My daughter...

She's fantasizing over the American girl catalog (she's gotten a big doll from Santa each of the last two Christmases). She's looking at Kit's treehouse and John says she should get that. I tell her that she should look at how much it costs ($250 WHOA!). But she says thats ok, Santa MAKES the toys.

Likes

Just for Jaime!

Real maple syrup! Especially on dutch babies or banana pancakes (TDF!).

I like that I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes today! I did 5 laps around the neighborhood (which gives me 3miles) and I ran 2, walked 1, ran 2. It was hard because it seems like most of the neighborhood is uphill. Impossible right? Well, really the downhill portions are steeper so overall more of the distance is uphill.

I like my new old navy skirts.

And, I like that Ruthanne is learning how to do more complicated math (we learned how to carry over/regroup in multiple digit addition). Its challenging but rewarding when she "got it".

Hmmm, thats about all. I also keep a etsy things I like on the right, so this post is officially OVER!

Ankle Crossing

Paul crosses his ankles, ALL THE TIME. Its pretty cute. I just thought I'd put that up here to remember!

Hanging outside

The yard was actually dry enough that I thought I could put Paul down on the grass.  Guess what, he didn’t like it!  He was keeping everything he could off the grass and quickly learned to crawl on hands and feet!  Otherwise we all just enjoyed a nice Friday evening outside.  Too soon it will be hot and muggy all the time!  Stay away summer!

 

A Day at the Zoo

Thursday I took the kids to the zoo to meet up with some other homeschoolers and we had a blast (of course all the school kids were there too, Earth Day is apparently not a day to go to avoid the crowds!).  We got a pass and plan to go frequently over the next year.  They have homeschool Mondays during the school year and we plan on attending those once a month once they start back up.  Anyhow, here are a few pics that I snagged!

When we arrived at the botanical gardens (it adjoins the zoo).

 

On the tram to the zoo

Ruthanne with her favorite animal, the flamingos.  Guess why they are her favorite.

John getting a closer look at the funny looking bird.

The kids posing with the gorilla/monkey statue.

Kids on the carousel.

Where Paul spent most of the trip, good thing the carousel had a mirror so I could get a picture.

All the kids as we head out!

Merry Late Christmas

So I’m finally getting around to finishing promised Christmas presents for Luke’s parents and my parents.  I’ve finished the Wilsons present (now just gotta get it printed).  If anyone else would like a copy, let me know and I can get you the original file (not that you would want one necessarily, but if you happen to).

Family Photo

I don’t think we have taken a pic of us all together since Paul was born!  That’s so pathetic!  Since Luke’s parents were in town this weekend and I was bored and decided to iron EVERYONE’s clothes (not just Luke’s white shirt), I figured we should at least get a picture out of it.  Its not great mind you, we definitely should NOT have been facing the sun, but it is what it is!

Would someone please tell me I would be a lot happier with my pictures if I was running daily!  If only I got decent sleep at night, or maybe I need to start running at night instead of in the morning?  I guess the main thing is I just need TO DO IT!

Food Inc on PBS tonight

For anyone who still hasn't watched it! Seems like it will be at 9:00 pm, but check your local listings! http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/

Peek-a-Boo!

Paul finally played peek-a-boo with me tonight! He thought he was so funny! I'll have to try to get it on video soon, but I wanted it preserved!

I also have other pics and things I need to download off my camera, but said cute peek-a-boo player tired me out last night, he woke up after being asleep for less than two hours and screamed for an hour with Luke & I both taking turns trying to get him to hush (and not even trying to get him to sleep, just please stop screaming!). He was too tired I think (no afternoon nap) and/or teething (we forced ibprofen down between screams). Oh, well.

Ruthanne is doing good!

She survived her second surgery in her almost seven years.  Today we went in to have her pda (patent ductus arteriosis) fixed.  It is a procedure done in the cath lab (no open heart surgery needed).  She was a trooper.  We had to get there at 6:30 am which meant she was up at 5:00 to have her bath (required) and had not eaten since about 9:00 the night before.

We arrive at the hospital, get checked in, and things are going smoothly, we’re chilling out.

Luke even manages to solves the sliding tile Sleeping Beauty puzzle that Mimi declared impossible and even I couldn’t fix.

But, we soon find out the people before us did indeed arrive (they couldn’t be reached to confirm) and had an 11 month old so they got to go first.  It took forever!  What was originally going to be a 7:30 procedure became 10:30, then I don’t even remember.  She did eventually go back for real at almost 2:00.  Poor baby, was so hungry, but she was a trooper!  Oh, but we did get some playing in with all that waiting, and got an iv (which they would have done while she was asleep, but they needed to keep her hydrated).

The iv walker thing was called a patient pal and Ruthanne did not like it being called that!  She was hilarious when they gave her versaid, right before we left for the procedure.  She thought her hand and iv were very interesting and kept saying “huh”.  She did good during the cath and by 5:30 was back in her own room and ready to eat!  She ate two grape popsicles, a bowl of red jello and some juice while laying down (she has to stay down until 11:00 tonight).  Luke is staying the night with her at the hospital and she will be coming home tomorrow around 10:00.  Here is proof of the grape and red food consumed:

Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

I made these cookies today. They are pretty good and you can pretend that you are eating healthy (4 cups of oats to 1 cup of flour)! I added chocolate chips to the recipe!

Oh, yeah, I'm done for the day, but be sure to keep going, I went post happy!

Baked Oatmeal

This is my new favorite baked oatmeal recipe. I used some dried strawberries instead of raisins and substituted an equal amount of milk for the yogurt (didn’t have any). I made it up the night before and it did look a bit dry in the morning so I added just a thin layer of milk over the top before baking it. It make enough for two mornings and we were nice and full! Ruthanne likes to eat hers like a piece of cake while the rest of us like to eat it with some milk in our bowl.

I LOVE my new breadmaker!

It works so well!  Why didn’t I buy one before?  I only use it to knead and rise the dough, I shape it and bake it still.  So easy! 

I gave up my money for a floor steam cleaner (really free gift cards from Bed Bath & Beyond from our Discover card bonus money).  I figured that even though I would like a shark steam mop, that unless it came with someone to do the mopping for me, I probably still wouldn’t like mopping that much!  I do like to eat fresh bread though, so the breadmaker won out!

My kitchenaid still works, barely, but it will be mostly resting unless needed for cookie dough or the like.

Summer Time = Summer Whites

Seriously?

This middle child, is just TROUBLE!  He looks completely normal, right?

But, look what was hiding under his shorts!  Apparently he found a marker in the car and quietly went to town while we were driving around town running errands.

Also, yesterday he got a hold of my salt shaker and dumped salt all over part of the kitchen and school room.  I’ve swept but I keep finding salt still stuck to my feet!

Haircuts

Ruthanne got a summer haircut and Paul got his bangs trimmed again.  John cut his hair a little bit recently (but I’m not sure you can see that in the photo).

Eating

Paul has FINALLY, at 11 months old, started to feed himself something. 

Hmmm, could it be that he typically has too much “help” and didn’t need to do it himself?

Regardless, I’m glad I can set him in his highchair with some puff or bread while I get a meal together.

Easter Fun

We had a little bit of fun on Easter before settling in to watch conference on tv.  The kids insisted on dressing up even though we weren’t actually going to church (how weird are they?).

Egg hunting.  

I promise we have a better Easter basket for John, but the dyed eggs were kind of leaking dye so I wouldn’t let him use the fabric basket and ruin it!

We did manage to learn the real meaning of Easter this year, despite the fun activities.  I’m thankful for my Savior and that we have the opportunity to live on this great Earth!

Is laundry bad for babies?

Or is it ok for them to watch laundry?

Paul, through John’s eyes

er, camera!

I promise he is not drugged up or sick.  Just one of those fluke terrible photos!  Or maybe we can blame the photographer!