Done List

I had a post written out in my mind of all the things I wish I were doing but am not.  Luckily before I sat down at the laptop I stopped myself and decided to write a post on all the things I am doing.  This isn't meant to be a bragging list.  Just a reminder to myself that I am accomplishing something. Even if it's not all I think I should be doing.

1. Read with Sophie tonight.  In Spanish.  OK. She read to me in Spanish.  Against her will.  She thought I chose dumb books from the library, but once she started I couldn't get her to stop.  Watch out world, Sophie will conquer you!













2. The dishes.  Always an accomplishment.



3.  I made this.  All of it.  Including the shoes.  (Just a quick shout out to Liberty Jane's amazing patterns.  If you're ever in the need for doll clothes, check them out here!)

4. I exercise at least 3x a week.  I'd like to do more, but for now 3x is good enough.



5. I took 5 minutes tonight to be awe-struck by the beauty and vastness of a star studded night.  Even in the city the stars never cease to amaze me.



(All images found via google image search.  Except the one of my doll Saige.  I took that. ;)

Here's to getting stuff done!

Bells Canyon

A couple of Saturdays ago Jeff and I took the kids hiking. His friend at work had told him about this hike in Bell's Canyon that went to a hidden lake.  So.  We grabbed some snacks and water and headed to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The kids did really well and had lots of fun.  Even Chloe had a good time.  The kids made some walking sticks over memorial weekend and got lots of compliments on them from the other hikers.  McKay was wishing we had a canoe to row on the lake.

I think we'll find some other family-friendly hikes to take them on this summer.

Sharing What's Working For Us

I'm constantly looking for ways to make working easier, more fun, more interesting, etc for my kids.  And while I'm at it can we throw in something where they seem more willing and actually do a decent job and maybe perhaps see some consistent cleanliness is certain areas?  I hate to sound like an infomercial testimonial, but I found something that works!!

The funny thing is it's so simple it's almost dumb.  I can't even take credit for the idea.  Some wise grandmother suggested it to me about 2 months ago and I cannot believe how it's changed my life at home.

Here it is:

See?  Simplicity.  Each kid has responsibility for his/her room and one other area in the house (which rotates on a weekly basis).  If they do the job, they get a plus.  If they don't do it (or have a bad attitude, are sloppy, etc), they get a minus.  If they practice the piano for the allotted amount of time, they get a "B" for bonus.  They can earn a certain amount each week based on their age. For every minus, I get to deduct 25 cents.

So far it's had a lot of benefits.  The kids are helping more.  They're happier (at least I think so).  I'm happier.  They're learning about saving, paying tithing and spending.  Things aren't perfect, but they're consistent.  (And consistently clean)

What's a winter with no snow?

Heaven.

Unless you got a new sled for Christmas.  Then it's the pits.  Luckily for my little troops we had some decent snow a little while back and on a Saturday too!  Jeff got them all bundled up first thing in the morning and took the 3 older ones sledding.  I stayed home with the baby and lamented the end of 50+ degree January days.

Grandpa

My Grandpa passed away this last Tuesday.  My mom volunteered herself along with me to help put pictures together to display at the funeral.  It was such a treat as I've never seen any of these pictures before.  Or even any of my grandparents from their early years.  I thought I'd share just a few of my favorites.

Grandma and Grandpa, Driggs, Idaho.  I think about 1945(?).   Not quite married.

Grandpa served in the military for 2 years.  First in Camp Roberts, CA and later in both Germany and Torino, Italy.  Just as he was called to the front lines, the war ended.

 Grandpa home on furlough:

My Grandpa came from a teeny, tiny town in Idaho.  Love his cowboy hat.

I'm really looking forward to sending my off-track kids back to school.  I've loved having them home (mostly), but I'm not getting any Christmas stuff done. Fortunately they go back on Monday.  Wahoo!!

Earlier this month we headed out to Denver to visit Jeff's parents.  Last time we drove I-70 there.  Yuck.  And I-80 back.  Double Yuck.  This time we flew.  Awesome.  The kids did spectacularly on the flight.  Even with the hour delay.  Going through airport security with 4 little kids is quite a feat, I'll tell you.  The kids were great.  Six people with one back pack each, plus laptop, plus purse, plus stroller is a lot of stuff.  It was totally worth it though to see the kids excitement through the whole process.  On the way home (a 7-something a.m. flight) we had several people compliment us on our well-behaved children and baby.  (Like I could control the baby's behavior. lol.)  If dirt cheap flights ever come up again, I'd fly with them again in a heart beat.

While there we took the kids back to the Natural History Museum.  This time we checked out an exhibit all about our bodies, health, etc. McKay loved it. No, he really loved it.  We went the first day and he asked to go back every day after.  We were able to take the girls to the American Girl store as well.  Let's just say there was a lot of love that weekend. :)  Sadly, we found out too late there is a Lego store in the same shopping center.  Next time, McKay.

How fun to run into good friends far from home.  Terry, our old neighbor, has been doing a lot of work in Denver.  Jeff called him up and invited him over for dinner.

And just for fun. Sophie was channeling her inner Lady Gaga.  Never mind the fact that she doesn't know who Gaga is. :)

Hello, sad little blog

I've missed you.  A lot.  While we've been apart, I've done lots of fun things.  Both with friends and family.  Like having silly Twilight parties

Going to the pumpkin patch:

A trip to the cabin:

Celebrating Halloween:

In between all the fun stuff and yummy food I get to eat this time of year, it's just been the same-ol' thing.  Homework, dance, soccer, piano.  Oh.  Not for me.  My kids do all these things.  I just mostly try to keep the mess to a minimum, hunger under control (theirs and mine-hehe), and some good quality time with this cute guy I kinda like. ;)  Lyndsi has started her orthodontic visits at the beginning of the month and just last week she had her expander put in.  She's not loving it.  It's hard to eat and talk, and she has a new slurping issue that didn't existed prior to her new appliances.  McKay is doing well in school and is reading Harry Potter.  Sophie couldn't be happier to be in kindergarten.  K-kids are the best!  And Chloe.  My sweet little angel.  She's so big and is so delightful to have around.  She loves to entertain us all!  It's been a great October.  We really should catch up more.  Maybe we can do lunch sometime?  Mwah!

Love,
Me

Visiting Grandpa

My grandpa is not doing well.  My mom suggested that we might want to go visit, just in case.  Jeff and I decided to take the kids over last night and I'm so glad we did. 

Grandpa is at the point where the main goal is to just keep him comfortable.  He's on oxygen and seemed to wheeze quite a bit.  My parents visited with him on Friday and Mom said he barely said two words the whole time.  When we got there he was watching the end of Bonanza with my grandma. We handed the baby over to Grandma (she's a baby-lover for sure!).  As soon as Grandpa saw Chloe, he perked right up, playing with the baby, cooing at her, singing to her.  He held her without dropping her, even though she was a little heavy for his frail muscles.  Chloe was so good for him, too.  She was bright eyed and showed no anxiety being held by a strange old man with tubes strapped to his face. I'm really glad we took the time to go visit.

Our Own California Adventure

A week is never a long enough vacation for me. I wish I had more time to vacate with my little family, but the time we did have was great.

We hit the beach

Sophie is still terrified of someone being thrown in the ocean.  It still makes me laugh.  Personally, I prefer smaller, more secluded beaches like on this trip.

Disneyland was great.  I didn't know how Sophie would do with the meeting the characters.  She can be a little shy and unsure, but she loved it.  McKay and Lyndsi still loved it as well. 

We spent a lot of time in Fantasy Land.  I didn't mind, though.  The kids all (except Chloe who, obviously, didn't meet height requirements) wend on the bigger rides: Space Mountain, The Matterhorn, and Big Thunder Railroad.  Pirates wasn't as scary.  The Buzz Lightyear ride was just as awesome as remembered.  Pinocchio's Daring Adventure gets the award for Most Times Ridden. (Thanks Soph.)  Our time at the Haunted Man was extended due to the ride breaking down for a minute.  Jeff and I happened to get to do that one with just the two of us.  It really was kind of nice.  We were headed down hill (going backwards) in the graveyard section when the ride came to a halt.  There was a nice starry sky, a cool breeze, a cute boy by my side...Oh and the most annoying bird ever screeching "Caw! Caw!) every thirty seconds or so.  Which is fine for a minute, but 10 minutes later I was ready for a BB gun. ;) 

McKay and Sophie spent most of their time clamoring for their dad's favor.  McKay, ever the gracious one, often ended up with a different riding companion and left Dad to his persistent little sister.  Which left Lyndsi and Chloe completely to myself and we had a grand time together.

We traded lots of pins.  My parents, brother and his girlfriend were having a grand time with this and stopped at every pin trader we saw.

Captain Eo was playing.  We were all so excited to see it, but in the end it was a little lame.  At least the dancing was awesome.  We watched the birds and flowers sing in the Enchanted Tiki Room, toured Sleeping Beauty's castle and stood in line for hours to meet Rapunzel, princesses, and Fairies.  Thankfully McKay spared us by opting out of watching Jedi training. :)  The hours in line were worth it though to see Sophie squeal with excitement when she saw Belle.

Of course you can't see the excitement here, but she was SO excited.

Disneyland was great, but we spent a lot more time in CA Adventure than I would've thought.  Not quite the same feel as DL, but much less crowded and had some perks of it's own.  Like the Monsters Inc ride.  We've done it before, but had a lot of fun on it this time.  We met Sully, too!  There were all kinds of fun street performances (including The Incredibles and The Little Green Men drum corps) and outdoor stage ones (That Mickey can really bust a  groove!)  My mom convinced us that we had to see the Aladdin show, which was awesome.  We did the Tower of Terror (McKay even tried it!  but-couldn't convince the girls),

 Bugs Land (still not my favorite place), and the more carnival-ish pier rides.  Toy Story Mania was SO much fun.  Didn't dig the Jumping Jellyfish.  Something about not being in an enclosed car makes me nervous.  (Loved Tower of Terror, though!)  We had a great time on River Rapids, too.

  At least Mom, Lyndsi and I did.  Thankfully we all had on quick drying clothes, though. ;)  And as predicted, my mom loved Soaring Over California.  I was surprised though that the kids all loved it too.

The World of Color fizzled out on us the first night we tried to watch it.  We caught it Friday night (our last night), but by then I was one.  My feet hurt after 5 days of navigating a stroller through two amusement parks, keeping 5 people fed, hydrated, SPF'd and happy, and standing in line.  It was pretty, but I wasn't super impressed.  But don't take my grumpy, end-of-trip, fatigued opinion.  See it for yourself.

One thing we did that was a fun little surprise was the Talk with Crush (from finding nemo).  The kids had a great time.  In the same building, we got to see a demonstration of how the animation was done for Toy Story and the kids and Jeff attended a class where they learned to draw Goofy.  (The results were surprisingly good!)  While they were in class, I stayed out in the lobby with a sleeping baby and watched clips of all Disney's cartoons in their various stages of animation.

It was such a great trip.  (Cue music- "When you wish upon a star")

Now time to get back to reality.



A Little Catch Up

There's been a lot going on around here.  Instead of several posts, we'll just do a little re-cap.

Chloe started baby food!

She also just had her 4 month check up (at almost 5 months. Oops.)  She weighs 13 lb 10 oz (25-50%) and is 26 inches long (90-95%).  She's still a happy smiley baby who makes some of the strangest baby noises.  We are all completely in love still.

Sophie has been begging for quite some time to get her ears pierced.  After learning how to write her last name, she finally got it done.  For the record, she didn't cry one bit. No watery eyes either.  She's also very diligent about keeping them clean and twisted. 

I am embracing another year in my 30s.  Jeff, the kids, and my parents spoiled me once again.  The girls got me a new turtle garden stone, McKay made me a Club Penguin (his new favorite thing) journal all on his own.  Jeff downloaded the Goose Girl for me on his Kindle (which I am liking reading on a kindle). He also got me a new CD, the movie "Young Victoria" and is taking me shopping for running shoes.  My parents gave me jewelry, a dress and a skirt.  My favorite surprise?  Jeff picked up this awesome red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  It was SO good.

Lyndsi had crazy hair day at school and for once gave me enough notice so we could have a little fun with it. She loved her hair and wore it all day, including to dance.

McKay has been dead to the world.  Apparently the flu is going around.  Wash your hands people.  I've only seen my poor boy wake and talking for a few hours over the last 3 1/2 days.  Thankfully he's up and about today showing interest in both food and activity.  Hopefully we'll be back to school tomorrow.

And Jeff? You're guess is as good as mine.  He's currently slaving away for the tax monster.  Less than 2 weeks now!  Can't wait for this tax season to be over. Ugh.

And just because she's cute and I love this new thing she's doing with her finger, a little more Chloe.

Picture Updates

I think we have some major silliness headed our way.  6 wks old and already pulling faces for the camera. ;)

 Ahhh...six weeks with a baby.  Chloe is:
recognizing mom and dad's voices
eating  4 oz bottles
not really loving her baths
loves her changing table
that's where we do tummy time
is super snuggle
has those gorgeous dark blue baby eyes
sports the sweetest little cheeks you've ever kissed
can pull a pouty face like no one else has here
is super snugly
has her big brother wrapped around her little finger (and grandpa and dad and....)
is a complete joy to have in our family

 Sophie loves:
dressing herself
decorating Christmas trees (or doing anything else that requires attention to detail)
having friends come play at her new house in her new, big bedroom
her baby sister
Dale Twinkle (our Christmas elf)
Grampy (my dad)

 McKay is into:
1st grade (loves it)
making up games with "levels" in our new house (which also has many levels)
Polar Express
Singing
doing projects (like this fun sand art from cousin Kaylee)
his baby sister (I knew he'd fall in love when he met her)
Harry Potter

Lyndsi is:
nearly 9!  Impossible!!
a bit camera shy (unless it's her idea)
enjoying her bedroom on the same floor as everyone else
learning to do some simple gifts and sewing (and doing well at it!)
always dancing around the house
a leader, especially with her brother and sisters
starting to enjoy reading a bit more and doing it on her own without being asked.