Spring Fever

This morning Gavin came downstairs and dumped a plastic bin of Noah's Arc toys onto the carpet in the family room. Instead of it being a random dumping it was an act that seemed to have purpose. That should have been my first clue that something was up. I was busy making Tristan's lunch and getting him off to school, so I ignored Gavin when he carried the bin out of the room and started up the stairs with it (did I mention that the bin is larger than he is?)

Before long, Tristan came in to tell me that Gavin was upstairs getting into mischief. Again, I didn't think much of it because that's par for the course. A few minutes later Jolie reported that there was water involved. I hurried up to see what was going on (water = large clean up for me). Gavin had gotten into the bathroom cupboard where we store the bath toys and he was repeatedly filling a small boat with water from the faucet and dumping it into the huge toy bin which was on the floor. I asked him what he was doing and he said "the sharks need water!" I could tell this was a serious matter for him, so I carried the bin downstairs and filled it with 3 or 4 inches of water. I told him he could play with the sharks and the water as long as he left the bin on the kitchen tile.

Well, after he grew tired of the animals, Gavin removed his pajamas and climbed inside the bin. Jolie disrobed and joined him! I take this as a sign that they're ready for summer. The poor children saw four inches of water as an opportunity to take off their winter fleece and go for a swim!

I caught spring fever myself today. I've been enjoying our loads and loads of new snow from last week but for some reason, I was done with it today. I looked outside and decided I was sick of this nasty weather and I was ready for spring! Let's hope it's not too long before my wish arrives...

Gavin's New Hobby

It's a good thing Dan doesn't look at the blog very often, he's not terribly happy with Gavin's new hobby.

The kids were upstairs playing this morning while I was doing my workout. Gavin came up with this outfit on his own. Isn't he stunning?

Happy Birthday, Joleen!

I took some words
from my heart today
letting the ink fill out
the letters on my card.
Six simple words appeared,

I love you.
I miss you.

I wondered whether to speak
of laughter or of tears,
to speak of hopes or of dreams,
and came to this.

I love you.
I miss you.

And now I send them skyward
attached to a balloon,
lifting effortlessly
to meet the clouds,
and I think of you.

I love you.
I miss you.

Happy Birthday, Joleen!

Happy Valentine's Day

First I have to apologize for neglecting the blog for a few weeks. Dan has been out of town and I haven't had a moment to have a quiet thought, let alone update the blog.

I sequestered the kids yesterday morning to take a few photos. I ended up making Tristan miss the bus, but it was worth it. My little valentines were bright-eyed and excited for the day.

I saw Tristan sneak into my bathroom early in the morning and later found this cute note on my mirror. It melted my heart! Tristan is such a sweet little boy. I hosted book club last week and one of the (off) topics of discussion (there have been more and more of those lately, but that's another story) was the difference between boys and girls. One of my friends insisted that every mother should have a boy because there's nothing more special than a mother-son relationship. Looking at the little note taped to my mirror yesterday morning, with its plain white paper and scribbled, misspelled words, I had to agree.

I found the red and blue hearts in the hall bathroom later yesterday morning, after Jolie had seen Tristan's note. I was in the office and she came in asking to spell all sorts of words such as "love" and "from". She and Gavin then came in asking for scissors and glue dots. After a while Jolie asked where I was going to brush my teeth. Their subtlety was overwhelming!!!

We took my Grandma out for dinner last night. The restaurants were very crowded and busy, but I didn't care. The last thing I wanted to do last night was stay home alone with the kids and cook. After putting our name in, we left Applebee's for a while to do some shopping at Target and when we came back they had our table ready. Grandma bought each of the kids a little toy so they were thrilled. We had a really nice time and I think Grandma did too. She seemed happy to get out. We didn't get home until late but the kids were really good about getting ready for bed.

We had a fun Valentine's Day and we hope you did too!

Buttercup

We had a little Super Bowl party here tonight. Tristan has been getting more interested in sports and a few days ago he asked if we could have a party. Like a good mommy I obliged. In truth, I'm always looking for a reason to have a party, even if I have no interest in football.

I picked up a deli tray of meats and cheeses last night and made rolls and brownies this morning. After looking at all the food and realizing our party would be much more fun with them, I called mom and Dad and invited them to come over. We watched the game for a while and then mom and I took Jolie and Gavin into the living room so the males could be more attentive to the game.

As you can see, tonight Jolie finally got the sister she's always wanted. She took Gavin upstairs and put him in one of her old dresses and put barettes in his hair. We ended up having a dance competition with the two of them ("Kathleen" and "Buttercup") in the living room.

Oh... anyone who knows us well is probably wondering about Dan's reaction to the dress. Do I really need to say?

Random Thoughts

I've thought about updating the blog several times since my last post but haven't come up with anything terribly exciting to write about.

I guess I could take a photo of the inversion or an icecicle. Last weekend we made news by having the dirtiest air in the country. What an honor! We need a big strong storm to blow the stagnant air out of here. I hear one is coming tomorrow night so I guess we have something to look forward to. I hear we may also break 40 degrees next week, the first time since the first of the year. It will feel like July.

Oh, here's some exciting news: I was recently made the wolf den leader for cub scouts. It's just been a few weeks but I think it will be a lot of fun. Tristan is stoked about being a scout, it will be fun for us to do it together. He asked me the other day if he could wear his uniform (shirt) to school which shows how cool scouting is to an 8 year old boy. A couple of the boys have waved at me in the hall at school so I'm getting the feeling that Den Mother is near celebrity for them. I'm in charge of our den meeting on Friday, we're making bird houses. Dan has been a good sport, he stopped at Lowe's on his way home from work to get all the stuff we'll need. He and Tristan spent the evening cutting wood and drilling holes.

We've also started down the exciting road of potty training with Gavin. It was going quite well but I'm afraid he started regressing this week. He does well as long as we're home all day and I remind him to go every hour. If we leave the house or I get busy with other things it doesn't go so well. You should see the excitement when he does produce, though. There's singing and dancing, high fives and "whooo hooo!"s. One time I forgot to say "whooo hooo!" and he reminded me. He also has a sticker chart and he gets to take a trip to Target to pick out a Thomas engine when a row is filled. What more motivation does a little boy need????

There, I guess there were some exciting things to write about. ..

Cabin Fever!

Did you know that adding jacuzzi jets to a bubble bath makes an enormous amount of bubbles? So many, in fact, that you have to turn off the jets? We found that out today!

We feel like a family of home-bodies. We haven't been out of the house much this weekend as our arctic temperatures are hanging around. It was sub-zero last night. I knew we were going to be home all day, so I divided the day into several activities. The kids watched a movie this morning, then we made Play-Doh, had a pizza-making contest (with the Play-Doh), we had reading hour, a puppet show, nap/play with your toys in your room hour, and now bubble baths!

We even had an unexpected visit from Ruth, our neighbor who has Alzheimer's. She surprised us by walking right though the front door.

And the day is young, it's only 4:00!

Welcome to Antarctica!

Holy Moley, it's COLD! We got another 6 inches of snow here yesterday, lots more in the mountains. The storm ALMOST prevented me from going to book club last night, but our trusty Utah snowplow crews came through. I was amazed that the roads were as clear as they were because it was snowing when I woke up and literally didn't stop until 3:00 or so in the afternoon. I heard that a 20 minute commute took 1 1/2 hours yesterday morning because there were vehicles off the road everywhere.

Today the news story is the COLD! I was at the market before dinner and the air was absolutely frigid. The thermometer in my car said 12 degrees but I guess it's more like -3 with the wind chill. Brrrrr! I'd love to post a photo of the wintry scene but I think I'll stay inside where it's cozy.

I know what you're thinking... It must be pretty bad outside for ME to decline the opportunity for a photo! That really says something, doesn't it?

Tristan's Baptism

Tristan's baptism was yesterday afternoon. It was a very special day for him and for our family. Dan baptised Tristan and Grandpa D. confirmed him. There were two other children who were part of the baptism, so it was very special.

Jolie and a couple other children sang a song during the program called "When I Am Baptised." These are the lyrics to the song:

I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,
And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

Tristan's primary teacher gave him a beautiful journal to record his thoughts about the day. He made his first entry in the car on the way to dinner. When I was tucking him into bed last night he showed me what he'd written. Among other things, he said that he felt very special after his baptism. I know this is a day that we'll all remember for a very long time.

Scrapbook

I promised Robin that I'd post some photos of the scrapbook I made for all of the grandparents for Christmas. It was quite a project. I started just after Halloween and finished just in time for Christmas. Each scrapbook includes 25 of my favorite photos of the kids (taken during 2006). I looked everywhere for a nice embellishment for the cover but finally covered the front and back with this patterned paper and I cut my own monogram letters out of chipboard and then I painted and inked them. Oh, and thank goodness for Ben Franklin where they sell ribbon by the yard (yards and yards and yards of ribbon!)

The Lights on Temple Square

This week we took the kids to see the lights on Temple Square. It was amazing! There were nativities representing all areas of the world, beautiful luminaries, music, and ofcourse the gorgeous lights. It was quite cold and wet, but we had a great time.

Do We Have Mice?

I couldn't resist posting some photos of what we found under the tree on Christas Eve. Dan and I stayed up late wrapping gifts on the 23rd and we put some of the gifts under the tree. Less than 24 hours later, this is what we found.

The Wonder and Excitement of Christmas

The best part of Christmas for Dan and I (other than the new Lexus, ofcourse) was watching the kids' wonder and excitement. We've witnessed a small glimpse of doubt coming from Tristan this year so it was especially fun to see his excitement Christmas eve and Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma D's. We ate Dad's Orroz con Pollo and one of my new salads. Mom had some games ready for us, including a card game called "Slap" and a game in which we told a story based on an assortment of items she'd put in a sack (it was a very interesting story!) The kids got to open the pajamas Grandma had made for them.

After we were home, we got Santa's milk and cookies ready and the kids also wanted to leave some carrots, lettuce and apples for Santa's reindeer. We had a long discussion about the appropriate time for getting up Christmas morning. Dan and I decided that 7:00 would be fair. It was a hard sell for Tristan but he finally relented after I explained that Dan and I would be up late cleaning and getting the food and other preparations ready for Christmas.

Well, that was nice in theory. Dan and I finally got to bed around 2:00 a.m. and it wasn't long before Tristan was up, telling me he had woken up and couldn't go back to sleep because he was so excited. I'm pretty sure he'd checked out the scenery downstairs. I think I told him to go back to bed and think about school. It must have worked because we didn't hear anything more from him until 6:30 a.m. when he came in to wake me up and tell me it was only 30 minutes until 7:00. Before long, I heard his and Jolie's voices downstairs, and then I heard both of them in Gavin's room, trying to wake him up.

The kids were full of excitment and wonder. Gavin was thrilled to find a battery-powered train that Santa had set up for him. After we were through opening gifts, we spent the rest of the day putting toys together and playing with them. Mom, Dad and Lisa came over for brunch and stayed the rest of the day. We did our traditional Raclette for dinner. It was a great day!

Tristan's Eight!

Tristan turned a big eight years old on Friday! I can't believe it. The kids were out of school for winter break, so we spent the morning with our friends, the Jeppersons. They're moving to Kansas City next week so we were especially glad to see them. It's going to be hard to see them go.

Tristan's friend, Evan, also has a birthday the week of Christmas, so oddly, Tristan spent his birthday at Evan's party. They had pizza and went bowling.

We had a family party for Tristan Friday evening. Grandpa and Grandma D., Aunt Lisa and Grandma I. came over for his favorite dinner (my "famous" spaghetti). I made a special candy cane-covered cake which we ate with peppermint ice cream.

Some of Tristan's favorite gifts were his Heelies and archery lessons. He chose to go for the archery lessons instead of having a party with his friends this year.

Happy Birthday, Tristan!

When You're Two... the World is Your Playground

I had to grab my camera this morning and catch Gavin playing with Sir Topham Hat and his engines. He was at my feet while loading the dishwasher and he asked if he could turn the "windmill" inside the diswasher. Then he said something about a bridge and ran to get his trains. Before I knew it, he was using the small rack of the dishwasher as a bridge for his engines. Before long, he had Sir Topham Hat sitting on an upside-down water pitcher next to the dishwasher.

A Fresh Blanket

Dan and I spent last weekend in San Diego where (big surprise) it was warm and sunny. When our plane landed in Salt Lake Sunday evening it was raining, and by the time we got home it had turned to snow and it was sticking to the roads. By morning we had ourselves quite a little blanket of fresh snow (6-8 inches?)

I'm actually happy for the storm because we've had a crusty layer of old snow hanging around from the last one. There's nothing like fresh, powdery, Utah snow!

Tristan wore his snow bibs and boots to school and Jolie and Gavin and I played for a while and even had a little snowball fight before the kindergarten bus showed up.

Jolie, Jolie, Jolie!

My mom came by this morning to give Jolie an early Christmas gift, this GORGEOUS dress. My mom made it! We saw the fabric several weeks ago and we knew it would make a beautiful dress. Jolie is a lucky little girl.

I wish I could say that Jolie's disposition at church today was as beautiful as her dress. She was rather damanding and sulky. I didn't understand why until I realized that she must have been tired. Last night Dan and I were out late at a Christmas party. Although the babysitters put the kids to bed at 8:00 as instructed, Jolie apparently stayed up until 11:00 or so, spying on the babysitters. This morning she had all sorts of information to report about what they did after they put the kids to bed.

Our babysitters are twin sisters who live in our neighborhood. At church I asked them about last night. They had no idea she was awake but what they told me was consistent with what Jolie reported, so I'm certain she was awake at 11:00 or so.