Chillin' Like A Springvillin'

Ornament Exchange

2010-12-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't already know, every year for the past 9 years now, my mom has an Ornaments Exchange party with my sisters, Grandma and some times cousins. A long time ago a few ladies in my ward started this. It got so big and changed so many times that my mom stopped going and decided to do it with her girls instead. We were all excited because for many years we have all helped her make her decorations for the Sisters in our ward. So 9 years ago we had our first one as a family. I have gotten so many cute and fun ornaments over the years. My sisters and mom always make such cute things. Some of my favorites over the years have been.....

Gold beaded glass ball that Jocie made

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, rock that Rebecca made

Blue snowflake chime Emily made

Personalized wreath Mom made for each of us

Hand made snowman that Deloris our cousin made

Painted Santa spoon Mariann made

Beaded Star TaNiesha made

Bird house Lea made

Glass heart painted on the inside that I made

This year was no different, a lot of cute and fun ornaments that I will cherish forever!

Grandma Watkins made a decoration with a Glass Basket, bird and trimmings in it

Mom made many different ornaments but we got to choose 3, these ornaments were from a wreath she made many years ago

Lea made a cute Sparkly Christmas tree decoration

Rebecca made a One Horse Soap and Sleigh

MariAnn made a cute crocheted Snowman glove

I made Snowflakes, which Tanner made for me last year in his 2nd grade class

Emily made a hanging decoration that says Joy

Thank you everyone for the fun memories and priceless decorations/ornaments that I get each year!

9 Years Old

2010-12-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tanner celebrated his 9th birthday on Saturday. This year we decided to throw a birthday party for him, since we have managed to get away with it in years past with just a family/cousin party! He wanted to do a Pokemon theme... shocking it wasn't a Transformer theme. So we tried our best. We gave each of the kids 2 Pokemon cards and they were thrilled. We also played "Pin The Tail On Pikachu" (ohh I so wanted to type "Pekah-chu"). Darin did a good job drawing it on a paper and I colored it in. 10 of the 14 kids we invited showed up and they had a blast. We sent them on a scavenger hunt and fed them pizza. Tanner was so happy to share his birthday with some of his friends.

We can't believe we have a 9 year old! Time flies by too quickly. On Saturday Tanner came in to wake us up. I told him to quit growing that he has to stay 8 years old forever. He said he couldn't do that because next year he was gonna be 2 digits and he has to get to 2 digits! So cute :) We have enjoyed having him in our family. He is so sweet, thoughtful such a good kid! We love you, Tanner!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And You Thought She Couldn't Get Any Prettier...

2010-10-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Still a beautiful little girl!!!

Silly Pekah - Part 2!

2010-10-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

I guess I am just gonna have to have a running blog on this title, because Pekah keeps doing funny things. Those who have a dog or cat know that they usually like to find the "sun spot" in your house. Pekah is no exception. As the day goes on I usually know where she is depending on what time it is and where the sun is! She has a sun spot in most of the rooms in our house that she frequents most every day. Her favorite spot is in the kitchen. Every morning I wake up and pull open the blinds and she sits/lays in front of the sliding glass door for hours with the sun on her back, especially since I am typically around where she can see me. Well, the past few mornings for some reason I am not opening them up fast enough. If Pekah could talk, I'm sure this is what she would be saying...

Maybe if I just stand here long enough mom will notice.....

Um........ Hello........ ?

FINE THEN. Since mom won't open them, I guess I will do it myself..

Finally! Thank you mom, that's more like it!

Spencer the Slow-Growing Boy

2010-09-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

We had Spencer's 15-month checkup the other day. I always hate it when they give our babies shots but thankfully Spencer only cries for a few minutes until I can pick him up and snuggle him. The doctor commented on how he sure doesn't like to grow very fast, but still is growing so he is not concerned!

Spencer is....
32 inches Tall (77.6 percentile... up 1 inch since his 12 month visit)
and
21.21 lbs (9.3 percentile... up 1% since his 12 month visit!)

He sure is a joy to have around. He is finally starting to walk, but only for a few steps until he realizes that crawling is much faster. He is very curious about how everything works and usually he can figure stuff out. He is pushing our chairs from our tables over to our island so he can get the stuff up on the counter. He loves to play with balls. He loves Elmo and Barney. He also loves his older brother and sister, but can hold his ground if they try to push him around too much.

He is still allergic to milk - though we're still hoping he'll out grow of that. We have found that a little bit of butter and a little cheese usually will not bother him. I did finally shave his head and I have to admit I miss his hair, but I know it will grow back. We sure love this little boy!

I'm so Domestic! Huh, Bec?

2010-09-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year Darin and I (OK - really me) decided that we (I) would like a garden. We feel in love with fresh home made salsa, plus I really wanted to make my moms canned salsa (BEST SALSA EVER!). So we planted tomatoes, jalapeno, banana, anaheim and bell peppers. We also planted zucchini, banana squash, pumpkins, strawberries and watermelon (which the last two didn't turn out as well).

So the last two Saturdays I have been canning with the peppers and tomatoes that our garden produced. I canned Sweet Pickled Banana Peppers (with Anaheim peppers in them), Spicy Banana Peppers (with Anaheim peppers also), Jalapenos and my mom's salsa. All have turned out SOOOOO nummies:

I am kind of sad to see my garden die in a month or so but I can't wait for the pumpkins to be ready to carve and the banana squash to eat. Hopefully next year I can get the watermelon and strawberries to work, but we are excited to do this again. Savannah says she will only eat corn that we grow, so we will be trying corn next year.

Thanks to my parents for teaching me how to garden and how to take care of one, and thanks to Auntie Bella and Auntie Susan for helping us get one started.

Savannah's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

We are really excited for Savannah to be in school. She has been looking forward to this day since Tanner started going to "the big school". Last week when Tanner went back to school Savannah was a little upset because she wanted to start then as well, but they held kindergarten off for another week. Every day Savannah would ask if she got to go to school yet. Finally when the day came it was every few hours..... "is it time," "when do I get to go," "can we go yet", etc.

Savannah got accepted into the Dual Language class, which means she will be learning Spanish as well. We are really excited for this. For the first hour, her teacher speaks only in Spanish. It has only been a few days but Savannah is already saying some words like arriba (up) and abajo (down).   By the end of the school year she should know how to:

     Count from 1 to 30 (Thanks to Dora the Explorer she already knows how to count to 8).
     Basic Shapes
     Months and Days
     Colors
     Positions (up, down, left, right, in, out)

As she moves through the grades they are thinking by 2nd or 3rd grade they will be speaking only Spanish through 90% of the school day. We are going to need lots of help from our Spanish speaking family and friends (mostly on how to properly pronounce words). I dropped out of Spanish in high school (I didn't get it like I got Chinese) and Darin took a few years but really can't remember much, mostly because he says his teacher called roll the whole time.

Back to her first day. We got ready and then I walked and she rode her bike to school. Once we got there we entered the class room and Mrs. Arroyo was speaking only in Spanish. Telling the kids what to do by pointing. A lot of the moms commented on how they are so scared for their kids to get this, but I think they will all do just fine. Savannah was instructed to hang up her backpack and to find her name tag then get a picture to color. Mrs. Arroyo pointed to the line that said me llamo, spoke the same words out loud and then pointed to Savannah's name tag on her shirt. Savannah went to a seat and sat down, wrote her name on the paper and started coloring! Then she looked up at me and said, "When you gonna leave, mom? I can do this. I love you but go," to which I replied not until I get a big kindergartner hug and kiss goodbye!

Just like with Tanner I got a little teary-eyed but I didn't bawl like I always thought I would. I got home and put Spencer to sleep. As I was holding him I looked down at him and said, "You're next," which he shook his head to as if he understood what I was saying.

This is going to be a fun year for Savannah. Tanner started 3rd grade last week and so far is having a lot of fun too.

This next picture I took before we left to make sure I had enough battery life. I didn't realize what I was taking a picture of, but Pekah is wishing she could go with us to school!

Cousin Sleepover

2010-08-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

So a while back Tanner and Garrett came up with a plan (probably mostly Tanner) to get MariAnn and I to let them sleep over at each others houses. MariAnn and I thought it was a good idea so MariAnn took the first round here. On Thursday Garrett and Bethany came to sleep over and Jaxon came to play while MariAnn and Dave cleaned their rental house for new tenants.

We went to a nearby park and had a blast there.

And my favorite picture with all of them in it.....

When we got home they played the wii and watched a movie. It was a lot of fun for all of them and I hope to be able to do it again. Maybe be daring enough and have all the cousins like Aunt Bec did!

Ending Up Where They Don't Belong

2010-08-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

So we noticed a recurring theme inside and outside our home this week. Can you spot what it is?

First, earlier in the week we spotted something strange in Tanner's bike tire. Can you see it?

How about now?

Okay, here it is, up close and personal:

That's right. A dying bird decided to spend its final moments perched on tire treads. We left it alone, but the next day Tanner found it dead behind our van in the driveway. Poor thing.

Oh, well. On to happier times:

Apparently Spencer decided he wanted to become a permanent fixture inside our entertainment center. Notice how well he fits in there. Tanner tried this same thing later, but he got stuck.

Finally:

It may surprise you to learn that calling in a HazMat team to scrub down your child after an incident like this actually doesn't cost all that much.

Also, see if you remember this little gem from 80's cinema:

Coincidence? I think not.

Funny Eyes

2010-08-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

So I've heard of sleeping with one eye open, but this is ridiculous!

Final Baseball Game... GO METS

2010-08-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tanner had a pretty good time playing baseball. There were times we thought he would give up, but all in all he had a fun time, especially when he knew his team was beating the other teams. As I said earlier in the first post I made of this, they don't keep score, but the kids and parents usually do! They lost 2 games and won 8. The last game they played they slaughtered the other team and so of course the Met's (Tanner's team) were having a lot of fun. They were good sports though and cheered on the other team.

We hope to be able to do this again next year and try other sports as well.

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-08-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, but we thought we'd finally get around to posting some new stuff.

First off, here's the end result of all the hard work Darin and Tanner poured into their Pinewood Derby fun. Suffice it to say this Derby racer far surpasses the first one Darin ever tried - an only child, he made his own car, but had no access to a saw or paint or even good sandpaper, so in effect he raced the block of wood itself, with pencil-drawn artwork and wheels. And he didn't even win. Go figure.

First, they had an opening ceremony where Tanner was actually one of two recipients of Best-Dressed Award (i.e., he wore his uniform correctly, tucked into his pants and everything).

Now, off to the races. This time, we had access to more sophisticated tools. Here's what we got:

Creative, no? And that red thing on the front of the car is called an "Autobot symbol." Must be the first time Tanner's ever asked for anything remotely Transformer-related.

So finally, the big night. The car actually made a decent run. Here's the first race. On your mark, get set, go!

Now, from the opposite angle (note the excitement on the kids' faces - or lack thereof - as they wait for their cars to race down to them):

Tanner actually finished third! Here he is, proud of his accomplishment:

All in all, a much-improved Pinewood Derby experience for Darin - and the rest of us, too. Maybe we'll even have a better go at it next year.

Happy Birthday, Baby Pencer

2010-06-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

We can't believe it has already been a year since our little "Baybee Nut" was born. Tanner and Savannah wanted to watch his birth video yesterday so we did. I miss hearing Savannah say "baby Pencer" - so cute! Anyway he has grown and changed so much. Seeing him with all his dark, dark hair getting lighter and lighter as the video went on. Seeing how WIGGLY he used to be! Some believe he was wiggly because of the penny in his throat, but I think he stopped being wiggly when he swallowed the penny. He was wiggly from birth! He is such a joy to have and a learning adventure all in one!

On Sunday we celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa McCune's house. Aaden (Spencer's cousin who is 2 days younger) also celebrated with Spencer, eating their first Birthday cake, a tradition that many people do and I think I forced onto Aaden and his mom (sorry, Em). But it was so much fun seeing 2 babies doing the same thing but in such different ways. Spencer got a cute Elmo outfit and a cute singing fish which Spencer loves. Spencer dove right into his cake and loved every second of it.

Yesterday on his birthday we just had a small little celebration of opening presents, which I forgot to get pictures of! But he got a green bouncy ball, a little piano (which Tanner and Savannah bought for him) and a Penguin that plays music and wobbles. The penguin is about the size of Spencer and Spencer is terrified of it! We might be taking that one back to get him something he will like.

Since I love reminiscing so much, I wanted to put up some pictures through the past Year Of Spencer. We love having him in our family even though he is a challenge for us (Darin and I feel like brand new parents all over again!). He brings so much happiness to this family and we love every second of this boy.

June 2009

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June 2010

Happy Birthday, Spencer!!!

Cake Faces

2010-06-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just thought it would be fun to put up all 3 of my babies 1st birthday cake faces.

Tanner 2002

Savannah 2006

Spencer 2010

Even though Savannah looks like she had the messiest face, Spencer did the best of eating his cake. With Tanner and Savannah, we had to smoosh their hands into the cake before they started eating it, but Spencer dove right in!

Go Mets!

2010-06-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

What? Isn't it basketball season right now, you ask? Shouldn't I be saying Go Celtics or Lakers? Well, yes, but not for Tanner. Tanner started Coach Pitch baseball this year and he was "drafted" into the New York Mets and is #10. He has had a few practices and a game already. They played the White Sox and did pretty good. It is nice that they let everyone hit the ball no matter how many times the coach has to pitch it to them so every kid gets a chance to run the bases (unless the other team tags them out or catches the ball). They don't keep score but by my calculations Tanner's team got 5 people out and the other team only got 4 people out and they both had the same amount of players... sooo.....

Tanner is actually surprisingly good. No pro by any means but he really likes it. It is great to see him all excited about something other then Pokemon or Transformers. He asks Darin to go out and play ball with him and that is really cute (Hallmark card cute!). He hits the ball within a few throws (some other kids took 3 or more minutes before they actually hit the ball). He needs more practice catching the ball. Right now he expects the ball to come to him, and when it is coming right at him he ducks from it!

I am sure I will be making lots of posts about how his team is doing in the future. GOOOO METS!

Savannah Graduates from Preschool!

2010-05-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am so excited and sad all at the same time. My baby girl graduated from preschool and will now be going to kindergarten! She has learned a lot from Mrs. Susan's 2 years of preschool but she is looking forward to going to the same school that Tanner goes to, especially to play on the playground. She had a graduation picnic at the park a few days ago. And then the next day had her graduation program.

Look at how tall she is compared to everyone else in her class! When we registered her for kindergarten the lady asked me if I was sure she wasn't already in kindergarten or 1st grade. As the mom I sure hope I know if my daughter was in school yet or not!

Mrs. Susan is a short woman and was kneeling with all the other kids to take a picture. But when Savannah's turn came she decided it would be better to stand since Savannah was taller then she was on her knees.

Spencer also had fun at the park with Savannah and her class. He wasn't sure what to think of the wood chips. I think it was worse then grass for him! And he finally enjoyed a swing.

Congratulations, Savannah!!

10 Years!

2010-05-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday (April 29) we celebrated a momentous occasion: Our 10 year Anniversary! WOW, how the time has flown by. So many fun, sad and exciting memories - but that's marriage, right? Right? Anyway, we thought it'd be fun to take a little trip down memory lane, back to that wonderful day when it officially started (although Darin and I felt like a married couple long before that, since we dated for 2 years - minus our living together, of course). Anyhoo, please take a gander at the movie slideshow below. My, how we've all grown up (and out). Thank you to all our family and friends who have helped us and been there for us through the years, every one of you are very special to us. Lea, Kevin, David and MariAnn: I couldn't find any pictures of you. Lots of your kids, though (except Josh, he hid like you all did). Our families and friends made that day such a fun and memorable time, and the pictures show a small part of our celebration.

By the way, it's all scored to our song, "I Know How The River Feels," by Diamond Rio. Yes, it's country. Get over it... or turn the volume down. Here you go:

From Captured Videos

I am so thankful to be married to such a sweet, patient and caring man. Thank you for being you and putting up with me! You are such a great dad. The kids love and adore you so much. I love you sweetheart!

The Penny Worth THOUSANDS Of Dollars

2010-04-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Do I need to say more?

Our Little Piggy Bank

2010-04-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

You've heard us say it before, but here it comes again: We are awful, horrible parents. Make excuses for us all you want - "Oh, I'd make the same mistake too," "It's not your fault, it sounded like a cold to me," "Nobody could've seen that one coming," whatever - but it doesn't change the fact that our little ten-month-old had a penny stuck in his throat for at least two months and we knew absolutely nothing about it.

We'll say this for Spencer: he sure is a trooper. Imagine living your life with something cutting off your airway, making it hard to swallow your food, let alone breathe. The worst part is, the little guy must've gotten used to the feeling as a necessary part of his everyday life, and he dealt with it as best he could. (In retrospect, despite the general orneriness and night terrors, he probably dealt with it better than anyone. If only he'd been able to say something useful, like, I don't know, "Mommy, Daddy... choke choke... I think I've got a little problem here...")

Wish we could show you the x-ray of that dark circular object lodged in Spencer's tiny esophagus, but that'll have to come at another time. Instead, here's a photo record (of sorts) that we took during his harrowing two-day adventure from piggy bank to copper-free tyke.

This is 4:30 in the morning. He's strapped in and ready to take that loooooooooooong ride up to Primary Children's Hospital. Note the red, sleepy eyes. Looked just like his Mom and Dad.

Spencer in his hospital gown in the waiting room, approximately 7:30 (still a.m.; the drive up wasn't that long). Elisabeth wishes we'd gotten a better picture of him in full hospital regalia, but the nurse ushered us out too soon for us to remember to do so at the time. (Trust us, he was really, really cute.)

Spencer after the operation (does an endoscope really count as an operation?), approximately 8:30. The nurses called Elisabeth into the post-op room shortly after Spencer woke up from being sedated. Boy, was he ever glad to see his mommy! So happy, in fact, he wouldn't let daddy even attempt to cheer him up. For the entire day.

Another post-op picture, a little later. Still clingy, still trying to gnaw that bandage off his little thumb.

This is the TV they let us watch. Note how it's almost laid flat against the ceiling, which hurt our necks worse than sitting in the front row of a crowded movie theater. (We realize the TV is there for the patient more than anyone else, but still. Do chiropractors get hospital referrals?)

Spencer on the way home, approximately 11:30. Yes, it DOES look an awful lot like his "trip-to" photo, with backgrounds added during a hectic post-production schedule. He's strapped in and ready to take that loooooooooooong ride back to Springville after removing all the loose change from his body. Also note the red, sleepy eyes. Still looked just like his Mom and Dad.

The next morning, around 8 a.m. at home. As Daddy laid on the floor in front of the TV to play with him, Spencer rested his head on the pillow and fell asleep just like this. (Apparently, Daddy isn't all that bad after all.) You tell us which picture looks faked, the one above or the one below?

Gotcha. He's actually asleep in both. One picture's just a lot cuter than the other. Either way, it's good seeing our baby boy in such good spirits. Here's hoping he gets a real piggy bank sometime in the near future. Over and out.

Silly Pekah!

2010-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is Digi in Pekah's bed......

This is Pekah finding a new bed!

Silly Pekah, that's Spencer's bouncy chair!

More Easter

2010-04-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

I had to take pictures of them in their new Easter clothes. Too many cute ones, but at the same time I wish I had Jocie's and Bec's talent for taking and editing pictures.

Bunny Time

2010-04-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Like most people, the night before Easter we dyed eggs. Tanner and Savannah LOVE doing this and we are always stressed out they might spill the dye on their clothes and stain them forever. Thankfully they always do a great job.

On Easter day we usually wait until after church to find what the Easter Bunny left for us. But since this year it was General Conference the Easter Bunny came the night before and hid everything. Our Easter Bunny sends us on a treasure hunt with clues.

First here is the note he left for us to prove that he was here. It says:

Dear Tanner, Savannah and Spencer,

     Hey, Guys! Looks like it's Easter time again! How was your year? Have you been nice to each other? Tanner and Savannah, I hope you know you need to set a good example for your little brother. Spencer needs to see you being nice and not fighting, so he'll be nice to you when he grows up. Be nice! Anyways, I've been really busy this year. I had to drop off some of your stuff with your Mom this week to save time. I hope you didn't see any of it too early! Please thank her for me - it's sure nice having her help! Well, I've got to get going. Again, please be good and listen to your parents. And be good at school!
     Have fun on our hunt!

                      Love,
                      The Easter Bunny

He usually leaves us a first clue that leads us to a certain room in the house. There, the kids find three to four eggs (hard-boiled or candy-filled - yum), plus the next clue that leads us to the next clue, and so on. The first clue said, "Where did you get such a big box of new diapers?" Which, naturally, led us to Spencer's room. Here they are.

The next clue said, "Why is this your only white bookshelf?" We have four bookshelves in the house, but the one in Savannah's room is the only one that's white.

The third clue said, "Where Trans- formers sleep." We have only one themed room like that - Tanner's of course. (Look closely. That's the nose and chin of the Autobot symbol on Tanner's wall. Darin's masterpiece, as he calls it.)

(As an aside, here's a picture of Spencer's big two-egg find in the upstairs hallway.)

The fourth clue: "You guys sure don't eat in here very much. Why such a nice table?" Obviously, that means our dining room.

The fifth clue: "Where you keep your new satellite receiver." Since the kids just watched us install the thing the day before (DirecTV sent us a replacement receiver when they found out we had an outdated version), they rushed to the family room.

Here is Savannah finding the last egg in the family room:

The sixth and final clue said, "Where your home teachers sit when they come to visit." Tanner and Savannah ran to our living room where they found the "treasure" (the big gift that the Bunny leaves for them at the end of the hunt.) Here are the kids with their rewards.

(Here's a outtake picture of Spencer wondering, "How come I didn't get anything as cool? All I got was stupid baby toys.)

All in all, a fun Easter morning. Glad the Bunny took time out of his busy schedule!

I always feel like somebody's watching me!

2010-03-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

Kind of creepy now that I see it! Aunt Jocie took a picture of Savannah a few years back at our annual 4th of July picnic and her eyes were just SOOOO green and gorgeous. Every time I see the picture (I have it as one of my rotating desktop backgrounds), I start to think of my family's eyes and how beautiful they all are. So I decided to do a little project. I looked through our past pictures to see if I could get a few good eye shots. Then I cut them together and walah! I even added Pekah and Digi into the mix. Can you tell whose eyes are whose? (Hint: Darin's are the squinty ones.)

Thank You

2010-03-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say THANKS for all the suggestions on how to help Spencer sleep through the night. It has been 1 week now of a full night's sleep for all of us. :) Spencer has woken up a few times, but only for a few seconds before he goes back to sleep. Spencer is happier which makes me happier, which makes Darin, Tanner, and Savannah happier! hahaha

A few months ago we almost had him sleeping through the night, but then he got sick. So that went out the window. We tried to get back to where we were with him sleeping through the night, but he was just being so dang stubborn (Darin says, Thanks McCunes!) and we were letting him be. So that's when we tried all those other methods. I guess I just needed a reminder that letting them cry it out works the best.

Dog Wash

2010-03-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Today I finally decided to quit procrastinating washing my dogs. It has been around 2 months since I last gave them a bath and probably another 3-4 months since I gave them a trim or a hair cut. It was about time, I couldn't handle them looking so grungy and smelling like a dog! So here is Pekah from start to finish.

This isn't the worst I have let Pekah get, but nonetheless she needed a bath and a hair cut. Both Pekah and Digi always know what I am planning on doing and they get these depressed "life isn't worth living" looks on their faces.

Pekah does pretty well while giving her a bath. She pretty much just sits there and lets me do what I want with her. But again she looks so miserable!

After the bath she shakes and if I would let her she would run around rubbing her wet hair all over my carpet, but I just wrap her up in a towel, letting the excess water soak the towel and then I blow dry her. She loves the warm air over her body, but hates it on her face.

After she is all done with the drying, I then begin attempting to cut her hair and try my hardest not to make her look to funny. She loves it after her bath and knows she will get extra kisses.

Now for Digi.. Poor Digi.

I start with him first because he hides from me if he sees me washing Pekah. Digi usually always has that defeated "life is not worth living" look on his face, but during baths, it is so much more exaggerated!

If I am cutting his hair I will shave him before his bath, because his hair takes FOREVER to dry, even with the hair dryer. His hair is SOOO thick and curly, where Pekah's is thin and straight and dries with in a few minutes. I learned real fast with him the first couple times I dried him before his hair was shaved. It seriously took about 1/2 an hour just to get it so he wasn't sopping wet.

While I bathe him, he is also pretty good about this part, however he struggles with me washing his face. He doesn't like anyone touching his mouth area. And he likes to turn around and around. I think he thinks he is helping!

He doesn't like to shake after his bath (what dog doesn't shake when wet?!?!), but he does like the warm air from the hair dryer. HE hates me cutting his face hair and is a pain to cut his feet.

But after all that he sure is cute! I can see why all the kids want to love on him.... he just looks all warm and cuddly! I really have to tell any child that comes to my house, DON'T pet the white dog, he will bite you, especially if you pick him up.

I love both my dogs (babies) and do feel bad that since my human babies came around they have been neglected a little. I used to bathe them at least 2 times a month, Pekah always had bows in her hair and Digi's hair never got longer then an inch (not that it's bad if his hair is long, I just don't like it, it's too curly and thick and soooo hard to brush through).

HELP with Spencer sleeping. PLEASE!

2010-02-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

We need HELP!!! Darin and I are both SOOO tired of Spencer waking up at night. Usually he is only up for a few mins- 1/2 hour, but 2-4 times a night! It is just killing both of us. We have tried so many different methods, from rocking him back to sleep, letting him cry in intervals, letting him cry period with out us going in (which strangely enough seems to work the best, BUT I feel guilty with him crying for so long with no comfort!), feeding him before he goes to sleep, feeding him when he wakes up in the middle of the night, letting him sleep with us (which he hates!) etc.....

Are there any other ways? Any advice or anything you have tried... HELP

Savannah, The Paleontologist

2010-02-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

So this Friday Savannah is going on a field trip to Thanksgiving Points dinosaur museum. She is really excited about it. So I asked her if she is going to be seeing real live dinosaurs there. "No!" she said, as if confused I even asked her the question and of her answer. "For some reason, they all died."

Oh, yeah. That's right, I forgot!

Lost Pictures

2010-02-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

For many years we have had one computer after another stop working on us for various reasons. Every time I would just die because, like an idiot, I never backed up any of our photos. So from late 2004 to Aug 2007 I had lost most - if not all - of our family photos. :( A few weeks ago we came across this computer gadget that takes your old hard drive and connects it to your current computer. We bought it in hopes that, out of the 3 hard drives we had, at least 1 would work. Our wish came true! Not just one but 2 of them worked! So here is a "movie" of just some of the hundreds of pictures we recovered. (See, we aren't such bad parents after all.) We are still missing most of our pictures from late 2006 to about June of 2007. Hopefully one day we will be able to recover those photos. I am just SOOOOOO happy that we got back so many. I cry every time I see all the photos we got back. Don't worry..... I have backed them up about 20 times now :) I am not losing these again!
(the quality of the pictures aren't the best in the movie)

From Movies

The Trouble With Germs

2010-01-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

Tanners 2nd grade class put on an Opera today. First Opera I have been to. His class has been working on this for the past month. Here is what the program said.

The Trouble with Germs

The story begins as Jungle animals

and Vampires discover they can be friends.

They also realize that they must keep their

homes clean and begin to work together

to clean up.

There are germs lurking nearby, they are not

friendly and quickly make a plan to

contaminate the Vampires and Animals homes!

This Opera is a product of Mrs. Anderson's

Second Grade Class. They worked hard,

created the script, made up the melodies,

worked on their own costumes and

painted their set.

Man I wish I could up load from our camcorder, because it was really kind of cute. Cheezey but cute! Here are a few pictures though that I took. They didn't turn out to well because I forgot to put the flash on, so I had to lighten them up which always makes the quality bad.

p.s. Tanner was a Germ

The first pictures are of the germs ♫ singing ♫ saying "we are not your friends" and the second picture is the germs running around spreading germs while the vampires and jungle animals are cleaning, but not very good!

Now the germs are ♪ singing ♪ about how soon the animals and vampires will be getting sick. Then the Animals and vampires start singing ♫ about how they don't feel so well!

The Animals and Vampires realize they need to wash away the germs so they gather around the germs to clean them all up.

◄ Notice Tanners "germy" shirt is now clean. The Animals, Vampires and Germs are all now singing ♫♪♫ about being friends.

The whole program lasted about 20 mins and it was really cute and creative. I have one of the songs stuck in my head.

The last two pictures are of the props Tanner helped paint.

Where to Begin?

2010-01-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

So I have been reading my sisters and cousins blogs now for over a year and personally never thought I would do this. Why? I don't know, to much time to set it up and keep it up to date, I guess. But the other night Darin asked how he could set one up for him to write movie reviews, just for the heck of it. So I told him that we could look into it and ...whallah.... we both have one now! Let's hope that I can keep mine up to date. I guess this will be like a journal and a scrapbook all in one so it will force me to take more pictures of my kids and keep a journal at the same time.

For those of you who know us already, Darin and I were set up on a blind date in June of 1998 by our dear friends Carrie and Chas. We were married 2 years later April 29, 2000. Darin loves movies and music, especially soundtracks and especially soundtracks by Hans Zimmer! He loves being at home with the kids and I. I am busy cleaning, cooking and watching the kids. I breed sugar gliders like my sister Rebecca. But I don't know how much longer I will be doing that. I enjoy just being with my family doing whatever

Our first "babies" were our 2 dogs. Pekah and Digi. Pekah is a yorkie mix and Digi is a maltese. Darin likes to put them in boxes or any other strange place where he can get a reaction out of them. Pekah is usually up for it, but poor Digi always thinks he has been punished! Pekah loves everyone and knows that everyone loves her. She does a few tricks (for treats only) and is very stubborn. Digi is very mellow and sensitive. He is also my little protector. He growls at Darin if Darin comes towards me too fast or if Darin kisses me on the couch! He's even nipped at Darin on occasion!

We also have 3 kids.

Tanner is 8 years old and loves Transformers, computers, the Wii, school and being with his friends. He also loves to meet new people. Tanner's first word was "Hi" and he would say it to EVERYONE. I am a quiet, low-key person, so walking through a grocery store having him say "Hi" to everyone was a little too much for me to handle! We were also impressed with his ability to spot airplanes and helicopters in the sky before we even had the chance to hear them coming or flying overhead! His Grandma Paulsen (Darin's mom) loves him to pieces but especially loves his "tender, caring heart" (this is how she describes his personality).

He adores his little brother and sister and enjoys their company. Tanner was baptized last month by his dad and already enjoys going to scout activities.

Savannah is 5, going on 20! She is our mischievous little angel. She loves princesses, Barbies and anything "girlie." She loves to be with her older brother and do everything that he does. She also is a big help with her baby brother. She loves to go to preschool and talk about all her friends there. She is also outgoing, but very shy at first. Savannah is very tall for her age. Everyone thinks she is at least 6 or 7 until they hear her talk. Her first sentence was "I'm hunky," which translated as, "I'm hungry." She loves to eat everything and anything, mostly sweets but she is a good healthy eater as well. Savannah watches The Food Network with me and is very interested in cooking. She helps me out a lot in the kitchen. And sometimes wants to cook really strange concoctions like Banana Bread.... Her directions: mush up a banana with salt, pepper, peanut butter and pickles and then spread it on bread.

Spencer is 8 months, and a Momma's Boy. He is so much fun to have in our family. Darin and I sometimes wonder if he hears and understands our conversations. If we mention he's being good, he instantly changes and has a crying fit. If we say he is eating really well or sleeping through the night, he decides he no longer wants to do that. Tanner and Savannah both really love to have him around and they both are very protective of him.

When he was born he had a full head of hair plus 2 inches length. It was black also, but has lightened up to dark brown. Everyone loves his hair and has to comment and touch it, which is fine (not complaining at all). The picture up above is of his 3rd hair cut at 7 months. It grows so fast, just a month latter I already need to cut it again. He has the most amazing, wonderful dimples when he smiles! He is crawling, pulls himself up to a standing position, and finally had his first tooth just last week (though it's been there under his gums for weeks now).

Well, that's our family. We so look forward to updating you throughout the days and weeks (and years) to come with family stories and photos. We are now officially bloggers!

Just Playing Around

2010-01-26T23:44:00.001-08:00

Ok so 3 of my sisters are gonna be so pleased that I finally started a blog! But for right now I am just playing around, trying to figure this out. I might be buggin' the crap out of the them when I call and ask them a bazillion questions.