Catching My Breath

Let's see. Looking at the calendar, I think I have might have two weeks, maybe three, if I'm lucky, to slow down and breathe a little before things pick back up again.

Baseball season is finally over. Jared finished his coach pitch team the second week of July. I forgot to sign him up for soccer this year, but he says he's okay with it. Adam's team did well in their baseball tournament. They took 3rd place out of 16 teams. Adam had fun and ended the season with with a single and an inning of playing 2nd base, after spending most of the season in the outfield. After winning the consolation game to take 3rd place, I heard him saying, "Best season ever!" It was good to see him enjoying it. This next week he will finish up swim team. He best times in the regular meets have qualified him to swim in the Silver meet at County. He is also talking about taking lifesaving and water safety instructor courses in the future, so he can prepare to teach swim lessons and life guard at the pool when he is old enough to get a job. It's nice to have our community pool is so close to our home. We get a family pass every summer and take as much advantage of it as we can. Adam and Ryan are both old enough to swim without an adult, so they head over there quite often to swim with friends too.

Ryan just started practices for his competition soccer team. I sat and watched them for awhile the other night, because the coach had asked parents to be there for a meeting. I was really impressed with him--his coaching skills, his knowledge of the game, and especially the way he interacted with the players. He's expecting a lot of them, but he communicates it in a very positive way. I think it will be a great experience for Ryan to play for him. Ryan is excited to start 5th grade in a few weeks. We got an email from his teacher, asking him to practice typing, cursive, and times tables each week until school starts. It's hard to think about school in the middle of the summer, but he doesn't seem to mind.

All the boys finished the summer reading program at the library. They've been reading 15-20 minutes a day, five days a week, since the first week of June. They'll keep doing that even though the program is over, but I'll switch to encouragement mode, rather than "you have to get all your chores and reading and piano practicing done before you can have screen time" mode. Now they just have to do chores and Adam has to practice piano.

There are lots of changes going on around here, some of which are nicely facilitating my "breathing time." I decided to step down from the Library Board in June, after 3+ years of service. It was a great experience and helped me get to know our community after we moved here. I enjoyed it, but felt like I needed to put more volunteer hours in at my kids' schools. With all four of them at different schools next year, I'm sure I'll be busy enough.

Then, last Sunday our stake presidency canceled regular church meetings and held a special stake meeting--to reorganize ward boundaries. Every single ward in our stake was shaken up, most pretty drastically. We were moved from our ward of four years to a new ward made up of parts of four old wards. Everyone who was moved to a new ward was automatically released from their callings, so I am no longer the Primary president. I will miss the kids and especially the wonderful ladies I served with in the presidency. We attended our new ward for the first time today--sacrament meeting only. Our new bishop and his wife gave great talks. They introduced themselves and we learned that they met in a "military ward" in Virginia shortly after he returned from the Viet Nam War. (Sound familiar Mom?) He is from Hawaii, originally. By way of introduction, his counselor told us that he likes to give hugs, and he loves luaus. Our first ward activity will be a luau in mid-August. This change is going to take some adjusting for all of us--particularly Adam, who was attached to his deacon friends and Young Men leaders--but it will be an adventure and an opportunity to grow. Jared was happy to learn that several boys he knew from school are in our new ward, and it looks like there are some Ryan's and Dallin's ages too. Hopefully Adam will find some as well. We are sad to leave the friends we made in our old ward, but at least this time we don't have to pack any boxes to do it, and we don't really have to say good-bye either.

I've decided my motto is, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold." We've made so many wonderful friends in all the places we've lived. We love keeping in touch with them. (And living in Utah, we get to see many of them when they pass through. We visited with one family we knew in Texas last week, and we're having dinner with with four different families this week--two we knew in Cincinnati, and two we knew in Texas.) For Family Home Evening last Monday, Jeff took us all to Provo for a little "family history tour." We ate dinner at the Malt Shoppe on University Avenue, then drove around and showed the kids all the apartments we lived while we were dating and first married. Then he talked to the boys about all the places we've moved to, the good friends we've made, the wonderful experiences we've had, and the memories we've made. Then we talked about the changes in our ward and how we have the opportunity to grow and make new friends, just like our family has done many times through the years. It was a fun trip down memory lane, and hopefully an effective lesson. At least it kept the kids attention and they weren't wrestling on the couch, like normal. :-)

I feel like I'm rambling, but I'll finish up with this. We have a 16-year-old German girl coming in a few weeks to live with us and go to our local high school for the coming school year. She is the youngest daughter of a family Jeff first met as a missionary in East Germany. I'm not completely sure I'm prepared to deal with a teenager, or a girl, but we are excited that she got all the red tape worked out so she can come. It will be another adventure for us. Mostly I worry that she will get homesick, but I guess we'll cross that bridge if we get to it. In preparation for her arrival, we have to clean out all the stuff we've been storing in the guest room. So for the moment, I'm spending my breathing time deep cleaning my house, room by room, making space elsewhere to put that stuff. It feels good to dejunk a bit, and my house certainly needs the cleaning.

Busiest. Summer. Ever. Part 3.

And finally, swim lessons. We just finished the our first session today. Our second session starts after the 4th of July holiday. I considered not doing two sessions this year, but all the boys are doing well and progressing, so we're pushing on and trying to take advantage of that.

Dallin is finally old enough to enjoy the water and not freak out. Last year he lasted less than two days of the Preschool class. Thank goodness he doesn't remember that. He even loves the water slides. He can't do them on his own, but I think he went down 9 or 10 times today with help.

Jared was the best swimmer in his Level 2 class, according to his teacher, our good friend Rachel. Watching him catch on to swimming and become more independent in the water is almost as much fun as seeing him learn to read this past school year. He's moving on to Level 3 next week.

Ryan passed a major milestone in the pool. For a couple years he's struggled to pass his swimming classes because he was afraid to go in the deep end. This year the fear is gone. And he even jumped off the diving board for the first time this week. Now we can hardly get him off it. :-)

In case of animal reports, try this

Jared has an animal report due on Thursday. He chose to do his on the gray wolf. He has to give a short speech about it in front of his class, and visuals are encouraged. Knowing it would be another crazy busy week, I made him start on it yesterday after school. Last year in kindergarten he had to do a diorama for his animal project. We made an origami penguin and he was so excited about it.


When he suggested an origami wolf for his visual this year, I was all for it. Luckily we found a simple one online. Origami fascinates me, but it's hard to follow the instructions/diagrams when they get too complicated. Here is what we finished up tonight:

He helped color and fold the wolves, and colored all the background. As you can see, he's pretty happy with it too.

My Saturday Project

I haven't been very motivated to blog lately. Sorry about that. Today though, I started--and finished!--a project that I am pretty proud of, so I thought I'd brag a little bit. By way of explanation, my little Dallin loves to be outside. Even more, he loves to "work in the dirt." I think he saw his daddy digging holes last summer and decided that was a cool thing to do. So Dallin digs in my front flower bed. This has not been a huge problem, since there are no flowers in it at the moment. However, it gets Dallin very dirty and tends to get dirt and sometimes mud tracked in my house. It's also in the front yard where I have a hard time keeping an eye on him unless I am outside with him, which I just can't be as much as he wants to be out there. Last Saturday he rode his big wheel all the way down our street and into the busier cross street. A neighbor's daughter-in-law stopped her car and, not knowing who he belonged to, brought him back to the neighbor's house. In the meantime, I had gone looking for him up at the park east of our house--the opposite direction from where he had gone. Not finding him there, I started to panic. I was very relieved to find him in my neighbor's arms in my front yard when I got back. I wasn't so relieved to hear he'd been found in the middle of the street, but my prayers for his safety were answered, and I didn't have to panic for too long.

Okay, so that was the long explanation for why I spent most of today building a sandbox. I'm hoping to trade dirt for sand, and to entice him to stay in the backyard where I can fence him in and keep an eye on him out the kitchen windows.


I bought the sand at a local landscaping company--six 5 gallon buckets full for $5. Then we trekked to Home Depot where I actually had an employee ask if I needed help. Then he actually helped me--unusually good customer service for that store, in my experience. I got treated 2x6 boards, cut into four foot lengths, and weed-blocker fabric. Then we went home and got to work. Adam sanded the ends of the boards. Then we all got our painting clothes on and painted them the same color as the trim on our house. While the paint was drying, we dug out some sod by the back fence under the maple tree and covered the area with the weed-blocker fabric. Then I screwed the boards together and put them in place. My only regret is that I got 2x6 boards instead of 2x8's. It would have been better if it was a little deeper. Except for the painting, Dallin was not excited about this whole process. But when we started dumping the sand in, he was all over it. I think he played out there for close to two hours--until I carried him kicking and screaming into the house for dinner. Success! We'll see if it keeps him out of my flower bed though.

Here are a few more pictures of my project and my boys:








And, just for fun, a picture of Jared in the middle of his haircut tonight. If his hair weren't so curly he would have wanted to keep the mohawk. Glad I didn't have to fight that fight!

A Mother's Day Gift from the Heart

My kids were cute about Mother's Day today. Ryan made me a recipe card holder at Cub Scouts, and a personalized plastic mug at school. Jared gave me a small plant from preschool. They all had made various homemade cards for me too. Jared was the cutest though. Earlier in the week he had mentioned to me that he had a Mother's Day present for me in a shoe. I assumed it was something he was doing at preschool and encouraged him not to spoil the surprise. He agreed, but seemed pretty excited about it. So today I started opening up the gifts and cards and he says, "Mom, where's the shoe?" I said, "Jared, I don't know. You never gave me the shoe." He immediately took off looking for it, and came back a couple minutes later and gave me one of his shoes, which I think had been in the basement. I said, "Is there something in your shoe for me?" When he said, "Yes," I reached in and pulled out a little gray zipper thing that he's been keeping coins in. I think it says Freedent on it and it velcros around your wrist. He told me, very sweetly, "I didn't need it any more, so I gave it to you." (At some point he had gotten it from one of his older brothers who also "didn't need it anymore.") He was so cute about it. It was a great gift given straight from his sweet, five-year-old heart. I thanked him and gave him a big hug, and he seemed pretty pleased. But here's the funny part. About a minute later two-year-old Dallin comes to me with one of his Winnie the Pooh shoes. I took it and said, "Are you giving me a present in your shoe too Dallin?" He said, "Yes," so I reached in and there was nothing there. I said, "Dallin, it's empty. Is there supposed to be something in your shoe for me?" He immediately picked up the little zipper thing Jared had just given me and started stuffing it in his shoe. So I helped him put it in, then I pulled it out and told him thank you too. By this time Jeff's parents and I could hardly keep from laughing. I told my mom about it on the phone tonight too, and she said I should write it down. So I just did.

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom, to Jeff's wonderful mom, and to all the other moms I am proud to call friends and loved ones!

The Force is Strong with This One

Jared has been thinking and talking about his five-year-old birthday party for over a year now, ever since he attended his friend's pirate party last February. He's been through countless themes, most of which I quietly hoped he would forget or change his mind about (Power Rangers, for instance). We recently rented the animated Clone Wars movie though, and that was a good thing. He finally settled on Star Wars for his party--thank goodness. Star Wars was doable. Jeff and I actually know a thing or two about Star Wars.
I did a little research on the Internet (birthdaypartyideas.com in particular) and came up with ideas, decorations, games, etc. that were fun, but not too extravagant. I made no-sew Jedi tunics out of unbleached muslin, with brown fleece belts (about $10). Jeff made light sabers out of 1/2" PVC pipe and swim noodles cut in thirds (another $10). Then we did a short Jedi training course--keeping balloons in the air with lightsabers, walking a balance beam, blaster training (shooting a picture of a battle droid with Nerf dart guns), and popping bubbles with lightsabers. Then Darth Vader ("Jared, I am your father") showed up and kindly allowed all nine boys to beat on him. After Vader was defeated, the Jedis took on the Death Star (soccer ball pinata painted with gray and black spray paint). It was a little tougher to take down--the sabers weren't quite up to the task and had to be switched for a broomstick. By the time the Death Star was destroyed and plundered, everyone had worked up a bit of an appetite. While the Padawan Pizza was cooking, we played a bit of "Yoda Says" and watched Weird Al Star Wars music videos on YouTube. Then we washed down the pizza with Darth Maul Drink (Strawberry Kool-aid). Jared got some great presents (Legos, Sunday shoes--thanks Grandma Janet, Transformers, and an Eon Kid action figure). After opening presents we had Lightsaber Cupcakes, Darth Vader drinks (root beer floats), and Yoda Sodas (green sherbet in Sprite). The boys all seemed to have a good time, and Jared loved it. I am so glad. I did stress a bit over this one--I try to make my 5-year-olds' parties memorable. My biggest regret was that I couldn't run the party and take pictures at the same time. I got a few, but not many good ones. Oh well. Jared is my buddy. He gives the best hugs and makes me smile. He's curious and fun and loves to learn. He's a sweet kid, and I'm so glad he is my son. Happy Birthday Jared!

'Tis the pumpkin season

Hot FHE Tip

In our family, we take turns giving the Family Home Evening lesson each week. Tonight was 4-year-old Jared's turn. Jared LOVES stick puppet Family Home Evening lessons. He goes straight for the binder that Aunt Tasha and family gave us for Christmas five years ago containing homemade Popsicle stick puppets and stories from The Friend magazine. Unfortunately, we've pretty much done all the stories Tasha gave us, more than once. So I got online trying to find some new ones. I've looked for them before by searching for flannelboard stories/figures on The Friend page of lds.org, but they aren't easy to find, and most of the puppets are black and white, which then have to be colored. Tonight I expanded my search a little, looked on theideadoor.com, and found Chocolate on My Cranium, a blog of a lady who has collected virtually all the flannel board stories from the Friend, colored them, and made them available for all of us to use. Now that is a service! We are set on flannelboard stories for months to come! Yay! My only complaint was that I couldn't get them to print out at a very high resolution, so they were a little fuzzy. Luckily, 4-year-olds don't care too much about resolution. But if you have any tips on how to get them to print out better, please pass them on.

The Kind of Post Charlotte Can Look Forward To :-)

I need to write down a couple cute things my little boys have been saying lately, before I forget them. Dallin is just learning to talk. He can say maybe six or eight words so far. His latest are "ball" and "yes." This is the first kid I've known who has learned the word "yes" before the word "no." I think it is because I don't say no to him. I shake my head and say "uh-uh-uh" instead, and he definitely knows what that means. Anyway, the other night I was putting his pajamas on and Jeff came upstairs to tell me that the Utah Jazz had just beaten the league-leading New Orleans Hornets by 11 points. I responded with an emphatic "Yes!" Then Dallin looked right at me with a smile on his face and loudly said, "Yes!" It was very cute.

Four afternoons a week I put Dallin and Jared in the double jogging stroller and go up to the elementary school to walk the neighborhood kids home--our turn in the neighborhood "carpool." (We drive when the weather is bad.) One day last week we were about halfway to the school. Out of the blue, from the stroller below me, Jared said, "Mom, you totally rock." Ah, the small precious rewards of motherhood! It really did make me feel good, knowing that he meant it--four-year-olds are mostly without guile and not capable of much insincerity. I can only hope he'll feel the same way about me when he is fourteen. :-)

Jared's Birthday

Here are a few photos from Jared's birthday celebration. I also threw in one of him from our Easter egg hunt this morning. I took several, but this is the only one that turned out.













Jared in shades













Game from Grandma Janet













New teeball glove













In love with BEN 10













Superman cake

Randomness

I guess I should post all these random things separately, but I don't feel like it, so I'll just subtitle them.

Shelves

For my birthday Jeff told me he would build some shelves in the family room in our basement. In our new house I've been a little frustrated with storage options. There is plenty of space, but not enough closets, shelves, furniture, etc., to store stuff in or display stuff on. And we, unfortunately, have plenty of stuff. Especially books. Just ask anyone who has ever helped us move how many boxes of books he lifted. Plenty. In fifteen years of marriage we have NEVER had enough bookshelf space. It took a few weeks, but the shelves are up and painted and they look great. I was worried about how they would look, not because I didn't trust Jeff to do a good job (which he did), but because I wasn't sure what I wanted was based on sound interior decorating principles. I think I got lucky. Haven't had a chance to put any books or knick-knacks on them yet, but here are a few pics. Don't they look nice?!






























Brush with Fame--Not

About a week ago, I went down to BYU to do some family history research with my mom. As we were waiting to cross Campus Drive east of the Wilkinson Center, there was a guy also waiting to cross who looked really familiar to me. I figured he was someone in our new ward that I should know, or a bagger at the grocery store I usually go to, or something like that. We crossed the street and he went into the Wilkinson Center. We went out and around toward the library. Then there he was again, holding the door for us as we walked into the library. I smiled at him briefly, not wanting to be rude if I really should have known who he was and I was just having a senior moment. But I still couldn't place him. That bugs! It finally came to me later that same day, thank goodness. (I'm not that senior yet!) He looked like the actor, Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Karl "Helo" Agathon on the new Battlestar Galactica series. I mean it really looked like him! Lest you think that I'm some groupie or something, let me reassure you that pop culture is not my forte'. I watch very few movies and even less TV. We don't have satellite or cable, and, in fact, we didn't even own a TV until Christmas a little over a year ago. However, we do enjoy our Netflix subscription, and we have watched quite a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica on DVD. Still, I'm surprised I figured out who I thought this guy was. I've done a little Googling though, and I can't find any good reason for Tahmoh Penikett to have been on the BYU campus on a Saturday morning in February. It probably wasn't him. Oh well. Just a wannabe "brush with fame."


Cuteness with Jared

Jared is in a really cute stage and keeps me smiling on a daily basis. I'll be sad when he passes the pinnacle of cuteness (about age six, according to Bishop Derenthal of our Cincinnati ward). He went to our neighbor's birthday party a few weeks ago. Christopher is his best friend at the moment, even though he's a year older than Jared. So Chris turned five and Jared was SO excited to go to his pirate birthday party. (Why do five-year-old boys love pirates so much???) Jared had a great time and came home talking about finding treasure and treasure hunts and all that good stuff. Then he told me, several times, "I don't like three. I like four." Thank goodness I could tell him he will be four soon. If he'd wanted to be five like Christopher, I'm not sure I could have appeased him. So he's excited for his upcoming birthday. He has wanted a green Power Ranger cake since his last birthday though, and I'm sure we're gonna disappoint him on that one. I don't let my kids watch Power Rangers, I don't particularly like them--too violent, and last year's Larryboy birthday cake was such a huge effort that I think we'd better find something more simple this year.

Jared's Haircut

Jared has lots of curl in his hair when it gets long. It's really cute, but when it gets too long it starts looking a little stringy and we have to cut the curls. The first time I was afraid they wouldn't grow back, but it's easier now that I know I'll see them again in a few months. Here are the before and after pictures of the most recent haircut:

A day in the life...

Sometimes at the end of the day I have to stop and think about what I've done, just to give myself credit for actually accomplishing something.

So here's today:

4 a.m.
Adam woke up and crawled into bed with us because he had a bad dream.

4:30 a.m.
Woke up to Dallin crying--stuck the binky back in and it worked. We both went back to sleep.

5 a.m.
Alarm goes off because Jeff needed to get up early to write a test. I roll over and go back to sleep.

5:45 a.m.
Woke up again and decided not to get up and do yoga at 6 a.m., since I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.

7:05 a.m.
Rolled out of bed, woke up Adam and Ryan, and started the morning routine. Put cereal on the table for breakfast, fixed three lunches, tried not to nag the boys too much to get their clothes on and get ready for school. Looked unsuccessfully for gloves for Adam to wear--it's chilly in the mornings.

7:45 a.m.
Sent Jeff and Adam out the door on their bikes to school. Adam has choir before school on Wednesdays and Fridays.

8:15 a.m.
Sent Ryan out to walk to school with the neighborhood kids. Got Jared out of bed and started him on cereal. Got Dallin up, changed him, and nursed him.

Morning
Helped Jared get dressed. Folded laundry. Unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, washed pots and pans by hand. Fed Dallin some cereal and fruit. Put him down for a nap. Finished cleaning the kitchen. Took a shower while Jared watched PBS. Moved eleven boxes from the living room to the basement. Moved two boxes from the living room to bedrooms. Unpacked one box. (I'm hoping to have the upstairs settled by Christmas. The basement could take years still.) Dried and curled my hair. Changed a couple more diapers and helped Jared use the bathroom several times. He's not quite completely toilet-trained. (Last night he was saying the prayer for dinner: "Heavenly Father, thank you for the food. Wait, I need to go to the restroom first." I almost fell off my chair trying not to laugh while I told him to finish the prayer first, which he did, then ran to the bathroom.)

Afternoon
Warmed up leftovers for lunch. Fed Dallin some veggies and applesauce. Loaded up the kids in the van and mailed some letters at the post office. Spent $125 on food storage items at the Macey's caselot sale. (The empty shelves in our food storage room and in our new freezer have been begging to feel useful.) Got a workout hefting 20 lb. bags of rice and cases of canned goods. Got home just in time to put the case of frozen orange juice in the mostly empty freezer before putting Dallin and Jared in the jogging stroller to go pick up the neighborhood kids at school. (I take turns with four other moms in the neighborhood. It's a pretty good system.) Gave the kids a snack, then forced them to turn off the TV and go to the library with me. Fed Dallin one more time before we left. Herded four kids through the public library for 30 minutes. Returned home, put Dallin down for a nap, and let the kids go play. Sat down on the couch to read the Ensign magazine that came in the mail.

Evening
Fixed burritos for dinner so we could try out the brand of refried beans that are available at the caselot sale before we buy a whole case of inferior refried beans. Ate dinner, then fed Dallin again. Cleaned up the dishes and kitchen again while Jeff played computer games with the boys. Swept the kitchen floor. (I'm still not sure I like the hardwood floor. It looks really nice, but seems to take more time to clean than linoleum or carpet.) Did the whole bedtime routine and got the bigger kids in bed--late, it's Friday. Sat down to watch TV with Jeff while I nursed Dallin. Put Dallin to bed. Got the modem reset and the DSL reconnected after Dallin pulled the phone line out of the wall. Blogged all of this just for the fun of it. Headed to bed about midnight so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow. Isn't life wonderful?!

Family Notes

Dallin turned eight-months-old on the road between Texas and Utah. He started crawling for real on July 18th, now sits himself up and is starting to pull up on furniture. He is becoming very curious and starting to get into things. He has the cutest smile that he shares with everybody.

I expected Jared would have the hardest time with the move since he doesn't quite comprehend what is going on. Actually, he's doing really well as long as he still gets his nap each day. With all the commotion lately he has missed a few, especially while we were packing. Lately he's been saying things like, "Look Mom, we have one of those at home." Interesting how he still has a picture in his mind of what home is, even though he saw the house in Texas all packed up and empty before we moved.

Ryan's eyes have been looking a little square lately. If I'd let him, he'd watch TV or play computer games all day. He also enjoys reading and sports, but will choose an entertainment screen first if he has the choice. I took him miniature golfing yesterday for a little one-on-one "Mommy time." As we were driving home, I asked him how he felt about moving to Utah, going to a new school, making new friends, etc. He seemed okay with all of that, but then asked me, "Mom, do first-graders have to get any shots to go to school?" Good to know his fears are completely normal.

Adam also seems to be dealing well with all the changes so far. He's especially enjoying spending time with grandmas and grandpas and cousins. He's a social kid, always has been, so I really hope he'll find some good friends in our new ward and school. I figure there's always going to be negative influences, so I've been praying for a place to live where there will be good influences on my boys--friends, teachers, Scout leaders, etc.

Jeff and I are hanging in there. We've had plenty of physical and mental stress--lots to do and lots of decisions to make, but so far we're holding up. Jeff is probably holding up better, just because he's been biking and swimming lately and is in better shape than I am. We've both been really tired, but I seem to get there a lot quicker than he does. My lack of stamina is pitiful. Regular exercise will be high on my to do list as soon as we get settled, among other things. As always.

Next, stayed tuned for details of the house hunt.

Kids' Photos

You may remember my Photographer Frustration post from a few weeks ago about getting Dallin's and Jared's pictures taken. Well, I finally succeeded in getting them done at Wal-Mart with my coupon. The photographer had to trick Jared into smiling and it only happened once. Luckily I got a decent picture out of it. Unfortunately, his Lightning McQueen car was lost, so it didn't get in the picture with the other Cars figures, but this is still pretty representative of him and what he likes at three years old. Dallin's pictures are just cute because he is so cute and he was very cooperative with the smiles. He was five months old in these photos.

Photographer Frustration

Grrrr. Does anyone else get frustrated when trying to get pictures taken professionally? I won't even start on the unpleasantness of taking family pictures or how they get more complicated the more kids you have. I pick the time and the frequency of our family photos very carefully to minimize the stress and grief as much as possible. Kids' photos though, I try to make happen more often, usually at least once a year. It's slightly easier once they get in school, unless their school pictures turn out lousy, like Ryan's did this year.

So I've been trying for over two months to get Dallin in for a photo while he's still a little baby. And Jared hasn't had a successful photo since he was 18 months old. We tried last summer, but the photographer at Wal-Mart literally scared him so much that all we got was tantrums and tears. So this time I've been debating between Sears and Wal-Mart, both of which are relatively convenient for us without being ridiculously exorbitant in price. The last time we tried Sears, the pictures turned out okay, but weren't really worth the price we ended up paying for the package, and the customer service was poor. I hadn't seen the guy who scared Jared at Wal-Mart for awhile, so I went ahead and made an appointment there for this morning, reasoning that even if the pictures didn't turn out perfect, at least I didn't have to invest $60 or more to keep them. I got the boys dressed in their respective outfits and got over there on time, a feat in and of itself. Dallin was fed and rested and happy, and Jared was even acting like he was going to cooperate. The photographer seemed a little harried, but was nice enough. And then she started snapping pictures of Dallin's cute little smile and realized the camera wasn't working properly. Arrgh!!! We hung out for a little while and even did some shopping while she tried to get it working, but no luck.

I did get a coupon out of Wal-Mart for a free advertised package, but I'm back to the same dilemma. Do I reschedule and go for inexpensive because the kids are so unpredictable at any given time that the photos might not turn out that great anyway? Or do I go with Sears again, pay more, and still not have any guarantee that the kids will cooperate. Or do I try an independent photo studio here in town that will cost me an arm and a leg, but probably give me much better service (and I still risk the kids not cooperating).

I honestly think with a few photography lessons and the right equipment, I could do the pictures myself as well or better than most photographers we've tried over the years. Maybe someday. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for resolving my dilemma? I'll probably go back to Wal-mart and use my coupon this time, but I'd like a better solution for the future.

Random stuff and catching up with Jared

I'm open to suggestions for a better blog title. My current one is accurate but not too creative.

Yesterday Jeff was telling me how impressed he is with my one-handed typing skills. It's one of those bonuses you get with childbirth I guess.

Jared's verbal skills continue to grow by leaps and bounds. My favorite lately is how he answers most questions with the word "kepuz"--for example: "Kepuz I don't want it!" or "Kepuz I don't know." He's very expressive and it's very cute, even when he's being a stinker. The cute while being a stinker part won't last I'm sure.

Jared celebrated his third birthday a couple weeks ago. For several weeks leading up to his birthday he kept talking about his Larryboy "happy-birthday-to-you cake" or his Lightning McQueen "happy-birthday-to-you cake." Jeff can draw Larryboy (of Veggietale fame), so we picked that one and were up until 2 am decorating it. It turned out pretty well and Jared loved it, so burning the candle at both ends paid off this time. Here are a couple of pictures of the masterpiece with creator and recipient:



















The mark on Jared's forehead is a burn he received when he bumped into the propane lantern while we were camping at Carlsbad Caverns during Spring Break a few weeks ago. It's mostly healed now, but we're waiting a bit to see if the scar fades more before we try to get his 3-year-old photographs taken.