"Call Grandpa, Call Grandma"

This has been the plea from Owen all day long. He wants me to call and tell them to come over to our house. Here is the problem, they live a mere 541 miles from us.

I can hear you thinking, "What prompted this request?"

You see they came out for a fun-filled visit Dec 27 - 31. My cousin, Whitney, was getting married in Idaho Falls, so they decided to make a mini-vacation of it and see the grandkids.

Tuesday, we played the day away. (The women shopping. The men playing racquetball at the gym and the Wii back at home.)

Wednesday, we packed up two cars and drove over to Idaho Falls for the wedding. Thursday was the sealing and reception. I realized how much I appreciate my parents (and little brother) as they helped me wrangle 4 kids.

The boys had a grand time playing with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Preston...we just wished they lived closer so that we really could just call and have them come over for a visit.

Here is Owen's desperate plea (notice the melt-down at the end as his request isn't being fulfilled):



So I called and left a message on their machine. (It was 4:30pm their time and Grandpa is probably still at work and Grandma was probably busy.) But that wasn't good enough. Owen wanted to talk to Grandpa....and Now! So I called back and go the machine. Owen left a heart-felt message for them.

As you can plainly see....We love Grandma and Grandpa! (And even Uncle Preston.)

UPDATE 1/14/11: Today our neighbor came over to return a computer cord she borrowed. When Owen heard the knock on the door he yells out "Grandpa here!" I had to break it to him that it wasn't grandpa and tried to explain yet again that Grandpa and Grandma live far away and can't just come visit when they want....I'll need to figure out something to help with this. Maybe we will trying calling again tomorrow. Hopefully they are home to answer

A moment of crisis...

Here is how it started...As normal, I was scrolling through the list of blogs I check out. Some family, some friends, some people I don't know but would love to one day. I clicked on my sister Melissa's blog about her son's 2nd birthday today.

Sure no big deal, you think. It is only your nephew's 2nd birthday. No need to go into full crisis mode. It started simply by my deciding to comment on her blog and wishing Landon a happy birthday.

But then I took a moment to reflect on what this year will bring to me. That is when I realized the blows 2011 will bring...

1. In one and a half months, my little girl Kim (who really isn't that little because she is wearing the same size shoes that I do) will turn 12. She will be going into the YW program. That makes me feel really old....REALLY OLD!(Here Kim is decorating the tree. She will probably hate this picture being on my blog since she wasn't given appropriate "5 day notification" to choose the correct outfit to be seen in public.)

2. Then in three short months, my sweet baby Evan will turn 1. Normally that is a moment of delight and celebration for parents. And don't get me wrong, we will party like its 2011 and have cake and presents, but I will need to stop crying first. This is my baby...my last baby and he is growing up way too fast!(Isn't he completely adorable. He refused to take a nap that morning and literally crawled himself to sleep. Just collapsed on the floor, rolled up in his blankie and napped.)

3. Then in six short months, my oldest boy Logan will turn 5. This marks that huge milestone of starting kindergarten. And loosing my little man. The only boy who will actually listen when I say no.
(Check out that grin. How can you not love a kid with that smile? It is impossible, trust me.)

4. Then in eight relatively short months, the "beast" (as we lovingly refer to my middle son) Owen will turn 3! And I thought 2 was bad...3 was much harder with my older ones....let us all pray he (and I) survive the year.
(Here he is posing with a sticker on his forehead...the same exact place that a lovely bruise currently resides.)

Perhaps it is a good thing I'm getting a job. The extra money will help me drown my sorrows with A&W Root Beer and chocolate.

Here is to hoping 2011 doesn't make me a total wreak emotionally!

Books I read in 2010

As you may know, I am a bookworm. If I could, I would hole up in a library and tear through the shelves. But since my children would not survive without me (especially Evan) alas I may only read when I can find some time. (Occasionally even when I don't have time, but I am totally absorbed in a book....okay, maybe more than occasionally...) I thought I would mark a few that I recommend for reading....also the titles followed by (J) are considered juvenile literature.

You may not have noticed the list I had going on my sidebar this past year, but here it is:

*These is my words by Nancy E. Turner ( This will be added to my collection on day.)
*Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen (Excellent advice on "old time-y" cooking.)
*11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass (J)
*Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs (This will be added to my collection shortly. Highly recommend for great relationship advice...not really a fun read.)
*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
*Lemony Snickets' The Unauthorized Autobiography (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The End (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Penultimate Peril (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Grim Grotto (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Slippery Slope (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Carnivorous Carnival (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Hostile Hospital (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Vile Village (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Ersatz Elevator (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Austere Academy (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Miserable Mill (J)
*All Creatures Great and Small by James Harriot
*Lemony Snickets' The Bad Beginning (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Reptile Room (J)
*Lemony Snickets' The Wide Window (J)
*The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
*Pick another checkout lane, honey by Joanie Demer
*Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (A great classic. A long, but excellent read. )
*Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
*Freakonomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
*Unclutter your life in one week by Erin Rooney Doland
*The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
*Like Gold Refined by Janette Oke
*A Quiet Strength by Janette Oke
*A Searching Heart by Janette Oke
*The Tender Years by Janette Oke
*The Book of Mormon (If you don't know what this is...check it out.)
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (J)
*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (J) (This series is a must read! And slightly addictive....ask my ignored husband and children.)
*The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
*Finally by Wendy Mass (J)
*Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
*Anthem by Ayn Rand
*Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
*The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
*Cold Train Coming by Larry Barkdull
*The Lighthouse Keeper by James Michael Pratt

I look forward to all the books that I will read in 2011!

Snow Day!

This morning at 6am we got a call. Luckily, I was up feeding Evan or I would have been very unhappy. It was the superintendent calling to say that school was closed for the day. Snow day! Kim was very excited to hear she didn't have to go to school. We celebrated with Hot Cocoa for breakfast. (OK, I normally have hot cocoa for breakfast, but it was a treat for the boys.)

We looked outside to check out the snowfall. There was at least 4 inches. Check out this pic. I shoveled the walkway to give you an idea how deep it is...

Steven proposed that we pay Kim to shovel the driveway and I seconded the idea. Kim was very excited to earn some money for Christmas presents. So promptly got bundled up and I gave her a quick tutorial on how to shovel snow. For the most part, it's pretty easy going since it is snow that had fallen overnight and isn't compacted yet. Just to test it out, I did the walkway and a strip to the far side of the driveway to get her started.

Here she is saying "Come on mom" (in that annoying, yet entertaining teenage whine) when she noticed I had come outside with the camera.
Here she is digging in deep to get a shovelful. Put your back into it! Use those arms!
And getting ready to chuck the snow. Check out the driveway behind her...only 30 minutes in and she has one side pretty much done. Good going Kim!

Here she is waving at the camera (at my request after some more of that whining) just to prove that I'm not a complete and horrible mother subjecting my child to slave labor...hey, she is getting paid.Ah, the joys of an older child. Now the snow won't get all compacted when we head out to the gym and library in a little while. It's a win-win situation for all!

Happy Snow Day!

Monies....

As a part of raising children, Steven and I feel it is our job to help our children understand how money works. There are way too many people out in the world that have no concept of money and how it works. People who think money grows on tree and are fiscally irresponsible. I don't want my children to live from paycheck to paycheck because I didn't teach them how to use money. (Don't even get me started....I could rant for hours on people and their poor money choices.)

So, to start teaching our children young (or brainwash them while young and highly impressionable), we decided to give them some chores to do around the house and assigned dollar values to them. When they complete a chore, they get to check it off their chore chart and at the end of the week they turn in their sheet and get cold, hard cash.

As part of this lesson, the children need to pay their tithing, put money in savings and then they can do what they want with the rest.

For those of you who don't know what tithing is, let me explain. In our church, we believe that God has given us everything that we have. He in turn asks us to give back one-tenth of our increase. That money goes to the church and they use it to build and run the church.

This is a difficult concept to teach to a small child, especially a 2 year old who is getting money of his own for the first time. In my infinite wisdom, I attempted to explain to Owen that he needed to part with some of his money. Since he has a great love of Jesus, I decided to try that angle. I told Owen that he needed to give some of his "monies" to Jesus. Jesus would use it to help the church. He said, "Give Jesus monies?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Okay." Much easier than I thought it would be. We counted out his tithing and put it into and envelope. He was very excited.

Here is Logan showing you his allowance with tithing slip in hand.
Owen was so excited about his monies that he couldn't be bothered to look at the camera. Holding his monies and tithing slip (ie. Monies for Jesus).
So to wrap up this charming tale. Yesterday, wile we were at church, Owen and I we were looking at his quiet book that has various church related pictures. When we got to the first picture of Jesus he says, "Jesus...monies!?!" Sure enough, we had forgotten the tithing envelopes. At least Owen learned where his tithing money goes.

Evan is offically mobile...

Evan is only 6 1/2 months old, but he is convinced he is older. For the past few weeks, he has been actively trying to move on his own, mainly trying to get his brother's discarded toys. It started with him scooting backwards. Then he moved onto "belly-flopping" his way around the living room. He would get up on his hands and feet and push forward and land on his belly. From there, he moved to his hands and knees, but it took a bit to get the hand/knee moving coordinated. Last Friday, we decided that wasn't good enough and he was determined to crawl. Little man had the art perfected by Saturday afternoon when I found him eating food off the kitchen floor...guess that means I will either need to sweep every night or Evan will be well fed.

Here is a video I took this morning. He couldn't decide if he wanted to get the zoo toy or the camera. Guess mom and the camera won.


Tell me that isn't the cutest kid in the world...You know he is.

Check out a couple pics....The shirt is so fitting (in case you can't make out the writing, it says "Prince Charming") and yes, he is quite charming...just ask all the YW in our ward. :)

Halloween

(I actually typed this up a few days ago, but just didn't get the pics off my camera until today...this past week was super jam packed with stuff.)

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year, I hardly even thought about it. Steven and I talked about it and didn't feel right taking the kids out to trick-or-treat on Sunday, so we decided to stay home and spend time together as a family.

Saturday night our ward had a chili cook-off/carnival. There were carnival games for the kids and lots of talking for the adults. As prizes for the games, the kids got candy. There was a booth to eat a donut tied to a string and suspended above your head. Steven got a great video of Kim and Logan doing it. Hilarious. Owen just gave the camera the "stank-eye" and held his.

Because we were taking the kids out, I didn't bother buying costumes. So Kim wore a pair of my old scrubs, carried the Fisher Price Doctor's Kit and was a nurse/doctor. Logan wore the Thomas the Tank Engine costume I'd bought a few years ago on after-holiday clearance. Owen was wearing a pair of overalls, so I scrounged up a construction hat, belt, boots and tools (which we was excited to wear at home but refused to put on at the church...but as you can see, he loved playing with his flashlight). Evan wore the traditional Winnie-the-Pooh dressed as a Honey-bee costume that both of his brothers wore.On Halloween, we went to church. Came home, ate lunch and had naps. (Okay, the boys and I napped while Steven and Kim cooked.) After we all woke up, it was time to decorate pumpkins. The boys shared a pumpkin. Here they are hard at work. The girls shared a pumpkin. Here is Kim posing with her creation....all I did was give suggestions and cut the top off. Evan had his tiny 1st Halloween pumpkin. He colored on it with a pen and sucked on the stem.
Here is Logan posing with the boy's finished product. We then ate super yummy pumpkin waffles with apple cider sauce. Such a wonderful tradition in our house.

We decided that since the kids didn't get to go out trick-or-treating (but Owen and Logan are at the age that it's super fun), that we would have them trick-or-treat inside. We had bought a bit of candy and dressed the boys up. Logan as Thomas again and Owen as Elmo (Logan's costume from last year). Steven was stationed in our bedroom, Kim in hers and I was in Evans. (This is my view from Evan's room. Ignore the mess in the hall and don't judge me...we all have that area that collects stuff....okay, maybe a few areas...this is one of mine.)The boys knocked on our door, said "Trick-or-treat" and were given candy. They then moved onto the next door. By the end, we were all laughing and having a great time....perhaps we will do this again.

We then got the kids ready for bed a little early and snuggled onto our bed to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield Halloween movies. The kids all thoroughly enjoyed it. Then we packed the kids off to bed and Steven and I watched "Date Night". It was pretty funny. So glad that our dates don't turn out like that...well, seeing Mark Wahlberg's naked chest would be entertaining a time or two, but I don't want to have to pole dance in a western style outfit....

Happy Halloween from our family to yours! Check out this little monster....