Reeves

Dishwasher drama

2012-02-11T20:23:00.002-07:00

Leaky McLeakerson just had to go. Now shiny mclovelyson is installed and washing my dishes. Now I just need to replace the microwave and the stove with black ones and we are gold, then just painting the cabinets and painting the walls and all that. The kitchen is finally getting its facelift.

Alexander is 6

2012-02-11T19:35:00.005-07:00

Alexander's birthday party was a pirate party and he had a lot of fun! I didn't take many pictures, not even at the beginning. Sad. Oh well. I think the kids had fun and Alexander LOVED it. A really funny thing was that Alexander had no idea that people were going to bring him gifts. This was his first school friends party so maybe he didn't know what to expect. Anyway here are some photos
His birthday banner! This was my favorite thing because I put his photo on it and its cute. I ordered it from shindigz.com

These are some fuzzy pictures sorry I was trying to hurry because kids were arriving. This was the bandana and flag decorating set up. We had some pirate skulls with eye patches. The containers were full of pirate foam stickers to make it less messy
Then I made them earn their pirate hats by throwing little "cannon balls" at the enemy ship.

Daniel drew a ship onto the poster board. I did this game because Alexander really wanted water balloons and well this was the best option so that we didn't all get wet.

Then we had a wall of cannon balls and they were supposed to explode them with T pins. It was pretty loud they had confetti or prizes in them so it was exciting. I got this idea from pinterest where they had a giant pumpkin shape on the wall and just changed it to cannon balls.

Then we did pin the eye patch on the pirate. Daniel drew the pirate.
They did pretty well :

Then we did another activity, then it was time for cake. Cupcakes to be exact. Here is a shot of the singing:
All the shots I took of this show Alexander has a really great time. He absolutely loved his party. Here is a close up of the cupcakes:

It was so much fun. Yay our first friends party a success. His birthday isn't until the 12th (tomorrow) we will be doing candles and icecream. That is what he wanted and gifts again of course. Then on Monday its 24 cupcakes for his class! The great news is that I ran around trying to find the right toppers and then no one had what Alexander wanted so tonight I sent Daniel to walmart for some cooking oil and look what he brought home:
They had them!!! They didn't have them yesterday but today was magical. YAY Wohoo! I remember not finding them last year and this year we have success.

He is 6 now. Its so strange but he is. He keeps telling me he is going to 1st grade now :)

Happy Birthday Alexander!!

Broncos and haircuts

2012-01-30T19:36:00.002-07:00

Two weeks ago the Broncos were in the playoffs and it was broncos day. We started the day off with hair cuts for the boys

Here they are in their bronco's clothes while Eva sat by waiting for the game to end. Alexander LOVES Tebow

wowza we are a house of lazy posters

2012-01-29T21:35:00.004-07:00

So I haven't posted in a million years (3 weeks actually) It feels like much longer than that. We have been busy here. We have organized the heck out of our house. I read a book on organizing and it kicked me into shape and I did a closet a day and threw many things out and donated things and then it was time to do the garage and I just couldn't do it. Then our neighbors came over and helped us move the light in the kitchen and now it is a beautiful light. Then I got a new calling. I am the 2nd counselor in Young Women. Its really great. I just love the beehives. I am so glad we organized the entire house because my mind feels extremely clear and ready for new things so the call came at the right time.

I have been avoiding the computer a lot because Daniel got me that awesome new phone that i can check everything on and I find when I hop on the actual computer for just a little bit it turns into a lot bit and I waste much time. Hence the lack of posts. I have thrown in a new weekly cleaning schedule and it just makes me so happy to get things done in small increments throughout the week instead of all in one day. Its lifted the heavy burden of cleaning from my brain an hour a day is better for me than 6 hours for one day.
I have also been relearning time management. I used to be really good at it in college and then I wasn't and now I am remembering the important things like a daily agenda and a monthly plan. I set up reminders on my phone and get all the good things in during the way. Anyway lots of tangents in this post. We are busy living life. The kids are doing well and I do have some photos to post of them which I plan to do. Jamison got his first haircut and has started the tantrum stage. Eva likes to talk a lot but i can really understand her a lot and Alexander has improved so much at school. Like I said life is good and we are enjoying it. People always say they grow up so quickly and you need to enjoy every moment. That is exactly what we are trying to do.

More later. Have a lovely week!!

Miriam

Christmas time in January

2012-01-11T15:05:00.002-07:00

Here are some photos from our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Christmas Morning. They were really excited this year. I was a great December filled with lots of lovely memories.

It was Christmas, Then New Years

2012-01-04T11:56:00.002-07:00

Thats right Christmas and New Years did happen in the Reeves Household even if I didn't post anything about them. I will post some photos about them in a later post. We are here healthy and happy. We were enjoying our holiday season so much that I didn't have time to post anything. But the New Year has come and I am ready to get everything in order. Yay for the New Year. For me personally it will be a year of organization, peacocks, books and feeling good. Those are the goals anyway. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Miriam

Sledding

2011-12-19T20:13:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago it snowed (as it has been today) and we went sledding. The wind was FREEZING so we didn't stay long but the kids LOVED it.

This was Jamisons first meeting with snow. It snowed last year but he was inside sleeping when we went out. It has been snowing all day here. Luckily I have just been home with the kids. I don't like driving in snow especially with unplowed roads so we decided to take it easy today. Maybe tomorrow too depending on the weather and roads. We are just enjoying our time together making cookies and watching Christmas movies.

Candy Houses

2011-12-07T08:46:00.007-07:00

I decided I wanted to try some ginger bread houses this year. Alexander went to a birthday party and they decorated houses and I thought it was cute. So I picked up a kit. I put the houses together on 3 hours of sleep and I don't recommend doing that. We waited a day and then decorated them for Family Home Evening. We also had Michael Buble over for FHE. Anyway Eva said this was her best family home evening EVER. I called them gingerbread houses but Alexander said they are candy houses. Here they are:

Eva's house

Daniel's House

mamma's house

Alexander's house with lots of landscaping

Eva's other house with a candy garden

The village of houses

King Kong aka Jamison. He thought the whole thing was just a big buffet.

It was a lot of fun and I love how small the houses are.

I found it was more fun when I didn't care what they did and just let them be creative.

Snow Day

2011-12-06T10:16:00.002-07:00

Its another snow day from school and this time I got a full nights sleep so the kids have been able to go out and play.

I have extremely mixed feelings about the snow. But I do love when they get to play in it 3 times a year. Later today if everything goes well we will make a snowman out front. We will see.

Letters to Santa

2011-12-06T10:08:00.003-07:00

Alexander and Eva and completely different. Here is an example. We have been working on letters to Santa all month. Eva's list is a little different than Alexadners. This is her second more refined list.

This is Alexadner's original list and I added some things I heard him say over the last few weeks.

Anytime she sees anything she likes she wants it for christmas. Luckily she has a short memory. She also insists that I draw a picture next to the word to make sure I got it right. Alexander on the other hand doesn't seem to mind what he gets. I asked him the other day and he said he would like whatever Santa brings him.I really love all the aspects of the christmas season.

Merry Christmas!

Miriam

2011-12-05T09:31:00.002-07:00

Lots of snow for New Mexico. School is cancelled and its only 930 am and I am tired tired tired. Here is off our balcony, I know not much to some people but considering we get snow about 2 times a year and its 1 inch or less its a lot.

Daniel has been out since I don't know what time. Hopefully he wont get sick. We are fine over here though just sitting around the house trying to get better

What the croup

2011-12-04T10:19:00.001-07:00

Thats right I said croup. The little guy Jamison has it. He was breathing strangely on Friday morning so I made the decision to set up an appointment for later that day (I love my dr's office, they always have a pediatrician on call and you can get in that day NO MATTER WHAT if you baby is sick) I figured looking like a paranoid mother on a friday afternoon was better than having a baby that could barely breath all weekend and running to the urgent care or ER and waiting for hours to be told nothing was wrong and see the pediatrician on Monday. So I went in and was diagnosed with croup which she said isn't a specific disease its just the virus going around at the time. So he was put on a ventilator and given some strong meds and he is still healing but doing much better.

It is the saddest thing seeing a little baby struggle to breath. And he walks around saying mamma mmamammama and his voice is raspy so he is pretty much going to get away with anything until he is better.

Its been a LONG weekend what with the croup and snow (Daniel out pushing snowing really late to early) But the weekend is almost over and then it will be a new week.

Thats how our few days has been.

A cute video of Jamison

2011-11-29T10:41:00.002-07:00

Mario Kart at the Reeves check out little Jamison playing too

Oh and did I mention he is a full of walker now, no crawling here just walking and running and trying to jump off the stairs.

A Thanksgiving tale

2011-11-29T10:02:00.004-07:00

This year for thanksgiving we were on our own. So I got all the Thanksgiving shopping done the Saturday before and we were ready and excited to start some fun little traditions. Tuesday came along and I needed to got get some milk or something so I loaded the two kids and then Jamison got sick in the car :( so we went home. We were a little worried because the day before he fell down 4 stairs and then caught himself but he had two big bumps on his head, so when he got sick in the car we were worried about head trauma, anyway We got home and he wasn't wobbly and his eyes were not looking strange so I put him down for a nap. Then 30 minutes later I went to check on him and he got sick again. I was pretty paranoid so he got a bath and I boiled the carseat, blankets bleached the mattress etc. Then I just waited. He seemed fine. Then at 4 am Tuesday morning Eva got sick. I was actually relieved because it mean stomach bug not head trauma for Jamsion. So I boiled all her blankets made a bed for her in our room and then she got sick on it again and had another bath and I was back to bed by 6am then I got up 15 minutes later for the kids. I was tired. Then Wednesday came and I got sick. The kids still had all their energy when they got sick and then they were fine. I was sooo sick. I still don't understand how they still had energy. Then Thanksgiving day came. I was still sick until about 4 then I was still stick but made thanksgiving dinner and put some not sweats kind of clothes on.

We ate the dinner (well I ate some potatoes and yams)

Then Alexander didn't want to eat any and Daniel and I both told him he had to. "Keep eating Keep eating just finish your corn or something." Then he goes to the bathroom and gets sick!! (we felt really bad for making him eat, we thought he was doing the regular I don't want to eat anything act) I am still not better at this point but I clean it all up and boil everything (in the washer of course) then he is all better! Except he doesn't want to eat for 24 hours (like the rest of us) The Daniel gets sick for 2 days. Then he gets better but gets a really bad cold! He still has the cold and its getting worse so he might need to go to the doctor to get some meds. Last time he was this bad it was bronchitis. BLERG.

So Thanksgiving was Thanksgiving. We really tried our best. At least no one was here with us getting sick too like years past (sorry guys) This is just not our holiday I guess. Maybe next year (I say that every year)

We played ALOT of wii mario kart on all those sick days. We also drank a lot of cocoa.

and Jamison got into a lot of mischief, everything is just so fun to him.

yes that is toilet paper that is still attached to the roll. He has an obsession with TP all week long. The best part was that no one really ate Thanksgiving dinner because of all the sickness so we had left overs for days!

I hope all your Thanksgivings were WAY better than ours. Now onto Christmas!!

brushing teeth

2011-11-15T15:17:00.001-07:00

This little guy loves to brush his teeth! Here's the proof

He loves doing everything his siblings do. He makes me happy.

Us Lately

2011-11-14T21:12:00.004-07:00

I obviously haven't created many blog posts lately. I blame it on the really busy not accomplishing much part of mother hood (or at least it feels that way sometimes). Just the everyday wear and tare. I also lost the camera chip for a week. Then Eva found it somewhere. We are great over here. Enjoying the lovely turning of the whether.

Breaking news. Jamison can walk now. I would say he is 50/50 with the walking and crawling. I will have to take a video of him. He sticks his arms in the

air above his head when he does it. He gets into much mischief but I still love him lots. He also likes to head butt the TV which is weird and not good for the tv (he gave me a bloody nose the other day with a head butt!).

That brings me to my new project. This project is taking FOREVER because I don't even have the piece. I need a 6-9 drawer dresser that is exactly 5 feet long. and not too tall. This will become my new tv stand but its just not jumping into my lap. So the project won't be completed for awhile but the head butting of the tv is driving me bonkers so we will have to find a new solution QUICKLY.

I am getting ready for christmas and it makes me so happy. I need

to get some christmas decor up! I am also extremely exited for thanksgiving, mostly black friday but yeah its going to be fun. Just me alone at the stores this year. We will see what I come home with. We are also having a ham this year. I have never made a turkey and Daniel and I don't really like Turkey so making one doesn't make sense. I am excited to watch the parade and miracle on 34th street. Its going to be fun. I am also going to make a thankful tree and things that will make the kids know what thanksgiving is about, maybe a short lesson about the pilgrims.

We are really happy and just enjoying our time together as a family. I LOVE this time of year and I love our kids. They can be be nutty but they make me happy. Here is a picture of some of the nutty:

He climbs on EVERYTHING and falls off everything too.

Miriam

adventures in grocery store shopping

2011-11-03T17:45:00.002-06:00

I went grocery store shopping yesterday. I usually hit at least 3 stores and I have Eva and Jamison with me. One of my favorite stores is smith's because they have the carts with the little cars in front. I stick Eva and Jamison in there and buckle up and my day just got better. The last two times there they have been out of the carts. Eva gets grouchy and it makes shopping feel like cleaning the bathroom. Anyway yesterday I was trying to look at my grocery list and count my items up and such and jamison grabs my bag (the cart was too full to put my bag in it so it sat next to him) and he throws it on the ground. I pick it up and its contents while Eva complains about not being in a car and I stick the bag right back where it was (ridiculous I know). This time he grabs my phone (he loves phones, his favorite thing to do is grab mine and throw it on the ground until it falls into 3 peices and then he slides on the ground with the battery, those scratches on the battery are from him) he throws it on the ground and then I go to pick up the phone and he throws my bag down. I hurry to pick up the phone and then the bag and stuff the phone into the bag and run to the check out.

This was my phone when I pulled it out of my bag upon arriving home. I LEFT THE BACK OF THE PHONE IN THE STORE on the floor! Blarg. This is why grocery shopping with two energetic children is a last resort. At least the phone is a year old so when it breaks down for good I will have gotten some time out of it. Daniel says it could have been a lot worse and he is right. I am so glad I don't have an EVO or Iphone or this would have made me REALLY mad. Instead I am just glad I didn't leave the battery on the floor.

And that is the end of this tale.

Autumn time

2011-11-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

The Halloween decor is gone and now its time for just plain old Autumn until winter comes.

Happy Autumn from the Reeves

This is Halloween

2011-11-02T10:00:00.005-06:00

So we had a fun Halloween this year. We packed our weekend with a pumpkin patch

Alexander loves these things

Eva prefered the one and only tricycle they had

Jamison got the Same old Same old

Alexander LOVED The duck races

followed by a race of pumpkin carving

and then a trunk or treat (I took NO PICTURES which is ridiculous because I didn't take any last year either) Then I wrote a rough draft for a play (I admit I dislike plays even more now oh the stress) and then we had church on Sunday which was love
ly because I was able to go to Relief Society for the first time in a year or so and it was LOVELY
to just sit there and listen. THEN it was Halloween day! I delivered cookies went to alexander's
class and then got super grouchy, then made dinner then we went trick o treating with our
neighbors the Jone's and it put me in a REALLY good mood! Its funny how visiting with friends
and trick o treating makes the day better. Anyway here are some pictures from the trick o treating

all ready to go

here they are actually at the doors

It was SO much fun. We even went to visit some friends at their houses so they could see the kids in their costumes. Halloween seemed to take forever this year but worth it in the end.

The Everyday kind of post

2011-10-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

When we get bored Eva asks me to take photos and the kids play. But here are some pictures.

He is a yeller now.

They are growing fast. I don't seem to take many of Alexander now that he is in school all day. I will have to fix that

fall carnival

2011-10-24T09:38:00.003-06:00

We went to Alexander's school's fall carnival on Friday night and it was fun. I LOVE seeing all the little costumes. Eva even won a cake walk! So we went home with a bag full of cup cakes. Photo's are wort a thousand words so here are 6,000 words:

There he is with his teacher

Jamison was a lion for the evening

They had so many fun little booths!

Here they are waiting in line for the cupcake walk

It was so much fun. I really love the fall and all the fun things there are to do with the kids.

Fall Colors

2011-10-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

We don't get many fall colors here so we went and looked for some. Here is what we found

The next one is a picture of the fire damage from the Las Conchas fire. Or at least part of some damage. Look how close it got to this house!

Happy Fall! Halloween is in 2 weeks! Time is flying way too fast.

Daniel's Birthday

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Daniel doesn't like to celebrate his birthday. This year I asked him what he wanted to do and he wanted to go up to the mountains and see some fall leaves and trees. So we packed a picnic and it was really fun. He took a half day at work and we went up to the Jemez mountains. There was a little creek and everything.

We had a really great time. Happy Birthday to Daniel

Balloon Fiesta

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

This year balloon Fiesta week was pretty rainy. But we still went and had a lot of fun. We got a treat and got to go with Daniel and some of the people he works with on a FRIDAY morning. It was a lot of fun. The kids absolutely loved it. We layered them up and they were not cold the whole time! I only got a few shots because only a few of the balloons inflated. However we started a new hobby for the kids. Collecting Balloon cards. Like baseball cards except for the balloons. We had hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls and it just felt like a perfect fall morning. Here are some pictures:

It was raining so Eva's hair went nuts

They both wanted pictures with the cow and this was as close as Eva would get.

We were VERY lucky because two of the ladies Daniel works with wanted to hold Jamison the WHOLE TIME! He LOVED it and it made the event really easy for us. Probably the easiest balloon fiesta we have ever had (there were not a lot of people there either because of the rain)

I don't know what they were doing here

We got some much needed rain but it was sad to see it come on the one week a year that we don't want it in New Mexico. But It was fantastic. The strange thing was the temperatures were really low like in the 30s and 40s and then the next week mid 80's. I guess you never know with the weather.

Where have we been

2011-10-19T10:20:00.004-06:00

Wow I have not blogged in so long. Life just gets so busy you forget. Sorry. Here is a little recap of the last month We had Balloon Fiesta, Daniel's birthday and then just the every day. Its been great. I have been doing a few projects too. Oh and now I am going to be writing a play. Any tips there would be appreciated. Anyway here are some pictures of the everyday life here at home while Alexander is at school:

Jamison can fit in all the cabinets! He likes to go in there and shut the door. He is every energetic

Eva was in timeout for 3 minutes. She was so tired she fell asleep on the chair!

These guys love to get in boxes and play. They also like to play in closets.

I will update more later. I hope you are all well.

Wellness visit

2011-09-20T14:18:00.003-06:00

We went to the Doctor today and Eva is FINALLY all caught up on her immunizations for the first time since she was 6 months old! I would advise anyone out there not to space them out too long because she was kicking and flinching and all that. Jamison didn't like his but he just laid there crying no kicking. Then he had to get blood drawn. Saddest thing ever. He was pretty angry and who would blame him. So we are all well over here. Jamison has finally slowed down on his growth. He is in the 50s for height and weight and 99% for his head. I think all the crawling has made him maintain his weight.

The Dr. Said Eva is very expressive. She has had a sore throat and cough for a few weeks and she complained that her voice hurt. I told the doctor and he was so impressed by that description because he said its the exact area where it would hurt. I think she is getting better and we will finally get her back to dance class tomorrow. Horray for healthy children. They got their flu shots so hopefully that will actually help this year. Now onto a wonderful month of fall prep.

Miriam

When Eva plays with Jamison...

2011-09-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

This happens. Jamison loves it in there and Eva likes to open the door to let him in.

Its done!

2011-09-19T10:03:00.005-06:00

This chest is done. Wohoo!

It was a beast and now its not YAY.

details on the work here

Oh and its a Franklin Shockey Cedar Chest from Lexington North Carolina

Autumn is in the air

2011-09-13T17:21:00.003-06:00

I am so excited for Autumn! We pulled out the Halloween boxes and were trying to figure out costumes and put some decorations up. I realize some people think its too early for halloween decor but luckily I am not one of those people. We had a try on session.

Fun!

Hard Labor Day

2011-09-08T15:42:00.006-06:00

We were in Utah for the long weekend for a fantastic project! I am sooo happy they got it finished. I was very impressed by all the hard work that went into it! Ralph did SOOO much prep work. Landscaping work is HARD labor. I was extremely impressed on Monday. They all worked so hard and worked until after dark only taking breaks to eat. Here is a before shot, this is before any prep work:

Then Ralph did a thousand hours of prep work. Then they all got together to move and lay the pavers. I must say I am jealous of these pavers, they are exactly what I would pick.

Ralph shoveling sand:

Daniel and Joel working:

Dave leveling every layer (gravel then sand) with his EYES and getting it exactly right! Daniel told me on the way home that he didn't think they would have finished the second patio if Dave hadn't done all that. It made the paver placement go by much faster.
Some more hard work. I hope Tyler is still alive after all that work with injuries! Andrew was the stone cutter. I was really impressed with his cuts and little waste!

Then Kendall got stuck with Daniel:

Then there was a lot of hard work and sweat and the sun went down and came back up and then went down again and then there was this (click on it for a better picture):

It is pretty much a court yard patio that is stunning. I think they really love it. I would too.

They also got the master patio finished too:

We went to Utah so Daniel could help with the patio before the summer was over so mission accomplished! I also got to relax and see everyone out there. It was a nice trip. Packed to the brink but still very nice. Here are some pictures of the kids during the process:

Eva didn't like the sound of the saw and the plate tamper so her ears were covered most of the time. I found a solution:
Jamison was watching Daniel work on the master patio

When Jamison woke up from his nap on labor day he wanted to watch Daniel work. He stood at that window for a really long time and chattered

It was cute so I took another shot

Patio all finished. The kids liked playing on it.

What a great experience. I saw so much great work ethic and I was just amazed. I felt for all of them because I hauled all our pavers for our patio and I felt dead by the end of the night. Good Job guys!

Miriam

Cake is GOOD

2011-08-29T16:24:00.002-06:00

Jamison enjoyed himself on his birthday

A funny side note. Daniel and I were discussing who was supposed to clean what. I bathed Jamison and then he said we agreed to clean the mess together. Then we watched this video and he said he would clean the mess and I would clean Jamison. I laughed and laughed and then I cleaned the mess :)

Miriam

Happy Birthday Jamison

2011-08-28T11:30:00.005-06:00

This little guy is one today! We are so happy about it. One means a new carseat so he can see. Milk in a sippy cup and the ability to travel a lot better because sitting up and drinking milk from your cup means happiness. We are having cake and a pirate party with the kids (after church that is) So happy birthday Jamison! Here are some pictures of him right before he turned one (last night)

As you can see Eva threw the ball at his neck

He is now doing the look under your legs because things look awesome upside down thing

Eating dirt

Here he is this morning, eating blocks

And with his blanket. I will post pictures with cake later.

Miriam

A birthday weekend

2011-08-27T20:49:00.002-06:00

Its my mother's birthday today!! How exciting. She is a great mother and we love her very much and can't wait to see her next! And tomorrow is Jamison's birthday! and then next week is my birthday! Lots of birthdays close together. So that means my mother was pregnant with me waiting for me to come out and I had just had Jamison when my birthday came around. I was kind of in the same boat as her. How fun to be able to experience a similar experience and become more grateful for my mother for what she was experiencing when I was born. I am very grateful for her and I really applaud her for all that she did!

I love you mamma!

Miriam

Alexander is growing up

2011-08-23T20:42:00.002-06:00

The other night we had roasted chicken for dinner. I put some on Alexander's plate and he kept saying how much he didn't like chicken. Daniel told him that if he ate everything off his plate that he could have some cookies. He told him if anything was left on the plate no cookies. So Alexander sat there and ate and ate and ate. At one point he was eating some chicken and he started to gag really badly and almost threw up. I stuck my hand out and told him to spit it out but he kept nodding no and forced it down. This happened again and again with every piece of chicken. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't just spit it out. Then I realized he thought if he would spit it out he wouldn't get any cookies. He is really toughening up! He has a really bad gag reflex ever since he was little so I really feel bad about it. He really doesn't like chicken. I have started to not like it either. Poor kid. He will gobble up chicken nuggets though.

Mini photo shoot

2011-08-20T18:14:00.004-06:00

The other day Daniel and I cleaned out his new office and tried to put some pictures on the walls. We did it for our date night (we have date nights now and they are FANTASTIC!) Anyway I love to organize and throw things away so it was a good time. Well all the photos I had didn't have Jamison in them! Thats how long ago I framed photos! When the kids woke up this morning I threw them into some colorful clothes and threw them outside and we took some photos. I wanted to share them with you so enjoy!

There were obviously way more but there you go! Having Alexander in school is SOOO great! He loves it. In fact last night when we were reading and saying prayers Alexander asked if he was going to school tomorrow (Saturday) and we said "no its a day off" and he started crying and was rather distraught. So we know he loves it. I love it too. Now for the in school projects and accomplishments! Today Daniel hung a fan and hung a bamboo shade on our bedroom door (the one that goes out to the patio) I made a deal with him yesterday. If he would hang the fan (which has been sitting in our bedroom since may) I would finish the cedar chest

this coming week (meaning finish stripping, sanding, painting, staining and polyurethaning the cedar chest I bought back in may!!!!) So now I have to do it and hopefully that will make me project productive. I am feeling inspired! Oh my GOODNESS I just looked and I bought the chest on March 29th!! AHHH That means it has taken me longer that the hutch to finish!!!

Miriam

School is here

2011-08-15T11:05:00.004-06:00

School started today. No tears here not even from Eva. She is the saddest in all of this and we feel bad for her but she will get a lot more time for herself now. Here are some photos from this morning:

Before we left for school
Alexander and Eva
His new back pack and water bottle
(daniel wanted llbean but I wasn't on the ball so next year :) )

playing on the kindergarten playground before school

Saying bye

his new desk areaenough with the pictures already
fine one last one
Eva wanted to take this one.

I saw a friend at the school and she asked me how I was and if I had been crying (Alexander being the first child and all) and I said nope I am in the celebrating boat. I think its because I LOVED school when I was little. I loved every minute of it until my 3rd grade teacher and then 4th grade and on I love it again up until I graduated college. I hope Alexander loves it too. He LOVED shining stars so i think he will be fine. Daniel tells me he hated school. I guess that is why we are in different boats about it. Anyway HORRAY for school. And he teacher looks like a great one again this year. Lots of order.

We are so excited!

Miriam

Jamison

2011-08-15T06:00:00.001-06:00

Jamison is going to turn one in two weeks. He hasn't seen many of our families but he is a joy to have around. Here he is.He has changed so much in the last few months.

This little guy loves to smile and laugh. He will eat anything you give him. If he sees your mouth moving or movement in the kitchen he will chase you around until you give him some food. He loves to play with Alexander and Eva and they are often too rough with him. He in turn is rough back. I hope this doesn't last for too long. He loves to snuggle. Much more than Alexander or Eva. He has started using a sippy cup with water. We started him on a regular cup and he can do both as long as you hold it for him. He is a big boy but he still loves to be held A LOT. He is already filled with his own personality and we all love him. Here are some more photos.

This is what he does when the kids are out playing. He can only go outside when I am with him because he loves to eat sand and rocks.

He likes to carry the wii remote around. I really don't know why because if he sees it he will crawl as fast as he can pick it up and then drag it around

His face here is funny its a new expression to me

Here he is whining for me to pick him up he just ate spaghetti.

He is learning to climb up the stairs. I don't like this part of babyhood but it has to happen. He used to climb and cry all the way up because he was scared. Here is an example:

It was funny because he would just cry and cry and keep climbing.
Then he realized he couldn't get off the bottom step all by himself so he started crying because he was scared:

He makes me laugh all day long, until dinner time because then he stands up hanging onto my legs while I am trying to make dinner.

im posting

2011-08-13T20:59:00.003-06:00

SOOO the summer is almost officially over, well at least in my book. Alexander starts kindergarten on Monday! We have his backpack and clothes and shoes and we are SET! He is pretty excited about it. I think he is ready to not be at home all day. It is Saturday and we decided to go early and watch while Daniel was a newbie on a balloon crew. It was cool to see and we enjoyed ourselves. Before they got started though there was a rattle snake! The first one I have seen in the wild and so close.

Just a baby but it was pretty well camouflaged so it was lucky we saw it before we were standing on it. They let it go a couple hundred feet away from us. They told us they haven't seen a rattle snake on their ballooning adventures until today! and they have been doing it since 2000!
Daniel got a picture of it. I didn't get very close because well its a rattle snack. Here are some pictures of the morning.

I love that there is a balloon culture here. Its pretty amazing and today we learned many things we didn't know about. Daniel wants to go with them now and try to crew more, sounds like a great hobby to me.

Its been about a month since I have posted. There just isn't time in the day. But I am really looking forward to the new schedule that is coming up! Oh and I put Eva into a dance class and she loves it so far! I bought her a tutu today and she put it straight on and wanted to wear it to bed (I said no) So she will now have something to look forward to and not just be envious of Alexander going off to school.

I am sure I will be posting more now that the summer is over. YAY! SUMMER IS OVER! In a couple of months we will be moving onto wearing more clothes and feeling cold. Sounds good to me. See you later.

Miriam

Have you noticed

2011-07-17T17:28:00.004-06:00

That I haven't been posting at all lately? This summer seems to have made me busier than ever in the everyday life. Just taking care of kids and cleaning keeps me busy all day. Anyway here is a little update. Umm I can't remember.

However I do have some photos I took today and yesterday. Here are Jamison and Eva in their church clothes:

Jamison is wearing his new tie

Then Eva got a new dress. It has three layers of organza and a little petty coat underneath

I just loved it. New yesterday. Then when she got home from church it had this huge rip in the organza which can't be fixed. This is why I generally don't get nice things for little people. Oh well though she has plenty other dresses (the luck of being an only girl)

On to brighter funnier things. Jamison is 10 Months old. He is cute. I like him a lot. Today after church I put him in the high chair and threw him a nectarin. Now I used to do this with Alexander and Eva when they were little and they would put bite marks in it and thats it. I was wandering around the kitchen doing things and just glancing over. It looked to me like he was just putting bit marks in.
Then it was gone so I figured he dropped it on the ground. I looked around the floor and found this:
He at the WHOLE thing, then I gave him another and he ate it all too! At least its fruit and not fruit loops. Then he needed a new shirt and I grabbed one of Eva's shirts that she wears to bed to put on him IT FITS!:
I couldn't believe it! Then I took the shirt off and put it on Eva (same day same 10 minutes) And here it is:

He is a big growing boy who eats two nectarins in one sitting and now he fits his sisters shirts!! I was laughing a lot when I saw that. It made my day. Oh and these made my day too:

I got them yesterday and I love them. Blue velvet with ruffles! I just measured and they are 5 inch heels!! However the front are tall too so they were ok to walk in.

Thats all for now, I have to get back to the kids and husband and all that.

Miriam

Our mini vacay

2011-07-09T09:26:00.005-06:00

We met up with Kristen and Geoff in Cortez Colorado for the weekend and it was pretty fantastic. We got to see Mesa Verde! I would not recommend the tours for kids under 5. This is not because of all the ladders and steep stairs and such, its because they are constantly stopping and talking and the kids don't want to sit there and wait for them to start walking again. Here is the view from across the canyon of the place we toured (cliff palace)

Then we waited for the tour guide to tell us all the reasons we shouldn't do the strenuous hike. Here are the ONLY pictures I took of people the whole trip!

Here are Alexander and Ethan checking out the far view. It was great that we could see Cliff Palace from the trail head. So if you don't want to hike all the way down you can just walk to this point to see it all.
More waiting
An interesting point about the hike is that the stone stairs you walk down are all pre osha so you get a good idea of why stairs have to be a uniform height. They were very steep and you got a surprise everytime you stepped down. Here was the first ladder to climb. The kids all did really well.

As soon as we got up the ladder we were to stop and listen to the ranger talk about the history of the Aztecs that the anthropologists have assumed from their remains. I felt like I was standing on a cliff ledge and Eva wanted to walk back and forth luckily we made it through without her falling off.The kids were all listening and being good tourists. Notice Eva all the way up the top looking for the next place to go.

The view from the tour stop

Then we stopped right in front of the ruins for a while while the tour guide informed us. Then we walked a little higher and stopped again. Eva kept throwing sand and all kinds of things. Then it was time to go and we ran for the exit. Here was the way out

Here is the view of the way out from across the canyon. Pretty steep. I didn't realize how steep it was because I wanted to get the kids out of their as soon as possible.

The view down to the Palace from the exit

We were going to do the Balcony tour but there was no way the kids could do it after the previous tour. It was actually my sanity I was worried about so Geoff and Kristen and Jerry and George went on while we did the scenic drive. We stopped and looked at the balcony from the side of the road:

Then we saw the fire temple:And many other things. It was pretty amazing to see all these houses all over the cliffs. There were so many stops and you could see their windows and doors carved out. Its amazing to think how much energy would need to be used just getting from place to place. It was such a fun mini vacation. It was great to see Geoff and Kristen and we were even lucky to see Kristen's sister's family and Her parents!

Here are some elk we saw on the way home:

I took hardly any photos which was disappointing but I would love to do another trip like this! You just can't beat a 3 and a half hour drive to visit family and see a national treasure!

Miriam

The little monkey

2011-07-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

It has started

Post # 400

2011-07-01T08:25:00.004-06:00

We have been very busy with everyday life around here! I haven't posted in a long time because I rarely get on the computer these days. Only a month and a half left of summer! Well it was fathers day a long time ago and Daniel got his favorite gift to date

Here he is enjoying it

We haven't been doing many projects, just regular home maintenance things like adding fans and doing an overhaul on the evaporative coolers. Its gotten pretty warm here so going outside for projects is not that fantastic! Daniel put more seed on the grass out back so the patches will go away and the flowers he planted are getting big. Jamison is getting more adventurous by the minute. He crawls and now likes to stand up on furniture. He is officially 10 months old! Before we know it he will be a year. The last year has flown by quickly. Eva is doing very well with potty training, now I just have to get her to go on the big one. Being in New Mexico is great although being surrounded by 8 wild fires (I think that is the accurate count right now) makes the air kind of gross. I must admit we are in need of a small vacation. Luckily we are getting a 2 day one coming up. Anyway that's all for now I must go get cereal ready.

Miriam

Eva is 3

2011-06-13T10:35:00.008-06:00

Eva turned 3 yesterday! It was a Sunday so we celebrated on Saturday. We went to the zoo and decorated the house and Eva LOVED it all. Then we had our friends over for cupcakes and bling rings and they had a blast. Eva got her 2nd baby doll (the first got its hand ripped off by Alexander a while back) and they really both love to play with it. Anyway I have a 3 year old who loves being a girl. Here are some photos from the day. Oh and I realized that I don't take many photos of Eva anymore. I specifically tried to take photos of her this weekend and I realized why I don't get many photos. Because she is ALWAYS moving around quickly so they tend to be blury. I need to put it on the sports action setting I guess.

The birthday girl before we left

I don't know what brought on the grouchy face

Flamingos when you walk in

Alexander loves the reptiles.
I would rather just pass by this section of the zoo

Jamison waiting on the grass while we switched out cars

Their favorite part about the zoo what just one of the large walls with lots of grass.
We played here for a long time.

Eva was hiding behind a rock and Alexander was supposed to find her, but he had to use the restroom so she was wondering why it was taking so long

Jamison was a good sport in his stroller

He was finally let out to play.

She looks so little in this picture

They all had their hats on

hide and seek with dad

They LOVED playing catch.
I caught some of the moments.

This one got him in the face as you can see will happen as soon as the ball hits him

Sunday morning pictures (her actual birthday)

Oh and here was her cake. Just enough for everyone.
I don't want to buy the giants cakes anymore because there is so much left over to SNACK on.

The cupcake tower. I had some with bling rings in them too. Alexander insists on rings in the cupcakes because thats what the kids did at school. We got away with not having party hats this year. I couldn't find any girly ones oh well. Oh and Alexander wanted to give her a pinata for her birthday but I didn't bring that up because who wants that much candy around? Maybe if we have a large crowd to take the candy home with them. Or maybe next time I will buy many many bouncy balls to put in one. That would be an activity in itself trying to find them all. FUN!
Happy Birthday Eva. She will be in PRIMARY next year!! The years fly by very quickly so I have to make them count.

Miriam

Fires

2011-06-07T18:16:00.002-06:00

There are uncontrolled fires in Arizona right now and it feels like they are in our backyard. We wake up every morning and it smells like a campfire. It only seems to come at night when the winds pick all the smoke up and bring it here. I hope they get the fires contained soon. I keep a little temperature thing on my computer screen and look what it said a little while ago!

How funny is that?

Miriam

I was referring to the word under the 91, it usually says sunny or rain or something like that.

The Patio

2011-06-06T10:41:00.004-06:00

For some foggy details on how we did the patio go here :)

Adjusting

2011-06-05T19:21:00.012-06:00

I started the summer (2 weeks ago tomorrow) with a lot of energy. I was going to RULE the summer and accomplish so much. We started by moving Jamison out of my closet (He was in my closet from New born until 2 weeks ago don't worry its really big) We moved him into his new room the old guest room (it hasn't been used much) Here is a photo right after we moved him in. I have since put little things up and arranged.

we put up black out curtains and he didn't sleep for 3 nights! (thats not true, he slept like a newborn for 3 nights) It was all very exciting. The kids love his room and having him right next door to them. I love not being able to hear him at night(yeah its a horrible thing to say but after you don't get a full nights sleep for 8 months straight get back to me and let me know how you feel) We love that his room now has a function and feels like part of our home now.

I got my closet back and it is currently a fully functional closet and mini creative office for myself. Taking it from mini nursery to functional mom area took a few days but I got it there. Then we decided we were going to install the patio outside. So last Saturday Daniel leveled the ground and did all the extensive prepwork while I drove to Home Depot (one of my least favorite places on the planet) asked for 420 patio pavers and one of comments I left with was "never send a woman to do a mans job" which if you know me at all really made me angry but I let it blow away in the wind because I wanted my patio finished in a timely manner. He made the comment because I had done the math for the bricks with Daniel at home and knew how many bricks I needed. Then I wanted to double check at the store and THEY sat there and couldn't figure out how many bricks I needed for the 10by12 patio. So I guess a mans job is to pick up bricks from the store? or is it to stand there like a moron while your mouth spews sexist moronic words. Then they took 45 minutes trying to figure out how to load the bricks on the truck (I suggested using the fork lift like last time) they wanted to put them in by HAND 420 bricks!! Anyway they got loaded, I drove home happy the bricks were on the truck and I was far away from home depot.

Then I the woman unloaded them all. I wanted to be useful and I wanted Daniel to finish all the prepwork and I don't know how to do (I don't know how to do anything but be a laborer in the yard) It was a lot of work but a great work out.

Then Daniel laid them all out in this cool pattern and did all that stuff that he did with sand and pipes and stuff (I seriously don't know how to do it) Then he rented a plate tamper and the whole house shook while Jamison screamed and cried. (he was inside) I took a look outside and all I could see was a large white cloud. Then Daniel and Alexander swept all the extra sand off

Alexander was being really helpful through this whole process. He handed Daniel the pavers and just wanted to do everything. Then the patio was finished and we were so happy. It was now memorial day and we had a little barbeque and fanta and coke in glass bottles. It was fantastic.

Then real life started again and Daniel went back to work and I was home with three adventurous children. Daniel wanted the children to have some fun so he pulled out the little pool and filled it with water. This started a strange chain of events. Everyday at least 3 times a day they are in the pool without my knowledge. I empty the pool and they turn on the hose and fill it back up. They have been getting in a lot of mischief. The kind of mischief where it feels like a week has passed when its only been one day. Here is a picture before the patio was put it that shows a little peek into our daily happenings:

Eva in her unders and shirt. She decided to climb into the wheel burrow but then realized she couldn't get down so she was yelling at the window for me to come out and free her. This is also a common occurrence of late:

and then all up the stairs too. Fun times here. Oh and here is the new patio covered in mud from the kids with the sand and hose:

and then they picked the sweet peas for me, even the ones that were not ready

Just trying to be helpful, hopefully all these teaching opportunities I am getting will help them learn good behavior (somehow I don't think this will happen until they are 30) Luckily I have a great husband. He planted these on mothers day and these are the second blooms!!

and he is much more handy than I realized. On Thursday I went to park group, then I went to my dentists appointment to get a crown set, then the crown broke in my mouth while they cemented it in (thats another story). It was looking like a bad day but I was trying to keep positive. So we went home and it was getting really hot so we needed to turn on the swamp coolers. I was feeling off. Daniel got on the roof and it wouldn't turn on. I would usually be really stressed out about the news but lucky for me I started to loose my lunch so I didn't care. I proceeded to be ill for 2 days and then when I started to feel better Daniel fixed it all! He showed me this:
and said words but he really fixed something that was really bad and now the house is cool and all is well. So that is why we haven't blogged in two weeks. We were busy conquering the summer and adjusting to this whole 3 kids in the house all day long thing. Its only been two weeks but it feels like 3 months. Anyway I rambled a lot. I need to go back to blogging more often so my thoughts are not rambled.

Then End.

Just kidding its just the beginning It just feels like it should be the end, of the summer that is. The person who invented summer vacation was obviously not a stay at home mother. ha ha I am kidding but not really.

We have an irrigation tech in the family

2011-05-24T13:00:00.003-06:00

I kept telling Daniel the sprinklers were on all day long. Not for the growing grass but the flowers. I was getting annoyed because it kept going off when the kids were trying to play outside and it was making lots of mud. So Daniel came home for lunch and said "The sprinklers aren't suppposed to be on now, did you turn them on?" I have no idea how to turn them on so it wasn't me. Then Daniel did the following test with Alexander.

That is why it kept going off when they would go out to play! Its going to be an AWESOME summer.

Miriam

P.S Daniel didn't teach him that at all. I guess he just picked it up?

Summer is Here

2011-05-23T21:34:00.004-06:00

We went to Alexander's bridging ceremony (crossing the bridge to kindergarten) today and a picture is worth a thousand words so here are thousands of words:

walking to get his medal

His teacher giving him his things

standing on the bridge,
I don't think he knew what to do smile or stare everyone down
(of course he chose the later)

I love this picture because he is looking at the camera while life goes on around him

Daniel and I think he looks really old in this one

They posed for us. I loved it.

Daddy and Alexander walking away

Oh and here are some videos from the ceremony. They recited nursery rhymes they learned this year.

This one will make you see sick but it has a fun part in it. Sorry for all the shakiness I had arrived late and with two little ones with me it was difficult to keep the camera still, and Eva wanted to see what I was filming.

My favorite part in the last movie is at the 2:30 mark when he realizes I am filming him

Enjoy!

Miriam

At this very moment

2011-05-20T15:00:00.002-06:00

We are sitting here waiting for 40 minutes to pass so that we can go get Alexander from the bus stop. Its over cast and lovely outside. Its Friday so the weekend should be nice. We are having the Elders over for dinner later (I think). The kids are trying to be happy and entertained. Here they are right nowJamison broke into the snacks

Eva needs help fixing her stop signs.

The kids like to make roads out of the books for their cars and Jamison tries to smash the roads. I am trying to enjoy this moment. Its Alexander's last day of school, he is done with preschool and Monday he crosses the bridge (thats what they call it) then comes summer. Mixed feelings about that.

Miriam

Alexander Graduates

2011-05-19T17:11:00.002-06:00

Thats right he is graduating preschool on Monday. He has improved so much this last school year and we have LOVED his teachers. They were perfect for him. He is sad its over but it will start up again next year. His teacher sent home a little book full of cute things Alexander has done all year and great photos of him. I just Loved it and had to share some of them.

He drew a family picture.

Alexanders current career choice :) One of his teacher's photo shopped this! Isn't it awesome.

crawling progress

2011-05-16T14:32:00.002-06:00

This is it. He can go in a circle and go backwards still nothing else though. I took a picture of him showing where he is most of the day:

Stuck scooted all the way under furniture.

Then getting tired and taking a rest.

We are still extremely happy about the lack of crawling.

On a different note Alexander only has a week of school left!

Miriam

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Its mother's day and look what I got from Alexander!
He has caught onto the fact that flowers make me happy. Everytime I get them now he gives me a short survey: Are you Happy, Sad or Mad

He drew them all over my mothers day card too. I LOVE IT! For two weeks everytime he heard MOTHERS DAY at church or on a commercial he looked at me to make sure I heard it. Happy Mothers Day!

not crawling yet

2011-05-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

He doesn't have it down yet but he is getting closer

two weeks!

2011-05-06T13:34:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in two weeks. I have been trying to organize the house and feel order in my mind so I have stayed away from the computer for the most part. I finally feel at ease with my house and my projects. YAY! I was getting rather overwhelmed but that is no longer the case.

It was our anniversary last Saturday. We have been married for 6 short years! We made a nice dinner on Sunday night and we had the kids set the table. I let them use whatever they wanted and here is what they came up with:

I was surprised that they were so particular about it. They wanted all the different colors too. I love them. They drive me crazy a lot of the time but they can be so sweet.

Jamison has decided he wants our food now. I give him the baby food though because I am paranoid about choking (he isn't a fan anymore). He grabs our food and shoves it in his mouth as fast as he can. Yesterday the neighbors babysat AND brought over cookies! They are fantastic. Anyway as soon as Alexander got home from school he wanted cookies. The problem was he kept sharing with Jamison. Jamison was crying because he wanted the cookies so Alexander gave it to him! I came in the room and took the cookie away and told Alexander Jamison is too small to eat them. Then I went back in the other room to clean and came straight back to find Jamison with the cookie AGAIN. Alexander doesn't like to see Jamison cry so he gives in!

Then later that night the kids had pizza for dinner(I know this diet sounds bad with cookies and pizza but I had a tooth pulled that day so I was all about ease) and Alexander kept giving Jamison the pizza!! Now I have to watch them all the time because Alexander wont obey the no food for Jamison Rule. As soon as Jamison sees Alexander with food he runs to him in the walker! I laugh most of the time but the choking thing is always on my mind.

Another Jamison update is that he doesn't crawl. I am quite relieved about it though. As soon as he is mobile I know my life will change drastically. He can go backwards but thats it so far. Anyway that is all we have been up to really. I have made and hung curtains and now I am done with that. I am not putting curtains on every window because we have nice blinds on every window. Daniel is not a fan of curtains at ALL. He thinks they are too stuffy. I am on the fence about it though. I do love the fact that black out curtains keep the upstairs cool though!

Until next time

Miriam

I hope all your Mother's Days are fantastic. I am a slacker though and haven't gone to the post office. Horrible I know.

Our Hunt: For the grammas and Ammas

2011-04-24T21:00:00.005-06:00

We had a little easter egg hunt in the back yard and I took many photos and I am posting them for the Amma and Grandma because I know they wish they could be with all their grandkids on the Holidays so this way they can see just what we did. There are MANY photos.
Happy Easter!! We love you all.

Miriam

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:43:00.004-06:00

I got the kids ready for church today and then asked Daniel to take some photos of them while I got ready. This is what we got. I heard a lot of "Sit down" "Look this way" EVA stop. They are funny. We had a lovely Easter and Daniel planted lots of flowers yesterday to prepare for this wonderful Holiday.

Its here its here!!

2011-04-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

Well almost look what has started to show up!!!!

It started the day the Bailor's got here. Daniel kept going out there to watch it grow. I am sure they thought he had gone bonkers but luckily Michelle and Ryan already know Daniel pretty well. Now he is getting impatient for it to all be full!

Sun glasses

2011-04-22T11:57:00.002-06:00

My kids have been obsessed with sunglasses lately.

Bailor Visit

2011-04-22T09:45:00.004-06:00

We had a visit from our great friends the Bailors. It was so much fun! We didn't do anything extravagant but it was just nice to spend time together. They are probably the thing we miss most about college life. Their kids are sooo cute and our kids get along and play together well. Noah called Alexander Zander while they were here and now Eva calls him that. He has so many names now. Little Jacob was adorable too. He is the first 9 month old that I have ever seen wrestle!

Here are Eva and Noah sharing their dip dip snack (homemade salsa by michelle mixed with sour cream REALLY GOOD)
They have gone home now and we are really sad but its more motivation to plan a trip out there to visit them this summer. We LOVE having great friends, we just wish we lived closer.

Miriam

Oh and Daniel has called Ryan Bailor for a long time so our kids kept saying "Where's Baywor?"

I have a thoughtful husband

2011-04-11T14:39:00.003-06:00

The other day I came home with the kids from doing errands and found this:

And it made me so happy. There was no husband home just these new blooms in my purple vase. I wasn't in a bad mood or anything but this really made the rest of the day fantastic. At first I thought "I hope Daniel put those there and not some creepy person" thats just how my thought process goes though.

The funny thing was later in the day when Alexander actually noticed them he said to me: "Mamma what are those" and I said "Flowers" and he said "who put them there" and I said" Dad did and he is very nice" Then he says "Oh is that why you are not mad"

Uh I guess I am mad all the time. I laughed though.

what have we been up to?

2011-04-03T20:08:00.008-06:00

As you all know Spring is here and Summer is upon us (at least it is here) so we have been trying to get our yard landscaped. It has been going well (minus all the sand in the house at all hours of the day)

We planned on grass so Daniel put in the sprinkler system first. Leveled the ground (he removed 6 truck loads of sand by hand and shovel!) He actually leveled it last summer now that I think about it. Then he put in a retaining wall.

The kids LOVE all the working in the yard

Then we put in the metal edging.

I had to use a pick axe to get through the first layer of sand and then used a rubber mallet and hammer to get it in the ground (yes I did it, Daniel told me what needed to be done and I went out and did it, I was a laborer this time)

As you can see there is only sand in the back so we needed to amend the soil. First we put down an organic green waste mulch.

We raked that into the sand and leveled it. Here is the view from the balcony

I am LOVING the retaining wall

Then we added Albuquerque mix compost. This may be a bit gross, it was to me anyway. Albuquerque mix is an organic compost. It contains recycled greenwaste, manure, and biosolids. Biosolids come from recycled sewage. If you have anymore questions call Daniel. He kept saying "This is a really crappy day"Here he is on the big pile of crap mulch.

Did you know this is called Milorganite in Milwalkee? Daniel is excited about this stuff. He says the grass will grow so well!

Daniel raked that onto the mulch and then spread it out and graded it. Then we were ready for seed!!
And here it is all seeded waiting for 3 weeks to pass so we have GRASS! wohoo!

We hope the winds don't blow it all away but its going to be a fantastic summer after this grows.

We got it seeded by Friday afternoon (Daniel took the day off so I could go to the Dentist and he could seed) So on Saturday during conference there was a whole lot of this:

Daniel watching the grass grow :) There is little Jamison, he was having a rough horrible day because of his teeth.

Here is the most current plan for the backyard:

Can't wait until its all done!

Miriam

Life is good

2011-03-29T14:41:00.002-06:00

We have been very busy with projects around here. Daniel put up a retaining wall in the back yard and the progress there is great! Eva has started using the potty and is doing very well! Jamison has been super grumpy which is not his style and today he cut a tooth!! So yes life is good. Alexander has also been diligently learning his sounds for all the letters of the alphabet (something they need to start kindergarden) so we are happy. Its spring and conference is this weekend so yes life is good.

Miriam

Best of Craigslist

2011-03-22T21:46:00.001-06:00

We were looking through craigslist and I noticed a "best of craigslist" section so we found this. Its an actual craigslist posting. We were laughing so hard.

Free Cello

Date: 2010-12-13, 7:32PM

So my sister gave me this cello a couple years ago. It's a nice cello. Actually, it's a great cello. It's probably the best cello, but I don't really know much about cellos. Also the neck snapped off. Of the cello. So it's really more like 3/4's of a cello, but the other 1/4's still there, it's just not attached. It's kind of like you're getting two cellos, only one of them doesn't have a body and the other doesn't have a neck. But if you stand them up next to each other it's like old times. You could probably fix it with like some music glue or something like that.
She also gave me a cello bag that I can give to you too, now that I won't have a cello. It's a really nice cello bag. You can fit everything in it. Actually, there might even be a bow in the bag, I'm not sure. I don't want you to think that there's 100% a bow in the bag. It's way over there, I can't check right now. But if it's in there it's yours.
If you're like me and you don't know how to play the cello then you could use it as a coin bank. It's hollow and there are two S's on the front that you could drop the coins through. Then when it's filled up you could drop it off of your roof or carry it around like a change purse. Ooh, in the cello bag. It'd be like a cello purse. I'd do it but I'm moving across the country and it won't fit in my car. What else could you do with it. You could saw the front off and use it as a sled. Or give the neck to a baby as like a wizard stick for Christmas. Totally give this cello to someone for Christmas. Or Hanukkah.
Please come get it. I'm in Echo Park. I'd actually go somewhere to meet you if wherever we're going is a cool place. Like the desert or something.
I'm 90% certain the bow's in there.

Location: Echo Park
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Reeves weekly

2011-03-21T10:59:00.003-06:00

This last week was busy sort of. Alexander had spring break which meant I went a little nuts with all the kids at home all day long. However we have officially started on our yard! Daniel put in the sprinkler system for the grass!! Wohoo and he just needs to put in the drips for the trees and bushes and other stuff. We have been shopping pavers and stone for walls and those kinds of things. I have been shopping lighting. Daniel has checked out of the inside of the house and so the lighting is all up to me. I plan on putting ceiling fans in every room upstairs because it gets hot up here in the summer and well summer is upon us!! I am going for the chrome, nickel, silver finish. I don't want to be too picky but I am kind of picky about it already!! I found a chandelier at Good Will for 7.99 and I hope it works. If it doesn't I am out 7.99 so not a big deal there.

Jamison has been sick. He generally doesn't get sick so it has been sad to see the little guy with the runny nose and watery eyes and coughing. He is a trooper though because he keeps smiling and acting happy.

here he is acting happy, we forced him to come to lowes to look at their pavers :) he is just learning to sit in the cart

Eva's face might be getting better who knows. Oh but a GREAT thing is she has used the potty a few times. Her potty training has been a bit nightmarish for me but I have been waiting for the good weather so we can do it outside and Daniel got her to start using the potty on Saturday!! I was out grocery and Lowes shopping and he had all the kids!! (Jamison was sleeping) he kept forcing (she loved it) Eva to drink soda all morning while they were outside and so she kept having to go potty and she DID IT! So Daniel was watching all the kids, installing the sprinklers and potty training Eva!! He is talented.

just riding bikes in the sand pit(also known as our yard)

We got the soda drinking tip from our neighbors and well I am very grateful for it. I tried all the things all the books and videos said and so far this is the only thing that has worked so we will continue with it this week.

That is pretty much it. Alexander helping dad dig all summered up in his shorts

Oh and I have started blogging my projects over at Pru dent Projects
its very fun for me although I need to make a HUGE todo list for the summer because my mind is all over the place. I need to get lighting all switched out, Eva potty trained, Alexander into soccer and other things and well run the regular household oh and find the odds and ends furniture I still need for my house! Its going to be a vigorous summer!

I love staying busy but this last week made me tired. Not to mention daylight savings. I have never been so affected by it. I keep having dinner late and putting the kids down late and waking up late!! I definitely need to go buy and watch and alarm clock!!

until next time :)

Jamson learning how to flip over

2011-03-15T10:24:00.002-06:00

Jamison now knows how to flip over! The scary part is that he will flip over a few times to get the stranded toy three feet away. I have a feeling he is going to be the most energetic kid in the universe. This is going to be a busy year with little ones. Anyway here he is on one of his forced tummy times so that he could start to learn flipping. He didn't quite get it for a while. Eva and Alexander are just playing in the background

Im doing it!

2011-03-08T09:49:00.003-07:00

Starting another blog that is. I of course will keep this one too for updates and well what I have been doing all along here but I am starting another blog that will just be for my projects. I planned to do this when we started the house but well being pregnant and all it wasn't a high priority. ANYWAY Daniel told me I should do it. I think he really just wants me to clear out the garage of all the projects that need to be done. I think this is what I need (and the warm weather) to get me going on all the things that still need to be done in this house. I feel like it will keep me accountable to myself for all the things I want to get done.

We are now done with all the cosmetic surgery in the house (painted, stairs, floors) and now its time for the accessories (all the stuff that makes it feel cozy and beautiful) My first tasks involve furniture and mirrors and well lots of other stuff. Its going to be Here going to be is the important part of the sentance. My goal is to have it all set up and running by next week!! Wohoo. You will see all my deep dark secrets about just how cheap I really am when it comes to well everything. K thats all.

OH and Our stairs were featured on this blog:

Here

This is one of my favorite blogs for inspiration and motivation. I see the stuff on there and say I CAN DO THAT TOO!!

K wish me luck.

Last Week, sick and Jamison update

2011-03-08T08:29:00.005-07:00

We apologize for the lack of posts last week but this house was under the sickness. This was one of those horrible you don't know what to do sicknesses. Eva started last Sunday night with weezing and having a hard time breathing and then coughing from her lungs and screaming in pain. This was for two nights and then just coughing and non appetite. I kept thinking about going to the ER when she couldn't breath but I worried I would be waiting there for 4 hours without being seen by a doctor and then going to a room finally and waiting another 2 hours then being told its not serious go home and I didn't really want to do that because that would make her worse. We called our nurse hotline and were told to use cool mist humidifier and tylenol and and honey she was able to sleep a bit that first night. It wasn't working that well so we bought a warm mist humidifier and ding ding ding that is what they needed. Then ALexander got it and he was screaming out in pain a lot and I was up all night worried they were not breathing so yeah it was a HORRIBLE week. They finally got better on Sunday night. Their coughs were hardly there. We went to the doctor yesterday for wellness visits and Eva is fine so yeah. I came out the worst during this because I was exhausted and cabin fever but I am feeling happy now that Alexander went to school yesterday and Eva is happy again. Luckily Jamison didn't get it at all!! Daniel started to get it but with forced sleep gatorade and orange juice he was able to stop it early.

This was Eva when we put her back in her room (she was in our room on her mattress on the floor for 3 days) we put a portable dvd player on the chair for entertainment.

This was the first morning Alexander started to feel sick (wednesday) He was SOOO happy because Eva was getting special treatment for being sick and he kept saying he was sick when he wasn't (he finally got sick and jumped in our bed (literally) but he wasn't too happy when the full sickness came and he couldn't breath and it felt like his lungs were getting ripped to shreds.
Having two extremely sick kids and a 6 month old doesn't mix well with my ability to run back and forth. So in the mornings I would feed Jamison and stick him in my bed. Alexander loved having someone to talk to and Jamison loved being right next to Alexander. So I gave Jamison his blanky and he kept falling asleep (Jamison loves our bed and he LOVES LOVES LOVES his blanky, falling asleep not in his bed is NOT normal for him) Here are some shots of Jamison through the week.

He has learned to sit up without falling over much (hence the pillows behind him)
He has learned that his thumb is a LOVELY thing to stick in his mouth
He has learned he loves Daddy . He loves sitting in his lap, looking at him, playing with him and smiling at him.
Oh and Jamison is now 6 months old! He is a healthy boy (I mean he didn't even get sick through all that!!)

He weighs 19lbs 8 ounces 90% for weigh
He is 27 inches tall 75% for height
and his head is still more than the 95th%

He now fully fits the 12 month old clothes some have extra foot room but I can barely zip his pjs at the chest and some clothes are just too tight at the chest. I think he has a very broad and large chest and shoulders. He is as cute as ever, there is this little book thing on the exersaucer (Meleofa's that we still haven't returned... sorry Meleofa we promise to bring it out next time we are in Utah!!) he likes to flip through it and look at the pictures!! Anyway he is ready for stage 2 solids! so any tips on how to make those from home would be great. I have never been big on the baby food jars but I can't remember how to do stage 2 foods. I think I need a blender.

So yeah not a good week but it made me really appreciate the healthy times no matter how messy :)

Stairs and House Finished

2011-02-27T17:23:00.008-07:00

The Stairs are finally finished, well just a few minor touch ups left, which means the inside of the house is done. The stairs were the last major project we had left. Now we just have decorating and upgrading a few lighting fixtures. Daniel has already mentally checked out of the inside of the house and has moved onto the yard and garage. We took photos of the process for redoing the stairs.

The first one here is of the stairs right after we took the carpet out. I thought I took a picture of the nasty carpet on the stairs, but I guess not. This is what we lived with for months. It is that osb board, the kind that gives you slivers.

We went to Lowes and looked at the options for replacing treads. We ended up buying some of the MFD pre-fabricated stair treads. All we had to do was cut them to length. The were $8 each and we had 14 treads to do. Then we decided to paint them with a dark brown oil based deck paint. We ended up putting 3 coats of paint on them, 2 before we put them in and 1 after. I am glad we put 3 coats on because they are much more durable and easier to clean.

After that it was time to go to work. Once Daniel got the hang of ripping out the OSB treads, the demolition didn't take as long as I thought it would.

After the demolition we glued down the stair treads. This process of ripping up the old treads and putting in the new ones took 2 days, one day for each set of stairs (upper and lower). We were able to counter sink the screws and use some wooden dowels to plug the holes from the screws. The screw holes were time consuming because we used oil based paint. We had to paint the screw holes on each of the sides first, let those dry overnight, then paint the ones in the middle and let those dry overnight. That way we could walk up the sides or down the middle of the stairs. After we painted the screw holes with 2 layers, we put one final layer on each tread to hide the screw holes better. That was the night we all slept on mattresses downstairs and went to the Aquarium the next day.

The next step was the trim work. We put a the smallest piece of floor trim we could find at Lowes and ran it above the stair treads on either side. The picture above shows the trim installed on the lower set of stairs and not on the upper set. After the trim was up we painted the area below white. We probably should have waited to paint until last because we scrapped in dinged the wall when we put the bead board in and I will have to touch up the walls.

After the painting we put the bead board on the risers and we finished installing the laminate flooring on the landing. The final step was gluing the stair nosing on. It took 30 minutes for the glue to set and we didn't have any weights or clamps to hold the stair nose on so Daniel sat on it while I brought him bowls of cereal. The bead board cost us about $55.00. This project was time consuming but relatively inexpensive.
Treads-$112
Bead Board-$55
Floor Paint-$27
Trim-$12.50
Stair Nose-$29.00
Laminate Flooring-$30

Here are some pictures of the completed project. I love them! During the whole process Daniel kept saying he can't vision how it will look and wasn't sure of how he would like them when it was done. When he was done eating his bowl of cereal he said "Wow I am good, look how good they look!" He did work really hard on them, but it made me laugh that he couldn't imagine how they would look until it was all done, which took no imagination at all. Right now they are my favorite part of the house.

I LOVE MY STAIRS AND I LOVE THE FACT THAT ALL THE MAJOR PROJECTS IN THE HOUSE ARE DONE!

A side note: When we bought the house our goal was to have all the major projects done and paid off with in a years time, we closed on the house April 1, 2010. We finished ahead schedule and used our tax returns to pay for the major purchases.

See the full tutorial for these stairs here at Prudentprojects

The Botanical Gardens

2011-02-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

I love Botanical Gardens! I love them everywhere I go. It is not quite spring yet so probably too early to go see the gardens but we went anyway because we have never been to these ones! (we have been here 2 whole years!!! Slackers) I didn't really know there was a botanical garden here. This one is fun for children too because they have miniature trains!! Huge tracks with bridges and all kinds of fun things and they are all outside. They even had a Thomas train and little town. My favorite part about the trains was the little fake water fall/river/whatever you perceive it to be.

I was in love with the rocks. I couldn't figure out what they were. I don't think they are rocks because they are too beautiful. I imagine its big chunks of roughed up glass made to look like rocks? Whatever they are I want them in my garden just for looks, although I am sure they are way too expensive. Those colors are my favorite color scheme. They remind me of the ocean. To get back to the post now Eva was running ahead all the time so at one point I was with Jamison and watching the thomas trains and I look over and see this:

Daniel wasn't with her as you can see. She ran ahead and hopped up on the fence for a better view of Thomas, and invited herself to join the family in the picture. She has a lot of energy. Here she is taking a rest on the rock, I wanted to show you that Daniel chose this outfit.
They also had this castle for children where you could go in and explore the world. It was like we had been shrunk and put into a giant vegetable garden. There were giant carrots, pumpkins, peas, bees, ants, pinecones and all kinds of fun things. Here is Alexander at the entrance of the castle. One thing I have noticed about New Mexico is that there are so many bright and beautiful tile mosaics. I am usually not a fan of them but they have some many fun ones here.

Here is Alexander impersonating Lady Gaga.
Just kidding
They were actually supposed to be dragon Eggs and he said he was a dragon baby.

We then went into a giant greenhouse.
It was nice and humid with lots of beautiful plants.
Alexander was tired and ready to go by this point.

But we saw some beautiful bright flowers.

We pushed our luck and went to see some of the outdoors gardens. They had many different styles that were amazing. Eva was running from place to place (her preferred way to get places) and fell on her face, literally.

Poor girl already has band-aids galore from her mysterious skin condition and now she has cuts and things.

We had a fun packed day and hope to keep up the momentum with going places whenever we get a chance.

Miriam

update: Eva has already scratched off all the scabs. I am so worried she is going to have so many scars on he face from the skin thing. Can you think of any ways to stop a child who likes to scratch and pick at things to stop? We have tried a lot of things and they never seem to heal because she wont leave them alone. Her mysterious skin thing is all healed up I think but she has many scars.

Albuquerque Aquarium

2011-02-24T13:27:00.006-07:00

It finally feels like spring, at least it did for a few days so we went to the Aquarium in Albuquerque. It was on the smaller side but still fun and probably the perfect size for small children.

They had an exhibit with jelly fish which was great with all the glowing.

They had some tortoises which were really cool. We never saw any while we were in Guam, probably one of the things I wished we would have seen. There were two of them and they were hilarious. They kept coming right up to the glass like they were staring at us and they just sat there and stared through the glass.

I saw this picture when we got home.
A really ugly fish that looks like he is eating a yellow fish. It made me laugh

It was all carpeted so people were just all sitting around the big tank with the sharks in it just watching. It was rather peaceful. We got a bit homesick for Guam because we had seen many of the fish on our many trips to the beach. Here is one last shot of Jamison. I noticed I never take any pictures of him on our little day adventures.
He just sits and stares at whoever is pushing him and tries to get their attention and tries to make them smile. Anyway that was our day at the Aquarium it was part of our sleepover madness. We also went to the botanical gardens but I will post that next.

May the Spring come and the Winter leave for the year.

Miriam

How do you become the coolest Parents Ever

2011-02-19T22:14:00.006-07:00

Well we really don't know how to become the coolest parents ever but we did have a sleepover with all our kids downstairs with movies all night. We brought four mattresses downstairs and set up beds for everyone (including Jamison) Our goal was not to become cool parents but to get the final coat of paint on the stairs(which needed 24 hours to dry, oil based is the best but takes forever to dry) So we packed up and moved downstairs for 24 hours. The kids LOVED it. They were bouncing around and wrestling all night. It was a rough night for Jamison but we got through it.

This picture was from the sleepover. They even wanted to do it again tonight!

So we still are not done with the stairs but the most time consuming and cumbersome part (the treads) are DONE!! Wohoo time to celebrate with a good nights sleep.

This is the only before picture I can find of the stairs but I swear I had one of the actual stairs and not a closet door. As you can see they were a beige carpet color with major dirtiness and smelliness going on.

And here is where we are right now:
We are going to paint the small parts on the stairway wall white. The stair risers are going to be bead board because well thats what we want. Obviously its still osb board with tons of beige paint speckles.

You may wonder why its all taking so long to finish these stairs. Well its because stairs are hard to do as they are the path between the sleeping/bathing area and the living/eating area in our house so everything has to be done in little steps and usually on weekends so we can convince the kids to stay in one area of the other. The other reason is beceause its the last house major project so you know how final projects go.

So we replaced all the treads as you saw in a previous post. Instead of nailing them in we screwed them it and put lots of wood glue on so there would be no sqeeking and so it would all be up to code. Daniel sunk all the screws and then put wooden dowels in to fill them. I had put two coats of Valspar oilbased floor and deck paint on the treads and let them set and treat for a month prior to installing them. Then I needed to touch up where the wooden dowels were and then we put a final coat of paint on all the installed stairs and here we are. It took so long because the goal was to make sure you couldn't see the screws or dowls or anything.

So here is a picture of the stairwell tonight:

We have a few more steps and then we are done with major house renovation things. Just in time for our backyard and spring.

Now onto that lovely nights sleep.

Miriam

This is why I coupon

2011-02-18T15:25:00.004-07:00

Its not a secret (or maybe it is who knows) that I coupon. I also like to shop clearance and I love thrift stores. Its almost as though its built in for me. Anyway I was just going to show a couple of pictures showing why I still do this.Today I bought 28 packs of diapers and 12 boxes of wipes for $68.88 total with tax I average one pack of diapers a week so I have enough diapers for 14 weeks for both kids! I did this with coupons I found at the store, and the kind that are stuck to the package.

While buying diapers I checked out some clearance stuff and I bought these:
can't beat 24 cents a pound for brown sugar.

Thats not to say I don't shop like a regular joe. I buy stuff at regular price too, I just try to stock up when I find it for a steal.

P.S I don't get the Sunday paper either.

I just wanted to show why I do it thanks for listening :)

Alexander's Birthday The Final Chapter

2011-02-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

Alexander had been changing his mind about his birthday for a few months. First it was How to Train your Dragon then it was Spiderman with touches of Transformers and other super hero things. So finally he decided he wanted a birthday party at school with cupcakes spiderman rings and party hats (transformers) I figured it was a small thing to ask so I set about getting it done. He was sooo excited to have cupcakes at school for his birthday. He even said one sentence to his teacher (he doesn't speak to his teacher at ALL but that is for another blog post some other day) telling her we were bringing cupcakes to school. So we brought the cupcakes and they were doing show and tell and his teacher said "Ok class Alexanders parents brought cupcakes to celebrate his birthday." Here he is peeking out from show and tell looking at us with his shy smile type face:and he yelled "and my sister" I was surprised to hear him talk because he doesn't in public settings. Anyway they sang happy birthday to him and he was just beaming (as you can see in the picture below) his teacher even had him wear in a special birthday hat. They got their spider man cupcakes and their transformer hats and Eva made herself at home at the head of the big table. A side story: we always talk about how loud Eva is. She can out speak anyone and she can do it at any volume. Well she was chattering along with whoever would listen and the boy next to her said "Wow did you know you are very loud" I was laughing after that because if a 5 year old hopped up on sugar tells you that you are loud then you ARE LOUD. Anyway he said bye to his friends and not his teacher and came home with us.

We were lucky his birthday landed on a Saturday because we could all be there all day. So we went to the zoo and had fun. Then we went home and tried to get his little party (with just us) ready. I was going to decorate and blow up balloons but he wanted to come help with the balloons so we all decorated together. We got pizza (his request) then we had cake (which I made, nothing special but a great prop in the middle)
Eva kept asking many questions about her own birthday and if she would get a class party at Alexanders school so I got her two gifts just little party favors to lighten the load.
Here he is blowing out the candles.
Here is the coolest part about the cake. I made it blue and read marble its was just cool to me because well I usually buy the cakes.
Anyway he had a great birthday and didn't want to go to sleep because he knew it wasn't his birthday the next day. He is now 5 years old! He starts school next year and he is progressing so well (at least from what we have seen). He even shared his gifts with Eva. He had a pile of them and kept giving her gifts and saying they were hers. We are grateful to have such a sweet little boy oh and sweeten it all tonight after we said prayers and I was getting ready to shut the door he said "Mamma" and i said "yes" and he said "I Love you" He doesn't say it a lot and it just made me so happy! So happy I am not affected by the other day anymore :)

Alexander's Birthday part 1

2011-02-14T18:42:00.010-07:00

We went to the zoo for Alexander's Birthday. We were going to go to the circus but we figured the zoo was a better option for 2 adults and 3 children (less stressful with wrangling children) Alexander was very excited to go. We woke up Saturday morning packed a lunch and left for the zoo. I gave Alexander a birthday boy badge that had blinking lights on it and he LOVED it and wore it all day, even with his pjs later in the evening. When we got there he really wanted to see the giraffes. He just kept asking where they were and wanted to move along until we got there.

Here he is finally seeing the giraffes (look closely and you can see a giraffe in the picture)
We saw all the animals and there were people at many of the animal places who were informers about the animals (this wasn't the case last time we came). The animals were a lot more lively than I have ever seen them. The gorillas were even throwing poop at us! The Seals were barking and swimming like crazy. It was pretty great. A zoo lady told me it was because it was so early in the morning. When we got to the Polar Bear exhibit they were very active too. They kept diving in the water and we happened to be underneath so see it and we caught some photos:

Here it is freshly diving in.

You can even see him breathing out the air in the water in this one. I liked watching the polar bears because of all the swimming but I usually don't like the Polar bears because everytime we have gone they pace back and forth and I feel like they are antsy and are just waiting for someone to fall down the creavice so they can eat them! I guess its built into my blood to fear the Polar bear (being Icelandic and all). Anyway they make me nervous. Here is Alexander while we were looking at the Polar Bears from the top:

Here is a cougar look at me, the other one was eating some giant bone with meat on it I didn't want to show that photo though.
Here are the kids on a giant brass hyena (or not I can't remember what it is)

here they are on the giant chair thing.
Eva was all over the place but having a blast. She did this pose all on her own so I took a picture. Yeah those are band-aids on her face.
Here was the main event! There is this huge play ground there and the kids love it. I mean kids from all around know this is at the zoo and want to play there.
Alexander was so happy. He had a great birthday and I will do another post about it. He also brought his camera to the zoo looking for Animals to capture on film (or memory card)

Just one of those days

2011-02-11T11:08:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was plain awful. Isn't that how the song goes?

My day started with this:

this
this

this
and also this:

That is the result of pushing the snooze two extra times and your children not getting the memo. They usually play in their room for a little while in the morning so I thought I was safe. Nope.

These pictures are after 30 minutes of cleaning and I didn't show you the tub because well its was full of paint and painted children.

Here is what I learned yesterday morning:

water based poster paint is the only paint that should be in a home with children
stainmaster carpets are THE ONLY WAY TO GO with children
Ripping out the carpet in the masterbath and replacing with tile was a great decision
SEAL YOUR GROUT SEAL SEAL SEAL (a lesson learned too late)
shop vacs are your best friend with paint in carpet
20 extra minutes of sleep might cost you 4 hours of hard labor cleaning

Yeah pretty much a bad morning. I went out for some retail therapy after this and that seemed to make it worse. It's Alexander's birthday tomorrow and I went to pick up some spiderman cupcakes with rings. That is all he wanted for his class oh and hats. I had the hats went to smiths they said they were out of spiderman rings. No big deal I will get the rings from Walmart. Walmart is all out of rings. Target doesn't carry rings. Albertsons is out of rings. WHAT IS GOING ON. Nobody has rings. So I run to Party City and they don't have any rings either!! Who is buying up all of these:

So I finally go to Party City and find these:

I bought 18 of them and called it a day. That took 5 hours with Jamison and Eva. FIVE HOURS. But when I drove home I was grateful to come home and be home. So much for retail therapy more like retail trauma.

I hope your days don't start off like that.

The bathroom is all clean the paint came right out of the carpet but the rugs are lost. Can't win em all. Heres to tomorrow a much brighter and warmer day!

A Favor please

2011-02-10T18:52:00.002-07:00

Hi anyone who reads my blog. My sister Matelita is finding creative ways to get money for college. From personal experience I know there are practically no scholarships out there for freshman. So please go vote for her in this dance competition. It only takes 1 minute or less depending on how quick your connection is.

Just Click HERE and she is #10 wow shawol. You just need an email address to vote (to make sure its only one vote per email) so go to the right of the page and click on #10 and then at the bottom click no so you don't get any emails from them.

Help Lete get some money for college!!

Thanks guys,

Miriam

Organizing!!

2011-02-09T12:43:00.004-07:00

The most impressive and unnoticed thing about our house is the closets. When we took our 15 minute look around the house a year ago I looked at the closets and thought they were ok. I didn't even know how big my closet was until after we bought the house. I always "dreamed" (in my fairy tale house that has towers and moats) of having his and her's closets that were huge and extremely organized but I never thought it would happen. Well it has happened. My closet is slowly getting to where I want it but it still needs more living in to realize what I want and need. However Daniel's closet is close to finished. Yesterday I wanted to accomplish something so I went for it. I have been in an organizing whirlwind the last few days and I don't see it stopping until the weather gets nice for spring.

The only problem with me and organizing is discarding everything. Well not everything but many things. When Daniel and I first got married and were getting used to living with each other I was shocked with the amount of clothes he own. I have moved around so much in my life that I purge the majority of my things every time I move. When we got married I got rid of 3/4ths of my closet. This was not the case with Daniel. I can't remember exact numbers but he had at least 20 pairs of pants!! (he will probably change that when he reads this) (added: I just counted his pants and he has 13 pairs and I through out 4 pairs of jeans yesterday so I am sure he had way more that 20!) Well it took a few months but I got rid of many of his held onto for years clothes. I didn't do it straight away but I waited until we had lived in our second place for 6 months (it didn't help that I was pregnant, I tend to throw everything that bothers me away when pregnant) and I noticed that I had never seen him wear some of the items of clothing (that was 9 month without wearing something!!) So I made him wear it or toss it. Man I am crazy sometimes. Anyway I do the same thing now every 6 months. He comes home from work one day with a reorganized closet and a pile of clothes thrown at him to toss or convince me he will wear. So here are some pictures.(haha I just noticed the random black sock. It gets to sit there until its partner is found)

Other side of the closet

After rereading what I just typed I am wondering if this is a strange thing I do? Do you keep all your clothes from forever ago or do you try to keep only the classic peices that you still want to wear and that make you feel good? I even purge SHOES!! That may be a deadly sin but I know which shoes I love and wear and which ones looked good in the store that I now avoid looking at. We all have our quirks right? I guess I am the opposite of a hoarder. Anyway I am serious what are your clothes hoarding habits?

A Favorite

2011-02-06T20:29:00.002-07:00

Daniel and I LOVE this commercial!! It also made us realize our children are completely normal wanting to be the bad guy because I mean this guy is the ultimate bad guy.

Watch it its really good!

Yo ho ho ho

2011-02-02T12:45:00.003-07:00

A pirates life for me! It is freezing today! I know we don't really know what freezing is in New Mexico but it is currently -1 degrees with the wind chill and we are feeling it even inside!! Alexander got all bundled up this morning with two long sleeved shirts, a coat, his socks and snow boots, jean,s his Canadian hat and his gloves all by himself and went outside in the backyard. I didn't realize it was in the negatives so I shewed him back in and they decided to be pirates instead of Antarctica explorers. They used the stairs as their ship because there is a middle landing perfect for their loot. I thought it was great because they were getting along and using their imaginations. Although every time I would board their ship (use the stairs) they started shooting me with imaginary rifles. The funny thing is they told me I was the good guy and they were the bad guys but I was the one that always had to die.

Alexander was using the tennis racket as a weapon while Eva was looking for more good guys to shoot

They even had patches that I found, and I put their pirate banner up for effect.

Oh and Alexander informed me that pirates LOVE cheese sandwiches for lunch (his request every day)

We are winding down with How to Train your dragon on the projector and popcorn and skittles while I try to get through the giant masses of laundry and feel warm and cosy on this frosty day.

P.S Daniel put that Rodeo song on the play list and I didn't realize it was there until after the fact. BLARG

The Rodeo

2011-01-31T22:46:00.006-07:00

We went to a rodeo on Friday night. It was my first rodeo ever and of course the kids' first rodeo too. Daniel was shocked I had never been to one. It was inside and right by our house and it sounded like a great idea. We were also able to get box seats which made it much easier with little kids. I have to admit it was a lot of fun minus the announcer ( he was a little backwards) We put on our pretend cowboy clothes. Alexander put his boots on and Eva had her riding boots. We got some good pictures too.

My favorite event was the bull riding.
It just looked so scary and it took a lot of practice I am guessing.

Daniel took this picture. That was an angry bull

This was the event where the little girls ride around the barrels.
They were sooo good and they looked like they were 8 years old

This was probably my least favorite event when they rope the calf's. It was just sad to see some of them go down, although less than half of the competitors were able to rope them. Either it was an off night or its just a really difficult event.

Here are the kids all wearing Alexander's cowboy hat.

Jamison did really well and fell asleep half way through it even though it was extremely loud from the announcer

Eva didn't pay much attention to what was going on.
She was too busy running around.

Here is Alexander the old cowboy.
He was looking forward to this all day and I think he really liked it.

It was a fun family Event and I would definitely go again. Oh and there were many cowboys from Canada and Utah I expected the one's from Utah but was surprised by the Canadians. There was even one from New Jersey!

The negative side to this was the Daniel kept blasting country music all day Saturday when we were cleaning the house. I am not a fan of the country music so yeah you get the picture.

Kitchen Lighting

2011-01-25T19:47:00.005-07:00

Daniel put in under cabinet lighting in the kitchen and they really brighten the kitchen up

I even have a picture framed with a little spot light

I love them

We are not Ninjas

2011-01-14T10:32:00.005-07:00

Our kids are not Ninjas as soon as Daniel took the treads off he put the new ones on. Sorry for the confusion :)

Our latest and Greatest project!! SO EXCITED

2011-01-13T06:00:00.002-07:00

We have started the second to last project in the house. THE STAIRS. They are coming along very well and I love that Daniel is so handy. We are not done yet but I wanted to give a sneak peak at the work.

Checking how it will look
demolition
The first set of treads are down and the second set will go this weekend. Then we will do the risers then finish the landing and then put all the finishes and touch ups so we still have a few weeks until they are done. Yay for progress

My not so little Jamison

2011-01-12T09:52:00.004-07:00

I took Jamison to his 4 month appointment and he is not slowing down on the growing.

He weighs 17lbs 10.5 ounces
Which means he has gained 9 lbs since birth! He is in the 95%
He is 25 1/2 inches tall. He is in the 75%
His head is 45% so he is in the above 95%

In New Mexico instead of immunize by two its immunize by one so he gets 3 shots every time we go in. He loved the nurse and couldn't stop smiling and giggling at her but then she gave him the shots and he was whimpering at the first one and then screaming his lungs out for the other two. However she started to talk to him and asked him if he hated her now and he just started smiling and giggling again. As you can see from these photos he would rather smile than cry. If I am in a bad mood I just need to hold Jamison for awhile and then I am happy again.
He has no interest at all in food. I hold him at the dinner table and he doesn't try to eat or even look at the food and the doctor said with his size he is fine to not get solids and we will check again at 6 months. He is growing so fast! I want him to stay little so I really need to enjoy his littleness while it lasts.

Crock pots

2011-01-11T13:16:00.001-07:00

I got two crock pots for Christmas and I was SOOO excited to use them. A few days after Christmas Daniel asked me what I was going to make in the crock pot. Crickets were chirping. I have wanted a crock pot for 2 years now. I got 3 as wedding gifts years ago and I never used them NOT ONCE! So they were given away when we moved to Guam. That was when I started reading blogs and noticing that crock pots were supposed to make life easier when it came to dinner so I wanted one. I finally got two this year and I had no idea where to start! However I found this website and I am extremely excited to use some of these recipes! I start with Teriyaki chicken in the crock pot. It was DISGUSTING. Well the soy sauce was overwhelming and it needed to be sweeter. Then I made BBQ chicken shredded. ALSO DISGUSTING. The third time was the charm when I made baby back ribs and modified the recipe to where I thought it would be better and used rudy's bbq sauce and we finally got something yummy. Is this something that takes time?

I am reluctant to makes things in there because they might be yucky even though the recipe wasn't just made up. Any pointers from those who use crock pots? I liked the idea of it because I can make dinner while making breakfast and that is when Jamison is still sleeping so its easier than when I am all frazzled from the day at 5. I need help :( I need tips pointers and recipes and well anything. I don't want to make things that I can make in 40 minutes on the stove in the evening though. I would rather just make the thing in 40 minutes. I want to make things that are yummy while cooked slowly. I made a whole chicken on Sunday. It was good but my roast chicken tastes better when I do it in the oven. It was dry for some reason and it took 8 hours. When I do it in the oven it takes 15 minutes of prep and 1 hour to cook I guess I am looking for some magical deliciousness recipes. So HELP.

Relaxing

2011-01-10T06:00:00.002-07:00

We have just been relaxing around here for the last few weeks. I have been trying to get the house in order. I like to reorganize every new year so that is what I have been doing. I redid all the kitchen drawers and organized and labeled everything. I also purge the monthly filing cabinet of all the last years things that can be put in a more permanent file. I must say I really enjoy organizing.
Its one of those stress relievers for me. The kids have been playing a lot of kitchen. For some reason they really enjoy it. Especially when I let them make food out of play doe. They set it up upstairs and downstairs and are using their imagination so its fun to watch.
Jamison has been growing and smiling and figuring out how to play with hanging toys. He can sit in his chair for 15 minutes without making a sound just trying to knock the elephants and giraffe off the string. He is usually calm until he gets them all off and then he starts to yelp. Thats right he doesn't cry or scream he just calls for help. Daniel has been working hard. He also installed some under lighting in the kitchen! I love it its so much brighter now. I haven't taken a picture yet because I still hate the color I chose to paint the kitchen. Its almost been a year so I know its never going to grow on me.

I have also been in a mad rush to put things on the walls because a home feels empty to me without wall coverings. I have been changing things too. I like to put things up and wait for 2 weeks or longer and then see if they bug me. If they do I change them. So I changed my sea scape wall from this:to this and there are still parts that bug me.
I painted all the frames and mattes white. It just looks calmer and more crisp. But the two photos to the right are bugging me because the one is too high but Daniel wants me to switch the large one all the way to the left with the two because the light reflects off the two. I have taken many frames down and I am redoing them. Either painting them, moving them or switching frames. This is my dinning/front room in its current state:

I hope to get this done soon but the walls will be a work in progress thats for sure.

Resolutions

2011-01-08T11:31:00.005-07:00

My Father used to make us write out resolutions every New Years. Maybe he didn't every year but I feel like he did. He didn't want to see them he just wanted to make sure we were making some. I like it now. It gives me the opportunity to look back on the last year and see the things I disliked about my habits or whatever and its a good cleansing practice. Our main family resolution is to do family home evening consistently. We used to do it really well in the Ivory house but as soon as I got pregnant everything went to crazy land. That tends to happen with me. Anyway I am so excited for this new year and the opportunity to do Family Home evening better. The actual goal is to do it every week. Consistency is key for us. So we have been having family home evening and we always make sure to play a game with the kids because they love board games. Here was our first one. We played this curious george game they got for christmas and its fun they incorporate hiding go seek into the game so it even keeps Eva's attention. I am hoping to use the Nursey or primary lesson manual for short lessons because repetition is good for learning and you have a year of lessons.

I want to get a family home evening filing box filled with pictures and mini games and treat ideas and all those things but I think I am about 4 years away from accomplishing that. In our old ward we had an enrichment activity where some ladies brought their big filing cabinets filled with family home evening lessons for a YEAR so they didn't have to second guess what they were going to do. It was very inspiring and INTIMIDATING but I hope to build one up so that I can be more prepared. I am not sure how well it will go but I want to get the FHE down.

Our bishop gave a talk and he said its good to get one or two things that you want to change or add to yourself in the New year because if your list is too long then you get overwhelmed and give up so we are sticking to FHE this year as our one.

Some people think resolutions are overrated and superficial (like the editor of vogue random factoid I know but I was just reading vogue) I think they can be. Especially if you make a resolution and a week later you are already on the slacker wagon but I like them because it gives me a time frame to change and look back and make sure I am making progress. If you write them down its just like a goal and you are more accountable. I make sure to do it every year so I know I am on the right path.

Here's to the New Year and getting rid of crappy habits!

Jamison Laughing

2010-12-30T15:31:00.001-07:00

I love this kid

My favorite little dancers

2010-12-29T14:41:00.002-07:00

They loved these little high tech tops

Christmas Morning!

2010-12-29T06:00:00.003-07:00

The kids have been so excited for Christmas morning this year. All month long we have been watching Christmas movies, making cookies, making desserts, decorating and just relaxing. It was Jamison's first Christmas and he is the youngest baby at Christmas so far in our family. I LOVE being home for Christmas. Its just so comfortable and relaxing. So here are some of the photo's from Christmas morning.

Here we are coming down the stairs. Alexander and Eva were so happy and excited.

Alexander opening gifts from Santa

He was very excited after every gift :)

Jamison opening a gift
Eva's favorite gift that morning
They all got one of these. Jamison is too small for it but he will love it when he gets big enough.
After santa gifts we opened family gifts

It was a fun morning and we are all still playing with the gifts and just relaxing but I am already thinking about all the organizing to do for New Years. We are staying home New Years and going to bed as soon as the clock turns midnight.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve with the Reeve's

2010-12-28T09:31:00.003-07:00

I baked so many cookies for christmas. At least 300 but it was a lot of fun and I perfected the chocolate chip cookie :) Our last batch was made on christmas Eve right after dinner. The kids have been helping me make cookies so they wanted to help with the batch for santa. They ate some cookies too.

Then we read the christmas Eve book

and put the family gifts under the tree

The kids went to bed at 8o'clock and Santa stopped by with his red and green wrapping
I love the Christmas season. We were able to take cookies to neighbors, work people, board members, visiting teaching and home teaching people and it was really nice. The next post will be Christmas morning.

Christmas in Iceland

2010-12-22T09:23:00.004-07:00

My Friend Unnur had this video. Christmas in Iceland how fun! I agree with the guy who says they save a little shopping for the few days before christmas to see the hustle and bustle. We are doing that this year. We are all done shopping but saved gifts for each other for the 24th! Alexander, Jamison and I are shopping for Daniel and Eva and Vice Versa. I am sooo excited!

Santa misjudged

2010-12-20T10:14:00.005-07:00

(Alexander and Eva's boots in the window)

The Icelandic Santas have been doing a good job at getting entertaining presents for Eva and Alexander and putting them in their shoes. Last night however they misjudged. They thought it would be fun to get the kids some Batman and Superman DVDS (believe it or not Eva likes these too) they were cartoons. However they are PG 13 for their fantastical violence! INSANE! Santa misjudged my children's ages. It must be because last night after we put Alexander and Eva to bed Alexander kept popping out of his room trying to catch Santa. He said to Daniel when he went to check on them "Just so you know Santa hasn't come yet!" he wants to meet one of the Santas. Santa must have thought Alexander was at least 13 because he was up at 10 walking about the house. Hopefully Santa will be more careful next time and read the labels.

I am collecting 13 Santas and I blame it on one of these guys!

Miriam

Ginger Bread house

2010-12-19T06:00:00.001-07:00

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house! I want to make it with that delicious gingerbread that is firm enough to stand up but that tastes like rich ginger bread (not cardboard). However I am not there yet. Maybe when I don't have little babies around. Alexander made one at school and I though it was adorable (even though it looks like an elf shack :) ) He brought it off the bus and I loved it and wanted to display it on the dinning room table. He had other plans for it. As soon as I started driving home he was demanding that I give it back because he was going to eat it (I put it in the front seat for safe keeping) I asked him if he wanted to save it for a little while.

NOPE.

As soon as we got in the door he started trying to open it. I told him I needed to take a picture with the camera so he waited. I took the picture and 30 minutes later there was nothing but discarded candy everywhere. I am wondering if it will be different the first time Eva brings one home. If she will want to display it and save it or do the same. We shall see.

Merry Christmas

Let it snow

2010-12-17T19:38:00.004-07:00

We got an extreme snow storm here!! It was great fun. I didn't have anywhere to go and was told school would probably be canceled the next day so I was able to enjoy the snow instead of worry about it. I figured we wouldn't get this much snow ever again so we needed to make a snow man! Here he is! we even got compliments from people driving by.
I think the compliments were because there generally is not enough snow to make a snow man around here :) He has since passed away today because of heat stroke.
We had snowball fights
Which was mostly Alexander throwing snow in Eva's face
and then Eva dropping snow in front of you

Alexander decided to make a snow angel and Eva tried to take advantage of the moment.

I loved the snow. I don't generally like snow but its fun when you know it will all melt away in two days.

Its Christmas

2010-12-13T08:26:00.003-07:00

We have been sooo sick since we came back from Utah. Flu like things, sinus things colds that linger and maybe even chicken pox. Its still here but hopefully will be gone by the end of the week. This has caused no blogging and barely getting our outside lights up on Saturday. However sicknesses do not stop Santa from stopping by and putting toys in the kids shoes. Its the first day of 13 Santas today. The kids were playing with the toy they got this morning.
Merry Christmas!

We feel accomplished

2010-12-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

We accomplished a lot during our time in Utah.

We blessed Jamison.

It was a great experience although I wish I would have taken notes (I never do).
We went and saw Olafur, Bjorg and Matti which was great! We had Thanksgiving with family. Our children were able to spend quality time with their cousins. Alexander had his first sleep over. And I am sure there is much more we did that I am forgetting.

It might be awhile before we do another trip anywhere. Having a 3 month old along with Eva and Alexander makes traveling quite overwhelming. We have been home for quite a few days and still have "jet lag"

Here are some photos I took on the trip that I loved.

Miriam

Gardner Village

2010-12-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

I am a big fan of Gardner Village. Its just a magical little place to go for the Holiday season. I usually go at Halloween but I haven't been in Utah for Halloween in 3 years so we decided to go this year. I dragged Daniel along because lets face it Gardner village with 3 little ones without two parents is not a good idea. It was cold and windy but I liked it even more because of that. We were all bundled up which made it fun. I took a few pictures that I am going to share.This made me laugh, Chris was checking the time probably wondering when it was time to leave. Daniel asked if it was time to leave after every store :)

Eva and Paige looking in the window to the left.
I didn't notice that they were together during the visit
but they are together a lot in my other photo's

We finally hit the bakery and had some cookies and such.

When I was looking at this photo I couldn't figure out why everyone was touching their head. They were playing a game maybe follow the leader?.

It was cold but fun. I even got a little Christmas shopping done there.

P.S I love the Christmas store there! Its there year round. I also loved the quilt shop they had some beautiful throw pillows!

Thanksgiving Day

2010-11-30T10:38:00.008-07:00

There were many many people at Thanksgiving this year.

Lots of yummy food and good company.
Here are some photos.

There were four tables set up and this was my favorite because of the blue glass goblets and white dishes.

it was an event!

Allison planned these cute turkey's to go
with the table settings and had the kids put them together.
I loved the pink tail feathers on this one
Cute!

There were three turkeys.
This one was compliments of Carly,
it was smoked and delicious.

This was the kid's table

Look at the beautiful pies they made!!

Yes this is the dessert buffet. Delicious!

It was a busy day and it was good to spend time with everyone .
My favorite was the dessert buffet! (Eva too)

Our week in Utah

2010-11-30T09:52:00.005-07:00

We had a great time in Utah but now we are home and I can sort of relax. Alexander was sick all night so its been a rough morning but it looks like he is on the mend. I am going to post the Utah trip in different posts because we did a lot. I didn't have my camera out half the time so yeah.

This is on the way to Utah just out side of Moab

and this is on the way home The home trip was pretty bad so we were glad to get home and sleep in our own beds. We got snow all the way into New Mexico which was unexpected. More to come later