Tidbits

Blogging is sort of like journaling for me. The longer I go between posts (or journal entries) the less likely I am to write again. It's because I feel like I have to catch up on everything that has happened since I last wrote. Well today I am breaking that cycle! Here are a few tidbits for the last little while.

 Tyson drove our van down to UT last weekend. He texted me later to ask what CD was in the player, because he kind of liked it. Get ready everyone- it was Jo Dee Messina. Yes, he has admitted a slight preference for country music! Wahoo!

I was loading the washer early one morning last week, determined to finish early and avoid having an explosion of clothing left to fold at the end of the day. I hadn't washed the mattress pad on our bed in awhile, so I put that in. More like stuffed it in with great force. While doing this, I remembered the time our washer had overflown several years ago. And as I closed the lid, the thought came to me- you shouldn't do that, you are going to regret it! I rationalized- I didn't want to do a whole separate load for that thing! I left the laundry room with only a moment's hesitation. Tyson came running up the stairs a few minutes later to say our basement was flooding. No!!!! The washer had been so full that the water couldn't get into the drum, so it overflowed and leaked through the floor to the basement. The laundry room had hardly a drop water. But the room below was sopping wet. (Thankfully it was along the edge of our unfinished food storage room.) Luckily no permanent damage was done.  But the clean up involved a lot more loads of laundry than if I would have listened in the first place! Lesson learned. Even for the tiniest, most simple prompting that I believe come from the Holy Ghost, I should not hesitate to listen.

Yesterday while getting our flu shots, I realized I was receiving payback for my crazy behavior as a child at the doctor's office. I have an irrational fear of most anything medical, especially needles. Ironic, since I'm married to a medical provider. I have learned to handle it much better now. Anyway, my oldest is very much like me. It was a bit of a trick to get him to hold still. But he certainly recovered faster than I ever did! As soon as the shot was out, he started cracking jokes and claiming he had tricked us into thinking he was scared.

Speaking of my oldest making jokes, he made one up the other day. Here it is:
If a tooth comes out, how do you get it back in?
Toothpaste!
I was impressed! Most of the jokes my kids make up make no sense, but this one was good!

Okay and what's a post without pictures? Here are a few recent ones.

 

 

 

First day of first grade for the oldest.

 

 

 

 

 

The spunky middle child

 

 

 

 

 

The littlest, who doesn't know she's little

 

 

Mini-vacation in May

Tyson's latest hobby/obsession is golf. My brother is also an avid golfer, so when they found a great deal for an excellent course in Thanksgiving Point, UT, they wanted to plan a little trip with our families. So just before Memorial Day, we headed down there.  Here is a brief synopsis- swimming at the hotel, playing in the park, Paradise Bakery, Children's Discovery Museum, hiking Ensign Peak, The Pizza Factory, shopping at outlets (the moms), swimming at the hotel (the dads and kids) which led to major meltdown at bedtime (this is normal for vacation, no?), golfing and Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point, Johnny Rockets, tour of LDS conference center, and a desperate last stop at a little restaurant/gas station in Downey, ID on the way home. Listing all these things makes it sound super fun-packed, which it was. But it is also really, really hard to take a baby and 3-year-old (the almost 6-year-old was pretty good, he decided to play it safe to make up for his sisters, I think) on a trip with few naps and constant activities. After the fact though- great memories were made, we spent time with family that we love, and we got to be out in nature a bit. I think the kids favorite part was the hotel. They could have swam forever. And we had adjoining rooms, which is like a dream come true for a kid! Here are a few pictures documenting the events.

 

Reagan and Lucy at the park

 

 

 

 Grant and Jaxon at the Children's Discovery Museum- it's a pretty awesome place.

 

 

 

Kadri and Brooke on the hike

 

 

 

 

The kids running ahead. I think the ran the whole way up!

 

 

 

 

Lucy, happy at the top

 

 

 

 

Silly kids in front of the monument at the top of Ensign Peak

 

 

 

On a wagon ride at Farm Country.

 

 

 

Kadri was very excited to ride the horse, but it didn't turn out like she imagined. Her face says it all.

 

 

 

Grant liked his ride.

 

 

 

All of us on the roof of the conference center. The tour guide was an elderly gentleman who was hilarious. And he knew our Aunt Ginny who passed away a few years ago, so we instantly liked him.

 

 All in all, a great vacation.

 

May in moments

 Here are a few glimpses into our every day lives.

 

 

Kadri snuggling with her favorite blanket when she was sick. (It is hard to watch your children be sick!) She loves that thing. I have to sneak it away to wash it. It gets dirty from her dragging it everywhere!

 

 

 Lucy crawling onto anything.

 

Lucy after eating thawed blueberries.

 

 

Grant loves legos. He can spend many hours building with them. He found a lego website that shows how to make different creatures out of legos and was inspired to make this crocodile.

 

 

Kadri could (and does!) spend hours reading books. She makes giant piles of them around the house. I was always a book-lover, too!

 

A rare moment when Grant is allowing Kadri to play legos with him. See her books scattered everywhere?

 

June

I am going to attempt some catch-up, starting with the most recent month.

 

 

For our 8-year anniversary, Tyson and I went to Heise for some great pizza and then a short hike at Cress Creek. During dinner, we were trying to remember what we had done on each of our anniversaries. (I was wishing I had blogged and journaled more regularly so we could reminisce better!) The view was amazing and we decided we need our family to be outdoors in beautiful places more often- nature gives you great perspective on life.

 

 

 

 

Grant finished up kindergarten this month. The kid grew a ton this year!  I would buy him a pair of pants and it seemed like he would outgrow them before my very eyes! He loved his teacher and his classmates, and has made some really good friends. When I asked him on the last day of school what his favorite part about school was, he said P.E. and recess. Pretty typical answers for a kid!

 

 

 

 

 

Tyson had his birthday this month.  His siblings gave him a golf net. He gets to use his driver in the backyard, which makes him happy! Golf is his latest obsession.

The only picture I have of just Kadri is this one. She is eating a lollipop from her aunt Brooke after one success on the potty. Her potty-training saga is ongoing. I won't go into too many details, I'll just say one process she has down pat, the other...a major struggle. My friend told me to just relax about it, she will do it when she is ready. Someday. Someday, like, before she goes to school, right?!

Grant turned 6 this month. He had been anticipating his birthday since after Christmas. He was always telling me what he wanted and it was constantly changing. His favorite present from us was his new scooter with blue wheels. He'll demonstrate his skills on it for anyone who will watch.

 

 

 

Lucy is wishing she was old enough to join in. She is quite the character. She started walking this month- 10 months old, people!! She is incredibly independent and intense (aka LOUD!) and knows what she wants. She is a fireball. We love her! 

 



Hi.

I thought it would be funny to post a picture since I haven't used this blog for so long. But it's a little overwhelming when I realize how behind I am!!  I'm not promising anything in the future, but for now here's a picture with our whole family in it. Even though the youngest has been here for 10 months, there are only a few pictures of all of us. Here we are after hiking Ensign Peak in Salt Lake in May.

Lazy.

I found this unpublished post. It's not much, but I'm posting it anyway!

 

 

I hardly took any pictures in January of February. Here are the few I took.

 

 

 

Snowman

 

 

 

Valentine's Day breakfast and lunch

Grant

Christmas Sunday 2011

Pre-Christmas

I changed the blog design, did ya notice? Now I need to add a picture. Baby steps, baby steps.

We got a new laptop a few months ago. I finally put Photoshop Elements on it. The old computer didn't have enough room. Anyway. So now I want to try editing Christmas pics before putting them up. (I am learning slowly- I have to do a guided edit. Full edit is a little overwhelming.) But here are a few unedited pictures from before Christmas for your viewing pleasure.

I got the animal hats at Michaels and the kids love wearing them.

Kadri is wearing a dress designed and sewn by her aunt Kaitlyn. She took a pattern-making class at college. That is talent!

And I just have to say that I love Pinterest. I am going to post a few of the things that I have made from ideas on Pinterest. It's awesome.

So maybe, just maybe I will post again soon.

Day 20

Today I am grateful for:
1. Microwaves. Leftovers for lunch are so fast and easy!
2. Kadri's words. She calls her brother Grantie, markers are markies, then there's blankies, doggies, you get the idea. And no one else outside our family would understand her word for popcorn, and I definitely can't spell it, but she uses the same funny word each time.
3. Spiritual thoughts, like this quote given by a speaker during our church meeting:

“Gratitude is deeper than thanks. Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”

—President David O. McKay

Day 19

I am grateful for:
1. Shopping, eating, and laughing with my sister
2. My husband who watched the kids so I could do the above.
3. Primary music. I have been lucky enough to be the song leader for the children in our church. (It's called Primary.) Music is powerful- it can teach truth, and children singing truth goes straight to your heart. Beautiful......And I am preparing the night before. Better than Sunday morning, right?

Day 18

I am grateful for:
1. My dad. It was his birthday today. He is a great example to me. I love him!!
2. Moments in parenting where I can laugh at myself. Grant was micromanaging Kadri- telling her to chew her food, do this, do that. I kept getting after him for being bossy. And I realized- I was micromanaging him. That's probably where he gets it from. Ha!
3. Tender mercies from the Lord that remind that He cares very much about me and my family.

Festival of the Trees

 Grant and I played a couple of Christmas duets at The Festival of the Trees, a local fundraiser. It was his first time playing somewhere besides a recital. We played:  "March" from the Nutcracker, and "Jolly Old St. Nicholas."

Day 12-17

Ha! I got a little behind. Here's some catch-up. I am grateful for:

1. Last weekend! Tyson and I went to Utah. It was our first overnight trip without kids, and it was so fun. The kids stayed at my in-laws house and loved it. I don't think they missed us at all. We visited the LDS temple in Salt Lake City. Even though all temples serve the same purpose, it was extra special to be in the one that was such a part of the early pioneers' lives. We met up with my sister, Lindsey, ate good food and laughed a lot. Then we went to the BYU game. It was a blow-out, so excitement ended with the first quarter.  But it was so fun to be there! Cold, but fun. We had great seats. Thanks Reeds!

2. Grant's prayers. He always thinks of the simplest and best things to express thanks about in his prayers. Playing hide-n-seek made the list earlier this week. I should be more willing to do simple things with him because they really mean a lot to him!
3. The couple who spoke in our church last week. They talked about gratitude, and how we tend to forget how blessed we are.  So true.
4. Music, again. I'll post a video of Grant and I playing some duets. I also played some with Tyson and my mother-in-law. We get to play again at the Museum of Idaho when their Christmas display is up.
5. Oreo truffles. I will have self-control. I will have self-control...
6. Family around the holidays. Well I'm always grateful for family, but even more so around the holidays.
7. Sisters who can cook and share their recipes with me. I'll let you know how the pork turns out, Brooke!
8. Is anyone still reading this? If you are, I am grateful for you.
9. Magic Eraser. That thing sure comes in handy around here!!
Have a great weekend! Maybe I will even remember to post.

Day 11

Today I am so grateful for:
1. All those who have served or are currently serving our country. Living in a free country is something I often take for granted. I truly am grateful for those who make this possible, and for the families who support those who serve.
2. I am grateful for the chance to reflect on the influence that veterans have had on my life. Many grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, and cousins have served. Thank you!!!
3. Today's date. 11/11/11. And it will be extra awesome this morning at 11:11.

Day 9-10

Today (and yesterday, oops) I am grateful for:
1. Play-dough. Lots of entertainment for both kids. And me too.
2. An awesome younger sister. She is my hero. And I can't wait to see her this weekend! And eat good food, too! "I'd rather have good food than bad food any old day of the week."
3. Speaking of that movie, I might as well mention it. I am grateful for the "Ghost and Mr. Chicken." It's classic. Don Knotts at his best. When Tyson and I found out on our first (blind) date that it was both of our family's favorite movie, we knew we were meant to be! :)

Day 8

Today I am grateful for:
1. The Nutcracker Suite. Not just because it's awesome music, but because it is motivating my son to spend lots of time at the piano!
2. The Dollar Store. Sometimes there's really good stuff there!!
3. My mom. She is just great!

Day 7

For our family night activity (FHE), we wrote what we were thankful for on the feathers of Tom the Turkey. Tyson drew Tom a few years ago, and we keep up the tradition each year. I've written down what we wrote in past years. Last year, we wrote "white snow" on one of the feathers. Are you kidding me? This year, I am thankful that there is NO white snow yet!! But anyway. This was the first year that Grant could write on them himself. He even illustrated them. He's pretty funny. I'm counting this as my gratitude list! I am pretty thankful for these kiddos!

Day 6

Today I'm grateful for:

1. The time change. I love feeling like I've got an extra hour of sleep!
2. A husband who will laugh with the kids. It always makes me laugh, too.

3. Sunday dinners after a day of fasting. So good.

Day 5

Today I am grateful for:

1. The book Daughters in My Kingdom.  One of the first lines in the book is, "The world's greatest champion of woman and womanhood is Jesus the Christ." (Elder James E. Talmage). It is an inspiring book that helps me feel proud to be a woman.
2. Christmas music. Yes, we started that here!
3. Awesome sisters and sister-in-laws.

Day 4

Today I'm grateful for:
1. Children. They forgive so quickly, despite my nearly constant mistakes. I want to be like them.
2. Scentsy candles. Today my house smells like pumpkin marshmallow. Sounds interesting, but I promise it smells gooooooood.
3. A giant bag of dice. Who knew it could be so entertaining for a 4-year-old?