nature's goodness

After struggling to hold onto our two little ones through two hours of Stake Conference we packed a picnic and took off to the falls to breathe in some of natures goodness. I love the way the outdoors can lift my mood and increase my appreciation for the senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. I love that through nature I can teach my children of God and the love that he has for us. Enjoying such a beautiful day with my family was a much needed respite from the stresses of life.

I don't know if there are two kids that could possibly love their dad any more then these two. They absolutely adore him, and he them. Quite frankly sometimes it makes me a little jealous. They were both on their tippy-toes to see the gigantic fish that were swimming in the pools at the bottom of the waterfall. When I asked Finley what she was doing in this picture she said she was "fishing."

When we got back to the car Finley was sad. I asked her why she was crying and she said, "I want the Grandpa Ginny, I want the Grandpa. I want to find him in the bushes." I think it's safe to say this little girl misses her grandparents!

The Columbia River
At the observation center we were caught off guard by some of the most powerful winds. All of the cars were rocking almost lifting with each gust. Chad's glasses were blown off and he didn't even realize it until we were inside the tower. I was blown into a parked car while I ran back to safety after taking this shot.

A week in the Life

I loved this idea of documenting a week in our life, but the reality is where do you find the time. I have seen this done a couple of places ( here, here, and here are some creative examples). So far this is all I could muster up.

Sunday Morning Routine:

We always seem to run 15 min. late no matter what time we wake up in the morning. Chad packed the diaper bag and made the kids breakfast while I spent (too long according to him) getting ready. The kids were great during Sacrament meeting. It was the Primary program today so that helped to hold their attention. Finley loved nursery and when we asked her what she learned about she said, "JesusGod (yes, like it's one word), and itsy spider".

After church we had a visit from our home teachers.
Steve brought his son Jakob (who is 5) and Jakob asked (more like stated), "When I grow up I'm gonna marry Finley." Callie (Jakob's mom) told me the next day that Jakob had talked to her about marrying Finley to which she replied, "That's great Jakob but when you get older you're going to have to ask Finley." He said, "Well can't I just ask her mom?" (Hope they don't mind me sharing this... I just thought it was so cute, and it is her first proposal and all.)

After they left we enjoyed naps and a Lazy Sunday Afternoon.
(*note Chad made lunch, dino buddies and blue corn chips)

Checking out the leaves
Before dinner we took the kids on a walk around our Neighborhood. I twisted my ankle falling off the curb while taking pictures. Finley face-planted when she tripped on the sidewalk while running down the hill in spite of our warnings to "slow down on the hills." Neither of us learn. We live in such a great place though. You can't beat the colors that surround us this time of year, so vibrant.

Puerto Rican Dinner: Rice with Vienna Sausage and Garbanzos
I went to Puerto Rico when I was younger and my great-aunt Gloria taught me to cook rice. She told me that she and my great-grandmother would rinse the rice with warm water and then save the rice water and use it to wash their faces with. She swears it makes her skin softer. Another rice cooking tip is to cook rice in a cast aluminum pot like this buen provecho!

Right before we sat down to eat Tuck crawled over to Chad choking AGAIN! He had 1/2 swallowed a large piece of pumpkin stalk he had ripped off one of the pumpkins. At least he knew to crawl to one of us for help. This kids curiosity is driving me CRAZY!

(Don't look too close mom. I had to improvise with some of the ingredients.
I don't have any sasson.)

Sunday night tradition the easy way
Finley still rocks her crooked, squinty-eyed smile every now and again. She calls cookies, "cookie-cutters", and couldn't wait to eat her cookie-cutters and watch the Lion King in the tent downstairs with her dad.


Bedtime routine and a quiet night... sort of:
The kids went down at 8:00pm, but at 9:30pm they were still up laughing hysterically. Chad went up to put Finley back in her bed. When he opened the door to the nursery Finley jumped off the side of Tucks crib and made a B-line to her own bed. She hopped in the wrong way and buried her face in the blankets and pretended to be asleep. Who teaches her these things?

Tuck woke up at 11:20pm and again at 3:16am.
What am I going to do with him!?

Annual Family Photo

This only happens about once a year because there are guaranteed to be tears, and unpleasantries exchanged. (see last years attempt here) Another guarantee is that not one single photo of the 4 of us together will turn out. This year proved to be no different. I even tried to simplify things by doing the "shoot" on our back porch. Well this is what we ended up with. The only photo with everyone smiling ended up being a little blurry to put it mildly. Callie do you want to come take a few of us for our posterity. With the bar set so low you should feel absolutely no pressure.

911 and poison control

(photo courtesy of flickr)

Our two little ones have been keeping things busy for us in the emergency department this month. At the beginning of the month Finley squirted Tuck in the eyes and mouth with Windex. Apparently it is more dangerous to have Windex in your eyes then to ingest it. A fifteen minute bath (rinsing out his eyes), a few eye drops and some milk from mom and crisis solved.

(photo by jellywatson: flickr)

Then last night Tucker started choking right before dinner on what we thought might be a Hot Tamale (candy) and stopped breathing long enough for me to frantically scream for Chad's help. We ended up calling 911 and while waiting for help (which happened to be a fire truck and crew... wow) Tuck began to breath again. The firemen listened to his breathing and said that his airway sounded great and left. An hour later he was still choking so I called his doc who said to rush him to the ER. 3hrs, 2 x-rays, 1 pediatric Ear Nose and Throat specialist, and a lot of tears later, we had our happy and healthy baby boy back in our arms again.


* The culprit: He choked on a pine needle shaped object about 1-inch long. The needle lodged itself horizontally in his throat. It had tiny barbs on either end and every time his throat constricted the needle would squeeze tighter into the muscle. Poor guy.

Favorite lines from the night.

"He's gonna be OK. I know Amy because I am an Eagle Scout." (Chad's response to me calling 911)

Doctor: "Are his lips always this big and puffy?"
Me: "Uh, yes."

Finley every so often during our 3 hr ER stay would stick her head out of the curtain separating us from the nurses station and say;

"He really crying."
"He really choking."
"He really sad."
"He really dying."

She was a vigilant bedside nurse.

note to self

Note to self: Cut Finley's mullet.

I have been avoiding the unavoidable for weeks now. The truth is... Mullets really don't look cute on little girls. I have gone through emotional turmoil over cutting her golden locks. Last night I finally did it. I pulled her hair(s) back into a pony tail and then with one swift snip they were gone. Chad couldn't believe I did it so abruptly. To me it was like ripping off a band aide; the quicker the better. She looks so different now. It makes me sad that I had to do it.

Not looking to sad in this photo, because it was pre-hair cut.

Fin snapped the bottom shot. I should have her take more. She is a flattering photographer.

Note to self: Never multi-task while making caramel apples.

We had friends over last week to makes some treats. I was trying to make Tucks lunch and feed him while preparing a pot of caramel for the girls. I am not a multi-tasker. I ended up burning the caramel. The caramel apples were as hard as a rock. We've got to try this again Amanda. I swear I can make a successful batch!

10 months old

This little stud is 10 months old today.

I love kissing his soft fat baby cheeks and making him laugh so hard he cries (happy tears). He says ma ma, and mimics a lot of the different sounds that he hears. He has become a lightning fast crawler, and climbs up the stairs with ease (coming down is another story). This week he has been sleeping through the night Hallelujah and in the nursery with his sister. I love that his whole world lights up when you walk in the room. I love being his mom.

My girl
(every time she is hiding from me she'll say, "Mom, where's my girl?")

Finley is in love with these boots. She calls them her Rupert boots (named after our neighbors white cat Rupert). They are a size too big for her so they slow her down a lot. That's good for me (because I can finally catch her with ease) but I can tell it's a little frustrating for her. Last night she was practicing running in them from one end of the main floor to the other. When her dad got home she was so excited to tell him, "I fast running daddy." And she really was.

Glued to Charlie Brown (revised)

October. This great month is finally here!

Charlie Brown
decorating pumpkins
caramel apples
fall colors
and trick or treating

I grew up anticipating this holiday more than the rest. I LOVED watching Charlie Brown and dreaming up what my Halloween costume was going to look like. What the heck was I thinking the year I decided that the most awesome thing I could be was a California Raisin. (they were totally awesome. I do remember now that I watched that little clip!)

Chad can vouch for the validity of my stupidity, he was there. (I was in 5th grade and he just so happened to be my boyfriend at the time.) I mean come on! Did no one see the folly of my thinking. How ridiculous did I look wearing a giant black garbage bag stuffed with newspaper.

I should have gotten the hint when the 40th person asked"So what are you supposed to be?!"

"I'm a California freakin' Raisin!!! Can't you tell!!!! Giant sunglasses, white gloves, black tights, sneakers, and raisin-like garbage bag!"

Try keeping up with all of your friends trick-or-treating when you are waddling around town in such an artistic getup! Were they embarrassed by me, or were they really just that much faster? Mom, why didn't you stop me?

Oh baby

I just took some pictures of the cutest little thing. He is the first baby (not my own) that I have taken photos of. I invited my friend over to my "studio" (remember...my studio the 2 foot gap in between my bed and the sliding glass door) to practice. I loved how they turned out.

Just a little peck

I wish I had my video camera. I told Finley not to bother the chickens, but who can resist, not her that's who. She was poking them with hay through the fence, and pulling at their feathers until... he (the white one) gave her a little peck on the lips. Scared her half to death, didn't leave a mark and was hysterical.

Hayrides, acres of open farmland, and a field full of pumpkins made our day out with the kids a breeze. I love where we live. I love this time of year. And I really love the people in my life.



I couldn't get enough of little Holland. She is so sweet. I was so glad that Finley would have someone to play with for the week. Unfortunately home sweet home wasn't so completely sweet for the two of them this week. There were many more tears than I could have ever anticipated. Maybe one day the two of them will grow up and room together at college and be the best of friends. Strictly judging form this week...Maybe not.

(one of the 3 happy moments between the 2 of them)
(click on image above to enlarge it's pretty cute if I do say so myself!)

This shot depicts the exact opposites of how each of these 3 acted this week.
While eating Mexican this week outside of Chad's office, Hill described the kids as;

Tuck: the glass is always full
Holland: the glass is always empty
Finley: takes the glass and smashes it against the wall just to see how you'll react

'bout sums it up

In the city's center

We found it. Tumbleweed Boutique. A treasure trove of vintage delight. We also stumbled across this mural, the girls loved it, and so did I. Art is GOOD. I can't tell you how invigorating a day in the city is for me. I love all of the chaos and commotion that fill the streets. I love the diversity of the people, the food oh the food. We chowed down a basket of fish and chips followed by a decadent chocolate dingdong cake. I miss living a city life. I love the space and fresh air of the suburbs, (and can't really imagine raising 2 kids downtown) but the memories triggered by a day in the city put a smile on my face.

(simple & sweet)