Seriously

we can't get enough photos of him. I'll blame it on these darn digital cameras.



And then there's the girls...they're less cooperative the older they are getting...yet still, its too hard to stop at one click!


one more of Luke, promise. See? just can't stop!

Thirteen years ago

I met four girls who became my sisters.

And then...we became 10, with five manly men (one is not pictured here)

Now look...we all have our own cute kids. When did that happen??? Between us there are 15 kids and some on the way. This was the first time we got the families together and it was so much fun. We went to AZ and stayed in one of my friend's parents' cabin for 5 days. It housed all five families SO COMFORTABLY! I was planning on 5 sleepless nights and sleeping on the floor...nope, this was more than I anticipated! My kids are already looking forward to the next time we get together...so are we! Thanks girls! As always, I left for home, this time with my family, wanting to be a better wife, mom and person.




These three look like they could be related...



SO much fun!

To play...

... is to exercise or employ oneself in diversion, amusement, or recreation--according to Mr. Webster.

Riley has perfected the art.

Just Because.

they don't come much cuter than this...

My Kind of Kid

I've been talking to Luke about the upcoming holiday, just SIX AND A HALF weeks away, and asking him what he wants for Christmas.

Me: "Luke, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas this year?"

Luke: "I don't know."

Me: "Do you want some cars?"

Luke: "I already have cars." And while holding up five fingers he adds, "I have five cars." (In all honestly he has that times 10 but 5 is a lot to him and so it is great that he is attempting to quantify his toys)

Me: "Do you want a hat?"

Luke: Looking very puzzled. "I already have a hat."

Me: "Do you want some legos?"

Luke: Getting a touch frustrated. "I already have Elmo legos!"

Me: "But do you want different legos?"

Luke: Clearly frustrated with me. "I ALREADY HAVE LEGOS!"

Me: "Well, it sounds like you already have everything, do you want nothing for Christmas?"

Luke: "Yes, I want nothing."

Somehow I don't think that will go over well on Christmas morning. But I like the kid's frugality...why buy more of what you already have plenty of? I wish that way of thinking would rub off on two other little people living in this house who want their 12th set of something they already have...

Spider Love

Riley came home from school today too excited to tell me this:

Mom... did you know that a boy spider meets a girl spider on the spider web and they are in love with each other for only one minute and then the girl spider eats the heart of the boy spider and then spits it out?

If only I had taken a photo of her face; the seriousness and concern for that poor little boy spider left me speechless.

I wanted to say:

Riley...did you know that when a boy meets a girl and they fall in love when they are too young that it only lasts one minute and then the boy breaks the heart of the girl and pretty much spits it out as well?

But no, I didn't say that. I kept it simple.

Nope, Riley, didn't know that one.

Then she ran off to tell her brother.

Plans for Tonight

One of the benefits of being married to the camera operator is a free ticket to the premiere.

Coming October 30th to a theater near you!

The Dark Side

So we introduced our kids to Star Wars. I am shocked at how much they love it. I don't remember liking it so much as a kid. Darth Vader easily gave me nightmares. Let's just say I think I enjoy it more as an adult. Well, Luke ESPECIALLY loves Star Wars. They have a Jedi Knight Training Show at Disneyland right now and he LOVED it.
This was our conversation two minutes ago when we were playing "star wars."

Luke: Who you be? (holding his VitaMix stick as his weapon--perfect lightsaber)

Me: I'll be Darth Vader, you be Luke Skywalker.

Luke: (whine) Nooooooo. I not Duke.

Me: Why not? Luke's the good guy...Darth Vader is bad.

Luke: (yell) I want to be bad!!!



Didn't see this one coming.

Plein Air

Music, art, literature...I'll be honest...if that is what my kids want to do with their lives, I'll be a proud parent. Not that I wouldn't be proud of them excelling in any other area of intellect, law, medicine or any other -ology that is available. But the arts...that is where I know my kids will gain a greater respect for and a deeper understanding of themselves. So it is no coincidence that we frequent the FHE topic of creating. What greater place to teach this lesson than in nature! We hiked a small climb, found ourselves a great rock, read a verse or two of scripture, read a quote from Presidenct Uchtdorf's talk found here, made nature bracelets out of backwards tape and stuck different leaves, flowers and weeds on them,and spent the rest of the time drawing.



Of course, we weren't really en plein air because we were using stubby pencils and crayons, but nonetheless, for a brief time, the kids were quiet and they were creating their own masterpieces. I must say, it is therapeutic even for a two year old.
Dessert was gummy worms in crushed oreos and chocolate pudding and was by far the favorite event of the night.
Daylight Savings is fast approaching and these lovely, warm, peaceful nights will be gone too quickly.
At least we have our drawings to remind us...

Home

It is a good place to be.

Not that we didn't love our two week adventure, but it is lovely to be home and sleep in my own bed. Ready for a ton of pictures? Cause that's what you're gonna get!

We had it all planned out, every 13 days of the trip. We started day one by stopping in St George and visiting some friends. Then we moved on to Las Vegas. We walked the strip with the kids and indulged at our hotel's buffet. The kids were in heaven with all the limitless choices.


After one night in Vegas, we drove to Yorba Linda, CA and visited some good friends. The kids could've played with them all trip and would've been content...but no, we had to go to Disneyland the next day, so it was just a couple of hours!

I wouldn't say the kids LOVED Disneyland, but I wouldn't say they hated it either. I definitely learned my lesson though. They just aren't that into it. You'd think it would be their favorite place, but the whole time they wanted to go back to the hotel and swim or watch a movie or do anything BUT Disneyland.


Luke had the hardest time. He was so tired and ornery! Our sweet mellow boy who always goes with the flow all of a sudden decided he wasn't going with the flow anymore. And Abu, his monkey he named, was so exciting until about two minutes into the park when he realized, hey, this leash isn't so fun. So he screamed for about 4 hours until he gave up and got used to Abu.




After a few days in Anaheim, we moved south to sunny San Diego. The kids actually LOVED Seaworld. They loved all the exhibits and the shows. In fact, they begged to see the Shamu show twice and we did. Luke was scared to see the sharks and asked a million times if they were going to bite him. He was pretty nervous!




We were so excited to see our friends the Uda's who drove down to go to dinner with us. It was fun to catch up and see their beautiful family. Wish we lived closer!


A second day at seaworld... why? you ask? because it was buy one day, get the second free!
I loved that there were no crowds!



We went to dinner our second night in San Diego with some other great friends, the Everett's, who we love to see when we're in Cali! Such good friends! Next time we won't make our friends drive so far to see us!!! But it was nice to see them.

Do five hotels = a five star hotel? Thats how many we stayed in throughout the whole trip. You would've thought each hotel was a new ride at Disneyland. The kids LOVED to explore and check out what was new and different in each hotel! Again, no need to purchase theme park tickets to entertain our kids.

Moving on to AZ...Brandon's sister and her husband and two kids moved there last month and so we got to visit with them for a few hours. We got to meet my new nephew Deacon and the girls were SUPER excited to play with him and Carter. It was nice to always have so many people to look forward to seeing.



OK...week one down. I need another week before I can post the second week of our trip. This is one long post! I'll tell you now though, the second week made the trip worth it! (Not that seeing our friends didn't make it worth it, but if we had just seen the friends, then gone to the AZ mountains, it would've been a perfect trip!)
Did I mention that we are never doing Disneyland again?

I don't know...talk to me in five years...

Say Goodbye

to my pony tail. Eight inches. So sad.

Why is it always so hard?

And Brandon is right, I always have haircutting remorse. But hey, it'll grow back soon enough and we'll go through the process all over again.

Giving it another try...

I was too lazy last year to change my blog to a private one when I posted that I was going to and asked for email addresses.
I'm trying again...by mid-October, I'll make the change.
Add your email if you care to continue to read...:)

Nature vs. Nurture?

This is definitely a "nurture" tactic here...
I continue to sneak gloves, balls, bats, or any other sporting goods into my son's play with no success.

He just isn't interested.

Any time he does it on his own, its worthy of a photo! (Even if it does only last for a minute.)
No "natural" desire for sports quite yet.
We'll stick with the nurturing for now.

I Can't Say Goodbye...

...to summer nights,
to sitting on our back porch watching the sun set,
to the warm night air promising a new day only a night's sleep away,
to tanned skin,
to a morning at the park,
to playing with cousins and friends,
to my kids' sun-bleached hair,
to the smell of sunblock,
to the ketchup, popsicle juice or whatever else they ate that day dribbled down their shirts,
to dirty feet from wearing flip-flops,
to evening runs or bike rides,
to relaxing and having nowhere to be,
to the kids swinging, running, playing and feeling the freedom that summer brings...

No, I can't say goodbye just yet.

Harvest Time

Bailey lost her two front teeth last month. Eating corn on the cob is a chore. Her gums were still pretty sensitive the other day and Riley noticed some blood on Bailey's cob. When she pointed it out, Bailey continued to eat the corn (she loves corn on the cob!) It was kind of grossing me out but I didn't say anything.
Finally, exasperated, Riley sighs, "Ugh! Bailey you are so yucking me out with that corn!"
She turned her head from the table because she couldn't stomach it anymore!
Leave it to Riley to say what we all were thinking.


We've had a small grow box garden since we've lived here, the past 4 summers. We actually used it again this year for peas. We finally decided to tear out a chunk of our grass, haul in a ton of turkey manure and plant an abundance of seeds. It was a success! We've been enjoying zucchini (coming out our ears!!!), cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, squash, watermelon, corn and peppers. The kids have been eating lots of pears off the pear tree as well. We were a little late on our pumpkins so we're hoping they're ready in time for Halloween. They'll probably be really small.

Why is it so gratifying knowing that one little seed you planted in the ground can grow into a cornstalk 8 feet tall?

Its a mind-boggling miracle to me.

I Met an Angel Today...

...at least I think he's an angel.

Its good to know there are still some darn good honest people in this world.

Brandon and I went to an art exhibit today downtown. We stopped by the Gateway Mall and made some returns and grabbed a bite to eat at the food court. While he was sitting at the table with Luke, I was standing in a line waiting to give my order. A man approached me and held a diamond in front of my face and asked me if it belonged to me?

Puzzled, I looked at my band, and sure enough, my diamond was GONE!!!

I wanted to hug this man! He said he found it on the counter of another restaurant we were considering getting food from and I have no idea how he tracked me down and found me! It was a good ten minutes after we were at the other counter.

Like I said, thank goodness for honest people. It makes up for all the times I've had things stolen or gotten scammed.

A plus is that I get to reset my diamond into a new wedding band and that will be fun. The minus is that I have to reset my diamond into a new wedding band. I liked my ring. It will be 11 years old at the end of the month. I just can't risk this happening again! No more exposed prongs for me!!!

I had a pit in my stomach for the better part of the afternoon thinking about what could have been. Thank you, thank you, thank you to that man out there who bothered to track me down and find me!!!

Can I Go?

I made rolls today and took off my ring while kneading the dough. Riley was doing the dishes and found my ring and brought it to me and I said, "Oh, thanks Riley I almost forgot to put it back on!" Here's how the rest of the conversation went (I had to write it down immediately afterward because I always forget their exact words)...

Luke- that your ring mommy?

Me- yes

L- dad give you ring mommy?

N- yes, Luke

L- why, mommy?

N- because he loves me

L- why, mommy?

N- because he wants to be with me for eternity

(At this point he raises his eyebrows and gets very excited...)

L- CAN I GO?

N- You bet!

L- Yessssssss!

You would've thought it was Christmas.

Daddy's Boy

When we went to Riley's first soccer practice, Luke was so excited and said, "Can I play soccer, can I play soccer?" When I said sure, he ran and got his baseball glove and said "I play soccer!"

It was then I realized that Brandon's been traveling too much and the poor boy needs the influence of his dad.

I took him to the practice and played catch with him, (he preferred it to kicking a ball around), and then when Brandon came back in town, I made him play catch with his boy. When Brandon comes home from a trip, Luke is his little sidekick. He won't have anything to do with me and he doesn't like to leave his side. If I tell him at night "I love you" he says quickly, "I love dad." If I ask him if he wants me to read to him at night, "No, dad." If I ask him to come with me so I can change his diaper, "No, dad."

Sometimes it works in my favor.

First Day of School (a few weeks late)

I'm always sad when the kids go back to school. It doesn't seem right to have them spend more of their waking hours in school than with me! But they were looking forward to routine again. And I have to admit, its been nice for me, too. They love their teachers and have really enjoyed the first couple weeks so far.




Mr. Grumpy Pants was not a happy camper...



if looks could kill...

Of course, I had to go buy him a backpack too and he has his "school" as well. He misses his sisters just like I do but loves to have them come home and give him big hugs!

Daniel and the Cutest Lion's Den Ever

FHE.
Someone had to be Daniel--me.
Someone had to be the lions--Luke and Bailey.
Someone had to be King Nebuchanezer--Riley.
Someone had to be the narrator--dad.
Luke was so terrified of me with a beard. He wouldn't go near me for 15 minutes.
I made muffins for dessert. Poor Luke. He thinks they are cupcakes. We shouldn't laugh, but we can't help it. His word for cupcakes...buttcakes.

Forever in our house, muffins and cupcakes will be known as buttcakes.

Goodbye to Good Friends

I was going to post pictures I have of each of my kids with these good friends as babies, but I'll be honest, I'm barely getting around to writing the post. I don't have time to go dig up the old photos, scan them and put them in, even though I should because they're pretty cute. Maybe I will later, but for now, I'll just post these.
We are so sad that our friends are leaving us. Everyone seems to leave Utah eventually and we're always left to stay. Maybe someday it will be our turn, but for now, we are sad to see such good friends leave. My kids have always LOVED Drew, Ella and James. It helps they are all the exact same ages but its more than that. They're the kind of friends that when we get together, they PLAY! They play hard and have fun and they never get in tiffs or there are never hurt feelings. Even though they've lived far away this past year or so anyway, California is too far for good friends. (Why do all our friends move to California?) They will be missed. I also happen to think their mom is one of my favorite people and I will miss her, too!

Its Official!

We have a problem.

Don't Rush a Child

I came across this article in the Washington Post.

A virtuoso violinist goes incognito and plays for a rush hour crowd who are trying to get to work on time. Hardly anyone stops to listen to this amazing musician play his valuable instrument. The most interesting part to me was this:

The poet Billy Collins once laughingly observed that all babies are born with a knowledge of poetry, because the lub-dub of the mother's heart is in iambic meter. Then, Collins said, life slowly starts to choke the poetry out of us. It may be true with music, too.

There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.

I have to remind myself every second of the day and I'm still horrible at it.

Don't rush.

Another First for Riley

Riley had her very first soccer game yesterday. I was in bed all day long with a 102 fever (actually this is a first for me getting out of bed) and was so sad to miss the game. Especially because she scored a goal! My mom took some pictures so here they are...apparently the first picture is immediately after she scored the goal.

my equation

2 pink eyes + 2 ear infections (one was a double) + 3 horrible nights + 3 doctor visits in two days (one instacare)= one sick mom

When I feel better I'll post about the first day of school...