with the kids. everyone had a great day, and i must say that i'm sad to see the weekend come to a close. it's wonderful to relax and spend time with family.

i'm not too sad, though. i do have fun things planned for the christmas season this year. more on that to come!

halloween 2009

2009-11-29T21:09:00.000-06:00

we had a great time this halloween! friday was our ward's trunk-or-treat, and they went all out! it began with homemade chili, hot dogs, chips, and hot chocolate. next was bounce houses for the kids. then came the candy gathering. :) it was a really well-done event.

saturday afternoon we carved our pumpkins. we hadn't had a chance to get to them before that, but no one seemed to mind.

this is dave's "why do i have to pull the goo out of a pumpkin? this is one of the most ridiculous holidays i've ever heard of, but i love you, so i'll do it anyway. but i don't have to like it." face. isn't it cute?!

he, he, he

he's such a good sport! love you, dave!

here are the three finished products. naomi chose a cat in a window for her and i to do together. dave did the autobot symbol for chris, and chris drew his own design on his little pumpkin from preschool. he had help with the carving part. not too shabby!

we gathered at jonathan and katie's for dinner and neighborhood trick-or-treating.

naomi the rock star with lily the princess. naomi had a choice of any of the halloween costumes in the store - even the princess ones - but chose the hot pink and black guitar. so, she got to be a rock star, and loved every minute of it!

chris as optimus prime

all ready for trick-or-treating

they all had a great time, and of course, got way too much candy!

pumpkin patch 2009

2009-11-29T20:42:00.000-06:00

mid october katie and i took the kids to a pumpkin patch. even i can't forget to bring my camera to the pumpkin patch! :)

we had a great time, and the best part? it was free! can't beat that! there were a bunch of bounce houses, cut-outs of lots of different characters (dora was definitely naomi's fav), haybale mazes, and a train ride. a very fun afternoon.

naomi's potty trained!

2009-11-29T20:29:00.000-06:00

this is still in the spirit of catch-up, and a few months late.

naomi is completely potty-trained (at night, too), and that makes me so, so happy! we started with introducing the froggy potty when she was about two. she loved it, but wasn't ready to go all the time. she would go occasionally, which was fine with me.

then, when we were all sick in september, i decided it was a good time to get serious about the whole business. we were stuck at home anyway, so i decided to take advantage of the situation. she ran around without any pants or underwear for a good two weeks - maybe more. that's the best way i've found to help them recognize the need to go. it seemed to work for her, anyway. then, when we were better, she wore pullups when we'd leave the house. i got tired of buying pullups (they're expensive!), and didn't buy any more when i ran out of the pack we were working on at the time. she had stayed dry through the night a couple times, so i risked it. quitting the pullups was completely worth it! once she didn't have that safety net anymore, she didn't have any accidents. fabulous!

good job, naomi! we love you!

christopher's 5th birthday

2009-11-11T20:19:00.000-06:00

christopher's birthday was september 30th. he had quite the fun-packed day. it started out with a phone call from grandma and grandpa. he got to open the presents from them while he was on the phone. here he is with the rocket ship with little magnetic monkeys that fit inside.

For lunch we took him to McDonald's, and even let him play on the toys. I'm a mean mom - the few times we go there, I never take them inside. I hate trying to get them out to go home. So, he had a blast with that. When we got home, I had a surprise for him. I had planned it so that the cartoon Transformers movie would be here from Netflix. He loves Transformers, so he was really excited about that. He chose hot dogs and applesauce for dinner. Crazy kid - he could pick anything, and that's what he chooses! Oh well, it's what he wanted, right? :)

Next Jonathan, Katie, Jacob, Lily, Donald, and Stella came over for presents and cake and ice cream. Chris had a great time opening presents, of course!

A real guitar from Ouma. He's wanted one for a while, but we've always told him he wasn't old enough - until now!

Hugs for everyone!

We got him Optimus Prime, which he loves. (Score 1 for Mom!)

Then cake and ice cream! No close up shots of the cake - it wasn't my usual time-consuming masterpiece (he he he). He didn't care, so I didn't worry about it. :) It tasted good, and that's the important part, right?

happy birthday, chris! you had a busy month, and we're so proud of you! can't believe you're 5 already! you're such a special kid, and we love you!

star of the week

2009-11-08T21:15:00.000-06:00

chris was chosen to be the star of the week at preschool - the same week as his birthday. i asked his teachers, and it just happened to work out that way. made for a special week for him. these are the pictures he chose to bring in.

he also filled out these two pages about himself. i love his picture of the zebra - with stripes and everything! we read dr. seuss almost every night before bed. we have a collection of 13 of his stories, and chris loves them all.

we sure love christopher, and think he's an awesome kid!

first day of school

2009-10-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

christopher's first day of preschool was on the 8th of september. he was very excited to go, and very confident and independent. he was also a little bit nervous, but unpacked his backpack and went right in to class without any fuss at all. i even had to remind him to say goodbye to me and give me a hug and kiss!

he's learning a lot, and is so close to reading. he can spell a lot of consonant-vowel-consonant words, but gets a little frustrated when i encourage him to read them in a book. he can also tell you the first letter of just about any word. chris definitely likes to do things on his own terms. he spent a lot of time this summer practicing his writing - just because he wanted to. his "R"s used to look like a drawing of a stick figure with legs sticking out the bottom - so cute! - but now he writes them properly. i didn't help him with it at all, in fact, he would get mad at me when i would try and help. he figured it out all on his own. i know this determination will be good for him, so i try and let him go for it. i am learning patience. :) we love him like crazy, and are so proud of him!

every time we drop chris off at school, naomi says, "i miss chris" first thing. aww! she loves her brother, and misses having him around when he's at school. we do have fun together, though, and she likes having me all to herself. it's fun for me, too, to get to spend time with just her.

summer surprise

2009-10-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

even though i grew up helping with the family garden, i have been a little nervous to try my hand at it myself, until this last spring. i was really in the mood to plant a vegetable garden, but we were in the process of moving and selling the house. so, i put it off. when we got all settled here, i decided to try container gardening - even though it was late in the season.

i tried some flowers (which didn't ever bloom - i'm sure it was because it was too hot for them), and tomatoes. i wasn't sure that i would get any tomatoes, either. then i got one flower. and then two tiny cherry tomatoes (you can see the other little green one in the corner). i watched them every day, waiting to pick them until the exactly perfect moment of ripeness. i absolutely love homegrown tomatoes. so juicy and full of flavor. i very generously offered to share my bounty :), but my family kindly allowed me both tomatoes. and were they ever heavenly! the best fruit or vegetable i ate all summer!

now that i'm a little more confident, and knowledgeable, i'll be doing this kind of thing a lot more often!

labor day weekend

2009-09-29T10:19:00.000-05:00

so, august was pretty much the same as july. a few crafts/activities with the kids, the library, a tupperware party, girl's night out, and kids' birthday parties. fun, summertime, relaxed stuff - but no pictures. i feel better when i tell myself that my lack of picture taking is just because it was summertime. i'm taking more pictures now. really, i promise! (i'm feeling a little guilty about that statement. i am taking a few more pictures, but really, i'm just remembering to ask dave to take them. :)

dave's brother and sil, sam and tanya, flew in for the weekend. they came to visit before their big move to hawaii. yup! hawaii. sam's going to school and working, and tanya is working and has an internship. we're really excited for them and their fun adventure (and a little jealous!). hopefully we can afford to go out and visit them. we had a great time with them; i'm glad they stopped by before the move. chris and naomi love spending time with their uncles and aunts.

they had to fly out monday, which was labor day, so we partied on saturday. we went to a lake that's about 45 minutes away. it was perfect! my idea of a fun day. great sand for sandcastles, roped off swimming area, picnic tables, and a playground. it was pretty hot, though. i was glad for my hat. :)

the month of july

2009-09-27T21:56:00.000-05:00

so, i took a total of 4 pictures during the entire month of july. katie took the ones from the 4th. i am such a camera slacker! i need to do better, but in the meantime will rely on the skills of those more prepared than i. :)

the kids had their cousins over for a sleepover, which was fun. i had bought these plain canvas bags a while ago, and decided to get them out for a fun craft. who doesn't love fabric paint? i saved one to make for myself :)

other than the sleepover, there wasn't much else (in the way of blog-worthy material) happening. we did get sick for a solid two weeks, which was miserable. my kids don't get sick too often *knock on wood*, so i was a little unprepared for the long haul we had with that. i got it too, so we all just stayed home feeling miserable. good thing i keep my pantry well-stocked! it was a bummer, too, that when we were finally feeling better - it rained for a week! luckily dave and i had such a fun date while we were in washington, because i was sick on our anniversary. 7 years! sounds like a big number to me. :) they've been a great seven years. we did get to go out a couple weeks later, though. it's fabulous to have grandparents in town - for more than one reason!

4th of july

2009-09-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

next in line to blog about is our 4th of july celebrations. don't worry, people. i'll get caught up eventually! :) luckily, as far as the blog goes, there was little to nothing that happened in august. so, things should get up-to-date pretty quickly from here on out.

a few days before the 4th, katie did these fun crafts with the kids. then they had their own little parade. it's cute how much fun they can have with simple things like that.

waiting for the parade to start. it was fun to have dave's parent's here with us this year.

we watched the parade together for a bit, but honestly, it wasn't worth braving the heat for. oh well. maybe next year's will be better. there weren't even any floats that were throwing candy!

after the parade the boys checked out the car show. i think they really enjoyed themselves.

the girls opted for some shade! lily and naomi were adorable together.

our little monster :)

after our downtown fun, dave and i took the kids to lunch at dickey's bbq. the kids are free, and we all get free ice cream. fabulous! after that, we all needed a rest to recuperate from the heat. donald and stella watched the kids while jonathan, katie, dave, and i went to watch the fireworks. it was great of them to do that for us, and really fun to just get to watch the show with just the four of us. a fun 4th!

family picture

2009-09-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm going to end this family reunion blogging saga with the family picture we got. Yay for family!

p.s. i'm finally over the 100-posts mark! took me forever, but i'm still here, pluggin along :)

fun with my family! part 5

2009-09-20T20:24:00.004-05:00

Sunday - Day 9 - was Amy's birthday. Happy 18th, Amy! She's off doing the college thing now. I can't believe my *little* sister is in college! (As you've probably noticed from the pictures, she's not exactly smaller than me :) I got the short genes.) We got her stuff for school, and since we couldn't be there for her graduation, I combined the gifts for birthday and graduation together. I had fun shopping for dorm room stuff.

Then, of course, was dinner chosen by the birthday girl. She chose pasta salad, and then gave us free reign on the rest. She's quite easy going like that. Here we are singing to her. Naomi's looking so excited about the whole thing. I'm not sure why Chris is hiding in Dave's arm, or why Dave has his hand over his mouth. Probably just got caught by the camera at the wrong moment. :)

Happy Birthday, Amy! We love you!

Day 10 - Monday - And also our final day. :(

We decided to go back to the beach, this time with Dad, and see if we could show him how awesome it was the last time we were there. Unfortunately, it didn't even compare. But, we did have fun. We played in the "sand" for a while (it's more like gravel), and then decided to build a fort to eat our picnic lunch in.

So, that was the end of our trip. We had such a FUN time! We spent the next day traveling, and were so sad to leave. It was nice to be home, but we definitely don't see enough of my family! Love you guys!

fun with my family! part 4

2009-09-13T20:29:00.002-05:00

Day 8 - Saturday

another super fun day! dave's birthday present from my parents was a day of paintballing, which was such a great idea. they both opted to stay home and hang out with the kids. I wouldn't have minded getting a babysitter, but they claim to wanting to spend more time with the kids. that might be true, but i think they just chickened out. he, he :)

dave, me, todd, and amy left in the morning to head out. we were able to join in with another large group that was there, which was great of them. it wouldn't have been very much fun to play with just the four of us.

we played for about 5 hours, and had such a fun time! it was the first time i'd been, and i was a little nervous. once i got used to everything, i must admit that i held my own. i'm proud to say that i even took the shot that won the game for my team, one time around. and, even better, it was dave who i hit! he, he. we weren't on the same team, so he got me a few times too.

i guess i bruise easily or something, because the welts i had looked a whole lot worse than dave's, todd's, or amy's. i just considered them battle wounds, and wore them with pride. :) except when it was time to put on a swimsuit, since they were mostly on my thighs. they looked horrible - all green and purple - like i'd gotten beaten or something. totally worth the pain for the fun of it, though!

when we got home, we showered (seriously necessary! paint and sweat mixed together!), and dave and i took off for a date. thanks for watching the kids all day, mom and dad! i know the kids had a blast with them to themselves for the day. they played on a slip 'n slide, with the hose, and even got pizza for dinner. what could be better as a kid??

we went and saw transformers 2 (lame movie - and i liked the first one), and then went to applebee's for appetizers and dessert. seriously the best day that dave and i have had together for a long time.

fun with my family! part 3

2009-09-06T21:35:00.006-05:00

Day 7 - Friday

After everyone regrouped from the morning's activities, we decided to skip nap time for the day, and head up the mountain. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had to take advantage of the sunshine!

There's not many places where you can go to the beach one day, and up to the mountains to sled the next. This was the first time my kids had ever been sledding, and they had such a great time. I had such a great time! My mom had even gotten snow clothes for them. The rest of us were a little more makeshift in our attire. It was fun to be able to play in the snow in t-shirts, though.

grandma and chris had the first run of the day

naomi would cling to me for dear life, but laugh like crazy when it was all done. she loved it, but only went a few times. i don't think she's too much of a thrill seeker. :)

after sledding, we found this beautiful trail, which has been covered in snow when we've been up before. actually, it was still covered in snow in some places. that just made it more of an adventure!

christopher couldn't seem to be able to keep his legs under him on the snowy places, so dave ended up carrying him like this on the way back. he was so funny about it - he just hung there patiently until they got to the part without snow. content to get carried by the back of his pants.

we saw these cool things on the trail. not at all sure of what they are, but they were rubbery, bright yellow, and you can see how small they are from my finger.

after getting back from the mountain, we grabbed some food, and ate outside in the backyard. after dinner was a marshmallow roast in the fire pit. a perfect way to end a fabulous day!

fun with my family! part 2

2009-08-30T19:32:00.005-05:00

while we were at my parent's we dug out the old marble connector set that i used to play with. the kids had a blast with it, and you could even catch some adults putting it together sometimes. :) it was interesting to watch how the kids played with it differently. chris was very intent with the building part. he wanted to make sure it all worked together, and that it was awesome. naomi liked watching the marbles roll down, and go through the different obstacles.

The 5th day we were there - Wednesday - the girls went shopping. It's a fun tradition to all go shopping together. I must admit that I don't buy myself much of anything, unless I'm with someone. We had a great time shopping together, and it was even better that the men were kind enough to watch the kids while we shopped.

Day 6 was a very relaxing day. We hung out around the house and played outside with the kids for most of the day. My dad teaches institute, so we went up to his building for dinner that night. He put on the cook's apron and grilled us up some yummy hot dogs and hamburgers. While we were waiting we took advantage of the games he has there.

Ping Pong

Naomi wanted to play too, but couldn't quite get the hang of it - maybe in a few more years :) so, she ended up sitting on the table for the most part.

the guys played pool.

we also played foosball, which was fun for dave and i. we used to play all the time in college.

Day 7 - Friday - was the day of FUN! We packed so much in, it was crazy. Dad took Chris and Dave fishing that morning, so us girls went to a cute park that's become a tradition to go to every time we visit. They have quite a few animals that you can feed (with the food they provide), a barn with all sorts of old farm equipment, lots of green grass, a tall lighthouse-kind-of-tower to climb up, swings and a slide, and beautiful gardens.

Naomi liked the idea of feeding the animals, but wasn't so sure about the geese, ducks, or turkeys. They were a little too loud and aggressive for her tastes. She really enjoyed the bunnies, though.

while we were at the park, dad, chris, and dave were off seeing if they could help chris catch his first fish. it sounds like he got a bit bored, but he still says he liked it, and had a great time. They didn't manage to catch anything - maybe next time. :)

getting all set up. i love how intently he's watching grandpa.

they tried a couple different places - all to no avail.

isn't it so green and beautiful??

another picture by christopher. he's quite the photographer, i think.

that was the first half of day 7. the rest will be in the next post.

fun with my family! part 1

2009-08-09T20:54:00.007-05:00

at the end of june, we took a trip up to washington to see my family. it was one of the most fun trips we've taken up there. everyone was there, and it was fun to have the kids a little bit older. we left here on saturday the 20th around noon. we had a 3 hour layover in salt lake, which wasn't too much fun. it could definitely have been a lot worse, though. we just watched airplanes, took walks, and ate snacks. the kids were a bit bored by the end, but they did well. we finally got to seatac at 9:00 p.m., pacific time, which was 11:00 p.m. to us. we had this awesome view of the mountain, as we flew into the airport. you can just see the peak through an ocean of clouds all around it. beautiful!

it's a 2 hour drive from the airport to my parent's house, so we were a little tired when we got there! we put the kids right to bed, and then stayed up way too late talking. it was great, though! we hadn't seen jeff for 5 years, i think we figured out. way, way too long! it was great to see him and get a chance to catch up. he had to leave monday morning, so we spent as much time with him on sunday as we could.

the next day was father's day, which was fun to get to spend with my dad. jeff spent almost the whole day playing with the kids. they had a great time with uncle jeff. we had a barbeque, and just enjoyed spending time together. hope you had a great day, dad! we love you lots!

on monday we spent the morning waiting for my suitcase, which had been put on a different flight, for some reason. luckily i got it back, but it was a little frustrating. while we waited...

grandma painted naomi's fingernails

christopher's always a bit sad that he doesn't get his done too. instead, he got to help grandma with her toes. :)

in the afternoon we went and got some ice cream, and picked some strawberries. fun!

tuesday was dave's birthday. happy birthday, handsome! unfortunately, he and dad both had to work that day, so amy, mom, and i took the kids down to the beach. it was a crazy, low tide, so we had a blast in the sand, tidepools, and warm (relatively speaking, of course) water. we were only planning on staying an hour or so, but we were having so much fun that we ended up staying almost the whole day.

building sandcastles in the rocky sand

christopher took this picture. pretty good, eh?

another few by christopher

it's kind of hard to tell, but that's an eagle on the rock. he was fishing, and it was pretty awesome to watch.

we had about a 20 minute walk in from the road, and we found this "monster" by the trail. naomi was a little scared of it. :)

later on that day, mom made up some yummy ribs, baked beans, and salad for dave's birthday dinner. yum! and, of course, a yummy cake.

more to come...

bluebonnets

2009-07-26T21:09:00.002-05:00

i realized that i hadn't blogged these pictures yet. they're wayyy too cute to not post! katie, my absolutely fabulous sil, got a new lens for her camera. so, we took the kids out (in march, i think) to the field of bluebonnets by our house for a photo shoot. my brother is getting a collage made from them for me for my birthday. yay! (thanks in advance, jeff!)

swimming lessons 2009

2009-07-12T20:37:00.005-05:00

the second week in june was swimming lessons for the kids. we had a lot of fun, and both kids got to have their cousins in their class with them.

christopher did awesome, and has really progressed a lot. he puts his face in the water, is practicing floating on his back, will hold his breath and swim under water for a bit, and jumps in water over his head and then swims back to the side.

the last day of class, they got to cross the dragon (floating forms, that look like the back of a dragon), and here he is waiting for his turn

naomi was thrilled to get to have her own lessons this year. she did great in the water, and the only problems we had were her standard not listening ones. i was happy with how she did. she worked on "digging" in the water, kicking, blowing bubbles, laying on her back, and going under water. going under is still not her favorite thing to do, but she doesn't cry or panic anymore, so i'm proud of her for that.

the last day of lessons, we went out for lunch to celebrate how well everyone had done, which was a lot of fun.

katie and lily

christopher and jacob

naomi and me

this is kind of silly, but i thought the progressions of pictures was funny.

me: dave, let's get a picture of the two of us.

me: smile!

dave: what?

dave: oh, smile?

dave: like this?

sarah: you make me laugh

dave: aren't i funny? :)

we're all excited to spend as much time as we can at the pool this summer, and use all the fun skills the kids learned at lessons!

relaxing on a sunday afternoon

2009-06-16T22:33:00.000-05:00

these pictures were too cute to not post. naomi decided to read the paper a couple sundays ago, and christopher joined her.

moving!

2009-06-14T21:02:00.002-05:00

we've moved!

after having our house listed for about a month, we received an offer on the 22nd of april. happy birthday to me! i did a happy dance when we got the call for a second showing - it was the first time we'd had a second showing in both times we had listed our house. getting the offer a couple days after that was so sweet! yay! so, we got packing, and finished up a few projects.

we had been having drainage issues for a while. we put in drywells last year, but they weren't cutting it any more. so we (i should say dave - thanks honey! you're the best) got boxes and pipes, and dug them in just under the grass. that way the water flowing from our neighbors yard - ya, nice, eh? - would have somewhere to go, instead of pooling by the fence.

we also celebrated mother's day in the midst of all our packing. the kids made me super sweet cards, and helped with breakfast.

dave picked some flowers for me and made me lasagna - my favorite! isn't he sweet? :)

then we got packing! naomi tried to pack herself up, but i convinced her to make the move in the car instead. i think it was a good choice on her part. :)

we had about a month to pack, which was good. it took me the whole time, working really hard, to have everything ready in time. a bunch of great friends came over one night to help me pack the kitchen, which was so fabulous! thanks, you guys! you're great! it would have taken me forever to do by myself.

christopher and naomi both did great with all the packing, and everything that goes along with moving. it was nice that they were both old enough to deal with the schedule upsets fairly well. i was glad to not be moving with a baby in tow. :)

christopher would "help" by "labeling" all the boxes for me. he spent hours drawing on all the packing boxes with the sharpies. it made my packing much more pleasant to pull out a box that had been decorated. made me smile. he would copy the words that were printed on the box, so i had boxes with "this side up", or "the home depot" all over them. so cute!

naomi was my little tag-along helper. we did a lot together while christopher was at preschool. we moved all the furniture stuff, with help from the elder's quorum, on saturday (may 16th), and then still had a few days before we had to hand over the keys. that worked out really nicely, because i had a few days to clean the house. i went over while chris was at preschool, and naomi "helped" clean too. it was also nice for us to have a chance to say our goodbyes to the house. i love a new adventure, and am LOVING having less to take care of and clean, but it was still sad to say goodbye.

we spent the rest of may unpacking everything we had just put in boxes. crazy. moving sure is a lot of work! we are all unpacked, now, though, which is soooo nice. a place for everything. pretty much, anyway. :) i love organizing, so this has been the fun part for me. the only thing left is the garage. it has all the furniture from the house, that doesn't belong now. i have also left the decorative stuff for last. so, once the walls aren't bare, i'll post pictures of our new place.

new recipe on the sidebar :)

2009-06-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

easter 2009

2009-06-07T13:42:00.004-05:00

on goes the catch up...

we had a wonderful easter this year. the kids woke up to baskets from the easter bunny. he left construction paper, markers, stickers and such. we got ready for church, and enjoyed a wonderful time there, remembering the resurrection of the Savior.

after church, i started the preparations for easter dinner - one of my favorite holiday dinners. okay, i guess i love pretty much all holiday food. mmm. thinking about food is making me hungry. :) anyway, the family came over for dinner, and we had a great time together. i served the traditional (in my family, anyway) ham and potatoes, with other side dishes. it was a wonderful day.

i think that maybe next year we will have the egg hunt/baskets on the saturday before easter. that way we have the fun stuff the day before, and can really focus on the Savior on easter. i'd like to start a new tradition to make Easter Sunday really special and important - help the kids understand the significance. let me know if you have a great Easter Sunday tradition you do with your family. i'd love to hear!

arizona trip - part 3

2009-05-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

we had such a great time with my grandparents, dad, and uncle and aunt and their family. some of my very favorite memories are from family reunions. i am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, supportive family, who i absolutely love spending time with. and now the kids have pictures with their great grandparents. how cool is that?

we traveled back up to my other aunt and uncles before heading home. the kids all had so much fun together. i didn't get a picture of ethan and emma with the kids, but did get a few with adam.

naomi and adam had a lot of fun together. here they are going in for a kiss. :)

and a hug

the drive back home was quite eventful. it was quite cold - around 32* when we started out, and we definitely weren't prepared for the cold. the kids had on shorts, t-shirts, and sandals. let's just say that we weren't expecting winter conditions - in march - in the south. on the way there we had stopped often, and let the kids get out and stretch their legs a bit. that wasn't happening this time around! the poor kids (and parents stuck in the car with them!) didn't really get out the whole day. other than that, though, everything was going fine until we got to santa rosa, new mexico. there was a road block on i-40 because of the weather. it was cold, but clear skies, so we decided to take the detour south. we had already booked our hotel for the night, and didn't want to loose the money from that. so, we decided to drive the extra few hours to make it to albuquerque that night. that wasn't the best choice we've ever made. :) as soon as we hit the texas state line, it started blizzarding like crazy. the plains in alberta is the only thing i can think to compare it to. there were also patches of ice that we slid on 3 or 4 times. visibility was almost nonexistent, but since we were in the middle of nowhere, we just had to keep going. poor dave! i was glad it wasn't me driving! so, as you can imagine, a two hour detour ended up being quite a bit longer than that. christopher fell asleep pretty easily in his carseat, but naomi wasn't having any of it. she would cry and cry, then fall asleep for half an hour, then wake up and cry some more. i got in the back, between the carseats, so i could rub her arm and comfort her a bit. it worked a bit, but she was NOT a happy camper! we finally made it to the hotel at 2 a.m.! what a HORRIBLE drive! but that's what memories are made of, right? :) and once we got there, we still had to get the kids, and all of our stuff, to our room. we were all wearing sandals and summer clothes. at 2 in the morning. in a blizzard. dave took this picture as he was unloading the luggage. i was all for just crashing, but he wanted to document the event. :)

the next day was still snowy, and a little icy and slippery, but the road had all dried up by about noon that day. what a crazy, random night! we made it home safe and sound, though, and that's what's important. i'm so glad we went, even with the crazy drive home. :)

arizona trip - part 2

2009-05-24T15:48:00.002-05:00

the next day was sunday, so we went to church with dave and laurel, and had a nice, relaxing day. on monday, we packed up for the day, and drove down to my grandparent's house. we had a great time!

dave showing my dad some youtube clips of his hawaii trip

my dad helping naomi "swim" :)

i didn't get a picture, but we all actually got our suits on and went out there. keep in mind that this was the middle of march. granted it is arizona, but still not really swimming weather yet. i didn't have anything to prove, so i got in mid-calf or so. :) let's just say there some among us who were not quite as logical about the whole thing. hehehe :)

the kids loved the gorgeous weather, and basically spent both days outside. they played on the grass (which is hard to find there!), drew great grandpa and grandma beautiful chalk pictures, had a blast with grandpa, and played at the awesome park across the street.

that night we had a birthday celebration for my dad. happy 50th, dad!

it was great to have fun and spend time with everyone!

stay tuned for part 3

*this might get a bit long, so feel free to skip the next ones*

arizona trip - part 1

2009-05-10T20:17:00.008-05:00

okay, so this post is a loonnng time coming, but better late than never - right?? oh well, i must admit that i am not very good at journaling, but i do much better blogging and online journaling than i have ever done the traditional way.

so, in march we took a trip to arizona, and had a great time. my dad flew down to spend some time with my grandparents, and we thought that made a good excuse to go and see them too. we didn't make it out at christmas, when everyone else did, so we thought we'd make it a spring break trip instead. it worked out to be the week after spring break, but i think seeing your great grandparents is a whole lot more important than preschool!

it is a 16 hour drive from where we are, so we took two days doing it. i don't know what we would have done if we didn't have the portable dvd player. that thing saved our bacon. the kids actually did really well, for the most part. naomi did not enjoy being made to nap in her carseat, but other than that, life was pretty pleasant.

the kids enjoyed watching saturday morning cartoons at the hotel we stayed at. they looked pretty zoned out, don't they?

on the second day of our drive, we decided to stop and do some site-seeing while we stretched our legs. we stopped at meteor crater, which is the biggest meteor crater in the world. it was pretty interesting, and a fun stop.

before we actually got to the crater, we came to a big open space with a bunch of sand, dirt, and rocks. it wouldn't have been very appealing, normally, but to a couple of cooped-up kids, it was heaven!

they explored...

and ran around like crazy...

here is the actual crater. pretty massive.

after the meteor, we got back in the car, and made it to my aunt and uncle's house. they were wonderful enough to let us stay with them on our trip, and even had pizza for us when we got there.

stay tuned for part 2

Naomi's Birthday!

2009-04-04T20:16:00.012-05:00

Naomi's birthday was on the 17th of March - I can't believe she's already two years old! She is such a sweet little girl with a whole lot of energy. She is learning so much, and is quite the chatterbox. Even strangers can understand a lot of what she says. We love her to pieces, and are so glad she's part of our family!

The birthday tradition in Dave's family is to open presents first thing your birthday morning, and we have embraced that tradition! So, you'll have to excuse the morning hair and pj's. :)

Ouma and Oupa gave Naomi this beautiful dress - she loves pretty dresses! She had to put it on first thing.

Grandma and Grandpa got her a push bike, which she loves! She drives it around everywhere.

The dress and the bike together

I made some T-shirt dresses for her, so she tried those on too. She's trying to show how old she is on her fingers.

The next day we had a little party for her. We had snacks, blew bubbles, played on the swing set, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents. It was low-key, and just right for a two-year old.

Opening presents

The cake - not my standard decorated cake, but Naomi LOVES chocolate, so I did a delicious chocolate cake. This was called a Gooey Butter Cake, and it was a hit. I'll post the recipe on This Mama Cooks.

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

2009-02-25T15:22:00.002-06:00

i saw this on my friend, wendy's blog, and thought i'd share it too. i think the world could sure use a lot more grateful people!

nature

2009-02-24T15:11:00.003-06:00

i love nature! i love how beautifully God has made our earth. some of my happiest memories are of the times i've spent in nature - camping, swimming in the river, or just lying and watching the clouds. a simple patch of sunshine coming in through the window can help me feel so peaceful and calm. if i believed in reincarnation, i would think that i had been a cat in my previous life. we had a couple of big windows, growing up, and i used to curl up on the floor in the patch of sun coming through them, and take a nap. even thinking about it makes me feel warm and cozy. i hope to pass the same love of nature on to my kids.

dave took these pictures on valentine's day. isn't the sky just beautiful? he took them with his phone, so they don't have very good resolution, but they still capture the beauty.

happy valentine's day!

2009-02-16T20:23:00.002-06:00

we had a great valentine's day! we don't usually make a big deal about having treats or dessert around here; if we do have something, it doesn't usually get consumed too quickly, so we go kind of wild on valentine's day. we had cookies before breakfast, chocolate cereal for breakfast, and treats afterward! i figure it's only once a year, and it makes some great memories and fun family traditions.

we spent the morning exercising and swimming, which was fabulous. i am still sore from the laps i swam - i love it! :) it's been such a long time since i swam laps, and it felt good to use those muscles again. i need to keep at it. after that, we took the kids and went bowling. it was the first time they had ever gone, and we all had a great time. we didn't take any pictures. i would much rather enjoy the event than take pictures of it, but i do need to do better at documenting our lives. hopefully i can find a balance somewhere. something i am always striving for is balance! anyway, we all had a blast bowling. dave won (of course!), next was naomi - with the bumpers and ramp - then chris (i think the only reason he was after naomi is because dave was helping naomi, and I was helping chris :D), then me! christopher was pretty excited that he beat me. i am absolutely HORRIBLE at bowling, so it wasn't too much of a surprise.

I made sugar cookies during Naomi's nap, and tried royal icing this year. i think they turned out pretty well, especially for my first attempt at the stuff, and more importantly, they were yummy! they got to eat them after dinner. we had our traditional fettucini alfredo. i couldn't have asked for a better day. family and fun is the best combination!

p.s. for some reason, the pictures are taking forever to upload, so i'll add them another time

enjoying the moments

2009-02-12T21:31:00.004-06:00

Our power started going in and out this afternoon. It probably wouldn't have been an issue, except that with all of the things to plug in, in our home office, we have a surge protector box. The box didn't like the power fluctuations, and produced a loud beep every 30 seconds. We thought there was something wrong with the box at first, but realized it was more than that when all the lights in the house started flickering. By the way, we don't leave all the lights in the house on - we just noticed the flickering on the ones that were on. :)

Okay, getting to the point of this post... The flickering lights were giving us all headaches, so we had a candlelight dinner. Nothing fancy, just a few candles, so we could see what we were eating, without getting migraines. Christopher thought this was pretty neat, and said, "this is a really fun party Mom!" I love how my kids help me remember to enjoy the fun moments of life. I hadn't been enjoying the moments today, but his comment helped me remember what is really important - my family, and enjoying the time I get to spend with them! We had a really fun party tonight!

january's lonely post

2009-02-01T22:36:00.011-06:00

I can’t believe January is already over! Life kept us busy, but we managed to have some fun together. Some of the pictures are from a Family Home Evening we had. We read a story from the Friend about being a child of God, and then the kids colored crowns that said, “I am a child of God”. We told Naomi she was a princess, so she wore the crown everywhere for a couple of weeks.

I also included pictures of Christmas morning. My Mom and Dad sent Christopher a basketball hoop, and they both he and Naomi had a blast playing together. Later that morning, they watched “Horton Hears A Who” together, and I just had to include the picture I took of them watching it together. Christopher can be so protective of his little sister, and I absolutely love it!

We also celebrated Scout’s birthday on the 20^th. He is already a year old, but still very puppy-ish sometimes. We all love him, and he’s definitely become part of the family. We made cupcakes to celebrate, and even let him have one. He loved them!

merry christmas!

2008-12-21T22:09:00.005-06:00

we've been having a great holiday season this year. i started the month out with our ward's quarterly enrichment meeting. we had a wonderful speaker, soup, rolls, and of course dessert. then we were able to work on some really cute crafts.

on thursday, the 4th, our HOA had a tree lighting party. they had a petting zoo, balloon animals, santa, carriage rides, and hot chocolate. we had a blast, and were very grateful for the hot chocolate - it was cold outside!

the first sunday in december was the first presidency christmas devotional. we had a family over for dinner that night, and watched the broadcast with them. it was a great night. i love starting out the season with words from the prophet.

the 13th was our ward christmas program, and while i was a little skeptical at first (and even grumbled a bit, i must admit), it was nice. there was a spiritual program in the chapel, and then refreshments and activities for the kids afterwards. the only downside was the time. i put my kids to bed early (saves my sanity!) - around 7ish, and the program started at 7. they were tired, and pretty cranky for church the next day, but i'm glad we went. i'm glad for the reminders of the real meaning of christmas. we had our pictures taken that afternoon. katie was fabulous, and offered to take them for us. thanks! we owe you one, katie!

i also got released from being the 2nd counselor in our young women's program, and was called as the 1st counselor instead. not too much of a change, just kind of switching gears.

christopher had his preschool christmas program on the 17th, which was super cute. he did a great job.

we went to our neighboring town's fire safety town, which is a little town built kid-sized. they had it all lit up, with fun activities. it was really cold, so we didn't stay for too long, but it was fun to go and see.

today was our yw christmas lesson, which went well, i think. i hope it helped the girls remember Christ. so, that's been our december so far.

oh, and i've also been baking like crazy! i'm pretty much caught up, and excited to enjoy this coming week. i can't believe christmas is almost here! merry christmas everyone!

p.s. here is a slide show of about half of our family pictures. *warning* not for people who might get irritated at seeing our faces more that 50 times. :)

birthday party

2008-11-16T14:15:00.004-06:00

okay, so i know it's taking me forever to get all this birthday stuff done. one day i will have a system for blogging, and stay up to date with everything. unfortunately, that day has yet to come! so, i will continue with my catching up, and hope that you all understand.

i forgot about the camera, until katie mentioned it (thanks, katie!). so, the first half of the party is unfortunately undocumented. there were about 14 kids in total, and they all ran out to the backyard to play while everyone arrived. it was pretty crazy - a bunch of 4 year old boys (there were some girls too, but they arrived later) running around the yard in a pack, yelling. pretty fun to watch, actually. we were just glad they were letting their energy out in a constructive way.

after they got some of their energy out, we started our super-hero training. (we had a spiderman theme, as requested by the birthday boy. i made the invites like a comic book, and spiderman invited each kid to the birthday.) for our training, everyone took turns climbing up a wall (the rope ladder on our swing set), to rescue the person (one of naomi's dolls) who was stuck. the kids had a blast doing this - we all cheered for them, and called them spiderman _fill in the name___ (like christopher was spiderman christopher). next we used their spidey senses. i had a plate of different kinds of fruit. they memorized what was there, and then i would take something away. they would have to remember and tell me what was missing. after that, we kicked a ball into a target to practice our aim.

the craziest part of the course was the web-slinging. i had a can of silly string for each kid, and they all tried to hit a target i had set up. thanks to dave, it turned into a silly string war, which was a blast, of course. we also practiced our strength with some of those blow up balloons you can punch. the final course of our super-hero training was a strength test on a pinata. :) this is where the camera was finally remembered (thanks for taking the pictures katie! if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be any pictures at all!).

candy, candy, candy!

(actually, i do have to say that the kids were surprisingly good about the candy. no fighting or anything. we actually had candy left over)

the final product

the happy helper :)

(dave is the guy to have at a party - he did all the outside clean up while we were doing pizza. he even cleaned up all the silly string from the yard. that wasn't a small job :)

the girls in the kitchen. thanks for staying and helping melissa and holly!

naomi enjoyed the fun, but was glad for a quiet house after everyone left

after the pinata, i had pizza dough shaped into individual sized pizzas for each kid. they got to choose their toppings, and make their own pizza.

while the pizza was cooking, they watched The Incredibles, since they're a super-hero family and everything.

christopher had a great time at his party, and i actually had a fun time too. usually i'm running around like a crazy person, and don't get to enjoy much. i did a bunch of prep work this time, and it payed off.

until next year!

birthday pictures

2008-11-04T20:15:00.004-06:00

christopher's birthday was quite a while ago, but i haven't gotten around to posting the pictures yet. better late than never! he is still loving his sweet ride, and always wants to go for rides on the walking paths by our house. naomi is desperately wanting a bike of her very own (or maybe it's just the helmet and pads - not too sure on that one), and unfortunately, scout has destroyed the tricycle. her stroller will have to do for now. :) she won't be big enough to even reach the peddles for a while yet. she loves her big brother, and wants to be just like him.

isn't he handsome?

i'm 4!

i don't know why these two won't turn. sorry :)

An Award!

2008-10-05T21:57:00.006-05:00

As you might, or might not, have noticed - I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately. I haven't been posting, and I haven't been commenting on friends' blogs, and I haven't been great about even checking friends' blogs. Sorry guys! I still love you! I'm coming back slowly, and just going to kind of see how much time I've got to invest in this crazy blogging world. I really want to post regularly - it's a good way for me to journal, and I'll have to see how much else I can keep up with.

That said, if I had been better about blogging, I would have known sooner that I've received an award! Yay! My first award! Thanks, Holly! I hope there isn't a time limit on it, since it's taken me so long. :) I will assume there's not, and proudly proclaim that I'm the winner of the Brillante Weblog Premio - 2008 Award!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.

Here are the questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Where is your significant other? office
3. Your hair color? brown

4. Your mother? Louise
5. Your father? Brian
6. Your favorite thing? love
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? improve
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? piano

11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you're not? pessimistic
15. One of your wish-list items? travel

16. Where you grew up? Richland
17. The last thing you did? talked

18. What are you wearing? clothes

19. Your TV? off

20. Your pet? scout
21. Your computer? mac
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? Explorer
25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? outlets
27. Your summer? fun

28. Love someone? lots!
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today

I pass the award to....

Oklahoma (Andrea:D)

Preschool and birthday fun!

2008-10-01T21:00:00.005-05:00

Since it's been so long since I've posted, this post will include a few things all in one. Christopher started preschool this year, and is loving it.

this is christopher at school, next to his cubby

He goes Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 till 2, which is great, because most of his friends go (to a different school) Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Which means we can still have playdates. (Hey guys! We should have a playdate :D) He has two great teachers, and nine kids in his class. He get to do cooking, math, movement class, music class, chapel, circle time, quiet time, lunch, and a snack. This last weekend he even got to bring home the class stuffed animal. Each class's name is an animal, and his is the Tigers, so he brought home Tito the tiger. Tito came to Oktoberfest with us, and had a good time.

tito checking out the animals

tito and christopher waiting for lunch

tito got tired and decided to take a nap

He come home singing the songs, and chatting about how his day went. He is really excited about everything, but definitely a lot more tired than usual. Life feels kind of crazy when I think my baby is old enough to be going to preschool. I can't believe it's been four years since he was born!

Speaking of which, Tuesday was his 4th birthday! He had a great day, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with him. A tradition for Dave's family is to have the presents in the morning, which is a tradition I like. :) So, we had all his presents in our room waiting for him when he came downstairs. He was so excited when he saw the spiderman bike in the middle of it all! The look on his face was priceless! That was our present to him (along with a helmet and knee/elbow pads, of course. I'll post a picture of him riding his bike soon. He is super cute), and he had to run upstairs and get dressed so he could ride it around. I'm not sure why he needed to get dressed, but as soon as he was ready, he was taking a practice spin around the kitchen.

From his Ouma and Oupa he got a super cool car (which he hasn't stopped playing with, by the way.). Thank you! Grandpa and Grandma and Amy sent him Thomas books for his Storyreader, which he reads every time we go anywhere in the car. Thanks! You guys know him well. He loves his presents! We went to story time at the library, and then came back home for lunch. His requested meal was grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots, and broccoli (that's my boy!). After lunch we got to have cupcakes with his cousins and auntie and uncle. They got him this awesome wooden fire station with fire fighters and a fire truck and everything. This is my favorite toy, because he goes up to his room and plays with it, quietly, for quite a while. :) We went for two bike rides after lunch (in between piano lessons - oh, yeah, I'm teaching piano lessons. More on that later, too.), and he got going pretty good the second time. I might have to plan on taking a jog the next time he wants to go, either that or restrict him to going back and forth in front of our house.

My family's birthday tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose what's for dinner. Christopher chose homemade pizza (which is great, because I make it with half whole wheat flour, so it's at least a little good for us!), which we enjoyed outside, since it's been so GORGEOUS lately! We, of course, had cake and ice cream. So, a great day for a little four year old!

He even got to keep celebrating today when I brought cookies to preschool for his class. I was going to try and do spiderman themed ones, but ran out of time. So, the kids just got plain iced sugar cookies. They're four - they don't care, right? :) That's what I told myself, anyway. Today was kind of a crazy day. Actually, my whole week has been super crazy. I'm looking forward to the last half of the week, since, hopefully, it will be less intense.

puppets

2008-08-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

this got me inspired,

so the kids and i made these:

christopher wanted his to have a mad face

naomi is loving the yarn hair and pink skirt on hers

another saturday

2008-08-09T21:40:00.003-05:00

Lately, it seems, all I have been posting about is our Saturday adventures. I guess we haven't been doing too much else to report on. I keep having goals to blog more often, and to make this blog so much more than it is. I want it to be more about protecting home, and family; about keeping a good perspective on that which is most important. Also, as I have said before, I am absolutely horrible about keeping a journal, and have actually stopped altogether except for this blog. So I feel like I should be doing a better job recording my life. But, then again, I am doing a whole lot better than I was before I started blogging. Once a week is a significant increase over once a year! So, I might only be posting once a week, but I will try to make it more often. Recording my life is a good habit to be in. I think about the day, and have a chance to analyze. Hopefully with the analysis, I become a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, and person. One of my new favorite church hymns is "Have I Done Any Good?". Some of the lyrics are:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Lately, I have been singing these lines to myself at night as I get ready for bed. It is interesting to think about my day, and think about those whom I have been able to help or touch. Sometimes I am proud of myself, and glad for the chance I had, and took, to serve someone in need. Sometimes I look back on the day, and see the opportunities I missed. I hope that as I think more often about the positive impact I can have on those around me, that I will take more of those opportunities presented to me.

On to our Saturday...

We cleaned up the house, and Dave mowed the lawn, super fast this morning. We optimistically got the house show-ready before leaving for our family fun. It was unnecessary, but nice to come home to a clean house. Christopher loves to help vacuum with his vacuum popper, and actually cleaned up the playroom pretty much by himself this morning. Nice!

He goes through phases of independence, and has been wanting me to do everything for him lately - carry him, dress him, put him on the potty. All things he can do himself. I usually feel frustrated when he won't do things for himself, but yesterday I was thinking about how fast he grows, and how he won't be my little boy for very long. Sometimes it's hard to not get caught up in the daily annoyances. It's hard to keep a good perspective. He probably won't be asking me to help him go potty when he's nine (I sure hope not, anyway!), so I decided to just enjoy the stage he is in now, and enjoy the chance I have to be his mommy and help him out. That mindset seemed to help the day out; we had a (pretty much) tantrum-free day, and enjoyed the time together.

So, after cleaning, we packed a sippy cup for Naomi and some sandwiches in my purse, and took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. I know it's been out for a while, so we're kind of late, but the kids don't know any better! :) We went all out and got them popcorn and even some candy. Christopher was so excited he could barely sit still in his seat. It was so cute to watch. He enjoyed the movie, and Naomi even sat and enjoyed most of the show. I had to get up and walk around with her for the last quarter of the show, but still got to see most of it. My friend Melissa brings her toddler's car seat into the theater with them, which she says works like a charm. I would have totally done that, except Naomi's car seat is so huge and heavy. Too much work to get it in and out! But I think she did pretty well for an almost 17 month old.

My favorite part of the movie was the old turtle

Later that afternoon, Christopher and I made some DELICIOUS cookies together. I'll post the recipe on the sidebar, but make sure there are a lot of people around to help you eat them - especially if you like chocolate! I'm restraining myself from going and getting another one right now. *I tried to get a picture of them, to capture the chocolatey goodness, but I couldn't get one that wasn't blurry. You'll just have to come over and try one!* Afterwards we played a little Wii, and I got totally whipped by a three year old at boxing. He loves that he can beat me at that game, so we play it a lot :) Dave showed us all how tennis is done. All in all, a very nice day.