New England News

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 11

2011-12-24T00:37:00.002-07:00

Tonight we celebrated the holiday with some of our dear friends with a red and green dinner. As part of the red and green dinner celebration they also make a cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday. I had to threaten taking away dessert from my kids if they didn't eat their dinner. This is about how the conversation went;

Noelle: "If I don't eat my dinner I won't get any Jesus birthday cake?"
Me: "Nope, and you won't get any ice cream either."
Noelle: "You mean Christcream."

And that my friends, is why we're awesome.

In her defense, all of the kids were calling the cake Jesus' birthday cake.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 10

2011-12-24T00:26:00.001-07:00

We actually kicked off the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving when we went to see the lights at the Mesa Temple. We felt lucky to have some of our out-of-town family with us to enjoy the evening. As with any family outing, there is always someone who has a hard time seeing the fun of the moment. There was a fluctuation between Noelle and JW throughout the evening. See how happy she was to have her picture taken? Plus she didn't want to get out of the stroller and walk, but when she did she got a little lost.

Also, this is one of my favorite pictures because JW was so upset that we put him on this giant rock for a Kodak moment. Total insanity. Sis was happy to be with Papa Randy and wins the prize for having the best attitude of the night.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 9

2011-12-24T00:12:00.001-07:00

Christmas cards. Some people have a love-hate relationship with sending Christmas cards. I've always liked sending out cards and in 2003 we started our traditional photo card. Over the years I've tried to be original and make and design my own cards. Some years I have to take a pass and just have a retailer print my cards for me. I really do love making my cards. This year I borrowed designs from Becky Higgin's blog. You'll notice however that I have two versions. One for those we don't see very often and one for those who probably could care less if they got a picture of our whole family because they see us more than they want to. Either way, we wish you all the Merriest Christmas.

P.S. - If any of my five readers keeps copies of cards they recieve, I need one of my cards from 2004 (Red Sox theme, tri-fold, cute.) I'll send you a prize if you have one for me to put in my Christmas card album.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 8

2011-12-23T23:55:00.001-07:00

Christmas dresses seem to be on my list of essential gifts. Call me old fashion, but really I think I only buy my kids dresses at Christmas and Easter. These are the dresses they got from Grandma Nay last year. Luckily they still fit and are great to have during the colder times which are rare in this neck of the woods.

P.S. I think this picture is pretty fantastic of Noelle and makes her look all sorts of grown up to me. Scary. She did good picture taking right before church because we bribed her. When we were done and she was ready to cash in on said bribe, we told her she had to wait until after church. Rude, eh?

Lets just assume they are singing Christmas carols.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 7

2011-12-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ok so I haven't posted in a few days, but that won't stop Christmas from coming and hasn't stopped miracles from happening. So for the seventh day I will share my Christmas miracle.

On Tuesday, which is when this should have posted, I did some shopping and then ran to the post office to get some more stamps and to mail a package. While I was standing in a good size line, (not the worst I've ever experienced) I see a lady reading all the signs and looking around holding a simple letter. She turned to all of us standing in line and asked if any of us knew how much it would cost to mail a letter to England? Most people turned their head and pretended not to hear the question. I said I thought it would probably take three or four stamps but that I would check on my super handy smart phone. (I love my phone!) So I started Googling postage rates to England. I found a rate but told the nice stranger to just stand with me and we would ask when it was my turn at the counter. She looked concerned that the ten or twelve people who where now behind us would be angry. I told her that none would "bludgeon" her. Yes, that was the word I used. Anyhow, we got to the counter and she got her postage and my merry stranger went on her way, happy to mail her letter to England. I was happy that I could make someones post office experience be a little less miserable.

Oh but the miracle happened the next day when I had to return with the box of stuff I had to mail. Not only was there next to no line, but the postal worker was kind and helpful. That my friends is the Christmas miracle.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 6

2011-12-19T22:06:00.002-07:00

Tonight we did tag team gingerbread house decorating. Our houses look a little bit like something you'd find in a Dr. Suess book, very crooked. I think Sydney ate half her weight in candy before we even started. Noelle was very methodical and had to keep things in a pattern. I think it has something to do with her kindergarten AB patterns. Sydney keeps climbing up on the stool to examine her house and then tells me its not Christmas yet.

A little side story, a week or so ago Boo and I were putting out some gifts that we've been storing in our bedroom since mid November. These are gifts from grandparent visits that we thought would be most safe if kept out of the main thorough fairs of the house. As we were arranging the gifts underneath the tree Noelle came out of her room sleep walking, but staring at us in wonder of what we were doing. It was as if Boo and I were reading each other's minds. One of us burst out "Noelle its Christmas! Look Santa came!" Her face was blank as we could see her mind trying to process. Boo then swept her away for a bathroom break and then back to bed. Awesome cruel.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 5

2011-12-17T22:36:00.002-07:00

Tonight we were at a holiday party and the topic of Santa Claus came up. We were all sharing stories of the mistakes we'd made when discussing Santa in front of our kids. I also have been thinking about all the lore that is associated with St. Nicholas and how it evolved over the hundreds of years. The story is actually quite nice and brings a Christian view of St. Nicholas (aka Santa Claus.)

A couple of the slip-ups we've had that I can remember is when Boo asked Noelle if she wanted to help him put some stuff in my stocking. She couldn't understand why he would fill it up and not Santa. Whoops!

One friend said that she remembered that every year their gifts from Santa were wrapped in a different paper from all the rest of the gifts. (We do this.) She said that after Christmas or on Christmas night her mom sent her out to the car to get something from the trunk. There she spied the "special' Santa wrapping paper. She remembers being super disappointed.

Another friend said that her kids noticed the handwriting on the tags was similar to that of her mother's.

Another remembers being old enough that his dad told him and his older brother to come out to the garage to help him assemble some toys for his younger siblings.

This has got me thinking about when the time will come that our kids will figure it out. Will they be super disappointed or will they just say they knew it all the time?

I think I figured it out when I found some presents in my mom's closet and then on Christmas saw that they were from Santa. Knowing how I was as I kid I was probably pretty proud that I had figured it out thinking that no one could pull a fast one on me.

As I've read in some of the Christmas books we have and some of what I've found on the internet and also a nice talk given recently at a church meeting, to believe that St. Nicholas did indeed live and did kind things is to believe in the spirit of Santa. Although I know there is no magical man that wiggles his nose to get from one place to another, I believe in the good that is Santa. Do you still believe?

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 4

2011-12-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ah the gift exchanging...love it or hate it? I guess the answer depends on the gift and the giftee. There are some years that I am up for the challenge to find the perfect gift or to sacrifice something to afford that perfect gift. However it seems that with my increased brood that my gift giving has been lacking in past years. We have been getting smarter and try to get more utilitarian type gifts even if its not on the giftee's wish list.

I was trying to think back to some of the best Christmas exchanges between Boo and I. Sadly, I can hardly remember any of them. I do remember our first Christmas, I was so excited because the company I was working for had a client that made snowboards and was able to get a sweet deal on a cool board for Boo. Even better was that I kept it at my parents house so that he had no idea it was coming. It was a good surprise. I think the wisest gift I ever received was my KitchenAid mixer. I bought it for myself and told Boo he had to wrap it. I love it and use it all the time.

One of my favorite gifting stories occurred in 2001. On Christmas morning we were opening gifts with all of Boo's family at his parent's house. Everyone had a main gift and then each married couple was given a gift card. With that arrangement opening gifts was very organized so we went around the room one at a time and opened up our present from Boo's parents. When it was my turn I remember Boo looking at me with a grin of anticipation for my reaction. I unwrapped a set of red satin sheets. I was a little stunned, as I had never thought of requesting satin sheets for Christmas, let alone from my mother-in-law. Needless to say I was confused and I think my reaction was a huge let down. I said thanks and then tucked my new fancy red sheets next to me. My mother-in-law said that Boo told her that I wanted some sheets from Costco but that she didn't see any satin sheets there so she ordered these online. That only added to my confusion. I wanted satin sheets from Costco? Who knew?

It took me several days to process the whole exchange and to piece together what actually happened. I had mentioned in passing to Boo that there were some sheets that I wanted to get from Costco. He thought he was so clever and passed it on to his mom. Somewhere along the line there was a loss of translation, it wasn't red satin sheets I wanted, it was Sateen. Very different indeed.

Before I could clear up any confusion, Boo thought he'd wash up our new sheets so we could put them on our bed. He came home from the laundry mat with our fancy red sheets and said that everyone was looking at him strangely. "I feel like such a hooker," he said as he was shaking them out. I could only grin and reassure him that they'd look great with our duvet. The only problem was that the duvet wouldn't stay on the bed with the sheets. They were too slippery. We definitely never got the use out of those sheets for the price that was paid, but it is my favorite Christmas story.

Reminds me of the leg lamp from the movie A Christmas Story.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 3

2011-12-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, I'd like to introduce you to Tommy the Elf on our shelf. He's a great helper, in that he doesn't back talk and is supposed to help keep my kids in line because they're supposed to believe that he's going to take all sorts of information back to Santa. I can't be sure if Noelle actually thinks he's magic or that he really will disappear at night. Tommy has been know to be on top of the Christmas tree, on top of kitchen cabinets, on top of our entertainment unit, etc. Do you see a theme in his locations? Yes we have to put him high up because the instructions told the kids that if they touch him he'll lose his magic. However Sis would like to test this theory and I can't have Noelle all up in arms over lost magic. Also he needs to stay up high enough so that Noelle can't get a good of a look at him. She has already said things about how she thinks he's just made of fabric and that he doesn't look like an elf, because you know she has all sorts of elf knowledge and wisdom. Its believed by Noelle that Tommy was sent by his elf friend Hermy. Hermy appeared at our house one day when we had some out-of-town cousins staying at our house. Those kids were so excited to see their elf, but how could it be theirs if it was at our house? Noelle was so upset that he hadn't returned. So after a few stops around my local three mile range of shopping I found Tommy.

Yesterday Tommy didn't come back from the North Pole. You see Noelle had been super sassy about how her mom doesn't make any good cookies with anything on them and then some other tirade of how we never eat anything good. Truth be told her words stung a lot, but that wasn't actually why Tommy didn't come.
The problem with the Elf on the Shelf is that he has to be moved everyday. It sounds so great in theory but I can't move him until I'm about to put my head to a pillow. Our darned two year old has become a night owl and makes moving Tommy a hard task. So often times he doesn't get moved until the morning when we remember and one of us distracts the kids while the other scrambles to find a new location for Tommy.

So yesterday Tommy didn't comeback because he was actually stuffed in the top of a cupboard as not to be seen sitting in the same place as the day before. I didn't have time to actually move him and I could hear my girls making their way around the corner. I panicked! Needless to say I had a good MO for why he didn't come back due to my stinker child's behavior.

I think its been the most effective to Sis. Her little neighbor friend's elf told Santa she'd been really naughty and so Santa sent her a letter to let her know her elf wouldn't be back until she was nice to her mom. So just tonight Sis kept telling me that Annie wasn't going to get any presents because her elf said she was naughty. Glad to know one of my children has been paying attention.

Here's a link to a great post that gave me a great laugh regarding other's experiences with their elf friends.
http://peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.blogspot.com/2011/12/over-achieving-elf-on-shelf-mommies.html

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 2

2011-12-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

We have had the opportunity to help some other families with Christmas this year. We have tried to use these as teaching moments for our kids, especially Noelle. We have been trying to help her understand that there are other kids in our community who probably won't get a lot of presents this Christmas. Its harder than you think to explain to a five year old. I knew it was starting to sink in for her but was still perplexing. She asks very detailed questions about the kids, details we just don't have. I think the excitement finally set in when we wrapped up the gifts.

The other day when UPS brought a doll house that Grandma had shipped to us, Sydney saw the picture on the outside of the box and being all excited asked if it was for her. Of course I lied and said no and then she asked, "Its for other kids?" That has been our tag line while shopping for our unknown recipients, "gifts for other kids."

We have been the recipients of the generosity of others in past years and feel really grateful that we can teach this charity to our children. Hopefully this is something we can continue to do each year as a reminder of all the good that we're blessed with in our lives.

Twelve Days of Christmas, Day 1

2011-12-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season and what says Merry Christmas more than a visit to see Santa? Well a trip to the BassPro Shops of course. This was awesome! Sis thought Santa was fantastic and had no fear. Brotherman just went with it like usual and Noelle, well she's rockin' her red boots. The store had a whole Christmas village-like area set up for kids with games they could play (marketing at its finest) and a carousel that we could ride on. The best part was it was all free. Merry Christmas to us!

We took advantage of an early release school day so there were no crowds which was good, because Sis kept running up to Santa to give him a hug and then would go back to whatever it was she was doing before. Also, Noelle shocked me by writing up a list for Santa. It was something like this:

e z bac (Easy Bake Oven)
Brbe has (Barbie House)
spic kids (Spy Kids)
noe brb (New Barbie)

The best part was that she was helping another girl write the same list. Ha!

Picture Explanation

2011-12-13T21:44:00.001-07:00

A few people have asked me about the black and white pictures that I've posted on the blog and on the wall in my family room. Here's the long and short of the whole thing; back in 2009 I was encouraged to enter Noelle into a picture contest. In order to do that I needed to take some pictures of her because I didn't have anything recent. So in my usual form I used my crazy mad skillz and taped my dark purple sheet to a wall in my bedroom. I think it was the magic of the packing tape used, but I took some pretty fantastic pictures and even though we didn't win any contests it has turned into a great tradition three years running. So each fall when the light comes through the large windows at just the right time we have a photo shoot. Thanks to the glory of digital I can take a ton of pictures and if it doesn't turn out how I want then I delete them and start over. I love they way they've turned out each time, different but wonderful. Here is the link for 2009 and 2010. Enjoy the look back into the past.

My Other Children

2011-11-13T16:18:00.001-07:00

With the excitement of a new baby I'm sure some people are wondering if I've forgotten that I have other children. Maybe I do forget sometimes. But then sometimes I forget I have a baby, like today when I nearly left church without him. Not on purpose of course, but Boo had him and he always has to stay for a while after church so I don't usually see him after the meetings. I was on auto pilot and ready to go after rounding up the girls when I remembered I had a third child.

They're both keepers, today.

* These pictures are from our third annual black and white photo shoot.

Four Months

2011-11-11T16:44:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty certain he's the cutest thing ever and pretty happy considering he doesn't poop regularly.

Love That Dirty Water

2011-10-12T15:45:00.001-07:00

We went to see the movie Moneyball on Friday night. If you even like baseball slightly then I think you'd like the movie. There is a part when they are in Fenway Park. It's typical Boston rainy fall weather. Seeing Fenway and the area around the park made my heart ache. I miss Boston, heaps full, especially during this time of the year. There really isn't a better place to be in the fall and everyone there embraces it with open arms. I can honestly say I've never seen more homes decorated for the season and it's holidays than in New England. But then comes winter and really Arizona is a good place to be during those months.
Love you Beantown. Hope to see you soon.
Sent from my iPhone

Toddler Losses

2011-10-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I was making a mental list of the damage done by Sis in one day. Baggie of cereal dumped out on kitchen floor during fit of rage. Something to do with milk and a bowl.Dancing up the aisle at church ballerina style and then noticing the stairs up to the pulpit.Getting into my sewing stuff, finding the scissors and cutting up a spool of ribbon into small pieces. *Accidentally cutting her church dress in the process.During removal from the chapel, finding toy trains and then using said trains to fend off their owner. A swift bonk on the head worked well.There may have been an incident with popcorn, but I was losing consciousness at this point while nursing a baby. During Canadian Thanksgiving dinner smooshing mash potatoes through her fingers then feeding it to the dog.A black Sharpie marker tattoo all over her legs.More Sharpie on two banana chairs in the theatre room (not our theatre room.)Oh the times i really wanted to crawl beneath the closest chair or table and hide out sheer embarrassment. I offered to clean off the marker with some rubbing alchohol. Hopefully our Canadian friends will invite us back. Luckily she didn't get out of her bed a thousand times because she might have been put in the shed to sleep for the night. (not really but it would be a good home for a hobo like her.)*I say accidentally because it did not look intentional and had it been then I believe there would have been holes all over.

Diamondbacks Game

2011-09-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Boo's company hosted all the employees and their significant others to the final Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game of the year. The best thing about baseball games is that you can arrive 45 minutes late and chances are you haven't missed much. This was also our maiden voyage out without taking the Brotherman. Everyone fared just fine and the babysitter still likes us.

The game was going great until the lights went out. I never did hear what the explanation was for this, but it suddenly started to feel stuffy and warmer inside Chase Field. I could tell things were on the up-and-up when I felt the air come back on. It took a while for the lights to warm up enough to play ball again. It was a good win for the Diamondbacks who are on their way to the playoffs. Go D-backs! However, my heart still belongs to the Red Sox.

Satisfaction

2011-09-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

If I was going to add to my list of "New Things Learned" I guess this would be it. I took on a canning project. Terrified by the prospects of failure, I searched the web and read many different sites giving ideas of the best ways to can peaches. I even came across a blog post that featured my cousin who had been canning peaches with a neighbor friend. She always claims to be a movie star and now she's a blog star too, rocking it in her apron.
Canning might very well be one of the messiest processes. Several pots boiling away on the stove top. One with syrup, another with lids and then the big daddy of all pots, the wet bath canner. Then the whole blanching process. Add to that all the bowls. Suddenly my kitchen was a steamy pot of peach goodness caving in on me.
So fourteen quarts later and a freezer full of jam I'm feeling completely satisfied with my accomplishments, imperfect as these jars might be. Now I will go and study up on canning pears so I can get started on the 30 pound box haunting my dreams. Domesticity at its finest I guess.

Eight Weeks

2011-08-26T01:00:00.002-07:00

Good gracious me! I can not believe it has already been eight weeks since I got a new boyfriend. He's getting good and fluffy and starting to smile and coo. I really like this stage. Plus as an added bonus he only wakes up once in the middle of the night. Always around 4am. I can handle that.

Brotherman is practicing his air punches after watching 30 Day Shred with Jillian a few too many times.

End of a Season

2011-08-25T15:18:00.004-07:00

Well gardening season number one is officially over for me. I've let the garden go to seed and occasionally get out and check to see if anything is still growing. If it is, great. If not, I'm not sad. Its just too hot to go outside right now. I'm ready for August to be done. I put a lot of energy into worrying mostly about the darn watermelons. We had several growing at the same time but for some reason they would get to be the size of a football and then split open. Sadness. We did harvest one that tasted good and there might be a second one out there ready. I should check, but I probably won't. I also spotted a cantaloupe growing. I'm not sure if its going to make it to ripeness, but it would be a great surprise. All in all we harvested many zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, snow peas, basil, cilantro, parsley, and watermelon. Fantastic! I plan to revamp the planting arrangement and figure out what will grow in the second growing season of the year. Happy gardening to the rest of you who haven't given up yet.

*Side note, of course I always put on my best clothes when working in my garden, duh. Actually it just my new favorite shirt from Target.

One Month

2011-08-09T12:58:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Brother-man's first month birthday. Noelle kept asking how old he was and I said, "One month."

She said, " No, no like how many is he?"

Clearly she has no concept of months its just whittled down to years and when she starts Kindergarten.

Today is the last day of summer. I'd be jumping up and down if I wasn't still feeling the gravitational effects of post pregnancy weight. However, my heart is full of joy watching Noelle get excited. I think she has drawn about seventy pictures for her new teacher.

Last week we met the new teacher. Her classroom was "super awesome" to quote Noelle. However there was one snafu which I should have seen coming. Everything was very organized and each child had a name card on their desk and a homework folder with their name on it. Even though I tried endlessly on all the paperwork to make sure they understood that we call her Noelle, her first given name was on EVERYTHING. She doesn't respond to that name. Also, they spelled our last name wrong. Double fail. I guess I'll need to go to the office and fix that. Lame.

I guess that's what I get for insisting that Noelle sounded better as a middle name. It just doesn't roll off the tongue the other way around. Lesson learned.

Great News!

2011-07-30T18:42:00.004-07:00

Great things have been happening around these parts. Depending on who you ask (Noelle) both are of equally great importance.

First and foremost, we'd like to introduce you to Nicholas. He was born into our craziness on July 8th. He was very kind to his mother and came out with a nice small head and no hesitations. If only all births could be that easy. Drug free was much easier than I thought it was going to be. I'm definitely making myself a mother's merit badge for that.

Nicholas is 12 days old in these pictures. He's a pretty easy going little "brother-man." I did my best not to capture too much of the craziness that was going on behind the camera. It was insanity in a nutshell if you can't tell from his expression.

When he wrinkles up his forehead (more than what is happening in this picture) he has a wicked good widows peak of a hairline. That would be from the Albertsen genes.

The second major event is that Noelle lost her first tooth! Hooray, one less to brush.

She's been anticipating this event for quite a while and when it was time to actually pull on it she was too scared. Eventually she gave it a flick and out it came. The tooth fairy brought her a one dollar "ticket" which she can't wait to spend. I'm not sure when she'll stop calling them tickets and realize its real money, but I have no plans on spoiling her innocence in that regard.

Currently, Noelle is sporting an almost equal gap on the top and bottom.

Next up on our exciting life, First Day of Kindergarten. Stay tuned.

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-04T17:55:00.003-07:00

We're enjoying temps below 110 today!

Sis is Two!

2011-07-04T17:29:00.004-07:00

Yes, its true little miss Sis, you're two. Noelle has been anticipating this day because she just knew that you'd instantly turn terrible, at least that's what she told me. She was partly right. On your second birthday, while having dinner with some friends at their house you did bite their daughter. I'm sure you felt justified, like when you bite Noelle.
Despite the biting and other things that two year olds do, you're quite delightful. During your two year old exam at the doctor's office the doctor said if she ever needed to do a demonstration of how to examine a two year old that she would call you because you were so good and funny at the same time. She was amazed at your speech and you weren't even saying some of the crazy stuff you come up with. Some of my favorites are when you tell people goodbye and to "Have a good day"or when you ask for a movie, which has been a favorite past time lately, and you insist that it be a Barbie movie or the one with "Kayla the elephant." Your talking is constant and sometimes I don't know what you're saying and you look at me like I'm an idiot. I probably am.
For your birthday we gave you Barbies and a set of markers that won't draw on anything but their special paper. Noelle was very jealous of the Barbies and has cried on more than one occasion because she seems to think your birthday celebration has lasted way too long. As for the markers, you bit off the tops of all but one the first time we played with them. Lame. You are beyond markers that have a delayed markability and go straight for the pencils and pens to be just like Noelle when she draws.
You also got some clothes for your birthday. You did your best to try them all on as you unwrapped them. You even put on a skirt that Grammy gave you and then proceeded to go swimming with it on. We ended up stripping you down to nakedness and let you swim in your birthday suit.
Speaking of swimming you took your first swimming lessons this season. You're a fish and it scares the living daylights out of your parents when you dive right in. Good thing we only have a kiddie pool.
Sis, your happiness is contagious and many people love you for that. You're an easy going child and as your parents, we thank you for that. Happy birthday!

May 2011

2011-07-04T16:53:00.009-07:00

Whoa, where did the time go. May got away from me an now its July for cryin' out loud. Here is a picture update for those following along.

Mother's Day 2011

Trying to capture my girls in their Easter dresses for a second time. Can you tell how excited they are? I usually like to take a picture of myself with my kids while we're all still in our Sunday best, but the Dad's Sunday schedule doesn't permit unless I do it myself with a timer. No bueno. I bet you're all jealous of my 1980's window fashions in the background. No?

This picture worked out a little better.

Noelle suggested to Boo that for Mother's Day they should make chocolate dipped strawberries. They were pretty darn delightful. Boo did a good job and it helped make up for Mother's Day 2010 which was a bust.

Preschool Graduation

Hooray Noelle graduated from preschool and was very pleased with her performance for the parents.

Noelle loves her teacher Miss Miles and has been doing "summer camp" with her so she doesn't get bored during the hot summer months. I like it because she has somewhere to go three days a week and gets all sorts of excited about the themes they've had. We had a really hard time getting a picture with just Miss Miles because all of Noelle's friends kept jumping in with her. Too funny.
Near the end of May Auntie and Jackson came for a visit. I know you're all thinking, "Weren't they just there in March?" But hey, a visit in March, a trip together in April and another visit in May still isn't enough Auntie time for some of us.

During her quick weekend visit we went to the train park to ride the carousel and train of course. It was nice weather and ice cream cones topped off a fun park visit.

I only got a picture with Sis because Noelle was riding in a cattle car with a bunch of strangers at the back of the train. When we went through the tunnel I'm pretty sure I could hear her screaming over all the other kids.
Not to let it go undocumented, but Boo and I also celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.

Go Team Albertsen!

Best Babysitter

2011-06-27T16:08:00.002-07:00

Being that I'm quite near the finish line of this pregnancy a good babysitter is such a treasure.
Noelle started a new session of swimming lessons and I couldn't bring myself to enroll in parent-tot with Sydney for two more weeks. Getting three of us ready is rough, but putting a swimsuit on over my enormous belly is down right pathetic. So in my attempt to keep summer interesting for Noelle I kept her in swimming and hired a babysitter for Sis during that time. It was heaven to sit for 30 plus minutes without a child climbing on me or nearly dying of heat stroke while strapped in the stroller.
Then the babysitter stayed and had lunch with us and played with my girls as a waddled around the house getting things accomplished. My kids love her, I love her. Win-win situation. Did I mention she walks to and from my house?
I might cry when she moves.

April 2011

2011-05-27T13:21:00.008-07:00

Well folks May is nearly over and I thought I'd let you know what we did in April. These pictures are in reverse order, but you'll get the general idea.

Near the end of April I (Rachel) went to Holland!

What would a trip to Holland be with out some of the following country features?

Windmills anyone? This is looking up one of the canals at Kinderdijk. It happened to be very windy this day and we witnessed up close how fast the blades on a windmill can turn.

We got to visit with some of our favorite people who also happen to be relatives.

How about these lovely ladies? It was fun to be with cousins, even the famous one.

How cute is my Sissy?

There can never be enough tulips. We drove by many fields that were ablaze with color and then the next day they were gone. That's how they roll at the end up the tulip season.

My grandmother's family home in Breukelen.

Its been for sale if you have a few million laying around.

All of us together for dinner.

Can you seriously get over the tulips?

I brought home some crowns for the girls so that we could celebrate Queen's Day on April 30th. Happy birthday Queen Beatrix!

This was the last play group at our house, just before Easter. We had an egg hunt in our backyard while wearing dress-ups. What a fun time we've had with these girls.

I made some cowboy quilts. I did a trade with a photographer back in February and over the two or so months it took me to complete these it was really hard to pack them up and mail them off. Luckily they love them as much as I do. We assembled a shed, and the garden that we planted at the end of March began to grow. It looks a lot different now that it resembles a jungle. Maybe I'll post an update in my May post.

I celebrated my birthday. Each candle on the cake represents four years of my life.

Happy birthday to me!

Noelle Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

2011-03-30T22:40:00.005-07:00

That's right folks, she made it to the fifth year of life without major incident. Its hard to believe myself. This girl is one big ball of fiery energy that keeps all of us on our toes. Don't be fooled by her silliness and charm because before you know it she'll be telling you how lame your fashion choices are and how uncool you've become overnight. Some things that make Noelle special to us besides all her wit are as follows: She is so stinkin' smart, I had to buy a Human Body book for kids so that she and I could learn together. She's quite the artist and leaves her sketches, notes, stories and all other written things all over the house. She loves to draw girls with fancy dresses and high heeled shoes and recently has been having me cut out fish so that she can illustrate each one with its own personality. She then stuffs them into an envelope and asks me to mail them to various people. My favorite was the one with a "backpack" and falling out of that backpack is a bear. There was a very elaborate story to go with the backpack fish. Noelle loves to make up songs. Just today in the car she was singing a song about leprechauns and how they will mess up your hair and your room. I tried to catch it all from the front seat of the car and laughed the whole way. Lately she has started playing with Sydney more. This makes Boo and I both very happy considering just six months ago she was still asking when we planned to return her sister to the doctors who "got her out." The best is watching them together on the swing set, it makes my little mother heart swell. Noelle still loves to dance and still loves those darn tap shoes. I have to set a timer for tapping so that we can all keep our sanity around here. Sometimes it works. Noelle is very, very excited to go to kindergarten, however she feels the need to explain to anyone who asks her about it that she will indeed need to have some shots or vaccinations done before she can go and that after this she'll be done with shots forever. If only it were really true. Five has been a long time coming for her and now that it has arrived it seems she thinks she has the power to do even more amazing things. Our dear Noelle, we are so excited for you to learn a lot more things that hopefully include tying your own shoes and riding your bike without training wheels. Swimming wouldn't be so bad either. However those are just a smidgen of the things you will embrace in the next year or so. Thank you for your sense of humor that keeps Dad and I on our toes. Hopefully you'll never take life so serious that you can't have a good laugh. We sure love your guts even if they do stink from time to time.

Here are some birthday party extravaganza pictures that pretty much sum up the birthday experience at our house. (in no particular order.)

We decorated the yard with many balloons and after the festivities one of the highlights was to gather them all together and run laps around the yard. It was also a game of keep-away from Sydney and Jackson.

Every year Noelle request some sort of bubble maker. This one was pretty awesome.

Here are the parting gifts for our birthday guests. Man did they make out like bandits.

Noelle and her friends sat in a big circle for the gift exchanging. Sis did her best to be in the middle of the action as much as possible.

Sydney thoroughly enjoyed the party, especially the cake, until Jackson came along and wanted some too.

After a fight broke out over the spoon which he won, Sis retaliated by rubbing her cakey hands in his hair. It was hilarious.

We played some fun games to make all our guest tired including sack racing, go old fashion foot races the length of the yard, poisonous snake (jumping over a rope), a pinata, and pin the tail on the donkey. Some kids were in it to win it, and other chose to stand on the sidelines and spectate.

The party riff-raff

Happy birthday Noelle.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

My cute girlies

2011-02-11T14:43:00.002-07:00

My girls had their picture taken last week. Check out the Yellow Pear Photography blog for a little preview.

What We Did for Christmas

2011-02-07T17:19:00.002-07:00

Christmas was good. We traveled up to Utah to see our family and to surprise one of our Papas. I'm pretty sure he was surprised by the look on his face when he answered the door. It was a treat for him to have all his family together for Christmas since its been a few years since we've all been together during the holidays.

On Christmas Eve, while Noelle was sleeping and dreaming of the presents she was going to open, Santa brought her some great things in her stocking and while he was putting out the gifts he thought he'd better check to make sure Noelle was asleep. Sure enough, she was and Santa was kind enough to cover her up with her special silky blankets.

Noelle was especially delighted with the set of markers she found in her stocking. She's been using them since. We decided that we should store the chocolate from all our stockings and ration it out from time to time. Noelle even tried to convince her Grammy who was at our house that it would be okay since mom was gone to get the chocolate down from the closet.

During our Christmas vacation our girls did a fair amount of sleeping in coats, in the car. We're not used to wearing big coats and I think Sis thought it might just be a sleeping bag.
Our girls also spent some time with their cousins. This is just an example of how much fun it can be. You can't tell from this picture, but Jackson on the other hand was not having all that much fun. Poor guy.

Next year we're going to suggest that Santa bring Sis a bucket. She had more fun playing with a bucket on her head than she did with any of the toys she was given. Isn't that always the case?

We were glad to have had the chance to spend the holidays with our families despite the long drive. We're glad to have missed any major storms during our travels and maybe we'll come again in a few years...maybe.

Christmas Cards

2010-12-21T09:10:00.006-07:00

There's a first time for everything, right? This is the first year we've put our Christmas card online in a digital format. My first attempt was a total fail. So here we go again.

If I had mailed a little letter with our Christmas card this is what it might have said.

Albertsen Family Follies of 2010

Putting in a backyard for the first time and ordering a little too much rock only to realize you wish you had done a few things differently and now you want to remove some of the said rock and get more of a different kind.

Getting a dog.

Barbie doll cake.

Loosing the dog while on vacation in another state and not keeping his collar on at all times.

One year old climbing on everything...and falling off everything.

Tap shoes.

Four year old dance class.

Christmas lights on our house.

Attempting to post my Christmas card online.

This is just a highlight of the things we look back on and might do differently. 2010 has been a good year of family trips, visits from family and friends, the graduation from infancy to toddlerhood, and learning to read just to name a few.

We do our best to be aware of the blessings around us and are so grateful for the experiences we've had over the past twelve months. We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Christmas Spirit

2010-12-06T11:15:00.004-07:00

Aint no party like a ward Christmas party, or something like that. We got it done early and mostly painlessly. They had two photo opportunities. One room was set up with a backdrop for family pictures and then when Santa came the kids could get a picture with him. Right before it was our turn for family pictures Noelle disappeared into the pack of kids that run amuck at all ward party function. She was soon returned crying with report that she fell. As usual we underplayed it and told her she was fine, but I had to give Boo the "look" because she had a bloody lip and we didn't need wailing to ensue right before we had to take a picture. Crisis averted from underplaying the situation. Thank goodness.

We sang some Christmas carols, had a couple narrators and other musical numbers. By far my favorite was the twin 13 year old boys that played an awesome piano duet. I hope my kids play the piano some day. After the program the special guest arrived. I think Noelle may have gone through the line more than twice. I only know of two times, but it could have been more. Look at her posing with Santa. So funny.

We weren't sure how Sis would do, but she didn't mind Santa. She told him a few things that only magic Santa ears would be able to interpret.

She even did well sitting with Santa alone, until he started creeping her out. I really couldn't blame her.

Santa looks like he's handing her off because she stinks or something. So funny. Hope you all make it to see Santa. And I especially hope that Santa brings Noelle the AquaSand. She wanted it for her birthday and we mysteriously forgot to buy it, so we told her to ask Santa for it. That was in March. She's been holding out hope for a long time and has yet to divert from that gift idea.

Putting it all together

2010-11-23T13:06:00.002-07:00

Noelle: "Is auntie your sister and uncle Daniel is your brother?"
Me: "Yep."
Noelle: "Oh, so just like Reggie is my brother and Sydney is my sister?"
Me: "Yeah."
Noelle: "Oh, I think everyone should have a brother and a sister."

Or a dog.

Thank Goodness for These Girls

2010-11-11T13:34:00.002-07:00

In this month of thanks, I should not forget how happy I am for these little girls, but mostly their moms. Every week we have a little play group for two and half hours and it is by far the highlight of my week. I also love that there is actually a span of ages here so they don't get to see much each other at preschool or church and it makes playgroup that much better. Thanks for playing each week and giving the moms a small break.

GO UTES!

2010-11-06T08:48:00.003-07:00

Ever since our departure from Utah in 2003 we've been the minority Utah fans and you know what that's a hard role to assume. Mostly because the people who care are BYU fans and they tend to be SO hardcore that they must tell us several times over that its a good thing we were friends before they knew we went to the U. (no lie, I've gotten this on several occasions, no matter where we've lived.) So in my non-anti-BYU way, I really hope that Utah wins today and the next week and the next. I will wear my red dress on Sunday in support and not get crazy in any BYU fans' faces or make up any excuses as to why my team might be better. You know why? Because I won't have to.

Things to be Thankful For

2010-11-02T23:12:00.003-07:00

Last Day of Animal Class

2010-11-02T22:44:00.004-07:00

For the last installment of animal class the theme was 'Animals of unusual size or color.' So let's start down the list of things we saw and touched.

First up, a blond skunk. So strange. It had the reflex to put its tail up when frightened, but rest assured the stink glands were removed. Interesting tid bit, there is no vaccine for skunks against rabies, therefore they couldn't let this skunk roam around the room freely for precautionary purposes.

Now I know you can't tell by this high quality picture I took that this is no ordinary rabbit. No sir, this is a Flemish Giant Rabbit, which can easily reach 30 pounds. That's about the same size as my four year old. There were two and they were only eight months old and they were big.

Noelle is holding a floppy ear rabbit that was the nicest little thing. Much better than the nasty guinea pigs.

Sis was a good helper at brushing the bunny. She was so gentle and very fixated on that activity.

She would do a couple of brush strokes for the bunny and then a couple for herself and then back to the bunny. Reminded me of Noelle in the goat pen at the Phoenix Zoo a couple years ago.

Last but not least, this strange lizard named Raspberry. I can't remember what kind it is, but I know it stores water in its cheek pockets and fat in the belly pockets. And of course Noelle was all over the slimy creature. Definitely not a trait she got from me.

There were many new guinea pigs to hold and cry over as well as two very mischievous white ferrets. Apparently they're famous, but it wasn't a movie I was familiar with.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T21:59:00.006-07:00

It was a pretty spectacular Halloween around here. Bigger than we usually do. Noelle was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. During the three days of festivities she did her best to wear her new costume out. I predict that Sis will not be wearing that as a hand-me-down only because I really don't think it will last that long. Noelle's hair was courtesy of a neighbor-friend who's house I was at as a costume was being returned. I took one look in the bag and knew that was what we had been looking for the whole time. It was perfect. Noelle was pleased as punch with her Ariel attire.

Sis was a ladybug. She was a cute little, determined, ladybug. She gets a little more feisty each day and is learning to hold her own. The only problem is that she and Noelle fight already and Sis is a hair puller and a biter.

Look at the fear on Noelle's face as she has to hold on to Sis' hand for the picture. She's worried she's going to get bitten, because that's what usually happens when you grab onto this baby. All Sis wanted to do was run away. Such a stinker.

Noelle's preschool had a little Halloween day and for the last few minutes they put on a show for the parents. The little guy in white on the right was pretty darn funny.

I had to add this picture of the Captain Jack Sparrow. He was sitting next to Noelle and kept poking at her with is foam sword and dagger. He then said something to the fact that he's Jack Sparrow and he's allergic to mermaids. Too funny.

This picture of Noelle is a couple days before Halloween. She wasn't feeling too great at the beginning of the week and I was worried she wouldn't feel well enough for all the festivities. She pulled through and seems to be feeling better. Poor kid, just look at that pitiful look on her face.

My inner dutch girl

2010-11-02T16:28:00.002-07:00

My inner dutch girl thinks this bike is the bomb. I can just imagine riding around with my ragamuffins in the bucket and Reggie in a basket on the front. Oh the looks we'd get. It would be awesome. Check out the other Madsen Bikes here.

Delighting in the Spooky Season

2010-10-21T09:20:00.005-07:00

(scary face)
Noelle is getting ready for Halloween. She's been prancing around in her costume that I made by accident. I hadn't at all intended to make a costume for her and her mind was ever changing on what it was exactly that she was going to be for Halloween. First she was going to a spider, which is her go-to costume idea every year or so it seems. Then she got hooked on the idea of being a tiger. A tiger, what the? Where would I come up with a tiger costume that didn't look like she was trying to be sexy or cool. She's four, the cool factor has yet to fully set in and I'm not about to facilitate such things. I already have to put up with being told things aren't "rock n' roll" enough as it is, however I could figure out tiger if I had to. Needless to say we went to the fabric store, looking for something unrelated to Halloween costumes, and found this great green fish scale looking material. My mind went into dress-up mode and so we bought a yard.

(the wind on Halloween)

It sat in the bag until Noelle remembered we bought it and then it was turned into a skirt, cape and whipping toy for Reggie. I figured I'd better hop to it and make that dress-up mermaid fin. It was great for about two seconds until Noelle wouldn't wear the leotard with it and wanted her own set of seashells on top. So we went back to the fabric store and snatched up a few things and two Sis naps later we had a full on mermaid costume. The only problem was getting it off Noelle long enough for it not to be worn out by Halloween. Boo somehow managed to convince her to hang it in the closet until then.

In the meantime we're working on Reggie's costume and well Sis gets the hand-me-costumes that Noelle wore. Its either that or she can be a bag of jellybeans for the next five years of her life like I was.

To add to our spookiness we've done our best and adding bats to our walls and of course a ghost. This ghost project has been on my list of things to do for a couple years and I finally got around to buying all the supplies. I haven't figured out how I'm going to store Casper. Sure wish I had a basement for my junk.

October also marks the time of year for our annual family photo shoot. Stay tuned for more pics. Sis did a good job until it was time for her nap and Noelle just wanted to strike serious poses (if you can't tell from the above photos.) I might go for round two later today to see what we come up with. Happy haunting in the meantime.

Animal Class - Week 2

2010-10-11T13:54:00.002-07:00

This week was Australia week and to be completely honest it was a little bit of a let down. Sure there was animals there that I'd probably never see that up close, but they weren't as tame as last week's brood.

There are not pictures this time, because I'm lame like that. But we saw a Blue Tongue Skink, a Sugar Glider, Brush-Tailed Bettong along with the Paca babies and a new heard of guinea pigs.

The good part = less crying when it was time to leave.
The bad part = skinks can carry salmonella. Yuck.

Next week is North America and we get to meet a skunk. Stay tuned.

Camping 101

2010-10-04T14:14:00.005-07:00

This past weekend we went camping in the Tonto National Forest at a place called Bear Flat. It was a nice to get away from the cacti and see pine trees and other green foliage. Clearly this is a place popular for fishing as we encountered many day visitors but managed to be the only over nighters brave enough. Or maybe its stupid enough. Either way we had a nice time together and our kids seemed to also enjoy the change of scenery.

Reggie thought it was great to be able to wander in the wilderness. So much so, that he wandered off and made friends with some of the fishermen. Don't worry, because Boo already did that for you, we found him two minutes later bouncing all around the strangers doing his best to be adopted into their family.

This is pretty much the epitome of what our kids did the whole time. Noelle thought it was cool to throw the fine-grained soil into the air to make "magic." This was not especially pleasing to the dad when she would do it next to our tent and it would waft into the windows.

The water was nice and chilly. Almost take your breath away chilly.
I'm not sure what's up with this pose, but it was all she was willing to do for a picture.

It rained pretty much all night long and so we woke up to Noelle's second favorite thing to play in, mud. Sydney managed to find any sort of rock or acorn to put in her mouth. As a result she looked like so. Stinkin' cute if you ask me.

For any friends out there thinking about going camping with small children I offer up a small list of things to consider for your trip to the wilderness.

1. Take rope. It comes in handy if you need to tie up a wandering dog or a toddler that wants to play in the fire pit.

2. Setting up the tent you had to borrow in your living room the night before sounds overly ridiculous, but helps get the eye rolling out of your system when you have to do if for real.

3. Invest in an air mattress or some other sort of sleeping pad that doesn't require MacGyver skills to inflate. If you're like us it tends to be more along the lines of MacGruber.

4. Think through every scenario so that you don't forget crucial things like plates. Its very hard to prepare any meals without plates. Or clean out a fire pit without a shovel.

5. Pack a few extra clothes for your kids and let them go wild. You will both be much happier when they occupy themselves in the dirt for long periods of time.

6. If at all possible, opt out of sleeping with the baby. And better yet opt out of baby on shared air mattress. You might find yourself airborne at some point when co-sleeper gets up in the night and you find yourself trying to make sure baby doesn't roll off, or get squished in the meantime.

7. Do not let your mind wander off into any worst case scenarios. Because that sound you hear probably isn't a murderer in the woods and you don't sleep very well.

8. Pack more food than you might actually consume in a 36 hour period. You'll all be happier that way.

9. If you have to make a quick stop at RadioShack for your trip out of town, chances are you're not going to be happy. I'm just sayin'.

10. Have a tent that is large enough for two families even if you are only a four man troupe. Having space inside the tent is essential. Save that body heat business for the Himylayas.

Miracle of Miracles

2010-10-04T13:44:00.006-07:00

After nearly 18 months of living in our house, we finally installed our microwave. Thank you Uncle Scott for coming to our house for a visit and leaving us with such a lovely looking kitchen.

(Scott and Boo making a plan)

See that metal thing on our wall? We had no idea what it was for and no instructions on how to install our microwave. We also thought for some reason that the microwave we had would be much to large for the space and would hang too close to the stove. Wrong. Then we had to change the fan so that it would blow the right direction for the set-up we have. We never would have thought to undo a few screws and flip it around.

The crookedness of this picture is funny for some reason. Maybe because I don't claim to be much of a photographer and seriously its just a picture of my stove. I keep looking for a faint image of the Holy Mother to appear so that I can confirm that it really is a miracle.

Since installation, we have had a couple of people ask us if we got new appliances. We laugh it off and just answer honestly, that we finally put our microwave where it's supposed to be.

As a side note, it also cleared off a fair amount of counter space and has made for much less clutter in the obvious places.

Animal Class

2010-10-04T11:40:00.005-07:00

Our town does a great job at offering many different things for families and kids to do. We've taken music classes and swimming lessons and now we're doing an animal class. Its strange, but very cool at the same time.

This week we learned about animals from South America, all in the rodent family. We might as well play with the rodents that other people have, because we'll never have our own. That spotted animal is called a Paca. I hear they're kind of tasty. That crazy thing is only three days old.

Noelle fell in love with the Guinea Pigs. She cried buckets when it was time to give it back.

This is Tutu the African Crested Porcupine (See here for more information)

Sydney thought that Quinn the Patagonian Cavy was pretty spectacular. Those two followed each other around the room for a long time.

Next week we'll be learning more about animals from Australia.

One More for Good Luck

2010-10-04T08:30:00.004-07:00

Why not discover more crafty people in the blogosphere? Another crafty friend of mine is doing a give away. She does clever things to recycle clothing, makes cute baby gifts, and she does awesome sketch work.

So in the spirit of give-a-ways Baby Night Night Boutique is giving away a hand drawn portrait to one of her lucky readers.

Go check her out and become a follower today.

A Sweet Surprise

2010-09-29T15:51:00.003-07:00

Some friends of mine have a great little Etsy shop that makes custom jewelry. Its called The Pretty Poppy. If you're looking to give a nice personalized gift they do great work.

As an added bonus you should visit their blog and enter their rockin' give-a-way they are hosting through October 5th. Click on the image to advance to their blog. Good luck to all who enter. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win.

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My

2010-09-26T14:34:00.004-07:00

This weekend we took Noelle to the circus. Three rings of ghetto glory. My past experience with the circus is summed up with Ringling Bros. This circus experience really can't be compared to such fine acts. Our circus had about ten performers, total. The same girl that was painting faces before the show and during intermission was also the contortionist, the amazing Ruby Red and I'm pretty sure about ten other things.
Although the number of performers were few, they did a great job. The elephants were awesome and the camels, I swear, were dancing to the music. We were entertained and Noelle didn't know the difference. My how surprised she will be when she sees the Ringling Bros. for the first time.

Tough Decisions

2010-09-10T14:14:00.003-07:00

When we finished potty training with Noelle, which I swear it feels like it was only a few months ago (I mean nights included,) I really thought that there couldn't be anything left that would be so darn agonizing and hard. Then she started pre-school and I thought my life had been changed forever, for the good. She was in school with kids she loved and doing little crafty projects and learning how to write her name and for a while the world was on its axis the way it should be. Unfortunately the stars always find a way to become unaligned and then we have to come up with a new plan because the same old thing just isn't cutting it. Noelle still loves school, and her teacher, but my gut tells me she needs more than that. You see she comes home and shows me what she's done and all I can imagine is that she blew through it in two seconds and then played the rest of the time. I might be mistaken, but she needs some sort of academic challenge. We're past colors and numbers and shapes. She needs to figure out what numbers represent and start learning some sight words.

So after much discussion, and a lot of emotional gut pangs, we decided we'd pull her out of her current pre-school class and try something different. She of course doesn't know this yet and won't be happy come November. I'm terrified. What if I screw her up? What if....we're not friends at the end of this experiment? (When Noelle is mad at me she tells me we're not friends, but that she still loves me. Nice huh?)

So with some encouragement from other moms doing the same thing we're going to give it a go. My goal is that she'll be a strong reader by this time next year and that she'll understand that when you have five cookies and your dad eats two, you'll only be left with three.

And all you who might be worried she won't be socially fantastic, don't worry your pretty little minds. We'll find some creative social outlets for her through playgroups and other things we have planned.

The Blog

2010-09-08T15:31:00.002-07:00

I've considered committing blog suicide. Its grown a little old and really my life merits nothing exciting. I should go back to the two family dwelling in Massachusetts that practically wrote blog entries for me. Between the folks I found on public transportation and our wacky neighbors I was full of stories. I'm still deciding. In the meantime I found this article about writing blogs. Ten good things to think about.

While you read that, I'm going to go get Sydney a drink of water so that she doesn't have to suck it out of the AquaDoodle pens.

The Blanket

2010-08-27T13:48:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I threw Sydney's blanket into the wash because it smelled of all things gross. She spotted it in the laundry hamper and tried to pull it out, at which point I hurried and put it in the washer. Since she and Reggie are my shadows they followed me into the laundry room when I went in to change it to the dryer. Knowing she would want the blanket if she saw it I threw it to the very back of the dryer. Well she spotted it in there too and practically climbed in just to reach a corner of her wet blanket. So I hurried and shoved all the wet laundry that she'd pulled out to get to the blanket back in and turned the dryer on and this is what ensued after. I didn't catch the part of her standing at the door of the dryer trying to open it, but you'll get the point.

Summer 2010

2010-07-28T13:29:00.010-07:00

Well school has started and playgroup is set and we're just trying to get our lives back into some sort of routine so that we can function in the world again. Although, it sounds like summer is over its still a hefty 110 and humid thanks to the monsoon season here in Arizona.

First and foremost I should let you all know that we did indeed find our dog (aka brother) Reggie. After a 24 hour spree of life in the fast lane we found him at the pound in a kennel with some chiuauas that looked as if they'd had their way with him. That also might explain his hysteria as we walked away because the lady didn't have a key with her. Reggie learned some tricks in the slammer and passed kennel cough around to all his friends, even though vaccinated. We later found out a nice lady picked him up, or should I say he jumped in her car, and then called us to let us know she had found him. I'm pretty sure she found him in the front yard of my parent's house. Whatever.

So now that life has slowed a bit here's a recap of our summer for anyone who cares.

This is our family at the "bucket pool." We spent many days here for swimming lessons and as a way to get out of the house for a couple hours a few days a week.

Sydney celebrated her first birthday. She preferred smashing the cupcake more than eating it.

We ventured to Utah for the greater part of July. As we rolled into town we came across these hobos. Somehow they all share some resemblance.

We celebrated the Fourth of July in style with the whole neighborhood at the 19th annual neighborhood parade. It was good to see old friends and strange to see kids I used to babysit all grown up. Makes me feel old.

Noelle really liked the Utah Museum of Natural History. Although the dinosaur bones were really cool, I think she liked the mineral section and the bugs the best. She was even brave enough to hold a live Madagascar cockroach. Yuck!

The girls had fun splashing in their grandmas' backyard pools. This is just one of those times.

This is Noelle's "I'm dead" face.

We ventured to Island Park with some good friends and had a fantastic time away from the heat and noise of day to day life. It was so beautiful up there. Jenny always spoils us with good food and lots of Play-doh time.

Sydney and Cal at Johnny Sack's cabin at Big Springs.

Noelle didn't want to go so she just sat on the log pretending she couldn't hear me talking to her. She must have been contemplating the things of the world.

When we got back from Idaho we went to Cherry Hill with Grammy and the cousins. Noelle had so much fun and even went down the big dragon slide and wasn't afraid. She told Boo that we were cheerleaders all the way down.

A zen moment for Noelle. This was all her.

Later in our travels we visited This is the Place Monument. The sky couldn't decide if it should rain or shine, so it did both on and off. First it would pour then sun, then pour again. We just made sure when we heard thunder that we were at a house with a porch.

Grandma and Grandpa bought old fashioned candy from one of the stores and Sydney thought it was the best thing ever.

Noelle and Sydney with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Ted

As we were leaving we spotted this cute old wagon that needed its picture taken. So we plopped the girls on there and the end result was pretty cute. These two sure love each other.

In celebration for Pioneer Day we ran a 10k that winds through Salt Lake. Each of us has run it several times throughout our lives, but this was the first time we'd all run it together. We all did pretty well too. For doing so well I awarded all of us with a bagel medal. It was pretty funny.

On our trip home we missed the first turn toward our destination, so we ended up going up through Brian Head and stopped at Cedar Breaks to take a look. That's a really nice drive for anyone looking to take a little road trip. Reggie didn't like the winding road up the canyon and ended up barfing all over his kennel and the car, but it was worth the views.

And that's the end. Stay tuned for Fall 2010, which might be my next post at the rate I'm going.

Lost The Dog

2010-07-11T10:51:00.002-07:00

Hey friends that read this blog I have lost Reggie! I know there are Salt Lake friends out there that read this and I'm doing all things media related to help find him. Noelle is sooo sad. He wandered out of the back yard today and of all the days it had to be the one when he didn't have his collar on. Ughhhhh. So if you read this and are in the Sugar House/ Foothill area keep an eye out for the sweetest, nicest dog ever. Here's his most recent mug shot.

All Finished

2010-05-31T21:00:00.004-07:00

It was kind of painful, but its all finished. I really wish you all could have seen it with its ten coats of lacquer. So the new dresser went from this - (I can not get the underlines to go away)

To this -

Its so cute in Noelle's room and really it looks good in my living room (where it was when photographed.) I'm slightly jealous of her bedroom furniture.

Its Summertime

2010-05-21T08:45:00.003-07:00

Today is the official start of summer in her four year old little mind. Last day of school and then its all about the swimsuits and pools for her.

Noelle inducted Sydney into the realm of pool time yesterday. She didn't seem to mind.

Happy Summer Everyone!

A Preview

2010-05-04T15:47:00.004-07:00

Just a little snippet of what we've been working on lately. Boo called it a piece of junk, but I'm sure he'll be happier when the laundry baskets aren't full of our kids clothes.

The Dad

2010-04-09T21:56:00.003-07:00

Noelle pretty much thinks that Boo is the cat's meow. And I'm pretty much chopped liver. Lately she's been very proudly telling everyone that her dad uses a lawn motor. I can't bring myself to correct her. Its too funny.

Boo has also introduced her to the idea of the Slip n' Slide. He told her all about it over dinner last night and she now is trying to "earn" a Slip n' Slide of her own. Once again Boo will be her hero. I just can't wait to watch him on the Slip n' Slide.

Stinkin' Easter Bunny

2010-04-03T22:19:00.003-07:00

That's me. The stinkin' Easter bunny. I thought I had it all done and then remembered that I said I'd get the candy later. By later I didn't think it would be at 9pm the Saturday before Easter. Wal-Mart was abuzz with all the other loser parents wandering aimlessly through the aisles. Seriously it was like watching apes. We were all scratching our heads wondering where all the jelly beans had gone and why there wasn't a decent piece of chocolate to be had. Such a sorry sight. Lesson learned: get the candy early.

Side note: I told Noelle we'd be going to a neighbor's house for an Easter egg hunt. She asked me if the Easter bunny would hide eggs around our house. I said he might. Then her eyes lit up and she said "There will be candy in them and toys!" Ugghhhhh why did I do that last year? Then there was the candy shortage and well I'm going to have to make up a lie and tell her that the Easter bunny must have hid them all at her friend's house.

Good Riddance to March

2010-04-02T21:16:00.002-07:00

I'm glad March is over. I breathe a big sigh of relief. During March we had seven doctor's visits. Three doses of antibiotics, two doses of steroids, breathing treatments, three blood tests, chest x-ray, lots of runny noses and coughing, coughing, coughing. Coughing to the point of throwing up on more than one occasion. We all had something awful.

So here's to hoping that April will continue to be as lovely as it has been the last two days.

Birthday Week Re-cap

2010-03-31T21:48:00.005-07:00

She doesn't want me to stick a Barbie in the cake next time. Her words not mine.

The presents from Mom & Dad... or Auntie.
BTW, those bubbles are truly that large, and she filled it about a quarter full of pea gravel. I can't bring myself to throw them away. Seriously.

She has wanted paints for a very long time.

The Ariel costume that is "just like Madelyn's."

This giant bubble wand is one of those things that she saw on television and Ooo'd and Awww'd over. Thanks to her little friends who joined us for a birthday lunch and brought this coveted wand with them. She uses it also to whack at some of my plants. Does not make Mama happy.

Typical outfit - the crown was from her VIP day at school.

I had to add in this picture from the night we went to dinner with Auntie, JW and "Uncle Bictor."
We waited forever and all the kids were so good. Sydney, well she's my little ray of sunshine.

One of the other rockstars who was so good to wait forever for some dinner. Notice the sun has now gone down. Oh how I just love to snuggle him. He loves him some Auntie time too.

Happy Birthday Noelle

2010-03-30T17:42:00.003-07:00

We've been celebrating since Saturday. She has loved almost every gift, even if she thinks everything we gave her was from her Auntie. She informed me that next year she does not want me to put a Barbie in her cake. (picture to come) Despite my efforts, Boo is the big winner for buying her a hula hoop.

The Pretty Poppy

2010-03-29T10:22:00.002-07:00

If any of my blog readers out there need a personalized gift check out the Pretty Poppy at their Etsy Shop.

Also, check out this great letterpress shop, out of Idaho, The Dingbat's Agenda. I love letterpress - mostly because I'm a tactile person and well with letterpress I can actually feel the words. Mmmmm.... makes me so happy. When I'm rich I will have monogrammed letterpress stationary.

Go take a look at both of these little shops.

Utah

2010-03-20T21:21:00.004-07:00

We don't usually tra vel to Utah this time of year, ie. winter. But it was nice to see the mountains all covered in snow and to play in it for a day or two. Sure glad we were able to see all of our families and a few friends while we were at it.Uncle Riley's farewell

Noelle with Frank the cat

Playing dress-ups with some cousins

Sydney and Cassie being cuties together

Noelle enjoying snow! Good thing I bought her some snow pants two years ago and they finally fit and we found a use for them.

The Grand Finale

2010-03-20T19:04:00.003-07:00

Man o' man are we going to sleep good tonight. We worked all day long so that we could get all of our grass finished. But we're excited to have our own miniature soccer field and play ground in our back yard. It feels great to be finished with this massive project. Not sure I'd tackle it again in the same fashion (would probably hire more day laborers.) Here's to no more shoveling and no more mud baths.

The play set was assembled by Boo while the girls and I were in Utah. I've already hit my quota on time standing there pushing the swingers. Not my favorite thing. Also the gravel came on Thursday afternoon and since I couldn't find any young men to help shovel it out of the driveway I paid some young women. They were great workers and better sports about it all.

Back to the Future

2010-02-26T21:26:00.003-07:00

Grandpa Randy was in Arizona for an old-time shoot out event. We were lucky enough to see him a couple of times while he was in the neighborhood. It was like Back to the Future III. The old west meets fifth wheels and custom motor homes. Noelle even got to meet a real life cowgirl.

Hot Pants

2010-02-26T21:12:00.004-07:00

I just read a great post on The Apron Stage about conforming and matching and some other things that rang true to my spirit. Then just after I finished reading that entry Noelle walked in the office wearing this.
She loves to wear anything that she deems beautiful or fun. The night we picked up Reggie she was wearing a different swimsuit that looked like a ballerina get up with tutu and all, same boots. Boo and I agreed she looked like Ladybug Girl. I sometimes have to roll my eyes and remember she's only three and not for very much longer, which is why I don't mind if Cinderella is my shopping partner.

Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get?

2010-02-23T21:27:00.003-07:00

You get to drive one of these things and load another twelve tons. This is what's left of the second load of rocks for our yard. 28 tons total.Boo's shoulders barely fit in the cage. It was a small little machine, just 36" wide so that it would fit through our gate. But as you can see Boo can manage anything with those huge muscles.
He's so tough. Here's a sneak peak at the progress of the back yard. Thanks to the rain on Saturday it hasn't changed much except that its a muddy mess still and my flip flops got stuck in the mud.

Weekend with JW

2010-02-23T21:20:00.003-07:00

This little guy wasn't sure what planet he'd landed on after meeting these crazies.

For Better or For Worse

2010-02-14T19:56:00.003-07:00

Hopefully for the better, we'd like to introduce you to Reggie. He's the newest member of Team Albertsen.Prince Reginald

Also, here is a sneak peak at the progress of the back yard. Its coming right along. Noelle does a really good job of wearing this poor guy out. Now only if we can teach him that Sydney's fingers are not sausages.

Two Feet

2010-02-05T22:40:00.002-07:00

The other day while helping Noelle put on some pants, she kept telling me that she was four inches tall. I tried to correct her by saying four feet*. She looked at me confused and said, "I only have two feet."

*Clearly she isn't actually four feet tall, but its closer to accuracy than four inches.

Team Albertsen Relief Fund

2010-01-26T16:17:00.002-07:00

Help desperate children like these get a backyard soon!

Sydney in the exersaucer watching Noelle make mud pies in the backyard.

I was talking to a sprinkler guy and it was beyond control by the time I got to her.

Giant Brains

2010-01-20T13:31:00.003-07:00

Today while at Costco waiting to have new tires put on our car, Noelle and I shared some pizza, mexican french toast (aka churro) and a sprite. While eating her cut up pieces of pizza she was examining each one and telling me what shape they were. One was a diamond, a new shape she just learned about at school, and the other a triangle. I looked at her and asked her how she got to be so smart and she told me, "I'm a genius. That means I'm smart and I have a big brain."

New Year Blogging

2010-01-18T11:00:00.004-07:00

I am addicted to my GoogleReader and as much as I hate to admit how sad I am when there isn't anything new to read I am then reminded how guilty I am at not updating those who might still care what I post on here. I had a Christmas update post going and its still in the draft collection of my blog.

Believe it or not my brain still works after having a baby nearly seven months ago. As much as I think it might have shriveled up and died it's still in there, thinking away about what to post on my blog. Sometimes it even tells me that I should just give up on this darn thing and commit blog suicide. However, I keep telling my brain that there are still some funny things that happen around our house and I make a little mental note to share them with my blog community and by the time I sit down to tell you all about it, I've forgotten the good details.

With all that said, I have been thinking about things I'm going to do this year. Resolutions I guess, but really I'm not resolving to do anything all that much better. Realistically I'm not going to get any better at making dinner. The recipes might change, but I'd say that for the six or so days a week that I actually make dinner I've got the national odds beat. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be any better at house keeping this year. Maybe I'll find a better groove though. Having visitors come usually kicks me into gear. What I have decided however is that I'm going to do more things for me and my family. Things to make us happier. We're pretty happy people, I think. Boo might not be, but if that's the case he's doing a pretty good job of covering it up. (If he even reads this far down it will be a miracle.)

We have a lot to be happy about. 2009 (not to be said 20-0-9 like on CBS Sunday Morning - drives me crazy) was a year to remember. We had a busy year. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and bought a house on the same day. We beat the national average of eight years! Then a month later we had a baby. We enjoyed our first full length family vacation. Hosted a Thanksgiving feast for family. Celebrated Christmas at our house without family. And we didn't have any bar exams!
So my plan for 2010 is to do a few things for myself, that will make me happy for years to come I'm sure. I am going to quilt for me this year. In the past couple of years I've given away a lot of quilts for some pretty darn cute babies, but this is the year I get to finish one for myself/ family. I might even do two. This is also the year to get our house in order. Work on food storage, which scares me immensely. Get our back yard put in so we have a place to hang out and play together as a family and with friends. Just the thought of 10 tons of rock is exciting and frightening.
This is a good list of lofty expectations. But very realistic too.
Here's to 2010 and doing good things. Come and visit, or come shovel rock. I'll do my best to keep you updated on the progress over the year and throw in a few pictures and a bit of humor along the way.
Happy New Year!

Redeeming Qualities

2010-01-08T09:38:00.002-07:00

Phoenix was listed as one of 16 places to find sunshine this time of year. (Popped up on my MSN when I logged in, I promise.)

Come visit the valley of the sun during its best time of year.

Tis the Season

2009-12-20T16:27:00.002-07:00

This was the basic message of the lesson I taught today. I showed this at the end of the lesson. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have. I also love this song.

To watch the video click here

Shadow Dancing

2009-12-18T11:21:00.002-07:00

Nice Noelle

2009-12-18T11:13:00.002-07:00

Because all goats need help walking. You might have to watch it twice to get the real effect. Look closely.

Naughty Noelle

2009-12-18T10:54:00.003-07:00

I sure hope she likes it, because it will be there for a couple of days I'm sure.

You Know It!

2009-12-17T21:26:00.002-07:00

Today, as with every other day, Noelle got a little sad as I was brushing her hair (apparently too hard) and the following conversation ensued.
Noelle - "I want my Daddy." (crying)
Mom - "Why do you want Dad? Don't you know I'm the coolest?"
Noelle - "Oh."

Crying stopped and all was right with the world for two seconds.

*Noelle always wants which ever parent is not currently home. Always.

Thoughts on a Christmas Card

2009-12-07T12:06:00.005-07:00

Well its time to send out Christmas cards and I'm already a week behind. This is the one time of year that I make a special effort for people who we don't talk to regularly and spend a little more than postage on them all.

This year there won't be glitter and cutting and ribbon. I'll just be happy to get the stamps on them. The hard part this year was getting a decent picture. We barely did and boy am I glad I didn't spend big bucks on a professional after the experience we had.

Here are some of the losers that will give you an idea of our time spent taking pictures.

Auntie said that Noelle can sometimes be a tool and boy was she right. Needless to say, we didn't make it to McDonald's for ice cream after.

Halloween Recap

2009-11-02T08:13:00.006-07:00

We had a great, easy Halloween. Noelle had decided early on in October that she would be a black widow spider. Boo and I started discussing how we would go about making a spider costume that was really cool without being too expensive. We also looked at spider costumes online and decided they were to cheesy. Then a miracle happened. Like any other three year old, Noelle changed her mind. She was now going to be Cinderella and a spider. After many attempts at explaining that you can only be one or the other she decided on Cinderella with tap shoes. (curses on those tap shoes). I nixed the tap shoes for trick-or-treating, however for the school costume day she insisted. I figured why not let someone else suffer those tap shoes for a couple hours.

We started our Halloween week celebrations with some classic sugar cookies. I learned not to mess with a good thing. I altered the cookie recipe and was sorely disappointed. But as you can see, Noelle and her friend didn't mind.

Noelle's friend showed up ready to get her cookie on. She also brought an apron for Noelle.

Cinderella getting ready for school.

Watch out Miss America, Noelle's been practicing her wave.

This is the Riff-Raff. Captain America is my favorite and the giant fairy wings that nearly took out an eye.

This is the best picture for featuring the tap shoes and the static cling of Noelle's dress. She's going to need therapy for this picture.

This is Noelle's friend Dyllan L. She can't say his name without also saying his last name. Its pretty funny. She always tells me about him when I pick her up.

Halloween Night! Cinderella and a purple dragon.

Noelle was afraid of this house and she thought it had a stinky smell. (fog)

Viva Las Vegas

2009-10-20T08:58:00.007-07:00

We took a weekend trip to Las Vegas so that we could cheer on the Utes at the Utah vs. UNLV football game. Thanks to our good friends the Stringhams we had a weekend filled with golf, a tiny bit of shopping, beading, swimming and a three day playdate for Noelle and Trey. The babies did great at the game, all things considered.

TRADITION! Cookies at the condo are one of the traditions we have. Yum!

Noelle playing hopscotch in her PJs.

Swimming

Check out the Riff-Raff

Noelle and Sydney sporting their "Go Utes" sweaters.

Thanks to Grandma Nay for making them so they would have matching.

Sydney's sweater was a group effort. :) Ask me why I ever even try knitting anything.

No Shame

2009-10-09T21:45:00.012-07:00

I've entered Noelle into a photo contest. Its not even the first time I've done it and I don't feel bad either. She's cute and our last entry was a success coming in at second place. In this contest I'll take top 20.

If you're willing to go through the trouble of creating a log in for yourself we'd love any and all to participate in the voting. You can vote daily. I can think of at least five people that will join me on this daily quest. Thanks to all five of you even if we don't win.

Click here to go to the voting page

Baby Girl ID: 102066115

By the way, I think these pictures are pretty awesome, even if they didn't make the cut! Also not bad for setting up a sheet in the corner of my bedroom so I could have good afternoon light. Hobo home studio.

Also, as if Noelle's pictures weren't enough, look at her sister. This girl melts my heart.

FHE

2009-10-06T11:17:00.004-07:00

I guess the time has come to officially start, or at least try to have Family Home Evenings. We've done small things and called it such, but last night we really gathered together and talked about good things and tried to keep it simple for Noelle. Boo even had a game that was simple enough for her to play. All in all, it was a disaster. She was terrible. Running around the house, literally rolling around on the floor and throwing pillows at her sister. Boo and I kept looking at each other with a very clear understanding of expressions. "We're doomed." I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry. I think I did a little of both, seriously. Our whole experience may have lasted all of ten minutes. We both kept thinking about Elder Bednar's talk in conference about how FHE went in their house. We even laughed a little.
The only saving grace was that this morning, while in the shower Noelle asked me if I remembered that we had FHE last night. It opened up a little discussion about it, she thought it was fun, couldn't remember anything we had tried to teach her, but knew it was FHE. So here's to hoping that next week we have a little less running around and flailing limbs and that she learns something.

UPDATE: Noelle has been asking to play family home evening. I told her we will do it again on Monday. She doesn't know when Monday will come, but boy oh boy is she ever excited.

Summer's End

2009-09-09T12:26:00.004-07:00

We bid a fond farewell to the summer in New England by visiting its shores, our family, our friends and the places that we love so much. We even felt cold at times. It was delightful.

Noelle at Scarborough Beach, ME - She was the only brave one to go in the water from our group. It was frigid.
Ian enjoyed the delicious desserts at the Pop Over Cafe in Portsmouth, NH.

We found a cute yarn shop, which I bought red yummy yarn for a sweater for Sydney. Turned out cute. Maybe I'll post it sometime. Noelle couldn't make a normal smiling face to save her life.

We built "temples" with blocks at Great Grammy's house. Noelle was just aching to knock it down, which she did after we took the picture.

Noelle and Boo at the Clam Shack near Two Lights State Park, ME.

Stone Chairs with the whole family.

Noelle on the stone chair. Can't remember the name of this lighthouse, but its now privately owned.

Ferry boat ride through Casco Bay, ME. We stopped at a few of the islands, saw some wild life and then had a delightful seafood lunch afterwards.

Sydney Smiles! Sebago Lake, ME

Noelle and Cousin Andrea floating in the tube at Sebago Lake, ME

She was so happy to be outside for ten days straight.

Sydney in her new sun hat, ala $.50!

Family Fun Day/ BBQ.

Boo and some law school friends. We went to Boston for our good friends' wedding and got to see people from the past. They couldn't believe we had two kids. My how time flies.

Boo and Rach at the wedding.

Thanks D for the scarf. It saved my life.

Noelle, Sydney & Lauren. These girls were loving "baby sister" - I'm not sure

she could say the same about them. Also, once again Noelle couldn't just smile, she had to flex her huge muscles instead.

Noelle Update

2009-08-25T13:49:00.003-07:00

So to be equal opportunity here I must post updates for both girls so that they don't need as much counseling when they're older.

Noelle started preschool. She likes it. She won't tell me what they do there or what they talk about, but she's happy to go and is happy when I pick her up. She's very excited to be going on a trip in a few days to see her Great Grammy and Great Papa, and her regular Grammy and Papa will be there with us too. She's been very full of funny stories lately and one of them has to do with a monkey that poops either on a glass slipper or on Uncle Daniel, just depends on the day.

On this particular day she came in and told me she was going to be a "gymmastic." I corrected her and said, "A gymnast?" She said, "No Mom, a gymmastic." She then asked if I'd take her picture and told me she would smile "like this." And she did.

Notice that her leotard is inside out and backwards.
Here she's playing in the water fountains at the water tower in downtown Gilbert. Its a new favorite spot that has great food and people like to walk around and hang out. Noelle was very concerned that she didn't have her swim suit. We told her it was fine to just play in her clothes and that we would take them off before we got in the car. It took her a minute to realize we were serious.

Sharing her special pink silky blanket with Sydney.

Playing dress ups with some of the new bling from Aunt Kati.

Sydney Update

2009-08-25T13:40:00.003-07:00

The only update is that she's still pretty cute, oh and she's starting to smile, but I couldn't capture it on camera because I'm too slow and I can't make funny faces and talk like a moron and take pictures all at the same time. Sorry I'm just not that cool.

A half smile - she and I look very similar as babies and if I ever get my scanner to work again I'll show you the proof.

A favorite dress; my favorite because its cute, Boo's favorite because its not pink.

And then there was Boo...

2009-08-11T21:11:00.003-07:00

This is Boo as his dad reincarnate.

Artwork

2009-08-11T17:07:00.004-07:00

My sister came up to me and said "Do you want to see the art work that Noelle did on our tile?" My first reaction, which she could see on my face was, Oh no, what kind of pen or marker did she get a hold of and what kind of damage could it have caused? I didn't think this because she causes lots of damage at home, its just that Uncle Vic wouldn't be too happy to find something like that on his tile. However, Auntie assured me it wasn't anything bad.

The feet always make me laugh when I see this picture.

She said she found the art work after she had been in her bathroom blow drying her

hair. When she asked Noelle who it was a picture of she said, "Its you Auntie."

New Do

2009-08-11T13:54:00.005-07:00

I've been thinking about getting a new hair-do. I acutally have an appointment for Friday. Let me know which look you think is best. I'll let you know which Noelle vetoed.

VETOED!

Looks like my grandma.

This picture looks just like some of my LeFevre cousins.

Classic

2009-08-04T16:47:00.002-07:00

Today while snacking on popcorn in the Target cafeteria there was a strange man sitting eating popcorn and having a soda with his sunglasses on and a serious accessory issue. His toupee was hideously obvious. Besides that, he was creeping me out because he was staring at someone. I couldn't tell if it was one of the checkers or just the women shopping at the Target. Needless to say he wasn't interested in me and my motherly ways.

Note to Boo: You will never have a toupee, no matter how bald and how big your head gets, it just won't happen.

Sydney - 5 Weeks

2009-08-01T22:03:00.002-07:00

Don't you just want to eat her up?

Utah '09

2009-08-01T21:28:00.005-07:00

This summer's trip was no different from summers of our past. We filled it with friends and family, lots of food, and of course a few really good laughs. Thank to you all for taking time to visit with us. And for those we didn't get to see, maybe next time.

Noelle loved being able to be outside without melting or getting extremely dusty. I hope her outdoor time will tide her over until the Arizona summer comes to an end.

Noelle and Gracie at the fire pit.
Cousin Tanner & Noelle enjoying some sun.

Thanks Carmen for driving down from ID to see us.

All of the Roos' minus the parents.

Cousin Cassie and Sydney at Aunt Emma's wedding. They hated their tutus if you can't tell.

Noelle and Sydney

Boo's girls

Boo Berry & Billy Boy

Noelle was a rock-star all day during the wedding festivities. She was even able to be happy after falling out of the photo booth. Emma and John had a photo booth at their reception (pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen at a wedding), Noelle and I were getting ready to have our pictures taken together when she climbed in and sat back ready to go. However, the back of the booth just had a curtain and she rolled right out. Poor thing.

Actually she was a rock-star for almost the whole trip. We might actually survive each other.

Auntie and Sydney

Community Bath Time

2009-08-01T21:25:00.003-07:00

Sometimes things go betther than other times.

Sydney and Noelle Survive Week One

2009-07-09T15:08:00.002-07:00

It really hasn't been so bad.

She's a great sleeper.

Very mellow, mild mannered.

Can endure hugs and snuggles from Noelle, who really likes to hold her, rub her head, and pick off any dry skin. Noelle even says we can keep her.

Steadfast

2009-07-03T14:40:00.003-07:00

Neither parent nor child was willing to give in, until she fell asleep at the table.

We don't usually have problems getting Noelle to eat her dinner, however with all the changes a girl can handle she's been pushing the dinner time envelope.

Sacrifice

2009-07-03T14:29:00.004-07:00

Noelle has a few favorite things in this world. Two of them would be her white and pink silky blankets that she's been attached to since her beginning. However, since Sydney's arrival she's been ever so kind to share her things, on her own terms.

This picture wouldn't rotate right, but I think you can see that both silky blankets are there.

No we didn't stage this. Noelle decided that she needed a Barbie to play with and chose Cinderella. Needless to say the poor girl had glitter all over her legs from the dress.

Our Own DIY Project

2009-07-03T14:15:00.003-07:00

This is our old table...

I bet you're all loving the country blue chairs too.

This is our new, old table. After hours of sanding, painting, and a few layers of polycrylic.

Now if only we had a nicely painted dining room.

Noellle counts Sissy's fingers

2009-06-28T11:56:00.002-07:00

2009-06-28T11:37:00.002-07:00