The Holt Family

Girls trip to San Francisco!

2010-05-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

I went to San Francisco last weekend with my sister, Susie, and my two neices. It was great fun! We did some of the usuals:

China town where I found some awesome gifts for the kids - Thatcher is obsessed with his 'ninja' sword, and Gretchen with her Chinese umbrella,

A self portrait on the trolley - yeah, I know, i should be a photographer,

The fat seals at pier 39, they made me miss Chris so much,

Ah, the lovely view of San Francisco from Alcatraz,

the lovely view inside Alcatraz - I'm going to save this one to deter my teenagers from breaking the law!

This is my new favorite saying. They had it posted on the bus, and I think I might put it up at my work! Ha ha
We went to the de Leon museum and a natural history museum or something like that, but they had the coolest sea horse thiingy I've ever seen - it's called a sea dragon

Another self portrait - we rode bikes across the Golden Gate bridge and into Sausalito. It was great fun! Super windy, cold, really far and hilly, but fun and beautiful!

MMMMMM. Ghirardelli sundae!

A view of the bridge from my bike! I even took this without crashing on my bike!

And I was worried how the kids would manage without me - well they didn't even seem to notice i was gone! They got to play with cousins and grandmas and grandpas every day, swimming, parties at Wheeler Farm, phew! I think I'll have to go out of town more often!

Thatcher and the guy who gets bit by a pig. . .

2010-05-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

So Thatcher talks all day long. I mean really, constantly all day long. I think my ears might fall off. Here's a sample conversation:
Me: Thatcher, it's almost time to go pick up Gretchen from school.
Thatcher: Can I ride up front with you?
Me: No, you have to ride in your seat.
T: What seat?
Me: Your normal seat.
T: What seat? (really I think he's just bored and wants to hear his own voice)
Me: Your booster seat.
T: What booster seat?
Me: You know, your seat that you always sit in that's in our car?
T: What car?

Oh honestly. Some days I nearly loose it with the whats and whys.

So after one episode of Thatcher disappearing on his bike down the street and ended up talking to some random people planting flowers in their yard (luckily the kind people walked him back), we set a limit of the 'green house' down the street. It's a couple houses down and he knows the people that live there from church, and they have a couple kids.

Well he's been riding down there a couple times a day, every time it's good weather. I'm ususally out working in the yard, but I can't see him when he is actually at the green house. Gretchen just informed me that he goes and knocks on their door everytime he rides down there! How embarassing. So I went to go talk to the mom and apologize for the interruptions (I'm sure she thinks I'm a neglectful mother who hasn't the slightest idea where her measly two children are). She was very kind, and apparently, yes, he doesn't only knock once a day, it's every time he rides down there. And he progresses to tell them long random stories, the latest of which included a guy who got bit by a pig (obviously he meant the man in black from The Princess Bride when he is bit by an R.O.U.S. He's been telling me this story a lot lately). I guess I need to adjust to having a child who isn't afraid to talk to people!

I have been complimented on teaching Gretchen how to 'not talk to strangers'. Well, I never had to teach her that one - she just doesn't talk to anyone! I guess I need to work on this with the boy. . .

Hair cuts, spring soccer and a sad universe. . .

2010-05-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

So I went in to help at Gretchen's class and I came across this 'journal entry' of hers. In case you can't read it, it says "Today is my cuoins moms birthday. Sousea went on a universe she went to california. I miss her." And I thought the drawing was of her getting her hair cut, and with the tears running down her body onto the floor! So I'm not sure the drawing and the story go together, but i thought it was pretty cute! I'm not sure, but I am thinking the 'universe' is related to Susie's anniversary that she went to California for! And there weren't any tears when she really did get her hair cut:

She held very still, without tears! We went to Cookie Cutters which lets them sit in cool cars and watch a movie of their choice on their own little tv, so they love it!
Note the stare hard boy eyes. . .

And yes, I realize the balloon is in front of her face. That's what she offered me to photo!

Here's Thatcher enjoying the lovely rainy spring soccer weather. This day was freezing!

Modern Woman?

2010-05-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

So being a 'modern woman' is the goal, right? If we were old fashioned or outta style, that would be a major faux pas. So here's what I've decided it means to be a 'modern woman'.

*We can wear whatever we want. Pants, sleeveless shirts, and flip flops. Our ankles can show, as well as a fair amount of cleavage.
*We can pick and choose our careers. Doctor, lawyer, humanitarian, even run for President of the U.S.
*We can be sexy and educated, and smart and sassy all at once.
*We are strong enough to open our own doors, and pay our own way.
*In addition to all of the things we can do, there are still all the things we have to do. So not only can we have our own careers, and our own social life, provide health insurance to our family, run and scrapbook, we also have to clean the toilets. Oh and the laundry. Well and I guess clean the floors. And vacuum. And clean the windows. And install new door knobs. And plant flowers and trim the shrubs. Sometimes mow the lawn, cause the husband's busy. Take the kids to all their lessons, and help with their homework. And discipline them when their naughty.

Hmmmm, what's going on here??!! Wait, I know. . .yeah, I've got it. So being a modern woman means, not only do we have to do all the things that we 'have' to do - like all the housework and kid care - we now have to have careers and be self-fulfilled! So, I'm not sure about you, but who came up with this crap? Now I just have to do all of the man's work, as well as my own! Blast. . . .

More mess please!

2010-04-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

So I was wondering. . . do you think it's possible to make MORE of a mess getting out ONE bandaid?

I'm sure it's possible, and I'm sure we'll experience that soon!

On a sadder note - our in vitro was unsuccessful. Ah, so sad and so stinkin' expensive. Thanks for all your love and support - and lots of cookies and cupcakes will be accepted as condolences. . .

Remember the 'I Love You!'

2010-04-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Buckling Thatcher into his booster seat is usually a fantastic time to steal a little kiss. His cheeks are so kissable and he's pinned and can't run away! I usually follow it with an "I love you" and often "I could eat you for a sandwich" (cause he's so yummy! ha ha). This morning I buckled him and kissed him, but without the fore mentioned "I love you". As I sat into my seat and started buckling, he said, "no you say, 'I love Thatcher'". How sweet! I promptly added an "I love you!" Note to self: despite all the fighting and asking me not to kiss and hug and love them, that they do appreciate it! Phew - maybe I am doing something right. . .

Thatcher's Preschool

2010-04-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

So on about day 2 of Thatcher's life I signed him up for preschool. Put him on the waiting list, that is. We went in, in person, the other day to officially sign up (and pay $$$ of course). So for those of you that know Gretchen well, I spent may days having her peeled off of my arms and legs by her preschool teachers - one time on Halloween her teacher was dressed up as 'the dentist who stole Nemo', very clever and cute, with fins and all, and she had to carry my giant child into the classroom, while I left amidst her screaming. Some of you would say, "Wow, what willpower from a mother to leave that sad child." I tell you, nope. She wore me down way before that. That crying is barely heard in my ears. YOu should have seen her at swimming lessons. But ahh! I regress! So Thatcher's preschool. . .

So we show up, and that little boy made himself right at home. They took us on a 'tour' and a regularly scheduled class was in session. He shoved his way past a teacher coming out into the hall and RAN over and sat down with the class on the rug for storytime! It was the cutest dang thing! And so refreshing after all the tears. . . . He is SO SO excited. I told him when he's 4 he can go (since he'll be 4 in Sept I thought that the simplest explanation. And they gave him a t shirt (or should I say the t shirt was $75) which he wants to wear everyday, and is shown in the pic with the worms (scroll down a post or two). Anyway. I sure love my kiddos - they keep life entertaining and full of sounds!

Easter with the cousins. . .

2010-04-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Grandma Adler likes to get the grandkids matching holiday attire - pretty cute.

I actually wasn't there this day - I was at work (yahoo. fun stuff.) - and I'm thinking that no, Gretchen is not standing on a step or anything. I frequently refer to her as my 'giant'.

Constant questions. . .

2010-04-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

So as per usual spring, Chris has been working non stop. The children's questions are adding up - here was my dinner the other night.
Gretchen asks, "Is Jesus really big?"
me: No I think he's the same size as us.
Gretchen: Do we look really small to him?
me: Well, maybe. Like when you're in an airplane.
Gretchen: Oh yeah and everything looks so tiny small.
Thatcher: Yeah and then Jesus stomps on all the people and the cars!
me: Huh? No, Jesus doesn't stomp on cars and people. (I still don't know where that one came from)
Gretchen: what are carrots made of?
me: Um, carrots.
G: Yeah, but what are they MADE of?
me: Well, you plant a seed and with dirt and water and sun it grows.
G: yeah, but what are they made of?
me: Um, I don't know, just carrots.
G: What is water made of?
me: Well, it comes from rain and snow.
G: I know, but what is it made of?
me: I don't know, heavenly father and Jesus just made it for us.
G: Why don't I like vanilla?
me: Um, I don't know.
G: Is pepper a spice?
me: Well, yeah.
G: Why isn't it in a spice jar?
me: ahh. I don't know.

(really this was non-stop within about 10 minutes. I can really use that 'go ask your dad' - it's rough when he works late!)

Here are some more winners.

As discussing the prospect of another child, and health insurance, Gretchen asks (both Chris and I) "how do you make a baby?"
Hmm. I was hoping we'd have a few years for this one. Chris replied, very well I might add, with a long discussion about eggs in the mom's tummy and that they mix with a part from the dad and then grow for a long, long time into a baby! she said, "Oh."

So then, a few weeks later I went into the doctor, with Thatcher, for an ultrasound and had to disrobe my lower half. Thatcher asks me, "Why are you taking your pants off?" I say, "they just have to look at something in my tummy." He says, "Oh, cause you have eggs in there that turn into babies?" Stunned, I say, "Well, yeah actually." Then he returns to his leapster game. Wow - those kids ears are always open!

We have gone through some in vitro stuff - but with unknown results. But here are the potential candidates. . .

Cute, aren't they?

Super!

2010-04-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

So Thatcher's word of choice right now is super. Here are a few examples. . .

As said to Daddy when he was sitting in the laundry basket, "I can super fit in here!"
We were walking together and I said, "I'm tired, Thatcher, can you carry me?" And he replied, while carrying his usual handful of toys, "No, me have super lot of things in my hands."
In reference to running, he is always 'super fast'.
He's either 'super hungry', or 'super tired'.

Here's a pic of him with the little 'worm family' we found in the front yard.

He kept trying to kiss them, cause he said, "Me love worms". Ewww.

Hooray for dental insurance!!

2010-04-09T15:39:00.002-07:00

So being the cheapskate I am, we hadn't had the kids in for too many check ups. Thatcher is an actually never. Oops. But here are the results! They were so good. I was so proud. . .

Gretchen did awesome (considering when she was 3 she had to be sedated for her dental work! The suction thing with the flouride freaked her out after a minute - but man I don't like it either!

She told me that Thatcher was the most cooperative 3 year old she'd ever had! Yeah! And after she finished 'brushing' and putting some flouride on him, then he said, "Now I want cherry!" and he was ready to keep going! Ha ha!

And we're back. . .

2010-03-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in awhile, so what? Life has continued. Here are some photos -

Chris got himself a new puppy for Christmas - he is a bernese mountain dog and his name is 'Mr. Samsonite' - yes from 'Dumb and Dumber', aka Sam. He is very sweet and soft! Chris takes him to work with him most days, I'm working on Chris taking Thatcher with him as well. . . . And yes, he is a puppy, just kinda large. . .

With Gretchen in school, Thatcher finds himself with lots of free time (like when I'm in the shower. . .). This day he decided to combine the flour and the salt! He also thoroughly covered Riddick (who is an entirely black dog) in flour! Oh he also opened up a few packages of microwave popcorn, which the dog then ate. Good thing that boy is so cute. . .
We had the pleasure of speaking in church recently, and we woke up that morning to Thatcher heavily applying lotion to about 4 shoes. Not really sure why, but he had an awesome layer covering the soles. Huh.

We moved into a 'new' house in novemeber - in Sandy, utah. We've been enjoying it! As we were unpacking, and after I had neatly lined up and arranged all the food cans in the pantry, Thatcher decided a 'train' on the floor would be much better . . .

Santa was so kind as to provide a swing set! It was recently installed (due to you know, snow and such) and those kids love it! They are out there every single day - rain or shine! And one of my new favorite child accomplishments - pumping! Thatcher can go outside, get on the swing and pump all by himself! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! This may even be better than putting on their own shoes. . . Gretchen is starting soccer tomorrow and is crazy excited! This excitement is remarkable considering it has taken lots and lots of pep talk and coersion to get her to play! We'll post some pics though. . .
Here's a cute picture I found of Gretchen and her cousin Sydney in Lake Powell last summer. . .

Gretchen is really really good at making art and a mess. Here she made some fairy tale folks and a castle with real functioning doors! Also, keep an eye out for her on the next episode of 'Hoarders'. I just finished cleaning out her room, and I'm quite sure she'll make it onto the show.

Random phone pics. . .

2009-06-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

His curls are back! This kid is so dang cute.

Just kickin' it pool side . . .
MMMM watermelon! Summer's back! (of course that was in like May cause now it's so stinkin' rainy and cold!)
So we were in search of free summer activities and found ourselves at the library. They had different art projects, this one included 3-d glasses to view their own chalk art. Thatcher was diggin the glasses!

So here's what happens when school's out. . .

She created an entire restaurant worth of food out of paper and markers, labeled her store "sweet tomatoes" and was constantly taking my order!

Here Gretchen drew her cousin, Katie, in her wedding dress (they are getting married in July). They funny thing here is that Katie is refusing to wear a veil (which her mother would really like her to wear) and Gretchen has clearly drawn her with a veil (and a hat as Katie said!). Oh, and note the chewed end where the dog got ahold of it. Stupid dog.

Gretchen's fun hair color from the school carnival (yay it didn't rain!)

The Easter cousins in Grandma Adler's coordinating outfits!

Camping and a lost tooth!

2009-06-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

So as a kind husband, Chris took the kids camping, as a weekend off for me - and didn't even invite me! It was great! I think I slept about 11 hours and didn't even roll over once! Yeah, so my kids still don't sleep through the night - what's it to you? I must just be so remarkable fabulous they can't go more than a few hours without me near them! he he

Kickin' it at the campfire with cousins and aunt and uncle Moore!

pretty sure the highlight of the trip were the smores!
And of course the playing in the fire with their sticks, which would NOT have been allowed had their mother been present. . . moms can be such a drag.

So Gretchen had this loose tooth for about 6 weeks (it seems forever) and she kept wanting us to wiggle it. One night Chris talked her into letting him pull it. We couldn't believe she agreed, she is kinda a sissy, and we expected lots and lots of crying and whining. She was so excited! No crying or anything!

There is a slight look of terror in her eyes here . . .

Phoenix Zoo March '09

2009-06-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Susie, Katie and Sydney came down to visit us in March (in Arizona) (yeah I'm just finally going through the pictures!).

No one panic! I haven't cut his hair again - these are from March!

Thatcher loved the goat petting area
He had a hard time with this rule. . .
Yee haw! Who doesn't love a ride on a wild boar!

Katie checking in with the fiancee (about every 5 minutes)

Gretchen's last day of AZ school -

Funny over-hearings . . .

2009-06-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Gretchen: "Thatcher don't go inside right now. Stay out here and waste your time with me!"

Thatcher: "Me Star Wars."
Me: "You want to watch Star Wars?"
Thatcher: "Yeah."
Me (knowing he's never seen star wars): "You mean Iron Man?"
Thatcher (very excitedly): "Yeah, me that one!!"
This was repeated for about a week, always the same.

Thatcher, when wrastling around, "Me nice bad guy!" (again in reference to Iron Man!)

Thatcher, when growling, "Me naughty monster! Arrrrh!"

Thatcher: "Me pock-i-sle."
Me: "No you already had a snow cone."
Thatcher: "No me snow cone, me pock-i-sle."
Me: "No. No popsicle right now."
Thacher, with a foot stomp: "Ahh. DANG IT! Bama (aka grandma) me no pockisle. Dang it!"

He's a funny kid. His cute curls and handsome little face leave me giggling even when he's mad.

Gretchen has finished kindergarten and is excited to go to first grade (after a fun summer of course!). We've planned some camping trips for the summer, and a celebration of cousin Katie's marriage! Some more pictures to come . . .

Awesomest week ever.

2009-04-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

So here's how it goes.

Monday 6:30 a.m. - bleh, bleh coming from Thatcher's bed. Yep, lots of puke all ovet the sheets. Multiple more pukes throughout the morning. Multiple loads of wash done. Puking slows.
8:00 p.m. Bedtime.
10:30 p.m. More puking. More laundry. No sleep for Chris, only some for Ann.

Tuesday. Less puking, clear liquid diet only. Diarrhea starts. Diarrhea starts on the carpet! Oh #@^%! 1 hour + of carpet cleaning. Definitely need to keep diapers closer at hand.
Tuesday night - diarrhea blow outs x 3. Awesome. Best night of sleep ever.

Wednesday. Still puking. Not enough to warrant a doctor visit. A phone call to the doctor's office reports that 3 - 5 days of this is 'normal'. Awesome. Ann continues to become grouchier and grouchier.

Thursday. More puking. Lots of popsicles are consumed. Lots and lots of laundry and puked on sheets and towels. Somehow, Ann has convieniently avoided getting puke down the neck. That's a first! Another call to the doctor - yes, really, 3-5 days is normal. I mean we're on day four here! It's not very normal that I hope my child is LESS than average. . . Puking does seem to slow, he starts saying, "no my do it" for everything - so he's getting some back to normal.
8:00 pm bedtime. Only wakes up once and YES! no puke in the bed.

Friday. Wakes up ravenous. Downs 3 bowls of cereal. Plays for approx. 30 min - then pukes all over the chair and floor (yep, carpet again). So I try to carefully carry him to the shower to limit the carpet cleaning. I put him in the shower and then return to clean the mess. MMMM I love puke. Apparently so does the dog, as he is now eating the puke, as well as covering his face, chest and legs in it. Honestly.

That's it. I call the doctor for an appointment. I got him some zofran, and if this doesn't stop it, we're going to the hospital for IV fluids. This may top my list as one of the worst weeks ever. And guess how it all started? Easter candy. Lots and lots of easter candy. I can tell you what I'm never going to be eating again. . .

2009-04-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite children quotes:

"Contrary to what we may have heard, children are not like clay - which we can mold into whatever we want if we try hard enough. They are seedlings. The seed of what they are has already been planted from the moment they began their existence. Some may be orange trees and others might be lemons. It is our job, as the gardeners, to observe, water, expose to the sun, weed, provide fertilizer, and nurture, in order to make the most beautiful plant possible from the seedlings we are given."
-Linda Eyre

2009-04-02T13:52:00.001-07:00

So this morning I caught Thatcher dipping his empty cup into the dog's water, and then drinking it! I guess I should be happy he wasn't just lapping out of it.

So we're a little cramped in the a.p.t, but it's working out. The kids are LOVING being back with the cousins and extended family. I'm starting to worry that when we do move out to our own place, they will be entirely bored. That may be awhile, so maybe I should just relax, but I don't know what that really means!

I miss the sunshine, pulling weeds, and our few friends down in AZ. This cloudiness is very depressing. Oh yeah, and our beautiful vacant house. It really was a perfect house for us. Too good to be true I guess! Life still has me guessing. I'm not sure what's around the corner.

This is what greeted us DAY ONE back in Utah:

Gretchen has discovered her first loose tooth! She was so excited she nearly pee-ed her pants!

So I know what this represents, after a little research. What do ya'll think it's for?

Gretchen's school fair face painting (in AZ). Who doesn't love a good face painting?

Catching up. . .

2009-03-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

So YES, we are back in Utah. Back into the basement apartment we lived in as newlyweds. It's weird how life tosses you around sometimes! We are doing well, and the kids are as happy as can be to have all the cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles to play with. It took me about 1 hour within being back in the valley to get some Granato's into my belly. And another day or two for some Italian Village. You just can't beat going out to lunch!

We spent about a week packing up and moving and unpacking, and it is so not very fun. But we had loads of fabulous helpers, and luckily Chris has really big bumps. (oh, bumps are muscles - it's a long story from my nephew's childhood. But basically he thought chris and hercules and the work out guy on a infomercial had the same size bumps!) And LUCKILY I am really good at supervising and telling people how to lift and move boxes around. GOOD THING!

A few photos for giggles:
I had to clean out the puppy's ears with cotton balls, and Thatcher decided to do his own as well.

We had a 'carnival' at the elementary school and Thatcher was absolutely infatuated with the mascot. He kept following him and hugging him and trying to tell him stuff. It's funny, cause Gretchen always cried and ran away from mascots. It's so weird having a boy who is into everything and fearless!

So Grandma and Grandpa Holmes flew down to help us drive back (Grandpa drove our other car while Chris drove the moving truck and Grandma helped me out with the kids). The kids were pretty good. We did have the pleasure of spending the night in Beaver, which was actually nice. I was pretty wiped out and it was late. But Thatcher had this funny obsession with markers on his face. . .
This was the second day and try as I might to be mad about it, I just couldn't help but giggle when I looked at him! He had of course done it the day before with brown marker, but not nearly as bad. Luckily, I have limited him to the washable markers!

So Gretchen started her first day of school with only minor tears, and the second day with smiles. She is loving having only half day kindergarten, and making new friends. Mostly she looks forward to riding the bus home!

2009-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Thatcher loves motorcycles and has carried this one sent from Grandma Holmes everywhere! Thanks, Grandma!

Our puppy - he has seemed to keep the name Riddick - seems to love my slippers. While they are still on my feet! Here I was washing dishes. . .
And here I was playing the piano!
Along the lines of puppy love. . . Katie and Matt are getting married! Congratulations!

I hope none of ya'll know this guy, but this was at the elementary school's book fair night. I mean honestly - can't he feel the draft?

Valentine's with Grandma Adler

2009-02-19T10:16:00.001-08:00

Grandma Adler joined us for Valentine's weekend. The kids loved having her, and we loved the built in babysitter! Those kids somehow can talk their grandmas into jumping on the tramp! ha ha!

And we certainly LOVE getting packages! This is from the 'heart attack' the Knights sent - thank you thank you!

Home again, Home again, jiggity jig.

2009-02-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

So I guess we've made the decision. We're moving back to Utah. It seems crazy, I know. But that seems to be the decision we have arrived at, after much prayer and deliberation. And unless I get struck by lightning as I am packing boxes, it seems to be the way we should head.

Many factors have played a role in the decision, and there are certainly things we will miss down here - the warm sunshine, our family and new friends, the ward, our new house, but it is not to be! So watch out for the lightning strike, but otherwise it seems we will be heading back in March!

New puppy -

2009-02-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

So after some thought, we decided to get a puppy! We wanted to have something to give our kids some extra love (and maybe me too), since we are missing some family and friends in Utah! He is a 'pugador' - a pug lab mix. Yeah, go figure. We're confused at the logistics too. And, the pug was tan and the lab yellow, and all the puppies were black! Amazing. He is 6 1/2 weeks old - very puppy-ish, but very sweet as well. They said they get about beagle size, and look kinda like a mini-lab. Gretchen is thrilled! We think his name is Riddick - but that is still pending for sure.

Arizona friends - come visit him! He needs to be 'socialized' so you are welcome!

TD hair cut! Whoops. . .

2009-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

So I decided to give Thatcher a hair cut and now I'm regretting it! I miss those curls! I hope it grows at record speed!

He's still pretty darn cute though!

So I kept checking on my row of celery, and was sad only one had come up. I watched it for months, kept checking stuff online, making sure I was doing it right. I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. So I finally dug around it the other day. Turns out it was a carrot!

And a beauty one at that! It was the tastiest celery I've ever had!

Tattling OB's?

2009-02-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

So at work last night I got tattled on. Not by a patient, not by a nurse or co-worker, but by a physician. Honestly, how old are we? He asked me to call him every hour, then he called the patient on her cell phone to whine about how I kept calling him every hour. Then he called the charge nurse to question my training, and how dare I tell him what to do. He's delivered 15,234 babies and how dare a measly nurse tell him what to do! So you guessed it ladies, I have a new favorite OB (in case you couldn't see my eyes rolling they totally were). But you can tell my old favorites from Cottonwood that they are off the hook and quite fabulous compared to the others out there! It's funny, I never thought I would miss those epis cutting, fundal pushing men.

So as I was asking my co-nurses and charge nurse what they thought about my patient and my care - you know I am still a patient advocate despite his assessment, and am willing to admit I can very infrequently, very, very rarely, but possibly sometimes be wrong - and what they would have done, they informed me that this OB is 'disgusting'. Really every separate person said, 'Oh yeah, he's disgusting.' He 'sings' to the patient's vagina, and often winks and comments to the husband (or bofriend) about the 'courtesy stitch' and how 'this one's for them'! Yeah, kinda glad I'm not on his good list!

So when I woke up this morning, Gretchen told me that Chris went to 'some car place'. For two hours I was trying to figure out where he went. I finally called him, and he was at the driving range! Ha ha! That little girl is pretty cute. She has actually been playing on her own pretty well, with less whining and crying. It did require a cold shower via Chris the other night, but she's been much better since then.

25 random things of my kids

2009-02-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

So I had much more fun than expected doing the Facebook 25 random things, that I decided to do it on my kids. Here goes:

Thatcher
1. Favorite current saying is, "Ah dang it!" This is in response to any golf swing or ball throw - good or bad.
2. Loves to golf. Real with us, or in the backyard.
3. LOVES his cousin Katie. He would opt for her over anyone else. Ever.
4. Loves motorcycles - although not real, they're too loud - and helicopters, cars, and of course, fire trucks.
5. Actually really enjoys playing with Gretchen's polly pockets and pet shops!
6. Is really good at walking in high heeled dress up shoes.
7. Tells us, "Ewwwww, bum" when he wants his diaper changed.
8. Would watch tv all day if he could.
9. Is virtually always sweaty. The first sign is the beads of sweat on his nose.
10. He isn't very shy. When we are walking through grocery stores he often says, "Hi guy."
11. Loves to clean and help with laundry.
12. Typically requests to go to bed to have his "two nummies."
13. Dislikes black dogs. He kinda freaks out!

Gretchen
1. Grows about 4 inches every month - mostly in her legs.
2. LOVES to draw and makes notes. I think she makes about 15 a day. Literally. She already 'made' all of her valentines for school - without any help or initiation from me. That's way too far in advance for me!
3. Is slow to warm up to pretty much everything. Unless it involves sugar.
4. Loves sugar.
5. Loves sugar.
6. Is learning to read and add and 'take away'!
7. Likes to argue about pretty much everything. We continually threaten and try to reason. It helps often times. Other times I merely call Chris and make him give her a 'talking to' on the phone. She actually responds pretty well to this - she's getting pretty big to drag to the cold shower!
8. Loves her cousin Sydney. I think she says her name about 15 times a day, and at least 12 of the 15 notes she makes are for her!
9. Screamed and pitched fits through 3+ summers of swimming lessons. I am hoping this has finally been beaten out of her.'
10. Screams and pitches fits a lot. My mom recently labeled her as 'high maintenance.' I think this fits perfectly!
11. She can be overly sweet and helpful. Just not very often. Although the naughtiness is pretty much reserved for us parents - her primary teacher recently told me how she is the perfect example in class!
12. Was one of the fattest babies ever. She tripled her birth weight by six months.
13. Has recently reverted to the non stop questions including things such as, "why are you using a spoon to eat that (cereal)" and "why" "why" and "why" some more. I think I might be going a bit MORE looney.

So I'm not sure that's quite as fun as getting to know my friends more, but it kinda is. Have a good day.

No No Reoow!

2009-01-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

So we've had this stray cat problem in the back yard. Apparently we have nice places to poop. It's made for funny conversations with the kids, including Thatcher describing that the kittys (or reoows as he calls them - you know a version of meow) went night-night with their two 'nummies' (that's what he calls his binkies - and he has two of them in his bed), and various outings into the back yard to yell at them and tell them to go away. So here's Gretchen's solution:

She made these three signs and posted them on three of the windows facing the backyard! I asked her if the cats could read, and she said, "no" in a very "duh!" sort of way.

Sponge thought for the day. . .

2009-01-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

A great note from the leadership teaching meeting last night:

"Children are like sponges.
They absorb your knowledge,
They sap your strength,
They soak up your resources
And drain your energy -
But with one big squeeze,
They give it all back!"

Isn't it the truth!

I have a dream. . .

2009-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I try to teach my kids values and to be good citizens. . .

If you want any tips feel free to contact me!

You might have to squint a little, but yeah, that says 'nothing', 'I wan't more abilities', and 'nothing'. I must be doing a darn good job!

Happy B Day Chris, and more January vegetables!

2009-01-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

So Chris received this awesome new shirt in the mail from Lindsay and Kete - thanks guys!

Chris's boss allowed him the day off on his b day - and we went golfing. It was a beautiful day. Thatcher LOVED it. He is no longer happy to sit in the cart and eat snacks - I even tried to brag him with fruit snacks and he wanted nothing to do with them. He wants to be golfing, and where you are supposed to - like on the tee box and hitting his ball into the hole on the green. I can't even distract him and keep him out of the way! Luckily our golf companions were nice about it! Maybe we have a little Tiger on our hands. . .

So I put this shirt on Thatcher and he kept this hood on for about 5 hours!

Here are some of the beauty vegetables from our Schnepf farms outing. It's always nice to have fresh veggies. Speaking of fresh veggies. . .

My vegetables are thriving - I even have some orange-ish tomatoes! What a weird January!
Look - some broccoli seedlings!

My lettuce looks nearly ready!

The orange-ish tomatoes. And after some major pruning, they even recovered from the Christmas-time frost!

With some help from the President I was able to stake my pea plants! Rather creatively if I must say so.

The President was at our house!

2009-01-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

So it turns out we had a presidential visitor! Thatcher has started referring to grandma as "Bama", as in O-bama! Ha ha! It was funny every time.

Oh no! Bama's down! I think they may have killed her!

So here is part of the time when they are jumping. . .

And here's the rest of the time! I forgot how much crying can be involved in having fun! They did enjoy this rainy day in particular -

It didn't last too long, turns out they don't like to be in wet clothes, but look at the beauty rainbow in the background!

The grandparents visiting was fun. We got in some golf, some dining out, some nice walks, and plenty of just hanging out! Oooh - we went to a new restaurant called, Some Burros - it was fabulous!

Me and my dad got to have some fun golfing together. It was overcast, but a nice temp and we enjoyed our twosome of funny old guys from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their accent continually reminded me of the movie "Fargo"! Thanks Joe and Ken!

Grandma's in town!

2009-01-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

Daddy's in Dallas for the week for work, so Grandma came to town to play with us! Thatcher even coaxed her on to the tramp! (don't tell her I posted these, she won't be happy!)

So we had a little "movie night" last night and watched Lilo and Stitch. It was horrible! Gretchen started bawling because she missed her daddy (I think the movie was sad and scary and it brought it out). It was lame. Maybe we'll have to try again tonight with a GOOD movie. I thought you were safe with Disney, but I guess not!
We ventured out to Schnepf Farms today. It wasn't nearly as excited as it was supposed to be. It was nearly deserted - I ended up driving on roads I wasn't supposed to because we couldn't find people anywhere! We finally found someone to tell us what to do and had some fun. We rode a train around the farm to feed some deer, giddy-up'd on the carousel built in 1912, petted some kind goats and a donkey, played at the playground, and picked some vegetables! The veggies pretty much sucked - more weeds than anything. I guess next time we'll bag that part and go out to our own garden! They do have peach orchards though that are supposed to be great in May, so we'll have to try that out for sure!
This is Thatcher screaming, "NO!" at me while I aim the camera at him. He can be so pleasant at times!

Thatcher actually pet the goats! That is remarkable compared to his reaction to them at the State Fair in September! And I'm pretty sure they had one of the huge-est bulls around! It was Gi-normous!

Good morning Thatcher. . .

2009-01-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

This boy. Ahhhh! Good thing he's so stinkin' cute! This was his favorite book too!
Whatever. His loss, not mine. Right?

Happy Birthday Gretchen!! and other fun. . .

2009-01-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Gretchen is 6!! She had a fun day - taking cupcakes to school, always a hit, and dinner and party with yours truly! She chose her favorite meal of spaghetti with parmesan cheese, garlic bread and salad.
This is Thatcher's smile face - he hates to be left out!

We also had a few parties for her before we left Utah - Nobody wanted to miss out on the celecration!!

We also had some fun at Kangaroo Zoo! The kids loved it! Thatcher was a maniac. He loves it!

These two had some fun with tape on their faces, and then marker on the tape, which then of course ended up on their faces! That's what happens when Grandpa is monitoring!

So it's been awhile. So what?

2009-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ok it's been a little bit. Let me catch you up.

We spent Christmas (and New Year's)in Utah. It was great to visit with family and friends.

Here are my New Year's party companions:

Yeah, it was 10:15!! It was quite the rockin' party. Chris did twitch pretty good and hit the rewind button on the Tivo. Pretty exciting stuff.

We drove home the next day - always a longer road trip than desired, with two kids! - and were glad to get back to some sunshine! It is quite "chilly" here - I do occasionally don a sweater. Oh, and the heat is on in the house. Some of my vegetables froze while we were gone. Another planting disaster. Plants seem to not like me very much.

The kids have been doing pretty well. We gave them a tramp for Christmas and they are loving it. Today is 70+ degrees and quite delightful! I'm off to intervene in the children's screming - peace out. . .

Christmas at Grandma Adlers!

2008-12-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

We made it up to Utah just in time for the Adler Christmas bash! It was good times - but mostly good company! We exchanged all of our gifts, and received fabulous ones, too!
All the cousins! Grandma Adler made all of the girls dresses (and purchased the boys clothes) and has high hopes every year of a fabulous Christmas picture. You can imagine how easy that is!
And no I'm not pregnant (I wish), that lovely camera angle just makes it appear so!
Chris is working on perfecting his camera techniques! Looks awesome!

Thatcher had fun opening his gifts. He then laid down in the middle of the floor, amisdt all the paper, and played with his puzzle.
Jayme and Steve acquired a new puppy which everyone loved. I think Chris is trying to talk them into letting us take it home!

Gretchen's Kindergarten Christmas Program

2008-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Gretchen did such a fabulous job at her program! She sang all the words and smiled, too! Last year, she sulked during the whole program, and kept her sleeve in her mouth.

Thanks to the Holt grandparents for coming to support her!

Thatcher was pretty good to sit through it, and dang it! Isn't he cute?

He has decided he doesn't like the flash from the camera and covers his eyes and says, "No More Eyes!"

Snow sledding!

2008-12-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

We made it up to Utah through some treacherous driving, and lots of yelling and crying (the kids were crying and yelling some, too) but PHEW! We made it! The kids were so excited to see everyone and now it finally feels like Christmas!!

With some snow clothing donations from Susie (thank you much!) they went out to romp in the snow!
Thatcher is pretty excited about his hat and gloves!
Thanks to Daddy for helping play in the snow!
Thatcher was done sledding after this crash!

Gretchen loves sledding down with cousin Sydney!

More Temple Lights!

2008-12-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

We made it to see the beautiful lights at the Salt Lake Temple Square!! It was much, much chiller than in Mesa! But this temple is particularly lovely to me.
The various nativities are sure cute - and a fab reminder of what my focus on Christmas should be!!
I had a fun conversation with Gretchen about this statue. It is amazing how quickly she seems to understand topics that adults can complicate so much. It is so nice to be able to figure out the simplest explanation of things to share with her.

Thatcher was entertained by all the snow, and when we tried to get him to move on, he would yell, "NO!! More NO!" (the second NO referring, of course, to snow) And at dinner he threw about 8 million things on the ground, and then when he did decide to eat a bit, he managed all of his bites with his head resting in his hand!

Santa at the mall!

2008-12-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

So we went to the mall after Thanksgiving and ka-boom! There was Santa! Both my kids sat on his lap (which is a first for the 5 year old) as did Emma and Macy. (sorry my camera phone struggles in the dark with movement!)
So suddenly there was snow!! Snow BUBBLES that is!
Thatcher and Emma enjoying free reign of the Santa exhibit.
Gretchen giggling with the snow bubbles!
5 years and finally warmed up to Santa! Who can blame her - isn't it kinda weird thinking of some strange old man fitting down a chimney of all things, coming to your house while your sleeping, who always wants you to sit on his lap? It could easily be kinda creepy. But then I read that book I Believe in Santa Claus and everything is ok.

A Proud Mother . . .

2008-12-17T16:14:00.001-08:00

Gretchen's teacher gave her rave reviews of her end of term "testing". Good job, Gretchen! Here are some of her recent masterpieces!

This says, "Santa I want ice skate American Girl if you can Love Gretchen Thatcher"
And this is a picture of them sleeping with Santa downstairs! I'm not sure why it says 'July'!

Temple lights and palm trees!

2008-12-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

We visited the Mesa temple to see the lights and the nativity. It was fun, and believe it or not we felt cold! It's funny how you adjust.
This was Gretchen's favorite corner (green is her favorite color!) and she and Thatcher kept pretending to "pick" the berries off of the trees. Thatcher really gets into it, it's hilarious!
It's fun (and a little weird) to see palm trees with Christmas lights!
Of course, they have to teeter on the edge of falling into the water fountain!
Thatcher has learned how to say "star" and I'm quite certain he said Jesus at church last week!

Thatcher was standing next to Grandpa (who came to visit for a couple days) and was copying how he was standing and swaying! It was pretty cute!

What's this?

2008-12-17T12:46:00.001-08:00

Growing vegetables in December? Wierd, I know!!

Look! Look! A little cucumber . . .

tomatoes. . .

and two peas! Do you believe it?! TWO whole peas!!

Vinegar rules!

2008-12-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

So I had spent hours and hours scrubbing my shower. Yes, my brand new shower, trying to get those stinkin' water spots off. Well, it turns out that if you fill a bottle with white vinegar, spray it on the walls and leave it for 10-15 minutes, that it scrubs right off! I am so excited! Yes, I am excited about vinegar and my shower walls. Kinda sad, huh!

On a curious-er note, I have been pondering a very important question. If you are doing laundry and have a shirt that is half white, half dark blue, do you wash it with whites or with colors? I just can't decide. What do ya'll do?

"Guys" and "Raaar!"

2008-12-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

So Thatcher has already started having bad dreams! I went in his room two nights ago because he was freaking out and screaming. He was yelling and saying "Guy! Guy!" So he is afraid of some guy in our house. He has referred to this before - usually when the air kicks on he'll point to the hall where the sound is coming and say, "No guy!" Then he will point outside and say, "Guy!" or "raaar!" and we continually say, "Thatcher there is no guy. There aren't any dinosaurs. No guy, just mommy and daddy." I don't know what else to do at this point. Any thoughts?

Gretchen on the other hand was screaming last night (of course at 5 a.m.) and yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" (oh why can't it ever be "Daddy! Daddy!"). So I stumble into her room to find that she merely wanted her doll that had fallen on the floor. Honestly. Do they not want me to sleep or what?

On a funnier note, whenever Thatcher runs he either sticks one arm up in the air - like Superman on his jammies - or flaps both arms like a bird or airplane! Oh yeah, and Gretchen was singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song last night about her and Porter! Oh geez. I gave that girl a heart to heart, 'cause it turns out she didn't even know what the song meant! Ha ha.

Sunday Thoughts

2008-12-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

So I was knee deep in teaching the sunbeams (for a funny sunbeam story search sunbeams in my blog) and they were all quite and listening. This is amazingly remarkable considering the kids! But I thought, "Wow! They are honestly listening! I think I am getting through to them!" and as I paused to take a breath, one of the kids said, "I have two tramps!" Hmmm. I was hoping for a question to my lesson or something! Oh well. At least he has two tramps!

Gretchen did ask me some interesting questions, however. She said, "How will the lions know when Jesus comes?" Um, what? So she repeats, "How will the lions know when Jesus comes?" Hmmm. Not wanting to make asking any questions about Jesus unpleasant, I continued to ask what she was talking about, in my sincerest and kindest mother-voice. Turns out, she was asking how the lions will know to act nice during the second coming, since everyone will be acting nice when Jesus comes again. And how will the lions know that He has come again. Wow. I guess she was listening during primary!

We met with our new bishop on Sunday for tithing settlement. He is very nice. I'm starting to have a realization of all of the work that a bishop has to put in, and that he honestly cares for me and my family. It's kind of embarassing to admit that it's taken me this many years in the church to notice! He is really great, though.

Gretchen - WHAT?!?

2008-12-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

At breakfast this morning, Gretchen says, "I had a dream last night that me and Porter were sleeping together." Cough, cough! "What?!" I say. (Porter is one of her friends from school and church that, yes, is a boy - not one of those unisex named girls.) So as I am pondering this remark, and thinking, "Oh great. I've let her over hear too much Grey's Anatomy," or, "Kete was right. All of those teeny-bopper Disney shows have made her boy crazy!" I mean come on, I am already stressed that she wants to play with Porter instead of the girls in the neighborhood, and that she insists on being Batman and spiderman instead of princesses! And then she continues on to say, "We were on bunk beds, and Sydney was there, and she was having a sleepover on a bunkbed with Lizzy and . . . ." Phew! And phew again! Glad I took a second to listen instead of lecturing my 5 year old on fornication and how she can't play with boys anymore!

A couple days a go, she was standing in front of the mirror with her hands in her pockets, and she said, "Look at my hands according to my pockets!" Yep, she said according! I think she was telling me about how her hands looked smaller while in her pockets, but honestly most the time I'm not listening.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Kete's Home Cookin'! We were pleasured enough to have my brother in law, Kete, prepare our Thanksgiving meal! You would not believe the preparation that he put into it. I had no idea there were so many steps! I did make the mashed potatoes, kinda my specialty, and Chris made some fabulous rolls, and then Kete made more items, some of the in laws brought other items, and we had quite the feast!
Gretchen LOVES to watch cooking shows on tv - and now she had her own personal show! Kete explained his technique fabulously! There was quite the thawing and brining and triming and basting and flavoring and resting and slicing and eating! Phew! I'm worn out just thinkin' about it!

Gotta look your thanksgiving best! Luckily Aunt Lindsay has a way with hair (unlike Gretchen's mother who just chops hair off! Uh, what's a comb?)! A side note - Kete was wearing some longish shorts (or shants as some would call them) and Gretchen walked past him and said, "hey, I have capris just like that." Gotta love kids!

Ahhhh. The finished masterpiece!
So as I was taking pictures, Thatcher kept saying "me!" and requesting that I take some of him. Well, this is his posing smile! Ha ha!

This was my first Thanksgiving away from home. It was kinda sad, and it rained on top of it! But we had some fun family togetherness, and especially some great rock band and settlers matches. I bet none of you can say you have heard your father-in-law singing to rock band! But I do miss my Utah family! I hope all of your Thanksgivings were great - we are thankful for you!

Warm weather!

2008-12-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

We've certainly been enjoying this fall/winter weather! Gretchen's class had a Thanksgiving feast at the park next to her school, which me and Thatcher and Macy went to with her. It was fun! It actually had been raining that day, but it stopped for a bit and they were able to do it anyway!

A future rock climber? Thatcher was tearin' it up on the local climbing wall!

Go Wildcats!

2008-12-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

So in the beginning of High School Musical (#1) it shows the front of East High where there is this engraving - which Chris actually made! So Gretchen kept asking to go see it, and finally we did! Nice work, Chris. This is Gretchen and my niece, Sydney.

GO UTES!!

2008-12-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

GO UTES!! Yours truly had the chance to go to the BYU - Utah football game! Thanks to Susie and Jeff who happened to be in Israel! It was great fun, and also cold! I bundled, but my body has certainly adjusted to the climate in Arizona! It was great fun, especially cause we won! And the guy in front of us had the best high fives ever!

Me and my nephew, Spencer.
Me and my nephew, Clayson, who pitched a fit upon realizing that he would have to go and sit by me. Ahh, teenagers. I don't know how my camera got his eyes like that - it's creepy.

Pants Down! Time for Flu Shots!

2008-11-20T13:12:00.001-08:00

Can you tell which kid knows what's coming?

This picture may capture my children's personalities more than anything. Gretchen started crying an hour and a half before the flu shot, and then 10 minutes after. Thatcher cried about 10 seconds total.

Chicken Taco Soup

2008-11-17T18:07:00.001-08:00

So I thought I'd share a recipe I kinda made up last week. I wanted a taco soup but with chicken, so I combined a few reicpes. It was pretty tasty!

Combine the following in a stockpot:
1 Tbl onion pwder
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (I used 2 cans diced tomatoes and ½ can diced green chilies)
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced

Top with shredded cheddar cheese, dollop of sour cream or cream cheese, and crushed tortilla chips.

This was also great leftover. You could also do it in a crockpot, but I often don't plan that far ahead! Have a good day -

BONUS!

2008-11-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

So I'm at work the other night, it's like 4 a.m. and I'm trying to stay awake. I reach into my bag to pull out a breath mint - and BONUS!!! A two-for-one! (ok a one and a half for one) It made my night!

Loving older sister

2008-11-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

So last week we were going through the car wash - which Thatcher HATES and usually screams - so Gretchen used this really nice voice to him and offered to hold his hand! Ah, so sweet!

Weird hair growth?

2008-11-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

I was just sitting here one night and these oddly hair covered creatures appeared!
"Hello, I am Una Brow!"

So the story is that my nephew, Spencer, needed a haircut and afterwards we had the funny idea to put it on their faces! Between tape and a fair amount of honey, we laughed our heads off!

More new work changes.

2008-11-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

So, many of you are probably not interested, but I am continuing to be amazed at the differences between my new work and the old one. Mostly I am missing the old one!! I love you folks! And I love knowing my way around. So:
- The nurses work really well as a team. I am thinking this is because of being staffed so well - in addition to the 'team leader' (which is what they call the charge nurse) there is a 'float nurse' that goes around to help other nurses in need, like with deliveries or whatever else.
- The 'team leaders' do not get a pay differential (which many are not happy about).
- No one seems to be in charge of the new hires (namely, me). They kinda pretend that someone is, but basically I am on my own to work out my schedule and paperwork, and such.
- EVERYONE gets stirrups. Yeah, you can imagine how excited I am about this. They even push with them in stirrups! Geez, come on.
- The epidural rate is close to 90%. It's really annoying. I think that the nurses are maybe not very good at helping the unmedicated patients, but also they don't have any midwives. Not a single one. Maybe I should go back to school and be one! There is good staff communication, but not very fab communication between the patient and the staff. But also they don't use PCA epidural pumps, so the patients are typically super numb (which may contribute to the over - stirrup use!).
- The few doc's I have observed so far are really good about being 'hands off' of the perineum, and waiting for the patient to push it out - pass that on to some of my fav. Cottonwood docs! Yeah, you know who they are!
- The anesthesiologists merely show up to the patient room, and the nurses get them their cart, all of their meds, prime their pumps, and position the patient (oh and the consent). The nurses also get all of the anesth. meds for C sections, and give the IV and PO ones as well! Hmmm. This seems like enabling helplessness.

There is of course much good and bad about the new job. Mostly I miss my old friends and co workers in Utah, and knowing my way around the job! I feel like such a useless retard.

Cooler weather . . . and snotty kids

2008-11-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

So, I actually wore pants the other day! Exciting news, huh! It's in the 70s, and cooling down at night. But fun enough, my kids are nasty sick! Lots of boogers and snot and coughs. Ah, I love illness. Not only do I get snot from their mouth, but from their nose, too!

Does anyone else waver from not wanting children one minute, to loving them indefinitely the next? These kids are driving me up the wall. There is so much SASS from the older one, and so much screaming and "NO!" from the younger one. Ah. I need a break. But they are pretty cute.

Gretchen's first elementary school pictures!

Still warm and playing in the sand! We are finally meeting more neighbors, as folks venture outdoors in the nicer weather.

So I usually have to wake Thatcher up from his nap to pick up Gretchen from school. He has a hard time adjusting to the sunshine, and was crying, "no eyes! No eyes!" So I offered him my shades.

He's getting funny about what he wants to wear. He was fixated on wearing this bib, and of course who doesn't need a helmet indoors?

We went to the grand opening of the new library close to our house, and Thatcher starting dragging me across the parking lot, and I couldn't figure out why. That is until I noticed the fire truck! He is such a boy!

Thatcher's favorite sayings

2008-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Thatcher's vocabulary is expanding. It's so fun to watch him learn and grow! He will ask questions, "Daddy?" or "nummy?" (which is his binky, or candy) and then I say, "Daddy's at work" or "no we're not having candy right now" and he says, "Oh." It's hilarious. Everything is "Oh."

He currently has a runny nose and he will tell me, "Ewww." That means he wants his nose wiped!

He, like most 2 year olds, wants to do everything himself. So he tells us, many times a day, "No me" and points to his chest.

He was calling every man at the store or where ever else we were "daddy" or "papa" depending on their hair color/age/mustache. It was somewhat embarassing because I worried that people who think he didn't know who his father was! Because of this I said, "no that's just a guy", and now every time someone walks past he says, quite loudly, "Guy?" I can't wait until the embarassing comments become more elaborate.

He's working on peoples names, daddy, mama, papa, mamapapa(grandma), of course guy, but Gretchen remains, "Ehh." He also says ice, shoes/juice (these sounds pretty much the same), I have heard "please" once or twice, "go" (which refers to cars and his bus and also his Cars jammies), gco-gco (which rotates between a helicopter and a motorcycle), and a large amounts of grunts and points and screams. He is a very strong willed and opinionated child. It's hard to believe that a 2 year old can know for sure, and that specifically, what they want!

Happy Halloween!! And Walk-A-Thon

2008-11-02T14:00:00.001-08:00

On the night before Halloween our ward held a party in a members yard and it was really great. There were hot dogs and chili and a bunch of little booths - it reminded me of a school carnival, only it was free! Awesome for a cheapskate like myself! It was really fun, and there were some great costumes. One dad was a "tooth fairy" in a sparkly white tutu, and two different couples were Napoleon Dynamite and his girlfriend, and one of them did the awesomest rendition of Napoleon's dance I've ever seen! It was hilarious! The kids got to wear their costumes and win candy (Thatcher would just walk up and take it without waiting in line or playing the game) and got their faces painted.

I am having such a hard time feeling the season cause of the warm weather. What? It's fall? No, it's summer! I did, however, let Gretchen decorate the pumpkins (probably only cause Grandma Holmes bought the pumpkins while she was here!) She obviously can't wield a knife, so we let her paint them. She loves it - especially 'cause I'm a lame mom that doesn't let her paint any other time!

So Gretchen particpated in the school walk-a-thon Friday morning. She was pretty unsure of it at first and didn't want to do it. But by the end of the hour she was having fun! Slow to warm up that one is. It was a pretty fun little deal - they had a DJ and decorations and otter pops to eat after.

They did a great little warm up in the middle of the field.
You can see her in the pink capris and black shirt (which she got for acquiring pledges - Thanks grandparents!) and her overly excited expression.

This was held on Halloween, but they didn't wear costumes to school, although they did have a little party. Something about a pagan holiday? More politically correct blah blah. Oh boy.

We did some trick or treating, well actually a friend in the neighborhood invited us over for soup and talked the men into taking the kids trick or treating so the wives could chit chat! What a FABULOUS idea! The kids had a great time, as did we. Here are some pics of batGIRL and robin!

Gretchen is a bit of a tomboy and insisted on being Batman - but allowed batGIRL (although I am not sure this character really exists. Don't tell her, she is convinced of it and constantly asked me about details!)
I am so grateful for amazon.com and their costume selection! Luckily I needed only a minor adjustment to create batgirl, which was FAB, seeing as I don't sew!
They both had a blast wearing the costumes and had a hard time taking them off at the end of the night!
You can see how much he LOVED the mask! He says, "NO eyes! No eyes!"

Gretchen wisdom, and more new Work info

2008-10-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Gretchen says to me, "If I make my eyes like this (she is squinting) I can see all the way to another country!"

So I worked my first shift Wednesday night. It was really different from my last job, I guess I assumed L & D's would be more alike. For those of you that know, here are some of the differences.
1. They are amazingly well staffed - and they think they are short.
2. They have a anesthesiologist and a CRNA on 24/7, a minimum of 2 scrub techs (and they are not cross over housekeepers) even at night - so nurses are not even required to scrub! If you WANT to, you can.
3. The delivery tables are set up by the scrub techs and have about six drawers underneath full of various supplies.
4. The room has virtually no supplies.
5. The charting is a nightmare - the strip and the charting are two different programs, and you have to use the mouse to click everything. Although one bonus is that the VS automatically chart.
6. The NICU team comes with an NNP to all C section deliveries, and then they take the baby and the dad to the recovery room to wait for you to come out from the section (and they stay and supervise!). However, they don't do anything like baby meds, or measurements.
7. Recoveries are TWO hours - this is really lame 'cause I had perfected the one hour recovery. Of course since I have to do all of the baby stuff, I may need it.

That's about it so far. It was super overwhelming and annoying because I feel like I should know what I am doing and I feel like a new grad! I was hoping to avoid the new grad feeling forever! I'll keep ya'll updated on the invigorating new experience (this is said with my eyes rolling).

What I have learned today. . .

2008-10-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

Gretchen's feet actually do grow faster than her hair! (We are continually accepting donations for new shoes, which can of course be made out to me in check form, or cash!)

If you are as coordinated as me and can manage to toss shredded cheddar all over the kitchen, vacuuming it up will then cause your vacuum to smell nasty with each subsequent usage. (If, however, you are priviledged enough to have the awesomest vacuum ever - a DYSON - a quick solution was found after I made a brief phone call to the company!)

Vacuuming is indeed difficult with a 2 year old hanging on your clothes.

It's amazing what one can learn on any random Monday.

New job! Welcome to the rest of the world. . .

2008-10-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

So we came home from Cali on Sunday night, picked up my mom from the airport on the way back into town, and I started the new job Monday morning. Gratefully Grandma was here - she has been an awesome nanny/maid/cook during the past week. Orientation sucks! Let me say that again, ORIENTATION SUCKS!!! It is so dumb, they could make it at most one day and still get all of the necessary info in.
Anyway, it will be nice to have a second income again, and I am Jonesin' to start an iv. Wierd, I know - only you nurses will understand!

One thing that has been a big shocker is the variety of folks that are orienting with me. Probably only half of the group of 40 are from Arizona. They are from all over the country, and one from India. I had no idea Phoenix was such a melting pot! It is interesting to get to know all of them.

One thing I have been immediately grateful for is the gospel. I hear them talk about their lives and their stresses and I know that if they had the gospel it would change things greatly. This is such a difference from working in Utah, where it seems like 90% of the staff were LDS. It's a change in life that I am trying to adjust to - it brings a different set of challenges. I appreciate the diversity, but I also worry about my kids and the environment they will be growing up in. It is hard to describe the situation while also being politically correct - dont' any of you take offense! There are loads and loads of fabulous people who are not LDS and many LDS folks who are not fabulous! I am just still working on the adjustment. I miss Utah and all my family and friends. More than I thought I would . . . .

LAGUNA '08!!

2008-10-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

We had sooooo much fun at the beach! We met up with some family and spent 8 days just kicked back. I'm pretty sure heaven is just about like that! Sleeping with the sound of waves crashing, spending the day sun tanning and swimming and frolicking in the sand and ocean (mostly only Chris in the ocean - it was only 57 degrees!) and very little cooking and cleaning! And of course surrounded by some of the best company around! The weather was darn near perfect. We were quite blessed on this trip. And did I mention that the drive from our house is about 5 1/2 hours? I'm pretty sure that might make the move down here worth it!

The amazing view from our hotel room - I think Superman made it to our hotel!

We rented bikes and rode along the Newport Beach boardwalk. It was so fun! We got some tandem bikes and I thoroughly enjoyed making some "brrring" bike bell sounds, and then Spencer's fog horn. Oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in ages!
I think this was my best 'action' shot from the trip. This is my nephew Spencer - if anybody wants his number I think we could work somethin' out!

Our hotel room deck at sunset.

We also got to do some visiting with Bella and Hannah, accompanied by the Adler grandparents and Jayme!
Pretty sure Thatcher's favorite activity was throwing rocks in the tide pools! That and anything that had to do with Katie!
Awwwww. So sweet.

While the trip was soooo awesome, it had to end, and I of course left in tears. It was so fun to have people to hang out with! I miss my sisters and lunch companions! The 5 1/2 hours seemed a lot longer going home than going there.

Welcome Back!

2008-10-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

So we spent a FABULOUS week in Laguna Beach with some family and friends and have now returned back to the ho-hum. I will share some beach photos and stories later, but for now a quick update on the home front.

My mom was kind enough to fly down Sunday night for me to start my new hospital orientation - this whole week 8-5. It's so amazingly exciting I can't stand it (my eyes are rolling as I say this in a really bored voice). So Gretchen had 3 full weeks off of school - fall break followed by the vacation - and the first morning back was with Grandma instead of the usual, yours truly. So apparently they get about half way there, Grandma pushing Thatcher in the stroller and Gretchen riding her scooter, and Gretchen decides she doesn't want to go and drops her scooter and starts to run home screaming. As Grandma tries to catch her! I couldn't help but giggle as I heard this! She ran back home and after many threats and pleads, Chris had to be called. He gave her a 'talking to' over the phone and she promptly was driven to school. Chris now gets to take her for the rest of the week! This might be heart breaking as a mother if she hadn't already exhausted all of my sympathy!

Today Thatcher apparently spent a fair amount of time crying at the window looking for mom. That's sad - I hate this stupid hospital orientation. They manage to make you feel like a complete idiot - I had to guide a blindfolded man around the halls for 5 MINUTES without using any words, and without him knowing what I was doing. Honestly people.

After eating out for dinner tonight, Grandma asked me, "Do you think you'll ever have an easy child?" That's a good question. What am I raising here? Hopefully we haven't worn her down entirely at the weeks end. She may be ready to say farewell to us until next month!

Circle K doesn't suck

2008-10-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have to take back everything I said about Circle K. They opened a new one up the street and had a grand opening. They had blow up bouncy things and free hot dogs and drinks and treats. The kids loved it! Not only that, they have a drink and slushy selection that rivals the QT. Not to mention they always seem to have cups!

After the morning of fun at the Circle K, we went to a Safety Fair at the QC Marketplace. They had old cars and an old fire engine and new stuff as well. The kids got to sit in a rescue helicopter, and we watched as they lit a car on fire and then put it out. They also did a demonstration of the K-9 unit and how the dogs attack a "bad guy". That was pretty fun, and Thatche was in absolute heaven with all of the "Woooo, woooo" (that's how he refers to fire trucks, you know, the siren sound) and the "gco, gco" (his helicopter sound). Here are a few pics

I keep laughing at Gretchen. Today she asked me, "Did you come home before you went to bed?"

So it's a good thing I laugh, cause she and the boy are fighting like cats and dogs. I keep yelling and yelling, but they just keep yelling. What's the problem here? I just don't get it.

Oh, and by the way, I was gone last night for about 2 hours playing volleyball with the Relief Society and Chris once again chopped off my little boy's curls! He insists his hair was too crazy, but I have an inkling he doesn't enjoy all of the women ooohing and ahhing over his beautiful hair!

More Funnies.

2008-10-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

So today Gretchen said, "My eyes are kinda allergic to sun today."

Yesterday Thatcher was sitting at the table yelling at me, this usually involves, "MOM! MOM! MO!" - aka more with a very loud voice. So I looked at him after about 5 yells and said, "What, Thatcher? You want some dip?" cause he is always requesting "dip" with everything, like ranch on tacos, ketchup, italian dressing on enchiladas, you know, the usual. And he says, "Mo hice" - aka more rice! He speaks! It is still typically grunts, especially to get Gretchen's attention, but let's face it, Gretchen is pretty hard to say. Maybe he is a Canadian at heart, spewing forth, "Eh? Eeeehhh?" with increasing volume and exaggerated pointing.

Again. . .

2008-10-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

Honestly, who is in charge of this child?

Sunbeams?

2008-10-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is courtesy of Aunt Trudy:

A new intern, who had never lived in Utah and knew nothing about
Mormons, was struggling to understand the cultural climate.
He was interviewing a new patient and stumbled upon what he
thought was a raging psychosis.

Doctor: "Well, Mrs. Olsen, we've talked about your high blood pressure
and your medications. Are you experiencing any particular stress in
your life?"

Patient: "Oh, yes! It's the Sunbeams. They're driving me crazy."

Doctor: (Very surprised) "The sunbeams."

Patient: "Yes. I've never had trouble with them before, but this group
won't sit still. They bounce all over the room, and run out the door and down the hall."

Doctor: (Reaching for a pen) "Have you told anyone about this?"

Patient: "Of course. I told the president."

Doctor: "Really! What did the President tell you?

Patient: "She said Sunbeams are like that. I'm just going to have to
learn to deal with them."

Doctor: (Concerned that he may be missing something) "I know people
who are sensitive to sunbeams. Do they cause you to rash or anything?"

Patient: (Confused) "A rash? No."

Doctor: "What's the biggest problem they're creating?"

Patient: "It's the noise. They just won't quit talking."

Doctor: (Astonished) "The sunbeams are talking to you?"

Patient: "Well, yes. But mostly to each other."

Doctor (Scribbling furiously in the chart) "I see. Can anyone else
hear them talking?"

Patient: (After a moment of stunned silence) "You're not LDS, are you?"

Gretchen funnys

2008-10-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

So the other day we are driving and Gretchen asks me about those blinking arrows telling you to merge and change lanes. I explain that they are telling you to scoot over because people are working on the road. She replies, "Cause if you don't follow Jesus, that's breaking the rules."

She is trying to carry toys from one room to another (because she can't play anything if she is more than 3 feet from me) and she says, "I wish I had three arms!" Amen to that! I could do wonders with another arm.

As we are making brownie mix, she states, "We can't lick that, huh, cause it has rotten eggs in it!"

Lotion, lotion, and more lotion

2008-10-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know where this child's mother is, but maybe she should pay more attention!

Yes, two separate occasions, two separate days. And yes, both times it was Gretchen who discovered him and yells, "Mom! Mom! Come look at what Thatcher is doing!" His hair is still greasy. But I at least have learned how to make an awesome faux hawk! You just need 2 cups of heavy lotion in your hair and it will stand straight up!

Fall Break, Day 3

2008-10-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

Day 3? That's it? Wow. Fall Break is feeling really long. I can't seem to remember what I did with Gretchen before she was in school all day. We've already cleaned, done laundry, gone to the store, the playground, what else? I can only be nice for so long. I need a break, before I break. And of course Chris worked late last night. Oh man.

Today we went swimming at our gracious neighbor's house. It was fun. She is probably the kindest soul I know, and I don't know her very much. She and her husband brought us a pizza on the day we moved in, and invited us to swim. She has said we can swim anytime! So that's fabulous, and we took her some brownies as a small token. She and her husband are empty nesters, and her elderly parents AND her handicap brother live with them. And her husband just had open heart surgery in the summer. So she pretty much takes care of them all. Wow. Maybe I should stop whining about my two little monsters?

Fall Break, Day One

2008-10-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Work Cinderellie work!

No playin' for these kids! Fall Break is about workin'!

Actually, after our party last night (another b day party for Thatcher) our floor needed some serious help. I gave these two their own sponges and a bucket and they went to town! I think it was the best fun they had all day!

Here are a few pics of the birthday boy enjoying his party. And by the way, he did AWESOME blowing out his candles! Yeah, he's pretty advanced for his age.

He LOVES motorcycles, and he hasn't been many places without them since.

Stickers rule! Man, that curly hair is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Saturday's Relief Society Conference

2008-10-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

I went to the Stake Center on Saturday night for the General Relief Society Conference. It was really nice. They had a dinner afterwards and every ward talked about their summer humanitarian projects. I felt a little retarded cause I'm a LONER. Luckily a kind soul made space for me and invited me to join her. As often as is the case, I can't remember most of the talks, just that I felt the spirit. And that there are plenty of pregnant women and new babies in the stake that I wished I could hold! I have discovered people don't very often like handing their babies off to strange new women(me)! It's really too bad, cause I'm a great baby holder.

What I can recall from the meeting is from President Uchtdorf. He is a fabulous speaker and I feel like he honestly cares about me, even though we have never met! Creation and Compassion. Creation - basically improving upon anything I have been given. Beautifying my space, cleaning, planting gardens and plants. And compassion. One thing I know for certain is that as I wallow in my self pity of loneliness and 700 miles from my bestest friends and family, if I instead focus on doing something for others, I feel so much better. Wallowing doesn't really help much, although I seem to do it a lot! I'm grateful for the church and kind souls helping me to find my place!

Employment?

2008-09-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, friends and family, after weeks of searching and thinking and some soul searching, I have decided to once again become part of the work force! I found a position that is per diem, I have to work at least 3 8-hour night shifts a month, and it's in Labor and Delivery at a hospital that does upwards of 500 deliveries a month. It's pretty fleixble so we can still vacation and such and I can work around Chris's schedule. It's been nice to be a stay at home mom in some ways, and not so nice in others. Those of you who have done both know what I mean! I do have a passion for labor and delivery though. I feel like I'm good at it and maybe I can help save some moms and babies from poor outcomes, and have good experiences. It's nice to keep up my skills, and I really like poking people with needles!

So anyway I finally decided it would be best to not use up all of our rainy day fund, and well, the pay is pretty good! The minimum that nurses start at down here is about $3 more per hour than what I was making after 4 years in Utah! The bad news is that it's about a 35 minute commute. We kinda live in the boonies! This Phoenix area is enormous! I can't believe that it is all considered one valley. I don't think it ever ends! It's weird to not have the mountains to limit things.

So I start next month, after our long awaited vacation to Laguna Beach. We are having my mom come down to watch the kids while I do the initial week orientation. Those big hospital orientations suck the life out of you minute by minute. I guess it could be nice cause you get paid to sit there are listen, but 40 hours worth? Come on people! Oh well. There's no way around it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Gretchen's aspiring art show

2008-09-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

So Gretchen likes to snag my camera phone and take loads of pictures. I thought this one was particularly modern. What do you think?
Since she is a HUMONGOUS pack-rat, I decided that we needed to take photos of her favorite works of art, since she makes about 500 a day, so I could gradually chuck them when she isn't looking. It would be fabulous if I had an entire wing to devote to her art, but since I don't, I must resort to throwing them away when she is at school, and making sure she won't see them in the trash 'cause then she'll pull 'em out and yell at me about it! What a rude mother.

Veggie Garden

2008-09-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

So since I had the landscapers put in these great little veggie gardens I decided to do some fall planting. It's kinda wierd planting seeds in September, not to mention sweating while doing it. The kids were such a great help, moving dirt back in spots I had just cleared away, stepping on freshly planted seeds, flicking dirt in my hair, fighting, did I forget anything? But we amazingly got it done. I have never had much success with a vegetable garden, so I am crossing my fingers. Weeds I can grow brilliantly. I think I've worked out flowers, too, so now it's time to work on the veggies! I got a great list from my sister in law, Mindy, as to what to plant when, so away I go! After waiting like 3 days and not seeing anything, I was pretty sure my work was a failure. I mean I have been patient and everything!! Shouldnt I like have mounds of fresh veggies by now? But wait! LOOK. . . BUDDING SEEDS!

Aren't they beautiful?

Thatcher's B day dinner

2008-09-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

So we had kind of an uneventful B day dinner for Thatcher. It was just me and the kids, Chris wasn't home from Vegas yet, but it was exciting 'cause I scored this FAB bbq on craig's list! So I 'cued up some hot dogs, one of Thatcher's favorite -provided there are heaps of ketchup - and made some potato salad (a first attempt for me, which turned out pretty good I must say!). The dogs were tasty, and a hit with the kids.
Then we made some awesome homemade ice cream in this ball that the beautiful Katie gave us a while back. It was great fun! You load it up with the ingredients and then pass it back and forth for 10-15 minutes. We rolled it around on the floor, as to avoid dropping and breaking it. Chris made it home just before bed and presented Thatcher with a gift, a motorcross DVD! He was in such heaven. The kid won't sit still for more than 5 seconds, wait like 2 seconds, unless there are motorcycles on tv! It's hilarious! And then if there are commercials he starts freaking out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THATCHER!

2008-09-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Thatcher is 2! Happy Birthday to him! He is so fun, and so grouchy. I tried to sing to him this morning and he yelled and me and told me, "NO!" At least he is learning to talk, right?

Grandma Holmes bought him this new helicopter, which he picked out himself, and he calls it his, "Gco-gco" - it's a combination of cocoa and go-go. I am pretty sure that's an interpretation of the helicopter sound! He loves it, as does Gretchen and he insisted on taking the following things to bed last night: the "guy" that came with the helicopter, a picture of Chris body womping (Thatcher calls it, "Daddy, boat"), a motorcycle, and a tractor book. It was pretty funny to see him try to carry all of them, and then try to hold all of them along with the three binkys he has in his bed!

So I mentioned that Gretchen loves Camp Rock, well, check this video out. If she wasn't such a tom-boy, I'd be pretty sure we have a diva on our hands! She has this amazing hip wiggle thing. . . wow! Notice the bum crack too, in classic Gretchen form!

Help!

2008-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Ladies (and anyone else who cleans) I need some help! I have these retarded water spots in my showers and I scrub and scrub and they remain! These are new showers for heavens sake! You can help - PLEASE inform me of your favorite cleaners! If it is fabulous enough there may be a reward involved. Thank you and Good Day!

Utah! Utah!

2008-09-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

So last Monday night Chris suggested flying up to Utah on Wednesday morning. I said, "um, OK!" It was so great to visit every one. I flew up with the kids and Chris drove with Dave. We had lots of visiting and lots of eating. And of course some illnesses. I managed to get the stomach flu, and both kids came home with a cold. I guess that's the price of fun! Thatcher also managed a small amount of vomit at Pei Wei. What's a vacation without vomit?

One of my first stops was to check out our old house. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I think it looks kinda lonely!

And of course, some of the best mixed beverages ever made! I have missed these dearly.

Grandma Adler threw a little early B-day party for Thatcher (who will be two next week!). He was a little cross (what else is new) and not quite as gracious as I would like my child to be, but what can you do? He certainly is his father's child, with the often inability to keep his eyes open during a photo!

Grandma A. gave Thatcher this awesome 4 wheeler! He loves it!

We made a visit to one of my best friends, Angie, to check out the new addition. Isn't she cute! Gretchen would hardly let me hold her! I had to pry the baby out of her arms!

We certainly had to golf, seeing as the weather wasn't 110 degrees. It was actually almost chilly! I had a sweatshirt and all! But look!! It's fall! Who knew? I certainly didn't living in down here! I will miss the fall leaves. They are so lovely. One of our favorite weekend pastimes is golfing with the Knights!

What fall Utah trip would be complete without a stop at the State Fair? Is this not the creepiest photo ever?

Do you think Thatcher could get any further away from the goat? He refused to go into the sheep house, yelling, "No!No!" He is becoming increasingly determined to get his way. When it was time to fly back everyone kept asking him, "Thatcher do you get to go on an airplane?" and he would vehemently answer, "NO! Boat!" I finally conceded after his near tears and we are referring to them as SKY boats.

We had loads of fun, but were also glad to come home. Wait-did I just call this place home? Whoa, that's wierd. The kids slept well in their own beds, and Gretch was glad to see Jackson at school. I then went for a jog through the park and every single person I saw wished me a good morning! How nice! I guess I'll frequent that park more often!

I am waiting to hear back about 2 job offers - both in labor and delivery and part time - about 3 shifts or more a month. It's nice to be home, but that will give our budget a little boost, and keep my license current. I wish the hospitals were a little closer - the nearest is about 25 min. away - but that's life. I'll keep you updated!

Thatcher

2008-09-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

How can you not love this little face? I guess I'm just a sucker for blue eyes and blonde curls!

Pool Party!

2008-09-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

I had no idea a $2 pool could be such a hit! They have been playing and getting along for like 4 whole minutes! Whoopee!

Thatcher's world class jumping video
So this swim party ended with a poopy diaper, and some swimming in the poopy diaper, and it was . . . really gross.

We had some cousins over to play and to have pizza last night - our hubbies were working late. It was great fun! It's coolin off a little down here - only in the low 100s, but mostly the humidity seems to be going away, which makes 100 feel simply delightful!

I had a fabulous hair cut this morning by Karen who comes to your house - I felt like a movie star! Pretty sweet, eh?

Widows suck! Yards rule! Including Pom-Pom trees.

2008-09-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

Look what I stumbled upon in my garage! Look closely . . . see the red belly! EWWWWWW! I told Chris we have to move!
So I raced to find my gallon sized bug killa and sprayed him until he couldn't swim any longer! I turned around and he was crawling back up his web! Stupid spider tried to fool me! So I forthwith and posthaste smashed it with a broompan! Try comin' back from that widow head!
On a happier note, we have landscaping! Front AND Back! In memory of Suzi Bria - It's a Christmas miracle!
So funny me thought that if there was no dirt, that it was safe to let Thatcher romp in the yard. Well he managed to find some! Aparently he and Gretchen only had to dig quite shallowly beneath the rocks to find some mud! Ahhhh! It is now handprinted all over my back porch!
So literally yesterday these shrubs had no blossoms! Today we wake up to Purple Mania! They are everywhere and beautiful! Gretchen kept saying, "ah! oh!", and requesting to smell them! Then she added in how much she loves "pom-pom" trees! (aka PALM trees!)
Thatcher fell asleep in the car. He is always so cool and casual.

More Grandparents, Painted Nails, and Puke

2008-09-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

The best part about Grandparents coming to visit - cuddling before bed! Gretchen made sure everyone got turns reading her bedtime books. She also enjoyed the shopping - although we didn't enjoy having her come! She threw an awesome tempertantrum, or three. Thatcher casually cuddled up to Grandma to request lots of Diet Coke! She, also casually, painted my little boys toenails! Naughty grandma. . . . The worst news is that he held very still and is excited that they are pink!

Thatcher enjoyed kickin' it with Grandpa on the couch. The bad news is that shortly after this moment, I picked him up to put him to bed and he PUKED all over me! MMMMMMM! I love puke down my shirt! I don't think he was stomach flu sick, but he did have a fever for a few days. I am thinking it was related to some teething. He took advantage of every moment and wouldn't allow me to do anything. He wanted to sit in my lap and watch tv all day. When I try to turn on kid shows for him he makes a car sound and moves his arm around in circles. I finally figured out he wanted to watch vehicles driving on tv! He finally settled on NASCAR. Uncle Dave would be so proud.

The Holmes Granparents visit!

2008-08-29T15:55:00.001-07:00

So my Bday was a mixture of feelings. I spent half the morning crying, because I missed going out to lunch with sisters, and playing with friends, and my usual B day partying! I miss my home. All of my stuff is here, but it's certainly not quite feeling like home. Then Chris and Dave took pity on me and took me out to lunch. Then the parents arrived in the afternoon and we finished the evening off with a visit to the Cheesecake Factory! Can't top that! Thanks to all of you who called! It means a lot! I miss all of you dearly! So this is one of the funniest Bday cards I have ever received! It is courtesy of my kind, big sister, Susie! This certainly helped to pick up my mood!

We have lawn in our back yard! I wonder how long it will take Thatcher to throw all of the rocks ONTO the yard!
Grandpa Holmes and Thatcher kickin' it on the couch! Grandma brought some cute cars for the kids, one of which included a pig. Thatcher carries this around all day (and night) and affectionately refers to his as his "moo"!
Did I mention that while Chris was in Vegas for work, I was installing some blinds, and Thatcher and Gretchen got into a little miff, and she bit him? Nice, huh!

2008-08-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Thatcher enlisted some help from Gretchen this time!

For Sunday dinner:

To waive off some loneliness this weekend we had a crew over for dinner. Chris's step siblings (3 of the 4) and their kids, and Dave and Char, and cousin Jonathan. It went great! We had fun and managed to fit everyone without any major disasters! I made chicken enchiladas (my new oven cooks faster so I only mildly burned the bottom, sorry again guys) and those tasty orange rolls - always a hit! Dave nearly knocked me over with hugs and kisses when he saw I had made them! He also misses having meals at Susie's with the whole fam and their cooking! For those who are interested, here are those recipes:
Chicken Enchiladas
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 tsp. onion powder
1 (2¼ oz.) can chopped or slice olives (optional)
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed(opt)
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (bake drizzled with olive oil or butter and sprinkled with onion powder, garlic salt and pepper, at 350 degrees until thickest part of meat is 170 degrees)
8-10 flour tortillas, cut into bite-sized pieces
¾ lb. grated cheddar cheese

Mix soups, sour cream, onion, olives, black beans, and green chilies. Add chicken and stir. Place half of tortilla pieces in bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Spread half of chicken mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle half of cheese over mixture. Repeat layers. Bake uncovered 45-60 min. @ 350˚.

Favorite Orange Rolls
1 c. sugar
2 Tbl. Orange juice
½ c. butter
Combine above ingredients until sugar dissolves. Pour over 2 packages SMALL(the large don't work) hungry jack biscuits in a round bundt pan. Bake @ 350 for 18-25 min.

Holy MONSOON!!

2008-08-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I believe I have experienced my first Arizona Monsoon! As I drove to pick Gretchen up from school it started to pour. I ran into the school carrying Thatcher (we have to walk in to pick up the kids. Usually it is outside but today they were inside.) Thatcher was giggling as we ran in and got soaked!

I tracked Gretchen down and she was bawling! I guess she got kinda misplaced with the teachers or something and then the thunder and rain, anyway she was upset. We waited inside for a bit hoping it would die down. It didn't so I ran out again with Thatcher giggling. By the time I got to the car I was ankle deep in water! It was like I had backed into a lake to pull in a boat! Gretchen waited inside for me to pull the car up closer. She cried while we ran out and got drenched! As luck would have it, the rain started to let up as we drove home (of course!). Here is a photo of our subdivision's usually dry grassy area, and the mail truck waiting for the water to run off the street so he could drive through. I was grateful to have the truck and pounded through! Gretchen then thought it was fun cause we splashed so much water around! But then she made me pull in the garage so she could get out and not get wet! Ah, what are we to do with her?

Here's Gretch posing at a quaint little fountain at a mall!

So I bought some raisins at Gretchen's request. She has since informed me that she allergic to them because when she tries to eat them it starts to make her throw up a little in her throat!.

Fixed piano, and lots of markers!

2008-08-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

As I was working on my last post, I turned around to notice this . . . . Thank heavens for dry erase markers! They clean up in a breeze!

After I yelled and punished, he was sitting so quietly in the corner doing this. . . . It's a good thing he's so dang cute! Cause he's naughty!!

Yeah! the piano is fixed! It's been quite the hit. Gretchen plays everyday, especially the player part. We didn't have room to move down any of the rolls, and I think the piano fixit man felt pity and donated one! I am kinda getting sick of the one song. . .
I just wanted to post an often viewed image at our house of our tantrum throwing, screaming baby. He's starting kicking and rolling on the ground and everything! I'm sure you are very sad to be missing out on those!

Jammin' in AZ

2008-08-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thatcher has been LOVING to sweep! (I still haven't figured out how to rotate pictures, so just rotate your head if you don't mind! I'll keep working on it!)
We received a fun package from Grandma Holmes that included some activity books for the kids. Thatcher's had stickers which he immediately put to use!
We snuck in a swim in the vacant neighbors pool! It was kinda gross and green - next time I think we'll wait until it's been cleaned!
Everyday we go pick up Gretchen at school and wait at this fence until the teacher brings her out to the locked gate. There is some good security - makes me feel a little better about leaving my litttle girl!
He discovered an empty cabinet for a hiding place!
So Sydney turned Gretchen on to "Camp Rock" and she lives and breathes it. Grandma Holmes gave her the CD just before we left Salt Lake and I think she jammed to it nearly the whole way down. Shortly after we got tv, it was on and Chris recorded it for her. So here is a video of her jammin' out with her rockin' dance moves. FYI: Gretchen just said to me in her usual whiny voice, "Mom, I keep farting and it stinks!" Ha, Ha!

More Thatcher without Gretchen. . .

2008-08-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

( Thatcher seems to find things to do while Gretchen is at school) So I made another IKEA trip and got some organizing items. Thatcher thought you were supposed to sit INSIDE the box to play with the toys!
I was putting felt sticky things on the bottom of chairs and such to avoid scratches and I looked down and Thatcher had put them on his chin! It's an awesome felt beard!

His next magic trick included hiding this misc. hard plastic item. It was up his nose! A good distance, too. I had to pin him down and pull it out with tweezers! Gross!

Monday, August 18, 2008

2008-08-18T14:30:00.002-07:00

So despite the fact that we have no landscaping, we are continuously showered with petals at our front door! It's like we were meant to be royalty! But . . . where's the red carpet?

The only thing better is the enormous spider we found upon our arrival home Saturday night. And it was carrying a sack full of babies that flew everywhere upon the spiders smashing! It was the best arrival home present ever.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Piano work sucks!

2008-08-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

I know I'm not supposed to say sucks, according to my mother, but piano tuning sucks! First I called one guy, as recommended by Char, and he came out and then said he wouldn't tune a player piano. So I made an appointment with someone that he recommended. He came out, played around a bit and gave me a long education lesson on pianos and caring for them. So I was gifted the player piano that my parents gave me as part of my inheritence (even though I kept telling them inheritence is for when you pass on), and it's the cool player piano that I grew up with and learned to play on. They bought it in the 70's (so it has some awesome colored glass) and have had a handful of tunings on it since. Well, apparently, it is supposed to have the "action" worked on every 10-20 years, so we are well overdue. This is a mere $500.00! I know, I know, costs seem to be coming out of everywhere these days! Well, feeling like I have neglected my God given talent, I consented to the piano work. It better be great that's for sure! It takes about a week and then an estimated 3 hours to put it back together and tune it up. So I'll let you know next week! But I wanted to show you some photos of the naked piano!

Pretty hot stuff, huh!

Check out this action!

Monday, August 11, 2008. Thatcher hangs while Gretch is at school.

2008-08-12T20:24:00.001-07:00

So quite a few people have asked me what Thatcher does while Gretchen is at school. Here is one preview. . . .

Yeah, so those are Tinkerbell shades. He's pretty stylin' I know!

A few more Arizona facts:
1. It is not possible to wear regular mascara. The sweat smears it and you look like crap. (or maybe I just look like crap. Or maybe just cry too much!)
2. Body lotion is optional. Apparently sweat works just as well.
3. Post offices are amazingly scummy. Apparently cleanliness is optional, like body lotion.
4. Circle K's are frequently placed, and more often than not, have run out of cups.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

2008-08-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Church is at 8 a.m.! Phew! We were of course late. But it seems to be a very nice ward. There are approximately 200 kids in the primary! In our ward in Salt Lake there were about 30, and 4 young women. This ward has 50! So it is much bigger. I am kind of hoping to hide out for awhile without a calling! It might be kinda nice to just go and listen and not have to work.

So the first week we went to church, Gretchen had a melt down and wouldn't go to primary. This week, she found her "new best friend," Jackson. He is also in her kindergarten class, and I think she has a little crush. Once she could sit next to him, she went to primary happily!

I think Sundays will be the hardest to be away from our families in Salt Lake because we usually spent so much time with them. Charai and Bri were kind enough to invite us over for Dr. Pepper roast which was so tasty! I got the recipe and am excited to try it out. It may be one of the best roasts I've ever had (no disrespect to anyone else who was cooked roasts and invited us over, of course!). But it was nice to visit with them and have our kids play with some of their cousins!

Friday, August 8, 2008, Playground!

2008-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

There are two awesome playgrounds one block from our house in each direction. It finally cooled off enough that we could go check 'em out.

The kids had loads of fun.

It took a few mintues, but Thatcher discovered that he could throw the sand. It was of course toasty out, so he was sweaty (unusual for him, I know), and the sand was like a magnet for his head! It took about three days to get all of the sand off his head and out of his ears!

More New House Pictures!

2008-08-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

More pictures - I will post some more when everything is unpacked and arranged!

Master Bath -

The Guest Room - it's available, in a semi perfect state, at your convienience! Come on down!

New House Pictures!

2008-08-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some more photos of our house - don't mind the mess and boxes and stuff all over! (I made sure to hide all the panties!)

The great room and kitchen.

The kids chowin' some apples on the back patio.

The front of the house - I love it except for the fact that the truck is too long to fit in the garage! Hence it is a permanent item in the driveway!

I LOVE the front door!! It is awesome!

The master bath -

New Job and New appliances!

2008-08-07T13:05:00.001-07:00

Chris's First Day of Work! There was plenty of crying and kicking and screaming, but he is doing better day to day.

Aren't these some of the most beautiful things you have ever seen? We have been without a washer or dryer or a fridge since we moved in last week! Luckily we made an awesome swap before we moved - our snowblower for Lindsay and Kete's spare freezer - and we able to keep some cold items, but man were we out of clean clothes! Thatcher has been sleeping without a shirt on, and wearing pants that are more like shants! But no longer - these are the awesomest cleaning machines ever! And the fridge - our kitchen was made to fit a custom fridge - they are like a mere $5,000 and the tight wad in our family, me, wouldn't splurge. (and since I am new to blogging I can't figure out how to rotate the pic, so just rotate your head!)