You Wouldn't Think it Would Be That Difficult!

The other day I was lamenting to Adam that we didn't have any recent family pictures. We have bunches of the kids. A few here and there with one of us and one (of sometimes both) of the kids. But pictures with all four of us? Together? As a family? The last one was taken at the beginning of October:

We were definitely overdue for a good picture of the four of us! Seven months is a long time! Look how little Luke is! And Audrey too, for that matter!



So, last a couple of Sundays ago (I know, it's been awhile since I've posted anything), we decided to take a drive and maybe stop and take a few family pictures. It didn't seem like a lot to ask. It didn't seem like it would be that big of a deal. We did not anticipate the struggles that we would have on this seemingly simple quest.


To begin, we stopped near an outdoor mall where they have some pretty trees and shrubs. We spied a place where we would be able to set our camera down and put it on the time delay function (we did not bring a photographer). That was probably mistake numero uno. The thing (a sign for a nearby office building) that we decided to place our camera on was just a little low, so we grabbed our small first aid kit out of the back of the car to add some lift (we do not have a tri-pod). Not having a tri-pod and wanting to take pictures without a photographer is mistake numero dos a nueve.

But the first one really wasn't that bad:

So we pushed on. We tried again:

Again, not bad. But not great. If we had had a photographer we probably would've been able to arrange ourselves a little better. But still, it's decent. We pressed forward and tried another location down the path from were we were - I bet every local person (or anyone who's spent time in Provo) knows where we were.


The second place we stopped was nice. I was excited at the potential.

But a couple of things went awry. First of all, Adam must have shifted ever so slightly because we are definitely not centered. HE is, but WE were not. And secondly, Audrey decided it would be fun to try to take a flying leap out of my arms right as the time delay function ran out of time - it's still a pretty funny picture. And Adam sure looks handsome.

Speaking of handsome... here's another great shot of Adam. And Audrey is her usual adorable self. We must've forgotten to check the camera to be sure everything was centered, because me and Luke kind of got the shaft on this one. It's still a great shot of Adam and Audrey though.



After that we decided to try a different location. One where we could sit (to help eliminate the shifting that was apparently going on with the previous pictures). This turned out to be on of the better pictures of the day:

Only drawback: Luke was looking down. But for the way things were going: not too shabby!



It was after this that we gave up on the family picture idea and decided instead to just get a few cute shots of the kids. Simple, right?

Right?


It took awhile to convince Audrey to sit down, but when she did this is what we got:

Neither of them are looking at the camera but both of them are very cute. Unfortunately, before I could snap another picture, Audrey decided the lovely green grass-covered hills were simply too hard to resist. And she got up...

effectively ending our picture-taking session. But, really, it was ok because Luke had discovered the lovely green grass on which he was sitting and decided it looked like a pretty good little snack.

Luke, don't eat the grass, little man.

Hey, Luke!

Lucas!

Icky! That grass is not going to taste good. No, don't eat the grass!

No, really, I don't think that's good for you! Luke! Do ya hear me?

I know what he's thinking - "Oh, Mom! Chill out. It's only grass!"



Meanwhile, Audrey was having a blast running up... pausing...

and then running down the little hills.

And I know what she's thinking too - "this is SO much better than sitting still and letting Mom take a picture!" (And she would be right - but still, i would've loved to get a few good shots of my kids together!)



We did try one last time...

but it wasn't the most successful - Audrey would not sit closer to Luke (at that point it was a miracle we got her to sit down at all), and Luke would not stop looking, pulling and eating the grass! Stinkers!

But they are my stinkers and I love them so much!

Like It Was My Idea

Audrey's newest thing is pretty cute.

And funny.

And a little manipulative.

This is what she does: First of all, she talks nonstop. She jibber jabbers ALL THE TIME (which I love, actually) – some of it makes sense, some of it does not. So, during this constant stream of words, if she stumbles on something that she wants she will just repeat it until I acknowledge her and clarify with her that that is what she wants.

A typical example:

Audrey: Pincess. Sing Songs. Cop, Cop Tee. Pitty. Pince. No Yucas! Audgie's Doll. Juice. Juice. Juice. Juice. JUICE. JUICE!

Me: Audrey, do you want some juice?

Audrey: Yeah, Ok.

Yeah, Ok. This is her response.

Like it was my idea to get her some juice.

Like I randomly brought it up and asked her if she'd like some juice and she just then decided that, yes, juice sounds good.

It's funny.

It makes me smile. And laugh. And fall more in love with my cute little girl.

(Who, Me?)

Here's another example:

Audrey: B Bug. A Audrey. M Mouse. Side. Side. Pahk. Side. Pahk. Pahk. SIDE. PAHK! SIDE!

Me: Audrey, do you want to go to the park and go down the slide?

Audrey: Yeah, Ok.

So that's what we do. Because slides are fun.

And parks are fun.

And Audrey is fun.

And it's fun to see her smile and laugh and run around and be a kid.

Blossoms

One of my favorite things about Spring is all of the lovely blossoms... on everything. I love how everything goes from gray and dark and drab to green and light and beautiful. I've especially come to appreciate Spring since I moved to Utah. Growing up in Northern California I always appreciated nature and all sorts of beautiful plants a scenic vistas, but I never really appreciated the changes of the seasons until I moved to Utah - because it's so much more drastic and dramatic (seriously, it snowed a couple of weeks ago and today it was in the 60s).

With the warmer weather, all of our plants are beginning to blossom and I wanted to share one plant in particular with you because I think it's so, so pretty. Last summer we planted a Weeping Cherry Tree in our backyard. And since we bought and planted it in July it just had it's green leaves on it's fountain-like branches - this is just a few moments after we planted it:

(Please excuse our weedy, dead grass backyard... it's definitely a work in progress!) When we planted this tree I was so excited to see what it would look like when it was in blossom.

This is the same tree about a week ago - it's blossoms in very tight little buds:

And here's a couple of close ups:

And now, just a little less than a week later, those tight little buds have blossomed into beautiful blossoms:

What a difference a week can make! It is such a pretty little tree, we are really enjoying it.

Do you like Documentaries?

Do you like Documentaries?

I do.

I really do. I'm not sure what it is about them, but I really like learning about people and what influences them and how they influence others and how that influences the world. What is life about if not relationships?

Last night I watched a documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Have you ever heard of him? I hadn't; I just sort of stumbled upon the documentary on the Netflix site and added it to our Queue because I love documentaries, and from it's description it sounded interesting, and I love documentaries.

This was the description: "This poignant documentary traces the life of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was one of the first to speak up against Adolph Hitler throughout Hitler's rise to power. Bonhoeffer organized the Confessing Church, the only structured revolt against Hitler, and turned to his roots as a devout Christian for the strength to take a political stand for Jews everywhere."

I love documentaries in general, but I especially love documentaries that are about normal people who fight injustice, who stand up for what they believe in, who strive to make the world a better place - even when the fight seems futile. I like them because they make me reflect on my own beliefs and they inspire me to want to do more and be better. As trite as it sounds, it's true.

The documentary on Bonhoeffer was no exception. I was really impressed with a lot of the things that he endeavored to accomplish, given the odds and the dangers. The closing quote of the movie has stuck with me all day, so I wanted to share it.

It was taken from a letter that he wrote to a close friend in July 1944:

“I discovered later, and I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.”

This quote really resonated within me and made an impression. It's such an interesting definition of faith - that to have faith is to live life unreservedly, accepting all of it: the good and the bad, the joys and the sorrows - that if we live completely, accepting all that comes our way, we will in fact be entrusting our whole experience to God. I find that to be true and beautiful.

A Beautiful Sunday

It was a beautiful day today. Spring and warm weather has officially arrived in Provo. And since it was Sunday Adam didn't have work or school so we decided to celebrate by taking the kids to a nearby park to play.


Audrey had a blast getting pushed on the swing by dad,












and Luke had a blast watching Audrey swinging.











But he had even more fun swinging on his own, in his own swing.







Chewing on his fist is a sure sign that he is having the best time - whenever he starts really laughing he always puts his little fist in his mouth. It's so funny.








After a while of swinging, a few other kids came and started swinging in the swings on either side of Audrey. She couldn't stop staring at them and laughing at the fun they were having.















Besides swinging, we played on the big slides, ran in the grass, and watched the ducks in the pond.






It was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday!

Not Audrey-Proof

Bedtime at our house is about 8:30pm. We get started around 7:45pm with a bath (or a shower in Audrey's case), getting cozy in pajamas, then quiet reading, then we brush teeth, take fluoride, turn on the four snow globe music boxes (simultaneously), say prayers, one last hug and kiss, tuck in, and then it's lights out. This is our routine. The routine.

It works well.

Or, at least it used to work well.

It worked well until Audrey discovered that she could open her door. We've been here before – a bedtime hurdle. First it was getting her to sleep through the night. Then it was getting her used to her big girl bed. She's been doing pretty well with it. But now she has figured out that she can open doors, she seems to think that that means she can get up anytime she gets the urge... which is often. Like every few minutes.

Things were going so well before she knew she could open doors – she rarely got up, but now she really likes to creep out of her room and stand in the hallway until we acknowledge her. Then she cocks her head to the side and smiles in her charming way, hoping it will be enough for us to invite her into our room to play or read one more bedtime book or cuddle in front of the TV.

This isn't difficult – on paper.

In theory all we need to do is be consistent and firm and just keep putting her back into her bed until she stays.

The wrench in our scenario is Luke.

If we are firm with Audrey she starts to cry and when she starts to cry she starts to scream and when she screams she wakes up Luke. And when Luke wakes up to screaming he has a hard time going back to sleep and then staying asleep for the rest of the night. So if we force the issue with Audrey it's a rough night for everyone. But if we don't force the issue with Audrey she very quickly learns some bad habits of staying up late and then it will make the process of getting her to go to bed even longer. It's quite the pickle that we're in.

And before you suggest using one of those plastic door knob covers that are supposed to be child proof, we tried. They may be child proof but they are not Audrey proof. I put one on and within just a few minutes of her rattling the knob she was standing in the hallway. I thought that maybe it was just a fluke... until I tried it again... and she did it again. Seriously.

Oh, and I tried a different version of the child proof door knob covers - she's two for two folks!

So if anyone has any suggestions for getting a toddler (who may or may not be a genius) to stay in her bed at night, I would love to hear them!

On the Radio

Music.

It's important to me.


I love it. All kinds, too. I am an equal opportunity music-lover. With very few exceptions, I will listen to it all.


I love Jazz, Rock, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B, Hip Hop, Reggae, Soul, Classical, Folk, Blues, Bluegrass, Country, and even a little Electronica. I feel like I am pretty well-rounded in my music taste. And what's great is that no matter how you are feeling, you can usually find a song to go with it.


There are songs that will heighten what you're feeling (if you like the way you feel), or music can help you feel better (if you don't like how you feel), or it can mirror the way you feel (if you feel like wallowing, there's nothing better than a sad, sad, "Emo" song), or it can motivate you (to stop the wallowing).

It can make you dance to it's beat, sing along to it's lyrics - even within the confines of your car. You know you've seen a few of "those" people here and there rockin' out on the Interstate or waiting at a stoplight (maybe you are even one of "those" people - the one who has been caught mid-head bang or steering wheel tap - who looks sheepishly away when they realize they have an audience).


By the way, that's never happened to me. In fact, it didn't happen yesterday on the way home from the grocery store.



My point is: music is awesome. And even seeing other people enjoy music is it's own high.

With that, I wanted to share a few songs (that I have heard recently on the radio) that have been making me Dance and Drive.


The first one definitely falls under "guilty pleasure" but it has inspired many-a get down in my car. Especially the first minute and a half. I can't help but do the head bob to it. I've tried not to but I cannot not bob my head to this song. I'm actually not a fan of the video but the music is legit... what do you think? I want to know if you do not bob your head - and if you don't, do you have any tips? Because I find that I cannot not bob my head to this song! It might be a problem for which I need to seek help.








The next one is more on the steering wheel tapper spectrum. But infectious nonetheless. (Infectious in a good way.) Again, not really sure about the video, but I like the song....








This one might be a little sugary. It might be a little sentimental. It might be a little cheesy... but then again, maybe I am just a little bit of all of those things too. Maybe. (P.S. You've just got to love the synthesizer!) Oh, and this is a video that I do like... bonus!








And this one, this one, I can hardly describe. It is a few years old, but I heard it the other day on the radio and it qualifies. It's not really a dance-in-your-car song but it is a sing-along-in-your- car song. It makes me teary-eyed (almost) every time I hear it. Dolly Parton's harmonizing makes me want to cry. Classic Country. In a good way. I used to shun all things country. I've since come to my senses and embraced it. Well, some of it.








All this You Tube trolling has made me really want to share this one, even though I haven't heard this one on the radio lately. It doesn't change the fact that I love it. Or that I crank the volume up when it plays. And I really love this video that some creative person put together for it. Perfect!








And, lastly, the title of this post is making it impossible for me to not also include this song: love it, love it, LOVE it!








What music are you listening to? What do you love right now?