I rarely do this, but I would recommend the movie Amazing Grace. After seeing a preview, I put the dvd on hold at the library and Eric and I were both able to watch it a few days ago. We both REALLY enjoyed it and were inspired by the courage and perserverance of one man's journey to make the world a much better place.

I am also a sucker for movies that are based on true stories. I love seeing human goodness and moral. I love when historical heroes overcome a challenge and sacrifice something good for something better.

If only I could be so noble as William Wilberforce.

FYI: The movie is rated PG and in my opinion is extremely tastefully done. However, I don't believe it is appropriate for children simply because it is one man's quest to abolish the Slave Trade which I believe to be an adult subject. I love the sight www.kids-in-mind.com They do a great job reviewing movies in terms of content with "kids in mind". Click here to read the review for Amazing Grace

Hip Hip Hooray

Check out the hippest Warner Wears to date:


Here are the other four Handsome Fellas:

Auto Start

This is the Alaskan symbol. The quintessential must have. The every "don't have a garage" owners dream. THE AUTOMOBILE AUTO START REMOTE. I think I had heard of these in Arizona, but didn't realize that people actually bought cars with this feature. Up here, in the land of the Last Frontier, EVERYONE has one of these (well, everyone except us and I'm not one to try to keep up with Jones', especially when it is going to cost me a whole heap more then $9.95). Our friend Todd lives at in North Pole, AK. He says you can tell when church is almost over because there is a chain reaction of tiny beeps as church goers start up their cars in an attempt to warm up the engine and the seats before heading out into the -30 temperatures. Only in Alaska.

Sunshine

O There's Sunshine. . . blessed Sunshine!

We live in a little Valley of sorts with spectacular views, trees galore, and a river. It is quite picturesque. But all this beauty does have a draw back. . . beginning just after Thanksgiving we lost sight of the sun. Oh, don't get me wrong, it has still been shining but hasn't quite peaked the mountain behind our house and consequently left us in a shadow. We still receive plenty of light, but about a week ago I really started to wonder what it would be like to have the sun glimmering through our windows. On Saturday the sky was clear and the sun was pouring in. It was a bit of heaven. Aahh our Alaska "darkness" is over.

Bathtime Babe

It would seem that I have my favorite spots for capturing my kids on film. When they are babies it is when they are sleeping, then I graduate to the bathtub, and finally the highchair . . . I think there is just something to having a contained audience.



Warner is at a really fun stage. He is so observant. He loves to look at his hand and I'm not convinced that he knows that not only does it belong to him but that he controls its every move. He is swatting at his toys and turns to put his eyes on noises and voices, AND he has started cooing. Oh, I love the cooing.

More Pumpkin

Our little pumpkin and his Dad.

Peter Peter

Here's are little Pumpkin Eater.

Boys

I am in love with the reality that I am a mother of BOYS. There are no frills around here. . . no potpourri oozing from the bedrooms, no lip gloss, no pink hair pretties, no tea sets, no tights, no baby dolls. We have swords, and lightsabers, shields, legoes, playmobil, balls, scooters, star wars guys, and bikes. We sing the Star Wars Theme song at the top of our lungs. Every Willow Tree Figurine I own has at least one head hot glued back on. And to be honest, I love every bit of raising these little brutes. Well. . . almost every moment.

Little boys have their quirks. Boy Howdy can they be loud. They can be silly. They can be messy. And at times life seems to mimic a chapter from Lord of the Flies. So the other night I decided I was going to reclaim order with a touch of common sense in hopes to obtain a higher sense of refinement. Now, I'm a realist. And I like to think that I pick my battles wisely. I knew that such things go against the very natures of boys and I quickly determined that this would be a Stephanie only task. So seeing as though I claim 98% of the master bathroom usage I was going to make sure that in my little part of the world, I was going to live in a place where the toilet LID was put down.

Refinement at its greatest.

So I had been living in my little dream world for about fifteen minutes. I kid you not. . . the following happened exactly as it is being told. I crawled into bed and was just getting comfy when Christian, who happens to be our sleep walker, bursts through our bedroom door. I could immediately tell he was a bit dazed as he stumbled through our bedroom and into the bathroom. I should have been smarter and put two and two together, but it wasn't until I heard the SPLATTERING that I realized my attempt at personal refinement had just cost me dearly.

Oh how I wonder at what goes on when I am already asleep. Perhaps it is better that I do not know.

Needless to say, at our house the toilets lids remain up. . . every single one of them. Refinement will have to wait for another day.

Roll-E Poll-E

FYI: Warner rolled over for the first time yesterday. Hooray for milestones. It almost went unnoticed as he went from back to front.

Needle Point

Now that we live by a big city, it is a state requirement that our children are immunized with the Hepatitis A vaccine. The boys received their first shots in Flagstaff before we moved. It was a comical scene. Hyrum was screaming (expected), C&T were breathless and a bit taken back by the sting (expected), Sam was ballistic, out of his mind with fear, and superman strong as he fought off me and two other nurses (totally unexpected). So this time, I went prepared. . . I took Eric with me! Saturday morning we drove into Anchorage and stopped by the free immunization clinic at the hospital (no appointments, no money, no lines. . . ahhh!)

The kids did awesome . . . or perhaps I should say that Eric did awesome. He just took them each on his lap, was playful and fun and before they new it they were done. Not a tear. Not a whimper. Just four happy boys with stickers and bandaids. I overheard the nurses talking about what a great dad he is and what a cute job he did with the boys. . . I cannot help but agree.

As we were leaving the nurse said, "You were the best family of 5 boys we've ever had!" Then a bit under her breath she added, "You're the only family of 5 we've ever had." :) Power to the big family.

Templates

My friend Heather (bless you!) just introduced to me digital scrapbook templates. So I decided to bite the bullet and try to figure out Photoshop Elements 5 which I've had on my computer for over a year. I have to admit in many ways it was easier than I anticipated but I still had several moments where I wanted to spit fire and crawl back to my ever-so-simple program. Sometimes at the end of the day, after all my patience is spent, the last thing I want to do is dig down and find more of it for a silly computer. Nurturing and loving little people is one thing, but a computer? Come on, At least a computer won't grow up, and despite all of my years of loving, patience, and long-suffering find reason to remind me of my less-than picturesque parenting performances.

Warner Warms Up

Our little Mr. Stoic for the Camera finally. ..

Smiled! Phew!! I'm glad it was finally captured.

Freak'in Genius

Hyrum is a "Freak'in Genius!" I came downstairs yesterday morning and this is what I saw. . .


My Little Hyrum had color coordinated his "Jedi Guys" with the matching watercolors. Brilliant. Intelligent. Creative. Watch out Einstein!

The term "Freak'in Genius" has special meaning to the Warner family . . . When my little brother Greg was in High School he took several AP exams at the end of the year. That following summer he received passing scores on all (am I right Greg?) of them . . . to which he proudly declared, "I'm a Freak'in Genius!" So now whenever anyone does anything remotely amazing we declare (usually of ourselves), "I'm a Freak'in Genius!"

A Few Funnies

On Sunday the boys put on "plays" with the scripture Hero guys. Below Sam and Christian retelling the Samuel the Lamanite story. Any guesses who got to do Samuel's speaking parts?

Later, Christian and Tanner put on the "play" David and Goliath (saying it Golilath)

Hyrum is our most recent Star Wars fanatic. He loves the little action figures we own and dones the Jedi Cloak his grandma made for him. In his 2-year-old fashion he is showing off Ben and Mace Windu (which he incorrectly, but affectionately calls Town Cu Cu-- mixing it up with Count Duku)

7 Below

7 of us . . . in 7 below. . . searching for a 7 foot igloo. . . at 7 p.m.

The boys were in 7th Heaven.

Well, maybe not this little boy. So Hyrum . . . tell us how you really feel.

Long Live the Lava Lamp!

Long Live the Lava Lamp! Sparkly Pink Lava Lamp, as she was known to her friends, passed from this home to the landfill on Tuesday, January 15, 2007 at the age of 5. Sparkly was a good lamp, a bright lamp, a cheerful lamp.

Sparkly had a good life. Her beginnings, I'm sure, originated somewhere in China. From there she became an international traveler and finally settled down in small town Wal-Mart. A white elephant game landed her with her latest family and if it wasn't for a rowdy game of tag she'd still be sitting proudly on Tanner's nightstand as "The Reverence Award."

Oh how we will miss our little Sparkly Pink. May she rest in peace.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the SparkleForever fund at www.lavalampsliveon.com

Best Bowlers

I have some great memories of bowling at BYU when I was a kid. I loved the cool shoes, the score cards, pushing the reset button and gutterball after gutterball after gutterball. Somethings don't change and somethings do. . .

Never Changing # 1: The shoes are just as cool as ever! Christian was the envy of our crowd with with VELCO bowling shoes. Mine were a particularly dazling lime green, orange, and silver. Eat your heart out boring shoe wearers.

Never Changing #2: The feelings that you are the most amazing kid on the block when you get a strike or a spare. I am quite fond of the lean your body when you are watching your ball sway a bit too much off course (as if there is some mystical bowling goddess that could reverse your horrible release).

#3

Never Change #3: Ready, Aim, Drop. Inevitably someone has this moment during a bowling adventure. Unfortunately for Christian, it was his moment to shine and I was lucky enough to catch it on video.

#4

Never Changing #4: For some reason bowling seems to be a memory maker. Whether it is a ready, aim, drop Christian moment, a five strikes in a row Michelle moment (go sister!), or a high school Sophomore Slide Doubles Bowling moment (nothing says romance like bowling with someone tied to you. . . perhaps that will be the storyline for High School Musical 3). Then there is the time when my little brother Scott's bowling ball stopped just inches short of the pins and was reprimanded for trying to walk down the lane to retrieve it AND the time when we all discovered that Roger (my father-in-law) was an amazing bowler when, and only when, on the Big Island of Hawaii and after 10 p.m. On this occasion the most outstanding memory will probably leave a scar. Hyrum, in all his grace and style--I'm sure that is a Warner attribute, picked up a bowling ball and learned a powerful lesson about gravity and overestimating his own strength.

#5

Never Changing #5: Bowling is exhausting.

side note: this is evidence of our newest thumb sucker. "And what of our other thumb sucker?" you ask. has he kicked the habit, has he turned the other way, is he free of his insane addiction? . . . the answer is. . . (sigh) NO. over the weekend we nic named him "Houdini" after the infamous magician who could get himself out of any bind. We, as parents, stopped short of the chains and coffins that Houdini used, but Hyrum could get himself out of bandaids, duct tape, socks, gloves, safety pins. . . all by what seemed to be magic (a.k.a. 2-year-old determination).

Bowling Conclusion

Never Changing #6: I am a HORRIBLE bowler. Some traditions run deep. . . I always start out amazing (two strikes this time) and then fade fast and end barely breathing. It is a good thing we've got kids and it gives me a dignified excuse to have the bumpers up. What would I do without those?


I couldn't resist including this picture of Harry Houdini. . . this isn't a far cry from what Hyrum looked like on Sunday. :) Don't add him to your prayer list. . . he has since been set "free" and is sound asleep and slurping away as I type.

And for the record. . . this was the first family bowling adventure where the kids were more interested in actually bowling than in the arcades. . . wahoo for Change!

Maxed Out

Eric's dream vehicle, yes the one he had a poster of on our wall while we saved up for it, is now filled to capacity. With five little boys, every seat is filled in the Honda Odyssey these days and it is up for debate on whether our little ones are too close for comfort. It is a good thing that the school, church, and library and just minutes away.