Considering Myself Lucky

My babies turned five today!

We have been celebrating Alex and Emma's birthday for a few days now, starting with their birthday party on Saturday. It was held at a gymnastics gym where the kids got to play on all the equipment, including a 35-foot trampoline, a bounce house and a foam pit for jumping. One mom called it the "Pink Eye Pit." I agree--it gave me the heebie jeebies but the kids loved it so I endured and had the hand sanitizer ready to go.

They loved playing with their friends and received many fun gifts, including backpacks from us. On Monday they proudly wore their backpacks to school.

I visited their class on Monday for their birthday spotlight and they were proudly wearing their birthday crowns. Turning five is very exciting!

Happy Birthday, Alex & Emma! Lots of love from Dad, Mom and Ethan

December!

December has already been a whirlwind of activities. I can barely keep up but have managed to capture the fun on film. Here are a few pictures . . .

Okay, this is from November . . . Thanksgiving day.


















Just Audi . . . isn't she sweet? Out of everyone at our house, she loves the snow the most.



Emma and her friend, Kiana, got their nails painted. Emma picked her polish off two days later during nap/quiet time. It was worth the $10 because we had a fun girls' night out.
















Alex and Emma gave an amazing performance in their Christmas program at Challenger. All the kids did a great job and were so excited when Santa arrived for a surprise visit. Emma said Ms. Cindy, the Headmaster, promised her it was the real Santa and not just a guy dressed up in a suit.


Emma gave another awesome performance in her Christmas dance recital, even though she didn't like "all those movements" she had to do with her hands. I think she was more excited to dress up and wear make up.



Ethan's second-grade class decorated gingerbread houses. Ethan definitely put more candy in his mouth than on his house!


The rest of the month will include celebrating Alex and Emma's birthday, Christmas, a visit from my mom, a break from work and school and hopefully some fun time with friends. Happy December to you!

Santa and Things That Make You Go Hmmm . . .

One of our family traditions for three years now has been to ride The Polar Express (the Heber Creeper) to visit Santa at the North Pole. It was just as fun as the first time! For two years now we've had dinner afterwards at a cute little restaurant called the Spin Cafe where they serve "spinny" (curly) fries and delicious gelato.

When I was pregnant with Alex and Emma and would tell people we're having a boy and a girl an occasional person would say, "Are they identical?" Then the same question continued after they were born. I would politely say, "No . . . they're a boy and a girl." Some people would get it then and say, "Oh yeah." Others would need a little more information . . . "they have different parts which means different DNA." A couple of times that didn't even click. Well, our waitress at Spin Cafe last night was chatting with the kids and asked Emma how old she is. Emma said, "Four" and then the waitress pointed to Alex and said, "How old is he?" I said, "They're twins--they'll be five in a couple of weeks." She looked at Emma and exclaimed, "Oh! Twins! Are you identical? Let me see . . ." She looked at Emma, then looked at Alex and said, "Yep! That is so cool! If he gets hurt, do you feel it? If she gets hurt, do you feel it?" After she walked away Emma whispered in my ear, "She is so nice!" Then Emma gave her a big hug when we left.

It was a fun night to start the holiday season and I keep smiling when I think about the waitress.

Words

Recently Ethan said to me, "I know what the "f" word is." I asked him what it was and he said, "I can't tell you! It's a bad word!" I was curious so I told him he could whisper it in my ear and I promised he wouldn't get in trouble for saying it. He was a little hesistant but said okay and whispered, "it's frockers." I couldn't help but laugh. Then yesterday Ethan said, "I know what the "s" word is." He knew he could tell me so he said "it's psycho!" I wondered if I should tell him the real "s" word . . . then he said "psycho is a really bad word because if someone doesn't like you AT ALL they say you're psycho and it's not nice!" I decided to leave it at that. Here's a picture of Ethan looking a little psycho (by my definition).

Happy Fall

Today was a beautiful day . . . I hope this nice weather lasts a little longer. Here is Alex, hiding in the bushes.

Versing

On Saturday the soccer teams gathered at their designated fields and Ethan saw his friend, Ian, on the opposing team. He ran over to me and said, "I'm versing Ian today!"

Ian is Ethan's new friend at school. Ethan is at a new school this year. He is outgoing and makes new friends easily but it has taken some time to settle in with some buddies. Last week he said he wanted to give his phone number to Ian and he had Ian's phone number in his backpack. Then at the soccer game Ian's mom recognized David. As it turns out, Ian's dad coached Alex and Emma's indoor soccer team last winter. Ethan and Ian played along the sidelines during the game. This was the soccer team when Alex and Emma regularly tackled each other during the game and pulled their baggy soccer shorts up so everyone could see their underwear.

At first I thought, "what a small world it is" but then as we were at Emma's dance class tonight I saw another family from school and soccer, a co-worker's husband and daughter and a former SLCC student and her kids. I realized, with a great feeling in my heart, that we are part of a community.

The Sweeter Side

My friend, Kim, snapped this picture of Emma on Sunday and when I saw it my heart swelled. This is an expression I have never been able to capture on film but it is one I dearly love.

I imagine that when I am older I will look at this picture and be reminded of my sweet four-year-old Emma who says things like, "Kiss my lovely lips, Mama", "Mama, you're my best girl", "Mama, your hair looks pretty. When I am a grown up will my hair look like yours?", "Daddy is silly and he sings funny songs" and "You make my heart feel super happy."

In the Company of Greatness

My friend, Kim, hired a photographer named Jamie Sampson a few years ago and I have been following Jamie's website and blog ever since. She takes amazing photos of children and dogs. She recently put out a call for child models for her fall advertising campaign. I sent some pictures to her and she selected Emma to be her little model! We met her last night for the photo session and she is absolutely adorable (she's a grown up but I can still say that since she is younger than me). She is also Emma's new best friend. Click here to see a sneak peak of the photos, or click on the link on the right for Jamie's blog. I can't wait to see more!

Jamie Sampson Photography Blog

Happy Birthday, Audi

Little Miss Audi turned one on August 24th. What a great addition to our family (even considering the extra planning and work on our part). Getting a birthday picture of Audi and the kids didn't prove to be any easier than taking a Christmas-card picture! But here she is and we love her. She loves to eat rawhide bones, ice that falls from the refrigerator door and her own poop. What more could we ask for?

Young Minds at Work

A few days ago Alex got dressed in the clothes I had set out for him--blue patterned shorts and a light blue polo shirt. Then he put on brown socks and pulled them up above his calves. Our conversation went as follows:

Me: "Alex, let's go pick some different socks that will match."
Alex: "No, I want to wear these!"
Me: "Let's pick some white ones. The brown ones don't match."
I was kneeling down in front of him so we were eye level; he looked at me, very seriously (and a little worried) with his soft brown eyes and said, "Is it against the law?" I said, "Only according to the fashion police." I was fine with the brown socks.

Here's a conversation with my feisty little Emma:
Emma: "How many days do we have left at KinderCare?"
Me: "Two--Thursday and Friday."
Emma: "Oh! I'll have to tell Ms. Ashley that Friday will be my last day! And Elijah."
Me: "Why Elijah?"
Emma: "Because he said he doesn't want me to go to that school anymore because he doesn't like me."
Me: "That wasn't very nice of him to say. It makes me mad that he said that to you."
Emma: "Why do you care? He's not your kid."
Me: "Well, I'm glad."
Emma: "Why are you glad? Because you don't want four kids? (No) How about five? (No) How about ten? No, not ten because then our house would be WAY TOO NOISY! Mommy, is three the perfect number?"
Me: "Yes, perfect."

The Compromise

Our church is located in the valley below Kennecott Copper Mine so every week (well, almost every week) we have an impressive view of the mine. One day Alex excitedly yelled, "The compromise! The compromise! I see the compromise!" I finally realized he meant "the copper mines."

David's family is in town so we finally decided to make the trip to visit the mine. Wow! It's quite impressive! If you've never been there you should check it out. Here are a few pictures:

The road you see that winds around the mine is 500 miles in length. If stretched out you could drive from SLC to Denver.

These trucks are driven down into the mine, loaded with ore and driven back up--ALL DAY LONG. The picture doesn't do it justice but these trucks are enormous.

Here is a tire for those trucks. It weighs ten THOUSAND pounds. On the left is David's dad and he is about 6 feet tall. I don't usually get excited about trucks and dirt but this was something to see!

Pictured from left to right: Stan, Ruby, Emma, Ethan, Alex, Brandon, Lauren and David.

No, not that word

A few nights ago Emma and I were driving home from her dance class. I asked her if she likes to dance and she said yes, just not when she has to do it by herself [in front of the teacher and other dancers]. I commented that it must make her feel nervous to do something new in front of everyone. She said, "No, not nervous. A different word. Shy." Here is my "shy" girl (not) whipping up a mud/stick/leaf/herb pie.

First Crush

Ethan is attending an awesome summer camp and it has become clear that he has a crush on his adorable counselor, Joey. Joey is 24 and she's a First Grade teacher. The developing story:

"Joey says it's okay if we trade food with other people at lunch, as long as the other person wants to trade."

Another day I found something in Ethan's lunchbox that I hadn't packed that morning. I commented that he must have traded with someone and he said, "Yeah, Joey. She likes the pretzels you packed for me."

Yet another day while packing his lunch: "I want to pack some Dunk 'Ems because Joey likes to trade those with me. She doesn't ask anymore, she just trades what she wants when I open my lunchbox." (I could tell by his small grin that he likes this daily ritual.)

On Sunday I made brownies and asked Ethan if he'd like one in his lunch the next day. He said, "Yes but can you please pack two so I can give one to Joey?"

Then on Monday I knew for sure . . . we were talking about how many colleges there are around the world--SLCC, U of U, BYU, etc. Then my little Ute said, "I don't really care about Utah or BYU anymore, I mean who wins." "Why not?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to act casual and said, "Well Joey went to BYU." He said he still likes the Utes and will wear his red "U" shirt so all is well.

Further evidence . . . pictures from the camp website . . . he adores her and I'm so glad. It makes my heart swell to think of the affection he feels for her and how sweet she is to him.

Emma, where is your _______ ?

Several times this week I found myself looking for items that had mysteriously "disappeared." A few examples: Emma's soccer shorts, headbands, sunglasses, swimsuit, cropped leggings and earrings. I asked Emma if she knew their whereabouts and without a hint of guilt she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know."

A major discovery was made tonight. We know Emma likes to stuff things, such as stuffed animals and toys, in the crack between her bed and the wall. David told her to clean it up tonight then a few minutes later she asked me to pull the bed away from the wall. Shortly thereafter, I went to check on the progress and this is the pile I saw on her bed.

You can't get the full effect from the picture so I'll provide an inventory of the items she has stashed in the past two weeks:

soccer shorts, 10 headbands, 1 pair of sunglasses, 1 pair of cropped leggings, 1 bikini top, 3 pairs of earrings, 12 necklaces, 1 bracelet, 12 hair clips, 1 hair scrunchy, 6 tubes of lipgloss/chapstick, 2 toy ponies, 1 lego guy, 1 rock, 1 rubber band, 1 dirty pair of pajamas, 3 shirts, 2 dirty socks, 1 pair of leg warmers, 2 stretchy bugs, 1 flip flop, 1 "Emma/Utah" license plate, a box of push pins (emptied), 3 tubes of lotion, 1 hat, 5 sticks of unchewed gum, 4 wads of chewed gum, 2 rice bag/pillows, all the stuffing from a small pillow, the tag from a pillow, about a dozen stickers, chapstick tin, makeup bag, jewelry box, 1 hat, an empty Kleenex box, the wadded up Kleenex from the box, 3 pairs of clean underwear and a black Sharpie.

Emma knew she had been caught. Neither David nor I were angry but she still knew she had been naughty and apologized again and again (especially for the gum). She is a little stinker!

I Gave Birth to Spongebob Squarepants

The new school year is quickly approaching and Ethan needs a new backpack and lunchbox. I opened the Land's End catalog and asked Ethan which color of backpack he would like. "Yellow! I like yellow!" Okay, now which lunchbox would you like? "Yellow!" "Are you sure? These will be yours for a LONG time and I thought your favorite color was red." "Yes! I like yellow!" Then I turned the page to some fleece jackets and guess which color he picked? Of course, yellow! I said, "Ethan, why do you want everything to be yellow?" "Because I LOVE Spongebob!" I ordered the backpack and lunchbox according to his wishes. As for the jacket, I will have to be creatively convincing so he'll be happy with another color. My fashion sense shudders at the thought of monochromatic YELLOW attire, plus I am pretty sure he would get teased by older kids (they can be so mean). So here's to Spongebob . . . whether I like it or not!

Durango 2009

We enjoyed a fabulous trip to Durango - the weather was perfect and we kept busy with all kinds of fun things. I have driven by "Hole 'n the Rock" (shouldn't that be 'n instead of n"?) about a thousand times but have never stopped to check it out. Traveling with kids is a different story so we decided to stop and take a break.
Emma wanted her picture taken next to the pretty flowers.
Our first two nights were spent with my sister's family, the Patchecks. Pictured here are Ethan (7), Mitchell (15), Baylen (11) and Alex (4). I haven't seen them for two years and Mitchell has turned into a handsome young man. His voice has changed and he shaves every other day! They are both as sweet as can be.

They also have a sister, Jessi (15) and brother, Wyatt (12) who are also great kids! My kids LOVED playing with their cousins, riding the 4-wheeler, playing with dogs and cats and drinking Kool-Aid out of big cups. My mom made a special request that I take a picture of all her grandchildren together so she can put it on her computer. What a great bunch to be proud of!

Uncle Michael is an avid hunter and has a number of his prized animals mounted on the walls. Emma was very perplexed by it. She asked him why he shot the bear and he told her he needed something to eat. She said, "Why didn't you open the refrigerator?" She would be running by the bear, stop, look up and say, "I didn't want that bear to be shot!"

On Tuesday we continued on our way for a visit to Uncle Mac (Macky Doodle) and Auntie Sharon's house. The kids were so impressed by the fact that they live ON A MOUNTAIN.

They took us on a lovely walk by this stream, perfect for cooling off hot tootsies. Or if you're a dog, perfect for lying down. That evening the kids picked fresh veggies from their AMAZING garden and Sharon spoiled us with a delicious dinner. She gets a huge brownie point because the kids ate TURNIPS and liked them! Emma sat down to eat and after sampling everything exclaimed, "Yum! There are FOUR good things to eat!" Make that five because we had root beer floats for dessert.

We can't go to Durango without a visit to Main Street. Alex is turning into the jokester of the family. Even though I didn't say to make silly faces, this is what I got. Emma was still trying to figure out if the guy was real. Ethan was ready, just in case.

On Thursday we boarded the train and headed to my aunt and uncle's resort, Tall Timber, where they completely spoiled us. David and Ethan spent the day soaring while my Aunt Judy took the rest of us exploring. She took us to all the perfect picture spots so I could photograph David and Ethan. I'll post some video clips.

David snapped this picture of Emma. She looks so grown up with all that hair.

Other favorite activities were picking wild strawberries (and learning that elk poop is bigger than deer poop), watching the trains go by and throwing rocks into the river. Smashing pennies on the railroad tracks was also exciting. I used to have a collection of flattened pennies--I wonder where they are?

The cute little blondie is Keira, my cousin's daughter. I think that makes the kids second cousins, once removed.

A perfect trip!

Lovely

Here are my lilies today . . .

. . . and here they are three years ago. It's amazing how they have multiplied!

Lollipop Girl

On Saturday we attended Emma's dance recital where her class performed a tap dance to Lollipop. Emma and I arrived early to check in then the boys joined us later.

Make up - check
Costume - check
Snacks - check
Coloring books, stickers and movies - check
Now a long wait in the dressing room until performance time . . .

Afterwards Ethan and Alex presented her with beautiful flowers and said, "Good job, Emma!" So sweet!

We finished the day by going out to dinner. I think Emma's favorite part of the whole thing was having "lovely lips." She is now obsessed with lip gloss and holds her lips in a pout--so they won't get messed up and also so that others will notice her. We attended a birthday party today at Chuck E. Cheese and she made sure that Chuck got a good look at her sparkly lips!