potty trained

These photos show her personality so well.

I don't want to curse myself in saying this, but Claire is potty trained! She was so different from the boys, she had to do it in her own way. She would not be bribed. It had to be her idea and the best reinforcement was wild enthusiastic praise from her brothers. We had some difficulty when they got tired of giving it. But she has done well. We have few accidents now and it's usually when I'm not paying enough attention. I am so glad not to have to spend that money on diapers! I should reward myself, no?

Andrew is 9

For Andrew's birthday we took the kids to a fun house nearby. It wasn't busy on a Tuesday night and the kids played so well with each other. Mom and Dad had fun too.

Happy Birthday Andrew! You are such a kind and smart boy. We are so glad to have you as our first born son. I hope you continue to grow and develop your talents. We love you more and more every year.

starting young

Claire thinks she is old enough to start wearing make-up.
She discovered that her potty chair is also a stool and used it to get into my make-up.
That is waterproof mascara all over her face.

She also wants more responsibility and has taken on vacuuming.
Although I think that vacuum weighs twice as much as she does.

dads and dinner

This is Mike.

This is Mike trying to avoid getting his picture taken while making dinner.

I don't remember what he made or how it turned out.
But the gesture was adorable.

bubble baths and brothers

This is Andrew.

This is Andrew doing his self-proclaimed brotherly duty to scare his sister Claire.

This is Claire.

Claire is confused if this is a foot bath or a bubble bath.

I recommend

(book one)


(book two)
(book three is coming in 2010)

I recommend reading the "Hunger Games" trilogy. It's my new favorite book. I read it in less than 48 hours because I couldn't put it down. It has a good plot and it makes you think about life in a new way.

And, have you heard about Google Reader? I love it! Any website you read that has an RSS feed will go to Reader when the page is updated. For example, when my friends put up a new post on their blog it goes to my Reader. Or if I'm doing a job search and a new job is posted, it goes to my Reader. It saved tons of time because you don't have to indivually check each blog you read or re-search everytime. Just go to Google Reader and they will tell you what's new since the last time you checked! Go to Google, look for "reader" across the top, then click "add subsription" and enter your favorite blog and websites one at a time.



Next, I recommend you read my funny sister-in-laws blog. She has quite a talent for humor. Reading her posts brightens my day. Her blog address is http://jayandlindsay.blogspot.com/

here's two of my
favorite
posts

In fact, you should add her blog to your Google Reader!

I also recommend, Pandora.com. It's free internet radio. But you get to taylor it to your own likes and dislikes. Check out Eva Cassidy on Pandora. ( I have to give credit to my friend Lindsay who told me about Pandora- Thanks Linz)

And one more: Goodreads.com is a site where you can connect with friends and share books that you enjoyed or didn't enjoy. You can also create reading list of books you've read or would like to read.

Comment and tell me what are your new (or old) favorite things.

memories (then and now)

Andrew's hair today reminded me of my brothers when they were little. Kinda random but I wanted to show them(my brothers) the picture.



These are some sweet postcards that Ethan made for me and Claire. My favorite it "you are cyout" to Claire. (c-you-t=cute)


There is nothing better than a sleeping child. However, imagine if a child were to take their pj's and diaper off before falling asleep without her parents knowing. Yes, she did. She wakes up crying and Mike goes in and she is buck naked and wet all over cuddled in a ball. So sad and yet so funny.

Jay, do you like the pillow case. I think I told you I would give it to you but the kids couldn't part with it yet.

dddooouuuggghhnnnuuutttsss (doughnuts)

I was feeling ambitious and I made some home-made doughnuts tonight for out "late night" snack. (on friday night the boys get to stay up late and pick a special snack if they earned enough "stars" that week)

and they turned out gooooooood!

YUMMY!

I love our new family pictures! (see side) I love the girl who took them too. Maybe she will be in Utah next summer to take next years?.... :0)

Deer for Dinner

So, someone gave us some deer roasts and we had it for dinner tonight. This was the first time I have ever eaten deer and I didn't know what people refer to as a "gamey" taste. I still don't really. I cooked the meat like I do a beef roast, with a package of onion soup mix. I was hoping it would hide this myterious gamey flavor and make me think I was eating beef. I was partially successful, it really did taste like beef roast. But I couldn't get past the psychology of it. Eating deer. I don't know. Mike loved it and the kids had no idea it was deer until they were done so they ate it fine. So I tried tricking myself into forgetting it was deer and it tasted much better. The flavor was fine, and I cooked it so long it wasn't totally tough (the meat was falling apart but something about was still hard to chew) Not bad at all. Do I want to have it again? Not really, but if I had to I could. My brother says deer in the midwest tastes better. I'll have to try that sometime, maybe.

the chair

My mother brought Claire this darling little chair on her last visit. At first thought, oh so cute. Claire loved it! She used it to get into everything! So, Mike put it up on the ledge. Claire reaches and says "my chair high" with a pouty face. Sorry Claire. Sorry Grandma. We will have to try again when she had grown out of her mischievous phase. (I've told myself it IS a phase and she WILL grow out of it- right guys?)

Halloween

CANDY!!!

Darth Maul

Luke Skywalker and Darth Maul

Claire did not want her picture taken.
This was at the ward party.

We had a great Halloween even though it somehow did not include carving pumpkins and traditional trick-or-treating. We had the ward party with trunk or treat on Thurs. Then on Saturday we did trick or treating on main street. Then we came home for dinner and we were going to go back out but Mike had got them excited about watching Star Wars they said they had enough candy and we stayed home and watched the movie. The day was so busy that we didn't fit in carving pumpkins like we had planned so we just put them on our porch and I baked them for pumpkin treats.
Andrew has also gotten to an age where he wants to be scary for Halloween. Also, I made their cloaks! I know it was a simple sewing project for the expert but for me it was a challenge and a learning experience. The boys were so thrilled with them, they wouldn't take them off for days. That's what it's all about right?

Slime

I had some borax from the laundry detergent recipe and I remembered you could do fun slime recipes with it too. So on the boy's day off from school we made and then played with slime and silly putty. They played with it nearly all day! It was a hit.

self-reliant oh ya

A lady I visit teach told me how to make my own laundry detergent and I did it!!! I know it sounds dorky but I am so excited about it. It's SOOOO cheap. It was easy to make. It made a ton. AND Mike is not allergic to it!


You want to make it too?! Here's the recipe:

1 bar Felz Naptha - Shave/ grate it. Put in a small pot, cover with water and melt over low heat.
Mix it with 4.5 gal of hot water in a 5 gal. bucket.
Add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda but it is made by arm and hammer)
May use immediately.
Note: it's a little more lumpy that commercial detergent. That's ok though it works great!

LOVE IT!

(I got the stuff at Macey's and yes it cleans wonderfully!)

Claire Bear

Claire is changing and growing so much. Her hair has finally grown back out (after the mullet cut) long enough for pig tails! :0)

This is the first time I've curled her hair. She got to play in my jewelry box so I could get the job done. And the curl didn't even stay the five minutes it took to get to church. I love her brown dress. I coveted it from a lady at church and was so happy when I found out she was selling it in a garage sale!





She's becoming more opinionated about what she wears. So far it's only shoes and hair accessories. But I'm sure her opinion about clothes is next. She chose the hat and shoes in this picture. She's sneaking into the boys room while they are away at school. Classic little sis.




She's been using the sit n' spin as a stool to get to whatever she wants. Usually the sink.

She's also talking more and more. She will usually try to repeat what I tell her to. She's very independent and says "I do, I do" followed by "I did it!!!"
We love our little Claire Bear. She's such a stinker sometimes but she is so cute!