The Adams Family

Babe's Haircut

2011-12-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Babe has been scared to get her haircut for years. We've managed a trim maybe twice and it involved her being surly and her hair being crooked. Granted, her hair has been so long most people might not have noticed. I forgot to take 'before' pictures, so I pulled one from earlier this year.

That should give a feel for it. I'd say when we cut it her hair was just above the small of her back; below her waist but above her hips I guess.
While she wasn't always scared of getting it cut she certainly never liked the idea. Lately she had been continually informing us of how she was growing her hair out to be long like Rapunzel's (and we had no luck pointing out that Rapunzel's hair get's cut at the end of the movie). But last week I took her to watch me get my hair cut. She thought the girl time was fun and I think it helped that she already knew the stylist (Robin for those who know her-if not I'd gladly send you her way!). Not long into my cut Analee announced that she wanted to get her hair cut! We had to explain to her that we'd need to make an appointment (unless we wanted to sit through some other cuts, which I didn't want to do). At this point she was very clear that she wanted a trim-as small a trim as possible. But I was willing to take it:)
Over the next few days we would look up hairstyles online and I was shocked to discover that, with amazing consistency, Babe was choosing pixie cuts. And not just any pixie cuts but very, very short ones. While it took me a little getting used to I don't see any reason why she shouldn't get her hair cut however she wants. If the only reason stopping it would be that I like her hair long, well, I think that's a pretty lame reason. So we tried to make it clear that once her hair was cut it would stay short for a long time and that it would be too short to do pony tails or braids and so on.

And so-Onto The Salon!

getting her hair washed

Robin "are you sure?" Babe "yep!"

Robin asked Babe if she could cut it a little longer and then see if Babe liked it, Analee agreed.

Babe LOVED it! After plenty of giggles Babe got all sorts of talkative. I am amazed at the variety of topics she managed to cover.

She liked the blow dryer but thought it felt weird to have her hair in her face-which makes me laugh b/c with long hair her hair was always in her face.


Thanks Robin! And check out those bangs!

When we got home dad had her pose for 'after' pictures. Note both the lollipop she got for being so good (Drake has one too, the ladies at the salon let Babe take extras for her brothers). But my favorite is her outfit. At first I thought I should try to explain how opinionated Babe can be, but then I realized these pictures would include her fabulous fashion sense and figured I didn't need to explain much:).

I think the cut is seriously cute. I still think I'm going to see those long locks when I turn around, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I am so grateful for Robin, it's cute and low maintenance and we can get those bangs trimmed anytime we need for free!
Now, just for fun you have to scroll up to that top picture-I keep doing it and it blows me away! Granted I'm the mom and would probably do that if it had just been a trim, but still.

Like at the Doctors

2011-11-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

I've been avoiding posting for the last week...or two.

I've been feeling pretty sheepish.

I guess I better just come out and say it.

I didn't finish my 40 bags in 40 days.

::exhale::

Last I posted about it I admitted to not completing the first half. Ouch.
But I guess I've learned a few things.

One-if I have to take on a big challenge I should build in break time so as not to create instant fail. One bad day and suddenly the whole thing is thrown off. Not the brightest idea for someone like me.

and Two-Brian Regan was (almost) right.
Are you familiar with Brian Regan? He's a great (clean!) comedian. He has a bit about how going to the doctor's is the only time as an adult you feel like a kid again. I agree-but I have to add in "when you blog about how you'll do something and then don't and botch it and have to fess up".

In the end I'm glad I did it. I did get lots of stuff sifted through and started really questioning why I feel the need to hang on to so much stuff. Plus, I'm brainstorming how to make it a bit more practical (you know, for those of us who aren't Martha Stewart) so I can keep working in that direction.

So instead of filling my blog with excuses about why I didn't finish (since that won't do anyone any good) I'll just leave you with Brian Regan!

More Drawers

2011-10-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so days 19 and 20 were supposed to be Ducky's closet and bedroom...but I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to attack those on days John was gone. Usually, if I need the kids out of the way or it's going to take a while I do it after the three sweet ones go to bed.
But guess what?
Ducky's closet is IN his bedroom...crazy, huh?
NO way I was going to try to go in his room after he fell asleep. Might work with some kids, even to an extent with my older two, but not Ducky.

My solution:

Day 19-my bathroom drawers
Day 20-Ducky's closet
Day 21-Babe and Bub's closet
Day 22-Ducky's room

Both closets have been torn through (aka-pulled out too small clothes and give away clothes) and all the clothes are back IN the closet, but not all nicely arranged. Tomorrow before I hit Ducky's room I'll put piles in the right places and take pictures.

BUT-this post is really supposed to be about the bathroom drawers.
Now, I feel a little bad b/c right now there is not a single thing in the drawers that belongs to John. Well, there are the razor blades-but seeing as I use his razor (dude-it totally works better than my old 'girl' ones did), I figure that doesn't really count.
Maybe one day I'll figure out how to give him a little more space.
But for today, let's take a look at my drawers.

A total MESS.
In my traditional form I threw everything into a box, carried it downstairs and sorted through it while John and I pulled up Netflix. Current fascination: Battlestar Galactica. Way more interesting than I anticipated. We even postponed starting the new season of NCIS because we really wanted to see the next Battlestar episode. For us, that's crazy talk.
Anywho...
I tossed a grocery bag full of stuff and implemented 2 things.
1. make-up bags. I know, I know. Who would have though you could put make up in make-up bags, right? This kid is breaking some new ground.
2. jewelry boxes. I can't tell you how addicting hot gluing these jewelry boxes together is! I never knew how fun and satisfying hot glue is:) In fact, I have a confession. I don't own a glue gun.
::waits for crafters everywhere to mod podge and ribbon me::
I seriously borrowed one from a friend...and haven't gotten it back to her. ::ouch::
So sorry-and if you're reading this, TB, I promise I'll get it back to you...and don't worry, I bought you more glue sticks:)
But check out my drawers now.

All the black is make-up bags. And see all those little lotion bottles? Those are being organized by the jewelry box sleeves. I'm not sure if that makes sense. But I guess I'll add that to the list of things I should talk about in another post-How to re-purpose your Fabulous Lia Sophia jewelry boxes. Seriously. I'm in love.
And, admittedly I do feel a little silly. See that bag behind the cotton balls and toilet paper? Those are hair curlers (you know, the kind you put in while you're hair is wet). I haven't used them in quite a while but I'm just not sure I can let them go. I mean, I loved using them. But, at the same time, I haven't in probably years. I don't spend much time on my hair now at all. Maybe it's the memories (thinking that maybe I'll actually spend time on my hair again), maybe it's because Babe is old enough that she cares what her hair looks like (and maybe she'll want to use them-even though she's 4). I don't know.
What are your thoughts? Are they worth hanging on to? Are they just taken up physical and emotional space needlessly?
In the end my drawers are much better off.
But I'm serious about those curlers-let me know what you think.

I'm Back!

2011-09-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was even crazier than I thought it would be.
Between 6pm on Friday and 6pm on Saturday I was home for a grand total of 45 minutes. Although I did meet up with my family out of the house for about an hour in there.
It was intense.
And I dropped the ball on the 40 days.
And now I'm playing catch up.
While it's not the point I was trying to make to myself (about being consistent) it's a useful one none-the-less. If I hadn't been blogging about this (even though I don't know who might be reading this) I think I would have quit. I would have determined this an exercize only for more organized people, people without little kids, people who were anything but what I am.
But I can't improve if I'm not willing to change myself, right?
Even once I stood back up I put off writing this post. I thought I could once I had completely caught up. But eventually I realized that I couldn't wait until 'everything was perfect'.
So it's not an A+ by any stretch, but here's what I've got.

Day 10: office shelves - I picked one shelf/bookcase, my lia sophia stuff, and went through it. Most of the shelf just needed tidying up. What I really went through was my files. I was holding on to a lot of records that I didn't need. So I let them go. Yay! Point for clean me.

Day 11: closet, my clothes-went through them and filled at least half a garbage bag. The pack rat side put a few things in my sewing box (read: large skirts and such that screamed "but I'm a large piece of fabric, upcycle!"). Point for the pack rat.

Day 12: closet, my shoes-pseudo-fail. I started through them but didn't finish. Then I left the bag of shoes out and the kids so kindly put all the shoes back. Fail.

Day 13: John's side of the closet-I shouldn't have included John without letting him know (sorry!), but he was so sweet. I pulled a few piles out of the closet and he went through them, but we certainly didn't get to everything. All the time I spent away this week meant time he had the kids and couldn't really work on his lesson plans. So it's a meh on this one.

Day 14: dresser drawers-kinda weird here. I hardly use the dresser. Right now it's strictly for intimates, and it seems I don't 'pack rat' there. So I'm not sure how this one ranks.

Day 15: toy bags-failed. I haven't touched them.

Day 16: my bookshelf-I read at night. And my little bookshelf has gotten overrun. And I went at it. And I even have a picture! Not the greatest, but this is what I pulled from my shelf.

3 boxes and a trash bag. All on one little shelf. I didn't get a shot of the shelf before or after. But I ended up with the smallest of the boxes to take back to my little shelf. Point to the clean me!

Days 17 and 18: entertainment center tops and inside. This was yesterday and today. And it didn't happen.

The biggest question I had to ask was 'Do I keep playing catch up or do I start on today and pick up the lost days as I go?'.
I've decided to start on today.
I can't change yesterday and I can't do a whole lot of good fussing about it.
So I'm going to change today.

Quickie

2011-09-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hi guys-
sorry I didn't post last night...and I'm not exactly posting tonight-just a quickie. I promise I'm doing my 40 bags! This week is just getting a bit crazy-so the posting of said bags might start to clump. I usually do the majority of my 40 bags (cleaning and posting) in the evenings. I had a meeting tonight, and will be busy Thursday night, Friday night and all day Saturday (minus an hour here or there).
While this week is going to get super crazy I'm kinda excited for it. Making it through this week without cheating (aka skipping or combining days) then it means I can really do this! Because, for me, this expedition isn't just about cleaning out my house, it's also about becoming consistent. Consistency (especially when it comes to housekeeping) is a challenge for me. For years I've told myself that I'm just not good at it, not capable of it, not whatever. If I can do this then I can prove to myself that I can. Whatever it is, I can.

So this week will be crazy,

but I'm excited!

Pack Rat Papers

2011-09-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and went after our office desk. I learned two things.

1. I should have set aside a week for that desk.
2. Having a 'no kid' room is asking for massive clutter.

No joke. That office has become the 'it needs to be out of the way/hide it from the kids/I can't loose this/I have no clue where to put this' room. It's ridiculous. I would show you a picture but I'm a little embarrassed. Maybe I'll take one now and when the room gets together I'll show the before and after shots.
The first thing I tackled was this:

I guess I started there for two reasons-because it's been on the office chair (the only office chair) for more than a few weeks and, well, it was on top of the massive office mess.

Perhaps I should explain what this box is. When I was in Nebraska (in July) my mom said I could go through it and pick out what I wanted before she tossed it. It's mostly filled with family home evening stuff, read: lessons/activities for kids to teach them about faith, sharing and all that good stuff. Now I'm a pack rat so the idea of tossing all this potentially fabulous stuff just killed me. Never the less, I've been trying to learn to let go-so I decided just to skim through the box.
While in Nebraska I started in and found a few cool things.

Really cool things.

Top two favorite finds:
A letter from my dad to my mom from before I was born.
A letter from my aunt (who died while I was in high school) to my mom.

My skimming stopped there.
No way could I bear to miss any other gems like that.
But there was also no way I'd get through it all while in Nebraska. So my sweet, loving, understanding and patient husband piled this box into the back of our minivan (frankly risking an enormous mess every time we opened the trunk) so I could finish sifting through it.
And then I let it sit untouched for weeks . . . fine, months.
But yesterday I finally pulled it out.

An empty box (Yay!) and four piles. Toss (the big one!), keep, read closer and send to mom.
Then I went through my piles again.
I read through my 'read closer' pile and pulled out the stuff I really wanted and then sat down again with my keep file. I pulled a Clean Sweep-ever seen that show? It's on TLC. They empty out a house (well, I think it's actually 2 or 3 rooms) onto tarps labeled 'Keep', 'Toss' and 'Sell' (for a yard sale they do at the end of the show). When they get everything out they dump the toss pile and move the keep sign to the empty tarp and start all over again. So I did, too.
Maybe that doesn't sound so special to most people, but to a pack rat that's a pretty big deal.
Perhaps I'll dive into my pack rat psychology theories sometime, but for now just trust me.

And I'm quite proud of myself. Out of all those papers I've been hanging on to I've left myself with this:

On the left is my keep pile and on the right is stuff to send back to my mom. Nothing as special as that first time, but a few letters, pictures and some notes us kids wrote to her when we were little. Don't know if she'll want to keep them but I thought it would be a nice pick me up to read how much your kids adore you:)

Now, I wish this was the end-but not quite.
The last three nights my 20 month old has decided to wake up at 11pm and stay up until about 2:30. While he was up I wasn't able to do much of anything with my papers and by 2:30 I was wasted . . . and left them on the floor.
Thankfully my keep and mom piles were separated enough that they didn't mix, but this is what my toss pile looks like right now.

This mess is about 6 1/2 feet by 4ish feet (thank you John for laying on the floor so I could better guestimate!).
"But it's Sunday night" you may be thinking.
Well, I'm a huge fan of Sunday being a "day of rest". Perhaps you think I've lost it, or have completely missed the point. But for today I was happy to let my kids rifle through the pictures (and there are plenty of cute, wholesome pictures in there).
Tomorrow I'll throw it all in the box and ask John to carry it out to the recycling for me (it's heavy, I swear!). Then attack the shelves in the office.
Okay, fine, I'll be honest with myself. There are four bookshelves in the office. I'm not going to get to all of them.
But I am going to start.

Ye Olde Spice Rack

2011-09-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Alright, I don't have a spice rack. Although I found I do have way too many spice bottles (canisters? jars?). First thing I decided to get rid of was this:

While I rather like it-I love wood, it's really nice having my wooden spoons right there and it spins (John's favorite feature) I've decided it's time to let go. I'm not very good at keeping things organized and having spices in multiple places really isn't going to help me much. It's a shame, especially as it was a wedding gift (ouch).
I pulled out all my spices and found I have a number of duplicates. With some mixing I got down to only two sets-I still have two containers of nutmeg and two of sage. But by the time I got the spices back in I found a lot more room and moved stuff from one cabinet to the next. In the end I was pulling stuff from 8 different cabinets! I took before pictures...but not of 8 cabinets.

So
not the best before an after picture.
It's too bad because I managed to fit way more stuff in there. And, of course, pull out my '8th bag':)

I re-organize 3 other cabinets, but the pictures are about the same as these. But I did (practically) empty out two other cupboards! Which is good because I need a little more space.

Why?
Why else?

Because of this guy:)

I should know better, but I sent him to the store with a grocery list that included "chocolate".
I didn't say what kind or how much.
Just chocolate.

And this is what that guy brought me:)

Two ginormous bags of mixed chocolate (snickers, kit kat etc.), yorks, 3 packages filled with hershey bars and a few bags of ghiradelli chocolate chips.
Wow.
I think I'm set when it comes to chocolate:)

Does it get better? I submit that it does not:)

Thanks, John :D

6 n' 7

2011-09-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

40 bags update:
yesterday I dinked around under the kitchen sink. Surprisingly, I didn't find much that didn't belong there. I moved a few things around and then helped John prep for a 7th grade lesson on the Preamble by utilizing my mad glue stick skills and awkwardly wielding a sharpie.
Today I went after the fridge.

Lots of random stuff.
Turns out-most of it unnecessary.

Earlier in the day I just took everything off and piled it up.
I knew I wouldn't to get much of it done until after the kids were asleep, you know, now that my sweet 19 month old has grown out of naps (seriously, does anyone else have kids who do that?!).

So tonight, after the kiddies went to bed, I pulled my pile onto the living room floor and went at it. At one point it looked like this-

sorry about the icky pictures, I took them early morning and late at night-thus requiring the flash...I hate using the flash

But through a few episodes of Wings (thank you Netflix) I finished up my project and John finished up his lesson plans. In the end this is what my fridge looks like:

No more papers hanging around. No piles on the top. I even tossed magnets that I thought were ugly. That fridge top has only been wiped down maybe twice in the past 4 years! This fridge needed a bit of tlc and I'm glad it got it:)

Well, What Do You Know (Day 5)

2011-09-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today wasn't all that exciting '40 bags' wise. Either that or it was quite fabulous indeed:)
The job for today was the kitchen closet, aka the water heater closet. Let's just say it probably hasn't been all that safe the random stuff we've been keeping in there. So today my plan was to sift through it all and find new homes for most of it. But I forgot something-I totally did that a few weeks ago! What do you know, the closet wasn't a mess at all! Although I did feel a bit cheap for not having actually done something, so I went at the recycling instead.
We've got a 13 gallon trash can for it, but it is always overfilled. When we can't balance the random boxes and cans anymore we start filling up diaper boxes. Before I even stepped in the kitchen we had the trash can and 2 boxes filled with recycling all ready for me to take out back for the lovely recycling gentlemen. Not what I was planning, but it definitely needed to be out of the kitchen.
We'll see what happens tomorrow when I check out the underside of the kitchen sink...

Day 4

2011-09-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today I grabbed those random spots in my living room. The gap between the couch and the wall, the little wall shelves and the ever important diaper basket.

This is our 3+ foot wide behemouth of a basket is where we store our diapers.

While the corners here and there were mostly full of junk that needed to be tossed this basket needed to keep what it had. This whole pile of diapers, though, just wasn't working. In there I had 3 different sizes of diapers, swim diapers and two types of pull-ups (three, since the boy pull-ups were divided into day and night varieties).

Well first thing (after dumping the whole basket and making piles) was to yank the swim diapers. It's probably still warm enough, but it's September...and I'm not blowing up that kiddie pool again. Then I pulled the newborn diapers. I'll need them soon(ish) as my next little one is coming in January...but the next youngest is about 19 months so I'd say I'm good without them for now.

It's not much-I added a box to help keep things divided. We'll see if it will stay that way, especially as the kids get used to it.

My Fabulous Husband! (aka Day 3)

2011-09-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today there aren't any before and after pictures. Wanna know why?
Because of this guy.

err..this guy!

Not only did I get to sleep in...and then read in bed...and then shower and finally come down stairs at about 10:30 (our kids tend to get up at 6:15) but when I got downstairs I found that day 3 (our living room bookshelf) was almost done. He let me do the final bits and pieces, but that shelf is now empty except for two or three items, such as mail we need to put out on Monday. This guys is awesome:)

Teaching Bub to ice skate.

Checkin' out the fish pond.

Daddy and Babe, when she was quite a bit younger.

Being a goober:)

My best friend. My favorite guy.

Thanks, John-I love you:)

Day 2

2011-09-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2---Utensil drawers!

Okay, so I didn't have a lot of stuff to get rid of in these drawers. But I still did some good!

3 Drawers Before:

3 Drawers After:

A few things-I didn't have too much in the 'give away' bag, but I did have a grocery bag of trash. But-I'm rather pleased with myself. See those white boxes? Well I work with Lia Sophia and have all sorts of jewelry boxes laying around. (Isn't that such a great problem? Oh darn, I just have so much jewelry I have too many jewelry boxes!) Anyways, a friend suggested I use them to organize drawers-fabulous! So I glued a few together and used them to help divide/organize! Now that you're looking closer-see those batteries. Yeah, they weren't in the drawers before. They were here.

In a cardboard box on the counter. I feel better just looking at that drawer:)

In the end I didn't give away much (a can opener and a lock) but I'm so happy to have that battery (and junk) box off my counter!

Day 1!

2011-09-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Front Porch!

Before:

After:

I don't know if you can tell-but there is one more stroller in the after pictures, but seeing as it was sitting in the drive way I figured it would be okay. And see that grey car seat? Yeah, not a kid seat but an actual seat from the car (after picture 1). That should be gone soon, too. We took it out of the car when we moved a couch and needed the space and just haven't gotten it back in yet.

But part of this whole deal isn't just to organize but to get rid of a 'bag' a day right? So here is what we're getting rid of:

This is our give away pile.

This is our trash pile. Okay, so technically the bike wasn't on the porch, but it needs to go too. Alright, I know someone out there is thinking it isn't a bike, it's a trike-but if you want to be technical then take a look at that rear left wheel. Oh wait, there isn't one! Only two wheels. Haha-so in my own strange humor it's a bike!

And I have a confession-these piles are still on our lawn. I know, kinda defeats the point right? But for today I maintain it's okay because a) I can't get the table to the recycle center on my own because I can't put it and the kids in the car at the same time and b) as I increase in my preggo-ness boxes like that are getting harder to lift. So we may have to wait until tomorrow evening to get it all taken care of-but that's alright. I'm pleased with myself anyways:)

40 Bags in 40 Days

2011-09-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I was at a relief society activity (read: church ladies' group). There have been quite a few new families moving in lately we we had a get to know you activity. We filled out surveys with questions like 'what superpower would you like to have?' and 'what is one skill/talent you would like to learn?'. First thing in my mind-organization. I started talking to a friend, Erin, about it. First thing she said to do was to get rid of stuff. Well the next day I found this! And I thought 'perfect!'. It's a plan and it's baby steps.
Usually I would want to do massive projects. You know, completely empty the cabinets (or room) and put it back together piece by piece. But, what do you know, that just doesn't seem to work with three curious little ones. So I decided to go for it. If you'd like to see the original list (and the blog I found it on-thank you pinterest) go here!

Oh-and I would totally want to fly:)

The point-to piece by piece get stuff out of the house! Where there is clutter there is a day. On each day the goal is to remove at least one bag (some days the bags will be bigger than others) that will get tossed from the house.
This is my list for the next 40 days.

40 Bags in 40 Days

1. Front porch
2. Utensil draws in kitchen
3. Living room shelves
4. Living room corners/baskets
5. Kitchen closet
6. Under kitchen sink
7. Fridge (in and on top)
8. Spice cupboard
9. Office desk
10. Office shelves
11. Closet (my clothes)
12. Closet (my shoes)
13. Closet (John’s side)
14. Dresser drawers
15. Toy bags (my room)
16. Bookshelf (my room)
17. Entertainment center-top
18. Entertainment center-inside glass doors
19. Ducky’s closet
20. Ducky’s room
21. My bathroom drawers
22. Babe/Bub closet
23. White room closet
24. Kid shoes
25. Under my bed
26. Upstairs closet
27. Downstairs closet
28. Lia Sophia shelves
29. Scrapbook cupboard
30. Upstairs bathroom
31. Game cupboard
32. High cupboards in kitchen
33. Laundry room shelf
34. Back porch
35. Low cabinets in kitchen
36. Downstairs bath
37. My car
38. Kitchen counters by sink
39. Kitchen counters by back door
40. Kitchen recycling/counters

My Boys

2011-09-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we found out that we're having another boy!
While at first I (and John) thought it would be nice to even it out and have another girl. Plus John already knows what he wants to name our next girl.
A few weeks back all three kids got up in the middle of the night. I ended up with both boys on Bub's bed. Snuggled and sleeping under my arms, all wrapped up tight yet completely relaxed, were my boys. I remember thinking that-"me and my boys". And in that still moment I wondered-"all boys?". And the answer was yes:)

I love my boys.

My boys smile bigger than anyone I know.

My boys are completely genuine.

My boys overflow with love and sunshine.
Kisses pour out of my boys and feels like rain on a perfect spring day:)
My boys love football and running as fast as they can.
My boys love climbing and jumping.
My boys are superb cuddlers and give fantastic hugs.

I'm thrilled to meet my newest boy.

I love my boys.

I really love my boys:)

Easter Cookies

2011-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a long time (clearly). But when I pulled out my Easter Cookie recipe I thought "hey, maybe someone else would like this, too?". So, not only am I posting-but it's not even a picture-filled, sentence-less post! Hopefully I'll actually make these this year, and of course dye the dozens of eggs I've 'blown' over the past few weeks. Anyways, this recipe is designed to make with kids to help them learn about Jesus Christ and the reason we celebrate Easter. So-on to Easter Cookies!

1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
pinch salt
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
ziploc bag
tape
wooden spoon
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important-DO NOT wait until you're halfway done with the recipe!)

Place pecans in ziploc bag and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that, after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. READ JOHN 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Pour into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. READ JOHN 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read LUKE 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us and died for our sins. He wants us to know and belong to Him. READ PSALMS 34:8 and JOHN 3:16.

Beat egg whites with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. READ ISAIAH 1:18 and JOHN 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet with wax paper. Explain that each mount represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. READ MATTHEW 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. READ MATTHEW 27:65-66.

Go to bed! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. READ JOHN 16:20 & 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. READ MATTHEW 28:1-9.

I hope you enjoy these cookies, but even more-I hope you enjoy spending this Easter with loved ones and sharing joy and faith in Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am ever grateful for his loving sacrifice.

While the mom's away... (AKA An ode to my wife)

2011-01-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

So Anika left early this morning (I think her phone rang around 2 AM for her to leave) to drive to Richmond (hours away) and fly to Orlando (more hours away). That means I get to spend my first ever weekend alone with the kids.

Terror, thy name is alone time with my kids.

Don't get me wrong; I love my kids. Babe is the cutest thing when she wants to be, which is whenever things are going her way. Bub is the nicest guy when he wants to be, which is whenever things are going his way. Duck's the nicest baby EVER, but especially when he's either (a) sleeping or (b) awake. None of that in-between stuff for my boy. Having the three happen at the same time is next to impossible. To top it all off, Bub had a really tough day yesterday, and lost his lunch at least 4 times. So we went into today with fear and trembling.

You know what? It turned out WAY better than I expected! Granted, the electronic babysitter (that's the TV for you non-parents) was on for most of the day, but the three actually got along for some of the day. I only heard a few hours of any child screaming, and I can't remember once when there were more than 2 at a time! That's progress for a dad that thought he'd break his first a few days after she was born!

Our project for tomorrow? Keep the e-babysitter off. (Cue dramatic chords.)

That said, we got a lot done today. A construction guy came to take care of a lot of our kitchen, which is under repair and being remodeled, we changed some of the furniture arrangement in our living room, and had pizza for lunch and dinner. Well, I did. ...and Duck did. The two oldest didn't really touch their pizza, but they never eat. Don't ask me where their energy comes from.

On to my wife. What a peach! I dump the kids on her so I can do other ("more important," or so I excuse myself) things, and she doesn't complain. I've been searching for a real job for the longest time (seriously, why does everybody want experience, anyways? don't they know we have to start SOMEWHERE?!?), and she has a job selling jewelry. Something that she actually likes! She does the dishes, cleans, cooks, wipes bottoms, and deals with the abuse that kids are generally great at dishing out, and rarely complains at all. AND THEN she deals with me. ...and at the end of the day, she still tells me that she loves me. I don't say it often enough to her, but I am absolutely in love with my wife. Her absence is painful to all of us. My wife is an angel, and I am honored to spend time with her.

On the days I get the call to babysit (ahem, substitute teach), I hope my absence isn't as tough on her as hers is on all of us. If it is, I should bring her flowers every single day. She deserves it.

...and so much more!

First blog post. Weird!

2011-01-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a picture guy, so I'll post in a very different manner than does my wife. Most of what I post will probably be text. So those of you that like pictures will relish in my wife's posts, while those of you that rely on words will love mine.

I've been having a trouble with my work situation lately. Because of a clerical error, I wasn't allowed to do my student teaching in the Spring term, which means I'll have to wait until Fall to do my student teaching, which means I'll lose an entire year of teaching experience. Because I'm an old man, that means I'll start even later, which isn't a great thing for me. So I've been looking at private schools at which I can both do my student teaching and get paid for it. So far, it's been a tough road because so few want to hire a teacher with no actual experience. We'll see if I can get hired for next school year; if so, you can read about it here on the blog. If not, we'll be digging into our savings as I do my student teaching and then try to patch together jobs here and there to make ends meet.

Still, life goes on, and our oldest is learning every day. She's learned to spell "cat," "dog," and "and" (her first "scripture word," to which we'll add many others from the scriptures), and she's working on memorizing the Articles of Faith (she actually finished the first one today at church!). She seems to relish mental work. Bub, on the other hand, works best with his hands. He's very into his "sword," (a piece of the edge of a puzzle mat he got for Christmas), and swings it to protect his siblings. When he's not not beating on them, that is. The youngest is small and prone to crying to get his point across. That said, he's generally pretty content with life. He's had his own room for about a week now, and sleeps through the night, which was a shock to us. He never really did that when he was sleeping in our room. Who knew he'd need to get away from us to get some rest?

Hopefully I can get hired. Hopefully it won't cost too much to move. Hopefully we can keep living the Gospel. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully...

...for the longest time...

2011-01-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

we're back! the pictures are a few months old, but compared to the last post (in may) this is an update:)

Leah Sidwell did a mini photo shoot for our family-so thank you Leah for these lovely pictures!fl L

We're all doing pretty well here. John is finishing up his masters program at Liberty University. I have started getting back into sewing and crafting and driving John nuts with my inexplicable urge to rearrange all the furniture in the house. Analee has been going to pre-school. Myself and a few other moms take turns teaching. She absolutely loves it:) Bub continues to be excited by just about anything. He loves to pretend, whether it's driving a car, fishing, being pirate or a puppy dog he loves it all. And Drake is just as happy as ever-he is walking, has several teeth popping through, and is thrilled to be ever more involved with his big brother and sister.

Hubby says...

2011-01-13T12:14:00.001-08:00

I am Anika's husband John. I've hijacked her account. She'll be posting again soon. Because I'm going to make her. Sorry for the delay!

John.

springtime with the adams

2010-05-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

you can't see it, but inside that cup is a sippy cup.

this is analee and her friend emily (we have to enunciate well or the poor kids get confused). but another friend came by bike (or bike trailer) and that's where the two are hanging out-and where babe found a new accessory.

this day i managed to overheat oil and fill the house with smoke. so we ate the remaining dinner outside. the plate is when we turned our heads and analee decided i needed lots of parmasen.

here babe is replanting flowers. she took them off one plant and then 'planted' them in a row in a different spot, she was very careful about it, too.

Our "Haul"

2010-03-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Sharp Shopper and were excited by what we got. So John asked me to post it here. We compared all the prices at Wal-mart, Sam's Club and Sharp Shopper before we went, so everything we got was cheaper than we could have gotten elsewhere. Our "haul", as john calls it cost us $61.53! We were rather pleased. Most of it is stuff we get anyways. The chocolate...well, I'm hooked, plus with Easter coming up I plan on using those. The root beer was a splurge, too. And while we don't get pop tarts very often, we usually have some sort of on-the-go food for outings and for when John substitutes in Roanoke.

Transition Time

2010-03-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

so it's quite late and i can't seem to get the pictures in the right places. but here are pictures of just around when Drake was born. as he was due any day and it had been snowing a fair amount Corwin Bennett, a wonderful friend and home teacher, sneakily showed up and started shoveling our driveway (to ensure that we could get to the hospital). isn't he wonderful?! but we caught him and John went out to help, as did Bub, as you can see. but the kids loved being outside and playing in the snow. if your curious about Bub's feet, i put plastic bags between his socks and shoes so he wouldn't get soaked. also, the dog. he randomly showed up. so Corwin and John started playing with him. they'd throw snowballs and he'd try to catch them in his mouth. unfortunately Analee was terrified, convinced the dog was going to eat her. Oh well.

we also have some of the first pictures of Drake. they're kind of self explanatory...but Tatiana Bennett (Corwin's lovely wife) was kind enough to take some of the family. thanks Tatiana!

Adams Family Christmas Note

2009-12-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone for the Adams family. We've been overcome with the blessings of the Lord as we try to help others.

Analee (“Babe”) is now 28 months old. John William (“Bubba”) is now 19 months old. The time that we've had them has gone both incredibly quickly and incredibly slowly. We don't remember life without them, but we don't remember much of them growing up. Life really has been a whirlwind for us here in our tiny slice of heaven. The kids moved into the same room in preparation for another birth, and it was easier than we thought. They now go to bed and wake up at the same time, and do both giggling.

Babe is powering her way through things. Her philosophy seems to be thus: if brute force doesn't work, punch it harder. She alternates between being the sweetest girl around and the “terrible two” that we've heard about. She's growing up almost too fast for us; she knows letters and numbers, shapes and colors, and loves to show them off. Her favorite toy is a computer keyboard that we gave her, which allows her to “practice letters,” as she puts it.

Bub is playing the dutiful victim of his big sister's powerful playing. That said, he's become quite the happy guy as he is now more mobile and can get to just about anything he wants. He's got a wonderful streak to him, showing his willingness to give up what he fought so hard to get. He's a cuddly little boy who showers us with hugs and kisses.

Life is about to get more hectic for us, as Drake will be born some time early in 2010. He's due February 11, but we expect him in mid-to-late January. He's an active little guy, and we can see him moving from the outside. Three kids under three? What were we thinking?!?

Anika is doing well, or at least as well as she can, considering her belly. We're excited to see what she's like without either a pregnancy or post-pregnancy issues.

John is trying to be a father and a husband while working as much as he can and keeping up his grades at Liberty University, where he's a graduate student. He's doing well, as he just got his report card full of A's. We're all very proud of him.

We're excited to see the changes our family will go through, and are blessed to see what has come before. The Lord has bent over backward for us, and we see no reason not to do the same for Him.

Merry Christmas from the Adams family!

P.S. Included are pictures of us outside earlier this week. We got two feet of snow and the kids loved it.

happy days

2009-12-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

some pictures from our temple trip in october. we didn't get any from november's...but we'll be going again this weekend! yay!

babe was way excited to get there. i guess she would be since she spent four hours in a carseat being told "it's okay, babe, we're going to the temple". actually, she ran right inside. the doors are automatic, but thankfully there are two sets, so i caught her before she made it through the second set. poor thing, she was crushed. "but i wanna go to the temple!" boy, did i had stopping her.

the fountain was a big hit. the kids spent a lot of time looking at it and running around it.

they were big fans of the guy mowing the lawn. they thought he, and his lawn mower, were pretty cool.

we're so grateful to be able to go to the temple. while it takes a bit more planning with kids, once we decided that we were just going to do it then it's worked wonderfully every time. we've been october, november and are going this weekend. unfortunately january isn't a safe bet (especially now that john has banned me from going further than lexington after the end of december). since i'm at a higher risk than usual to have a precipitous labor (baby coming early and fast-as in under 3 hours), then traveling that close of my due date (feb. 11) is pretty unsafe. in that case february could be out too, depending on when the baby comes.
but we're thrilled to be going often and taking our kids with us. they love the temple and know what it is. i had to laugh, babe saw a picture of a fairy tale castle and instantly called it a temple. talk about making you feel good inside.

update oh update

2009-12-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

well, i've been pretty bad at posting but thought i'd drop a little something. i usually like to do pictures, but john's been pretty busy on the computer lately (he's working on multiple papers for his masters in teaching program), and pictures take a while. so i guess i'll skip them.

posts that haven't happened...the labor day parade. it's a big deal here, historically buena vista is the start of the campaign trial, so all the candidates come and walk down magnolia street. it was nice since we were near friends who also chose to enjoy it and let their kids have fun with all the balloons and stickers and disregard the politics.

we got to go to the temple both in october AND november (yay!). we're hoping to get there in december, too. but john's declared that after the end of december i'm not traveling beyond lexington, so january, and i'll just assume february, are out. but i guess that brings us to other news. since bub's birth was precipitous (being fast and early) chances are this one will be as well. the doctors informed me that it didn't matter where i was, if i thought i might be in labor i go to the nearest hospital-which is why john doesn't want me traveling too far away near the end (my due date being feb. 11, but if this one comes as early as bub then he'd come come about jan. 7).

halloween was pleasant and fairly uneventful. i made costumes this year, which was interesting. babe was a ballerina (and mightily excited by it). bub was a bumble bee, stinger included but no wings (i noticed i had forgotten them just before we left for the ward party). oh well. the stinger was cute.

and most recently, thanksgiving. another couple, the dunn's, joined us. i was half surprised seeing as they came last year. last year's big mistakes: the turkey was underdone (parts were pink), i forgot to put the eggs in the pumpkin pie (translates to pumpkin soup) and "just enough" flour for the gravy, i learned, is not several cups...it came out let jello. but i didn't do any of that this year! i did however break a meat thermometer (no matter what the directions say i guess i'm not supposed to leave the thermometer in the turkey), forgot to make the stuffing and while the gravy wasn't jello it tasted pretty bland. so overall i think i'm improving:)

but hopefully soon i'll be able to post some pictures. if it's not in the next month though we'll probably end up skipping fall pictures and moving straight to new baby excitement. again, due on feb. 11th we're expecting a little boy. we're still hashing out official-ness, but plan to name him drake. we'll see if we actually call this kid by his name though. if not we'll probably have babe, bub, and ducky. yeah, ducky. maybe i'll have to explain that one later.

Fight for Right

2009-11-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

John and I have a dear friend, Jordan James. John got to know him and his family while in California. My freshman year of college I met both John and Jordan. At our wedding reception that summer Jordan was getting ready to leave on a mission for our church. He spent two years in Florida teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and serving the people he met. After returning home he and his family discovered that he had developed adrenal cancer. Jordan lived with us as he attended classes that summer. He planned to continue on this fall but was unable due to his condition. During this time his family moved to Michigan where Jordan could get the best available help for his type of cancer. That is where, a few weeks ago, Jordan died.
Jordan was and is an incredibly uplifting person. Not only did his spirit bring peace, gratitude and strength to our home and family, but he wanted to share it with everyone he could.
Jordan had a website. He called it Fight for Right. That is what Jordan did. That is what Jordan does. I would like to encourage everyone to look at it, to read it. To Fight for Right. www.fightforright.net This is part of Jordan's introduction to his fight.

"I'm Jordan James, and to state the purpose of this site as simply as possible, I've pretty much decided to save the world. Some may roll their older, wiser eyes in amusement and shamefully shake their shiny dome-shaped heads at this ridiculously bold statement — thinking that this is all merely the naive attempt of a simple-minded, inexperienced dreamer to be a vague sort of hero. They may very well be right (which really makes no difference to me). But whatever the case, I get much more satisfaction out of life through my obsession with maximizing human potential and happiness through motivation and influence, seeking to fight evil, and making significant contributions to society, than I would if I were cynical and critical of others' efforts to do the same!"

Fight for Right, Jordan.

sleeping babe

2009-10-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

while babe doesn't take naps, she will occasionally crash on the floor after a busy day. this time our friend leah sidwell (or as babe calls her 'lela') was here and took some pictures.

the fun thing about this box is that analee pulled it over herself before she fell asleep and would adjust it like it was a blanket.

every day fun

2009-09-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

john being attacked by babies

bub on daddy's shoulders

apparently it's a comfy place:)

afterwards bub decided daddy should be on his shoulders!

the hilarious fashion sense of babe. granted, the clothes she didn't pick (she was still in pj's from the night before). but the hat and the "bracelets" were all her. in case you can't tell, her bracelets are those rings you make baby chains out of.

so it got quiet and this is what we found. if you can see it she is drenched in lotion (she's a fan of lotion). face, hands, arms, legs, the whole deal. she had so much on that even by the time she woke up we had to wipe her down b/c it couldn't all soak in.

hanging out...in the stroller basket...

i guess pushing the stroller wasn't quite manly enough. but bub loves to try to push the lawn mower. every time john mows he wants to be out there helping. it's pretty sweet.

Friday Fun

2009-08-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

during the summer bv had these friday events with food and music, it was supposed to be a dancing in the street sort of event. we only went once but it was pretty fun.

babe got a glow in the dark bracelet (she loves bracelets) and swiped my lemondade:)

the city featured a local band "rockma". we thought it was fun since all the boys were 12 and we had had three of them as webelos (all but the drummer). so left to right...the drummer (don't know him) jordy, dransfield (nate) and jack. they did a pretty good job.

bub dancing to rockma

babe dancing to rockma

kid dancing is pretty much the best ever:)

walnut canyon

2009-07-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

while we were at the family reunion (way back in june) we went on a hike through walnut canyon. a way cool place you should certainly see if you're in arizona (i hiked it pregnant with a kid on my back! if you know me you know that's a BIG deal, i am NOT physically fit, so you can totally do it too! they even had these great backpacks at the visitor center that we could use for free! so no excuses!) oh, p.s. i totally uploaded these on the wrong size...but there's a lot, and i really don't want to do it all over again...so yeah.

okay, so this plant is a prickly pear cactus plant. cool b/c my grandma takes the fruit off these and makes the best jam in existence. it's kinda a distant picture though since the plant was off the path and on a steep decline.

i just think this place looks cool. the rock formations are really neat.

i like pictures like this one (with my sister anja) b/c it shows you at least a little just how big it all is.

ander, my awesome little brother who carried around babe the whole way, despite her constant chimes of "mo' nack peas" translated as "more snacks please". he was such a trooper, way awesome.

this was kinda a leaning over the edge picture. it was seriously just cliffs going down. kinda scary, but way neat. the whole way my thoughts were 'wow!' and 'don't fall'.

my sister anja (in the pink) and my other little brother josiah (in the red).

yet another awesome little brother.

to the left is my mom, they're will be a better picture of her later. i'm so glad she was there. being completely not physically fit she was nice enough to hang back with me:)

i thought this was a cool tree, growing out of the rocks and all. i guess it's the purcell side coming out.

so i think these are way cool. it's where the native indians lived...in little cliff rooms they made...seriously, on the edge of a cliff! these were hardcore people.

another neat looking tree.

me and bub.

ander and babe.

okay, this lizard was totally cool. see how it's pushed up on it's legs? it would go up and down...this lizard was doing push-ups! it was the funniest thing. just up and down and up and down. it was great.

yay for mom!

2009-07-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

So Anika picked these pictures out and had me (John) write about them. Don't hold your breath. Anyways, this is kinda a 4 generation picture. Dad's folks, Mom and Dad, us, and the kids. Anika was awfully amped for this picture. I was amped that our kids weren't crying anymore.

Trust me. Bubba was NOT happy.
Neither was Babe. In fact, this is as happy as she got.

Ander wanted to do the teeter totter with me.
So I did.

Ander's great with our kids. He know when to stay and when to run like mad. Here he's staying.

Bubba grew to love the slide, so this 1-year-old would climb up (with minimal assistance) and then fall/slide down. Babe was more graceful.

She also learned to go up backwards. Bubba got the hang of that, too, by the end of our few days.

Ander's a poser. He doesn't do cameras unless he's posing, generally.
So there. I helped. Yay, me!

2009-07-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

this is the first quilt i have ever made. it was for becky and russ burton...or i guess technically their baby, luke. i thought it worked out pretty well b/c luke means light bearer...so i decided to call the quilt lighted jungle. technically the pattern didn't call for the colors to be lined up like that...but the way it was it drove me nuts b/c it seemed so unbalanced.
so there it is, the first hobby i've found that i don't have to make myself keep doing.

2009-06-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

i just thought i'd start sharing bits about our family. and as is my usual form, i chose a picture. this is my husband's favorite picture. he says he likes it b/c Jesus is smiling. as john would say "when Christ said his joy was full, i tend to believe him".

family pictures

2009-06-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

brinn willis (bmw photography) took our family pictures...uhm, in may, john's birthday actually (the 14th). it takes a while for these to upload though, so they might come in multiple posts.

okay, check out babe's outfit...'my dad rocks' tee, tutu, mult-colored striped leggings and ballet shoes...this outfit was actually requested by brinn:) i thought it was hilarious, and quite appropriate considering how weird babe can be. she said we could bring other clothes for her to change into, but i didn't bother, it matches her personality pretty well, why mess?

so we happened upon this hammock...good thing the kids jumped on first, b/c it turns out it was pretty loose.

strange, but she was showing brinn her belly button

oh, and not too much later she got her four front teeth pulled...so, imagine these pictures without her top teeth.

Better Late Than Never...I Hope

2009-06-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday! okay, well, his birthday was May 2nd, so it's a long overdue post, either way, here it is, and happy birthday bub.

He got some presents in the mail from grandma and grampa...if you can't see it the package is labeled for Little John.

he wasn't real sure why we were asking him to grab the package...

so we sent in for back-up.

yay! bub LOVES balls, so it was really nice to get some (we didn't really have any that were really safe...think analee trying to play catch with a golf ball...not good).
he also got this nifty card set...different animals with a hole where the face is, you're supposed to either put it up to the card with a smily face on one side or a mirror on the other...but he likes to put his face in it...eventually i'll get a picture of that:)

but on his birthday we went to don tequilas (thanks so much to rachel andersen for taking these pictures, smart me didn't have a camera).

then we came home for brownies! (okay, truth be told we were late to a picnic and so didn't get dinner...so we ate out...then we-or maybe just me-felt bad b/c we didn't have a cake...but we happened to have brownies...so there you go).

offering a morsel to rachel...how considerate:)

okay, this isn't really birthday related, but it was the next day and the grumpy old man look was just too funny. thanks again to rachel for getting that on camera:)

yay! he got a card from great-grandma bunker!

i tell ya, he's rich now.

thanks for everyone who thought of our little guy!

The Wonderful Hunts

2009-05-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

tonight i had to say goodbye to my dear friend, amy hunt. amy, wil and their kids, hannah, ethan and max, are moving to iowa. i'm no good at writing niftily or sentimentaly, so, as is par for this blog's course, i simply picked out some pictures i had of them. mostly of the kids at playgroup's easter egg hunt. (sorry to wil, as i never took his picture, and to amy, whom i only got while she was busy helping her children-which seems par for her course, always serving.)

first hair cut

2009-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

we knew bub (jack, john, will...honestly, call him whatever-loving-thing you want) was going to need a haircut soon (it was almost in his eyes). i started to get sentimental about it (when i put him down at night i always give him a kiss and brush his hair off his face before i leave). then randomly one day while john was gone and babe was sleeping i just up and decided to cut his hair...this is what followed.

yeah, it's a crayon, what's really weird is when he's got it just hanging
out of his mouth like a stogie.

i used the biggest setting i had and was kinda surprised by how much hair came off.

don't worry, it's unplugged and the actual trimmer part is covered.

so, kinda abrupt. afterwards i was shocked at myself, i texted john with a picture saying something to the effect of 'i destroyed my baby' b/c he seemed so different to me (you're probably thinking i'm crazy since i'm sure you didn't see much change). well, john couldn't tell what i was talking about and found it to be rather uneventful...oh well.

any given day

2009-05-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

breakfast! yay for a community bowl of ceral.

if i'm really good we take a look at the alphabet

daddy tries to dissuade me from taking pictures of him

and i just like taking pictures of my kids

scraggly hair

or dirty kitchen

just b/c he loves me

Easter eggs in the backyard

2009-04-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

oops...bubba started without his big sister

there's one! (note the eggs falling from the basket)

there's even more! (aka the eggs she dropped)
(with all the eggs falling from the basket...this egg hunt could have gone on forever)

bubba picks up babe's leftovers

for they maketh me happy

2009-04-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

march/april good times

2009-04-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

yay! bubba is climbing the stairs!
(after contently looking at them for weeks)

babe decided he needed some help, so she started pushing from behind.

at penny park

babe insisted that if she was swinging bubba should be, too.

so they swang...swung...were swinging

just chillin'

he apparently takes his wood chip eating very seriously...

babe clapping for herself before she actually went down the slide

sliding is just too much fun:)

"march madness" as dad says

2009-03-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

our handsome little man

okay, fun story.
babe wants to help dad bring in groceries...so she does.

notice anything interesting about this picture?
yep, she's going away from the house...might i note, after she dragged the bags to the house.
needless to say the bags were pretty torn up.

the happy helper (yep, in pajamas...they didn't quite get changed that day...)

and not to be left alone, buba joins us

with his trademark army crawl (the moms at playgroup find it quite the novelty)

uh-oh...found some chocolate chips

yay! into the house, finally!

babe loves to do wii fit. i think between a remote
and a board to stand on, it's just too much fun.

fun at the park (now that the weather is warming up-yay!)

okay, so babe loves her brother. if she has it or does it, he needs it and should join along. she wanted to play in the swing...so she wanted her brother with her.
he was super happy. he was beaming almost the whole time.

time to color!

so he's not quite getting the idea yet, but once he saw his sister coloring he wanted to, too. not to mention the ongoing chorus from analee of 'buba too'

tired? me too. g'night.

it's my boy

2009-02-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

yum! brownie batter!

don't forget the milk!

leah's attempt at turban-izing the boy

this one just made me laugh

honey...i think the tie is just a bit big...

so i took the cushions off the couch to vacuum under them, a few minutes later i couldn't find the boy...until he peered out from beneath the cushions. i guess i tossed them just right and made a tunnel b/c he crawled through.

this day he was totally mad, he cried and screamed and would not be happy. we were tired and pretty much had given up on making him happy...so we put him in a box and whoosh, the tears stopped and that sweet little smiled creeped onto his face. i have strange children.

he eats hockey.

Christmas with the Christensens

2009-02-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

this Christmas we went to nebraska to spend time with my (anika's) family. i didn't get pictures of everyone...but here is some of what i got.

Josiah (my brother)

John (my brother...and i managed not to get a picture
of his wife, Rocio, or their littlest, Athena)

John's son Sebastian
(it is incredibly difficult to get pictures of this kid)

Ariel (my sister) grinning at buba (next picture down)

Ariel's son, Chris

my mom and Anja (my sister)

just chillin'

Josiah helping Analee play outside (despite very cold weather)
thanks Josiah!

buba and the dog (daisy) watching the kids play outside

Anja making a funny face

mom and Josiah

Erika and buba

babe chill-axing (chillin' and relaxing) with some goldfish

Anja and mom sewing

John and babe

the little guy

apologies to dad, rocio, athena, ander, speed (the other dog) and anybody else that i didn't get a picture of...unless you'd rather not be in a picture...then i guess you're lucky

catching up with Christmas

2009-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

here are a few pictures from Christmas morning. hopefully i'll get more up from the whole trip.

john and analee (poor babe was awakened by festivities...a touch earlier than she is used to)

josiah and dad

dad, sebastian (c-bass) and erika

mom, anja and will (buba, jack, the boy...pick your pleasure)

en route

2009-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

however late, here are some of our traveling adventures this holiday season. first up...buba's (as his sister calls him) first ride on an airplane!...okay, so he's not that excited, but i took a picture anyway.

and here dad and babe crash while waiting for the next flight. traveling sure took a lot out of 'em. and yes, he is holding the nuk in his mouth...but don't worry, it's backwards.

okay, this is my favorite part! anyone who has issues with o'hare can be happy now. this is the coolest kids play place. my pictures aren't that good since babe only wanted to play in certain areas, but it has a control tower that has working phones so you can talk to the pilots in the airplane and the people loading the luggage. in the airplane is the cockpit, the passenger area that has a slide coming out of it and the luggage area (which babe is in in this picture). there is a helicopter with a bike and a handbike that make the propellers go, there is a gas truck to 'fill up' the airplane. there is lots of information that older kids will pick up on, it is so cool.
one of babe's favorite parts...the phone. (we are not suprised).
babe loading 'luggage'
buba driving the gas truck

and i can't remember which vehicle this is...but babe is trying to drive it. actually i think that was part of the helicopter.

'and this is my joy'

2008-12-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

the boy using his sister's toothbrush

dad, as is usual, makes funny faces when i point the camera toward him

the first picture we've got of him smiling!

mmm, banana

our kids love books (yay!)

everyday fun

2008-11-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

fun with glasses

yummy applesauce!

hangin' with daddy

trying to get ready for bed

sweet little boy feet...and fingers

halloween fun

2008-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

so we went to get pumpkins to color (we didn't want to try to carve with the little ones). and i picked one out for babe (they didn't have any really little ones). well she wanted to hold it, but after i gave it to her i realized that there was a kind of gash in it, so i tried to swap it with another one and she was not happy, that was her pumpkin, and she only wanted her pumpkin. the thing probably crushed her, but she wanted to hold it.

at the park for the friday playgroup

dad and our 'strawberry faerie' at the ward halloween party

our little cow...or bull...or what have you

snow white and the strawberry faerie

our friends the monkey and his brother the police officer...or some sort of law enforcement officer...dude

mr. monkey in his jungle at the playgroup

lorraine, another sweet princess!

amy hunt with two of her kids, the purple faerie and the skunk

cutest costume idea ever!!

more friends...the cowgirl and her big brother the dragon

themed pictures

2008-10-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

unhappy babies
usually i wouldn't post these, but some of them kinda made me chuckle

my children would never express their angst;)

hungry babies

he eats solids...yay!!

tagged by shannon...a cute idea

2008-10-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1. wishing i was out of primary
2. trying to act like a teenager
3. still getting used to being in nebraska
4. trading off sleepovers with amy eliker

4 Things on my list to do today (since it's late i'll say tomorrow)
1. pick up and vacuum living room
2. take kids on a walk
3. pick up rx
4. make sure babe's old halloween costume fits the boy

4 Things I love about John
1. his determination to be honest
2. he always tells me that i'm pretty
3. his desire to be generous
4. he works hard, even when he doesn't want to

4 Jobs I've had
1. cashier at hy-vee
2. helper at elementary school after school program
3. washed cars at ford dealership
4. franks hot dog stand

4 Movies I've Seen more than once
1. miracle
2. master and commander
3. chicken little
4. discovery channel's conception to birth

4 Places I've Lived
1. buena vista, va
2. lincoln, ne
3. yakima, wa
4. baltimore, md

4 Places I've Been
1. washington d.c.
2. japan
3. san jose, ca
4. frankfurt, hessen, west germany

4 Places I want to visit
1. england
2. ireland
3. denmark
4. wales

4 T.V. shows I watch
1. ncsi
2. Jon and Kate + eight
3. What Not to Wear
4. extreme makover-home edition

4 Things you may not know about me
1. i used to sing (classical music)
2. i was born on a military base in frankfurt, west germany
3. i wish i knew how to play piano
4. two of my favorite books are alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass

looking back

2008-10-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

so in case people didn't know, our old blog (johnandanika.blogspot.com) was connected to an e-mail that i think has been taken over by someone else. i tried to login and it wouldn't take the password, tried the special question...and it was in another language. i tried for a while to get it back, but it wasn't working. so our old blog is still there...i just can't update it. so just for fun i thought i'd throw in some of my favorite older pictures.

the first four are all within the first month to six weeks after analee was born. the fifth i think is a few months later...but i'm not positive.

boy do i wish i could relax like that!

babe's first time seeing her new brother.

sweet kisses:)

should i take this as a sign of strangeness to come?

babe has always been interested in her little brother.

random picture taking

2008-09-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

hanging out with daddy...as he watches sports? i think.

uh...we're tired...can you tell? (for the record, i posed, i swear i don't sleep with my tongue hanging out like that...but the kids were really not having a happy time and i think the humor of picture taking was what helped us get over the stress.)

she loves the flower...she loves it not...

babe Loves drinking from cups and water bottles

random sweet sleeping baby. ::sigh::

a favorite toy/accessory

way cool

and...not so cool...but i thought i'd join her in the fun-ness

so did her doggy

again, she Loves drinking from cups

and very carefully picks up the ice and puts it back in when it falls out

having fun with the girl across the street-lorraine

thought i'd be nice and give her her own picture

FHE at the park

2008-09-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

daddy and his little boy

babe watching john and becca practice lacrosse

analee shares becca's soccer ball with her

babe practices

and practices some more

and the little guy just can't wait to get in on the action

speaking of little, i just had to get a picture of those toes!

just having fun...or, well, trying to encourage it. didn't seem to work so well considering babe looks a bit confused and i just look ridiculous...

and more of the little ones

because i can't get enough