This is the life

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here they are, ready for trick-or-treating.

On Saturday, we went to a little Halloween festival.

This year, I didn't sew anything, but used lots of hot glue for the monster, cupcake, and mummy. Olivia was a witch a couple years ago, but just wanted to add a green face and gray hair this time.

My little mummy.

Candy People

2011-11-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

My VT brought us little candy guys - our whole family of them. I like pictures with all 4 of my kids. That little guy is getting big already - he's a 2-month chunk!

Baby Ironman

2011-09-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

My baby:

Her baby:

Yes, we do have baby dolls at our house. But she's adopted IronMan to be her baby. She takes good care of him - carries him around, burps him, wraps a blanket around him and sometimes sings to him (at least when her brother's not home to take him back). Her baby talks back to her in a deep, kinda-scary-robot voice.

Hello, World!

2011-08-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Arriving a week ahead of schedule . . .

Tyler Johnny Knippers

August 22nd

7 lb 4 oz

Brothers!

Two White Dresses

2011-08-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

My aunt Becky makes white dresses. Hand-smocked pretty dresses. It's kind of a tradition for us - she made my blessing and baptism dress, and all my sisters, cousins, etc. She made Olivia and Katelyn's blessing dresses. So we couldn't wait to see the baptism dress she was making for Olivia. Then, Grandma Knippers called to see if she could make a special baptism dress for her. We ended up having two beautiful dresses! She got to wear one into the water to be baptized in, and came out and changed into the other one for afterwards. She's a lucky girl to get to have two!

I was a little worried the day of the baptism (needed to hurry and get desk moved in, computer set up, find printer, so we could print the programs . . . make sure we could find her white shoes, etc.). But once we got to the church, everything felt peaceful and fell into place. My mom wrote a poem about baptism for her that I want to share on here, but a couple people told her she needs to publish it so I won't put it here.

Below: All the family members that were able to be there with us. My bro-in-law told me I needed to duct tape my belly button down - you can probably see it's protrusion.

After posing for pictures, these two were trying out the "spinniness" of their dresses from Great-Grandma Knippers.

Such an exciting, happy day!

Moving Day

2011-08-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Our house had some work done on it before we could move in. So it looked like this for a while. It was finally ready to move in - the day before Olivia's big day. We needed to get moved in (or more, we needed to get moved out of our rental), and start getting settled in before time for baby to come. But I didn't want Olivia's baptism day to be spent in moving chaos, and be too busy with that to be able to focus on her and the baptism! Somehow, it all worked out - it was so fun to have everyone with us for the weekend, the baptism went beautifully, and I made it through without going into labor. But not without being told plenty of times not to do anything - like I could just sit and watch with so much to do!

We moved into a house just a few houses down from where we were. The elders quorum helped us move most of our stuff Friday night, but there was still some left on Saturday for family to help with. Here they are carrying our trampoline down the street.

First Day

2011-08-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

After a whirlwind summer, we're back to school here. I felt like I hardly had time to think about sending my second one away to kindergarten before it happened. But he was ready and we gave him a little extra time so he'll be one of the older ones in his grade instead of the youngest. They just have half-day K here, which I love - and so does he!

On the first day, Jackson went right into class and started playing, not even looking back! I'm glad he didn't have a hard time with it - but the first day of school always make his mom a little sad!

All at Once

2011-08-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Moving today.

Baptism tomorrow.

School starts in 5 days.

Baby due in 3 weeks.

The plan was to move in 3 weeks ago but it kept getting pushed back. Now the house is finally ready, and we need to be out as soon as possible. It happens to be Olivia's baptism weekend! Lots of family coming for the day tomorrow to be here for the baptism, some for the weekend. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

I've got a few things to do.

Exploring

2011-07-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

I took the kids out on a trail closeby our house the other day. I didn't want to walk very far, and they mostly wanted to explore, so that's what we did. Olivia's report of what we saw: 5 lizards, 3 horses, 3 big tadpoles, 2 crawdads (but one was dead), and tons of dragonflies.

Olivia and Jackson's favorite thing to see was the tadpoles.

Katelyn's favorite was the horse poop.

Parade and B-day

2011-07-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

All fireworks in our area were cancelled this year - something about not wanting to start more forest fires when we already have a few burning nearby (like the biggest one in state's history). That takes a lot of the fun out of the 4th of July. But we still had the local parade.
Look at this float - familiar words?

To try to make up for the firework-free evening, we decided to go to the park and feed the ducks.

This is what we found at the ducks' usual hangout spot. A huge pile of hamburger buns and no ducks. A few others had had the same idea we did, so the ducks weren't too hungry for our old bread. That and the rain that started as soon as we got there ended our outing pretty quickly.

We celebrated John's birthday a few days later. We gave him a new weed whacker to play with.

The last few months it seems I've lost some blogging inspiration, but I'm hoping to get some back and start blogging more again!

The Arm

2011-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Jackson the ortho office, waiting for them to put the cast on. He had to wait a week for the swelling to go down.

Still looks a little swollen/misshaped. Hope it will look normal when cast comes off! You can see the caps on the end of the pins sticking out.

He should be able to get his cast off tomorrow! But it hasn't slowed him down much, as you can see. And he's figured out it makes a good club to whack his sisters with from time to time. He might even miss that bright green itchy thing.

Ouch.

2011-06-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

My little boy came home from the hospital today after having surgery and pins put in his arm - all because he was doing tricks on his scooter!
He told me later when he fell it felt like his bone broke in half - and he was right. I don't like to see my kids get hurt, and I really don't like to see arms bent in strange ways and poking out in the wrong places.

It's summer break, and he got in one day of swim lessons, and one day of gymnastics, and his t-ball career is cut a little short this year. But he still might get to go to the games (once he feels well enough to get off the couch), since mom and dad are the coaches.
Broken arm #2 for the year at our house, and I'm thinking the count should stop there.

Weekend Highlights

2011-05-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Making potion, with whatever mom would let them use from the fridge, plus some toothpaste, expired eye drops, dirt, vinegar. Jackson told me they needed to keep at least 1 cup of it to give to bad guys.

Katelyn thought she needed to wade in it a little.

Father's and Sons Campout - this is my favorite picture they came home with. A happy, dirty boy at the lake.

Interviews by Mom

2011-05-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

I need to start blogging more, before everyone stops checking my blog!
So, while John is doing the dishes for me for Mother's Day, I'll get on that.

I got this idea from a friend who does an "interview" with her kids each year on their birthdays. (Thanks Colette)! I really liked the idea when I first heard about it, but a couple birthdays have passed and I've forgotten to do it. So today I just interviewed them all as a Mother's Day present for myself.

Here's some of what I recorded for us to look back on down the road:

Katelyn - age 3:
What is your favorite movie? Dora and Di-de-go
What is your favorite game? Coloring
What is your favorite animal? I'll get it out. It is a mouse.
What is your favorite holiday? Play with babies.
What is your favorite color? Pink!!!
What is your favorite food? Meat.
Favorite song? (she starts singing one she's making up) "In the sun . . . ding dong ding dong ding ding ding ding - that's my favorite song."
What is your favorite vegetable? Green stuff.
What is something you like about Mom? Eyes.
What is something you like about Dad? Um, eyes.
What is something you like about Olivia? Eyes.
What is something you like about Jackson? Eyes.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy!
What's hard to do? Puzzles on Dad's "sone" (phone).
What have you learned in nursery this year? Um, play.
What are some things you like to do? Find a mouse, jump on the trampoline - I love to do that, go to dance.
What do you like to wear? (Points to her clothes).
What things make you happy? A "hud". (hug)
What makes you sad? When Jackson hits me.
What do you do when you are mad? (She starts yelling).
What is something you're good at? Jumping!
What do you think our new baby will be like? (She lays on the floor and curls up to show me).

Jackson - age 5 1/2:

What is your favorite game? Operation
What is your favorite animal? Big cats
Favorite holiday? Christmas
Favorite color? Green
Favorite food? Fruit. But my favorite treat is candy. I really want to try a lollipop sometime. (As opposed to all the suckers he's had?)
Favorite song? I am a Child of God
Favorite books? Star Wars book and Magic Tree House books
Favorite vegetable? Pea. (He came back later and said, "Mom, its actually carrots.")
What is something you like about Mom? "When she gets candy at Mother's Day she shares it with us. How many more days until Father's Day?"
What is something you like about Dad? He takes care of me.
What is something you like about Olivia? That she plays with me.
What is something you like about Katelyn? Nothing.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A hunter. That hunts wild pigs and bears.
Favorite places to go? Canada
Favorite toy or thing? I'll go find something . . . (he comes back with Lego magazine).
What's hard to do? Jump over the moon. Unless you're already in space, then it might not be as hard.
What have you learned from Primary teacher this year? Don't remember.
What are some things you like to do? Eat ice cream, and ride bikes over little hills.
What things do you like to do around the house? Vacuum and dust.
What do you like to wear? My Star Wars shirt.
What things make you happy? When I can jump on the trampoline.
What makes you sad? When Katelyn hits me.
What do you do when you are sad? Cry.
What do you want for your birthday? Lego Battle of Endor.
What is something you would like to do this summer? Go to Show Low pool.
What is something you're good at? Doing wheelies on my bike and flips on the trampoline.
What is something you want to get better at? Learn to swim.
Do you have a favorite scripture story? David and Goliath
What do you think our new baby will be like? Like any baby boy.

Olivia - 7 1/2:
What is your favorite game? Talking cars and ponies.
What is your favorite animal? Bunnies and mice, sheep
What is your favorite holiday? "Christmas. Because we get presents and celebrate the birth of
Jesus. But I don't think Santa's real because reindeer can't fly. And huge fat guys can't come down chimneys."
What is your favorite food? Raspberries, and steak.
What is your favorite song? Whenever I hear the song of a bird.
Favorite books? Berenstain Bears and chapter books.
What is your favorite vegetable? Mashed potatoes.
What is something you like about mom? Going on mommy-daughter dates.
What is something you like about Dad? Going on daddy-daughter dates.
What is something you like about Jackson? When we play together.
Something you like about Katelyn? She's the funniest person in the universe.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Someone who takes care of bunnies and animals when people go on trips, and the most famous artist in the world.
Favorite places to go? Great Wolf Lodge, the beach with tide pools, zoo, Legoland (she's never been there)
Favorite toy or thing? Legos
What's hard to do? A back handspring.
What have you learned from you Primary teacher this year? Nothing. That the Hill Cumorah's in Palmyra. But that's the only things because lots of the stories I've already learned.
Some things you like to do? Gymnastics, trampoline, read, go to friend's houses, draw.
What things do you like to do around the house? Take care of new baby - or I will!
What do you like to wear? Pants and shirts and flowers in my hair.
What things make you happy? Animals, my family, I like to be all snuggly in my bed.
What makes you sad? When people ruin my drawings or when I get hurt.
What do you do when you are sad? Sometimes just lay down.
What do you do when you are mad? Stomp around.
What do you want for your birthday this year? Art stuff, American Girl stuff, lego set.
If you could change your name, what would you choose? Keep Olivia.
What do you want to do this summer? A really fun trip, get baptized, my birthday and Dad's birthday and Jackson's birthday, 4th of July, and the baby coming!
What are you good at? Drawing.
What do you want to get better at? Gymnastics
Do you have a favorite scripture story? The one where there's one baby and two mom's fighting over it, so they're going to cut it in half, then the real mom says, "No, it's hers."
What do you think our baby will be like? Blond hair - not too much, tiny, blue eyes, cute!

Easter

2011-04-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

Trying to hide my pregnant self behind them. This was after church,but John changed his clothes right when we got in the door. Then he didn't think he needed to change again or be in a picture. Surprising, I know.

My mom found this dress for Katelyn, and it took a little convincing for her to wear it since it's not pink. But use of words like "fancy" and "sparkly" changed her mind and I'm glad she wore it.

Boy!

2011-04-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hooray for another boy!

I was surprised (my guess was girl). But everyone else seemed to be guessing right!

Jackson is glad - well, slightly. He doesn't seem to care much about any baby right now. He said, "I probably won't really play with it but I'll try to be nice to it."

Olivia said, "I really need to stay home from school now. My day is already ruined because it's not a girl." Later, after I pulled some tiny baby boy clothes out of storage, "I guess a baby boy will still be kind of fun."

Katelyn said, "The baby can wear Jackson's clothes and Daddy's clothes." She thinks we should name him Almond Joy, just like her baby doll she named this weekend.

Ultrasound tomorrow!

2011-04-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

Will it be another one of these?

Or one of these to even things out?

What's your guess?

2011-04-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of what else is going on here lately, besides neglecting the blog a little.

Girl's Weekend

2011-03-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hooray, we finally got to do this! My sisters, my mom and I met for a weekend of fun and no kids. Above, we are at Jesterz Comedy Club in Mesa. We had decided there would be no cooking - it was our time off. We brought breakfast stuff, and tried a couple fun restaurants - this was at a really good Mexican place.

We made a stop at one of our favorite stores. Here's Kerri and Michelle coming out to show the dresses they tried on - they didn't realize they were trying on the same dress.

Since we were with favorite people, we also had a "Favorite Things" party where we all had to bring a favorite thing to exchange, played some games, ate some favorite dessert. (I re-used your idea, Sally and Laurel)!

I wish we could do this every month! I sure didn't want to go back to making breakfast and packing lunch for school, etc. on Monday morning.

Backyard Improvement

2011-03-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

As much as I want to replace our old couches, I'm glad we made this purchase first - for these three crazy superheroes. Later, it became Spiderman, Bat Girl in Blue, and Underwear Girl. Here they are doing a happy dance when the boxes were delivered. Too bad Dad had just gone out of town for a few days. Mom wasn't too successful trying to put it together herself. But I did get some sore arms. Looks like Kate was also underwear girl on this day. We should have more broken limbs in no time.

Pink Party

2011-03-27T16:14:00.001-07:00

Katelyn's birthday was just before Valentine's Day, but we postponed her little party for a few weeks since mom wasn't feeling like partying. (Or party planning/preparing). But, party day finally came. When asked what kind of party she wanted, she said, "Pink." She is in an all-pink stage, just like her big sister was at this age. But luckily for me, she just wanted a pink party, not a pink kitty party. We made pink cheerios necklaces and played some animal charades, and that was the end of my plans. But Olivia thought we needed another game so she quickly made an animal cake-walk game, that we had to convert to a "3-M&M-walk" since we were limited on cakes to give away. These last 2 pictures are from her actual birthday - she still got to open some presents from family. She's not supposed to be 3 already! The other day, she asked me, "When the baby comes, am I going to have to be a big kid?" She loves for me to be held and gives lots of hugs. I told her no, she can still be little when she wants to, and mom will still love her and hold her. She's already got it figured out that the baby is going to take her spot as baby of the family, and take her toys, too! She's been hiding some of her toys "up high, so that baby can't come and take them" ever since she found out a baby was on the way.

New Lease on Food

2011-03-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

We're really in need of an update here - I've been feeling better for a few weeks now, so the blog needs to stop dwelling on vomiting.
Hooray for feeling like a normal person again. It turns out that food isn't so bad after all. Now, instead of trying to keep snacking to feel better, I just feel hungry all the time and everything sounds good. About everything I eat now is my new favorite food. Much more enjoyable way to go, but still not looking good for the "recommended pregnancy weight gain." Luckily, I'm used to that sort of problem, so nothing new there.
When I first started feeling better, I went to Walmart and filled the cart with food for the week. Then I passed the fish sticks in the frozen aisle. Suddenly, I wanted fish sticks. Unpacking all the bags at home, I was so excited about my fish sticks purchase. "John, look what I got! Isn't it great! And tartar sauce, even!" "You must be feeling better." Yeah, because fish sticks are grosser than about everything that made me sick before, and now they were going to be my greatest meal of the week. I wouldn't mind some more right now. Anyone want to come for dinner?

The world is a gross, gross place.

2011-02-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

And this is a gross post. You've been warned. I'm counting down the days to being over the morning sickness. But, as this might be the last round of it for me, I better record the fond memories. Especially for any of you who don't get to experience it yourself.

I hate food. It all makes me want to throw up. And I do, lots of times.
It can't be helped with things like chicken guts, leftover spaghetti in the fridge, smelly-good soap in the bathroom. Now I need to go throw up.
Okay, I'm back.
About the only time I'm not feeling sick, is when I'm eating. so the problem with food seeming so gross to me, is that I have to eat it. About every 2 hours (sometimes less) that awful feeling starts getting stronger, and I have to find something (in the disgusting category of food) to put in my mouth. It's a dangerous job, looking for a snack - too many smells coming at me if I open the fridge. And when I open the pantry, I'm bombarded with horrible sights - like Wheat Thins, or a can of tomatoes. I have to grab those Honey Bunches of Oats and run.
Around 4:40 each day, John asks me what we can eat for dinner so he knows what to cook or what he needs to pick up. That is a really hard question. But once I come up with the one thing that doesn't sound too disgusting at the time, I can't wait very long for it.
The other day, I told him I needed 2 bean burritos from Taco Bell. He took a few minutes to figure out what else to order, talked to the kids, and then started looking at something on his phone. The nerve! It was 4:58 and he was not on his way to bring me those glorious bean burritos. I tried to wait patiently, but sometimes, I gotta eat.
Eating all throughout the day to try to feel better is also a really good way to put on weight. Especially if you eat, then go back to sitting on the couch because you don't feel like doing anything else. And I don't just eat a few carrot sticks every now and then. I need breakfast, snack, first lunch, second lunch, afternoon meal, dinner, bedtime "I really hate food but I have to eat something." It's a great diet plan.
There are a few foods that I haven't turned against. Number one - oranges. What a perfect food! They're juicy, they're good for you, they're easy to prepare/eat, they taste good and don't smell nasty (which can't be said for much else). I just can't understand why I don't see people everywhere eating oranges all day long.
Next in line - taco bell bean burritos. Now that is a meal that I can handle. Protein, flavor, no "questionable" ingredients - at least none that I want anyone to tell me about. Don't ruin my "safe" food for me. It's safe mostly because there is no meat in it! (Meat is something no one is allowed to talk about at our house right now). Especially the poultry kind. The "c" word is not nice to my stomach.
One night, after losing my dinner around 8, I was starting to get sick again and knew I better try to eat something fast. The only thing I thought I could down was a burrito, and John was busy trying to get Jackson to stay in bed. So I went. Halfway there, I had to pull into a gas station, open the car door, and leave a present for them all over the parking lot. Then I continued on my way and got the stupid burrito.
Another time, when asked what I could eat, I thought I needed something different - no more potatoes or toast. I told him Chinese food sounded good. So we got Chinese. That was a mistake. Rice is not very pleasant coming back up - forcefully. It wasn't a fun time in the bathroom that evening. Now I hate the sight of that stinkin Chinese restaurant that we have to drive by on the way to school. But, now that I've said that, hope you all enjoy your next Chinese meal.

Update: I wrote most of this a week or two ago. Now, I want no more oranges - for a very long time, I'm sick of Taco Bell, and I feel like burning all my pajama pants and sweatshirts. But just one more week and I should start to feel like a normal person again (I hope)! I think I'll throw myself an end-of-trimester party. And clean my house.

News

2011-02-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

We're expecting!
Only 10 weeks along, but I got to hear the heartbeat yesterday - making me realize, hooray, there's really a baby in there! Uh oh, there's really a baby in there!

Jackson in action

2011-01-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

This was a few weeks ago, before our big snowstorm. He wants to wear shorts all winter long (usually his soccer uniform from summer). And usually only crocs or spiderman snowboots. No in-between.

Arm Update

2011-01-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

If you look at the last picture I put on here of Olivia in her sling, you can see some differences in this picture. The bright blue cats-and-dogs sling has been recovered, with some corduroy fabric she chose out of mom's pile. And she has a smile on her face!
I actually covered the sling the night after I did the last post, so she could feel more ready to face her peers. My sister Tammy just showed me how to make fabric flower, so (I'm a little embarrassed to admit) her sling is even "embellished." She still didn't want to go in to school, but I walked in with her (she had a jacket covering all the evidence of the break), and stayed for a few minutes while she told the whole class the story of what happened. They all wanted to hear, so the teacher had her go to the front so she could tell all at once. While she was gone, they had all guessed how she broke her arm - falling on the wood floor wasn't as exciting as what they had come up with. They all had more questions and told her they were glad she was back. Then the teacher asked who wanted to help Olivia out that day. All hands shot up. She was happy to be there.
She didn't like having to try to write with her left hand all day, but she's getting better at it.

And this was made after John told her, "Maybe Mom could make a sling for your doll, too, so you could still be matching." The doll just won't cooperate in keeping her arm at her chest.

We have to go back in on Wednesday to make sure the bones haven't shifted and are healing correctly, but so far she's doing well!

Worst Christmas Break

2011-01-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

This December, the stomach flu hasn't wanted to leave us alone.

We've all it at least once, and I think we've been hit by 3 different viruses throughout the month. But Olivia's had the worst of it.

This is her story of the last few weeks. (Keep in mind this is the same girl from the incident involving sickness and a cockroach from a few weeks ago).

The 2nd weekend of December, we planned to meet some friends up in Utah, stay in a cabin by Brighton, and take our kids skiing for the first time.

Olivia started puking the night before we were supposed to go. We stayed home. She had a miserable flu that lasted 3 days (I know it was miserable because I got it, too, but this isn't about me). She got better in time to go back for the last couple days of school before Christmas vacation.

Friday, she and I went to see "The Nutcracker." She had to run out to use the bathroom near the end. She had diarrhea all weekend.

Monday (beginning of her break), she got sick with the flu again, just slightly different symptoms (along with Jackson and Katelyn). Lots of messes for me to clean up. It was the most wonderful time of the year. We were afraid we would have to tell my family not to come for Christmas, but everyone was better just in time.

We drove up by the ski resort and went sledding with cousins Monday after Christmas, and Olivia decided she really liked it, and couldn't wait for it to snow at our house so she could do it more.

Just a couple days later, we finally got the big snowstorm at our house that she'd been waiting for, so they could play in the snow and go sledding. When she woke up the morning, she said her tummy hurt again, but still got bundled up to go play. She threw up in the snow.

This was her third time around. There were only a few days left of her break. When she was feeling better again, we wanted to do something fun before she had to go back to school. No more sickness allowed! For New Year's Day, the plan was sledding (we got a couple new sleds), and then to go to her favorite restaurant here that she's been wanting to go back to for awhile.

After sledding, they came in and pulled off boots, snowpants, etc. by the door. A while later, we got ready to go out to eat, and Olivia ran to turn off the light. She slipped on her snowpants and fell on the wood floor.

She broke her arm!!!
She didn't feel like going to her favorite restaurant anymore.

Her arm will take 6-8 weeks to heal. She is really sad to have to have it in a sling (the break is too close to her shoulder for a cast), and does NOT want to go to school until she's out of the sling - in 6-8 weeks. She's worried that she can't write or eat or do fun things. I didn't remind her that she also won't be able to go sledding until it's healed - or skiing!

I'm trying to convince her that wearing a sling to school is not so bad - you get to show it off and tell everyone what happened - she's not convinced. She really doesn't want anyone to see her wearing it, and thinks they'll tease her. She missed today because we were at the doctor, but tomorrow might be a struggle. Anyone have encouraging "breaking-your-arm-is-great" words for her?

She says this was the worst Christmas break ever, and breaking your arm is a bad thing to do for New Year's Day.

A Little of Christmas

2010-12-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

My family came up to our house for Christmas, and we all went sledding. Here's me and Kate in the air. She's a pretty fearless sledder, but we weren't really aiming for that jump. I wasn't in control so much, as you can see.

Here's our nativity the Monday before Christmas. Olivia was Mary, Katelyn was an angel/sheep, John was Joseph and a shepherd, Jackson was a wiseman, and I got to be the donkey.
And also a camel, bringing the wiseman from far away in the kitchen.

Here they are ready to come out on Christmas morning to see what they got. Jackson couldn't contain his excitement to sit for a picture. He had just plopped down after running in circles on Olivia's bed.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-23T22:28:00.001-08:00

My girls and baby Riley at Grandpa's house.

Mesa temple lights

Katelyn working on turkey craft from Nana.

Olivia said we needed a cornucopia, and no one else signed up to bring it, so it was up to me to provide. (I saw this on someone else's blog once, so I tried it). It looked pretty yummy, but we just looked at it and didn't eat it!

Running on Thanksgiving means you get to eat more.

And now Merry Christmas Eve!

Football Game Party

2010-12-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over to watch a BYU game.

Here are some of the fans. They were secretly working on something in Olivia's room, and came out with this sign.

No, the guy in the drawing is not jumproping (as John guessed) - that's his helmet. And they don't always win like they wrote, but they happened to this time, making for some happier dads at the party.

Just Another Day

2010-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

I've slowed down with the blogging lately, but here's a story for you.
Last week, I decided it would be a good idea to tag along with John when he drove down to Mesa to do surgery there. He goes down every other week to get some extra surgery days in, since winters here are slower. This time, he needed to start at 7 in the morning, so the company got a hotel room for him to stay in the night before. Since he was already going and there was no school for veterans day, we jumped in the car with him so we could go shopping for snowboots (not too many stores here), and go surprise my mom and play with her for the day in the warmer weather.
Sometimes I have the best ideas.
This is how the plan went. We made it to the hotel, and took John to work early so we could have the car. We didn't want to wake my mom up early, so we got kind of nasty McDonald's breakfast and went back to the hotel. Kate's pancakes were "dross" and Jackson didn't want his "big tater tot" (hashbrowns), so they took my yogurt and fed each other instead. Since my food was gone, I got in the shower. While in my peaceful shower, I heard someone come in the bathroom . . . and someone else follow. Then I heard crying. I looked around the curtain to see vomit all over the floor, with my two girls standing there staring at it. Then I saw the green-filled toilet - which Olivia explained is the reason for her puking. She went potty, and the sight of what came out of one end made her throw up from the other end. It was all over her clothes, she was upset and feeling sick, Katelyn was standing there as a spectator but couldn't get out without stepping in the mess, and I wasn't exactly dressed to clean it up and rescue them. It was awesome.
I grabbed a towel for me and a couple for the floor. Olivia stripped down and went out and laid down in her shirt only. Five minutes later she was back on the potty. After cleaning up, I washed my hands, and saw two strings sticking up from my make-up bag by the sink. I went to pull them off - those dumb strings were cockroach antennae! I pulled up a huge cockroach from my bag by his "strings." I hate that tricky cockroach. My kids came to see what I screamed about, and we caught it in a cup and put in the toilet. He could swim. It got to the side faster than I got to the flusher, then it HELD ON to the side of the toilet bowl while the water flushed past it. I ran out to see what injury Jackson had just inflicted on Katelyn, while at the same moment Olivia had to run back to use the toilet AGAIN. She saw the roach under her right as she sat down. At hearing her scream, I went back into the bathroom. I flushed again, but the roach held on. Through three flushes!! While Olivia stood there trying to hold the runs in. She hates that cockroach, too. We finally got him down, Olivia got everything out, and Jackson finished off my breakfast.
Olivia seemed to be feeling better, so we checked out of the hotel. (I'm sure the maid loved the pile of towels we left for her in the bathroom).
Next stop, Nana's house again, to surprise her with our visit. Oh yeah, it's her day to work at the temple! Surprise for us - we can't even see her until lunch time.
But there's always boot shopping while we wait. We went to Target. Weird, John was right when he said Phoenix probably doesn't have many snowboots. But the Target worker told me, "The Target stores in like Minnesota probably carry them," so that helped.
No Nana, no boots.
I walked around Target a little longer, until I was done with the, "Can we buy this?" "No" conversations. Back to my mom's, and she was there! Hooray!
The best parts of the story are pretty much over . . .
The day improved with some yummy lunch at Nielsen's frozen custard (that can make up for a lot). Then we picked up John and played at the park for a while, and got dinner before we had to say bye and head home.
John doesn't believe me about the roach - but it's a true story. Watch out for brown strings.

Halloween

2010-11-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

I really liked my kids costumes last Halloween. This year, nothing too exciting. Jackson wore a hand-me-down dragon costume and a red punch mustache.
I was working on a ladybuy costume for Kate (after seeing how cute the one was my sister was making), but she wasn't too excited about it. My neighbor brought over a few, and Katelyn saw this blue dinosaur and was sold on it. So she was a di-saur, with a crooked head piece all night.
I did make one costume - Olivia wanted to be a bunny, but she wanted to look like a real one, "with ears that flop back, not just stand up straight." (You were probably wondering if that was a real rabbit sitting there. Nope, just my amazing fleece rendition). She was a little offended when people asked if she was the Easter bunny. "No, I'm a regular bunny." Get it straight.
She must have heard me talking about how much more fun homemade costumes are (even though I only like to make them if they're fast and easy), because she ran around the house in her long-eared hat singing, "I have a homemade costume!"

At the ward trunk-or-treat.

This kid wins our vote for a cool costume. His mom wanted a picture of him with the eye doctor (and the eye doctor wanted one, too).

But homemade costumes or not, we got candy.

This dinosaur likes candy.

Holly's Wedding

2010-10-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

John's sister, Holly, got married, and we got to go to Portland and be part of the wedding. The girls were the flower girls, and Jackson got to be the ring bearer. Great-Grandma Knippers sewed their dresses and his vest.

Katelyn making faces after eating yummy wedding cupcakes.

The wedding was really pretty. I wish I had more pictures of the bride and groom! I just got one good one of Holly and Laurel (my other SIL).

Too bad I can't have someone do my hair for me everyday. I could use some help with that. This is the hair that set off security at the airport. We flew home the day after the wedding, and apparently there were too many bobby pins in my hair. Just for trying to keep the hairdo an extra day, I had to get searched.

Wacky Hair Day

2010-10-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

I hope it stayed in at least long enough to get to her class.

San Diego

2010-10-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

A few days after we arrived in Pinetop, we got back in the car and drove to California for some playing on the beach with cousins and Grandpa.

Everyone at work, while John oversees and gives orders.

Meeting new cousin Riley.

At the aquarium.

Jackson and Lindsay.

Doesn't this picture have a nice background? Sorry if that's you in the shorts.

Retreats Rock

2010-10-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

John and I went to Sedona in July for a "retreat" with his company. Those buildings down in the canyon make up the resort we got to stay in.

We went on a fun jeep tour, (even though it was pouring rain, and clouds were covering all the awesome views you're supposed to get on the tour!) We did see just a little of the red rock.

That afternoon there was nothing scheduled, so we went on a hike through the canyon.

John went up to the top of this rock. I get a little afraid of heights. I thought about going up, too. But then I thought about falling on my head. Then I thought I was high enough.

What to wear

2010-09-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Next time you can't decide what to wear, here's an idea.

She wouldn't put on anything else, so this is how we went out. (Just to Walmart - she fit right in with some of the other outfits there). I think is day 3 this week she's worn a swimsuit all day. I decided not to wear a matching outfit this time.

Hike and more birthday stuff

2010-09-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is a hike close by where we live - the trailhead is right off the main road in Pinetop. We'd done it before and wanted to go back while cousins were here. When telling friends where we were moving to, we always had to explain that we weren't going to the desert part of Arizona. This gives you an idea of where we live!

Our town is at about 7000 feet. They like finding lizards and crawdads on this hike.

Hmm, what to do with that hair.

After it rains, Jackson likes to get his training wheels stuck in the rocks, and spin his tire in a puddle of water in our non-grass yard. It's make a pretty cool fountain of water - soaking the back of his shirt.

Jackson at his preschool birthday celebration.

Big 5 Years Old

2010-09-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

After doing a penguin party last year, (and once a kitty and sheep party for Olivia), this year Jackson gave me a more "normal" theme to work with. He mostly wanted Batman because he went to a really cool Batman party last year, and still remembers it all (and stills wears the cape and mask to various places, too).

My sister and her family came up for the weekend (Jackson was excited to have a "cousin party"), and she got to help me get ready for the party. I'd been trying to figure out what to use to look like buildings on the cake, and Michelle had the genius idea to use Nutty Bars. So with a nutty bar Gotham city and a happy meal batmobile toy, we had a cake decorated in about 5 minutes, and good enough to eat.

They stayed busy for a while making a Batman gadget/tool/weapon out of Legos, then we did a couple games.

Then they stayed busy for a while doing this.

First Day

2010-08-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Second grader! School started last week. She is enjoying it, and really likes her teacher - the M&M math on the first day won her over. There are only a few other girls in her class, but she has just been playing on the swings every recess so far, and wondering why her old school is deprived of swings.
She tried buying lunch today. "I wanted the chicken, but then when they put it on my plate I wished I got the taco. It looked so disgusting with bones everywhere and a yellow thing probably was the heart. I think they gave me the chicken's stomach."
That's about the most she's reported about her days so far.

Catching up some more . . . Olympic Peninsula

2010-08-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

We wanted to make it to Olympic Peninsula before leaving the northwest. We only had a day, so we got up early to get on the ferry.

First stop, tide pools - lots of them!

Next stop, lunch. We decided not to eat here:

Then we left the ocean and went up here:

The deer weren't afraid of us.

Either were the llamas (at an animal park in Port Angeles). But some of us were a little afraid of them - and their friends the yaks.

It made for a great day trip - but we could have stayed for a week if we had time.

Okay, I think I'm caught up - I'll write about the move and our new place next.

Catching Up

2010-08-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

We went to 3-2-1-Bounce for Olivia's 7th birthday.

She had fun.

But next year, when it's not right at moving time, she'll have to go back to another homemade party by mom.

Going Away

2010-07-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

A couple friends planned a going away picnic for me and Emma, another friend moving away. Cailean always does great decorations, as you can see.

There were several who were out of town or had sick kids that day, but it was great to see all who could come! I didn't want to say good-bye, and I still had a few days left, so I just kept telling people I'd see them again soon. It was hard to believe we were really leaving.

Wendy and Cailean - thanks so much for doing this!

Katelyn and her friend Stephanie

He he - they didn't know I was taking pictures.

Some last Seattle adventures

2010-07-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

Pacific Science Center

This room is why my kids call this place "the dinosaur museum."

Katelyn waving hello to the butterflies.

Olivia flying like an acrobat in the circus exhibit. If I would of known it would take 45 min. just to get through the 4 people in front of her, she might of missed out on getting to do this. She felt pretty brave, I think.

Jackson shaking his bum for the funny mirrors.

2010-07-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rainier

Playing in snow in June.

My kids have been a little afraid to go here since hearing about a friend who got close-up to a bear on a hike. But the only wildlife we saw was a marmot, and Olivia found a ladybug with it's eggs laying on a rock - they talked about both long afterwards.

A Fabulous Day!

2010-07-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

The last day of residency. Done! Yesterday was the long-awaited day.
I took the kids to visit him at work (as a surprise) with some chocolate and cards they made.

They got some cool sunglasses in return. (And took some of his chocolate back for themselves).

We were all ready for this day, even though it was hard to believe it really would come! We haven't seen much of him the last few months. Whenever John got paged to go to the hospital, the kids called it "going to the monster." I grew immune to him not being home before bedtime. When he'd tell me it might be a late night, I'd just say, "that's what I'm planning on." It was easier that way, since that's how it usually was lately. When talking to Katelyn about who lives at our house, she named everyone except Dad. When I asked if he lives here, too, she said, "No, work."
I've probably complained about it on here before. But to anyone who has a husband going into residency, it's not all so bad. All the rotations haven't been as bad as this last one, and there is life outside of work. Sometimes. (:
I found a card among the things he brought home yesterday. He didn't want me to put it on here, but I'll just put some of it. It's from the daughter of a patient he operated on, thanking him for "a miracle for my family. She went from blind to clearly seeing. She is safer in her home. She can see the joy and wonder of her grandsons growing up . . . . " And she even says at the end, "thank you to your family for thier support of your work and training."

I think it's pretty awesome. In the end, it's all been worth it! I'm just glad we don't have to do it again.

Jackson's Turn

2010-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

We're not always in chronological order here on this blog. So going back a few weeks . . .
After lots of hard work and dedication, Jackson has achieved the status of a preschool graduate! Don't these graduates look proud? I think they're wondering why everyone's taking so many pictures of them.

Here's Jackson with his good friend Esther. We all think she is one cool kid - and will miss her whole family! Jackson wishes he could have lots more playdates with her, and I'll miss seeing her choice of outfits and accessories every day, including seasonal footwear like sandals in winter.

With Mrs. Rogers, the favorite preschool teacher for both Jackson and Olivia.

And finally, in Ducky Dance attire. They practiced for this part of graduation for a while, and Jackson made a great ducky - obviously.

I wanted some time just with Jackson before school got out. So we dropped Katelyn off at babysitting co-op, and the two of us headed to the zoo. He got to pick all the animals he wanted to see, like the elephants that Olivia says are too stinky, and Bug World where the spiders remind her of the huge one that was on her bed one night, thus keeping her awake many nights . . .

We even saw an elephant painting! And stinky or not, Olivia was pretty jealous to miss that.

And for the last picture - "Mom, take a picture of me doing this cool trick!" If you're not impressed with his half-sit on the bookshelf, at least Katelyn was. There she is ready to attempt her own bookshelf stunt.

School's Out!

2010-06-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a picture of just Olivia on the last day of school, but this one is from Sunday. I needed one before those front teeth come in.

Here she is at field day last week. It was supposed to be at the park but it was rainy (again) so they stayed at the school and had some inside and some outside.

I helped with the face painting, and Olivia wanted a marmot - her school's new mascot. Jackson cried when she washed it off - I guess he liked it. We even got to see a marmot at Mt. Rainier last weekend.

Hooray for summer break! 2nd grade sounds so old, though!
And now that school's out, it's starting to set in that we're leaving soon (two weeks!) and lots to do. So I guess I have to get to work instead of going on too much about how much she's grown up this year. She'll be 7 in a couple weeks - just after we arrive in Pinetop, and she's sad to leave her friends here.

Dancing at T-ball

2010-06-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

There wasn't much action going on in the outfield at O's last t-ball game, so I took pictures of this girl instead.

I think she likes the camera.

A change of pants is always a good idea with her still. Especially when there's wet grass and mud, and the park's port-a-potty is locked. Successful peeing behind the bushes is a little trickier for her than for her brother.

She looks a lot like Olivia did at this age. How did she get so big?

2010-06-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

I think the word is mostly out that we are moving to Pinetop, AZ in a few weeks.
I will miss:
this in our backyard;

This in our front yard;

(and neighbors yards we get to admire on our walk to school):

But not so much this:

This is the "hallway" kitchen I've lived with for 3 years. You have to walk through it to get from one part of the house to the other. Many times a day. If there's a pan of brownies sitting on the counter as I walk back and forth, well, it's bad for me. This house was built in the 50's. Notice the built-in wooden cutting board on the countertop. How sanitary can that be after 50 years?

There's lots more I will miss, too, of course. But I just want to say that soon, I get a new kitchen!!!!!!!!!

Do the Macarena

2010-05-18T22:11:00.001-07:00

There's been lots of boring stuff going on here lately. Like looking at rentals and places to live, choosing a moving company, etc.
But, good news. Friday, me and the kids went to the Spring Dance at Olivia's school. I got to break out my moves with a bunch of kids and some mom's in mom jeans. And do the macarena. After a long absence, me and the macarena were re-united.
Okay, most of the mom's there probably dress better than me, I just like to say mom jeans.
Also, most of them (moms and dads) were sitting in chairs along the sides. I guess all the 5th graders there didn't want to be dancing with their mama's like the few kindergartners and 1st graders did. Or maybe they just can't do the macarena as good as me.
Sorry you don't get to see a video. And sorry you couldn't participate. But, maybe now you can have the song stuck in your head like it was in mine for a couple days.
Heeeyyyyyyyyy Macarena.
You're welcome.

Temple and Tulips Trip

2010-05-08T22:50:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I took the kids on a little road trip up to Canada to go to the open house at the new Vancouver temple. They were excited to go to a different country for the first time. But when we crossed the border, Olivia wanted to know, "Why doesn't it look different?"

We also stopped at the tulip festival on the way up.

The temple was beautiful! I'm glad we got to go and that the kids got to see how pretty it is inside. But I am also glad I don't have to take kids with me every time I go to the temple. Katelyn didn't want to stay by me and listen to the tour - she did want to go swimming in the baptismal font - and tried to.

We had to be back in Seattle that night to pick up John from the airport, so we didn't have a lot of extra time to explore Vancouver. We made a potty stop at a gas station, and saw that a lot of the candy in Canada is different than at home, so they picked out some for a souvenir for Dad - and some for us. Had to keep up our strength for the trip home, you know. Then we found a park with some cool triple-decker stuff and played for just a little while, until we had to get back in the car, with kicking-and-screaming-Kate in tow.

And headed back to our own country. Oh yeah, and we took lots of pictures, in case you were wondering (that's why Jackson wouldn't turn around for our picture in front of the temple).

These are some of my favorites:

Olivia likes to pose for the camera, especially with all the pretty flowers around. I would point the camera at Katelyn, and Olivia would jump in next to her, smiling for the shot. Or, I'd say, "Look at these pretty ones, " and she'd strike a pose in front of them. We got lots of Olivia.
But we like Olivia.

The other two weren't so into pictures. Here's Kate giving a dirty look to some other tourists pointing at her, laughing at her scowl, and saying "cute!" Or maybe they were just talking about the flowers around her.

And here's the one picture Jackson posed for, with a fake smile. I think he was thinking, "I don't really know why I'm doing this, but everyone else is, so let's get it over with." But he told me those were "cool dragon flowers, not pretty ones."

One still scowling, one still smiling, one ready to go half hour ago.

Just a glimpse

2010-04-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

of a day at our house.

Also, Olivia sad because Jackson keeps calling her "bad-o," Katelyn in time-out for refusing to put anything on after her bath (even when it's time to leave for school).

Jackson (while playing with a friend here for babysitting co-op), says,

"No one can stop me! . . . unless they're a bad guy."

Tonight, they wanted to be videotaped (again) "doing the funny show."

Ouch

2010-04-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

My little Kate had a rough day yesterday. (I know, you probably don't feel sorry for her - she's looking pretty happy here)!

I was in the other room, and the kids thought she started crying because of the toy Jackson had just yanked away from her. But something else went on there, since she couldn't walk the rest of the day. I don't know if her toe got stomped on or a toy was dropped on it, but she was in a lot of pain. I finally took her in to get it checked. The doctor said it was probably cracked, not broken, and wrapped it up for her. She's doing better today - it's black and blue, but she can even limp around.

She kept saying, "hurt" and got lots of holding and cheering up by all of us (except more tears from Jackson who kept "accidentally" bumping it while doing his kung fu moves) . We don't like to see her in pain!

Mariner's Game

2010-04-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday was "Wedgwood Elem. night" at the Mariner's game. John had his boards test that morning, then took these two to the game. Katelyn was really sad to see them drive away without her, but she got the consolation prize of going to TJ Maxx with mom. And repeatedly escaping from the dressing room while I tried on pants.

The best parts were: seeing the mascot, Olivia got to sit next to a friend from her class, but most importantly - they got blue cotton candy.

We're glad John can be done studying for a while and that they got to go have some time with Dad before he left for D.C. this morning!

2010-04-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Next weekend (23rd), my sister is graduating from Weber State in Utah. And I want to be there! My plan was to fly down for the weekend, leaving John here with the kids. Then, we found out he is going to D.C. that weekend for a conference, and won't be back until Saturday - a day too late for me to go. Still determined, I just changed the plan - I'll drive down. Just me and the kids, 12 hours, and 12 hours back. Driving to Ogden from Seattle is do-able. But by myself with 3 kids, and trying to make it a quick trip so as not to miss too much school, might be a little trickier. Now I found out Olivia has her school's annual "walk-a-thon" that same day, plus she'd miss a t-ball game, and at least 3 days of school . . . I don't feel like I can take her. But how can I leave her? I thought about seeing if I could find some charitable person to keep her until John's back (don't worry, I'm not asking for a volunteer) - but that still leaves me with two more than we could buy a plane ticket for, so I'd still have to drive . . . making it longer that I would have to leave her for . . . Can't I just be in two places at once?

Oh, how nice it will be to be done with residency, when John can have a schedule that's more his own! Right now, (and for the next 3 months), he works late at least 3 days a week. He leaves every morning before the rest of us are up, and then won't be home until after kids are in bed on all his late days so probably won't even see them. And he'll be at a conference in Florida for a week, and in D.C. for 4 days, and a few other work-related things on Saturdays. He'll have to miss all but about 3 of Olivia's t-ball games. ): This should be fun getting ready to move. But, we're almost there! Residency doesn't last forever afterall. (And it hasn't all been as bad as this rotation).

Tammy - I'm still trying to make it - somehow!

Uncondensed

2010-04-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of posting this week. Some of it I posted mostly just to preface this long story - so keep scrolling down if you want to see it all. The week before Easter was a full week, and I had so much I wanted to do. I did manage to do quite a bit of my "list," but I just kept thinking about the rest of the things I wanted to do but couldn't. I just was feeling like there were lots of important things, and I was failing to do them all.

It was Olivia's spring break, and I wanted to "go and do" and "make it fun" for her. Plus I had lots of things I wanted to do that week for Easter (we did the week-long thing, a Resurrection eggs lesson - a craft never happened, some recipes never happened). It was also the week before conference, and I wanted to kind of prepare -for myself, and to have some things ready to help the kids get something from it. Plus, making a baby blanket for my sister, not to mention that laundry I've been talking about . . . by Thursday, I wanted to say April Fool's, there is no dinner tonight. Then, Thursday night, I was telling John how I didn't think we'd done much for the break, and trying to figure out what we could do on her last (rainy) day, to make for a more exciting spring break. He reminded me that sometimes all kids really want to do is stay home and just play. She got to have a few playdates, and she'd had something fun she did to report to him each day when he'd come home. Plus, during the "mid-winter break," we'd gone to lots of different places/beaches/zoo/parks, etc. Even if this week wasn't the bestspring break ever, overall, our kids aren't so deprived of doing fun things.

And I did make dinner on April Fool's. No familyfun stuff this time, but they got to have ice cream for dinner. Actually, frozen yogurt and bananas, on top of chocolate waffles (my mom used to make them for us sometimes). Katelyn and Jackson got to the strawberries before they made it to the table. See, that counts for something - even if my only other prank of the day (switching Olivia and Jackson to the wrong bed while they slept) backfired on me and eventually put me on the couch (and Jackson in my bed) with less sleep for the night. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Why do I even admit this stuff?

Then conference and Easter weekend came, and I again was thinking of the things I hadn't done for that. We had our friends, the Finnigans over for the last session of conference and Easter dinner. There was so much about teaching children, the great responsibilities for parents - especially mothers, gospel learning in the home . . . I took a break from being inspired, and was thinking, "how can I fit it all in! I know plenty of moms who seem to, but I can't even get the Easter story cookies made or the resurrection rolls made, or Katelyn's scrapbook done . . ." Just then, our friend James interrupted my thoughts by asking, "So do you think you'll have more kids?" !

Late that night, I was talking to my sister on the phone about conference, about our kids, etc. I don't remember what I said - something about what she does really well with her kids (like never yell) that I need to learn how to do. She reminded me that there are some good things that I do. She could even think of one or two. So that, along with John's reminder about lazy-spring-break-days-are-good-too, helped me to change my focus a little. Looking back at the crazy week, I did plenty. I'm much better off if I don't focus on what I haven't done. There will always be more "good" things to do, and there will always be someone who does things better or accomplishes more. Moral of the story - who knows. Maybe read less blogs of overachievers? (but definitely keep reading here - and commenting, too). (:

General Conference

2010-04-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful general conference last weekend. (If you don't know what that is, find out here)! Maybe my expectations were just lower, knowing that with three kids around, after some conferences sessions I can barely remember what the talks were even about. But this time I've been able to keep some of the messages in my brain a little longer. This helped us:

Jackson only did one of the pictures - the angel next to the empty tomb. Then he went back to his legos. But he does remember there was a story of a big wave that put a car in a tree. Olivia listened pretty well - at least long enough to hear a topic to draw for most of them. For Pres. Monson, she drew a boy in a hospital bed from the story he told, complete with a BYU shirt. I like her "mothers and daughters" picture for Elder Ballard. It's a picture of the two of us on a mom-daughter outing we went on (to a BYU dance performance - too bad it was ballet - over 2 hours of ballet - no offense to any ballerinas).

2010-04-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

During the week before Easter, we used this idea to learn more about the Easter story each evening leading up to Easter Sunday. Or, at least some of it - mostly just the scripture and story with the gospel art picture for each night. The only extra activity we used from the list is the dinner from day 2. I told Olivia we were going to dress up like we're in the time when Jesus was on the earth, and eat foods like they might have eaten back then. She thought it was a great idea, but said, "And then we'll just have a normal dinner right after that, right?"
I made the unleavened bread, and put out a few of the sides, but we used chicken for the skewers instead of lamb. Also, I don't think they had sippy cups for the grape juice, or fitted crib sheets to wear on your head.

John got home right after I finally finished the food, and we were all hungry. So to dress up, we all grabbed something out of the linen closet to put on our head and called it good. Halfway through the meal, Katelyn decided to lose her sheet and go put some princess dress-up on instead.

They've talked about it a few times since then. Jackson told me "the time of Jesus must have been close to the time of Star Wars because they wore stuff kind of like that, too." He still can't figure out how I made "that one kind of bread" like they had way back then.

At least it was memorable . . .

Spring Break

2010-04-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break. Olivia had playdates scheduled for 3 of the days, plus it was supposed to be rainy most of the week. But we managed to get out a little bit. One day, we went to a chocolate factory where you can sample all their chocolates, and then to see the Fremont Troll. Yep, there he is.

Check that off our list of the many things to see in Seattle. That's a car he's holding. My kids wanted to go explore under the bridge behind him, but I didn't let them - I didn't want to find out if the row of tattered sleeping bags back there were inhabited or not.
They thought the chocolate factory (Theo's Chocolates - "Proud to be the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US") was full of "disgusting chocolate." They had flavors like coconut curry, spicy chile, fig fennel and almond . . . most of it was dark chocolate, and kind of chalky. We decided the vanilla milk chocolate was pretty good, but apparently our taste buds (including mine) aren't refined enough for their chocolate.
To make up for their disappointment in the gourmet stuff, I stopped at Rite-aid on the way home and let them pick a piece of Easter candy.

Jackson was excited to find a chocolate bunny just like the one at the chocolate factory Curious George goes to in his book (which was more what they had in mind, I'm sure).

The rest of the week was mostly playdates or doing rainy stuff at home, like play-doh or making more of these.

On Friday, Olivia really wanted to go ride the lightrail. We rode the bus downtown, ate lunch at Westlake Center mall, and then got on the lightrail and rode to the airport and back. They got to experience the joy of public transport. And I was really glad when we got to the airport that we only had to go in to find a restroom, and didn't have a plane ride to add to our journey, too. On the bus ride home, it was really crowded. When I got on with 3 little ones, two kind souls gave up their seats for us. I was glad Jackson fell asleep on the arm of the little grandma next to him and not the gangsters behind him.

Easter

2010-04-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids trying to wake up Dad so they can go see their Easter baskets, and some other Easter pictures (the blob is a big rice krispie treat egg - my simplified version of the individual ones I saw in a picture). More to come on conference and spring break . . . we're catching up here.

Whistler

2010-04-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

John and I got to go up to Whistler for a weekend.
Here's a picture that's not from our trip, but it's a way better picture of Whistler than we got (with the view, the snow on top, and not squinting at the camera). This is from a trip John took with friends recently. He's been able to go a couple times, and, with the help of his parents to watch the kids (thanks again!), I finally got to have a trip, too. It was my first time to be away from the kids overnight! While we were gone, they played at the park, dyed Easter eggs, and had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa. I'm sure they hardly missed us! I think I'll have to do this more often . . .

A view from the peak-to-peak gondola. It's so high up, and almost 2 miles long, with just the cables.

That's where we stayed. Whistler has tons of shops, restaurants in this little village right at the base of the mountain. But the sky was pretty overcast while we were there so we didn't get very good views. Skiing/snowboarding conditions weren't too good (kind of icy and bad visibility) until about 2:00 when the sun finally came out and softened the snow up for our last few runs!
I was out in my bobsled and accidentally bobsledded right into this store.

T-ball

2010-03-24T21:54:00.000-07:00

My plan is that my kids are supposed to love sports as much as I did (and still do). Early signs are not looking good - at least for Olivia.

"Whenever I try to throw the ball to one person, it always goes to someone else."
"Why do I even need a mitt in tball?"
"The only fun part of bad t-ball is rolling down the hill at the end."

She doesn't like things that are hard (she used to say she hates reading - now she just doesn't like chapter books). Maybe once she starts to get it down, she'll like it more. If she'd only let us practice with her!
Or maybe this trading card will be an inspiration to her.

Yeah, probably not.

Independence

2010-03-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

She is also proud of herself when she climbs up on the countertop to get herself a snack out of the cupboard.

P.S. Thanks for all the laundry comments! I didn't think I'd get so much good advice. It almost made me excited to go do laundry! Mindy and Michelle - I'm glad you've got your priorities straight.

You've all inspired a better plan here - I'll have to let you know how it goes. A while ago, I started doing one load a day, realizing I couldn't do it all in one day anymore. It's easy to start a load each morning, and keep all the clothes washed that way. But I don't like folding every day and putting it away when I have to put only 1-2 things in each drawer. If I'm going to be putting stuff away in every drawer in the house, I'd rather do it together in big piles. Bigger task, bigger accomplishment. So I'm going to try 2 days a week, or 3 if needed and . . . I like lots of the other ideas (on how to have less to wash, ways to have kids help - which is easier if I wash certain days, and they have that chore certain days, too). I could keep going but I better go to bed now instead of writing about all your good ideas! Hmmm, maybe I'll have to think of some more questions to get some good feedback on. All trouble areas of my life could be revealed this way.

More to life . . .

2010-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

There's way too much laundry in this house. I can wash it all, but then the pile sometimes likes to hang out in the family room for a while and get jumped on. I'm tempted to just start throwing it back into drawers not folded, especially all those little underwear. It all gets undone anyway when my kids dig through looking for Star Wars shirt, soft pants, or cutie pj's (all Jackson, by the way).
So what do you do, all of you who are better housekeepers than I? (Yes, that's pretty much everyone reading this . . . ) Any good shortcuts you use?

A Distasteful Post

2010-02-26T20:49:00.000-08:00

For a long time, my kids didn't see the humor when someone passed gas. Sometimes Jackson would smell it and yell, "Katewyn, you pooped!" But they could let one fly and not even flinch. I figured I didn't need to let them in on the joke. If that's anyone's job, it's their Dad's right? Or fellow first graders.

But they've caught on - suddenly, bodily functions are hilarious. If the other doesn't hear the offending noise, they'll announce it so that they can share in the laughter. "Olivia, I have to tell you something. I burped!" Or "I just tooted three times!" This week, they started calling it the "burpics" and the "tootics." I know some families do races or obstacle course for their own family olympics. My kids came up with their own version for the spirit of the games. We didn't let it go very far, but if they were keeping score, Katelyn's machine-gun style could probably take the gold.
Jackson was in the bathroom a little longer than normal today, and came out yelling, "I went manure!"
They've even got Katelyn saying "doot" when I squirt ketchup onto her plate.
But Olivia wasn't laughing when it happened at school. She told me, "I was Mr Tootering today - I tooted like every 5 minutes."

We read this sweet, innocent library book, and they thought it was hilarious:

("Toot & Puddle: A Present for Toot." It's Toot's birthday, Puddle goes home pooped out.
We're not encouraging them (trying to do the opposite, actually). But it probably didn't help that I was laughing at the book right along with them.

While I'm on the potty subject - Katelyn's doing great. Well, except for the daily accidents.

Okay, enough of my potty mouth. I don't recommend trying their olympics at your house.

Katelyn is 2!

2010-02-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

I never gave my o.k. for this girl to stop being a baby, but she went and turned 2 on me!

Her birthday was on a Saturday, and Grandma and Grandpa Knippers were coming up for it. So we thought maybe we'd forego a birthday party with friends, and just celebrate with a fun day with grandparents instead.

But, I wasn't fully convinced. So I invited some friends over for a simple birthday lunch a few days before her birthday - just pizza and cupcakes, and no games and presents. Well, maybe just a couple games. And a couple people still brought presents. We just love a party, I guess.

Putting spots on paper bug w/ dot stickers, and pin the spot on the ladybug. (Then eat the spots off the ladybug).

We've actually done this same oreo ladybug game before - at Olivia's 2nd-b-day (it was a butterfly/bug party). Just new friends and new poster. And new oreos.

Last year, I saw some cute ladybug Valentine decorations, so I got some of the goody bags to use for her party this year. I didn't even use them, but we had ladybugs anyway.

Then, more cake on her real birthday. I had a few animals to put on top for a "zoo cake," but my cake decorating helpers thought it needed lots more.

One of the presents from Grandpa and Grandpa was a toy vacuum, so she can get to work now!

There was a cute wooden "doll care center" I wanted to get for her (she loves her baby dolls). While I was trying to justify spending $100 on it and knowing I probably shouldn't, a friend said I should check goodwill and see if they had anything like it. Oh yeah, be frugal! I found this little set on craigslist for $10, and Katelyn didn't even know. I may paint it.

If she gets 2 parties for turning 2, I think I'll have to have a daily party for myself in November. Oh wait, I already do eat treats pretty much every day - I'll just have to buy presents.

So I realize about everything I've said on this post is like, "I was going to do this, but then I did this instead."

I was going to change it, but then I didn't.

Mid-winter break

2010-02-18T23:26:00.000-08:00

In Seattle, we get "mid-winter break." A week off, and only 6 weeks before a week off for spring break. But we like it. We had a busy long weekend, then John went back to work and we were unproductive and didn't get dressed until lunchtime for a day (or two). But we've had some sunshine and had to get out in it before the rains come down again.

In this picture (above), Olivia's saying "She's taking a picture, let's try not to shiver." Yesterday, we got some Subway and drove to the beach to watch the sunset. (yep, $5 footlong ads worked on me). It was sunny, but we were freezing so we played for a little while and then ran back to the car to eat our food. (John was working late, so this was a nice change from cooking w/ 3 cranky kids waiting and no dad to play with them).

Today, we drove south to try out our zoo pass at the zoo and aquarium in Tacoma.
We saw some huge walruses up close, eating fish, and waving to us. And some sharks, maybe Jackson will have more nightmares of Bruce the Shark coming in through his window.

The northwest - beach, mountains, water, snow.

2010-02-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

I am so not cool lately. (Maybe I could have left lately off of that sentence).
Just one example, the crocs and socks I often wear on the walk to school.

Even on Sundays, when I'm actually trying, this is what happens. I pick out a perfectly good skirt or dress (or at least something I'll wear, usually by process of elimination out of everything else in my closet), then I go to put on nylons and shoes and ruin the whole outfit. Besides black with black, I can't ever seem to figure out a color of nylons that doesn't look dorky with the shoes and/or dress. Hmmm, maybe I just need new shoes. Or a fashion lesson in color-coordinating of nylons.

And yesterday, I went to Rite Aid with some awesome half blow dried, kinda big and frizzy hair. I had to run to rescue Kate from her brother halfway through blow drying, and never made it back into the bathroom before I had to do the daily "whatever it takes to get out the door on time" for school. After dropping Olivia off, I had to get a couple last minute things for a birthday lunch we had with a few friends for Katelyn. You'd think I'd know by now to check the mirror before going places. After we got home, I saw how awesome I looked. Yep, I've got it all put together over here.
Further evidence, my new favorite song to sing is "Wha wha wha, what's happenin' dude?" from the W guy on Leapfrog Letter Factory. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out, dude. Then Mr. W could be stuck in your head all day, too.

Maybe I should just go buy myself some of these.

Is anyone else ever not so cool, or am I the only one? Let's hear some examples - maybe you'll make me feel better.

She knows what she wants

2010-02-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

This girl is almost 2. (Like in 2 days). And we are in for it! She won't even pretend I'm in charge anymore.
She's been wanting to pick her own outfits, and put them on herself (and has been for months)! Isn't she too small for that?
That's why she often looks something like this: (in February).

And why lots of mornings she puts on a clean pair of pj's, backwards, and thinks she's ready for the day.
While I still want to decide things for her, I am excited (understatement), about her latest decision. Looks like she wants to be done with diapers! And she is doing pretty well on that potty. One problem is that she carries it out of the bathroom, and only wants to use it in other rooms of the house, but I'm willing to let that slide a little for now. This could be the easiest potty training yet. Or she could change her mind again. I'm sure it won't be as easy as it seems right now - we'll see what the next few weeks bring. But for now, we're doing the pooping on the potty dance.

2010-02-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

I have a niece that's turning 1 today. She has 2 big brothers, so I thought I'd send her something girly for her birthday. Olivia used to love filling a little purse up with all kinds of stuff, but I couldn't find any good non-Hannah Montana purses to buy, so I made this little felt one.

When I was about half way done, I decided to check the internet for felt purses to see if there were any better ideas/patterns. I got the idea for the cupcake instead of the flower I was going to put on. (I think the internet sometimes inspires but sometimes sucks away my creativity - it's just too easy to copy other people's ideas). It took less than 1/2 hour to make - really simple and easy. (Handles are kind of hard to see, but just brown ribbon).

This heart bouquet is a craft Olivia and I did together last week. One of my goals for the year is to make sure to fit in one-on-one time in regularly. The week before we made cinnamon rolls together. This is also really easy and you can use paper or fabric or whatever.

And here's Olivia's other project. Some heart post-its, and her door is set for Valentine's day.

I've slowed down on the blogging lately, but this is post #150! We've been catching up on some past seasons of The Office, so I guess I can blame it on that. And cleaning up rice. I keep finding more in different places around the house - I think it multiplies. But maybe I'll have to get busy and do some more posts, too.

When it rains, it pours. And snows, and floods.

2010-01-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

So Katelyn got this water play table for Christmas. Which will be lots of fun in the summertime, but I thought I had a great idea for putting it to use now. I poured in about half of a Costco bag of rice, and some measuring cups and little toy animals. Katelyn and Jackson played in it, then we swept up some rice that fell out, and went to pick up Olivia. After playing in the puddles (as you already heard about), they got cleaned up, then they all started playing with the rice again while I did some things in the other room. (May have involved some blogging of the rain pictures). Then they told me to come see the snow they had made. Half a bag of Costco rice spread all over the living room. And they were skiing in it. The vent cover is pulled out in the picture because I'm trying to figure out how to get a big pile of rice out of the heating vent. Not sure why my older two thought this was a good idea. But then, it was my idea to fill that thing with rice in the first place. And leave them alone with it. No wonder I heard so much laughing in there.

Later that night . . .
We try to do movie night on Fridays. During the movie, Jackson asked for a snack. When I went to get it, I walked into a puddle - or a river - of water filling our laundry room, going through the kitchen, into the dining room and heading for the living room. There was a dumb little toy in the big sink that our washer drains into (not a good set up, by the way), and plugged the drain. So all the soapy water from the "super" size load of laundry was pouring onto the floor. We grabbed towels and buckets, Olivia cried to see her shoes in the mess, Katelyn cried because she had slipped on the wet floor trying to get to me, and Jackson cried because everyone else was doing it. In the middle of it, John got paged to go to the operating room. We had most of the water under control, the kids went back to Kung Fu Panda, and I washed lots of towels (with no toy in the drain this time). We had to move the washer, dryer, bookshelf, get under the stove, under the fridge, storage shelves, etc. but luckily it didn't get into the carpet. And there was the bonus of finding things under the stove and washer, like a few crayons, a missing spoon, old M&M's in a dust pile that Katelyn was sad to see go in the trash, a shrivelled up carrot . . .

It's raining, it's pouring

2010-01-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

The last couple days, we've stayed for a while after school to do this. There are some huge puddles!

Teaching Katelyn to spit into the puddle.

They have fun until they're soaked and muddy up to the knees, then we go home and strip down.

Downtown Seattle

2010-01-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's my last post about December . . .
Thanks to Ricki's report of their trip to downtown, this is one thing I really wanted to do at Christmastime. Next year at Christmastime, we won't really have a "downtown" to go to! We had fun riding the monorail (probably the kids' favorite part), seeing a display of huge gingerbread houses, seeing the big fountain and other cool sights, and eating dinner out (always a highlight, even though we just ate mall food).

Snoopy's house, and Whoville with the Grinch's mountain.

There was a guy on one corner with all his juggling stuff, and he was going to juggle a chainsaw, but kept telling the people who stopped they needed to put some money in his hat, and that he wasn't there to do a free show. He wasn't really convincing anyone, and we didn't wait for him to perform.
It was pretty and we had fun, but at the end it was nice to get out of the crowds and back home. (Especially to get busy Katelyn away from all the traffic and people).

Christmas

2010-01-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

Jackson with toy from Olivia.
Kate climbed right into her new toy (a water play table).

Then she climbed onto someone else's present.

Olivia was excited to see that, "Whoa, this is the first time Santa's ever brought us all something big!" Santa still didn't spend too much, but they liked their "big" surprises.

Olivia in her "Christmas outfit." She found about the only red and green she owns and got dressed up, while the rest of us stayed in pj's for most of the day.

She lost a tooth on Christmas Eve, so Santa and the Tooth Fairy both had to come that night! She thought they might bump into each other.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Olivia got her table ready for the celebration with this centerpiece and paper chain.

Leftover treats from last week to eat.

She is helping us clear out the candy around here so we can get our New Year off to good a start.

Good thing she likes to brush her teeth, too. Or at least play with and eat toothpaste.

Playing in Portland

2009-12-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

We took a trip down to Portland Monday before Christmas for Grandma Knippers' 60th birthday. Tuesday, John, his brother, and I went skiing/snowboarding (the snow was great - I want to go back!) while the kids got to have a fun day with Grandpa and Aunt Laurel.
Wednesday, we went to "Safari Sam's" gym. Tunnels, slides, rope ladders, similar to the idea of a Mcdonald's playland - just way bigger and better!

Kate went up to the top floor just like the big kids (and big adults).

Even though we were there to celebrate Elaine's birthday, she had to work during the days. But she didn't miss out on all the fun. Olivia and Jackson made up a song as they "rode" this bear, fell off, repeated about 30 times. And Katelyn's hanging upside down while playing with Grandma in the background.

John had to be back for work Thursday, then his family came up here Saturday and Christmas was extended a day for more presents, treats, and playing. (Legos, xbox, and lots of playing new games - thanks for all the game suggestions - we got some fun ones)!

Olivia and her Indiana Jones legos from Mike.
I skipped Christmas day so I'll get back to that later.

Visiting Dasher and Blitzen

2009-12-26T23:33:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, we went to see some reindeer.

Feeding apples to Dasher. The other two didn't want to stick their hand by that mouth until they saw Katelyn the brave do it.

Jackson needs a haircut for Christmas.

Kind of lame family picture.

They loved watching this little donkey.

And I liked watching this girl.

Then we went inside and saw the trains - I think I was as entertained by it as the kids were. They also have a pond with koi fish that they watched for a while.

It's at a nursery here in Seattle - they have the reindeer here for the month of December - until they have to leave on Christmas Eve to get to work. This year they also had a donkey and a camel.

Good Games?

2009-12-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

I want some good ideas for games to get my kids (or us) for Christmas to use for family game nights. We can only play so much Dora the Explorer CandyLand, the hippos aren't so hungry anymore, and we've used up about all the good hiding spots for hide-and-seek. (Okay, we haven't even had that many game nights yet, but we could use some new ideas).
One that has been a favorite for our kids about age 3-4 is Fisher Price Little People "Bingo with Eddie." We've played lots of rounds of Eddie since my mom gave it to Olivia a few years ago.
What are some games you play with your kids? Or some that kids can play on their own, too?

Note to family members - You'll be glad to know that I taught them to play "Grunt Piggy Grunt" the other night.

Where did November go?

2009-12-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

I mean, we found time to finish off most the Halloween candy, but . . . November flew by. So much for getting our Christmas shopping done early.
John was gone interviewing in CO. Then my sister came.* Then we were all gone to AZ to look into a job. Then to Portland for Thanksgiving. Then back for the big race (earlier post).
And to Abby's comment about that - don't feel bad. They were supposed to run 25 miles on their own - a mile at a time, during the two months before race day. Then they ran the last 1.2 miles together on race day. But they could also count walking to school, playing soccer, etc. for thier miles. It's a good thing we walk to and from school, because she didn't so much like to do her runs. But at least she got an XL t-shirt to show for it (after waiting in line for about an hour behind hundreds and hundreds of other kids after the finish line, the smalls were out). Guess we should have ran faster.

At a park in Northern AZ.

Thanksgiving at John's parent's house - and not a lot of pictures!

Trying to get a good picture for Christmas cards - I subjected them to this when my sister was here, and again in Portland. Still didn't get any great ones but I'll mail some out anyway (not this picture).
*Good thing I don't have a surprise visitor seeing my house today. That'd be embarrassing. Kind of like once when John and I were crashing into each other in the hallway as we were trying our fastest to take armloads of stuff to throw into our room before the home teachers came in right after church). What I meant to say is, that would never happen here.

"Cheese."

And suddenly it's December. And cold!
That's our street corner in the fog.

Seattle Kid's Marathon

2009-12-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

Here's Olivia running the Seattle Kid's Marathon last weekend. I think she really just wanted to do it because she heard you'd get a goody bag at the end of the race. And I think she did more laughing with her friend Danny than running.

Here's a link for a way better picture that I don't want to pay for:

www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48614&BIB=1240&S=230&PWD=

Surprise Visitor

2009-11-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

My sister Michelle must have gotten sick of my years of comments about her needing to come visit. I didn't really think she could come, but I bugged about her it anyway. Then, last week, she showed up at my door. Actually, she was with John when he came home from work. She surprised me for my birthday! It made me so happy!

And Sadie got to come, too.

Everyone said we look the same, just like old times. But here she is looking cuter than me.
We rode the ferry over to Kingston and played on the beach, got some really good food, and walked around the little town.

Olivia looks like she is pant-less,

because she's doing this.

The sun finally came out for us on the last day they were here.

It was so fun to see cute Sadie, too, even though she didn't like us too much. I think she looks a little like Katelyn (above). Maybe it's the brows.

We went a few other fun places, but I have to go get packed for our next adventure. We're flying out tonight to look into a job.

Thanks so much Michelle!

More Halloween, and MORE CANDY

2009-11-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Katelyn thinks trick-or-treating is pretty fun.

These were the easiest homemade costumes ever.

Three capes - one from a really cool Batman birthday party,

one piece of spiderweb fabric with a ribbon sewed onto it,

and for Katelyn's I used one of her jackets for a hood pattern, made a cape and put them together. The only other things I sewed were the ribbon on the witch's hat, and a Batman sign onto a shirt (I turned one of his shirts backwards and sewed Batman on. His cape covers the truck print on his back, so I didn't have to buy a new gray shirt).

Olivia showed me a witch coloring picture that she wanted to look like. So I went to Goodwill to try to find a plain black dress for her, and happened to find the perfect one, and it happened to be her size.
We did well in the candy gathering. First, there was trick-or-treating along the street of businesses by us Friday afternoon (and lots of other kids in Olivia's class were going, so we had to, too, right)? Saturday we went to our stake's trunk-or-treat and got full baskets. And, I'm a little embarrassed to say, we still took our kids out to some houses in our neighborhood after that. Just to a few of the older neighbors we know. And a friend in Olivia's class. And the houses on the way to his house. And then just down to the one with the cool spider in their yard and back.

Maybe I like the trick-or-treating part as much as them. "Should we go to this street, too? What, your feet hurt? Hurry, go get more candy!" Maybe it's the memory of wishing I could collect as much as my brother always got in his pillowcase on Halloween. Or maybe I just liked seeing Red Riding Hood waddling up to the doors. But of course once we get home with all that sugar, I don't like them to eat much of it and keep telling Olivia to stop asking me if she can have more.

What to do with all that candy? They each took some of their candy and we put it in a bag to give to kids who don't have very much candy. (Charitable, huh? Anyone know any candy-needy children? Or should John and I just keep eating out of that bag)? Then, they had to eat some. And make some candy soup.

Spooky

2009-11-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

More to come. We're busy eating candy right now.

The Kate

2009-10-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

She's a chef

She's an artist

She's a Jackson

She's a plumber?

She's . . . someone who stands up while riding horses . . . a rodeo queen?

She's (as Olivia says) a cutiepants.

Saying their parts

2009-10-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

I told my mom I'd record these two practicing their parts for the Primary Program we had on Sunday.
Jackson says, "I can help my family bake food. When I am playing, I can give Katelyn some of my toys to play with." Then, you can see how he really feels.

Preschool, sports class, only mom to play with

2009-10-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here's Jackson on the first day of preschool. He didn't want a picture, he wanted to get to preschool. He's closing his eyes, but still saying cheese for me. He made sure to wear his favorite shirt. It's faded and old, but it's his kung fu tiger shirt, and so, favorite.

He is also taking a beginner sports class. (Actually "Lil' Tweeker Sports" is the name, but I don't always like to say that). So far they've done track, t-ball, and bike rodeo. Here's Jackson in the lead. Did I crop another kid out of this picture to make it look like he's in the lead? No. (That was another picture I did that to). Did he cut a couple cones to get into the lead? Maybe.

Every day, Jackson and I have about 3 hours together while Katelyn sleeps and Olivia's at school. He wants to play "talking cars" about every day, but I have a hard time getting into that for long. Or he gets his "guys" and gives me my "guys" and says it's time to start the game. I'm supposed to make them talk, but apparently I'm not too good at that either. "Mom, that guy's actually not funny." Every day he tells me has a really good surprise to tell me: "It's _______'s real birthday party today!" (a different stuffed animal each time). Today it was duckie's real birthday party. So he got a gift bag and my job was to help pick some of his toys to be the presents. As I find some, he says "Ducky doesn't like that toy. Or that one. Or that one."

Anyone have some more ideas on what to do together when you don't have the imagination of a four-year-old? (This doesn't make me sound very fun - he does like to play with me - sometimes).

About Me Poster

2009-09-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

I like the "I am a star because" part, but she has some other good answers, too.
(Click on it if you want to read it).

Jackson's Party

2009-09-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure where Jackson came up with the idea for a penguin party, but that's what he said he each time I asked him (I had to keep checking to see if he'd change his mind).

Yeah, this happened a few weeks ago - there is a reason I didn't post it earlier (just waiting on pictures from someone else's camera). But I say I don't need a reason to not post right after things happen, since I normally don't anyway.
To make the party penguin-ish, the plan was to swim in cold water, slide on ice, carry an "egg" (rock) on their feet for a race, eat penguin cupcakes, and then they got a couple penguin party favors to take home. Just in case you're looking, there aren't a lot of penguin party favors out there.

It looked like rain was coming, so we didn't put their swimsuits on. I told them they could get their feet wet. They got their clothes wet, too. Sorry party parents.

I can totally understand why Olivia and J. have their skirts pulled all the way up at this point. Grown-ups never get to do anything.

Here's the sliding on ice part. No one else there had done this before. I guess if you have snow to sled on, you don't need ice blocking, but I remember some fun ice blocking YM/YW nights in AZ. Going pretty fast, crashing into each other at the bottom, going back for more . . .

This time, we were trying to push kids down on the ice, while trying to keep them from falling off. That kind of hurts your back. A little more with each kid in line, in fact.

John didn't believe me that it really works, and I couldn't even give a good demonstration because I wasn't wearing very good ice-blocking clothes. Otherwise, you'd see me flying down this hill, of course. Ice in Arizona must be more slippery.

Jackson does have a penguin stuffed animal that he likes, but he hadn't ever talked about penguins before he said he wanted this party. So his penguin is my party decorations. I also tried to get black & white balloons, but the "black" balloons blew up purple and the floral guy couldn't find anything else.

Penguins cupcakes - or maybe baby owls? Familyfun.com does it again.

Sadly, this is one of the best pictures I have of Jackson from the party. He doesn't like the camera, but he did have some smiles on his birthday, really.

Camping

2009-09-20T16:31:00.001-07:00

We went camping last weekend, and went on a hike to some ice caves. I loved this view (below) - you could see snow from the ice caves, flowers and green all around, and fall leaves starting to turn colors up on the mountainside. It was like all the seasons in one. So pretty!

The only part that's not so fun about taking our kids camping is getting them to sleep in the tent. And getting them to stay asleep. We ended up driving two of them around in the car to get them to sleep. Around 4 am, Katelyn woke up again, and would go back to sleep as long as I was standing up with her. Not really what I wanted to do for the rest of the night. In the morning, we had a breakfast of sausage, smoke-flavored scrambled eggs with mosquitos in them, and burnt-on-the-outside, doughy inside cinnamon rolls. Not all food tastes good when you're camping. Yep, it was me who planned the menu. And forgot a couple things, like a pan.

Thanks for the already-reserved campsite, Jones's!

First Day of First Grade

2009-09-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

"I got the nicest teacher in the whole school. She didn't even yell at us."

"My teacher's nice but school isn't even fun." (They did some boring stuff like rules, listening to principal, etc).

"I'm not even the shortest kid in my class anymore. I'm taller than two other kids because they're like really short. One of them's like a preschooler."

The summer catch-up

2009-09-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

We love watching the otters at the zoo.

Gymnastics place, playing in mud, washing mud off, swimming, park, holding bird at zoo, monkey/baby gymnast.

At temple - we're not quite as graceful as they are.

backyard

swimming in Lake Washington

Sweaty survivor from hottest day.

Kids after raspberry picking w/their raspberry covered faces.

Snoqualmie

2009-09-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

Mike came up for a weekend in August, and we hiked to Snoqualmie Falls. At the bottom view point, it was worth climbing over the fence, and past the "Danger, Treacherous, Rocks, You'll Fall . . ." sign with our 3 kids (being the cautious parents that we are), to climb on all these rocks and get a closer view of the falls. It would have been an even better idea if 2 kids didn't need to go potty about 5 minutes after we made our way down the "treacherous" terrain.

Playing on their uncle, "The Park."

Our summer's coming to an end . . .

2009-09-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

But we did have some fun. Here's a little, and soon I'll report on more of what we've been doing lately. If you're lucky.

My favorite part is about the first 4 seconds (if only I could laugh like that). But you can watch these crazies thanking the waves for knocking them over for the rest of the video if you want to, too.

Joy Comes in Moments

2009-09-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

A friend started a discussion on another blog on this topic:
Lately I have found myself having a harder time than usual being a stay-at-home mom. I am searching for ways to find more satisfaction in doing the laundry and sweeping for the tenth time today and constantly breaking up bickering, and cooking dinner. Do you ever experience feelings like this? What makes being a stay-at-home mom hard for you? What makes it worth it to you? What gives you daily satisfaction? Where does your inspiration come from?
She got some great responses, and if blogger would let me cut and paste, I would share some of them. But here's part of my response:
I don't really have the desire to go back to work. Deciding to be a "stay-at-home-mom" isn't the hard part for me. Doing it with patience and cheerfulness, that's a different story. Yes, at times I would love to turn my housekeeping duties over to a maid and pursue plenty of more exciting, well, pursuits. Once, while getting my hair cut, the girl cutting it said, "Oh, you're a stay-at-home-mom? I don't think I could ever just sit around all day like that." Right.
When I first became a mom, someone told me to remember the phrase, "This too shall pass." It didn't sound like very good advice at the time, as I thought, "I don't want this time to pass!"
But it reminds me that life won't always be this way.
I won't always be getting snacks, making lunches, having a dishwasher full of every color of plastic. I won't always have those days when I spend an entire mrning trying to accomplish the single task of finally getting my floors mopped, only to have juice spilled everywhere.
But. I won't always have those little hands to hold, the squishy cheeks to kiss, the arms reaching out, needing me.
The days of hearing squeals of delight from "I'm gonna get you" or seeing the treasures they find for me are short lived, as are the days of stepping in a puddle of pee on the bathroom floor. (Hopefully, you never know what the future could hold).
Opposition in all things. Motherhood wouldn't bring so much joy if we didn't have the bad to help us know the sweetness of the good.
As for the daily grind of sweeping, picking up toys AGAIN, folding laundry AGAIN, I don't know the answer to always finding satisfaction in that. And as for trying to get some cleaning done, while your kids whine and fight, and making it worse by being impatient with them, or instead putting on a movie for them (again) and feeling guilty about that . . . I still need lots of answers.
I love the saying "you comes in moments." It's okay if we're not always feeling it.
Something I read recently said to think of houscleaning as the special work of providing a place of peace for your family. (Though I haven't fully signed on to that rosy attitude). But I am finally figuring out how to keep my house consistently in some state of order, which does wonders for my mood. I have a few things I try to do each morning to keep the house running smoothly. If I finish those, I feel a sense of accomplishment, as opposed to just thinking of the endless work that I would like to get done. On busy days, I can let some things go (like the toy room), but still have clean clothes, clean dishes, and the living room tidied up.
Every job has its drudgery. But when we're old, looking back, I know this "job" of being a mom and teacher to these little ones will have more lasting fulfillment than anything else could.
One of my babies is starting first grade, one turned four-years-old this week, and my tiniest just started nursery. I'm starting to believe those random people at the grocery store who tell me, "They'll be grown before you know it." And Abby, it sometimes makes me weep, too! But for now, My Little Pony is about to marry Optimus Prime, and I'm invited.

So what's your response/comment to those questions?

Then and Now

2009-08-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Then

and now.

Some recent projects

2009-08-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

. . . and by recent, I mean like the last six months. This summer, I haven't done many projects. But I've added to my list of projects I want to do, and some of those on my list are ideas I've seen on other people's blogs, so I thought I'd put a few I've done on here. They're not that impressive, but I always like ideas that are do-able enough for me to actually finish.

I saw this idea on my friend SJ's blog - a holder for girl's headbands and hairclips. The headband one just has a roll of paper towels inside.

Really bad picture of skirt for me (ignore the model), and skirt for Olivia below. The fabric for Olivia and Katelyn's "spring skirts" is still sitting by my sewing machine.

A friend brought me some fabric and asked me to make some chair covers for her chairs. It was easier the second time around - my mom helped me figure out exactly how I wanted them the first time, so I could just copy.

The before and after of the baby mullet.

Okay, the last one doesn't really count as a project.

2009-08-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

We did a yard sale with a friend last Saturday. ONE person came. They spent a dollar. One dollar!
Lemonade is a much better business to be in.

Tonight, we told the kids to go get pj's on. A few minutes later, this parade came back chanting, "We're Olivia, we're Olivia!" They are all wearing a pair of her pajamas. It wasn't quite as cute (or modest) when I put one of her shirts on, so I didn't get to be in the picture.

Maybe because she lives on a busy street, maybe no one wanted kid/baby stuff that day - we don't know why we sat out there for three hours and got one customer.
At the lemonade stand, lots of people stopped. Probably not really for the lemonade, but because they didn't want to feel like a jerk for not giving a kid a quarter. Jackson thought it might be better to do a water stand next time so we wouldn't have to buy the lemonade. After a while, Olivia thought I should sit out there and sell while they went to do other things. That's when we closed shop with a total of about $10!
Jackson got to try some raspberry soda this week. After a couple sips, he said, "Mom, do you know raspberry juice steams out your mouth?"
That's kind of how I feel about carbonation. Safer to drink lemonade.

Summer

2009-07-25T20:48:00.001-07:00

Trouble

2009-07-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

My sweet, happy baby has turned into pure trouble! She is fearless and always wants to go UP. I pull off of our kitchen table about 20 times a day.
She wiggles out of the straps in the front of the shopping cart and stands up in there. So I put her in the back of the cart where she can stand but not fall out - except now she can climb out of there, too! At Target this week, I caught her with one leg over the side, about to fall on her head. So I got her out of the cart while we looked at some things, and her favorite thing to do then is run away from me - laughing as I chase her, and crying as Olivia carries her back to me. (And with Jackson whining that he wants a snack or wants to go home, and Olivia asking for everything she sees, it makes for a fun time at Target).
At the park, I was pushing Katelyn on one of the baby swings. I turned to check on Olivia and Jackson, and when I turned back, she was perched on the BACK of the swing, still swinging, and with a big smile on her face.

She may not grow out of this, but maybe she'll get smarter soon because she doesn't need any more bumps on the head.
She gets on every desk, table, or top of stroller, rides our rocking horse standing up, uses the back of a chair as a ladder, and just likes to scare her mama.