Leaving on a Jet Plane

I am so excited! Tomorrow morning I'm heading out for a sunny (er) weekend in Colorado. Their weather is acutally predicted to be warm. It will be great to spend time with my mom, all my sisters and my sisters in laws..all seven of us.


I think it will be so relaxing to sleep in if I want, not that this will happen, I always wake up around 7am. I actually get to pack a book and a magazine for the airplane this time that I will enjoy! Not just coloring books, matchbox cars and trains.

Wish me luck, I've never left either boy longer then one night.

Wish my Dad luck, he has both boys all day tomorrow - they are so very excited for their date with Grandpa to McDonald's.

Wish Wade luck most of all, he gets home tomorrow and I'm sure will soak up every minute with them. The only sad part of this whole trip for me is I don't get to see Wade come home before I leave. At least when I get home Monday he'll be here for good! (see post below)



I'm not taking my computer. Be back Tuesday...maybe with some pictures to share.

Wade is home!

Please unpack your bags, take off your shoes and sit down while I get you a drink, of root beer that is.

Okay, well he isn't officially home until tomorrow afternoon, but I won't be here. So I have to post about it now.

This week I cleaned out my closet and made room. Besides, I don't fit half my clothes in the first place.


I love having someone here to take out the trash for me again.
(seriously, the trash compacter here gags me and now Gage makes that sound and says it gags him too)

I love making dinner for someone who appreciates it.
(because hot dogs and chicken nuggets just are not that hard to make, or that tasty)

I love having someone to cuddle with while watching TV.
(and wake me up when I end up falling asleep on the couch so I don't get a huge kink in my neck)

I love having someone here to make me laugh.
(because laughing by myself is just not as fun)

I love hearing him wrestle and chase the boys around.
(because my prego belly and crazy sciatic is just not letting this happen anymore)

I love that my bed won't be so cold anymore.
(although Gage comes in every night around 2. On nights Wade has been home, he never did this. I think he missed Wade more then he wanted to cuddle with me. He would come in, get in Wade side and fall asleep. Not ask for me, talk to me, or cuddle. I think he missed Wade and it was cute.)

I love that I can go on a date night now - with someone besides myself.
(who wants to go on a date by themselves? I can't wait for dates!)

I love that I will now have someone home to talk to older than 4 1/2 years old.
(because while Dora, Diego, Super-Why, Thomas and Curious George are FASCINATING...)


I really could go on and on. I even can't wait for the extra laundry, dishes and cleaning one extra adult takes. Am I crazy? I've missed it! I can't believe how fast these past four months have gone. It hasn't been easy, but I know what he has been learning will be valuable to his career. I'm glad he got to see different residency programs and have this opportunity. I can't wait to see what he thinks of Multi-Care, the program in Tacoma where he will be working for the next 4 months.

Fall

Besides being such a great Monday - see post below...

Today also kicked off the first official day of fall. I love fall and spring, fall is football season, cooler weather, time to bring out sweaters, the hunt for Wade, all the colors the leaves change, Halloween and Thanksgiving, finding good books and cuddling under a blanket, visiting the craft store and starting new projects, it brings time to visit pumpkin patches, orchards, and eating and smelling all the wonderful things fall brings.



Since Autumn time and seasons are on our preschool schedule as a theme in a few weeks, I didn't want to over do it, but I thought we ought to celebrate a little.



We enjoyed the nice sunny weather (after a rainy weekend) and painted and glittered some pine-cones. Gage and particularly Noah had so much fun with the glue and glitter that bath time shortly followed this activity.






Also after dinner we enjoyed a movie night, wrapped up in warm jammies, we watched Pocahontas, which is the only kid movie we own that reminded me of Fall - maybe because of the Colors of the Wind song? (Harry Potter really reminds me of Autumn time the most, but Gage always gets so scared of that giant spider in the first movie.) We also enjoyed some hot chocolate, and the boys went to bed with some good books.



Welcome to Fall!
(Random, but do you call it Autumn or Fall? Why? I use both, and I'm not sure why.)

Monday

Glorious Monday. This Monday morning is great! It is the last Monday I will have to do it on my own! Okay, honestly I will still have to do it on my own during working hours, but I can handle that, I will love it when Wade gets home, I think we will celebrate all week! The countdown has begun.

Not only is Wade coming home, but we are totally switching roles for a few days. Friday morning I'm leaving the boys with Grandpa for a few hours (until Wade gets home) while I fly out with my mom to Denver for a sisters weekend! My mom, my 3 sisters and 2 sister-in-laws will have a relaxing weekend without kids or husbands. We've been planning it since Christmas and we can't wait!

Wade will totally be on his own for 3 days and 3 nights. Nothing compared to my four months, but good enough! This is the longest I've ever left either of my boys, so I'm a little nervous, and mixed. I secretly want to leave him a long honey-do list of chores, but I know he will just have so much fun playing and being home with the boys that none of it will get done. I can't wait to hear how church goes. I think it will be interesting to hear the reports each night when I call.

Happy Monday everyone!

lunch help

It's lunchtime here and I am in desperate need of help.

Some of you might know the most horrible sound in the world to me - at least in the top three is chewing food. Sometimes I even gross myself out when I can hear my own food while chewing it (with my mouth closed). I know, it's probably strange, but I even gross myself out. Wade will sit down next to me with a snack and sometimes I move across the couch. I am horrible! It depends on my mood, but really, I hate the noise of people chewing food. Mouth open or closed, if I can hear it, it bugs me.

So, Noah is really good at keeping his mouth shut while chewing. He is excellent for an almost 2 year old.

Gage is a different story.

I don't want to live my life reminding him to close his mouth. This is something we have been working on for a few months and there has been no improvement. He knows if I look at him and pinch my lips that he should close his mouth, but he will not remember to do it on his own. I really just want to enjoy our meals and not stress about this.

I know this is a strange thing to blog about but I am at my whits end. Maybe pregnancy has made this worse, but I really have put months into this and no improvement. Any ideas? I don't want to always be "on him" about it. But I think eating with his mouth closed is a do-able thing.

Any suggestions? Does anyone else have kids that do this? I am soo ready to help him change this habit and my tactics are not cutting it.

Change in professions

So that's it. I've put a little thought into this and decided this whole med school thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. We are totally forgetting the fact that we've poured down almost 100 thousand dollars into this, and almost four years of our life. We are dropping out.

We will now be the proud owners of a Doggy Day Care.

Wade was talking to a resident in Portland this week who told him she pays over half her salary to doggy day care. There is also one right down the street from our apartment. I have NEVER seen these in my life! Really?!? Let's do some math...

Ok, I know medical residents don't make that much, but even if she were on the low end, if she paid half her salary (assuming 40k), that is probably around 20K she is paying for doggy day care. For one dog. So, I want to take on at least 5 or 6 dogs. Preferably small ones...who don't shed. All I need is a backyard. I can probably even request that the dogs already be house trained if I want.

We are so doing this. I don't even care that I am allergic to them.
(Really, what is this world coming to if people are paying that much money for someone to babysit their dog? I like pets and all, but really? What ever happened to the good old backyard?)

~~~


On a totally different - and BETTER - note, I was so inspired by a good deed done today for my friend Maury. I love that people still do random acts of kindness. Maury is amazing. She has 3 kids that she home schools, is an wonderful professional photographer and is fostering three more kids - two of which are under the age of one! She really is an amazing mom! She inspires me almost every day that she posts. This story makes me want to go out and do nice things. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Crayons

The letter of the week this week is C.

Today we did a C craft. I remember doing crayon shaving pictures when I was little, but I wanted to try something else. So, we made our own crayons. I know it's not a news-breaking idea, but it was fun and new to us. Gage had a lot of fun.

1. Break up crayons and sort however you desire. Gage had a lot of fun breaking and sorting.

2. Bake in oven at 200 degrees until melted. We got a little impatient and kicked up the temperature to 300 and they really melted fast.

3. Let them cool and pop them out of the liners. Then color whatever your little heart desires! I also have to say my favorite part of this whole craft is seeing what color you come out with. The top looks totally different then the bottom and each time you draw a line you never know what you are going to get. It's fun.

And my picture of the day. What good is a sticker if you can't place it exactly where you want and walk around like that for an hour?

Jumping

Wade got to come home for a full 24 hours this weekend. I am not trying to be sarcastic when I say it was great. We will take 24 hours if that is all we can get, we really appreciate Wade spending 5 hours driving during his short weekend just to see us.


One of the boys new favorite things to do when Daddy comes home is play jumping. Wade will carry out Gage's mattress into the living room and they are allowed to run, tumble, jump and go crazy. It's fun. I do a similar thing with couch cushions for preschool PE during the week, but it's just not the same. Maybe I should try this during the week with an air mattress?

And last, but certainly not least, my personal favorite. Check out Gage's fierce face.

Capes and Pictures

I have been in love with these super hero capes since before we had kids. All the little boys (and a few girls) ran around with them when we lived in the student housing at the University of Utah. I know they are super easy to make, but I have never been brave enough to do it myself.

Now that I live so close to my mom, I had her help me. Okay, it was really more like I helped her - I tried to look like I knew what I was doing, and she did a lot of the work. They really weren't that hard. I made a mistake and bought the wrong heat and bond and so we had to do some hand stitching, but other than that, pretty easy. A pink and purple princess girl one would be super cute!

Superman on one side.
Batman on the other. Gage is a blue batman and Noah is a black. Gage...I mean blue batman, hasn't taken his off all day long. I hope we can convince him that he can't sleep in it tonight.

~~~

On to other news. We find out what we are having on October 9th. See the poll on the top of the sidebar and cast your vote. Just to prove that I do look pregnant below are some pictures. The one without Gage is 2 weeks ago and just for fun, I put on the same outfit.

Below is one of the pages from the scrapbook that I'm working on this time around. I'm making an 8x8 pregnancy album (I do with each kid) and this time it's digital. It's fun, but not my favorite way of scrapping.

Puyallup Fair

This morning my parents and I headed out to the Puyallup Fair. (Pew-allup) Now, I've been to the Iowa State Fair, which is one of the largest fairs in the country, but I have to say, the Puyallup Fair is one you have got to see if you are ever in the Pacific Northwest during September. I actually liked it alot more then the Iowa Fair.



Seriously, you can even go to their website {thefair.com} and plan out your whole schedule and print out a planner of your day. It's that big and there are that many things to do.


Needless to say, we had a blast.


First up - animals. We saw so many animals. Chickens, goats, bunnies, sheep, cows, pigs, birds, turkeys, geese, horses, you get the picture. Both boys agreed that the baby chicks were their favorite.



We saw a 4-H dog show. I coudn't believe how quiet and still the boys sat with my dad watching the dogs.

Below is a picture of the back of the Backyardigans. (YES, walking away from us!) They were at the fair today and we stook in line and stood in line for at least 20 minutes to meet them. Then when Gage was up next, out of no where, a girl swept in and took them off behind the curtain. She looked at us and said "Sorry, they have to take a 20 minute break now. You can wait." Gage was sad, but he just walked off. I was not going to stand in line for another 20 minutes staring at the red curtain. I think they should have blocked the line at some point so people weren't standing there thinking that they would be next in line. How dissapointing that might be for a 4 year old! I'm glad we didn't have a break down over this.

Gage loved seeing the toy exhibits. There was a whole wall of lego displays built by kids. His favorite was the airplane (above his head). Some of these were built by 3 year olds! Pretty impressive!

Giant pumpkins.

The fair mascot chicken. Apparently scary to both by boys, since no one would take their picture with him.

Another favorite was the firehouse. There was a mini engine that the kids could play on, it was a real engine that they really use, but so little and cute. Since we are talking about fire safty for preschool this week, I think it worked well we got to see this.

One of the biggest reasons that we picked to day is that they gave out free train ride tickets at the gate, while they lasted. Since we got there right when they opened we scored 5 train ride tickets! Gage loves trains. Noah was about to hand over his ticket when the worker asked how old he was. He couldn't ride because he wasn't 2! He was pretty sad, but Gage got to ride twice - once with me and my dad and once with my mom. Poor Noah he just watched and waved saying in his sad voice, "train...train...train."

And last, but certainly not least, the Fisher Fair scones. These are not your ordinary scones. It was not what I expected. I suppose if you have to eat a deep fried oreo when visiting the Iowa state fair, you have to try a scone at the Puyallup Fair. And you can't beat the price...$1.25! You can hardly find anything for $1.25 anymore!

These were so yummy. They are really more like a biscuit filled with raspberry jam. So good and a yummy treat for our car ride home. I found this recipe {Here} for them I'll now have to try, it sounds really close to the ones we had today - besides the raisins. It also gives a little history about them. Check it out! I know I'll me making some soon!

They also have a spring fair, which we will have to check out. And if we end up being here next year, you can bet we'll be visiting the Puyallup Fair.

Beanie Babies

Can these things even be worth anything anymore? Does anyone else remember the rave over these things, or am I just too old? Since our letter of the week is B (Beanie Babies)and we are all suffering from a little boredom, I decided it was time. Time to break out the beanie babies and give them up. I have been hording these things since high school. I never let Gage or Noah play with them. I even have some stored at my parents house.

Well, they have come out of their bags. Some of the tags have even {GASP} come off and I didn't cry. The boys loved making piles of them and diving in. Or even running and jumping on them from the hall way. I can't believe I did it. But I hearing their giggles of joy each time I dump them over their heads is totally worth it.

I still want to put a few away. Especially the bears. Am I loony? Apparently I just can't let go.

Thoughts

Maybe I'm opening a can of worms. I usually stay away from politics, but perhaps without starting some huge debate - I am not saying any one is right or wrong - I want to hear some opinions on this article.

I am glad right now I have options. I can decide for myself what is best for my family and each one of my children. Each child is different. Each family is different. I am not sure I would want that taken away. I agree with one point the journalist makes, if we should spend money, it should be the K-12 system. I would think that Obama would agree, since he has his own children in a private school.

I don't think it's the teachers either. I think teachers in this country are WAY underpaid for all their hours and hard work. I think families should step up and teach their own children more. I'm not referring to homeschooling, I'm talking about spending time with your kids and teaching them what's right and wrong, helping them, talking to them, spending time with them.

Click HERE to read.

Video

If you haven't heard this story yet, maybe you haven't turned your computer on or looked at blogs in the past month. I think everyone has. But just in case, I was really touched by the video I saw this morning posted on my friend Erica's blog. You can see it by clicking HERE. Or learning more about her, by clicking HERE.

Watching this this morning reminded me of a talk that I read, by M. Russell Ballard. (click for full text) In a world where families are being torn apart, it's nice to read and hear about families who are working hard. It's nice to read and hear about mothers who are trying their best, who know the important role of motherhood and understand what that means. I think we can all learn a lot from this family. She was, and still definitely doing her part.

conversation

Today our church held Stake Conference. (If you don't know what this is, it is a regional meeting held every 6 months for several congregations in the area. The Sunday session is 2 hours and since we are a family church, the kids, babies, everyone, sits in the congregation, no kid church is held.) Well, apparently our Stake holds two sessions and each ward is assigned a time that they attend. Our ward pulled the lucky 1:00 session. So not only did we get to entertain kids for 2 hours, try to teach reverence, and try to listen to the speakers, but we got to do this all during nap time as well.

Actually the boys were very well behaved. I was very happy with how quiet they were and how they sat so still. We were able to listen to some very good talks.

On the way home from this meeting Noah started getting grumpy in the car - we then had the following conversation:

Gage: "Why is Noah so grumpy?"
Me: "Maybe he is tired. When we get home you boys can take off your church clothes and run around for a while, that will help."
Gage: "Why would that help?"
Me: "Well it always helps little boys to run around after being good for so long."

Gage: "Yes, but remember we have to keep on our underwear."



Wade and I couldn't help but laugh the rest of the way home.

First week of school

This was our first week of school. We started Monday, even though it was a holiday, because Wade was home with us and could help out. Gage was excited that Daddy got to be home for school time. I don't plan on posting about school every week, but since it was our first week, I thought I woud post.

First day picture. Apparently our school doesn't have a nifty "zero tolerance for guns and violence" policy. Both boys brought their guns and light lasers to the preschool with them.

We started with letter A, number 1 and with a farm theme. Noah really loved water color paints. It was his first time. Gage's skills have really improved since last year.

Along with the farm theme, we planted some seeds this week. Hopefully someday we will have some yummy herbs to eat with our dinner. Gage loves to check and see if they need any water each day.

Working on our worksheets.

Since the letter was A and we talked about farmers, we spent one whole day talking about apples and made an apple pie later that day. Since Wade is the usual pie maker in our family, I was pretty happy that I made one and it turned out.

Some other highlights that we don't have pictures of: exercise time - this part cracks me up every time. I turn on an old "Jock Jams" cd from high school and the boys break dance and run all over the place waking their body up. I think this is their favorite part of the whole morning. We've also had an A hunt, finding A items in our house, visited the library and had lots of fun reading farmer and letter A books.

In two weeks preschool story time starts and the classes at the YMCA. Gage can't wait and I think this year will be so much fun.

This last picture is for Wade - we can see Mount Rainer from our patio door, on a clear day. Each day Wade was here last week the clouds covered it and he couldn't see it. I don't think he believed me, but last night, there it was! I bet if I lived on the top floor I would have a really great view. Ta-da....Mount Rainer. (Also kinda cool - a short walk in the other direction and we can see the Puget Sound!)

4 1/2 & 22 m

This week

Gage turned 4 1/2.

And Noah turned 22 months.

Where did the time go? They really are growing up so fast.

Gage is such a big boy and a great helper. He can't wait to start classes at the YMCA this fall. He loves preschool time each morning. He loves learning new things and asks hundreds of really hard questions every day. He loves the library and books.

Noah surprises us each day with new words (today it was ravioli). He tries to do every single thing that Gage does. He loves animals. He loves to help cooking. He has some really sweet dance moves that can't be beat. He loves drawing and art.

I am so privileged to be their mom and stay at home with them.

My big boys.

More Beach

Today after a BBQ lunch with my parents we headed decided to head towards "warmer" beaches, so we drove out to Tolmie State Park. The beach has a few picnic areas and some fun looking trails, but if you are a boy under the age of 5 and own some rain boots the best part has got to be stomping around and finding shells and all sorts of animal life during low tide.

We found a lot of shells but the best part of the trip for Gage was seeing all the clams "spit." The live clams dig down in the sand and will "spit" water up from little holes. You have to watch close but once you see a clam spit, you can dig fast and find a clam! We found a few, but unfortunately it's not clam season and we couldn't keep them. We'll have to venture out next clam season with my parents and dig for some big razor clams - the variety that we found were pretty small, and apparently if we did eat them not as tasty as razor clams.

Sadly, Wade got to spend the day with us, but is now gone to Portland. One more month - only 29 days left of this crazy adventure until he no longer has to bring bags home with him or have to "visit" us. We really can't wait, I hope time goes fast this month.