ringin' it in.

i haven't forgotten about Christmas, or Christmas kick-off, or pre and post Christmas company and celebrations... i'll get to that, but this is too cute not to share.
happy new years eve.

35 for 35 woot woot!

love harrison's face in this picture!

happy birthday spencer!
35 reasons why i love you, in no particular order and with olive's input.
drum roll please...

1. you gave me olive
2. you gave me harrison
3. you take me to the temple
4. you make the BEST chicken tacos
5. pancake saturdays and how you always make olive's pancakes into mickeys or reindeer, or reindeer mickeys
6. your back rubs
7. your height=perfect for my hugs
8. your right brain and the genius that comes from it
9. your influence on exercise and healthy eating
10. you're always the first to say i'm sorry
11. the way olive looks at you and the hero you are in her eyes
12. the incredibly funny songs you make up on a whim
13. your sense of humor
14. your sexy hair
15. your honesty on my wardrobe choices 
16. your acceptance of others
17. "he makes tents in my bed" -olive
18. "he makes me super fast race cars, super fast" -olive
19. your desire and determination to be a good father
20. your appreciation of the outdoors
21. the time you invest in fostering extended family relationships
22. your love notes and
23. the sweetest little pen drawings that always accompany them
24. you tell me i'm pretty and that i keep getting prettier
25. you watch and like the same shows as me 'veronica mars', pushing daisies' 'new girl' (oh my gosh 'new girl', i die)
26. you support and i think genuinely enjoy my ever changing hair (between humidity and babies...)
27. you make me laugh
28. your sincere joy at other's successes
29. your ever growing commitment to the gospel
30. your commitment to me
31. your recognition of God's influence in our home and marriage
32. "BIG lego houses!" -olive
33. "cuz i love him for reasons mom" -olive
34. your forever young face 
35. because you're you and you're mine.

all these years later i still cant believe i married "pink shirt boy" i love YOU.
*a happy birthday rendition compliments of olive:

and so it begins.

happy december!

i'm grateful for...

kids that teach me about the important stuff in life, and make me a better person. a steady income. a warm home. a handsome and talented husband and devoted father. red vines. my hair which i sometimes hate. the gospel. my father's wisdom. my testimony. prayer.

red mango frozen yogurt. baby bottoms in the tub. temples. a good knock me down realization that i'm not perfect and am sometimes wrong. cafe rio salads. diet coke, oooo, and cherry diet coke. beach vacations. sourdough toast. chocolate milk. my mother's friendship. 

people who are funny. zupas-cheddar cauliflower soup. thumbprint cookies from the nordstrom e-bar. house guests. good company. a good get your hands dirty do-it-yourselfer. a dependable car. generosity. beautiful giant snowflakes last friday night in slc. pecan pie- the only redeeming quality of thanksgiving dinner, next year i swear i'm making tamales. gab time with friends. my sister and the sweet baby #4 growing in her tummy. 

modern medicine: especially since olive had a uti last week=tmi i know, there's more.

getting a sample from her at the pediatrician's while harrison attempted to play in the toilet was like a circus act. she completely soaked her clothes and walked out of the dr's office in a courtesy gown, her little bottom exposed to the breeze. not one of our better days, but she held her head up high. atta girl.

yep, REAL thankful for modern medicine and antibiotics when they're needed. 

good photographs. heart to hearts. a garage. white peonies, ranunculus, succulents. the sweet smell of new babies. a backyard. warm boots and scarves in the winter. holiday lights and music except for the real annoying songs that get WAY too much radio play. parumpapumpum...shoot me. and simply haaa-aaving a wonderful christmas time (ever since aubry posted it in her facebook status i can't get it out of my head.) make it stop!

the ability to sleep like a rock most every night.

colorful spaces. clever ideas. handmade blankets. a dishwasher. a hot shower every day. the magic of the holidays.

aubry's 30th. it's a big deal.

i made the trek from boise to salt lake last weekend all by myself to celebrate aubry's 30th.
i hadn't been away from harrison since he was born, that's at least 304 goodnight kisses (yep i added em up), and now i'm -2 blah. 
i was excited, but a little emotional. is that silly? whatever.

highlights.

• shopping at gateway for 2 hours BY MYSELF. only mamas will understand the magic and rarity of shopping w/out kids. heaven really.
• meeting up with mishelle and jen for dinner, the most amazing people and mothers and friends. some of my most favorite.
• a race through ikea with aubry, kyle and jen. my little brother is all grown up and married, his wife is drop dead beautiful and as sweet as sugar...lucky dog.
• tulie bakery for breakfast, seriously the best bakery ever, get the gougere...you will die.
• hip and humble, always a winner.
• the bijou market= lots of famous utah blogger faces, lots of pretties, and more time with kyle and jen.
• the jcrew outlet in park city where i probably spent too much $, but they had crew cuts. crew cuts!

and then back to n. salt lake for the big birthday event. 
there were lots of cuppy-cakes, friends, and good gab.
a few of us continued the party back at aubry's house until 3am. i haven't intentionally stayed up that late since the all-nighter we pulled with robin at cindy's wedding that preceded the great boise to tucson debacle of 2010.

solo roadtrippin' tips to remember:

bring more than one cd. i'll be taking a significant break from brandi carlille.

set the cruise to 80 mph and only stop once, the 5.5 hour road trip cut back to a 4.75, awesome.

too many red vines sit like a lump in your gut, diversify the snacks.

*did anyone take pictures of the weekend? 

these are all i got, because you know, these are the sorts of things you want to be sure and remember...

kind of funny right.

aubry's birthday lunch at wendy's,  MY TREAT, whoa classy.

happy halloween

i love holidays. i love having family and friends around, the bustle of getting things ready, and the rush when the party begins.

this year we took the kids trick or treating at spencer's office.
olive got really good at looking at her feet and holding out her bag.
apparently saying "trick or treat" is optional, she got hords of candy anyway.

my dad resurrected the talking scarecrow at our house(the center of my childhood halloweens). he was scaled back a bit due to time constraints, but he was magical, and the kids loved it.
oh, if i could express how much joy that felt faced, yarn haired, newspaper stuffed man brings to my heart...he deserves a blog post all of his own, more to come.


we trick or treated the neighborhood with the next door neighbor kids and a couple of other families. olive followed suit and really got into it with the other kids. running from house to house and actually saying "trick or treat" this time.


she was sooo excited all day until she cried herself to sleep that night begging for more candy.
what have we gotten ourselves into?


the big day in pictures...

harrison the dragon/dinosaur/alligator

olive the cowgirl/pony

the big purple dinosaur

tv-circa 2004 and converter box=oldschool.

thank you barney, for allowing me 30 minutes of me time each afternoon (olive- the child that never naps).

creepy as you are, there is nothing more captivating to my little girl than you...

just because

pulled out the old nikon this morning and got a few pictures of the kids. 
ah, they really are this cute and sweet ALL of the time...

except when they're not.

it's october so...

we went to the pumpkin patch.

we're excited about halloween around here.

thank goodness it's laundry day.

waiting for clean underoos.

some things we've been doing

recently, and in no particular order:

i ran walked a 5k with my mom. who are we kidding we were there for the social aspect and the food, the "fitness" was a bonus, and we had a great time.

spencer ripped out a few rogue bushes in our front yard.
simple enough right...?
a borrowed pick-ax
a borrowed wheelbarrow
two punctured sprinkler lines
two trips to lowes and a yard full of neighbors...
let's just say we've officially broken the ice.

olive had her first trip to the dentist.
she saw "the fish hook on a stick" and totally clammed up; like sweaty with a quivering lip. BUT, she still got a sticker and a toothbrush and we'll try again in 6 months. (it was much too traumatic for pictures)

harrison is officially hand and knee crawling and pulling himself up to standing all in the same week.

we bought a YELLOW couch off craigslist. i'm in love.


I GOT A HAIRCUT! this is big people. it's at least 4 months overdue, and i'm a short hair person, or at least i was. why is it so hard to pick up the phone sometimes?

olive test drove her 2011 halloween costume. it passed, she hasn't taken it off since.

we can't seem to get enough of nana around here.

olive's become a pro at her hotwalk balance bike and she's fast.

her latest "thing" is leading music. she'll lead music on tv, sitting in the cart in the store, standing in the aisle at church, ever since we saw tanner (my brother the drum major) at the football game she is obsessed. it's really quite entertaining.

before it turns cold

we've been enjoying that last days of warm weather with lots of walks and meals on the patio. 

lately we can't get through a meal without food in her cup or her drink on her plate.

fall is so close, i can feel it. it's been perfect weather for sleeping with the windows open.

friends, pizza and pizookies

it's 9:30pm, i just got home from a much needed night out with friends.
spencer and olive are asleep on the floor downstairs and harrison is snoozing away in his crib.
i think this is what they call alone time?

tonight was a rare treat. my favorite high school friends were all  together (except for kelsey, why is hawaii so far away?) for 3 hours of uninterrupted girl talk. we laughed and cried over pizza and pizookies at old chicago. i'm sure we were a spectacle, even the waiter piped up here and there with a few comments, but mostly we were too enthralled in the conversation to notice anything not at our table. nothing around us mattered (carbs included) because we were together again.

as we went around the table and each gave our updates; real updates, good and bad, i couldn't help but feel gratitude for these girls. the girls who walked beside me through high school, who shaped me in so many ways, and who have influenced me and continue to influence me throughout my life. 

they are good people...such good people, and they are beautiful, in the truest most sincere form of the word. inside and out. 
they are mothers, wives, and professionals. they are capable. and they are people of faith and conviction.

we talked about marriage, work, kids and family. we were silly and serious and sincere. throughout dinner i kept having the thought that women need women. God put us here together for a reason, but so often we're all too afraid to talk about the real stuff. we exchange pleasantries and small talk, and then go home to wrestle with the hard stuff alone.

crazy,

when there are people in our lives to relate to. people that lift and lead and inspire. in those years since high school our lives have taken us down different paths and we're scattered hundreds of miles apart:idaho, texas, washington, hawaii, but we are so very much the same, and we need each other.

on things that matter most.

sometimes i feel worlds away from loving and teaching and nurturing, from the mom i hope and am trying to be. 

sometimes the day to day... the day to day.

what doesn't kill us makes us stronger right?

last night at 10pm after putting kids to bed and picking up the house, i headed off to the closest 24 hr grocery store, oh such is life with little babes.

as i found myself in the first moment of quiet that day, i thought about my kids. the funny things olive says, her rambunctious behavior and crazy hair. i thought about harrison's sweet sweet face, chubby fingers and contagious laugh. how much i love them and wish the world for them.

i was exhausted, but i felt grateful.

as i played back the scenes of my very average day, all of a sudden making dinner one handed with a baby on my hip and one at my feet didn't seem so bad. vacuuming for twice as long as normal because olive wants a turn isn't the end of the world. if i don't get everything done on my list, it's okay. that list will be there tomorrow, and maybe the things on that list aren't that important anyway. 

maybe there is a little girl to dance with and a baby boy to feed pickles to.

i can't say it any better than this...

this post hit home with me.

kelly, i don't know you, but thank you.

favorite excerpts below.

Did you know,

I gave birth to beings and they get older every day?

I am young and old and wise and inexperienced.

Wasn't I just 19?

Lately the realization of my oldest child's childhood slipping away has really begun to sink in.

Also I should point out here, my pessimistic tendencies.

When it's the end of the day and I am exhausted beyond measure and I can't do dinner, and I don't want to do bedtime and if one more child asks me for something(!!), and I can't remember the last moments to myself that didn't involve laundry and very late nights, it's hard to see past to tomorrow.

I want them to grow up and stay small all at the same time. I am self-diagnosed with Motherhood Bipolar Disorder. I long for quiet and peace and order, but really enjoy the baby's fat face and the boy's tender sweetness and her lispy clever-talk- those things that can only be found in small ones. But I need them to grow up so I can feel sane. I need to feel in control of something again.

I know growing up brings so many great things. I know we will go on family vacations without diapers or crying babies, go to soccer games and spelling bees, drop off dapper young teens at school dances and cry over first heartbreaks. And I bet sometimes, then, I will be alone. Alone! Imagine that? I can and I can't wait.

But then.

Then they go to sleep and something magical happens.

I stare at their little faces and have that familar overwhelming feeling of peace wash over me. It consumes my soul and I remember in that instant what it's all for. It feels like a Mack Truck. My chest feels heavy and I'm breathless and thankful and my eyes welt up all at once. I am newly inspired to be better and to be everything I can be for them. I will move mountains. I am undeserving and they are so cute and small and I am so happy to be needed. So grateful to be needed.

That's why God invented sleeping children.

It is sometimes only then that I get to revel in the greatest cliché ever thought up:

They grow up so fast.

There, I said it.

Now I can have time to enjoy it while it is here and eventually let it go and welcome change. It's the rejoicing and the mourning and it's the bitter but the oh so sweetness of parenthood. It's the stuff I'm still trying to figure out.

how true it is.

day trip play date

olive and lucy.
the cutest of friends.
(at six months apart isn't the size difference impressive?) 

we spent the day in twin falls yesterday. we alternated temple sessions with some friends since the boise temple is closed for renovations. it's a lovely little temple, and it was nice to have some quiet time to reflect and worship.
i also got to see some artwork of one of my byu-i professors that was commissioned when the temple was built. talented.

we spent our off time at shoshone falls with the kids. i grew up 2 hours from here and had never been. it was surprisingly spectacular, who knew? i also spied a tjmaxx on our drive in, way to go twin falls, you're not nearly as lame as i thought.

and the girlies had a ball on their day trip play date complete with giant burgers and giant-er milkshakes. yum.
-two year old conversation is hilarious.

p.s. after seeing these photos i'm off to buy olive some longer shorts.

harrison lately

he's sitting up, army crawling like a champ, and loving cheerios. he's switched almost exclusively to formula and put on 2 pounds since his last appointment, bring on the chub. (by the way, formula smells AWFUL, does anyone else gag when you rinse out a bottle, or when your baby burps in your face. gets me every time. sooo gross. i'd have nursed longer if i could just to avoid the smell. ick.)
his hair keeps getting lighter and even looks a little red in the sun (cross your fingers, i'd LOVE a red headed child).
he smiles at everyone and everything, and loves music and bathtime. a friend even told me he was an angel baby...i'm pretty sure it's true.

he's been sleeping longer since we moved, 7:30pm-8:00am which is great, except that it also means he pees out of his diaper almost every morning...

he talks loud, cries soft, and has the best belly laugh, which he shares generously. 

he's as sweet as can be and a total mama's boy.
welcome to 8 months little man.

remembering september 11.

a beautiful post about it here. made me cry.

i love the message of hope in the quotation sited, i've copied it below as well. president gordon b. hinckley was a remarkable man with an unparalleled gift of sweet and simple articulation. 
hits to my core.

"Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).

Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.

May the God of heaven, the Almighty, bless us, help us, as we walk our various ways in the uncertain days that lie ahead. May we look to Him with unfailing faith. May we worthily place our reliance on His Beloved Son who is our great Redeemer, whether it be in life or in death."

-gordon b hinckley, october 2001

bedtime

most nights in our home go something like this...

while i feed harrison and put him to bed,
"daddio" (as she fondly calls him) helps olive with pajamas, brushing teeth, saying prayers, and storytime.
once harrison is in bed, i cut in for singing time with olive.

we usually choose a couple from the following playlist:

"dumb dog"-annie
"tomorrow"-annie
"i'm trying to be like jesus"
"heavenly father loves me"
"how do you know" -enchanted
"you are my sunshine"

and we almost always close with:
"abide with me"
...funny huh? it puts her right to sleep.

it's a beautiful song, and i especially love the last line-
"through cloud and sunshine Lord, abide with me."

first harvest

SO, bank owned properties can be a rockin' deal, but the yards are typically a mess. ours wasn't as bad as some i've seen but it still needed some serious tlc.

we've spent all or some of most everyday since moving in weeding and watering and moving dirt around. we've got a long ways to go, but the strawberries and tomatoes we uncovered from underneath the OUT OF CONTROL sunflower patch were a sweet surprise.

p.s. aubry told me about picnik.
it's pretty great, and way quicker than photoshop for blog photos. check it out.

for olive

what better way to celebrate a new home (well new to us) than with a houseguest. 

aubry came for labor day. (have i mentioned that aubry is the funnest? she's always game, even with the 5 hour drive on either end of her visit.)
she came with a car full of ikea supplies and the moral support i needed to drive the first nail. 

we shopped and baked and diy'ed late into the night.

we focused on olive's room first, and i think it turned out so sweet. the best part is that i spent $9 on supplies and the rest was stuff i had that we just re-purposed. my favorite part are the nursery rhyme cards. i picked those up years ago (pre-olive) at the biltmore in asheville, nc.

a place to hang your hat

august 26th: we got the keys and we're staying put for the next 30 years or so.

all in all the move wasn't too bad, aside from the fact that stuff is missing ie: a glass wall shelf, swiffer mop, broom, and step stool to name a few. either they never made it here from denver or some storage unit thief was dumb.

oh, and 10 days without internet is brutal. i spent almost 3 hours in google reader last night. and spencer probably looked like a total creep lurking in the mcdonalds parking lot at all hours of the night trying to capture a wireless signal.

but, we're starting to feel settled and we're excited to have a place to call home...finally.

chili-pie and meatballs

the western idaho fair is here ya'll!
(insert bonanza theme song.)
which means carnival rides, oversized produce, greasy food, wacky people, and the last week of summer.
baby brother tanner is workin' the burger booth this year, which brings back some pretty great memories.

let me share.

for a week at the end of august throughout most of my high school years, my friend katie, my sister, and i worked the hot dog booth at the grandstands. we got to hear all the concerts for free, and i still have the guitar pick i got from the willie nelson show. awesome right?

but mostly, i just got really fast at wrapping hot dogs, filling drinks, and making chili-pie= take a bag of fritos, dump in some chili, cheese, and a plastic spoon, and voila- a culinary masterpiece, no bowl necessary. i also learned how to use a till, so that was a good respectable skill, except that i didn't ever use a till again after that.

the real gem of the fair job was that it led me to a super sweet gig at the annual christmas craft bazaar. my sister and i worked the meatball sub table. mmmmm= a french baguette, pull out the soft middle and stuff the carcass full of meatballs. it was a top seller, an honor to make really.

good times.

*also sprinkled throughout my younger resume were a variety of temp assignments. highlights include: a night shift at a mental hospital where i sat behind a locked door and a thick glass pane. i signed in patients and answered the phone when troubled people would call and cry, or shout, or swear, and then hang up.

but the worst was probably a night shift emptying expired milkshake mix bags into a giant vat, my gag reflex was on overdrive that night. and ironic, it was the only time i've had to wear a hair net. i learned an important lesson that day: fast food ice cream isn't really ice cream.

dear instagram,

where have you been all my life?

thoughts on moving.

it STINKS. 

i HATE it.

in 2004 we moved from rexburg to boise.
in 2005 we moved across the country to charlotte
in 2006 we moved from southpark to the southend of charlotte
in 2007 we brought our stuff back across the country to denver
in 2008 we moved from denver to greenwood village (8 months pregnant).
in 2009 we came home to boise
next saturday we'll move to meridian.

yuck, right?

and with each move we've acquired more stuff, more kids, less time...and NO motivation. at least this time around half of our stuff is in storage and we're moving locally...buuuuut, it still stinks. so today, as i was packing up the first of many boxes to come, i pulled out the kids baby books. i shamefully realized i hadn't yet taken harrison's hand and footprints (come on, he's ONLY 7 months), and his feet barely fit on the stamp pad, but we worked it out. stamped, sprayed and taped to the book.

back to packing.

i then discovered that harrison is deathly afraid of the tape dispenser. every time he hears it he flys into a screaming state of panic. poor baby. i've tried shutting the door and taping in the next room...no go. he does it with the sound of popcorn kernels hitting the air-popper too. weird.

and then there is olive. sweet, SUPER helpful olive. if i leave a box unattended for two seconds i come back to all sorts of treasures inside. legos, washcloths, rice chex, a sippy cup full of milk wrapped in her pajamas pants.

i'd take the kids to the zoo and pay movers to do it for me, except that i'm too much of a perfectionist to have strangers pack my stuff...and i'm cheap.

...it's hopeless.