Through the Eyes of a Child

Eliza's 5th Birthday!

2012-01-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

I decided it was high time that I post again! And what better thing to post about than Eliza's birthday? I have never before had a child so incredibly excited to have a birthday! Being 5 is going to be sooooo much better than being 4! Well, we will see how it goes! Her birthday started out with her being the first one up. She prompty woke up Brett, (I was able to pretend to sleep in a little bit). After all the kids got up, we started making Eliza's birthday doughnuts! Yum! The girls helped me frost and sprinkle some of them. We had three different kind of doughnuts, frosting with sprinkles, cinnimon and sugar, and powdered sugar. They turned out delicious! After breakfast was over, we cleaned our house up, and got it ready for her birthday party. She wanted our friends the Triances, and the Weights to come. We made homemade pizza, and ate snowman cake. Eliza had sooooo much fun opening her presents. She got some really cool ones this year. I was excited for her! All in all, it was a pretty good day for her!

Drama At It's Best

2011-02-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

Eliza is still wearing a diaper to bed. We have been trying to get her to stay dry all night, but that is really hard to do. She used to be able to do it, and then WHAMMO-she totally reverted back to wetting the bed every night. For the last couple of weeks, she has been unhappy with having to wear a diaper at night time, and saying that she doesn't have a diaper on, she calls it her "undies". I won't let her call the diaper "undies" cause I don't want her to talk herself into thinking that she really does have undies on. Well, last night, she kept herself dry all night!! Her diaper was unused this morning! Yeahhhhh! So I thought lets reward this and maybe she will do it again. She got jelly beans for her success. As we were trying to get her ready for bed tonight, I was telling her that she could have more jelly beans in the morning if her diaper was dry again. She was pretty put out, because she wanted them right now. Also, she thought since she was dry last night she shouldn't have to wear a diaper to bed tonight. Brett was trying to get her to come to him so he could put her diaper on. She kept backing away and saying, "But mom, but mom, that won't work! That won't work!" I asked why that wouldn't work and she said, "BEEEECAUSE!!! If I put that diaper on I will get dead!" Yikes! I didn't realize I was putting her life in danger! I will have to be more careful on where I put those darn diapers!

Ethan's 10th Birthday

2011-01-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ethan turned 10 in November. He wanted a dinner in with just mom and dad. So we made his favorite seafood, shrimp and crab legs! It was quite the feast! We made a really big mess, and I forgot to get birthday candles, so Ethan was a good sport and blew out a number 8 candle! Also he didn't want any cake, he said he doesn't like cake. Just add it to the list. What list you ask, the list of things Ethan doesn't like. A shorter list is of the things he does like and will eat! We had chocolate silk pie instead. I could get used to chocolate sild pie for birthdays!

Rain, Rain, Rain

2010-09-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

The kids had a great time playing in the rain! Lily hung out and did what she does best...EAT!! Her newest past time is climbing on the dishwasher. I can't tell you how annoying it is to try to fill the dishwasher with her climbing on it.

Lily's 1st Birthday!!

2010-09-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Lily turned 1 last week! We had a birthday party at Aunt Jenny's house. I don't think that she really understood what the heck we were all doing, but she sure loved her cake! We had super yummy tostadas for dinner. Isn't Lily's cake cute? I was going to try to make it myself, but when I got to the store it seemed so much easier just to let them do it. I must be getting soft. Lily needed a little help blowing out her candle. I got a birthday cake too! Lily helped me blow my candles out. Lily really got into her cupcake. Bonnie and Maddie are such big helpers when it comes to Lily! Lily got soooo messy! She and her cousin John ended up in the bath to wash off all the frosting. Lily had no idea what was going on when I tried to get her to open her presents. She just sat there. But she had plenty of cousins willing to help her!

Fishing Frenzy!

2010-05-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

This morning was the annual fishing thing they do at Horseshoe lake. I am sure that there is a more technical name for it, I just don't know what it is. It starts at 7 am, and the earlier you can get there the better. You will beat the crowds, and possibly have room to fish without hitting the elbow of the angler next to you. Brett and Ethan have gone camping, and so I decided that it would be a great idea to take my girls and try our luck. Luck really has nothing to do with it. They stock the lake with about a million catfish. You could probably walk right into the lake and scoop a fish out. Anyway, as I said, the earlier you get there the better. So the girls and I got there around 9:30 am. Bright and early, and just in time for the mad morning rush. We got our pole that was generously provided for us, and our cup-o-worms. Then we set out in search of the perfect spot to catch our prize winning fish! Actually, we were just searching for a spot on the shore that wasn't already inhabited by other people. It was pretty tough, but we finally found our niche. Right in between two nice families. I was the lucky one to put the worm on the hook. Bonnie thought about doing it, and then realized what it really means to bait the hook, and she wasn't interested anymore. I cast our line out into the water trying not to hit any of the small children running around, and trying not to tangle lines with any of the other 500 lines already in the water. Then I gave the pole to Bonnie, who immediately reeled it in again. Eliza wanted a turn to hold the pole, so after I cast again, I gave the pole to Eliza. She looked very official standing there with her pole in hand. Bonnie was getting a little bored with this whole thing by now started to play by the water. Eliza, without taking her eyes off of the bobber in the water, very sternly told Bonnie, "Don't play in the water!" I made Bonnie hold the pole for a few more casts, and then she was done. She asked if we could go to the kiddy pools now. So off we went. Nothing is as exciting as catching a fish that has already been hooked for you. After "catching" our fish, we headed up to the cleaning station. A very nice service if you ask me, but a little traumatizing. They hit, no, smashed the fish's head with a club, cut its guts out, pull its skin off, and saw its head off. All behind a nice clear plastic barrier so you can follow your fish from dying fish in a plastic bag to headless fillets in a plastic bag. All in all, a pretty successful fishing trip if you ask me.

February At A Glance

2010-02-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

I can't keep remembering to blog about the stuff that happens when it happens, so I have got a back log to blog. Try saying that out loud, it's fun! Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Eliza and Bonnie do the silliest things together! They love to play and have a good time. It is so cute and endearing to see them helping eachother, mainly it is Bonnie helping Eliza, so sweet. Bonnie lives in her PJs. She always wants to have them on. When she comes home from church, the first thing she does is put on PJs. If she went swimming and had to change her clothes, she would change into her PJs. Yesterday, I told her I needed her to change out of her jammies and into some regular clothes because we had some errands to run. She said, "Why mom, I'm just going to put them right back on when we get home?" Right, sound logic...Or possibly not! Don't argue with your mother child, just do it!!! Eliza has started playing house with me. She gets very serious and says "you, you, you, you, Nae nae(Delayne), I, I, I, I, mommy!" She is studdering her words. Anyway if I don't call her mommy she gets agitated and says "NO!!!! I not Zia zia(Eliza) I MOMMY!!!" She has a mommy voice even. She says, "what honey?" "Oh, honey" "No, no honey" in her grownup voice. She puts me down for naps, and feeds me cherrios for luch. She is a very attentive parent! I have to say though, it is a little embarrasing in the grocery store when she says she is the mommy, and I am walking along pushing the cart and saying yes mommy, or no mommy or horray for mommy. I have gotten some wierd looks from cashiers. All I have to say is don't judge me man, I do what I've got to do! Ever wonder why that roll of toilet paper doesn't last? One minute it is there, and the next an empty roll, just sitting there mocking you. And you're thinking why couldn't I have checked the toilet paper before I sat down? I recently went into the bathroom after Eliza, and this is what I found. A toilet full of paper. All I could say was WOW, that is an impressive amount of toilet paper! Eliza likes to get Ethan's camera and tell me(it is really more of a yell, but that's just volume), say cheeeeeeeeeeese! Then she pretends to push the button(she doesn't know where it is), and says "Click!". Nothing adds authinticity like sound effects! Eliza just loves her little sister! She loves to hold her.... Kiss her.... And then make her cry! What a good big sister! Eliza LOVES this pink tutu! She has talked me into letting her wear it to bed on more than one occasion. She is pretending to be a ballerina kitty. In this picture she is being the kitty. And in this picture she is the ballerina! Lily's Aunt Shannon made her this absolutely gorgeous valentines dress! Lily looks so adorable in it. And look she is sitting up all by herself! I can't believe she is almost 6 months old! I made her headband. Totally stole the idea from someone else, but isn't it cute? That makes it ok, right? Ethan is being totally silly! He loves this pull up bar Brett put up. And let me tell you that kid is super strong! I don't know how many pull ups he can do, cause he will only do 5 or 6 and then quit. Don't ask about the rope and pulley thingy, it's all Brett! Lily learning to sit up. She is just so darn cute! Last year Ethan wanted to surprise his dad with something, so he went out to the garage and came up with this masterpiece! In case you were wondering, it is a shelf for Brett to hang his tools on. Brett took Ethan fishing a couple of weeks ago. This is what they came home with. I had some errands to run when they got back, so by the time I got home, that thing was cooked, eaten, and gone! The guys had a great time fishing together.

Hooray for Dora!

2010-02-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Eliza LOVES Dora the Explorer. She watches her everyday, and it shows. Today at the grocery store, we were walking out, but we weren't out yet. The sliding doors hadn't opened yet, and as we walked up to them, Eliza, with all the confidence of a three year old said, "Abre", and the doors magically opened. She was pretty proud of herself, and I was pretty relieved that I don't let my daughter just sit and rot her mind in front of the TV. Dora is educational! Hooray for Dora! Eliza just learned how to dribble the basketball! She's a natural!

Eliza's 3rd Birthday and Other Random Tidbits

2010-01-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Eliza's Birthday was this month. She is now three years old. And boy does she know it! Her birthday was on a thursday but we didn't have our family get together until Sunday. We had a waffle bar. It was so good! Well as good as waffles from pancake mix get. But the toppings were to die for!! A thanks to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Spencer for letting us invade their home. Eliza has really gotten into the idea of presents recently and this was a great birthday for her! She got to open presents on her birthday, at the party on Sunday, and more on Monday! Among other things, her friend Eliza gave her a wooden dress up doll(she tried to put the clothes on the doll in the manner provided, but when that proved to be too much she taped and glued them in place, with the help of her older sister. She then taped the doll to her bed frame. The next day she ripped the doll off, and broke it's head, arms, and feet off. Then I threw it in the trash, sorry Lia lia). Lia lia also gave her some chapstick(which she ate like candy). On that subject, that girl is going to have the smoothest unchapped lips EVER, or a very well lubricated BM, possibly both! That's the Pooh Bear we gave her, she LOVES Pooh Bear. At Aunt Jenny's on Sunday. That is her friend Eliza picking her nose. They are quite the team of Eliza's! Nothing says Happy Birthday like a birthday balloon! This is our cousin Ryan, my Eliza, and our friend Eliza. Right now they are all tolerating eachother. I bet in a year or so they will be best buddies and then watch out humanity! Probably the animal kingdom will be in trouble too! Since we didn't have cake on her actual birthday, we had icecream sundays. Mmmmmm. Possibly Eliza's favorite thing this birthday was the card she got from Nana and Papa. Sorry to everyone else, but this card trumped y'all. She took it everywhere with her, in the car, and to bed. When you opened it, it said, "In the magical world of make believe, birthday fun lasts forever. Hope yours does too!" I could have repeated this back to you about five minutes after she got it. Not because I am that good (although, I would like to think so), it was because she opened it that many times. It took three days for this card to be opened and closed enough to rip at the fold. Then it wouldn't play anymore, poor Eliza. Hooray for mom and dad! We dog sat over the holiday vacation this dog named Pedro. He was very friendly and mostly quiet. In fact, most of the time he sat on the couch and slept. However, he didn't like my vacuum at all. I don't think it or he will ever be the same! It was really fun to have a dog for a while though. It was kinda like practice for the real thing(which won't be for a while yet, to the bemoaning of my kids). Recently for FHE, we painted pictures. It was really fun and a bit messy. Eliza made an elephant, Bonnie made a volcano, Ethan and I went with a floral motif, and Brett did a nature scene. Eliza somehow got paint all over her face. I don't ask how these things happen, I just go with it and clean up afterwards! Anyways, we had a great time, and here are the pictures to prove it! Lily feeling a bit like Moses. "OK water, part....NOW!" Ethan, Bonnie, and their cousin Kenzie went outside to play. Thank goodness they restrained themselves to just thier hands. I have had to deal with much, MUCH muddier children. They were trying to wash off in the puddle, good luck with that guys!

Playtime

2010-01-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

Lily got a new exersaucer from her cousin John. She loves it! Well, I guess she is more shocked and amazed by it. She is getting to be so big. It is so fun to see her grow and do new things. The other kids really like it too, because I say oh, Lily just did something new, I remember when Ethan, Bonnie, and Eliza did that too. These pictures are of her very first time in the exersaucer. As you can see from the last picture, Eliza loves it too! Thank you cousin John, you're the best! Bonnie wrote Brett and I a note on a post it. "Mom and Dad I just wonid you to knon that I love you gise knon matr wat I Love you gise" Isn't that the cutest ever! It was so sweet. It was one of those mommy moments that make your heart melt.

Lost Tooth

2009-12-21T00:49:00.000-08:00

Bonnie lost her first tooth last week! She has been waiting and waiting for this tooth to come out. I am pretty sure it has been loose for almost a year! Well, it is finally out, and she is so happy. And the Tooth Fairy remembered to come and everything! It was a red letter day!

Ewwwwwwww!

2009-12-21T00:26:00.000-08:00

Brett caught a rat the other day in our garage! Ewwwwwwww! We had been hearing something in our attic, and it sounded kinda big. Then we found some chew marks in our food storage. Boy did that make me mad! What a waste of food! Anyways, so Brett set out some rat traps, and this is what we got! A big fat rat! EWWWWWWWWW! Ethan was of course fascinated with it. I refused to go out in the garage until the rat was taken care of. I'm a pretty tough girl, I can kill spiders (for the most part), but this was WAY beyond me.

Adventures in Christmas Tree Land

2009-12-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

We had one hum dinger of a time getting our Christmas tree this year! We weren't sure if we were going to cut one down, or use the sad pathetic artificial one we have in storage. Just so y'all know, I don't have anything personal against artificial trees. In fact I have seen some incredibly beautiful ones, just not at my house. I do prefer a real tree to the artificial, as a personal preference. Well we got a call from the primary president in our ward asking us if we wanted to go up to Cohasset and cut down a tree. Apparently her sister's husband's family owns a ton of acreage up there and they wanted to give away some of the Christmas trees that are growing on the land. Well, we thought, woo-whooo! We didn't know if there would be snow up there or what, so I dressed my kids like there would be. Turned out there wasn't any snow in sight, just rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain. When we got to the place we were told to meet the sister's husband, his name was Cliff. I've never met anyone named Cliff before, he was a real nice guy. Anyhow, Cliff fired up his F-150 with our family of 6 crammed inside. He smacked that puppy into four wheel drive, and we were off! We went up hills, and down hills, and finally stopped at a place that Cliff deemed appropriate for Christmas tree finding, and also, he was afraid to take the truck any further on the slick, thick, oozing, muddy logging road we were traveling on. I was carrying Lily in my arms with a blanket over her, and holding onto Eliza's hand as we hiked into the forest. You would think that being in the forest, with all those trees for protection, we wouldn't have gotten so wet. You'd be wrong though, we were soaked. Luckily Lily kept the front of me dry though! Just kidding, but she did sleep through the whole experience. So anyways, there we were in the middle of nature, hiking up a huge hill in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Cliff was leading the way, with Ethan, Bonnie, and Brett right behind him. Eliza, Lily, and I were left to fend for ourselves. After walking all the way to the top of this extremely large hill through extremely thick underbrush, we come to a clearing at the top. I think that the others were planning on going down the other side of the hill and up the next one. Well, by then, I was going to be pretty happy with any old branch, or Charlie Brown tree we could find. It was pretty tough going through all that underbrush with one arm carrying my baby (granted she doesn't weigh much), and helping an almost 3 year old climb over fallen trees and other debris because she doesn't want you to carry her! "NO mama, ony Ziaza do it!" It was at that moment when I spotted it...the perfect tree! The one we were going to take home! I walked right over to it, and realized it had a big hole in the middle. So we cut down the one next to it, which turned out to be the perfect tree for us! After we cut the tree, we started back to the car. I was prepared for a long and hard hike back through the underbrush dragging our newly felled tree. Imagine my surprise when we walked about 50 feet, crossed one fallen tree, and came to the road! WHAT!!! I could have walked up the road and found our tree! Well, then we walked down the hill, on the road to the truck. Eliza couldn't be stopped, and I saw it coming, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She started running down the hill, and just like I as her mother knew it, she did a total face plant into the muddy road. I wish I could have taken her picture in the mud like that, but I wasn't fast enough. It was a classic fall, one of those that you see happen in slow motion. She wasn't hurt, thank goodness, and we all climbed back into the truck. Cliff started to retrace our route into the forest, but we kept sliding back down the steep muddy hill. This probably would have been terrifying in itself, but there was a small drop off on the other side of the road that kept getting closer and closer every time we slipped. We backed down the hill three times in an attempt to get better traction. Finally Brett got into the back of the truck, and with much prayer, we finally made it out! Then we took the tree home, and put it in our garage to dry off. When we brought the tree into the house, I thought, "Wow, this sure looked smaller in nature!" We found our spot for the tree in our house and put it up. We got the lights on the tree, and the kids did all the decorating. After all our hard work, we stood back to admire our handy work, and that's when the tree started to tip over. Then it fell all the way over. The stand had been full of water that was now all over our carpet, and ornaments were broken (though not as many as you would think). So we tried and tried to get that stupid tree to stand up, and we just couldn't do it! Brett finally came in from the garage with a 3x3 foot piece of plywood and bolted the stand to it. That worked to stabilize the tree mostly, but we ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the tree so we could put a spike in it to hold it still in the stand! What an ordeal!!! But now it is up and beautiful and perfect just like a Christmas tree should be! Here we are in the forest, I wish you could see how hard it was raining. Here is Lily all snugly and warm and dry and very asleep on my shoulder. That girl can sleep through anything! Poor Eliza! She was so mad because her hands got dirty when she fell down. This is right after her face plant in the mud!

Out and About

2009-12-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

I was running errands today with Brett and my little girls. I always carry Lily in the front pack. She is much more comfy there than in her car seat. Some of you have had the misfortune to hear how much she HATES her car seat. It is painful to listen to. Anyway, I digress. Picture me walking through Wal-Mart today with Lily in the front pack, her little head barely showing over the top, pushing the cart with Brett holding Eliza's hand next to me. All of a sudden a woman stops me (which I get all the time, because frankly, my kids are super stars). Anyway, she stops me with an "Oh, my gosh...is that baby real?" ...Yup that's what she asked me. Nope lady I just like to carry 10 lb baby dolls around in the store to see if anyone will notice. Can I get a "Here's your sign"? Next we ran over to Office Depot. Eliza had a small package of crackers that she was finishing up. She decided that she didn't want to hold onto them while we were in the store, so she handed them over to me. That was her first mistake! We were in the store for a while walking around trying to find what we were looking for. I may have absent mindedly started eating those crackers along the way. Alright, I ate them all...and they were good!!! When we got to the cash register, Brett was taking care of the money end of things, when Eliza asks me, "mommy where my cackas?" To which I have to tell her that I ate them all. The lady behind the counter looked at Eliza and said something like, "oh, no, mommy ate your crackers!" Then she paused for a minute, looked at me and asked, "Wait...Did you really eat her crackers?" That's right lady, I took the food right out of my child's mouth! Don't judge me!

Lily's Blessing

2009-11-08T22:19:00.001-08:00

Lily was blessed on November 1st. It was so wonderful! My mom and dad were there, along with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Spencer, Aunt Sabra and Uncle Michael, Jake and Julie, and Jeff and Becca. Plus a lot of kids that come attached to these misfits we call family and friends!!! It was a beautiful blessing. Lily was so good through it all. I took these next pictures a week before her blessing. She is such a beautiful baby. I know I am her mom and supposed to think she is beautiful, but she really is!

Halloween

2009-11-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Halloween was so fun this year! And only a week ago! The kids were soooooo excited to dress up and go trick or treating. They were super cute in their costumes. While we were out trick or treating, I noticed that Ethan had his Halloween bucket, and the plastic grocery sack he had carried clothes in to his Aunt Jenny's house. When I asked him what he was doing with the bag, he looked up at me with a smug 8 year old smile and said, "when I say trick or treat, they put candy in both bags!!" He did not get to keep the grocery sack. He was pretty bummed that his scheme didn't work out the way he thought it would, but was soon preoccupied with all the candy he did get. Brett was a good sport and let me dress him up as Waldo, and I was his girlfriend Wanda. Our stripes, believe it or not, are made out of red duck tape! Thank you Shannon for the idea! I ran out of tape before I was finished with Brett's shirt, so only the front has stripes. He was very accommodating. We were the only adults who dressed up with our group. You might think that was embarrassing, but no, it just confirmed my theory that we are AWESOME!!! Brett may have been a little embarrassed... Happy faces... Silly faces... Scary faces!!

On A Roll

2009-09-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

Alright, this is my third blog of the night! I am feeling a bit blogged out. Don't worry though, I think my dearth of blogs is over. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post some more pictures of my four beautiful children. Ethan showing off at the duck pond up in paradise. I use the words "duck pond" loosely, because we saw 2 ducks, but they hid under bushes the whole time. Bonnie is just being her cute self. Eliza is having a snack under our kitchen table. Our little Lily. All four of the little rascals.

Attention to Detail

2009-09-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

Every night before bed, I ask my kids to set out the clothes they are going to wear to school the next day. Then I ask them to show me what they have picked out. Every once in a while, I will get sidetracked with other things, and not ask to see their clothes. I know when this happens, Ethan will attempt to wear the same exact clothes he had on the day before. No matter that they have mud splattered on them, food stuck to them, popsicle dripping down them. He doesn't care. Bonnie however has a different issue. This is one of her more colorful creations. I do try to help her figure out what matches and what definitely doesn't. When I tried to explain to her that the shirt and pants were a good fit, but the red socks and purple shoes were a bit much, she said, "But Mom, this shirt has red and purple on it!" Well of course it does. How can I compete with such logic? So as much as it pained me, I sent Bonnie off to school wearing her carpis with red socks pulled up, and purple shoes on her feet.

Where Have All The Bandaids Gone?

2009-09-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

Eliza had her friend Eliza over to play (one of our friends calls them "E Squared"). They were playing quietly, which is always a cause for concern. Then we found them holed up on the bathroom floor surrounded by band aid wrappers. As you can see in the picture, they were having a pretty good time peeling and sticking. When I was a kid, I had a sticker collection that I could use for my peel and sticking needs. I guess Eliza might need a little more direction. Although, we have given her stickers before, and they just end up on the window (where they don't come off), or on the TV (where they don't come off), or all over a two year old's back (don't ask how they got there, just know it took me a good week to get them all off). Maybe using up all the band aids isn't such a bad idea after all...

4 Days Old!

2009-09-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Lily is 4 days old! It is amazing how fast they change and grow.

Welcome to Lilian Claire Stapf!!!

2009-09-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Baby Lily has made her appearance at last!!! Monday September 1st, at 7:06 am, Lily made her debut. She is 7 lbs 12 oz, and 18 inches long. As you can see, she has piles of dark hair, and round, round cheeks. At this moment, she is sleeping. That wasn't the story last night however! We are all happy that she is here at last!

Starting To Catch Up...

2009-07-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

As I write this entry, I am feasting on a peanut butter and carmel sandwich. I never knew you could find heaven between two slices of white bread!! Well, I don't really know if I can say heaven, I mean, there is no chocolate involved after all. Maybe the heavenly waiting room then. Mmmmmmmmm. Alright, I am going to go way back before Easter, and come forward from there. These first two pictures are Bonnie being super silly. She made a leprechaun hat at school and she is showing it off. Oh, my Miss Leprechaun, what a big nose you have!! Isn't she just plain cute? During Spring Break, we went with our cousins to Turtle Bay. It was so much fun! The kids all got along really well, and we didn't lose a single one of them! This first picture is all the cousins together before we went in. This scary picture is of one of the exhibits. Ethan looks a little too comfortable behind the wheel than I would like! Bonnie is looking at the fish in another exhibit. This is everyone on the sundial bridge. It is a suspension bridge that moves with the wind. It is actually pretty freaky, but I tried not to think that I had all my children on a moving bridge over the Sacramento River. The kids loved it of course. Ethan is hanging from one of the suspension cables on the bridge. He thought he was mighty big stuff to climb up there and hang. Then he dropped, made the whole bridge shake, and gave me a heart attack! Oh, you see the blue stripes on the bridge beneath him? That's glass! That's right, G-L-A-S-S!! I guess I might have freaked out a little. Eliza saw some geese swimming in the river, and she wanted to make sure everyone knew about it!

I'm Back Baby!

2009-07-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know that it has been forever long since I have posted, and I sincerely apologize. However, I am pregnant, and that is all the excuse I need!! It is going to take me a while to catch up, so bear with me. For all who haven't seen me in a while, about a month and a half ago, I cut my hair, and I mean chopped it off! It was about down to my shoulder blades, and now it is to my chin! Our friend Perry did it, and I LOVE it! It is new and fresh, and it makes me feel hip! I wasn't sure I was going to cut so much off when I went in to see Perry. I was thinking just a trim. But sitting there, I knew I wanted a BIG change, and that this was my chance to do it. Brett wasn't with me, and so I totally shocked the poor guy when I got home. He likes it now, but it took a little while to get used to. When Eliza saw me for the first time, she wasn't sure it was me. She was a little shy, but we got over that pretty darn quick! I found a before and after shot of me, so y'all can see. The first one was taken around Easter time, and the second was at Bonnie's birthday party at the end of May. I was talking to some of the other mom's that were at the party, and that is why I look like I am in the middle of saying something. Eliza didn't want me to be saying anything, and that is why she looks so grumpy.

Cuter than...

2009-03-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

My kids and I were recently in the car (we're always in the car). I told them that we were going to the park with our brand new cousin Jack. Both Ethan and Bonnie were ecstatic. They started talking to each other about Jack. It was one of those moments as a mom that I was happy to be a fly on the wall to witness this conversation. Ethan observed that baby Jack was WAY cuter than a rock... Bonnie countered with a yeah he is cuter than a rock, but he wasn't cuter than a guinea pig! Just so you are all aware of the order here it goes; rock, Jack, then guinea pig. Ethan and Bonnie didn't ask my opinion on the matter, but I would have said that I think Jack is WAY cuter than a guinea pig!!!

Computer problems

2009-03-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

I have to say that of all the problems in the world, I am grateful to have mine. That being said, our computer totally crashed a few days ago. I am now writing this blog on a borrowed computer that has none of my pictures or anything on it because all my pictures and videos were on the computer that fried. I am not sure when things will get back to normal, or if there is any such thing as normal. But I have pictures of Bonnie's new hair cut and our butterfly adventures to share when I can. I just wanted everyone to know there is an actual reason behind my lack of posting this time. Until I blog again...

Pinewood Derby

2009-02-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

This is Ethan's very first pinewood derby! He was so excited can you tell from the first picture? He got a certificate for the "most natural car". His car was called "The Turtle". In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best name for a race car. Oh, well, Ethan had a great time. His very last race was to determine the second spot for whose car got to go on to regionals. He didn't win, and you could see the shock on his face at first, and then...he turned to the other racer, and said "good job"...with a smile on his face. Oh man, oh man, I was one proud Mama! That ten minute talk on good sportsmanship before the races started really paid off! Later he pouted all the way home because I told him that two brownies, and three cookies was enough dessert, and he didn't need anymore when we got home. Ahhhh, such is life...

Ring Around The Rosies

2009-02-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

Eliza LOVES to play ring around the roses. She loves it so much she will play by herself if she has to. Ethan and Bonnie are a good big brother and sister, and they play with her a lot. It makes me sick to my stomach to play more than once with her, so I really appreciate Ethan and Bonnie's help. Eliza calls it "wee-wee" and will come up to you to ask you to give her your "hi" which is hands. She doesn't have a very big vocabulary, but boy can she get her point across!

2009-02-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Alright, I know this video was kinda long, but I just wanted everyone to know how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Brett plays like this with our kids! And as you can see, Bonnie is having a great time too! I think that Brett should have been a basketball player, did you see the air that he got?

So whenever Bonnie is bothered by something, she says, "Oh, father", or "stop fathering me". It's so funny to hear her muttering to herself, "father, oh, father!" I'm not sure where she came up with the word "bother", but I am so glad she gets it wrong. It makes my day to hear her!

It was a sunny day, and the weather man said it was going to be overcast. So Bonnie told me that I needed to call him up and tell him he was wrong! Somehow I thought he would already know without an irate phone call from a listener. (She heard the forecast on the radio)

Happy Birthday Eliza

2009-01-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

Eliza's birthday was on Wednesday. She is just so darn cute, and I just can't get her to do what she does on camera! It is killing me! She loves to dance, and she loves to sing. But will she do either while the camera is rolling? NO she won't! Oh, no! I just had a terrible thought! What if she is already the contrary chicken just like Ethan! What if her contrariness is just a part of her being, just like being cute is? How am I going to deal with two contrary chickens? For those of you who don't know, The Contrary Chicken is a children's book that we read when Ethan was little, and it fit him so well, we started calling him that when he is being particularly contrary. He sort of thrives off of it though, being contrary that is. It is like an energy source that just gets stronger and stronger the longer it lasts. Wow, I have definitely gone off on a tangent here. Sorry, enjoy Eliza's cuteness.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

2009-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I know that Christmas has come and gone, but I made my kids sing this silly song three times before I thought it was "perfect". And by perfect, I mean I just couldn't take it anymore and this was the last cut they were getting!

So Christmas at our house was pretty fun. The kids were their Hilarius selves, (of course what else would you expect on the one day a year they get to rip into gifts like there was no tomorrow!). Eliza though, could have cared less about what was going on. She was opening presents because I was helping her. And by helping her I mean I was taking her hand and making her fingers grab the paper and pull it in a downward motion. I think her second present was a magna-doodle. After that she would have nothing to do with opening presents. She just sat and drew on that thing for probably a good half hour. We tried to get her to open more of her gifts, but she would tell us "no", and give the sign for "all done". Oh well, it was more presents for Ethan and Bonnie to open! Ethan got everything he wanted, and declared it an AWESOME Christmas! Bonnie didn't get anything that she wanted, well she did get a puppy that moves when you touch it (cringe, it's a little spooky actually), and she got a barbie horse that actually walks when you touch it with the magic wand. Brett and I thought that she was going to love her gifts, but they weren't quite right. When Bonnie told Santa she wanted a horse that can walk, she meant one that she could ride too! Santa told me that the horse she wanted cost a whopping $400 more than the one she got. I say yeah for bargin shopping! Too bad for Bonnie, though later Christmas day, she decided that "evendough I didn't get everyting I wanted tis is til the best Quwistmas EVER!" I guess it wasn't a total wash after all! Merry Christmas to all.

Missed a Spot!

2008-12-22T17:55:00.001-08:00

Ethan's hair was getting a little shaggy, so I decided that he was due for a haircut. Brett was already cutting his hair, so I told him that Ethan was next in line. Brett finished his hair, and then started on Ethan. Well somehow, the clippers got dropped on the tile floor, and then they didn't work anymore. Poor Ethan is stuck looking like a little old man. I had to call my sister-in-law to bring backup clippers. As you can tell from the picture, he is not a happy camper. At least it is Christmas break, and he doesn't have to go to school like that! I've had some bad haircuts in my day, but man-o-man...

This on the other hand is Ethan being super silly! He wanted me to put his hair in ponytails, so I did. I just wanted him to know that it wasn't cool to be a boy in ponytails. I might have been a little rougher than necessary,but I was thinking I was getting my point across. As a parent, you know how that goes...He looks like he got my point don't you think? This is an after the ponytails have come out picture. I couldn't find the camera before. Isn't that always the case? He went to his Aunt Shannon's house with his hair all up, and it didn't bother him at all. She had to take the kids out with her while he was there, and she said she almost couldn't bring herself to take him with her! Lucky for him, she loves him a lot!

SEE!!!

2008-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

I caught her red handed! In the bathtub with the toothbrush and the toothpaste, always the toothpaste! This time it was her own toothbrush, but next time...it might be yours!

Accessories!

2008-12-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

I just took this picture of Eliza. She is so darn cute it is hard not to just have a video on her at all times! Anyway, she has this purse that her cousin gave her, and she just loves that thing to pieces! She can't keep it on her shoulder though, so she walks around the house with one arm sticking up in the air. So far she has a little toy dog, a jingle bell, "Gingy" from Shrek, and her cup. All the essentials for filling a good accessory!

Bathing Beauty

2008-12-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Eliza loves the bathroom. I think because that is the one room in the house where we restrict her entrance. Usually if someone leaves the bathroom door open, she goes straight for the toothbrush drawer, and comes out with at least 3 toothbrushes that are not hers, and the toothpaste. I have had to clean up more toothpaste spills than I care to remember! Today however, she discovered she could get into the tub all by herself. So here she is climbing in the tub...

Saying Cheese for the camera...

Studiously reading her Winnie the Pooh shape book...

Getting more comfortable...

And climbing out again. It was quite the adventure! (see the paint can? we are still working on our bathroom. It's the job that never ends!)

Sleeping Beauties

2008-12-08T16:49:00.001-08:00

My Kids are so funny when they sleep!! They get into the most preposterous positions! (by the way, I have no idea why this is underlined, and I can't fix it. Well sorry, I guess we will both have to live with it.) Here is their latest. Ethan decided that it would be a good idea to put on his winter hat and gloves for bed. I found him like this when I went to check on him before I went to bed. I wish I got a picture of him when I went to wake him up for school this morning. He was laying completely horizontal across his bed with his bare feet sticking off one side and his head haning over the other. It was priceless. Isn't he cute when he sleeps? Quiet too!

Bonnie was so tuckered out after a hard day of playing, that she fell asleep with her dinosaur tail on. This girl can sleep anywhere, and through anything. She probably wouldn't wake up for a freight train!!

I don't have a sleeping picture of Eliza because if she heard me think about coming into her room while she was sleeping she would wake up and cry. I work really hard not to have that happen.

Marshmallows Are Better Roasted!

2008-12-03T16:17:00.000-08:00

The kids have been asking and asking to build a fire, ;so about a week ago, we appeased them. Ethan came up with the brilliant idea of roasting marshmallows! I knew I loved that kid, he must take after his mother. Well, actually some things I gladly claim while others I pawn off on their father. It's not fair I know, and poor Brett doesn't have a blog to defend himself with.

Well, anyway, we got this pretty good blaze going, and had a great time roasting our marshmallows. Eliza was not so keen on waiting around for a marshmallow that was too hot to eat, so she just started stealing them from the bag. She probably had about 4 marshmallows before we realized what she was doing. We finally had to hide the bag, and even then she found it. She ended up with around 7 marshmallows in all! A pretty good haul for an almost 2 year old!

A couple of days later, we had Grandma and Grandpa with us for a few days. Over the breakfast table, Bonnie asked why do people get smaller when they get old? Grandpa said something scientific about calcium in your bones, but Ethan really hit the nail on the head. He came up with a brilliant analogy. He asked Bonnie if she remembered when we roasted marshmallows, how the marshmallows were hard and stiff before we put them over the fire? Well, that is like our bodies when we are young, and then when we get older, it is like putting marshmallows over the flame. We become soft and mushy on the inside, and a little crinkly and brown on the outside. Wow! I think that kid had a future in psychology! I'm so proud. And Grandma and Grandpa were so flattered by the comparison!

Ethan's Baptism!!

2008-11-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Today it finally happened! Ethan was baptized! I can't believe that I have an eight year old! He was so composed, and ready for this. He completely amazed me. The day was perfect, well almost, I suppose if it were to be absolutely perfect, I would have actually have had to see him baptized, and I didn't. And then I cried...a lot. Three others got baptized with Ethan today, one of them was a girl in Ethan's primary class, the other two are a young married couple who were just so excited to be there. They didn't however have anyone to be with them, and the wife needed help dressing. She asked if I would help, and I said I would be happy to. In our program, we had put the order of the baptisms specifically so that the wife would be getting baptised after Ethan, so I could watch him, and then be able to help her. Well since life isn't perfect, there was a mix up and she ended up getting baptised before Ethan. By the time I got back out to see the rest of the baptisims, they were already over. I couldn't believe that I had actually missed seeing my oldest child get baptized! My heart is broken, and although I tell myself that just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't really happen, I think I am still in a little bit of shock at the whole thing. There are things that a mother should absolutely not miss, and her oldest son's baptism is one of them! Well, Ethan really did get baptized, and he was really happy today. It didn't turn his world upside down when he found out I didn't see him. He was a little sad, but only because I was. This was his day. This was about him and his choice to follow Jesus' example. I have really been trying hard to remember that.

A Hole Is Not For Peeing

2008-11-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

This is the tale of two boys, their hole, and a buried pair of flip-flops.

It all started so innocently, just a pair of boys trying to dig to China. Who hasn't tried to dig to China? I myself made several attempts in my childhood to reach that far off land . I feel like I am a tolerant mother and every once in a while I let my children get so muddy I'm not sure where the mud ends, and the kid begins. I figure it is all a part of childhood. But enough about what an awesome mom I am...Alright, on with my story, the boys and Bonnie had been outside digging for almost 3 hours when Bonnie decided she was done, and wanted to come inside. I made her strip in the garage (that's where the washer and dryer are), then I got her in the bath. In the mean time, I went to tell the boys that it was their turn next, so they better get ready. However on the way to tell them that, I saw one of them peeing into the hole they had dug! I know that some people think, well so what, they are boys, and they had to go, so why not? I will tell you why not, A HOLE IS NOT FOR PEEING!!!! That is why we have toilets and manners!!! OK, so I told they boys they were absolutely done and they better get their empty bladders into the garage to clean up. On the way in, Ethan lets me know that he doesn't have his shoes because they are buried in the hole... Why? Why would you bury your shoes, and then pee on them? Only in the mind of an 8 year old is this OK. I told him he could bury sticks, rocks, leaves, anything that should be outside is OK to bury, not shoes, or anything that I have paid money for! So I made him and Aiden go out and dig up the shoes. When they realized they had to dig in the pee hole, they were quite upset with me, but I wasn't giving in. They buried those shoes, they sure as heck were going to be the ones to get them out! They started digging, but first they had to take out all the bricks they had put on top of about a foot of dirt they had put on top of the shoes. It took them about 45 minutes to finally dig them out. By the time they were done, they were cold and super dirty. Before I let them into my house, I sprayed them down with the hose. Man did they scream! And it maybe that I liked it a little bit. That might seem a little mean, but they were seriously muddy. And plus, our neighbors were out in their backyard hearing me yelling about not peeing in the hole and I was sorry that they didn't want to get into the pee hole, but I wasn't the one who buried my shoes and then peed on them! I did have a warm bath waiting for them when they were done with the hose, so you see I am not so heartless. Guaranteed, those are two boys that will NEVER bury their shoes in a hole and then pee on them again! Mission accomplished!

KEWING (just read it)

2008-11-18T10:06:00.000-08:00

We have been having a lot of potty talk going on at my house lately. You know words like "pee" and "poo" and "butt". I hate that stuff! I have been really trying hard to curb this disturbing behavior, but... Brett has to make his own decisions! Just kidding. It is really the kids. Anyway, I felt like I was making some pretty good head way in this department, when the blood and guts talk started. Ewwww! Why is it so fun for five year olds to say gross stuff? I couldn't tell ya, but bummer for me! So...I have been getting after the kids to stop talking about gruesome events, when the other day in the car, I overheard Bonnie talking to Aiden (our friend) about "kewing" a vampire. She was describing how she would do it, when I interrupted her and said, "Hey stop talking about killing please! That is not nice. We do not talk about killing anyone even if they are a vampire!" I couldn't believe it! They are both 5 and they are way too young to talk about killing things. I think that kids should have to build up to that. Because if they are talking about it now, what comes next? I will tell you what comes next, actually killing things! Sure it will start off small with bugs and snails and stuff, but then come the small animals, and who knows what else!!! Alright, I could be over reacting just a bit, but I feel I am legitimately concerned here! Well, right after I told Bonnie to stop talking about killing, she immediately got defensive and said, "Mom! I am not saying KEWING him, I am saying KEWING him!" Oh right, now that makes things perfectly clear. You might have to hear Bonnie say stuff to get the true effect here, she has issues saying her "R's", "S's", and "L's". You should hear her say "car" and "cow", it sounds exactly the same! So after staring at my blank expression, she further explains, "You know I was making him say 'AHHHHHHH'!" Ohhhhhh, she was scaring him, not killing him. Bonnie has become an expert at explaining what things mean, or coming up with a different way to say the same thing. She has had to for survival. Well, I guess I can live with scaring vampires.

Just The Beginning

2008-11-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

I know it's Saturday, and the election was on Tuesday, but I just want to say HIP HIP HOORAY for prop 8 passing!!! I feel such a great sense of release, but also I am feeling an urgency that this is not over, it is just the beginning. There have been several events that have really bothered me that have happened in politics in the last year. SB 777 (that's senate bill 777, look it up its disturbing), and Harvey Milk (is that how you spell it?) day are just the bigger events that took my notice, but prop 8 was the straw that broke the camel's back. I could not sit idly by and just wait to see what happened, which by the way is really my preferred method of dealing with problems. I don't want to give the impression that I was all that and then some, but I do feel like I did what I could to help with this cause. That however is not the point I am trying to make. I just wanted to say that I am ready for whatever comes next, cause you know this isn't the end, and because of the hard work of EVERYONE who helped to pass prop 8, I feel like we can take it! So from the person who gave money, time, and effort into prop 8 to the person who just voted yes, THANK YOU!!

Salami

2008-11-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

I think we should have given Bonnie the middle name of "Salami". That way when someone asked her, "Do you like salami?", she could answer, "LIKE IT!! Salami's my middle name!!". I think body might be made up of 75% salami by the way she inhales it. She asks for a salami sandwich everyday for lunch. Well, at least salami has protein in it right? I think we should invest in salami stocks, because we will pretty much guarantee that those puppies won't fall!

Jumping Jacks and Funny Hats

2008-11-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

Why do they call them jumping jacks? Was there once a guy named Jack who jumped like that a lot? I guess somethings will always be a mystery! Anywho, you can't argue, the girl's got style...right?

Speaking of style, how 'bout that Eliza? She picked those panties out herself! (Don't worry, they're clean.) She may, or may not, have had help putting them on! I will just say that she and I happened to be alone together, and...well...she did ask for help. What was a loving mother to do?

Halloween Story...Sort Of

2008-11-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Last night was Halloween. The kids had a GREAT time! Ethan was Scooby Doo again, Bonnie was a fairy princess, and Eliza was a ladybug. Our Halloween festivities actually started on Thursday, when the kids were able to take their costumes to school. They had a parade that Bonnie's class led, and then they had individual class parties. I was able to go help in Bonnie's class. Kindergartners are hilarious on Halloween! Well they are pretty funny any time, but especially on Halloween! We had a clown, a couple grim reapers, a little mermaid, a witch, a few princesses (Bonnie was the best one!), and one serious ninja! This was us before we went to Jenny's house for a Halloween party that was super fun! We had soup and bread and then we all went out as a group trick or treating. Eliza was so funny, she really wanted to keep up with the big kids, but her poor little legs wouldn't let her. She did not want me to carry her though, every time I picked her up, she would squirm to get down. We actually walked quite a ways, and she pretty much ran the whole time. Everyone who saw her said, "Ohhhhhh, look at the little ladybug! Isn't she adorable?" And of course they were right!

This is our ladybug, fairy princess, and scooby doo! Aren't they super duper cute?

This is on Thursday, before I took Bonnie to her class. She was so excited! I just bought her this tiara and earrings and she couldn't wait to show them off, she kept asking, "Don't I look beautiful Mom? Don't I?".

This is Ethan after school on Wednesday, it was crazy hair day. He asked me to color his hair blue and green with an orange stripe down the middle. You can't really tell anymore, because he kept wiping his hair with his hands, so it is pretty smeared. Crazy kid!

This is Bonnie after school on Crazy hair Weds. I was really proud of this hair do, cause I made her mini buns into the letter "B" for Bonnie! Also, this is how I got her hair to be so beautiful and fancy for Thursday. She didn't want to do it again for Halloween night though. Oh, well, at least I got my picture of her fantastic hair!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

2008-10-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Eliza loves to sing the itsy bitsy spider. She is so cute when she does it too. She doesn't do nearly as well in the video as she normally does. But I think we can blame that on stage fright. I think she'll grow out of that. Her siblings did!

Tagged again!

2008-10-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

I am one popular momma these days! I kinda miss those good ol' days when....Wait, nope I like it! Anyways, so I got tagged...again! And look at me here fulfilling my tagging duties! However before I do, I must announce to the world that my 1 year old just swallowed a Lego! That is right, and judging by the way she choked, and then cried about it, it didn't feel too good going down. Before you all condemn me as a horrible unfeeling mother, let me just say that it was her own fault! Just kidding, she was playing, she found a Lego, she put it in her mouth, and now it is gone. And if I ever do see that Lego again, I am going to throw the troublesome thing in the garbage! That'll teach it! The end....but not of my post. Lets get refocused here folks, tagged, I was tagged! Alright, my 6 on 6's ( what does that mean?) 6 TV shows I like to watch:

The Office
Criminal Minds
Bones
Life
Men in Trees
NCSI

6 Restaurants I like to eat at:

Hula's
Olive Garden
Big Al's
Applebees
Outback
Peter Chu's

6 things that happened today:

I bought Ethan vampire teeth
I went grocery shopping
I painted Bonnie's fingernails, and she got an itch before it was dry.
Does blogging count?
I donated $10 to support Prop 8
I called the school district to tell them the "And Tango Makes Three" is not an appropriate book to be in a school library.

6 things I am looking forward to:

A paycheck
Halloween at Jenny's
Thanksgiving with my mom and dad, my in-laws, and my sister (sorry to those of you who would normally have Thanksgiving with us, and are choosing to be out of town!)
Ethan's baptism
A shower (I am bathing folks, but I am looking forward to having our shower put in!)
Date night!

6 things on my wish list:

To own our own home
To get my BA degree
I would wish for a family dog that Macky wouldn't be allergic to, that would be well behaved, and that would never have vet bills. (Hey this is a wish list right?)
A new wardrobe
A newer nicer car for Brett
To lose 15 lbs

6 people to tag:

Amanda
Holly
Becky (again)
Katie
Brittany
Anya (again)

Sorry to those that got tagged twice, I had to tag someone, and I like you guys so much I couldn't resist. All those who didn't get tagged twice, I like you guys so much I couldn't bring myself to tag you again!

Quirk-a-liscious

2008-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged! I guess that means I'm IT! I didn't even realize I was playing electronic tag. Oh well, can't have any of you out there thinking I'm a bad sport. Grumble, grumble. Just kidding, here "It" goes. Watch out you might be next! Here are the rules: Link the Person who Tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know. Delayne's Quirks-Don't judge!

I secretly like the faint smell of skunk. Now I wouldn't wear it as perfume or anything, but sometimes when I catch a whiff of skunk, I think hey that's good!
You know how all the lights on the Esplanade are timed? Well I am trying to figure out how fast I can go down the Esplanade without having to even slow down for the lights. I just want to hit all green lights. So far, I have been able to do it going 28 mph. (I do stop though if there is a red light, or a slower car in front of me.)
My secret ambition is to have a hurricane named after me.
I am not a phone caller. I hate to call people on the phone. It makes my stomach curl up in knots. Not because I don’t want to talk to them, I just have a fear of actually picking up the phone and dialing their number! So maybe it would be more accurate to say that I have a fear of dialing the phone. I love to talk on the phone if someone calls me, but it’s almost too much for me to handle to be the one to call someone else.
Jenny says I have a secret smile for when I think I am being really funny. I have yet to see it, so this could go under the category of myth instead of quirk.
I love high school movies. Like Cinderella Story, 10 Things I Hate About You, High School Musical...etc. I like to pretend that I am the age of the kids in the movie and have no responsibilities, instead of a grown up mom.

Alright, that was tough! I now tag Julie, Mikeala, Kami, Anya, Nikki, and Becky. Good luck girls!

Ethan

2008-10-21T00:17:00.001-07:00

That's my boy!!! (Yes I do claim him when we are in public, shocking I know!)

Saturday

2008-10-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it is about 12 am on Monday night. I am supposed to be sleeping, but instead I decided to work on some homework. Now I am taking a break from my homework to bring you the latest and greatest from the fam. So just in case anyone was wondering, I usually do my homework during the day, but I am planning on keeping my kids home from school tomorrow as part of a peaceful protest against the California Teachers Association. They have donated $1 million (that's six zeros!) to the no on prop 8 campaign. If prop 8 doesn't pass, I am going to have to start homeschooling. I have nothing against homeschooling, but it does take a special someone, and I was hoping NEVER to be that someone. However, I can and will be that someone if prop 8 fails. Go prop 8! Brett and I held "yes on 8" signs over by the mall on Saturday, and it was amazing! It is incredible the sheer volume of cars that go by there, and every one of them saw our signs! You wouldn't believe the reaction we got from some people! We got honks, and thumbs up, and people smiling and waving. We got dirty looks, the middle finger, and cussed out also. One car of teenagers yelled, "We love gays!". I yelled back, "So do WE!". For the most part, no matter if the response was positive or negative, we just smiled and waved. Another car drove by yelling obscenities, and then turned around so they could drive by and yell at us again! Well I have to say thank you to those cars. Thank you for making fools out of yourselves so that other people would turn and look to see who was making such a racket! Two cars (at separate times) pulled over and asked what prop 8 was. That was fantastic! I do have to make mention of one man in particular. He pulled his car over, and pulled out his cell phone to take a picture of us. Then he told us he wanted to take a picture of what hate looked like to send to his kids! What is unbelievable, and a bit hypocritical is that then he said, "I hope you kids all grow up to be gays and lesbians!" WOW... that was harsh, and a little hateful. We told him that was a mean thing to say, and that we would love our kids no matter how they grew up! Then he drove off in a huff. What kills me is that he was so angry that there was absolutely no way he would listen to wisdom, even if we had chosen to impart any. Don't people know that anger closes minds?

Prop 8

2008-10-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

Alright, for all of you out there who know about prop 8, what are you doing about it? I am not trying to be all high on my horse or anything, there is plenty more that I could be doing too. I am just saying that when this election is all said and done, are you going to be able to look back and say, "I did my best, I tried my hardest, and I did what the Lord asked of me"? I am taking a moment from my usual light hearted post to let you all know that this is something I feel very strongly about. Oh, and for all of you who don't know what prop 8 is, it is an amendment to the California state constitution that says that only marriage between a man and woman is valid or legal in California. This is such a huge deal because in 2000, the voters passed this law already, but the CA supreme court had it's own agenda and overturned the people's decision by a 4-3 vote. This time around it is going on the ballet as an amendment to the state constitution so it cannot be overturned again! Go prop 8! Prop 8 is not attacking homosexuals in any way, it simply defines what marriage is. And it defines marriage as God defines it also. I don't want my children to grow up thinking that same sex marriage is the norm, or that it is morally OK. If you are a Californian, or even if you are not, this is going to affect you too! Most states follow California law. I read that somewhere recently. Pretty scary thought. Please vote in November, and please vote yes on prop 8 to reestablish traditional marriage as the law.

As promised...

2008-10-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have been telling Jenny that I will write a blog about Ethan and so here it is! Ethan is supposed to read everyday for his homework. He can read whatever it is he wants, but he must read for 20 minutes. We have had issues all year with him pretending to read, and not really doing it. So we have started to make him read out loud, which he hates! The incident that really put us over the top was after Ethan had put in his 20 minutes of reading one day. He was reading "Ramona Quimby Age 8", after he was done reading, Brett asked him what he read about. Ethan started mumbling something about a girl and school, while he thumbed through the book looking at pictures. He started telling Brett about one picture in particular where Ramona goes to school, and some really mean boys steal her ipod and throw it around...Wait a minute!!! Ding, ding, ding!!! I am not sure when it was written, but I'm pretty sure that Ramona was around when I was in elementary school. And when I was in elementary school there was no such thing as an ipod!! I'm thinkin' he wasn't really reading during that 20 minutes, what do you think?

Twinners

2008-10-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

My girls are so cute that I had to dress them up and take pictures of them! And the amazing thing is that they let me! Bonnie has been being more and more difficult when it is time to do her hair or get dressed. But I think I have found the secret! The other day she told me that if I ask her if she is ready to do work, the answer was NO!, but if I asked her if she was ready to be twinners with Eliza, the answer was YES!! So today was picture day at school, and I got Bonnie to wear what I wanted her to by telling her she could be twinners with Eliza! Go manipulation! Well, anyway it worked, and she was so stinkin cute for her pictures! Yeah mom! This is our friend Aiden, who gets to come play with us every day before and after school. His hair was done and oh, so cute, before he got to my house. By the time school time rolled around, I had to reapply 4 lbs of hairspray to his Alfalfa do. Your welcome Julie! Now she is just being silly, but hey at least you know her nose is clean! This is one of my favorite moves! She should be a poster child for the power rangers, don't you think?

Happy 1st Day of School Brett!

2008-10-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was Brett's first day at school! He is now officially a substitute teacher! Wooo-whooooo! For all of you out there that don't understand this momentous occasion, let me briefly explain. Basically Brett was out of work for the entire month of September. That is right folks, no income what so ever! NONE, ZIP, ZILCH!! And now we have income again. Life is wonderfully full of surprises isn't it? Well, we have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go. Brett's final destination is a teaching certificate, and a teaching job. However we have taken the first steps in getting there. We really feel like the Lord brought us here to Chico, and we know that we will do whatever he asks us. Life was hard for a while, well I guess life is always hard, but since I have figured out that I'm on the Lord's side, things have gotten much better! Anywho, I digress. Brett's first day as an official substitute teacher began at an elementary school where he was a rover (someone who covers for different teachers while they have meetings throughout the day). He was assigned to the kindergarten and first grade classes. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall! When he came home he told me that he made two kids cry! Really? You might ask how did my sweet Brett, who is really mellow, kind, and gentle make kids cry? Well, it turns out, he didn't really make anybody cry, they were just kindergartners who were especially missing their mommies. He did however pretend call the office for one kid. I guess the kid wouldn't calm down, so Brett threatened to call the office. He picked up the phone and pushed some buttons, and pretended to talk to the office. When he got done, the kid was terrified, and Brett looked down at him and said, "The office told you to sit in your seat!" Unfortunately for all of us dying to know if the kid did in fact sit in his seat, we will never know because at that exact moment in time the teacher came back, and school was over. Pretty anti climatic huh? Well it was still a funny story! Brett is going to be a wonderful teacher! He is such a fantastic husband and father, and I am blessed to have him in my life. I love him and I try to be the best wife I can be to him.

Jack-o-lantern

2008-10-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Bonnie came home from school yesterday with an orange, green, yellow, and black piece of paper. Her assignment was to make a jack-o-lantern and tell a story about it. This is what she came up with! Sorry the jack-o-lantern is sideways, but it was the only way to fit it and the story together. I really think this might be the beginning of a career for Bonnie. I wrote it down exactly as she said it. I love her imagination! I think it will be a little hard to read, so here it is again. "Once upon a time there was a witch, and she made a jack-o-lantern. And she even made pumpkin pie. She put a seed in her garden and buried it, and it grew and grew and grew so big! It was as big as a giant! She wanted to have two jack-o-lanterns, so she made another one. She made it so scary because she was a scary witch and her skin was greenish, bluish, and blackish too. Her fingernails were as big as the giant pumpkin! The end-see you tomorrow!" Isn't that a wonderful story? I love kindergarten!

Demolition

2008-09-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Ethan absolutely loved doing this! I thought you might like to see some video clips of us destroying our bathroom! And just in case you have never removed tile, that stuff is tough!!!

Bathroom Blues

2008-09-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

These photos might all look the same, but oh, no! That is where you would be wrong! Take a look at that hole in the wall my son is making (with permission). It gets a little bigger in each picture! So we had a leak in our tub facet. I think we might have been draining the reservoir ourselves. Brett, my always handy man, did what he could but he couldn't reach the actual leak without tearing out the wall. We got permission from the land lord, and here we are with no bathroom in a one bathroom house. Do the math folks, that is not the odds you want in a house with four bathroom users! Well to be honest and truthful (which I always try to be), we are only without a shower and sink right now. We do have a bath tub and toilet. And the rest is not too far off, it just seems that way when you are living it, ya know? Any who, Ethan had the best time destroying that tile! It was hard work, but he kept at it for about 3 hours! He tore it down, then he helped clean it up. Can I just say here that I am in love with our shop vac? I am so grateful for that thing and the ease with which it vacuums up debris. I can't tell you how wonderful that thing is, and even more wonderful is that Brett is the one using it most of the time! How cool is that? A man vacuum! What a wonderful invention.

Apology

2008-09-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is my apology for the first blog being so long. I really do put paragraph breaks in my blogs, but for some reason it never works out that way when it posts. I hope you enjoy the story despite the grammatical errors.

WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD

2008-09-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know that it has been FOREVER since I have posted anything. In my defense, I totally forgot about this blog in the chaos that is my life. Until now. Now I have fodder for quite a few blogs. It's good stuff too, so stay tuned! This video is of Ethan getting his tooth pulled. I am warning you upfront that there is a little blood involved, so this may not be for the weak stomached folk. This is the saga of the tooth. Ethan had a loose tooth that was really bugging him, and he was grossing everyone out by showing them exactly how loose it was! Then he got to thinking that if he got his tooth pulled, the tooth fairy would come, and he would get some money! Wooo-whooo! So he asked me to pull his tooth for him. I am not sure how I got to be the official tooth puller, and I really don't like it, but that is the way it is. Bummer for me. I have pulled 4 out of the 5 teeth that have been lost in our house hold. The fifth one fell out on it's own. It is important for you all to know that Ethan is not a tooth fairy believer, but he pretends that he is because he knows that the tooth fairy doesn't come to little boys who don't believe. So after we pulled the tooth, we had a long talk about the tooth fairy coming and how much the going rate of a tooth is, and how big the tooth fairy is. Bonnie let us all know that the tooth fairy is small like a puppy. When I put the kids in bed that night after making a big deal about putting the tooth under Ethan's pillow, I told them that the tooth fairy was pretty sneaky and they shouldn't be surprised if they don't even wake up when she comes. Ethan told me that oh yes he was going to wake up, catch the tooth fairy, and put her in a sleeper hold. Bonnie told him he had better be nice to the tooth fairy other wise she would know and not leave him as much money under his pillow. The next morning, Ethan came into our bedroom and woke us up bright and early. He was holding his tooth in his hand. The tooth fairy forgot to come. I couldn't believe it! After the whole conversation and the pulling of the tooth, I forgot!!! What is wrong with me?! I felt terrible. I told Ethan that Dad was up with Eliza for a long time that night and maybe she tried to come but couldn't because dad would see her. Eliza did have a fever, and so she did not get to go to church. Brett stayed home with her, and while he was here, he wrote a little note from the tooth fairy. Then he put it and a dollar under Ethan's pillow. The note said "sorry I didn't make it to your house last night Ethan, I wasn't expecting your tooth to fall out until next Tuesday! Sorry about the mistake. Keep up the good work! Love the tooth fairy. PS. tell your dad thanks for taking a nap today so I could bring this to you." It was a little obvious I know, but hey, it worked! And Bonnie still believes. Ethan didn't say anything until it was almost bed time, then he came running out saying "my tooth is gone my tooth is gone." He looked about ready to cry. Brett and I asked if there was anything under his pillow? He said no he looked but that there was nothing there. So we all went in to see if we could find the tooth or the booty. We searched all over Ethan's room. Brett said that if the tooth fairy was going to leave a note, it would probably be on white paper. I asked if the tooth fairy wrote notes on regular sized paper, or if it was smaller? Brett said it was regular sized to the tooth fairy. Well, we couldn't find the tooth or the note anywhere! We finally concluded that Eliza must have got to it and moved it. We were all feeling a bit dejected. Ethan because he lost his tooth ( he had no idea about the note or money), and Brett and I because let's face it, that was a cool idea that was ruined. As we left Ethan's room to go into the living room for scriptures, Brett says "hey here it is!" and picks up a rolled up piece of paper off the floor! Ethan said "oh I found that and brought it out here when I couldn't find my tooth!" Oh the irony! Anyway everything and everyone was happy after that! The End.

Cookies Anyone?

2008-08-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, Brett made up a game called "Thirty". It is really easy to play, whoever can pick up thirty things and put them away first wins! Very exciting! I had told the kids that the winner of "Thirty" got to pick out what kind of cookies I made. Well Bonnie was not to be outdone in this game! She picked up her thirty things as quick as a flick (that's a Bonnieism). Although, after she got to twenty she kept asking me what came next. Ethan was feeling a little too cool for this game. He had caught on that we were just trying to pick up the house. Brett and I have to watch out, he is on to us! So Bonnie won the game, and she decided that sugar cookies were on the menu. I secretly groaned and moaned because not only are sugar cookies the messiest things ever, they are the cookie that takes the most time! Plus, they are not my favorite. But that is what she wanted, so I put on my brave face and my favorite apron and we made sugar cookies. We made the dough, rolled it flat, and cut out the cookies. It was fun to do, and Bonnie is always entertaining to be with. So by the time we were done, I was not grumbling about the effort involved in making sugar cookies. After we had finally put the last cookie on the cooling rack, and cleaned up the kitchen, Bonnie said, "You know mom, what I really wanted was those sugar cookies that have cracks in them. You know, they have flour all over them." She was talking about snicker doodles, which are much, much, much easier and yummier than regular old sugar cookies! Not to mention funner to say! I do roll my snicker doodles in actual sugar, not flour, by the way. ARRRRRGGGGG! I need to get more information before I start a project like that! In case you were wondering, my very favorite apron that I have on says, "Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?" I'm not sure why I like it so much, it must be the colors!

First Day of School!

2008-08-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

This is my attempt of immortalizing the first day of school. In this first picture, as you can see, Bonnie is smiling her very cutest I-am-to-excited-for-words smile! And Ethan is tolerating me. I told them to make their grumpiest faces. Usually reverse psychology works on Ethan. As you can see, it didn't this time. But once again, Bonnie is cooperating nicely. Now he is telling me that he doesn't' want his picture taken, and are we done yet? Bonnie is giving me a come hither look. Despite the undignified beginning to his day, Ethan told me he had a fantastic first day! His teacher gave him easy work, and he has friends in his class already. Bonnie had just a thumbs sideways day her first day at kindergarten. For those who don't know, a thumbs sideways means it was just OK, not a thumbs up awesome, and not a thumbs down total disaster. There was apparently something about her coloring when she wasn't supposed to and her teacher telling her to stop (meanly according to Bonnie). I am not sure on the details, she couldn't talk to me about them, it made her too upset. A random Bonnie story. Bonnie was asking me something, and I was saying no to whatever it was. She started to get upset with me and told me I was making her sad just like Satan! Well, I have to say, that one made me stop and think.

Seeing Double

2008-08-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

I would just like to clear up a little confusion about the corn incedent. Yes I was at the end of my rope, and yes I really did lick the corn out of desperation, and it was the first thing I thought of. But what my loving husband failed to mention was the fact that I had to hide my face in the cupboard because I was laughing so hard. Of course Bonnie started crying that she didn't want her corn licked. I almost fell on the floor. I think I might be losing it! On to my real posting! I think I might be living in some sort of time warp where everything happens twice! I guess sorta like Ground Hogs Day, you know with Bill Murray when he gets stuck living the same day over and over. But I digress. I only live through everything twice. You might be wondering how I came to this conclusion, and I can tell you it is because of my children. They have started saying, "I was like..." after whatever it is they have said or did, and then repeating it again. Do they think that I can't remember two seconds ago? Do they think I missed it? I really just don't get it, but hearing everything twice makes me wonder if I haven't been getting it all along, and they are just trying to help me out so I don't miss anything. Ethan started it, and Bonnie has faithfully taken over for him. "Did you see mom? I was like you are such a silly eyeball, blah, blah, blah." All the while she is shaking her head like a dog. (True example) Yeah, I saw the first time cause you were right in front of me and you said, "Hey Mom", before you said it! Do mom's get vacation? I think I might need one! Anyone got any good ideas?

I Don't Know What Just Happened!

2008-08-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

This is a Brett Entry.....So, I was at the dinner table sitting down to a delicious smelling dinner of tri-tip, garlic mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. That's right I said "on the cob". This was going to be quite a treat and even the kids new it. As usual they began fighting over which was their seat. And as usual I just tried to stay out of the way. No sense in having four involved, besides Layne was handling herself fine. After it was over and Ethan lost I thought I would try to even up the situation by letting Ethan pick his ear of corn first. Not wanting to be left out completely Bonnie piped in and said as she pointed to the ear closest to her, "I want that one". Oddly, that was the very piece that Ethan wanted. As Ethan began chomping down quite noisily on his piece, Bonnie began her pouting mode by pointing out all the dirty flaws her terribly miserable piece of vegetation. Now here's the kicker, Layne was watching this whole thing and I could see her head getting redder and her eyes bulging. I knew something to remember was about to happen. It was then that Layne picked up Bonnie's piece of corn and began licking it like an ice cream cone, being careful not to miss a spot. There was actual silence as the rest of us just watched in horror. A few seconds had to pass before the crying started and we really understood what had just happened. I really can't tell you why ...or how...er I don't even know. I just thought you might want to know what happened. Plus I doubt it would have ended up in here (at least the whole story) unless I wrote it.

Just Stuff

2008-08-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what is going on with this picture. Eliza wasn't upside down when I was browsing for pictures. Anyway, she absolutely loves to stay on the first step of the pool, and play with whatever is available. Today, she was loving this bucket. It was really funny cause she couldn't even lift the thing when it was full of water! She would start to shriek and then it was pretty much all down hill from there. I dunk her all the way under at least once whenever we go swimming, and boy does she hate that! She got so mad at me the first time I did it she yelled for a good five minutes at me. I think we might have to work on her temper next!

Bonnie and her cousin Maddie are the best of friends (almost always). They play dress up together and put makeup on each other. No, I don't have a picture of the make up and I do apologize, cause that was just plain funny! We went swimming together, and Bonnie couldn't find her towel, so sweet Maddie offered to share hers with Bonnie. As they were huddled together Bonnie tells Maddie that Ryan is so lucky because he doesn't have to share a towel with anyone. Maddie responds with a "Oh no! We are the lucky one's, cause sharing is AWESOME!" Kudo's to Maddie's mom for that one!

I was looking through my videos, and I came across this one of Bonnie singing an all time favorite, "I Like It, I Love It" by Tim McGraw. She knows most of the words by heart, but I am not sure what was going on here. Maybe a little stage fright? I think you might rule out stage fright as you watch. It is pretty darn hilarious if you ask me, but what do I know, I'm just the mom! I think that I do a pretty good job too. Maybe I SHOULD try to go for American Idol!

Ethan wanted to make his own pinata, so he got a cardboard box, taped it up with good old masking tape, hung it up in a tree outside with a bungee cord, and beat the crud out of it with his baseball bat until a stuffed cat eventually fell out! America's future at it's finest!

Eliza's Hiding Spot

2008-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

So Eliza has found a new spot to hang out. You can see a bit of our home theatre in that cupboard, well, we have to keep the doors open when we are watching so the remotes will work. Heaven forbid that we would actually have to get up and move when we are melting our brains in front of the TV! Eliza likes to come and close the doors for us. Then she claps for herself, and hey why not she has now succeeded in getting mommy up off the couch, again and again and again!

She also likes to close the door on herself.

Bonnie and Ethan were playing together last night, and Bonnie said, "Ethan, do you want to know why?" There was no response from Ethan. So she said, "Ethan don't you want to know why?" "OK, why?" "Because...just because!" I am glad to know it was so important!

Not Star Wars, CAR Wars!

2008-07-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

If you look very closely at Ethan's head, you can see a green dot from a marker. It was in fact Bonnie's marker that made the dot. Now looking at Bonnie's forehead you see a moment of sure genius in parenting. Since Bonnie got Ethan, Brett made her give Ethan the marker and told him to give her a dot too. Only I think that he liked payback a little too much! Oh, where was I during this fiasco? I was driving! It happened so fast, that I couldn't do much to stop it! Looking back, I don't think I would have even if I could have! At least they were both happy after it was over! By the way, this was coming home from our Utah trip! I found two more pictures that I didn't take on my camera! Woooo-whoooo!! Those pictures will post at a later date.

Just Plain Silly

2008-07-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hey if it were me, I would look a whole lot happier about a chocolate cupcake!

Yes that is my son with his arms down his pants! And are we ever proud! Bonnie was showing me her power ranger moves! I think she is ready for the big leagues!

A little while ago, Bonnie had to wear some of her cousin Ryan's clothes. She was quite upset about it, and I heard all about it in the car on the way to run errands. Bonnie was telling me, "But MOM! I don't want to wear boyish clothes, I will be embarrassed!" Ethan who was trying to make her feel better told her that she shouldn't worry about it, she could just tell people that she didn't have her clothes because she went somewhere in her pajamas so she had to borrow some! Yeah, that would make me feel WAY less embarrassed! I don't think she appreciated his advice.

Imageless

2008-07-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Utah. We went for a fast family reunion and to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary! Congrats to them! It was awesome! I took my camera, but I did not get a single shot of the kids playing with their cousins, swimming in the pool, shooting off fireworks, or throwing up in the drive way...you know all the things you do together as a family. So here is my official apology for no pictures. But I can tell you that my kids had so much fun. It was so good to see my family. For the record I would like to tell everyone that Ethan and I hiked up to the Mount Temp. Caves with a bunch of the family. Let me tell you something if you haven't done that hike, it is intense!!! Ethan was a champ, he hiked all the way up and back. By the time we got back to the bottom, my whole body was completely numb. I seriously couldn't feel my arms or legs. I thought I might die up there, but Ethan was trying to run all the way down. The rangers frown on running down the mountain though, something about not being able to stop at a zig or zag and flying off the mountain...Like my dad always says, "It's not the fall that will kill you, it's the sudden stop at the bottom!" Also, I would like to make an honourable mention to my nephew Chandler who made it all the way to the top, through the caves, and back down again mostly on his own two legs! Way to go pal!

Weekend Fun

2008-06-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

We went to San Fransisco a couple of weekends ago. Our good friends were able to go with us. This is Ethan showing off with his "best pal". What goofs! These are the girls, I couldn't get Bonnie to stand up straight for the life of me! Eliza did not want to sit still in the stroller, she was really mad at me for not letting her get out. Ethan and Preston relaxing with the crowd they feel most comfortable with. No, not metal statues... monkeys! Our family right outside of China town. It was a really fun day, but man did we spend a fortune in transportation!

Outside Time

2008-06-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ethan has gotten so good at the slip and slide! Well I guess you can't get soooo good on a slip and slide, I mean come on you slip and then you slide, where's the skill? But Ethan can do it standing up! You have to give him props for that. Our friends gave us this bike, and Eliza just loves it! She can almost reach the ground with her tippy toes when she is on it. She gets up there and tries to move it, gets frustrated, tries to get off, gets stuck, screams, and then I help her off. And here she is trying to get back on...Here we go again!

Upgrade

2008-06-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

Remember when forts used to be made out of your mom's best blankets and all the chairs from the dinner table? Well, apparently those days are over! Time for an upgrade baby! Our friends Jake and Julie gave the kids this awesome fort building kit! It is made by Cranium, and it is so cool! This was the first thing we made with it. Ethan actually let me take his picture here. A small miracle in itself! Now wait a minute you say, that is not one of your kid's knee sticking out of that helecopter. (I thought I should let you all know what it was supposed to be just in case you couldn't guess.) That is right, even Brett is getting in on the fort building craze! I think he kicked all the kids out so he could have a turn flying the helecopter! Right this very second, the fort kit is in timeout. That's right, timeout. It seems that sometimes my kids don't always see eye to eye on the proper technique of fort building, and I had to break it up before it got physical. I had no idea that my children would be so passionate about creating forts! Actually, we love this thing, and totally recomend it to everyone! Thanks Jake and Julie!

Eliza's New Moves

2008-06-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of Eliza showing off. She learned to flap her arms like a bird, which makes her bother and sister proud. She reminds me of the chicken dance, you know..."da da da da da da....da da da da da da....da da da da da da, clap, clap, clap, clap." I know you were singing along! And she learned to fold her arms, which makes her mom and dad proud. She does this on request. I don't know what I did to deserve such cute and wonderful kids, but I will tell you what, Heavenly Father sure blessed me!!!

I have been teaching Eliza a little sign language. You know things like please, thank you, more, eat, and drink. It is very helpful for the most part. Sometimes she will just start saying "please" over and over, and then she will throw in "more", and I have no idea what she is asking for or what she wants more of! That can get a little frustrating, but for the most part, it is just so darn cute! I took this video of her showing off her signs. She is a little distracted by the dishwasher, which she loves to help out with. She is not so helpful as she would like to think however. When I am unloading it is great, she will take out the utensils one by one and hand them to me. But when I am loading dirty dishes into the dishwasher, she will take out several spoons at a time and help me out by licking them and trying to hand them back to me. Yuck! I would also like to point out that this video was taken first thing in the morning, so don't be thinking that I let my child run around in her diaper all day long. At least not on this day!

PS. Please excuse the recycled hairdos.

Blogging Blues

2008-06-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am so frustrated with this blog!!! I added the picture to the left, and I can't get my labels to show up all the way! It keeps cutting off the words! Aaarrrrrgggg! I am not all that blog savvy, so I have kinda run out of ideas, anybody wanna help? But not today, I am done, done, done for today! Alright thanks for the vent, like I have already mentioned, I am done!

Birthday Bliss

2008-06-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

Bonnie had a birthday, and now she is 5! I can't believe it! She can't either, but apparently everything is SO much better when you are 5 than when you were 4. Here she is on her big girl bike! That is right, it only took us til she was 5 to get her something better than a tricycle. Alright, I have to say, I am pretty darn proud of this cake. Whenever I asked Bonnie what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she would always say, "I want a rainbow, castle, Dora cake!" I think I did pretty well here! That's Dora in the car on the side, Bonnie wanted her coming out the front door, but come on folks there is only so much I can do! She was so excited about it. She kept telling everyone who would listen, and even anybody who wouldn't, "Guess what kind of cake I am going to have for my birthday? A rainbow...castle...Dora...cake!" She paused for emphasis in between each word. It was hilarious! I just have to mention here that this box was given to Bonnie by her cousin Maddie, who is also 5 for a couple more weeks anyway. I wish we would have taken a picture before Bonnie opened it too, but I am just not that organized. So Maddie's mom went to the store and got Bonnie some things for her birthday. Maddie took it from there and expounded on it. I am told that she spent at least a solid hour on it if not more on it. She found things from her room to add to the box, and she wrapped and decorated the box herself! As you can see here, she glued stuff to the outside of the box. I think Bonnie is holding a penny or something from the box. You can imagine how well this went over. So I wanted to say BRAVO Maddie! Bonnie loved it of course!

Bowling

2008-06-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

So, we took our kids bowling the other night. We had a pretty good time. Ethan has a pretty unusual technique that I think might catch on. Bonnie surprised us with how well she did! She started out rolling the ball granny style, but then moved on to a more advanced move of throwing the ball in a downward motion as hard as she could. Then ten minutes later, her ball would hit the pins and 9 of them would fall over. Of course the computer only counted the first 3 because the rest fell so slowly. But we know what really happened out there. Eliza really wanted to play too. She kept throwing her sippy cup down the lane. All in all, we pretty much rocked the house! Look out world, here we come!

Silver Dollar Fair Continued

2008-06-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ryan was so funny on his pony, every time he would go by me, he would say, "CHEESE! Aunt Duwanie, CHEESE!" It was hilarious!! He loves me! Maddie was a little worried about riding the ponies, but she was a champ! She did awesome. Macky was too cool for words! He's a ham! You gotta love that! Bonnie went on this ride where the car bounces up and down as it goes around and around. She LOVED it. Of course she chose to sit in the back seat even though she was the only one in her car! She is just practicing for her days as a Diva! Macky, Ryan, Ethan and Maddie all rode this roller coaster. Macky and Ryan were sitting together and were livin it up. Ethan and Maddie were in the car right behind Macky. You can kinda see Ethan looking at Maddie, that is because when the coaster started to go around a second time, she realized it wasn't going to stop for a while, and she decided that it wasn't as much fun as she thought it was going to be. Ethan being the good cousin that he is, put his arm around her and was trying to make her feel better. It didn't work. After riding the rides, we went to see the animals. That was a big hit! The kids loved all the animals. There were pigs and cows and sheep and goats. One sheep was waiting to be sheared, and Ethan (of course it was Ethan) noticed that it was a boy sheep with rather large testicles. He asked what those things hanging down were, and I told him. Now you have to understand that Ethan has a hearing problem. Whenever you are trying to be quiet, or keep something hush-hush, say like in Sacrament meeting, or at the fair when you are embarrassed to say the word "testicles" very loud in the middle of a crowd of people, he always says "What, WHAT DID YOU SAY MOM?" I am using all caps so you can imagine how loud he is. Well true to form, he asked what I said, so I repeated myself. He yells "What are TESTICLES?" Nice Ethan. Needless to say, I was a lot embarrassed. At least there were a bunch of people around to hear! Oh well, thankfully he will be anatomically correct when he talks about what he saw at the fair.

Silver Dollar Fair

2008-06-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

So we went to the Silver Dollar Fair with our cousins Macky, Maddie, and Ryan. Ryan has the yellow balloon in the very back of Bonnie. We got to the fair about 30 minutes before it started, and had to wait in line. The funny thing is we had no idea we were early until we had been standing in line for about ten minutes and the line wasn't moving! I know we are geniuses! Anyway, we were picked the right line because the clown guy that does the balloon animals came to our line first! Wooo-whoooo!

And because we were standing in the right line, the conductor asked Ethan if he wanted to conduct the band! Macky got to conduct the band too. It was sooooo cute! Ethan started marching in place to the music, and using both hands to conduct! Very professional. I think he might have a future here.

The kids wanted to ride the ponies. And well really who wouldn't? A 5 minute ride on a pony that goes in a small circle again and again. Very exciting! Anyway, Bonnie got to ride on a pony named Bonnie! She thought that was just about the coolest thing ever!

Apparently Ethan had a little fun here, but I'm not sure. He could just be ham'n it up for the camera! Poor Eliza just got to watch from the sidelines. She waved at all the ponies as they went by, and said, "Hi, hi, hi, hi". Well, strictly speaking, that is all she can say. But she says it so well! I have more pictures of the fair, but I will have to put them on another post.

On a totally separate and random note: Today Bonnie is having a party at her school. I have to take a snack to share. So far I am snack less. I don't know what my problem is, but I am drawing a snack blank. OK, well part of my problem is I want to impress all those 3 and 4 year olds with the coolness of my snack. I am just not thinking on the right level! I am sure inspiration will hit, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Dress issues

2008-05-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have issues with Ethan and clothes! Let me give you an example, today Ethan got dressed without me even asking! Which in itself is a tiny miracle. The trouble is he was wearing the same pants he wore yesterday only today they were inside out. Nice, I know. He was also wearing his pajama shirt which is about 20 sizes to big. I asked him to change his pants and his shirt. He grumbled and went off. Next I saw him he was wearing shorts under his P.J. shirt. I decided that it wasn't worth the effort involved, and let him wear it. He told me that at school today his friends all asked him if he was wearing a dress today. Well that's what you get when you don't listen to your mom.

Laundry

2008-05-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Brett and I celebrated our 9th anniversary this month. I love my husband, he is the best thing that has happened to me. He has given me the best gift he could have, our three fantastic, crazy, wonderful, unstable, silly, beautiful children (they take after me you know)! He is kind, funny, sensitive, and he worries about me. It's nice to have someone worry if you're ok when you're not home, or worry if you are going to pass your test, or if you are feeling alright. He makes me feel special, and he is always ready and willing to help out where ever he can.

Now let me tell you all how I know he loves me too. It all has to do with laundry. Yes, that is right, laundry! I hate to do laundry, even more than I dislike doing the dishes! So, as you can imagine the laundry piles up because I keep putting off doing it. I figure I have until we run out of clean underwear until I need to do laundry again. I will admit to making my kids wear dirty jeans to school, but I draw the line at dirty underwear. And I have bought extra pairs of underwear to lengthen the time til D-day. Once I get the laundry washed and dried, the next problem is folding it and putting it away. Sometimes it sits in the living room for a week before I break down and fold it so I can do more. This is usually how the week goes. The first day, I am motivated and get the first two loads folded and put away. After that, I get distracted and the loads start to pile up. Pretty soon there is too much laundry to just sit and fold for ten minutes. So it sits while I go off and do other things. The second thru fifth days, I look at it as I go by and get increasingly frustrated because it doesn't get done! And yet, I still don't do anything about it. The sixth day I know I need to do it soon, but I still don't. All this time I am feeling like a terrible house keeper because I can't (really won't) keep up with the laundry. Finally on the last day I wait until night time and then I pretty much explode. I get all upset that I have to do "IT" all by myself and I just can't do all I have to do without help! I get mad at Brett because he has just walked by the laundry all week too! He has two hands doesn't he? I get all huffy and emotional and let's face it, basically irrational. It doesn't matter that I haven't asked him once all week to help me fold. Even though I know that if I did ask him for help he would. It doesn't matter that I know he works long hours, and sometimes after working all day he comes home and works all evening. And what does Brett do? He helps me fold all the laundry and put it away. Not only that, but he doesn't complain about how I am really the one who procrastinated all week. He puts up with my emotional outbursts, and that is how I know he loves me still. Amazing isn't it? Aren't I a lucky woman? I guess it doesn't really matter what you think, because I know I am!

Catching Up

2008-05-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a really long time since I last posted. Time has been flying by! There is only two weeks left of school. I have taken my finals and am done for the semester. Woooo-whoooo! I just have to interject here because Ethan and Bonnie are playing a game of owner and doggy, and Ethan is the dog. He asked his "owner" if he could go to the bathroom (he really had to go). He got permission, then Bonnie asked him if he knew where the poo-poo store was. Where do they come up with these things? Really!

Bonnie went to a primary party her CTR 5 teachers put on for her class, and she had so much fun! Brett was asking her all about it and she said they watched a movie about John the Baptism. This stuff kills me people!

Bonnie was sitting at the table all by herself finishing lunch one day, and she started talking to herself.

"Hello there I am the bus driver. I have to go do some errands. Could you please watch my bus?"

"Of course I could watch your bus, I would be delighted."

"Thank you. But whatever you do please don't let the pigeon drive the bus."

"OK, goodbye. Oh hello, who are you?"

"I am the pigeon, what a lovely bus you have there, could I please drive it?"

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but you can't."

"Oh, but I would really LOVE to drive a bus, couldn't I just try for a second?"

"Nope, sorry. No pigeons allowed"....It actually went on for about ten minutes. I was dieing!

Last week I pulled out the slip and side for the kids to play on, and they had so much fun! I love summer time!

Mother's Day

2008-05-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ethan came home from school with every mothers dream, a coupon for free breakfast in bed! When I got up this morning, I was told under no uncertain terms that I was to go back to bed! Ethan made me eggs and toast and orange juice. I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely! He made the breakfast himself! I was very impressed and I have to say, I felt very loved! I have the best son in the whole wide world! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! I love mothers day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my mother for her unfailing faith in me, and the lessons I learned from her. I can only aspire to be as good a mother as she is! I love you Mom!

Pillow Talk

2008-05-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

This morning I was being lazy in bed when Bonnie came in to snuggle. I love it when my kids do that! Anyway, she was telling me something that she was going to do during the day, and I mouthed the word "Wow". She said, "Did you just say wow?" I told her I had, and she said "say something that sounds like laundry." So I mouthed the word "Laundry". And she guessed that I had said laundry. Then she asked me to say something that sounded like eyeball. And she guessed it again! Next came earwax, light bulb, and nose. You wouldn't believe it, but she guessed every single one! The girl is a genius! I, however, am not so smart. My turn to guess went something like this..."Mom, I am going to say something that sounds like bed." She barely moved her lips at all, so according to the established rules, my best guess was "Bed?" Of course not, it was something that rhymed with bed. Well obviously I wasn't paying enough attention to the rules of the game, so I just started listing words that rhymed with bed, "Led, fed, said, head". She thought for a minute (she actually stuck her tongue out in concentration), then she says, "Head, yeah it was head!" And I'm done with that game!

2008-05-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I am writing today with sadness in my heart. There is no more "basketti" in our house! I am not sure I can get over the loss I felt when Ethan finally figured it out that "basketti" is really "spaghetti". I think that "basketti" was my favorite word, and now it is gone forever. Bonnie says "paghetti" which is actually pretty impressive for her. I guess I will have to wait for Eliza to see if she can carry on the tradition.

Um, Chips Anyone?

2008-05-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

Alright, first I have to tell you that this hilarious picture was taken by none other than the subject himself! I was so impressed, that I am publishing it solely for future embarrassment possibilities!

OK, so on to the real posting. Brett is in charge of dinner on Tuesday and Thursday nights when I have my class. Sometimes he has a hard time coming up with things. Last Tuesday, he was trying to figure out what to have. He was joking around with the kids and asked them if they wanted to have potato chips and brownies for dinner. Ethan spoke up and said, "Um Dad, I don't really LIKE potato chips." I know, what kind of child am I raising that doesn't like potato chips? I apologize to every one of you! It's not my fault, I try to feed my kids junk and they just won't have it! I am a failure, and my life has no meaning!

When You Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em!

2008-04-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this isn't one of my kids, it is our cousin Landon. But I couldn't resist! Sorry Melissa. We were at Grandma's for Christmas, and I guess Landon thought he wasn't doing enough around the house (or maybe his mom just doesn't feed him enough?). Anyway, here he is helping out. Annie, the dog, was a little put out at Landon, seeing how he was doing her usual chore.

Spot Who?

2008-04-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Alright, so it has been a while, and I am sorry bout that. I have no excuse except laziness. Last week, Thursday was just crazy at my house! I had class that night, and Brett signed up to clean the temple at the same time. Which meant we didn't have anyone watching our kids. Our friend Scott volunteered for the job. My kids LOVED him! Well, Eliza mostly just cried whenever he came near, but Ethan and Bonnie thought he was fantabulious! I was talking to them about that night, and they both asked me when Spot was coming back. I was a little confused at who they were talking about, and then it hit me, they thought Scott was Spot! Oh, I can't wait to tell him, I think he might have a new nickname for life! This is the stuff dreams are made of!

True Feelings

2008-04-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Bonnie had a fight with Ethan. She was really mad at him, and she told him she hated him. About two minutes later, they were playing a game together and she said, "Anyways, whenever I say I hate you it doesn't matter because I still love you!" Nice.

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

2008-04-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

For some miraculous reason, one night Ethan was being extremely helpful. He helped Brett cook dinner and he fed Eliza. Afterwards he was talking to Brett and saying how good he felt. He said, "I just feel so good. I feel so happy. I'm not saying you need to do this , but I just think I should get paid for this. Or a toy, not big dollars, but something under $ 10.00. Don't you think so Daddy?" Brett did not.

2008-04-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

I was at the doctors office this morning with Bonnie and Eliza in tow. We were waiting, of course we were waiting, have you ever been to the doctors and got in right away? Even if you were the only one waiting? No neither have I. But I digress, while we were waiting, Bonnie saw a car drive up and park. She said, "Oh look, here comes another young man." I thought this was a pretty funny thing for her to say anyway, but her "young man" came in and he had grey hair and a grey mustache! The receptionist almost fell out of her chair laughing. The poor guy didn't know what was so funny. Some things are better left unsaid!

Wounds

2008-04-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Bonnie was examining her wounds. If it looks like it might be a different color than her skin, it must be bleeding and need a bandaid! Which could be a completely different post in itself! She had a bonified "owie" that had actually warrented a bandaid, and is now a beautiful scab. While she was examining said scab, she said, "Tis cab wooks yummy, just wike bacon!" I wish I could convey the cuteness of her voice saying this most discussting idea! Ewww! Well, my friends, enjoy!

Are you Serious?

2008-04-14T09:26:00.001-07:00

Bonnie said, "Daddy I know how to tell if a man is super duperdy old. He has super duperdy lots of lines on his head. I'm serious! I'm not even joking!!!" It's good to know she takes classifying age so seriously.

Bonnie came into the kitchen one morning with tears in her eyes. I asked her if she had been crying. She said, "Oh, no Mom, these are tears of joy!" Well, I guess you can't argue with that!

Lost in Translation

2008-04-11T10:33:00.001-07:00

Ethan was earning money for a hamster by doing extra chores around the house. We have had a hard time explaining why he can't have $10.00 for sweeping the front porch. We tried to explain that we will only pay him what we think the job is worth. I think this concept really hit home. One day he was asking for extra chores, and I told him if he would sweep and mop the kitchen floor (it's not very big), I would give him 75 cents. He said, no 50 cents. I wasn't expecting backwards bargaining, so I asked him to repeat what he said. He said, "I think the job is worth about 50 cents Mom, not 75 cents." Maybe he got it a little too well. Oops.

Bonnie was singing one day a song all about Tom Dumb. I asked her what she was singing about, and she said that Tom was dumb. I then had to explain to her that Tom wasn't dumb, his name was Tom Thumb! She had watched a show about him, and obviously something was lost in translation.

ROAR!

2008-04-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is Bonnie's roar. My disclaimer here is that she wasn't really into it when I took the video of her. She has done much better, just ask her Aunt Jenny and Aunt Shannon! Last night we had the Kirby Vacuum guy give us a demo, and Bonnie scared him with the intensity and feeling she was putting into her roar. We didn't buy the vacuum by the way. But it was COOL!

Boom!

2008-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Bonnie was telling me about her life. She said she couldn't remember being a baby. "It was like BOOM!, I'm three!"

Trouble in the Making

2008-04-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a conversation I had with the kids one day. I asked Ethan and Bonnie what they wanted for lunch. To be helpful, I started suggesting things I knew we had, and was willing to make. One of the first things that I suggested was chicken noodle soup. Bonnie immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes!!!" Ethan said, "I don't want chicken soup." I said, "Fine, what do you want?" "I don't want chicken soup!" "Caught that. What do you want?" "I don't want chicken soup!!" "OK, please tell me what do you want?" "I don't want chicken soup!!!" "I didn't tell you that you HAD to have chicken soup, what you DO HAVE to do, is tell me what else you would like to eat!!!" "Oh, I guess I will have chicken soup." AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

In One Ear And Out The Other

2008-04-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Bonnie asked me one day if Jesus was magic. I thought, "here is a perfect learning moment." So I explained that Jesus had the priesthood power not magic. Magic is not real, but the power of the priesthood is real. She nodded her head and really seemed to get it. I thought it was a very enlightening conversation, a pretty good parenting moment. Until the next day when she said, "Mom, mom! Look I can make my fingers disappear! For real mom, it's real power mom!" I think we may have to talk about this in the future.

Growling

2008-04-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

I really was just experementing with the video here. Bonnie has the most incredible ROAR you ever heard come out of a 4 year old! This is just her growl, and as you will see, Eliza thinks it is pretty cool. If this works out like it should, I will post another video of Bonnie's roar and you will see the difference.

2008-03-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ethan's school class went on a field trip to see the Chinese acrobats. He was so incredibly impressed with what he saw as he was trying to describe it to me, he said, "It was so awesome Mom! I just can't talk about it, I just can't talk about it right now." When he was telling his dad about it, he said, "Guess what I want to be when I grow up?" Brett said, "An acrobat?" Ethan replied, "Yeah, a Chinese one!" I didn't have the heart to tell him that just wasn't going to happen, he is stuck being Caucasian, poor kid!

That's My Story and I'm Stick'n To It!

2008-03-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

Bonnie dictated a story to her preschool teacher Feb. 25. They were talking about good days, and bad days. Her story goes like this..."On a bad day, when you lost your mommy you get superdy-duperdy sad. When you find your mommy, you get happy, you get really, really happy. Then its a super, super, super, super good day." One Sunday after church we couldn't find Bonnie anywhere. When we did find her, she was so sad. I guess art does imitate life!

Santa!

2008-03-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Eliza saw Santa on a train ride we went on in November. He came right next to us. All the other kids were clapping and calling out to Santa. As soon as Eliza saw him her grip on my arm and shoulder got much tighter, it almost hurt! She had a look of pure terror on her face. She didn't relax until Santa was well out of sight. I never saw her look so terrified. Santa might not be in any pictures with Eliza any time soon. I couldn't find the picture I had of her, but this one gives you the right idea.

Prayer Time

2008-03-26T10:34:00.001-07:00

Bonnie said the dinner prayer one night. She said, "Please help me to always love my mom and my dad and Eliza and my brother and my mom, my other mom and my other dad wo live in Heaven. I hope I get to meet them soon; after we die...Amen".* Every night Ethan says his night time prayer. The first few items are usually pretty thoughtful, please bless so and so to get better...stuff like that. Then he moves into his list, which is the same every night, and he says it all as fast as he possibly can! "Please bless I won't have bad dreams tonight. Please bless I won't throw up. Please bless I won't have bad dreams. Please bless I won't be scared of spiders in my covers. Please bless I won't be scared of mouses under my bed. Please bless I won't be scared of the dark."

Blowing the Top

2008-03-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was asking Ethan to help me clean up, and he was telling me he didn't want to. So I told him he didn't have a choice. He finally just blew his top and yelled "You're just asking me to do that because you want me too!" Duh.