Aubrie's time to breathe

Picture Practice Day 3

2012-02-14T00:19:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Picture Practice Day 2

2012-02-12T00:06:00.001-05:00

Here is another set.

Picture Practice Day 1

2012-02-07T09:57:00.002-05:00

So my goal for the last... I don't know, year or so, has been to work on taking pictures of flowers. Close up ones. So for the next few days I'll be displaying the ones I like the best. Thanks Ted for providing all the beautiful subjects. :) I'd love to hear which ones you like the best and why.

For Brelin

2012-02-02T11:46:00.001-05:00

My best friend informed me that if she forgot what my kids looked like it was my fault for not updating my blog. Nathan and Aeli really enjoyed the ONE snow storm we have had. It was mostly melted later that day. It was 63 degrees on Feb. 1. There is something terribly wrong with that.

Halloween

2011-11-11T11:21:00.001-05:00

We were able to spend some fun time with friends carving pumpkins on the 28th. Then I got to take the kids trick or treating on the 31st. They all seemed to have a great time.

Nathan - Ted - Aubrie

The Mcdaniels - Justin - Aeli

Pirate Nathan - BlackGhost (Scream) Justin - Spider Witch Aeli

I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!

Justin's Birthday!

2011-11-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

Happy 7th birthday Justin!

Jealous?

2011-11-02T23:29:00.004-04:00

you should be.

It is better than you are imagining right now.

Fall

2011-11-01T14:40:00.002-04:00

I took some fall pictures one morning last week. The colors and morning light were more than I could resist. :) Enjoy.

It's time to update

2011-09-28T19:09:00.002-04:00

So, it would seem that when I post things on my Google+ page I forget to post them here. Of course, I think you should be using Google+ if you aren't already. I will need to remedy this situation and post some pictures of my most recent adventures in sewing. Also, I might be trying out some of the new features for viewing blogs. We'll see how that goes. I am thinking I might potty-train Nathan tomorrow. We'll see though. He hasn't been feeling well this week, so I can't decide if I really want to do it tomorrow or not.

Silver clouds

2011-09-14T13:44:00.002-04:00

We took this picture out the window while we were driving in Southern Utah this summer. The cirrus clouds had a nice faint rainbow in them. I edited the picture to bring out the color.

A walk on the trail

2011-09-13T16:25:00.001-04:00

We went for a walk and I decided to work on my picture taking skills.

Drama

2011-09-09T19:33:00.000-04:00

Could this be foreshadowing of what is to come in our lives?

I think so.

Grandpa McLean

2011-08-28T09:22:00.001-04:00

We had the wonderful opportunity of seeing my Dad and Grandpa while we were staying in SLC. Grandpa was staying in the VA hospital and the kids were a little nervous. Grandpa passed away on August 3, 2011 so I feel very blessed that we were able to visit with him while we were there.

We Love you and will miss you Grandpa!

Millcreek Canyon

2011-08-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

I think that Nathan's favorite part of the day was probably playing in the creek up Millcreek canyon.

Fishing was a big hit as well.

Liberty Park

2011-08-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

There is an awesome new "fountain" at Liberty Park. It is a representation of the watershed in the area. It has all the major canyons and rivers all flowing into the Great Salt Lake. It was pretty sweet to play in.

Tracy Aviary

2011-08-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

So on Monday we went to Tracy Aviary with Ted's family. It was lots of fun and we even got to see one of the peacocks open up his feathers. Justin has always liked to imitate bird calls and the peacock was too tempting to ignore. Not only did he copy the call, but he copied the walk too. My aunt lives across the street from the Aviary. You can hear the peacocks from there and so Justin spent LOTS of time being a peacock. He is pretty good at the call incidentally.

He's a peacock.

Clearly Mani is unsure about Brian's fascination with peacocks. Can't blame her really....

Wheeler Farm

2011-08-24T14:01:00.001-04:00

So we finished Sunday up by going to Wheeler Farm with all of Ted's Family for a fantastic picnic dinner. There were bubbles and dress up clothes. The kids had a great time.

July fun

2011-08-21T16:31:00.000-04:00

We had a fun family reunion in July. I will take a few posts to document our adventures in Utah this summer. We started out by going to Temple Square. It was, of course, the hottest day of our trip. However, I am sure from the pictures below you will be able to see that a fun time was had by all.

They really did have fun, inspite of the faces indicating otherwise.

Other June Happenings

2011-08-21T16:09:00.001-04:00

I don't usually just post a bunch of pictures, but I want to try and get caught up.

In June, Justin completed Kindergarten. He had so much fun last year. This was the end of the year program where they sang some songs and got some certificates.

Justin got the award for Best Reader in his class. He was very proud of it. He is doing an amazing job reading. Now if only I could get him to read on a regular basis....

The Father's and Sons outing was also in June. Nathan had so much fun on his first father's and son's.

Dinner of champions.

Princess Tea Party

2011-08-05T11:08:00.000-04:00

So here we have a belated post for Aeli's birthday. She had so much fun. Thanks for making it all possible Grandma and Flossie-Nana!

Apparently I was supposed to fill in the castle with pink. Oops. Maybe next time. :)

Zions

2011-07-26T13:50:00.000-04:00

So, I'm going to try to get caught up with the happenings of the last month. However, it won't be in order. :D

Zion's was loverly and the kids were super hikers.

Learning Photoshop

2011-06-09T15:02:00.000-04:00

I decided to try merging to different pictures in Photoshop. Here you go. :)

This stuff is fun. :)

Fun with Storm Damage

2011-06-03T13:28:00.001-04:00

Ok So, These trees were pretty amazing to see. And then I got carried away practicing my photo editing skills.

Which version do you like best?

This is the original Image

This tree is pretty interesting. It looks like a green twig that someone was trying to break by twisting.

Cute Kiddos!

2011-05-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

Some more reflections

2011-05-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of others for some variety.

Watercolor anyone?

2011-05-16T18:04:00.002-04:00

Happy Anniversary to me!

2011-05-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

We reached 9 years on the 4th. I wish I had realized when we picked the day that we were getting married on Star Wars day. It would have made the day that much better. (May the 4th be with you. -Thanks FB for teaching this to me) I will probably be posting some more pictures soon. Have a great week!

I love you Ted. Thanks for the beautiful flowers!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

I hope you had a fantastic day with your Valentine!

Apple Dumplings

2011-02-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

These were so good. I can't even describe the tastiness. If you are feeling jealous it is ok. You should be.

Aeli

2011-02-18T14:39:00.000-05:00

Someone is a little Spoiled. It could be me.

Cool Moms...

2011-01-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

...bake cookies on Snow Days. Apparently. I read my friends blogs. They all make cookies with their kids on snow days. And.... they LIKE it! Obviously I want to be in the "cool mom" club too. So we made cookies the other day. They were Spritz cookies cause I got a cookie press and I hadn't used it yet. YUM!

After baking......

Nathan is a big fan of these cookies.

Oh ya. And some proof that there was snow...

craftiness

2011-01-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

My craftiness for 2010 is represented below. The kids stockings didn't have letters on them, I thought it would be fun to have them kinda match ours. So, I took the plunge and tried it out. Aeli's was the first one I did. I think they turned out alright. :)

"2 is my favorite age!"

2011-01-14T10:20:00.002-05:00

That is what I tell myself when my cute little boy is throwing a fit or babbling incomprehensibly.

Actually though, Nathan is a pretty sweet, mild tempered kid. It is great. He had a great birthday and loved the toys. We were especially excited about the whistle that came with the train. It has been misplaced. No really. I didn't even "misplace" it on purpose.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Lots of posts

2010-12-20T00:11:00.003-05:00

Be sure to scroll down so you can see all the stuff I posted! There are 4 new posts!

Oven fun

2010-12-20T00:11:00.000-05:00

Ted was going to make us German Pancakes. Then he heard this strange sizzling noise. He opened the oven to see this:

We turned off the oven and watched in fascination as the element DIDN'T stop burning. The coating was burning off. When we noticed that the element in front of the sparking flame was getting hotter we decided to cut the power at the fuse box. It was pretty cool to watch. It reminded me of a magnesium fire.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-20T00:03:00.001-05:00

Well we had a great time at Thanksgiving again this year. There were (as usual) 12 or 13 terrific pies. Somehow I managed to only get pictures of like 7. Oh well. You can imagine the tastiness of the other pies. They were delicious.

Also, Miles and Nathan had a blast playing with each other.

They also had fun chasing each other up and down the hallway, unfortunately I didn't get a shot of them in the hallway at the same time.

Justin's Birthday

2010-12-19T23:53:00.000-05:00

Justin's Birthday was much better this year than last year. YEAH!

A great time was had by all. :)

Halloween

2010-12-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

We had some friends come over and carve pumpkins with us. Here are the kids with their pumpkins. They had fun digging out the pumpkin guts.

And here are our 5 family pumpkins.

Justin, Aeli, Aubrie, Ted, Nathan

Wintertime!

2010-12-16T00:32:00.000-05:00

I love the Snow. One of my very favorite things in the WHOLE world is to walk in freshly fallen snow (while it is peacefully still snowing.. not windy- that's not as fun). Anyway, We had a great day going to get our Christmas tree. It snowed during the night and then continued to snow all day. Thankfully it was NOT windy this year. When I opened the door Nathan stood there in shock. Looking a little confused at first as the world looked different than it was supposed to. After a few seconds he decided that it must be the coolest thing ever. And got a huge grin on his face.

I think the results of our Christmas Tree search turned out quite well.

We had to rearrange our living room in order to get a Christmas tree this year. FUN TIMES!

P.S. as I was looking for these photos I realized that I didn't post about Halloween, Justin's birthday, or Thanksgiving. I'll probably be doing that soon.

Pudding

2010-10-26T13:13:00.000-04:00

Who doesn't love pudding? I mean really...

Busy lives- part 2

2010-10-26T12:49:00.002-04:00

So- It has been awhile it coming, but here is the conclusion to our busy lives. Well, in part, at least. We enrolled the kids in a 6 week sport program. It was on Saturday for an hour. They had 2 weeks of each of the following: Soccer, T-ball, and Basketball. I'd have to say that I think Soccer was the biggest hit, followed by Basketball and then T-ball. Aeli refused to wear a mit for most of the T-ball. They had a good time and I feel like we are doing our job to expose them to different activities in the world so I guess it was a win-win. It was difficult to take pictures because the lighting was strange, but hopefully you can get some idea of what was going on.

Side note

2010-09-15T23:41:00.001-04:00

Ok. I mentioned Justin's favorite outfit in the last post. I couldn't help myself, I had to post pictures. I am pretty sure that this shirt has replaced the red one, since the red one has finally gotten a little too small for him.

Yep- he loves this outfit. It cracks me up.

Busy lives- part 1

2010-09-15T12:03:00.000-04:00

We have gone from having all the time in the world and doing whatever we like, whenever we feel like it, to being stuck in a schedule. In some ways that is a good thing, on the other hand, I LIKED being able to pick and choose when I did stuff. At any rate, the kids are trying out some new fun things. So I thought I would share the first day with you. (wow, lots of commas in this post. I seriously doubt they are all in the correct places. Oh well :) )

Oh and a couple of weeks ago, I made a post and there was this TOTALLY AWESOME photo uploader thing, that allowed you to upload lots of pictures at the same time, and get pictures from previous posts if you wanted to, or get them from picasa-web albums even. What happened to it? Where did it go? Am I just missing some option somewhere or did they tease us with awesomeness and then take it way?

Anyway, here is Aeli's first day of tumbling and Tap.

Words cannot convey the sheer joy on this little girls face during the entire tap class. I wish I could have gotten a good shot of her face.

And Justin's first day of Tap. (Yes, he wore that outfit to school. I don't know if it is better or worse than those same shorts with a red polo shirt that has small blue and white stripes...)

Justin was a little unsure of things at the beginning, but he seemed to be enjoying himself by the end. We'll see how it goes. :)

Aeli's first day of Preschool.

The lady that did preschool for Justin last year decided to do it for her daughter this year, Aeli was invited to be a part of it. She is so excited to be going to preschool just like her big brother did.

There are more fun adventures to come. Stay tuned. ;)

Warm Day

2010-09-15T11:11:00.000-04:00

I am not excited about the prospective warmness that is supposed to be today. Our thermostat broke. Well we think it is the thermostat. Either way my AC won't turn on. :-( So instead of doing the chores I should be doing, I am trying to sit still and not warm up the house too much. Anyway, it's a good time to post stuff right?

Big News

2010-08-30T01:36:00.006-04:00

Ok so my kids eating popcorn is not big news. But I thought they were all really cute on the couch together so I thought I would share. Unfortunately, actually getting a nice shot of all 3 at the same time is, of course, impossible.

At least they were all looking at the camera for this one. There are some others, but they are all a variation on a theme.

TA DA!

That's right folks. Turns out Justin is farsighted. It is pretty obvious now that he needs them, he LOVES them and only goes for a few minutes before realizing he doesn't have them on for whatever reason. We go back in 6 weeks to get him checked and make sure the prescription is correct. He is a handsome kid. :) There are a variety of things that he is willing to do now that before just caused frustration (reading books for any length of time and doing puzzles for example). We are all really excited for him and grateful that I decided to have him checked. I only feel a minute sense of guilt for all the times I asked him why he couldn't see the things on the floor that were right in front of him... oops.

The end of the first day of school

2010-08-26T13:47:00.000-04:00

The day or two before school started all of the neighbor kids were outside playing. Aeli came in and announced that when school started "I will have no more friends" . This statement is really made better by the gesturing that accompanied it, but I don't have that to show you so just imagine her indignantly waving her hands in front of herself. Anyway, it has been a long week for the poor girl. She waits all day for people to come home. Don't get me wrong, she is entertained during the day, but she misses all the kids to play with.

Waiting for the bus to show up.

So last Wednesday she walked to the bus stop so that we could pick up Justin. She was a little grumpy and excited all at the same time. It was kind of hot outside that day.

Exiting the bus. Duh.

After seeing the bus pull up and waiting impatiently for Justin to disembark...

.... They totally missed each other.

She almost knocked him over with her enthusiasm.

Everyone survived the long first day of school. Everyone was very excited and happy.

4 of the best pictures ever.

2010-08-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

Ok really I think this last one is probably my favorite. Well. this one and the first one.

So classically Nathan.

The first day of the rest of your life.

2010-08-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

It's a little rough. I am so excited for Justin. I can't believe the time has come for school to start. On the flip side of being excited I find that my sidekick for the last (almost) 6 years isn't here. School will be great and Justin will love learning I think. Wahoo!

"Don't forget a picture of my new shoes, Mom!"

So I guess I should have moved to the right just a little so the 'U' in Summit wouldn't be hidden.

Ya- I couldn't get him to look at the camera. He was too busy looking in the doors.

Plural vs. Singular

2010-08-01T10:15:00.000-04:00

What we have here is commonly known as Mac&Cheese.

And you might think the what we have here is also Mac&Cheese. You'd be wrong.

It is Mac&Chee.

Thanks Aeli for clearing that up. ;)

The kids take turns "reading" a verse of scripture each night. I often try to read until I can find to relatively short ones for the kids. This is the one that Aeli got to read outloud the a few weeks ago.

"But behold, in one day it was left desolate; and the carcases were mangled by dogs and wild beasts of the wilderness." Alma 26:10

I guess next time I should do more than just find the shortest one...

Beach Picture #9

2010-08-01T10:06:00.001-04:00

Kite flying

and Sandcastles

Well- I think I might be done with the beach pictures now. It was a great time. I miss it already!
(P.S. you can click on the picture to see it larger)

Sidewalk Art

2010-07-30T16:57:00.000-04:00

The weather was super nice this morning so the kids went out and decided to draw. Justin was feeling particularly inspired apparently.

The boat has ice-covered mountains on either side of it.

Pretty good whale if you ask me.

How do you like your toast?

2010-07-30T16:43:00.001-04:00

I was wiping up the counters after washing the dishes this afternoon. I noticed that the toaster was pretty dirty. I took my damp dishcloth and wiped it off.

The numbers wiped off.

Really?

/sigh

Beach Picture #8

2010-07-30T16:30:00.002-04:00

So it turns out that there are not very many pictures of Nathan at the beach. As I thought about this I realized that he spent most of the afternoons sleeping. He has been taking long afternoon naps for quite some time now. He has always liked to sleep.

About 2 weeks ago Nathan was pretty sick. He was sounding super congested and just plain miserable. He was on antibiotics for a slight ear infection, so I assumed it was related. He and I then spent a fun Saturday night bonding. All night. (well except for the 15-30 minutes that he was able to sleep every hour or so.) Sunday afternoon I thought to check his throat. It looked pretty swollen, so combining that with the hard time breathing, I called the Dr.'s office. They said to take him in.

It turns out that Nathan had Mono. They gave him a steroid shot which reduced all the swelling so he was able to breathe (and then sleep). He is doing much better now. He is even eating a descent amount of food. I figured he wasn't eating cause he was going through a phase. Perhaps he just didn't feel well. Having had Mono myself, I know how long it can take to get over. Poor Kid.

Maybe that is why he has been taking such long naps.... /shrug

I am glad that he is doing better, but I have to admit, the long naps were a nice break!

Beach Picture #7

2010-07-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

Just remember how Awesomely cool you think your hair is Justin!

Beach Picture #6

2010-07-21T11:33:00.000-04:00

So I asked Aeli to smile so I could take her picture. This is what I got.

I told her that that was not a pretty smile. And asked her if could she please do a pretty smile.

She said, "Oh like a princess smile?"

I said, "yes like a princess smile." This is what I got.

Don't know where the whole "princess smile" thing came from, but it was definitely better than the first one!

Beach Picture #5

2010-07-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

Beach Picture #4

2010-07-15T10:43:00.000-04:00

Beach Picture #3

2010-07-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

Beach Picture #2

2010-07-09T15:04:00.000-04:00

Beach Picture #1

2010-07-08T11:10:00.001-04:00

BEACH TIME

2010-06-22T19:13:00.000-04:00

That's right. It is beach time. And I am sharing the fun with a new background.

Grandma visits

2010-06-08T12:50:00.000-04:00

Grandma came to visit for Spring break again this year. It was a great time! Thanks for all the fun Grandma!

Graduation

2010-05-23T20:22:00.000-04:00

Way to go Justin! You are the BOMB!

And Thank You Sally and Amy for doing a great job with preschool.

Justin loved every minute.

She's got style

2010-05-22T11:22:00.000-04:00

Is there really anything else to say?

You are awesome Aeli!

Grilling Season!

2010-05-22T11:16:00.000-04:00

It looked so good that I HAD to take a picture. In fact, Ted walked out and said, "Wow, that looks great! You should take a picture!" Which I was in the process of doing.

Turns out that Justin really likes Pork chops. We had this meal a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I asked him what his favorite meal was. He said his favorite meals were:

Chicken and rice with peas- I mean Broccolli
Pork
Chicken and Orzo

Ok so I will have to double check the order, but Pork was definitely in the top 3.

It was really good btw.

More picture fun

2010-05-21T01:10:00.002-04:00

Bike riding is fun. So a few days after learning to ride his bike Ted took Justin to the bike trail and they rode the whole 5 miles. Crazy stuff.

April firsts

2010-05-21T01:05:00.000-04:00

So this month has been full of adventure. Aeli is potty trained. Nathan is walking. And Justin decided that he could ride a bike without training wheels today. (April 28th)

So we started the month with potty training Aeli. It was a little rough at the beginning, quite surprisingly. But she is doing pretty well now.

Nathan has been very cautious about walking but finally decided that he could, in fact, do it. So he has a great time toddling around the house. He thinks it's hilarious when he falls down and sometimes does it on purpose.

Justin decided a few days ago that he wanted to try riding his friends bike that didn't have training wheels on it. He didn't actually ride it he just kept his feet on the ground and pushed himself around. Occasionally I would see him push hard to see how far he could go before putting his foot down again. Today, Aeli knocked on the door, and I opened it to see Justin riding down the grass hill. Full out riding, feet on the peddles and everything. I happened to catch the first or second attempt. Words cannot describe the look of joy on his face at discovering that he could do this. I was pretty impressed that Justin had figured out how to get over the hard part of riding a bike- getting going- by riding down the hill. Anyway, he ended the evening riding around the parking lot in circles. There was no Dad running behind the bike holding on and eventually letting go. That was when I realized that this is how it is going to be for the rest of Justin's life. He just absorbs and observes and then does. There aren't very many teaching moments. He just does it, whatever it maybe, one day when he decides that he can. This makes me a little bit sad, teaching is always fun. But at the same time it is amazing to watch him figure things out on his own and it makes me very proud. Good Job Justin!

First pie of the year!

2010-05-21T01:00:00.000-04:00

So I finally downloaded my pictures from April. This was the first pie of the season. It was scrumptious.

See? I told you.

Things that make me happy

2010-05-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

Every once in awhile it is good to remember the simple things that make you feel happy. Often times I get so caught up in life that I forget to notice anything. One of my very favorite things is to walk outside at night when the weather is so clear amd the air is so crisp and pleasant that the stars don't twinkle and you can see the curvature of the moon.

I also love to drive at dusk with the windows rolled down and the music turned up, when the temperature of the air is cool enough you might conisder turning the heater on while you are driving.

I love to see sunsets.

Conversations with a 5 yr old.

2010-05-16T13:59:00.000-04:00

Me: Justin, are you ready to eat chicken nuggets now?
Justin: Almost. I am thinking. It will be just 3 more minutes ok?

The topic at preschool today (this was written about a month ago now...) was weather. Specifically they talked about tornadoes (among other things) which is a topic that Justin has been preoccupied with lately. So it worked out well. One of the books they were reading talked about all sorts of sky conditions. The following is an account of what happened while reading the book.

Teacher: And this is a picture of Northern Lights.
Justin: No it isn't.
Teacher: Yes- see? Right here it says "Northern Lights". Maybe it just looks different that some of the other pictures you have seen.
Justin: No- Those are Aurora.

Seriously. Where does he come up with these things?

On the way to preschool
Justin: Why can't you drink Gasoline?
Me: because it is bad for your body and it will make you really sick.
Justin: Does it put germs in your body?
Me: No, sometimes things make you sick without putting germs in your body. They are just bad for your body.
Justin: oh. Like smoking?
Me: Yes
Justin: and alcohol?
Me: Yes
Justin: and lots of meat?

New Hair

2010-03-31T16:41:00.000-04:00

I really needed to get my hair cut. So here it is before I went.

and here it is after.

Camera guts

2010-03-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

So I took my broken camera apart the other day. It was really cool and disappointing all at the same time. I have never seen inside a camera like that, so it was very cool and interesting to see how it all works. I find CCD's particularly interesting. I don't know why really.

It was disappointing because there was not mass destruction inside like I had envisioned. I mean, it definitely SOUNDED like broken glass was being ground up in there. Turns out that the lens mounting, that moves in and out had gotten deformed and was grinding as it tried to open. The gears were slipping as the little motor was not strong enough to get the thing open. Poor thing.

I always feel terrible throwing electronics away. I mean, there is just one little thing wrong and so many parts, it sure seems like you should be able to something with all the non-broken parts...

Ashley and Andrew

2010-03-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

I was going to post a bunch of Pictures but picasa won't let me upload more than 4 at a time and it was a pain, so these three are all you are going to get. If you want to see more, I have posted some in my webalbum and Ashley has a bunch on Facebook. :)

CONGRATULATIONS ASHLEY & ANDREW! We are excited for you guys and your future together!

old post

2010-03-10T15:25:00.001-05:00

I found this unfinished post in my list. I don't know what I had intended to say about these pictures so I will just post them anyway. This is the dress that my grandmother made for Aeli to wear at my sisters wedding. It includes a cape and hat. :)

Justin needed his picture taken too. :)

Posting conditions

2010-02-28T20:44:00.000-05:00

When and what I post about is in no way connected to whether or not I have a picture to post. Yet some how I find myself less motivated to post since I broke my camera. That's right, I broke it. I dropped it my mother's wonderful new tile floor. When I turn it on there is a gut churning grinding of glass as the lens tries to open. Then as it grinds to a halt and shuts down, I feel all sick inside again. It was a sad day. I have been wanting to get a new camera, but it turns out that I wanted a new one, just to get a new one. Not because I HAVE to get a new one. Anyway, I will try to get some pictures posted from our trip to WA for my sisters wedding. Fortunately I dropped the camera as I was packing to leave so we didn't miss any fun moments due to a broken camera.

Happy February

2010-02-07T18:57:00.002-05:00

Well I am back to being festive. Sorry about the messy nature of the previous posts. I don't feel like going back to edit them. Hope you are all planning a great February. :)

The truth about pregnancy.

2010-01-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

So the other day I was contemplating pregnancy. Not because I am pregnant, rather I was feeling VERY grateful that I am not. Anyone that has talked to me when I am pregnant knows that pregnancy and I don't get along very well, or at all in fact. Anyway, I was wondering how I could pass along the realities of being pregnant to my daughter, without scaring her away from having kids altogether. I came to no conclusion about this dilemma. Then this morning I read " What's Grosser than Gross? " by my sister-in-law. Perhaps I will have my daughter talk to her aunt and get the rundown from her. :)

My Apologies

2009-12-27T14:02:00.006-05:00

I wanted to have a fun New Year's design for my blog. I also wanted to be able to post an extra large picture. These 2 things kind of conflict. Sorry about that. I will try not to say anything too important in the Blog titles as they are difficult to see off to the side like they are.

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year. Enjoy!

Photo Phun

2009-12-13T12:04:00.007-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures from the beach. There were some FANTASTICALLY beautiful days.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-13T10:58:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving at the beach is the BEST idea EVER. You should try it.

I didn't get any pictures of the 13 pies this year, but they were excellent. What more could you ask for? Pies, Ocean, and Family.

We hope that your Thanksgiving was as awesome as ours was.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for making it possible. :)

Birthday Redeux

2009-12-07T17:00:00.006-05:00

The second birthday celebration was MUCH better. :)

The 5 most ridiculous things ever

2009-11-11T10:41:00.007-05:00

We have some crystals hanging in the window in the kitchen. They make pretty rainbows that the kids love to see. As the sun was setting one evening, Justin asked me why the rainbows were going away. This all led to a discussion about how the Sun doesn't actually move it is the Earth that is spinning and that is why it LOOKS like the sun is setting.

Photos courtesy of Justin Maxwell

Since then Justin has moved on to planets with rings. Specifically that Saturn has big rings and Jupiter has small rings. Last night we added Uranus and Neptune to the list of planets with rings. This all started because we pointed out Jupiter and Saturn to him in the evening sky and he knows about the rings because I have a star chart hanging in my room with a picture of Saturn and Jupiter on it.

Now that you have a little background I can tell you that this morning at breakfast Justin asked what gravity is and why it is always on, and how do the planets stay up in the sky. In an attempt to explain this to my 5 yr old, I said that the planets all move around the sun and that combined with gravity they are able to stay up in the sky. It was also mentioned that not only does the Earth spin, but it also moves around the Sun. And the Sun isn't a planet, it is a star. During this conversation Justin bust up laughing. He then proceeded to tell me that:

The Earth is NOT a planet.
The planets do NOT move around the Sun.
The Sun is NOT a star.
Planets do NOT spin, only the Earth does.
Stars are definitely not as big or bigger than the Sun.

What I had said was clearly the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

Give him a couple of days to think about it, he will come around.

A pathetic Birthday

2009-11-08T11:40:00.001-05:00

I think that we are going to have a do-over birthday for Justin when he has a birthday pary (hopefully this next weekend). It was such a sad pathetic day as every one had fevers and stuffy heads.

Inspite of that, Justin loved his presents. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Seriously, it was so sad. He didn't even eat any of the brownie!

Fortunately, we are all starting to get better. FINALLY.

Halloween

2009-11-08T11:37:00.002-05:00

Justin decided that he didn't want to be a pirate (again) this year, so instead he was Boba Fett, with a Jet-pack.

Sorry about the washed out state of this photo.

Here is a better view of the jetpack. This was the highlight of Justin's halloween.

Justin had a whale shark pumpkin this year. Aeli stole the pumpkin I carved for me and declared it hers.

Nathan's has 4 teeth just like he does. (well almost- the 4th is taking it's sweet time popping through). Ted made a scarred pumpkin, and my second pumpkin was emote-ful.

New Seat and Fall Trees

2009-11-08T11:31:00.003-05:00

Nathan got too big for the infant carrier car seat. Which meant that he needed Aeli's carseat (since it can be rear facing). So Aeli got a new car seat. It turns out that she is just big enough for a booster with a back. When we put it in the car, she climbed up to test it and said, "ok Dad, Let's go!"

The trees this year were all very yellow. It was a lovely fall. We took a drive, and I took some pictures while we were going along. The fall colors also lasted a long time. It was great. Then the wind came and now they are gone. :-( Happy Fall everyone!

September Camping

2009-10-18T15:08:00.002-04:00

So we decided to give camping a try. We went for one night to the Owen-Putnam State Forest. It was alot of fun. Although we did discover that we need to buy new sleeping pads. The ground was REALLY hard. All night. I think we will go again. :)

King Abinadi

2009-09-20T00:06:00.002-04:00

Bet you didn't know there was one did you? Well there is, and he is NOT the same person as the prophet. The prophet is just Abinadi.

Anyway, he told the people to repent and they didn't like it, so they wanted to kill him. He ran away into the wilderness for about 2 days-I mean 2 weeks. Then he came back and told the people to repent and King Noah didn't like him either so they killed him.

Me: "How did they kill him?"

Justin: "He was fired and he died"

Beach Fun

2009-09-05T12:39:00.005-04:00

Old Baldy

Last year we promised Justin that we would go to the beach and see some lighthouses. Last week was our last chance to make the trip before school started. We had a lot of fun. Justin and Aeli climbed all the way to the top of Old Baldy. There were lots of stairs and everyone was impressed that they made it. There are other pictures here

This lighthouse is still in use and has an age restriction for entering it. We assumed it was because of all the stairs and ship ladders you would have to climb. It turns out it is because the government used lead-based paint. Do they think the kids are going to lick the walls or something?

Thanks for letting us crash at your house Grandma and Grandpa!

Outta Here!

2009-09-05T12:30:00.004-04:00

A conversation towards the end of sacrament meeting last Sunday.

Aeli: "I wanna watch a movie"
Me: "We can't, we are at church"
Aeli: "Let's get outta here!" (while sticking her thumb over her shoulder)
Aeli: "Dad! Let's get outta here!"

Eternal Families

2009-08-18T17:47:00.003-04:00

Justin: We talked about Eternal Families on Sunday.
Me: Oh really? That's great.
Justin: If you get married in the church you don't have a ternal family, but if you get married in the temple you do have a ternal family.
Me: That's right.
Justin: Mom, Why do we want a ternal family?

So classic. The best part is that as he was telling me about eternal families I was wondering if he knew what one was or why they are important... Turns out, he didn't, he just knew how to get one.

A day with Justin...

2009-07-31T12:47:00.007-04:00

... goes something like this:

Wake up to Justin running into your room saying, "MOM! DAD! It is after 7! Can I go downstairs now?
Once everyone makes it downstairs to have breakfast the NONSTOP chatter begins.
Justin talks to you ALL day
He complains and whines about how he isn't tired and doesn't want to go to sleep (while bleary-eyed and yawning of course)
After multiple reminders to stay in his own bed with his head on his pillow, he eventually falls asleep.

Repeat the next day.

I love you Justin. You make me laugh.

Here a couple of things that came out during Justin's nonstop chatter last Friday.

Me: Why are you so grumpy today?
Justin: Because I want to play Lego Star Wars and Dad said I had to go outside and I don't want to go outside.
Me:Why don't you want to go outside? You like playing outside.
Justin: Not on Friday's I don't.
----------------------------------------
Justin: Look mom, those birds are cleaning up Cinderella's bed!
Me: They are nice. I wish birds would clean up my bed.
Justin: hehehe yeah, but we don't live in a movie. We live in a planet.

Egg Checking

2009-07-01T14:19:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows that you should check the eggs at the grocery store before you buy them. The question is, what are you checking for? Typically people will say they are just looking to see if there are any broken eggs. This is NOT what everyone checks for however. For example, the land-lady of one of our homes in Provo was older, and part of our rent agreement was to take her shopping once a week. She checked the eggs for freshness. I don't know how she could tell, but she would spend forever checking all the different boxes of eggs to see which once were the freshest. Upon occasion she would change the eggs around selecting the freshest one and putting it in another box. Seriously, all she did was look at them.

Justin is another exception to the rule. When I open the box to see if there are any broken eggs he insists on checking them as well. He puts his hands on the eggs and proudly announces, "Yep. They're cold"

Hair Redeux

2009-06-25T19:24:00.003-04:00

First I should put in a disclaimer/shoutout to my photographer. Thanks Justin!

So here are a couple of pictures of the first haircut followed by a couple of the second. I don't think that the photos do justice to the choppyness of the cut, but I have a new photographer. :) I am still getting used to the new hairstyle, but it is MUCH better than the first cut. :)

First one:

Second one:

Hair Dilemma

2009-06-05T15:16:00.003-04:00

So what, exactly, is the proper way to handle a haircut that you don't like? It isn't bad, but I just don't like it. I want to get it fixed. Do I go back to the same person and ask her to fix it? I don't really think I should have to pay for it if I do that(If I had gone to great clips or something where the haircuts are only like $10 maybe, but I didn't). I mean, if it was clothes that I didn't like or shoes, I would exchange them. Does it work the same way for haircuts? Do I go somewhere else? Do I go to the same salon and have someone else do it? What is the proper way to deal with this?

Anyone have any thoughts?

I was remiss

2009-05-13T15:11:00.008-04:00

So it has been pointed out to me a couple of times now, that I didn't make a post about my mom's visit to Indiana. SORRY MOM!

My mom came to visit in January to help me out after Nathan was born. It was a great visit. We had a really fun time while she was here. We didn't get to go too many places because it was SOOO cold. (Like 0 Degrees) However, we did get have Nathan blessed and celebrate my mom's birthday.

We also went up to Indianapolis to visit the Children's museum. It was extra-adventurous because it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and there was free admission to the Museum. There were TONS of people there. We are going to try and go back some time when it is not quite so busy I think. :)

Hopefully I have redeemed myself at least a little bit. :)

love you mom! :)

Flower Guy

2009-04-30T17:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Justin informed me that he was the Flower Guy. You know, the guy that gives flowers to people. I asked him who he was going to give flowers to and he said that he was giving them to people that love the flower guy. Don't worry, he wasn't going to cross the street or go up the hill. He would just give them to people in our building. The flowers, by the way, were dandelions.

Who doesn't love the flower guy? :)

Grandma's Visit

2009-04-26T15:33:00.003-04:00

So we had lots of fun when Grandma visited. We ended up having all of our adventures on the same day. It was lots of fun. We started off by getting up early and going to a cemetery. We were trying to find the headstone of Ted's great(x3) grand-father to check the date of his death. when we got there we were greeted by this gate. It definitely kept us from driving in there.

After an unsuccessful search we went about 15 minutes up the road to find our Train ride to the Easter patch.

Justin was so excited that all he could say was, "I've never been on a REAL train before!"
Everytime the whistle blew Aeli sat there with her mouth open. After the train ride and egg hunt we had some lunch and then we had to take Grandma to the airport. We were all sad to see Grandma leave.

Thanks for so much fun Grandma!

oops

2009-04-25T17:10:00.003-04:00

So I was looking at new backgrounds, and managed to delete my blog list.... dang it. I guess I will have to slowly find them all again.

Sigh

It's a Star Wars life

2009-04-25T16:37:00.010-04:00

Justin's most recent obsession is Star Wars. This works out pretty well for us since we own the Prequel, the original movies and the Cartoon Network Clone Wars series. I also own Star Wars Lego (it sits on a nice display shelf at the top of the stairs), a Darth Maul lightsaber (yes, the double blade one), and a destroyer droid action figure.

Good thing we bought those lightsabers for the kids at Christmas time. Of course, we forgot about them and gave them to the kids one day when they were bored....

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the details of the Justin (and Aeli) Star Wars Universe with you.

Luke's Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Anakin's Master (also Obi-Wan, I am not really sure if he realizes that Luke's friend and Anakin's master are the same person or not. One of them is MUCH older than the other you know)
C3peedo (or 3peedo for short)
D2D2 (Only Aeli says this, Justin knows it is R2D2)
Dark Vader
Dark Maul
General Window
Count Dooku

Luke and Anakin are the force, so they can move stuff
Anakin is good, the Vader SUIT is bad but he is good at the end.

Justin doesn't like to watch A New Hope because Dark Vader kills Luke's Friend. He likes to watch the one with Anakin and Anakin's master (Attack of the Clones). He has to wait until he is older to watch episode 3 because there is lots of scary fighting in it. Although, he insists that we could just skip the scary parts so he could watch it.

The lightsabers we bought for the kids are Red and Blue, and whether you are Sith or Jedi (when dueling) depends on the color light saber you are wielding and which movie Justin has most recently watched. Mostly he likes to use both if he can get away with it so that he can be like General grievous or the white-girl (Clone Wars Sith chick).

The movie watching progression went this way:
Clone Wars- since they are animated we let him watch them.
A New Hope- this is pretty tame and we skipped any questionable scenes.
Empire Strikes Back- Don't know how he talked Ted into this one. I came into the room and it was on.
We were going to stop at this point and leave well enough alone, but Justin was really upset that Dark Vader hadn't died yet. He really wanted some resolution to the story. He was actually pretty upset about the whole thing so we decided to give the kid some resolution and let him watch Return of the Jedi (we skipped the Rancor scene at Jabba's palace).

He felt much better about the whole thing and the next day requested to watch A New Hope again but asked if we could skip the part where Dark Vader kills Luke's Friend. After that he just wanted to watch Empire.

Somehow after that he ended up watching Episodes I and II.

And now you know the REST of the story....

Easter

2009-04-24T18:40:00.003-04:00

Well- It has been a couple of weeks now, but better late than never I suppose. :) Here is a preview of the Easter pictures. There are more on my webalbum, here.

Aeli was SUPER excited about her Cinderella dress:

Nathan, while not excited about his clothes, was excited to see Dad.

Justin was also pretty happy to have new Easter Sunday clothes.

Here are some group pics too.

Happy Easter everyone.