February 2009: Mom's Birthday

Ok, so I realized I have some serious catching up to do. What a wonderful grandma my mom is, to want to spend her birthday with her grandkids at Disneyland! We had a great time! I think Mom did too:-)

Just to spice things up, let me tell you that 2 seconds after this photo Vanessa asked me to take their family's photo. While I was doing this Owen climbed up to the second level of rocks by the waterfall. Talk about panic city and major trouble!

Tate loves the "fishy ride" as he calls it. We rode it probably 4-5 times in a row while the bigger kids were on Toy Story. The sheer joy on his face as he went around and around was hilarious. I tried to pry him off the fish after the first time but he wrapped his little arms and legs around it and kept saying "fishy ride again". Thankfully there was hardly anyone there so they let us go as many times as I could take:-)

May 2009: Eyan's New Favorite Song - Love Story meets Viva la Vida

My little Eyan loves music! He has a real ear and a great mind for memorizing. He is able to sing all kinds of songs even after only hearing them once. When he is not singing, he is humming. Humming playing legos, humming doing puzzles, humming...humming...humming. He doesn't even realize he's doing it. A little girl sang Taylor Swift's "Love Story" at our church's talent show and he has loved hearing it ever since. When we were forwarded this beautiful piano and cello duet arranged by LDS artist Jon Schmidt entitled "Love Story (Taylor Swift) meets Viva la Vida (Coldplay)" he found his favorite new song. We have watched it over and over. He told me he likes the "jello" guy:-) He also asks me each time we watch it what the doggie's name is, so I told him I would ask. If we hear back from Jon Schmidt we'll let you know what it is. I looked on Jon Schmidt's website and it takes you to a link that shows that this video is the 12th ranked video on YouTube, right below Twilight, Eminem, and Kanye West. Pretty awesome! Good for him.
Eyan would like to share this video with you to enjoy.
P.S. Make sure to pause my Playlist in order to enjoy the video!
P.P.S. A lot of the screen is cut off so if you want to see the whole picture visit the YouTube video here!

May 2009: "Would You Rather...?"

I'm sure all of you have heard of the board game "Would You Rather...?" or some version of it. Any "So You Married An Axe Murderer" movie fan would know it as well. Owen got a little version of it in his kid's meal at Arbys this week. Usually they are not that funny but some of these really made me chuckle at the images they conjured up.

"Would you rather...
have eyebrows that make a complete circle around your face OR
have flat eyelashes that stick out 10 inches and cannot be trimmed?

"Would you rather...
have long arms that hang all the way to the ground OR
be 7 feet tall but have only 2-foot legs?

"Would you rather...
have to turn around 3 times before you sit down anywhere...like a dog OR
do a little dance before you go through any doorway?

Can you imagine if we really had to choose some of this stuff? Maybe we had to do some form of it in heaven. Would you rather turn really red anytime you are embarrassed OR trip over yourself when everyone is watching? Wait I got both of these!
I would love to hear any fun questions you have heard and/or your answers.

My answers: definitely the eyelashes-my eyebrows are big enough already, the long arms-I'd fold them a lot, do a little dance-Mike told us all we had to do this when we got home, it was fun to watch our cute litte boys shake their booties as they walked in the house:-)

April 2009: More Family Photos

I lost the CD of our family photo shoot but found it last night! It was so fun to go through all of them. My boys are all so handsome. Look at how hot Mike is with his guns:-) I absolutely love how these came out. I wanted something different, something fun. I think it was a success!

May 2009: Third Time's the Charm

Well we are on to computer number 3 this year thanks to the generous Bennett family. Third time has got to be the charm. I am thinking about naming the computer in hopes that we will create some type of better relationship than the previous 2. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

I think it will really take awhile for me to get back into using a computer. I have to admit it was rather nice in some regards not feeling tied to all the things the internet brings. I do look forward to catching up with you all.

April 2009: New Family Portraits

Photo shoots with 3 boys is exhausting for everyone! Tate officially stepped into the endearing age of 2 this week. He did not want anyone to hold him. Its a good thing he's so cute! Grandma's full time job was chasing after him and trying to get him to smile and hold still for 2 seconds. I absolutely LOVE these photos. Here are 2 of my favorites. Thanks again Cheryl:)

March 2009: It's Official- I'm cursed!

Well dear friends, It has been fun hearing from you. I think just maybe, people finally started looking at my blog again and then.... nothing from me. Well, let me just apologize and say that it is official, I am cursed!!! Its a long sob story of one problem or another with computers. Here's the basics: downloaded a virus on our computer called Anti-Virus 2009. It is a malicious virus meant to look like it is affiliated with Windows and is an ... you guessed it, anti-virus program. It is one of the worst kinds, it is actually launched with the turning on of your computer. So our computer is fried. So my brother and sister-in-law graciously let us have their old PC, since they have a fancy new Mac. I downloaded all of their personal files onto an external harddrive- thankfully -, used it once and now it will no longer turn on -nothing- zip-zilch- nada. I am lucky my mom is letting me use hers since I'm sure it will explode once I go to turn it off.
So in the mean time-call me, text me, send me photos in the mail.
Hopefully there will be a happy sequel soon.
Miss you all!!!

February 2009: The Tooth Fairy Forgot to Come

This morning I was awakened by a very sad 6 yr old who said, "Mom, the tooth fairy didn't come last night. I slept on the side of my pillow so he could get to my tooth under it." Aahhhh! How could the tooth fairy have overlooked that?

Poor little "O" was so brave when the amazingly patient, song-singing dentist yanked out his tooth. (It was suggested by my mother-in-law not to use the word "yank" in front of Owen, and I definitely agree.) He really did a great job despite his immense anxiety, although I have to hand it to this dentist, who I might add, did all her work whilest composing a new version of "Mary had a Little Lamb" in which Mary and the lamb travel to the mall. She really is an amazing pedia-dentist (is that a term?). She had Owen wiggle his fingers to relax. It worked pretty well in combination with the trance-like verses of "The lamb he fell asleep at the mall, asleep at the mall, asleep at the mall... Mary used the loud speaker, loud speaker, loud speaker, Mary used the loud speaker to ask for help to find him..."

So after all that, how could the Tooth Fairy-- who, by the way, is named Joe and lives under the stairs and builds his house out of teeth he collects--forget? Owen came to his own conclusion, having read his "Tooth Fairy Book" the night before, that he had failed to "follow the instructions" by not leaving a note for him. I tried to explain to him that perhaps since he wakes up at about 6:00 - 6:30 am that Joe came and had to leave because he woke up too early. Mike suggested maybe Joe was on vacation. Owen thankfully is convinced that because he didn't leave a note and perhaps because he or Eyan had stayed up too late, that Joe didn't come. Mike reassured him that the Tooth Fairy would definitely come tonight. I'm counting on it too!

Would love to hear any explanations you may have as to why the Tooth Fairy didn't come! Maybe this has never happened in your house, but be ready:-)

February 2009: Muffins with Mom

First off, if you haven't had a chance to take my poll and read "You are needed!", I would really appreciate your input!:-)

Owen's school has a fun annual event, Muffins with Mom, in which Owen and I enjoy breakfast together in the school cafeteria. I do have to say that I am jealous of Mike's event, Donuts with Dad. I am much more a donut person:-) Here I am with my darling boys before Owen and I leave for school.

Owen has a hollow leg. We cannot believe how much he eats. We have to monitor him or he'll eat himself sick. He can never commit to having a favorite anything, but I think his favorite thing to consume is chocolate milk. His face lights up anytime he hears the words and the characters in the stories he writes or in pictures he draws seem to always end up with chocolate milk. He drank 2 cups of chocolate milk and almost 2 whole muffins-we're talking Costco muffins. Sometimes Owen seems so "old" to me because he is my oldest and because he's so dang smart. I forget that he's the cute, short little 1st grader with the oversized backpack.

After the breakfast, he tenderly said "goodbye" to me and then went off towards the playground. I went back to my car and drove around to the back of the school where the playground is. The breakfast was before the normal school hours, so there were only a few kids on the playground. I parked my car and watched my sweet little boy run out onto the playground by himself. Mike and I wonder when this "run everywhere" phase of his will end. As soon as he steps out of the car to go to school in the morning, it automatically converts into a sprint. Its got to be those "fast shoes" he has.

That morning I watched him decide where he was going to play first. I saw him find where his class line would be and put down his new Lightning McQueen backpack. I watched him take off his jacket, only to put it back on again moments later. It made me chuckle because we go through this you're-going-to-wear-a-jacket-today scene almost every morning because of course "I'm not going to be cold Mom". Then I watched him sprint over to the playset -jacket on- to begin his school day. I lost sight of him and decided to leave. I'm not sure when it will stop for me, but I get a little pull on my heart strings every morning I watch him enter those school gates. Days like this, when I have a moment to just stop and think about my little boy are too far in between.

January 2009: Backyard Bliss

We are so lucky to live in Southern California with a great backyard. Generally speaking, this is a rare thing, at least in our area. Our backyard is near perfect for 3 little boys. I say near perfect because Owen reminds me that there is no plain dirt to dig in. We'll have to remember that for our next house, which with our record, could be sooner than we think. I love these photos of the boys outside.

I think this one has to be my favorite. Look at the glee in that little smile! That wiggly worm just made a best friend.

Here's E trying out his skates. He's doing pretty good. He eventually decided to put on the elbow and knee pads though:-)

And here is typical O, devising a way to read outside in style. I love sitting back and watching him with a plan!

Keeping the screen door closed is a challenge. The boys are constantly in and out. Here's T taking a break from the outside to line up and then realign his cars. It makes me laugh watching his methodical ways:-)