I'm not exagerating

when I say if she's not watching t.v. (and I am not watching her EVERY second) she is getting in trouble.

bubble maker

These are the ingredients to make a super bubble maker.


I learned you have to get the cloth REALLY soapy. And double or triple the cheese cloth. And put a towel down.




Because you get LOTS of BUBBLES!!!

This is how I entertained the kids on their day off.

Dress up

Claire plays dress-up a little different from most little girls. Instead of princess dresses and high heals she wears dino costumes and cowboy hats.

A little girl with older brothers

Remember when Ethan used to wear this costume?

that's love

Mike and I also had our TEN YEAR wedding anniversary! My parents said they would watch the kids and we got a hotel in Salt Lake. The morning of our departure the boys woke up sick. Mike and I still left and Gma and Gpa took care of our sick kids. That's love. I felt awful but the room was non-refundable. Sorry Mom and Dad. Thank you Mom and Dad.

I love having been married for ten years. It's such a good place to be. Our love is so much more that I imagined in the early days. We are comfortable with each other, we understand each other, we accept each other. We are there for each other. That's love. I love you hunny.

The irony is I don't have any recent pictures of us together. One of us is usually holding the camera. And we didn't do a couple shot at our last family photo shoot. Note to self: take more pictures of us together.

Christmas vacation

This is our kid-friendly Christmas tree. One year I will have a beautiful, intentionally decorated tree. But for now it is this and I love it.

(We had light issues. Some of the lights decided to be tempermental)

Grandma found this beautiful winter dress for Claire and had to buy it. Now we are finding blue sparkles everywhere. I co-ordinate my Sunday outfit with he so the blue sparkles are more of an accessory than a mess. The other day i saw a blue sparkle on Mike's face and another in Claire's hair, weeks after she had last worn the dress.

But she loves to wear it. She says, "I pretty" and twirls.
It's worth it.

On Christmas Eve day Claire comes up to me growling and pulls me over to the tree to reveal this. She had opened Ethan's present. Ethan had already guessed what it was by some classic detective work and this just proved him right.

We have been waiting all winter for some good "snowman snow." We thought this was it but it wasn't. They still had fun anyway. Apparently Claire loves the snow. Even after an hour of playing in it she cried when Mike brought her in.




My parents came down to our house for Christmas this year. It was so wonderful. We had such a relaxing time that we forgot to take pictures. This was minutes before they left and it is the only picture we have with them.
If it wasn't the only one I wouldn't have posted it because I look awful.

We had a great time playing. We took another trip to Jumpin Jacks fun house, went to the movies (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), played "Trouble," and ate at In-N-Out Burger! It was a weird visit because we didn't do all the things we normally do. Bake, eat a ton, bowling, craft projects and lots of outings. We think maybe it is because it was too cold. But we had such a great time making memories and hanging out. Thanks for coming to us so we could be together without us t haveing to travel at Christmas in the snow.

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.