Dayton Family

Some good Luv'n

2012-02-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

[Seemingly] beloved new hobby: how many different ways can we tell Mom we love her...

Boys' dinner they made last Sunday...egg/tilapia/cheese/rice goolash & buttery veggies. Tasty & so appreciated!

Looks pretty good right? The boys decided to really let their creative juices flow & wanted to try a new dessert: HASH BROWNS w/ cookie crumbs, [agave] chocolate sauce, samoa cookies & the kitchen sink thrown in for an extra oomph (it didn't have enough). Good thing [for them] Tony was there when that decision was made.

My dessert: blueberries w/ delicioso almond cookies (done in the dehydrator & sugar-free!), agave choco sauce & whipped cream.

From all my boys

Our traditional red dinner was a bit different this year because Jyson is now on a sugar/wheat/pork/beef/dairy FREE diet for a month to see if his illness-induced asthma is really allergy-related. So we had spaghetti (his was rice noodles, which, he informed me tastes like spaghetti-o's & he loved it), grapes, pizza hummus (CCK recipe) w/ red veggies, coconut milk, & heart-shaped dark chocolates w/ nuts (sugar-free, also from Chocolate Covered Katie...Jyson now says she is 'saving' him in the dessert department :)

I am Jyson's 'room mom' so I did the V-day party. Instead of participating in each of the stations, Jyson chose to instead do the "fold a napkin into a red rose" demonstration for his classmates. And let's not forget a special hello to the darling child front & center of this picture, who, in case you are confused, is not Jyson.

Our ward did a service auction (I got 2 nights of free baby-sitting, a meal, a day of canning w/ someone & a lesson on how to make cinnamon/artisan specialty breads!) & so I used one of the free baby-sitters the Saturday before so I could surprise Tony & take him to the Sweetheart's dinner/dance in town. Sadly, the atmosphere was more alcohol & smoke than romance so instead we used a gift card from Christmas to go out to dinner while I asked him all sorts of questions from our 'love card deck' & then went to the grocery store--sans kids. Actual V-day Tony filled out our taxes for us :) , we tried yet again to visit the elusive elderly lady down the street (who apparently has more of a social calendar than we do) & then he had to work super uber late because he came home in the middle of the day so I could do Jyson's party. Love is all about sacrificing for the good of the colony so I guess we succeeded in that department for the day!

A V-day present for Tony (& our posterity :)

2012-02-15T09:33:00.001-08:00

The Greatest Love Story of All time…ours!

Happily ever after camebackwards for me. I got married to my high school crush at 19, had adorabletwin boys at 20, but was then separated at 21 & divorced by age 22. Criedmyself a river all right. But then, thanks to a loving Heavenly Father & my family I got back on my figurative horse (since I was now‘prince-less’ J) as I put all my remaining love into my boys, finished my bachelor’s degreeand became a 5^th grade teacher in my hometown.

I love where I grew up, butbeing the incredibly conservative Christian place that it is, and going to a junior college where students commonlygraduate by age 22, I felt increasingly out of place as not just divorced withkids, but ‘old’ as well. I learned to smile as a young man would ask for my phonenumber, start writing it down, only to stop, mid-number when he found out ‘thenews’ looking a little stunned as he mumbled something before walking away.Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be in touch…

After the occasional beau,lots of late-night, lonely bowls of ice-cream, soul-searching, studying scriptures & the words of prophets I came to the solid conclusion that I would rather be happy &single forever than settle for someone my Heavenly Father didn’t lead me to.

Stories like this have a wayof becoming predictable for a reader, but as the participant I just had no ideathat prince charming was so close to making his appearance…again…into my life,this time to stay forever.

I loved teaching myrambunctious, intelligent, lovable classes, but each year I felt the pull, theguilt, of being ‘half-teacher,’ and ‘half-mom,’ never really able to giveeither one my 100%. Carson was one of those lovable lads, and as his mom camein to get some further school-related information, the conversation turned tothe hometown we happen to share. Inevitably, we played the ‘do you know…’ game& as she mentioned her younger brother it was like this image and wisp of amemory was yanked from the recesses of who-knows-where in the back of my brain.“Oh, yeah, he was sooo….” “Crazy?” She immediately offered. We laughed, bothknowing that word was dead-on. *Note: crazy as in, “how can one person havethat much energy & self-confidence to dowhat he does?!” Meet him & you’d totally get it.

A couple of days later I gotan e-mail from that very brother as a result of a Christian-type Facebook wewere both a part of (he hadn’t talked to his sister about me, true story!). Todate, the strangest e-mail I have ever received (direct quote: ”You live on thehill? My sis lives there, or by the park, with a goat, on a boat…”) but witheach subsequent line I laughed harder because somehow, I got every quirky bit.Too bad he was in Korea teaching English for another 11 months, this guy seemedworth getting to know.

I’m not an e-mail/webcam oreven phone kind of gal. I’m more thetraditional, face-to-face, meet the parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc. so-we-can-analyze-your-every-move-&-do-a-background-checkkind. Chalk it up to having been divorced before, but every e-mail, phone call,then webcam experience with this guy I kept yelling to myself, “This isludicrous. You can’t date a guy across the world through a webcam for logic’s-sake.” Month after month I told myself this, allthe while starting to feel like I knew him better than any guy (or, ahem, anyhusband) I had ever known! But how could I know for sure, right? What if it wasall lies?! I know. I told myself that one a lot too. I have to say, though, ithelped knowing I had met him before & his sister was definitely an anchorbecause we clicked instantly. Now she even claims he owes her, like, for lifesince she had to be the one to woo myfamily & I in the flesh. I tell you, though; he was pretty excellent inthat department too. Every time I talked about my day, told him about my kids,voiced a doubt, expressed my concerns, shared my hopes, he listened. What otherchoice did he have, right? Really, though, I felt so understood, validated, caredabout…loved?! He was feeling morelike family all the time. And the random grocery bags full of my favoriteyogurt that magically appeared on my doorstep at home or flowers on my desk atwork certainly helped in this rather unorthodox form of dating. The unexpected bonusof dating this way (though slightly strange, granted) was in knowing that thephysical aspect was never there to interfere. In our religion we believe intotal purity before marriage, but in this case, we never had to worry abouteven being tempted! J It helped me feel more trust in him as we progressedto know that even without all that, he was choosing to [patiently] continuegetting to know me for who I really am (& not just how great I cankiss…) &even stopped dating others as he felt increasingly committed. True love.

Fast-forward 8 months, acouple of tentative, “I Love You’s” on both sides, a LOT of praying & somesuper duper big gulps I decide it’s time to fly out to Korea to see if what Ithink we have, we really have. So much fear. So much hope. The hope won outwhen I bought those tickets, but I knew that if it wasn’t right it was going tobe a very long nine days.

Fortunately, it was the tripof a lifetime. Eating Dokboki on a rooftop at night, walking throughcherry-blossomed trees, meeting fabulous people, late-night dances in his apartment, beingamongst another culture/language, watching an incredible live “cooking channel meetsBruce Lee” show, & even getting our feet fungus eaten off by little fishieswas romantic with this guy around. There were bits of reality thrown in forgood measure, but by the end of the trip I felt an ever-increasing sureknowledge, coming from above, telling me that whatever faults he had, lack of honesty& truth were not among those. I could trust him. I could return his lovewithout fear.

On my last day in Korea hetook me into a park. Every so often he would start digging in the leaves,looking for some little gift he had ‘planted’ earlier. We laughed, talked, andenjoyed each other, both trying not to think of the good-bye scene that was quickly approaching.Miraculously (as he now tells it), we came to a clearing with no one around. We satdown & as he finished telling me all sorts of cheek-blushing compliments ofthe highest caliber, he pulled out a ring & popped the question. I was so stunned. I stuttered in the affirmative after he askedme, “So…is that a yes?” Poor guy. Poor me for that matter…I wish I could sayour ‘happily ever after’ started from that moment, but I was in so much shock,the flight home was utter turmoil for me.

I asked myself every questionpossible—twice. And then I asked him those same questions--thrice. He had thepatience of Job, bless him. Bit by bit, Heavenly Father helped me feel theanswers come in response to my frantic pleas. Peace pervaded and then, oh thejoy, the love that filled my heart.

We’ve now been married 3 anda half blissful years and have 4 children (another girl & boy added to thetwins) & though we certainly are no strangers to ‘real life,’ we thankHeavenly Father every day for leading us to each other, making it possible forus to go through each experience together, hand in hand, as happily ever afteras there ever was.

**Submitted to the “Times”Fort Wayne newspaper for their “Greatest Love Story of All Time” contest Feb.2012

Found

2012-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Tonight, in looking for my missing slipper sock, I discovered instead foot coverings of the following variety: a Tony black, a gray & white Rhett mini, an inside-out 9-year old version & one of toddler-proportions. Typically I would wonder with utter frustration about that many half-pairs making an appearance in our tiny bedroom. Instead, I reflected how much I love all those little toes (& the bodies that accompany them)! :) Nights like this I feel God's blessings & wonder what I did to deserve them, but am eternally grateful.

2012-01-29T17:34:00.000-08:00

"Mo, pees."

Note: it wasn't even a poopy diaper, I guess his olfactory senses were sensitive that day...

gotta love the startled, "what?!"

"I love...

"...Mom." love, Jyson

Creative dudes: popcorn with melted rolos & chick-o stick things...I was not in charge of this creation

Big bro Jaydon helping Ari make pancakes

Rhett, 7 Months

2012-01-29T17:30:00.001-08:00

-Spends most of his time on the floor like this: rocking on all fours, traveling the room like crazy, but accidentally

-started him on solids (he's tried sweet potatoes, brown rice & peas), but he won't close his mouth, it just sits on his tongue & he drools it out...guess we'll just keep trying

-He's figuring out the nighttime thing--his day schedule has always been pretty good (eat, play, fall asleep on his own--at church he still falls asleep every week in his carseat thanks to the cover made by Alyse!), but now his night is at least lengthened to 12am-6am...yeah, we're working on it

-LOVES everyone in our family & kicks n' smiles like crazy when anyone approaches

-canNOT hold still...bounce-a-maniac (unless he's tired then he starts staring & we then know he's tired!)

-his bottom 2 teeth nearly made their appearance...I even thought they had broken the surface, but nope, they retreated shortly thereafter

-he can play for quite awhile by himself (as long as Ari doesn't take all his toys away)-- 20-45 minutes!

2012-01-29T17:28:00.001-08:00

I was so glad/touched...this was one of the first presents the boys opened--the 'sentimental' gift from us, which was a photo book for the last 2 years & they both spent time looking through the entire thing before moving on to the other presents.

My personal favorites: the photo books, & then the presents they made for each other Jyson to Jaydon: a super-size, sturdy bug net (thank you google) and Jaydon to Jyson: a clear animal container raised up, with magnets affixed to the animals so you move another magnet underneath & get the animals to move all around to different locations (thank you Family Fun!)

Our Christmas meal with them: sweet potato casserole, mashed taters/gravy, ham & gingerbread trifle (I froze some of the cake & it was still great!)

Ari loves when my students get stars for passing off a piece...she awards herself stickers as well

This is way cooler than paper, Mom

"Hi busser!!" (buster)

Whilst the boys were away, we did relax

2012-01-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

This is Ari's favorite man & favorite book--an African legend called "Anansi the Spider." It has so many bright colors, I guess that's the appeal. There is no limit to how many times she wants this read, & it's pretty cute to see her follow me around without it saying "pider, pider!"

We were going a bit stir-crazy so we went on a walk since it was so sunny...only it was 30 degrees...good idea Mom...

It was strange/nice just to relax & not really do much over the break (that's Tony's idea of a REAL vacation). Tony & I watched a season of "Lark Rise to Candleford," one of the newer BBC shows on DVD during the break, so many of our evenings were spent just talking with each other/with the boys here & there, watching an episode or two, reading a book, doing a couple projects, chilling to the MAX since the two littles go to bed at 7 & neither can get out of bed to ask for anything... Tony commented, "it's almost like we're dating again" :)

New Year's was much the same, we ordered a pizza (rare nowadays) from the joint down the street & if you can believe this, it was 'pulled pork with pickles, tomato & cheese.' It sounds disgusting, but was actually quite fabulous! Sometime after midnight when we were in bed I said, "oh, yeah, it's the new year!" Crazy to be so lazy, eh? We soaked it all up, but did miss sharing the lack of busyness with the boys.

Christmas Eve & Day

2012-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Morn. We opted to open all the presents on Christmas Eve & we're glad we did...we were able to 'play' with all the goodies & then be able to focus on the real meaning on the day of.

His first Christmas...yummy paper!

Her first play-doh.

Ari definitely enjoyed the 'ripping open' this time around & was a lot of fun. I'm glad cuz the boys weren't with us this year & we couldn't go home so it was pretty quiet, but it was nice.

This book is from our Grammie who just passed away...she already had everyone's presents (a month & a half before Christmas!!) so it was so special to open them.

Funniest gift of the day by far--bro-in-law Andy gave Tony 20ish envelopes with $1 in all but one of them (it had $5 in it & was labeled "share with your bro-in-law fund) & they all had hilarious labels relating to Tony's likes. It's referring to our 'Dave Ramsey financial envelope system.' For example, "cheap dollar store microphone fund, swedish fish fund, iTunes fund, agave fund, a-new-envelope-for-Dave-Ramsey-envelope-fund" & so forth...the perfect, thoughtful, humorous gift!

Christmas Eve breakfast. I call it "Chocolate Bananna Bread Oatmeal" inspired by CCK (in my 'Favorites' links to the side)

Gingerbread Raspberry Trifle. Mmmmmm.

We invited a family & another guy from our ward & had a glorious little feast.

Santa in our town

2012-01-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Tony's work had the most awesome Santa lunch. We all got a hot lunch & each of the kiddos got to sit on Santa's lap (including Tony as you see...that was Santa's way of helping out those children who were afraid he would eat them up) & then they also got a little present! We were thrilled for Ari to get the "Snuggle Puppy" book--our favorite from library story time. So, we recorded the boys singing it & gave it out to the grandma's for Christmas. The only major bummer is that they have it during school & since the boys had just missed SO much from the funeral, they couldn't go :(

And, just for good measure...here's another awesome Santa picture (it's Tony's oldest brother & sister & I totally love her face!!)

Christmas preps

2012-01-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

O Christmas tree...Poor thing didn't stand a chance against the flying alligator

Mini nativity Jaydon set up

The boys love setting up our little Christmas village...this is an action shot of the boys acting out a little village life, you know, ceramic carolers jumping off buildings doing an army roll into the snow...that sort of Christmas cheeriness...

And tis the season for this guy to try out brown rice mush...he's 7 months after all. He had the BEST 'nasty!' faces...alas, I did not capture them on camera, but I did on video!

Jyson's form

2012-01-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

The top contenders in the 4th grade showed off their stuff in an assembly...of which Jyson was one! And it was so cute to see Ari...she was screaming & fussy, but as soon as she was able to sit with Jyson, around all those other kids, she sat completely still!

Jaydon's teacher's seeing-eye dog that she brings to school several times a week

2011-12-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

A happier kid there never was...truly. He's patient with all of us.

-He rolls nearly as much as he smiles...so that's saying something.

-Koala hugs (grabs & holds on with all his might)
-still gets up every 3 hours during the night to eat...every 2 the few times he hasn't been feeling well
-He wasn't quite himself just before we went to Utah/Idaho so I took him to the dr just in case & whamo...double ear infections--but he still smiled at the dr, she was impressed.
-when he gets going his babble/talk is SO loud & cute
-he's a mover. he throws his body back & forth every time he's sitting & he bounces in laps like crazy--& that was before he was introduced to the bouncer.

More good-byes

2011-12-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Goodbye brunch

Great-Grandma Budge

Nana Cobia

Uncle Devin

Papa Cobia. Did we get everyone?

The Fun

2011-12-19T07:01:00.000-08:00

Ole's...new restaurant in Sugar City!! Good Philly Cheesesteak!

The boys, reading while waiting for Uncle Devin to perform

Uncle Devin is in the group, Collegiate Singers at BYU-I (their most elite, classical choir), it was neat to hear him sing!

Eating at Sammy's (home of the PIE shakes...put a piece of pie in your shake & mix 'er up!). I got a black-bean burger, sweet potato fries & pumpkin cheesecake shake--super yum, but pricey (thanks go to Dina on that one)!!

Grandma Dayton love

Eating my FAVORITE yogurt pops (homemade yogurt!!) with the ladies

2nd annual epic sleepover/wii party!!

should I keep it, Mom? Are you kidding?! How the heck did you do that?

Some of Devin's singing group, walking around the I-Center, caroling in different spots

And what trip would be complete without a visit to the frozen yogurt serve-it-yourself place. New one-Kiwi Loco

Those pink pretties are something I've never seen/tasted before...Boba (?) balls...they burst in your mouth with juice...super good & not too sweet!

Saying good-bye much too soon...

2011-12-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

After becoming fast pals, saying goodbye to cousins Beck & Parks was hard!

Sarin & Jared were there for a couple days & Spence & Meagan were there just one night...just not enough time!!

The funeral

2011-12-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

Remembering...

Her memories & years in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir were cherished, she had pictures in her front entryway so she could show them to newcomers & be reminded herself

I love this because Grammie is well-known for her sticky notes everywhere...this is her sticky note calendar of everyone's b-days, anniversaries, special occasions--she ALWAYS remembered them & usually presents were distributed well ahead of time. She gave

our Christmas presents from her for this year about a month ago so it will be so special to open them & think of her.

Her fridge o' love--the most recent pictures of all of her children & grandchildren.

After 20 years, Grammie & Grampie are together again!

She bought this & hung it in her entryway because she said she always loved swings & it reminded her of herself as a young girl. Notice the wings...our angel Grammie :)

Temple Square

2011-12-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Not sure how many years it's been since I've been to Temple Square but I really wanted to squeeze it in for the boys (that's what the entire week was like...squeeze squeeze squeeze!!). The lights are so magical & I forgot how much I love them!!

But first, a little nose-bite from Rhett to Aunty Sarin

We stopped in at the new Deseret Book right across from the temple & got to see the AMAZING 'gingerbread-making machine' complete with a free gingerbread cookie & hot chocolate.

My Grammie & Grampie started the tradition of meeting every year possible for conference so in combination with her singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 20 years, I saw a lot of this temple growing up. I never tire of its gorgeousness & now it means even more to me because it reminds me of her & her dedication to family.

Not great quality, but it's the boys watching the nativity scene on the lawn by the visitor's center. I loved watching that growing up. It's nice to know some things haven't changed.

The boys truly enjoyed walking around both visitor's centers that we went in, listening to the videos, looking at the displays, etc...it was like they were each in their own little world. I wish we would have had longer to enjoy all of the amazing things there.

This is the amazing 'new' (to me, anyway, I'm not sure how new it really is) model of the Salt Lake Temple, you can see how it's right across from the real thing. The detail was just breathtaking!!!

Bitter-Sweet

2011-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

This is my Grammie (dad's Mom). She is one of those people in my life I'll be talking about for the rest of my life, she was that influential. She passed away the day before Thanksgiving after a relatively quick bout with liver cancer. I'm so grateful it wasn't long & drawn-out & we were able to say good-bye to her, but it was still so hard for me. True to her incredible family-dedicated self, she set aside some money so the 'far-away' grandkids could come for her funeral. I debated a ton about who was going to go, but in the end left Ari in Tony's capable hands (& some angels from the ward) & jumped on a plane with all three lil' boys to head to Utah/Idaho for a week. HERE is the tribute I wrote to/about her awhile back. I love her so much!

Buh-bye Daddy-o.

No matter how many times the boys have seen planes (& they've seen plenty since they've flown at least twice a year since they were 2) they still love looking at the jumbo jets take off & land.

And this is the outfit he pooped through on the plane while we were taking off--"No, sorry, Maam', you'll have to wait until we're at 10,000 feet before we can excuse you..."

Hard to see because of the fog, but my aunt & uncle's house in Ogden is overlooking the whole valley & the boys enjoyed getting their wiggles out on the tramp with a 'new' cousin.

Uncle Jared definitely is one of the 'faves.'

Golden Corral...one of Grammie's favorite places to take all of us.

2011-11-15T11:46:00.001-08:00

Sure, the counter is the natural place to read...nice try dude! (but it does make for an awesome camera moment)

Saintly neighbor tilling the ground to prepare the garden ground for next year

This is the 'before' shot of our leaves...doesn't look so bad in the picture, but if you can see that nice-sized pile that was just from the little green area you see surrounding it, maybe you can get an idea. It took almost 6 hours of blowing & bagging. Omagoodness it was a LOT of work (I also underestimated how sore my arms would be from holding the blower that long ooooohhh...)

Tree break

Back to work--one of the many many many bags full to the brim with leaf-i-ness

Full crew (gratefully Tony joined in for the last hour or so--he was doing mega homework--I don't think we would have made it without him). At one point I was raking by myself for like, 20 minutes, wondering where the boys were, getting first frustrated & then worried... Tony came out & went looking for them. Eventually they emerged (literally) from one of the monster leaf piles. What?! I told them it would have been a lot funnier if they had only been 'gone' for 5 minutes.

This picture is two-fold--first, the slobber--sheesh! Secondly to show how this dude sits up all by himself (though we don't leave him since his tip-over factor is still at 95%)

Halloween season

2011-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

We start out October right with this guy's birthday. You wouldn't guess it by this fabulous picture, but he turned 35 this year! We're all in awe more & more each year of all the things he's capable of: making us laugh when we're all grumpy, sound effects/voices, stunts, all-around entertainment and of course...look at that hair, wow.

Still going strong on his 'no refined sugar' goal, we had this fresh peach pie & his fave berry ice-cream. The boys bought him the cartoon DVD "The Justice League," I got him a desired palm pilot ($10, thanks again Craigslist) since he's trying to organize things a bit more, as well as a few foodie-type surprises as he woke up & went throughout the day & of course we went on an official date to celebrate. Tony, seriously, you're the BEST!

We had such a fun Halloween season...we hosted a Buddy Party where each 'big kid' did all the party festivities with a 'little' kid & it was a blast (thanks Ginny for taking the amazing pictures)! Then we were invited to a friend's party, then the ward trunk-or-treat & Tony & I ended it out going to our friend's party (it was SO awesome!!). Can't wait for next year :)

Thanks Nana!

Thanks DI :)

My little bounty hunter & ninja, awwww....

Cuuummm get a treat from us, if you dare!

Kiddie pics

2011-11-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

While these are 'old news' pics I wanted to post them because he sure spent a lot of time on his side like this strengthening those "turn over" muscles...

"Mom, can I have a mohawk?" Sure! For the picture...:)

Ma, my tongue is green (a.k.a. spinach leaf). Pretty convincing pal!

Pretending sleep is so much more fun than the real thing for some reason...especially when you have your finger up your nose...

The Fall-ness of it All

2011-11-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Pretty good pics for shooting them through the glass going 65mph--I couldn't resist, it's so beautiful!

See, I hadn't thought so very much about Fall until it happened in our front yard. Now I have all sorts of 'leaf' questions as I gaze up into our emptying boughs..."After already filling 20+, 30gal bags, how is it possible that the trees still look so full?!" "Will ALL the leaves fall?" "Why doesn't Grabill have a leaf pick-up like everywhere else...no bags, just pile leaves by the street & the 'leaf-sucker-upper' does its job?" "At what bag # will raking wear off as the 'chore of choice' by the boys?" In conclusion, suddenly, a blower seems more a necessity than a want and really, nature makes the best messes ;)

Have I mentioned I love where we live?

2011-11-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

Family or what?!

2011-11-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

It started with this picture (pardon the explicit 'diaper showing')...I came across this one & it startled me...sure enough, I showed it to Tony & asked him who he thought it was & without hesitation he said, "Ari." No, dear, it's our cute little niece, Kelsey (Tony's oldest sister's youngest :) Since Ari was 'handed down' this dress I thought it would be fun to do a little side-by-side. And to add to the 'fun'-niness, this dress is the one Kelsey wore to our wedding reception...which is why I have pictures of her in it :)

And while we're on look-a-likes...

This is my brother Spencer's baby side-by-side with his baby picture (being held by other brother Devin). Seriously, the last few months, every time I saw her in a picture I've done a double-take because I see so much Spencer in her. Congrats Spence you no longer have to wonder what you'd look like as a dainty, feminine version of yourself (hee hee)--the next one's for you Meagan!

Our Conference

2011-11-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

Tony set up our computer screen on the piano bench so we could watch in comfort (there was no way we would have all fit in the computer/baby room, uh, uh, no way). Amidst the crazy kid-moments, we really enjoyed all of the amazing talks. So encouraging & a definite spiritual lift w/ some fun family time mixed in. The boys still say that conference is one of their favorite 'holidays' :)

For some reason Ari-kins consistently did not want to color on the printed side of conference coloring sheets...she preferred the totally clear side to express her inner creativity (at least she was coloring on paper rather than our walls, but that's a story for another day)

This is classic...Tony in the background being the shining example he is...oh, wait, he's trying to eat Jyson's ear...

And of course, what's conference without a few goodies...the top two were based loosely on something the boys had in Taiwan & loved. We froze Vanilla Almond Milk, then 'ice-creamed' it in the Vitamix & then had it two different days with different toppings: 1.) pureed mango & chocolate muddy buddies as toppers & 2.) our version of 'pina colada'--pineapple juice concentrate, whipping cream & banana blended up & topped with coconut & walnuts. Yummers
.

Friendly-type images

2011-11-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

My super-hero son Jyson doesn't know his own strength...and since this isn't the first time his 'powers' have been manifest in my culinary creations I figured it was time to stop sighing in frustration & snap one for posterity

Good thing he knows how to warm me back up...surprise Mom, a near life-size version of you on the driveway! I sure love that kid!

Our ward did a service project to commemorate the church's welfare program. Too bad (?) the River Greenway was too gorgeous to need us...oh, well, it was a lovely walk & the boys enjoyed attacking renegade branches now & then

Rhett enjoyed it as well :)

Enjoying dinner with friends.

This lady is from Korea & Tony & she really enjoyed reminiscing. She's amazing--she just returned from her mission in Salt Lake City & she is so friendly & kind!

Busy Ari, yes indeed...

2011-11-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ari's consistent ritual with poor little Rhett's feet...even while he slumbers

Yes, Mommy puts that stuff on her eyes too...thanks do go to Jaydon for trying to grab what he thought was a pen away from her

the only way to get her to stay still sometimes is to bury her with pillows...so the boys say

Hotwheels smoothie, mmmm...good thing she doesn't know how to turn the Vitamix on--that powerful thing would do it's best to pulverize the little guy, I'm sure.

The library had some markers (washable at least) at the lil' kids table. She sure enjoyed those. Luckily I had my camera in the diaper bag to catch the moment & save me from freaking out.

The toys & 5 minutes alone creates amazing results

This is her response to "come here Ari..." at the boys' soccer game

gotcha you cutie-pie-busy-bee...we love you but wow, it's exercise [in patience & the physical-type] keeping up with you!

2011-10-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

2011-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Paycheck

2011-10-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

My cousin wrote on her blog about getting the 'paychecks' Mom's get (thanks Jamie). I've thought about that ever since & here's one I was paid recently. The boys have been getting themselves ready for school 100% on their own (paycheck #1). As long as my OCD self stays in bed (I'm serious) they get on the bus [almost always] without a hitch. I put their spelling lists in this recipe holder so they can quiz each other over breakfast & one morning I came out to find this message in place of their words. Oh, how it made me smile all-the-live-long day :) even in my typing, see? :) :) I love my boys.

Good-bye Uncle Devin...do come again

2011-10-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Man, some girl is going to be so lucky to get this brother of mine...later skater!

Other activities with Uncle Devin

2011-10-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

Columbus, Ohio temple trip...we were all in the car before I realized we didn't get a picture in front & ALL the boys begged for me to just snap one of it all by its glorious self. I obliged.

Little dude sucking away on that thumb (he liked it for about a month, but doesn't seem to be pursuing the habit--can't say I'm sorry...he's content enough without ANYTHING so I am thrilled)

We brought everyone to the temple, reserved a couple rooms in the stake center that's about 100 feet from the temple & then switched off. This stake center is much-loved so we decided to leave it better than we found it & did some sorely needed cleaning of all the doors & such. Jyson was pretty sicked out--just look at that face :)

Grabill fair...but this is the only picture...one of the pet parade. The reason? Jyson & I were at home because he had a serious crick in his neck...the poor kid couldn't even move without loads of water leaking from his eyes. It was really sad.

This is him with the aforementioned neck--it was permanently stuck that way for almost 3 days.

Jaydon's experiment to see if our acorns would sprout. I am sad to say they did not, but it did lead them to another experiment...of their own volition they poured the nasty who-knows-how-old water into our new Brita to test it out. I am happy (?) to report (& they were ecstatic to see) that the water did indeed come out scintillating & clear. I, however, was still unsure how I felt about drinking that 'reformed' water.

Ari loves to back up her little booty into whoever's lap is available...usually without looking more than once behind her to make sure they're still there when she plops down.

Devin & Tony got to go on a tour of & get a free meal from Steak n' Shake courtesy of the boys' scout leader who is a manager there so here they are w/ their new church/scout pal.

Jumping in the rain...no one fall & break anything, please!

Our own 'Dairy Sweet' cafe...they have this slightly creepy dude dressed up in a different outfit almost every day. The first time I saw him I was sure he was was of those frozen-mime-dudes. And in the back-ground is a giant-sized sundae put in a boat & made from ?insulation stuff?

Making wheat-meat w/ Dev & Ari. They both got an education, but only Ari was in the picture.

August 26, 2011 she turned 2 :)

2011-10-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

We celebrated a week or so late, but she didn't seem to notice...

I tried a new recipe for her 'doggy cake'...black bean chocolate sweetened only with stevia (I LOVED it & everyone else enjoyed it too :) with healthier cream cheese frosting, our berry ice-cream and then of course we had presents. She totally got the 'ripping them open' this year & of course wanted to play with all of them as we went. A few of the goodies: fun velcro dress-up dollies, play food & stacking cups from Nana Cobia, an adorable dress from Grandma Laretta, cute kitty shirt from Aunt Sarah, Amazon gift card from Brett, stuffed monkey from Grandma Debby...she's one lucky gal & here's the pics to prove it (though I only got 2 of the presents):

Jaydon is holding an awesome carved turtle from Grandma Debby's travels to Peru...

Here's my attempts to get Ari to pose for a picture in the dress from Grandma Laretta

"Why would I want to look up at you...leaves are way more interesting..."

Spread 'em wide girly...takes after a certain aunt of hers...hee hee

"Running away is so funny, right, Mommy?"

"Buh-bye."

The aftermath

2011-10-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

After getting back most of us took a nap & this was Ari for a solid 5 minutes after she woke up...I'm glad Dev got a picture of this incredibly rare moment!

Before I found the bug spray I got bit over one HUNDRED times that first night...I'm glad I was the only one who got it this bad & neither of the babes got even one--blessings!

Then on Monday we got to work, being that it was 'Labor Day' & all...we cleaned out the garage! This is how it looked mid-morning after some work had been done already.

And this was the window...I could barely look at it long enough to snap the pic. The boys' bedroom windows were just as bad...dead, white ladybugs ALL over in them! So nasty.

Isn't she pretty now? One of my favorite things is to see our tools/96 hr kits hanging up all ship-shape-like on that brown-holey stuff that is often in garages...It's not a gorgeous brown, but the organization just makes me purr :)

Quickie, but a goodie: Camping over Labor Day weekend...

2011-10-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

A bunch of ward member-friends wanted to go camping together, so we went up Friday, came back Saturday, but managed to get a lot of good ol' fun in...

Ari took some convincing that this was 'fun,' to get in the brown water, but after I showed her the 'pour-the-water' routine she was hooked.

The men-folk + Ari got the big tent borrowed from a friend & lil' guy & I got our pup-tent (given to us by another friend!). He did incredibly well...I daresay we may have even gotten more sleep than the other tent. Poor Dev & Tony, they both declared that camping does NOT equal good sleep, to which I say, "did you really expect to get some?" I'm not the most sympathetic of souls, though I did feel slightly sorry for them big boys...

Lots of kids makes for great 'tag!'

The next morning...notice Jaydon's bloody nose, Jyson's fake 'grump mug' & Tony's 'morning look' tee hee.

And on the way home we were reminded of "Emperor's New Groove" when we passed the neighborhood "Alpaca Llama farm" out in the middle of NOWHERE.

Have you ever...

2011-10-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ever had a dream where you knew it was a dream?

I had a nightmare a couple of nights ago. We had to move again. I was forced to view an endless number of less-than-ideal, uh, 'homes' by some interesting real-estate guys. One place had bright blue carpet, another had dirt brown (apparently I have an issue with carpet, that's what I remember most). There was one apartment that was connected to another via a non-locking door. Oh, hello handle-bar mustachioed gentleman watching the tube in a recliner....where am I?? And then it hit me all at once & I thus proclaimed loudly to those dudes vying for my 'business'...."I have a house...THIS.IS.A.DREAM!" I wish I could say they all dissolved into mist & I woke up instantly. Instead, they looked at me like I was crazy & tried to convince me otherwise, but I was emphatic & held to it until my eyeballs finally popped open, relieved that my dream self was correct and my comfy bed in our lovely new place was the proof.

2011-10-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

-Is ALWAYS either smiling or laughing. He laughs at everything...when he gets his clothes changed, when we kiss him, when we talk to him...yeah, always!

-So close to rolling over it's like he's constantly looking over his shoulder :)

-Is a good little sleeper. In general he'll go down about 8 or 9 (usually) & then wake up around midnight to eat, then again between 4 & 6am & then is up for awhile at 9ish, then will stay awake for an hour or two, then go to sleep again (repeated throughout the day). He sleeps better in a bed now, but still, when he's tired, he'll fuss for less than 5 minutes & put himself to sleep 9 times out of 10! I marvel.

-Is so incredibly patient as Ari continues to love him, sit on him (it's amazing what she can accomplish in 5 seconds), poke his little eyes, etc.

-Is becoming a drool-a-maniac

-I don't know how much he weighs currently because we're solidifying a new doctor currently, but boy, he's a healthy one with adorable chub rolls on his thighs.

-If he's being held he'll be patient practically forever...even when he's hungry.

-He already has his eating down to about 10-15 minutes & will go 2 to 4(!) hours in between. I find I have to watch the clock because he doesn't always let me know when he's hungry!

-He loves his hang-down toys on his little gym & being in the car.

-He is just so lovable!

Wordy warning...

2011-10-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sarin (my sis) asked me to write about a time I received an answer, but it took time & patience--waiting upon the Lord--for her seminary class (she teaches 40(!!) 14 year-olds). Since I publish my blog entries into a book every year like this:

I decided I wanted this story as part of our history.

When we found out we were moving here to Indiana, as an OCD mother of 2, soon-to-be 3 I was very worried about finding a good house, in a good school district/, not too old/run-down, with a back-yard, but incredibly inexpensive since we didn't know what the new job based on commission was going to be like. I got a specific feeling when I started looking that things would work out & we would be taken care of. That helped immensely. Fast-forward a few months when I flew out there, nearly 8 months pregnant & I am now frantically looking for a house that might fit at least some of those criteria. Tony & I, the 2, 7 year-old boys, the cat & a lizard were living in a one-room hotel-type room with a 'landlady' who was putting pressure on us to find a place ASAP. I combed the newspapers daily, called a bazillion Craigslist ads & finally out of desperation started driving up & down random streets looking for 'for rent' signs. This was with the boys in tow in the non-air conditioned tiny truck in Indiana humidity of 1000%. Not my favorite memory. Finally we found one place I felt would be ok, but still I felt strongly that it wasn't necessarily the house that went along with that feeling I had back in Idaho. Sure enough, school concerns, serious money worries, mold problems, smell issues & lots of 'fix-ups' started emerging, making me feel disgruntled, frustrated & a perfect ulcer candidate. I was constantly, deeply stressed out and had permanent 'worry lines' on my forehead the harder things got. Didn't I get an answer that it would work out? What happened? Did I miss the boat somehow, not find the right place because I wasn't in tune with the Spirit? Was I just being silly, Tony seemed to be okay with it, why couldn't I just learn to be content? A year & a half later I was still wondering when wow, things really started firing up. Both cars exploded within a few days of each other (ok, not literally, but almost) & one was now only worth $200--for parts. Then our landlord told us he unexpectedly needed his house back in 60 days, right after Christmas. I was also pregnant again & in the sicko stage. And on & on...the list was pretty impressive actually (see THIS post for all the awesomeness). So now I'm frantically looking [again] for a house/apt & because of not wanting to change the boys' school & also needing it to be on the cheapo side we moved into government-subsidized housing. It was okay, but again, very cramped for the 6 of us, we had an issue with some serious cigarette smoke next door seeping through to our place, there was no washer-dryer (for a mommy of 4 this was a serious issue!), dishwasher, garage/storage, & to top it off I found out I couldn't teach my music lessons there which was a crucial part of our income--you get the idea. I started wondering anew about feeling things would work out, but I finally started coming around. Instead of moping & being depressed, I started thinking, alright, I obviously am supposed to learn from this. I must need to learn a thing or 10 about being happy no matter what my circumstances are. So, 6 months later of exercising my faith that it would work out eventually, we find we need to move again. By this time I pretty much despise Craigslist, but I'm determined to get a better school situation for our boys. Well, apparently I learned my lesson at least in part because whamo, one day, after all those months/years of searching we found a house. We found a rental house in an amazing school district, it's clean, in the perfect neighborhood/town, we have a backyard, we can have a cat & a garden, I have my washer...I tell you, after the other places it's a perfect dream come true! Craigslist & I are now friends once more. I felt content, peaceful & incredibly grateful. And then, while I was taking some stuff to the new place the Spirit spoke loudly to my mind, "This is the answer from so long ago. This was a test." I felt so overwhelmed. My whole life I've been taught that sometimes answers take awhile in coming, that they may not come in the way you expect them, etc. but I had never once applied it to this situation. I pondered about all I had learned/relearned in the last couple years of waiting. I had learned to expect less, to be patient & content, continue to serve amidst the struggling, ponder my scriptures more deeply & to word my prayers differently. I realized I would not have been nearly so grateful for our current house had we not gone through the others first because while this place does have a few things that are less than ideal it pales in the comparison. Some of you may think, "wow, all that over a house?!" but it just proves how much the Lord cares. He knows how important it is to me. He wanted me to deepen my faith & patience (have I mentioned I am NOT a patient person?). And now, in hindsight I can truly see what a fabulous growing experience it was. Too bad it took me 2 years before I learned enough for Him to be able to bless me :)

2011-10-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

That's for us--married for 3 years...the butterfly doesn't really apply for this occasion, but she's cute so I went with her.

Tony & I were talking & it seems like we just got married yesterday, and yet we've definitely lived these last three years so on the other hand it seems like it's been longer! The good news is that it's been some of the best years of my life. He is so wonderful, patient, goofy, adaptable, non-stress-o-maticus (perfect for me), kind, spiritual, funny and just AWESOME! How did I get so very blessed? Devin was here for it so he baby-sat while we went on a date (shopping at JoAnn's for my present--material to make pillows--, dinner at Arby's, talking, & Kung Fu Panda II at the cheap theater. We weren't very creative this year, but Tony has been wanting to see that one ever since it came out & we loved it). I LOVE MY HUSBAND...HERE'S TO FOREVER!!

My favorite

2011-09-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Before we ever new about the perfection that is Grabill, I knew about this store and it became my favorite the moment I walked in. Back up a bit. Within the first month of moving to Indiana I asked fellow ward members where I could buy bulk items (besides the church supply in Indy). Most said they didn't know, then one directed me to Shipshewana, home of all Amish goodness. However, it's like, an hour & 1/2 away, which is where one of the big families went...they faithfully drove their truck to pick up the items that were cheapest there to last for 6 months...and then drove to Indy/Church Supply to pick up the items that were cheapest there (they have 7 children). We made the trip twice to Shipshe & then this glorious establishment opened up just 10 minutes from Woodburn--mini Shipshewana!! So, when I found out the rental house we're in was available my first thought was about being within walking distance to this beloved store :)

This is where the Amish park...as a side note, the Wal-mart & several other stores closest to Grabill all have these sheds w/ hitching posts for the horses. It's awesome.

This is my favorite aisle...well, it's all my favorite. I love that I can order anything they have in the store at a bulk price and wow, their selection is amazing. From nuts, to spices, rice, flour, powdered milk...they have it all & most of it is cheaper than anywhere else (the brown rice is even cheaper than the church's price!)

This is the boys' favorite aisle. For obvious reasons. Red 40 and Blue Lake screaming their names, I tell you what.

And this is my most recent favorite discovery...Pear jam first of all, but with no added sugars! It's hard for me to be motivated to make my own when I can buy this deliciousness.

So, after working in the yard (see post below) we headed over to this store's 1 year anniversary par-tay. They had taste tests galore (homemade, organic PB & chocolate PB, cheeses, honey, fruit dips, etc.), a few games set up, buggy rides o' course and...buggy races, minus the horses. Between the Amish gentleman running the 'event' & me, we convinced Devin this would be a worthwhile endeavor (hee hee)--the boys really wanted to do it. You had to have four people and then you were supposed to switch the one who pulls the buggy, but because I was in flip-flops Devin said he would run down & back. The Amish director said we could do that as long as someone switched places, so the boys did. One pushed on the way down & the other pushed on the way back (I was the 'sitter'). Up to that point the fastest time was around 50 seconds (mostly Amish groups, I might add). Devin earned the title of 'a horse' (as a compliment of course)--they announced the time "38 seconds" with a surprised voice & plenty of looks all around. One lady even said, "Well, you must have done that before." Riiigghht...lots of buggies where we come from :) I think the Amish took it as a challenge so we were beat out by 2 other Amish-only groups after us, but only by 3 seconds! And Devin was told he should come to a complete stop before the 2nd stretch, whereas the others didn't stop at all so I'm thinking they [I did nothing but 'helpfully' urge them on 'faster, faster!'] would have had that $100 in the bag if he hadn't. The boys both pushed with all they had, too, they were great. Anyway, it was so amazing...the Amish guy kept saying, "Wow, you guys really surprised me, you surprised me the most." Yes, Devin, you are definitely 8-cow husband material. Put it on the resume.

Then, at the end of the yard work, Amish store day we headed to a Tincaps game where we had free tickets (Tony's work) in a Suite. One of his co-workers bought an endless bowl of popcorn & told the boys if they could finish it before she came back he'd give them $5--which they did, so he did :) I don't know who won, but we sure had a good time!

Devy-poo

2011-09-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

My youngest brother, Devin came to visit for a couple weeks before heading back to college. We are so lucky! I didn't think we'd have anybody come visit us once we moved to Indiana. Boy, was I wrong...my family is really close & I've been so grateful because they've all been to visit us here [except my Dad, cough cough]. So, starting it off right, here's his breakfast/mixing bowl of oatmeal he had every morning. I made bread every few days while he was here compared to my normal every week & a half...he eats at least 3 sandwiches every day. And that's because it's dense, homemade bread. On his mission sometimes he'd eat five. The Cobia men are legends. I pity their wives. And bank accounts.

We put him right to work...there's been a lot to do (& still a lot left) & since we're running out of 'working' season we worked plenty while he was here and he was a great sport about it. He ran the boys to soccer, scouts, let me run to the store, appointments, etc and I had an adult to talk to during the day. Wow, it was a dream come true :) Come any time Dev.

cleaning out nasty gutters (thanks to the landlord who let us borrow their ladder & hedger)

boys hard at work. They're in "stick heaven" here because we have quite a few trees on the property. Every time they have to go pick up sticks so I can mow, very few make it in the garbage...

Ari worked hard too...eating dirt apparently.

A 'before' shot of our cute little house, though it doesn't show the worst part...the gravel area in front. They're common here so cars can park in front of houses without taking up road space, kind of nice actually--unless they're weed-infested like ours.

This is how it looks for now...the sign by the door is a 'unique' display of a stone piece with the house number on it mounted on a normal piece of wood which is covering the hole where the AC wall unit used to be. Interesting...if I had my way I would paint it black at least & then paint the shutters to match. We'll see about that in the spring, I have enough projects for now.

Brotherly Love whilst asleep

2011-09-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ari was keeping them awake & they like sleeping in our bed so I let them on this occasion...apparently they turned at the same time & since NOTHING wakes them once asleep, I got this beauty.

2011-09-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

-Her newest word is "hap-py." We all make her say it 50 times a day it's that cute. Still not talking a ton, but she's saying more two word sentences. The other day she was in the bath & when I turned the water off she said, "mo peasss." Couldn't resist that one.

-Most frequent words are "no!" "bu" [book], "Bee" [binky--she's so addicted it's not even funny] and of course "Mommy" & "Daddy." She needs a new "bu" about every 30 seconds while traveling in the car & is particular about which ones.

-We finally broke down & bought a high chair a couple days ago from a garage sale for 10 bucks. At long last we have a tray she can't kick off! She still will only eat a few bites before throwing everything on the floor, but she loves using her spoon so we're hoping that will be motivation to keep food ON the tray

-Once upon a time when Ari was crying the boys wanted to cheer her up so they let her hit their faces & then they fell over, much to her delight--she laughed hysterically. They still do that, much to my chagrin cuz you can see how it's now hard to explain to her that hitting the baby is just not ok. Also, when she meets new people she hits her nose which has frozen many a smile on these friend's faces...uh, what is she doing? Oh, it's ok, it's her meeting ritual...along with showing her tummy.

-She is not shy AT ALL. At the stake activity I literally followed her around while she made friends. 'Hello, cute little girl with zero personal space...you're like 2 inches from my face!' At story time she goes up to all the other mommy's & plops right down in their laps. Cutely awkward, that's my Ari. She waves to everyone & still whispers "hi."

-She backs up to sit in your lap...from across the room, sometimes without even looking backward! That, is faith.

-She definitely has improved her eating habits, but still about halfway through she just spits out her bites, but then will ask for more.

-She still loves her "bee-bee" [baby Rhett]. Still working on his safety in her presence...the other day I found her straddled over him yelling, "hi, hi!!" excitedly in his face.

-She's not a destructive toddler (like a couple other of my children I could mention), but she demands 100% of your attention & is very busy. It's hard to get anything done because she won't play by herself for more than 5 minutes--even after I have spent quality time with her. I'm hoping when Rhett can 'play' with her it might help with that.

-She is a darling "Mommy's helper." She loves to use rags, brooms, anything except the vacuum...she's still scared of it. She's a copy-cat of almost anything we do...me putting on make-up, the boys growling at her, Daddy dancing around (which she LOVES to do & is still a Daddy's girl)

-She also loves to sing...well, she does all the actions, we sing for her, but she is starting to copy us doing that too :)

-She loves animals & isn't even scared of big dogs unless they're very excited & knock her over :)

-She can say her name & it is so darling!

-She will finally at least sit on the little potty...it's been a very gradual thing for her...first she would cry if I asked if she wanted to sit, then she would sit on the lid, then on the corner of the potty, now finally she'll sit on the potty...now to the real work...

-She's still scared of the vacuum, but she'll just go climb on a chair instead of bursting into tears. That's improvement :)

Metamorphosis from mailman to Santa Claus

2011-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Remember THIS post? I sure do. Seems like only yesterday I was wishing for one of those beauties...cause it pretty much was. Then I went to the magical post office & the kitchen fairy paid me a BIG time visit! First...one of these:

Do you hear the heavenly choirs singing? Devin (little bro) really wondered when I immediately pulled it out of the box & started snapping pics...a photo shoot for a kitchen gadget? Nothing but the best for my babies. Seriously though. It's been nearly two years I've been lugging wheat to the church at least once every month so some incredibly kind women could either grind it for me or so I could grind it there at the church. I feel SO grateful to now be able to grind wheat myself--it promptly earned a permanent home in the garage, constantly plugged in & ready to go at a moments notice :) Delayed gratification, I tell you what. So, naturally I said thank you to those fine women with some bread and homemade butter whipped up (literally) in five minutes with kitchen fairy gift #2:

THE Vitamix. Pictured here are the ingredients not for the butter, but THESE awesome babies. Fudge Babies to be precise. Delicioso.

Wondering if we went A.W.O.L. & won the lottery? Well...you know how seeming curses can sometimes be big blessings in disguise? At our last place I couldn't accept money for my music students because it was considered a 'business'. It seemed rather tragic at the time (dramatics come quite easily to me). Well, I found out I could give lessons in trade for something else. 6 months-ish later, enter: these two culinary dreams...two things I've been longing for, but would not have been able to buy any time even remotely soon. So go count those curses, they might be your blessings after all! ;)

2011-09-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

A week past his 3 month mark I'm posting his 2 month (though the pics are true-to-age :)...at least I'm posting, right? 3 month is soon to follow...

--This kid is easily pleased. Food. Diaper. An occasional face to smile at. Sleep. Just what we needed in all the moving hubbub. I fed him, he'd fall asleep in his swing, then would wake up a few hours later to eat & repeat...the whole day we moved!!

--The night Tony & I painted all day (14 hrs of it anyway) this dude slept his first 8 hour night! Didn't last, but that was an amazing tender mercy.

--He's still my sleepy little newborn & we all love to snuggle him

--He smiles constantly. I wish I knew what was going on inside his little brain, but his smiles are just gold (& yes, the dimple is still there!)

--He has the beginnings of a laugh...so darling!

--Ari is already so much better with him. She still loves him to pieces, but has gradually let me go an entire feeding without having to hold him :) and is learning to be a little gentler.

I'm an addict with no desire to rehabilitate.

2011-09-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

aged wood perhaps? a little dirt, not too bad, right? enter generous neighbor's power washer turbo X ! (they were tired of looking at what could be...)

I feel so flattered my name is the clean wood...are you seeing the color difference? what the?! I can't believe I let Ari scootch off this deck (yeah, her bum was black. so nasty)

Our 'new' deck! Thanks go to brother Devy-Poo who is here for a visit & the Tone-meister. I want to power wash EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!! Just don't show me the water bill.

And this is the aforementioned neighbor's pool...we scored big time in the 'neighbor' department...next door they have brought us tomatoes several times, told us we could swim any time, let us use their b-ball hoop, are going to grade our weed-invested gravel driveway spots, etc...who are these people to have so many kind bones in their bodies??

2011-09-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

BMX track for pack meeting. Totally wicked. Tony even tried it in his dress shirt & slacks :) & the guys working there said he was a 'natural' (hint: it's harder than it looks!)

Cubmaster Jenna was so grateful to those who let us do this for our fantastic family picnic. What a blast!

School Year, grade 4

2011-08-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Jaydon's teacher, who has a special services dog, Didi who comes to school most days, drinks from the drinking fountain (?) & is even in the class picture!

And here's Jyson's nice teacher after the bonding took place...oh, wait...she isn't, we met the wrong teacher, but at least now we have a nice picture of a lovely lady!

Here's the 'real' one & she seems like a great teacher.

I've been really impressed already with the new school situation thus far. The teachers seem fabulous & the bus driver CALLED me on the 2nd day of school to verify a few things & ask about the boys (I wrote him a note because of some rather serious bullying we had happen last year on the 10 min bus ride home--I take them to school). 3 cheers for the new school!

For the love of Murphy...

2011-08-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our amazingly generous friends (yes Ginny, that's you guys alright) who watched Ari overnight from moving day to the next morning they THEN saved us from a long trip to Indy because he was going already there & was able to pick the boys up from the airport for us!!! After an intense packing/moving week I was so very grateful I didn't have to pack up the kiddos & drive, go wait & drive back from Indy (2 1/2 hrs each way). We are all so happy to have the boys home. Ari woke the boys up the next morning with her laughing & 'hi's.' She was SO excited to see them & vice versa. One unnamed son was combing her lovely locks to get her ready for church the next morning while she was in my lap & in the one minute I looked away he 'curled' her hair around the comb & that is where it stayed. Very stuck. Ironically (& gratefully), I had just read about Heather's daughter's exact same incident & her husband was the one who decided he'd laboriously untangle it (seriously, I would have had no hope without this story...it looked impossible!). So, Tony decided he'd take the challenge on thanks to Jimmy's example! I held her head, the boys distracted her in various entertaining ways, Tony cancelled his elder's quorum meeting (imagine getting that message on your machine...uh, sorry, can't make it...crisis with a comb...) & after much patience we all cheered as her hair all stayed on her head & we paid tribute to the comb who gave its life for that cause (we cut it to bitlets, one piece at a time). Nothing like a little drama to welcome the boys home & unify the fam once again!

Under construction

2011-08-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

I was able to take load after millionth load the 15 minutes from home A to home B in the van (the boys weren't there so I took out the back two seats & fit TONS more that way). So, when the 'movers' arrived (my friend's husband & then a few precious souls from the ward who haven't helped in one of the TWO previous moves in the 2 years we've been here in Indiana) they only had the stuff from the storage unit & the furniture. It still took awhile since we had to then go to the new place to unload it, but luckily U-haul made a mistake & I firmly (but kindly) insisted they follow through with the $50 guarantee they have on their wall & in addition we got a big enough truck to take it all in one load. So...I have a bunch of 'before' pictures that are waiting for the 'after' to come. Stay tuned for the finished products of all the de-gumming, cleaning, weeding, hedging, round-upping, painting, organizing, puttying, de-rustifying (that'll be a good one), decorating, refinishing & MORE of all we are doing here at this little neglected, but wonderfully wonderful house. We feel so blessed!

While we spent the day (roughly 14 hours of it anyway) painting the week before the move-in date, we had our lovely ward friend come play with Ari in exchange for a few dollars, frozen pizza for dinner & a waffle cone from our 'new' ice-cream joint in town. They spent some time in our latest garage sale acquisition (The inflatable Jolly Roger complete with sword, shield & hook...the boys hadn't even seen it yet, they were due to arrive the next weekend).

Smiley Rhett

2011-08-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Our sleeping motor mouth...

2011-08-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

My 'Foodie' Post :)

2011-08-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Recently food has been a battle far too frequently for this family. In particular, breakfast for the boys, lunch for Ari & desserts for the parentals. So, I set about to whip up some new awesomeness.

Buckwheat groats. You can sprout them to get the full nutritional content, & it is one that soaks water up the fastest (only 20-60 min & then after that they won't sprout). So, I soaked them (far too long however), then dehydrated them on a couple of cookies sheets outside for several hours! I was worried because of the incredibly high humidity (80% or higher most days) here, but they dried just great. I went out to stir them every couple of hours & brought them in when they were all crunchy sounding. The next morning I put bananas with them & almond milk & it was yum (not sweet at all, so definitely a sweeter fruit to mix in is a good idea)! I think it would be a fabulous food for little gums because it's really soft. The hubby liked it, now to try it out on the boys next week when they get home (I'm in the process of coming up with more variety on the menu so hopefully we have a little less dragging of the spoons around the breakfast bowls...)

Don't these look great (I'm no photographer, but the food speaks for itself!)? Now for the shocker--none of them have sugar (only agave)! Tony is on the no-sugar-for-a-year & I committed to doing it for a month (& then I'm going to try limiting my sugar to once a week *sigh*). Well, I just can't live without my yummies (I know, agave isn't totally perfect, but so much better than the alternatives). So...I went to one of my new favorite websites "Chocolate Covered Katie" (link under 'favorites' on my sidebar) & made her Chocolate Raspberry-Fudge Cake (it tastes like the DeBrand's Dark Chocolate Raspberry chocolate--the high class, highly amazing chocolatier here :) & also the chocolate banana version, both found HERE (btw, most of her recipes are for ONE decent serving, so adjust as needed). I used coconut oil instead of coconut butter (*note, it's very important to melt the coconut oil completely before adding the other ingredients or it will have a grainy consistency, not so appealing--to do that just put the oil in a glass container then fill a bigger container with hot water & put the smaller one into it. It melts faster if you refill the hot water once it cools down a bit).

Since those were both 110% successful & sooo delicious I decided to try her 'Cheesecake Mousse." The result? Weelll, let's just say I don't agree that tofu & vegan cream cheese create a decent version of the real deal. The next try I opted to go with organic cream cheese (big bonus--no hydrogenation in the one I bought), & heavy whipping cream sweetened with agave (whip & sweeten the cream before mixing in the cream cheese), topped with berries. I'll be honest, it's not 100% the exact same taste as 'regular' cheesecake using agave, but actually my taste buds now prefer the stuff over white death (a.k.a. granulated sugar :) It has such a light, refreshing taste that lets me notice & enjoy all the other flavors & textures more. I'm going to make some dark chocolate agave syrup tonight to drizzle over round 2 of this treat, wanna join us?

Amish beauty

2011-07-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

There are so many times as I'm driving through "Amish land" I wish I had my camera. Well, I finally did on this day so I snapped a few pictures.

For the vast majority of what I've seen them do in their fields & around their homes (they have the most immaculate yards you've ever seen, I still plan to take a couple pictures of my favorite homes) they do not use modern equipment. Hence the old-time looking hay in rather artistic-looking piles.

This is one of their cemeteries. True to their mode of pure simplicity all the headstones look the same.

This was incredible. This guy was driving a team of EIGHT ginormous horses to till this field, standing up mind you. It's so far away because I didn't want him to see me taking his picture (they aren't allowed to have pictures of any people in their homes in any form...to my knowledge they believe it is like a graven image).

Well, as a further announcement, we are actually moving to "Amish Land" a.ka. the town of Grabill. It's closer to church (15 min instead of 25), Tony's work (20 instead of 35), the library (1 block instead of .5 miles :) , my FAVORITE store "Grabill Country Sales" home of the bulk products where I save oodles of money & discover some new awesomeness every visit (last time it was the 100% all-natural jam sweetened ONLY with juice & in tons of variety--can't wait to try the 'pear' flavor I got), the boys soccer team, etc...

One of the main reasons we wanted to move (aside from me being done with the 'no-laundry- facilities-in-our-apt' experience) was the school situation. Two elementary schools are combining & closing & so now all the 4th-12th graders will be in the same school--the high school. I'm just not a fan of that idea, even though it's supposed to be separated, etc. That on top of the fact that I found out I'm not supposed to teach music lessons here--not even for trade--& we decided it was time. This house has tons of work to be done (pictures will be following :), but it has some great potential (sneak preview: hardwood floors & a metal pole-barn especially suited for roller-skating people!) so we're really excited & I feel like we were led to this house & it's a huge blessing. In another 2 weeks we will have moved for the FOURTH time in THREE years. Let's hope we get to stay in this one longer than a year. That's the goal, but no promises.

Purely Rhett

2011-07-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

Unintentionally I posted these pictures from oldest to youngest :) It's amazing to me see how much he's grown in such a short time (7wks tomorrow), & because of that, I decided I needed some more pictures posted on here of him!

Ari n' the Splash Pad

2011-07-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the splash pad after the ward picnic...she loved & laughed when the water got the other kids...but cried the first time it got her :)

Daily Walk

2011-07-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

Taking a walk is no longer the lovely, romantic pastime of yesteryear. Kids bring a whole new dimension [and timetable] to this seemingly simple activity.--Wake up. Smell work out clothes...good, not 'too' odiferous, don't have to hunt for new ones. Get Ari dressed, "No Ari, don't run off with your poopy diaper...and stay away from the toilet paper roll, I mean it!" Feed Ari [sing at LEAST 10 songs to keep her from spitting out/throwing food, but the second I slack off...arrrggg...blueberry oatmeal mush on my pants, "Great, new work out clothes here I come..."], while feeding myself WHILE nursing Rhett. Take that "America's Got Talent!" Hose her off then let her down so I can wipe up under her booster, only to realize too late that the gate to the kitchen is open, so she breakfasts a second time--on crackers & tidbits off the floor. And then she STILL has time to rummage through the garbage can before I turn around. Administer hand sanitizer to hands & silently wish I could do the same to her mouth. Next, shoes for two then hunt for the socks Ari has taken off Rhett's feet--again. Undress baby down to diaper so his sweating is kept to a minimum. Change Rhett's diaper, let Ari throw it away under careful supervision (she cherishes this job). Round 2 for hand sanitizer. Time for Rhett to go in the Moby Baby Wrap while Ari is screaming, "ba-bye?! ba-BYE!!" increasing in decibels with each request/demand. Mom water bottle: check. Ari water: check. Keys: Check. Buckle the screaming child in so we can go bond in the 90 degree weather, with 100% humidity (why do kids this age not realize that hot/humidity decreases the 'fun' factor when experiencing the great outdoors?). Check on the other child against my chest. Ahh, snoozing peacefully....reminisce back to when Ari was like that & wonder at the fact that with the delightful chaos surrounding me I am still minus two children...bittersweet at this moment. Mom is sweating like a pig already. Who needs to leave the house to get a work out?

1 Month

2011-07-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

This little dude is groooo...wing! Yesterday he weighed in at 11lbs, 4oz (birth weight: 7lbs, 4oz). That's what we call healthy!

-From day one he's been so alert. At his one week appt. he followed the doctor with his eyes. He also likes to stay awake for an hour to THREE hours at a time...are we in for it? Tony #2 here we come [I'm working on that & he's doing better--I don't want an overtired newborn just cuz he thinks everything around him is way more exciting than sleep]

-That said, his first week home was heaven...he slept 2, 4-hr blocks several nights in a row! Too bad that didn't last, but at least he sleeps at night in between his 2-3 hr feedings.

-He lifts his head way too proficiently for one this young (from about week 2).

-He does not love his baths.

-This is kid is the noisiest eater ever--but usually only at night. I don't get it, but it sounds like he's drowning!

-Ari is 110% obsessed with holding him & being another 'Mommy' (just like me when I was young in addition to her looking like my baby pics--is it weird that Tony & I produce mini versions of ourselves?). She has to hold him before, in between & after I nurse him & she even lifts up her shirt to show she means serious business. She slobber kisses him ALL the time, leaving lovely carrot or cracker chunks in his hair. Yum.

-Jyson says he's cuter than Ari was at this age :) & one time when he was holding him he sighed and said, "I wish this moment could last forever."

-And, he's been doing this since he was a week [call it gas, call it more evidence he's a Tony in- the-making, but I'll take it whichever it is!]. He's darling & we love him so much!

Dayton Firecrackers

2011-07-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

Really, the most festive thing about our 4th was these outfits so I had to take a picture (Rhett's outfit was one the boys wore :) Tony has mega-homework these days (he's taking 2 classes in 6 weeks) so he did that while I mothered, then we went into town where Tony was a REAL sport & let me run in to 2 discount stores to get a couple T-shirts (half off for the 4th you know!), then we rented a movie, ate watermelon & did see a few fireworks in the parking lot (even some biggies across the field) as we went on a romantic walk to go get the laundry. Maybe next year we'll do a little more since Ari would probably love fireworks & Rhett won't be in 'newborn-phase.'

I did learn a little trivia that blew me away since I totally taught it wrong (via the S.S. curriculum books I was given) to my 5th graders. John Hancock allegedly wrote his name so large on the Declaration of Independence so King George would be able to see it without his spectacles. Not so. In reality, he was just the first one to sign it so he didn't know everyone else was going to end up writing their names so small. Also, the names were written at different times from August to November...none in the month of July, let alone on the 4th! Ah, well...

Happy birthday America (6 days late)!

The last bitlets of fun...

2011-07-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

The first day Nana brought out 'the beast.' They started this puzzle & worked on it for the whole 2 1/2 wks she was here & finished it (they had 15 min of daily 'puzzle time')! Not only did it have 550 pieces, the pieces were crazy shapes. I was in awe of their patience & persistence (puzzles are not my thing). My grandma & uncle (the one that passed away recently) both love puzzles so it was a great bonding/story opportunity for my Mom. 3 cheers for the puzzle-teers!

Sleeping on the landing one last time (they would rather sleep there than their beds)

Saying goodbye to their tadpoles...zoom in & look closely at the bottom left dark blob & you can see it has legs!

Last FHE (Nana got to see the 'role-plays' in action). We love you boys, have fun & be SAFE in Hong Kong!!!!!

Look familiar?

2011-07-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Love it in all its truth. Dialogue of pictures from L to R: "Ok, everyone do a funny face...grass up close, ooohh...ok, Ari walk break...Tony this will over faster if you don't complain...awesome capture of Ari doing Book of Mormon stories to keep her sitting long enough for the picture...yeah for happy children...Ari break, jump on Dad...can't we do one like this?...that's it, I'm OUT of here..." Until next year family...

2011-07-10T11:46:00.001-07:00

Some pictures of luv...pretzel art by Jyson :)

2011-07-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Since my Mom & the boys were leaving that week we decided we would brave the crowd at church and have Rhett's blessing (2 weeks after he was born) & then I would just leave after sacrament meeting. It was a beautiful blessing. Others in the circle were: Brandon Stump, Matt Suddarth, & Bishop Jensen. He's wearing the same outfit Jaydon wore at his blessing, made by Nana Cobia (blanket is the same one Ari used, made by fabulous roommate from college--round 2 of thanks Camian!)

Sloppy Monsters

2011-07-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sloppy Joe Monster's...request as their 'special dinner' before taking off to Hong Kong for the summer with their Dad (he has an internship there)--what an experience, huh?! Oh, & we did go to O'Charley's per Nana's special treat.

2011-07-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

The boys both got a card to get in free w/ 4 people to this science museum so we went once before Rhett was born & then Nana graciously took the boys & their friend, Gavin.

DeKalb Day o' Fun

2011-06-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

The hospital I had Rhett at sponsored a day of 'health' activities so the boys, Ari & Nana went & loaded up on free stuff...hot dogs (emphasis on the healthy here!), string cheese, drink, a toothbrush, toothpaste, stickers, little toys, a free bike helmet for each!! and...because they went to every station & got their paper-thing signed both Jaydon & Ari were won a $50 certificate for a BICYCLE from Wal-mart! Jyson felt pretty sad until I told him I didn't think Ari needed a bike as badly as he does...I call this one a tithing blessing because they both really were in need of new bikes! Hooray for DeKalb Memorial!

2011-06-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Cubscout Twilight Camp

2011-06-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

2011-06-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Celebrations of all sorts

2011-06-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Just can't get enough of this morning hair

As with all joyful events, we celebrate with food! Father's Day request: Jambalaya (a.k.a. meat & more meat--we don't get a lot of that around here :), banana bread & his 'dessert' frozen mangos! He's still going strong with his "no sugar for a year" goal! We love this guy, he's happy & crazy & helpful and oh-so-funny! He keeps this family on the upside, we'd be lost without him!

Another celebration was Nana's b-day. Her meal request was the "French Dinner" we had growing up...[of course] French bread, crackers, different kinds of cheeses, fruits, yogurt. Yum. Also added in was chicken salad, green salad, her favorite limeade & for dessert she got her own Baskin & Robbins "Turtle Pie." Because of the boys' cubscout camp "Family Night" & the babe's arrival we stretched her b-day festivities out for 3 days...she was a good sport about it & we sure love her fun personality, selflessness & the time she's willing to spend with us!

Going Home!

2011-06-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

After his first bath we were all ready to go home!

Tony doesn't sleep well at the hospital... :)

Our Little Rhett

2011-06-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by several, including Tony, "Why in the world do you want to give birth naturally?!" Because of those questions I started to dig deep to figure out exactly why this was so important to me. Since I came pretty close to doing it naturally last time (not really on purpose) I knew the pain is incredibly intense, but I was sooo close. There are lots fewer "what ifs" health-risk-wise doing it naturally of course, & that was a big motivation--for my baby to come into this world as safely as possible. And then the midwife said my recovery would likely be so much quicker without one, so there was that. But it was more. It went deeper. I wanted to fully experience child-birth in all of its raw beauty (and yes, pain). Our bodies are made to do this incredible feat, and thanks to modern technology it's so much safer than say, back in pioneer-women times when there was no choice. Am I crazy? I asked myself that question a lot. I vascillated back and forth. I knew that either way I wanted to be committed because otherwise I knew I'd 'give in' when the pain hit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally against pain meds, I had 2 great epidurals with the boys & Ari, but both times I came away feeling like I personally had been cheated. Like I missed out on something incredible. This time around it became a lot more spiritual in nature as well. I like to be in control, and I DON'T like pain, so putting this totally in His hands became my way of coming closer to Him & personally sacrificing my will to His. This may not make sense to some & having been on the other side, I get it. But I also became more committed and determined with each day, feeling like, with His help, I could do it. And...with the help of Him, Tony, the midwife & a short labor, we did!

We got to the hospital about 8:00pm & I was dilated to 6 (I guess all that yuckiness/contractions was/were doing something after all)! Since that was where my will started to crumble with both other labors I was encouraged. They had to start my antibiotics right away because I was Strep B positive (again), but it was happening so fast, I just wasn't sure we had the needed 4 hours for it to get into my system so I was a bit worried about that. The pain was definitely getting intense, but with my concentrated breathing, the birthing ball & Tony pressing on my pain points in my back it was doable. We had talked & prepared quite a bit together & I knew if this was going to work, I needed his full support. I had it, and he. was. amazing. Patient, didn't freak out about anything & was immediately responsive & willing to do anything I needed. I moved to the shower, on the ball & that was my sweet spot. First off, I had music going & it helped much more than I thought it would. I chose some piano pieces off iTunes & added some of my favorite Mindy Gledhill songs (highly recommend). She has such a soothing voice & I felt like they might be just what I needed. They were. In fact, in between the contractions I was humming & singing her songs to keep me calm & focused. Also, the lights were down low & I used lots of vocalization (something I previously did NOT think was 'me' or something I would use, but it helped immensely). Then the midwife showed up & she provided the other crucial element--someone who had been through this before, knew what signs to look for & could see that light at the end of the tunnel & propel me toward it. Tony provided the perfect, unflagging emotional & physical support I needed. There were a few times I just didn't know if I could keep doing it & I made the mistake of thinking about the utter relief I felt after getting the epidurals the other times, but then something changed. I feel like God intervened for me & changed my frame of mind. Suddenly I no longer thought about whether or not I could do it, I just focused on doing it, one contraction at a time. That made all the difference. The midwife stepped out to get me some juice & as soon as she left, I knew something was happening. I didn't get that 'overwhelming urge' to push per se, but maybe that's just because I've never felt that particular sensation before. Either way, it was incredible & exciting & scary. My baby was so close & telling myself that (out loud even) helped me keep my mind where it needed to be. I moved to the birthing stool & entered a whole new realm of pain. However, this time it was welcome pain. More progressive, the-end-is-in-sight pain. For some reason the pushing took longer than I thought (maybe just because this time I could feel all that was going on!), but really it only lasted about 30 minutes. When they told me the baby's head was crowning it did feel pretty "fiery," but I had blissful rest from the contractions. In fact, at one point I just wanted to do nothing because it felt so much better than when the contractions were so intense. Eventually some major pain kicked in again & 'convinced' me to keep on pushing. They had me reach down & feel his head (another thing I didn't think I would do!) & when I felt it the 2nd time & could feel how much more head had come out, wow, that was just what I needed. As I really bore down I surprised myself one more time & yelled (?) vocalized (?) through the last pushes. I didn't feel out of control, but the noise just naturally came out & I wasn't fighting it. One more push & then I heard his beautiful cry. At 10:33pm on June 13th, an hour & a half from his 'due' date (2 1/2 hrs from when we got to the hospital) little Rhett was finally here! I simply cannot describe the joy, relief, and total thrill of that moment. Knowing I had done it, and that Tony was there with me. Immediately I was handed mr. miracle himself & kept whispering, "oh, baby, little baby, you're here!" A true, personal miracle that I was blessed to be part of.

Tony is holding my "stay focused" cards that have scriptures & quotes I hoped would help me remember why I wanted to go for a natural birth & give me strength. I read them a lot leading up to the birth, but then just thought about a few of my favorites in the middle of the intensity--it really helped me focus!

Here he is, Rhett Moroni Dayton (Rhett for Tony's brother, Brett & Moroni of course is a BOM name, but also a family name on the Dayton side!), in all his slumbering glory at 7 lbs, 4 oz...my miracle in the flesh! Look closely & you can see his little freckle/birth mark on his forehead...a first for our family. There is also a hint of a dimple by his mouth, that would be fun too!

Our incredible midwife whom we love and adore & are hoping to adopt someday :)
The whole crew the next day (The boys love hospitals...rare t.v. watching, being treated by Nana at the hospital cafeteria & of course, cute new siblings...what could be better?)!

Ari loved the discovery that his bed was on wheels...I actually wish we could take this bed home with us, she can't reach into it unless she's standing on something, that would be handy to have with this munchkin around.

The three brotherly musketeers.

Our Nana. Another true hero in human/mother form. She has done SO much while she's been here & we are so very very grateful!

"Honey, I think maybe you should come home early...maybe?"

2011-06-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I sent my Mom & boys off to their cubscout Twilight Camp, ate/fed Ari cereal for dinner (NOTHING else sounded good!) & started realizing fully that my contractions were getting more intense (I had been having contractions all through the night & day but they were very irregular, not too intense & was also nauseous & feeling yucky). I wasn't thrilled thinking that I hadn't had a good night's rest & also, I was all alone! My Mom tried to tell me she didn't want to leave me, but I had insisted. So, at that point I called Tony even though I still wasn't totally sure it was the 'real' thing but he left immediately anyway. Then I called my Mom & she left to come home as well.

Me, breathing through a contraction while finishing up Rhett's first journal entry.

Within 30 minutes of Tony getting home (about 6pm) my contractions were five minutes apart & about 30 seconds long. I called the midwife a bit later & she said to come in when the contractions were 60 seconds long. About 30 min. after that, it was time to go! It seemed to all be happening so fast!

Sechler's Pickles field trip

2011-06-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Down the road, not too far we have a pickle factory! Since they give free tours & free samples we thought it would be a fun thing to do with Nana whilst waiting for baby boy to arrive. I think the smell did it for me...I experienced a lot of contractions while there & wasn't feeling too well, but it was a fun thing to do!

Park fun with the Nana

2011-06-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

My little bro Devin goes to BYU-Idaho & his face is on the new poster for the Men's Choir. We're so proud...

This shows the new shirts Nana brought for the boys that change color in the sun!

The last awards assembly

2011-06-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Jaydon & Jyson both received awards for their state testing scores & from the art teacher. Jaydon also received an award for music. Wow! Good thing I asked last-minute if I should be there! I'm so grateful I can stay home & be able to just drop everything for something like this. I love my boys so much & am so proud of them for doing their best in school!

Field Day Festivities

2011-06-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Proof of the Father & Son excitement :)

2011-06-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Purely for Journaling Purposes

2011-06-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

One week to go (humor & believe with me that I am NOT going to go over my due date) & here's how I've been spending the time:

Monday May 30 (Memorial Day): After Tony doing tons of homework for his online class & playing at the Go-Kart place I have some rockin' real contractions at 2am...five minutes apart...for almost an hour. After which I couldn't go back to sleep for another 3 hours thinking things like "Who am I going to call at 2am if this is the real thing?" See, I hadn't set up any back-ups, counting on my Mom being here for it.

Tuesday: I call a friend in Woodburn to set up 'emergency measures,' & both insurances to make sure we don't have to pre-authorize or something. I pack my bag more completely & start making more lists...

Wednesday: Make & bring dinner for a friend to the re-run of pack meeting that was cancelled last week. By the end of all the fun I'm feeling more contractions & a wave of exhaustion. On the up side...the entire lobby of fabulous ward women waiting for their scouts offered to take the kids if need be :) Grocery shopping is cancelled for the night due to my fear of going into labor in the pickle aisle (ever heard the water-breaks-woman-smashes-pickles-in-aisle-to-cover-it story?)

Thursday: Make dinner & go to RS meeting that night to learn more awesome tips for preparedness/frugalness. Call bishopric member to find out how far away the father/son campout is & to get a phone # of someone for 'in case.' Decide to brave the grocery store considering our dire refrigerator state. Walk like a snail, only a few contractions. Good, good.

Friday: Go to midwife appt. She tells me I'm only about a 2, but my body is definitely in 'gearing up mode.' Also that the baby seems to be closer to the 6 lb mark than the 7...give or take a half pound :) However, I do have another week to go, I'd like baby to bulk up a bit more (just not me). I"m relieved with the news & am SO glad the boys can go to the Father/Son. Pick up the tent/sleeping bags we were able to borrow. Try to get to the storage unit to get the last of the baby supplies, but no such luck. While Tony is frantically doing homework (he had Fri off, but has to work Sat) I make/pack tinfoil dinners, banana boats, pickles, saltines, water for later consumption & get the boys to pack their stuff. Funny, Tony looks around once they're there & sees that he & one other family are the only ones with 'real' camping food...unless Subway counts. They don't sleep much, but have a great time & bring home 2 frogs...uh, minus the one that mysteriously disappeared on the car ride home.

Saturday: After hosing down & discovering the children under the grime we trundle off to a b-day party in the 94 degree heat (with 1000% humidity). The boys have fun jumping in the bouncy house they rented, but get WAY more enjoyment out of the tadpoles they catch & get to bring home. Oh, & frog #2 somehow escapes in their yard. Secretly I am not so sad. Tony & I sneak away for a date! We went out to eat at Arby's, see the movie "Soul Surfer" at the cheap theater & my favorite...DeBrand's Chocolates! I got the most amazing dessert...their special ice-cream with their tart raspberry syrup, dark chocolate syrup all in a dark chocolate bowl. So delicious--Tony was such a good sport cuz' all he had was water (no sugar for a year goal!).

Sunday: Go visiting teaching. Eat leftovers for dinner. Have FHE. The role plays were the best...the boys get to pretend to be us & we them as we try to understand each other (& why Mom n' Dad are pulling out their hair lately)

Monday: Go visiting teaching to 2 more. Drop dinner off to another friend & try not to be too jealous that she's already had her baby :) Try to take a nap twice. No luck. Phone rings. Children loud. Boys find a toad. He's in one of my empty wheat buckets & hasn't escaped as yet. Good thing Tony decided to take a break from his homework (his first class is over this Wed.) & clean up the dinner/dishes. I am so very grateful.

Tuesday: Go to the boys' Field Day, but leave after an hour due to Ari wanting to just be right in the middle of every single race & her need for her morning "na-night."

Guess I'll fill in the blanks for the rest of the week later on, but at this point I'm feeling pretty good about making it until my Mom comes this Friday night. Thanks Mom, we're all excited to see you & get this show on the road!

Note: I am adding a bit about the last few days here to keep it easy for me to follow when I put it in my blog book later :)

Wednesday: Finish counting the Campbell's Soup labels (about 2,000 in all, wow!) for the school in the nick of time...school is out on Friday :) Go to scouts...grind some wheat using another friend's grinder (my day is coming to get a grinder...someday)...go home.

Thursday: Clean & get ready for Nana Cobia to come

Friday: Boys are out of school! Have a family movie night & watch the old "Tron" together. Go to get Nana from the airport at 10:00pm. She made it!

Saturday: Do house stuff in the morning, Nana takes all 3 kiddos to the park so I can do some work on a project. We all go to "Once Upon a Child" & Wal-mart & have an incredible true-to-life experience to really welcome Nana. Boys think 'tag' is appropriate up & down the aisles & Ari is absolutely done with the store experience...5 minutes into it.

Sunday: Go to church of course!

The Pack Meeting that wasn't and why

2011-05-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

While others got tornados last week, we got this. It's so sobering to see the devastation all around, but makes me SO incredibly grateful that our "tornado warning" only equated to a filling of the parking lot with mucho H2O. Even now we have quite a few fields that look more like lakes. The boys have taken full advantage of the water (Jyson insisted he could swim cuz it was so deep)...and mud. One of their chores last Saturday was to blow dry all of their shoes since they decided to use both sets of tennis shoes on different days instead of the crocs their Mother suggested. Because of this 'warning' pack meeting was cancelled...too bad the cubmaster wasn't informed & was patiently waiting with everything set up at the church. Oh, well, I'll take that over a real tornado any day.

The birthday that lived on for Memorial Day

2011-05-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

For their b-day Aunt Sarin gave the gift of Groupon...to a Go-Kart/Arcade place. It was the 9 year-old boys' first real experience with a place like this...and it was reliving the glory days for the Tony-boy. They were all in heaven while Ari & I wandered around pushing all the glowing buttons on all the machines/games...50 times each.

This was a shocker...Jaydon won the big-one---1000 tickets (to be traded in for prizes)! Instant popularity for this dude...kids gathered around to gawk at the pool of tickets that gathered on the floor during the FIVE entire minutes it took for them to pour out. Wow.

When I said, "Smile Ari!"

When we walked in Tony said with a grin, "It smells like an arcade..." Guess I missed out on that olfactory sensation.

The one Go-Kart round they did. Afterward they both said, "That was too stressful, I was just trying so hard not to hit the other guys." [The rules said they could NOT hit other cars though of course the other 'guys' on the track weren't necessarily following those rules]. My poor lads.

Church singin' SuperSTAR!

2011-05-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

Here's Jyson singing on YouTube...he sang THIS duet in church & the stake president called personally to call & tell him he enjoyed it (we have an amazingly personal stake president).

37 weeks. Oh, yes, I'm counting.

2011-05-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

I feel so grateful. Compared with so many I have relatively easy pregnancies & I think it's because Heavenly Father knows that certainly encourages me to keep having these little miracles :) Too bad I don't always keep that perspective & get grumpy, hmmm--Jaydon asked me the other day, "Did you have your nap today?" Kinda slow with this one...not quite ready with all the baby stuff yet (maybe because half of it was in storage!), but I am getting so anxious to hold my new squishy, lovable, huggable baby (though I'm just not counting on going before my due date...my track record has proven that not to be my lot with birthing babes)! I love looking at the little clothes & imagining our little guy in them. I am soo excited about the midwife I've been going to & the natural birthing class I'll be attending next Saturday w/ Tony (he's really excited, let me tell you--but oh-so-supportive, I love him!). I was so close with Ari, I'm praying I can do it naturally this time. I really want to & think I can now that I have more knowledge & a strong supporter who knows what's going on (midwife), who will be there as much as I want her to be (Tony is going to take copious notes so he'll know what to do for next-?- time). The boys are excited to have a baby brother & Ari was so good with Sienna when she was here I am hopeful the transition will be relatively smooth...we love him so much already!

Cuz' she's cute

2011-05-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Aunt Dina sent some awesome clothes from cousin Kelsi who is a few years older...but try telling that to Ari, she wanted to try on EVERY pair of shoes. Pictured are her new favorite boots only 3 or 4 sizes too big.

Oh, how I love her cute little piggie-tails that curli-que at the ends...it reminds me of cousin Kelsi's--exactly the same color & curl. Darling!

Me as a Grandma

2011-05-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Jaydon had a little speaking part for the 'welcoming committee.'

Since there are no grandparents nearby, I filled in for the school's "Grandparent's Day." Also pictured is my adopted granddaughter :) Days/events like this I am SO grateful to be a stay-at-home Mom, I feel incredibly blessed to finally be able to be the full-time Mommy I've always wanted to be & to have a husband who sees it as a priority for me to do so!

Awhile back I showed Jyson's book he created...well, here is Jaydon's finished copy!

Cup-stacking!! My secret obsession...seriously, I first heard of it in my college Elementary P.E. course & promptly borrowed the set for two subsequent dates with rave reviews. So fun & it's great for brain development & hand/eye coordination, bonus! They did a demonstration & then I got to be one of the volunteers that went up to be "taught."

Last Saturday

2011-05-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

Starting the day out right...we went to the church for our cleaning assignment. Everyone who was supposed showed up so we were done in under an hour--wow! Ari met up w/ her BFF from nursery/choir (her parents come to choir & the boys watch the two little girls so we can all sing & they all LOVE lil' Abby) & learned the value of a hug from someone her own size :)

We next headed to the FREE event at the park next-door to the church, complete with the 4-H llama, rabbit, & pony clubs.

The parks here are real parks...lots of forest-y area. Just can't compare!

All free...including the non-pictured "video game trailer" set up with 5 LCD screens for pairs of kids to play Mario Kart. What an awesome day!

A fond (and sad) farewell!!

2011-05-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

Sienna

2011-05-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Meagan & I kept trying to snap good, smiling, pictures of these wiggly gals because they were so durn cute together, but really, I think these pics capture the true nature of their cousinly relationship :)

Spencer, Meagan & Sienna...and Ari

2011-05-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Post-visit I realized I got pictures of Spencer & Sienna, but not enough of beautiful Meagan--sorry Meagan--I promise I love you too! Sienna was so darling the whole weekend...when they first got there she was asleep, but she soon woke up & smiled such a big grin at me, I fell in love instantly--we all did! They are such an adorable family, though I admit it's still weird for me to think that my little (uh, 6'3) brother is both husband AND father. We so loved having them visit & are so grateful they took the time!! Oh, yeah, & Ari especially fell for all three of them & could NOT stop waving & doing her signature, whisper 'hi' (though I think the secret to their success was the baby...she was so entranced by her the whole time).

Friday night

2011-05-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Playing at Sweetwater (a billion Atari games, Pac-man, ice-ball, virtual games, racing/bowling arcade games, foosball, ping-pong & pinball--all free!). Spencer's favorite part of the whole weekend!

A little frisbee in the field behind our house

Partying to the nines...

2011-05-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

This b-day was especially awesome because we had familial visitors (we did last year too because it was their baptism, these boys are loved)!! Spencer (my bro), Meagan (wifey) & Sienna (5 mo old babe) are heading back across the U.S. after doing an accounting internship in D.C. so they got to party the whole weekend with us! Here's how the day went:

-Oh, must make mention...the day before we all went to the boys' school to eat lunch with them (thus completing the circle...now ALL my siblings & spouses have eaten with the boys at their school, how cool is that?!). Then Spencer & Meagan got to volunteer in their classes to help out with a special presentation they had going on & gave out the b-day treats (Jaydon made both! Brownies AND cupcakes!!)

-Special request by the boys...they wanted to make their spec-ee-al-i-ty for our esteemed visitors so they made a fabulous breakfast of pancakes, eggs & sausage (given to us by some friends & since we're not really sausage lovers Tony really gave it some love, i.e. A1, BBQ sauce & steak seasoning--though I had my doubts, it was a hit!

-Opened presents & then PLAYED with the presents--Uno attack, frisbee & Ladderball

-Ate pizza, spinach salad & watermelon for dinner compliments of our guests

-Watched Megamind, ate goodies including cake & no-sugar, berry ice-cream (new favorite from conference).

-Then the boys ALL slept downstairs together per the boys' special request. Hee hee.

Easter and such

2011-05-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

We did celebrate Easter, just not in pictures...not one. Here's how it went down:

-Saturday the boys woke to a colorful staircase full of candy eggs leading them down to the table of funness covered with a blankie until Mom n' Dad got up. They got big bubble wands from the parents (you know, the ones that cost a dollar & are super-stellar for giant bubble purposes) & then lots of little goodies from Papa & Nana Cobia. Daddy got some sugar-free treats & a book he's been wanting.

-After sort-of rushing through chores we really did rush to the park for the egg hunt.

-Then they went with Daddy to an 'author's convention' downtown because we have 3 aspiring author's in this house. They all loved it.

-We finished up our discussion on Christ's final week that night for scripture study. Always an excellent reminder.

-Sunday the boys each got a "Christ" quiet book to take to church, thanks to Heather's generosity!! They liked them so much & promptly read them (Jyson finished both before he got to church!)

-I gave my talk in sacrament meeting that I took ALL week to write...it was on "Christ's final week with an emphasis on the women that were there/part of His life." It was a toughy to find scriptural info on the 'women' part, but oh-so-excellent to learn about & it all worked out.

-Monday we had our annual Easter egg/events of Christ FHE lesson.

A bit different this year in a traditional sense, but it really was enjoyable & I feel like we learned more about Christ as a family: mission accomplished.

Then, what's a post without a few pictures, even non-Easter ones :)

This was a cute scene...both boys were reading on opposite ends of the couch & Ari kept going back & forth, poking & laughing in their faces trying to get them to play with her (they were good sports & would do it for a minute & then go back to their books). Finally she picked up a [chapter] book & flipped through the pages before tossing it aside & crawling off in search of other pursuits...

Another scene...traipsing across the parking lot to our current washer & dryer. Before moving in here I wasn't sure which I would miss more: the dishwasher or the washer/dryer. The jury is in: hands down it's the washer & dryer! Thank goodness I have three muscle-y men to help out.

Jyson

2011-04-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Dance, Dance!

2011-04-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

We bought our first Groupon recently...2 private dance lessons from a local studio for $30 (normally $200!)! It was so amazing. We also got to go to a group class as well (I did get some strange looks there...what, it's not normal for a huge prego woman to dance?). The great thing is that we didn't really have to pay for a baby-sitter, either...you see, I'm trading baby-sitting for piano lessons. The 2nd time we were there our instructor brought in the owner because, frankly, Tony isn't the average dancer :) For those of you who don't know, Tony took tons of dance in college & is AWESOME!! Wow. The lady was fantastic, but had no qualms about telling Tony exactly what needed to happen (she claims that she has to start w/ the man before she can even look at the woman, but really I think she just enjoys a good pulverize-the-ego session). We both learned so much and totally wish we could take more lessons! p.s. I wasn't sleepy, don't let the picture deceive you.

Conference Weekend

2011-04-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

I love conference. I get so much out of it every time...even with kids yammering & having 'needs' it's something I look forward to & totally 'need' myself!! At the beginning of the first session we were a lovely family, sitting upright, writing notes, & eating munchies politely (Jaydon told me he loves conference, that it's his favorite church holiday...We celebrate with FOOD you see :) Greek/hummus dip n' chips, new recipe of homemade berry ice-cream--using only a little agave to sweeten--, cuties/tangerines, carrots, honey pretzels & jelly beans). By session four, we looked like this (Ari was blessedly sleeping for a bit):

However, overall the boys were so good. This was the first time they didn't need a break from listening for any of the sessions. Amazing. And thanks to a generous friend we printed off this beauty in an 8x10 to write each apostle's topic in each of the boxes to hang until next conference. The idea is that we'll choose from these talks for our new FHE goal to do a lesson from the prophet's words once each month.

Pinewood Derby #1

2011-04-05T13:22:00.001-07:00

and yes, that is paint on the boys' face in the upper left pic...you see, it truly was a father/son activity. awesome.

In the RAW

2011-03-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

If you've been around me recently, you know I've been playing with some raw recipes. Raw as in not-cooked; therefore leaving all the nutrients in the food...we've all seen the nasty green water after we boiled the broccoli too long, right? Some are better than others, but you can search 'raw recipes' & come up with a vast amount of options.

1.) Flax pancakes...a base of flax meal, liquid coconut oil, sea salt & pure maple syrup (grade B is the best for you as a natural sweetener). Then shape the mixture into "pancakes" & top it with blueberry syrup (blueberries blended with a bit of water & a couple of dates for sweetness), bananas, walnuts, & strawberries. I LOVED it, it tasted more like a dessert honestly. The boys? The first bite they were singing praises, but by the end it was a contest of wills to get them to finish. Go figure. HERE is a recipe almost identical to it.

2.) Oat groats....rolled oats as we know them are not oats in their true form. Who knew? Not me. The way we find them in the store they are steamed, flaked & processed, thus losing a lot of the good stuff (potassium, vitamin B, protein & loads of soluble fiber) & decreasing their shelf life. This recipe is so simple: soak the groats over night to soften & rehydrate them. Rinse them thoroughly the next morning & put in your blender (or food processor if you like it chunkier, more like 'real' oatmeal) w/ some unsweetened almond milk, a ripe banana or 2 for sweetness (depending on the size of the batch), & vanilla (w/ no alcohol). We top it with almonds & Gogi berries (never heard of those either? well, don't get me started on those amazingly healthy & yummy dried fruit, but google away if you're interested). Voila! We all totally love it...even the babe & that is the real test.

Lucky

2011-03-19T11:37:00.001-07:00

This year the green pictures I managed to capture were all about the food (we munched upon Potato Spinach Lasagna, green grapes, Irish H2O in green tumblers & Grasshopper Pie **layers: cookie crust, homemade fudge sauce, mint-choc chip ice-cream, homemade whipped cream & decos--so where do the grasshoppers come in Jaydon wanted to know?**....the rest of the family?

Well, half-naked child #1 was doing this:

Yes, [clean] underwear makes for good head-wear

Jyson was working madly on this:

His huge 26 page, A-Z "Young Author's Book." Mother is proud of him for working so hard, and oh-so-happy that it is DONE!

Half-naked child #2 was doing this (not sure exactly what this is):

Tony? Likely he was wading through the tornado zone that was our living room trying to make it presentable once again whilst dodging flying pillows from Jaydon who really wanted to play & occasionally swinging the underwear princess around in circles when she screams "Daaa--eeee!!!"

Me? Well, I was making the green dinner, keeping Lego-man motivated, trying to find another occupation for Jaydon so Tony can clean, & taking turns with the tot. In short, being Mommy.

Rather than opt for a rushed 'everyone put your green clothes back on & smile for the camera so we look like a normal, St. Pat's Day family' I chose instead to take pictures of it all, just like it was (please tell me you have nights like this too ;)

Just Stuff

2011-03-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

After helping Jyson one night with his project for Dr. Seuss Day (see next pic) he was so grateful he sent these adorable thank-you's "Jyson-style" floating down from our little balcony. Just what this momma needed.

Jyson, a.k.a. "Horton" in the Dr. Seuss parade

Can you guess what is in the middle? A loved, screaming-with-joy lil' doll who sure gets a lot of play time from doting brothers.

Ari decided to rest in the toy basket while pillows were raining down all around...

2011-03-16T09:53:00.000-07:00