Susie's Zoo

Trunk or Treat!

2011-10-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

We've been working on our Halloween costumes for months, ever since Potteritis first infected our house. A friend taught me to crochet 2 months ago, and my first projects were the boys' Gryffindor scarves. The second was Luke's owl hat. He loves that hat! He calls it his "Hooo Hat," because owls say "Hooo!" Jared made his own glasses out of pipe cleaners. I helped Zach with his. I enjoy making things out of practically nothing, so it was fun to make Luke's costume from scratch. Without a pattern, even. That got a bit iffy, but it ended up okay in the end. And we carved our magic wands from wooden spoons.

Jared wasn't real happy about photos today, but Zach had some fun, casting spells on me.

Everyone at the church Trunk Or Treat instantly recognized Jared and Zach as two Harry Potters, of course, and most recognized the little white owl toddling behind them. My costume is a bit harder to recognize, but I got several hits. One lady thought I was Lady Gaga, which would be another fun costume.

But no, I was going for Tonks, the combat-boot and funky trench-coat wearing, pink-haired auror (they hunt down dark wizards) who married a werewolf. If you haven't read the Harry Potter books, you just can't understand how awesome Tonks really is. It was fun to dress as her, and I plan on being her for a few years more, with some improvements.

Gastric Thoughts

2011-10-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night in the car, somehow stomach acid came up as a topic of conversation between Jared and Zach. It probably started with barf, I'm sure. Anyway, I suddenly tuned into the talk when Jared asked me a question.

"I'm guessing that there are special cells in the lining of your stomach that let them withstand the acid, right? Because usually, acid burns."

While the whole thought process was fascinating to me, I was especially impressed by his use of the word, "withstand." Hello!

Still Haunting Us (But Only A Bit)

2011-09-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

I got a call from the school nurse today, asking for a photo of Zachary. I never expect anyone to remember me or my kids personally. I mean, they work with so many people, right? But I suppose that with all the drama surrounding Zach's seizure over a year ago, with me running into the school with an unconscious 3 year old and laying him on the nurse's bed, would carve a pretty significant memory for anyone involved. So she remembers us quite well!

And apparently, she wants everyone prepared in case Zach seizes again during school. I guess he's got a 53% chance of having another, but it's been so long since his last one (just over a year), that it's happily receded from the forefront of my mind. The nurse is making a flyer of sorts, I guess to hand out to his teachers, letting them know what to do if he were to have another seizure. And she wanted a picture of him for it. So I sent her this one:

Zachary is ready for his first day of kindergarten!

She called me back later to ask which hospital they want me to send him to (if he has a seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes, or if he's having trouble breathing after the seizure ends. Thankfully, he doesn't have to go to a hospital if he just sleeps afterward, and I'd just pick him up from school). And I have made it my personal goal to be as thoughtful and nice as some people I see around me, including this school nurse. Because she made my day when she said, "I love that picture of him. I want to make it my screen saver, he's so dang cute!"

Of course, I think it's a cute picture, too, but I think I love these more:

First Day of School Photos

2011-09-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

So, school is back in session! Jared is in 3rd grade, and Zachary had his first day of kindergarten on Tuesday. On Monday, we got to "Meet the Teacher" at a special open-house type thing. It's also when we found out who their teachers are! We were so excited to see Zachary's name on Mrs. G's class roster. We had a great experience with her as Jared's kindergarten teacher, and when we walked through her door, she said, "Hi, Zach!" because she has known him for two years. He's so comfortable at the school and with Mrs. G that on the second day, he insisted that I did not need to walk him to the door, thank you. He's quite big enough to do it on his own. I walked Jared to the door for 2 weeks, I think!

Jared with all his supplies, about to meet his new 3rd grade teacher.

Yay! Zach gets Mrs. G for kindergarten, just like Jared!

Zachary with Mrs. G.


I didn't notice that all of Jared's first-day-of-school pictures were squinty. Oops!

Jared said his favorite thing about his first day was that he kinda got to use division in his classwork. Apparently, he's itching to learn more math! They didn't get as far as division in 2nd grade.

Zach shows off his BYU backpack. Luke copies everything "Ya-ya" does, even if it seems pointless.

Zach and Jared both have BYU backpacks, because we happened to stop at a Wal-Mart in Utah on our way home from our family reunion this summer. I mean, these are way cooler than any plain old backpack we could buy in Idaho. Jared even opted for a chest-crossing variation.

I could tell there was some apprehension tempering Zachary's excitement for his first day of going to school, but I doubt anyone but his own mother could tell.

Lining up with his class before going in for his first day. Luke, of course, had to line up, too.

Cool, calm, and collected.

Heading inside.

After school, however we had a bit of a meltdown. School was great, but it sapped all of poor Zachary's patience for a mom who likes to take pictures of everything.

Mad at mom.

Jared wasn't excited about pictures, but obediently hopped up on the Galileo Rock for a few snapshots.

Zach, on the other hand, was not about to cooperate.

It's a good thing I love him so much, 'cause he can really stick to his guns!

Half a Cankle

2011-08-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

I thought the aftermath of the wasp stings was over just half an hour later. But yesterday, a whole day after the stings, my ankle started really bothering me. I didn't sleep well last night, 'cause it was so itchy, swollen, and painful. And every time I bend my ankle it hurts. Fun fun!

I had to pull a Mary Poppins to see both ankles at once, and the boys had fun taking pictures of them. And of lots of other things they weren't supposed to be photographing, all while I stood there like a ballerina (which isn't easy, by the way), thinking they were staying on task. They're so funny!

Of course, this is no fun for me, but I am SO glad I'm the only one who got a reaction! I can't imagine what this would look like on Luke's little hand!

Western Idaho Fair 2011

2011-08-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last year, we got a bug to enter things in the "State" fair (it's not a state fair, nor a county fair; it's regional). It just seems like a good thing to do when you live in a rural state like Idaho.

I entered some photos and a scrapbook page last year. I never really counted on winning; it was participating that mattered. But when my scrapbook page got a score of 2 out of 10, I just had to find out what was going on.

Last year's entry

So I found out who to email, and was quite surprised to get a reply! Turns out the judges had never seen a digital page, and thought it was weird. Okay, I can see that. They were used to cute stickers and paper cutouts and hand-written cutesy captions. Fine, I just wanted to know. I thought that maybe next time, I'd submit a page that was more like what they were used to.

But a few months later, I got another email saying that they had found someone to judge a new digital scrapbooking division! I couldn't believe that I'd had a hand in starting something new! So I tried to spread the word, so we'd have enough entries to keep the division alive.

One of my friends came through for me and entered a layout. And today, she sent me a link to the results of the contest. Oh, I wish I could go see all the entries! We know there were at least four entered, because four places were awarded. And for the first time in my life, I won something at the fair! My layout about Zach's seizure came in first!

Especially after such dismal reviews last year, I really didn't know what kind of layout would go over well. I picked this one because I thought it showed a lot of the great things about digital scrapbooking, like the giant photo that fades into a background, with other photos and the journaling on top of it. And I figured that telling a story would probably help, too, since last year's was all about the photo and it didn't have any text at all.

I was very pleased to see that my friend took 3rd place! I hope she, and others, will enter again next year, and we can keep this new division going!

Our only regret is that we can only enter one layout. Most of the other hobby divisions have subdivisions, so you can enter more than one example of your work. It's super hard to just pick one!

Jared and I also entered some photography, but as far as we can tell, we didn't win anything there. Bummer. I guess Jared will remain the only award-winning photographer in the family (from his win last year)!

Never Saw It Comin'

2011-08-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

Zach was bookin' it on his scooter, and I was tailing him on my bike with Luke in the trailer, when a tricky, tricky mailbox jumped right in front of him! He says he didn't even see it, poor thing, even though it's our own mailbox.

There's only a little blood on the sidewalk, but man, it was sure was running down his face! I'm sure he got quite the shock when he saw himself in the mirror as I had him lean over the bathroom sink. It had split into several streams, one down the side of his nose, and one coursed right over his closed eyelid, then split around his battered cheek.

Thank goodness Jared is such a good helper; he got Luke out of the bike trailer for me while I staunched the blood pouring out of Zach's split-open eyebrow. I actually wondered if he would need a stitch or two, because it looked deep. But it's small, so I flipped through our awesome first aid kit and found some small butterfly closure bandages. I was worried about him keeping it on, though, since I unavoidably had to put half of it on his eyelid! That can't be comfortable. He hit his cheek, too, which puffed up nicely, and ought to be purple for a while.

The day after---his personality is back!

A nice black eye is developing.

On a side-note, while rifling through the first aid kit, I also found insect sting wipes. That would have been nice to know about yesterday.

(Small and irritating update: the boys have absolutely no sign of having been stung yesterday. I also thought I was done with it until I noticed tonight that my ankle was itchy and aching a little. So I looked down, and...why do I only have half a cankle? And why is it pink and lumpy? Yay for me.)

Sting Operation

2011-08-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

The boys and I went outside to enjoy the summer weather. Well, they were going to enjoy summer. I was going to mow the lawn. The boys were excited that the side gate was open, since it isn't usually. I went back inside to grab my sunglasses, when Zach ran in saying that a wasp had stung him!

I couldn't see anything on his leg, but got him an "owwie pack" (my sister's ingenious invention of keeping ketchup packets in the fridge to use as tiny ice packs for boo-boos) to put on it while I googled first aid tips. Then just a minute later, Luke came in, crying, and wanted me to kiss his hand. He doesn't say much yet, but he pointed to his hand and said, "bee." Well, I didn't know he knew what a bee is, so I didn't know he was telling me he'd been stung, too! A minute or two later, his hand was all swollen, so I knew the truth. Poor thing!

I told the boys to stay inside while I looked for some wasp spray. I couldn't find it (I'm not even sure we have any left) so I pushed the lawn mower through the side yard so I could mow the back lawn. Apparently, the side yard is where all the wasps have been hanging out! The mower and I made it through unscathed, and I started mowing. But the boys didn't stay in the house. All three of them showed up in the side yard! I told them to go back inside. Good ol' Jared obeyed me at once. Luke just stood there, uncertain. Zach looked at me and walked right through the side yard toward me, the stinker! And then, of course, Luke followed Zach, slowly.

I ran and snatched Luke from the danger, but as I turned to run away, my ankle exploded with pain. Now I know why my boys were crying! Man, it hurts! I got two stings, but at least Luke didn't get any more!

Stupid wasps! And now I don't have time to finish mowing the lawn!

Tonka in the Milk

2011-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

I found this dump truck face-first in someone's cereal bowl one morning. It's just a silly little snapshot, but it means so much more! And I absolutely love this picture.

I'm sure the writing on the page is hard to read, so here it is:
Three boys in the house means:
throwing, sirens, potty talk, construction equipment, boogers, guns, grossness, trucks, computers, wrestling,
destruction, running, hitting, hugs and kisses, fighting, messes, broken toys, racing up the stairs, the love of tools, little cars, paper airplanes, burps, taking everything apart and coming up with outrageous ideas.
Yes, being the mom of three boys means a whole lot of things, and this picture just about sums it up!

Warmth Returns!

2011-05-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we were teetering on the edge of actual warmth. Then we plunged firmly back into the chill. I had to turn the furnace back on, as the thermostat said it was only 63 in the house. Brrr!

And then the day after that was suddenly hot. And I mean hot! Hot enough that the boys put on their swim suits and we got out the sprinklers. This is the only photo I got of them, through the upstairs window, because the moment I got down to the yard to take more, they decided to make a pond in the sand box. That got messy, let me tell you. They all needed baths. I hope the dirt comes out of their swim suits!

I LIKE foam!

2011-05-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

After hair cuts, which take place in the master bathroom, the boys get to take a bath in the "big tub." For some reason, its tap makes the best bubbles! Luke was done first, and Jared thought it would be fun to decorate Luke's head with the foaminess.

The master at work.

Jared's creation---Mickey Mouse! Or is it a swamp monster?

I mean, seriously, look at those awesome bubbles!

Zach turns Five!

2011-05-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

On the day of Zachary's fifth birthday, we had an informal party when I babysat some friends' kids. We made cupcakes, and the kids got to decorate them. I never thought it could be that fun! But the kids sure enjoyed it!

Check out Luke on the bottom right, digging in face-first!

A finger in the frosting already!

Luke didn't bother with decorating his cupcake. He didn't even bother to use his hands!

But he seemed to have just as much fun as everyone else.

Then it was time for candles and eating the cupcakes! I just noticed that two of the candles are overlapping in this shot. Hmmmm....that could get confusing when I'm trying to remember which birthday this is!

Yum!

And then it was time to open some presents.

A really fun card from Dad!

Wow! This boy is a ball-lover, as you can see from his face. His very own football!

This one is from my parents.

Just look at his face when he realizes what it is!!!

It didn't take long before that thing was out of the box and on the driveway!

Everyone went out to play on things with wheels. There were spectacular crashes (but no injuries),

near misses,

and there was even a "synchronized scooters" demonstration! Completely by accident, of course.

Then Zach showed off his mad skills.

And now it seems that the only punishment with any sort of clout for him is to take away his scooter.

Random Fun Photos

2011-05-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some sort of random photos from everyday life at the Zoo.

Luke being naughty and stealing carrots:

Of course, I don't mind my kids eating carrots, anytime! But Luke can't bite through them yet, so he just uses them as utensils for eating Ranch. And he leaves a big pile of slimy carrots that he's licked. Eeew!

Jared with a K'Nex creation. He built it from plans. It's a cement mixer, and the barrel spins as the wheels turn! Very cool.

Luke has inherited the "little kid bike." And although he can't even really scoot on it, he just has to wear a helmet like his big brothers!

That's our happy happy boy!

I never thought hair pretties would be anything but taboo in a house with three boys. I hear about moms who endure daily salon treatments from their daughters, but never thought my boys would want to do my hair! Isn't it lovely?

And Luke loves to put on my flower headbands! I can't help but think that he would make a beautiful little girl. But he's not, so he only gets to wear these inside the house.

Visit from Nana & Babu! (a.k.a. my parents)

2011-05-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

My parents came from Missouri to visit us in April! Missouri is just too darn far away, so we really enjoy having them come. Of course, if you know my parents, you know they don't sit still for long. It was nice to have their help, but I wish it were more of a vacation for them!

They sure love the boys, and the boys love them!

It's hard to get enough of Luke. He's so sweet!

Building a tower taller than themselves! (well, not quite as tall as Babu)

Crazy Hair Day

2011-05-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

I was in that half-delirious state of falling asleep when Jared tiptoed in and said, "Mom, tomorrow is Crazy Hair Day." When I woke up the next morning, I wondered if that memory was real. I had to ask him! He assured me that it really was Crazy Hair Day. So I thought real fast and dug through the pantry, trying to think of something to do to his hair!

We tried green Jello powder first. I got his hair wet and dumped the Jello in. Since Jello seems to stain my kids' clothes just fine, I figured it would work great. But when I rinsed, it all came out. I thought maybe it was the color, or that it was not sugar-free. So I grabbed one of those Hawaiian Punch singles packets, you know, the kind you dump into a bottle of water? It's sugar free and bright red.

We rinsed, but only my HAND was bright red! Not his hair!

We rinsed, but only my HAND was bright red! Not his hair!

Determined to give him some follicle mayhem, I grabbed something called Hair Glue (awesome for spikes!) and mixed it with the Hawaiian Punch powder in my hand. Bright red hair paste finally did the trick! And a few more sprinkles of powder right onto his head.

We were very pleased with the results! Jared said it looked like his head was on fire. And that's always a bonus when you're a seven-year-old boy.

I kept checkin' out his do in the rearview (hey, that rhymes!) and was struck by the cuteness I get to see every day.

And a few miles further, I was happy to finally have my camera with me to snap the view from the crest of our favorite hill on the way to Jared's school. I don't know what that mountain is called, but I love it!

Guest Room

2011-05-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to have a guest room for a long time! An out-of-town friend coming for a visit was the perfect reason to spruce up one of our rooms for guests.

I got this large mirror for a buck at a yard sale. The dresser was given to me when I was in college. I just replaced the hardware with pulls I got years ago for $1 each at an awesome store in Phoenix.

The mirror fit exactly on top of the dresser! Then I got out some 50 cent mistint paint samples (they come in cute little plastic tubs at Lowe's) and painted the mirror to match the dresser. The dresser is pretty beat up, so I had to scuff up the mirror, too. I just set it on top. I loved the wreath I saw on a blog, hung over a mirror with a big ribbon, and thought I'd try it out.

I'm particularly proud of this cute plate. It was only a quarter on clearance after Christmas. It's actually a charger. Then a razor blade and scraps of Contact paper, and viola!

Add caption

I have some more fun projects I did. Like a crepe paper rosette ball hung over the bed. So fun!

Pinewood Derby!

2011-05-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Jared's first Pinewood Derby was on March 10th. He wanted to make a HumVee! Ryan was very sophisticated and drew up the plans on his engineering software, then cut out the shape with my scroll saw. There wasn't much cutting to do, 'cause Hummers sure are boxy! We spray painted it forest green, then Jared hand-painted the camouflage pattern on it. I helped with the finer details, such as windows, doors, grill, tail lights, rivets, etc. It is pretty cool, if we do say so ourselves!

Jared sets his car on the race track.

Ready to race!

Away they go!

A special spot reserved for the racers. Jared was pleased with his car!

The home stretch.

And the camo Hummer comes in first!

Of course, these are photos of lots and lots of different races. Jared's car had the lowest overall racing time, so he won first place!

Mom, this one's for you. The kids were all staring down at their trophies, so we said, "Look up!" And, as you can see, they really looked UP! (My mom has a photo of her little brother doing the same thing in a family photo. It's a classic!)

The winners! 1st through 4th for Tiger Cubs.

Jared with his First Place Tiger Cubs trophy.

Valentine's Day

2011-03-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lancaster sent us home from Phoenix with an unused gingerbread house kit. We decided to make a Valentine's cottage with it!

Jared had the idea to make a rocket. There's a yellow gummy bear in the cockpit.

Jared made this gruesome love scene. On the left is Cupid (with red wings on his back), who is wielding a yellow toothpick "arrow." He has just launched one into the chest of the red gummy bear on the right, who will now fall madly in love with the yellow gummy bear standing next to him.

Zach's all about the candy.

For dinner, we made pink heart-shaped pancakes. Yum!

Then we gave each other the cards we'd made for each other earlier in the week. This was my card to Zach. He was in love with a movie about the Space Shuttle at the time, so he got a space Valentine card.

Jared's 7th Birthday

2011-03-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Phoenix really cut into our planning time for Jared's birthday party, so he got two! On his birthday, we made a quick and festive cake. He designed the "7" cake-topper on the computer all by himself (well, with a leetle bit of technical support from me) on the computer.

Then we had a simple family party.

Opening gifts:

It was nice of Zach to dress up for the occasion :)

This is a Hot Wheels Mechanics set. He can mix and match all sorts of different parts to create different vehicles. Right up his alley!

My mom and dad sent him money to buy whatever he wanted! He'd never owned such a big bill. He felt super rich! Ryan's mom and dad sent him a subscription to National Geographic's kids magazine. He's still waiting for his first issue, but was so surprised to get an inflatable globe in the mail from the magazine.

We had a "friends" party about 2 weeks after his birthday, so I'll post about that separately.

Little Goings-On

2011-03-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few fun pictures from our every-day life.

First, Luke climbed into the bath tub, fully clothed. Luckily, it was empty.

Why go to IHOP when you can make your own Smiley Face Pancakes at home? This has become one of the boys' favorite dinners.

And below, Luke masters the putting-on of lids. He's so proud of himself!

Driving Home Through Utah

2011-03-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Phoenix, we drove through Utah. We love Utah! We got to visit the Bleyls for a little while, and then we headed to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We pretty much just call it "The Dinosaur Museum" because that's the boys' favorite part, but they have other things, too.

Jared builds a crazy dinosaur. The parts hook and Velcro onto the body.


Luke liked all the dino parts and kept hugging them.

This is the Erosion Table. It's filled with sand and water, plus has little plastic dinosaurs and trees.

You can build dams and hills with the sand. The water flows very slowly, but will break through your dams and cause floods, which uncover your "fossil" dinosaurs and trees, and bury others.

Check out the huge dam Jared built!

Baby Jared sitting on the baby Protoceratops.

Big Jared sitting on the same statue, just about as excited about it as he was 7 years ago.

Zach being his crazy self, running away from me.

Luke by the scary fish.

Baby Jared by the same fish, almost 7 years earlier.

This is always a favorite picture spot. This is a gigantic ancestor of the Great White.

This stinker kept climbing on the exhibits, then jumping off. Surprise, surprise.

This is Luke's first encounter with sand, and he was not a fan!

Jared uncovers a fossil in the sand area.

Zach digging up fossils with a paintbrush.

This room is just so cool, with these gigantic Sauropods!

Jared built this tower in their hands-on science area. That's patience!

Then we found a place with cheap ice-cream cones, and Luke got his own teeny one! He was definitely a fan of that.

Happy boys, ready for a rest and a treat!

Trip to Phoenix

2011-03-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

So we've been home for a while, but I just haven't been in the blogging mood, I guess! So I'm going back and blogging about the photos in our Picasa Web album.

This is January in Phoenix!

The boys relax in Grandma and Grandpa's cool chairs and soak in the sun.


Zach brings Luke back after he takes off down the street.

The steeple of the chapel Grandma attended for many years, and where her funeral was held.

Ryan's grandmother's funeral is, of course, the reason that we took the trip to Phoenix. It was a really nice service. She was a really sweet and strong woman. I loved hearing the stories of her life. And it was great to see family, too.

Luke and his cousin, Brynlee.

Ryan's sister and her cute little girl.

Poor Jared looked awful. A stomach bug hit him during the funeral!

The stomach bug hit Luke during the funeral, too, but he didn't seem to mind at all.

She's just so cute I had to take more pictures of her! It was the first time we'd met her.

Of course the kids don't really care about solemn occasions and find ways to amuse themselves.

Cuteness Revisited

2011-03-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Luke is so dang cute that I just can't keep from telling you about it. Of course, his face is adorable, but it's the things he does that I want to talk to you about.

When I put him to bed, I lay him down, hand him his pacifier, hand him his blanky, then wind up his musical dog and hand it to him. Then I put a warm blanket over him. He lays there with his blanky and dog hugged tight and the blanket up to his chin, looking so dang sweet! Then I have to kiss is forehead and say, "Good night, I love you!" But a few weeks ago, he started to fuss as I left his room. So I went back and signed, "I love you" and now he's fine. But I can't forget to sign "I love you" every night or he fusses. And as I sign it, he waves good-bye. So cute!

He loves to help me dress him now, too. He wants me to hold his pants out for him so he can step into them. He tries to put his diapers and socks on, too, although he pretty much just lays them over the appropriate body part and pushes. Not very effective, but cute nonetheless.

When he finds a washcloth, he wipes it across his face. When he finds a tissue, he wipes it across his nose.

He's enjoying communicating with signs. He signs, "milk," "all gone," "more," "juice," "all done," "dog," "fish," "hat," "out," "book," "baby," and "bird." He made up his own signs for "phone" and "lotion."

Ryan tested him, and he knows everyone's names in the family! I hadn't really thought to check that. But the first time Ryan asked, Luke pointed to Jared, Zach, Daddy, and Mommy.

He just added a new word. I'm not sure what to call his first word, really. He has said things sometimes, but he doesn't really use the word or repeat it consistently. So maybe this is his first? He says "bah!" for ball!

He's also a stinker. For a few weeks, when I ask him to say, "Momma," he shakes his head. But last night, when I asked him, he said, "Dada!" Three times in a row! This morning, too. Stinker! Momma needs some love. It's my only paycheck!

A whole month of photos!

2011-03-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

I knew I was behind on getting the photos off my memory card, but when I uploaded them, I was surprised to see that I hadn't even made a February folder yet! Yikes, I had a whole month of photos on there! So I'll get around to posting about those as I look through them.

For now, I just have one to post about. I scored a ceiling medallion at Deseret Industries for $1.50. You know, those fancy things that you can put around your chandelier on the ceiling? Like crown molding for your light fixture. Anyway, I snatched that up right away. Then I bought a mirror candle holder at the dollar store for $1 and used hot glue to stick it on the back. That's right, this fancy shmancy mirror cost me $2.50!

I love it!

A First

2011-03-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Jared had a friend come home with him from school today! that was a first for us. I know, sad, 'cause he's in second grade. But to our defense, he's only been in school for 2 years, and it's harder to do with magnet schools. It was quite the feat to organize his birthday party, since his friends live in three different cities!

I picked up Jared and Alex at school, and then his mom came to pick him up from our house. All three of our boys had a lot of fun, and Alex didn't want to go home. I hope that means he will come back again!

More Cuteness

2011-02-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Luke likes to raid other peoples' bags. He instinctively knows which are diaper bags and contain toys and snacks, and usually one puppy-dog look with those big blue eyes and the other moms give him something from their bag. Or he just digs through them on his own (much to my chagrin). This last Sunday, Luke found a baby doll in a bag, and the mom handed it to him. He was delighted! He immediately put it to his shoulder and hugged it. So I figured I should give him a chance with our one and only doll, Baby Jesus.

When I handed the doll to Luke, he again immediately cuddled it. He carried it around, despite it being rather large (the size of a real newborn) for him. He doesn't drag it by an appendage, he always hugs it to him. Then he lay Baby Jesus down on the floor, and laid down with his head on the doll's tummy. It was so cute! But then it got cuter, because Luke sat up, pinched the doll's nose, and made a honking sound.

I wanted to see if he'd do it again, for an audience, so last night, I gave Luke the doll again. We watched as Luke gently bonked his forehead on the doll's. That's his ultimate sign of affection! It was so cute. But the nose-honking is way funnier, so I was telling Ryan about it, and then Luke obliged us and did it himself.

This morning, Luke pointed to his bowl of dry cereal and signed "milk." The dang beggar can't handle a spoon all that well, so I had to feed him my cereal instead. And so begins a year of taking extra food on my plate because I know he'll only want what I have!

We've said it three times now, that it looks really fun to be one!

Bits of Cuteness

2011-02-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

We had a fun day today, just a satisfying sort of day. And some bits of cuteness are standing out to me as I head for bed. I thought I'd share.

Luke loves to touch foreheads with ours. I guess we do it to our babies and kids. It just comes naturally. So we say "head butt!" and he leans in and bonks foreheads lightly. Zach used to do it to me, but we'd rub our foreheads. He later dubbed them "elephant kisses." Don't know why.

Anyway, today, I leaned toward Luke and said, "head butt!" He turned his head around and leaned backwards, bonking me with the back of his head. I laughed, but wondered if he just hadn't heard me. So a few minutes later, I tried again. "Head butt!" and again, he turned around and bonked me backwards. But this time, he whipped around and giggled at me. Silly boy!

He's also refusing to give kisses. He's been ignoring my request for a few days, which is a little bit sad. But yesterday and today, when I ask, "Kisses?" he squinches up his eyes and then shakes his head! What a booger!

Tonight, I tried to get him to give Ryan a kiss goodnight, and he leaned in with his lips (as) puckered (as they get when you're 14 months old), then at the last minute, leaned back and shook his head. He did it three times just to reiterate his boogerness.

And today, Ryan taught him "fist bump." I don't think I've ever seen a kid so young do that! That makes it especially adorable, of course.

Baby fun!

2011-02-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

I've never taken pictures of someone else's baby, I don't think. But on our way home from Phoenix, we stopped by at Katrina's house and, on a whim, I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. It was fun to have something to do on the drive home, too, because I processed the photos on Ryan's laptop! Way better than singing 99 Bottles of Pop!

Spelling Bee!

2011-02-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Congratulations!

Your son/daughter was one of 10 finalist today in our first round of the Spelling Bee at Galileo. They received a ribbon and will be announced tomorrow morning during the announcements at school.

Their teacher was given the 3rd Grade spelling words list and should be sending them home with your student tomorrow (Thursday the 3rd). They will have a week to study these words to prepare for the 2nd round with the 3rd grade participants on Wednesday, Februrary 9th in the afternoon. The time will be determined by the 3rd grade teachers.

Wow, it's been a while

2011-01-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

I was quite embarrassed to see how long it's been since I blogged. Since filling in the near two months that have gone unblogged sounds utterly intimidating, I'll just fill you in on the last week or so.

We're visiting Phoenix right now. The weather is perfect, although for us that feels hot! I had to turn on the a/c in the car, and everyone's houses feel stuffy. We're going to freeze when we get back to Idaho, though!

We're enjoying the "vacation," visiting friends, family, the zoo, and the children's museum, but the reason for our trip is less enjoyable. We came for Ryan's grandmother's funeral. I have yet to attend a sad funeral, because they've all been for elderly LDS people. The peace the Gospel brings at times like this is so overwhelmingly comforting that, as one relative said, "we mourn not for her, but for us who are left behind."

And then there are the perks. I surprised my bestest friend (don't be offended, I refer to a few people by that term, and it's totally true for each of you) by showing up at church in her (and our old) ward. I've spent just about every spare moment at her new house, which is beautiful! And she has 7 adorable kids who have stopped staring at me like I'm some weirdo and have started treating me like a permanent fixture. I thought it was great when my friend announced that all the neighborhood kids had to leave because it was dinner time, and one of her kids said, "But Jared and his mom don't have to, right?" And one night Jared said, "Mom, it's so great that your best friends are our best friends!" My kids really get along amazingly well with my friends' kids!

One big downside to our trip is that, besides sharing friends, we also shared the flu. Poor Jared threw up during the funeral, but luckily he'd opted to stay in the Nursery with all the kids. It would have been a sad thing to miss the wonderful stories they told while taking him to the bathroom.
He threw up again later, and Luke surprised us by joining him during the family luncheon. Twice. Everyone in our family got their turn, some worse than others. Poor Luke has only perked up today after five days of playing Limp Luke. At least he was snuggly. We always enjoy Snuggly Luke.

Ryan took the boys to the zoo today, and he's taking them to the children's museum tomorrow. I'm going to pack up so I can spend the evening with my friend (her husband has basketball Thursday nights) before heading home the next day.

Well, that's what we're up to.

Luke's Birthday!

2010-12-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been a year since Luke was born. I just don't want him to grow up so fast!

It's been a busy week, and Luke has been sick, so we were a little behind on the celebration. I finally got around to baking the cake on his birthday, but didn't have time to frost it. We also got hit with a big snowstorm, and because the roads were so bad, Ryan didn't get to come home for a little party. I got the cake decorated the next day, but Ryan had to work late. Every night this week was booked! So I decided we had to take extreme measures.

Ryan got home from a meeting at 9:30 last night. Jared and Zach were all ready for bed, and Luke had been in bed since 7. But it was now or never, so I woke up the poor little birthday boy! He didn't cry, and seemed very interested in being up at such an odd hour. I buckled him into his booster seat and took some pictures. He just sat there, mellow as could be.

But when we lit the candle and started singing Happy Birthday, he burst into tears! I guess we don't sound very good :)

I took off the top layer of the cake for him to eat, and he dabbled his fingers in the frosting. He worked at his cupcake while the rest of us had cake, too, and eventually, he got the idea. He picked his plate clean!

He needed a bath, of course, and that perked him up a bit. I let him run around naked for a while, because it's just too dang cute. He went to bed happily and slept in late.

Happy birthday, little guy!

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

2010-11-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

After doing more research on the CDC website and talking to the school nurse (who is an R.N.), we decided that the boys all had an unusually mild case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD). This is not to be confused with Hoof & Mouth Disease, which only affects animals.

Anyway, the boys got the fever and malaise for one day, and two days later got the rash, but then the disease promptly ended its attack. Usually, the spots turn into blisters, and they're usually, as the name suggests, all over the feet, hands, and inside the mouth. Thankfully, the boys just got spots on their legs and around their mouths. No blisters at all!

The oddest thing is that Jared's feet hurt at night, enough to wake him up at 2am, but no blisters ever erupted.

We've been cautious, not wanting to spread this around. We know it can be miserable, even though it wasn't for us. So we kept Jared home from school this whole week, because HFMD is very contagious for a whole week after the onset of fever. The school nurse said that the school policy is that the mouth blisters must be healed before a child can return to school, and since Jared never got any, he was welcome to come back. That doesn't make sense to me, so we kept him home anyway. But today was a fun Thanksgiving feast & activity day, so we took him to school just for the festivities.

Luckily, it's turned cold and blustery, so we don't mind staying indoors, watching movies, and making crafts. And sipping hot cider! Yum!

Now it's Everyone Else's Turn

2010-11-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

So after Luke had that bad day with throw-up and a fever, he was fine, although not quite himself. And he got red dots all over his legs and feet! I thought that was weird, because it was nowhere else.

Well, yesterday (Friday), Zach suddenly stopped bouncing off the walls, asked for a blanket, and laid on the couch. And he felt hot. He never threw up, thank goodness. Today he seemed fine, although a bit more subdued than usual. I checked his legs for spots, but he didn't have any. Until bedtime, that is. And he has them around his mouth.

And tonight, Jared and I went on a little shopping date. He started dragging when we were almost done, and then suddenly fell asleep in the car. Now he's got the fever.

So we won't be going to church tomorrow. <>

Sick Baby

2010-11-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

Poor Luke woke up feverish and cranky from his nap yesterday. The poor thing very uncharacteristically whined, cried, and snuggled all evening. And then he threw up on Ryan.

I checked on him several times during the night, and his fever broke in the wee hours. He was feeling quite a bit better when he woke up, but still isn't quite himself. So we've had a laid-back, hold-the-baby-a-lot day. We spent about 45 minutes playing on my bed this afternoon. Luke is getting so funny!

He likes to sing "Popcorn Popping" and does two of the hand actions. When I get to "I can take an armful" and make a circle with my arms, he makes sure to lean in so he gets hugged by that armful. He does two hand actions for Patty-Cake, too. He gives high-fives and gimme-fives. But today, he decided to give me five with his foot. Goofball. He's also started imitating yawns. I can ask him to say "mama" and he'll say it, or "dada" or "baba" or "Fffffff." He tries to copy everything we do! It's so fun and cute. And he's so proud of himself that he claps or does the end of the Cougar (BYU) fight song to cheer for himself.

That boy had me in stitches today. Prob'ly had to be there.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween was pretty laid-back this year. All the costumes were decided and made long ago. Jared and Zach wore the BYU football uniforms they each got for their birthdays.

Luke followed family tradition and wore the cougar costume Jared and Zach both wore for their first Halloween.

So we have two team members and their mascot.

As soon as I'd snapped a few pictures, the big boys took off to the neighbor's house for candy.

I stayed home to hand out candy. As my bowl was getting empty, I had some adorable football players and a chilled cougar cub come trick-or-treat at our door! I gave them some candy and then even let them in the house. Jared still wanted to hit a few more houses, but the younger boys stayed home with me.

True to their personalities, Zach took his bucket and dumped all the candy out, then tried to stuff as much in his mouth as possible.

Jared, on the other hand, took each piece out and classified them according to how much he liked them. It was only when I said it was time for bed that he realized he hadn't actually eaten any yet!

Wow, that's a LOT of candy!

Big Day for Jared

2010-11-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

After testing, consulting with psychologists and educators, and of course prayer, we decided that Jared would benefit from moving up to second grade! He also gets to go to a once-a-week, one-hour class for gifted kids.

He started his new adventure on Monday, November 1st.

I was very much impressed with all the thought and consideration his school put into moving him up. Part of it was luck, as a few kids asked to move around within second grade and left a spot open for Jared in the perfect class for him. But so much of it was just thoughtful. They made sure he finished out his unit and promised party with his first grade class, and started a new unit in his new class.

Jared's new teacher was also wonderful. We stopped in after school one day so Jared could check out his new classroom. She told him all about how her class works, got his name written on a desk, and chose a buddy to sit next to him and help him through the transition.

I was expecting to hit some bumps along the way. I thought Jared would be exhausted and emotional after a stressful day of being the "new kid" in class, trying to make new friends, adjusting to the new routine, and dealing with more challenging work. But we still haven't hit any bumps. He seems to already fit in even better than he did in first grade! Everything is going really great so far. We're so happy that this is working out so well!

Extreme Cuteness!!!

2010-10-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Of course, Luke has always been cute, but now, wow, he is just off the charts!

When my mom was visiting, he planted his first kiss on her. I was a tiny bit sad that I wasn't first, but what a cute story! And besides, he planted two on me just minutes later.

Also while my mom was here, she noticed that he was "rolling" his arms when we did Patty-Cake. Now, he claps his hands, then rolls his arms, then claps again until the finale, when he throws his arms way up high to "throw it in the oven." Or, if he's on my lap, he'll just as often grab my fingers and make me clap, which he thinks is pretty funny.

He sometimes waves furiously when someone comes into the room, but he nearly always squinches up his face into a huge smile.

Of course, it's always pretty cute to watch him when he decides to walk, looking like a Wild West gunslinger at high noon as he swings one side of his body forward, then the other.

A recent cuteness development is Popcorn. I sang the song "Popcorn Popping" to him and did the actions for the first time a few days ago. He watched intently for the first half of the song, and on the last line, he opened and closed his hands, doing the "popping" action. I couldn't believe he picked it up so fast! Now, I just sing a long "I" and he starts "popping" some popcorn.

His very latest achievement in cuteness was last night, when Ryan noticed that he was holding a rectangular toy to his ear. "Is he talking on the phone?" he asked. So we started paying attention. It sure seemed like it. He tired of his new game after a while, until I said, "Hello?" and he immediately put his hand to his ear again.

And he knows he's cute, and is proud of it, because he claps for all his wonderful accomplishments. And we all clap for him, too.

Steps!

2010-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, 10/10/10, Luke took his first verifiable steps! He's our youngest by a month and a half. He mostly only walks when we're playing "Make the Baby Walk" with him, and then it's best if we have something that he wants. He reminds me of an Old West gunslinger because he swings one side of his body forward with each step. It's so cute!

He's quite good at walking when holding just my finger, too.

I bet my parents are going to have a lot of fun with this when they arrive tomorrow!

Luke's 10 Month Photos

2010-10-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

I can blame it on the rain, and a million other things, and I justify it by saying that I'm really taking pictures a month apart, even if it's in the middle of the month instead of right when Luke reaches a new month. But any way I look at it, I'm late getting his pictures taken! At least I'm doing it, though.

I didn't get very many great shots, but I only need a few anyway, right? The reason for so many "lost" shots is that Luke wasn't cooperating. He was having too much fun!

I love his laugh!

I have a rainbow-colored duster that I tease him with to get him to smile, but it has stopped working, so I tossed it aside. Although he wouldn't smile for the duster, he was still very interested in it, and would crawl away from where I'd posed him to go get it. I finally had to really toss it, way behind some bushes, before he'd hold still.

And then he was more interested in playing with the rocks. I really wanted some pictures of him standing, to show off that skill, but since he wouldn't do it, I figured I'd try another old trick of mine: put him on something so he'd be stuck. A hay bale, a rock, an old trunk, an ottoman, all of those things work. Well, they used to work until Luke learned to go down the stairs all by himself. The moment I sat him on the rock, he'd flip onto his tummy and slide down backwards. I therefore have a lot of these shots:

Stinker! Why does he have to go and be so smart and figure all this stuff out? But he's a cute little stinker.

There are some more photos here.

Luke is Ten Months Old!

2010-10-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know why 10 months seems so much more than 9 months, but it's just hit me that 10 months is almost 12 months, and that's a year! Yikes, how did my baby get so big?

He's still a really good baby, going down for naps and bed easily and hardly ever fussing. He's just so darn happy!!! And he's started doing some really cute things. Here's a list of his recent accomplishments:

He goes down the stairs! I can't believe he figured it out so young. He turns around and wiggles down on his tummy. No more baby gates for us!
He's getting the sign-language thing. It's so cute how he signs "all gone" when his food bowl is empty. Then, if he's still hungry, he signs "more." Yesterday, he finally managed to do our sign for "fish" (opening and closing your mouth like a fish.) Now he points excitedly to the fish tank and smacks his lips.
He's mastered standing! He can stand up without holding onto anything for a long, long time. He's not afraid of it anymore, either, so he does it a lot. And this one blows my mind; he can stand, then squat down to the floor, then stand up again, all without holding onto anything!
Cruise King! He cruises all over the place. If he can reach something to hold onto, he'll walk there instead of crawling. But crawling is still so much faster that he usually does that.
Luke is a nut. He just may steal Zach's designation as the family monkey. Maybe "family gorilla" would be more appropriate! He's so dang strong! He does pull-ups on the kitchen table, climbs anything he can, and I've been known to call him Houdini because he escapes from his high chair.

I have newer pictures than these, but he crawled off with my card-reader again. And it's been rainy, so I can't go out and do his 10-month photo shoot yet. Well, and the fact that my memory card is full because he crawled off with my card-reader again. But I'll find a way soon!

FAIRNESS by Carol Bainbridge

2010-09-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

(an excerpt)

Welcome to the doctor's office. Doctor Fairness is in and will see you now. And good news: Doctor Fairness treats all his patients alike. Appendectomies, that's it. Everybody gets appendectomies. Got a broken leg? Appendectomy. Pneumonia? Appendectomy. Nearsighted? It's an appendectomy for you. Got to treat everybody fairly, you know... Give everybody what they need, and you'd have to treat every individual individually! We don't treat what you need; you get what we offer. When you wake up, you'll be in the recovery room with the 27 other patients, and you can all receive your post-appendectomy treatments in unison. Won't that be fun? Next...

The full text is lengthy and is about gifted children and a mind-boggling statement some people say about them, "All children are gifted." But I thought this part quite amusing and demonstrative of how I feel about several things, such as handing out "participation trophies" and education as well. I remember quite vividly hearing a new definition of fairness in one of my education classes at BYU: Fairness doesn't mean everyone gets the same thing, it means everyone gets what they need.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Funny boys

2010-09-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

In the car today, Jared asked me the difference between crocodiles and alligators. Usually, I'd be a good person to ask a question like this, but for some reason, I could never remember this one! Reptiles just don't really interest me, I guess. I told him to make it a research project, especially when he asked about different climates that would be good for the animals. We talked about African crocodiles and Australian saltwater crocs. No one can possibly forget that Australia has crocodiles, right? Even me.

So we'll be doing some research on large reptiles soon, but Zach just solved the problem, because he calls all of them "crockidators!"

Playin' Photographer

2010-09-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

I got to play photographer tonight! It was so fun to go be outside in the beautiful, albeit muggy weather tonight and not have to hand out sippy cups or wipe any noses. I only had my camera bag and a cool old quilt the couple brought with them. I kept feeling like I'd forgotten something, because I hardly ever leave the house without at least 2 bags, and sometimes I end up with 4!

It was also nice to have such patient subjects. They knew I'm no pro, and they also had an attention span longer than 5 minutes! I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots with you.

Here's a link to the rest of the album.

Catching Up

2010-09-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a long time, although it's been a very busy few weeks since my last post. That's because my stinkiest stinker Luke crawled off with my card reader. I had no way of getting my photos off my camera. Well, actually, I did. It involved Ryan's laptop and a thumb drive and was a real pain. So I just didn't get around to it (except for posting about Jared's ribbon mix-up. I used Ryan's laptop for that photo).

But yesterday, I had to pull out the plasticware drawer completely to install baby latches on it. I'd done that several times after messing up the alignment on the latch before I noticed something hiding under all those containers. My card reader!

Luke had pulled my card reader out of my USB port on the front of my computer, crawled over to the kitchen, opened the door, and dropped it at the back of the drawer, all without my knowing a thing about it. I wonder what else he's hidden?

Anyway, the following is my attempt at catching up with blog posts.I had to do them in reverse order so they'd show up chronologically for you, and sorry to those of you whose email inboxes were inundated today! It's all Luke's fault.

Standing Tall

2010-09-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Luke is so much like Jared was! At this age, Jared would pull up to something, like Grandma's pantry shelves, and grab something with both hands, like two boxes of pudding, and then wouldn't realize that he wasn't holding onto anything. He would stand there, oblivious to his accomplishment, until someone broke his concentration or he realized that he wasn't holding on to anything solid. Then he'd hurry and sit down as fast as he could.

And that is exactly what Luke is doing! I have been having the hardest time catching it on camera because I want him to look at the camera and stand at the same time, and well, I'm just not interesting enough to distract him from the fact that he's balancing precariously on those tiny little feet on the ends of his legs. Scary! So he sits down fast. I did snap this one, though.

But his brothers? Now they're interesting. I stood Luke up on his feet, handed him a favorite toy (a spoon) and then Jared and Zach started wrestling. Luke stood there for a full 30 seconds, head turned sideways, while I snapped 11 pictures of him standing rock-steady. Crazy!

Shoe-Tying Champ

2010-09-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

It seems like these boys are growing up overnight. I mean, how in the world did Jared get all the way to first grade so fast? And we never got around to teaching him to tie his shoes. My guilt reached an all-time high when he went to Cub Scout Day Camp and learned how to tie some sort of complicated knot. Hmmm...if he can tie one of those, I think I should teach him to tie a bow!

I figured it was about time he learned. Velcro shoes are getting hard to find in his size. I tied his left shoe while he tied his right, and he got it down on the first try! True to Jared style, he immediately demonstrated how to knot the bow (it was his idea and he already knew how to do it).

Then we went downstairs to show Dad. All on his own was a little tougher, but I think he could figure it out in a pinch.

I'm in love with these shoes of his. I think they're already getting too small, though!

Ol' Blue Eyes

2010-09-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ol' Frank Sinatra's got nothing on my very own Blue Eyes. They're so pretty! People comment on them all the time.

He was wearing these blue jammies one day, and sitting on our bed with its blue headboard, and I just had to get out the camera. Especially since Jared's eyes were this blue, too, but are now an awesome blue-green. If Luke's eyes change, I want him to know just how startlingly blue they were!

Saving Up

2010-09-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

Jared decided he wanted a scooter. He has a bike, but our only scooter this Playskool one. He's obviously grown a lot since then. He's too big, and of course, way too cool for it.

So we went to the store and found the one he wanted. It cost $30! That's a lot of money for a 6 year old. He saved up his allowance for five months, then threw in his Tooth Fairy money to cover the tax. There wer a lot of things that he could have spent that money on instead, but he kept his eyes on the prize!

We made a special trip to Target with cash in Jared's hand. He put the scooter up on the conveyor belt and paid all by himself. We're so proud of him for saving up for so long and reaching his goal!

All Grown Up

2010-09-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Luke apparently thinks that he's all grown up and can go up the stairs without asking Mommy. We have had the baby gate at the top of the stairs since he started crawling, but he was too scared to venture from the bottom up. Two or three times, he'd try to follow us up, but got one or two steps up and started crying. We weren't worried enough yet to haul the gate up and down with us yet.

Then, the other day, I couldn't find Luke. I heard him, but why did he sound so far away? Then I heard him pushing buttons on the phone. The phone that's upstairs!!! He had, in total silence, crawled all the way to the second story.

And he keeps doing it!

He stays far away from the top of the stairs once he gets there, though. It's funny that we probably never needed the gate at the top, but we definitely need it at the bottom! Even if it's only so he can't get into trouble by sneaking up to his brothers' rooms!

Labor Day

2010-09-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

I think the purpose of Labor Day is to get everything done that you've been meaning to do all summer. Or at least try. And usually, it seems, that means cleaning out the garage.

That's what we did, and that's what the neighbors did, and it was soooo fun! I know, you're wondering what in the world could make that fun.

It was the kids!

Our kids played together. The good, old-fashioned kind of playing together, like Ryan and I used to do when we were kids. We hardly saw them all day, we just kept an "ear" on them as they played on the driveway.

The neighbor's youngest is a girl just 3 days younger than Jared. And their older boys seemed to have lots of fun, too. There was a bubble machine and all sorts of old toys that we parents found in the garage, as well as a wagon and sidewalk chalk. The weather was perfect, and it was just a good day, the kind that just happens.

Origami

2010-09-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Jared's big into origami right now, which started with paper airplanes. He gets into trouble a lot for filling our kitchen with airplanes of every size and shape! Well, I should say that he gets into trouble for not picking them up. Not just for making them. Luckily, Dad has access to a steady supply of scratch paper from work.

He was very excited to find an origami video at the library, too. He sat on the couch with his lap desk and a stack of pre-cut scratch paper squares and folded away to his heart's content.

He's also made a rather large stack of paper boats. He makes everything into paper boats if he's bored. Flyers he picks up from who-knows-where, a popcorn bag from the baseball game, even foil from his hot dog!

He was awfully disappointed that regular paper is much too small to make wearable hats, so he solved his problem by taping four pieces together. Then he folded his "King's Hat" by modifying a traditional paper boat.

For his first homework assignment, he is supposed to put 20 identical items in a Zip-loc bag. We could have counted out 20 marshmallows or Cheerios like everyone else, but no, we had to make things more complicated. Instead, we made 20 origami "Lucky Stars." This is a very odd kind of origami, but aren't they so cute?

Click here for a link to instructions on how to make these cute little stars!

Football Begins!

2010-09-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

The first BYU Football game of the 2010 season was on Saturday, September 4th. And Ryan was ready!

We finally get to watch the games at home. Ever since we moved to Boise, Ryan has had to go to Cheerleaders, a sports bar/grill that has flat screen TV's at most of the booths. We have joined him a few times, but most of the time, Ryan would go alone or meet a friend there. It gets expensive to pay for a meal when you just want to watch the game, and it's extra expensive to take the whole family!

So we are really excited to be able to watch the game at home, especially because the boys can come watch for a few minutes, then go do something else when their attention wanes.

And the boys now have the appropriate outfits to wear while watching with Dad.

The Getting-Into-Everythingest Baby!

2010-09-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Luke is a very happy baby. He doesn't cry much or fuss much. But man, does he get into everything! He's definitely our getting-into-everythingest baby.

And this is the first place we've lived with a baby that didn't already have at least a few baby latches installed! So I got to do a little installation of those yesterday. I still have more to do, but at least I have his favorite haunts protected, except the drawer under the oven. I can't install regular latches on that one, but I think I can handle one unprotected drawer.

He loves to get into our plasticware drawer. I often go into the kitchen to find most of the plastic lids strewn all over the kitchen. I'm pretty tired of that.

Under the kitchen sink is a favorite, too. That one is both more dangerous (there are cleaners stored under there, as well as the garbage can, which is dangerous for a different reason--luckily he hasn't dumped that over) and funnier. Because he got in there right after we'd bought dishwasher detergent gel at Costco. It weighs almost 8 pounds (you can see it in the first photo on this post). He pulled it out of the cabinet (he's strong!) and ended up with it on his chest, pinning him to the floor. You'd think he would have learned a lesson, but no.

I'm looking forward to installing latches on the drawers of our entertainment center so he can't get out the Wii remotes (a favorite toy!) anymore! I wish I could do something about my computer desk. The armoire helps, but I can't keep it closed while I'm using it!

RETRACTION!!!

2010-09-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to publish a retraction of my previous defamation of the Western Idaho State Fair's Youth Photography judges. While I still don't know why they awarded Fourth Place to the Little Brother's Bum photo, and I now know that they have trouble distributing ribbons correctly, their artistic judgment when it comes to Jared's photo is now in the clear.

I was supposed to pick up our entries on Monday. I remembered that fact last night as I was falling asleep, and was in a panic, because the rule book says that "unclaimed items will be considered abandoned, and will be disposed of as we see fit." I wanted my photos and scrapbook page, darnit!

Then today, we were in the neighborhood, so even though I didn't have my claim tickets with me, I decided to see if they'd already chucked our pictures.

I was directed to the Premium Office, where they distribute prize money. The nice lady asked if we'd won anything, and I said no, we just wanted our pictures back. She insisted on checking anyway. Turns out, Jared was given the wrong ribbon! He won SECOND PLACE and $2! She handed me two crisp bills and got him the correct color of ribbon.

Then we went to find my photos. When I identified my photo of a farm, she said, "Oh darn, I was hoping no one would claim that one so I could take it home!" So that's what it means when they say "dispose of as we see fit!" Then she paraded me around the office, telling everyone how disappointed she was that I came to collect my photo. They all wanted to know where it was so they could go see it.

That made me feel good, almost as good as knowing I was going to get to tell Jared about the ribbon mistake!

So Jared is truly an award-winning photographer now, with two ribbons to prove it!

Luke's 9 month check up

2010-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Zach and I took Luke to his 9 month check up this morning. I had everything planned out so we could drop Jared off at school a tiny bit early, then jet from Eagle (where school is) to Boise (where the doctor is) in time for our appointment. But last night, I got an email "reminding" me (it was the first I'd heard of it) that school now starts 20 minutes late on Wednesdays. Yikes! It threw everything off.

So Ryan offered to take Jared to school for us. It was just me and two boys, which, I must say, is quite wonderful compared to three.

Dr. Keihl saw us in the hallway while Luke was getting weighed, and teased Zach, asking if he was in Fourth Grade yet. Zach rolled his eyes and protested, to which the doctor said, "Well, you're smart enough!"

Dr. Keihl was impressed with Luke's super-strong grip (I think he about yanked his ears off by pulling on his stethoscope), pincer-grip at 6 months, big appetite, and crawling before 7 months. I thought it was funny that he asked me to hold him on my lap during the exam (instead of laying him on the exam table), because "he's awfully wiggly." And before he left, he said, "He's a smart one. You can just tell by the way he interacts. Chalk up another smart boy for your family!"

That's our boy!

I was surprised that he hadn't heard about Zach's second seizure. I figured the E.R. doctor would have contacted him! He also wrote out a prescription for an inhaler for Jared. Too bad one inhaler costs $33!!! Who knew?

As a side-note, I was wearing a BYU shirt. It's not the first time Ryan or I have worn BYU gear to his office, but this time, the doctor asked if I'd gone there. I said yes, and he said, "Me too!" I knew he'd done his residency in Salt Lake, but after he didn't seem to notice our other BYU paraphernalia, I assumed he was a either a Ute or a random transplant. Now I like him even more!

Photo Shoot 8/10

2010-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

I took the boys out to take their yearly portraits today. I thought we'd had a great session until I looked at the pictures. I had one of the settings wrong for at least half of the pictures! The first half of the "roll" is blurry and grainy.

And while I didn't get the shots I was hoping for, I am sort of in love with some that did turn out.

I guess we'll have to go back to get some school-portrait type shots later. And Luke's 9 month photos. None of his turned out!

First Day of First Grade!

2010-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Jared had a "great" first day at school (that's a direct quote.) I think you can see it on his face when I picked him up:

But let's back up a bit.

We had his clothes picked out and set aside for days. Then I checked the forecast. It went from a high of 100 degrees to a high of 67 degrees in three days!!! So last night, we switched the shorts out for jeans.

Last night, we also packed his lunch in a very cool Buzz Lightyear lunchbox. Jared really wanted Club Penguin, but they are apparently not selling those this year. Bummer. But Buzz is a very good second-best.

We've had a hard time getting everyone to bed on time lately, so we were worried that Jared wouldn't be able to get up early for school. But when I went in to wake him, all I had to do was whisper, "Wake up for your first day of school!" He grinned, then his eyes popped open and he happily hopped out of bed and got ready. I think that grin lasted all day!

Big grins, even after a long day at school!

Zach, on the other hand, had to be dragged out of bed and shoved into his clothes. It was only 44 degrees when we left, and Zach just knew he'd be cold. He insisted on wearing his ski hat. In August! But I'm glad he did, 'cause he still complained of being cold.

Fleece-lined, ear-flapped ski hat in August!

We got to school and took a few pictures:

Then we hung out with the rest of the antsy kids and parents until we found the right place for each class to line up. Jared was cool and calm, already accustomed to the routine. We saw his engineering teacher, and his kindergarten teacher, and his new teacher recognized him and said a few nice words to him, too.

Jared with his engineering teacher.

Then all the teachers came out to collect their classes, and one told them all to wave goodbye to their parents. It was a hit, with smiles and waves and giggles from the kids.

All the kids waving good-bye. Jared's teacher is in the aqua shirt and gray jacket.

Then in they went.

When we picked Jared up, he was still smiling. Both Zach and Luke were asleep in their car seats, so we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures by the Galileo rock. Jared came up with his poses all by himself, and even suggested a different angle. They turned out fabulous with such input from the model.

He didn't have too much to say at first, but then he taught me a song he'd learned and told me several things they did in class. He's very excited to go back tomorrow.

Jared is at his first Tiger Cubs den meeting right now. That boy is not going to have trouble sleeping tonight!

And because I know you love pictures as much as I do, here's the link to more photos of Jared's first day in First.

Keepin' Up With His Bros

2010-08-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

After two smarty-pants, we fully expect that Luke will be no slouch. But tonight, he surprised me!

I put him to bed, but he wanted none of that, so I got him up and thought I'd rock him or read him a book until he was sleepy. We sat on the glider and I asked, "Do you want a book?" He clapped his hands together, left them together, and wiggled them. It's a not very precise version of the sign for book. So I asked him, "Where are the books?" He looked at me for a second, then leaned waaay over the arm of the glider to look at the basket where we keep baby books on the floor. "Wow," I thought, and put him down on the floor. "Can you get a book?" He crawled over to the basket, shoved aside one book and grabbed his favorite, which has touch 'n feel animals.

I had no idea he understood so much of what we say! Or that he knew where we keep the books.

Meet The Teacher

2010-08-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

We met Jared's first grade teacher on Thursday. She was nice enough, but didn't seem to take us seriously when we tried to talk to her (or warn her) about Jared. Because his kindergarten teacher had no clue what Magic Treehouse books were when we met her last year, Ryan decided to take in one of Jared's latest reads. His new teacher said, "Oh, do you like to read? I do too. I really liked that book. Do you like picture books, too?"

Jared gave her an "are you kidding me?" look and answered, "Sometimes, when I'm reading to my little brother."

"Oh, isn't that nice to read a book to your brother!" she said.

Ryan tried again a few minutes later, but the teacher just said, "Well, we'll be doing reading comprehension this year, so it'll be different."

Huh?

Feeling totally blown off, we left and went to visit Jared's engineering teacher, who goes to church with us and taught Jared last year. He told me, in his charming Swiss accent, "Your child is special. Maybe you know this already." And he vowed to challenge Jared as much as he could in his class.

The contrast in the two teachers' reactions gave me a new perspective on the situation. It's the same old problem we've run into before. Almost everyone I've talked to in the school system has an attitude of "everyone thinks their child is special, but they all even out by third grade." But when they get to know Jared, they understand that we weren't just overly-proud parents.

On the way home, Ryan said, "Well, we did our best. We tried to warn her!"
"She'll just have to figure it out on her own," I replied.

I wish her luck!

New Do

2010-08-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to get a perm for a while now. My hair has gotten wavier as I get older, so it's neither curly, nor straight. I wanted a perm with big loose curls so I would nudge my hair in the curly direction without having to "do" my hair every day. I made an appointment at the Paul Mitchell School of Hair Design and got a babysitter. I was very much ready for a few hours of pure "me" time.

My plan didn't pan out. Loose curl perms lose their curl in as little as 3 weeks! So instead, I just got a cut and then my student hairdresser played with my hair. She said she'd classify it as curly. I didn't believe her. She said I just needed to know the right products to use and how to use a diffuser. When I saw what she did with a diffuser, I said, "Oooh!" I would NEVER have thought to use it like that. And the funniest thing happened. My hair was curly!

I had a head of big, messy, "beach" curly hair. I'll have to see if I can duplicate the results.

But it wasn't really the look I was going for, especially since we were going to have family portraits taken that night. So she showed me how to curl my hair with a flat iron and told me where to get an inexpensive curling iron and how to do a super-fast do with it. And then she proceeded to spend like 30 minutes curling my hair to perfection. I felt a bit like a poodle as I left, but I knew the curls would relax a little with time. And this is what it looked like when I got home.

I love it! I just hope I can figure out how to do it like this in less time, and by myself! Oh, I wish they could have permed it to do this on its own!

Side-note: I love having such a colorful wall in my kitchen!

Western Idaho State Fair

2010-08-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the Fair last year and had a lot of fun looking at all the quilts, produce, and hobby crafts the people around here produce. It feels so old-fashioned and neighborly-like to have a fair and ribbons and all that! So we were inspired to enter some of our own handiwork this year.

Jared entered his award-winning photo, and got a participation ribbon. I really don't think I'm biased when I wonder what in the world the judges were thinking when they awarded the ribbons near Jared's photo. Fourth place, especially, is a shocker. It's the photo right above Jared's. Click on the picture above so you can see it better. It's a snapshot of someone's little brother's bum. Hardly artistic!

Then we walked around and saw the sights. The big boys got to brush a very large cow. Luke was enamored with the geese and chickens, and just holding on to the fences in the petting zoo.

I don't feel like inserting all our pictures tonight, so click here to see them. They're funny! And the captions ought to tell you what you want toknow.

Seizure Commonalities

2010-08-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

I've done quite a bit of research about seizures this summer, and one thing doctors usually do is try to find a common link between episodes. Zachary's only had two seizures, so it's hard to really find any sort of pattern. Still, my mind has been working on the problem subconsciously, and here's what I've found:

I had my back turned to Zach.
We were away from home.
There was a big stack of library books in the front seat of the van, because we were planning on returning them to the library on the way home.

So according to my observations, I must never turn my back on him, never leave home, and never, ever return library books (even though we may have to take out another mortgage to pay the late fines). That way, I can be absolutely sure that he never has another seizure!

Okay, on a more serious note (because obviously, we're not going to let a 54% chance of another seizure completely ruin our lives), a few days after his second seizure, I realized that I was feeling so on-edge because commonality #1 was, illogically, very real to me. I didn't want to let him out of my sight, or turn my back on him, even though I knew it would not cause him to have another seizure. Once I consciously confronted that illogical fear, life started to settle back down again.

#2 is just a pain in the rear, I guess. It would be awfully nice, if he has another seizure, if we were home and I could just put him to bed for a few hours. On the other hand, when we're out of the house, he's by my side 90% of the time (except when he takes off at the store and I have to call a Code Adam on him!) I'd hate for him to have one while he's walking down the stairs or something at home.

And the library book thing is just kind of funny, and very much indicative of our life with boys voracious for knowledge!

A Weed!

2010-08-13T19:15:00.001-07:00

Seriously, Luke has been growing like crazy. CRAZY, I tell you!

Ryan swears he's heavier every morning. And his clothes are proof. A week ago, he was wearing 6 month clothes. They were too short, but still fit around him. I was being lazy and not getting out the next box of clothes, despite the fact that Luke couldn't straighten his legs all the way in his sleepers, and I could hardly get the shoulders on.

Well, I finally got out the box of 9 month clothes and tried them for two days. But they're going back in. They just don't fit! He just skipped 9 months and the 12 month clothes are a much better fit.

Even so, the long legs on the 12M footless sleeper I put on him tonight barely cover his knees.

I told you it was crazy!

Gettin' Messy, Gettin' Clean

2010-08-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Luke really likes to feed himself now, and yesterday, I was brave enough to plop some mashed potatoes on his tray. He loved them! What I don't get is that whether I'm feeding him or he's feeding himself, he seems to get an itchy face half-way through his meal. If I'm unlucky, he'll catch a full spoon of baby food on the way to rub his face with the back of his hand. But when he's feeding himself, smearing food all over is just inevitable.

Ryan likes to declare that the baby's gonna need a bath when things get really bad. This was definitely one of those times.

I really don't have many bath pictures of Luke, so I made sure to grab the camera this time. He LOVES bath time. He splashes hard, crawls around, and climbs up the sides. He often slips and falls into the water, too, but it doesn't faze him much.

Zach still loves bath time, too, and he gets a serious case of jealousy when he sees Luke in the tub. He begs me for a bath after Luke's, but could he please have the water a little deeper?
Tell me, with skin as different as these two have, how in the world are they possibly related?

Luke's 8 month photos

2010-08-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to get around to this photo session for a while. Luke is almost 8 1/2 months old already! Oh well. He's still closer to 8 than 9.

Today is cloudy and rainy and even a touch cold, but it makes for good lighting! I hadn't thought up anywhere fun to go for pictures, so I just went out in our front yard.

Isn't he yummy?

Back to Level 3

2010-08-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

Jared tried valiantly at his first Level 4 swimming lesson yesterday, but the other two kids in the class are 9. They're huge and have muscles and stuff like that. Jared was worn out at the end of the lesson and said it was just too hard. His teacher told us that he has all the skills, but needs more endurance. The class was just going to get more physically demanding, so we decided to move him back to Level 3 again.

Today at lessons, I sat next to another swim lesson mom. She asked me which classes my kids were in, and I told her Jared's story. She said, "My son is one of those 9-year-olds in Level 4. Yesterday after lessons, he said, 'Mom! There's this kid in my class who's only six and he's awesome!'"

That certainly helped dispel our disappointment!

What Would You Do?

2010-08-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your 4-year old tells you that "plankton are microscopic plants and animals that live in the sea" and your 6-year old expounds, "yeah, the animal ones are called zooplankton, and the plant ones are called phytoplankton?"

Blackberry Hypothermia

2010-08-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

My family loves fruit salad. But we were out of bananas and apples for our usual salad, so I tried a new combination. It was crushed pineapple, frozen blueberries, and frozen blackberries. The pineapple turned a lovely shade of purple. It really didn't taste all that great, but it was something new.

And Luke loved it!

We're not sure he understands what "more" means, but when we do the baby sign and ask if he wants more, he slowly puts his hands together (like a controlled clap).

Signing that he wants more--maybe.

The funniest part is that his lips and hands were stained purple. It wouldn't wash off! And we had to run to the store. He looked like he had hypothermia in August.

Luke's purple hands, after washing up!

Bust Our Buttons

2010-08-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I could just bust our buttons over the boys' swimming progress. They ended their third session of lessons on Friday, and Jared's teacher handed me his report card early. Then she asked me if we'd ever considered putting him on swim team!

Of course, we did consider it last Spring. He tried out one cold rainy morning, but he'd only gotten in the water once or twice in months, and he didn't remember all his strokes. But next year, we'll be prepared!

The report card also recommended that he move up to Level 4!

In addition, Jared got to jump off the diving board without a noodle or teacher to catch him. He just swam to the side all on his own.

Jared swimming alone in 12 ft water after jumping off the diving board.

Then he dove off the starting block. He dives better than I do (I never really learned, despite Ryan's efforts.) I can't believe how grown up he is.

And wow, Zach has made mucho progresso in the past month. That's when I decided I was tired of paying for "playtime on the steps" and he needed to be pushed. Even though his teacher recommended he repeat Level 1 (only because he wouldn't put his face in the water), I put him in Lower Level 2. His first Level 2 teacher deserves a medal, because Zach was a pain. He wouldn't put his head in the water and he freaked out a lot. But by the end of that session, he was doing better.

Apparently, Zach kissed the little girl next to him in this picture.
But only on the shoulder. This was reported by her mom, who thinks he's adorable.

Then last session (the one that ended Friday), he kept getting in trouble for not keeping his head above water!!! He suddenly decided it wasn't scary, and has flown through all his exercises.
He gets sat out on the side for disobeying his teacher (usually for going swimming and going underwater on his own). That's especially scary because of his chance of having seizure. But he's having so much fun, it's hard to get too mad at him.

And Friday, Jared discovered that he can shimmy up the pole that holds up the parent's shade. I'm sure it's against the rules, but it was just too cool not to take a picture!

Zuka

2010-08-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

We are love having a kitten!

And she seems to be in love with us, too.

She loves Luke so much that she hops up on the changing table to snuggle with him. I caught her curled up with him, taking a nap together one day. And she almost, almost climbed in the bathtub with him yesterday. She was standing on the edge of the tub, with paws reaching down toward the water before she thought better of it.

She also comes into the bathroom when the big boys are bathing or brushing their teeth.

I can't sit down in the evening without her curling up on my lap for a snooze.

She's still mostly a scaredy-cat and doesn't like going outside, but yesterday she went out voluntarily! We were out on the driveway getting ready for a bike ride (Ryan got my bike and the bike trailer fixed and tuned up as a birthday gift!) and she followed us out. When we got back from our ride, she was laying on the driveway next to the neighbor's cat. No cat fights here, I see! That's great.

Oh, and is it possible for a cat to wear out its purr-box? 'Cause I think Zuka just might manage it.

We have another tooth!

2010-08-02T13:02:00.001-07:00

Luke now has two teeny tiny teeth showing through his gums! He's pretty proud of them. At least he smiles a lot when I tell him how great they are.

And how amazing is he? I'll tell you. I never would have guessed he's teething. No extra fussines or anything. And my kids just don't like teether toys. They don't chew on anything when they're teething. In fact, Luke doesn't like me touching his gums. I know they're a tiny bit tender, but you wouldn't know it except that he turns away when you stick your finger on his brand new teeth.

He's such a good boy!

Visit to the Neurologist

2010-07-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

(This is a follow-up to a previous post, so scroll down if you'd like to read them in chronological order)

First thing Wednesday morning, the neurologist's receptionist called to set up our appointment. But first, she said, Zach needed to have another EEG. She got one scheduled for the next day. Zach was supposed to be sleep-deprived by about 4 hours, so that night, he got to stay up until midnight, and then I had to get him up at 6 am. Staying up wasn't a problem, but getting both of us up sure was!

Keeping him awake proved difficult on the ride there, too. I slid the passenger seat back as far as it would go and put his booster seat there in front so I could tickle him as needed.

There was a mix-up with our appointment, and then we had to wait for quite a while. As we waited, I was afraid we'd miss them calling our name as we wandered the hospital, trying to tend to everyone's needs for bathrooms, bottles, and drinking fountains. Finally someone led us through halls and up elevators and through more twists and turns until we arrived at the sleep study wing. I got Zach settled on a bed with his CARS blanket and the UFO he'd built at Lowe's. Then the EEG technician shooed the rest of us out so she could hook up all the electrodes to his head. She said we'd be a distraction. We were taken to another room where Jared and Luke could watch cartoons. Not too long after that, though, Zach asked for me, so I was allowed to be with him again.

They use a sort of "sandpaper" gel on a q-tip to rough up the area where the electrode will stick. Zach doesn't like that part one bit. Then a scoop of some white goo sticks the electrode to his scalp. When they were all attached, the technician wrapped his head and chin with gauze to hold the wires in place.

She was expecting a very grumpy, cranky boy, so she was very impressed with how good Zach was for her. He really is a sweetheart when he wants to be!

Then she told him to close his eyes and she left the room. He kept peeking at me and smiling, which I'm sure she saw on her closed-circuit TV. But eventually, he drifted off to sleep. That was the point of the sleep-deprivation.

Of course, a sleep deprived 4 year old means there's a sleep-deprived mom, too, and I about dozed off, too.

All too soon, the test was over, and the technician came back in to wake Zach up. "Good luck with that!" I said. He's hard to wake up on a good day, and a 10-minute nap when he was short 4 hours of sleep was just not going to cut it. Nothing was working until I told her she'd have to tickle him. Sure enough, that did the trick.

Zach's hair was a mess after she pulled the electrodes and wiped the goo off his head. It was a cute mess, though.

As I was instructed, I called the neurologist's office when we were done. They were squeezing us into a packed schedule on the fly. She said to come "a-runnin'." I asked her how to get there, and she told me to go across the street and find suite 201. So I did. And there wasn't a 201. She'd meant across the driveway, not the street, so I was way off. Then we found the right building, but it's a maze! We asked at the front desk, where they told us that to go up in an elevator, instead of down, we had to use the elevator in the parking garage. So we did. Then we went up some ramps, then down some ramps, the through a curved hallway to a big open area. I could not find 201! I thought I'd blown it, that we'd missed our chance to see him that day, but when we finally arrived all red in the face and sweaty, the neurologist had gone over to the hospital to read Zach's EEG and would see us soon.

The boys were tired of being quiet and good, and they were hungry to boot, so they were bouncing off the walls of the exam room. The neurologist wasn't phased by it, and Zach thoroughly enjoyed his examination. He loved it last time, too, when his pediatrician played similar "games" with him. He had to touch his nose and then the doctor's finger, hop on one foot three times, and other silly things. He passed with flying colors.

Then came the neurologist's opinion. He said that the EEG was totally normal, and he has no idea what's causing the seizures. He said that's good news, because if he could tell me what caused them, it would be bad news. After his first seizure, there was a 72% chance that he'd never have one again. But since he did, he has ~54% chance of having a third. If he does, we're just to wait it out, then put him to bed so he can sleep it off. We don't have to go to the ER anymore. But we will have to take him back in to the neurologist, who will prescribe anti-seizure medication for a year or two. That's because if he has a third seizure, the likelihood of more seizures jumps to over 90%.

It's strange that not knowing what's wrong is actually good. But we're very relieved that it's not epilepsy, and that he's not doomed to more of these scary episodes.

On the way home, we decided to stop at Wendy's for some much-needed food. But when I pulled into the parking lot and went to put my keys in my purse, I remembered that I'd forgotten it at home! I can't believe I had remembered everything for the boys, but had forgotten my own purse. So we had to skip the fast food and go home. Zach and Luke fell asleep in the car, so I put them to bed. Jared and I scarfed down some blueberry muffins left over from breakfast, then I fell into bed, too.

I'm still very shaken up by all of this. It's not logical. My brain tells me that he's fine, but my nerves are braced for my little boy to fall over and start shaking again. I freak out when I see him doing a face-down float in swimming lessons, or when he's trying to swim on his own. When Jared was at the same stage of learning to swim, we used to joke he looked like he was having a seizure. It was funny then, but it sure isn't funny now! Zach really does look like he could be having a seizure.

I was all strung out for about two weeks after his first seizure. I wonder how long it will last this time, since I know his chances of having another are nearly doubled. It also doesn't help that we're having a hard time finding a babysitter who we feel confident can handle a seizure should Zach have one while we're not home. I've had two girls say they're too scared to babysit for us anymore.

I know it will all blow over and life will go back to normal. I need to take Jared back-to-school shopping soon. My boys certainly don't let me dwell on anything too long. But in the meantime, I just feel wiped out!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers in Zach's behalf. We're so blessed that his seizures happened in safe places and at the perfect time for me to have help when I needed it most. And we're so blessed to have that wonderful, healthy boy in our lives.

Seizure #2

2010-07-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

That's right. Tuesday, right after swimming lessons, we were gathering our towels and things when I heard a thud behind me. I turned to see Zach lying on the ground, having a grand mal seizure. A second seizure. The seizure that doctors said would probably never happen.

I yelled to Jared to call a lifeguard, but he didn't know what was going on. Another swim lesson mom ran to get help. Soon 4 or 5 lifeguards were there with me, asking what happened and doing what they could to help me. Someone called 911.

Talk about scary. Zach was unconscious, his eyes rolling, his face twitching hard and his arms and legs shaking. I watched his lips turn purple, then blue as I held his head to keep it from banging repeatedly onto the concrete pool deck.

Then the paramedics were there, taking over and asking me questions. Yes, he had one seizure before, in April. It was unprovoked. I think he slipped and fell and hit his head. Did that cause him to have the seizure?

Zach woke up a few times to cry and protest being poked and prodded. And then he threw up.

This time, they didn't put him on a stretcher, and they didn't turn the ambulance lights and sirens on. And this time, I gathered my other boys from the good Samaritans who were caring for them while I focused on poor Zach, and we followed the ambulance in our van.

When I got to the hospital, I realized I had to find a place to park! What a stupid time for a silly, mundane task like parking the car. Or for getting out the stroller, packing it with a diaper bag, etc. And when I got inside, I didn't know where to go. Where was my son? I found someone to help me, but he was just a guest relations person. He tried looking up which room Zach had been taken to, but he couldn't find him in the computer. Luckily, someone else knew where the latest ambulance patient had gone, and they found Zach for me. Turns out they'd spelled his name "Lincaster." Yeah, because our name is so rare, and has so many little variations. (That was sarcastic.)

Of course, Zach was fine without me, but I almost have panic attacks when I have to leave him during these episodes. He was just sleeping, as usual. I had lots more questions to answer, for administration, the triage nurse, and finally the ER physician. Yes, he had a seizure once before. No, he doesn't have a fever. No, no one in the house is sick. Yes, he's up to date on his vaccines. They told me that for a bump on the head to cause a seizure, it would have to be hard enough to crack his skull, so it was far more likely that he had the seizure, which caused him to fall, not the other way around.

They tested his blood for electrolytes and blood sugar, and ordered a CT scan. They wanted to take him for that without me, but I thought I might freak out. So Jared fed Cheerios to Luke while they watched cartoons, and I went along as they wheeled unconscious Zach into the CT room. I've only seen them on TV before. It looked like a giant gray doughnut! Of course, the scan was no big deal, but I just can't stand to let that boy out of my sight at times like this.

The CT scan revealed no cracked skull, no bruising of his brain, and no reason for his seizures (I realize now that they would have looked for tumors--scary!)

So, with no explanation, they let him sleep a bit longer, and then had me try to wake Zach. He didn't want to wake up, and wasn't happy when he did. But we were discharged and ushered a very grumpy Zach out of the ER. I carried Luke and put a much-too-big Zach in the stroller to make him a bit happier on the way out to the car. And then we went home.

I was supposed to call the neurologist to make an appointment immediately after we got home, but the office had closed by then. I put Luke to bed and fell into bed myself for a quick nap. It was an exhausting day!

A tooth, a tooth!

2010-07-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Just as we were about to research baby dentures, Luke unceremoniously popped his lower left tooth out of his gums. Just like Jared, he didn't fuss get swollen or anything. It just appeared, and I would have missed it if he didn't smile so much!

Boise Hawks

2010-07-24T09:03:00.001-07:00

We went to see Boise's minor league baseball team play last night. This is our second game with the Cub Scouts this summer. Last time, our seats were in the shade, but this time we roasted in the sun!

As could be expected, I got a Stairmaster workout as I went up and down the stands, tending to the endless needs of the three boys.

Half-way through the game, Ryan mouthed to me that there were going to be fireworks at the end of the game. There were fireworks after the first game we went to, but we'd known about them and had prepared by bringing ear plugs for Zach. He hates loud sounds! (I still haven't figured out why he's so loud if he hates loud sounds!) But we had made no such preparations this time. So we kept it a secret so Zach wouldn't worry and whine about it for the rest of the game.

We learned at our first game that they let kids run the bases on the field after the game. Jared wasn't up for it, but Zach went down to run. Jared and I spotted him as he entered the field and cheered him on. Then we laughed, because he sat down at first base to empty the dirt from his Crocs. And when he got to third base, he stopped to chat with the third base coach (I gave him the "Don't Talk To Strangers" talk THREE TIMES that night! Turns out, "stranger" is a foreign concept to him) He missed home plate entirely, running the perimeter of the dirt circle behind it instead. All of this is true Zach form, but the best is that when he was headed back to Ryan, they announced that there would be fireworks in a few minutes. That blew our secret! He immediately clamped his hands over his ears, and kept them there as he walked all the way from home plate to the outfield. That's our Zachy!

Luke was amazing at not falling asleep, although I wish he would have. I did everything I could to help him nap, but he refused until he was in his car seat on the way home! It was 3 hours after his bed time, poor thing. But he sure enjoyed the fireworks!

Luke and I went home, but the big boys got to stay and camp. They were supposed to camp on the baseball field, but there was a change of plans, and they camped near it instead. At 12:30 am, Ryan called home and I heard coughing in the background. Jared had been playing so hard that he was having an asthma attack! So I drove out there again with an inhaler. Jared had never used one before, but got it down on the second try. He felt tons better, so he decided to stay the night.

In the morning, the boys were given breakfast at the ballpark, then built UFO's at Lowe's Build & Grow clinic. Luke and I had a nice lazy, quiet morning, but I think all of us are exhausted today!

Just In Case You Can't See

2010-07-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Just in case you can't see the resemblance between Jared and Luke:

I pulled out this tee shirt for the 4th and remembered a cute picture of Jared in the same shirt. I looked it up on my computer and thought I'd try shooting a pic of them together. It's not a great way to compare, but you can still see how much they look alike!

Zuka

2010-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

I forgot a few things about Zuka.

Mandy's oldest boy had given her the temporary name of Aurora. In one of the places I lived on my mission in Brazil, we lived in the "fundos," or in a small house in the back yard of a woman named Aurora. While we were living there, we met and taught a woman named Zuka.

The visit to Zuka was memorable for lots of reasons that really have nothing to do with missionary work. First, I thought her name was awesome, because I have fond memories of going to Zuka Juice in Provo with college friends (it was merged with Jamba Juice a few years later.)

Second, while we were visiting with Zuka, the balmy evening suddenly turned insanely cold! We felt it happen through her thin walls and open windows. When we left her house in our short sleeves, we thought we'd freeze despite jogging to keep warm on our way home. It hit negative three that night, and we were not prepared! I put on many layers of clothes: thermals, a sweater, pajamas, fleece pullover, hand-knit slippers, ski hat, winter gloves, etc. (I have a photo of this, but can't find it right now) And still, we were so cold that we didn't sleep all night. I remember we each only had a thin blanket on our beds.

So when Mandy's son mentioned the name he'd given the kitten, all those memories came chugging in as a long train of thought. I asked the boys, and they liked the name, so Zuka she is!

My SIL Lora commented that Zuka needs a pink or purple collar. How sad is it that when I finally get me another girl in the house, I buy her a blue collar? But it accentuates her eyes, which is a cardinal rule of accessorizing, right? And they were out of pink. But the collar is WAY too big, so we've put it away for now. So I'll be looking for a tiny pink kitten collar for sure!

Girl Power

2010-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so outnumbered in this Testosterone Zone I call my home! Even our Betta fish is a male.

But now I have an ally.

Meet Zuka!

My friend, Mandy, is an animal lover. A few weeks ago, a neighbor told her of a family of cats she saw going in and out of a storage building across the street. Mandy trapped the mother and three boy kittens, but had a hard time catching the last kitten, a fluffy little Siamese-colored thing. Yet when she finally captured her, that kitten was the calmest and most personable.

We'd been considering getting a pet for our family. The fish just isn't cutting it as far as inspiring responsibility and respect for animals in our boys. So when Mandy asked if we wanted a kitten, we decided to go for it.

We went to visit Mandy in Oregon last week and brought the kitten home with us. While we were there, we visited the little kitten every day, but she was just tolerant of us. She meowed for a while in the car, but didn't howl the whole way like I was expecting.

Once we got her home, things changed. She's picked my shoulder as her favorite spot, and purrs almost non-stop when any of us are around. And can you believe that Luke is one of her favorite people, too? He grabs her ears, and even tried to stick her paw in his mouth, but she doesn't react at all to his misguided affection. It's interesting to see how gentle he is with her, too. When he's touching her, he pats softly. The moment she moves away, he resumes his usual "Bam-Bam" banging. It's really amazing and adorable.

Anyway, we're all in love with our new little fluff ball!

We're going on a trip!

2010-07-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, the boys and I are heading to Oregon for a little girl time! Well, it'll be boy time for the boys, I'm sure. We're visiting my friend, Mandy, who has two boys and a girl. They've all gotten along famously before, so we're looking forward to a fun week.

And besides getting to see my friend, I get to play interior designer! Mandy doesn't love decorating, but wants to spruce up her adorable 1918 Sears kit home. This week, we're painting and otherwise decorating her daughter's room. And she wants it PINK! The one color I can't get away with in my house. This is going to be so fun!

The only problem is that Mandy and I tend to stay up waaay too late when we get together. I hope I can survive the sleep deprivation that is sure to happen!

Happy Fourth!

2010-07-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

We are so grateful to live in such an amazing country, where freedom and prosperity reign. We are so blessed!I thought I'd shoot these photos off to you all before we head out to watch fireworks. Happy Fourth!

Luke says that freedom is delicious!

Roundabout

2010-07-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was an exciting day for our family. We attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of a roundabout in Nampa--a roundabout that Ryan helped design!
Ryan started working on the project several years ago. That's how long it takes for engineering projects to go through all their steps and finish construction. Ryan also worked on this project very recently, helping the construction crew sort out some issues. This is Ryan's first project that he's seen all the way through completion, so we are all very excited about it!
Ryan's become somewhat of a roundabout expert. I've learned a lot about them, too. Did you know that they're safer, cheaper, and reduce pollution? Who knew!The mayor of Nampa invited the roundabout designers (Ryan and his former co-worker, the guy next to Ryan) to stand with the city council and other honorees as he spoke. Then all the kids were invited to stand behind the ribbon with them.
The boys were very curious about those giant wooden scissors. How in the world could wood cut ribbon? So they asked if they could inspect the scissors. The nice woman in charge was happy to show them that they have metal blades embedded in the wood. Then she pulled out some extra ribbon and let them try out the scissors!
How fun is that? The boys brought their snippets of ribbon home as souvineirs.
Then the city's oldest fire truck got to take the inaugural spin around the roundabout, followed by Nampa's newest fire truck.
I was nervous about the long ladder truck making it around the turn, but of course, Ryan had designed it for such things and wasn't worried at all.

Then they removed the "Road Closed" signs and the roundabout was open for traffic. The first cars to come through had no idea they were so priveleged. We went around it twice, just to try it out. Turns out it was a good thing, because our second spin made it on the news! Here's a link to the video. That's our light silvery green van. I think it's awesome that they just happened to tape someone to whom this roundabout actually means something.

Tae Kwon Do

2010-07-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

(I got information from two different martial arts studios on the same day, and got them confused. This post used to be titled "Jiu Jitsu" but that was wrong.)

A few weeks ago, at the Meridian Dairy Days festivities, Jared and Zach spun a wheel and won some prizes at a Tae Kwon Do studio's booth. Zach won a uniform and 4 classes for $10. Jared won a uniform and 4 classes for $5, plus a breaking board. Right then and there, they handed him a board and taught him how to break it! You should have seen his face. It took him three tries, but wow, when he broke it into three pieces, I saw the meter on his self-esteem skyrocket!

I know that it was a scheme to get us in the door and hooked on the lessons, but I don't care. I happily let them reel me in. I think the boys would benefit greatly from something like this, and a $15 start isn't bad at all!

Tonight was their first lesson. The place was packed, and there were way too many kids in Jared's class. It was a trial session for everyone, but even so, it was very fun.

Jared's not in this shot, so stop looking for him :)

The boys got their uniforms and looked so freakin' cute! I know nothing about martial arts, so maybe this is just how things are, but I loved that they wrote the boys' names in Korean on their collars.

Jared written in Korean

Zachary written in Korean

The only problem is that I can't understand 90% of anything the Koreans say! I could tell Jared had a hard time, too, although he and I seemed to be struggling more than everyone else. He was slower to sit down and stand up and kick and all that, because he had to watch the other kids to see what they did.

I got out my camera, and some turned out so beautiful that I suddenly want to have family portraits taken there! The lighting is soft and the colors so amazing.

Some of the shots make Jared look like he knows what he's doing! Sorry if I post too many. I'm sort of smitten with them. (Jared's in the very back)

Zach was in a "Little Dragons" class in a different room. There was a closed-circuit TV in third room for the parents to watch. That's him at the top with his head cut off.

The pictures of Zach are a bit wonky because I was shooting through a window. I finally figured out to hold my black diaper backpack up to eliminate the weird reflections. But the shutter speed was really slow, so all his motion is blurred. They still turned out kinda cool, though.
He was kicking a tennis racket-shaped padded target.
Luke amused himself by crawling down a tunnel of chairs. He wasn't real happy to be there, but did okay. If there weren't so many people there, I think it would have been easier.
Jared was very excited to be going back tomorrow. Zach said he didn't want to. But after we came home and they both ate a second dinner, he talked about his lesson in a much more positive tone. He really liked being allowed to kick things as hard as he could! I guess we'll see how they feel about all of this after their fourth lesson. And after I find out how much future lessons will cost!

We have a crawler!

2010-06-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

After rocking, wriggling, and wobbling on his hands and knees for a whole month, today Luke got the pattern down. He's so proud of himself! And I'm supremely flattered that I'm the ultimate incentive for him. Whatever he's doing, he'll stop and crawl to me if I get down on his level. And this is what I see comin' at me:He's our youngest crawler, although only by a week. Jared crawled 2 days after he turned 7 months, Zach crawled on his 7 month "birthday," and Luke is one week shy.

Jared's Latest

2010-06-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Jared's latest love is the Chronicles of Narnia. He just finished reading the series. We're going to celebrate by watching the first movie tonight. I got the first and second from the library.

I can't believe he's so grown up that he can finish a 7-book series!

And the moment he finished The Last Battle, he told me, "I'm going to read another book, to sort of help me forget, and then I'm going to read The Chronicles of Narnia again!" And this time, he says he'll read them in a different order (with The Magician's Nephew first).

That's my boy! I love those books sooo much!

Luke's 6 Month Stuff

2010-06-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

I feel so behind on so many things! I have a lot of irons in the fire, I guess.

Luke turned 6 months old on May 30. I actually took his portraits that very day, which I already blogged about here. But now they're scrapped, too! This took 5 minutes because I just switched out the photos. Since the 6 month photos of are all 3 boys are nearly (and intentionally) identical, so are the scrapbook pages. It's really convenient!

We made blueberry muffins instead of a cake to celebrate. When Jared turned 6 months, we made him a cupcake with "1/2" on top, and the 6 month celebrations have gotten more haphazard ever since. So Luke just got a muffin, no cake, no frosting. But it's sort of the same idea, right?
He didn't know what to do with it at first, but managed to get some in his mouth. He seemed to like it okay. I was rather impressed when, several minutes later, the high chair tray was rather clean. Then I went to pick him up and found out what had really happened to the muffin:
Thank goodness for this awesome bib! It catches large amounts of droppage and drippage.

At Luke's 6 month check-up on June 2, the pediatrician was surprised to see him sitting up so well. We were already sort of over the novelty of that, especially since Luke's been rocking on his hands and knees. Later in the appointment, I laid him on his tummy, and blooop! There he went, right up on his hands and knees. Doctor Keihl was properly impressed.

I mentioned that Luke hadn't been grabbing at food to feed himself, like his big brothers had done about this age. Dr. Keihl said, "Oh, no, that's an 8 or 9 month old task." "Okay," I thought. "I'll lay that little worry aside." But Luke erased that completely just a few days later.

Just like he has at every visit, the doctor commented that Luke is really strong. Yeah, tell my scalp that when he grabs my hair! I'm worried about his hugs in the future. Zach was really strong, too, and now his hugs nearly pop your head right off!

So now, it's ten days after the appointment, and Luke has accomplished quite a bit since then! I find him all over the family room. It's hard to say how he moves around, but there's a little bunny hopping, some wriggling, and some belly flops. The bunny hops are when he gets the crawling motion down with his hands, but his legs just aren't getting the message. So he just scoots his knees and lower body forward with a little hop. Thank goodness he's not very fast yet!

I also gave him Cheerios for the first time this week. The first day, his brothers and I popped them into his mouth as he swatted the others across the tray. The second day, he got some in by himself. And the third day, I watched in amazement as he started picking them up with a "pincer grasp." (That's using the thumb and forefinger.) I looked that up and that's supposed to show up from 9-12 months. So he's quite the Cheerio expert now, and loves to feed himself.

Isn't he cute?

Okay, now I feel like I'm caught up. Mostly.

Think I'm Crazy?

2010-06-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

I bought some fabric the other day. Do you think I'm crazy?

The Writing On the Wall

2010-06-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

So now that you've seen Luke's nursery, I know that you're just dying to know how I made those cute letters I hung on his wall.

You weren't?

Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

I'm a digital scrapbooker, so this was a first for me. The first time I'd ever bought scrapbooking paper, and the first time I'd ever faced the fear of putting scissors to that paper. But it was kinda fun.

First, I printed the letters from my computer, after converting them to just outlines (to save ink big time!) Knowing that scrapbooking paper is 12" square, I made sure they were smaller than that. I cut them out roughly.
I'm a weenie, so I did a quick scan of the papers I'd bought so I could play around with them digitally before committing to glue and scissors. When I was happy with the design, I began gluing the real paper to foam board from the dollar store. I applied plain ol' white glue with a paint brush to keep it smooth and even.
I lightly taped the cut-out computer print-outs to the glued-on scrapbookpaper, and used my hot-knife to cut around each letter. It cuts through the paper and the foam like butter!
I used another tool on my hot knife to shade the edges of each letter.
To hang the letters, I wound twist-ties into swirls (see picture below) and hot glued them onto the back. Bend the loop out a little bit, and it sits on a push-pin nicely!

My supplies were inexpensive. I used 4 sheets of scrapbook paper, I think. They were, of course, on clearance for about 50 cents each. The foam board costs $1 for a pretty big sheet. Of course, it'll depend on the length of the name or word, and the size and font you use, but this sure beats the price of wooden letters!

I had the idea at the store today that I could use wrapping paper instead of scrapbook if I wanted, and it would really be dirt cheap!

Zach has requested that I do his name next. And it must say Zachary, not Zach or even Zachy. Of course.

Trash to Treasure: Magnet Board

2010-06-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

I've been saving up those metal lids from frozen juice concentrate for a long time, thinking they must be good for something.

Really, they're not good for that much. But I think I finally found a good use for them. Magnet boards!

I don't have anything stuck to Luke's magnet board yet, but even without being used, it's so darn cute!

And even better, this thing is literally made out of garbage, so it's practically free!

Here's how to make one:
You'll need juice can lids, scrap cardboard or chipboard, spray primer, paint, a glue gun, and something to hang it with. I used Command Strips picture hangers (they're sort of like Velcro).

Save up a LOT of juice can lids. It takes more than you think. This one is small and uses 40! Here's a tip, wash them right as you get them and store them in a Pringle's can.
Spray lids with inexpensive primer (~$1)
Decide on a design. I made one for my kitchen that is just painted the same color as my wall, so it doesn't attract attention. But since this nursery has a retro-mod theme, I went for a random pattern on this one. Paint your lids.
Find a backing material and paint one side. Mine is on a Corn Flake box. I painted the brown side (I assume the paint won't stick to the glossy side) the same color as my wall.
Glue the lids to the backing material with a glue gun. I had to lay the hot glue on pretty thick to compensate for the slight depth of the lids.
Trim your backing material. I trimmed around each circle so I ended up with a scalloped edge, but you could just cut it straight, too.
Hang with Command Strips or picture wire or whatever you think will hold it to your wall.

I'm sure that all you crafties out there can come up with a million cute variations on this. If you make one, I'd love to see it!

Room Reveal: Luke's Nursery

2010-06-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

So today I was thinking that waiting to reveal pictures of Luke's nursery might build up more anticipation than could possibly be good. I don't want to set anyone up for disappointment. Although Luke is really the only person who should really care all that much.

Anyway...

Drum roll please....

Here's a link to the photos. I put a few in this post just for fun.

I was going for a retro-mod feel, with simple shapes, colors, and designs.

If you know me at all, you know I love a good deal, and love to do the work myself to save money. And this room is particularly triumphant because Ryan was unemployed for most of the time I was working on it.

$20- It was hard to find bedding without a theme. I got the bumper, crib skirt, and changing pad cover on Craigslist. It's super soft, made out of that minky-type stuff.

$9- My friend gave me the cute curtain rod and rings. I spray-painted them brown. The curtains are made from inexpensive sheets. I lucked-out big time, because they were just changing the shade of green for the season, so I grabbed one old and one new. So I bought one light green, one medium green, and one brown sheet, each twin sized. The mod dots are adhered with Stitch Witchery or some other iron-on product.

$6- I spray-painted the glider that I had so meticulously hand-painted white for baby Jared, and recovered the cushions with more of the sheet fabric. I had to appliqué the mod dots more securely on the cushion, knowing that it would have more wear than curtains. The chair was $30, the ottoman $1, the foam for the ottoman $8, but those were purchased for previous babies, so I'm only counting the price of spray-paint this time.

$12- The lamp's biggest expense was the fact that I can't break up a set. There were two matching brown lamps at Deseret Industries for $5 each. I couldn't not buy both! The lamp shade was a previous DI find. It was a self-adhesive shade that no one ever got around to using. I covered it with more sheet and edged it with some seam-binding. The ribbon for the bow was salvaged and therefore free.
$1- Yes, I'm including the tissue box cover. It was peach with pink wooden tulips glued to the sides. I like hiding tissue boxes so they blend in and you don't even notice them. 'Cause seriously, who wants a tissue box to be their room's statement?

~$40- Poor Ryan scooped up this dresser for $20, sight-unseen, from a less-than-desirable neighborhood on his way home from work. He says he doesn't want to do my Craigslist errands anymore! It was stained avacado green, with some strange finish that I can only assume was pickling. Pickled avacado. Yeah. Don't want to eat it, don't want it on a dresser, either. I stripped it sanded it and repaired it. I had quite a time with the gorgeous acorn/oak leaf patter below the first top set of drawers. And super scary, I grabbed a can of two-in-one stain from the mis-tint shelf that looked about right. The first coat looked red, the second coat looked purple. But I was in too deep by then, so I put on a third and viola! It matches the crib perfectly. I mean perfectly. It's a miracle. A miracle I didn't discover until a few days before Luke was born, when my dad helped Ryan finally carry it up to the nursery.

Note the beautiful oak/acorn detail

$8- The wall paint is mistint paint from Lowe's, artfully remixed in the boys' bathroom because it looked nothing like the finger-dot of paint on the lid! The gallon of paint looked like it matched the darker green fabric perfectly, but it was really a dark yellowish olive. A pint matched the lighter green (or so I thought), but when I opened it up, it was aqua!!! Hmmm...one was too yellow, and one was too blue...yellow and blue make green, and with a little luck I got the perfect shade. The paint for the mural is mostly 50-cent cans of mistinted samples.

The crib is brand new, the only brand new furniture we own, I think. It was an insurance replacement from our Uhaul incident.

The mirror was just around the house, and repainted.

The magnet board (the circles above the dresser) and big letters are going to take their own posts, so I won't explain them here. But the magnet board is basically trash artfully arranged, and the letters cost about $3 (for all of them, not each.)
Add $5 for incidentals and my total is under $100!!!

I just remembered that I'm not quite done. The original design included a baby deer, also retro-mod. I have the 50-cent paint for it, but I never could decide where to paint it on the wall. It seems like it would always be hiding behind furniture. So I have recently decided to cut it from foam-board so I can move it if need be. So I'll take pictures of that when I get around to it.

I hope you like this in-depth tour of Luke's room!

I ♥ Craigslist!

2010-06-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's nice to have a little dough again so I can search Craigslist for awesome deals!

I thought we were getting a patio set (table, 4 chairs, and umbrella) for $25, but when Ryan went to pick it up, they'd sold it to someone else.

The next day, I bought two outdoor "love seats," a little table, and a regular chair, all made of wicker.

It's a good thing I only paid $40 for all of it, because getting cushions for them is going to cost quite a bit! Walmart has cushions just for the bottom of the love seats for $30 each. Not gonna happen!

And last night, I secured another $40 purchase, this time for a whole kitchen's worth of cabinets! Okay, so they're from 1983, and not beautiful, but they're solid wood, and will completely make over our laundry room. There are too many to fit in the laundry room, so we'll install some in the garage, too. And did I mention, they're only $40?

I ♥ Craigslist!

Luke is 6 months old?!?!?

2010-05-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

How could it possibly be that Luke is 6 months old? Has it really been half a year?

He's just shot out of his clothes, so I got out the 6-9 month clothes. What really gets me is that he looks so tiny until he stands up, and then he's so tall! But sitting down, he is so narrow that he just seems younger than he is.

And I guess that's why it really surprised me when I woke up this morning and realized what day it was.

It was such a gorgeous day that we wanted to go for a walk to enjoy the perfect weather. At the last minute, I grabbed my camera and a specific pair of overalls so I could take his 6 month photos at the park we went to walk in.

I uploaded several more photos, which you can see by following this link.

And just for fun, here are the other boys' 6 month photos, wearing those same overalls.

Jared

Zachary

Luke

Craters of the Moon, Again

2010-05-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

After the cold, wet weather and bad luck in Jackson, we were not at all sure we were up to camping at Craters of the Moon, like we'd planned. But it's no farther to drive past Craters instead of through Twin Falls, so we decided to take that route and play it by ear.

When we got to Craters about dinner time, it was cold and windy (it's ALWAYS windy there!), but somehow the boys persuaded me to stay the night. Besides, there isn't anywhere to eat for the next two hours of driving, so we either got to eat late or cook in camp.

We got the new gigantic tent set up rather easily, and marveled at all the space! We may have to call the thing our "circus tent."

There's another "wing" at the back!

Ryan braved the cold to cook us dinner on the camp stove while I got some things situated in the tent. After our food cooked, Ryan had to warm it up again because it got cold before he could bring it into the tent! And the wind got under the tent and lifted the pan, nearly dumping our food onto the floor.

Then we immediately changed into our pajamas, putting even more clothing on top, and climbed into our sleeping bags. I stuck hand-warmers in my socks, and I was warm from the waist up and the ankles down, but it took an hour of moving a body warmer around my legs to finally get toasty. It was cold!!!

The boys (all of them) seemed to stay warm all night. Luke had to get in my sleeping bag a few times to warm up, but I was afraid he'd suffocate in there, and we really just don't fit in there together.

I woke up first in the morning, but stayed in my bag and listened to the silence. The wind had stopped in the night sometime. Then I heard the cold tinkling sound of snow falling on our tent.
Thankfully, it didn't last long. We all woke up and put on our clothes over our pajamas, for an extra layer of warmth.

Warming up the baby's hands.

We ventured outside for breakfast. Hot oatmeal and hot chocolate helped ward off the chill until the sun broke through and the weather turned gorgeous.

We went to the Visitor's Center, then broke camp and took a stroll through Devil's Garden, which we hadn't had the energy to visit last time.
We had missed another attraction last time we were at Craters. This time, we were sure to summit the Inferno Cinder Cone. They think that this entire huge hill was formed as a nearby vent spewed cinders into the air. The cinders were blown (huh, I can't imagine how that could possibly happen. I mean, it's not like it's windy there or anything!) against an existing hill, burying it almost completely. It's pretty strange.

Zach at the top. The red rock is the tip of the hill that was buried in cinders.

See how huge this is?

Zach threw a fit all the way down the hill. He was tired and fell asleep almost immediately when we got back to the car.

All tuckered out, we headed for home. The trip to Boise sure is a beautiful one, through Idaho farmland. I wonder how they manage to farm there, since Spring is just making an appearance now, in late May.
We're glad to be home, and I am feeling a bit weary of trips. I'd like to stay home for a long time!

See all of our photos from our Jackson/Craters trip here.

Enlightening Vacation

2010-05-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went to Jackson Hole for Ryan's annual ITE Conference (for transportation engineers). This is the third year we've tagged along. The first year, we came home right after. The second year, we camped in Yellowstone afterward. And this year, we went to came at Craters of the Moon on the way home.

The problem is that there was a giant cold front covering the entire western United States! And Jackson, WY and Craters of the Moon aren't known for their mild weather to begin with.

Things started out well, but after a lame, sugar-laden Super 8 breakfast, the boys and I headed out to the van to find a fun park to play in. I unlocked the doors, then stuck my keys in the ignition, like I always do. Then I reached over to open the door to put the boys in, and it was...locked? Oh dear, I'd just shut the last door, and it was...LOCKED!

I didn't understand how it was all locked, but it's no use standing there in the cold wind and complaining. After the panic of being stuck in a hotel room passed, I remembered that the bus in Jackson is free, and there's a stop near the hotel. Ryan had caught it that morning, and it dropped him off right in front of the Snow King, where his conference is. Knowing the boys would LOVE a bus ride, I knew exactly what to do.

We got to the Snow King and found Ryan and he gave me his keys. We all took the bus to lunch, then the boys and I rode back to our hotel. We unlocked the van to discover that its battery was dead! So after all that, we ended up stuck in the hotel room until Ryan was done for the day.

I decided we're really not missing anything by not paying for cable. The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon now consist of stupid pre-teen dramas about rich kids who act way too old. Not even remotely interesting to 6- and 4-year old boys. Or their mom.

So we broke out the camera.

When Ryan got back, we rode the bus to a restaurant for dinner. By now, we had the route and the schedule down pat. Or so we thought. We had missed the last bus of the night! So we walked back to the hotel, about a mile and a half. Thankfully, we'd taken the stroller! Oh, and it started to rain.
I tried not to think about what bad luck we'd been having. I mean, come on! But you know, that walk was really nice, despite the sprinkles. It was a great family moment. And when we got back to the hotel, hot chocolate and popcorn were waiting for us in the lobby.

The next morning, we had another lame breakfast and set out to fix our car situation. Ryan was at his conference again, so I put Luke in the stroller and we headed out into the snow---yes, SNOW in MAY---to the auto parts store. Half-way there, Zach, who had refused to wear socks and shoes, started complaining that his Crocs were hurting his feet, and that he couldn't walk anymore. Not too far into his piggy-back ride, however, he slid off and landed on his bum in a puddle.

Those thoughts about bad luck crept back.

I hoped for a silver lining as we walked into Napa Auto Parts. Bedraggled and bundled up in multiple layers of mismatched clothing (because we hadn't expected to need winter coats at the end of May--remember, I packed shorts!), and one kid riding on my back, wet and muddy from falling into a puddle, I think we looked pathetic enough to elicit empathy.

It must have worked, because 10 minutes later, the Napa lady had the van jump-started and was testing the battery. We think the tailgate didn't latch, probably because of all our junk in the back. That left the light on, which drained the battery, and explains why the doors didn't unlock when I thought they had, which is why my keys got locked inside.

We got the van working again just in time to check out of the hotel and pick up Ryan from his conference. I literally spent the entire vacation getting the van running.

And I finally learned why people say, "well, it could be worse." I didn't understand that before. Knowing that other people were suffering didn't make me feel better at all! In fact, it made me feel worse. Call it overactive empathy, but I just felt so sorry for anyone who felt worse than I did!

However, as I was hefting the half-full roof bag on top of the van by myself (you're supposed to put it on, then fill it up), a flat-bed tow truck pulled up to the hotel. I watched as three young adults climbed out and retrieved suitcases from their mangled SUV on the back of the truck. They looked exhausted, although it was only noon. Suddenly, my bad luck didn't seem so bad. I said that it looked like they were having a bad day, and offered to help any way I could. They said they were finally okay. I'm guessing they checked into the hotel and slept the rest of the day.

Sure, the trip wasn't a ton of fun, and it was full of inconveniences, but we're all safe. We didn't even incur any extra expense because of our trouble.

Now that we're home, we asked the boys about their favorite parts of the trip. You know what they were so excited about? Riding the bus and going on that long walk.

So I learned a lot on this trip. Having bad luck doesn't mean you can't make great memories. And no matter how bad you think things are, there's still a lot to be thankful for.

Road Trippin'

2010-05-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

We're off to Jackson Hole early in the a.m. for Ryan's annual ITE conference. That runs through Saturday, but we'll be stopping at Craters of the Moon on the way home. Cross your fingers that we don't freeze in our new giant tent!

First School Lunch Ever!

2010-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

I just packed my first school lunch, ever. That seems so monumental, probably because it's the first of about ten quabillion that I'll pack in my lifetime.

So monumental, in fact, that I took a picture of it afterward. Yes, I know I'm a total photo/scrapbook dork. But in my defense, I really don't plan to scrap this photo. This is a blog-only dork picture!

Jared is going on a field trip, so school will be considerably longer than his half-day kindergarten class. He knew it was coming up, and that he'd need to take a lunch. And apparently, he had been thinking about this for a long, long time, because he brought it up on the way to school today.

He suggested we buy him a Club Penguin lunch box and save it until first grade, except for his field trip tomorrow. And apparently he knows that only Target carries Club Penguin merchandise. Good to know.

Alas, the newsletter from his teacher said he needs to bring it in a paper bag so she can put it in a big cooler. We went to Target anyway and bought him socks and underwear. But it's pretty cool underwear (camo!) so he's actually happy about it.

It was a big thing to pack that lunch. He decided exactly what should go in it. Juice box, turkey sandwich with cheese and turkey and mayo and lettuce, applesauce cup, and teeny raisin box. I tried to put in pudding, but he wasn't so sure. We did a test-run for dessert tonight, and those darn lids are too hard to get off. He just can't do it. He says it'll be too much for him to eat, anyway. I dunno, it's so fun to get a treat in your lunch bag.

So I hid a graham cracker cookie (two graham crackers glued together with frosting) under his juice box.

Who's the mom? I'm the mom.

Readin' Fool

2010-05-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned that Zach has decided to learn to read. But I haven't really kept you all updated on his progress.

Every night, he pulls out a book from a folder labeled, "Jared's Special Stories." Jared brought that home from kindergarten, but they're completely uninteresting to him. So when he gets a new one to bring home, he is very excited to hand it to Zach so he can read it on the way home from school.

I knew Zach was doing very well, but tonight he threw in a little twist. I was teasing him by holding the book upside-down. After a few giggles, I turned it up again, and it was his turn to tease me. He read the whole thing backwards! Well, sort of. The book goes like this:

I can fix a bed. Tap, tap, tap.

Zach read:

Bed a fix can I. Pat, pat, pat.

But he was just getting into the game. On the next page, he read:

Tep a fix nac I. Tap, tap, tap.
(I can fix a pet. Pat, pat, pat.)

Of course, Jared couldn't be outdone by his little brother, so he wanted a whack at it when I tucked him into bed, too.

Such silly boys!

Two New Page

2010-05-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Two new scrapbook pages of my new favorite photos!

Fancy Pancakes

2010-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

We went to IHOP a couple of times in the last year and a half, and the boys think it is so fun to get smiley face pancakes. With pancakes being so cheap and easy to make, I decided we could decorate big pancakes at home and have almost as much fun.

Then they decided they love teeny pancakes. Those are actually harder than huge ones.

Then they decided they wanted shapes. So I tried it out and thought I was pretty good at wielding the batter! My kids loved it, and that's what's important.

THEN I discovered that you can make shapes within the pancakes, by first pouring the shape, waiting a minute or so for that to set up, then pouring more batter on top. My boys were delighted when I made the smiley face right in the pancake!

So here I am, thinking I'm all that (does anyone say that anymore?), this "pancake artist" of sorts. And then today I discovered Jim's Pancakes.

Wow.

Hey, I have one of those mustard squirter bottles. Maybe I'll give it a try! But I think I'll stick with smiley-faces- and hearts-within-a-circle pancakes. No 3-D for me!

Luke's 5 month photos

2010-05-12T21:06:00.001-07:00

I finally got some good shots of Luke for his 5 month photos! It's been a struggle with May being such a busy month for us.

Here's a link to a few more photos.

EEG Results

2010-05-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from our pediatrician. Zach's EEG was normal, so there's no reason to believe he'll ever have another seizure. Of course, we'll be watching him, but this is very reassuring.

Phew!