Thank you to Aunt Annee for the adorable hand made birthday outfit. June couldn't be more pleased (me neither). Seriously, when are you going into business?!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
say cheeeeesssse!
Thank you to Aunt Annee for the adorable hand made birthday outfit. June couldn't be more pleased (me neither). Seriously, when are you going into business?!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
don't take it personally -- I haven't folded the laundry in 2 weeks either
The clean clothes were piled up high in the middle of my bedroom. Every morning as people got dressed they'd come in and dig through to find what they needed. Pretty sad. And of course the dirtying of clothes does not pause just because the previous batch hasn't been put away yet.
We haven't done our taxes yet. It's not quite as exciting to get them done early now that we usually owe money.
My maternity wardrobe needed a home. I was digging through boxes and suitcases every day while valuable closet space was taken up by clothes that couldn't be worn for probably another year (if ever?).
Brenden has to do a science fair project. He wants something with Legos.
Two birthdays have passed which required presents, plans, and celebrations.
The weeding and trimming of roses could not wait any longer. And fertilizing and rose feeding and aphid prevention.
Scott's been busy on a new album, which means lots of late nights.
And my work has been busy too. A big deadline approaching and projects finally finished in the wee hours of the morning.
They might sound like excuses, but nonetheless all these things must take priority over blogging. But finally now my head is coming up above water and it's time to make up for lost time. I've been taking pictures along the way to make the catching up possible. Here are a few notable occasions.
The kids had been practicing for weeks. Everyone had either a speaking, singing, or dancing part. I was surprised how excitedly Oliver talked about it, fully expecting his anxiety to win out in the end. But even as it approached he talked about rehearsals and "dancing like a crazy man" and acted as if the show would go on. The night before, he announced that he thought he would participate in the morning performance and then sit out the evening performance. Yeah, ok, sure. Plans were made for Dad to attend in the morning. Then that morning he changed his mind and said he'd do the evening show instead. I made him go anyways (decided to avoid the fight about wearing nice clothes and let him wear his play clothes, which included black hoodie & war paint on his face that wouldn't quite come off), thinking maybe when the time came he'd just go along with the crowd. But remember how stubborn he can be? We watched excitedly as the kids filed onto stage to see if Oli was among them. Finally we spotted him:
Zoom in for a better view of all the other kids nicely dressed and obediently sitting in their designated spots. He sat in that spot with his hood up the whole hour.
But true to his word, he did participate in the evening performance, although still unwilling to change his attire. He kept his black hood up the whole time, even when he went up for his solo in the Wiggly Wiggly dance. We were so proud of him, and also proud that we had the one kid in the whole Kindergarten who all the parents could easily identify as "the one to stay away from" and the one to vote "most likely to bring a gun to school in the future." Poor guy. What kind of family life must he have at home?!
Here's what we've been doing for hours every day at home lately:
Building blocks. June has become obsessed and insists Scott or I sit down on the floor next to her. Oliver secretly likes an excuse to play June's "baby games" too.
Brenden has become an expert chocolate chip cookie maker. He's made about 4 batches so far and I can't even express how excited this makes me. Not only does it keep him away from the TV and video games, but he lets us all eat the dough and the cookies are delicious! He's even learned how to soften the butter in the microwave without melting it, and crack the eggs into a cup so he can easily fish out the shells. The flour-leveling mess on the counter is totally worth it. What a joy to have the kids actually becoming useful! (At this very moment, Oliver is entertaining June nicely in the basement and Brenden is making another batch of cookies!)
What a sport. To celebrate we took the kids to Tepanyaki, one of those Japanese steak-house places where they put on a little show on the grill in front of your table -- complete with dramatic flames and erupting onion-volcanoes. June thought it was much too scary so we watched from the other side of the room. Once she was finally willing to return to our table, she kept her hands over her ears the whole rest of the dinner -- just in case. The food was delicious. Creme brulee for dessert. The next day there was more celebrating with the Jacobsens and Tanners (well documented here) including the traditional ice cream cake. The celebrations are completely inadequate to prove our love or appreciation for this guy. We couldn't ask for a better husband, father, friend, example, leader, caretaker, play mate, or confidante.
Moving on one week later we celebrated June's 2nd Birthday. What a princess. She loved the balloons and attention and presents! We decided to take advantage of the last year we could get away with a low-key celebration and just filled the day with little things she likes.
We went to the playground, fed the ducks, and ate DQ ice cream for lunch. (We'll skip the part about 3 trips to Walmart and a trip to Target.)
She got into the spirit of the day in her birthday suit while she enjoyed her new bubble maker. Guess that monstrous 8-foot fence is finally coming in handy.
Sunday we marked her passage into 2-year-old-girl-hood with her very first tantrum over what shoes she could wear to church.
Once resolved, she showed off her new duds from Gma & Gpa W.
Sunday night we celebrated with the aunts (& significant others) with dinner and cake and more balloons. Thanks to Christine and her noble effort to make this beautiful rainbow cake, which however lovely it might be, landed like a brick straight into the pit of our stomachs. (No, we do not recommend it. Something about using sprite instead of eggs & oil? Why do we need to mess with your basic perfect cake mix?! **POST EDIT NOTE: we thought the Sprite was for the color, not just to make it low-fat. Guess we should try it again using regular cake mix recipe.)
P.S. Tomorrow's our big day to find out what kind of baby we're having. Any bets? Scott's really lobbying for another one of these:
We haven't done our taxes yet. It's not quite as exciting to get them done early now that we usually owe money.
My maternity wardrobe needed a home. I was digging through boxes and suitcases every day while valuable closet space was taken up by clothes that couldn't be worn for probably another year (if ever?).
Brenden has to do a science fair project. He wants something with Legos.
Two birthdays have passed which required presents, plans, and celebrations.
The weeding and trimming of roses could not wait any longer. And fertilizing and rose feeding and aphid prevention.
Scott's been busy on a new album, which means lots of late nights.
And my work has been busy too. A big deadline approaching and projects finally finished in the wee hours of the morning.
They might sound like excuses, but nonetheless all these things must take priority over blogging. But finally now my head is coming up above water and it's time to make up for lost time. I've been taking pictures along the way to make the catching up possible. Here are a few notable occasions.
The Wasatch Elementary Kindergarten Program
The kids had been practicing for weeks. Everyone had either a speaking, singing, or dancing part. I was surprised how excitedly Oliver talked about it, fully expecting his anxiety to win out in the end. But even as it approached he talked about rehearsals and "dancing like a crazy man" and acted as if the show would go on. The night before, he announced that he thought he would participate in the morning performance and then sit out the evening performance. Yeah, ok, sure. Plans were made for Dad to attend in the morning. Then that morning he changed his mind and said he'd do the evening show instead. I made him go anyways (decided to avoid the fight about wearing nice clothes and let him wear his play clothes, which included black hoodie & war paint on his face that wouldn't quite come off), thinking maybe when the time came he'd just go along with the crowd. But remember how stubborn he can be? We watched excitedly as the kids filed onto stage to see if Oli was among them. Finally we spotted him:
Zoom in for a better view of all the other kids nicely dressed and obediently sitting in their designated spots. He sat in that spot with his hood up the whole hour.
But true to his word, he did participate in the evening performance, although still unwilling to change his attire. He kept his black hood up the whole time, even when he went up for his solo in the Wiggly Wiggly dance. We were so proud of him, and also proud that we had the one kid in the whole Kindergarten who all the parents could easily identify as "the one to stay away from" and the one to vote "most likely to bring a gun to school in the future." Poor guy. What kind of family life must he have at home?!At Home
Here's what we've been doing for hours every day at home lately:
Building blocks. June has become obsessed and insists Scott or I sit down on the floor next to her. Oliver secretly likes an excuse to play June's "baby games" too.
Brenden has become an expert chocolate chip cookie maker. He's made about 4 batches so far and I can't even express how excited this makes me. Not only does it keep him away from the TV and video games, but he lets us all eat the dough and the cookies are delicious! He's even learned how to soften the butter in the microwave without melting it, and crack the eggs into a cup so he can easily fish out the shells. The flour-leveling mess on the counter is totally worth it. What a joy to have the kids actually becoming useful! (At this very moment, Oliver is entertaining June nicely in the basement and Brenden is making another batch of cookies!)Happy Birthday Scott!
What a sport. To celebrate we took the kids to Tepanyaki, one of those Japanese steak-house places where they put on a little show on the grill in front of your table -- complete with dramatic flames and erupting onion-volcanoes. June thought it was much too scary so we watched from the other side of the room. Once she was finally willing to return to our table, she kept her hands over her ears the whole rest of the dinner -- just in case. The food was delicious. Creme brulee for dessert. The next day there was more celebrating with the Jacobsens and Tanners (well documented here) including the traditional ice cream cake. The celebrations are completely inadequate to prove our love or appreciation for this guy. We couldn't ask for a better husband, father, friend, example, leader, caretaker, play mate, or confidante.Happy Birthday June
Moving on one week later we celebrated June's 2nd Birthday. What a princess. She loved the balloons and attention and presents! We decided to take advantage of the last year we could get away with a low-key celebration and just filled the day with little things she likes.
We went to the playground, fed the ducks, and ate DQ ice cream for lunch. (We'll skip the part about 3 trips to Walmart and a trip to Target.)
She got into the spirit of the day in her birthday suit while she enjoyed her new bubble maker. Guess that monstrous 8-foot fence is finally coming in handy.
Sunday we marked her passage into 2-year-old-girl-hood with her very first tantrum over what shoes she could wear to church.
Once resolved, she showed off her new duds from Gma & Gpa W.
Sunday night we celebrated with the aunts (& significant others) with dinner and cake and more balloons. Thanks to Christine and her noble effort to make this beautiful rainbow cake, which however lovely it might be, landed like a brick straight into the pit of our stomachs. (No, we do not recommend it. Something about using sprite instead of eggs & oil? Why do we need to mess with your basic perfect cake mix?! **POST EDIT NOTE: we thought the Sprite was for the color, not just to make it low-fat. Guess we should try it again using regular cake mix recipe.)
The End.
P.S. Tomorrow's our big day to find out what kind of baby we're having. Any bets? Scott's really lobbying for another one of these:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
she is a girly girl afterall
Tonight June insisted I remove my ponytail and put it in her hair. Then she insisted I remove my earrings so she could wear them. I don't remember the boys ever doing that.(Not sure what's with the funny face that really accentuates her double chin. Looks like she's still got some stuff to learn about being a girl.)
Monday, March 2, 2009
highs & lows from last week
Highs:
1. I finally embraced my bump(s) and pulled out the maternity clothes (I'm about 16 weeks along now). It is so much better wearing clothes that actually fit than struggling every day to squeeze into regular clothes and constantly being reminded that I'm no longer my regular size. Plus, thanks to my stylish sister and SILs and our maternity-clothes-sharing program, my maternity wardrobe is actually way better than my regular wardrobe.
2. Scott and I went to the Deseret Book Artist Appreciation dinner on Wednesday and got to hobnob with the LDS elite at the top of the COB. Elder Bednar's talk was amazing, the entertainment actually rather entertaining, the food not bad, the chocolates great, but mostly I was so proud to see Scott honored and appreciated for some of the great work he's done this year. I love being his wife.
3. Great weather all week with lots of playing outside time. I even turned the heater off one day (although Scott made me turn it back on when he got home - it's a constant battle between us these days)
4. The next-door neighbors set up their new trampoline. One more reason why we don't have to get one!
5. June has great trampoline-static-hair.
6. I managed to get all 3 kids bathed 3 times this week, plus got all their toe nails & finger nails cut in one night. This is one of my least favorite parental tasks, so quite a feat to get it all done at once.
7. Great Thai takeout on Saturday night --> great Thai leftovers this week :)
8. I took the kids to the BYU MOA to see a new exhibit of Walter Wick's art (author of I Spy). They were so excited and enthusiastic as they looked around and tried to solve the riddles and wondered at how someone could do all that.
9. June has kept us very entertained with her Yo Gabba Gabba-style "cool tricks cool tricks". She does it just like in the show: announces her trick, does the trick, then stands up at the end to say "my name is June and that was my cool trick" which comes out sounding a little like "blah blah blah Ju blah blah blah cooo tiii".
10. Brenden had 2 great snowboarding days this week -- Friday with his school ski club and Saturday he and Scott went back together. He is getting quite good and fast and really loves it. We are so lucky to live so close to Sundance which actually keeps skiing/snowboarding easy and affordable. I need to get myself out there at least once before the end of the season!
11. I went to Soel to use my bday money (thanks mom!) on a pair of shoes I've been eyeing for a while, but hadn't been able to bring myself to spend that much money on, only to discover that they were, that day, 40% off! Don't you love it when that happens?!
12. I made a double batch of the best chocolate chip cookies on earth, with plans to share most of them with my poor neglected visiting teaching sisters, but never quite made the drop off. We have much enjoyed them ourselves.
13. Scott did the Sunday dinner dishes :)
Lows:
1. Our dishwasher is still broken, with at least another week to go until the backordered parts are in stock. Yep - that's going on about a month now. Yep - we do wish we'd just gotten a new one from the beginning of the problems. No - we still don't have the money to get a new one now so we'll have to just stick it out. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding using dishes. Big-size paper cups and plastic forks make good mixing tools, a plastic butter knife can cut pizza just fine, Rachel's favorite veggie steamer bags work really well. But I still hate washing dishes by hand.
2. I don't think I can handle any more news about another bailout package, spending bill, obscenely huge federal budget proposal, or initiative aimed at eliminating or impeding free markets, personal responsibility, or rewards for success and hard work. This gives me ulcers every day, and inspires me even more to continue building our food supply.
3. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist -- bad movie, don't see it.
4. June and Oliver both decided they didn't really feel like going to their classes this week at church. June required Scott or I to stay with her in Nursery for almost the whole time, and Oliver literally sat in the hallway outside his class for 2 hours. Finally his patient and persistent teacher convinced him to come in for the last 10 mintues, but he had long since proven his point that he didn't have to if he didn't want to. What's the best way to handle this? Logic and bribery didn't seem to work.
5. We have to dial all 10 digits even when calling locally now. Booo
6. We still need to do our taxes
7. Scott's been working a lot lately, which in several important ways can go on the Highs list (he is healthy, the economy hasn't effected his job too much just yet, plus working is good for our bank account) but we miss him being around more at home.
8. Our bulbs are coming up like crazy. Usually this would be exciting, but I'm totally convinced winter is not over, so I'm worried they won't survive.
9. The snow has melted to reveal an overwhelming growth of weeds in the flowerbeds, yet it is too cold to want to go out to do much gardening yet.
10. The warmer weather also takes away our last excuse for still having Christmas lights up on the house and in the trees (hear that Zack?!)
11. June has squarely entered the "terrible twos" complete with throwing tantrums and exherting independence. She can detect the slightest suggestion of baking happening in the kitchen and immediately pushes her chair over to "hep". Today she threw a fit because she wanted me to film her jumping on the trampoline more. Yesterday she threw a fit because we wouldn't let her watch Yo Gabba Gabba on our iphones at church. Oliver teases her mercilessly. She is very strong and hits and kicks her brothers a lot. She blames everything on Oliver:
scene: June falls down
me: "oh no June did you fall down? are you ok?"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (her word for Oliver - even though he was no where near her when she fell)
scene: we're walking out the door and need to get shoes on
me: "June - where are your shoes?"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (even though he didn't have anything to do with her shoes)
scene: june wants to play with her baby stroller
me: "June why are you sad? Where is your stroller"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (well that time he really did take it from her and won't give it back)
Here's to the start of a new week.
1. I finally embraced my bump(s) and pulled out the maternity clothes (I'm about 16 weeks along now). It is so much better wearing clothes that actually fit than struggling every day to squeeze into regular clothes and constantly being reminded that I'm no longer my regular size. Plus, thanks to my stylish sister and SILs and our maternity-clothes-sharing program, my maternity wardrobe is actually way better than my regular wardrobe.2. Scott and I went to the Deseret Book Artist Appreciation dinner on Wednesday and got to hobnob with the LDS elite at the top of the COB. Elder Bednar's talk was amazing, the entertainment actually rather entertaining, the food not bad, the chocolates great, but mostly I was so proud to see Scott honored and appreciated for some of the great work he's done this year. I love being his wife.
3. Great weather all week with lots of playing outside time. I even turned the heater off one day (although Scott made me turn it back on when he got home - it's a constant battle between us these days)
4. The next-door neighbors set up their new trampoline. One more reason why we don't have to get one!
5. June has great trampoline-static-hair.
6. I managed to get all 3 kids bathed 3 times this week, plus got all their toe nails & finger nails cut in one night. This is one of my least favorite parental tasks, so quite a feat to get it all done at once.
7. Great Thai takeout on Saturday night --> great Thai leftovers this week :)
8. I took the kids to the BYU MOA to see a new exhibit of Walter Wick's art (author of I Spy). They were so excited and enthusiastic as they looked around and tried to solve the riddles and wondered at how someone could do all that.
9. June has kept us very entertained with her Yo Gabba Gabba-style "cool tricks cool tricks". She does it just like in the show: announces her trick, does the trick, then stands up at the end to say "my name is June and that was my cool trick" which comes out sounding a little like "blah blah blah Ju blah blah blah cooo tiii".
10. Brenden had 2 great snowboarding days this week -- Friday with his school ski club and Saturday he and Scott went back together. He is getting quite good and fast and really loves it. We are so lucky to live so close to Sundance which actually keeps skiing/snowboarding easy and affordable. I need to get myself out there at least once before the end of the season!
11. I went to Soel to use my bday money (thanks mom!) on a pair of shoes I've been eyeing for a while, but hadn't been able to bring myself to spend that much money on, only to discover that they were, that day, 40% off! Don't you love it when that happens?!
12. I made a double batch of the best chocolate chip cookies on earth, with plans to share most of them with my poor neglected visiting teaching sisters, but never quite made the drop off. We have much enjoyed them ourselves.
13. Scott did the Sunday dinner dishes :)
Lows:
1. Our dishwasher is still broken, with at least another week to go until the backordered parts are in stock. Yep - that's going on about a month now. Yep - we do wish we'd just gotten a new one from the beginning of the problems. No - we still don't have the money to get a new one now so we'll have to just stick it out. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding using dishes. Big-size paper cups and plastic forks make good mixing tools, a plastic butter knife can cut pizza just fine, Rachel's favorite veggie steamer bags work really well. But I still hate washing dishes by hand.
2. I don't think I can handle any more news about another bailout package, spending bill, obscenely huge federal budget proposal, or initiative aimed at eliminating or impeding free markets, personal responsibility, or rewards for success and hard work. This gives me ulcers every day, and inspires me even more to continue building our food supply.
3. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist -- bad movie, don't see it.
4. June and Oliver both decided they didn't really feel like going to their classes this week at church. June required Scott or I to stay with her in Nursery for almost the whole time, and Oliver literally sat in the hallway outside his class for 2 hours. Finally his patient and persistent teacher convinced him to come in for the last 10 mintues, but he had long since proven his point that he didn't have to if he didn't want to. What's the best way to handle this? Logic and bribery didn't seem to work.
5. We have to dial all 10 digits even when calling locally now. Booo
6. We still need to do our taxes
7. Scott's been working a lot lately, which in several important ways can go on the Highs list (he is healthy, the economy hasn't effected his job too much just yet, plus working is good for our bank account) but we miss him being around more at home.
8. Our bulbs are coming up like crazy. Usually this would be exciting, but I'm totally convinced winter is not over, so I'm worried they won't survive.
9. The snow has melted to reveal an overwhelming growth of weeds in the flowerbeds, yet it is too cold to want to go out to do much gardening yet.10. The warmer weather also takes away our last excuse for still having Christmas lights up on the house and in the trees (hear that Zack?!)
11. June has squarely entered the "terrible twos" complete with throwing tantrums and exherting independence. She can detect the slightest suggestion of baking happening in the kitchen and immediately pushes her chair over to "hep". Today she threw a fit because she wanted me to film her jumping on the trampoline more. Yesterday she threw a fit because we wouldn't let her watch Yo Gabba Gabba on our iphones at church. Oliver teases her mercilessly. She is very strong and hits and kicks her brothers a lot. She blames everything on Oliver:scene: June falls down
me: "oh no June did you fall down? are you ok?"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (her word for Oliver - even though he was no where near her when she fell)
scene: we're walking out the door and need to get shoes on
me: "June - where are your shoes?"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (even though he didn't have anything to do with her shoes)
scene: june wants to play with her baby stroller
me: "June why are you sad? Where is your stroller"
june: (in a very whiny voice) "wah-wah" (well that time he really did take it from her and won't give it back)
Here's to the start of a new week.
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