Richey Family

A new love

2012-01-25T16:13:00.005-07:00

I don't know why it took me so long to jump on the pinterest bandwagon, but I am a full fledged lover of it now. I only joined a few days ago and I was looking at it and telling Tim all about the lovely things I was seeing and he asked, "So what is it exactly?" and I said something like, "Well, it's like my Better Homes and Gardens magazine subscription (which I also love) only on steroids--it's awesome!" One of the first things I saw was this cute heart banner (that just so happens to come from the BHG website--go figure) and it brought about my first pinterest inspired creation.

Isn't it pretty? Theirs is actually made of leftover fabric scraps, but I'm not a big sewer and therefore have no leftover scraps of any kind so I improvised a bit . . .

and used some of the scrapbook paper I already had. Ta-dah! My free pinterest inspired Valentine's Day heart banner. I'm really happy with how free and easy and pretty it turned out :)

This is what is sitting on the table under the banner. I made this little Valentine craft a few years ago with my cousin. I just thought I'd share in case anyone else is a scrabble fan looking for a creative Valentine's decor idea.

Here's to the pretty!!

Maternity photo shoot

2012-01-23T12:27:00.003-07:00

About a month or so ago, a good friend of mine asked if she could take some maternity photos of me. She is working on a photography business and wanted to practice with me. Of course I said yes. I've never had a professional maternity photo shoot and I was happy to think that this pregnancy would be able to be remembered in such a beautiful way. We had such a good time together and I was completely comfortable with her. I'm so grateful for the experience. Today she posted some of the pics and says she'll post some more soon on her blog KAH Photography, so feel free to click on over and check out the rest of them. Thanks, Kim!!

Waiting

2012-01-22T20:51:00.002-07:00

Two nights ago I started having contractions. It was around 1:30 in the morning and I whispered to Tim, "Are you awake?" No answer. I whispered a little louder, "Are you awake?" and that time I got a response. I told him that I was having contractions but they weren't regular or too painful but maybe this was it! As I tried to fall asleep my mind began to do the whole racing thing. What if this is it?! The floor isn't mopped. I still need to buy some more body wash. We have no dryer sheets. Tim and Eli have coughs--what if they get the baby sick? I have papers to grade on Monday, how will I do that if I'm in the hospital with a baby . . . and on and on. Then I went to sleep and the contractions stopped and when I woke up the next morning I was still very much pregnant and with a whole Saturday in front of me to check off some of those middle of the night worries. It was a busy Saturday folks, and if I caught you slacking off you got an earful from me about how "this baby could come at any time, we need to get this vague and until now put off chore done NOW."

I go to the doc to get "checked" on Tuesday and I'm very curious to know if anything is starting to happen. I've been experiencing more and more braxton hicks/contractions/who knows? and I'll be 38 weeks on Thursday which is about the time I delivered Marcus. This time is what I call the "waiting game" of pregnancy. It's difficult because it feels like groundhog day every day because I think to myself, "Okay, I may have this baby tonight/today so things need to be ready. Clean clean, laundry laundry, etc. EVERY DAY.

Maybe I should intentionally go to bed one night with my bathrooms and kitchen a mess and laundry spilling out of the baskets because then THEN I would have this baby. For people, that is exactly how babies and the universe work.

Snow

2012-01-18T12:33:00.003-07:00

It finally snowed here and my boys could not be more thrilled. Owen and Eli spent an hour outside this morning and then polished off two cups of hot chocolate at lunch. Marcus wanted to wear his snow pants to school. I said no to that one, but yes to the gloves, vest, and snow boots. He kept telling me that he needed to wear lots of layers. We compromised.

I'm not a big snow person myself, but it does look pretty outside right now, and I'm happy for my kids. I just hope it doesn't stick around too long or get much worse because my mom is planning to drive here when I have the baby and she is petrified of driving in bad snowy weather. I am not exaggerating when I use the word "petrified." Just ask her about Christmas two years ago and she will find a corner to start rocking in because it was just that traumatic. Poor, Mom.

So, hooray for snow now, but maybe not so much later :)

Nesting

2012-01-16T15:18:00.004-07:00

The whole nesting instinct didn't really kick in until after the holidays. Suddenly it was January and Tim and I looked at each other and said, "Sure, we're having another boy and don't need to go out and buy baby stuff (we have a ton!) but we still need to make room for another person to live in this house," and so we proceeded to do just that.

We live in a 3 bedroom, 1500 sq foot house. In short, space is a big issue around here. I know we can all fit, but I want us to fit gracefully. Does that make sense? Currently, Marcus and Eli are sharing a room. Marcus was using a dresser for his clothes and I needed that dresser for the new baby, so we revamped Marcus's closet. Tim took off the ghetto brown folding doors and I painted it all white and then Tim added a shelf and I got some cute storage bins to hold his clothes (on sale at K-mart for $2 each!) We're going to add another shelf (like the one we already added but shorter) in that empty space. That way he can store his "I don't want the babies to reach this and break it!" stuff in a higher place. We also moved our old computer desk into his room and moved the card table he was using back out to the garage. He is excited about his room's new look, and I'm excited about all the space now available in his room.

We got the idea for the closet makeovers from a Better Homes and Gardens issue. Tim actually found the idea and it was me who took some convincing, but now I'm so glad we did it. We had the ghetto brown folding doors on our front closet, too, and they were always coming off the track and being annoying so we took them off and I painted the inside yellow to match the hallway and did white trim. We put in a shelf/bench and hooks for our coats. I found these baskets at K-Mart, too, and they were the only ones left so I ordered 4 more online and they'll be here in a few days. I really like how it turned out and it really opens up the space, plus I'm not tempted to just shove crap in my closet and shut the door because I can't!

These carseat covers are all the rage around these parts right now. I see them everywhere I go and I wanted one, too. I looked on etsy but didn't feel like spending money on something I felt I could make for cheaper (and make it exactly like I wanted), so I found a tutorial online and made my own. I splurged on the soft minky fabric, but I love it. It probably cost me about $15 and the cheapest one I saw was around $25 plus shipping. Wahoo!

This new baby is going to be a bit of a nomad for the first few months. He'll sleep in my room, but I didn't want (or have room) for his dresser/changing table, so we'll have a little station for him in our kitchen/dining/office area. This is Marcus's old dresser. I peeled off his stickers and repainted it and added fresh knobs and ta-dah! It looks new again. Isn't the diaper monkey adorable? The Young Women in my ward made it for me. So fun.

On Thursday I will be 37 weeks. I was induced with the twins at 37 weeks and Marcus came all on is own at 38 weeks. It's coming up soon, folks! I'm so blessed to still feel so good and strong. Of course I have my bleh moments (usually in the evenings) and I don't sleep well at night, but overall I feel really good and that is such a blessing. I continue to pray that my delivery will go well and that my baby will be healthy and strong. It was so difficult to have Eli in the NICU for a week and then to have that uterine infection. I just really hope and pray that this labor and delivery is smooth and uneventful. I can't wait to meet my new little fellow!

Owen and Eli

2012-01-06T16:20:00.004-07:00

I know, I know, I've already used this picture on my blog but it is just so dang cute and I love looking at it. Plus, it seemed like a good one to use for this quick post. The boys had their 3-year-old well check-up with Dr. C and I wanted to post their stats for my own records and for the enjoyment (ha) of my family.

Owen: 38 lbs and 38 inches tall--this puts him in the 93rd percentile
Eli: 34 lbs and 37 inches tall--this puts him in the 71st percentile

Also, for any moms out there who are reading this and hoped to find more than just stats on my boys, I just read a great post on another blog and wish I had written it because I agree wholeheartedly with its message. You can find it here. Happy reading!

Bowling

2012-01-04T12:39:00.003-07:00

Is it just me or can the day after Christmas sometimes feel a little depressing? All the presents have been opened and it's the longest time of year until next Christmas. To combat this, we've been trying (hit and miss) to establish a family tradition of going bowling the day after Christmas. This year we had some free game coupons for the kids and we thought we'd try going the morning of the 26th. The place was pretty empty and this allowed our boys (read: Owen) to run wild without the stress. It was the first time we'd taken the babies bowling and they looked hilarious in their little bowling shoes.

Marcus is our seasoned bowler. We were going to do two games but Owen and Eli don't have attention spans that last that long so on Dec 27th, Tim and Marcus went back for some more bowling fun. Both played much better on the second day. I won't tell you what Tim's score was on the day we all went because he would be too embarrassed. Day 2 had 3 strikes in a row!

This guy loved lugging around his 4 lb bowling ball.

We used the dragon slide for the babies or we would have been there all day. Owen would roll his ball and then hold this pose (arms up) until the ball hit the pins.

Poor Eli, the only 3 lb ball they had was pink. Luckily, he is pretty secure in his manhood :) Also, Tim dressed them and little Eli managed to show up in a shirt that was too small even for him! As soon as we got home, I went through their clothes and got rid of the too-small stuff. Owen is actually wearing 4t now and Eli wears 3t shirts but can wear 4t pants. So yep, the boys now have separate shirt drawers and they don't look so white trash anymore because their clothes actually fit.

Tim kept up his own personal tradition of the "Christmas mustache" so he fit right in at our bowling alley :) Hooray for bowling and after Christmas fun!

The 2011 book list

2011-12-29T21:04:00.002-07:00

I love it when people post lists of their favorite books read during the past year--it gives me so many books to look forward to reading in the upcoming year. Here is my contribution: a list of some of my favorite reads from 2011. And for those who have been following my reading history in 2011 via my Goodreads sidebar, fear not! I am going to do it again in 2012. It was really fun for me to go back and look at all that I'd read this past year and what I did and didn't like. I read 34 books in 2011 and only eight of those books got a 5 star rating from me. It seems that this year most of those 5 star ratings went to the classics. Go figure, I guess classics are probably called classics for a reason :) Also, 5 of my 5 star books were books I'd read previously. Here is a list of my 5 star babies. Think of it as a late Christmas present from one happy reader to another. Kisses.

Katie's List of Literary Jewels read in 2011:

A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens

Mother: Our Heavenly Connection
Author: George Durrant (my grandpa)

Gone With the Wind
Author: Margaret Mitchell

Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery

Anne of the Island
Author: L.M. Montgomery

My Antonia
Author: Willa Cather

Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte

The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater

I even included links because I care about you that much. Share some late Christmas love and give me a good start for 2012. What were the BEST books you read last year?

The sheet

2011-12-28T08:41:00.003-07:00

On Christmas day we had church at 9:00 in the AM, so we decided that we wouldn't open presents until we got home (it was just sacrament meeting which meant we'd be home by 10:30). My friend gave me the idea to hang a sheet up in the doorway of our living room so the kids wouldn't be able to see the magic of Santa until we got home and so that is exactly what we did. That morning when Marcus saw the sheet in our dimly lit entryway he excitedly looked at me and said, "Mom, Santa is magic! How did he get that sheet to stay up?!" then he looked a little closer and said, "Oh, never mind, he used the big tape."

Santa may be magic but he is also practical.

Christmas

2011-12-26T14:06:00.002-07:00

We had a really nice and low-key Christmas. I wanted to get some pics up for family that wasn't able to spend the holidays with us this year. This is our lovely Christmas room before it was torn apart in about 5 minutes flat on Christmas morning. Santa hung watermelon candy canes on the tree because if you asked Eli what he wanted for Christmas he said, "Candy canes," and he did not mean the traditional kind because those ones are too "spicy."

Me and Owen on Christmas day having fun with camera. I liked this one especially because I told him, "Make a silly face," and then we made the exact same face. Aren't we awesome?

I'm not really sure why I ever try to take a picture of the boys all together. It is pretty much an impossible endeavor. Every single one of them is doing something ridiculous in this picture and all I wanted was a lovely replica of a Christmas Gap ad. Is that really asking too much?

My dad gave the babies this Cars racetrack and it was a HUGE hit with the boys. We have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve and the babies opened this one and LOVED it. Thanks, Dad and Rhonda!

Watch out for the cuteness overload!!! This is by far my very favorite picture taken during this entire weekend. I love these boys and I'm so glad they have each other. BFF's!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas cookies

2011-12-20T13:53:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, we decided to make and decorate Christmas cookies. These cookies were/are intended for the use of my family and my family only (though I did later give away some of the ones that I had decorated). Can you see why I might want to keep these cookies in my house? They got a little exciting to say the least and there may have been a lot of "Get that out of your mouth!" Yummy. Here are some especially awesome ones:

The frosted star. Marcus got a little into the idea of really layering on the frosting extra thick.

I'm not sure what happened here. A snowman with a dirty face? The marshmallow puffed sleeves are an obvious reference to Anne of Green Gables (my children are so smart.)

I think this was one of Eli's creations. His method was more about layering on as many different kinds of toppings as would fit into one gigantic pile on his cookies. He especially favored marshmallows and chocolate chips because the red hots were "too spicy."

Another Marcus creation. Just lovely. If you look in the upper left corner of this picture you can see one of Owen's cookies. His were all marked by a lovely tongue path where he had licked it to make sure it was delicious enough. That's our thoughtful Owen.

I know the people we gave some of these cookies to read this blog and I just want to assure them again that the ones I gave them were properly quarantined. I promise.

To the rest of you, feel free to come over and sample our tasty creations! (at your own risk of course).

Family Christmas Letter

2011-12-19T08:40:00.007-07:00

Each year my mom's side of the family has a big Christmas party. We stopped doing a gift exchange a few years ago and now each family makes enough copies of a picture/letter page so that everyone in the family can go home with one. I keep mine in a scrapbook and it is fun to look back and see how much people have grown and changed over the years. I'm not doing a Christmas card this year because I'm simplifying my Christmas because of my "condition," so I thought I would share this year's Richey Family page with you.

The Richey Family has been heard to say, "It was almost like Heaven back in 2011!" Here are 10 reasons why:

1. Awesome family vacation to Lund, Nevada where we enjoyed playing with our friends on their cattle ranch.

2. We found out that we’re having another baby! We are keeping to what we’re good at: Boys. This fellow is due Feb 8, 2012, and Katie is thrilled there is only one this time!

3. Marcus started First Grade. This means he’s at school all day—wow! He is still the Math King but is also showing major skills as the Reading King, too.

4. The babies are 3! Does this mean we should stop calling them “the babies?”

5. Because Tim wasn’t already busy enough, he started teaching an online accounting class for American Intercontinental University. He now only answers to Professor Richey and Your Excellency.

6. . Katie got to meet Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief. So awesome!

7. We got rid of our beater truck and somehow managed to acquire another one—ain’t life grand?

8. Katie and Nicole cooked their first Thanksgiving dinner together and it was awesome. Ask Grandpa about the sweet potatoes, go on, just ask.

9. We said farewell to Grandma. We really miss her, but are so grateful for our knowledge that families can be together forever.

10. We each had a sister get married. The boys are excited to welcome Uncle Justin and Uncle Romeo to the family, and Tim and Katie are thrilled to see their sisters so happy.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Mary and Elizabeth

2011-12-16T14:33:00.003-07:00

I had the chance to watch the LDS First Presidency Christmas devotional twice, once with my family and once with the Young Women in my ward. The church has recently put out some vignettes about the life of Christ and during the devotional they showed a few of them that told of the birth of Christ. I thought they were well done, but I also felt more.

I really felt the love that Heavenly Father has for his daughters.

A few months before the angel appeared to tell Mary of her upcoming pregnancy, He visited Zacharias and told him that Elizabeth, Mary's much older childless cousin, would also become pregnant with a special baby (John the Baptist). While I understand that the purpose of John the Baptist was to help prepare the way for Jesus, I felt as I watched these vignettes that the pregnancy of Elizabeth was also a way for Mary to receive support and comfort and understanding from a woman she loved. Mary's pregnancy may very well have felt a little isolating but Heavenly Father provided a woman she knew and loved who would also undergo a miraculous pregnancy during the same time. I had just never thought of it in quite that way before.

I have some good friends who are pregnant right now, too, and we take great enjoyment and comfort in discussing how we are feeling, what we are excited about and afraid of and the various other questions and thoughts that come with being pregnant. My cousin, Rachelle, and I are due at practically the same time and I know that I am grateful to have someone to talk to who is right there with me and who never tires of "pregnancy talk" because it is current and important to her, too. I believe that women need other women--not just during pregnancy-- and I feel like the shared experience of Mary and Elizabeth demonstrates yet again how well our Heavenly Father knows, understands, loves, and provides for his daughters.

Winter Break plans

2011-12-16T14:14:00.002-07:00

Marcus is home from school for Winter Break. This means 2 whole weeks! I have mixed feelings about this because I am 32 weeks pregnant now and feeling larger and more tired. I don't sleep as well anymore and the lack of sleep often makes me feel sluggish and snappy. It doesn't make me the most patient and adoring mother, either. I've been thinking about some of the happy and fun things we can do during this time together so that it can still be a happy season for my boys and I've come up with a few ideas for things we can do:

Make candy houses
make Christmas cookies (sugar cookies)
go bowling with the free coupons are neighbor gave us in lieu of candy on Halloween
visit the Capital building--it is beautifully decorated right now
play dates with cousins and friends
library visits
dollar movie on Tuesday
any other inexpensive and low key ideas?

I've also asked Tim to take a day or two off of work the week after Christmas so we can have a little more time together as a family. He'll work a half day on Friday and then we'll have Christmas weekend and Monday and Tuesday together. I am looking forward to that. It'll be nice to have him around.

November

2011-12-08T13:50:00.004-07:00

My November boys. Tim turned 33 and Owen and Eli turned 3.

Auntie Kay (and Grandma?) gave the boys some adorable new outfits. They sported these on their first Sunday as big 3-year-olds. Could they look any different? It's hard to believe that they are twins. Owen has the size and the strength and Eli has the curls and the gift of speech :) They continue to be the very best of friends (who still manage to bicker and tease occasionally--okay, frequently).

Thanksgiving was spent with my mom and my siblings in Utah this year. My sister-in-law, Nicole, and I prepared the delicious feast and I think it turned out quite well. I discovered that the biggest challenge to Thanksgiving dinner is making sure that everything is hot at the same time. Crock-pots certainly came in handy for that this year--we used two. We also served the smoked turkey that Tim receives from work each holiday season. It is fully cooked and just needs to be warmed up in the oven for about 2 hours. Nice! We also enjoyed the gold flecked ham that Kevin and Nicole brought--I won't tell you how much it cost--holy crap! But it was certainly delicious even to me, who isn't really a huge ham person. I definitely found a stellar sweet potatoes recipe. My grandpa said it was his favorite part of the meal. Oh, and my sister spent the time to make Grandma Tew's tarts. Yummy. Things I would change for next time: make more mashed potatoes--rather than doubling the recipe, I would triple or quadruple it.

The babies turned 3 while we were in Utah and we took them to Chuck E. Cheese where we met up with our families. I got the idea to make them a two-headed monster cake from a friend of mine who also has twin boys and can truly agree that twin boys often remind us of a two-headed monster :) They boys really liked the cake and took no offense at my insinuation :)

On Saturday night, we insanely went to see the Temple Square lights with my dad, Rhonda, and my siblings. We rode Traks which the boys totally loved (see Eli's face?) but the crowds at Temple Square were crazy! It was the only night we could see them, though, so I'm still really glad we went and that my family loved us enough to come, too.

Beautiful.

"Nise"

2011-11-10T11:48:00.003-07:00

Last week was Parent/Teacher Conferences and it went well. My favorite thing Miss LaRue gave us was a journal that Marcus has been keeping at school. She gives the kids a prompt and then they go on to write and draw a picture to illustrate their ideas. There was lots of good stuff in there, but my favorite was this page about friends. Look who Marcus drew in there for his friend. Me. It's nice to know that he thinks of me as a friend who is "nise."

Sometimes being a mom is hard, frustrating work. It's nice to have these little reminders that it is also really good and important work.

Spooky Halloween

2011-11-01T13:33:00.002-06:00

Our Halloween celebration was more of a weekend than a one night thing. And it was awesome. In no particular order (because I don't really want to take the time to go back and rearrange everything--let's be honest, there are other things I need to be doing besides blogging about my awesome weekend right now) here are some of the spooooky events.

We carved pumpkins on Sunday night. The boys danced around like crazy banshees after we lit the pumpkins and turned off the lights. To me, that means it was a successful night ;) Pictured left to right: Grandma and Eli's, Marcus and Mom's, Owen and Mom's, Dad and Owen's.

Marcus told me how to carve the face and then when we were finished he went to work on "making it his own" which means he took a knife and "expanded" on all the work we'd just done. Thus two triangle eyes and a nose become the awesome cyclops pumpkin seen in the first picture.

Owen and Eli tried (unsuccessfully, thank goodness) to get their fingers cut off by Grandma's knife. My mom deserves a prize for still carving a totally awesome pumpkin despite all her "helpers." Side note, it was so great to have my mom come up for the Halloween weekend. We LOVE it when Grandma comes.

My boys went trick or treating not one, not two, but THREE times! Friday night was a trunk or treat and carnival with Grandma and Grandpa Richey and Kay. Saturday night was our church's trunk or treat, and then Halloween night around the neighborhood. My favorite is that they are all still too young to want to create their own piles of candy. They all just dumped it in a huge community pile on the table and went to work eating as much as possible. A friend asked me if we had a candy gremlin that lived at our house and planned to come and eat the extra candy we didn't want our kids to consume. I said, "Yep, his name is Tim."

We enjoyed Year 3 of our annual Murder Mystery dinner at the D'Addabbo's house. This year we all got to dress up as Zombies and it was so fun. I love my friends.

Finally, and this really should have been the first picture, we went batty at our house this year. Martha Stewart's cool ideas and my son's love for bats inspired me to create our own little Halloween creatures this year. The boys spent much of the month walking by this table and blowing with all their might at the little bats to make them "fly." What a good Halloween month it has been. And now on to November!

Yet another "new" favorite picture

2011-10-24T13:49:00.005-06:00

picture taken by Kim Hodges from KAH Photography. She was our photographer at the Monster Mash. Thanks, Kim!

I really love this time of year, I think that fall is my favorite season. I just love the colors, the cooler weather, the baking smells, the holidays that come right on the heels of one another, and the fact that I can wear my cute boots to church again ;)

We are loving the idea of Halloween around here. We had our school's annual Monster Mash on Friday night. The PTO headed it up and that meant life was a little stressful and crazy as we got everything all organized. The work really paid off this year, though, we introduced three carnival booths and a photographer's area and made almost double what we earned last year! In the middle of all the stress and worry about whether things would work or we'd get enough volunteers, I said to Tim,"Why do I do this to myself? Why do I get involved like this?" He said something along the lines of, "That's your personality, you like to be a part of things, and it will all work out and maybe I should record this so we can play it the next time you get stressed over some big event." Ha ha. He was right, though. In the end, I really enjoyed the night and was so happy with the success. It's great to work with such amazing people who really care about helping our little school be the best it can be.

Have I told you about Tim's new "extra" job? He's teaching an online accounting class and it's a lot of work! The class only goes for 5 weeks so he has to cover a lot of material very quickly and that translates into a lot of grading! Think around 30 0r so 3 page papers a week. I've been helping with the grading because the students have to use APA and I'm familiar with it. I also check grammar. Tim grades for the content. We're hoping that it won't feel like so much work in the next session because he'll have the lessons all prepared and power points all created. Here's hoping! It's a great opportunity for us to reach some of our financial goals a little more quickly, so we really want to make it work.

Last thing, a cute story. We play a little game at our house where I'll say to Owen or Eli, "Who do you love?" And they'll say, "Marcus!" and then I'll ask, "Who else?" and they'll say another family member and so on until we've gone through everyone including Lucy, the cat. Well, a few days ago, Eli and I were playing this game when he surprised me. I asked, "Who do you love?" and he said, "The baby in mommy's belly." Pretty sweet. I'm almost 25 weeks along and we are getting excited for this little fellow to join our family! It's fun to see my boys getting excited, too.

My new favorite picture

2011-10-17T16:12:00.004-06:00

We spent last weekend in Idaho Falls with Tim's parents and grandparents. There was SNOW on the ground! Can you believe that? The boys were in heaven and had a snowball fight with Grandpa, then when the snow melted, they picked strawberries (Grandpa Richey grows the best strawberries). Kind of a crazy day when you can have snowballs and strawberries on the same day--perfect for the boys, though.

Tim and I got to do a session at the Idaho Falls Temple. I'd never been there before and it was very nice. Later we went back with the boys to show them what is now referred to as the "Waterfall Temple." It's such a beautiful place.

Tim's idea of heaven

2011-10-13T17:11:00.005-06:00

When I was in Utah for my sister's wedding, I received a call from Tim at 11:00 in the morning. Tim doesn't usually call me from work unless it is an emergency or to tell me he's going to be late or something along those lines. Plus, I was out of town. This call was different. First, he sounded like he was really excited. Second, he sounded like he was 12 and really excited. Third, he sounded like it was Christmas morning (read: excited). Why? His work had been given 2 sky box tickets to the Boise State/Nevada game and his boss had given those tickets to HIM!!!!

There was a potato bar, wings, brownies, and any beverage you desired. We enjoyed the food throughout the entire game. Yummy.

Go Broncos!!!

My grandma

2011-10-11T13:32:00.003-06:00

Marilyn Kay Burnham Durrant was born in Salt Lake on September 17, 1930. She passed away on October 7, 2011, after completing all she had set out to do and had seen all her fondest dreams come true.

Marilyn grew up in Salt Lake, graduated from East High, and went to work at the Telephone Company. She traveled with friends, skied, golfed, tennised and dabbled in photography. She learned to speak German and often got after her children in that commanding language.
At age 24 she chose to serve a mission and received a call to the Britain, serving primarily in Scarborough, England. Marilyn led a mini multitude to the waters of Baptism. Hundreds there called her name blessed.

In England she met the love of her life, Elder Durrant, a fellow missionary. She reported, "We kept all mission rules but George did have an electrifying handshake." They married January 1956 in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they served the Lord, their family, and those around them.

In her marriage, she took a young man from "old time American Fork" and motivated him to learn and grow. She was lovingly critical of his speaking, his writing, and his presiding at home and in the family. She demanded that he always do better. His greatest desire was to do all he did in a way that Marilyn would be proud of him. He wanted her often hard-to-achieve approval. She willing remained in the background, but it was truly her inspiration, guidance, and support that allowed George to succeed. George adored her. She was his support. She was his "Luvy." Without her near he felt he was totally incomplete. During the last week of her life, in a lonely hospital room, she spoke to George, "You are truly a glorious man." In that one sincere moment, she let him know that his dream to be good had come true.

Marilyn is the mother of eight children, Matthew (Jaclyn), Kathryn, Devin (Julie) serving as Mission President of the Dallas TX Mission, Marinda Gentry (Steven), Dwight (Marci), Warren (Jodi), Sarah Larsen (Kelly), and Mark (Marilee), who knew her as a strong woman firmly rooted in the gospel. She had deep strength and her children relied on her strength which in turn made them who they are today. She often said, "If I knew how great they would be as adults, I would have treated them better as children."

At family gatherings "stories about mom" brought much laughter. Marilyn’s humor made her a legend to her family. Sunday night scone parties, Thanksgiving rolls, and her chicken noodle soup will never be beat. She was happiest in regaling others of George, her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren’s talents and accomplishments. She was more silent on her own generosity to others and accomplishments, and went about quietly doing good.
She was a straight shooter and always chose the correct targets. When the family would move, as they so often did, the new ward was excited to have George move in. But when the Durrants moved out they wept that they would be losing Marilyn. She was not as interested in first impressions as she was in quietly proving herself over the days and years of her life. She was almost a "no nonsense" person. But when the time for nonsense was right she was the most nonsensical person of them all.

George was called to preside over the Kentucky Tennessee Mission in 1972 and the couple, with their children, ages 15 to 18 months, moved. In Kentucky she continued to mother her eight young children, allowing George the freedom to serve as president. All the Elders dreamed of someday marrying someone like Sister Durrant, and she gave the sisters and example of the beauty and power of a woman who followed the Lord.

In the 1980‘s George was called as President of the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah and Marilyn was at his side. She taught 50,000 missionaries how to dress and how to conduct themselves with dignity. She and her friend, Mary Ellen Edmunds, were a dynamic duo in teaching thousands of Sisters the glory of being a lady missionary.

Marilyn and George served a fourth mission together in Toronto, Canada. Though she could scarcely walk, she made her way along ice covered sidewalks to the many small institute classes at various universities. The Durrants were often late to class because every homeless person Marilyn met along the way she stopped to talk and to give them the lunch money she had brought for George and herself. She willingly prepared treats for the 200 hundred students she had helped round up and who attended the larger institute class. George would teach them and she would love them and feed them and encourage them one on one.

Marilyn was an amazing calligrapher and belonged to the Calligraphic Society of Utah. George often said, "She was the best calligrapher in Utah even stretching up in to southern Idaho." Marilyn told him to stop saying that. But he felt he was right and would not refrain. Even in her last week’s she took the opportunity to share her calligraphy talent.

Special thanks to those at Utah Valley Specialty Hospital (each was an angel to her) for their kindness during her last weeks. We love Doctor Mitchell, Doctor Anderson, and Doctor Ney Ney. And to Darren, her physical therapist, who she loved, and who she defeated in a foot propelled wheel chair race a few days before her release from the hospital and from life on this earth. That was her last victory before she overcame death.

She a had a firm foundation and as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings, "I’ll never, no never (repeated 13 times) I’ll never, no never, no never forsake."

There was no other like Marilyn Durrant. She was in this life, and forever, An Elect Lady.

Her obituary which is officially posted at this location.

Our specialty

2011-10-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

Apparently we have a specialty at our house: boys. About a week or so ago, I went in for my big 20 week ultrasound and we were excited to see what gender this new little person was going to be. Dr. C dimmed the lights, turned on the monitor and put the wand on my belly. I reached for Tim's hand and watched excitedly as the first image of my baby appeared on the screen. "I think your basketball team just got bigger," I said to Tim. Right away, I saw that it was a boy. Dr. C (trying to delay the inevitable) said something along the lines of, "Well now, we don't know for sure yet, that may be the chord, let's look around a bit." But I just laughed and thought to myself that I'd seen enough boy parts on my babies' ultrasounds to know that I was having another one.

Yep, we're having a BOY!!!

I'm not going to lie, I was sort of hoping for a girl. I had imagined what a girl nursery would look like and how fun it would be if she had red hair that was curly like Eli's. We even had a name picked out. But something happens when you see the little baby on the screen and feel the little kicks and wiggles and in almost an instant, it all just feels right and good. We are excited for this little man to join our family and our wrestling matches. We are ready for him to dig in our dirt box, pee in the bathtub, squash food into the carpet, and smear sticky fingers on the television screen. We are looking forward to more trucks accumulating throughout the house and more random sticks being turned into guns and swords.

I think baby boy #4 will fit in perfectly around here.

Emma Tew Smith

2011-10-02T13:30:00.003-06:00

My sister got married last Tuesday and it was a beautiful event. She wore an amazing wedding dress made by my mom and carried a bouquet she had made herself. The ceremony and reception were held at Wadley Farms in Utah and the grounds were lovely and the weather perfect. Today, she is on a train headed back from Denver where she and Justin spent their honeymoon. Ladies and Gentleman, she is happy! And I am so happy for her and Justin and the Little Miss. I love them all and wish them the best.

My cousin, Andee, took these pictures of Emma at Wheeler Farm in Utah. She was the wedding photographer, too, but I haven't seen those pics yet. I'm sure they will be amazing.

Did anyone catch that her new name is Emma Smith? Those who know and love Emma may get a little chuckle out of this. Congrats, E & J Smith!! :)

My project

2011-09-20T14:23:00.004-06:00

First off, I bet a bunch of you will be checking in to see what the gender of our baby is and I will tell you, but not today. See, my sister is getting married on Tuesday and I want to tell my family in person, and if I let the cat out of the bag here . . . well, it wouldn't work. The big news will be broadcast via the blog next week.

But without further ado, here is my latest (and greatest) project!

Our computer area/desk has been a source of annoyance to me for awhile now, so with my burst of second trimester nesting energy I decided to solve the problem. I found this computer armoire on craigslist for $50 and then I painted it RED.

It took a lot of coats (4, maybe) and the black still shows through a bit, but I actually like that. I think it makes it look a little aged and classic looking. Also, if my boys run into it and more black shows through, I won't be mad :)

And the best part is that all the computer stuff can disappear when I close the doors. Magical!

Fall Busy-ness

2011-09-19T13:21:00.004-06:00

After Marcus started school a month or so ago, life suddenly seemed to get busier. For me, it seems like September, October, November, and December are the months that race by. I love that these next few months will get me almost to the end of my pregnancy (due date Feb 9) and then we'll have a sweet little baby in our home. So while life may have gotten a little crazier, I am still happy and definitely enjoying the cooler fall weather. Here are a few of the things that have filled the last few weeks:

First Grade. I think I should give a quick update here because my last post about Marcus and school was a little on the weepy side. He is so happy. I am so happy. It is going really well. I had a nice visit with his teacher at Back-to-School night and she is really kind and excited to be teaching these kids. He likes school and doesn't complain about how long it is anymore, instead he comes home with stories of what he played at recess, what he ate at lunch, how he was assigned to be the line leader for the week, what book he picked at library time, and how they are learning to play tennis in P.E. He tells me about his friends and his teacher and all the latest first grade gossip :) We've settled into a nice routine where he comes home from school, watches an episode of Wild Kratts (his FAVORITE show) and then we do homework--he gets a math worksheet and a reading worksheet each day. After that, he is free to do what he wants and sometimes he will play with his brothers and sometimes he will go build a block creation alone in his room. I'm so grateful he has some good buddies at school and a teacher who seems to care about him. Hooray!

Marcus's first race: On Friday evening Marcus and kids from all around the area were invited to Capital High School to run in a Fun Run. K-3 ran 1/4 mile and 4-6 ran a mile. There were medals and ribbons and free t-shirts and hot dogs. It was great fun--okay, a little chaotic but still free and fun :) Tim and Marcus trained together for the big race and I was really proud of him for running the whole way. He told me, "I'm going to tighten my shoes really tight because that will make me run faster. I'm going to not start out too fast so I don't get tired, but when I get close to the end I'm going to run really fast and let out my jet speed." He's so funny.

PTO and Charter school board: I'm doing my second term as Secretary for the PTO. I enjoying being involved with the school and getting to know the other parents, teachers, and principal. I also like feeling like I'm contributing in some way to making our school the best it can be. Right now we're getting things ready for our big Monster Mash in October. I feel like we are more organized this year and I think it's going to be so fun for the kids and families--and a good money-raiser, too! Tim is still the Treasurer for a local charter school and now that school has started, he's busy with that. Like me, we both sometimes complain about our monthly meetings or responsibilities, but at the end of the day, we're glad to be a part.

Callings: Okay, so maybe they aren't any busiER because they are always busy. Tim is still the EQ Pres and I am still in the YW presidency. We have a great ward and serve with good people.

Projects: I've just completed a big project here at the house, but I'll save that for another post. Suffice it to say, we LOVE it!

Professor Tim: Awhile back Tim was contacted by an online school to teach an accounting course. He just completed the training and his class starts October 3. He will be teaching Principles of Accounting. The school is called American Intercontinental University and he's excited to teach it. I'm excited to be his sexy TA :) We're both excited to pay off our student loans more quickly.

Owen and Eli are still busy as ever! I am really enjoying my time with just them while Marcus is at school. They've even enjoyed their first official play date with a friend from church and we go to story time at the library every week. They love each other a lot and sometimes it is nice when big brother is gone and they can do their own thing for a bit each day. Also, their two hour nap time everyday is AWESOME!

I love my kids, even the little one that has become quite squirmy and kicky in my belly lately. I can't wait to see that one tomorrow at our ultrasound. I can't believe I'm halfway!

Labor Day weekend

2011-09-09T13:55:00.005-06:00

While we were having fun at the annual Spirit of Boise Balloon Festival with cousin Tyler . . .

and eating yummy donuts and drinking creamy chocolate milk. (Owen ate TWO whole donuts!)

And partying in up all weekend with the Aunties, Grandma and Grandpa, and our best boy cousin . . .

Tim was doing this at Horsethief Reservoir . . .

With these guys on his annual Mancation. We both had good weekends but I'm pretty sure I know who came home smellier, smile-lier, and with more blackmail pictures . . . also, I'm betting Eli has hair like Scott's when he get older, am I right?

Tea party

2011-09-05T14:32:00.005-06:00

I'm blessed to have some really wonderful friends and two of them took me out to tea for my 30th birthday. We dressed up and wore hats and totally enjoyed ourselves. I think tea time really needs to make a comeback. It was wonderful and so fun. A girl never truly outgrows her love for tea parties. At least this girl never will.

Our first course was fresh fruit topped with cream--real cream! I could have enjoyed an entire bowl of that cream on the side. So good.

Then we had scones with more cream and jam.

That was followed by this lighter-than-air quiche. So good.

Then came the sandwiches. Tradition has you start at the bottom and work your way up so that's exactly what we did.

Our final treat was this chocolate molten cake and a little petit four. It was all so delicious. Such a good day! Thanks, ladies!

Grandpa Tew's 90th Birthday

2011-08-30T13:42:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I traveled down to Utah again (yes, Tim played the part of single parent again and was sweet enough to take the boys to church by himself for two straight weeks--no small thing). This time I drove with my cousin, Rachelle, and we had the best time chatting and eating yummy things with absolutely no, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" It was really nice. The party was on Saturday in Ephraim, so for the last leg of our journey we picked up my sis-in-law, Nicole, and I was happy to get to hang out with her for a bit because she is always fun, and it made our trio of traveling awesomeness complete :) I can't believe my grandpa is 90! It was great to see family that I haven't seen in years. Definitely a fun weekend but I'm not gonna lie, it was a LOT of driving for a short weekend. I'm still very glad I went, thanks for inviting me to be your road warrior buddy, Rachelle!

One of my favorite parts of the party was seeing and holding my niece, Emery. Isn't she the sweetest little brown baby that you've ever seen?

The pregnant cousins! Rachelle, Becki, me. We're all due within a few weeks of each other--I think Rachelle and I actually may have the same due date. Rachelle is having a boy, Becki is not finding out, and I find out on September 20th. Exciting!

First Grade!!

2011-08-25T13:18:00.003-06:00

On the night before Marcus started first grade, we continued or tradition of having a special back-to-school dinner. This year he picked his current favorite dinner: Hawaiian Haystacks. We also made sure to use the fancy cups.

After dinner, it was time for a haircut so he could look extra handsome for his first day of school. During his haircut the babies hovered around me mumbling, "No haircut."

Then it was time for the back-to-school cake! This year Marcus picked a strawberry flavored mix that turned out quite tasty. Everyone was VERY excited to eat it after having to look at it all safe and sound under its cake dome for the past few hours.

After cake, we had an impromptu dance party, but I was too busy dancing to take any pictures. :)

Just before bed, Tim gave Marcus a Father's blessing for the new school year. Earlier in the day, we had talked about blessings and how it is a chance for Heavenly Father to talk to Marcus before he goes back to school. I think what I said must have made some impact because during the blessing he was reverent and listened to what was being said. Even the babies were good and Owen jumped right up on the chair after Marcus was finished with his arms all folded and ready for his own blessing.

Then we put the kids to bed and as Tim and I were going to bed I suddenly started crying. I didn't shed a single tear when he started kindergarten, but first grade felt very different. It is all day. That means that for the first time in his life and mine, he will be with another adult for more time than he is with me, and I don't even really know this other adult very well (I'm sure she's great and by the end of the year I will be singing her praises) but right now it feels a little sad for me. I also hoped in my heart that we had done a good job teaching him about Heavenly Father and His love for Marcus. I hope that when he is faced with bad language or teasing that he will be strong and feel of not only his earthly parents' love but his Heavenly Parents love' for him.

Here's Marcus in his back-to-school outfit on his first day of First Grade. He was a little nervous about the whole thing until I took him to the store a few days ago and said he could pick out any shirt he wanted to wear on his first day. He found this Transformers shirt and it was love at first sight. He also got some new shoes and they are Transformer shoes, too. He believes quite sincerely that they make him run faster and jump higher :)

And then it was off to school! Luckily, we found our best pal, Caleb, right away and after that Marcus seemed quite happy to be there. My friend Liz and I joked that the boys were fine, it was the moms who were having a hard time. Today, Marcus didn't seem quite so excited to go to school. He worried he would miss me and that we would do fun things without him. I think the realization that it is all day and a little more sitting and listening is going to take some time. I think it will be a wonderful year, but it will definitely be a transition for all of us.

Emma's Bridal Shower

2011-08-23T13:27:00.003-06:00

I just got back from a quick trip down to Utah for my sister's bridal shower. She's getting married on September 27 after a nine month engagement--7 of those months being spent apart from her fiancee who is playing baseball in Florida. Needless to say, she is REALLY excited for her wedding and her groom to arrive. My sis-in-law, Nicole, gave the shower and made the most delicious food. It was a great time. I got to see some cousins I never get to see and hold some babies I'd never held before. I love how happy events bring us all together--I guess sad events do, too, but I'm glad this was a happy one.

Today my Grandma Durrant went in for open heart surgery to replace a valve in her heart. She's in surgery right now and my thoughts and prayers are with her and my grandpa. Some of the neighbors saw the bridal shower going on and thought it was some kind of great big party for my grandma before her big surgery and while it wasn't really that, I'm still very glad that we did get to have a party that allowed her to spend some wonderful time with several of her daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters. Girl parties are the best.

Raspberry picker

2011-08-17T14:09:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago was the height of raspberry season (we are currently enjoying tomato season). During that time, the boys learned how to pick raspberries. Most of the time the berries went right from the bush to their mouth, but on this day Owen was quite the little berry collector. I was so proud of him and his little bucket that I had to document the event. Good job, Owen!

We celebrated by pouring some yummy cream on those raspberries. Heaven!

Lund: Day 3 (Final day--boo!)

2011-08-16T20:04:00.004-06:00

On our last day in Lund we did fun things like . . .

Feed a cute baby cow.

Ride 4-wheelers. Owen LOVED this. They had several 4-wheelers and the best was when Jake took us all on a 4-wheeling family tour of the ranch. Jake had two of his boys, Tim had Owen and Marcus and I had Eli. It was really great. Oh, and Aub let me use her hat so I wouldn't get a sunburn. It happens to be pretty stylin, too.

Swim in hot creek. The water was warm like a bath and so clear. The kids loved it.

Build a huge fire and roast hot dogs and s'mores.

Hunt large bugs.

Play with friends. I already loved Aubrey and Jake and now I love their children, too. Thank you for being such wonderful friends and hosts. This vacation will always be a happy memory for my family.

Lund: Day 2 (Hooray! My computer is fixed!)

2011-08-15T14:10:00.004-06:00

On our second day in Lund, we took a day trip to Lehman Caves which is about an hour or so from Aubrey's house. It was a really neat place and the kids all really enjoyed it. We toured the cave then hiked around for a bit before heading to Ely for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I wish I had pictures of all of us at the restaurant--I think we were quite the sight and made quite the mess. The food was delicious, though, and we made sure to leave a nice tip :)

It was really cool.

Owen was none too thrilled about being picked up for this picture. I think of all my children that he loved the cave the very most. LOVED it. His loving it so much made it a little more difficult for me to enjoy it because I had to be watching him like a hawk the whole time. He was jumping and laughing and skipping--I was worried he was going to touch something or break something and the ranger had been VERY specific about telling us all how old everything was and how tragic it would be to touch something and ruin it for future generations. Future generations, people!

Marcus was in heaven.

I love Owen waving in the background in this picture.

We had to go in these giant tunnels to get in and out of the cave. The boys loved the echo.

Here we are pretending we are nineteen again. We totally look that young right? Lie to me :)

Our kids are all blondies--especially Aubrey's. Here is everyone minus baby Vivi (1) (Genevieve). Left to right: Dallin (2), Isabelle (7), Marcus (6), Eli (2), Neil (5), Owen (2). They all got along pretty well and it was so fun to have them together for a few days. Fun times. We joked that we must be Mormon because between the two of us we have 7 kids and are both expecting another one. Sheesh.

A little of this and that

2011-08-09T14:46:00.002-06:00

I bet some of you are just waiting for more Lund pictures, and I WISH I could show them to you. I really do. Unfortunately, a few nights ago, the power in our neighborhood went out and when we tried to turn our computer back on it refused to turn on. REFUSED. We are now trying to figure out what happened, and I am praying (desperately) that all of the wonderful things I had on that computer are not gone forever. I don't even like writing that because I don't really want to even think about what I'll do and how I'll feel if that is the case . . .

Better news: I heard the baby's heart beat again today. It's always so wonderful to hear that sound. I was a little dismayed to see that the baby is still actually quite small and quite low and yet I'm starting to "show" as though the baby was much bigger and much higher. Sigh. I guess that lovely bump developing around my midsection is more me than baby. I'm still going to blame it on the baby, though.

I can tell you all now that I have been so sick. I have not thrown up once, but have felt as though I was about to for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire month of June and July. I am now starting to feel better but it still plagues me in the evenings. I feel tired a lot and I think I'm still shaking off the last of the depression that came with being sick for two months straight. When I don't feel good, I don't see the world through a very happy lens and that was extremely difficult for me and my family. I cried to Tim so often and was a crappy mom to my boys. Really, it was just awful. Gosh, I'm going on and on, but now I can finally talk about it because I can finally tell people I'm pregnant. During those dark and sick infested months I read two different blogs that really echoed perfectly how I was feeling. Here's the link to the first and then her post links to the second. It was nice to read these blogs and not feel quite so alone during a hard time.

I think the twins (specifically Eli) are pretty ready to be potty trained. Now I just need to get myself ready. Potty training Marcus was kind of an ordeal. I think we started too soon and it was just really frustrating. Then I waited and he was a little over three when it finally clicked into place--that time was much better. The boys won't be three until November, so I think I'm just a little nervous about rushing them when they're not ready . . . does anyone have any good books or tips or websites about potty training, so I can read up? I definitely want them potty trained before the new baby comes. Also, if anyone has tips for potty training twins that would be especially appreciated.

I have been hoping for a girl this time. I would love to have a daughter. We have a name picked out and everything. Everyone asks me if I want a girl, and I do, but if we have a little boy I will still be very happy (obviously--every baby is a blessing). Especially because last night I thought of a boy name and Tim liked it, too. This is AMAZING! We even thought of some cute nicknames that would fit with the name just perfectly. For some reason, having a little boy name ready has helped me to feel like I won't be quite as disappointed if it isn't a girl. (I'll be too excited to use my awesome boy nicknames!) Oh, and don't ask me the names because I won't tell you. I don't want to hear that your crazy ex had that same name or that some mean girl from high school was named **** Sorry.

News

2011-08-04T13:58:00.002-06:00

They say that three's a crowd, so that must mean that four's a party . . .

Baby Richey #4 is due to arrive February 9.

Nine years

2011-08-03T13:52:00.002-06:00

Today marks our ninth wedding anniversary. To celebrate here are some other numbers that took place during the past nine years.

2 Masters degrees
3 children
1 house
4 apartments
1 cat
6 vehicles
11 jobs
6 Richey Family Vacations
1 nephew
1 niece
3 computers
3 televisions
4 wards
14 church callings
1 husband
1 wife
forever

Happy Anniversary, Tim! I love you very much.

Lund: Day 1

2011-08-02T14:32:00.002-06:00

On our first day in Lund, we started off the morning by swimming in the ditch that runs through the backyard. Jake turned the water on and we had a nice little current come through that kept the water clear and cool. It felt really nice on a hot day. There was only one minor incident. See that wire up at the top? That's an electric fence and Jake had thought he'd turned it off. Unfortunately, for Eli, he hadn't. Poor Eli got a bit of a shock when he grabbed hold of it. He was fine and playing a minute after we rescued him, so no worries, I guess he just wanted the full ranch experience.

Owen LOVED this mama cat and her kittens. He and Eli got pretty good and catching and holding them. I could tell right away that these kittens had received lots of kid love prior to our arrival. That was nice.

After naps, we decorated sugar cookies. Aub made all different colors of frosting and had bottles of sprinkles, so the kids had a really great time. She made a ton and they lasted our entire visit which was nice, too. I think green actually became the color only Owen was allowed to use--that's because he started making a habit of double dipping while frosting. Extra yummy!

The Carter Family owns a cattle ranch and these guys were pretty curious about us, too.

We ended our first day on the ranch with horse rides. None of my boys had ever ridden a horse before, so this was a really neat thing for them.

Do you like Marcus's snow boots? Those are his "cowboy boots." He insisted on packing them.

Tim spent some of his childhood on a farm/ranch and was excited to ride again. He took this horse for a run and was a little sore afterward. I think he makes quite the dashing cowboy.

Look how little Eli looks up there. He wasn't scared at all.

I do think he loved feeding the horse even more than he loved riding it. The horse was a gentle and as "kid friendly" as the kittens.

A very good week

2011-08-01T14:09:00.003-06:00

I got back from a wonderful vacation on Saturday. It started last Friday when my lovely sister-in-law, Alecia, got married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in Utah. She was so beautiful and it was a really special ceremony. We are so happy for her. Her husband, Romeo, is from Madagascar, but has lived in the United States for about 8 years. He was married once before so not only does Alecia now have a handsome husband, but she has a six-year-old son! Romeo is serving in the National Guard and is going to Iraq for a year. He left the Monday following their Friday wedding. I had worried the wedding might feel bittersweet because of this soon-to-be long separation, but it was only happy and beautiful. I wish them all the best.

And then on Sunday I turned 30!!!! We celebrated with my siblings and mom on Saturday. I requested a scone party and my birthday wish was granted. It was really nice to visit with everyone and be near them for this big event. I love my family.

And then we headed to Lund, Nevada to visit my old roommate, Aubrey Carter, and her family on their ranch. I took a TON of pictures, so that post will come later. If you can't wait, though, I did post a bunch of them on facebook--they just won't have my witty dialogue :)

Sun kissed

2011-07-18T14:36:00.003-06:00

The July heat has finally arrived with a terrible and ferocious vengeance and that means only one thing: the babies are now permitted to swim nude in our backyard. Marcus wanted to join in but I made up a quick rule about how we are only allowed to swim naked in the backyard until we are 3-years-old and after that we have to wear our swimsuits or at least our underwear. The boys must have splashed around naked a little too long though because this morning I noticed that Owen had a touch of sunburn on his naked bum cheeks. I checked Eli, but he had no sunburn whatsoever, but then again, he also has no bum cheeks whatsoever.

I'm not sure Beyonce or Jennifer Lopez would agree, but apparently, being bumless can sometimes be a quite a blessing, especially when it comes to nude backyard swimming.

Not a fan

2011-07-15T08:28:00.002-06:00

Don't be fooled by the grin on his face, Eli does NOT like fireworks. After the sparklers we broke out the poppers--a kid favorite, right? Eli started shouting, "Inside! Inside!" I finally took him in the house until the poppers were gone, then I brought him back out for the fountains. "Inside! Inside!" he shouted after only two of them. Poor guy.

Then yesterday we were filling up water balloons for a party tonight and I noticed he was hovering pretty close to me as I paid some bills on the computer. After I finished, I went outside to help and realized that Eli was scared of the water balloons. "No pop it," is what he kept saying.

Poor kid, typical summer fun just doesn't seem to fly with him.

Things that happened, but I didn't take my camera

2011-07-12T08:23:00.002-06:00

Tim took me to see Alison Krauss for my early 30th birthday present. I LOVE her! It didn't hurt that the concert was held outside at the Idaho Botanical Gardens or that the weather was gorgeous or that the avocado sandwich I ate for our lovely outdoor concert picnic was so yummy. I didn't take any pictures because the rules explicitly said NO cameras and I think we all pretty much know by now that I am definitely one who follow rules. I think that rule may be a little outdated though because it seems that everyone and their dog now owns a fancy shmancy Iphone with a camera that is probably better than an actual camera and they were all taking pictures but whatever--I have a Mental picture and it is beautiful. We were a little bit nervous to drive home because it also seemed like everyone and their dog had had a leetle too much to drink. At one point a group of 50+ year-olds started dancing in front of us in a very drunken fashion. It was funny to watch but I couldn't quite pick out who the designated driver might be so . . . Anyway, wonderful night and she has a lovely voice and it was just great.

This past weekend we went to a reunion with Tim's family. It was nice to visit with Tim's sisters and other relations because they are all great and fun to sit around in camping chairs and visit with. The food was also yummy and we went swimming which my kids completely and totally adored. It turns out my twins are quite the water babies. There was a minor incident with some crazy red necks who camped near us and then the next night a group of Mexicans had some sort of loud polka music drinking festival but hey! who doesn't love group camping?! It makes for some good quality sleep, I'll tell you what. I may or may not have had some raging jealousy for the lovely campers that some families brought--you know the ones with beds and bathrooms and quiet. Oh well. Marcus loved playing with cousin Tyler and it always makes me happy to see those two playing well together. I wish they could play together more often.

That same weekend my old roommate, JaNae, got married, and because I was in town I could attend her wedding reception. This meant that not only did I get to see her in all of her wedded bliss, but I also got to see Ben and Aubrey (my other wonderful Ricks College roommate and spouse/pseudo roommate) and their three beautiful girls. We could all hardly believe that it has been nearly 12 years since we lived together. Oh my. We did some crazy things back then that may have involved tights and leopard print . . . Good times.

My builder

2011-07-06T13:41:00.003-06:00

I have always been impressed by people who can construct things without directions. It's like they can just see this concept in their head and can transfer that concept into a real thing. I think Marcus was blessed with that talent. He loves to build things and they are always carefully constructed and totally his own inspiration. He has blocks, legos, trio blocks, and train tracks and he really seems to enjoy shaping them into cool things--usually rockets or robots. The other day I was in the living room feeling a little frustrated that his train tracks were everywhere when I just stopped for a minute and looked at what he'd built. It was cool. The track was neat and so were the bridge and the crane thing. I could sort of understand why he screams like a banshee when his little brothers break his creations.

He also loves cardboard boxes. He likes to cut them up and color on them. Whenever we get anything in a box his first question is, "What's in it?" and the second is, "Can I have the box?" This box once held the scooter that Grandma sent him for his birthday. Now it's an awesome robot monster. It's hilarious when Eli wears it--he even makes monster sounds. It really freaks Owen out :)

Who needs swimsuits, anyway?

2011-06-30T11:16:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we bought a little wading pool and the babies LOVE it. Initially, they were a little shy of getting in because hose water is freezing, but they seemed to get over that pretty fast. Each morning I usually let them out to go find "strawbebbies" in their pajamas and sometimes they stay out there for a little while and play around. The other morning, they started investigating the pool and I literally watched as they got braver and braver until they were fully soaked and loving it. I love these boys--they make me smile.

Independence

2011-06-29T10:52:00.002-06:00

So, Independence Day is only a few days away and I found myself thinking of how my little two-year-olds happily attempt to celebrate their own form of independence every single day. On most mornings we have cold cereal for breakfast and Owen and Eli usually have a two toddler sized bowls. They watch me pour the cereal and the milk and seem to know the drill. The other day, I was in another room doing something while they were eating breakfast and I came back to see this lovely display of independence. I imagine the "conversation" went something like this:

Owen: (looking up from his bowl of cereal) "Eli, I see that you need some more cereal, Mom's busy so I'll just go ahead and take care of that for you. Let's see, here's the cereal and the milk . . ." (grabs cereal and milk off counter).

Eli: "Thanks, Owen. Let me go ahead and put the bowl on the floor for you so that it's easier to reach." (moves bowl to floor)

Owen: "That's great, Eli! Now, I know that you like milk, so let's make sure to give you plenty!"

Mom: (comes in and sees huge mess--looks a little frazzled) "What?!!! You guys, NO!! That's a mommy job!!"

end scene

Father's Day

2011-06-23T13:34:00.002-06:00

Ever since Tim saw Ralph Macchio on Dancing with the Stars he's been talking about The Karate Kid and how much he wanted to see it again. When I told him I'd never seen the movie, I think he may have passed out from shock and utter disappointment that he married someone who hadn't seen such an "awesome" movie. Poor Tim, I wasn't much of a fan of Red Dawn either (another Tim favorite). So, because we adore Tim and think he's the best husband and father in the entire world, we decided to get him The Karate Kid and some yummy movie treats for Father's Day. Marcus is crappy at keeping secrets (is there a six-year-old that's good at it?) so he told Tim that we'd gotten him a movie for Father's Day, but he was careful to add, "But I'm not telling you which one!" Nice, Marcus. That evening we watched the movie together and there's been a lot of "hi-ya's" around here ever since (mostly from Tim). Happy Fathers Day to the best guy in the world.

Happy Birthday Marcus!

2011-06-22T10:19:00.004-06:00

Friday, June 17, was sunny and hot. Sunday, June 19, was a little breezy but still quite sunny. Saturday, June 18, was RAINY. I take special notice of this weather pattern because Saturday was Marcus's 6th birthday and we had his very first friend birthday party. What kind of party was it? A water party! Complete with swimming pool, water balloons, slip 'n slide, water guns . . . and RAIN.

Luckily, the kids still had a really wonderful time--we spent the first 45 min or so sticking to plan A, but then the kids started shivering and their lips started turning blue and we thought we better bring them inside. We opened presents, did the cake, and then put them all in the living room to play with all of the new toys. I couldn't quite let our Ocean themed water party die though, so I also turned on Finding Nemo.

Marcus had a really wonderful time with all of his friends and the weather didn't bother him a bit. I can't believe he's six-years-old. He is getting so tall and is such a thinker. He is a great blessing to our family and we're happy to have him. Happy birthday, Marcus!!

Summer

2011-06-15T08:50:00.003-06:00

I hate it when I can't find the pics I want to post, my camera was being a little weird and getting the dates messed up (it's fixed now) but now my pics are all out of order and I can't find them by date--it's a little annoying. Anyway, I still wanted to write about how summer is going so far.

Great!!!

We go to the park every single day for the free lunch in the park program. It's really wonderful and the kids LOVE it.

We still get together with the cousins every week for a playdate but this time it lasts even longer because nobody is in school.

Our mornings are often nice and lazy with me reading a book on the couch while the boys watch cartoons. I'm reading Gone with the Wind again. I'm hosting it for book club next week. That book is amazing and it's been fun learning about the author, Margaret Mitchell.

Playdates with friends. Marcus lives for playdates, can someone say Social Butterfly?! I'm really grateful he has such good friends who have moms that I can be good friends with, too.

Summer Reading at the Library! Marcus has already read 8 books and earned a prize.

Picking strawberries in the backyard--raspberries are up next!

Things to look forward to:

Marcus's 6th birthday on Saturday. We are having his very first friend birthday party and he could not be more excited. He has been counting down and tells me every morning just how many days are left until his birthday. We've invited 10 little friends and are going to have a lot of water fun in our backyard--oh, and I found the cutest fish cupcakes that I'm going to make. I'll post pictures after the party.

Marcus is going to Vacation Bible Camp for a week (in the mornings) with a friend from kindergarten at the end of this month--fun!

I'm turning 30! Tim's taking me to the Alison Krauss concert at the Botanical Gardens for my birthday--I'm really looking forward to it.

Swimming lessons in July.

Family reunion weekend with Tim's family. Marcus can't wait to play with cousin Tyler!

Richey Family Vacation to visit my old roommate, Aubrey, and her family at their ranch. I am so excited for this and my boys are going to LOVE it!

Aren't summers the best?

Go A's!!!

2011-06-06T13:50:00.002-06:00

This year it's been a cold, windy, and often wet spring here in Boise, and we know this first hand because we were out there each evening for our first adventure into T-ball. Somehow Tim was asked to be coach this year and because we are a little naive and perhaps a little young and stupid :) he accepted and the adventure began. It was sometimes hard juggling all of our schedules, but it was so worth it to see Marcus have such a great time and to see those kids fall in love with Coach Tim. Tim was really patient and kind with his little team and I think those kids really had a wonderful experience which was really what Tim was striving for. I don't think that Marcus will play professionally or even in school someday--he's a little more of a social butterfly and would rather chat with anyone and everyone around him than actually watch for the ball--and if you asked him what his favorite part of T-ball was he'd probably answer, "The snacks at the end!" We're just glad he had a good time and was always excited to be there with the other kids and his dad.

At the end of the season, we had a pizza party and the kids were presented with trophies that had their names on them--Marcus said, "Mom, my name won't wipe off! It's really carved on there!" And unknown to us, they'd gotten a plaque for Tim. We thought that was really nice and Tim loved getting it and sharing in the success of a good season with all the parents and his proud little players. Go A's!!

The view from my kitchen

2011-06-01T21:32:00.001-06:00

Memorial Day weekend

2011-05-31T14:20:00.004-06:00

Aren't these three boys the cutest ever? We got together with my cousins and their families up at the Grow family cabin during Memorial Day weekend and it was a weekend of sitting around, hiking, playing, eating, talking, eating some more, hot creeks. Notice I did not say sleeping. We could tell how much fun all of our kids were having by how little sleep they (and we) got.

It's lovely, isn't it? That big porch looks out over Garden Valley and we saw in no particular order: elk, wild turkeys, and a beautiful storm roll up over the mountains and into the valley from that porch and those big windows.

This picture makes me laugh. The kids ran around wild for 2 days and loved every minute of it. The only little cousin missing in this picture is Thomas and I think he was taking a nap when we took it--I'm sure he wished he could have been running around wild, too, but he's still a sweet little one and had to stay inside with the boring adults. Looking at this picture makes me grateful all over again to have some of my family live so close. It is really kind of crazy how the two cousins so close to me in age ended up living so near. It is wonderful because all of our kids match up in ages and we all have such a good time together. I will be so sad if either of these families ever moves away.

We visited some hot springs that were only about 10 minutes away and the kids had a blast. The husbands thought it'd be awesome to jump in the freezing river first and then hurry to the hot tub because a man never really outgrows the urge to do something crazy when he's with other guys :) My family didn't bring swimsuits so Marcus just wore his tighty whiteies which was hilarious and when the babies' diapers immediately soaked up 20 lbs of water, we just took them off and let them do some skinny dipping. Owen wasn't so sure, but Eli well, let's just say Eli may have some nudist tendencies. He REALLY enjoyed being naked in those springs.

Kindergarten Graduation

2011-05-26T13:24:00.004-06:00

Marcus graduated from Kindergarten today! They had a wonderful program and some refreshments afterward. I loved their little graduation caps. It was pretty special to watch all these little ones with their proud smiles and their happy parents. Mrs. Mahoney has been such a wonderful teacher and we appreciate her kindness and the love she showed Marcus all year long. There was never a day when Marcus didn't want to go to school. School is one of his favorite places and I hope he can keep that feeling for a very long time.

Here are the two morning classes performing for us. They shared their favorite memory from kindergarten and sang an alphabet and counting song. At the end they sang a song about how everything they needed to know they learned in kindergarten. Marcus is on the top row, third from the right.

Owen and Eli were thrilled about the refreshments and I think Eli had three cups of juice. It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of these three together, lately, but we tried.

Can you believe my baby is going to be six in a few weeks and graduated from Kindergarten?! I love this handsome boy and I am so proud of him and all he has learned and accomplished this past year.

A big thumbs up for Marcus!

After the graduation, we told Marcus we wanted to take him out for a celebratory lunch wherever he wanted. He picked McDonald's and we were not one bit surprised. We love you, Marcus! Congratulations!

A "good Saturday"

2011-05-23T15:10:00.006-06:00

Marcus's school mascot is the Raptor (bird, not dinosaur) and there happen to be several Raptors in a canyon near Kuna, Idaho (45 min from our house). A few weekends ago was the prime time to go and see the birds so we drove out to Dedication Point, a beautiful lookout point over the Snake River and this amazing canyon. We watched the birds for awhile and felt very hawk-like ourselves as we watched Owen and Eli to make sure they didn't climb over the guard wall (that was a little short for my taste). We spotted this lizard on the wall and he was WAY more interesting than the birds. There were some other boys there, too, and you should have seen how entranced all these boys were with this lizard. It was hilarious.

After watching the birds (and more importantly, the lizard) for awhile, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and ran into some other people who told us about Swan Falls Power Plant just ten or so minutes away. Usually, you have to call ahead and set up an appointment to view the plant, but that day they were holding an open house. Of course, we couldn't resist.

Look at that view. Beautiful.

Tim and Marcus were brave enough to go down these stairs to see some kind of pump or something. When they came back Marcus said, "Dad was scared, he took forever to go down the stairs." Tim smiled and mumbled, "No, it's called being polite." (Notice pic above)

After touring the inside of the power plant, we headed outside onto this path that led around the building and then across the dam itself.

Boys can't walk past water without throwing rocks in it--even the older boys :)

Owen is a collector and these rocks seemed to be especially worth holding onto until he smashed his finger when he kept banging them together.

There's the power plant and the dam that we got to walk across. It was very cool!

The little ones loved looking at the loud white water rushing out. Despite the fence, my hawk-like tendencies did reemerge. Side note: don't you love the muscle shirts? I think they are hilarious.

The building was built in the early 19oo's and despite it's very practical purposes, I found it quite beautiful.

The mighty Snake! During our adventure, Marcus turned to me and said, "Mom, this is a good Saturday." I couldn't agree more. I love finding these little places around our home that we can explore and I love doing it with my boys. And I love when it's all free :)

Wicked!!

2011-05-17T11:19:00.002-06:00

The boys wouldn't crouch by the sign, but Rachelle and I weren't embarrassed (okay, Rachelle does look a teensy bit embarrassed) :)

We couldn't find a sign to stand in front of, so we stood in front of some pricey t-shirts.

It was AMAZING!!! If you ever have the opportunity to see this show, then TAKE IT! I've had the chance to see some great shows, but this was Tim's first and even he really enjoyed it :) His favorite song was "Popular" and my favorite song was "Defying Gravity," but I also really liked "For Good." It was just a really great night and I'm glad I got to share it with Tim.

And yes, I have been listening to the soundtrack 24/7 since we saw it.

Continuing a Mother's Day tradition

2011-05-10T13:34:00.002-06:00

Every Mother's Day I like to have a picture taken of me with my boys. Usually, we try and do it outside but this past Sunday was rainy and cold, so we settled for a picture on the family room couch. I'm so happy I get to be the mother of Marcus, Owen, and Eli. Each one of them is a blessing too big to measure.

5k, Baby!!

2011-05-07T19:45:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time, I realized that I was turning 30 this year and decided that I needed to run a 5k before that big event occurred. So, in February, I started training and today I DID IT!!! I ran in the Race for the Cure 5k this morning with some friends and had two goals 1. Run the entire time (no walking!) and 2. Run it in 30 min (or less, obviously). Well, I did run the entire time, but I clocked in at 32 min. Hey, I'm still happy with a 10 min mile. I feel so happy to have set this goal and accomplished it. I'm totally going to do another 5k. Also, I lost 10 lbs while I was training. That's always a nice perk :)

We were team Breathe. Some of us ran and others walked. We all rock!

We ran in honor of another friend, Karalyn Glass, who is battling breast cancer right now. She's doing really well and all of her treatments are working even better than they could have imagined. (did you notice my pink nails--I totally did them for this run!)

Amber (friend on left) and I were celebrating because this was the first 5k for BOTH of us. My other friend, Melissa, the one peeking creepily over my shoulder :) , is a seasoned runner and put us all to shame with her 25 min time. She is my Yoga instructor, too, and can do a head stand and various other cool poses. She's pretty much amazing.

We are the Pink Warriors!!!

Easter

2011-04-27T11:50:00.003-06:00

This was originally going to be a family pic, but Tim was sick and Eli was being a two-year-old. He specializes in being uncooperative. Luckily, Tim doesn't specialize in being sick. Oh, well, it was still a very nice day. The boys woke up in the morning to a trail of candy filled eggs that led to three Easter baskets hiding in the living room. They immediately began inhaling as much candy as possible, so I changed my plans from waffles with whipped cream and strawberries to cold cereal (a wise choice as they didn't even finish that).

After a breakfast of chocolate, we headed out to attend stake conference with Grandma and Grandpa and Kay. It was a regional broadcast from Salt Lake and was very nice. Following the meeting we went to their house for a yummy lunch and more delicious treats.

Like these rice krispy eggs with m&m's. I had two.

Then that evening we went to a special choir concert at the Boise Temple. It was a really wonderful way to conclude our Easter Sunday. Poor Tim and the babies didn't make it to that one because Tim was still feeling crappy and the babies hadn't had a nap and were being totally "awesome." Marcus and I enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa and Kay all to ourselves :)

Happy Easter!

Marcus

2011-04-25T14:21:00.006-06:00

Let's do Marcus, now, and then tomorrow I'll post some Easter pictures.
Marcus has the most beautiful blue eyes--they're striking. He needs a haircut and sometime we'll need to figure out a time to do that. Tim is our in house barber and Marcus enjoys watching some superhero videos on youtube while Tim buzzes his hair (that's all we can do around here: buzzes).
Marcus loves kindergarten and is nicknamed "The Math King" because he's so quick with equations. His teacher came up with the name and he gets all blushy and happy when anyone calls him by that name. He is also turning out to be a good little reader, so good that he soared right through the 5 Bob book sets we got him for Christmas. The 5th set proved a little more difficult for him so I suggested we go back a set to practice some more, but he insists that we keep reading the books from that 5th set, so that's what we'll do. I'm glad to see him enjoying school and learning (most of the time) sometimes he doesn't want to have our daily after school homework time, but most of the time, he's great. He still struggles a bit with his handwriting, but my hope is that with continued practice we can get better there, too. Earlier on in the year, his teacher told me she was a little worried about his fine motor skills so we've been working on those throughout the year and she told me she has seen great improvement. Hooray! I was happy to note that on his last report card she'd marked Meets Expectations for everything, but in the "works well with others" boxes she'd marked Exceeds Expectations. I am glad to see that he is a nice boy to others because raising kind children is really important to me.
Marcus is playing t-ball right now and Tim is his coach. The weather has been yucky, so I've only been to one game with the babies, but Marcus tells me that his favorite position is catcher because he gets to wear all the cool equipment and catch the ball a lot. He also really likes the snacks they get at the end of the game. One of his best friends is on his team, too, so he really enjoys that as well.
The kid is an amazing builder of tracks and block creations.
Marcus does chores now because I am determined to raise boys who can clean! We are starting out very small and basic because I find that in our house, small and basic are the only things that stick :) He has 3 everyday chores: feed and water Lucy the cat, make bed, and clean room. Then during the weekdays he picks 2 additional jobs that he must complete that day (I have little job cards that my mother and sister-in-law made me a few years ago). I have been helping him the past week so that he does the jobs correctly and I had to laugh because the other day he told one of his friend's mom's that he is doing chores now. She asked him if I helped him and he replied, "No, I do everything and she watches." Nice.
Marcus is five so he likes to talk in extremes like if he wants me to make waffles one morning but we don't have time so I say we'll make them another day, he says, "We NEVER have waffles!!!" or if it's a day that he doesn't want to do his chores it's "I have to do EVERYTHING!!" or another one I hear is "I NEVER get to pick the movie!! Eli ALWAYS gets to pick the movie" Oh, wait, maybe that last one is true . . .
I feel like I will probably always have a special sort of relationship with Marcus because he is my oldest and because we go through so many firsts together. Starting school, starting t-ball, these are things that I am doing for the first time as a mom and they are all with him. I love going on "dates" with Marcus. We've seen two movies at the theater, together recently, and it is so fun.
We don't always get along, sometimes he can be pretty emotional or I can be pretty emotional, but for the most part, I'd say he's a pretty easy going kid and for that I am very very grateful.

Owen

2011-04-23T08:59:00.004-06:00

Let's talk about Owen today, shall we? He is hilarious. We call him Hambone because he is such a ham--so funny. He will really try and do silly dance moves or try for the splits or jump and roll and tumble just to get a laugh. He has a cheesy little grin and a deep little chuckle. He has a running joke that comes up every day and that he still finds absolutely hilarious. Tim will be at work and Owen will find me and say, "Daddy home?" in this joking little voice and with a sneaky smile. I'll reply, "No, Daddy's at work." and then he'll laugh and laugh because of course he knew that daddy was at work but isn't it funny to tease that daddy is home? We do that a few times every day. It's cute to see his little sense of humor blossoming.
He is a very strong and physical little boy--all about climbing and chasing and knocking into things. He's pretty rugged and doesn't cry too easily if he gets hurt, just whines a bit and finds me to give his ouch a kiss (mommy's magic kisses heal all ouchies at our house and probably yours as well).
His language is slowly coming along but he is still not the best with words. He also has his turn to say the prayer each night or at meals and his prayers usually just echo the last syllable of the phrase we've just said for him to repeat. He's doing better than he was just 5 months ago when I don't think I could even write 5 words that he could say, now he can say many many more. This has helped get rid of the frustrated tantrums he used to be famous for throwing. He is so pleasant and easy going now--I'm so glad he's finally discovering language and the ability to communicate with us.
Owen loves the fridge. This is my biggest source of frustration with him right now. For the past two days, while I have been in the shower, Owen has gotten into the fridge and wreaked some sort of havoc. On day one, he got out my big container of Costco strawberries and systematically took a bite out of each one and left them all over the floor. On day 2, he got the pitcher of juice out and a cup and tried to pour himself a glass in the living room. Instead, he dumped the juice all over the ottoman and then tried to hide the pitcher in his bed. On my to-do-list today is to find a lock for my fridge. Ughh!
Owen thinks he is a big boy and he loves to play with Marcus's friends when they come over. Yesterday, we had a friend named Parker come play and I'm pretty sure that he is Owen's hero, now. Owen followed him around EVERYWHERE and was in absolute heaven. Lucky for us, Parker is an only child and loved the attention and adoration he was receiving from our enamored 2-year-old :)
He is a champion sleeper.
He loves to wrestle with Tim every night before bed.
He gives good hugs and sweet kisses.
He loves trucks and horses and breaking Marcus's block towers.
He can already eat like a teenage boy. He has 2-3 bowls (toddler size) of cereal in the morning along with toast and milk. He loves pancakes and waffles and can eat several of those, too. I think breakfast might be his favorite meal of the day. He also really loves cheese. The other day I bought a small bag of Easter shortbread cookies and he totally binged on them while I was shopping--now he refuses to eat any more.
Overall, right now he has his moments of mischief but he is a pretty easygoing little guy who makes us smile and laugh. We love him very much.

Eli

2011-04-17T20:43:00.007-06:00

I sometimes see updates of friends' kids on their blogs and I think it is a cute idea, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Plus, there are some things that I just don't want to forget, so as long as it's written down somewhere I can breathe a little easier :)
Eli has a prayer voice. It is a high soprano and it is hilarious. It has ruined reverent prayers at our house because even when it isn't his turn to say the prayer, he still says it and he says it in his prayer voice. This always starts someone giggling. He only started doing this voice about a week ago and he picked it up all on his own--at least I don't think any of the rest of us have a prayer voice. Maybe? He folds his arms, too, but he's been doing that for awhile, either way, it's still adorable.
He continues to be so little with no bum to speak of. He is always sagging his pants, not because he's gangsta, but because he legitimately cannot keep his pants up.
He seems to prefer being with me to playing with his brothers. When we were at the park the other day, Marcus and Owen quickly went off to do their thing, but Eli just ran around and came back to see me every couple of minutes. At one point I had to go rescue Owen and Eli ran up to Tim and shouted, "Mama? Mama?" so Tim pointed me out and he quickly came running over. He is also really good at saying "Hold you." which means "pick me up" and "up" while he pushes at your legs which means "get up and do what I want."
He still sucks his thumb, lately it doesn't seem quite as much, though.
He is having a hard time with bed time and nap time lately, this is super annoying as I take pride in the fact that my kids are pretty well trained sleepers. We are currently retraining him which really stinks because I don't like listening to my kids cry. Luckily, Owen sleeps through it.
His hair is still curly--hooray! But Tim isn't a fan of the white afro so we cut it again. Sadness. He cried the entire time. I was gone for that one, thank goodness.
He loves watching movies, some of his favorites are Veggie Tales, Thomas, Teletubbies, and Sesame Street. At one time he was OBSESSED with Toy Story 3. His favorite snack is cereal in a bag. The kid could seriously eat cereal All. Day. Long.
He is often referred to as our broken record. He will say things over and over in an attempt to wear you down. And I'm ashamed to say that his tactic usually works. He is very stubborn. He has this way of shouting, "Mom," in a whiny sort of voice and then when I say, "What Eli?" he says whatever he needs to tell me in a much more pleasant voice. For example, after we left the park yesterday we decided to go get an ice cream treat, so I told the boys that was what we were going to do. The entire card ride to the ice cream store went something like this, "MOM!" in loud voice. "Yes, Eli?" "Ice cream treat?" in much more pleasant voice. "Yes, ice cream treat." and a minute would go by and then the same thing again and again. The kid likes to be validated and noticed. He is the type that falls down and can't quite get up or move on with his life until someone (read: mom) has noticed and comforted him.
His language skills are amazing now. He repeats everything we say and says phrases and sentences now in his cute little voice. He can even count to ten and sing what sounds like the alphabet. He sings I am a Child of God with us each night, too. Marcus likes teaching him words and things to say. Tim taught him to say, "What's up homey" and "pop pop" (Community watchers will get that second one).
With nice weather, we are taking more family walks. Eli is a dawdler. He is always way behind the rest of us and in no hurry. His legs get tired quicker, too, and so half of the walk is him walking and the other half is him saying "Hold you" and getting carried.
We love him very much. Mischief, whiny voice, and all :)

Easter Tree

2011-04-16T19:24:00.003-06:00

I have always wanted a hall table that could be my "Holiday Table." When we were in Utah a few weeks ago, we visited IKEA (why can't you be in Boise, IKEA? Why?) and we bought this buffet that could double as my "Holiday Table" and as a place to put food and plates when we have guests over--Tim couldn't really get on board with the "Holiday Table" idea but he was more okay with the "extra table to put more food and other delicious things on" table :) So far we have used it for both purposes and have been pleased. As Easter is this month, Marcus and I made this lovely Easter Tree. I found the ornaments for 50% off and the branches from my yard, and I already had the vase. FYI: In Germany and Austria it's customary to celebrate Easter by hanging hollow eggs from the branches of trees. Hooray for being cute and cultural at the same time!

Every tree needs a nest of cute baby birds. Marcus made this in preschool last year and it was one of the few crafts I chose to keep because it is adorable.

This is our outside Easter Tree and we didn't even have to decorate it--spring managed that one all on her own! I have always loved the vibrant yellow blooms of forsythia, so a few years ago we planted one in our front yard and now it is going strong. It makes me happy every time I look at it. All the daffodils are back, too. Our yard is yellow, yellow, yellow. Tim thinks maybe too much yellow. Really? Can there be such a thing as too much yellow? Either way, this fall I plan to plant some tulip bulbs in various colors that will shake things up a bit :) Happy Spring, everyone!

A happy tale of loss

2011-04-10T14:11:00.002-06:00

Last week, Marcus lost his very first tooth. He told me the day before he lost it that it was wiggling so I checked it out and sure enough he had a very loose tooth. He told me that it had started first wiggling while we were in Utah (he specifically noticed it while he was hiding behind the chair in Grandma's front room the night we arrived for those of my siblings who were wondering where Marcus had disappeared to . . .) So last Saturday, Tim popped it out and Marcus cried a lot, but more from embarrassment then pain, I think. He doesn't seem to like it when we are all smiling and happy for him. I just said, "Marcus, I love you and I am happy for you. Sorry if you don't like that."

He was fine after that and we took some video and pictures of him with his tooth and his new Jack-o-lantern smile. That night, he even decided to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy all by himself. The tooth fairy liked that letter so much that she left him one whole dollar!

Dear Tooth Fairy, this is my first tooth. Love, Marcus

Marcus's Story

2011-04-06T14:47:00.001-06:00

I saw that PBS kids was having a story contest and kindergarten aged kids could enter it, too. I told Marcus about it and he dictated this awesome story to me. Unfortunately, we were in Utah when the deadline passed and life got a little crazy so the story didn't get officially entered into the contest. I'm going to post it, instead, so that Marcus can still feel like his story is being read (and appreciated) by the masses. It's funny to me how so much of it fits in with what is going on in his own life (minus the sharks, guns, submarines and trucks, but he's a 5-year-old boy so there's no story without those things, right?) Anyway, enjoy!

Super Owen
Super Owen likes to eat little smokies. Whenever he ate them he always felt good, but then his tummy really hurt. So he had medicine and water and then he went to a movie theater and then he got popcorn and a drink and a big licorice stick. And then he went home and his tummy really felt better. And then he slept and slept and slept and slept. And then he got back up and got into his car.

And his brother was named Eli and Eli had a humongous truck. And the truck had guns and wheels and a submarine button to make it go in the water. And one time there were sharks in the water and they tried to attack Eli but Eli shot humongous missiles at the sharks that froze them. And then he shot bullets and more missiles and then he shot tons of mustard and that made them even more frozen. Then Owen had a bigger submarine and it had so many big missiles that they were as big as the ocean and then the sharks swam away as quick as they could.

So the brothers went back up to their house and their house was broken by the time they got back because there were bad guys there and the bad guys ran off and Super Owen and Eli saw the bad guys running off and they chased them and the bad guys shot bullets and super Owen and Eli shot bigger bullets and the bad guys got frozen. And then super Owen and Eli got tired so they left and the bad guys got unfrozen and tried to catch them but they couldn't and then they went to Chuck E. Cheese to play games but there were no people and no tokens and no toys and no drinks and no food and then they went back to Old McDonalds and there was no people and no happy meals there either!

Then they went back home. And then their tower was all fixed so they went inside and had dinner. Their mom made little smokies and Eli liked pepperoni noodles so their mom made those, too. Eli decided to have some water and Owen did too, but then Owen changed his mind and had soda. Super Owen shook the soda and so when he opened it it exploded but all the drops went into the cups and the cups were super full so they dumped some into the sink and drank the rest of it and their mom asked them if they wanted to try pizza with pepperoni's and cheese and tomato sauce and they said yes. Then they went to a place where they got tons and tons of pepperonis and also mustard and ketchup because they liked that with pizza, too. After dinner they went to bed and got in their jammies and took a shower and got socks on and their mom asked if they wanted to stay up and they said yes. Then they went to lock their work and then they went back home and got in bed and went to sleep.

The End.

Markus Zusak

2011-04-05T12:47:00.003-06:00

Have you read The Book Thief? Because you need to. You really really need to. I first read it a few years ago and was so impressed with the writing, the story, the creativity in choosing to have Death narrate the book. I read it again (and listened to it on cd) a few months ago when my book club read it--I was impressed once more. In short, it is the story of a girl in World War II Germany and the book is narrated by Death--not creepy death, but a sympathetic death who is haunted by the actions and qualities of humans. It's a fantastic book.

And last weekend I met the author, Markus Zusak.

I live in Boise and he came to the Provo Library. I heard he was coming through a friend of mine and told Tim about it. He said, "You should have your mom go and get a book signed for you." Huh. I politely explained to Tim that Markus is from Australia and that Provo is only 6 hours away and The Book Thief is one of my favorite books, and I really think it would be best if we made a family trip to Utah that weekend so that I could meet him in person. Tim may have noticed the slightly maniacal gleam in my eye because he quickly agreed that we could do that. So we did.

My brother, Kevin, and his lovely wife, Nicole, got up early on a Saturday morning to wait in line for my 4 precious tickets to this event. I went with my mom, my sister, Emma, and my sis-in-law, Nicole, to the library at the early time of 4:30 (this proves a fortunate choice later in my tale). We got in line and were allowed in at 5:00. We grabbed some great seats in the middle and only a few rows from the front and settled in to wait until 6:00. We visited, took pics with our books, and then I spotted my old roommate, Jenny Lynn, and we caught up and smiled a lot because we are both book nerds and this is just our kind of thing. Hooray for fellow book nerds!

Then Markus came out and holy cow! He is cute. He is young. His accent his wonderful, and he gave the BEST talk/lecture. I know it sounds cheesy, but the room was just filled with this feel good vibe because we were all so happy to be there and he was so happy to be there and there was just this huge amount of love going back and forth between him and the audience that night. In a few weeks, the library is going to put the whole thing up on their website so that all of you can watch it--and you should totally watch it. Really. But until then, here are some highlights you can read. Miss Nemesis took great notes.

After Markus finished speaking, he left to go to the book signing room. Groups of 25 were let in to have their books signed. This is where getting to the library early really paid off because we were assigned to the second group and I think there were at least 12-15 groups. It wasn't long before it was our turn so we got up and went to the signing room and stood in line for awhile. This is when we realized something: Markus Zusak was in absolutely no hurry. He was talking to everyone who came by, he was writing notes in their books. Holy cow. They said no posed pictures but we were able to snap a few while he was signing our books. I asked him about the pictures in the book while he was writing and he said that they had been drawn by a friend of his without any direction from him. He said that the friend had drawn Max as a bird because she feels more comfortable drawing animals than people. He also said that he had to really fight to have the pictures included in the book and now he feels vindicated by how successful the book with the pictures included, is.

He wrote personal notes to each one of us and we left feeling like it had been one of the best nights ever. Really, it was so wonderful. I found out later that he was there until around 1:30 in the morning meeting his fans and signing their books.

Isn't that amazing?

A request

2011-04-04T15:40:00.003-06:00

My brother, Gary, entered Rehab a week ago. He has been battling some addictions for a very long time now, and my family is both hopeful and prayerful that these next months will bless his life and change his course. Any prayers in his behalf would be much appreciated.

Love,
Katie

Go get a book!

2011-04-04T10:48:00.004-06:00

These words have become code for "It's time for bed," in our house. For awhile now, before naps, I tell the boys to go get a book of their choosing that they get to "read" during nap time. They love it and it helps them quiet down and go to sleep. Now that it is light outside when it is bedtime, I've started letting them take a book to bed then, too. Anyway, the other night I was getting the boys ready for bed while Tim and Marcus were at T-ball and I said, "Go get a book!" and then I got busy for a minute with something else. This is what I found when I came in their room--two giggling boys and a bed full of books!

Don't you just love the gnawed crib? We're all about the fiber around here.

Bunny Buns

2011-04-02T21:30:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago Marcus was looking through his Friend magazine and he found a recipe that he wanted to try called Bunny Buns. I told him we could make it on Conference Saturday for a special treat. On Friday, we pulled out the recipe and went to the store together to buy the one or two items that I didn't have on hand. Then on Saturday morning we made the Bunny Buns together and they were ready to eat at lunchtime. They were fun and easy but the dough took awhile to rise, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of making them. I think they ended up being a good between sessions treat and we all enjoyed hearing Eli say, "Bunny Buns." They were so yummy that not a single bunny survived to see tomorrow :) I think we may keep this one as a Conference tradition.

Yesterday

2011-03-22T13:55:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, Tim didn't get to see the boys because of work and then a board meeting that went until after they were all in bed. Luckily, I thought I'd capture a few moments from the day so that he could still remember how awesome and crazy our children can be. (as if he could ever forget)

Moment 1: Owen hung out with me while I put my makeup on. Usually, I try to get them to watch a movie while I get ready for the day, but Owen has a cold so he was really only interested in being with me. I let him dig around in my makeup bag and he managed to make himself look pretty with some eyeliner on the cheeks.

Moment 2: Eli came into the bathroom a short time later sporting Marcus's snow boots and one glove. When I showed the picture to Tim that night, he said, "Hey, doesn't he remind you of someone in this picture?"

Yep, he sure does.

Watching Saturday morning cartoons

2011-03-21T14:11:00.000-06:00

Gone Fishin

2011-03-20T19:08:00.002-06:00

My mom came for a visit a few weeks ago and knowing her awesome artistic abilities, I put her right to work on painting this lovely underwater scene. Isn't it awesome? I was so happy with how it turned out--so happy. We had our annual Spring Fling at Marcus's school and we started a new tradition: a fish pond. It was a gigantic hit and we ended up needing lots more volunteers than I had originally planned, but Wow, so great.

One of the most popular prizes found at the fishing pond were these sticky hands that Marcus and some of his kindergarten buddies are so happily modeling for you.

Sometimes it can feel a bit crazy planning schedules and preparing for school events and all the extra volunteer stuff that can come with our church callings and now a child who goes to school (oh, and sports are coming up--Marcus is all signed up for T-Ball and Tim is coaching that team--he he he). But at the end of the day we feel blessed and happy to be involved.

Most of the time :)

Sneaky Leprechauns

2011-03-18T14:21:00.002-06:00

Well, we locked our doors on St. Patrick's Day eve, but those leprechauns can be awfully sneaky. One of them managed to come in through our chimney. "Like Santa Claus!" Marcus said. Lucky for Marcus he was extra careful to wear his green Hulk pajamas (even though they were dirty) he didn't want any sneaky leprechaun pinches while he was sleeping.

Look what they left us! A pot of chocolate gold and some yummy leprechaun cereal. When I asked Marcus to get the milk out of the fridge for breakfast, we discovered that our milk had magically turned green, too! Marcus spent the rest of the day wondering if leprechauns have magic wands--I told him I'd never actually seen a leprechaun because they're so good at being sneaky, so I didn't know if they used wands or not. What do you guys think?

Saturday night

2011-03-12T20:42:00.003-07:00

Have you guys seen Megamind, yet? Because you totally should. It is hilarious. I'd heard it was funny and so I declared tonight RICHEY FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT (yes, in caps because it was just that big and special). This meant an early dinner (think 4:00) of leftover enchiladas for me and Tim and macaroni and cheese for the boys--leading them to already start thinking "movie night rocks!" Then Tim gave them all a bath (3 boys in a bathtub is the best) while I cleaned up the kitchen and made popcorn.

After everyone was in their jams-- oh and it's only 5:00 at this point-- we put a blanket on the floor (smooth mom trick to catch the stray popcorn kernels) and gave everyone their popcorn cups--really, we have movie popcorn cups and they made RICHEY FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT extra special. And then we watched the movie and it was so funny and we only had to pause it 5 or so times because Eli wanted "more popcorn?" and then when the popcorn was all gone and I had told him so about 100 times, he got down in my face and desperately cried, "MORE popcorn!" So we paused the movie and convinced him that a banana would be yummy so then Marcus wanted a banana and then Owen wanted one . . . and then Eli ate his so he wanted "more banana!" sigh. Eventually, we were able to finish the movie and to complete the night we all danced to the end credits music because it was Michael Jackson's "Bad" and how can you not have a spontaneous dance party when that song is playing?

And everyone was still in bed by 8:00. Awesome.

Looking

2011-03-10T19:54:00.004-07:00

I've been kind of gloomy and prickly the last few days. Ask my boys and my husband, they'll agree. The weird thing is that I couldn't really tell you why--there wasn't any particular reason, just blah. So without going into too many details here, I said a prayer and had a nice quiet moment and today felt so much better. I changed the way I was looking at things and really tried to look for the good in the things that happened throughout the day. Last Sunday I taught a lesson to the young women in my church about tender mercies. Tender mercies can be defined as blessings that seem to be made just for us at just the right moment--a little love note from a loving Heavenly Father. Some tender mercies are deeply personal and others are just gentle reassurances that a Greater Being is aware of us and our small needs. On days when you are really looking, there are so many to be found--they're always there, but we don't always choose to see them. Part of my prayer is that I can be better about looking.

Immitation is the highest form of flattery

2011-03-02T13:49:00.003-07:00

I also debated calling this post "Evidence that the Lady Gaga song has been way overplayed."

My mom is flying in for a long(ish) visit tonight, so that means that the weekend officially begins for me at 6:30 on Wed. Hooray!! Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

Jim Gill

2011-02-28T15:30:00.005-07:00

Have you heard of this guy? If not, look him up because he's totally great. I take the babies to story time at the library once a week and Miss Tammy always has a fun dance break for the kids. Often she plays a Jim Gill song and we always have a good time rockin out to his silly songs. So when I heard that the Boise Library was sponsoring a visit from Mr. Gill for a free concert at the Egyptian Theater downtown--well, I was hooked! We took the boys down for the afternoon concert and had the BEST hour of laughing, dancing, and singing. Eli totally rocked it. Owen sort of rocked it (mostly he stared with wide eyes at Jim on the stage), and Marcus rocked it until he got distracted by the popcorn lots of other people were eating and decided he was suddenly soooo hungry. Sorry, Marcus.

Anyway, I really appreciate living in a community that provides this kind of free entertainment for families. I also really appreciate having a husband who misses the BYU game (Jimmer and all) so that he can go to a kid concert with his boys.

Oh, and I LOVED the Soup Opera. We sang like opera stars and that is always awesome. I've been singing, "I can't eat the soup," in opera fashion ever since. My boys love it.

Spontaneous family photo shoot

2011-02-21T14:56:00.003-07:00

We don't often get a lazy Sunday afternoon around here, but yesterday we did and it was wonderful. We were all sitting around waiting for some yummy cookies to finish baking and the camera was nearby so . . .

Owen hates the camera and Marcus and Eli LOVE it. (see above and below)

ALERT! Cuteness overload.

Oh, how I love these babies, though I suppose at two they aren't really babies anymore. sigh.

Marcus took this picture.

A final "Let's see if we can all fit," shot.

Night night

2011-02-20T13:41:00.002-07:00

The babies have a new favorite game and it's called "night night." Basically, they lay down in any bed or on the floor or chair or couch or wherever and they want someone to put a blanket on them. Then they start blowing kisses and saying, "night night," just like we do each night when they go to bed. Their favorite spot is in Owen's crib. They snuggle up together and they even want me to turn off the light--if I leave the room, they don't cry, they just giggle together. It's so precious.

Owen has a new name: Ownen. This is how Eli pronounces Owen's name and it has totally caught on. Today, when I was helping out in nursery I caught myself saying, "Here's the puzzle, Ownen. Let's help clean up, Ownen." People probably thought I was a bit crazy :) It's funny though how Ownen seems more natural to say right now then Owen. The very best is when Eli is looking for Owen and you can here is little voice shouting, "Ownen! Ownen!" Or if Owen makes a mess or does something naughty, Eli will wag his finger and say, "No no, Ownen." So funny.

The boys don't like their high chairs anymore, so we'll probably be storing them in the garage soon. When I get their meals ready and say, "Okay, boys, let's go sit in our chairs." They immediately start saying, "Table table" over and over and quickly climb up on the bench. It's a bit messier, but I enjoy looking over at my table and seeing my three little boys sitting there together eating cereal or chicken nuggets (both favorites at our house).

I love my family.

30

2011-02-18T14:10:00.005-07:00

Oh, my, have you been wondering where I disappeared to? Life has just felt so busy lately (good busy, but still busy) and while I've still been reading blogs, I haven't been attending to my own. Sorry. I have something to tell you, though. I've lost some of myself. And I'm glad. Can you imagine? How could a person be glad to have lost a part of themselves? Well, I am because I've lost 6 pounds! That lovely little squishy middle that the twins left me as a souvenir to remind me of my pregnancy is slowly (slooooowly) being whittled away and in this past month I've knocked away 6 lbs of squish :) I have several reasons for wanting to lose this weight. Here are a few in no particular order.

1. I'm tired of the bulge when I sit down. Bleh.
2. My babies are 2. There is no more excuse to be carrying around my baby weight. None.
3. I want my cute denim skirts to fit me again. I want to look good this summer.
4. I want to feel healthier. Have more energy. Be a strong mom for my very active boys.
5. My sister is getting married in September. I want to look good in those wedding pictures :)
6. Before I even think about getting pregnant again (and I am starting to think about it) I want to lose the baby weight from my twin pregnancy. I don't want baby weight on top of baby weight.
7. I'm not going to lie, I want to be the hottie with the rockin body :)

But, do you want to know one of my biggest reasons for wanting to lose weight and be healthy? I'm turning 30 this year. THIRTY. I didn't think that this age was going to make me sit back and think, but it has. It has led me to reevaluate some things that I have just always accepted were true. For example: "I will always be size blank. I've been size blank for so many years and that's just how I am." or "I'm not a runner. I can't even run the mile without wanting to puke." Or "I'm supposed to look like this because I've given birth to 3 children." Wrong wrong wrong.

I'm a girl who likes a goal, who likes to work towards something and my big birthday has given me something to work towards. I downloaded an app on my iPod called Couch to 5k and it is awesome. I'm on week seven of nine and I ran for 25 min Mon, Wed, and today. And it didn't kill me and I felt good after. Rough guess, that 25 min is at least 2-3 miles. Awesome! And I'm planning to run a 5k this year in honor of my 30th birthday. I'm doing Weight Watchers with a good friend and we are both losing and feeling good. I even went to a Yoga class (old mantra, I'm not flexible--I can't do that) New I'm-turning-30 mantra: Heck yes, I can!

Where have all the socks gone?

2011-02-01T19:54:00.005-07:00

For awhile now, I've been noticing that the babies' sock supply is dwindling. I haven't noticed this because of an empty sock drawer--no no, the drawer is full of single socks in search of their missing half. It's also full of socks that are meant for a newborn's tiny toes and not my boys' two-year-old feet. I've noticed because it's annoying every morning to dig around that drawer in search of something the boys can actually wear and then to find that once I have found that elusive fitting sock, there is no second sock to go with it! Or no sock at all because they're all too dang small!

That said, the boys have a bit of a reputation for removing their socks during naps so today I went hunting and this is what I found behind Eli's crib:

Eli's secret sock stash. I'm pretty sure there were at least 6 pairs of socks back there and some of those missing halves as well. Unfortunately, I can't really continue to think of him as some diabolical sock thief when he smiles at me like this:

I can't tell you how relieved and happy I am to see the curls are still intact after his haircut. Mama loves those curls. So does Eli's mama's mama, apparently. I gleaned this information when we talked on the phone and my mom said, "I didn't think you were going to cut his hair that short," No worries, Mom, it's coming back. Hooray!

Single Car Family

2011-01-28T14:23:00.003-07:00

Today marks the end of week 2 of being a single car family. We've had our awesome little truck for two years now and in the last month or so it has decided to start nickel and diming us to death. It would be okay if we knew how to repair cars ourselves, but we don't, so we're selling the thing for $700. Interested? Let me know. It just needs a new water pump (for now, anyway . . .). We don't mind if it takes us awhile to sell it because it isn't costing us anything, so we're happy to wait until the new owners come along (maybe after everyone gets their tax refunds?)

Anyway, being a single car family is not something we could have pulled off when Tim was working at Eide Bailly, but now it only takes about 5-10 minutes to drive to his office and his hours are more regular (we are especially appreciative of this right now during the dreaded busy season for public accountants everywhere--sorry Kim). I actually love taking Tim to work because it helps us all get going in the morning and he's home when I'm making dinner. It really feels like we have more time together and this makes me so very very happy.

Happy weekend, everyone!

New Chart

2011-01-27T10:43:00.005-07:00

We started another chart for Marcus. This time it's because he's having a hard time being nice to his brothers. Most of the time I can't really blame him for being annoyed with them. They like to destroy everything he builds and he has a hard time not wanting to pop them in the face. He also doesn't like to share with them. BUT he is 5 and they are 2 and while I hate being the parent that says, "You're older and you know better." It's still true. He is and he does. I felt the negative creeping up in my mothering so we made a chart and now he has a goal. The reward? Chuck E. Cheese, of course! Really, did you think he'd choose anything else?

The chart has led him to think of these funny elaborate scenarios for earning stickers. Example: A few days ago in the car we were talking about the chart and the stickers and he said, "So, in the summer, if we were on a walk to the park and Eli fell down on the sidewalk and scraped his knee and I helped him get up and hugged him and kissed him and told him it would be okay, THEN I would get a sticker?"

Yep. And a hug from your mom.

REALLY!?

2011-01-26T13:57:00.002-07:00

My mom and I have a running joke that comes up in our phone conversations. I like to think of it as the Really!? joke. It comes from this SNL skit that I watched back when I was pregnant with the twins--that was the first time I saw it, but it's been a running joke with SNL, too. Here's a link. Anyway, today was a Really!? sort of day for me. First it was when the babies lost the remote to the dvd player. I've looked everywhere and it still hasn't appeared. Then they spilled Marcus's water bottle all over the table and floor. But the Really!? really came when they made their way into my bathroom and dumped out my large bottle of AVEDA shampoo (not cheap, people) all over the floor and into the toilet. Oh, and then Marcus said, "Mom, Owen hurt his mouth." No, actually, he drank some of the shampoo and now he doesn't like the taste. I had to help him rinse out his mouth and then he puked and then I had to clean that up, too. All before nap time. Really!

Grandpa's elephant noise

2011-01-18T13:35:00.002-07:00

Untitled from kmt63 on Vimeo.

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit this last weekend and it was a lot of fun. We watched truck movies, went to McDonalds, played with our Christmas toys, and wrestled. One highlight was when my dad showed the boys his elephant noise. I loved it when he'd do this noise when I was little and it's still fun except that now we don't have him do it too much because we're afraid he might pop a blood vessel or something. Because it's a rare treat, I caught it on camera so my boys (and now you lucky blog readers) can watch it anytime! :)

Haircut

2011-01-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Untitled from kmt63 on Vimeo.

Ramblings

2011-01-04T14:06:00.004-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year. We had a nice one and went to bed before midnight (boring, I know, but some years we just don't feel like partying--we'd rather snuggle with each other in a warm and quiet house.) I still made resolutions, but I only made 4 of them and I'm not going to say them here (don't worry I did tell Tim so that I still have someone else who can help me be accountable) but I will tell you this:
One has to do with my physical health
One has to do with my mental health
One has to do with my spiritual health
One has to do with our family
Marcus heard us talking about resolutions, so we explained what it meant and then asked if he had any New Year Resolutions. He thought about it for a minute and then said, "To go to Chuck E. Cheese." Really, is anyone surprised by this response?

Christmas was extra wonderful this year because we had visitors! Kevin, Nicole, and my mom were here for the big day and we were so happy to spend time with them. I didn't take as many Christmas pics as I usually do because I was too busy chatting, laughing, eating etc. I did take this one of all the stockings on Christmas Eve and it makes me happy because it shows in one little picture how full our house was, but how happy we were to have it so full :)

My favorite Christmas present was from Tim. He is the best with surprises and he really outdid himself this year. We'd opened all of our gifts and were just enjoying the morning chaos when I saw Tim whisper something to Marcus. Marcus got up and left and when he came back he was holding a golden Jared's bag!! I started crying and laughing and smiling all at once. Inside was a beautiful bracelet. Beautiful. I wear it all the time now and it makes me really happy. I know those commercials are so cheesy but after that morning I realized that is exactly how it all goes down when the Jareds bag shows up!

Life is settling back down into our normal routine. Marcus is back in school and story time is up and running again. We have 9:00 church now which I love (once upon a time I hated it). It is the best time for families with children who still nap. I cut my hair and I like it and I think I'm going to take Eli to get his hair trimmed this week. I know! I can't believe we're going to actually cut his hair but I feel like it's time--it's always getting in his eyes now. He's two. It's a new year. I've really been thinking about it ever since I saw my cousin's little boy who has hair exactly like Eli's only it is trimmed up so cute and the curl is still there and adorable.

Okay, I'm rambling now. Time to sign off.

2010

2010-12-29T12:59:00.003-07:00

In no particular order
10 Memorable Events From Way Back Then, in 2010
1. Our big road trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Balloon Fiesta with Grandma. Then helping Grandma move back to Utah.

2. Family vacation to the Oregon Coast. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Nicole road tripped it with us. Best. Vacation. Ever.

3. Katie and Tim met the Christian band, Mercy Me. Totally awesome.

4. Tim got called to be the Elders Quorum President for our ward.

5. Marcus started Kindergarten.

6. Owen had a nose job and got his adenoids removed. No more Darth Vader/stalker breathing.

7. We paid off our van putting us one step closer to being totally debt free. Look out, student loans, you are next!

8. The babies turned 2

9. Tim got a new job as the Controller for Capitol Distributing.

10. Eli went another year with no haircut.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Favorite Books from 2010

2010-12-21T10:48:00.002-07:00

I know that 2010 isn't over yet, but I don't know that I'm going to have much time to read in the next week and a half what with Christmas and all :) so I thought I'd post some of my favorite reads from this past year. And for those who have been following my reading history in 2010 via my Goodreads sidebar, fear not! I am going to do it again in 2011. It was really fun for me to go back and look at all that I'd read this past year and what I did and didn't like. I read 34 books in 2010 and only seven of those books got a 5 star rating from me. Here is a list of those 5 star babies. Think of it as a Christmas present from one happy reader to another. Kisses.

Katie's List of Literary Jewels from 2010:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer

Lady Susan
Author: Jane Austen

Emma
Author: Jane Austen

To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee

The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett

These is My Words
Author: Nancy E. Turner

The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusack

I even included links because I care about you that much. Share some Christmas love and give me a good start for 2011. What were the BEST books you read last year?

Vanilla

2010-12-18T21:24:00.002-07:00

I went to a big holiday party last night with Tim and on the way home I said something like, "Man, we are pretty vanilla aren't we?" While we've both done cool things in our lives, we don't really have too many skeletons in the closet so to speak and our lives now and the activities we participate in (or don't) are pretty mild. While I believe that's a good thing, last night I felt a little boring (okay, really boring). Then, today, I was reading a talk given by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (Jan 2011 New Era) and this part really struck me:

A derogatory comment occasionally made about members of the Church is: 'They are like sheep waiting to be told what to do by their leaders. Why can't they think for themselves?' While this comment may sound plausible on its face, the truth is that faithful Latter-day Saints, in a thoughtful and prayerful manner, study the doctrines and principles in the scriptures and in the counsel from living prophets and then seek to receive a confirming witness from the Holy Ghost. They don't have to make every heartbreaking mistake in life. They know what is right and what is wrong. They don't have to decide over and over again how they will live. They can benefit from the life experiences of all those generations that have preceded them and from instructions from our Father in Heaven and His anointed servants.

I think the world tries to make me feel like vanilla is bad, naive, uninformed, inexperienced, dumb, childish, old-fashioned, prudish, uninteresting, nerdy, and boring.

Whatever World! Here's my new (and improved!) definition of vanilla: faithful, wise, obedient, thoughtful, prayerful, consistent, trustworthy and pure.

Festival of Trees

2010-12-13T15:10:00.003-07:00

I've always wanted to attend the Festival of Trees here in Boise, but it is only held for a few days right after Thanksgiving and usually we're out of town. Not this year! After Thanksgiving, my mom came up for a quick visit, so we headed over to get our Christmas spirit on!

Marcus's favorite part was the train table. He got to drive the electric trains and was in absolute heaven over the whole thing. It was pretty adorable. Now he wants an electric train for Christmas--I'm not too sure that's going to happen--not with two little destructive brothers on the loose.

We love it when Grandma comes to visit. My poor mom had to brave the snowy elements on the way home, though, and her drive was long and icy and slow. Sorry, Mom. We're still so glad you came to see us!

Eli was the only one of my boys who dared to brave sitting on Santa's lap. I think this means he'll be getting more gifts than his brothers this year . . .

My little Christmas elves

2010-12-10T13:39:00.002-07:00

Look how creative they can be with snow boot liners. Owen thought this one up and then I helped Eli put his on. They were pretty happy to pose for this picture. Both are currently fascinated with gloves, hats, shoes, and glasses. Funny boys.

Happy Happy News

2010-12-05T21:53:00.004-07:00

My sister is engaged!!! You can read all about it HERE. I found out last night when I got a text with a picture of her lovely hand wearing a gorgeous ring. I pretty much started screaming and jumping up and down and then I called her and probably burst her eardrum when I started screaming again. I haven't met Justin yet, but I have heard only good, and when I saw her in September and she told me about him she was glowing--yep, glowing. I am so happy for her and the Little Miss. So so happy.

This picture makes me smile. When I was saving it just now, I titled it "Emma's Family," and I got all happy again. I love my sister so much. Yipppeee!!

Snow day!

2010-12-01T14:25:00.002-07:00

I think this face pretty much shows how Marcus felt about his very first Snow Day. We used to dream about these days when I was a kid (specifically on the day of a big test), and Marcus got to experience his very first one in Kindergarten. Awesome!

Check out all that snow! I think we got somewhere around 8 inches.

Owen liked eating the snow. Is anyone really surprised by that?

Eli did this little squish face against the glass door when he was ready to come in. Hilarious.

Our two are 2

2010-11-30T11:29:00.007-07:00

Their birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year and even though we would have plenty of pie (and other yummy food), we still made them two birthday cakes to enjoy.

Easy cakes, but fun for the boys. I think Marcus decided that the basketball was for Owen and the baseball was for Eli.

Adorable boy.

Eli is famous for his sweet tooth. He literally inhaled his piece of cake.

We got the boys a stand 'n play wheelie set for their birthday. It only came with two cars, but I like to think of myself as a wise mother and I knew that there would be another brother who'd be interested in playing with it as well so we gave them another pack of 4 cars, too. They also received some Veggie Tales silly song movies (Eli is obsessed). It was a happy time for them.

I can hardly believe that two years have passed since these little men entered our lives and rocked our worlds. They have brought so much chaos to my life, but it's a joyous sort of chaos :) I love them both so very very much and can't imagine a world without them. Happy Birthday to my sweet moose boy Owen and my little curly haired no bum Eli. Mama loves you.

Just a few reasons why we're laughing around here

2010-11-21T19:54:00.002-07:00

Gotta love babies in glasses and old man pants. I'm still smiling.

Job change

2010-11-20T20:09:00.002-07:00

This weekend Tim can say that he is between jobs. Usually that isn't something that a person wants to say or a situation that anyone wants to be in, but we're actually very happy about it. Guess who's the new Controller for Capitol Distributing?

Tim

Yep, we're leaving public accounting and heading into corporate accounting. Tim's been wanting to move in this direction for awhile and we're very happy that this opportunity is happening for him and our family (no more traveling or late tax season hours). I think Tim's going to miss his co-workers at Eide Bailly, though--and all the "work lunches" :)

He starts on Monday which coincidentally is also his birthday. Not a bad birthday present, huh?

A story of climbing and tents

2010-11-17T13:25:00.003-07:00

You'll never guess what time I took this photo. Sure, they're in their pajamas so maybe that narrows it down to bedtime or morning time or on a bad mom day--anytime :) Next, look at those smiling happy faces. Don't even try to use the state of Eli's hair as a clue because it ALWAYS looks like that--the white man's Afro. Really, on the days that I do style it with product, you can literally watch it grow bigger and bigger as the day goes on--like a chia pet (remember those? are they still around?) So, any guesses on the time?

Midnight!!

About a month ago, Owen climbed out of his crib and when we were in Abq he climbed out of his pack 'n play. I ordered a crib tent because I am ABSOLUTELY not ready for these boys to be out of their cribs--oh my, I don't even want to talk about that possibility and how our lives will change when that does happen. Yikes. But then, he stopped. He didn't climb out of his crib anymore, so while I had the crib tent, I never put it up. This past week, he started climbing out at the end of his naptime and I thought Well, time to be putting that crib tent up . . . yep, didn't do it. It all came to a head on Monday night while all were sleeping and the house was dark. We heard our bedroom door creak open and a little figure stood in the doorway, too small to be Marcus's silhouette.

It was Owen.

I snuggled him and took him back to his room where Eli was of course wide awake. I rocked them both and headed out and this time I heard Owen pop right back out of his crib and giggle as he headed back over to say hello to Eli. I went back to our room and told a very irritated and tired Tim that we needed to put up the crib tent NOW. And so amidst angry frustration from Tim (those things are complicated to put together and it really doesn't help when you're tired) and giggling late night adventurous joy from the babies this lovely beauty was created . . .

and Owen's climbing days were over.

Last Halloween photo, I promise

2010-11-02T12:45:00.002-06:00

photo credit: Kim Hodges

Yes, I know Halloween is behind us. But when my friend sent me this picture she'd taken at our church's Trunk or Treat, I just loved it so much that I had to share.

My little family is awesome and the next time . . .
*my house smells like boy
*Eli wakes up before the crack of dawn
*Marcus wipes his nose on his shirt
*my floor looks like I never mop it even though I just did
*I'm making dinner and three little boys are hugging my legs
*Owen hits Eli and/or Eli hits Owen
*Tim forgets to tell me he went out to lunch and isn't hungry for the dinner I just made
*I have to repeat myself for the 100th time
*Owen screeches when I put him in his car seat or the jogging stroller

I will look at this picture and Remember how blessed I am.
Here's to November, a month to be thankful.

Zombie

2010-10-28T13:22:00.004-06:00

Halloween is right around the corner and the pumpkins are carved, the parties are planned (or past), the costumes are ready, and the candy is already being consumed. You know what, though? Apparently, all my Halloween readiness just wasn't authentic enough because a couple nights ago little Eli woke up covered in vomit. Awesome. That night didn't really lend itself to too much sleep so the next morning I was sporting the cool dark smudges underneath my eyes--the real smudges that can't be created (or really covered up, I discovered) with makeup. Not enough, though. The next night Marcus woke up covered in vomit. Great. Now husband is also sporting cool dark smudges. We are so festive! Still not enough. We needed something more . . . so the next day I caught the stomach flu too! Now I get to look like death (pale skin, sunken eyes, dark smudges, slight wiff of vomit) for Halloween. If you too want to be one of the walking dead this weekend, come on over and I'll breathe on you. Heck! I'll even let you share my glass of juice. I may be death warmed over, but I'm still a giver.

Monster Mash

2010-10-23T12:48:00.002-06:00

Marcus's school holds a Monster Mash every year--it's a giant Halloween costume dance party for the families with a huge bake sale where everything is just a quarter. Of course we're all about supporting our school and our kindergartener (plus, guess who just became the PTO secretary?) so we dressed up (not Tim--party pooper) and headed out for some monster fun!

Guess who wanted to be the Hulk for the third year in a row? He's way too big for his original Hulk costume, so this one is Hulk 2.0 (exactly the same costume in a size bigger--thank you, internet).

I'm still smiling over this guy's little bat costume. Thanks, Cindy!

Me and the crazies. Owen looks like he wants to suck Marcus's blood.

My green guys. Eli got to be the frog this year. Marcus wore this one on his second Halloween (before he discovered the Hulk). It's funny because it robs Eli of any peripheral vision, so he has to turn his whole body if he wants to look at anything not directly in front of him. He loves wearing this costume, though. He shakes his head no whenever we ask him if he wants to take it off.

Oh, extra points if you noticed Eli's black eye. That's from when Marcus knocked into him while he was swinging on the hammock--knocked Eli right off his feet. Poor guy.

View outside my back door

2010-10-18T20:55:00.002-06:00

Tonight for Family Night, we cut our bright orange pumpkin off the vine (we only got one in our garden this year--bummer) and we all took a turn hefting it--watching Owen was the funniest. Tim pretended to throw it at everyone's face and Marcus fell for it :) Then we all marched the orange beauty out to our front porch (amidst me going on about "the fruits of our labors") where we proudly placed it on the "pumpkin stone" (a paver near our front door) and clapped and gave each other high fives. Then we went inside and found Monster Mash on youtube and had a little dance party. Family Night totally rocks.

Temple Square

2010-10-17T18:56:00.002-06:00

Of course Marcus was happy to "lovingly restrain" his brothers so we could snap this picture of the three of them.

We stopped at Temple Square on our way back to Boise because
1. I love that place.
2. The babies had never been there before.
3. Marcus is finally getting old enough to understand where we are and we can actually have conversations about who the statues are and why we have temples etc.

Marcus liked Temple Square because
1. It has several escalators.
2. It has several fountains.
3. See the above.

While we were walking around I said to Marcus, "I love coming here because I always get a good feeling inside when I'm here." He reached for my hand, smiled at me and replied, "Diego's having a party at Monkey Bizness (a local jungle gym with lots of inflatable slides and such) and I like going there because it gives me a good feeling inside."