Year In Review

Okay, maybe not the whole year. But it has been a long time since I uploaded pictures, and here are some of my favorites in random order:

Sometimes we call him "Joyseph."

Falling asleep in the car. I think this was after Bryan's grandpa's funeral.

Patriot

On the way to Utah for the funeral.

Dear friend,
You never returned my phone calls and caused me a lot of frustration before you moved away.
But I forgive you, because you gave me this recipe. Oh, and the freezer raspberry jam that you couldn't take with you. Mmm boy.

Patriot and parade.

This is when we went camping. Yes, it was actually as bad as I expected. The kids did just fine and slept through the night. It was the multiple trips (for me) to the bathroom and the territorial hawk that kept me up most of the night.

Joseph is this helpful every day.

In which our friends came at the end of April, and we didn't feel like making dinner. Instead we got a pizza the size of a car.

Just, awesome.

In which we got to the end of a very long day with no fun for the kids, and then we stopped to visit Grandpa. All was right with the world.

See? More help!

Camping, building memories. Caleb, Savanna, Joseph? You better remember this because I went through a lot to make this memory.

Savanna's first haircut, which somehow gave her permission (in her mind) to then cut it some more. And then some more. I don't have a picture of the current hairstyle unless you look really hard at the previous picture.

Why do kids love boxes?

Our friends that came in April.

My haircut. Which now I'm trying to grow out again because I just can't stand to have hair in my face or on my neck. I should either go super-short, or long.

Savanna as Buzz Lightyear.

Please? More?

Two holes in one

This happened today.

Pause

You want an update, do you? Well, just pause for a second while I get Joseph up from his nap. (I get that from my kids: they are convinced that you can pause life and push the backspace if things aren't going your way.)

Where was I? Oh, yes. Let's start with Joseph. Walking. Getting more and more stable every day. Likes to show off how talented he is at walking. He also talks a lot. We can only understand a few words, and his inflections sometimes clarify the gibberish. He is still always into everything. He makes lots of messes and only occasionally finds enjoyment with putting things back. He also loves to amuse other people. Making people laugh is in his genetic makeup, I guess (not from me). He is also very picky. You'd think that a kid who seems to be a people-pleaser would find great encouragement in words of praise, but no. I'm having a hard time getting him to eat a balanced diet. Even though he doesn't like to eat food, he likes to sink his 12 teeth into bare flesh. Clothed flesh will also do just fine. Still smiley as ever. He comes to give me hugs frequently throughout the day, but spends most of his time being independent and exploring any non-babyproofed spot in the house. I will make it a goal to download some videos and pictures tonight. Wish me luck.

Savanna. Still changes her clothes five times a day. She thinks she can sneak her wet-in pants into the laundry without me knowing, but unfortunately she can't distinguish between a basket of clean laundry and a basket of dirty laundry. Recently she also sneaked into my room, found some scissors, and cut her hair (for the second time). We found the evidence all over the floor. I will also try to post pictures of this later. My friend fixed her hair, sort of. The snipped spot is not really salvageable, just disguiseable. I don't really like the hair cut, but it is better than shaving her head.

Caleb is creative. He is always making projects and drawing pictures and anything else to entertain himself and me. Today he made a reusable scavenger hunt that I tried out three times. Caleb loves to play outside in our cul-de-sac with Bryan. They play all the sports. It really is a good set-up. Even though the south side of our house is right next to a fairly busy road, the cul-de-sac goes downhill away from the road into a flat-ish surface. And since our driveway is a pretty good hill, all the balls roll back into the middle of the cul-de-sac, ready for more play. Caleb takes Savanna on adventures in our house and in the backyard, but more often then not they end up in screaming matches and "I'm gonna tell mom!"s. Oh, well. I didn't get along with my brother until I was 17 and he was 18 and we finally had some of the same friends. Teaching them to get along is going to take a loooooong time, I think.

Not much is new with Bryan and me. We're just trying to figure out how to pass the time this summer in a small town with few options.

103.1°

It literally took 48 hours for Joseph's fever to break. After about 36 hours, I became especially concerned when I set Joseph down on his feet and his legs buckled under him. I took him to the ready care, got right in, and the doctor diagnosed an especially bad ear infection. We started antibiotics asap, but were up half the night trying to make him comfortable enough to sleep since the acetaminophen only seemed to be shaving off a degree or two. This morning, our happy Joseph is back! Hallelujah!

I Kid You Not

Tonight, while we were getting Joseph ready for bed, he said his first sentence.

Bryan is my witness.

"I duh-joo ma!" in a sweet voice, followed by a sweet smile.

Okay, I admit it, being a mom has some rewards. :D

Pizza Party or Bust

(By Bryan)

Today when I picked Caleb up from soccer practice, he asked if he could do chores to earn some money.

I asked him what he needed the money for.

He then showed me a flier, which said:

Golden Champions
Parent/Sibling Game &
End of the Year Party

Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010

Time: Game will be at 4:15 and after we will
head down to Pizza Hut

***Kids will be responsible for paying for
their own food

I chuckled inside; and I was touched that this sweet little kid would do anything to go to this party, even pay for his own dinner.

Because I'm such a good dad, I said, "You know, Caleb, I could probably pay for your dinner."

To which he defensively replied, "No, Dad, it says the kids are responsible!"

I Stink

See, I knew that would get your attention. But while you may be pondering the odor emanating from my corner of the world, I'm actually pondering how terrible I am at this family blog in the form of what's lacking: videos, pictures, and cute stories. So let's hear it: I stink.

All together now, do you want to hear our family update? Yes? Even though the pictures and videos are stuck on the camera for now? Alright, you asked for it.

Bryan: still busy as ever. In fact, he just drove down to the hospital to pick someone up and take them back to the nursing home. It's technically called a "Care Center," and people who live there are "Residents." But let's not be politically correct, because it is a place where people receive "acute nursing care," just one step down (or up?) from the hospital. Even though there are mostly old people, I have seen a few young people there in the last two years; so I think "residents" is a perfectly acceptable term.

Sundays, I have two callings: YW and ward choir director. Mondays I rehearse with the local choir(s) for three hours (come to our concert April 30 and May 2!) Tuesdays and Thursdays Caleb has soccer. Wednesday nights are YW activities. Thursday nights Bryan tries to play basketball, but more often then not stays home to spend time with me and the kids because he has been so busy all week long. Fridays and Saturdays we try to clean and shop and play but almost always fill the days with other things (such as soccer games; voice lessons; and the car breaking down 8 miles from home, filled with groceries and melting ice cream). It seems almost unbelievable that I could keep so busy with three kids when only one has extracurricular activities. Heaven, help me.

Caleb is mischievous. Not all the time, but he finds great amusement in teasing brother and sister. And almost invariably, he will write me a note telling me he's sorry and asking me to forgive him: check yes or no. So far, I haven't had to check 'no.' He also has been questioning everything I ask him with Why?! and WHAT?!, and we've had to have a lot of talks about being respectful and how mommies actually have reasons for everything they say and do.

Savanna has picked up on his attitude. She says things like, "When can I?" and "Fine, whatever!" We have talks about "You can't talk to mommy that way," since she doesn't understand respect. She also changes her clothes five times a day, if I let her.

Joseph. Oh, Joseph. Still happy as ever. Always smiling, always making new friends. Stinker, though. He makes a mess out of whatever he can reach. It's the destructive phase. You don't stack blocks, you knock them down. And everything else you can get your hands on. And even though he was never very cuddly, he pushes me away even more now. He wants to get down and explore all the time. Sacrament meeting is exhausting because it's constantly up, down, twist, over to daddy, back to mommy, smile at the people behind us, play the gravity game with the people behind us, up, down, etc. *SIGH* He's on the verge of walking, but crawling is just so much faster.

Even though they are challenging and exhausting, they are still really good kids, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

So now you see why I've fallen off the face of the earth with this blog. At the end of the day, when the kids are in bed, I'm usually just not in the mood to wait for videos and pictures to upload.

Okay, bloggy friends, I'm off. And I'm not going to promise that this is going to get any better. Maybe. Sometimes. We'll see. And seriously, if you want a more frequent, personal update, call me!

Cheerio!