In Remembrance

Boston DeVon Willden

December 18, 2008 ~ January 23, 2009Happy First Birthday, little man!

We love you, we miss you, and we are praying for your sweet Mommy today, as she faces your first birthday without you here to cuddle, and to sing to, and to hold in her arms.

We miss you, Boston!

Why I Should Not Be Allowed To Clean Up Dinner...

Apart from the fact that it's just not fun, but I almost always forget to put something away. Plus, I am notorious for not rinsing the dishes very well before I put them in the dishwasher, so quite often, there are funky little food particles floating about in the bottom of the silverware-cleaning-rack-thingie.

But, this is what I did last night....I cleaned up after dinner, put the dishes in the dishwasher (after not rinsing them well enough, I am sure), and then wiped off the table and counters, and called it good.

Apparently, however, I failed to check the inside of my oven.

Which brings me to this point in time.

Yep, I left the meatloaf in the oven.

Grrrrrr!!!

I happen to LOVE my meatloaf. Colby LOVES my meatloaf.

If I may be so bold, I make a very tasty and delicious meatloaf! And what did I do? I left it in the oven all night long, only to discover it mere moments ago.

Now, no meatloaf leftovers.

But, I do still have the scrumptious smell of meatloaf to torture and torment me.

Grrrrrr.

Letters

So for family home evening tonight, the kids wrote their letters to Santa Claus. They had so much fun telling him what they wanted, and decorating the letters too!This is the first page of Charlotte's letter. She still writes pretty big, so it took two pages! Her letter says: "Dear Santa, I've been really good. Will you bring..."

"....me a castle and a princess. Charlotte"
She was pretty proud of her stamped-marker decorations, and she was quite proud that she wrote all the words by herself, just like Savannah!

This is Barrett's letter. With a little help from Daddy, he wrote:
"Dear Santa, I love you. I have been really good. Will you please bring me a skateboard and a Handy Manny tool bench."
He was very excited to use markers to color his letter, since Barrett's mommy is a meanie, and very, very rarely allows the kids to use markers! (She prefers crayons- much less messy.)

Savannah wrote: "Dear Santa, I love you! I have been really good this year. Will you bring me a skateboard with Pooh on it and a DS. Love Savannah"
She almost asked for an Eeyore something, but then changed her mind and tried to erase it. And just in case Santa Claus is behind on the latest electronic gaming, Savannah colored him a picture of a Nintendo DS. She tries to help him out!

It was so fun to see them write these, and to see how excited they are for Santa to come.
Only 15 more days to go until the magic holiday that all kids live for!!!

Concert Time

The concert announcement I have been waiting for has finally been made! After months of anxiously checking the band's website every day for any information on the U.S. tour, I am so very excited and overjoyed to announce that MUSE will be in Salt Lake on Monday, April 5th!! YES!!!! And, as if that wasn't enough to make me feel Christmas has come early, the opening act will be Silversun Pickups. How cool is that!!!

Now, the wait begins.....

only 118 more days until the big show!!!

Things Kids say

Don't you think that kids say the darndest things?!

Just now, I gave Barrett a great big hug and a kiss, and while hugging him, said,
"Oh, you are so cute I could just eat you all up!"

To which Bear replied,
"No, I said you can eat Daddy all up when he gets home. Eat Daddy, not Bear Bear."

Funny litte boy!!

Pickle-Chiffon Pie

So, everyone knows how much I love books, right? I love, Love, LOVE to read. Allow me to share this wonderful story about this wonderful book with you.

This book, "Pickle-Chiffon Pie" by Jolly Roger Bradfield, was Colby's very most favorite book from his childhood. Unknown to me, Colby has been secretly searching for this book for the last thirteen years. Yep, the past 13 YEARS!! He loved this book as a child, and was so hoping to find it, and share it with his children. He had forgotten the title of the book, the author, and anything else that could help him locate it. Then, apparently after almost 13 years, he was beginning to despair of ever finding it, and so he asked for help.
(Honestly, isn't that so like a man!!! "I can do it; I don't need help; I can find it; I don't need instructions; etc!!!)
Well, long story short-ish, the book had been out of print for several years, which was why he had such a hard time finding it. It has just been reprinted in the last year or two, and we happened to stumble upon it! Well, after wading and poring and searching through several websites, search engines, and some good old-fashioned sleuthing, that is!

We found it, and ordered two copies: one for the kids, and one for Colby and I to keep.
I had never heard of it, and consequently, had never read it before. It is wonderful! The illustrations are so fun, and the story is just amazing.

If you get a chance, find a copy and read it to your children. If not to them, get a copy and read it for yourself. It is a most wonderful book, and you will not regret it.

***Post Update 12/4/09***
So, Charlotte took this book to school for show-and-tell today. When I picked her up, her teacher Miss Lani told me that she and the other teacher, Miss Linda had such a fun time listening to Charlotte. She held up the book, explained that it was her Daddy's favorite book, and then turned to the page that had the illustration of a lion wearing roller skates while juggling a dozen apples and a bottle of ketchup. Apparently, Charlotte was giggling and laughing so hard, that it was almost impossible to understand what she was saying. It was quite infectious; it caused all the kids in her class to start giggling uncontrollably, and things just spiralled from there!! See, a truly fine book! You just can't get a better review than a classroom full of 16 preschoolers and 2 teachers giggling hysterically over a book!
I'm so glad I let Charlotte take the book for show-and-tell today!

A Day Of Thanks

Thanksgiving is here! Happy Thanksgiving!! These are some little handmade turkeys that the kids made for Colby for Thanksgiving! Aren't they adorable!! For whatever lame-o reason, I cannot get these to post with the correct rotation. I have tried at least 5 times, and I give up. You'll just have to deal with them sideways, I guess. They're still cute though!This is the turkey Barrett made. On each of the colored feathers, the kids wrote some things they were thankful for and that they loved about Daddy. Just in case you can't read them, Bear loves Daddy's tickles; playing Guitar Hero; that Daddy's funny; and that Daddy's cuckoo. Isn't he funny!!

This is Charlotte's turkey. Hers is the only one that is right-side-up! Charlotte is thankful for and loves Daddy's hugs; that he's funny; Daddy's kisses; that he makes her laugh; and when he plays with her. She is a doll!

This is Savannah's turkey. She is thankful for and loves that Daddy is funny; that he thinks she is cute; that he is nice; that he's crazy; and that he is a lovey. She is so sweet.

As for myself, I am thankful, ever so grateful, and feel so lucky for all the blessings in my life. I have three (mostly) wonderful and adorable children. I have a wonderful and amazing husband. I am so thankful for Colby. He is wonderful, thoughtful, funny, patient, tender and kind. I love him. I adore him and cherish him. I am eternally grateful for him, and I hope that he knows how much we all love him. We are so thankful for how hard he works to make us happy, and how much he cares.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Flashback to Halloween...

So, it is nearly Thanksgiving, which can mean only one thing: it is time for me to post our Halloween pictures!! Hey, I am actually less than a month late on this one, that's improvement!

Barrett, Savannah and Charlotte at the pumpkin patch! Each of the kids got to pick out their very own pumpkins. They were so proud!!

Carving time! This year, we made everyone try and help, instead of just making it the "Amazing Colby Jack-o-Lantern Party" like usual. The kids actually had quite a good time, getting right into it all, and scooping out the seeds. Obviously, we still let Colby handle the knives, and do the actual carving. I mean, I am a bit of a blase and relaxed parent, and probably let my kids do too much that could possibly be considered dangerous, but I didn't let them handle the gigantic carving knife. Now, a small kitchen knife, or paring knife, that's a different story....!

Savannah pretty proud of her pumpkin guts!

Savannah the Snow Princess, or The White Witch from Narnia, or a Snow Fairy from Barbie in the Nutcracker. Her costume depended on her mood. The official tag on the costume said "Snow Princess," but apparently, that wasn't quite enough for Savannah!

Princess Cinderella Charlotte. She was excessively pleased to have an official Cinderella gown of her very own. I was actually surprised that it took her this long to ask for a Princess costume. Charlotte is such a fluffy, princessy twirly-girl, I thought she would have asked for it long before now. But, she loved it, and said that she is going to be Cinderella next year too. We'll see!!

Cowboy Barrett. So, everyone knows that Bear is totally enthralled with "Toy Story" right now, and that he thinks Woody and Buzz Lightyear are the coolest! So, he decided he wanted to be Woody this year. So cute!!

All three of the cutie-patooties with their costumes and carved pumpkins.

Happy Halloween, now that it's November! Ha ha ha!

New camera

I have a new camera!! So, if you recall, Colby got a new camera for his birthday/Father's Day this year. It is a nice camera, and it takes nifty pictures and all that, but I don't like it. Don't get me wrong, it really is a nice camera, but it scares me. I hate even picking it up, let alone taking a picture with it. It is too complicated and "too much" for me. I liked my other camera, but alas, some completely horrible person with ZERO conscience stole it while we were in Disneyland. So, after much whining about my not having a camera that I like, Colby bought me a new one!

This is basically the newest version of the camera that I had. But, a little improvement over the older model: it is pink!!!
I LOVE IT!

So, I should be able to take more pictures now that I have a camera that doesn't terrify me.
Yay, my little pink camera friend!!!

DISNEYLAND!

I have finally waded through our Disneyland vacation photos. Between Colby and Colby's Dad, there were over 800 pictures to choose from. Just a little overwhelming for me, and it took some time. Plus I suck at posting things quickly anyway!
Here we are in front of the Castle. Charlotte pretty much wanted to stay where she could see the castle at all times. She loved it. We had so much fun, and we can't wait to go back in a few years!

This is Savannah taking pictures of the kids. She LOVED being the third photographer of the group, and she took some darling pictures. I wish I could post them for you, but some total JERK at Disneyland stole her camera, so I can't. Poor Savannah was heartbroken. The lame-o thief took the camera out of it's bag, then placed the empty bag back in our stroller. Talk about malicious and well-thought-out. Dweebs. Honestly, people, buy your own camera, don't steal my sweet 8 year old daughter's camera. Have you no shame? Grrrrr. I am still seething with anger and bitterness over it.

Savannah getting overly excited to get to the entrance gates! She was seriously overjoyed and happy to be in the Happiest Place On Earth!

We were there in time for the Halloween decorations, so that was fun. Savannah thinks the Mickey Mouse pumpkin head was about the coolest thing ever!

All the kids with Tigger! Barrett was preoccupied trying to make Spiderman hands for Tigger, and Charlotte just wanted to go find some princesses!

Charlotte's favorite ride was Peter Pan. I bet she asked to ride that one at least 25 times a day. She loved it, loved it, loved it!

Charlotte at the Princess Luncheon. She had a blast meeting five of the princesses personally: Belle, Mulan, Ariel, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Cinderella. This is Charlotte showing off her Cinderella dress and crown. She had so much fun, and the food was honestly the best food we ate during the whole vacation. Definitely worth the price!

Barrett had a little too much fun, and fell asleep in the stroller. He and Charlotte both took little catnaps in their strollers every day. Kind of nice, they missed out on the hottest part of the day, and Savannah could go on some rides that they were too small for, and they didn't ever realize they'd been left out!!

This is Barrett the first day in Disneyland. Talk about overwhelmed and overstimulated! Now, you must understand that Woody and Buzz Lightyear from "Toy Story" are just about Barrett's most favorite characters of all time. Barrett even dressed up as Woody for Halloween! So, on the day he gets to meet Woody and Jessie in person, he is so scared that he literally was crying and begging to go home! Poor little guy! By lunchtime, he had acclimated and had a good time. But of course, we never did see Woody after that!

Barrett trying to pull the Sword in the Stone. Big muscles, Bear! Pull harder!!!

Dani with Eeyore. You are all no doubt aware of my fondness of Eeyore. He is hands-down my favorite character from the Winnie the Pooh stories, and I was so excited that he was here! So, I just had to have my picture taken with him. Dani and Eeyore, King of the Gloomy Doomsayers!!

Savannah and Colby riding together. Colby being Colby, and sweet Savannah totally oblivious to Daddy's charming teasing!!

And, finally, all of the girls with Princess Aurora. I really do understand that Disneyland is more for the kids, and that the whole experience is for them, but, you all should know by now that "Sleeping Beauty" is my absolute favorite Disney film of all time, and hence, Aurora is my very favorite Disney Princess. So, I could not resist, I had to jump in for this picture. Savannah, Charlotte, Dani and Princess Aurora!


We had so much fun, and other than the camera being stolen, and a minor irritation with Snow White that I am still trying to get over, it was so wonderful. I think the only thing that could have made it better for me was if I had been able to meet Grumpy!! He is my other favorite Disney character. But, maybe next time!!!

Pumpkin Seeds

Okay, so Halloween is over, and I promise that pictures of the kids in costume are forthcoming, but first, I have to say something:

I LOVE PUMPKIN SEEDS!!!

Let me explain. I have never, ever before attempted roasting/toasting/cooking pumpkin seeds. But my dear friend Tami assured me that it was easy to do, and that even I could handle it.
So, with a fair amount of fear and anxiety, after Colby carved the pumpkins, instead of chucking the seeds in the garbage, I rinsed them off and toasted them.

You know something? It really was easy, and I did it, and,
drum roll please......

They are so yummy and tasty!!
They're pretty much my new favorite snack. Well, maybe my 2nd favorite, trailing behind anything chocolaty and minty!!!

Thank you Tami!!!

Music Appreciation Lesson...2nd Semester

A few months ago, I posted some of the kid's favorite songs. Then, today I heard a song on the radio that I had not heard in probably 20 years. It immediately brought me back to my younger childhood years, and it just made me reflect on the songs that I heard a lot growing up.


My house was always filled with music, many types of music. Some of my earliest musical memories involve a record turntable, a Beethoven record of his 5th symphony, and having it played nearly full volume while we helped (!!) my Mom clean the house. Other records that received heavy rotation at my house were the Pointer Sisters, Michael Jackson, The Moody Blues, Foreigner, The Bee Gees, The Beatles "White Album," and another one that I cannot recall; I can hear the music and the songs, but the name of the artist and record title have escaped me. Even today, when I heard the Pointer Sisters, it made me feel like a six-year-old kid trying to wash windows as well as my Mom could, and trying to make vacuum lines perfectly straight, like she could. Funny, isn't it?


Then, I started thinking about what kinds of music my kids will recall from their childhood when they get older. My house is always full of music, and I'm beginning to think I am actually afraid of silence! Ask any of my poor visiting teachers, or friends and neighbors who have dared drop by- my house has music on at all times, and at a very high volume. If the music is to be played, then it should be played LOUD, in my opinion. Savannah does not agree. Most of the time, she covers her ears and yells at me to turn it down. But try it my way- next time you play Beethoven's 5th, turn it up so loud that the windows rattle and the glasses in your cupboards shake. It's much better that way. There are very few songs that should be played at a quiet, soft volume. Maybe that's why I'm not such a huge fan of "church" type music, it just doesn't sound that great LOUD.


Anyway, I love music, and I hope that my kids always love music too. And I hope that someday, 20 years in the future, they will hear "Shake the Disease" by Depeche Mode on some "classic rock" radio station, and they will instantly feel compelled to turn the volume up so loud that their car windows rattle, and then, they will start to remember random things from their childhood, and maybe even smile as they think of dancing around like maniacs to Duran Duran; and singing along with ABBA at the top of our lungs, and.......


I like that idea.

T-Ball Time!!!

Barrett was finally old enough to play baseball! He was absolutely thrilled!! He played on a PeeWee T-Ball League, and it was so much fun! Barrett's team was the New York Mets. Close call- it could have been the dreaded and scurvy New York Yankees! Colby said that if that was the team Barrett had been assigned to, he would have had to throw a major "interfering-with-the-kids-just-having-fun" type of parent temper tantrum, and have Bear reassigned to another team. He was only joking.....I think!! :0)

We were in Disneyland for Barrett's team picture day, so this is the best we have. The coaches had the kids all line up on the pitcher's mound when the other team was up to bat, and then each kid got a chance to try and field the ball. So cute...a bunch of 3 and 4 year old kids running after the ball in a mass huddle!

Barrett in the dugout, warming up his arm before going out to bat!!

Barrett ripping a ball along the third base line! He was so funny- every time he hit the ball, he would run after it and try to catch it! We tried to teach him that the other team fields the ball when he bats, but he just liked to chase the ball anyway!

YAY! Barrett made it safely to first base without losing his helmet! Honestly, I know these kids are only 3 and 4 years old, and that safety is the number one priority, but the helmets they make them wear are as big as they are!

Barrett showing off his awesome uniform, and demonstrating his baseball stance.

He had so much fun playing, and it was the most adorable thing in the world to watch! I honestly think that PeeWee T-Ball just might be my new favorite sport in the whole entire world!
Oh so cute!

The Awesome Red Devils!

Behold the mighty Red Devils! Savannah ended up deciding to play softball this season instead of soccer. She did really well for her first time! We were in Disneyland on the team's picture day, so this is the best team shot we have. Her team was, obviously, the Red Devils, and they had a blast!

Savannah liked playing second base, which worked out well, since that was the position she was asked to play nearly every game!

I don't know how or why, but there isn't a picture of Savannah batting while facing the camera! Sorry! She was a pretty good hitter! She did like to play during practices better, though. At practices, she hit the ball hard, and hit it far! But she was so nervous at the actual games, she rarely swung the bat. However, she is a very patient batter, I think she drew a walk more than any other girl on her team; Daddy was so proud! Can't you just hear Colby: "Good job, Savannah! Way to make them pitch to you! That's right, wait for a good pitch!"


Anyway, she had so much fun, and it will be kind of interesting to see if she chooses softball next season, or if she goes back to playing soccer. Either way, she will have a good time, and we will love and support her, and yell and cheer so loud that she gets embarrassed!!

Lucky Us

So, hello there. We are currently in the throes of a nasty bout with....are you ready....wait for it......

The Swine Flu.

Yes, it's true! Aren't you jealous!

Well, you should be.

I mean, you too, could have 5 solid days of being a zombie, chills so severe they actually make the bed or couch shake, fevers so high that you could cook eggs on your forehead, and an absolute zero appetite. Not to mention the general feeling of what it's like to be run over by a truck hauling 37 tons of concrete at full speed ahead.

I know that all of you are secretly jealous!

For the record, we have 3 confirmed cases of this ridiculous piggy flu virus. My dear sweet Charlotte started things off, then Colby joined in the fun, and then Barrett jumped in as well.

So far, Savannah and I have remained immune. Everyone, please knock on wood!!

Anyway, poor Colby has definitely had the worst time of it. He was the zombie I mentioned earlier. Poor guy. You know Colby is feeling REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad when he can't stay awake during a Red Sox game, and when he doesn't show the slightest bit of rage or anger that the Red Sox totally blew it and got blanked by the Angels.

Other than the lovely sickness, we are still around and doing okay.

I will try to get the pictures from Disneyland posted soon, it seems that I am pretty busy with demanding patients around here for the next little while!

;o)