To Cindy and Jeff...

Some of my friends have done a similar post about their siblings, and I have laid awake at night thinking about what I would write... So it is time for me to copy and do my own post:

You may be my sibling if:

Your father can take responsibility for "discovering" hidden musical talents such as Enya or Smashmouth.

You can play at a near-professional level the game of "keep up balloon"

Your idea of playing with Barbies was to throw them off your 2+ story balcony into a large tub of water, aka "Barbie High-Dive"

No family dinner is complete without your mom laughing so hard she cries or spits out what ever she was drinking.

You have been told, "Stop it, or I'll make you sit on your hands!"

You remember the summers sleeping on the outside deck and having midnight hoedowns.

Auburn Skateland was a seriously cool place.

You cried when Chris Webber was traded from the Sacramento Kings.

You automatically do 'the gesture' when listening to the Beach Boys Christmas album and the line that says, "The streets are filled with laughter and so many hearts are gay."

You only wish you would have made an Christmas ornament as totally awesome as the Sequin Santa Wreath.

Your favorite dinner is flank steak, twice-baked potatoes and strawberry fluff.

You know the gang sign for Lake of the Pines.

Speaking of Lake of the Pines, you were a proud member of the LOP swim team and were PUMPED to defeat Lake Wildwood.

You still wake up at 4am on Christmas morning.

All together, you could take on and defeat ANY other 3 siblings in basketball or volleyball.

You hate tomatoes and male cookies or banana bread.

You remember many Saturday nights, staying up to record the good SNL skits, which included the Gap Girls, Musicians for Free-Range Chickens, The Sinatra Group, and the Hot-Tub Lifeguard.

You have seen the movie Clue more than a dozen times and can complete the quote, "Flames on the side of my face..."

You think your older sister is a huge nerd, but were SO grateful she was around in college to help with math and statistics.

You ever said to your older sister, "I like your necklace. Oh wait - that's your belt."

I'm sure I will think of more laying in bed tonight...

(one day later...)

Here are the others I came up with since doing this post:

You can't go to church and hear the words "armies of Shiz" or "gentiles", or sing Scatter Sunshine or I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day without giggling uncontrollably.

You remember laying in bed, sweating to death and squirting yourself with water TRYING to keep cool because your dad would not EVER turn on the AC.

McCrory Gym holds some pretty cool memories from your glory days.

***Additions from Cindy***

You routinely use the word ACED in conversation and understand it's many meanings. (I can't believe I didn't think of that one)

You know the rule about going to the 2nd layer of a See's Candy box -- and routinely ignore it.

Your Christmas music selection rarely strays from the Beach Boys or Osmonds.

How could I forget...

...how absolutely fabulous these pumpkin cookies are? Allison, will you please post a comment about how you honestly feel about these cookies? And keep your message PG-rated, por favor...


I finally made my first batch of the season tonight since Laurie H. went out and bought the pumpkin for me, hinting (not so subtly) that her family needed some... I wish I could take credit for this most amazing recipe, but I actually stole it from Michelle Bodine from our old ward in Los Altos. My only modification from her version was to eliminate the frosting and add milk and white chocolate chips. So thanks, Michelle! We named our daughter (Charlotte Michelle) after you to express our gratitude!

Pumpkin Cookies

Cream together:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup Libby's pumpkin
1 egg

Mix in:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla

Optional (not really) – 1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips, ½ cup white chips. You MUST use Guittard brand milk chocolate chips. If you haven't tried them, you are truly missing out.

Bake on greased cookie sheet (or just use parchment paper) for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes about 3-4 dozen cookies.

Just a little excited...

Have I already mentioned how much I love fall? Here is some more evidence of how much all of us are enjoying this time of the year...

Scott has decided on his Halloween costume. We expect no drama this year as in years past, when Scott didn't realize wearing a costume = LOTS of candy:

We found Halloween socks, that both kids have been VERY excited to wear:

The Halloween house is decorated and half eaten already. Charlotte was most excited about the frosting:

The countdown chain to October 31st is made:

We have already watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown:

Now I just need to make some pumpkin cookies!

Every Mom Deserves This...

Thursday night, Laurie H., Laurie C, Amy and I said goodbye to our sweet husbands and children and hit the road for an AMAZING weekend away! We hit the road and headed off to my family's beach condo on Monterey Bay. As you can imagine, every second we were awake was filled with lots of conversation, laughing, eating and of course, shopping!

Friday morning was fabulous! I woke up at my usual time in the morning, and then went right back to sleep - because I could! Then once I did wake up again, I just lay peacefully in bed, enjoying the quiet...

Once we finally got ready, we headed off to shop. None of us could remember the last time we went shopping without either a stroller or some specific timeline that would not allow for wandering. We spent a total of 12 HOURS eating and shopping! And as you can see from the photos, we had LOTS of fun:

By the way, this picture of the trunk was only after day one. We did do more damage on day two... I was pretty successful in finding things that I could wear during my second trimester of pregnancy, as still wear post pregnancy. My favorite purchase was this dress:

I first picked it up, commenting that it looked like a dress Mrs. Roper would wear (if you know who Mrs. Roper is, then you totally know what I am talking about). But when the sales lady said I needed to try it on, I was shocked at how cute it was! And by the way, the girl in the photo must be 6'3", because it is not nearly as short on me.

We arrived home to tired but happy husbands and kids on Satuday night around 8:30pm. We all agreed this needs to be an annual, if not bi-annual, event. Thanks to the Lauries and Amy for joining the party and helping me have SO much fun!

My Favorite Time of the Year

So it is not officially fall yet (only 5 more days!), but football has started, school is in, and the temperature has dropped into the 80s. That is enough for me to bake some pumpkin pies! Pumpkin is truly (to quote Drew) the "Food of the Gods." The best part is that Scott will eat pumpkin pie! And it is so nutritious: milk, eggs, and I'm pretty sure pumpkin counts as a vegetable. Pretty soon I will break out the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe. Don't worry, Allison - I'll bring 5 dozen down for Thanksgiving.

I LOVE this time of year!

Marlin or Yoni?

So why had I not posted much to my blog recently? Why have I not called or emailed back some of my dear friends? My excuse is that lovely period of time known as the first trimester of pregnancy... Yes, Scott and Charlotte are due to be a big brother (again) and big sister sometime around March 17th! I just love having babies during March Madness so I can just recover from surgery and nurse while I watch basketball games!

The new thing this time around is that Scott is old enough to get it. He has already suggested a couple of names: Marlin for a boy (in honor of Finding Nemo) and Yoni for a girl. I think he came up with Yoni by randomly pulling 4 letters from the bathtub. Charlotte of course doesn't get it yet, but I am pretty sure she is going to be an awesome big sister. She LOVES being around babies and giving them binkies, arranging their blankets, offering toys... Scott was not terrible helpful when Charlotte was born. His idea of "helping" was climbing up on my shoulders while I was nursing to play a super fun game called "Top Mommy".

I have to say this pregnancy has been MUCH harder than the first two. The 24-hour nausea and exhaustion like I've just taken a double-dose of Tylenol PM has been a little challenging. Drew is not happy that I have been feeling so unlike myself, but I think he does enjoy seeing me slow down a bit and not try to do 5 things at once. Now I am at 3 months and since I have felt a little better the past few days, I am hoping I am turning the corner and arriving at the glorious stage of the second trimester.

By the way, by sister, Cindy, is due 1 week after me. My sister-in-law, Kelly (Jeff's wife) is due 6 weeks before me. My other sister-in-law, Allison (Drew's sister) is also due 6 weeks before me! So many little cousins the same age will be SO much fun!

"Mom, I like expensive things."

Scott recently has been very obsessed about money: how much things cost, how much money he can earn, why I won't just give him the $20 in my purse... So recently he came home from playing a his friend's house, and they have a basic inflatable pool in their back yard. After this little play date, Scott told me that Alex has an expensive swimming pool that he got at Target, and that he wanted one too. So for days, all I heard, "Mom, I REALLY need to go to Target so I can buy an expensive swimming pool" and "Mom, I really like expensive things." And one day he typed this on the computer, printed about 5 copies and distributed them around the house:

Last week we went to Target, which is the most amazing place in Scott's mind. We wandered down the summer sale aisle and inflatable pools were about 80% off. So Scott got his expensive $36 swimming pool for $8! Quite an impressive, expensive swimming pool. And here is the result:

Did I mention it comes with cupholders that will hold cups with goldfish crackers? Only the best for our children...

Escape to Tahoe

Monday was such a great day... We left the kids with a babysitter and escaped for the day to beautiful Lake Tahoe! Fortunately I was feeling pretty good that day, which may it easy to enjoy the quiet, peaceful drive and the gorgeous scenery. We stopped at Emerald Bay, Sugarpine Point to see a spectacular old mansion and walk along the lake, and then finished with a fabulous dinner at Sunnyside on the west side of the lake. Not a bad way to celebrate our 7th anniversary!

Why Aunt D is SO Cool

Scott woke up one morning last week and first thing he wanted to do was call Aunt D (or Cindy). Recently he is VERY excited about talking to people on the phone... Why call Aunt D? Because he wanted to ask her for blueberry and lemon-lime Pez - duh, Mom! You see, Aunt D is the cool aunt who brings or sends awesome candy and obnoxious toys that Mom or Dad would never buy. So last night I checked the mail a special package arrived. And here is Scott opening up the Mother Lode:

Thanks Aunt D!

Back to Preschool!

Scott has been counting down the days to August 11th ever since his last day of preschool back in May... The day finally arrived! He was SO excited when we pulled up to Miss Cathy's house that the second I unbuckled him, he sprinted out of the car and up to to the door where (surprisingly) he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for Miss Cathy to open it. The second that door was open, he raced in, jumped on the floor to kick off his super-sweet black and white checkered Vans (thanks Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jeff!) and ran off to find his friends and play. There was no hesitation or even a look back at me to suggest a "Bye, Mommy. I'll miss you."

I figure I better enjoy this stage while he is SO enthusiastic about going to school...

And when I got back in the car, poor little Charlotte had one sad tear streaming down her face, and all she could say was, "Where's Scott? I want Miss Cappy." Sorry, cute girl! You have to wait one more year...

Way better than Playdough...

Scott participated in a week-long camp through the city a month ago. One day he came home with this cool stuff he called Flubber. It was sort a combination of playdough and silly putty, except it didn't smell weird and didn't stick on anything. I found the recipe online and we have LOVED making Flubber ever since! It is a pretty cool science experiement to watch the ingredients react as the mixture comes together. Some of you moms with school-age kids may be saying, "Uh, where has she been? My kids make Flubber all the time at school!" For those of you like me that had never heard of this stuff before, here is the recipe:

Mixture 1:
3/4 cup very warm water
1 cup Elmer's glue (I use 2 4oz. bottles)
Food coloring

Mixture 2:
2 tsp Borax (find it by the laundry detergent)
1/2 cup very warm water

Combine mixture 1 in one bowl and mixture 2 in another bowl. Make sure both are mixed well. Pour mixture 1 into mixture 2 and watch the cool reaction! After a couple of minutes, start working the mixture with your hands. After 2 or 3 more minutes, it will be dry (not sticky) and ready to play with! We love using rolling pins and cookie cutters to make cool shapes. And you can store it in ziploc bags and it will last forever. I read somewhere that if it does stick on anything (which hasn't happened to me) just use regular vinegar to dissolve the stuff.

Happy Birthday, 2919 Grandma!

Beware of One Click Purchasing...

The other day, two packages arrived at our house from Amazon.com. I thought Drew must have ordered something, and when he saw them, he thought they were mine. So they sat on the counter for a couple of days until we realized neither of us had ordered anything. Then we opened the boxes and here is what we found:

Yes, Scott got on Amazon.com, searched for Baby Einstein and ordered a couple that he thought looked interesting. One-click purchasing was turned on, so it just took selecting one little button! But I am grateful this was all he ordered... He also used the Google toolbar (all by himself) to search for "Playground in my backyard" and found a pretty sweet play structure at CostCo.com. That would have been quite a surprise to see that delivered...

What am I going to do with this kid?

P.S. I know I am REALLY behind of my blog, but hope to add several new posts this week with all the fun things that have happened in the past month!

Kid Toys/DVDs Worth Their Weight in Gold

All parents spend a fortune on things to teach and entertain our children, and we never quite know if the money spent is going to be worth it or not... Here are some items that I would have paid 10 times as much for, now that I know how wonderful they are:

1) The Leapfrog DVD series: The Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory (1 and 2), Math Circus and Storybook Factory. These videos are so cute and do an amazing job of teaching young children the ABCs and simple words and math. Both Scott and Charlotte LOVE these movies, and I feel they deserve a lot of the credit for both kids knowing their letters before they were 2!

2) Wood Blocks: So simple, yet has been an entertaining toy since Scott was old enough to knock over towers.

3) Tub Letters: We actually had to get 2 sets of letters since Scott would get really upset when he couldn't spell words that had two of the same letter. These letters have provided HOURS of entertainment!

4) Marbleworks: This was actually my brother's toy growing up, and we all had lots of fun playing with it. And it hasn't lost its charm at all... This is usually a popular toy when friends come over.

5) Trampoline (big and mini): Scott calls this "Jumping with my nudie buns"

6) Ikea whiteboard, just $20! I have learned NOT to use white board markers since they don't come out of clothes. Instead we use washable markers. You have to clean the board with Windex, but at least I know they will wash out of cute Gymboree clothes!

Any other ideas of toys you can't live without???

I'm Tagged!

Here you go, Liz! Here are my answers:

1-What were you doing 10 years ago? I had just finished my first and only year of teaching high school math (enough for me!) and was one month into my master’s program. I had been home from my mission for a year and was feeling like I was the OLDEST single female in Provo…

2-What are 5 things on your "to-do" list today? Today was a “ME” day! 1) Go to the gym. 2) Take the kids to the library. 3) Go get my hair cut and colored. 4) Go shopping with Laurie! 5) Straighten up the house (didn’t happen, but my hair looks great and I bought some fabulous clothes!).

3-Snacks I enjoy? Dried mangoes from CostCo are awesome!

4-Places I've lived? Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Stockton, Lake of the Pines, Provo, London, Argentina, New Jersey, back to Palo Alto, Mountain View, Roseville - in that order.

5-What are five things you would do if you had a billion dollars? I could answer “Buy world peace”, but that would be boring. Here are the fun things I would do: 1) Buy the Sacramento Kings and make them good again 2) Buy a place on Maui 3) Buy a house with a spectacular back yard, including a pool with a massive water slide. 4) Build an In-and-Out in Provo (and make another billion dollars) 5) Do laser hair removal.

Socks and Sandals

For the first time today, Charlotte REALLY wanted to pick her clothes. As usual, the laundry room is filled with clothes that are clean, but have not yet been folded. So she sifted through the piles and found her leggings with cute little ice cream cones on them and her socks with butterflies (or fly-flies). She presented them to me, and when I went to take them to help her put them on, she pulled them away and yelled, "Self!" Shades of Scott...

She gave up on the leggings, but did insist on wearing the socks - WITH her sandals. I know Grandpa would be proud. So here is the final outfit, with the always-important Dora sunglasses on her head:

Goodbye until August, Miss Cathy!

Next Tuesday is going to be a traumatic day in our house when Scott realizes he doesn't have preschool. He has LOVED his first year of preschool with Miss Cathy and is not willing to "take a break" until August. She was the perfect teacher for him... He needed someone who was fun, creative, and would help him break out of his shell a bit and realize playing with friends is sometimes more fun than counting. The social growth he experienced was exactly what I had hoped for.

Why I love being a mom...

My friend, Stephanie, wrote the BEST post on her blog about how her life has changed since becoming a Mom. So I am stealing her list and making a few modifications to accurately describe my life:

10) My idea of an exciting Saturday night is grocery shopping at 9pm, by myself, after the kids are asleep.

9) Eating at In-and-Out is an extremely healthy meal: milkshake (dairy), burger (for Charlotte, at least, protein), fries and ketchup (veggies) .

8) I can’t tell you the last time I listened to the radio or a CD of my own in the car… But I have listened to a lot of classical music, even if it is from Baby Einstein movies.

7) I have talked about poop with total strangers.

6) The perfect Mother’s Day gift is an afternoon without the kids.

5) While attempting to eat dinner, I get out of my chair an average of 24 times.

4) My attitude about putting a child in a kid-harness has done a 180. I haven't done it yet, but I might...

3) Just ask me to sing the theme songs for Blues Clues, Dora, Diego and Little Einsteins - I can do them all.

2) Fruit snacks (with 5% real fruit juice) counts towards the daily fruit/veggie count...

1) “Getting lucky” for us means the diapers are on sale PLUS a coupon at Babies R Us!

Honestly, I do love being a mother. These things are all fun to joke about, but the smiles and hugs and kisses and adorable things my little guys do make it all worth it.

Miracles do happen!

Today was amazing...

If you haven't read last year's post on swimming lessons, I'll catch you up by just saying that Scott and Charlotte were NOT 'A' students in their swimming lessons last year. Most days, the lessons involved tears and drama from Scott and Charlotte and bribes from us. We all survived, but no swimming skills were actually learned.

Bravely, we decided to try again. The "motivation" (aka bribes) involved a chart with stickers, trips to Target for special prizes AND Jelly Bellies. I think the Jelly Bellies were the trigger for Scott to realize it was worth it for him to be a good boy. So here is the report of how things went so far:

Day 1: He got in the water without complaint, did NOT want to go under the water and only sort of listened to his teachers.

Day 2: We bought goggles, but didn't fit them on his head right for this lesson. But he was happy to get in the water, listened to his teachers and did some kicking. Still not interested in going under.

Day 3: We figured out the goggles, so they stayed on! What a difference... He was laughing, smiling, paying attention to the teacher, and VOLUNTARILY putting his face in the water and blowing bubbles! I just sat there with my mouth wide open watching this amazing event.

Day 4: Much like day 3, except the teachers couldn't keep him from trying to go under water. I asked him is favorite part about swimming lessons: "Going underwater!"

Jelly Beans are miracle pills.

And as if all this wasn't exciting enough, we had dinner at In-and-Out after day 3, and Scott tried a new food! This NEVER happens... He ate half of a grilled cheese sandwich (just the hamburger bun and cheese)!

So how did Charlotte do through all of this? She has been a huge wimp and just whines and cries the entire time in the water. Check out the nasty glare...

Boys will be boys

Last Friday was the annual Father/Son campout for our ward. Scott was actually really excited to go and "practiced" sleeping in his sleeping bag the night before. Apparently the highlight for him was throwing rocks in the lake:

So what did the girls do while the boys were away? We met some friends and had dinner. Can you tell Charlotte really enjoyed her smoothie?