Foster Family

Christmas

2012-02-12T15:59:00.004-07:00

First item of business on Christmas morning was making sure that Santa got his milk and cookies. He sure did, and he must have liked them because he sure left these kids some nice gifts. They were a tad worried since they knew that the Elf had been watching all month long... :)

Every year the kids love it when I take them shopping to get gifts for each other. It's usually pretty cute, because they pick the most random things for each other. This year Rachel got a stuffed monkey from Bailey and really liked it. :)

Bailey and Rachel both asked for a Baby Alive this year, and happily, they both got one. Who doesn't love feeding a baby doll and changing its greeny poop diapers?? The good thing is that the "food" only lasts so long and then it's just bottles of water.

I am also happy to report that Matt got yet another version of Monopoly this year. He's been the world's biggest Monopoly fan since he was seriously like 4 years old.

The ONE good thing about having 1:30 Church time last year was that we had a fun, full Christmas morning before we had to get ready for Church. It was actually a perfect way to spend Christmas afternoon. Our ward had a nice program and we were so happy to have Grandpa with us.

What a perfect Christmas!!

Holidays

2012-02-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Perhaps this post should really be called, "A quick recap of Christmas stuff in a few pictures."

As always, the holiday came and went far too quickly. We had a fantastic Christmas filled with friends and family.

We made our annual trek down to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. Always amazing.

We also had our Family Christmas party at my brother's house. So much fun!

My brother in law read a Cajun version of the Night Before Christmas.

I really don't know how much Bailey understood with the Cajun words and accent :), but she was seriously laughing her head off!

My cute dad would not be too pleased if he knew I took this picture -- and then posted it! You've got to check out his drink, though. It's kind of hard to see, but there is ice in his punch and it's shaped like dentures. Awesome, huh?! I'm not really certain how it all started, but years ago someone started a tradition? No, more like a friendly competition? Not sure what to call it, but we try to find the most unusual gifts we can and then regift them to each other. We often forget who has which gift, and then they pop back up when you least expect it. There is a humming bird figurine, a plastic mold to make a trout-shaped ice centerpiece, etc. (Shhhhh, don't tell, but I think I still have the Hotdogger hiding in the garage waiting to surprise the next birthday girl or boy..)
So, my sister totally won some notariety this year when she found an ice mold that makes denture shaped ice and gave it to my brother for his b-day. Sweet find!

A few days before Christmas, we met Steve's brother and his cute family for dinner. Buffet with awesome cousins -- my kids were in heaven!

Steve's dad had come from Arizona to visit us all for Christmas (yay!), so both of Steve's folks joined us for dinner.

Rachel's Kindergarten class did a super fun activity in the month of December to help them learn basic mapping skills. They made a big Gingerbread man in class one day for a treat, but when they sent him to the cafeteria to be baked, he escaped and ran away. During the whole month they tracked his travels and adventures. (All of us families had been informed ahead of time and had requested help from our family and friends from all over the globe. They sent postcards detailing their "Gingerbread Man sightings.") It was so cool. Right before the holiday break, they received some postcards saying he'd been seen locally, so they set a gingerbread man trap and caught him right back in their classroom.
This is a picture of the map and postcards that had been sent from literally all over the world.

On Christmas Eve my sister and her family came here to join us for our traditional Christmas Eve fiesta. We stuffed ourselves with amazing Mexican food and played all evening.

I'm not sure what they were scheming, but I love this cute little jammied cousin huddle. :)

Rachel and Bailey put our the magic reindeer food and all of the kids put our cookies and milk for Santa.

Elf on the Shelf

2012-02-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

We started a fun new tradition this year - Elf on the Shelf. We put in a special order and this super cute guy came to us from the North Pole... by way of Amazon.com. Every morning when the kids woke up, they got to search for where our elf had hidden during the night. Sometimes they found him on a shelf or perched high on top of furniture, but other times the girls found that he'd been a little michevous during the night.

One morning he was hanging from the ceiling fan and had made snow angels out of flour.

Another day they found him on top of the refrigerator having a marshmellow snowball fight with some other Christmas friends.

One night he had been busy making paper snowflakes.

The girls laughed their little heads off (Bailey was even a little freaked out, to be honest) when they found that the elf had gotten into the clean laundry basket and decorated the tree with unmentionables.

Another night he enjoyed a little entertainment.

This was another gut-buster. Funny little guy. :)

We made play-doh one evening and he helped himself after we all went to bed.

Our little elf had to return back to the North Pole to report to Santa on Christmas Eve day. When we woke up on his last morning, we found his Nice and Naughty list.

It was a fun month having our visitor from the North Pole and the kids are really excited about looking for him again next year.

Finishing up Fall

2011-12-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

The week before Halloween, our cousins came for a visit and we made our annual visit to the Pumpkin Walk.

We love looking at the pumpkin scenes and the kids love the picture cutouts.

Ended the evening with Pumpkin face pizza.

Kids all ready for the ward Halloween party. (Bailey is in her cooler version of her butterfly costume.)

On Halloween day our cousins came back up for a day of fun and evening trick-or-treating. (My sister makes those amazing costumes!)

Rachel's school Halloween costume parade.

Making oreo spiders.

Getting ready for an evening of trick of treating.

Tooth!

2011-12-11T10:33:00.001-07:00

Miss Rachel lost her very first tooth! It came out on 11-11-11.The two bottom front teeth were both loose - one being quite a bit looser than the other. She lost the less loose of the two first.

The really great part; the part that is fits our Rachel's personality to a tee is that she knocked it out. Truly, she was screwing around and jumping around the living room. When I was a kid my mom called it "rough housing." :) She was bouncing on the couch with the little nubby part of a balloon in her mouth. She told me later that she was biting that one part and batting the inflated part back and forth with her fists. I'm guessing that the nubby thing caught on her tooth and with one last, strong punch the balloon went flying and yanked her tooth out in the process. She ran into the bathroom to grab a tissue because she could feel something "weird." When she came back into the room she finally felt the little spot with her tongue. I saw it all happen in her very expressive facial expressions. She felt the hole and started to panic. Both of us, like slow-motion turned at the same time and saw a tiny white tooth lying on the couch cushion. I saw pure terror in her eyes, so I jumped up and hugged her cheering about how she lost her first tooth. It only took a second until she was happy about it, too.

Here she is with the offending balloon and her tooth.

She was SO excited to put it under her pillow, but she was also really hoping to take it to school and show her class. Apparently another child in her class had done that. When she realized that it meant prolonging the Tooth Fairy's visit a whole 3 days, she decided to go ahead and put it under her pillow and bag the whole school thing.

The next morning she was thrilled to find a little glitter trail on her bed and a shiny gold dollar under her pillow. Hooray for our girl and the cute window in her teeth!

A Little Bit of Fall

2011-12-11T09:40:00.001-07:00

This time I'm not going to even ask you to imagine that it's still months prior. I'm just behind. So, here's an attempt to fill you in on the happenings of Fall.

After Rachel got a clean bill of health, we had her birthday party with her friends. A few of her buddies weren't able to come, but we had some awesome little friends come and had a super time. This year she chose to have a Luau birthday party. They started with an outdoor treasure hunt - which we squeezed in between little rain storms.

The kids found their treasure -- leis, hair flowers, and treats. They played Luau themed games (some of them were a little bit of a stretch, but really, it isn't too hard to impress 5 and 6 year olds...), and ate rainbow cupcakes.

It was a fun party. Rachel has some very sweet little friends and she loves to be with them. Happy 6th Birthday, Rachey!

Another exciting thing that happened right after turning the ripe old age of six, was staring dance lessons. Rach was a little nervous, but decided she loved it the first day.

September also included a trip to the Park/Zoo with our cub scouts. They are a wild, squirrely bunch, but they're great! My kids love it when they get to join in on the fun.

A little bit of resting...

Making some belated birthday beignets

A little more resting

Homecoming Parade for USU! Go AGGIES!

Chillin' and waiting for the parade. Love the Homecoming parade!

Face painting with some cute friends

A trip to our favorite pumpkin patch to pick our Halloween pumpkins.

Painting and carving our jack-o-lanterns.

Rachel's Birthday!

2011-11-18T12:53:00.001-07:00

Let's rewind for just a second and pretend it's still September. Since it's now September (again), it's Miss Rachel's birthday month! Hooray for birthdays!

Rachel got to share her family birthday celebration with her beloved cousins. The only thing better than 1 birthday is 3 birthdays! My sister made the awesome Angry Birds cake and we had a blast celebrating those cute kiddos. (I love "blowing out the candles" pictures. Cute little puckery lips crack me up. Check out Bailey's little kisser. Heh heh.)

We also met up with Nana for a birthday lunch. Rachel is her father's daughter and loves a buffet, so we met at Golden Corral. We had a fantastic lunch and had a great time with Nana.

So this totally killed me! There was a table of some sweet ladies totally playing cards! You'll note little Bailey's partial head in the bottom corner -- I was pretending to take a pic of her, but wanted a shot of the weekly card game. They were darling and lovely lunchmates, but I just couldn't get over it. So funny! A few of them even brought their own tushie cushions. Completely classy ladies playing cards, sipping their ice water, and nibbling desserts. Love it!

Rachel's "real" birthday was Monday. Saturday evening she started to get sick. It was crazy because she acted just fine one minute, then crawled up onto my lap the next and started to feel warm. She went downhill super fast and had a raging fever by the middle of the night. When, in the wee hours of the morning, her fever hit over 103 degrees, we freaked out a bit. None of my kids had ever had such a high fever. So, instead of church, we spent the day in the ER. The docs were alarmed that her temperature was so high and we had a tough time getting it down. Poor little gal.

The hospital staff was wonderful. They set her all up with movies and treated her like a princess. She was very sweet and cooperative, but felt miserable. Once they got her fever down, they did a bunch of tests. Long story short: it ended up being really bad strep throat.

The day of Rachel's birthday she was doing a little better, but she was still one sick little gal. She was absolutely devastated that she couldn't go to school and felt too sick to do much. Seriously. Devastated. We're talking 'weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth...'

We really tried to still make the day special for her. A lot of sweet family members called and that cheered her up considerably. Our big outing of the day was a trip to the convenience store to get an Icee.

The day before while we were in the hospital, one of the nurses had asked Rachel what kind of birthday cake she was going to have. While rattling off different flavors of cake, she mentioned an ice cream cake. Rachel's eyes nearly popped out of her head. I don't think she'd ever really grasped the concept of a true ice cream cake. She got it into her little noggin that an ice cream cake would be so very dreamy, and that was all she wanted for her big day. Normally we wouldn't go out and buy a big ol' ice cream cake, but this little girl has her daddy wrapped around her finger and after being with her in the ER the day before, he went out and brought home this little beauty.

Aqua Sand. One of those gifts that I kind of knew I might come to regret. So fun, but so messy.

Miss Rachel spent the first 3 days of her birthday week sick. By the end of the week she was, thankfully, able to go school and celebrate her birthday with her Kindergarten class.

We felt badly that Rachel was so sick on her big day, but are so glad that her birthday celebration turned out to be so fantastic! She had so many phone calls, cards, and visits from family and friends, and we had a fun birthday party with her friends the next weekend.

We sure love this girl! We waited an awfully long time for her to join our little family and are so grateful she finally made it. She is a strong little girl with intensity just built in. Rachel has a super sense of humor and is a ton of fun to be with. She's become quite a good reader and a wonderful student. Her teacher told me at parent teacher conferences that she was the only child in her class to get a perfect grade in behavior. We are so proud of our girl and are so grateful she's ours! We love you, Rachel! - A bushel and a peck!

Back To School

2011-10-27T17:29:00.000-06:00

It happened. Again. Summer ended. School started. Again.

Actually, my kids were really excited about going back to school this year. Great time of year.

A few nights before, we had our annual Back to School Dinner. We used to decorate by hanging Matt's school supplies on the walls - pencils, crayons, etc. We've since stopped doing that has giant binders, calculators, and reams of paper don't hang so well. :)

Seventh Grade?? Can you believe that? Matt likes middle school and has done exceptionally well. He has made some great friends, loves Math, has dicovered that he really enjoys playing trumpet, and had proven to be a pretty great middle school-er.

Kindergarten. This one's a biggie. (How did that happen??) Rachel adored preschool and has been a little apprehensive that she might not like Kindergarten as much. I kept assuring her she would love it as much -- if not better, since she gets to go 5 days a week.

Matt's first day of school. He didn't think it was fair that Rachel didn't have to go for another week. Rachel didn't think it was fair that she had to wait. Matthew's first day went well. He just wasn't too sure he was ready to plunge right back into the routine.

This was Rachel's back to school openhouse. It was great. She got to meet her teacher and do a little "scavenger hunt" to locate all the things in the classroom.

Rachel's first day of school! She was sooo excited and a tad nervous. Steve arranged to work later in the day, so we both got to walk her to school.

It's so hard to believe that my second baby is in school! It really only seems like yesterday... yah, yah, I know. I always say that, but this time I really mean it. Again. :) Kindergarten is the big time. She was so ready, though. Proud of my girl!

When I went to pick Rachel up, she came running to me and said, "Mom! Kindergarten is a keeper!" She LOVED it. Bailey sure missed her, but was happy to pick her up and play on the playground for a few minutes.

Daddy and his Kindergartener.

That night we took the kids out for a celebratory back to school dinner. I sure adore those 3 little mugs!

Summary

2011-09-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

Warning: picture overload. This post is a little bit of a purge, I mean, summary. 'Just trying to catch up.

Like I said before, we did take a quick road trip to Arizona to see Grandpa, but other than that, we just spent the summer hanging and playing.

One fun day the girls spent playing and swimming with cute friends.

Here's Bailey showing off some pretty tricky maneuvers in the wading pool. Those are some mad skills.

Grandma Bailey is wonderful and comes to spent the day with us in Logan as often as she can manage. My kids LOVE having Grandma come and love the attention! This day she brought candy and Bingo. My sister and her kiddos were here, too and sweet Grandma had them all playing. Rachel and Bailey were die-hards and played long after everyone else was done.

Our Pioneer Day (July 24th) was a fun one! We started the day watching the parade in Logan. Steve worked a closing shift and was able to join us.

Bailey has come to adore parades. She was anxiously awaiting the action.

One part of the parade she can't get enough of is the "parade princesses." Check out that wave.

After the parade, Steve had to go to work (bummer), so the kids and I went to the park for a big 24th celebration. Rachel's preschool class had a little reunion, so we went there first, then headed to check out the rest of the festivities. After having the obligatory snow cone, we joined our first "Family Fun Bingo." It was hysterical! It was a giant bingo game, but they stopped after every handful of numbers they called and played games. It was total audience participation -- games, contests, etc. So stinkin' funny. We had a blast and became tight with everyone at our table. :) It really was loads of fun and my girls even won some pretty impressive prizes. Next year, we're totally there... and on the front row!

We ended that evening by meeting Steve at a little Chinese restaurant. The kids LOVE Chinese and it was a good way to end a super day. (Look at those sweet, tired faces.)

To fulfill summer tradition, we made the trek north to the Pepperidge Farm factory and Caspers ice cream. We had some super yum shakes and watched Bailey and Rachel do some serious sugar rush dancing.

Of course, living by so many great parks, we made a point to visit many times. We are seriously so fortunate to live by some fantastic, safe, clean, and super fun parks.

One afternoon the kids came with me and the cub scouts to the fire station. Yes, I said cub scouts. That's material for another post and another day...
Matt and Bailey took a little try at "driving" the engine. It was actually pretty funny 'cause we'd visited the fire station on campus another time during the summer for a fun activity sponsored by USU. My kids waited so patiently for their turn to sit in the driver's seat. They were literally climbing in when a call came in and we had to clear out. It was pretty cool for them to see everything happen and everyone spring into action, though. So, when we went with the scouts they were all talking about their other experience and just 2 minutes after they got their turn, the engine got called out.
(So I have to back up and say that it wasn't really funny, like "ha ha" funny. Someone in trouble is never funny. Ironic may be a better word.)

Rach took a spin on the fire pole.

As the summer was coming to a close, we headed to the "big city" to do some back to school shopping. The girls were NOT enjoying waiting for Matt to choose shoes and entertained themselves with my camera. This is Bailey doing "praises." (Yep, Steve taught them all that when they were all just little tiny. He enjoys his Gaither gospel music a little too much. )

Also with the end of the summer comes the county fair. Always a good time. The girls got to don tiaras and try out the princess carriage. Last year we won tickets to the Cache Valley Civic Ballet's Sugar Plum Tea. (It coincides with the Nutcracker). We entered again...come on, lucky ticket!

One of our last days before school started, we went to Ogden and spent the day swimming at a super duper fun aquatic center where my nephew worked as a lifeguard. We played hard and wore ourselves out. When we got back to Logan we went to a favorite pizza place dinner. (The pizza is pretty good, but the ham and cheese salads are what dreams are made of.) Poor Rach sacked out on this bench while we were deciding what to order.

Then at the booth. Sweet little sun-kissed, sleepy face!

Bay stayed awake - barely.

This was like the third picture I tried to take of Steve and Matt. Steve would smile, then open his mouth right as the picture snapped. Gross. Boys...

It was a fantastic summer. Like always, it went far too fast, but it was wonderful. I love having the kids home and just playing. It was good -- time filled with family, friends, sunshine, water play, parks, staying outside late in the evening, gardening, sleepovers in the living room, bbq's, and so much more unstructured goodness. Love it.

swimming lessons

2011-09-19T22:08:00.000-06:00

One of the many highlights of the summer was swimming lessons at the aquatic center. Rachel had taken lessons for a few years and loves it, but this was Bailey's first run with lessons. I was actually going to wait until next year for a few reasons. One is that although the lessons start at 3, Bailey was barely 3 and seemed a little young still. The biggest reason is that she had been going through a whole separation thing and had basically been my little velcro baby. She wouldn't go to nursery at church and she really just didn't like to be left with anyone but me. I didn't imagine she'd even want to do swimming lessons. She went with me (remember the whole velcro thing?) the day I signed Rachel up for lessons and literally begged me to let her try lessons. Knowing the the fee was nonrefundable and knowing how she would barely let me out of her sight, I was skeptical. Being a sucker for my little girl, and a sucker for a learning opportunity, I signed her up, too.

Both girls were super excited the first day of lessons. Rachel jumped right into the pool. (Well, acted like she was going to jump, but at the last minute, dropped to her bum and slid into the pool. For the record, she was jumping for real after a few days.) She was in heaven and loved every minute. Bailey was another story. The happiness turned to doubt. The doubt to fear. The fear to terror. Yep. It was sad. She cried the entire half hour. Now, it wasn't screaming-weeping-wailing crying, but crying all the same. In fairness, it was a lot of whimpering, but she was trying to be so brave. I so wanted her to be successful and she wasn't freaking out so I watched. I figured as long as the teachers still seemed okay and the other kids weren't wigging out, I'd wait. My sweet girl did it! She made it the whole lesson. (I have to interject here that her teachers were amazing and I was very impressed with them.) At the end of the lesson Bailey got out of the pool, smiled through her tears, and told me she liked swimming lessons. Go figure. The next day it took her like 2 minutes to warm up, then she was as happy as a clam for the rest of the session of lessons. Go Girl!

I had to put this picture in even though Bay's hand is covering Rachel's face. Notice Bailey's choice of footwear. Nice.

We were so proud of our girls. What a fun experience it was for both of them and what a huge hurtle Miss Bailey overcame! Love those silly, wet mugs!

More Summer

2011-09-18T12:23:00.000-06:00

Every summer it's the same, so I don't know why I act surprised when it zips past as fast as a blink. Although we didn't necessarily do a lot of big, exciting things, we found lots of fun activities to keep ourselves running. It's become a family favorite to "camp out" and watch the Logan 4th of July fireworks. Some fun friends met us to watch this year.

Sometimes waiting for the fireworks is the hardest part, but the kids did great. Treats and our portable dvd player = quite pleasant wait time.

The fireworks were great and we had a blast.

Also in July, Steve had a birthday! I LOVE birthdays. Steve doesn't so much. He's actually kind of a birthday Scrouge. Okay, in his defense, it's mostly HIS birthday he doesn't like. He goes along wih all the craziness for the kids' b-days, he'd just rather forget his own. So this year was no different. He had to work and no one at work even knew it was his birthday. The kids and I swung by the ol' dollar store to get banners, window markers, balloons, and treats. We decorated his car at work in hopes that his coworkers would see and realize it was his b-day. We filled the car with balloons and a banner, stuck a big banner on the back bumper, spread a big sign on the dash, and of course, wrote on all the windows. Along the back window I wrote, "It's my birthday, No big deal." We giggled our heads off imagining Steve driving his car all the way home. He HATES attention and we certainly created an attention-getter.
When he got home that day and told me what happened, I was crying because I was laughing so hard. Apparently his boss caught him on his way out the door and asked him if Steve could give him a ride. Steve, completely unaware of his spiffy ride, agreed. (I was already laughing at this point.) He's not a very good story teller when it comes to his own embarrassment, so I didn't get details (though I tried) of the moment of realization. I just imagined them tossing balloons around so they could even fit into the car. Then, Steve drove this guy to a furniture store on the north end of town via Main Street. I couldn't have planned it better because Main Street was PACKED with people lining both sides getting ready to watch the Cache Valley Cruise In parade. (I snorted at this point. Please, stop! I was begging him to tell me whether he got any waves or honks, but he didn't think it quite as funny as I did.) Apparently he dropped off his boss (who was a really good sport), and high-tailed it home by way of the most obscure path he could find.
I really think he liked his birthday car. :)

On the 4th of July, we went to Hyrum for the parade. Good times. I love small town parades.

We got there early, but still didn't get a great spot. Go figure. Who'd have thought Hyrum would be so popular. A good friend was there with her family and invited us to sit with them. Thanks, Guys.
It was a fun parade -- even if Bailey did get a little torked at the "big boy" who "stole her candy."
(For the record, he just got there a little sooner.There was no real candy thievery involved.)

There is a little park and splash pad near where we live and we had really hoped to make it there much more than we did over the summer. We did manage to go a few times, though, and the gals really enjoyed it.

We are very excited about the LDS temple being built in Brigham City. It's been fun to see a little bit of the progression of the building as we pass by when leaving or returning to Cache Valley and we are eagerly anticipating the open house and dedication. When we heard that the Angel Moroni was being placed on the top of the temple, we decided to go watch. We found a little spot on the tabernacle grounds and waited in the drizzle with tons of other people. The weather was tricky and the wind was too strong for them to safely place it how and when it was planned, but it was still a good time. We visited and had some really cool conversation about temples. After a bit, the kids were tired of waiting so we walked a few blocks to the home of my friend's sister. They had invited us to stop by and have lunch. We ate and the kids had lots of fun friends to play with. We were getting ready to leave for home when we walked outside and saw them finally placing the statue on the temple spire. It wasn't what we'd planned - to see it from a block and a half away, but it was still neat to see. 'Can't wait for the openhouse.

Summer Stuff

2011-09-17T18:01:00.002-06:00

Wow! So I need to share something here. I hadn't posted anything for quite a while (before that last post) because summer was busy, but also because I was so frustrated with Blogger. It was so slow and I couldn't get things to post like I wanted. Thank heavens for my 12 year old. He simply pointed out that I was using the absolute dinosaur version of Blogger. Yep. I knew it had been updated, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. Uh huh, it was that bad. After tech support stepped in, I decided to try again. Nice. (Thanks, Matt)

After we got home from our Arizona trip, my sister and her family came to spend some time with us. We had lots of fun plans --which we mostly had to change due to the weather and rain. So we really just spent lots of time hanging out and playing. The kids rode bikes, watched movies, played wii, made a sweet fort out of refrigerator boxes, and had a blast. They live less than two hours away, so it's not like we never see them, but it was just so good to have time.

A few days after they headed back home, my cute niece from California came. She had come to Utah with some family and we were lucky to get her for a few days. Matt enjoyed hanging out with her and my girls ADORED her. She was a very good sport and didn't seem to mind having two adoring fans hanging on her about every waking second.
One afternoon we headed to the dam to enjoy some sunshine and feed the ducks. It ended up being pretty funny 'cause those darn ducks are so spoiled and fed waaay too much. They didn't want anything to do with the bread the kids were throwing to them. They were so disinterested, in fact, that it ended up being more like the kids throwing the bread AT them.

We couldn't have an out of town visitor without introducing her to Aggie ice cream. Sooo good. Lemon custard...Mmmm...

Another ice cream adventure was the phenomenon of the Kitchen Sink at Angies. I love the way the light from the window is shining -- looks kind of like a halo. Heavenly.

We made our best effort, but didn't quite "clean the kitchen sink." They gave us the bumper sticker anyway. :)

On our last evening, that sweet gal painted the girls' nails. We loved having her with us!

Arizona

2011-09-07T08:25:00.000-06:00

Back in June we took a road trip to visit Grandpa in Arizona. First and foremost, we were missing Steve's dad and always love to see him. Secondly, we were seeking sunshine. For those of you who don't live in Utah, or those who may have blocked it out, Spring here in Utah was wet, cold, and wet. After weeks of trying to stay warm and dry, I turned to Steve and said something very similar to, "If the sun doesn't come out soon, I'm going to have to go looking for some!" Within days we had planned a quick trip to Arizona about 3 weeks later. Wahoo!

Grandpa introduced us to his favorite Chinese Buffet. YUM! It was so good! We all left with our bellies bulging and a bit more pressure on our snaps and buttons than when we started.

Notice that there are no pictures of us actually eating. Too busy stuffing our faces to stop and snap any photos. Now, I have come a looong way when it comes to buffet eating. Before I became a Foster, I did not really enjoy buffets. I didn't hate them, I just didn't really like them. I mean, people put things on the same plate that shouldn't even be in the same meal - like mashed potatoes and lasagna. Eeew. I was the kind of kid who couldn't let my food touch on my plate, so you can understand my distaste of the buffet-style cram-it-all-on-your-plate thing. Well, Steve's family are the ultimate buffet fans. They're the type of folks who go at the end of lunch so they pay lunch prices, then stay and eat dinner. They plan vacations around buffets. Seriously. I am happy to report that although I am not a gal who goes at the tail end of breakfast (at breakfast prices) then eats leisurely while they change to lunch fare so I can grub on scrambled eggs and fried chicken in the same sitting, I have definitely come to appreciate and enjoy the buffet. I mean, if I can find something that makes my whole family happy, then it's certainly a good thing!

During our trip, we visited a giant electronics superstore. Matt was in heaven! I normally don't take pictures of every shopping trip, but the girls found this giant "Angry Bird" and wanted a picture.

The last time we went to Arizona, we went to this really fun park with fountains and a sort of splash pad. The kids really wanted to go back. Last time Bailey didn't want anything to do with the water, but this year she was the first one in the water and the last one out.

Another thing the kids were really looking forward to was lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It was inside this big ol' outlet mall, so we did a little back to school shopping as well as a really cool lunch.

Bailey wasn't too keen on getting anywhere near this elephant. It took a minute to assure her it wasn't real so she'd get in the picture.

So my camera was experiencing some technical difficulties during our trip and the flash was being very temperamental. (Probably 'cause it's getting old and is nowhere near top of the line...) I didn't get very good pictures while actually inside the restaurant. It was super fun, though. We sat right underneath this giant parrot and the kids just kept laughing about being afraid it was going to drop it's stuff in our food while we ate. :) Matt was trying to tease Rachel and told her to be really careful with the banana that came with her lunch because he thought he saw some gorillas eyeing her. It totally back-fired and instead of upsetting her, she thought it was hysterical and choreographed quite a few "be jealous of my banana" dances. Kooky kids.

We made our traditional trip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

The retail store is always fun to browse through. The girls found some sweet froofy stuff to try out.

...Complete with yippy dog.

That afternoon we went to the cemetary to visit the graves. Steve's grandparents on both sides are buried right by each other.

Rachel was only a year old when her great uncle Donnie passed away, but she knows all about him and how much he adored all the kids.

Bailey -- just chillin'. :)

We were able to get tickets to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play. Chase field is amazing! There was even a playground for kids, complete with huge TV screens above the play structure so you don't even have to look away from your kids playing to watch the game. It was sweet!

Grandpa and Matt eating ball park hotdogs and talking baseball: priceless.

We topped off a very full and fun day with a trip to Mary Coyle's ice cream parlor. Steve's family has been going there for at least four generations. It almost closed down this last year and was saved at the very last minute. They make one mean caramel cashew sundae!

During our visit, we also headed to the Mesa area and visited Steve's great aunt. It was cool for the kids to meet their great, great aunt. She was a total kick in the pants and we had a wonderful lunch with her. She bought the kids a fried ice cream after they ate lunch and told them that next time we visit, she'd buy them ice cream to start off lunch. :)

We then spent the afternoon in Scottsdale where Steve's dad grew up. Old town Scottsdale was a blast. A whole store full of westernwear, boots, and hats. Sweet! I'm not sure what Rachel was doing here, but being cheesey! (Do ya love the giant stain on her shirt? She got to pick peaches at Great Aunt's house. She came inside so proud of herself and clutching those sticky, juicey peaches to her little chest...)

Old Town Scottsdale was really cute - a little tourist-y, but cute.

Remember that sun we went looking for? Found it! :)

Grandpa remembers going to this ice cream parlor as a kid, so we decided to visit. It's called the Sugar Bowl and was apparently just as he remembered it. A little bit of trivia: Bill Keane who created the comic strip Family Circus, was from that area. In his comics he shows the family visiting an ice cream parlor called the Sugar Bowl. Yep, that's this very Sugar Bowl. Pretty cool. :)

It was a super fun trip, but just went by far too fast! We loved being with Grandpa and appreciate his hospitality! We loved the sunshine and loved, loved the company! We certainly are looking forward to next time.

On the way home we stayed in Las Vegas to break up the drive. Steve found a raging deal on a hotel. (Another obsession - next to buffets...) And yes, we sure did eat at the buffet.

When we got home we were tired and happy! Thanks, Arizona for the heat and sunshine! Thanks, Grandpa for a wonderful time!

Summer Celebration!

2011-06-27T22:41:00.009-06:00

The last day of school is always bitter-sweet. My kids love school. I love that. When I was a kid, I loved school; although I may not have always admitted to that. It's always a little sad to say goodbye to friends for the summer and, for me, to acknowledge that another year has passed. (Yah, you probably already know all about my issues and time passing too quickly...) It's a super exciting time, too. It's so good to look and see all that the kids have learned and accomplished in the school year. The very best part, though, is that I get them all home all summer long!!

This was Matt's first year of middle school, so it was also his first year with a real yearbook and a yearbook signing day. So fun! He had a blast. Matthew had a fantastic year at school! He adjusted so well to middle school (once again, it was me who struggled...) and really enjoyed it. He made great new friends, loved playing the trumpet in band, and was on the honor roll all year. What a kid!

Rachel also had a great year! She came along so well in preschool. She is reading and is so ready for Kindergarten in the fall. (Which, no big surprise, I'm kinda struggling with.... Perhaps I need some therapy :)....) She also met some super new friends and just adored her teachers!

Sweet Bailey is just so completely happy that her two favorite people are home for the summer. It has been so fun to have some one on one with my littlest buddy while the "big" kids were in school, though.

Matt got out at noon on the last day of school. It was so fun because he got to come with us to Rachel's preschool graduation. It was seriously the cutest thing on earth!

After graduation, we headed home for the rest of the Last Day of School festivities! I'm not even remotely joking when I say I LOVE the last day of school. Below is a picture of the traditional attack with silly string. Yes, they know it's going to happen. Yes, they know that I show no mercy when it comes to silly string. But, NO, they never know when it's going to hit! This year we got them on their way back inside after taking out trash and recycling.

Our family tradition is to have a big last day of school dinner. Each year Steve and I pick out a country or region and base our dinner around it -- food, decorations, etc. We have had a Hawaiian Luau, Mexican Fiesta, Chinese, etc. We plan it all out and then surprise the kids. They know that we have a dinner every year, but we wait until dinner time to tell them what kind of party we're having. ( For a few years one of us would get them out of the house, then bring them home to the decorations up and the food out. This year, we just sent them upstairs.) Well, this year we chose to have our own mini Mardi Gras. We made chicken gumbo, macaroni and cheese bake, and beignets. Yum! After dinner, we kicked back, stuffed ourselves with the beignets and vanilla cream sauce, and watched a movie.

Hooray for summer!

Haircut

2011-06-24T22:17:00.012-06:00

Above is Rachel's preschool picture that was taken a bit before the end of the year. Yep, that's my baby. Well, over a year and a half ago my baby decided that she wanted to get her hair cut short. At that time her hair was still very curly and I couldn't bear to cut off the long ringlets. I pretty much told her that I really, really, really wanted her to wait until the curls were gone (or almost gone) before making the chop. (Both my sister and I had curly hair until 4 or 5 and I could tell Rachel's curls were relaxing so I assumed her hair would do the same as ours did.) She agreed to wait and enjoy her "princess hair." She has revisited the hair cut issue many times and we continued to put it on hold. Well, back in May we took Steve and Matt for haircuts. I don't really recall why we all went, but we did. While we waited for the boys' cuts, Rachel decided that she really was ready for the big cut. Steve was immediately on board. He asked me if I was ready. I figured I'd never really be ready, so why not go for the gold.

Here's the obligatory back view of that long hair. We really hadn't planned the haircut or I would have done a little more to it -- it was looking a little on the stringy side. When it was wet, it about reached her waist. Our cute friend who did the haircut put it in a pony tail and made the first big cut. Rach didn't even flinch. I did alright, too. :)

Rachel was as happy as a clam! I wondered if she'd have a moment of shock or even remorse -- nope! Not even close. Look at that smile.

Rachel LOVES her short hair. It is so much easier to brush (which is the best part according to her), it's cooler, and it's so stinking cute. It took me a minute to get used to it, because I think she looks so much older now, but I love it, too. Darling haircut for my darling girl.

Memorial Day

2011-05-27T21:18:00.017-06:00

I love the musical Les Miserables. I have seen it three times and would love to see it another three. Every aspect of the show is moving and inspiring. The question is who do you relate to? Are you Val Jean, running from your past or are you Javert, trying to live the letter of the law and having lost all human compassion. Who is right and who is wrong? Les Miserables brings me a lot of comfort and healing. I can, in some way, relate to every character.

I have been doing some reflecting as of late. Maybe it is because we are about to celebrate Memorial Day. I have lost a lot of friends, family, associates, etc.. due to health, self inflicted, accident, age or war. I often wonder what life would be like if I was in the car that night with my friend or why didn't God give me the cancer instead. I feel guilty, at times, for they are gone, but yet I live. I appreciate what I have and I make for damn sure that I work hard so nothing is in vain. So again, as we approach this time of remembering our losses and the emotions that it brings, I am again reminded of Les Miserables. There is a small scene where Marius is in the room where all his friends laughed, played, planned the revolution. After the attacks at the barricade he is deeply troubled; troubled due to the fact that he lost all his friends. He takes one moment and reflects on their lives. He, in essence, has his Memorial Day. You see, he feels guilty that he lives, and yet his friends are gone. He questions their sacrifice, all the while questioning himself. He sings "Empty chairs at empty tables" and I think this is the best song ever written for someone who is suffering from survivors guilt or someone who is still morning a loss. The words are comforting, healing, and honest. Marius comes to terms with his loss, copes and moves forward. I am grateful for that small, but powerful scene demonstrated so beautifully the emotions we go through with a loss.

I would ask anyone who reads this post, to take a moment, reflect on your loss, honor the dead and listen to this song which I have provided and have your own private Memorial Day.

Some Stuff

2011-05-15T19:03:00.016-06:00

Last night I sat down to catch up a little. I did a big ol' post -- then lost the whole thing! Darn Blogger! I was ornery. So, It's a new day and I'm feeling a little less snarky, so I'm going to attempt to summon the muses and try again.

Matthew turned 12 in January. He definitely was ready to "graduate" from Primary and enter the Young Men's program at church. It wasn't until the end of February that we were able to figure out family schedules and have his ordination, but it was a very cool day and he was surrounded by lots of supportive family. Of course, I have only a couple of pictures of the lunch we had afterwards, but it was a lot of fun and it meant a lot to us to have all of our Utah family make the trek north to support our boy.

The picture below is from the Matt's first Sunday as a Deacon and able to pass the sacrament in Church. I only teared up a little. :) We sure are proud of Matthew and the choices he's making. What a good kid.

One evening after Steve got off work, we all went bowling. The girls were especially fond of the footwear. It was a blast and we definitely learned something about ourselves: we totally stink at bowling. It was a great ab workout, though, for all the laughing we did!

Little-known fact: Steve took a bowling class in college. It was for PE credit.

Another little-known fact: Steve very nearly failed a bowling class in college.

The grade for the class was hugely based on attendance. That was one problem. Steve was carrying a very heavy class load that semester and frankly, bowling did not merit the first spot on his list of priorities. The other problem was that the instructor was a former bowling pro who took himself (and his mullet) a little too seriously. One of Steve's friends signed up for the class with him and bailed after the second class because the guy was such a cocky son of a gun. Go figure. Steve found it so much easier and so much more pleasant to just go bowling on his own time (on his own tab), save the receipt, and turn it in as proof that he went -- thus constituting a "make up" class. So, we spent a small fortune and he did, indeed, end up passing the bowling class. It's pretty funny, though, to hear about his days as the student of a professional bowler. You ought to ask him about it sometime -- and about "shaking hands with the headpin."

So Steve started his first turn telling Matt that he took a bowling class in college. (Maybe an attempt at intimidation?) He followed that up with a little smack talk about how he was going to kick everyone else's cans. He then proceeded to roll his first ball, got it stuck on his fingers, stepped too far onto the lane, and slipped - falling flat on his hind end! He jumped up so fast and immediately did the scan to see if anyone noticed. Thankfully, the bowling alley was pretty empty, so he had a little laugh at himself. I exhibited some AMAZING self-control, made sure he was okay, and only chuckled a little. I have to admit, though, that we got home that night and I replayed the whole thing in my mind and laughed until I cried. Then I called my sister and told her. Laughed til I was felt sick. (I'm actually giggling a little as I write this. Such a supportive wife.) So Dang Funny!

The weekend before St Patrick's Day, we made a quick jaunt to Salt Lake to the annual St Patty's parade. I love that everyone claims to be Irish on St Patrick's day! I mean, we really do have Irish roots on both sides of our family and I realize that tons of people do, but even the Lopez family is Irish on St Patrick's day. Awesome! So, if we are all bleeding Irish blood, then we're all brothers. The parade was just one big family party!

For the record, the kids were proudly wearing their green, but it was hidden by their jackets. :)

On St Patrick's Day the kids woke up to find Leprechuan confetti and (chocolate) gold everywhere. That tricky guy even colored our milk and toilet water green.

Rachel had a fun St Patty's party at preschool. Here she is complete with shamrock headband and green lips from a big green sucker.

Also in March, we were able to attend Matthew's first piano recital. He's taken piano lessons for several years now, but it was his first recital experience. He was a bit nervous, but did a great job.

He played beautifully and made his Mama proud. :)

Happy Birthday!

2011-05-15T18:41:00.013-06:00

Last month my baby turned 3. I really, truly don't know how that happened. I know I share too much about how time is my mortal enemy and zipping away from me way too fast, but my baby is 3, Folks! :)
We had a lot of fun celebrating the big 3. Because Bailey's birthday was on Sunday this year, we decided to take her out for her b-day dinner the night before. She chose Golden Corral of the big celebration as her favorite foods are "meat, cheese, and jell0." To her absolute delight, she discovered that the Corral has a cotton candy machine. What?? Anyway, when you're the birthday girl, you get to choose whatever dessert you want, so Bailey chose the cotton candy. (She has a totally phoney smile on her face, but I had to share a shot of the prized treat.)

I decorated after Bailey went to bed so that when she woke up, she'd be surprised with streamers and balloons. I found this cute little banner at the trusty dollar store and hung it up. It had seriously been up on the wall for at least 20 minutes and I noticed nothing wrong. Matt walked into the room, took one look, and started laughing. He actually had to point out to me that Birthday was spelled wrong. 2 A's. oops. Not so trusty, Dollar Store.

It really doesn't take a lot to impress a 3 year old, but Bailey had a super fun day. Our family called from all over to wish her a happy day. She acted like each phone call was a wonderful surprise.

We gave her our gifts and spent the morning together.

Later in the day we went to Ogden to celebrate with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Bailey adores our extended famiy and loved her party. My sister and mom made her a little baby doll highchair complete with matching bibs and burpcloths. Bailey was in heaven!

Months prior to her birthday, Bailey decided that she wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday cake.

This little girl is constant. Whenever anyone asked her what she wanted for her b-day, all she would say is, "a meemie mouse cake." When we, at first, planned on spending Bailey's birthday alone here at home, I figured I'd make the cake and even if it looked pathetic, it wouldn't matter. We'd be the only ones to see and Bailey would be happy with anything remotely resembling Minnie. Then we decided to do the family party on her actual b-day. Problem. I can make a cake and convice a 3 year old that it's Minnie Mouse. The whole family would be a tougher crowd. -- In fairness, I really don't think anyone would have made too much fun of me, but I was not too confident in my cake making skills. So, my uber-talented sister swooped in and saved the day by asking if she could make the cake for her BFF Bailey. It was darling! There is a glare on the tinfoil in this picture, but it really did look fantastic! Thanks, Beck!! Bailey was one happy birthday girl!

What a fun day! It was wonderful to celebrate with people we love. We are so grateful for this little girl! Bailey is a gift and blessing to our little family. She had such a tough first couple of years due to illness and other weird things, but she is such a sweet little gal in spite of it all. Everyone just loves Bailey. She has such an infectious laugh and smile and such a silly, sweet disposition. She definitely has a little kick in her and can have a good, strong will too. She is a snuggler and little helper. We love our little Bailey dearly and are so grateful she's ours!!

Happy Birthday, Bailey! We love you!!

For Therapy...

2011-04-17T19:37:00.006-06:00

This picture is a self-portrait. It's entitled "Sad, Screaming Rachel." I've decided to post it -- just in case something happens to the hard copy before Rachel's adolescence. You know, before she can take it to her therapist to help explain her childhood. Flashback: We've been enjoying a mellow evening. It's nearly time for the bedtime routine to commence. Dad strolls past the girls' bedroom, notices the pink explosion, and calls the girls to clean their room before bed. Little girls not only DON'T come running, but Dad has to call several times -- becoming a little less than nice by the last call. They are finally in the bedroom and Dad mistakenly thinks that the deal is sealed. Dad leaves room. Girls leave room. (Repeat a few times.) With patience wearing thin, Dad explains to the little ladies that having toys is a privilege and if the toys are not taken care of, they will be taken away. Rachel chooses a very poor time to try out a little bit of sass on her papa. Dad disappears downstairs only to reappear with a big black garbage bag. He proceeds to pick up toys and toss them in the bag. All you-know-what breaks loose! I am watching and begin to understand "weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Fast forward 15 minutes. Rachel and Bailey are starting to catch their breath. Swollen eyes and hiccups. They've wheeled and dealed with their daddy. He's agreed not to throw the toys away but put them in an undisclosed time-out location until they are earned back. The girls are so exhausted from their complete break-down that they fall asleep before their little heads hit the pillows. The next day Rachel sits down at the dining room table with paper and markers. She creates this masterpiece.

Kindergarten-- almost!

2011-04-04T22:14:00.004-06:00

Last month we registered Rachel for Kindergarten. I can say that all nice-and-calm like right now. Wait until August, though and I'll probably be singing a different tune. I cannot even begin to fathom how my baby got old enough to go to school. It happened with Matt and I vowed that I wouldn't let it happen again. :) She is SO excited! She is also so ready. When we went in for the registration and screening she went right with the teacher who was doing the testing and she did an awesome job! We were so proud of her. She can't wait until school starts! I know she'll love it!

Drat!

2011-03-14T20:14:00.004-06:00

One night I was reading in bed. My bed-mate was already snoozy snoring so I was using my handy dollar store clip-on reading light. It's the kind of light that is just barely light enough to see; sort of. So I hit the end of my book and glanced at the picture of the author on inside of the back cover. I took a double take. Then a triple. My nose was practically pressed against the book trying to see in my dim dollar light. By George, I'd just finished reading my second book by this same author only to realize I knew her! I went to junior high school with her, but had obviously lost track of her and didn't know her married name. The next day I headed to the library and got more books by her. I had enjoyed the two books I'd already read and she was such a nice girl in junior high.

So, I enjoyed some of her books more than others, but overall, liked my old chum's writing. There was one book that has stuck with me and caused a great deal of thought, though. It's not so much the story line or anything, but a quirky habit of the main character. This woman (whose name I can't even recall) experienced life, tragedy, miracles, success, you name it. This is the clincher - you ready? When the life, tragedy, and stress hit, she had a peculiar way of handling it. Really ready? She washed dishes!! Seriously folks, she filled the sink with hot, soapy water and washed the spaghetti sauce off stoneware. She'd stick her arms elbows-deep into the comforting suds and think. She'd think, pray, cry, laugh -- a regular catharsis. Her dishwasher sat brand new and unused as she hand-washed amid epiphany.

This talented author described the suds and warm water in such a way that I believed her...almost.

I have thought about this over and over -- mostly when I'm washing dishes. I've come to the conclusion that I must be doing it wrong. I don't enjoy it, for one. Also, I don't feel calmed, comforted, or cathartic. Mostly I just feel like I need to hurry and get it over with 'cause I don't like touching used food.

In an effort to make this whole thing work for me, I went to the store and bought some new dish soap. Palmolive. I remember having that kind at my kitchen sink when I was a kid. I quite enjoy the smell and thought that perhaps it would make me all nostalgic and comfort-y. All it really did was make me remember the time I washed cupcake tins with it and didn't get all the soap washed out before I baked in them. Blueberry muffins that tasted like Palmolive. Yuck.

I tried so hard. I looked at my list of things I would like to do when I feel upset or stressed. Drink Diet Coke, eat chocolate, read a book and hide from the world... nope, no dish washing. Nothing, in fact, that is at all productive or effective in cleaning my house. Drat.

I was feeling kind of bad about myself, but then started wondering if this lady and her dishwashing-therapy was even for real. Perhaps nobody does that and it was just for the story. You know, like literary license. I thought about emailing the author to voice my concern, but decided not to. After all, I did like her books and she was such a nice girl in junior high.

Winter

2011-02-25T22:10:00.030-07:00

Did you see that? This post is "winter." We made it to at least the appropriate season. Never mind the fact that in Utah winter lasts like a year and it's given me plenty of time to catch up.
Here's another long 'un. Beware: more pictures, more babbling... :)

For Halloween my sister and her family came for the day. It was a blast. We made mummy dogs and Jack Skellington cupcakes for dinner then went to our ward Halloween party and then out for some trick or treating.

Matt had decided that he didn't want to dress up for Haloween this year. I know, sad. He figured he's in middle school now and all, so he didn't want to do it. At the last minute he decided to wear something simple and subtle. We threw this costume together and in the end I think he was happy he dressed up -- even a little.
Rachel changed her mind about 37 times in the months before the big day. She had finally settled on Rapunzel or some kind of princess. I found the blue dress and thought we could make it into a Rapunzel dress quite easily. Rachey tried it on and exclaimed, "It's perfect! I'm the queen of the world!" Yep, so Rachel went as the queen of the world. Aim high, Little Girl!
We explained to Bailey about Halloween and dressing up a few months before and listed off some possible costume ideas; one of which was Minnie Mouse. She immediately decided to be Minnie and never wavered.

The kids and their cousins ready to head out.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with my family in Ogden. I'm not really sure what happened that I hardly got any pictures of that day, but I guess I'll just blame it on food hangover. Dinner was wonderful and the kids all went out to play in the snow afterward. So fun.

Rachel and I kicked off the Christmas celebrations by attending Cache Valley Civic Ballet's Nutcracker. Steve, Matt, and Bailey hung out together so Rach and I could go.

We attended the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea before where she got to get a pic with the Sugar Plum Fairy and meet a lot of the dancers in the show. She was in heaven! We then went to the Blue Bird Cafe for lunch and sat at the old fashioned soda bar to eat. Then, it was off to the show and she loved it! She did get a little weary near the end, but seemed to really enjoy it.

The girls took their task of writing letters to Santa very seriously this year. We heard that the Old Jolly Man himself would be at Macey's one Saturday and they decided it would be the perfect opportunity to hand deliver their masterpieces.

They were so excited to see Santa and give him their letters. We got there and Bailey made it completely clear that she would happily look at him from a distance...
See those poor little teary, red eyes? I guess Matt got too close. She was trying so hard to smile, Little Sweetie.

Rachel graciously offered to hand both letters to Santa. Okay, so take a look at that cute little Santa. I swear he was probably 21 years old at most, and weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. He was so awkward and didn't quite know what to do. Sweet kid. Rachel confided to me on the way out that he was "super nice," but she was pretty certain that he was one of Santa's helpers and not the "real guy."

Another fun way we got into the Christmas spirit was attending Matt's band concert at the middle school. Rachel wore this lovely pink tiara -- because you should wear a tiara to a band concert.

The kids did a great job. Sure, it was the typical Christmas band concert and there were some kind of painful parts, but overall I was impressed. Considering that a large majority of those kids hadn't even picked up an instrument until 4 months before, I'd say they did a super job.

The next picture of Rachel was taken the day of her preschool Christmas party. I had to include it because the kid makes me giggle. I had picked out a cute little outfit for her to wear that day. Apparently she had another plan -- and had had that plan for at least a week. She wanted to wear her Santa dress, thank you very much. She, of course, chose to accessorize that not-so-subtle dress with her sparkly red shoes and a big ol' Santa had that said "Naughty" on one side and "Nice" on the other. (She did make extra sure to wear it with the "Nice" side in front. The child was obsessed with being on the "Nice List" and even prayed for it in her opening prayer in Primary one Sunday.) Okay, so it was a Christmas party and she should be able to gussy up a little for it. The part that killed me was that when she walked into preschool, not another child in the class was wearing even a Christmas shirt. Seriously, folks. There was not a stitch of festive fabric on a one of them. Now an adult would feel so incredibly over-dressed or obvious and out of place. Not our girl. She just strutted her little furry red and white self into the class and probably felt even more pleased with herself. Love that Rachel.

The kids in their Christmas church duds the Sunday before Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, my sister and her family came for our annual Christmas Eve Mexican Fiesta. So Yum! Steve's family has the tradition to celebrate Christmas Eve with a giant spread of Mexican food. He seriously gets so excited about it that he plans the menu weeks in advance. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.
We exchanged little gifts with the cousins, played, and made cookies for Santa. The PJ Elf also made a sneaky visit and the kids got all decked out in their new pj's for a picture.

Here we all are in our matching pj's. (I don't remember why Bailey was so distraught.)

Rachel and Bailey leaving Santa's treat.

The next morning Christmas blew up in our house. It was wonderful, exciting, so fun, and soooo messy! Steve's dad was here from Arizona and the kids loved having their Grandpa here.
Bailey's presents mostly consisted of baby dolls and baby doll paraphenelia. She also got a little princess folding table and chairs which ended up being one of her favorite gifts. She was so funny on Christmas morning because she was just old enough to understand Christmas and the excitement. Our Bailey doesn't have the best verbal skills yet and couldn't say "Merry Christmas" so she just kept hugging everyone and saying, "Happy to you!"

Matthew asked for mainly electronic things this year. I know, it's normal, but I had a little bit of a hard time with it. One reason was because his "stash" looked so much smaller than the others' because the dollar value was higher. (He, of course, didn't think anything of that and was totally excited and grateful for his gifts.) The other reason I struggled a little was because I just plain had to accept the fact that he's old enough to not want toys anymore. I know, I just need to get over it. I did, however, buy him a big Nerf gun, so he could have just one toy...for my sake. :)

Rachel had asked for a Baby Alive doll and Barbie stuff. She was so excited to get the Barbie "Hospital Girl." She decided about a year ago that she wants to do that for one of her jobs when she grows up -- be a "hospital girl" and take care of the babies in the hospital.

Happy to you, Matt!

Happy to you, Ray Ray!

Happy to you, Ray Ray! (Again.)

Happy to you, Papa!

I wasn't kidding. She just kept hugging on everyone and Happy to you-ing. It was so sweet!

It was such a perfect day. My mom, my older sister, and her husband came to see us and spent a few hours visiting. It just turned out to be such a great day.

The week after Christmas was wonderful! Steve took some time off so he could spend it with his dad. We drove to Huntsville one day to visit the monastery which ended up being a beautiful drive and a cool visit.

The best part of the week was just being together and hanging out. We had no busy schedule or agenda just enjoyed the break from everything.

Taking Grandpa to the airport to head home was sad. He, in truth, was probably ready to get back to the warm weather in Arizona and the quiet of a house not packed with three kids on Christmas holiday high. It was a wonderful visit and went too quickly.

In our family we don't ever have the post holiday blues because Matt's birthday is in January, so we have that to look forward to as we pack away the Christmas decorations. He decided not to have a party with friends this year, but to go to dinner and bowling with the family instead. (The very unfortunate part of the story is that we still owe him his bowling trip because we nearly all got sick about that time and spent much of the month fighting it.)
The day of his b-day was a little different in that he had scouts that night and they had planned a little party for him. We did his family b-day dinner the following night, but still had cake and ice cream after scouts. (And nope, the party hats were NOT his idea.)

It was a fun day for him full of phone and visits from family and friends.

This was his last gift of the night - Monopoly for the Wii. For those who may not know, Matthew was LOVED Monopoly since he was about 4 years old. Seriously. We don't know where he got that from because neither Steve nor I really enjoy it too much. Through the years he has collected so many versions of the game that I lost track a long time ago; Monopoly Junior, the Disney version, the Sponge Bob version, the version with electronic bank cards, versions for the pc, handheld games... you get the idea. We saw this one on sale and figured it would be the perfect gift to end his day.

The next weekend he continued the celebration with our extended family in Ogden. Again, my amazingly talented sister made the cake. (Her son's b-day was this month, too.) The kids' new love is "Dispicable Me," so she made a Gru cake and Minion Twinkies. It was awesome!

Cute boy! I can't believe he's 12!

This was pretty funny. The kids sat down to eat their cake and they wouldn't open their Twinkie minions. They just carried them around and played with them. Bailey and her cousin Ollie were making them talk to each other in high, squeeky voices.

I'm not really certain where the last 12 years went, but I can tell you how much we love this kid! We, quite often, have people tell us what a great kid he is and how impressed they are with him. Truly, this boy just came good. He is an amazing person and I am so, so blessed to be his mom.

This picture of him is one of my favorites. He had just turned five and was in preschool. Shortly after Matt's 5th b-day he was diagnosed with a fairly rare blood disorder that affected his spleen and his platelet numbers. It was really frightening, especially since at first we didn't know if it was some sort of hemophelia or even possibly leukemia. Thankfully, after a very long night filled with tears and constant prayer, he was diagnosed with ITP. We spent the next year and a half watching him closely, monitoring his blood, and hoping that he would slip into the little window of children whose disorder corrects itself. Long story short, after the year and a half his platelets had gone back to normal. We consider it nothing short of a miracle. :)

So, back to preschool and the drippy clown pictured below. For school the theme was "Circus." The kids took a stuffed animal to train (hence, the monkey hanging on his arm) and worked on a little circus act. It was very cute. The day of the performance, the teacher painted their little clown faces and they made big bowties of paper and clown noses from egg cartons to complete the look. Well, we walked home from preschool in the pouring rain and I took this photo when we got home. I adore this picture because it so typifies my Matthew during that time. He was wearing one of his favorite shirts which was from Primary Childrens' Hospital -- he got it on one of his many visits to the hospital. I love that his clown makeup is all runny and drippy from the rain and his hair is matted to his head. The part that melts my heart is his giant, ear-to-ear smile. Even though his little life had been turned upside down, his little boy activities had been severely limited, he was constantly being subjected to uncomfortable blood tests, and he often didn't feel well; the sweet boy had a huge, genuine grin pasted on his face. I love this boy!

Even though I'm still kind of struggling that my baby just turned 12, I sure am proud of the kid he is and the person he's becoming. I am so grateful for him and his incredible spirit. Happy 12th Birthday, Matthew. We love you!!

This last picture was Valentines Day. We gave each of the girls a new dress (which, by the way, are fabulous, spinny dancing dresses) and Matt got some new headphones. Rachel had a little Valentines party at preschool and the girls delivered Valentines to some of their little neighbor friends. We made a really great dinner -- and that was about the extent of our celebration. I sure love this crazy little family of mine!!

Fall

2011-02-18T08:01:00.036-07:00

Reading the title of this post, one may think that it's going to be an embarrassing story about my graceful self and a good trip. Well, that has indeed happened to me more than once, but this post is actually about the season. You know, Autumn...it was months ago. Here's my attempt at catch up. Warning: This one's super long with some picture overload.

Matt and Rachel started back to school. Okay, Matt started back and Rachel just plain started. Matthew is in 6th grade this year which is in the middle school. He was super excited (and is doing awesome), but I was having issues with it. Middle School?? When did that happen?!

Rachel started preschool. She was super excited as well and had her outfit picked out days ahead of time. She goes to the afternoon session and we all just thought we might spontaneously combust before noon came. Bailey was very sad to see her sister go to school without her -- in fact she cried for a good 15 minutes after dropping Rachel off and kept asking me to go back and get her. Rachel did fantastic. For those of you who may not know, our Rachel just started going to Primary by herself this summer. She went through some serious separation anxiety and we weren't sure how she would do going to preschool. She hardly even took time to say goodbye. So proud of her!!
When I picked her up she showed me a self-portrait she made. There was a big O-shaped mouth that took up most of the face on her picture. She told me it was her yelling,"I love this place and I never want to go home!" She came right home and sacked out on the couch. Totally worn out, but happy.

Our Rachey turned 5 in September. Again, How did that happen? One of the things that she was very most looking forward to was getting her very own library card. Ta-da!! (She doesn't look too thrilled in this pic, but she was so excited! She even did a special "I got my own library card" dance while in line at the library.)

Rachel started her birthday celebration with a big family party at her aunt and uncle's house in Ogden. We celebrated all the family b-days in the month. My uber-talented sister made a very cool Pac Man cake and the kids just played, and played, and played.

The Saturday before her b-day, was her party with her friends. We are so fortunate in that there are some really great families in our neighborhood with kids Rachel's age. She has some very sweet little friends. She chose to have a Princess and the Frog party. They started the party by making Mardi Gras masks.

They played a game like a cakewalk, but jumped between lily pads. They then had froggy cupcakes and lemonade.

The weather was wonderful, so we went outside to play a version of "duck, duck, goose" which Bailey thought was nothing short of hysterical! The girl laughed her head off! (Wish I had a picture) The kids then did a little obstacle course. I had it all set up for them to run though -- dodge crocodiles, escape the frog catchers, find Mama Odie, eat a bug, and hop back. I thought I was so clever, too because they had to wear flippers -- like a frog. So cute, in theory. The reality was that the flippers were too big and it quickly became apparent that somebody was probably going to fall and crack their head open. I tried to convince the kids that it would be way more fun without the flippers, but to no avail. They were so excited about the dang flippers. So, Steve and I ended up holding their hands and "helping" them hop through the course. "Helping" meaning carrying them through and letting their little flipper feet touch the ground a few times while we ran back and forth across the lawn. We were sucking air and dying laughing because of how out of shape we are, and because we must have looked REDICULOUS! The kids loved it and each had several turns.

It was a lot of fun, but as it always is after a kid's birthday party, we were pooped when it was over.

Cute cousins getting ready to go home after the party.

At least 6 months prior to Rachel's birthday, she began telling us she wanted a surprise party. Okaaay... Try to explain the lack of surprise in a self-planned surprise party to a four year old. :) You've totally got to admire a girl who knows what she wants, though. Well, we didn't have a surprise party, so to make up for it, we all waited at the bottom of the stairs with cans of silly string to surprise the birthday girl the morning of her birthday.

(Don't know why that last paragraph is showing as a link. I tried to fix it. I'm technologically disabled. Sorry.)

She opened her gifts from us.

Then we headed outside to take her to birthday breakfast. One of her presents was a new booster seat for the car. Notice the lovely purple seat. Also notice poor Rachel being totally blinded by the morning sun. Also, also, notice Bailey bawling her eyes out because she wanted a new lovely purple carseat, too.

We went to Angie's for breakfast. Rachey loves that place and the rockin' chocolate chip pancakes. They sang to her and she acted all shy, but told me later that she loved it. They even gave her a special birthday sundae -- 'cause you should eat an ice cream sundae with breakfast.

It was a fun birthday week. We love that crazy little girl so much and can hardly believe she's five. We've now had her for as long as we waited for her. It took us five years to get pregnant with Rachel and she screamed for the first year of her life because she had such horrible colic and reflux. We joke that the Lord knew that we had to want that baby pretty darn bad because she was such a difficult baby. :) Even so, she is so worth every second of the wait. She's worth all of the frustration and heartache we experienced in trying to get her here. Our Rachey is beautiful, strong, stubborn, gentle, kind, intelligent, and so funny! We love her with all of our hearts. Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Later that month we took a trip to the big city and visited Hogle Zoo. I love that place, and it makes me heart happy that my kiddos do, too. I grew up close to Hogle Zoo and went there often. I made the kids pose next to the primate pics because it's exactly the same as when I was little. There are just pictures you have to get. You know, drinking out of the lion-head drinking fountain, sitting on the big metal rhino... ya just do.

I wanted a shot of the kids outside on the wall that says Hogle Zoo. My error was taking it at the end of the day. It was pretty funny. There are only three kids. It shouldn't be too hard to get one decent shot of all three at least looking in the general direction of the camera. I took quite a few trying to do just that.

One look at this one told me it was time to go! Seriously, look at their faces. Gives me the giggles. At least Matt and Bailey are trying...

As the warm weather was coming to an end, we finally decided to give in and make the clothing changeover. Am I the only one who loathes that? You know, putting away all the warm weather clothes. Deciding what is too small or will be too small by the next time they'll be worn, passing down small stuff, and stowing away okay stuff (aka stuff you hope will still fit in the spring, but will probably be too small by then). Then comes the job of taking out the winter clothes from last year -- a portion of it, remember, is too small this fall even though you hoped it would still fit from last year. Whew. So, I don't so much enjoy this task. Matthew hates it. Yep, hate's a strong word, but it works here. He can't stand it because it means he has to try on tons of clothes -- ones being put away so we can guess whether they'll still fit next year, and the ones being taken out from last year to take up residency in his drawers. Well, folks, as much as Matt dislikes it, Rachel and Bailey LOVE it! They dig into those bins of "new clothes" like it's Christmas. It's all "ooohs and ahhhhs" and an all day fashion show.

To add to Rachel's excitement, some sweet friends of ours who have a girl a few years older than Rach gave her some hand-me-downs. Now, we have been super fortunate with Matt because we have boy cousins who give us hand-me-downs. It's a great big boy circle with us handing back down to other cousins after Matt outgrows things. For Rachel, on the other hand, we've never really had anyone to hand down to her. So, for her to get two big bags of clothes at once was like pure heaven to my little fashionista.

On Oct. 10th we figured we needed to celebrate and have a 10/10/10 party. We proclaimed it a Foster Family Feast of Favorites. We all chose our favorite food and ate it together in one meal. This isn't the best picture, but our feast consisted of beans and rice, french toast, chocolate milk, cheetos, and banana cream pie.

This year Rachel played indoor soccer again. It was her second year and it was fun to see how she's changed over the year. She's still quite a bit more concerned about being by her newly made friend on the team and having a bow in her hair that matches her shirt (just like her friend on the team), but this year she actually cared about the game and wanted to score a goal. She still didn't care who won, in fact, I'm not really sure she even really understood the concept that one team technically wins and one loses, but she did want to score a goal. The first time she did, you'd have thought she won the lottery. It was awesome! (Yep, and we were all cheering like she'd won the lottery, too.)

It's one of those things that isn't very convenient -- it was kind of late in the evening, the parking at the rec center is terrible and you end up parking a block away and hoofing it, dragging everyone out of the house, trying to contain a two year old AND watch the game -- but one look at her big old smile that was pasted on her face the ENTIRE time made it more than worth it. We can't wait until next year!

There is a really great place here in the valley where we go to buy our pumpkins every year. This year was even better because our sweet girl cousins from the Salt Lake area came to town for the weekend (with their folks, who we adore, too) and they went with us to pick our pumpkins.

Bailey and Rachel both painted their pumpkins this year.

Matthew chose to carve his.

It has become a Fall tradition of ours to go to the North Logan Pumpkin Walk. There is a theme every year and then different organizations, families, groups, etc. create scenes using pumkins. It's always fun to see how clever and talented people are.

We actually went twice this year; as a family and with Rachel's preschool class. I'm not really sure about the funny little head tilt the gals have going on here.

My brother and his wife are super dooper talented and creative and were the activities committee leader people in their ward until very recently. So, at Halloween they invited us to their ward Halloween party. It was awesome - because those guys totally know how to throw a party, and because my oldest brother and his so cute family were in town from California and we got to see them too! This pic was at my sister's house on the way to the party. I wish that we'd have gotten one of all the cousins together at the party, because they all looked amazing!

Another thing we look forward to every year is the USU Homecoming Parade. Steve and I both graduated from USU, so we tell our kids that they were born Aggies. I do realize they may very well choose other schools to attend when that day comes (and they know that as well), but we will always be Aggies at heart. :) We love the parade and the kids always come home with loads of candy and treats.

Whew. That was a long one. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Stuck!

2011-01-24T20:43:00.002-07:00

All of my kids did it. Matt did it the most, though. Probably because he's a boy and was ALL over the place. Anyone who has had a toddler will recognize this scenario. Picture: I'm in the kitchen/bedroom/bathroom doing something important/constructive. I've only been out of the sight of my toddler for 3.5 seconds. I hear a little panicked voice from another room yell, "STUCK." I run into the room and find the owner of the little panicked voice on top of a bookcase, balancing precariously on a tall stack of random items, pinned between a piece of furniture and a wall, standing tippy-toed on a kitchen counter, or in some other equally dangerous and mind-boggling predicament.
That's where I've been. Not balancing on a counter reaching for the stash of girl scout cookies hidden on the top shelf, or with my head jammmed between the bars on the stair rail, but STUCK, just the same. Our computer crashed and I was unable to blog for quite some time. Now, I'm just so far behind that I'm stuck. I should just move on from where I am now, but I can't let important things - like first days of school, Christmas, and birthdays -- pass by unnoticed. I'm hoping that just writing something will get me unstuck. Here's hoping...

Dresses

2010-11-16T23:27:00.005-07:00

You know when you find THE perfect dress? The kind of dress that is just perfect for a tea party. And not just any tea party, but a royal, fancy tea party...

Imagine the sheer delight of two little princesses upon finding TWO such dresses on the same day! One for each princess. Bailey has an obsession with "Lella" (Cinderella) and I found this little number for her. Rachel just loves everything fancy and adored the dress I got for her. I actually purchased it because she'd toyed with being Rapunzel for Halloween, but then changed her mind a few (at least 7) times after. She put it on and declared that in the dress she was "the Queen of the World." Good find, Mom, good find.

So when you have a dress that good, you can't just take it off. You should wear it. Everyday. Everywhere you go. Because you can.

Sidenote: Steve doesn't yet know that I am sharing the above picture. There was a time in his life that he would have cared. Probably a great deal. Now? He's a man wrapped around his little girls' fingers. He lets them dress him up. He wears lovely jewelry for them. Do take note, however, that he just couldn't compromise on one thing. No teeny, tiny tea cup for him. No siree. He's a 44 oz. man. Nice. Just as long as he still remembers to lift his pinky.

Catch up

2010-11-11T19:56:00.028-07:00

I hate to brag, but I do have to honestly say that I am pretty darn good at procrastinating. I used to be, at least. -sigh- When I was in school, I could work really well under pressure and get a lot done at the last minute. A lot of things have changed since then. For one, I've gotten dumb. Not that I was ever the sharpest tool in the shed, but I could usually hold my own. Now, I am just kinda dumb. Sorry, I digress. The point I was trying to get to is that I'm not as good at cranking out high volumes of productivity at once. It used to be a challenge. Now I just get overwhelmed and don't want to do it. So, with a blog it shouldn't matter. I have no deadlines, nobody really cares about whether I do it or not. Okay, I do, but that's, again, not the point. After being unable to blog for so long, I feel like I have a ton that I'd like to catch up on. I've sure thought about wonderful, witty blog posts over the last few months. I just sit here and feel overwhelmed. The old (smarter) me would see the challenge and buckle down to do it and dazzle. Now? I'm thinking I just need to get started. So here goes: --warning-- picture overload.

We started out our summer with swimming lessons. My kids love swimming and we love our little aquatic center. Both Matt and Rachel did really well. Bailey could have done a "Mommy and Me" class this year, but was too young for official lessons. We didn't do the Mommy and Me for several reasons. One, I felt like I needed to be available for the other two kids - especially if Rachel needed help. The other, bigger reason is that the Mommy part of Mommy and Me shouldn't put on a bathing suit and be in public. Next year, Bailey, next year.

The kids logged oodles of hours playing in the water. They ran in sprinklers, played on the ol' slip & slide, played with water balloons, and soaked in the wading pool. I came home one day from running errands and found Steve and the girls cooling off.

Another thing that consumed a TON of time this summer was our garden. It was an awful lot of work, but it was a great experience. Really. No, really. "Our" garden kind of ended up being "my" garden pretty quickly, as I was the gal out breaking my back in the dirt. :) Bailey actually spent a lot of time "helping" me. Truly, though, our little garden worked miracles this year. We loved all the fresh produce, but the experience was the most valuable part. Remember my little Bailey who had such issues with tactile and sensory things? You know, the one who wouldn't eat forever? Fist off, she started out not hardly wanting to touch the dirt. After a few weeks, she was digging and playing like it was the most natural thing on earth. The other wonder was that this child ate just about everything from the garden. All of the work was so worth my kids eating carrots, peas, beans, spinach, squash, etc.

We spent a few days in Salt Lake with family and it was a blast! My sisters and I took the kids to the Gateway one afternoon and they played in the fountains. They were soaking wet and happy!

Becky and I sat in a tiny corner of shade with the littlest ones who didn't want to get wet. The kids and their wonderful Aunt Margaret all took part in the play.

One of the many, many things I love about living in Logan is the parades. The picture below is of the kids at the 24th of July parade. They love it for the things to see and the candy that everyone throws. (I found the girls a couple of days later playing "parade." They were prancing around the livingroom and throwing candy and small toys to each other.)

Several times during the summer we made day trips to Bear Lake. We packed lunches and water and headed up. The kids loved playing in the water and costructing elaborate cities in the sand. It was wonderful! It was so nice having everyone old enough that we could play with them or just sit back and watch. Steve just kept saying, "Why don't we do this more often?" We loved being so close to such a fantastic get-away.

Another thing on our summer wish list was to ride the Frontrunner Train. Ever since it started running, we'd been saying that we wanted to give it a try. One day we drove to Ogden and left our car at the station. We then rode the train down to Salt Lake where we got to ride Trax as well. We had lunch and then walked around the Gateway. It was a lot of fun and the kiddos loved the train.

We were able to have the kids' Ogden cousins up for a few days. Matt loves hanging out with his cousins and the girls adore them because they are so sweet with them. One afternoon we went bowling and had a blast. Bumper bowling while listening to the Beatles...heavenly. :)

Steve's mom has a summer work party every year and families are invited to attend. This year we went to Wheeler Farm. It was fun to see Nana and Steve's brother and his family. We ate, played games, and visited. Good times.

I included this next picture 'cause it's so seldom that we get one of all of us. Just disregard the fact that it looks like I have a second head sprouting from my right shoulder.

Another summer favorite is the County Fair. Love it!! Rachel got to ride a pony and was in heaven. The pony's name was Cocoa and she talked about it for weeks.

The local Ballet had a booth set up as well. The girls thought that this carriage was so amazing because it was "a real princess carriage." We even won tickets in a drawing to go to the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea that they have when they perform the Nutcracker.
We always enjoy walking through the fair and seeing the animals. We're all city folk and don't really understand the whole showing of the livestock and such, but hey, who doesn't love pigs, goats, and sheep? We had our traditional fair corn and Matt even sampled some fried Coca Cola.

We had such a fantastic summer! I literally have tons of pictures and have just shared a sampling. :) We weren't able to go on any big trips, but we did lots of fun day trips and ended the summer feeling like we did just about everything we wanted to.
With the wrapping up of summer came the beginning of school. Always bitter-sweet. It was a little sad to see the summer end, but it's always so exciting to start a new school year. Matt started 6th grade at the Middle School and Rachel started preschool.

Our family tradition is to have a Back to School dinner the night before school starts. We eat dinner on cafeteria trays and talk about the new school year. We reminisce about prior years and share what we're most excited about and goals for the year.

I'm happy to report that we all made it through the beginning of the new school year. Okay, so I wasn't worried about the kids making it; it was their Mom I was concerned for. :) Matt loves Middle school and Rachel adores preschool.

In a nutshell, that was our summer. It was terrific.

Back on the Grid

2010-10-11T10:14:00.002-06:00

Hooray! We are back. It's been a tad alarming to realize how dependent I've become on the computer and the internet. We've still had some internet access, but it was somewhat limited because our old computer was somewhat limited. :)

So much has happened in the last few months, I don't even know where to begin to catch up. I'm kind of a stinky-ish blogger anyhow, but now I feel totally overwhelmed. Baby steps, right?

Today I have sick kids. Boo. This means it will be a long day and I won't likely get a lot done. If it weren't for sad kids who feel terrible, I guess sick days wouldn't be so bad. Lots of down-time and snuggling -that part I can take.

For now, we're off to the doctor's office. Then we'll take this day one thing at a time. Then, hopefully, in the near future, I can post some pictures and catch up a little bit.

Technical Difficulties

2010-08-01T15:50:00.003-06:00

This has been such a fun and busy month, but I haven't updated my blog due to technical difficulties. We have two computers, a laptop and a desktop. Our laptop is having some problems - we think that for the first time in our married career, Steve and I are experiencing a virus on our computer. We can't use the durn thing to connect to the internet. It just won't work. It is the computer we use most often - to upload pictures, burn cd's, blog, print coupons, etc. The desktop is usually just the standby. Now, it's not because we don't love our computer (we LOVE you, Little Computer!); it's because this computer is older than 2 of my three children. No kidding. We bought this little darlin' when Matt was just over a year old. He's eleven now, folks. This computer is a gen-u-ine, bonafide, dinosaur. The tower is enormous and the fan can blow away small animals. In it's day, it was a fine specimen. Really. It's just gotten so old that they stopped making updates for it ages ago. It's been such a fantastic computer, though! It's seen hundreds of projects, a kajillion word documents, and years of internet hours. Amazing. We just can't do anything too fancy or new-fangled. So, for now, we'll just have to plug along with Windows 98 and keep taking pictures and stock-piling stories to post later.

4th of July

2010-07-04T18:35:00.004-06:00

Our 4th of July has been a little different this year. Several of us have been a bit under the weather and Steve has had to work, so we really limited our activities. Nevertheless, it has been a nice weekend.

On Friday night we watched Logan's fireworks. We staked out our spot that afternoon, then went back and had a picnic while waiting for the show. Waiting is always the pits, but I was able to snap a few photos while the kids were still happy, excited,and not running all over the place over-tired and impatient. Yah, it happened. We did the totally geeky, and all wore semi-matching T shirts. (We tie dyed them earlier in the week. That night definitely goes under the "what was I thinking?" category. It did end up being pretty fun, though, and the shirts were cool. I didn't really know what I was doing and faded them, but oh well - live and learn).

The fireworks were great and it was a fun night. Saturday was a fairly mellow day. We missed out on several family activities, which was a bummer, but we took it easy. We still had a nice day and ended it with making a birthday dinner for Steve. (His b-day was the day before.)

Even though we were disappointed to miss out on some of the 4th of July fun, it has been good to celebrate and appreciate our country. I am so thankful to live where I do and enjoy the freedoms that I do. I am forever grateful to those who have sacrificed so very much to ensure this freedom. Happy Independence Day!

OUCH!

2010-06-29T20:24:00.006-06:00

Last week we were outside enjoying the fantastic summer weather. I took the girls out to play in the water with some of our very cute neighbors. Rachel was going down a little slide into a wading poor, and somehow, turned her foot as she landed. She cried for a few minutes and then hobbled off to play for a few more minutes. Not too unusual. What was unusual was when she crawled back into my lap and said she was done playing because her foot hurt too badly. She wouldn't walk or even put any weight on it. I carried her in, gave her some Motrin and decided to watch it. The next morning she still wouldn't walk on it, so we took her into the doctor.
Several x-rays later, he concluded that he couldn't see a fracture. Yay! (I spent all the previous night with horrible visions of Rachel in a cast for the remainder of the summer.) The doc said it's a ligament injury and put her in a leg splint for a week. At the end of the week, we'll take her back for a follow-up. Doc mentioned they may take more x-rays to make sure nothing else shows up.
That day when we got home from the doctor, the spoiling started. Steve went and picked up a Happy Meal for the injured gal. That afternoon, he took Matt and Rachel to see Toy Story 3.

That night was a rough one. Rachel was pretty restless and uncomfortable. Baliey didn't sleep well at all, either, and we just assumed that Rach was keeping her roommate up. The next morning, however, it seemed like Bailey was getting a cold. Holy Cow! By that next night Bailey had a raging fever and was having an increasingly difficult time breathing. So, in the wee hours of the morning, we made a visit to the ER. They diagnosed her with croup (thank heavens the ugly RSV had not made a return), and gave her some breathing treatments. She responded well and I had some quiet, very grateful moments. I am so thankful for modern medicine and to live in a time and place where it can bless and heal my family.

So it's been a bit of a long and trying week. I have one little girl who feels great but can't get around very well and is supposed to be taking it easy. I have another little girl who has been feeling terrible and doesn't really know what she wants. Even though my house is a complete wreck, we've eaten breakfast for dinner several times, and I've had waaaay more than my share of being whined at, I am still grateful. I have some terrific kids and I'm so happy that both are healing so quickly and so well. I have to be completely honest, though, and say that I'm also grateful that we're almost through this.

Finally Summer

2010-06-29T19:45:00.008-06:00

Summer has finally arrived in Logan. Just as we suspected, we had cool weather and rain one week, then the next the sun finally made it's debut and we were cooking. Hooray -- it feels like summer.

One of our favorite summer traditions is to attend Summerfest. The kids always love the children's art yard and we enjoy walking around appreciating the incredible and diverse talent of so many people.

Rachel and Bailey loved making all the little art projects. Steve and Matt had a little bit of trouble being patient while the girls had to do EVERY possible project, but they endured. :)

As we were getting ready to head home, we saw a guy making balloon creations. It never ceases to amaze me how kids become so mesmerized by balloon animals and hats. Okay, he was a very cute and carismatic kid and had the adults eating out of his hand, too.

Another perfect evening we spent at a very fun park that was built just last year. The very cool part about it was that Steve and Matt got to help build it. The picture below is of the part they helped build.

Bailey LOVED the slide. I loved that her baby-fine hair was sticking straight up.

It was a beautiful night and an awesome park. The best part was just hanging out together. Three cheers for summer!!

Confession

2010-06-28T22:21:00.002-06:00

Remember this kid who wouldn't eat anything until she was 18 months old? Well, she's doing so much better now. There are still things that she's funny about and certain textures she still won't let through her little lips. Take one look at those sweet cheeks, though, and rest assured that she's not starving, albeit, still a little picky. She is trying more and more and constantly surprising us. We are very hopeful for summer and our garden as she is already eating vegetables out of the garden that she wouldn't eat before. She's on a great roll and it's SO nice not to be worrying that she's getting what she needs.
Now, with all that being said, here comes the confession. Look very closely at the little mug in the picture above. Do you see the orange goo around her mouth? This poor kid who wouldn't eat for months. The same kid who had our doctor stumped because her iron was so low and she wouldn't eat or take anything iron fortified without promptly vomiting. Well... her favorite thing in the whole, wide world is Cheetos! There, I've said it. She goes absolutely, postively goes CRAZY over the things. Seriously, the girl would eat them every day if I let her. I let her choose a treat at the store the other day and, yep, it was nasty, messy cheetos. Try as I did to persuade her to choose something else, she just clutched that crinkley bag to her little chest. She loves them. She chomps them so happily. She wears them afterward.
Move over, Chester Cheetah!

End of Year

2010-06-27T22:19:00.000-06:00

This school year flew by like nobody's business!! Matthew finished 5th grade and next year will go to Middle School. I can't talk about that, though. Maybe after some therapy, I'll be able to post about the whole middle school thing. Anyway, back to this pre-therapy post. Matthew was one of 6 kids in the fifth grade who was awarded the "Hope of America" award in their end of year awards assembly. We were very proud -- of him for getting the award and of me for not making a bawling fool of myself.

We always take a photo of Matt on his last day of school. This one just happens to be of him after we attacked him at the front door with silly string.

When we moved back to Logan (the summer before Matt started 2nd grade), we began a family tradition of having a big celebration dinner the last day of school. We choose a country or region and build our dinner around it -- food, decorations, activities, etc. So far we've had a Hawaiin luau, a Mexican fiesta, and a Southern soul-food picnic. Matt knows we do this every year, but we don't tell him our theme until the dinner--so it's a surprise.

This year we chose a British theme with a fish fry. Steve nor I had really made fish and chips for real before, so it was a little bit of an adventure. It turned out pretty darn well, though.

The kids loved the British crackers even more than they did the meal. :) It was pretty funny watching them break them open. Rachel was laughing her head off. I wish I'd been able to capture the look on their faces as they were really in the act of busting them open, but I was laughing too hard to remember to take photos. The only thing I can think of comparing it to is when you are opening one of those little cylindrical cans of Pillsbury rolls. Ya know, the ones where you tear the paper then push the seam until it pops. You find yourself pushing that dang seam with the dumbest look of anticipation and fear -- knowing it's going to pop, but then jumping and squealing a tiny bit when it does burst. (Please say that happens to other people too...) They loved popping them open, and then playing with the little toys and hats inside.

We wore our lovely crowns while eating our pudding for dessert and watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" - which has nothing to do with English culture, but it's funny and we love it.

Matthew had a super year and we couldn't be more proud of him. He's a great student and a pretty darn good kid. :) I'm certain that next year will be as wonderful and that we have a lot to look forward to.

Run!

2010-06-04T21:01:00.009-06:00

We love the end of the school year. Yes, we love that it means that summer is just minutes away, but we also love the activities that come with the end of the year.

The end of May brought the Logan Fun Run. This is a mile run that involves all the fourth and fifth graders in the school district. It was great! Matt did a super job! We were a bit worried as he'd stayed home from school the day prior with a touch of a stomach bug. He was feeling fine the day of the run, but was concerned that his time wouldn't be as good because he was still lacking a little bit of energy. His goal became to just finish the race. He did it -- and did just fine with his time. I don't remember his exact time, but I guarantee that it was waaaaayy faster than I could have done!

Matt with a couple of his buddies.

...And with his biggest fans.

The 2nd of June brought the school's annual Wild Cat Run. Our principal (who rocks the world) started this tradition 5 years ago. It's also a mile run, but it's for the entire school. The kids have to train for 8 weeks or so before -- running so many miles so many days a week. They keep a log of their training time and have to turn it in before they can participate in the run. This year the school tried something different. They didn't do any fund raisers all year and used the run as the sole fund raiser. The kids asked family and friends to sort of sponsor them for the run. People donated money for the 30 miles of training and then the race. The so fantastic part of this all was the 100% of the money went straight to the school. The whole student body did amazingly well and they earned A LOT of money for the school. The day of the run was the best part, though.

Now, for real, we LOVE the WildCat Run. Steve asked for the day off a month before to be sure he'd be there. There is just something about kids setting a goal, working had, and accomplishing it. These kids run their hearts out -- and cheer each other on while doing it. ...I cry every dang year.

Below, the tall guy with the freaking leg muscles, he's the principal. He runs with each grade, so he runs over 5 miles; with the lead runner of each grade. Apparently he said he was worried about keeping up with the fastest runner by the time 5th grade ran. (The kid did like a 6 minute mile.) Yah, well, I am a witness that he not only kept up, but did it with gusto. One of Matt's best friends was the 5th grade winner -- and made a new school record. Nicely done!

There's our boy! I'm not joking, when my kid rounds that last corner, I'm choking up. I've done it every year since we've been in this school. This year was especially poignant as it was Matthew's last year.

Matt and his friend who didn't just break, but completely obliterated the school record. He's a great kid -- and lightnin' fast. Just a little sidenote: Bailey is completely obsessed with this friend. She adores him to say the least. He's so sweet to her when he comes to play, that she truly just loves him. She asks about him every time we go to the school. He and Matt were on the same soccer team and Bailey cheered just as loud and as much for him as she did for Matt. It's pretty cute.

Once again, Matt's biggest fans. (Rachel was actually pouting about something and wouldn't look at the camera for this photo. Nice.)

What a super way to bring the year to a close. We were so proud of our Wild Cats!!

Soccer

2010-06-01T16:39:00.009-06:00

Once again, soccer season has come and gone. It really zipped by this year as the season was a little shorter than usual. Matthew had a fantastic time playing and we had a super time watching him. They were a great team!

One thing we can always count on during soccer season in Utah is crazy weather. The kids played some games in the freezing cold. Some games were played in pouring rain or even a little snow. A few games even required sunscreen. :)

The girls enjoyed watching and cheering for their big brother. They even scored some new Disney Princess chairs with the deal.

We're always a little sad to see the soccer season end. Matt's team had a great season and it's always fun watching the kids play hard. We've been really fortunate the last few years and Matt's been on good teams with great coaches and fun teammates -- with fun parents. It's been a good ride, and we'll look forward to next year!

Disneyland

2010-05-10T14:09:00.018-06:00

Last month we went to Disneyland! We so seldom take vacations and are in love with all things Disney, so we had a fantastic trip. We completely broke tradition and had a perfect vacation where everything went smoothly and perfectly.

The kids all chose their own "Mickey ears" hat. Bailey even wore hers more than a few times. Rachel would have slept in hers if she'd had the chance.

We had an autograph book which the kids really enjoyed filling with characters' signatures. They loved the characters -- okay, Matt and Rachel loved them. Bailey loved them from afar. Matthew, however, was the only one who would get close enough to Cruella DeVille to pose for a picture.

One afternoon we stopped in at a great little cafe in Orleans square to try some beignets. Rachel adores Princess and the Frog and wanted to try some real beignets like Tiana makes. They were shaped like Mickey Mouse heads and tasted delicious so Rachel was one happy gal.

Rachel LOVED the princesses - and Bailey actually really liked them, too. She did better with them than the other characters, I think because they look like real people. (Notice the big wad of food in Rachey's mouth. Nice.)

Steve with his favorite princess.

Okay, Steve really does like Belle, but these are really his very favorite princesses.

We had the best week! I could have really filled pages and pages with pictures and stories. We really do adore all things Disney, but just as amazing as being at the "Happiest Place on Earth" was the fact that we had time -- just time with each other. We had no deadlines, no agendas, no real life stress. We just had each other, time, and tons of wonderful things to do and see.

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

2010-04-10T00:13:00.010-06:00

On the 3rd of April my baby turned 2! I seriously don't know where the time went - I just blinked and it happened. We had a fantastic weekend celebrating our little princess!
It was the first Easter weekend in 3 years that Steve had off work, so we really just enjoyed being together. We started the day with a little Easter egg hunt with some friends. We then came home for birthday presents. Rachel gave Bailey her first pair of princess shoes and Matt gave her a bubble machine. Bailey loved both gifts! We put the unearthly amount of batteries in the bubble machine, fired her up, and the girls spent seriously like the next hour dancing, playing, and popping bubbles.

Our gift to Bailey was a Radio Flyer wagon. We put it together (but not fast enough for Bailey's liking), and took the gals out for a walk. Notice the girls' hair in this picture. It was sticky and nappy - covered in bubble solution from our bubble dance party.

That evening we had my sister, her husband, and their boys over for ice cream and cake.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to my brother's house in Ogden for an Easter/B-day party. Bailey had a ball -- she adores her aunts, uncles,cousins, and grandparents. She received some of her very favorite things as gifts; a baby doll, baby accessories, and bubbles. She got some darling clothes and lots and lots of attention. :)

I can hardly believe that my baby girl is two! She is such a sweet and fun little gal. She has experienced so many weird health issues in her short little life, and has proven herself a fighter. She is a strong little girl with such a big personality. Bailey is such a blessing to our little family and we are so grateful for her. Happy Birthday, Bailey! We love you!

Date to the Ballet

2010-04-06T11:24:00.004-06:00

We have some wonderful friends who have children who dance with the Cache Valley Ballet. They gave us some tickets to see Firebird in which two of their children were dancing. I had planned to take Rachel to the Saturday matinee. I'm still not really sure how plans changed and how Steve agreed to it, but it was decided that Steve would take Rachel on a date to the ballet instead.

Rachel felt so special getting all dressed up to go out with her Daddy. They had a great time. Rachel LOVED the ballet and Steve said that he enjoyed it also. It just goes to show that this Daddy would do anything for his girls.

Progress

2010-03-25T08:20:00.005-06:00

Today is a bitter-sweet day for us here at the Foster home. This morning we have a meeting with some people from the Up to Three program at Utah State University to sign Bailey out of their program. For the past 10 months or so, an occupational therapist from the program has been coming out to work with our little gal. Let me back up a little. Most of the two people who read this blog already know this, but to re-cap, Bailey has had eating issues. She just wouldn't eat any solid foods. When it came time to introduce solids to her, she wouldn't do it. That's an understatement; she'd gag, heave, cry, choke, etc. She had a huge aversion to anything coming even close to her mouth. She would only nurse, which was becoming a problem as time went on because she was always hungry and wasn't getting all the nutrients she needed. She was anemic for quite a while and, of course, wouldn't take the iron supplement that was prescribed -- if I forced it in, she'd promptly vomit.
Thanks to a great doctor, we got connected with this fantastic program at the university. They came out, visited with us, observed, and tested her. She was right where she needed to be or above in every area, but eating. A theory is that Little Bailey spent so much of her first year sick, that it caused some sensory issues. She had so many respiratory problems and struggled to much to just breathe, Poor Baby. So, Amy, an occupational therapist, started coming and working with us. She is amazing! She gave us so much support and so many great ideas. We just adore her.
It's been a bit of a long road, but Bailey is now doing so amazingly well. It's kind of funny to look back now and realize how much I took for granted with my other kids. They just ate. They just drank. Sure, it was messy, they had picky days, but they did it. Bailey was 19 months old when she drank out of a cup for the first time. (It was a sacrament cup at church and on my birthday. Happy birthday to me!)
Fast forward to today. Bailey is eating like a champ. When compared to most kids her age, she's still got a little way to go, but she's doing awesome! She has met and exceeded all the goals we made for her with the Up to Three program, and she did so well in follow up evaluations, that today we are meeting to sign her out of the program. It's been so good and such a valuable support to us. We are so grateful for them and so thrilled that Bailey is doing so great, but we will sure miss our Amy. I guess our consolation is that we will still have the Mii that Rachel made of her on the Wii. :)

We went to Angies last month and the kids enjoyed a free ice cream cone with their meals.

The noteworthy thing here is that Bailey was actually eating ice cream. She's actually become quite the fan. For the longest time she wouldn't touch anything of that texture or anything cold. Yay, Bailey! Hooray for progress!

Out with the old...

2010-03-07T14:35:00.006-07:00

I'm getting a real hankering for some spring cleaning. All I need is spring. Really, though, I have a ton of projects that I'm actually anxious to do. Okay, so not so much that I'm super-thrilled and dying to do the work, but I'm excited for the finished product. One of those projects is purging and cleaning the garage. That's where the spring thing comes in. I do need a little bit of warmth and dryness to unload that abomination and organize it.

In an effort to at least start de-cluttering, I made a deal with the kids. We have some big toys that are too big to live full time in the house. They mainly stay in the garage and we rotate them in and out. I told the kids that if we sell (or get rid of) several of the old big things, that we'd buy them one new thing to replace all of the old. After careful thought and deliberation, they chose a new play kitchen. Okay, really it was a very fast, very unanimous decision. They are very excited for a new kitchen - so excited that they were okay as we sold a number of their other old things.

We got this Little Tikes kitchen back when Matt was about 3. It's been a favorite of all the kids. It was almost a little sad to see it go, but hey, new kitchen. :)

So at about this same time, we all went shopping for real furniture. Steve and I bought some very inexpensive couches in our first year of marriage which have lived in our living room (not the garage) since then. After so many years, they have seen a lot of life and are looking (and feeling) not so new. They're not in horrible shape, but it was time for new ones. Thanks to tax return 2009, this is the year for new couches.

We were amusingly and pleasantly surprised that the kids enjoyed furniture shopping so much. Sweet Matthew was helping keep an eye on the girls while Steve and I deliberated. At one point, we turned and they were gone. (We weren't worried as we new that Matt was with the gals). We rounded the corner and this found them enjoying a little entertainment.

It's been a really fun month as we've anticipated new furniture and done a little refreshening of our living room. It's also been kind of nostalgic. It's amazing how many memories are tied to furniture. I mean, as we're preparing to get rid of the old couches (anyone know anybody who needs new old couches?), we've taken quite a few strolls down memory lane. These couches were some of the first "big" purchases we made as newlyweds. We brought home each of our new babies and took the very first pictures holding those sweet little bundles on this furniture. We've sat for hours talking, laughing, crying, scheming, watching movies, visiting with friends and family... It's been a good ride. Thanks, Old Green Plaid Couch and Loveseat, thanks.

Bailey

2010-02-24T22:19:00.012-07:00

It's been a very eventful week for our sweet little girl. Last week she started acting like she was coming down with a cold. She was a little stuffy and started with a little cough. Within less than a day, it became apparent that this was way more than a "little bug." After a very long and difficult night, we took her to the doctor who sent us straight to the hospital. Bailey got RSV when she was only 2 months old, and it was back with a vengeance. We picked Matt up from school, called my sister with an SOS to come get Matthew and Rachel, and then found ourselves in the hospital for the next 4 days.

The little sweetie felt miserable! Generally this gal doesn't hold still for anything. The fact that she spent days just lying in bed and wanting to be held, told all. We were treated wonderfully by the hospital staff, but poor Bailey didn't trust any of them and hid her head every time anyone walked in the door.

One evening Steve brought Matt and Rachel to see Bailey for a few minutes. He called from the parking lot to tell me they were on their way up. I expected that she'd be so excited to see them and maybe even perk up a bit. They walked in the door and when Bailey saw them she just burst into tears. She immediately reached for them.

Rachel was very sweet and gave up her beloved VSmile pocket (hand-held game) so that Bailey could have something to play with while in the hospital.

Bailey was finally starting to feel better, but wasn't doing too well at eating like the nurses wanted her to. Dad came one morning with donuts. This was one of the first smiles we saw while she was there.

On Saturday she finally started showing real progress - so much that by that night we were able to come home. She is doing so amazingly well and is, thankfully, back to her sweet, happy, silly self. We are so grateful for fantastic doctors, nurses, and hospital staff. We are also so thankful for dear friends and family who supported our little family with thoughts, prayers, and kind acts. My "big" kids did such a wonderful job rolling with the punches and we are so proud of them! It was a rough week, but it sure made us rememeber what is most important and how blessed we are.

So, we'd been home for a few days and were feeling a little cooped up. We decided to go for a ride and get some cokes (mmm..Mooches) just to get out of the house for a few minutes. While at the gas station, Steve decided to run the van through the car wash. Rachel thought it was great. Bailey - not so much.

It went from bad to worse.

Then even worse.

Poor Bailey!! And what a great mom I am! Instead of comforting her, I was snapping pictures. Ok, for the record, I was comforting and snapping. (That picture makes me giggle quite uncontrollably every time I see it.)

Rachel was literally laughing her little can off! Who knew a $5 car wash could elicit such entertainment and trauma?

Poor Babers was just plumb tuckered out after all the excitement.

Happy Birthday, Matthew!!

2010-01-24T14:02:00.005-07:00

On January 19, my baby turned 11! It's so hard to believe that it's already been eleven years! Matthew sure took his time entering this world (40 hours of labor), but then it seems that the time after that has just flown!

Matt's birthday this year was a little different than in years past. He decided that instead of having a party with friends that he just wanted to celebrate with family. He stated that he's "getting older" and doesn't always want a party with friends. (Yikes!) We also had a little wrench thrown into our plans when we found out that Bailey had to have some minor oral surgery on his birthday. Matt's a good sport, though, and he was happy to have his b-day dinner the night before. His birthday ended up being pretty great anyway.

Among the celebrations, was a family birthday party in Ogden for all the folks celebrating birthdays in January. There was a great food, super company, and lots of fun.

I kind of chuckle at this picture above. Sure, a few of the people in the photo are birthday people who should be blowing out candles. The others are just puckered up for good measure. I guess it's kind of like the phenomenon of moving your mouth while feeding a baby or smiling while you're watching someone else get their picture taken.

It's been a fun week celebrating Matthew. He's just a great kid! He is thoughtful, kind, fun, clever, intelligent, responsible, and strong. We are so proud of who he is. We love him dearly and are excited to share the adventures that are yet to come! Happy Birthday, Matthew. We love you!!

Happy Birthday, Becky!!

2010-01-15T08:32:00.002-07:00

Today is my baby sister's birthday. Sidenote: She's gonna be so mad at me. I see it like this, though. I may have just posted a picture of my 'avoid the camera at all costs and don't draw attention to me' sister, but it could be worse. She could be standing on a chair with an enormous, be-dazzled sombrero on her head surrounded by a slightly embarrassed wait-staff singing mostly off-key. Then I'd really be in trouble. :)

When I was born, I brought the family total to five. That's five kids. My parents thought they were pretty much done. Well, I suppose I had other thoughts on the matter. I don't recall this very well, but I have it from some pretty good sources that I started to pray EVERY night for a baby sister. I was four when Becky came to bring us to a finally finished grand total of six.

I'm glad it worked. :) Becky rocks! I'm serious. Those of you who know her, know what I'm talking about. She's the kind of person you'd hate if she weren't so wonderful. What do I mean? She's good at EVERYTHING! She's talented, beautiful, brilliant, thoughtful... yep, kinda unfair being her sister.

More than once in my life I have found myself in a church class, a dumb team building ice breaker activity for work, filling out getting-to-know-you surveys, etc. and having to answer the looming question: what are your talents? Tricky. So I set my brain to thinking. "I'm an artist. I am amazing with paint, charcoal, pencils, anything." Oh wait, that's Becky. Try again. "I can make just about anything! I am crafty and immensely creative. You should see the incredible Halloween costumes I make." Oops, Scratch that. Becky again. "I am very musical and have a great voice." Ah shucks! Yep - Beck. "I am a wonderful mother and my four boys think the sun rises and sets on my shoulders." Uh, you guessed it. Not me. Becky. She not only got the georgeous, thick, auburn hair, but all the talent genes. Everything she does is beautiful. We go to a family party and there's little question as to who brought which gifts. Hmmm... let's see, perfectly wrapped, ribbons, pretty bows, homemade tags with baubles and extras. Becky. Wrapped, no tag or card, but a good effort with the name of the recipient scrawled in Sharpie right on the gift wrap. Me.

So, Happy Birthday to my talented, beautiful, brilliant, thoughtful, and kind sister. Maybe it seems unfair that the scales are so obviously tipped in her favor when it comes to all the good stuff like talent, but I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: I still win. :) I have an wonderful sister and best friend.

Catch up #1

2009-12-18T08:41:00.006-07:00

Happy 2010! The holidays were wonderful for our family and we hope they were for you, too! Our last few months have been so insanely busy, and as always, I'm way behind in recording our adventures. Here are a few pics and updates. As soon as I can see straight, I'll get around to posting Christmas photos. :)

Here are the girls helping make Christmas cookies. I do believe that it was still quite early in the morning and they just couldn't wait to get started -- that's why they're sporting their jammies and bedheads.

These are Rachel's special creations. I had my attention diverted for a few moments - and that's all it took. Yum. Rachel saved them for her daddy. He was delighted. I sure would have liked a photo of him eating these delicious guys, but for some reason, no one saw him actually eating them.

Matthew entered a photograph he took in the school's Reflections contest. His photo was a winner and went on the region level. (The judging for that level has yet to take place.) We are super proud of him. He took a fantastic picture of the "A" and Old Main Hill at USU. He's becoming quite a photographer. He got a new camera for Christmas, so stay tuned for future masterpieces. :)

Rachel and Bailey were playing "make-up." Sadly, in this picture, it's hard to see the bright pink eyeshadow and blush. Let me just say, it was stunning!

SNOW!!! My kids were so excited that it snowed enough to play in. December was a great month for snow play!

What a wonderful month it was!! We have so many more holiday pictures to share - we'll get there. Happy New Year!

The Dryer

2009-11-18T22:10:00.002-07:00

Dear The Dryer,

First I must start off saying how much I appreciate you drying my clothes. I love the way you make my clothes feel and smell. I love catching the scent of heavenly fabric softener on our clothes throughout the day and thinking fondly of your valiant service. I love that you are there for me on Sunday mornings when I don't have time to iron - that I can give those clothes a little spritz and toss them to you knowing you'll get enough wrinkles out that we can safely go out into public.
The Dryer, I am writing this with a very heavy heart. I don't understand what has taken place in our relationship. I came to you yesterday, counting on you to dry our unmentionables, and you gave me nothing. When the clothes were still wet after the first cycle, I guess I was just in denial and gave you another chance. After the second go-round, however, I had to accept the cold, hard fact that you've stopped working for me. What has happened to us?
I've given this a lot of careful thought in the last 24 hours and I wonder if I owe you an apology -- or at least an explanation. I know that last week I pulled out The Refrigerator and The Stove to clean the walls behind and the floors beneath. I wasn't showing favoritism; I really was getting to you and your faithful friend, The Washer. I promise. Also,I swear to you that the whole incident with The Hand Blender was truly just a terrible accident. It was old, it had lived a good life and seen some really good times. I didn't intend to appear cold and heartless as I tossed it out. I understand how my actions last week could have made you feel insecure or upset. I love my appliances, though and I wouldn't ever dream of mistreating them or showing preferential treatment to any of them.
So, The Dryer, I apologize for being angry with you. I am sorry for the tirade about how this is the second time in 6 months that we've had to call the repairman. I regret saying that I wish I hadn't bought you. I am human...a human with 2 loads of smelly, damp clothes laying in strategic places throughout her home. Please forgive me and find it in your heating element to start drying my clothes again. We miss you. We miss clothes that are soft and smell April Fresh.
Tomorrow, hopefully, the very nice man from Darrell's Appliance will drive here from Beautiful Downtown Benson and fix you. We will take good care of you. Let's let bygones be bygones and go back to how things were. You dry my clothes, and I love you. Okay?

Love,
Mary

Socks

2009-11-03T08:07:00.003-07:00

I am so far behind. Pitifully behind. In everything. October brought us some beautiful Fall weather, Halloween, an oral surgery, 2 separate viruses, and a tonsilectomy. I have pictures stashed on this computer to post - pictures of soccer, the kids playing at the dam and new park, painting pumpkins, Halloween...
Today, however, the preceding picture is my project. Yesterday my sweet husband helped me conquer the Goliath of clean laundry piles. Today my hope of hopes is to FINALLY sort all the blasted socks and get them into drawers. Then, just maybe, I won't have to dig through the whole dang basket in the early morning hours searching for matches. Just maybe.

Uncle!

2009-10-10T14:27:00.004-06:00

When I was a kid we used to play all sorts of masochistic games like "bloody knuckles" and "red carpet." I don't know if it was because I grew up with three brothers, or if all kids were maiming each other in the name of fun. Regardless, I really think I spent a good deal of my childhood with one arm pinned behind my back. There was one way to find relief - one tiny word that would mean release and return of blood flow to the trapped appendage. To "cry uncle" was to admit defeat. It was to acknowledge that something was bigger and more powerful than you. The ultimate concession.
So here I find myself - no bloody knuckles, no beet-red forearm, no pinned appendages - but finally ready to cry "Uncle!" Fall is here. I can't stop the cold from coming. I can't hold the leaves on the tree branches. It's bigger than me and more powerful and I can't do anything about it.
I usually like Fall. Scratch that. I usually LOVE Fall. It's my favorite time of the year. I love how the air changes. I love the colors and smells of this season. I love that that school starts and that it's like a wonderful kick-off for a whole line-up of holidays. I love Fall clothes, Fall foods, and just about everything about it.
This year has been different for me, though. I'm having a really hard time letting go of Summer and embracing Fall. I feel like I've been fighting it off with every bit of my energy. I've been contemplating why I'm not being true to my favorite season - why I'm doublecrossing Fall - and I've concluded that it's not my season that's the problem, but TIME.
Time is passing way too fast! Holidays are coming and going. Years feel like months, and months like days. The fact of the matter is - my kids are growing up! I love watching them grow, change, and progress. It's just happening too fast! I feel like I'm grasping for dear life onto something that is just slipping away. It's bigger than me and more powerful. I can't do anything about it. They are changing and growing and I haven't documented everything and I haven't done everything that I've wanted to. I find myself staring at them a little more and sometimes just closing my eyes and memorizing how it feels to rub my cheek against their baby-soft skin, and how their little skinny arms feel wrapped around my neck. I want to hold them a little longer, smell their sweet hair, and nuzzle their soft little necks. I find myself tearing up a little more than I need to as I watch them interact. (Okay, the nice interactions - not when they're beating the trash out of each other...)I feel like I've been digging my heels in and pulling for all I'm worth to fight against it.
Uncle! I'm ready now. I'm ready to finally put away the rest of the summer clothes, and even our beloved flip flops. I'm ready to put the sweaters in their closets and admit that everyone has to wear socks every day. (Washing and sorting socks... now that's another post.) I'm ready to linger in the front entrance of the grocery store and drink in the smell of the cinnimon scented pine cones. I'm ready to enjoy the chill in the air and the beautiful fall colors. I'm happy about working on Halloween costumes and getting super excited about Thanksgiving. Don't tell my kids, but there are some Christmas presents stashed in the garage. Bring it!
So today, I'm going to take some deep breaths and welcome fall. I'm going to help my kids make little bats out their footprints to hang on the wall and I'm going to take another deep breath as I realize how big those footprints are - and that they're only getting bigger. I love where they've been and love where they're headed.
Just like the beginning of fall means that more wonderful things are in store, I'm ready to concede to this time thing and remember that we have many more wonderful things in store. Okay. I'm ready...now. Happy Fall!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

2009-09-15T14:26:00.019-06:00

My baby turned four. Yep, it happened. It seems like yesterday that she joined our little family. We certainly have celebrated the event thoroughly. It started with a family birthday party with others who had b-days in August and September. We went to my brother's house in Ogden and celebrated with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Love it.

Rachel and Bailey are the only girls in the slew of grandkids/cousins that live here in Utah. They do pretty well keeping up with all the boys, but are also a bit spoiled with girly stuff.

Rach got some fun gifts, including a new princess hippity hop. She's been hopping on Matt's old one. It's a super groovy one that has two pointy handles (that kinda look like cow teats) and psychadellic swirls all over it. Heaven only knows how old it is - we bought it at the DI when Matt was 3. So, she's now the proud owner of a more sleek, more purple version.

The weekend before her big day, we met Nana and took her to Chuck E. Cheese's. I'm not really a big fan of places like that, because they are usually way overpriced, the food isn't so good, and they are just big hot beds of germs. Maybe it's that I'm going soft in my old age. Maybe it's the raging coupons Steve printed off the computer. Regardless, we went to visit the old mouse. (Not THE mouse. We wish). The C.E.C. that we visited is fairly new, and surprisingly bright and clean. The kids loved it.

The pizza was still a little overpriced, even with the coupon, but not bad. It was a great time, though, for the kids and it was wonderful to celebrate with Nana.

Rachel's actual birthday fell on Saturday the 12th. We had a little fairy party with her cousins and a few little girls from our neighborhood.

We transformed the little cuties into fairies with colored body glitter and wings. They decorated magic wands and went searching for fairy gold. We played games and decorated cupcakes.

The party was lots of fun. Steve had to go to work shortly after, so we spent the next few hours just hanging out and playing with Rachel's new toys. To top the afternoon off, we made a visit to Magical Moon - the toy store here in town. That store is absolute heaven for kids - and a nightmare for parents. It's a ton of super fun (and very expensive) toys in a relatively small area. In fairness, it's a wonderful store and the staff is fantastic. It's just darn near a miracle to get out of the store without someone crying - because they're not done looking at every single one the the kajillion toys in stock, because they didn't get to try the plasma car, because they want another free sample of fudge, because they didn't get to buy a special toy that costs more than a month's worth of electricity...

That night we had a movie night followed by the traditional snuggle where we recount the events of the day the birthday child was born.

Steve had the day off on Sunday so we had Rachel's big birthday dinner that night. The birthday gal or guy gets to choose the meal. Rachey chose Macaroni and Cheese so I made ham and cheese bowtie pasta (told her they were butterflies). I had wanted to make a fairy cake for Rachel, but after a few mishaps - including burned rubber stench that lingered for a day or so - I was feeling a bit frustrated and discouraged. I'm certainly no pro (I really needed Sarah Bailey!), but I can usually pump something decent out. Anyhow, I asked Rachel what she wanted and she told me a pink cake. Nice. That's what I'm talking about. (I threw on some new plastic fairy figures that go with her new Tinkerbell playhouse for good measure. I couldn't fail entirely.)

We had a great time celebrating this crazy gal making it to four years old!

We love this little girl! We waited almost five years for her and then spent the first year of her life walking the floor while she screamed with colic and horrible reflux, but she's worth all of the waiting and screaming. Rachel is intelligent,strong, funny,stubborn, intense, sweet, endearing, and nurturing. She loves to help and is the supreme snuggler. She is 100% her Daddy's princess. She keeps us laughing and constantly suprises us with her wit. Often as I check on her at night and watch her sleeping (pretty much the only time she holds still), I'm still amazed that she's mine. She is a blessing to us and I am so grateful to be her mother. We love her with all of our "hearts and souls." :) Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Fancy Nancy

2009-09-03T15:26:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I came home from a PTA meeting and found this:

Quite enjoying the clashing T-shirt and dress combos on the girls, I asked Rachel why they were dressed up. She told me that they had been playing Fancy Nancy restaurant. They apparently began their luncheon upstairs in the girls' room with plastic food and dishes, then moved downstairs so they could eat "real" lunch in their fancy restaurant.

They did make a dish for me which tasted lovely, but I was very pitifully under-dressed.

Back to School

2009-09-03T09:08:00.002-06:00

Last week. It happened. The inevitable. Matt went back to school. :) We love school, don't get me wrong. It's just a bitter-sweet time of year. We are sad that summer is over, but excited for the new adventures and friends that come with a new school year.
Matthew is in fifth grade this year. I'm not really sure how that happened, because it seems like it was just yesterday that he was four and dying to have his big birthday so he could go to school. (He turned 5 in January and was sorely disappointed that he didn't get to go to Kindergarten the next day.) But 5th grade it is. He's excited about his teacher and, overall, happy to be back. He's a great student and I'm certain it will be a super year!

Kitchen Sink

2009-08-18T20:56:00.005-06:00

Does it get any better than this?

Family Home Evening at Angie's. Yum! I tell folks that I am an emotional eater...Well, the Kitchen Sink is pure happiness -- especially when there are four other spoons and my four favorite people in the world are using them!

Mr. T

2009-08-16T18:04:00.007-06:00

We have a goldfish. His name is Mr. T. Mr. T is a pretty important part of our family. He's been with us now for about two and a half years.

Let's step back in time: Matthew's just turned 8 and we are attending our very first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. It's a Hawaiin theme and the ward gym is decorated for a Luau -- floweredy Hawaiin shirts, pineapples, etc. So great! On each table is a centerpiece...look a little closer... they are glass bowls with little goldfish swimming in them. I think, "Oh, please don't send those home with the boys. I don't want a goldfish." Skip ahead about and hour and a half. We are leaving the banquet (that was wonderful) with Matthew happily clutching a plastic bag full of water -- and goldfish.

After spending a night in a Tupperware, Matt's new fish was moved into the newly purchased fish bowl - complete with blue marbley rocks. Thanks to some careful deliberation and a book from the library, the little fishy also received a name: Sushi. I sure love happy endings, but sadly, this portion of our story isn't so happy. A week later, Sushi entered her watery porcelain grave. There is always a silver lining, however. Our silver lining was called Grandma. She was here visiting when we found Sushi floating and quickly eased Matt's grief by giving him five bucks to go buy a new fish. :) Off to PetsMart. Matthew picked a cute little guy and was a happy camper with his new fish and the $4.65 change in his pocket. This new fish had a black stripe on his head which looked a lot like a mohawk, so Matt named fish #2 Mr. T.
Mr. T has now, as I said before, been a part of our family for over two and a half years. We've had a few scares: a big red mark that has mysteriously appeared on his nose a few times and then goes away. (The worker at the pet store - yes, I actually called the pet store over a fish- said the medicine to correct the problem costs $10. For a $.35 fish... Nope, didn't buy it.) His black stripe faded and is now gone. (I swear it's the same fish). The biggie happened on the day we brought Bailey home from the hospital, though. We got home and mohawkless Mr. T was floating...on his side...not moving at all. Being emotional and hugely hormonal, I started crying (can't believe I'm admitting this) and told Steve to get it over with and flush him. He was dead. I kind of have a phobia of dead things and just wanted him gone. Steve kept staring at him and then told me that he thought we should try changing his water. There was no way I was going to touch a dead fish and change his dead germ water! But, c'mon, it's Mr. T!! So, sobbing, I cleaned his bowl and changed the water. As I scooped his lifeless body up with the little fishy net and dropped him back in the bowl, the darnedest thing on earth happend - he started swimming! I swear it on all the Diet Coke in North America. The dad blamed thing was alive and swimming rather animatedly around his sparkly clean bowl. That was 16 months ago. Who says miracles have ceased? :)

So, Mr. T has been through an awful lot and is still quite a spunky little character.

A few weeks ago I was walking into the kitchen and was nearly knocked over by Rachel running the other direction. She booked it into the living room, dove into the couch, and hid her head in the couch cushion. That's a sure fire sign that she's done something naughty. I went into the kitchen to find this:

Poor Mr. T. Look at his little face! Steve and I choked back our hysterical laughing long enough to scold Rachel and remind her we "only draw on paper." Later when I asked her why on earth she colored all over Mr. T's fishbowl she said, "I thought you would think it was pretty and that you might want to take a picture." Nice.

Swimming

2009-08-15T17:52:00.016-06:00

Last month the kids were able to take swimming lessons at the aquatic center. Matthew has taken lessons before, but it was Rachel's first time. We were a little unsure what her reaction would be as she's going through a "mama's girl" phase... which she's been in since about birth, but that's another discussion for another day. At any rate, we were curious as to what she'd do. After all folks, it's now August and the child still won't go to Primary alone. Okay, okay - another discussion for yet another day. The great thing we had going for us was that she and her cousin were in the same class, so we figured that they'd probably be more comfortable together. We knew, at the very least, that it would be entertaining to watch.

Let me also say from the start that I was a little challenged when it came to taking pictures of the lessons. Our camera is a simple one intended for not very technologically savvy folks - perfect for me, but I found that it was so blasted bright out by the pool that I couldn't really see the display screen. This little beauty (see below) is one of my favorite pictures. (I didn't realize that I had even taken such a nice picture of cement until I had gotten home.) Sheesh, it's amazing I got any pictures at all. :)

Bailey was my spectating companion. She was not always happy to stay in the stroller through the whole lesson, but overall, she was a super little gal.

Rachel's teacher was darling. Both Rachel and her cousin really took to her immediately. In the picture below they are playing the "chop, chop" game. The kids all lined up along the side of the pool and they got to choose what kind of tree they were going to be. Then the teacher would go to each one and "chop, chop" them down -- and the kids would jump into the pool. Cute idea. The funny part was how gosh darn creative our kids were in choosing what type of trees they were. Generally the type of tree they chose was very curiously related to what print was on the swimsuits they were wearing that day. :) If Rachel wore her Dora swimsuit, she was a Dora tree. If she wore her rainbow suit, she was a rainbow tree. Her cousin fluctuated between being an orange & blue tree and a shark tree. Funny kids.

Matthew is proving to be quite a good little swimmer and really enjoyed lessons. For the record (and for anyone who may be feeling anxious or concerned at this point), his teacher does have a head. I just cut it off in this photo. I'm not sure if it is to be blamed on the sun and inabilitly to see the display (as with the lovely cement shot), or if it was merely that I was focusing on the looker in the black swimsuit.

Here's the whole swimming crew having a little "raid the diaper bag of all snacks" break.

I'm very happy to report that swimming lessons were a huge success. Both of my kiddos and all of their cousins loved the lessons and did a super job. I was very proud of all of them! We'll definitely be back next year!

Cousins!

2009-08-13T09:19:00.011-06:00

July was a fun month, after all, we Utahns get two big ol' holidays. It was especially fun for us this year because we got to spend time with lots of family and the kids adore hanging out with their cousins. The day after Steve's b-day, his brother and his family came to Logan as a surprise to see the old man. :) It was so much fun! Because life is so busy and schedules are so hectic, we, unfortunately, don't get to see them very often. (I realized too late that I didn't get a shot of the kids all together. Bummer.) We went to dinner together (buffet - YUM!), and then headed to the park. Logan did their 4th of July fireworks that night so the kids ran off some steam at the park, then we all went and watched the fireworks together.

Bailey warmed up to the girls really quickly and loved all the attention. I decided that they should move in with me so I always have someone to carry and entertain my baby.

The Cutie in this picture with Matthew is just a month older than he is.

We had a great time and are grateful for a fun surprise visit!

On the 24th of July, we met up with our Logan cousins and watched the parade. My kids love, love, love the Pioneer Day parade here in Logan. Truth be known, I do too! I love that we can show up 10 or 15 minutes before the parade and still find a super spot. I love that a good number of the participants in the parade are in trucks with butcher paper banners hanging on the sides. I love that every single year The Waver hops on his bike and joins the parade!

Here are some of the kiddos eagerly awaiting the parade -- and mentally preparing for the oodles of candy that they will soon be dashing off the curb to retrieve.

(Not really sure what little jig Steve is doing in the back... but it sure is nice...)

Rachel firmly believes that an event is not truly an event until there are princesses involved. So, we naturally do what any good and honest parents would do - we tell her that the royalty from all the little cities are princesses. Our boy cousins weren't quite as impressed with the "princesses" as Rachel, but they were good sports and helped Rachey wave at them. (Like the big green bags on their shoulders? It was all I could rummage from the trunk of the car to hold their loot. I usually remember little lunch bags or something. Oh well.)

To finish off our month of fun cousin visits, my oldest brother and his family came from California. We get to see them so seldom, that it's always very eagerly anticipated, and we love spending time with them. We got to spend some time with them in Ogden at my other brother's house - hiking, swimming, eating, and just hanging out. The last day of their stay in Utah, they came to Logan. We took them to the school park where, serendipitously, the sprinklers turned on to save them from the heat of the day. They played hard, got sopping wet, and then ate like horses. Good times.

We absolutely loved being with family this month. The only bad thing is that it makes us remember how much we miss those who are far away and those who we don't see enough. Thanks to everyone for making the trek up north to see us! We love you!

Belated Birthday

2009-07-27T16:04:00.008-06:00

Steve's birthday was July 2nd. I did remember - and we did celebrate. I'm just very belated in posting the pictures from his big day. :)

Steve doesn't necessarily enjoy his birthdays and doesn't like being singled out, so he's generally not terribly excited when it rolls around. This year, by lovely chance, he had the day off. (He'd never ask for his b-day off.) We decided to spend the day together in the Ogden area, as we were meeting his mom for dinner that night there.

We went to lunch at a buffet which the kids loved. Something for everyone, right? Just a little sidenote: I didn't really like buffets before I met Steve - mostly because people put foods together in one meal and on one plate that should never be eaten together. You know, like mashed potatoes and lasagna on one plate. --shudder-- (Remember that I was the kid who couldn't let food touch on my plate...) Since meeting and marrying my Sweetheart, I am happy to say that I have developed a deep appreciation for the art of buffet.

So, our lunch was delightful and my children even decided to be mostly calm and civil through the meal.

After lunch we went for a drive up Ogden canyon to Huntsville. Several years ago Steve visited the monastery there and had been wanting to take us there. It was a beautiful drive -- even if certain children who were supposed to fall asleep and take a little napper, didn't.

We were a little disappointed to find that we were there during a time that we wouldn't be able to hear the monks chant. I guess it's really cool. We just walked on the grounds and enjoyed the scenery until the torrential downpour chased us back to the car and down the canyon.

Dad and his girls. (Matt took this one.)

It was a great day. We loved being together and just hanging out. We got to meet up with Steve's mom that evening and ate tacos at one of Steve's favorite places in the entire world - Del Taco. :) Yay! Happy Birthday, Steve!

June

2009-07-08T18:02:00.012-06:00

I can hardly believe that June is over and we're well on our way through July. I'm thinking that I'd kinda like a "re-do" of June. It was rainy, cool, and zipped by waaay too fast! In elementary school when I needed a re-do on a pitch in base soccer, it was the pitcher I'd petition. Since I'm not certain who I need to talk to for the June re-do, I guess I'll just have to pull up the ol' boot straps and move on. So anyhow, here is a quick catch up on some things we managed to fit in between rain drops in June.

This summer not only did we get to attend the Logan Summer Fest, but Matthew got to help out in the children's art yard. Now, for a boy who's loved being "the guy" since the moment he could walk and talk (the store guy, the restaurant guy, the worker guy, etc.), this opportunity to help was heaven sent.

Rachel got to participate. She made a windsock, Fathers' Day cards, a sun catcher, a bracelet, and some other fun things. Her favorite, by far, was painting on the easel.

Right outside the Art Yard was this wonderful, giant contraption that spewed out oodles of bubbles. Rachel loved it and chased bubbles until we had to drag her little body away. It was a huge hit among the little bubble-chasing crowd and I have to admit, I was pretty entertained also. Part of the reason is because it was just plain funny watching the kids run around crazy and crashing into each other. The other part, I have to admit, was that I was fascinated by the guy who owned this bubbly monstrosity. He's the one with the lovely big hat in the bottom right hand corner of the pic. What a fun-loving guy to build something like this... and wear that lovely big hat. I can't quite pin point why I was so taken by him, but it was kind of like my wonderment at circus carnies. He took his creation and his job very seriously. Both of my daughters adored it.

Father's Day! At the risk of getting all mushy and gooshy, I have to take a moment and say that my husband is an absolutely amazing father. I have been immensely blessed to have an incredible father and I have been equally blessed to have married a man who is a wonderful father to our children. I love him dearly. So I was severely disappointed that he had to work on Father's Day. We made him breakfast before we sent him off to work, but then had to have the rest of our celebration the next day. We were able to completely surprise him with a totally rocking Fathers' Day present, though. Let me back up for a sec. The entire time I've known Steve, he has talked about these tapes that he listened to as a child. They were stories (accompanied by books) about values such as honesty, hard work, obedience, etc. His favorite was honesty. The biggest reason being that there was this song sung by a grumpy old man, "Who broke my window?" Steve so vividly remembers listening to it as a kid and has sung the song for us like a gajillion times (in his big, deep, grumpy old man voice) over the years. So the week before Fathers' day I was treasure hunting at the DI and found the whole set of tapes for like a buck!! It was a Fathers' Day Miracle!! We even had a handful of the books. So on the morning of Fathers' day, we dragged Steven out to the car because there is a tape deck in the car along with the CD player. (The only thing in the house that we have anymore that plays tapes is a Fisher Price tape player and it's batteries had been pillaged for something else long ago.) We piled into the car and played, "Who broke my window" for him. It was awesome! He was totally stunned and loved it. Yay, DI!

With the end of June, came some sunshine -- finally! The kids have loved that they are finally able to play outside more. Matt and Rachel have had some great time on their bikes, and Bailey is VERY much enjoying her new vehicle!

Summer felt like it took a little longer to reach us this year, but we sure are happy it's here.

Dry erase

2009-06-30T20:01:00.004-06:00

Just in case you're wondering...

Dry erase markers work very well on a dry erase board. Sometimes they're a little stubborn, but you can generally just use a little squirt of that spray made for such things and the marker will come right off.

Dry erase marker doesn't, however, wipe off little-almost-baldy baby heads quite as easily.
Thanks to our 3 year old nephew, we now know. :)

Bad news -- for mom

2009-06-20T19:20:00.003-06:00

Since my last post, a new Walmart has opened very close to our home. We went on opening day, 'cause that's what we do. It is very nice. I'm not sold on it yet, as I don't know my way around, nor does anyone else. The good news - we made it in and out without a potty stop. The bad news came later that day when my sister called to tell me that they had also visited said Walmart. (What else do you do in the continually pouring rain in Logan?) Here's the bad part -- my sister and her kids didn't make it out without a potty stop. The worst part -- she informed me that the family bathroom has a child-sized toilet and the women's restroom has a pint-sized sink. You know that I can't keep this news from Rachel forever!! Once this precious information reaches the awareness of my daughter, I will NEVER, EVER be able to go to Walmart without visiting the restroom! Kid-sized toliet and sink - that's just too good!

Control Issues?

2009-06-12T16:33:00.007-06:00

Since becoming a parent, I have learned far more from my children than I ever learned at any educational institution. Mostly I learn that I think I know what I'm doing, but then I quickly figure out that I don't generally have a clue. I think that part of the problem is that I had Matthew first. He is a great kid. He's always been a great kid. Sure, I spent his first year of life trying to figure out how to parent a baby. Then we spent some toddler years chasing his fast little heinie all over creation. Then we had to potty train a boy and well, that's just different plumbling than I'm used to. He had to have his tonsils removed at 3, and then had a fairly serious blood disorder at age 5 (that lasted a year). So, we had our challenges. Mostly though, we just had a false sense of security.

So then Rachel came along. We waited five long, difficult years for her. Maybe the Powers Above knew that we really, really, Really had to want this baby. The sweet little gal screamed for a solid year because she had such horrible reflux and colic. She finally outgrew that - thank heaven above, but has kinda kept on screaming. :) Rachey is, as the old Russian ladies in Patricia Polacco's books say, "such a person." We love her fiercely -- she is the sweetest, funniest, dearest little thing. At the same time, she is the strongest little spirit that sometime struggles to be squished into a little body. In short, in September of 2005, our sense of security was shattered...into smithereens.

Toilet training Rachel was completely different than it had been for her older brother. We exercised a LOT of patience. For her the key was kind of following her lead and not letting the whole thing become a power struggle. It worked. It was on her terms and happened really quickly when she decided she was ready. It was almost over night and she did awesome. There are indeed more details to the whole process, but none that are pertinent to us at this moment. So even though she did great, as a parent, I was still, for a long time, very cautious. As I don't so much enjoy cleaning up waste fluids, when the girl says she has to go, I jump. You know how little kids are - they wait until the last bitter second and then panic. Even though she's been a proud member of the "big girl panties club" for quite a long time now, she still is infamous for the very last second "I gotta go potty!" panic. This brings us to the present and our bathroom dilemma.

Every single time I take this child into a public place, you guessed it, she's gotta go. It doesn't matter if she just went to the bathroom right before we left the house 15 minutes prior. After a while, one starts to wonder if this 3 year old is legit. Is she crying wolf?? Remember me who doesn't like cleaning up accidents -- especially in public? She says she needs to go, and mostly I don't dare tell her no. Sometimes I throw caution into the wind and tell her to wait. This is the kicker, though - not to give too much potty info, but every single time I take her potty; she goes. Does the girl have a never-ending supply of urine? Does she ration it so she can visit every bathroom in Logan, Utah? I know she has at least decent bladder control because she goes all night without accidents. But, when we're standing in the dairy aisle at Walmart and she's doing the dance with a vengeance, I panic and drag the whole program to the bathroom. One time, just jokingly, I asked her if she really had to go or if she just wanted to check out the bathroom. She said "both."

So in the meantime, I think I've seen just about every bathroom in town. At least the bathrooms in every place we visit in town. We've been to large bathrooms with automatic toilets, sinks, and towel dispensers. We've been ushered to tiny dark employee-only bathrooms through mazes of halls in the back of small businesses where you use bar soap and tear the paper towel off a roll of Brawney. I actually find myself noticing and admiring colors and tile. Sadly, I have my favorites - clean, big stalls, nice smelling soap. If she sounds the cry in one of those places, it's a smidge better.

I guess for now it will remain a mystery as to what kind of "control issues" we're dealing with. Until we either figure it out or she just outgrows this phase, I'll see you in the bathrooom.

School's Out!

2009-06-08T16:56:00.002-06:00

Yahoo! It's been a great year, but hooray for summer!

Run, run as fast as you can...

2009-06-08T15:52:00.008-06:00

At the end of the school year, our school district has a district "Fun Run" at the high school track. The fourth and fifth graders from all the elementary schools get together and do a mile run/race. It was a lot of fun and the kids all did a fantastic job.

Matthew was awesome! His goal was to run the whole way. He did it! The High School track team was there helping the kids by running with them, pacing them, and encouraging them. Among the team was a boy in our ward who's just a great kid. He ran by Matt nearly the whole time.

The next week was Matt's school's annual Wildcat Run. This is also a mile run, but just the school is involved. It's amazing. There is so much preparation and work put in to it. The kids have to train for at least 6 weeks prior to the race. They do this at school and are expected to put in so many miles at home as well. The neighborhood next to the school is closed off for the morning and each grade takes turns running the mile race. I just have to tell you, I adore the Wildcat Run. Steve was able to go for the first time last year and he was sold on it, too. We all were looking forward to it this year.

Matthew, again, did terrific. He ran the whole way and cut his time almost in half from last year. He was so proud of himself and we were so proud of him.

Now, I am not a runner. Not anymore, anyhow. I just love the Wildcat Run, though. I love that kids have worked hard to be there and they are accomplishing something great. Parents and students line the streets and cheer for the runners. Here's the slightly embarrassing part -- most parents are cheering, clapping, smiling... Okay, Steve and I are cheering, clapping, and sucking back tears. I cry every dad-blamed year! I love that children are pushing themselves to excel and everyone else is cheering them on. It just doesn't get better than that! (For the record, Steve may tell you differently, but he is just as embarrassingly emotional. :))

We love our school and feel so fortunate to live so close to such a great school.

Cheering Section

2009-05-23T17:04:00.003-06:00

Soccer season is wrapping up. There's only one game left. We've had so much fun and Matthew has had such a fantastic experience. It's been such a blast watching the games with the other families.

All season the games have been held in the same place. Up until the last two, Matt's team has played on the same field, on one side of the larger field. The last several games, however, have been on a different field on the opposite side. I guess it had to happen... Rachel discovered that there really is a playground there.

Good times. We'll look forward to soccer again next year.

As for now, we've got the kids signed up for swimming lessons this summer. Not quite the same excitement in watching swimming. I don't know, though. It will be Rachel's first time with lessons - and she'll be in the same class as her cousin Jack. So, stay tuned. It should be pretty amusing.

Soccer

2009-05-02T22:11:00.007-06:00

It's soccer season. This time of year stirs up so many memories. Early Saturday mornings at the field, bright sun shining through the morning chill, the slight breeze pinking your cheeks while running across dewy grass, the excitement of a great block, and the pure thrill of a perfectly placed kick and GOAL! Okay... so really, those are more like Steve's memories of soccer. Mine would be more accurately a little something like this: Standing with the other defenders chatting about who-knows-what, practicing cartwheels because the forwards are pretty good and the ball rarely comes to you, making dandelion crowns, anticipating snacks and those little orange wedges with the peel still on them... Yah, so I wasn't a real competitive player. Anyhow - it's soccer season.

Matthew had kind of a weird experience with soccer last year (long story), and wasn't so sure he was going to play again this year. We are so glad he decided to. His coach is amazing! He had the same coach for basketball and the guy is wonderful. He teaches the kids about the sport, but he also teaches them how to play hard and fair. He praises the kids and builds them up - a stark contrast to last year's coach who yelled a lot and ran around acting like he was pulling his hair out because the boys were "blowing it." Now, I know I really shouldn't be judgemental here, as the coaches are all volunteers, but we'll just say that we are super fortunate to be where we are this year.
There is a boy on Matt's team (who was also on the basketball team) who has some delays. He's a good kid. Sometimes he's right with the game and trying to keep up and other times he's lying on the ground kicking his shoes off. :) We have been so impressed with how the coach works with this boy. He's awesome. During the last b-ball game of the season, Coach pulled the kids together during the last half of the game. He told the team that their one goal for the rest of the game was to get the ball to this one boy so he could shoot. Now, our little friend had not scored one basket during practice or a game the entire season. So the whole team just kept playing with the mere purpose of passing the ball to this one boy. What a great coach and what a great team of boys! The last five minutes of the last quarter of the last game of the season, our little guy scored! You'd have thought that the coach had won the National Championship by the way he was running up and down the court jumping, screaming, and cheering! The whole team was cheering and going crazy. All of the parents were yelling ourselves hoarse and sucking back tears. Our team won only a few games during the season, and I can't even tell you what the final score of that game was, but every single boy left feeling successful and proud. Amazing.

One thing about soccer in Logan is that one week you're sitting on the sidelines freezing your knickers off, and the next you're toasty and smathering sunscreen on to avoid sunburn. The last game (no pics) was played in the pouring rain. Steve braved that one while the girls and I stayed warm and dry inside. Love spring in Utah.

Steve and I love watching the games and cheering for our team. The girls do their best, but don't quite feel the love like we do. :) We come to each game prepared with our arsenal of snacks and treats. It usually works for about half the game.

Rachel put together this lovely soccer-watching ensemble. She wore her homemade foamy visor because of the sun and the flowery giraffe spotty leotard over her clothes because... she could. She's usually "bored as a baby" (not quite sure where she got that) by the end of the game, but she does tell us that she's going to play soccer, too when she's a little bigger.

Easter

2009-04-14T15:59:00.013-06:00

We love Easter. We love celebrating Easter for religious reasons, and we also love celebrating the coming of spring.
The kids always enjoy coloring eggs and I have finally learned how to take a deep breath and worry less about the mess. In the spirit of relaxed motherhood, I even hard boiled more eggs this year so we could enjoy even more.

Dying eggs turned out to be really fun and they turned out great. Matthew was much more careful about colors and designs. His eggs were colorful and detailed. Most of Rachel's eggs ended up purpley-gray. She loved the colors -- a little too much.

On Saturday morning some of our neighbors had an egg hunt for the kids. It was a lot of fun. Rachel was sooo excited and ended up with a good haul. Matthew helped with the hunt and took pictures of the whole thing. He's quite the photographer and got some really good shots of some of the neighbor kids.

That evening we headed to Ogden to my brother and sister in law's house for Easter dinner and another egg hunt for the kids. Dinner was wonderful! The kids all had a blast playing together, and yes, getting more candy.

Easter morning the kids were up fairly early to have the official Easter Bunny egg hunt and to find their baskets. They got some fun outdoor toys - bubbles, a soccer ball, a playground ball, sidewalk chalk, etc. Steve had to work, so he got to watch the hunt, then had to head out. Bummer.

This picture of the kids in their Easter duds was taken after church so they look a bit bedraggled. They looked darling, though, in their new clothes. Church itself was another story, but at least the kids looked good. I won't go into detail about our church experience, but we'll just say that one of our finer moments involved Rachel lying on the chair during singing time while the other reverent Easter clothed children sang the "Hello" song to the new children. Rachel sang too... her song went a little something like this, "I'm not having fun. I don't like Primary. This isn't fun for me..." Yah. I don't know why I would even hope to think that just because it was Easter that my Sunday would be any different than any other.

After church the kids spent some much needed time outside drawing with their sidewalk chalk. We are officially ready for spring!

Happy Birthday Bailey!

2009-04-05T13:43:00.014-06:00

Bailey Elizabeth Foster joined our little family a year ago. It's so hard to believe that it's already been a year and my baby is one! It's been so fun this week remembering the time of eager waiting and then the day of her birth.

Bailey was our smallest baby weighing in at 5 pounds 15 ounces, but there was nothing little about her big spirit. Her big brother and sister could not have been happier or more proud of their little sister.

On Friday evening we had my sister and her family over for a little birthday celebration for our big one year old. Rachel helped me pick out decorations and Matthew and Steve put them up. Sweet Bailey surely didn't understand what was going on that day, but she certainly knew something was going on and she loved the streamers and balloons. She was actually pretty giddy about everything -- coudn't stop clapping and laughing.

Generally for our birthdays, the b-day gal or guy gets to choose her/his favorite meal for dinner. Well...Bailey eats very very little as far as solids go, but we recently discovered that she likes noodles. So, pasta it was. I made fettuccine alfredo and she loved it. YUM!

I know - there are four candles on the cake where there really should be only one, but I had a whole gaggle of children helping blow out candles. (We had to re-light and blow a few times). I was informed by my children and my nephews that there ought to be only one candle for every year of life. So, this was one candle for Bailey and three for her birthday guests.

Traditionally the birthday child gets her own birthday cake to mangle and eat. Up until very recently we really thought that Bailey would merely shove the cake off her highchair tray and be done. She did, very delicately, dip into the cake and even eat a bit of it. Go, girl!

Don't worry -- she's a Foster...she'll learn how to eat with the best of them. :)

She got an Elmo Live. I wasn't so familiar with this toy, but Bailey really likes Elmo from watching little glimpses of Sesame Street or Elmo's World dvd's that Rachel watches. It's really cute, but a little overwhelming, apparently, to a one year old. She was enthralled...and a little tiny bit freaked out. Little Sweetie was laughing hysterically and clapping one second, and then almost crying the next. After a few minutes she kind of got the hang of it and really liked it.

Aunt Becky and all the boys got her a new baby doll, too. It's darling and she loves it. She just kept kissing her new baby ... and poking it's eyes. (Isn't it funny how they do that? All of my kids have been obsessed with eyes of dolls and stuffed animals at this age.)

This year just flew by and it seems like just yesterday that Bailey came to fill her spot in our family. We can't imagine our lives without her. Her beautiful smile and laugh are contagious, (She has this big belly laugh that surprises people who have never heard it.) and she brings us so much joy. We love our little Bailey Babers so much and are so grateful she's ours!

Tagged -- Finally

2009-03-28T18:53:00.002-06:00

So a while back -- a very long while back I was tagged on Facebook to write 25 random things about myself. I loved reading the lists of everyone else. I just didn't quite get to doing it then. I was tagged a bunch of times and had really good intentions, but yah, didn't happen. So, it's been too long to do it on fb, but figured I could post it here and resolve some of my angst about it. Here goes.

1. We sometimes make each other crazy, but I’m truly, fiercely in love with my husband. Sometimes I’m caught off guard and I get butterflies in my stomach.
2. I have 3 children for whom I would give my last breath.
3. My biggest fear is that something will happen to my husband and/or children.
4. I speak Spanish. I love it, but I’m really rusty.
5. I love to read – so much that I can become addicted and it’s almost a relief to be done with a book (even if it’s been a terrific book).
6. I can’t stand anything that’s artificially grape flavored – it literally makes my stomach sick.
7. When we were little, I told my little sister that a black witch lived under my parents’ bed. I would then hide under the bed and make noises - very blacky witchy noises.
8. I was on Romper Room when I was little, but I had no concept of it being televised. If I’d understood that, I’m sure I never would have done it, as I was neurotically shy at that age.
9. I don’t like my food touching. It used to be a lot worse. I would have to have every different food separate on my plate without any part or liquid from any part touching. I would go so far as to eat one or two items (separated), then wash my plate and then dish up the rest of the meal. I’m much better as an adult (especially after serving a mission), but I still prefer for the syrup to not get on the eggs.
10. I generally don’t like facial hair on most men. My husband knows my preference, but I secretly think that he’s super hot with a goatee.
11. I loved diagramming sentences in English.
12. I'm a very emotional person - especially when I'm tired. So, you know when you get married and everyone tells you to never go to bed angry? Well, sometimes we just have to go to bed and work it out in the morning after some sleep when I'm a little more sane. Poor Steve had to learn that the hard way.
13. Someday when my children are grown, my dream jobs would be to work in the children’s area of the library or to be the guy who fills business orders at Sam’s Club. (Shopping the store, stacking items on the big cart, checking off the list, wrapping the whole cart in plastic wrap… mmm…bliss.)
14. After my freshman year in college, I got booted out of the honors program. (I did pull things together and graduate with honors, though. Dumb ol’ eggheads, anyway…)
15. I have never gotten a speeding ticket.
16. I love Little House on the Prairie. My friends and I used to play it in my backyard. I still occasionally tune in and generally in the first few minutes, I can give a synopsis of the episode.
17. I am a true Aggie. I bleed blue.
18. I can wiggle my ears.
19. I’m an eternal optimist. Sometimes that stinks because it can lead to disappointment and frustration, but I like believing the best about people and that good things will happen.
20. I have had a good education and had some amazing experiences thus far in life, but I have probably learned the most important things from being a parent. Parenthood is the most difficult and heart-wrenching, yet joyful and rewarding thing I can imagine.
21. I love having a belief in a God who loves us, his children, as powerfully and personally as only a parent can.
22. I love to laugh.
23. I love finding a bargain. I very rarely pay full price for anything. Cheapskate? Maybe, but I like the thrill of the hunt.
24. When asked to tell about my most embarrassing moment, I have a hard time coming up with one. I’d love to say it’s because I’m such a graceful and put-together gal, but really it’s because I routinely do very embarrassing things. I do these things often enough that it’s desensitized me to a degree and I don’t often get that embarrassed. Sad, I know.
25. I'm slightly addicted to Diet Coke and chocolate. (Hey, at least I'm admitting it - even if I did minimize it with the word choice!)

Bailey vs. Food

2009-03-12T20:42:00.004-06:00

Bailey fought a nap all morning long. At lunchtime, this is what happened. Now, this picture is noteworthy for several reasons. First - I don't care who you are - when a baby falls asleep in her food, it's cute. Secondly, and the real reason I snapped the photo, is that she was EATING!

Those who know our little gal know that she has an unexplained aversion to solid food. (I know, a Foster who doesn't love food??) Take a look at her sweet cheeks (and the rest of the sweet chubby package) and you'll see that she's definitely not starving. She just won't eat anything that is not, well, milk. She had a tiny stint last summer that she'd eat a little bit of infant cereal. I've no clue as to what changed, but she one day refused to eat it or anything else. I say that she refused to eat, but in our case, "refused" means , gagged, heaved, shuddered, choked, and ended up crying. Seriously, everytime we tried to give her anything from strained squash to banana, she would gag, choke, and shudder -- and spit out anything that defiled her poor lips. She will be a year old next month, folks. So the fact that this past week or so she's started to munch on crackers and bread is a big step. She'll be eating like a champ in no time!

Good Journey

2009-03-04T10:44:00.004-07:00

When I was a young boy one of my favorite cartoons was He Man Masters of the Universe. I loved seeing Skeletor and his empire get defeated by the powers of good. I would, at times, stay home from school, because I was "sick", just to watch He Man. How thrilled I was when I found out that they were going to make a movie of my favorite cartoon. Sure the acting sucked, but the principles were true to the animated series. I loved it! However, one thing has stayed with me all these years. After He Man and his crew defeated Skeletor and the whole Grayskull clan, he would say goodbye to his earthly friends. Instead of the traditonal 'goodbye, see ya,' he said, "There are no goodbyes, only good journey."

Today my friend will be laid to rest in Hyrum. He was killed, serving our country in Iraq. I am sad that I will not be able to see him; sad for his sweet wife and children, but I am also hopeful because I realize that this is only part of the journey. What comfort I have in knowing that I will see my friend again. Comfort knowing that he is alright, comfort that his wife will be cared for, and comfort that I have the same promises with my wife and kids.

So Micheal, today I will see your mortal shell lowered into the ground. I will pause and reflect on your life, your patriotism, and honor you. Please know though, that I will not say goodbye - for there are no goodbyes, only good journey.

Pink School

2009-02-14T22:07:00.005-07:00

When Matt was about three, he used to tell elaborate and detailed stories about his dear, dear friends Max and Hallie. These friends were amazing and always had adventures to recount. Unfortunately, Steven and I never had the opportunity to meet Max nor Hallie. They were tricky little stinkers and always happened to leave the room just seconds before we entered. Matthew never "played" with his imaginary friends, but we sure enjoyed hours of tales about their experiences and adventures. It was almost sad when Max and Hallie stories disappeared from our lives.
Rachel has hit the magic age of three and, happily, she is introducing us to new friends and adventures. When Matthew's school was under construction this past summer, Rachel informed us that the workers were building her a new pink school. Since then, we hear about her pink school almost daily. When Matthew comes home from school with stories of teachers and friends, Rachel also has stories of her teachers and friends. The most prominent figure is her teacher at the pink school. Whenever there is conversation of which Rachel has no knowledge or experience, we can always count on her trusty teacher to have had some experience that allows Rachel to join on in. To date, Rachel's teacher has had a baby (who's name is also Bailey), she's had surgery, a car accident, jury duty, and a myriad of other experiences.
About a week ago we were in the car running errands. Matt had gotten a Webkinz for his b-day and he was trying to think of a name for it. It was a turtle so he was thinking of green things to name it after. In the midst of my helpful listing of green things, Rachel told us the following:
"My teacher at my pink school - she got the very same turtle webkinz. She named hers Booger."
She then chuckled to herself shaking her head and rolling her eyes. That kooky ol' teacher...
So, we were never able to meet Max and Hallie, but I sure hope that we'll be able to make the acquaintance of Rachel's teacher from her pink school. It would be such a shame not to meet a woman with such a broad knowledge base and such incredible life experience. :)
Last night I was introduced to one of Rachel's classmates, Alissa Junk. So far she seems like a nice gal. I only hope she's half as wonderful as the teacher from the pink school.

Tea Party

2009-02-09T19:34:00.003-07:00

Who doesn't love a tea party? Who doesn't love a tea party so much that you can't wait until you're dressed for the day and have your hair brushed to sit down to a lovely tea with mini oreos??

Rachel loves tea parties. She got this little tea set for her birthday and we have tea quite often.

When we sit down to begin, she designates roles -- decides whether we are fancy ladies or princesses. We then have very polite conversation using the fanciest words we can. It's pretty funny. She's a nut.