My Christmas Gift

Every year in Eric's family we draw sibling names for a gift exchange. A few years ago, in an effort to keep us all on an even level with gift giving, Eric's mom laid out some ground rules: the gift needed to fit in the assigned basket (we've done away with that one), it needed to be under $25, and no trading names. For the most part, Eric and I have used our talents, and gave handmade gifts (an afghan, a clock, a wall plaque, an enormous picture frame, a quilt). I was pleased, and even proud, of our works, but the gift I got this year put me in my place. Matt did this video, along with some prints, for me for my gift, this is part of what he does for a living. It was quite the surprise to me, Matt did this when Eric's parents watched the kids when we went to the office party. They tried (unsuccessfully) to get us to leave Maddie too, but we didn't want to burden everyone with the baby (besides, she was our "out" for the party). Matt has promised to get some shots of Maddie for me as soon as we can. Enjoy this for now, we'll post more about Christmas later.

(p.s. make sure your volume is up, or you'll miss half of the fun)

There's NO Stopping Her Now

As soon as Maddie figured out how to crawl, she immediately learned to pull herself up onto everything. Lately, she has been pushing the kitchen chairs around. Which, I assure you, is the worst noise EVER. Just imagine, if you will, nails on a blackboard-nothing but the wind through the palm fronds; or how about the air compressor? Ha, only a song bird in comparison to that of a wooden chair being s-l-o-w-l-y pushed across the tile floor. I decided that if I can't beat her (not literally, oh my goodness, no need to call CPS), then I should join her. I pulled out Eme's stroller walker, and boy does Maddie LOVE it! (Eme has issues with sharing HER stroller, even if it is for the greater good) Here's a clip of her from this morning. I got the walker out just last week, she just cruses along. At this rate, she'll be walking at 10 months, just like the boys both did.

In Memorium

It has been just over two weeks, and I think that I am finally in a place where I can share our recent loss. Two weeks ago, our microwave gave up the ghost. But with all things that have lived a long, full and meaningful life, it wasn't a time to be sad at our loss, but to look with a bright hope to our future-and Costco for a new microwave. We knew that our microwave's time was running out, it was taking it 2 minutes where it used to only take 35 second to reheat spaghetti, but still we had hope. But, then, the day before Thanksgiving, our microwave just couldn't do it anymore. I knew that it was time when it took more than 5 minutes to thaw the 1/2 cup of frozen baby food. So, off to Costco I went, the day before Thanksgiving, 30 minutes after opening (and I will NEVER do that again). The worst part was the joke made about cooking a turkey in a microwave, really?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our old giant, here is a little bit about it. The microwave was more than 20 years old, it was the one I remember from jr high on. My parents gave it to us when we moved to New York. It was amazing, it was HUGE, it could fit a 9x13-inch glass baking pan in it very easily, I probably could have fit a turkey in it too (altough who would want to?), and it took up half of the counter. They just don't make them like that anymore. I'm a little sad, I know that I won't get 20 years out of my new microwave, I'll be lucky to get more than 5. But life must go on. And for us it goes on with a super powerful, stainless steel Panasonic 1.5 cft work of beauty.

Because Julie Would Never, Ever Do This Herself

Julie mentioned to me during our phone call yesterday that she found out that a handful of her students had left ratings about her on ratemyprofessors.com. And since it is so unlike Julie to toot her own horn, I decided to do it for her (you'll thank me for this, one day dearest). So, if you'd like to see what kind of grad-student instructor Julie is, then click here. I am proud of her, and I know you all are too.

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

All around my house are the sights, and sounds, of Christmas. I've had fun, and frustration, with decorating our new home this year. We had bought a new tree a few months ago on clearance (a 7 1/2 foot, pre-lit, for just $50, Woo hoo!) with the intent that it go in the front room as my tree, and the kids could have the other tree in the family room. I was having some serious doubts about the kids tree though, not about putting it up, but rather putting their ornaments up on my tree instead of theirs. Maddie is really, really into things now, and the last thing I wanted was for her to pull the tree over on herself. Enter my dear, sweet husband (the muscle behind the tree putting up), who insisted that it was possible to have them both up. We'll just have to deal with the baby, and barricade the tree in. It's working, so far the barricade hasn't failed, yet. And I was lucky to find exactly the ornament style I didn't know I wanted for my tree (thank you Target). I was going to just leave it empty, but $25 later, and I have a lovely tree. I've doubed it The Chocolate Tree. I'm planning on making some neat embroidered lace ornaments for it for next year along with a tree skirt, over the summer-when I actually have time.

I've also gotten some garland for the stairs, I need to work on the bows. Well, when I say I, I really mean Eric's mom, I can't make bows for decoration, they turn out really sad looking. I finished up the girl's stockings with fabric from my stash (I remade Eme's to match Maddies, and I almost ruined the velvet trying to remember how to heat emboss, thank goodness for the internet.) And in honor of our first mantle, I picked up two sets of stocking holders (seriously, you should see the deals you can get at Target on Black Friday). I know it appears that I've done a lot of shopping for decorations, but it's really not the case. I've found some great deals, and, including our new tree, I've spent about $100.

And I think it's a toss up for my favorite Christmas song/album this year. I really like both Diana Krall's and James Taylor's Christmas albums. And for specific songs I really, really like "The Holly and the Ivy" by the Medeaval Baebes and James Taylor's "In the Bleak Midwinter." What are your favorites this year?

Davin Turns 5!!

Davin turned 5 yesterday with a bang! Since we invited Eric's family over for cake after dinner we gave Davin his "big" gift from us at breakfast. This gave him something to play with all day long. We gave him the Batcave, he's gotten the castle and pirates sets the past two years and he still loves them and plays with them (and that's saying something about a toy-that it can still be fun and entertaining after 2 years!). It did keep him, and Eme, happily entertained much of the day (the fighting didn't even start until the usual time of 4:30/5 o'clock). He got another two Star Wars guys after lunch. And Aidan gave him his gift after both school and homework-the fishing game, Davin has been coveting this game ever since he saw it at a friend's house last year.

I made him a pirate flag cake-super simple to make. But the real drama was over chosing his cake this year. He had originally wanted a castle cake again, but after looking through Pinduli, he demanded a leapord cake (yes, I know that there are no leapords in Pinduli, but try telling Davin that). It took an hour of tears (mine and his) to finally get him to give up on that one; because, really, how do you make a leapord cake?! He also settled on pirate brownies for school, again, super simple.

We had a good time, and are so grateful for our crazy boy. He's coming out of his irrational stage, and is such a helper around the house. We've given him some small chores to do (for which he earns a whopping 25 cents a week for), which he does with such care and enthusiasm. He can make Maddie smile like no one else, he adores his baby sister. I love his funny, crazy smile-it hasn't changed since he was a baby. He has grown so much this year, literally, like 2 inches, at least. I love this crazy monkey of mine.

Maddie, trapped...

We've got a picture of Eme that looks almost the same, she got herself stuck under the kitchen chair too. Maddie got herself stuck two more times last week; she is now learning how not to get stuck under the chair, but to go around them. Poor little girl, she just wanted me to get her out, instead, I stopped to get the camera.

Hi, could you please...

Put down the camera...

And save ME?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week they were indians, Monday they were pilgims, and Wednesday they were turkeys. I love preschool.

Just a Quick Heads-Up!

Just a quick note of reminder here. It's time to get your candles ready, this Sunday marks the start of Advent. See here for the meanings of the weeks. I've got garden pics coming, my batteries needed charging. And I can't wait until Friday to start decorating! Well, after my 6 am trip to JoAnn's, it's my little tradition.

Maddie, Part Racoon?

I began wondering about this lately. Some of her recent tendencies have borne an uncanny likeness to that nocturnal mammal. For example, racoons are nocturnal; Maddie hasn't slept through the night at all this past week. Racoons have a vice-like grip, once they find something, they won't let go of their treasure; Maddie has got quite the grip, she won't let go of something unless we pry her fingers off of it (I stopped wearing necklaces some time ago, and the hanging on does make it difficult to put her down quickly). Racoons love to get into the trash cans; Maddie is obsessed with the garbage can. She is often pulling herself up next to the kitchen trash (ours has a push top lid) to play with the bag top around the edge; I have to keep the smaller ones up out of her reach if she's in the same room; and then today she knocked the kitchen can over and began playing with the trash inside. This doesn't bode well for the upcoming Christmas tree, I can just see the whole thing being pulled over onto her that first night it's up. Hummm, we'll have to work on a solution for that one-maybe it's time for the baby gates again?

Mom, Dad, I blame YOU for this...

I am the daughter of 2 big trekkies. I am sad to admit this, but I am totally excited for this new exhibit at the AZ Science Center. I won't, however, be there at the members' only preview night on the 15th. I plan on showing some restraint, I'll wait a week or two before going. Thank you for the heritage mom and dad. Oh, and I have a feeling that this will be a little more upscale than that trek convention we went to years ago.

Halloween; yes, I know it was 10 days ago

I'm a bit off the ball right now, I am only just now getting around to posting my Halloween pics. But I've been busy, and this is what has slipped through the cracks. It's all abount balance. So, any way, I hope you enjoy the pics. The boys were matching ninjas, I made those costumes-they turned out really well. Eme was a witch again, the costume still fit from last year. And Maddie was a faerie, so her's didn't really fit, but it was all we had.

About our pumpkin. We carved it Thursday afterschool, it was too warm to do it any sooner. And, it is just one, rather large, pumpkin; big enough, in fact, for us to carve 3 faces into it! What did you expect from the family of a fiscal analyst, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $15 on three pumpkins for 2 days of use. I liked the end result, and so did the rest of my brood.

And, just for you mom, there is a pic of Davin chosing a piece of candy. Seriously, he sorted the chocolate candy out every time he could have a piece. I helped Eme with her m&m's, but only because she eats them by color anyway.

A District-wide Conference

This past weekend was our Stake Conference, but not of the usual variety. This was a temple district-wide conference (that's 88 stakes) that was broadcast via SLC. We had a similar conference two years ago, but it was only regional. This was for the majority of Arizona.

This time around our speakers were: Elder Bruce C Hafen (of the 70), Sis Lifferth (of the Gen Primary Pres), Elder Jensen (of the 70, but not Merril C. from Huntsville, UT), and Pres. Boyd K. Packer. I took copious notes (in the dark) for Eric, he was home sick and kept the girls with him-sweet man. I was touched by what was said in both the broadcast as well as our local adult session Saturday night. I'd like to share some of my impressions here.

From our adult session, I took away the following:

• The temples of the world are distinctive, they are in stark contrast to the outside world; they are Zion in the midst of Babylon. And to seek for the quiet moments in our lives to make our commitments to Zion absolute.
• Strengthening Families (Mom, they used your favorite scripture from Proverbs: "A soft answer turneth away wrath, ...")
• Coming unto Christ through our trials
• Service: if we fail to serve, we fail to receive the fullness of the gospel.
• And our stake president (who was left with 5 minutes instead of 20) encouraged us to go and read N Eldon Tanner's talk entitled "Consistency Among Change"

From Sunday's session:

• They all spoke a great deal about Pres Spencer W Kimball
• Sacrifice
• Our relationship with our Heavenly Father
• Lessons from Lehi and his family's travels: scriptures, marriage/family, the Liahona.
• Pres. Packer left us all with a special blessing, it meant a great deal to those of us in attendance.

A Grateful Reunion

This past weekend was a rather long, and exhausting one. I wasn't sure if it would ever end. Let me explain:
Eric's parents asked if he, along with his brother Matt, would go up to Utah with them to help clean up the old house in Huntsville. This involved cleaning out, and tearing down the old grainery, remove some old diseased trees, and other hard, physical labor. Essentially it's our payment for being able to spend a week there each summer. They flew up Thursday evening, Eric left straight from work. We had to say our goodbyes in the morning as he went off to work.

I don't think a worse weekend could have been chosen. Firstly, Thursday and Friday were both half days at school for parent-teacher conferences. Which meant an additional 6 hours that the kids could, and did, fight all together. And secondly, I had to teach the Relief Society lesson yesterday. Which meant that there was no one to help tame the children while I worked on my lesson, nor was there a daddy to take and deal with the baby while I gave my lesson (thank goodness for RS sisters!)

I had a feeling that this would be a long weekend. I had been saving a trip to the mall to spend my birthday money just for this weekend, when I knew I would need the escape (my kids behave better in public than they do for me at home). I went on Thursday, and I picked up some See's chocolate to get me through the weekend. It only lasted until Friday afternoon. I had to go back on Saturday to get some more (a BIG thank you to Ashlee for giving me an hour break, I needed it) just to make it through to Sunday evening.

I won't bore you with all of the gory details, just one of the funny ones. We went to the park on Friday, hoping that getting out of the house would help. We had to leave early (think Davin throwing sand), and on the way home Davin "spanked" me because he was mad. I simply grabbed the full water bottle and flicked him with it (hey, if it works with cats and dogs when they misbehave, then maybe...) His reaction was the funniest thing. He had a major melt down, he told me that his shirt was ruined because I got it wet (umm, it gets wet every time I wash it). And then, on Saturday, we went to Target. We were going to make pizza for dinner, but I was bushed, so we opted for mac 'n cheese (the orange kind) instead. Davin, who picked out the dinosaur kind, threw a fit when we got home because he wanted pizza again. The kids went to bed early every night: Eme at 7, Davin at 7:30, Aidan at his usual 8:30.

Sufficed to say, we were all very glad to see Daddy when church ended. Eric is allowed to go on trips again, he just has to take either Davin or Eme with him, or bring either Mom or Julie down here.

My Birthday Celebration

I know that this is a week late, but I had a cold, and didn't feel like taking pictures yet. I actually got my birthday presents from Eric's parents last month (this is what happens when your gift is on clearance and there's no place to store them except your bedroom), a beautiful iron scroll bench and two nightstands! Woo Hoo, I have a fully matching bedroom set now! And because you asked, mom, here it all is. (The pieces weren't from the same series, or stores, we've been collecting them for a few years now. But they all go together quite nicely)

Last Monday, Columbus Day, Eric had the day off and the temple was open. Since Maddie has started eating solid food, I got to go do a session at the temple. It was the first time I'd been since January (I can't handle sitting for that long at the end of my pregnancies, and then who wants to watch a nursing baby plus 3 other kids?) It was so nice, I love to go to the temple. Not only did I get to go to the temple on Monday, but Eric and his dad finally got our chandelier up!! I say finally because we bought the thing 6 months ago, it has been sitting in our office this whole time. We had to wait until someone (Eric's dad) got a ladder tall enough for us to hang it (it's a 20+ foot ceiling). And as a bonus, they fixed the clock! Eric and I hung the clock up 2 months ago, and (not joking) 10 minutes after we got it up, the hands got caught and the clock stopped. We didn't even realize it until the next afternoon, how sad. So here is a picture of their handi work (plus my picture wall).

Then on my birthday, Eric and I had a date to the temple, together. We then had dinner with his family (bbq ribs and then ice cream brownie sundaes w/homemade fudge sauce for dessert!) I got gift cards: Barnes and Noble, Dillard's, the scrapbook store, and JoAnn's-to make a cushion for my bench (and maybe some curtains to match).

Thank you everyone for a wonderful celebration!

Saucy Creations' Big Giveaway

My sister-in-law's sister has this great web-site that they are officially launching, Saucy Creations, specializing in baby and children's accessories. In honor of their launch, they are having a big givaway. Entering is easy, and the prizes are great! We have had the privialge of getting a few of these treasures via Rachel (thanks again), and the products are great. Anyway, check out their site, they have everything from diaper bags to binkie clips to baby bedding; all of it super cute, and reasonable priced. You can check out Maddie wearing the Pediped shoes and Pink and Brown Hairbow here.

Big Read

The Big Read is a National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and to encourage their top 100 books. They estimate that the average adult has only read six. Here is what you are supposed to do:
Bold the books you've read,
underline the books you loved (I couldn't figure out how to do this, so I have colored mine in red)
italicize the books you plan to read.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (okay, I haven't read all of them, but I've read more than 10)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (almost, I didn't finish the last chapter, but you did Emily!)
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo


I don't like to "plan" out too many books at a time, I often have to be in the right mood for a particular book.
This particular list was put out by the BBC's equivalent to the NEA, they have other books on their Big Read site.
If any of you want to do this, I'd be happy to email you the list.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Eric has always wanted a garden. Everywhere we've lived, we've had things in pots. Even in NY, we grew paperwhites in the bathroom! And Eric has always said that when we have our own house, we'll plant one. So here we are, our first attempt at a garden.

We began planting the second week of Sept, and have added to the garden as the weather has cooled off. We did heirloom tomatoes from starters, as it was too late in our season for seeds. And they've done very well. We've already had two blooms on one of them. We've got wax bean in, I love wax beans. Only about half came up, maybe better luck next year on those. Because Eric likes them, we planted radishes. We've got radishes coming out our EARS! As Grandpa J said: "The seed packet costs $0.99, but you only use $0.20 worth of seeds" Very true, and now our family and friends will be enjoying the 20+ radishes we've got. We've also got carrots, peas, lettuce, and broccoli. We know that our garden is a bit small, but it's a good begining. Next year we will expand it to just over double in size, and include sugar pumpkins!

Me, and My Shadow...

With the weather coolong off, we have had the opportunity to have the blinds open, in addition to the windows. Because of this, Maddie discovered her shadow. She spent a good 15 minutes watching, and playing with her shadow. It was like Peter Pan in our family room.

To My Mother, on Her 61st Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom. I just felt the need to write about you, to you, today. I came into your life almost 32 years ago. I can't imagine what your birthday was like that year, waiting and wondering who I was, and when I'd come. But I came, as your late birthday gift that year. A girl, after three rather trying boys. Pinks and lace after corduroy and blue. I am grateful that I have had you as my mom.

I have so many memories, and so many feelings about you. So much of my life has been colored by you; you've been there in the background, in the foreground, everywhere, every part of my life has a trace of you in it. I am grateful for the fact that you were my mom first, not my friend, but that you are both to me now. I know that I can call you about anything (and I have), and that you are there. You'll offer thoughts and advice when I need it, when I ask for it. And you've been there to cry with me, to laugh with me, and to help me to laugh at myself. You've helped me through those really bad times, as well as enjoyed the good with me.

I remember early morning rides to Charlotte Wood in the old station wagon, KCBS droning in the background. Eating lunch in your room with you on some of my tough jr. high-type days. I remember bed-time stories read to us as a special treat. And bears that would talk and wave at us. I remember dreading going to the fabric store with you, but enjoy doing that so much now. I remember liking an outfit of yours so much, that you went and got one for me (it was a black and white graphic printed top and skirt, do you remember?). I also remember struggling with math in high school, that it came, seemingly, so easy to Julie, and worrying that I would disappoint you if I didn't do well. I can see you dancing in the kitchen, trying to show Julie and I the twist, the mashed-potato, and others; and let's not forget the happy-dance. Puzzles on the dining room table, grading on the dining room table, your life was always on that table. I remember spending the day with you in the SF garment district, of Britax, and of more fabric in one place than I ever thought possible.

You were there for my miscarriage, as well as my four babies. You were there after my surgery, to help my soul to heal. You were there for my graduations; and cheered when I called to tell you I wanted to teach physics (you laughed too, and reminded me that I had once sworn that I would never be a teacher). You've been there to encourage me in all my endevours. And I am so grateful for all of it, for all you've done, for all that you are. I love you mom.

Davin's First Field Trip

Friday, Davin's preschool class had a field trip to a really neat place, Schnepf Farms. Parents and siblings could go along, for a discounted rate that also included a pumpkin and a train ride. So, being the really fantastic mom that I am, I told Aidan that he was coming with us. Hey, he only had a half day of school, and since we wouldn't have been back by the time he got home, it was the responsible thing to do.

We had a great time. Since we were a school group, we were allowed in a half an hour before opening to the public. And, as it was a Friday, the place was pretty empty the first hour after that. It was great, no waiting in lines for the rides, no worrying about kids getting lost in the crowds, lots of room at the pig races. Yes, I did say pig races, so funny. And we got to brown bag it for lunch, usually you have to buy their food, which is fantastic, but pricey. The kids loved it. Maddie was quite content to ride in the stroller for the 3 1/2 hours we were there, and even fell asleep.

Now, about the rides. The kids were so funny about them. First we all went on the carousel ride. This wasn't one of the nice, new, shiny, and sturdy ones. No, this carousel is over 100 year old, made of wood, and you felt the ride tilt when an adult got on or off; but, it did have its own historical marker, neat. Now, the kids have been on carousel rides before, at the zoo, at the mall, even here last year. But, for some reason, Davin felt the need to hold on for dear life. Seriously, he looked terrified as we went round and round, and up and down. Eme and Aidan both loved it. They all loved the flying bee ride, I made sure that the boys knew how to operate the bar to raise or lower their bee, and the flying airplane ride. The boys went on the little roller coaster together, while I finished feeding Maddie. I then took Eme on it, and Aidan wanted to go again, "this time," he told me, "I'm going to try not to scream." It wasn't very big, but it did go fast and have lots of drops. I laughed the whole time. Aidan and Eme were scared silent, until a drop made them scream. I asked Eme, when it was over, if she liked it: "yes," "do you want to go again?" "NO!" I asked Aidan if he enjoyed it: "No" "Then why did you go a second time?" "I wanted to face down my fears."

Confession

I have a confession. Well, it's not so much mine, as much as it is totally and completely my husband's confession. We all received this picture from Dad, remember? Well, I saw it and thought "who could have done that?" and "why didn't we notice it before we left?" And, I'm sorry to admit, but I thought of Dallin or Austin, I hope that you both can forgive me.


My husband didn't notice this email right away. It wasn't until a day or two later, I heard hysterical laughing coming from the office. Along with "I forgot all about that!" It would be wrong of me to say that I was shocked, because this was so typical Eric. What I was surprised at was the fact that he did it on that Monday afternoon after everyone left, and that it went unnoticed for so long, by so many people.

I did call and 'fess up to dad, who thought the whole thing was even funnier (we now owe them dinner at Wendy's). But, really, what else can I expect from the man who made Bill a noose, no questions asked?

It's time for FALL...finally

Whoo Hoo. Those were my exact words while watching the weather report for this weekend. Well, that and: it's about stinkin' time! It appears that our summer is finally over (knock on wood); that after 105+ days of 100 degrees, or hotter, we've dropped down into what can only be described as more reasonable weather. A rather deep cold front that brought snow to Utah (and here, so long as it was over 9000 ft), brought us a very decent cool down. I say cool down not cool temps, because those of you back east, or up north, might mock my completely messed up temp gauge. For us here in the inferno that is an Arizona summer (hey, it was over 100 degrees on Wednesday, ugh), mid-80 degree weather is a joyous call for pants, and I am happy to say that I obeyed. The kids were outside between sessions yesterday (willingly, I should clarify), and were begging us to let them outside to play today, sorry not on Sunday. We also slept with our windows open last night. And although we needed to turn the a/c on for about 3 hours yesterday afternoon, we did not have it on at all today! Whoo Hoo, indeed (This is the first time since May that the a/c has been off). We now hold to the hope of winter, after a long and hard summer.

Okay, so we twisted Pres Uchtdorf's words there, but only slightly. I've some thoughts and musings about conference that I'd like to share in a few days, I'd like your thoughts too.

P.S. Do you like the new fall colors? I'm quite smitten with them.

Beware the Rabid baby!

Maddie is now 6 months old (rather, she will be on Saturday, but I have the time now), and my how time has flown.

She has quickly mastered scooting and the infantry crawl, and it won't be long before she is crawling for real, how will we keep up with her then?. She likes to get up on all fours and either rock, or crawl using her head as a stabilizer.

She is very talented, she can suck her binkie and stick her tongue out at the same time, she can likewise blow raspberries with said binkie (she loves to blow rapberries, hence the photo-note the spit bubbles dripping from her chin).

She can now sit unassisted ( I do still leave a pillow behind her when I set her down, just in case she tips backwards) for several minutes, unless her siblings "help" her, then it last only seconds.

Maddie wasn't so sure how she felt about squash, she actually made a gaging sound, but she does love sweet potatoes. I don't know, I think they're both kind of gross. But that's okay, because I'm an adult now, so I don't have to eat them if I don't cook them.

Emelia Turns 3!

Yes, this is a few days late, but it's been a crazy week, and the pics were on Eric's camera (my batteries got knocked behind my dresser by the birthday girl). Eme had a wonderful birthday. It began with breakfast (I cheated a little with this one-Eme's favorite breakfast food is toast), I made us all french toast (because as Fancy Nancy says, everything sounds fancier in french) a gift at breakfast-a new snap 'n style doll, a princess. Eme was really funny about the new doll; she already has one, a blue-eyed blonde, at first she wouldn't let the old doll wear the new doll's clothes (and vice versa). I had to explain that they were sisters and that sisters always share their clothes (hey, I might as well get her used to the idea while she's young). After that, the two dolls were both dressed for a lovely ball. And any time that Eme set them down, they were facing each other to talk.

Aidan helped me to make the pizza for dinner (it was an easy way to sign off one of his wolf req's), and Davin threw a fit that he didn't get to help make pizza. Eme asked for a pink castle cake (this is the cake pan's third birthday, and fourth use, thank you William Sonoma!), which I easily agreed to. After cake and ice cream, we gave out the rest of the presents: the boys gave her a "cell phone" w/case, princess of course; and we gave her a little dog in a carrying case-she LOVED it! After the gift opening, the kids all went upstairs to dig out all of the rest of our stuffed animal dogs, so they could all play together.

Saturday we went over to Nana and Papa's house for more gifts, and BBQ. Eme got a Fancy Nancy doll (that is being kept on a shelf when not in use, she's too nice to be destroyed); a FN dress up skirt, purse, ballet slippers, leg warmers (that Davin wears on his wrists as armor), sunglasses, and a feather boa (that sheds worse than any animal could); clothes; and two books.
Happy Birthay sweet girl!

Maddie's name change, and other musings

Yup, we've done it. We've offically changed Maddie's name. It is no longer the lovely and respectable Madeline Grace Jorgensen, she shall henceforth be known as Stinky, the scoot-scoot. Her name change may cause some snickers as she enters school, but such is life. She's been eating rice cereal for 3 weeks now, and oatmeal for 1, so the "Stinky" is pretty self-explanitory. As for "scoot-scoot", that's all she does now, scoot-scoot (infantry crawl) to where ever she wants. And she is fast too. I set her down in her room with some toys whilst I dealt with Eme in the bathroom, she had scooted herself down the hall and halfway into the bathroom before we were done! She prefers the carpet to the tile, so if left on the floor of the family room, she won't, as of yet, venture into the kitchen.

***

Oh, by the way, does anyone know where do these blasted coins keep coming from ?! That is the question I ask myself after every load of laundry. Now, if it was real money, then, hey, it's a tip for my time and effort. But, alas, it is just tiny plastic play-mobil pirate gold. I'm not sure how it ends up in the wash, especially when all I've done is towels and tablecloths, but it does.

***

I've noticed something in my time as a mom, it's in regards to cleaning. Why do I bother telling my children that I've cleaned their rooms, or any other room for that matter? It's like an open invitation to mess it up. I've noticed that a room will stay neater if I don't ask my kids to try not to make a mess. Seriously, their rooms will stay clean and neat for 2-3 days if I don't say anything. But, if I do, then they will have destroyed said room by the end of the day.

***

One final musing, what is the facination with someone else's new toys? I understand when it's Aidan or Davin, because they like the same, or at least similar, things. But today is Eme's birthday, and so she got to open a gift at breakfast, our tradition. She got a new princess snap doll. And from the time that doll came out of its box, until Davin went to school, they've been at it. Any other time, and Davin wouldn't care, but since it's new, he wants in on the action. Oh, well.

To preschool, or not to preschool,

That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to be taught outside the home or within.
Anyway, that was what we were begining to wonder about, it all came to a head yesterday. We've been noticing that Davin is often more aggressive towards Eme on days he has preschool (i.e. they fight A LOT) then on his off days. On Wednesday, after a particularly rough afternoon, he told me how one of the kids ate all of his snacks today (the said little boy got a time-out for it), and he often fights Davin for the toys.
We spent the day trying to decide what to do, since we pay at the begining of the month, we had to decide quickly. After all, I could teach Davin and Eme together in our own little preschool. I could do it for 2 hours, 3 days a week. Yes, I could, but the question eventually became should I? When faced with two equally good choices, we, of course, turned to prayer.
And the answer was both; maybe the aggression was from boredom, not frustration. So, we'll try implementing a little more structure into our days (our days have gotten very lax lately-blame it on the baby): on Tuesdays/Thursdays we'll start with 1 hour, and build to 2, of our own little school, and on M/W/F, we'll do more together. We'll see how it all goes, wish us luck.

He's a Wolf!

Because of our two family vacations/reunions, we've missed the last two pack meetings. Our goal was for Aidan to finish up his bobcat by his baptism. But that didn't work because we forgot to bring his Wolf manual with us to Utah. Then RS and cubscouts switched weeks in August. So last night, finally, Aidan got his Bobcat patch and my pin, along with his first belt slide. They don't do the pin the way I, or Eric remembered: they didn't hold Aidan upsidedown to pin him, they just put the pin on upsidedown. Oh, well, we've decided to to it the right way ourselves tonight. He already gets to turn it rightside up, he made Davin a 'smore last night with out our asking him too. He's loving scouts, and is well on his way to getting his wolf.

Going Private

This little blog of mine started out just for my family, but over the past two years it has grown to encompass many friends as well. When I first started, I knew who would be looking in at our little world, but with the growth I can no longer be sure of who has access to my family. So with that in mind, we are going private as of October 1st. I love having all of your interaction, and I do still feel that blogging is a great way to stay in touch with friends we've left. If you'd like to keep up with our happenings, please leave my your email address (I have some of yours, but not all) and I'll get you our info. Thanks for the interest.

Thanks Grandpa!

Thank you Grandpa for the most wonderful gifts EVER! What could possibly be more fun than two sheets of bubble wrap?! That other stuff in the box was boring, but this is so cool. Look, if we jump on them at the same time, it sound like someone is shooting (it's really great in the front hall, where it echoes off of everything!) It's a good thing mom suggested stomping and running on them, it's way more fun than just popping them one at a time. Looks like we've found something else to put on our Christmas lists this year!

Cereal!?

Maddie did far better with her first bowl of cereal than any of my other kids. She wasn't sure what to do with the goo in her mouth; to get her to swallow, we let her suck on the spoon, it worked. She didn't finish the little bowl full that first night, though she did eat most of it. However by the second night she was finishing it all off (just a 1/4 cup of dry rice cereal, but still). In another week, we'll move her up to cereal for lunch and dinner.

Baby Grows Up

My little Maddie is growing up far too quickly, she'll be 5 months tomorrow. It's bad enough when your last baby reaches certain milestones, but it is far, far, far worse when said baby does them all at the same time (give or take two weeks). Let me explain...

• First we discovered that Maddie is cutting her first 2 teeth the day after we arrived home from Pennsylvania (this did explain her drooling and chewing on people's thumbs).
  
• Then she decided to roll over on a regular basis. If she is on the ground for more than 30 seconds, she'll roll over, she doesn't care where she is going (front to back or back to front), she just likes to be going somewhere.
  
• And she likes to scoot while she is on her back: I left her on her floor blanket to get Eme a drink, when I came back, she was a good 4 feet from where I laid her down, almost to the fireplace.
  
• Because of the scooting, we are now putting the craddle into storage-she scoots herself into the corners and gets stuck. I'll miss it even though Maddie only naps in it now, she's been sleeping at night in her crib since she was 4 weeks old. This one is really quite difficult for me, after all, it was our craddle, not just my babies'. Mom made the bumper, sheets, and mattress for it when Eme was born. I had so much fun picking out the fabric, I remember specifically avoiding "girly" colors for the bedding, because I didn't know who our last baby would be. But I love the pale greens and yellows, and the soft, pastel flannels we used for sheets.
  
• Next Maddie has decided to try her hand at sitting. She does a decent job: she can sit, without help, for 30 seconds before she does a face plant onto the floor. She prefers to be up rather than laying down.
  
• And finally if all of the above weren't enough to handle all at once, it is time to start Maddie on rice cereal. She's needing more than just nursing, and I need the break too. On the bright side, this means that I'll be able to go to the temple again without worrying about Maddie, or those watching her.
  

So many milestones, not nearly enough time between them for me to adjust to my growing baby. Sigh...

Family Time

Last night we had our weekly fight that begins and ends with a prayer, FHE. Sometimes I wonder if our kids ever get anything out of it, but then they do these little things that let me know they do somehow, inconceivably, listen. Our lesson this week was on Nephi's family crossing the ocean, and how when they listened and obeyed, the Liahona worked, and when they didn't, the ship started to take on water. We played a silly little game (most of our FHE are game based), and we tried to keep our boat afloat with good choices, and not sink with bad choices. Davin surprised me today, the boy was quite crazy last night, and I was pretty sure FHE was totally lost on him. On our way home from school, Maddie dropped her toy without my noticing. It was Davin who had stopped to retrieve it. When I thanked him, he told me that making good choices to help, makes him happy and keeps his boat from sinking! I was a bit shocked, but I am grateful for these moments that remind me that I'm doing something right.

A Special Day

This past weekend was one of those special milestones, Aidan's baptism. He's grown so much, and we have much to be proud of in him. It's a bit surreal, he's the first of our children to reach this point, and the others will all follow in the not too distant future. It's times like these that I just want to keep them small forever, but growing up is what they tend to do, so I'll just have to enjoy them whilst I can.

For the first two months of the summer, we had nothing to really report on; now, we've got something every week or two. First we went on our vacation, then we're home for a week, then school starts (last Wednesday), then Mom and Dad fly out (this past Friday morning), then Aidan's baptism, and today is Davin's first day of preschool. Looking ahead we've got the trip to Pa. (Thursday) and our 10th anniversary (the 22nd).

Our long overdue vacation (a recap)

Our vacation officially started on Friday, July 18th after Eric got home later, again. He'd been home late every night that week getting things settled at work. We packed the car that night and then woke up early, 4 am, the next morning, and were on the road by 5. We caravaned up with Eric's parents, I'm sure they started to regret this decision when we stopped after just 2 hours to feed a hungry baby and deal with small bladders. I also feel bad for Maddie, she's used to eating every two hours, just for 10 minutes mind you, so it was quite the ordeal for her when we pushed her to 3, or even 4, hours. We made the usual stop at the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell, made all of the usual Dam jokes, and made use of the very nice public restrooms there.

We continued on from there, but the trip was a very, very long one, again close to 15 hours. We made it into Huntsville safe and sound, and very relieved to be there. Sunday was spent relaxing, walking to Sacrament meeting (it's only on the other side of the park from the house), and enjoying the mid-80 degree weather.

On Monday Eme , Maddie, and I drove the 1 1/2 hours down to Provo to see Julie and her little folk and Mom (she was out helping Julie.) It was a fun, do nothing really kind of day. Just a trip to JoAnn's and to the BYU bookstore. Maybe next year we'll take our little folk on a tour of BYU, but then again so much has changed, we'll see. I came back up to find the boys already showered, thank you Nana and Daddy.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were all the same do nothing in particular kind of days. We did spend a lot of time outside playing, either in the backyard, at the park , or just on the porch. Eric and I had fun chasing the kids around, and encouraging their outdoor play (they are used to being either inside or in a pool right now, it is just too hot to be outside to just play.) One of our favorites was to play tag with the boys while the girls took naps, we made "base" the sprinkler. Aidan wasn't too pleased with getting wet, but Davin loved it. The kids enjoyed their version of croquet, a big red bouncy ball and toy garden tools (the garden tools did double duty as swords, when needed.) We finished Friday off with 'smores in the fire pits.

Saturday began early for me, Grandma Roberts promised me a long overdue tour of the farm. We've been married for 10 years now, and I hadn't ever been up on the farm before. (Please note: here the term "farm" refers to a whole mountain, it includes all of the cultivated fields and free roam areas for the cows.) I can only describe the drive up there as terrifyingly thrilling, I held onto the back of Grandma's 4-wheeler while she drove (safely, we stuck to the back roads and trails) the 20 minutes or so to the property line. I even got to drive the bike through 3 of the gates. I took lots of pictures, having fun with some of my camera's features, here are a few of them.

The rest of Saturday was spent getting ready for Grandpa J's 90th birthday party, his birthday isn't until October, but this is when everyone, and I do mean everyone, could make it. We had Grandpa J there, and his 4 children (Eric's dad, Lynn, LuAnn, and Dale) and their spouses (4 more). All of their children were there (Eric's cousins and siblings, 12), plus their wives (9) and their children (second cousins, once removed, 14). It was huge (43 descendants, 4 generations), and Grandpa loved every moment of it.

Our last Sunday was much like our first, a little more crowded with all of Eric's sibling there, but still nice. We celebrated Owen's first birthday, and I thought of Dan on his (I hope it was a good one.) And we got ready to leave in the morning. However, when Monday morning arrived, Eme was sick, and so we delayed our departure by a day. Our trip home was outlined briefly below. It was a wonderful and relaxing time, just what we needed.