The Genho Family

Lias Turns Three

2011-12-29T19:09:00.005-05:00

Elias turned 3 with a big boy birthday party of presents and fishing. Poor kid is stuck in the middle of the birthdays so hasn't really gotten a party of his own.

He did share his toys nicely and take his spankings like a man.

Since he got a new fishing pole, we headed down to the pond and caught some nice guppies with him.

Grandpa Donovan's Birthday

2011-08-27T15:17:00.002-04:00

(Grandpa and almost all the grand kids (clockwise Ava 7, Lydia 4,
Brielle 4 months, Elias 3, Nathan 5, Gordie 8)

For my dad's birthday we celebrated with tons of chocolate. That's about it. Oh, and a few steaks and baked potatoes too but really, the chocolate was the hit. Yum.

Dad and 1/2 of his grown kids (l-r Steve, Laurel, Dad, Lynnie, Leanne)

My dad is 59 years young and just bought a motorcycle this year. The beard finally gives away his age. My dad has become a huge help now that my kids are a little bigger and has watched my kids (overnight!) a time or two, not to mention numerous little trips. Elias keeps telling me that the "Grandpa with the noter- cycle is coming over" whenever I mention a grandpa.

Leanne and Grandpa and Baby Brielle

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

First Day of School

2011-08-25T22:18:00.004-04:00

As I sat sad at the hospital thinking about Nathan and Ava starting school, John was snapping these pictures. They sure don't look too sad. Lias missed them a little but mainly just had fun making Grandpa a birthday cake with Auntie Leanne and Bay-ve Bee-elle(Baby Brielle). Nathan must have learned a lot cause tonight he read me half of "Green Eggs and Ham" pretty much all by himself. Both claimed they had great days and are excited to go back tomorrow.
Awesome.

Beautiful

2011-08-24T21:40:00.002-04:00

Really, could you ask for a better place to raise kids? Tomorrow is a big day. We'll have more kids at school than at home and that just feels weird and a little wrong. Natey is excited but pretty nervous and I'll admit, I choked up tonight when we were putting him to bed. It doesn't help that tomorrow I have to be to my clinical at 8am and it's an hour away, which leaves someone else to take my baby to his first day of kindergarten. Not cool.

Luckily, he's got the next best option (or maybe the best option to him). Dada will escort both kids to their first day, drop them off, kiss them goodbye and have to do the leaving. Something tells me he's not gonna cry since he already told me he thinks they should just take the bus.

But I'll be there to get them off and can't wait to see if they're excited. Both have great teachers and are totally comfortable with the school. Their classrooms are literally 10 feet across the hall from each other, which sets my mind at ease for some reason. And 2 days a week I get off school at just the same time they eat lunch so I'm pretty sure I'll be a regular there. But still.... 2 in school?

Shake It Baby

2011-08-23T22:49:00.002-04:00

When I was a kid, my family lived in Japan for about 4 years. I was relatively little, 3-7, but we have tons of home videos and it's talked about so much that I really have some cool memories of the place. Some of my most vivid memories involve preparing for earthquakes and I can still remember crawling under the table in our kitchen with our whole family and our dad telling us in a serious voice, "This is where we all should meet if you ever feel an earthquake." So you can imagine my horror when, as a 6 year old, I found myself stark naked, standing in the shower watching the entire bathroom sway. I screamed my head off and everyone thought I was hurt but really I was terrified that I wasn't under the kitchen table.

So fast forward 24 years to this afternoon and I'm peacefully doing my homework on my niece's bed in my older sister's house in middle of suburban Virginia. I start to feel the bed shake and immediately I think my kids are somehow shaking it - you know the feeling when a kid climbs into bed with you in the middle of the night and it's dark and you can just feel them coming up? It was that kinda feeling but my kids were all at the park with my awesome sisters. So my immediate next thought was, "There's a mass murderer under this bed in my sister's house and no one is even home to hear me scream."

After about 5 seconds I realized this was more than the bed shaking, since now the walls were going too. It felt like an earthquake but, come on, this is Virginia, not Japan, right? Wrong. After 15 seconds I was pretty sure I had felt this before, and all my childhood memories of hiding under my desk at school during earthquake drills came rushing back. I realized I should go outside so, of course, I grabbed my laptop and walked on out to talk with all the neighbors who were also wandering outside. And like any sane person, I next googled "Stephen's City earthquake" only to find nothing so thought, "Wow, that was weird" then went back to studying. Only when my sister's came home and I realized they had totally missed it did we get online to hear about the 5.8 tremor that had an epicenter about 50 miles from the farm. Crazy world, huh?

On the bright side, we didn't have any damage anywhere although Culpeper, VA, which is our main stomping ground, had quite a few buildings damaged. And on the really bright side - this canceled Nathan's first day of kindergarten which delayed my sadness at letting my little man go off to school and let me blog about this instead. Hopefully these aftershocks will keep down (we haven't felt a single on of the supposed 4) and we'll all sleep well tonight.

T-Rex on the Brain

2011-08-18T21:49:00.002-04:00

Tonight as I was wedged between Nathan and Lias, trying to get them to sleep, Lias and I had this conversation.

"Mama?" in a teeny tiny whisper that I could barely hear. I ignored it three times since 5 seconds earlier I was listening to his deep breathing and lip smacking, usually sure signs that he's close to crashing. Finally I gave in so Nathan didn't get hear and get all riled up.

"What?" I replied in a tiny whisper.

"Do's T-Rexs have 'ands (hands) to open dowrs(doors)?"

"No Lias, all the T-Rexs are dead and their hands don't work to open doors."

"Ok", then deep breathing and he's out.

9 Years

2011-08-16T22:31:00.003-04:00

Life is Grand.
Especially after all this time…

We've decided we're not big present people, so instead of getting all worked up about finding something for each other we just don't. And nobody is offended (although I might buy myself a new pair of shoes with all the dough we saved). We also aren't big "do anything" people so tonight we went hiking in the Shenandoah National Park with all the kids. We took a fancy picnic dinner of fried chicken, slushies, biscuits and string cheese and ate to our hearts content. Then we played on the rocks over the non-essistent river (big drought) and prayed that no one would split their head open. Everyone had a great time and we even spotted a bear on the way down the trail. Really, what more can you ask for in an anniversary?

Why I love Summer

2011-07-29T08:45:00.002-04:00

It's 8:45 am, there are 9 bodies in my house and I'm the only one awake. Amazing. All three of my babies are snuggled into my bed, where I snuck out of an hour ago to do laundry and try to study. The air-conditioner is going full blast so I'm shivering in my undies, folding, and grateful for the white-noise it provides while the kids are piled under our winter comforter that gets a year round job thanks to John and the air-conditioner. My 4 sisters and my mom have been here for the past 3 days, on and off, with the constants being Leanne and her beautiful 3 month old Brielle, and Sarah and her precious tiny 2 month old, Caroline. Ava is in baby heaven, holding, dressing, changing, playing, showering these two. And we're all in sister heaven blabbing, blabbing, staying up way too late, eating and soaking up the company. Life is nice….

Can someone tell me why this song won't leave me alone?

2011-06-23T23:52:00.004-04:00

You know how you watch a movie and it sucks you in? Well, I don't watch many movies so when I picked this one instead of a nap on the flight home from Iceland, I was more than ready to give up on it and get my nap if it didn't suck me in. It did. I don't know why, other than the music and the whole country lifestyle thingy. Hard decisions about big life events coming up so it must have hit a cord. Whatever it is, I can't stop listening to this song and all the others he sings. Something about it…..soulful and twangy…. speaks right to me.

(PS. This was the only video I could find but it's a little PG rated so be careful if your kids watch!)

The Vikings are Coming, the Vikings are Coming!!!

2011-05-21T23:46:00.002-04:00

In honor of our upcoming Iceland trip, Nathan and Lias are having a Viking themed joint birthday party. This is the protocol get up, minus the shield. All brought to you by cardboard and duct tape and a mother's imagination. Nathan has been raiding villages all night long.

The Ranch in Florida

2011-05-19T19:53:00.002-04:00

Interesting newscast about the ranch John grew up on.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15602133&_mid=805&_rid=805.800.248816

But really, did you notice all the flies?? :-)

Cuteness

2011-05-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

At least I think so....

One year down

2011-05-04T01:35:00.002-04:00

Took my last final for the first year of nursing school today. I'm so ready to have a summer again and hang out with the kids, uninterrupted playing or surfing the internet, actually sleeping and seeing my husband a little. It's been a crazy 8 months but now it's done and for that I'm glad. I feel like I've learned a ton and yet hardly scratched the surface of what I'm supposed to know. I got my first B at a community college. Yuck. And failed tests galore only to find with the curve I'd A'ced it. Yuck again.

Be prepared for a onslaught of post sometime the future. I have a whole fall and winter's worth of pictures begging to get out. But my bed is begging for me to get into it!

the Strength within

2011-04-03T23:22:00.008-04:00

This little girl is so strong, yet fragile. She amazes me daily with her insight, her devotion to us and her desire to want to do what's right.

She's always looking out for someone else, trying to right a wrong or make someone happier. I had one of her little friend's dad tell me the other day that she was destined to be a diplomat when she grew up because she can defuse any situation and it's true.

She's in love with babies, absolutely obsessed and still dresses them up each day and brings them to me to watch all day while she's at school. Daily,I let her down or make her cry when I bark at her or loose my temper and nightly I pray for forgiveness and hope I haven't crushed her little spirit.

Last week she wrote, illustrated and delivered this lesson entirely by herself for Family Home Evening:

"doow (do) you nowe (know) how (who) are profit (prophet) is? he is Presint Monsin. HF (Heavenly Father but she used the abbreviation HF) sprks (speaks) to Presint montsin he tells him to tell us to be good this weekende are Profit will speek to us he will tell us the things that HF tollde (told) him to tell us."

Her testimony is fragile but strong -just like her personality -and she's eager to learn. Her faith and desire are so real that they make me want to do better and be a better person for her.

She has turned the tide on John being her favorite and now I have the honor, but I'm floundering to try to fill big shoes. I have big plans this summer to hang out and really enjoy each other. We're gonna learn to sew a little, play a little barbies and babies and plan a birthday party, for starters. I love my curly girly (hair compliments of one patient Auntie Laurel who introduced her to rollers. She bounced around all day.).

A tale of 2 poops

2011-03-29T21:58:00.003-04:00

1. My little man - I guess I really can't call him a baby anymore - pooped all by himself in his little potty tonight. He didn't even call me in until he'd tried to put it into the toilet all by himself, which was ok by me even though he made a tremendous mess. That is one of the best faces a mother can ever experience, watching your little baby so excited and proud of himself that he went all by himself and was successful. It is really priceless and I'm so glad that he waited 2 whole days to let me have the joy - and the fun of cleaning him and the potty and the toilet and the floor all up at 9:25 at night when I have 3 hours of homework ahead of me and I wished the kids were asleep at 7:30. It's a constant battle to want to see them and spend time with them and experience their little lives and know I have homework looming over me. I only have 33 more days of this first year left. I'm just taking one week at a time and trying not to let anyone die or be emotionally damaged in the process. Poor Lias has probably been ready to potty train for 2 months but I haven't found the stretch of time to help him. I don't think we can go backwards from here so here we go! Ready or not!

2. Two weeks ago we started clinicals at school which means I'm actually in a "hospital" setting now. Actually, it's just a nursing home but at least it's with real patients. On my very first day, my patient - a 94 year old dancing lady who doesn't walk or even stand very well - was having some incontinence issues. To make a long story short, on the way to getting her to the bathroom she ended up sitting on my lap instead of falling on the floor and breaking her hip. Lets just say I was sandwiched between a dirty bed and a dirty bum. Poor lady but she didn't fall and for that I'm still glad. Best part of all was we got to go to a seminar after our time at the nursing home and I didn't have a change of clothes. It felt like I was back on the farm, covered in crap after a hard days work. My classmates were pretty disgusted but it really didn't bother me. Needless to say, I did order a second pair of scrubs that afternoon.

Even Super Heros get Sleepy

2011-03-26T16:15:00.003-04:00

Nathan and the Gospital

2011-03-08T23:21:00.002-05:00

Every night we all gather on Nathan's bed to read scriptures and say family prayers. Nathan used to be our least compliant one - blame it on his constant need to move and fidget and roll on someone, etc - but lately we've turned a whole new corner with this kid. No longer does he test our patience with sitting still but instead with his incessant request to read more after we've exhausted our time. He is all about reading and soaking it up and trying to understand anything we tell him. He answers even the most abstract questions that John throws out to him and 99% of the time he's right, even if he can't quite say the words. It's very humbling and slightly amusing to hear a 4 1/2 year old trying to explain the Atonement, resurrection and the meaning of righteousness.

Last week we accompanied John down to Duke to sit in the hotel with he went to class and eat his fancy foods and try out the local kids museums. I gave the kids the task of packing their own bags of entertainment for the trip. It wasn't until we got to Duke that I noticed the two - and only - items Nathan had packed to entertain him: His Spiderman costume and.. his Book of Mormon. We attended a ward down in Durham where the vast majority of the testimonies were from kids and after watching the 5th one go up, Nathan turned to John and said he wanted to go up also. So up he went and fearlessly and loudly declared his love for the "Gospital" to all the congregation. Such an amazing spirit for such an intense little body.

A Sad Rooster Story

2011-02-17T22:39:00.002-05:00

I just posted this on our family website and figured it was a nice snapshot of our lives, so enjoy:

A couple of months ago Nathan went to feed the chickens the scraps and I heard him screaming. I walked out and he was screaming about a rooster that he said attacked him so I told him to kick it really hard. Then it jumped on him again and I ran up and booted it around the yard a few times to teach it a lesson. Unfortunately, I didn't realize John and all his guys were at the office watching the whole spectacle. Luckily, a few days later John got frustrated at a final he was taking and walked out to feed the chickens, only to be attacked by the same rooster. Lets just say the rooster messed with the wrong person at the wrong time. And that's the end of my rooster story.

Where to start?

2011-02-02T23:25:00.004-05:00

Each day I write blog posts in my head - while driving, taking a shower, watching the kids do something funny - and each day they never materialize on this site b/c I never get around to putting them down. So tonight may be random, but it's a snapshot in our lives.

Today was absolutely gorgeous. 65 degrees and sunny enough that we played outside at Ava's school recess (I had 35 kids playing duck, duck, goose) and even walked up to the bus stop to get her. Cinnamon followed us the whole way, avoiding Lias's advances with his stick sword and Nathan didn't have to cover his ears at the highway. Ava was so excited to see Cinnamon when she got off the bus and kept telling me that "this is kinda like the movie Milo and Otis, Mama!" Eli rediscovered the fun of throwing rocks into the creek and we all got very excited for spring.

The 2 boys and I actually made it to story time today and turned out to be the only ones. It was fun and Nathan read me a whole Bob book by himself with hardly any prompting. He's taken off with reading and is leaps and bounds above where Ava was at this age. I think it's cause he's self motivated and also cause he's been so exposed to it from Ava's schooling. Any which way, it's exciting to see him excited and to really think that he'll read well before kindergarten, if I give him the tools. He's using the Headsprout website and jumped ahead and read the story for the lesson 30, even though he's only made it through 10 lessons. His favorite thing to tell us right now is "I know that" - as in "Nathan, don't tease Lias" - "I know that" or "Nope, the letter M doesn't say www" - "I already know that, Mama". It's funny cause he obviously doesn't know that but he's so full of himself that he just blurts it out. He's changed tremendously over the past 3 months and someday's I wonder where my twerpy Natey went. Today while I showered he practiced "random acts of kindness" (his preschool is big on this) and made my bed, his bed, Lias' bed and matched a bunch of socks. He's actually fun and it's fun to watch the transformation.

And speaking of readers - Ava is full speed ahead! We've had a set of Fancy Nancy books from the library since Christmas and she just decided the other day that she could read them. She read 3 in one day and amazed me with her perseverance and patience. Today she spearheaded our Groundhog Day celebration and got the boys and I together to listen to her poem. Here it is in all it's 1st grade glory:

"groundhog groundhog cum (come) out will you plays (please). I hope you downt (don't) see your shadow plays (please) dowt (don't) see your shadow plays (please)."

It is accompanied by an awesome picture of her and Cassia looking down into the groundhogs hole while he was still asleep.

Last night we had a whole saga when her fable she made and illustrated got accidentally thrown away with the leftovers at IHOP. It was recovered, but not without grease stains all over but someday soon I hope I'll get it up here for posterity's sake. I feel sad and glad at the same time, but she's definitely moved into the school kid years and mostly left her baby stages behind. Her main excitement right now is waiting for the postman to bring her Kaya American Girl doll that she bought with her Christmas $ from Papa. Her cousin Abby gave her all the books and we're already on the last one, book 6, and it's been very fun to spend nights reading with Ava until way to late on a school night. She's way into her apperance lately and is begging me for bangs, cause she thinks mine are cool.

I keep trying to tell her they're kinda annoying but we'll see where we end up. Sorry for the lack of quality pictures but they are the biggest hamper to my blogging so they may have to take a back seat for awhile.

Elias - he's the baby and still lives the role. He's such a lovey dovey little thing wrapped up in a naughty baby too. We are trying to get him to sleep in his own bed but somehow one of us ends up with him draped around us each night. He's actually growing taller (I thought he'd be our shrimp for ever) and losing his baby fat, which just makes me downright sad. He's a tyrant, yelling at Nathan in the car that he's not allowed to sing I'm getting Nuttin for Christmas or Follow the Prophet but then turning around and decreeing that it's ok if Ava does. Sometimes we humor him but lately we've been telling him to hush. We've found a new technique for disciplining and it involves pulling ears and when he's naughty he'll come into us looking sad covering his ears. The funny thing is that we've never even pulled them hard, but just the threat scares him into sadness. He's got a nervous habit of biting his nails down to stubs and uses that as his soothing method, to the point of he's falling asleep with his hands in his mouth. He's an incredible talker, but super shy too - today he actually talked at lunch in Ava's school and the kids looked at him amazed. He claims to like preschool and willingly hangs up his jacket and waves goodbye. He can pick out his letter "E" all over and the other day he actually wrote it. Crazy. He's a doll and still so yummy to kiss.

As for me, I just took a test that I thought would take 30 minutes and it took the whole stinking 2 hours and I still feel like I failed. School is my sanity, gives me a little break from the house when John's gone for weekends on end. I love what I'm learning but still feel torn between being gone and ruining Lias and Nathan's childhoods. But then we have a snow week where we're stranded home for 4 days straight and I think I'll go insane so I decide it's good to be in school. We have the "should I quit" conversation about once every 3 weeks and it gets to the point where I don't even study for 5 days since I'm sure I'm not going back, then I regret that when I have 1 day to get ready for the test. We're in the hard stretch of it but we can see the end in sight and that's where we keep pushing for. We're surviving but I don't think we'd do this again if you gave us thousands of dollars.

As for John, I just have one word. Russia. I'll leave that you your imagination. Adios and goodnight.

The day has arrived...

2011-01-15T14:49:00.003-05:00

So today as I stood in the kitchen making bread in my brand-spanking-new Bosch mixer that Santa brought me, I couldn't figure out if I should laugh or cry that I've turned into my mother. The day has arrived.

-------Update------

That thing rocks! My bread is awesome - even the kids and John noticed it and we ate an entire loaf for lunch today. I finally feel redeemed for the past 6 years of making bread and it being so-so - burnt on the outside and doughy in the middle- it wasn't just my fault as a crummy bread maker after all! Now we'll all gain 15 lbs instead of losing 15 from eating all these dang carbs. Yum!

A Little Post-Holiday Cheer from Lias

2011-01-04T09:50:00.003-05:00

Lias got pretty good at most of the Christmas songs this season. I caught him singing this one while I was in the middle of vacuuming. He's pretty cute and I'm pretty impressed that I finally got a video on here!

Merry Christmas to All

2010-12-26T22:53:00.031-05:00

and to all a good night!

Isn't that all that a family with young kids really wants anyway? We could all use a little sleep over here but somebody had to go handout a Christmas card this year promising an update on the lives of the Genho family. What was I thinking? Since I haven't blogged well enough this year, this will be one heck of a post but just realize, you were forewarned! Here it is, in all it's glory -

JANUARY/FEBRUARY:
We started the year with a foot of snow left over from Dec 2009 -we regretted not getting any pictures of the first storm until the end of January brought us 2+ more feet of the stuff.

We cried as our old friend Allie (John's border collie) passed away

but smiled as 2 new baby lambs were born in the middle of the storms.

Cabin fever and 2 weeks out of school must have made us crazy-in-the-head

cause by the end of Feb both John and Lynnie applied to yet more school - John for an MBA at Duke, Lynnie for an ADN (RN in Nursing) at the local community college.As if we weren't busy enough: Lynnie with juggling the kids and a few classes to get ready for nursing school and John with his calling in the bishopric, running the farm and moonlighting for ranches all over the US as a genetic consultant. Luckily, we had an awesome family friend/nanny, Jocelyn, that came to live with us in Nov 09 and helped make it all work.

MARCH:

John and Lynnie stole away to see the off-Broadway production of "Wicked" in Richmond

before the spring rush started on the farm.

Lias' obsession with John started to emerge

(Uncle Dan is a good substitute but Mama is NOT)

while Nathan has started a strange habit of wearing a single glove on his hand.

John continually teased him by calling him "Micheal" and Nathan frustratedly told him that his name is "Na-fen". Ava deftly balanced between princess and farm girl, wearing both hats equally well.

APRIL:

Spring blooms all over,

especially next door in Jenkins apple orchard.

Nathan lives for Ride N Romp every other Monday and burns up the gym on his bike.

Lias is moving from baby to big boy and tells us so all the time. John gets sophisticated with his acceptance to Duke, so takes up coon hunting with a neighbor to balance it all out.

May:

The craziest month ever. Nathan turns 4 with an awesome, impromptu trip to Litchfield, SC to play in the ocean with the indispensable Ryan family.

Clover Hill is fancied up to host Lynnie's sister Laurel's wedding and over 300 guests.

Lynnie's whole family is invited

- the chickens

bunnies

and naughty little boys that color

all over themselves are not.

Papa (John's dad) drops by to get a shot at a Virginia turkey

but has no luck -darn, that just means he'll have to come try again!

Jocelyn decides to leave us for greener pastures in Boston and Lynnie cries tears of despair.

JUNE:

Even though he turned 2, Lias held onto his spot as baby of the family and both Lynnie and John were quite relieved at that feat.

John started his time at Duke with a week long visit so Lynnie and the crew ditched Ava's last day of kindergarten for impeding adventure.

Thankfully, they still let her graduate even though we pushed the limit for "excused educational absences".

After an awesome 8 hour roadtrip we arrived in Kentucky at the DeLuca home

and settled in to wait out John's return with Lynnie's old college roommate, Kristen and her adorable little man

Connor.

The garden survived just fine without us

and soon John came back to lead the kids around on horseback after a day of work.

(More to come - it's 3 in the morning and I'm dead! As if anyone is still reading this monstrosity!)

Today

2010-11-05T21:59:00.011-04:00

(Disclaimer - picture overload ahead)

Fall is made for Virginia. It's been stunningly beautiful for the past 2 weeks and each day I think about how I need to get out to take some pictures.

John is in NC this weekend so we're all alone and that means we do nothing for the next two days.

We ate cold cereal and fresh from the chicken coop scrambled eggs for dinner, with a little toast on the side. I even let the kids drink OJ for dinner.

We were planning on swimming at the gym tonight, but Nathan has a touch of a stomach bug so we scratched that plan.

We met Ava at the school bus at the end of the drive and geared up for pictures. I didn't worry about clothes, hair or getting ready.

Each time I pass this spot on the driveway, I've been imagining Ava standing in this patch of weeds looking beautiful. Too bad the sun didn't really wanna work with us.

See this kid? He's incredible hard to photograph.

He smiles all the time, but he refuses to look at you and then when he does, his eyes get lost in his creases. He gets that from his dad.

Thank goodness for the green tomatoes still on the vine right next to our outdoor studio. They entertained the boys for over an hour.

I'm pretty sure I got hit with more than one. Sorry Ronnie - I hope you were through with them cause Nathan and Lias made short work of them.

Doesn't Ava have a great eye for photos? I even saw her tilting the camera all funky angled and everything.

She's also an incredibly cute girl with a knack for posing. And that's alright with me.

I took over 150 pictures of this kid and 95% of them were some form of this face.

This one, on the other hand, did an amazing job. I also took over 100 pictures of him, but 95% of them are great. Now I have to narrow it down - decisions, decisions.

Amazing what 2 years will do for you.

These three little persons are my life. I maybe busy doing other things (like sorting and editing photos all evening) but when it all comes down to it, they're the most important part of anything. Ava is gone all day now and I still feel the sting of sadness each time I put her on the school bus or watch her walk into school. Nathan drives me absolutely mad with his incessant questions about volcanoes, immortality, knights, the rules of the road and his inability to entertain himself. But at night when I'm laying next to him, watching his chest rise and fall I know I'd never change a thing about him and he's growing up way too fast. Little Lias is still my baby, although he's quick to tell me he's not a baby but a big boy. He's undemanding, easy going and resourceful so sometimes when I stop and focus on him it blows me away that he can count to 12 (where did he learn that?) or that he washes his hands "all by heself". They are my life and I really would be lost if they weren't around to keep me grounded.

I love fall

2010-10-24T10:19:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin Picking with my 2 boys. I love fall and I love this picture.

Small and simple

2010-10-13T21:40:00.005-04:00

Who knew that such a small little thing like weather stripping could make such a difference? I now do.

Last night = over 30 spiders in 45 minutes (remember this post?)

Tonight = Just a few (less than 10)

Let's hope this really works, cause I think it's just wrong for a 6 year old to not be phased as she shakes a 2 inch spider out of her jacket in the morning, or for a 2 year old's main form of entertainment to be pointing out "budg-s" for his mom to vacuum up. And let's all praise my husband, who bought, installed and fixed the door all on his own tonight.

But I really do wish he'd figured it out 4 years ago.

Preschool Picking - Apples, not Noses

2010-09-22T22:36:00.004-04:00

Goings on in the Goat Barn

2010-09-21T23:52:00.003-04:00

Doesn't this poor goat look exactly like we ladies feel when we're ready to pop? Sorry for the extreme details but it is what it is. We're all putting odds on whether this mom has twins, triplets, or quadruplets in her. Ava's rooting for quadruplets since she really thinks she was put here on this farm to bottle feed a baby something.

Now if we all just slimmed down like this mama did right away. Although I might not recommend her methods - we're treating the whole herd for coccidiosis right now.

Meet Wattles. I've never seen a baby born with wattles on it before so it got a name. If you don't know what that it, google it - wattles on goats - and you'll never be able to say my blog didn't teach you something useful.

Lias is finally old enough to interact with the goat babies and isn't quite sure how to take it.

But who can resist such cuteness?

Nathan's even turning into a masterful goat herder and baby catcher, although he is a little jumpy around them.

And why do I always get the cute pictures of these hooligans in the goat barn? Not quite wall worthy when they've got a goat baby in them but definitely blog worthy.

Happy Birthday to the Cutest. Baby. Ever.

2010-09-19T23:02:00.000-04:00

Somewhere back in June, sandwiched in between Ava and Nathan's birthdays, Laurel's wedding, John's starting MBA school, and our week long trip to Kentucky, E-Lias turned 2.

We celebrated with an improptu dinner with -who else? - the Ryan boys.

We had quite the time blowing out candles, which was ironic cause this was the only party out of the three that the candles didn't get blown out by the wind.

Instead, it was 2 little overzealous 3 year-olds (ahem, Noah and Benjamin) that we were trying to shield the flames from this time.

Of course, Lias wanted nothing to do with the candles and very forcefully said, "NO MAMA, NO-NAH DOED IT" when I tried to encourage him to blow them out.

For months, Lias has referred to the entire Ryan family as No-nah, which we can only assume means Noah but in his mind encompasses the whole crew. Recently he's also expanded his vocabulary (which is actually huge, but basically no one but our family can understand it) to include "Ma-mee" (sounds just like Mommy but means Jayme). He uses this to reference any female mother figure (ie, babysitter, grandma, aunt, lady at the gym who helps him put on his shoes, etc). It's actually a very endearing thing, since everyone who watches him tells me sweetly that he called them Mommy the whole time. Too bad he really means Jayme, but hey, if it works to his advantage, then why not?

He got some great gifts, books, tractors, puzzles and bubbles. He also got the coolest cake (ok, not my finest but pretty decent for the 2 hour notice I had) and we all had a great time. Happy Birthday Baby - or "Bid Boouuy" (big boy) as he calls himself.

Cute boy

2010-09-05T23:15:00.001-04:00

Just figured out a few actions on PSE and am excited. Finally!

A Day of Firsts

2010-08-23T22:49:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow starts a day of first for all of us. We just got back from our one and only "family" vacation tonight at 7pm and jumped right into packing bags for school tomorrow.

Cause tomorrow each one of us will have a day of firsts - Ava starts 1st grade, Nathan has his 1st day of preschool, Lias will go to daycare for his 1st time and I have my 1st day of nursing school. Technically, John started his 1st day of his new school, the Duke Fuqua (I still don't know how to say that without sounding weird) School of Business, in June but we'll still count him in our day of first.

We're not quite sure what the heck were doing over here. But this year should be interesting, or at least crazy busy, and I just wanted to record my thoughts as we jump into it. I'm scared for the kids, nervous that I'll ignore the kids, excited to start learning again, disappointed that our summer came and went without half the stuff I thought we needed to do, sad that my days won't be spent lazing around the house with the kids, and anxious that we'll all fall apart if we keep up this crazy schedule. I know change can be a good thing, but I find that often times, even if I initiated it, I still resist it and when it finally starts to feel comfortable, it usually changes again.

I just read my post from exactly 1 year ago, about Ava starting kindergarten, and it made me bawl all over again. Except this time I'm not that sad for Ava's childhood to be gone, but nervous that maybe I'm ruining both Nathan's and Elias's too. Nathan is extremely anxious about most changes in his life, and while he loves the preschool he'll be going to, whenever I mention it he gets a scared look and tells me how much he doesn't like it because of ________ (fill in the blank for whatever Nathan has decided makes him nervous that day). Lias also loves it (we've been a few times with me hanging out with them), but he's the one I really feel the guilt for. He's the most easy going baby (we've lately been having a debate back and forth over if he's still a baby or a big boy - right now he'll tell me he's "mama's baby big boy") but I don't want to take advantage of his nature to force him into things I want him to do. This fall, my classes are only 2 mornings a week, so they'll only spend Tues and Thurs mornings, but I still wonder if that's too much.

But then I think about how much more balanced I feel this year, moving forward with this whole school thing, than I did a year and a half ago when I decided I had to start doing something or I would lose my mind. One evening class lead to another, until I realized I had all my prereqs done to get into nursing school. Then John decided it was time for an MBA and I realized I was off the hook for incubating a new baby for 2 years - exactly the time requirement for nursing school. I applied, halfway hoping to get turned down, and did - by 2 schools (UVA and another community college) I thought I'd get into, but then my 3rd option (and least stressful one) came through. So now we're going for it, with the understanding that my little ADN in Nursing from the local community college is the first to go by the wayside if things get too hard to handle. John's on board, I'm on board, I just hope the kids don't fall off the boat if it gets too choppy.

When I got my degree in Animal Science, I loved the reproduction side of things and I've always been fascinated with childbirth so I'm exploring nurse midwifery. To go anywhere in nursing, you have to start with an RN, so that's what I'll be studying for right now. I hope that once I have it, I'll be able to work a flexible few hours a week until my babies are all much bigger, then I can go back to school for the midwife thing. But really, who knows - I like to plan out my life but really I know I'm not the one in charge of it. I'm just trying to make sure that I remember that as I plow forward with this year.

Ahhhhhh...... here goes.....

If I'm ever tempted to leave John all alone again for a week...

2010-08-15T21:52:00.007-04:00

Please remind me what happens...

John and I debated back and forth over whether we should get Ava a kitten or a pony for her birthday.

While I was in Florida, John took a trailer of goats to one of the largest livestock auctions in the East Coast. He assured me that the trailer came back empty.

He lied.

Just look at his face. It's not often you see a dada so excited to spoil his little girl (although we have made it clear to Ava that this is a FAMILY pony, not just her own).

So welcome Midnight, into our menagerie of chickens, kittens, goats, sheep, and whatever else Dada might happen to stumble across at an unbeatable price at the auction (FYI, this pony only cost $195 - dirt cheap in pony terms). She's actually a great little pony and seems to have been around the block with kids before. Ava can catch her and attempts to mount the pony by herself in the field, although the pony just walks away.

Yesterday was our 8th year anniversary, and for my present, John took all three little kids to the livestock auction an hour away. They ended up being gone for 7 hours, pure bliss to me as I cleaned the craft and junk rooms. Nathan told me that night at dinner that they had wanted to bring home a pig for me for our anniversary present, but luckily, John told them he thought that was just what Mama DIDN'T want. Thank goodness this time he really did bring home an empty trailer.

Ava's 6th Party

2010-08-15T10:23:00.006-04:00

Ava turned 6 with a rocking pool/ocean/wet party theme. I love summer birthdays!

Ava Facts:

She's tall - the tallest in her class although one of the youngest. Ava's favorite things are ponies and cats and she's obsessed with stuffed animals. She has over 60 of them in her room and it's often hard to find her under them at night. She's an awesome babysitter and helper - the other day she got herself and the boys ready all ready for bed, including SHOWERS, teeth brushed and pajamas - entirely by herself! Wow! She loves nature and is a total tomboy, but cleans up pretty. We cut her hair again this summer since it's not so fun to have to fix your hair each day and fight snarls. She can out eat any of us in breakfast foods and she's obsessed with vanilla ice cream. She's awfully sweet and is always giving up whatever she has to make her little brothers happy. She's tenderhearted and doesn't like conflicts. She loves to draw and took art camp this summer. She has an incredible imagination and is constantly helping her animals while they're "giving birth." When she grows up she wants to be a veterinarian or a shelter owner. Oh, and she's lost 4 teeth - soon to be 5!

Florida

2010-08-15T07:57:00.011-04:00

A few weeks ago I was on Facebook way too late and happened to catch the comment my little sister, Dolly, made about everyone in our family ditching out on her trip to Florida to see our other sister Leanne. Offended at not being asked to go at all, I told her she was a bum and why wasn't I ever invited. Just cause I have kids doesn't mean I'm no fun. In fact, I think that might add to my fun level.

She quickly realized her mistake, begged me for forgiveness, watched my kids for me for 2 days straight, and in return, I provided the vehicle to Florida. True, it was a minivan full of 3 little kids and all their paraphernalia, and yes, we did have to drive 14 hours straight through the night so those kids wouldn't drive us crazy, but all in all, I think we had a fun trip.

We took these beach obsessed kids to Honeymoon Island

and spent a day fighting off the seagulls (brazen things stole my cookie out of my hand and bit me enough to bring blood - it was war, I tell you!),

playing in the waves (even Nathan got brave this time!) and building sand castles.

We also had a two-fold purpose in going to Florida. I wanted a piece of this baby!!! This is the beautiful, chunky, good-as-gold, sweet, sweet, sweet little hunk of love from one of my oldest friends and old college roommate, Erin. I took off in December of last year to visit Florida for her baby shower and I've been waiting to meet this baby ever since. Addy is 6 months old now and we had a great time holding and kissing her.

Nathan especially liked this baby and I can tell, would be a much better helper now than he was when Lias was born.

Technically, Erin's a high-falutin lawyer but really, can anyone be high-powered when pictured in a swimming suit holding a tub of lard that she produced? Probably not and I like it that way!

Last time we went down to Florida, John was busy in meetings, so I took the kids to Downtown Disney and they loved it so much we decided to do it again. Ava and Nathan were so excited they started hugging each other as we were driving up and say, "We're going to Disney Land! We're going to Disney Land!" Nathan was so funny, pointing to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and saying, "Oh, look! It's that mouse. And his friend the duck!" I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud that my kids don't know who Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are. But I do know that it means I can pull off Downtown Disney (entry fee = $0) as the real Disney World (entry fee = $85 a day). That is some mighty fine parenting if I do say so myself.

Lias quickly latched onto Uncle Bubs and didn't let him out of his sight. He played football, watched TV and wrestled around with him the entire time. Luckily, Lias is still pretty dang cute so I think he made up for his screeching when he didn't get his way. He came home full of new saying, especially "Web-E?" (Ready?) and "Oh Man". He almost drowned Bubs at one point by not asking him if he was "web-e" before he jumped into the pool in the deep end with him. Bubs pulled out a pretty cool trick and held Lias above his head while he himself sank, till he got him to the edge. I watched the whole thing, thinking "What a cool hold" until the last 2 seconds when I realized Bubs was drowning. Ah, the bonding moment for the two.....

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which was a big hit with the kids. Nathan was especially excited about the lighting and thunderstorm and they all liked the monkeys swinging around. And my boys also got some pretty short haircuts, which ended up even shorter as we tried to fix them. I like them but John told me never to shave them off so I'm not classifying this as an actual shave.

After the dinner, we walked around looking at the stores, watching the impromptu dance contest, eating Ghirardelli's chocolate ice cream and enjoying the Red man. Doesn't he look just like Val Kilmer? Dolly tried to get a kiss but ended up with just an arm.

And somehow, on the last day right before we left for our drive back, we ended up in our swimsuits for the bagullion-th time and went swimming with like 6 other moms, all somehow related to this awesome gal in the blue. Leanne went and found a great friend, so I've decided to latch on too. Sarah's a spunky, fun mom that writes a great blog that I spend a ton of time reading and gaining inspiration from. She's also an awesome photographer that took Lias's pictures when he was little and takes all kinds of fun pictures of her 4 little girls.

She and I caught glimpses of conversations in between saving drowning kids, bandaging hurt toes, nursing babies and teaching kids to swim. It's always nice to meet a kindred soul - I just wished she lived closer.

And then the trip was over, and we hadn't taken any pictures of the three of us girls, so Sarah convinced us to snap one. This is just before our drive home and just after our swimming party so obviously I was not expecting pictures. I guess Leanne and Dolly didn't get the memo cause they both still look great! We really did all have a good time and, other than the 14 hour drive, I do it again in a heartbeat.

Pretty cool website...

2010-07-26T14:11:00.002-04:00

Have you all seen this website? It lets you read full length books with your kids and then it donates a hard copy to the charity you choose from their list of literacy based causes. The books have great illustrations since they're DK or Penguin titles. Just thought it might help a few moms who might be stuck in the summertime rut... not that we are over here or anything. Happy reading!

Six.... and Spoiled Rotten

2010-07-15T23:08:00.003-04:00

Just look what the cat dragged in for Ava on her sixth birthday....

We had a little bit of a rough go with Cinnamon the first week, hence no photos of her right away.

But she's eating now, which makes her happy, which makes her cute and playful, which makes Ava happy.

What makes Nathan Jump for Joy?

2010-06-06T22:28:00.006-04:00

A surprise birthday party trip to the beach with his favorite family in the whole world - the Ryan boys.

For Nathan's 4th birthday we packed up the car Thursday morning, drove to school and grabbed Ava, then proceed to slowly tell them where we were going during the 8 hour drive down to Litchfield, SC and the purdiest beaches on the East Coast (actually, really the only beach we've been too on the East Coast - FL doesn't count).

Ava was way too smart and guessed the surprise immediately, but Nathan was still confused after he opened the presents we had brought as clues - goggles, inner tube, beach toys and squirt sword things. He got pretty excited, finally, about 6 hours in to the drive.

Piggy Wiggly made a beautiful beach cake that added many pounds to all of our physique. We had to eat it all in 2 days, dang it.

Noah thought about paddling everyone but then decided he was out numbered. These poor kids are exhausted after a intense day at the beach and pool but we made them enjoy a birthday party. Ava may never forgive me for putting this picture of her up on the web. They were sunburnt, tired and ready to drop.

I especially was in the best mood after getting about 5 hours of sleep and realizing at 1:00am when we pulled into the resort that my bag (including all my swimsuits and all the bathroom stuff) was the only bag that didn't get packed. I spent 2 hours of quality time at the Goodwill and $27 dollars later I was good as new. Kinda. Here I am telling Jayme that she WILL eat WHATEVER kind of cake I put on her plate. I made the mistake of ordering a marble cake for 6 little kids that all wanted white cake.

Luckily the ice cream was white and well received.

And so were the presents - a beach creature set from the Ryans, a new space puzzle, a bouncy ball making kit, a football and color changing cars.

Nathan was having a tough time thinking he wanted to leave his old number 3 behind, but I think he decided it was more fun to be at the beach so he'll take the number 4.

If my computer had been more cooperative, I'd have posted more and told you more about this trip. For now, I'm dead and I'm at least 2 weeks behind - today is actually Lias's birthday but Nathan's finally getting his dues. And the wedding did happen, it was beautiful, I'm wading through 700 pictures from it and waiting for the good ones from the real photographer to post something. Good night!

Let the Fun Begin

2010-05-28T00:22:00.003-04:00

At the crack of dawn, one of my brothers showed up after driving 16 hours straight, on top of another 20 hours before. Then about 6 hours later another car pulled into the drive carrying 4 other siblings and my dad. The porches are now clean, the yard is mowed and weed eaten, the brick walkway is reclaimed from the weeds and there are $100 bucks worth of beautiful flowers sitting in my sparkling clean garage. We stayed up til midnight watching Dirty Jobs and tying lime green and hot pink tulle onto 150 handouts to give to guest in 2 days. During our dinner, a single 3 ft by 1 ft package showed up, holding about 50 massive Gerbera daisies. The delivery man told us it was the 1st of 17 packages of flowers to come. We hope he's not right. Ava, Nathan and Lias are in heaven wrestling and playing with uncles and aunts. Most are asleep right now, and I'd better join them before I crash, but don't you kinda wish someone would get married every year just so you could all hang out more? Bring on the wedding chaos, we're having fun......

Bittersweet Beach Trip

2010-05-21T10:05:00.002-04:00

So we're here at the beach for the next 3 days, which is great, but I forgot to load my bag with all the bathroom stuff and ALL my clothes, swimsuits, etc into the van, which is not great. But I'm headed to the local thrift store to see what I can find, which is fun, but I may end up at Walmart, buying junk for way too much, which is not too fun. Bittersweet, but I'll let you know how it all ends up.

And isn't it an appropriate time to go to the beach 1 week before you throw a wedding for 250 guests at your house? My sister Laurel's getting married, at our house, and I'm the wedding planner, next Saturday. We thought we should take a little breather before we started the chaos.

Naugh - E

2010-05-11T01:23:00.010-04:00

Doesn't this baby look sweet and innocent?

Now he's starting to look a little naugh - e...

And now I can tell he's up to something for sure.

Whatda I tell you? Naughty, naughty, naughty.

Checking out his mess.

"This picture here is you and here's me, giving you a sweet hug, Mama"

Telling himself "NO, NO, E-LI" Very emphatically. Too bad it's 10 minutes too late.

The nerve. The audacity. The will to try again, in plain daylight and not even behind my back?

The evil eye.

If my eyes are closed, then you can't see what I'm doing, Mom.

Finally, the good sense to skedaddle before I blister his little behind. What a naughty twerp. But a dang cute one, huh?

In-between

2010-05-08T22:20:00.012-04:00

Almost 4 is such a hard in-between age. He's not quite little enough to be a baby, but not quite old enough to be a big kid. He's goofy, funny and incredible articulate one minute, then whining and falling apart, desperately needing a nap the next minute. He gets confused between older and bigger, telling us all the time that when he gets to be a big dada THEN he'll be older than Ava. Yet he's one of the deepest thinking little kids I've met, and especially, that I've had to come up with answers for. He asks daily about why Allie died and if we can kill Satan and if Heavenly Father has a potty up in Heaven. Tonight he told me he doesn't have to go to the potty "often" since we had a whole conversation about what the word "often" meant today. He threw a fit at the church while we were cleaning so I left him in the glass entrance to the building while I washed the window 25 ft away. When he came out (which he was free to do anytime he stopped screaming) he told me he thought someone was going to take him, hence the conversation about kids not "often" getting kidnapped. He's cautious about things like getting his hands muddy, yet impulsive and spastic.

Sweet, sweet but can't control his little body so kisses you so fiercely and repeatedly it hurts. Runs up to Lias excitedly and hugs him so hard he cries, even though he's not trying to be malicious. Constantly fidgeting and dancing and sick of me asking him to go to the bathroom because I'm misreading his "body language". (We had a whole conversation about that term too - thanks to The Little Mermaid). Generally, self absorbed but occasionally blows me away with his niceness and willingness to help. Must be coddled or watch out and be prepared to deal with it for the next 45 minutes. CAN NOT handle suspense - turns away when anything remotely, or lots of things not even remotely, suspenseful happen on movies. I found him hiding behind a big couch pillow today, trying to watch The Fox and the Hound. Finally, after about 20 minutes, he dashed over to the TV and turned it off, so relieved to have the suspense gone. Transitions are hard for him - on Wednesday we'll mention something about church on Sunday and he'll start anxiously telling us he hates church, even though he loves his class when he gets there. He's smart. He can whip out a puzzle in no time flat, knows almost all his ABCs and is sounding out a few words, mainly N-O and O-N, which he finds everywhere and points out repeatedly. But he will. not. sing. them for anybody.

He's such an extreme personality. I hope he keeps his spunk, but learns to control his highs and lows. In the meantime, I'll try to cherish his little warm body cuddled in between John and I every night (even if he kicks us to death and gets bribed with all kinds of rewards for staying in his own bed) and try to keep my cool a little better when his excitement gets the better of him.

Ps. Pictures by my friend Tiff, she's great huh? And she's looking for families to photograph!

Going back to the simple country life

2010-04-22T23:09:00.005-04:00

Today Ava was playing on the playground at school with Cassia, her little friend that she's known since preconception, seeing as Cassia's mom and I were freshman and best friends at college together.

I guess another little girl tried to take Ava away and told Cassia she couldn't play with them, so Cassia started to cry.

As Ava explained it, she "felt like Cassia was probably pretty sad, so I went over to her and put my arm around her and asked her if she just wished they could go back to the country life". Cassia tearfully told her, "Yeah, I wish we could go back to when we were 4 again."

Living out here together on the farm, Ava and Cassia had been each others only real friends for their first few years. They spent many a days playing dress-ups or frolicking in the yard or trying to ditch Nathan.

And who could forget tons of days spent in the back of a pickup truck, or inside the red thing, or outside of a pen, watching their dads work cattle..

And, even though Cassia's 6 months older and Ava's 6 inches taller it doesn't matter to them. I don't think you could find two little girls with two more different personalities but I also don't think you could find two better friends.

Here's to the country life!

(As I write this, my husband may or may not be out coon hunting. I'm not telling....)

Tall, dark and haaaaaand-some

2010-04-17T09:44:00.003-04:00

Now which one for the wall? 2 is the best "classical looking" but 1 and 3 show his personality best, which is spastic goofball. Decisions, decisions...

Orchard Blooms

2010-04-11T11:00:00.011-04:00

And Mr. Too Cool for his own good

Happy Spring

Disclaimer: Yes, I have a third child but he was in Tennessee with John (which is the only reason I was able to get these pictures) picking up a load of goats. We'll try him this afternoon.

Princess Ava

2010-03-28T22:10:00.005-04:00

Artwork by Ava - age 4

Ava has turned into quite the little girly, girl in the past few weeks. She swoons over "getting married", has multiple babies daily, and changes her outfit at least 5 times a day. Her outfit of choice is a swingy, lacy, spaghetti strappy, silky white slip that has seen better days and is in bad need of a wash. Each day she tries to get it past me in some way, shape or form - under jeans and skirts mainly. We've compromised and decided she can wear it to bed each night, even though I think she's got to be freezing.

Last night we were all invited to her wedding reception - but we had to wear masks that she had custom made for each of us. She was marrying her "gu-room" (she's also adopted an ah-cent for these occasions), who's last name as HELBERTSON, not HEBRTSIN, as she mistakenly spelled it. I have no idea where in the world she pulled that name from but she was dead set on it.

We watched "Enchanted" as a family movie night a few days ago and her little face was so lit up as she watched. John and I kept turning to each other and smiling that sly little parent's grin when your kid is so stinking cute. She was especially enthralled when they kissed each other ON THE LIPS and lived Happily. Ever. After.

A few weeks ago her school was selling carnations to raise money. I'm usually pretty opposed to school fundraisers but I figured for $5 she'd probably get a thrill out of a few flowers. I was very surprised to see her step off the school bus with 4 roses. 3 of them were from us and 1 was from a little friend in her classroom and she thought they were beautiful. Here's the proof that Ava's first flowers were from her family and not some hairy-legged boy.

Last Night

2010-03-20T23:10:00.003-04:00

"Lub Do, E-Li"

2010-03-16T22:26:00.007-04:00

Lias is a lover.

Especially of John.

As soon as the back door opens, Lias makes a bee-line for the door yelling, "Dada, Dada, Dada." John scoops him up and Lias gives the best, melt-into-you, hold-you-tight-and-never-let-you-go hug. If you're really lucky, he'll even rub the hair on the back of your head while he hugs you.

John's started calling him Eli lately, so Lias now thinks it's he and John's little joke to go back and forth, John saying "E-li" then Lias echoing, "E-LI".

I know I'm biased, but he just might be the cutest baby ever.

In the past few days, John's now gotten him to say, "Love you, Dada" - which sounds like "Lub do, Dada" and then John will echo with "Love you Eli" and back and forth the love fest goes.

I tried the other day and all I got was a "Lub do, Dada" so for now I'll just be happy to be in the "Lub Do" club even if he obviously loves John a little more.

Cowboy Slim

2010-03-12T23:33:00.004-05:00

The many faces of Cowboy Slim

Kindly ignore Cowboy Slim's trusty sidekick, Fatty. He mistakenly thought this photo shoot was about him.

Watch out boys, there's a new sheriff in town.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T19:22:00.003-05:00

What do you do on your 5th snow day in a row?

2010-02-10T22:23:00.003-05:00

I like snow days. I'm afraid I might get killed if John reads this because to him - out plowing25 rental driveways and chasing 1000 cows through it - snow is nothing but a MAJOR, MAJOR pain in the @#&!. But since I have him and his tractors doing any work related snow chores, all I have to do is sit inside in my PJs looking at the blizzard and enjoying my warm kitchen. Ava and Nathan have braved the 3+ feet we have gotten over the past week about 4 or 5 times for over an hour. Lias and I, on the other hand, have stepped outside twice and decided it wasn't for us. The kids and I have only left the house once this past week and I'm surprised to say that even I don't have cabin fever yet. We've still got loads of things to do ... and none of them involve loads of laundry. And that's a good thing since they went ahead and canceled Ava's school for the whole week on Tuesday.

Today, me and the kids lazily made Valentines cards and cookies all day, in between a few movies and naps and meals. John came home early since everyday for the past week he and his guys have been working non-stop. He spent 3 hours trying to build a paper hot air balloon that would really float. Ava and I recently finished reading "James and the Giant Peach" so a few weeks ago we watched the movie and John's been convincing Ava ever since that he can build a hot air balloon like James. He's got the kids convinced that whether or not the movie is true (giant peach, talking bugs, flying hippos) hinging on this one small detail of the hot air balloon. Sad to say, they weren't successful this time but it wasn't for lack of trying. The first one went up in flames in Ava's hands but was quickly stomped by John's bare feet. The next one was too small, or big, I can't remember but I know they used all my birthday candles in the process. Their third prototype is still in the kitchen and John thinks if he tweeks it just a bit he can really make it work this time. Only on a snow day...

I just made cookies this whole time and shot doubtful looks their way. I now have over 100 valentines cookies sitting in bags to take out to neighbors - my better-than-never attempt at Christmas cookies. I started this when Ava was a baby and it's just too fun to let die. Besides, this way I get to see which neighbors bring me something and then I just repay the favor. Why be neighborly to someone who's not neighborly to you, right? JK. But you do have to be on my good list to get cookies.

John took the kids to bed for me while I was finishing up - it was almost 10 and I'm sure they'd each eaten at least 10 cookies - and I just came up to find them all asleep in the boy's room. Ava and John are snoring away together on the twin mattress on the floor that we pulled out for a guest at Thanksgiving that still hasn't been put away. Nathan and Wolfie (his first real stuffed animal attachment) are sprawled out across his red, full sized bed that's conveniently big enough to fit whichever adult ends up crawling into his bed to keep him company each night. And sweet, sugar filled (really, he ate over half my cookie dough) Lias, sacked out in his crib with a new found love - board books - scattered all around him and one clutched in his little chunky fingers. Perfect warm ending to a snowy, blizzardy, bone-chilling day. Good night.

Murphy's Law

2010-02-05T11:59:00.000-05:00

Announcing the arrival of Bonnie and Lass.

Over a month early to us since we didn't expect them till mid-March but full term to their mama.

And, of course, during the middle of the worst snowstorm in decades.

Ava was quite worried since we have lost many a goat baby to the cold,

But so far this mama is showing up all the goats we ever owned. She had them in the barn, in a nice stall without any direction from us - John was quite surprised to find them this afternoon. Both little ewes (girlie sheep) are healthy, nursing, dry and alive as can be.

And that makes one little girl happy as can be.

Before the Blizzard - for Heifie

2010-02-04T22:39:00.004-05:00

PS. Thanks for leaving your hat here at Thanksgiving, Uncle Steve. Nathan's ears are nice and warm.

Goodbye, Our Old Friend

2010-01-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

Last night, we lost an old friend.

Allie - our 4.5 year old border collie - and John's loyal sidekick, companion and right hand on the farm, died Friday afternoon while chasing squirrels out in the woods.

John came home from work right at 5:00pm but he called me outside and asked the kids to stay inside. He told me that he and the two dogs had been walking in the woods when Allie had a seizure. She has scared us a few times previously with these seizures but always seemed to recover. John realized this time was different and was on his way to the vet but by the time he got there he realized she was already gone.

For those of you lucky enough to have visited us here, you'd have met Allie in the driveway - either begging you to throw something for her to chase or growling at you to get out of her yard.

Anyone really lucky would have gotten to watch her in action - she lived to chase cows or goats or sheep or pretty much anything John asked her to do.

Unfortunately, all this love of chasing got her into trouble with me when she started in on my pets. But, even with all her chicken and rabbit killing and little kid nipping, I still was heartbroken to see her gone. Sometimes you take something for granted so much you don't realize they're there until they're gone. I'll miss knowing she's right outside the door, ready to growl and bark at anything that comes by, when I'm up alone late at night on the computer in the kitchen. And I'll regret that I rarely gave her a pet even though she met my car each and every time I came home.

As for those little kids she nipped, they're heartbroken too. Ava and I cried and cried as John dug her grave and Nathan, who we weren't sure if he quite understood, broke down and bawled as we put the dirt over her. He claimed to be super upset that we had buried her right on a spot he thought he needed to stand, but it was so sad to watch him tear up and not be able to express why he was hurting. The next morning he asked if she was back and continues to ask if she's ever coming back.

Lias waved bye-bye, showed the sign for dog and told her "nite, nite" as we laid her down.

We got her the summer we moved here to Virginia. She was our first real pet as a family and Ava and Allie got into tons of mischief together their first summer, including getting Ava bit by a snake when she was 13 months old and going to visit the goats at the barn behind the house by themselves when Ava was 14 months old.

Some of our fondest memories of her are:

swimming in the creek whenever John threw her in, sleeping right by the back door of the garage, riding in the back of the truck, sitting out at the back fence obsessively watching the animals in the pasture, going on walks with us and splashing after rocks that we threw in the creek, mothering the baby woodchucks we tried to keep, eating all our leftovers, and terrifying the kids with her barking at skunks in the night.

We hope there's lots of goats and cows to chase up in heaven. Nite, nite Allie - You're a good dog.

Gumption - Lost and Found

2010-01-20T17:15:00.007-05:00

Remember that lost gumption? That sneaky thing took the first flight outta town during the holidays while I wasn't looking and ended up on the other side of the world, literally. Luckily, I've got friends all over this wide world and one of my best ever, Chels, found it there in Tassie and is Air Mailing it back to me ASAP.

Don't believe me? Check out her blog - it's really there. I hear she's been getting all sorts of wonderful things done with it - her bathrooms are sparkling, you could eat off her floors and all the girlie's artwork is off the walls. I guess this explains why my house has been such a mess for the past month too.

Unfortunately, it didn't take this squirt with it when it went gallivanting off across the globe. And he's not picking up the slack my gumption left either.

And it needs to come back fast, cause this one's starting to take advantage of my lackadaisical attitude. He's moving straight from cute toddler to naughty, defiant 2 year old. He's just 6 months early. Chels, does it take 6 months to get a package all the way from Tasmania?

In the meantime, I'll just lay here on the couch, watch the kids play the Wii and jump up and look productive only when John comes in the door. Maybe my package will conveniently get lost in the ocean so I can have a good excuse for doing nothin.

Funk

2010-01-16T15:37:00.002-05:00

I'm stuck. In a funk. No, I'm not dead, not crazy busy, not pregnant, not anything in particular. But just not blogging. Why? I can't figure out yet. Something to do with not getting the pictures downloaded and then getting too far behind and something to do with finals and studying for tests and something to do with kids and something to do with me falling asleep at 8:30pm and something to do with spending all my internet time watching heartbreaking clips about Haiti. All of these rolled into one but still that's not it.

I'm getting around to it though. I think about it everyday and actually have a few posts started but just can't find the gumption to finish them. So I'm not dead but I am in a funk.

Hopefully, I'll be out of it sooner than later, cause I do have some cute pictures to put up. Adios.

On my way home..

2009-12-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

The past four days I've been off, doing something I've never done before in my married with kids life. I bet you just can't guess what it is.

Yep, I finally left all the chit-lins with John and took off on a jet plane to see some of my favoritest people of all time. I slept in, ate out, WATCHED. TV. (something I haven't really done in years - and I still think it's a little overrated), surfed the internet to my hearts content (thanks to my new favorite friend that starts with Ap and ends with ple), rubbed someone else's big pregnant belly and laughed and talked for hours about how that belly changes everything, studied for my final in A&P in a very literal sense (a real, live autopsy thanks to my Crime Scene Technican sister) and gabbed, gabbed and gabbed to my hearts content. It's been fun and definitely too long coming.

But now I'm headed home to where I need to be. I have a little baby (boy) with a sore, sore bum (through no fault of those taking care of him- really, his dada did a great job) that needs a mama to hold and kiss him. I have another little boy who is way too cool to have talked to his mama the whole time she was gone so I have no idea what he's been up to. And I have one little girl who misses me so much she called me to tell me to come home through the phone so she could cuddle with me. Oh, yes, and I have one big, big boy who I need although I'm pretty sure he's doing just fine without me.

So home I go, but it's nice to know they do need and want me after all.

Busy Time of Year

2009-11-21T14:45:00.010-05:00

Dang it.

I was gonna tell you all about these pictures

but then I hit the wrong button and here they are,

without my permission.

So make up your own story.

About vats of manure, cowboys with fancy equipment and little boys locked in backs of pickup trucks.

Please make sure to mention something about big, muscled necks that might be a little red and little fair ones that beg to be kissed.

Use your imagination with this one.

And realized all cows are not treated equally around here. The scarlet letters are reserved for those with less than competent mothering skills.

And her? Well, sometimes it doesn't pay to stand by your friends.

Overheard tonight

2009-11-01T20:14:00.002-05:00

John takes Nathan off Ava's bed so we can say a prayer.

Nathan: "I'll kill you Dada. And then I'm gonna get a new Dada."

(This is Nathan's latest line for anything we do that he doesn't like. "I'm gonna get a new Mama or Dada." Usually this is said through tears and crying after we just do something like ask him to talk quieter in church or eat his lunch)

John: "Where are you gonna get a new Dada? At Walmart?"

Nathan (stumped for a minute): "No. Mama's gonna lay a new Dada and then we have a new Dada."

(Last spring when all the goats were kidding Nathan got very confused and kept saying that they were "laying" their babies since chickens lay eggs. Life on the farm is very hard for a kid to understand sometimes.)

Ava (laughing and laughing):"Mama laid Dada, Mama laid Dada, Mama laid Dada!!"

John and I couldn't help but laugh. And then we tried to change the subject.

Frights in the Night

2009-10-31T23:21:00.003-04:00

The Sweet Witch

The Bat Man

The Howling Ghost

The Mean Witch

The Haunted House Pumpkin

The Motley Crew

The End

The Animal Parade down Kitchen Main Street

2009-10-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

Brought to you compliments of Ava Genho's wild imagination and 1 week of being stuck inside with a sick family.
Guest staring Nathan's Mater tow truck.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-26T23:17:00.006-04:00

These are all over my house right now.

When we first moved to Virginia, we went out one night in late October and came home to a front porch with no less than 60 of these monsters all over the door. I just about cried when as we stepped on the porch and they all scattered everywhere, including up my legs.

I did cry when we got inside and realized the wind had blown the front door open and they were all over our living room too. I ran upstairs and demanded that John spray the entire farm cause I could not, would not live in a place like this. He laughed. I didn't.

I've come far in 4 years. The other night I stayed up on the computer till 1am but every 15 minutes I took a break to kill as many as I could before they scattered. This is the death toll after only 2 rounds. I killed over 35 in my kitchen and family room that night.

The only condolences I have are that they are really only around for about 3 weeks each year. They come out in the fall when the nights start getting colder, right around Halloween. They are wolf spiders and most of them are huge. We're talking the size of 2 quarters alive and 1 quarter dead, with legs all scrunched up. I now know to shake out anything that's been left on the ground, especially coats or blankets. Luckily, they really don't climb and I've rarely seen one upstairs.

So bring it on spiders. I'm not afraid of you anymore.

But if you come visit in the fall you may want to request an upstairs suite.
Although we do have a lovely guest bedroom downstairs if you're brave enough.

On a happier note, I had a great birthday (29?!) with most of the family sick.
I made my own birthday cake and did the laundry and made the kids mac n cheese for dinner. But I did get a call -that I missed, dang it- from one of my bestest friends from far away and I had to listen to it 3 times cause she talks so cool. And John promised me a really cool present, but I don't know if I really need/deserve it.

What do you think?

Sick Piggies

2009-10-24T19:35:00.003-04:00

H1N1 I hate you.
You've made our whole family blue.

Started in first on the weak and the whiny
Making Nathan's airways shriveled and tiny.

Now you've moved on to the rest of the men
Leaving us girlies wondering when.

While the rest of the world is outside in the beautiful fall
We're coughing and fevered and curled up in a ball.

So go away fast, let the Tamiflu work
Cause if you're still here on my birthday you're really a jerk.

The Beach

2009-10-18T21:35:00.014-04:00

The sun rises early in Litchfield Beach, South Carolina.

(And heck no, I didn't take this picture. I was fast asleep. Photo credits to Hugh who was crazy enough to give up sleep for a sunrise picture.)

Our awesomest newest friends, Jayme and Hugh along with their gaggle of boys, convinced us that accompanying John to work meetings does not qualify as a real vacation.

They put up with our crying and whining and hemming and hawing and having the swine flu and then not having the swine flu and told us to just get in the car and get down to the beach already. Cause they were having a load of fun and we were just party poopers if we didn't show.

So we jumped in the car, drove a couple hundred miles and were glad we did.

The weather was perfect, even in the last week in Sept.
We relaxed in the sun.

We dug big holes to China, although some of us dug way more than others.

We kept 3 boys happy for 2 days with only water, sand, a bucket and heavy duty kid size shovels.

Ava fished with her own homemade pole.

We applied and reapplied sunscreen to many sandy bodies many times and only let one big boy's back fry on accident. Even this guy didn't get burned.

Nathan relaxed in his "office".

I did not get "frust-er-ated" or yell at my kids for 2 days.

Unless this counts.

John captured all 6 kids attention with his crab digging skills. Then we wore the poor crab out chasing it all around.

Lias let it all hang out, tried on everybody's flip-flops and got as dirty as he wanted.

We didn't separate Ava or Mason for two whole days, except to go to sleep.

John discovered our kids are too little to appreciate the waves, so body surfed by himself to his hearts content.

And wished he had a kid as brave as Mason.

We all discovered the sand makes an excellent drawing board and covered the beach with huge dinosaurs, Earths, Moons, starfish, whales and trucks until the tide came and took them away.

We hopped from the hotel pool to the kiddie pool to the beach all day long.

We learned swimsuits are not the most comfortable things to wear for 2 days straight.

We took long sunset walks on the beach. We only left whiny boys behind.

Ava ooohhhed and awed over way too many seashells, then brought home each and every one we picked up. She and Mason turned them into seashell necklaces while we all napped.

I looked for love in all the wrong places and finally chased him down only to biff it big time in the surf. I spared you the pictures of my downfall, although Jayme got the whole thing on camera.

We did not loose, drown, or permanently bury any children in the sand. Even though we were highly outnumbered with 6 kids under the age of 6.

We'll be back next year, as long as Jayme and Hugh drag us, kicking and screaming, along again.

Update

2009-10-15T14:09:00.002-04:00

I'm not dead and neither is Lias. I'm just crazy. I'll update on beach, pumpkins, school, sailing and everything else this weekend. Maybe. Whew.

Poor, Poor baby

2009-09-29T22:27:00.003-04:00

Poor Lias broke his collarbone last night. We spent all morning at the doctors and the X-rays, only to get the confirmation that there's really nothing we can do but try to keep him comfortable. He's actually in great spirits, except for when he tries to get up, or accidentally falls, or we pick him up, or anytime he uses his left arm. Poor poor baby.

He's on vacation

2009-09-27T21:20:00.001-04:00

Where we've been and what we've been up to for the past 4 days.

More to come....

Boot Wearing 101

2009-09-17T22:47:00.009-04:00

It's a rite of passage out here.

Each kid has to go through it.

Retrieve the boot from the puppy that's hidden it under the 10ft tall, out of control boxwood bush in the front yard.

Carefully put your foot in, making sure there's no bugs, dog treats, snakes or other assorted paraphernalia to country living hidden in the bottom.

Grunt, yell, shriek and turn red in the face until someone comes to your rescue and helps guide your fat legs into place.

Can a baby get a little help around here Mama??

Struggle up, wonder why you have these clunky things on your feet. It helps if your toddler has reached the obsession with shoes stage in his cognitive development. This one is currently deeply in the obsession stage with all assortments of shoes, especially ones that don't fit him.

These boots actually fit him, although I'm not sure a boot should ever be tight on the thighs.

Waddle off thinking you're the coolest thing around.

Holler to the whole world how cool you are, even the bugs on the ground need to know.

Fall down.
And wonder why again you have these concrete things on your feet??

What? Huh, I can't hear you? Where are my boots?? What boots??

Who needs boots around here? I've survived the whole summer barefooted. Why ruin a good thing?

I'm married to a 30 yr old man

2009-09-13T23:45:00.002-04:00

30 reasons we love John Nathan Genho

1. He’s hot
2. He helps me with the kids
3. He’s liberal enough to make me laugh
4. I like when Dada plays the piano at lunch for me – Nathan
5. He fishes the pond below our house with the kids
6.I like cake from Dada – Nathan
7. Dada buys us presents whenever he comes home from trips – Ava
8. I like ever he eats cookies – Nathan
9. I like cause Dada cooks cookies sometimes – Ava
10. He does the dishes
11. I like him to pick me up in the mornings – Lias
12. He’s a peacemaker, not a fighter
13. I like Dada to come eat lunch with me at school – Ava
14. He kisses me every morning and most nights too
15. I like when Dada just tells stories – Ava & Nathan
16. He’s enthusiastic when he’s telling something he has strongly held opinions about
17. He's passionate about me
18. He lets us go along with him on business trips
19 .He’s full of fun ideas, even if I think he’s crazy he still gets the kids riled up and whatever it is, they do it anyway
20. Dada comes home from work and never stays – Ava
21. He truly likes coming home at lunch and at night, even if there’s a poopy baby, a whining preschooler, and a frustrated Mama waiting for him
22. He’s brilliant
23. I like to throw Dada down hard on the carpet – Nathan
24. He’s laidback and not much gets to him
25. I like him to hold me and dance with me in the kitchen – Mama, Ava, Nathan & Lias
26. He’s taking us places but lets me go places on my own too
27. He’s a big picture kinda guy while I get lost in the details. I seriously can’t deep clean the house without him to help me focus.
28. I like Dada to chase me on my bike outside – Nathan
29. He’s a hard, hard worker and doesn’t give up, even on computer models that hurt my head just to look at them.
30. He’s mine.

-----HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY JOHNNY-----

Biggest Catch

2009-09-04T12:39:00.001-04:00

Oh my goodness. He caught the biggest one - 65 lbs.

Saddest part? I don't even really like fish.

Why I'm Alone (kids don't count) this Week

2009-09-03T15:27:00.002-04:00

Somewhere in Kodiak Alaska

Have Fun Babe!

Tonight

2009-08-31T23:19:00.004-04:00

I took pictures of my friend Katie tonight.

She's due on Thursday so we thought we'd better get around to it before this baby gets around to it.

She used to babysit for me last year and even though it'll be tough since she's so young and kinda on her own, she'll make a great mom if she puts her mind to it.

Stay tuned for shots of her little one in a week or so.

Sharpening...and bawling

2009-08-23T23:42:00.002-04:00

Tonight after Ava went to bed I packed up all her new school stuff. I carefully labeled each new, shiny marker with her name. Then I labeled each fat glue stick, her 3 ring binder and her sharp new purple scissors. I even labeled her Kleenex box and her "special spray" aka disinfecting hand wash. Earlier today we made her a fancy Pringles can - the schools way of communicating with home - deco poged with all her friends and our families pictures, just so she won't forget us. I packed it all inside her stiff new purple book bag, then opened the front pocket and realized her pencils weren't sharpened. So I sharpened each one carefully and put them back into the little holder that she thought was so cool.

And then I started bawling.

And I haven't stopped. I know this is normal, but I still don't think I'm quite ready for her to be gone all day, every day. The other day, just to make me feel better I went through and marked each day she has off from school. It helped, but just a little. Tonight, John gave her a father's blessing for the start of the school year and the whole time I was thinking, "She doesn't need the blessing, I do!" She's crazy excited and I know she'll do fine but somehow I just feel like her childhood is over. And I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do with her during it.

So tomorrow she'll get on the school bus and leave me and two very sad little boys. I hope we all stop crying by the time she gets home so we can listen to all the fun she had.

Our Last Minute Stay-cation to DC

2009-08-12T22:15:00.009-04:00

About three weeks ago on a boring Friday night we decided the summer was passin' us by and we needed a vacation. So we packed up at 7:30pm and by 9:00pm had arrived at Hotel Monaco, a 4 star swanky hotel in the big city of Washington, DC (thanks, Priceline.com).

After the valet whisked away our van, we were greeted by a pair of goldfish, which came complimentary in each room to keep you company during your stay. The kids loved them, especially when John would pretend to drink their water each night instead of the hotel cups.

They also loved the long, dizzying, stripes of the hotel carpet that beckons kids to run down the hallways screaming.

We all loved the location, location, location. We stayed 4 easy strolling blocks away from the National Mall with its plethora of Smithsonian Museums, kitty corner to a Metro station and directly across the street from the National Portrait Gallery. This city has so much to offer that a day's trip really doesn't do it justice.

DC is such a fun city to be in, especially at night. It's relatively safe, clean and well lit and brimming with things to do. We stayed up until 11:30pm each night, stumbling across random fountains and statues on Friday and taking in the streets and ice cream cones of Georgetown on Saturday.

We let Lias wander to his hearts content on the big sidewalks and huge exhibits of the Museums of Natural History and in the Portrait Gallery the next day.

Occasionally he stopped to stare at the new sites and to dance along to the bucket drummers. I distinctly remember thinking these were so cool as a kid visiting DC. It was fun to see my kids reaction to the sites and sounds of my childhood memories.

We even found his (Elias McKean Genho's) namesake in the Portrait Gallery. Thomas McKean was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, Chief Justice and Governor of Pennsylvania during the colonial years. Somehow, we're related to him through my maternal grandmother, Ramona McKean, so it was interesting to turn the corner and see a picture of him. The inscription next to him reads "contentious, vain and hot-tempered - and notorious for shifting his political allies - McKean was an easy target for the scurrilous press of the 1790s that taunted, "he beats his wife and she beats him and when she's drunk she throws his wig in the fire." Lias sure has a lot to live up to.

John and I both loved taking turns walking through the Portrait Gallery. The kids only lasted a few minutes so we took turns with them out in the courtyard while the other browsed the art. I loved this picture of this little boy shooting marbles.

Another favorite - this harvest picture of the pumpkins. Sadly, I didn't write any of these artists names down but if I wasn't so lazy I'm sure I could find them with a little google search.

But I'm too lazy to be bothered with such things.

The hotel had a very nice comfy bed for such a for mentioned lazy people, who convinced all but Ava to take naps each day. Then Ava would get tired and grumpy around 9pm when everyone else was just getting fired up. Silly girl.

She and I did enjoy the luxurious bathrobes each shower though.

She also loved the cuddling in the big bed with John while he read her her souvenir from the Borders in Georgetown - Natures Babies.

Sunday morning we got up and ventured out on the Metro to see the Arlington Cemetery. I think the significance was lost on the kids after we had to walk almost 20 minutes from the Metro to the gravesites but it was a good place to be on a Sunday morning. It's humbling to stand in the middle of so much sacrifice and service. DC is an amazing place to visit and reflect on our country's pride and patriotism. It's almost impressive feeling to just walk around this great city and realize what a great Nation we're a part of.

We ended Sunday with Sacrament meeting in a downtown ward, where I randomly ran into an old Animal Science friend from BYU. It's so nice to go somewhere where you never think anyone will know you and then end up seeing someone you know. The kids loved the experience of a new ward, especially the lady that sang her testimony over the pulpit.

We were in the car and back home by 5:00 that afternoon - not even gone for a total of 48 hours. Still, we came back feeling refreshed and like we'd just gone on a week long vacation without the stress of a real trip. I think we'll make this a yearly tradition.

Summer Time and the Livin' is Easy

2009-07-28T22:12:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago we jumped in the car and headed down some country roads to the suburbs of West Virginia for some easy summer time living.

Along the way we played John Denver - West Virginia, Mountain Mama, Take me Home Country Roads - it is required, by order of Nathan, that we listen to this song at least 10 times on the way to anywhere, but especially on our way to Auntie "Ya-wools" house just over the West Virginia border.

Laurel is my older sister by 7 years and the oldest of us 9 kids. We weren't exceptionally close growing up but since we're the only two siblings with kids so far and we're only an hour apart, we've quite gotten to like each other. It helps that our kids are totally in love with each other too. It doesn't help that she got all the good looks in the family.

Our little kids are total stairsteps of each other going Gordie 6, Ava 5, Nathan 3, Lydia 2, and Lias 1. Whenever either of us is alone with all the kids we shudder thinking that technically, these could all be ours. Laurel's got me beat by 1 though - her two older kids (11 and 9) missed out on the fun this time cause they were in California with their dad for the summer.

Laurel and her kids have had a rough patch in life over the past few years going through a divorce and a lot of uncertainty so it's been nice to just come and chill and chat while we let the kids go wild in her house. And go wild we did.

For 3 days we did nothing productive but....

play at the park....

chase kids.....

drink sugary drinks....

chewed gum....

A LOT of gum....

took advantage of all the pavement and taught our country kids about the beauty of cul-de-sacs - with only a few crashes.....

caught our fair share of lighting bugs and got more than our fair share of mosquito bites....

ran around half naked in our swimming suits until all hours of the night....

brought a little country brashness to the suburbs....

broke up our share of fights, real and pretend ones.....

didn't change enough diapers....

caught kids on camera....

even this Pidy one....

forced a few fake smiles....

and hopefully made a few family friendships that outlast this generation. Thanks for the fun Laurel and crew.

All Growed Up - Missing Teeth and Yellow Buses

2009-07-28T13:07:00.006-04:00

Ava lost her first tooth yesterday.

I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise since she's only weeks away from starting kindergarten and already 5. She was playing legos with Nathan and used her teeth to pry something apart, then complained that her tooth hurt. Sure enough, when I looked in it was wiggly and loosey goosey. She got so excited and jumped around and asked for an apple to eat. Somehow she's got in her head that apples are required for teeth falling out. I milked it for all it was worth and got her to clean 2 whole rooms before she earned the apple.

After she won her prize she realized that it isn't too fun to eat apples with a loose tooth so moped around for an hour before I finally pushed on the thing and it popped out. From begining to end, it was about 2 hours of excitement.

The tooth fairy found her pillow just fine, even though the actual tooth was missing. She found it this morning, hidden in her safe spot next to the TV where she put it yesterday. The tooth fairy brought her a gold $1 coin and she's thrilled.

AND

Ava started school last week. Well, kinda. The local elementary school has a week of summer school for the rising kindergartners so they can get familiar with the whole bus, get up early, listen to the teacher, raise your hand thing. How many little girls are lucky enough to have their bus stop in the middle of their dad's work route so he can walk her to the bus? Lucky, lucky.

She loved every day of it and came home full of rules she had learned about the playground and the proper way to do things like use the bathroom and stand in line. It's funny how school becomes the authority all the sudden.

I loved that she caught the bus just down the road and that she had such a great time.
I don't love the idea of my little 5 year old being gone all day and riding the school bus with teenagers (we're so rural that they only have one bus route K-12. I may end up driving her most days). I also wasn't quite ready for the rush of emotions that that school bus brought back about my own childhood and the nervous excitement of school starting and getting all your pencils, paper and bookbags ready weeks in advance and choosing which clothes you'll wear for the first day and all that stuff that comes with school.

It's very weird to be on the receiving side of the bus, waiting for them to come home and having all that anxiety run through you, for them to have a good time and be liked and be brave enough to ask someone to open their string cheese for them at lunch and find someone to sit by on the bus on the way home. And this isn't even real school yet so I hope I sort this all out in the next 4 weeks.

Because she definitely already has.

Wow

2009-07-15T22:46:00.003-04:00

I've owned a digital camera for 5 years and taken 1000s of pictures. And played with them way too much and got nowhere but frustrated. I've tried Picasa and Microsoft's crap and finally settled on PSE 7 for now. And tonight I've had a breakthrough cause I can now do this.

That's right folks. I put a frame around one of my pictures. A big, huge shout out to Erin, who hooked a sista up with a free online PSE scrapbooking class and a big, big, huge, huge thanks to Chels, who hooked me up so much and I didn't even know it till tonight. I just realized what all the files are that she gave me over 2 years ago and I'm like a kid in a candy shop just thinking of what they can do. Hundreds of papers, masks, frames, fonts, etc. Wow.

But for now, I have a frame around one of my pictures (and yes, I know it's not centered -it's not artistic, it's just I'm too tired to figure out how to fix that.) Hallelujah. Lets see if I get anywhere now.