welcome 2009!

This is going to be our year to sparkle!

playing house

thanks, Santa!

And thanks to Todd, who spent most of today putting this together for three very excited children.

8 hour date

Granny and Grandad offered to watch the kids today, so Todd and I took off for over eight hours! Our day included:
A two hour drive to the temple.
Three hours in the temple.
A quick lunch at a sandwich shop.
A 30 minute drive on the highway before I realized that I'd left my purse at the sandwich shop.
A 30 minute drive back to the sandwich shop (where we found my purse, thankfully).
A two hour drive back home.

All in all, we had a great day, but for some reason, Granny and Grandad left for home as soon as we got back. And we miss them.

post-holiday road trip

We spent a surprisingly balmy day down in Galveston with Granny and Grandad. The kids thought that feeding the gulls from the ferry was just about the coolest thing in the world. So did the gulls.We had a drive around the peninsula (thanks to Ike, there's not a whole lot left out there) and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. We also spent a little time on the beach before the sun went town and the kids could have stayed there all night long -- splashing in the waves, collecting seashells, digging in (and throwing) sand. It was a very fun little trip and I'm so glad we decided to head down there.

merry, merry

When I tucked Gwendolyn into bed tonight, she began to cry and told me that she was sad because Christmas was over. In away, I right there with her. Today was a perfect day and I want it to last forever. Granny and Grandad are here, which makes me so happy -- it's been a few years since we've had them here for Christmas. We had cheerful kids and happy recipients on our round of morning deliveries. We had so many new trucks and tools enter our home today that I truly believe today to be Linus' happiest day ever. Casper was so excited about all the unwrapping going on that I'm only a little surprised by his three+ hour nap this afternoon. I love that the magic of Christmas (and Santa) is still so alive for Gwendolyn and that she wanted to spend all afternoon crafting. Todd got an extra long nap and a day without any manual labor (I fear that he'll be spending much of next week constructing the playhouse that Santa brought). I'm thankful for the Savior and that we have an entire season to celebrate his birth. Today was perfect.

oh brother

Linus gets the photo credit for tonight's picture. He was supposed to be taking a picture of Daddy and both of his siblings. See if you can detect where he cut Casper out of the frame entirely. (Hint: look at the bottom right.)

mugs' shot

little Christmas elf

This afternoon was Gwendolyn's first dance performance! Her dance studio put on a production of A Christmas Carol, and Gwendolyn's class helped out the Spirit of Christmas Present as little Christmas elves. She did a beautiful job and was a happy, bouncy, albeit cold little elf.

For weeks Gwennie's been nervous about being on stage, but after yesterday's dress rehearsal, she announced to me, "I want to be on stage in a play, too!" How do you dissuade your kid from following in your footsteps?

all in a day's work

In the past 24 hours, Linus:
-- turned the hose on his brother, drenching poor little Casper.
-- spilled a container of cornmeal all over the kitchen floor.
-- emptied the bathroom soap dispenser all over the bathroom counter and then added water in an effort to “wash the counter”.
-- emptied the shavings from a pencil sharpener all over the living room rug.
-- turned on the kitchen sink sprayer and showered the counter, toaster and bread machine with water.
-- somehow managed to poop a little on the bathroom floor and then step in it, getting it everywhere.
-- got a hold of jar of diaper ointment and smeared it on the bathroom wall as a “surprise for Mama”.
-- drove our shopping cart into a store employee.
-- mysteriously left a pair of pants and a pair of underwear tucked under the Christmas tree skirt (which I discovered as I was cleaning up the hairball the cat left in front of the tree).
-- got mad at his sister and threatened to “cut our house down” (when I asked him where we would live, he retorted, “under a bridge!”)
-- spilled his bag of snacks all over the floor of the dance studio.
-- got out of bed 8 times tonight before finally settling into sleep.

In the past 24 hours, Casper:
-- had one ten-minute car nap (yesterday) followed no nap (today).
-- pulled all the papers and files off my desk and joyfully spread them around.
-- took every item of finger food that was offered him and threw it onto my freshly mopped kitchen floor.
-- kept me up until 1.15 in the morning.
-- threw a wooden giraffe at Linus, bit Linus, ripped a book out of Linus’ hands, pulled Linus’ hair, fought with Linus over trucks and won.
-- sat on the cat.
-- managed to get around the Christmas tree baby blockade and tear more ornaments off the tree.
-- pulled the tablecloth halfway off the table, bringing the big kids’ art supplies tumbling down.
-- emptied the drawer of Tupperware lids all over the kitchen floor and the recycling bucket all over the laundry room floor.

For those of you with a lot of boys, how on earth do you do it? How is your house clean? Better yet, how is your house still standing? How you are sane? Do you sleep?

lovies, part three :: Toffee

Toffee arrived in February of this year in a Valentine package from our dear friends, the Farish family. In all honesty, I was trying to manipulate the lovey choice this time around and was pushing a toy alpaca named Carmel on Casper. It didn't take. Over the last couple of months, Casper has grown more and more attached to Toffee the dog. In fact, the other night, Toffee was unavailable at bedtime (because Casper threw him into the bathtub with Linus) and Casper whined and fussed, unable to fall asleep, until the still-damp Toffee was retrieved from the dryer. Casper cuddles Toffee up to his cheek while he sucks his thumb. So far, Casper only needs Toffee when it is time to go to sleep, but it will be fun to see how their relationship progresses.

lovies, part two :: Nougat

Nougat was originally a baby gift for Gwendolyn from my dear friend Christina and her husband. Gwendolyn wasn't that interested in him, so I put him away and saved him for the next baby. And oh, how Linus loves that bear!

Because Linus likes to tote favorite toys around with him and also enjoys stashing things in odd places, Nougat has been on many adventures. He's gone missing for days and days, only to turn up in the bundt pan, wedged in between cans of food in the pantry, or stuffed deep inside a rain boot. We have two back-up Nougats who come out of their "hidey hole" when needed; though they are a darker brown, Linus accepts them in a pinch, thankfully.

As a baby, Linus did not suck his thumb or use a pacifier, but about the age of 2 1/2 (you know, the same time he got a new brother and moved to a new house), he became an avid thumb sucker. When he sucks his thumb these days, he likes to rub one of Nougat's ears (his "fuzzy ear") along his lips.

He has really spent quite a bit of time thinking about Nougat's life -- Nougat even has clothes and friends and often plays very sweetly with baby pillow (but as Nougat's alter ego, "Mr. Bear"). I'm so glad Linus and Nougat have each other.

lovies, part one :: Baby Pillow

Baby Pillow (or BP, as she is sometimes called) came to our family as a Christmas present from Auntie Tiffany when Gwendolyn was 13 1/2 months old. But Gwendolyn had a different lovie then -- Curious George. I know that when she turned two, George was still her #1 guy, but by the time we flew to Idaho that Christmas, we were packing George and Baby Pillow. Soon after that, George sadly fell out of favor. Baby Pillow has been an almost constant companion and playmate since then.

Until just a few months ago, Gwendolyn was a thumb sucker and liked to suck her left thumb while using her right hand to pluck "fuzz" from BP's soft flannel pillowcase. This fuzz would then be rolled around on her lips and made into "fuzzballs" and then given to Mama and Daddy as gifts. Nice, huh? Incidentally, this plucking obsession is why Curious George looks like he has mange (and I suspect that he was replaced in large part because his fur was not the best stuff for making fuzzballs).

All three of my children have lovies and each lovie is a part of our family. They are comfort items, yes, but more than that -- they are an extension of the child, a child who is trying to figure out this big, wide world. Baby Pillow still sleeps with Gwendolyn, is mothered and loved, and has a present under the Christmas tree (from me!), but it is also obvious that she's becoming less important. Gwennie recently announced to me, "I don't need Baby Pillow to ride in the car with me everywhere!" But secretly, she still likes it best when BP is right there with her.

a wealth of information

Todd: We should go camping.
Linus: Let’s go camping in Idaho!
Todd: Great idea, but I think we’ll go camping in Texas first.
Linus: But there are rabid skunks in Texas!
(Indeed there are, but we didn’t tell him about them)

bundling up

Before we got fortunate with our snow day, Gwennie's obsession was with raking the few leaves in our yard into piles she could jump into. Here's one exchange: "Daddy, will you help me rake these leaves into a pile? But let's take the sticks out. We'll leave them for the beavers to make dams with."

during and after

let it snow!

We woke up this morning to a light covering of snow over the grass and cars. There was enough to make a few snowballs and get everyone excited (as soon as Gwennie noticed, she ran to the back door expecting to go outside in her footie sleepers), but the sun and rain soon melted everything away. Until late this afternoon when it snowed steadily for hours. We had a lot of the large, moist flakes which are perfect for building a snowman (a task which was executed mainly by Gwendolyn, who decorated and named our snowman, "Snowball") and, in the case of Linus, eating. A fun, fun day!

Perhaps I should also note that Todd was surprised to hear his boss say that his teenage children had never seen snow. He took this to be an exaggeration, but also as a testament to the rarity of the occasion. (Even the college kids were outside taking photos and making snowmen, though I doubt that any were as genial as Gwennie's friend. If you can't tell, Gwendolyn has created a particularly domestic snowman, who is holding a tray of snowballs to offer to his friends. Too bad you can't see Todd's contribution, the fir-branch combover.)

brotherly love

We have a little bit of sibling rivalry going on at our house between Linus and Casper. This post is evidence.

While Mama was playing with Casper at the toy workbench, Linus got exasperated: “Don’t teach Casper to hammer nails – he already knows how to zoom trucks!”

Linus, of Casper: “That’s why we’re going to get rid of him.”

Linus, to Casper: “When you grow up I’m just going to keep my nose in a book.”
[So Linus won’t have to play with Casper]

After Casper grabs two big fistfuls of Linus' hair and then bites him on the head, Linus exclaims, “That’s why I didn’t want Casper to have hands or a mouth!”

parade route

This afternoon we met up with some friends and watched our first small town parade. It was a fun afternoon and Linus was especially thrilled to see horses, tractors, cattle, a fire engine and a marching band, all within an hour. Gwendolyn enjoyed playing with friends and the sugar which came in the form of hot cocoa and cookies. Thanks for thinking of us, Erin.

knowing

Every couple of days, I read a chapter of Mary’s Little Donkey to the children. The other night after we'd finished reading, Gwendolyn and I had this conversation:
Gwennie: What’s the next chapter called?
Mama: The Sale of the Donkey.
Gwennie: (with a knowing look) Ah, so he’s going on a ship.

leaving the past behind

Things that have made my week long:
1. the long and traffic-filled drive home from Louisiana on Sunday
2. the death of a very dear family friend
3. the van going into the shop for repairs
4. unexpected house guests (Granny and Grandad, though exceptionally fun, still cause a little stress because that is the nature of house guests)
5. a day trip to Houston with the kids for the funeral of our friend
6. Todd getting the stomach bug I had on Thanksgiving
7. rehearsal for the Enrichment program I was in charge of
8. Enrichment
9. both boys catching nasty colds

WELCOME, WEEKEND!

memories of a fishing boat

country portrait

how the cretaceous period ended

Linus: Ask me how the dinosaurs died.
Mama: How did the dinosaurs die, Linus?
Linus: A masteroid hit the ground in ReMexico!
Gwennie: Not in Mexico! In NEW Mexico – Land of Enchantment!

family portrait

(Thanks, BJ!)