So This is Where Our Grocery Budget Goes

A certain 4-year-old (name starts with "I" and ends with "saac") got a hold of my grocery list and made a slight alteration.

The Birthday Girl

Okay, it's about time I posted pictures from Grace's birthday, since she turned 2 a month ago! We had the family over for dinner and cake, and watched our big girl open her presents. Hard to believe she has gone from baby to little person in just the last year.



For the first time, Grace was able (and interested enough) to open her presents herself.



Grace's favorite part of the day, the cake. Complete with colorful sprinkles and two candles.







She learned this one from her brothers.



The gift she's always wanted: a Chapstick of her own. She somehow made this one last almost two weeks. She carried it everywhere she went and smelled constantly like grape.



Everybody needs Chapstick now.



Happy birthday, precious girl!

The Little Mermaid

Grace has a love-hate relationship with the bathtub. Some months she loves it, and some months she's terrified of it. So far, this is a good month.

She yells bath, bath! and runs for the stairs if someone turns on a faucet anywhere in the house. Her favorite words include fish and shower. And recently I caught her chanting to herself in the tub, "Bath, I like you bath." The trick now is getting her to come out. Nothing sparks a temper tantrum like taking her out of the tub.

Typical

I know I've been slacking here lately. (Perhaps selectively simplifying would be a better term.) Marty was out of town all last week, so we went into bare survival mode: no blogging, no excessive cleaning, little cooking.... I found that the children developed some useful skills in the process:

Isaac's proficiency at Uno has skyrocketed since we played about eight games a day.

His reading gets better every day - he took Daddy's place reading books to Grace all week.

Grace learned how to talk on the phone! Up until now, she just sat there looking confused and trying to push the buttons. But when Daddy would call, she would get on the phone and say, "Dada! Song? Song?" And he would sing to her. Very endearing.

By some miracle, we made it all the way through Sacrament meeting on Sunday without having to leave the chapel once!

And the boys managed to endure choir practice with only minimal fights over crayons and requests for more fruit snacks.

Most impressively, Grace learned how to order off the drive-thru menu. No joke. We pulled into the Wendy's parking lot and I asked the collective back seat, "What do you guys want for dinner?" The first response came from Grace: "A fries... a chicken... a fries."

Now that Daddy is home (hallelujah!) things are pretty much back to normal. For example, tonight was a typical evening: Hang out in the family room after Jacob gets home from school. Try to finish a video from the library that is due today. Hear suspicious screaming coming from upstairs. (I say suspicious because screaming in and of itself is quite common around here and usually benign.) Correct Jacob sternly for smearing toothpaste purposely in Isaac's eye. Instruct him to clean it up, then go outside and do some yard work. Lovingly redirect Jacob when he comes in six times because it's snowing. Try to wash some dishes and uncover the kitchen counter. Stop to pry a hairbrush out of Grace's long hair. This took several minutes. Go back to the dishes. Grace is chewing on a can of beans she got from the pantry. The boys are assigned to separate rooms to clean up. 6:00 - Daddy's home! Try to have an adult conversation for a few minutes while the boys finish their jobs. More suspicious screaming, this time from downstairs. Marty heads down to check it out and receives the following explanation: "I didn't mean to bite him! My mouth was open and I was trying to close it but his bottom got in the way!" Oh boy. Ten points if you can guess which child that was.

Like I said, everything's back to normal.

Twice Tagged

This is my official induction into the phenomenon of blog tagging. Thank you Leah and Monae, for my first tags ever (and on the same day, no less.) Here you go:

10 Things I'm Grateful For

1. My Savior, Jesus Christ, and His gospel
2. My wonderful husband, beautiful children, and family near and far
3. Music, specifically the piano - for my mother who bought and refinished an old piano and paid for years and years of lessons, and for remarkable teachers
4. Chocolate (these aren't in any particular order, necessarily...)
5. Experiences that I didn't go looking for, but have made me a much better person
6. Amazing friends from California to Maryland and everywhere in between
7. Motherhood and the privilege to stay at home with my little munchkins
8. College at BYU and the scholarship that made it possible
9. Books, books, books - I got that from my mom, too
10. Running water and indoor bathrooms (not to state the obvious, but...)

Secondly, some husband questions for the sake of family history:

1) Where did you meet your husband?
I first saw him in the foyer of Glenwood apartment building #4 in Provo, but we met at a cabin in Sundance, Utah over the movie "Men in Black."

2) How long did you date before getting married?
Depends on what you call dating - we went on dates for many months, but just as friends. If you count all that, we dated for ten months, and were then engaged for nine weeks.

3) How long have you been married?

Nine and a half years.

4) What does he do that surprises you?
His dry humor always keeps me on my toes. Many people tell me they never know if he's serious or not. I've just about got it figured out.

5) What is your favorite feature of his?
His smile.

6) What is his best quality?
His non-idleness (what word am I looking for?) - he rarely watches TV or movies, and is always playing with the kids, spending time with me, or working on some project

7) Does he have a nickname for you?

We call each other Pookie.

8) What is his favorite food?
Steak, lately. He also likes shrimp, potatoes, and chocolate milk.

9) What is his favorite sport?
I think it's a close contest between soccer and racquetball.

10) When did you first kiss?
February 7, 1999 on a bridge over the Provo River. (Thank goodness for journal-keeping.)

11) What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
We love board games. Lately we've been into playing Ticket to Ride Europe a few times a week. I love going out to dinner, and he likes watching movies at home. We both love to go for walks, too.

12) Do you have any children?
Yes, three, and if you read this blog, you already knew that.

13) Does he have any hidden talents?
He's very mechanically-inclined and can fix just about anything. He also has impeccable handwriting.

14) How old is he?
36

15) What is his favorite music?
Classical Music for People Who Don't Like Classical Music

I've been trying to convert him to musicals for several years, but it's not working.

16) What do you admire about him?
His work ethic, forgiving nature, and intense desire to do the right thing.

17) What is his favorite color?
I'm not sure, and neither is he.

18) Will he read this?
Yes, eventually.

19) Who said "I love you" first?
I did, but he said he was planning to and I just beat him to it.

20) Who do you tag?
Rachel, Chantal, and Brittany

Back to Blogging

Okay, hiatus over. We've been taking the last couple of weeks to recover from the holidays, get organized, and set some new goals for the coming year. Here's a sampling of what we've been up to:



On one of Jacob's days off from school, he and Isaac brought me breakfast in bed. No special occasion, just Friday. They made my bagel the way they like theirs made: "both toasted, one buttered." They must have enjoyed doing this, because the next Monday they brought me a bowl of Rice Krispies (which looked like it had been poured quite a while earlier,) a cookie, and half a quart of milk.



Ah, New Year's goals. My favorite part of January. It took some encouragement and more than a little guidance for the boys to think of some personal goals. When I asked them what they wanted to do this year, the only thing they could think of was "have lots of fun."



Grace is obsessed with books. She reads all day long, and carries piles of books everywhere she goes. Today she said, "Mommy, I read!"



Isaac picked up a cold somewhere, and generously shared it with the rest of us.



What Grace did tonight while I made dinner. When she was finished, she looked down at herself and exclaimed, "Cool!"

Jacob's Version

This is the report Jacob wrote at school about his Christmas break:

I liket brak. I got a now bascitball from santa. I like to play Xeko. I palyed ticit to ride with my ants and ungkls. I olsw played batlship. I went sleding. I palyed velcrow cach.

I love to hear his perspective on things.

P.S. Jacob has been stumping me with questions lately (okay, not just lately.) This week at dinner he wanted to know what the third law of motion was. "The first one is gravity...the second one is force...I can't remember the third one, Mom." Neither could I. The only time I ever think about Newton is when the word Fig is in front of it. He was also curious about whether Canada has a king or a president. (This question came up in the car, of course - where's Google when you need it?) I knew enough to include the words "democracy" and "prime minister" and "something about the Queen of England" in my explanation, but I had to ask my Canadian neighbor for more details, as Jacob wasn't satisfied with my answer.

How I Spent My Christmas Break

Well, I'll tell you one thing - the word "break" most certainly does not apply when you're the parent. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable two weeks of not getting up at 7:00 a.m. And this is what I have to show for it:

I condensed heaven into a 9x13 pan and ate a good portion of it myself.

I successfully defended my territory from a fleet of warships. Not to mention the previously-posted tank.

I watched Jacob morph into a geologist.

I shoveled the driveway every day. All of this snow is saving me a fortune in gym membership costs.

I played Xeko ("Pokemon with a purpose") with Jacob and helped to preserve the delicate ecosystem of Indonesia. {Yes, this is his normal expression.}



I fed several hundred neighborhood birds (okay, our crabapple trees did).

I introduced the boys to Anne of Green Gables. Because you are never too young to learn valuable life lessons like don't make fun of a girl's hair color. You might end up marrying her when you grow up.

Now I'm ready for a vacation....

Ring in the New

Mom, David and Constance came over last night to celebrate the New Year with us. To pass the time until midnight, we played this:



Agricola, which is Latin for "farmer"
{a Christmas gift from my dad}

It took us an hour and a half just to read the directions. Very complex, but very entertaining.


4 hours of said game.

Mini chocolate donuts, summer sausage, and strawberry ice cream.

A glass of Martinelli's.

The dropping of the ball in Times Square.


2009, here we come.

Ring Out the Old

Congratulations to Dad, who completed his last chemo treatment on Tuesday!
2008 was a very long year for him.
2009 is looking much better.

Peace on Earth?

Sunday morning. (Relatively) quiet. I was sitting on the family room couch, brainstorming New Year's goals and enjoying the peaceful reverence that we try to encourage in our home on the Sabbath day, when I heard an odd rumbling sound coming from the kitchen. As I watched, a loud vehicle crept ominously around the corner, heading in my direction. Through the hallway...down the step...across the carpet, straight toward me....

It stopped in the middle of the floor,

aimed its machine gun...

and fired.

All this, and not a driver in sight.

(This is what happens when you let Daddy do the Christmas shopping.)

The invading nation.

A Girly Christmas

Not to give Grace an unfair amount of screen time, but this was the first Christmas she really got into the action. (If I remember correctly, last year she slept through the opening of presents.) And this year, her girly side truly revealed itself. Notice a theme here?

Chocolate!!! Another new word.

How many toddlers do you know who are thoroughly excited about new clothes? Grace spent 20 minutes trying them on.

White Christmas: A Summary

Snow on Christmas Eve. The boys wanted to know just what technology Santa has that would enable him to fly in this.

Christmas Eve at Dad's house.

The annual Christmas Eve jigsaw puzzle. This is the first year in recent memory that we actually finished it on Christmas Eve! (Dad has a preference for the really hard puzzles - he did an 18,000 piece a few years ago.)

Christmas morning at Mom's house. Orange rolls, hot chocolate, gifts, and family.

Back at home Christmas afternoon.

Jacob made this snowglobe at school as a gift for Daddy.

Grace learned many new words this Christmas, most importantly "stocking" and "candy."

Lastly, we opened the envelopes on our tree and read our gifts to Jesus. (A couple of weeks ago in family home evening, we read this story and each of us wrote down something we would give as our gift to Jesus this year.)

My mom and all of my siblings joined us for Christmas dinner and a suspenseful game of Settlers of Catan. It was a beautiful holiday, and we have so much to be thankful for.

We hope you all had a peaceful and joy-filled Christmas!

Joy to the World

Amidst all of the excitement of this wondrous time of year - the presents, the food, the games, the laughter, the traditions - we remember and offer our deepest gratitude for the greatest Gift ever given. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord and King. All that we have and are is because of Him. We love Him and worship Him with all of our hearts.

The Cheapest Rink in Town

What can you do with a 9-square-foot patch of ice on the patio? Why, ice skate, of course.