On the Move

Ben, at 11.5 months old, is finally finding his groove. For several months he has been content to sit and calmly observe the world around him. This, despite the fact that the three girls in the ward who are within a couple weeks of him in age have been on the move for months. Finally, he has decided he needs to get with the program.

In the past couple of weeks, he's learned to do this (please ignore my annoying voice and my middle child's hacking cough):



And this (don't let the black screen frighten you--just push play):

Needless to say,he's pretty proud of himself.

What can I say? We're pretty proud of him too, the cutie pie.

Now we've entered a whole new world of "Don't leave anything out because Ben will get it" and "Sweep and vacuum the floors daily instead of weekly." Ah, the joys that come with having a newly mobile child.

Friday Favorites: Sometimes Fun Comes in Large Packaging

Today's favorite comes from my kids. We are in the midst of remodeling the downstairs bathroom, which explains why there's a new vanity in the middle of the living room and a toilet in the garage. And why these items have been in their "temporary" locations for, oh, several days now. But I digress.

One of the perks of getting a new vanity is the large box it comes in.

Who knew that one huge box could provide hours of entertainment? I guess I should by now, since my kids immediately confiscate any kind of box we acquire and turn it into a car, spaceship, or boat.

One of the fun games my bigger kids came up with for this box is to get inside and roll it across the room. Which really is super fun... until they roll over their baby brother, that is. But he doesn't seem to mind.

They even marked it so we'll know who it belongs to.

I just love free toys, don't you?

Way Back Wednesday: The Fam...1980's Style

Before I was a mother with a family of my own to love and nurture, I had the privilege of growing up in a family as the fourth of five children. Here we are, circa 1985:

I'm the cute one on the left. OK, maybe just the one on the left. This was taken at my grandparents' house in Los Angeles. For some reason they had a fancy photographer come and take pictures of everyone outside by the pool. I loved that pool. We had some fun times swimming in Grandma's pool.... that is, until the earthquake cracked it and it was empty and barren. Then my cousin and his friends used it as a skate park.

Back to the picture. There are a few things in this picture I'd like to point out. First of all, Mr. Fancy-Pants Photographer apparently needs a few more lessons on Subject Placement. Hello, I look like I have horns growing out of the top of my head. Did he really not notice that when he was taking the picture???

Another concern I have is my little sister. The poor thing not only has her slip hanging out of the bottom of her dress, but her hair ribbons don't match her outfit. Poor, neglected fifth child. My middle sister is sporting her Little Orphan Annie 'do, which is looking fancy. My brother has his stylin' feathered hair, and my oldest sis is looking every bit as stylish as I remember. She used to spend what seemed like hours curling her hair. It was painful to wait for. Mom and Dad are looking good, looking real good, if not classic mid-80's.

I am pleased to see we are wearing our imitation Gunny Sax dresses, ever popular at the time. And of course, the knee-high socks, folded over at the top, with Cherokee sandals which got cut off in the picture. But trust me, they're there.

I love looking back at old pictures. Perhaps that's why I take so many now. I want my kids to be able to reminisce on the crazy haircuts and the clothes they can't believe I made them wear. After all, it's only fair, right? Circle of life.

A Family of Sickies

This picture fairly accurately represents our life the last two weeks. Every one of us has been hit with sickness, from ear infections to fevers to body aches to coughing and, yes, even diarrhea. I don't blame you if you stop reading now and never read my blog again. I'm aware I'm sharing more than most people want to know. Anyway, in order to combat the aforementioned illnesses, we've had three prescription medications, plus a variety of others, that have come to rest on our kitchen counter one by one by one. I didn't realize just how many drugs had accumulated until Erik started laughing and said "Look how much medicine is out here!" It DOES border on the ridiculous. And yes, that is Airborne, which, despite valiant efforts, failed to deter the germs from visiting me as well. Guess I should have taken it more than once.

Despite the collective germified beating our family has taken recently, I am happy to report that we are officially on the upswing. More than half the family is 90% better, and I have high hopes that there will be a night when I am able to sleep uninterrupted for a full eight hour stretch... OK, make it six. Five and a half. Is it sad that that is what I wish for??

Here's to good health! It's true what they say, you don't appreciate it till you don't have it.

Friday Favorites

Today's favorite is one I currently have a love-hate relationship with. One one hand, I love them because they are tasty and yummy and just so gosh-darn delicious. On the other hand, I CAN'T STOP EATING THEM!!!! I mean, I really, REALLY can't stop. They are that addicting.

I am talking about, of course, Girl Scout cookies. Thin mints and tagalongs, to be specific. My taste buds are enjoying every morsel of deliciousness, but I fear my scale will not be forgiving next time I pay it a visit.I mean, I'm all for supporting the Girl Scouts but seriously, these cookies are dangerous!!! I found it amusing that my facebook page comment about how I was eating too many Girl Scout cookies generated way more responses than anything else I've ever written. I guess it's a universal problem. Let me just say, I'm glad gs cookie time comes only once a year.

Way Back When-sday

I have had to wake Ben up from naps more often lately in order to go pick one of the kids up from school, or drop off at track practice, etc.

It made me think back to when I had a baby and a two-year-old. We had no schedule, no reason to get out of the house by a certain time, and the whole day to do with as we pleased. Sure, now that I have a baby that is missing naps due to his older siblings' schedules, I think that would be so easy, but I remember at the time that it was actually pretty difficult. The days got soooooo long and I was nervous to take a baby and a temperamental two-year-old out very often by myself. Plus, we lived in Seattle so there were several months at a time where it was too wet to play outside. Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time at home.

One thing I did do on a regular basis, and that we all loved, is go for walks. I would pack Caleb up in this snugly blanket/jumsuit thing, strap them both in the double stroller, and walk around the neighborhood. We all got some fresh air, I got some much-needed exercise, and it was a nice break from home. I remember around this time period Olivia got really into fire hydrants. Every time we would pass one she would yell out "FIRA-HYDRA! FIRA-HYDRA!" There were a lot of fire hydrants in our neighborhood.

Nowadays when we go for walks, these two kids ride their bikes or scooters, and I just have one kid to push in the stroller. Times have changed, that's for sure. But I must say, I'm glad we're still in the "going on walks together" stage.

Come to think of it, I hope it's a stage we never outgrow.

Visiting Teaching