Just Us...

End of Year Survey

2010-01-01T22:34:00.004-07:00

I have done this survey for a couple of years now. Normally I quite dislike these question and answer thingies, but I figure once a year is just the right amount.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you had never done before?

raced frogs
made a homemade volcano
had a baby in a month other than May
many more things that I can't think of right now...

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and do you intend to make any for 2010?
I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions just because I am so flawed that I need to make goals for myself much more often. We made goals as a family, and we are going to "check in with ourselves" in a month or so. More on that later.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Besides myself? Um...my sil Alison. Lots of people in the ward.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
thank goodness, no. But it was close.
5. What countries did you visit?
do the worlds on Super Mario Brothers count?
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you didn't have in 2009?
a yard
7. What dates will be etched into your memory from 2009 and why?
October 29th. Most terrifying day for our family. I will never forget standing on the playground at Hannah's and Seth's school, waiting for their Halloween programs to begin, and getting the call that my dad was in the hospital. And knowing it was bad. Very bad.
8. What is your biggest achievement of the year?
I survived giving birth (and recovering from giving birth) to a healthy baby while sick with pneumonia.
9. What is your biggest failure?
my temper
10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
personally, pneumonia. Seth did have the small scalping injury in March, but otherwise our little family has made it though a year ER free.
11. What is the best thing you bought?
the Wii, apparently.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Seth learned to read.Rick's success at work.My learning to sew. (better) Hannah's growing up. MaKaty's going a full day without destroying something. I'm relatively certain that happened once this year... Cru's learning to do so many things. We are a very skilled family. ;)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled or depressed?
my own. not always, but at times.

14. Where did most of your money go?
food, house, and health insurance
15. What did you get really excited about?
finally having one of those babies that starts sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and never stops...I had heard they existed, but wasn't really sure I believed. Thanks, Cru!
16. What songs will remind you of 2009 and why?
Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" (though I would not recommend the video) It's everywhere this year, and there's nothing like Hannah, Seth, Kate and Cru all rocking out to it!
17. Compared to last year...
a. happier or sadder? happier. Cru makes our lives complete.
b. thinner or fatter? thinner, though to be fair I was 7 months pregnant this time last year!
c. richer or poorer? both.
18. What do you wish you had done more of?
praying
19. What do you wish you had done less of?
yelling
20. How did you spend Christmas?
with family
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
totally and completely...have you seen Cru? He's a cutie!
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Biggest Loser.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate at this time last year?
Not a big fan of the "H" word.
24. What is the best book you read?
Life of Pi. (was that this year?)
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
the song "If You're Wondering..." by Weezer. And if you like the song, also watch the video...hi.lar.i.ous.
26. What did you want and get?
a healthy baby boy
27. What did you want and not get?
a lot of things...mostly by choice. we have lots of time to acquire things...
28. What was your favorite film this year?
Up.
29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 30. We went to dinner at Ah S'ya Vietnamese restaurant with a bunch of friends. It was wonderful.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a monthly delivery of hot vietnamese egg rolls.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2009?
is this what I like best, or what I wear, because they don't necessarily overlap...?
32. What kept you sane?
who ever accused me of being sane?
33. What celebrity did you fancy the most?
I am pleading the fifth on this one...
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
the economy and the war...and how closely linked they are...
35. Who do you miss?
my grandma's. and President Hinckley.
36. Who was the best person you met?
Cru. He was totally meant to be ours.
37. Valuable life lesson learned in 2009?
Some things can wait. Some can't.
38. What is the one thing you said this year that you never thought you'd say?
It's a toss up between, "Why do you need the flashlight in the bathtub?" and "Your brother's head is not for licking!"
39. What was the one thing you heard that you never thought you would hear?
"He might not make it."
40. What do you anticipate will be the biggest change in your life in 2010?

who knows? I can think of some things we could hope for...but nothing is certain.

More From Christmas

2009-12-26T23:46:00.015-07:00

December 23rd to December 25th, 2009. (aka Party Central!)

Starting with the annual Christmas Eve Eve party at Grandma and Papa's. We watched movies, worked on the family stocking collection (had to add four new stockings to the mix this year!!), and (of course) decorated the "gingerbread" houses.

Karen's was a work of art. For real.
Tirsa was very focused.
Seth was very goofy.
Hannah was very proud.

Christmas Eve we gathered back at Grandma and Papa's for the annual Acting Out of the Nativity. It's never totally quiet and peaceful, but it's family togetherness at it's finest!

Sorry, Cru. Such is the life of a little brother.
Cru went through a brief dread lock phase. Thank goodness that's over!
MaKaty was so excited about all the nativity dress-ups. She tried everything on, at least once!
I looked up at Hannah and had a flash forward to her first prom. I think my heart stopped for a second. Good thing I have a few years to get ready for that!Hannah took her part as the angel very seriously. She was beautiful. She sang like...well, like an angel!
Mary and Joseph on their wild donkey.
These are the shephards...they were being "sore afraid!"
Two of the cutest wise men you will ever find!
We headed home to leave some cookies for Santa. Hannah also insisted on leaving a carrot for the reindeer, and a chunk of cheese for Santa's mouse. Why he would be carrying a mouse with him is beyond me, but whatever!

Next Morning...Christmas!

Before the chaos begins!
Waiting for the go-ahead from mommy!
Enjoying the stockings:
Cru's first Peep!

Wrapping paper!
Sparkly Pink Barbie!!!
Star Wars Legos!
Gotta love Christmas Bedhead!
After we opened our presents we headed to Grandma and Papa's again for the family gift opening. The kids got completely spoiled, as usual. They were thrilled, and soon it was time to head to Pine Valley for the rest of the day!

It's a beautiful thing to not have to live and drive in the snow on a regular basis, but to be able to drive a half hour and enjoy it for the day. It was cold, but Courtney took the kids out to sled in the backyard of the cabin.

LOVED this shot!
Quote from Seth: "I must be braver than Santa, because I can ride a sleigh all by myself, and I didn't even need any reindeer!"
Waiting for his hot chocolate afterward.
And finally, here is a picture of my Christmas present from Rick. The photo boxes above the couch. They are each 10inx20 inches. And the one above the piano (12x24). You may notice that Cru's picture is a little different. It was the inspiration for the rest of the pictures. Cru's picture was a gift from Amy and is a wrapped gallery canvas. I thought it would be awesome to have similar canvases of all the kids, but couldn't really afford the price tag for four of them...so we improvised. Thanks to Amy for printing the photos for me. Thanks to Amy for taking the photos of Cru and the temple. Thanks to Jake for his tools and skills. And big thanks to Rick for my present! I LOVE them! Rick actually built an extra box for Cru. Someday we will need a more current photo of him, but for now I just couldn't bear to let this one make it's way upstairs to his room quite yet. When these pics are out of date, I will have more printed, and just modpodge them over the top.

We enjoyed a peaceful Christmas with all the trimmings. Speaking of trimmings...I got a haircut today. 7 inches gone! I didn't even know I had 7 inches to lose!!! Hopefully now it will grow out a little more evenly!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T23:55:00.002-07:00

And you thought Santa's Little Helper was just the dog on the Simpsons...

more later. much more.

More Christmas Fun:

2009-12-23T12:47:00.004-07:00

Thanks to a bunch of awesome Christmas parties, I became less of a scrooge and enjoyed the pre-holiday season.

Not pictured is Angie's annual cookie/dinner party. It was amazing! Angie's dinner parties are always a showcase of the most delicious food. This one was no different. Indian food. mmmmmmmm. Are you jealous? And Angie, your vegetable curry was complete divine...no matter how modest you are! I ate every bite! It was a lot of fun!

The second dinner party was for couples, and it was much needed. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. I've never had a great opinion of White Elephant gift exchanges. This party totally changed that for me. Now I am a fan...but only if it's a TRUE white elephant. So funny. The food was awesome! And the table looked beautiful.
Also not pictured was a great house warming/Christmas party at the Hummels. Thanks for that! Lots of food and drink, and children everywhere! Loved it!

Rick and I also attended his work party. It was a lot of fun. I think I'm finally seeing why people tend to gain so much weight this time of year. It's all about the food. That white elephant gift exchange was hilarious as well.

We attended two live nativities this year. Here is Kate at the Staheli Farms nativity. The kids could go up and pet the animals before and after the nativity. Kate LOVED the goats. She would not look at me, no matter what I tried. Don't you love her attire?The other nativity was at Tuacahn. We love this every year. There is nothing like seeing Mary come in on the donkey, and the Wise Men leading a live camel! There were also goats, sheep, and horses. For some reason, this is always an emotional experience for me. It just really gets me into the spirit of Christmas.
Cru enjoyed it, too. He laughed and bounced through the whole thing! Kate sat next to Rick screaming for the "don-key" "Daddy, where did the don-key go?" over and over and over.
The kids got to see Santa. All the way there, Katy kept telling us how she was going to sit on Santa's lap and ask for a pink barbie. She was going to talk to him and sit with him, and get a candy cane. Time came and she wouldn't even go near. Which was fine.

What? You don't want to sit on the strange old man's lap? What's wrong with you?

Hannah and Seth did, though. Seth asked Santa for a Jazz Transformer. Hannah asked for a laptop.
Thank goodness. Doable gifts this year. Here is a small list of previous year Santa requests:

a polar bear (live)
a llama (live)
a pirate (live)
a rocket ship (that can actually take children to the moon)

Yesterday I stubbed my toe on a chair as I was running around trying to get stuff done. To say that it hurt is a gross understatement. Due to the amount of pain/throbbing/funky color/disfigured shape, I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be broken. Oh well. No time for that.
Cru is currently sporting a 102 degree fever with no other symptoms. So we hope that clears up in time for the big day...

but usually, this is pretty typical Cru...

Tonight is the annual Christmas Eve Eve sleepover at Grandma's and Papa's. There will be Graham Cracker house making...stocking making...treat eating...movie watching madness.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Sound the Alarm

2009-12-21T08:20:00.002-07:00

We are the proud new owners of this sweet baby. It has a digital reading and a back up battery. Never were we so happy to spend 43$ on anything.

To make a long story short...we came home from church to find our smoke/CO alarm going off yesterday. We opened doors and windows, and replaced the battery. Still, it insisted on going off. So I loaded the kids in the car and headed to my parents house. Rick stayed and called the fire department.

The firemen checked the whole house and found nothing, but as soon as they walked into the garage their alarms started going off. Apparently their alarms go off at 30, so we know that after an hour of airing out...of having the garage door open...the levels were still at 30. That is a non-lethal dose. When we had left for church, the door from the garage into the house was left open just a bit, allowing the CO to spread through the house. Had that happened in the night while we slept...well, we don't want to think about that. Hopefully we would have woken to the alarm, but one never knows.

So the firemen checked Ricks blood, to check for exposure, and he was clear. So he called our gas company to check our water heater. The water heater received the all clear, so we are not sure what caused the leak in the first place. But we invested in the above alarm, just for peace of mind. We are happy to report that it has reported no CO thus far.

Moral of the story...check your CO detectors...ours just possibly saved our lives. And if you don't have one...GET ONE! NOW!

Before the Craziness Begins...

2009-12-18T13:08:00.007-07:00

I know the next few weeks will be filled with pictures, so here are a few before it all begins...

Where's the baby?
We have similar pictures of the other three kiddos, we couldn't let Cru get left out...he thought the whole process was HILARIOUS!

Um...one of these things is not like the others...
Beka took some awesome shots the other night at the temple...here are the ones starring us! Thanks for always taking the best pictures, Beka!
I think I could really make it as a Martian. What do you think?

Hannah had a Christmas concert.
It was joyous.She had a part in the Carol of the Bells song. It was VERY serious business. She was perfect.
She loves us.
I think I finally found my Christmas spirit. I think it has something to do with the fact that my % of stress has decreased below my % of excitement for the holiday. I apologize if you were one of the MANY people that I threatened to kick in the teeth for telling me that you were finished with your shopping in June. OK, I don't really apologize. I still think you are freaks. I am close to ready now, and am excited to reveal our little Christmas secret to the kids. And NO! We are not pregnant...so banish the thought immediately.

Merry Christmas to you.

2009-12-16T13:53:00.001-07:00

Nine Months (and one day) and Another Battle of the Bubbas

2009-12-09T15:22:00.006-07:00

So...he was nine months yesterday. And I took not.one.single.picture. of him. And the really sad thing was, it wasn't because I forgot. It was just because I was running from morning till night trying to get stuff done. Ah well...I'm pretty sure he looks pretty much the same today as he did yesterday, though possibly cuter...
He's grown up a lot this month. Just becoming mobile changes him so much! He wants to get into everything, and he tries to stand up to things now. When he is standing, he can do so for a long time now.
He is still super sweet, and mellow, but he has learned to voice his opinion rather well. He has become SUCH a mama's boy. He even gives his dad the stink eye if he tries to take him from me. It's pretty funny. I'll take it, though. He loves to snuggle, and I don't get that from any of the other kids, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
Cru has become attached to the doggie in his crib. It was a gift from Rick's grandma to Kate. (shhhh, don't tell Kate). I put it in his crib before he was born, and it has sort of stayed there for the most part. He has taken to sucking on its nose.
His crawling has already morphed from the army crawl to the inch worm, to the hands and knees crawl...but is usually a combination of all.
Cru has also started jabbering. He is often heard chanting "Dadadadadada" over and over. He also says, "bababa", "maamamama", "lala", and "wawawa". None of these "words" mean anything to him yet. He also loves to growl and "sing". If you tell him to say, "dada" he will, and if you squeal, he will imitate you. He has also started bobbing up and down when he hears music.

The background is super distracting in this one, but I had to post it because he makes this sort of growly scrunchy face all the time. I think it's very endearing.
No new teeth this month, though the drool has started again, so I am wondering...
Some facts and favorites:

he started crawling over Thanksgiving weekend
he has started eating more "finger foods", like rice puffs, crackers, bits of chicken, peas, broccoli, and pastas
he tried quinoa this month, and is a fan!
his blue eyes are definitely not fading
his favorite toys are not toys
he loves the computer mouse
he is somewhere around the 20 pound range...perhaps 21. (his weight gain has slowed)
he gives high fives and kisses
he giggles at the sight of a cat
he still nurses 3-4 times a day
he is fully in stanger danger mode now...no more passing him off to just anyone
he ate so much squash and sweet potatoes that his skin literally started to turn orange (we are mixing it up a bit better now)
he loves his exersaucer and really gets it bouncing
he doesn't care for his car seat
he shows a definite preference for freshly pureed foods
he has pulled himself to standing a couple of times now
he claps when you cheer for him and bangs two toys together in imitation
I love his low giggle when he sees me standing over his crib
I love how he strokes my face while he is nursing
I love that I am his favorite, because I know it won't last
I adore his squinty face
I love his chunky little hands
I am sad that he's losing his chunk
I have always loved his middle name, but I love that now I get to say it when he is getting into something he's not supposed to...
I love it when I talk to him and he cocks one eyebrow and just stares at me
I love it when he makes a kissy noise at me because he wants me to kiss him
I love it when he laughs so hard that no sound comes out

We love our little Cru-Man.

On to the Battle of the Bubbas:

Here is a scrapbook page that I did of Seth when he was the same age.
And here is a collage I made today of Cru.
Who's the Bubba now?

'tis the season, and other stuff

2009-12-03T10:41:00.007-07:00

On Monday we went to the temple to see the nativity and the lights. Some friends joined us, and the big kids took off to play, so I only got pictures of the little ones. I was having a hard time figuring out how to get good pictures. (thanks to Amy and Beka for helping me figure it out). I still didn't get any great ones, but I did love this picture.

Cute Katy, she was telling me what the colors of all the lights were.
Beka caught this picture of Cru with my camera. So squishable.Here are some shots of the little crawler. He does this awesome random assortment of movements that eventually get him where he needs to go. And ironically, our vacuum of 9 years chose to quit on us the same weekend that he learned to crawl. Needless to say, I have to watch closely what this boy is putting in his mouth! We will be buying a new vacuum this week.

Katy got up on the counter and took over the job of feeding Cru.
This picture TOTALLY cracks me up!
And here's a little Kate story to end with. Yesterday I told her that she needed to hop in the car because we were going to the post office. I was getting Cru's jacket on, and suddenly she is grabbing me around the knees and saying, "Please don't hurt me, Mama!"
Naturally, I wondered where that came from... so we talked.

Me: Katy, I'm not going to hurt you, why are you afraid that I will hurt you?
Kate: I don't want to go to the post office. They POKE me at the post office!
Me: They poke you?
Kate: Yes, and I don't want to hurt me!

then it processed. She thought the post office was the dr. office.

Me: Kate, we are going to the POST office, not the Dr. Office. We are going to buy stamps. No one will poke you.
Kate: Okay.

On the way to the post office, she piped up from the back seat.
"I going to the post office. No one poke me there. I not go to doctor today."

Glad we cleared that one up. Next week's doctor visit is going to be a scream!

Feeling Thankful

2009-11-29T21:01:00.006-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. It was eventful, and at times, emotional, but we are definitely feeling grateful.

Thanksgiving morning started off with the first annual Family 5K. We biked, ran, or scooted (is that the correct form for riding a scooter?) Anywho, it was a lot of fun. We just ran the local trail, so it wasn't an official event or anything. Seth and Rick ended up biking about 5 miles (with Rick pulling Katy and Cru in the bike trailer). Hannah biked along with us runners...with a water bottle in her basket.
Alison, Karen, Heather and I ran it. Ethan and Alex lapped us several times in our run. I had not prepared AT ALL for this run...so I didn't run the entire way...I walked at intervals, but definitely ran more than I walked. We came in at about a 45 minute time, so not bad, but not good. Heather, Alison and Karen SO could have beat me, but they were nice and stuck with me!

Ethan and Alex
Cute baby cousins. Cru and Soren are about 3 1/2 months apart.
Nothing like freshly drilled mashed potatoes. Papa has a special way of creaming his mashed potatoes with a drill. Hey! Don't knock it. It works!
No one was cooperative about having their picture taken at the table, so I left those pictures off. But the food was delicious. Papa always does an amazing job.

I call this next picture: Tryptophan.
And I call this one: Not Enough Tryptophan.
These kids are so lucky to have uncles that play with them.
We visited my parents for a few minutes later in the evening. Cru was happy to snuggle.
The next day I got this picture of Cru looking a bit like he had something up his sleeve. Well, he did. After contentedly sitting with NO SIGN of wanting to crawl, the boy up and decided to start crawling. He went from an awkward army crawl to up on his knees lunging in less than 24 hours. He is still not totally confident, and does a lot of spinning, inching, army crawling, rocking and lunging, but he can go from one room to another if he is motivated enough. LOVE that boy.
These four cousins were all born within a year. At this point there were four adults standing behind me trying to get these guys to smile, but as you can see, they are a tough audience. They are still cute, though.
Not pictured events include:

the annual trip to the Gift Show the day after Thanksgiving
a girls night to New Moon (where three of the guys joined us...and Rick wants to make sure that you know that HE was NOT one of them) I will keep my opinions of the movie to myself, as I don't love having my house egged by Twihards... Just kidding. It wasn't THAT bad.
soccer games. (not ours...we attended as fans)
a birthday party.
the avoidance of Black Friday shopping.
a walking trip to the duck pond.
lots of laughs...a few tears...and family time.

I am thankful for health, love, family, recovery, plenty, the gospel, baby smiles, giggles, family, kids, chocolate, Rick, family, bedtime, Hannah, Seth, MaKaty, Cru, family, and love.

Randomness

2009-11-25T23:26:00.012-07:00

This post is just as random as random can be...so be prepared for that. I have gotten behind on a lot of things lately, and here is my meager attempt to recapture the random events of the last 2 months.

Katy had a little soccer envy: (please note that both legs are in the same hole)
We went on an adventure with Grandpa. He knew of this cool cave. We ventured in only a few feet, for safety reasons, but the kids were all sorts of intrigued.
The very same Grandpa suffered a brain bleed and had neurosurgery in October. Thanks to the marvel of modern medicine, and the miracle of prayer, he is recovering well.
Rick designed another new park.
It received the MaKaty seal of approval.She's cute. Were it not for the cuteness factor, she would be sold on the black market. She is the most troublesome toddler I have had yet...
You see that attitude?
This girl has taken to doing her own hair.
He continues to get cuter.
I find similar set-ups on a regular basis. Note the bat hanging in the tree. Good stuff.
We made homemade rootbeer with dry ice. Twice.
Hannah attended her first (non-grandmother) sleepover.
This made me laugh. Hard.
Rick and the kids went Conveniency Camping. This is where you attend the campsite...hike around...roast marshmallows...enjoy the campfire...and drive home and sleep in your own beds.

That is all for now.

My favorite outtake:

2009-11-23T23:00:00.003-07:00

A friend of ours (thanks Shauna) took a few pictures for the ol' Christmas card a week or so ago. This was my favorite of the outtakes. Ah yeah, that's a little slice of my life. Enjoy!

A Farewell To Soccer

2009-11-16T00:02:00.008-07:00

Another soccer season is over. It was a good year. Hannah went from having no desire to play, to begging her coach to keep her in. They both learned a lot about teamwork, and learned that there is more to soccer than just kicking the ball. While neither kid got a goal this year, they both had multiple assists, and some great saves. Thank goodness for good coaches and teammates. We saw an increase in effort and enthusiasm, and kept the tears and the trash talk to a minimum. Hooray for soccer!

Blue Bunnies and Orange Bombers rock!

Eight Months Old

2009-11-08T21:36:00.008-07:00

Our little big man. Just look at him. He's huge! And cuter than ever!

Looking thoughtful...

This picture was poorly composed, but I had to post it because it shows all of Cru's teeth. All SIX of them! See the big one on the top? That tooth and I, we don't get along so well. I'll let you use your imagination to figure out why...
Oh yeah, this next one is just keeping it real. So so glad that I could capture the infamous snot bubble.
Proof that even Captain Chill gets sick of having his picture taken:
And this last picture was taken by my niece. So cute. And yes, he is already a flirt.
Some facts:

Cru sprouted 2 new teeth this month.
He is FAR to content to want to learn to crawl, though he has finally tried to get to his hands and knees.
He is perfecting the pincer grasp.
He LOVES squash.
He LOVES his stuffed dog.
He has shown signs of stranger danger, and gets shy.
He LOVES cats, but dogs tend to scare him a bit.
He is experimenting with the "bum scoot" form of transportation.
He gives high fives, with gusto!
He reaches out to be picked up.
He will often clap in imitation.
He thinks Baby Mum Mum's are THE STUFF!

Some favorites:

I love his cheeks, and how his dimple is emerging more and more all the time
I love how he snuggles just about as long as you will let him.
I love his fake cry...and how it turns off as soon as you pick him up.
I love his baby blues.
I love how he laughs when Katy pretends to sneeze.
I love his sleep habits.
I love it when he yells and scares himself.
I love how he gets excited at the sight of food.
I love how he imitates facial expressions, like when I raise my eyebrows and he returns it.
I love his birthmark.
I love to watch him splash in the bath.
I love to watch him play with toys. Spinning, pushing, banging, dumping.
I love his wet kisses.

Keep up the cuteness, Cruzer!

A Whole Week of Halloween Scares

2009-11-03T21:50:00.015-07:00

OK, so this post is another photo heavy one. It's totally for my benefit more than anyone else's. So if you have seen enough pictures of pumpkin carving/kids in costume/pre-sugar-high festivities, I won't feel bad if you just move on.

The week started with a spooky dinner of "spider dogs" . I know they look totally gross, but the kids thought they were "the stuff!" Essentially you just poke spaghetti noodles into hot dogs and boil them. We dipped our spider dogs in "blood" (ketchup). Gross, but good.
Tirsa painted Hannah's fingernails to go with her Sally costume. I think they were the coolest! (click on the photo to see them close up!)
Monday we invaded Jake and Beka's house and turned the kids loose with cupcakes and frosting. Black frosting. Looks cool. On the cupcake. Everywhere else, not so much. I didn't take many pictures that day...but here is one of Cru. Ready to party!
Tuesday we turned three pumpkins over to the kids for carving. Seth was SO EXCITED to use a knife. He was bummed to realize that there was still a lot of supervision.

Kate got totally into the pumpkin guts.
Hannah kept one arm in her shirt so that only one would get all gross.
Seth with his spiderman pumpkin. I ran a practice round on the drawing a lightning scar on him, if you can't tell.
A couple of years ago, our friends Jared and Amy had used a smoke bomb in their pumpkins. So I saved a couple from the 4th of July. They were lots of fun. Stinky, but fun!

Katy wanted a happy pumpkin. Hannah got Zero, from Nightmare Before Christmas, and Seth rocked the Spiderman pumpkin.
Wednesday was our neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat. You have already seen pictures from that day, but here are a few of the outtakes.

Weird, but adorable. I should make him a shirt that says that.

Yes, it's true...he did keep the patch on. I promise. The kid is ultra-mellow.
And the opposite of mellow...Miss Katy. Who had begged and begged to be a cow. And wanted to take the hood off the whole time. Stinker.
The whole crew.
Two of Seth's best neighborhood buddies were Optimus Prime. So cute. (try to ignore the fact that you can see the back of Seth's tie, revealing that his Gryffindor tie is actually a regular tie with masking tape stripes colored gold.)
People honestly could not tell it was Hannah under there. She looked a little freaky, but LOVED it!
He fell asleep trick-or-treating. Patch and all!Hannah shared her sucker with Cru. I just love the sneaky look in his eyes!
Let the acquisition of candy begin.
this pirate is armed!
not only does she look cool, but she made the entire costume herself. So she *is* cool!
not sure what to think...
cutest dragon EVER!
The three boy cousins. AKA: ImpossibletogettolookatyouatthesametimeAnd now I get to live with three kids who have either had far too much sugar, or they are convinced that they are being deprived of sugar.

Hope you had a good Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-28T21:15:00.006-06:00

What Big Brothers are Good For...

2009-10-19T17:02:00.003-06:00

I.about.died.laughing.

Dear Ernie,

2009-10-16T22:35:00.004-06:00

I sincerely apologize. I am so sorry that you had the misfortune to be captured by my children. I realize that the conditions in the baby wipe container were not ideal. I'm sorry that you were forced to do tricks, and that you were assigned such an unfortunate name. Truly, it must have been a harrowing 8 hours. Seriously, I freed you as soon as I could. But hey, at least you can tell your buddies that you got to drive this SWEET scooter!Sincerely,

Hannah and Seth's Mom

Farming...

2009-10-15T14:19:00.010-06:00

It has become a family tradition to head out to a local farm each fall and let the kids get a little redneck.

MaKaty has always been a little young to really experience it. Not anymore. She was in heaven. Dirty. Corny. Fly covered. Heaven. (and yes, I did mean corny to be a pun)

Corn Slide:
Red Neck Merry Go Round
Corn Pit:
Petting Zoo:
Kate is obsessed with cows. She was so excited that she kept squealing...so the cow kept moving. So funny.
This is what happens when I just hold my camera down by my knees and snap pictures...I kinda like it.
Anyone want a lamb, beef, and MaKaty sandwich?
Hannah has always had a thing for llamas. One llama kissed her right in the middle of the forehead when we came a couple years ago. This year Hannah noticed that "her" llama was not part of the group. So sad.
Cru was a good sport. He just hung out in the stroller.
Seth was really hard to photograph because he wouldn't hold still for two seconds...
The hay swing was new this year...at least for us. Hannah loved it!
Ah, the beloved Cow Train. Lily. Katy. Frank. Hannah. Elise. Shelly. Seth. Alex.

This is what Cru looks like when he's trying to say, "I'm getting a little cold, and I'm sort of tired of this, guys." He's not very convincing...
On to the pumpkin patch:

We ended up with four pumpkins, of various sizes. We are hoping that they will last until the week of Halloween when we carve them. So far. So good.

Here's Katy with her chosen pumpkin. It's a good picture of her bruised nose. She had cracked her head into another child on a slide at the park. Her nose had bled and both eyes went black. Three days later, this was the bruised look she sported...Our little bruiser.

His Name is Not Noodle: The Story of a Dog

2009-10-12T22:43:00.007-06:00

The only response you will get from MaKaty if you ask her what her doggie's name is: "His name is not Noodle." Ummmmm, OK.
No, this is not a two headed dog. There are actually two doggies in this photo. Perhaps one of them is named Noodle, and the other one is Not Noodle. We may never know. All I know is that the original doggie, given to her on her first birthday by Brandon and Heather, is an absolute necessity. So much so, that being smart parents, we procured a "back-up" from the same store. (thank-you again, Heather.) But...being not-so-smart parents, we neglected to keep back-up doggie hidden. As soon as she realized that there were two, it was necessary to have two with her, AT ALL TIMES. Thankfully, that has phased out now. Both dogs kick around the house all day long, but when it comes to nap or bed time, she is a purist. Only the original will do. And if you get confused or desperate, and try to pass off back-up doggie for original doggie...well, it's not pretty. She looks the doggie right in the eyes and says, "Where is my other-one doggie?", and promptly drops back-up doggie like a bag of rocks.

Even in the middle of the night, she will wake up crying if she can't find original doggie. Back-up doggie in arms, she will cry and cry as I fumble around in the darkness, trying to find the original. As soon as he is found and placed in her arms, she is instantly back to sleep. She carries doggie around draped over one arm, and periodically hugs him to her chest and proclaims emphatically, "I lub you." (I admit it was a little blow to the ego when I mistakenly thought she had uttered the words for me...I was quickly corrected.)

As you can imagine, a fluffy white doggie occasionally loses his fluffiness and whiteness, and needs a little trip to the "doggie salon." Those are rough days for Kate. She stands in front of the washing machine crying. She gets to move doggie from one machine to the other, and is slightly less disturbed by the drying procedure. My hunch is that it's because of the warm fluffiness straight from the dryer. She has been known to tell visitors that she is sad because "Doggie in the washing machine." Trauma, I tell you. I still shudder to think of the day he got peanut butter on his paw. Doggie is no longer allowed anywhere near the peanut butter.

And apparently doggie gets cold in the mornings. Because lately she has been insisting on bringing doggie in the mornings when we head to the bus stop. And Katy needs a jacket. And doggie needs a jacket. But Katy gets the jacket that is a little too small and not nearly so cute...but DOGGIE gets the good jacket because "it is more comfy for him."

No one will ever accuse her of being a girl without priorities...Welcome to the family, NotNoodle.

Cru @ 7

2009-10-08T22:24:00.009-06:00

Seven months. So much closer to a year old than a newborn. Times are changing. He's growing up so much, so fast. And I'm loving every minute of it. How could I not? This is Cru...95% of the time!
I'm a lucky mama.
Mr. Buckets-Of-Drool pushed through two more teeth this month. Can you tell?

You may remember the blue suitcase from his 9-day old photoshoot. (photo by my friend Amy)
I meant to use it in his 6 month and 1 year photo shoots as well...whoops. Was that last month? Here it is...a month later than planned. It shrunk just a bit.
I tried to limit my pictures...honest, I did. He's just too.darn.cute.

Things we love about Cru @ 7 months...

this "Alfalfa" hair thing he has going on. It's all natural, baby.
his deep belly laugh...especially when he's laughing at Katy. It's the best!
the way he talks to his doggie that is in his crib
his wet and enthusiastic kisses
how he lays his head on my chest for a snuggle
his "yelling"...it's not sad, it's just noise experimentation
his mellow nature
how he responds to the sound of my voice...even over the phone...and gets excited when he sees me from across the room
those blue eyes (no eye brightening actions were used...they are just THAT blue)
his enthusiasm for food, especially for squash and sweet potatoes
his sleep habits
his coping ability
his unique rolling-pushing-squirming form of mobility (and the fact that he's NOT crawling yet)

Oh, how we love you, Cru.
Good night.

My Favorite Color is Orange...

2009-10-04T19:59:00.021-06:00

For family night Rick took off a little early and we headed off to the mountains to catch some beautiful leaf action. We got there at that magical time of the evening when the light from the sun setting makes everything glow. There were leaves that had already changed and fallen; as well as leaves that were still green in the trees. It was perfect. The types of trees were varied enough to pop out yellows and reds, and all shades of orange in between. It's going to be a beautiful fall!
There was a little too much orange here...the leaves, the light from the sunset, and Cru's natural skin tones...but it's still so so cute.
Hannah loved collecting leaves, and discovered her own little "thicket" where she and Seth set up a little picnic area for their dinner.

I think this one looks like Seth is sitting in front of one of those cheesy fall backdrops they used to have at the photo center at Wal Mart, and the like...

Katy has temporarily abandoned the cow boots in favor of her new shoe obsession...the high top pink chuck taylors...
So pretty...
MaKaty does not hold still for ANYTHING! So this is the best I could do with her level of cooperation!

Rick got some great shots of the trees and the sunset just as we were losing the last bit of sun behind the mountains.

We have spent the last three years trying to find the perfect spot to get pictures of the fall leaves. I think we found it...

Friday Night is Movie Night, Right?

2009-10-02T23:30:00.002-06:00

So here are a few "Indie" films for your enjoyment. The first one stars Miss MaKaty. Her acting skills are refreshingly natural. Her co-star, Cru, does little more than lay down on the job, but he more than makes up for it with his good looks. Enjoy! (but don't bother popping any popcorn...these videos are all around 1 minute or less)

Cru has found his voice.

MaKaty reading a book. Don't feel bad if you can't understand a word she is saying...neither could we. That was the purpose of the video. She is already talking far far more clearly, so we wanted to get the JabberJabber on video before it was gone for good.

Seth was talking and singing to Cru and making him smile and laugh. This video makes me laugh and cry...nothing like brotherly love.

This is NOT a video of Katy reading...not really. It's a video of Katy singing. It just looks like a video of Katy reading.

Life is good.

"Loud and Fast"

2009-09-30T22:59:00.005-06:00

That would be a five year old's synopsis of his first NASCAR event. Loud and Fast.

Rick happened to mention one day at work that Seth enjoyed watching the NASCAR races on TV. The secretary at his work, Carol, heard this and offered him some tickets for that weekends truck races. How awesome is that? Rick kept it a secret from Seth all week, until the day of the race. Seth was so excited!
I was worried that he would get bored or tired because they had to drive a couple of hours to get there, and it was pretty hot. I thought he wouldn't last the whole 3 hours. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline rush or the sugar high...but he did just fine!
Rick took our old digital camera, so he had a hard time catching a car in the photo...but here's an idea of what they were watching...

The victory burn out:
They had a great time. They were grateful for ear plugs. They got some guy time. They came home very tired. They loved it. I think they're hooked.
Thanks Carol, for letting my guys get some bonding time!

This Cowboy Wears Flip Flops

2009-09-27T00:07:00.005-06:00

It was Cowboy Day in Seth's class a week or so ago, and this is the outfit we threw together. His cowboy boots no longer fit (sad sad) and this is what he came up with as a replacement. Gotta love it.
I did NOT tell him to pretend to shoot the camera. That's all him.
I think I'll mosey on off to bed now.