Chubby Toes
Monday, December 31, 2007
What is it about babies' toes that is so . . . so . . . yummy? Amanda's are so chubby that they crowd each other out.
Corish Gay Hens
Saturday, December 15, 2007
In following my mom's tradition, every year for New Year's Eve, I try to make fancy foods that aren't anything like what we normally eat. I have a lot of fun doing it, even if the kids end up hungry because everything is too weird for them. Christmas dinner is already planned--the turkey we didn't eat on Thanksgiving. So I was thinking ahead for New Year's Eve. Today I asked the kids if they would rather have Little Smokies or Cornish Game Hens. I expected them to say Little Smokies, (oooo, tiny hot dogs on toothpicks!!) but I tried to sell them on the Cornish Game Hens--(wow, your very own little chicken!!). Natalie opted for Hornish Pens and Brendan opted for Corish Gay Hens. What a crack up. ;-)
Read more...The Christmas Tree
Sunday, December 9, 2007
So we drove out to a Christmas tree farm about 15 minutes from our house and chopped down our first real Christmas tree! This is a huge step for us, for the last 8 years we have used the same 4 foot tall, fake tree. So now we finally have the space to have a big tree, and wow did we get one!
We packed the kids into the car-complete with rubber galoshes (Lisa used her red polka dot boots) and loads of warm clothes. Of course, Brendan was worried we forgot the ax.
After too much debate over picking the best one, we finally decided on something too big and very wide. But heck it only cost $27!
As you can see, we picked a great one...
Now if we could only get the kids to stop rearranging the presents twice a day.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Checkers
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
So I don't claim to be any good at checkers, but I thought I could at least hold my own against a 6 year old. Today, Natalie jumped four of my pieces all with the same piece. I'll admit I set her up to jump two pieces, but I didn't see the other two. The little stinker then had to laugh and gloat about it. Lets just say I won the game.
Natalie vs. Amanda
Lately Amanda has reminded us of Natalie at about the same age, so we decided to do a bit of comparison. The top 3 pictures are of Amanda and the bottom 3 are of Natalie.
The funny thing is that their personalities are exactly the opposite. Natalie couldn't hold still (and still can't). Amanda takes a few crawls away and then just stops...puts a finger in her mouth...thinks...goes back to where she came...thinks again.
And Brendan, well he's in a league of his own.
Cocked and Loaded
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Check out these two trigger happy little tykes. 
So they were just paint ball guns, but the kids got pretty good at hitting something ...eventually.
Thanksgiving Feast!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
We had a great Thanksgiving with friends in a city about four hours south of Portland called Grants Pass. Jed and Erica, two great friends from BYU, invited us down for a few days. I have to say one of the highlights of the trip was the truducken...Anyone heard of it? Ok call it crazy, but someone gave Jed and Erica a turkey stuffed with a duck and then stuffed with a chicken. Yes, one stuffed inside the other with three different layers of cornbread stuffing sandwiched in between the birds. Even better, the whole thing was boneless!!!!
I dare say this quickly topped the list of the best Thanksgiving foods we have had in a long time. Everything was so well seasoned it didn't need gravy or the cranberry sauce...Heck, I was picking the leftovers out of the fridge during breakfast the next morning!
Our cf card was full so we don't have any pictures of the actual bird, but you can get the idea from the picture below.
Great food, great friends, and just relaxing; it all made for an absolutely outstanding Thanksgiving! Thanks Jed and Erica!
The kids had a great time chasing around with their kids and making candy houses. If I can get a few pictures I'll post them of the gingerbread houses the kids made. Ezra and Jed also snuck out to play paintball for a few hours and had a blast...I'll see if I can get pictures of that too.
Amanda is Crawling!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
On Tuesday Amanda made a few brief attempts at a crawl and today she amazed us by doing it pretty consistently. Seeing her effort at moving each arm is just too cute!
Sorry about the long clip, we are just proud parents!
A Walk Turns Into A Wild Goose Chase
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The hayseeds and I decided we would go out for a little fun while Ezra was gone on his "catch up with the guys/BYU football game/laser tag/eat really good food/get two nights of uninterrupted sleep" weekend. We went to Bethany Lake park to see what was there.
We were having a great time exploring the new (to us) park with its little lake . It was a gorgeous fall day.
Brendan said it was too hot to wear a shirt. (It was in the low-60s that day).
Some nice folks gave us some bread to feed the ducks and geese.
Natalie and Brendan got scared by the geese. The geese were big--they came up past my waist. The kids started to run away, but they forgot to drop the bread. So the geese started honking loudly and chasing them. I managed to stop laughing long enough to yell at them to drop the bread. They did.
Come back, Brendan! (that's him way off in the distance between the power poles) I'll stop taking pictures so I can protect you like a good mommy should!
Random Brendan Moments
Friday, November 9, 2007
Brendan loves to make people laugh. His budding sense of humor and his silliness keep us chuckling. But sometimes what makes us laugh the most are moments when he isn't trying to be funny. For example, today at lunch he asked why there aren't any vegetable yogurts. He thinks broccoli yogurt would be fun to try. Yuck!
Look closely at this picture.
Fighting "He Who Must Not Be Named"
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Let's just say I'm grateful the orange washed out.
Lisa made the costume, doesn't it look great!
Mummies
As part of the Halloween party we also gave the kids a roll of toilet paper and had them make mummies out of themselves. Now we wonder how long it will be before the kids start doing it on their own...or even worse...to someone's house!
Halloween Party
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
We had a little Halloween Party last weekend. We played traditional Halloween games, like donuts-on-a-string and bobbing for apples, both big hits with the kids.
Can you guess who we are dressed up as?
Nat and Bren get in on the HP action too.
Brendan's Four Foods
Today at lunch Brendan announced that he has four foods that he doesn't like:
Tacos in a shell
Tacos in a bowl
Lemons that aren't cooked
Dirt
Thank you, Brendan.
Thumbs and Sleep
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
What is it about thumbs that help a baby fall asleep? We just love this little kid!
A Miracle!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
After 3 days of a grumpy, tired, drippy, sweet baby....A great big front tooth finally poked through for Amanda! Four down, over a dozen to go!
I love those big uneven, tooth grins!
Portland Children's Museum on a Rainy Saturday
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Today's feature was a "Truck Petting Zoo"
Funny how a building full of strangers can turn squabbling siblings into best friends.
She really is a smiley baby
Two seconds prior to every single one of these pictures, Amanda was smiling a picture-perfect smile. That's two seconds too long for our digital camera. 
Read more...
Doing Chores
Saturday, October 20, 2007
So one of Brendan's jobs is to put his clothes away after they are folded. You might say we have a little work ahead of us.
The Star Soccer Team!
Here are a few shots from our last soccer practice. It is a good think the season is over because it has been pouring rain here all week. 
Natalie having fun being chased by a ball.
Ezra acting like an assistant coach.
And the team with their trophies at Pizza Caboose. What a great group of kids!
Anyway, the debate I'm having is whether we encourage Natalie to play soccer next year or not. She did great, and we love seeing her exercise and get the wiggles out before bedtime. But at what point do we step back and let her choose her sports 100%? My thought is that if we give her the choice, she will ultimately pick what she likes most and do better at it. If any of you experienced parents have any thoughts...let me know.
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