Visit from Wade

My brother Wade came for a fun visit last week, just in time to help us celebrate Sammie's birthday! (She definitely thought his entire visit was dedicated to that very purpose!) He stayed a few days and we thoroughly enjoyed having him around, though we didn't take too many pictures.

We took a little day trip up to Bogus Basin -- just about an hour out of Boise. It was really a pretty view, more than 6000 ft high, overlooking the entire valley. We took some fun pictures of each other and the view...


Wade's camera got MUCH better pictures than ours, but I forgot to ask him to download them to our computer, so you're stuck with the best of our camera -- not great but it gives you an idea what it was sort of like...
We also had a fun outing to Carl's Jr., which Sammie REALLY appreciated! It was one of her birthday presents -- something she had been asking for all week. No pictures of that, because we don't want people to think we're totally obsessed with Carl's Jr. (even if it's true that Sammie IS!)

After the kids were in bed each night, we thoroughly enjoyed playing some fun games together. Wade introduced us to Ingenious! and we had some nice rounds of Settlers of Catan. Good times!
Samantha was enthralled with Uncle Wade and loved following him around, asking what he was doing every two minutes. She especially loved the fun Birthday princess presents he got for her... he is definitely a favorite now! :) Come again soon, Wade!!

Weird rash

Poor Spence. He's had a rough go of it lately. First, he had a bad ear infection over Thanksgiving weekend, with a temp of 105F! That was scary, and he ended up in an urgent care center a week ago Sunday, to get some amoxicillin for his infection. Then, just this past Sunday morning, when I went to get him up, he looked like this...

The pictures don't even do it justice. His cheeks were so ruddy and red, and he had little red pocks all OVER his body. Who would have thought?! He acted fine -- even a bit more rowdy than he has been lately. No fever. No loss of appetite. It was just a weird rash. Well, we didn't want to risk infecting anybody so we did some shuffling for church time (Brian went to Sacrament to be sustained for his new church calling in the Sunday School pres., then I went to RS to play for our special musical lesson.) And Spencer stayed home and slept.

He was fine all day, other than looking a little freaky with the spots all over. Then today, it started lightening up. We still took him to the doctor, even though it seems to be clearing on its own. Dr first said it was probably a viral infection that is just ending. Then he called in the special pediatrician, and she said it looked more like a reaction to the amoxicillin -- but it could still be a virus, possibly. The good thing is that it's going away, and Spencer seems to be fine.

It's just crazy how much we worry about our kids, sometimes. Always better to be safe than sorry, I suppose. Anyway, just thought I'd share the mundane details of life here, so you can be glad for my absence from blogging. ha!

I have to say, our super-cute Spence still looks super cute to me, even if he is covered in red spots...

Gotta love those baby blues!

Holiday Fun

We've been busy having some good times these past few weeks. Thought I'd post a few of the pictures to share...

Here are the gorgeous lights from our little downtown Caldwell. We went last night to see the annual Christmas parade, and ended up meeting with several other families we know from church. The kids loved the candy and the lights.

We also got our tree yesterday and got out the Christmas decorations. (The tree isn't quite decorated yet, so you'll see picts of it in some other post.) Here's Sam and Spence, with Sammie modeling some of the decor'...

And Spence just looking cute, sort of waving (he doesn't officially wave yet, though I like to pretend he does)..

Samantha figured out what the Christmas stockings are for...

We went to the annual Christmas tree lighting in Nampa with Brian's family just before Thanksgiving. This year we actually MADE it there in time for the lighting! yay! (Then we ate loads of chocolates and meatballs they were giving out for FREE at the old train depot. yum!)

Sammie is making her amends with Santa... no more screams of terror. She actually allowed him to give her a candy cane. This is real progress!
The whole gang, gathered round the tree...
And last, the not-so-great photos from our awesome Thanksgiving dinner. We had a HUGE group from Brian's mom's side of the family. It was a fun reunion, with all the TG trimmings and lots of catch-up time for everybody. Someone got a REAL family photo, while I just took a few shots of people rallying for the picture...

We've been having some fun times, enjoying the chance to be with family.

New tricks and things

I know, now I'm going a little TOO "slowler" -- especially with the blogging. Sorry. I may be making a come back here; or this may be another false start... I just can't seem to get into the internet groove these days.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some cute picts of the kids and some of their latest fun stuff. Spencer has learned a lot of new tricks lately. First trick...

Brian calls it his Bat Boy trick, and sings the Batman theme to him. Spence just LOVES being our upside-down baby. Cute.
Next trick...
Our little man is on the move. This is a little video I took when he was first scooting, a couple of weeks ago. Now he's crawling everywhere, quite professionally.



And along with crawling, he has another trick to share...
That's right! He's STANDING. Sort of. He can get himself up, but can't get back down. Either he'll stand there and start crying for help to get down, or he'll eventually just lose his balance and take a tumble. But he sure is proud of his achievements!
He's also trying to master the stairs, even though I secretly discourage it... The landing onto hardwood is just NOT a good idea. But he's pretty determined.
As for Samantha, she has some new toys and things to share. First, play dough...
This kept her busy for nearly an hour, even though I was momentarily sad she mixed all the colors together. She was very proud of her "family" creations. Here she is singing, though a little more shy about it than usual, I think because of the camera...

She also got a new princess game that she plays with almost every day. It was one I got awhile ago and told her it looked a little too old for her so we would save it until she was a little older. Well, in a pinch I got it out and told her she could play with it (to keep her busy). She immediately asked, "So, now I'm a little bit older?" Here she is clutching her new game, as she sits in her NEW booster seat -- proving that yes, she IS a little bit older!
For the holidays, Sammie got a new "princess" dress, as she calls it. She wants to wear it EVERY Sunday (and every other day, for that matter), and often asks if I can put on MY princess dress (wedding dress) too, so we can be matching? Hasn't happened yet.
Sam also has a new love for "all things baby." She loves playing with her dolls, changes their names every other day, and changes their clothes every other minute (which gets tricky, as both dolls only have two outfits each). I find her babies in the strangest places... here they are in the bathroom closet upstairs, and later they were sleeping in the tub. I think it's cute, and so much fun to see her imagination develop.
I find her babies in the strangest places... here they are in the bathroom closet upstairs, and later they were sleeping in the tub. I think it's cute, and so much fun to see her imagination develop. She put Bob the Bear in time out yesterday for hitting, "we AREN'T supposed to HIT, BOB!". Hmm... sounds familiar?

That's all for now, folks. Sorry to be such a slacker blogger. I'm amazed anybody still reads, though I'm really glad you do. Thanks! I'll try to get a post up sooner this time, kay?

Slowler. And other randomness.

It's just past midnight, and I just finished reading through every blog on my list. I even commented on almost all of them -- which, as you can imagine, took me awhile. It was nice and relaxing to see what other people are up to. It's been a long time since I've taken time to just sit back and enjoy cyberspace.

But really, shouldn't I be sleeping right now? The answer is yes, of course. But I think I have a mild case of insomnia or something. The past few weeks (and especially the past few nights) I've had such a hard time sleeping. I toss and turn and get up to use the bathroom and check on my kids and look out the window and whatever else there is to do in the middle of the night besides sleeping. Tonight is an exception -- I haven't actually tried going to bed yet. I guess part of me figures, what's the point? Maybe I'm hoping I'll get so super tired enough that I'll just drop off eventually and get some really deep sleep. Who knows.

Despite the lack of restful sleep, I'm happy to report it has been a better few days around here. I have not stomped my feet or screamed frantically for awhile. This is good. This is very good, in fact. I'm even doing better at the prayer thing, though it's still really hard to make the habit stick. I'm trying, and I think the Lord knows that. And another thing that seems to be helping...

Slowler
I wanted to write a few words about slowler. This is Samantha's original word, and I think it is so cute. Sometimes, when I'm in a hurry to leave the house, I start buckling her into her car seat as fast as I possibly can, throwing the diaper back in the back seat at top speed, shoving shoes and socks in so we can put them on when we get where we're going (lets face it, they come off in the car anyway so what's the point in putting them on BEFORE we leave the house?)... With all this going on, Samantha sometimes looks at me and says, "Mom, can we go just some little bit slowler?"

The other day I stopped long enough to see the look in her eyes when she said this, and I decided to take it to heart. I'm really trying to "go some little bit slowler." And it's helping. I know it's not an original idea, and it's something every grandmother would tell a young mother -- stop and enjoy the little moments, take some time to just relax and appreciate your kids, etc. I just happen to like the way Sammie said it. It hit home for me, and it's easy for me to remember, when things get hectic. Just go slowler.

And what have I noticed? Well, for one thing, my punctuality fettish is a bit petty. Sometimes we'll be on time, many times we will not. We're excused; we have children. And for those who do not excuse us, they are welcome to come watch our children so we can be on time. In addition, I'm realizing my housekeeping is not that bad, even on a bad day. I can live with more clutter and dust, and I feel better if I try not to focus on it.

What else? I've noticed that Samantha's eye lashes are really long. And when she gets really excited, she blinks a lot and bats those lashes right down over those big blue eyes in the cutest way. And Spencer -- he's always scratching himself with his nails. I cut them all the time, but when I look close at that baby soft skin there's always some new little cuts he's made. How does he do that? Also, he's such a little chatty boy. He has this most adorable/slightly annoying high-pitched scream that he comes up with when he gets really, really excited. It's so cute. I'll have to get it on video one of these days. I'm just really enjoying the times I get to hold and cuddle my babies right now. Good stuff.

I've been going slowler outside, too. We've been on more walks lately, and I'm loving the sunshine and autumn weather. Samantha loves to pick up rocks and leaves on the walks, and Spencer just calms right down the second we leave the house. It's something we all seem to need, but I just haven't felt like I have time to do it. We spent two hours yesterday just sitting on a blanket in the back yard. (Well, actually Spence was on the blanket, Sam was running around the yard, and I was repotting some plants.) It's just so refreshing to be outside and have some quiet time to think... even with kids.

I've also noticed more of the thoughtful things Brian does all the time. He made us dinner last night so I could get ready for Scouts without getting frazzled. That's not always typical, but it's thoughtful and kind, as Brian always is.

Well, I'm tired now, and my typing is getting slowler. So, I guess I'll go try that sleep thing again. Goodnight blogging world. My Girl's advice to the stressed and troubled: just go some little bit slowler.

Family pictures

We did it! We got family pictures taken... finally! Spencer finally has his own professional shots. yay! And some of Samantha. It wasn't the best day for taking pictures, as our kids didn't really cooperate very well (Samantha had an "accident" the second we arrived at the studio, Spencer was hungry an hour earlier than normal and didn't like the high pitched noises our photographer made to get him to smile, etc.) But I thought there were some cute ones, so thought I'd share. In no particular order...

My little Halloweeners

Hey, I thought I'd put up our pictures of Halloween while it's still somewhat fresh. We had a nice Halloween -- much more candy and hoopla this year than we've had the past four years. (They don't do much for Halloween in England, as they're looking forward to Guy Fawkes day, on Nov 4... in fact, I bet people are lighting fireworks and burning bonfires and effigies over there tonight and every other night this week, just thinking about it makes me thankful to be getting a good night's sleep tonight with no loud, incessant banging of fireworks!) a picture of last year's Guy Fawkes, just for fun...
I confess, I'm out of the Halloween habit, and didn't offer up much enthusiasm for it this year. First, I missed the memo about "trick-or-treat at the Y" Halloween morning, and went to work out right while all the trick-or-treaters were arriving. Sammie and Spencer were with me, uncostumed and ready to be dropped at the childcare place which had been transformed into a Halloween-parade area. This being Samantha's first "real" Halloween, she kept asking me, "what do those people have on? what is that guy wearing? why is he looking so silly and funny?" I forfeited my workout so we could skip the pandamoneum -- and so Sammie wouldn't feel too left out because I forgot to dress her up.

In the afternoon, I called Dalana and borrowed some costume ideas from her -- some Sesame Street characters, a lady bug costume, and a cheerleader. Samantha tried on all the costumes and declared she would be Elmo! then a Ladybug! then a Cheerleader like Brie! Then... as always, she opted to be a princess.

I had to include the pictures of her as a ladybug, because she was so stinkin' cute. And, the whole time she was wearing the costume, she crawled around the house with her fanny in the air saying, "I a Ladybug!!" over and over, making me sing, "Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home..." multiple times. (but she didn't like me to say the ladybug's house was on fire, so I had to skip that part.)
Spencer was really excited to be cookie monster, I'm sure. The blue was good with his eyes and he got tons of compliments.
Here's trying to get them to pose together...

We went to our church's "safe" trunk-or-treat party at the church car park, then came back and knocked around our neighborhood for a bit. Spencer got tuckered out and ended up asleep in the back of the car with Brian, while I walked Sam to the doors.
Sam got a little spooked by some 9- or 10-year-old kid in a skeleton mask who wouldn't talk and just stood staring down at her on someone's door step. I had to tell her several times, "He's just pretend. It's just a little boy in there. He's just being silly, etc." as she clung to my leg. I was tempted to rip his mask off and show her he wasn't really that scary, since he was kind of punky about it, just leering down at her in amused silence. But he just grabbed his candy and left, and I held my temper, and Sammie calmed down.

After the neighborhood rounds, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for one more round of candy and some good pictures with the cousins in their costumes. (Spence was already modeling pj's by then, so we didn't include him in the photo shoot.)


We got loads of candy out of the whole Halloween venture. Brian and I each escaped with large packs of peanut m&ms (Sam doesn't like the nuts), and some Snickers and Baby Ruths besides. Not bad. We'll probably do it again next year, maybe even with more enthusiasm and preparation? I mean, maybe I'll even humor Samantha and dress up as a princess with her (she pleaded with me to put on a princess dress several times this year, but I just don't have a princess dress right now, rats!)

Big thank you!

Wow! I got sooo much good advice and encouragement from that last post. THANK YOU for taking time to share with me and give me some fresh ideas and fresh perspective on things. I really appreciate everything that everybody wrote. Most especially, I'm glad to know I'm not alone with this sort of crazy parenting business.

I report that the last few days have been better --- there are always up and down days, right? I'm sure once I can get my hands on some of your book recommendations and implement some of your suggestions more consistently I'll be doing even better. Right now, I better get going as we have a waking-up Sammie girl at 11pm who needs some soothing back to sleep. Always another little lesson to learn about parenting, isn't there?

Just wanted to say thanks!