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HAWAII 2010 IN PICTURES

2010-05-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

HAWAII 2010

2010-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Mom and dad gave us another opportunity to travel to Kauai with all my siblings and the cousins. We stayed at Princeville again and as always it was such a treat. It was a wonderful week if you look over the fact that my children's faces got so sunburned that they are scabbed! What kind of mother am I? I promise I really did sunscreen them and re-apply regularly. I swear the sun is alien there. There was also a bit of chaffing going on with all the boys which was discovered when they all began to walk like bow-legged robots. But a little neosporin fixed 'em up and they were back in the sand and surf the next day. We did some of the same things as the last trip like surfing and boogie boarding, only this time we rented the boards for the week rather than just doing a lesson. I thought that renting them was way better because we were able to spend more days at the beach for far less dinero. We also had multiple shaved-ice trips with the favorite this time going to Shaved Ice Paradise. I discovered a little too early in the week that you could skip the whole shaved ice top and order straight macadamia nut ice-cream in a cone. Heaven! Like last trip we all attended a Luau together, this time the Smith Family Luau instead of the Princeville one. I think the consensus was that we all liked this years choice better. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the whole affair was more relaxed and family friendly. Some of the men thought the dancing etc. went on a little long, but for the most part everyone had a great time. I was really proud of the kids for going out on a limb and trying many of the local foods and dishes although I don't think anyone but mom ventured as far as the Poi. Ryan and I got an afternoon to ourselves, which we shared part of with Andrew and Shelly who also had a few hours without kids. (we watched Baldwin kids earlier in the week for A and C while they golfed with A and R )We went to this gorgeous little protected cove in Hanalei and snorkeled and walked on the beach among the "coconuts". Ryan and I also stopped at a juice bar and got the most amazing fresh squeezed juice concoctions. We rounded out the week with a boat dive for Ryan and a girls day at the spa for me and all the ladies. Why have we not done that before???? The kids loved ordering lunch by the pool and practically drowning themselves drinking POG. There was lots of noise (so sorry for the other guests) and games of "crush the carrier" on the lawn for the kids and late nights of "catch-phrase" for us adults. Mostly though it was just so great to catch up with everyone and spend time with our kids away from all the typical stresses of life. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family around us.

Easter Eggs

2010-05-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

Just a fun afternoon of getting into the Easter spirit. It was such a nice weekend with General Conference being the same weekend and all. We ate a yummy Easter breakfast this year instead of a big dinner and that was a nice change of pace. The boys love breakfast the best anyway, so it was a winner all the way around. Then we watched both sessions of conference and dyed our eggs in between. I wish every Easter weekend could be so relaxed and peaceful. It really gave us a chance to focus on what why we were celebrating in the first place.

FINAL FOUR FRENZY

2010-05-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

Basketball season has always been a big deal around our house because of Ryans love of the game. This year one of his "bucket list" dreams came true. My dad had tickets to the sweet sixteen and the elite eight playoff games and invited Ryan to go. We made the trip to Utah where he and Caden were able to see Syracuse vs. Butler and Kansas State vs. Xavier. Then a couple of nights later he went to the Kansas State vs. Butler game. He and Caden both had such a great time and the games were very suspenseful and fun. The night of the actual finals we made a fun dinner of appetizer type foods and had a carpet picnic in the family room while we watched the game. As you can tell by the "attire" that AJ is wearing, it was a very informal affair!

CROSSING OVER

2010-02-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

It's official- Caden is no longer a little boy. He earned his Weblos badge and crossed over from Cub scouts to Boy scouts last Thursday. It was a bit anti-climactic for him and for us because he has been in boy scouts for a month. Because his birthday is a week before Christmas and pack meeting was scheduled early in the month of December due to the holidays he wasn't able to cross over on time. He was a good sport about it and was really happy other than the fact that he didn't actually get an arrow (which most of the other boys is our ward have gotten, but we have a new cub master and I guess he is not doing that)for earning his arrow of light award. He also earned his compass points badge and the religious knot which can both go with him on his Boy scout journey along with the arrow of light. He has worked so hard and is looking forward to all the fun he is going to have as he continues is scouting. Way to go son!

HANGING BY A THREAD

2010-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Jack has once again become Jack-o-lantern! Last week he lost one of his upper anterior teeth and the other has been hanging on for dear life. The other night I found Jack in the bathroom perched on the counter facing the mirror. He had dental floss wrapped around the base of his tooth and he was pulling hard! He explained to me that this was how his friend Chase pulled his tooth out and would I give him five bucks if he pulled out his own? I said I definitely would give him five bucks since I could clearly see that the tooth was still firmly attached on one side and not ready to come out. Well either he has a super high pain tolerance or is highly motivated by money but he screwed up his face and yanked that sucker right out of his head! I couldn't believe it when he told me it was out - "you owe me five bucks" was all he said.

HOOPS

2010-02-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

Jack is playing hotshots basketball this winter/spring and having "a ball"! Ryan is helping out the team as well and I purposefully don't say "coaching" because it is more like herding. It is so much fun for him and for us to watch him and his teamates run up and down the court. He is staying on for another session and hopefully will actually be able to refine some of the skills they have been working on.

THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE...FINALLY!

2009-12-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Mom and dad came for a visit between Halloween and Thanksgiving and while they were here mom thought it would be a good idea to buy a gingerbread house kit to make in December. Only, she didn't take into account that I have a three year old who thinks that when you say December is coming soon you mean like in two minutes! He has stared starry eyed at that box for the last month and a half. Literally every day since we got it he has had me get in down for him while he eats and put the box on the counter right in front of him (like you know when you read the cereal box) he even went so far as to slightly tear the box one day right before Thanksgiving which then I was like "oh no mister, we are done here". Well...December is finally here and for the first FHE in the month we made the stinking gingerbread house. He was completely and totally thrilled with the whole process. He was even a good sport when Ryan and the boys gave him gum drop nipples and a frosting smiley face belly. He is seriously going to get you guys someday!

THANKSGIVING AND MINK CREEK

2009-12-06T20:04:00.001-08:00

I am thankful for.......FAMILY! We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Utah with my side of the family. We had a ton of fun, a few fevers, not one but many feasts, and great memories were made. We missed the Barbers (Andrews crew) but look forward to seeing them in May. The boys went to a Utes game where Cade was in heaven with the all you can eat pre-game buffet. Thanks for sharing your tickets with us dad! The girls spent an afternoon at Brio spa in Logan where we were pampered by "Miss Stephanie" and company. If you live near by check them out, well worth it! Mom had us booked for the works and we felt and looked like a million bucks when all was said and done. Thanks mom, I sooooo needed that! Of course food and company were divine as always when we are at moms house. Her turkey literally could have made some sort of publication. What made it even better was it tasted as good as it looked. We spent a day up in Idaho at Mink Creek, where mom and dads cabin/....lodge is almost done. Too beautiful to describe, can't wait til it is done! Kids played and played and played with cousins and truly enjoyed themselves. Amanda made a gorgeous center piece for the Thanksgiving table and these really cute turkey napkin holders (see pics.) Loved hanging out playing scrabble, even if Ryan really did ruin my mojo with his "Jew"!!! And yes I am STILL on that!!! I DIED over my nephew Cooper and his amazing little blond "fro" that turns into a serious mess overnight (see attached photo) he is cute enough to nibble on if he will let you get close enough. And forever I am in awe of my mom who can pull off the most elaborate meals, she is truly gifted, with total perfection. (Although I am really glad she nixed the Pioneer woman's green beans, Yuck! As dad said "these uh....would keep you alive..")

HALLOWEEN AT DISNEYLAND

2009-12-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

This year we were able to take the kids to Disneyland to a week in October. I was not at all excited about a trip to Disney as out last trip there was a TOTAL bust. I was pregnant with AJ and couldn't ride anything, it rained cats and dogs and we ALL got the stomach flu. The only bright side to the trip was being with extended family and not having to wash all the puked on sheets and towels (we were in a hotel). So basically Ryan forced me into this trip and I had to pretend for the kids that I was really really thrilled we were going. It turned out to be one of the best trips EVER! Disneyland was decorated so cute and we had perfect weather. The kids were darling about the whole thing and for the most part behaved. Although it will definitely be several more years before we go back, we will look forward to it through all the happy memories of this trip.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2009-12-06T19:27:00.001-08:00

The first day of school is always so exciting! All the boys were amped up and ready to roll, even AJ ,who cried his eyes out when his brothers got on the bus and he had to stay home with me. Can't believe Cade is in 5th grade, the year is already half over and I am just know posting first day of school photos, life is passing by too quickly....UGH! In the pics. the boys were showing me what grade they were going to be in and the one where they are tipping over was a little bus stop "I'm a little tea pot routine". They are so weird!

SUMMER 2009

2009-08-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Jonas Brothers or Bust!

Waiting for the show to start

A serious groupie!
By the way who is your Orthodontist? Your teeth are gorgeous!

The day his package arrived from Granny and Grandpa, he was in train heaven.

Celebrating Angelas birthday. Amanda picked up this killer cake in the city, YUM! Shelly and Anabell having fun in the kitchen.

The grocery bags look full, but it is an illusion. They were a little dissapointed when the best part of the parade turned out to be catching dental floss from Lindsay B.

He has no idea this is the worst parade of all time!

True Patriots!

402 Mt. Sequoia Ct.
Our old house, which looks nothing like it did when we lived there, but it was fun to see just the same.

Digging in the sand at Heather Farms.

Two little ducks went out to play...

Monterey Bay Aquarium.

I love this picture!

The carousel at Pier 39. Finally out of the stroller!

The frog prince and his princess. Mom goofing off at Rain Forest Cafe.

Second Annual Build-A-Bear day with Grandma. I think Paige is still a

little mad about not having an outfit for her Pegasus???

Devouring treats purchased at the Clayton Store. This is in the new park that used to be the Eucalyptus Grove.

Am I cute or what?

Aunt Angela is always up for a good time! Notice little Cooper, is he bawllin Ang? :)

Home on the range! Now they just need a pony....

The night we played kickball with the Lakes and Lindhorsts, AND won the family fear factor game thanks to Ryan chowing down that cricket. Way to go honey!

I have no words for this.....

Sneaking summers bounty

Oh yeah, I have skills...

Look at those little girls, they are green with envy...

It has been a really exciting summer around the Moses house. I can't believe it is almost over and the boys will be going back to school next week. Right after school got out Mom, Angela and her kids came for a visit. We took the older kids to the Jonas Brothers concert, which was actually pretty good and then we met up with Shelly and her kids in Beaverton to caravan down to SF where we were able to spend some quality extended family time during our two week stay at Mockingbird Hill. Of all my parents homes this one is a favorite for my family. The trip down to SF was a bit rocky as A.J. began vommiting about 10min. after we left the drive way and threw up the entire way to SF. Caden was a HUGE help and Angela and Shelly provided the moral support I needed to get me there. A.J. was really sick for 3 or 4 days until we took him off of dairy products completely. The only time since then he has been sick were the two days I mistakenly gave him things with dairy. (once when I thought how clever I was that he could have an instant breakfast shake made with soy milk, and didn't realize the whole powdered shake was made of non-fat milk. The other time was when I gave him a chicken nugget that had whey in the breading) It hasn't been too difficult a transition for our family and honestly he is doing so much better, gaining weight faster, eating more etc. While we were there we went to Alcatraz, Monterey Bay Aquarium,Ghirardelli Square (twice!), and to the Clayton fourth of July parade which the kids dubbed the "lamest parade of all time", who knew? We also had a second annual Build-a-Bear day with Granny that was just as successful as last years with the exception of a quick return trip to buy another bear stroller for Cooper, saw the old house, and swam our hearts out. After SF we had cub day camp, baseball camp, I went to girls camp, and soccer camp. Jack was THRILLED that he was old enough to go to soccer camp this year and had a blast. He was especially thrilled that he could kick his leg higher than any of the girls (they were having a flexibility contest) and since he is becoming quite a gymnast, cleaned up in that contest. The week after soccer camp we took the family to Lake Billy Chinook for a couple of days of camping. It was so much fun, even with Ryan and I being new to the "family camping" thing. Our good friends saved us from being attacked by "super squirrels" when they drove by our camp site and noticed we had left some food out in the open, and the rest of the gang (we went with several other families, who all had boats) schooled us in the fundamentals of wake boarding and insanely fun tube rides. (Thanks Jon!) We had a blast going to the Washougal river, having playdates, and sleep-overs with cousins. The summer fun sort of ended there though when on the way home from camping we lost our drive train (the Tahoe) on the freeway. Thankfully Ryan was driving and he navigated our locked up car to safety on the shoulder of the road. We spent a good portion of the morning waiting for a tow truck and Ryans dad who rescued us. The next day we had a reprieve from the bad luck and went to the beach for our annual back to school shopping trip complete with lunch at MO's and salt water taffy. The next day the bad luck bug bit again when Jack had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. The boys had been rough housing and Jack hit his head. He got up and walked a few steps and then down he went. He was totally non responsive and he had stopped breathing. We called 911 and the rest is just really a small miracle for our family. We spent two days in the hospital (which Jack LOVED, what could be better than a remote contol bed and a scooby-doo movie marathon?) but there was no permanent damage done. They ruled it a serious concussion and gave us strict orders to keep him down for four weeks, yes FOUR weeks. That is going to be a challenge, but one I am up to considering the alternative. The same night we got home from the hospital Ryan was up on a two story ladder killing yellow jackets when some got really angry and stung him all over the face and neck. He lost his balance and fell off the ladder onto the hood of his Land Rover (which is our other car, remembering that my car has only been out of the shop for 8 hours) and totally dented the hood! Once he realized he was fine, he was madder than I have EVER seen him. I felt so sorry for him, it was the staw that broke the camels back! I am just glad that it didn't break his back! I am actually so grateful that he landed on the hood of the car because it could have been soo much worse. I don't know why we had such a string of challenges so close together but I am thankful that we came out the other side with just a few bills and a scraped up elbow (Ryan split his elbow open during the fall incident). This week we had back to school night and spent a fun outdoor movie night with many of our good friends. We are anticipating a great school year filled with lots of forward motion! Our family could use a string of GOOD luck too if it's not too much to ask :) !

NIENIE'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

2009-06-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

NieNie's Mud Cake Magnifique

with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse & Ganache Bittercream
*
How does one go about making the PERFECT chocolate cake? I'd never done it before, and therefore went about it quite deliberately. I consulted cookbooks and cooking websites. Call friends. Window-shopped the pastry sections of my favorite bakeries. The perfect chocolate cake, I decided, (and one inspired by someone so delectably adorable) had to be simple. No frufru decor or garnish. It should be easy enough to whip up for grilled-pizza Friday's, but elegant enough to entertain at a garden party lit by candles hanging from trees tucked in baby food jars. It didn't come out right the first time, a bungled mess of brownie-like bits. It didn't work the second time. However, as it is with many worthy endeavors, a lot of tinkering and winkering was ultimately worth the price of patience. Nie's Mud Cake is everything Nie is: divinely beautiful inside and out.
*
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate (8 squares)
¾ c. olive oil
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. powdered sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ c. cocoa powder
1 c. flour
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking powder*
½ tsp. baking soda
In a microwave, melt squares of chocolate with olive oil. Once melted, beat until smooth then add sugars and egg. Beat again until well creamed. Add remaining ingredients. Beat just until all ingredients are incorporated. (If you are baking BELOW 5000 feet altitude, double baking powder). Pour batter into two 9-inch cake pans that have been generously greased & dusted with cocoa powder. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 26-28 minutes, or just until center of cake springs back to the touch. Remove from oven. Allow to cool before inverting on a cooling rack and removing from pan. Before layering cake, use a knife to gently cut away any uneven parts at the top or sides of the cake. You'll want a nice, even surface to begin with in order to have your finished product look amazing.
*
Mascarpone Mousse
1 c. whipping cream
¼ c. sugar
1 c. 60% Bittersweet cacao chips
8 oz. mascarpone

In a large bowl, whip whipping cream until fluffly. Add sugar & mascarpone and whip until smooth. In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips in microwave, stirring every thirty seconds until smooth. Chocolate should not be warm to the touch, if it is, allow it to cool just slightly before spooning the melted chocolate into the whipping cream mixture & beating until light and fluffy. Spoon carefully atop one layer of cake. Spread evenly, then top with the second layer of cake. Refrigerate until ready to frost.

Bittercream Frosting
1 pint heavy cream
11.5 oz. 60% Bittersweet cacao chips
½ c. butter
4-5 c. powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, melt chocolate chips and heavy cream until a thick, smooth ganache forms, to keep the mixture from burning, stir constantly. Put in fridge until chilled. Remove from fridgidaire and beat in butter & powdered sugar until frosting is a spreadable consistency. Frost. Chill cake. To serve, remove from fridge 10-15 minutes before serving.

WORKING THE LAND

2009-04-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

We have officially started to make something of our property. We realize now after this initial step how truly lengthy this process is going to be. Ryan keeps on telling me "Alli, the joy is in the journey". If this is true then I can expect a lot of joy coming my way because there is going to be plenty of journey! Over the past year we have worked with a landscape architect to come up with a plan for our property. The final plan was delivered a couple of months ago and we were eager to begin our project which includes an enormous tree house, a fenced garden, lots of patio, paths and lawn and an outbuilding for all of Ryans creative needs (along with all the junk (excuse me EQUIPMENT) that go along with them. Anywho....we have a long, long, way to go. The first phase is to clear and grade the property which we started last week. I was under the impression that once this was done it would sort of be like a golf course without grass. UHHHH wrong! So, so wrong! It almost looks worse than it did before, but Ryan keeps on telling me this is all part of the process. It's a good thing I have faith in him. These pics. are of some of the big stuff being pulled up and of the initial shape of things taking place. Mostly to remember what we started with when we are enjoying our beautiful yard with family and friends.

EASTER SUNDAY

2009-04-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Our Easter came and went rather un-eventfully. The kids got their baskets on Sat. morning which is a tradition in our family (my mom always said she didn't like to "mix Jesus with the Easter Bunny") Somehow I don't think the Lord would really care whether or not we got our baskets on Sunday but just to be safe we've kept with tradition:). Mom and Dad got the kids these cute church outfits for Sunday, most likely because she felt sorry for my boys who never get "Easter Dresses", but whatever the reason they looked sharp and felt good too. I also got an Easter Dress from my parents which I did wear to church. But unfortunately the picture of Ryan and I completely expresses the exasperation we both felt that morning trying to get out the door, so just use your imagination because it will not be posted:).

JACK-O-LANTERN!

2009-04-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

MOM! MOM! UGH! MOM!......This is what I heard being screamed up in the play room? I dropped the laundry I was folding and ran to the stairs, only to be met at the bottom by Jack with a HUGE grin on his face and a little pearl in his palm. MY TOOTH, I LOST A TOOTH, he exclaimed! He has been working on this tooth for weeks and it finally popped out this afternoon while he was using his teeth as a means to open the back of the wii Fit remote. He was just telling me today about some of his friends at school that have already lost teeth and I could tell he was so envious. Another mile stone crossed and he couldn't be happier. I have a feeling he won't have any trouble going to bed on time tonight....

WHO KNEW THAT SAFEWAY WAS SOOOO COOL!

2009-04-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

At last I have been reunited with my camera!! Monday it was so gorgeous here so I went for a run mid morning with A.J. in the jogging stroller. While I was running I got hot, (which is a miracle in and of itself this time of year here) so I had to shed a few things and so I stuffed them in the stroller pocket. When I got home I dug everything out to put away and when I got to the very bottom of the pocket my hand grasped an object that I immediately recognized as my camera. Before I even pulled it out I remembered that I had taken the camera on the walking fieldtrip to Safeway a month or so ago with Jacks class. How could I have not remembered this??? Anyway, I am so happy that I have it back and just in the nick of time too. Jack lost his first tooth today, but first let me catch up on the cool field trip to Safeway. Jack and his friend Cameron looked so stylish in their hairnets and A.J. just looked...well....like he was thinking "I come here all the time and I don't have to wear this stupid thing on my head, what gives?" The store management was great and took the kids to all the different departments and gave them a behind the scenes look. I could have done without the meat dept. but I must admit I wanted to dive into the cement bucket sized kitchen aid in the bakery that was full of french bread dough. Jack liked the deli counter the best and he had his first EVER Jojo. (kind of like a huge french fry in wedge form) He wondered why in the world he had not been introduced to these before? I lied and said that I didn't even know that something like that existed! He was in heaven and talked about all the things he saw and learned that night when he ate the apple he got for FREE, AND got to pick out all by himself. Wow!

2009-03-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that March is almost over and I have not posted ONCE! In my own defense I will say that I can't find my camera anywhere?? It is almost to the point of buying a new one (which aside from the expense wouldn't be totally terrible since my last one didn't take great pics.) I don't know why but I've officially decided that March is my least favorite month of the year. Every year in March it seems like time is going faster than ever, it is tax time, baseball starts, it is STILL raining, and I just generally feel blah. Despite the darkness in the morning I have added my early a.m. runs back into my schedule and that is helping to free up some time during the day when I otherwise would be at the gym.
This month we have had our fair share of chaos. I through my back out early in the month and had to be physically picked up off the floor by a trainer at the gym. To make matters worse it wasn't even a good looking guy, it was a woman with HUGE guns! The next week my dad had a serious illness that sent him to the ICU for a few days and I flew home to my mom to support her and help where needed. Everything so far has checked out o.k. and he is doing much better although the doctors still don't really know what happened. He will have some follow up testing in another month or so. None the less it was a terrifying and exhausting week for both of my parents. That same week a good friend from High School passed away (Tim Dailey) in his sleep. What a shock and so sad for his wife and four kids. The day I got home from Utah, both my sissies and one of my brother in laws flew in for a quick, but really fun weekend. With only a week to recover until Ryan and I leave for SF (tomorrow) we packed the week with bids from excavaters and appraisals for the re-fi we are doing on our house, meeting with our landscaper, and entertaining friends for dinner. We also managed to squeeze in several baseball practices, gymnastics, Wicked (which did NOT dissapoint), and church activities. I am looking forward to the road trip with Ryan and some much needed R and R. More later

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

2009-02-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts. The Theme was ABC'S across America. In our ward each year the boys and their dads have to bake and decorate a cake that has to do with the theme and then they are judged and receive awards for their cakes at the banquet. This year Ryan and Caden made a "hot dog" cake with "french fries". It turned out so cute and Caden was really excited about it. They won the award for "A Dog-gone good cake". They also cleaned up in Family Feud which was the game for the night. Caden still really enjoys scouting and Jack is looking forward to his turn to wear the coveted Blue shirt already.

VALENTINES DINNER

2009-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

We traditionally have a "breakfast for dinner" dinner on Valentines day with the boys and Ryan has a good discussion with the boys about their relationships with girls and how to treat girls etc. This year mom and dad sent us an Ebelskiver pan with some ebelskiver mix to add to our celebration. Ebelskivers are little round pancakes that you can fill with whatever you like. We put chocolate in some and raspberry jam in the others. The kids were in heaven! They even go to drizzle chocolate syrup on them and top with whipped cream. It was a really fun night and we had a great discussion this year. As the boys are growing up they are beginning to have more interaction with young ladies and I would even go so far as to say Caden is "seeing the light" so to speak. The other day I found a note in his backpack to a little girl (which was totally on the up and up and there was nothing inappropriate in it) but it gave us a chance to discuss writing notes and what you should and should not say etc. Ryan told the boys last night that they "should never write anything in a note that you wouldn't want the whole world to read". I thought that was great advice. He said that his Grandma (Gran) told him that when he was a boy and he has never forgotten it. We also did something else this year that was kind of fun. At the beg. of Valentines week I went to Sees Candies and bought a heart box of chocolates. Then I put them on the kitchen counter with some slips of blank paper and some pencils and told the boys that anyone could have a chocolate anytime they would like, but they had to write something they loved or thought was nice about someone else in the family on a slip of paper and fold it up and leave it in place of the chocolate that they took. (we had a two piece a day rule) After dinner and our discussion we read all the slips of paper. It was fantastic! The boys wrote some really special things about each other and Ryan slipped a few funny ones about me in the box that the boys thought were hysterical. I think this tradition is def. a keeper.

SAD LITTLE BOY

2009-02-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

I took these pics. to remind myself in a few weeks why I did not accomplish more in the month of Feb. My boys have been sick, really sick for almost a month on and off. A.J. has gotten the brunt of it having, pink-eye, diarrhea, and vomiting all in one day. He is one grumpy little customer and I am inching closer to that description every day I am housebound. UGH!

INNOCENCE

2009-02-17T08:51:00.000-08:00

He has absolutely no idea that this is not the greatest hat EVER. (Jacks underwear) After all his brothers a clapping and laughing so this must be really cool right? Poor baby, someday those older two will be sorry they were such pranksters.

WHY I HATE PETS

2009-02-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Seriously, could anything be more sad than a fish funeral? The boys finally talked me into letting them keep a goldfish from a laurel/priest activity I was helping with and now we are in mourning around here! The fish died yesterday and was ceremoniously scooped out of her fish bowl (the boys decided she was a girl) and given a proper flushing as the boys each took turns saying things like "you were a good fish Wanda", and "gold fish are cheap so we can get another one don't worry". I have decided that this is one of the reasons I am not an animal lover. I hate loss, any kind of loss and having a pet is just one more liability in that department. It was a good thing we had the belated valentines dinner to look forward to last night.

SEATTLE SANS KIDS

2009-02-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I spent a heavenly weekend in Seattle. He was invited by the Angle society to attend their bi-annual meeting and present 3 cases in hopes of being invited back to become an affilitate member and then in three more years hopefully a full fledged member. I just went along for the time alone and the time alone with him. YUM! We took the train and it was so nice just to visit and not worry about paying attention to the road while driving. While he attended his meetings, I slept in, read the paper and had chocolate croissants in bed, worked out for as long as I wanted and caught up on journaling and reading. On Friday night we were able to go to dinner with my life long friend Tyler and his wife Annie. It was so much fun catching up with them, and reconnecting. Ryan had never met Tyler and it was wonderful to finally introduce them. Tyler and Annie have a great life in Seattle and took us to some of the local hot spots. We ate dinner at this amazing Asian fusion restaurant and then we went to a hip little chocolate cafe for dessert. The most outstanding hot chocolate ever!

We loved not being on a strict schedule and spent Sat. afternoon wandering around downtown Seattle and people watching. The weirdos come out in droves on a sunny Sat. afternoon there. I was reminded how much I love being with Ryan and how I will welcome the day that we have more time to spend alone. Our darling boys who all came down with fevers, coughs and snotty noses in the two days we were gone were awaiting our arrival home though and so the weekend wrapped up with a long game of scrabble on the train back to our reality.

THE REASON WE MOVED

2009-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is one of the main reasons we moved to the country........work! We wanted the boys to have real opportunities to learn to work and to work hard. It was really difficult to find projects other than pulling weeds that the boys could actually help with in our old neighborhood. It is awesome each Sat. morning to see the boys (mostly Caden, and Jack) working together to accomplish a meaningful task. These pics. were two weeks ago when we had a huge wind storm and a bunch of branches came down that had to be cleaned up. Ryan hacked them up with his new chainsaw (he has arrived) and the boys stacked up the logs for future burning during the summer campfire season. Don't get me wrong, although it appears very "Swiss family Robinson" there is still a LOT of grumbling and "I hate the country" and "we never had to do this at the old house" etc. etc. but I know that this is good for them and will serve them well in the future. A.J. will be working soon too, but for now he just lends his moral support to the boys and stays as far away from the "scury" (scary) chainsaw.

PICS FOR MOM

2009-01-28T18:46:00.000-08:00

Two days ago it snowed AGAIN (I can't remember a winter that has snowed this much in the 13 years we have lived here). The little boys got to try our their new snow boots from Grandma. They had a great time and it was MUCH easier than those snowboarding boots we had to wrestle with over Christmas UGH! And this pic. of Jack's head is for mom. What do you think mom? (my mom and I are trying to figure out why Jack has lost a clump of hair)

FAMILY NIGHT FUN

2009-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

This week for family night we had a lesson and played a game about "returning with honor" . It was a lot of fun and as is usual with this crowd there was plenty of rough housing too.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

2009-01-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

We have the most AWESOME home teachers! One of them Brother Percy (with glasses) has been our H.T. for going on 7 years now. They came over tonight and shared a great lesson about "light" with our family. Brother Dray (who gave the lesson) brought over these head lamps for the boys and they put them on and he asked them to keep the light off at first. Then he had a pen light and told them to shine it as quickly as they could at different objects, people, etc. They were pretty fast, but then he had them turn on the head lamps and discussed how much fast you can "receive light" and direct that light where it needs to go when it is with you or part of you. That led him into a discussion about the light that we all receive when we are baptised which is the holy ghost and how that light within us can guide us and help us to see things more clearly. The boys had a great time and were totally into it. They were actually pretty attentive and they really learned something. I am so glad that we these good brothers to help us teach our boys.

DR. MOSES GOES CROSS COUNTRY

2009-01-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

These are some pics. of Ryan adjusting our nieces braces in my parents family room. She thought this was really funny. She is one of five patients that Ryan sees from another city, state, or country. (Yes I said country. He has a patient that comes to see him from China, and one from Lybia.)

FUN WITH THE FAMILY AND A PICTURE JUST FOR MOM!

2009-01-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

These are just some fun photos taken over the holidays.

Just random fun shots from the day we got manies. and pedies. (thanks mom and dad) Me and my sissy's being silly and other crazy family fun! The kids put on a fashion show for us one night with garb that they got in Granny's playroom. It was hilarious, they just appeared out of now where each taking his or her turn on the cat walk in these ridiculous get- ups.

A FUN TRADITION

2009-01-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

One FHE ( our church leaders encourage us to spend one night a week together as a family and we call it family home evening) in December we always have a special dinner that we call "Shepherds dinner". We got the idea about 10 years ago from a friend in our old ward and have done it every year since then. On that night we eat a meal similar to what would have maybe been eaten by shepherds. We turn off all the lights in the house and sit on a blanket in front of the fire. We read stories and poems about shepherds and talk about what it would have been like to be a shepherd and to have seen the star that represented the birth of the Savior. It is always looked forward to and enjoyed by the boys, and super easy on me for a dinner in December!

CHRISTMAS VACATION

2009-01-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting caught up and wanted to share some of the 403 (yes that's right) pictures that I snapped over the holidays. We braved the airports with gifts and snow-clothes to boot to be with extended family out of state. Although it was a lot, o.k. A LOT of work to pull it off for everyone involved our kids had a Christmas and New Years to remember. And when it comes right down to it, at least at this point in my life that is what it is all about. We started our trip off with an Adults only morning at the Logan Temple and then my dad took us all out for breakfast. It was such a wonderful way to set the tone for our Christmas week and truly one of the highlights for Ryan and me. The kids had a great time back at Granny's with the two sitters aunt Angela hooked up for us. I swear I saw my mom slip them an extra 20 bucks on top of what Angela and I paid them so I'm sure we will have no problems securing child care for future "adults only" outings. It started snowing the second we touched down and it did not let up for much more than and hour or two the entire 10 days we were there! The boys were in snow heaven! Granny made sure there were plenty of super-speedy sleds and the kids played outside for hours at a time. So fun for them, but seriously that whole "getting on your snow gear" routine is about the most infuriating part of parenting EVER! Just as bad is the take it all off and find a place for every wet glove, hat, and sock to dry until we do it all over again in a couple of hours. Aside from minor details like that it was a fabulous week. The kids went to a Christmas movie, to see Santa (who was by far the most unbelievable Santa's helper ever, see photo:)) and visited Temple Square. The night we went to Temple Square we went over to Aunt Sues for hot choc. and cookies and had a really fun visit in her festive, cozy home. Amidst all the running around, wrapping, and socializing there was a major amount of cooking and eating going on. I know all of you who know mom at all, know that when I say major I mean MAJOR. We changed our usual routine this year and had an hor'derve and dessert night a couple of days before Christmas. It was a huge hit and I hope we do that again. I felt like I could enjoy so many more of moms dishes without being so over stuffed. On that night we got to visit with the Carnahans, but missed Uncle David and Marie due to the bad storm that was going on that day. It was great to catch up and reconnect with so much of our family. I wished we could do it more often. Christmas eve, was our usual singing, reading from the scriptures and our family added "The little Star" flannel board story that is a tradition from Ryan's side. We had a lovely meal and just really enjoyed being together and feeling blessed as we remembered why we were celebrating in the first place. The boys were amazed that Santa could find us at Grandpas and went to bed without any trouble once we assured them that Santa would LOVE Granny's pumpkin pie in place of cookies. (which he did!) We missed Uncle Andrew and his family but were thrilled when we were able to visit with them over the web-cam. That was really cool! We ended the week visiting our good friends in Centerville who surprised us with the new baby girl that they just adopted. It was great to see them and even more special to hear how this baby just came to them, literally being dropped off at their house. Our boys love their boys like brothers and were so thrilled to be able to hang out (cuz their way to cool to "play" now days) with them. Back home in the NW we were able to spend New Years with the other side of the family and meet one of our new nieces in person. It was a busy and full two days of playing games, celebrating, and catching up. We spent a fun night out with Ryan's siblings and their spouses where we went to dinner and went back to one of his sisters for a movie and cheesecake. So fun and yummy too. When it was all over we discussed how wonderful it was that we connected with almost every single family member on both sides of our families. It was then time to look forward to next years festivities and begin the detox that is January. Happy New Year!

I AM SO CUTE!

2008-12-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Seriously, what can I possibly add to this picture?? This is my miracle!

HOLIDAY HOUSE

2008-12-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share how our home is shaping up for the holidays. My mom is always wondering what our tree looks like every year so here you go mom! Enjoy. We gave out homemade Marionberry jam this year to friends/neighbors and teachers. Felize Navidad!

ANOTHER PIC. FROM PIR

2008-12-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

The boys in the back seat enjoying their family night treat!

PORTLAND INT. RACEWAY

2008-12-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

If you don't already know it, A.J. is fascinated by holiday lights which he calls "pidy lights". He also LOVES cars, Cars the movie, cars as in match-box, or any other moving vehicle with wheels including motorcycles and airplanes. We thought that we would be super-star parents and take him to Portland Int. Raceway where he could indulge in both of his fancies. At PIR every year they do this big holiday lights display and you pay an arm and a leg to drive 5mph around the Formula One race track and take it all in. So for family night last week we went over there and then got Burgerville Chocolate hazelnut milkshakes after. (Ryan's favorite and so I had to throw in a pic. of him enjoying his because it makes me so happy) A.J. got to get out of his car seat and help daddy "drive" around the race track. He was beside himself! The pictures are cute but to hear him sigh "pidy lights" and "oooohhh" and see his eyes darting and his hands waving was priceless. The older boys enjoyed pointing things out to him, and we all enjoyed being together. Yeah, it was all pretty much like a hallmark card, and then Caden and Jack started squabbling in the back and I came to and realized we weren't actually in a snow globe. Oh, well it was excellent while it lasted!

AJ GOES TO THE DENTIST

2008-12-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

A.J. had his first dentist appointment this month. He was so cute and could not have been happier that his hygienist (Rodger) had on superhero scrubs that matched almost exactly to his super hero sweat shirt! He loved getting his teeth "brushed" with the strawberry toothpaste and did a great job of opening his mouth for the water and the "sucky straw". I know it's weird that we take our kids to the dentist since I am a hygienist and their dad is a dentist but for some reason they do better in someone elses chair. Plus they would simply die if they did not receive the bag stocked with all sorts of cool kid dental supplies and a toy AND a Popsicle which they get all of the above at their dentist. No wonder the older boys are always asking when their next dental appointment is.

TIME FOR A TRIM

2008-12-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

I told Ryan last week I felt a cut coming on. He was a bit nervous as he knows me and he knew I was not kidding. I have had all sorts of hair cuts. Admittedly some were well ....not so flattering, but it eventually grew back! After talking with many of you about what I should do, this is the result , and mom, just for you and Ryan I am once again on my way back to blond.

TEN!

2008-12-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

Wow! Time is elusive isn't it?? Where does it go? This week "uno" turns ten! He is thrilled beyond words that he has reached double digits. He and his cousin/ best buddy decided that they wanted to spend their birthdays together and go to Build a Bear . It was a great night because all the younger siblings enjoyed it just as much as the birthday boys , except maybe for Jack who does not yet understand money and had to go home with a naked dinosaur because he chose the most expensive animal in the store after repeatedly being told it would take his allotted 25 dollars. After we went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory where we had a banquet room all to ourselves and the kids spent the evening adding sugar packets to their soda! It was truly a 10 year olds dream come true...I look back over these last ten years and thank my lucky stars and Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a special boy. Caden is one of the kindest souls I have ever met. I love to be around him(even though he and his brothers occasionally drive me to the Tylenol bottle) . He is helpful and best of all cheerful and oh, that boyish grin.......ummm yeah, that's going to be a problem.

SUGAR COOKIES

2008-12-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

Although we won't be home to leave a plate for Santa this year (Granny what do you leave out for Santa???) the boys could not let this Christmas tradition go undone. Our kids LOVE making, well mostly decorating and eating sugar cookies. It was really fun this year because I had the cookies all made so all the boys had to do was cover with goo and eat! As you can see it was all smiles around here.

HOME SWEET HOME

2008-12-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Some of my peeps from out of state have been wanting to see the new place. I have been reluctant to post any pics. because I have been hoping for some visitors in person.....But I know everyone is busy and airfare is a bit pricey these days so here you are. More to come later of "Little house in the big woods". Happy Holidays

GIVING THANKS

2008-11-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

This year we spent the Thanksgiving holiday here in the NW with Ryan's side of the family. It was a truly enjoyable week for all of us. The kids could not WAIT to get out of school on Tues. because they knew the next day they were going to Nanna and Grandads for three whole days! Our boys absolutely treasure the time they get to be in W.L. with the Eddingtons and Nanna and Grandad. Ryan, A.J. and I headed over Thanksgiving day with a car load of pies, stuffing, and vegetables. We were greeted by a slew of smiling kids and a warm house decorated beautifully for fall and smelling of roasted turkey and freshly baked rolls. As soon as the final touches were put on dinner we all sat down to a feast for the ages! We are so blessed with such an abundance of food and shelter and it is never more apparent than at the Thanksgiving table. It was really a great meal and after Nanna and I cleaned up while the rest of the crew headed outside for horseback riding and four wheeling. After an hour or so, they started trickling back into the house for dessert. Everyone but Caden, Emma and Aunt Marnie. Sometime later Aunt Marnie made her way inside and said "Caden is a horse riding machine". Caden was right on her heels and popped in with a triumphant grin and exclaimed "that was THE best experience of my life so far!" Wow, I said , tell me about it. He and Emma went on and on about which horse handled which way and Caden said "mom, I trotted on Sandy" and Emma said "Aunt Alli I cantered". I looked at Marnie with a what the heck is the difference between a trot and a canter?? She rescued me and helped to bridge the gap of my obvious lack of equine knowledge. I have a feeling that Caden will be signing up for horseback riding lessons this summer with Aunt Marnie. A.J. fell in love with riding "the bike" as he affectionately called the four wheeler and Jack loved it all. After lots more visiting, perusing sale ads and football (maybe there was a little cat nap too) Ryan, A.J. and I headed home. On the drive we discussed how greatit is to have such loving, generous, enjoyable families on both sides, and how much we love the fact that we are able to give our kids opportunities to really get to know, make memories with and develop relationships with all of their extended family. It doesn't matter if it's the W.L side of the family or the out of town family our boys are always thrilled when an opportunity arises to visit with either. That is truly a blessing.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER???

2008-11-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

O.K. the paradox with blogging/journaling for me is that the times when you have the most goings on to report on are the times when you have the least amount of time to do so. This month is all but gone and in a whirlwind of fun days and happy memories I might add. We began November with a visit from out of town Granny and Grandpa which the kiddos have continued to talk about all month. While they were here we went to Cadens fourth grade choir concert which was a really big deal for him (i.e. it was in the high school gym) and he was so glad that both sets of grandparents were able to be there. What a lucky guy! The luck continued for Jack when "in town " Grandad pulled out a cucumber that had actually grown from a pack of seeds that Jack got in a kids meal last summer. We had swung through drive through one day on our way to their house and Jack got these seeds. Well naturally he wanted to plant them right away ,and the first patch of dirt he saw was at Grandads. Of course Nanna and Grandad said he could plant them in their um.....sort of garden and so he did. Every single time we went over to their house in the ensuing months he would faithfully check his cucumber mound and it was just one disappointment after another. Maybe they were bad seeds, I offered. Maybe they aren't getting any water, Caden would say and month after month we went on that way. Alas the choir concert day arrived and it was all about Caden until Grandad reached into a brown paper bag and out came the cucumber, JACK'S cucumber! (you know that shiny sound of angelic choirs that sounds when someone has a really important moment happen that is something like tadahhhhhhhh!) Well according to his face that is what that little 6 year old heard. It was so sweet to see him swell with pride that he had actually created something and he showed off his harvest to anyone who would listen to his story. The next day, we went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum and spent the day experiencing the history of aviation. It was really neat and I wondered how in the world I have lived here for 12 years and never visited this place?? I wonder what other "jewels" of the Northwest I have yet to discover. The boys thought it was awesome and loved going inside the bowels of the Spruce Goose. After we had seen all there was to see Granny and Grandpa bought each of the boys a little model airplane. They originally bought the older boys airplanes made of some sort of metal with moving parts and A.J. a plush airplane. A.J. kept saying "No like it" to his airplane and reaching for Jacks more realistic one. So, back to the gift shop Granny went armed with her receipt that was second old and the plush toy. Moments later she emerged with a third metal airplane and A.J. grabbed it with a "that's what I'm talking about " smile on his face. Later that night Granny and Grandpa took the older boys to see High School Musical 3 which they had been dying to see. They came home singing the songs and happily unloaded their pockets of spare change, popcorn kernels, and half eaten sweet treats and went to bed. They were exhausted in the "I had the best day" kind of way.

MORE HALLOWEEN PICS!

2008-11-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

BOO!

2008-11-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a blast! We spent it at Nanna Mo and Grandads. They planned a Halloween party worthy of a layout in Family Fun magazine! Before we hit the streets for trick-or-treating, we bobbed for apples, played the Frankenstein foot-stomp, acted in a mini-melodrama (which the kids thought was hilarious), and ate a yummy dinner of soup and bread. Then we took the kids, (7 of them this year) trick-or-treating for about an hour. It was cute to see A.J. and Lydia who are both 2 figure this out for the first time. At first A.J. would not let go of his candy. He insisted of holding two pieces, one in each hand. Then he figured out that when he went to the next house he had to let go of a piece in order to score another. After three or four houses of swapping out his old two pieces for new ones he decided it really was better to dump his loot into the said "loot bag" and accumulate the candy instead of trading it. Lydia got the most candy of all because she looked so darn cute in her cheerleader outfit that people kept telling her to "take another sweetie". (This made the 9 year olds roll their eyes every time) One house had a really elaborate haunted house on their drive way that you had to go through to get to the door. It was actually pretty scary and must have had 20 or so people working inside of it. Jack of course led the way and Marnie and I were the "elected" adult supervision (the guys stayed outside with the little ones) it was great. After trick-or-treating we went back to Nanna's for ghost stories by flashlight with GiGi as voice and dry ice creating an eerie fog. We also played the game where you pass all the body parts around under a blanket and Nanna and Grandad laughed till their sides ached when the kids found out they had actually handled A REAL CALVES LIVER! We had such a great time and I don't think I heard one complaint when it was time for bed. Everyone was exhausted. Thanks for the effort Nanna and Grandad we love you!

BIZI FARMS

2008-10-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

The kindergarted field trip. Jack and his buddy Dawson had a great day!

LINCOLN CITY

2008-10-21T19:58:00.001-07:00

MORE OCTOBER PHOTOS

2008-10-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

FIRST TWO WEEKS OF OCTOBER (CONDENSED)

2008-10-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

This month has been busy, busy, but so fun. We celebrated Jack's 6th birthday, went to the beach, and braved the mud and rain at two of our favorite pumpkin patches. Jack got a bow and arrow set for his birthday which he was THRILLED out of his mind to receive and let his older brother know that he was going to have to ask him if he wanted to shoot it. (Jack is usually second to receive anything cool and the fact that he got this first was a feather in his cap) Our trip to Lincoln City was a perfect fall weekend. We had great weather, caught a glimpse of a kite show, ate Chowder at "Mo's" and gorged ourselves on Salt Water taffy. Of course the water was somewhere right above freezing, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the waves up to their knees. Both days we went to the pumpkin patch (once as a family and once with Jack's kindergarten class) were kind of crummy weather wise. Even so, we had a good time. I always love this tradition and this time of year. Caden was really disappointed that we couldn't do the corn maze this year because the mud was no joke two feet deep. I think he quickly forgot about that thought once he had his perfect pumpkin and a hot elephant ear to snack on.

OUR SPICE!

2008-10-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

These pictures do an adequate job of explaining just exactly what it is that makes me so crazy in love with this little boy. He had been to a Harry Potter themed birthday party (which by the way he thought was the greatest party ever, and also wondered out loud why I can't through parties like Will and Layton's mom????) and decided to play afterward in the garage. I went out a few minutes later to check on him and this is what I found! A capri-sun slurping Harry Potter on rollerblades playing some sort of game with a bat. Jack-Jack is FOR SURE the spice in our family and we adore him!

CONFERENCE TRADITION

2008-10-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Every 6 months we get a chance to participate in General Conference by listening to what the Prophet and the apostles of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints) have felt inspired to share with the Church as a whole. Those two weekends are becoming some of my most favorite days of the year. Not only do we as a family get to stay home and enjoy our traditional "conference breakfast" which usually stretches out for quite some time, but we always start that next Monday morning renewed, inspired, and recommited to do what our Heavenly Father wants us to. It is amazing to me that the audience is so large, nearly 13million members and yet each time I feel like there are at least a handful of talks written specifically for me. This conference was really uplifting, which likely has to do with the fact that our boys were strangely quiet and calm due to the great conference activity packets that my visiting teachers brought over on Friday. Thanks ladies!

MOVIE NIGHT!

2008-10-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we had family movie night. We watched Iron-Man, the kids loved the movie and Ryan and I thought it was pretty good too. (There were only a couple of "fast forward" scenes) The root-beer, popcorn, and miniature candy bars flowed freely ( yes it is true mom and Angela, I know you are stunned but you'll get over it :) ) The kids were in heaven and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else either.

GYMNASTICS!

2008-10-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

After months of begging and pleading (and backflips off the side of the pool ) we have finally enrolled Jack in gymnastics. He LOVES it so far and is actually very naturally able in this sport. I knew he would be as he is unusually strong for his age and is as fearless as they come. They first week he was with Coach Greg who is a 17 year old. Jack caught on fairly quickly that Greg didn't have the slightest idea how to deal with a bunch of rambuntious 6 year olds in a foam pit and took full advantage. Shortly thereafter, Coach Lubo (who is the boys team coach) was "helping" Greg out and talked with me after the workout. He said in a very thick Russian accent "gymnastics for Jack no problem, that is easy part. I teach boy listening and he becomes great! That is hard part." Coach Lubo asked if I would consider switching Jack to his Pre-team class which we were thrilled about as gymnastics is not cheap and I knew Jack would at least learn something on his way to gymnastic greatness. The first day with Coach Lubo Jack was a little scared to say the least. Watching Jack "power down" and really start paying attention was very rewarding. Lubo is a great Coach and I know if nothing else Jack will learn to listen and be respectful.

FUNNY BOYS

2008-10-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

I called the little boys in for dinner the other night and this is how they showed up. Just a glimpse into the hilarity of life with little boys.

THE GREAT RACE

2008-09-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Today was my annual enlistment in the pink army!! I met my great friend from hygiene school to run in the Komen Race for the Cure in Portland. This is always such an inspirational and deeply personal pilgrimage for me. I am simultaneously sickened and awed by how many families and lives are affected by this disease. Reading the loving tributes that people wear on their backs as they run makes me SO aware that I could be one of those people. But instead I get to run in loving celebration of my mom, grandma, and friends who have all won their fights! I am so proud of all of you and realize every time I run in this event how courageous and strong you really are. I run for YOU!

HEAVEN IN A CARSEAT

2008-09-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Cold Stone Friday night to celebrate a great week at school with all homework turned in on time, getting up on time etc... and well , even though A.J. doesn't go to school yet he got a treat too. It was dark outside and Ryan and I were chatting up a storm in the front (o.k. I was talking Ryan's ear off and he was listening as usual) and the older boys were glued to their D.S. games and too busy eating their own treats to pay attention to the absolute silence that was in the car seat next to them. When we got home and I opened the back door I found one little chocolate dipped dude with a HUGE grin on his face. I told Ryan to let him keep eating in the car seat ( the mess was made, so I figured what the heck!) while I dashed in the house to get the camera. He was more than happy to pose for a few pics. as he licked up every last drop of cake batter ice cream in that cup! Have I mentioned I am in love with this boy???

I DO WHAT I CAN

2008-09-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

Oh what a day! It is amazing to me what a two year old can learn by watching the daily happenings around the house. The other day on two separate occasions I caught A.J. doing "jobs" around the house. I kid you not, this was not a set-up! The first time I snapped his photo today he had spilled some water on the floor and when I came in he was wiping it up with a cloth singing the Barney clean-up song. You know the one "clean-up, clean-up everybody everywhere......" It was so funny! About two hours later he was caught red handed doing laundry. He was moving the wet laundry to the dryer. He was just happy as can be doing mom's jobs, if only that would last.....

LOVE NOTES

2008-09-19T07:55:00.002-07:00

Honey, I know you snoop the blog just to find out what is going on in our life, it's o.k. you're not in hot water. I thought I'd tag you in a few photos to let you and everyone else know how desperately I love you and how much I love the life we have built together. You do your job as a husband and father so well and most of the time you do part of mine too! You are amazing and I confess, I'd be lost without you.

THE FETTTISH

2008-09-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

I can't wait until this phase is OVER! Our two year old has a thing for toilet paper. Maybe he is just beginning to explore the "potty" world, which would be a great thing because I am ready to be done with diapers myself, or maybe he just enjoys getting a rise out of mommy, but either way these kind of messes are a daily thing around our house. I would probably be sick knowing just how many dollars of toilet paper have been lost to the garbage as well as flushed down the toilet unused. If there are ever a few really quiet moments in the house, I can usually find the reason amidst piles of white tissue and wrappers.

NEW YEAR, NEW SCHOOL, NO PROBLEM!

2008-09-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

The boys started school yesterday and I could not be more relieved! O.K. that did not come out right. I am not relieved that they are in school per say (although I was extraordinarily productive while they were away), but that the transition to a new school was flawless. They both had such great attitudes and I was thrilled that they seemed genuinely excited. They were truly superstars! It did help that both of them have a friend from church in their class and we attended "back to school night" the week before and met their teachers etc. They get on and off the bus at the end of our driveway which is awesome, and Jack just seems like he's been doing this school thing for years. A.J. cried when his brothers got on the bus, i think this really worried him. He kept on saying "Jack- Jack are you??" Caden is such a great big brother and I didn't worry for a minute that he would not sit with Jack on the bus and help him to his class. Alright maybe I worried just long enough to get in my truck and follow the bus to the school so I could make SURE my kindergartner got to his class. ( but isn't that normal??) Besides I needed to calm A.J. by showing him where the bus went and where exactly it was taking his brothers. Everyone was safely seated in their respective classes when the bell rang and I drove off thanking my lucky stars that my little men sucked up their nerves and embraced this new experience with enthusiasm. I love fall and I love these happy days with my boys.

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE SCHOOL AND CADEN GOT MR. CROUSE. WE ALMOST HAD DISASTER WHEN MOM PRACTICALLY BURNT DOWN THE HOUSE!

2008-09-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly I have aged at least 5 years this week! The kids wanted to have a special treat the night before school started and so we figured what better way to say good-bye to summer than with some gooey homemade s'mores. I was trying to be helpful and get the fire started on my own (note ; I was not a boy scout and have practically no experience with fire of any kind other than the one I flip on with a switch in my family room) Anyway....I lit the can of gel cooking fuel and didn't realize I needed to put it into this larger metal cup until it was already on fire. I remember thinking to myself "hmmm..this is going to be tricky and hey, this is a really big flame I got going on here". I have no idea why I didn't listen to those little "promptings" but I didn't and I went ahead and tried to tip the can of fuel sideways and into the metal holder. Well....when I did this the flame crawled up my hand and I DROPPED the can on the table (keep in mind all three of my children are seated around said table) and then out of instinct I BLEW on the table and the can HUGE MISTAKE ! Don't EVER blow on a can of lit gel cooking fuel. It went everywhere in little flaming balls. The table was on fire and so was one of the chairs. I realized this was getting out of hand and so did Ryan, who was by this time at my side and taking over. All the boys were crying and I shouted at them to get out of the house. Ryan got the fire on the table out and took the placemat outside which was a total loss to let it burn out. I meanwhile doused the chair fire with baking soda and tended to the kids who had minor burns and Jack had one whole side of his hair singed. I am SO thankful that the cooking fuel did not burn very hot or we would very likely have had a disaster on our hands. Once we took care of the drama, we made our s'mores and had a family home evening about fire safety (It seemed like an appropriate topic) The boys still enjoyed, but were very skittish when their marshmallows caught on fire. I felt like I had been hit by a truck and ended up sleeping like a baby that night. What a fiasco!

THE ANTI-SLEEP OVER

2008-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

The week of the 25th of August we had a lot of cousin fun with the Eddingtons. Aunt Marnie and Uncle Thane had the older two boys over for two days of fun at the beginning of the week and we had their three kids over at the end of the week. They had a lot of fun during their time at the Eddingtons. Aunt Marnie carted them ALL to the skate park and to the Aquatic Center. They had a blast. We had them over the tail end of the Labor Day weekend and didn't venture out at all ! (this was against every wish of every single one of them) I was too tired to fight crowds and Ryan wanted to work on the tree house so the kids just played around here. I have NO IDEA when they finally went to bed, I just know the last time I went up to the bonus room and threatened to cut out some tongues it was in the wee hours of the morning.....I do still have a baby that I didn't want awake so cut me some slack!

LIFE IN THE COUNTRY

2008-08-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

These pictures should give you an idea of what the boys are doing in the country. Tonight we had friends over and the kids had a blast picking blackberries, (see picture of AJ:) ) dabbling in archery and shooting the sling shots and air-soft guns. They didn't have ANY fun at all as you can see. Ahhhhh.. we love country life!

ROAD TRIP!

2008-08-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

After our overnighter in Skamakawa we piled into the cars and drove straight to San Francisco, O.K. maybe it wasn't STRAIGHT to San Francisco, but we made it by midnight the next day. Mom had all five big kids with her and Angela and I got lucky and had the babies with us. Mom can't stand it when one of the babies is crying and is trapped in a car seat, so that's how we ended up with both babies . But as you can see in the picture we CLEARLY got the better deal. They were so good! All the kids did remarkably well for it being such a long trip. Grandma had purchased new notebooks and a slew of freshly sharpened pencils at the Skamakawa store/post-office/hotel/restaurant for the kids and they spent a good portion of the day writing about their adventures there, and doodling etc. We had such a great time in the bay area. Mom and dad's house is beautiful and the pool is a constant babysitter. Angela and I had a lot of fun taking the kids to some of the spots we loved going to as kids. We went to Skipolinis pizza, browsed longs drug store, and went into the City . The traffic was CRAZY and we ended up getting separated from my mom due to a last minute SIX LANE lane change and a subsequent exit from the freeway on her part. Apparently she is a little rusty when it comes to navigating the turf there. We did eventually meet up again and enjoy the rest of the day lunching at Scomas on the wharf, crossing the Golden Gate bridge and enjoying a late afternoon treat at Ghirardelli Square. There was a lot we wanted to do, but because we were so outnumbered as adults we decided to save pier 39, cable cars, China Town etc. for another trip when our hubbies would be there to help keep and eye on everyone. One of the kids favorite parts of the trip was going to Build-A-Bear in Walnut Creek. It was a really spontaneous thing and Grandma was the hero of the day. ( Thanks Mom) The kids could not have been more excited, they have been wanting to make a bear for ages and everytime we pass the store they pine to go in and I hurry them along by saying something like "maybe sometime" . Well, their sometime finally arrived and it was fun to watch them truly enjoying themselves. A highlight of the trip for me was getting to re-connect with my good friend Emily from High School. She has a beautiful home in Elk Grove and a darling family of little boys. My boys were thrilled to be in a kid friendly space and had lots of fun jumping on the trampoline, swinging, and playing with all the toys (sorry we left such a mess, Em!) It's funny how time marches on and so much about us changes yet when we are able to connect with people we have a meaningful history with how time is just erased and we pick right back up where we left off. We were still the same girls of our youth just as comfortable as before only with more wisdom, more humility, more experience, more understanding, more joys and achievements, more sorrows and more scars. The visit was not nearly long enough, we really just scratched the surface of all we have to tell one another , but alas the life of a mother is not her own and both of our families needed our attention. There will be another time I'm sure, but I am glad we had the few hours we did to catch up.

The next night Ryan flew down and we had a couple more days of fun in the sun with the boys and then the long road home stretched out in front of us as our summer travels came to an end.

SKA-MAK-AWAY!

2008-08-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks has been. My mom and one of my sisters came to visit from Utah and we decided to hit the road. Three ladies, 7 kids, and 2 SUV'S. We started off small by crossing the river to Oregon and doing a bit of school shopping for the kids. This was a fairly successful excursion, so we took our chances and headed north the next day to visit a good family friend (Katie Beck, who is now married and I have no idea what her married name is). She runs a Kayak outfit in this charming little town called Skamakawa. (the hotel lobby, post-office, and grocery store are all the same place!) It was great to see Katie, she is as crazy as ever, and it was fun for the kids too. They had amazing adventures hiking to "the fairy tree", dodging the troll under the foot-bridge, and fighting "zombies" that lived in the forest. Katie and Alex have chickens and sheep and lots of land that they hope to turn into an organic farm one day. We stayed at the cozy little Inn overnight and rested up for the next days drive South to San Francisco.

SOCCER CAMP

2008-08-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Last week Caden had a great time brushing up on soccer skills with all his buddies from "The Rockets" . He has played with the same group of kids for three years now and just loves it. I love soccer too because it is so fast paced and it is over in an hour or less! The official season starts for him this Monday and he is ready to roll. The camp he went to is hosted by these great guys from England who are all soccer players themselves. The kids learned a lot and had fun while they were at it (see pic. of Crazy hair day).

A BAD DAY

2008-08-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

So yesterday it was like 100 degrees and I had to pick up the carpool from soccer camp. So I throw the little boys into the truck (keep in mind A.J. has been put into the car seat with no shoes on since we are only going to be a minute), and off we go. I arrive at camp and step out of the car to run over to the field and let the boys know where I was parked. As I walk back toward the car I'm thinking " something doesn't look quite right." Which I soon realize is because my rear passenger tire is completely FLAT! I am of course in a huge hurry because the mother of the boys I carpool with has planned a fantastic afternoon at the river for her kids and they are about to cry because it is apparent that I am not going anywhere for a while. Luckily I spy their aunt who is there picking up her own kids and she takes them for me. At least that catastrophe was averted. I am also thrilled that I have roadside assistance and I don't have to try and put the spare on by myself. "Shawn" from Red Line towing came and was the hero of the day. It took about an hour all together and the older boys thought it was all pretty darn cool the way he jacked up the car and threw the huge tires around. I on the other hand thought the whole thing stunk and kept kicking myself that I had not put shoes on the baby who had to go over to the field to run around because he would have burned his little feet to a crisp on the blacktop. To make a bad day worse when I finally made it to the tire store (the one that Ryan told me to go to) they could not fix our tire because it was too bald and not only could they not fix it, they had to replace all four tires because the other three were just as bald as the bad one and because we have 4 wheel drive we couldn't have one tire with a much higher tread than the others for safety reasons. SOOOO, I tried to call Ryan to ask him what he wanted me to do and of course I could not reach him. I made an executive decision to go ahead and replace them all since I had been stuck in the tire store now for 2 hours. Wouldn't you know it, just as they were about to finish Ryan finally got around to calling me and informed me that they were not the tires he wanted and I should have consulted him first and he would have told me to go to Costco!!! Seriously, just stop the bleeding!!! What the heck are these kind of days for anyway???

BIG BOY BED!!

2008-07-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

A.J. has accomplished yet another milestone. He spent his first night all alone in a big-boy bed. We are so excited to be able to put the crib in storage and say bye-bye to lugging the pack-n-play across the country when we go out of town. Hopefully it will be many more nights before he figures out he can actually get out of this bed on his own. This morning when he woke up, he just sat there shouting "MA-MA, aaahhhh-done!". When I got to him I asked him if he was ready to get up he smiled and said "ahhhh-right". He is such a joy and we can't imagine our lives without him.

GLENDALE RESERVOIR

2008-07-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun playing on, in, and around this little reservoir. The kids literally could have stayed here all week.
Mom's friend (same one who owns the dairy) let us use this family property for the day and it had it all! We picnicked, played tether ball, canoed, paddled boated, swung like monkeys from a variety of different tree swings, and balanced on the "tight rope". The older kids loved driving the golf cart (the fun ended when Caden crashed it into the garage, no damaged done except to the next cousin in line to drive), petting the salamanders (except my nephew Mason who fell into the salamander pond head first), and enjoying all the water activities. They even made some money when Grandma Kathy turned picking up cotton from Cottonwood trees into a game. Ten dollars for every grocery bag full (O.K. there was a lot of cotton) . They filled 5 or 6 bags!

GOT MILK??

2008-07-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

O.K. so my mom has this friend that owns a dairy farm and she thought it would be fun to take the kids there to see where all the dairy products they love so much actually come from. It was quite an experience. Out of respect for the poor heifers I didn't post the pics. of their udders actually dragging on the ground as they are herded into the milking stalls. They produce as much as 7 gallons of milk a day, yeah that's right ladies 7 GALLONS. And I thought I would explode when I had 6oz. in each side. Anyway........the kids had a blast and I wish you could have seen their faces as our little Mexican friend shot milk STRAIGHT from a teet into his mouth, (see photo below). It was quite an education.

A PICTURE'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

2008-07-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

I snapped these pics. the other night and seriously I can't even find words to express how I feel when I look at them. This little boy has been such fun to have around, I can't even believe he is almost two!

RIVER RATS!

2008-07-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

We had another summer adventure this week.We went to the Washougal River for a relaxing day of sun and swimming. The boys had a great time, all except for A.J. The river was way to mucky and slimy for him since he had to stay on the banks. He would not even hardly touch it. He sat in the beach chair almost the whole day. Anyone who has ever had a 21month old knows how rare this is. Hmmmmm. ..maybe we should go to the river EVERY day?? Anyway, Cade and Jack had fun with their friends swinging like monkeys from the rope swing and collecting bugs and rocks. At first Caden was a little timid about swimming all the way across the river. Then he learned to master the current and work with it rather than against it. Jack-Jack no body fat got cold and had to rest on the hot rocks like a lizard for a while, but other than that it was a perfect summer day.

ADULT FOOD

2008-07-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Ryan's mom and dad took our two older boys for a few days, what a treat for us all! We took advantage by making something for dinner that the boys would NEVER go for. We made pan fried Tilapia with tropical fruit and avacado salsa. It was SO good! Thanks Nanna and Grandad!

TIMBER!

2008-07-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

This past week we had some trees cut down on our property. Some were dead, others were in danger of falling on our house (like this one in the pic.) The boys thought that it was SO cool and watched Ted and Jerry (our lumberjacks) climb the trees and cut them down. Ryan had them leave some wood so that he can teach the boys to split logs. I am not entirely sure why he feels that he needs to do this since we are on propane out here, but for some reason he feels this is a skill every boy should have???

SK8TER BOYS

2008-07-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today was such a blast! I just wanted to share some cute pics. of the boys at the skate park today. Jack was hilarious as he dove right in the first ride of the day taking on the biggest ramp in the park. He quickly realized that skating is a lot harder than it looks!! He hobbled over to me with an absolutely confused look on his face like "what just happened?" Then he tried all these different tactics like sitting on the board, or plastering himself between the ramps and scooting down. He finally resorted to sending the board down first then chasing it down and hopping on just as it flattened out into smooth concrete. Caden really conquered some fears today by experimenting with the half pipes and stunt pieces in the park. It was fun to watch him. He has improved a lot since he has been snow boarding. A.J. helped everyone out by staying out of the way and trying to learn to peddle his trike. Afterwards we went to Subway for lunch and I had a fun time listening to the boys talk a mile a minute about all their "totally awesome" skate moves. I have never been more boy crazy!

THE LAND OF THE FREE

2008-07-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

We spent our fourth of July with family AND friends. I started the day with a ride around Lacamas Lake and through the back country of Clark County with my friend Stacey. It was a perfect morning for a bike ride because there was zero traffic. We saw only a handful of cars. Aside from me tipping over into Stacey (long story) it was nice to stretch my legs and have some quiet time before all the festivities got going. When I got home the boys were all up and Ryan had his traditional yummy French Toast on the griddle. After breakfast and showers we headed over to W.L. to hike with Ryan's mom and dad (a tradition whenever we are in town for the fourth). It was gorgeous and really fun for the kids. We had lunch at their house and spent the afternoon visiting and picking raspberries. Jack said the funniest thing when we were picking berries. He called me over and in a really serious and urgent voice said "Mom, there are the best berries in this patch but they are trapped in all these stickery bushes!" After I laughed for a second I explained to him that those stickery bushes were the raspberry plants themselves. It was funny. In the late afternoon we crossed back over the river and hung out with friends from our old neighborhood. The boys were THRILLED to be on their old stomping ground as well as really excited that they were able to light some small fireworks themselves this year. (NOT my idea, talk to their dad) A.J. was forced to wear earmuffs and he was a little irritated at first, but quickly realized how much they helped once the big bangs started coming. He was a trooper and made it until about 10:30 when he finally had enough and fell asleep. I was happy when the kids were all tucked in around midnight and reflected on how grateful I am to live in this country and enjoy the freedom we have. I feel so sad for mothers who never get to see their children celebrate and enjoy their lives in the way that I got to see mine enjoy theirs today, what a blessing!

MY HAPPY PLACE

2008-07-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone has that one special place that feels like home. Dorothy had Kansas, the Red Sox have Fenway Park, and I have the mall with my BFF Kalin. I know this sounds ridiculous, but truly one of the pleasures of my life is closing down the mall and globing on every conceivable cream, gloss, and shadow at the make-up counter with her. I am embarrassed to admit how many hours we have spent doing this, and yet I would fiercely defend our vanity in the name of a true and abiding friendship that grows ever deeper with every make-up sample we pick up. Here are a few pics. of us cracking ourselves up in a fitting room. I completely enjoyed our weekend and have to give props to our husbands who not only finance our escapades, but have our backs on the home front while we enjoy some time away.

A NEW DO!

2008-06-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

OK here is a photo of me today with my new haircut. I am posting this mostly for my mom and my sisters who are wanting to check it out. What do you think ladies??

SUNRIVER 2008

2008-06-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

Our annual Sunriver trip with Ryan's family took place last weekend. It was the fifth year in a row we have made the drive to eastern Oregon for a few days of fun and reunion with family we see far too little of. As in all years past, we had a theme for our reunion. This year the theme was Patriotism. The first day was directed by the Ord family (Ryan's youngest sister Briana and her hubby Robert Ord) They did a great job of introducing our theme and talking to the kids about Freedom. Every year GiGi (my kids great grandma, and Ryan's Grandma) gives every child two dollars a day to spend at Goodies. Goodies is the old fashioned candy store and ice cream fountain in the Sunriver Village, not to mention the MOST anticipated activity each day for the kids. Anyway....during the discussion about freedom Aunti "B" and Uncle Rob told the kids that this year we were going to do something different with our candy money. They had the kids put one dollar in a pile in front of them and all the other dollars in another pile. They then explained that since us parents did so much to prepare for the trip i.e. haul the bikes, shop for the food etc. that they decided that the kids would give all their candy money to their parents except the one dollar , as a "payment" for all the work that went in to the trip. They explained that in many other parts of the world this was how it was done (dictatorships) There were a few tense moments as the kids, especially the older ones realized what this meant. There were even a few tears. The suffering was only momentary as Auntie B and Uncle Rob told the kids it was just a teaching moment and gave all the money back. WHEW! The next day, Ryan and I introduced symbolism and talked about the Bald Eagle as a symbol for the U.S. We had them do an egg drop off the second story patio at the end and they thought that was cool. ( that was my sister Angela's idea, thanks sis!) They all proved to be very good eagles, and protected their eggs well. The eggs all survived, unbroken. The last day the Eddingtons (Marnie and her husband Thane Eddington) talked about the Flag and Grandad showed the kids his Air force medals. They also made a flag snack using graham crackers and frosting. Along with all the teaching moments there was the usual bike riding, ( and bike accidents-First place goes to Caden for the bloodiest crash this year, with Emmas chafing and Uncle Thane's sore tukus coming in a close second and third) tennis playing, park visiting, and late night gaming and cooking eating. We all love Sunriver so much and enjoy the chance to escape each year there. Nanna Mo and Grandad always do so much to make sure it is a special experience for the kids.

ROSES AREN'T ALWAYS RED

2008-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

For my 34th birthday, my friend Scarlette gave me the most gorgeous roses. I just had to share them, they brightened my day and my kitchen for many days afterward. Thanks Girlfriend!

FUN AT OAKS PARK

2008-06-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Monique and I took Jack to a rollerskating competition at Oaks Park last Monday. It was actually kind of fun to watch, except for the revolting smell in the skating rink. I swear that place was at least 100 years old and smelled like a mix of vomit, cheeze-its, and W-D 40! Once we got past that , it was fun to watch Jack cheer on the skaters. A.J. even had a good time. While we were waiting for the competition to start we took the boys outside into the little amusement park. Jack could not go on any of the rides as the park was being used that day by schools for field trips, but he did get to waste a bunch of my money playing carnival games. He was so thrilled when he was awarded a small stuffed snake and cheap plastic vampire teeth. We ate ice cream and enjoyed the sun shine (and fresh air) until it was time to watch the skaters. Not a bad way to waste an afternoon with the boys.

A'S GET THEIR REWARD

2008-06-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Like I said before Caden had a great baseball season. Last Sat. they had closing ceremonies where they were awarded the first place trophy in their division. These are team photos and a picture of Caden pitching at the last game which they won 16-4.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

2008-06-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know the exact origin of Father's Day, but I am so glad we have this day to really reflect on our relationships with our dads. I am constantly thinking of both of my parents, but these special days devoted to them help me to reminisce about our history together, rather than just what is happening in our family presently. One of the things I love about my dad is that he is predictable. I never wonder what my dad will think about a given situation or how he will react. He is steady and consistent and those qualities have allowed me to trust him. The fact that he is usually always right helps too. I have always appreciated the respect he has shown for me and my other siblings as he has allowed us to live our own lives and make our own decisions. In addition to standing back and letting us fall down sometimes (which I am learning is one of the most difficult things about parenthood) he also allows us to "lie in the beds we have made for ourselves" until at last we realize for ourselves that we are really screwed up and we go to him for advice, guidance, and help. At that point he is always there. Even though sometimes he must be prodded by the ever protective and fiercely maternal Kathy, (our mother) he is there. He is generous and loyal and has always made me feel that I could do anything I put my mind to. Thanks for all the fun memories dad -the daddy daughter parties and dates, the days in the city at work with you, lunching at Salamugundi, the trips to Vail, D.C., London, Disney world/Disneyland, and Hawaii. Not to mention all the help and good advice you have offered me on spiritual matters and finances. I love you Dad and I appreciate the way you have embraced my husband and children and they way you continue to care for all of us. Happy Father's Day!

BYE, BYE PRESCHOOL

2008-06-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Jack graduated from pre-school this last week and it was bittersweet. He LOVED the two years he spent at Children's World of Music, and was looking forward to going to kindergarten there as well. However, when we moved out to the country I found the amount of driving I was doing to be oppressive. I knew that I could not keep it up for the entire next year, especially since we are not totally settled into the new place and there are a lot of things we still want to do to make it "home". I just never had a block of time to get anything accomplished with him having to be dropped off and picked up on the other side of town. Long story short, he will be going to public school with Caden next year instead of Children's World. He is excited to be able to ride the bus with his brother, but there was definitely some sadness on that very last day of pre-school. I am once again reminded how quickly the children are growing up with this milestone in Jacks life. Congratulation Jack-Jack we love you!

BATTER UP!

2008-06-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Baseball is FINALLY coming to an end. It has been a great season for the Moses boys. Caden played AAA Minor ball this year and Jack played T-ball. Caden was blessed to be part of an amazing club this year and we are so thankful for his coaches and his improvement. They were undefeated until the tail end of the season, when alas all good things must come to an end. They still managed to wind up first in the standings, way to go A's!! Although Jack had a great season (his coached dubbed him "an out of control machine") he has decided he does not LOVE baseball. I am one hundred percent thrilled with this revelation, as baseball is a huge time commitment, and Caden has decided that he DOES love baseball. Plenty of stolen bases, and a few good hits to the fence made this season fun and memorable.

A WEEK IN PARADISE!

2008-06-12T00:42:00.000-07:00

HAWAII MAY 31ST- JUNE 7TH 2008

I AM LOVING ALL THE BLOGS THAT I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO AND SO I THOUGHT I BETTER JOIN THE REVOLUTION. AND WHAT BETTER PLACE TO START THAN ON VACATION!

GRANDPA AND GRANDMA BARBER TOOK THE WHOLE FAMILY TO KAUAI, HAWAII. THE KIDS ALL HAD A BLAST PLAYING AT THE POOL AND GOING TO THE BEACH. A HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP WAS THE DAY WE WENT SURFTING AT PINE TREE BEACH IN HANALEI. THE ISLAND WAS GORGEOUS AND THE HOTEL COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER. WE ATE SHAVED ICE ALMOST EVERY DAY, LOUNGED BY THE POOL, PADDLEBOARDED, SCUBA-DIVED, SNOOBA-DIVED, WENT TO A LUAU, AND THE ADULTS WENT ON A KAYAK/ZIP-LINE ADVENTURE. WE WERE FORTUNATE TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TAKE TWO BABYSITTERS WITH US, WHICH MADE THE TRIP SO MUCH EASIER. JUST HAVING EXTRA HANDS TO SUNCREEN THE KIDS AND EXTRA EYES TO WATCH THEM IN THE WATER WAS A TRUE LUXURY. THANKS MOM AND DAD!