Embracing Motherhood

Baby No More

2012-01-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

For the past several months, Mason has been sporting what we affectionately call his "wings." His soft wispy, almost white baby hair has grown in the longest out over his ears. When left on their own, these hairs curl upwards creating the look of, well, little wings. I think they are adorable and have been resisting Mike's suggestion of getting them cut for weeks.

His wings at their best Christmas day while watching Uncle Mike fly his helicopter. That white tuft behind his left ear that looks like it's part of the couch...all hair.

This weekend, however, the realization hit me that it has been a while since a stranger commented on his cute hair wispies or since the lady at Costco called him, "the one winged angel" (one side was particularly prominent that day). And that my dad's question of, "Have you got Mason's haircut yet?" on Saturday may have been a kind hint that we needed to. I was forced to realize that he was starting to look like the kid whose parents are too lazy to cut his hair. So when Little Man got his haircut yesterday, Mason got a turn in the chair also. Except for the moment he touched the chair he started to scream. I picked him up and my friend who was doing the hair cutting went to put on the cute little kids cover on him and he screamed again. In the end, I held him alternating which hip he rested on depending on what side she needed to cut, while she did her thing.

The result? My baby is gone and in his place is an equally adorable, but much older looking toddler. His eighteen month mark is Friday, but with this new do, he looks like he's pushing twenty two months at least.

Loses some baby hair and suddenly the kid's reading.

We sure love our handsome guy, wings or not.

Warming up

2012-01-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today...

I ran outside for the first time in a week. Although there were a couple of icy patches, it felt so good to be out. The combination of snowy and icy roads meant no running and no gym (it was closed most mornings). Trying to work out inside the house was getting old.

We played outside for the first time in four days (after the ice hit, the snow was no longer fun). It may not sound like much, but for these kids (and their mama) even just fifteen minutes outside makes such a difference.

My family all has their power back on. Friday night we had my two brothers, sister in law, brother and mom for dinner (my dad was flying home from CA that night) and my brothers and sister in law stayed the night. Saturday my youngest brother stayed with us all day and then my parents came over to do laundry and hang out. We love having family over and the kids were absolutely thrilled to have everybody here (they were so excited to have people spend the night, Uncle Marcus had a sleepover in the big kids room), but I know they were glad to have power back. Mike's parents didn't get it back until Sunday and we invited them over also, but they had a generator and fireplace and said they were doing okay.

I could watch the news without feeling like it was the end of the world.

Mike was able to drive to work without having to break an icicle like this off of his antenna.

Snow Days

2012-01-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday the snow started to fall. When we got home from church in the early afternoon there was just a dusting on he ground, but snow is snow, so snow clothes were dug out and the kids could hardly stand still long enough to get all bundled up. They came in more muddy than snowy since as they slid around in the snow, they were more in grass and dirt, but they had fun nonetheless.

Later in the afternoon, the snow started coming down again. This time it came down heavy and thick, covering everything in white. The big kids and I went on a walk leaving Mike in the warm house with napping Mason. There is something so magic about that first snow of the year. Neighbors were outside playing and there was almost a tangible feeling of excitement in the air. Although we had just planned on going around the neighborhood, we heeded the siren calls of the hill by Little Man's elementary school and went for a few minutes of sledding. Or maybe I just gave into the kids earnest, slightly dramatic begging. I believe Little Man's exact words were, "Please Mommy, I'll do ANYTHING. ANYTHING! I will clean the whole house, just please can we go sledding." We were going over to my mom's for dinner, so I said they could each do ten sleds.

Monday: This was Martin Luther King Day. The kids played out in the backyard for a while in the early afternoon and then Mike came home early because of the weather. He still had to work, so we left Mason napping again with him to sled at the school. The kids loved it. We stayed for well over an hour and we only left because it was getting dark. When we got home, they continued to play in the backyard, in the dark, until dinner. I was amazed at how long they lasted.
To me, snow days seem to lend themselves to those moments in parenting where you just want to freeze time and take it all in. The little rosy cheeks, bright excited eyes, the bundled bodies twirling in the snow trying to catch a snowflake on their tongue.
And when they come in and snow clothes are in a heaping pile, hot chocolate is made. As I fill their mugs with cocoa and marshmallows and their little bodies thaw out, I find myself hoping that their minds are being filled with these memories as well. That they will grow up and remember how fun snow days were, the magic, the excitement, the coziness of our home.

Little Man as he was coming in.

Tuesday: School was two hours late, which gave us enough time to build some snowmen in the backyard, we actually had enough to make our whole family in snow form. Mason has been fascinated by the snow and loves to go to the window and look at it. He always wants to go out, but never lasts long when he does. This morning was the longest he ever lasted. He walked around happily for about twenty minutes while I helped the kids with the snowmen. Every once in a while, we'd hear a little "uh oh" and we'd turn to see Mason toppled over somewhere in his snowsuit unable to get up because he was so bundled. I would pick him up and off he'd waddle again.

Wednesday morning we woke up to probably five inches of snow. Of course everyone wanted to play again, but some of the magic was wearing off. Mason lasted about two minutes, so I put him in his highchair in the kitchen with a snack right near the sliding glass door so he could watch us and I could see him. When he was done, I went inside and let the big kids stay out. Remember the magic I described on Monday? Wednesday....not so much. Crying, whining, fighting, and breakdowns seemed to be theme. By mid morning, Kiwi and Little Man were having some mandatory quiet time on their beds with books, while Mason and I shut ourselves in his room. Him with his cars, myself on the phone to my sister. After a break from each other, everyone was doing much better and the kids even pulled it together enough that we were able to meet some friends at the park to go sledding. Mike even took some time off work (he was working from home again) and went with us. Mason surprised us all by loving the sled. He would laugh every time we got to the bottom of the hill and would want to go again. We lasted for about a half an hour before we headed back home. The wind was blowing pretty good and freezing rain was starting to replace the snow.

We made snowflakes out of tortillas and powdered sugar.

Today brought ice. Crazy, dangerous, force you to stay holed up in your house, but stunningly beautiful ice. I walked up the street this evening to get the mail (and came back empty handed, because the keyhole was completely iced over) and it was if the sky had deposited a frozen blanket over the entire neighborhood and time itself was held captive in it's icy grip. The street was void of cars driving and the only sound was the crunching of the ice beneath my boots. It was a little bit of a surreal moment.

Although it is possible that I was so keenly aware of the silent and stillness, because it was such a direct contrast or what the inside of my house sounded like.

I mean, kids were literally climbing the walls (this is Kiwi in her "nastics (gymnastics) clothes" practicing her handstands)

Cabin fever anyone?

Actually the kids got along well today and I will take full of energy, happy kids, over whiny, fighting kids any day. And we are warm, we are safe, we have power and heat, and we are together. So I am happy and praying for those people who do not have those things tonight.

Our Mason Man

2012-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a look at our little Mason at 17.5 months

*He is adding words to his ever growing vocabulary faster than I can keep track off. We were at the grocery store with him and Kiwi in the cart and as we walked by the bakery he pointed and said "cookie" clear as day (you better believe I got that boy a sample cookie). We'd never even heard him attempt that word before. It is amazing to watch him communicate and all of us can't get enough of his cute little voice.

*Equally as amazing as his speaking skills, but not nearly as fun, is his resistance to diaper changes. I have never seen a child hate to be changed as much as he does. Back arched, straining with all his might to get away, wailing over whatever distraction tool (singing a song, asking him what a dog says, a sibling trying to hand him a toy) we are trying to use. I know every kid goes through this, but I have been daily changing diapers for almost 6.5 years now (with only a couple of months break between when Kiwi was potty trained and Mason was born) and I am at a loss for what to do. Our mellow child can turn very...not mellow, when the diaper changing pad is brought out.

*I think he may be the busiest of the three children at this age. He's not that hard, he is just busy. As in, he can pull twenty books off the library shelves in the amount of time it takes Kiwi and I to locate the Bernstein Bear section. Speaking of books, he loves to pull them off shelves but won't often sit through an entire story unless it's very short or it's a word book. We have a couple of books that are just full of pictures and their names and he will sit and look at these with you for a long time pointing at all the different things. TV doesn't hold his interest at all. If the kids are watching something, he may point up at it and look for a minute, but then he's done. The only show he's ever sat through is Curious George and that is when he wasn't feeling well.

*He loves shoes. Any color, any size, any style. If there's a place for a foot, he will try them on and attempt to walk around the house in them. It is not uncommon to go to put on a pair of shoes and find that these is only one. Kiwi encounters this the most since her feet are closet in size to Mason's and he can get the farthest in a pair of her shoes (he especially likes her pink, sparkly ones).

*He likes to hide things. Play food from the kitchen set, remotes, shoes (see previous bullet), his little lovey that he drags around and needs to sleep.

*He is a fantastic sleeper as long as he has binky and lovey (a soft, small blanket, with a bear head attached to it). He is very attached to these two items. We are trying to cut binky time down to just bedtime, but I have no plans of eliminating it for sleep anytime soon. He will wake up at night a couple of times a week still, but all it takes is putting the binky back him and tucking him in and he is right back to sleep.

*He brings an amazing amount of joy to our little family. Every morning when I pick up that little p.j. clad body and he snuggles his soft, sweet smelling head into my shoulder, I am overwhelmed with love for this sweet boy and am so thankful to be his mommy.

Below are some pictures of Mason experiencing snow for the first time. He mostly just wanted to play "cafe" where he stands in the playhouse, we order food, and he gives us sawdust and laughs. It's pretty much his favorite thing ever. When I uploaded these, I realized he has the remnants of mac and cheese on his face. Mac and cheese is another love of his these days.

2012 So Far

2012-01-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

We rang in the New Year with good friends, good food, and games (including Toy Story Yahtzee and Connect 4; we know how to party around here...)

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with Mason on New Year's the thought of pizza or bean dip or any of the "traditional" New Year's food made me feel like throwing up. The only things that sounded good were spring rolls and lettuce wraps and that is what my sweet husband made. And a new tradition was born. This years spread consisted of Thai pizza, homemade egg rolls, lettuce wraps, and some yummy chicken and steak on a stick. It was delicious. We also had cheesy tacos for the kids, who were not as big as fans of the food as us adults were.

They were, however, HUGE fans of these little noise blowers. After about three minutes of this, these babies (the toys, not the children) were put back on the table with a warning that whoever blew theirs before the countdown would lose it and not get it back.

Here are the kids watching the ball drop on the East Coast (9:00 our time). Mason made it to 8:30 and then was lying on the floor and rubbing his eyes, so we put him to bed.

Me and my girl. I love that her favorite p.j.s are these boys jammies she saw on clearance at Target and fell in love with. She calls them her "Rexies" (in reference to Rex from Toy Story).

Cheers. These two have been ringing the New Years in together since they were one years old. I can't believe how big they are now!

It was a great way to start the New Year and since then life has settled back into regular life. Which is a lot like 2011 life, but with some small changes and fun plans for the new year. I am glad that the New Year falls just as the Christmas excitement fades away and we are left with blah January to contend with. It is the perfect time to reevaluate, to set goals, and to try to be a little better. As a family, we made a list of things we want to accomplish in 2012 together and then I made a couple of small resolutions for myself. But small changes make a difference. Dropping off the bags at the Goodwill gets me excited to purge and organize the house. Waking up a little earlier gives me time to run a little farther, push myself a little harder. Deciding to go on five hikes as a family this year has me looking forward to summer and planning what we can do. So, here's to 2012 and all it has in hold for us.

The Manager is Full

2012-01-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

As of last night, the Christmas decorations are packed back into their storage containers and have been shoved to the back of the closet under the stairs where they will reside for the next eleven months.
As the kids were helping me pack up the ornaments Little Man said, "I feel a little bit sad putting all of this Christmas stuff away." I also always feel a tinge of nostalgia and sadness as I wrap up and put away all the ornaments and decorations. Last night, I was thinking about why that is. Honestly, I was ready to get that tree out of our living room. It was looking droopy and I was getting tired of vacuuming up needles and picking up ornaments. We certainly don't need to consume any more holiday treats, and while all of our holiday celebrations were wonderful and memorable, I am ready to get back to "normal" life for a while.
I think part of the sadness comes from the fact one more magical Christmas has passed with my children. I love experiencing the wonder and joy of Christmas through their eyes and know the years that I get the privilege of having small children in my home at Christmas are few and fleeting, so I try to soak up every moment of them.
But it is more than that. It is the feeling that permeates throughout the Christmas season. The excitement, the happiness, the increased patience, kindness, and generosity that exists between family members, friends, and even strangers. I am never more aware of how connected we are to other people as I am at Christmas time. It's the spirit of Christmas that I miss, and of course the true spirit of Christmas comes from the fact that we are celebrating the birth and the life of our Savior. I think that as people's thoughts turn to Him, we cannot help but treat our fellowman with more kindness and compassion. It's hard to be irritated with those around you with beautiful words of "Silent Night" coming from the radio.
The above picture is of our "manager." Throughout the month of December, members of our family placed a piece of straw inside of it when they did a kind deed. The goal is to make it a comfortable bed for Baby Jesus by Christmas time. I love seeing my children happily helping each other. I do admit to having used to the line, "If you (fill in the blank) you can put a piece of straw in" a few times, but having that constant reminder on our counter really did help us to go that extra mile to serve each other. I also loved listening to my children recount the story of his birth using the puppets and wooden nativity pieces that were out in our living room.
And now it's January and it's raining. And there is no manager on the counter, no twinkling lights, no wooden nativity puzzle, no gifts to plan, and no Christmas music playing, and that is why it's a little sad to have it all packed away. I know that we can continue to have that same spirit and love in our home and for others all year round. I know that December does not hold a monopoly on giving thoughtful gifts and cards to family and friends or serving our fellow men. Sometimes it may seem that it takes more effort than it does December to do these things, but it certainly worth the effort. Because for the eleven months of the year that we aren't filling up a manager, I still want to strive to have a home where Christ would always be a welcome and comfortable visitor.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent at Mike's parents house. Dinner was, of course, delicious and beautifully presented. Grandpa and Susan came along with all of Mike's siblings and Mike's brother brought his girlfriend (hopefully we didn't embarrass him too much).

After we enjoyed the previously mentioned delicious meal, we acted out the Nativity Story. I wish I had some pictures of this, but unfortunately my camera died after I took the below pictures and I didn't get any pictures for the rest of the night. I did get it on video, however, so Uncle Matt being the donkey and Uncle Dan dressed as a wise man complete with a cape (we used what we had to make costumes) is all documented for posterity which I am sure they will thank me for some day.

We ended by singing Away in the Manager and listening to my children and nieces singing with us while dressed in their shepherds and wise men costumes is one of my favorite moments of Christmas.

The R. family grand kids ages six months to 6. I love, love, love that my kids have these cousins go grow up with.

When we got home, Kiwi and Little man went right to work getting everything set out for Santa. Little Man wrote the note himself. Although it may appear that there was some sort of beer and kiwis (the fruit, not the girl) involved, it actually reads, "Dear Santa, The carrots are for the reindeer."

So, those carrots were the bottom of the bag and do not look too appetizing. Good thing we had the reindeer to eat them.

After they went to bed, Mike and I wrapped presents and made the cheesy potatoes for the next day while watching the Christmas Story on TBS (played 24 hours a day Christmas Eve). We watch it every year while we do our Christmas Eve jobs. This year we watched it almost two full times before it was time to go to bed. Christmas Eve wouldn't be the same without Ralphie....

Christmas Eve Eve

2012-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Growing up, we always celebrated Christmas Eve with the D family. As us grandkids have grown older and married and with so many different holiday schedules, we have moved this celebration to the 23rd, which we know refer to as Christmas Eve Eve. Basically, we get three days of Christmas. And I am more than okay with that.

After our traditional chili (yes, chili) dinner, we always have a program where each family can share a song, skit, story, etc. Our kids sang the primary song, "Christmas Bells are Ringing." They were the first to perform and than sat down to watch everyone else. Well, two of them sat down anyways. It was Mason's first taste of performing and apparently he was hooked.

Here he is taking part in our family song (look at that look on his face).

Next, he stood up there with Jer and Miriam family's. Uncle Doug tried to gently redirect him, but he insisted on staying in the spotlight.

And when there was no one performing, he simply stood center stage smiling and clapping for himself.

And when the keyboard was brought in for some of cousins to play their piano pieces guess who wanted a part of that too?

After the program, we opened a couple of presents, had dessert and visited while the kids played. It was a wonderful night and I am so glad that we have continued this tradition. It's such a full circle moment watching my children experience and participate in the same traditions that I did as a child.

My cute little reindeer and elf (we started the evening with Little Man wearing a Santa hat saying he was Santa, Kiwi was his reindeer and Mason was deemed an elf because he wouldn't leave anything on his head).

With these two it can go from smiles to this in .2 seconds. And it takes about another .2 seconds for Mason to progress to screaming. Sometimes Big Sister just loves him a little bit too much.

Kiwi and Auntie Paula.

Little Man and Great Grandpa D.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-29T21:46:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more exciting than being a kid on Christmas morning??

Santa's gifts.

Little Man asked for two Cars 2 cars, one of them being a very obscure one that he had never seen in the store because, "Santa doesn't get things from stores. His elves make them in the workshop, so I should ask him for something you couldn't get in the store." Ummm....apparently not only do the stores not carry this car (although I did locate one Ebay for 66.00 for one diecast car!), but Santa's workshop was out of this particular car also, because he brought him a different car and a Cars 2 storage container that also shoots the cars out. Luckily, Little Man didn't seem disappointed at all and has happily conducted countless car races in the past few days.
A couple months ago, we received an American Girl magazine in the mail. Since we have never bought anything from American Girl, I'm not sure where they got our address or how they knew we had children that would be American Girl doll age. Kiwi poured over the pages and pages of dolls and started saying that she wanted an American Girl doll for Christmas. We assumed that she would forgot about the dolls and want something else by the time Christmas came around, but she stayed consistent with the American Girl doll request. An American girl doll with braids to be more exact. Santa brought Isabella (named by Kiwi), a doll with a wardrobe and a couple of outfits. As Little Man repeatedly reminded us, Santa has elf making toys, but I hope that if he does ever order toys from a store that Santa was aware of Target's dolls that look like American Girl dolls, but are 1/3 the price and that they had a doll with a wardrobe and clothes for sale right after Thanksgiving. Of course she didn't have braids...but I'm sure an elf or perhaps Mrs. Claus could take care of that pretty easily with a comb and a couple of hair rubberbands.
Mason got the Little People zoo and explored it in his own cautious way for a few minutes (what is this toy doing here? Why are my brother and sister ten times crazier than usual? Where is my morning oatmeal?), and then broke out his cute dimple smile and started putting the zoo keeper down the slide repeatedly saying "Wheee."

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, each of the big kids did extra jobs to earn money to buy presents for each family member. We then took a family trip to the dollar store where they were able to pick out gifts for each other and us. Little Man even choose to do extra extra jobs so he would have money to get the grandparents special gifts from just him which I thought was really sweet.

This is the second year we have done this and I love it. The kids are so excited to choose things out for each other, wrap them, and put them under the tree. The above picture was taken after they had opened up their gifts to each other.

Little Man choose this beautiful ring for me at the Holiday Store they do at school and the picture below is the candle he got me from the dollar store and the flowers that Kiwi choose for me. I put them as the centerpieces for our Christmas breakfast. Mike received a statue of a little girl from Kiwi, "because this little girl kind of looks like me and Daddy could put it on his desk" and a pack of football cards from Little Man. I am excited for next year when Mason will have more of a say in the gifts he picks out for other people (this year I picked a book from him for his siblings).

Breakfast consisted of smoothies and cinnamon rolls (made by my sister in law who called Christmas Eve saying that she was making cinnamon rolls for her family, but they had too many to eat and would we like some? I am not one to turn down free cinnamon rolls, especially if made by my sister in law).

We had church at 11:00 and this was the best picture I got of all three kids in their church clothes. This is after church with untucked shirts and something crazy going on with Kiwi's hair and that headband, but they still look precious to me.

After church, we headed to my parents house where we were able to Skype with my brother Mat, who is in Russia on his mission. We loved talking to him and the time flew by. There were more than a few tears shed when we hung up (not until after we hung up so he didn't see) but it was a combination of happy/sad tears. He looked great and sounds so happy, but we miss him. My parents and Marcus especially. I can't imagine what it will be like when one of my children goes. I miss Little Man when he's at school...
Later the E family came over and we enjoyed dinner, a huge spread of desserts, and games. Poor Mike wasn't feeling very good and his knee was really hurting (he had knee surgery the week before Christmas), so he spent a lot of the night laying on the couch, but all in all it was a good Christmas.

December Happenings

2011-12-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

Church Christmas Party

I love that our ward does a breakfast for the annual Christmas party. Breakfast consists of parfaits, egg bakes, and the biggest pancakes we see all year. The theme this year was The Polar Express and it was really cute. The dress code is pjs, but we had plans right after the party, so we came dressed for the day.

After breakfast, tickets were given to the kids to board the train. Someone read the storybook and though out the book, different parts were acted out. At the part where hot chocolate is served, the teenagers came out dressed up and passed out hot cocoa and candy. As they were passing them out I had two simultaneous thoughts: how cute this was and that somebody was going to spill their hot chocolate. Less then a minute later, guess whose kid spilled hot chocolate all over? As soon as Little Man was given his cup, he tried to balance it on his seat next to him resulting in an almost immediate puddle. We cleaned it up quickly and got him a new cup before the "elves" disappeared into the kitchen, so no damage was done, but I was the keeper of the hot chocolate after that.

Is is just me or is there something about little boys in railroad train overalls? And when you have got a pair of these in your dresser is there really anything else you could wear to a party involving trains?

Kids getting ready to board the train with their ticket.

Picking out the Christmas tree

We went to a local tree farm, where we trudged all the way to the back of the field to find that perfect tree. After finding the lot a little picked over, and discovering that Little Man and Kiwi had some strong opinions about which trees they wanted (and they never seemed to be the same tree), we settled on an almost perfect tree.
Mason insisted on walking over the bumpy terrain the entire time we were there. He fell in the mud more than once, but I picked him and his puffy coat up, he would want to be walking again. Getting the tree to the front of the farm was an adventure and truly a family effort. Picture ten foot tree, huge mud holes, one baby stuck in the mud, a saw, and two adults attempting to get everything/everybody back to the front of the farm safely. I'm sure we were quite the spectacle, but we eventually made it.

Making Christmas treats

The kids and I did a gingerbread house one afternoon.

Both Kiwi and Little Man made candy trees at school.

Watching holiday specials and movies

Mason never lasted more than two minutes before crawling off the couch to find something more interesting to do, but he always likes to start on the couch snuggled up with blankets and stuffed animals.

Little Man's Christmas performance

So this was the only picture I got and if anyone can spot him, bonus points for you! I couldn't even spot him when we were there until into the second song. I started to get worried that he had been left in the classroom or something. The gym was packed and although we got there twenty minutes early (which is when you needed to have your first graders there) we were in the very, very back.

Even though I had a hard time seeing him, it was very enjoyable to listen to. All the children were so into it, and the songs were really cute. Afterwards Little Man said, "I could do that 100 more times!" He loved being up there performing and couldn't stop talking about it.

Christmas Lights (and my baby)

Although we all love Christmas lights in our family and went on numerous walks/drives to look at them, Mason was by far the most fascinated with them. He would (and still does) go to the front door and knock on it from the inside gesturing that he wants it open. When it's open, he points to our neighbors lights and to our snowmen lights lining the walk way until we tell him it's cold and then he comes in.

The lights on our tree were plugged into an outlet that is set up with a light switch behind the chair in our living room. Mason learned that if he climbed on the chair and switched the light switch he could control the Christmas tree lights. This was amazing to him and has provided many minutes (is there any other time measurement when it comes to a baby's attention span) of fun and entertainment for him. He is always happy to see the tree when he comes downstairs and I think he will be sad to see it go later this week.

Look how pleased he is with himself.

Although Mason was probably the most into the lights on the tree, he did a pretty good job leaving the ornaments alone. The other kids, however, were a different story. I didn't expect to have to watch my four and six year olds with the ornaments, but they loved to take them down and play with them. Since most of the ornaments are kid friendly, I let them a couple of times and they made ornament families and took them on trips.

In fact, they loved to play with all of the Christmas decorations. Numerous times, I found toys hanging out in the Christmas village and once as I was walking by our Nativity scene, I was surprised to one of Kiwi's dollhouse babies in the manager. Puzzled I asked the kids what was going on and where Baby Jesus was. Their response? The baby had never slept in a manager and wanted to see what it was like. The Baby Jesus figurine was upstairs hanging out with the rest of the dollhouse family. I did put a stop to that, but it made me laugh.

Mike's knee surgery

A week and a half before Christmas, Mike had knee surgery to replace his ACL and a torn meniscus in his right knee. Any guesses to the cause? Church basketball. Everything went well with the surgery and he is recovering well, but it will be a while before he is back to normal. He has exercises he does daily and has started physical therapy. He no longer needs crutches though and has driven himself into work the last two days, so he is definitely making great strides (he has done some work from home the last couple of weeks).

Having Mike out of commission definitely made for a little bit different of a Christmas season this year. It was the first time I have felt the "stress" of Christmas mostly due to the fact that I stubbornly tried to do everything we normally do at Christmas time even though I was the lone adult. I learned two things from this. 1. Mike is a huge help (I actually already knew this, but was reminded of just how much I appreciate him) 2. Sometimes it is better to let some things go. Luckily, as Christmas weekend approached, I was able to realize that maybe not everything on my checklist was going to get done, but that I needed to just enjoy the time with my family. And we did have a wonderful Christmas, which I still need to finish recording.

Day 6 and 7

2011-12-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

Monday was our last full day in the park, so we tried to get done with the rest of our must dos. The highlight of the day was probably the parade and snow, which I already talked about. Some other highlights were the following.

Finding Nemo's submarine: Kiwi had really been anticipating this one after seeing the video online and it was a cute, although slightly claustrophobic, ride. After the ride, Little Man said, "I'm so glad we went on that so we could see what Nemo's life was like after the movie ended." I'm telling you, the characters were magic (if you have read all of these posts, you are probably tired of this word) to these kids.

Autopia: Little Man got to drive the car on this one and loved it.

The train: The train goes around the whole park making four stops that you can get on and off at. Kiwi was tired, so Mike and the kids did a full loop and then some while I got off to get us some fast passes. After riding the train and taking a little rest, Kiwi was ready to go again. I'm going to store that away for future use with little kids at Disneyland. There is no seat belts and you can stay on as long as you want, so you theoretically you could sit and let your child take their afternoon nap on that train.

Meeting Rapunzel: Meeting this princess was our longest wait of the whole trip. We waited forty five minutes to meet the princess and her hair, but it was one of Kiwi's musts and have I mentioned the kids were into the characters? So we waited and got her autograph and picture. Both kids joked in line that they might get hit with a frying pan when they walked into the tower, but they were fine (the frying pan was on the wall though). Rapunzel also told Kiwi that Flynn Rider sometimes uses her hair as a pillow to sleep on at night (a little TMI Rapunzel)

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Rapunzel

Tuesday we used our magic morning pass that came with our package to get into the park an hour early and headed straight for Peter Pan since it had always had such a long line. Everybody else with a magic morning pass headed there too and the line was forty minutes when we reached it. We went on a couple of other rides and then came back and stood in about a thirty minute line, because the kids really wanted to do Peter Pan. It was worth the wait.
We went on the Matterhorn where our brave little roller coaster girl burst into tears. Not because it was too fast, but because of the snow monster. I told her there was one monster in it, but he actually appeared two times. Ooops.
We left at lunch time and headed to the airport. Although we were very sad to leave, we could not wait to see Mason. I don't know if I have ever been so excited to see someone. As we drove to my parents house to get him that night, my arms were literally aching to get that little body in them. I was unbuckling my seatbelt three streets away. When we walked in, he got really excited and he even let me hold him without squirming away...for probably about 60 seconds....and then he was off. He did get anxious when we started getting ready to leave, but was fine when he realized he was coming with us.

Not a great picture, but the only one we had the castle in the background.

So long Disneyland. Hopefully, we will see you in a few years.

(Since coming home, my kids have played Disneyland or talked about Disneyland every single day. They took maps home with them and they will get them out and use their toys to set up and create rides in the right order.)

Day 5

2011-12-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday we relaxed at our hotel and let the kids play with their stuffed animals in the morning. We had our own little Sunday School in our room and then headed over to a park where we met my cousin, his wife, their two cute little boys, and my dad for a picnic. The kids loved running around and playing with L, who is three. There were more birds at this park then I have ever seen in one place. My dad took the kids (minus the) down where they were and started feeding them. When they ran out of food and headed back to the table and the mass of birds started following them. I found this to be a little bit creepy, but the kids thought it was hilarious. My cousin Dave had went to the car to get a bottle for the baby and when he came back all he saw was all these birds surrounding my dad and the kids. He said, “I went to the car to get a bottle and come back to see my Uncle Dean (my dad) feeding my little boy to the birds.” I wish I had gotten a picture of the kids and my dad running back with all these birds following/flying all around them.

Playing with L in the sand.

That evening we went to Disneyland to watch the candlelight procession, which is a tradition that has been happening on first week of December for over fifty years. They have a celebrity (this year it was Gary Sinese, I think he’s on one of those crime shows) come and read the Christmas story from Luke and there is the huge choir all holding candles who sing Christmas hymns. It was beautiful and I’m really glad we saw it. My favorite part was when they had the audience sing “Silent Night” with them. There is something so powerful about music and I loved that in the midst of all the commercialism (because as magical as Disneyland is, there is no disputing that it is a money making machine) so many people came to see the show and listen to the real story of Christmas. Mike and I really enjoyed it. Kiwi fell asleep in the stroller and Little Man fell asleep on the cement (we were in the standing section) using the backpack as a pillow. If you are going to sleep on the ground somewhere, Disneyland is the place to do it. It is unbelievably clean there. Little Man RARELY falls asleep anywhere other than his bed. He is usually full speed ahead until he tell him it's time to go to bed and then he almost always says he's not tired. I guess we found what it takes to exhaust him; just run him hard for four days straight and eventually he'll drop.

We had planned on staying for the fireworks that were happening later that evening, but as we were walking down main street afterwards, Kiwi crying she so was so tired (after his nap on the street Little Man had popped back up and was ready to go), so we bagged that plan and headed back to the hotel. Little Man and I did catch part of it from our room through the windows later, which was fun.

Day 4

2011-12-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Recently, my dad’s job has required him to work in Los Angeles. It is temporary, and he comes home every other weekend. While nobody likes having him so far away (especially my mom and Marcus and especially, especially my mom) we were excited to be able to share a day in Disneyland with Grandpa. He met up with us at our hotel Saturday morning, ate breakfast with us and then we got on the bus to head over to the parks.

Before going into the Disneyland part, my kids really wanted to show him Toy Story Mania, so we went into California Adventure just as it was opening and headed straight for our favorite ride. I guess we are not the only ones who have that as their favorite, because the entire throng of people seemed to be going the exact same place as we were. Little Man had wanted to be Grandpa's partner and see if he could beat his highest score, which he did.

After riding the ride, we happened to see Jessie, so Kiwi got in another hug before he headed over to Disneyland. It was my first time in Disneyland since I was fourteen and I thought it was really cool that the last time I had been here was with my dad (and rest of my family) and now he was there the first time my kids experienced the classic Disney park.

First on the list was seeing Tinkerbelle in Pixie Hollow. Kiwi had, of course, packed her Tinkerbelle dress (which I may add I scored at a garage sale for 3 bucks and then saw almost the exact same dress at the gift shop for 40? Love that feeling.)

We then headed into Fantasy Land and started to do some of the little rides there. The first one we did was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride which was one I remember loving as a kid. Mike and Little Man rode together, and Kiwi rode sandwiched in between my dad and I. Neither one of us had remembered this ride as scary, but it was a little bit spooky for my four year old. When we got off the ride she said, “Every time I saw something I thought would follow me, I would just squeeze you or Granpda really, really tight.” My dad said she was sqeezing his hand pretty tight.

It's A Small World was decorated for Christmas and it was so neat. The first time we went on it (we did a total of three rides) was during the day with my dad and the kids sat up front with him while Mike and I sat behind them. It was hard to hear everything they were saying to my dad because of the music throughout the ride, but it was obvious they were excited by the almost constant pointing and the expressions on their faces. Along with the traditional dolls that I remembered, there are Disney characters hid throughout and the kids loved finding them. This ride became an immediate favorite and became even more of a favorite when we saw it at night time later in the trip. When we saw it all lit up for the first time, Kiwi said, "I wish Grandpa could see it like this."

Another highlight from Saturday included Mickey’s Toontown. The kids were so interested in seeing where the characters lived (as mentioned earlier, the characters were definitely one of the highlights of this trip). The kept pointing things out like the pictures on the wall (“Look, Mickey has a picture of Goofy!”) and loved sitting on the furniture. Outside of Goofy’s house there is a little park and the kids just wanted to play there, but we urged them onward. Just too many fun things to do at once place.

Opening the door to the "Power Company" in Toontown

On Go Go Gadget Rollercoaster

We also did Thunder Mountain Railroad, another favorite from my childhood, and even did Splash Mountain. The kids wore their ponchos and Mike took one for the team by sitting in the front and taking the majority of the splash. This was definitely the most nerve wracking ride of the trip for me. I hadn’t remembered the seats being so long and that there was no seatbelts. I was sitting directly behind Kiwi and started to seriously think that my child was going to be the first one ever to fall out of this ride. What was I thinking taking her on this? Both kids handled it well though and of course no one went overboard.

We also did Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, which all the boys liked because you shot things and racked up points and Kiwi enjoyed because she saw Toy Story characters.

We went out to a Mexican place for dinner (thank you Dad!) and again the food tasted so good, because we were starving (next time we go, we are packing way more snacks than we think we need).

After dinner, we went over to California Adventure to see The World Of Color, a light/water/fire show they do over the water. It was really neat and Mike listed it as one of his favorites of the trip. I was grateful we had my dad, because the kids couldn’t see anything unless they were being held. Mike had Little Man on his shoulders the whole show and my dad and I took turns holding Kiwi.

Saturday was the most crowded day that we were there and had the longest lines, but it really wasn't that bad compared to what it is during peak times. It was also probably the day that the kids were the most tired, so it was nice to have an extra adult (Kiwi was held a lot that day) and it was definitely extra special to have dad/grandpa there.

Dancing with Sleeping Beauty.

On a boat with Granpda.

Posing with Tigger.

Taking a rest during dinner.

Day 3

2011-12-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

The plan for Friday was to go to California Adventure again and do all the things we hadn't been able to the previous day. Since there had been so few lines on Thursday, we had done almost everything we wanted to, so along with checking off our last few things, we re-did some favorites. Favorites, of course, included Toy Story Mania again.

Little Man has recently discovered the cartoon Phineas and Ferb and will usually choose that as his show, so I knew the Phineas and Ferb dance show was a must.

At the beginning of the show, some of the Campfire girls come around and chose kids to dance with them. Little Man raised his hand high (while Kiwi shrunk back into me) and was chosen. It really was interesting to watch the differences between my two oldest on this trip. Little Man was much braver about volunteering for shows or talking to characters, but Kiwi was actually the braver one when it came to the bigger rides.

Of course we had to get a picture of Lightening and Mater (notice Little Man's shirt. They planned out their outfits for each day and packed every Disney clothing item we owned for this trip). This was right outside of the entrance to Cars Land which will be done this summer and looks like it will be awesome.

Here's Pluto and Minnie before going to a really cute show where Cresh, the sea turtle from Finding Nemo, tells us "land dwellers" what's it's like to live in the ocean and calls on audience members to ask him questions. Little Man, of course, raised his hand, and I couldn't believe it when he got picked again to participate. He asked Cresh, "What's it like to live in the sea world?' to which Cresh replied, "Wet." Cresh then asked Little Man, "What's it like to live on the dry land?" to which Little Man replied, "Yes" (I don't think he understood the question). They went onto have a conversation involving what Little Man likes to do on the land (play soccer) and if he ever went swimming while Mike and I cracked up watching our little boy. We are not quite sure where he gets his outgoingness, since neither one of us was like that at his age.
We also saw The Incredibles perform a little show on the street and then went to this huge theatre where they put on an Aladdin play. It was really neat. It didn't hold Kiwi's attention as well, but Mike and I really liked it and Little Man was enthralled. His eyes were glued to the stage the entire show.
After Aladdin, we headed out of the park to a California Pizza Kitchen we had seen on Mike's phone. It said it was .6 miles away, but Mike's phone is a liar. We walked, and walked, and walked. We did bring the umbrella stroller so Kiwi was in that, but Little Man was dying. We finally got there and enjoyed a delicious meal (although anything would have tasted good at that point). When dinner was over, we realized we had probably walked half way back to our hotel, so rather than walk back to Disneyland to catch the bus, we walked back to the hotel. It was definitely a group effort to get back, but through a combination of piggy back rides given to both kids, Kiwi on Mike's shoulders, both kids taking a turn in the stroller, and some good walking (and even running) by little legs, we finally made it back.

What I Learned from the (almost) Happiest Place on Earth/Days 1 and 2

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

We returned from a six day trip to Disneyland last week. I call it the almost happiest place on earth, because to be the happiest place we would have to be there with our whole family and our youngest member stayed home with grandma for this trip. When we started talking about and planning this trip, my mom offered to keep Mason. I had mixed emotions about this and had a really hard time when it came down to actually dropping him off, but I think that it turned out in the end.
Mason did great for my mom (she said he only cried once) and basically got spoiled the entire six days. Anything he wanted he got. If he wanted to see the Christmas lights, she bundled him and and walked him outside, if he wanted to play he got all the toys to himself, if he wanted to take a bath he got to stay in for as long as he wanted. He took monster naps everyday and although we missed him a ton, I really think he probably had more fun sticking to his routine than he would have getting in and out of the stroller all day. We have now been back for almost a week and he doesn't seem mad at us (hopefully we didn't damage him), but he is a little more possessive of toys. He will scream if Little Man or Kiwi touches what he is playing with. I think getting a taste of being an only child was the first time in his life that it occurred to him that he didn't have to just play with things that somebody else wasn't playing with.
It was nice for Mike and I to focus on the older kids and since Kiwi was almost tall enough for everything, we were all able to go on the rides together and go all day long.
We have been looking forward to and planning this trip for over a year now and it didn't disappoint. I need to go through my 400 plus pictures and journal our experience, but for now here are a few pictures and things we learned from the magical kingdom.

1. Everyone is a kid in Disneyland
Where else will you see grown men proudly wearing Buzz Lightyear sweatshirts with little circles that say "laser" on their arms? There are mouse ears, dog ears, magician hats, and character t-shirts being worn by the old and young alike. The grown woman who waited forty five minutes to meet Rapunzel and had no children with them? Now that was a bit of a mystery to me, but who am I do judge? I donned a pair of mouse ears and found myself literally skipping through the park at times I was so excited. There is just something about being there that makes you feel like a child again.

2. It's a place to fall in love
I snuggled with my husband on It's a Small World, I was reminded of how amazing and fun my two older kids are as I was able to just BE with them, play with them, and enjoy them away from all the normal day to day responsibilities. I fell in love with my baby all over again, because I missed him like crazy and haven't been able to stop squeezing his little body and smothering his cheeks with kisses since we got home. Which means he's spent a lot of the last few days trying to squirm away from his mommy.
And Little Man was smitten. With a princess. Sleeping Beauty to be more specific. We went to princess story time one day and as we were taking our seats, one of the the assistants asked Little Man if he would like to help during the story and be the "handsome prince." Little Man (who had already participated in other shows at this point) was more than willing to help. The princess who came out to tell the story was Sleeping Beauty and Little Man played the part of the prince when they dance in the forest. He was so cute up there twirling around and then gave her an gallant bow at the end of his twenty seconds of fame.
The next day, we waited in a line to meet and greet three princesses so the kids could get their autographs. When we got to the front of the line, we saw that one of the princesses was Sleeping Beauty. Little Man immediately said, "I bet she'll recognize me." Mike and I exchanged a glance over his head and told him, "You might need to remind her that you danced with her at story time yesterday" (we weren't sure how many Sleeping Beauties there were floating around Disneyland).
Well, when it was our turn, not only was it the same Sleeping Beauty as the previous day, but she remembered and recognizes Little Man. After signing autographs and taking pictures, she asked him if he would like to dance again. This time, Little Man's compliance was a little hesitant. Whether embarrassed to be dancing with a princess (he's just starting to be conscious of social things like that) or shy because he had a little crush, I'm not sure. Still he danced with her and gave her another bow and hug. As we were walking away, he said (very loudly), "Daddy, she REALLY likes me!" Which made everyone in ear shot, including Sleeping Beauty, laugh. For the rest of the trip, he got a little embarrassed smile when we mentioned "his princess. He also told us, "I'm not bringing that picture in to show my class. They would laugh their heads off!"
So, like a good mom, I am not sending the pictures to school with him, but simply posting them online.

3. For claiming to be the happiest place on earth, there are sure a lot of crying children.
Luckily, our kids did really well. While we missed Mason like crazy and were constantly pointing out things that reminded us of him (the soft stuffed animals at the gift shop, Winnie the Pooh, the dolls in "It's a Small World" that Kiwi was convinced even looked like her baby brother) I was grateful to not have to chase him through the lines or try to keep him strapped in a stroller.
Little Man only dissolved into tears once at the park when we were two people away from meeting Buzz Lightyear and the staff member announced that Buzz could not sign autographs (which I thought to be a legitimate reason to be sad).
Kiwi had a couple of meltdowns, but seeing that she is four and we were going for ten hours a day, I'd say she did a really good job.

4. The people who play the characters have a very, very important jobs.
Like way more important than the minimum wage they are probably being paid. The characters were magic to my children especially to Kiwi. To her, we were truly in Mickey's house and waiting to go into Rapunzel's Tower. A special thanks to those extra special characters who helped make the trip so memorable for my little ones. A big thank you to the lady (or perhaps man) under that huge Jessie head. I may never meet you, but you have earned a special place in our family's memories forever.

My normally reserved and shy little girl ran right up to her favorite cowgirl and hugged her tight. Through a series of gestures, pointing, and jumping up and down, Jessie let her know how much she liked Kiwi's hat, cowgirl boots, and Jessie shirt (Kiwi packed them all in hopes that she would meet her favorite character).

Belle was the first princess that we met and Kiwi was awestruck. She was just staring up at her and Belle took the time to get down on her level, talked to her and asked if she wanted to get a picture of just the two of them.

This lovable Pluto's antics and valiant attempts to answer Little Man's many questions with gestures and actions caused him to rocket from never before mentioned Disney character to top of Little Man's list. Both kids were allowed to choose one souvenir from the abundance of gift shops (that most rides end in). We told them to wait until the last day so they'd know what they really wanted and when the last day came, Little Man choose a stuffed Pluto.

He also chose Pluto for his mouse ears.

We did a character meal at Goofy's kitchen. And if you happen to have Disney gift cards received from cashing in points given to you for a job well done by your employer that you have been saving for a year to spend on this trip, I would recommend using them for a character meal. You don't have to wait in line to see the characters that are there and each one of them (there were seven at ours) comes around to your table to greet you. The kids loved it, Kiwi even said, "This is the best restaurant ever!"

It is a little pricey, so I wouldn't pay for it unless seeing the characters is at the top of your family's list of things to do there, but for free it was awesome! Thank you Boeing.

5. There is something magical in the air there.

Although I know "It's a Small World" was lit up by Christmas lights, the the snow falling was coming from the snow machines perched on top of the light posts, and that the music was being piped through speakers, there was really only one word to describe it and that word was "magic."

I mean, look at the expression on this girls face. And if this was a video clip, you wold see that she was literally jumping up and down when the snow started coming down.

And for kids who love characters, the Christmas Fantasy Parade was pretty magical (I really can not think of a better adjective) also.

Every time he spotted a new float or character coming down the road, Little Man would whip his head around to tell me what it was. Just in case I might not spot the fifteen foot gingerbread house, I guess.
The half an hour waiting in a roped off area while we devoured the crumbs of Triscuts, the only remaining snack in our backpack and the kids whined? Absolutely worth it. The first words out of Little Man's mouth when the parade was done, "I'm SO glad we saw that!" Me too, buddy. Except while he was so glad to have seen Buzz Lightyear in a space ship, I was feeling unbelievably grateful to be his mother and witness that moment.

6. It helps tremendously to research the parks and have a plan, but it's also good to change the plan.
I was glad that I had read up so much on the attractions and shows and made a list of the the "must dos" or I think it would have been really overwhelming. That being said, we never exactly followed the plan and that was okay. Sometimes things I didn't think the kids would love, did catch their interest and so we spent time doing that. Like the little counter wheels that you walk through before you get onto a ride. Kiwi loved them, as much and probably more than some of the rides that they were the gateway too.

So, there were a few highlights. Now for documenting/picture overload part.

Wednesday
We dropped off Mason about 12:30. As soon as we got in the car, I started crying. And then we picked up Little Man from school and he realized we had already dropped Mason off (I thought he knew that was the plan) and he started crying, which made me start crying, which got Mike all choked up, and Kiwi burying her head in her hands. Not exactly how I had pictured the start of our trip. By the time we got to the airport, however, the kids were beyond excited. And although I was still feeling a little sad, it was nice to know that Mason was taking his nap rather than having to be tired at the airport. At the airport, we got to ride an underground train thing to get to our terminal and an escalator. The kids found the escalators to be fascinating and would have rode them all day. As we walked through the airport, Little Man said, "This is an adventure!" Forget Disneyland, we should have just taken them to the airport. Every job we saw from flaggers on the runway to pilots, Little Man said he wanted. In the end, he decided he would be a pilot and Kiwi would be an air traffic controller (this career choice remained solid until we got to Disneyland when Little Man then wanted to grow up and work there).
As we were walking onto the plane, the kids were literally jumping up and down. They kept saying, "We're almost on a plane, we're going to see what a plane looks like in just a minute." Although they had both flown once previously it was when each of them were a baby, so they have no memory of it. When we walked onto the plane, the pilot actually invited them up into the cockpit and let them look around. Little Man even got to sit in the co-pilots seat and "drive" (Kiwi was too nervous to take a turn). I have never been in a cockpit before and it was really neat.
When we got to California, we then rode a bus to get to our hotel. When we got on the bus, Little Man said, "It's been transportation day today!" Which I guess it had been; our van, an underground train, a plane, and then a bus. Although it was their bed time by this point, both kids were dancing around and full of energy for the last leg of our trip. We checked into the hotel (where the elevator became the new hit), and got ready for the next day.

Thursday
Thursday morning, I woke up early and went down to the to the hotel gym to workout (the only morning I did this, I was too wiped out for the rest of the trip to wake up early). I tried to stay on the treadmill, but was so excited I didn't last long. We got ready, ate the hotels yummy breakfast and then caught the bus to take us to California Adventure. Our bus driver that morning was great. He had everybody singing "It's a Small World" and "Happy Birthday" to some people who were celebrating their birthdays. We thought that every bus driver might be like that, but that was the only one we had that ever said more than announcing the stops.
When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw another bus that had Toy Story characters painted on it and Kiwi freaked out. The kids were so excited that they were pointing at characters on buses, posters, pictures, and we hadn't even entered the park yet.

Little Man standing in front of a Cars land poster. I wish that this had been completed as Cars is this first graders favorite of all time, but we are looking forward to seeing it next time we visit (and Mason will be perfect Cars age then).

Upon entering the park, the huge Christmas tree was one of the first things we saw. It was a little shocking to be reminded that it was December, because we all had t-shirts on. Christmas time with sunshine and warmth is such a foreign concept to us.

The first ride we headed to was Toy Story Mania. This had been one that both kids were excited about when we saw it online and I had heard that the Toy Story characters often hang out by their ride, so I wanted to head their first thing to see if we might get to meet them.

While waiting in line, Mr. Potato head entertained guests by asking questions. Sometimes, he would even specifically call out someone in line (this surprised us the first time, but then we saw there was a camera up above him). This was our favorite ride and we went on it four times. Both Kiwi and Little Man were asked by Mr. Potato head who their favorite character was. Little Man answered "Buzz" and Kiwi "Jessie" of course. Which caused Mr. Potato head to ask who their second favorite Toy Story character was.
Before going on the ride, I asked some staff members if they knew when the Toy Story characters were coming and they said it would be about twenty minutes from then. Perfect! We went on the ride, rode the carousel, and then headed over to where they said the characters came. The first to make an appearance was Woody.

I love how Kiwi is holding onto the back of Little Man's shirt in the picture. She was a little bit nervous.

Since we had got the scoop about the characters schedule we were second in line to see Woody. We then went on Mickey's Ferris Wheel until Buzz came out. I was really proud of Little Man on this ride. He was nervous to go so high (almost to the point of tears), but did a great job and even wanted to do it later in the trip (but the line was too long). Kiwi, however, had no fear and loved it.

The lines were so short (I wish we could just go five Thursdays in a row) that we were able to go on rides between meeting all the characters. After the Ferris Wheel, we went to see Buzz.

This is where Little Man experienced his most disappointing moment of the trip when he found out Buzz didn't sign autographs. He got over it pretty quickly, however, when I said we could put a picture of him and Buzz on that page of his autograph book.

And then it was time for the cowgirl. As I mentioned earlier, this Jessie was awesome and gave my kids some extra time when she saw how much Kiwi loved her.

I love Kiwi's "I'm trying to hold all my excitement in even though this is like the most exciting moment of my life" smile.

At Paradise Pier. If we didn't live by so much family, I think I could definitely relocate to southern California or somewhere sunshiney. I loved the weather!

After going on more rides, we went to Disney Junior Live on Stage. Little Man has just recently started to outgrow these shows and hasn't been that interested in watching them, but he still enjoyed the show and since both of them have watched these shows they knew all the characters and songs. Kiwi's current favorite show is "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" so she was especially enthralled by that part.

Later in the day, we walked out an exhibit to see Jake. And there was no line! This kept happening to us Thursday. I guess it was our lucky day.

California Adventure is full of these old Disney posters with characters and the kids loved them. They wanted to pose and get pictures of almost all of them.

On our way to dinner, we checked out Downtown Disney.

We had seen that there was Lego store in Downtown Disney so of course we had to stop there. They had a huge giraffe that took ten people something like 600 hundred hours to build. They also had a Darth Vadar and a Woody made entirely of Legos. If we wouldn't have had dinner reservations, I think the boys could have spent hours drooling over all the Lego sets they had here. They also had little tables set up where you could build. It was pretty incredible and next time we'll have to leave more time to explore there.

Dinner was at Goofy's Kitchen that night and as I mentioned earlier, was really fun. The food was pretty good too, but the characters are what made the meal.

I got pretty excited when we saw that Minnie Mouse was coming around and had to jump in on that picture.

Snow White was another really nice character. She talked to the kids for a while and answered Little Man's questions. He asked her who her favorite Disney character was (she answered her prince) and who her best princess friend was (she said Belle, but that she really liked them all).

After dinner, we boarded the bus back to our hotel exhausted, but happy. When we got back to the hotel, Little Man declared, "That was one fun filled day!" And that it was.

This Weekend...

2011-11-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

We counted our blessings.

In what I hope will become a family tradition, we set out a thankful bucket the week before Thanksgiving with a bunch of slips of paper next to it. Throughout the week, we wrote down or drew pictures of different things we are thankful for and then dumped it out and looked at them all Thanksgiving morning. My favorites were some of the pictures Kiwi had drawn and put in without my even knowing about them.

You can bet this little guy is at the top of my list.

Kiwi with a picture she had drawn of her brothers.

Ate lots of fabulous food.

And then came back and ate some more.

Thanksgiving this year was held at Mike's parents house and his mom cooked all TWENTY of us a fabulous meal. Our job was to bring some appetizers (I know, I have it easy). I did try a new recipe for a cranberry/jalapeno dip which was most delicious if I do say so myself. The kids contributed by making these cute little candy turkeys.

Had lots of cousin (and family) time.

Mike's aunt, uncle, and three daughters came up from Utah for Thanksgiving. We lived in an apartment in their basement for the first two and a half years of our marriage so they have a special place in my heart. It was so fun to see them and to watch the girls, now all grown up and beautiful, interacting with my kids. Little Man and Kiwi fell in love with all three of them and now want to know when we can go to Utah to visit.

My aunt, uncle, and five cousins were up from Texas and other cousins were here from California and Utah so there was lots of family fun going on in the D family also. We celebrated some birthdays, some of us girls went to the incredibly cheesy (to the point of laughing out loud throughout the movie) Breaking Dawn, had a cousin game night, went out to eat, and went to the temple with my cousin Cole who is leaving for a mission to England next month.

Little Man and Lexi playing the new dance game on the Kinect. We also broke this out at the grown up cousin game night, but because I would not appreciate pictures of my dancing posted, I will refrain from putting those up. It was quite entertaining though and we had a lot of fun.

Cousins. Katie was Kiwi's age when I first started dating Mike and look at her now. Man, I am getting old!

Stina, Kim, and Katie with my three kids. Mason is thrilled.

We broke out the Christmas decorations.

Although not a fan of before Thanksgiving holiday celebrations (especially by stores who seem to have completely commercialized Christmas and break out the candy canes and Christmas toys before most kids have even made a dent in their Halloween candy...but that would be a whole other post entirely), once the turkey is cut it is game on for the holidays around here.

So, this picture looks totally posed...because it is. She did scoot the bin over and she was staring at Santa all by herself, but my the time I got the camera she was climbing down. So, I made her get back up to try to capture the moment. She says this is her favorite of all the decorations.

Friday morning we put up all the Christmas decorations except for our tree. Friday afternoon, the kids stayed home with babysitters (thank you Jen and Allison!) while we went to the temple and out to eat with some family members.
As we were turning into our neighborhood on the way home, Mike and I were chatting and enjoying our last few minutes of uninterrupted conversation, when suddenly I looked up and there it was. After a sharp intake of breath, I let out a squeal which had Mike looking over and asking me what was the matter. And so, I told him what I had seen. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS LIGHTS OF THE SEASON (mental note: taper the reaction some next year as to not cause a car accident).
So even though it was nearing bed time when we got home, I insisted on piling the family in the car and going on a Christmas light drive. Little Man counted fifty houses in our big neighborhood. The next morning, Mike was up on the ladder hanging out lights. When the kids and I went out to the porch to see how it was going, Little Man and Kiwi said, "Thank you Daddy." To which he replied, "I couldn't disappoint my kids." Except for he wasn't looking at his kids, he was looking at his wife. Me. What can I say? I love Christmas lights.

Happy start of Holidays!

A Privelege

2011-11-14T20:03:00.001-08:00

Last week, all three of my children were sick with some sort of 24 hour bug and in Mason's case two 24 hour bugs (or more accurately an entire week of a whiny baby bookend with two days where there were actual symptoms that could be identified as the reason for his fussiness). The past week has included middle of the night Tylenol doses, multiple middle of the night throw up cleans (the worst), comforting, snuggling, book reading, much more TV than usual, lots of laundry, and a very unhappy, clingy baby.
Although it is never fun to have your kids sick, I was so grateful for the timing of it. The first sign of illness appeared just hours after we arrived home from our weekend trip to watch Marcus run. That night Mason woke up with a fever and Kiwi woke up throwing up. I don't even want to imagine dealing with that in a hotel room or on the car ride home. Also, the worst days have seemed to fall on weekends meaning that I have had Mike to help share in the parenting duties allowing us to give the sick child the attention they need while still taking care of the other two.
And although I have been tired (sick babies can be especially draining), I could not help feeling extra blessed to be these children's mother this last week. Maybe it was that Mike was there to help during the worst throwing up episodes or that the kids spread out their sick days allowing me to get rest in between and not slip into sleep deprived, survival mode, but I really found myself thinking several times what an honor it is to be entrusted with these children. To be the one that they want, to be the one that is able to provide them with the comfort they seek. To wring a wet washcloth for a forehead like my mom used to do, and to be the body that Mason's little arms were reaching for.
That being said, I am so happy that they have all returned to their active, happy, normal selves. I am so grateful that they are overall healthy kids and that we have never had to deal with any serious illness. And I am grateful for the reminder this last week of just how important my role is. I am their mother. And what an amazing privilege that is.

(For the record, Mike did almost as much yucky clean up as I did and was helping take care of the "sickies" also. Daddies are pretty amazing too).

2011-11-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

Kiwi had a hard time adjusting to Little Man being in school all day. We decided it was time to let her choose an activity of her own. She went back and forth between gymnastics and dance, finally choosing to try out gymnastics. My friend coaches at a nearby gym and told me about their preschool program, so we decided to give it a try. So every Wednesday morning, Kiwi, Mason, and I head down to the gym and Kiwi spends an hour stretching, tumbling, balancing, running, playing, and loving every single minute of it. I love watching how much she loves it and seeing her confidence grow (Mason loves trying to climb inside the cubby holes where the kids store their shoes and jackets).

Tonight they held a little open house where all the preschool classes brought their families and each little gymnast got to go to different stations and show off the skills they have been working on. Kiwi has been so excited to be able to show her daddy and big brother where she has been going and what she's been doing. We are going to Disneyland next month for the first time (wahoo!) and Kiwi has put tonight on the same level as that. For weeks she was been saying, "I can't wait for my 'nastics performance and Disneyland!"

This look captures how excited she was to have us there. This ear to ear smile did not leave her face the entire hour we were there.

Working on the bar with Coach Erica.

"Sticking it." She now does this on our swing set out back also when she lets go of the rings.

Running to the spring board.

After they checked off all their skills on the sheet we had been given when we walked in, they gathered all the little girls around the podium and each one got their turn to stand on top of it and be presented with a medal. Have you ever seen a bunch of three and four year old girls with leotards and hair bows climb up onto a podium and get a gold medal while everyone claps for them? Um, pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

With her big brother. He did a great job letting this be her special day and was thrilled when there was an open play time that he was able to participate in also. I tried to get a picture with Mason in it, but he was having the time of his life running around and bouncing on the little trampoline. He had never been allowed on the mats before (no one but the coach and gymnasts are allowed during the class, Mason and I sit on bleachers and watch) and I have a feeling it is going to be nearly impossible for him to be content with this arrangement now that he knows how much fun it is out there.

As we were getting the kids ready for bed tonight, I glanced into her room and saw Kiwi had dumped out several toy bins, stacked them on top of each other, and was attempting to climb on top of them to place her medal on the high shelf where some of her special, breakable things are. Since Little Man has played a couple of seasons of soccer and tball, he has trophies on his special shelf and she couldn't wait to put some hardware on hers.

Oh, baby girl. You have been a champion to us since the day you were born.

State Take 4

2011-11-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of November and the last weekend of May the last few years have meant state time. For the past four years (with the exception of Nov. 09 where we got updates on the phone) we have packed up the kids and went to watch my brother or brothers run in the high school state championships.

This year was a little bittersweet, because it was the last big hurrah for cross country. Marcus's senior year marks the last time we will be packing up the van and making the trip over the mountains (the track state meet is held on our side of the state).

We left our house at about 2:00 and arrived at the hotel a little before six. A quick phone call to my mom found my parents and Mike and Paula an hour behind us which meant we had time to go test out the hotel swimming pool before dinner. Although my kids dearly love their uncle, if the truth be told, the thing they were most excited this weekend was staying in a hotel and swimming. The big kids loved the pool, but Mason was too tired (why didn't he take a monster nap in the car like I had planned? you'd have to talk to him about that) to have much fun.
After a quick swim, my grandma and I headed over to Red Robin to get our names on a list for dinner. Marcus was eating dinner with his team (hamburgers and fries are not exactly an ideal pre race meal) but my parents, grandparents, Mike and Paula and our little family all enjoyed endless fries and various meals as our pre-spectator race meal.

When we got back to the hotel, we immediately laid Mason down. He was beyond exhausted. When I put him in the porta crib, he feebly tried to stand up and investigate why he was somewhere other than his room, but after I laid him down again and said it was time to go to sleep, I got no protest. He slept like a rock all night.
Little Man and Kiwi, on the other hand, were in that tired/hyper state where voices get louder and louder and everything gets funnier and funnier. Fueling their past bedtime, vacation, post Red Robin silliness buzz was the fact that they were sleeping on a hide-a-bed. This was a first for them. Kiwi told my brother, "We're sleeping inside of a couch!" It took quite a while to get them calmed down, but eventually they went to sleep. Kiwi did wake up three times during the night to tell us Little Man was stealing her blanket (they couldn't figure out how to share a queen sized comforter) but overall it was a successful hotel experience.
The next morning we hit up the continental breakfast and then what else? Swimming again. This time even Mason enjoyed his time in the pool except for when big brother's ginormous cannonball splashes reached him. After swimming he headed over to the mall across the street from our hotel, got some lunch, and let the kids play on the indoor play structure they had and then headed over to the meet.

Mason was not happy to be on Day 2 of no real afternoon nap. Luckily Marcus is a runner and not a concert pianist or something where we would have needed quiet to watch his big show. We did get him to take a little nap right before the race, but of course the commotion shortly woke him up.
But what a race to wake up for. Marcus ran his heart out, going all out and by the middle of the race was one of three boys who had broken away from the pack and was going for the win. He ended up in third with a personal best of 15:36 (15:36! For 3.1 miles up and down hills! We have the same genes, how did his mutate into some sort of super fast super star athlete ones?) . I didn't get any shots of him running, I was too busy yelling, but below is a shot of him up on the podium. He is the boy in maureen and gold with stocking hat on right or just look for the most adorable one on the stand and that would be him.

My mom had the idea to get all of the family shirts with Marcus's school mascot (a hornet) on the front and the name of the school on the back. Here is my family in our matchy matchy shirts. The kids looked especially cute in theirs (notice Kiwi and Mason's faces in the picture? they were done, but Little Man could have watched hours more of the racing)

Although I am a little sad that there is no next year and that they next time I would go to the state cross country meet would be if one of my kids decides they love to run and excels at it, it was sure a great last race. Way to go baby brother! We sure are proud of you.

Halloween Happenings

2011-11-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

The "spooky" festivities started Sunday night with our third annual spooky dinner. I love that this is becoming a tradition and that the kids were almost (stress almost) as excited about it as trick or treating (I don't think anything I could come up with could compete with candy being handed to them). This is the first time we've done it on a night other than Halloween and we found it works much better that way. We were able to enjoy dinner and not rush through it.

We changed up the menu this year. We did mummy dogs (turkey dogs rolled in crescent roll dough), eyeballs (peeled grapes), guts (chili) and brains (mac and cheese). Not only were these fun foods, but all super kid friendly, so the three littlest members of our family were thrilled with all aspects of dinner. I had to rummage through the refrigerator to find some less spooky foods for myself.

This little guy wore his "Mommy's monster" jammies. Appropriate for many different reasons.

Ten points to the former roommate who remembers where this banner came from and where we hung it.

After dinner, we carved our pumpkins. Little Man wanted a scary pumpkin so he and Mike worked took on that task, while Kiwi opted for a happy face. I drew a face on the mini pumpkin Mason chose from the pumpkin patch. Little Man was the only child really into this activity. Kiwi did not enjoy touching the pumpkin guts and Mason wouldn't put his hand any where near the goo. He did work up to touching the pumpkin on the outside and would proudly do that anytime anyone asked, "Where's the pumpkin?"

The kids were so excited to go trick or treating. They could hardly contain their excitement as they waited for Mike to get, were barely able to sit through dinner, and lost it when the doorbell started ringing as we were getting on their costumes. I think it rang three times while we were getting ready and every time they would fly down the stairs tripping over their halfway put on costumes, because they could not bear to miss handing out candy.

Mason was not as fan of his costume until we opened the front door and he realized he would be able to go outside with it. The whining stopped and he was off.

It was a struggle to get him to sit still and try to get a picture. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he was in a hurry to get there.

Our two pirates (Little Man was a captain and Kiwi a pirate princess) and their little parrot. It's such a sweet looking picture with their arms around each other, but in actuality both of the older kids are holding Mason back.

And let the trick or treating begin!

Mason enjoyed going up to the doors, but wasn't sure what to do after that. People would smile and talk to him and him and he would just stare. They would hand him candy and he would continue to stare. They would wave bye bye (by this time Kiwi and Little Man were long gone from the porch and on their way to the next house) and I would usher Mason off the porch. He usually started waving bye bye when we were halfway down the walkway and the door was closed. I loved watching him take it all in. All he really wanted to do was walk, so after a while we stopped having him go up to the houses and either Mike or I would just walk with him. About halfway through Mike and Mason went back to our house to hand out candy while I took the big kids for a while longer. Apparently, Mason whined the whole time we were gone because he wanted to be out, so when we got back we took him out to a couple more houses.

When we got back, there was the dumping of the buckets and going through the candy. As I type this, Mason is napping and Kiwi and Little Man have been organizing their candies into families and Little Man is putting Kiwi to work having her organize them in groups of tens, fives, and twos so he can count them (any guesses to what's going on in first grade math?)

It was a good night.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

The day this little cheesebal decides that he is too old or cool to wear construction paper bat ears will be a sad day.

He wore them walking home and looked pretty adorable running down the hill with his ears flapping in the wind.

Lucky for me, today is not that day. And now I must face the task of putting some healthy food into the bellies of an energetic pirate captain, a beautiful (but somewhat temperamental this afternoon) pirate princess, and the cutest little baby parrot you ever did see.

Because somehow, when we return from trick or treating tonight and they are consuming tootsie rolls and skittles like there is no tomorrow (which in a way is true considering Halloween is the one night a year that we don't regulate their candy intake and tomorrow it will be rationed), I will find some solace in the fact that at least I got a good dinner into them.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Afternoon

2011-10-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon screamed outside time. The walls of our house seemed to be closing in on us; probably some sort of protection mechanism to combat the ricocheting bodies of a four and six year old who were literally bouncing off of every surface. Little Man comes home from school everyday bursting with little boy energy and Kiwi usually follows his lead.

I was able to successfully reign them in long enough for Little Man to do his homework and then we heeded the siren calls of the changing leaves, crisp air, and sunshine. Dinner prep was put off, toys were left out, and we just went. Packed some water, tossed the scooters into the back of the van, grabbed some freezer bags to collect leaves in and headed down to a nearby park.

This little guy takes his exploring seriously. Intent, focused, bright eyed, curious, and on a mission. He did not appreciate efforts to direct him in a different way or show him the leaves, so we just let him explore what he wanted to. A metal grate covering a drain and some benches were of most interest to him. Below is my attempt to get a cute fall picture of my baby in the leaves. He just wants to get back to the benches.

These two rode their scooters, collected leaves, and ran and ran and ran. Kiwi's freezer bag was stuffed full of leaves within five minutes of arriving at the park. Little Man had a different approach, stating that he was waiting for the really interesting ones and only choosing a few special leaves to make his collection.

One thing both the older kids really wanted to do was make a big pile of leaves and jump it. They worked for quite a while to get the pile. Little Man was especially dedicated to the cause. When it was done, they were ready to jump and designated their starting point quite a distance from their pile.

Here's Little Man on the way to make a jump (Kiwi in the background is at their starting point).

And he's getting closer....

And here comes the big jump into the...wait for it...

big pile.

This is the result of our efforts. Next time, maybe I should bring a rake to aid in the leave pile. They enjoyed it though.

At one point, I decided to try and play photographer and made the kids sit while I took their pictures with the beautiful fall backdrop. Little Man and Kiwi humored me for a few minutes breaking out a few poses (Kiwi's thoughtful look cracked me up). Mason was not too keen on the idea. It wasn't so much the camera he opposed, more the suggestion that he needed to sit still for more then .2 seconds. Although I did manage to snap a couple of the three of them before Mason decided it was time to get down.

We finished the afternoon by walking over to the play structure and playing until the afternoon sun gave way to dusk and I looked at the time surprised that it was almost time for Mike to get home. It was my favorite kind of afternoon.

Weekend Wrap up

2011-10-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Friday evening the kids and I went to see Marcus in the parade put on by their town for Homecoming. Since he was on Homecoming Court so he got to ride in the back of a truck. It was your typical small town parade. The high school marching band, a fire truck, the class floats, and the homecoming royalty. And lots of candy being thrown. The kids loved it (although Mason almost got pelted in the head with some sort of hard candy). They were picking up candy by the handful and giving it to Grandpa to store in his front sweatshirt pocket. And the high school kids waving from trucks and homemade floats might as well as been celebrities. In fact, one time I asked Little Man if he could eat dinner with anybody famous who would it be and he replied, "Marcus. He is famous you know."

After the parade, we headed to my parents where Mike met us for some pizza and then took Mason home to go to bed and I took the kids to see Marcus during the half time show. As we left a teacher on a golf cart asked us if we wanted a ride to our car. This made Little Man's night. He was cheering and yelling, "This is soo cool!" as we rode back to our van. Kiwi was clinging to me with some sort of grimace on her face, but once she was safely in our car talked enthusiastically with Little Man about the golf cart and how they wished it could have taken us all the way home.

Saturday morning, Little Man played in a soccer game. His third of the season and the third time I forgot the camera to take pictures. I love watching him on the field. Every time his team scores, he gets the biggest smile on his face. And when he scores a goal, the smile is ear to ear often accompanied by running, jumping, and last Saturday even the airplane. Technically, they don't keep score at this age, but he is always reporting the scores to us. He loves to play and looks forward to Saturday mornings. We never have to ask him twice to put on his soccer gear.

Saturday afternoon, we headed over to nearby pumpkin patch. We enjoyed a corn maze, a little kids hay maze with a slide at the end, and a hay ride.

Our little boy looks like he is about to fly away in this picture. We call the hair right above Mason's ears his wings. It's probably getting time to cut them, but I think they are adorable. They aren't usually this prominent, but he had come straight from napping in his crib so the wings were at their finest.

At the beginning of the corn maze, they hand you a paper with a picture of a pumpkin on it. There were six different mailboxes located throughout the maze each containing a sticker to add a feature to the pumpkin's face. The theme was "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" and each mailbox had a Peanuts character by it. Kiwi loved Lucy, because she was the only girl featured.

I love this picture. I love that the big kids took a break from running ahead to help their baby brother. I love how Mason's face lights up when they do something his speed, and I love watching the relationship between my children. There are few things in life that make me happier than seeing them love each other.

Action shot of Little Man going down the slide in the little kids hay maze. I took Mason down it once on my lap and that was enough for both of us. The big kids loved it though.

Pretending to drive the tractor is always a hit.

I have concluded that it is next to impossible to get three children looking and smiling in the same picture.

Saturday night, Mike and I went on a date (hooray!). We went to Thai food, stopped by Target (try as we might, we can not seem to have a date without having to stop by Target or Walmart for something or the other) and ended the night with ice cream. Pretty adventurous, I know, but it is always nice to get a chance to spend time together just the two of us.

Sunday Little Man gave a talk in primary about prayer and listening to him talk I was struck once again with the simple, strong faith of a child and reminded about how much I can learn from my children when I take the time to really listen and observe them.

We ended the weekend with dinner at the R. family house which of course consisted of delicious food and fun cousin time.

And that's a wrap.

New batteries

2011-10-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tired of being asked one bajillion times to change the batteries (and usually saying I'll do it later) in some toy or another, I declared this afternoon "change the battery afternoon." I did not anticipate the response this declaration brought. You would have thought I had announced Christmas was coming early. The kids were so excited. I should have saved this idea up my sleeve instead of just doing it on a random Tuesday.

I set up shop in the hallway with an assortment of screwdrivers and batteries and they brought all their silent toys. Little Man was my assistant.

And now all is well in the world of toys at our house. Little Man's remote control car moves again, Mason's seahorse lights up, and baby pony has a voice for the first time since probably 2009. And I'm remembering why I didn't change some of those batteries...

Overhead while typing this. Kiwi and Little Man are in bed. Little Man wanted her to give him one of the stuffed animals she had on her bed. To convince her, he said, "If you don't give it to me, I won't play ever, ever play stuffed animals again with you until I'm 25."
To which she replied, "I don't think you are still going to be syeeping (sleeping) in this bunk bed when you are twenty five." Smart girl, that daughter of ours. She does not let her big brother push her around.

E family reunion

2011-10-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Back in August, the kids and I were able to attend a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. It was in the middle of the week, so Mike was unable to come, but I decided to be brave and take the kiddos on my own. It was only a couple of hours away and my mom actually ended up riding with us (thank you mom!), so I guess I wasn't being exceptionally brave, but it was still the first time I've ever taken the kids on a trip without Mike there to help.

We stayed at a really fun cabin up in the mountains that had it's own private swimming pool. My family gave my kids and I the biggest room that had a king sized bed, bunk beds, a full sized crib, and a corner full of toys! All three kids loved it. Kiwi said her favorite part of the trip was the room, Little Man's was the swimming pool and the room.

We stayed for two nights and enjoyed visiting, swimming, hiking at a nearby national park, and playing games. It was fun to see some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who I don't get to see very often, most of whom had never met Mason and hadn't seen the other kids since they were little.

Kiwi and Mason enjoying the huge rocking car in our bedroom.

My dad and Jonathan playing a game that resembled both Scrabble and Banana Grams. An E family reunion would not be complete without some sort of spelling game.

Kiwi riding on my dad's shoulders on our little hike.

Riding a tire swing that we found on the hike.

Little Man and Marcus, or Buppy, as my kids sometimes call him.

The "little" kids. My youngest cousin on the E. side is Allison. She is ten and is so sweet with my children. They both love her and her older sisters also.

My cousin Sara brought her boyfriend along to meet the family. Something tells me this might not be his last family reunion with her...

My cousins performing a play that my grandpa wrote years ago. My grandpa has written many plays and books over the years and was surprised and happy when the family performed some of them (my aunt had the great idea to bring the scripts and read them).

I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the pool. Little Man spent hours out there. My uncles and cousins like to play this dunk ball game that involves a lot of jumping, splashing, and throwing around a ball. I think they expected Little Man to be more of a spectator, but he put his water wings on and dove right in. He would stand on the edge, wait until he saw a ball coming, and then would throw his little body right into the middle of all the people. He was fearless. It was pretty funny to watch. My little adventure man. By the end of the day he was wiped out.

We missed Mike a lot, but we had a lot of fun and I am glad we went (although I definitely wouldn't be trying any sort of extended trip without him).

So long twenties

2011-10-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

(My birthday was actually a week and a half ago, but I finished the post today)

Ten years ago, I said goodbye to my teenage years. I awoke on my twentieth birthday in my off campus apartment to find a yellow rose and a card on the shared nightstand between my roommate and I's beds. The gifts were from a boy who I had just recently started dating (who had given the flower and card to my roommate the night before so I would wake up to them), a yellow rose because they were my favorite kind and card with just the right amount of humor and flirtation. Nothing sappy or serious, because we were just in the beginning stages of our relationship. It was a Sunday and I spent the day going to church and hanging out with my room mates. That night, the before mentioned boy came over and made homemade olive and mushroom pizza which we followed up by cake and ice cream and cramming way too many people into our tiny college living room. I talked to my family on the phone and thanked them for the package and the cake my mom had ordered through the BYU creamery.

Ten years later, I wake up next to that boy who had so sneakily arranged to have the flower and card waiting for me on that birthday ten years ago. Our three children sleep soundly down the hall from us and the single yellow rose, long since dried and now weathered and brittle with age sits in it's original vase on our bookshelf.

Today, I officially say goodbye to my twenties. I have to admit, I am have a tiny bit of a hard time with it. I wasn't expecting it to be any different than any other age, but it just seems old. In ten years, I have went from a college student solidifying my major, hanging out with my friends, and beginning what would become the most important relationship of my life to a graduate, wife, mother of three, full fledged adult.

And now for a glance back at the last ten years (notice there are no pics. of Mike and I are dating. That is because that was back in the days where you actually had to take film in and get it developed...told you I was old. Those pictures are in a photo album and frankly, I am to lazy to scan them or take a picture of them to include one)

Years spent in school: 3
Years spent teaching school: 1
Years spent dating: 1
Years married: 9
Pregnant: 27 months
Nursing: 3 years
Different places lived: 5
Jobs held: Day camp counselor, computer lab assistant, college janitor, sixth grade teacher, and a mother.
Biggest change: I became a mother. I also started eating meat again (twenty was at the tail end of my four year long attempt at being a vegetarian). Mike is especially grateful for this one (me deciding to eat meat again, although I'm pretty sure he appreciates the fact that I have brought our three children into this world also...)
Most memorable vacation: Going to New York City with Mike

Mike and I. Spring 2003

With Mike and siblings, Christmas 2003.

Graduation from college. April 2004.

At sixth grade camp with one of the other sixth grade teachers. January 2005.

We're parents! Little Man's blessing. July 2005

Checking one off the bucket list. Ice skating at Times Square in New York. Oct. 2006

Kiwi arrives. At her blessing, Sept. 2007.

First trip as a family of four. May 2008.

At BYU game with Mike. Sept. 2008

The day we got the keys to our house. June 2009.

Mason's here! July 2010

Sept. 2011

When I think back to that girl ten years ago, it feels as it were a life time ago. If I could go back in time and tell anything to that young (who thought she was old) girl, I would tell tell her to just dump out the jars of Skittles she had counting down the days until some missionaries came home, because her future husband was right in front of her making mushroom and olive pizza.

I would tell my twenty two year old first year teacher self to relax a little bit and trust her instincts. That D would not respond to ultimatums, but would immediately become less belligerent when humor was used.

I would tell my twenty three year old brand new mom self to hang in there, brighter days were ahead. I would assure her that her despondent feelings were nothing to be ashamed of and did not mean she wasn't grateful for her beautiful baby. I would promise her that the first few months after subsequent babies would be much, much easier, so to not be afraid to have them.

I would tell twenty five year old, now adjusted to being a mom self, to give her husband a break and not sigh as if it was the end of the world when he called to tell her he was going to be half an hour late. I would remind her that how hard he was working and tell her to just chill out and that moving dinner back twenty minutes was not going to ruin the whole schedule.

There are definitely things I have done in the last ten years that I have regretted. Things I've said and wished I could take back, decisions that weren't the best. There are also things I didn't do that I wish I would have. Opportunities not taken because of fear, service not rendered to others as a result of good intentions never followed through, growth not made because I didn't feel like stretching. But if I could truly go back and talk to that young girl, I don't know if I would really tell her anything, because the path that she took lead me here. And here is a really good place to be.

So, Happy Birthday to me! And to that girl waking up ten years ago, you did pretty good kid.

Birthday Recap

Friday morning Mike went into work a little late so I was able to sleep in a tiny bit, shower, and get ready while he started the morning routine with the kids. Kiwi and Little Man came tearing up the stairs at about 7:40 telling me to come down (actually Kiwi came tearing up the stairs while Little Man wailed at the bottom that she didn't wait for him and he wanted to come get me too, but minor details). When I came downstairs there were pink roses on the table, cards from the kids, and a yummy parfait breakfast waiting for me.
Later in the morning, my mom came and and stayed with Kiwi and Mason while I went to a lunch at my friend Angie's house (thanks again Angie!) and then went shopping all by myself. Which was fabulous.
That evening, Mike and I took the kids to the fair and enjoyed a fun night. We stayed four hours which I think may be a new record for us at the fair. The kids did really well and the highlight had to be seeing Mason in the petting zoo. Every time Mike reached out his hand to touch the goat, he would get this huge grin and let out a very loud squeal. Kiwi also got to see some real life cowgirls with boots, spurs, hats, and their horses which she was pretty excited about.
Mike also got a a beautiful necklace with three little pendants with the kids names and birthstones on it that I absolutely love (and may have dropped several hints about).
We came home exhausted, put the kids to bed and then Mike and I enjoyed a tasty fruit tart that he had made instead of a birthday cake.
It was a good day.

Labor Day weekend

2011-09-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Rather than go somewhere Labor Day weekend, we did day trips. Saturday we were supposed to go to the beach with Mike's family, but at last minute plans were changed so we headed up to a neat park about a half hour near a dam that has a huge play area and an icy cold wading pool.

We barbecued, let the kids run around and play, and had a good time (minus the 1/2 hour Kiwi spent whining, crying, and refusing to do anything, but doesn't it go without saying that every family adventure with children is going to have at least some sort of meltdown?)

Our attempt at getting a picture of all six R. family grandchildren. They are ages 6,5,4,3,1, and two months. There is never a dull moment when these cousins get together. The four oldest can get a little crazy at times, but overall they get along great and really love each other. I am grateful that my children have cousins they can grow up with (now I just need to get my sister to move back here so all of their cousins would be close).

This little dude starting walking about three weeks ago and he is unstoppable. He knows where he wants to go, he knows he can get to where he wants to go, and as long as nobody gets in his way (like mean mommy keeping him from falling off an edge) he is a happy boy.

There is about a half a mile hike that goes down to a look out point where you can see the dam that Mike and I took our kids on. The kids had been looking forward to this little hike and it almost didn't happen (remember above mention of serious meltdown) but luckily our girl was able to pull it together and we were able to complete the hike. Although a short hike, it is completely uphill on the way back and Kiwi and Little Man didn't complain at all. We have done a few hikes this summer and I love that they (mostly Kiwi, Little Man was already a pretty good hiker) are getting stronger and that they enjoy being outside so much.

Now we just have to get this little guy hiking...

After the hike, we stopped at a little ice cream place that was recommended to us by my brother in law. It was really cute with a 1950s diner feel and with all their ice cream made with milk from a local dairy. The kids got ice cream and Mike and I each got a delicious shake. I would definitely go back again.

Sunday
Sunday evening we met my cousin and his family, Mike and Paula, and Marcus out at my uncle's property. We had considered camping there, but didn't because honestly I am a little bit of a wimp when it comes to camping with a baby. To me it sounded much more enjoyable to stay for all the fun stuff and then drive a half an hour back home and sleep in our own comfy beds all night. Mike was feeling the same way, so we decided to just go for the evening and skip the overnight part. My uncle and aunt also stopped by with their kids and it was fun to visit with them.

The "big" boys.

The really big boys seeing who could throw rocks the farthest.

Kiwi. She goes not so much for the distance, but for the size of the splash.

My little family.

We walked by the river, had dinner, went on a walk to a little waterfall, did a campfire, roasted marshmallows and then settled in to tell some stories around the campfire.

I told a story where I inserted all the kids names into a story where they go on a hike and they keep hearing these noises. All the kids around the campfire were mesmerized as a I told it. Gaining momentum and feeling like the cool mom, I added a little dramatic flair making the "boom, boom, boom" noise get louder as the story went on. I ended by whispering, "What was that?" and then yelled, "Boo!" And that was it. No monsters, no scary animals, just a surprise ending. Boo was the scariest thing I said the whole story. Kiwi, however, was in hysterics and Little Man wasn't very happy either. We didn't last much longer after that before loading the kids in the van. Maybe I shouldn't try to be cool mom again anytime soon.

Up until the little story mishap, it had been a really enjoyable evening though. I just think we may need to do some campfire training before taking them on a real camping trip next year....

Monday

Monday was the annual D Family Fun Run where members of my extended family get together at a lake and time ourselves as we run or walk around the 1.4 mile loop. It's awesome. This year, it was more about the kids than the adults as the younger generation is getting more into it. Mike ran with Little Man and I pushed Kiwi and Mason in the stroller for a little bit and than ran next to Kiwi for the rest of it, because she wanted to get out and run also.

My dad explaining the race. My favorite part of this picture is Marcus in the background. There is no such thing as a recreational run for him. His goal was to set a family record (yes, we keep track of and record our times) so fast that no one in any future generation will be able to break it. He did run a blistering time breaking his own record, but nine year old Jacob is running the same times Marcus did as a nine year old, so we will see how long it stands.

Kiwi and Mason getting ready to start.

Tuesday was the last day of summer before school started and although we had planned on going to the lake with some friends, I looked at my kids Tuesday morning and knew we needed a stay at home day. So we stayed home and I let the kids play, Mason slept, we went to a neighborhood park, and got ready for our back to school dinner that night.

The kids wanted breakfast for dinner for their back to school meal so we did omelets and homemade cinnamon rolls. We made medals for the students to wear, decorated the kitchen with pictures and books and talked about how important learning and going to school is. It was nothing fancy, but the kids enjoyed it and I hope that it is something we will continue to do every year.

Kiwi's Birthday

2011-09-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

I misplaced the cable for to connect my camera to the computer for a couple of weeks, which not only put me behind on the blog, but also out of the habit, but the cable is found and now it's time for catch up.

Our little girl turned four last month.

Although it looks like she is holding up five fingers, it's only four. Good thing. I am hoping by the time she turns five I will have figured out a way to slow down how fast these kids of mine are growing up.

I told her she could have anything she wanted for breakfast. Anything she named, I would have made. She chose a donut with sprinkles and orange juice. I'm not sure what that says about my cooking...

For dinner, she choose tacos and we invited both sets of grandparents and all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area to come join us for dinner, cake, and ice cream. Her love of Jessie is still going strong, so we had another Toy Story theme. I tried to do a butter cream frosting transfer to make Jessie's face and it did not go well (most of what you see ended up being free handed, because the transfer was a smeary mess). In fact, nothing about that cake seemed to go right.

But everything about this little cowgirl is more than right, so it was a good day. She insisted on wearing her Jessie shirt, cowgirl hat and boots, and the jeans with "chaps" that I made her for Halloween last year.

Opening up Silverlicous. She loves all of the books by this author. She can recite most of Pinkalicious by memory.

Her big present from Mike and I was a pink razor scooter. She has been asking for a two wheeled scooter for a long time, because she wants to keep up with her big brother. We didn't think she was quite ready for it yet, but we figured she would grow into it, but she has really impressed us. She scoots herself down the road with a determined look on her face and really does a good job. You have to factor in Kiwi scooter time though. Take how long it would normally take you to walk somewhere and multiply that by about four. Slow and steady is how she rolls with her pink wheels.

We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our lives. She adds so much joy and laughter into our home. She still has the same strong will she was born with. The tantrums and fits seem to slowing down the last couple of months (I'm afraid to even type that) which is nice. When she sets her mind to something, it is set. Although this can be frustrating at times as her parents, I am hoping that this determination will be a strength for her in life (as long as she sets her mind on the right things).

Kiwi at 4

Favorite toys: Toy story figurines, doll house

Toy she can't sleep without: Teddy

Favorite things to do: Play "mom and dad," play with her brothers, swing, go on bike or scooter rides, do puzzles

Best friend: Her big brother. She is really missing him being gone at school all day.

Favorite place to be: At home with her family.

Favorite movie: Toy Story 2 and 3 (she also enjoys 1, but there is no Jessie in that one)

Favorite book: Bernstein Bears

Favorite foods: Tacos, chicken nuggets, strawberries, milk, and otter pops

We love you little cowgirl!

First Day of School

2011-09-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Little Man's first day of first grade and Kiwi's first day of her Tuesday/Thursday morning preschool. Here is how our morning unfolded.

7:30-I have been up for an hour and a half, am ready for the day and wondering why Little Man is still sleeping. I was anticipating having to wake Kiwi up, but Little Man rarely sleeps in. Calculate how long I can let them sleep before they need to get up (we did showers and laid out clothes the night before). Wonder for the millionth time why children always sleep in when there is somewhere to be.

7:40-Pack Little Man's lunch since he will now be in school ALL DAY LONG. Have a full circle nostalgic moment as I write my little boy a note on his napkin just like my mom used to do for me.

7:45. Go upstairs to wake the little students up.

(We let the kids decorate the wall space by each of their beds. Looking at all those stickers makes me cringe sometimes, but I figure I should let them have some say in their own room)

Met with resistance (Little Man's head under his blanket).

7:50-Finally some success

7:51-Hear this little guy up in his room.

8:05-Downstairs to eat breakfast

8:20-Mason is strapped in his stroller in the garage and both big kids are ready to go. Mentally congratulating myself on getting everybody up and out the door on time and without any meltdowns. I look down and see that neither older child has shoes on. Upon trying to get back into the house, they encounter a locked garage/laundry room door. No problem, I go to find the hidden key in the garage. But it' not in it's hiding place. In fact, nothing is in it's place, because Mike and I have been working on rearranging the garage. Call Mike in a panic praying he will answer his phone. He does and remembers where he placed the key. Key is found and shoes are put on feet.

8:23-Ask the kids to quickly pose for a picture in the grass before we leave. Each chooses where they would like to stand on the grass and refuses to move close to the other one. I offer to take a picture in each of their spots to avoid a fight that will make us late and they agree.

Two of my babies looking much too grown up for this mommy's liking.

8:35-Arrive at Little Man's classroom. Ask him to line up with the other children so I can get a picture. He doesn't want to.

8:36-8:40-Try to coax him to get into line.

8:40-Teacher starts ushering kids into class.

8:42-All the first graders are inside the building except for mine. All the moms are lingering outside the building. Little Man is clinging to me crying. I am using all of my energy to alternate between trying to convince Little Man that school will be fun and keeping myself from slipping into the full out ugly cry which would benefit no one. Kiwi is hovering around us. Mason is chilling in his stroller. Little Man's teacher, Mrs. M looks at us and says, "Oh dear." She assures me this is normal and tells Little Man that he can call or e-mail me later in the day. I try to respond to her kindness with some sort of intelligible answer, but am still trying to keep myself from losing it and can't manage much. Somehow, Little Man ends up in the classroom. Kiwi, Mason, and I leave with my tears now flowing. All of the other moms, who had just witnessed this scene, give me sympathetic looks and comments.

9:00-Drop Kiwi off at Miss Cindy's pre-school. I can hardly pry her away from the toys to let me take a picture and she doesn't even give me a backward glance as I leave. Thank goodness for that, because another scene like the one I had just had with her brother probably would have resulted in me throwing my hands up in the air and forgetting this whole school thing.

Miss Cindy and Kiwi. I am very happy that Kiwi was excited and had no problems going. It took her a couple of months last year before she felt comfortable going, so I was expecting some difficulty and was pleasantly surprised when there was none.

9:10-Start my very quiet walk home with just Mason. Call Mike to tell him about the morning. After being appropriately sympathetic, he offered the very practical solution of, "Next year, maybe I should do the first day of school." I am thinking that might not be too shabby of an idea.

9:30-Arrive home to find the following email waiting in my inbox from Mrs. M. "C is doing great. No tears and all smiles."

Did I mention that this wonderful woman described herself to me in a conversation held at orientation the previous day as a "mother hen?" She also lets the first graders out a couple of minutes before the rest of the school because "they are just so tiny and she doesn't want them to get swallowed up in the swarms of other kids," she asked for afternoon snacks for the kids because it's such a long day, and she encourages parents to come help in her classroom (Little Man's teacher last year was nice, but you were always kept out in the hall when volunteering) or come eat lunch with your student.

Mrs. M? Yeah, she's pretty much my best friend this week.

Today, Mason, Kiwi and I have had a pretty quiet day with Kiwi commenting several times that she would like to play with Little Man. This first grade is an adjustment for all of us.

Good Morning

2011-08-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

How do you start your day? If I don't get my shower in before this little guy wakes up, he appoints himself as guard of the shower door. The moment the door starts to crack open, he is there trying to open it faster and attempting to climb into the shower. Of all the challenges of this stage of my children's lives, knowing that they love their mama is not one of them.

Yes, I have carpet in my bathroom. Why? That's a very good question. It's on "the list." You know that magical list that suddenly appears when you own a home and seems to have an infinite number of items on it of things you want to change or improve?

I Hope You Dance

2011-08-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

We went to a free movie and concert at a local park yesterday. Our city puts it on every year and it's something that we all look forward to. The sky was heavy and grey with clouds, but the weather held out for us to enjoy dinner while listening to a pretty good (but very loud) band, the kids went on some bouncy houses and got their faces painted, and then we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on a big blow up screen. I was a little worried about how Mason would do, but he just crawled around on the blankets and over us, eating snacks and for the most part being a happy baby especially considering he was up three hours past his bed time.
Before the movie started, we were enjoying the before mentioned band. Little Man and Kiwi were dancing with their friends. As I snapped pictures, I was struck with how freely and joyfully they moved their little bodies. They dance because they want to, because it's fun. They have not yet entered the big kid world of self-consciousness, self doubt, and embarrassment. I wish I could bottle up the self confidence that they have now and save it for their teen-age years.
That, of course, is an impossibility and all of us parents are left to try and figure out how to help these precious souls that we have entrusted with grow up into caring, component adults who know of their own self worth and that of others and understand that we are all precious children of our Heavenly Father. But how do we do that?

There is an overload of information out there about parenting and how to be a good parent. As the years go by, I'm starting to realize that although it's always helpful to get good ideas from articles or bounce around suggestions in a play group, when it comes down to it, Mike and I parent the way that feels right to us. I need to trust my instincts, trust my Heavenly Father who has given me these beautiful children, and trust that by trying my best and with His help things will turn out okay.

I recently read a parenting article about how in the past it was assumed that we would mess up our kids by inattentive parenting, but now days parents can mess up their kids by being too attentive parents. And while I did understand some of the points the article was making (I definitely believe in my children doing chores and in enforcing consequences) I can not help but make these children the center of attention. They are little for only a short time and this is my one and only chance to have all my little ones in the nest. And while I have them I am going to love them, hug them, kiss them, and tell them how amazing and wonderful they are every single day. I know that experiencing disappointment and heartache are necessary and important parts of growing up. But I don't think it needs to be at home, they will get more than enough of it as they start to venture out into the world. They will discover on their own that there is always somebody smarter, faster, funnier out there, but when they are at home they will always be the smartest, fastest and funniest. So I will praise and display pre-school art work like a treasure and I will cheer at elementary school soccer games as if it were the World Cup. I realize that it would being doing a disservice to them and others to have them believe that they are the most important in the world, but I hope they always know that they are the most important people in the world to me. Because everybody deserves to be the most important person to somebody.

I hope that they always know that even though we make mistakes and that we are far too often not on top of it like when we take our baby to church with no extra clothes and then Mike has to miss Sunday School to bring the baby home and change him after he pees on himself (perhaps this happened today) that we love them. And we feel like the luckiest parents in the world to have them in our lives.
And so to my three babies, you are beautiful, you are smart, you are amazing little caring people who are very, very loved. And I hope no matter what happens in life, that you never lose your ability to dance.

Kiwi's face makes me laugh in this picture. She fell asleep during the movie and in the morning at no recollection of falling asleep or being transported home and into her bed. She asked if she fell asleep watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatbulbs (her pronunciation)" which was last years movie.

Swimming Pictures

2011-08-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

I enjoy these pictures because
A. I am thrilled that summer has finally graced the Pacific Northwest with its presence
B. I think that "Sports Mode" on my camera is awesome
C. I'm kind of sort of crazy about these kids and taking pictures of them.

I figured this was the normal way kids played in pools. Jumping, splashing, wrestling, and performing "flying leaps" (or yeaps if you ask Kiwi) into the pool, this is what my kids do in a wading pool. A couple of times, however, we have had other kids over for water play dates and frankly I think my two freaked them out a little. One friend of Kiwi's in particular just sat on the patio and stared at them. I had to have them tone it down about ten notches for her to get in. They are definitely not lacking in the energy department.

365 Days

2011-08-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2010

Several inches, about twelve pounds (we haven't been to his one year check up yet to get the exact stats), seven teeth, many milestones, and three hundred sixty five days later and look what we have.

July 27, 2011

A baby on the brink of toddlerhood. Mason is starting to take steps, is finding ways to let his opinion be known, says mama and dada, and makes vroom vroom noises with cars. His favorite thing in the world is probably the little yellow and blue Little Tykes slide in our backyard which he would climb up and slide down all day long if he could. He attacks the four rung ladder with tenacity and a determined look. In his eagerness to reach the top, he often will attempt to skip the last rung which results in him performing the baby splits while balancing percariously on the toy. When he reaches the top, he gets himself into the sitting position, and slides down. And every time he reaches the bottom, the most triumphant, excited smile fills his face and then the process begins again.

Any guesses to where I spend the majority of my backyard time these days?

A year changes everything, except of course for the things that it doesn't. Like how in love we still are with this little boy, the sweet spirit that he brings into our home, and how very blessed we feel to have him here.

I love celebrating every birthday of my children's, but to me there is something special about the first one. Maybe it's because you made it through that first year of waking up at night, teething, nursing, explosive diaper changing, and just figuring out your baby. Maybe it's because it's the first one. Whatever it is, first birthdays make we want to celebrate and so we celebrated.

We had our families over for a Teddy Bear picnic bbq. Kiwi arranged these to welcome guests at the front door.

Little Man put together this little group in the kitchen.

They both worked hard on this poster for their baby brother.

Birthday boy showing off his standing skills.

Opening presents.

Trying to take off his hat.

Being tackled by his brother and sister.

My baby and I.

He was very serious about his cake. It took him a long time to get into it. Eventually he realized that there was something tasty on his tray, but he never went crazy with it. He just ate it very methodically and seriously, which cracked us up.

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby boy!

Days 7 and 8

2011-07-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we woke up, had the continental breakfast and then Mike took the big kids down to the swimming pool while we let Mason sneak in a little nap.

We then headed off to Silverwood which is a nearby theme park. Our children have never been to an amusement park before so it was a first.

The weather forecast called for 72. Considering that this summer has been well below that in our neck of the woods we figured 72 would be plenty hot for the water slide section of the park. Here's the catch, it was 72 and WINDY. Which meant it was cold. That eastern side of our state has some wicked wind (Rachel, you were not kidding with your post). We saw several people wearing Silverwood's 100 dollars (not quite that much) sweatshirts which I am sure they shelled out the money for to prevent from freezing. We made do with a blanket to wrap Mason up in the stroller and the one sweatshirt we had packed for Little Man which happened to be in the van from our night time walk the evening before. Kiwi's one sweatshirt was back at the hotel room. We located a long sleeved pajama shirt from the dirty clothes bag in the back of the van and put that on her. Judge if you may, but I would put my daughter in a her brother's previously worn p.j. shirt a thousand times over rather then listen to a whiny three year old throughout the whole park.

Needless to say, we did not last very long in the water section. I didn't even get in, but walked Mason around in the stroller while he took a little snooze and Mike and the kids played. Little Man is usually a water lover, but he was just shaking and ended up getting out first. Surprisingly, Kiwi lasted the longest in the little kids area with Mike finally telling her it was time to get out before he was cold. She was too, but just didn't want to stop going down the little slide.

Basically, the water section was a fail, but we did have a lot of fun on the rides. They had tons of rides that Kiwi and Little Man could go on and even Mason got to try a couple with Mike or I. The park doesn't allow any outside food or drink (their sign reads "No outside food or drink, you'll love ours") we we took a break part way through to go out to the parking lot and get our lunch. Later in the afternoon we did buy some (what else?) ice cream cones.

We ended up staying until eight o'clock and the kids had a blast. The plus side of the not great weather was that there was hardly any lines for the rides so they were able to go on them again and again. Little Man was even tall enough to go on a big roller coaster with an adult so he and I tried one of the big wooden ones out.

It went 55 mph. I wanted to look over and see what his face looked like during the ride, but I was afraid I would get whiplash. When it stopped, I looked and there he sat, a little pale and staring straight ahead. I asked him if he liked it and he silently shook his head no. I think he was a little stunned. Later, when we were asking the kids their favorite parts of the day, he had trouble coming up with his favorite. He did adadmently declare, "I know what my most not favorite ride was, the roller coaster." I was proud of him for giving it a shot though.

The next morning Kiwi and Mason slept and slept and slept. Their little bodies were exhausted from all of the activities. Little Man, Mike, and I tiptoed around the hotel room and snuck out to go to the continental breakfast (only one adult at a time of course, while the other stayed in the room). Kiwi finally woke up at 10:00 and Mike took her and Little Man down to the pool while Mason continued to slumber. He finally woke up about 10:30 and after feeding him some breakfast (that I had felt like I was stealing when I took it out of the breakfast room) we went down to see the kids swimming and take their pictures.

They loved the pool. In the two days we were there, they went swimming three times. We did have a little scare though. Saturday morning while Mason I and were watching, Little Man was swimming with the noodles and Mike was with Kiwi. Little Man dropped his goggles to the bottom and let go of his noodles to see if he could reach them with his feet. The water was over his head at that part of the pool, however, and he started to struggle and go under. I yelled for Mike, but wasn't sure if he could get there fast enough. So I set Mason down and jumped into the pool. Fully clothed. I got to Little Man about half a second before Mike and he was okay. It definitely got my adrenalin pumping and it took quite a while to get my heart beating normal again. After that, we were done swimming, although Little Man was fine and didn't seem shaken up at all.

After packing up, we went down to the water again and did this neat walk that they had with clues that take you around the water and down town looking for these moose statues from a book. It was really cute and the kids enjoyed it. At one point, it lead us to a playground where we stopped and played for a little bit.

Whew, I'm glad to get that all documented. Overall, it was a wonderful week and I'm so glad we went. We had been apprehensive about taking the kids in the car that long, but they really did a good job. Of course we had to stop way more than if it had just been Mike and I, but we had planned on that. And although there was of course tears and meltdowns, all three of them were really good little travelers. I can't wait to do it again! I'm pretty sure the rest of the family feels the same way considering that at church the next day somebody was asking the kids what their favorite day ever was and Little Man said, "Being in Idaho with my family."

Day 6

2011-07-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

This was our last day at the cabin. The plan was to pack, eat breakfast and get on the road. There was a little extra excitement that morning, however, when a package of eggs (left on the stove and then the wrong burner was turned on) caught on fire and Mike saved the day by putting it out. I was upstairs and I heard, "Fire! Fire!" and when I came down my aunt, grandma, and mom all told me how Mike had saved the day by grabbing the small fire extinguisher, which he, but not the rest of us, had noticed earlier. My husband, the hero.

As we drove away from the cabin, Little Man sighed and said, "I already miss the cabin." It was a wonderful family reunion and we were all a little sad to leave. Of the three kids, however, Little Man was definitely the most disappointed, because the end of family reunion equaled the end of cousin time. Every time we were just hanging out in the cabin, it felt as if I only had two children. Little Man disappeared for hours at a time only emerging only when he needed something to eat or when the hide and seek game spilled into the room where the adults were. The kids especially loved the basement. There was a pool table where he and Diego made up their own version of the game prompting him to ask me if we could get a pool table "but not the sticks." There were also toys and a ping pong table which older cousins and uncles were always playing some sort of tournament on. He played and played and played. Kiwi joined in the cousin fun at times, but seemed more comfortable to hang out where Mike and I (and of course Mason) were.

All five of these kiddos are going into first grade this year.

A picture of the kids elementary school and younger minus the babies and those who weren't able to make it to the reunion.

We got on the road about 11:00 where we had about a six hour drive to get to our next destination which was Lake Couer de Lane with just our little family. When we arrived at the hotel we of course immediately hit the pool. We then went out to a yummy pizza place where we got to eat outside.

This guy was absolutely done with being strapped in or confined to any sort of seat for the day. Luckily, there was a little tree surrounded by rocks right near our table. These rocks were probably the highlight of Mason's Thursday.

After dinner, we drove down to the water and walked along this awesome board walk. It was gorgeous (poor Mason, I've noticed as I've went through the pics. there is a lot of just partial shots of his head peaking out from the back pack).

Getting Mason to sleep that night was a little tricky. In the first hotel, we had been able to move things around and put his port a crib behind a huge chair so he couldn't really see us. At this hotel, however, that was not an option. Luckily the big kids were wiped out and fell to sleep pretty easily. Mason, however, kept standing up and peeking his little head over the top of his crib to see Mike and I. The look on his face was a mixture of confusion/excitement/amusement at seeing Mommy and Daddy just a foot away from him. He kept making us laugh which just prompted more standing up. Eventually we had to go hang out in the bathroom for a little while because it was the only place he couldn't see us. After he went to sleep he did great (he was such a good sleeper the whole vacation, which I am so grateful for).

Day 5

2011-07-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Day five we floated the river. My mom was kind enough to volunteer to stay back with Mason which worked out well. Although the river float was definitely mild enough for a baby, it would have been a battle the entire time to get him to stay in the boat. Kiwi and Little Man did well. Kiwi got a little tired, so she spent part of it dozing off on my lap. At one point, four of the five children we had on our boat were asleep. It was that mellow (except for the part when Brook from the other boat kept splashing us and we rowed over there, stole his paddle, and threw him overboard...that was exciting). It was fun to spend time talking with my cousins, dreaming of buying a cousin cabin like the ones we were passing, cuddling my little girl, and just enjoying being out in the sunshine.

Vacation Day 4

2011-07-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning a bunch of the guys, Mike included, woke up bright and early after a late night of playing games and drove to Rexburg to go golfing. I don't think Mike has golfed since the last family reunion, but he had a good time.

While they were gone, we played a game called, "how many kids can you fit into one hot tub." At one point, we had twelve.

After the guys got back we left the kids and went out for a girls lunch. We drove to West Yellowstone, ate a yummy lunch, and then walked through some of the shops. It's a cute little town with restaurants that open at 10 and close at "7ish" (the college boy who was working in town for the summer told us that he's seen 7ish mean 5 o'clock).

We had a great time chatting and browsing through touristy souvenirs and nick knacks. My mom wanted to buy everything from chocolates called buffalo chips to gummies from the candy shop for Mat (we also had to find a post office so she could drop off one of his three to four times a week letter). She definitely has her missionary on the mind. And I may have possibly been wooed by yet another small town ice creamery with (what else) home made waffle cones, but this time they also had frozen yogurt with fruit mix ins. It was delicious.

With cousin-in-laws Jenni and Miriam

Aunt Diana, Hayley, Paige, and Miriam. I wish I would have gotten a shot of all of us!

After we got back, we took the kids on a drive down the river to a place where you can feed huge fish. Unfortunately, we didn't see any fish to feed, but the mosquitoes had a feast courtesy of us. There were some ducks that the kids were able to throw bread at and they enjoyed that, but we didn't stay long since we were being eaten alive.

To me, these next two pictures capture why driving twelve hours was worth it. One day in the midst of all the craziness that thirty people in the same house brings, I happened to witness the sweet moment. My little boy playing checkers with my grandfather.

Her is Kiwi and my cousin Hayley. Hayley and her family live in Texas so we don't get to see them often enough and look forward to family reunions when we can spend time together.

That night, we played some "Minute to Win It" games prepared by Doug and Dawn and ran by Kyle and Jenni. I've never really watched that show, but I doubt they've got anything on our family when it comes to excitement levels. Sure, they may be playing for money, but we are playing with D family competitiveness and cheering, which made for one loud, fun filled night of kleenex pulling, ping pong bouncing, dice stacking, oreo eating fun.

We were divided into teams and then the little kids had some activities just for them also.

Aunt Diana just before she won her family the hotly debated bubble blowing contest. I think we needed to appoint some line judges for this one.

The point of the Oreo game was if you could get it into your mouth from your forehead without using any hands. While I was trying to explain this to Kiwi I said something to the effect that after playing for a minute she could eat the cookie. She apparently took that to mean that if she could balance the cookie on her forehead for a minute without it falling off she got to eat it. She sat exactly like this for the entire time. All the kids around her were wiggling around, dropping their cookies and starting over as they tried to move them down their faces and she was like a statue. She didn't even turn a fraction of an inch to see what was going on around her. It was pretty cute to watch.

Little Man trying to move the cookie down his face. Note Kiwi in to his side.

4th of July

2011-07-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

We spent the Fourth of July in Yellowstone, which seemed like an appropriate thing to do on our nation's birthday. After entering the park, we drove about forty minutes to our first stop which was Old Faithful. The scenery was breathtaking, the weather perfect, the sound in the back of our car...as if some of the wildlife stowed away and were fighting to the death over a piece of food. Oh, wait that was just my two oldest children and it wasn't a piece of food, but the top of a water bottle that they both wanted. There was a lot of talk from Mike and I about choosing to be happy and having a good attitude and that you are the only one in charge of you (an almost daily discussion in our family). There was also some, "If you don't stop crying, when we stop all toys, books, and DVDs are coming out of the van and you don't get them back today. ALL OF THEM."

Once we got to Old Faithful and kids were able to get unstrapped, things got a lot better. We walked around the visitors center and then stood around the benches waiting for the geyser to do it's thing. There is about a twenty minute window that it can happen in and on that day Old Faithful decided to be at the tail end of the window. This of course prompted a lot of, "This is going to be the only time Old Faithful isn't faithful," which I'm sure is a daily joke at the park. After we watched Old Faithful, we stopped for some delicious ice cream.

After ice cream we went and did a little hike with my mom and dad and Grandma D. There were all these steaming pools (I'm not exactly sure what they were) that were different colors and had turned the rocks different colors. There was also a geyser that used to go off in the 1890s, had stopped and then with no explanation went off for like forty hours in 1985. After reading this aloud to the kids, Little Man was very concerned that it would choose that day to go off again. We assured him it wouldn't, but I think he was a little nervous the whole time. After finishing the little hike, we saw a bald eagle!

Our own little family then continued on to see a waterfall before heading back to the cabin. That night, the little kids did sparklers and the big "kids" set off some small fireworks.

Outside the entrance to the park.

Not the best picture, but the only one we had of the five of us (or four of us with Mason's hat).

Little Man and Kiwi with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Marcus.

Little Man loves playing with his cousins. Technically, these two are his second cousins, but we just say cousins. Below is a fun picture of the three of them in July 2005. A lot changes in six years.

Obligatory picture of Old Faithful.

Ice cream is a perfect treat on a hot day. And I am a sucker for ice cream shops that make claims like "homemade waffle cones" and throw our flavors like huckleberry. This place did not disappoint. It was delicious.

Their servings were huge too. A lot of ice cream for a little girl.

An attempt at getting a shot of the three kids together. It still blows my mind sometimes that they are all mine. We are very blessed.

Kiwi on our hike.

More cute Kiwi on the hike.

I sure love my girl.

Mason with his new "cheeser" grin and my arm to keep him from crawling off the boardwalk.

Our handsome big boy.

Little Man loved the sparklers.

Kiwi did one and that was enough for her (notice the cowgirl boots even with p.j.'s. ) Mason was long asleep by this point so no fireworks on his first 4th.

Little Man and Cousin Janet watching the show at the end of a busy, fun filled day.

Road Trip 2011 Days 1 and 2

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

We have been home from our family reunion/road trip for a little over a week and it is my goal to get it all documented in the next couple of days. So here we go with days one and two.

Thinking (hoping) that the children would sleep for a couple hours if we got an early start, we were on the road by 5:30 a.m. Mason slept about an hour, Kiwi dozed off a couple of times, and Little Man never did go back to sleep (I love his fuzzy face in the corner of the below picture. He was so excited!) By 6:40, everyone was wide awake and ready for the day. So much for our plan....

Thankfully, they were really good in the car. We had about eight hours to drive that first day and we stopped three times. Once, for breakfast at McDonalds, which was probably the worst experience of the vacation. The food was fine, but the creepiest guy ever sat across from our family and stared at us the entire time we were eating. The entire time. The kids didn't notice, but it really creeped Mike and I out and we couldn't finish our food and get back in the car fast enough.

About five hours into the drive, the big kids were in some sort of technology induced coma watching their DVDS, but Mason was absolutely done with his car seat. We had to stop for gas and we asked directions to a nearby park. There just happened to be a great, shaded park with a fun big toy just down the road. Mike put Mason down the big kid slide, which he loved. Leave it to Daddy to introduce the kids to the "scary" things. It's a good thing we balance each other out, however, or my kids might never learn to climb rock walls or slide down the fire poles (at the park) by themselves. Then Mike played monster with the kids while I fed Mason a snack in the shade. I wasn't feeling very good, and was grateful to just sit and watch.

We stopped and let the kids play for about a half an hour and after that everyone was ready to get back in the car. Our last stop was a rest stop where we had lunch and which for some reason the kids were intrigued by. The idea that all the other people stopped there were also on vacations was pretty cool to them. As we walked to the bathroom Kiwi looked around and said, "I guess there are a few people on road trips today." Considering it was the 4th of July weekend, I would venture to say that was a true statement.

We arrived at our first destination about 4:30 and headed straight for the "water park" inside the hotel. It had two tube slides, a little frog slide for preschoolers, and a hot tub. Growing up, I remember that whenever we got to a hotel the first thing we would do is change into our swim suits and then RUN down the hallways to get to the pool. I have this memory of my dad and little brothers running full speed to the elevator and it makes me smile. Keeping with tradition, I told the kids that there was only one way to get to a hotel pool ant that was to run. They were more than happy to oblige and reminded me of this when we stopped at the next hotel also.

All water pics. are taken with my phone and a little fuzzy.

Kiwi loved, loved, loved the little kids area with the froggy water slide. She did try one of the big slides on Mike and I's lap, but was not much of a fan. Little Man, however, loved them. The water at the end of the big slides was only about 3 1/2 feet deep so he could touch and after awhile he was going on the big slides all by himself. We had the whole place to ourselves for about an hour before other people came and it was wonderful. Little Man was also old enough to go into the hot tub, so Mike and I were able to take turns going in that with him.

Our big water slidin' boy.

Mason was not a big fan of the water and spent most of his time cuddled up to Mike or I. He wasn't crying, he just wanted to be held. I can't say that I minded. I don't get enough Mason snuggles as he gets older, so I welcome any chance that I can get them.

He did eventually venture out a little bit and right when it was time to leave decided that he liked the water and gave a couple of smiles.

After dinner, we headed over to the local mall to find someplace to eat. After being up since the early morning and never sleeping in the car, this little girl finally gave in and this is what she looked like when we arrived at Red Robin.

We picked up a magazine at the telling about the town and found that they had an old fashioned carousel with hand painted horses right next to a huge castle park with a dragon guarding it. We decided to check that out before we hit the road again.

The kids loved the park and still talk about it.

Kiwi wore her cowgirl boots most of the trip. We had told her we were going to be in cowgirl country so most mornings she woke up and asked if we were in "cowgirl land" and if she should wear her boots.

The carousel was really neat with beautiful, elaborately painted horses...and it went turbo speed. Thinking this would be a perfect time to introduce Mason to a carousel, I decided to share a horse with him, while the big kids took their own and Mike stood on the side to take pictures. Except for the thing went so fast, he had a hard time capturing us. Mason and and I are in the back of the above picture and the reason I am looking up is because I'm trying to figure out how we are flying around the thing so fast. Seriously. I was clutching Mason and dizzy by the end.

The park was near a river that had a trail running along side of it, so we got in a little walk to burn off our continental breakfast before sitting in the car for another four hours.

Mason enjoying our "new" (garage sale) baby backpack. A great purchase.

We arrived at the cabin about 5:00 ready for the family reunion fun to begin.

Letting Go

2011-07-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, we decided to take the kids hiking (Mike's had the week off). We found a three mile hike about 40 minutes away that claimed to be kid friendly and lead to a couple of waterfalls. So we packed up our stuff and headed out. Little Man and Kiwi did not want to go and were whiny and fighting with each other on the way up which made for a bit of a long car ride. Once we got on the trail, however, everybody was in a much better mood. I love to be outside and envision many family hikes in our future, so hopefully they will start to enjoy it now.

Mason was great in his baby backpack and both Little Man and Kiwi did awesome. Little Man kept running ahead practicing his cross country running skills and Kiwi hiked the ENTIRE thing (minus the two minutes I carried her after she tripped and hurt her knee). We were so proud of her. Near the end, she started to get pretty tired and the boys pulled ahead of us while I stayed back with her. I knew we were within a fourth of a mile or so of finishing and I really wanted her to have the satisfaction of accomplishing it on her own. I kept her distracted by looking at some of the different plants and flowers around us and kept telling her I knew she could do it. When the trees cleared and we saw the parking lot, we decided to run to the end. The look of accomplishment on her little rosy cheeked face as she sat on a rock and slurped down her water was priceless.

After the hike, we stopped at some outlet stores and then went and picked up pizza for my sister-in-law and family because my sweet little niece Lila joined our family last Sunday. The plan was to get ourselves some pizza also and then bring it home to eat. Instead we decided to have an impromptu picnic. We bummed some paper plates and forks from our brother in law when we dropped off their dinner and then headed to a nearby park. I didn't have any of the usual picnic supplies that I would pack; no napkins, blanket, bib for Mason and the only food we had was pizza. There was no fruit or veggies or salad like we would usually have to try and "balance" out our pizza meal.
And it was fun. My kids were messy, they did not eat a balanced meal, but it was okay. I was okay. Now most of the time I think my family benefits from my over planning when it comes to going places with kids. Meltdowns are often avoided by water bottles, snacks, or a baby toy that appears,from the big backpack, faces are always protected from the sun by a sunscreen stick or a baby hat and hands are cleaned by sanitizer. But sometimes it's okay to just let it go.
Mason was up past his bedtime and running on no afternoon nap, but I let that go also. The kids were having fun running around with their pizza stained faces and playing dessert shop, Mason was having fun emptying the cups of "ice cream" (sawdust) at their dessert shop and Mike and I were enjoying watching them and ordering items from their "menu." There was a soccer game going on the field next to the playground, people were out walking and running, and it was just one of those "life is so good" moments.
And although I'm not planning on throwing in my planned, big huge backpack packed of kids stuff ways anytime soon, I am learning lately that sometimes it's okay to not have it all together. Because the truth is it's impossible to have it all together and if I spend too much time worrying about always having everything just so then I miss the best part of being with my family which has way less to do with having it all together and has everything to do with just being...together.

My little hikers and me. Unfortunately the battery of the camera died when I tried to get a picture of Mike and Mason.

Road Trip

2011-07-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

We are embarking on our first multi state road trip with children tomorrow morning. We are waking up early hoping they will continue to sleep for a couple of hours. If you have tried this with horrible back firing results, please don't tell me.
The mini van is packed to capacity. We are loaded up with books, food, a couple cheap dollar toys to pull out for bribes, a new ipad coloring game which they have been begging to play, and DVDS for the portable DVD player that is only allowed in the car for trips. The kids are dying to get strapped into their seats so they can start the fun.
Let's hope the enthusiasm lasts the whole 800 mile (one way) trip...

Farewell to Mat

2011-07-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the doughnuts in Russia taste like cardboard. Or so Mat's been told by a recently returned missionary from the country.

Since we have a specialty doughnut shop near our house that offers a variety of unique, very non cardboardy doughnuts we picked one up for Mat last week.

We got to my parents house about nine and found the soon to be missionary still snoozing away. Kiwi and Little Man took care of that pretty quickly.

Remember your first high school boyfriend or girlfriend? For Marcus, her name is Kenzie, she's adorable and she and her family just moved to Texas last week. He was feeling a little down. We thought your first girlfriend moving hundreds of miles away deserved a doughnut also.

Playing a game of Sorry with the uncles.

Although both legit reasons to receive a special doughnut, they were really just thinly veiled excuses to spend a couple of hours with my brothers last Thursday morning.

Sunday was Mat's farewell. He gave a wonderful talk in church and then we had an open house for him at my parents' that evening. We stayed much later than we usually would have, pushing Kiwi past the melting down point, but I could not bring myself to say goodbye to my little brother. I was waiting to be the last guests to leave so we could do so without an audience.
Finally after the late June sun had long set and I realized his that his high school friends showed no signs of leaving, we decided to go. It's no surprise that I cried. What got me, however, was Little Man. When he saw my tears, he said, "Don't cry, you'll make me cry" and then let out a laugh which turned into a kind of choking cry noise and then he was crying. Oh, my tender hearted little boy. He's definitely my son that one is.

My parents dropped Mathew off Wednesday. He will spend twelve weeks at the Missionary Training Center learning the language and preparing to go to Russia.

I am so proud of my brother. I believe in what he is doing. More importantly, he believes in what he is doing.

But, oh how we will miss him.

Kiwi always asks Mat to throw her high in the sky. Each time she will ask him to throw her higher then he's ever thrown her before.

Of course, Little Man then wants to do the same thing. He's a tad heavier then his sister though and can't quite get the air. I say way to go Mat for even being able to hoist him over his head at all.

No high in the sky for this little one.

My parents and all my siblings and spouses with the addition of Mat's friend Alysa who came up to visit in May.

Love you Matty-O! See you in two years.

Eleven Months

2011-06-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Mason turned eleven months this Monday. Eleven months is still technically an infant. Mike has started referring to him as a one year old but I am quick to correct him that no, he is our tiny little baby.
Our teeny tiny baby that now says mama, dada, signs more and all done (not always at the right time, but he is learning that using them is a way to get what he wants), waves bye bye, and took two steps on his eleven month mark (and because this is currently the closest thing I have to a baby book for him his first step was June 18). And I am pretty sure the other day when I asked what a cow says he made some sort of mooing noise. You know, all just typical newborn stuff.
His favorite things to do are play with the train table (or more accurately destroy any tracks that are built there) and the kitchen set. He loves train and car toys and is in heaven when Little Man lets him have access to his huge bin of hot wheels and Lightening Mcqueen cars. He is also almost always happy outside in the backyard and is starting to try to climb up the ladder on the Little Tykes slide so that he can go down it.
Little Man and Kiwi are the best at getting Mason to produce that magical, contagious baby laugh, he adores his Daddy, and he is in love with his mommy. He is definitely a mama's boy right now, but I don't mind. I love the way that his face will light up from across a room when he sees me and how fast his little hands and knees go as he flies across the floor to me and then buries his head in my shoulder. If I am not around, he will choose Mike, and if we are both not around he is fine with whoever will take care of him. If I am in the room, however, he sill use any means possible to get to me.
He hates, hates, hates diaper changes. I remember my other two going through the wiggly, trying to crawl away when getting their pants changed stage, but I don't remember either of them having the full out screaming cry going on while they were doing it.
He will fuss when being put into the stroller or bike trailer, but is almost always content once we start moving and there are things to look at. I am very grateful for this since as the third child he spends more time strapped in then the other two did.
He sleeps 10-12 hours a night without waking up at all to eat (hooray!) and takes 1-2 naps a day. He goes to bed pretty easily. He has started this little game where he throws his binky out of the crib and cries or stays up until you come get it and put it back in. Once it's in, he usually settles right down and go to sleep. I know that is probably not the best habit to start, but it's so much nicer then any other sleep training strategies, so we will go with it for now.
He is still nursing, but only first thing in the morning, right before bed, and once in the afternoon. He is getting better at self feeding although seems to prefer us feeding him. His favorite foods are yogurt, bananas, and lasagna.

Practicing his self feeding. After I had finished feeding him oatmeal, I gave him a spoon to practice himself for a little while since he had been showing interest. Apparently, a spoon was too much work. The best part was when he started actually licking the bowl.

Little Man found this solution for our busy, gets into everything in the bathroom, baby the other day. He actually sat and played with these toys for quite a while while I did Kiwi's hair and helped the big kids get ready.

First time in a car cart which he loved. By the way, Kiwi's earrings are from Little Man's pirate party last year, but she has taken to wearing them lately. Aren't they lovely?

Mad because nobody was pushing him on his bike.

So I wrote this post and then added the pictures and this last one gets me. They say the camera never lies and this is not the portrait of a newborn. My baby is getting big. Sigh. Still so darn cute though.

Girls afternoon

2011-06-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

Two vanilla ice cream cones: 3.98

One carousel (pronounced caroswheel by the rider who, by the way, wore cowgirl apparel because she would be riding a horse that day): Free (I had a token in my wallet from a previous trip)

Fifteen minutes on the massage chairs (which I almost had to pry her off of): Free

Washing our hands at the "soap store" (Bath and Body Works), smelling and trying all of the samples: Free

Watching her climb onto every single toy and climbing into the photo booth with her: Free

Pink balloon on stick from information desk: Free

Checking out all the Old Navy manikins and deciding which ones represented all the different people in our family: Also free

Spending an afternoon walking around the mall holding hands with my little girl: Absolutely priceless

The little cowgirl all tuckered out at the end of the afternoon

It's Done!

2011-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

We finished the swing set last week. There is still more to do to complete the area. The plan is to to section that part of the yard off and lay down wood or rubber chips. But the swing set, it's up and in commission. In the end, Mike put in about twenty hours and I probably put in nine. Although extremely time consuming, it wasn't nearly as daunting as it first appeared when it showed up in it's eight boxes. Once we (meaning mostly Mike) got going and became more familiar with the parts, it really started coming together. I can safely say, however, that the club house is the closest we will ever come to building a house of our own. Although

And I am happy to report, that I can still state that I have never heard my Michael swear. Although when we were putting together the big tube slide (which the kids aptly named Big Yellow) and we were both trying to balance these extremely awkward huge pieces of plastic which were not lining up, he did threatened to kick big yellow over the fence. And he may have kicked a piece. But not over the fence. And Big Yellow is now attached and enjoying kids repeatedly sliding down it (Little Man claims he did 100 slides the first day and judging by his sweaty hair every time he came in to report to me what number he was on, I wouldn't doubt it).

And every hour? Worth it. The kids have probably already almost surpassed the number of hours we put into it with the time they've spent playing on it.

Swinging (partially done Big Yellow can be seen on the side)

When it was all done, we found the slide was too close to the house and that it would work better flipped, so when my family came over for Father's Day we enlisted in everyone's help to move it out and flip it around, so it now is flipped.

Hanging out in the fort one afternoon before the swing part was done (hence the boxes and again big yellow bellow it)

Future Pianist?

2011-06-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Mason will go through great lengths to make it to the piano. When he gets there, he reaches as high as his little fingers can go and perches precariously on the very tips of his toes. And when he reaches the keys and music comes out?

Pure joy

Our Day

2011-06-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Early morning swing set play in jammies.

I told Little Man he could have an end of the school year play date with some of his friends from kindergarten. From the sounds of it, he had told half his class they could come over when the swing set was finished, but I had him narrow it down to three.

They named their cafe "Food Orders."

This little girl can really get some air

Baby Blue Eyes enjoying some outside time

BBQ courtesy of Mike and his Father's Day present.

Hello, Summer. Please, please stay a while.

End of the School Year

2011-06-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Preschool graduation

Kiwi's last day was at a bouncy house and she looked forward to it for weeks. I think she started asking in April when we were going to go to Super Jump for preschool. They bounced, sang some songs, ate pizza and cake, and bounced some more. I wish I had a good picture of her doing her ABC's with the sign language. She was hardly singing she was concentrating so hard on getting the signs right. Sometimes I catch her practicing all of them in her car seat. We will be driving somewhere and I will hear this intense little whisper "A" and then a pause while she makes the a sign until she goes through the whole alphabet.

They had one of those push cars there (I always think of Fred Flinestone) which Mason found amazing. He didn't even go anywhere in it, he was just happy to hold onto the steering wheel and sit in something his size.

And when big sister started pushing it and he was actually moving? I'm pretty sure it was the most exciting moment of his life. Top five for sure.

Kiwi and Miss Cindy. We LOVE Miss Cindy around here. She was a perfect fit for our little miss. I'm not sure if we would have done preschool with Kiwi as a three year old if it wasn't for Miss Cindy.

Little Man's last day of kindergarten

Little Man's last day of kindergarten was yesterday and it consisted of a field trip to the zoo. Kiwi and I were able to come along to help chaperone and it was a lot of fun. Little Man was so excited that he was up for the day at 6:30.

Here is the group we spent most of the day with pretending to be eaten by a shark.

Little Man and his teacher. She is not the warm, fuzzy, cheery voiced kindergarten teacher you would expect, but I really liked her. She is fair, organized, and calm and I think she really does care for the kids. Little Man had a great first year and I know he is going to miss her.

With some kindergarten friends.

These two cute girls are some of Little Man's favorite people. They are all three in the same class at church and were all in the same kindergarten class this year. He told my mom, "Emma, Natalie, and I are all going to grow up together." He also wants to marry one of them when he grows up. They are both sweet girls with wonderful families so we would be thrilled if either one of those worked out.

My baby boy and me. Friday night when I was tucking Little Man in, he told me that he felt a little sad. When I questioned why, he answered that he was sad about school ending. He then got really quiet and I heard sniffles coming from the top bunk. I climbed up there and laid down with him and he started sobbing,

"I'm just thinking about all the things I did this year and how I will never get to do them again. And I just miss kindergarten so much!"

And so I rubbed his little heaving back and told him all the great things about first grade and how he would still see all his friends at recess, how fun it will be to eat lunch at school, and how nice his new teacher will be, etc. Although a big part of me just wanted to cry with him at the bitter sweetness of how old he is getting. After he calmed down, I went to put Mason to bed and Kiwi was so sweet. She climbed up on to the top bunk to keep him company. Later, when I went to check on them and found Little Man still awake I let him come into bed with me (Mike worked late and then met his brother for dinner so he missed all the dramatics).

Saturday morning, when Little Man showed Mike the book of all his hand prints throughout the year with this poem that had to have been written with the sole purpose making parents cry, Mike got all choked up.

And this is kindergarten, folks. Just think of what a train wreck this family will be when we have to start dropping kids off at college.

Afternoons

2011-06-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my afternoons are filled with three year old meltdowns, a baby who needs my attention, and a bouncing off the wall kindergartner. I consider it a tremendous accomplishment on these days when I get some sort of well balanced meal on the table for my family (or on really crazy days, any meal on the table).

Someday my afternoons will be filled with homework and shuttling children to and from sports practice, cub scouts, play practice (and I'm guessing getting dinner on the table will still be a challenge).

Today, my rosy cheeked baby slumbered deep into the afternoon. Little Man, Kiwi, and I did a puzzle out on the back deck while eating popcorn and drinking lemonade. I savored every minute of it. I watched Little Man's concentration as he put together the edge pieces and Kiwi's delight as Jessie the cowgirl's face came together. I love, love, love these moments that I am able to share with my little ones. I am acutely aware of the fact that these kinds of laid back afternoons will be few and far between as my children grow and knowing this just makes me drink them in even more. I am very blessed.

And check out the progress we are making on the swing set.

Total hours Mike has logged in: 7
Total hours I have logged in: 5
Number of times Little Man and Kiwi got out of bed tonight completely taking advantage of the fact that we were in the backyard working and not paying attention to them: One gazillion

Friday

2011-06-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sunny Day

It has been a pretty dreary (weather wise) spring around here, so when a day dawns bright and sunny, we take advantage of it. Today was one of those days. I was able to start the day off with a morning run. I really need to bag the excuses and do this more regularly. Getting out there, getting the blood pumping and the endorphins flowing, being able to have some quiet time before coming home to face the morning routine really makes a huge difference in my energy and patience levels.

So inspired by the beautiful weather, the kids and I had a breakfast picnic. The pancakes were straight out the Krusteaz box, but they were the best pancakes I've tasted in a long time. With every bite, I was thinking, "Wow, I made some really good pancakes." The only difference I can think of? We were eating them outside. Everything seems better outside on a sunny day.

What is it about bedheads (and she had a serious case of it this morning) and little jammied bodies that just makes me want to stop the clock and squeeze these little babies of mine? It gets me every morning.

Staying Little

Yesterday we were driving home with Mason entertaining himself, Kiwi dozing off, and Little Man talking Mike and I's ears off about his day at school. He was telling us this and that and then said, "I have something I can't tell you." Of course, this immediately got Mike and I's attention as we explained to him that he can tell us anything. He then says that somebody told him something on the school bus and then told him not to tell anybody.

At this point, I am getting a little nervous about what this other child could have told my baby boy. And then it came out that this boy told Little Man about another child in their class had puked on the bus. And that was the big secret.

We explained to him that it was probably not a good idea to tell all the other kids about that because it might embarrass or hurt his feelings. We then reviewed with him about how there aren't secrets from mommy and daddy, etc.

To which he responds, "I have a secret that no one knows." Again wondering what will come out of his mouth we ask him what that is.

"Nobody knows what a super duper climber I am!" As Mike and I start to laugh he continues, "And I am a super duper wuper jumper!"

Oh, Little Man. Just stay little. As he inches further and further into the world of being a big kid, I find myself trying to drink in every morning cuddle in his Cars p.j.'s and all the funny, cute little things he says.

Potty mouths

Recently, we have had to talk to Kiwi and Little Man a lot about potty talk and what is and is not appropriate to say. And when we potty talk around here, we are talking literally about bodily functions that happen in the restroom. These everyday occurrences are hilarious to my children. Even with these talks, I can't say I was completely surprised when I found this paper lying on the art table.

When I questioned him about it, he was silent for a minute and then said, "I was working on sounding out my words." I was surprised at how well he sounded them out. Way to make me proud son.

Speaking of potty talk, in all the years we have been married I have never, ever heard my dear husband use any sort of swear word. Today he and my father in law went to Costco and picked up our latest project. Eight huge boxes full of wood and parts that according to the 90 page instruction manual and accompanying DVD apparently fit together to make our children a swing set. If I want that previous statement to remain true, I think I may need to steer clear of Mike and the work area for the next little while...

Really, it is quite the endeavor. The box says it takes two people 10-12 hours to assemble and since neither Mike nor I are especially handy it's going to be an adventure.

Have a great weekend! It's supposed to be 78 tomorrow! SEVENTY EIGHT. Kiwi already knows what swimming suit she wants to wear on the slip and slide.