Roly Poly Hunt

Last week Max was so sad one morning when our plans to go to a friend's house were canceled. He can do "sad" pretty cute (see below) so I was trying hard to think of another activity that he would be excited about instead.


I guess he was pretty determined to be sad because he turned down several ideas before his eyes finally lit up when I suggested we look for roly polys. He was so excited to show me the steps for catching roly polys.

He said, "First you have to scare them."


"Then you can pick up the ball."


"And then if they crawl away, you have to grab 'em"


We found lots of "babies", but Max really wanted to find the mama ones that he said were "this big".




What exactly do you do with roly polys once you catch them? Build a home for them of course. We filled a mason jar with dirt and leaves---everything our new pets could want. Later Max also thought they might like a little (or a lot) of water. ( I missed this addition), but when Sam came home he asked me why we had drowned a jar full of rolly pollys. Poor bugs.


In an effort to continue my resolution to be in more pictures I had Max take a picture of Ruby and me during our "hunt". He was excited to use the camera and was so proud of his picture. "I got you Mom!!....except for your head."

Backyard Baseball

We have now lived in North Carolina long enough now to know that good spring weather doesn't last, so this week we've been trying to enjoy every minute of it. Max has been dying to play t-ball, so we finally took the opportunity and made it a family affair.


Max is definitely a sports boy. I love how focused he is when he plays. He kept insisting on doing practice swats before he would actually hit the ball. I have a feeling this isn't the last time I will be watching him swing a bat.


Reed's look here doesn't show it, but he had a great time playing as well. (My little boy is looking so old!)


Although he may have enjoyed fielding the ball more than hitting it.


Sam had the boys running across the yard chasing the ball when he got up to bat.


And Ruby was the the perfect (and cutest) little spectator.

Fathers and Sons Campout

Last weekend was our Stake's Fathers and Sons Camp out. The boys had been looking forward to it and counting down the days for at least two weeks prior. Reed would mention the upcoming trip at every opportunity. If we ever spoke about an upcoming event he would use it as his point of reference. "Is that before or after fathers and sons?"

He even randomly told me one morning, "I have so much coming up to look forward to. When I turn 8 I'll get baptized, when I'm 12 I'll get the priesthood, and this weekend is Fathers and Sons!"

He also told me, "Fathers and Sons Camp is kind of like Zion's Camp--except without the mobs, of course."

As soon as Reed got home from school, both he and Max packed their backpacks and sleeping bags and were on the porch waiting for Sam to be ready.






Max wanted to know why they didn't have "Mom and baby" camp (now that sounds like fun). When the boys left, Ruby and I had a lovely (and quiet) evening at home. I must say it was quite fun for me to think of staying at home together having a "girls" night with her. I wanted to think of some fun "girly" thing for us to do, but I mostly just spent the evening giving her airplane rides on the bed, playing patty cake, and enjoying just looking at her and thinking of how much I love her. Maybe next year we'll get out the nail polish.


When the boys arrived home the next morning I could tell that the weeks of anticipation were not in vain. They came home dirty, a little sunburned, and completely satisfied by their overnight adventure.

What's Next?

Recently, Max has developed a new habit. Whenever he goes to use the bathroom, as soon as he gets in there he starts asking from across the house, "What are we doing next?"

Like today, Max excused himself during dinner to use the bathroom. No sooner did he get in there than he asked, "What are we doing next?"

"Finishing dinner."

"What's after that?"

"Playing phoenixes." (Phoenixes are Reed's recent obsession--we all had to draw one and cut it out so we could play.)

"What's after that?"

"Bath time."

"What's after that?"

"A special family treat." (We made caramel popcorn.)

Lindsay would know better how long this normally goes on, but he continued for several more questions after that before he was satisfied.

Short and Sweet

On Sunday I told Sam that I needed to get better at just recording very SHORT little snippets of life no matter how seemingly trivial they are. Even if they are things I think I will remember, I might not, and I know even these things will be valuable to me in the future. Sometimes when I go to record something it ends up taking so long that I'm less motivated to do it again real soon. Since in this case more is better I decided I would try to encourage myself by keeping "short and sweet" as the guiding theme.

That was Sunday...this is Thursday night and I haven't done anything. I guess I haven't figured out how to be "short and sweet" yet. I will give it a try.

Max LOVES avocados. Pretty much from the time he was eating solids he was eating and loving avocados. I remember one time when he was just about a year old I was feeding him an avocado and he kept wanting more and more so I ended up feeding him the whole thing. After it was gone I was so worried that I called my mom right away thinking it might have been too much for his little body. Thankfully, he didn't suffer any negative effects at the time, and his love of avocados has continued.

Sometimes when I call Max to the table to eat I will try to motivate him by saying, "Hurry up--it's one of your favorites!" and when he gets to the table he will say, "These aren't avocados." He thinks he's pretty funny.

The other day I cut up an avocado for Max and me to eat for lunch and I decided to take a few pictures of him with his beloved food. Apparently, the camera slowed me down too much because by the time I sat down, my share was long gone.


Wow, I really am not good at short. I guess next time I need to just put something like, "Max loves avocados. The End."

Something I never had

Ruby already has something I never had...brothers. It's been so much fun to watch her relationship with them develop over the past 5 months. I am happy to say that they both adore her, however in very different ways. For Reed it was love at first sight. He is so loving, gentle and sweet with her...much more than is his normal nature. He is never impatient and is always willing to hold and entertain her when I need his help. Reed asked me once when Ruby was only a few weeks old, "Mom, how did we get the cutest baby?" and I could tell it was a real question. Like me (and all parents of new babies) he thought we had really lucked out with her. I can really see him growing into a very supportive and protective older brother.




Max on the other hand (and yes, I realize their age has a lot to do with it) is loving in a silly, crazy, teasing sort of way. He is helpful, but I also have to keep an eye on him to make sure I don't hear things like, "Hey look at how long Ruby's arm can stretch!" or "Ruby likes it when I spin her around like that." He is just a little more aggressive in general and that tendency comes out in his displays of affection as well. As intense as his love can be, it is also very fun-filled and his time with Ruby is often accompanied by uncontrollable laughter from Max. He's a real clown with her and will do just about anything to get her to laugh or smile back.


I was trying to take a picture of Max holding Ruby the other day and I couldn't quite get the shot I was looking for. I did however capture a pretty good depiction of their current relationship.


"Ruby likes it when I fall back."


Max does have a gentle side too. Nearly ever morning the boys race in looking for Ruby just so they can stare at her. In fact, our first argument of the morning is usually all about who is hogging Ruby.


This picture kind of sums it up for me. Reed trying to be loving, Max close by with mischief in his eyes and Ruby content and mostly oblivious to anything but her toes at the moment.


I look forward to seeing how their relationships will continue to grow, develop and change in the future. One thing I know for sure is that Ruby is one lucky and loved little girl.

The ultimate backfire

A couple of weeks ago when Reed got some money from my Nana he started making a list of things he might like to buy. Among the list was an alarm clock. He never did decide on what to get, but I decided that an alarm clock might be just the thing to help give Reed some additional responsibility and make for smoother mornings before school.

The clock arrived today and when we presented it to the boys along with a list of things they needed to do in them morning before school they were ecstatic! Reed thought it was the perfect clock. I also gave them a list of things they would be responsible for in the evening and they immediately went to work checking one item off at a time.

I was pretty proud of everyone, including myself for thinking of such a great idea. However, it didn't take long for me to be a little concerned when Reed was panicking at 8:00 (the time I said was their bedtime) and they weren't asleep. "I'm supposed to be asleep!!"

He wanted me to race through the bedtime stories and even picked out a baby board book to make sure it was super short. I thought maybe he had missed the mark a little with the clock. I wasn't really bothered by their eagerness to go to sleep, until as they were laying there quietly my perfect plan started to fall apart.

"It's 8:17 Reed," says Max.

"Reeeeeeed, it's 8:19 now."

I told them they were only allowed to get out of bed if they needed to use the bathroom. Max popped out almost immediately with that "get out jail free" card and convinced Reed to come, too.

When they finally returned to their room the first thing Max said was, "Wow! It's 8:27 now Reed. This is a super fast clock."

For the past hour I've been hearing time updates nearly every minute. "This clock keeps changing, Reed!!!" (Max even ran out looking for the 'fake clock face' it came with so he could put it back on and make it stop changing.)

Now that it's almost 10:00 I think it might be time to pull the plug and make sure I can still find the receipt.

Because I take so many pictures I have a fundamental problem recording something and not including a picture. I know this picture is random and has nothing to do with what I just recorded, but I do love these boys and the relationship they've developed---even when it's what keeps them up late.

5 months

This is the first month of Ruby's life where I feel like, "What??? Are you really _____months already? This past month of my little girl's life has flown by and we are starting to wonder what we ever did without her.

Here are some things I want to remember about Ruby at 5 months old.

1. She loves her chains. Amazingly enough I never had these little baby chain links with my boys. For Ruby they are a must have. He talon-like fingers like to grab onto them whenever they are in reach.


2. She's a fan of the exersaucer. She will happily play with the toys for quite a while. As long as some one is talking or running around her she is pretty content to enjoy the toys and the company.


3. The drool continues to flow. I love how in this picture the drool looks like it's coming right at you. I get this same view just about everyday...except it actually does get me.


4. She is very interested in her feet. I remember when the boys were babies all the books said that they should be playing with their feet at this stage, but when it came to feet they were only mildly interested. Recently, this girl can't get enough of her feet. I don't know if it's that she is more flexible then the boys or if she is just thinking about the shoes she will wear soon (I know I am), but she loves to check out her feet.


5. She's a wiggle machine. She's becoming quite agile with her rolls from side to side. In fact she amazingly enough fell off the bed in only a few minutes while I was disciplining Max even though she was perpendicular to the edge of the bed when I left her. I still don't know how she did it, but I did feel awful and am much more careful now to avoid those situations.


6. She enjoys her rice cereal. This is another big difference between her and the boys. Both boys were happy to pass on this entree, but she has grown quite fond on it in the past week or so. It's not the strawberries, yogurt or quesadilla she was drooling over today, but for now she has decided it will do.

Here she is excited to get her hand of the cereal. The only thing Sam looks excited for is bed.


7. I still hold her a whole bunch, but she has started to hold me back. I wish I had a picture of how she hangs onto me as we work around the house. I'll have to remind Sam to take a picture next time because that is something I definitely don't want to forget.


8. She continues to hate the car and screams whenever we even think about putting her in the car seat (which is less and less these days). I'm convinced it will change at the very least when she's a year old and gets to turn around. I told Sam this might be the year we remember as "the year we went nowhere." Although I must note that on Sunday she gave me the most wonderful Mother's Day present ever when she didn't cry to or from church. It was nearly miraculous. I think the fact that it was on Mother's Day was no coincidence.

Here she is in car seat agony. Yes..it's been hot here, but most of that is "cry-sweat"


9. She's got her first doll. My cousin Lisa sent it and she actually really likes it----mostly for sucking on, but still it's cute to see her with it. It's our first official "girl" toy.


10. She is starting to be a part of our daily family life instead of just a cute accessory that we carry around. Here she is enjoying the trampoline..and the trampoline static


I have to include this bonus picture of Ruby because there is something very funny to me about the way she is standing. I am not sure exactly what it is, but I feel like I'm getting a little bit of flash forward of what the future holds for us with her and I can hardly wait!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day today. My family did their best to make me feel loved and special--what more could I ask for? The boys woke up like it was Christmas morning eager to tell me, "Happy Mother's Day!" and give me a hug. Reed made a beeline to his "secret hiding place" to get the Mother's Day card/book he made for me at school. It was all about what he thought my favorite things were. It was very cute--definitely a keeper. I think my favorite line was. "If my Mom could go anywhere she would go.... to Idaho." "They are famous for potatoes." I guess he knows I'm looking forward to our trip to Cascade this summer...although I better let him know for next year that Tahiti would probably top my list.

I told Sam that I was really hoping to get a picture of the kids and me today for Mother's Day since, although I take a ton of pictures, I am almost never in them. We took quite a few and I must say as I looked though them I thought they were a pretty good metaphor for my experience as a mother. "I try hard, but I'm still oh so very far from perfect."









People sometimes say that Ruby looks like me. I don't really see it, but I'll take it as a compliment. I think she is pretty cute.


Mother's Day mostly just makes me feel thankful. Life is often so crazy, but when I stop for a second and see how blessed I am to be a mother to these three amazing children I am overwhelmed (in a good way this time). Being a mother is not exactly what I thought it would be (and I really did think I knew what it would be like). It is a million times more wonderful and A LOT harder than I thought. I blame the second part of my misconception of motherhood on my own mother. She never made being a mother look hard. I can honestly say that I can never really remember her being tired, overwhelmed, or put out by the demands of having to care for three children. She really seemed to enjoy most everything she did for us. I don't know if she did or not, but she certainly never made me feel like she was doing anything but exactly what she wanted to be doing. In fact I owe a lot to my mother for some of the best things in my life. Since it is Mother's Day I will list what I think are the 5 best things about my mom.

1. She would do just about anything to help me or my sisters. This is a broad statement, but I can't think of a truer one. Throughout high school my mom would often (more than often actually) meet us at school to bring our lunch or any number of things we needed or had forgotten. Even now as an adult with a family of my own living on the other side of the country I can feel that same willingness to help with anything on a moment's notice.
2. She has a steadfast testimony of the gospel and taught us with her example. I don't remember very many specific "lessons" or "talks" about the gospel with her, but I do recall observing her steadfast testimony and a desire to keep all the commandments. It was evident that the gospel was important to her and she held that same expectation for her children.
3. She always encouraged us to do and be the best we could be. Whether it was running for student council when we didn't stand a chance or trying out for dance or cheerleading I always assumed I could do it because my mom never expressed any doubts. I was quite shy growing up, but looking back I am amazed sometimes by all the things I did as a "shy girl". I know having my mom behind me pushing me along is a big part of the reason I was able to do what I did.
4. She never gives up. In junior high I had to come up with a family motto. I remember my mom helped me and we decided on, "Evelyn's say it CAN be done." This is definitely true for my mom. She always thinks there is a way to work things out...and I am surprised how often they do work out. Even now when we are flying down the road to the airport and we have 5 minutes to get there and 15 minutes of road to go she will often say, "Well--we aren't late yet."
5. She loves me and my family. At this stage in my life I don't think there is anything more I could want from her. Even though we have lived in North Carolina for 6 years now I have never felt like we were not as central or important in her life as her other "more local" family. Someday I hope that we do live closer to family, but until then I appreciate all of the effort she puts forth to make us feel like we do.

Thank you Mom for all of the effort and sacrifice you have made on my behalf. As a mother myself I am only now starting to gain a true appreciation for all you have done. I love you.

I know this is going to be the longest post ever now, but I would feel guilty if I didn't give Sam the same opportunity to record some of things he loves the most about his mom. I'm sure he'll have a list a mile long, but I'll limit him to 5 as well (he wants to use a different font so no one gets confused).

1. She loves to talk – Only very rarely is she ever too busy to talk to me and she’s prepared to talk about anything, no matter how mundane, and make me feel like I’m important to her.
2. She knows everything – I feel like I can call my parents with any question I have and get advice I can trust. My mom is the first person I call if I have a question about a sick child.
3. She’s pretty – When I was on my mission I had a picture book that I would share with people and I was always proud to show people pictures of my mom because I knew I’d get comments about how young and pretty she looked (“You are the son of her?!”).
4. She’s great with children – I can count on my mom to be the one person that is guaranteed to get newborn babies to babble happily back at her. In fact, she seems to always know just how to interact with children to immediately put them at ease and get them to like her.
5. She can tickle my back for hours – Seriously, for hours. This is a real talent that I wish more people had. If more people could strive to be more like my mom in this one aspect of their lives we would be much closer to having peace throughout the Middle East.

Happy Mother's Day!

First Swim

Wow...so much for "back on track." This past week wasn't the best. I underestimated how much "sick" Ruby still had left in her and I overestimated how healthy I would stay while taking care of her without a sufficient amount of sleep. Neither Ruby or I (or the rest of my family for that matter) are completely healthy yet, but we are very hopeful for a better week ahead.

I tried to finish this post three or four different times last week, but it just was not going to happen. This is a little outdated now, but still something I want to remember so here we go again.

Ruby went for her first swim last Friday. It has been blazing hot here in North Carolina (way too hot for the beginning of May). I didn't know how she would react since the water was a little on the cool side, but she LOVED it.

Ruby thought she was pretty cool in her bathing suit and this little jean skirt that my friend Suzie gave her. I thought she looked like a little teenager. Live it up Ruby, because when you are a teenager the jean mini is totally out.






The boys had a great time as usual and thought it was so cool to have Ruby joining them. Reed is my little fish and would love to stay in the pool for hours if we let him.


In most settings Max is aggressively athletic, but when it comes to the pool he still prefers to spend most of his time hanging out on the stairs. I wouldn't say he's "afraid" of the water, but he has shown no desire to learn how to swim on his own.


Max kept wanting me to take pictures of him doing his "trick." I kept thinking that I was missing his trick until I realized his "trick" was essentially climbing out of the pool.


Even at the pool Reed's imagination was working in overdrive. Here he is telling me, "What if they had an Olympic sport that was like ski jumping, except instead of going down hills of snow it was a summer Olympic sport and they went down down hills of water that were like tidal waves. Wouldn't that be cool? " "And Mom....why do all of my ideas have to start with 'What if'?"


It was a successful first trip to the pool...and if spring is any indication of what summer has in store, this certainly wont be our last.