Mom, look at me!

I posted over here today.
Check it out!

Kindergarten and being selfish. In that order.

Woah! Not sure how the Andy-Warhol-like coloring happened but it like it!

Here is what a well-adjusted kindergartner looks like. Pretty sweet huh?

There were no tears and no hesitation, just a happy boy off on his merry way. Nick actually took Gabe to his first day of kindergarten, he had the day off and I tend to be a blubbering mess when these things occur. I was a blubbering mess at home (suprisingly) for only a short moment, but mostly I am excited for Gabe. He has a great teacher and a great friend in his class, Sam. He has made friends with Akazia, Cutler, Carter, Kaleo, Collin, and Ammon. He is learning how to write the "school way" (only capitalizing the first letter, not all the letters in a word) which has been hard for him, but as long as he knows he can write his way on his artwork at home he is fine.

Anyway, Gabe loves school and school loves Gabe. Today he got to pick a prize out of the treasure chest because he had filled his chart with positive marks. (I wanted to type plusses, because that is what they are but spell check does not like it, how does one spell plusses anyway?)

I like kindergarten too, here's why: I get to read while Ian and Simon nap. Divine!

So far I have read:
The Last Lecture (Oh my, so good!)
To Kill A Mockingbird (always love it)
The Persian Pickle Club (highly recommend - depression era but not depressing. Go figure!)
Gift from the Sea (beautiful)
Fablehaven: Grip of the shadow plague (3rd book, and entertaining)
The Picture of Dorian Grey (didn't finish, got sick of all the selfish characters)
Frankenstein (thoroughly enjoyed and cried over)
The Secret Life of Bees (enjoyable)
The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society (so good, loved it, read it!)
next up is The life of Pi for book club


Did I ever mention that I love to read? I do. When I was younger my cousin Katie and I would have reading sleepovers. Another story for another day, but yes we were nerds. I have not had time for it in the last 5 years, but now... NOW I am making up for it in spades!



Ian is in preschool, a little neighborhood one in which we moms are taking turns teaching at our respective houses (aka joyschool without the joyschool curriculum). He adores it and has learned so many new things. I love hearing him sing "Here we are together together together. Here we are together at our preschool day. There's Ian and Cameron and.....so on and so forth. You know the tune right? It's cute.

Simon, well he has taken to speaking in short sentences such as: "turn it on" "ready, set, go" and "NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOO". He is asserting himself lately, in a loud screechy sort of way, but we still love him and he's unbelievably cute.

All in all, we are well adjusted to this new life.

Oh, and by the way, Nick is awesome! Isn't he always though? I mean for crying out loud, he currently has 100 more friends than me on face book. Of course he is awesome!

Because I am naturally a (very) competitive person, I chalk this up to all that time I spend with my nose in books. While I made book friends, Nick made real friends. Or maybe it is because I post updates like, "today was a good day" or "today was an over-the-moon day". You know it's only because I'm reading good books right?

I want to leave you with this thought: is there anything better than curling up on the couch with a blanket (snuggie, yes I own one) and a good book for two hours of uninterrupted reading time listening to the chorus of a fall thunderstorm? Probably, but it made my day today.

One talented girl!

Check out this blouse that was HAND MADE! I wish I had the time and patience, not to mention skill to sew like that!

linkity-link-link

What a beautiful day we had on Saturday, congratulations Heidi and Collin!

Here is my favorite photo from the wedding, totally candid of course.


Now, link over to Dana Willis Photography to see some more!
What a happy day!

Hungry anyone?

If you are easily offended by my sarcastic humor, please don't read this post!

Whenever I talk to someone about my children ( translation: most every adult conversation I have) one of the things that I ALWAYS get asked is, "Are you going to try for a girl?" Now, I am sure that I have asked this question a time or two myself so please know that this post is in good humor. Really, even if you've asked me this question I probably still like you.

That question, although many intelligent people ask it, makes me silently laugh at the inquisitor. Didn't they get the memo? It's not exactly a recreation sport, making babies (well...never mind) each time you "try successfully" the end result is a pregnancy. The odds are that you end up with a boy...or girl. Okay, so I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that unless you invest in this, or this, it's a 50% chance.

I definitely understand why people would want to choose the gender of their baby. Don't knock it 'till you try it right? Personally I've always thought that this is the one thing I did not need to control, that there is a bigger picture here that I don't need to know worry about. That means a lot coming from a bit of a control freak.

What is the point of my post you ask? Well in the past few days I got a little bit baby hungry. Then I remembered this post and thought I just might try a bit of family balancing myself. Every picture of that swaddling tutorial just get's better and better!

In case you were wondering, I love my three sons and wouldn't change a thing even if I could. And yes, the baby hunger will pass. Reality with three kids helps see to that. Just be forewarned, if you are going to be having a baby girl in the near future, I might just have to make you some awesome swaddling blankets, and then swaddle your baby. But only if she's cute. :)


PS - If you have asked me this question, really I am just teasing, REALLY!

Won't someone think of the children?

Where are pics of my kids you might ask?
Well there are a lot of them to post, we have been busy indeed this summer. However I am basically lazy, and don't feel like cropping and resizing then downloading them at the moment so instead you get to hear what is new in our lives:

Nick - Maybe you have heard that Associated Food Stores recently bought out 36 Albertsons grocery stores across Utah? No?!? Well surprise, they did. Nick is currently brainstorming ideas for a new line of corporate stores. Two of his logo designs are in the running, so you may as well call us grocery royalty. (tongue in cheek, but really it is pretty cool) First comes the name, second comes breathing new life and a new image into the stores (logo etc.), third comes replacing EVERYTHING in each store that has the Albertsons logo on it. Yes, he will be busy for the next few months. Overtime here we come...

Emily - Good thing for the overtime because I took the rest of the year off from teaching. Yes you read that right, YEAR off. Honestly I don't know if I will be going back. I love being home with my kids, really really love it. I am sublimely happy.

Gabe - Two weeks till kindergarten! This boy is beyond ready, he been reading for a little while and recently acquired the skill of sounding out words that mommy and daddy spell to each other. (You know what I'm talking about right? If you are a parent you do!) It is all so exciting, we already bought school shoes, sketchers, because as Gabe persisted "They let your feet breathe mom" (darn you marketing specialists).

Ian - Also recently obtained a new pair of sketchers that also allow his feet to breathe. Really, this kid has had very few new things in his life, so I broke down and bought him some sketchers. Ian is ever so tan, with an awesome white butt. Ian is becoming quite the little chef/taste tester. Today at my friend Sarah's house, she was making a banana cream pie and Ian walked right up to the counter and stole several banana slices, ran away cause I called him naughty, then came back to lick the bowl (without being invited). He just flashed his smile and giggled and all was forgiven, I am worried about what that kid will get away with when he is a teenager!

Simon - Is a bulldog. He walks kinda like one, and he certainly guards his territory like one. He is really a sweet boy, but man he knows how to defend himself and anything he is interested in. He will be in nursery in one week, and I am a little worried about the welfare of the other children. On the flip side, Simon is still so cuddly and lovey. He gives the best hugs after a nap or in the morning. He recently has started saying 3 word sentences. His first was "I see you" while playing peek-a-boo. Yesterday he walked over to my radio and turned it on, then said "turn it on". He really loves to lay by Ian and say the names of his brothers over and over. He really couldn't get more cool.

In a nutshell, we are good.

Hope you are too.

Running...

I like it.