Tam on the Rocks

Soccer! Part 2

2012-02-11T17:11:00.000-06:00

Now for game day shots! :)

It was a beautiful sunny day today, but quite cold. That made for some cute baby shots in his dinosaur winter hat. Jace has been super cute through this process, we are constantly pulling him off the soccer fields. He seems to be begging for his chance to play. Sometimes he will even start clapping when he hears the adults cheer.

Evan's team is Kansas City, and they gave themselves the nickname of the "Tornadoes." His jersey color is a bright blue. Ev started out on defense and played great! He stayed tuned in to the game and made several great defensive kicks. Later Ev played offense. Dave said he was playing a great halfback position, hanging back a little for defense but attacking the ball if it came his way. And finally Ev played goalie. Again, I was super impressed that he remained focused on his game and less in the clouds. The other team did score once on him, but after reviewing the video frame-by-frame he only missed that ball by an inch. He dove for the ball and literally missed it by an inch. Awesome job Ev!!! Evan has yet to take of his jersey and is still playing soccer in the backyard five hours after his game ended. :)

I failed to mention that Ev's team won three goals to two. He was very excited. It really was fun watching Ev play on a team using real positions. It wasn't completely the soccer scrum of very young teams. Speaking of soccer scrums, we ate a quick McDonald's lunch then headed to Jared's game. Jared's team is New England and the boys voted to give themselves the nickname "Texans." Isn't that funny? His jersey is dark navy blue. His team is quite large, I would guess there are about 15 kids. I know they had trouble finding enough coaches for all the teams so they may have had to dissolve a team or two to have a fewer number of teams.

Jared played enthusiastically all game. I was so proud of him!!! Such a change from a year ago! And the best part was that he frequently ran back to mom and dad on the sidelines to tell us, "I am doing so good mom!!" and "Did you see I kicked the ball dad?" It was awesome! :) Check out his game face:

Jared making a great defensive play, kicking the ball away from the goal. Also known as, pure luck. :)

That last cute shot was Jared looking to the official, in red, for approval. Jared didn't have a game against another team. Today they played the first half divided in to two teams. It truly was mass chaos on the field with uncontrollable laughter on the sidelines. Somehow Jared's team scored one goal and won their scrimmage. The second half was kids vs. parents. I believed the parents were coached to play keep away and not try to score, but of course Dave couldn't help himself. He has such mad soccer skills he couldn't help but score a goal while trying to play keep away. :) After his goal Dave decided to hang back more. Smart Jared figured him out and said, "Dad! Pay attention and chase the ball!" Ha ha! So cute.

I love being a soccer mom!

Soccer! Part 1

2012-02-11T15:55:00.000-06:00

Football is sadly over, but Evan has happily embraced soccer for this winter season. The huge surprise is that Jared also asked to play soccer. I was hesitant to sign him up to play because Jared absolutely refused to participate in practices or games during his 3 year old season. And he was just as enthusiastic going in to the season. We decided to take the risk and it has been a blast watching both boys eagerly diving in to their sport.

Here are some shots from practicing at home. Ev of course was wearing his BYU outfit- a white and blue football jersey with red shorts to fool those Utes. Seriously. That is why he wears Cougar blue with red. And during this post, check out the funny things Ev does with his tongue while he runs. :)

You didn't think I would write a post without sneaking in a cute baby picture, do you?? ;)

Ev did get a little distracted after daddy got home from work and wanted to shoot some hoops. Ev has asked to play basketball next. He is going to be one well rounded sportsman!

Here are a few shots from their first team practices. Unfortunately both of their fields were lacking on light so I didn't get many shots. Ev is wearing the red and blue combo in this group shot. I like his coach, he seems very enthusiastic and well organized.

Jared is also decked out in red and blue. Man, was he ever bursting with excitement!! His first practice was cancelled due to rain so he had to wait an extra week before he got to meet him team. I love this shot because you can see how excited Jared is, he happily cheered for each teammate who scored a goal during drills. And when he took his turn he tried to fake out his coach. It was hilarious!

I Heart Faces - Favorite Picture of the Week

2012-01-29T21:49:00.002-06:00

It was a tough choice. But I am going with this shot of my oldest son. We were playing in a wooded park near dusk and suddenly the setting sunlight became incredible. It was the first time I was able to play with lighting since I acquired my new camera and bless his little boy heart for standing still for me while I experimented! I have a lot to learn, I can still see things I would like to change in this photo, but I feel like this is the most interesting lighting shot I have taken.

Telge Park

2012-01-29T21:23:00.002-06:00

We took the boys to the park for a picnic and naturally I had to bring the camera to play. I am so glad I did, I happened to get extremely lucky with the setting sun and captured a few amazing (for me) shots. Here are my favorites from the outing.

I Heart Faces - Let Them Be Little

2011-10-24T13:15:00.000-05:00

I could very much embrace the photography theme this week. I have three little boys who are growing far too quickly. I know the first inclination might be to post a picture of my baby or even my preschooler. But lately I have been thinking about my firstborn, my funny and very active Evan.

The start of school has brought mixed emotions. He does not arrive home from school until close to 4:30pm, and then we have spelling words to practice, math problems to solve, and books to read. I often find myself thinking, "Just let them be kids! Don't overwhelm them with homework in the first grade! Give them the opportunity to play and have fun!"

This is a recent picture of Ev as he was riding his bike after school. I try really hard to squeeze in these fun little moments for him.

To see other entries, please visit I Heart Faces.

The Joseph Smith Farm - Palmyra, New York Day 2

2011-10-10T12:08:00.000-05:00

On Sunday afternoon Grandma, Aunt Kristin, and I headed to Palmyra, New York to visit Church history sites. The Restoration of the Gospel and the early roots of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, occurred in New York in the early 1800's. I am going to make a few posts of my experiences because there are so many wonderful stories and pictures to tell.

So how did this wonderful Restoration take place? Through a young boy named Joseph Smith, not much older than any of you. Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805. His father was a farmer and he had 10 brothers and sisters! Can you imagine??

In 1816 Joseph Smith's family moved to Palmyra, New York and he continued to work hard as a boy working on another farm. He was probably about 11 years old at the time. After about two years, Joseph's father purchased one hundred acres of wooded land. Here is a map of their land:

Joseph and his family had to cut down trees, dig up roots, move rocks, build fences, and till the ground to be able to plant crops. Because of this, Joseph was not able to go to school like you boys. We should be grateful for our schools and the ability we have to simply buy our food at a store. We should be grateful for the farmers who work hard to grow food for us today, and the trains and trucks and people who deliver that food practically right to our door!

I like this next shot because it shows you what their farm land first looked liked. Imagine how much work it was to clear that land! If you look carefully in the back you will see a row of rocks going up the hill. That is one of their original walls! They used to move the rocks where they wanted their fences and build wood on top. The wood is long gone.

I saw their family home and it was not much larger than our kitchen and family room combined. We are so blessed to have a large house and to be able to sleep in our own beds, they probably had three or more kids in each of their beds.

We weren't able to get inside the log house, here is the best I could do for an inside shot. Their kitchen table takes up most of the whole living space! The book under glass is probably their family Bible.

Here is a shot of their Cooper shop. This is where they made barrels. I'll also throw in a picture of a cute squirrel who was watching us carefully. Can you find him on the fence?

Here is a picture of a threshing barn. This type of barn was not used for animals but for harvesting wheat. This actual barn belonged to the father of Brigham Young and was moved to this site from Pennsylvania. They believe the Smith barn would have been smaller.

Here is the original Stafford Road that ran through their property. Across this street you can now see a modern day Temple!!

And finally, here are some other beautiful shots around their farm. I found the apple orchard, some pumpkins growing in a garden, and more beautiful views of their fields and fences.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Your life today is much, much different, isn't it? :)
Love, Mom

Taughannock Falls, New York Trip Day 2

2011-10-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

Good morning boys! Oh I had just a long, super fun day yesterday!! I am going to start by telling you about our trip to visit yet another waterfall. :)

So my day started in a funny way. Doggie Duke usually sleeps with Aunt Kristin in her bed. Well, Aunt Kristin is sleeping on her couch so Grandma Duke and I can sleep in a bed. So first thing this morning I awoke to a big doggie face right in front of me!! And as soon as I moved an inch he jumped in to bed and under the covers! You can see he got so cozy he decided to take a nap.

We all got dressed and headed out on the road for adventure! Duke was my traveling companion in the back seat. :)

Our first stop was this amazing Farmer's Market. Local farmers meet on the weekends to sell fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, juice, etc. And there are a ton of delicious food items to choose from. Daddy would have loved the Belgain waffles piled high with fresh strawberries. We decided to enjoy breakfast burritos and apple cider donuts. I HAVE to figure out how to bring some of these donuts home to you, they are divine!!!

With full tummies we hit the road. I am going to put up a map so you can see where in the world I am. :) Aunt Kristin lives in Ithaca, New York. This part of New York is called the Finger Lakes Region because there are several long, skinny lakes that are shaped like long skinny fingers. Isn't that silly?? They were created a looooong time ago by a glacier. Look on the map to find Cayuga Lake. Ithaca is the red box at the bottom of Cayuga Lake. And we started driving up the road between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Duke likes to stick his head out of the window and his ears would flap in the wind.

The roads are surrounded by trees. They are so beautiful! We drove past so many beautiful farms and corn fields. And we even passed a few fun things that made me think of my boys- a train, a tank, and a fancy car show! And yes, more red berries. I love those red berries! :)

Then we finally made it to Taughannock Falls. Oh it was so, so beautiful! This waterfall was skinny and tall. We snapped some pictures but decided to save the hike for later. You can hike all the way down to the bottom of the falls.

Can you find Grandma and Aunt Kristin in this shot? Clue... Duke is with them! :)

On the way out I saw this miracle in the sky. It expresses EXACTLY how I am feeling!! :)

My next post will be about some awesome Churching sites I visited. Love you and miss you boys!! :)

A Letter To My Boys, Day 1 Of My Trip to New York

2011-10-08T21:30:00.001-05:00

Hi my sweet boys!! I miss you so much already! Here are the pictures that I promised you. I will try to write you a letter each night before I go to bed.

I took two flights today. My flight leaving Houston was great. Remember how cloudy the skies were when you went to Fire Fest today? Well our plane flew so high we were above the clouds!! I had a great seat next to a window, look at this view of the clouds. You can't see any roads or houses below.

My flight really was a lot of fun. I was sitting near a nice woman with a two year boy and a four month old baby girl. She had her hands full so I offered to hold her baby girl for a while. She was so sweet, it made me wish I could give Jacen a hug. I sat next to a very nice lady and we had so much fun talking about lots of topics. I also enjoyed daddy's noise cancelling headphones! I listed to my Ipod and started reading Harry Potter. It was so great, I would love to read it to you boys if you would like.

Naturally I also looked out of the window a ton once the clouds cleared. This was one of my favorite views. Isn't it a silly bendy river? :) Can you see how it splits in to two rivers?

About this time I also noticed ice on my window!!! It was super pretty, it looked like lacy snowflakes. It must be super cold high up in the sky.

My first stop was Philadelphia. I could see downtown from the opposite window, it looked much smaller than Houston. My window had a view of a large river, I even saw a huge river barge. (Sorry it is blurry, but notice how the ice has melted and now there are drops of water.) The trees were very green and I got nervous that I wouldn't get to see beautiful fall colors.

Getting to my next flight was an adventure! First I had to find a bus to take me to a new terminal. I found the bus line and got to check out several police cars while I waited. I was thinking of you guys the whole time!

I waited for my plane for an hour, then learned they switched gates on me! So I had to go for another walk to find where they moved my plane. But do you know what I found?? Another bus!! I had to board another bus and take a ride to the opposite side of the airport. My plane was waiting near the airport hangers where they usually fix planes. This plane was a lot smaller and noisier. It was a propeller plane and I had the perfect view of the wheels under the wings. I saw the wheels go up in to the wing after take off and could see the wheels touch the ground when we landed. It was so cool! I knew you guys would love it!

This flight was also smooth and the flight attendants were really funny. One flight attendant asked me lots of questions about my new camera because he saw me taking lots of pictures. On this flight when I looked out the window I saw mineral mining, houses, roads, golf courses, schools, school buses, and even football fields!

But the best part of the view was when the flat, green ground started to change in to hilly forests of red, orange, and yellow leaves!!! That is when I got super excited! I couldn't wait to land in New York! (The color is washed out because of the old airplane window, but hopefully you can see that there are a lot of red trees down there.)

Grandma Duke landed about 10 minutes after me and I gave her a big hug in the airport. I also saw this cool propeller I thought you would love.

Aunt Kristin found us about 5 minutes later and I got to sit with doggy Duke in the backseat. The drive to Aunt Kristin's home was GORGEOUS! Oh how I love the fall leaves and bright red berries!!!!! There were so many beautiful red farmhouses with green roofs. I can't wait to take more pictures to show you. We made two quick stops to see Buttermilk Falls and Ithaca Falls. I can't wait to hike near these waterfalls. They are just so neat, you are driving around houses and then, BAM! A waterfall!! :)

Buttermilk Falls:

Ithaca Falls:

We finished up with having dinner in downtown Ithaca. The weather was so beautiful we asked for an outside table so Duke could come with us. We had hamburgers so large we could barely fit them in our mouths. And when the sun began to set we saw three deer next to the road. Kristin's apartment is really cute. She has lots of fun shells, rocks, nests, and other natural treasures to look at.

I had best get to bed. Tomorrow we are going to visit Palmyra, which is a famous Church history site. Ask Daddy to tell you all about it. :)

Love, Mom

The Boys' Decorating Contribution

2011-10-03T20:58:00.001-05:00

I found some cute tombstones at the Dollar Tree last week and asked Dave to help the boys find a suitable spot for them in our yard. Naturally I thought this was a simple task. Oh no. I saw all manner of tools appearing. And then old clothing. And scissors. And wooden dowels. Then our stash of plastic bags disappeared. What was my mad scientist creating?!? This photo worthy display in our garden!

Great job boys! And especially Dave, that arm is the bomb!

Ah, FINALLY some nice weather!!

2011-10-03T20:40:00.001-05:00

We are finally enjoying some beautiful weather in Texas! We would prefer a ton of rain to fix this drought, but at least the 100+ degree temps have eased in to the mid 80's. You have got to love Texas cold fronts. ;)

The boys and I celebrated our ability to tolerate the outdoors by playing in the cul-de-sac. Enjoy their cuteness! :)

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What Do You Do?

2011-10-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

So what do you do to keep away during Conference? Oh come on, we have all had that moment where we become relaxed as we listen to our leaders' smooth, relaxing voices. I've sometimes wondered if they receive training for their talks after they receive their talk assignments. ;)

Normally I like to cross stitch during Conference sessions. It is a talent I have that I unfortunately don't exercise enough. But with three young boys running around I thought it would be too hard to count and listen and keep track of my needles. So this week I decided to design some simple Halloween vinyl to jazz up the hallway.

Jared was the creative director of the vinyl application. We decorated pumpkins, gourds, flameless candles, and our plain green magnet board (where we post school work treasures). I love the magnet board so much, I am already planning how I will change it up for Thanksgiving.

Meet the Teacher!

2011-09-29T21:33:00.002-05:00

Today Jared, Jacen, and I made the trip to preschool for the "Meet the Teacher" day. The kids get to come in with their families for a few hours of pure playing fun. Jared was just beyond excited, this being his second year he was eager to get back to all his favorite activities.

This year Jared has a new bonding buddy, a senior named Miss Claudia. I am very excited about her. I was able to meet her a few days ago and I have lots of great vibes about her. I believe Jared and Miss Claudia will get along famously. In fact, Jared is well on his way to getting on her good side, he asked if he could bring her a gift on the first day! He drew her a picture with lots of stars (I'll explain that in a sec), and also gave her a pad of star-shaped sticky notes and a bag of peanut M&M's. What a sweet, loving child!

The theme this year is "Rockin' at the Ranch." The room was decorated with musical notes and records and stars. Jared loves the theme and talks all the time about being a rock star. So without further ado, here are some highlights from our morning.

Personalize your own photo album

Poor Baby!

2011-09-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

Turning one is just rough. The doc gave me a lab order as I left Jacen's first year appointment. She wanted a blood draw for a routine iron test and assured me it would be a simple finger prick. I originally asked Dave to take Jace in, the five shots were hard enough. But a mother's job is never done, right?

The blood draw turned out to be more traumatic than I expected. As the tech sat us in the chair she pulled out a band to function as a tourniquet and I realized we would be hunting for a vein and using needles. I just was not mentally prepared for the next few minutes. I had to hold Jacen in a tight bear hug with my right arm while holding his left arm straight with my left arm. He was not happy about it, especially after the needle made contact. And poor Jared was scared and concerned as well. Thankfully Jace had a good vein and a competent tech. (It once took three techs to get blood from Jared!). Once it was all over Jace whipped his body around for a hug, all the while keeping his suspicious eyes on that evil tech. :) But you know what? She was so awesome, he barely had a bruise the next day.

Here are a few shots of a calmer Jacen with his band aid. I promise we are done for a while sweet guy!!

My Baby Is Addicted...

2011-09-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

... to the doggy dishes. I know one of my other boys had this issue, but Jacen sure takes the cake. And is one sneaky little devil. He has this internal radar in his head which sounds an alarm when the dog dishes are carelessly left without parental supervision. I cannot count the number of times I have heard splashing from a distance or the rumble of little fingers stirring dog kibble. And yes, we have even had to dig for those little kibbles in that sweet mouth while he is clenching his jaw. It is like we are trying to steal the last bite of food on the entire planet.

Anyway, I heard the familiar sounds of spashing a bit ago and decided I finally needed to capture the moment on film. It is hard to see the big puddle on the floor, but note the wet shorts. That is not from a leaky diaper I assure you! And now when his future friends tease him with something like, "You're so weird, did your mom feed you dog food when you were a kid or something?" Jace will be able to answer, "Not exactly..."

Sorry this last one won't rotate. Wierd Blogger...

One last thought... I am grateful to have such a sweet dog. More than once Jacen has tried to share a meal with Rocky and my saint of a dog has never shown an ounce of food aggression. Love you Rocky!!

I Love This Baby!

2011-09-28T14:35:00.005-05:00

Seriously. I just love him to pieces!!! So lucky to be his mom. :)

My Handsome Little Man

2011-09-27T09:02:00.002-05:00

Ev is growing like a weed. Sometimes it seems like I can see him sprouting each week. Earlier this month Uncle Matt gave Evan his very own BYU tie. On Sunday Ev wore his new tie for the first time and he looked so grown up and handsome. Yep, I'm going to be beating away girls with a stick!

Building Men

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

We have signed Evan up to be a cub scout! What does this have to do with "Building Men?" Absolutely nothing. I'm just setting the stage. So we signed Evan up in scouting and he is now an excited Tiger Cub. On Saturday, Sept 24th Ev had his first scouting activity. His pack had the opportunity to visit a farm and give service. Mom and dad feel strongly about living up to your obligations, and we know the value of giving service. There was just one problem. Lowes was having a Kid's Club Workshop. Even worse? They were building firetrucks. With sirens. How can my boy give this up??

So mom and dad split up. Dave took Ev and Jared to the farm to get down and dirty, and I took Jace to Lowes to pick up a few firetrucks. And a smoothie, but that really has nothing to do with "Building Men" either. Here are some pics of the boys building their trucks.

Love Dave's face in this next shot! Ha ha!

Ev loves to line things up. While Jared was hammering, Evan lined up all the tires.

The final products! Great job boys!

Jared and Rocky

2011-09-27T07:56:00.000-05:00

We have recently been talking about Halloween costumes. Jared is going to be a police man, I will be a candy burglar, and Jared is now asking Rocky to be a "Bad Dog." So funny! I do not really want to spend the money to buy a prison outfit for Rocky so we decided to buy a white bandanna and write "bad dog" on it. Since then Jared has had bandannas on his mind.

Yesterday I came upon Jared and Rocky together. Jared had found Rocky's brush and was grooming him so sweetly. I really think Rocky was enjoying it. Jared even tried to give Rocky a new bone, but I was the bad guy who put a stop to that generous act. Jared has already given Rocky a few new bones that are currently waiting to be eaten out in the backyard.

About 15 minutes later I found Rocky napping on the couch. He was wearing a checkered flag bandanna that Jared found in Rocky's drawer. Such a clever boy and such an adorable dog. So glad they are good friends.

Wrestle!

2011-09-26T23:26:00.000-05:00

Oh my but do we have a lot of little boy energy in the house lately. From the moment Evan steps in the house after school he starts running. He will run up and down the halls for a good 20 minutes, with or without additional participants and toys or balls. He has never received bad marks for behavior at school and sometimes I am surprised. He just seems to explode after being cooped up.

Jared is now starting to become more physical. He loves wii boxing and likes to practice on dad. He loves to play bad/tough cop and throw dad in jail. And lately he has started wresting matches with Evan and Dave. I've also seen Evan and Bear wresting and rolling around on the ground. But naturally my sensitive Bear is usually the one ending up in tears.

Jace seems to have come alive since his birthday. He is so much more interactive with other people already. He has started wrestling matches and chase games with me. When he catches me, he will climb all over me or stand on me or try to jump out of my arms. Sometimes he will climb up like he is about to give me a hug, but then starts these insane alligator rolls. What a cute, fun nut! I can only imagine the chaos when he is old enough to keep up with his older brothers.

Here are a few shots of a recent wresting match. The teams were Dave vs. Jared and Jace. Dave is such a saint for wrestling his boys like this almost every night! :)

A View of Things to Come

2011-09-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

This week has been all about playing dress-up. I've got the cruise and Halloween on my mind, so I've hit the resale and thrift stores before the mad rush of the costume season. Here are some teasers of the upcoming months.

I have my heart set on having my three boys dressed in tuxedos for formal night of the cruise. Can you imagine how adorable it will be to have my three little men dressed to the nines? I'm already swooning and melting. And looking forward to a formal picture with them. And planning for the scrapbook pages 10+ years down the road where I get to do the side-by-sides of my young boys in tuxes and their prom shots.

Such formal wear is just as pricey to buy for young kids as it is to rent for an adult so I am doing my best to find less expensive versions in the local consignment shops. I lucked out last week and found and adorable formal outfit for Jace. I had been hoping for blue vests and ties, but just fell in love with his red. Check out my handsome boy!

I added too many pictures, didn't I? Sorry. I just can't help myself. He looked so adorable! You may notice the sleeves are not long enough. This is a 12 month outfit. I am a little nervous because the vest fits perfectly and the pants have just a little growth room. The white shirt will be easy to replace so hopefully he won't have a major growth spurt in five months and outgrow this outfit. It did only cost $8.50 so I felt it was worth the risk. Seriously, most ebay tuxes are over $20 (starting bid) and new tuxes are at least $50. This is an amazing deal!

Next we moved on to Halloween costumes. Evan quickly decided he wants to be a fighter pilot. I had to hunt for a while, but I managed to find a fun flight suit for a steal on ebay. I can't believe I snagged it for less than half the price that other suits were going for, maybe because it is blue rather than olive? Evan loved it when I showed him the other options, so I bought it quick as can be. I found him some aviator glasses and we are going to transform a motorcycle police helmet toy with vinyl to become a pilot helmet.

Dave will be a member of Ev's aircraft carrier crew. For those unfamiliar with aircraft carriers, the crew involved with the jets wear colorful outfits which differentiate their roles and responsibilities. Evan has requested Dave be dressed in yellow, the color of flight deck operators and plane directors.

We were laughing how Dave can flag Ev in to each house as he gets his candy. :)

Jared is a little trickier. I've been working with him for a month to figure out what he wants to be. We have jumped between a train conductor, Cubby (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), a James train conductor, Sir Topham hat, a James train conductor, a tree, Sir Topham hat... you get the picture. But I finally had an idea that tickled his fancy so I have ceased all negotiations. Jared is going to be a police man! Anyone who has played with him knows how perfect this is. He loves to put people in jail, his dad, his uncle, even his preschool teachers! Yesterday I found him a uniform shirt, glasses, a hat, handcuffs, and other dollar store 'junk' toys to round out the costume.

Jared was just giddy with excitement with his new costume, and promptly jumped right in to character. Unfortunately for Dave, his character involved some intense interrogation and police brutality. :)

I will be Jared's partner in crime. Kind of literally. I am going to be a burglar. I scored the perfect black and white shirt at Goodwill and now I am on the hunt for a mask. I am pretty sure we have a black knit hat to round out my ensemble.

Jacen is a little tricky, I have to hurry and make up my mind. I was originally set on Jace being a bomber pilot, to go along with Evan and Dave. He looks quite dashing in his uniform.

But then yesterday I found this absolutely adorable costume in a resale shop.

I have a few days left where I can return the uniform and get my money back. I love both options so I don't know what to do! The uniform might edge out the monster simply because Houston is usually quite hot still at the end of October. What is your vote? :)

I Heart Faces - Eyes

2011-08-15T21:02:00.000-05:00

It started with Evan, well, with his Dad really. I married a guy with fantastic blue eyes. And he gave those eyes to our first born son. I was stopped frequently in stores by total strangers. It was as though they couldn't help themselves after they saw his amazing eyes and those adorable dimples.

Years have now passed. I have two more wonderful boys added to the family, and two more pairs of those amazing blue eyes. Sadly, strangers do not tell me how cute my boys are anymore. Instead they tell me they are sorry I do not have a daughter, or ask me if I plan to try again for that elusive girl. It really chaps my hide (oh! I sound like a Texan, lol!) when they make these comments in front of my kids. I wouldn't trade my boys for anything in the whole universe!

This week I Heart Faces gave us the challenge of "Beautiful Eyes." I knew EXACTLY what picture I wanted to post! Last week I was snapping all sorts of random shots with my new camera (the amazing Sony HX100V). After I downloaded my first experiments on to my computer I found a picture of my baby Jace. I know this picture won't win any awards. The backdrop isn't pretty and there are shadows from the flash. But when I saw this picture of Jace the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh, look at his amazing eyes!" Just like his daddy and big brothers before him. :)

I Heart Faces - May Flowers

2011-05-16T00:56:00.000-05:00

This week we are leaving the faces behind for flowers! Here are a few of my favorite shots of my Asiatic Lilies from my garden. One morning as I was returning from the bus stop I noticed the most beautiful lighting, and then a brief encounter with the sprinklers added further interest. Enjoy! :)

Check out other beautiful entries at I Heart Faces - May Flowers.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T22:09:00.001-05:00

This was definitely a crazy holiday for us. Thankfully I had finished all my Easter morning prep work in advance since Dave ended up spending some time the week before Easter in the hospital. The silver lining was having Grandma Nix join in on our traditional egg coloring.

I found a clever idea in a magazine that suggested you use whisks to dip the eggs in the dye. This was perfect for Bear, but Ev eventually moved on to that cheap wire... thing that comes in the dye kit.

It wouldn't be an activity with Bear if he didn't spill some sort of liquid. Notice the prepared mother I am was ready for action with craft shirts and a waterproof crafting tablecloth!

Naturally the most common color of the day was blue.

Jacen just chilled in his high chair and practiced his fine motor skills. Notice the half Cheerio stuck to his thumb. We were entertained by many stuck cereal tid bits, usually on his chin, until Jacen finally managed to connect with his mouth this week. And for the record, that is a PLASTIC egg, not a real dyed egg. What kind of mother do you think I am??

The favorite game of the week was playing Easter Bunny. I usually fulfilled this important role. I sent the boys upstairs, then hid a few dozen plastic eggs for their finding enjoyment. Ev actually took the time to stuff the eggs with silly things like legos and other small toys and acted so surprised to see the treasures he found from his hunt.

On Saturday, April 23rd we attended our church Easter egg hunt. The boys were great sports and let me snap some photos of them before the activity started. And just so you know, we have over 200 children in our church congregation under the age of 12. Each child was allowed to collect 10 eggs. Do the math. That is why there are hundreds of eggs in plain site!

Now bear with me. I have to throw in a few "adorable baby's first Easter egg hunt" pictures...

Mmmmm..... delicious!

Yes, I will eat those eggs to the ground! He really was so interested in those eggs I couldn't get him to look at the camera.

After a picnic breakfast the egg hunts began. I could barely snag a photo of Evan. As soon as they said go he ran. Fast. Away from the hoards of other children tripping over each other as they battled for those easy eggs. My smart guy came up with the strategy to collect eggs from the other side of the field.

The rest of the morning consisted of a small Easter petting zoo, face painting, time on the playground, and Ev getting drenched in the Splashpad fountains. It was a great time!

Every other child got a pink nose and whiskers. Only my son thought to make a special request... "BYU!"

As Dave would say, "A present for the ladies." lol!

Shhhhh! Don't tell the kids!

2011-04-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we finally made it official and paid our deposit for our Disney Cruise in 2012!

I was pushing for the more affordable week in Disneyworld but in the end Dave's love of cruise won out. We found a sale that worked for our (expanded) budget, and the best part is that my mom, brother, and sister are going to join us! The Nix family cruise was such a blast I am really looking forward to this vacation with my family. But seriously, DON'T TELL THE KIDS! I don't want to be listening to "when do we get to see Mickey?!?" for the next year. :)

Now to keep saving our pennies....

I Heart Faces - Pets

2011-04-25T07:46:00.000-05:00

Moo! No, I do not have a pet cow, although I am gathering quite a collection due to my hilarious friend "Miss Kristin." One day while we were driving in a car I saw a herd of cows and simply said "Moo." She about died laughing and now I have black and white spots all over my house. That's okay, I try to send many a scrapbooking tag in her direction to make up for it. (But please don't tell her I quack at the ducks at the lake during our walks...)

The theme at I Heart Faces this week is pets, but they did say we could submit a picture of any animal. So even though I love my cute Rocky, I am going to have to go with this picture of a cow. While hunting for wildflowers in Hill Country our family discovered a beautiful field with Bluebonnets and Longhorns. This picture captures the sprint of spring in Texas!

It's just too bad Miss Kristin couldn't be there to enjoy. ;) Visit I Heart Faces to see the other entries!

The Man Trip and its Medical Aftermath

2011-04-20T09:45:00.101-05:00

Well, all I can say is that 2011 is just kickin' our behinds! Here is the story of our latest scare....

On the second weekend of April Dave headed out with two friends on a "man tip." The fellows drove out to west Texas and the Guadalupe Mountains to accomplish a little backpacking. They estimate they hiked 30 miles total and went up and down a few mountains. It was definitely a strenuous trip.

On Sunday, April 10 Dave and his friends started their drive home to civilization. I would guess about 8:30am I sent Dave a text to ask when he thought he would be home. I was concerned about making an early choir practice since we were scheduled to sing in sacrament meeting that afternoon. Almost immediately I received a call from Dusty (although later I learned the timing was mere coincidence). He told me I didn't need to worry about anything but that he needed me to pull out Dave's new blood pressure medication to give me the name and dosage. Boy is that loaded question! I knew something was wrong, maybe he was having an allergic reaction to the medication? I went fishing for details.

Poor Dusty. He tried so hard to keep the truth from me. He mentioned they had pulled over at a rest stop and Dave was having some trouble breathing. I can't remember if he told me about the chest pain, but he did say they called for help and Dave would be checked out soon. I could hear Dave in the background. So even though Dusty purposely avoided such words, I knew Dave was probably having a HEART ATTACK, they had called 9-1-1 for help, and an AMBULANCE was on the way. And I knew if Dave wasn't talking to me it was likely serious.

So I kind of just went numb for a few minutes. And then I went in to panic mode. They were four hours away in a town called Kerrville. I didn't know what to do. Should I stay put? Should I pack a bag and run for it?? Should I try to find a generous soul to take my kids??? Should I call Dave's family to let them know, or my family to cry???? A few minutes later I was blessed by a knock on my door. My friend Kelly, a wife of one of the other guys on the trip, came over to sit with me. Really, what a huge blessing! I felt much less flustered and I calmed down enough to make the decision to stay put in Houston until the doctor's could examine Dave. (And I really need to mention that she some how convinced my two older boys to clean up their toy room. I tell you, she is a miracle-working saint!!)

I don't know how much time passed before I received a call from Mike (Kelly's husband) from the hospital. Dave had received the royal treatment- an ambulance, fire truck, and police car had all arrived at the rest stop to whisk Dave away to a hospital. He was administered aspirin and nitro in the ambulance and had improved considerably. After about four hours all of Dave's EKG's and blood tests were normal, showing no sign of a heart attack, and he was released to drive home. I made a big crockpot meal that night for everyone involved, to thank them for sticking by my husband and holding my hand through this scary day.

Dave was still feeling chest pain at home so we were eager to follow up with his doctor on Monday. Again, all tests came back normal. We decided to schedule a stress test to make doubly sure. The first available appointment was on Thursday, and doctor stopped the stress test very quickly. He could tell something was wrong and scheduled Dave for a four hour nuclear stress test the following day. It was during this big stress test that a blockage was identified. Dave was referred to a cardiologist, who scheduled him for a heart cath on Monday morning.

So after the most stress free weekend we could provide, Dave checked in to Methodist Willowbrook Hospital bright and early Monday morning. I was able to stay with him as he got prepped for the procedure, I loved his nurse. She was so much better than my maternity nurse! I nearly lost it as we started the long walk and I finally had to say goodbye. Dave really kept his cool and was so casual about it all but I was a nervous wreck. I hung out in the waiting room for about two hours before one of the assistants came out to tell me the results.

First off, Dave made it through the procedure with no complications. But the doctor did find two blockages. The first was a 100% blockage to an important artery. He told me this blockage required two stints. A second 90% blockage was found in a minor artery that was "too small" to fix. So we are attacking this blockage with medication and dietary changes. Dave spent 24 hours in medical ICU and then another 24 hours in a normal hospital room. Dave was anxious to leave, the doctor wanted to monitor Dave on his new medications.

This scare came completely out of the blue. Dave has had borderline high cholesterol for at least a year, but has no family history of heart disease. He has never been obese, and has always remained active. Heck, he had just backpacked 30 miles! What if this episode happened on that mountain?!? There were no warning signs at all leading up to this. We now banter about that trip. I say the trip nearly killed him. He says the trip absolutely saved his life. :) For sure, a stress test will be required by his wife before any future man trips!! I am so grateful God was watching over him that day. I am grateful for good friends who stand by you in tough times. I am grateful for modern medicine, the careful and educated hands of Dave's doctors, and I really appreciate the staff at Methodist Willowbrook.

I Heart Faces - Wind

2011-04-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

The photo theme this week at I Heart Faces is wind. And my immediate reaction? How in the world am I supposed to capture an image with wind when all I have are three adorable boys with short hair? :) I racked my brain for a while. I did remember this fantastic military memorial I visited with my boys on a windy day, I was hoping I caught a nice picture with waving flags. That turned out to be a dead end. But then I wondered, what about man-made wind? And then I remembered this picture:

We took this picture at Bridal Veil Falls in Utah. I had taken my boys on an outing to play in the water and climb over rocks, and at one point we discovered a patch of dandelions. My little Evan had never made a wish and blow. I showed him what to do, then captured this fun moment as he blew those seeds off the stem. I love how the seeds are kind of blurry and blowing every which way. And I just love his "I Love Dirt" shirt. That's some mommy brainwashing for 'ya. ;)

Inspired By Chris, Take 2!

2011-04-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I was giddy when I discovered my red lillies had bloomed! So I grabbed my camera (and the garden hose) and snapped a few more shots of my gorgeous garden. :)

Inspired by Chris

2011-03-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, March 26, I tackled the flower garden. I sort of dread it each year. It is so much work, and the flowers never seem to last as long as I would like (forever). But this year I had a blast. I gardened earlier in the season. The weather was more pleasant and the fire ants were not yet out in full force. Spring weeds hadn't made their grand entrance either. The work was easier all the way around. And I had the two cutest helpers in all the land. My boys sure love dirt. So here are Jacen and I starting the flowerbed overhaul:

Jacen was a wee bit on the lazy side, laying down while momma did all the grunt labor. Good thing he has a cute smile. I do not have a picture of Ev or Bear because by then we were up to our elbows in dirt and mulch. And, well, I kind-a, sort-a attacked them with the garden hose. Ha ha!

I had another fun visitor throughout the day. Now bear with me because I know it is a horrible picture. But if you look in the upper left corner of the next picture you will see "Tweeters" with some straw in his beak. Tweeters was anxiously engaged in building his nest in our rain gutter. I enjoyed his singing while I worked.

Here is the finished garden the next morning. I was glad to see everything looked fine as we were finishing the job as the sun set. It looks like there are a few holes in the garden, but there are flower plants from last year resprouting in those spots.

I also planted a window box. I wanted an extra pop of color in front of our door. I am planning on putting a turquoise "Welcome" on the front of it if I can ever find the time to break out my Cricut again.

And that brings me to today when I was inspired by my friend Chris. Chris and I are friends from my Exxon days and he is now the most excellent nature photographer! (Check out http://www.chrismurrayphotography.com/) Last week he posted some amazing shots of a white daisy and I thought once again how much I reeeeeally want a nice camera. This morning as I was watering my garden I was amazed by the beauty. I loved the way the sun was highlighting some flowers, how the trees were casting interesting shadows, and the little drops of water left behind by my Tam-made rainstorm. I don't have Chris' photo chops or his technology, but I had a great time snapping a few shots of spring in Texas. I think my personal favorite is the last one. Enjoy!

Halloween Flashback - 2009

2011-03-28T17:34:00.000-05:00

My little guys were racecar drivers. Ev decided to be the M&M driver, and it was easy to convince Bear to be the UPS driver since he was such a big fan of "chocolate milk trucks." (How sad that he now calls them by their proper names!) For our Halloween party we used vinyl to decorate daddy's car.

I Heart Photos - Slice of Life

2011-03-27T21:15:00.002-05:00

This week the theme for I Heart Faces is "Slice of Life." My mind instantly went to this shot... and then wandered off to a whole bunch of other pictures of my kids in action. In the end I decided to submit this photo and not second guess myself. Hopefully it qualifies because you don't get a clear look at a face.

I love this picture. The precious boy is Evan when he was 18 months old. The woman is my mom who generously came to help me out in Houston while I was pregnant with Jared and Dave was in Iraq. We decided to walk to the park on a beautiful sunny day. As I waddled slowly behind I noticed my mom clasp her hands behind her back. Evan watched, then did the same, and they enjoyed a simple stroll together. A little slice of life between a grandma and her grandson. One of my all time favorite pictures. :)

My Babies as Six Months Old

2011-03-27T20:23:00.001-05:00

EVAN:

JARED:

JACEN

Jace went through a period where I thought he looked like Evan, but in pictures looked more like Jared. Now at six months, I think Jace and Ev are practically twins! They have the same face shape, same cute fuzzy hair. I just scanned through a bunch of photos of 6 mo old Evan and there were so many where I could easily mistake him for Jacen. Thank goodness for digital date stamps, Ev's dimples, and Jacen's cleft chin! :)

Personal History - Who Do You Remember? (Week #8)

2011-03-27T19:33:00.001-05:00

I only have a few minutes before it is time to get gussied up for church, so let's jump right in!

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

22. Who were your best friends?
23. Who were your enemies? (or at least, the people who got under your skin and drove you nuts)
24. Other than family and best friends, who were the most important people in your life?

The first question is super easy for me. I had one very best friend who lived up the street from me. Her name was Amy and we did everything together. We even played the flutes in band together for a while. I remember playing in her house after school. I remember her mother making us crepes for breakfast after spending the night. I remember not feeling so hot during one particular slumber party when we at sour cream Pringles and drinking orange juice. Ha ha, it is funny what you remember? I also remember inviting her to play church basketball as we got older and being super thrilled that I beat her in a lay up contest because she was so talented at sports.

Amy and I were pretty much opposites. She was blond, stylish, athletic, and popular, esp. with the boys. I had dark brown hair, was more awkward and shy, and definitely did not have a line of boys following me. I was more of the brainy type, very active in religion, and music was my strong talent. We lasted as best friends easily through grade school, turbulently through middle school, and finally parted ways in high school. We were far too different at that point. We reconnected briefly during our college years but lost each other again. I hope life is going great for her. :)

Here is a picture of Amy and me. I honestly do not remember taking this picture but I love it. Please keep in mind that we were wearing costumes. I am not that old!! :) Notice how she is the fun saloon girl and I am the uber modest, serious pioneer woman. This picture totally reflects our personalities. :)

I am not going to discuss enemies here. There were definitely some fair weather friends that got under my skin. Let's just leave it at that for his public forum. I am sure they are wonder, nice people now. ;)

And as for the other important people in my life, they were my teachers. Teachers in grade school and teachers from my church congregation. My two favorite teachers in grade school at Aspen Elementary were Mrs. Baker in first grade and Ms. Rollo in third grade. Mrs. Owens, who I had for kindergarten and second grade, scared the tar out of me! My fourth grade teacher was Mr. Baker. I don't remember him too well, only that he was an older man with gray hair and after being given a turn to answer the classroom phone my classmates called me a teacher's pet.

My fifth grade teacher was Mr. Ward. He was a hoot! What a fun teacher! I remember taking calligraphy lessons that year. We also played computer games in that class- very simplistic digging for treasure games on (now) ancient computers. Which is funny because I played a similar game in college as a homework assignment- after a field trip to a mining claim we dug deep in the earth hunting for ore deposits. How funny is that? Seems my geology training started earlier than I realized. :) My sixth grade teacher was Miss Shook. I remember her as being somewhat stern, but that I liked her. She was quite friendly when I visited with her years later as my younger siblings were at Aspen. What I remember best is that she LOVED the Washington Redskins. When they lost she was in a horrible mood. When they won we had no math homework on Mondays.

As for church, I grew up in the Thousand Oaks 4th ward. I can't remember who was my teacher when, but I remember so many wonderful, wonderful families! The Brimhalls, the Johnsons, the Gredings, the Hanks, the Hornes, the Garretts, the Ericksons, the Southwells, the Rackhams, the Severns, the Van der Horsts, the Ludlows, the Dowds, the Bowerbanks... I could go on and on and on! I had wonderful Bishops, great home teachers, and great Sunday school teachers. Brother Erickson owned a Baskin Robbins ice cream store and hooked us up on temple trips. :) Sister Severn was the best camp leader ever and always treated us to her dutch oven pineapple upside down cake! Brother Hanks participated in my baptism. Sister Greding was another fantastic Young Women leader who took us horse riding, I think at her family farm? I won't hold her accountable for the bucking horse incident. Brother Greding and Brother Johnson would take the youth water skiing each year. Bishop Southwell is the first Bishop I remember. President Brimhall was such a kind man, a great spiritual giant with an amazing singing voice, and Sister Brimhall was so loving and happy. I always looked forward to seeing her!

Like I said, I could go on forever! :) I was blessed to grow up in such a great ward. Here are pictures of our church building and my family from the ward directory from 1979. (Pre-divorce and pre-Matt and Kristin) This is where I had my wedding reception in December 1997.

March 21, 2011

2011-03-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

This could go down as a sad, sad day. This could be the day we lose one of the most famous "Jaredisms." I can't tell you how many times we have had this conversation:

"Mom?"
"Yes Jared?"
"I have a question."
"Okay, what is it?"
"My pretend friends are feeling sick."

This conversation causes us quiet giggles each time. It is so random, so silly. Now lately his pretend friends have expanded to become his "pretend friends and bosses." And often his punchline is different, but it has always been a statement rather than a question. He didn't seem to understand the difference between the two... until today.

This morning over breakfast we had a new conversation:

"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"I have a STATEMENT." (I added the emphasis, he said it so matter-of-fact.)
"What is it?"
"We are always moving because of the Earth."

I was so proud of his scientific knowledge of the Earth's rotation, but so sad the "question" went away. Hopefully we will hear it a few more times before he grows out of that cute phase forever.

I Want It! February 21.2011

2011-03-20T23:35:00.001-05:00

After we put Evan on the bus, Jared and I headed out on a shopping trip. We entered the wonderful world of Hobby Lobby. My poor kids, they have to put up with my shopping obsession. That crafting and home decor store is my equivalent of being a kid in a candy store. I can get lost in there for hours, and rarely leave without some little treasure. I love finding scrapbook paper in clearance, and occasionally I find diamonds in the rough in the home goods section. I love to find frames, hooks, and signs that I can repurpose in to new cute projects.

On this particular trip I happened to pass through the furniture section and fell in love with a tall dresser. It has 20 small drawers, perfect for organizing little odds and ends. What I love about it is that every drawer is finished in a different color. The whole piece is so earthy and wonderful, it really suits my tastes. I really am in love with this one of a kind dresser.

So what's the problem? Dave doesn't love it. And it costs $210 on sale, which is more than I feel good about spending right now without his approval. Naturally he told me if I really wanted the dresser I could buy it, but unfortunately I know him too well after being married 13 years. I knew he didn't want me to buy it. He did say it looked simple enough to build himself. That conversation died as soon as I asked him when he would find the time, what with work, work travel, football reffing, basketball playing, and possibly some private practice work.

I need to change the subject because I am getting depressed.

My boys always gripe when I tell them I want to shop at Hobby Lobby. And yet, they usually manage to have some fun. I love these fun shopping shots of them:

Jared dressed in his train overalls drooling over a Thomas lunch box. I told him we could think about it if they decide to extend preschool to five hours a day next year.

Here is a shot and video of Evan and Jared checking out a Star Wars scrapbooking kit. They also really like the Disney sticker section.

And finally, Jared using a spool of thread as a telescope. I love the imagination of little boys!

Darn. I'm still lusting after that cool dresser. Maybe I can justify the purchase if we get a nice tax return this year. :)

Walking To The Bus Stop - February 21, 2011

2011-03-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

Walking to the bus stop is a fun daily ritual. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we drive to the corner and eventually follow the bus out of the neighborhood as we drive Bear to preschool. It is a huge thrill for Jared, I hope the bus driver doesn't think I am stalking her! I believe she understands it is all in good fun because if we are lucky enough to pull up beside the bus at a red light, we roll down our windows and wave to Evan. He sits in the bench directly behind the bus driver, and his older seat buddy is always cool about letting Evan come to the window to wave back.

On Mondays and Fridays I gather the crew for a short walk. Jared will often venture out in his fireman boots. Jacen chills in his stroller. In fact, Jacen really seems to relish being outside. That's good, he will fit right in with our outdoorsy family. :)

Here are a few photos from our morning. Jacen was wearing the most adorable dinosaur jammies. I absolutely adore the cute dino feet on those jammies and Jacen's fun, fuzzy hair. Evan was running circles around us. Evan is very social, but I've noticed he is somewhat of a loner at the bus stop and at recess. I think he may be a bit shy in larger groups, but that doesn't stop him from doing what he loves- running!

Valentine's Day - February 16, 2011

2011-03-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

No, the title is not a typo. And no, I am not dumb. I do know Valentine's Day is always on February 14th. But this year Evan and I were both sickies. Evan had to stay home from school and miss his class party. I struggled through the day to take care of everyone, and I wasn't able to fully execute my plans. I so love to celebrate holidays and make them fun for my kids, but when Dave came home I went straight to bed. He woke me up once to see if I would like to come out for chocolate covered strawberries and I said no. I still can't belive I passed on one of my favorite treats. That tells you how poorly I was feeling.

But don't feel bad, the next morning I found a tray of strawberries waiting for me in the fridge. And he had already given me a dozen red roses and Evan gave me a beautiful bunch of hot pink carnations. :)

In the end I discovered our sick day had a hidden benefit. I went shopping for treats the next day and everything love related was on clearance! I bought cheap candy, cheap decorations, and cheap valentines for the boys to hand out next year. My wallet was almost as happy as I was. And then the next day I put together our family party. I dug out my heart plates and red table linens. I wrapped up a few small gifts for the kids and divied out the candy. The boys were super excited to find their party waiting for them when they both came home from school. And I was surprised at Dave's reaction. He was absolutely thrilled, aparently he was unhappy with my going to bed early on the real holiday.

Here are some pictures from our party.

I loved these adorable boxes filled with chocolate covered animal crackers. "I'm bananas for you!" :)

Opening gifts. The older two are old pros. Jacen didn't quite know what was going on but his brothers were very eager to help.

Evan and Jared both received Mickey Mouse coloring books and electric toothbrushes. I also couldn't resist the Mickey Mouse lollipops I found. (Can you tell we are dreaming of a dream Disney vacation?) Jacen received new spoons because he will be starting solid foods very soon.

A Few Shots of Jace, Mid-February 2011

2011-03-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

I am glad I captured this image. I may not look like anything spectacular, but I treasure it because it is possibly the only shot I have of Jacen where I can see that last little bit of dark brown hair at the nape of his neck. All three of my boys were born with dark hair like mine, and all three have turned blond. All three also had a last little bit of dark hair in the back, so I know from experience his dark hair will be but a memory in about a month. Makes me sad. :(

This month Jacen started building his body strength and working on coordination. You can just tell that he wants to be on the move! We saw him on his knees for the first time and Jace has figured out if he pulls his legs under his body then kicks back hard, he will scoot forward a little.

Here is a little snippet of Jace. It is kind of cute to hear his brothers talking to him, and I love the baby talk. :)

A digital slideshow by Smilebox

It wasn't too much longer when I found him trying to scoot towards a bright red ambulance. I guess this apple didn't fall too far from the tree. :)

A couple of cute baby face pictures. I love his smile. You can also see that his hair is coming in darker than Jared's blond locks, he is definitely a sandy blond rather than a toe-head.

I love how he sticks his tongue out all the time. All his tongue quirks are definitely pure Jace, neither Evan nor Jared were so playful with their tongues.

His first time in his high chair. It looks like it is going to swallow him whole! His head comes about an inch above the olive green section at five months old. Let's see how much taller he grows...

February 2011, a.k.a. "Icy Medical Drama-Lama Month"

2011-03-19T22:30:00.001-05:00

You may remember our snow day. Yep, that much anticipated snow day that didn't produce one single flake. The emphasis soon turned to the horrible ice on the roads. There were hundreds of accidents all over Houston but it still wasn't a big deal when it came to our local area. Well, on February 9, a cold front hit the city again mid-morning. We still didn't receive any snow, but we did have freezing rain. After Jared and I returned home from preschool the car was coated in ice! Our local roads were far more slick and there were icicles everywhere (even if they were tiny).

I thought this was a cool shot of my antenna, the icicles are horizontal because they formed as I was driving.

My best attempt at showing the sheet of ice that was completely covering my car.

My cute baby bundled up for a nap on that cold, cold day. His lips look a little pursed because he sucks on his tongues while he sleeps.

Fast forward to February 12. The weather finally warmed up a little and the boys eagerly helped Dave wash the cars. I probably don't need to tell you that both boys were good and soaked mere minutes after this picture was taken.

So I already posed about a fun sick day in February. It was only the first of about 10 days of school that Evan missed. Febrary was a tough month for illnesses for everyone. Evan had already had his first run in with an ear infection, his first of his entire life. In February I noticed a lingering cough that seemed to be getting worse. We visited the doctor a second time and he had a borderline sinus infection, plus his ear still looked bad after his first dose of antibiotics. He thus started round two of gooey, hard to swallow antibiotics. Next, a virus with a high 104 fever ran rampant through preschool and church. Jared was the first to fall, with his fever lasting five days. Thankfully he responded well to medicine.

But poor, poor Evan! The day after he finished round two of drugs, he fell to the fever virus. Evan's fever also lasted five days and responded well to Tylenol, but as the drugs wore off my poor sweet boy would turn in to a lump of unhappiness.

The funny thing is that I took these pictures to prove to Evan that he was napping. Each time he would wake up and completely deny that he had been asleep.

With a fever so soon after antibiotics I felt we needed to go back to the doctor. And wouldn't you know but that stupid ear infection was still there!! So poor Evan had to receive a 3rd round of antibiotics delivered through shots in his leg. For three days in a row we visited the doctor and Evan endured a shot in each leg. He was so brave, but they were quite painful and he cried and limped and got lots of extra love from mom. Finally the infection started to clear up, but the doctor put him on a final fourth dose of oral antibiotics just to be sure. Oh, and I almost forgot! As Evan was receiving his shots he was also diagnosed with pink eye! And that dumb pink eye made him miss his kindergarten class picture day. He was disappointed, I was crushed. I really wanted his class photo for his scrapbook.

This is a picture of Ev playing with a silly book at the doctor's office:

Jacen did not escape easy either. My milk dried up quite a bit and I was forced to start supplementing his diet with formula. We used the same brand that we used with Jared, but Jacen started to get bleeding sores on him bum. It looked exactly the same as the milk allergy reactions Evan had when we started him on dairy. It was a painful process as we tried to find the right formulation for him. Even soy was quickly eliminated because every drop that went in to his body came right back out! We are now using a low-lactose formula. Testing at the doctor didn't reveal a milk allergy, so he must have been reacting to something else in the formula. We no longer have sores, but he spits up a whole lot more. Yuck. But the best development is that Jacen is thriving again and gaining weight. (He hadn't gained any weight the previous four weeks.)

And actually the formula problems were slightly beneficial. By the time the doctor was able to fit us in to check it out, Jacen had developed some breathing issues and was wheezing. Jacen received a breathing treatment at the doctor's office and we were sent away with a prescription for a $70 nebulizer, additional breathing treatment meds, and cream for his bum. I was so grateful that a friend from church had a spare nebulizer laying around that she gave to us. Because Dave also had several doctor visits for a herniated disc problem and our medical bills for 2011 have already breached the $1000 mark!

Icy. Medical. Drama-lama!!

I Heart Faces - Sun Flare

2011-03-15T08:05:00.000-05:00

This week I Heart Faces is asking for pictures with sun flare. When I read up on what they were looking for I saw that "sun kissed" also qualified, and so I dug up this picture I love from last October. This is a picture of little Jace when he was a month old and weighed about 8 pounds, taken at sunset in the pumpkin patch. Besides embarrassing him with the jack-o-lantern hat, I wanted to capture the tiny size of my sweet newborn (and those adorable orange argyle socks from Grandma Duke!)

Check out the other great entries at I Heart Faces.

Personal History (Week #7)

2011-03-13T19:55:00.000-05:00

First, I think I owe you an apology. I don't believe I posted an explanation as to why I didn't blog last Sunday. It was because I had a horrible sore throat and body aches. Typing just didn't sound fun. Plus, being loopy on drugs could have produced a slew of interesting memories... ;)

Today we are going to talk a little more about our neighbors.

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

20. Who were some of your most memorable neighbors?
21. Can you remember any memorable moments that happened in your neighborhood?
I'll spare you memories of many strangers you will never meet. But my neighborhood story is pretty interesting. Possibly our most exciting memory as a neighborhood was when one of our neighbors held his wife at gunpoint! This happened across the street, maybe four houses down. The police were called, and they asked to use our house as their headquarters! So we had police men staking out the house from our living room windows. We weren't allowed to be close to the windows due to the danger of flying bullets, but I do remember seeing the man handcuffed, lying on the ground. My two little boys would be in heaven if our house was taken over by "rescues."

So what exciting things happened on your street?

I Heart Faces - Best February Face

2011-03-08T18:44:00.000-06:00

Those who know me know I love to take pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures, and mostly of rocks and my oh so cute, I mean, HANDSOME boys! :) It is kind of ironic since my dad always had a camera in my face and I hated it. But since childhood I have embraced scrapbooking and appreciate the memories. Even the ones with my middle school akwardness. (Just don't ask to see them because I will claim they were destroyed in a fire.)

I am currently saving for a dream digital SLR camera. I also just received Photoshop Elements for my birthday so I am ready to try my hand at photo editing, and that means I have also begun hunting for tutorials and inspiration. I found this really fun group called "I Heart Faces." I am truly inspired! Some of the pictures I am seeing are just spectacular! Makes me excited about developing this hobby of mine.

Every week this group presents a challenge to the masses. A contest for bragging rights, if you will. I have no delusions that I can complete with the talent out there as of yet, but I can't resist this week's theme. They have asked for us to post our Best February Face. So here is mine, my little treasure. To me, the cutest baby on the face of this earth. His toothless smile lights up my life and brings me joy every single day.

The bittersweet part of the picture is that my Jace broke his first tooth over the weekend. That adorable toothless smile will soon be just a memory. Good thing I have a camera! ;)

If you would like to check out the other fantastic entries, head to I Heart Faces.

Personal History - Home Sweet Home (Week #6)

2011-02-27T11:35:00.000-06:00

Just one question today. If you had solid roots in one home this will be short and sweet, but if your parents moved you to new homes so much you now need therapy... Well, then it might take you a little longer.

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

19. What other homes / places have you lived?

Now remember, you can simply give addresses and be done in a heartbeat or you can take a little extra time to record meaningful memories that will be much more fun to read. And try to track down photographs if you can. You get out of this project what you put in to it.

I only moved to one new house while growing up, although I do remember house hunting twice and the house being on the market for a spell. When I was about five years old my family moved from Adele place to Campbell Avenue. My parents divorced when I was in the 8th grade, but my mom retained the house and I lived at Campbell Avenue until I left home for college. Here is a satellite photo of my home:

You can see we had a nice, large lot. Quite a luxury since most new housing developments squeeze as many homes in their acreage as they can get away with. My house is on a corner lot at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Bethany Street. It is such a great location, blocks away from my elementary and middle schools and close to the freeway and a major mall. I also had some great childhood friends in my neighborhood.

For the most part, my house today looks identical to what it looked like as I was growing up. I think this a source of embarrassment and shame to my mom. I wish she wouldn't feel that way. She had it tough, finding herself the primary caregiver of four young children. All of her resources went to her children. We were never hungry, always clothed, and she never denied us wonderful opportunities. She even managed to send me to Hawaii and my sister to Europe for band trips. So I don't see a run-down house in major need of a makeover. I see love. I am going to be sad to say goodbye to that house when my mom finally makes good on her threats to move.

Here are some memories I have of my childhood home. They won't be in any particular order, I'm just going to pop them out as they come to my head. :) I remember....

The cool floor plan of my house. The overall house is two stories, but we have small sets of stairs (maybe 4 or 5 stairs?) leading down in to the family room and the living room. I used to bounce a tiny rubber ball from the kitchen down the stairs in to the family room, and my black cat Phantom would chase the ball down and bring it back.
Phantom swinging from the dining room chandelier and sending it crashing down. No joke. And he had his name first, so I guess we have no one to blame but ourselves. ;)
The sweet stone half wall in the family room. It isn't the prettiest of stone but how could a geologist not love a stone wall?
The little bar area off of the family room. I am not sure we ever used the sink, but that tiny bar area was my hiding place in the winter. There was a heater vent in there and I loved laying on the floor in there, listening to the hum of the fan.
The climate zones in the house. You can feel a very dramatic temperature change as you climb up the stairs. Often I would sleep downstairs in the summer because we did not have air conditioning and the downstairs was so much more pleasant. I also remember I needed to keep my closet doors shut in the winter because attic access was through my closet. The cold air of winter would flood my room if I were not careful.
The dark reddish-brown carpet! Oh it sounds awful. And it is dated. But that is the most wonderful carpet I have ever experienced. Even (cough cough) 30 years later that carpet is so soft and comfortable. I learned how to rollerskate on that carpet. By the way, I am not that old. I'm in complete denial.
The 70's choices of decor. Sadly, these are slowly fading away. Actually, it is great for my mom that we have been trying to freshen up the house. I remember golden yellow and brown shag carpet in the den, a mosaic mirror hanging over the living room fireplace, gold curtains, a yard owl in the laundry room, and the patterned wallpaper all over the house. I also remember very gold linoleum on the kitchen floor. A few years back Dave and I worked to put down new vinyl tiles to update that awful floor. Less than a year later a kitchen water leak destroyed the floor and mom was able to upgrade to wood floors in the kitchen and dining room.
The TV stand. It is... wait for it... another TV! Ha ha! This one is so funny. We had this HUGE TV when I was younger. One of those monstrous TV's that were actually considered furniture in the day. When it finally died we upgraded to a much more sleek and modern TV, and that TV found a home on the the dead one. I bet you would need about four strong men to move that old thing.
My bedroom being a girly sea of sea green. I had the most fantastic set of white furniture with bookshelves, a mirrored vanity, and two hutches. Half the walls were painted sea green, the rest had wallpaper that matched the bedding and curtains. I think back on that room and I kind of want to laugh because it is so NOT me. I was never really girly. But I loved that room, I don't remember ever wanting to redecorate.
My mom's fantastic master bedroom with a nice big vanity and two full size closets. And oh how I loved her huge waterbed! I remember there was a cool crawl space behind the headboard. I think I may have found some Christmas presents hiding under there one year? Or am I making that up mom? I'm sure I didn't do it on purpose! ;)
And jumping to Christmas, I remember filming Christmas mornings in our family room every year. Three years stand out as being special. 1) The year I tried to catch Santa and hid under a wooden bench. I fell asleep and when I woke up I was completely surrounded by presents. 2) The year we forgot to clean out the fireplace. On Christmas morning there were sooty bootprints leading from the fireplace to the stockings to the tree and back to the fireplace. And the boots were much larger than my dad's feet. I checked! And finally 3) Christmas of 2004. It was the year I told my mom she was going to be a grandma for the first time. I painted a craft that had a different token for each month. She had to open each month separately, in order. When she got to August she opened a sun with the announcement on it. It was a classic response, caught on film. :)
Fun trees in the front yard that were similar to palm trees. Instead of branches they had these long leaf-like blades that eventually fell to the ground. We would pick them up and use them as play swords. And the side of the house on the Bethany side had a low grade and was completely covered in low flowering bushes.
The silliest orange and lemon trees in the world. The lemon tree overflowed with fruit all year long. The orange tree would produce one or two oranges a year, but they would be at the very top of the tree where they could not be reached. So we had plenty of lemonade but no orange juice. :) I also remember trying to grow strawberries, but our dog muffin would always eat them right as they became ripe.
Losing two loved trees in the backyard. One was a plum tree that attracted too many ants. The other was a perfect climbing tree. I think it was ripped out because the roots stared buckling the patio concrete.
A major backyard transformation. The backyard was completely run over with weeds. It was completely overhauled to a wonderful area that you can kind of see in the picture above. The ground was sculpted to create a few small hills and large trees were planted in the back. (I was grateful for them because my male classmate who lived behind me was a peeping tom. I looked out of my window one night and saw him looking in my direction with some binoculars.) My dad also insisted on roses. Lots and lots and lots of roses that he never took care of. I think I am still bitter about the amount of weeding I had to do. Maybe that explains why I am not too keen on gardening still today?
Our nice patio. It had three levels, and we had several nice dark blue lounge chairs. We had a glass dining table too, I think, and a BBQ grill. And the crowning glory was a jacuzzi with rusty brown colored dome lids. I still remember the big hole that the pool guys dug, and playing in that hole before the jacuzzi was installed. And I remember how I would have to scrub those darn jacuzzi tiles every summer when I came home from school because no one would even look at it while I was gone. I also remember black widows hiding under those jacuzzi covers. Shudder!
The nice stereo housed in the living room. We were not allowed to play in that room most of the time, but when I was young my mom would let me dance and put on a show while our records played. Yes, literal records. I remember a whole stack of country records, with my favorite being Crystal Gale.
The carved wooden plates hanging around the house. I think they might have been Hummels? They were something my dad wanted to collect, I think.
I remember the generous hands that fixed the crumbling driveway, replaced the ancient water heater, and helped fix the the old yard fence and the wooden shingled roof. These generous people gave their time, money, and hands to help my mom when she was working so hard just to make ends meet. I love all of you!!!

Okay, I need to stop myself. This entry is much longer than I anticipated and you are probably bored to tears.

Yep. When I see that old house I see love. :)

Best Sick Day Ever! - February 7, 2011

2011-02-26T17:21:00.000-06:00

February was not kind to us. We had sickness upon sickness upon sickness! On this particular day both Evan and Jared were feeling sick enough to wear jammies all day and watch movies from the couch. I was also starting to fight a bug so Dave offered to stay home from work to help out. I was super grateful to get some extra sleep.

After I woke up I found the cutest scene. Dave had cut up a large piece of cardboard in to the shape of a racetrack, and all three of my guys were decorating the track with markers.

And then the fun play began!

The very next day, Jared decided he wanted to race a train and a race car. But the train kept falling over and Jared kept crying in frustration. So there was nothing else to do except build tracks on top of the race track.

I love my boys at play! :)

Bathtime - February 6, 2011

2011-02-26T14:24:00.000-06:00

I have the sweetest, happiest baby... except when it is bath time. Jacen enjoyed having his head washed as long as I hold him in my arms and use a faucet. But as soon as I put his body in water he screams and protests until he is secure in a warm, snuggly towel. But finally we had a bath where Jacen was concerned, but didn't cry one tear! :) Maybe it was because Dave was hanging out over my shoulder taking pictures?

And we even ended with a smile!! :)

Fun at Preschool - Feb 3, 2011

2011-02-26T14:09:00.002-06:00

There are so many fun themes at preschool, but naturally one of my favorites is dinosaur week. When Evan was in preschool, I sent with him a piece of dinosaur bone that I found on one of my BYU field trips. Want to see something scary? Here I am on said field trip, possibly even holding that very piece of bone!

Ah, good times, good times. (Well, except for the hair, but I deserve some slack because I was camping.) That was Historical Geology with Dr. Wade Miller, and we were hunting for fossils close to Capital Reef National Park. The dark 'stuff' in the tiny cave behind me are bones that we found sticking out of the rock. Unfortunately the bone was too friable to save and retrieve. You could see chunks of bone lying all over the ground.

I have this great story about mild-mannered Dr. Miller, crazy driving, and a huge pothole. Remind me to tell you about it sometime... :)

Back to the modern day! As I was looking over Jared's preschool calendar and finding dinosaur week again, I offered his teacher my bone again for show and tell. But then I thought, why not come and talk to the kids myself? Mrs. Lundquist was very excited to have me, so I gathered up lots of goodies like dinosaur bone, petrified wood, and fossilized shells, coral, and belemnoids. I also put together my field trip gear, a tool belt, hammer, chisel, hand lens, boots, hats, gloves, and safety glasses.

I had a blast teaching the kids! They were so excited to touch all the fossils. I am so grateful to the student teachers who tended Jacen for me and snapped a few pictures. Here I am showing them a fossil:

You can see Jared sitting at the front table. He is the cute blond wearing green. Jared actually became my helper as I talked to the kids about the clothes a paleontologist would wear on a fossil hunting trip. Here is Jared all dressed up:

Isn't he the cutest?? I sure love my Bear! :)

After my lesson was over I hung out for a few minutes to see class in action. I had not yet been able to spy on Jared at school. The kids were divided up in to small groups for various activities. Some groups were singing and dancing, some were painting, and Jared was playing with "opposites" flashcards. I am so grateful he is in such a great preschool.

Random February 2011 Photos

2011-02-25T15:10:00.001-06:00

As much as it broke my heart, I knew it was time to start mentally preparing to move Jacen to his own room. I still want him close, but I also don't want a teenager sleeping in my bedroom in a pack 'n play years down the road. So one afternoon while organizing my scrapbooking papers I let Jacen take his first nap in his crib. He did really well. I should also note that since he has been able to control his body he has decided he is a tummy sleeper. (Feb 22)

Rodeo is a huge deal in Houston. Jared's preschool participated in the festivities with a western week. All the kids were asked to come dressed in cowboy garb. I couldn't find the cool cow spot neckerchief I used with Evan and the hat had seen much better days, but luckily one of my Christmas napkins was an adequate substitute and we had a stick horse to throw in the mix. Jared also loved the sheriff badge I found at the dollar store. (Feb 24)

Naturally I had to have a cute baby photo session. :) I experimented with some black and white shots. I love how they make his eyes pop in the face closeup, and I love the flying shot. (Feb 24)

Jacen really is a fun baby right now, full of smiles and quick laughter when I get on the floor to play with him. He is quite ticklish on his neck and his ribs. Jacen is also very vocal. Most of his sounds are gurgling or gargling noises. We aren't sitting or crawling yet, but we move around just fine. Over the past few days I have caught Jacen near power cords and legos so the fun has begun! I am officially in hyper-vigilance mode now.

Personal History - Growing Up Next To Tarantula Hill (Week #5)

2011-02-20T11:14:00.000-06:00

This week we will capture memories of our childhood homes. Did you have solid roots in one city? Or were you something akin to an "army brat" and moved several times as you grew up? I think for today we will just focus on our first home.

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.
16. Where was your first home? How long did you live there?
17. Do you have any memories of your first home?
18. Do you remember any of your first neighbors?

This is a fun set of questions for me. My very first home was on Adele Place in Thousand Oaks, California and I lived there for maybe five years. I was able to utilize my super-duper computer skills and found this satellite shot of my first home:

I actually do not remember the inside of this house at all. My only recollection is hearing my mom talk about red shag carpet... I think. (Am I right mom?) How I would LOVE to see a picture of that!

I do remember the landscaping of the neighborhood. I remember we lived on a cul-de-sac, and that our backyard had a slope to it. I remember there was another hill to the left of our house, and that we had a peach tree in our front yard. (The last time I drove by that wonderful tree was gone. Sniff.) The hill to the side of our house I think was mostly dirt. I remember playing army on that hill with my brother Steve and our neighbor David. I think I remember digging foxholes? Or at least pretending to hide in foxholes. I guess I enjoyed dirt from my early beginnings. :) Looking at the satellite photo, this once barren land has been landscaped and is now covered by trees and bushes.

I remember our fun neighbors. We lived next to the Kinstull (sp?) family. Their son David was a good friend of my brother Steve, I was probably more of a tag-a-long. The mom of the family is this awesome Asian woman named Soocha (sp?) Oh my could she talk! She would talk one hundred miles per hour in this super thick Asian accent and I never had a clue what she was talking about, lol. Years later I was walking Evan around the neighborhood while on vacation and I ran in to her. I still had no clue what she was saying! I did the classic "smile and nod." :)

But did my blog title catch your eye? Check out this next photo and take a look at the name of the neighboring hill:

Yes, you read that right. I lived next to Tarantula Hill. Now, I am not sure if that is the official name of that hill or not. (Anyone from T.O. know??) But that small mountain afforded me some choice memories growing up. My two favorites? Steve, David, and I following a tarantula walking in the street gutter. And my mom running for help when we found a tarantula in our backyard. A kind hearted neighbor came over with a shovel and disposed of the unwelcome guest.

So now it is your turn. Write about your first childhood home and see if you can dig up a picture.

Personal History - Bye Week

2011-02-13T18:37:00.000-06:00

I regret I am unable to work on the personal history questions this week as all three of my cuties are sick and need their mom. Take the time to catch up, embellish some answers, or rest up your typing fingers for next week!

Too Good To Be True - Feb 4, 2011

2011-02-07T22:36:00.000-06:00

All that hoopla about snow and we didn't recieve a single flake. It is was such a let down. But shutting down the city didn't end up being over-kill. Our whole city was covered in a sheet of ice by morning. Some people did hit the roads in the morning and there were accidents galore. I heard there were over 800 car accidents that day. I don't know where to confirm that number, but here is a snapshot of Houston traffic at 9:45 am:

Even though we were disappointed by the lack of snow, we had a nice, quiet day. They boys did get bundled up and head outside. Jared was a trooper for a good 15 minutes but Evan gave up after about 5 minutes. Jared complained at how cold his hands were, even in those cool fire gloves. Here are some pictures of our yard. There is a layer of ice over both cars, every pine needle and leaf, and I found some icecycles on the BBQ grill. Each blade of grass was also covered, it was a wierd sensation walking on crunchy and slippery grass.

We stayed in our cozy winter jammies most of the day. We had fun watching movies, trying out dad's new pull up bar, and doing some crafts.

So we are sad the snow didn't show, but we still had a nice family day. Maybe we will be a little more lucky next year??

Happy Birthday Dave! February 3, 2011

2011-02-07T22:25:00.001-06:00

The boys decided Dave needed a chocolate football cake. Do I have smart boys or what? I seriously didn't help them come up with the idea. Jared helped me clean up the batter mess after the cake went in to the oven.

Dave was able to come home a little early after dropping off a interviewee at the airport. So he relaxed and loved the baby. Jacen has definitely started to warm up to Dave more, probably because he is often the bearer of yummy bottles of milk now that we have to supplement with formula.

And finally, here are some shots of our family party. Dave received an O'Reilly book, pull up bar, BYU hoodie, and a collage frame with pictures of his little Cougars. I hope he likes it, I totally love the cuteness of our boys! And I had been working on this little project for a month.

Personal History - Who Do You Belong To? (Week #4)

2011-02-06T23:50:00.000-06:00

This week we will be spending time identifying important family members. Here are the questions, and then I will follow up with a few comments...

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

13. Who are your parents?
14. Who are your grandparents?
15. What are the full names of all your brothers and sisters?

This is one of those weeks where you can be done in five seconds, or you can take a little extra time to elaborate. You can simply write your family names and close your book. But I strongly recommend you add important identifier information such as dates (birth, death, and marriage) and locations. My dad is a huge genealogy buff and I have learned how critical dates and locations can be. I've also witnessed first hand how such information can be incorrect, I found two obituaries for my grandfather that recorded two separate death dates. And my dad's birth location is listed incorrectly on my wedding certificate. So again, this is a chance to capture important information from the living. You may also want to try to hunt down information from websites such as www.familysearch.org (free, affiliated with the LDS Church) or http://www.ancestry.com/ (requires a paid membership).

If you are feeling even more ambitious, why don't you capture a few important memories of these loved ones? I am not sure if there will be more specific questions about these relatives in the future. Here is a special memory I will share...

I really love my Grandpa Erickson. My (maternal) grandfather was a wonderful craftsman who created many beautiful things with his hands. He was a carpenter who built his own home and church buildings for the LDS Church around the world. I own and treasure a table he built and topped with pebble tiles. And in his spare time my Grandpa painted beautiful landscapes.

When I was a little girl my Grandma taught me how to cross stitch. (Still one of my favorite hobbies, although I don't pull out needles much right now...) My favorite memories of my grandpa were the quiet moments we visited his house on vacation. My grandpa would pull out his painting supplies and set up shop on his dining room table. I would sit close to him by a large pictures window, and would cross stitch while he painted. My special job was to manage a spray bottle and mist his paints with water so they wouldn't dry out while he created his masterpieces.

My Grandpa unfortunately had health problems as he aged. Parkinsons and sight issues eventually made it impossible for him to paint. He also developed Alzheimers and passed away on Dave's birthday right after we were married. My final memory of Grandpa was showing him my wedding pictures in the hospital. (Darn it, now I'm tearing up!). He has been gone over 13 years now, but I still miss him. Makes me so, so grateful for eternal families.

This is a picture of my Grandpa painting. I admired it one year and it mysteriously showed up under the Christmas tree that same year. :)

And here I am with my grandparents and cousin Sara during my college years.

Here is one more fun shot of my Grandpa with a few of his daughters at Temple Square. My grandparents had two sons followed by seven daughters in a row! My mom is the cute one on the far right. :)

Brrrrr!

2011-02-02T22:30:00.000-06:00

The big Arctic blast that is affecting the majority of the country made its way to Houston yesterday morning. At around 4:00 am I would guess it was about 65 degrees. Then I woke up to the fierce storm front, maybe around 5:30 am? It was dark, loud, and windy, and growing colder by the second. The sounds of the winds reminded me of Hurricane Ike and I later heard we did indeed have wind gusts of up to 70 mph. By 6:20 am the temperature had dropped to 47 degrees, and by the time we hit the bus stop at 8:20 am the temperature was somewhere in the 30's!

I am grateful that during my last shopping trip I happened across knit hats and gloves. I didn't really need them (this was before the Arctic storm was announced), but the prices were tempting and the gloves had flames on them. So me being a sucker for my boys, I bought them each a pair. They looked super cute, I mean, HANDSOME in their winter garb. :)

Here is Jared in his "chocolate marshmallow" coat:

I needed to run out for supplies for some Family Home Evening boards I am making. I did my best to bundle up my cute Jacen, and I have to say shopping for eye bolts is way more fun with a smiling baby. :)

And this is how Evan looked when he jumped off the school bus. He looked so adorable doing his little run across the street to hurry to our warm car!

Then I got a kick out of this fun hat hair. (Thank goodness picture day set for tomorrow was postponed for a few weeks, although a class picture full of kids with hat hair would be pretty hilarious!)

When I woke up early this morning, I realized we were without power. The wind had been continuously blowing through the night with wind gusts up to 25 mph so I figured the power lines had reached their limit. Turns out the energy provider required Centerpoint Energy to perform rolling blackouts. Ev was pretty sharp and figured out something was amiss all on his own. He came running downstairs and told me his clock wasn't working. Both boys were excited about the blackout and grabbed their pillows and blankets and made beds on the floor while I fed Jacen. When the power came back on this is what we saw:

Did you see that? A feels like temperature of 4 degrees!!!! Crazy!!!! I bundled up the boys again for their cold day, this time adding the scarves that Aunt Kristin made my boys. I busted out thermals, wool socks, and my cozy Kristin scarf for myself. And I decided to put a hat on Jacen, whether he liked it or not. My Aunt Claudine gave him the most adorable dinosaur outfit, but unfortunately the rest of the outfit doesn't quite fit yet. It is hard to see, but there are blue spikes on top of the hat.

Okay, seriously?!? I have the most adorable little man ever! I had lots of fun snuggling him under blankets today. :)

The day was certainly an adventure. Street lights were out everywhere due to the rolling blackouts. It took me 40 minutes to drive maybe 10 miles to get Jared to preschool, then another 40 minutes to get Evan to his doctor appointment. As we were passing through our last night to arrive at the office, the street lights came on. Doh!! And as we left for home and reached our first street light, the lights went back out again. Double doh! We had bad street light charma, lol. :)

So now we sit and wait. We have a few more nights with hard freezes, and a forecast that includes the possibility of sleet and snow. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a snow day, how much fun would that be for our family! :)

Little Boys' Minds Are So Funny Sometimes

2011-01-30T22:07:00.000-06:00

Every night Dave sings songs to our two older boys to help them go to sleep. This is how last night went.

Jared asked Dave to sing "Grandma Got Run over By A Reindeer." Dave sang the song, then started to sing the next song.

Jared: "Wait, wait wait! I want to talk about it!"
Dave: "Okay..."
Jared: "Santa didn't really run over a grandma did he?"
Dave: "No it is just a silly song. Grandma didn't really get run over by a reindeer. Santa always drives his sleigh high in the sky and lands on rooftops so he won't hurt anyone."
Jared: "I think it was Rudolph."
Dave: "But Rudolph has a flashing red nose so he wouldn't hit anybody. The person would see him coming."
quiet contemplation
Evan: "I think it was a different reindeer that got away."

We had a good laugh. :)

Personal History - Back to Your Beginning (Week #3)

2011-01-30T21:18:00.000-06:00

Now that you have been formally introduced in your history, it is time to learn about how you came in to this world! This week your task is to capture your birth story. I think this will be a fun week. I plan to ask my mom to write up her memories of bringing me in to the world. And I think I might even call my dad to get his perspective.

I think this is an important week because we will be starting some history dialog with our parents. Let's face it, we just don't remember much of ourselves from our childhood years and our memories will continue to fade as we age. It is so important to collect information from those who have it before they pass on and the fun stories are gone forever. I remember my dad used to sit with my grandpa and record history conversations with a tape recorder. I think this is another fun idea, not only will stories be captured but you can hear them coming straight from the horse's mouth. (Not that I think my grandpa is a horse! lol!) At the beginning of the school year I recorded a conversation with Evan and Jared (each individually) using our camcorder. How fun will it be to look back on those videos? Because young children can't help but be cute and say such unique, fun things.

Who knows? Maybe an added bonus from this week will be getting your parents excited and interested in writing their own personal histories? It is never too late to start, and they wouldn't have to play too much catch up if they would like to join us on our journey.

And hey, if you feel extra ambitious, maybe you can start histories for your own children?

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

8. When and where were you born?
9. What were your birth stats? (weight, length...)
10. How was your mother's pregnancy? (easy? throwing up every day?)
11. Can your mom remember any pregnancy highlights? (how she broke the news to dad, first time hearing heartbeat, first kick...)

12. Write about any other details relating to your birth.

Me, 10 months old

Jacen Update

2011-01-23T20:51:00.000-06:00

This has been a very fun week with my little guy. Jacen turned 4 months old last week and it kills me how fast this baby is growing! For some reason this span of time has passed so much more quickly than with my first two boys.

Jacen is truly a mini-Dave! Not only does he have Dave's eye color, but his eye shape, his cleft chin, and his hair color. Yes, I am mourning the loss of the dark hair once again. He only has a small patch left in the back but his hair is coming in darker than Evan's and Jared's did. Since their hair darkened over time to match Dave, maybe Jacen will darken over time to match me again? Dream on, I know. Dave won on the gene pool. :)

Jacen is starting to progress leaps and bounds with his motor skills. I'm going to blame it on the baby play date we attended last week. For most of the time he was the only baby who was not moving on his own and he seemed fascinated by all those crawling babies. And wouldn't you know, by the end of the week he was rolling around like a pro!

Okay, maybe not a pro. He always rolls to his left and he doesn't know how to roll from his tummy to his back. It made for an entertaining morning on Friday when he would roll over an fuss on his his tummy. I would place him back on his back and almost immediately he would roll back to his tummy and fuss again!

Jacen is great with foot control. He seems to love his legs and feet.

When I change his diaper he always sticks his legs straight up in the air.

When he is on his floor play mat you can see him kicking the toys with his feet, although today I noticed he was using his hands more.

Jacen can bring his hands together (and usually both end up in his mouth), but he still needs work with the grabbing of toys. If you show him a colorful toy he will shake with excitement and his eyes will get big, but he can't figure out how to grab the toy yet.

Jacen had his 4 month wellness exam. He measured in at 13 pounds 13 ounces and 25 inches. His length is in the 50th percentile and has progressed normally. His weight isn't unreasonable, but he hadn't gained any weight since his previous exam a month ago. I had felt like I was noticing the signs of my milk drying up again, and unfortunately that weigh-in supports my theory. He has woken up two times to nurse the past two nights, another sign I am worried about. This is about the same time my milk dried up with Jared, but I'm not giving up without a fight!

Jacen loves to suck on his fists or index fingers.

And he seems to love his tongue. He sticks it out all the time, and sometimes will stick it out so he can noisily suck on it. It's pretty cute.

We don't seem to have as many conversations as before, but he definitely is more vocal. He is starting to test his range and his volume. And Jacen is fascinated with mom and dad when they eat table food. You can just see it on his face that he wants to give that eating thing a try. He actually struggled with pain after his shots so we gave Jacen some grape flavored medicine. He just loved it and did his little tongue smacking thing. :)

Let's see, what else can I report on? It has been quite cold down south so Jacen has gotten his first taste of winter weather. The cold, and especially the wind, take his breath away but he seems to really enjoy being outside. But one thing is undeniable, Jacen HATES hats! lol!

Jacen is a fabulous sleeper! He has been sleeping through the night forever now, and usually goes down for a nap or bedtime without any protest. I have tried to sing to him and rock him but he does best when I swaddle him up, turn on the noise machine, kiss him goodnight, and walk away. I love to snuggle him in the fabulous blanket my Aunt made for us when Evan was born. It is so soft and cozy!

Jacen just fits in to our family perfectly. The boys adore him, and Rocky loves to hang out next to Jacen when he is playing on the floor. For some reason the older boys have started calling Jacen, "Pine Cone." It will be interesting to see if this very unusual nickname sticks!

He is such a treasure, my "perfect baby." He brings great joy to the me. He is definitely a momma's boy and I am sucker for his adorable smile.

I love you Jacen!! :)

Personal History - More Name Questions (Week #2)

2011-01-23T18:36:00.001-06:00

So what really is in a name? How does it define us? I think #5 is a fun question. I'm not sure there was another strong female name contender, but I do know if I had been born with a Y chromosome you would be reading about Richard on the Rocks! :)

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old) cont.

5. What other names were your parents considering (male and female)?
6. What were the nicknames you had growing up? Who gave you those names?
7. What do family members call you now?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Personal History Week 1)

2011-01-16T20:23:00.000-06:00

I am a linear person. I like straight lines and I like to follow a timeline. Even when I scrapbook, I like to start with older pictures first and it is almost painful to skip around. So of course I am going to start right at the beginning when it comes to my personal history. :)

For the first while I will be posting questions about childhood. I'm defining childhood as 0-11 years old. I've dabbled in online and literary resources and have built a list of questions, but I would love any ideas you may have too. These first questions are fairly simple and quick to answer, so no excuses. Dive in and start writing your story!

CHAPTER 1 - CHILDHOOD (0-11 years old)

1. What is your full name?
2. What is the meaning and origin of your name?
3. Were you named after somebody else?
4. Do you like your given name? If you could change it, what name would you give yourself?

By the way, you get bonus points if you can name the source of the title quote. ;)

My New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-09T23:06:00.001-06:00

It is NOT to lose weight, are you shocked? Don't get me wrong, I could stand to lose some weight. I've had three babies after all. But I have managed to lose all my baby weight from my most recent pregnancy and am feeling relatively comfortable with my body for the time being. So I pondered for a while on how I can improve myself over the next year.

I have landed on two resolutions. My first resolution is related to personal relationships. I want to develop more patience, especially with my children. I want to remain calm and control my temper. I believe if I can remain cool and composed I will become a better mother. I will be a better example to my children, especially to Evan who shares my fire. (I know many of you reading this are shocked, but yes my nearly perfect public child can have lots of emotions flare up at home.) Ultimately I hope we feel more calm and peace at home and practice better conflict resolution.

My second resolution focuses on journaling. I love journaling. I love blogging. And I love scrapbooking. I did a great job capturing great memories while I was in college. But then I met this cute boy and got married and worked on a masters degree and started a career and started a family...... You get the picture. Life got busy and crazy and my journaling and scrapbooking took a back seat. That is going to change!

The first part of this resolution is to spend time at least once a week writing highlights of my life. I have to learn to let go of this ideal journal in my head which would capture a perfect record of my life every single day. That is just not going to happen. I am also for the time being giving up hand writing a journal. I wish I could take pen to paper, but the truth is that I type lightning fast and typed words are better than no words. I also wish to scrapbook more. I haven't worked out the kinks in that plan yet, but I am hoping to devote an hour a week. Usually I do not scrapbook because I feel guilty spending fun time when my house isn't perfect. So I am going to calendar an hour a week and give myself this gift.

I am also going to renew my efforts of recording my personal history. Each Sunday morning I will answer at least one question about my past. If you want to read about this goal you can check out my original post from too long ago: http://tamontherocks.blogspot.com/2009/04/writing-my-personal-history.html

I invite you to join me in this journey. If we answer even just a few questions a week, imagine the amount of information we can capture in a year! I will post questions on Sundays and label these posts as "personal history."

The second part of my journaling resolution revolves around my children. For Christmas I gave each of my older boys a personalized journal. (I had already given Jacen a journal when he was born.) The covers of their journals have one of my favorite pictures of each boy, and the inside cover has a short inscription along with a picture of me with my boys.

Once a week I will write a journal entry or a letter to each of my sons. I'll let Evan show off his new writing talents. I'll quickly record all of those hilarious "Jaredisms" that make us smile. I'll capture Jacen's major milestones. I'll write down some of their answers from our hi/low conversations over dinner. (Every night we ask them what made them happy that day, and what made them sad or angry.) And most of all I will continuously tell my sons how much I love them, how special they are, and how blessed I am to be their mother.

So there they are, my two big resolutions. Time to write a page in Evan's book.... ;)

Christmas Slideshow

2010-12-25T22:23:00.000-06:00

For my family. I love and miss you guys! I wish we could be spending the holiday with you!

This free slideshow created with Smilebox

Day 8 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 6, 2010)

2010-12-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

Day 8 in to our celebration extravaganza! It was meant to be a nice evening of service. We did have fun, but it ended badly. So, so badly!

After Dave got home from work we loaded up the boys and headed to the Katy Mills Mall. Our goal was to find a Salvation Army Angel Tree and pick a name of a child in need of Christmas. And then, time permitting, visit Mr. Claus one more time. (We have to make sure he understands how much my boys want that stupid garbage truck!! lol!) We stopped on the way at 59 Diner and grabbed a quick bite to eat... except the restaurant was dead and painfully slow. Why is it that restaurant service is so much slower when the actual restaurant is lacking in customers?!?

We arrived at the mall and selected a strategic parking spot in the middle of the mall. Which is H-U-G-E. I mean, seriously big. And it is like a racetrack, millions of stores around the perimeter of one long rectangle. So we walk inside and have to choose whether to turn to the right or the left to start walking. We knew we were going to have to guess and hope for good luck because the Angel Tree was not listed on the directory and we were not close to an information booth. We chose to walk right. We chose poorly.

We walked to the far end of the mall without a tree in sight. Dave asked for help from an attendant at an information booth but even she didn't know where to direct us. So I took the boys in to the kid's play area while she made some calls. When we got the best answer she could muster up ("Uh, it is on the other side of the mall." No, really?!?) the boys did not want to stop playing. We gave them the choice of 15 minutes of play time or talking with Santa. Evan and Jared both emphatically chose playing, and I asked them many, many times to be sure. "Are you sure? Are you positive?!?" (You see trouble brewing ahead, don't you?) Here are a few pictures from our play time:

Those my friend are the last happy moments of the night. We left the play area and continued walking around the shopping racetrack. I made a quick pit stop to buy some smelly soap on clearance while Dave and the boys continued to hunt for that elusive tree. When we reconnected Dave told me the tree was totally abandoned. It was an hour before closing but there were no tree attendants and no names on the tree. Major mission fail! The boys were sad. They really were excited for the service, they had already decided to pick a baby girl.

And here is where the night turned ugly. We cut through the food court to find our exit. That is where Jared saw the mall train. "Can we ride the ta-wain?" "Sorry, no." Next it was the carousel. "Can we ride the horseys?" "Sorry, no." And then we saw the most ridiculous... game? It was basically paying $7 for putting your children in to a hamster ball for 5 minutes, and then setting the ball afloat in about a foot of water. Look at this craziness:

Naturally both boys just NEEDED to have this experience. But sadly the answer was no again. Never mind the high cost, this was the equivalent of putting your child in an oversized plastic bag before the air was pumped in. And then it looked like a breeding ground for germs of every sort. There was no way I was going to suffocate my children in a germ-fest plastic bag. And... I just didn't get it.

With each polite "no" my boys became more and more emotional. But mom and dad saying no to the large hamster wheel on the water was more than tired Evan could handle. Both boys were upset, but Evan got especially mean and angry and sassy and just plain horrible. We pretty much had to drag him out of the mall, and then he started hitting Dave. Bad move. Mom stepped in and Evan got a time out on a planter in the middle of the parking lot. There we were, angry mom with a screaming kindergartner, getting *those* looks from passing shoppers. Sigh. Eventually Evan calmed down and we made it to the car. And then it was Jared's turn. Jared realized he hadn't had the opportunity to visit with Santa and was quite concerned. We reminded Jared that he chose to play in the playground so Santa had already closed up for the night. And then Jared had his meltdown. The boys were quiet by the time we arrived home, but emotions once again ran high as we tried to corral the boys to bed.

It was just a difficult, bah humbug sort of night for everyone except Jacen. Our sweet baby slept through dinner and tantrums, he was simply perfect. And that was a very good thing or I just might have cancelled Christmas... for a day.

Day 7 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 5, 2010)

2010-12-08T11:03:00.000-06:00

Where finding a tree is one of the top highlights of my season, the event we attended with our boys for day #7 is definitely at the top of the list for them. It probably only falls behind the big red man himself. It is our local Parade of Lights. It is a simple concept really. I can break it down to the following equation:

things with wheels + sirens + hearing protection + lights = pure boy joy

Naturally the favorites with my older two fanatics are the firetrucks, ambulances, school buses and garbage trucks. I was completely grossed out when I saw children sitting in the garbage truck scooper. I just don't get the garbage truck obsession and am still passionately trying to convince my boys to ask Santa for anything else! This year our good friends the Cuevas family came to join us, and Dave whipped up a batch of rice crispie treats. Good times, good times! :)

Here is Evan excited and ready for the parade to start. (He is holding a glow stick.)

Dave with Bear on his shoulders. Well, you can at least see his legs. You try to take pictures when it is nearly pitch black! :)

I haven't even mentioned the little guy yet. I was nervous about taking Jacen but I really didn't want to sit out another fun family event. So I bundled him up well and Dave put on his set of hearing protection, bought just for the occasion.

And about two minutes later this is his reaction:

Poor baby! You have such a mean family! But I promise you will really love this parade when you get a bit older. And actually, I am not sure if he was objecting to the overstimulation of the lights and sirens, or if he was insanely grumpy about having to wear something on his head. He always gets mad at me when I try to put a hat on him. I eventually bundled Jacen in to my chest and stood back further from the road. Jacen quieted down and eventually fell asleep. He may have been super tired or just sleeping as a defense mechanism to escape the drama.

Here is a shot of Dave in the two-toned blue coat with Evan standing on his left (look for the red ear protectors) and Jared sitting on his lap.

Another shot of Dave and the boys (look for two sets of red hearing protection). The vehicle you are seeing is a brightly lit ambulance from a local fire station.

It was so fun watching Evan and Jared with their best friends Cole and Dean. In this shot Evan is on the left in the black and lighter blue coat. Cole is in the middle in the black and darker blue coat, and Jared is the chocolate marshmallow on the right. Dean is sitting in front of Evan and Cole.

Ah, the much loved garbage truck. So glad the kids riding in the scooper was not captured. I didn't want to relive that moment. I am sure they cleaned it out and/or lined it with something, but still, how could you let your kid sit in a garbage truck?!? I think the hooded guy in this shot is Dean, given the height difference to Evan in the middle.

And for the grand finale, Santa riding in a firetruck! :)

Our book for day #7 was Grumpy Badger's Christmas. I picked it out for the cute pictures. (Hey, if I have to read a million kid stories I can at least enjoy what I am looking at!) It was a simple story about, you guessed it, a grumpy badger who didn't want to participate in any of the Christmas festivities. He just wanted to hibernate through the winter and was quite cross with anyone who tried to invite him to a party or give him a gift. At the end of the story his heart softens and he hosts a party for all of his friends. The story line was very similar to Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Minus the ghosts.

Day 6 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 4, 2010)

2010-12-06T15:44:00.000-06:00

I know day 6 of our holiday fun will be one of my favorites! Today we got our Christmas tree!! I love picking out a Christmas tree. Usually I like being bundled up to spend time outside, but it was a freakish 80 degrees in Houston! I will post a few highlight pictures here, and then if you want to see more you can check out the slideshow.

Here are the men-folk heading out in to the forest. Notice all three of them have work gloves at the ready!

After walking to the very far end of the forest, Evan picked out this tree:

Naturally a train ride had to be part of the process...

As daddy loaded the tree on the car, the boys played in the Merry Maze.

And we wrapped up the outting with a 'king of the mountain' battle. I knew Evan would love this but I wasn't sure how Jared would feel. Turns out he was just as enthusiastic as big brother. Dave wrestled his boys for a good half hour on that hay!

And this last preview shot is of our insanely big tree. It looks just like a 6 foot Hersey's Kiss. And by that I mean it is 6 feet tall AND 6 feet wide!! If we didn't have a little nook in our hallway that tree would block it entirely. Dave and I laugh every time we look at it. :)

If you would like to see more pictures of our day you can check out this slideshow. (Be sure to click on smaller photos to actually see them!)

Create your own free digital scrapbook

I will throw in one more picture not related to our tree trip, I finally got a night shot of Dave's decorating handiwork. :)

Tonight we read one of my most favorite Christmas stories. It is called Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard Schnieder. I thought it would be a great choice since today we wandered around a tree farm hunting for a perfect tree, but none were to be found. This story is about a beautiful little tree that sacrifices its shape and it's branches to help struggling animals. He thinks he has lost the opportunity to become 'THE' Christmas tree for the Queen, but in his imperfection she recognizes the love of Christ. The last page reads, "Living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God." I love a book that carries a positive message my boys can learn.

Family Portraits, October 2010

2010-12-06T11:02:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a break from the Christmas celebration posts to show off a bit. I have the cutest boys ever!! Here are some shots of our last family photo shoot to welcome little Jacen. These were taken near the end of October so Jacen was probably close to six weeks old.

First we started with a brown background (my personal fav). This first picture is the one I will place over my mantle. We couldn't convince Jacen to look at the camera, he was fixated on the lights.

This one melts my heart. We sure love our new baby!

Next we moved on to a blue background.

This is my fav blue family shot. Jared loved the opportunity of sitting on Evan.

Next we moved on to shots of the three brothers together.

I love this next shot.

Awww.... melt my mommy heart!

Another one of my favorite shots, although I think the black and white version edges out for the win. It's my new computer wallpaper.

Did I mention that Jared really liked it when he got to sit on Evan? :)

So Jacen, were you annoyed with this photoshoot? Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come? lol!

Finally, a little love from mom and dad. :)

We didn't shoot individual shots of the boys, but did buy the rights to the pictures. So I was able to do some zooming and cropping to get a few headshots. Evan is so remarkably photogenic!! I still get won over by his dimples.

Next, Jared. They captured a sweet, little boy moment and also one of his famous "big smile" moments. By the way, sorry about the overbite Jared. That's my unfortunate contribution to his body!

And here are a few shots of our new baby Jacen. He definitely has daddy's eyes and chin. He looks a lot like Evan and Jared did at the same age. Mom is hoping he keeps the dark hair and doesn't go blond like the first two. ;)

Day 5 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 3, 2010)

2010-12-03T22:03:00.001-06:00

Our day really didn't start out too hot. Poor little Jacen has a nasty cold and was quite restless through the night. Every time I would pick him up the green gunk in his nose and throat would come flying out. Poor guy!! Dave got up once to help with Jacen, but after a few minutes handed the baby back over and went to bed. So I was on my own almost all night.

I had hoped to cute some vinyl decorations during a quiet morning but instead I took Jacen to the doctor. The happy news is that he is the healthiest sick baby out there. No sinus infection, ear infection, fever, or pneumonia. He also weighed in at a hefty 13 pounds 11 ounces. The bad news is that there is nothing we can give him to treat his symptoms. We just have to tough through the mucus and lack of sleep. This picture is completely unrelated to Christmas, but I just have to share. Cutest. Frog. EVER!!! (He's going to hate this picture, isn't he?)

I don't believe I mentioned how I am introducing our activities each day. Last year I decorated a grid of drawers to serve as an advent calendar for Christmas. I think it came out super cute, but eventually I need to add numbers and maybe tie some ribbon around it.

It's kind of silly, but I love the chain craft because it provides and excuse to break out my scrapbooking paper. And my new paper cutter. My old cutter was reassigned the task of cutting vinyl since it is older and not cutting perfectly straight anymore. My new cutter is a dream, I nearly danced with joy!!

But back to the paper... I pulled out my collection of Christmas paper so I could show Ev and Bear their multitude of options. Evan naturally picks the paper right on top, just like his dad would do! I tried to show him other options but he would have none of it. At least with Jared I was able to show him two snowy patterns, but after the second page he too was done. Sigh.

Here is a shot with the boys hard at work, coloring their paper strips. We will have to throw in a picture of the finished chain later.

Tonight our story was Santa's Secrets Revealed: All Your Questions Answered about Santa's Super Sleigh, His Flying Reindeer, and Other Wonders by James Solheim. It is the story of a little boy who goes on the news and tells the world that Santa is a fake. Santa then pays him a visit and kidnaps him for the night to show him the whole Santa operation. Santa shows off a bunch of science and magical tricks, and by the end the little boy goes back on TV to announce that Santa is indeed real. It was a cute book, but I admit I am scared to read books like this to Evan. I don't want him to even have the idea of questioning the existence of Santa!

Day 4 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 2, 2010)

2010-12-02T22:35:00.001-06:00

Today was a super fun day! Why? Because it involved Hobby Lobby and Christmas lights, and great quality time with my boys.

Years ago we purchased blue icycle lights for our home. We had seen them on another neighbor's house and loved them, only our blue night never stood out. You could barely see them unless you were standing right in front of our house. So this year we decided to purchase new colorful lights, and naturally this involved shopping at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon.

After dropping Jared off at preschool I took my sleeping baby to the store. I felt like skipping up and down the aisles! There was cuteness around every corner. :) I found the lights I wanted and was tickled to discover Christmas crafting was on sale. I stocked up on some items for a party we are going to host for a few of Evan and Jared's friends. And I found the most adorable polka dot paint cans! They came in 3 sizes, I purchased one medium and two small cans. I am going to use them for scrapbook storage, the boys will never be able to open the lids so my goodies will be safe.

After picking up Jared from preschool, I took my toddler and my sleeping baby to another store. I purchased a second string of lights with a second coupon, and finally found a rocket ship ornament for Evan. This time was a little more stressful as Jared loves to touch everything, but it was also fun to experience his excitement. His favorites were a musical nativity and a snowglobe. Which reminds me, Jared told me this morning that "Let it Snow" is his Christmas song "because it has snow in it." My little boy is so in love with the idea of snow and every morning he asks me if it is cold enough to snow yet. He even suggested me move to Dallas so we could live in the snow. Sorry kid, you are stuck in Houston for now...

Evan and Dave each got home from their jobs at the same time so we began the family fun right away. It consisted of Dave working while the boys played and I watched Dave to make sure he didn't fall off of the roof. It was time for Christmas lights! Here is Evan using Dave's car jack, and Jared driving the jeep:

This picture gives you a sense of how tall our roof is. You can see Evan on the ground looking up at Dave hanging over the edge. You can also see how my crazy husband started putting up lights at sunset. Don't worry Grandma Nix, your son is still alive.

We also put out a few lighted candy canes in the front yard. I experimented with some low light photography (with an inexpensive camera and without a tripod) and managed to capture a neat shot of Jared.

During dinner we filled up our Jesus Jar and finished off our ice cream pie. We then played Santa-Santa-Rudolph (a.k.a. Duck-Duck-Goose), and finished up the night with Aaron's Secret Message by Marcus Pfister. Aaron is the son of an innkeeper in Bethlehem. He has a dream about a stable with a star over it, and the next day he meets Mary and Joseph at a well. He later hears his father turn the couple away and feels his dream was a secrem message to him. He convinces his father to let Mary and Joseph sleep in the stable.

Day 3 of The 25 Days of Christmas (Dec 1, 2010)

2010-12-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

Apparently we are celebrating too hard. Only two days down, and we are already plumb tuckered out. You see, on day #3 of our holiday celebration I woke up in a panic at 8:00am. Both of my boys were fast asleep as well. And both had to make it out the door in 15 minutes. What an insane 15 minutes that was!! They were eating while I was dressing them from head to toe and kicking them out the door. I take great pride in that Evan made it to the bus on time and Jared was only about 5 minutes late. Whew! And I was rewarded for my personal tardiness with a lunch date with Evan... since packing a lunch was the one task I was unable to complete in time.

(Okay, the reality is that I had been up with a sick baby many times in the night and was completely exhausted. I still am. Zzzzzz.....)

Day #3 was fun for mom. I climbed in to the attic and scoped out the Christmas storage. I pulled out some greeting cards and table linens. The boys are so Santa crazy this year, so I pulled out a much loved set of placemats I purchased at Hobby Lobby. (Oh how I love Hobby Lobby!!) I also washed some holiday plates and my fun polka dot holiday cups. I found these adorable cups on clearance a few years back and they are perfect for young kids. I was in love with my table after it became decked out for the season, I am really looking forward to pulling out other Christmas treasures!

Our family activity was a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. Children are so easily caught up in the frenzy of Santa and presents, I know my boys are already anxious for Christmas morning. So I make it my goal to keep Jesus Christ in the forefront as much as possible. My favorite way to do this is to equate Christmas day with Jesus's birthday. My young boys understand this concept quite well and it is easy to direct them to where I want them to go- presents for Jesus. Basically our conversation went as follows:

What is Christmas? Jesus's birthday.
How do we celebrate birthdays? Sing songs, eat cake, receive presents
Christmas is a special day because we all receive presents on Jesus's birthday. But what can we give HIM?
Last year Evan quickly called out "Cars!" lol. :) I was so, so very proud this year when his first answer was "Prayers."
So our gifts to Jesus this month can be prayers, but also being kind and helpful to all the special people in our lives. What nice things can we do for mom, dad, teachers, friends, etc.?

Now, I want my boys to see the fruits of their labors. My boys love fruit, however it is not the best motivator. What is? Anything with sugar! So I have a special candy jar displayed on our table. Every night we talk about our acts of kindness and service and place a candy in the jar. This year I chose Hershey's Kisses. (Get it? Giving kisses = giving gifts of love to Jesus) Here is a snapshot of the jar already in action:

You can see our Jesus jar already has a few offerings. As soon as I explained the concept to Evan and Jared they listed a multitude of wonderful, kind things they had done that day. We nearly got in a fight when mom haulted the flow of candy. I mean, we can't use all the candy in one night! But I can tell this is going to be a great month because look at what Evan is doing in this next shot:

Washing dishes! It was completely his idea, no nagging involved! Can we give Jesus presents all year long???

And don't worry, Evan didn't eat the whole pie. I made it for my boys as a huge thank you for hustling so hard this morning to get to school without one word of complaint. The oreo pie crust is filled with a layer of fudge and mint chocolate chip ice cream, and topped with red "sparkles." (Jared's word for sprinkles.)
Y-U-M!!

We closed the night with a Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Nothing beats being surrounded by the cutest three boys on this planet!

Day 2 of The 25 Days of Christmas

2010-11-30T23:04:00.000-06:00

Today was very low-key. Jared, Jacen and I made a trip to Walmart for grocery basics after preschool. We decided to walk through the nursery on our way in to see the Christmas trees. We then browsed the Christmas Shop. Jared loved the inflatable decorations, and especially a motorized one with Santa popping out of a Christmas tree. I had never seen an inflatable lawn ornament until I moved to Texas, but they sure love 'em here. My boys would love nothing better than Santa in a Lowes racecar, or Santa on a motorcycle, or Santa on a firetruck. But I am holding out for a nice nativity.

Next I attempted to help Jared pick out presents for Evan and Jacen. That was just about impossible. That little boy loves any toy of any size, shape, or color. If I hadn't intervened Evan would be the recipient of a talking baby doll that messes her diapers and Jacen would be the proud owner of a LeapFrog learning system. Every brightly colored kid trap, I mean, toy package brought on the same conversation:

"Can we buy this?!?"
"No Jared."
"Why not mom?"
Take your pick from "It is too expensive" or "It's a girl toy" or "It isn't the right age" or.....
"Why??" (This said in a very specific tone that raises and lowers. The grandmas know what I am talking about!)

In the end we did find an age appropriate train toy that didn't break the bank for Jacen. I shall have to endure more toy obsession in order to help Jared pick out something for Evan.

But we all have our obsessions, don't we? Mine is poinsettias. I love the bright bursts of red color in my house. I have fake flowers in my holiday decor and today I snagged two live plants. Jared was quite excited to show the plants to Dave when he got home from work:

"Dad, dad, LOOK!! We went to the store and got... (long pause)"
"Oh, you got poinsettias."
"No, dad, FLOWERS."
lol! :)

Jared also told me how excited he was to have a cookie treat at preschool today. He told me it was like the snow at the party. I was so confused. I asked if he meant that he got to play in snow or bubbles and he told me no, that he had a cookie like the man in the costume at the snow house at the party. That's when I realized he was referring to the oh-so-ugly gingerbread man cookie costume. The cute kid just didn't know the name of those cookies.

Our family activity tonight was watching a classic Rudolph movie. Does this look familiar??

I was hoping this would be one of their first movies of the season because my silly boys have requested Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as a bedtime song at least 300 times this year. No joke. Thankfully one of the major network channels accommodated my movie wishes. But I didn't realize how scary it would be for my younger set, I hope that snow monster doesn't give Evan nightmares. He asked me if there were any snow monsters in Texas.

For the record, Hermey scares me. He's a dentist. I'm not letting that cute little elf anywhere near my mouth.

I loved our story tonight. It was The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man by Ted Sieger. This story tied in to the Christmas nativity and had a wonderful message of service and love. I really enjoyed the illustrations too. This is a book I will want to read a few more times this season.

25 Days of Christmas (Well, 27 really....)

2010-11-30T21:59:00.000-06:00

I. Love. Christmas! I love this time of year when the world is beautifully lit up, people are generally happy and excited, and traditions abound. I love finding the perfect Christmas tree, (not the first one you run in to like Dave would have us do!), and the perfect Christmas presents for those who I love. I love watching my boys get excited about the music, the cookie decorating, and the visit of a very popular man dressed in red. Oh how I love it when Santa and his reindeer visit our house!!

So speaking of traditions, I decided last year that I wanted to start the 25 Days of Christmas in our house. I decorated a cute set of tiny drawers with my mad scrapbooking skills and brainstormed several ideas, but didn't quite pull off the adventure. This year I have planned and prepared a little better and I think I have a healthy balance of religion, service, and fun. Now the trick will be working with two boys who can be quite tired after their long days at school.

DAY 1!!

So yes, I sort of extended my new holiday tradition. I am one of those people who hate to see Christmas items in the store in August. I pout that Christmas is trying to wipe out Halloween and Thanksgiving, two exceptional holidays in my book. But this year our local college threw a family friendly holiday celebration called "Lighting of the Lake" on November 29. I couldn't resist! Here are some highlights of the day.

I decided to take Jared and Jacen to the library to pick out some Christmas books. It was quite the adventure, we had to wait out a torrential Texas rainstorm in the minivan before we could go inside. But that just made for some excellent puddle jumping! Once inside Jared went straight for the computers and never looked back. Well, until he ran SCREAMING through the kids' section yelling, "I gotta go pee!!!!!!!" We made it without an accident. Whew!

I picked out a selection of Christmas books all by my lonesome self. This is a tradition my mom tried to do while I was a child, she tried to read us a story every night in December. I then parked the stroller next to Jared while I grabbed a few early reader books for Evan. And that's when I noticed Jacen's choice for some light reading. Quite ambitious for his first trip ever to a library, don't you think? :)

On our way in we ran in to Santa Donald Duck, or at least the poor man's version of Donald Duck. But who cares, Jared was THRILLED. He seems to be developing a passion for Disney after watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Can anyone tell me why Donald is eating his beard??

Next, and maybe most important, we found Santa! Santa invited the boys up in to his sleigh and had a nice chat with them. I am not sure they even noticed his reindeer at the front of the sleigh, they were so star struck. All this time Jared told me he was going to ask for trains. He asked for a garbage truck. And Evan told me he was going to ask for a police car and a garbage truck. He asked for trains! I thought the switcheroo was kind of funny. Santa told the boys he wanted them to be good boys. He told them to be gentle and loving and kind, and to watch over little Jacen.

Next Dave, Evan, and Jared took a short train ride:

And then we headed over to the Gingerbread House to play in some 'snow.' Except mom insisted on taking the train ride first because the line was growing and I knew Jared would be crushed if they shut down the ride. Do you see where this is going? The House ran out of bubble solution while the boys were on the train and thus there was no more snow in the sky. But Evan managed to start a bubble fight with dad with the scraps on the ground.

Jared refused to participate in bubble fun so I took him to the coloring station.

Evan also had a blast at the oversized chess board. He played the college host twice and (surprise!) won the game using his 5 yr old rules. It really was cute, the host made sure that Evan crashed each game piece he took out. Again, Jared wouldn't join in.

Jacen fell asleep peacefully after his first meeting with Santa. I love my chunky baby, look at that big belly and double chin! :)

All in all, it was a fun night. The lighting ceremony was pretty much anticlimactic, they only lit up one bridge and a few light posts. But it was still plenty of light to try out my camera's sparkle feature for our final fun shot of the night.

I know this is a long post, but I think I am going to wrap up each night with the holiday book we read. I knew tonight's book would be a clear winner with my boys. It is called A Small Christmas by Wong Lee. It is the story of a short man named Fireman Small. On Christmas Eve Santa visits his firehouse but falls in to a container of coal. So Small offers to wash his suit and everything goes kaput! The suit shrinks, Santa won't wake up from a nap, and the reindeer won't budge from his rooftop. So Small dons the Santa suit and delivers presents using his firetruck. He even uses the truck ladder to reach the chimneys. I know I will be asked to read this one several more times this season. :)