The Nye Family

Sister Act

2012-02-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

When I went to get Emmy out of bed this morning, she had thrown up at some point in the night. Prune chunks. Everywhere. This always disturbs me. How long did she sleep in all that? Did I sleep through her cries? Thankfully, she was happy and healthy all day and didn't appear to harbor any ill will towards me.

Since Natalie and Emmy are 3 years apart, I have wondered when and how they would actually play together. Turns out it's happening earlier than I thought. These two fight like apes. Natalie loves to hear Emmy squeal with displeasure. But they have a lot of fun together too. Emmy doesn't want to go in the backyard unless her Natalie is with her.

Natalie is very patient when Emmy wants to be a right in her sister's personal space.

Did I blog about how Natalie recently whispered in Emmy's ear, "Let's sneak up on mom and steal some money." Oh this is going to be fun.

Haha, this was a good one. Watching them lose their suckers in the bubble mania and finally retrieve them, trade them, dunk them again. No more suckers in the tub, that was a bad idea.

I don't have the heart to tell Natalie that Emmy is saying Jansen's name. It sounds like this: Njin.

24 Hr Trip

2012-01-31T23:26:00.002-05:00

Last Friday we loaded up the Pilot and drove to St. George as soon as Nate got off work. I am always amazed at the amount of planning and work it takes to get our family somewhere, even for one night. We were meeting Steve and Jody there to go to the St. George Winter Bird Festival. The plan was...Nate, Steve, and the kids: camp. Me, Emmy, and Jody: hotel.

The kids had been so excited to go camping and had been talking about it all week. Unfortunately, it got a little too windy, and they did NOT want to camp anymore. Steve and Nate convinced them to at least try it. They drove out to the campsite and began setting things up (the kids had fallen asleep in the car on the way.) When they woke up after not too long, they were even more deadset against the camping idea. They all came back, and all 7 of us slept in the hotel room. Hahahaha. Emmy was our alarm clock of course.

The hotel did have a pretty yummy breakfast:

We made it to the festival in time for a presentation on raptors. Emmy, Jody, and I slipped out quickly...this was not a good place for a 16 month old.

We had a really nice time walking on some nearby trails. Emmy fell asleep, and I settled down on a bench and relaxed with her.

Here we are at Lytle Ranch...our big destination for the day. One website describes this place as "an oasis in the deserts of southwestern Utah." It's owned by BYU. We really enjoyed the few hours we spent exploring.

Since the "camping" hot dogs didn't get used, we ate them for lunch in the parking lot at Lytle Ranch.

This sweet dog joined us in hopes of some scraps. He must live there. I think all he got were a few Oreo crumbs. :(

You hear people say that the desert has a beauty all its own. I think that's definitely true.

We were back in Utah a little after 5 pm on Saturday. An awesome 24 hours.

School Lunch

2012-01-29T23:28:00.003-05:00

I like the idea of sometimes having lunch with Jansen at his school, but it's right when Emmy is ready to nap. The lazy bum (Emmy) slept in till like 7 one morning, so I thought it would be a good day to pop in and see him. He didn't know we were coming, and he sure brightened up at the sight of us.

We made some room for Natalie, and she squeezed in and ate her sandwich with him.

While I was there, I overheard a faculty member that helps in the lunchroom YELLING at a student. I heard her do it at least twice. This was not just a raised voice or a needed reprimand. This was, to me, cruel and mean and out of control. I was NOT okay with her speaking that way to a child.

I left my name and phone number with the school secretary and asked her to have the principal call me. I missed her call later that afternoon, but I was able to reach her later. I was nervous because I feel like I am very non-confrontational, and I don't express my feelings and thoughts well when I am upset. But I was a mom on a mission, and thankfully the call went very well. The principal was very receptive and helpful. I hope the situation improves. I'll be stopping in more to observe, but I was proud of myself for standing up for how I felt!

Little Emmy was there too. :)

After School Snack

2012-01-27T01:18:00.000-05:00

Oh, and Jansen blogged: http://jansensblog.blogspot.com/

He's such a great kid.

Bumshells

2012-01-23T00:50:00.000-05:00

Jansen and Natalie came up with something called bumshells. And little sister Emmy couldn't be more pleased to be a part of the bumshell family.

There's not a lot I can say...you'd have to ask them about the details...but I think a bumshell is some sort of creature. That has a shell. On it's bum.

And after a certain number of days, the bumshell sheds the shell.

say it 3 times fast, "bumshell sheds the shell, bumshell sheds the shell, bumshell sheds the shell."

Sometimes there are genetic mutations.

I love it when they come up with stuff like this on their own. I can't wait to hear them in 10 years, "Remember when we used to play that thing called bumshells???"

At the School

2012-01-19T23:31:00.002-05:00

I finally got to go help out in Jansen's classroom for a couple hours today. I've been wanting to all year, but it's difficult to ask someone to watch the girls. It was an interesting experience. His teacher is pretty mean. There are very few teachers that I've had or observed that are as negative as she is. She was giving me a knot in my stomach just listening to her. It seems to be the trend at his school, and I'm not sure what to do about it. I've heard the choir teacher really rail on a group of children and I was horrified. Doesn't anyone there know about the power of positive words and encouragement?

Funny thing is, Jansen never complains about his teacher or school. He loves his friends there. He loves riding his scooter to school. But I wonder how this type of teaching is affecting him. I don't need a teacher who is only rainbows and roses, but I hate to think that half of Jansen's day is spent in that atmosphere. I've got some thinking to do to decide where I want to go from here.

Dinner

2012-01-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

The kids fight about who gets to sit by Emmy at dinner. I have no idea why, the girl is a tornado and constantly grabs for their cups and forks even if she has her own. In no uncertain terms is she ever allowed to have spaghetti again. And blueberry muffins have been ousted from her dining choices. As for cornbread and rice, we won't even go there. She honestly doesn't eat much unless it's something I put in her mouth as she's walking around during the day. That's how I feed her. A bite here, a bite there. I will eventually help her understand the error in her thinking, but for now, food's just not a priority. Unless the goal is to crush it, smash it, crumble it and then drop it.

Thankfully, she loves her bib. These bibs cost like $10, but I love them so much, and I can put them in the washing machine. I just barely threw one away that we've had for probably 4 years.

Natalie pretty much insists on saying the prayer every night. I'm glad she likes to. Emmy has started "folding her arms." What it looks like is little hands resting beneath her chin. Since she has no interest in eating her food, she likes to feed it to everyone else. Here, have a bite:

Nate's Phone

2012-01-14T23:39:00.000-05:00

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately for some reason. So I thought I'd check out the pictures Nate has recently downloaded from his phone and blog about some of those.

Problem is, all I found was stuff like this...

And this...

And this...which is incredible (he did it)...but still...

And this.

I guess he doesn't realize that he has the possibility of being a source for my blog...but he's going to have to get some humans in those photos. Seems we focus on very different things when taking a picture. I'll give him another chance next month. :)

Holy Hike

2012-01-10T16:45:00.001-05:00

Looking back on it all, I must not have been in my right mind.

Nate offers to take all 3 kids alone on a hike and instead of choosing to bask in some free time I decide to go with them???

Looking back on it all, Nate must not have been in his right mind.

Tackle this hike with 3 small children???

Poor guy looked like this most of the way...2 little girls hanging from him one way or another.

Another example:

Hate graffiti. Took picture with smiley face graffiti.

Stopping about 2/3 of the way to the end to have some snacks. It was so steep and so rocky. I was feeling quite mountain goat-ish. The kids collected so many rocks it was ridiculous. We would make piles of them to pick up on the way back, and I secretly banked on them forgetting about the piles. We did bring home PLENTY to get polished.

And another example of our tougher-than-nails daddy:

Well, we may look tough in this picture. But really I'm angry. See that peak behind us? With the towers? That's where we still needed to get to.

And we did it. You could see all of Las Vegas from the top...Lake Mead, the Strip, Nellis Air Force Base...it was awesome.

We basically slid our way down. Imagine a family of 5 all holding hands and tumbling down a mountain.

And, as is always the case, it was worth it.

Hard is always worth it.

Being together is always worth it.

Sometimes you don't realize how special the moments are until they become your memories.

A Must Read

2012-01-08T23:35:00.000-05:00

All you moms out there that think this parenting thing is about the toughest job EVER...you'll enjoy this:

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/

But really, it's applicable to all of LIFE.

And it struck a chord with me in ways I can't begin to describe. I feel kind of liberated...and it finally makes sense to me why I think 10 times a day "this is so hard..." and yet I wouldn't want to be doing anything else in the world but be a mother.

Carpet Cleaning

2012-01-07T22:41:00.003-05:00

This day was spent cleaning our carpets.

We bought a carpet cleaner so that we could do it at our own pace on our own time.

Unfortunately, it stopped working after one day. Natalie constructed her own version during the afternoon, and it's very possible that it's more reliable.

Leftovers

2012-01-04T23:51:00.001-05:00

I wanted to post some leftover pictures from the camera.

I finally took Jansen and Natalie to their first dentist appointments. I actually had one as well, and all three of us were being seen at the same time. They kids did great. Jansen got some sealants, and there were no cavities. After looking at Jansen's xrays, the doctor said one of his teeth had the biggest nerve he had ever seen. Hopefully we won't ever have to do any work on that tooth.

Emmy getting all dolled up...

It was a Kripsy Kreme morning one day last week. I really regret my choices though. We should have just gotten their original glazed.

As I'm looking at this picture I'm realizing that's the same bag of almonds we've been eating all week. After being dumped on the floor. Oh well. I've never been one to boast of my clean floors, so we'll just have to watch and see if anyone gets violently ill.

There's No Business Like Snow Business

2011-12-29T16:12:00.001-05:00

We took an afternoon and drove up to Mt Charleston to play in the snow for a little while.

Emmy had chocolate-covered-doesn't-matter-what-since-it's-chocolate-covered on the drive up there. Things were off to a great start!

We had to dig through lots of totes and closets to come up with stuff to wear up there. We figured the kids would last about an hour, and they were loving it from the get go.

I did buy the girls winter coats this year, and I'm always glad when there's a time that they actually need them.

We bought a cheap sled for the occasion, and it ended up being a one-time use sled. It cracked during one of the rides down the hill.

Emmy wore Jansen's old snow boots that were featured in this blog post.

Still all smiles...

We held Emmy most of the time. That way she stayed warm (happy). She also had a hard time getting around in those boots.

All the girls:

Who know how to have some fun by the way!

I only went down the hill a handful of times, but I LOVED it.

And...now we're ready to go home.

We stopped at a tried and true taco truck on the way home. A little ghetto, but it's some good Mexican food for just a few bucks!

Christmas! Christmas!

2011-12-28T00:08:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve Day was not typical. But still great.

Nate took Natalie and went to a Young Men's basketball practice in the morning. When he got home, the kids ran around happily while he worked on his painting of a peregrine falcon. I think I was cleaning or something. I made a quick trip the mall, and when I got back we went on a family bike ride to a park.

We had "dinner by candlelight" that night.

The kids got to open presents from me and Nate...new pajamas and books. We read some Christmas books and scripture stories. And we changed the children's pupils to red for extra Christmas spirit. :)

We used some dough I had in the fridge and made cookies for Santa.

The kids went to bed like champs and slept through the night. Wake up time was probably about 6:30.

We have church at 9, but we were still able to open presents, get some breakfast, and get there in time. Christmas miracle? I think so. We tear into those gifts at this house. It's all just one big crazy moment. Christmas morning is just way too awesome for words.

And Emmy is left wondering, "What in the world just happened? I don't know, but I liked it."

Our poor tree looked like it had been beaten with a log by the time December 25 rolled around. Emmy had no respect. And everything and anything got turned into an "ornament." You should have seen some of the things the kids tried to get me to hang on the poor thing.

Here is Christmas morning magic:

We had a delicious ham dinner with the Nelsons and tried out the parachute Nate and I got for the kids. We all remember parachute day at PE! Blessings in heaven for that man for going out in the cold and playing with them.

Days Before Christmas

2011-12-24T00:03:00.004-05:00

I have a feeling there will be quite the blogging lull after Christmas. For now though, it's full speed ahead! Lots of pictures to share.

We were delighted to have some members of our ward stop by and carol to us one night.

We always love having the missionaries around. They had stopped in earlier that evening as well. I always want to give missionaries big huge hugs and thank them and praise and tell them I am so proud of them.

Even though Kiki just had her beautiful baby boy, she had us over to decorate sugar cookies. Maizie's got the idea...frosting straight to the mouth.

And my dear friend Heather from Ohio was there too! It absolutely made my day to see her and her kids.

SUGAR!

We've been reading lots of Christmas books. Hello Kitty's Christmas is the favorite unfortunately.

We took a trip to the Natural History Museum with Paisley. Such a creepy, weird kind of place that the kids LOVE.

And trying to teach my kids to serve others.We went around to candy machines and taped quarters to them with a little Merry Christmas wish. I don't know, hopefully it sinks it somewhere along the way. They really didn't seem to care and just wanted to spend one of the quarters they were given.

Doing the sneaky work...

Seeing Santa

2011-12-22T16:00:00.001-05:00

First thing on our agenda Monday morning: go see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop.

Jansen and Natalie both brought something they wanted to show Santa.

We've had some really nice days (weather-wise) lately. Didn't even really need jackets! Kami just needed one because she wasn't wearing a bra. Haha, just kidding.

Man, I should shop here for Emmy's toys. All that fishing gear could have entertained her for a long time! And yes, this really is the only way I can do her hair right now.

I love this one.

They give you a free print of your picture, and that one turned out much better than this. It's still cute, and Jansen was much happier to be there than he looks. He did say later that Santa was very...unusual. We prodded and asked what he meant, but he just kept saying, "He was unusual. Just, you know, unusual. I don't know, unusual."

Forgotten Carols

2011-12-20T23:30:00.001-05:00

I have just been having more than my fair share of fun lately. Monday night Kami, Nate, and I went to the Forgotten Carols. We had been one other time like 7 years ago, and I decided we should go see it again. Nate had the awesome idea of taking his truck, so the three of us piled across the front seat.

I could have screamed when I turned on my camera just as we were leaving and saw the words battery exhausted. Thankfully, Kami had her much-better-than-mine camera and we still got some pictures.

Check this girl out. A silent beauty.

There are certain people that bring out the weirdness that is deep within my soul. I'm so thankful when Kami, my sister, and other friends come to visit, and I can release some of the strangeness that is the real me. This night's treats consisted of Sixlets, Mike n Ikes again, and sour watermelons.

Night Out

2011-12-18T23:37:00.003-05:00

Last night was a blast. I went to Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour with Kami, some old roommates, and other friends. We had dinner at Sugar Factory first. I just had a club sandwich and some sweet potatoes fries, but it was delicious. Maybe simply because I didn't have to make it and I didn't have to clean it up.

We all lived at The Riviera together in Provo during college. These gals were around when Nate and I met and heard about all the ups and downs of our dating saga. Rachel and Kami live in the same house now, and Rachel's brother and his wife are in our ward. I love having connections that help me stay in touch with old friends.

At Michael Jackson...the night was complete with our wildly overpriced and extremely hard Red Vines and Mike n Ikes. I happen to know that Brad and Angelina and all their kids were there as well.

Kami and I rocked out to Jackson 5 on the ride home. I listened to that CD a lot in high school. Well that and Backstreet Boys of course. Happily, Nate was at home with the kids having the time of his life as well. Time of his life = Howie's pizza, Angry Birds gummies, and Curious George A Very Monkey Christmas. It makes me happy to know they had a fun night too.

2011-12-16T15:52:00.001-05:00

Emmy loves hiding in the laundry bags. Sanitary? Maybe not. Sanity? Yes. Anything that contains her and keeps her occupied contributes to my saneness. It's a great place to keep her while I put on my makeup or blow dry my hair. (It's in the bathroom.)

The best games are the ones that the kids come up with on their own. This is four square (two square?) in our entryway.

Natalie got an award from school for a free GIANT cookie from Great Harvest. We had a fun morning heading down there and gobbling up the goodness they sell.

I bought Emmy a booster seat and boy is she excited about it. I knew she would be. She literally screams to get in it sometimes. Now she help Natalie in the crafting chaos and play-dough paloozas.

When she hears the sink go on, it's an all out run to get to the sink. She loves "washing" her hands and turning the lights on and off. New word this week is uh-oh and she has said it (at very appropriate moments) no less than 100 times.

Don't Let Me Get Hungry

2011-12-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

Source: someecards.com via Lydia on Pinterest

This is for you, Mom!

I have a very distinct memory of being curled up on the kitchen floor as a teenager, in tears. I was hungry, and I had waited too long to eat. Seems like I remember doing that a lot. I think I was just REALLY busy. And if I let myself get too hungry, I got mean, I crumbled, and I cried. In that order. My poor mom had to deal with this scenario way too many times.

That doesn't happen anymore. Here are some favorite things keeping me full this winter:

Mmmmm....

Heaven to Me

2011-12-13T00:18:00.001-05:00

I like to think that heaven will be like one huge neighborhood consisting of everyone I love. It's gonna be big, and it's gonna be awesome. Can't wait to see you there. :) That thought makes me so happy. There are so many wonderful aspects to moving around and experiencing new places, but I sure miss being with old friends and family. Any time spent with them is never enough.

I got to see some cousins, my aunt, mom, and sister this weekend. We stuffed ourselves at Hash House A Go Go. It's one of those restaurants that makes me wish I never got full.

There are few people I'd rather be eating with...

This was a pancake from the kid's menu! That's about all she ate of it.

Chicken and waffles? You bet. Let's throw a knife in there as well.

Sadly, I didn't take very many pictures of our weekend. We laid low and just spent time hanging out. Sounds like heaven to me!

2011-12-07T19:22:00.001-05:00

Natalie does not like having her hair washed. Thus, Nate and I do not like washing her hair. One night last week Nate got creative and told Natalie if she let him wash her hair, she could wash his.

I got this idea off Pinterest. The big metal pan in the picture is an oil drip pan for cars. You can get them for about $10 at Wal-Mart, and they work fabulously as a big magnet board.

The kids are really into Nutrition Facts lately. Natalie only cares because Jansen does. Protein is especially important to them because they equate it with having big muscles. Jansen can tell you how many grams of protein are in each of the foods that he eats often.

We have been waiting for this for so long! Jansen knocked his top front teeth out when he was 2, and his permanent ones are finally growing in.

Coldstone Fieldtrip

2011-12-04T23:14:00.001-05:00

Last week we tagged along with some friends to a preschool field trip at Coldstone. We had to run some errands beforehand and missed the tour and some other things, but we made it just in time for the best part. The ice cream. Each child got to choose an ice cream flavor and one mix in. Then they even got to mash it all together. Natalie had a great time.

I feel like I used to do a lot more things like this when we lived in Columbus. I miss it. We have a few passes to museums and such out here, but I just don't use them like I should. It's amazing how much life changes in such a short while. There seems to be more errands and a longer to do list. Having Jansen in school all day and Natalie in preschool also makes life very different.

Slice of Life

2011-12-02T00:08:00.001-05:00

I am always in shock when I look at the last time I posted and it's been many days. Time is slipping by I guess. Emmy is only taking one nap now, and it's usually about one hour long. That means for the majority of my day I have ONE HOUR to do things without her. I am still trying to figure out how to cook, clean, relax, read my scriptures, play with Natalie, shop online, and eat in that one hour.

I'm so thankful for Jansen. He is dependable and obedient and for the most part, in control of his emotions. He likes to keep Emmy happy...which is so incredibly helpful.

Emmy loves her shoes. She calls them "sh." I have to hide a couple pairs that don't quite fit her yet, or else she stomps around the house in frustration because they keep falling off. She says "hi" and "hey" and "go" and "no" now, but not when I ask her to.

The Christmas decorations are out and the kids are loving it. Jansen arranged this sweet scene around baby Jesus. There have been other less reverent stories played out with these figures in the past couple days.

And then one day Natalie says to me, "Look mom!"

What to my wondering eyes should appear but a button (it's a little hard to see) that is stuck to the window with spit. She was so proud. As she should be. Unlike her older brother, Natalie is very emotional right now and also loves to tease Emmy. We have some rough days.

And we have some great days. Emmy was laughing and loving life as Natalie pushed her in this dump truck. Trouble with these types of games is Emmy completely loses it when it's time to stop.

And there you have it. A slice of life right now.

Thanksgiving Recap

2011-11-27T16:20:00.001-05:00

Here's the 411 on our Thanksgiving...

Natalie had a "thanksgiving feast" at her preschool, so we made her a little pilgrim bonnet for the occasion.

Thanksgiving Day was completely non-traditional and completely awesome. Nate worked until about 1:30 in the afternoon, and I bit my nails all morning wondering if he would make it home in time for dinner with the Comins at about 2:30. I was SO relieved when he did. The morning was a little long...being alone with the kids on a holiday...but I didn't let my thoughts wander to all my family I was missing for too long. We were so lucky to have a beautiful, sun shiny day that we spent in the backyard and riding bikes.

Kiki and I decided to do a Thanksgiving take out meal. We got delicious food from Claim Jumper, and it turned out to be really cost effective as well.

After dinner, we set the kids up in the loft with a movie on the computer. And then we actually got to watch an adult movie as well! There were a few interruptions, but really nothing we could complain about. The kids played awesome and really kept themselves busy. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but it was a wonderful day.

I came across this quote during the Thanksgiving season and it really struck a chord with me:

Gratitude, expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have, brings a calming peace...a peace which allows us to not canker our souls for what we don’t have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future.

Robert D. Hales

I hope I can keep those words in mind always. There is ALWAYS so much to be grateful for.

Valley of Fire

2011-11-20T22:48:00.001-05:00

I think I made Nate's week when I texted him a few days ago, "Let's go hiking this Saturday."

He wrote back, "Atta girl!"

It's been a busy couple of weeks for him at work, so we weren't going to let his Saturday off slip by with just some grocery shopping and cleaning. The fighting and tears from the kids started before we had even pulled out of the neighborhood, but things improved from there. We went out to Valley of Fire State Park.

Emmy lasted a little while in the backpack, but all she really wanted was to explore and get dirty just like her brother and sister.

I have not seen Jansen this happy in a long time. He was talking non-stop, very loudly most of the hike...he just kept expressing how much fun he was having and how we should do this every Saturday. Natalie loved finding small "caves" she could nestle herself in.

Sometimes your church shoes are also your hiking shoes.

Taking a break...

I think we ruined some pants. The mudroom is littered with sand. Backpacks, bags, and water bottles are piled in a corner of the house. But we had a great Saturday.

I Do REALLY Dumb Things

2011-11-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

Somebody got a new bike.

Actually, somebody got TWO new bikes. You see, I do some incredibly dumb things sometimes. A few weeks ago I ordered Natalie's bike on Amazon. A few days later, two big boxes showed up. I figured that between the parts in the two boxes, we'd have ourselves a cute new bike. After opening one box though, I realized there were two bikes in my living room. I had ordered two.

On a Thursday night, I had placed my first order. The following Monday morning, I ordered the bike again...with absolutely no recollection of the first order. I don't know how it all happened, but I do know it was my fault, and I do know that I am concerned about these mental lapses.

When I asked Nate if he was worried about me he said, "Eh, it happens." What a good man.

I guess it all has a happy ending. I sold the extra bike to a friend at a discount.

I enjoy her so much. She loves to scoot around on Natalie's old tricycle when we go out to ride bikes. She's on top of the world when we let her run around the cul-de-sac. It must seem so big to her.

Aviation Nation 2011

2011-11-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

Our afternoon at the airshow this year was wonderful. Steve and Jody were in town...they were able to come with us last year as well. I guess it's becoming a tradition! In the morning, Nate and his dad went birding in Henderson with kids. After that, we headed to the base.

This was Emmy at the airshow last year.

Can you even believe what happened in about 365 days?

I had to include this picture because it's so ridiculous. We were trying to have a picture taken of all of us, but I felt like we were holding up the crowd. I get really uncomfortable in situations like that, so I jumped up and told the man, "It's ok! Never mind! We'll get a picture later!" And he caught me on camera doing it.

He told me, "Those people can wait!"

And forced me to go back and have our picture taken.

I don't care how old you are, your gender, race, interests, income...you can't tell me these things aren't cool.

Such a happy afternoon.

Jansen was in heaven. We got Natalie a pass to play in the bounce houses, so I would say she really enjoyed herself as well.

Ready For Battle

2011-11-14T00:42:00.001-05:00

The fighting that goes on in this home between Jansen and Natalie is at an all-time high.

I think Emmy is smart to equip herself.

Testing her agility in her new armor...

She looks ready for a good wrestle.

Career Day

2011-11-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

Natalie had a career day at her preschool. We dressed her up as a veterinarian. Glasses and all. I love little peanut standing in the background!

Feeling Good Inside

2011-11-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

What in the world could all these balloons be for? Not to torment Emmy...who about went crazy having so many big yellow balloons just out of her reach from her carseat.

On Sunday night we took all 27 of them to a rest home. Our friends the Nelsons had the idea, and we were so happy to be a part of it.

The kids sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" to the residents, and then we gave them a smiley face balloon.

The kids sang great, and they all did really well. Meeting elderly people in these types of circumstances can be scary and uncomfortable, but they held their hands and happily talked with them. It was so humbling to see joy on someone's face from something as simple as a balloon and some visitors.

In the middle of our visit, Jansen told Nate he had a secret for him. Nate bent down and Jansen whispered, "I feel really good inside." My heart almost burst and I got a little teary. Jansen continued to mention throughout the night how he had a warm feeling and felt really happy. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

While Jansen's At School

2011-11-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

Natalie spends a fair amount of her day trying to fly. She has experimented with various types of "wings," but she has yet to find something suitable for soaring the skies.

Never give up!

Emmy is never far behind her when they are exploring the backyard.

Emmy discovered Natalie's belly button one afternoon. There were a lot of laughs.

If Natalie is hurt or upset, the quickest way to calm her down is a hug from Emmy. I'm so glad that having Jansen away at school for so many hours hasn't been as hard on Natalie as I thought it would be...in part thanks to Emmy!

Maximum Quality

2011-11-04T22:30:00.001-04:00

Tonight Natalie told me that 3 + 3 equaled 6. I commented on how good she was getting at math.

Jansen said something to the effect of knowing more than her and rambled off some equation that he knew. I asked him if it was necessary to talk about how he was better than her at something. He said to me, "I'm not better than her. I just have more maximum quality about math."

On Halloween Night

2011-11-03T16:57:00.002-04:00

By day, they are perfectly normal children, leading perfectly normal lives.

By night, there is nothing normal about them. He the most energetic of pilots. She the most fierce of the ladybugs. The wee one of the family transforms into something so exceedingly cuddly and soft, it was impossible to get a picture of her.

After the sun has set, they consume snakes, human mouths, and...Jell-O. Gasp.

And all this to prepare them for a night on the town with other equally strange children. They will knock on door after door and gather candy to fuel their charismatic spirits. The candy has positive effects on their mother's spirit as well.

It's best to never be alone on a night like this. Straaaaaange things can happen.

Things that would give you the chills just to hear about it. And were you to see it, you may not believe your eyes.

But every word of it is true.

Spooked

2011-10-31T13:53:00.001-04:00

AHA!

2011-10-30T17:03:00.002-04:00

I had an AHA! moment today. Quite honestly, I think it was something I read here , and it's just now making its way to the front of my brain. Or whatever part of my brain is in charge of this type of information.

I can spend the morning cleaning the house and you really wouldn't know it. I think this is a just a phase of life, and I have to accept that my house will be kind of chaotic and messy 90% of the time. I think of a little sign/plaque I saw once that reads: EXCUSE THE MESS, BUT WE LIVE HERE. I found something though that gives me a sense of accomplishment, and it leaves me feeling less hopeless about the crumbs and toys. When I am feeling like the house is in disarray, I am going to just focus on the dishes...empty the sink completely, and then scrub the sink till it shines. It feels so good to do that. And if I accomplish nothing else that day, I will just go over and look at my empty, shiny sink. Sounds silly, sounds simple, but it's was a wonderful moment for me today as I discovered this little trick.

Jansen has started a blog. If you need a good laugh, head here: http://jansensblog.blogspot.com/

And a few little pictures that I'm just going to throw in.

Emmy thinks it's time to get out of the tub. Dad does not.

Emmy is at such a sweet and innocent age. No tantrums yet, and not a lot of naughtiness. She can now say "ball" and doggy" and "wa wa wa wa" which means Wild, Wild, Wild Kratts. She is still waking up hideously early, and my stomach hurts when I think about daylight savings time coming up.

Natalie went to the same pumpkin patch two times this year. Once with friends, and once on a preschool field trip.

We got some Honeycrisp apples from Washington that we have been enjoying. This actually isn't one of them. I feel like I have to point that out in case someone tries to call me on it.

Family Pictures

2011-10-27T23:34:00.000-04:00

My dear friend Monica has a sister out here in Las Vegas...and she happens to be an awesome photographer! Melynda took our pictures about a month ago, and I love them. I love the moments she captured. Here are a few:

Starting Off Our Halloween

2011-10-26T17:22:00.000-04:00

We went to an event at the Springs Preserve called Haunted Harvest. The lights were neat, but the crowds were a real turn off. We must need more family friendly events out here, because it seemed like everyone in Las Vegas was there that night. Here's a preview of the kids' costumes this year:

This afternoon there was a Trunk or Treat at Jansen's school. Natalie, Emmy, and I came to watch the parade of kids. Jansen's teacher gave Natalie a bag, and she gathered candy along with him.

Jansen and his teacher Ms. Roach:

Digging in to the candy on the ride home:

Adult Halloween Party

2011-10-24T16:58:00.001-04:00

I must say, I don't love to dress up. I have been really stressed out around Halloween for about half my motherhood years because I've had a colicky baby around that time. I'm not one of those people who plans out a costume for months...and most years I don't do anything, really, unless we have a party to go to. I think I am starting have a bit of a change of heart though.

And we did have a reason to dress up last Friday night. It was a Halloween party with friends. We stole this doctor/pregnant woman idea from Annie and Bryan. Sorry, bad timing, Nate was having a contraction when this picture was taken.

There were some really fun costumes and some really fun people.

Scary isn't it?

The girl in the blue is dressed as a contestant from the show that used to be on Nick, Legends of the Hidden Temple. I loved that idea because I totally watched that show.

This picture makes me laugh out loud, without fail, every time. Nate looks like Tarzan or something. I kept telling him that now he knows why my hair is always up in a ponytail so often. Oh and tiny Tina (the baby) was born during the party. We played a lot of games that night and earned points, and one time anyone who could produce something that started with the letter "T" got some bonus points. So that's when we welcomed Tina to the world.

Natalie's Amigo Song

2011-10-22T11:17:00.001-04:00

Boise

2011-10-21T00:30:00.000-04:00

And to think I've completed two posts, but we haven't even gotten to our actual destination...Boise, ID!

11+ hours in the car with Emmy was so worth it to see Nate's grandparents and some of these other fine folks...

Some highlights of our trip are the two museums we visited. I get such a kick out of the fact that we were able to visit museums that had jets and birds. For Nate and Jansen, it doesn't get any better than that.

Here are two kooky kids at the World Center for Birds of Prey. Jansen has taken a fairly sudden interest in birds of prey. As you can see, he brought along his binoculars. Natalie on the other hand, brought along her strangest and silliest faces. Phew, I'd hate to have any pictures of her just smiling. :)

It's difficult to say what Natalie is holding. There were all manner of things in the room designed for kids.

Emmy was particularly vocal when she saw the birds. It was really cute. Although one of the museum employees warned me that she would probably be asked to leave during a live demonstration we were planning on attending because she might frighten the bird. That Emmy!

Tim's decision to look down at the last minute proved to be his demise. Only he and Emmy (who is a mere 13 months mind you and not well trained in picture taking) are looking away from the camera at this special moment.

I'm going to have Nate take over the reins from here. It's refreshing to hear someone else's "voice" on this blog besides mine.

To echo Jessica, it is awesome that within 25 minutes of my grandparents' house there is an Air Force museum and a Birds of Prey museum.... I think there were higher powers at play in that. Needless to say, I had a great time watching Jansen and Natalie solidify their interest in two of my passions in life.

The untrained eye looks at the picture below and sees a family enjoying a quaint historical museum. A closer look might reveal two rambunctious children enthralled in a video about the Army Air Corps' involvement in World War II (the Air Force did not exist as such just yet). But an Air Force eye notices the wing of a P-51 Mustang nicknamed "Hell 'er Bust" flown by the famous Capt. Ed Heller, who was responsible for sending many an Axis pilot to meet their Maker. I think he named the plane after his vision of his enemies' meeting with God.

The man you see below is Col. Von "Chris" Christiansen, AKA my Grandpa. The average man would not have survived a shower of large pulmonary emboli blocking the all major arteries in both lungs, and the massive strain that places on the heart muscle. But then, Grandpa is no ordinary man. Just as he fought through numerous life-and-death battles in the skies over Korea and Vietnam, he is now coming out of another battle for his life. And as always, he found a way to come off conqueror. It was great to see him again, and hear from Grandma how much progress he is making each day as he recovers. The silver airplane just behind Grandma is a T-28, in which my Grandpa received tactical training shortly before commanding the F-86 jet fighter over France and Korea.

Grandpa could literally spend days reading through all the accounts and journals on display in this museum. I would have loved to spend more time there too, but surely all these airplanes and notebooks and uniforms bear added significance to a man who was alive at the same time and fought in the Air Force not long after they did. He probably heard of and admired Capt. Heller as a young man during WWII.

Four generations in one picture. In front of one of Grandpa's airplanes. Now that is one great photo.

This little boy was in heaven at the Warhawk Air Museum. For the last couple months, he has been keeping his favorite book right by his pillow so he can read it every night. The title: "The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare". And if you know Jansen, that won't surprise you. He will tell you he prefers books about "facts, not fiction." Today during dinner he was talking about what his favorite word is. He was trying to decide between "aircraft," "war," "weapon," and "destroy." I think my Grandpa loved witnessing Jansen's fascination with airplanes.

Sorry if I bored you with my ramblings, I am definitely not as witty as Jessica! Well, over-and-out.

On to Salt Lake

2011-10-17T23:20:00.002-04:00

After the Sunday morning visit with my grandparents, we zoomed to Salt Lake to attend the rest of church with Steve and Jody. I'm really proud of my kids for happily attending Primary in a ward they have been to maybe one other time.

The rest of the day was spent gathering crab apples and running in the yard with cousins. We also had soup and bread for dinner, the perfect pair for a fall afternoon in Utah.

I honestly can't remember why you were mad at me in this one Julie. But I'm sure I deserved it. Maybe I made you stand in the front row like you've had to for your entire life?

There are a lot of birthday this time of year, so we celebrated with cupcakes. And fire.

First Stop

2011-10-16T23:42:00.003-04:00

We recently returned from a trip to Boise, ID to visit Nate's grandparents. Apparently there are a couple ways to get to Boise from Las Vegas, going through Salt Lake being the longer way, but I'll take a couple extra hours in the car to be able to see this group any day! We spent an evening and a night in Orem and after spending some time at my Aunt Robin's (which is like a second home to me) we all headed to dinner at Zupa's.

Emmy was surprisingly well behaved.

I just love the unique feeling of coming "home" that can only be experienced by living away.

Before continuing onto Salt Lake, we stopped at my grandparent's on Sunday morning. Excuse me for being nostalgic again, but I felt flooded with memories during our visit. A part of me wanted to go through and take pictures of their whole house because I spent so much time there. We even lived there for a short time while our house was being built.

One of my favorite things about my grandpa is his hearty laugh. It's the first thing out of his mouth after saying hello. He and my grandma have a lot of singing flower pots, and they let Jansen and Natalie each take one home.

Gymnastics

2011-10-06T18:00:00.003-04:00

Natalie goes to gymnastics on Tuesdays. I hesitated to sign her up because it's about a 20 minute drive, and we have to hurry home afterwards to get her to preschool. Her first day ended in tears, so then I was really wondering if we should continue.

This is how she feels about it now though:

She loves it. I don't get to watch her much though because I am chasing Emmy around.

That would be this girl. We like to go watch the old men fly their airplanes in the gym. I can't even describe the nostalgia I feel when I smell or go in a gym like this.

Me and the muppet.

Lexi and Brennon Love Us

2011-10-04T23:15:00.001-04:00

Because they came to see us for a weekend!

Poor Brennon had to do homework most of the day on Friday, but he was so nice to take some breaks to entertain Natalie. She just latches onto anyone who will wrestle, fight, and run around with her.

While Brennon slaved away, Lexi and I grabbed some Subways and went to have lunch with Nate. While we were there, I decided at the last minute (because there was no wait) to get flu shots for me, Natalie, and Emmy and get a couple of Emmy's vaccinations.

Little buddies. Natalie loves Lexi.

I think Emmy was quite amused by Brennon most of the weekend. Of course, she would not show that he was growing on her, but I do think she liked him.

Lexi and I are such party poopers. It's in our blood. We were always exhausted by like 9, but we did manage to play a few games one night.

After watching General Conference, we went to a park on Saturday afternoon.

Nate and Brennon were tossing the frisbee and kicking a ball around. They kept attracting different groups of kids. It was really cute to watch.

And this is where we contract viruses...

Lexi and Brennon left on Sunday morning. It was wonderful to have them around for a couple days.

Emmy Antics

2011-10-02T18:30:00.001-04:00

The other day I think I wrote something about Emmy not driving me so nuts that I reach my breaking point.

Is it too late to retract that? This monkey wakes up between 5:15 and 5:45 and rather than following my usual plan (since I have always been blessed with early risers) of ignoring her until 6, I just can't seem to do it this time around. So around 6:30 am, after feeling like I'd already put in a full day of mothering, I gently threw her on Nate who was on the recliner and went and laid on the floor of our closet. I NEEDED TO BE ALONE. So she does stretch me to my mothering limits. Sometimes when I get really worn out with a particular stage a child is in, I imagine them in like 15 years. Not because I want them to grow up quickly or because I think it will be easier then. It just helps me have perspective and I know that certain struggle we are having is temporary.

Look at her. In 15 years I am going to be dragging her out of bed to get her to high school on time. No more early rising then.

Words and Some Pictures

2011-09-29T16:15:00.001-04:00

I feel like I am in a comfortable and fun stage of life right now. Emmy is an absolute handful, but not the kind that stresses me out to the breaking point. I went and saw a friend last night with her newborn. Now THAT stresses me out. Just looking at her precious little boy gave me anxiety. Funny thing is, it still made me want one. But OHHHHH not yet. I can feel myself growing as a mother, and I am thankful for that. I am getting better at deciding what is important to me, and what I will let fall to the wayside because it is not MOST important. Sometimes it's hard to let those things go (kids hair looking perfect, spotless floor, etc) but it also feels wonderful. A friend told me about a talk she had heard about being your own kind of best mom. The kind YOUR kids need. I am trying to do that more. Be my own best kind of mom and not worry about what I'm not.

Emmy loves to wear my bracelets and necklaces and bags.

And oh how she loves the fridge and freezer. She makes a beeline for them whenever they are open. I can't help but let her hang out in there for a minute since she works so hard to get over there in time. Plus it's hot!

Just a photo of a haircut Jansen got recently. I had trimmed his sideburns a few days ago (which Nate has since banned me from ever doing again and rightfully so).

Sometimes They Get a Hold of the Camera...

2011-09-27T17:28:00.002-04:00

What. In. The. World. ???

I cannot figure out how this look was captured, but apparently Jansen receives all photo credit.

So I guess we'll give credit to Natalie for these two.

Rainy Day

2011-09-25T23:02:00.001-04:00

These pictures are a couple weeks old, but blogworthy nonetheless. One Sunday afternoon the rain REALLY came down. Living in the absence of rain makes occasional wets days exciting. I didn't really believe I would ever need this umbrella when I bought it...but here it is doing it's job. Jansen and Natalie took it upon themselves to save all the drowning bugs that afternoon.

Emmy's Day

2011-09-20T23:28:00.002-04:00

Emmy's birthday fell on a fairly busy Saturday, so her presents and cake got quickly jammed somewhere in the middle of the day. As of Friday night I had not bought her one toy present. I just didn't feel like she needed anything. Guilt set in though, and I ran to Toys R Us that night for a couple things. See our bedroom floor in the background? Life feels so messy right now. The kids can scatter things faster than I blink.

We did a cake again. Even though I really didn't think we would. I dumped 80% of it in the garbage today, just like we always do.

Not just a slice for this lady. The whole cake.

The biggest compliment of all on the cake...Emmy going for seconds from the garbage can.

Emmy, You Are...

2011-09-19T00:18:00.001-04:00

One!

Emmy, at one year old you are...

...going on 16

...melting hearts with those eyes

...not afraid of dirt and trucks

...noticing the birds, to your father's chagrin

...rockin' the post nap hair

...always willing to help mom out in the kitchen

...car trasher and backseat warrior

...CLINGY

...the best thing the mailman has brought us so far!!!

A Soccer Post By Jansen

2011-09-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

here I am with my soccer ball in a cool action here ready to go to soccer (this is the first day of soccer and already a real game), and we did a little practicing before the real game. and now it is quite the thing of soccer, and our team won, but soccer isn't about winning, it is about having fun. plus, it's not important to win, but it's not good to lose.

Not Effective

2011-09-14T00:18:00.001-04:00

Emmy likes to have a bowl and a utensil at meals now. It's not an effective way to actually get food inside her mouth, but it's entertaining. And a good life skill. And I have the pleasure of cleaning it all up several times a day. Speaking of food, I could just eat her up.

A Favorite Friday

2011-09-10T13:21:00.004-04:00

Yesterday started off like a normal Friday. We walked to school, and by the time I pushed that big double stroller up the driveway, I was sweaty and hot. A little while later Nate called with the most glorious news. Well, nice news for us. I am sure it caused a lot of problems for others, and I hope everyone is okay. The power was out at the hospital! He was finished for the day.

On his way home he had stopped to get a brake light fixed, but then decided to just do it himself. Good thing too...it was easy and inexpensive. Natalie helped him.

I had the idea that Nate should go surprise Jansen at his school and have lunch with him. As he was walking out the door, I told him to make sure and get some pictures...but that didn't end up happening. I have just recently forgiven him. :) He also stayed through recess and spent some time helping in the classroom and reading Junie B. Jones to the class. Jansen loved it.

And then he came home to have lunch with Emmy.

We used a Groupon to try a place called Teriyaki Madness for dinner that night.

And then the best part of our day...our date! I don't think we had been on one since May. We went down to the Venetian and took a ride on one of the indoor gondolas. Usually you have to share one, but it worked out that night and I got to ride alone.

There are so many tourists and visitors in Las Vegas. Lots of them were taking pictures of gondola riders. There one was one particular spot when we were heading under a bridge that lots of and lots of cameras were flashing. I felt like Lindsay Lohan. Hahahaha.

This is our gondolier in mid-song. He had a great voice.

Nate planned this date, so he gets all the credit. One of the main reasons we came to the Venetian was to see one of Peter Lik's galleries. We were in love. We want so badly have one of these in our home, but they come with quite the price tag, so we will just have to dream. What a fun Friday.

Just Having Fun

2011-09-09T14:07:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year we got together for dinner with one of Nate's friends from ROTC. Our families got along so well, and we've had a lot of fun meeting up more often. The kids got a second wind late one Sunday afternoon and were pulling out all the poses.

And running and running and running through the house. This creates tired children, so we encourage it.

Casen let me take lots of pictures of his pure awesomeness.

On Labor Day we went up to Mt. Charleston. You sure learn to appreciate this kind of beauty when you don't get to see it often. And to think we had to put on sweatshirts!

We had Family Home Evening while we were up there. You know, the ones that last about 3 minutes. That's about how long we could keep the kids' attention.

I was just thankful that I had one more chance to put Emmy in her long sleeved cat shirt before she outgrows it. Who doesn't love a cat in glasses?

And there's the creepy mommy hand in the above picture. Juuuuuust in case Emmy tries to jump out of the chair. We had a wonderful night, and it was fun driving down the canyon in the dark, listening to some music, and just being together.

Jansen's Birthday

2011-09-07T22:56:00.003-04:00

Well, he's six! Jansen thought he wanted to wait till after school and after dad got home to open his presents, but he changed his mind pretty quickly the morning of his birthday. His choices for breakfast and dinner were originally Cheerios and macaroni and cheese. Obviously food is not a huge priority for him right now. We eventually settled on banana bread and apple juice in the morning and pancakes for dinner.

I tried my idea of letting Jansen choose a dessert for his birthday. He pretty much wanted the first thing he saw on the computer screen, an ice cream cake. Chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. I lucked out and had a number six candle back from Nate's 26th birthday that I put on at the last minute.

I enjoy this age for sure. Much less stressful to me than an infant or toddler. I wanted to include this picture because Jansen has started doing extra jobs sometimes for money. I thought he looked so cute in this one.

Another random picture, but I snapped this one of him to remember how he likes to play Battleship right now.

When I took Jansen in for his well visit at the doctor's, we found out he is in about the 10th percentile for his age. Not that that is a huge surprise, but we are trying to fatten him up now. I guess it's a stage, but he is becoming a more picky eater much to my dismay. He loves Hero Factory, jets, playing Angry Birds, Legos, reading about air warfare, the show Wild Kratts, listening to his iTunes songs, riding his bike, and playing pretend with Natalie. Sometimes he seems so old, but then I will hear him pretending to be a cheetah with Natalie and I know that he will still be my little boy for a few more years.

He can tie his own shoes. He finally started taking showers. He has the 13th Article of Faith memorized. One of his biggest struggles is using a nice voice. He can get pretty nasty at times. Right now the mattress is off his bed (it's the wing of his airplane) and he is sleeping right on the hard, flat wood base of the bed. He does not want it any other way and is sleeping great, so I just have to shrug my shoulders. He doesn't complain too much, but he doesn't like going to church because there are too many other fun things he would rather be doing. He seems to be enjoying school, but his lunch bag is coming home too full for my liking. I assume he just wants to get out to recess. I love him to pieces and know this is going to be a great year.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

2011-09-06T17:08:00.000-04:00

I swear I am capable of being home alone without Nate, but I just keep getting lucky. While Nate cashed in on his guy's trip for the year at Great Basin National Park, my mom came into town. It was also good timing for the birthday rush we have this time of year with Jansen, Natalie, and Emmy.

It's funny how the spur of the moment ideas are sometimes the most memorable. After arriving at a new splash pad in the area and finding out the water wasn't on, we decided to just play on the playground. And in the dirt.

Then Grandma Becca noticed there WAS some water on. The sprinklers.

A random stranger/girl/new friend from the park joined us, and the kids ran and played in the big field with the sprinklers. They loved it. Here's Natalie enjoying herself.

My mom and I would let ourselves get a little wet as well so we could cool off. We did some birthday shopping, tried some new recipes like zucchini pancakes, and watched Rio. Okay, okay, I'll admit it...we also watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.

On Sunday afternoon Jansen got to hold a baby lizard from our backyard. I love having those little guys all over our walls back there.

What I Love Most About My Home...

2011-09-03T00:12:00.000-04:00

What I love most about my home is who I share it with.
-Tad Carpenter

Natalie the 4 Year Old

2011-08-31T00:10:00.001-04:00

True or False: We got Natalie's eyebrows waxed and colored for her birthday.

Answer: False

But those stickers sure look awesome don't they?

Natalie's birthday was also the first day of school. We had done a little celebrating as a family on Saturday night with Natalie's choice of movie (Chicken Run) and choice of treats (M&Ms and chocolate ice cream). Since the kids wake up around 6, we ended up having plenty of time to open presents in the morning before walking to school. Emmy was helpful as always.

Natalie, Emmy, and I had a fun little day together that included spending some birthday money at Toys R Us and a Happy Meal lunch. She also got to go play at her friend Jane's house in the afternoon. Once Nate was home from work, we had dinner and moved on to the cake and ice cream. Does Natalie love Hello Kitty? No. Did she request a Hello Kitty cake? No. I just thought it was a doable cake, so I chose it for her. :)

I might be "done" with the whole birthday cake thing. It's certainly not my strong point, as evidenced here, but mostly, we just don't get all that excited about cake. Here's my idea: sit down with each kid before their birthday and show them a ton of dessert ideas and pictures from the internet and they choose one for us to try on their birthday.

All day I wanted a nice little picture of Natalie with her hair done and her face clean. But that's not my Natalie. This is.

What else about our Natalie?

Still completely and totally attached to her pink blanket. I have to do some thinking on this one...I am trying to decide how to continue to handle her love for it. Same with the thumb sucking.
She is a really good eater for the most part. Her favorite snacks are string cheese, grape tomatoes, bananas and nutella, yogurt and granola, carrots with ranch, and milk.
Although Jansen was the early reader, I see Natalie possibly being the bookworm. She loves to make up the words to her books, have them read to her, or just look at the pictures.
I am so lucky to have such an imaginative child. She plays incredibly well on her own. I rarely have her ask me to play with her. She loves Littlest Pet Shops and other small animals.
She plays very messy though. Lots of nests, piles, scraps of paper, etc.
She loves to be outside. She asks all the time to go camping, and loves to hike, bird watch, and get dirty.
She wakes up between 6 and 6:30 and usually comes semi-running out of her room yelling Emmy's name...who is our early riser.
She can be emotional and sensitive. She responds so well to positive words and needs hugs a lot. Hugs calm her down the quickest when she is upset.
She loves to stuff odds and ends from around the house in envelopes and tells me who to send them to. I should probably really send them. Who wouldn't love a screw, a bead, a gum wrapper, and a bobby pin?
She can get really annoyed with Emmy, but she is also so sweet with her. Oftentimes when we get in the car to run an errand, Natalie will bring a sippy a cup of water for Emmy, all on her own.

We Went to School

2011-08-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

First off, I wanted to record something Jansen said at the meet and greet last Friday. We found his classroom and had introduced ourselves to his teacher, Ms. Roach. Jansen was looking all around the classroom, and after spotting a word wall he said to me, "One of my favorite words is up there!"

Ms. Roach overheard and asked, "Oh? Which one?"

"Destroy," Jansen answered.

She said, "Oh yeah, we try not to do a lot of that huh."

I just laughed and hopefully she will find out quickly that he is not going to be a destructive first grader.

School doesn't start until 9:00 this year, so we had PLENTY of time to get ready and get going this morning.

I just love wondering what little thoughts are going through his head when he poses. I know he has a specific idea in mind, like, I bet this will make me look really strong.

We gathered kids and moms along the way and made our trek to school. Very hot day.

My favorite moment from the first day of school: I'm getting ready to leave and Jansen is lined up and waiting patiently at the dot assigned to his teacher. As I start to walk away he says, "Mom, I'll share!"

"Ok!" I yelled back. And then I realized I had no idea what he was referring to. "Share what???" I asked.

"My crayons! I'll share my crayons!" he called back to me.

Oh how that tugged at my heart strings. Such a sweet thing to say.
He looks a little nervous here, but at this point he said he was actually pretty excited. Thank goodness.

All the moms and stroller bound monkeys.

In the last few weeks, each time I have thought about Jansen going to first grade, my stomach has done a flip. Having to pack him a lunch REALLY weirded me out and made me sad. He's supposed to be eating a sandwich on his blue plate at the counter watching Wild Kratts with me! It's been hard. And at the same time, I feel good about things. It's going to be a fun year.

Campout and Calling

2011-08-28T23:29:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Nate went on a 5-day backpacking trip with the scouts. When asked by someone in the ward about his favorite campout of the year, he gave this answer:

No campout can rival the 5-day High Adventure campout out in King's Canyon National Park, on Aug 1-6, 2011. How can you forget carrying a pack weighing a third to half your body weight over 21 miles and about 5000 feet elevation gain? That alone accounts for a grueling, man-building experience!!! But try adding in unbelievably beautiful mountains, fishing and swimming in ice-cold but crystal-clear alpine lakes, slinging rocks, capture-the-flag, hearty meals, plenty of flatulence, sleeping in lean-to shelters, swatting mosquitoes, getting fried by the sun, campfire devotionals, a testimony meeting at the base of a majestic cliff and pristine lake, and much more. It was definitely a trip that none of the boys or leaders will ever forget.

Nate hates when I do things like this, but I want to document my feelings and life right now, so he'll have to get over it! :)

Nate is currently the Young Men's president in our ward. I had no idea what an intense calling this would be. He is gone every Sunday morning for meetings (which means I get me and 3 kids ready for and to 9 o clock church by myself). He is gone, on average, for a couple hours after church each Sunday. Tuesday nights are activity night. There is a campout almost every month. There's youth conference, presidency meetings, scout trainings...I could go on and on.

More than any other time in my life, I have struggled with the amount of time this calling has required. There are moments I have been mad and bitter. Times when I tell him it's just too much. I've cried. But we find balance, and we find great joy in this calling as well.

I am so grateful for a faithful and devoted husband. Bottom line is this: we are blessed when we serve. Life is less complicated, and there is more happiness when we serve. He completely and totally fulfills his role as father and husband first, and then gives every bit that is left to those young men. He had to submit something for a yearbook about his calling and I wanted to have it on my blog. Here it is:

What is your favorite thing about your calling? As Young Men's President, I get the sacred privilege of being around the Young Men. Why is that a privilege? Because I get to see them grow in their testimonies and in their relationship with the Savior. I get to see new deacons get ordained and start their lifelong journey of Priesthood service. I get to see the Priests lead the other young men by example and then eventually get ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. I get to help guide them in Scouts as they venture out and learn outdoor skills, career possibilities, and serve their community. I get to play Capture the Flag with them. I get to take many of them to the temple for their very first time as they perform baptisms for the dead, and see them sit there and take in the special Spirit that is in the temple. I get to see them help each other through very strenuous challenges like carrying full-gear packs over huge mountain passes. I even get the special blessing to see an occasional young man get baptized and join our quorums as a new convert, and see how the other young men take him in as if they had known each other forever. The list goes on and on. There really isn't a way to briefly state why I love my calling, but anyone who has served the Young Men (or Young Women) of the Church knows that these are indeed very special children of Heavenly Father, and just being with them and feeling their strength and being part of their growth is a huge blessing.

Mommy in the Making

2011-08-26T17:10:00.000-04:00

I came into Natalie's room during her "quiet time" one afternoon and found her baby all tucked in.

Then I found her, sound asleep here. Baby gets the nice soft bed, she took the floor. Looks to me like this one has the makings of a great mom.

Modern Day Noah's Ark

2011-08-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

Apparently there was a flood. I don't think there was a lot of damage. I'm usually pretty good about checking cnn.com, msnbc.com, foxnews.com, etc and not a one of them gave a heads up about the event. But Natalie knew, and she was prepared. Anything of value in our home was loaded on her ark, and I didn't even end up having to report anything to our insurance agency. Thank goodness for my astute little soon-to-be-4 year old.

Walking!

2011-08-20T23:13:00.001-04:00

Emmy ended her 11th month of life with a bang. She started taking some steps a few weeks ago, and now she's really walking.

She has 7 teeth...and she likes to dig them into my shoulder and BITE. It's not a real bite yet, but it hurts still the same! Emmy is not a big eater. It works best for us if I just give her bits and pieces of things throughout the day. Her best meal is probably breakfast. Thankfully she has learned to suck through a straw and smoothies are a favorite or hers. She also enjoys milk soaked pieces of cereal like Life and Crispix.

I finally got rid of that early morning bottle I was feeding her. Now I give her one when she first wakes up (usually about 6:15) and I lay her on the pillow next to me so I can rest for 10 more minutes. After that, it's me and her, together, all day. She's my sidekick and my appendage. She is fascinated with birds in the sky, loves cats and dogs and baby dolls, and the sandbox is her very favorite place to be.

She is definitely starting to have preferences and is letting us know what she wants with pointing, sounds, leaning, etc. No words yet besides "mama."

Never in a million years would I have thought to use a stool this way. Emmy loves to sit in it like this. I guess it's just the thing to do when you are 11 months.

Lunch with Dad

2011-08-18T17:11:00.000-04:00

The drive from our house to Nellis AFB is a little depressing. There's a Wal-Mart I won't go into alone, a few MEGA ADULT SUPERSTORES!, many people walking down the street who are really down on their luck (and many homeless), etc. But it still brightens our afternoon once we get on base and get to have lunch with Nate. It's just peanut butter sandwiches, and we often sit outside in the hot sun, but we love to do it.

Before we met up for lunch I went to the commissary, which is basically just a supermarket that is on a military base. I had never been there before, and I had heard from friends I was missing out. They have great prices there. I bought some potato chips because a peanut butter sandwich becomes a grand and delicious meal to me if I add some Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips to it.

There's that beautiful blue sky again!

Cruise with Me, Baby (in the voice of Gwyneth Paltrow)

2011-08-16T12:12:00.001-04:00

There's nothing wrong with letting your hair down every once awhile.

Hopping in the car to go cruisin'.

Letting baby sister take the wheel for a minute.

Pick up a friend or two along the way.

Blast some tunes.

And hang your head out the window.

By the way, hanging your head out the window reminds me of three things.

1. A home video I made about 15 years ago mimicking Alanis Morissette in her music video Ironic. I hung my head wildly out the window for most of it.

2. In high school, a friend and I had a contest to see who could keep her head out the window the longest. We were on the freeway. And it was sleeting. What a rush.

3. My cousin Scotty used to have longer hair than he does now. He was once hanging his head out the window a wee bit, and I rolled the window up enough to trap some of his hair in the window. He was stuck, and I was left with no choice but to accelerate and then brake. Accelerate, and then brake. I don't why I did such a cruel thing.

If You Can't Take the Heat...

2011-08-14T23:58:00.000-04:00

...then go play in the gym at the church.

In Ohio we would often go play at the church in the dead of winter to get out of the house and to let the kids run their crazies out. In Las Vegas, we go in the dead of summer. It's the perfect thing to do on a killer hot day. Kids + big open area + their friends = a little time for moms to chat as well!

The other thing to do if you can't take the heat is swim of course. This is Jansen and Natalie with Paisley who will be in Natalie's preschool class this fall. My kids still won't put their heads under the water, but they are getting better and better at swimming.

One afternoon Jansen just spent a lot time rolled up in towels by the side of the pool.

I do love those blue skies.

Growing While They Sleep

2011-08-11T17:17:00.000-04:00

Sleep.

The definition has certainly changed since I became a mom. I feel like, for the most part, I don't really do it. I just kind of spent the night in this half awake state and take Natalie to the bathroom, check on someone coughing, rub a back for a few minutes, put a blanket back on, turn on a hall light, listen to see if Emmy will put herself back to sleep, adjust the thermostat, etc. I remember when I was a kid I could walk into my mom's room at any time of night and say her name once and she would answer back. I didn't have to wake her. I can understand that now.

I was laughing at a Tempurpedic commercial I saw. They boasted that you would not even feel the movement of your spouse as they get out of bed in the morning. Oh please. If only my biggest worry of being woken up was from Nate rolling out of bed in the morning.

Apparently these guys grow when they are sleeping because they just keep getting bigger and bigger.

This one at a particularly fast rate.

Last Week

2011-08-08T23:40:00.001-04:00

Nate left for scout camp last Monday night and just a few hours later, Kami arrived to help me survive the week without him. I felt so so lucky that she was able to come. A week without Dad can be disastrous. We started the week off strong by doing 30 Day Shred, but did not finish strong. Things got in the way...like movies and food. Jansen loves to do the workout video. I have been trying to exercise more, and when I do, he almost always joins me. He actually did an entire workout by himself the other day, just for fun.

I was horrible about taking pictures. Here are a couple I got. You'd be hard pressed to find a better shopping buddy than Kami, and we didn't let a few children stop us from hitting the stores. This is what shopping with kids is like...NIGHTMARE. I do not like.

I love me some Ross, but I cannot walk into that place without feeling like I have stolen something, even though I just barely passed through the front doors. Those security guards stand there and greet you and give you the eye, and suddenly I am wondering if I somehow have something in my purse that I didn't buy.

The week flew by.

Happy

2011-08-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

It's one of those days when I feel really happy. I'm a little surprised at my good mood considering Kami left this morning after visiting for a few days, and Nate has been gone since Monday and won't be home till tomorrow night. I'm also a little surprised I feel this way because I woke up soooo nauseous from all the popcorn, licorice, Yorks, and Reese's I ate last night. (We watched Soul Surfer which was a really good movie.) And it's 5000 degrees here, always.

And maybe my cheerfulness is simply because I crossed a few things off the to do list, and I don't have to make dinner tonight. I could just be happy because that there's still candy left from last night and I have some cute new earrings. But really, I think my high spirits are a result of my all around wonderful life. I love my kids more than they'll ever know, I miss my husband like crazy and am completely in love with him, and I have other family and friends that have me thanking my lucky stars every day.

I'm trying to take 20 extra seconds in my day and do something with Emmy's hair. She's even sporting some piggies in the last picture. Here are some shots of us girls the past few days:

Before You Die

2011-08-03T17:07:00.002-04:00

Just passing on a little something Emmy said you need to add to your bucket list.

Suck all the fruit and juice off a mango seed.

Rite of Passage

2011-07-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

Nate bought Jansen and Natalie each their own pair of binoculars. I was a little taken aback at how much Jansen's cost, but Nate assured me this was something very, very important to him. To help me fully understand just how significant it is that they have their own binoculars, he said, "If it was my own birthday, the gift I would want most would be binoculars for the kids." Fine, fine. I guess if it's THAT important. :) Can't say I'll be wishing for the kids to get any gifts on MY birthday.

They need to get out and use them now. Nate was going to take them camping and birdwatching this weekend, but it didn't work out. I guess Angry Birds (what they are playing in the picture below) will have to do until then.

Struck Me Funny

2011-07-27T00:28:00.001-04:00

I can't always explain why certain things really get me laughing. But for some reason this really struck me funny. I think it's probably just the fact that my cupcakes would totally turn out like the ones on the bottom.

***I have to edit this post and say these are not mine. (They very well could be). A friend texted me telling me her whole family was laughing at them. Had to set things straight. :)

Source: thechive.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Summer Days

2011-07-25T17:26:00.001-04:00

They built a Michael's close to our house and that makes me so happy. There are always a few things I need from there, and I hated the drive and location of the other one. If we have no plans for the day (all too often), I usually look up a project for the kids and work on that to stay busy. This was the project I choose a few days ago:

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/3-things-to-do-with-egg-cartons-841066/

Of course things never really turn out the way you envision them. :)

And now the "transports" keep getting moved from room to room in the house...since they don't really belong anywhere...the plan is to wait a few more days till the kids forget about them and toss them. Not because they weren't fun and worth it, but I just can't keep all that kind of stuff!

A little cottage cheese never hurt anyone. Not even Emmy.

And dang that Wild Kratts show. My kids LOVE IT. But that means we end up building dams in the family room. Behold the beaver dam.

I Love My Job

2011-07-23T23:46:00.001-04:00

But I'm thinking I shouldn't wear rayon to work anymore.

Sunday Visitors

2011-07-21T17:19:00.000-04:00

Christian and Julie (Nate's brother and his wife) were driving home from a fun packed week in California and they stopped at our house for a break from the car. It made for the perfect Sunday afternoon. We got home from church at 12 and they showed up a couple hours later.

I'm always grateful for a chance to see Ryder.

I guess we adult-folk are not interesting enough to take pictures of. I never regret taking a picture. But I often wish I had taken more. Note to self.

Sometimes I Amaze Myself

2011-07-19T13:02:00.000-04:00

It's amazing...my ability to recall things I did as a child and force my children to try it too. Have I blogged about this before? Sending Cheerios careening down a cardboard tube into your mouth? A great way to eat cereal. We prefer the without-milk method. Cardboard gets too soggy. It's a joke.

It's amazing...my ability to judge which size tupperware to choose to store leftover food. This one should be just about right... Also a joke.

It's amazing...my ability to get Natalie ready for a princess birthday party. Sure I had to send a text or two to borrow a dress. And the dress didn't really fit so we made it fit. Such a pretty princess.

10 Month Stuff

2011-07-18T00:20:00.000-04:00

You know, Emmy was a tough baby. But she has been so healthy. One runny nose, that's it. A couple minor diaper rashes. No ear infections. No coughs. Nothing. You win some, you lose some. We sure won in the health category.

At 10 months Emmy is standing for a few seconds. She loves to push her highchair around the kitchen and can walk when she has something to push.

She takes a morning nap at 9 and another at 1. Still goes to bed around 7 and wakes up at 5 to have a bottle (just a bad habit that I haven't the heart to break right now) and is up for good about 6:15. The kids love to go see her when she wakes up and sometimes all 3 of them are in her crib at once.

She does that thing that it seems all babies do where they scrunch up their nose and breathe in and out noisily.

Some favorite foods right now are grapefruits, strawberries, prunes (yes), and cinnamon toast. She rips her bib off and I have no idea how to make her wear it. She also does not last long in her highchair before she is screaming to get out. To buy some time I will put a handful of Sonic ice on their to keep her occupied.

She loves our backyard. If she sees the kids out there, it's all over. She MUST join them. She loves to just hang out on the cement and suck on dirty sponges.

I can never tell if she knows what she is saying or not, but she says mamamama and dadadadada a lot.

I still haven't put any gates up. Mostly I'm just lazy and I just prefer to keep a close eye on her. She knows not to go down, but I can see her trying it just once and taking a tumble.

She loves outlets and I am constantly moving her from them or unplugging things.

She is a squirmy worm for sure during diaper changes. A lot of times I will just do it while she's standing up.

She loves to drink from water bottles. And she likes it cold. She looks so stunned when she gets it in her mouth, but then she wants more.

She is all over the place in the bathtub. She crawls all over and pulls herself up and tried to steal Natalie's toys.

Nate and I decided that she does not hold still ever unless she is asleep.

She loves baby dolls. Natalie wasn't like that, so this is new for me. It's adorable.

She has 5 teeth.

Swim Lessons and Friends

2011-07-15T16:09:00.000-04:00

Today was our last swim lesson. I felt like the instructor was excellent and my kids made a lot of progress. We have a long way to go, but it feels good to have started the process. I had a great time chatting with the other moms each day. I took them swimming yesterday and realized it's really not so hard to take all 3 as long as there is a shallow area.

That's Natalie working with the teacher.

Miss Janette (their teacher) told Jansen that she hopes he is as cautious when he's a driving teenager as he is now. He was very reluctant and scared at times.

We had a great afternoon with the Comin kids a few days ago. The boys battled the afternoon away (with no issues/pain/crying even!)

And Natalie and Maizie gave me a million reasons to smile as they played pretend together.

Jansen's Music

2011-07-12T23:07:00.000-04:00

Jansen has really been into music lately. He has created a playlist in Itunes. Actually 2. They are titled "Jansen's Favorites" and "Jansen's Most Favorites". He loves Zac Brown Band and because of his sudden interest in weather, he also loves "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks. This love of songs creates some contention in the car when he insists on absolute silence while a song he likes is playing. Natalie of course pretends to comply but makes small random noises that drive Jansen crazy.

Here's the "Jansen's Most Favorites" playlist.

4th of July (3)

2011-07-09T18:08:00.000-04:00

On the actual 4th of July we went to Copperton Park and celebrated with Nate's family. We had pizza and homemade ice cream and tossed the ball around. Here are some pictures from the day:

4th of July in Utah (2)

2011-07-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

We spent the second half of our 4th of July weekend in Salt Lake with Nate's family. I feel like Jansen and his grandpa have a very special relationship, and they even have similar interests despite the age difference. This weekend "weather" was all the talk...Jansen has a weather facts book that he has been reading and sharing with all of us. I'm glad we live in Las Vegas while he is so fascinated with weather because as much as he loves it, it also scares him. No weather to worry about in Vegas! Except a heat wave as he will tell you.

Have you ever seen Emmy's hair so under control? I submit you have not. Not sure what dastardly plans Jansen has with that empty paper towel roll.

Jansen is displaying his dirt. He and his cousins were hard at work planting things at Grandma Nye's house. Or perhaps un-planting things. I hope not.

You'll have to get better at hiding the evidence Emmy. Clearly you just ate dirt.

This photo was taken at Nate's grandma's house in South Jordan. We had a big family BBQ there on Sunday afternoon.

Could there be a more perfect picture? I thought this one turned out darling.

4th of July in Utah (1)

2011-07-07T16:21:00.001-04:00

I think we have been incredibly spoiled that during Nate's intern year we somehow managed to go home for Thanksgiving, Easter, and the 4th of July. Sometimes it's daunting to make the 5+ hour drive and pack for our family of 5, but it always turns out to have been well worth the effort. We drove to Orem on Thursday and spent two nights there. Friday morning we hung out in Robin's front yard and watched the kids roam around the neighborhood. So simple and relaxing and so much fun. Nate took off later that afternoon and hiked Notch Peak with his dad, brothers, and a sister in law.

Utah is gorgeous. I kept thinking that as I drove the streets. I kind of like living away...simply because I love coming home. I think the kids stained every shirt they brought, but that is a sign of some great times being had.

Amy and I are so excited for Emmy and Ella to be little buddies in a couple of years. They are about 6 months apart. Check out Emmy's huge-gantic ankles compared to Ella's.

Lexi and Brennon have a dog now, and the kids loved having a couple pooches around to play with.

Written by Jansen: somehow emmy got into the water almost eating it! holding something by her mouth ( whatever it is called.) with the big water toy ( now it is put away.)

The trampoline is always a hit, but it drives mom (me) nuts. For some reason the tramp turns their feet and bodies black.

On Friday night we went up to Don and Robin's cabin. We ate. And ate. And talked. And ate.

There is a grass field near the cabin where the kids played and everyone tossed the frisbee around. Grandpa and Grandma drove up to say hi for a little bit.

One reason we try to make it to Utah whenever we can is so that the kids will have memories of their extended family and be able to remember their names. Evie and Jansen are cut from the same pattern in many ways and had a ball together.

Not sure how to describe this little situation. Scotty thought maybe Emmy would like him if it appeared that he was providing her food.

Swimming Lessons

2011-07-05T23:25:00.000-04:00

Jansen and Natalie started their swim lessons today. This is a first for both of them. The lessons are in the instructor's backyard, and there 5 kids in their session. Jansen is the oldest, probably by a couple years, but he struggled the most. The morning started off wrong when Jansen slipped on his way to the backyard. He cried for a few minutes, but we finally got that taken care of. When Jansen and Natalie got in the pool to start their lessons and "swim" for a minute, Natalie pushed off from the stairs and tried to swim. She can't of course...at all...so I panicked and kind of stumbled my way into the pool about waist deep to grab her. The instructor was telling me, "I'll get her, I'll get her," but in the seconds in happened, I just reacted. It was embarrassing. Jansen had a tough time through the lesson and does not want to do it anymore. I think I've worked it out and will be able to convince him to finish, but this may be a long 2 weeks!

Here's his version of today:
somehow my swimming lessons were worse! ( just for me!) well i think just for me. it happened at miss, whatever her name was.i had to do: chickin, scare crow, person! about five times for each. and go hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! and floating out on the water, sortove!

At Our House

2011-06-29T17:52:00.001-04:00

I love books. I really really want my kids to love books. If Jansen or Natalie asks me to read to them, there is some sort of mothering mechanism triggered inside me and I can't say no. (I CAN say no to playing with their toys with them, pretending to be a doggy, and other really undesirable requests.) I try to read with them before bed each night. Recently, to make it more special, we decided to do our bedtime reading in my bed. Blankets, pillows, cuddles, and books. I hope they have memories of this when they are older.

Natalie particularly looks forward to it each night.

I have been fighting a battle for years now. The battle is this: what should the rules be concerning the family room couch? Can they jump on it? Can they take the cushions off? Can they build forts? Well, I'm done fighting, and for the most part, yes, they can. If you were to ask me the number one thing my kids play with, it would be the couch and its cushions. I would be doing myself a disservice to take that away from them. :)

The other night Nate was wrestling and running with the kids. One of those roughhousing nights when you just wait for the tears.They came. Jansen hit his head on our bed and got a cut on his eyebrow. It really wasn't a bad one, but he got a little black eye, and we iced it and put a bandaid on it.

Intern of the Year

2011-06-28T12:40:00.000-04:00

On Saturday night we attended the FMR (Family Medicine Residency) banquet. We ate dinner, a few awards were given, and we watched some humorous videos that the interns and 2nd years had created basically making fun of each other. One of the 2nd year residents was supposed to be Nate in the video they made. She was a gameshow host and kept saying things like, "Now this is all for charity remember." Or if someone gave a wrong answer she would say, "Oh, I think I will still give you all half points for those great answers." Basically she was mocking what a nice guy he is...a great thing to be made fun of for I think! :)

As for the awards that were given...Nate received Intern of the Year. I was really proud of him. All of the interns are really great people and doctors, and he feels any one of them could have been given the award. What stands out to me is that he was chosen for his competence, leadership, and mentorship...which he excelled at, all while caring for his wife and 3 kids and serving with all his heart in his church calling. We have been really blessed this past year. And stretched and tried. I firmly believe that things always work out for your good when God and family come first. Somehow you find the time, energy, and abilities you didn't know you had.

Two's Company

2011-06-26T20:31:00.000-04:00

I keep hearing people say how busy their summers are. Or how excited they are to do nothing all day. I cannot relate to either of these statements. So far summer feels like a lot of reeeeeally long days, and we don't have any big summer trips planned. I have always been a clock watcher. Ready to move on to the next activity. I remember babysitting and watching the minutes tick by till I would be done. Sitting in class at school...every job I've worked...time seems to crawl for me. And as a stay at home mom, I think I have reached my pinnacle of living through some slow days. I have PLENTY to keep me busy and happy at home, but 90% of it cannot really be done with children.

I am working on changing, because I think I can and I know I need to. I am really trying to live in the moment and to find ways to stay busy with the kids. I can feel myself making some strides and it feels great.

SO. I was more than thrilled to have my mom and sister come and add some excitement to our days. We went down and watched the Bellagio fountain show, had gelato, and saw the world's largest chocolate fountain one day.

Someday this hair will be tamed.

On another day we visited the Natural History Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by it, and decided to buy a membership so that we can come back a lot this summer.

One of my favorite nights was getting Chinese and watching True Grit.

The last night of their visit, my mom, Lexi, and I went to a shopping district and had dinner at Brio. Since we were willing to sit outside we were seated immediately and I loved sitting back and chatting with them. The dinner/shopping combo has got to be my favorite way to spend time!

This didn't happen on the trip, but my sister sent me these texts the other day:
ew i'm laying out in mom's backyard, a bird flew down, landed on my head, and got stuck in my hair. traumatized.
And then a few minutes later:
ew ew ew Oh my gosh, not even kidding it just landed on me again! never going outside again.
I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

I had to include this shot of Emmy's hair blowing wild. Las Vegas is actually a very windy place. I had no idea before I moved here.

Text

2011-06-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

Nate gets the weekends off during this rotation, but that means he's very busy the rest of the week. He went to work early Monday morning on base, came home and changed around 6 pm, and then went to Sunrise Hospital for a 24 hr shift. He got home around 7:45 pm Tuesday night, changed, and then went straight to some church related things he had scheduled that night. He got home around 10:30. Wednesday would be another 13 hour day and today he works another 24 hr shift. When I woke up Wednesday morning I had noticed the dishwasher was emptied, counters clean, garbage taken out, etc. I'm not sure how he had the time or energy, so I texted him and thanked him for everything he had done. He texted this back to me:

"I just wanted you to know I'm here for you and try to help you out a little, that I'm not just helping the young men."

It meant a lot to me. He is a constant example, and he creates a desire in me to be a better mom, wife, friend, etc.

Annie's {far too short} Visit

2011-06-20T17:24:00.000-04:00

It's awful when you don't know the next time you'll see a wonderful friend. After my girls' trip to Ohio, I was thinking it would be quite awhile before I would get to see Annie again. Thankfully it was just a few months later. I zoomed up to St. George and picked her and the girls up and got to spend the evening chatting (with Kiki too!) and watching our kids pick up right where they left off. All you need for a fabulous night is a comfortable couch and great company.

When we left Ohio these two were a little too young to really "play" together. They've grown a lot, and they had a great time pretending and playing. A big thank you to Natalie for always showing her true self.

Cuteness x 4 right here:

We drove them to the airport for an early flight out of here and once again are left wondering exactly when we can meet up again. We'll make it happen. Sooner than later. Mark my words.

Curious Hands and Imaginative Minds

2011-06-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

I've got the years 2007 and 2008 of my blog turned into books and am working on 2009. As I've been putting these together and rereading my posts, it has helped me realize what types of entries are most memorable and fun to look back on. I discovered that I love the little details. You forget them so quickly, but just a few details can bring back floods of other memories. I think I want to change the way I blog just a little...perhaps make it more journal-like. As if no one else is ever going to read it but me. (Well, you know, something like that). We'll see.

Emmy sure hogs the spotlight on here a lot lately. But she's changing so fast! She has such curious hands. She loves to grab my earrings and other jewelry. If I am wearing studs, she easily rips them out. Thankfully it's more annoying than painful. And I guess she loves the texture of blackberries because she squishes them in her fist before putting them in her mouth. She doesn't really do that with other food. She used to be an amazing eater, but she seems to have really slowed down. If I need a spare moment I will dump a bunch of Sonic ice on her high chair tray and let her play and eat till it all melts or she's freezing.

I'm so grateful Emmy loves Nate. She won't really go to anyone besides him without protesting loudly. He is so good about lugging her around while he changes after work, cleans up the backyard, and YES, shaves. The other day the deacons had a service project and I really wanted him to stay home. We came to the deal that he would take Emmy. Later one of the other leaders told me I should have seen Nate shoveling rock with one hand while he held Emmy in the other. That guy. I love him.

Oh Natalie. I can't wait to see where her imagination takes her in life. This bird is a home decor piece, but Natalie likes to play with it every once in awhile. She took some little half chewed pieces of carrot and placed them by the bird because they are her babies. You can see the band-aid on her finger...she is obsessed with them lately. She loves to put them anywhere and everywhere on her body and is convinced she needs one anytime she gets hurt. I think I'll do what a friend of mine does and give her some packs for her birthday!

Finishing Up Kindergarten

2011-06-14T00:07:00.001-04:00

Jansen finished up school last Thursday. He had a large class, I think about 36 kids. The morning and afternoon classes combined and sang a few songs for a "kindergarten promotion." I wrestled with Emmy in the audience, but she did pretty well and I got to see the program.

Jansen had been practicing and practicing the songs they sang. One day in church he wrote out all the words to one of them:

All the kids and parents crammed into the classroom afterwards to have some goodies.

Jansen and his teacher Ms. Curth. I wish I could have gotten to know her better and been able to help out in the classroom, but I really liked her and Jansen did too.

A quick Jansen moment to share...as we got out of the car on Sunday and started walking into church he exclaimed, "It smells like RUBBER PIGS!" The church is near a stinky pig farm, but I have no idea why he added the rubber in there.

A Girl After My Own Heart

2011-06-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

Although I prefer them full. :)

Field Day

2011-06-06T23:28:00.000-04:00

Field Day. The most anticipated day of the school year...back when I was in elementary anyway. Here are some pictures of Jansen having a grand time. Thank you for the pictures Kati!

An Old Video

2011-06-06T16:11:00.000-04:00

After posting that video of Emmy, I remembered this funny video of Jansen at that age. I think it is hilarious. He had never, ever seen someone do the chicken dance nor had we had ever taught him any actions. For some reason that chicken brought out his best moves. We would turn it on, and he would just start doing his thing.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Funny Money

2011-06-02T01:05:00.005-04:00

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Okay I Get It!

2011-05-31T13:38:00.002-04:00

Girls' Weekend in St. George

2011-05-30T00:30:00.001-04:00

I snuck away again. On Friday afternoon I headed up to St. George with some friends to spend the night. I completely and totally lucked out that Nate had Friday and Saturday off. His plan was to take ALL THREE kids camping while I was gone, but I talked him out of it.

Did you know pizza can sit in a hotel room and a car for hours and still taste delicious?

I was a little confused as to what we were supposed to be doing in this picture.

We all brought bags/baskets of a few of our favorite things. Then we exchanged them and told about each item we had included and why.

Besides eating, the only thing we did was shop. Shopped and shopped and shopped. Everything from JCPenney to Children's Place to DI.

Eating out without my children...HAPPINESS.

It's so funny how much you miss and think about your kids when you are gone from them for even a short time. These kinds of weekends really renew me, and I always come back ready to jump back into motherhood.

No Buyer's Remorse

2011-05-27T00:59:00.000-04:00

I've purchased a couple things lately that have brought me happiness.

I don't remember where I first heard of Folex, but I kept hearing about it so I needed to try it. You can get a big bottle at Home Depot for about $5. The label says that the product is non-toxic, non-flammable, odor-free and CFC and Petroleum Free. It's also non-ionic...meaning there is no negative or positive charge which keeps the area from attracting dirt to it. I have not tested it on the the long list of stains it claims to be able to remove, but it has been like magic on all the small dark spots on our carpet. Spray some on, rub with finger, blot up with washcloth, spot is gone.

I grabbed this little book at Barnes and Noble for about $5 too. I know I have a blog, but I don't want to record every single funny thing my kids say on here. That's what this book will be for. I am keeping it in a cupboard in the kitchen, and I just pull it out and jot down the things Jansen and Natalie say. I could have made my own book of course, using a notebook or something. I can see myself misplacing or losing something like that though. For some reason this hardcover, published book makes me want to write things down and I know I won't lose it over the years. I think it will be a real treasure 20 years from now.

The Night a Say's Phoebe Flew Into Our House

2011-05-24T16:39:00.000-04:00

We hosted a small fireside at our house on Sunday for the Young Men and Young Women in our ward. I mostly eavesdropped from upstairs, but I was still able to hear many wonderful and inspiring things. The topic was missions, and Nate scored big points with me when he mentioned an experience from his mission and said it was the happiest day of his life...besides the day I told him I would marry him. His words, not mine. :)

Well, the real excitement began AFTER the fireside. About half the guests had left when we got a late arrival:

A little Say's Phoebe flew into the house. I am assuming he knew he was among friends when coming into the Nye home. (Nate is an avid birdwatcher). There were screams and gasps and laughs. The poor things flew into the fan once. I thought it was so cute how concerned and calm Nate was.

We caught him eventually. He seemed to be okay. There were a few feathers strewn throughout the house. Although he was a dear little thing, I hope to never see him in my home again.

So Curious So Busy

2011-05-23T01:02:00.000-04:00

These curious eyes are so anxious to take in everything around them.

There's so much to see and do when you've only been around for about 8 months! Trees, birds flying by, dogs...it's all so exciting to Emmy. We are entering the "busy" stage. I find myself calling her a monkey several times a day.

Here is monkey right before church today. Monkey makes church very hard.