Christian Clan Chronicles

Faux Swearing

2012-02-13T09:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday when I was on You Tube embedding the Whitney Houston videos for yesterday's blog post, I stumbled upon this video and it made me chuckle enough that I wanted to share it here.

Now, it may be living in Utah that makes this video especially amusing. But, I know I heard those same faux swear words among my Mormon friends while growing up in Northern California. It is definitely relatable if you are a person who tries to avoid profanity. My favorite part? The very end when he's surprised and says the actual word when he's talking on the phone! ("I said shoot mom!")

Anyway, I hope it brings a smile to your face.

Musical Memory

2012-02-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Was anyone else completely blown away by the sad, sad news that Whitney Houston died last night?! I was. I still can't quite wrap my head around it! Music has always been important to me. No other creative medium has the power that music does - to uplift, to calm, to relax, to excite, and especially to elicit memories.

As I was thinking last night about how the music of Whitney Houston has touched my life, I remembered that it was one of her songs that was my very first favorite pop song. The first pop song that I knew all the lyrics to. Do you remember "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"?

And then I remembered a very crisp, clear memory of that song. I was in the bedroom that I shared with my sisters, Dawnette and Megan. I remember putting that song on and turning the volume up and going and dancing in front of the full length mirrors of our closet doors - singing along to every word, note, and oooohhh. Pure Pop Music Magic that song is.

And who can forget the best rendition (ever) of the Star Spangled Banner? Not me.

But, I think, of all of her songs, the most indelible one is her version of the Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You". I still remember watching her performance of that song on the 1994 World Music Awards and marveling at her pure, peerless talent. We recorded that show on a VHS tape and I remember watching it over and over and over and over again in the days and weeks following the broadcast. I watched it so much that that section started wigging out after awhile - I think I'd worn the tape of the VHS by watching those 5 magical minutes over and over again. Simply put, I was obsessed with the power of her voice.

And what person who appreciates music wouldn't be in awe of her talent? I was. I am. I always will be.

The Bread Bandit Strikes Again!

2012-02-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

If you are a regular and avid reader of our quaint little blog (and, really, who isn't?!), you may remember a post from a couple of weeks ago wherein I told of how Luke quietly and quite slyly helped himself to a loaf of bread that had been sitting on the counter top to cool.

My little bread bandit struck again... last night.

But this time it wasn't yummy, hearty wheat bread.

It was fresh, scrumptious banana bread.

I took it out of the oven and put it on the rack to cool, then went back downstairs where the kiddos were playing. Audrey asked if I would play (Barbie) dolls with her, so we did. Just a few minutes later, Luke ventured upstairs. Sometimes he goes on little lone trips up to the kitchen to play with the alphabet letters on the fridge, or to grab a few kitchen utensils to play with, or just to check things out. Usually he's not gone for long and comes back to join whatever fun there is to be had with the rest of us.

I really didn't think anything of his disappearance - because, like I said, these one man exploration trips are a pretty regular occurrence - and my doll, Stephanie, and Audrey's doll, Nikki, were busy baking chocolate chip cookies before going to a ball, so clearly we had some big plans to occupy our minds!

Well, a few more minutes passed, and then Luke came back downstairs to play with us.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes later, when I wanted to get a drink of water, that I discovered the cute little pinch marks that formed one long row on one of the loaves of banana bread! The loaf that was closest to the edge of the counter - which just happens to be right within my little boy's reach.

I'm just glad that he focused his attention on just one of the loaves - since I had plans to give the other two away!

A Big Sunday

2012-02-05T14:14:00.001-07:00

Today was a big day.

(And not because the Super Bowl is just a couple of hours away.)

Today was a big day for Audrey. During Sharing Time in Primary at church, Audrey gave her very first talk.

(All of a sudden she looks so grown up...

and it's not entirely due to her new favorite way to pose for pictures!)

The overall theme for this whole year in Primary is on Choosing the Right. So, we decided that that's what her talk would be on. Adam and I sat down with Audrey and asked her what that means - to choose the right. And what kinds of things she can do that are ways of choosing the right. Some of the things she came up with were: to be nice to each other. To be reverent at church. Don't yell at others. Take the Sacrament. Be baptized. And she concluded with "If we follow Jesus Christ's teachings, we will be happy, and will live with Him again. I know Jesus lives, and He is my Savior."

She did such a good job! I was so proud of the way she stood, looking at the large group of her peers, and she talked clearly into the microphone. I was there to prompt her, but she deserves the most credit. (I even noticed a few of the adults in the room wiping tears from their eyes. One of those was Audrey's dad!)

And, as if that weren't enough for one Sunday, we had another first for Audrey just about an hour later during Sacrament meeting. Being the first Sunday of the month, it was Fast and Testimony meeting. I felt prompted to get up and bear my testimony, so I walked up and took a seat to wait my turn (there were a few people ahead of me already on the stand). After about 45 seconds, I looked down the aisle to see Audrey trotting towards me. She came up and sat in the empty chair next to me and said, "Mom, you're bearing your testimony?" And I said, "Yes." Then she looked up at me and said, "I want to bear my testimony, too." To which I replied, "Ok."

I wasn't sure if she would want to back out when it came to be her turn - the whole congregation of our ward is a much, much larger audience of people to talk too. (Even I was a little nervous!)

But, she walked right up the little stepping stool in front of the pulpit and, with my help, she bore her very first testimony in Sacrament meeting. Again, she spoke clearly and confidently. I was so proud of her!

After Audrey was done, she ran proudly to Adam who was sitting in the congregation, wrestling Luke into submission! I stayed to bear my own testimony and, as usual, I got teary eyed and emotional. As I stood saying the things that were in my heart, my sweet little girl came running back down the aisle and stood by my side for the duration of my testimony. I could tell she was a little worried that I was crying and she asked a couple of times, quietly, "Mom, are you ok?" and I would smile and nod to her to let her know that everything was fine. And then when I was done she grabbed my hand and walked me back to our seat in the congregation. She is such a little sweetheart. I love her and Luke (and this new one on the way) so, so much! I feel so blessed to be their mama.

(That was actually the focus of what I said during my testimony - the daunting responsibility of teaching my children correct principles and teachings that will help them find their way through this crazy life. I referenced a favorite General Conference talk by one of my favorite Apostles - which, if you're interested, you can find here and I also talked about my own righteous parents and their efforts to be good examples and teach their children well. I feel so blessed to have had them to help form and mold me into the person that I am today. I am so thankful for stalwart and true believers and defenders of Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the last line of the famous Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken" that ends with, "And that has made all the difference." Having true and faithful parents has made all the difference and I hope to emulate that in my own kids' lives.

I am indeed blessed.

Pictures for My Mama

2012-01-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, during one of our trips to visit my parents and my sister in California, my mom took us to Ross and among our purchases was a darling dress for Audrey. We both couldn't wait for her to grow into it - it was a size 4 and Audrey was just about 2 years old at the time, so I knew it would be awhile before she would be able to wear it.

Well, the other day when I asked Audrey what she'd like to wear, she pointed to the cute little black and white dress that Grandma had bought for her. And it fit! And she looked so cute in it! So, I had to post a few pictures so Grandma can see Audrey in her little dress.

Here's that pose again! She does it completely on her own - it's the funniest thing.

Thanks Grandma for the cute dress! We love you!

A Loaf for Luke

2012-01-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

If I am honest, I have to admit that some of the posts here aren't exactly my best work. They turn out not to be as witty or funny or just plain as memorable as I'd like them to be. I will have to take the blame for that. Sometimes I'm not on my game. But no matter what I write about this next episode in the Christian home will likely be one of my favorites for years to come. I'm still shaking my head in bewildered amusement, just thinking about it.

First thing you should know is that I make yummy wheat bread regularly. We don't really buy bread - unless I decide to go on strike for a couple of days. Most often, though, our cupboard stores at least one loaf of homemade wheat bread for us... I try to stay on top of things so that when we're about half way through our last loaf, I make a new batch to replenish our supply. (As a completely related aside: Thank you to my sister Megan for the recipe!!!)

Well, a few weeks ago I had a freshly made batch of yummy wheat bread, sitting on the counter, cooling on the baking racks, waiting to be put into bags. We were downstairs playing with the kids. Luke was a bit whiney but that was understandable because it was getting to be pretty close to dinnertime. A bit later, Luke ventured upstairs and after a few (very quiet) minutes, when he didn't return, I decided to go upstairs to see what he was up to. Most moms can attest that when things are too quiet, it usually means trouble!

When I turned the corner from the hallway to the kitchen, this is what I found:

Luke had reached up and grabbed one of the loaves of bread and sat himself down for a little pre-dinner snack!

I was beside myself with amusement!

He would alternately take little pinches of bread with his fingers, or he would just put the loaf to his mouth and take bites right off the top.

He was so cute sitting there munching on a full, uncut loaf of bread - he totally took matters into his own hands and was so business-like about the consumption of his little stolen snack.

When he was satisfied, he simply set the loaf down and surveyed the damage.

I'd say he did pretty good!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

The thing that I am learning more and more is that Christmas is really for kids. As much as I love the holiday on my own, for myself, after you have kids a whole new side of Christmas suddenly opens up and everything is so much more fun and exciting than it used to be. Christmas with kids is simply the best!

(Now, the one exception to all this added joy and fun is trying to get your 4 year old to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. Audrey was so excited and none of the usual tricks worked. It made for a very late night for all of us.)

But despite some slight sleep deprivation, Christmas morning was so much fun. Audrey was excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookies and drunk the milk. And right away she was looking under the tree, in search for which presents were hers.

She got a few little gifts from Santa and Grammy, her main gift was new outfits and accessories for her Barbie dolls. She was really excited and proceeded to play all day long trying on all of her new stuff on her dolls. (It was quite the validation to see her love them so much!)

Luke was excited but wasn't really into sitting still long enough to check out his stuff. He ran around and around excitedly. But, then, when we helped him open his main gift - a car track/ramp - that slowed him right down and he wanted to be dad's assistant and help to assemble it.

I love these pictures: Adam looking at the instructions and Luke trying to figure out where each ramp connector goes.

(You just might be on to something, Luke...)

Luke was excited to start playing with it and had a blast when it was finished. (More validation for mom and dad for choosing wisely!)

It was a fabulous day! Can't wait til next year!

Such a Hypocrite!

2012-01-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

It's time for a bit of a confession.

Everyday, when I log onto the Internet I have a very predictable pattern of what I do and where I go. First, I check my email. Then I come to our blog and check our blog list of blogs I like to visit to see if there are any new posts. After I do that, I usually head over to a couple of news sites and read up on any big stories that might interest me. Sometimes I'll head over to Pinterest and see what's up there. Sometimes I'll go to YouTube and look up some favorite videos or music videos there. And that's pretty much it.

Now, I realize there's nothing scandalous about that. Not scandalous enough to qualify as a confession, at least. What qualifies this as a bit of a confession is that whenever I visit blogs that I like to frequent and find that there is nothing new posted I get bugged. It's true. I totally get bothered that the author of the blog hasn't posted anything... and most of the blogs that I go to are very regular posters, like they make a living as bloggers, which usually means at least one post per day, sometimes more.

It doesn't take a genius for anyone to guess why I am calling myself out as a hypocrite. Just take a look to the right and see my track record for how often I actually get around to posting! So, I figure I can no longer get bugged at the authors of my favorite blogs for their lack of new/frequent posts when it's been almost a month since my last post!

Along these lines, I just realized I haven't even posted anything about our Christmas. We had a great time. It was a wonderful holiday and so much fun to watch the kiddos get so excited by the lights, the treats and the festive music. The official beginning of the season started for us with a day trip to Dawnette's house. Audrey really wanted some play time with Talea and they had a blast together... even tolerating Luke being a bit of a tag along.

Here they are in front of the tree.

I'm so glad that Audrey and Talea are such good friends. I hope they'll always be close!

Christmas Eve was a wonderful night. We read "The Night Before Christmas", followed by the Christmas story as found in Luke 2. We sang a couple of Christmas songs and then we opened one gift. One of my favorite traditions growing up was the one gift we were allowed to open on Christmas Eve. It was always homemade pajamas from my Grandma. We'd open our new snuggly pjs and then change right into them to sleep in that night. I thought it was so neat. And we've continued that tradition! (Although, I do not make the pajamas - I'm afraid I'm not exactly gifted in the sewing department... maybe someday....) Anyway, this year Audrey got a Mulan Nightgown for her Christmas Eve pajammies.

And Luke got Spiderman pjs for his.

We were all in hysterics because Luke seemed to receive some inspiration as we helped him into his new pjs. I think he might have thought that with the outfit came added climbing prowess because all of a sudden he was climbing everywhere on the arms of the couch, on the ottoman and then he tried his hand at scaling the bookshelves.

It was pretty funny. Audrey was cute because I think she really felt like a princess and wanted her picture taken over and over again.

And, in the meantime, Luke was still trying to figure out how to successfully deploy his spidey-web to aid in his climb to the top of the bookshelf!

Christmas Eve was a ton of fun...

A bit about our Christmas Day later....

And It's A ...

2011-12-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

This morning we had our 20 week ultrasound. Even though this is our third pregnancy, going in for the ultrasound was really exciting! Diana, our Ultrasound tech/nurse, was awesome. She was really thorough and took her time with making all of the measurements and getting some really nice shots of our new baby.

This one is my favorite. The baby's face is towards the sensor/camera - like he's looking right at you.

Yep, you heard me. His face. It's a boy!

And We. Are. THRILLED!

Saturday Night Live Sketch

2011-12-22T22:08:00.001-07:00

A few days ago, I was checking my email and then browsing some different news sites - getting caught up on current events and whatnot. In my perusal, I found a link to a site that reviewed the latest SNL hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Now, I have always been a fan of Saturday Night Live. Sure, there have been years that don't quite measure up to the classics of the late 70s and early 80s... but there are always unexpected gems in every season. This clip is a new favorite.

It's a sketch promoting a Michael Buble Christmas Duets album... and it is classic. Jimmy Fallon's take on Sting, Justin Beiber, and especially Russell Brand is so hilarious! The Kanye West impersonation is great too. I have already watched it about a dozen times and it still makes me laugh just as hard as the very first time I saw it.

Enjoy!

How To Be Lovely

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of weeks, the lyrics to this song have found their way into my head at random moments and I have found it to be just what I need. It's from the 1957 movie "Funny Face" which stars the inimitable Audrey Hepburn, the amazing Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson. It's my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie - the Gershwin music, the dancing, the stunning Givenchy fashion... it's just movie perfection!

Here's "How To Be Lovely" from Funny Face: Enjoy!

Sometimes life gets hectic or stressful and I lose sight of what's really important. It's easy to let difficult (but ultimately insignificant) things grow in your perception to become overwhelming obstacles that you cannot overcome. I've found in my life that when I can maintain an appropriate and more accurate perspective of the trials and difficulties in life that everything is much more manageable and I am filled with an assurance that everything will work out just the way it should. It might sound like an over-simplification, but this familiar quote from Lou Holtz really is true:

"Life is ten percent what happens to you

and ninety percent how you respond to it."

I saw a sign somewhere recently that put it this way:

"It is not happy people who are thankful.

It is thankful people who are happy."

The attitude we bring to each and every situation will greatly affect our ability to manage... or not! This song runs in a similar vein - if you can find the joys in life and focus on them, that joy will radiate through you and uplift those around you. And, as an added benefit that makes you are more attractive person... one who others will love to be around.

So, how to be lovely? My favorite bits:
You can't do it with makeup... you don't need dough or a college degree.

The best:

Make sorrow incidental.

Let joy be monumental!

Handsome Little Dude

2011-12-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Luke is 2 years and almost 5 months old. It's hard to believe that he's that old! He's turning into such a handsome little dude - little by little he's losing the baby-ish look and he's growing into a boy instead! It's crazy!

A few of Luke's current favorite things: He loves running around after Audrey, rough-housing with Dad, and singing songs with Mom. His favorite songs are: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn Popping, The Wise Man and the Foolish Man, and his most favorite is Three Little Monkeys. Really, he loves any song that has hand motions that go along with it. At bedtime, he loves for me to lay my head on his pillow with him and softly sing I Am a Child of God and My Heavenly Father Loves Me. If I lift my head off the pillow, he gently puts his hand on my cheek and pushes my head back down on the pillow to continue the song. It's great. I love that quiet time, just the two of us - looking into each other's eyes and watching his eyelids get heavy. It's the sweetest part of my day with him.

He loves to laugh and smile - that has always been the case though. Even as a teeny tiny baby, it was so easy to get him to smile and laugh. And it never ceases to brighten our days.

He's such a special little dude. We are so glad that he's part of our family.

Classic Audrey

2011-12-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

For the last 4 years, I've been consistently amazed at the little girl we brought into the world. Kids really do grow up to fast! Lately, I've taken note of a few little comments that Audrey's made that I have found too hilarious not to document somewhere... and where better than here on our family blog?!

She really uses her own unique brand of logic and humor and I love it. I love hearing her thoughts and feelings about different things. I love seeing more and more into her personality.

The other night, after a particularly trying bath-time, as the kids were having a snack and doing some winding down play, Adam had briefly laid back and put his arm over his eyes. Audrey asked what was wrong. He replied that nothing was wrong, only that "Sometimes you kids make me want to jump off a cliff." Without hesitation, Audrey looked at him and said, "You can't jump off a cliff. You're not a bridge."

How's that for logic?! I couldn't stop marveling at how quickly she came to that little conclusion.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Audrey was having a hard time wanting to go to bed, so we let her fall asleep with us, so we could carry her into her room when she was asleep (sometimes we're just too tired for the fight!). Anyway, it was during a week when Adam was working on call, and before we'd taken her to her bed, but after all of us had fallen asleep, Adam got a call. As he groggily got dressed, Audrey sat up and was very concerned about him, wondering where he was going and what he'd be doing. He told her he had to go to work. She sweetly, but quite authoritatively, said, "Dad, You need to put on your coat so you don't get cold." He agreed that was a good idea. Then she said, "And put on your shoes so you don't slip." He told her that he would. Then, as he was leaving the room, she had one last bit of instruction: "Make sure you wear your seat belt, so you'll be safe."

That exchange just killed me - to see such a young thing worried for the well-being and safety of her dad - even as she was not fully awake. She really loves her daddy.

But not all of her love for Adam is the tender kind. She's got a little bit of tough love for him too. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Adam went to the nearby park to play some flag football with some guys from our neighborhood. Somehow during the course of the game, Adam dove for the ball, in the process of catching himself from the dive someone ran over his thumb - dislocating it pretty significantly. Luckily, one of the players is a P.A. who was able to pull the thumb back into place. But he advised Adam to go home and ice it and then get to a hospital to have it ex-rayed, to make sure nothing was broken. Audrey was very concerned and really wanted to come to the hospital too. We asked Grammy to watch Luke while the three of us went to get the ex-ray. While we were waiting for the results, Adam was lying on a hospital bed. He was in a lot of pain, but he may have been embellishing the amount of pain just a little bit, maybe looking for some sympathy. At one point, Audrey asked if he was ok. He said no, that he was very sick. She looked at him with exasperation, and said, "Dad, you're not sick. You just hurt your thumb."

And then, yesterday, during sharing time in Primary, Audrey was sitting on my lap - the class I teach sits right next to where her class sits. The put on a little video depicting Joseph and Mary doing to Bethlehem and having Baby Jesus in the stable. Audrey was whispering different things that she noticed as we watched: "Look, she's riding on a donkey!" "Oooh, sheep!" Things like that. When she saw the very pregnant Mary, she said, "Mom, Mary has Baby Jesus in her tummy." I said, yes, that's true. Then she looked down at my growing midsection and asked, "Mom, do you have Baby Jesus in your tummy?" It was really hard not to laugh, but I assured her that, no I wasn't carrying Baby Jesus. She had an indefinable look on her face - like going from confusion to confirmation of some kind of suspicion. And then she said, "Yeah. Mary had Baby Jesus in her tummy and mom has a regular baby in her tummy." I loved it!

I wanted to include a few recent pictures of her that illustrate a little bit her budding personality.

Keep in mind I did nothing in the way of encouraging her to do anything - this is all her.

I'm not sure who she's channeling here... Marilyn Monroe, perhaps?

I especially like that she's wearing two different shoes - both sassy in their own right!

She is such a joy to have in our home!

And, we're back to the kissy face pose... she's definitely one of a kind!

Happy 4th Audrey!

2011-11-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day. One which has been eagerly anticipated for the last few months. Audrey's 4th Birthday!

She has been counting down for so long, looking forward to her special day. One of the things we did for her birthday, that actually happened a couple of weeks ago was Disney on Ice. Audrey saw an advertisement for it a couple of months ago and really seemed interested, so we thought that might be a fun thing to do. It was on November 10th and it was a really fun night!

It was just Adam, Me, and Audrey for the evening. (Luke stayed home with Grammy.) Audrey was pretty excited the whole ride to Salt Lake.

Once we got to our seats, she seemed pretty anxious for the show to start.

To pass the time we took a few pictures:

The show was great. They did little Cliff Notes-Style presentations of lots of their stories: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Snow White, and the "MCs" were Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. The finale of the show was a dance with all of the Disney Princesses and their Princes. It was a lot of fun. And Audrey really enjoyed it!

Yesterday was a great day too! We spent the morning as usual - playing together. A few days leading up to her birthday, we'd asked her what kind of cake she wanted, to which she would reply, "all the colors of the rainbow". I wasn't sure what I'd do for it, but then remembered a rainbow cake I'd seen on someone's blog a few years ago that would work. So I make her cake in the morning. Then Audrey requested a Happy Meal for lunch (she still calls it a Happy Milk - which we think is adorable). She took a nap in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to put up a Happy Birthday sign and hang some pink and purple streamers... and decorate her cake. Oh, and Audrey had started to change her answer to the cake question - she started saying she'd like a pink cake. (This was, of course, AFTER the rainbow cake had baked... so I decided to make the frosting pink!) It turned out pretty good. I am not, admittedly, a very precise baker. The food I make tastes good, but does not always win tons of points on presentation! This was no exception.

I neglected to take a picture of it before we cut into it, but I did manage to snap one of the inside, so you can see "all the colors of the rainbow"!

Audrey really loved it! It was a big hit. We shared the night with Grammy, Granny Lynnie, and Aunt Rachel, who all came bearing gifts that Audrey was super excited about! Among them: a "Barbie" make-up set, a cute rag doll, and a couple of Barbie dolls with extra clothes.

I realized only this morning when I uploaded the pictures from our camera, that we only took videos last night (except the one picture of the cake!). Epic Fail! (I guess there's always next year!)

Happy Birthday to our cute little FOUR year old!

Despite our Differences...

2011-11-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Can I just say, for the record, that I really think I made a terrific choice in my husband? The best decision I ever made. Ever.

We are well-suited for each other. We balance each other out - things that don't come naturally to me, do for him. And vice versa. He teaches me, and calms me, and just makes me a better person. I feel blessed to have such an incredible guy as my partner in this life. Plus, he's a great dad! (Big bonus! Especially when I'm pregnant! He's always so amazing at helping out and being aware of when I look a little green, and maybe it'd be best if he changed the stinky diaper - and that's just ONE example of his awesomeness.)

(Me and Adam, February 2002.)

We are very alike in so many ways - all of the most important ways we agree and complement each other.

We have so much fun together.

(Adam and me being goofy in a dark and stormy Redwood forest, February 2002.)

But there are some things in which we do not agree.

The biggest and most surprising difference between us concerns music and the radio.

Music has always been very important to me. Music is powerful and evocative and nothing matches it in it's ability to heal and inspire. Adam likes music, but I would wager that it's no where near as important to him as it is to me. This is evidenced by his tendency to choose the AM frequencies to listen to talk radio instead of listening to music on the FM!

A funny thing happened just a couple of hours ago, as we were out running a few errands. I usually take control of the radio and play DJ while we drive (sometimes to Adam's chagrin). It frequently happens that I will pause on a song and Adam will look over at me with eyebrows raised, a questioning look in his eye, accompanied by a crooked half-smile (meaning that he will indulge me). Sometimes he'll make a comment along the lines of: music like this just makes me feel old, or is this really popular, people like this kind of music?

Anyway, tonight we went to a few stores, and at one point I changed the channel and this song came on:

I excitedly exclaimed: STP!

Adam's reaction? It was classic. He goes: STP? Like the Motor Oil?

I laughed and hung my head in shame! And then I said, How in the world did we end up together?! Then I clarified that many people say STP in place of the band's full name - you know, Stone Temple Pilots?

Luckily, Adam redeemed himself at least a little bit by knowing who the Stone Temple Pilots were.

The next song that came on was one of my more current favorites:

Is there anything cooler than a mix of rock/folk/bluegrass? I think not!

Another, different musical difference is Adam's love for Christmas music. Now, don't get me wrong. I love Christmas music. I just have one very strict rule: No Christmas music until after Thanksgiving! I just can't do it! I want to enjoy one holiday at a time, and I also don't want to get sick of listening to Christmas music before the month of December even starts!

Adam does not concur. He wants to start listening to Christmas music on November 1st. And there is a local radio station that apparently shares this view and that's all they play. Christmas music all day long. Starting November 1st. It's crazy. So, lately, when usually he lets me take the reins of the radio dial, he will sneakily change the channel back to that particular station. And, stubborn as I am, I do not let it stay there long, and exclaim, "Not until AFTER Thanksgiving!" If he had his way, it would be this song, all day long:

Despite our musical differences, I love him and I am so appreciative of the kind of man he is.

(One of the contenders for our wedding announcement picture, April 2002.)

(Adam and I - June 2011.)

On another note: In writing this post, and choosing the pictures: I realized we have shockingly few recent pictures of the two of us together - that aren't from almost ten years ago! The one above is the most recent one and that's 5 months old! We have literally hundreds of pictures of the kids and very few of the two of us. We need to turn the camera lens on us a little more frequently!

The Beats of a Teeny, Tiny Heart

2011-11-02T10:47:00.000-06:00

This morning we had our second Doctor's appointment. This was an exciting one. We were going to hear the baby's teeny, tiny heart.

As Adam and I got ready to go, Audrey asked where we were going. We told her and in her unique, Audrey way she said, "I wanna go wif you." So we decided we would take her along. Grammy was here and we left Luke with her.

We met with our favorite Doctor - the same Doctor that delivered both Audrey and Lucas.

And...

drum roll...

we heard the distinct and beautiful sound of a teeny, tiny heart beating.

It was exciting! And fun!

And, if you want to speculate,

and if you believe all of the old wives' tales...

the Doctor said it was measuring about 160 beats per minute...

Which may or may not mean that this baby is a girl.

We'll know for sure in about 8 weeks!

Our Halloween!

2011-11-01T21:21:00.001-06:00

I have not been the best at blogging lately.

But I have to take off my slacker hat and tell you all about our Halloween... and of course show you a few pictures of the cuties.

Here they are, strapped into their car seats ready to go to the Trunk or Treat activity.

Right before we released the kids to begin the candy collecting fun, I had to snap a few pictures.

Adam was a Scottish football fan. Luke was Spiderman. Audrey was Belle.

Don't they look cute?!

Cute. But not exactly patient with picture-taking.

It was a ton of fun! There was a really good turnout and both of the kids made an absolute killing with all of the candy they got!

After they made the complete round to all of the trunks, Audrey decided to sit on the edge of our open trunk and help me pass out candy to the other kids.

Do you like our skeleton friend/assistant?

And it was nice to have all of the candy-collecting done before it was even dark outside. No creepy houses. No questionable candy. And the weather was perfect! It was not cold, but just right for the duration of the activity.

It was a fun and fabulous time!

Good (Great-Taste-in-Music) Genes

2011-10-10T21:54:00.000-06:00

A quick story from a few weeks ago. Adam, Audrey, Luke, and I were out and about, running some errands. We had gone to a few different places, and before we knew it, dinnertime was upon us. We had to do a quick Costco run, so as we drove that way I called in for a pizza order, so we could just pick that up with the few other things on the list. The kids were a little tired, so I just decided to run in on my own, while Adam did a few laps around the parking lot. I guess, when I got out of the car, the kids started to whine a bit. Adam was doing his best to drive and try to calm the frazzled nerves. He began to radio surf. Audrey quieted and was doing fine - with the soothing aid of her thumb. Luke's mood was only deteriorating.

And then, Adam changed frequencies again. And this song came on:

Luke's reaction was instantaneous. As he heard the opening bars, his whiney-cry turned into a
Butthead-esque breathy chuckle.

Apparently, the kid already has fantastic taste in music. Just like his mom (if I do say so myself).

I was really sorry that I missed that particular instance. But, I did enjoy hearing about it when I got back to the car.

(Why are you surprised? What else were you expecting?)

Chase Each Udda

2011-10-01T08:52:00.000-06:00

Our kids love to run around. They love active games - anything that involves lots of running, crawling, climbing, swinging, and jumping. Usually, Audrey will say, "Mom, let's chase each udda." So we do. Or sometimes, completely spontaneously, one of my two cuties will simply start to run around and the other will soon follow suit.

Most of the time it's when we are downstairs, in our play room/guest room and they will end up doing laps around the big bed, chasing each udda. It's awesome!

And they just go.

And go and go.

And the whole time they are giggling and laughing and screaming!

Sometimes they panic a little as their chasing partner comes up faster than expected.

But most of all, it's just fun, fun, fun!

Just as a side note - check out Luke's, like, totally awesome high tops! I found 'em on clearance over a year ago and I could not NOT buy them for Luke. I've been (rather impatiently) waiting for him to grow into them! And they finally fit and they look so cute on him, as an added bonus he has a cool way of stomping around in them that makes it even better!

Sometimes, mid-chase, Audrey will pause and give me a cute smile!

And other times, mid-chase, Luke will stop and give me a mischievous look and then the tables are turned and I become the chased...

or the tackled... depending on how quickly I move!

3... and 31

2011-09-26T15:26:00.001-06:00

Adam and I have some happy news.

A few weeks ago, we found out that we are expecting our third child!

Yes, Christian Baby #3 is on it's way! And we are thrilled!

It was kind of funny when we first found out because I didn't really believe it. I didn't believe it because I didn't feel any of the typical pregnancy signs and symptoms - I kept thinking that I was just really late or that the positive home pregnancy tests were just false positives - I just couldn't accept that it was possible that I was actually pregnant because of the absence of all of the junk that typically accompanies a growing embryo! I have since switched my feelings of disbelief into feelings of gratitude for this being a much easier pregnancy than my previous two. I am trying to remain grateful that I am not feeling so miserable physically and enjoy this new-not-so-sick kind of pregnancy!

I am coming up on 7 weeks along.

The Web MD site says this about the baby's development at week 7:

"Your embryo makes great strides in size this week, growing to between 0.44 inches and 0.52 inches from crown to rump by the end of the week, or about the size of a small raspberry. Leg buds are starting to look like short fins, and hands and feet have a digital plate where fingers and toes will develop. The heart and lungs are becoming more developed, as are the eyes and nostrils, intestines and appendix. By now the brain and spinal cord are growing from the neural tube."

A small raspberry! Isn't that amazing?! It is incredible how much happens, and how quickly everything develops and grows into a perfect, beautiful little miracle of a baby. We have enjoyed wondering if this new little one will be one like this:

or maybe more like this:

Either way, we will be ecstatic!

It's number 3 for us. It is also number 3 grandchild for Adam's mom, but it's grandchild number 31 for my parents! And we are pleased to share the news with you!

Luke and Our Driveway

2011-09-15T15:18:00.001-06:00

Luke is a funny kid. First of all, he loves to be outside. Like, loves it. Like, L-O-V-E-S it.

He likes to go to the glass door that connects our kitchen with our carport and look outside, if he really wants to go outside, he'll knock on it. What's funny about Luke loving to be outside is that most of the time the bulk of what he does is run from the back wall of the carport all the way to the very edge of the sidewalk - which absolutely drives me crazy because he stops at the very edge and I'm never positive if he'll actually stop before barreling into our very busy residential street. Then, once he's reached the very last inch of sidewalk, he turns around and runs back to the back wall of the carport and back and forth. And back and forth. And back and forth... you get the idea.

So, to combat my fears of him running into the street, I end up playing goalie - Luke is the ball and the street is my net. I pace and shuffle and get ready to change direction at the last second to keep him from going into the street. He can't get past me. It's actually a pretty fun game.

For the record: I am fairly certain that he knows not to go in the street and it's been a rare occurrence when he has left the sidewalk, but I play goalie all the same.

Better to be safe than sorry and all that.

Luke is a pretty wily competitor - he tries to zig and zag his way past me, and he's faster than you'd think!

Here, he's trying to fake me out:

(He's thinking, "If I look to the left she'll think that I'm going to go to the left...

Oh! Ha ha ha! Psych! I looked to the left and then I went right! Fooled you, sucka!")

He proceeded to run down the sidewalk in front of our house, then he turned around at the corner and came right back - as if to make sure we were still having fun with our game.

And we were.

And that's it. He sticks to the driveway for most of the time - he only traverses the grass to get to the swing we have in the corner.

What can I say? The kid loves swings!

And who can blame him?!

My Cute Audrey

2011-09-14T09:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Audrey wanted to watch a movie, so I put one on for her. I left the room for just a few minutes. When I returned, Audrey had crawled under a blanket and her head was lying on her fluffy pillow - watching her movie, looking all comfy cozy.

She was also sucking her thumb. It was her right thumb. It's always her right thumb.

She looked so cute, tucked into her blanket and snug as a bug, so I blew her a kiss from the open doorway.

What was cute about it, is she blew a kiss back to me... while continuing to suck her thumb. So, her right thumb was in her mouth, she lifted her left palm to her thumb-plugged mouth and did a kissing sound and pucker around her right thumb and onto her left palm, and then she blew me the kiss while her right thumb was still securely in her mouth.

And then I went on to the various little household tasks I had on my list, laughing all the way down the stairs!

Later that evening, I was at my More Than Words class and Adam told me that while I was gone, Audrey kept "calling" people and telling them that she couldn't go because she had to go with dad to pick up mom, or that no they can't come over because she would be helping dad to get mom... and so forth.

It was the usual people that she was calling - you know: Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty.

She's such a fun little girl. I feel so lucky to be her mom!

Dress Up with the Girls

2011-09-13T13:05:00.000-06:00

A little over a week ago, my sister Dawnette came down for a quick visit. She brought three of her kids with her too: McKayla, Malachi, and Talea. Audrey had so much fun with her three cousins! Especially Talea and McKayla!

It didn't take long for Audrey and Talea to get into the dress up clothes bin!

And McKayla is always so great about playing with the girls and helping out! (She was so nice and even went above and beyond and cleaned Audrey's room for her!)

I'm so glad that we live near enough to get our kids all together so my kids can be close with their cousins!

Sleepy Boy

2011-09-10T09:16:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, I had been playing with the kids downstairs when I realized that lunch time was upon us, so I went up to the kitchen and made some grilled cheese sandwiches. While I was in the kitchen, I could hear the kids continue to play and then for a while Luke started making some slightly whining noises. By nature, Luke is pretty laid back, meaning that he doesn't get worked up unless there's a reason - so, I just figured that he was, indeed, hungry and ready for lunch. As I finished preparing lunch, I realized that Luke had stopped making the whining noises. As I rounded the corner of the hall to go downstairs, I saw Luke kneeling on the stairway, with his head resting on his folded arms, leaning on the step above. I was confused for approximately 2.5 seconds - the time it took me to pick up on the very slight, very quiet snoring noise coming from my sleepy boy!

And it was another 2.5 seconds to know that I just had to take a few pictures!

Can you imagine being so tired that you fell asleep, mid-stair?

Apparently, the whining was only a little bit about being hungry and more about being kinda sleepy.

Sleepy enough that he couldn't move himself to a more comfortable spot - and gave in to the weighty pull of slumber, right in the middle of the stairway.

The best part about it was the snoring!

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2011-09-09T14:03:00.002-06:00

Adele.

She's my favorite current singer.

Her voice is amazing.

I think it's safe to say that most people have heard this song, considering how many radio stations play it on frequent rotation. But, for your convenience, here it is:

If there was a hidden camera in our car, it would frequently catch me belting this out along with Adele every time I stumble upon it when radio-surfing.

The other day though, I was on my way to pick Adam up from school and switched the radio station, and this song came on. It was the first time I'd heard it. It pulled me in immediately.

And I've really never heard her voice sound so haunted in such a heart-breaking and beautiful way. It is so raw and vulnerable.

And then, just now, as I was embedding the two videos above, I found this one. And it's even more amazing. To Make You Feel My Love has always been one of my favorite love songs. Bob Dylan is a song-writing genius; his lyrics and music paired with Adele's voice is just pure music magic.

And, really, any artist that can sound that great live is on my list, for sure!

A Few Pre-Hair-Adventure Pictures

2011-09-05T09:30:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, on August 24 to be exact, Audrey put on her fairy/ballerina outfit and I asked if I could put her hair into a bun. I was surprised when she agreed (because most of the time she only wants her hair down). As I combed her hair and put it into a bun, I told her that most ballerinas wear their hair in buns to keep it out of their faces while they dance. Audrey was excited to have an authentic ballerina hairstyle. And when I was done, Audrey surprised me again by asking me to take her picture (because most of the time I have to plead for her to let me take her picture).

She's such a cute kid.

She wanted a cute bow near the front of her head, just like Angelina Ballerina.

Except Audrey is much cuter than Angelina!

You can see she's starting to get a little antsy... she wants to see the pictures I am taking.

And she can't wait any longer!

Audrey's Adventures in Hair

2011-08-29T14:48:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning was a beautiful morning. We got up and ate breakfast together and then Adam left to help a family in our neighborhood move. It was about that time, that I noticed the mountain of dishes in the sink, which was starting to spill onto the cupboard; so I put on Dora the Explorer to entertain Audrey for a bit while I did some dishes. Luke was content to play in the kitchen - alternating between rearranging the canned goods, reorganizing the tupperware cupboard, and climbing into and out of his high chair. Everything was going well. Just as I finished wiping down the counter-tops, silently congratulating myself on being such a productive wife and mother, I noticed that I hadn't heard Audrey talking to Dora that much. It had been awfully quiet for a few minutes. Most mothers out there will know that (especially with young kids) that is usually not a good sign! I went downstairs to find Audrey safe. Sitting next to her pair of kid scissors and a pile of her cute hair - no longer attached to her head!

(This is what I call Audrey's "Brave Face" -

the one she uses whenever she is sad or hurt but is trying really hard not to let it show.)

She knew that she should not have done that. I've told her many times that she isn't allowed to cut her own hair, and that she can only use scissors if mom or dad is with her. The last few days I've been working on some scrapbooks and she's had a lot of fun cutting paper and Adam showed her how to make snowflakes on Friday night. We've been having fun with scissors and I guess the temptation was simply too great for her to resist having a go at her hair - since I was occupied with the dishes for a few minutes.

The damage really wasn't too bad. She just cut a portion on the left side, just above her ear. It could've been much worse.

(The little scratch on her neck was not done by scissors, but by Luke's too-long fingernails;

that and play wrestling do not make a good combination.)

Adam and I had a long discussion about what we should do to fix it. We talked about taking her to a salon and having it cut. But I haven't been very impressed with professional haircuts for Audrey, both times that we've taken her I've left feeling like I could've done just as well and for free!

...But with this, I was worried if I didn't do a very good job, then there would be even less for the salon to work with to make a cute hairstyle.

So, we took her to the Regis Salon in the mall.

She had a booster seat and a fun little Zebra cape to wear. (Fun fact: the girl who is cutting her hair is Stephanie, who I've been going to for the last 2+ years.)

I told Stephanie to just give Audrey a cute, slightly A-line cut. Audrey was a champ in the chair - she was really still and patient and did a good job.

I think it turned out really cute!

After the hair cut we went to Claire's and got some cute clips (for cheap!) and that seemed to brighten her mood significantly.

Audrey was quite the little hit at church - she got so many compliments on her new hair cut! I could tell that she really liked being told how darling it looks!

Now, you may have noticed the title of this post is "Audrey's Adventures in Hair"... plural. I've told you about the first one.

Our second one happened just about an hour ago.

Adam was online (at the kitchen table) doing something for school. I was putting Luke down for his nap. Where was Audrey, you ask?

Audrey was downstairs...

you guessed it... cutting her hair!

This time we didn't find her. She came upstairs and said, "Do you like my new hair cut?"

I was so confused. I put the scissors way out of reach, I'd thought. But Audrey had managed to climb to the top shelf of the bookshelf to retrieve the scissors.

This time she'd done more significant damage! She cut pretty close to her scalp in a couple of places - again on her left side (must be because she's right-handed).

This time I decided that I would just do my best to fix it. And hope that her hair grows fast!

And this is what we ended up with:

I tried to blend what she'd done and cut around her ear to try and make it look like this style was done on purpose!

And I left her right side alone. So, it's a cute little asymmetrical pixie/bob hair cut. Actually, in the world of hair I hear this is all the rage right now. It's just not too often that you see it on a 3 year old.

Audrey is on the cutting edge of hair fashion right now.

Not too many people can pull that hair style off, but Audrey is definitely one of them!

(I have to go now to find a better, more Audrey-proof hiding place for all the scissors in our house!)

More Than Words

2011-08-25T14:45:00.000-06:00

This is our cute boy, Lucas. (Or Yucas to Audrey.)

(I love the overbite smile!)

He just recently turned 2 years old. There are so many things that I love about this kid. He is a lot of fun. He loves to laugh and play - he especially likes chase games and tickle games and other physical, interactive games. He is very affectionate and sweet-natured. He loves hugs and cuddle time - especially if there is a pair of eyebrows within reach. Something about the soft texture, he loves. He has always been pretty cautious and deliberate in his physical manipulations. For example, he knew how to walk long before he stopped cruising (holding on to something while walking). So, when he finally did let go and began to walk all on his own, he was super stable and sure on his feet. He has always been a fairly quiet baby/toddler. Not too loud or boisterous (although he loves when we are), he seems content to just play and interact in quiet ways. His temperament is naturally laid back, not very demanding or high maintenance. He's a good, sweet kid. As with his motor skills - walking on his own when he was ready - we've been content with him beginning to talk when he's ready, too. Because, while he still only says a few words, some of the time, he is a very effective communicator. He makes his intentions clear and that has kept any frustration levels (for all of us) to a minimum. He uses lots of nonverbal strategies to make his meaning clear, as well as incorporating gestures and eye contact and body language.

All of this isn't to say that we haven't been working with him. A few months ago, we started meeting with a local Early Intervention program that specializes in working with children who are under the ago of 3 that are experiencing any delays. They have given us lots of ideas of how to interact with Luke that will encourage him to increase his communication skills, ways to focus on language and bring that out in him. It's been great. We've really learned a lot.

And Luke has made strides in small, but significant ways. He is still pretty quiet though. And more and more, I am beginning to think that he will just do it when he is ready. It may be that his laid back and sweet temperament, coupled with his cautious, deliberate nature has combined to create a very sensitive, quiet kid.

(Being shy with the camera.)

Participating in the Early Intervention program has been good for us. About a month ago, we began an additional class that this same program had recommended to us. It's a class that was created by a program based in Canada, called the Hanen Centre. And the class is called More Than Words. It is actually specifically designed to help children who are on the Autism Spectrum, learn how to more effectively communicate. While Luke doesn't fit into that category, the Speech-Language Pathologist that leads the class says that all of the techniques that you learn in the class are just as effective with kids who are only experiencing a delay in their speech-language skills. The approach that you use with kids who are on the spectrum is the same that you would use with kids who are just behind in their skills. The goal for both is to help catch them up to their "normal" or "average" peers.

(I do have to say that there is nothing "average" about our Lucas.

That sounds biased but it's not. Just the truth!)

So, I go to the More Than Words classes every Tuesday night for three hours each session. It's an eight week course. I've really learned a lot. It's very naturalistic and easily adapted to fit your particular situation. I'm excited to see what kind of progress we will continue to see as the class goes on.

One side effect of being a part of this class, is I keep getting a song stuck in my head. You can probably guess what song I am talking about. It's actually not that bad that I get it stuck in my head, because I do like the song. It would be much worse if it was something that I thought was really annoying or tiresome. Here's the you tube video for your listening enjoyment.

I love the harmony on that song! Admittedly, I have always been attracted to music that is kind of pared down and simple - letting the music speak for itself without a bunch of production gimmicks. Because most of the time, that is what it is - a gimmick. So, two guys with only a guitar and their harmonized voices is great with me. I like the message too. How often do we say "I love you" to those around us but then treat them in a way that might put that love in doubt? It's a worthwhile question - what would you say if I took those words away? You might have to prove your love through your actions instead of just mere words.

So, every Tuesday (or any day when I think about the More Than Words class, I find myself singing or humming the More Than Words song. It's kind of funny.

Another funny thing about the More Than Words class was something that Audrey said last week when Adam brought her along to pick me up when the class was over. I guess as they pulled into the parking space in front of the building, Audrey said, "Mom's at the dentist?" (The building does kind of look like one of those nondescript, could be just about anything kind of a building.) And Adam said, "No. She is in a class that will help us learn how to help Luke learn how to talk." And then Audrey said, "Oh. Yeah, Luke needs to learn how to talk... but he also needs to learn how to listen."

We can't stop laughing about it either. Every time I think about that little exchange (which Adam told me about right when I got into the car that night) I have to smile and chuckle to myself at her funny cleverness.

We have really been blessed in the Kid Department. I couldn't have asked for two better kids. Both of them are so different and unique and special. They bring so much joy and fun into our lives.

We are lucky indeed to have stewardship over such amazing little people.

Our Favorite New Writer

2011-08-23T10:37:00.000-06:00

The other day, I wanted to take a few pictures with my girl. So we did.

We got the smile but not the eye-contact with the camera. So we tried again.

I love this one.

Then I thought I'd capture a more true to life portrait. Audrey sucks her thumb.

And we're ok with it.

For now.

But of all the pictures we took that day, this next one is my favorite. I love Audrey's expression. It makes me smile. It cracks me up. I love it. (I don't so much love me in this picture; but you win some, you lose some. That's just how it is.)

After we took these pictures Audrey wanted to practice writing her name. A couple of months ago, I got a big Preschool workbook that has all these practice pages for writing letters and numbers, drawing shapes and learning colors and counting, etc. And she has really loved doing all of the lessons - we try to work on a few pages every day. She's just recently started to ask to write her name. So, usually I write the letters of her name in dots and she connects the dots and then does free-hand copying after that. She really likes it. It's fun to see her get so excited about being able to write her own name. Here's one of the first pages with her name. She does really well... then it kind of degenerates a bit toward the bottom of the page - but great for a beginner, I think.

One more (kind of funny) thing. A few days ago, my name was written on something (I don't remember what) and Audrey saw it and while pointing to each letter, she said: "M for Mom, A for Audrey, N for Nest, D for Dad, and Y for Yucas." Cute, huh? What's funny about it, though, is that my name is spelled with an I. So, first she mistook the I for a Y; and then because she still doesn't make the L sound for Ls, Lucas is still Yucas. So actually, phonetically, she is quite right.

Man, I love that kid.

They Go Together, Too

2011-08-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids to my sister's house for a visit. We left in the morning for the two-ish hour drive and spent the afternoon enjoying each other. Audrey and Talea were busy jumping on the big trampoline, playing dolls in Talea's room, running around outside, eating pizza for lunch, and swinging on the tire swing. They have so much fun together! Dawnette and I were busy talking while trying to keep Luke out of trouble - which is no small task.

Our two little girls really love each other. Dawnette's older daughter, McKayla, was also in on the fun - she's always so good about playing with Talea and Audrey, and watching out for Luke, too. (She's there in the picture above, in the background with Luke.) So I told her to come and get in the picture with Talea and Audrey.

At one point, Talea got some dress up clothes on and needed help with the zipper. I was shocked when I recognized this particular dress. I looked at Dawnette, eyes bulging in disbelief, and said "Is that...?!" And she said, "Yep." And it was. The dress Talea put on was a dress that I wore when I was her age. And Megan did too. I'm not certain if Dawnette did as well... but I assume so.

The multi-generational dress:
On Talea:

On Megan, circa 1983:

And on me, circa 1984:

It was a fun day.

I'm so glad for good family relationships. I know I am lucky to get along so well with my siblings and parents - there really is very little discord in our family. And I am glad of it. I hope that I can do the same for Audrey and Luke, that the (relative) harmony of their young lives can transfer to mutual respect and affection into their later lives.

I'm so thankful that, no matter what, I have a sister on each side of me to help bear my burdens, to share my excitement, to just be a part of my life - come what may.

Because the best thing in my life is having my sisters play double duty as my best friends.

They Go Together

2011-08-04T14:33:00.000-06:00

First of all, what does this picture remind you of?

When I snapped it, it kind of reminded me of those Look n Find books.

You know, like "Where's Waldo?"

For the last little while, Audrey has claimed to be scared of her room or her bed or just bedtime in general. We think that it's most likely just a delay tactic... but that doesn't mean we don't treat it with sensitivity and patience. But we've also tried to think of things that we can do that will help bedtime go smoother. So, Adam and I were talking about when we were kids and what helped us. Adam was afraid of the dark. I don't remember feeling afraid of the dark, but I do remember some nights feeling more scared than others and on those nights I would have my sister, Megan (we shared a room) pile all of my stuffed animals and dolls all around my head and torso, while I laid in bed. There would be so many that you really could only see my face poking through the many other face of all the animals and dolls. I always felt a little more secure with all of those toys surrounding me.

So, the other night we tried a similar thing with Audrey. We had her lay down and then we placed all of her stuffed animals and dolls all around her. She seemed to think it was pretty funny.

The next day, I had Audrey help me make her bed and we just kept all of the toys on her bed. Luke immediately crawled on the bed and began to play with the toys. And Audrey was not far behind.

A binky for one. A thumb for the other.

Fun for both.

They sat in (more or less) companionable silence (interrupted by giggling and the occasional rebuke by Audrey for Luke daring to try to play with her more favorite toys).

They really do enjoy being together and playing with each other. I love it when they are patient and kind with one another. Adam does this "Bucking Bronco" game with them and they are so good with taking turns and sharing in the fun.

One thing that I forgot to mention in the last post, about Luke's birthday was actually one of my favorite parts of the whole day. When we gave the kids their cupcakes, Audrey immediately did what she always does - she began to lick the frosting off. When I gave Luke his, he was not interested! I tried to put a little frosting on his lips so he'd get the taste of it and try more - but even that didn't work. He pushed the cupcake aside, knocking it upside down. Well, the cake part must have looked more edible to him than the frosting, because he began taking little pinches of the cake and eating it.

What's funny is that Luke ate the whole cupcake (upside down, cake first) but left the frosting. Meanwhile, Audrey licked all the frosting off and left the cake. So, between the two of them they finished the equivalent of one cupcake!

They make a good team that way.

Luke's Month

2011-07-31T10:30:00.001-06:00

Luke's month - otherwise known as July - was great!

It started with the 4th, of course. We knew that Audrey would love the fireworks. We weren't sure what Luke's reaction would be. So, we put him in a stroller (he likes playing with the buckles - clicking them in over and over) which distracted him for a bit from the allure of trying to play in the street.

Then we lit a few fireworks. Audrey loved it, as we expected.

Luke did not.

It was right after I took this picture that he started to fret and cry in earnest, so I took him in the house to calm him down and play for a bit.

Luke still goes to bed (and takes naps) like a champ. Even after we traded his crib in for a big boy bed - we have hit no bumps in the bedtime routine. A few nights after the 4th, as Adam and I were getting ready to go to bed, we peeked in on Luke to check on him and this is what we saw:

He had burrowed, head first, under his Superman blanket. What made it extra cute was his snore. So, we adjusted the blanket and him and went to bed.

What makes July Luke's month is, of course, his Birthday. On the 21st Luke turned 2. I made yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcakes.

Audrey was pretty excited about it.

A few days later we decided to take advantage of the beautiful morning, and took the kids for a drive up Provo Canyon. The purpose of the outing was three fold: Audrey has an affinity for driving through tunnels, we wanted to see Bridal Veil Falls (we'd heard it was experiencing heavier flow than usual with all of the snow and rain we've gotten this year), and we wanted to take a couple of pictures.

After the Canyon drive we took the kids to a park.

I do not get tired of watching Luke have so much fun on the swings. He loves them! And his joy is totally infectious.

On another day we went to the same park near our home, and it was just as fun as usual...

until it's time to go home!

Circa 1985

2011-07-25T16:09:00.000-06:00

Lately, I've been reminiscing a bit. About my childhood.

About Kindergarten, specifically. For me, this means I've been thinking a lot about the year 1985.

(Me and Megan, circa 1985.)

I was 5 years old. I was in school for the first time - the afternoon Kindergarten class at Nokomis. Mr. Monroe was my teacher. He was a great teacher.

I remember my second favorite part of school was singing time. He'd get his guitar out and we'd sing "All Together Now" by The Beatles.

For those not familiar with the tune, or if you want a refresher:

What a great song! And perfect for 5 year olds - repetitious and simple lyrics. I thought it was the most fun song ever.

So, singing time was my second favorite part of Kindergarten. The next logical question that one may ask is, what was your favorite part?

My favorite part of Kindergarten is so obvious - I think it's probably most kids' favorite part: Recess!

Of course!

And my favorite thing to do at recess was to enact different adventures from She-Ra with my friends. We'd start out on the swings and something awful would happen - a villain would kidnap a good guy (take them to the top of one of the slides or rocking toys) and then She-Ra and her faithful friends would go a rescue the good guy. We incorporated all of the playground toys in some way - pretending they were different obstacles in our path to get to through the bad guy and rescue the good one.

We had fertile imaginations.

But that's not all.

I had a little undershirt tank top that I always wore - that's what helped me to transform into She-Ra. I would start out as just plain old Princess Adora, but then when there was trouble I'd take my top shirt off, revealing my undershirt tank top underneath - becoming the alter-ego She-Ra. I was always She-Ra. Because I had the undershirt. I could transform.

I'm afraid I was a bit tyrannical about it. I'm sure the other girls would've liked to have a turn at being the heroine, but I would not allow it - because I had the power to transform and they didn't.

I was surprisingly logical at 5 years old.

(My school picture from Kindergarten.)

So, recesses filled with She-Ra inspired adventures were the highlight of my first year in school. Many a happy quarter of an hour were spent running around the playground battling the evil forces of Horda. It was totally rad. Like, totally.

Do you remember? No? Well, here you go:

We also played He-Man when we could recruit some boys to play with us. Remember him?

The impetus for all of this reminiscing? Audrey.

Well, it really started with our Roku - the device that allows us to view Netflix shows on our TV. It's awesome. And we found He-Man and She-Ra. And Audrey loves them both. She also likes Rainbow Bright and Strawberry Shortcake. It's so funny to see her liking the same cartoons that I loved as a kid.

(Clockwise: Mark, Danny, Dwight, Megan, and Me - in the middle of watching something on TV.

I wish I knew what it was!)

I feel blessed that I had such a fun, happy childhood. I hope I can provide the same kinds of happy, fun memories for my own children.

A Different Saturday, A Different Temple

2011-06-30T15:17:00.000-06:00

A week after the Saturday that we'd gone to the Provo Temple grounds, we found ourselves visiting the grounds of a different Temple. A different Saturday, a different Temple - a week apart. And about four hours away from each other.

Adam and I had been trying to find a good time to travel down to St. George to visit Adam's dad for a few months now. So, a couple of weeks ago, kind of last minute, we decided to just go. We really feel it's important to give our kids as many chances to get to know their grandparents (and vice versa) as possible.

It was a great trip. We were able to spend time with "Gampa Kischun" and play, and then we walked around the Temple grounds too. (It was at the Temple grounds when I remembered that I'd brought our camera, and that it'd be put to better use outside of it's carrying case!) So, unfortunately, we don't have any other pictures than these to remember our time in St. George.

(Adam and Audrey strolling on the grass.)

Luke was less interested in walking on the grass and more interested in the pillars that line some of the pathways. He was loving hiding behind a pillar, waiting for us to say, "Where's Luke?!" and then popping out from behind his hiding place!

Then he'd make his way to another pillar, giggling all the while...

and do it again.

I love how contagious my kids having fun is!

At about this same time, Audrey was noticing that the pink flowers near the grass were the same shade as the shirt that she was wearing. And she wanted me to take her picture.

So I did.

Then she said "Mom, you wanna picture wivf me?"

And I said sure.

I mean, how do you say no to that?

And, even if you knew the how, why would you want to?

Right after I took the photo of Audrey and I, Luke unwittingly stumbled into my arm's reach...

so I did what any other mom would do...

I grabbed him and made him sit down next to his sister so I could take their picture together....

(Apparently, I hadn't gotten over the sting of not getting a decent picture of them the week before and was determined to do better this time around!)

And?

Well, it's not bad. Definitely better than the previous week, but I'd love it if only Audrey's smile was facing the camera! At least they're both smiling, that's something!

Heartened, I forged on, hoping try number two would be golden: both kids looking at the camera with angelic smiles on their cute little faces.

Yeah. Not so much. Apparently someone (or something) of interest was happening just over my right shoulder.

Thwarted again!

Oh well! The day was no less beautiful and fun. It was great to have that time together. Thanks, "Gampa Kischun" for the awesome visit!

A Beautiful Saturday

2011-06-30T14:19:00.001-06:00

A couple of Saturdays ago, we decided to put the beautiful weather to good use and went to spend some time on the grounds of the Provo Temple. It's so beautiful and peaceful - and secretly, I was hoping that I would also be able to get a few good pictures of the kids together... maybe by the fountain... or in front of the lovely flowers and greenery.

My prospects seemed to be pretty good. Both of the kids had had good naps and were ready to walk on the paths surrounding the Temple. Luke even gave us a mini round of applause:

And, Audrey actually asked me to take her picture in front of some flowers:

(I'm not really sure what made her do this pose, I was just excited to have a willing subject... I wasn't about to ruin it by suggesting how she should stand.)

Also, that's not dried ketchup around her mouth - she got into my lipstick earlier in the day and got her hands on one of the dark red ones that stains and it would not come off, no matter what I tried! She had red splotches on her face for a day and a half!

Meanwhile, Luke was having fun exploring the perimeter of the grounds -

I'm not sure if he was looking for an opening in the fencing or trying to figure out how to climb it!

Or maybe he just wanted to look at the houses that are across the street... since he seemed content enough.

There's something about this picture that makes him seem so old all of a sudden. He looks more and more like a little boy and less and less like a baby. (And don't ask me how I feel about that. I don't know if I would be able to tell you in any way that makes any sense - basically, it covers the whole spectrum of emotions, simultaneously.)

In the interest of fairness, I turned the lens on Adam and me. So often, we chronicle the growing and development of our kiddos, and we neglect to document ourselves. (If I had to guess what the ratio of pictures of the kids to pictures of Adam and I, it would probably be something like 500:1.)

We made our way from the back to the front of the Temple. The kids got really excited when they saw the fountains. We'd been outside for about 45 minutes and it was a warm day, so we let them enjoy sticking their fingers in the water. They were so caught up with the water and the beautiful surroundings that neither of them wanted to look at the camera.

These were the best (and only) pictures I attempted; since it was so clear it wasn't going to work, I gave up and let them just have fun sans the picture-taking.

I can't blame them.

Too much.

Then, just as we were about to leave, Audrey spotted a smaller water feature. It's hard to tell from the picture, but water cascades down the tile-like granite that's just adjacent to the larger fountain - and she wanted me to take her picture in front of it.

And I was more than happy to oblige.

California Trip (another one...)

2011-06-24T21:00:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned before that I am the youngest in my family. I have five older brothers and two older sisters. All of us are married, and all of us have children of our own. Not surprisingly, eight couples can produce quite a few grandchildren for my parents to enjoy. By extension, this means that there are quite a few special events that my parents do their best to be a part of.

In April they went to my brother, Danny's, house and stayed a few weeks - first to watch their five children while Danny and his wife, Leslie, were able to take an early anniversary trip together to Costa Rica, and then they stayed for a while after Danny and Leslie had returned to celebrate Danny's birthday, Lauren's birthday (their youngest), and Katie's and Maddie's (their third and fourth children) birthdays and Katie's baptism at the beginning of May.

After Katie's baptism, my parents left New Mexico and headed Northwest for Utah. One of my other brothers, Mark, was having a big event that my faithful parents wanted to attend: his oldest son, Jacob, had earned his Eagle Scout award, his Court of Honor was scheduled for May 12. My oldest brother, Jamie, also had two of his oldest sons scheduled to receive their Eagles and they had intended to have their Eagle Court a few days later, on the 15. Well, it didn't work out and Jamie's sons had to have their Eagle Court on June 5. Meanwhile, my parents (who had already been away from home for a month) had responsibilities that needed attending in California; but they also didn't want to miss Jamie's boys' Eagle Court. So, they decided that they would have to return home for just a couple of weeks before having to turn back around and travel back to Utah/Idaho to be able to attend Levi and Isaac's Eagle Court.

Well, all of that was just too tempting for me and my kids not to hitch a ride with my parents for an impromptu visit to California. We've done it before: crammed ourselves and our stuff into my parents' Civic for a visit, but usually I have to buy plane tickets back home to Utah - the notion of an absolutely free trip for me and my kiddos, coupled with the promise of a lot of time with my sister Megan and her family was simple too much to pass up! (Even with the consideration that our last trip to California was in February!) I just didn't think that that kind of opportunity will present itself again - when my parents will be in Utah and have to return again in a couple of weeks - so we took advantage of the opportunity, tried to pack as lightly as a mom with two young children can, and smooshed ourselves into the car for the 13ish hour drive across the Nevada desert. (It's about as relaxing and peaceful and fun as it sounds.)

I liked how one friend put it: "That trip is even boring in an airplane!"

Can I just say that, for the record, it was worth every second! We had a great time!

One of the biggest inducements, for me, was giving Luke a chance to interact and play with his cousins that are so close to his age. Really, his only playmate is Audrey (and me and Adam, of course). So, I was anxious for him to get some peer play in.

Ben, Luke and Hugh - playing with the ball popper.

Luke and Ben sharing. Yay!

I love this one, Hugh is so stinkin' cute!

Speaking of Hugh, our trip was pretty fortunate timing: we got there the evening of the 14th of May and Hugh's first birthday was the 17th so we got to celebrate with him!

One of Hugh's presents was this little motorized quad bike. Ben was more than ready to try it out - while Hugh was still occupied with his slice of birthday cake and ice cream. It didn't take long for him to figure out how to push the button that activated the motor that made it go.

Ben's light (and very blue) eyes kill me!

Hugh did get a turn, and he figured out what and where the activating button was even faster than his older brother! Here he is waving to his adoring crowd as he makes a pass on his new bike.

The quad was a big hit with all of the kids. In fact, Megan and I used it as a centerpiece tool for trying to teach how to take turns and share - setting the microwave timer for 2 minutes at a time, rotating through each child. The kids loved being together (except when they didn't - which thankfully wasn't too much of the time).

One of Audrey's favorite things to do was go outside for short little walks (to and from Megan's and my parents' houses, mostly). And nearly every time she went outside, she returned with a handful (literally) of flowers. She especially loved the cheerful golden poppies that my parents have encouraged to grow along their walkways and near their patio. My mom even enlisted Audrey's help in removing the poppy seed pods that were ready to be plucked.

Some of the poppies were almost as tall as Audrey, so we had to have her pose for some pictures.

It was a bright morning!

I couldn't neglect to include the handsome little Luke in our impromptu photo shoot - even though I couldn't get him to stand still next to the poppies. (I suspect he thought it wasn't very manly to pose in front of a bunch of flowers....)

(Pretty much, Mom.)

Speaking of trying to get Luke to stand still (for anything, but especially for pictures), on our last Sunday in California, as we were walking to church (which is just around the block from my parents' house) I wanted to get a few pictures of Audrey and Luke, all cute in their Sunday clothes.

Yeah, they had other ideas.

I tried to enlist Audrey's help - asking her to catch up to Luke and stand next to him so that I could snap a picture or two...

He's getting faster, apparently!

She caught up to him and this was the best that I could do. Not great, but pretty illustrative of our lives right now - who has time to pose for pictures? There's places to go, people to meet, and things to explore and discover!

We had a fabulous time in California! We can't wait until the next trip!

(Our deepest thanks to Gamma & Gampa, and Megan & Marc, and Ben & Hugh for such a wonderful time! We love you!)

Field of (Hoop) Dreams

2011-06-22T15:01:00.000-06:00

The park that is near our home is actually part of the property of an Elementary school. The school is on the southwest of the property, and there are two different playgrounds, one to the east and one to the north of the school's buildings. Then there are four tennis courts to the east of the eastern playground, a couple of baseball diamonds and large grassy areas that are to the north and northwest of the tennis courts. The grassy areas are alternately used for soccer, lacrosse, rugby, football and another game that looks similar to cricket, but it's not cricket. Anyway, along the northern border of these grassy areas, where the school property ends, there is a long row of chain-link fence that divide the school property from the residential houses of our neighborhood.

During one of our trips to the school's playground(s), Luke and Adam were chasing each other and playing around when something grabbed Luke's attention. Just on the other side of the chain-link fence, clearly viewable from the fields of the school, was a huge (to his perspective) basketball court.

And it called to him. And he obeyed it's beckoning.

Like a starving man to food, or a thirsty man to water, Luke went directly to the gate of the fence, just aching to play basketball on a real (albeit half) court.

I could almost hear the angelic-heavenly music that was no doubt playing in his mind as he walked over to the gate.

He tried and tried to get that gate to open. Without success. The gate was locked. (Not that we would've let him go into someone else's yard had it been open...) It was just funny how the look of excitement on his face had changed to disappointment and dejection. after it was clear he could not get through the gate, he leaned his forehead on the fence for a bit before giving up and rejoining the chasing games that Adam and Audrey were playing.

But, as he walked (rather sulkily) across the grass towards Adam and Audrey, something else caught his eye. It was another chain-link fence. But this one was a lot taller and sorta funny shaped.

It, too, called to him. It's call was just as profound and just as demanding - he was pulled to it like a magnet.

He stood at this new fence for a long time, unable to tear his eyes off of the field that lay just on the other side of the fence.

After awhile of what seemed to be fairly intense daydreaming of his future of sliding into home plate, or pitching no-hit innings, or being an enviable catcher... or all of the above...

he walked around the bend in the fencing and stood there for another long while. No doubt, this slightly different view held further visions of hitting home runs and stealing bases.

Finally he was pulled out of his sports fantasizing and was thrust into the real world - where he is still a little...

well he's still a little little.

I tried to explain to him that we needed to teach him some of the basics first and that, maybe in a few years he'd be big enough to play an actual game of baseball...

and basketball on a real court, too.

He didn't really want to believe it... but something in my words rang true and he knew that I was right.

At first he was none too pleased about it.

But then he seemed to buck up a bit and walked off with purpose in his step... looking determined to remember the feelings he'd felt at both of those chain-link fences today and make those daydreams come true.

And we hope all of his dreams come true... or at least most of them!

A Total Blog Slacker

2011-06-22T14:41:00.000-06:00

Ok, I admit it.

I have been a total blog slacker. I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. I guess it's a good thing that I don't have too many admiring readers who wait with clenched fingers for each post - because then I'd really feel guilty for not being more on the ball. As it is, I think my readers are completely comprised of my parents, my siblings, a few cousins, and some close friends - people whom I assume will readily forgive my blogging faults.

I hope.

We have been quite busy lately. If that's any consolation.

Picking off from my last post (near the end of April!)... our tulips bloomed:

We took a few more trips to the nearby park:

Sliding on slides,

Kicking balls,

Chasing dad,

Chasing mom,

And occasionally pausing long enough in the fun for me to be able to snap a picture or two!

Oh, and another thing that happened during the month of April...

That's right! Audrey is officially potty trained and we are all so happy!

Hooray for Audrey!

More coming soon...

I promise!

Time

2011-04-25T16:29:00.001-06:00

Time is a funny animal.

It's so impossible to understand just what it is and how it works. Sure, humankind has been trying to get it to fit inside of our many types of boxes since,

well, since...

the creation of man.

(I was going to say since the beginning of time... but you probably see the irony and the indefinable nature of that phrase.)

The passage of time and the marking of time in our lives is crazy too. I think it's safe to say that we all understand what someone means when they talk about time speeding up or slowing down and how real the velocity of time feels in our everyday lives. Even though the neat clocks and calendars that we've created seem to break it down fairly simply, time just resists obeying the confines of those boxes. Time is much more flexible and elastic and fluid and... evasive.

In my own life, it seems like just when I feel that I am living in the present, and that I am totally appreciating my life for all that it is right now...

just when I feel like I am really here, really now...

something happens that knocks me off track and makes me wonder:

Have I really been

here?

Have I really been

now?

Completely?

Last week I had one of those moments where I was thrown off track. I went to take a loaf of homemade bread to one of our neighbors. Audrey wanted to go with me, so while the two of us were dropping the loaf off, my friend asked if Audrey would like to stay for a while and play. (She has a daughter that is just a few months older than Audrey, they are in the same Sunday School class.) Audrey seemed like she wanted to, and I made sure to try and communicate to her that she was staying and I was not, that I would leave her there and come back later to get her.

Verbally, she said okay.

But non-verbally she seemed apprehensive - she was tugging on my hand, trying to pull me into the room to play.

I had to explain what was going to happen a few times, just to make sure she understood, and then I took my hand out of hers, her little friend, Allison, grabbed her other hand and began to lead her upstairs.

Then I walked home by myself. That's when it hit me. My little girl - who is clearly strong-willed and independent, is turning into a big girl.

Not only was that the very first time she's ever been left alone with someone not related to us (besides church classes), that was the first time she's been invited over to a friend's house to play!

As I walked back home, I was thrown off track and into a world where I couldn't help but imagine all of the other play times, all of the other slumber parties, all of the parties, and dances, and Proms... that are all just looming somewhere beyond the edge of tomorrow.

I went to pick her up about an hour later. She was reluctant to leave - she was having so much fun with Allison!

Later, we went to a nearby park so that Luke and Audrey could run around and play. And I re-committed to stay in the present moment, as best as I can, so I can really enjoy moments like this:

I want to make sure that I do all that I can to be in the moment with my kids and experience the joy and wonder that is the essence of childhood discovery. I don't want to get to some future day where I am filled with regrets about wishing I would've played more, or talked more, or laughed more with my kids.

Because it's memories like these:

seeing my family run toward each other, laughing and smiling, and playing, that make my life so blessed and happy.

The love that we share. That is what matters most. I love how Elder Uchdorf recently put it:

"In family relationships

love

is really spelled

T-I-M-E,

time."

Once I Planted a Tree...

2011-04-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

Once I planted a tree.

We planted it just days before I gave birth to Luke. We planted it to commemorate the tragically too-short lives of my lovely nieces, Elliana and Emmaline. I am so glad we planted this tree because it's so beautiful and it is such a poignant reminder of how fragile and how lovely life can be.

I took these pictures last night, in the early evening. The Weeping Cherry Tree is full of buds and blossoms now and they are so lovely.

Spring blossoms, like those perfect, fragile, and beautiful girls, are simply gone too soon.

But that same perfect beauty is why I appreciate them so much, and so look forward to seeing them again.

Four Reasons Why I Gave Up

2011-04-20T14:27:00.000-06:00

Remember back when I gave you too many details about the history of my hair?

Here's the link to that post, in case you forgot and need a refresher.

It was just a little over a year ago when I set the goal to grow out my hair - to the point that I would be able to reach around my back and grab the ends of it with my fingertips. I was determined. I was holding firm in my resolve.

Then my resolve crumbled. There were four things that happened that made me change my mind.

First of all, it's my hair. It grows very slowly. I've heard it said that, on average, a person grows about a half of an inch per month. I am way, way, way below the average. I tried to go in to get the ends trimmed about every 9 weeks to keep my hair healthy, and I don't know if the lady that cuts my hair took off too much each time or if my hair just doesn't grow very fast (or likely a combination of the two), but it always seemed like every trim was actually setting me back as far as getting any length!

The second thing that happened was pregnancy. I've heard it said that all of the hormone fluctuation that your body goes through with pregnancy can change your hair. I've always doubted that and put it off as one of those old wives' tales. Old, pregnant wives' tales. But it's true. I can attest to it's truthfulness. My hair has always been straight. Like so straight that it was even resistant to curl - if I used a curling iron it wouldn't hold the curl for very long before the curl just turned into tweaks. After my pregnancy with Audrey, my hair was still straight - maybe even more curl-resistant, if that's possible. Before I had Luke I cut my hair super short and then a few months later, decided to grow it out: that's the last picture in the aforementioned post. As my hair got longer, I noticed (and the lady that cuts my hair noticed too) all of this natural curl in my hair. It's crazy! I've never had any curl to my hair, not even slight waves... nothing. It's always been straight, straight, straight.

Oh, and it's not so super curly that it's cute though. It's just curly enough to be a huge headache when it comes to trying to style my hair. Even using a flat iron doesn't really do the job to straighten some of the little curly buggers. So now it just looks like I've got a bunch of different, random cowlicks all over the back of my head. Not cute.

The third thing that happened was me. I'm lazy. I don't like spending a lot of time trying to fix and style my hair. I want to be able to do it quickly and not have to mess around a ton - with all of the curliness it was taking so much time to just try and make it look decent.

And the fourth, and probably most significant, reason that I gave up on growing my hair long is my hair. It is just naturally fine. Fine hair and long hair don't really mix. Having flat, limp hair with no volume is not cute. And there's only so much that layering and texturizing will do.

So, without further ado, here's the most recent picture of how long my hair got before I gave up:

It was taken just a couple of weeks ago, on my birthday. I didn't even make it to my shoulders, but with my hair that might've taken until the end of the year! And that's a long time to have flat, random cowlick-y hair! And, really, why should I just tolerate my hair - shouldn't I really like how it looks?! This was the epiphany that I had a few days ago. I should like my hair - I shouldn't be frustrated with it all the time. And, honestly, I like my hair best when it's short. Plus, I think that there are some people that just don't have the type of hair that looks good long. I am, unfortunately, one of those people.

But I feel okay about it because I think it goes both ways: not everyone looks good in short hair either.

I think I am one that can pull it off.

I think.

At least, I hope I can!

Because I cut all my hair off this morning! And this is what it looks like:

So... what do you think?

Swings, Slides, and Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

2011-04-13T14:15:00.007-06:00

Last week was my birthday. I turned 31. It was a lovely day and I wanted to share a little bit about what we did.

We woke up to a beautiful day - not only was the sky very blue, but it was also supposed to be pretty warm weather too, so after breakfast with the fam, we all piled into the car to go to a park and let the kids play. There is a park that is near our house but it typically is pretty busy - in fact the last time we went, there were so many kids going down (and then climbing up) the slide that Audrey wasn't able to enjoy the slide much at all... because all of these same kids were a little older and a little bigger and have not yet learned how to take turns... and their mothers have not yet learned how to pay attention to their bratty kids that kept pushing my little Audrey out of the way so that they could go down the slide first... and these same kids also have not yet learned how to listen to the one angry mother of the child they kept pushing (who was paying attention), who kept yelling at them to be nice and take turns....

Have I said too much?

It was awful.

Can you tell it still bothers me?

I'm working on it.

And alas, we decided to try a different park, that was a little farther away. We pulled up to the playground, and it only held a handful of young children with mothers who seemed to be there to watch their children and not just chat up other moms while their kids bully smaller children. We were feeling hopeful. I put Audrey in a swing and Adam put Luke in another.

They were having such a good time...

asking to be pushed some more, looking at each other and smiling... and laughing... and asking to be pushed some more, etc.

It was great and I was beginning to think that I couldn't ask for a better birthday.

We'd only been enjoying the swings for 2 or 3 minutes, when something terrible happened...

I heard an unmistakeable noise, a noise which clearly got Audrey's attention....

It was the rumble of a big school bus. And not just one. Four big yellow school buses pulled into the parking lot near the playground of the park. And almost as soon as the bus came to a stop, the doors were opened and hundreds of screaming, excited children came pouring out of those opened doors, careening around the fronts of the buses at break-neck speed toward the playground... and us.

Audrey and Luke literally started to tremble with trepidation.

So many kids.... So much bigger than us.... Why are they screaming so loud?

(I imagine to them it was like that scene out of Braveheart, when all of the kilted, blue makeup wearing Scottsmen are running full speed towards the English, with furry in their eyes, murder in their hearts, and massive weapons in their hands.)

So, we did what any sane parents of young children would - and went to a different park.

The next park was calm, with only a couple of clusters of young children playing. Ironically, it was the park that is nearer to our home - thankfully not as busy as usual.

The kids were able to play on the swings and the slides.

(Luke getting ready to go down, Adam ready to let go.)

Audrey and Luke had so much fun "racing" down the slides, seeing who would get to the bottom first. And then they added the fun of climbing up the slides, too. (And, just for the record, there were no other children who were waiting to play on the slides - because if there were, we would've taken turns and let them have fun on the slides too!)

I think Luke might actually like the slides as much as the swings!

Here's a short video of some of their time at the park:

It was a fabulous afternoon!

But my birthday only got better with a few gifts and blowing out candles - with Audrey's help, of course. And one of the best parts of the day was the cake.

The Cake.

Can we take a minute and talk about the cake?

First of all, for the record, Adam offered to make my birthday cake. I politely declined. Because a few years ago I let him make my birthday cake and...

well, let's just say that it didn't quite turn out...

let's just say that somehow he managed to burn the cake on one side and leave the other side runny and raw...

we're still not really sure how it happened, but it did. I ended up having to throw together a cake mix really fast, so that we'd have something to serve the guests we were having over that night. This also made it so that I am ok with making my own cake. Afterall, I do like to bake, so I don't consider it a chore to do it on my birthday. And this year was no exception. I even knew exactly what I wanted to make. I found the recipe about a year ago on a food blog that I frequently visit. And I had just been waiting for the right occasion to try it. I figured my birthday was a fitting special occasion.

It is called a Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. And it's as delicious as it sounds. It goes something like this: the bottom layer is a flour-less dark chocolate cake - moist and substantial, not gooey like a brownie. The middle layer is a milk chocolate mousse - light, airy, rich, and smooth. The top layer is a white chocolate mousse - again, light, airy and smooth; but it also balances out the dark, richness of the bottom two layers. And we're not even done! To top it all off (literally) is chocolate curls - because they add a nice, fancy touch... and they are delicious... and you can, so why not?!

It was DELICIOUS.

It was DECADENT.

It was DEVILISHLY DELECTABLE!

I neglected to take any pictures of it - we were simply too busy eating it to be bothered with picture-taking!

But, here is the link to the recipe/blog that I found it on. You should make it. But only if you love chocolate that tastes more like heaven-on-a-plate than just regular chocolate.

Two Fashion Genres

2011-04-11T13:22:00.008-06:00

My little girl is not a slave to fashion.

She doesn't follow any of the latest trends, she just wears what she wants, when she wants. And lately, her wants have begun to follow two very specific genre lines.

She either wants to wear:

Genre number one: "pajammies" or

Genre number two: her very nicest Sunday dresses.

(You know the kind, the ones you get slightly nervous about getting dirty. These are the cute, frilly, princess-y dresses that, when you purchased them, they were intended strictly for church. The kind of dress that you have her put on right before you have to leave for church and then immediately take off right when you get home from church. These are not cotton, casual, everyday dresses that I am talking about.)

It's a bit of a struggle - her very first choice is pajammies; and not just any pair. The pajammies that is her absolute favorite was actually a top of a pajama set that I bought for myself. It's a really soft cotton that Audrey loved so much, and she would ask to wear it so often, that I ended up altering it for her (sewing little pleats into the back of the neckline) so that she could wear it as a night gown. She calls it her "Soft".

(While I have many pictures of Audrey wearing the "Soft", this was the only full-length shot I could find... yeah, it's from last Christmas!)

It's cute that she loves it so much (except when it gets dirty and I have to confiscate it just long enough to wash and dry it - those days are sometimes a struggle!). And it's only when her "Soft" is out of commission - on account of being dirty - that she will agree to wear anything else. But her first choice is always other pajammies before actual clothes.

It gets tough because I make her wear actual clothes out in public. When I have an errand to run, and she doesn't want to wear anything except her "Soft"... we always seem to have to take a trip to Tantrum City before we leave the house. And Tantrum City is just about as much fun as it sounds!

The only thing that soothes her from the trauma of having to take the "Soft" off is if I suggest she pick her own outfit. So I let her. And it's never jeans. It's never sweats. It's never shorts or a skirt, even. It's always a dress. And most of the time, it's her nicest dresses.

It would seem there is no middle ground. She either wants pajammies or "Sunday Best".

There is one other acceptable (to her) option, that while I don't let her wear it to church, she still considers it to fit in the same "nice dress" category...

Her Cinderella dress-up dress.

With my little girl, what else could it be?

And I've tried to convince her of the comfort, the practicality, the beautiful wonder of jeans... all to no avail. The girl just prefers being all dressed up - if I make her get dressed at all! (And let's be honest, there are days when she will happily stay in her "Soft" all day long.)

This was a day when I made her get dressed. She wanted to stay in her "Soft" but ended up choosing this red number... but she still couldn't quite let go and carried her "Soft" around with her as I got Luke dressed. (Which, by the way, in case you were curious - Luke has no strong feelings whatsoever about what he wears... so far!)

It was all okay, though. I even managed to get a quick smile out of her before we went on our errands that day...

and we didn't even have to make a stop at Tantrum City.

And that's a good thing!

Fun and Games

2011-04-10T10:38:00.004-06:00

One thing that I really love about Audrey getting a little older is her repertoire of games has really expanded. She understands a lot more and loves to play lot of different games.

Some of her favorites are "Candy Land" and "Chutes and Ladders".

She loves playing with her Barbie/Princess dolls - dressing and undressing them, brushing their hair and making Adam and I choose our own dolls to play and interact with her doll. She love building puzzles too - which I really love because it's something that I enjoy as well. One of her most recent favorites is the old classic Hide and Seek.

But when Audrey says it, it sounds like "Hide the sink." It's pretty funny. We play "hide the sink" with each other, but we also play "hide the sink" with the dolls! It is so much fun to hear her count to ten and then end with the warning "riddy o not, heoh I come!"

So Happy Together!

2011-04-08T18:31:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago we braved the not-too-cold, but definitely not-warm, overcast day and went to a nearby park. The kids had a ton of fun and didn't seem to notice or mind the kinda chilly weather. They ran around, playing on the different slides and swinging on the swings, and running all around.

At one point Audrey was on the only-available little kid swing.

Luke wanted a turn.

But Audrey had really only begun and we didn't think it was fair to end her turn prematurely, lest the kiddos accuse us of playing favorites!

Always the diplomat, Adam saw a compromise that he thought would be effective and make both kids happy.

He stopped the swing just long enough to deposit Luke into the same swing, behind Audrey. I was skeptical that it would work, that both kids would be comfortable enough to enjoy the ride with the semi-cramped conditions...

But they LOVED it! Both of our kiddos are on the low end of the spectrum size-wise, and there was just enough room - this probably won't work next year, but for now they both fit and they both had so much fun swinging together, as one - literally.

They love swinging, but they also love watching their Dad run around and laughing and keeping that swing at full momentum, and optimum velocity! And I had fun capturing the joy that my wonderful husband experiences when he's playing with his kids... and I love seeing how his enthusiasm is so infectious for them!

There is nothing better than watching your kids enjoy each other! More often than not, Audrey and Luke just have fun, they are so happy together - I hope their love can survive all of the usual sibling rivalry junk of child and teenage years so that they will always be best friends.

And in the meantime I will just relish in the sound of them cracking each other up and having laughing fits.

On the Rebound

2011-04-07T15:36:00.005-06:00

March Madness may be behind us...

(wow, is anyone else a little shocked that it's April already?!)

but basketball is still the number one game in our house.

(Luke with a bad case of The March Madness!)

A couple of months ago I found a little basketball hoop in a clearance section for super cheap. It was right after Luke started walking and I thought it would be a great way to get both of the kids involved in an active, physical game that we could also play inside. We were all infected with "cabin fever" - sick of being stuck inside but it was still to cold to venture out for long, so I thought this would be the perfect remedy.

They weren't really that interested.

But Adam and I made up for it with small games of PIG every once in a while. Well, seeing us play piqued the interest of Audrey and Luke and they started wanting to get in on the action. Audrey is just tall enough to dunk. It's awesome. Luke, however, is still a little young and lacks the skill and coordination needed to shoot, but he still loves to play. When he wants to shoot (read: put the ball in the hoop), he'll take the ball and walk to the basket and then hold the ball over his head. Then Adam or I will lift him up and he'll throw/drop the ball in the hoop. And he laughs and laughs and has a great time.

As I said, his age has limited some of his technical ability to do certain things - like shoot, dunk, and dribble the ball. But he certainly tries to improvise. His version of dribbling the ball is to simply drop it right in front of him and let it bounce a few times on it's own and then pick it up again, and drop it again. (And he watches it intently the whole time.)

It's pretty cute.

I think his favorite thing to do, though, is get the rebounds. He loves going after the ball after we have shot it. He'll retrieve the ball and bring it back to us and we'll shoot it again. Over and over and over again.

And then he laughs as he goes and gets the ball again.

It may sound funny, but it's really more like playing fetch than anything else!

(Mom, did you just make an analogy that makes me sound like a dog?!)

He loves going and getting the ball even if it hasn't been shot through a basketball hoop - sometimes I'll just roll the ball on the ground to him and he'll pick it up and bring it back to me, only to have me roll it away again!

Like every great athlete, he's versatile and excels at many different skills. Here, it looks like he's taking a break between fetching, I mean, rebounding the ball, to do a short ballet-inspired impressionistic dance.

(Other kids are jealous of my nice extension - look at those pointed toes!)

Those fancier moments don't last long before my boisterous boy is back to cause some serious mayhem on the basketball "court"...

So, watch out!!

Happy (and sick) Girl

2011-03-02T15:48:00.004-07:00

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that we've been combating illness around here lately. Luckily, it hasn't been anything too intense, and we've also been able to keep it isolated to Luke and Audrey. It started a little over two weeks ago. Luke had a bit of a runny nose and just seemed more emotional and low energy. Then when he seemed to start to feel better, Audrey developed this hacking cough - the kind that sound dry and deep. Then it was accompanied by a runny nose and her cough started to sound more "productive" and things got decidedly more mucus-y. We were glad that the infection was on the move. We were also glad that she didn't have any other, more miserable symptoms (ie. vomiting, diarrhea, fever, etc.). She has really been able to maintain her fun, spunky attitude throughout.

A few days ago, after we'd had breakfast, I asked Audrey: "How are you? Do you feel sick?"

To which she replied, "Audgie's happy, Mom."

I couldn't help but smile. Then I said, "I'm glad you're happy."

And she just replied, "Yeah, Audgie's happy."

May it always be so.

Musical Memory Lane

2011-03-01T18:08:00.002-07:00

As I was running a few errands today, I channel surfed the radio. And in the course of my day, on different stations, I heard a bunch of songs that I really loved in High School... and even a few from Middle School days too! It was crazy to hear these songs and be reminded of some of the great bands that were so much a part of my teenage angst. Funny the memories that come when you listen to music from so long ago!

I was in Middle and High School in the 90s, so prepare yourself for some grunge (and melancholy - that's a given for grunge, right?)!

The very first song that I heard when I turned the radio on was Radiohead: Creep. Classic. (And how can any teenager NOT love this song?)

Then, a few stations down the dial I stumbled upon this gem. From my favorite rock band in High School: Bush: Come Down. (Although, admittedly, I don't really know what to think of the video. The music's good though.)

Another few station changes brought one from Pearl Jam. Black. Amazing.

The one band that was missing today, that I listened to more than all the others, was The Cranberries. Here's Ode to My Family, just for fun.

What memories did these trigger for you?

A New 'Do

2011-02-28T18:54:00.005-07:00

A few nights ago, I was playing with Audrey and Luke, as usual.

Adam was at his evening class. It was about a half hour before bath time. I noticed that Luke's hair was lookin' a little shaggy.

I figured "about a half hour" was just enough time to fit in a bit of a trim for my little man. In preparation for the cut, I ran my fingers through his hair to get it wet and pulled away from his scalp.

We were definitely surfin' the same wavelength because while I went to grab my camera to get the "Before" shot, he'd begun to rummage through the cupboard where all of the hair styling products are kept- apparently looking for some sort of styling solution:

("Maybe I can do something with this mousse to tame my mane...")

Then, as I was taking a second picture, he made his true feelings perfectly clear.

"Hurry! Grab the clippers and the scissors! This shaggy hair makes me want to puke!"

After about a half hour of toddler-wrangling and kamikaze-style hair-cutting techniques, we had finished. With a more-or-less even hair cut. We made it through. Luke was only slightly traumatized - nothing his testosterone-infused (read: football-shaped) binky wouldn't soothe.

After a warm bath filled with bubbles and fun with his sister, Luke was feeling like a new man. It was the opposite of Samson - like a trim of his hair gave him strength, and he was ready to show off a little. He walked over to his crib, stood with one foot on the lower beam and waited...

"Are you ready to see what I can do?"

Then he hoisted himself up onto the bars of the crib, using the strength of his arms and legs and held himself in that position for a few seconds...

"Look at me! Impressive, no?"

Then he slowly, exercising much control in his movements, lowered himself back down to standing. And the look on his face was full of pride. It was too cute not to capture!

"Did you see that, mom? Pretty good, right?! You wanna see it again?!"

He was having so much fun that Audrey requested to have her own hair cut. My motherly intuition told me that nothing too drastic would be best. We decided that just a simple change would suffice and we cut bangs.

She loves them. I think they look darling.

I just can't decide if they make her look older or younger.

What do you think?

A Bit of a (Blog) Slacker

2011-02-27T17:06:00.008-07:00

I was on a roll for about a quarter of the month. (Which, lets just be real, here, is a week... not so impressive, I know.) But for that week, I was doing pretty well... for me.

Then I lost the momentum, and I have failed to tell you what we've been doing lately.

For example:

I did not tell you about how Audrey and I went to Smithfield last Saturday.

Or how Audrey and Lucas have been taking turns not feeling so well.

Or how Adam has aced all of the midterms he's had this past week.

Or how I've been crocheting like...

like...

someone...

that...

crochets...

like...

a lot.

(Don't you hate it when you can't think of an analogy that fits?!)

Or how it's been freezing cold outside and how that has made us each do our best impression of an agoraphobe.

All of that is pretty self-explanatory... the only thing that I would be able to expand significantly upon is the girls' trip to Smithfield. So, here we go....

My sister, Dawnette's birthday was on Monday. I knew that I wanted to go and spend the afternoon with her to celebrate. I also knew that Monday wasn't really going to work very well with our schedules, so we decided to go visit her on the Saturday before her birthday. Then, Friday night came and with it, Luke's runny nose and the extra-clingy emotional state that accompanies him when he's not feeling well. We knew it wasn't going to work for all of us to go, but I didn't want to scrap the trip altogether, so we decided that I should still go - and take Audrey with me, since half the fun is letting Audrey and Talea have time to play. That left Adam to stay home and take care of Luke.

I am so glad we went! Audrey was super excited to see Talea! We hung out at Dawnette's, then the four of us (Dawnette, Talea, Audrey and I) got some lunch and ran a quick errand, then we went back to Dawnette's for the remainder of the afternoon. Dawnette and I were able to catch up and talk about what's been going on while Audrey and Talea played together. It was a nice, quiet afternoon with my sister. I am so glad we were able to spend some pre-birthday time together. It was fun.

And it was even more watching Audrey and Talea. They do really well with each other - they have a lot of fun, and it doesn't seem like either one tries to dominate the other. In general, they take turns, and share, and they are really nice to each other. It's so much fun to watch them interact.

They played with Barbies. They had a tea party. They tried to oblige when we wanted to take a few pictures (which can sometimes be confusing if there's more than one camera at a time):

(If we could just combine the two, we'd have a pretty cute picture where both girls are looking at the camera - and smiling - at the same time!)

They played their own special versions of piano duets:

They jumped on Talea's bed:

They just had fun. All afternoon... even though we made them stop the fun to smile for the camera. This one is so darling of Talea:

I love how this one shows her affection for Audrey. So cute!

It wasn't long, though, before more fun began to beckon them...

and they left hand in hand.

California, Final Chapter: Two Videos

2011-02-20T14:52:00.002-07:00

One of the biggest surprises about our trip was how much fun Audrey and Ben had together. They just seemed to feed off of each other's energy, or something. Whatever it was, it was fun to watch Audrey trying to bait Ben into chasing her, and then when he did she would scream and then that would make Ben laugh... and then it would repeat. It was hilarious. Here are just a couple of the times that I caught it on camera:

(If you read my sister's blog, you already saw her version - we were each recording at the same time, slightly different views.)

And this one's a bit of a bird's eye - Audrey using me as the "shield" from Ben.

I am so excited to see how all of their relationships continue to develop as they get older. Thanks, Megan and Marc and Ben and Hugh, and Gamma and Gampa for a FABULOUS WEEK!

California, Chapter Five: The Lake

2011-02-20T14:10:00.002-07:00

For our last day in California, my sister had the idea of taking the kids to a lake that is on the outskirts of town. There is a quiet little alcove-type area where ducks tend to congregate, so we went armed with some leftover pancakes for the kids to throw to the ducks. And "Gampa" came along too!

It was a beautiful day: perfect weather - blue skies, warm (but not hot) sun, a light breeze. (Typing that sentence is extra torturous because our weather outside right now is: cold, overcast, gray skies, new snow on the ground from last night's storm!)

Audrey really enjoyed throwing the little pieces of pancake to the waiting ducks. Some of her throws weren't too far - there were a few brave ducks that risked going that close to shore for their treat, the more cautious ones simply waited until we were leaving to venture on shore to grab up the rest.

Ben and Hugh watched from the double stroller - Ben looked like he was more interested in swimming with the ducks than giving them food!

After feeding the ducks, since the weather was so nice, we decided to go for a little walk - true to form, Audrey shot out ahead of the rest...

only to race back toward the group - making Ben giggle and laugh. And then she'd do it all again... to the sheer delight of the boys... and us all.

Our whole trip was a lot of fun. We can't wait until next time!

California, Chapter Four: A Milestone for Lucas

2011-02-17T14:32:00.007-07:00

While we were in California Lucas reached a milestone. He started walking! Hooray!

(Luke's so excited, he can't help but bite on his fist!)

He has been really close for a while now. He started to sit up at 6 months, commando crawl at 8 and a half months, regular crawl and pull to stand at 9 months, and he started to cruise at about 10 and a half months. Audrey had a very similar time table for sitting and crawling but pulling to standing and cruising was a little over a month earlier, respectively. She took her first steps just a couple of weeks after her first birthday - but they were only isolated incidents of just a few steps here and there; it wasn't until she was 14 months old that she really started walking independently. I have to admit that I was guilty of having some of the same expectations for Luke to start to walk in the few months following him starting to cruise.

Despite these expectations, his progress was steady (if a bit slower) so I wasn't worried about him. When I would watch him and how he moves, he was so deliberate and controlled, his balance so... well, balanced. I figured that he would let go (of the couch, the walls, other furniture, our hands) when he was ready.

I had made it a habit of setting him down on his feet instead of setting him down on his bum. Usually, he would immediately drop to his knees from standing, and crawl wherever he needed to go. Occasionally, he would take a step or two before dropping to his knees. That progressed to him looking for a way to cruise where he wanted to go - if there was something to hold on to, he'd cruise there. So, I started to set him down in the middle of rooms (with nothing readily available to hold onto) to help him gain some independent confidence on his feet.

Just a few days into our trip to California, at a little over 18 and a half months, Luke decided that he was ready. I set him down on his feet in the middle of the room, and he simply walked across the floor to the couch - about 7! steps away! I was so excited! And then he did it again! And again! And again!

We started to wonder a bit if maybe Luke was motivated by his (5 months younger) cousin, Ben who is a nonstop walker.

Their styles are definitely different - Ben moves quickly, a little haphazardly, sometimes bumping into things; it's like he's moving based on momentum alone.

Luke's style has remained consistent - he's still very deliberate, slow, controlled, and steady; it's like he's moving based on will alone.

If we could just put the two together we'd have two really fast, coordinated kids!

Luke gained a lot of confidence walking, but he still loved to climb up and down the stairs!

He's maintained his momentum and has continued to take lots of steps completely on his own, getting steadier and longer each day. It makes him seem so much older, all of a sudden, to see him on his feet and upright!

Chapter 5 coming soon....

California, Chapter Three: Three Musketeers... and a Princess

2011-02-17T14:21:00.004-07:00

Our time in California was really special, mostly because our boys got to know each other a little better. Now that they're a little older they can interact and play more. I'm sure it will only get better as they get older!

What's kind of neat about our three little musketeers is that they are each almost exactly 5 months apart. Luke was born July 21, 2009. Benjamin was born December 27, 2009. And Hugh was born May 17, 2010. 5 months apart. It's really cool. Don't you think?

The first musketeer, you know. It's my Luke:

("Yeah, mom, what's up?")

Luke is almost 19 months old. He's quiet. He's really sweet and a lot of fun. Cautious by nature - he still prefers cruising (walking while holding onto someone/something) or good, old fashioned crawling to independent walking. He loves watered down apple juice and hates milk.

Then there is Benjamin:

He is about 13 (and a half!) months old. He is adventurous and loves to explore. He started walking a few months ago, and is always on the go. He's a lot of fun and his pretty blue eyes will suck you right in.

And, last but certainly not least: Hugh!

Hugh is almost 9 months old. He's a good crawler and he likes to pull himself to standing. It seems like he's a good balance of Luke's cautiousness and Ben's adventurousness - he always wants to be in on the action, without being aggressive. His favorite food is avocado. The way he hums when he eats is too stinkin' cute to try to describe. He has a cute raspy/husky tone to his voice that's awesome when he laughs, but heart-breaking when he cries.

And my favorite thing about Hugh: there's something elvish about the way he smiles, the tips of his ears stick out just a bit that is so charming and endearing.

The boys had a lot of fun playing together. Most days Grandma and Grandpa got in on the action - allowing for Megan and I to sneak away to run some overdue errands, and spend some quality, quiet sister time. I love these next to pictures because they're so indicative of our visit - Hugh and Luke playing with toys, staying in one spot for at least a few minutes at a time, while Ben is on. the. go. nonstop.

I had a desire to capture a picture with all three boys, standing or sitting side by side. Now, you wouldn't think it would be that difficult.

Oh, but it is.

In this one, Hugh and Luke were ready. But Ben didn't think the idea of standing still in one spot sounded like that much fun - Grandpa was there trying to wrangle him into place... but then Ben looked away at the last second.

Then Ben decided to be a good sport, but by that time Luke started to get bugged.

And THEN, Ben decided that his first instinct was correct - that standing still for a picture really wasn't that much fun and he bailed. Meanwhile, Luke was still bugged.

Hugh can't figure out what's irking his cousin.

("Dude, chill, it's just a few pictures!")

When the other two folded, my little nephew, Hugh, was still there, camera-ready:

Such a cute kid!

Speaking of camera-ready....

Besides the three musketeers, we had a fourth character in our troop: a Princess.

AKA Audrey. She loved hanging out with the boys. She even challenged them to a few races up the stairs.

(Hugh, Luke, Audrey: bottom to top)

As usual, one of Audrey's absolute favorite things about a visit to Megan's is getting to see (and occasionally pet) their cats, Einstein and Watson.

(Einstein tolerating my toddler's attention.)

(Audrey loving every minute of it!)

It was really fun to watch how Ben and Hugh interact. They are good kids.

Even better, for me, was to see all three boys get together on their own and play.

There is something that is just right about seeing all three together - so close in age, on the same level, enjoying being together.

These moments were my favorite.

But, they also left an aching in my chest - wishing that we lived closer so that these didn't have to be special moments. More than anything, I wish that these three being together, in the same room, could be mundane and common and boring - just an everyday occurrence. (I'd even settle for a weekly or biweekly occurrence, I'm not picky!)

I love this next picture because it shows the moment when Hugh decided to break away from the little pack...

and come say hi to his Aunt Mandi.

I loved getting to hold, talk to, play with, and get to know my cute little nephews better. It was so much fun.

Chapter Four, up next....

California, Chapter Two: Walks with "Gampa"

2011-02-16T13:45:00.002-07:00

We had a pretty set schedule while we were in California. Megan and I were both trying to maintain each child's regular routine. Trying to balance having respect for The Routine but also trying to maximize our time together made for quite a bit of back and forth, but it worked out and we made it fun.

Audrey, Lucas, and I stayed at my parent's house, so once we woke up and got dressed, we'd head over to Meg's for breakfast. Most mornings that meant homemade pancakes. We were not complaining. I started to feel guilty that Meg was going to too much trouble for us, but when she assured me that most mornings that's what they do anyway, I decided to shut my mouth and enjoy the deliciousness! (My kids have been in for a rude awakening, returning home to our usual breakfast: cold cereal and toast!) Once breakfast was over there was usually time for a little conversation and a little playtime for the babes, then I'd leave with my two so that her two could have their morning nap.

During this break, we'd head back to "Gamma and Gampa's House" for some hang out/play time before we'd reunite with Megan, Ben, and Hugh for some more fun and lunch and more fun before all four of the kids would need their afternoon naps.

Most days, since the weather was so lovely, my dad and I would take Audrey and Luke for a walk down the street or around the block.

This is how it usually went:

Audrey charges ahead, as fast as her little legs can carry her. She runs until one (or both) of us calls out to her to stop and wait.

Then she stops, turns around and says, "Come on, Gampa."

Then she gets a little impatient, tired of waiting for Luke's slower steps, so she charges back to where we are. Smiling and laughing the whole time. Which makes Luke laugh really hard, seeing his sister running full speed right at him, stopping when she is just inches away.

And then she's off again, not capable of maintaining the much slower pace of Luke's still-learning strides. That cycle repeats for the duration of the walk.

And I have to say, I love watching my kids having fun together, making each other laugh!

Sometimes my dad would carry Luke on his shoulders or in his arms.

Other times he would walk behind, holding hands with Luke for the extra balance-support he needs.

Sometimes we'd go around the whole block, sometimes we'd just go down the street and back, and sometimes we'd get to the sidewalk in front of my parent's house and get distracted by the dried up star-like balls that fall from the tree in their front yard.

One thing that was constant was Audrey's insistence that we "Come on, Gampa!"

California, Chapter Three coming soon....

Christian Clan Reunited!

2011-02-14T21:52:00.004-07:00

Our family is together again.

The kids and I left Adam for a little over a week for a visit to my hometown in California. My parents had come to Utah to visit my siblings and their families who live here a few weeks ago. While they were here I had the idea of hitching a ride with them back to California and surprising my sister, Megan, with a visit. Fortunately, the stars aligned to make it all work out. The car ride from Provo was a little squished - my parents have a Honda Civic and with two big car seats in the back it didn't leave much room for the fifth passenger. But we made it all work. We took turns in the tiny nook in the back seat and drove straight through. It went well. Audrey and Luke were champs! I was pleasantly surprised by how well they did. There were a few little moments when either both or one of the kids got antsy or cranky, but they didn't last long. The whole visit was really, really good. I will fill you in on the visit soon, but first, I wanted to tell you about our first night back home.

Adam picked us up at the airport, then we had a few hours at home to unpack and play and eat dinner. After I put Luke to bed for the night, and armed Grammy with a few weapons to keep Audrey busy and happy, Adam and I went to a concert for an early Valentine date night. It was a Mindy Gledhill concert at Velour in downtown Provo. It was a lot of fun. It was our first concert together, and the first time either of us had been to Velour. It is a very cool venue. It's a really old building with exposed brick walls.

(The nice brick walls actually doubled as seat backs for us... which was nice.)

The room probably holds between 150 and 200 people. And it was filled to capacity. I really loved the vintage/retro vibe of the venue and the way the stage was set fit that same vibe.

I loved the little light strands! And the red gauzy curtains! And the stained glass!

Part of the ticket price included a free cupcake from The Sweet Tooth Fairy, and they were delicious!

(Adam got a chocolate-chocolate and I got a vanilla-vanilla and both were scrumptious!)

The great ambiance and the yummy cupcakes made the wait for the show to begin a nice relaxing time together. We talked. We cuddled. We did this:

And we stole a few kisses.

Very respectful and restrained.

Not at all get-a-room style.

That's not how we roll.

In public.

These were the stamps we got when we arrived and checked in at the door.

(Flowers - if it's difficult to see.)

After about 30 minutes, Mindy came onstage bundled in a thigh-length parka, armed with a readily recognizable, and very large, Jamba Juice cup. She welcomed all of us and then began a series of good news and bad news - that she had lost her voice, that there would be some notes that would simply be inaudible, but that we could turn it in to a sing along.

Then she introduced her opening act: Libbie Linton. Another local singer-songwriter. I'd never heard of her before, but she was really good. I really liked her style and her voice. She was super unique and fun and funny too. Kind of a dry humor - just my style!

She played guitar on some and then broke out the ukulele for one.

I thoroughly enjoyed her set of eight songs. So much so that Adam got up between the acts and bought me her album! Hooray for early Valentine's!

Then, Mindy came out and started her show. It was true - her voice was mostly gone. She managed pretty well in her lower register, but she needed extra help with the higher parts. Everyone in the audience sang every song. It was a really cool night.

This is what Mindy had to say about it.

Overall, it was a fantastic night. If you've never heard her music, I would strongly recommend it. Here are a few of her videos:

Anchor

All About Your Heart

Hourglass

I was looking forward to a great concert... and I got an unforgettable one instead!

California: Chapter One: The Park

2011-02-14T21:45:00.009-07:00

We left Utah early, early Friday morning, February 4.

Like, early.

Like, so early that you don't consider it morning yet, but still the middle of the night. We pulled out of the driveway at 4:19am.

The trip went really well. Leaving so early was a great thing since a big chunk of the 14 hour trip was behind us before the day officially began with the sunrise. Audrey and Luke traveled so well - with the exception of a quick stop at a McDonald's Play Place in Winnemucca to let the kids run around and play, we drove straight through, only stopping for gas - during which we'd use the facilities and change diapers. By noon, we were already 2/3 of the way there! We pulled into my sister, Megan's driveway just a few minutes after 5pm. My trip was a surprise. Megan had no idea that I was coming.

Ever since she had shocked me with her own surprise visit just a week and a half after Luke was born, I've been wanting to orchestrate my own for her. This was my opportunity. I had talked with Megan on the phone many times in the days leading up to our departure. Never once leaving any hint or clue - often even commiserating with her about how crappy it is to live so far away from each other. She had actually called me, wondering when my parents had left our house that morning, so she would have an idea about when they'd be getting in - at that point, we were only about an hour and a half away from her house. I kept up the charade - silently giggling the whole conversation!

When we got there, I told Audrey to knock on their door, while I hid just out of sight (Meg has a glass front door which would have given me away). Audrey has a pretty soft knock, so when they didn't answer right away, my mom went to add to the knocking effort. Megan's husband, Marc, answered the door. Megan was in the front room, but could see enough to notice the little girl with our mom. I'm pretty sure the first words out of her mouth were "Nuh-Uh! No Way!" And then I literally jumped my way into her house - my excitement making me resemble Tigger, no doubt. Keeping our coming a surprise was difficult but entirely worth it for the look on Megan's face! I loved seeing the surprise and the happiness at our arrival!

We didn't stay long since it was time for them to get started with their bath and bedtime routine. But we all reunited for a trip to one of the city's parks the next morning. We put our kiddos in the swings first.

Luke, it turns out, has not stopped loving swings. It has been a long and very cold winter in Utah, and we haven't been able to venture outside to play on the swings since the early fall. We were all relishing in the warm California weather -a 40ish degree increase from the frigid temperatures we left in Utah.

And both Luke and Audrey were so excited that we could go outside and play!

(Audrey with cousin Ben to her right.)

All of the kids had such a fun time on the swings together.

Benjamin is Megan's oldest boy. He has the prettiest light blue eyes I've ever seen, and his laugh is so infectious! I'll tell you more about that in a future post.

And this cutie pie is Hugh, Megan's younger boy. He is a doll with the cutest little grins that totally melt me. And he's got this amazing husky voice. It's awesome.

I think Ben and Hugh were still getting used to me - some times it takes a little time! - they really were having a lot of fun!

Right next to the swings was a big play place with a bunch of different slides, stairs, bridges and jungle gyms. Audrey started eying them from her swing, so we played on those next.

Traversing the treacherous ladder/hammock bridge:

She looks a little nervous, a little intense, but she did really well. And felt really proud of herself when she got across safely!

I made Luke try a few different slides with me, and he liked them alright... but then started signaling for a repeat turn on the swings...

It is definitely safe to say that the swings are his favorite!

Our outing to the park was a great beginning of our week in sunny California!

Chapter Two coming soon....

It's Been Quiet Around Here...

2011-01-21T22:52:00.002-07:00

...and I'm very sorry. I've been a total slacker when it comes to this blog. I've been on top of all of the other areas of my life though.

(I'll leave it to each of you to individually decide if I'm being sincere or sarcastic.)

A few highlights from our recent past:

Christmas was awesome! It was so much fun to see everything through the eyes of our wee ones. Audrey especially since she is now a Christmas expert. It was really cool to be a part of the unbridled excitement that only belongs to very young children!

This was taken just after opening our Christmas Eve Pajammies: Adam got some sa-weet sweats, Luke got a way cool Toy Story 3 set and Audrey a "Napgown" featuring Cinderella...no surprises here!

And even though it's blurry, this next picture has become a favorite because of the HUGE grin on Luke's face while he watches Audrey cavort! A perfect snapshot of those two - they love being together! (Except when they don't!)

With the chaotic activity of the holiday season behind us, we've settled into Winter Cave Mode - only venturing out when it's necessary. It's so cold outside most days, that it's hard to enjoy being outside, especially with the two kiddos. When we do go out it's for specific errands (like groceries and such). Or sometimes we'll try to go and play but that usually lasts about 4and a half minutes before Audrey is begging to go inside and "go get warm" or Luke starts to grunt and growl - a sure sign he's not comfortable or happy.

Audrey begged to go outside and put our umbrella to the test - it was sort of rain-slushing outside...

But was very quickly ready to go back inside and wait for a warmer rainstorm.

(Are you coming, Mom?)

So, we've resigned ourselves to finding ways to be entertained inside. (No small task, mind you.) Most of the time Audrey is at the center of all the fun - Luke is happy to do whatever she wants... for now.

She loves to dress up (especially as Cinderella):

And one of the newer pastimes is dancing in Luke's crib before bedtime:

(The plastic device sitting on the edge of the crib's railing is a little music player that goes inside of a stuffed teddy bear - she hits the play button and commences with her dance recital.)

Do I detect a little Flamenco influence? She's definitely got the flair for it!

We know it's over when she starts to get bored...

it's similar to writing blog posts, really. I'm kinda bored so I know I need to wrap it up!

Our 2010 in Pictures

2010-12-23T14:35:00.003-07:00

Here's a little picture slide show of the past year. Enjoy!

(music: "I Prayed on Christmas" by Harry Connick, Jr. from the album "When My Heart Finds Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Frank Sinatra from the album "Now That's What I Call Christmas!")

Christmas in Vernal

2010-12-23T09:23:00.003-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that every Christmas of my childhood was spent in Vernal. My family lived in Northern California – in fact, my parents still do. So, what that meant was every year, right when school let out for Winter Break, we'd get packed up, and load all 10 of us into the van and drive to Utah. It was what we did. Christmas wasn't Christmas, unless it was at Grandma Hedy's. My lovely (and very German) grandma's name is Hedwig. Yep, like the owl in Harry Potter.

I'm not sure if I loved spending Christmas at Grandma Hedy's house as a child. I'm not sure if I really thought too much about it, for the simple reason that it was just what we did. Every year. I am sure, though, that looking back, I LOVE the memories that I have of all the Christmases that we got to spend at Grandma Hedy's house. Everything about our Christmases then have helped shape what I think Christmas is now. Every tradition that I have originated with the patchwork of so many Christmases spent in Vernal. Some favorites:

We had our big, Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We would all gather around the big table – using Grandpa Harlend's big massage table as a bench that ran the entire length of one side of the table; the smaller kids had to sit on it because it was just a little too high and didn't leave much leg room between the bottom of the table and the top of the (massage) table. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles would join our already substantial group, so we usually had at least one card table (if not two or three) set up for the littlest kids to sit at. (I still remember the excitement I felt when I first was allowed to sit at the “grown up table”.) The greatest thing about having the big dinner on Christmas Eve? No one had to be trapped in the kitchen on Christmas – we would just eat leftovers on Christmas, and not have to worry about anything except playing with our new toys and being together.

(Hedy and Harlend, in front of the Christmas tree - circa 1981?)

After our big dinner was eaten and the dishes done and the food put away, we'd gather in Grandma's Living Room, where the soft, inviting lights of the Christmas tree would serve as mini hypnotizing beacons while my Dad would read the second chapter of Luke. And then we'd usually sing some Christmas carols and hymns.

(clockwise, from top left: Danny, Hedy, Mark, Matt, Mom, Dawnette, Dwight, Me, and Megan... this must've been around 1984 or 1985, Jamie is missing so I'm guessing this was when he was on his mission.)

After that little program, we were each allowed to open one gift. And the gift that we were allowed to open was a gift from Grandma Hedy. The contents of the gift were the same every year: hand-made pajamas. Yep, my sweet little (she was only 4'11”) Grandma would slave over I don't know how many pjs every year so that we'd have Christmas pajamas to sleep in on Christmas Eve. She did that every year my whole childhood. I still remember feeling a little confused as a 13 year old when I opened my Christmas pjs from grandma to find that they had been store bought that year! But they were still Christmas Eve pjs from my Grandma, and that is what made them special. I love this tradition – we'd unwrap them and then immediately change into them to go to sleep!

But first!

We'd carefully select where to hang our stockings... usually on the backs of chairs, or a random nail, or a door knob. It had to be somewhere close, and somewhere you could see from where you chose to sleep – so that in the morning when you woke up (way earlier than normal, by the way) you'd be able to spot the bulging sock and start to day dream about what goodies and treats it might contain.

This one might be kind of weird but another thing I loved about Christmases at Grandma Hedy's was the sleeping arrangements. Grandma didn't live in a huge house. There was one bedroom on the main floor (which was Grandma's) and then two bedrooms upstairs. The “boy's room” and the “girl's room” - my parents always slept in the girl's room which had one Queen sized bed. And my older siblings usually camped out in the boy's room which had two Full sized beds. That meant that the youngest of us (me included) would sleep in the Living Room on the various chairs and corners on the floor. My sister, Megan, and I always shared my Grandma's long couch – each of our head's would be on the arms of the couch, while our feet/legs would overlap somewhere in the middle. That couch was a soft, sort of velvet material – with big orange flowers, and it was so cozy to be snuggled on it beneath the soft glow of the Christmas tree.

(On the famous couch - Hedy, Megan, Cousin Joe, Me; Dawnette and JB in the foreground.)

Speaking of stockings... another tradition that I love. The rule was that stockings were free game once you woke up. We were free to dig right in to the stockings whenever we got up – but we had to wait for everyone else to wake up to open the other presents under the tree. It felt like such a nice balance! We could sate some of our Christmas excitement and greed with the presents contained in our stocking, but we were forced to be patient enough so the adults didn't have to be dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn. Plus, it was neat to try to open our stockings v e r y s l o w l y to make it last as long as possible while everyone else was still asleep. I remember so many Christmas mornings waking up, spying my bulging stocking a few feet away, crawling out of our little couch-bed, grabbing the stocking, bringing it back, getting under the covers, and then just sitting with it on my lap until more of my siblings woke up. (Which was never too long of a wait.) And then they'd get their's too, and we'd start to open them in our own spots, but together, at the same time. I also loved our childhood stockings – they were handmade with our names sewn at the top and then they had little felt pictures of things that we were interested in. My sister Dawnette had ballet slippers on hers, among other things. Each of my brothers had a soccer ball on theirs. Mine had a picture of a teddy bear and a book. Go figure.

(I wonder where my old stocking is. Mom? Dad? Do you know? Have you seen it?)

Then, once the adults came to the Living Room, someone would be the present gofer and deliver a present to everyone, we'd hold them on our lap and wait while we'd each open one at a time and show everyone what we got. And Grandma Hedy would always have the most gifts – presents from all of her children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors. Which is how it should be.

After all the gifts had been opened, there was always one saved for last. We called it the “Tree Gift” because my dad would hide a small gift somewhere in the Christmas tree for my mom. Like our Christmas Eve gift, we always knew what was in the Tree Gift: a hand-made nutcracker. Every year in the weeks/days/hours leading up to Christmas, my dad would somehow find time to sneak away and hand carve/sculpt/construct a nutcracker for my mom. This tradition is as old as I am – I think the very first one was given on Christmas 1980. Somewhere around there anyway – it might have been 1979 or maybe even 1981, but you get the idea. And he still does it. Every year, without fail. What makes them especially great is that the figure is always different, and it usually corresponds to some major event that happened that year – for example: all of my siblings (and twice for my parents) have served missions, so there are nutcrackers that are inspired by Alaska, Mississippi, Hawaii, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Michigan, and Australia. They are truly amazing. It was always so much fun to see what he came up with for that year. My mom would sometimes have us all guess what we thought it would be before she opened it.

(Dad and Mom embrace after Mom opened her Hawaiian Surfer Girl Nutcracker.)

After all the gifts were opened and the wrapping paper mess cleaned up....

(Me and Grandma watch as Mom inspects the Argentine Gaucho... amid some of the wrapping paper mess.)

My mom and Grandma would adjourn to the kitchen to make bread pudding for breakfast. Oh man. Their bread pudding is out of this world. Not a sweet, dessert-style bread pudding, but a delicious, savory bread pudding. Just simple ingredients without a lot of crazy add ins. So good. My Grandma would always slice a bunch of oranges to accompany the bread pudding. I think it's because of her that that's my favorite way to eat oranges.

I love all of my memories of Christmas at Grandma Hedy's. Even if it was in Vernal! Everything about them just fit.

(Standing in front of Grandma Hedy's Sister's house - they lived across the street from each other. Clockwise from top left: mom, Jamie, Dawnette, Matt, Danny, Me, Hedy, Megan, Mark, Dwight, and Aunt Pau.)

My Grandma died almost 11 years ago. My world has been a little less lovely because of that, and definitely less sassy. She was so full of life and spunk and spirit. Some of the things she said – so blunt and to the point without a hint of embarrassment – would make your mouth drop open in shock. But it was always, always followed by a smile and a chuckle. She was a beautiful person. And Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas without her.

(Me and Hedy at her house... circa 1996.)

My one consolation is the wonderful memories... and the great traditions that I've continued with my own family. I am so glad that my mom insisted that we spend every Christmas in Vernal – I'm sure it was beyond difficult to load up 8 wiggling, fighting, stinky, bratty kids into one van to make the 13 hour, straight through, no stopping, trek. But my parents did it – every year – because they knew then what I know now – Christmas in Vernal as a family is pretty fantastic; it's just not the same anywhere else.

(Thanks Grandma Hedy, for all the wonderful memories! I miss you most as Christmas time.

And thanks, mom and dad, for making them possible!)

The First Snowman

2010-12-22T08:31:00.003-07:00

The night before last, we were hit with a huge storm. We woke up to more than 10 inches of snow on our front lawn. At some point during the morning, while looking out the window, someone suggested we venture out in the cold to build a snowman. So we did.

(Audrey and I trying to construct the base.)

As I was trying to push the snow into place, I realized that this was the first snowman I'd ever built. I'm not sure how I've made it 30 years without building one before now - especially considering that I spent every single Christmas of my childhood in Vernal of all places! And considering that I've lived in Utah for the last 9 years! There have been plenty of snowball fights and snow angels, but I can't recall a single snowman. So, I was pretty clueless as to proper technique.

Adam and Lucas were standing on the porch - documenting the momentous occasion and giving pointers.

(Luke is skeptical about my technique, but is polite enough not to criticize - out loud.)

(Blowing raspberries at dad.)

Even with a little bit of doubt coming from the porch, Audrey and I continued on.

Audrey was really excited and seemed to really enjoy playing in the snow. Her enthusiasm was catching.

(Meanwhile, Adam and Luke were having fun taking pictures together - Luke nuzzling against Adam's face.)

I finished the base for our snowman and was confused as to how best to build the body. I turned to Adam for any nuggets of wisdom he might have. Adam tried to explain the best way to build the balls for the snowman's body and head. I was having trouble understanding what he was saying... so we traded places and he quickly sprang into action:

(Apparently this is the proper technique for snowman body-building.)

(Adam making sure that the base is a good, stable foundation.)

Since the construction was taking a little longer than I had anticipated - remember, I'd never built one before - I went inside with Luke to grab a sweater and mittens and hat for Luke. We also grabbed a scarf and a carrot for our new icy friend in the front yard. And in that time, Adam had completed our snowman.

(Audrey, Me and Luke with the final touches for our family's first snowman.)

It was a lot of fun building this guy together. And definitely a positive side to having such a big snow storm roll through!

Hope through the Fire

2010-12-21T08:39:00.003-07:00

Last Friday, the Provo Tabernacle caught fire. The building is a total loss. The outer walls - made of brick are still standing, a thin shell containing the destroyed, burned ruins within. Friday morning, Adam and I were cuddled in bed with our two kiddos, and decided to turn the TV on to watch the headlines - and the image that arrested our attention was smoke billowing around the open roof of the tabernacle. We were shocked. Dismayed. And really, really sad to see such a beautiful, historic building literally go up in flames.

Investigators are still trying to sift through everything to see what caused the tragic fire. Meanwhile, a new story has come to light that I find pretty amazing. A little bit of hope - after the fire. Here's the link to the video:

Provo firefighters still fighting tabernacle fire - ksl.com

And here's another channel's take:

'A Christmas Miracle': Painting of Christ survives Provo Tabernacle fire - KSTU

I thought this was amazing! And not mere coincidence. Especially fitting given the time of year - Jesus Christ is the reason for the season! We celebrate His birth, His life and give thanks for His atoning sacrifice that offers each of us salvation. May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas - maybe this story will help in that endeavor.

The Keyboard Boogie

2010-12-15T15:23:00.002-07:00

We have a keyboard at our house. I use it to pluck out simple melodies (mostly isolated to right hand-only playing). I took piano lessons for a few years but was never really that great. And I haven't done much to keep it up. I am not the only person that uses the keyboard though.

The kids love it too.

Whenever we're in the living room for more than a few minutes, the keyboard inevitably becomes a focal point in their playtime. Both Audrey and Luke are tall enough to stand and play to their hearts' content. Audrey also learned (very quickly) how to change the keyboard's functions from basic piano to the sound effects function and the tune player functions.

Oftentimes she'll switch on one of the songs and then my two cuties will turn their piano duet into a dance recital - jumping in front of the keyboard, rhythmically.

(Look, Dad, no hands!)

Their enthusiasm and joy is so fun to watch. I'm glad they love music and playing together - they provide the soundtrack to our daily lives - both musical and non. We are so lucky to have these two amazing kids as part of our crew.

Memory Lane with some Ben & Jerry's

2010-12-12T17:25:00.007-07:00

When I think about my childhood and especially, my teenage years, I tend to think of one person more than any other (besides members of my immediate family). That one person in particular is my best friend, Christine. So many of my absolute favorite memories include her. She was the one person who stayed completely consistent and loyal and true through those formative - even when I wasn't all of those things to her. Our friendship was one of those truly kismet things - at times it felt like an other-worldly, eternal-in-scope relationship. I've always had the feeling that we've known each other from before this life - that we have a deep, soul friendship.

Much of our teenage years were spent together. And when we weren't together we were together in spirit. She was the one I could talk to about anything - without the slightest hesitation or tendency to censor. She was the one I would philosophize with - we would talk about our thoughts on everything - from the nature of God, to music, to the value of the word "Dude" in the English language. (It is the most versatile word in existence, just for the record.) She was always the one I could turn to and confide in - no matter what I was going through, the good, the bad and the ugly. She was the one who lifted my burdens. She was the one who understood me - even (and maybe even especially) when I couldn't find the words to describe what I was going through. Sometimes all I had to do was look her in the eye and it was almost as if we were able to communicate telepathically - there were times when our best conversations were absolutely silent.

(Don't take that tone of expression with me!)

And yet, to balance out the deep, sacred nature of our connection, she was also the person I could laugh the hardest with - like, really laugh; laugh so hard that you are crying, so hard that you think you might pee your pants any second, so hard that your cheeks and your ribs and your abs ache.

She was always there. Always.

It was really tough when she graduated High School (she was a grade level ahead of me) and left for college. In Hawaii. And then later in Boston. But somehow we were able to stay connected. Somehow, our bond remained intact. Somehow, she was still always there.

What's funny is there were lots of times when she wasn't there. Times over the last 13 years when we have not seen or heard from each other in spans of months (and sometimes years) but we were always able to pick up where we left off.

A proverbial pause button just for our friendship, if you will.

I remember there was a time when she was going through some pretty difficult things in her life and we had reconnected after a few months of hit and miss communication and she marveled at how much the love contained in our friendship had sustained her; she said to me then: "I thank you for being a part of that love and such a part of my life. You are the kind of friend who I could probably go 5 years without seeing (heaven forbid!) and things would still be the same. It's because of the love. Isn't that awesome?"

And it is.

In addition to being one of the most influential people in my life, Christine is also a crazy-talented musician. She has a beautiful voice, impeccable timing, and seemingly effortless musicality. It's almost impossible to describe her stage presence - she's as electric and magnetic and charismatic as any performer you've seen.

Oh, and that applies to her trumpet playing too. She's incredibly talented. You can find out more about her music career at her website.

I've always loved her take on the no-beginning feel of our friendship: "I can't remember ever choosing you as a friend. Never said, "Yeah, that Mandi girl, I am going to give her a try." Never once questioned it in my mind. It just happened. As if we had no choice. Some friendships are like that and they remain constant no matter how long the periods of silence are, the periods where we don't talk or write "I love you." Because it's in those periods that we feel a special closeness with the other. A feeling of peace, that everything is ok. And it is."

We never really had to do anything together. You know,there are some friendships where you have to have some sort of activity to bring you together. Some big plans or diversion. Not Christine. Some of my favorite times were moments of just being in the same place at the same time - talking optional. We understood each other. With words and without words.

I remember a period where I was really struggling and going through a difficult time. I remember telling her how alone I felt, never afraid that she wouldn't understand. This is what she said: "Alone is a dark dark place. I want you to know that no matter how alone you feel, I am totally here - I feel connected to you more than anyone in the world - I know there are times you and I think about each other at the same moments because I can feel it. And it is so powerful. Keep on walking - but don't move the way fear makes you move."

I think my response then is more eloquent than I could try to paraphrase now, here's a portion: "Your message made me cry (even more) because as much as I know you love me, it was nice that in this particular moment, you said everything that I needed to hear in the ways that I needed to hear them - this is proof to me that we are connected on a much deeper level than I am even capable of comprehending. How wonderful and amazing! I felt so much love and you were able to validate every single difficult emotion that I was experiencing. (What a gift!) And really the core of my sadness is not the fear of being alone (because oftentimes that place of being alone is comfortable for me, making things much more simple), it's the feeling of being unsupported (which is just a different kind of alone). In my life the majority of the time I feel like nails or glue - like I provide a lot of support for the people who are in my life in a lot of different ways, but that I don't let myself be supported because I like to think of myself as someone who can handle hard things and that I am tough enough to be alone and deal with things on my own. And sometimes, allowing others to support me feels awkward. This is something that I am working on. Today, I felt supported and nurtured and cared for, and for that I wept joyfully while holding the pain - and that, my beautiful friend, is amazing. You bring joy and beauty into my life and I feel so lucky to be your friend. Thank you for your beautiful support and love and friendship. Thank you for listening and validating me in every way."

I am a big believer that this life is about relationships. It's about connecting. It's about learning and growing and changing - hopefully for the better. Yet it's all about our relationships - whether they are good or bad, healthy or unhealthy; we choose them and we choose them for a reason. We all get to choose what kind of relationships we create and what we choose to learn from each one. I've learned a lot from Christine. I've learned a lot about myself through her too.

Whenever I reminisce about times that we've had together, and even though we've had times when we weren't as close, or hung out as much, I always felt connected to her and mostly, I remember happy times...

...our adventurer year of girls' camp... my family had gone on a cross-country trip and I missed the big hike, and came a few days late. I remember being so excited to see her because it had been so long; Megan and I had the option of sleeping and then going, but I made sure that we left the minute we were all packed. Because we had gotten back from the trip really late (like 2am), Megan and I simply unpacked from the big trip, did laundry and promptly repacked for girls' camp while my dad slept for a while. The minute we'd finished packing, we woke dad up and left. And I remember when we got there, there was this totally cheesy but totally authentic moment of us literally running to each other from across the camp...

(Girl's camp with our tent-mates - clockwise from the left: Anjenelle, Me, Christine, Nicole, and Melissa.)

...countless times at church, during lessons (and even the occasional prayer) where one of us would do or whisper something to the other to make them laugh and then we would both nearly erupt with laughter after trying to hold it all in and the teacher would give us stern looks that would make us laugh even harder...

...skipping out on Carpe Diem parties or church dances to just hang out and talk...

...going on long, destination-less walks or just sitting together talking about things for which we had no capacity to comprehend, and thinking we were so deep...

...being able to look at each other and know what the other was thinking or feeling...

...ben and jerry's...

...riding together from seminary to school...

...and many other wonderful times when our souls connected and our bond grew deeper...

Christine, I am thankful for you and the light that you've brought to my life. This little walk down Memory Lane might seem totally random; but I have been able to think of little else today because it is Christine's birthday. She is never far from my thoughts on any given day, but on a day set aside to celebrate her birth, it would be impossible not to reflect on who she is and what she means to me. Even if we are currently in the throes of one of those more silent stretches of communication in our friendship. I hope we'll be able to deactivate that proverbial pause button sometime really soon and fill each other in on what we've missed.

I hope that you had a wonderful Birthday today. You were in my thoughts all day long and I was wishing you joy and happiness... as always.

You deserve everything that is wonderful and beautiful! Because that is what you are.

I love you.

And I am afraid that everything else that I have to say pales in importance, significance, and eloquence.

Glimpses of Christmas

2010-12-09T14:31:00.003-07:00

So, it's December. Has anyone else noticed?

If you haven't been able to tell by how busy any store is at any time of day on any day of the week, you might be able to tell by the lengths some people/neighborhoods go to to be festive. Our neighborhood is one of those neighborhoods - lots of people put lights on their houses, and wreaths, and all manner of lawn ornaments - light sculptures, and big colorful, inflatable Santas and penguins and polar bears... and pretty much any winter, cold weather-related animal. Most of them a done very tastefully. Then there is the occasional house where you wonder how it's even possible to make it to the door, it's so full of Christmas paraphernalia. Bot how can you blame people for being excited about this most wonderful time of year? Mostly, I'm glad that we have so many people around us who love Christmas, just like us! We are not immune to the spirit of the holidays. And I thought you might like to see a few glimpses of Christmas at our house.

The new color scheme/picture on our blog was somewhat inspired by the multi-colored lights that currently decorate the outside of our house... just in case you wondering.

I have always loved the way Christmas trees look from outside of a person's home. It's so warm and inviting and pretty.

Speaking of Christmas trees... here's ours:

I think it looks pretty good. I love Christmas. And I love our tree.

Even if it is about EIGHT INCHES too tall for our ceiling. See:

Here's a view from the side, where you can really see how the tip-top is bent to fit.

Yeah. It was about four years ago. We went to the (in)famous Dillard's After Christmas sale. We woke up at the crack of dawn to be there at opening time in order to try and get a killer deal on a Christmas tree. And we did. We got a killer deal on a 7.5 foot tree.

Why did we buy a 7.5 foot tree when our ceiling is 7 feet? It's a good question. A fair question.

The even better answer is: because we thought our ceilings were 8 feet, ok? We didn't measure before we left home. And standing in the store at 6am, trying to guesstimate how tall your ceilings are is harder than you might think! Add to that, that we didn't actually put up the tree for the first time until the following Christmas (a year after we'd bought it) - it all makes a pretty good story.

I think it gives it character.

Or something.

So, until we either raise the ceilings or move to another house that has at least 8 foot ceilings, we will just have our lighted star Christmas tree topper sit in front of the top of the tree, instead of on top of the tree. And we'll be ok with that!

The other day, my sister posted on her blog a few pictures of her cute sons and husband by their Christmas tree. I love them. I wanted some similar pictures of my cuties with our tree. I tried. But Audrey wasn't in the mood to follow directions.

I tried again later. She still wasn't really doing what I was trying to get her to do. She was more interested in playing with the camera. She wanted to be the photographer, not the subject. But then she found a middle ground and was both.

A self-portrait, if you will.

I think it turned out pretty cute - and much better than my failed attempts.