Cute and Fun Rasmussens

Introducing...

2011-06-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

Eli Jensen Rasmussen

Born June 20, 2011

9 lbs even

21" long

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get back to the blogging, I feel pretty beat up still. The fourth c-section has been brutal on this aging body, although we are so grateful everything went smoothly. No hemorrhaging this time, hooray! It is just going to take awhile to get back into the swing of life, especially now that I have FOUR children! Yikes! But you don't want to hear about me, let's look at pictures of the new addition....

Does this look like a proud sister or what? As we knew she would, Olivia fell in love with Eli right away, despite the fact he wasn't a sister.

Already chubby. I told the doctor, I don't grow them small. I'm soooo glad he let us get him out 11 days early. Doesn't look like he is underdeveloped or anything, right?

It's hard to believe our Benny is a big brother now. So far Eli has survived so that's good.

Caleb and Olivia have been great helpers. They love to hold and snuggle their new brother.

We were so grateful to have Nana come and help out for a week. She held down the fort at home while Erik hung out with me at the hospital. She was in constant motion, washing dishes, folding laundry, getting snacks for the kids.... we kept her busy. We are indebted to her for her loving service to us. Can you feel the love in this picture?

I don't think Eli has to worry about getting enough love. He has wriggled his way into our hearts already, and we can't imagine our family without him.

Things I Will Not Miss About Being Pregnant

2011-06-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

As of today I have been pregnant for 36 weeks. By my calculations, that's about 9 months already. And I have a few more left to go. Let's just say I have really gotten the full pregnancy experience, and as I look toward the light at the end of that tunnel (hooray! Almost done!), I want to remember the things that make this time of life... unique. Interesting. Unbearable, if you will.

I will NOT miss:

Feeling the waves of nausea every. single. day. Yes, it has gotten better as the pregnancy has gone on, but I still have an underlying feeling of nausea. Every. Single. Day. There are fun retching sounds that accompany this one but I will spare you the details.

The Hugeness. It's getting past the point of ridiculousness now. I am way bigger than I was with any of my other pregnancies, and as I waddle around and shift and adjust in my seat to try to reach some semblance of comfortable, I almost have to just laugh or cry at my plight. There really is nothing to do except lay on my side whenever I possibly can. And even then I turn into a beached whale. So pathetic.

The Insomnia. Now, I happen to be fairly practiced at this one, having dealt with it for a few years now. But, the thing that makes it worse in pregnancy is that I start out with a higher need for banked hours of sleep, so when I find myself wandering around the house at 2 a.m. (as I am at this very moment, in fact) I am sad because I know I will be even more tired tomorrow (today) because I just can't ever catch up. and my body needs more sleep than it normally does! And it's getting less! The brain dead-ness is starting to make more sense.

The Heartburn. Let's just say, it doesn't get better as the pregnancy goes on. It used to only be a problem for me at night, and now I find myself reaching for the Zantac as soon as breakfast is over. Will I ever be able to eat normally and just enjoy my food ever again?!

The Swelling. My normally skinny hands and feet have turned into sausages. My wedding ring is so tight it makes me claustrophobic, and I am down to two pairs of flip flops that I can comfortably wear. Yes, even to church. I am at that point.

The sinus issues. Does anyone else get this one? I have been constantly stuffed up for months now. I just want to be able to breathe normally!

OK, I guess that's enough whining for now. I really am looking forward to meeting this little guy. I am sure he will be adorable and that I will instantly fall in love, as I have 3 times previously. Growing a person inside your body may not be an easy experience, but it sure is worth it! A true miracle. The biggest miracle of this life, probably. And I get to be a part of it. Lucky me.

Um, Just Kidding

2011-05-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post this for awhile, but it just made me too--not sad, but disappointed I guess would be the word. Well, and for awhile surprised too.

We found out we are actually having a BOY!

Yes, the doctor made the wrong diagnosis when he "took a peek." When I went in for my "real" ultrasound a month later, where they take all the measurements and stuff, the lady told us our soon-to-be-born child is, indeed, a boy.

Olivia cried.

I must admit, I cried too (just for a minute) when I realized Olivia won't be getting a sister. You see, I have three sisters and as adults, we are all very close. A sister is a life-long friend, and I really wanted Olivia to experience that.

Instead, she will be the Princess. The Boss. Mom's Shopping Buddy and Pedicure Pal. She Who Posesses Her Own, Unshared Bedroom. The second mother to, yes, a bunch of stinky boys.

Once Caleb turns eight in just over a year, we will have FIFTEEN uninterrupted years of Scouts. I better get used to being called den mother.

The boys are excited. Caleb and Ben get bunk beds, and they will have their own (stinky, dirty, smelly) boys' clubhouse, a.k.a. bedroom.

It will be fun. And this little boy is going to be well-loved. It just pulls on my heartstrings a bit to know I won't be buying any more tiny little pink outfits or itty-bitty hairbows. Because those things are so cute. And yes, I KNOW because let me tell ya, this old mare is barely getting through this pregnancy. Chances are slim to none that I am ever doing this again. It is a truth of pregnancy that it gets harder every time. Not that I'm complaining. I'm just really, really excited to only have a few (six!) weeks left, and then NEVER be pregnant again.

Now we just need to think of a name. We already used up our top boy names, we need to start thinking about this sometime soon.

Think Pink

2011-02-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

I went to a regular ol' OB check-up this week and my dr. asked me when my ultrasound was going to be. When I told him it wasn't scheduled for another month (the ultrasound tech is only in once a week, so she gets booked up fast), he offered to take a peek and see if we could tell the sex. I was 18.5 weeks so he was pretty confident he could tell.

Well guess what... it's a GIRL!

I felt a little weird not having Erik there for the big announcement but hey, it's our fourth kid. By that point in life you may just get a voicemail message telling you you're going to have a daughter. And that's OK.... right? Anyway, he seemed alright with it. He even told me he would have been upset if I had waited to find out just because he wasn't there. He's not big on secrets, as you can tell.

Can you guess how Olivia felt about it when she heard the news?

"Finally, a sister!" She and I went out to Target that night and bought a cute baby girl outfit. It was a symbolic girl bonding gesture. We also got that cute rainbow shirt for Liv.

I am 19 weeks, so I'm thinking the dr. could tell pretty accurately. But part of me wanted to wait until the "real" ultrasound to make sure before announcing it to the kids and the world.

Erik's comment? "If it does turn out to be wrong, it would be a good lesson in statistics for the kids. We could teach them all about false positives and specificities." No, I'm not making that up. I needed to write that down so I could remember what he said in years to come. Because I love him, I feel it is my duty to mock him when he makes comments like that.

So we're pretty excited around here. Two and two, it seems like a good balanced number. And honestly, I was not looking forward to hearing "All I got was 3 stinky little brothers!" for the rest of my life. Which, let's be honest, we would.

The Year of the Temple

2011-01-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to focus on the temple this year in Relief Society. My good friend and RS secretary Michelle created this logo for us and I love it!!! She is so talented!

I made over 100 magnets to pass out to the ladies at church. I am hoping that we will all have wonderful temple experiences this year!

Button Letter Craft Project

2011-01-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Because it's Friday and I'm desperately avoiding planning my part of the RS lesson for Sunday, I decided to finally frame and document a craft I recently completed. It's a letter made out of buttons for the wall. I saw this on a blog once but couldn't for the life of me find it by the time I decided to make it myself.

I made one for my brother's family for Christmas (different letter, different color buttons--didn't take a picture of course) and finally finished the one for my own house.

I even took pictures along the way because I am wacko that way. And so Tracy can pass it along to someone to teach at the Super Saturday if they decide to include it. I will be pleading the 8th month excuse by then.

It's super easy; I didn't need so many pictures, but it was actually kind of fun to photo-document a project. First you go into Word, type whatever letter you want in whatever font you want, and make it really big.
Next you either tape it to the window with a blank sheet of cardstock over it (so you can see through the first sheet) or use one of these:

Put a blank piece of cardstock (it has to be a heavy paper) on top of the letter like so:

And trace lightly around the outside edge.

Next, grab a bunch of buttons of varying sizes. I used all the same color but you could use a variety if you wanted.

Next get some glue. This was my first time using this type of glue and ironically I would not recommend it for this project. It is way too strong and you can't adjust a button once you've placed it. I wanted to use hot glue but was fresh out of glue sticks.

Next place your buttons within the outline you traced. Alternate using large and smaller buttons, and move things around until they fit the way you like. Make sure you have several small buttons to fill in the little gaps.

Next, take a few buttons off at a time, erase the pencil lines for that area, and glue the buttons down. Repeat one small section at a time. If you try to do too many at once you will forget how you placed the buttons.

Next get one of these awesome frames. You can adjust the depth of the space between your paper and the glass for 3D projects.

And, voila! Here is the finished product. I'm not totally happy with the slant on the top but it's fine for the family room, right? I think it turned out cute!

Way Back When-sday: Teenage Fantasies

2011-01-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is a story from my youth. I never thought of being embarrassed by it until I shared it at a recent book club and everyone laughed at me. Then I realized, I'm kind of a dork. But that's OK, it's not like that's new information or anything.

When I was in 8th grade, I had a huge crush on a boy named Justin. We had nothing in common--he was a skater with lots of friends and awesome hair. Oh, the hair. Remember when guys used to wear it long in the front and then do the head-flip thing every 48 seconds? ...sorry, I got lost in my reverie... back to the story. I, on the other hand, was shy, awkward, and good at math.

Every day as I rode the bus home after school, I would watch him walk home, or better yet, skateboard home. Oh, how my 13-year-old teenage heart yearned to know him, to have him smile and me and want to sit next to me at lunch time. The problem was, he had no idea who I was. We had one class together, but never interacted.

There had to be some way for our worlds to collide. Some way for him to get to know me and then, clearly, he would immediately fall in love with me. So I daydreamed that I would be his.... math tutor. Yes, that's right. That was my big fantasy. He would ask me to be his math tutor, so after school I would walk home with him and spend time hanging out with his family in-between algebra pop quizzes. They, of course, would fall in love with me too, and we would all live happily ever after, surrounded by algebraic equations and geometric shapes. Ahhh, love!

p.s. I recently looked Justin up on facebook. We are not fb friends, so you can't find him on my friends list. But, I have to say even though he has lost the floppy skater hair, he has remained a good-looking guy. So I guess I had good taste even back then.

p.p.s. Just to clarify, I am very happily married and, ironically, my husband could be MY math tutor. Funny how life works out, huh?

Pregnancy, Treadmill Trauma, Organizing, and Handball

2011-01-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here I am at 15 weeks with Baby #4. The kids and I like to read online about the baby's growth. At this point the baby is 4 inches long crown to rump (I wish they would still measure people crown to rump, I think it's such a funny term) and weighs a whopping 2.5 ounces, which totally explains the 20 lbs I've gained thus far. I have a feeling this isn't gonna be pretty. We read that the baby empties its bladder every 40-45 minutes--you can imagine how much the kids enjoyed that one. "The baby is peeing in Mommy's tummy!" We were looking at pictures women have posted of their bare pregnant bellies at different weeks of pregnancy. Caleb asked me "Is that you, Mommy?" and I responded with "You think I would post a picture of my belly on the internet?!" Which I guess I just have, but fear not, you will only see this belly clothed.

Moving on, we experienced a slight trauma in our household when Olivia decided to take a run on the treadmill. She was doing fine, until she fell off while it was moving on level 7.

She hasn't let me take any pictures of her scraped-up legs, but they look pretty bad. We have been re-wrapping them every night with gauze, and she still complains that they sting. She was so worried about me writing a note to get her out of PE this week, then of course I forgot this morning. She came home and I just knew I was going to get yelled at about it, but then she informed me they ran laps and she ran the most of anyone in her class. "I beat all the boys!" So even though we get an earful on a daily basis about how painful her legs are, she is still our competive girl. Here is the hole she kicked in the wall when she fell.

The kids have been collecting water bottles for the Cans for Copies fundraiser at school. The idea is, the kids recycle cans and bottles, and that pays for all the copies the teachers have to make. They love to get them all out, line them up, and divide them up equally. We usually don't go through so many water bottles, but during this pregnancy tap water tastes nasty to me, so I mostly drink bottled.

I organized the boys' room. I got this idea of folding clothes and standing them up from a friend's blog. It makes it so much easier to see what they have, and when you just add the clean clothes to the back of the line they don't end up wearing the same shirts all the time. I figured I should get a picture before it gets all messed up, which I know it will because my kids put their own clean clothes away.

Caleb is such a great kid. Being the middle child, he sometimes gets overlooked and doesn't throw a tantrum to get his way like the others do, but he is such an important part of our family. He will go play with Ben for a whole hour, talking to him in his high "talking to the baby" voice, reading him books, and playing along with whatever pretend game Ben wants. Caleb is in first grade and has suddenly become an awesome reader. I must say, I think a big reason is because we started reading from the real scriptures instead of the comic book scripture readers (which we used for years). It has made a big difference in his reading ability. It's funny to hear him rattle off words like wherefore, commandments, and murmured. He is my kid that loves to be silly and say and do things just to get a laugh.

Erik and a family friend built a handball wall in the backyard, which the kids love. They use it all the time. We still need to paint it, but we've had all this rain so we need to wait for it to completely dry out first. They are both really good handball players. They can both hit the ball super hard, and are clever about changing up their shots.

And lastly, a picture of my buddy Ben, who I hang out with all day while the kids are at school. He climbed in a basket to eat his chips the other day. Then he wanted me to pull him around by the piece of duct tape that's attached to it because that's what he does with his baby doll. Mmmm, you're too heavy, bud. He has really gotten into playing baby lately. He will wrap up the doll, give it a kiss and put it night-night in the basket. Then he will pick it up and carry it around. Then he will toss it onto the floor face-first in favor of playing with his garbage truck. Even with the tender heart, he is still a boy.

Big Boy

2011-01-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post a few more pictures of Ben. It's been a week since his haircut and I still find myself staring at him sometimes, thinking he looks so different now with his shaved head. Such a big boy.
Here he is in his new Big Boy Bed (mattress--we start them out close to the ground in case of falls). He loooooves it, especially the fact that he has matching bedding with his big brother.
I have had these truck stickers for like 2 years now, and we finally got around to putting them up. I needed to let go of the idea of having them perfectly placed and let everyone just go for it. I think it looks just fine. The boys like it so that's what counts, right?

He loves the "choo-choo" pj's that he got for Christmas.

I just organized the boys' room, which included going through several bins of clothes. I found these undies in a bin and he wanted to try them on for a bit. Which is funny because he is nowhere near potty trained, but I think he looks cute with his Superman top and Spiderman undies. He's such a superhero of a kid, it is fitting. Plus, I haven't gotten a pic of those cute chunky thighs for awhile.

In other Ben updates, he has started speech therapy twice a week. He is very verbally delayed for his age, so we are hoping this will help him catch up. It is going pretty well, although we usually cut the hour-long visits short because his attention span just doesn't last that long. We are working with him at home too, trying to reinforce what the speech therapist is teaching him. Right now we are working on putting two sounds together, like u-p and jui-ce. He is responding but progress is slow. He has spent 2.5 yrs with 4 family members anticipating his wants and needs, now he needs to start verbalizing them for himself. I have high hopes for my Superboy.

I'm Not Dead. And, Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's been about eight thousand years since I've posted. I am just so sick of looking at that picture of me and my sisters I could throw up. And I've already been throwing up lately so I don't want to do it any more than I have to.

So, it's a new year, and I thought that would be a good time to start blogging again. And then I didn't do it yesterday, so I'm already behind. Way to start off, huh?

We had a very low-key New Year's Eve at our house. We had our friend Abbie over and ate snacks, played charades, took turns showing off our moves at our impromptu dance-a-thon, and rung in the new year around 7:30 pm. I know, we are party animals. Here are the girls with their festive gear.

I just love how the elastic from his hat emphasizes Ben's chubby cheek.

Caleb the goofball.

We got the boys matching superhero pj's for Christmas. They have Superman and Batman. Here they are a few days ago, showing off their twin outfits. Ben LOVES to match Caleb in any way, shape or form. And Caleb is a good sport of a big brother. Actually, I think he thinks it's pretty fun too.

Here they are yesterday after I shaved both of their heads. They both got lollipops for being brave. I cried when I cut off Ben's baby fine hair, but it's time for him to be a big boy. He is going to be a big brother in about 6 months.

He looks so different now. We packed his crib away too and put him in a big boy bed. I will post a picture once I take one. It is already starting off to be a new year of change for our Benny Boy.

Way Back When-sday: Matching Outfits

2010-07-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

This blast from the past comes from the year 1975, when I was just one year old. My mom fashioned these snazzy matching rompers for me and my two older sisters. My blonde-haired sister was 4, and the oldest was 9. My brother, who was 7 at the time, was no doubt inside the house assembling a short-wave radio out of spare vacuum cleaner parts.

There are several things to note about these rompers. First is the fabulous geometric-patterned fabric. Rectangles, my favorite shape! I'm pretty sure the material was a nice thick polyester to boot. Mmm, I bet it was smooth as butter against our skin. And the colors. Is there even a word for that retina-burning bright-pink color? I'm guessing you'd be hard-pressed to find any replicate of this fabric these days. To quote Phoebe from Friends: "My eyes! My eyes!"

I'm pretty sure my younger sister was up in heaven thanking her lucky stars that she didn't have to be the fourth member of this matched set quite yet.

On another note, I am in love with my sister Angela's haircut and especially her chipmunk cheeks. Those cheeks are famous in our family, and that hair combined with those cheeks reminds me of my Benny. Which can't be a bad thing.

Utah Trip Part 1: Temple Square

2010-07-27T18:44:00.001-07:00

We spent a week in Utah for the 4th of July (I know this post is way overdue, leave me alone). The main purpose of the trip was to visit the greatest missionaries on earth, my parents. They are serving at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for 18 months. They basically assist people in doing their family history every day. This is the largest library of its kind in the world, with millions of records from all over the world. Here are the faithful missionaries, accompanied by some really cute kids, in front of the building they work at every day.

Ben got pretty far on his own family history. Mama: Cynthia. Dada: Ewik. The End.

My parents' apartment is within walking distance of Temple Square, so we went there every day we were with them. There is so much to see at Temple Square. We took the tour of the Conference Center, the famous Tabernacle, and the Visitor's Center. The best part of the Visitor's Center is walking up the winding staircase and seeing the huge statue of Christ extending His hands to everyone.

As we were listening to the short recorded message of the Jesus Christ's words from the scriptures, Olivia leaned over and whispered "Mom, why is Jesus in space?"

Erik, Olivia, and I had the unique opportunity of attending the live recording of the weekly "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast. The world-famous Tabernacle Choir performed several patriotic songs, as it was July 4th. You have to be at least 8 years old to go, so my parents watched the boys so Erik and I could take Liv. It was very cool.

Here they are, live and in the flesh. They are such a powerful choir, and the orchestra was amazing. It was fun to see Mack Wilberg directing them. He used to be at BYU, and I sang under his direction a couple of times. He is amazing and very, very talented.

My favorite Mo Tab sotry is from when we lived in Cleveland, Ohio. A few co-workers somehow got on the topic of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. One guy commented "Oh, I never realized they were Mormon." A lady we worked with chided "Are you kidding me? You mean, if they were called the Chinese Tabernacle Choir, you wouldn't think they were Chinese?!" Four words: Hi. Lar. I. Ous.

There are several bronze statues scattered around Temple Square. This one was entitled Relief Society (or something of the like). I had to get a picture by it since I'm, like, Little Miss Relief Society now. I'm amazed we got a picture where all of my kids are looking at the camera and smiling. A small miracle for sure.

OK, more pics soon to come...

Baptism Book

2010-07-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

I made a little gift scrapbook for the grandparents with some of the pictures my friend Julie took. It's really simple, but I figured I would document it so when I finally get around to making one for myself I won't have to rethink the whole thing. When it comes to scrapbooking and crafts I am all about re-using ideas of my own or, more often, others.

Front of the album: First page. I just bought several coordinating papers and made it up from there. I did this page last, and just used scraps from the other pages I did.

I chose six of my favorite prints, and matched it with a word from each letter of her name.

Last page, with a scripture on baptism, is made from more scraps.

And that's it! Simple and sweet. Once I had the papers and chipboard letter, the rest went really quick. A great, easy gift idea!

Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime

2010-07-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

I am so very behind in blogging. I feel like I say that every time I post. Anyway, we are having a fun summer, here are a few of the things we've done.

Caleb did a one-week basketball camp. He loved it! He is earning himself a basketball hoop this summer by doing 75 jobs.

I made a homemade lemon cheesecake for Father's Day! Erik is such a great dad, the kids all love him best and I can't even feel bad about it because he totally surpasses me as far as parenting goes. He is always willing to play with the kids and makes up fun games for them to play. Their favorites are Rocketship and Secret Agents.

The kids have been begging for months to have a lemonade stand, so I finally relented.

Even though we live at the end of a cul-de-sac, they got some good business and ended up earning $7! Not bad! Now they want to have one every day, but I tried to explain to them that they don't want to wear out their clientele.

I took the big kids to a small local water park, which they loved. They are at the perfect age for this. Erik was home with Ben, who was taking a nap. I'll admit, it was much easier not having a 2-year-old to chase. That kid is crazy around water.

Finally tall enough for the water slides!

Popsicles are one of the best parts of summer. That and ice cream.

I still need to post about Calel's birthday and our trip to Utah, but at least this gives a few quick updates. Hope you're all having a great summer!

Caleb and Basketball and Cousin David

2010-05-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Caleb has really gotten into basketball lately. A neighbor down the street has a hoop that they just leave out in their driveway and let anyone who wants to, use it. Caleb asks daily to go play basketball. Since it's far enough away that he needs an adult with him, I don't always give in. But, I have had fun playing "horse" with him and watching him make all kinds of crazy shots. He's getting pretty good!

The other day Caleb was telling us about his day at school. He said "At recess, we played basketball, and my team won because I bringed it on." Love that kid!

Cousin David and his new wife Britta surprised us by stopping by our house last Sunday afternoon. They were driving through California on their honeymoon and happened to be passing right through our town. It was so great to see them and feed them some dinner. They are both great people. They played with the kids in the backyard for awhile.

And Caleb had fun making a few shots with David in our makeshift hoop (laundry basket) in the backyard. It is always great to see family.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of Caleb's passion for basketball. If he is anything like his dad, he will get really good at this sport, and have playing for many years to come.

BL Results

2010-05-22T12:33:00.001-07:00

OK, I made it to the end of our Biggest Loser competition. As you may recall, I started off strong the first few weeks. I slacked off in the middle there, but was able to pull it together for the last little bit. All in all, I ended up losing 20 pounds!

(Note: this is not a picture of me, just in case you were wondering)

I am very proud of myself and feel really good. The final weigh-in was a couple of weeks ago. Right afterwards we went out of town for the weekend, during which time I ate a ton and exercised none. Three days later I had gained back 2.5 lbs. Oops!

Since the final weigh-in I did take some time off of exercise, and have been very lenient with my food intake (vegetables? Huh? What are those?). However, I have also been getting big headaches, not sleeping well, and feeling lethargic. Thus, I have concluded that even when I'm not trying to lose weight, I suppose I should eat semi-healthy and exercise regularly just so I feel better on a daily basis. I guess my elementary school teachers knew what they were talking about when they told me this 25 years ago. So I'm a little slow on the uptake. I'll get there eventually.

So I didn't win any money (a couple of the ladies totally kicked it, losing 30+ lbs!), but I feel good and got to buy myself some new pants. They're not even tight yet, so that's a plus. I've still got a few pounds I'd like to lose, but overall I'm feeling great and will try not to gain it all back within the next month. Wish me luck!

David and Britta, Happily Ever After

2010-05-19T21:07:00.001-07:00

We went up to Oakland for Erik's nephew David's wedding to his sweetie Britta. It was the first grandchild to be married on Erik's side. The oldest grandchild on my side is 14, so hopefully we'll have a few years before the kids on my side start getting hitched.

It was so wonderful to be there--in the same temple Erik and I were sealed in--and see these two great people be sealed together for time and all eternity. They looked snappy all dressed in white, wouldn't you agree?

Here's our little family. The flowers were so beautiful all in bloom. I'm happy that mroe than half of us are smiling. You take what you can get when it comes to pictures involving children.

Have I mentioned Erik comes from a very tall family? All of his siblings were able to make it out for the wedding. They aren't all together very often, so photographic evidence had to be taken. I love how Erik seems like a pretty tall guy in person (he's 6'3"), but looks like kind of a shrimp when he's around the rest of his family. The girl in the blue shirt is obviously an in-law. She is way too short to be blood-related. Sorry Rebecca but it's true.

This was at the luncheon following the sealing. An assortment of aunts and sisters and cousins. Beautiful gals, don'tcha think? I love feeling short! And I love these ladies! :) I wanted to get a picture of my kids in front of the temple. Ben was clearly not having it. I call this next one "Roses Bloom Beneath our Feet" (phrase borrowed from the hymn "Love at Home"). It evokes a certain serenity, wouldn't you say?

The reception was beautiful, and since we left the kids with my brother's family, we were actually able to talk and mingle with everyone. Me and Erik with the bride and groom.

Did I mention she is 6'1" and he is 7'3"? Yes, they are going to have crazy tall children.

Here are all 6 of David's sisters. Aren't they gorgeous? Julie (Erik's sister) made all but one of these dresses. She is so talented. And has very impressive time management skills. I mean, the woman has 9 kids! And yet she made these dresses from scratch. Extraordinary.

David's older sister Marie is not yet married, but she wasn't feeling sad about it. Here she is with her boy Ryan. They are adorable together. I took more pictures of them than I did of the bride and groom.

David and Britta's first dance. They were so sweet and in love. What a cute couple. They are seriously both great people, and will be such a strong, righteous family. They are off to a good start!

The sweetest shot of the day: Britta is welcomed into the family by her newest sister Camille (age 3).

Congratulations, David and Britta!!! We love you!!

Zoo

2010-05-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to the zoo over spring break. It was so much fun. They are all at the age where they love to see the animals, and the weather was perfect. Here are my three little monkeys.

I figured I'd include a picture of where Ben spends a good deal of his life. No wonder he didn't learn to walk until he was, like, super old. He's always strapped in.

The girls. It has never been more apparent to me that I should wear lipstick on a regular basis and not just on Sundays. Hm. Oh well.

The boys and the flamingos. I realized I got very few pictures of the animals this time. Mostly just people. Really cute people, but still, hardly any animals. A lot of the animals were sleeping or hiding out as far away as possible from the people.

Kettle corn was definitely a highlight. Caleb especially loved it so much. We went through that huge bag in like an hour, it was crazy.

I love it when Olivia feels maternal and wants to carry Ben around. Pretty impressive, considering the fact that he weighs more than half her body weight.

I love these kids! I especially love it when they are all getting along. :)

Overnight Getaway

2010-05-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, Erik and I did the unthinkable: we got away from the kids overnight!
If you know us, you know that this is a huge deal. Ever since Ben was born, it has been hard for me to leave him. But, they are all old enough now and we decided that one night away was fully deserved! We called our favorite babysitter, who is leaving on her mission in a few weeks (sad for us, exciting for her), and she happily agreed to come stay with the kids while we were gone.

We went here: It was gorgeous and relaxing and quiet and I wish we could have stayed longer. Next time. :)

Here is our room. Very fancy. They even had robes for each of us. It was a great, quick (less than 24 hours) trip. We went out to eat, played cards, went on a bike ride (the pics are on Erik's phone, I'll try to get one uploaded), and enjoyed some uninterrupted conversation. I even got a massage at the spa. It was wonderful.

Our little balcony looked out over the golf course.

Next time we will have to stay longer and enjoy the swimming pools, driving range, tennis court, and more of their delicious restaurants. It was so relaxing and nice. We seriously need to do that more often. The kids were totally fine, didn't cry, and honestly didn't really seem to care when we came back. I guess it's the irony of parenthood that you worry that you need to rush home to get back to them, then realize you needn't have worried. They were just fine.

Olivia's Baptism

2010-05-13T09:29:00.001-07:00

OK, I am so very behind on blogging. Needless to say, my life has gotten busy! It has been a long time, but I am determined to take a few minutes and catch up at bit.

First and foremost, my sweet Olivia turned eight years old and got baptized! She is such a special girl and we love her so much. My friend Julie, who is a fantastic photographer, took these pictures of her in her white dress. I think they turned out beautifully.

Olivia's baptism was so nice. Erik's mom and sister came out from Utah, and a different sister and her family came up for the baptism. One of my sisters also brought her family. It was so nice to have loved ones here to share in such a wonderful occasion. p.s. I'm wearing my giraffe dress in this picture. :o)

Olivia and one of her Primary classmates got baptized together, so we were in charge of half of the program. One of Olivia's cousins gave a talk, Grandma gave a prayer, a cousin and aunt did the music, and Olivia, Caleb, and their cousins sang one of Uncle Matt's songs about the Holy Ghost. Don't these girls look sweet in their white dresses?

I just sat there during the service and enjoyed the peace and felt the Spirit. There were many details to worry about with the dinner afterwards, keeping the younger kids revernent, etc., but I really tried to soak it all in and experience this wonderful and important milestone in my little girl's life.

Erik did a great job baptizing and confirming her. She loves her daddy so much, and it was special to see the two of them dressed in white together.

Olivia adds so much to our family. She is super smart, especially in math, and has the neatest handwriting of any kid I know. She is a perfectionist, so it's a good thing she does so many things well. She has a beautiful singing voice, an infectious laugh, and a desire to understand and follow the commandments. She is inquisitive, fun, nurturing, and super speedy--she can run a mile in 7 and a half minutes! Olivia is a wonderful girl and we love her very much.

And She's Off!

2010-03-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Track season has officially begun. Here is the excited girl prior to her first track meet. Spankin' new uniform, hair out of the face, and a big grin of anticipation.

Look out other Gremlin Girls, here she comes! We're excited to see how she does this year.

"That's the Most Ridiculous Thing I've Ever Heard in my Life."

2010-03-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever said that to your bishop?

I have.

Just a few weeks ago, in fact. He came over to talk to me and Erik one night. I seriously was not thinking it was for any other reason than to check in with us. Yes, I can be pretty clueless sometimes.

Alright friends, it's time to laugh and cry with me.

Are you ready for this? I sure wasn't.

Bishop, Erik, and I were having a nice conversation about, well, I don't remember what. Just gabbing about life, kids, etc. So anyway, out of the blue, the bishop uttered those 11 words you never EVER think you will hear:

"Cynthia, I'd like to call you to be the Relief Society president."

My response?

(filled with disbelief): "You have GOT to be kidding me."

Bishop: "Nope."

Cynthia, clearly not in tune with the Spirit: "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life."

At this point, Erik leaned over and whispered "Honey, he's serious."

Then I burst into tears and cried for, well quite awhile. Several days, in fact. Actually it's been a few weeks and I'm still going strong in the tears department. Poor Bishop and Erik. They were both so filled with the Spirit and saying encouraging things like "I know you can do it." And there I was, basically screaming at them.

"You're insane!"

"I can't do that!"

"What are you thinking?!!"

As I think back now on how I must have looked that night, sitting on the couch in a sopping, hysterical mess, I think "Wow, I must have looked really silly." I was really a sight to behold, crying hysterically and blubbering incoherently. Seriously. It was bad.

And that, my friends, is what I have been laughing and crying about for the past few weeks. I know I used to have other stuff that I worried about but honestly, now I don't remember what any of it is. Now my brain has been consumed with thoughts like:

"RS presidents know stuff. They are wise. I don't know stuff, and I'm certainly not wise."

"What if somebody dies? What do I do?!!"

"RS presidents are grown-ups! I am clearly NOT one of those."

The up side? I lost 3.5 lbs in a week without even trying. I wasn't even eating healthy food, but I would just forget to eat. Plus, my heart has been constantly pounding all day and night. Heart rate's up! Who knew stress burned so many calories?

As crazy as it sounds, after some serious praying and crying and praying some more, I actually feel like this is the right thing. I still feel overwhelmed and terrified and incredibly inadequate, but I have a feeling the Lord will make up for a lot of that. He wants me to serve, and so I will. I'll try my best. I'll make mistakes, and I'll say the wrong thing. But I tell you what, I love the women in my ward. They are awesome. How could I not want to serve them, and serve with them? I have a feeling it will be incredibly hard... and scary... and wonderful.

I have to say, everyone has been so great. My family and my ward have been incredibly supportive and positive about this whole thing. I do think it's a little strange that other people are not freaking out about this as much as they probably should. I mean seriously folks, I am not the person you want to have in charge.

I obviously have a lot of learning experiences ahead of me. Beginning with, perhaps, How to Accept a Calling Gracefully.

I guess I'll just keep crying and praying. It's worked for me so far. Maybe you can throw in a prayer for me too. I could sure use it.

Two Years Old

2010-03-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Ben is already two. It seems like it's gone so quickly, and yet I can't even imagine our family without him. Ben is such a light in our family. He brings us so much joy and happiness. He can even dispel one of Olivia's bad moods by giving her a hug or offering his pacifier as comfort. I can honestly say I enjoy every day I get to spend with him.... which is, well, every day.

I have been a huge slacker as far as taking pictures lately. This is the only one I have of Ben this month. He and I made cookies after church one Sunday. He has been really into helping in the kitchen lately. He was so excited to wear an apron and help pour the ingredients. Isn't he just adorable?

As a side note, I am wearing my new giraffe dress in this picture. If you are facebook friends with me you will know what I'm talking about. Love it.

Way Back When-sday: St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Top o' the mornin' to ye, laddies and lassies!

This is from only a year ago so it doesn't really count as "way back", but it was so cute I had to re-share.... plus I don't have any other St. Patrick's Day pictures. Liv's class made these and I think they are just so adorable.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's Great to Be Eight

2010-03-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned 8! It feels like she is growing up so fast, I can't believe it. For her birthday Erik took a day off work, pulled her and her friend (also named Olivia) out of school for the day, and went to Disneyland! She was so excited. These 2 blonde Olivias had a blast together, going on rides and making up dance moves for Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. Ah, to be 8 again.

Clockwise from top left: Liv and Dad, Mad Hatter hats, watching the Star Wars show while wearing matching hair ribbons, O for Olivia, waiting in line.

Saturday was her actual birthday, so that morning Olivia and I went to get pedicures. She was so funny playing with the massage settings on the chair. Her little back was totally getting pounded. But, she loved it!

That night our family went to dinner at Souplantation, yum! I always eat too much at that place.

Then it was home for birthday cake and presents. She got walkie talkies (one of them already went through the wash, bummer), her very own scriptures, and a beautiful CTR ring.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We sure love you!

Way Back When-sday: Daddy's Work

2010-03-10T21:38:00.001-08:00

Soon after we moved to CA 4 years ago, we took a family field trip to visit Erik's new workplace. We loved seeing his new desk, and the building he would go to every day. The kids loved seeing photos of themselves on his wall.

Looking back at this picture, it is crazy to me how much the kids have grown in just a few years.

Caleb was younger than Ben is now, and Olivia was barely four years old. Back then her beloved Teddy went everywhere with her. He stays at home more often these days, but she still adores him. He has now lost an eye and I have sewn his arms back on so many times they are both sticking out at weird angles.

And Erik is still working at this desk. He is there right now, in fact. We love him and are very grateful for his job, especially in this economy. I know things can change at the drop of a hat, so we will happily keep him at this desk for as long as possible. As long as he comes home to us each night.

I Love to Read the Holy Scriptures

2010-02-28T22:03:00.001-08:00

I recently finished reading the Book of Mormon. Don't worry, it wasn't my first time. When I was in college I started writing the date and city I'm in each time I finish reading that 10th chapter of Moroni. I got this idea from my friend Amy and I love it.

So I noticed that since I've been keeping track, I just completed my 10th time reading this marvelous book. My first thought was "Whoa, that's a lot." My second thought was "That's not enough." In any case, I took a minute to look back over the previous times I have recorded reading it in its entirety and took note of some interesting facts.

This book has traveled with me across the country, and even internationally. I have recorded 8 different locations, including 5 different states and 2 places abroad (London when I did study abroad in college, and in the Caribbean when my parents took my family on a cruise). I'm so glad this book has been in my possession everywhere I have lived.

I also noticed the varying amounts of time it took me to read all 531 pages. And I realized something interesting. The times when it took me longer to read the entire book (which means I wasn't reading on a regular basis), were the darker and more difficult times of my life. And the times when I was obviously reading the BofM more consistently because I got through it more quickly, were times of greater peace and joy.

Coincidence? I think not.

Not that this is surprising information. It really does make sense, and I feel a little silly that I am even writing about this fact, as if it is some new revelation to me. But really, it made it so real to see it in black and white. My logical, math-thinking brain understands that. But so does my heart. I need to remember this and be consistent with my daily scripture reading. It really is an important and life-bettering (I don't think that's a word, but you get my meaning) habit.

On a related note, Olivia received her first set of scriptures in the mail a couple of days ago. She is turning eight soon and has been waiting and waiting to get her very own scriptures. Well, they came, they are beautiful and she loves them. So far she has read a chapter a day in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I am not naive enough to think she will always keep this enthusiasm about reading the scriptures, but I will enjoy it as long as it lasts. Because unsurprisingly, she is much happier and nicer to her brothers when she is reading her scriptures on a regular basis.

Coincidence? I think not.

Smartest

2010-02-26T16:02:00.000-08:00

Conversation I just overheard between my 7-year-old and 5-year-old:

O: Who's the smartest in the world?

C: Well duh, it's Jesus. That's so easy!

And there you go.

Way Back When-sday

2010-02-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

When I was at my sister's house last weekend, she shared this little gem with me, circa 1974.
If you have ever met my sister, you can tell she is on the left in this photo. The blonde hair and adorable cheeks are a dead giveaway. And yes, that is little ol' me who is being dragged around by my loving big sis. By my foot.

The thing is, I didn't seem to mind. And I'm fairly certain that if one of my older kids did that to Ben, he would think it was the greatest thing ever. Isn't it funny how older siblings can get away with doing things that parents would never be allowed to do?!

On a sidenote, who loves the brown and gold striped couch (you'll just have to trust me on this one) and shag carpet? Gotta love the 70's, man.

Authoress Extraordinaire

2010-02-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

On Saturday my sister and I (along with most of our kids) stopped by a bookstore near her home. A famous author was visiting, and we wanted to see her. We love her books and think she is a pretty snazzy gal to boot. That lady is none other than the incomparable Shannon Hale, author of Princess Adademy, Goose Girl, Austenland, and other fabulous books. She also happens to be our cousin.

I know what you're thinking: How lucky is Shannon to be related to such lovely and talented cousins! Oh wait, you weren't thinking that? Oh, sorry. Moving on...

In a stroke of bad luck, both Angela's and my camera betteries died, leaving us with the sub-par quality of cell phone pictures. Not ideal, but it works.

sleepy Ben, me, Shannon, and Ang

Her husband Dean came too, as they were signing the latest book they co-wrote, a graphic novel called "Calamity Jack." Here they are at the signing table.

Shannon and Dean were hilarious together, and quite entertaining to listen to. We even got to witness a small portion of an interpretive dance, which was.... well, I think the only word that can aptly describe it is WOW. These folks are seriously multi-talented.

There was a good crowd who came to see them and get books signed. It was beyond fun to see Shannon, first of all because it's been too long since we've hung out, and secondly because it was so exciting and surreal to see her in her element, as the famous authoress that she is. Beloved the world over (is that overly dramatic?), yet still our goofy cousin we performed lip synchs with at Lake Powell. Love ya, Shannon! Even though you ARE Advanced Maternal Age...

ER Visit

2010-02-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've decided there is nothing sadder than a little kid in the ER. They're just so helpless. So sick. So sad. So adorably in need of their mama. I love feeling needed. Most of the time.

Last Saturday afternoon, our little Ben woke up from his nap struggling to breathe. He could barely get a wheezing breath in and out. It was pretty scary, so I rushed him down to urgent care. As I drove wildly down the street, fists clutching the steering wheel, I mentally dared any cop to pull me over for speeding. He would surely regret that decision as soon as he faced the wrath of a terrified mother whose child can't breathe.

I got him to urgent care 15 minutes before they closed. The receptionist was maddeningly calm as I checked in and explained that the baby in my arms could hardly breathe. The nurse came out and explained that he had croup and they couldn't really do anything for him since you have to track them for a few hours after you give a breathing treatment, and they were closing soon.

Are you seriously telling me you can't do anything to help my child who is struggling for breath? Besides, Caleb used to get croup all the time and he always got the tell-tale barking cough. He could always breathe, however. Ben wasn't coughing. "He can't breathe!" I practically screamed at her.

After a call to the hospital, she finally let us back into a room and tried to give him albuteral (I later learned that this does nothing for croup, it is for asthma). He HATED it, plus it didn't help his breathing at all. He was just getting more worked up. Finally she told me to take him to the ER, as they had more medications available to them. Really, I just think she wanted us out of her hair so she could close up shop and go home.

Erik showed up with the other kids and we caravaned to the hospital. Thanks to the urgent care nurse calling ahead, they got Ben right in. Turns out it WAS a sudden attack of croup. They tried another breathing treatment (something they called an "epi treatment") which didn't seem to do much. Finally they gave him a steroid shot which started helping. I sat with him on the hospital bed for 2 1/2 hours, holding a tube up to his mouth and trying to get him to breathe in the cool mist. We watched an Amanda Bynes movie, which helped pass the time. Nevertheless, the poor kid was so miserable and exhausted.
After a couple of hours, he finally started to perk up. When he ripped the heart monitor off his toe and wiggled down to the floor I knew he was going to be OK. "He's back!" I cheered. He scarfed down the chips Erik had bought at the cafeteria and tried to play with the computer keyboard in his room. By this time Erik had taken the kids home to bed, so it was just me and my little boy. I was so thankful that he was feeling better!

I went to tell the nurse that he was feeling better. Didn't want to interrupt the group of nurses and doctors gossiping at the nurse's station, as it was obviously a huge intrusion. It of course took them forever to get the paperwork processed, but they finally sent us on our way.

I'm so grateful he is feeling better! That was a scary day. Now I know to go straight to the ER if this ever happens again. Thank heavens for modern medicine.

BL Update

2010-02-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so I've been doing the Biggest Loser challenge for a month now. And I have to say, it's not that bad. It's actually going pretty well. I've been stepping up the exercise to five times per week, and added more variety to my workouts.

Spin, for example. That class always freaked me out: a bunch of sweaty people on their stationary bikes, pedaling away in a darkened room. I'd pass by them on my way to the "fun" classes: Total Body Conditioning, Strength with the Bosu Ball, and, my fave, Zumba. But then a friend told me she loves spin and I decided to give it a shot.

The first class, I seriously felt like I might keel over right there on the cement floor. It was SO hard. But then I went again, and again. And each time, it has gotten easier. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy, just... more do-able. As in, I don't feel near death anymore. And I like that it's a raw workout. You know what to expect, no surprises, it's tough but you power through and it's done.

I've also been keeping better track of my food intake. This is the hardest part for me, as I LOVE to eat. I love treats and bread and everything in-between. The most difficult, but I believe the most effective, food-related thing I've done is committed to no eating at night. After the kids get to bed, I want to sit on the couch, relax, and EAT. It's my way of rewarding myself after a long, hard day. But no more. Well, usually no more. But when I do eat in the evening (at the baby shower last night, for example) I try to limit it. I'm always grateful the next morning when I don't feel bloated and hungry because I ate so late at night.

And, Erik has also been very disciplined in his eating and exercise habits lately, so that has helped a TON. We got chubby together, and we're getting skinny together. It's what we do. He has been doing awesome, I have to say.
So enough babbling, Let's get to the results. Drum roll, please.......

One month down, 10 lbs lost. Got rid of the weight I put on during the holidays (what can I say, I love to bake at Christmastime), and FINALLY busted through the number I've been hovering around for the past year and a half. It feels good, really good. But there's more work to be done. I'll keep you updated.

And on an unrelated note, as soon as I figure out how to upload pictures from my cell phone I'll write all about our exciting visit to the ER. Stay tuned....

Way Back When-sday: Bedhead

2010-01-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

Way back when my sweet Olivia was 11 months old, she liked to nuzzle her head into the corner of her crib. She would scoot herself over until her head was touching the bumper pads and rub her head back and forth, over and over again. I think it was the way she relaxed herself before falling asleep at night.

Thank heavens for the invention of hair detangler.

Two Wheels

2010-01-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

This afternoon as I sat chatting in my driveway with my neighbors, our children rode their bikes and scooters in the cul-de-sac.

As I was attempting to keep my one-year-old's fingers out of the hummus, my neighbor suddenly asked "Did you see that?!" I looked up to see my five-year-old on his friend's bike.

And he was riding it!

This may not seem significant or even interesting to you. The thing that makes it both significant and interesting to me, is the fact that this was his first time on a two-wheel bike, EVER. He doesn't yet own one (Santa thought about bringing him one this year but then decided on this), and his sister's bicycle is too big for any of us to have even thought of having him try it.

Notice the awesome "car wash" another neighbor mom engineered. Isn't she creative?!

He spent the rest of the afternoon, happily taking turns borrowing his friends' bikes. This one, a neighbor girl's old bike, was a bit small for him, but I was amazed that he picked up this skill so quickly.

He obviously inherited his athletic prowess from me.

Not.

Big Fat Loser

2010-01-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

This is what both my husband and my sister have mistakenly called everyone's favorite reality show, "The Biggest Loser." And thanks to my friend Tracy, I am now part of a local Biggest Loser club.

We did our initial weigh-in last night (Ouch! That extra holiday cheer has really adhered itself to my waistline!) and for the next 16 weeks we will weigh-in weekly and compare our percentage of weight lost with the others in the group. At the end of the 16 weeks, the person with the highest percentage of weight-loss wins! We each put money in the pot, and the first-place winner wins 75% of the pot, 2nd place gets 25%.

And I have to say, most of the women in the group look like they have maybe 5 lbs to lose before they will be in the "too-skinny" range. Which means, me and my currently-large hips have a pretty good shot at winning!

Sixteen weeks sounds like a long time, but I figure if I actually stick to it and thus lose weight at a reasonable rate (an average of 1-2 lbs per week), by the end of the 16 weeks I will FINALLY be at good, healthy (don't forget HOT) weight.

Wish me luck!!

Don't Worry, It Isn't Blood

2010-01-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

I made red velvet cupcakes yesterday and let Ben lick the beater. Think he liked it?

Way Back When-sday: Snowed In!

2010-01-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

This one is for all my friends who live in snowy regions of this beautiful country of ours. This time of year can be so cold and dreary, it's important to keep things fun and exciting so you don't get bogged down.

Long, long ago, during a month much like the one we are presently experiencing, at a university located in Provo, my roommates and I decided to pull a prank on some of our favorite gals in the apartment complex. You know, just to show 'em we care.

Late at night (which, unsurprisingly, is when we seemed to get all of our "great" ideas) we sneaked down to their first-floor apartment and shoveled snow until it completely covered their front door.

We packed it in tight and built a wall of snow that concealed the entire door. It was hard work, but we were young and spry back then.

Not like today when our bodies have been worn down by pregnancies, children, and old age.

Or maybe that's just me.

So anyway, we went to bed giggling and speculating about who would be the first to open the door in the morning. It just seemed hilarious to open the front door and see a wall of white. I mean, who wouldn't think that's fun?? Luckily, they were good sports about it and didn't get us back for at least another week.

Here is our friend Amy J., being a good sport about yet another prank performed by the unstoppable girls of S-303. I hear it took them awhile to get out their door in the morning. I would feel bad, but really, there's got to be some drawback for living on the first floor. I mean, they never had to climb any stairs--how fair it that?!

If you need a fun idea to break up the dreary, snowy winter, feel free to borrow this one! It's a classic!

Santa Was Good to Us This Year

2010-01-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

At the last minute, Santa decided to bring us a trampoline this year. The kids were so excited! After the initial argumentative adjustment period--they were jumping in each others' personal space, I guess--the kids have LOVED it! They have played on it together every single day.

Santa just set up the actual trampline part for Christmas morning. The kids were so excited when they came outside in the morning and saw it. We let them jump on it for a few minutes.

I never had a trampoline as a kid, but I totally remember that nobody had safety nets. It was all open-air jumping and exposed springs. Probably not the safest idea.

Who IS this crazy kid? She certainly didn't learn that move from her mother.

We spent most of Christmas afternoon putting up the safety net around the tramp, and the kids have been on it ever since.

Think he likes the new toy?

She learned how to do fancy spins.

"I think I'll just stand right here and watch."

So I think Santa made a good choice this year. Hooray!

Hopefully I won't be blogging about trampoline-induced injuries any time soon.

Christmas Eve Nativity

2009-12-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

One of our family traditions is to act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. We all got in on the act this year. Erik was our director, stage manager, and cameraman, and the rest of us played multiple roles.

Olivia was Mary ("Mom, why do I have to be Mary every year?" "Uh, because you're the only girl."), an angel, and a wiseman.

Caleb was Joseph, a shepherd, and very convincing king Herod ("I wanna KILL someone!").

Ben was a shepherd and an angel's helper, and had an impressive knock-down of Joseph at the manger.

Mom played and angel and a wiseman.

I'm not sure if we'll win any Oscars any time soon, but we had a fun time. And it's always a good reminder of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. And I'm not talking about the treats, in case you were wondering. But that's a good guess, considering who you're talking to.

Blood is Thicker Than College Pride...Right?

2009-12-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

While it's true that Erik and I both graduated from BYU, I wouldn't say we are devoted fans. Bacically, I would not consider myself a big sports fan in general. In fact, I will rarely watch a game that doesn't include one of my own children playing.

And while some of you may cringe at the fact that a few days ago we attended a University of Utah basketball game--AND wore red!--let me just explain that our little (read: 7 foot +) nephew David plays on the team. So, for the evening we were Ute fans.

We met up with David's family and were quite the RED cheering section. The only reason there is a white shirt in the group is that he shared his red shirt with his little brother who somehow got his shirt soaking wet.

David unfortunately hurt his ankle so he wasn't able to play in this game. But he was there, cheering on his team. He is the tallest one on the left, dressed all in black.

Here he is on the bench. Observation: these basketball arenas look much smaller in person than they do on TV.

Ben got wiggly, so he and I spent a good deal of the game doing laps up and down the halls. He mangaged to charm all the security people even though they were from the opposing school. He has a powerful smile, this one.

My kids loved playing with their cousins! We are so lucky to live close enough to see each other once in awhile.

To help you understand how tall this kid is, Erik is 6'3" tall, and he is just taller than David's shoulder. This is a guy you have to hug around the waist.

Even so, David's kindness and generosity outshine his extreme height. He is a great kid.... er, man now, I guess. It's weird to see neices and nephews grow up into adults! I am still getting used to that idea.

It was a fun evening, and we are looking forward to seeing him on the court in person one day soon! Go Utes! ...wait, did I just say that? Shhhh, don't tell my alma mater!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

From my family to yours, I hope this Christmas is your best ever!

Temple Lights

2009-12-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

I'm alive! And cannot believe it's almost Christmas and I haven't done a single post in December! I've been having trouble uploading my pictures lately. I work on it for a bit, get frustrated, then give up. I'm hoping it will rectify itself soon--I miss blogging!

Well, let's start off with an activity we did a few weeks ago. Our ward's families met up at the Los Angeles temple for a nice evening of mingling and looking at the beautiful lights. Here is our cute (if I do say so myself) family. We were the only ones there not in jeans. Let's just say it wasn't my idea to dress up. I know, it was good to show the kids we dress up to go to the temple. But it was COLD! I am such a wimp.

They do such a wonderful job of lighting the temple grounds. Everything looked beautiful!

This huge tree on the temple grounds was covered with some sort of mesh net of lights. It looked amazing!

The Primary kids sang a few Christmas songs. They were so cute. This only about 1/4 of our Primary, that's why it looks so small. Afterwards we had doughnuts and hot chocolate, then walked around and looked at the lights. It was a fun evening!

Thanksgiving: The 3 F's

2009-12-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend brings some fun times. We were lucky enough to spend some time on the three essential F's:

1. FAMILY

My sister Angela's family came for the day, and the cousins had so much fun together. They put on a Thanksgiving play (Ben was the turkey), played soccer in the backyard, and watched the movie "Up". We love cousins!! We are grateful they came to visit us for the day.

2. FOOD

We made way too much food (can you say 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes?!) which was absolutely delicious. We had leftovers for days. I love Thanksgiving food! Mmmm, stuffing and mashed potatoes smothered with homemade gravy. Delish!

3. FOOTBALL

Erik played in our ward's Turkey Bowl and was only sore for a couple of days. He did great. We also watched the local high school team play in the regional playoffs. It was exciting to watch. It was also exciting trying to keep Ben from tumbling head-first down the bleachers. I'm sure all the folks around us appreciated him walking back and forth behind them 47 times, patting their backs with his little hand each time. Don't worry, he granted them one of his signature grins so they couldn't get too upset.

...oh, and shopping. I won't post pics of the carnage, but I will tell you my sister and I spent 5 hours at the outlets on Black Friday. Let's just say we had success.

Soccer

2009-11-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday concluded another soccer season. Soccer is big around here, and on any Saturday in the fall you can be guaranteed to run into various friends, neighbors, and acquaintances if you are at the soccer fields. You may have seen me pushing a red stroller and lugging various bags, a soccer banner, and sometimes a cooler. It was quite the juggling act.

This was Olivia's third year, and she did great. Every time she was on the field she gave 110%. She enjoyed playing all the positions. It was her lucky year! She made several goals this season, including a "hat trick" (3 goals) in the last game. The kids always love the tunnel at the end of the game. This was Caleb's first year, and he had a great time with the other silly boys on his team. Daddy was his coach, which made it even more fun.

Caleb did a great job focusing on the ball and not letting it get past him. Mr. Intensity:

Ben and I did lots of cheering for our favorite soccer stars. Hooray for a fun season! And hooray for some newly free Saturdays!

Way Back When-sday

2009-11-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

She's always had great taste!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's a week late, but we had a little, er, mishap on Halloween day. Let's just say,

adorable toddler trick-or-treating for the first time

dead camera battery

tragic :(

But, good mother that I am, I dressed the kids up a week later to recreate and photographically document. "It's for the blog!!"

And now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present....

Coming at you from a time long, long ago and a galaxy far, far away....

Princess Leia:
Obi-Wan Kenobi:and of course, Master Yoda:

Let's take a closer peek at this one, shall we? Once again, his size extra-large noggin doesn't quite accommodate the head gear. But, he's darn cute if I do say so myself.

The gang got all excited to have "matching" costumes this year. We borrowed Yoda's, bought Obi-Wan's (he was originally going to be Luke Skywalker but that costume was nowhere to be found), and my friend helped me make the Princess Leia costume. It was so much fun, and the kids loved it! I must admit, I thought they were adorable.

The big kids last a little longer with their trick-or-treating each year. They got quite the loot! When the handle on Caleb's pumpkin basket broke because it was so heavy, we took that as a sign it was time to go home.

We sorted it all into categories. Yes, I'm weird that way.

The hair's cute, right? I did it myself.

One last pic just because I couldn't leave it out. I love my cute Star Wars characters.

Way Back When-sday: Halloween Edition

2009-11-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

It being Halloween and all, I figured it would be fun to peek at a photo from Halloweens past. This was three years ago, when Liv was 4 years old. She was in the midst of her Princess Stage--everything had to be pink and princess. She loved dressing up as Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for you princess amateurs).

Two-year-old Caleb, on the other hand, wasn't as excited about costume. I'd bought him this adorable cow costume that was warm and snuggly and just so cute. Problem was, he would NOT let me put it on him. He threw a complete fit any time I tried to pull it over his head.

So, when trick-or-treating time came, we improvised. We dressed him in a white button-down shirt, socks, and sunglasses. Boom! Tom Cruise from Risky Business.

Disclaimer: not that I've seen the movie since it's rated R and I don't watch those. But, who hasn't seen the clip of Tom Cruise in that getup?

Quotable Caleb

2009-11-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

This happened a few weeks ago, but it has definite application to post-Halloween week. Plus, I'm still giggling about it.

A few weeks ago I hosted a baby shower. I had bought a few different kinds of candy and set them in bowls around the living room for people to snack on. Hardly anyone ate the candy, so the next day there was quite a bit left over.

Caleb helped himself, and apparently he had been frequenting the candy bowls more often than I had thought, because in the afternoon he sauntered in to the family room and announced: “No more treats for me!”
If he had eaten enough to know that he’d had too much, he must have really overdone it!

I find myself repeating this phrase quite often the past few days. "No more treats, Cynthia. You've had enough."

Then I go sneak some more candy out of my kids' pumpkin baskets. Sigh. I'm hopeless.

Called to Serve

2009-10-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I had the unique opportunity to go to my parents' missionary farewell. They are leaving in a couple of weeks to serve in the Family History Center in Salt Lake City for 18 months.

On Sunday, my parents' entire posterity (5 children, 5 children-in-law, and 16 grandchidren) gathered together to hear them speak in church, share a meal together, and see them set apart as missionaries by the stake president. It was wonderful.

I think it was my mom's idea of heaven, having all of her family together in one room. We took up three long pews at church, and the grandkids sang two of my brother-in-law Matt's songs, I Feel the Spirit and When I Hear the Prophet's Voice.

The cousins had a ball playing together. My parents have a large property, so the kids played a lot of soccer. My dad paid the kids 50 cents a lap to run the 1/4 mile lap he created. Olivia ran 7 laps. That's almost 2 miles!Caleb ran 5. After he ran 2 laps, he proclaimed he was tired and ready to stop. My dad handed over a dollar. Caleb immediately decided to run more laps.

My cousin Virginia, who lives in San Francisco, came up to spend the day with the family. It was so great to see her. When I was growing up, she was always the little kid with curly hair, but now she is a 24-year-old college graduate with confidence and personality to spare. What a great gal. Here she is (in front) with my siblings and me.
We went to my parents' ward, the ward I grew up in, and got to see tons of old friends. I skipped Sunday School (shhh, don't tell) and chatted in the foyer with three guys who I knew as little boys, but now they are all dads! It was strange but really cool to see them all grown up.

I will miss my parents' house since we won't be able to go there while they are gone. They live in such a beautiful area.

But, we will be able to visit my parents in Salt Lake, which I am excited about.

We'll miss you, Mom and Dad!!! We are so excited for you! You will be fabulous missionaries!!!

We've Come a Long Way, Baby

2009-10-16T12:31:00.001-07:00

Eleven years ago today I made the best decision of my life.

Six addresses, 3 kids, and countless bouts of laughter later, I still believe it's the smartest thing I've ever done. Happy anniversary, Honey. I love you so much.

More Projects

2009-10-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

With my older kids in school my brain can finally free up some space to think about projects. Now that we're about through the current wave of babies in the ward, I've been excited about doing some home improvement projects as well.

During a few of the many hours of general conference a couple of weeks ago, I recovered the kitchen chairs. It was time. They were looking pretty shabby. The plastic was ripping off of most of them, and the fabric was getting all dirty. The pictures don't really show how nasty they were in real life.

One of these days I'd like to do a larger-scale kitchen remodel, where we paint the cabinets and walls, get a new stove, and make curtains for the windows. Everything will be color-coordinated and look spiffy. Until then, I just decided to pick out a fabric I like for the kitchen chairs. I figure I can change them later if I really want a different color. For now, red's good. It's kinda fun and tropical-y, I think.

Another project I got excited about doing is putting blinds on all the windows in the living room. This one has had this ugly gray curtain since we've lived here, and the others were bare. When the afternoon sun beats in, our downstairs turns into an oven! So, now that summer is over and it's not as hot anymore, I decided it's finally time to get it done. Thus is the irony of my life.

After the gray curtain came off (you like our Halloween stickers?):
Erik was amazing and put up all the new blinds. I opened the first box and got intimidated. The box stayed there, opened, for a few days. Then Erik decided to take it over and got it all done in a day. Don't they look nice?
Here's another window:

It makes me so happy to have these "new" chairs and nicely covered windows! Every time I pass by them I smile. Next step: some curtains for these windows. But first, I really need to make curtains for my kids' rooms. I've had the fabric for at least 6 months now, after all. I need to just do it. Stay tuned.

Off to Important Business

2009-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

... with fairy wings. And yes, he does wear pants. Sometimes. They just usually don't stay on for long. And I keep failing to photographically document it when he does wear them. Who needs pants anyway, right?

This picture reminds me of a story my sister told me recently. She heard it at stake conference, so it's third-hand, so I haven't verified the details. But it's pretty cute.

Apparently, in the church nursery one Sunday, one of the younger (18 months old-ish) kids was sad and crying. One of the older (3 yrs old) kids went over to comfort him. As the nursery leader snuck behind them up to keep an eye on things, she was surprised to see the older child placing his hands on the younger kid's head. He then proceeded to "administer" a priesthood blessing. "I bless you that you won't cry," and so on. The woman telling the story then remarked, "The best part was, the older kid had fairy wings on!"

Call Me Little Miss Crafty

2009-10-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Are you having a baby? Well, if you are, and you know me, you may now commence to rejoice. Why, you ask? Because, my friends, I am on a baby gift-making roll. I just can't stop making cute baby things, and since my own baby is a toddler already, I'm not going to be getting much use out of them any time soon. And I'm NOT pregnant, so you can just zip your mouth shut about that right now.

I started out making burp cloths. Well, not so much making as sewing ribbons onto. I got really excited about it and bought a whole bunch of ribbon. It seemed every time I went to Michael's or Joann's (which was often, at this point), I found some new adorable ribbon I just had to have.

I gave these to my friend Laura at her baby shower last week. She's having a boy.

I also couldn't resist making her a blanket out of this super-cute monkey fabric:

Next I moved on to the girls. Audrey, don't look unless it's already past Friday. Or, act surprised and thrilled at your baby shower:

I have lots more adorable, coordinating ribbon, so if I don't know you're pregnant, call me! I'll make you some!

Even while I was in the midst of my ribbon-buying spree, I decided I wanted to learn yet another fun craft. My super-talented friend Amy had posted about making some adorable onesies awhile ago, and I suddenly decided I had to learn how to make them RIGHT NOW. Mine are pretty basic, so please don't compare mine to her masterpieces, but I think they're pretty cute:

I realize they aren't all girl onesies and they're on a pink blanket, but I wanted to take a pic before I sent these off in the mail. Here are the rest of the first batch:

Please disregard the fact that some of the images are kind of too small (Superman), and/or crooked (umbrella).

For some reason it was easier for me to think of cute boy ideas. I guess because I have two boys of my own!

My favorite boy ones:

And my fave of the girls:

They are so fun to make! Now if you'll excuse me, there are several more pregnant ladies in my ward so I need to go make some more baby gifts before I decide to move on to the next craft.

Favorite Conference Quote

2009-10-03T20:45:00.001-07:00

Not to have favorites, but I just love Elder Bednar. I always enjoy his talks, and find him to be particularly insightful. He had a quote from General Conference about a year ago that I still think about and remember as profound, and I noticed he used it a couple of times in his talk today.

You ready for it?

You sure?

Here goes:

"What we know is not always reflected in what we do."

So true, Elder B. So true.

For example, I know I should serve with compassion and not murmur about the "difficulties" in my life.

I know I should respond to my childrens' meltdowns with kindness and love, but that's not guaranteed to happen.

I know I should read my scriptures every day, pray with fervor, and read all the Conference talks. But I don't always do this.

Heck, I certainly know I shouldn't eat that second bowl of ice cream (or, arguably, the first), but more often than not, I do that too.

But I'm trying. I'm trying to make my actions consistent with my knowledge. Maybe I should just not learn anything new, so I don't have to aim any higher.

Although, I'm pretty sure that's not what Elder Bednar had in mind.

Rats.

Sights and Sounds of Fall

2009-09-25T14:04:00.001-07:00

Ah, fall! That time of year when summer fades, and you can just feel the change in the air. There are certain sights and sounds that are unique to this season, the visual and aural reminders that yes, autumn has indeed arrived.

Things like....

billows of smoke emanating from the nearest mountain range,

a layer of ash on your car when you wake up in the morning,

the sound of fire engines wailing and helicopters life-flighting,

soccer games that get cancelled due to poor air quality,

lungs that fill with smoke when you take a deep breath,

and kids who inform you they played Heads Up 7-Up for recess since they couldn't play outside.

Welcome to southern California.

Way Back When-sday: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

2009-09-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

This one comes courtesy of my husband, the incomparable Erik. Way back when we were dating and first married, we worked at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. There we had a co-worker named Venita. This is her. Sorry about the poorly scanned photo, I pulled it out of my scrapbook.Incidentally, a few hours after this picture was taken, Erik and I got engaged. Just a fun sidenote that has nothing to do with the story.

So anyway, this story is about Venita and my (kind, loving, friendly) husband. Keep in mind that at the time this incident took place, he was a naive 24-year-old who was eager to meet and befriend everyone.

So we were at a co-ed baby shower for a co-worker in our department. Several co-workers and their spouses/significant others were there, including several unfamiliar faces. Ours was a fairly large department (the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiolgy, in case you were curious), and neither Erik nor I had worked there for very long. Thus, we hadn't met everyone yet. This fact caused me to draw inside my shell, too shy to introduce my newly-graduated-from-college self to all these grown-ups who surrounded me. But Erik, as always, was game to meet new people and extend a hand of friendship to those around him.

Erik walked over to our friend Venita and said hello, then gestured to the woman sitting next to her and asked "Is this your mother?" Now, let the record show that Venita often told stories about her mother, whom she was obviously close to. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that Venita would bring her mother to this event, and Erik wanted to help this unfamiliar-to-him, and thus possibly visiting, woman feel comfortable. Venita responded "This is Mary. She works in our department!"

Venita laughed at this case of mistaken identity. Mary, however, was not as amused. Luckily Erik is just lovable enough that she couldn't stay mad at him for long.

The best (or worst) part of the story is that Venita's mother had died about a year previously. So, there was no physical way she could have brought her mother to the baby shower, even if she'd wanted to!

I Am a Warrior

2009-09-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

And I'm here to save the day!

Bathroom Remodel

2009-09-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

There are so many things in my house that I want to remodel/improve. I am trying to take it one room at a time, but my problem is this:

I get 90% done, then I get bored and move on to the next project. Then, those last few details that will make the room perfectly finished remain undone for weeks, months, yes sometimes even years because I just can't bring myself to do them. So I make lists and include all these tiny little finishing touches, and every day when I pass said room I think "Oh, I've got to put those knobs on" or "One of these days I'll caulk around the toilet." This goes on for, like I said, oftentimes weeks and even months. Rarely years. Once in awhile years. OK, often years. Usually more like months. Which really isn't much better, let's be honest.

And then one day (this day was yesterday for me) I FINALLY decide to just do it, and it takes me a total of 8 minutes to complete everything. Then I proceed to kick myself and repeat "WHY did it take me so long to get around to doing that?!!" Not that I'm dwelling on it. I'm not dwelling. I'm relishing in the fact that our downstairs bathroom is FINALLY done!!! And it's lovely. Wanna see?

Here it is before:

Boring, ugly, with gross wallpaper and carpet. Seriously, the reason people put carpet in a bathroom is beyond me.

We ripped everything out and started from scratch. Caleb looooooved helping with the demolition. And honestly, what five-year-old boy (OK, he was four then) doesn't?

The wallpaper was the worst. It took days and days and DAYS of spraying and scraping to get it all off. Can you tell this is a memory I don't care to relive?

OK, are you ready? Dun-du-DUH!!! Voila, our new and improved, and recently completed, bathroom!
It's hard to get it all in one shot since it's such a small room. Here's the counter, sink, and fixtures. I just love the look of brushed nickel.
Vanity:

Mirror and lights. The walls are a mossy green color.
Travertine floors. Erik cut them all with a wet saw which made even more of a mess than the wallpaper, but wetter. I laid all the tile myself. I loooove how it turned out. It looks kinda yellowish here, but it's actually more of a tan color.
The picture that inspired the color sheme:

I'm so happy with it! Now I can move on to other projects guilt-free, right? Except I'm already knee-deep in finishing up the kids' rooms and ready to move on to the living room. Oh, and then the kitchen needs some work....

Shiny Happy Yellow

2009-09-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

I never did post about this in the summer when it actually happened, but we got our house painted! It was badly in need of a new paint job, and we figured we may as well pick a color we like better than boring old gray (no offense if you have a gray house). I have always wanted a yellow house, so we decided to go for it!

We first chose a few yellows from the teeny-tiny 2-square inch samples and the painter painted larger patches of them on the house so we could see them. Can you say NEON YELLOW?!!

I think our neighbors were getting worried. But, we toned it way down, and I love how it turned out! The color we chose is the furthest one away in this next picture. A small patch of it looks like a light beige, but when you apply it to an entire two-story house it's a nice creamy yellow.First they primed it,

then came the yellow paint! It was so exciting to see the house transform before my eyes!

I think it looks great with the white trim, don't you? Please pardon these last two pictures; apparently I am incapable of taking a straight up-and-down photo. Do you think my head is crooked? Don't answer that.I also wanted a red door, but Erik wasn't quite ready for that kind of commitment. So, we stuck with white. I am going to work on him... But I do think the white is just dandy, don't get me wrong.

I love my new yellow house. It's such a happy color! If you live in the area come over and see it! Heck, even if you don't live in the area come over and see it! Me and my yellow house would love to see you!

Slimy

2009-09-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I was on the phone, Ben found the one-gallon jug of bubble solution. He somehow managed to get the lid off, and by the time I found him he was sitting in a rapidly growing puddle of slippery, slimy liquid.

Think he had fun?

The best part was when he stood up and tried to walk. He was sliding everywhere. Good thing he has a well-cushioned bum.

Ah, to be a one-year-old and discover the world for the first time! Everything is new and exciting!

Old Man

2009-09-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not just the first day of school, it was the birthday of the patriarch of our family. That's right, Erik's as old as me now. The kids get a big kick out of the fact that I'm 6 months older. Whenever we take turns doing something in order of age in a feeble attempt to minimize arguing among siblings (youngest in the family always goes first), Olivia is sure to point out that Daddy gets to go before Mommy.
I'll admit I'm a little relieved that for the next six months, we will be the same age again. Saves me a lot of hassle.

In typical Rasmussen fashion we had an extravegent, over-the-top celebration. It consisted of a homemade dinner, a few presents from Big Lots (the local Dollar Store closed down, so we had to find a new go-to gift store), and (Daddy's favorite) a storebought cheesecake adorned with whatever leftover candles we could scrounge up.

Ben wanted to help Daddy open his gifts.
Pardon the belly hanging out over his shorts. He got his shirt dirty at dinner and I was too lazy to go upstairs to get a new one. It's a good thing tummy rolls are cute at his age. Heaven knows they're not nearly as adorable on me.
"Oh, wow! Strawberry scented car freshener and a tire brush! Just what I always wanted!" Actually, Ben was more excited about the tire brush than anyone. He wouldn't let go of it all night.
Yes, I decided to go with the baby cheesecake over the huge, decadent, 12-piece one. Because let's face it, who is home all day with easy access to the leftovers? My tummy rolls would never forgive me. They would just multiply. And then my pants wouldn't fit, and I would cry. And then eat more cheesecake. Believe me when I say I know how this works. I've been there before.

But enough about me. Happy 35th to the best, most helpful and kind husband a gal could want, the most playful and patient daddy, and the most fun and creative statistician ever (yes, it's possible to be a fun statistician)!

Happy Birthday, Babe! We love you!!!

First Day

2009-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Today was the day. Back to a routine, a schedule. Crazy mornings putting shoes on, lunches made, backpacks ready. Quiet days with just one kid at home, and that one taking a long nap (please let that remain!). Crazy again in the afternoon, with everyone telling of their day, complaining of their hunger, and ready to fall over from heat exhaustion. Earlier bedtimes (hooray!!), and then we do it all over again.

Welcome back to school!!!This year we've got a second grader and a kindergartener. It will feel strange to drop them both off every morning. But he is so ready to join the ranks of the "big kids."

This one, thankfully, has a few more years at home with Mom.

Yes, we needed a wagon to tote the multitude of school supplies required for two kids.

It was a family morning, getting them settled into their classrooms and off on their first day.

Already hard at work.

It's only been four hours and it seems like they've been gone forever. Can't wait to pick them up and see how it went!

Sister Time!

2009-08-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

My baby sister came to visit us for a couple of days, and we had so much fun! First off, I don't know why I insist on calling her my baby sister ...perhaps because she's the only younger sibling I've got, and with five kids in the family, you take whatever slight upper hand you can get.

She has two adorable girls, and our kids had a ball playing together. The first night they were here, Olivia asked "Mommy, why does Aunt Jessica look exactly like you?" My reply? "Because she's beautiful!" Seriously though, I don't think we look that much alike, but maybe that's because I see myself every day.

We enjoyed playing at the neighborhood pool.

We haven't been to the pool much this summer, since Ben is at that age where he will just crawl/walk right into the pool, and I have to watch him every second. He is so funny though, I just have to laugh at his antics. That's a purple dive toy in his mouth.

This one is called My Mom Dressed Me in a Too-Small Shirt and Too-Big Shorts. Poor third child.

Another day, we fed the ducks and went on the swings at the park.

Five little cousins, all in a row:

Of course, no visit is complete without treats! We tried out a new frozen yogurt place, and it was yummy! Ben preferred eating the chalk over the actual yogurt.

The last day of her visit, we went to see yet another sister who also lives in the area, and we all spent the day together before leaving Jessica and her girls there to play for a couple more days.

The three little boys all happened to be wearing their red tie-dye shirts we made at our 4th of July get-together.

Thanks for coming to visit us Jessica, Haley, and Lindsay! We love you!!!

Way Back When-sday: the Gardiners

2009-08-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned here, we had a really fun time in Utah visiting some old friends we hadn't seen in awhile. One of those couples was the Gardiners, our pals from University of Michigan graduate school days. I still remember our collective first Sunday, when all us newbies had to stand and introduce ourselves in Relief Society. Angee stood up and I thought "Hooray, a tall one!" We've been friends ever since.

Several of us in the "newly married, no kids yet" group had fun together, doing game nights and other fun activities. Looking back, we should have done more while we had the chance! One night we decided to party like it was 1999. Granted, it WAS 1999 and this was as party-licious as we got. We had a few couples over for pumpkin carving and pizza. Here are Roger and Angee with their pumpkin. Roger is imitating the facial expression on the pumpkin. Aren't they cute?!

To be fair, here are me and Erik on the same night. Our annual jack-o-lanterns look suspiciously similar to this one. I believe I'm to blame for that one. I need to get more creative with my pumpkin carving.
After grad school we dispersed and lost touch, but were so thrilled to catch up with our dear friends once again just a few weeks ago. I think they look exactly the same, except now they have four adorable kids to call their own.

Here's hoping it won't be another 10 years before we get together again! We love you guys!

Parent to Child

2009-08-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

These fine specimen are my parents.

This morning I dropped them off at the airport after a quick visit to see their cute and fun fourth child. It was great to see them, and hard to see them go. They helped us with home improvement projects (more on that later), played with the kids, and basically worked themselves to the bone for 2.5 days straight. As I blubbered my way home, alone in the car, I reflected on the fact that once you're someone's kid, you're always their kid. Just as once you're a parent, you're always a parent. Time and age don't change those cold, hard facts.

I mean, I'm 35 years old, and I like to think I'm a fairly independent, capable person. I have a husband, three children, a house, and a minivan. I manage to keep my children fed and clothed and even entertained sometimes . I've always held a calling at church, and am dependable and helpful to others. But darn it, I still need my Mommy and Daddy.

It's funny, don't you think, that no matter how old we get, we still need support and encouragement and approval from our parents. For example, when my parents were here, I found myself wanting to show them projects I'd completed, closets I'd organized, and pieces I could play on the piano. In effect I was saying "Mom! Dad! Look at me! See what I've done! Tell me I've done a good job!" And it made me realize, maybe I should have more patience when my children are doing the same thing to me. After all, that's a major part of being a parent. Telling these people you've created that they can do it, they can navigate life's waters successfully because they are talented, capable, fabulous people. And by golly, they just manufactured the most beautiful craft project I've ever seen.

As I was walking around Home Depot with my dad, picking up supplies and watching him argue with the electrician on staff about high-tech electrical things I knew nothing about, I was transported back in time. Suddenly I was six years old, out on an important errand with my dad. Just the two of us. We didn't have deep conversations, but we spent time together on a project, building and measuring and drilling and leveling. And I loved it. I loved being with my dad, just him and me, learning from his experience and expertise, and seeing him proud of me.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to visit. And for working so hard to help me and my family. I truly appreciate it. And I love you. And I know I'm your favorite, but I won't tell the others. Don't worry, the secret's safe with me. :o)

Just Like Riding a Bike

2009-08-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a fun activity for Enrichment Night. We went biking through the mountains, ending up at the beach where we had dinner and enjoyed the view.

Now, lest you assume this is a common activity for me, let me assure you that it had been at least a decade since I'd even been on a bike. I had to borrow one from a friend (she's pregnant, so didn't participate in the biking portion of the evening). As I was putting the bike in the car before I left, Caleb inquired with surprise "Mommy, you know how to ride two wheels?!"

That just goes to show you how rusty my skills were. But, I managed to make it through without even falling once. Of course, I think it's difficult to fall when you're only going 10 meters per hour.

It was really pretty, especially in the setting sun.
Some parts we had to walk:

We encountered some fun wildlife on our trek. We saw two tarantulas, and a deer.
Lori and Janelle getting ready for the big downhill portion:

It was really fun, and despite my complaints of a sore bum the next day (which in turn prompted many giggles from my children), I'm looking forward to doing it again next year! After all, I CAN ride two wheels now.

Utah Part III: The Family Reunion

2009-08-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time at Erik's family reunion. Aside from his sisters Kristina, and Lois and her family, who was great with child and living in Texas, everyone showed up for three days of relaxing, eating, enjoying nature, and family bonding. We went here:

It was beautiful:

We had a few cabins to fit the numerous family members. This one was ours:

We really enjoyed being with everyone: playing games, talking, playing pool, and hanging out with cousins. Caleb is lucky enough to be one of four 5-year-old cousins. One morning when we started walking from our cabin to the main one, we saw a HUGE moose nibbling on the bushes. We waited until he was finished with his breakfast to go get ours.

Mexican train dominoes and Rummikub were the favorite games. You have to bend down pretty far to reach the pool table when you're over 7 feet tall.

I braved a hike with two brothers-in-law and assorted nieces and nephews. It was pretty arduous--three hours long!--but SO beautiful.

One of the days we went to Lake Jordanelle near Heber City. It was pretty windy but still lots of fun. The older kids took turns on the jet ski, and a few of the uncles took turns giving canoe rides to the little ones.

It was a great reunion! We can't wait for the next one in two years!!! Good thing there will probably be wedding bells to bring us all together before then...

Oh, and by the way, everyone in the following picture is just standing on the ground. No boxes or benches are stood upoon. I TOLD you they were tall! I'm in the orange shirt (yes, the SAME one from the other pictures...I did laundry, OK?). Gotta love feeling petite for once...

Utah Trip: Friends and Family

2009-08-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun to realize how many friends and family members we have in Utah. This trip, we decided to see everyone we could. We saw lots of family, including Grandma Rasmussen (and the rest of the Rasmussen clan, stay tuned for that in a THIRD post); my Uncle John who very kindly put us up for four nights; my dad's cousin and mom's dear friend Janet Calder; my adorable cousins Sally and Amy who just happened to be out visiting their mom the same week we were in town; and my aunt Bonnie and cousin Barb. Whew! And that's just a fraction of who lives out there. Next time we need to catch the rest of the Bryner clan.

We also saw various friends from different times in our lives. Most of these folks we hadn't seen in 8-10 years, but it was like it had only been a week. I guess it's true that true friendships stand the test of time. We saw our friends Roger and Angee from grad school days (who both look EXACTLY the same, by the way), and our girls bonded over the fact that they were both born at the University of Michigan hospital. I also got to see some old roommates: Jamie, April, and Lyndy from Campus Plaza days (those are April's adorable twins in the corner. Each of these amazing ladies has a set of twins!! Then why do I look the most tired?), and Jill and Cheri from the Riv (we missed you, Maren!).

You may have noticed that I am wearing the same shirt (in two different colors) in every picture. Yes, I do own more than two shirts, but I happen to love these ones. The Tar-jhay clearance rack is my friend, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

We spent a fun evening with Erik's old roommate Sam and his cute family. We had FHE and played at the park. The men played tennis, and the kids bounced balls and ran through the sprinklers. Our girls are the same age, yet Sam and Shauna are expecting #5. Between them and all the twins (not to mention Lyndy's 8 kids), we started feeling a little bit behind. Then I remembered I can barely make it through the day with my emotions and my childrens' limbs intact and realized, maybe we're good for now. I love this picture of Ben in the swing.

Utah Trip, Phase One

2009-08-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

As previously stated, we had so much fun on our trip to Utah last week. I took way too many pictures, so I'll have to separate this into a few different posts to get it all in. First off, the kids did great on the 11 hour drive. We were packed in tight and driving through some pretty desolate areas. In Vegas the temp got up to 109! Crazy!! I think southern Utah is so beautiful with all the red rock.

Utah is a pretty unique place. I love it, but it makes me laugh at the same time. Everything is cheaper, from gas to homes to cold cereal--it was on sale at Smith's for $1.49 a box! I stocked up. I later regretted it when we were driving home with barely room to breathe in the car. Erik loves cinnamon bears, although they are hard to find in California. In Utah, they are everywhere!! You can buy a 5-lb. bag of them at Smith's. The mountains really are beautiful, I'd forgotten how big they really are. We went out to eat at Training Table, a favorite from the college days--that one's for you, Erik T.!

One of the things we had to do was take our kids to our alma mater, a.k.a. The BYU (as my grandma would have said). They knew we were going to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house later that day, so as we entered the Talmage Building (mine and Erik's old stomping grounds), Caleb inquired "Is this the temple?" My response? "It's a temple of sorts, my son. The temple of Math." I don't know when I've been more proud. Caleb got a cool camo BYU hat, and Liv was fascinated when I explained to her that anywhere she saw a piano around campus, kids had church on Sundays.

We're Ba-ack...

2009-08-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

Whew, I'm pooped! We had a fun and fabulous time in Utah, seeing lots of family and friends, admiring temples from afar and a-near, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and having an all-and-all great trip. The kids were troopers in the car, and everyone (except the mom) slept really very well.

Now that I'm home and back in touch with the world, I realize how much can happen in a mere 10 days. John Hughes died (sad--I loved Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off... pretty much anything he directed). Melissa is the new Food Network Star (yay! I really liked her). And Paula is off American Idol (it's about time), only to be replaced by Posh Spice (huh?!?).

Amid all this turmoil, it's nice to know there are a few constants in the world, like Jon and Kate's marital problems and the mystery paternity of Michael Jackson's kids.

Report of our fun, fun trip coming soon! Good thing I only have 600 photos to sift through.

Way Back When-sday

2009-07-29T17:08:00.001-07:00

We are getting ready for a trip to the Mother Land in a couple of days. That's right my friends, we're making the trek to Utah. We will be there for ten days of visiting various family and friends, attending a family reunion, showing the kids our old stomping grounds (BYU), and maybe we'll even get to see a same-sex couple kiss on Temple Square!

One of the things I'm most excited about is seeing various friends that we haven't seen in YEARS. I must be getting old because a decade just slipped by with my barely even realizing it. So anyway, I had big plans (well, big as far as a blog post goes) to post old pictures of the friends I will get to see again. But, our printer/scanner/copier decided to die today. So, we're stuck with something I already had scanned in for my personal history.

Behold, Cynthia the Eight-Year-Old Pianist.
Because I have a seven-year-0ld, I think I look pretty big for eight here. Not sure if the photo was mislabeled (not likely, given my mother's organized ways), so I guess I really was just always tall. I think this was at a Young Artist's Festival--remember those? It was like a talent show for all the kids in the ward. My sisters and I were regular participants. I have no idea what I played, but I'm looking pretty snazzy in the green quilted jumper, knee-high socks, and blouse who's sleeves are too short for my monkey arms.

Little did I know at the time how familiar this would become: sitting at a piano at church. It is a spot I am very familiar with and where I feel quite comfortable. I'd much rather sit on a piano bench than stand at a pulpit, that's for sure!

Get excited for the next installment of Way Back When-sday because I WILL be posting photos of the friends I am so excited to see next week!

Play that Funky Music

2009-07-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a fireside. The one and only Chieko Okazaki was the speaker, and I was thrilled at the chance to hear her speak. I have loved her since my college days when she was in the general Relief Society presidency. I think she is so cheerful and uplifting and full of hope. So, I called up a friend from the ward, and while her husband and kids had a "daddy date" with my husband and kids, we trotted off to the stake center to be spiritually uplifted and edified.

All was going fine as we sat there in our chairs 20 minutes before the meeting was to begin (I wanted to get good seats). I excitedly pointed out Sister Okazaki sitting on the stand. So my friend and I are sitting there chatting, and suddenly I stop mid-sentence and exclaim "There's no prelude music! Where's the pianist? There should be prelude music!" My friend was like "Huh? Didn't even notice."

Now, I should let you in on a little secret. Some of you may already know this about me, but I am a bit of a church music snob. I guess it comes from years and years of serving in music callings in the church. I am kind of strict about the "rules" of appropriateness as far as what's OK to do for a musical number, the tempo of certain hymns ("Too fast! Let us catch our breath! Too sloooooow. This is going to take 20 minutes to sing."), and how long the acccompanist should be playing prelude music before the meeting begins.

So I notice there's no prelude music, and I have this inner dilemma. Should I go up and volunteer to play some prelude music? After all, it really sets the tone for the meeting and helps people feelt the spirit and prepare themselves for the meeting ahead. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but Sister Okazaki is practically a general authority, for heaven's sake! Ultimately, I stayed put and breathed a sigh of relief when the pianist FINALLY breezed in at five minutes till. Crisis averted.

But then, the music just went downhill from there. The opening hymn was "Let Us All Press On" and I'm pretty sure the pianist was trying to win a race for Quickest Hymn Ever. I seriously was barely able to catch my breath. Then came the special musical number.

Let me just intercept here for a minute and explain that this fireside was sponsored by the singles ward. And not to say anything bad about singles wards, but things seemed just a tad--uh--disorganized, shall we say? Perhaps less than appropriate? This was your warning. Read on at your own risk.

So anyway, this girl gets up to sing the musical number and it's a song I've never heard of. It's nice, it's about hope, but it's waaaay too pop-y. Think American Idol here, folks. The girl--who I must admit had a very pretty voice--was seriously about to pull the microphone out of the pulpit and start walking around with it. Add this to the fact that she was quite--er, well-endowed--and her shirt was a tad snug and low-cut. Let's just say, I was a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing. I studied my hands for most of the duration of the song.

Then came time for Sister Okazaki to speak. It was wonderful, she is wonderful, and I took lots of good notes. She told great stories, shared scriptures, made us laugh, and helped us feel the spirit. Not bad for a woman of almost 83 years. She was absolutely lovely.

Then came time for the SECOND musical number. I held my breath as they introduced the violinist. She is from Japan but is living in Germany and plays in an orchestra there. Sounds like she has great credentials, but I'm not sure she speaks English and am fairly certain she's not Mormon, so the potential for confusion is pretty high. Turns out she is here on vacation, and apparently the family she's staying with is LDS said "So, you wanna do a special musical number at a fireside?"

So she gets up to play and starts adjusting the music stand which is between the piano and organ, you know where the chorister stands? As she's trying one-handed to get it adjusted (it's stuck in the all-the-way-down position so it's super short), someone from the congregation stands up and calls "Can she move it up to the front?" I assume so everyone can see her better. OK, that's a little embarrassing. Don't hear someone calling out from the audience every day (unless you're in the Alma branch, right Maren?). But she moves it, they put the music stand on the step they use for the little kids to reach the pulpit, and she spends the next 7 minutes turning things this way and that, trying to work it so she is close enough to the music to see it, but it's higher up so the music is tall enough. She finally ends up standing somewhat precariously on the little step of the stepstool while her music stand sits atop the stepstool, and her back is to the audience. She is facing Sister Okazaki, so at least she got a front-row seat.

FINALLY after all that hullaballoo, the music begins. She plays "Abide With Me" and it's absolutely gorgeous. The arrangement is beautiful, the pianist is talented, and the violinist is clearly a master. It's the perfect way to end the meeting. So she finishes the song, the guy walks up to the pulpit to say the closing prayer, and the violinist...starts tuning her violin again. The pianist leaves the piano and sits down for the prayer. She whispers and points to the violinist "Sit down!" But she stays put. They have an earnest whispered conversation, then the pianist blushes, returns to the piano, and starts playing a second song. This one is upbeat and classical--jig-like, if you will. The prayer guy sits down, and we all sit and listen. It's a very nice song, but just seems completely out of place at this point in time. It's all very strange. Oh, and during this song she starts to lose her balance on that teeny tiny first step and the stake presidency member jumps up to catch her. She keeps playing without missing a beat--the consummate professional. So she finishes with a flourish and a satisfied grin, bows, and everyone starts clapping! It was so weird!!!

Finally, when the applause dies down, the closing prayer is said. The second it's over I turn to my friend and say "Let's get out of here!" So we book it out of there to the sound of--you guessed it--NO postlude music. So that gets me started all over again. "There's no postlude! You need postlude music after the meeting's over! She's practically a general authority, for heaven's sake..."

It was, without a doubt, the strangest musical experience I've ever had at an LDS meeting. But at least it makes for a good story!

Too Fast

2009-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, we ushered in new phase of life. A new era, if you will. And I'm not sure I can handle it.

One moment, my baby has lots of long, fine baby hair.

The next, he is shorn like a sheep on a hot summer's day.

The problem isn't that his hair is shorter. I'm not attached to the hair, per say. I guess I'm just attached to the babyhood that it represents. You see, once you cut a boy's hair, their look completely changes. They pass from baby to toddler in about 3.2 seconds. And I'm not sure I'm ready for him to start growing up.

I'm not exactly sure why I'm having such a meltdown about a simple haircut. After all, this IS my third kid. It's not like I'm unaware of the millions of milestones he has ahead of him: words he will say, physical feats he will achieve, tantrums he will throw, sports he will play. And hey, a haircut is pretty minor when compared to walking (he STILL won't do it!), uttering coherent, recognizable words, pooping in the potty (I was reading a child development book recently and it was actually talking about starting to potty train! I was like "Uh, OK, maybe we'll start thinking about that a couple of years from now.").

I guess to me, the haircut represents a major break away from babyhood and into boyhood--stinky, sloppy, dirty boyhood.

Still, I'm not sure why I'm feeling so sentimental. Ben may or may not be our last baby. Probably not. So I'll most likely get to experience --if nothing else second-hand--the sweet smell and cuddliness of babyhood again in my life.

Maybe BECAUSE he's my third child, I recognize how very fast they do grow up, how one day you're holding your baby and the next he toddles away from you, off to explore the big, scary world (or the backyard) on his own.

It makes me want to hold on to him and scream "You're growing up too fast! Slow down!" Not that I haven't enjoyed his babyhood. I have. I've tried to savor every moment, every smile and giggle and thigh roll (his, not mine). For I know that before too long, he will be too big to comfortably cuddle on my shoulder or rock to sleep in my arms.

If only they could stay babies just a little while longer. For today, I will just love and cuddle and enjoy my toddler, before he hits preschooler age. Oh, heaven help me.

Way Back When-sday

2009-07-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

This morning as my very capable five-year-old yelled upstairs to me, tearfully asking for help in pulling his pajama top off (as he does every morning), I was reminded of a scenario in his recent history.

A couple of years ago, when Caleb was about 3 years old,

I pulled out his t-shirts after a winter of long-sleeved weather. As I pulled and tugged the now-too-small shirt over his large-to-begin-with noggin, Caleb began to cry. "Mommy," he wailed, "my head is very big, you know?"

Yes, buddy, I know. Boy do I ever know.

Let's Take a Closer Look

2009-07-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

After I posted pictures of our Fourth of July trip, I decided this family photo deserved a post of it's very own.

The funny thing about this picture is that we were actually trying to get a good family photo. Notice the solid-colored shirts, all of them clean to boot. We even spaced out the matching blue shirts so they weren't right next to each other. Also notice the nice woodsy background, full of nature and what-not. All the foundations of a nice family photo, right?

Didn't quite turn out that way. Well, YOU be the judge:

Not that I was necessarily looking for frame-worthy, I just wanted one with all of us in it. Well, with me in it where I don't have that "I'm-taking-the-picture-so-my-face-is-at-a-weird-angle" thing going on. I seriously am the only one who takes pictures in this family. And I really thought we might have a winner here. Apparently not. I love how Erik is doing something weird with his mouth, I have an odd look on my face, and my normally photogenic children all look grumpy. Well, let's be honest. They WERE grumpy. After all, they had just stood and smiled nicely with their entire extended family for the requisite multiple rounds of a large-group photo.

Sigh. Sometimes you just take what you can get, I suppose. Even if it's an odd, almost-unpleasant-looking photograph of yourself and the ones you love best in the world. After all, this might be an accurate representation of us on certain days, right?

Our Fun-Filled Weekend

2009-07-06T17:55:00.001-07:00

Not that I want to spend 7 hours in a car with a sleep-deprived, I-want-out-of-my-carseat-NOW one-year-old every day, but it was worth it to see all of my family over the July 4th weekend. My kind brother

willingly hosted the whole shindig, and we packed a lot of fun into just two days together.

The most popular point of interest was the pool.

It included a slide, and some of the kids proved their bravery by going down it again and again.

Some people enjoyed the pool more than others (these two cuties are sisters).

Don't forget the hot tub!

One night we had a luau

where we ate lots of yummy food.

Here are all the cousins (minus Ben who was having an "I-don't-know-these-people-and-I-haven't-slept-much-in-the-past-two-days" meltdown).

A pretty good-looking bunch, I'd say.

Some other obvious Fourth of July festivities included:

singing with Uncle Matt,

playing with our new homemade weapons,

reading Shannon's latest book,

failed attempts at a nice family photo,

modeling the latest in tie-dyeing fashionwear,

and having an Extreme Ice Cream Sundae free-for-all.

All in all, a great time!

It was so fun to see everyone, many of whom I hadn't seen in an entire year. That is waaaaaaay too long. I'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again. Hopefully that means I can look forward to spending 7 hours in a car with a sleep-deprived, I-want-out-of-my-carseat-NOW one-and-a-half-year-old! Lucky me....

Have you ever wondered...

2009-06-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

...what 1,200 pounds of food storage looks like???

Well, look no further my friend, because here it is!

That's right, we FINALLY made the plunge and got a nice start on our food storage. Am I the only one who has felt guilty for the past decade because I didn't have sufficient food storage? It's one of those things that has nagged me for so long, but I just didn't know how to get started. However, thanks to a local woman who spends probably hundreds of hours in organizing a huge multi-stake Walton feed order, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought some staples. Finally.

I'm not sure if I thought it would look like more or less than this, but I'm feeling pretty confident that my family won't starve any time soon. Need to borrow a cup of sugar? I'm your gal. Out of flour? Look no further. Heck, need a few pounds of raw wheat? Give me a call. I even have a wheat grinder. Of course, it's still in the box.... but we can figure out how it works later... right?

They Finally Did It

2009-06-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it took five weeks of hard work but the kids finally completed these:

which translated into their receiving these:

Olivia completed hers a couple of days before her brother, so we got to make two special trips to Target to buy their new scooters and helmets. It was good for them to each have their own trip, complete with effusive praise for a job well done over the past several weeks, and speculation about how much fun they will have riding their brand-new scooter.

All told, I think it was a good experience for them. I'll admit, at times I thought fifty jobs may have been on the excessive side. Their interest and begging for more jobs to do waned after a couple of weeks, but they did complete all 50 jobs, and I wasn't easy on them. They had to work hard for these scooters. Which I'm hoping will help them appreciate these hard-earned prizes all the more.

This afternoon we went to the park just to give them a chance to break in their new scooters. They loved it, and I was so happy for them and proud of them for earning something they will use and enjoy for several years to come. Good job, kids!

Way Back When-sday

2009-06-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

This is Ben one year ago. He was three months old.

I love his bald little head, and his happy grin. I don't think he looks a thing like he does now, but maybe that's because I see him every day. The only similarity I see is that he is super cute both then and now.

Father's Day

2009-06-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband who loves and supports me and willingly helps with the kids, even when it's supposed to be his day off. This is a guy whose kids adore him and, dare I say, prefer him over me. I think it has something to do with the fact that he plays Transformers and Rocket Ship and Ogre with them. I just make them do chores.

They sure look sweet, don't they? Wait a second....

Ah, that's more like it! I sure love these cute, crazy people!

Grandma's Visit

2009-06-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week Erik's mom came to visit for a few days. It's always fun to see Grandma. The kids love having visitors.

Having a visitor gave us an excuse to take some fun field trips. One day we went here:

It was beautiful.

We had fun digging in the sand, playing in the waves, and enjoying the view.

There was also a zip line there, which suprisingly, both kids went on multiple times. Guess they're growing up and they're not as scared as they once were. And from their huge smiles, I'd say they enjoyed it.
Another day we visited the Getty Museum. We've lived here for 3 1/2 yrs and finally visited this major attraction.

It was really beautiful and interesting. It was nice to expose our kids to some culture for once.

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandma! It was fun to see you!

Fun Family Times

2009-06-19T22:15:00.001-07:00

We've had lots of fun things going on the past week and I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. It all started last weekend, when we drove down to visit Erik's sister and see this handsome guy graduate from high school. He is our nephew Jacob and I can't believe he is so grown-up already. Here he is with his proud parents.

We attended his Baccalaureate ceremony (I had never heard of it before, but it was basically a smaller ceremony with a few speakers and musical numbers) where his big bro, the recently returned missionary, was the featured speaker. David is pretty dang tall (7 ft +) so they had some difficulty getting the microphone high enough for him to speak into. Yes, that is a full-grown man next to him.

There were a heck of a lot of people there, and we were proud of how well David did on his talk. That's him way back there at the podium.

The next day was David's homecoming talk at church, which was also great. I didn't get to hear much since I was out in the foyer with Mr. Irreverent Wiggly-Pants, but everyone said it was wonderful. Here's our family with the the valiant RM.

There was lots of family visiting to see and support these two fine young men. We were all pleased with their accomplishments and are proud to call them nephews/grandsons/cousins.

A Whole Handful

2009-06-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

My eldest son turned five years old yesterday.

It's hard to believe it's been five whole years. Caleb has added so much to our family. Five of my favorite things about him are:

1. He is a peacemaker. When his sister started to cry because he wasn't playing with the toy she gave him for his birthday, he willingly went over and started to play with it. Once when he and I were playing Monopoly and I started running out of money (secretly rejoicing inside because that meant the game was almost over), he offered to give me some of his money.

2. Caleb loves to have fun. If there is fun to be had, he can find it. When he sees other kids playing at the park, he easily asks if he can join in. He's always asking "What are we going to do today that's fun?"

3. He is silly and easily laughs at himself. He doesn't mind making a fool of himself to get a laugh.

4. He mispronounces words and I don't correct him because it's so adorable. He'll say "be-structions" instead of "instructions"--how cute is that?

5. If Caleb had to choose two food groups to subsist on for the rest of his life, he would choose chips and treats. The boy loves his Cheetos, and can often be heard asking for a treat before 8:00 in the morning. If I didn't feel a parental responsibility to say no, I would totally pull out the brownies and gorge on them along with him.

For his birthday, we had a small family party. He chose funfetti cake with orange-colored frosting and gummy bears on top. He arranged the gummy bears himself.

Make a wish!

He also got some good loot. We've especially been having fun with the marble run the past couple of days. He seemed concerned when I told him I was going to play with his toys when he's at kindergarten in the fall because he got such fun toys. "Just play with them a little bit, Mom, and don't break anything, OK?"

His greatest wish for his birthday was to go to Chuck E. Cheese. So, I braved it with the three kids during the crowded, sweaty afternoon.

Erik offered to meet us there after work, but I figured it was less painful to just take them so I wouldn't have to listen to him ask every five minutes when were we going to go. And after seeing this face, I'd say it was worth it.

Poor Ben was so tired. He was missing naptime.

Luckily we were in and out pretty quick. I love that they can be so happy with one crappy little toy and a mini tootsie pop apiece. Ah, to be young and have low expectations!

We've had fun discovering all the new and improved things Caleb can do now that he's five. "I think you can jump higher now that you're five." "Can I run faster now that I'm five?" "Mommy, I think I can pump higher on the swing now that I'm five!" Yes, buddy, it's true. I think you really can.

Happy Birthday, kid. We sure love ya.

It's Really Over

2009-06-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

Way back in August, on the first day of school,

it's hard to believe the last day of school will ever come. It seems so far away. But come it does, and the past couple of days have brought this school year to a close for us. Say good-bye to our preschooler and first grader,

and hello to our new kindergartener and second grader!

It's amazing to me how much they changed from the first day of school to the last day of school.

Let summer begin!!!

Way Back When-sday

2009-06-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

I found this one of Olivia when she was 1 1/2... I think she looks so much like Ben here! She was dressed up as a teddy bear for Halloween. She had--and still has--a very special teddy bear. Back then, Teddy was her constant companion, everywhere she went. He even sat on the table next to her highchair. Now he hangs out alone in her room until bedtime. Thus, the teddy bear costume. I can hardly remember her this young. And it's fun to see resemblances between siblings.

Note to Self:

2009-06-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wait until AFTER the Family Home Evening treat is served to bathe the baby and get him all ready for bed.

Otherwise, you'll just have to do it all over again.

Way Back When-sday: My Shrimpy Hubby

2009-06-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old pictures last night and giggled when I came upon this one that was taken at our wedding reception.

If you haven't ever met my husband it won't be very meaningful to you. But, I assume most of you have. Erik is in the middle in this picture, and he is 6'3". Now, that's fairly tall. He's usually among the tallest in the room at any sort of gathering.... that is, unless the gathering includes his family.
These are Erik's brothers (and one brother-in-law who has been in the family since Erik was 10). My family and I thought it was so hilarious that Erik looked so short and we kept taking pictures. Erik and his brothers didn't get it, but they gamely posed for the "in-law paparazzi."

I still get a kick out of the fact that most places we go, Erik and I are one of the taller couples, and in my family we are both the tallest of our gender by a couple of inches apiece. But when we get together with Erik's family, we are the shorties. My neck gets kind of cricked from looking up so much.

Green Monster

2009-06-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when the baby gets ahold of a green marker and the older brother and sister are in charge while Mom and Dad are upstairs getting ready in the morning.

"Don't take it away from him, let him keep chewing on it! It will be soooo funny!"

Make 'Em Work For It

2009-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

As a parent, I struggle with teaching my kids to work for what they get. In this world of over-abundance, I don't want them to expect that the world owes them anything, much less everything their greedy little hearts desire. I worry when I hear them say "I want it" and when I respond "Well, we're not getting it" they reply "But I WANT it!," thinking that wanting something badly enough somehow entitles them to get it. I want them to do chores and contribute to the family without whining and complaining the whole time... maybe that's a useless hope. But I do expect them to help out around the house, and have great desires to teach them to work hard and not be afraid of hard work.

Am I alone in this train of thought? Does anyone else feel this way?

Anyway, the reason I tell you all this is because I've been wanting to get them new scooters. Caleb still has a 3-wheeler, and Olivia's is just old and falling apart. But, I didn't want to just give them to them. So, I came up with an idea. I decided they can earn new scooters by doing 50 jobs apiece. And I didn't want it to be like "Oh, pick up five toys, that's a sticker." I've been having them vacuum entire rooms, clean 4 windows inside and out, sweep the kitchen, fold laundry, etc. Granted, Olivia has much higher abilities than her little brother, so I try to keep the jobs age-appriopriate. So far it's going well, and my house has never been so clean. This is how far they've gotten in the first week:

Little Miss Competitive always has to be sure she has the most stickers on her chart.

The enthusiasm has waned a bit, and I'm hoping they will earn their stickers by the time school is out, or in about 3 weeks total. I think that's a reasonable goal--not too much, not too little.

Or maybe it's too many jobs. They are just little kids, after all. As you can see, I'm not quite settled about this. But, I figure it's a learning experience all around. And we're seeing payoffs already. When the boys and I were at Target the other day, Caleb pointed out a toy he "really, REALLY" wanted. I told him as soon as he earned his scooter, he could work for more stickers to earn that toy. He seemed satisfied with that response.

I wonder how this little experiment will go. Will it teach them to value something they worked so hard for? Or will they just poop out and decide they don't really want new scooters after all? I'll keep you posted.

Does Anyone Ever Bathe This Kid???

2009-05-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is a kid who loves to play outside. Which is great, since the weather is usually nice, and he's getting vitamin D, right?

The down side is that he usually gets pretty dirty.

I'm not kidding. The kid gets really filthy.

Don't ask me why he's sitting in a wet spot here. I don't even want to know.

The funny thing is, no matter what he's wearing, by the end of the day he's down to just a diaper and onesie. And splinters on the tops of his feet and on his knees. And dirt, lots of dirt.

The good news is, he doesn't seem too much worse for the wear.

Childbirth, From a Four-Year-Old's Perspective

2009-05-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Caleb and I were watching "Bringing Home Baby", a show that chronicles a family's birth experience and adjustment to having a new baby. He asked me "Mommy, do they scoop out the baby very carefully with a shovel?"

At least he thought to put the "very carefully" part in there.

Way Back When-sday: Strawberry Farm

2009-05-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, I accompanied Caleb on his preschool field trip to the strawberry farm. Being there brought back memories of when we had gone on the same fieldtrip two years prior, when Olivia was a preschooler. It struck me how quickly time passes, and I'm so glad I got to go with him on this fieldtrip. I was all stressed about how Ben would miss his nap if we went, but Caleb really wanted me to go so I decided to just take my chances and hope Ben wouldn't get too cranky.

As luck would have it, Erik stayed home from work sick that day, so I was able to put Ben down for a nap and go with Caleb. It was relaxing and fun to be with just him and not have to try to wrangle a wiggly one-year-old. Also, I think Caleb enjoyed the one-on-one time. I know I did. Here he is with his strawberries (pardon the facial expression. I think he was complaining that the strawberries were too heavy to hold a second longer).

And here he is with his strawberries two years ago.

Time is speeding up and I don't like it! Someone push the pause button, please!

And They Say There's No Difference Between the Sexes

2009-05-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Two kids painting on a Sunday morning:

Let's use this brother-sister example to examine some differences between boys and girls, shall we?

Girl's paint palette:

Boy's paint palette:

Girl painting: clean lines, use of color to accurately portray real-life objects, no paint anywhere besides on the paper and the tip of the brush.

Boy painting: one big fat mess that gets all over the paper, the table, the chair, and the person. Luckily Mommy remembered to strip him down first so no clothing got ruined this time.
This always ends up happening when this kid paints. Every time.

#5

2009-05-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Behold, my darling daughter:

Cute, right?

Let's take a closer look.

Almost-fallen-out teeth kinda creep me out. I mean, look at it! It's hanging by a thread!

A few hours later, the thread finally broke.

Ahhh, MUCH better!

That's five down, only 19 more to go. Wait, do they lose their molars? Probably not, right? I don't know, this is my first kid. Anyone? Anyone?

p.s. We had just come home from the preschool carnival where she got her face painted by one of the teachers there. Pretty amazing, huh?

Way Back When-sday: My First Drink

2009-05-13T09:21:00.001-07:00

I am a Mormon. I'm pretty sure anyone who is reading this blog knows what that is, and most likely is Mormon too. Growing up, I always knew that I believed different things than my school friends, but sometimes I got confused in my sheltered world. When I was about ten years old, I ended up at a restaurant with a non-member friend and her parents. My friend ordered a Shirley Temple drink, and her parents suggested I get one too. I resisted, thinking it was some type of alcoholic drink. I knew that as a Mormon I didn’t drink, but since none of the adults I knew drank either, for me the distinction was between Mormon and non-Mormon, not child vs. adult.

My friends’ parents assured me it was just 7-UP and grenadine syrup. Now, I didn’t know what grenadine syrup was, but it sure sounded alcoholic to me! They finally convinced me it was okay, and I hesitantly drank it. I felt kind of naughty. But I must admit, I was more than a little relieved when I discovered, years later, that it was a non-alcoholic drink.

p.s. I'm kind of rocking those turquoise pants, aren't I??? I think they were Esprit, with the button fly. Soooo stylish.

Fix-It Guys

2009-05-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

True love is coming home for lunch when your wife calls you and whines that the drain is broken and she has to host book club that night. Erik was so sweet to come to the rescue and fix it, and Ben was absolutely thrilled to see Daddy in the middle of the day. He decided to be Daddy's little helper. I say, get them started young on the home repairs.

Ben took his job seriously and analyzed the problem close-up.

And just like that, all fixed!

I'm sure Erik couldn't have done it without Ben's help.

It's Written in Black and White

2009-05-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, our local paper announced that they wanted people to write in and tell why their mom was special so they could print a Mother's Day tribute page. Olivia saw this and decided that very day she wanted to write something. On her own, she wrote a little something, put it in an envelope, and we helped her address and mail it.

I couldn't help but think "I'm so lucky my daughter loves me so much, she wanted to tell the world how great I am." The next day when she came home from school she asked "Is my name in the paper yet?" I guess she was less interested in declaring her adoration for her mother than in seeing her name in print. Oh well, it was fun to see it when it did come out.
I love that she thinks going to Denny's is a big deal. We've been a couple of times, just the two of us, and she thinks it's the greatest thing ever. I'd like to think it's my company she appreciates, but I'm pretty sure it's the free coloring page. In any case, it was a fun little Mother's Day tribute.

Way Back When-sday

2009-04-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

This one comes from the crazy college years. We were always doing weird stuff, and I'm pretty sure we are all pointing and have our eyes wide for some specific reason. It's one of those "I'm sure made perfect sense at the time" situations.... which is fun in the moment, but when you look back 15 years later you just kind of think "Hm. Uh.... OK."
However, I can't pass up the quick reminicing about BYU off-campus housing. I love the brick walls in the background, the kind you have to tape pictures to. No nailing things to the walls here! And the wood paneling.... the memories just come flooding back, don't they? I also love love LOVE the roommate photo hanging on te wall. Yes, we actually went down to a studio and had a picture taken to hang in our apartment. Which seemed totally normal at the time. But now... is that kind of strange? Anyway, we had fun. And we were fun. And we're still fun. At least, I like to think so.

ps... Who loves my mushroom hair? What was I thinking?!!

This is What Happens....

2009-04-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

...when you step in a puddle before church and then don't take your shoes off for the next 4 hours.

Do these feet belong to a 4-year-old or a 94-year-old???

Track

2009-04-25T08:40:00.001-07:00

Olivia tried out her hand (foot) at track this year. We'd heard great things about the city-run program from various church friends, and decided to give it a shot. She ended up really enjoying it, and doing pretty well to boot! Here she is in her uniform: She had a cute team of other 5-7 year old girls. She really enjoyed getting to know them.Getting ready for the next race:
She ran each of the events at least once, and we learned she does pretty well at the longer distances.
Here she is finishing the mile. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't run a mile in less than 8 minutes.

Here is her 4x100 relay team. It was pretty funny watching them learn to pass the baton. By the end of the season they were doing a decent job of it, though.

The track meets were pretty fun, if not loooooong. It was exciting to see the oldest kids run super fast, and adorable to watch the tiniest kids run their little legs ragged. Some were crying by the end of their races because they were so tired. All in all, pretty inspiring. I couldn't help but notice that everyone cheered the loudest for the kid who came in first and the kid who came in last in each race.
As with everything, this was a family affair. We all enjoyed cheering on our girl.
We're so proud of you, Liv! Looking forward to doing it again next year!