DICKSON FAMILY

Christmas Day

2012-01-24T21:52:00.021-05:00

It feels good to be wrapping this up. It's been fun to relive it and it's also good to move on.

All I can think of is Back to the Future when I see this picture....and Max is vanishing. Thankfully there is no vanishing going on, just more excitement than my camera could handle. Even though this was Ruby's third Christmas it was really more like her first so I don't blame her for being a little skeptical.

It was fun to watch her discover all the magic of Christmas for the first time. The boys loved being the experts pointing out that Santa had eaten some of the cookies....and even remembered to be grateful.

Here's the "Whole family in front of the Christmas tree" shot. It is nothing short of a miracle that neither Sam or I are falling over in this picture considering the almost non-existent amount of sleep we had gotten over the past several days.

Sam started us off with what looks to be a very dramatic reading of Luke 2.

Ruby carefully tore into her first present before promptly putting it on.

Ruby wasn't the only one overjoyed and anxious to begin using their gift. Max had wanted a "grabber" for almost a year. I think it was everything he hoped and more.

The one present Reed was really hoping for more than anything was his beloved spy kit. He was thrilled.

For some reason the spy kits came with a 1970's car salesman disguise. "Tell me everything you know....or I will blind you with my book light!"

The real fun came when the kids gave the gifts they had purchased. Reed was so excited to give Ruby a candy cane tube filled with candy that he knew she would love.

He was right.

Reed is a little funny with his money. He NEVER wants to spend it. If he ever wants something all I have to do is tell him that he can buy it with his own money and the desire is gone. Nothing is ever good enough to spend on. This, however, is not true when it comes to buying Christmas gifts for others. He was incredibly generous wanting to buy the best he could afford. He nearly went broke buying this Shake Weight for me...surprisingly, this is something he had been wanting to get for me for a long time, according to him. (I guess that means it's time to start my battle with saggy arms.)

Once Ruby got this purse, she really wanted to "go". "Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. I'm outta here. Who's coming with me?"

Seeing the boys give gifts to each other was pretty wonderful too. You gotta love the brother side hug.

And some sister love.

The impromptu side hugs were right up there with gift explanations. It's always good when after someone opens their present you have to say, "Let me tell you what this is.....it's awesome."

For Ruby, the new clothes from Nana and Papa did not disappoint. Off with the old... (That was so 20 minutes ago) on with the new.

The kids gave this awesome polar bear ice scrapper claw to Sam. The kids may have given it, but I can guarantee you I was the most excited to have Sam open it. This picture does not do it's awesomeness justice. It's been a month and I am still smiling just thinking about it.

Ruby also got a baby doll that wiggles, cries and laughs and says mama. It's nothing short of adorable to see her natural nurturing instinct at work.

After we flew through our presents we raced to get in our church clothes. I actually loved having Christmas on Sunday. Rushing off to Sacrament Meeting helped keep the day in check and reminded us what this celebration was really all about.

I forgave myself for the giant Christmas mess we came home to by remembering that we were on time to church.

I meant to get pictures of the kids in their Christmas clothes, but this was all I got. I love the dress my Nana made for her. Ruby doesn't know how lucky she is.

After church we had a relaxing day as a family, enjoying all of our newly acquired toys.

I was no exception. Sam gave me a tripod for Christmas so we had to try it out.

Merry Christmas, until next year when I'll do everything better, be more organized, spend less money, make everything more special and maybe even write all about it before the end of January.

Christmas--Part 2

2012-01-15T20:43:00.010-05:00

Nothing like two weeks of sickness to really kill your momentum. Oh well...here we move along anyways...

A good thing Christmas time always ends up as one big blur of happy craziness for me or this could end up being a 16 part post. As it is I am having a hard time thinking of specific details of any of the events leading up to the big day without looking at my pictures. And although I usually have a habit of taking too many pictures, I actually don't have too many leading up to Christmas Day. I guess that has something to do with the blur of happy craziness.

Here are some bits and pieces of our pre-Christmas celebration....

We got our tree early this year and throughout the month it continued to be a popular item with the kids. Normally I don't let the kids play in the front room (not sure why exactly....we don't have anything in there yet--- maybe just be out of principal---that and hoping for one less place to get messy). However, while it was our Christmas tree room, they had free reign...and boy did they enjoy it.

I couldn't resist including this picture of Reed and Max looking like they are just about to count off 5, 6, 7, 8 to start their boy band dance.

Thankfully they were just prepping for this.

This year I was thinking a lot about Christmas traditions and started to wonder if we had enough. We decided to add to our list by reading a Christmas story every night under the tree before bed. I think it got an overall thumbs up and will definitely be something we try to carry on in the future.

The one downside to reading under the tree was the fact that we got a few presents in the mail early. Having presents under the tree was more than Max could stand. He was actually pretty funny acting like some magnetic-like force was pulling him towards the presents.

Magnetic force or not, presents were not going to happen.

We ended up having to remove the presents and spent a few nights reading stories upstairs under a little red foil tree that Max convinced me to buy for their room. Oh the things that boy gets me to buy. Sam says he's not allowed to come to the store with me anymore.

The lovely red tree.

We didn't have a super crafty Christmas this year, but we did find time for a few fun projects including these button Christmas trees.

Few things bring me greater joy than seeing my kids happily working together. With Ruby in the mix sometimes it's nearly a miracle to see this.

We had a great month. It was full and meaningful. I wish I had more pictures to remind me of the details, but for now I guess this picture of Ruby will have to sum up our Christmas activities...blurry but happy.

Christmas--Part 1

2012-01-13T21:55:00.008-05:00

I know the middle of January isn't normally when you can't get Christmas off your mind, but since I've yet to record anything about it, I can't seem to move on. I guess it doesn't help that our Christmas tree is still up...we've gotta get that thing down.

Speaking of Christmas trees, I think I'll start there. This year we fulfilled my lifelong dream of cutting down our own Christmas tree as a family. Being novices in this tradition we did make the mistake of trying to do it in the dark. Sam met us after work and at first I didn't understand why the tree farm employees looked at us like we were crazy when we showed up right at closing time completely unprepared.

Fortunately they had pity on us and loaned us a flashlight so we could see where we were going. UNfortunately it only took Ruby about 30 seconds to commandeer the light, making it nearly useless. We loved the tree we ended up with, but it was just by luck that we picked it--we really could hardly see anything.

Reed and Sam cutting-- not burning---- the tree down.

Cutting our own tree was great, but the real fun started once we got home and busted into the Christmas stuff. The kids had so much fun digging through the boxes finding all of their ornaments. Every year I have the kids pick out an ornament that represents something about them or something that they love. I loved hearing them excitedly reminisce as they uncovered their personal treasures.

With only two Christmases under her belt, Ruby didn't have many ornaments of her own to hang, but that didn't stop her from hoarding all the other ornaments she found. In fact, she was more interested in keeping them in a pile than hanging them the tree.

Ruby might not have many of her own ornaments yet, but she sure loves the few that she has. I think this ornament stayed in her hands more than it stayed on the tree.

The boys did a great job getting the whole tree decorated. They were determined to do it all on their own. I admired their determination. I did, however, NOT approve of all of their methods.

While the boys busied themselves with the ornaments Ruby was happy to work on untangling some extra lights.

The lights stayed pretty tangled, but Ruby didn't seem to mind.

I almost had a heart attack when Sam nonchalantly reached up to put the star at the top of our tree. Growing up, putting our angel atop the tree was really big deal and my sisters and I took turns having the privilege of putting it on. Ruby was the lucky one this year.

When we were just about done Reed said, "Now it's really looking like our tree". It makes me happy there is something that looks like "our" tree.

In the end I think the tree looked beautiful. All it needs is a finished tree skirt. I guess there's always next year.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ruby

2012-01-02T19:36:00.012-05:00

I always knew it would be hard to have a December birthday. What I didn't know was how hard it is to be the mother of a child with a December birthday. I had grand plans of throwing her a "real" party this year, but after a few failed attempts at picking a date that would work for everyone we quickly downgraded to a little family party which then led to the continual postponement of the celebration. With December being so full and Ruby being so young "tomorrow" always seemed like the best day to celebrate. Thankfully, my guilt caught up with me and we finally celebrated Ruby's birthday on December 31st. (It just wouldn't have seemed right to be celebrating her big day in both a different month and year than the actual date.)

I may have been late with the party, but we didn't totally neglect December 9th (the official day). Sam and I were leaving to South Carolina for my marathon that evening so we decided to at least make a special breakfast for our big two year old.

Ruby loves to cook (or "stir, stir, stir" as she calls it) so it was the perfect way for her to start the morning.

I realize now that for me making something "special" usually involves food coloring. I often feel like the color purple (the actual color, not the movie) rules Ruby's world. If she sees something purple, she's gotta have it. For this special occasion we had purple pancakes.

Besides purple, Ruby LOVES hearts, So for Ruby, heart pancakes were a must! (Can she really be my daughter? I've never been a heart fan. I even had a phase were I actually despised hearts...just ask Sam. Not to mention that purple is easily my least favorite color.)

Not bad for a first try...

Ruby was thrilled with the singing and the candles.

So thrilled in fact, that we did at least ten times. I think this was at about round 4. There was nothing left of the candles by the time we were done.

On the 31st when we finally got around to the big celebration, purple and hearts were both on the scene. The only thing Ruby also specifically requested was a birthday hat. I thought it was so funny that she would always ask for a hat when we talked about her birthday, which,by the way, we've convinced her is a month long tribute, after we spoke and sang of her birthday frequently throughout the month of December.

Ruby in her birthday hat.

Her cake.

Ruby was so pleased with her cake. She was not pleased, however, when we placed it in front of her and made her sit there and not touch it while I took pictures.

When it finally came time for blowing out the candles she needed a little boost from Grandmother.

And boy was she happy to finally get her cake.

This is how she shows "two". We have some work to do.

After cake we opened presents.

I was so excited to give Ruby her little kitchen. She does love to cook and now she can "stir, stir, stir" all she wants.

After presents it was time for some dancing. It was a party after all.

It may have taken a while, but when it was all said and finally done I think she felt celebrated and very loved.

Happy Birthday my baby Ruby! We love you.

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-28T20:25:00.012-05:00

Ugg...I hate it when I take such large breaks from blogging. It makes it so hard to start up again. Luckily I'm too stubborn to give up and let the memories from the past couple months float away into forgotten-even-though-I-have-a-lot-of-pictures land. I don't know where to start, but I know I have to start somewhere, or I'll be kicking myself in a year. So just like in beauty pageants, these next few (or many) posts will be "in no particular order", starting with...Christmas Eve Eve.

We have been so crazy busy this month--even busier than the inevitable busyness of this time of year. Amongst all of the"important" stuff, there wasn't too many extended periods of low stress family time, so, even though we still had much to do before Christmas, on Christmas Eve Eve we took a trip to our neighborhood park and got just what we needed.

The boys were thrilled when I told them they could ride scooters and take what they call the "long cut".

...even when the long cut requires you to drag your scooter up a grassy hill.

It never ceases to amaze me how, within minutes of getting to the park, one of them will say, "Do you want to play monkeys, cheetahs, spies, ninjas...or one of several other names, and how the other will immediately agree and know exactly what to do. (By the way Reed and Max--all your games look the same and seem to involve a lot of talking)

Ruby was having a lot of fun too...until she crawled through the tunnel puddle.

Luckily she recovered fairly quickly from the wet pants and uncharacteristically enjoyed swinging with me.

Actually it was at the swings where we had the most fun. The boys loved having Sam there to push them super high. In fact, I'm pretty sure Reed asked for an "UnderDAD" when I tried to push him. I'm not sure if it's the pusher or the pushee who is having more fun here.

And then, like all good parents ,we encouraged our children to jump from the swings...and did our best to set an example.

Sam thought he was pretty awesome...we all did actually.

I did my best, but couldn't help but have visions of sprained ankles dancing in my head.

After watching us, Reed was eager to do his best too.

Max on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with jumping.

This was more of what he had in mind for a swing trick.

But even he finally gave into our prodding and gave us his best...

...and landed like this and realized that it wasn't as bad as he thought.

Even Ruby got a little brave and let Reed do an "Underdad"...

and liked it.

Our time at the park was just a quick diversion from the Christmas craziness, but it was special and just long enough to help me remember which part of the crazy matters most.

Have you tried..."Phenomenal"?

2011-12-03T00:22:00.004-05:00

Reed had an assignment at school to find a larger but not too obscure word to present to his class. He had several options for how to present it, like making a poster or acting it out. He chose to make a commercial.

I suggested a style of commercial he could do and was all set to write it for him. I was planning exactly what he should say and how, but when I got home from work he already had the script written out. As soon as we finished dinner, we got right to work. An hour later we had finished filming, and after some brief editing it was ready to go. I think it turned out pretty well. If only I could think of a word to describe it...

His teacher said she loved it, but my favorite thing about it is that now I sometimes get to ask Lindsay, "Hey, why are you wearing Reed's jacket?!"

Ragnar-DC

2011-12-01T00:56:00.000-05:00

TWO months ago...(yeah I am that behind) I ran the DC Ragnar race with 11 friends from North Carolina. If I had recorded my thoughts right after the race I think they would have been a little different, but two months after the fact all I can really remember was the fun. (OK...and maybe a little of the sleep deprivation).

The 200-mile Ragnar Relay is something I had wanted to do for a while, but I was especially excited to be able to do it with such a great group. It was fun to be with friends from North Carolina again. For two days it felt like I had never left.

Van #2

Julie started the race for us. She was a little nervous---I think we all were. After all the anticipation it was pretty exciting to finally be on our way.

We had 3 girls from the Garner Ward join and help to fill in some final holes in the team. They were very sweet and great additions to the team.

Shelley lead out for Van #2.

I was up next after Shelley for our team. I traded legs with another team member last minute, so I was a little nervous when my first run was listed as one of the toughest of the whole race--going straight uphill and then straight down. It was difficult, but it was also kind of nice to start with my most challenging run. I knew that if I could make it through my first one my other legs would be possible too.

Helen took off after me.

Suzie getting ready for her 2nd leg--luckily she brought her personal trainer/masseuse.

And with a little help from her brother, she was on her way.

Sam and the kids were supposed to meet me for my last leg of the race, but due to some miscommunication (and a lot of frustration on Sam's part) I never saw them. I had been looking forward to seeing them and getting a much needed boost.

It wasn't all about the running. Our team also knew how to have good time.

After my final run I was pretty exhausted... (Photo courtesy of Reed)

..but thrilled to finally see these sweet faces.

Poor Helen got lost on her last leg and ended up running 3 extra miles. Zach was our driver, but ended up getting some running in as well when he went to find Helen. The two of them ran into the transition area together. It was perfect.

Aside from the awesome company I enjoyed for two days, our perfect team name (Mormons on the Run) was a highlight of the experience. It was amazing how many other members of the church we met on the race. People definitely took notice and went out of their way to talk to us. More than once I heard, "Hey, I'm a Mormon on the Run, too"

After 2 days of running and sleep deprivation it was wonderful to cross the finish line as a team. The kids were so cute watching from the sidelines. Max said, "I think you got third place, Mom!"

The whole team--including our two dedicated drivers.

The kids only got to see the finish, but they were pretty excited and impressed by the whole event. In fact, for at least a week after the race Reed was extra helpful and obedient. When I asked why he was being extra good he said, "Well...I just know how hard that race was for you, so I'm just trying to make things easy for you." If that's all it takes think I'm ready to sign up for next year.

ハッピーハロウィン (Happy Halloween in Japanese)

2011-11-04T20:12:00.009-04:00

My kids were definitely channeling the Orient this Halloween--and they were pretty darn cute while they did. The boys have known they wanted to be ninjas almost since last Halloween, so Ruby was the only one we really had to figure out. I'm not sure how long this whole "theme" thing will last, but for the moment they are pretty insistent and I don't mind at all.

I told them to be ninjas "saving" a Japanese princess. She doesn't look like she wants to be saved--probably because it looks more like an attack than a save.

Our actual Halloween night was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, in all my planning and preparing for the big night I failed to make sure my camera was charged and after just one photo is was dead. Ugg...I was kicking myself all night for not being ready to capture the pure joy and excitement brimming from each of my children. The Bywaters were kind enough to drive up and trick or treat with us as well, so my kids were pretty much in heaven.

I wasn't sure what Ruby would think of the whole trick-or-treating experience, but it only took one house for me to know. She was thrilled to be out with the crowd, tromping up and down the neighborhood. She outlasted both of her brothers' stamina when they were her age. After each house she would run back to show us what she had received, very insistent that we acknowledge her score with excitement equal to her own. I told Sam that she was absolutely in her element going door to door meeting strangers and welcoming their treats. Ruby truly loves to meet new people--especially when she thinks they have a fondness for her. I'm not sure if that makes her extremely kidnapable or just an awesome future missionary--I'm going with the later. Either way, I will always have to keep a close eye on this one.

One of the highlights of the night for me was at one of the houses where a woman passing out candy was also dressed like a geisha. Ruby immediately recognized the similarity and got very excited, pointing to her red lips and then to the woman's. It was priceless. (Did I mention how disappointed I was with the whole dead camera battery situation?)

After the fact, I did take a million pictures trying to make up for my loss. I certainly did not want to forget this cuteness. I was especially happy with how Ruby's costume turned out, considering we were just winging it from pictures on the Internet.

My ninjas being...ninjas. I loved their stop action moves for the camera. Max needs a little work a on the "stop" part of that action.

Reed's "ninja" eyes.

Max had a ninja meltdown during our photo shoot and this is the only picture I got of him that didn't also include tears and angry eyebrows.

Ruby liked getting her make-up on a little too much. I was shocked that she let me do it without a fuss. Even with my not-so-steady hand it came out pretty well.

In addition to finding out that Ruby likes to wear make up, we also discovered that she is not a big chocolate fan. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would be willing to trade all of her candy for a few pixie sticks--those, she can't get enough of.

Dead camera battery aside, it was a wonderful Halloween. The kids had tons of fun, the candy is almost gone, and Ruby now officially has girl dress up clothes.

Jersey Girl

2011-11-03T20:58:00.006-04:00

Apparently Max isn't my only child who could claim Jersey as their hometown.

I cannot skip doing Ruby's hair---ever. If I do, this is what it will look like. The month of October was crazy busy for us, so on November 1st when we didn't have anywhere we had to go--we didn't. We also didn't do Ruby's hair all day. That is when I discovered just how big Ruby's hair could get. I didn't do a thing to her hair and, on its own throughout the day, it transformed into big Jersey girl hair.

She definitely looks crazy, but a little part of me can't get enough of it.

It really cracks me up from the back.

My little hot mess on wheels.

Sorry Ruby. You may hate these photos someday, but I had to do it.

Ruby made a pretty cute geisha girl for Halloween this year (pictures to come, mom) but after seeing this I'm thinking next year Priscilla Presley might be just perfect.

Randomness from the past little while...

2011-10-31T22:24:00.001-04:00

I recently downloaded over a month's worth of photos from my camera. Even more amazing than the number of pictures I had taken was how much my kids had already changed since I had taken them. It's a good reminder to me of how much I don't want any of this to slip away so here are some random pictures from the past little while, with just enough words to help me remember the moment.

Reed always loved to sit and be read to and would sit with me patiently listening for as long I wanted. That wasn't so much the case with Max or Ruby. When they were tiny they would both either wiggle away, grab the book, flip the pages ahead or just plain fuss when I would try to read to them. Thankfully by the time they hit 18 months they both grew out of their "bossy book behavior" and thoroughly enjoyed story time. I'm glad because it's just about my favorite thing to do with them and love that it's something that we can all enjoy together.

Ruby imitating the elephant in the book. She's always good for some awesome animal sounds

Even now, Reed can't resist a book--no matter how many times he's read it.

Ruby continues to have a very sweet relationship with each of her brothers. That doesn't mean it's always sunshine and roses between then, but there is certainly enough of it to leave no doubt they adore her.

Max giving Ruby a good morning kiss through the crib.

Max enjoys pushing Ruby in the swing maybe a bit too much and now I can't get her near those things.

Here is Reed suffering through one of his summer writing prompts. It was torture for us both sometimes, but I'm very proud of him for sticking with it. He always had lots of good ideas, however, sitting and writing those good ideas down wasn't always his favorite.

Two things my boys will never tire of--Legos and guns.

I love this picture because it reminds me of how much Ruby wants to be one of the gang. If her brothers are going somewhere or doing something, she's right there behind them.

Did someone say we were looking for sticks? What I really needed is a picture of her when she took this stick and used it like a rifle. I was quite surprised when I saw her do it. I guess that's what happens when you have two older brothers. All I can say is watch out Annie Oakley!

It's not always just Ruby following the boys. Sometimes it's the boys following Ruby--often under her request and direction. A while back I got Ruby some polka-dot pajamas and thus was born the "dot-dot" dance. I'm pretty sure it was Reed that made it up, but it was Ruby that kept it going. Whenever she wears the pajamas not only does she have to the dot-dot dance, but she makes everyone else do it too. The dot-dot dance consists of spinning in circles saying "dot-dot-dot".

Some are willing participants---others are not.

But that doesn't stop her from trying.

No matter how the dance starts it always ends like this.

Phew...it's always a relief to get these memories in writing. Like I said it's only been a few months and already life has changed. Ruby now (for some unknown reason) hates these pajamas and refuses to wear them. It's a real shame, Ruby. They (the PJs and the dance) were so cute and I miss them. RIP "dot-dot dance".

Max--the boy who wants to be heard

2011-10-12T21:20:00.008-04:00

If you want to make Max really mad, interrupt him. He hates it--and he makes sure you know it. Between an older brother who knows a lot and a little sister who screeches a lot, it's no wonder he's passionate about being heard. In fact, in frustration one day, he decided that the best way to avoid inadvertent interruption was to have a rule that no one was allowed to talk for a whole minute after he stopped speaking. Crazily enough the rest of the family chose not to ratify the rule.

Because I know it's such a sensitive issue for him, I try to let him speak and be heard as often as possible. When I do stop and really listen, he never disappoints. So much of what I love about what Max says is how he says it, so these anecdotes do him no justice. I just hope they will be enough for me to remember my funny little boy.

A couple weeks ago we stopped at Arby's for lunch, and, while simultaneously eating his sandwich and dangling roast beef from his mouth, he said, "How do they make meat?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this question exactly, considering the fact that we drive by cows multiple times a day and even have names for our "regulars". I decided to go with cold, hard truth and told him that they don't "make" meat, but instead roast beef is, in fact, just cow meat. He paused for a moment and said, "They only kill the bad cows, right? Not the good ones that give us milk?"

"Yep."

"Yeah...I know the bad ones. They don't give us milk...they just spill it."

The other day we were driving home from dropping Reed off at school, and I noticed Max was deep in thought as he looked out the window. When I asked what he was thinking about, he said, "I was just thinking about getting a goat." When I asked why he wanted a goat, he said, "Oh...you know...so they could eat all our trash. And when Ruby's clothes get too small we can give them to the goat...because they even eat clothes!! (wide eyes and raised eye brows like only Max can do.) And I really want to see a goat eat clothes. So, can we please get a goat?"

Max telling me about one of his "super animals".

Uh oh...looks like someone might be thinking about interrupting him...

It was a close one, but he successfully finishes his presentation and looks pretty satisfied.

Wow...that is a lot of expression for one little drawing. I love this boy.

At family home evening this week we all went around and said one thing we loved about every member of our family. When it got to Max, he said about me, "When I wake up in the morning, and I see your face, I just automatically like it...I don't know even why...I just do." Thanks, Max. It's nice to know I have at least one fan. I automatically like you, too.

Dressing Drama

2011-10-04T21:07:00.006-04:00

I used to love getting Ruby dressed in the morning. It used to be the highlight of my day. She used to let me put her in whatever my little heart desired no matter how silly or impractical. Even at the time I knew those days were numbered--I just didn't know how small that number was. These days dressing Ruby is a task both Sam and I dread. She is soooo particular about what she will and will not wear, and 9 times out of 10 what she insists on wearing is a ridiculous combination of mismatch items that usually include a variety of pajama pieces, sweats, and one of only a few old shirts. She is definitely going through her grunge period. It pains me to see cute little ruffly rompers go unworn in her drawer while my only daughter walks out the door looking like she just rolled out of Punky Brewster's bed. I know I'm the mom and I have tried forcing my clothing choices on her, but, in the end, I find that it is usually not worth the tears that are inevitable when trying to reason with a stubborn girl who is not yet 2 and who still uses non-verbal communication as her primary dialect.

So, a couple weeks ago, when she insisted on her bathing suit, her cake shirt (her most favorite right now), bloomers that go with her purple skirt, and her striped socks (she is a big sock lover ever since her traumatic foot injury--why haven't I blogged about that? Oh wait, I know--that is something I don't want to remember.) I was happy. For a few hours of one day, Ruby and I were on the same fashion page.

Can you see the adoration she has for Max?

Sam thinks this picture is a classic.

Yes, I think Ruby looks cute, but these next two pictures are all about Reed.

I said we were on the same fashion page...we obviously weren't on the same page for everything.

Until our fashion paths meet again Ruby...thanks for one cute pick.

2nd grade

2011-10-03T20:44:00.009-04:00

A month ago Reed started 2nd grade. I may be a bit behind with these first day of school pictures, but now with a few weeks under our belts I can also report that Reed absolutely loves 2nd grade. It has been such a good year for him so far and I couldn't be happier. I worried all summer long about getting him into the right class and our prayers were answered. He's in a great class with a great teacher. After the first week of school he announced that he wanted to stay in 2nd grade forever. For the first time since he started his school career he comes home everyday excited to share something new he has learned.

While it has been wonderful, I don't know if Reed would call it perfect. I was looking through his daily agenda after the first month and I noticed at the bottom where it has a section entitled, "Notes". Reed had crossed out the "s" in "notes" and written: "Note to self: I am like Ramona". When I first asked him what that was all about he protested and said it's a note to self---that means it's just for me. When I persisted he told me that he was like Ramona because when Ramona started 3rd grade she thought it was going to be the best year ever and it wasn't. He said that was how he felt. He could identify with her because he thought 2nd grade was going to be the best until his teacher told him to throw a rubber band he was playing with in the trash. "Doesn't she know that I am collecting them and that they are not trash to me?!"

Thankfully, after about a day he was over the rubber band episode and back to loving 2nd grade.

Max is getting really tired of being a bridesmaid at these first day of school celebrations. Poor boy...next year.

Ruby thinks that if the camera is clicking she should be there. While I was snapping photos of Reed, Ruby decided to work her way into the shot. Did somebody say it was time for pictures?

His face doesn't show it, but he misses this girl and the feelings are mutual. Ruby squeals with delight when Reed comes into view in the car pool line and she is usually the first one to get Reed's attention after we pick him up.

Max always misses Reed like crazy when he starts school again so it's usually a countdown until he comes home on the first day. I love how I can tell that Max is genuinely happy in this picture of the two of them enjoying an after school snack after a long day without him.

After the snack it was back to business as usual.

I think it's time to get some girl dress up clothes since it looks like Ruby has resorted to dressing up as Santa Claus.

I love it when my kids play well together...even when they make the basement look like this.

The reason for the trip... (AKA the longest post I ever hope to do.)

2011-10-01T21:06:00.027-04:00

After 4 days on the road we finally arrived in Grand Junction, Colorado--our final destination and the reason for the madness. It was wonderful to finally be there. Matt, Whitney and Olivia met us there as well, making for a full house for Nana and Papa. They seemed a bit overwhelmed by the 12 guests at times, but I think, for the most part, they enjoyed and appreciated the visit and the time they had to spend with us and our kids.

The one activity I knew everyone--including (or especially) my Nana--was looking forward to was going fishing. Nana had promised $5 to the first person who caught a fish, so my boys were even more motivated to make something happen. Sadly, after several hours and two locations the fish count was zero.

My Nana can bait a hook with the best of them.

...so can Issac.

Fish or no fish, Reed and Luke were having a ball together...even when Reed hooked himself with a worm on the back. Yuck.

Yep...this is the reason we went.

Ruby busied herself catching flowers.

Hello, Opie.

It really was so beautiful there. I was hoping my kids realized how amazing it was to be at a lake on top of a real mountain...not those "hills" we are used to on the east coast.

My little Dora the Explorer.

Of course it was both of my boys who fell in the lake. Max was not a happy camper. After this he was D-O-N-E, done.

Matt and Olivia taking in the beauty of it all. Did I mention how beautiful it was? I love the mountains.

The boys at unsuccessful fishing spot #2.

The girls taking a break together. I love that one of the "girls" is mine.

My poor Nana felt terrible that we didn't catch a thing. I however thought the adventure was a big success. The kids had a great time with my grandparents, we got to enjoy the beauty of the Colorado mountains and there weren't any stinky fish to bring home and cook.

Back at the house the boys enjoyed checkers with Papa.

Moments like this made it ALL worth while.

The weather wasn't too bad while we were there, but it was hot---so when it rained we let the kids take full advantage of the opportunity.

Spending time with far-away cousins was pretty wonderful too. Ruby enjoyed Olivia and her Italian ice.

The next day we headed to Lincoln Park where my Nana and Papa used to take their kids. It was really neat to hear my grandparents reminisce about their life in Grand Junction long ago. My papa has always been a man of few words, so I can honestly say that I heard him talk and share more in the 4 days we were there than I have my entire life. It was great.

Ruby took a liking to Papa--I think the feelings were mutual.

Cute kids at the park.

It goes with out saying that the van was a disaster by the time we arrived, so before everyone headed back home Issac gave it a good vacuum--Tracey helped a little too.

Nana and Papa with the whole gang. (minus Olivia who was being driven to sleep.)

That last day we were there, Papa spent much of the day standing at the kitchen sink slowly and thoroughly washing all the dishes as the many shifts of eaters dirtied them. (I'm not sure why they even have a dishwasher!) After a whole day on his feet, sitting felt pretty good--getting up, however, was a different story. He needed a little help. I think Nana and Papa slept really well after we left.

I almost escaped this entire trip without a single picture of myself. I was definitely there, so, although this picture isn't great, I'm going to have to include it as evidence.

OK...maybe one more. Don't I look, happy? I was.

After two weeks away from home I couldn't help but be very excited when we were finally on our way back. Thanks to a bossy Ruby, it was Reed's backpack that got a stroll through the airport. I'm pretty sure the picture of Max and Ruby was taken right after I told Max, "Remember this is an airport, not a park." I think my warning really had an influence on him.

What do I do when we have to sit and be bored? Take pictures, of course!

Reed, on the other hand, used his time to create some new candy creation ideas.

It was great to finally be on board on our last leg.

It was even better when that last leg looked like this...

We arrived in DC around 10 p.m, tired, but excited to be home again. While we waited for Sam, Ruby enjoyed her power as keeper of the Reese's pieces.

Do those look like happy faces or what? I think Max's face says pretty clearly...get me home now please. (not sure about the please part.)

Just like his father.

It was a wonderful and long trip (I think the length of this post proves that). I'm so glad we made it happen and I hope it's one that my kids don't soon forget. (This lengthy post better help!)

Zions Ponderosa Resort

2011-09-18T20:41:00.019-04:00

After a long and stressful drive through Zions National Park maneuvering along narrow canyon roads in the pitch dark, we arrived at Zion's Ponderosa Resort 10 minutes before they closed for the night.

Arriving at our wagon accommodations we weren't sure if we should laugh or cry. When we had made our reservation staying in a wagon with the kids seemed fun and adventurous, but at 11 p.m. after a long drive and with a van full of sleeping children we had different feelings. This was especially true when we discovered that the wagons had mattresses, but no sheets---just a scratchy motel-quality quilt. It was a cool night so after unloading the kids we rummaged through our luggage and pulled out our towels to cover up with. It was a long cold night, so cold in fact that half-way though the night I decided to take my chances with ticks, lice or some other gross bed beg and slept directly on the mattress so I could cover up with the quilt.

Clearly the kids didn't seem to mind the bare bones accommodations, because they woke up pretty chipper.

Well, maybe Ruby wasn't quite so chipper.

The kids were pretty much in heaven the whole two days we were there. Besides the rustic sleeping quarters. they also enjoyed a myriad of activities around the campground. Including...

Rock climbing

Bungee Trampoline. For being such an aggressive kid, Max really surprises me sometimes. He was so excited to do this, but once he got his turn he was very timid with his jumping and got mad when we told him to jump higher (I guess that's where the aggressive part came in). Eventually he loosed up and had a good time.

Reed on the other hand was more interested in trying to be a "dare-devil". He was pretty proud of his double back flip.

He also provided some comic relief with some of his other trick attempts.

Miniature golfing. (One of the lower points of our stay.) Who goes miniature golfing in the middle of the desert at noon in the middle of August with 7 small children?--We do. Not our best move---think "herding cats".

One of the highlights at Zion's for the older kids was going on the zip line. I was really impressed that none of them were even a tiny bit afraid.

Hanging out at the playground.

There weren't a lot of options for eating at the resort so the kids got to enjoy an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet in the dinning hall. It was a little expensive so we told the kids to eat up. Luke made me laugh when he told Tracey looking for approval, "I'm not even hungry, but I'm still going to eat more!"

The many faces and emotions of Max---all in one meal.

At an all-you-can-eat buffet...Coco Puffs are totally allowed.

Ruby found a friend at breakfast. Cousins make the best friends.

Thankfully, the next night we moved out of the wagons and into cabins which were much more comfortable...but ironically too warm.

The kids also enjoyed the resort's game room---especially Ruby who mostly just wandered around checking things out looking cute.

After a full day of activies we were starving and against our better judgement decided to get pizza in the dinning hall. Sadly it was the worst pizza I have ever had. Totally picture-worthy though.

It may not look too bad, but take my word for it. Between the saltine cracker crust and crunchy onion sauce it was pretty bad.

Even Ruby looked a little skeptical.

After a "yummy" dinner. It was time for a mass shower.

It was fast, it was soapy and it had me thinking of a Shel Silverstein poem.

Our stop in Zions was great and exhausting at the same time. It was truly a kid's paradise. Reed was already talking about wanting to go back before we even made it to the interstate. It was a lot of work, but with these cute faces in tow it was hard not to have a good time.

Bye-Bye Zions...off to CO.

Sin City

2011-09-12T21:46:00.020-04:00

Las Vegas was our next stop and they are not kidding when they call it Sin City. When I phoned Sam to let him know we had arrived I told him I was calling from either Sodom or Gomorrah I wasn't sure which. I've never been a fan of the whole Vegas thing, but being there with kids made me even more aware of all the craziness.

The kids were so cute and good to follow our direction to keep their heads down as we walked through the casino to check into our hotel room to avoid seeing the countless posters of scantily clad people.

We were quite the spectacle walking through New York New York with our troop of 7 children.

Thankfully, it was basically just a pit stop, getting in just in time for bed and leaving in the morning after a McDonald's breakfast smorgasbord. Tracey wanted to get room service, but the frugal in me couldn't bear it and offered to go get McDonald's for the whole crew. It worked out just fine, but Tracey did mention that with room service you get a table. She does have a point there. Oh well...the kids didn't seem to mind and hotel room floors are totally clean, right?

Besides breakfast, the kids found time to squeeze in scriptures and a quick game of "spies" before we checked out.

I'm not sure if this is a disguise or a hiding spot. (Don't worry that note is just part of their spy game.)

And always time for posing.

Ruby had to check herself out before we left. She looks mostly satisfied.

On our way out we stopped by the M&M factory (AKA a large store of M&M paraphernalia) where we watched a short M&M movie and bought some pricey M&Ms.

And then, since one chocolate factory is never enough, we also swung by (by which I mean we took a 1 hour detour to get to) Ethel M's Chocolate factory. At least this factory was actually a factory and we got watch as the delectable confections were created. It was neat to see. I do love a good factory tour. The tour was quick (so quick that I have NO pictures). Choosing the even pricier chocolate took a little longer.

Ruby and Issac mulling over which ONE piece they could afford.

Yep--they were in chocolate heaven.

Once we had met our factory limit for the day we finally headed out of the Vegas area, but not before swinging by Kmart and making the very wise purchase of a portable DVD player. Tracey's was missing a cord and since we don't have one I thought it would be an OK expenditure....and it was. The older kids were as good as gold, but this extra entertainment sure didn't hurt.

We still had a few moments like this...

And this. (Sorry Issac but your fit was the only one cute enough to photograph.)

And speaking of Issac...we also enjoyed about a million potty stops along the way. At least the views were nice from the side of the road.

Through it all we also had plenty of this...even without the movies.

Good bye Vegas---next stop Zion's!

I've gotta start somewhere

2011-09-08T23:10:00.018-04:00

I hate it when I get this behind. The month of August really wiped me out. Our lives have been moving non-stop pretty much since our last post. I told Sam that we had not had one evening of true relaxation since we returned from our Anniversary trip--I know this is true because I've been looking forward to watching the season finale of our favorite TV show, White Collar, for almost a month. We finally watched it last night (well worth the wait) so now I am ready to move on to the bigger and better business of recording the craziness before it slips from my mind--which sadly it is already starting to do.

At the beginning of August the kids and I set out to California on a two-week adventure we had been planning for months. We had several plans for the two weeks; however, most of it was spent with my sister Tracey and her 4 children braving a road trip from California to Grand Junction, Colorado sans husbands in a 12-passenger van. In the planning process we were so excited and felt so adventurous, but by the end of each we were mostly just feeling really tired. It was hard, no doubt, and at times we were asking ourselves, "Did we actually plan this?" but in the end we had no regrets and were so happy to have had the experience for both ourselves and our kids.

The kids were ecstatic just to be in the big van with each other. I think we could have just driven around in circles for a while and they would have been thrilled.

A few of our happy passengers.

Ruby & Issac

Max & Luke

Our first stop was Calico Ghost Town in Baker, California. It was hot, hot, hot and after the large bus of Japanese tourists left, it lived up to its ghost town label.

We hit all of the main attractions starting with the mystery shack. I would give further description of what the mystery shack is, but I really don't know besides the fact that it is a house built on a strange incline that makes weird stuff possible.

Waiting for our tour.

A broom that can stand up by itself? A chair that Max can sit in, but is impossible for him to get out of. (I could really use one of these for a naughty seat!)

We panned for gold of course.

The kids were thrilled with their fools gold.

The Calico Town train ride.

Do they look hot??... 'cause they were.

Ruby was crazy about the train...until it starting moving, that is.

My dad joined us for this leg of the trip. It sure was great to have an extra set of hands.

My little jail bird.

We took a quick walk through the mine to remind me again how claustrophobic I am. I seriously could not get out there fast enough.

Future thieves?

I wish I knew what Max was staring at here. I love how pleased he looks.

After we had seen most of what there was to see we stopped into one of their little cafes and got some much needed slushies. We felt so close to heat exhaustion that they could have charged whatever they wanted to--and they pretty much did.

One good thing about the heat is that when we did leave, the kids were wiped out, leaving us to enjoy not only the van's air conditioning but also a nice quiet drive.

Please note that Reed is using Luke as a foot rest. I'm not sure how he worked that deal, but someone is definitely getting the short end of that one.

One stop done...lots more to come.

10 years

2011-08-02T13:20:00.009-04:00

Last weekend Sam and I celebrated a major milestone in our life---our 10-year anniversary. Ten years sounds like sooo long, but really feels more like a strange combination of "just yesterday" and "forever" all rolled into one. When I think of all that has happened in the past decade I am amazed and am so grateful to have Sam by my side along the way.

Since 10 years is a really big deal we decided we needed to do something extra special. We had all kinds of of ideas including the Caribbean or Cancun, but between Sam's limited time off, an emergency root canal, and my uneasiness about leaving the kids for too long we decided a local getaway would be just right. I'm so glad we did because I don't think we had even made it to the freeway before I was missing the kids, promising myself I'd never be annoyed or frustrated by them again. I think it will be a few years before Cancun will be a possibility.

Friday, Sam took off work and we headed to Olney (about 45 minutes away) to Sandy Spring Adventure Park, which is an amazing ropes course in the middle of the forest. The place looked fun online, but turned out even better than I had imagined. I really don't think I could have picked a more perfect place for Sam. He kept saying, "Lindsay---this is the best place!"

They had several courses that traversed the trees that were rated in difficulty like ski runs. They told us we had to start with a green or yellow and we unknowingly picked THE easiest course at the park (behind two 8 year old boys no less). It was fun, but when we finished we were definitely ready for something a little more demanding. Not realizing we had just breezed through the EASIEST obstacles, we headed straight for the double black diamond--the absolutely most challenging course they had to offer (seriously, what were we thinking?Apparently 10 years of marriage has not been long enough for either one of us to fully develop our common sense). Halfway up the first ladder one of the park employees shouted up to us, "Have you done a blue course yet?" "No." "You need to do a blue before you do a black." We paused awkwardly mid-climb with no response wondering if perhaps she did not realize how capable we actually were (capable indeed!) until she said, "All right...you're already up there, so go ahead." Happy to have someone acknowledge my apparent athleticsim I moved forward, only to realize a few minutes later it was our naivete she recognized.

On the second obstacle I realized I was a little over my head while standing 40 feet off the ground. I attempted to cross 40 feet over suspended logs using every one of my undeveloped muscle to hold myself up while dangling from my life line. I really started to worry when half-way across I was running out of steam and still had 20 feet to go. At that point the smile on my face changed to a distressed one of "I can't do this but I know I have to/Sam I need you to help me!/I know I have do this on my own." Those feelings were familiar and Sam nailed it on the head when I finally made it across and he said, "I knew you were having a hard time because you had your labor face on." Yep. I knew I recognized that face from somewhere!

Despite the overly-ambitious double black diamond attempt which ended prematurely with a full on rescue on the most challenging obstacle, we did have an absolutely wonderful time, and by the time we were done, we were completely exhausted and very ready for Cafe Rio.

It had been almost 7 years since we enjoyed Cafe Rio in Provo so I wasn't sure if it would really be as good as I remember. It wasn't--it was better.

This is Sam's "stop taking pictures of me while I am eating" smile...

...and this is his retaliation.

After our late lunch we headed to Annapolis, which turned out to be a lovely city on the water--beautifully historic with a hip "yachty" feel to it. I was really quite impressed by it all.

The hotel we stayed in was a deal we got on Priceline right on the water. It was a nice waterfront hotel, but I have I hard time imagining they really charge the advertised $380 a night. It was nice, but not that nice. It was certainly nicer than the $80 we paid, so we were happy. The room was great, but we laughed at the view. I'm pretty sure they reserved it special for their Priceline bargain hunters.

Awesome.

Once we got to the hotel we changed into new, less sweaty and dirty clothes to go rollerblading. I'm sure neither Sam or I really had the energy to do this, but it was part of our "plan" so we did it anyways.

Roller blading is something Sam and I used to enjoy doing together quite a bit before we had kids. I really don't know if I've been since Reed was born or not. It sure didn't look (or feel) like I had. I was an awkward mess on wheels. Sam must secretly wake up early on the weekends and roller blade because he didn't have any problems at all. Thank goodness, too, since I had several "Help! I can't stop!" moments that he was able to scoot in and rescue me from.

Show off.

After drenching another set of clothes with sweat (it had to have been close to 100 degrees) we figured we'd had enough fun and headed back to the hotel for a quick break and another change of clothes.

That night went to PF Chang's for dinner. The food was good, but it was late and we were exhausted, so afterwards we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our next day of adventure.

We had lots of plans for the next day including going to Ocean City to fulfill my lifelong dream of going parasailing, but an hour into awful traffic we decided to call it quits and head home via IKEA and yep, you guessed it...the ropes course AGAIN. Did I mention that I couldn't have picked a a more perfect activity for Sam?

After another adventurous afternoon in the trees we headed home bruised, sweaty, exhausted and super excited to see our three favorite little faces.

I am so grateful for 10 years of marriage that have brought us so much happiness and joy, provided us with immense opportunity for growth and development, and given us three wonderful children whom we love and adore more than the world.

Happy Anniversary Sam! You're the best.

P.S. You owe me a para sailing trip.

In case I missed something in my recap here is a video that Sam made from our trip. It pretty much captures it...although I don't know why there is so much waving at the camera. I'm pretty sure people stopped doing that in 1955.

It's a hot one

2011-07-21T22:35:00.016-04:00

The "feels-like" temperature today was 116. That's what it said on weather.com at least. I told Sam I was going to take their word for it. We didn't crack the door today--not even to go get the mail. Yesterday we weren't as smart.

Right about 3:00 (which I discovered later was the absolute peak of the day at about "feels-like" 110) we headed outside with scooters and stroller only to be greeted by oven-like heat. It hasn't been too hot this whole summer and we really hadn't been outside at all so we had no idea what kind of weather awaited us. At that point though it was too late to turn back on the plan we had talked about all day, although I couldn't imagine that we looked anything but ridiculous trudging up the deserted hill of our neighborhood in the blazing heat. The kids were insistent so I persisted. Thankfully the park is truly just around the block otherwise I'm not sure we would have made it. When we did arrive we were all dripping and Max was begging for water (we didn't bring any, what were we thinking?). Ruby and I plopped down in the shade, while the boys attempted to play ninjas for approximately 30 seconds before they too joined us in the shade. At that point Reed made some wonderful analogy about how the sun was like sin and the earth is like people and how the sun tries to go after the people in the shade more than the others. It almost made sense. Clearly the heat was on his mind and maybe even starting to get to him.

It didn't take more than a couple minutes for everyone to have had enough. We raced home using the shortcut and made it home before we all melted. I don't think walking through the door ever felt so good.

Reed was pretty excited that he had frozen a water bottle earlier, until he realized it wasn't going to do much to quench his thirst immediately. "Take a picture of me with the frozen water." I think my kids are starting to get used to my picture taking habits.

Ruby was pretty happy to get some water in her too, however she wasn't asking for a photo op.

This is the face Ruby gives when I tell her to smile. I think I'll stick to catching her off guard for now.

Max almost seemed traumatized by the excessive heat. "I never want to go outside again", he said.

Instead of playing at the park we stayed cool inside and played with our new Jenga blocks. Real Jenga is not ideal for playing when Ruby is around so the boys came up with a game called "Trees". They try to set up as many trees (blocks) as possible while Ruby tries to knock them down as fast as possible. I thought it was just a simple little game until Reed said, "Hurry, try to get 5 trees up so you get to move to the next level with unbeatable trees."

Max setting up.

Ruby thinking of her first move. This is her thinking face.

Ready, set....

Go!

I just checked the 5 day report and it looks like we have a few more days of "trees" in our future. Is it too early to be looking forward to Fall?

Bathing Cutie

2011-07-21T19:58:00.007-04:00

I'm not one to go on and on about how cute I think my kids are, but I have to make a quick exception to say how adorable I think Ruby is in her swimsuit. When I saw it back in October I just knew she had to have it. I really don't splurge on her clothes....ever really, so I didn't feel too guilty this time especially when Sam said it might just be the cutest thing she's ever worn.

Yep...dressing this girl up never gets old.

Sports Boys

2011-07-20T20:36:00.011-04:00

When I was pregnant with Reed the first article of clothing we ever purchased was a pair of overalls from Baby Gap with a little football player embroidered on them. This was a bit of a bold purchase, since at that point I wasn't sure if we were having a girl or boy. I just had a "feeling". I didn't know much about boys, but I did know Sam, and I knew that if he had anything to do with it our boy would be athletic.

When Reed was born at a hefty 9 lbs. 7 oz. I figured college football was certainly in his future. Reed wasn't just heavy as a baby he was also quite strong. He loves for me to re-tell the story of when I took him to the doctor for his 3 month appointment. When the nurse attempted to give him his shots she struggled to pull his leg straight and said, "This boy is as strong as an ox.".

Despite his strong start to life, the start of his athletic career was a little weaker. T-ball didn't interest him at all, soccer was marginal, and after a somewhat emotional basketball season I worried that maybe this wasn't going to be his thing (I feel like a terrible mother even saying something so pigeon-holey about my SEVEN-year-old boy). I am only OK with this admission because I can immediately admit that I was wrong.

Reed recently finished up a basketball class and I was amazed at what a difference a few months had made. He was no longer on the sidelines waiting for someone to pass him the ball---he was going after it. He was stronger and more consistent with his shots. He was so much more confident, competent, and really starting to coming into his own athletically.

I think all Reed needed was more experience and a lot more confidence. I am happy to acknowledge that he is well on his way in both areas.

This was Max's first time doing basketball and he was beyond thrilled. After watching from the stands for a whole season, he was ready to get into the action. And into the action he did get.

Max was in heaven playing a real basketball game...

I guess my initial intuition was better than I thought. I don't know about college football but if things continue in this direction I'm sure there'll be plenty of "real" games in our future.

Flat Skin

2011-07-19T20:33:00.008-04:00

Max is my child with widest range of dispositions. He can be the grumpiest, growliest foot-stomping boy ever and then a few hours later be the most benevolent, loving, thoughtful child. When he is the latter version of himself, it is often accompanied by a very distinct squinty-eyed, nose-scrunched chipmunk-like smile. With his special smile he will often snuggle up next to me to say something like, "You're the best mom ever."

How do I have 1000s of pictures and not one of the chipmunk smile? This one is close, so it will do.

Recently at church he snuggled up to me with his signature chipmunk smile, climbed on my lap and said, "Mom, I love you. Do you know why I love you?"

"Why?"

"Because your skin is so flat." Of course, I had to inquire further as to what he meant exactly, to which he said, "You know...not bumpy and wrinklish like Dads."

I was feeling pretty good (about my skin at least) until he said, "And do you know why I love Dad?"

"Why?"

"Because he's just so awesome!"

In my vanity I am content with the flat skin compliment and think it's great that Max thinks his dad is awesome. I totally agree.

Independence Weekend

2011-07-10T16:25:00.013-04:00

I know the 4th of July was a couple weeks ago now, but since this is the only record I have of my life I'm not going to worry about that. Thirty years from now I wont care how behind I was. I'll just be glad that I did it.

Independence Day was much more than one day for us this year. We really tried to make the most of it and celebrate all weekend long. We started off the festivities with a Ward breakfast. It was nice to continue getting to know our new ward and enjoy the patriotic program. Unfortunately, we packed our morning a little tight and had to basically rush straight from that to a bike parade at a farmers' market. We were running a little late and arrived just as the bike parade was heading out. Watching the parade take off without them was a less than perfect way to start the activity. Thankfully, the parade did make another loop so the boys were able to join for the second round. Sadly this didn't solve the problem for Max who was pretty disappointed in the parade route, "This isn't a parade--it's just an oval!"

Reed was happy to ride around the booths checking things out in his Americana wear. Silly little side note: Reed has always loved patriotic clothes---and not just for the 4th of July. He really loves anything that has to do with the flag, USA paraphernalia, etc. He was very disappointed to discover that the American flags we just purchased were, in fact, made in China. I think it's very cute he has so much USA pride. When we went looking for something festive to wear he wanted to find the most red and white and blue things possible. I think he succeeded.

Max, however wouldn't have anything to do with the "parade".

Luckily, Ruby was mostly just cute and oblivious to any parade drama.

The event was looking to be a complete bust (especially when they started giving out awards to those who had officially signed up for the parade--we hadn't) until someone in charge saw our sad, teary eyed little group and (I believe) gave us an impromptu "most unique" award...since we were actually on scooters in a bike parade. Very unique indeed. It was a stretch, but it worked especially when it included tokens to get a free ice cream cone at a local ice cream shop.

After the parade we headed to the ice cream shop where everyone felt much better. Our biggest problem here was choosing a flavor. I've never seen 24 flavors of soft serve.

I'm sure it was Ruby who ended up with most ice cream. She couldn't decide which flavor she liked the best so she made sure to take a turn with all of them.

On Sunday Ruby was the only really festive one, wearing a little sailor dress that had once been mine. It has been passed on and enjoyed by all the other little girls in my family so it was extra special to have Ruby getting her turn. She was pretty adorable.

On the actual 4th of July we went to Virginia to meet up with some old friend, the Fifes and Phelps, from our old ward in Provo. It was great to catch up and see how our lives have changed and stayed the same in so many ways. The additional 9 children between us had a pretty great time to running around together too. I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have so much as a blurry firework picture to document the event, but it was pretty great.

Pillow Fight

2011-07-07T21:36:00.011-04:00

Growing up without brothers, the frequent need to tackle, wrestle, pummel and "fight" with your siblings is still pretty foreign to me. It is, however, not foreign to my children, who feel this need quite frequently (especially my middle one). I want my boys to be boys, but I am still not a huge fan of the friendly brawl, since no matter how innocently it starts, it almost always ends with someone crying, usually because half way through being rolled over they decide they don't want to play any more. It happens that way so often that the only play fighting that I can truly approve of is the pillow variety. Now, I'm not personally a pillow fighting expert myself, but I've done it enough to know it's pretty safe and people usually get worn out before they get injured.

Today when I didn't want to hear any more arguing I suggested that we do a pillow fight instead. As averse as I am to fake fighting, I much prefer it over the real thing.

The idea excited them enough that they forgot their current dilemma and switched activities. In fact, they took the whole thing very seriously. They started with stretching....

and continued the warm up with some push ups.

Ready, set...

GO!!

Of course, Ruby had to get in on the action. Her ridiculous outfit is so Ruby. It's often frustrating to fold laundry when my little fashionista is around. She goes around collecting my clean clothes like Halloween candy--and, of course, wants to wear it all...simultaneously. Let's just say those polka dot sweats aren't the only pants she has on--not even one of two. She's lucky I love her so.

No doubt--she's going to be one tough little girl.

I got to fight the winner (which actually turned out to be both of them since they tied--we are a big fan of ties in this family). I thought they were impressed with my skills until Reed said, "Wow...if Dad was fighting us he would have us down with just one hit." So much for my moves. After the fight, they wanted to show me their best moves.

In the end, my plan mostly worked. They forgot about whatever super important thing they were fighting over, no one was injured, and my kids once again think Sam is cooler than me.

He's from Jersey...

2011-07-03T15:40:00.007-04:00

...or at least he sounds like it sometimes. One of the more endearing things about Max is how he talks and the imperfection thereof. Of course at some point down the road I hope he can pronounce everything correctly, but until that time comes we will enjoy hearing him say things like he needs a "foik" when he eats and hopes we can build a "foit" later. He loves his "bwuvver" and seeks his approval by asking, "Wight Weed?" We love it so much that sometimes we ask him to say things like, "You're the best girl squirrel in the world" just so we can hear him say, "You're the best gurler squirreler in the worlurd." It's a really hard thing to record accurately in writing, so you'll have to take our word for it that it's pretty cute.

Another thing I love about the way Max talks, besides that fact that he cannot pronounce his Rs, are the questions he asks and the excitement he shows when he shares new information.

Some of his favorite things to say when he's excited are "How is that even possible??", "That is so strange!", and "Wow! Isn't that cool!" (of course coupled with an equally intense facial expression.) He certainly makes regular life feel more exciting.

The other day I let him take a shower in my bathroom. When he got out he had wide eyes and raised eyebrows saying, "There is something in your shower that smells so beautiful! It smells even more beautiful than flowers!" (Wide open mouth) "Can you believe that!!??" I love his energetic excitement over small things. I love it so much I didn't even mind that the good smelling stuff was my good conditioner and that in the smelling process Max also decided to add a bunch of water to it.

Other than excitement, Max's speech also conveys the great love and concern he has for others. From Max's earliest efforts to communicate he was always very observant and aware of others. He would ask things like, "Does that make you sad mom?" or "Reed, did you have good day at school?" Max just naturally thinks of others and it shows in the things he says.

The other day Max was tired and laying on the couch. As I walked by I asked him, "Where did you get such a cute little face?" He looked at me sleepily, smiled and said, "Do you want to take a picture of it?" I did.

Max--we love your delightful passion for life and concern for others. You're my favorite 4-year-old in the worlurd.

18 months

2011-06-28T02:24:00.002-04:00

A couple weeks ago Ruby turned 18 months. Since then I've wanted to compile a list of things I don't want to forget about this moment in life with her, but whenever I've sat down to do it I don't know quite where to start. During these past 6 months she has developed into quite the little girl. Basically there is a lot to her that makes her her and I don't want to forget any of it. She is passionate about... everything (wishy washy is not her thing) with a good idea of how she would like the world to turn-usually right around her. She is an adorable, quirky and fun girl with lots of energy and attitude.

Despite the fact that mellow is not in her repertoire, I really feel like Ruby has hit one of her 'sweet spots' for me. I adore watching her try new things, push herself to do more and learn and discover the world around her. I think it has also helped that I have stopped wondering when she will turn into the easy going, soft spoken, unassuming, shy girl I always thought I'd have. Ruby is vivacious, loud, determined and confident and I love every bit of her. Here are a few other things I love about her right now.

1. When this girl wants something...there is no stopping her. I love this picture of her. I can't see her face, but I know just how focused it is as she insists on wearing a winter coat on a blazing hot day and carrying all of her "supplies" to the car by herself. When she is this crazy determined I know sleep is just around the corner.

About two minutes after we got in the car she was out.

2.Whenever we ask "Who wants....(anything)?" she raises her hand just like this. We think it's so cute that we ask questions just to see her do it.

3.She loves to be chased. She loves to put clothes on, but when it's time to put on pajamas she always runs into the boys room and hides in their bed. It's now part of her nightly routine.

4. She might be a little bit of diva. I always thought diva little girls came from diva mothers but now that I have one I don't think that is true. When she saw these glasses at WalMart she made a bee-line for them, put them on and didn't want to take them off. She ended up falling asleep in my arms during our shopping trip with the glasses on so it wasn't until we were in the car that I realized we were the proud new owners of zebra print glasses. She loves them, wears them all the time and I plan to pay for them next time we are at WalMart.

5. Sunglasses aren't the only thing she steals. She is pretty much an accessory bandit. I can't count the number of times I've had to walk around with hat hair while shopping because Ruby has suddenly decided her outfit needs an extra touch on top.

When we went camping with the Bywaters, Ruby saw a headband (on Sohpia's head) that she just had to have. Sophia obliged and life is good for Ruby.

6.When it comes to accessories not even the boys are safe. This is Ruby after church. The boys take off their church clothes and she puts them on. It looks like things didn't go exactly as planned.

7. She loves stuffed animals. It all started with an obsession with stealing Max's stuffed animals (I think it mostly still is), but Dotty, Dolly, Sharky and Crocky (are you noticing a naming theme) are her favorite bedtime companions.

8.She is already stealing my clothes...well shoes at least. Here she is stuffing my heels into her drawer.

9.She may like to steal my clothes (actually anyone's clothes), but she certainly has her own sense of style. She insists (I've used this word a lot during this post...there's a reason) on wearing these goggles on her face or on top of her head. It's her "thing" right now. I am amazed that they don't drive her crazy.

Ruby's style is pretty eclectic. This outfit really epitomizes it, though. Max's shirt, a tutu, tights (in the heat), some old shoes of Reed's she pulled out of a box and a BYU cap, of course (always accessorized).

10. And finally, one of the most exiting things about being 18 months: GOING TO NURSERY! Ruby was actually as excited as we were about attending nursery. She has yet to so much as look back at us when we drop her off. We have a great nursery leader and I'm glad she is so happy there. I love to pick her up at the end of church with her little lesson coloring page in hand. It makes me smile every time.

Wow..that was a lot, but like I said, there is a lot about this girl that we sure love. She is a joy and a menace and life just wouldn't be the same without her.

Father's Day

2011-06-20T21:13:00.005-04:00

Last Sunday was a very low key Father's Day. Life has felt a tad stressful and busy recently, so low key was just about all we could handle. I hope Sam felt loved and celebrated because that is what we tried to do and certainly what he deserves.

This nap after church was probably just about the best gift I could give Sam these days. I am always amazed at how he can survive on so little sleep sometimes. He is almost always up and going before the sun. I also like to get up early, but I certainly can't do it with the same stamina. For as long as we have been married I have depended on Sam to be my personal alarm clock. Just one of the many things I depend on him for.

Sam requested BLT's for dinner (going right along with our low key celebration). I share Sam's love for bacon so I was happy to oblige his request. The boys were happy to be involved in the preparation. Max really got into his lettuce leafing--maybe a little too into it. He was pretty proud of his leafy mound.

Sam said the sandwiches did not disappoint.

After dinner, Sam and the boys built what might be our best fort yet. Yes...that is an upside coffee table roof.

It was big enough for us all and the highlight of the day for the boys (all of them, I think). Sam is such a big kid and great dad. I really think there are few things Sam enjoys more than playing with his kids.

Happy Father's Day Sam! Thank you for the countless things you do to keep us laughing and feeling loved. You're awesome.

Summer Vaction has arrived

2011-06-16T21:28:00.004-04:00

Today was Reed's first official day of Summer vacation---ever. Since he had previously attended year round school we have never truly experienced a "summer vacation" with him. I have so many good memories of summer vacation as a kid and am looking forward to creating some new ones with him. I know it's only been one day, but already it is so nice to have him all mine again.

We started things off right today with an extra helping of muddy and wet. The weather cooperated beautifully giving us a close to perfect 78 degrees to enjoy outside. I know the perfection wont last so we plan to live it up outside while we can.

Everyone got it on the action.

I don't know who is more excited, Reed or Max, about Reed being out for the Summer. This is the look Max gave me when I asked if he enjoyed having Reed home all day. I think the is answer is pretty clear.

This past school year has been quite the journey for Reed. Just looking at these two photos from the first and then last day of 1st grade make my heart ache at the realization that my baby boy is becoming more and more of a distant memory. He has grown up a lot this year and while I do enjoy the new stage it's hard to think that another stage is ending. Just the other day as we were getting in the car Max was trying to buckle up and very sweetly and kindly (and sadly somewhat uncharacteristically in the afternoons for him) asked Reed to please move so he could reach his seat belt. Reed immediately scooted out of the way (the immediacy was also sadly a bit unexpected for the 'right before dinner' time as well). I was so pleased that I couldn't let the moment pass without comment. I said, "Did you see how sweetly Max asked you to move, Reed?" "And Max did you see how quickly Reed moved to give you room." Wasn't that wonderful? " Without hesitation Reed piped in, "And did everyone see how mom was so quick to compliment both Max and I so we would both feel proud of ourselves." I couldn't help put laugh. He got me.

First day of 1st grade Last day of 1st grade

This is the only picture I have from his 1st grade experience at New Market Elementary. He was only there for 6 weeks and I'd be lying to say it was smooth sailings. He mostly worked it out, but I think he and I are both looking forward to a little more stability in 2nd grade.

Reed and his "narrator" puppet. On one of the last days of school we got to come and watch his class preform their puppet shows. Reed was the narrator and I must say did a marvelous job. The boy does have a flare for the dramatic and this time it served him well.

So long 1st grade... hello Summer vacation. Looking forward to making it the best ever.

He loves her

2011-06-08T11:10:00.007-04:00

Today when Ruby woke up from her nap crying (she always wakes up grumpy) I was on the phone with Verizon so I asked Max to run upstairs and tell her I was coming. I knew Ruby wouldn't be thrilled, but I was hoping it would buy me a couple more minutes to finish up on the phone. However, when my conversation ended a few minutes later I was surprised by silence. I couldn't imagine that sending Max in had been enough for her, but when I ran upstairs this is what I saw.

I know Max really loves Ruby, but too often that love is displayed in the form of teasing. He loves to make her crazy (she kinda likes it too) by pulling, poking, chasing, stealing, pouncing on or squeezing her, so a sight like this makes me very happy. (When he saw this picture on the computer he said, "Mom, I like her.")

Yep, Max really does love Ruby. Joining her in the crib was a little out of the ordinary, but scenes like the ones below are ones that I see just about every day.

Camping 101

2011-06-05T20:12:00.014-04:00

After nearly 10 years of marriage and 3 children Sam and I decided it was time to go on our very first family camp out. The last time I went camping in a tent was girls camp when I was 16. Other than that, I can only remember going tent camping one time as a child. (CORRECTION: My mom just informed me that this is not true. Apparently went tent camping every year (much to her displeasure) for the first 9 or so years of my life and is disappointed that I do not have better recall of this since she did it just for us.) Needless to say I was a little unsure about how things would go. Thankfully, it was much less "dirty" than I remember and even more enjoyable than I had anticipated.

We got to the campsite a little late, but still in time to enjoy hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire before breaking in our brand new and very large tent. The kids can't get over how huge it is and think it's awesome that Sam can stand up in it. Aside from our new tent we were a little slim on camping equipment. Thankfully, we were meeting the much more prepared Bywaters so we still did just fine. Even so, Sam ended up using a leatherman to chop up some firewood.

Here is Ruby with our new and wonderful tent.

The next morning everyone woke up pretty chipper...even Ruby who did the last couple hours in the truck with Sam. The tent was great---but even the best tent sits on very hard ground and without the proper padding it was a long night for Sam and I.

Max hanging out with Oliver.

For breakfast in the morning, the Bywaters made blueberry pancakes in their fancy dutch oven.
We brought donuts. They were kind enough to share their pancakes and wonderful mountain man breakfast.

While breakfast was cooking, Robyn and I took the kids down to the little campsite playground where Ruby and Isabel got to know one another a little better. She's learning to play with others, but she still has the tendency to bump people out of her space.

Ruby also enjoyed discovering the fact that for Sam camping is synonymous with indulging in junk food.

My pictures are a little heavy on Ruby, but that's only because the other kids were too busy running around having fun playing spies and exploring. The campsite was really beautiful...even Ruby kept looking up and pointing at the trees saying "This! This!!"

Sam snapped a few pictures of Ruby and me, but of course the only one I feel comfortable posting has me looking away. The campsite was beautiful...I was not.

I did try to take pictures of the boys, but this is what happens when you take too many pictures of your children. They run out of regular faces and start using strange ones. Reed says this is his "spook face" I have no idea what that means.

After breakfast we packed up and headed out on a quick hike. I tried to take a picture right before we headed out, but even my "Hey! Look over here" resulted in exactly zero children looking in my direction.
\

It was our first. It was great, and I'm sure there are many more to come.

Maybe the best morning ever...

2011-05-29T22:24:00.008-04:00

This morning Sam and I woke up in a slight panic when we realized we had overslept and had 30 minutes to get ready and out the door to church. Sam jumped up and said he'd get the boys ready if I took care of Ruby. Sam returned a few seconds later and said, "They're ready."

I heard what he said, but I didn't really know what he meant. All I could do was check it out for myself. I did and this is what I found.

This may not be a big deal for some people, but for us it was nothing short of absolutely amazing. These are the same children that seem to need shock collars to get completely dressed on any other day, so to see this sight on a Sunday was almost unbelievable. I couldn't have been any prouder.

Yep--my kids are growing up and sometimes that's even a good thing.

What am I waiting for?

2011-05-26T21:17:00.012-04:00

The other day I was unpacking some more boxes and came across the book that Sam had put together for my birthday last year of all of the posts on our blog from the month I posted something every day. It was a sad and happy find. Although it has only been about a year the things I read about our life "back then" made me so happy. There was really nothing extraordinary that I had recorded and I loved that. It really did help me remember what life was like last year. The sad part came when I realized how many sweet (and now forgotten) moments I've let slip by. I feel like I keep waiting for just the right night when I have nothing else to do. If these past few months are any indication of what my life is going to be like, a night with "nothing to do" is not going to happen anytime soon. Instead I'm going to try to not worry about having enough time and instead just try to get in the habit of jotting down random things about our life no matter how small or silly.

Reed has a lisp--for now at least. A few days after moving into our new house Reed lost both of his front teeth. He had been letting them "dangle" for waaay too long, looking like some kind of crazy pirate, so it was a welcome change when they finally came out. It's so funny to hear him talk since ever since he was small he has always spoken very clearly. It's certainly a new look for him and further evidence that my boy is really growing up. (I totally know what my mom is talking about now when she would say she wanted to "freeze" us at different stages of life.) Reed is very freezable right now--missing teeth and all.

I think the tooth-fairy has a thing for origami because this time Reed received his dollar bill as a ring. It wasn't until the afternoon that I was aware that he had worn it all day at school, looking like the child of a rapper.

The other day I sent Max upstairs to put on some socks. After several minutes had passed with no sound or sight of him I decided I needed to go check on and prod him along. When I got to his room I found him still without socks, but instead wearing 4 shirts. "This one is my fast shirt. (it has stripes and he thinks that it makes him look like one big blur when he runs)" , this brown shirt matches my brown pants, this shirt is the shirt I already had on, and this one has a hood in case it rains." Then, as he started to sweat, he looked out the window and said, "It's probably not going to rain," and immediately removed that layer. The whole thing was very serious to him and I tried not to let him know how ridiculous it was. More than anyone, Max knows how to push my buttons (and enjoys doing so), but I do adore his silly logic and will be sad when it's not apart of our daily life.

Ruby is currently going through a major growth spurt, not so much physically, but in most every other way. It's like she woke up one day and said, "Oh..I think I get this whole family life thing" and has decided to leave the baby role behind for full-fledged family membership. I could go on and on about how she has grown up so much lately, but in an effort to finish this post (and not appear to show favoritism) here is just one or maybe two things about her right now.

She insists on loading and unloading the silverware by herself. I love that she wants to contribute so I don't even mind that our silverware drawer ends up looking like this...

Meal time in general is a big deal for Ruby especially since she started sitting at the table and not just near us in her high chair. And don't even think about eating without praying around this little girl. Watching her sit at the table with her arms folded waiting for us is just about the cutest thing she does right now.

Phew I did it...back in the swing of things again...kinda.

Gypsies

2011-05-11T22:57:00.000-04:00

For three weeks after we left North Carolina we were homeless while we waited to be able to close on our new home in Maryland. I wont lie and say it was easy to feel like gypsies for several weeks, but we did have some wonderful times enjoying the generosity and hospitality of the Bywaters and my sister Whitney in New York. It was stressful not knowing how long it would be until we could move in, but I tried to enjoy the adventurous aspect of it as much as possible.

During one of our nomadic weeks the kids and I decided to drive up to New York to see my sister. To make our drive a little more enjoyable we decided to stop in Pennsylvania at the Hershey chocolate factory. I felt so brave taking my kids on this road trip and even braver when we decided to make an unexpected stop and spend the night in Pennsylvania instead of continuing on to New York. The night in the hotel was not planned, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.

We ordered pizza, jumped on the beds, filled the tub with bubbles and had fun experimenting with lights and the camera. It was a fun and much needed night of rest.

The next morning we woke up and headed straight to Hershey for the factory tour and then the create your own candy bar tour (the pricey highlight of our Pennsylvania trip). I was the only one with kids on the tour. It was the real deal. We all had to wear aprons and hairnets the whole time. I felt a little over my head keeping them all (mostly Ruby) in line and appropriately covered.

Reed was in heaven listening to all of the details of the process.

Max was pretty engrossed as well watching his creation go by.

The boys even got to design their own chocolate bar wrapper while the chocolate cooled. It was pretty neat.

Ruby mostly just wanted to be free and roam the factory without her hairnet. I'm thinking they don't get very many 1 year-olds on this part of the tour.

When we were done Ruby made it very clear how she felt about the hairnet and apron. She was OK with the cap.

All around there was candy as far as the eye could see--amazingly enough we were able to leave without any of it.

After our quick stop in Hershey we headed straight for New York. Actually I'm pretty sure "straight" is not an accurate description. We took many a wrong turn between Hershey and New York including an hour long loop in a very Korean area near the New Jersey border trying to avoid a toll. I ended up giving up and paying the toll. That was certainly one of the more frustrating moments of the trip. Our delay also caused us to drive though Manhattan at 5:00 p.m.. I think I calculated that we traveled 3 miles in one hour---not the best way to end a road trip. Needless to say we were thrilled to finally arrive at my sister's apartment.

Whitney's family lives right on the East River. I think the view of the city is truly breathtaking.

The kids did not appreciate the view as much as I did, but they did enjoy spending time with their cousin Olivia and checking our her stomping grounds including...

The pier

The New York City Library

Gigantic cupcakes at Bryant Park

The Manhattan Temple

and of course the subway.

The one thing Reed really wanted to do in New York was to go to the Empire State Building. I was planning on just taking Reed, but when the time came Max really wanted to go even when I warned him about the long lines we would have to stand in. As I anticipated, about halfway through the waiting process, Max was wishing he has stayed home. Thankfully he also had to go to the bathroom really badly so one of the attendants rushed us up to the front where the bathrooms were. Thank you Max! The attendant was helpful in getting us through the line and even let the boys borrow his hat for a picture.

When we did get to the top of the observation deck it was cold and windy and Max was D-O-N-E. We took one lap around the deck and did the rest of our observing from inside.

Reed was not disappointed by the trip..

I can't say the same about Max.

Our gypsy living was mostly fun while it lasted, but, like this post, I'm glad it's over.

Happy Mothers Day!

2011-05-08T05:21:00.008-04:00

Lindsay has done all the posting on our blog for so long that I need to warn everyone that this is Sam posting and not her. I just know that people are so used to her posts that there might be some confusion if I didn't at this explanation right up front. So...

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in my life, but especially to the wonderful mom that I get to see every day! Lindsay does so many things in our home and for our family. I'm thankful for Mothers Day, because even though it would be impossible to express all the gratitude my wife deserves, I at least have this day to remind me to tell her that I at least have some clue how lucky I am to have her.

Lindsay is the photographer in the family, so pictures rarely get taken of her, and good pictures of her are even more rare (because it's so hard to take pictures of yourself), but I've dug out a few pictures of her so I can tell you ten things that I love about the awesome mother of our home. The pictures sometimes go with the comment and sometimes they don't. That's just the kind of post this is.

She's dedicated to our children. Lindsay spends approximately 80% of her waking hours thinking about ways to make our childrens' lives better. She's always trying to think of ways to teach them more, help them develop skills and talents, overcome challenges, have fun and meaningful activities, and are generally the best they can be. It is easy to see how much she loves them.

She's dedicated to our family. Lindsay is the driving force behind everything good in our family. She keeps us on track financially, is constantly finding ways to improve our house and our quality of life, and is always thinking of ways to make our family better. She is constantly thinking and optimizing our schedule. And even when it means uprooting her entire existence to trek off to an unknown part of the world, leaving behind good friends and comfortable surroundings, if she thinks it will be the best thing for our family, she won't even hesitate.

She's dedicated to the gospel. There is nothing Lindsay does that is not somehow related to her love for the gospel. She is constantly pointing our family towards the Lord through teaching and example.

She worries. What? That's a bad thing? No way! She is always worried about others and helps us understand how to do it right. Reed mentioned a kid at school that was different and she began immediately to help Reed think how this boy might feel Reed could help him feel more welcome and accepted. Her worrying has saved me from offending more than a few people (though she can't always stop me) and has likely saved us from several accidents and countless other disasters.

She forgives. I make a lot of mistakes and so do the kids, but she forgives and moves on and we love her for it.

She's a good friend. One of the things that make her such a good friend is she is constantly thinking of others and never wants to put them out. Her goal in social settings is to look for people who might feel left out and fix that. Lindsay is never thinking about herself.

She's talented. From the very beginning I have always been impressed with Lindsay's many and varied talents. If you follow this blog at all, you already know she's a talented writer and photographer. Her Mom has helped her know what kind of effort it takes to develop talents, and she has applied that knowledge over and over.

She's funny. I once told her that she's gotten funnier since we've been married, but I'm not so sure that's true. People probably know that I try too hard to be funny--Lindsay hardly has to try at all. If you've ever thought you were laughing at something that Lindsay said that was unintentionally funny, chances are it wasn't unintentional at all. She has a very quick wit.

She's adventurous. Near the end of my first year of graduate school, I found out about an internship opportunity with Pfizer in Connecticut. I remember shouting the description across the house to Lindsay and saying, half jokingly, "Should we go to Connecticut?" She responded seriously and enthusiastically, "Yes!" Lindsay's not afraid to do things like that. I might have passed on the opportunity because it seemed to crazy to try to make arrangements to take my wife and one-year-old son out-of-state for the Summer, but she's always willing to make things like that work.

She's beautiful. The first words she ever heard from my mouth were, "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life!" Those words are as true as ever almost fourteen years later.

She's perfect. For me anyways. Who else could tolerate me like she does? Our life works because of her. (Okay, that was more than ten things, but I've never been able to do math exactly right when I'm around her.)

Reed is 7

2011-05-02T21:06:00.017-04:00

When I asked Reed what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday this year I realized that this blog has done more than just help me remember the details of our life. Reed is also a big fan of the blog, loves to read about himself and requested a celebration identical to last years. Last year wasn't anything extraordinary, but even so, three days before our big move I couldn't match it. We did what we could, and I think he felt celebrated, so it was a success.

Sam wasn't home on Reed's birthday, but we still wanted him to be included in the festivities so we started the morning with a video chat to open presents.

After we said goodbye to Sam, Reed started working on his wind up robot kit that we had given him. Max and I had picked it out a few weeks earlier and I'm pretty sure Max can't keep a secret because, although he was thrilled, Reed wasn't very surprised.

Reed being the robot.

Lucky Charms was Reed's junky cereal of choice this year.

When I let Reed pick out a special lunch too he said, "Oh...I know what kind of birthday I'm having this year--a food birthday." Sad, but true.

This is the lunch Reed picked out for his "food" birthday.

After school we invited our neighbors to the park for an improptu birthday play date.

I don't remember why Max was so sad.

Thankfully he got over it.

We didn't have cake, but ice cream sandwiches were just as good. It was birthday cake flavored ice cream in the middle so it was close to perfect.

Ruby thoroughly appreciated the break from tradition.

The day after Reed's birthday was his last day of school at Herbert Akins. I actually picked him up a little early because we were loading up the truck and what Reed said he really wanted for his birthday was to pack up our moving truck. ( I guess all the delays were really getting to him!)

Reed and his teacher Mrs. Janik.

As he was leaving his classmates mobbed him with a big group hug. It was really so sweet. I actually almost started to cry and then laugh when I heard one of the little boys say, "Good-bye" you smart little guy."

I was worried that Reed would be heartbroken to leave his school, but he was really nothing but excited about the move.

He certainly doesn't look too torn up in this picture.

He may have danced a jig on his way out, but Reed really did love attending Herbert Akins. His class made him this special good-bye shirt that says "Once a hawk....always a hawk!" That shirt is now a treasured possession.

Reed has really grown up so much this past year--almost too much. Even though I'm tired, I am going to note 7 wonderful things about my 7-year-old Reed.

1. He loves the scriptures. Ever since he was tiny I have felt this, but as he grows I have seen this grow too.

2. He loves his siblings and will do almost anything for his little sister.

3. He is following in his father's footsteps in his love for telling jokes. He is especially fond of making up his own jokes...some have been pretty good too.

4. He has a passion for learning. This is something else that I have noticed about Reed his whole life. I love that he can get excited about learning anything new and then equally (if not more excited) about sharing it with others.

5. He can speed read---really. I once saw him sit down and read an entire Magic Tree House book in 15 minutes. I couldn't believe he had read the whole thing so I quizzed him and he had. The boy can actually read faster than me. Hopefully he'll keep that skill. It will serve him well in college for sure.

6. He loves to dance--or what he calls dancing at least. It's a combination of of robotic/ninja/break dancing moves. I don't know where he picked them up, but he does love it.

7. He is an awesome whistler. I have never had this skill so I am super impressed when he can bust out recognizable tunes including his most recent favorite, The Star Spangled Banner.

Reed, we love you so much. I am so thankful for the past 7 years. Our lives have been so much enriched by your presence. Happy very belated birthday my boy!

Catching Up and Moving Forward

2011-05-01T21:08:00.010-04:00

I've gotten really behind with posting again and I'm ready to catch up---and move on. It's MAY now, but back in March we celebrated St. Patrick's Day, Reed turned 7 & we officially moved from North Carolina to Maryland. Here is a quick recap of our St. Patrick's Day.

Our St. Patricks's day was pretty tame compared to last year, but it still included a last-minute trip to Walmart to raid their clothing department for anything green. How do my children have nothing green?! It was slim pickings for sure, but we found what we needed to feel festive and avoid being pinched. (I loved how concerned they were that Ruby have green attire as well.)

Here are the boys in their green. Note to self: Having kids say "Happy St. Patricks Day" while they pose does not make for a great picture.

It was a over a month ago now, but I do recall that we had beautiful spring weather on St. Patricks day. It was perfect for participating in the old Irish tradition of cartwheeling in the front yard with friends. What? That's not a tradition...well it should be. I'm sure the kids would agree at least. They had a great time.

Ruby was not about to miss out on the cartwheeling action. She was pretty cute trying to copy the boys.

Ruby not only looks ready for St. Patricks Day, but Marti Gras too.

At this point we had already packed up most of our house. Luckily I had the foresight to leave out the food coloring to make this festive dinner possible. Maybe next year we'll try real Irish food and save the dye for Easter eggs.

I love Fuquay

2011-04-20T21:41:00.022-04:00

When we moved to North Carolina 7 years ago we felt we were really moving to foreign territory. I still remember the night we flew into Raleigh to move into an apartmet I had only seen online. The apartment was not great (there is a reason they didn't include any interior photos), but from the moment we arrived we loved this state, the beautiful trees and how it smelled liked we were camping. I do remember, however, as we began our house hunt, seeing listings and freeway signs with the name "Fuquay-Varina" on them and telling Sam, "What a crazy name for a town. I'm pretty sure I don't want to live in a place that I can't even pronounce." Three months later were Fuquay residents and happy to be so.

There is so much we loved about living in Fuquay. I had high hopes of taking time our last week there to take pictures of all of our favorite places, but alas--like most things on my "would like to do" list--it didn't happen. Since I don't have all the pictures I had hoped for, I feel even more compelled to record my thoughts about our home and life of the past 7 years.

There is no way I could include everything that we've loved about living in Fuquay, but topping the list would have to be the people here. We enjoyed a wonderful (and growing and changing) ward during our time here. We've had great friends and neighbors. I can honestly say that I have come to know and become friends with more wonderful people while in North Carolina than at any other place or time in my life. As we were getting ready to leave I had grand plans of writing notes to all of the good people in North Carolina who had positivally influenced myself or my family. Unfortunately, this was another activity that never made it off the to-do list, but it was amazing the large number of people on my mental list that were due thanks.

In addition to the great people, we have loved living "a little more out in the country". I always considered myself a city girl and find it a big plus to live in an area with good freeway access and everything you need within a few minutes. Living in Fuquay has taught me to appreciate things other than freeway on ramps. We absolutely loved the soybean field, old pecan grove and pond behind our house. It didn't have all the conveniences I would have liked (we were close to Wal Mart and.... Wal Mart), but for the past several years it was close to perfect. It made us feel like we were in the middle of nowhere and we loved it. No matter where life takes us I really think a little part of me will always be from North Carolina.

For 6 long weeks Sam lived and worked in Maryland and came home on the weekends. It was not may favorite and I certainly have greater empathy for single parents. It is a tough job. Here are a few pictures from the 6 long weeks of no Sam and no blogging.

While Sam was gone Ruby ended up in my bed almost every night. It didn't make for very restful nights, but she sure was cute to wake up to.

I'm not sure if this is "Hello" or "Good-bye". They were usually way too close together. I would pretty much go straight from feeling relief that Sam was home to dreading his departure.

I wasn't the only one who dreaded the Sunday good-bye.

There were several stow-away attempts...

And sad goodbyes...

The boys did their best to be extra helpful while we were without Sam. Reed took Sam's charge to be the man of the house while he was gone seriously. Unfortunately, to Reed that meant he should also be able to stay up late like "dad always does". I told him he was welcome to stay up if he was willing to help me clean. He agreed and stayed up way to0 late mopping the floor. He told me, "It's kind of funny, I don't really like to work during the day, but at night I love it."

That boy must really hate to sleep

Max was a helper too--more like a SUPER helper. He wanted me to take a picture of him turning into a super hero. I give you Super Max...

Max actually was a super helper--especially when it came time for Ruby's nap. Ruby's sleeping was a wreck while Sam was gone for some reason and the only place I could get her to nap consistantly was in the car. So twice a day Max and I would go on a "driving date", which primarily included driving Ruby to sleep and parking while Max would jump into the front seat to read books, play games and do school work. He really was a trooper to hang out in the car so often.

I think Ruby really missed a male figure in her life because while Sam was away she took a greater interest in playing with Max and wanting Max to do everything with her. Thankfully Max usually obliged.

"Dog" is their favorite game. Max loved to have Ruby pull him around on a leash. It was pretty adorable.

And sometimes the dog leads...

Max thought it was pretty funny when Ruby plopped herself down on his lap with a book. "Mom--she's a BIG gurler (that is how he still says girl and I still love it.))

Ruby rarely lets anyone hold her hand. I guess Max is an exception.

Even without Sam we had good times. (Wow--it looks like we are always washing the floor.)

The True Clean team (the name my kids go by when they are doing jobs) has a new member. I'm not sure what she was doing, but Ruby was loving it.

and so were the boys.

And we had plenty of sad times too. This is Reed after he accidentally pulled my camera and computer off the bar with one swift movement. He felt terrible. I tried not make him feel worse even though I was devastated thinking I had cracked the lens of my camera--again! When I told him it was going to be OK he said between heavy sobs, "But I'll miss your great pictures." He knows just what to say.

No matter what happened during the week everything was so much better when Sam walked through the door on Friday evenings.

I have many more pictures documenting our last few days in Fuquay, but I think I'll have to save them for another entry. This one is already starting to break records.

I have a toddler

2011-03-10T22:44:00.007-05:00

About a month ago, when Ruby and I took a quick trip to Maryland, I decided to rent a car seat with our car rental. When I arrived to pick up the car the attendant asked if I would be needing an infant or toddler car seat. I had to stop and think for minute, but eventually figured it was a "toddler seat" I was looking for. At the time I remember thinking, "how could anyone call my little baby a toddler." Now only a month or two later there is no denying it. As crazy as it sounds to me---I have a toddler.

Ruby's been walking since the beginning of January, but I just now realized how much her mode of transportation has truly transformed my baby into a bona fide toddler. Here are a few random things about toddler Ruby.

She loves, loves, loves SHOES. If she see them she must put them on----and one pair is never enough. She likes to switch back in forth between her two pairs of shoes and any one else's she may come across.

I love how distressed she looks at the fact that the shoes she has found are not yet on her feet.

Ahhh...that's better.

Shoes are her favorite, but she is also a big fan of all accessories and when she finds them she insists that we put them on her or wear them ourselves. Hats, coats, jewelry and now purses are her new must haves.

Ruby is rarely without a coat, sweater or jacket. She has a few and changes them frequently throughout the day. (Note to Tracey & Whitney: Am I raising BYU's "coat girl" of 2029??)

Jewelry is another obsession of my girl. Anything can be a bracelet--even the hood to my camera lens.

She wears my hat better than I do.

Baby dolls? No. Purses? Yes. I'm not sure what this says about my girl, but it sure is cute for now. Anything that has a loop is a purse and suitable for carrying things around the house. This is probably my favorite thing right now.

Always pushing the edge of fashion, Ruby has also taken to rummaging through her brother's drawers looking for the perfect piece for her new outfit. I guess the boy's church socks are kinda like leg warmers. I don't know what that face is all about.

Reed gave her a hand with this one. She loved it--so did he.

Ready for a swim?

It's not ALL about clothes and accessories for Ruby these days. As a toddler she now also finds great joy in her ability to help herself in the pantry. I'm all about her becoming more self sufficent, but I don't think 'self sufficent' is where we are at yet.

Yep---there is no denying it, we've got a toddler---and from the looks of things we are in for a little bit of trouble and a whole lot of fun.

Dinner is served

2011-03-04T20:55:00.017-05:00

We are going on 3 weeks now of having our family split between two states. Sam is at work in Maryland all week and comes homes on the weekend. It has been a challenge, but to be honest it hasn't been as hard as I anticipated---until this week. I don't know if it was just unfortunate timing or just that the whole situation is starting to wear on me, but between 2 trips to the IRS office, 4 hours hanging out in a car wash lobby (painful, but worth it), a sick baby girl that doesn't feel good but doesn't' know what she wants (not a good start for reducing our trips to the Dr.) and an out of service dishwasher, this was a rougher week.

The rough week was in full swing by Thursday and after a trying afternoon dealing with a sick baby and boys that were not being as obedient as they should be, I was frustrated. Reed must have noticed my frustration because as I was sitting on the couch with a feverish and sleeping Ruby he came to me crying saying that he was sorry for making a bad decision. I wasn't even sure what he was referring to specifically, but I went along with it as he tearfully asked if he could do something to make it better. I was a little surprised at Reed's response because even though I'd like it to be, this is not his normal reaction. He told me that he wanted to make dinner for me and wanted to serve it to me on the couch so I could just rest and not do anything at all.

I wasn't sure what to think of this thoughtful behavior, but I was thrilled none the less. I don't know if this makes me a good mom or a bad mom, but I told him that that would be great and that I would love it if he would take care of dinner.

He and Max got straight to work bustling around the kitchen. It was so sweet to see the two of them working so well together. Within about 30 minutes dinner was served---literally. My two little servers delivered my food to me on the couch without me having to do a thing.

Our menu for the night consisted of of fish sticks, steak fries and frozen vegetables. I was actually quite impressed that they pulled it off. I even let them use the oven (I could see them from the couch so they weren't completely unsupervised) and nothing got burned (food or people).

They boys were so pleased with their work. And although I usually have a no-fish stick policy for myself, I wouldn't dream of disappointing such a thoughtful gesture. Together, Ruby and I ate them all and they actually weren't half bad.

It was a pretty great moment for Reed. I was very proud of him and consider it a huge stride in the right direction. Who knew fish sticks would be the highlight of my week?

Now if I could just get him to wash the dishes too...

Ruby's Ears

2011-03-02T21:06:00.005-05:00

The past 12 months or so of Ruby's life have been filled with more than her share of trips to the doctor. In fact a couple days ago I was going through some medical records and counted that she had had SEVENTEEN sick visits to the doctor in the past year. Those seventeen visits were in addition to the several "well visits" during her first year. I knew it felt like we were always going to the doctor, but now I realize we really were going all the time.

The vast majority of these visits were due to ear infections. Ruby inherited many wonderful things from Sam (let's just say those aren't my lips), but a tendency for ear infections was not one of them. After her 9th or 10th round of infection and antibiotics we decided it was time for tubes. I was a little nervous for the surgery, but mostly just excited for my little girl to get off the infection/antibiotics merry go round.

The hardest part was leaving her with the nurses, but she did great and within 20 minutes the procedure was done and they were bringing me back to wait with her while the anesthesia wore off. They told me it might be an hour before she woke up, but I guess not even drugs can keep my cat napper down. Within 10 minutes she was awake and ready to go.

I was hopeful that her surgery was going to be the happy ending to this past year of Dr. visits, but unfortunately she has already had two ear infections in the past month since getting the tubes. There is no doubt the tubes do help some. I just hope that " helps some" turns into "helps a lot" and that this next year we keep the number of doctor appointments to single digits.

A few more random California pics...

2011-02-25T21:01:00.014-05:00

I found a few more pictures I had downloaded onto Sam's computer. We love California and we love these people. Not in that order.

Sometimes I forget how beautiful the ocean really is. It was nice to get a little reminder.

The boys got a nice look at a lovely pelican.

Silly boys that love each other.

More people that we love.

Max and Scarlett are the cutest little friends.

When we finally did head home it was on the red eye. We arrived in Chicago for a layover at 6 a.m. (3 a.m. to us!). We let Sam sleep in preparation for his interview the next morning while we made ourselves at home on the terminal floor.

All right...I am officially ready to move on.

Happy 4th Birthday Maxo!

2011-02-24T21:01:00.015-05:00

As tempted as I am to just jump to blogging about what is going on right now in our life, I really can't skip Max's birthday otherwise I might really give him a middle child complex.

If December is a hard month to have a birthday, I'd have to throw the beginning of January in with it too. In fact, in some ways I think it is a little worse. Since we normally travel over the holidays it seems like we have always been coming or going on just getting back on January 6th in the past. Whatever the case, we have never really celebrated Max's birthday on his birthday and even after the fact it has been pretty weak. This year, since we were going to be in California on his birthday with family I wanted to break that trend and really celebrate his big day. In fact weeks before his birthday I asked him what he would like to do for his birthday. His answer was always changing so I had a hard time making a plan. Finally a few days before his birthday when I was questioning him again about the plan he said, "It's OK Mom. I'll just let you decide everything." That is Max for you. He really can get excited about most anything and at least when it comes to a birthday party he's not too particular. We ended up celebrating it twice (making up for the years when we didn't do much at all.) The day before his birthday we were in Long Beach and celebrated with my parents and cousins on my side of the family.

I still wont say that Max has ever had a real party, but we did play pin the tail on the dragon so it was close. Max was the first to do the pinning and made sure his went right where it belonged. I don't think he totally got how this game works because he was insistent that no one else put their tail near his.

I think Max's favorite part of the game was being "in charge".

Strangely enough the only thing Max did really decide on was what cake he wanted. He said he wanted the cake that had pineapple circles on top. I assumed that would be pineapple upside down cake, but thought it was a little odd because I don't think he'd ever had it before.

I thought for sure he was going to be disappointed, but I was wrong. He loved it. I guess 4 year olds do like pineapple upside down cake.

We also had punch balloons so I maybe it was a party after all. They were a hit with all of the kids. Even Ruby quickly figured out what to do.

Luke and his very sad black eye. (Thanks to Reed we all now know that using a rock as a discus is always a bad idea. )

The next day on his actual birthday we were in San Clemente and got to celebrate with Toby whose birthday is the same as Max's . Unfortunately I left my camera behind and have no pictures to document that part of the celebration. I can say though that Max was thrilled with the shared occasion. In fact I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it even more because it was shared. I love that about him and so much more. Happy Birthday my big 4-year-old boy!

The rest of December...and January too.

2011-02-21T22:17:00.006-05:00

This catching up stuff is for the birds. I am really going to try to move forward fast because if I don't I may be stuck in 2010 forever. Here we go.

On Christmas afternoon, after we had enjoyed the morning as a family, we rushed out the door to catch a flight to L.A. Thankfully we beat the snow and were able to depart as scheduled. The next 2 1/2 weeks were spent enjoying California's mild winter weather, but more importantly our extended family. Being able to spend time with family is really the only reason we make this trek so frequently. Here are a few photos from 2 1/2 weeks of wonderful family time.

After a long day of Christmas Day travel we were able to wake up the next morning and spend Christmas Sunday in Long Beach. Ruby looked adorable in her Christmas dress. My Nana made it for her and I thought it turned out just perfect.

After a day in Long Beach we headed to San Clemente. We were extra lucky because while we were there all of Sam's siblings also arrived to spend a few days in California. It was lots of people and lots of fun.

Football at the park...

and lots of cousins to play with.

After the park we enjoyed dinner at a place I had been wanting to take Ruby pretty much since she was born.

After a few days in San Clemente we headed back to Long Beach to spend time with my family including bicycle surry rides along the water at Shoreline Village. I love that my kids love to be with their cousins.

It looks like Issac and Ruby still have some warming up to do.

Part way through our ride Reed and Luke took over as the drivers. It was quite a funny and swervy sight. I was quite impressed that they could get it moving at all.

I don't take enough pictures of my parents, but since I did this time, here they are...

We took a break halfway through our ride to enjoy the beach and try out some new camera techniques.

I love how Max kept his helmet on the whole time while playing in the sand. He loved that thing.

A few days later we headed to the Long Beach Aquarium. Watching the scuba diver feed the sharks was definitely one of the highlights.

Even Ruby enjoyed it.

At the "touch tank" I think I was the biggest wimp. Both the boys had no problem petting the sharks and sting rays.

After a few days in Long Beach we packed up for San Clemente again. (wow I feel tired just thinking about all this back and forth business). It is a hassle to do so much flip flopping, but being able to squeeze it all in makes it worth it.

One of the funnest things we got to squeeze in while in San Clemente was family dodge ball. Watching and playing were equally fun.

I love this picture of Ruby and Lacey. It pretty much sums up the reason we come and what makes all the craziness (not pictured) worthwhile.

Phew! That was long, does that mean I can move on to February???

Happy Birthday Ruby!

2011-02-19T21:04:00.009-05:00

A couple months ago--December 9th to be exact--my baby girl turned one year old. Even two months after the fact I stumble over the words when people ask me how old she is. I truly can't believe how fast this past year of life has gone. It's even harder to believe how our family ever felt complete without with this wonderful and feisty little girl. Here are a few things about Ruby at 12 months.

1. She loves to wear scarves...not that she has any, but for a while now Ruby's favorite funny thing to do is to pull clothes out of drawers and drape them around her neck. The truly funny part is that this action is very intentional and she she keeps her "scarves" on as she plays around the house.

2. She folds her arms to pray. No photos of this for obvious reasons, but it's by far her best untaught "trick". When she hears the start of a prayer she stops whatever she is doing and puts one hand on top of the other one. They certainly don't stay folded the whole time, but it's a very cute start.

3. She loves pasta. Hands down this girl's favorite food. One night she even brought me a box of Hamburger Helper to show me that that was what she wanted to eat.

4. She had her 9th ear infection. Since her 6-month appointment this girl has been one ear infection after another. This has been a trial for both her and me...especially in the sleeping department. When she finally does get some rest it is heavenly.

5. She got a black eye. I'm not sure how after two rambunctious boys it is my little GIRL that gets our first black eye. It wasn't too bad, but still pretty sad. Of course it was right before I was trying to take pictures for our Christmas card.

6. She seems to have an affinity for sports. If there is a ball in sight she is after it.

7.She loves to keep pens, pencils, crayons and markers in her hands throughout the day. She hangs on to them like a security blanket and even likes to have them as she falls asleep in my arms. Future artist? writer? We'll take either one.

8. She loves the couch. The couch is her favorite place to be. She loves to walk along the cushions, occasionally bold enough to take a step forward before launching herself into a prone position.

9. Ruby celebrated her big day with her four favorite people. I have always heard that December is a hard month to have a birthday and now I know that even early in the month that is true. By the first week of December life was already so crazy that we had to squeeze her celebration in over several days. Cupcakes one day, presents one day, a balloon the next. After multiple days of celebrating Reed said, "Hey--Ruby's birthday is kind of like Hanukkah!"

We gave Ruby a box of tissue for her birthday. I wish I would have taken more pictures of her "enjoying" her gift. It was perfect and was certainly the gift that just kept giving.

Happy (belated) Birthday Ruby! We love you!!!

Loose Teeth

2011-02-17T21:21:00.010-05:00

I will blame my false start to catching up on technical difficulties, a sick baby girl and the fact that it is really hard to remember details of things that happened 2 months ago! Even so, I am not going to give up. These past two months included some land mark events in our family and I would not be able to forgive myself if I just skipped them completely so here we go...

After years of waiting, wiggling and edging closer and closer to his 7th birthday, Reed finally lost a tooth. He had been working on his lower left front tooth for months without any luck until the morning of November 18 (wow--I am really behind!) when while eating oatmeal it was finally ready. He wanted to pull it out on his own, but he just couldn't quite get himself to do it.

While agonizing over how to get his dangling tooth out Sam told Reed that he was just going to "dry" his tooth off with a paper towel so he could get a better grip.

Reed agreed to the "drying" and Sam, with a little bit of force, got the job done. After it was out Reed told Sam, "I knew you were going to do that."

After the tooth popped out I thought Reed would be ecstatic, but instead he spent the first few moments after his loss quietly digesting what had just occurred, almost afraid to open his mouth.

Thankfully after just a moment or two he was over the shock of it all and happy as can be.

This landmark day was only made bigger and better that afternoon when he leaped off the school bus with a tooth necklace around his neck. (the plastic kind you can put a tooth in). I assumed he had shared his exciting news at school and received the necklace to bring home to put his tooth in, but I was surprised instead to find out that he had actually lost ANOTHER tooth that very same day at school. After almost 7 years of waiting, having TWO teeth fall out on the same day has to be some kind of record. Needless to say it was a good day for Reed and a busy night for the Tooth Fairy.

Reed giving me his new toothless smile...or at least the look he gave me when I asked for one.

And we're back....

2011-02-13T20:54:00.004-05:00

Wow! After a 2 1/2 month break from keeping any kind of record of our life I am ready to be back to doing what makes me happy and helps me remember the good stuff. It's certainly been a crazy 2+ months with plenty to remember and plenty I'm sure I've forgotten already. To keep myself from being too overwhelmed I have committed to recording a little something everyday until I'm up to date.

I really should start back where I left off at the beginning of December but since my memory isn't as good as I think it should be I am going to start by skipping right to a quick recap of this unbelievable past month.

Yesterday marked exactly one month from the date Sam flew up to Maryland (the same day we arrived home from a 2 1/2 week trip to California no less) to interview with a statistical consulting firm. Having the interview itself was pretty miraculous given that it had come to be through a seemingly random e-mail from a head hunter. Fast forward 1 month from that date and our life has changed quite a bit. Within exactly one month Sam was offered and accepted a new job, we found a new home in Maryland, put our house up for sale and sold it just in time for Sam to leave and begin his first day of work tomorrow. I could never have imagined that these changes could take place so quickly, but as they have it has become more and more apparent to both Sam and I that the Lord has been very involved in the process and that there is much more than just a new job awaiting us in Maryland. It's been difficult to consider the thought of leaving our home and life of the past 6 1/2 years for the unknown, but I know Heavenly Father has a plan for us and I now look forward to the adventure ahead.

Much of this past month has been spent getting our house prepared to sell. It's amazing how many little things can stay "undone" for so long. I'm pretty sure I've been meaning to sand and re-paint our mailbox post since the day we moved in. My dad came to spend the day with us a couple weeks ago and help us check off many of the to-dos on our house list.

The boys were thrilled to be involved in making the post look new again. I must say they did a wonderful job and I'm pretty sure we have the nicest looking mail box post in the neighborhood now.

More catching up to come...

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-12-01T20:17:00.008-05:00

This past Thanksgiving weekend was wonderfully full of family and good food--just like Thanksgiving should be. My parents, Matt, Whitney and Olivia along with Matt's brother and his wife joined us for our big dinner.

Since not all of our guests could be here until Friday, we postponed our feast a day and spent Thursday evening making preparations. To make things easier, we didn't start the cooking until after the kids were in bed--or at least we thought they were in bed. Reed sneaked out of bed looking for a drink, but I decided to let him stay up and help us. He was in heaven working with all the grown ups. He was bouncing around the kitchen helping with this and that, grinning and feeling so important. I asked Reed, "So is the best Thanksgiving ever?" He gave a huge smile and said, "More like the best night ever!" Watching him enjoy himself so much was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

Reed and Grandfather making frog-eyed salad.

Yes--he was wearing ninja clothes to bed.

We were up pretty late cooking and we eventually wore Reed out. After promising not to tell Max about his special evening he hopped right in bed without another word.

On Friday morning we finished our final preparations including some wonderful rolls by Sam and a cute little Indian.

While Sam was putting the finishing touches on the rolls, I threw together Thanksgiving costumes for Ruby and Reed. Max had Reed's old Indian costume and, although I had planned to do it in advance, I had run out of time to do anything for Reed or Ruby. I thought we would skip dressing up this year, but I quickly discovered that we now have an official family tradition that could not be skipped.

I had grand plans for making a cute little pilgrim girl costume for Ruby, but with no time and no sewing machine available I used the scissors to create suitable costumes for both Reed and Ruby. I was actually pretty surprised and impressed at how well they turned out considering the 5 minutes I had to put them together. The kids were thrilled.

My little pilgrim girl.

Ruby and I in a "for posterity" picture. Looking at this now I'm starting wonder if those 5 minutes would have been better spent doing something with my hair.

I'm not sure what the numbers were like at the first Thanksgiving, but the pilgrims were definitely outnumbered in our group.

Olivia, Ruby, Black Hawk (Max) and Squanto (Reed)

My little Indians

Olivia was more of a Great Plains Indian.

The weather was beautiful----and thankfully Reed's rain dance didn't do anything to change that.

Amazingly enough everything came together at the last minute (thanks to a very group effort) and tasted great. Somehow I remembered to take a picture of the food, but not of everyone at the table. Maybe next year.