once upon a time

jakob's 9!!

2011-10-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

the boy turned 9! what is happening? since this is an odd birthday, we had a family party. we had star wars pancakes for breakfast. we had lunch with nona and grandpa at cafe rio. (bless that boy. this pregnant lady couldn't have gone another day without a pork barbacoa salad.) and then he wanted to go to an arcade. there was a huge ball pit/gerbil tunnel thing, a dress up room, mini golf, and a bunch of video games. what 9 year old boy wouldn't love that? so, are you ready for 9 things we love about our jakob gray? ready or not, here they are:

1. this boy likes food. and makes funny comments like, "it smells like heaven in here." and "my taste buds could not be happier."

2. he is a great helper. he loves to have jobs around the house and at school.

3. he loves babies. good thing, too.

4. he makes great forts. riley and max love his cushion house/blanket forts.

5. he's an unintentional hottie. there are always multiple girls vying for his attention. he doesn't seem to notice. yet.

6. he can memorize anything.

7. he doesn't discriminate. he'll play with anyone, any age, boy or girl. doesn't matter.

8. he's a smartie. most things just click for him.

9. he took on some older boys in the neighborhood who were being mean to the little ones. and even though he stood his ground, he got teary when he told me about what happened. sensitive thing.

monkeys

2011-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

max learned how to do the monkey bars this summer. riley is so excited to have a fellow chimp to play with. the weather is still nice enough to go to the park in the mornings, so we are taking full advantage of the empty playground.

sometimes the little man gets tired and pretends to fall asleep. who could blame him?

the tooth fairy

2011-09-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

this pretty little girlie lost a tooth!! we were eating dinner and she kept telling me something was stuck in her teeth. so we brushed them. then flossed them. then brushed them again. then i wiggled it. it hadn't occured to me that my littlest girl was big enough to have a loose tooth. but apparently she is! she "took it out" all by herself. then went outside to show her friends on the playground and lost it in the tires. she wasn't really upset. she just wanted to make sure that tooth fairy was going to bring her some cash anyway. so she wrote her a little note.

"dear tooth fairy, i lost my tooth in the tires. but i would still like some money. riley." "riley, thanks for the note and the beautiful picture! T. Fairy."

she got 2 bucks. a couple of days later she lost another tooth. and got 2 more bucks. she wiggles random teeth, now, in hopes of getting rich.

when the cat's away...

2011-09-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

max and i spend our afternoons together. just us. i've never had just one kid at home. sometimes we go to the library. or the park. or get groceries and run errands. (do you know how easy this is with just one kid?! almost too easy.) but sometimes we just stay home. and play. like this day when we played with jakob's "guys". we started lining them all up (maybe for a war?) but ended up throwing our guys to knock down all the other guys. max kept saying, in a very serious tone, "mom...let's do this." who knew that could be so fun?

first day of school!! first day of school!! (via my phone)

2011-08-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

zoe lane started 5th grade!! (that's middle school in these parts! what?! i know. right?) but it's just 5th and 6th together in one school, so really it's like a sr. elementary school. she is making some great friends in her class. it is fun to see her happy and comfortable.

jakob started 3rd grade. but he didn't want me to walk him in. (excuse me?) i am happy that he feels confident on how this school works. and that he know some of the kids in his class. and that his teacher adores him.

sweet little riley grace face is in afternoon kindergarten. she is super excited about school. it helps that half our neighberhood is in her class. no joke.

maxwell rees started preschool at the university. he goes tuesday and thursday mornings. and is (usually) so excited about it!!

boy names

2011-08-30T09:23:00.001-07:00

remember how i changed maxwell's name on the birth certificate? (without telling the daddy!) we had called him "benjamin" the entire time i was pregnant and then i just went and changed it to a name i had only mentioned once in passing! what is wrong with me? but he is a maxwell. no doubt. but this little guy, we have no clue what his name is. we like classic names (that have been around forever) but that are still cool. or cool in a nerdy way. there are names we love, but just won't work, for whatever reason. like luke: i adore the name luke. but "luke sloop" will never work. just say that out loud and you'll understand. sam: in college, i was in love with a boy named sam. enough said. oliver: ring ring. "hello?" "is oliver there?" "oliver who?" "oliver clothes off." every time we talk about naming this littlest one "oliver", that naughty joke runs through my head. and i just. can't. do it. so, for now, we are just calling him "the baby". something will sound right. or it won't and i'll just end up changing it to whatever i want at the last second.

where the magic happens

2011-08-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

and by "magic" i mean falling asleep at 9:00. on to the master bedroom. basically the same as kansas and texas. but here you go, anyway:

and just so you know, there was a giant basket full of laundry waiting to be folded. (you can see the indentions in the carpet.) but i just kept pushing it around the room so it was conveniently out of the shots. sneaky like a fox.

and these are a few of my favorite things:

i got the picture for mother's day a couple of years ago from an etsy store. (if i remember which one, i'll let you know.) the bird was for christmas last year from west elm. i made the curtains from micheal miller damask fabric. and i'm waiting for the perfect picture to put in the black frame on the nightstand. (i know you noticed that, leah.)

nana and grandad

2011-08-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

nana and grandad came to visit all the way from north carolina! we went to mesa falls and west yellowstone and rigby lake and jenson's grove and blackfoot and idaho falls. we had a beautiful time with them. i'm pretty sure we all need naps now.

the big news

2011-08-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

can i get a whoop-whoop!? my due date is january 13th and we can't wait!!
for those of you who requested "pregger" pics, i don't have much of a bump yet. i just look chubby. the only real difference is my new ghetto booty and that my you-know-whats look like i got implants. and if those are the kind of pics you were talking about, we really shouldn't be friends anymore.

the darby's

2011-07-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

our besties came to visit all the way from canada over the 4th. we were SO excited to have them here. and to meet their newest little addition. she changed things for max. he loved her. and i was thrilled. he kept asking "where's that baby? i like her." thanks little one. you've changed our lives.

mesa falls

2011-06-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

mesa falls is beautiful. and always has some dried animal poop to play with. nice max. (jakob was staying at nona's and wasn't the least bit upset he missed this little outing because "who wants to see a bunch of water go over a cliff?")

beaverdick park

2011-06-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

i know. i know. the absolute worst name for a park ever. they should really name it something else. anything else. moving on. we went to go check it out, and it was flooded. completely underwater. the monkeys were thrilled. because it is pretty awesome when your bum skims water when you swing.

please disregard riley's "sport's illustrated swimsuit model pose". where does she come up with these things?!

the spray park

2011-06-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

we usually like the spray park here. it has 3 slides and a giant bucket that dumps water on you (max is not a fan) and there are always friends to play with. but let's be honest, the water is freezing! the monkey's teeth are constantly chattering and they always end up wanting to go over to the swings so i can push them forever and ever and ever.

the carousel

2011-06-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

riley and max get free passes from the library to ride the carousel. they love it. and that makes me happy.

my doods

2011-06-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

there are about 5 little boys in the neighborhood right around max's age. he calls them all his "doods". that's much easier than remembering everyone's name. he definately has his favorites, though. silly little boy. can i get a picture with your tongue in your mouth? no? ok.

thawed out

2011-05-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

we were trapped inside for far too long. we ventured out sometimes to go sledding, but that was about it. i have to admit, i was getting some serious cabin fever. but the sidewalks are finally melted and maxwell just wants to "wide". so i let him. all. day. long.

fight club

2011-04-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

i had the boys bedroom window open while i was upstairs cleaning. and i heard the rules being laid out. it was 25 cents to sign up. about 6 boys from the neighborhood were sectioned off into brackets so they would know who would fight who. and when. the winner takes the money, minus 50 cents for the manager. jakob. i must admit i was shocked. and oddly proud.

the solar system

2011-03-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

zoe was pretty nervous to start at (yet another) brand new school. but once she got into her groove, there was no stopping her. the entire 4th grade had to make solar systems. almost everyone made theirs out of play dough. zoe thought yarn would be much more aesthetic. i had to agree. she got 100%. of course.

jakob's poor little fish

2011-02-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

i told him fish don't live very long. and that's true. but the 50 kajillion beta fish pellets (these happen to be goldfish) couldn't have helped. i don't want to point fingers, but maxwell looked awfully suspicious.

since you asked...

2011-01-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

i'll start posting some pics of the house. first up is the living room. so if you were over in ks or tx, this should all look familiar. we got new slipcovers while we were still in tx. brought the "strawberry fields" sign indoors and hit up ikea for the bookcase. so, let's take a quick look around. shall we?

and these are a few of my favorite things:

we're moving to iderho!!

2010-12-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

the hubby interviewed at byu-idaho in october. we found out he got the job in november. and we'll be outta here mid december!! snow, mountains, sub-zero temps (oh my!), here we come!!

outdoor theater

2010-11-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

the hubby thinks it's fun to bring the tv outside. (and he's right.) usually we just watch a movie on a blanket, but this time they lugged unco dano's futon out there. you can see who got that luxury.

(riley eventually snuck her little self in there. can't let those boys take over everything, can we?)

halloweentown

2010-11-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

zoe was a pajama girl this year. she was adorable, but one picture was enough for her thankyouverymuch. (gotta love this girl for spending nada on her costumes.)

although max loved his firefighter costume, he just wanted his picture taken with "scawy gween teef". so i obliged. maxwell could not get over "trunk or treat". everytime he got a piece of candy he ran back to show me. "mom! mom!! look!! that guy gave me a piece of candy too!!"

this was the first year that jakob was not a star wars character. so he let me take a picture or two of him in the ~~cute little~~ deadly ninja costume.

sweet little riley grace-face was ariel. and she. is. in. love. sometimes she sleeps in this costume, but has yet to ask to wear it to church. thank goodness.

you're going to have to excuse the immodesty of that last shot. but that kind of thing doesn't "embawass" little miss thang.

the bus

2010-09-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

i picked riley up after her first day of preschool. i couldn't wait to find out all about it. of course she loved it. she loved her teacher. she loved the toys. she loved her classmates. she didn't love lunch. (what?! they serve lunch? you only go until 11!) there's a play kitchen and a sand box and paints and a boy that is in love with her. (excuse me?) she knows because he looks at her like this: then she doubled herself over, let her arms dangle in front of her, stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth and made a sound kind of like "duh..." yep. that's a boy in love, all right. the only thing she didn't love was that i came to pick her up. (whell! i never!) she wanted to ride the bus. (oh! of course.) so we signed her up that day and now she's a bus rider! and that sweetest little face running to me melts my heart.

every morning i wake up with this song stuck in my head

2010-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

girl's rock

2010-08-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

riley has never appreciated our "gender neutral" approach to posessions. she refused to wear zoe's (then jakob's, now max's) blue and red coat because it was not "pink or puwple or spawkly". She doesn't love her "boy shoes" even though i tried to explain to her that white converse are NOT "boy shoes". when i buckled her into the red booster for the drive home from north carolina, she asked if we could paint it. hmm. probably not. as we started through those winding, curving roads, riley started to complain about her tummy. poor little riley grace-face gets car sick. (but only in north carolina.) her cries were getting worse, but there wasn't a place to pull over. not even a shoulder. so as zoe (not so) lovingly told her to "be quiet. you're fine." riley puked all over the backseat of the car. including her hand me down car seat. (riley kept crying, "you know my tummy doesn't do well in cars!!) luckily there was a target nearby. because i'm not ashamed to admit that i left that throw up covered car seat on the side of the road somewhere just over the tennessee border. (i'm not the best at handling vomit/vomit associated things.) we spotted a car seat on clearance and grabbed it. knowing full well that riley would be so excited because it was pink!!

(these were taken when we were well into the flat lands of texas. hence, the smile.)

meeting noah

2010-08-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

one of our favorite things about the beach this year was baby noah, our newest nephew/cousin. aunt lauren let riley pick out his clothes. she loved that. zoe and jakob were so sweet taking turns holding him and playing with him and trying to make him smile. max, however, had a nervous breakdown. seriously. "don't hold him!!" "i don't want to take him with us!!" "give him back!!" sweet little noah. hopefully max will come around and you guys will be best buddies.

she bangs! she bangs!

2010-07-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

this girl has never had bangs. now she does. could she be any cuter? i think not.

give blood

2010-07-08T14:47:00.001-07:00

we donated blood last weekend. while my platelets and blood cells were converging into the little bag, my children looked on. the woman assisting me told them, "your mommy's blood is going to save 3 adults lives or 6 babies lives." they all just kind of blankly stared at her. but riley's eyes got huge. when i was all done, and hanging out in the "juice and cookies corner" my littlest girl came over to me all excited and asked, "when do we get our 6 babies?! do we get them now?! where are they?!" uuuuuummm.

look who's wearing big boy unders!!

2010-07-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

we pulled out the "potty" thinking we would start training max sometime this summer.

but he just trained himself. we heard him yell "hey, riley! do you wanna see my poops?!"

the end.

the right to bear arms

2010-06-28T11:03:00.003-07:00

it's not at all that i'm "against" plastic weapons, (my brothers and i used to turn tennis rackets around and use them as machine guns while we hid around the house on sunday afternoons.) it's just that i try not to encourage it, because it seems like everytime there is a lightsaber or nerf gun or ninja dagger thing in the house, some people go a little overboard with the fighting and defending and...it can get messy. so i always end up hiding them, knowing they will eventually be found. and there are peaceful days until that happens. but in the meantime, he's started something new. it looks like there could be an uprising.

i can't get that alice cooper song out of my head

2010-06-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

"schoooooool's out fo' summah"! and here are some of the things we are most excited about:

we get to sleep in. (theoretically.) this little man sometimes lets us sleep until 6:45!

we've moved into our summer home. the "cushion house" is nice and breezy and aside from slanting walls and a constantly collapsing roof, it is quite enjoyable.

we eat, breathe and sleep in our swim suits. which makes for a nice "to do list" on laundry day.

wash swimsuits
line dry swim suits
put swim suits back on

it's too hot to cook (or that's my excuse, anyway) so we've been happily surviving off of yogurt, cold cereal, sandwiches and pop-ice. allowing more time for the swimming, the cushion houses and the sleeping in. nice.

netflix

2010-06-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

so i followed the example of a couple of friends and we got rid of tv!! (you heard me right.) instead, we pay a measly $8.99 a month for netflix. and you have to know how much that makes my cheap little heart sing. we get as many dvds as we could want through the mail (one at a time) and we have "instant queue" via the wii. just a couple of clicks, and we can watch whatever we want, when we want. some of our favorite things about it are no commercials. not ever. and it's deliberate tv watching. no more random "just watching because it's on" business. and we don't have to pay for satelite or cable or even redbox. (the only thing we don't like is that the "fast forward" and "rewind" are a pain, but i'm willing to live with it.) and there is something for everyone. a couple of these are often playing sometime before swimming but after chores:

sometimes after 9:00, the hubby and i (+ daniel, if he's not working) watch something like this:

and although these are in my instant queue, i have a feeling i may never actually get to see any of them:

maybe someday a movie will be more appealing than sleep. but i doubt it.

interior design

2010-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

riley told me, in not so many words, that she was tired of my boring decorating and that she was forced to take matters into her own hands. here's what she came up with: i think she has a promising future.

a special thanks to...

2010-05-28T12:43:00.001-07:00

...aunt sara for never using your tent, therefore donating it to us.

...bugs for letting some of us chase you/catch you/squish you. (sorry about that last one.)

...cooper lake for only being a 20 minute drive.

...s'mores and hot dogs for tasting almost as delicious burnt and raw as you do when you are properly cooked.

...texas for being hot enough to go swimming in may.

...humidity for making my hair look stupid no matter what i do, so it didn't matter that i forgot the brush and didn't shower.

...maxwell for waking up at 5:30 screaming your head off. it made for a quick get away.

...camping for being so freaking awesome.

look who we got to babysit

2010-05-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

(don't you just want to eat him up?)

look who didn't want to have anything to do with him at first.

and kept saying things like "no no, baby. that's mine!"

(he eventually came around, though.)

look who begged me to stay home from school so he could play with the cutest baby all morning.

(he was finally convinced that "picnic day" would be almost as fun. "only...it wasn't.")

look who pretended to be the mama all day and said things like "don't forget to eat you betchtables" in a hilariously high voice.

i love my life.

here's that chair i was telling you about

2010-05-09T13:16:00.001-07:00

the one that i saw at target and thought, "oh. that's cute." but it was $159.99. so i was prepared to never think about it again. but then, jakob's backpack was destroyed (and i had already missed the exit for walmart and wasn't about to turn around) so we made a desperate turn into the last parking lot. which happened to be the greenville goodwill (and i love thrift stores). but not this one. this one i had been warned about. it was dirty and scary and "you do not want to go in there." so i didn't. until now. because jakob would be asking if i got him a new backpack and i didn't want to tell him i forgot. again. because he was "already tired of using a walmart bag." (twice.) so i ran in. and there it was. the chair. the exact chair. it was even in it's protective wrapping!! unscathed and perfect. i searched for a price tag. $40. ok. $40. but no. it was marked out. $12!! "excuse me. does this say $12?! i'll take it." so i ran out to the car all excited. the hubby asked through the open passenger window, "did you find jakob a bag?" "oh!! right!! a bag!! no. but i got a chair! i need you to carry it out to the car!" jakob is using my old north face purse. he need not ever know it was ever a purse.

no more comments

2010-05-04T17:15:00.001-07:00

some people just have to ruin it for the rest of us.

jakob's teen angst (a decade early)

2010-04-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

age 2-3: "i believe in Jesus, i just don't want to go to that boring church."

age 5: (after being told it was time to come in from riding his bike)"not this day, old man."

age 6: "maybe it would have just been better if i was never born."(because he couldn't have ice cream for breakfast.)

age 7: "you don't know my life."

poor tormented thing. oh how i wish we could sneak some prozac in your chocolate milk.

meet jonathon

2010-03-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

the daddy found this little guy while mowing the front yard. most of us screamed upon hearing the word "snake". so the daddy gently picked him up with a stick and flung him far far away from all the nervous on lookers. he (we are basing our assumption that it was indeed a "he" on riley's observation that it had no visible eyelashes or a bow) ended up in the middle of the street. which brought sighs of relief. until some of us realized that put him in the immediate path of unknowing cars. (actually, trucks. we're in texas, here.) hearing the pleas of his children, the daddy begrudgingly stopped the mower, again, and pushed the slithery serpent to the sidewalk, where he was named (jonathon) and loved and adored for approximately 2 1/2 minutes, until he simultaneously wiggled and stuck out his tongue, causing, yet again, screams of terror.

9 is fine

2010-03-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

(photo courtesy of riley grace. age 4.)

since this was an odd birthday for miss zoe lane, she got to choose one friend (rylie b.) to do something too fun for just anyone. so off to build-a-bear we went. (she even let her little sis tag along.) and then a "just the girls" lunch. then home for a sleep over where very little sleeping occurred. but a late night game of 4 square proved to be fun for all. so, are you ready for 9 things about zoe? here you go:

zoe is all about saving the earth. when i forgot to bring our reusable bags to old navy, she insisted we carry that little bundle of clearance out to our suv (that "uses way too much gas") in our bare arms. i love her for that.
she loves to help. when she wants to help.
she doesn't like to watch reruns. if she's seen it, it doesn't need to be seen again.
she's basically a genius. and i'm not being one of those overly proud mothers. she gets straight a's (and a pluses are relatively common.) when she saw her report card, she was bummed. "i thought i was smart at math." "yeah, that's a 96%. that is smart." "well, it's not as smart as my other grades." well, honey, we can't all be super nerds. (don't tell her i said that.)
she's a shoe lover.
that girl will talk your ear off. she has a lot to say. she doesn't always care if you respond or not. which is nice when i'm tired.
she used to want only 2 kids. twins. 1 boy. 1 girl. then a couple of months ago, decided she only wanted 1, "and it better be a girl". then a few weeks ago she confessed she didn't really want any kids. "it'll make more room in my giant house for cats."
she instinctively holds hands with whoever she is walking next to.
she laughs loud. like me.

happy birthday, zoe!! my favorite 9 year old in the whole wide world.

the shindig

2010-02-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

we celebrated the anniversary of max's birth last weekend with our really good friends, the bryants and the roylances. (we missed you darby's!! we missed you v's!!) we hung out and ate hot dogs and"mater cake" and watched the kids play.

and play.

it was a great day.

when john paul lit the candles, max slowly backed up and said, "uh oh. fire."

hey, niki, do you wanna hear a gross/hilarious story?

2010-02-26T17:46:00.001-08:00

if the answer is "no", then read no further. so you already know about riley's strange relationship with poop. well, the other day she went potty and when i went in to make sure she washed her hands she pointed to the toilet. (it looked like a dozen green+brown snakes in there. ewwww.) riley said, "look. a family reunion." what a weird-o!! hilarious and adorable. but still, a weirdo-o.

you say it's your birthday

2010-02-23T09:29:00.003-08:00

the little man turned 2! on the day of his birthday we had a little family party complete with cupcakes and presents from the brothers and sisters, the grandparents and other lovies that sent him gifts. he loved the mini cars and carries them everywhere. he got books that we read over and over. (i love it that jakob can read to him now.) and all the monkeys played with the wonder pets playhouse. it was "soopuh fun". for your reading pleasure, here are a few things you may or may not know about our sweetest little maxwell:

he loves like no other. we call it the "crocodile roll", where he hugs around the neck and pulls back and forth and rolls around and around. he has another love we like to call "the can opener". he hugs tight around the neck then sneaks his pointy little shoulder under your chin and pulls up. hard. it almost hurts.
he is a great communicator and has constant...adorable...pauses...between random...words.
he is obsessed with cars and trucks and puts them in different categories. anything loud or big is a "tuk". anything sporty or fast is a "dun dun". fire trucks, police cars and ambulances are "we-eww we-eww"s. everything else is a "tar".
he has very specific taste in music. he needs a good drum beat or bass line so he can shake his money maker. headbanging, leg kicking (when sitting in the car seat) and shoulder shimmies are some of his best moves.
he recently started biting. once on riley's back. once on jakob's cheek. (poor little things.) when he realized he was in trouble after the riley fiasco, he quickly covered his face with his hands and whispered "noooo". after the incident with jakob (they were in tub) he held his breath and stuck his face in the water when i came in. (if i wasn't so bugged about the biting, it might have been very endearing.)

we can't help but adore our little maxwell rees. he is showing signs of "two-ness" (the screaming, the biting, the taking just because he can) so we may have to occasionally draw strength from his first two perfect years to get through the next one. bring on the naughty chair. ("what am i supposed to do? he's too cute. you tell him he's in trouble." -this is what jp said to me after max pushed riley, but "showed remorse.")

i don't know if you noticed, but max's fingernails are purple. just thought i'd draw attention to how adorable that is.

a happy valentines day indeed

2010-02-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

dear good husband of mine,

thank you so much for my valentine's bike. i love it. really. i hope you like your new jacket. (although i don't know how much longer you'll be able to wear it in the great state of texas.) and thanks for making such a beautiful dinner. and for using the real dishes. and for cleaning the kitchen afterwards. you really are my favorite. what do you say we put the monkeys to bed early tonight and celebrate this silly holiday like a couple that's really in love should? (watching simpsons and eating pita chips and humus.) this is the good life. much too good to waste.

i love you. really.

"unco dano" is here to stay

2010-02-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

and we couldn't be happier.

snow day

2010-01-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

northeast texas got a record breaking 8.2 inches of snow. we lived outside until it melted. except for the occasional hot chocolate/christmas movie break. we were in heaven having snowball fights, making snowmen (with mohawks), eating more than our share of the powdery goodness, and playing in the amazing igloo that daddy and uncle daniel constructed. it. was. AWEsome. the kitchen temporarily became a swamp with all the soaking wet snow pants in constant rotation. and coats. and boots. and hats. and gloves. but it was oh so worth it.

merry christmas to all

2010-01-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

we were so happy to have nona and grandpa howard here for christmas. after snow and ice kept delaying their flight, we finally got to see them christmas day. we went to the audie murphy museum (texas is pretty proud that he's from hunt county), we went to the movies and saw alvin and the chipmunks: the squeakuel, and ate at a restaurant with unlimited ice cream. but i must say, one of my favorite things was watching nona make pies with my girlies. i loved watching her hands guide theirs, i loved their joy and her patience. i loved that i have these same memories as a little girl. flour covered hands, loving the squish of the dough. and then covering the left-over crust in cinnamon sugar. i might like that more than the actual pie. but i think i'm the only one. all the better. more for me.

the loot

2009-12-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

santa called us christmas eve. no, really. caller id showed up "unknown". no number. no state identification. no nothing. the monkeys were on their best behavior. he insisted their presents were already loaded and on the sleigh. and that jakob was for sure getting the bike he wanted and riley didn't have to worry, it was a pink dollhouse for her. he claimed that max would get something perfect and zoe's gift was going to remain a secret until morning, but that she would love it. i was a little surprised how open santa was about the gifts, having not spoken to him personally, i kept thinking, "wow. i hope he knows what he's talking about." i, for one, didn't want to have to explain things in the morning if it wasn't exactly what santa promised. but christmas morning was pure excitement. that santa claus sure did deliver.

zoe: 1. polly pocket mall 2. "peace" build-a-bear 3. mint green camera (she got that early. we've established this.)

from santa: her very own room!! how santa managed this one, we may never know.

favorites in stocking: taylor swift cd, books, zuh zuh pet

jakob: 1. lego pirate ship 2. star wars skiff 3. real life cash register (i wish you could have seen his face)

from santa: brand spanking new bike

favorites in stocking: clone trooper outfit for build-a-bear, r2-d2 watch, scooby-doo dvds.

riley: 1. super fancy princess dress 2. parachute (just like the ones from elementary school. giant circle of fabric, everyone holds on to the handles and shakes it. runs around it. bounces beanbags on it. it was a huge hit.) 3. for the life of me, i cannot remember riley's third present. i'll have to come back to this.

from santa: pink dollhouse with a green roof. (she was very specific.)
favorites in stocking: stuffed white kitty cat, books, ariel costume for build-a-bear

max: 1. geo-trax airplane 2. shake and go race track 3. big orange tractor trailer that carries a big orange race car.

from santa: metal grocery cart

favorties from stocking: cars, trucks, motorcycle mailman, build-a-bear stroller

the phone call with santa ended, and jakob immediately claimed he knew who it was. it was "an old man with white hair. but he doesn't live at the north pole. i think it's called idaho." i debated that it couldn't have been grandpa howard or it would have shown up on the phone. and then....it started.....snowing! in texas!! on christmas eve!!! i picked up the nearest kid and swung them around and heard myself say something like, "it's a christmas miracle!" i guess i was pretty excited. and that was just enough to seal the deal for the sloop children. santa claus is real.

*pictures will come.

max's obsession

2009-12-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

every morning, in a tiny sleepy voice, max asks to watch "lightneen uhteen". so i plop him on the couch with his blankie and a warm sippy, and he's happy for about 20 minutes while i make beds or shower or sit by him spaced out (depending on what kind of night i had). he is starting to quote lines from it and apparently dreams about it. sometimes when he wakes up from his nap, he'll say "mom, mom. lightneen uhteen is faaasss." or "mom, mom. mater funny." then laugh and laugh at a joke only he knows. he loves repetition. he wants me to repeat the same story over and over. once on our way home from rockwall, we saw a police car with its lights on, parked behind a truck on the side of the road. max asked, "mom, mom. what happen?" "that truck was probably speeding, so the policeman pulled him over." and seriously about 20 more times "what happen?" since my one line answer was not enough, i elaborated. "remember when lightning mcqueen was looking for mack and the cop car turned on his siren and started chasing him and lightning said 'serpentine! serpentine!' and he broke the road and got tangled in the telephone wires? that truck did that." "ooohhhh!! i like dat. mom, mom. what happen?"

all i want for christmas is my two front teeth

2009-12-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

jakob lost his top teeth within hours of each other. the bottom 2 (on either side of his fancy new middle bottom teeth) fell out in a blur of days either before or after the top. the tooth fairy was in a frenzy every other night searching for ones. and, sadly, forgot once or twice. oops. i kept remembering when i lost my front teeth. i was so bummed. i couldn't eat corn on the cob (and i love corn on the cob) until those buck teeth replaced themselves. it felt like forever. when i told jakob that tid bit of information, he was very reassuring. "don't worry mom. i don't even like corn. as a matter of fact, i don't like most vegetables other than carrots. and i can just eat those on these side chompers right here." that's great.

traditions

2009-12-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

when thanksgiving rolls around, i can't help but start in with the questions. "what does your family do for christmas?" "what were your traditions as a child?" "what are some of your favorite memories of the holidays?" you see, i really want to make this magical for mine. i want solid traditions that we do every year. after pooling traditions from my childhood and his childhood and interrogating family and friends, and a few that popped into our sugarplum heads, these are the keepers thus far:

secret elf. first of december we draw names. everyday of the month we do small acts of service for that person and make a serious attempt to direct extra hugs and smiles and well wishes their way. buy a present for them to be opened christmas eve, hopefully encouraging serious brotherly love. (or brother/sisterly love. zoe drew jakob this year. they are either best friends...or not even close. zoe asked if she could trade. john paul said, "nope. that's going to be the best thing for you.")

after we decorate the tree we have a giant family slumber party in the living room and smile with excitement until dreams of random things dance in our heads. (we eventually kick the daddy out. he snores, you know.)

gingerbread houses. my fam did this every year. we each got to decorate a house and then choose who we gave it to. i have to admit that i have been known to buy a pre-made kit at the grocery store, but it's not the same. the house doesn't smell like gingerbread and the candy isn't as stale. i love stale candy canes. seriously. (there's no telling how old our gingerbread house decor was.)

typically, every friday we have family movie night. it's the one night a week we get to watch tv while we eat! (exciting, i know.) it rotates who chooses the movie, the meal and the treat. but this year we are also doing christmas movie night. starting the kids last day of school we will watch a different christmas movie every night until christmas. i have to decide if we will get to eat dinner in front of the television, at least the treat will make it's way in front of the grinch and george bailey and the charming muppets in a christmas carol. (i hope someone will actually sit through it this year.)

we are eagerly adopting the "three wisemen gifts" this year. we are giving each child 3 presents from us. santa will hopefully come through and bring an amazing one, we'll expect lovely and thoughtful gifts from grandparents (they always deliver), and we'll cram their stockings to full capacity. but we are really hoping to focus on the birth of our savior. and shying away from mounds of toys will help us do that. they always end up adoring 3 or 4 presents anyway. the rest is just filler. very expensive filler.

we rely heavily on the tried and true stand-bys. blaring christmas music and dancing around the house. baking cookies and dipping anything and everything in chocolate. we read the classic christmas books and the new. and we're working on our very own living nativity. (we enough kids, geez.) john paul makes his own delish hot chocolate that the kiddies and i top it off with soft and fluffy homemade marshmellows. we love going for drives and looking at the christmas lights. and finding a family to help have a merrier christmas. i'm so excited for my house full of monkeys to rip open their presents. and grin at my husband when they keep screaming with delight "oh me oh my!!! this is what i've always wanted!!" i guess riley's the only one that really does that. jakob does get all excited and yelling, but it's usually more like, "YEEEESSSSSS!!!!! YEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!" zoe has never had much of a reaction. if she is absolutely in love with a gift, she kind of quietly says, "oh. wow." we'll have to see how the little man is. it doesn't matter. i'm excited. excited that for 2 weeks school won't interrupt our days. excited that i have some things hidden away that i know they'll love. excited that they're excited.

thanksgiving and why i didn't take any pictures...again

2009-12-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

we braved the cold and the 16 hr drive to make the trek to north carolina to get our nana and grandad fix. (and don't forget about the aunts and uncles.) we basked in (nearly) a week of love and affection. and when we got home, i eagerly checked the camera card to see what lovely little pics i had to prove that we had a beautiful thanksgiving, only to find these little ditties:

that would be max on the lawnmower (the engine blew up shortly after this. they have no evidence). riley at the aMAZing children's museum. looks like she's making herself a box. some random dog from the neighborhood. and zoe's neck. when i saw these, i thought, "what the what?! why do i always leave thanksgiving photo-less?" and this is what i came up with.

i wasn't at my own house. so i couldn't always remember where i had left my camera.
thanksgiving is mostly an indoor show. and we all know that i shy away from indoor photos. (not the best lighting. boo.)
thanksgiving, when we travel, feels like an honest to goodness vacation. very little is expected of me, so in return i expect little of myself. my main concerns are laughing hysterically, playing with my babies and making sure they don't chop off a finger in pap's workshop, or bug anyone too much. easy peasy.

so if i had been thinking about it, i WOULD have gotten pictures of riley spooning with abby, the dog, and using her for a pillow. and i for sure would have gotten a million of max snug-mugging nana's neck. and i wish i would have gotten some of everyone together. or ANYone together, for that matter. i found these gems on zoe's camera. nana and grandad had an early christmas for the monkeys so they could see their cute little faces when they opened their loot. and these are some pretty cute faces.

i'll do better next year. (i hope.)

thisishalloweenthisishalloweenhalloweenhalloween

2009-11-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

our zoe lane was nancy drew this year. (don't let the cheer leading pose fool you.) the only thing we bought for halloween was the skirt, that we got on clearance for a measly 5 bucks. everything else we had. yes, even the insanely crazy socks.

every single one of my babies has worn this green monster costume for halloween. max wouldn't wear it trick or treating, so i had to snap some quick clicks of the camera while he was trying it on. i realize now that i shouldn't have attempted that at nap time. it was itchy and a bit snug. he was equally upset when the hood was on or off. and the vampire teeth sucker that was meant to distract him just made him sticky, so his mean mom wouldn't let him near her camera. and that just ticked him right off.

riley grace was several different princesses for our many different halloween functions. the cinderella costume proved to be the least itchy, allowing me to get these very hurried pictures of her. sweet little girlie.

jakob was anakin skywalker again this year. he was in the middle of conquering "lego battles" on nintendo ds and couldn't be bothered with photos. he suggested i post a link to the pictures of him last year. i found that to be very inventive of him. so you can see jakob HERE.

cheer

2009-10-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

zoe did the cheerleading clinic again this year. john paul and i decided this would be a good time to divide and conquer, since she would be cheering right around bedtime. i went to one of her practices, so john paul got to go the night of the game. he loaded up zoe and jakob and the freshly charged video camera, and off they went. when he got home, he claimed he didn't record any of the cheers or dance because the video camera was dead. bummer. but he assured me that (just like last year) she was the cutest one out there. but still, i was disappointed i didn't get to see it. but sometimes, on sunday afternoons, we watch home movies. and when i put the most recent disc in, i discovered about 15 minutes of people's feet...on bleachers...at what appeared to be a high school football game. just sayin'.

almost famous

2009-10-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.commercejournal.com/archivesearch/local_story_299115049.html

look who was on the front page of the paper!! the children's museum had a "mother/son pirate adventure" and jakob and i tore it up. yes, i am wearing a skull and crossbones bandana on my head. yes, i have a pirate printed tee shirt on. and yes, those are giant hoop earrings i am wearing. (i haven't worn earrings for about 12 years. i gave them to zoe. she's been begging for giant hoops. there you go.) not exactly the picture i would choose to have plastered on the front page, but this is a small town. it's not like any more than 9,000 people saw it...and now all of you.

her party

2009-10-27T18:17:00.002-07:00

4 days after jakob turned 7, birdie turned 4. we let her be in charge of every aspect of her party. she's 4, now. she's pretty responsible. so riley chose the decorations:

purple streamers
pink and purple balloons
purple tablecloth, purple plates, purple cups
purple flowers

she chose her cake and helped decorate it:

barbie cake with a purple dress.
purple flowers on the bottom.
sugar "happy birthday" letters

she chose the agenda:

decorate bags (to hold pinata candy).
run around and laugh and scream
whack the pinata (a pink and purple unicorn we got for $2 at goodwill).
get upset that your sparkly little unicorn friend has been hung in a tree and beaten with sticks and is now on the ground being torn apart.
make candy necklaces and bracelets.
giggle giggle giggle.
open presents. riley's friends (or their mommies) must know her really well. she got a disney princess cd player, fancy dress up shoes, make up, and tons of jewelry.
dress up.
put brand new make up on anyone who will sit still.
dance to princess music.
eat purple barbie cake.
scream with delight when we see that even the inside of the cake is purple.
stick sugar letters on cheeks.
beg to do it all again tomorrow.

jakob is 7

2009-10-27T18:17:00.001-07:00

when we became a family of 6, we adopted the idea to only throw birthday parties on even years. (when they are turning 2, 4, 6, 8...who do we appreciate?) and on the odd years, they can invite one friend to do something fun. this year jakob turned 7, and that boy knew exactly what he wanted to do. he wanted to go bowling with his best friend in the world, bryan. they were in the same kindergarten class last year, and upon discovering they were both die hard star wars fans, they were virtually inseperable. we are so in love with our little jakob gray. and here are 7 of our favorite things about the boy.

when he wakes up in the morning, he is excited and ready to go.
he is sincerely concerned about all living things (and cartoon characters, cg beings, and stuffed animals), hoping they are not hungry, or cold, or lonely.
he is a great hugger.
he's happy eating the exact same thing for lunch every day of his little life.
his teacher insists that he is a perfect student. not caring as much about grades or being "the smartest" (although he is very smart) as he does about being obedient and kind and helpful.
he adores his family.
if you give that boy a job, he will go to the ends of the earth to accomplish it.

happy birthday, jakob!! i'm so happy you are in our family. you make us so happy.

hair

2009-10-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

last sunday, we were having a seemingly quiet afternoon, when john paul walked out of the bathroom and said, "there is a huge pile of curly blond hair on the floor in there!" what?! that's impossible! we confiscated all scissors! (after bird gave herself layers and sweeping bangs last year, it became clear that she could not be trusted.) but i had forgotten i was letting the big kids do a craft in jakob's room. we made sure the door was closed. i don't know why that put me at ease. after all, she does have operable thumbs. so sometime between jape snoring on the couch and me playing tractors with max, riley went into jakob's room, snuck the scissors into the bathroom and cut a good 9 inches off of her hair. she came clean that she wanted short hair like one of her best buddies, caitlyn. i informed her that beau's mommy is the only person that has permission to cut her hair. she agreed. we made an appointment. and riley got an adorable new do. jape absolutely loves it, saying over and over how cute it is. and although i love it, too, i miss the curls. i miss the little girl with the curls. she looks way too grown up. and it is blatantly staring me in the face that my little girl isn't all that little anymore.

brilliant

2009-10-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

zoe has been asking for a digital camera for over 2 years. so this christmas, we finally came through. i've been talking to zoe about cameras for months. what kind she wants, how much we were willing/able to spend, it's capabilities. eventually it came down to one camera and one camera only. she chose this camera based solely on it's color. i tried to sway her multiple times. there were better cameras, at comparable prices with better options. but that girl would not budge. not in a stubborn sort of way. more like a "no thank you. this is exactly what i want." i considered getting the one i wanted for her. the better camera. but then i imagined her sweet little face opening her present on christmas morning and seeing a hint of disappointment. and i couldn't do it. so this is the camera that i bought and stashed in the closet, prepared to wrap in 2 months. but then my precious little canon got sick, and i had this brilliant idea. what if we give zoe her present early so that way we can at least have some sort of documentation that we all still exist. so if you see pictures on this little blog, it is thanks to the little mint green block that zoe absolutely adores. "maybe i'll be a fashion photographer! smile."

sad but true

2009-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

my sweet little camera is sick. specifically, her auto focus is being difficult. and her manual focus is lazy. and until a bag of money falls from the sky, so that i can take her the doctor, there will be little to no pics on this here blog. sorry about that, because it really is my favorite part of all this "blogging" business. the pictures. so i'll be watching the sky, and hopefully i can get back into my groove.

i'm sure you've already seen these

2009-09-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

but when i watched the crowd of thousands dance to "the black eyed peas" on oprah, i got that same giddy, teary-eyed, hyperventilating feeling i get everytime i watch these. i just can't help myself.

maxwell's dictionary

2009-08-31T10:03:00.001-07:00

max isn't much of a talker. he doesn't really need to be. he will repeat anything and everything (so watch yourself) but the words he chooses to say with no prompting melt my heart.
swing \whin\n. 1. please push me in the pink swing 2. the blue swing will do if someone is already in the pink swing
jump \dum\vb 1. i want to bounce on the trampoline 2. i'm going to jump in the pool whether you're watching or not
no \'no\adv 1. if i say "no" high and sweet, i really mean "yes". 2. if i say "no" low and grumpy, then i mean "no"
what \'wat\adv in response to any question you ask me (we haven't completely figured this one out. he says it all the time. but i'm pretty sure he thinks it means "yes")
ball \'ba\ n. 1. i want that ball 2. i want you to catch the ball 3. i want you to throw that ball at me and if it happens to hit me, i'll laugh and laugh
jakob \day'kuh\n. 1. boy to play with 2. small male person i'm always excited to see 3. someone who can remove me from my crib.
riley \wa'wee\n. 1. best friend 2. someone i love to see/play with/snuggle/accuse of stealing my blankie\bang'din\n.
zoe \zuh'\ n. 1. yea! you're home! 2. please share your snack with me 3. girl bigger than "wawee" who can put me on the trampoline and get me out of the swing 4. girl who occasionally locks me out of her room
hot \ha'\ adj. 1. the trampoline/cement is hot on my feet 2. i'm concerned the food you are trying to feed me is hot 3. i don't want the food you are trying to feed me, so i'll stall
stuck \'tuh\vb 1. come quick! i'm stuck 2. come quick! something i want is stuck 3. come quick! i want you to open this jar/door/toothpaste that i'm probably not supposed to have
max has recently started putting 2 words together. that one \da'win\, daddy's home \daddy oh\, stop it \dop eh\ and want bite \un bye\. they just might be the cutest sentences known to man.

school days

2009-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

the first week of school went off without a hitch. jakob started 1st grade with mrs. sturch (who we all immediately fell in love with) and was an old pro. "it's just like kindergarten!!" he knew where to meet before school started, what to do in the lunch line and how to sit on the curb while he was waiting for us to pick him up. everyday, mrs. sturch says something like, "i just love him! i want to keep him forever! i wish i had a million more jakobs!" i said to jakob, "wow. mrs. sturch really likes you." he very confidently told me, "yeah. because i'm the best kid in school." zoe was the tiniest bit apprehensive to start this year. she was in a brand new school, so the idea of not being familiar with where to go and what to do made her nervous. plus, none of her best little girly friends were in her class so she was feeling a bit secluded, (and she reminded us that she wouldn't see jakob in the halls...or collin or cameron or jayden or opheina.) but after the second or third day she was right as rain, once again feeling comfortable and happy, and although she doesn't talk about mrs. feduccia much, it's always nice things. so we are looking forward to another beautiful year. (although jakob is already asking if he can skip...pretty please... just this once.)

divide and conquer

2009-08-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

there are millions of reasons why i love my little family. the fact that it's easily divisible by 2 is one of my favorites. taking on 2 kids is easy and completely do-able. and no matter how we divide our wee ones, it's even. boys vs. girls. in school kids vs. at home kids. big kids vs. little kids (don't let riley hear you call her little.) good kids vs. bad kids. kidding. i'm KIDding! 2, for us, is pretty simple. but we are trying to spend one on one time with them, too. and we have found that just taking one kid out of the mix (it doesn't matter which one) makes it infinitely easier. but amidst our quest of division, we realized we were never mommy+daddy+child. it was always mommy+children and daddy+children. so we have remedied that. it will be rare, but it will be. we have decided that we will take trips with each child, individually, when they are 8, 12, and 16. hopefully bonding us as parents and child. we decided to make the 8 year old trip a day trip. and let them choose what we do. all day. this summer when we were visiting jp's family in nc, we left the 3 youngest with nana and grandad and took our eldest for a "day in the life of zoe". jp was hinting towards a water park, i kept hoping for a play, but zoe made the final decision. she chose to go to the mall and get her ears pierced, go to build-a-bear and to eat at the nearest restaurant. (i think it was a friday's, or bennigan's or something exactly like it.) we had so much fun. she was thrilled that she got to get dessert (chocolate covered strawberries) and felt so grown up with tiny blue earrings. john paul and i were ecstatic that we could have a conversation with our sweet girl and not be interupted. that we got to hear everything she had to say. and that we had a chance to remember to just look at her. and smile at her. and let her be loved. it was a huge success. she is already planning what she wants to do for her 12 year old trip, and making suggestions for jakob on what he could do next year for his first trip. maybe he will be more easily swayed toward the play. but, i highly doubt that.

tweetsie railroad

2009-07-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

aunt sara's

2009-07-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

sara is 16 months younger than john paul. and that girl has got an amazing memory. she also has a pool and a cotton candy machine and kittens, which made her house (according to the monkeys) one of the greatest places on earth. but even if her house didn't have any of those things, it would still be awesome. because sara is happy and fun and gives the best hugs. thanks for inviting us, sara! we had tons of fun.

**oh yeah. i love love love both of the pictures of riley and sara. they are making the exact same face.

we've been busy

2009-07-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

sorry that i never got your text messages and that i still haven't returned your phone calls. and please accept my apologies for ditching playgroup...and your party. but we've been busy. so very busy. we had to sit on the beach all day every day for a whole week. we had to collect seashells until our bags were bursting. someone had to skim board and boogie board to their hearts desire, it might as well have been us. we were forced to get tans and stay up late playing games and eat good food. we had to snuggle with grandparents and love on aunts, uncles and cousins. and if we didn't bury ourselves in the sand, who would? i'm exhausted just thinking about it.

road trip

2009-07-25T07:01:00.001-07:00

2 weeks ago, we loaded up "the hulk" (our green suburban) and made our way to north carolina for our annual beach vacation with john paul's fam. it took us 2 days to get there.
one of us was happiest while watching princess movies.
one of us looked out the window most of the time.
one of us took over the backseat and made herself comfortable.
one of us slept. (after screaming his poor little head off.)
one of us became a radio hog.
and one of us took some pics, happy to be trapped with those i love best. there was also the typical car games ("my grandfather owns a grocery store" "20 questions" and "the alphabet game") some books, some snacks and some desperate searches for anywhere with a potty, a playplace or a giant root beer float.
p.s. the drive home was not nearly this peaceful or content.

jakob vs. the diving board

2009-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

tuesday was the first day of swim lessons. after about 10 minutes, they moved jakob up into zoe's class. (she wasn't nearly as excited as he was.) the lifeguards determined he could already do everything in the beginner class and 1/2 the things in the intermediate class. and he was thrilled. until they mentioned the diving board. the last 10 minutes they jump off the diving board, which jakob has successfully avoided his whole life. i agree, it's pretty scary. that sporadic board quietly waiting 5 feet above water to throw you into the darkest abyss. and the fact that zoe's been bouncing off that thing since she was 4 just makes him that much more defiant. i saw him clinging to the bar at the back, looking completely unsure of himself. so i quietly walked over and asked if he was ok. with tears in his eyes he mouthed, "i don't want to do this." my nurturing instinct kicked in and i assured him that if he didn't want to he didn't have to. then the cool teenage lifeguard said, "ok, jakob. you ready, buddy?" jakob wiped his eyes, gave the guy a quick nod and ran as fast as he could, ending with a pretty impressive cannonball. and he LOVED it! family swim...diving board. free time at swimming lessons...diving board. today he was doing flips. literally. flips. never a dull moment with this one.

"bippity boppity doop"

2009-06-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

riley found her tiny wand this afternoon and immediately transformed into a "faiwy godmudduw". she successfully turned jakob into a prince, her trike into a rocket ship, and our teeny tiny pool into a lake. it turned out to be a pretty productive afternoon.

the over achiever

2009-06-07T13:54:00.001-07:00

the last day of school was the second grade awards ceremony. zoe loaded up on certificates and medals and special honors. she got an AR award, an award for being a good role model, there was something in there about p.e. and maybe math, definately science and social studies, but her favorite was the gold medal for citizenship. (not the bronze or silver, mind you. the gold.) the whole 2nd grade voted on who they felt had the best attitude, got the best grades, was the most helpful and kind and sincere, etc. i didn't record most of the ceremony, but when i heard the criteria for the citizenship award, i knew i had to get out the old video camera. (that happens to be when riley announced to the world that she had to go poop.) zoe was also chosen to be the refreshment server from her class, which is apparently a huge 2nd grade honor. when i took her picture, she was not beaming with pride. i asked what was wrong. she asked "why didn't i get the perfect attendance award?" "because you were sick twice and that one time i took you out of school to go see a movie. remember? because i'm the coolest mom in the world." "actually, the coolest mom would have let me go to school even when i was sick. that way i would get the perfect attendance award and would have had the most medals in the whole school." okaaaaaay. clearly she takes after her father.

someday

2009-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

someday my children will not wake us up at 6 o'clock on the weekend. someday they will quietly make their own cereal in the morning and not spill a drop of milk. someday we will not bring snacks to church. or diapers. or crayons. someday i will fit into my favorite pre-max jeans. someday i will hug my favorite norwegian in her homeland. someday i will finish knitting zoe's blanket. and riley's dress. someday my husband will graduate. for the last time. and i will know what i want to be when i grow up...someday. someday i will not hear my name "mahhhhaahm" shouted across the yard or house or park, followed by a string of tales to be tattled. someday it will not be one of my children that yells, "i gotta go POOP! " "riley, shhhh." "and pee!" in the middle of an awards ceremony. someday my children will know not to eat the homemade play dough. ("this cookie dough tastes funny.") today is not that day. so until then, i will smile at my babies. and laugh with my husband and know that someday, when today is just a memory, i will miss it.

dr. bobby

2009-06-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

last week max and i flew to kansas city (then drove 3 hours east) for my brother's big fat med school graduation. it was so nice to be with my family. (and to have an excuse to get some fancy new shoes.) and while we were there, i learned something about my perfect baby boy. he's not all that perfect. until that week, i had never seen him throw a real fit or have a tantrum or really even fuss that much. but it became clear that it's because he is used to getting everything he could possibly want. he has 3 very compliant older siblings that he merely has to walk up to and they start handing him everything in sight. my sweet little nieces are apparently not used to forking over everything they hold dear, causing max to have some pretty entertaining meltdowns. max got sick the day before we left. there were some desperate prayers as we were about to board the plane. you know those "please, god" prayers where you are suddenly willing to do anything and everything He has ever asked if He would only give you this one little thing. that's pretty much what i was doing. so my prayers were answered and max was perfect on the hour and a half flight. we waited patiently to get off the plane. perfect. we walked down the corridor, turned right to baggage claim. still perfect. he started coughing, so i stepped over to the side, and that's where max threw up everything he had eaten the last 2 days. projectile vomit. it shot all over the wall, but miraculously completely missed the 2 of us. i looked around for someone who worked at the airport. when i finally found one i said something like, "i am so. so. sorry, but behind that tram over there is a huge, disgusting mess. you might want to call someone else." so it was gross. but ok. it wasn't all over him. or me. or the mean old lady that sat in front of us on the flight. it could have been worse. much much worse. congratulations, bobby! i'll be calling for your medical opinion soon, i'm sure.

dreams

2009-04-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

i occasionally have some pretty bizarre dreams. some hilarious. some whacked. and some, even, prophetic. (like that one with the wagon wheels and red ball. how crazy was that?!) but last week, i had a series of really weird ones. even for me.

the first: (this was before the "swine flu" drama.) there was a crazy pandemic. everyone had to wear masks in public. they closed all schools and churches. and everyone was freaking out. since the schools were shut down, john paul couldn't find a job teaching. so he found employment as a truck driver. i was talking to one of my friends and she was saying how crazy our economy was that a man with a phd had to drive truck. i replied, "we just feel so blessed that he has a job at all." the next scene was john paul in the driver's seat of a huge 18 wheeler singing the avett brothers at the top of his lungs, pounding his fist on the stearing wheel, wearing the typical "professor" jacket. you know the one. tweed thing with wood buttons and elbow patches. i woke up smiling.

after i got max back to sleep, the second dream began: john paul was hired at a small university near kansas city, so we were looking for a house. and although i usually love small, cottage-type houses (smaller carbon footprint, close ranks with those i love best, not so "showy", you know what i mean) we kept coming back to this one house that was really much bigger than what we wanted. (i do not like excess...of anything, but you probably already know that about me.) so after much thought and contemplation and prayer, we hesitantly settled on this grand house, with a loft and spare bedrooms and a hidden staircase. we were getting settled in, and then somehow became aware of a verrrry slowwwww burning fire on both coasts. friends and family were calling us, scared and nervous, not knowing what to do. so we offered our house. i remember saying, "we have tons of room. and the fires will be out by the time they could reach us." so grateful we could help people in need.

my last dream was far less detailed, but much more emotional: for whatever reason, families were being split up. i don't know if it was war or illness or what, but these women came to our house and were crying and upset and (for a reason i can't remember) couldn't take their babies with them. so we set up cribs in the dining room and took on some precious new additions to our family. the only details i remember were our dining room table (pathetic, i know) and that the babies were all different races, and that i was rocking them in my rocking chair, telling them about how much their mommies love them. broke my heart.

when we woke up that morning i told john paul all about my series of crazy dreams. i think we were brushing our teeth when we overheard on the news (for the first time) about the swine flu outbreak. john paul was like, "NO WAY! you're starting to freak me out with this dream business."
totally bizarre, i know. so if john paul ever has to drive a big rig, or we have adorable, precious new babies, i'll be ready. bring it.

mad libs

2009-04-16T13:23:00.001-07:00

did you ever do mad libs as a kid? where the story is written and you fill in the blanks (with a little guidance)? noun. verb. adjective. john paul and i did this one and it had us rolling in the aisles. (and questioning if adverbs only end in "ly".):

episode 23: BEAR and the BELLICOSE BEES.
scene: interior of sunny's BLOOD RED apartment. chip knocks on door.
sunny: WHAT?! i wasn't expecting anyone! i hope it's chip with a HORSE or a TOOTH.
chip: (enters room) hi, sunny! hope you're feeling SIMPLE. i THOUGHT all the way here! did you know pepper is SWIMMING in the SLED this afternoon at the NEW YORK?
sunny: really? we should pack some GRANDE PICKLES and rush over to SMILE with him. that will be really LOUSY! i'll bring the CHAIR. that's pepper's fave!
chip: cool. i'll call hal on my new TACO and have him LICK us.
sunny: yay! i love when we all LISTEN together and EAT for a silly cause!
chip: okay, sunny. i'll LEAVE you outside, and we can go in my RECORD.
end of scene.

now that i read it back, it may only be funny to us. maybe it was really late. or the hilarious voices he was doing. or both. in any case, there you go, jape. it's blogged for our posterity.

unanimous

2009-04-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

the little man slept through the night for the first time last night. (seriously. he's 14 months old. it's about time.) the night before that, he woke up only once. that was enough cause to rejoice, since lately it's 3-4 times a night that we get to see his sweet little face. but not only did maxwell rees sleep through the night, so did every one else! i'm pretty sure that's a first. there was no peeing in beds. no nightmares to hug away. no sick tummys to soothe. nothing. just precious little tiny breaths, a silent rearranging of blankets, and a random word whispered. (i think it was "butter".) and how do i know this? because while everyone else was snug in their beds, i was up checking on them every couple of hours, wondering if something was terribly wrong. i do believe i am turning into my mother.

john paul's getting nervous

2009-04-15T05:58:00.001-07:00

you know those people that are just too beautiful for their own good? and then smart and funny and kind to boot? don't we secretly hate them? but this girl...this girl is impossible to hate. in fact, she is the easiest thing to love. and she has recently informed us that she is "half way to 16". so john paul is making plans for what he will say to all those boys that will inevitably come calling. be afraid. be very afraid.

what's in a name

2009-03-27T12:52:00.001-07:00

john paul and i are the givers of nicknames. mostly with little or no creativity. before we knew our college-boy-next-door neighbors' real names (and even after) we referred to them solely as "tank top" and "shirtless". we also have "crazy lady","afro","bff's" and "loud girl". i lovingly call john paul "jape" from a before-married dream i had starring trever keith (lead singer of face to face). and he, in turn, calls me "miles" (a leftover from the mission). our children are not to be left out. they have multiple. when we are referring to jakob and max (not talking to them) jakob is "the boy" and max is "the little man". but the names we actually call them are "snake" or "gravy" for jakob, and max is "snackwell" or "mitty"or "maxwell house". occasionally just "house" if we are feeling particularly lazy. riley is affectionately known as anything aviary: "birdie", "baby bird" or "the bird". and zoe's might be too long and impossible to spell, but i will attempt it here. any form of "zuh zuh"(which means "precious one" in navajo) that comes out of our mouths. "zuhzy", "zuh zuh boo" or just plain"boo" and john paul's favorite "zoe lane-a-riforous". it comes naturally. growing up, my dad was the nickname-er. no one can tell me how or why, but i was simply "motsy". i hardly ever hear that name anymore. (it's only my dad, my mom or my brother, wes.) but when i do, i immediately feel a bond. i feel known. i feel my past. and i love it. what are the nicknames in your life?

big brother little sister

2009-03-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

blue blankie and pink blankie became capes this afternoon. the wearers were appropriately named "pinky" and "bluey". notice the boy so stalwart and dedicated. and birdie watching his every unflinching move. mimicking him. imitating him. loving him. wanting to be just like him. couldn't help but think of my own big brother. love you, wes.

3 reasons why riley can't watch scooby doo anymore

2009-03-27T07:52:00.001-07:00

she called the glowing coals in the bottom of the grill "ghost eggs".

when she saw the mannequins at old navy she told john paul, "daddy, those people were turned to stone!"

as she was falling asleep, she asked me if the ghost in her window had "scawy eyes wike dis".

the boy can read

2009-03-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

mrs. matthews, jakob's teacher, said he is one of her best readers. (although he sometimes lacks the confidence.) but my boy is a reader! he can sound out words. he has his sight words memorized. and can even spell. (one of my favorites is "popsicle". "P-O-X-icle".) we are so impressed.

a special thanks to...

2009-03-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

jamie v, aka "misi's mom", for finding riley's beloved blue blankie. she found it in the nursery (even though we had looked in there a dozen times) and riley was ecstatic, but a little hesitant. because a couple of weeks ago, i had my mom send blue blankie's twin (she just happened to have an extra one) and when riley saw the imposter, she was thrilled...until she touched it. then, she let us have it. "dat is not de boo bankie i'm be wooking fo." "mine boo bankie is boo wike dis chair, not wike dat." and then, repeatedly over the following weeks, "mom, dat is not mine boo bankie." so when she was face to face with the real deal, she understandably had reservations. but then she touched it, and squeezed her little eyes shut and hugged it the whole way home. "it found me!" that night as she was going to sleep, she said,"i wuv misi mom." so, THANK YOU, JAMIE!! you've saved us.

bonne belle cappuccino

2009-03-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

this is my favorite lip gloss. but they don't sell it here. so everytime i find it, i stock up.

riley always finds my stash and takes it upon herself to make her lips "boodifoo".

it might be intended for kids, though, because it smells and tastes delicious.

so i can't really blame her.

but the second she puts it down, the little man swipes it.
and runs away as fast as his little monkey feet can carry him.
always checking over his shoulder to make sure she is not on his tail.

such fun afternoons at our house.

8...8...i forgot what 8 was for

2009-03-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

zoe is 8! she celebrated with some of her favorite little girlies from school. they ate pizza and decorated their own cakes and played and giggled and laughed their little heads off. so in honor of her 8th birthday, here are 8 things we LOVE about our zoe lane.

she talks in her sleep. usually just a word or two. "beep" "tap dance" "never mind". she doesn't believe me.

she loves all things school related. reading. math. writing. when she was in preschool she used to ask me to make up assignments and give her due dates and grade her work.

she is the first born. (just like my husband, my mom, my mother in law, my sister, my sister in law...)

she is always right. (or so she thinks.)

she is a great eater. i mean, she'll try anything and she likes everything. almost. (she LOVES strawberries, but isn't a big fan of meat or seafood.)

she is not a complainer. for that, i am extremely grateful.

she is great about saving her money. she can often be found with 20-30 bucks crammed ever so nicely in her little heart wallet.

she is an animal lover. cats, especially, but also dogs, bunnies, gerbils, birds. since she was 3 she has answered the age old question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" with "a vet."

when people ask me what my favorite age is, i can't answer. zoe has made every single year so fun. so happy. so lovable. i am lucky to be her mom.

the little man

2009-02-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

the parable of the legos

2009-02-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

i'll be honest. when it comes to legos, i'm not a fan. they are tiny and inconspicuous and repeatedly vacuumed up by the dyson. they are easily lost in the carpet waiting to be stepped on by bare feet. they are completely irresistable to babies who shove them in their cute little cheeks (like a squirrel saving them for winter). and perhaps the most frustrating of all, they are impossible to store without breaking and falling apart. my organized mind likes the idea that the bricks are formed to resemble the picture on the box. but it never lasts. it annoys me to no extent. i have requested that john paul super glue those little guys together so there is no chance of them breaking. he quietly declined, which, at first, seriously bugged me. but i am beginning to understand. part of the fun is discovering what else it can be. after you follow the instructions and play with the ship/tie fighter/moon rover for a day or two, it will inevitably get destroyed. by a little sister who "just wanted to see" or a baby boy who doesn't know his own strength, or even a mom...who is tired of looking at them. (sorry.) but the joy comes from the newly discovered thing it can become. the thing you hadn't noticed or recognized at first. kind of like life. you find yourself in a far away place that had no obvious draw, with a small village of "mini me"s running around, still students in your 30's. not exactly the life i thought i would live. but oh so much better. so much more peaceful than i ever imagined. so pure. so fulfilling. so content. sometimes early in the morning or just before bed, i hear the click click click of legos and i smile, because i know any minute he will come find me, and show me what he has made. and when i say,"cool, buddy!" i'll mean it.

can you say "gene simmons"?

2009-02-06T11:45:00.001-08:00

good times good times

2009-02-02T14:51:00.001-08:00

facebook

2009-01-21T08:56:00.001-08:00

so i went to elementary school with this guy, david (and middle school and high school.) and either he found me on facebook, or i found him, it doesn't matter. but he messaged me something like, "my old oak park elementary crush...how's it been?" wait. what?! i was someone's crush? your crush? get out of town! you must be joking. and then he proceeded to tell me all of these things that he remembers, but i haven't a clue about. and it was so fun to talk to him. and then, since i found him, i found about a dozen other people that i hadn't thought about in decades but it is so fun to have funny 5th grade memories take over my mind and to hear what they are doing now. and it's made me glad that i was a pretty good kid. that i can reconnect with these people and i don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed. (but that may be because i have a terrible memory.) and i'm happy that i have since led a pretty good life. i don't have to say things like, "since i've been released from prison..." or "rehab has been really good for me." i'm happy that facebook has been a pleasant little experience full of smiles and giggles and "remember when", not avoiding questions and people and "i'm sorry about that time..." it's like a mini high school reunion, but over the net, so i get to say "hi" and hear what everyone is doing with their lives but i don't have to buy a new outfit or lose 10 lbs. if you're not on facebook, i highly recommend it. unless you are currently experimenting with drugs or have otherwise made a silly little mess of your life. in which case, i might suggest post-poning facebook while you get your life together and prepare for endless apologies to people you barely remember.

we are all enlisted

2009-01-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

blue blankie is missing. and we are not happy about it. we have searched high and low. in baskets. under beds. in drawers. in clean and dirty laundry. under the sink. closets. the backyard. the car. i found $1.13 in change. a few marbles. but no blue blankie. pink blankie was pulled from her lovely little rubbermaid slumber in the garage. and she will do. but she is not blue blankie. i'm surprised at how well the little girl is handling it, though. she only asks for him once, maybe twice throughout the day. and always as she's falling asleep (and first thing in the morning.) but i can see it in her eyes, sometimes, as she's looking at me. like she thinks i have something to do with this, but am too ashamed to admit it. i swear it wasn't me! your daddy was the last one that had it. folded up nicely over his arm as we were leaving church. who knows what happened to it between the hallway and the car. but we will find it. even if i have to make another one myself and wash it 3,000 times until it feels just like the original. so, we need your help. keep your eyes peeled for a blue flannel blanket with orbiting planets on one side and cozy gingham on the other. we are offering a reward of chocolate chip cookies, that may or may not be partially eaten by the time they reach you. (unless it's john paul that finds it, and then his reward will have to be his little girl's complete and total adoration reinstated.)

accents part 2

2009-01-15T15:46:00.002-08:00

overheard at our house this week:

zoe: what's that other language that only you and i know?

john paul: ...?...mm...southern?

zoe: yeah! southern.

john paul: but it's not really another language. it's english.

zoe: oh. then how come mommy and jakob can't understand it?

daddy: they're weird.

zoe: ooohhh. that makes sense.

our first visitors

2009-01-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

nana and grandad + uncle joseph and aunt lauren came to visit over christmas break and it was perfect. just way too short. they were here 4 days (not counting travel days) and 1 day they were all really sick. so that doesn't count. but somehow in the 3 (real) days we got to spend with them, they crammed it all in. the american girl doll store & bistro, making and decorating sugar cookies, babysitting all the monkeys so we could act like adults and go out with joseph and lauren, pf chang's lettuce wraps (that i think about daily), playing in the backyard, making little ones laugh, going to the children's museum and the coolest park, strengthening the bonds of our family. after they had gone, riley was playing in the living room and heard someone at the front door. "dem guys is here!!! dem guys is here!!!" but it was john paul who walked through the door, and she was less than thrilled. i am so lucky to have such great in laws. we love and miss you guys. and uncle "dofus", there are requests to play trains and soccer at your earliest convenience.

this little piggy stayed home

2009-01-10T10:36:00.000-08:00

i want my kids to eat healthy. fruits and vegetables...and a lot of them. i don't think that's too much to ask. but maybe i took it for granted when little bitty zoe lane started eating solid foods. she was completely compliant and willing to eat whatever we gave her. she refused nothing. then jakob came along. and it took a lot more persuading to get that boy to eat anything other than apples, bananas and grapes. and vegetables were tricky, but eventually accepted. then little miss riley grace came and changed everything. i could occasionally pry her dainty little mouth open long enough for the strained peas to touch her tongue. but she was never well pleased. by the time she started to toddle, she basically refused to eat anything that wasn't partially homogenized. so her diet consisted of crackers and pasta and cheese. and it hasn't changed much. when i try to sneak veggies in the sauce or fruit in the yogurt, i get a "dis taste cucky." so i was a little nervous how max would be when he was big enough for real food. he's been pretty good about it. but not in love with it. until now. and that boy can eat. and does eat. everything. he is particularly fond of green beans, carrots, apples, peas, bananas and yogurt. and he grunts constantly for mashed potatoes. and will occasionally lick the tray of the high chair to make sure he got everything. i am so happy. i hope this lasts.

**notice the extended pinky. this reminds me of how bobby used to drink water (or maybe still does. i haven't noticed.)

like my new shoes?

2009-01-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

riley does too. they are highly impractical. and pretty much the anti-flip flop, which are comfortable and convenient and can be found on my feet every single day. but every once in a while a girl's gotta have a pair of shoes she can strut in (and by "strut" i mean concentrate and focus with each step so as not to fall) and these little puppies were 90% off at tj maxx. and although i've never been much of a shopper (i can remember sitting in the oldsmobile in the parking lot during my early teens while mom hunted for bargains in richmond gordman's) if i've learned anything from my mother, it's that you should never pay full price. not ever. especially on things that you don't absolutely need. but a part of me does need these. to remind myself i am more than a "mom" wiping noses. and i may have somewhere to go other than the grocery store. and even though i don't have anything to wear with them, for $8 i can wear whatever i want. john paul said, "you haven't gotten a new pair of shoes in 2 years, and this is what you come home with?" i could have a life that involves 4 inch heels with sling backs and peep toes that reveal my freshly painted toe nails. you don't know. the more i think about this, i'm pretty sure i saved the receipt.

guess who

2009-01-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

guess who got straight a's as a doctoral student. guess who's hilarious and fun and started running in the a.m. guess who is a good hubby and a loving and attentive daddy. guess who is a talented teacher and an "extremely desirable candidate". guess who we are so proud of. i'll give you a little hint.

for those of you (and you know who you are)

2009-01-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

who ate jp's salsa and said "even mexicans don't use that much cilantro." i beg to differ. this picture was taken in texas (that's on the border of mexico) at a real deal mexican restaurant, owned and operated by real life born and bred mexicans. so there.

9 years ago today...

2009-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

we got married. 2 crazy kids who hardly knew each other. 9 years ago plus one day, i was freaking out. and had suggested "postponing" (calling off) the wedding about 3 times. poor john paul. but i had a difficult time seeing myself as someones wife. and it was all too real and way too fast for me. and i was scared. to death. but the next morning i woke up early and felt completely at peace. i quietly got ready in my sister's bathroom and felt like i was somehow gliding. i wasn't giddy. i wasn't hyper. i was just completely content. and ready. to start a new life. with him. and if i could send a secret message to my panicked and nervous self from 9 years ago i would tell her, "you're right to be scared. but it will all be okay. you will be happy. you do not have to lose yourself. you will find your own way, your own style of doing things. and it will all come much easier than you have ever imagined. you will laugh every day. every single day. but your fear is real because sometimes he will be selfish and want to complain, but he'll get over it. and it can get confusing or boring or exhausting. but those moments are rare. because usually it is hilarious and kissy and fun. and you will be amazed how fast the time goes and how happy you are to wake up next to him. and you will hug him in the kitchen and think how crazy it is that you still love him this much. even more. crazy. it's okay. it will be incredible." i wonder if my secret message would scare my single self even more. the reality of it all. but i'm so happy i did this. with him. because we are living happily ever after.

hello?...hello?...hold on. i can't hear you. i've got a banana in my ear.

2008-12-24T14:40:00.001-08:00

i did that "joke" today at lunch, while attempting to get the kids to eat more fruit, and they loved it. so riley adopted it as her own and proceeded to carry that 'nana around til it was bruised and squished and inedible. she kept getting the punchline wrong, though. she kept saying something like,"hello? i'm be coming to you house." but no one corrected her since her version was way cuter than mine.

afternoon of the living dead

2008-12-24T12:53:00.002-08:00

when our geriatric (and quite senile) computer finally joined the giant hard drive in the sky, we researched laptops. and discovered the one that we wanted was perfect, but far too expensive for a grad student with 4 little monkeys who would be pleading to use it. and the idea of grubby little hands and electronics makes john paul cringe. so we felt a more family friendly computer would be best for now. (at least until graduation.) and then the kids would inherit this one and we could finally get our macbook. (or...my macbook.) but somewhere between "i'm bored" and 29 degree weather the internet became a nice little form of entertainment. (which, like all electronics at this house, had to have a time limit attached.) but their faces, oh the faces. they've become zombies for the allotted 25 minutes a day.