ode to 2012...

It's back... surprisingly by the kid's request. They love reading the highlights from 2009 and 2010, they begged that I do one for 2012 since I missed 2011. Who would have thought the fans of the annual highlights were the subjects themselves? 

Hmmm... note to self: I may be overindulging their egos ... nah, they are irresistibly cute and make my years the best with lots of laughing and playing with them. 

Without further ado (oh, wait one more warning - there is lots of awards this year, I guess you could say I enjoy looking back too!)...

now without further ado, the 2012 highlights and awards for this silly house!

Most inquisitive ... to Alyssa for drinking her science experiment?!

 Most forgetful.... to Jaiden for forgetting how to tie his shoes!

 Most likely to build an amusement park... to Alyssa for her daring discovery of adding her dolls onto our Christmas merry go round.

 Most adventurous ... to Jaiden and his spiderman qualities of dangling on ropes and climbing insanely high walls

 Most likely to climb something not safe and fall off... to Alyssa and her memorable "cracking her head open" moment when she climbed the air conditioning unit and who knows how it really happened!

Most likely to make an amazing recovery and prove the doctors wrong ...

... GO GREG GO!!!

 Best big brother ever... seriously the best... to Jaiden for always helping his little sister even if it means he has to wear a pink helmet and ride a pink bike in public when his sister hurts herself riding into a parked car!

 Best buried sunken treasure... to Alyssa for playing with Daddy's wedding ring in Priest Lake! (would it be fair to add an award for not the smartest thing to do ... take off your wedding ring near a big body of open water?)

The bravest award.... to Jaiden for not only getting poked multiple times in a week, or tearfully bearing with Mommy when she misses and has to repoke, or going away on his own to camp but for returning to camp after he breaks his nose (he still won't let me post those photos) to finish his week at camp... WOW!

 Most likely to become an ornithologist ... to Alyssa and the seagull on the pier

 Best impromptu and always voluntarily modeling for me when I have a very big lens on the camera... to Dennis! 

 Most willing to give you a love, a hug, a kiss, a cuddle ...

 sign language for I love you

 random chalk drawings

 "oh dear!"

.... yours truly ... Alyssa!

Most likely to have his iPhone taken away for texting while biking, playing Traveler's Quest at the dinner table, and whatever else nonsense he is up to ... to Dennis

For the biggest lower lip,

 more homework? it's summer time!

 sulking in time out for hmmm... an hour?

... yours truly ... Jaiden!

But the biggest mouth and the biggest sunglasses ever goes to ... (she'll kill me for this one!)

... Aunt Cyndi!!!

I so couldn't resist... oh how I love my sister ... doesn't she look like a rock star?

Happy 2013! 

May this be the year of good health, less pokes, lots of walking (hint, hint Greg!), more travel, giggles and silliness and random adventures!

indecision...

This could almost be a study of light and how it moves through the house as I used the exact same settings for both sets of photos, but alas, it is really just indecision on my part and looking for any opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc...

the entryway (as if this is a big deal!) ...

 left photo: grandma and papa's old bench which I will most likely sand down and paint but it would make a great place for sitting down to put on shoes - less decorative, more function?

right photo: a small stone half circle table with wrought iron legs - the table decor would change throughout the year. less function, more decorative?

 another angle - not wide enough apparently but you get a different view of the same scenarios. You can ignore the paint swatches on the wall unless you want to give an opinion on that too... and if that is the case, the red is an accent color possibly the color I will paint the bench. The two browns are possible colors for the wall... still undecided if I want color or antique white... but one thing at a time, right?

 More of a straight on view. One thing to note is depending on which way I go, there will definitely be something hung above the table or bench... just not sure what that will be yet.

And while I was messing with the entry way, this little cutie was making crafts...

 The pink piece to the right is a little flower

and this is the little bug that lives in the flower!

So feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and let me know what you think... I may have already decided on my own after writing this post but I'd still love to hear your thoughts.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

... except I am no longer dreaming! It is crazy snowing here and it's going to be a white Christmas! 

Papi... you missed your chance ... you should have come visit us!

I couldn't resist but try to take a few photos out in the snow so I bundled up in my Christmas eve velvet dress, yoga pants, snow boots, ski coat, scarf, hat, and umbrella (what a sight I must have been!) to keep my camera and lens dry and try for a few night photos...

this one didn't quite turn out as sharp as I would have liked... I believe I needed my macro lens for this one but you can see the snow collecting on that beautiful blue spruce!

another favorite of mine... but this is under the porch and there is no snow there yet ... and hopefully not! It's a big porch so it would have to be a lot of snow!

As it turns out this is my favorite photo I took...

indoors looking out!

But most of all...

 Merry Christmas!

May you have a beautiful and warm Christmas! 

bored, bored, bored...

A quick prelude to this story (but photos this time!): it was 10:30am and we were heading out the door for church this morning. 

Have I told you that Jaiden has forgotten how to tie his shoes? Yes, it appears he has and it is driving his Daddy nuts, seriously crazy! 

So I was helping him tie his shoes and Daddy was threatening to make him tie his shoes 100 times so he won't forget but I gently said "how about we make a deal? If you say you are bored today, you get to tie your shoes 10 times!"

Fast forward a few hours...

 Yes, he dared to say he was bored and so did Alyssa!

Then as I was getting them ready for bed I discovered these notes plastered all over their bathroom, along the hallway, on their bedroom doors...

od not say I bord (do not say I am bored with a big frown face)

compliments of Alyssa to remind them... just in case they forget again!

wiggles

Another story... no photos... I am full of these lately but I can't help it. A lot of sweetness in this house. We were leaving for a solstice party and Alyssa must have said to me at least twice if not three, maybe four times, her teeth were hurting her. I couldn't figure it out so I gave her some ibuprofen, hoping that might help her, but on her second (maybe third and could be fourth) time of telling me, we happened to be walking out to the car to go to a winter solstice party...

Alyssa: Mommy, my teeth really hurt.
M: Sweetie, the ibuprofen should help soon, I am not sure why they are hurting you.
Jaiden: Alyssa, maybe you have a loose tooth. Mine hurt a little when they are loose.
M (thinking oh now that is clever but last time I checked there was no loose teeth): Let's see Alyssa... oh my goodness, she does have a loose tooth!
A: really? which one? (and then while she is checking she shakes her whole head!)

And sure enough there was a loose tooth on the bottom row... her first loose tooth! I think she was scared and delighted all combined together and who would have thought her big brother knew exactly what she was talking about.

See? Complete and utterly sweetness...

love you

This is difficult. Lots of lovely bits of happiness, holiday cheer have continued on despite the devastation of Friday's tragedy. I can not seem to stop crying even though I am watching absolutely NO television for I know that would really bring me down. I am heartbroken and yet, at the same time, I am even more keenly aware of the joy and sweetness my children, their friends, and even all the children I volunteer for at school bring. I hesitated to share such sweetness when I know so many are at a loss. However, today, I attended Jaiden's class party and the kids played a White Elephant game with books - the laughter was contagious, in fact, it was outright hysterical how silly, loud and full of life these 3rd graders are. I wanted so bad to capture the laughter. 

When I came home, I realized even though I can't change anything, I want to be respectful of those who have lost, for those who are grieving, for those who are recovering. I pray that peace can come to them, I pray for each and everyone of them. 

Last night was a perfect example of how I try to really slow down and enjoy what I have. I try to capture these moments because the make me smile, and the kids love to hear what they say and/or do. Yesterday, Alyssa wasn't having a good afternoon. School, or more specifically little girl friendships at school, have not been easy for her this year. She was sad  and as I had to get dinner ready, I sat her on the counter so she could be nearby, so she could know she was loved and as best as I could meet her current needs while anticipating the hunger needs that would soon arise! 

She was definitely happier. She drew me various little drawings and she chatted up a storm. I love how she always wants to snuggle, to be near me and right now, it's been good. Sometimes I swear she knows when I need these sweet little drawings and conversations. Last night's conversation started with her asking me: Mamma, did you know God had a brother?

Me: No, God doesn't have a brother.

A: Yes he does. Jesus is his brother.

M: No, Jesus is his son.

A: Who did God marry?

M: Well, God isn't married. God had his son come to earth. Remember the nativity scene and the story about baby Jesus being born in a manger to Mary and Joseph?

A: Yes. {pause}. Who is God's mom then?

M: {oh boy this is going to get complicated!} God doesn't really have a mom like I am to you. God created people, remember?

A: Oh. Look what I drew you!

And it is these moments that I need to focus on... focus on celebrating the gifts that surround me. 

santa

This evening I was working in the kitchen trying to get dinner ready and bake some yummy bread when I caught sight of this...

 and grabbed my phone to capture 

1) how cute Alyssa looked in my old poodle skirt and 

2) this giggling that was taking place between the two of them.

 I tried to sneak in but they caught on pretty quickly but Alyssa was creating her own character, Santa, for a Toontastic story she was creating. She was describing to Jaiden what she was drawing as she was going - hence the giggles - especially when Jaiden noticed Santa's belt didn't reach all the way around him. In the photo above she was adding eyelashes to Santa!

And this is her finished Santa...

I took this photo after they went to bed and you would not believe the detail she put into this! I wish I could figure out how to share the Toontastic story she created... ironically she titled it "The Mean Dad"...  I have to go share it with Dennis now! He will get a charge out of this!

crush

A little story today.... no photos - surprisingly I didn't take any, well not really that surprising because I don't take photos everyday but I try in December. I try to capture December differently from other months because of the sweetness and special things that come during this time of the year. But today, no photo, just a story.

A little background first. The teacher's rearrange the student's desk probably once a month, I am not entirely certain but Jaiden has a new "neighborhood" full of girls. Which isn't really a bad thing but lately, he's been clashing with one of the girls at his table and she hasn't been reacting kindly to him as I have been informed by Jaiden's teacher. It is over little things like Jaiden accidentally kicking his desk, which then moves the other desks slightly so this little girl will kick him instead. Or his papers were too spread out and leaked onto her desk, so she shoved them on the floor. Those sort of little things.

Today, I went to pick up the kid's and Jaiden's teacher motioned to me. I thought oh no, here we go again but this time she was smiling and chuckling. She told Jaiden to go run off and play that he didn't need to listen and then she proceeded to tell me the story....

Something happened between Annabel and Jaiden and she wasn't sure what but Annabel was crying. As she was trying to console Annabel, a few of the kids were trying to tell the teacher what Jaiden had said, but she couldn't understand them. So she went over to Jaiden and asked "what did you say to Annabel?" And Jaiden said "well my mom said that (I already knew what was coming!) sometimes when girls pick on boys that is their way of saying they like you. So I told Annabel that I knew why she is doing these things because she has a crush on me!"

The teacher and I couldn't stop laughing. I felt so bad for Annabel but what really killed me is when I was walking home, I asked Jaiden how his day went and he said "mom, I am never taking your advice again! Annabel started crying when I told her she had a crush on me!!!"

I still can't stop laughing ... I never thought he'd actually say something to her!

apple... mmm... crumb... muffins!

Today was frigid... in fact, I might have to pause and make me a cup of tea. I am still cold! We have the coldest front in right now, hovering, threatening and producing nothing but wonderfully beautiful blue skies and heavy frost on everything. The mountains were hit with snow so that will be lovely but in the meantime, it seemed like a perfect day to snuggle in, watch a movie and do a little baking.

Jaiden, surprisingly, decided playing at a friend's house sounded much more interesting so the day was left to the little one and me.

She is slowly getting the idea behind measuring. She only spilled a small amount this time and needed very little help from me.

 Preciosa! She really is precious. I guess I should forewarn you that I got a little camera happy and couldn't help but post quite a few...

 She is so intent on wanting to stir, mix, measure ... do everything...

 ... even when it's only whole wheat and white flour!

 Melts my heart to watch her even if it's through the lens of a camera!

 Then it was on to whisking buttermilk and a little canola oil...

 ... one egg....

 whoops!

 and then anxiously watching and waiting for them to be ready to eat!

 and then our finished product... well, actually the funny part about this photo is I was really trying to capture the yumminess but I was messing with camera setting and had no idea about this...

... little cutie making smiles at me!

Yep, a perfect afternoon with her. We also spent a lot of time playing with play doh, planting some paper whites and setting up her lego advent calendar for play.