Memory Lane

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together.  It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.  It's fun to see the responses!

The funny things you do

Oh, How I love to Blog!  I usually see the cute things my kids do or say and think to myself "I'll always remember that." But then time passes and I can't remember what I was going to remember. So I'm grateful for this blogging hobby...it's way faster than scrapbooking and I can quickly write the things down for future reference.

Carter loves Word World and really believes that if he spells out a word then the word will transform to the object. Yesterday with Becky (our darling babysitter) he made some WINGS, using the bathtub letters.  He asks how to spell something and then tapes them together!  He needed them taped onto his shirt so he could fly to space! Oh!  The imagination of youth!  

Carter is also got this funny habit of making a silly face when I ask him to take a picture!  No idea where he learned that! Check out the professional picture that he initiated the stunt!

The temperature at our house is always a source of contention.  I am very happy with the house being 75-77 degrees, it saves money and then my feet don't get cold.  Chris, on the other hand, HATES the heat.  He wantsthe house to be 68-70 degrees.  So while he is at work...I win.  But when he gets home he adjusts the air conditioning, after all it is 90-100 degrees outside.  By the time the kids go to bed they are as chilled as I am, they aren't adjusted to cool air.  Carter insists wearing his stripped PJ's (foot jammies that were his Christmas present) or his hoodie sweatshirt and sweatpants.  This particular day, both of those pajamas were dirty, so we had to find some warm clothes for him to wear.  I found him a sweatshirt and pants, but he was insistent that his head would be cold so we had to pull out the winter hat (which he referred to as a "beanie bag.")  I should have taken a picture of Chris at the same time because he had beads of sweat all over his forehead.  We just have different temperature gauges!

Kathryn is obsessed with Kimball's binkie!  She says "Bin" and tries to steal it from him all the time.  She sucks on it once and then shoves it back into his mouth!

Here's a little girl that loves to be a grown

-up.  She loves her stroller and wants to push it around by herself.  She won't get into it unless Carter volunteers to push her.  When we were in

Washington she walked all around the ball park in her squeaky shoes pushing the stroller. I have a picture somewhere of me doing the same thing at this age!

We had a great field trip to the fire station with Andrew.  The boys weren't real interested in what the fireman was saying on the tour, but they loved getting to sit in the fire trucks and pretending to drive them.  The highlight of the trip was when the firemen let them help wash the firetruck with their special fire fighter helmets and bracelets. Carter insisted that the bracelets said "Hop, Drop, and Roll!"  We'll have to for sure teach him the true saying as the hopping would only aggregate the fire!

My Darling Kids

Toddler-Fest 2008

Toddler-Fest

Weeks of planning.

Games designed for toddlers ages 1-5.

Sand, water, face painting, arts and crafts, fishpond, sidewalk chalk, photos. 

Soliciting help from previous students and baby-sitters to run the activities.

Cleaning the house, yard, and organizing all the "stuff"

38 children and their moms.

Picnic lunch and cupcakes.

Lots and lots of fun!

Memories!

Should it be an annual event?

Starting to change...

We're starting to change our lifestyle little by little.  We both looked down a few weeks ago and realized how unhealthy we were.  We committed to change.  On the 4th of July we decided to participate in the city's 5K run/walk.  We took all three kids.  I carried Kimball (in the Baby Bjourn) for the first 2 miles and then the last mile, Chris and I and Carter tried to run! (Very funny sight I'm sure...the double stroller wasn't actually designed for running). Carter was inspired by all the runners, and to be truthful, we were too! We couldn't run too long or too fast, but it was very motivating. Despite the feeling of needing to throw up, I loved the experience. There was such a positive energy associated with finishing the race that I would do it again!  After all - a lifestyle change can't just happen once a year!

Beautiful Scenery

This past week, I drove with Grandma Janice and Grandpa Doug up to Pullman, Washington for my cousin Matthew's All-Star Baseball Championship.  We headed north after Boise, expecting another 2-3 hour drive.  What we encountered was 7 hours of twisting and turning through this beautiful canyon.  Although the scenery was breath-taking, it was a little stressful. Any one that has driven with Grandma Janice knows that she is a little tense when it comes to narrow roads and changing speed limits.  (Which adds to the intensity of the drive!) The three children in the car didn't help matters either.  Carter, Kathryn, and Kimball

did surprisingly well with the long drive - thanks to the invention of portable DVD players. But the renditions of Barney and Bob the Builder wasn't exactly calming to the white-knuckled driver. We finally arrived after 13 hours in the car.  It was great to see Marsha and her family and Mindy and Jim.  The next day, after we were clad in red 

shirts we headed to the baseball diamond to cheer for Matthew and the other All-Stars of Richland. The drive to the park was equally beautiful.  Rolling hills of wheat and peas and garbanzo beans; we truly live in America the Beautiful.  I couldn't help but think of "amber waves of grain." Those farmers are some of the many unsung heroes of this country.  We surely take for granted the ease of buying a can of peas or purchasing a loaf of bread.  I'm so glad to have seen the miles and miles of hard work and

dedication that it must take to produce the food that I have taken for granted. 

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

Me and the kids from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m.?

What do you do all day?

Being a part-time mom and a part-time teacher I barely figured out what to do with my 2-3 days off a week. (Laundry, cleaning house, more laundry, play with the kids, run errands, more laundry, etc.)  

Now I'm home all day everyday!  What to do?  I really don't like laundry enough to do it all the time.  Any great ideas from my fellow bloggers?

We've had a pretty good summer thus far! (Thanks to my friend Nicole and my cousin Mindy). They keep me thinking up fun things to do.  Also thanks to this blogging thing! I'm constantly thinking about what to blog and I search for good ideas of how to pass the time.

  

But - it is July - and I only have a good 6 weeks left of being a full-

time mom!  Any suggestions of fun, memorable ways to celebrate summer?  We've gone swimming, built tents, finger-painted with chocolate pudding in the shower, played in the back yard, etc.  But we want to live it up!  We'd love your ideas and someone to play with!