Focus on Our Family

Trevor's Tonsils

2011-06-17T17:17:00.005-05:00

The beginning of this blog post started back in January when we went to visit my family in Idaho. It was a great- see previous posts- but as with all trips, it came with the downside of having to share a bedroom with the kids. They behaved pretty well and slept well, but Michael and I didn't- for one very good reason- Trevor's snoring. We always knew he was a snorer but it wasn't until we shared a bedroom with him that we realized just how bad it was. Hour after hour of loud, rumbling bear-like growls emitting from my little boy. And it wasn't just the snoring- it was the unnerving break in the snoring when it seemed that he would stop breathing for a few seconds. We knew he had large tonsils and were afraid they were giving him sleep apnea- which could be contributing to his 4 hour long naps during the day and the fact that he was 2% on the growth charts.

When we arrived back home we set up an appointment to get him checkedout- which lead to to another appointment to get a sleep study done.

Here's my little boy the night of his sleep study. He and I had to stay overnight at the hospital. He was hooked up to all kinds of probes and wires- quite sad looking. But he endured it all pretty well. The biggest distraction for him was the oxygen monitor which was hooked onto his toe and glowed red. It didn't scare him, but he was so intrigued by his glowing red toe that it took him a while to get to sleep. He had a restful night, although I can't say the same for myself having to share a room with him. The next morning they took everything off and we went home and waited for the results.

The results showed up some weeks later. Turns out he had some full blockages of breathing and many, many partial blockages that would lead to him "waking up" about 17 times an hour. When I say waking up, I mean that his sleep was disturbed, but not to the point of opening his eyes. But it was disturbed sleep nontheless, and the doctor strongly recommended a tonsillectomy/adnoidectomy.

We prepared the poor kid as well as we could, and he was actually really excited to stay at the hospital for a while because he knew there were LOTS of fun toys there. Lynette was really upset she couldn't join us. Michael took off the morning and went through pre-op with me, playing with Trevor while we waited for everything to get situated. Because of a family history of malignant hyperthermia on Michael's side they had to drug up Trev with an IV and keep a very close watch on him- I knew they were taking precautions buts it was a little scary anyway.

The operation took less than an hour and when Trev was handed over to us he was very drugged and cranky with puffy lips. He really came out of it about an hour later at which point Michael left and I got to hang out with Trev all day watching cartoons, reading books and cuddling.

He did pretty well the first day, and even ate a large dinner of macaroni and cheese, ice cream and pudding. He did end up throwing up some that night (and how awesome to be in the hospital and let the nurses clean him up instead of me doing it!). His sleep that night was disrupted quite a bit, not only by nurses coming to check on him and give him more meds, but because his oxygen kept dipping low and this stupid beeper would go off at least every 45 minutes. Trev managed to sleep through the beeper, but it was pretty exhausting for me.

(The above picture is still post op). The next day it took a while to convince Trevor to drink enough to get us discharged- not to mention that he slept until about 11am. Finally they let us go. The next few days were a little rough. Trev was very clingy and needy, but seemed to be doing okay. By day 4 he was doing great. He regressed a bit day 5-7, but again recovered well. I think he was really starting to enjoy it all after a while- drinking all the liquid he wanted including chocolate milk- getting macaroni everyday and having mom's undivided attention. Two weeks after the surgery he was back to his good ol' self- although I had a little trouble trying to reteach him to eat what I serve and not just whatever he wants, whenever he wants. It is amazing to see him sleep now. He is SO QUIET. I often go in to check and make sure he's still breathing. He really hasn't gained any weight, so apparently his small size has more to do with the fact that his parents are very small people and that's okay. I'm glad this is all over now and hope it will mean less colds in the future. Sure love my little guy.

Josh and Kim Southerland's Wedding

2011-05-20T22:22:00.017-05:00

In April my dear little sister, Kim, got married. Michael was unable to go, but I packed up the kids and headed out for a week for all the festivities. It was a packed week, but oh so fun. We started with making the floral arrangements under the direction of a wonderful florist. Pretty much all of my dad's sisters came to help out, and it was so fun. We had a lunch together and then got going on the flowers. Kim's colors were dark blue, purple, and turquoise. We fondly named it the 'peacock' wedding. We even incorporated peacock feathers into the arrangements.

They were so pretty.

Aunt Launette showing her skillz.

While the ladies were doing that, I was indoors with the youngin's making Kim's scrapbook pages for her sign-in book.

The day of the wedding we sisters headed out bright and early to be with Kim for the wedding prep. To be honest, none of us were that helpful, Kim had a great hair/make-up stylist and her roommates were a lot more skilled at these kind of things so we sat back, fixed our own selves up a bit and gave support. Sadly, this is the only picture I got.

The wedding. A lovely ceremony and everything went off without a hitch. Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Southerland. Such a cute couple.

Awwwww, the kiss.

So happy. And how about that dress?! I LOVED it- it almost makes me want to go back and change mine from my own wedding.

The Ray clan with their newest member. Notice all the coats. It was mid April. The only thing we could have asked for was a few more degrees. It was CHILLY.

The sibs showing their joy at being out in the cold.

I was pretty proud of myself that morning getting my kids and myself all ready and on time. The one thing I forgot? Trev's coat. Poor kid was freezing. This was him enjoying my coat and muttering "I want to go back to the car now."

The reception was held at Spurwing country club. The boys felt it necessary to make their own visual of the "peacock" wedding.

The fam.

Sisters. Me and my big preggo belly. At least it took attention away from my pasty white legs. But at least Kim looks great.

The second reception at Filer. What Ray wedding would be complete without my sisters gettin' down on the dance floor? Kim started leading everyone in several line dances. You could totally tell she is an aerobic instructor.

I was glad this time around I had an excuse not to dance- no one wants to see a pregnant lady get down. Its so much more fun to watch these chicas anyway. I've also got video of my dad learning the macarena. Hysterical- I'll see if I can get it up here one of these days.

Lynette's first day of Preschool!

2011-04-27T19:40:00.006-05:00

My how the time flies. My baby girl's first day of preschool (in September). She still has two more years before she goes into Kindergarten but I felt like she needed a little more scheduled interaction with kids her age, and get used to taking direction from someone other than me. She loves it. Its two days a week, for only a couple hours but she gets to do art, singing time, play time, practice letters and writing. Its been a great experience for her.

She's in the purple bird class and adores her teacher. At her first parent-teacher conference I was told Lynette was doing great. She follows direction, plays well with others and meets all the milestones for her age. If there was any criticism to give, its that sometimes she takes a bit longer to get things done because she's so detailed oriented. Her teacher showed me Lynette's personal portrait and exclaimed "I mean look at this, she drew in holes in the ear and eyebrows. What 4-year-old draws eyebrows?!" She also told me "Lynette is the kind of kid that teachers go into teaching for." I couldn't help but feel proud at that. I'm also glad that she seems to behave well in class since she doesn't always do so at home...

She was super, super excited.

Trev kinda had a hard time without his pal at first, but he's adjusted well. Especially since he also gets to go to his own joyschool once a week at the same time....meaning 2 kid free hours for me!!!! Everybody wins.

Apple Picking at Eckert's Farm

2011-04-27T17:48:00.018-05:00

The upside to being stuck in doors for a week because of torrential rains is that it pushes you to get things done indoors that you normally would procrastinate. I have been blogging a whopping once a month for a while now and I am woefully behind. So, here's even more catching up.

At the end of September Lynette's preschool had a field trip to Eckert's farm to go apple picking. It was a day of excitement and adventure.
It began with Lynette's first ever bus ride. Lynette has been looking forward to this for years.

I didn't realize until I took this picture that my family all matched, except me. That was SO not planned. Funny.

Lynette got to share a seat with her good friend Katie.

We got to ride in a wagon pulled by an honest-to-goodness tractor. We had to wait quite a while for the tractor, but it was well worth it.

Apples, apples everywhere! We were each given a small bag to fill up and were allowed to eat all the apples we wanted along the way.

Trevor took that as a personal challenge. He ate and ate and ate.

It took a while for us to convince him that it was more fun to eat apples that were picked off the tree, than say the rotten ones that were on the ground. Once he got the hang of it, he was hooked.

Lynette also enjoyed this.

Family picture!

Take two- could not get the kids' attention, there was just too much to see and do.

And Trev ate more apples.

Daddy and Lynette going high for the good ones.

I always used to fantasize about apple picking. Thinking about Robert Frost's poem "After Apple Picking" and going out with a wicker basket with a sweater on, picking in the crisp, cool fall air. This was not quite that experience. It was 80 degrees and humid. Lovely day, but hauling around a bag of apples gets HEAVY and I was sweating! It was fun, but I sure needed a shower afterward.

Oh yeah, Trev ate some more, too.

The farm didn't just have apple picking. We also got to see pig races.

Introducing our racing pigs: Kevin Bacon, Hamgelina Jolie, Brad Pig...

We also got to feed goats, which is easier said than done. The food dispenser was right by the goat fence and as soon as I put in the quarter and turned the nozzle the goats swarmed. I never even got to touch the food, they nudged their noses in and ate it right out of the dispenser.

Their were games to place, a "maize" to go through, tricycles to ride, miniature golf. It really was one of those picture perfect days.

Trip to Idaho

2011-04-25T14:47:00.009-05:00

The second half of our winter trip was spent in Idaho. It was a whrilwind with lots of activities and LOTS of family. Baby shower, family pictures (the first in 4 years), homecoming...Just the way we like it.

But before I get into that, it must be noted that I worked out everyday with my sidekick Lynette. It was fun working with her, and she did a great job- but we squabbled a bit of the use of the transfirmer (the box step). Its a little difficult to share those.

The primary reason for this whole trip? To see this kid. Kyle came home to find everyone there waiting for him...eventually. As tradition, when everyone was present we all sat down one night as Kyle pulled out all of his souveniers, told stories of his mission and even gave us a demonstration of his yodeling techniques. Here he is singing "Eidleweiss" in his liederhosen. Classic.

We always love this part. We laugh a lot and cry a bit as he testified of the reality of The Savior and how his mission helped him get closer to Him. We laughed a bit more than usual with Kyle because of the interesting choice of souveniers. A wooden pipe. A collection of his alcoholic-free beer bottlecaps. A coffee pot. A beer mug. No wonder he had such a good time.

Along with everyone else going on that weekend, we had a baby shower for Melissa, who was due in just a month. Shot of all the preggos. As of today, Nicole, pictured above, is 2 days overdue. Poor thing.

Hot Mamas!

After many of my siblings left, the kids and I were left to a much quieter house. To keep them busy we took them to Monkey Buisness. Lots of thing to climb and on jump and not break (unlike Grandma's house!)

Michael got in on the action.

Brennan joined us too. Good times had by all.

Day in Salt Lake

2011-04-25T14:23:00.011-05:00

During our visit to Idaho and Utah in January we decided to take a day to introduce our kids to Salt Lake. It was a mushy, snowy day- so it was chilly, but pretty. The kids really liked looking at the temple, the visitor's center, the temple grounds. It was a nice time.

We got to have a tour at the conference center, which the kids tolerated pretty well. They liked looking at the paintings and talking about the scripture stories each painting depicted. The couple missionaries were really sweet and accomodating for the kids. It was amazing being in the conference center again and the kids loved running up and down the isles. I'd say the highlight of the whole thing, though was probably the escalators. Kids can be so easy to please sometimes.

Visiting the spot where Michael proposed.

Happy face.

The real highlight of the day was visiting the children's section of the Art Museum. What a fun new addition! There were a lot of things to play and interact with. Lynette was fascinated with the kid computers should could play memory on.

Trev enjoyed stacking foam blocks to build a structure- with just a bit of help from dad.

There was a storyline of an LDS family in Mexico with a lot of little things to play with along the way- like this car. It had something to do with the father picking up neighbors and taking them to church.

And dress-up! There was a video demonstrating how to dance with large skirts and Lynette and I got a kick out of.

And Pose!

Lynette's room

2011-03-21T16:29:00.020-05:00

It is high time I showed you some of the fun we've been having with our new house. I've been dreaming of decorating my own home for years now- there just seemed little point in trying to do to much before now since we kept moving apartments and couldn't ever paint...not to mention we had no income to spend on anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. So this whole process has really been as educational as it has been fun. The number one room I've been wanting to fix was the kids' rooms. As you know, beggars can't be choosers, so their room has always been a collage of anything and everything we had available to make things work. Sure I tried to spruce things up a bit every now and then, but it never looked like more than what it really was- a room full of hand-me-downs. To see just how far we've coming I'm going to show you my greatest embarassment- the room my kids stayed in while we were in Chicago. Keep in mind, our apartment was itty bitty and we were just trying to survive. So without further ado...the kids' room.

Lynette's bed, squashed between toys and book. Trev's crib. And..uh...*shudder* the closet. We had virtually no storage place in this hole of an apartment, so everything we had was shoved into the closets, under beds, behind couches...everywhere you could imagine.

After leaving this place, this room would later be split into 4 different rooms in our new house. The girl's room, the boy's room, a toy room, and a storage room. I only went in this place if I absolutely had to, it was so depressing to me. Even when clean it still felt so....dirty.

Lynette's room on the day we moved in. Cute and spacious with a color combo that Michael loved and I absolutely detested. I'm sorry, but I just can't handle pink and purple- it makes me want to barf. I think I might need psychological counseling about my unwarranted feelings about the color, but what can ya do? I know its Lynette's room and all and she would have been happy with it, but ya know what? Its my house. I clean it, I work in it...and after years of "making do" I wanted to enjoy it. So that pink had to come down.

So after looking EVERYWHERE for a decent bedspread that wasn't pink we finally settled with this one. Its brighter than my dream girl room (I was thinking maybe red, black, and white...like ladybugs, but I seriously couldn't find anything in my price range). My cousin helped out a ton on this. We painted and kinda freaked out when I saw how BRIGHT the yellow was (the picture really doesn't do it justice), but decided it was okay and we could work with it. Like the stripes? I borrowed the idea from Thrifty Decor Chick. Michael did the strips all by himself- not too bad, eh?

More stripes.

The finished product. I made some wall hangings- they're not perfect, and little too "homemade" for my taste, but they work.

Our reading nook. The blocks spell out "storytime" I kinda like them- made them myself. And that rocking chair? That used to be Michael's when he was a kid. We've painted it, and I think I'd like to repaint it red/orange to match the bedspread and make it pop. Thoughts?

The curtains- also homemade. When I was a kid my mom used to make us sew something every summer before we could buy new school clothes. I really don't enjoy sewing too much- especially when I was young- but I'm grateful to her. She kept saying "Girls, one day you're going to have to make your own curtains." She was right.

This still needs some work. Those are diaper boxes that were painted. I think I'm going to cover them with canvas one of these days. The Christ picture really doesn't go with the room- but it'll stick until I find something better. I was pretty happy with how the name turned out, though.

Cute, huh? Some of the letters were painted, others had scrapbook paper modgepodged onto it. I know they looked cramed, they're actually staggered back and forth- it looks better in person.

The closet corner.

Better shot of the flower frames.

So that's what I've got so far. What do you think? I am open to suggestions. Not too bad for my first room, though, huh? And Lynette loves it, by the way.

Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point

2011-03-09T17:00:00.016-06:00

In January we visited out west for a much needed trip to see family, particularly my brother who was coming home from a mission. During our stay in Utah we joined up with Michael's brother Arnie and his family. They took us to Thanksgiving Point where the famed Dinosaur museum was. It was AWESOME. There was so much to see and do. The kids loved it, the adults loved it. We highly recommend it.

There were plenty of fossils.

Dinosaur statues.

There was a station filled with soft dinosaur parts with velcro on the back for the kids to create their own dinosaur.

Ours was six legged.

Kathy and Nathan

It really is remarkable seeing just how HUGE those things were. Its hard to wrap your mind around it even when you here descriptions like "the brontosaurus was as long as 3 school buses" but seeing the skeletons...yeah, they're big.

Our favorite place by far was this circular stream filled with sand the kids could dig up and move around and try to dam up the water with. You could make your own environment complete with tiny dino figurines and tree.

It was nice that the kids had those little smocks- even though they got pretty wet anyway.

Trev didn't bother with the sand too much- he just liked the little dinos.

Shark attack!

Local neaderthals hunting mammoths.

They even had a little sand pit to try out your mad paleantology skills.

As well as give you one last chance to get sand in your shoes and hair. Such a fun time!

Consider the lilly...I mean crocus

2011-03-09T16:41:00.002-06:00

You know what makes me really really happy. I'm talking skipping down the grocery isle while 5 months pregnant happy? Seeing the crocuses coming up. They are the first flower to bloom, often making it at the end of February and at my latest trip to the Botanical Gardens on an absolutely HEAVENLY day I spotted them. It really is such an unfortunate name for such a tiny delicate, but obviously hardy flower (pretty gutsy to come up in Februrary don't you think?) You know what's even more exciting? The flowers I planted last fall are starting to come up. No buds yet, but the shoots are there. I swear I look out the window and check them at least 10 times a day. Love my crocuses.

And so does Trevor.

So pretty!

My gift to society

2011-01-19T14:43:00.008-06:00

Lets take a moment, shall we, to look at these kids. Adorable, aren't they? I mean, really, have you ever seen such enchanting children?

Such lovely eyes and engaging smiles.

Filled with infectious laughter and a love for life.

And their charm goes so much farther than just physical appearances. They are quite brilliant, too and brimming with talent- so much talent. Their singing voices are magical, their dancing abilities are awe-inspiring. And talk about athletic prowess- they are bound to set records. And they're polite too, witty, and thoughtful. Yes, I think its safe to say these just might be the most perfect children the world has ever known. I'm just as surprised as you are, but it seems that my husband and I have have some magical combination that produces incredible offspring. The only real tragedy is that there are only two of them. Heartbreaking, really. It just doesn't seem fair that in all the world there are only two perfect children, so after some soul-searching my husband and I decided to grace the world with one more perfect child. It seems the right thing to do. Its entirely selfless of us, I know, but the world has been good to us, so it seems the least we could do.

The expected arrival of the next perfect child is June 29th. I am 18 weeks along and so far, everything seems to be healthy and normal. This particular child, seems to be even more thoughtful than the other two- with a less sickness-laden first trimester, and for that I am grateful. Lynette is thrilled beyond measure and asks me at least 10 times a day if the baby is still growing, if it is sleeping, or if it is awake. She is quite determined that this baby will be the little sister she's been longing for. Trevor is happy that Lynette is happy. I just started noticing the baby kicking this week, so that has been fun, and we eagerly await our ultrasound in two weeks.

I know you will rejoice with us in this news and I promise to keep you updated on the progression of this latest perfect child. You're welcome.

Nauvoo Take 2

2011-01-12T11:24:00.032-06:00

Its the middle of January and terribly cold. To distract myself from the chill, I decided to post about the hottest days we had during the year- which were spent outdoors in Nauvoo. It makes sense to me, and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am 6 months behind and don't want to go out of order. And since this blog is more of an archive for me anyway, here we go.

When visiting the Nauvoo pageant, always be sure to get there at least an hour early for the pre-show entertainment. There's stick-pulling...

I'm not sure who won this one...

The kids, enjoyed getting into it, well, Lynette did. Trev was just confused.

Lynette's grand victory!

You can also pull a handcart.

Do some sack races.

Go, Lynette, go!

At the kiddie center they can color and learn how to use a pioneer yo-y0.

It really is a super fun time, even in 100 degree weather.

There's also pioneer pastimes center where you can learn to make rope by taking three strands of string and using this thingy, twist it together...

And once you have three separate strands of stronger string, you reattach it to another thingy and spin it together...

Keep spinning...

Until you get a nice, scratchy piece of rope.

You can play with pioneer dolls.

And try on hats...he's such a good sport.

And give some attitude while trying on hats.

There's a play sheep you can ride on, adorned with real wool.

And outside the visitor's center is the Women's Garden, or Relief Society Garden or something like that. This was our first stop as you can tell by the fact that we are less sweat drenched than in later pictures.

Trev did us the honor of waking up for this part.

Lynette really liked all the statues.

I love how dated they all look, so 70's, but the workmanship really is beautiful.

And the Christus Statue in the Visitor's Center. What a great trip!

Grrrrr

2010-11-04T15:21:00.002-05:00

So I recently changed my background page, not only because Halloween is over but also to stop my son from begging me to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" at least ten times while I check my blog. Don't get me wrong, I love singing it for him since it makes him so happy, but it makes my time on the computer a lot longer and more distracted. Anyway, after changing it and changing my template I found that all of the my sidebar items had been moved down to the very bottom of the page. I find this really annoying and I've looked all over- especially on "layout" to try to fix it but to no avail. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Its really starting to bother me. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Nauvoo

2010-10-31T22:05:00.020-05:00

One of the many perks of living in St. Louis is that historic Nauvoo is only 3 hours away. We try to get up there at least every summer, particularly during the pageant, there is so much to see and do, we always have a good time. The one downside to being there during the pageant is it's usually during the hottest part of the year so you may notice we are a bit sweaty and drab in all the pictures. But don't let our appearance fool you, we had a great time.

The pageant really is spectacular. Its incredible to think all of those extras only had 2 weeks to learn all the music and their places. Its touching, fun, and really speaks a testimony about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

One of the highlights about the updated show is how they build this make-shift temple on stage, which is torn down after the saints have to leave, but at the very end of the show they light up the real temple which is back in the distance to show its resurrection. Its pretty cool.

I just had to get a picture of this bridge. After waiting 10 minutes for a train to cross we entered the bridge just in time for it to shut down for 20 minutes for a barge to pass through. I will say, though, that the bridge was interesting. Instead of lifting up as many do, there is a main pillar in the middle of the bridge that the whole middle section swings out 90 degrees from. Interesting, annoying, but interesting.

I believe this was Heber C. Kimball's home

More historic homes.

This was an adorable little kid show called "Just Plain Anna Amanda" you typically have to reserve tickets at least a week in advance, but luckily we got in at the last minute. Super cute.

Lynette meeting Anna Amanda. She was so delighted.

Trev in his pioneer garb. I love that hat, I want to get one.

Lynette dolled up in hers. The kids liked the clothes, but it was so blasted hot they couldn't keep it on for long. At least we got a picture of it.

This section was called "Pioneer Pastimes". It was an area where you could play old pioneer games and the kids could make-believe they were pioneers. We all had a good time. Trev found a horse.

Michael found some mind games.

Trev loved the play houses. He wanted to go really authentic so he decided to take his shoes off.

It was sweltering in those houses, but Trev didn't care- he was having too much fun starting fires, cooking, and playing school.

Lynette tried her hand at hand washing.

And water carrying. Good times had by all.

Summertime Fun

2010-10-26T19:23:00.011-05:00

I love summer. I just cannot get enough of the sun. I'm a junkie. And this year we spent a lot of time basking in the rays at a friend's house. Everyweek she'd pull out all these fantastic slip'n slides and three different kiddie pools and the kids had a blast while we ladies did what we do best. Sit around and talk. So fun. And what a great way to get to know new friends from our ward.

Lynette and her new buddies.

She could not get enough of the swing.

Trev wasn't up for much sliding but he did like splashing around a bit...until he got too cold. This boy is definitely my child.

And though he wouldn't slid he still enjoyed sitting by the slide and playing with the water. We just had to keep an eye out to make sure none of the kids whacked him as they slid past.

Lynette dove right in.

I love summer!

All Tuckered out

2010-10-26T19:10:00.004-05:00

Trev is such an easy going kid that sometimes I like to push his schedule to try to accomplish things in the morning. He naps in the morning and usually wakes up right when Lynette needs to go down for her nap. Can you see why this might be a problem? So I push it a little so I can shop, and run other errands and most of the time its great...so long as I don't push it too hard because then I get this....

Right in the middle of lunch. Now the question is you do you put him down in his bed immediately or try to wipe off some of the peanut butter first so he doesn't smear it all over his bed and risk waking him up? Lets go in for a closer look shall we...

You gotta love that piece of bread glued onto his lip. Poor kid.

Home Sweet Home

2010-10-10T21:09:00.025-05:00

You may notice my posts are a bit late- sorry. Better late than never! As our year in Chicago finished out we could hardly contain our excitement to be back to a place we loved so much and have so many friends in. But perhaps even more thrilling to move into our very own house!

I still can't believe we managed to buy a house. It was tricky finding weekends to head down and check stuff out- in fact Michael was able to actually see the house only once before we bought it (I went back a second time with the kids). We were pretty much in love with it when we saw it. It was just what we were looking for, comfortable, quiet neighborhood, good schools. Its a bit older than we like, 50 years, but to be honest by St. Louis standards it's still a baby. It was rough getting all the paperwork done long distance. I can't tell you how many hours I spent in the library scanning documents and emailing them to our amazingly wonderful, spectacular, super awesome real estate agent, Kim Welch. Seriously peeps, if you're in the St. Louis area and need an agent she's pretty stinkin' great. Some of those documents were irritating, like the ones that demand you sign and email back within 24 hours...which was hard to do when my husband was on a 30 hour shift! But I got it done, cause I'm awesome like that. Inspections passed without too many problems and negotiating the price was very interesting. In the end I think we got a nice deal, and thanks to the bad economy we got a great interest rate to boot. Yeah! Such an interesting experience and now we have a house to call our own! Feel free to "ooh" and "ahhh" during the following tour:

Front. My folks think we did alright with the house (granted my dad's a general contractor and picky about this kind of thing). My parents were surprised we would buy a house so ANCIENT, but to be honest, it was one of the youngest ones we looked at. They also think, though, that the front of the house looks a bit mobile-home-ish. I guess I can see that...but I don't care.

Front room. The curtains they left in here actually matched our decor so we kept them up...score!

Trevor's room. Its a little small, but just right for him. We have since painted all the pink circles blue to make it more masculine. I'll be showing pictures of that one of these days...

Still Trevor's room.

More Trev's room. The previous owners were quite stylish. I was a little sad to take down that "Thank goodness for little girls" thing, it was so cute! But, ya know, not the best thing for a boy's room.

Kitchen. If there were one thing I would alter about this house I would find a way to add a pantry. I've managed to fit everything I need up there, but a pantry would be nice. We've also since painted the kitched a boring, but more suited khaki/beige color that works with my decor. Thanks honey for letting me me paint it! (And for assisting me in that project!)

Front room again. The front room opens up into the kitchen. I like how its so open, I just wish I had a better way of hiding my kitchen mess when guests come over....I still love it, though.

See, Lynette is in the front room, with the kitchen/dining area behind her. Behind that half wall with the orange and green paint is the door to the carport, as well as stairs to the basement.

Lynette's room. Isnt' that pink and purple with butterflies just darling? It would be perfect for a girl's room in anyone's house...except mine. I can't stand pink, especially when it's coupled with purple. It makes me want to throw up cotton candy. I think I might have some psychological issues with pink, or at least an allergy. The first time we saw this room Michael thought, "that would be perfect for Lynette" and I thought "oh, boy that's gotta go!" Can you guess who won? Oh yeah, me baby. Don't worry, though, I paid a great deal in back massages to my ever so complying husband. Details on this room's transformation later.

Master Room, sorry for the blurry. I don't love hardwood floors in the bedroom (my feet get so cold!) but this hasn't bothered me as much. And it is a nice look.

More of the master. Could definitly use more closet space. I have my wardrobe divided up into this room, Lynette's, and the front closet. How ridiculous is that! It is a lovely closet, though.

Lynette and Trev breakin' in the new house.

Cut little coat hanger, huh?

Bathroom upstairs. Sorry for the blurryness.

And the basement. Oh how I love this basement. This is our entertainment area where the computer, t.v., and ALL of the kids toys go. Its so nice to have the toys downstairs. It makes it so much easier to keep my house clean! I cannot believe how much easier it is! And this place is like twice the size of our last apartment. What a difference. Love it! That being said I currently have a lot of work to do to clean up my basement as I write this...

Basement bathroom. Love it. I don't think the previous owners ever used it. I can't wait to have guests over to show them "their" bathroom to use while they stay. So excited!

The back porch. We already love this thing. This is what I had in mind when I got Michael that BBQ set. We really enjoyed this porch this summer.

View of the back. I don't have a picture of it here, but our yard backs up into this lovely little wilderness area. There's just a bunch of trees framing up the our yard, and it is not uncommong seeing a family of bunnies out in that wilderness trespassing in your yard. The silence out here is stunning. No ambulances blaring, or school buses screeching, or loud neighbors yelling. Just crickets. And wind. It's intoxicating.

The kids checking out our front bench.

My old Gidgit gettin' comfy. I doubt we'll have anymore problems with people stealing its hubcaps our here.

One happy little family.

Old Man Approaching

2010-10-10T18:10:00.008-05:00

Two weeks before the big move my big man turned 30! What you say? Whaddaya mean he only looks 16? Yes, yes, we know we know- this poor man has gotten enough Doogie Howser wisecracks to last him a lifetime. But yes, Michael is now 30 and even though everything in our house was packed up we did out best to make it worthwhile for such a milestone.

From the folks Michael got a red-rider-bb-gun....oops I mean a GPS. He loves it- that being said since he's a walking GPS I have definitely used it more than he has. I've come to find he wanted it most not to find his way around but to stop me from calling him in the middle of the day screaming "I'm lost!"

And the big finish....

Could it be?...

Yes! A grill set from his beloved wife.

We went out with out dear family/friends The Chandlers at our hands-down favorite place in Chicago. The Bongo Room. We had to wait 45 minutes to be seated at 10 in the morning but it was so, so, so worth it. The Bongo Room serves groumet breakfast food. To die for hashbrowns, killer croissants, and absolutely heavenly pancakes. The menu changes frequently so there's always something new to try out.

Here's Trevor trying his pancakes with vanilla sauce and bananas. We had to beg him to share.

And Lynette's pancake was this vanilla sauce with caramel sauce drizzled on top with bananas and nuts. Michael enjoyed was Blueberry pancakes with a lemon ricotta topping. And mine was a pancake with bacon bits cooked inside, topped with bananas some sweet topping. It was AWESOME. Love this place.

Our day ended again with the Chandlers, cake, and birthday song. Such a great day. I can't tell you how much I love this man. He worked so hard this last year it was really a great way to finish it out by celebrating with him. Happy Birthday Babe!

All Aboard Train Restaurant

2010-09-12T19:00:00.011-05:00

For Lynette's closest buddy's birthday, no place was better suited to celebrate it at than All Aboard Train Restaurant. This kids loves trains and this place is decked out in them. There are several motorized trains to see and play with. The kids were in heaven.

This birthday boy couldn't be more excited.

Your food was served out on a train, and when it was your birthday they played a special birthday song as it chugged along.

The kids were enthralled with this play area. It had several trains and things moving around. There were buttons the kids could push to make things go, turn lights on and off, and make the train whistle. We could have spent all day there.

A group of buddies. It was REALLY hard to tear them away from the trains long enough to take this picture. In every shot at least one of them was looking back at the trains.

This little girl way too happy to be riding this train. D rubbed off his love of train onto Lynette, she's been hooked ever since.

One more BIG hug from the birthday boy.

Last zoo post...promise.

2010-09-12T18:18:00.018-05:00

I'm sure you're sick of zoo posts, but this blog is intended more for recording the doings of my family, so here they are...again. I told you we went there a lot.

Brookfield Zoo is one of the finest in the nation and we felt very fortunate to visit it so often. One of my very favorite things about this zoo is it has not one, but two playgrounds. BRILLIANT idea. So often when you go to the zoo the parents walk for miles and the kids just sit in the strollers. The playground is a much needed break for both parties. Usually we ate our lunch and then the kids played. It was great.

My little climber.

Don't you love it when they play nicely?

The brand-spankin' new Great Bear Wilderness. We got to enjoy for only a month before we moved away. Though there are none present at the moment, Bison graze in the field around this archway. Their land actually goes over the archway and sometimes you walk right under them.

Measuring up...

The Bald Eagle

A very lazy grizzly.

This photo is dusky because its actually shot through a large pane of glass. No zoom was used in this photo. He really was that close. The first time we came here we saw a polar bear that had just rolled around is a big dirt/mud puddle. We honestly thought he was just a wierd lookin' brown bear for a while.

Ah the hippos.

Pygmy hippos. My favorite.

Hop, joeys, hop!

Our Favorite Thing

2010-09-10T15:05:00.019-05:00

You may have noticed by now that we went to the zoo a lot last year. A LOT. There's a reason for this, it was nearby, it was excellent, and we decided that it was worth it enough to get a season pass. So far be it from me to let that go to waste. I could practically give tours there. It never got dull to me- it certainly beat being at home, and we all loved it

Anyway, one of the best times we ever had there was when we took our close friends/cousins along with us. Much fun was had by all.

We played on the carousel- the only time I allowed my kids the splurge of spending additional money there.

Pretended to be animals- and learned a bit about the zoo history while we were at it. I learned from this board that one of the parrots I had the pleasure of seeing was actually there when the zoo opened, back in the 1930s. Cool stuff.

We monkeyed around a bit.

The kids, and adults, were fascinated by these ADORABLE little monkeys. I don't know what they are but they had a lot of energy and were super-duper cute.

This gibbon family provided a lot of entertainment. The black one was swinging all over the place. It was amazing how he could just fly around, hundreds of feet above the ground. Show off.

These gorillas are amazing too. Though it didn't happen on this outing, I need to tell you about the grossest thing I ever saw. In about a 5 minute timespan 4 of the gorillas all started urinating, while one of the gorillas caught the urine in his hand and splashed it around toward the crowd (thankfully it didn't hit any of us). As if that weren't bad enough another gorilla starts pooping, catches the poo in his hand and then EATS IT. So so so so gross.

Lynette and D giving us a demonstration on how gorillas move.

The dolphins. Oh I love the dolphins. So calming, and I LOVE that its one of the only places where the adults can sit and relax along with the kids. While we were there a dolphin show started up, it was fun watching it from below.

We checked out the gift shop. It is so hard to tell him "no" when he looks so darn cute in that hat!

Please don't judge me by my daughter's appearance. Yes, I did her hair, but it was a hot day, she was running around and this is what you get. Luckily, it doesn't affect the amount of fun she had riding on the carousel. Tigers are her favorite because she IS a tigress, she informed me of that almost daily.

These two are the best of buddies. They really love each other.

These two enjoy each, but really needed a nap more than anything.

So you may have thought that our favorite thing about Chicago was the zoo and you would be close. But you would be wrong. Our favorite thing about Chicago? These guys. Love you Chandlers! Miss you tons!

Piano Party

2010-08-13T20:44:00.013-05:00

Chicago was a fascinating experience for me. It was several times larger any other city I had lived in and presented all new kinds of experiences I didn't really think I'd ever have. It was a good year, although certainly difficult with having Michael gone so much. One thing it did give me, that I was not expecting, was an opportunity to teach piano for the very first time. I didn't advertise or anything, but individuals from our church would just approach me randomly and ask if I would teach their children. I was hesitant since I had never taught before and knew I would be leaving soon- but they were eager and my rates were low so I didn't feel too bad if I wasn't that great of a teacher. I was amazed at how much I LOVED teaching. It was so fun spending time with the kids and sharing my love of music with them. They were all wonderful. Before we moved I thought the kids would enjoy a little recital of sorts just as students. I wanted their first performance to be casual and fun, without stress so I asked the parents not to join us. I'm sure some of them didn't love that, but I think it was in the best interest of the kids. Each played a piece they had worked on, memorized, and perfect for a few weeks. We also played a few music games, like music note bean bag toss. Afterwards I astounded them all with a glorious piano cake. It was so simple, but they loved it. What a great day.

Here's the cake. A simple white cake, with white frosting. The black keys are actually Kit Kat bars.

A closer look- I'm no artist so its not perfect, but they didn't cared. I used floss to score the keys.

My youngest student, Gracie. Such a doll. It was fun trying to keep her attention- she really loved playing with the pedals and enjoyed making up her own songs.

Sierra, sweet and soft. She was a diligent student and a delightful girl. My kids loved her.

Samantha- my pefectionist. This girl had a lot of energy and had my heart the moment I met her. She was disappointed that she didn't play her dynamics exactly the way she practiced, such is her drive for excellence. I can see this girl going very far in life.

Emma, Samantha's best friend. The two were peas in a pod and it was a challenged to keep one from distracting the other during lessons. Samantha has cute sense of humor and often can be found with a mischevious twinkler in her eye.

Ruth, Gracie's older sister. She is a fellow bookworm, eager to learn and grow. We often had fun, rather mature conversations together. She's a wonderful big sister and delightful student.

Nathan, a soft, quiet boy around me but I bet he's pretty lively around friends. I loved to see him interact with his mother, you could tell they had a good friendship.

Jeanie, my first student. So kind and thoughtful and loving.

The whole gang- what a fun bunch.

Valentine's Day

2010-07-07T14:20:00.007-05:00

As mentioned earlier, February was a rough month. My man worked hard and was very tired so I knew Valentine's day wouldn't be much- but I made a little effort to make it special anyway, whether he was conscious enough to appreciate it or not. The Friday before I made a nice dinner with orzo and shrimp and rolls. Michael was going to be on call the night before Valentines day, so I knew I could count on him sleeping a lot, which is why we celebrated it early. The dinner was yummy and the kids actually did pretty well with it. The day itself was just as a predicted with a my hubby dead asleep for most of it and me trying to not let the kids drive me nuts (I really hate when he's on call Saturday nights...it makes Sunday really long and tiring for me having to do church all by myself and not even having t.v. or outings to distract the kids). I made a little effort to have a cute dinner anyway and even though I was a little stressed the kids loved it!

Can't go wrong with a heart pizza and ..do you see it? Heart pepperoni pieces. I could just die of cuteness.

Lets take a closer look shall we..? Fun. and it didn't actually take as long as you might think it would. I obviously wasn't trying that hard to make them perfect and you can fold in half and cut several pepperoni at a time. It was worth the effort.

The finished product. I woke the man up for this and once his eyes came into focus he loved it!

Five years of Bliss

2010-06-20T20:29:00.017-05:00

Five years ago my husband and I were sealed together in the Boise temple. To commemorate this milestone my Michael arranged a weekend get away for us at Starved Rock State park. We dropped the kids off at a friends house and after getting a little sleep from being on call the night before, we first went out to Olive Garden with the kids. It may not have been as romantic with them there but it was more entertaining! Trev LOVED the bread. Every time a waiter passed by with a basket of bread he'd stand up and shout "bed, bed!" often with a breadstick in each hand and his mouth stuffed full with one as well. After our dinner we dropped the kids off and headed off on our trip. Michael didn't tell me before hand where we were going, it was fun to be surprised. There was a hot tub there for us to soak in- something we both REALLY needed and hiking trails in the surrounding area. We learned that Starved Rock was named for some rumor that the area was once the place a tribe of Native American's hunkered down and starved to death instead of giving into the enemy, another warring tribe. Eek. It was still pretty though.

There were beautiful waterfalls everywhere and the trails could take you over the top or at the bottom of many of them.

We found this hollowed out tree that looked a little dangerous...but still pretty cool.

I didn't realize 'til we were almost done that my flash wasn't on so many of these pictures are blurry. Sorry 'bout that.

One of the many overlooks. It was like a sea of trees. It was also a little chilly for May. Good thing we brought our coats!

Can I tell you how much I love this man? Love him- he's pretty awesome.

Stud.

I just thought this was kinda funny.

It was a wonderful weekend- many thanks so those who made it happen! After such a long and exhausting year Michael and I really needed some time together. General surgery is rough stuff! But thankfully its over and we're on to radiology and I will be seeing a lot more of him. I'm so happy to be married to this guy- married life has been far easier and happier than I ever could have imagined- here's to many more years to come! Love you babe!

Museum of Science and Industry

2010-06-17T22:55:00.004-05:00

Chicago has a lot of great museums. Unfortunatly for me they are really expensive great museums. Luckily, each musuem has a free day about once a month. These days are usually jam packed with people, but hey at least I get to go with the kids and have an experience and only have to pay $20 for parking (yes, 20 dollars just to park for a lousy 2-3 hours, this city drives me nuts.)

So I heard that the museum of Science and Industry, nerdy as it sounds, it actually pretty fantastic, so on a free day I packed up the kids and off we went. It was REALLY crowded, but we managed to find enough to entertain us and even got a few pictures in before my camera died. This museum features really anything science-y. They have a weather sections with a huge wind tunnel explaining how tornados are formed, a chick farm explaining genetics, machinery and nature and way more then I can ever remember or tell about. Just know that its pretty dang cool.

The farm sections showed how modern science is helping the farming industry to increase output and be more efficient. Trev liked the plastic cows. Lynetted liked the big tractors.

The transportation was by far the hit of the day. My little girl loves trains (and its really fortunate for her to be in Chicago where you can find trains in abundance and get to sit and watch them at intersections for 15 minutes until they finally pass by). They had a large model train area that both the kids could not get enough of. There were multiple train of different sorts driving through towns, cities, forest, mountains, and more. They were so happy you'd have thought it was Christmas. Way fun.

The best I could get of the two of them in front of a steam engine. Shortly after this Lynette had an accident and we had to go home. I detest potty training- it really is the pits as my good friend Angela once put it "If I knew how hard potty training was I seriously would have reconsidered having children." Amen, sistah, amen. Well, at least until that very abrupt ending we still had a really great time.

Monkeying Around

2010-06-13T20:17:00.009-05:00

Overall I have to say the winters in Chicago are overrated. Yes they are cold, yes you get significant amounts of snow, but it's livable. Its not like Minnesota. Or North Dakota. Or Maine. So the great thing about having expections of a terrible, horrible winter with a blizzard everyday can leave you feeling pretty grateful when you end up getting one only every two weeks. That being said, by February I was definitely starting to get cabin fever. This happens to me every year, but having the native Chicagoans warn me spring won't come for another good 3 months didn't help. Neither did the fact that we had a pretty mild January, which brought up my hopes of an early spring only to be slammed with snow in February. So I was going just a little bit crazy. Thank goodness for Monkey Bizness.

Monkey Bizness is this great little indoor play area with inflated bounce castles, little slides, and lost of cushy, comfy mounds to jump on, crawl under, and roll around in. My cousin, Natalie, met up with me there one night and we sat and talked as the kids went at it. It was so great- I wish I'd known about this earlier. Yes, there is an entrance fee, and for those that know me know I hate spending money- but this was well worth it.

Lynette had some serious time on the duck.

I mean really serious time- look at that face- playing takes a lot of concentration with a duck like that.

Nice action shot.

Peek-a-boo

Look at the stains on that shirt. That poor boy! Where is his mother?

Many good times had by all.

Family Fun

2010-05-29T22:25:00.013-05:00

February was a rough month for Michael. He worked a lot of long, hard hours and we didn't see him very much. When the stars aligned at the end of the month giving him a day off and the kids free of illness, we took advantage of it and had a fantastic night out. We took the kids bowling and they loved it! Trevor loves balls and even though he couldn't pick up bowling balls, he still like to touch them. Lynette kept trying to give Trev pointers and kept insisting on carrying her ball all by herself. Michael and I are really super awesome bowlers and we had a fierce competition going to which I won one round and he won another. Trev kept trying to chase after the ball and fell a couple times on the slick isle. He entertained a couple other people nearby with his antics. It was great.

Afterwards we headed out for Chinese. MMmmm yum. Trevor enjoyed the eggroll...and would try anything else and Lynette nibbled a bit here and there. Its a good thing we liked it because that "Family meal for 3" fed us for 5 days!!! Yeah, it'll be a while before I want to go out again for chinese. So much fun, though. Times together like this this past year have been few and far between, making each one of them so important. Sure do love our little family.

Trev's turn- everybody chips in to help.

Miss thang.

After Lynette's turn she would turn around and walk away. She just like to push the ball and go- oh and dance. The girl likes to dance.

Gettin' down.

Made me a little nervous watching her carry that thing around.

Perfect form.

And what's a post without a cute picture of Trev doing what he does best- make messes.

Day at the Beach

2010-05-18T15:16:00.008-05:00

You can't take a trip to California and not go to the beach, no matter how short your stay. So on the morning of the day we were to leave California we bundled up our kids and set off with Michael's siblings to a nearby beach. It was cold- not what you hope for. But still, its a beach, and even though the kids were wearing their coats, they still enjoyed it.
We drew pictures in the sand, kept and eye out for shells and pretty rocks, and basically just enjoyed the sound and smell of the ocean. We were only out there for about 1 1/2 hours before the cold finally drove us back indoors, but it was nice.

Trev was extra cuddly on our beach excursion. He liked walking around for a little bit and even once I had to chase him away from the waves, but he always came back to mom for extra warmth.
Aunt Tara was Lynette's buddy. They drew pictures in the sand and had a great time. I really wished we'd have brought some pants for Lynette to wear, though.

Michael really enjoyed catching up with his siblings. Its been a while since we really got to spend time with them.

Blowing bubbles in the wind was a highlight.

My CRAZY sisters-in-law Lacy and Tara couldn't leave without taking a plunge. They charged out in the water screaming and splashing and encouraging us to join them. Uh, no thanks.

Michael is such a ladies's man.

Disney on Ice...again

2010-05-10T15:40:00.009-05:00

So in January our cousins called us up to see Disney on Ice with them again and we had so much fun the first time around, how could we say no? My cousin works for a law firm that has a box up at the top we all got to sit in, it was a lot of fun. I don't recall the name of this performance but it had something to do with holidays...they just went through every holiday and celebration. The kids loved it...eventually. Lynette, just like last time, got totally freaked out by the dim lights, cold temperatures (afterall it is an ice rink), and the LOUD music. Okay- so why the loud music? Honestly, everywhere I go they just play music way too loud and it drives me nuts. Sports games, dances, restaurants, movies its all just WAY TOO LOUD. Are they trying to make us deaf? I get pretty irritated by it because I have sensitive ears and since I'm a musician I really would like to keep them that way! But of all places- why at a kiddie show? Children do not like loud music. It scares many of them- and my daughter is no exception. It took quite a while for her to get accustomed to it and then once she finally did the program went into its "Halloween" portion and do you know what that consisted of? All of the villians...on ice...at the same time...dancing to scary music...and plotting evil deeds. It terrified her.

So here's our happy cute family.

Here's Lynette at the beginning of the show. Some kid had given her a disney toy to play with and do you see how she's clutching onto it for dear life? It took a lot of coaxing to get her out this far...she wanted to stay in the box far away from the loud music and Cruella DeVille and Maleficent and Jafar and...

A little further into the program we coaxed her out even further..

And once Mickey had gotten rid of all the villians the girl finally started to enjoy herself. That's better.

Unfortunately Disney on Ice does not make for very good pictures. Lets play a game- can you guess who's in this one?

How about here? (Okay, so I know this was the princess segment)

And here? I know one of them is really hard to tell but if you can figure out the red hat girl you just might get them all.

The Grande Finale

And here we are all cute again. Fun night. Thanks Chandlers!

Walking in the Garden

2010-05-06T22:34:00.021-05:00

This is my last wedding post- I promise! The home Lanara's reception was held had a gorgeous garden that the kids and I ventured through. It was lovely, every turn had new surprises- pools, waterfalls, japanese garden area. I couldn't resist taking pictures.

Such a tired boy.
Love that face.

Pixie in the garden

Its a rare thing to have a picture of just the two of us. So it's treasured, even in bad lighting.

I don't know how I kept landing in the bright sun in all these pictures- must be my Ray heritage.

Hmmm...not our best.

My sister-in-law Lacy and Lynette.

Good-looking guys.

Cutie-patootie

Fun with the camera.

Mama's boy.

I don't know what this is but I thought it was cool.

My handsome boys.

Lanara and Charlie's Reception

2010-05-02T18:59:00.020-05:00

Please forgive the overabundance of pictures, but I just got a new camera for my birthday (day of the wedding) and was having fun with my new toy. The reception was held at the home of a ward member and what a home! Well, the backyard, I should say- we didn't go inside. The yard was three-tiered, the first was a pool and patio where the cake was set up, the second was a lush lawn where all of the tables and food were, and the third section was a lawn that extended into a beautful garden- more pictures of that to come. The wedding colors were black and white with pink. It was so Lanara- elegant and classy with a splash of cute. I loved it. The food was catered by Cafe Rio (Oye Vey!) It was a great night, enjoyed by all!

Cute couple, bad picture. (I don't know how to delete photos on this thing once I put them on)

Table centerpieces- lovely.

The garden

The second tier.

This kinda shows the levels of the yard- the top is the pool.

When you first enter they had a t.v. setup playing the wedding video. Next to it was this little tree with these little birds on it to write wedding wishes. Very cute.

See the birds? So cute.

Lynette really like those birds.

Another picture I wish I could take out- oh well.

The Dobson men in order from oldest to youngest- Arnie, Chris, Alex, and Michael...oh yeah, Trev's in the front too.

The wedding party. Birds in the front- Dobsons in the back. Don't you love Mrs. Bird's jacket? So cute. If I were thinking I would have taken this picture from the other direction to get the short people in front.

This girl was playing a game with the photographer all night long. She loved him. She'd give him a high-five and he'd pretend like it hurt. She now asks for the "ouch" game all the time.

The wedding cake. Love it.

Lynette enjoying the Cafe Rio a little too much.

First Dance.

Cutting the cake. The gate is there because the cake was placed inside the pool area.

Honestly, I think I got Lanara's daughter. People always tell me Lynette looks like me- but I don't think so- she is Dobson through and through.

Dobson Siblings

Such a mature bunch.

Wedding Bells

2010-04-05T18:16:00.012-05:00

So this weekend my hubs and I are heading off to California for his sister's wedding and it dawned on me I never posted my brother's wedding pics yet! Ryan and Sarah were married December 30th in the San Diego temple. It was slightly chilly, but very nice. I flew out with my kids, and my sister and her husband. They were a few rows behind us so they ended up being not as helpful as I could have wished. I ended up going back that tiny airplane bathroom about 5 times during that trip, for diaper changes, for potty-training toddler, and my particular favorite was when my potty-training toddler poured water all over herself and I got to strip her down in the bathroom, put a diaper on her, and wrap her in my coat so she was wearing something. Exhausting.

Anyway, back to the wedding. It was a nice little fanfare with the meeting of the family (so funny to me that my brother who spent his entire growing up trying to get away from his large family married a girl who was one of 10 kids as well!) They were great. The ceremony was the shortest I have ever attended. The sealing practically started before the bride and groom were even in the room. No words of wisdom or advice...nothing- just the ceremony. Odd. The reception was held in the Bride's family home and it was lovely. I especially enjoyed myself once I was able to put my kids to sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms. After the wedding I drove back to Idaho with my parents in the car for 9 hours with my brother and his kids. Thank Heavens for DVD players. It was great seeing my family again, although I was sad Michael wasn't able to be there. My kids enjoyed getting reaquainted with their cousins. It was a nice trip and I'm so happy for my newly married brother!

Check out the dress. It was Sarah's design, with the lace on the bottom donated from her grandmother's wedding dress.

So cute.

My suave brother. I LOVED his tux. It was dark chocolate brown- so stylish. What I love even more about this picture, though, is the dual profiles of my brother and my grandpa Ray in the background. There is no question where Ryan got his nose.

Mother and Son.

One naughty little flower girl. She was running all around the temple grounds. You can't tell in this picture but half of her dress is soaking because she kept playing/sitting in the puddles on the ground from the rain.

My favorite moment. The kids loved being in "jail" almost as much as I loved having them stuck there.

Dirty criminals.

Say "cheese"

In our family a wedding luncheon is not complete unless there's at least two musical numbers. We girls got to do some lovey number (as always). We spent a good 20 minutes earlier that day practicing and memorizing choreography to go along with it (my sisters are dancers). But when the moment of truth came did we do it- not one single solitary step. I was going to- but why should I when my dancing sisters weren't? I love singing with my sisters.

By the way, a week before the wedding Ryan had an argument with our parents about the musical numbers. He did NOT want us to do it. He thought it would make his in-laws uncomfortable, and was embarrassed and threatened to walk out of the reception if we did it...

But he didn't. Probably because he was too busy snuggling with his new wife. But he sure rolled his eyes and scowled at us enough. Oh, Ryan...you're such a funny boy. Thanks for being a sport.

I'm really sad these pictures didn't turn out. The fellas in the family sang "Kiss the Girl" from "Little Mermaid" and it was hillarious. I have one introvert brother, Cameron, who's a senior in high school. He's the quietest of us and when he does say something its usually "What are you
TALKING about?" But every once in a while he just pulls out a bomb of personality and this song was one of those moments. He kept taunting Ryan during the song "C'mon, kiss her. Do it, do it" in this ridiculous accent. Ryan finally retorted "If I do it will you stop singing?" We were dying of laughter. The in-laws may have thought we were weird but man it was fun. Long live traditon!

Such a bad picture, and I can't figure out how to delete them once I put them on this thing...sorry.

I didn't get any pictures of the reception and I'm very dissapointed in myself, but oh well, with two kids to chase after I'm surprised I got any. It was great and we're so excited to have Sarah apart of our family. Yeah for marriage!

More new words

2010-03-31T20:34:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the dullness of this post, I recognize that these kind of things are really only interesting to the parents, but this blog is as much for my own personal records as it is to keep in touch with friends and family so I won't feel bad if you ignore these updates.

Trevor's vocabulary growth spurt continued this week. In the last 7 days he's learned:

stop- a very handy word when dealing with a sister that sometimes loves just a little too much
book-"bup"
up
please- peas
kisses- "kickes"
cute- Love this one...he was caring around a teddy bear this morning proclaiming it "cute, cute cute" to any that would hear.

So, so fun. Love this age..so long as he isn't destroying my house at any given moment.

First Talk

2010-03-22T13:19:00.004-05:00

Lynette gave her first talk yesterday. She was supposed to give it 3 weeks ago but after posting the reminder on my fridge I promptly forgot about it until after we came home from church the next week- oops! I called and asked a redo and the primary presidency kindly agreed. We had two more weeks to work on it, since Stake Conference was the following week, and so every day we would just work a little bit on it- memorizing 2 lines at a time until she had it all down and the practicing it every day. This was how it went:

Heavenly Father and Jesus choose prophets to speak to us on earth. Prophets tell us what God wants us to do. Adam was the first prophet. The scriptures tell us about other prophets like Nephi, Noah, and Moses. They helped people choose the right. Joseph Smith was a prophet in our time. He helped bring us the Book of Mormon. Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. He teaches us about prayer, baptism, keeping the commandments, and to love Jesus. I am thankful for prophets. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I wanted Lynette to memorize it for three reasons, 1- Because I knew she could do it- she inherited her father's ability to memorize (though I would like to add I had to remind him of his mother's birthday- why is that?). 2- Because I knew she'd enjoy it- she loves memorizing things- you should see her "read" books to us- its a hoot. And 3- Because I knew if I just whispered in her ear for her to repeat she would get shy and mumble it so softly no one could hear it. She really did enjoy the process, and we only practiced once or twice a day so she wouldn't tire of it. At first we used picture and a felt board, but eventually didn't need that anymore. When the moment of truth came I was pretty nervous because I still worried she'd decide last minute she didn't want to do it. I should learn never to underestimate her. When they called her name she marched right on up and started rattling off her talk so fast you could hardly understand it. I only had to prompt her once to speak up. She was fantastic. I was so proud. Of course, as all toddlers do, while she was speaking she was moving around a bit and playing with her dress, but it just added to the charm.

The one really sad thing about it was that Michael missed the whole thing, and for a very dumb reason. He was on-call the night before but still managed to get there in time donned in his scrubbs and with his hair rumpled. He was waiting in the back with me and decided to use the bathroom- thinking there was still a good 10 minutes before her talk. Not a good gamble. Not two minutes after he left they called her up and Lynette jumped up and started speaking before I had the chance to ask them to postpone. I felt really bad about that. She did perform it for him later, and also to my parents over the phone- to their delight. It was a fun experience. I'm so proud of my little girl.

From the mouth of Babes

2010-03-20T19:27:00.004-05:00

This week I think Trev hit his "word explosion". Up until this point he's learned a good 12 or 13 words. This week he increased his vernacular by about 50%. This week he learned:

goose- "goo"
duck
kick
more
oww
Thank you- "gee goo"

Its been such an exciting week with all these little gems spilling out of him. It took a while for me to pick up on the 'thank you'- its a word no one but a parent would understand, but he's been so consistent with it I know its legit. He says it not only when I ask him to but when I give him food, toy or a kiss. Such a polite little boy! I remember Lynette hitting her explosion at about this age. I remember at 15 months thinking she has only 3 more months until nursery but her vocabulary just seemed so limited for her to be in nursery. Sure enough a month later her vocabulary just took off exponentially and by the time she got in nursery she was speaking quite well. Its so fun to watch kids grow. I can't wait to see what they learn next!

Taken for Granted

2010-03-08T13:54:00.005-06:00

*Warning: Random long-winded musing ahead. Proceed with caution.*

Recently I have been pushing myself to finish this wretched quiet book I spent way too much money on for materials and pattern 3 years ago. I've been working on a page that would include a simple little road track to drive little cars on. After hours of working on it I threw up my hands in frustration because it looked so lousy. It honestly looked like something a grade-school kid would put together. "Why?" you ask- not because it wasn't simple...because it was. But because I do not have one artistic bone in my body. I cannot cut, draw, or sew in a straight line to save my life. I know 8-year-olds who can draw better me- no that's not quite acturate- pretty much EVERY 8-year-old can draw better than me. I cannot paint, sculpt, draw, frost cupcakes nicely- heck I don't even like the way I write my own signature. And this is a frustrating thing for me because I CARE. I love pretty things. I think I have a pretty good eye for nice looking things but I cannot for the life of me recreate them. I've taken art and sewing classes, and asked for tutoring but to no avail. I look at things people have made and am in AWE at the simple beauty and the thing that blows me away most of all is how natural it is to them. They don't recognize the incredible talent and skill they have- but its like magic to me. Its just amazing to me how they can take it for granted so easily.

It is only recently that this really started to bother me, because now that I have kids and excessive amounts of free time; I want to use that time to make cute, fun things for my kids. Growing up, it wasn't that big of a deal, especially since I had the comfort of know I can create something nice- music. This was my one consolation. And thinking of this made me question- do I take my musical ability for granted? I can honestly say I do not take my singing for granted. I spent many years training and working on it and I still feel I am far from achieving the level I could- and even farther, much farther, from achieving the ability I would like to have. But there are some things I do take for granted. Being able to feel and keep a steady beat is definately one of them. It boggles my mind that some people can't feel the beat- to me its like being able to see the color red. Its just there- how can you not feel it? I once tried to teach some primary kids how to conduct a simple 4 beat pattern. I knew it would be a challenge but I had no idea how difficult it would end up being. In fact, it was a complete failure. I tried to scale back and just do a 2 beat patter- but still no good. They could not feel the downbeat and nothing I could do could teach that. They still loved "conducting" a.k.a holding the stick and waving it in the air- but not one of them could do it to the beat. I also do not get how someone can't hear pitches- and, no, I'm not talking the micropitches of being able to sing something perfectly in tune- but just the "this note is higher than this note" kind of thing. I cannot comprehend not being able to hear if something is high or low. I take that for granted.
So my question is: what do you take for granted? And what gift or talent of others do you lack and feel they take for granted?

First Haircut

2010-03-04T22:46:00.004-06:00

So again, this is a bit of catch-up, but since February was only filled with sickness and staying at home waiting for spring to show up, its going to have to do. I loved Trevor's curly locks, they were so cute. Michael, however, thought he looked like a girl. After many gentle nudges I agreed that it was finally time to cut Trevor's hair. I was really nervous about it, having vivid memories of my young brothers screaming and crying as my dad held them down while my mom cut their hair. We avoided this issue with my new best friend 'Baby Einstein'. Generally I'm not totally in love propping my babies up in front of the t.v. but this seemed a valid excuse to do so, and let me tell you, I'm glad I did. Both Trev and Lynette were transfixed, sitting there, giggling when the snake puppet came out to yell "blah". I had no idea how to cut hair so fine and thin- but it ended out okay and no tears were shed- win win!

One last fond look at the mop top.

Trevor's most intelligent look. Can we say "baby drug"?
Thank you Baby Einstein.

Effects of Baby Einstein still wearing off here, but what do you think of the end result? Not bad, eh?

Heartthrob

2010-02-24T12:20:00.003-06:00

So there's a woman in our ward who is expecting her third child and has been having contractions early. To give her some time to rest I offered to take her kids for a few hours every Thursday, they're sweet little boys ages 4 and 2. I love having other kids over, because it means I don't have to entertain my own kids and can get some stuff done. The kids made a huge mess of their room, but it was well worth it and very fun. Talking to the mother a few days later she told me that her boys loved being over here and had a lot of fun. She then proceeded to tell me of a conversation she had with her oldest boy Ryden, it went something like this:

Mom: "So did you have fun at the Dobsons?"

Ryden: "Yeah, I'm going to marry Lynette."

Mom: "You are! Lynette is a very nice little girl."

Ryden:" Yeah, she's pretty too."

We both got a good chuckle out of it. I know childhood crushes and marriage proposals are common for kids, but this is the first for my daughter and it makes me smile. Glad to see someone else sees the beauty in here that I see- even if he is just 4 years old.

"Snow is my favorite and my best!"

2010-02-16T15:18:00.012-06:00

Ahhh snow, that beautiful plague of winter that we despise and adore all at the same time. A miraculous thing happened Christmas week- we had freshly fallen snow, the kids had new snow gear waiting to be used, no one was sick, and Michael was home and available so we were able to go out and enjoy it. And enjoy it we did. The stores were practially out of sleds when I went to pick one up- but I found a cheap one that was flimsy, flat as a pancake, and perfect. I was a little worried about how the kids would do on it- but it worked really really well. Although we had new snow gear I need to add that none of us were entirely outfitted just right. Trevor had no boots- I've gone to several different stores in the last few months and not one of them has boots in his size. So annoying. Michael has no snow pants or snow gloves, something I was unaware of until this outting. I do not have a water repellent snow coat- there is a large green one back in Idaho that I always used but have never managed to bring back with me. Lynette was better off than the rest of us with all of here gear, although her secondhand $3 boots left her ankles angry red and freezing. But did this stop us? Oh no- out we went. We sledded down the only incline I have seen in our area for a good hour and played around in the snow. We finished the activity with warm baths and hot cocoa- it was a great day.

Sweet little boy.

See the sled? It was odd- with cut out handles on the side for you to hang onto when you pulled and bent the side up. It was the only one of its kind out there but it got the job done.

3..2...1...go!

No, no Lynette- bring the sled up with you! Fine...I'll go get it.

Male bonding. His face may not show it, but Trev loved the sledding. He would squeal the whole way down and giggle at the end.

The token picture of me- maybe I'll wear mascara next time...oh who am I kidding.

Nice gloves. Yeah, those are mine- poor man didn't have any of his own and those were the thickest we had so we figured they'd last the longest even though they weren't waterproof. They worked for a while- but by the end they were soaked.

Angel in the snow.

Lynette's attempt at a snowman. It wasn't exactly ideal packing snow.

Poor little guy took a faceplant. From this point on he was pretty eager to get home and demanded to be held while we were still outside.

Daddy warming up his cheeks. So sweet.

Little Inspirations

2010-02-06T16:02:00.004-06:00

Meet Brittany. She's my cousin. What? You don't see the resemblance? Same nut brown hair, same almond eyes, same olive skin....oh wait maybe not. Well we are family- trust me. She's six months younger than I and we grew up together; playing with one another, shopping, singing- all that good stuff. She's always been a very talented little thing (she was really good at coloring when we were young, whereas my pictures tended to be more picasso-like.) Anyway, she's always been the artist and its fun now as adults seeing how she honed those skills into a become master crafter/decorator. She's got this lovely little website where she's pulled together her ideas as well as those of others for crafts/cooking/decorating suitable for holidays, parties, seasons, and everything else. Its an awesome website that I highly recommend. So I making a post on it because I love it that much. That's all. Okay, so she's also apart of a little giveaway thing on an equally adorable cousin with an equally adorable site who's featuring Brittany this month. What's the giveaway? Brittany will redecorate any room in your house- something I sorely need. My kids room, although functional, is dismal to the eye. The extremely economical furniture I acquired over the years through craigslist/garage sales/and super store sales do not match at all and it drives me nuts. So I'm hoping she could help me out, so I've got this post to get an extra shot on the giveaway. Keep your fingers crossed. And check out her websit- it rocks- seriously..although maybe it would be easier to do that with your fingers uncrossed...anyway, yeah good stuff.

This is just a picture- the actual button is on the sidebar of my blog.

And not to be forgotten... here's Nicole (my equally adorable cousin as mentioned above who's doing the actual giveaway) and the button for her site, again the button is on the sidebar.

And just for kicks here we all are along with my cousin Melanie and sister Kim. I think this was shot in the summer of....2000? We had just been playing in the sun all day at Boise EFY and were dressed up to sing together in the talent show. Please note: Brittany's family were always known as "the Lamanites" to us... I think you can see why. Ahhh memories.

Christmas in Chicago

2010-02-01T22:43:00.006-06:00

Okay, playing a little catch-up here, but oh well. I seem to find that the more I'm enjoying myself, the less pictures I take. Here are a few scattered pictures of our very first Christmas home alone. I'll be honest I was kinda not as thrilled about Christmas this year. Christmas to me always meant lots of friends and family and the thought of having a Christmas with just a mere four people just felt so foreign. Silly, silly me- how could I forget how fun it is just to be with my little family. Yeah, its not as loud and chaotic but it was still dang fun. I had to pull out a Christmas dinner all by myself, which was pretty fun. We ate less food than normal just because it seemed silly to bake 6 different pies for only two adults and two kids but I think I actually liked that a lot better- I didn't get the traditional bloated Christmas-hangover feeling I usually get and that was a nice change. The kids were happy as can be Christmas morning- especially now that Lynette is old enough to really enjoy the anticipation of Christmas. Trevor didn't know what was going on, but he was happy anyway. After presents in the morning, Michael made a nice breakfast (a family tradition he's passing on from his dad that I happily addopted), and spent the rest of the day playing with toys, watching new movies, and baking yummy food. It was a good day.

Christmas dinner...mmm..ham and fresh rolls.

Trevor, drunk with Christmas spirit.

Yeah for toys!

Her face just looks so Dobson to me in this picture.

A first look at what Santa left...

Trevor couldn't wait for all this gift opening business to end before demanding muffins.

Sweet Blessings!

2010-01-18T21:22:00.004-06:00

Okay- so in order to understand how freakin' sweet this blessing is I must first give you a little background....

So during a student's 4th year of medical school you get to spend thousands of dollars applying to and interviewing for residency spots for the upcoming year. On "Match Day" all of the students get together and open up their letters telling them where they are going to for residency. Michael applied to Orthopedics, which is a very competitive field, but we weren't too concerned about getting a good spot because Michael had an outstanding resume. Somehow or another tragedy struck and Michael did not match at all and had no where to go for residency. We had to scramble for a one year spot in General Surgery and try to apply and interview again next year. It is difficult to explain to those not in the medical field how devastating and terrifying this is- but just know that it's bad- not only because you have to settle with some make-shift intern year program and then have to interview all over again, but also because you now have a big black mark on your resume, making it harder to match the next year.

A few months after the match (or I should say our non-match) Michael decided that he didn't want to do surgery after all and was much more interested in radiology. We applied to it and he interviewed at 8 programs, with 2 more still to go...

Fast forward to the present- Just this evening the head of the Residency Selection Committee of Radiology at Washington University called Michael up to offer him a 2nd year spot because apparently someone dropped out. Of course we accepted! This is honestly the best possible thing that could have happened. It totally erases the whole 'not matching' thing and puts us back on track. No more interviewing, no more worrying about the match, no more worrying about what to do next year inbetween this intern year and the year we would have started any other radiology program. We already know and love St. Louis and still have a lot of friends there and I am so excited to go back! I missed it so much! Anyway- just wanted to share this little bit of happiness with you. Now, please excuse me- I need to go celebrate!

'Twas the Night before Christmas

2010-01-10T22:45:00.012-06:00

Christmas Eve! Wahoo! Our very first Dobson Family Christmas Eve Celebration. It was so fun starting traditions with our very own family this year. We decided to have Christmas on our own since we figured Michael would probably be working a lot- little did we know until a month before that he would get 6- count 'em- 6 days off! By that time, of course airfare was sky high so we stuck with our original plan and I think we're really glad we did. Michael got some much needed R-and-R and we got plenty of time together as a family.
In my family, along with many others, we act out the nativity story- a tradition we decided to carry on. We let Lynette do the casting. She quickly volunteered herself to be "Married", told Trevor to be the Wise Man, commanded Michael to be the Shepherd, and allowed me to be the Angel. I can't tell you how fun this was. Of course we had to keep it short enough for the kids attention span so we didn't involve singing this year, and just got the basics down. They loved it and we loved watching them love it.

Young 'Married' with baby Jesus.

Yes, that is my nursing cover being used as a head covering. Lynette loved it. Though our nativity only lasted a good 7 minutes, she kept up her role as the mother of Jesus for the next 3 hours. That basket and baby doll did not leave her side for a second.

Our Wise Man with...umm..his Myrrh.

Shepherd recording the miraculous event.

Seriously, how adorable is this kid in a paper crown? Love him.

The whole gang.

Take two.

Trevor really liked his cloak- he has a love affiar with soft things like blankets and pillows and having something blanket-like attached to him made his day. It was funny watching him walk around with it because the towel trailed behind him a good two feet. At one point he even backed up and layed down on it. So happy.

Two very lucky and very happy parents.

Do-it-yourself Christmas Ornament

2009-12-20T22:16:00.016-06:00

I love my Christmas tree. It is a little $17 6ft artifical tree we got at Target a few years ago that fits us perfectly. Its a very country/rustic/primitive tree complete with strung popcorn, red and white plaid bows tied to the branches and (my favorite) a rustic, unsymmetrical wood star at the top. Since I'm a frugal freak and don't like to spend much money on items that aren't absolutely necessary (including Christmas decor) I made a lot of my ornaments, and no I'm not talking construction paper stuff. I have thin wooden shapes I got from Hobby Lobby that I painted and attached raffia to to string them up (they're in the shapes of stars, snowflakes, hearts, and trains). I think its pretty cute. One day I'll have a real tree, but for now, this works. Anyway, My tree is looking a little sad this year. Since we moved only a few weeks ago and then I had a ward Christmas party to put on I didn't have the time to string up popcorn and cranberries for my tree like I normally do, so it looks a little empty. Add to that my young son's fascination with the ornaments and desire to hide them and eat them, the bottom half of our tree is pretty bare at this point (seriously, Trev put a little glass ball in his mouth and chewed it. Chewed it! He only got upset when I took the broken shards out of his mouth!). So tonight Lynette and I made Christmas ornaments together and we had so much fun and I think they're just so dang cute I thought I'd share it with you. They're little sleds made out of popsicle sticks, hot glue, and paint (that's it) that I found instructions for on the internet years ago. They're not the best ornaments to make with kids since you use hot glue- but they sure like to help with the paint. So here's how you make them.

Glue the skinny side of two popsicle together.

Cut one popsicle stick in half at a diagonal.

Glue the longer side of the half popsicle sticks to the two sticks you already glued, one on each side.

Cut two trapezoid shapes out of a popsicle stick, one larger than the other. (The small trapezoid should not be longer than the sled's width- look at the picture below for an explanation).

Glue the longer trapzoid near the top of the sled (that's the part that's supposed to steer.) Glue the smaller trapezoid near the bottom across all the sticks. You'll notice this small trapezoid is just a tad too long, I should have cute it down more...but oh well.

Glue two popsicle sticks standing up on their skinny side to the two trapezoid pieces (this is the delicate part). These are the runners. (you are looking at the underside of the sled)

A side view of the finished product.

Paint! I like to paint one solid color and then add simple little details on the corners (like holly and ivy, wreaths, or snowflakes).

Lynette wants to inform you that this is her magic paintbrush.

I glued raffia to the backside in the loop to hang it from. I especially like it because it kinda looks like a little rope on the front of the sled. So what do you think? Cute, huh. And simple. If an art dunce like me can do them, anyone can- although their paint job would probably look a lot better.

Severing the Relationship

2009-12-17T07:03:00.019-06:00

There once was a young girl who had a very close friend.

They were adorable as toddlers.

They played and got tangled up together as children.

Were awkward together in middle school.

Grew and evolved in high school.

Matured but always together.

She was there for the big occassions.

And though people said it was time to move on, they stayed true through college.

When she was married, the friend was pushed back, but still she stayed close, lurking from behind.

Even after the birth of children, the friend still hung around, though their relationship became a bit bland and lifeless.

After so many years together their relationship became strained. Though lovely at times, it was more and more frequently frazzled, neglected, and even ugly.

So much so that the young girl decided it was time to cut her childhood friend loose.

And for the first time in years the young girl felt a great weight off her shoulders.

And was free!

Free to express herself in ways she couldn't before!

Will the friend ever come back? Who knows. But for the time being I say "so long Goldie Locks!"

So what do you think? I got it done as payment from one of my piano students, who's son owns a hair salon. I'm pretty excited about it, though I'm nervous for my initial hair wash and then the try-to-recreate-the-look-when-I-get-home thing. I'm really hoping it doesn't turn into a helmet (big hair like mine has the potential to do that). The reviews at home are mixed. My husband loves it (I knew I liked him), my girl liked my hair long (probably so she could play with it), and my baby didn't recognize me for a full ten minutes but has since come to accept it.

Now, here is the tricky thing about posting this- if at all possible I do not want my parents and siblings to find out about it until I walk off the plane for my brother's wedding to see their jaws drop (in two weeks). Since I'm pretty confident none of my family reads my blog (they're too busy for blogging) this will only get out through word-of-mouth. So, dear cousins, please don't spill the beans. Nicole, I believe I can trust you to keep mum (if Rustin is as involved in your blogging as Michael is with mine then we're fine). I think the trickiest part would be for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law to keep it from my brother. But having been engaged once I know that if you are reading this, Sarah, then it is not unlikely that Ryan is entagled around you somehow- so I understand it if you can't keep it from him- in which case, Ryan, kindly refrain from mentioning it to the parents and the sisters. Although if you must discuss my hair styles with Cameron then I guess I can't stop you. Thanks so much!

Trick or Treating

2009-12-12T16:00:00.011-06:00

Ah Halloween. What could be more fun than dolling your kids up in costumes, painting their faces, and making them walk around for hours in the cold, begging strangers for candy? Since Lynette is now three we decided to take her out for her first honest-to-goodness Trick-or-Treating debut. It was a big hit. We were out for about an hour and after the first house she really got the hang of things. She loved going up to each house calling "Trick-or-Treating" we thought it was so cute we didn't correct her. A lot of the people thought it was cute too and she got a couple extra pieces of candy for just being adorable. We made sure she said 'thank you' everytime, although that was harder for her to remember. Poor little Pirate Trevor was in the stroller the whole time and was chilly but behaved pretty well the whole evening. It was a good time had by all, especially the eating of the candy afterward. Can't wait for next year.

Our little Pirate Trevor held by Aunt Rebecca. Sadly I couldn't seem to keep his eyepatch on long enough to get a picture of it.

Cold but happy.

Our little fairy. I'm not that great at art (at all) so her facepaint is a little funky but she's still pretty cute. I was very proud of her hair though, braided into a crown by yours truly. Lynette especially loved it when I put mascara on her- just like mom!

What a trooper. Nice pirate pants.

One day I'll figure out how to get this girl to smile for the camera.

Wings pinned to her coat. She loved them.

Ready for fun.

I went as a witch...again. I don't know if I'll go into too much effort coming up with a new costume for myself every year. Being a witch is good enough for me- although I try not too go overboard on the green pain next year. And I really ought to get a hat that fits.

October Fun!

2009-12-07T16:52:00.006-06:00

I think I ought to change the name of my blog to "Catching up" - more fitting don't you think? So here's some fun pictures from October. Enjoy!

Can you believe this pumpkin? Crazy huh? It was so hard keeping the kids from climbing all over it. Later on in the month they carved it to look like a dinosaur head- which, unfortunately, I never got a picture of.

The Halloween costume that never was. I begged and pleaded for Lynette to wear this costume for Halloween, but to no avail. She'd rather be a princess. I couldn't imagine why.

I mean c'mon Lynette- you get to have wings! And a fluffy tail!

And check out that flamingo head! Maybe she'll go for it next year...maybe.

Meet me in St. Louis

2009-11-16T21:02:00.007-06:00

Michael's first interview this year was with our old friend Wash U and we were so excited to have an excuse to go back down to St. Louis to see old friends. It felt like coming home again being with those I knew so well and loved so much. The McCoulloughs let us stay at their place- they are saints, really, allowing us to raid their fridge and take up too much time in the bathroom. If I haven't told them enough, thank you guys- your the best. The Robinsons had us over for a dinner and dessert night with more friends. At church we ran around hugging people and I even got roped into subbing as chorister in primary. It was just like old times. Monday morning before we left I went with Angela and Lacie to the Science Center to let the kids run around a bit. I was so sad to leave again- I miss my friends- but what a fun time to see them all again. I'm kinda ticked I didn't take more pictures- but thats just a testament to how much fun I had- I usually forget to pull out the camera when I'm enjoying myself. Oh, and Michael's interview went pretty well- we think so anyway. Keep your fingers crossed for us- we'd love to come back!

Trevor really enjoyed playing with the arch cushions at the Science Center.

Best Buds.

Lynette, Asher, and Ryan at the St. Louis arch- sort of.

Lynette kinda looks like she's running out of air on this one.

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed.

I think they were pretend to race cars on the bed.

Disney on Ice

2009-10-26T13:05:00.009-05:00

So this is an old post, but better late than never. On September 8th we were invited to go to Disney on Ice with my cousins Aaron and Natalie. It was a delightful evening. Any day where Lynette gets to play with her buddy Dylan is a good day, but add in ice skating and Disney princess and you've got one happy little toddler. Disney on Ice did a very quick run through of many Disney films, many of which Lynette had never seen. When they did their bit on "Aladdin" the Geni made Lynette pretty uncomfortable- it got even worse when the song and dance continued and about 20 other Genis came out. Lynette freaked. She tried to run away but were coerced her to come back by having her sit in daddy's lap with her head burried in his chest. Thankfully the princesses came out shortly thereafter and Lynette was in Heaven. It was a great night. Thanks so much Chandler's for the invite! We loved it!

I think this is the princesses..?

All the Disney princesses- a girl's dream come true.

The Grand Finale.

The whole family- too bad its in bad lighting.

Lynette and Dylan, her second cousin, enjoying the show.

Roller-Pollers

2009-10-12T18:47:00.007-05:00

So Lynette's hair is getting so long I figured it was time to initiate her into the time-old female tradition of putting your hair in curlers. She, suprising, took to it really well, and even slept in it without complaining a bit. I think it helped that she's seen me in hot rollers so many times it made her feel like she was being just like mommy. She lovingly refers to her curlers as "roller pollers". The whole event was a real deja vu experience for me. As I was rolling her hair I had so many flashbacks of countless Saturday evenings with my mom curling my hair for church. It was really fun sharing this experience with my own daughter. The torch has been passed.

"Ain't I cute?!"

The finished product. Only to be trashed 20 minutes later. *Sigh* oh well.

"Yes, dawling- the camera loves you!"

Rollers: they also work well as musical instruments.

One Small Step for Trevor...

2009-09-28T21:41:00.003-05:00

So Trevor took his first step this week, Wahoo!!! Every day he's been venturing out, getting that concentrated look on his face, letting go of the table/chair/hand he's been holding onto and talking little wobbly steps before plopping down on his fanny. I think the first official step I saw him take was 5 days ago, so last Wednesday. Today, I think was even more thrilling than that. I set him down to stand and after he balanced himself for a couple seconds he took a step, another step, then a third step, then woah..balance check..woah..okay then a fourth step, a quick fifth step before finally flopping down on his fanny. He was so proud of himself and I cheered right along with him. It's so fun to see him advance. He's such a little boy that it does not look like he ought to be walking, people are often surprised to see him crawling because he looks a few months younger than what he actually is. I know that this is the beginning of the end- he's been destructive enough on his hand and knees, I can only imagine the kind of chaos he'll create once he's stable upright. Ah well, as is life. I sure love my little boy.

Choo choo!

2009-09-22T19:43:00.008-05:00

Lynette's actual birthday was on Sunday so we opened gifts from family that day. I was as excited about it as Lynette was. I found this great little train set from IKEA that had been hiding in my closet for a month. Lynette fell in love with trains a little while ago when her train-obsessed cousin-once-removed Dylan played trains with her. Her reaction to opening this gift was the kind that every parent dreams of on Christmas morning. She jumped up and down and cheered when she saw what it was and waited impatiently for us to open the package. She then sat down and played with it for an hour, stopping only to tell me Trevor was getting too close and that I should pick him up (she was very concerned about him touching her trains). It was great. She plays with it everyday. So fun.

"Mommy, I'm really busy right now."

Trevor gives his teeth marks of approval.

Trevor is dangerously close here. I can't tell you how many times Lynette asked me to pick up Trevor to get him out of her way and away from her trains. I have never seen her so possessive of a toy before.

Thrilled beyond the ability to give a normal smile for the camera.

The anticipation is mounting...

Penguin Cupcakes

2009-09-22T19:30:00.005-05:00

Alright Emily, here's how I made the cupcakes. Lynette requested they be chocolate so that's what I made with just a basic recipe (I myself would have prefered yellow cake because I'm not fond of the chocolate cake/vanilla frosting combo- but hey, this is Lynette's party, not mine). Whatever cupcake you choose you have to put on white frosting. The penguin itself is a fudge covered cookie (like Keebler's grasshoppers) cut in half. You use three halves for each penguin, one for the head and two for the wings. *Note, there were only 18 cookies in the package I got, which was exactly the amount I needed for a dozen cupcakes, so I was not able to nibble on any of them while making these things- good thing I counted!* The beak and feet are apricots (or golden raisins) cut into triagles. The eyes I used were just raisins because I'm cheap, but m&ms would probably look cuter. Stick these on with frosting. I used extra frosting to stick on the eyes so there was white around the black, making a bigger, cuter eye. And that's all it takes- easy. For an artistic dunce like me I was pretty happy with the result.

When you look at it this close you can see how simple it is and how unprofessional I am. It's okay though, the kids enjoyed it.

One more look at the flock, just for good measure.

Party Animals

2009-09-20T19:15:00.011-05:00

Hold on, wait a minute- this can't be my blog. My daughter did not just turn 3- no way. She's only a baby..right? Wow, yup that's my little girl at her 3-year birthday party. And what a party- it was a zoo! Well, at least the theme was. It was dang fun. We had the kids make animal noses out of egg cartons, play "Hippos in the mud" (a version of cupcake walk), and "Feed the bears"(bean bag toss). I will say though, I think it was funner coming up with these zoo-themed games than actually playing them. We had the party at a park and the kids did not want to be interrupted from valuable playground time to play a silly game. But did I give in and let them do what they wanted to? Oh no, it was very much a "I came up with these games and your going to play them and like it, dang it!" So they humored me, perhaps because I bribed them with cupcakes. I will say that I'm glad I went with the zoo theme and not the fairy theme I was originally going with since Lynette was the only girl there. Over all it was a success and a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Girlie.

Bears, pigs, and rabbits- oh my!

"The bear says 'roar'"

I think she likes it.

Penguin Cupcakes made by yours truly.

At the end of the table do you see the stand up puppet theater I got at IKEA? Its so cute- especially for only $2.50- boom baby!

Lynette and her favorite cousin-once-removed, Dylan.

Birthday hugs.

Umm..you can never have too many birthday hugs.

O give me a home where the bison roam?

2009-09-03T21:47:00.008-05:00

This past month Michael has been working 90 hours a week. In order to distract my loneliness I found a great cure, the Brookfield Zoo. We are fortunate enough to live in a city with a fantastic zoo. Though coughing up the dough to buy the year pass made my stomach knot I haven't regretted it once. I take the kids to the zoo about twice a week each time checking out a different area. We love the sea lions, dolphins, giraffes, baboons- its a great zoo, right up there with the St. Louis zoo and we never tire of it. We saw a cockatoo there that has been there since the zoo opened (over 60 years) got to saw a clip of the baby giraffe being born- and in case your wondering the giraffes stand up in labor and the baby just plops down- eek. We learned the difference between bison and buffalo (bison live in America) and that pygmy hippos and dang cute. Here are some shots of two of our outings.

Kids down at the swamp.

" Friends call me speed."

Lynette at the waterhole.

Awwww.

Hmmm...something is not quite right with this picture, right? Trevor's smile is adorable but the unnatural posture of his head looks off, here's why- his back is actually what's facing you with his head turned up and back to look at the camera. Oh well, at least its a cute smile.

Joey in a pouch.

A Day at the Beach

2009-08-02T21:40:00.007-05:00

In our effort to learn to love Chicago Michael and I took the kids one Saturday to the lakeshore. They loved it. Though the temperature didn't exceed 80 (in the middle of July!), it was still a nice day. Lynette enjoyed the waves, Trevor enjoyed the sand, and I enjoyed laying out on the beach while Michael watched the kids for a bit. We only stayed for a few hours before heading back for naps but it was just right for us. Of course when we got back home I got to clean the trail of sand Lynette shed all over our small apartment, but it was worth it. Maybe being in Chicago won't be so terrible afterall.

I took dozens of pictures of Trevor trying to get him to look at the camera. This was the only one where I could catch him before he looked down. Cute kid.

Lynette and me playing "alligator".

Michael and Lynette tried to build an ocean liner in the sand. Trevor saw the big pile of sand and headed right for it to give his artistic imput.

Trevor loved the sand. It was sure fun trying to keep him from eating it.

The Graduate

2009-07-26T21:52:00.003-05:00

One of the most exciting and unexpecting things that happened while I was in Idaho was that I recieved my diploma. It came in the mail one day and I whooped and hollared all over the house showing it to all my family members, very humbly pointing out the "suma cum laude" part and rejoicing in closing this chapter of my life. "But Janelle," I hear some of you thinking (yes, I have that skill- it came with my degree) "I thought you already graduated." Okay, okay so here's now the whole thing happened and why the date on my diploma is about 1 1/2 years later than it should be. So when I found out I was expecting Lynette I changed my major from Music Ed to BA in Music to shave off a couple years. This meant that though I didn't have to take all those education course I now did have some extra general credits to do. I finished up all of my in-class stuff about 2 years ago and had only one lousy math class left to take that I fingured would be best to do correspondence so I could stay how with Lynette. I figured this would take me, oh 3 months. Hahahaha. Yeah I finished the class more than a year after I started it. Then after that it took me months of calling counselors, advisors, deans, and whatnot to make sure I received not only the credit for this class but also two others that I had tested out of but for some reason they were not being credited to me on my transcript. I wasn't even sure if it had all gone through until the day that lovely little envelope arrived in the mail at my parents house (I sent it to that address since I was moving and didn't know my new address.) Anyway after years of tears and toil I am officially a college graduate and am SO HAPPY. My husband is proud, my parents are thrilled (they really doubted my ability so finish after Lynette was born...silly people) and I am ecstatic.
Of course I could not write such a lengthy rambling of my success without giving credit where credit is due. Thank you so much, my darling Michael for your love, support, and help. I can't tell you how many times this man put off studying for important medical school tests and whatnot so I could go to class or get homework done on my stupid math class. I need to also acknowledge my amazing, incredible, selfless angels on earth Chelsey, Holly, and Lacie- three dear friends in St. Louis who watched Lynette for countless hours every week. I owe them so much- oh sure it was supposed to be a babysitting swap and I watched their kids a bit and did a little piano teaching- but the truth of the matter is they did twice as much if not more for me than I did for them. I owe them so much. I'm even tearing up right now thinking about it. I love you girls- you will always have a soft spot in my heart. Thank you.

Melissa's Wedding

2009-07-25T15:28:00.005-05:00

One of the hardest things about traveling by yourself with kids is you can't seem to take any decent pictures primarily cause I've got screaming baby in one arm and trying to corral Lynette with the other. So this is all the pictures I've got of Melissa's wedding. Sad. It was a great wedding- it was a party, as it should be. We had a bridal shower with good food, friends I haven't seen in years and a random break out session with Kim and Melissa. They tried to get me to join them but I didn't want to intimidate anyone....actually when I dance with those girls I look like a fish flapping on dry land so I try to avoid that in public as much as I can.

Our next event was the bachelorette party Melissa threw for herself. I've never been to a bachelorette party- mormon girls don't tend to do that too much, but Melissa threated disownment if the sister's didn't show up. So we did. I'll give you one guess as to what we did- that's right, dancing at a night club in Salt Lake. I brought Trevor with me because we both suffer from separation anxiety and for the most part it was just fine. The club that night started 1/2 hour after we got there and then it was a country dance class for the first hour, both things Melissa did not expect. We enjoyed it anyway. There was some real dancing after the class and a whole bunch of people showed up, lights were dimmed, flashing lights were turned on and the club was jammin'. It was way fun. I think my favorite part was watching my younger sister Kim go and ask all the guys to dance with her- she's guts-y.

So after the dance we headed back to Melissa's house for poker, pizza and the highlight of the night, our PG-rated Gorilla stripper. That was so dang funny. Trevor, thankfully, went to sleep so I was able to enjoy it all and listen to Kimberlee ask at least 20 times if the pizza was done yet.

The day before the wedding we ladies got manicures and pedicures, followed by a dinner with the new in-laws- great time. The sisters then headed over to Melissa's place for a sleepover so we could talk and be there to help her get ready in the morning. The morning was, of course, chaotic but we all got to the temple of time enjoyed a fantastic ceremony with twice the amount of family than we expect and one of the funniest sealers I have ever heard. It was odd laughing that much in the sealing room. It was perfect for Melissa.

The reception that night was lovely, with only a few musical numbers, good food and- guess what- more dancing! It was a great night. Lynette was bopping around inbetween times playing with the fountain and getting all wet and Trevor was happily passed from person to person. It was a great wedding and I'm so happy for Melissa and my new brother-in-law, Eric.

What party of Melissa's would be complete without dancing?

Sorry, bad picture.

The Stripper

No one can get down like a Gorilla.

Independence Day

2009-07-21T21:35:00.006-05:00

So the Fourth of July this year was spent in my very favorite way, with a BBQ picnic at
Veteran's Park, a lovely bike ride along the Green belt to Julia Davis Park, and watching fireworks with the family. The kids loved it. So one of the great and terrible things about Boise is it is on the far western part of the time zone so fireworks weren't schedule until it got dark, 10:15pm. We got to the park at 8pm, had a nice dinner- of course we had a nice little argument when mom tried to feed Trevor peanut butter brownies and I, of course, overreacted. After than we saddled everyone up with the kids in a pull-behind bike trailer thing- Lynette with Hunter and Trevor with Dakoda. The ride was lovely with only a few minor mishaps of Trevor stealing Dakoda's binky and then Trevor getting cold/wanting to see mom. Anyway, we got there in one piece along with half of the population of Boise. The fireworks were great. I was worried that the kids, particularly Trevor, would be freaked out by the loud noise, but they loved it. Trevor was mesmerized and Lynette kept informing me everytime I turned my head that I was "missing it." The ride home was in the dark with Trevor screaming most of the time until he fell asleep, poor kid. It was a great day. My only wish was that Michael could have been there to enjoy it with us. Turns out he had the whole weekend off since he was working at the VA. He got together with some friends and enjoyed the fireworks in Chicago. I was glad he was able to enjoy himself. Overall, it was a great Independence day.

Lynette and Hunter take dinnertime very seriously.

Watching "fire in the sky", as Lynette calls it, with Grandpa

The gang.

And here we have Idaho!

2009-07-19T20:29:00.007-05:00

Every year I make at least one extended trip to Idaho and since Melissa was getting married that was as good as an excuse as any to say goodbye to Michael, cross my fingers, and fly the kids out to reacquaint themselves with my family- or in Trevor's case to introduce him to my family. Its always a little difficult to take the kids for a long stay like that- their schedules get completely thrown off, they get freaked out meeting all these new people, and Michael isn't there to help- but all in all it was a fantastic trip. Lynette enjoyed playing with my siblings, particularly Brennan and Collin, my youngest brothers, and munching on chocolate chips, oreo cookies, and ice cream with Grandma. Trevor even did pretty well despite his growing separation anxiety. He loved having a larger space to roam around in, especially learning how to crawl upstairs, and loved the outdoors, though I couldn't blame him. The evenings in Idaho are to die for- perfect weather, nice sunsets, not many bugs, soft grass- the only not so fantastic thing about it is it doesn't get dark until 10pm (11pm our time) so Lynette stays up WAY later than she should have. Trevor especially had a hard time adjusting to the new sleeping environment- he woke up every night at least 4 times. Thankfully, Trevor quickly jumped into a normal schedule, he's evening sleeping all through the night now, thank goodness.
Anyway, the following posts are of our adventures in Idaho, enjoy.

While in Idaho we spent a spontaneous evening at Whazoo- formerly known as Boondocks. We hit the mini-golfing and had a great time. Granted, it was a little annoying to have to remind Lynette not to pick up my golf ball after every single time I hit it.

Granpa helps Lynette out with her form

Hole in One!!! Yeah Lynette!

One of our days there I headed out to Eagle Island with my sister-in-law, Nicole, her two kids, and four other kids that she babysits. It was a wonderful time. The kids splashed in the water, played in the sand, and even checked out the playground. My sisters Kim and Rebecca also showed up to chase the kids around a bit. Lynette was so happy to plan with other kids her age- she's been feeling a little friendless and lonely since the move

Open Wide!

2009-06-15T16:11:00.013-05:00

So we finally started Trevor on some solid food. Here are some pictures of his first taste of rice cereal. He loved the stuff. He loves it at, except for peas. Everytime we give him a bite of peas you get to see him give a very large shudder which totally cracks us up. We keep feeding him the stuff just because we love watching his response and Trevor is so good humored he keeps taking it. We sure love our little man. He's 7 month old now and just started getting mobile. He army crawls all over the place- its so fun! Its a good thing we've got all of our packing stuff put away so he doesn't get lost in it!

What the..? This is new...

He's not quite sure about this...

Resounding approval. We've got him beggin' for more.

Success!

Lynette gets in on the action.

Wingin' it at the Butterfly House

2009-06-15T15:31:00.013-05:00

So I'm a little late putting up this blog, but hey I've been busy! When Michael's parents came in for graduation we took them out to the Butterfly House cause we figured they'd enjoy it. We had a great time. Lynette wasn't near as afraid of the butterflies this time as last (though they still made her a tad nervous) and then weather was much nicer so we could check out the outside as well as play on the fantastic playground. There were a lot of school field trip so the place was crawling with kids, but it was okay. We're sure going to miss this place.

The butterflies really seemed to enjoy my hair. They have good taste.

Butterflies eat by filling up this swirly "tongue" with fluid so its straight like a straw and sucking the nectar out of plants.

Did you know that if you took a caterpiller off the leaf it was hatched on and transplanted it to another species of plant it would die? Hm...surprised you didn't know that.

Say "Cheese"! Come on Lynette, smile! Please..

Lynette meets Mr. Millipede. Cool

So I took a picture of this random woman because it cracked me up how all of these butterflies were just attacking her. Here you can see two on her neck, there was another on her head and another on the zipper of her pants, but I figured she wouldn't appreciate me taking a picture of that area. She tried to brush them off but they just wouldn't budge.

This moth was absolutely enormous. If it landed on my nose it would have covered most of my face. Apparently these are pretty rare to see because they are born without mouths so they only live about 3 days. I thought it was pretty cool.

Paging Dr. Dobson!

2009-06-08T21:49:00.010-05:00

Four years ago we arrived in St. Louis as newlyweds with a fresh bachelor's degree and high hopes as we tenatively began our medical school marathon. Here we are now at the end of our journey with my finished bachelor's degree and two extra kids tagging along. Dang what a ride! I honestly can't believe how fast it all went.
Graduation itself was an interesting ordeal. The first ceremony involved the entire Wash U. family and I spent all three hours of it chasing after Lynette and trying to shield Trevor from the glaring sun, ugh- but don't worry, if any of you missed it and would have liked to have been there, my mother-in-law taped the whole thing for your viewing pleasure. The second ceremony was for only the medical school and was far more enjoyable, partly because it took half the time as the first one. It was so fun seeing all of our friends and respected professors one last time. We got a lot of pictures, which was a little difficult fitting everyone in with those enormous puffed sleeves- first time I saw them I thought of Anne of Green Gables exclaiming "Marilla! Look at the puffs!" They don't call it "Pomp and circumstance" for nothing. Anyway its all said and done, at least this leg of the journey is- there's plenty more to go. Its funny calling Michael Dr. Dobson, he kinda cringes everytime he hears it, partly because for the last four years anytime anyone called him that it was usually said sarcastically, and partly because he's terribly afraid he's going end up killing someone in residency. Well we'll see about that. We're both pretty nervous about this next year, but we're excited for it and ready to get it over with- so lets go...bring it on.

Brand new diploma

Future doctor in the making?

Our good friend and favorite piano mover, Wale.

Proud parents.

Michael and our friend David Brogan in the puffed green marshmallow procession.

Sistah Friend!

2009-05-25T17:45:00.008-05:00

My sister Kim came to visit me in St. Louis at the end of April. It was so fun seeing her again and I was prepared to pull out all the stops. We went to the City Museum, the art museum, the zoo, the Butterfly House (sadly, it was closed), ate out at the Hill, checked out Historic St. Charles, saw my husband's play, and of course treated ourselves to Ted Drewes- all in 5 days! It was crazy fun, and fairly exhausting...but oh well. Rebecca also drove in to join us for a 24 hour period. I think my favorite time of the whole week was when the three of us were talking to Melissa on the phone- it was just like we were teenagers again, without the hormones. To top it all off we paraded into church together all wearing black and white dresses, and no, we did not plan that. It was a fabulous week. I sure do love these girls!

Fun times at the City Museum

Inside the cockpit of a plane at the city museum.

Splashing around in the Penguin House.

Sweet treats at Ted Drewes!

Picnic in Forest Park.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

2009-05-21T21:11:00.013-05:00

So this year's medical school musical was "A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum", it was Michael's third and he decided that in addition to having a fairly large roll he also wanted to work as a producer. I helped out at the beginning teaching group vocals but once Trevor was born I only assisted a bit in personal solo voice lessons, which was a new experience for me and really fun. I sure love teaching. The musical was a bit different, it was more of a comedy with random funny music thrown in. It was really funny, although we didn't feel all that comfortable inviting our close friends and family to it since it was pretty risque. My sisters, Kim and Rebecca, came down for the weekend of performances, though, and got to see Michael in all of his drag-dressing glory. I'm so proud of him and how much he has grown on the stage, who'd have thought you could have these kind of experiences in medical school!?

Our friend from the ward, Logan McKenna played Milos Gloriosus.

"I'm lovely, absolutely lovely."

"And flowers, I should have flowers."

"And a strange little boy."

Pictures of Chicago

2009-05-06T14:42:00.010-05:00

Trip to Chicago

2009-05-06T14:24:00.004-05:00

So Michael had this retarded clinical skills test he had to take in Chicago in March so we decided to make a trip out of it and it was so fun. We just happened to be there the day they had their St. Patrick's parade and got to see the river turn green and it was awesome! What a funky color! He also had a fun time checking out their aquarium which had the most interesting creature called a "sea dragon" which had the head of a sea horse and the body of...umm...seaweed. I've decided if I ever get a pet, it would be a sea drago- those were awesome. Lynette loved looking at the fish and sharks and crabs. Trevor had a great time sleeping. We also went up to the top of Sear's tower to overlook the city- which was pretty dang cool as well. I think the thing that fascinated us the most though was the driving situation. They drive like crazy in Chicago! We saw one sign advertising parking for $6 the first 20 minutes! It blew me away. We came away enjoying the trip but thinking "yeah I don't wanna live in Chicago"....hahaha, funny joke since we are moving there in a month.....

New Blog!

2009-03-01T17:03:00.000-06:00

Alright already! So I'll join the bandwagon and start a blog. I figure not only could this be entertaining, and easier to do while holding a baby than scrapbooking, but I figure since I'm moving soon this could help me keep in contact with others- so YEAH! Let the fun begin!