Simply Fresh Designs

I cannot resist putting in a plug for my dear friend Heather. She has the most AMAZING GIFT at designing classy looking Christmas Cards. Check out her website: http://www.simplyfreshdesigns.com/

Here are a few of her cards:

Whoa, where did that good looking family come from? Heather asked a few friends to send in pictures . . . I see so many familiar faces in her galleries. I especially love everyone's engagement pictures. Where is ours you ask? Do any of you remember the glasses Eric wore when we got married? Yup, the ones that covered half of his face? Unfortunately no amount of photo editing can bring those pictures into the 20th century. But lucky for me the man I married keeps getting better and better looking every year!

Birthday Boys

I cannot believe that my "baby" boys are going to be NINE years old on Sunday. Amazing. I gave them the option of having an Incredible Family Celebration, or a Simply Friends Get Together. Of course, they chose their Friends. Christian and Tanner are so excited and Sam keeps voicing his opinion on the refreshments. I think with sledding, brownies, ice cream, and lots of hot chocolate, we'll have a happy crowd.

Hoarfrost

Hoarfrost: n. Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface. Also called white frost.

There are perks to Alaska Winters. For example, last winter when I was too lazy to walk a baby bottle upstairs in the middle of the night, I simply opened our bedroom door leading to the backyard and placed the bottle on the deck where it froze solid.

The biggest perk and most amazing beauty is hoarfrost. It is absolutely incredible.

Today while walking home from school with the boys and a few friends, I overheard them talking about the hoarfrost.

"That stuff is cool," commented a little boy (he just moved here from Tuba City, Arizona).

"Yup, its frosting," replied Hyrum.

And you know what? He's right.

(another funny. I have a drying rack that I pull out in the laundry room at least once a year, usually when I'm geared up to save the planet and conserve energy. My ploy to end global warming for the year began and ended yesterday. Tanner, this morning, was on a quest to find clean jeans and I directed him to the laundry room. A few minutes later I hear him holler, "Are the jeans on the MANGER clean?" Tis the season.)

W.

Sam's Christmas Concert

Don't mind the flute descant, Warner was warming up on the recorder.

Ham

Knowing Eric. . . he'd agree that this this little one is keeping it in the family. . . a little bacon being a little ham.

Permanent Fixture

Yup the box is still around. He is sleeping in it EVERY night. I'm starting to wonder if I'd recognize his bedroom without the box. I did, however, convince him to let me cut out the "foot board" of the box so that 20 years down the road I won't be blamed for stunting his growth.

Joby

Tanner was in his "special spot" writing away tonight. At the end of writing time I went in to hear another one of Tanner's tales. Disney himself would have been proud . . . it was a story that began Once Upon a Time and then immediately lets the reader know that the main characters parents were DEAD. Yup DEAD, even the brothers and sisters. Nothing like a bleeding heart to endear you to a story. A paragraph later Tanner is describing the Aunt with whom the main character is now living, "she was mean and joby."

"Joby?" I ask. This is 3rd grade writing and I've already witnessed several examples of the written word empowered by baconbit phonetics. For example tonight I came across the word "janj" (for change).

"Yeah," Tanner answered, "Joby. Someone who is always giving him jobs."

So tonight along with all my other titles, I have added another: Joby. Because, really, who do you think is the kids inspiration for the Mean and Joby Aunt?

Over Eater?

EVERY night I am amazed when Christian and Tanner out eat Eric. They EACH eat two (YES 2) chicken breasts, salad, rolls, vegetables and when they've managed to lick the bowls clean they want to know if there is anything else? And we aren't talking about dessert, they want more chicken or a quesadilla or pasta. Where does it all go? I mean SERIOUSLY, take a gander, the kid (Tanner, but don't think that Christian looks one iota beefier) appears to be borderline malnourished.

Not only is this rough on the food budget, but it puts kinks in the family vacations. A couple of summers back we went with some dear friends Canyoneering in Zions. A small part of the adventure was swimming through icey cold water. With .00057% body fat, the twins were teetering between hypothermia and freezing to death by the end. Sleeping bags and blasting the HEATER (this is July in Southern Utah) did the trick to defrost them both.

And then there is the ever pleasant comments I get from the Pediatrician or total strangers for that matter. Looking at me. Looking at C&T they deduct, "Oh look how skinny those boys are. They must get that from their father." Thanks a lot.

Not much gets past this kid. Eric and I got a big chuckle while watching him the other day. He was "helping" us with laundry and had found a pair of jeans and a shirt and was trying his hardest to put them on. He would put them on his head or drape them on his shoulders. I won't be long . . .

Written By Tanner

At parent teacher conference, Tanner's Teacher told us that he was the best writer in her class. She said that he is phenomenal writer with spectacular ideas. He has great voice in his writing and well thought out story lines. She encouraged us to nurture this ability, and we've created a little writing workshop space for him under the stairs. Write away little buddy.

Dental Woes

A few weeks ago I took Sam to the dentist because I had noticed that a cavity had fallen out. We made an appointment for dental work to be done next week. Last night, however, he started crying after dinner complaining that it was hurting. I made a quick phone call to the dentist and left a message asking if they could get him in earlier. There is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain.

The receptionist called back and asked us to bring him in at 10.

2 1.2 hours later, we left the Dentist Office. My baby boy, Sam, got a root canal. Don't those words just send shivers down your spine. Here he is, still numb on HIS left side and doing his best to smile.

Techno Boy

This is the reason I don't blog as much as I use to. . . because Warner, our technology loving boy, does this every time he sees the computer and is denied the opportunity to type and pounce and pull up his favorite websites.

Don't feel too bad for him. . . on occasion we give him free reign of the t.v. remote and the telephones.

Wobbly Warner

I can remember when Christian and Tanner were just 18-months-old, sitting on a bench at Bushmaster park. The two of them were tackling the climber, one on the rope ladder, the other on the monkey ladder, while I sat on my hands hoping for their success. They were both doing an amazing job despite being so little. A fellow park goer sat on the bench next to me.

"Those are your boys?" she asked.

"Yup."

"I'm amazed you can just sit here and watch them."

"Do I really have any other choice?"

I went on to explain how I had spent the better part of that morning trying to spot each one as they climbed. But of course, they didn't want to climb the same thing, and one would be on one end of the climber and the other on the other end. I soon realized that it was impossible to prevent all possibility of injury and decided that reality was the better teacher . . . teaching them that if your foot slips off a ladder rung you'd better figure out how to get your feet back on it just as soon as possible.

All of the "bits" are climbers, but no one has matched C&T until little Warner came along. At 9 months, when we wasn't yet crawling, I caught him climbing up to the top of the staircase. At 10 months, he learned how to pull himself UP onto our bed. At 11 months I found him on the top bunk just hollering for someone to help him down. He now scales up and down the ladder at least two or three times a day. I've found him climbing bookcases, benches, couches. in and out of the tub, and into his crib.

Funny how he's never gotten hurt climbing . . . but yesterday while he was just racing through C&T's room he tripped on a blanket and fell on Tanner's recorder (flute). Bulls eye. It was an immediate goose egg.

Six Quirks

My sister Michelle tagged me eons ago and I'm just getting around to doing it. I guess I'm not over anxious to admit my quirks to the blogging world. . . but here goes:

1. I have a hair phobia. It gives me the willies. I don't mind it if it is on a head or in a hairbrush, but just about anywhere else puts me on the verge of dry heaving. And if I find it in food, I'm done eating for the rest of the day. Ugh! Disgusting.

2. I could easily be a vegan. Meat does absolutely nothing for me. I'll eat it, for the sake of protein and iron, but give me veggies or beans any day. (though i will admit that salmon does call to me on occasion)

3. I rarely answer my phone. I have this mental psycho thing about not being a slave to a phone, so if I'm changing a diaper or fixing a meal or reading to a kid (which is basically my entire day) I won't pick up the phone. It is not that I even look at the caller id to screen the calls, no I'm too lazy for that. I'm trying to conquer the ring then race around mentality. There is also some truth to the fact that we rarely know where our phones are but on the rare occasion that we exert some energy in a frantic search we inevitably find the phone just in time to hear the gentleman on the other end asking us to make a difference and get out and vote (and yes, we sent our ballots in 2 weeks ago).

4. I am a creature of habit. I shower exactly the same everyday . . . starting with the shampoo, then the conditioner. While the conditioner is conditioning I wash my body ALWAYS starting with my left arm and ending with my right leg, then the same face wash I've been using for YEARS. Finally I rinse the conditioner making sure ever loose hair is on its way down the drain (see quirk number 1) before drying off.
Speaking of quirky habits. Since my Senior year in college I have emailed my dad (almost) everyday. I send him an email all in lowercase. He sends me back a reply is comments in uppercase. I look forward to those emails every day.

5. I LOVE to bite my fingernails. I'm not a nasty, out of control, bite-them-too-low biter. . . just a too-many-years of piano lessons and I-can't-button-a-shirt-with-nails biter

6. Every Spring I get the inklings of a green thumb. Every Fall I realize that it is less damaging to my ego to just buy my produce at Sam's Club.

Friends

I pick friends for all sorts of different reasons. My sister Michelle can make me laugh from my belly and is just plain fun to be with. Heather is loyal and kind and my want-to-be-better Inspiration. Angie is genuine and good and a fantastic listening ear. Jodi, well not only is she brilliant, but I think what really drew me to her is he savvy sense of fashion. Love you friend.

Any Guesses

Any Guesses?

A mini GC

This is what happens when a brilliant friend of mine attempted to vacuum seal a loaf of whole wheat bread. In many ways it reminds me of a mini Grand Canyon, and perhaps it tastes as good. I don't know, it is in my freezer waiting . . . waiting for just the right comedic moment to makes its formal introduction into the ward white elephant party.

Halloween Hike

The boys elementary school, in conjunction with the Eagle River Nature center, offered a Halloween hike today. I had so much fun hiking today with the kids. It was chilly outside and the boys and I were layered, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day.


Hy did a great job tromping around with all the big kids.

Here are the beautiful ice formations on the river. Can you believe that I saw Salmon in the river. Amazing. Hibernation doesn't begin until the food supply is all gone. . . so we were still on bear alert.



At the Education Yurt there were all sorts of fun games for the kids, oddles of treats, and hot chocolate. I really appreciated and enjoyed a reason to get out and explore together. Last week was a really rough for me personally, I am realizing more and more the comfort I find in these five little boys of mine, who are allowing me to grow up with them. I cannot say enough good things about them. To spend a great day with them, a really, really great day with them refuels me for the haul of life ahead.

Halloween Hike 2