De-Stresser

Usually I am not one to seriously enjoy slapstick humor. It just doesn't do too much for me (with the exception of I Love Lucy). Becuase of that I highly dislike a lot of actors that a lot of people completely dote on. Well, guess there's an exception of some sort to every rule! it's called....



Wipeout is a gameshow on ABC and it is seriously the funniest thing I have seen on TV in a long time. When Jared and I finally get the kids in bed, finish studying, and shut the house down for the night, this is what we watch in order to destress. We have yet to watch an episode WITHOUT laughing our heads off, and this is why:

This is the Sweeper.

This is the SuckerPunch.

And these, ladies and gentlemen, are the Balls.

Again, remember that I don't usually go for the in-your-face, overly physical humor. But this is sinkin hilarious! Probably moreso because I find the commentators hilarious too. So should you have a few free moments and you need to decrease the amount of stress and anxiety in your life (which is kind of the main goal in our home right now), tune in-I have no idea when the show is actually on, but you can watch online at http://www.abc.com/.



And if you have time right now and are a little curious as to how the show works, go to this site: http://abc.go.com/primetime/wipeout/index?pn=smashup



Hee hee, I'm already laughing in anticipation!

Who's That?

One more post for the day...
Me: Hey Karianna, who is this?
Karianna: It's McDonald Duck.





Me: And who's this?
Karianna: It's Mickey Mouse Cheese (ie, her favorite snack to buy from Walmart-I'm sure all you mom's out there are familiar with it!)

The Clapper

Clap On.

Clap Off.

Clap On, Clap Off-The Clapper.

When Daddy Takes Over...

Precurser: I love Jared more than anything! He is great with the kids and they absolutely adore him-I still can't wrap my mind around how he finds the time to hang out with them! I am so blessed to have such an involved and considerate husband and father of our children! With that being said...

Here's what happens when Mom takes "5 minutes peace", as Karianna would say, from the kids and entrusts them to the care of their Dad. In translation, that usually means, amongst other things, that Jordan becomes Karianna's life-size doll; this particular moment was no exception, and actually might be coined as the essence of what I am talking about! This is exactly how I found Jordan when my "five minutes peace" had ended (which was really over 2 hours later-Mommy Standard Time you know):

You're Killin' Me Smalls!

Anybody know what movie the subject line is from? Its just what I felt like saying last night to Karianna when I was entitled to be frustrated and angry but couldn't resist laughing instead...

Me: Karianna, you are supposed to be in bed-why do you keep opening your door?
Karianna: (Cocking her head to one side and staring at me with huge puppy dog eyes) Mama, I just wanted to hang out with you.

Silly, sweet little girl! Couldn't resist climbing in bed with her, listening to her read me a story (Just Go To Bed by Mercer Mayor), and chatting for 10 minutes about various types of arachnids and insects (which are new vocabulary words for her and thus the most interesting thing under the face of the sun). Guess I'll have to save the frustration for another day-I'm sure the opportunity will arise at some point...

Double Edged Sword!

It seems in the course of the last few weeks that our kids are growing up. I know I say that a lot, and just for the record that is still true! But this time, I mean "growing up" in a different way...ie, our kids are getting craftier, sneakier, and though I don't like this word when talking about kids, more manipulative. I like to make myself feel better about it by just believing they are getting smarter! :)

A few days ago Karianna asked Jared for a snack. Nothing too crafty about that. However, before she asked she made sure that she had already ransacked the fridge, removed a bag of mickey mouse cheese, and had it open and ready before asking Jared. Usually this would be a great snack, but not an hour before dinner. So upon Jared telling her not right now, and asking her to put it back in the fridge, she grabbed a piece of cheese, took a huge bite, and handed the rest back to him in an obvious effort to listen and obey. Listen and obey-yeah right. More like lets see if I can pacify Dad by listening halfway and still get what I want! Crafty (though not so much to warrant the absence of disciplinary measures)!

Today during church, I went to feed Jordan in the last 20 minutes of sacrament meeting. Karianna went with me, which is pretty normal procedure-JD stayed with Jared. Jared told me later in the day that as soon as I left, JD started to attempt an escape from the pew. Again, nothing too sneaky about that! But man this kid is getting the finer details of evading a parent! He was dancing a lion up and down Jared's leg and then handed the toy to Jared. In the split moment that Jared was distratcted by the offering, JD apparated onto the stage and 3 feet away from the podium! Okay, not really, but that's where Jared finally caught up to him-the Bishopric were cracking up apparently! If that was not enough, JD tried the toy trick again! He underestimated the learning curve though-Jared was ready for it! Sneaky and yes, a little manipulative!

And what of baby Jordan you ask? Jordan has joined the gang in "growing up"! Just in the last week he has learned to drink from a sippy, clap, and wave, although the latter is sporadic. If you say "clap clap clap!" to him, he'll do it! Okay, so maybe that's more conditioning than manipulation, but hey, that's a good thing right? I'll take that any day! Regardless of what word we use-learning, or manipulating-my kids continue to grow up and I continue to view it as a double edged sword: I love the cuteness, and miss it at the very same time! Why do kids have to grow up???? Blasted cycle of development!

Then and Now

Yesterday in Preschool Karianna learned the intricacies of "big and little". In order to demonstrate the concept, her teacher asked her to bring in a baby picture. Karianna chose a picture of her, probably about 7 months old or so, during a rare sink bath-I think I can count the number of times I have bathed my kids in the sink on one hand, minus the thumb. I figured, lets bring the big and little concept full circle-so we did!

Die Hard Blogger

What do you do when you are bed-ridden with gall bladder/spleen pain? One would think I would work on getting my Master's portfolio finalized and edited, even ready for submission by the original deadline rather than utilizing the extension I took as a safety net. That would be practical. Instead I choose to play around with blog backgrounds. What a wonderful use of my time with the bed bugs-sorry if you pop in to a background that I might later discard! I guess this is when you know you are a die hard blogger.

Who'da Thought?

When I was younger, I was not particularly known for my organizational skills (or responsibility or cleanliness....the list could go on, but lets just stop there for the time being!). If you walked into my adolescent bedroom, you would likely stumble over a pile of dirty and clean clothes, various shoes and flip flops, and miscellaneous school books and binders. I am sure if my mother were being frank, she would say she worried about my ability to responsibly manage my life on my own, especially in the wake of my older sister who is the queen of organization, a trait which has served her well!

Well, good news for my mom and anyone else who has tracked my organizational skills over the years! I think I have blindsided myself over the last few years with my ability to actually be an organized mom! Lets consider some evidence over the course of the last few weeks, and seriously, this would have been so far out of reach for me mere years ago:

1. Today I purchased Karianna's Halloween costume! Sure, she has selected about 20 different personas for her Halloween guise over the last few months, but tough beans, this one has to stick because I bought it on clearance and it is nonrefundable. So not only was I prepared and organized, I was frugal-woohoo! If that's not preparation for you, I'm not sure what is.....oh wait, I do know! Lets move on to #2!
2. I have started Christmas shopping-no joke! In fact, I actually started Christmas shopping about 2 weeks ago. I even started a list for each kid, jotting down the item, price, and a running total. Does this mean I have too much time on my hands, a statement which should be relatively null and void when you have three kids under the age of 34??? Preparation to the tee! But my favorite is #3....


3. I have scheduled my mom for three future babysitting dates. See, my mom keeps a very detailed calendar, in which every miniscule activity is recorded for every person who lives in (and sometimes out) of her house. I know she appreicates a heads up on babysitting, so I was oh so organized and nabbed her now: a day in October for Jared's birthday, a day in DECEMBER when we are heading to California, and a day in JANUARY for reasons that have to be kept under wraps until Jared's birthday (Jared, please don't investigate this, just let me be sneaky!)! I daresay I might be the first obligation transcribed in the January page of my mom's calendar! Now seriously, that's pretty good, right?
   

So my days of being incredibly unorganized have ended, at least for the time being. I guess this is a good example of what marriage, kids, and plain old growing up does to you-could be worse! I have to put an end to tooting my own horn though because despite the above-mentioned accomplishments, I can't claim to having corrected my tendancy towards messiness. Truth be told, approximately 2/3's of all the dishes we own are in the sink, and have been there since Saturday...speaking of which, I better go take care of that before the left over milk starts to curdle...gross. That's enough to pop the balloon that was my excitement for being more organized!

Family Pics

This post has been a long time coming-we took family pictures when Jake came home from Japan back in July! Enjoy the show!

Family Pictures July 2008

Hangin' With the Boys

With Karianna in preschool now, it sure is giving me a lot of time to hang out with a bunch of boys-two in particular and if I do say so myself, I have pretty good taste in men (which is undeniable anyway-I married Jared, that is evidence alone!)! Because of this extra time, I have come to realize a few things that I was unaware of until the preschool era hit:

1. Jordan has a tooth! Silly me, I can't believe I didn't notice this a long time ago! Given how big it already is, I would say its been there for a week; and I didn't notice; does that qualify me for nonperceptive mommy of the year? Or does that qualify Jordan for being baby of the year considering he still nurses full time and kept his sharp little fang under wraps? Can you find the tooth in this picture (which is obviously not very enjoyable for Jordan! I promise he is still a very happy baby..)?
2. 
   
3. JD is very obviously going to use his time away from his sister very wisely. See, this would have been unacceptable if Karianna was in the room....toddler rules you know....use your time with her princess tea set wisely bud, because as soon as 1:00 rolls around the jig is up!


4. Jordan is finally giving in to sitting and rolling and waving-all things he only just decided to do within the last few weeks. He has been pretty content to just stay put for a while-sure he showed me weeks ago that he could roll over and such, but it was a one hit wonder, like, "Fine mom, I'll pacify your mommy angst and show you I can do it-there, satisfied? Can I please go back to relaxing? You know you are going to wish for this a few months down the road when I start crawling and walking...." I have been lenient because I am missing things Jordan did when he was younger, so enjoying him as a baby is on the top of my priority list!


5. JD knows a surprising amount of letters! Not that learning letters at two is amazing or anything like that-I just didn't realize how much he knew until he started naming letters on our way out of Costco on Tuesday. So our new favorite game to play is Letter Bingo, he is always so proud of himself when he finds a match-woohoo!

Must Have Item of the Day

Anyone out there have a crummy dirt cheap carpet like we do that seems to attract every miniscule spec of dirt, mud, grime, dust, goghurt, or bug gut? If you do, this is seriously a must have-works GREAT! For the really really tough spots, you still have to give it a little elobw grease, but overall, I was so happy with this thing, I had to clean my entire carpet and in the past I would have done it on my hands and knees, resolve in hand, and scrubbing with a towel until I had calluses on every finger. No more resolve for me-well, except when we need to take care of a less than intelligent black widow....

Holy Ghost Concept-Check!

Everyone remember Karianna and the whole Holy-Ghost-is-a-dove debacle? She was convinced she couldn't feel the Holy Ghost in her heart because it is ridiculous to assume a bird can live inside her heart. We had a good conversation about what that meant and how she can feel the Holy Ghost. I honestly could not tell if she was clear about the concept until a few nights ago when I was drying her off from a bath. We were getting ready to go to a wedding reception and Karianna was kind of staring off into space. Then, with no prompting whatsoever, she said:

"Mama, can you feel that?" I said, "What is it Karianna?" She put her hands over her heart and said, "Mama, Jesus is making my heart feel happy." A little dumbfounded, I asked her, "How do you know?" Karianna told me, "Because I am not making bad choices, and the Holy Ghost is helping my heart feel happy." She smiled really big and took off to the loft, leaving me sitting there on the bathroom floor in a whirl of emotion.

My favorite scripture of all time is Mosiah 3:19, saying "...[become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father". If I could have the fath that Karianna demonstrates, to become as a child in this sense, I would be overjoyed and feel so blessed. Things seem so difficult sometimes from the adult perspective, we let life deter us from the things that truly matter-I know I am guilty of it a hundred times over. This is my goal though, to become as a little child and let the Lord direct my life with the hope and promise that I will get to be with my wonderful family forever. Pretty great blessing if you ask me and I am so grateful for children who remind me of that goal in their simple yet profound ways.

I've reached Mommy-Maturity

This must be the coming-of-age era of mommyhood-kind of like leaving childhood and becoming an adult, but this time around I feel like I am leaving the title "New Mom" and accepting the title, "Seasoned Mom". Not that I know how to do this job better than others; probably the opposite! More often than not I feel like I am balancing on the very precarious edge of parenting, mere inches away from falling off the deep end! Thankfully, its a balancing act I know well and am learning each day how to maintain a gold medal performance, and how to use my umbrella, stick, and net should I fall (aka Jared, family, friends, the Lord).

With that being said, today was the day I sent Karianna off to school! It might only be preschool, and it might only be two days a week, but those four hours each day seems so long! And going through the process of packing a lunch, checking the papers in her backpack, and listening to her teacher do a role call sure felt like a punch in the gut: my little girl is starting the school phase of her life! Last time I checked she was still little enough to swaddle in a blanket, fall asleep neslted next to me in bed, and rely on me for her every need. Now in her place is this almost-four-year-old who delights me every day with what she knows and does. Man, I dislike time, as she certainly seems to be robbing me of precious moments with my kids! It certainly makes me appreciate every second I have with each of my kiddos-I sure do love them with all of my heart!

Here's a few pictures of Karianna when I dropped her off to Miss Holly's house. As a quick synopsis, she had such a great time on day one! Her teacher has just done a fantastic job setting up a preschool dedicated classroom in her house and is obviously putting 120% of her effort into making it fun and enjoyable for the kids. It's also a huge perk that Karianna knows all the kids in her class, so it sounds like they hit it off right away. I now have a framed piece of artwork depicting Karianna's preschool hands on my wall-it almost made me cry! And to think this is only day one!!!!!

I asked Karianna to smile, she looked at me like, "Sheez mom, you're embarassing me-leave already!"

Karianna Quirks: What I Understand about the Olympics

Rachel: Hey Karianna, what are you doing with Daddy's tie?

Karianna: I'm making a race for the Olympics in China. That guy is going to win a gold medal for his neck.

If you click on the picture, the guy she was pointing to is in the back pushing a wheelbarrow. Talk about having your work cut out for you!

JD's Biggest Rival!

Hopefully it will be a case of well-mannered rivalry, but I can see the writing in the stone! Jordan has officially become a fan of "the ball", world's greatest invention in my opinion as it is cheap, soft (at least in our house), and enjoyable for kid and parent alike; this is important for the times when JD wants to play ball for hours and hours-I can actually hack that. I suppose that's good prep for when I have two boys who jump on the ball-bandwagon! Watch out JD-Jordan's almost mobile and no ball is safe!

Karianna Quirks

Rachel: Hey Karianna, what are you doing?

Karianna: I'm making Jordan into a bride.

Duh Rachel.

Biter Biscuit Rules

1. Remove all clothing before giving your child a biter biscuit. Bibs do not help.










2. Expect fingers to replace biter biscuit, as they get covered with the same slimy goo as the actual biscuit.








3. Despite rule #2, fingers are actually not necessary to enjoy biter buiscuits.







4. Be prepared for the mess that will ensue.
5. Nothing you can do will override rule #4.
6. Watching your child's face during the biter biscuit makes the previous 5 rules well worth it.

How In the World is This Possible?!?!?

What kind of freakazoid house do we live in????? We sprayed for bugs over 2 weeks ago, and we have killed 2 spiders, several crickets, and here is what we found in the toilet after getting home from the splashpark:

I mean seriously!!!! How in the world does a CATERPILLAR get into a toilet bowl???? I am floored. As Jared said, "Doesn't make you feel too warm and fuzzy about the water supply does it....or maybe it does?" Gross. And it doesn't make me feel too much better that an earwig decided to join the caterpillar for a nice midnight dip in the toilet. I mean seriously!!! Did I already say that? One more time-SERIOUSLY! I'm calling the bug people back tomorrow. They guarentee their work, so they'll respray for free. I'm just not sure at this point if its worth it to stay with the same people that guarenteed no bugs in the walls yet failed to mention caterpillars in the toilet was okay. Seriously.

Happy Birthday Makayla!

This post is a tad bit belated, however we still wanted to send a shout out to Makayla on her 4th birthday! We spent Saturday down in Tucson with most of the family to celebrate and the cousins had a grand time chasing each other around, swimming, and eating cake. Its always fun to drive the two hours down to Tucson-seriously! When I was going to UofA, the drive was utterly boring-nothing but brown everywhere you looked. Things have changed so much though; the land between Phoenix and Tucson has morphed into suburbs and remote shopping areas. I still have no idea how you survive in a suburb in the middle of nowhere. Any home that is not within 15 minutes of a Walmart SuperCenter is just not acceptable :) I know, I am sad. Okay, off of this tangent-happy birthday to Makayla! I manned Suzie's camara most of the time, so pictures are way limited. Maybe that's a good thing-who knows!

The birthday girl-we loved the pick-up-your-whole-cupcake pose, which Makayla manned several times for several different camaras.

Taking a break from swimming to cruise.

Karianna and Makayla-these girls are only a month apart and have always been the best of friends! Having Makayla turn 4 only reminds me that Karianna is only a few short weeks away from 4 herself-where in the world did the time go?

Just for kicks, here's Makayla, Elizabeth, and Karianna when they were little-what cute kiddos!!!

Journal Time!

Karianna and I write in her journal every day; she usually dictates a story to me, practices a few letters, sounds out a word or two, and then adds a picture. I liked today's story a lot so I figured I'd share! You'll have to click the pics to read her actual words, and in case you are too lazy (I would be) here's the story; Karianna picks the author-sometimes it is her, sometimes its me, sometimes it is Robert Munsch-I bet he would be grateful for her adoration!

Karianna and the Dark Moon House

By: Mommy

First I hear something, "Hello, how are you?" Then I went to bed and heard a noise: "Hello, how are you?" Then I sneaked out of bed and it was a Barbie! Then I say, "AHHHHHHHHH!" I runned away! The end.

Page 1

Page 2-is this not the scariest Barbie Monster you have ever seen? I am going to have bad dreams....

Karianna Quirks

Another episode of the world as viewed through the eyes of a 3 year old! On our way home from a doctor's appointment this morning, we were listening to the primary song, "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized". Karianna is learning that song in primary this month, and since I have been teaching the music, we have been talking about the topic of basptism in our home too. Karianna knows this song front and back-she can explain the different concepts too! Which is pretty cool! The following conversation ensued today:

Rachel: Karianna, thank you for making good choices while Jordan got his shots today.

Karianna: I didn't hit JD or get out of my chair or yell. But JD was getting out of his chair, but I did not.

Rachel: Yes, you were making a good choice.

Karianna: The Holy Ghost helped me make that good choice mama, but I cannot see him!

Rachel: You are right, but you can feel him-the Holy Ghost is in your heart.

Karianna: But I don't think he is.

Rachel: Yes, he is; he makes your heart feel happy.

Karianna: No he doesn't.

Rachel: Karianna, I promise-when you make good choices, you can feel the Holy Ghost in your heart-it makes you feel happy!

Karianna: But he is not in my heart!!!!

At this point I was admittedly a little frustrated! I wasn't sure if Karianna was being belligerant or if she really didn't understand. So I took a few steps back....

Rachel: Karianna, what do you mean?

Karianna: Mama, the "Holy Ghost descended as gently as a dove" (lyrics from the song). The Holy Ghost is a bird-a bird does not live in my heart!

Still makes me crack up! I thanked Karianna profusely for explaining this to me and proceeded to help her understand why that phrase is used and that the Holy Ghost speaks to her with a still small voice, which makes her heart feel happy. I have a feeling Karianna is going to be one to want a lot of answers in her life!

When Hot and Humid...

Oh the precociousness of my two year old's brain power! I tell ya, my kids never cease to amaze me.

JD wanted to go outside, so I opened the back door up for him, slipped his shoes on and off he went to shoot a few hoops. A few minutes later I heard the hose being turned on. JD has dragged the inflatable pool into the middle of the patio, draped the hose over the side, and turned it on. I got it, he wants to swim, no problem. I figure it will take the pool a few minutes to fill up and I don't mind if JD plays with the hose while that happens, so I meander off to finish loading the dishwasher. Another few minutes later I head back out to check the progress of the pool. Progress indeed:
When the water was overflowing, JD must have turned it off since that was the case when I went outside. He then very carefully took off his shoes, and sat himself in the middle of the pool, splashing away. I wonder if he realized he forgot about one pre-swimming custom: Taking off your shirt first??? He does not seem to care!

Olympic Gymnast 2024!

Wow, that subject header sounds odd! However, that would be the date that Karianna would be eligible for the olympics as long as we decided not to cheat on her age limit (cough cough)....Just kidding! Well, not kidding in terms of the date....Okay moving on....

Karianna finished her last tumbling class last week and I took a few videos of her skills (which in all honesty are very non-olympian, but I can dream right? On second thought I am not sure I would want her having to deal with all the pressure that our women's gymnastics team was under last night. Talk about the world resting on your shoulders! Time to end this parenthesis!). THey are less than a minute a piece, and will showcase her doing a row of front tumbles, cartwheels in true preschool format and her skill of choice, a back somersault, which I understand was all the rage in tumbling class this session :) Oops, never mind-since blogger takes a ridiculously long time to process videos, I can only get one up. Seriously, blogger people. How hard can that be? :)

Lovin' the Schedule!

I think I can officially say that Jordan is finally on a wonderful consistent schedule-the one I designed for him long before he was born, simply because it worked so well for Karianna and JD. He has been doing it for about 2 weeks, long enough for him to be so used to it that he follows it without complaint; pretty much expects it. I love it because it makes my entire day more consistent and scheduled. Plus, there are now built in breaks when I can really dedicate time to JD and Karianna during Jordan's morning nap, or just Karianna during the boys' afternoon nap. Or, on the best days, time for my own nap if Karianna is tired enough to nap herself. Too bad that can't happen seven days a week! So here's Jordan's daily routine:

• Wake up at 6:30


• Nap from 9-11


• Nap from 1-3


• Bedtime at 7

This seriously works so beautifully! I owe my kids a higher than normal allowance when they grow up for slipping into this schedule so easily! Gotta love it!

Rough Week

This week was a rough week. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, it was just rough. Jared is studying for tests and his masters program a good 50 hours a week ON TOP of working full time. That pretty much results to me spending every spare second with the kids, which really is not bad, it just gets stressful having no breaks or real time for myself-or with Jared for that matter! I miss my husband! :)

It's all for the greater good, to use JK Rowling's phrase (or should I give credit to Dumbledore?). This is just our "law school" season and we have to put our shoulders to the wheel and push until we hit the finish line. This will just be my few seconds to rest from the pushing and complain before gearing up for the long haul! Not really complain-as I said, I love being with my kiddos. I love seeing them grow and say cute things and love each other. However it can be a trial when you are heairng "No" all the time, or refereeing TWF matches (toddler wrestling federation). Now is the time I suppose to really rely on the Lord and trust that this season will have its purpose in the grand scheme of our family's progression.

Tonite Jared and I were downstairs when we heard Karianna come down to join us. All of the sudden we heard her start tumbling at breakneck speed down the stairs. I couldn't get up very easily and all I could do was yell to Jared that Karianna was falling down the stairs-Jared leapt up and ran over there just in time to save Karianna from falling down 13 steps as opposed to 12. She was crying and very scared; thankfully she was not hurt and seconds later was asking for some grape juice ("It will make me feel better [sob sob]"). Silly, sweet little girl. Its moments like that that make me realize how much I love love love my kids and my husband and even though this time in our lives is hard, its nothing compared to the reward in store ie supporting our children and keeping our family strong.

So here goes the shoulder back to the wheel-bootstrings are tied and pedal's going to the metal. Wish us luck!

Getting Ready for School!

An Erickson family tradition that we had growing up was first-day-of-school-pictures. I realize that this picutre is far from the best, but its the only one I could find, plus this was my number one favorite outfit in elementary school (scary). When I told Karianna about this picture, she said to me, "Mama, when you went to school, I was still living with Heavenly Father". Cuteness-but I digress....The first day of school picture was the same shot every year: wearing brand new clothes, toting a new backpack, and standing somewhere on the walkway leading up to our house. I even remember taking a picture before leaving for my first year of college!

So it seemed appropriate this morning that I begin the tradition with Karianna when she announced to me this morning that she was getting ready to go to school. She doesn't start preschool for another few weeks, but Karianna kind of preempted that time frame and made an executive decision to start her formal schooling now! She picked out some excellent first day clothes, found her new Disney backpack that we picked up a few days ago, and filled it with computer paper, crayons, books, and chapstick. Then she grabbed a lunchbox and filled it with pretend food-she even put in a plastic spoon, fork, napkin and a miniature dixie cup that are usually reserved for Jordan. She informed me that you don't use a sippy cup at school. Silly mom, I should have known.

When she got to "school" ie our office, she proceeded to read a book, say all the letters and sounds using some flashcards I have, tell time to the best of her ability on a play clock, and write a letter to one of her friends-she wrote "I Love You" all by herself before drawing a picture of her friend holding a purse. She then sealed it and we stamped it-someone might be getting a letter in the mail soon!

School is apparently still in session, but Karianna is doing "recess" by watching Super Why on PBS-at least this is what she told me. I love that my daughter is so excited about school! I have to admit though, I have been slightly weepy thinking about the fact that I am not so far away from sending her off to kindergarten! Which is why I am personally taking advantage of these moments with my kids at home-time definitely well spent! Oops, recess is over, better go...

PS I found another picture while I was searching for school pictures...

Who do I look like?

Thanks to my mom for inscribing the date on baby pictures! Here I am at 6 months-who do I look like???

My 6 month old Cutie!

Jordan is officially half a year old today! I can't believe how quickly that time has gone by-sometimes I still think I just had Jordan and he should still be this teeny thing that fits into the crook of one arm. Such is not the case! He's gotten to be such a big guy and we just love him more and more every day. Some of his favorite things: smiling, sticking out his tongue, playing with any and all toys, playing with his feet, flipping around in his crib or on the floor, talking, getting his belly tickled (this kid is way ticklish!) and eating his beloved sweet potatos. Mom's favorite things about him? Those big blue eyes, and those wonderfully big lips! He's going to be a heartbreaker! I love his talking and laughing, both of which he does constantly. Plus Jordan never seems to lose mom-the second he can hear my voice or catches a glimpse of me, everything else disappears. Now that's love!

Here's a picture of Jordan as a newborn in his pack and play-not too much bigger than Pooh and Tigger:


And here he is a few days ago sleeping away, barely fitting in there anymore!

Just for fun, here's shots of all three kids right around their 6 month marks:
First Karianna-you can tell this was taken in the pre-digital-camara-era!

Here's JD...or is it Jordan? I promise it is JD, but I tell ya, these two are look a likes! The only difference is I can see some of Karianna in Jordan's picture.

And finally Jordan in all his 6 month glory! Happy 6 monther bud!

And just when you thought the fun had ended! I filmed just a minute of Jordan a few minutes ago in another one of his slap-happy stages-I think its hilarious! I apologize for how dark it is, and I think the audio track is off, but either way, his giggles are too much!

Dream of the Day

Karianna: Mama, I had a bad dream last night.
Me: Oh, can you tell me about it?
Karianna: There was a bad guy and he was trying to get me. He was chasing me at the movie theatre with the Panda movie (ie AMC). But he did not get me. I catched him with a big net and I put him in a garbage can.
Me: Was it the balck garbage can or the recycle garbage can?
Karianna: The black garbage can (Thank goodness, I didn't want to recycle a bad guy).
Me: Oh. And then what happened?
Karianna: And then I catched the man in a big net. And so I threw him in the garbage can and then I put him in a garbage truck and I took him to a garbage place. And then I came back home and I was safe.
Me: I see. Was your dream a little scary?
Karianna: Yes, but mama, it was only a dream-it was not real. Don't worry, I am okay.

Thank goodness!

Superman of a Husband!

All righty, I am done reading (as of Sunday)-if you want my comments on the book that I loved, you can email me :)

Now on to more important topics-like my Superman of a Husband! Jared passed another very difficult certification test yesterday and I was just so proud of him! Let me give you an idea of what he is trying to fit in one frame of a person:

1. Major studying for his masters program-an MBA in financial planning
2. Major studying for certification tests-next up is the crazy first test of the CFA-please pray for us!
3. Working full time at USAA
4. Carving out time for the kids
5. Carving out time for helping me clean (bathrooms are not my friends)
6. Carving out time for me (not sure how me manages to do that one)
7. Manages the finances for our ward

I thought I was busy! I am not sure how he is managing to do all of this at the same time and still stay so level-headed and conscious of my needs and frustrations. He rarely gets stressed out, and if he does, I only notice it because I know him so well, not because he projects it onto anyone else. After all that, he is doing GREAT! If that is not a perfect description of Super-husband, dad, man, provider, I am not sure what is. I am so lucky to have Jared at my side, and we are both so lucky and blessed to have the Lord on our side. I am banking on those thoughts to pull us through the two years of the above mentioned schedule! Yeah for Jared!

With All Due Respect...

Don't bug me-I'm reading. :)

Let the Bug Fest Begin (and End)

After being inundated with crickets for weeks now, and finding a brown recluse in the toy closet (okay, not actually a brown recluse, it was a desert recluse, which made me feel better, but not much), and killing 2 black widows, and suspecting 3 more were living in nearby webs, we finally had pest control come spray. We have a cool system of tubes in our walls, so the "bug man" as Karianna called him just had to pump the chemicals into the port by the garage and that was in. No worrying about air quality, wet floors, or yucky smells. We have never used this system before; the "bug man" told me to expect an influx of crickets over the next day before they really start dying out. So here is our progress so far-I decided to spare you the pictures since this is kinda gross:

• Overnight fatalities in the kitchen: 13 crickets
• Overnight fatalities outside the patio door: 22 crickets, 3 spiders
• Overnight fatalities outside the front door: 43 crickets, and a huge pile of cricket poop (I am betting the poop has been there for a while....we just never ever use our front door. Such is the flaw of courtyard houses).

Yeah for the Bug Man!

I Spy....

What do you "spy" in this large pile of high traffic foaming Resolve? Anyone who really knows us and thinks about it will guess pretty easily. Be specific!!!