foreverstrong

Two Kids, a Dog, and a Box =

2011-12-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

Pure FUN

Family Picture

2011-12-05T08:39:00.002-07:00

By Sam age 5

Gospel Teaching: Reverance

2011-12-05T08:34:00.001-07:00

Mr. Sam drew a picture in church a few weeks ago that reflects the gospel teaching he is soaking in at home and in Primary. It was too cute so I took a picture to share with you.

Reverence in Church
Top: Sitting down (check)
Right: Singing hymns (check)
Bottom: Standing up (crossed out)
Left: Showing your belly button (crossed out) do you see the cute belly button :)

A good Lickin'

2011-12-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Oh the new found joy of beater licking. Needless to say he wanted "Ma" (aka more)

Helping with the dishes

2011-12-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ben and Tilly are more than willing to help Daddy do the dishes. (maybe that's why they don't get done in a very timely manner. Either I have too much help, or I'm avoiding the help)

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here's Sam showing off his preschool projects: His thankful tree and his turkey. The turkey was promptly eaten after this picture was taken. Sam said it was the yummiest turkey ever.

Ben's Two Loves

2011-12-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Books and our dog, Matilda

And no, it wasn't my idea to lock him in a cage with his two loves. He did that all by himself.

Birthday Boys

2011-12-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm behind. November was a full month and it disappeared too quickly. Both Elijah and Sam celebrated birthdays. It is amazing that they have grown up so much in this last year. They are both wonderful, sweet, kind boys and I am so blessed to be their mother.

Happy Birthday my little men!!

Sam requested a lego brick cake. It turned out okay. He was pleased with it and that's what counts.

Elijah has been on an Ewok kick and he requested an ewok cake. Um, it stumped me for a bit but thanks to the internet I realized how managable it could be (minus a bear cake pan). Thankfully we still had Halloween candy around to use for the facial features.

Ben is walking and "talking"

2011-11-24T17:40:00.002-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T17:05:00.001-06:00

A picture walk with captions:

Sam, my handsome Jedi

the Jedi can parade walking backwards, oooo

Sam's Preschool Class with Ms. Judy and Ms. Kathy

My fellow parade watcher

Ewok sighting!

Our neighbor Gretta, Elijah and Sam ready to go trick or treating together

Ben's going too!

Pumpkin Patch with the Preschool

2011-10-31T17:02:00.000-06:00

Ben and I were able to go with Sam to the Pumpkin Patch for his preschool fieldtrip. We got to go on a hayride pulled by a tractor, pick some corn to dry and pop in the microwave, pick two pumpkins, and visit some of the animals. Ben and Sam both loved it. Ben especially loved the animals.

Group picture of Sam's cute class. Sam refused to stand up there.

He was hiding behind the stroller glaring at me for taking his picture anyway.

It's a fake cow that Sam was able to milk. He waited in line to do it and did it well.

Three Peas in a Pod

2011-10-31T17:01:00.000-06:00

Well, not quite. More like three sillies in a box.

Elijah, Sam and Brenna (one of my wonderful YW) in Ben's carseat box

Fall drive: Gettysburg

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-06:00

We had a beautiful weekend a couple weeks ago and we decided to make an impromptu trip up to Gettysburg. We loaded everyone in the car, including Tilly and went for a drive and a picnic in the beautiful Fall weather. We found out that indeed Tilly does get car sick (twice) but despite that we all really had a great time (Tilly included). Gettysburg is a beautiful place with a special spirit.

Ben Walking

2011-10-04T19:14:00.001-06:00

B&O Railroad Museum: Baltimore

2011-10-02T20:04:00.000-06:00

CJ was dying to go to the Train museum while he was here. We all got to go with him to the B&O railroad museum. We got to ride the Mile One Express. The boys LOVED it!

Love this picture of Sam

The #4 steam engine that we rode down the track

Ben is ONE!

2011-10-02T19:55:00.002-06:00

the Beach on Assateague Island

2011-10-02T19:46:00.000-06:00

Saturday we all loaded into the car and drove out to the Eastern Shore of MD to Assateague Island. The drive was beautiful, over the bay bridge and mostly through farmland. I've heard of Assateague before and it did not disappoint. There are two parks on the barrier island, a State park and a National Shoreline park. We went to the National park portion. It was a perfect day: temperature in the 80's, cool ocean breeze, and it wasn't too crowded. It was also wonderful to have Josh's brother, Naaman, his wife, Becky, and their son CJ with us. All told we had a wonderful time at the beach! Their faces tell it all!

Elijah and Sam took to the water immediately. We hadn't planned on them getting soaked (I should have known) and didn't bring their swim suits. I did plan an extra set of clothes and they sure needed them. They loved standing in the water hanging on to Naaman as the waves crashed into them. Ben walked around with Josh along the beach and liked walking into the water in small quantities. Sometimes he was squealling with joy, others he wasn't so sure about it all.

We collected sea shells, caught a small sand crab, and even caught a small oyster who stuck his tongue out at us. The boys loved it all. I look forward to going again.

True Greatness

2011-09-10T20:40:00.001-06:00

Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life.

After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman.

(Joseph F. Smith, Juvenile Instructor, 15 Dec. 1905, p. 752.)

Guilty Picture Dump

2011-09-02T21:01:00.000-06:00

Crazy! my life has been a bit CRAZY! I still don't know where July went let alone August. Summer came and went so quickly and school has started again despite an earthquake and hurricane the week before. Our summer was filled with trips, visitors, lazy days, and family fun. Can I just say I love my family and LOVE spending time with them. I've got the CUTEST family out there. Just saying ;)

Okay, so I find I don't often have the extra mental capacity to pull of the caliber of blog post I would like to, so I keep putting it off and then I'm hit with the guilt that it didn't get done, and then it continues to not get done because by then there are other things that are blog worthy that too are getting put off.... a vicious cycle.

SO...

here is your guilt free picture dump. I've got cute kids and I'm going to flaunt them. The pictures will have to speak for themselves, literally -- cause if I think about it, it wont happen.

[can you tell it's been a long day and I crashed about 7:30 and I'm not quite normal right now? :) ]

ENJOY!

Our back yard! Oh the bugs are worth it when it looks like this

Baltimore Science Museum

Massive water table in the Baltimore Science Museum

Fort McHenry

My cute man

Gunpowder Falls State Park

Hmm... Where's Josh? Could he be the ONLY blindingly white figure?

Trilobite hunting Sam

Tarp + hose + baby soap = slipin' slide at Grammies

If thay doesn't express the joy of summer I don't know what does.

Star Wars Party

Cheezing for the camera

Josh's epic story

2011-07-31T13:42:00.000-06:00

You may have heard the story, and now you can see the footage. Josh's daring attempt to slide down a mountain glacier on a rubber raft. Enjoy the stupidity. I am eternally grateful he didn't die!

He's on the move

2011-06-14T12:38:00.000-06:00

My cute little buddy is no longer content to sit in one spot and play for 15-20 minutes at a time. He is on the MOVE. He also is a climber and gravitates towards the stairs. The big boys know to keep the small toys out of the living room (down stairs) so that it is safe for Ben. I plop Ben down in that room and run do the laundry or do the dishes, peeking in on his progress around the room. Lately, I'll be doing the dishes and I'll look down to the living room and see this cute little face peeking at me.

Ben has a unique army crawl. It reminds me of swimming. He's pretty fast with it though, especially when he is upstairs and making a bee line for the stairs. He is starting to get onto his knees but it throws of his double handed rhythm he has going on.

Ben Dancing

2011-06-14T12:27:00.000-06:00

Just look at those legs go!

Kindergarten Program

2011-06-14T12:06:00.001-06:00

Elijah had his end of year Kindergarten Program last Friday. He was SO proud to be sitting up on the stands and he was so cute to watch. They did quite a few ADORABLE songs. I can't get some of them to load on the blog. I'll keep trying but here is one of them singing about frindship. He was singing this song at home for a few days before the program. The tune is quite catchy {beware}. I didn't realize there were hand motions until they performed it though. Totally CUTE!

I am so proud of Elijah. He has grown up a lot since the beginning of the school year. He is an enthusiastic, loving boy and a good friend.

Memorable Vacation: part one

2011-06-12T14:26:00.000-06:00

Goodness, it's almost been a month since we left on our fabulous vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida. Life has been rather busy (and our Internet shotty) since we got back and I have often wished we were back in Florida without any responsibilities or cares. Just being together as a family and having adventures together.

I really can't express how WONDERFUL of a vacation it was! Our family of five and my parents and two sisters all went together. We rented a vacation home with bedrooms, 3 baths, and A PRIVATE POOL. It was sublime. We loved having everyone together in that house and the pool was so pleasant in the hot afternoons. The weather was a bit on the hot side but we ran our schedule so that we left early in the morning, returned to the house to sleep and swim in the afternoon, and went back to the parks after dinner. It was a perfect schedule and helped us beat the worst of the heat and the crowds.

I went thinking our favorite parks would be Epcot and of course Magic Kingdom. Actually we loved Animal Kingdom more than Epcot. Animal Kingdom is a good mix of thrill rides, animals, and places to just explore.

Overall, we all LOVED IT. It was perfect. No one got sick, no one got hurt, very little stress, the lines were short, fast passes were wonderful, no one got lost (though we lost track of Elijah a couple times for a minute or two), there was little fighting, everyone got along and everyone was happy.

When do we get to go back?!?!

Elijah, age six, summary of the trips likes and dislikes:
"I liked Everest, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain (though he really didn't like it at all, he was curled up in a ball the entire time). And I liked river rapids and I liked Winnie the Pooh, and I liked Star Tours, Jedi Academy. My favorite show was the Lion King. And I like Mission: Space, the Orange one. Mostly I just have one thing I didn't like, well I think it was... umm... it was Haunted Mansion. I liked seeing the characters Stitch, all the Star Wars characters in the Star Wars parade, and then there's Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse and Pluto. At the Animal Kingdom I liked seeing the naked mole rats and the bats and the elephants. At the house I liked swimming and diving in the pool. I swam every day except for Sunday."

Sam, age four, summary:
""What I liked is the water rapids, and Star Tours, and all the rides except for some of them. Some of them were scary. Dinosaurs was the only one that was scary. Mickey's Philharmagic was my favorite show."

Moments that stand out to Josh and I:

Josh and I riding Expedition Everest, our first roller coaster together, ever. We snuck on after running to get fass passes for everyone to go later.
Taking Ben on the Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan and watching his face as he took it all in.
Sam freaking out in the que line for Haunted Mansion, us forcing him onto the ride and him liking it afterall.
Ben enthusiastically sucking on a huge Turkey leg.
Playing the arcade with Elijah and Josh after riding Mission Space. Elijah wasn't very good at it but he was so into it and wanted to bring Sam back to play on it.
Watching the fabulous Finding Nemo show and Sam had to go potty. Josh stopped at the back and said that if we leave we can't come back. Sam sat and tried to hold it but couldn't make it. Luckily they let Josh and Sam back in.
Ben loved the Nemo and Lion King shows. He was so wiggly and excited watching all the action. He would practically crawl out of your arms full of excitement.
Josh enjoyed going on the rockin rollar coaster with Rachel. (Thrill seekers)
Riding Toy Story as a big goup and comparing our scores. Josh and Ben creamed us all. (and I thought Ben would be a handicap for Josh)
Watching the Star Wars parade frow our aweful spot (the crowds were horendous) and still seeing the excitement on our boys faces as they saw the top of the heads of characters as they passed. The best was Elijah exclaiming "Thats the first really Ewok (he said Ewook) I've ever seen!!!"
Elijah and Sam totally engrossed in the Jedi Academy presentation. Elijah came home later and repeated the fighting sequence they taught the padewans on stage.
Josh and I got to spend a couple hours together one night at Hollywood Studios. I enjoyed waiting to ride Star Tours with him (before it was even officially open). We then walked around and rode it again.
I enjoyed shopping (out of the heat) with my Mother. We got matching scarves as souviners.
Coming out of Soaring -which we all loved, except Grammie- and seeing Grammie having a great time playing with Benjamin. She was a happy, proad grandma.
We all loved swimming together. Elijah and Sam took to the water and the swimming skills greatly improved in our week at the house.
The longest line we waited in was for Southwest on the way home.
I loved always knowing there would be a little partner to sit next to me on the ride. Elijah and Sam would take turns with Josh and I and Grammie and Papa. They would alway cuddle in close full of anticipation and excitement.
Elijah loved Thunder Mountain RR. A sure sign of that was the super high pitched scream coming out of his mouth as he held his hands up by his head.
A yummy Dole Whip icecream treat on a hot afternoon.
Two boys running through the house with ninja swords in hand and the sheeths strapped to their backs.

And here's some pictures. As I was going through them I realized that a large majority of them are from Animal Kingdom supporting the fact that there is a lot to see at that park and it goes at a slower pace.

Sea Dragon made out of Legos in Downtown Disney

Prince and dragon (from Snow White) made of Legos. I'm looking up at it. It was HUGE

ANIMAL KINGDOM:

This bird is weaving a nest to woo a girl friend with.

Elijah and Rachel watching the big Daddy Gorilla

Waiting for Lion King to start

Waiting for Lion King

Tree of Life
It has cool carvings of animals all over the trunk and roots

Cute Ben hanging out in the stroller. I LOVE my new stroller (Instep Safari) It was a lifesaver on this trip. Ben was content and happy.

HUGE fruit bats. They were Grammie and Elijah's favorites.

Josh soaking wet after the rapids ride

Sam was wet and happy after the rapids ride.

Beautiful windows looking into the bats

The architecture through the asain jungle walk was SO beautiful

Cool water feature. Sam's expression is priceless

Add caption

Grammie and Papa in a rigshaw

Rachel in the drivers seat. Watch out!

DiVine
Can you see her? We walked past and saw a group of people staring at a tree. We couldn't figure out what they were looking at until she moved. Very impressive!

Can you see her now?

Love this pic of a young rhino and his mommy

Ben and a turkey leg that is bigger than his head. He was not letting go of that thing!

EPCOT

We all loved the aquarium. Elijah was expecially excited when he saw the Dolphins and also the hidden mickey in the tank.

He didn't like it at first, but Ben eventually grew to love the pool

I'm worried this post wont all load. I'll have to do our other pictures including Star Wars in another post. Crossing my fingers this posts!

Hersheypark

2011-04-11T09:32:00.000-06:00

Saturday we all went up to Hershey, PA and went to Hersheypark, a family geared amusement park.

WE HAD A BLAST!!!

First of all can I say that place smelled like heaven. Oh so good!

It was Josh's work day at the park which ment we got discount tickets and the crowds weren't overly crazy. The weather was cold, mid 40's to low 50's BUT it didn't rain. I'd much rather it be cold than HOT and humid. (There were fans in all the line areas which does not speak well to the conditions in the summer.)

Hersheypark has all the height requirements seperated into different candy categories. All the ride signs throughout the park have the candies on them that are allowed to ride. Elijah and Sam were both Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. We went on a few kiddie rides and Ben even got to go on the train ride with all of us, then we moved on to the roller coasters.

Pictures of them riding rides are hard to catch.
I love their faces though

The rides are all rated from Mild to Wild. Every ride is grouped into one of five categories and numbered 1-5, 5 being the wildest. My boys went on every level and wanted to go again and again. (I didn't realize until just now that the SooperDooperLooper was a 5 -eeekk)

These are the three major rides we did. I'm grateful we did the Comet last. It was a screamer, but didn't seem to phase Elijah and Sam. They had perma-grins.

Trailblazer

SooperDooperLooper

Comet

Elijah and I got off of the SooperDooperLooper to find Sam and Ben's faces looking rather blue. Sam was blue the rest of the day, blue face, teeth, tongue, hand... Ben was a trooper the whole day. Most of it he spent bundled up in the stroller just jabbering away. At lunch we discovered that he has two teeth breaking through his bottom gum. It must be a sign.

Sam and Elijah with their souvineers with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

In front of a statue of Milton Hershey founder of... Hershey:)

It was a fabulous day as a family and a great warm up for Disney World next month!!!!! Now we know that the boys will be ready to tackle Space Mountain. Bring it on!

Benjamin

2011-04-01T08:03:00.000-06:00

3-25-11

3-30-11

Ben is "So Big"

2011-04-01T07:44:00.001-06:00

Ben has gotten so big. He is now six months old! He is so much fun to have in our home and makes me smile everyday. He's an eating machine, taking down anything you put in his mouth (unfortunatly he still likes his night feedings too). He loves to play and watch his brothers. His new trick is the game "So Big". It just melts my heart with how cute he is.

I was so distracted with the cuteness of Ben that my camera skills are lacking. You can also hear Elijah in the backgound reading a book about sharks (he is a reading machine).

Big Day for Ben

2011-01-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Benjamin will be four months tomorrow. My how the time has flown. He continues to be such a joy in our home. He is full of smiles and quite a conversation stopper. He loves to talk, spit and blow bubbles. He had his four month check-up today and he weighed in at 16 lbs 1 oz and 26 inches long. It was also a big day in that he rolled over for the first time and also ate his first bowl of rice cereal like a pro.

Share the LOVE (and I am sore)

2011-01-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Valentines Day is fast apporaching. I've moved up the button that goes to my mother-in-laws Valentines blog. Check it out and share the love.

As a side note-- I am SORE!
I got Wii EA Active 2 for Christmas and now that we are home and all the holiday festivities are done I have started the 3 week program. (There is a 3 week and a 9 week program in addition to the various other workouts as well as the ability to create your own workouts). Anyway, I have worked out three days and rested 2 (you actually only workout 4 days a week) and I am feeling it everywhere. So far I have been happy with the program. I'll keep you posted the more I get into it but for know I just had to share that I hurt, the good kind of hurt.

Make enough of me

2011-01-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

youtube video of a song by Julie deAzevedo

Leftover Pumpkin turned Yummy!

2010-12-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

Elijah brought home a sugar pumpkin from his field trip last month. I already had one for ou Thanksgiving pies so this we I tried out a recipe I fould online for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. MMM... they were good! I had to share.

Nativites

2010-11-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got the Christmas decorations out (while listening to the BYU game -terribly festive :P ). It doesn't seem like I have that many decorations now that it's spread through my house instead of a small apartment. I'm thinking a few more strands of lights will help. I'm of the opinion that you can't have too many white lights.

I love nativity scenes and they are a large part of my decorations. I set up a few of them yesterday and still had a couple without a spot. This morning I came down the stairs to see that Elijah had been playing with one of my sets and created his own little scene.

Stable made out of wood blocks

The big picture: stable, stars, angel, wise men a far off, and the shepherd over on the couch

For school Elijah was asked to draw a picture about a holiday tradition. He chose acting out the nativity story on Christmas Eve. He used the nativity pictured up above as a model for his picture and labeled every piece. I sure hope I get the original back. It is such a sweet picture and explaination.

Sam wanted in on the action (because we don't use colored pencils very often. They are saved for special projects). He too used the nativity as a model and this is his picture. I love the manger with baby Jesus and all the hay.

It's all in a Nickname

2010-11-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

I had one of my young women over a few weeks ago and when we were taking her home she was sitting in the back of the car with Elijah. He asked her what her nickname was and then went on to tell her that his nickname was "Handsome." Josh and I just cracked up in the front seat. Yes, I call the kid handsome (I call all my boys handsome including especially Josh) but it makes me smile that Elijah's telling people handsome is his nickname.

Elijah and Sam also explained that Matilda's short name is Tilly but her nicknames are anything starting with "Sweetie" such as Sweetie Pie, Sweetie Cake, Sweetie Cookie... you get the idea. The funny thing is that those are her declared nicknames but they don't actually call her any of those names unless they are talking about nicknames.

For the Grandparents

2010-11-28T19:16:00.001-07:00

and the aunts and uncles...

I can only guess how many times it will be played by my mother alone ;) Enjoy!

Taken on Thanksgiving, Nov 25. Benjamin 2 months one week.

At his 2 month checkup Ben weighed in at 14 lbs on the dot putting him in the 90/95 percentile. He was also in the 90th percentile for height. An all around big healthy boy.

My Littlest Handsome Man

2010-11-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures today of Benjamin in his Sunday duds complete with a happy smile. Everyday he is smiling and "talking" more. It is so much fun!

Christmas is around the corner...

2010-11-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it snuck up on me, but it 'Tis the Season! For those friends old and new here is the link to the Christmas blog my Mom and I started (and now my sister is in on the action too.) I hope you all enjoy this season and take time to focus on the reason for the season, our Savior Jesus Christ.

If you come across any ideas to add to the blog I would love to post them. I am amazed by the amount of hits we get from across the country and around the world. There truly is a desire and a need for Christ Centerd Traditions and I'm humbled by the interest in our little blog.

Happy TURKEY Day!

2010-11-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm betting we win the award for the cutest turkey. I could just eat him up, he's so cute. Take a look at his cute gut. He looks like I'm going to feel in an hour or so =STUFFED. I love this little man and I am so grateful he is a part of our family.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!

Ben Smiling

2010-11-12T19:52:00.001-07:00

Not the best of videos, but Ben was cooperating somewhat. He is really starting to engage, smile and talk. His eyes just sparkle. It is so much fun! The sweet joys of being a mommy.

Matilda likes to party

2010-11-12T19:46:00.001-07:00

I think Matilda had as much fun on Sam's birthday as he did. Sam got a remote control car and Tilly went nuts over it. The most hilarious thing! She's scared of it but wants to chase it at the same time. Sam also got some Hot Wheels cars that change colors in hot or cold water. Tilly likes to chace them across the floor and then pick them up in her mouth. I call her "Dogzilla". She run back to you with the car hanging out of her mouth and drop it in your hand, ready for another go. She's always good for a laugh.

Buddies

2010-11-12T14:57:00.001-07:00

Sam begged for me to take his picture with his buddy Matilda.

Cutest Man in the HOOD

2010-11-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

It just goes without saying...

Elijah is SIX

2010-11-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Elijah also had a birthday this week. He tuned Six years old. It's crazy! When did I become old enough to be the mother of a six year old? He's sporting the cool crown he got at school. When he saw what I did for Sam's cake, Elijah knew exactly what he wanted for his. Ever since we went to the aquarium in September he has bee obsessed with Dolphins. He checks out dolphin books at school, he draws pictures of dolphins, he pretends he is training dolphins, etc. Hence he wanted a dolphin cake. I thought I was in over my head. Luckily it came together pretty well. With Sam's assurance that it did indeed look like a dolphin, this is what I came up with (using two 9 in rounds and one 9X13). When Elijah came home from school his reaction was precious. I think he was pleased.

Sam is FOUR

2010-11-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

Sam turned Four this past week. He was super excited for his birthday. He decided he wanted a horse birthday cake to look like his little stuffed animal horse named Brown Star (complete with white diamond on her nose). I found a pattern online that was super easy and Sam loved helping me out. For his birthday dinner he decided he wanted Chick Fil A. He's an easy man to please.

Probably his highlight of the day was that Elijah was off school. They played well together the whole day, playing "Bunny and Brownie" their imaginary game with their stuffed animals and Wii. Sam also requested that we paint on his birthday. The man loves getting down a dirty.

Jammie Jiggle

2010-11-02T15:19:00.000-06:00

Benjamin loves to "party" from around ten to around one or two am. Note: this does not make for happy parents. Josh is a saint and often takes the brunt of this shift. Often this entails what I have come to call the "Jammie Jiggle." Benjamin strongly prefers to be held vertically. I think he has a bit of reflux and gas issues going on and this position helps. He also loves to be jiggled/bounced to sleep. At night Ben gets really worked up and to help him relax Josh holds him up to his shoulder and trots through our room, across the hall and through Ben's room and back. More often than not this puts Ben to sleep, if only for a short time and then the ritual starts again.

Walking Home

2010-11-01T15:36:00.000-06:00

Last week the weather was beautiful and the fall colors breathtaking. Sam and I (and Benjamin) took the opprotunity to walk to Elijah's school to pick him up. I grabbed the camera and got a few pictures of the boys on the way home through the "rain forest". Part of the walk has a bridge that goes ove some water.

Elijah is showing a fish book he begged to take to school and read a page out of to his class.

The camera doesn't do it justice. The reflection off the leaves gave everything a golden glow. So beautiful.

Reflection of the trees in the water below the bridge

Just Chilling at Six Weeks

2010-11-01T15:28:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pictures I took of Benjamin today just hanging out in his feeding chair. By no means is he getting any food while sitting in this chair, those joys are yet to come, but Ben enjoys sitting in the chair and being part of all the action that goes on in our kitchen. He'll sit there contently for good stretches of time which is Convenient when I'm trying to cook or eat something myself. These pictures were taken before a tired -it's time for my nap- melt down.

I took a couple videos of him chilling but they wont load. Bummer. I'll try again later.

Sight Seeing with Family

2010-11-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

With Benjamin's arrival came a lot of visitors (well my mom and sisters were here before he got here). With Benjamin being such a good baby/eater and me feeling great physically, we headed out sight seeing while everyone was here. There really is so much to see in the area. It was hard to choose.

(These pictures are in no paticular order)

Mount Vernon, VA

We went to Mt. Vernon, which is a little over an hour south/west of us. It is a beautiful estate on the Potomac River. There really is a lot to see in addition to the house. Unfortunatly we went on a really hot and humid day and only spent a couple hours there. The museum in very interesting and I enjoyed seeing the house and walking in the rooms that George Washington lived in. We even got to see the key to the Bastille which Washington had hung in his foyer. They also had black smiths working at the forage and there was an actor in a little room playing Martha Washington. She just sat there and rambled and answered questions like she was Martha. We took the opprotunity to sit and listen to her and cool off while I discreetly nursed Ben (I LOVE my nursing cover). As we were leaving she noticed Ben and said he was "a well formed child." Anyway, she played her role well.

Rachel and Elijah standing amid statues of George, Martha and their grandchildren. Martha Washington was very short, under 5 feet tall.

Gettysburg, PA

We went to Gettysburg twice, once with my family and once with Josh's. The trip with my parents was really fast, we mostly drove around and saw the town and the battlegrounds. With the Strongs we went through the museum and drove around the grounds. The museum is worth paying for. You really get a good idea of what happened. The battlegrounds are very beautiful, especially during the Fall season. It is amazing the sacrafice that took place there to preserve freedom. It is a moving place to visit.

The gang sitting with Abe Lincoln outside the Gettysburg visitors center

Strong boys with Abe

Climbing Little Round Top

Dobbin House in Gettysburg. Was actually a stop on the underground railroad. They let us go in and see the nook where they stashed slaves.

Birthday cake icecream at Friendlys on the way home from Gettysburg. That stuff was SO blue.

The MALL/Smithsonians, Washington DC

We breezed through the National Gallery of Art. Not exactly a place for preschoolers but the boys were good. We made a point of seeing pieces by Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, and Vermeer among others. Absolutely breathtaking!

We also went in the National Air and Space Museum. Overall not my favorite of the Smithsonian museums. It was stuffy and stunk like rotting metal. There were some cool things to see though. I particularly like seeing the Spirit of St. Louis (because my grandma told me about when she went to see the plane fly into Saint Louis after its notorious flight) and the Wright Brother's plane.

Annopolis, MD

We actually got to touch the ocean, well via the Chesapeake bay. We went down to Annopolis to drive around. Yet another place were there is a lot to see but isn't particularly up a preschoolers alley. We ended up driving through some residential and found a little open space area that opend up onto the bay with a small stretch of beach. It was a beautiful day and a nice quite place to enjoy the view of the bay and all the boats out for the annual boat show. Sam was mesmorized with the water and the sand. He found a stick and started spelling his name in the sand.

Baltimore, MD

We went to the Baltimore aquarium again while Josh's parents were here too. Elijah and Sam were excited to see the dolphin show again. Unfortunatly Ben decided he wanted to eat more than watch the show so he and I missed it. The aquarium has a rainforest exhibit at the top and they have a sloth in among the trees. The day we were there he was rather active. I actually saw him sit up and eat something. I swear I took a picture of him but I can't find it. Oh well.

Anyway, all this travel happened in the first few weeks of Benjamin's life. He sure gets around for such a little guy. Thank you family for coming out. We really enjoyed having you here and exploring the area with you.

Mr Rogers

2010-10-30T19:37:00.001-06:00

Sam has discovered old Mr. Rogers video clips on pbskids.org. Remember when Mr. Rogers would go to his picture frame video screen and a video would start showing? Sam watches those old clips on how they make crayons, fortune cookies, guitars, shoes, etc. He watches them over and over and over... absorbing every step.

The other day Sam and I were making cookie dough together and he looks at the rubber spatula and starts to explain to me how they probably made the spatula, step by step like in the videos. That kid is a thinker.

*picture is Sam sporting Grammies reading glasses

Benjamin: 1 Month Old

2010-10-20T08:14:00.005-06:00

Has it really been a month already? In some ways it feels like Benjamin has been here forever but I look at him and I'm amazed that he is already one month old.

He went to the doctor Monday for his checkup. He weighed in at 11 lbs 13 oz! He gained over 2 pounds in three weeks. Evidence that he likes to eat, A LOT! His head is 40 cm and his length is 22.5 inches. Overall a growing, healthy baby.

Benjamin is a good little sleeper, especially during the day giving me time to keep a handle on things around the house. Just this week has started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night (as opposed the the normal 2-3 hours) so there is even hope for sanity at night!

Ben detests a binky. If you try and put one in his mouth he will give you a look of utter disgust and sometimes gag it out. Instead of calming him down it makes him even more mad. I'm not sure what to think of this. Both Elijah and Sam loved their binkies and I'm afraid I became dependent on them. I'm at a loss of what to do now that Ben refuses. I really hate the idea of being a Mommy binky. We'll see how this works out.

We did manage to get Ben to eat from a bottle. FREEDOM! This is important because I need him (and poor Josh) to be happy while I'm occupied with my Young Women's calling.

Benjamin likes to bounce. Often if he is fussy you can hold him vertical under his arms and bounce him and he will fall asleep. He has a bit of reflux/gas and much prefers to be in the vertical position when being held. He loves to hold your hands. It calms him down. He spits when he gets upset and is gearing up to cry. He loves to look at me through the mirror on the changing table and he enjoys hanging out in his diaper.

I took these pictures last night. I hate using my flash so I have to adjust my settings and play with my really poor lighting hense they are a bit blurry and sometimes grainy, minimal distractions when the subject is so darn cute!

Nursery Update: Tree Mural

2010-10-20T08:01:00.009-06:00

I had the wonderful opprotunity to decorate Benjamin's room with my Mother. I had been drooling over vinyl tree decals on the internet but ultimately we decided to paint a tree on the wall. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. I really enjoyed doing this project with my Mom, my best friend. I am grateful for her and her talents. I will always cherish the memory of us doing this together.

The tree is home to an owl, squirrel, blue bird, and a fox lives nearby. The cardinal is over the closet door on the otherside of the room.

There are a few more details I want to add. I have corner shelves that I plan to add to the trunk of the tree. That's Josh's part of the project ;) I also have a birdhouse to put a nightlight in to go on one of the shelves or hang by the tree. (Sorry Mom, I could resist sharing what we have done. The rest will happen, I promise :) )

Greatest Mission

2010-10-18T08:16:00.001-06:00

Benjamin Naim at 12 days old

"The greatest mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting spirits, our Father's spirit children who anxiously desire to come to dwell here in this mortal state. All the honor and glory that can come to men and women... is but a dim thing whose luster shall fade in comparison to the high honor, the eternal glory, the ever-enduring happiness that shall dcome to the woman who fulfils the first great duty and mission that devolves upon her to become the mother of the sons and daughters of God."

-Melvin J. Ballard

Monday Morning

2010-10-18T07:50:00.000-06:00

Last night Benjamin slept 5-6 hours without eating! Josh and I didn't fair so well. We were up often because we are used to feedings every 2-3 hours. But there is HOPE of more sleep in the near future!

Today is my second day home alone. Well, not really alone. It's just Sam, Benjamin and I. I was up early enough this mornign to get a shower and eat breakfast before Ben woke up. Everything was going rather smoothly despite Elijah dragging his feet about getting dressed. Then Ben wanted to eat and of course everything happens at once - ten minutes before we are supposed to leave for school.

Elijah's being squirrlly, half dressed.
Sam's upstairs pooping in the toilet yelling at me that he needs help.
I'm yelling back that I'm coming in just a minute.
And then the person coming today (between 8 and 1) to change our thermostat knocks on the door.

This sets Tilly off barking and whinning.
I have to stop feeding Ben.
Chase down the dog while holding a baby who needs to burp and is spittin up.
Put the baby down and drag the barking dog to her crate (while all this can be seen through my yet to be tinted front windows).
Answer the door and tell the lady that I have school drop off in 10 minutes.
She agrees to wait outside till I get back.
Run upstairs while yelling to Elijah to brush his teeth.
Wipe a bum.
Smack Elijah with the bathroom door because he is hiding behind it instead of brushing his teeth.
Remember the baby is still downstairs on the couch.
Put him in his carseat where he begins to cry.
Tie Elijah's shoes.
Rush everyone out the door and into the car while Elijah is trying to tell me a story about coloring an apple at school with his eyes closed.
Ben crys all the way to and from school.
He finally falls asleep as I'm carrying him in the door.
The lady promptly knocks on my door and is currently doing what she came to do while Sam watches and Ben thankfully is still sleeping in his carseat.

Phew! I think a nap is in order but as soon as I even sersiously concider sitting down and closing my eyes I know that Ben will be up wanting to finish his breakfast and something else is sure to happen.

Benjamin has his 4 week check up today. I can't believe it has been FOUR WEEKS. It has sure been a busy four weeks of family visiting and sight seeing. It has just flown by. I'm excited to get our family on a schedule now that things have died down a bit. Or am I just kidding myself?

More Pics of Benjamin

2010-10-08T11:59:00.000-06:00

Just a few of the many pictures of Benjamin.

Benjamin is HERE..

2010-10-08T11:53:00.001-06:00

and has been for almost three weeks! Sorry it's taken me this long to post about our big news. You probably guessed (or follow me on facebook) that Benjamin Naim was born September 18th. He weighed in at 9 lbs 15 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. Yes, a BIG healthy baby boy. He has chubby cheeks, large hands, long arms, brown hair (with his daddy's hair line) and big feet. Just an absolutely perfect little boy.

Delivery went smoothly and I would say he was my easiest yet. Recovery has been fabulous, physically I feel pretty good (and happily no longer pregnant!)

Benjamin is such a joy to have in our home. He is a sweet little man who loves to be held and cuddled. He is a zealous eater and makes sure he gets his eats o-f-t-e-n. (He has a big body to sustain afterall.) His brothers are very proud of him, especially Sam who came into the hospital room with his arms ready to hold his little brother.

Keeping Busy ... Still no baby.

2010-09-17T11:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm still hanging out and my bambino is proving stubborn and content to stay where he is. With the help of my mom, I've been keeping busy. In the last couple weeks we have gone to the Baltimore Aquarium, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Ikea (twice), Costco, finished a baby quilt, organized my main floor, spent a day doing quilts for two young women who lost their mother, working on the baby's afghan, emptied his room, set up the crib, and are currently preping it for paint.

Through all these activities I've had moments where I have been rather uncomfortable (the Aquarium expecially) but still no baby. Things looked promising at my appointment this morning. He's still head down and I'm dialated further. All I need are some good contractions then off to the hospital we go!

Here are some pics from the Aquarium. The boys absolutely loved it which is good because we got a membership. Their favorite was the dolphin show. I also really enjoyed the Jelly Fish exhibit.

Elijah in front of a sub outside the museum

Calypso- a rescued sea turtle that we all fell in love with. She was swimming in the tank with a ton of sting rays. She had to have her front flipper amputated when they rescued her.

Sam pointing out the baby upside down jellyfish

Cluster of Upside down Jellyfish

Ugh!

2010-09-01T07:54:00.002-06:00

I FEEL like there is a watermelon sitting on my bladder! I'm ready to be done.

Words a Mom likes to hear:

2010-08-22T17:59:00.002-06:00

Elijah at dinner tonight-

"Can I have more brussel sprouts, please?"

(And Papa, don't you dare tell him otherwise!)

Bath Time

2010-08-20T10:18:00.000-06:00

Last night Sam got thrown in the bath (see previous post for marker pictures, turns out his face wasn't the only part with marks). Tilly followed us up there and was looking rather interested in what was going on so we threw her in with Sam. Wasn't long before Elijah jumped in too. It's a cute bunch of buds.

I also had to get a picture of Tilly looking like a drowned rat. Her face is pretty scrawny when you wet down all her curly hair. Overall she doesn't seem to mind taking a bath. No fighting and trembling but she was in a hurry to get out of there and bolted out of the bathroom before we could get a towl around her.

My Curious George

2010-08-20T10:11:00.000-06:00

I'm ready to start sewing the baby's rag quilt but yesterday while I was resting someone [Sam] decided to "touch" my machine and when I sat down to sew some burp clothes later that afternoon my presser foot had magically disappeared. I'm still waiting for it to magically reappear. While looking for the foot I found that Sam had also taken scissors to a skein of embroidery floss and cut it into tiny clumps of thread.

Sam is very different than Elijah. He manages to get himself into so much mischief because he has to push all the boundaries. He is my curious George to the "T". He has been banned from unsupervised use of markers, scissors, hand sanitizer and baby wipes among other things. The kid just can't help himself.

Last night he came to Josh and I looking like this:

He's my darn cute bundle of trouble. Man, I love that kid!

36 weeks...

2010-08-20T10:03:00.001-06:00

Well, I've reached the 36 week threshold and I am FEELING 36 weeks -- Uncomfortable, but still going strong though a lot slower. I had my appointment this morning. Everything still checks out. I'm measuring on target, the baby's heart rate is good, he's head down, and I'm already measuring 1 cm. Everything is lining up for this baby to get here, physicaly. I've just got to get everything else in my life lined up too.

Josh has his 9/80 day today (which means he has work off) and he has a LONG list of things to do. My main goal is to find the floor in the bedroom my sisters will be staying in and get the downstairs shower curtain up so they can actually use the bathroom. Lots of work to do for Josh (while I sit here blogging)!

The "Coolest Thing" They've Ever Seen

2010-08-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week our neighbor across the street had a company come a cut down one of his trees. We're talking a BIG tree. The diameter at the base was probably close to 2 feet. It took 5-6 guys about as many hours to get it cut into pieces and most of it mulched to tiny bits. It was really an interesting process involving one guy up in the tree and many others manning ropes from below.

Anyway, they pulverized most of the tree that same day but left two large sections of the trunk in the front yard until yesterday when a big truck came to get them. The truck is what totally fascinated the boys. It had a huge orange claw that picked up the tree trunks and delicately placed them on the bed of the truck. The boys were glued to the window (with it's newly installed blinds, I might add). They were very excited about it and repeatedly commented that it was the coolest thing they have ever seen. Sadly the show didn't last that long. In nothing flat the logs were in place and the truck was on it's way.

(Sam is under his still beloved blanket, "BB". He was pretending it was his long beautiful hair when the truck show began. I've tried stashing the blanket but he always realizes when it's gone and hunts for it. Silly kid.)

Nursing Cover

2010-08-19T12:28:00.001-06:00

I've got projects piling up in various stages of completion. Last night Josh had a boys' game night with friends in the ward and I sat down to sew my nursing cover.

I found various tutorials online and combined a few of them for my end result. My favorites were these two:

Sew Much Ado: Nursing Cover Tutorial

Pinkatilly Nursing Cover Pattern

I found the cute fabric at JoAnn's along with the 1/2" polyester boning and 1" D rings. I also used some left over brown flannel to make a triangle pocket in one corner.

I made the overall dimensions bigger than those given in either tutorial. The width is from selvage to selvage and for the length I think I did 28". I bought a yard of fabric and had some left over.

Overall it came together rather easily and for about $8.00 I have my own nursing cover. I'm excited!

Eaten Alive

2010-08-17T10:57:00.000-06:00

I am feeling overly loved of late... by MOSQUITOS!

They must love the way I taste because I am getting eaten alive everyday, throughout the day. I go outside with Matilda 3-4 times a day (her potty training has been going great) for about 5 minutes and I always come in and find that I have at least 2 new bites. The worst is when they follow me into the house and bite me when I'm eating dinner or sitting at the computer. ARgh! The first hour or so after I'm bitten is maddening trying to ignore the itching burn. After that they stop bothering me and disappear but that first little while drives me nuts! I've started spraying myself down in the morning with bug spray but they still manage to find a spot I missed. These aren't your average Utah mosquitos either, they are a little bit bigger and are black and white striped. The annoying thing, which is also good, is that they don't seem to be attracted to anyone else. Josh never gets bit or at least his body doesn't react and the boys aren't outside a lot. When they are out Elijah is like Josh and doesn't get much attention but I think they are more attracted to Sam.

Oh the joy of Maryland and it's natural inhabitants aka pluthera of BUGS!

Masterpieces

2010-08-17T07:43:00.001-06:00

Okay, this post is long overdue. The boys painted these back in June for their room and for Josh for Father's Day. They've been floating around since then and I finally broke down and took pictures of them. Elijah and Sam were sure excited to paint on the special "paper." They each drew a rough draft of their picture on paper first and then they painted it on the canvas. They were very serious about the whole process.

Elijah's Masterpieces:

He chose to paint a rocket for his bedroom. He designed and painted it all by himself.

For Josh he painted a picture of them together. Again all by himself including the star and the heart and five fingers.

Sam's Masterpieces:

Sam painted a "Cleaner" Robot for his bedroom. This painting just makes me smile!

For Josh he painted a picture of himself (yellow) and another robot.

Puppy Love

2010-08-13T08:47:00.001-06:00

We haven't been doing much this month, and I haven't taken a lot of pictures. But I have caught a few of Matilda in her cute puppiness.

Sam can be a bit physical with Tilly but I often catch him being really sweet with her too. She was laying on the floor and Sam went and cuddled up with her and is watching a movie. Pretty sweet.

Tilly has adopted our old brown chair. It sits in front of our big sliding glass door/window. She will sit on it looking over the arm rest and watch our neightbors. You will also often find her sleeping in it.

Often in the most random positions. Oh what a care free life.

I also had to snap this picture of Josh and Matilda. When I did it he made some remark about using it for blackmail. Josh really is sweet on that puppy. That are a cute duo not to mention he is a handsome man!

Panic/Survival Mode

2010-08-13T08:39:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty much running on survival mode right now. I can't really comprehend that this baby will be here in a matter of weeks. I'm 6ish weeks out from my due date and I wouldn't be surprised if he came 2 weeks early like Sam. But I've been so preoccupied and busy that I really haven't had a chance to do anything but panic a little that this baby will be here soon and be excited that my mother is coming into town.

I'm scared to think that in the next couple weeks Elijah will start Kindergarten. I'm throwing him into the world. My sweet innocent spounge is getting thrown into a den full of other little boys and girls that I don't know and I can't filter what he will hear and learn. AHhhh! Not only that but I'm actually accountable to get him there everyday, ontime. That means I actually have to pull together a morning routine. No more lazing around when there's nothing on the schedule for the day. On top of that I AM HAVING A BABY! I know what babies do to my morning routines. I know how I feel/function (more like not function) when I haven't gotten enough sleep. I'm crazy to be doing this at the same time. Thank goodness my mother will be here! At least I know Elijah will get to school ontime the first month and hopefully that will be enough time for me to get my act together.

In the meantime I'm busy getting projects together for the baby, finding the baby's room, busy with YW's, planning Young Women in Excellence, keeping up on laundry and dishes, and trying to be patient with my restless boys.

Phew... I think it's time for a nap.

It's been HOT

2010-08-13T08:26:00.001-06:00

I think Tilly's got the right idea... Sprawl out on the air vent.

We've had record heat this month. A lot of 90 degree days with high humidity. It's been killer. Needless to say we have been spending A LOT of time indoors. The boys have been restless and I've had little energy to entertain them. We are SO looking forward to Grammie, Aunt Bekah and Aunt Rachel coming to visit!

They grow SO fast

2010-07-16T08:07:00.001-06:00

We've had Matilda for a month now. She has just fit right into our family. We all love having her around. She is quite entertaining and frequently makes us laugh. We are still working on the biting, which is getting a lot better, and the potty training... Generally she just makes us all happy, including my proclaimed "non-dog person" husband.

Josh spends his early mornings with Tilly. Lets her out of her crate, feeds her, takes her out, wrestles with her, and they have started jogging together. It's pretty cute to listen in on their activities. Tilly is very fond of Josh and I would be hard pressed to believe he doesn't recipricate. She even pitched in to help him on his Home Theater Computer. They are a cute duo.

Tilly's growing like a weed! It's amazing how fast that happens. I'd guess she is close to 11lbs now and we've had to loosen her collar. I think she will eventually end up bigger than we thought/were told, but I have no regrets. I think she's a perfect fit for our family.

She can sit, fetch, release her toys, go IN, and "go out" meaning potty. She's a smart girl when you can keep her focused long enough to care. She loves playing with the boys. They run around the main floor and Tilly chases the boys cutting corners and surprising them and barking. It makes for a pretty crazy house (my mom with vouch to that, she's heard it over the phone) and very funny to watch. She likes ice cubes and will bat them around the floor and chew on them. She also has radar for Bunny and Brownie, Elijah and Sam's precious stuffed animals. She knows she's not supposed to but whenever she gets a chance she will run off with them but easily surrenders them. Tilly will also bat around egg shell halves and carry them in her mouth, often covering her nose. Pretty funny to watch.

Tilly will crawl under the couch on the main floor (our old love seat from our college days - WEIRD to say that!). She will pop out and jump at the boys. I don't know how much longer she will be able to get under there. It's becoming a tight squeeze.

Cute Kids

2010-07-16T07:39:00.000-06:00

My posts lately have been about random things but I thought I needed to throw a picture in of my two biggest responsibilities. They keep me busy and fill my days (mostly) with love. My boys are such goofy kids who just love life (and are loving having a puppy in the house).

Toad

2010-07-16T07:35:00.000-06:00

I came home from YW's last night to find this on the table in one of our drinking glasses:

Apparently the boys were out with Josh and Tilly last night and Elijah found and caught this little guy all by himself. Josh and I were pretty impressed. Elijah wanted to keep it in the cup so I could see it when I got home then we let it go outside. I need all the misquito eaters out there I can get. They are sure bitting!

Earthshake

2010-07-16T07:21:00.001-06:00

This morning we were awakened early by the house shaking. Yep, I have officially experienced my first EARTHQUAKE! I find it ironic.

Anyway, apparently it was a minor 3.6 magnitude quake. It didn't even wake up the boys and Josh and I woke up long enough to wonder what was going on then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Apparently Washington DC has had minor earthquakes in the past but this morning's was the strongest to hit within 30 miles of DC since they started keeping records (1974).

Pretty crazy!

See Usspost for an article on the quake.
There's also a cool seismic activity picture on the Maryland Geological Survey website but it is being really really slow loading right now.

Nursery Brainstorming

2010-07-13T12:34:00.000-06:00

I've been surfing and drooling at baby stuff online for a few months now (okay 7). There is a ton of cute stuff out there made by such talented people. When I found out we were having a boy that limited everything by two-thirds but I am still excited about the possibilities.

This is the first time that I have had full freedom to decorate a nursery. After much hee-hawing I've decided to do a woodland theme. Granted I still haven't actually done anything but I do have a good idea of what I want to happen... eventually. (In all reality some of it is not likely to come together until my talented and motivated mother gets here. I love you Mom!)

I have plans to make a quilt for the crib as well as crochet an afghan (which I did for Sam and Elijah). I would also love to do a crib skirt and possibly crib sheets. Ambitious, I know.

As for decor, basically I'm leaning toward the colors orange, brown, blue, warm yellow, and lime green. I've also always been attracted to owls and trees. (Okay, so it seems the room is all for me.) I think the wall color will either be a robin blue (not baby blue) or a warm yellow. I keep changing my mind though. A mossy green would be nice too.

So here are pictures of ideas that I like. Let me know what you think.

I want to do a tree mural on the wall, either vinyl, painted or mod podged. I think the little bird house light on the tree is adorable. I also like the branches used for wall decor and for the mobiles and the ball lamp with honey bees wrapped around it.

I've also started crocheting some of my ami critters. I've got an owl and part of a hedgehog so far.

I've also been drooling over things on etsy. Mostly fabric and project ideas. Here's a list of some of my favorites.

What do you think? Am I nuts? Do you have any ideas to add? I would love to hear your feedback.

Slave vs Mom

2010-07-13T06:33:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Elijah watched some episodes of the show Liberty Kids. My mom (and sisters) recommended it and when I saw it at the library I picked it up. It's a cartoon series that goes through the events surrounding the American Revolution and supposedly it is rather accurate. Anyway, Elijah was glued (and I happily took a nap hence I can't give my personal opinoin) and apparently some of the content stuck with him...

Last night as we were settling down for FHE Elijah asks "What is a slave?"
I told him it was someone that is owned by someone else who has to work for them, isn't paid and can't leave if they want to.
He quickly processed that and responded, "Like you, Mommy."

Umm, well... not exactly.

Living in Maryland

2010-07-12T09:50:00.004-06:00

My observations:

Trees, Trees, TREES (and more trees)
Humidity- UGH!
I really like my house
Rain does not make it cooler outside
I would hate to learn how to drive on these freeways
There doesn't seem to be a "Maryland" accent
Grocery stores are small, lacking in selection, and expensive
No Super Target or Super Walmart (closest is 30+ minutes away)
You can't see the sunset
Close to loads of things to see including historical sites
Josh is enjoying his job
No one has sprinkler systems, they let their grass die (go dormant) in the summer
Love the variety of birds in my yard
You have to drive on a freeway to get most anywhere

Seems like I am forgetting some that have been floating around in my head. I'll update my list as they come to me.

Hitting the Ball

2010-06-19T07:44:00.003-06:00

While in Utah at my parents house the boys played baseball with Papa. I was surprised they both were actually able to hit the ball and they got to where they could hit it fairly well. Elijah and Sam LOVED it and everyone else also had a good time. I got some of it on video. Sam is especially funny because he would face the pitcher and you would tell him to turn his side to the pitcher and he would always do a 3/4 turn the opposite direction to do it.

Cute Chefs

2010-06-19T07:28:00.000-06:00

The boys were "cooking" for their friends Ginger (Elijah's stuffed bunny) and Brownie (Sam's stuffed horse)the other day and I couldn't resist getting their pictures. Elijah even had a tiny little chocolate cupcake mustache to complete the look and I love how his curls stick out of his hat.

Meet Matilda

2010-06-19T07:21:00.000-06:00

We have had a new addition to our family; a FEMALE addition.

Full Name: Matilda Strong

Short Name: Tilly (very important to Sam)

Birthdate: April 17, 2010

Adoption Date: June 16, 2010

Breed: Standard Schnauzer

Color: Salt and Pepper

Current Weight: 7.2 lbs

I've been drooling over dogs for a long time. I've gone back and forth about timing and whether to get one from a shelter or a breeder, etc. I've been watching craigslist for months and looking at breeders in the area. I seriously considered getting a puppy when I was in Utah and saw the most adorable miniture schnauzer puppies. When Matilda's post came up on craigslist this week I jumped on it we went to see her, fell in love and brought her home. I haven't regretted!

She is a sweet, spunky little girl. She can be really mellow and cuddly and she also loves to play. She's very smart and is already showing good results with potty training. She's good with the boys, who love her and pray for her, though still gets a little excited and when she gets excited she likes to bite a bit. Something we are working on. Josh has been SUPER cute with her. She adores him and I'm convinced he recipricates. Matilda keeps tabs on Josh when he is home and follows him around. Overall Tilly has fit right into the family. I think we are all happy about the addition.

She came crate trained. Hightly recommend crate training with a puppy!!! She is content to spend time in her crate, it has really helped with potty training, and she sleeps through the night (though she is ready to go out early). With the crate, she is only allowed acces to the house when we know she is not likely to go potty and when I can watch her closely thus limiting the accidents in quantity and area (most have been on my wood floors which makes for easy clean up).

It's hard to get pictures of her because as soon as you try and get her attention she comes bounding at you to give you loves. I did manage to get a few. (I think it's kind of cute that instead of red-eye the flash makes her eyes blue.)

Cute Little Bambino

2010-05-14T12:26:00.001-06:00

I did double duty with doctor's visits today. One was my normal prenatal appointment the other was an echo sonogram to check the baby's heart. Everything checks out. Bambino is a healty, active boy that weighs in at about 1 lb 3 oz.

I love his cute little nose and lips.

Never Again

2010-05-13T09:18:00.001-06:00

The boys and I went to the mall yesterday to check out a Gymberee sale (clearance + 30%off). I found some cute things for bambino #3 and a few things for the boys for school next year.

Anyway, while we were at the mall we passed the Motherhood Maternity store. I've been looking for a cute, cool dress to wear this summer and decided I'd brave it real quick with the boys.

Never Again.

Thank goodness we were the only ones in the store and that the sole clerk was busy on the phone or I would have been TOTALLY embarassed.

While I was checking out the sale racks Sam was checking out the nursing bras and exclaiming "Mom, you have one of these!" and of course wouldn't stop touching them all when I noticed what he was doing. Then, despite the signs, I decided to try on a couple dresses. I herded the boys into the dressing room while Elijah complained "Are we going to see you naked?" -um... NO. I tried on a dress over my undershirt and pants and Elijah innocently says "That doesn't look good Mom." I agreed but not sure I needed him announcing it. Meanwhile Sam is keeping himself busy licking the mirror.

All of this might have been worth it if I had found something I liked, but no such luck. The search goes on and next time I will do it without my two little shadows.

Feeling the Love

2010-05-10T15:29:00.000-06:00

Josh and the boys worked hard to make my Mother's Day a special day. I got to sleep in a bit while they made pancakes for breakfast using this:

(well they attempted, we were having some plug issues. It did get used later for dessert though)

We all got to go to church together and I got to wear this that Elijah picked out especially for me because "he loves me and it is my favorite color"

Elijah went up with the Primary and sang two Mother's Day songs (He was the cutest kid singing up there, but I might just be partial). We came home and made smoothies with this which Sam proudly presented to me, again in my favorite color

We had steak, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner and topped the day off with brownies, strawberries and icecream. Overall a sweet day spent with the most wonderful men in the world. Without them I wouldn't be who I am, a much loved mother.

Sam's Rainbow

2010-05-10T14:56:00.001-06:00

Sam is often found with a crayon or marker in his hand. He is constantly filling papers, often papers that are not his (bills, Elijah's artwork), with letters and drawings. This was one of his first pictures that filled the whole page and was a complete scene. Sam was very proud of it. The picture has a blue sky, yellow sun, rainbow, bridge, river, grass, and grammie and Sam.

Cute Boys

2010-05-10T14:49:00.001-06:00

Josh's sisters had the idea to give Grandma Strong a photo collage of all her grandkids for Mother's Day. I went to my photo files looking for cute pictures of the boys and came up empty handed. Needless to say it is time to have some new ones professionally done but I was able to get the boys to cooperate and let me take their pictures on Saturday.

I can say I have pretty cute kids!

Getting pictures of these boys is challenging. When you tell Elijah to smile he gives you some kind of grimmace and when you tell him to look at the camera he will turn his head but his eyes are almost always looking somewhere else. Sam is just plain goofy doing cheezy grins, sticking his tongue out, doing funny things with his eyes. Lets just say they are a fun couple kids that make life crazy enjoyable.

Uno

2010-05-10T14:38:00.000-06:00

I came downstairs this morning to find my boys huddled around the coffee table doing this:

We have been playing a lot of Uno lately. Sam especially likes it. He will ask Josh to play and Josh will try to put him off but Sam won't take No for an answer and Josh is great at giving in.

Both Elijah and Sam completely understand the rules and are able to play by themselves with very little help. Elijah manages to hold all his cards in his hands but Sam lays them all out on the table. The boys do really well at holding their own and often they win. Elijah is very competitive and has had struggles with completing some games because it's not going his way. He is really sweet though and always appologizes when he plays a card that makes me draw a card. He's not so nice to Josh and Sam.

It's pretty exciting that the boys are getting old enough to play games that are actually entertaining to their parents. We proudly start our gamers young!

Baby's First Picture

2010-05-02T13:32:00.000-06:00

Life's been chugging along here in Maryland. I keep thinking about blogging, even take pictures specifically for posts, but just haven't felt like it. Sorry! I have an extra special picture to share and hopefully it will get the blog juices productivly flowing again.

Monday all of us (Elijah and Sam included) headed down to Maternal Fetal Medicine for my 20 wk ultrasound. With the move (twice) I didn't get to an OB early on in my pregnancy and this was the first ultrasound I've had of our little bambino. Also because of some family history I get to have extra detailed ultasounds which was really interesting for Josh and I but the boys soon tired of the black blob on the screen. I think their questions, particularly Elijah's, started to annoy the technician Well, everything checked out, it's officially a healthly looking baby with a darn cute profile that they guessed to weigh about 12 oz.

Even more interesting... it's a baby BOY! Yep, number three. It still hits me sometimes that I'm going to be the mother of THREE boys and stops my heart for a moment. Oh MY! Thank goodness for the gospel and Josh-- I know I don't have to handle it all alone.

Now I get to start planning the nursery. I've started drooling over fabric (trying to ignore all the adorable girl prints) and plotting a quilt and colors. There's a lot to be done before this bambino makes his debue.

Lions

2010-04-09T16:30:00.000-06:00

Sam and I were looking at animal flash cards today and a picture of a male lion came up. I asked Sam what it was and he answered "Lion". I said yes and and added that it was a "daddy lion."

Sam then said, using a lot of body language and hand motions, "a daddy-lion is something that grows out of the ground."

Hooked

2010-04-02T07:31:00.000-06:00

Sam and Josh went grocery shopping and Sam was able to pick out some of the cereal. Apparently Elijah approved of Sam's choice because shortly after breakfast this morning he said to Josh:

"I'm trying to focus.. focus and not think about that cereal because, man, I am hooked!"

My Artists

2010-03-30T16:10:00.000-06:00

Elijah does most of his art fresh out of his head. He has an amazing imagination. I'm constantly coming across something he drew and saying "Wow!". I found a couple more pictures of his that I had set aside:

This one I just came across and was wow-ed. When I caught him later and asked what it was he said it was a puzzle. You were supposed to look at the picture and the items in the circles and check the one that was missing in the picture. The circles are: bones (with the check), heart, blood (notice it is blue and red), and brain. I don't know where he came up with that. He's seen it in some of our books but those have been packed away for months. Yeah, I don't know... it just blows me away.

This one is a picture of a Chickadee (as written up top) that Elijah copied the features from a photo online. Elijah came to me one morning and said we should go outside and look for chickadees in our trees. I asked him what a chickadee looked like, he didn't know so we looked it up online. We ended up on a cool website that had photos and recordings of their sounds. Elijah then trotted off and decided to draw a chickadee picture and then wrote about it underneath. "Small blackcapped with black bib. Habitat is trees and shurbs"

Meanwhile, I'm writting this post and Sam has cozied up on the chair and fell asleep. I guess he aproves.

Art Show

2010-03-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

I mentioned earlier that the boys have been doing A LOT of coloring. I've taken pictures of some of my favorites that they did while we were in our temporary apartment. There are many more floating around the house that I'll have to snap pictures of.

Sam holding hands with Grammie and Papa by Sam

(he put the first letters of their names under each. Sam's "S" until recently was a scribble)

Sam holding hands with Grandma and Grandpa by Sam

Spring picture by Elijah

Sonic flying through the air by Elijah

Olympic rings and flags by Elijah

Lilly flower and Bird by Elijah

Look what I've got!

2010-03-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

FLOWERS!

Spring is popping up all over here. Many of the trees are starting to bloom and there are flowers blooming all over including in MY yard! I've never been able to say that before. The yard in general is a BIG mess. There are sticks, nuts, bricks and glass all over the place not to mention the entire thing is mud. But we do have one bright spot, there's a group of dafadils blooming outside my window.

Today I also welcomed so new friends into my house. They plan on staying a good long while and I think they will make our house a lot more cozy.

They are actually our FIRST ever furniture purchase from an actual furniture store. Up until now all of our furniture has been from garage sales, friends, family or purchased from Walmart and Target. It also means that these cost a lot more that any things else we've ever bought (house and cars excluded). The room needs a little (lot) of tweeking still but I like them a lot! As you can see they are red. The fabric is a textured striped microfiber fabric and the sofa is a queen sleeper. Hear that?!? We now have a bed for GUESTS! Any takers? The rest of the house is a mess but I have somewhere for you to sleep. The only cost is to unpack a few boxes while you're here. :)

We've (well actually it has almost all been Josh) have also been painting the boys bedroom. The boys picked out an "apple" green which is technically called asparagus. I really like the color and can't wait until we can get their room pulled together. We're looking for a bunk bed to go in there along with an Ikea Expedit bookshelf and a dresser.

Okay, the picture doesn't do the paint color justice. It's an almost electric green. There is a lot of intensity to it. The boys love it and I'm very happy with the color. Now that we've gotten our feet wet with the painting we are getting ready to tackle the big main floor room and the family room down stairs (with the couches). Oh boy oh boy!

Drowning

2010-03-25T07:27:00.000-06:00

I'm drowning in a lot of things right now one of them being GUILT for not blogging in a while so here I am having avoided it for long enough.

A lot has been going on in the past month. The big thing is we closed on our house on February 26th and moved in March 1st. The move went very smoothly, Josh and Elijah supervised the movers while I was at the apartment trying to get our suitcases packed and the apartment cleaned. Keep in mind that all of this was happening while I was drowning in NAUSEA which really just complicated everything on my part. On top of all that I came down with bronchitis our first week in the house. Not a great mix with the nausea -- at all.

We are very happy to be in our house. Josh has been drowning with little IMPROVEMENTS around the house like door stops, toilet paper holders, curtain rods, blinds, etc. He's got a list to keep him busy for months. Oh the joy of home ownership! The big thing for us to attack is the yard. Right now it's a muddy mess. (Thankfully we aren't drowning in actual water with that one) We might need to call in professional reinforcements for that project. It feels a bit over our head.

I'm also drowning in PREGNANCY HORMONES. You heard me right. The nausea is "morning sickness" and though it isn't fun there will eventually be a positive outcome from it. (I'm finally starting to feel a bit better) The hormones are also making me very scatter brained, I have a hard time concentrating and remembering things. The hormones, resulting nausea, and bronchitis have sucked away all motivation to unpack thus I am drowning in BOXES, still even three weeks later. And the boxes I have managed to unpack, out of pure necessity mind you, have me drowing in pounds of PAPER that the movers used to wrap every item we own.

I'm drowning in LONELINESS missing my family and friends out West. Our ward here is massive and has made getting to know people difficult and slow. I imagine once we get settled a bit more the loneliness will receed a bit. I hope.

I'm also drowning in the POSSIBILITIES for our house. We came here with little furniture so I am pretty much starting from scratch. Not only do I get to actually paint my walls (!) I get to actually spend money on furniture (!!). I'm feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities and decisions that I have to back up with a good chunk of change. It is all exciting though and I think I'm getting it figured out. At least we have started looking at furniture and I have found some stuff I like... now I just have to committ.

Well, that seems like a pretty good list. Things are going well. The boys are happy and have kept themselves occupied with a ream of paper, markers, and a paper airplane book (most of the toys are still packed. I'm hopeful to go through them and weed them down while they are off the boys radar.) Thus I'm drowning in ART WORK and paper planes. Elijah is reading more and more and Sam is constantly asking about letters and their sounds. Josh is enjoying his job and goes off happily to work every day. He's been the one holding us all together (and feeding us for a while there) and I am drowning in LOVE for that wonderful man who has put up with a lot these last few months.

I guess overall I'm just drowning in CHANGE, a lot of change. I look forward to the dust settling because these are a lot of exciting changes and I'm ready to sit back and enjoy them.

You know it's time for bed when...

2010-02-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Your three year old suddenly starts crying and when asked what is wrong wails, "I have a ooggie!" And when you respond by saying, "It's okay... I'll get a tissue," he wails back at you "It's NOT okay!"

First order of business...

2010-02-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

The closing on the house was a piece of cake! Other than signing our name another 100 times and munching on chocolate it was rather painless and I came out with a hand full of keys to *OUR* house. I literally have about 10 keys that go to the house which is a bit insane.

The first order of business with the house was to buy a shovel for the snow. The owner/real estate agent had shoveled a narrow tunnel down the driveway in order to get the appraiser in but we had to clear the rest in preperation for the movers tomorrow. It's pretty crazy that we own a house... with a driveway!

I also went to IKEA last night with a friend to buy some window coverings. It's nice to start with a clean slate but it also means I have to commit to things NOW, like what color of curtains to buy so that we aren't on dispaly for our neighbors. I'm not very good at committing. Thank you Anna (not my sis) for coaching me and holding my hand! Now the challenge is for Josh to actually get them hung.

Background on the/my House

2010-02-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

It occured to me last night while I couldn't sleep that I didn't give much information about the house. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but they were small and a bit confusing.

The house is a 1970 split-level in an older established neighborhood with mature trees including a bunch on our lot. Last year the house went into forclosure and was bought by a real estate investor who completely renovated it and put it back on the market. All the flooring, paint, doors, windows, lighting, appliances, granite counters, furnace, etc are brand new which is rare in a home in our price range. I'm very excited to have a clean slate to start with. Another thing that really was appealling about the house were the schools. I have heard nothing but good things about the elementary school which is within walking distance of the house.

As for the layout, the main level is completely open. When you enter the front door there are stairs down to the family room and up to the bedrooms on your right. The kitchen sink and refrigerator are on the left on the same wall as the front door, there is a back door to the carport by the fridge, and the stove is on that far left wall. Directly across the room from the front door is a massive sliding door that opens to the deck and backyard. I love all the large windows in the house (once I tackle all the window coverings). All of them are practically floor to ceiling.

By far the biggest challenge for this house will be STORAGE. There is practically none and I've been aware of this from the beginning. It's going to take a lot of planning and creativity to solve but I'm excited for the challenge.

Final Walk Throuh Complete

2010-02-25T09:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we all went to THE house -OUR HOUSE- for the final walk through before closing ToMoRrOw. Other than a lot of snow still in the driveway the house looked perfect and I am getting so excited that it is going to be ours.

We had told Sam that we were going to our house, and he had been there before when we did the inspections last month, but when we got inside he came up to me and told me with a concerned look that the house was Patrick's (our real estate agent). The poor kid is so confused. For a while he kept thinking that our house was going to be next to Grammies house, now our house is Patrick's, and I'm afraid what's going to happen when we have to switch wards again.

The kids were right at home running amuck in an empty house. The quickly took off their socks and shoes. A while later we heard them yelling somewhere in the house, nothing out of the ordinary but it went on long enough that Josh eventually went to check it out.. He found the boys stuck in one of the closets together. Apparently they weren't distressed about being stuck but Elijah accusingly asked if we had heard them yelling and why we didn't come to help. Hmm... I wonder why?

Anyway, enough babble. I've got more pictures to share. (They were taken pretty quickly beause I forgot my spare battery charging at home so some of them aren't very good.)

View from front door with sliding door in back and the front door with stairs down to FR

Kitchen bar with dinning area in corner and view from sliding door

Lower level family room

Master Bedroom with double doors and lower level bedroom

Other two upstairs bedrooms

I've got so many plans buzzing around in my head. I can't wait to actually spend some real time in the house plotting it all out. First things to tackle are the window coverings!

The Melting Pot Experience

2010-02-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Josh's birthday. To celebrate we were able to go out for a quiet evening together. We had some generous friends offer to watch the boys for us and we were off. We had heard about the restaurant The Melting Pot while we lived in Colorado but never took the opprotunity to go. Apparently they are a chain and there is a Melting Pot here in Columbia. The Melting Pot serves fondue and it turned out to be a fun, though rather expensive, experience.

The atmosphere was very intimate. The tables were secluded and the lighting dim. Each table has its own heat plate intigrated into the surface and the food is mixed and cooked right there in front of you.

We started with a cheese fondue. We chose the spinach and artichoke fondue. The waiter/chef comes out with a tray of ingredients and proceeds to mix our cheese right there. He made it look SO simple and it was really good. The ingredients he used were chicken broth, minced garlic, chopped spinach and artichoke hearts, and cheese (some white soft cheese) grated. He mixed that all in the pot (double boiler) then added a bit of parmesan cheese (fine grate) and a titch of tabasco sauce. The cheese fondue came with bread cubes, tortilla chips, apples, celery, carrots, and califlower to dip.

Our dinner consisted of a broth mix and a platter of raw meat. The broth started with a chicken (maybe it was vegetable) broth base and they added some fresh orange juice, fresh lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. The meat platter was a wide array of options including lobster, shrimp, chicken, brautwerst, and steak- all raw. There was also a vegetable platter that included broccoli, red potatos, and mushrooms. They also provided us with 7-8 different little dishes of dips. The idea was to stab the raw meat and place it in the broth -that was at a rolling boil- and leave it in there for 2-3 minutes until it was cooked then dip it in one of the sauces and eat it. It was a really fun way to cook and eat your dinner! My favorite dip was one that had sour cream, cream cheese, chives and maybe garlic in it. It was super yummy on the vegetables.

Dessert consisted of chocolate fondue - of course! We got the turtle mixture which was chocolate, carmel, and pecans. The dippers included strawberries, pound cake (white and chocolate), rice krispie treats, bananas, and marshmallows. (Sweet memories!)

I'm going to be keeping my eye out for a fondue pot and figure out how to do all this at home! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed my evening with the birthday boy. Happy Birthday, my love! I love you so much!

Toys worth having for a LONG time

2010-01-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

A lot of thought went into what were were going to bring in our suitcases to Maryland to live with for these first two months while our apartment is in storage. A good amount of room was set aside for toys. Toys are my sanity! They are also a big investment. So far we have been surviving well on what I was able to pack into our suitcases but tonight I got to thinking about what toys we own that stand out to me and why. Most of them had one or more of the following qualities:

Durability- something that doesn't break or come apart easily is a must for mommy's sanity and pocket book;
Creativity- has more than one use and allows the boys to use their imagination in different ways;
Longevity- I want a toy that we will go to again and again that also interest multiple age groups (me included).

Here is my list (what comes to mind right now) and suggestions on where to find them. I would love to know what toys you have that fit one or more of the above qualities. Please share!

Kid K'nex - don't confuse them with K'nex which is geared toward the older crowd with LOTS of tiny pieces (and are also pretty cool, we have the dinosaur set). Kid K'nex is the younger brother. They are bulkier, sturdier, and very versitile. They stick together easily and aren't frustrating for Sam (3 yrs) to put together and take apart by himself. There are a plethura of different kinds of sets, each with their own set of instructions. They come with quirky creative pieces in addition to the standard pieces. Elijah is notorious for making guns, swords and aliens; can you tell he is five? Kid K'nex are great toys to get second hand because the are so durable. I got most of my Kid K'nex at a consigment store or garage sales. You can also find them at your local stores though the selection is very limited. You can see more at Kid K'nex's website. (I am not familiar with the new blocks sets)
Fisherprice GeoTrax- If your boy loves trains these are totally the way to go (sorry Thomas wood trains, you don't even compare). Again very durable with so many options. You can make a different track every time you get it out. The options are endless. The electric trains are also really nice though they do take 6 (yes SIX) AAA batteries each. Older kids 4+ can build their own tracks without help from mom (yay!) though I've found that building the track is actually a fun mental challenge. GeoTrax can be a bit pricy but because they are so durable they are another toy that is excellent second hand. Consignment stores are likely your best bet. Also watch http://www.craigslist.com/ or http://www.ebay.com/ for local sales.
Legos and Lego Duplo- depending on the age of your child these are a staple building block to have. We are just getting into the standard sized legos and Elijah is eating them up (not literally, he is 5). Legos call back to my own childhood and my sisters (10 and 12) are even still playing with the legos I grew up with. Legos don't die! Plus the creative possibilites are endless! Duplos are the bigger blocks for smaller hands but their size doesn't limit the creative possibilites. New Lego sets are nice in that the come with instructions for the kids to study and follow. You can also find patterns online. Buying secondhand is the economical way to do it though you will find that legos maintain their value. Garage sales are a good bet. Always keep your eyes out for them, you will not regret it.
Wii- I know, I know... it's a video game system not a toy but right now it has saved me many a painful afternoon and it is something we enjoy playing. Our family focuses on games that are multi-player and are active. Many of the games teach sharing, turn taking, rules and mechanics of sports, thinking, team playing, etc... So maybe one paticular game doesn't fall under my list of qualities but the system itself is ingenious and not completely pointless fun.

Limbo

2010-01-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

I thought being in Limbo was a familiar feeling as we tredged through last year with job searches and graduation, but that had nothing on the limbo I am feeling now.

Everything worked really smoothly to get us here to Maryland and I am ever so grateful for that. Josh's job is paying for us to live in temporary housing while we work on getting into a house. They have us covered for the first 60 days of room and board. This is a pretty nice set up and is saving us money but has proven to come with some unforseen "costs". We pulled up our roots in Colorado and because we are in temporary housing I have yet to be able to really put our roots back down. It's an aweful feeling. I don't know if, where or when to put the boys in preschool, I'm afraid I'm getting attached to our ward, I haven't changed my address with anyone (it's all just getting forwarded), I'm excited about our house but afraid to get too attached in case it doesn't end up working out, etc... I'm pretty much just existing and living off of high calorie restaurant food. Blehh! I'm going to have to break down and stock the kitchen.

I kept saying if I could make it through graduation and the move all would be good. Well, now I'm saying if I can make it through to the end of February... I wonder what it will be next.

Could it really happen?

2010-01-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've had a few questions about our house hunting process. It is quite a rollar coaster! Housing prices are quite a shock coming from Utah and Colorado. We finally found a house we like and just recently got our contract ratified. Inspections were done today and everything seems to be good (still waiting on the official report). Next step is to get the appraisal done and we are also working around a silly FHA loan rule which supposedly won't be a problem come Feb 1. Anyway, it all looks promising for closing the end of February. I'm excited!

Here's a quick picture of the outside. Hopfully I'll have reason to share some of the inside soon.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner...

2010-01-18T18:25:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that January is soon to end and February is just around the corner. Now's the time to start plotting and planning if you are going to be doing the 14 Days of Valentine's. I've moved my Mother-in-law's Valentine's Day blog link back to the top. Be sure to take a look. There are some really fun and creative ideas on how to express your love to those around you.

Private Showing

2010-01-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

The boys got a doorway puppet theater for Christmas and finally got the chance to try it out today. They haven't quite figured out the whole storyline/conversation process. Mostly it was just puppets popping up and making funny sounds and then disappearing again. Elijah kept asking me what time it was and how to change the clock on the front to match the time. I think it's a hit and look forward to many more private shows put on by the cutest boys I know.