All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

And I got them!!

You know how hard it is to get a cute shot of a fat babies two front teeth? Those suckers are sharp!

And coming soon to a blog near you...
as soon as I can find the right memory card attachment...
this years Christmas crafting!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

There are no cards coming from my house this year, not even "Happy New Year" cards. :) Just plain ol' ran out of time. We had a wonderful visit to Utah to spend time with Brandon's brother, some great friends who just moved there, and my aunt. We love them all so much. And though my hub swears he doesn't want to move to Utah, we are so happy they are close enough to drive and visit. I think we are going to have to extend our Utah trips, though. So many friends to see!

We got home Christmas Eve and opened our gifts with Gram and Papa. We are exceptionally grateful to live so close to them. We were away from our families for so long. Moving home has been one of our biggest blessings. For us and our crazies.


Today we are chilling at home. Christmas Eve is about presents and Christmas is about His presence. At the dinner table we will offer our gifts to our Lord and Savior. He truly is our King and the greatest gift we have ever and will ever receive. Without our testimonies we would be lost. Truly. For it is only by His grace that we are saved.


We rejoice in His birth. We sing with the angels in proclaiming the miracle.


We wish you will feel His unending love as we have. Merry Christmas!

Eight years ago today...

We were standing in the atrium of the Portland Temple getting pictures taken before we entered the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity (backward, I know) when my wonderful, handsome, thoughtful fiance reaches in his pocket and panic flashes across his face. He'd forgotten his living ordinance recommend in his other suit.

Fortunately we knew some people in high places who were, in fact, attending the ceremony (our Bishop and Stake President) so things were put in order pretty quickly, but it has been a true example of our life. (Please ingore the tear stains on your screen.) Our marriage has been crazy, hectic, hilarious, and full of the unexpected, but through everything, the one with his head on straight has always said, "It'll work out." And it has. Three pretty difficult pregnancies, living with family twice, two summers apart, and a baseball season later, it has. Better than I could have ever imagined.

Here's to my husband. I'm more excited to be your wife today than I was eight years ago, and that's saying a lot. (wink, wink) Happy Anniversary. I love you.

Christmas present

We're about to embark on another journey to Utah, to visit Uncle Bryan/Auntie Kim/Cousin Jax. We're really looking forward to a 16-hour car trip... twice :-|.

But this gift should help because it has A/V inputs (most only have outputs) and that means we can hook up the Wii for Sterling and a movie for Hyrum (there are two separate monitors).

Merry Christmas!!

Life is crazy. Do you know how hard it is to put up Christmas decorations with a baby and a two-year old? Wait, I'm sure you do.

This year we went to the tree lot we went to last year and decided we could get a bit bigger tree than last. It seemed we had a little room to spare last year. And they are all $20 so why not go for it? Ten foot tree? Strap that puppy to the top of the van!!

We get it home and into the tree stand for temporary placement while I start putting on the lights. Uh, oops. I didn't take into account that I ran out of lights last year and had to make them stretch. Good thing my parents have gobs and gobs of lights left over from my wedding. (Coming up on EIGHT years ago!) So, a few days and a break to decorate-my in-laws-front-porch later, I finish getting the lights on the tree. I'd also been wise enough to head to Walmart and buy a bunch of unbreakable ornaments. Five years of little boys later and I finally figured out no amount of shouting will stop them from throwing pretty red balls across the house. And let me tell, that could be the wisest thing I've done all season. Because, just after we got all the lights and ornaments on the tree and Brandon was out putting up the lights on the roofline, I decide the tree needs to be relocated. Remember when I said the tree was in the base until we got it in final position? Oh, yeah, and it's ten feet tall? Well, I moved that sucker. Wait, no, I tried to move that sucker.

Here's what is sounded like. Screeeeech...crash!!! Sterling, go get dad right now! Dad! Dad!! Mom knocked the tree over!! (Slam door, Hyrum crying, "mom, why did you break the tree?")

Brandon comes in and in true blogger fashion offers to take a picture. I threatened him with his life. I was n.o.t amused.

But now, I have to admit it was highly amusing. Lesson? Don't try to move a tree by yourself.

Is it just me...

I have a friend who has the "Am I the only one..." chronicles, so I'm starting my own.

Is it just me, or do you worry and ache for your kids when they are sick? Something about having sick kids makes me realize how fragile their little lives are. I know that if their time is up I won't have any say about it, but I do fret. And snuggle. A lot. I think we both need it.

The whole story

Some of you may be totally amazed at the previously posted Albertson's deal, and while I, too, am impressed with myself I can't take all the credit. I was first turned on to the deal by thekrazycouponlady.com. I have to give credit where credit is due. Now for the full story.

Albertson's had a special where if you bought $30 worth of specific groceries you got vouchers for $15 off your next order. Yes, I'll take it! So, I scavenged online for coupons. Tons of coupons. There was not a single thing I bought that day without a coupon and I also got a voucher for a free gallon of milk with the three boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats I bought. I don't remember everything I got that day. I wish I had saved the reciept, but I know it included ten (yes 10!) boxes of Chex, Betty Crocker cake mixes, Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes, Cottenelle flushable wipes, some boxes of Hamburger Helper (which had four boxtops for education per box), two five-pound bags of flour... I can't remember what else. I can remember I paid $38 for $70+ of groceries and got a coupon for a gallon of milk and $15 for my next purchase. The $15 came in increments of $5, so I was really able to take advantage of the best deals. Then came the two trips made by Brandon, and, voila, you have an amazing grocery deal!

Now, truthfully, Hamburger Helper and boxed potatoes are not something I usually buy, but I could only find so many coupons for Chex and I thought that they are pretty good food storage items, so I went for it.

If you think about it, (I really wish I'd saved that first reciept!!), I got everything I've listed plus what Brandon got for ... wait for it ... FORTY DOLLARS!! I think I did ok. Thanks to the that Krazy Coupon Lady.

Now, there are certainly blogs out there that will have crazy grocery deals for your area. Just google it! There are deals to be had. Happy saving!!

Eat this: my wife's the shiz!

This is Brandon. I toss that out right away since I'm not usually the one who blogs even though I started the blog... ironic, isn't it? I don't remember what percentage of posession is law, but by now Sarah has legal ownership of it! I can still freelance from time to time if I think of something important.

This is one of those times.

There's some prevailing theory out there, to this day, that my wife is some spend-happy and one need look no further than her thousands of pairs of shoes.

I debunk this theory and sit in defiance of anyone professing it.

You see, this theory probably stems from when she did have many pairs of shoes - in 1996! As a fashion-conscientious teenager, she was probably doling out more on Dr. Martens than she was saving for college. Though, in her defense, she probably owned shoes in the 20s, not thousands.

Then, she met and eventually married me. This led to:

1. Not much money in our three years of undergrad.
2. Even less money when Sterling was born and we were saving for grad school.
3. Borrowing money in grad school at a private university in New York.
4. Having to repay loans all while making less than a pauper's wage during my minor league baseball broadcasting career.

People are allowed to change. Hopefully for the better. This includes those who think lots of shoes is excessive. So shouldn't it also include my wonderful wife, who responded to our lack of money by earning extra money? In North Carolina, she did childcare for awhile. She also sewed the baseball pants that were torn, as tedious and thankless of a job as it was.

And she learned the art of couponing.

I've used a handful of coupons in my whole life. She uses handfuls every time she goes to the grocery store.

Last week, Sarah sent me to Albertsons. She sent me with a bunch of coupons. I got four jars of peanut butter and two boxes of chewy granola bars, all name-brand and paid $1.30. When I got up to the line, the girl asked me "Do you have an Albertsons card?" She looked down at the coupons, right back up and said "Of course you do!"

This morning tops 'em all, though. Sarah sent me to the store with some coupons. To Albertsons. The same girl saw me and both of us witnessed something that would go down in the annals of history as awe-inspiring, unless you're the owner of Albertsons.

Here's what I bought:

This includes:

Gallon of milk.
Two quarts of ice cream.
Two Sarah Lee Oven Bake pies.
Four jars of peanut butter.

My grand total: $.35.

Read it again... I didn't say 35 dollars. I said 35 CENTS!!!

That's right. You know that girl who had lots and lots of shoes? Well, she grew up. She's not a girl anymore, she's a woman. As I write this, I've loved her for 10 years, 2 months, 2 days and 21 hours. But as of this morning, she's my hero.

Hurray for our Sterling!

Sterling has done a great job in school. Half day has been the best thing for him up until now. But, as of Monday, he was ready for full-day kindergarten.

To celebrate this accomplishment, Sterling said on Monday afternoon when he got home that he wanted to go to Burger King. And he didn't just want something from the dollar menu, by golly, he wanted a B.K. Kids Meal!!!

We said that was OK. He also wanted to invite Papa and Gram.

So we went to Burger King and had a good time, even though Gram was already in Olympia and couldn't join us. The boys had a great time nonetheless hanging out with Papa. And at some point, when Sarah said "Norm," Hyrum decided to be the family clown again and he yelled "NOOOORRRRRRMMMMM." It was really funny!

Here we are, enjoying the meal:

It was a great dinner for all of us and a good reason to celebrate!

Am I doing the right thing?

I need some feedback. If you read this, offer an opinion. Any and all will be taken into consideration. Blunt honesty, please.

We went to Sterling's parent-teacher conference last week. (He's doing great, in case you're wondering.) I was pretty positive the subject of full-day K would come up and of course it did. Fortunately Brandon was sitting next to me. He always knows what to say. He said we'd talk about it. We brought it up with Sterling and he was very excited at the prospect of having lunch at school and being able to play with his best friend at afternoon recess. So, we said ok. (I just realized we didn't pray about it!)

Today was his first full day and I have to say after picking him up I have a knot in my stomach about... something. Not sure what, but it generally means something isn't right.

If you are a faithful reader, you know I'm going to homeschool next year, so there is no way I want him away from me for longer during the day, but they do some different curriculum in the afternoon like splitting into reading groups that are level appropriate, they do math on the computer, PE, art and the like. His teacher also said there is some in class education he is missing since she can't teach it all in the morning. She said she has to pick and choose what she thinks is most critical to teach when everyone is there.

Also, one of the other kids that was doing half-day is now doing full-day, narrowing the pool of half-day kids to four. Now with Sterling switching there are three, but if no one else is going to switch maybe I won't feel so bad about going back.

Please give me some opinions to consider. I don't know what to do and I'm worried I made a mistake!

Halloween!

I found some Halloween pics! Good thing, huh.

This year Hyrum and Jonah wore the dino costumes I made a few years ago for Sterling and Hyrum. I like to do a theme and so I'll try to make that last as long as possible. And while it would have been really fun to have three dinos, Sterling wasn't really into it, so he was a paleontologist. It worked. The last time these were worn Brandon and I were Jurassic Park keepers. This year that was Sterling's job.

T-rex Hyrum. Isn't this a great shot?

Brandon, in case you were fooled by the eye-black.

Me showing my true colors and Jonah as a triceratops.

And my handsome Sterling. I couldn't find a safari hat, so I crafted this one. Add a polo, khaki shorts and long johns. One fab paleontologist.

Thank goodness someone took some pics of us at the ward Halloween Party!

Look out, world, here I come!

Jonah is on the move. He is not crawling, but that does not stop him from getting where he needs to go! Sterling was a roller, Hyrum crawled pretty early, and Jonah just uses brute upper body strength to pull himself everywhere.

Case in point:

Oooh, that looks like a nice a nice piece of loose linoleum I can play with.

I got it!

Oh, she caught me!!

And just so you have an idea, he started on the blanket in the background, went for his brother's snack bowl, that got taken away, so he proceeded to the kitchen! Yes, my kids are still in their pjs and I admit I need to stop posting pictures of Hyrum in his underwear.
And these are just because he's so stinking cute!


PS- did you notice the flooring in the living room? That is the finished product. It looks amazing. Maybe I'll take a pic of my entire living room now. I love it.

I'm in love

I just realized my last two posts were real downers! That's no way to portray my life. Obviously its not always easy, but I am totally in love with my boys. I was just perusing Brandon's facebook page (which I will never have, sorry) and ran across an old high school friend's page. It was kind of sad. I'm so blessed to have a beautiful family and wonderful boys who are, in consecutive order from oldest to youngest, playing with Legos, watching Diego, and napping. It is a wonderful moment.

Also, I am in love with my parents. They are so fantastic. We have been so blessed to live close to them. My boys have tons of grandparent dates and yesterday they came over and helped me finally finish laying the next thing I'm in love with.

My floor! It has been a project, and when I say project, I mean a laborious, tedious, expensive, and year-long ordeal. But it is gorgeous! Absolutely amazing. I love it, love it, love it! Now the only parts of our house that don't have new floors are the bathrooms and the kitchen. The kitchen is next. We're going to try our hand at tiling. We'll see how it goes.

And of course, I'm always in love with my husband. Some of our very close friends are separating and threatening divorce. It has helped us remember that our relationship with each other is just as important and our kids and all the other stuff. In fact, it is more important. If we fall apart it all falls apart. So, we are spending more time at the end of the day just laying on the couch together. It is really nice. I love him.

Life is great. Little boys are great. Parents are great. Grandparents are greater. Husbands are amazing and blessings are abundant.

One of these days I'll see if I can find some Halloween pictures to post. I think I forgot to take some. Oops! But the Dino crew needs to be documented!

(I feel like my blog is totally bipolar!)

Is is just me...

...Or is daylight savings the WORST! And why, oh, why would ANYone put combine Halloween into the same weekend! I'm trying so hard to remember that the whining and grumpiness are a result of a lack of sleep and that an ENORMOUS amount of patience is necessary when really I'm hoping the time on my watch (which I forgot to set back) is the correct time and there are only two hours until honey-bunch gets home and can give me a tiny reprieve.

Oh, the joys of parenting. (I think I've used that line a time or two.)

Singing again

So, Brandon and I were asked to sing in church, which we did last Sunday. It has been a while since I've sung and I think I've lost my touch. Not that I don't sing in front of a large group every Sunday, but it's the Primary children and really I'm not singing. I'm cheerleading. Not really challenging or embarrassing. I've just totally lost my confidence and it's been really hard for me.

Anyway, today I went to our ward choir practice (8:30 am!!) and then to the Stake choir practice for the Forgotten Carols. I really debated trying out for a specific part and then Brandon got called to be the EQP and I figured we had enough on our plate. Now I'm really regretting it. But, how do you commit to such a demanding thing with a nursing baby? I don't know what my point is. Maybe that I miss singing and especially feeling like I sound half-way decent when I sing. I kind of feel like I've lost part of myself or something.

Just needed a vent. Thanks for reading, or not. Whatever the case, it's out there. Now I need a good cry and I'll get over it. :)

My Rock

WARNING! This blog will be full of sentimental mushiness. Read at your own risk.

I've have been pretty emotional today. Not sure why. Possibly a conglomeration of the following: Hyrum is very sick which always makes me worried and motherly; I drove down to the temple with my sister a few weeks ago and we had a really nice talk about my dad; Jim and Pam are getting married on The Office tonight and the clip that keeps running makes me want to cry every time! (uh, if you don't watch The Office, tonight is the night to start, OR, you could catch-up on NBC.com); I found out Brandon thinks he got a concussion falling playing basketball the other night; I just read a cheesy blog post about someone else's wonderful hubby. Whatever the reason, I'm sure Brandon will kill me for this. :)


This is my favorite person in the whole world. He is fun, funny, caring, kind, crazy, happy, occasionally grumpy but for the most part sunny, he can sing, he whistles up a storm, and he has this amazing way of making everyone around him feel welcome. I don't know how he does it. I wish he could pass it on to me. He loves our boys SOOOO much.

I have been amazingly lucky to have had three awesome men in my life. My dad was the first and after he died there was a very vivid void. Many of you out there in my personal blog-o-sphere know a little, but I'm not great talking about it. If you can imagine, my dad's suicide was hard, but harder still was our home life. My dad was bi-polar and the slightest tick could set him off. Never toward me but our home was very tense so as an adult even almost 20 years later being in a situation where there is a lot of stress and aggrivation makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I withdraw totally and cry as soon as I am back in the comfort of my own world, even as soon as getting in the van.

The second is my now-dad Lloyd. He pulled me through. Honestly, I think I'd have been a knocked-up drop-out if not for him. I know you are all thinking that is impossible, but it's true. Just ask him. The huge hole my dad left was mostly filled because of Lloyd.

The final and absolutely irreplaceable is my wonderful, amazing husband. He just knows. He is my rock and he has the intuition to know when I feel like I've been taken back 20 years. He has changed his whole life plan for our family. Given up his childhood dreams and ambitions, which, by the way, he was on his way to seeing accomplished. He will go to bat for me when I don't have the cahones to do it myself. I know I am more important to him than anyone else. He's not afraid to call me on my bull. He let's me know when I'm getting homicidal with the boys. :) He works so hard to make sure we have a wonderful and comfortable home.

He is honestly my rock. I was considering, don't ask why, how I'd feel if I lost him. Lot's of people say they'd die without their spouse. I know that is not true. I'd pull through. I'd be a shell of me, but I'm a mom and I have others to take care of, so I'd survive. But I wouldn't want to. I already know what it feels like to lose the person who makes you feel loved and I don't ever want to feel that again. It's not that I couldn't live without him. I just don't ever want to. Ever. EVER. Life's too long to not have my stability beside me.

My sister hasn't found the right guy yet and I think she is amazing. She is strong and independent and ambitious. I have never been that person. I need someone behind me. I just like to look like I'm that person. :) Fortunately Brandon let's me be that person.

In case you couldn't tell, I love him.

I love you, Honey. Thanks for loving me and all my baggage. You are the greatest.

Trying not to be bitter

OK, I just have to complain a little, which I really shouldn't be doing. Have you ever moved into a ward and not really felt quite right? Not that the church isn't true, just that you don't quite know how you fit into the equation? We've almost been in our ward for 10 months and we've been invited to two people's houses. One is our friends and we've been back and forth, but it wasn't until Brandon was called as the EQP that we got our second invitation and suddenly this guy is Brandon's best friend. That's bugging me! And the fact that nobody had taken the time to get to know us. That's bugging me too. It kind of feels like our student ward in Pullman. Like I don't quite fit. I don't know. It's just been hard for me this weekend. I'd like for someone at church to care about us.

So, I'm going to be the person who cares. Since there doesn't seem to be a family that goes out of their way to welcome new members, or maybe there is but we got overlooked, I'm inviting the new people to our house. Starting this Sunday. Granted there are very few days now that we get to spend together but I know it is important. Especially if I'm feeling kind of lost, that must mean there are others feeling kind of lost as well. Well, not any more, not if I can help it. Even if don't come out of it with any friends, I'm at least going to make sure people feel welcome in the ward. It's such a shame, too, cause I think we have a really great ward.

Fat and happy

Jonah is the fattest, happiest baby. He has an easy smile and giggle. He gets really stressed when there is tension or fighting, even if it is just playing. He also gets startled pretty easily. The other day Brandon had one of his famous blow-the-walls-down sneezes and poor Jonah got scared to death! He LOVES talking to his brothers and gets so happy to see his mommy.


He was 17 lbs 4 oz at his last check-up. 97th percentile. And I don't remember how long he was but it was the 93rd percentile. He's a giant. We call him fat baby. I call him beauty boy. I just think he is so beautiful!

Experiments in Dinner

We had a ton of corn given to us by some friends, and a ton of zucchini and tomatoes from our own garden and I didn't know what to do with it, so I decided to make a cook it all together with some potatoes and burger. I got to chopping everything up and thought the veggies looked yummy by themselves, so I put just the veggies in the pan with some salt, garlic and parmesan figuring if it turned out badly I'd just compost it. Well, surprise! It is fantastic!!

OMSI

As an end of summer hooraa we went to the hands-on science museum in Portland. It was pretty amazing. We went with my friend Paige, and her two girls Olivia and Maggie. Olivia is Sterling's age and they are great friends and Maggie is Hyrum's age, so they are good for each other. They have pretty similar temperaments so they are learning not to hit and to share from each other. :)

There is a big science playground there with tons of hands-on stuff for little kids. I think Maggie and Hyrum would have spent the entire time at this water table. Even though they had on boots and smocks, they were pretty soaked!

This was a different part with really cool water-propelled rockets, an inventors room, an earthquake house, a centrifugal force table, this rocket they could climb in, and I can't remember what else. It was awesome!


And this is just a super-cute pic of Maggie. Had to add it.

Kindergarten!!

Can you believe I actually remembered to take some pictures?!? This was on our way to the first day which was really more a parent-teacher conference. We got to get to know what to expect a little and Sterling got to explore the classroom. He was so pumped to go.


His Spiderman backpack. He also has a Spiderman lunchbox and watch. It was a Spidey kind of day.

Hyrum had to take his backpack, too. He was ready for Kindergarten as well.


And here we are outside his school. We had to pack a lunch and then we had to eat lunch on the grass because why would you pack a lunch and then not eat it at school?? Come on, Mom.
Finally, waiting for the bus. That was the most hard for me. He didn't even look back. :(


Now a cute story. I got an IOU in his take-home folder the other day for a breakfast charge. At first I was really confused and thought he was telling them I didn't give him breakfast but then I got to the bottom of it. They get off the bus and go directly to the gym where they are also serving breakfast. Sterling, being the curious boy that he is, decided to see what they were serving. The first day was biscuits and gravy and he didn't like that so he didn't get any. The next day they were having a cinnamon bar (don't know what that is, I assume like a coffee cake) and string cheese. He was all over that! I was mortified.

He loves the idea of eating breakfast at school since he goes half days and doesn't get to eat lunch there. So, we had a discussion about how we eat breakfast at home and we compromised that he can take a snack in his lunch box to eat when he gets to school. This morning I packed him a snack with a note that he could indeed eat it (there was some confusion about it yesterday, they thought he was trying to eat his lunch) but he still went to check out what they were cooking. He said it was a hamburger and oranges. Had to have been a sausage biscuit. Anyway, he said he really wanted it but since we had talked about it he didn't get any. I guess I'm going to have send him with money so he can buy breakfast at school a couple times a week. Crack me up!!

Anyways, he is doing great and after one full week of school is asking when he gets to go full days. I'm just not ready for that, especially since I am planning on homeschooling him after this year. We'll see.

School Days

I just put my baby on the bus for his first day of school. I'm a blubbering fool.

August

Wow summer has gone fast. The Lord said to plant a garden, so we did and I've been keeping up with the harvesting and processing of all the yummy veggies. We've been working on more and more projects on our house. Brandon is currently building a big loft shelf in our garage and I stained the front porch and sprayed about two-thirds of our yard for blackberries and hawthorn. Those things are coming out. We have already pulled three pretty good sized hawthorn trees out of the yard but the rest will quickly be following since it has spread all over!! There are little patches of new hawthorn growth everywhere and it HURTS when you step in some accidentally.

We went on a fun ten-day trip this month and forgot our camera. Genius, I know. But there are pics on my sisters-in-laws' blogs. The first leg of our trip was a Chapman family reunion in Roseburg, OR. Sterling met Brandon's cousin's son (does that make them second cousins once removed?) and they totally hit it off. After we left the first night he talked about his cousin Dylan the entire 20 minute drive back to our hotel. It was so nice to see!

We spent two days there and packed up Sunday morning to head to Uncle Bryan's! We were sooooo excited!! Bryan and Kim and Jaxy just moved into their brand-new house in Springville, UT, so we felt very privilaged to be able to visit. I can understand that there could have been some anxiety about having five extra people in your brand-new house, but we had so much fun. We could have stayed a few more days. We went to a huge Dinosaur museum, got rained out of going to Hobble creek, played at the park, ate at Cafe Rio (yum!), Kim and I went shopping all by ourselves, and when the days were over and the kids were all asleep all us parents would stay up and do something fun. We sure miss you guys!

Even though we wanted to stay and play another day, we had promised our friends some time on our trip as well, so we loaded up the van and headed for Moscow, ID. We stopped at temple square on our way up I-15 so the boys could feel the awe-inspiring power of the temple grounds. It was under some construction but we went in to the visitors center to see the Christus. Sterling has been in awe of it since we saw it in the Nauvoo visitors center and he had the same overwhelming feeling again. When we were back on the road he told us he really liked the feeling of that Jesus. We had a talk about how we can always have that feeling in our home by being kind and loving. I hope it sunk in a little!

Moscow was the last stop, and good thing! We hadn't seen our friends the Schwecke's in a few years and it was so great to visit with them. Unfortunately, the boys were at the end of their ropes so we decided to head home a day early. We were glad to be back in our own space.

I know that was a lot, but there's more!! I started potty-training Hyrum last week He's doing great! He hasn't quite figured out you have to sit on the toilet before you go number two, but he has full bladder control during the day. He's so proud of himself!


Indiana Jones starts kindergarten on Wednesday. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. At least it's only half-day.
And Jonah is the sweetest baby. He goes in for his four-month check-up on Monday. He's growing out of his six month sized clothes, smiles at everyone, has a conversation with us everyday, and is trying to sit up. Not rolling yet, but that's ok. He's growing too fast already!

That's it for today. Next week will have growth updates and first day of school pictures. Where does the time go?

A great blog

I've run across this really great blog called Love, Actually and it is so fun!! She posts tons of cute and easy date nights ideas, love reminders, ... well, you get the gist. Check it out. I have yet to try anything, but I just saw an idea that I'm going to use. A lot of the date night ideas are the stay-at-home type, so find a buddy and trade babysitting with the kids at their house. Then you can get away with some super cheap dates!!

Diggin' a ditch...

Dave Matthews Band has an album out and there is a song that has that line. Everytime Brandon went out to work on his latest project that song would go through my head.

What is his latest project, you ask? A firepit. He saw a picture of this beautiful patio with a fire pit in a magazine and decided we needed one in our backyard. So he started digging. This is a shot of the original hole with the open fire cast iron grill he got for Father's Day so he could have a Argentine style cook out.

He got it this far and then we went to get the cement blocks to line it. His pit was too shallow and too small, so back to digging! He finally got it where he thought it was big enough, but no luck. He laid the first row of blocks and had to dig some more. Finally he had it big enough and all level and was ready to mortar.


The finished product and a very proud husband. He really did a great job. Hopefully soon we will tear up the sod around it and lay out a brick paver patio.

Happy Birthday Sterling!

Um, my kids are growing too fast. I'm sure every parent feels this way, but it is true! My Sterling was born five years ago on July 8th and has been the sweetest little boy. He is an adventurer, he loves discovering and exploring and he is a fantastic big brother.

I kept asking him what kind of birthday he wanted and he kept telling me Batman and I was pretty confident I could make a regular old cake and frost it with the Batman symbol on it. That has been the extent of my theme cakes so far. Well, Wednesday morning, his birthday, as I was dropping him off at his Gram and Papa's so he could go to birthday lunch with them, he decides that he really wants an Indiana Jones party. Fortunately I was on my way to Walmart to get the cake mix anyway, so I just readjusted my thinking. Now, how on earth do you make a birthday cake look like an Indi hat?

I'll tell you. Take two cake mixes, bake one in two 9 inch rounds and bake the other in a jelly roll pan. Next, freeze all cakes then remove from pans. Cut the brim out of the cake from the jelly roll pan, frost, top with one round in its entirety, frost, and finish off with the final cake. Cut sides off top cake at an angle and cut "v" out of middle. Voila!! A very amateur Indiana Jones Fedora! (I think it would have looked better with a fondant frosting, but since I haven't taken a cake decorating class I didn't want to try it on this crazy day.)

The snakes definitely helped sell the whole thing, and Brandon made a whip out of some rope and a handle. I also make some candy hats out of peanut butter cups and Rolos. Not perfect, but again, pretty good for an amateur. Sterling thought it was great.

After he had lunch with Brandon's parents, I took him and his cousin McKade and friend Colby to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the local cheap theatre. Then we came home and had tacos and a low-key party, my favorite kind.

He got great gifts, including an Indiana Jones Lego set, Lego Star Wars for Wii, a T-ball bat and ball, a Spiderman costume, and, most importantly, the real Indiana Jones hat, or the best imitation I could find.

This is Spidey Sterling and his cousin McKade whose fifth birthday is this Friday. That's right, nine days apart!

And here he is, Doctor Indiana Jones. Maybe I should explain that we have not let our five year old watch Indiana Jones. He got the Lego Indiana Jones video game for Wii and he and Brandon have been conquering the game together. They have a ton of fun playing it. Anyway, happy, happy birthday to my sweet son. There's no way he can be five!!

Gross

I'm really tired of cleaning up gross stuff. Between baby blowouts, spit-up, Hyrum's diapers, and the stomach bug the boys keep passing back and forth, I feel like I am up to my elbows in stuff no one wants a description of. NASTY!!

Two months old

Jonah had his two month check -up the other day. His doctor said he was the star patient of the day, happy and very, very healthy. She loved his fat rolls!

Here are his stats:
14 lbs 2 oz - off the charts for percentile
24 inches long - 97th percentile
15 1/2 inch head - 66th percentile

He is definitely putting on the pounds. 5 pounds in two months! I can't touch finger to thumb around his calves. They are so yummy!! He has a great smile, which I've caught on my phone camera, and he is cooing and babbling a lot. The other day while he was in the tub he laughed out loud. He loves bathtime and laying under this musical entertainer thing that has a little puppy on it. He's also almost in six month clothes. Like next week we'll be changing out the drawers again. Oh, and I bought this huge box of diapers at Costco that is size 1-2 and I figured we'd have no problems getting through it. Uh, it goes to 15 pounds and I've only used 1/3 of the box. Oops! Fortunately there is a family in our ward that has a baby and they will be getting a huge diaper bonus! I guess its time to pull out the cloth diapers. Having two in diapers is a small fortune every month!!

We love Jonah so much. He is the sweetest baby.

Instruction Manual?

Why don't kids come with an instruction manual? Or even just a little warning label? I could be attached to their umbilical cord or something. I've needed one for Hyrum. It could have been as simple as, "Will test everything himself." Saturday I was sewing some school bags for our ward Humanitarian Aid project and had the iron set up next to me. I got up to iron something and Hyrum came over to check things out. No sooner did I say, "Be careful, Hy, it's hot," than he reached up to prove I was right. Result - blistered finger. End of sewing for the day.

Then yesterday I was trying to work on them a little more (I know, it was the Sabbath) and Hyrum wanted to be invloved again, so I had him on my lap and he was in charge of pushing the backstitch button. I'd done the same thing many times with Sterling and just warned him that he would get an owie if he put his fingers near the needle. I gave Hy the same warning, and again he had to test to see if what I said was true. Result - sewn finger. Major cringe. Fortunately Brandon was sitting right there to help and knew exactly what my huge gasp and "Help me, HELP ME!" meant.

I can't decide if that was my penance for sewing on Sunday or if I just needed that major epiphany that he is my child who will have to test everything himself, but it was a highly traumatic lesson for me, whatever the reason. I cried, but then it made Hyrum cry harder so I had to pull it together.

Honestly, a litle tag on their umbilical cord is all I ask.

A lot of little stuff

Ahh, the simple pleasures of summer. Did you ever get Push-ups from the Schwann's man? We had them every summer and I was totally excited when Sterling requested them from the popsicle section! What could be better than sitting with your brother on the porch steps enjoying an orange sherbet push-up.




And Sterling totally takes after me. This is about the fourth snake he's found in our yard and he's totally fearless about them. (Please still come to our house, Aunt Brook!) Anyway, he's really proud of himself. The other day they were out catching bugs and frogs too. I love where we live!
Ok, now this is serious stuff. Strawberry Freezer Jam. Heaven. In a Ziploc container. It so takes me back to being a kid at my Grandmother's in Idaho. Whatever was for dinner also included biscuits with butter and strawberry freezer jam. It makes me miss my grandma. And my dad. I'm so glad I have that memory.

And finally, chopped! My hair was getting ridiculously too long and I had enough to donate to Locks of Love, so I cut it off!! I'll admit it took a little getting used to and about an hour in the bathroom trying to figure out how to style it, but I really like it! My poor friend Paige was shaking in her boots cutting it off. Thanks for biting the bullet Paige!

Fun movies and saving $$$

We've rented a couple of really cute family movies that I can highly recommend. First, Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. Really cute and not at all "Adam Sandler" gross. Second, Hotel for Dogs. Really, really cute. Even makes you tear up at the end - please note if you are prego (Robyn!). They were really good. Our boys kind of stayed with it but they aren't animated so their attention kind of waxed and waned.

OK, now on to saving moolaa! I've been really trying to up our food storage and save money wherever I can to build up that all important rainy-day fund so I've been paying particular attention to the flyers and coupons that come in the Sunday and Wednesday papers. I can scan through the ads and make a mental note of good deals then scan the coupons for any that will add to that deal. Then I make my list, take the flyers and head to Walmart! I know that Walmart isn't always everyone's favorite place to go, but they will honor any advertised price if it beats theirs. So, for example, the other day there was an in-store Walgreen's coupon for Scott fresh wipes for $1.99 and you could buy up to three. Then there was a manufacturer's coupon for $.50 off two, so I got my fresh wipes for the boys bathroom for $1.75 a box. They are normally like $3.50 and I am paranoid about making sure bums are clean so I will help with a wet wipe. Now I don't have too and they are flushable! Maybe that is a gross example, but it was the best saving of the day. Also, Fred Meyer had Big G cereal on sale for $1.99 a box. Got a ton of that. You just have to make sure you get what is in the picture or that the ad specifically states sizes and kinds.

Oh, also pay attention to your cashier. Try to get one you've seen there or looks friendly and competent. That makes a huge difference in getting through the line smoothly. I've had one lady who was really fast and great and then the next time I wasn't paying attention and ended up with a trainee who had to run everything past her shift manager. That always makes me feel awkward, like they think I'm trying to pull a fast one on them. And I've found if the store coupon says like $1 off whatever, they don't honor that. It has to have a specific price on it.

Anyway, I honestly think I saved about $25 the other day and I didn't have to run all over town, which still made the over-scrutiny worth it.

Hope you all are having a great day!!

Jonah's blessing... and I hate blogger

OK, so I am extremely frustrated and want to get these posted, so you'll just have to get a little flexible. Even though they are on my desktop correctly they will not load right onto blogger! ARRG!

Anyway, if you can flip your head over, here is Jonah in his blessing outfit.

That day ended up being really crazy so we didn't get pics of him that day. To make up for it, we had a photo shoot later that week. I got one picture of Jonah by himself and the rest had someone's hand or shadow or foot or face... I gave up and got some of the three of them. Again, you'll have to tilt your head. Jonah is supposed to be at the bottom of the shot.

This was before I changed the big boys. They were having a lot of fun. Oh, you like Hyrum's fat purple lip? That's another story entirely. You can adjust your head however you please for this one.

Can't leave out the proud parents!! And I just noticed I was wearing a purple shirt and Brandon a purple tie!! Embarrassing and totally unintentional.

It was a beautiful day and a special blessing. I was overwhelmed by the friends and family we had there. That is why we are back in Washington. There were thirteen men in the circle. Totally incredible.