Bird is the Word

January almost slipped by with nothing too exciting or unusual.  Then Marm called and said she was flying out to help Jessica with wedding plans.  Of course, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't offer to drive up with Allison to Rexburg and lend my services.  I was really great help too (with all of my wedding planning skills.)  Actually, I provided the much needed comic relief.  Matt's mom, Karen, was certainly a trooper, hauling us, playing games, and listening to Allison's scandalous comments.  Allison also was a good sport and let us set her up on a date Saturday night.  With venue and dress in hand, we headed back to Utah on Sunday afternoon.  I arrived home with Marm (whose flight didn't leave til Tuesday) to a clean house, and a newly painted green kitchen wall.  Jake worked some miracles and I was beyond surprised.  Happy to be home.  Marm and I ran errands on Monday and while we were out she bought each of the kids a bird house for our new house.  Grace and Sam painted bird houses and Isaac got one to put peanuts in.  Grace did a great job painting her bird house in about 20 minutes.  Sam spent about two hours painting every inch of his bird house and loving it. 
We were all very excited to put up the bird houses in the backyard.  Since we back up to a wetland area, we see birds all of the time.  They are also Grace's new obsession.  I have many wonderful memories watching the birds with my Grandparents in Florida.  Although we won't be visited by as many exotic types, everytime I see the birds outside or here Grace say, "Bird Alert," I think of my grandparents and am glad to be able to pass on this little tradition. 

Say What?

Okay so kids do say the craziest things, or in this case, hear them.  It was sacrament meeting and a man with a strong Tongan accent was speaking and he kept saying the word Tonga.  Isaac, who I can never tell if he is listening, looks up at me and says, "Mom, why he say zombie?"  Thanks for listening, Isaac.  (To be honest, it kinda did sound like zombie.)  If we only talked about zombies more in church....

My Basketball Stars

January was busy with moving in and me avoiding unpacking boxes.  The local rec center provides us with Itty Bitty ball. Sam has been looking forward to this since last year when he wasn't quite old enough.  It isn't just the love of the sport though.  They give them two laffy taffy at the end of each practice.  Isaac is getting so big.  He was so good at defense that that his "coach" had to ask him to let the other kids shoot.  It was exciting to see Isaac starting to understand the game.  Sam loved to shoot the ball and was devistated if Isaac tried to "help" him.  I loved being able to jog around the track and know that the boys weren't missing me one bit!

Christmas 2011 here there and everywhere...

Christmas season is always hectic.  There is the shopping and decorating and party and for us this year there was moving.  Hopefully the last move for a little while.  I am actually going to unpack all of the boxes.  This will not be a pleasant experience.  Lucky I was able to procrastinate the box opening until after Christmas.  The day after we moved everything, I left with my sister, Jessica, and the kids and drove to Ohio. This twenty- three hour journey included a lost reindeer antler, sickness, close calls in the gas department, having to choose either McDonald's or ... nothing to eat (thank you Wyoming) and a final hour of complete melt down.  Actually, the kids were really good, but we were happy to arrive at Marmee and Papa's house on day two.  Allison, Papa and Marmee greeted us with open arms.  The next day we helped Marmee put together some fruit baskets at church and Grace made herself one.  the highlight of the day after that was going to the nursing homes and visiting two ward members.  Sam danced while we sang Christmas carols and we ran into Santa at the second place.  He told Isaac that "he caught him being good."  Isaac said with surprise, "How did you do that?"  After our visits we went to Young's Dairy for some ice cream.  Usually at Christmas ice cream isn't so appealing, but the weather was delightful and the kids were able to play outside many of the days we were there. 
James arrived on Friday and Jake arrived on Christmas Eve after flying all night.  Jake promptly took them to the Air Force museum (second trip in two days).  Jake and Grace were able to tour a retired Air Force One, and I think it was one of the highlights of his trip.  On Christmas Eve, we went to the movies and saw Arthur Christmas which was really cute. At Christmas Eve dinner Sam pretended to be Santa.  He would tell everyone what they wanted and say "ho, ho, ho."  We did our traditional reenactment of the Christmas story.  Sam was Joseph; Isaac was a wise man; Grace was the Angel; I was Mary; Jake was a wise man; Jessica and James were shepherds, and Allison was a wise woman.  Then we all were nestled all snug in our beds knowing that Santa would not be coming till after church.  Jessica and Grace texted Santa and he said he would like to go to church too so he would come after church and before we were home.  We went to church at 9 with no melt downs although Grace was a little sad when she had to take an extra trip around the block because Marmee wasn't home yet.  The kids got everything they wanted and more.  Grace got a little sewing machine, a new leapster, bird watching equipment, and a marble maze.  Isaac received multiple guns (thanks James) and 100 bullets, an airplane and a pillow pet family.  Sam wanted a cash register, play food, a leapster, and Imaginex people, airplane, ambulance.  Sam played for hours with the Imaginex stuff.  We had a big breakfast (at lunch time) and then we had a big evening meal with the missionaries and a few friends (we usually don't have a big meal).   It was a lovely day.  The next few days we shopped, ate, played games.  Sour apples to apples and the Word on the street were new this year.  Also new this year was Matt joining us for post - Christmas  festivities.  Jessica is dating him.  He taught us the game 'Piggy, Pig, Hog"  which I have yet to win so I don't like it too much.   Jake graciously took everyone out to eat at a steak house with a few gift cards he accumulated.  It was tasty and since we had to wait an hour and a half we were given free appetizers too.   The Friday after Christmas we drove down to Kentucky to see MamMaw and PepPaw (my grandparents).  MamMaw made a huge meal and the kids played outside and then Aunt Kathy was able to come over.  She brought goodies for everyone and then kept the peace between Isaac and Sam who wanted to play with the same trucks.  By the time we got ready to go, they were ready to stay with her.  New Years eve we recuperated and packed to get ready to drive back to Utah.  In the late afternoon Jessica, Matt, Grace and I went ice skating in downtown Dayton.  Grace has been so excited to try it out.  She was trying to do twirls and skate backwards.  Crashing was no deterrent.  I was worried about serious injury so we worked on just staying up.  She wanted to skate around by herself and then she found a little friend.  She was on cloud nine.  Every time she fell, he would fall too.  They "blabbed" (her word) together until we had to leave.  She said it was the greatest day of her life, better than Disney world, better than Christmas. Matt was sneaky and took some cute pictures of Grace and Paris skating around.  Grace can't wait to go ice skating again.  We came back from ice skating to sparklers and a Mexican fiesta.  We played games, and I stayed up to ring in the new year, while Jake slept to prepare for our trip.  It was hard to say good bye.  I wasn't looking forward to unpacking but the kids were ready for their own beds.  We drove 13 hours the first day so day two wasn't so bad. We also were able to culture our kids by taking them to the biggest truck stop in the world.  Complete with a bowling alley and dentist office, it was great American culture.  As we drove to our new home, I thought about the past year and beginning last January not knowing where we would be by the end of it.  As we begin this year, I don't know what it will bring but I have faith we will end up some place good.

funny you said that...

I am always telling myself to write down when the kids say funny things, but I never do.  As I was checking my email and reflecting on the day, I thought of a little conversation with Sam.   We are packing up the house so I told Isaac we would pick up lunch after preschool.  He decided he wanted "fries with sea salt" from Wendy's.  (Marketing may work on him...)  I wasn't feeling it so I called in a to-go to Cafe Rio to pick up after Wendy's.  Sooooo, when we left Wendy's I went to opposite direction of home and Isaac informed me it was the wrong direction.  I said, "Now we are going to pick up Mom's food."  Sam asked ,"What are you going to eat?"  I said, "Cafe Rio."  And then with real shock Sam exclaimed, "No, Mom, you can't eat Cafe Rio!  you have to eat food!"  What?!?!   

Sam's Birthday

It has been a year... yes, a busy one. I really love recording memories but sometimes it seems daunting. So it has been a year... I am not going to recap the last year since this blog is mostly for myself, but I hope to add some earlier posts.

SAM IS 3! He is such a sweet big boy with his own personality. It hard not to spoil him. He has been planning his birthday for months. Every toy a prespective present, every sweet a future cake, every place a future party. One of his funnier requests was a baby. At first it was a desperate plea to Grandma and then when he decided he wanted a red car from her I thought we were done with the baby. He asked for it again later so I gave the task to Allison. His earliest recieved gift was a remote control Lightening McQueen from Jessica who was down with her boyfriend Matt. Later that Saturday he recieved his little baby boy.

On Sunday we had a birthday party for Sam. It was a coloring party because that is one of Sam favorite activities. He wanted enchiladas for dinner (he is a lover of beans). We taped butcher paper on a few of the walls and the floor in the hall and let the kids go to town with crayons. Party favors were coloring pages, a box of crayons and a magnetic clip ( to display artwork on the fridge). It was one of my more low key parties but I think everyone had a great time.

The birthday cake was a bright six layer rainbow cake that Sam loved. The flavor was good but the texture was a little dry. Nothing that a little ice cream didn't fix. Sam also recieved a bow and arrow from Justin and Wendy (which Isaac wanted to "guard" for Sam). Cason gave him a big coloring book and crayons, Jackson and cousins gave him a aquadoodle, and Grandma gave him a cuddly cars blanket and a baby. All gifts were much appreciated. I was worried nothing would live up to all of the party ideas in Sam's head, but he had a great time. When Jake was putting up the streamers, Sam said, "It's perfect! It's perfect, dad!" The only thing that would have made it more perfect was that we were missing a sick Jackson, Trisa, Kebly and Jessica didn't get to stay

for the party.

The next day, Monday was his actual birthday. He was all partied out and all he wanted to do was watch Dora and Diego. So I made him banana muffins and he watched cartoons. He also played with his baby and new stroller and a new playmobil apple tree set. For dinner he wanted to go to Mcdonalds and then we were going to play basketball at the rec center. The basketball courts were full so we all ran around the indoor track instead. (Also very fun!) Then we went to get frozen yogurt and toppings. Jake let Sam ride home with him so of course they came home with a goldfish! A great birthday for a great boy.

Of course Sam could resist holding the fish so it died the next day. Marme and Papa also sent Sam a fishing pole for his birthday which he really loves. And on a side note, a present for me, Sam is potty trained. No more diapers!

The Year of the Candy

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but since I do love a good party, dressing up, and general craziness; I can appreicate it. This year Grace was a cowgirl, Isaac was Captain America, and Sam was Mickey Mouse. I decided to buy costumes because it is easy, and I didn't feel like being crafty. (Of course, Halloween day I made a bandana trick or treat bag, a mickey mouse bag, and a Captain America shield.) Isaac had a preschool party and the ward had a party. We were doing good. Then Jake had trick-or-treating at his work. it was insane. The kids got so much candy and we still hadn't done the real thing yet. According to tradition, and because we love them, we went to Jared and Trisa's for trick-or-treating. Jake was here (I could get used to it.) so I didn't have to take the kids. Naturally it meant that the weather was warm and clear. We have had our fill of candy. If anyone wants some... just let me know.