She's the only one that can't run away...

Okay, I've been taking more pictures than usual because of my new digital camera. The star of the show: Juliet. Not necessarily because she's the cutest or easiest to get to smile but because she can't run away. The other kids will put up hands or say, "Mom, no more pictures!"

We also made some heart-shaped sugar cookies in anticipation of St. Valentine's Day and I got frustrated with Jack while he was "helping" me. In apologies, I gave him a beater with more than the usual amount of cookie dough on it. He forgave me. Keep it away from the camera, kiddo.

And lastly, yesterday's sunset was pretty so I set up my tripod to snap a few pics.

Wow...President Hinckley passed away.

Okay, I know it's been coming for a while but I was surprised when I heard that President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away last night. I remember Presidents Benson and Hunter but for me, President Hinckley was the first President of the Church that made an impression. He helped my testimony grow when I was old enough to listen. I thought to myself, Heavenly Father must be rejoicing today to have this faithful servant by his side again.

He was so kind and witty. I admire the relationship he had with his wife. I'll miss his light spirit and his energy but look forward to President Monson. I'm overjoyed to be in a church that knows exactly what the next step is. Even if the President of the Church dies, the work goes forward without missing a beat. Most of all, President Hinckley has made me want to be more generous, more kind, a better example to my kids, more forgiving and more understanding. Loves to everyone today!

Maybe I spoke too soon...

Well, Juliet spit up quite a bit yesterday. Maybe the milk took a day to work through me and then into her. Anyhoo, my bite of ice cream the other night was worth it. :)


I got a firewire card for my computer today and set it up and actually captured a bit of video. I'm a movie making moron so it'll be quite a few days before my videos look anything like Amy's. Amy's the queen. For now, I just want to get the video off those little tapes and burnt to a DVD. I'll do movies with music later. I popped one in the video player to see what it was and starting watching our Europe trip from last winter. I was having so much fun that I watched pretty much the whole tape.

Off to the grocery store with 3 kids. Hopefully I'll have a lucky day at the store!

A glimmer of hope...

When I used to eat milk products they caused the following reactions in Juliet: lots of spit up, gassiness, irritability and constipation. Lately, with all the new foods she's been eating, I thought she might be growing up a bit and yesterday I tried half a bowl of cereal with some regular milk on it. Then I waited....and waited...and nothing happened. She didn't spit up any more than she usually does and she was happy. She was a teensy bit gassier than usual but it didn't seem to be bothersome. And the big test! Was she going to be plugged up for 5 days??? Nope, she was poopy this morning! FOR ME, THIS IS BIG NEWS!!!!! I'm not ready to run out and get a huge ice cream sundae but I'll probably have a bite or two from now on and work up to a banana split. Wahoo!!

We saw the Brackens at the sand dunes on Saturday and I'm finally getting some pictures up from the day. By the way, Beka, did you have on a UV filter??

The dune buggy got jumped a bunch by Merril's friend, Drew. Merril jumped it a bit as well but I like Beka's pictures better. (I was trying to get pictures while holding a squirmy Juliet and I just didn't catch was I was going for.

On a funny note, Jack really likes to wash his little matchbox cars. Merril gets his truck washed probably twice a week so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Anytime they get sticky or dirty, he takes them into the bathroom sink, washes them off and asks for a towel to dry them.

Oh and Merril ran a 5K on Saturday. He shaved 5 minutes off his time from last year. The kids and I cheered at the start, ran to get donuts and cheered at the finish! He's been pounding the gym for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week!! He goes with Rick at 5:00 a.m. Ick. Rick stays for an hour and Merril stays for another hour because there's nothing else to do at 6:00 in the morning. If he came home, the rest of us would still be asleep. He's really starting to trim down and I'm like,"Wow, babe!" He's never been this trim, at least not since I've known him. I'm really proud of his determination. His goal is to run the marathon in October! Go!

Have a great week!

I spy two little teeth...

I was taking pictures of Juliet and this last one actually shows 2 little teeth nubs in it. So you can spy her two bottom teeth if you look closely. She's actually bitten my shoulder a couple of times. I think it's cute.

I want to get a cute picture of all three kids now that Juliet is older. I like outdoor shots a lot and I'm hoping to find a place that's still green. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Merril, the fix-it man, fixed my dryer yesterday. The dryer's been leaking gas since we pressure-tested the gas lines for the basement. The dryer valve was left open during the test and it messed up the valve a bit. Merril took the valve apart, cleaned it and did a little dance (or whatever he does to fix everything he comes across) and ta-daaaaa! It's so nice to have a handy husband! Have a great weekend!

Zicam miracle...

I just have to say how much I love the product Zicam! If you don't know what it is, it's stuff you put in your nose the moment you start to feel sick and it shortens a cold and makes it less severe. I feel like I've hardly gotten sick at all this season. If you start taking it the instant you feel yourself getting sick, by the next day you're feeling better and by the 3rd day, you're pretty much over it. No coughs that hang on for weeks or runny noses and sore throats that take forever to go away. It's kind of pricey, about $9 for a tiny bottle at Wal-Mart but for me, that's well worth it not to be sick for 7-10 days. I use the bottle but put it on a cotton swab to swab my nose. My last bottle lasted through 3 colds. For a Mom who doesn't have weeks to lay in bed and be sick, it's the best! Happy flu season!

Sledding

We went to the mountains today to go sledding. Merril said he wanted to bring our little 110 three wheeler and I was like, "Okay." We were sledding up by the reservoir and Merril drove the three wheeler onto the frozen lake and proceeded to tow sledders around. We brought a snowboard and a water skiing rope too. At one point we had 2 tubes, 1 sled and one guy on a snowboard. Jack just liked to ride on the three wheeler with Daddy and Max liked to be pulled in the tube. Juliet rode with Mommy on the tube for a bit too! We had a great time and it was a lot more fun than hauling our tubes and kids back up the hill. I shot this 15 seconds of footage with my old camera because my video camera had dead batteries. There's no sound so don't try to turn up your computer speakers. I still think it's fun to watch!

After all the fun in the snow and ice, nothing's better than a nice cup of minty hot chocolate! Yummy!

New teeth and new blog!

Juliet cut a tooth yesterday and another bottom tooth is right behind it. I expect she'll have 2 bottom teeth by tonight or tomorrow. So my baby has baby teeth and then I thought, "Bummer. I've got one more set of teeth that need to be cleaned now." I don't have pictures because I didn't really want to post the inside of her mouth.

Other than that, I wanted my blog to look a little different from the one I had, so I started editing the html on my blog. I messed up a thing or two but ended up with what I wanted. So that was fun because I've never messed with the html on anything before. Happy Thursday to ya!

Wonderful Stroller...

Last month, my Mom asked me what Merril and I wanted for Christmas and I said, "A double stroller." She looked at me like, "Really?" Oh yes really! The stroller that she purchased was a super hugmo stroller with a couple different orientations so that Jack can spin around in the back or stand in the back. What has ended up happening is Juliet sits in the front seat, Jack sits on the second seat with the back support removed, and Maxine stands in the very back. Now I don't think the stroller was designed to carry this many passengers but it leaves me with a stroller full of happy kids. Seriously though, someone else should be walking besides me.

The Grocery Store...Ugh

Going to the grocery store with 3 kids is becoming more of a challenge lately because Jules doesn't want to sit in her carseat in the basket but I still NEED Jack to sit in the grocery cart seat. So today I had to go to the grocery store because I was completely out of diapers & wipes as well as everything else! Juliet is teething too, so she was fussier than usual and was not going to do the carseat bit. So I grabbed my baby backpack and kids and headed off to do a Costco run and a Wal-Mart run on the last day of 2007. I also forgot to take into account that most people had the day off too so it was busy.

The outcome?? Everyone behaved great! I snapped this in the produce section with my phone. Jack sat in the cart the whole time!! That NEVER happens!! Juliet was content except for the 5 minute drive between Costco and Wal-Mart (she really just wanted to be held because of her teeth.) A quarter of the way through my Wal-Mart run, she fell asleep in the backpack. Can you tell she's tired in the pic? I got so many smiles from old people and comments like, "Looks like you've got your hands full today!" Maxine rode in the basket until there wasn't room for her and then she walked. She was pooped by the time we were checking out so she sat on the toilet paper while we waited. What a trooper! But everyone stayed happy and spirits were light. No screaming, no yelling, no "get back here this instant or I'm going to rip your arm off and beat you with it." Nope, it was a good day at the store.

Here's some more pictures I've taken that I like!

Jack wanted his picture taken too. His shirt's all wet and there's a car in the frame but whatever!

And then there was the train at Grandpa's house. Let's just say that it needs a constant adult helper because the kids get so excited and grab it off the tracks and then want someone to put it back on again. Happy New Year!!

New Camera.....YES!!!

My digital camera has been on it's last leg for quite a while. The kids have stuck their fingers in the lens door, rubber bands are holding the battery door closed, you get the idea. So I asked Santa for a new one and viola, one arrived on Christmas morning. I've taken over 100 pictures since I got it yesterday so I could play with the buttons and settings. So I decided to set up the living room like a studio and see if I could get a new "portrait" pictures of Maxine since she's 5 and my last portrait of her was when she was 4. This one is my favorite-

Besides the camera, I got a new blow dryer (that has some how made my hair softer and smoother than usual!!), some new jeans, new knives and new pots and pans. Did you get anything fun?

What do you want to accomplish by the time you're 30?

The other day, Merril asked, "What do you want to accomplish by the time you're 30?" (Merril's always been very goal oriented and reorganizes his goals about once a month.) I sat there and thought, "I don't know, I just want to survive until I'm 30." I thought some more and said, "I guess I just want to take care of the kids." But that's not a goal; not something to accomplish. So I've been thinking more and I can't really come up with anything. I want to finish the basement and back yard but I tried to think of a personal goal and came up with zilch. Where am I going if I don't have a goal? I have a goal to get the celestial kingdom. (Hopefully not by the time I'm 30.) So it's spun me into at least 10 minutes of introspection, of which I have emerged with this goal: No more diaper changing. All kids potty trained. :)

Eight years ago today...

I can't remember the day he proposed or the day we first kissed but our first date has always stuck in my head. Eight years ago today, one week before Christmas, Merril and I were set up on a blind date and he showed up at my parent's house to take me out. We went wheeling and after a huge mishap that involved Jason D. and Danny Z., we went to Denny's and stayed out until almost 4:00 a.m. I can't believe it's been that long, the time has flown by. It's definitely been a lot of fun. He changes things up and keeps me on my toes, mostly because he gets bored easily of one thing or another. That's why I'm so surprised he still hangs around with me. Someone out there has certainly lost a bet. I must be keeping him on his toes too.

Jack, my sweetie!

Max is at preschool, Juliet's asleep and Jack is playing with his cars quietly in the other room. I was checking blogs on the computer and answering e-mail when Jacky came in and said, "You're my best sweetheart." Cue the, "Ooohhhhhhh." Jack has always been more affectionate than Maxine, always snuggled more. He's making my day today. :)

Christmas picture...

I don't feel like I'm getting anything done and Christmas is coming too fast! Yikes! So instead of cleaning the kitchen and wrapping presents, I was taking pictures of my kids in front of the Christmas tree. This one was the best. I wish the light would've been a little different but I was working around the tree's position. However, 3 kids smiling is quite a victory in my opinion. :)

Maxine's backtalking has been steadily decreasing and I've only been working with her for about a week! Yeah!

Woosh. I need a nap! Two kids are down and I'm about to follow. Sweet dreams.

Backtalk...

Maxine has always been one to speak her mind but lately I'm sick of the sassiness associated with her comments. So I researched some websites and implemented a new "no backtalk" program. I've only been doing it for one day but she seems to be doing well already. The program emphasized commitment and keep at it for at least 3 weeks to be successful. If I can keep at it, she'll come around.

Merril was buffing a wheel for his truck with a power tool (angle grinder with a buffing wheel attachment) and it got away from him and ran into his face. He came in from the garage and I was like, "You have something on your face." He's like, "Yeah...I know." I followed him into the bathroom and he'd taken a fair amount of skin off right under his bottom lip. "Yikes! Does it hurt?" Merril-"Not really." Anyhoo, I'm just glad it was a buffing attachment and not a grinding attachment or he'd be missing some teeth. (He went out yesterday and bought a full-face shield for just such an accident next time.)

Christmas candies...

I'm longing to make some toffee, caramels, butter shortbread cookies and a few other Christmas favorites. The only problem is all the Christmas yummies I want to make are butter specific and I can't substitute margerine (Jules is still having a reaction to milk products). So I flipped through recipe books one after another, searching for a Christmas treat that I can substitute margerine for butter. The pickings are pretty slim. I also can't have chocolate or peanut butter. If anyone has any ideas, please pass them along!!

1st food!

I gave Juliet her first taste of rice cereal and when I got the spoon near her, she grabbed it and tried to bring it to her mouth. It was almost as if she was saying, "Finally! Something for me to eat!!" She's seemed interested in what I've been eating for a couple weeks. She downed her whole bowl of rice cereal and seemed pleased. She'll be 6 months in a couple of weeks and I just keep thinking, "Where did half a year go?" That's all for today!

Trees...

We cut Christmas trees on Friday and made a day trip out of it. (Merril had a teensy bit of work to do out there and we were only 20 minutes away.) So here's the picture of Merril and me. You can see the tree in the background.

We came home and Merril had to run something to a friend. The kids wanted the tree in the house soooo much that I decided to measure and cut the trunk to fit and get it in the house. So I measure off 8 feet, saw away and bring it in the house. As I stand it up, I realize we have 9 foot ceilings. I'd sawed about a foot off the bottom and now the tree was a foot short. Bummer. We got two trees so I made the other one work. Woopsy. I guess I'll measure a little better next time. Anyhoo, the rest of the pictures are of us at lunch and stuff. Merril took the picture of Max and Jack. It was cold! Only 26 degrees on the car thermometer. Brrrr!

FINALLY....drywall...

We've been working on the basement for what feels like forever and today, a huge weight was lifted. WE HAVE DRYWALL!! The drywallers (is that a word?) showed up at 7:45 a.m. and worked until 7:00 p.m. and it's all hung! I can't even imagine how long it would have taken us if we'd done it ourselves. I know it's a mess and I have no idea what's all over my lens. It looks like it's snowing. But I'm so excited to clean up and decorate a Thanksgiving table. Every time I go down there, I giggle and squeal with delight because it looks so good, so finished. I know I still have lots to do but there's something about walls that make it feel a WHOLE lot more done.

Happy Inspection Day!!!!

I felt like taking some pictures of the kids one day and set up a "studio" in the living room and these pictures are the result. Getting a good one of all three was an absolute joke, besides the fact that Maxine's hair is unbrushed and Jack has chocolate on his face. I was mainly trying to get a pictures of Jules and the others jumped in. Either way, I think the one of Jules is pretty cute. All in all, not too bad.

On a different note, we had an inspection for the basement today and were approved for drywall! The drywallers are coming on Monday and I hope they can knock out some good progress before Thanksgiving because my table's going to be set in the basement. Either way, we'll have some yummy turkey (Merril's deep frying) and pie. Oh, do I love pie!!! It's like a comfort food but it's also dessert. Throw in images of Americana and home-baked goodness and it's one of my most favorite things.

Merril's at a scout campout and the kids are in bed. I feel like attacking my dirty, silent house. Ahhhhh. Maybe I'll play some Christmas tunes! Happy Thanksgiving!

An offering...

Maxine's 5th birthday party was thrown together this year. I've never hosted a friend party before and thought it would be okay to have it on a weekend. Sunday afternoon, Maxine informed me that the party had to happen on her birthday, Monday. We quickly called a dozen friends and a cousin and asked if they could make it to a birthday party the next day. Everyone we called was able to make it and the highlight of the party was a piniata.

Maxine has been wanting and waiting for a piniata for a solid 9 months, maybe even 10 or 11. We purchased the piniata today and stuffed it full of candy, stickers, pencils and plastic rings. Everyone had a wack at it and Maxine had a couple of turns because it was her birthday. She was jumping around wildly while everyone else waited patiently behind a line we'd designated so no one would be hurt. Finally, Merril had to bust open the piniata and all the kids scrambled for the prizes. Maxine, who'd left her bag somewhere amidst all the jumping around, was late finding it and getting towards the spoils left on the floor. There wasn't much left when she got there and she burst into tears in traditional birthday girl style.

Merril and I tried to cheer her up by saying that we were going into the house to open the loads of presents she'd received. As she sobbed in the living room, one little girl (and I don't know which one but wish I did) offered one piece of candy from her bag. Without any prompting from any adults, the rest of the group joined in. Maxine stopped crying and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of generosity. Something's actually sinking in!! All the "say please" and "say thank you" that we've been pounding into our children's heads are actually becoming a part of them. These little girls did something that made a big difference and they did it on their own and I just wanted to say, "Thank YOU MOMs!!"

Happy Halloween!!

I love to carve pumpkins!! I purchased a powered pumpkin saw and it makes carving pumpkins so easy and fun. Intricate designs are now easy to accomplish!!! It makes me think back to the days when our parents would hand us huge, dull knives to carve our pumpkins. I'm amazed I still have all my fingers.

We had lots of fun on Halloween this year. Jacky didn't want to wear his Superman costume so he wore his space pajamas and the Superman cape! He was SuperJack and Maxine was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Juliet was a cheetah. She only dressed up for the ward trunk or treat party. She stayed home to hand out candy. Jacky did some trick or treating on our street and then came home to help mom. When the trick or treaters were leaving, he'd say, "Bye, see you later."

I can't believe how much candy the kids received. As a kid, it took 3 neighborhoods worth of work to accumulate the amount of candy they got in a ward party and one street. No wonder kids are so fat these days.

Merril and I had fun dressing up this year as well. I was a geisha and Merril was my sumo wrestler. His inflatable suit had a little fan on the side that kept him nice and plump. It took Jacky about 15 minutes before he'd let Merril hold him or take him anywhere.

Halloween was great and we had just the right amount of candy!! I almost ran out last year and didn't want to do that again.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving will be here in a matter of weeks!! I can feel Christmas right around the corner. I miss Halloween because I have so many cute Halloween decorations but not much for Thanksgiving. Loves to all!

I.......urped........

At 5:21 a.m., Jacky started screaming from the other room. Thinking he'd just fallen out of bed again (moved from a crib a couple weeks ago) I walked in there to pick him up. He was sitting on the bed and said, "I urped." He'd thrown up on his bed and his shirt and was crying. I always think it's funny that my kids use the term "urp." It makes the most sense because whenever Juliet spits up, we say that she'd urped. I just feel at some point it changes from urp to vomit but at 5:21 in the morning, it's hard to make that distinction to someone who's only 2. So he threw up again this morning around 8:00. I kind of get the feeling that it's just something he ate. Jacky's such a good natured little boy; my sweetheart. He's watching cartoons in a diaper and chewing gum. Well, a load of stinky laundry awaits.

The Basement...

For years now (and I'm not exaggerating) we've been working on our basement but at last, the end seems near. I hung or hanged (whichever is correct) can lights yesterday (not in the photograph) to continue on the quest to get electrical done. This picture just shows some of the wires we've been working on and the A/C vents. I need to go down and take some more pictures. The framing is finished with a spot for the fireplace. I'm really pleased with the way the fireplace turned out because it looks better than I had imagined. It's so wonderful to see it coming together and knowing that I'll be able to use the space soon!! Our goal is Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if it'll be completely done by then but I'm hoping to have drywall, lights, and flooring done by then. The bathrooms might not make it. So to anyone that's ever finished a room before, you have my sympathies. (Emily, you win the prize.) Loves--J

Maxine's contribution and the 4-month mark!

Ever since Maxine saw that I'd created a blog, she wanted a blog of her own. I told her I'd blog one of her pictures and this came out. Looking at some other pictures on another blog site, she wanted to draw a crab. Maxine loves to free draw and elephants are her latest thing.

Juliet is 4 months old today. I didn't realize it until I looked down at the date on my phone and thought, "Today's the 17th. What happened on a17th? Oh yeah, Juliet was born and I was married on June 17th." It's a big day. Jules is sweetheart and I just can't believe that 4 months has elapsed since I had her. What a whirlwind!

Last Lake Day 10-11-2007

We celebrated our last lake day on October 11th. Then we put the boat in the back yard for another season. It always makes me a little sad because it means the end of summer. We definitely had our fair share of lake days, averaging at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. For me, it's a great place to sit and hang out with Merril while the kids entertain themselves in the sand and water. I feel totally relaxed when we leave and look forward to the next time. We only ran out of gas once this year and in my opinion, boats should have a reserve tank like motorcycles and four-wheelers.