Christmas? We're still waiting...

We had a great (and pretty quiet) Christmas again this year. We were all healthy this year so that was great!! My dad came over on the 23rd and we had an enjoyable evening with him. He spoiled the kids. On Christmas Eve, we watched the Polar Express (a Christmas tradition with my mom) and then we made cookies for Santa. The kids got their new pajamas. It was a good thing Santa came and Grandparents seriously spoil kids or other wise our kids would have gone without this year. We ordered a gift for the kids many weeks ago, and it is stuck here in our town. It's been here for 5 days now, but not at our house. I am beginning to believe someone at FedEx is enjoying it for us. Oh well, we'll just have another Christmas when it gets here.
The boys were so thoughtful. They each wrapped gifts for me. Ben got me a page of half-used stickers and an expired gift certificate to Black Angus! And Trevor gave me one of his balloons. Both of the boys decorated the tree with tons of pictures that they drew themselves for us. I loved when my kids were younger, like Karmin how she is just happy with the wrapping paper and boxes. But I am also loving how the kids are being so thoughtful and participating in their own special way.

Let it Snow!

And snow it does! We have gotten SO much snow in the last 5 days. In one 24 hour period we got 19.5 inches (the official record--so where we live is probably more). Since that day we've probably had another 8-10 inches. The boys are loving it! Karmin has a hard time because it is up to her waist. The boys (all 3 of them) have made a

snow cave that is so big they can sit up inside it. We've tried to go sledding on our hill, but the snow is so deep it is taking some work to get it smoothed out. It is supposed to snow for the rest of the week, so we should have a very white Christmas again this year!

My Favorite Christmas "Tradition"

This post is for my Grandma to say thank you. And it is to brag to others about how cool my Grandma is! So maybe it's not necessarily a tradition, but it is one of my favorite things about Christmas. I look forward every year to getting the box out with the stockings in them so I can hang them up. This is how it got started:


My Great Grandma Barbara knitted stockings for everyone in my family. When she passed away, my Grandma took over the job. Any time a baby is born she makes them a stocking. I treasure each one of them. The pictures don't do them justice. There is so much detail in each one. I've always wanted to learn to knit so I can carry on the tradition. My Grandma has even taught me a few times. I will REALLY learn the next time, and I will spend a lot of time practicing (for the rest of my life) so I don't forget, but I figure I better wait till my kids are in school. So much love and time goes into each one. I want this to go on for generations. I appreciate my Grandma for all the time she puts into it.

Trevorisms

Trevor asked, "Why does the tooth fairy like toothes so much?"
Mom and Dad are stumped? Why does she want all those teeth?
Trevor states, "I am smart, and I can't figure it out."

Run for the Border

For Thanksgiving we did the most nontraditional thing we could do--we went swimming OUTSIDE in 18 degree weather!!
In my family, we always go to the cabin for Thanksgiving. I think I've missed 3 Thanksgivings my whole life up there. So it was very odd for me not to be there. And I missed it. I missed my family and I was, for some reason, surprised that I missed the traditions up there. I missed the green bean casserole, the option of oyster dressing (that I never eat anyway), and I missed Dorothy's red jell-o. I missed the smells of the fire, and standing in front of the hot fire to get a family picture (that's an experience that is very memorable--one that you can never forget once you experience it!). To my McClelland family: I missed you guys and thought about you and the cabin A LOT!
This year, Grant's sister, Kim, graciously invited the Ely family up to their time share in Fairmont Hot Springs, Canada for the weekend. It was a lot of fun! We enjoyed the vacation and time to just relax and spend time with family. We ate, slept, ate, made gingerbread houses, ate, and swam. Yes, and that swimming was outside in Canada, so it was cold. Because the air was so cold, the water was that much warmer. Getting out was torture though! Ben was off swimming with his cousins most of the time, Trevor really got into trying to swim with his head under the water (so I think it is time for swim lessons and he will be very successful at it), and Karmin just plain loved the water. She swam with a permanant smile on her face. Gina reminded me that having my kids have a permanant smile while they are doing things must be genetic or something (since Ben did the same thing with soccer). Kim and Chris, thank you so much for inviting us to spend the weekend with you guys. We really enjoyed ourselves and loved spending time with all the families up there!
This is a picture of our finished gingerbread house. We were still all in our pjs. I love how Karmin is protesting the picture. I think she just wanted to eat it:

Then here we are getting some quick pictures before we went swimming. We only got a few since we didn't want to be outside for too long.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!! This is a little late. Last weekend we decorated for Christmas. We are a bit later this year than normal. Usually we figure that as soon as Halloween is over, Christmas decorations are fair game. (However, I think we even decorated once before Halloween.) Christmas is so fun it should be celebrated as long as possible. Somehow the kids found the Christmas Tree decorations while Grant and I were apparently busy doing something else. So they decorated the tree all by themselves. Trevor and Karmin put the garland on :) And this was the final product:And soon to come--one of my favorite Christmas traditions (if you call it that). I think it deserves its own post, so you're going to have to wait wondering what it is.

Ben's Birthday

Ben has always wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheeses for his Birthday, so this year we finally let him. He got to have 3 friends come and they had tons of fun. It was a little scary watching these boys just watch the machines and put the coins in without even thinking about it. It was almost like gambling at a very early age. He invited his cousin and two friends from his soccer team. Karmin and Trevor got to tag along as well. It was a lot of fun and I loved the clean up!

7 years of Motherhood!

Okay, I know, this post should be more about Ben because it was his Birthday, but I think it is going to be more about motherhood because I love it. I can't believe that it was 7 years ago that I became a mom. Saturday I was gone most of the day. I had "Super Saturday" (a bunch of different crafts classes on Saturday) at church and I made the cutest things. Seriously, very cute things. I keep just going over to look at one of my projects because it turned out so adorable (basically because it is a bunch of cute pictures of my cute kids). And then I came home, and soon left to pick up a babysitter. Grant and I went on a date for 6 hours!! I don't like leaving my kids that long, but it sure was fun. Needless to say, I didn't see the kids much. When I got home from taking the babysitter home, this is what I found waiting for me on my pillow:

How sweet is that? It is moments like that make a mother's heart melt. I seriously have the sweetest kids. I love this. Looking back 7 years ago, when it was just the three of us in the hospital (we didn't have family around) and thinking about the events of that day and the miracle of life, it makes me so grateful for my family and where we are today. Especially after the things that have happened to us this year, I am so glad that I can play with my kids, hug my kids, and hold them. I feel lucky that I have 3 wonderful kids that bring joy to my life, try my patience, and are always there for a good hug! Happy Birthday Ben! It is a privilege to be your mom.

Sorry it's long, but we need an update

To my family: Sorry it's been awhile. We've been busy, I've been a bit under the weather, and we've had computer problems.
Grant and Ben finished up their fall season of soccer. The kids did really well. They won all of their games except two I believe. One game they won was a shut-out which was good because the other team was pretty violent. Ben was known as the player who never stopped smiling as he played (hence the pictures). No matter what happened during the game he had a permanent smile. Grant really enjoyed being the coach and looks forward to coaching again in the Spring. Ben got a note home from school last week from his teacher. They had art class and the art teacher sent a note back to Ben's teacher saying who was really good in class and who needed help, and Ben was at the top of the list of the 3 good kids! We were so proud of him.
Trevor is taking a break from karate for awhile. He has lost focus! And along with that and Ben not getting homework done because of Trev's class, we decided it would be best for the winter to have him take a break. Today was his last night of karate and it was Bring Your Friend to Class Day, so Ben got to go as well. They got to use pads and hit each other--and they loved it! Trevor continues to write really well and has great penmanship. He has such a desire to write notes, letters, and whatever else he can create to write. We stole an idea from Grant's sister Gina. She has her kids write in journals every week. So we have started doing the same. Ben likes to write stories (he wrote a monster story), while Trevor is very honest about what he did that day. He wrote about how he sat in time out.
Karmin is saying a few more words. She likes "Go Diego Go" and "Dora" so her new words are backpack and Diego. Hopefully she starts really going gung ho on her talking before the speech therapist calls back.
I've started working in Ben's class every other Wednesday. The one time I've gone so far, it was fun and good to see Ben in action! I'm busy--a bit to my dismay. I like to be home. I'm not a go, go, go person, but I think that until my kids are out of the house, I'm not going to be home and my days are going to be busy. So, farewell my slow life, see you in 20 years!

4th Photo Tag

So for this tag, you go to your pictures and open the fourth file and post the fourth picture. I kind of cheated. We just got a new computer this summer (Yea!!!); however, my fourth file/fourth picture was something that I already posted about, so I thought that was lame to be redundant so quickly. So I went to our old computer to get my picture. The whole file was of Christmas Eve of 2005. For a couple of years we spent Christmas Eve with Grant's parents. So this was right before the traditional acting out the Christmas story and then Papa reading "The Night Before Christmas." Good memories.
Now I'm new to this tag game so I don't know if I can tag more than one person, but the person who tagged me picked a few people so don't blame it on me if I'm doing this wrong--I'm just following the example!! :) I tag Sheri, Lindsey, and my sister-in-law Gina.

Imagine this...

You've had a long day. You've been busy running errands, playing with kids, and doing all the other routine things. You finally get home less than an hour before soccer practice. And then you remember...dinner. You have to make dinner and quick--you have to figure out what everyone will eat that is quick and nutritious. Then you have to get everybody to eat it and still get ready to go again. Well, this didn't happen to me--at least the dinner part. We had the BEST meal I have had in a very long time because I didn't have to make it!
Let me explain. We've had an epidemic going through our house. It started with one child loving food, but all of the sudden all of the food that he has always loved, suddenly is the worst food ever. And this is spreading to younger generations. If the kids were in charge of the menu it would consist of cereal, french toast, and maybe spaghetti, but that even might be a stretch with this recent outbreak. So after being busy all day, and then making dinner, and trying to have variety, I've gotten a little tired of this illness! After fixing another one of the kids' formerly-favorite meals last night and having to hear about all the symptoms of this new disease, I told Ben that I knew a remedy. He got to cook dinner tonight! There were two rules though 1) no cereal & 2) no PB&J. So surprise, surprise we had ham and cheese sandwiches...with a "side dish" of mayo and mustard...if we wanted to put it on our own sandwiches. Oh well, I didn't have to cook, and I hope this has been the medicine that we needed. Keep your fingers crossed...or soon Karmin might have to start making dinner.

The Birds and, yes, The Bees

We had one of our first anatomy lessons today. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I had to write this one down because it made me laugh so hard. This is a conversation Ben and I had in the car this evening about having babies:
Ben: Do they have to rip your stomach open to get a baby out?
Me: No, they don't do that.
Ben: How do they get the baby out then?
Me: Through a hole.
Ben: Girls have a hole then?
Me: Yep.
Ben: I bet the hole has to get really big to get the baby out.
Me: Yep it does.
Ben: Ewww. Does that hurt?
Me: A bit.
Ben: I'm so glad I'm not a girl.
Me: But they give you medicine.
Ben: Does the medicine taste good?
Me: Actually they give it through a needle.
Ben: I am so blessed to be a boy.

Our FHE Art

These are two of our pictures that we created last week. For Family Home Evening, Grant was in charge of the activity part. He picked doing something his family did a lot when he was younger. He loved this activity because of how crazy the pictures turned out. And true to form, Ben (being our little-Grant) thought this was the funniest thing we had ever done. We folded each paper in thirds. First we all drew a head (on our own piece of paper), then we hid that part and switched papers. Second, we drew a body attached to the head without being able to see what the head looked like. Finally we did the same thing for the feet. This is what we came up with. True artists in this family, huh?

Happy Birthday

Yesterday little Miss Karmin turned 2! Can you believe that? I'm having a hard time believing that that much time has gone by already. She has been so much fun, and we all love her girly ways. She makes us all laugh and smile.

Everything's Coming Up Green

I'm a little late posting this, but we had camera problems (or a lack of a camera). Saturday was another busy day. Ben went to a Birthday party while we took Trevor and Karmin, as Trevor said it on "a date" to the fair. That afternoon Trevor had his test in karate...he is now a green belt!! He was so excited! I don't think I've ever seen such a huge smile on him than when he got his belt. I think karate has helped with more than just his ankles. (The only problem was with all the confusion of getting kids to where they needed to be, I was without a camera when Trev received his belt, so this is a post-picture at home.) As soon as he was done with that, Trev and I hurried over to Ben's soccer game. The boys destroyed the other team again--which we think the boys might need some humbling pretty soon!!
In other news, we have come to explain Karmin as being a total girl, except when she is like a boy. We don't know how else to explain it. One of her recent adventures is fashion design. This is an outfit that she put together herself. I had picked out the dress, and then she kept finding things to add to it (the princess shirt) and things to accessorize her outfit!

Another First

Trevor had his first day of Preschool yesterday. He goes with his cousin Tyler. They had so much fun on their first day. Trevor actually talked...and talked...and talked about it all day long. So I think it will be a good thing for him. Trevor has been a toe-walker his whole life and so he has been going to Physical Therapy several times this year. Yesterday he had his last appointment, and pretty much got a clean bill of health---well, at least he doesn't have to go back. She said that we just might have to do his exercises if we start noticing him on his toes again. Trevor will be sad. I haven't had the heart to tell him that yesterday was his last day of seeing Kelly. He is a big fan of Kelly and will miss playing with all her cool toys.

Coach Dad & Soccer Mom

Well, it's official. I'm a soccer mom. And my wonderful husband is the cute soccer coach. Ben (and Grant) had their first game on Saturday, and after only 2 practices they were awesome. They actually looked like they knew what they were doing. I took a few pictures while I was there, and every picture I have Ben has a huge smile on his face while he is playing. He loves it. The day was a bit crazy since Ben's game was the same time that Trevor had his open house for Preschool. So we made our visit short there, and then hurried over to Ben's game to catch the last half. Grant is having fun coaching these 6 little guys. Final score....15 to 7 Green!!

First Day of School

Ben started 1st grade today. He was excited especially for three reasons: 1) he got to ride the bus 2) he gets to eat lunch at school and 3) he gets to have 3 recesses. He was excited for all the right reasons!! He had a fun day and declared that 1st grade is easier than Kindergarten because they didn't have to read or do math or anything. I told him that first days can be pretty fun, but soon he will start learning more. He was excited that he got to play with his cousin Austin on recess. He loves his teacher too.
Karmin and I are sad without him. Karmin cried the moment Ben started getting on the bus, and the whole walk home. Karmin has always been Ben's little shadow. It was so quiet here without him. I laughed when he got home (and after we talked and ate), Trev and him started screaming and running through the house playing together. I had missed that noise and the boys were excited to be back together again.

My day just wouldn't be complete

Last night after the kids went to bed, I went into the kitchen and stepped into a puddle of water on the floor. Upon inspection, I found that one of my kids filled a school box full of water and left it on our counter--which it eventually was spilled. That was the fourth puddle of water I had cleaned up yesterday from spilled drinks, etc. It made me think...how often do I really clean things up...what exactly do I do everyday?? So I decided to make a journal of the things that happen in one day. So the following is my log of today's events:
5:42 (yes a.m.)-- I wake up nervous that Grant is late for work
6:40--Say goodbye to Grant and hold Lady (our borrowed dog) while Grant drives away, to make sure she doesn't run away
7:47--Trev wakes me up (did I really fall back to sleep??)
7:49--Get him cereal and pray
7:55--Ben wakes up and wants cereal, so I get him cereal and pray (in the process cereal falls)
7:56--Sit down to check my e-mail really quick
7:56.05--Karmin wakes up, but isn't ready to eat
7:59--She decides she is ready to eat, Ben spills some cereal
8:03--Boys are fighting because Ben is looking at Trevor's cereal box (I'm mean really, how rude can a brother be??)
8:16--Another fight breaks out--Apparently Ben doesn't like that Trevor is standing next to him (the nerve of him)
8:20--Ben does his reading/Trev practices writing his name
8:35--I start my Spring Cleaning. It's time. Either I'm always late or always early--however you look at it--I like doing my Spring Cleaning in the Fall.
10:00--To protect the innocent--or rather the guilty--one child locks the door when he leaves the house so the two of us are locked outside. Another child, (sitting about 18 inches from the door) didn't hear us pounding on the door/ringing the doorbell because he's too focused on the tv
10:30--enough tv--snack time. Trevor proclaims: "I love those 'tomato' chips" Really I love feeding my kids healthy snacks of pudding and chips--yum!
11:45--Karmin has temper tantrum because she does not want to take a bath, and by no means does she want to wear her diaper. She has always loved her Birthday suit.
12:15--Start making lunch, talk to Grant on the phone while I cook lunch with the help from two kids (2 kids over a hot stove, not such a great idea), while I put away the cooking ingredients that Karmin got out from playing earlier. During lunch, Trevor decided to add his soup to his water, took a drink and to put it gently--rejected it.
1:15--Decide it is nap time for Karmin because she keeps following Trevor around and that is just unacceptable behavior!! I grab a quick shower before the whole day gets away from me. The boys continue to destroy the house (yes the one I am trying to clean). Too bad I can't hire them out as a demolition crew (I could be rich). Darn Child Labor Laws.
Do some dishes; Start dishwasher
3:30--Trev hears me pulling out a pan--he comes running. We make our treat for Family Home Evening (FHE) because I'm in charge of treat this week. We make puppy chow. I start dinner while this is going on, at the same time I make some phone calls that I've put off all day.
4:00--Mad dash to get ready for karate, and get everyone in the car
4:45--Arrive at karate, this begins the entertainment of Karmin--let the fun begin
5:30--Leave and drop off a bill in the mail, meet my mom to give her back her camera, and drop off a check to someone's house.
6:15--We've hurried home, finished making dinner--Start FHE
Ben gives a great lesson (that he prepared himself) on what are good movies we can watch on Sundays and which movies we shouldn't watch. Trevor is in charge of the activity which he decides is: 1 game of hide-and-go-seek, 1 game of tag, 1 game of leapfrog, and 1 game of "don't touch anything" (which is kind of a fun game to play when mom is Fall Cleaning) We eat our Puppy Chow. At this point, I'm thinking I can't remember the last time I went a whole day without cleaning up a spilled drink. Grant gets water for the kids and puts them all in sippy cups. And I start wondering "How can this be?? My day won't be complete without a spilled drink, but this might be a record day--no spills!!" Then wouldn't you know it, we are all eating our Puppy Chow, and then some how Ben's cup goes FLYING across the room and lands on the complete opposite side of the kitchen, the lid falls off, and water goes everywhere. He cleans it up, gets himself more water, sits down to drink, and the lid falls off again and water goes everywhere. It just wouldn't be the same without spilled water.
7:15--Brush teeth, take medicine, fluoride, and vitamins (not in that order); read books; sing our closing songs, 4 prayers (1 for each child, and 1 family)
7:35--tuck kids in bed
7:40--I walked down to the mailbox to get the mail
8:30--Tell the kids enough is enough, it is time for bed
The rest of the night...probably continue my Fall Cleaning

Summer's Finally Starting!!

--From our weekend away (one thing we got to do was go to a concert--this was our view)

I don't know if it has been because of the weather (it hasn't gotten really warm until the last few weeks) or if it has just been one of those summers and a lot has happened and now we can finally enjoy our time, but whatever it has been, I feel like the summer has finally started. We have been busy the last couple of weeks. Grant and I got a couple of days without the kids (thank you Gina and DeWayne for your help). That was fun and we think we need to do that a lot more often (this was only our second time without the kids). We went to Silverwood. We went for a couple reasons--Ben got a free ticket for reading 600 minutes this past Spring, it was my Birthday, and the last day before Grant started his new job. I loved being with my family for the day and just seeing the joy in the kids' eyes. Grant started his new job this week and is liking it. Heather came and stayed over night with us this week. That was almost like having a slumber party as an adult! It was so fun to stay up late talking and laughing together; however, I'm realizing that I'm older now that I've had a Birthday because I still feel tired. But it was worth it. So anybody else who needs a place to crash while here, I finally got that back bedroom cleaned out so it's all ready for you.

The New Deal

Okay, so my new hobby is finding deals at grocery stores. I had my best success story this last week--and so now I'm going to brag about it!! I spent $70 and I saved....are you ready...$230!!!! No that's not a typo. I was so excited. I have trained my family to be avid cereal eaters. I'm a lame mom because I ONLY serve cereal for breakfast--but I get credit from my kids because it is mainly sugar cereal. So with 5 people eating cereal each day, we go through a lot of cereal. So this is my 3 month supply of cereal. The people at Albertson's thought I was CRAZY. They all had a good laugh when I bought so much. But I'm so excited. I love feeling prepared...and that as long as we have milk, we have lots to eat!

Sunday

I was very proud of Ben today. It was fast and testimony meeting today at church--when people can get up and say what they know to be true. Ben wanted to go up and tell people his testimony. So he went up there and said that he wanted to share his testimony and he knew the church was true. He said that he watched a church movie one time and got "happy tears." He said that he didn't know what "happy tears" were, but Grant told him that it was the Holy Ghost telling him that what he was watching was true and good. He said the movie was about Jesus coming to earth. And then he closed. It was very sweet and simple. We watched this movie over a year ago when Ben had this experience. It is amazing that the Holy Ghost can touch someone (even so young), and it makes such an impression on them that they remember the experience and the feelings of that memory over and over again. The movie that he watched is called "The Testaments" and I put a video of it on the bottom of the page. The movie is about an hour long, but this is a clip of the last 10 minutes...Ben's favorite part. I hope you enjoy and can feel the Holy Ghost and similar good feelings like Ben did.

Memories

Since this was put on a couple of my friend's blogs, I thought I should join in the fun!

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 actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

C'mon now, anything funny, strange, cool, embarrassing, or awful you remember about me??

A BIG Catch

We went to see my sister, Gretchen and her husband Brian (and their dogs) this weekend. We got to go to the zoo and visit the dinosaur exhibit...and that was about it. The animals weren't too interested in being seen since it was so hot. Brian took Ben and Grant fishing. Ben caught this steelhead (with a bit of help from Grant by holding the rod). While they were fishing, we took Trevor and Karmin to a kid's fair. They both loved all the bouncy toys and Trevor loved the huge slip and slide. We also got to pick a few blueberries at a house next to Gretchen's. Trevor loves berries, so he enjoyed the eats. It was fun spending time with them. We all loved it!

Prayers

My sister-in-law Theresia called me this morning to let me know that her son, Preston, had prayed for me this morning. I guess in his prayer he prayed for me about 6 times. He prayed that I would feel better. And he also prayed that I would be able to have a Popsicle! (Good thing Grant bought 3 boxes of popsicles last night.) I love how kids can be so close to the Spirit and know what adults need. I think his prayers were answered because I'm feeling better. (Tuesday and Wednesday were hard days for me)
Tonight, we went over to Gina and DeWayne's house to help them move. They have been building a house and are finally to the point that they can start moving stuff over to the house. They are lucky enough to be able to live right next to their new house. So we didn't even have to put things in boxes--we just took things right over and put them away. That's the way to move!

A Day at the Lake

We spent some time at the lake with my Grandma and Uncle Lloyd this last weekend. We had a hard time pulling Ben away from the lake. He is just like Grant was when he was younger. If we would let Ben fish as much as he wanted, it would be from sun up to (past) sun down. Trev was in heaven when we got to go for a boat ride. And Karmin just loves the outdoors. She made me laugh when she would throw rocks into the water. Rather than just sitting on the shore and throwing the rocks in, she would take a handful of rocks--then RUN to the end of the dock and throw them off, and then she would RUN back to the shore and start over again. I loved having time with Grandma and Lloyd. Lloyd helped educate Grant on stocks and investing--and Grant enjoyed his stories. I think Uncle Lloyd should invest in a stock that sells butter. I've never seen anyone eat so much butter! And he is so healthy--I don't know how he does it! I love spending time with Grandma and Lloyd and learning more about them. I wish we could do that more often.

This is getting serious!

Ben lost ANOTHER tooth tonight. That makes 2 1/2 holes right in a row. He seriously is going to have a hard time eating--and we're all going to have to take up sign language so we can understand him!

Happy 4th of July

Our 4th of July was very low-key this year. Usually we spend part of our time up at the cabin (watching the parade), and the evening of the 4th with Grant's sister and her family. This year Grant had to work to get caught up on a project that he is behind on (since he had to take so much time off with how many times I went to the hospital etc. in the last month)--notice the nice white primer on his hands! Then we went over to his sister's house in the evening. They had a few other families over too, so we just hung out, ate, and played. The boys enjoyed swimming and playing with the other kids, and Karmin enjoyed the dirt. Of course the fireworks were enjoyed by all.

"Ra - petunia"

I don't know why, but our boys have always called the movie "Ratatouille" --Ra - petunia. (Maybe I've trained them very well to think of flowers at all times) Now that all of our meals people have provided us (thank you everybody who has fed us this last week!) have run out, Trevor and I are back to cooking. He is my little chef. He loves to cook, but refuses to eat what he cooks! He won't eat much unless it is plain--plain whatever. Which is great when it comes to fruits and veggies. He is the first to eat these...as long as there is nothing on them. We are working on him, and little by little I feel we are making progress. He will now eat some desserts that have multiple ingredients. I figure that is a start.

Things that make us smile

In an effort to get this blog a bit more uplifting, I took some pictures of things that make us laugh and smile


--Karmin loves riding Nana and Papa's scooter. She looks so small and she goes so fast it is very entertaining.


--Trevor somehow convinced Grant that he should have a fudgesicle for breakfast yesterday and Karmin was more than willing to join in on the fun.


--We love watching "Monk" and it was something that we spent time with Grant's parents laughing about this last year. Grant was pleased to find out that Sierra Springs is really water that they sell so he had to buy some. So we got a good laugh of thinking of Mr. Monk--and it reminding us of Grant's parents.


--The last picture is of Ben with Nana and Papa at dinner. We went out with them two nights before they left and Ben lost ANOTHER tooth. He really doesn't have many left--I think Karmin has more than him. So I've been getting a kick out of hearing him try to talk--and all of us trying to understand what he has to say.