Weapons of Mass Destruction

Clark loves to take things apart, and sometimes he actually puts them back together, or (like this picture) makes a whole new thing.  Well, lately everything he has "made" has resembled some sort of weapon.  He took a pipe from the vacuum cleaner (which by the way he has taken apart so many times it doesn't work properly anymore) and found a stake from our tent (and who knows where he found it, cause I have been looking for it for weeks)...and made this lovely and very dangerous stabbing tool.  Luckily Harry was in bed, so the only person that got hurt was Daddy when he tried to take it away...and our poor coffee table that now has about 25 new little dents.  He was devastated when we took it away, but it didn't take him long to find another toy to take apart and mistreat.

Being A Mom

Snuggle time with the boys.  

It doesn't look like much, just my babies snuggled up in the bed (I had to take the picture so my spot is empty), but this really is a day dream come true.  Ever since I knew I was gonna be a mom I would day dream of a peaceful afternoon like this; chilly and rainy outside, snuggled up in the bed with my boys watching cartoons and laughing at SpongeBob's ridiculous antics, being lazy and having fun (this little day dream used to involve snacks as well, but I don't like slobbery crumbs in my bed).  There have been many times when I tried to force this same scenario on my family, but it just never played out like I wanted.  Until the other afternoon...

Harry wasn't feeling well, so I was laying with him in my bed.  Clark wandered in my bedroom, and as soon as he saw the cartoons on tv he jumped into bed, pulled the covers up around his chin and snuggled down for several episodes of cartoony goodness.  It was so peaceful, both boys were happy and quiet.  I did not have to tell anyone to stop yelling, hitting, or jumping.  It was heavenly and I was a happy Mommy, thankful for the cool rain, and dream like moment. 

Poor little teething Harry with his WallE blanket.

8 Steps

It is so hard to get a video of Harry walking, I have been trying for weeks.  He just zooms by so fast, by the time I grab my camera he is down.  He can only go a few steps at a time like 6-10...but it is so funny to watch him try, he is so shaky.
I love how he grabbed onto this total stranger to get some support, he seriously almost pulled her pants down.

Harry begging for food.

I know it shows up a little dark, but his panting and begging for food is too adorable not to share.  He acted as if he was starving, but he seriously just got done eating an 8 ounce bottle and 2 jars of baby food...I guess he just REALLY wanted some noodles.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Happy Birthday Sister!

I love you sister, it is so hard being away from you and little Reesey.  I am so thankful I always have you to talk to, and you always make me laugh...always.  I love when you send me texts of funny thing, and pictures of the baby.  And I enjoy sharing some hobbies together...like reading all about James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser (the hottest Scotsman EVER), and watching all sorts of junk on tv.  I hope you had a great birthday, and maybe next year we can celebrate our birthdays together.

The Heretic's Daughter

The Heretic's Daughter  by Kathleen Kent]

The Heretic's Daughter is a sad and haunting story, told through the eyes of 11 year old Sarah Carrier, following her family through the years before and after the Salem witch trials.  As morbid as it sounds, I love reading about a Salem witch trials.  What an interesting, and sad time in our country's history.  A somewhat disappointing ending, after all the build up through out the book, but overall this was great, and fast read.

✭✭✭✭ (out of 5 stars)

Rated: PG  A few suggestive situations and talk, but very mild.

Recommended: Yes, in a pinch when you can't find anything else.

I'm 29!

Happy Birthday to me!

I can't believe I am 29, and another year closer to 30.  I really feel like this year I grew up a lot.  In the last year I have gone from being a mother of one to a mother of two...and really that second kid makes the world of difference.  I learned a lot about myself this year, like I care more about what others think of me than I thought I did, that my favorite movie is Sound of Music (I think I always knew that, but I could never leave any of my other favs out, this year I learned how), and that I LOVE and hate being a stay at home mom at the same time.  I became closer to my family this year, and closer to the church (LDS church).  I made my first quilt, went from a blond to a dark red head, and re-discovered my love of fresh veggies.  I could go on and on, so much growing up...I really can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me.

I had a really nice birthday weekend.  Jay found a babysitter and took me to Harry Potter HBP, with the movie tickets Emma and Laura bought me (as a surprise).  Jay even got us matching Harry Potter shirts, ALL HIS IDEA! (I didn't even suggest it or make him wear his.)  He also got me a sewing machine, so I can try to make another quilt.

Clark was so excited to help me blow out the candles.  One of his favorite words to say is FIRE!  He was blowing so gently cause he did not really want to blow out the flames.

Me and the boys...trying to get a picture together is so exhausting.  They never look they same way or smile at the same time.  We must have tried all night, and this was the best one we got.  Clark was sneaking icing...ha ha ha.

I really had a wonderful day spending time with my family.  I am so thankful for everything I have, and for my AWESOME family near and far. 

To Nap or Not To Nap

So, Little Mr. Stubborn Pants has decided he doesn't need or want a nap anymore....fine by me.  However, he falls asleep almost every night during dinner. 

We hardly know what to do when he falls asleep.  If we wake him he spends the next two hours whining and crying cause he is still so tired.  If we can manage to clean him up with out waking him, and put him to bed...he will wake up in a few hours, still grumpy and hungry, and them won't go back to bed until 12:00am!  If we just leave him there to sleep, he is so difficult to put to bed, and stays up later and later.  Ah, what to do?  It is so cute to see him nodding off during dinner though.  Once he even fell asleep with a chicken nugget in his mouth.  I love how in this picture he looks like he is smiling in his sleep, precious!

Black Eyes

Poor Harry really had a tough week last week.  Two black eyes within days of each other, both on his left eye.  The first one occurred when Harry decided to challenge Clark to the talking Moto Moto hippo toy, and Clark won by pushing him into the toy box.  It wasn't so bad, and started to fade within a couple days.  The next one he got right above his eye, during a fight in the bathtub (over what I still don't know).  It was/is much worse, and looks like he wearing a very pretty shade of bluish-green and purple eye shadow every time he closes his eye.  Poor little boy, always getting in fights with Clark, and since he is more mobile now he is constantly bonking into everything....he is like a mosaic of bumps and bruises. 

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Charlie dressed as a princess for Halloween 2006. 

Playing in the snow.  Jan. 2008

Charlie the Princess Halloween 2006

Charlie, the Deimler family dog, passed away today.  Even though she was getting really old, and was sick, it was still a bit of a shock.  My parents got her at the pound when I went away to Ohio to be a nanny...I guess they were trying to fill the vast void I left in the house, and decided a dog was the best choice.  She was so well behaved and trained, and we always said that whatever family had lost her must have been devastated.  I only lived at home for a couple years while my family had Charlie, but she was still a big part of my life.  I loved the way she used to sneak in my bed in the morning, keeping my toes warm and cuddling with me until I got up.  I loved the way she would nudge you over and over with her chin until you would scratch her belly.  She was such a good puppy, always begging and wanting to play, and letting us dress her up in funny dog clothes.  She used to love going for car rides so much...I remember when I lived at home I used to take her with me on all my errands.  She would drive you crazy begging for a cookie, but you could never resist and in the end she always got one or two...or three.  She used to wait up for me when I was coming home late from a date, always so excited to see me come home and then would trot off with me to bed (even though she was not allowed to sleep with us).  I remember when my Mom told me how she waited up until 3:00am the night I got married and went off on my honeymoon, it broke my heart thinking she was waiting for me to come home all night.  I think my whole family has a cute Charlie waiting up for us on the stairs story...she kind of watched us grow up and leave one by one.  She loved my Dad the most...she was always so excited when he got home from work, and she loved to go to the garden or farm with him.  Always begging him for loves and scratches.  She wouldn't rest until Papa let her up to sit in the big chair with him, snuggled up, being scratched and loved.

And in the end that was how she went, with her Papa, snuggled up, being loved.  I couldn't imagine a better way.  We will sure miss our little Charlie dog.

Flashback Friday

Almost exactly two years ago... Little Clark at the beach enjoying his favorite past time, eating the sand.  He was such a cute chubby and very bald baby.

Little Tuna enjoying the surf.  

He has never really had any fear of the ocean (unlike Harry).  He still gets so excited to go to the beach, and always ohs and ahs just like it was the first time he's ever seen it.

Laura is such a sassy little thing!

I remember this trip to the beach just like 

it was yesterday.  Laura came to visit for summer vacation, she had just graduated from high school.  It was my 27th birthday in two days, I was starving on the South Beach Diet, and the last Harry Potter book was coming out in just 3 days (sigh...I still haven't gotten over it, even though I have my own little Harry now).  This was Laura's first trip to Hawaii and she was dying to go to the beach.  Jason got called into to work so we had to wait all afternoon in my sweltering house just dreaming of the cool water and warm sand.  Finally Jason got home.  We headed out to the beach even though we could see the clouds in the distance, and smell the rain on the air.  Clark was bouncing up and down, trying to get out of my arms cause he wanted to get in the sand and the water all by himself.  Jason was freaking out cause Clark was eating the sand.  Laura was begging for me to get in the water and play in the waves with her.  The cool breeze and clouds in the distance...I remember it all so clearly.  

It is funny how the simplest things, that you seem to have done a thousand times can stand out so vividly in your mind.  There are many other beach trips that were maybe more exciting or eventful, and yet this is one of those ones that sticks out so far in my mind.  Well, I do have a few others, but I will save them for another Flashback Friday.

My Little Comedian

I think my little boy is growing up.  

Last night we spent the better part of an hour watching America's Funniest Videos, which is far from the type of shows Clark normally likes to watch...in fact lately if it is not Pixar he refuses to watch anything.  Anyway, we tuned in right during one of their famous people getting kicked in the crotch montages.  Clark was fascinated, laughing hysterically and asking me to rewind it (thank God for dvr right).  After a few funny baby and scaring old people videos, which Clark gave a polite although not entirely convincing chuckle, he was starting to loss interest.  Then came the best of the night!  The people falling down videos, three full minutes of people falling down, stairs, ladders, anything at all, people flying through the air and crashing to the floor.  Clark was in heaven, rolling on the floor with laughter, bouncing up and down with delight.  I haven't seen his laugh this hard since the last great tickle fight of 2008, or when he caught dog trying to eat the bubbles Daddy was blowing.  He was mesmerized, we watched it like ten times, and he never got bored and laughed just as hard every time.  He then spent the rest of the night pretending to fall down.  He would fake fall off the couch, and then look up at me to see if I was watching and laughing.  He may not say much, but he is always thinking and planning things, mischievous things.  I know to keep an eye out when I see that sly smile slowly spread across his face.  Never a dull moment with my little comedian.