The Crispy Critter Gazette

2009-10-05T09:31:00.005-06:00

First off, Thomas independently showed me the sign for "key"!!! When I told him I didn't understand, he brought me Ryan's keys that were right next to him. AWESOME! I am thrilled! He has also mimicked the sign for apple (he actually does it the same as "candy" :) ) and yesterday, he also patted me on the back to get my attention. I am just amazed.

The kids and I gleaned potatoes at my friend's farm, and then she let us pick apples off of her trees, too. Patrick and Rebekah especially loved the gleaning. Rebekah not so much the apple picking--she spent the whole time on the trampoline.

We, of course, had baked potatoes for dinner the next night. I told them all to wash some--I thought it would be fun for them to wash the potatoes they had "picked". They all thought that was great. When the potatoes were done and I was taking them out of the oven, 3 of them had little tiny bubbles on them. I wasn't sure what it was, so I washed them again. More bubbles!!! Then I realized that those must have been Rebekah's, and she washed them with dishsoap. At least we knew they were clean!

Hopefully I'll have lots of apple things to bottle this week. It'll be great!

2009-08-04T13:42:00.002-06:00

Our little one-year old William is walking now! He's all over the place. He is so cute, just toddling around. And he jabbers. All day long. . .

Thomas has made a lot of progress the last 8 weeks with a new speach therapist. He actually has what might be considered a "vocabulary", but it is a mix of words, signs, and picture exchanges. He is acquiring about 2 words per week. If you are the least bit interested, here are his words.

Vocalization:
dog
quack
boo!
ow!--this is his word that means "I don't like what you're doing"

Signs:
more
dog
duck
horse
plane
helicopter
sock
cheese--this one he used independently yesterday for the first time! Yee haw!

Picture exchange--which we are just starting, and only includes desirable things:
m&m
swedish fish
oreo
mater movie
toy car
book
(he avoids the picture of the diaper :)

So, there is his progress. He'll be three on Saturday, and I can't believe how far he has come in a year and a half. I am really grateful to all of the therapists that have been working so hard with him.

And on the personal side, I now have three daughters wearing bras!!!

Well, ttfn!

2009-05-07T21:30:00.002-06:00

Because I know myself so well, I am going to take this opportunity to wish everyone
"Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a small recap of what's going on:

William:

He's now pulling himself up on everything, and I think he'll be taking steps sideways soon.

Thomas:

He has acquired his first words
No! (about a month ago)
Weeeee! (on slides and driving down hills)
and his latest, just a few days ago
EEEEE (his version of please, while making the sign!)

He has resisted signing, and we don't know if it's his ears that have delayed him in speach, or something else. But I am glad he can do something! He takes me by the hand and drags me to wherever the thing is that he wants.

The Big Kids

The big kids are working together to dig a hole to Tibet. It's in the back yard, and is a pretty big hole now. The other day when it was going to rain, they put a sheet over it to protect it. Today they made black and yellow construction/warning signs to go around it, as well as a flag that shows the sky and a big brown blob that hangs off of the bottom (that's the hole, if you haven't figured it out). They say that if they succeed, they will make a name for themselves throughout kiddom. They even tried to use the post hole digger, but they were too little to use it properly. Thomas thinks it's great fun to help them dig (with a spoon), and then to throw the dirt back in.

I hope you've enjoyed this little update!

2009-04-19T23:02:00.002-06:00

William is no longer "broken-back fang baby". He was so cute as Fang! He is now "crawling all over the place with 7 teeth" baby. He is so fast! He dragged himself around pretty quickly before, but there is no stopping that kid now!

Catherine had her 9th birthday today. It was a "Polly Pocket" birthday. She counted and she now has 13 PP's, with various outfits and companion animals. She loves playing with them and spends too much time dressing them. She especially loves the new little pool with water slide that she got as a gift today. I must say that I would have really enjoyed a toy like that when I was a kid, as long as none of my boy-friends knew about it.

I had an AVON open house yesterday. Last time I did that, Rebekah keifed the sample lip glosses, and over time, they were all gone because she'd used them all! She also loves nail polish and kept asking if she could have that. This time, I watched her like a hawk. She didn't get any lip gloss, and cried when I told her she couldn't have any more lip balm or body paint, even though "I yoss mine!" When she asked about the nail polish, she answered her own question with, "maybe tomorrow, is dat alright?"

Now that it is spring, we have to be even more careful with Thomas, the escape artist. He's not actually an escape artist, just and opportunity escapist. If there is any kind of door open, he runs for it. And he runs fast! Laughing the whole way down the street. The kids are totally oblivious to him running down the road whether he has clothes on or not. I do let him roam around the back yard, where he usually goes to see the dogs. One of the very few sounds he makes is a dog barking. He stands at the window that looks out to the dogs and barks. It's really quite hilarious. Today we went for a walk, and there was a guy with a dog ahead of us. For the longest time, Thomas just kept barking at that poor dog. I wanted to yell to the guy, "Seriously, it's the only sound he can make!" except that wouldn't be totally true now, since Ryan finally helped him learn how make a sound of, well, a sick cat.

Well, I'm off to bed, since it's entirely too late to be awake.

The Return of the Raisin

2009-02-23T17:04:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I totally forgot the most important thing that happened yesterday. At 9:00 pm, Ryan and I were in our room with the door closed. The kids were supposed to be asleep, but I had given Rebekah a bowl of raisins because she was hungry and couldn't go to sleep. We heard crying and knocking on our door. We were trying to ignore her so she would just go away and go to bed. But she wouldn't stop fussing. Her speach isn't really very good, but I kept hearing the word "raisin", and I finally caught the word "nose". So I said, "you have a raisin stuck up your nose?" to which she replied....drumroll please..."yes!" I, of course, couldn't ignore her anymore in the hopes that she would go to bed, so I opened my door and looked up her nose. I couldn't really see anything, but she cried when I touched the outside of her nose up toward her sinuses. Just great! She blew and couldn't get it out, so I tried finding the bulb syringe to no avail. Finally, I had her blow and blow a whole bunch. In the middle of a blow, she stopped and smiled and said "the raisin came out!" Voila! Back to bed, and no more raisins for her! It's hard to believe, but it took 5 kids for any foreign objects to be stuck in an orifice, and we didn't even have to take a trip to the ER. What a great night!

pictures

2009-02-23T08:37:00.001-07:00

2009-02-23T08:33:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pictures of the kids. The ones of William in his little seat were funny because, as you can tell, he was falling asleep. Speaking of which, I failed to mention that he sits up pretty well by himself.

2009-02-23T08:17:00.003-07:00

Ok--so it was using a different scale--I really didn't gain 5 lbs. Thank goodness! However, the part about eating junk was true. I think I'll go back on Weight Watchers. I did go "running" this morning. It was a half-and-half morning--two laps walking, two laps running, for a total of two miles and 25 minutes. I keep thinking that I'm Super Woman, and should be able to jump right back to where I was before I stopped. It's hard to get past that way of thinking, even though I know it's true, and to not be disappointed at the little that I can do. If I can just be consistent, I believe it will be fairly quick and easy to get back into shape so I can start training for my half marathon. But I need to stop being disappointed! Argh!

Last night, Margaret lost a tooth. She's pretty excited. Too bad the Tooth Fairy forgot to come and visit last night. What is it with that woman?

I'm posting some pictures of the kiddos. These include a Valentine's Day party we went to, where William got to try his first sucker. He LOVED it! I was holding him turned away from me, and after a while, he dropped his sucker. It bounced on the floor. When I picked it up, I realized that he had gotten all the way to the center of the Tootsie Pop! (how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? *sing* whatever it is I think I see becomes a tootsie roll to me!

Thomas really enjoyed being inside the tunnel, which was just a rolled up gym mat, and was thrilled when the kids rolled it along the floor with him still inside of it!

Rebekah made pancakes by herself--she poured them on the griddle and flipped them over all by herself. They were, of course, unedible because she didn't cook them long enough, and refused any kind of help from me. But she was proud of herself, and that's what counts, isn't it?

2009-02-22T18:47:00.003-07:00

I gained 5 pounds back! Dangint! That's what I get for eating junk food and not exercising...

William got 2 more teeth! All of sudden, about 3 days ago, he got an eyetooth on the top, and last night I noticed that he got another tooth on the bottom. That makes 3 teeth on the bottom, and one vampire tooth on the top. He's sitting here smiling at me with his cute grin, and I can see the vampire tooth. What a cutie! He is so huggable and squeezeeble!

He also has started dragging himself around. He uses his arms, and it reminds me of my brother's gerbil. He broke the poor things back, and so it just dragged itself around by it's front paws. That's what William does. Like a poor little broken back boy.

2009-02-08T14:46:00.003-07:00

William got another tooth. So now he's got two toofers on the bottom. He's so cute!

I went running three times this week. A mile, 1 1/4 mile, and who knows how much because I took two kiddos with me to the track and they were very distracting.....So I guess I'm on my way to training for my half-marathon this summer, huh? I gotta get more! My dear friend, Patty, reminded me that when I first started, I would run from one corner of the block to the next, and that was it! So I guess I'm still doing better than that! But it sure gets frustrating. It has been something like a year since I have really been running. I'm planning on running in the Teton Dam Half Marathon in June, with my running pals--they're the ones who ran in it last year the weekend before William was born--I didn't even go to watch them because I was feeling so crummy. Anyway, enough about running!

Let's move on to something exciting! Oh, yeah, running is the most exciting thing I do these days. Unless you count my English class, which I LOVE! It is Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and I have had so much fun reading! I have discovered to my dismay, however, that I am a horrible writer and need a lot more practice writing if I am going to pass this class. I am taking the class from the husband of a friend of mine, and he's excellent at facilitating discussion. I am really enjoying it. Ryan has been reading the books, too, and he's ahead of me!

My mom called me yesterday, and is going to be visiting my grandma this weekend, so I get to go see them both tomorrow! I am so excited. We've all been sick with coughs and colds, so haven't been to see grandma almost all winter. We're still kind of sick, but we'll just have to not breath on her. The kids are excited to see them both.

I keep thinking there is something else, but it has leaked out of my swiss cheese brain, so I will sign off for now, and I'll hope to post if anything else remotely interesting happens at our house. TTFN!

Inauguration

2009-02-02T18:53:00.002-07:00

Wow--almost 2 whole months and I haven't blogged!

Well, to start off, little William finally got his first tooth-- on the bottom-- only one. He's also weaned--prior to the tooth, lucky me!

Now, some of you may know that a member of our household voted for Obama for President. The children that decided to "vote" that way, too, were very excited when he was elected (if they were to vote with one of their parents, the other option was The Queen of England, and they didn't think she had much of a chance of winning). They asked me if they could have an inauguration party. Did you have an inauguration party at your house? Well, we did. It went something like this: the night before, Emma begged and begged to make a cake. I made her wait until the morning. I had to go somewhere, but let her make and decorate the cake and told her we would have our "party" when I got home. I was greeted at the door with all of the kids huddled around a chocolate cake, iced with a US flag and the words "President Obama" written on the stripes. They said something to the effect of, "See?" and then they ran into the kitchen with it and cut the thing up. No time for even a picture, they were so quick about it! But there you have it, our inauguration party. GOBAMA!!!!!

2008-12-07T19:23:00.005-07:00

After Thanksgiving, we figured that we hadn't gotten enough of "Family Togetherness". So on Saturday, we had our Christmas Family Party, which was great, and we had our "Family Picture" taken. I can't believe that we all fit in one frame! My husband, Ryan, was the only one not in attendance, hence the reason for my mom holding William. I believe that it will take my folks two months to recover from our little "visit". I wish we could do it more often!

We never can get a good picture of how cute Thomas is, so I asked Ty, who was photographing, to follow him around for a few minutes and see if she could catch a smile. She did it! Isn't he adorable?

2008-12-07T18:56:00.006-07:00

I was beginning to wonder how long I could really go before someone asks me, "Why haven't you been posting?" I finally actually got onto the computer for a few free minutes with the intention of blogging, and got sidetracked by following all of my friends links to their blogs. I also haven't read anyone's blogs for about a month! To my surprise, I wasn't the only one who hasn't kept up on their blogging the last little while. Now don't I feel better?

The kids and I went to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving. Ryan had to work, so we went by ourselves and were able to spend more than just a few days there. It was fun. I always enjoy being with my family, but it gets a little crazy, too. My parents have 23 grandkids, and everyone but us lives really close by. So when I come over, they all come over. Anyone want to babysit next time so we can have some big girl time by ourselves?

We had a yum-yum-yummy Thanksgiving feast. My mom is the best cook ever! I LOVE eating her food! She makes the bestest stuffing, her turkeys are always perfect, and she is just fun to be around. My sisters all made fun pies and rolls, and my sweet cousin-should-have-been-a-sister Mandy brought some delicious sweetened condensed milk treats that were so rich. I only had one piece of pecan pie on Thanksgiving Day (I made up for it by eating the candy from the kids candy-turkey-place-settings), and I drank almost no soda pop while I was there, which is quite a feat in and of itself!

Went Running!

2008-10-23T20:48:00.001-06:00

Joy of Joys! I donned my "equipment" and went "running" today! So it was a run/walk, but my toe only hurt a little, and when I got home, I wanted to do it again. It was quite fun, and now I'm tired. Yay!

Tagged

2008-10-19T19:50:00.002-06:00

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.

The questions are as follows:
1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? same
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? Marilyn
5. Your father? Dale
6. Your favorite thing? books
7. Your dream last night? depressing
8. Your dream/goal? independant
9. The room you're in? family
10. Your hobby? sewing
11. Your fear? dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? marathoning
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? well-read
15. One of your wish-list items? serger
16. Where you grew up? Orem
17. The last thing you did? nap
18. What are you wearing? undies!
19. Your TV? unconnected
20. Your pet? mutts
21. Your computer? desktop
22.Your mood? laissez-faire
23.Missing someone? mommy
24. Your car? Express
25. Something you're not wearing? clothes!!!!
26. Favorite store? Amazon.com
27. Your summer? HOT
28. Love someone? Ryan
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? dreaming

I award the following 7 people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions:
Tiffany, Tenille, Emma, Margaret, Catherine, Patrick, and anyone else who might actually read my blog and hasn't already done it--I have no idea who you are!

New Picts of William

2008-10-19T19:20:00.003-06:00

My friend Mary took these darling pictures of William the other day. He is so cute! In one of the pictures, you can really see his long eyelashes.

Pictures of Rebekah's Butch Job

2008-10-19T18:46:00.003-06:00

Here are some "before" pictures of Rebekah's hair job. I told you that I just couldn't believe it! Well, see for yourself!

2008-10-11T21:25:00.002-06:00

Ryan left Thursday afternoon for a thing for work, and I didn't expect him back until this afternoon. I didn't tell the kids anything, and we just went on with our lives. On Friday night as the kids were going to bed, Emma said, "When's papa coming home? He hasn't been home in, like, two days!" Then I went shopping after I put the kids down, and when I got back, Rebekah met me at the door and asked if I had papa. When I told her no, she asked if he was at work, and I told her that he was "camping". It was pretty funny that it took the kids so long to realize that he wasn't here!

Here's Butch!

2008-10-06T21:16:00.005-06:00

When my sister was here, she took a few picts because my camera isn't working. I stole these of of her blog.

---Here's Butch--the really short spot is over her left ear.

---Catherine with missing teeth

---William and his chunk-o cousin Ethan

Rebekah's new name is "Butch"

2008-10-05T19:18:00.004-06:00

So this weekend has been a doozey! Rebekah BUTCHED her hair on Friday night as I was getting ready for my sister, Melanie, to come visit. I ran to try and get it fixed, but it really can't be fixed. I wish our camera wasn't broken, so you could all see it. She looks like half of her is girl, and half of her is boy. She cut it so close, that the girl who was helping (Clarissa--the same one who helped when she cut her hair a few months ago), said part of it was a #1 guard on the clippers. So it will just have to grow out and look silly for a while. It made me think of my sister's friend. Her daughter did such a job of her hair, that they buzzed it all so it could grow back. Ryan said we should stick her on a corner to beg. Oh, she looks so bad!

Catherine actually finished loosing her two front teeth. She figured out how to speak by putting her tongue on the roof of her mouth, so she doesn't have a lisp.

William is smiling, and he has two dimples-- in spite of what Ryan thinks, he does have dimples! He is the only one of my kids to have dimples. He smiles and coos and is so cute! He also loves the swing, and will sleep in it for quite a while. That also has never happened with any of my other kids. He is 3 1/2 months old now, and he's getting bored just sitting around, not being able to do anything. We will soon begin the "unpleasant times" until he is mobile.

I thought this picture of Thomas was pretty funny. He climbed up on the washing machine to take a nap! Notice the plumber crack :)

I had such a fun time with my little sister Melanie. She made a whirlwind trip to visit grandma and grandpa, and she stayed Friday night and Saturday morning with us. We got up early with the kids, chatted, and went to DI. I love being with my sisters! And her babies are just so cute. Her "littlest" guy is almost 25 lbs at 5 months. He is such a cute chunk-o, and he just smiles his chunky little smile and is so loveable! I could hardly carry him, he is soooo heavy! Melanie's husband, Merlin, came with her. I guess he was bored and had nothing better to do than play silly games with my kids. They just ate it up! Uncle Merlin is so much fun! Emma asked me why "the wizard and his familiar" were visiting. I got the "wizard" part, but she had to explain the rest. Duh! Melanie's nickname is "Mouse", and a familiar is a wizard's animal companion. Therefore, "the wizard and his familiar" are...

My very dear friend MaryRuth had her first baby! YeeHaw! I wish I could visit her in Texas.

The Yucks

2008-09-28T12:12:00.003-06:00

For those of you that I haven't talked to since Thursday, I was sick as a dog this week! I had my very first case of mastitis. Seven kids and no problems. Then WHAMMO! I was so sick for two days, I hardly got out of bed. I finally went to the doctor and got an antibiotic on Thursday, and I feel so much better! I started feeling sick on Monday, and Tuesday was dreadful. Wednesday was worse. I thought I might have mastitis, but since I'd never experienced it before, I figured, "How bad can it be?" It was bad. Yucky. Very yucky and uncomfortable. I don't think I have ever been that sick. My sweet friend went visiting teaching by herself on Wednesday, and then came and got my kids for most of the day and into the evening. I didn't even notice that they were gone until I got up and realized it was almost their bedtime. Thank goodness for good friends who do things for you even when you tell them "No, I don't need that." Another friend told me that if you think you've got it, you need to immediately go to the doctor, or it'll be horrible, and she would have told me that if I'd have mentioned it. But like I said, I figured, "How bad can it be?" Oh well, another lesson learned. I'm not as tough as I think I am :)

It's Electric!

2008-09-27T12:58:00.001-06:00

I was in the Dollar Tree yesterday, and I heard an old familiar song. I laughed out loud and knew it would be stuck in my head all day, which it was. I went around all day hearing "It's Electric! Boogey-woogey-woogey!" That ole' "Electric Slide". It brought back memories of Stake Dances and School dances when we would get in a line and see who could look the smoothest doing it. I was never very coordinated, but it was sure fun!

I hope you enjoy listenting to it for a few minutes, so that it can get stuck in your head, too.

Boogey-woogey-wooegy!

The correct spelling of Rebekah's name

2008-09-15T16:45:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I DID spell Rebekah's name wrong. When I was typing it, I thought, "that doesn't look right", but I was on my way to bed and not exactly all there. That's my excuse. I did, however, remember the "h". It is spelled Rebekah. I have gone back and changed it in the dumb post. Thanks to my dear sister who ALWAYS spells her Rebecca's name wrong :) We have Rebekah Mary-Anne and a cutie cousin named Annie Rebecca. What fun!

And to clarify the Lava issue, I left Margaret and Thomas home with Ryan. That made a HUGE difference, although I did take little William (who I had to pay for whether he was going into the water or not!).

2008-09-14T20:17:00.000-06:00

I know, I know--it's been a really long time! I've been waiting for pictures, because my favorite blogs are the ones with pictures. But our camera is on the fritz, so you'll just have to make due with the written word, complete with a lot of ramblings and no direction.

A few weeks ago, my friend Angie and I took my kids, her little boy, and a few neighbor kids to Lava Hot Springs for about 4 hours. We had a blast! I even enjoyed a few rides down the water slides. One of them gives everyone a wedgie, myself included. I sure hoped no one was looking when I tried to fix it :) I sometimes wish I didn't have responsibilities and could do that stuff by myself, because it was sure fun to just let loose (not lose my suit, though!). The other day, Ryan and I took the kids to the park, and I got to swing. There is something soothing about doing those simple things. Slides and swings--what fun! Oh, but my hips don't fit through the openings in some of the toys at the park near our house. I got stuck following Thomas once!

Back to Lava. Angie and I both got horrible sunburns on our shoulders. Mine lasted over a week before it was no longer tender to the touch. Angie's was worse than mine. I was much nicer to my girls than I was to myself, because on the last few swimming suits I made for them, I put little sleeves on. My suit, however, I made years and years ago (I so rarely wear it...), that it was before I was very comfortable making suits, and pre-sleeves, too. Oh, well. I believe I learned my lesson: I am too old to have fun!

My apricot tree is still dropping apricots. It's been thinning itself, so the apricots we are getting now are a little bit larger, although still small. It's bound to stop soon, because here in Rexburg, we are expecting snow any time now :)

Thomas has started climbing on EVERYTHING! This is a good thing, because we have been working for a long time on it. His physical therapist thinks he is doing spectacular, and we will probably stop that soon. But all of it can be frustrating. I have found him on the top bunk in his room. He has to climb up a ladder and over the railings that go all the way around the top. He has also climbed into the crib with the baby a few times. He uses stools, chairs, and the toilet seat to climb into the kitchen and bathroom sinks, where he likes to fill the sinks with water and play in it. Have I mentioned that he has also figured out how to turn the faucets on? I don't know if he can turn them off because I usually do that for him!

Our family has started a paper route in the beginning of September, and I don't know if it will last. We have to take the van, so I doubt we will be making any money off of it. However, the kids like it for the most part, and fight over who gets to run the papers. That's a little stressful at 5:00 in the morning. Rebekah even gets in on the action. She has been with us a few mornings, because she stands at the front door and cries to come. This is also hard that early in the morning. We also have to run the ads one day a week. The first week, Rebekah begged to come, so I let her. She wasn't content to sit in the car, so I let her run them down the sidewalk and drop them in the driveways while I drove next to her. It was hilarious to see a little 3 year old running down the street dropping papers! She is so cute when she's not being a stinker!

And last but not least, I started my guitar class last week. It is going to be SOOOO much fun! I have been practicing "Down in the Valley" all week long, with two different strum patterns, one of which is an arpeggio. It only has two chords, but it sounds nice so far. I'm supposed to be learning "You Are My Sunshine", too, but it has more chords and is kind of scary for me. I'll be working on that this week, I guess.

Well, that's a lot of junk to read, but I think it covers the last few weeks that I haven't posted. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Meet the Robinsons

2008-08-31T18:43:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, our family watched Disney's Meet the Robinsons, and I wanted to comment about it. I have not been pleased with Disney's movies for many years. Although they are supposed to be for children, they frequently have things that I consider inappropriate. There's my little rant. Because of all of this, I was very pleasantly surprised when we decided to try this movie because I had heard so many good things about it. It was thought provoking and I thought it was touching. I couldn't stop crying at the end. My kids missed out on the reasons that I was crying, but perhaps you can understand.

The poor little boy, Lewis, believes that the only person who ever loved him was his mother, so he goes in search of her. He puts aside everything else in his life except for this quest. He misses out on living because he is focusing on the past. After a series of events, he realizes that he must always look at the now and look to the future, not the past. Therein lies his change. He finally has a chance to meet his mother, but at the last moment decides against it, knowing that he must look to the future. I believe that this shows a selflessness that is the crux of the morality of this film. After this choice, we see Lewis stop to think about the other boy, Goob, and save him from a life of misery. Goob, on the other hand, is the "bad guy" who shows what happens when we are only selfish. He spends his life sitting around thinking about how he was wronged. He does nothing to improve himself and is, therefore, and idiot. Lewis, however, spends his life looking ahead and is full of selflessness and makes something of himself. But he doesn't forget others. He wants Goob to make good choices, and the wacky make-up of his family is indicative of his selflessness and his desire to make others happy, even if it means having them live with him.

This is actually a Disney movie that I would recommend, and I am looking forward to reading the book that it is based on "A Day with Wilbur Robinson".

Vacuum Repair--My way!

2008-08-31T18:39:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I managed a feat beyond what most other homemakers could do, and I am so proud of myself! We go through vacuum cleaners at least once a year, because the kids aren't very careful, of course. Last summer, we needed a new hose, but I didn't want to spend almost as much on a hose as we did on the vacuum, so I resigned myself to buying a new one. However, one day when I was out and about, I saw a yard sale that had a vacuum like mine, and I got it for FREE because the motor didn't work. I put the hose on the vacuum, and stored the one with the broken motor "just in case". Well, "just in case" came--The kids have run over the cord so many times that it was no longer safe to use. So just guess what I did! I took the vacuums apart and changed out the cords! I did it all by myself! I just had to crow about it because I was so proud of myself for figuring it out.

GoodReads.com

2008-08-29T21:13:00.001-06:00

My friend Claudia has a cool widget on her blog, and I grabbed it! GoodReads is the neatest thing ever! I can see what all of my friends are reading, and I have a chance to let everyone know what I think about some books. I have actually included books that I remember I have read, especially if they were ones I really liked or really hated. I hope you all will get on GoodReads and send me an invitation. I could easily lurk on GoodReads for hours (instead of reading from my "to-read" list!)

2008-08-22T21:34:00.000-06:00

William didn't care much about seeing the ducks, but he DID like riding in the stroller!

Miscellaneous Pictures

2008-08-22T21:26:00.000-06:00

Here are a bunch of photos you may enjoy.

The ones of Thomas are from his birthday this month, when I mentioned that he kept trying to lick the plate and drink the ice cream, here is proof!

No, it's not The Joker--it's Rebekah! She got into my makeup, and that is mascara. She got it on her upper lashes, and her lower lashes. She also got her face. I'd say she did a pretty good job for someone so young!

Another of Thomas is naptime. I went in to make sure he was asleep, and he was sitting up in the rocking chair. He kept letting his head fall, and then jerk it up, only to have it fall again. It was so funny! I ran to get the camera, but by the time I got back, Rebekah had disturbed him. He was no longer sitting UP in the chair, but he had found another comfortable position, so I took a picture anyway.

Running and Apricots

2008-08-22T21:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged for a while for two reason, the first of which is that I have actually been waiting until I got some pictures off of the camera and onto my computer. I hope that you enjoy them. The other reason is that I have been really bummed. I went to the orthopaedist on Tuesday because my toe has been bothering me when I run. Some of you may not know that shortly before I had the baby, I tripped down 3 stairs and fractured my big toe. Dumb, I know, but I did a pretty good number on it. I was lucky that I didn't have to have it pinned together. I had to wear a walking boot for weeks, and I couldn't drive because it was my right foot. Poor Ryan! He had to drive me everywhere--even on little jaunts to Wal-Mart!

Anyway...3 weeks after William was born, the dr. had said it was healing fine, and that I didn't need to see him again. Then at 6 weeks, the OB said I could start running. I was so excited! However, whenever I ran, my toe hurt. So I went back to the orthopaedist. He said it is still healing fine, but not to do any impact sports for "a while", and to try cycling. So I can't run. I only tried out my "equipment" a few times. Bummer. Ryan fixed up my bike and we went cycling the other night, but that created another set of pains, so I don't know what I can do! I am falling apart. So I'm taking the running spot off of my blog until I can run again. I am so sad!

On the *plus* side, the apricot tree in our backyard has been dropping billions of apricots for the last couple of weeks. It is absolutely full, but we can't get to any of it, so we have to wait for it to just fall, which it does! The kids are so sick of picking up apricots! But I have made jam and fruit leather and syrup and dried apricots, and we've had smoothies...If any of you know anything else that I can do with apricots that's not too time consuming or expensive, let me know! I think we have a couple more weeks of apricots. And of course, if anybody wants any, come and get them! I'm posting a picture of the tree, but you really can't see how heavily burdened with fruit it is. Believe me, there are plenty!

New Equipment

2008-08-17T19:11:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, I got my new running bra! Yippee hi-yay-hi-yo! For anyone else who is as blessed as I am, there's a great site called "BreakOut Bras". If you are interested in the particular bra that I got (recommended by one of my "running" friends), contact me personally and I would be happy to share this highly sensitive information with you :)

Playlist "Malfunction"

2008-08-14T21:49:00.000-06:00

I'm so sad! I was just working on my blog with the sound ON, and I heard one of the songs on my playlist. I had forgotten that it had a naughty word in it, because we edited our version! So now I have to go and take it off :( You'll have to go elsewhere to hear naughty stuff.

Running Slow

2008-08-14T20:57:00.000-06:00

I went "running" by myself tonight. I went to the Nature Park, and made it twice around. I even helped some people find a campground by--get this--Running in front of their car to show them the way! Can you believe it? Me! I'm recovering for longer than I'm running, but I'm able to sustain 2 minute runs. I'll keep that up until it's easy, then I'll up the run minutes one at a time. That's the plan, at least. I'm going to try to run my first 5K in September, but only if I can get in gear and last more than 2 minutes!

For two days, I have gone into the baby's room to find Thomas sitting in the crib with William. I have got to move that dresser so he can't climb in! He's pretty proud of himself and just smiles. How can you get angry when he smiles so cutely? I just want to squeeze him and give him a big kiss!

William has started smiling occasionally. It makes me so happy to see my kids smile!

I've been able to see many other friend's blogs, and they are all so cute! Where do you all get your stuff from, and please share your secrets!

While reading my cousin's blog, I came across a link to a great mock-blog called seriouslysoblessed.blogspot. If you get a chance, take a look. I thought it was pretty funny.

2008-08-11T14:01:00.000-06:00

Thomas had ear tubes reinserted this morning. He is such a good boy and did so well! He is 2 years old now, and had a fun birthday. He kept trying to lick the plate and suck the liquid ice cream off!

2008-08-07T08:17:00.001-06:00

I've decided to add a Running Log for anyone interested in this old lady's running pursuits. I may include my weight loss, but NOT my starting weight, etc. You can ask my kids if you're really interested in how much I weigh. I'm sure they would love to tell you!

2008-08-06T21:49:00.000-06:00

FlyLady is back off of my bookshelf and in my hands!
I'm trying to get organized again--get back into the swing of a good routine, so I pulled out FlyLady again and will be working on a good routine. We'll see how I do!

I got a new guitar so that I can take my little "gee-tar" class in the Fall. I'm really excited about it, and have already started practicing. I will be so good, that no one will know it's me! I can accompany myself to "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore", "Grandfather's Clock", and "Amazing Grace". They all only require 3 chords.

Thomas is having his ear tubes replaced next week. We are hoping that one of the reasons that he is not talking is that he just can't hear, and that will be solved after the replacement. We'll see. He is going to be 2 on Friday! I can't even believe it! He's such a cutie, and has a major sweet tooth. Two of his absolute favorite things are soda and Swedish Fish. He thinks that whenever someone has a pop, he should be able to sip to his heart's content. He will yell at you if you do not succumb to the pleadings of his darling smile. Needless to say, he usually gets some.

2008-08-04T21:23:00.001-06:00

I have to tell everyone that I actually went "running" today, for the first time in so long. I had to do 1 minute runs with recovery walks in between, but I did it! Between my toe and the birth, I was afraid that I would never be able to start again.

It was so nice to get out and Run!

2008-08-04T21:21:00.001-06:00

Here is our sweet little William.

2008-08-04T21:19:00.000-06:00

This is our cutie Thomas, wandering around at Patrick's soccer game.

2008-08-04T21:12:00.001-06:00

When mom and dad were here, Dad got to hold William.

We heard him tell the baby that if there was cable, they would be watching sports.

This is what they did instead!

2008-08-04T21:07:00.000-06:00

These photos are from my visit with my family when William was about 3 weeks old.

My sister, Rachel, had just had her 7th baby, too.

This is Rachel, my mom, and me.

William is on the right in both photos, and little Sumner is on the left.

Thomas in the Tub

2008-08-04T20:51:00.001-06:00

Thomas loves baths and frequently visits the bathroom during the day. Sometimes he just throws things in the tub and sometimes he climbs in. This particular night, he had already been bathed and was ready for bed when Rebekah was getting her bath. He decided that throwing the ducks in would not be enough, and there was no way that she was taking a bath without him, so he climbed in, jammies, ducks and all!

William's Blessing

2008-08-04T20:44:00.000-06:00

William was blessed on Sunday, August 3rd.

My mom and dad were able to come up for the day, which was great!

2008-07-21T20:27:00.000-06:00

Here's Rebekah with Little William.

She is always asking to hold him. She kisses him all over, and says, "Look at his teeny [insert baby part here]! It's so cute!"

She told us today that William is her best friend.