More Arboretum Fun!

A friend I grew up with always thought the Dallas Arboretum was such a cool place to visit, and I never understood that - until now! We had another fabulous fun-filled day with lots of wide-open spaces...



This was the best pumpkin picture I could get. They were all so excited to climb and be surrounded by pumpkins there was no stillness - not even Emily!Annie just finished peeking at Baby Claire - no touching!
Daddy loves John Denver, so this is just for him!
This is Ben's cowboy outfit that has now finished its second week. This shirt is going to wear out VERY quickly with all the washing it has had!
My sweet Emmer-pooh! She's just happy to be outside when it's not 100 degrees!

This was the miniature corn maze that Ben and Annie LOVED climbing on!
How much better can life get when you are 2 years old?

The Beginning of the End

So, Andy had a great idea to put in a sprinkler system ourselves. It really was a great idea - except for the fact that the weekend after we started (Labor Day) has been the busiest time he's seen at work yet! Therefore, we have just recently finally finished the pipes and continue to work on filling in the holes. I'm honestly quite shocked that none of our neighbors have turned us into the city with complaints because we've had the most white trash yard for over a month with weeds growing well above the 12 inch regulations. However, it's going to be great when it's all completed! Last weekend we did one side of bricks in front of the house for the flower beds, and they do look great, if I say so myself. And I do, because I got to shape the bricks with the little wedge-thing and the hammer! Then Ben took over because hammers are his FAVORITE tools! (as evidenced in the big hole in his wall where he tried to fix the water leak - that obviously wasn't there. Andy did just laugh about this as his only son was emulating his recent work in the laundry room where there WAS an actual water leak.) I'm telling you - these kids don't miss a thing!
So this project was totally a family, friends, and neighborhood event! We had wonderful free help from friends, home teachers, neighbors, family, and a National Junior Honor Society member who needed service hours. We also had a ton of paid help from those hardworking young men from church! Of course - Andy did the planning and was the mastermind behind the whole project! What a babe! I love him and his big ideas and how he constantly desires to learn new things! Even if the completion dates are a bit beyond what was first projected... :)

A New 4 Year old Stage

Well - Tuesday morning was just as great at Monday - except it was the concrete mixer! I sorely wish I'd had my camera with me.

While there, I was HOPING the workers wouldn't realize that Ben had on the exact same outfit as the day before. Recently we've been having a few issues getting dressed in the morning because Ben only wants to wear jeans. Until this week, it's been over 90 degrees everyday so I wouldn't let him. Last week he asked so much I finally pulled down the box of winter clothes - only to find, the child only has one pair of jeans. He does have several pairs of pants, but they don't look like a cowboy! So, we trotted off to Old Navy to pair two pair of jeans. I guess that is not enough becasue every day since then, we have been wearing jeans. He finds them from the dirty clothes (me thinks I might protest too much). Monday he found a red/white/brownish plaid shirt from the winter clothes box that he has deemed his cowboy shirt. Fine - wear it. Monday night he hung it in his closet so it would be ready for Tuesday morning. Tuesday I explained all the reasons why you really need to wear clean clothes each day (thankfully there was no fuss over clean underwear because Monday they matched but Tuesday they didn't!). Over and over and over I explained these things. I really meant to do laundry last night but other things took over and I totally spacecd it - to find Ben dressed and ready this third day in the SAME outfit - the plaid shirt and jeans with the place for his hammer. I was talking with my mom on the phone this morning while trying to explain that cowboys can wear all different types of shirt and went through his closet and showed him each one that would look great with his cowboy stuff and boots. Even Grandma said she really likes cowboys that wear green. He just looked at me with his arms folded across his chest like - I'm not changing no matter what you say. So - lots of words/threats/pleadings from me and we are off to JoAnn's with Ben still in his cowboy clothes. Oh well, right?! So, I just go to start another load of laundry - knowing full well I told Ben to put his clothes in the dirty clothes so they could be clean for school tomorrow - only to be missing these jeans and shirt! That little cutie-pie had his DIRTY shirt hung up so nicely in his closet with the buttons all done up! I'm sure he's thinking, "Lady, leave my clothes ALONE!" He does look so cute that it's impossible to stay upset with him for too long. Soon he'll be in the world of reality - we'll let this cowboy stuff go on for awhile - especially since I am almost done with his horse quilt - FINALLY!!!

What a Fun Morning...

We went on a little walk this morning and on our way home, we got to watch a backhoe change from the jackhammer part to the little scoop part. It was cool and fits just like the foot on a sewing machine. One of the men came over to chat (a grandfather-type of man) with Ben who was dressed as a cowboy standing next to his bike. We found out they were getting ready to dig up some of the alley around the corner from us. So, we all walked together, with the backhoe and dump truck following us down the alley to our house. We stopped to drop off Ben's bike then went to meet the trucks. They kept waving us on until we were about 10 feet from the actioin where we sat on the grass and just watched the backhoe work its magic! The backhoe driver and the dump truck driver communicated with walkie-talkies, which I thought was really neat! It was such an exciting experience!

Payback for lack of blogging

I know I just haven't kept this updated lately, but it seems like I am inline with the other bloggers out there. When school starts, life gets busy!

This is the kids' house! My mom brought this ginormous box over from work one day for the kids to play in. Another friend got a new big tv and gave us their box. While Emily and I were away this weekend, Daddy created a masterpiece with Ben and Annie. Andy's favorite part is the "working" fireplace. Ben and his little friends enjoyed this amenity during playgroup yesterday when they stuffed the chimney full of 'treasures' that came out the bottom - until it got so stuffed nothing more came out... I'm super impressed with the box that held up for 4 4-year-olds and 2 2-year-old climbing and jumping on it!
This is my sweet Emily watching us unpack Halloween decorations. I LOVE THE FALL
Ben loves to pull out decorations for each new season. He and Annie's favorite part was the gorilla mask from Dad's costume... We also decided that Ben would be a cowboy for Halloween - instead of him being a knight, Annie a princess, and Emily a dragon (because we have a pink dragon that would fit Em - oh well...) He's so in love with cowboys and horses that this is only fitting. Maybe next year the knight will still work. We got it last year after Halloween for under 2 dollars, so if it's only for dressups, I'm okay with that!

These two are from my older sister's surprise 30th birthday party! We had fun and she played directly into our plans. We love you Aunt Jamie!

My dear Annie. I found her sitting on the sink washing her hands Tuesday morning. Ben was at school and I was putting in a load of laundry - guess I need to have her 'help' me instead! :) The funny thing is that Wednesday morning she did the same thing but was completely naked. She told me she needed to wash her feet. Another morning bath... Today, I was all prepared. Ben and Annie finished off the soap last night in the tub, so I knew she wouldn't be covered in suds again. Nope - this little one can find other treasures to play in. I was feeding Emily in the living room and Annie ran to get me a diaper. After about 30 seconds of silence in Emily's room, I asked if she was okay, "Yes." Are you playing with the wipes? "No." Annie, what are you doing? "Getting diaper." I of course knew this was probably not the case but was hoping that maybe she was empting out the diapers or playing with a quiet toy or something of the sort. I finished feeding Emily about 2 minutes later and went to check on Annie. Butt Paste - all over. Again - a naked body. This girl and clothes - or lack thereof! If you've never used Butt Paste - it's like grease. The whole point is to protect little bums from pee in their diapers. So, for the third morning in a row, my naked waterlover got to take another bath!
Andy has been working crazy hours for the last few weeks - shocker! So he's been staying home a little bit in the mornings to get kid time. They love to hang out with Daddy! Last night when the kids called to tell him good night, Annie asked if he would come home and pick her up. (That's her line each time we leave - kind of a cute little routine) He said he would. So he and I were in the kitchen having chips and salsa at 12:30 - guess it was this morning - and he says, "Guess what I still get to do?" I had no idea, so he leaned forward and whispered, "I get to go pick up Annie and hold her in the chair!" I put the dishes away while I thought he was changing out of his workclothes only to find he and Annie cuddled in our special blue chair...

Family Pictures

We finally had family pictures taken and have a new one hanging over the fireplace to replace the picture we tookbefore Ben was walking. Two children later... The kids had a fabulous time and woke up the next morning asking to go get their pictures taken again...

These aren't the best, but they show each personality - except the last one that Andy requested and LOVES. Enjoy! To see the others you will just have to come visit my house! :) And yes, copies are in the mail to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. At least, they will be soon... :)

My Favorite Song...

If you've spent much time around me, you would know how I remove stress - very loud playing of my favorite song. Ideally, it doesn't have words, but this will do for today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISuvTiTYJA

Also - update on Annie-girl. For 4 days she did fantastic and now it's not so exciting. I'm sick of washing wet clothes, so we have returned to diapers for a month or so until she decides she really wants to do this. We did the same thing with Ben (tried for 2-3 days, then went back to diapers for a month, then were successful).

One other little treat about living with a 4 year old boy. Yesterday I bought an empty cornecopia (are they always empty? don't know...) because I have always wanted one, so I decided to spare $2.50 at Target! This morning it was a quiver for the arrows (pretend, of course) that he was shooting at a picture on the wall. I've given up trying to get him not to shoot because he makes everything into a gun - even his carrots the other day. Now, he is not allowed to 'shoot' at people. I just don't understand this need, although Andy laughs and says he did the same thing. I'd rather he make tunnels in the sandbox, hide army men in them and either flood the tunnels, shoot ketshup on them, or start a fire so them melt. Wait - same thing right? Oh, the childhood memories...

Talk about getting BIG

Annie has decided that she would like to wear panties, so yesterday we bought some and she has been wearing them ever since. It's been all day today (including a short park trip and a long shopping trip at costco) with NO accident. She just came in and told me she needs to "poop, Mom" and went to sit on the potty. This is really TOOO easy! She acts like its no big deal. I haven't pulled out one piece of candy or made any charts. She's done and it's time to wipe! What a great thing! I keep telling myself this is much too good to be true and are totally preparing for a regression....

Growing so fast...

Emily is getting so big! We've started feeding her real food the last 3 weeks, and she LOVES it! I've started all three kids with baby prunes first - figuring that gives them some strong flavor to get used to. So far we've done the following: YoBaby yogurt, banans, sweet spuds, peas, mango, rice cereal, and avocados! My freezer is quickly filing up with colorful little ice cubes! Annie and Ben both love to help me do the blender and take tastes of each thing. They haven't liked the blended peas so much and Annie literally spit the baby rice cereal back at me! Oh well - they just like the fresh stuff. Now, I need to consult my baby food bible (Best Baby Food by Ruth Yaron) to see what comes next! This is my blog tribute to Scharman Grimmer who helped me feed Ben and helped me create good eaters!!!

This Morning in Emily's Bed

Annie was not about to let Emily go! They are so sweet! Love my kiddos! Now I'm off to bed!

Bed Hopping

I posted previously about some bed issues we've been having. This night Ben got so tired for Annie climbing into his bed that he finally traded her. She came out to complain that Ben was in her bed, and I basically told her to deal with it since she took his bed. He looks so big in her crib! She chose the blue chair - where in all actuality, has been slept in about 10% of most nights by someone in our family! At the kids' checkups, the pediatrician said if Annie is climbing out she needs to be in a big bed. We have had bunk beds since Christmas (thank you Aunt Jamie!) so we took the top off for Annie to sleep on since it has the rails on both sides.

However, I really think Ben needs the bed with the rails because most nights he will fall out of bed and wander into our room. He's learned to lay by Andy - in whatever space he can find - since I wake up and take him back to his room. This picture was taken this week at 3am when I came back to bed after feeding Em. I love how they keep us on our toes!

A Very Long Saturday Morning

Since Ben locks the bathroom door when he goes in, Annie felt the need to also. However, she was unable to unlock the door when she was done. So, we opened a paperclip but couldn't open the door either. By this time, Annie was hysterical in a classic two year old fit and would not listen to anything we said. About 20 minutes later (seriously!) Ben and I finally thought to kneel down and pray. Immediately after we got her special blanket and shoved it under the door. Then we tried m&ms to get her to stop crying and listen to us - with the hopes she would eventually be able to unlock the door herself. (Evidently we bought very good locks and there is not an easy way to unlock them from the outside - not even a way to take the handle off...) She did NOT want the m&ms and threw them back at the door - quite surprising at the time because I have never known Annie to turn down candy! Then, Ben gives her a blue m&m (this is a very big deal) and she calms down enough to eat it and ask for more. We start singing songs and Annie joins in occasionally (Between crying and eating candy). Meanwhile, Andy has been to the garage a couple of times and is now making lots of noise. To make a long story short (way too late, I know), Andy filed down a key to fit into the little tiny nitch inside the little hole. This is now in its permanent place above the door. When the door opened, I'm sure you can imagine the happy reunion! It was almost an hour from start to finish! We did a huge group hug and then thanked our Heavenly Father for guidance. It was such a happy day!

Annie's 2nd Birthday

We had Annie's birthday party at a pool place in Plano. However, about 2 minutes after we got in, one of the guards heard thunder "in the distance!" so we had to get out for 30 minutes. With 2 minutes left in our waitime, thunder was again heard, so it was another 30 minutes before we could enter the pool! So, the dads took the kids to the park next door! Andy pushing Annie and Dave pushing little Ben. They moved here from Rexberg and we are soooo glad! It's fun to have new friends!
This is the very empty kids area, just asking for children to come play on it - alas - there was thunder in the distance!
Our sweet birthday girl who would LIVE in the water if we would let her! She comes running anywhere in the house that she hears it running. hehehe.
Thank you, Grandma, for watching Emily while the rest of us had a blast playing in the water!

I'm in the DogHOUSE!

Andy was really snippy at me this morning. I just blew it off until he cornered me to confront me. You see, I'm pregnant. And not just pregnant, but I'm carrying twins. However, we really wanted to space the next kids apart a little bit more than Annie and Emily are, so I'm not thrilled. Actually, I'm not happy about it at all and have been in a bit of a funk because of it. So - that's why I'm in the doghouse. At least - according to Andy's dream last night! hehehe

For the record - I would be thrilled because I've always wanted twins, although I'm pretty positive this is NOT the right time. :) Come on, we've been working on our first major house project that I'm NOT pregnant for!!!

What a Great Day

So today was just a great day. I just love days like this - just great days. Nothing special or out of the ordinary (except for the fact that Ben couldn't move faster than a tiptoe becasue his legs were so sore from shots) besides the fact that I tried a new recipe that everyone really liked. I feel like I accomplished a lot, I got to play volleyball, and I got to snuggle with Annie. What more could I possibly want in the average day? A fun letter in the mail maybe, but then it wouldn't be an ordinary - just great - day! Hopefully tomorrow will be similar.

How Old are you Annie?

Two - she can do it great with her right hand!
Sneaking frosting while Mommy was feeding Emily.
Annie chose the ice cream sundae cake because she LOVES ice cream! We had a fun time nad she got to blow out her candle 3 times because she kept blowing out candle while we were singing. For her little party we went to a splash park in Plano. Annie girl also LOVES the water! Soon she will be swimming underwater like her big brother... What a doll I can't believe she is two!

Today we went for children's checkups. Everyone is right along their growthlines and "very healthy." Ben is still 90 for height and 80 for weight. Annie is 70 for height and 60 for weight. Emily is 95 for both! Poor little Emily also has another ear infection - maybe that's why she was up FOUR times last night! All kids did great during their respective Dr. times while Daddy guarded the door. 9 shots and 90 minutes later, we were out the door!

Ben's Birthday Party

We decided that the kids can have a party with friends every other year and do something with family on the off years. This year was Ben's "off" year, so we went to the Mesquite Rodeo and he got to bring one friend, Alex. Look at Ben's stance! He was made to be a cowboy! I keep trying to convince Andy to get a job in a little town so we can have a farm with horses! I even found one for him!!!
Annie and Uncle Roy climbing up the stairs with Nachos.
Alex, Ben, and Andy watching the show.
Ben is teaching Alex to "ride a horse" as they wait for the calf race to begin. This is how Ben runs almost anywhere these days - skipping while patting on his leg.
Had to end the night with matching blue snowcones...

Our Spots

This is our typical seating arrangement while I nurse Emily - although Ben and Annie do need to switch sides because he likes to be on the left... And Andy wonders why I don't really want to be touched when he gets home at night... :)

Owen's Farm - Again

Aunt Nancy and her crew sent Ben money to take the family to Owen's Farm. He wouldn't let us touch the money, much less hold it for him. So we went the first Saturday we could since Ben was so excited to get to pay. It happened to be over 100 degrees that day. Our natural farm boy complete with new cowboy boots, work gloves, and a hat - to protect him from the sun!
On the hay ride where Andy tries to discreetly check his email - the camera catches everything!
Love this little girl and her pink boots, which happen to go on every time Ben wears his. She will not be outdone and she can do ANYTHING he can do!!!

That Won't Ever Happen to Me

Well, it happend today. This isn't my story, but I am going to tell it anyway. Andy was driving to lunch with a coworker and a new employee (first day on the job) and trying to enter a parking lot off the access ramp from the freeway. The other lane was suppose to yield but for some reason this lady didn't want to. She wouldn't speed up or slow down, so Andy missed the turn because he couldn't get over. So, he speed up and got in front of her and then quickly turned in the second entrance.

She followed him and parked 3 spots away. She got something out of her trunk and then got back in the driver seat. Andy and the other two quickly decided they would walk right into the restuarant without making eye contact. As they got out of the car and were walking in, she pulled up next to them with a gun in her hand. While shaking it at them and giving them a LARGE earful of language, they all stood frozen.

She did drive off and they are all safe, but how would that be to tell Annie that Daddy died on her second birthday? Please drive extra-careful because not all drivers know/follow the rules and it's better to be late than dead...

Now Andy and I have both had guns pulled on us, so I do know how he feels. It's just kind of a somber realization that life could terminate at any moment - so BE GOOD! It's not all about "eating, drinking, and being merry" - there's much more to life, both before and after death...

Now I need to upload pictures from Annie's birthday, but I'm tired and emotionally exhausted, so that will be all for tonight.