Little Diva

Yes, Miss Makenna has discovered makeup. And today she finally got ahold of some and beautified her self up. She always watches me put on my makeup and I let her hold my brushes and sponges. She whines until I give her some lipgloss. She is always attracted to pink and sparkly things in the store. I think we have a little diva in the making.

Bad Guy Face

This morning Carter woke up WAY too early. I was half awake and listened to him get up and use the bathroom. Then he stayed in the bathroom for quite awhile. I decided to get up and see what he was doing. I walked in and he was behind the door looking in the full length mirror making faces. I asked what he was doing and he said he was practicing his "bad guy face." I started to crack up. I told him to go show daddy and he said, "hold on, I have to practice getting my muscles out." So here is Carter's bad guy face, complete with muscles. He looks pretty fierce.

















A couple of other funny Carter-isms from this week.

Today just as conference was wrapping up he walked up to the TV and was studying the MoTab as they were singing the closing hymn. He said, "Dad, is that Ty Detmer sitting up there?" I guess he has been indoctrinated in the ways of Cougar football. We were busting up and I think Al had a very proud dad moment there.

Makenna is on a little bit of an eating strike lately. She would rather play with her food and throw it on the floor than eat it. A couple days ago during lunch I said to her, "Makenna, you didn't eat squat for breakfast and you haven't eaten squat for lunch." Carter said, "Mom, can I have some squat too?" He has asked for squat to eat several times since then.

Anyway, being a parent has got to be the funniest job ever. These two keep us in stitches.

Indian Summer

We have had the most GORGEOUS weather this week. Forget about being excited about fall. We're thrilled to have the warmer temps, especially after experiencing the wet Seattle weather last week. The kids have had a fabulous time -- playing in the hose, eating popsicles, playing with water guns--the works. We are really just enjoying these fleeting days of "summer". (The only down side has been unpacking all the summer clothes this week.)

First day of Soccer!

Yesterday was Carter's first day of soccer. The leagues here don't start until 4 years old so we put him in a parent/child class this year. We are really impressed with program. They did all kinds of drills with the kids to get them familiar with soccer lingo and moves. Carter had a great time playing with his dad. I went yesterday just to take pictures but from now on the two of them will just go together. It's quality bonding time for them. Carter is obsessing about soccer now. He and Al played in the backyard for hours yesterday.

Squashing the bug!
Dribble practice.
As we were pulling into the parking lot with all the other families we just looked at each other and laughed. We feel so OLD having a child in soccer and driving a van.

A patent & a funny

So yo, hats off to the hubs because he now has a patent pending in the national patent office for a process he came up with at Pratt. I think that's a pretty cool thing to have to your name. Good job babe!!

Check out this hilarious link.

http://media.putfile.com/Al-Mormons

It's a spoof on Al Qaeda using LDS missionary recruiting techniques. I had a good laugh.

Happy weekend everyone! The sun is out here for the first time in days!

Kicked out

Tonight Al kicked me out of the house. I needed some "me" time. I had a particularly trying day with the kids today. We have got some spitfire personality at this house. Wonder where that all comes from. Anyway, #1 still does not understand that he cannot run around in shorts all day. It was cold today and we fought all day long about his wearing shorts and flip flops. I finally just took him to the post office in tshirt, shorts and flip flops. About 1 minute into the ride he said he was cold. Natural consequences, I tell you.

#2 has not only decided to give up her morning nap, but has cut her afternoon nap down to one measly hour. This means that she is grumpy for the rest of the day and I have no time to accomplish anything. I was trying to scrub down the bathroom this afternoon and she saunters in, sticks her hand in the bleach and proceeds to wipe it all over one of her brand spankin new fall outfits. Sigh. Then there was the not one, not two but three cartons of yogurt that she got out of the fridge and smeared all over the kitchen floor and herself.

So anyway, Al quickly ushered me out the door when he got home. I grabbed my purse and book and grabbed a bite to eat and read for an hour. Ahhhhhh. Peace.

So, this post is just really a hats off to my really awesome hubby. He is way too good to me and I love and appreciate him more than I express.

Love you babe!

Just because....

...She is so stinkin' cute and full of personality!! ...I am happy to be scrapping again. I didn't do it very much in CT because we didn't have the time with the house, etc. A couple more LOs I cranked out this weekend. Lousy shots. I love these pics of my kids, have them framed in a couple rooms of my house. I'm used to being a pretty elaborate scrapper so this simplicity is kind of hard for me.
This one took me quite a long time with all the sewing (can't really see it here). Possibly one of my favorite LOs ever.

Goggles and Nodo

All my life when I've thought of being a mom, I always wanted to be the mom to do fun craft projects with her kids. I have a great collection of craft supplies. And then I had Carter. Up until about a month ago, he couldn't care less about doing craft projects. But a few weeks ago a little switch flipped and he begs to do projects every day. I am loving it.

One thing he likes is when I draw a basic outline of something (a tree or butterfly, etc.) and then he decorates it with googly eyes, pompoms, sparkles and markers. So today I asked him what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to make some Cyclopses (plural of cyclops, whatever that is). So here are Goggles and Nodo, our resident Cyclopses. I have no idea where he came up with those names, but I like them.



Carter is fascinating by the cyclops. He first got turned on to them in an adorable book called "I love you Stinky Face." We read it almost every night and one of the characters is a cyclops. He walks around with one eye closed and calls himself a cyclops. Sometimes he closes both of his eyes and calls himself a noclops (no eyes=noclops). It is hilarious. He also loves that Mike Wyzowski from Monsters, Inc. is a cyclops. It's so funny to see what kids get fixated on in their little brains. Carter is always good for some comic relief.

Five for Friday...

1. First, I have gotten a fair amount of harassment from all you out there in cyberspace about my comment that I read 50 blogs. I have to clarify that I don't read them EVERY DAY people. A few I do (and you know who you are) but I catch up with most people about once a week and some only once a month or so. So now you know, I'm not spending hours reading blogs every day. :)

2. Fall is officially here. I can't decide if I'm excited or not. The air is crisp during the day and flat out cold at night. My fall decorations are out. Al baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies the other night (sooo delish) and we are burning YUMMY fall candles (my recent favorite is Vanilla Caramel Custard by Gold Canyon Candles- get one if you can!)

3. I got my dream calling a couple weeks ago. I was called to be the Enrichment Leader. Oh, I am in absolute heaven. I have a ton to do to prepare for our super Saturday and 3 other activities before the end of the year. My sister is the EL in her ward and my mom is the guru of all things Enrichmenty so I the ideas are flowing. If you've had any awesome activities this year, let me know.

4. Something baaaaaaad is happening in Oz.... If you've never seen the musical Wicked, this won't be very funny. But on occasion when we get a break from the Cars soundtrack it is usually to listen to Wicked. Anyway, my kids have started walking around our house singing this song. Makenna is just learning animal sounds so she walks around baaaahhhing all day long. Seriously, it is hilarious. Maybe you have to be here.

5. Am I the only one who does not understand the fashions this fall? I never thought the 80s would come back. And they are just as scary this time around as they were last time. I went into my favorite store this week because I have a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and there was nothing but utter hideousness. Skinny jeans? Leggings? WHY?!?

Sunkissed

I do not love scrapbooking. Nor am I inherently talented at it. But I do love the idea of my kids having a record of their lives and figure I might as well make it cute while I'm at it. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. I like things to be perfect, or I don't do them at all. This can be good and it can be bad. It is bad in scrapbooking and has made for some very tedious layouts on my part. Then my good friend Mindy turned me on to the idea of using coordinating products. She is the fastest scrapper I know and can crank a ton out in one night. And her stuff is super cute (although she will claim otherwise). So that has been my new scrapping philosophy. I rarely ever buy paper just because I like it any more. Now I choose the next several layouts I want to work on and take the pics with me to the SB store to pick out coordinating paper. It is working out great. I have been a scrapping fool lately. This is the page I did today during naptime. And I even got started on a second page. Isn't Makenna just the cutest?!? I bought her the cutest swimsuit and floppy hat for last summer. I took a million pics of her in it but love this one.

Remembering

I hope everyone paused for a moment today to reflect on the events of five years ago. Five years ago I was a newlywed in my little apartment in Provo, UT. I turned on the Today show, like I do every morning to catch the headlines and whatever interesting tidbits I can in the first few minutes of my day. Just a few minutes after I turned it on, the show cut away to a live picture of the first World Trade right after is had been hit. From that moment on, my life changed. Like most of you, I sat glued to the TV and other media outlets for the next several days. I felt numb for so long. I remember thinking that America had just lost her innocence. I had lost my innocence.

The pictures of that day still haunt my memory. I could not get enough media coverage to satiate my numbness. I wanted to feel the pain of all those who had lost a precious son, daughter, sister, brother, parent, spouse, or friend in those horrific events. Maybe to make it more real for me. And I never, never want to forget how I felt that day. The emotions were so raw. And five years later, I am glued to the media as they follow up on the events of that tragic day. It is beautiful to see the human spirit triumph. To watch people who have found the courage to move on with their lives, despite the immense pain.

Today while the kids napped, I caught a few minutes of the History channel special "The day the towers Fell." The father of a family who had lost their wife/ mother made the comment that "Everytime my children smile, the terrorists have lost." It was such a beautiful remark and outlook on the situation.

Hug your little ones a little tighter tonight, tell your spouse you love them, call a forgotten friend...in remembrance of those that can't.

Experimenting - more zoo

Still figuring out my new camera and photo editing equipment. So here are some better shots of the below pics of the zoo!!

Woodland Park Zoo

Yesterday we headed to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It was a great day for the zoo because it was slightly cool and overcast and there were very few people there. The zoo is gorgeous and so lush and green, like everything in the PNW. It is a great zoo with a lot to do for young kids. The kids had a great time. Our favorite part of the day was the hippo exhibit. There were 3 hippos in an outdoor pond and they were wrestling and fighting. We were all fascinated watching them. Carter was thrilled to be seeing a real life Marty, Alex, Melman and Gloria. We were supposed to have a date night but our babysitter got sick at the last minute so Al headed to the Mariners game with our friends from CT, the Benshoffs. He had a great time even though they went into the 13th inning.

First day of Preschool!!

Today Carter officially started preschool. He was so excited that he was up and getting dressed before 7:00 a.m. He loved it today. His teacher is such a cute lady and he's been talking about her since we first met her last week. As we were taking pictures this morning, Allen started to get choked up about our baby going to school. I cried for a few minutes after I dropped him off. What will we do when he goes to school for real? Or college? I shudder. He is growing up so dang fast. Anyway, I convinced him to wear something other than the beloved Lightning McQueen shirt. He idolizes his cousin Mason (my sister Nicole's son who is 9) and as soon as I told him Mason had the exact shirt he is wearing, he put it on in a flash. The gigantic backpack is also an offshoot of Mason since Mason is really into camo. Carter chose the camo backpack so he could be like his cousin. Too cute.

It was weird running around this morning with just Makenna. I also realized how much Carter keeps her entertained while we're running errands. But I am excited to have some one on one time with her too.

I must run. I've sold my soul to the devil tonight. I've agreed to iron Al's shirts so he can finish building shelves for my scrapbooking stuff. I loathe ironing and no amount of persuasion can convince Al that we actually can pay to have his shirts cleaned. Maybe some day.

Kachow...kachow...

If you have a boy between the ages of 3-6 years old, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about here. The CARS obsession around this house is pretty intense. As you may have noticed in previous postings, Carter has this thing with Lightning McQueen. You may have noticed his LM tshirt in pretty much every picture we've posted. No, it is not because he doesn't have any other shirts or because I never do laundry. It is in fact because he asks to wear that shirt EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's really to the point of ridiculousness. Here's how our morning conversation usually goes...

Mom: "Carter, come in here, we need to get you dressed."

Carter: "Can I wear my LM shirt?"

M: "No, it's dirty."

C: "Can I wear it anyway?"

M: "You can wear it tomorrow after I do the laundry."

C: "I want to wear it now."

M: "You can't, it's dirty."

Usually followed by tears and occassionally a full fledged tantrum which results in my threatening to throw the LM shirt in the garbage. Anyway, all summer long I've been washing that shirt at least twice a week and usually three times a week. But I've finally gotten smart and am now only washing it once a week. Sure, it makes the morning battle a little uglier but eventually he'll get the idea.

Now, lest you think that he doesn't have enough LM paraphenalia I have the following picture to prove that he really really does. We've spared you the picture of the LM underwear, generously purchased by his grandma. Several other people have not been spared this picture as Carter has actually pulled down his pants in public to show them off. Consequently, why do they always put the good picture on the rear? Carter almost always wears his underwear backwards so he can enjoy the picture to the fullest.




He also pretty much knows all the words to every song on the CARS soundtrack. Luckily, it's a pretty good soundtrack so we don't mind too much listening to it 24-7. It's pretty hysterical to hear a three year old sing Route 66 and Life is a Highway. He does a mean duet with Sheryl Crow.

Now, I must also dispel the myth that we buy all LM merchandise available. Come on, have you seen how much CARS stuff is out there? We do say no, all the time. No to the LM bike helmet and knee pads, CARS video/computer games, ride on LM cars, LM pjs... really I could go on and on here. Let's just say I'm sure we'll be having a very Lightning McQueeny Christmas around here.

For now... Kachow...Kachow

Blah...blah...blogging.

So it's a little after midnight my time and I'm wide awake worrying about my house that has been on the market for 5 months and one week (but who's counting?) and I started "writing" blog posts in my head and decided I might as well come actually write something. I do some of my best thinking and writing in the middle of the night. But I digress. So I've decided to tell you all why I've joined the ranks of millions of bloggers out there. I resisted for as long as I possibly could. I mean, many of you would be scandalized to know how many blogs I actually read every week. It's quite a few. I have about 50 different blogs in my favorites folder. Not that I read them all faithfully, but some I do. I've come to realize it's a fantastic way to keep in touch with friends and family. I keep tabs on high school friends, college roommates, former coworkers, family members, people I've met through scrapbooking, etc. I only read a few "anon" blogs where I don't actually have a connection to the person. So, I decided to start my own Blog for the following reasons:

1. I like that I can send my Blog link out once to people and they can keep tabs on my family as much or as little as they want. No one has to read my family updates if they don't want to. It saves us all time.

2. It is totally motivating me to take pictures of my family so I have more to share.

3. It's a great daily record of my life. Someday, when I actually get around to scrapbooking all of these pictures (ha ha ha) I'll at least have a general idea of what was going on in our lives at this time.

4. It's a great way to brain dump.

So if you've made it this far, welcome to our little blog. Someday I hope it has a prettier face, but for now it will do. Come back and visit often. We'll try to be interesting.

Back to my regularly scheduled worrying...

Snoqualmie Falls

Today we spend a couple of hours at Snoqualmie falls. It is only a 30 minute drive from where we live and it was so gorgeous. We were planning to hike but when we got there we realized that the wheels on our heavy duty jog stroller were flat. We haven't used it in a while and forgot to check before leaving. It was so fun anyway. We played in the park, found rocks, picked and ate blackberries and had a picnic lunch. The cool weather is gone and replaced by HOT HOT weather (hot for here is anything above 80 - it is in the mid 90s today). We stopped for an icecream on the way home.





One of the most awesome things about living here is that there are wild blackberry bushes EVERYWHERE. We have a bunch of bushes just a couple one street over so we have been walking over every night and picking berries. The kids are addicted (we have learned to strip them down since blackberries stain) and we have been making yummy blackberry shakes. We are trying to get a bunch frozen so we can enjoy them all winter long.