Part One

Saturday Nathan and I decided to try and drive an hour to Baltimore's Inner Harbor area and go to this really cool looking hands-on Children's Museum. We risked it all by loading up the children at nap/quiet time. We told Kenna and Kohen they couldn't talk because it was quiet time and within minutes the miracle of the century occurred: All 3 children fell asleep! I still can't believe it. It was such a good omen. They all woke up as we pulled into Inner Harbor and though Aly was about an hour short of her regular nap, she did amazingly well. Having learned from mistakes in the past, we tell the kids absolutely nothing about where we are going in case for some reason it falls through or something is closed, or someone gets sick etc. So they were surprised and thrilled when we walked into this 3 story playground.

Every time we went passed this station Kennedy would ask if she could "feed the car" again. Would it be too cliche to say here, "with gas prices these days it sure feels like thats all we do!"??

Nathan's competitive nature glaring through as he tries to get a perfect score. This scene was very reminiscent of my favorite scene from I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ethel are working in the Chocolate Factory...

This was a super cute Diner where the parents sat in booths and at tables and the children brought you menus and then food after they had 'prepared' it in the kitchen. Nathan and I must have sat in there eating fake food for I don't know how long, it was a hit.

The food was made out of some sort of silicone-ish material and was rubbery and flexible...It was kind of creepin us out.

Then there was the water room where the children could all put on rain coats and play in the water. The cloud was raining and there was steam coming out of the mountain. You could build a damn and cause the flood plains to flood- you could shoot streams of water at instruments to make sounds. You could spray the windows and squeegee them, you could build fountains...so many cool things.

When you were done playing in the water room you could get dried off by pushing the red button and standing there while a heat lamp warmed you and air blew on you. Always fun to watch your children get blasted with air...

Part Two Inner Harbor

This part was fun, Nathan and Kennedy were climbing around the wall and Nathan was playing along as Kenna was being dramatic about their 'adventure'. He would even swing her off the wall and 'save' her by putting her back on. It was sweet of him to play along because she was deep into her pretend world. Two other things to note. Nathan is sweating but not from the strain of lifting Kennedy- it was super hot in there. Also, in this little part the floor was made of thin pieces of rope and then that was it, until you hit the concrete floor two stories down. I didn't love that part so much.


After the Museum we went and explored Inner Harbor and they have ships and a submarine that you can pay to go walk through. We might have gone through the sub except it was after 5pm so we just looked. Then we had a snack and fed the 'beautiful birds!' (rats with wings) before we went and had dinner where Aly tried her first California Roll...she is her father's daughter.

Our drive home was beautiful and we enjoyed the sunset. I even got a great shot of the Washington D.C. temple. Which btw, does not have beds in it for newly wed couples to consummate their marriages like the Fundamentalist crazies down in Texas had (yeah, I said it.) It was such a beautiful and great day as a family.

A Good Way To Spend A Weekend

So, I may be a little late on this post but I but I still wanted to put it up. We had a nice General Conference Weekend listening to the General Authorities speak and most importantly we were able to sustain President Thomas S. Monson as the Prophet and leader of the LDS church. But with a weekend full of trying to keep the children quiet and occupied as we watched Conference I got to focus a lot less than I would have liked. But we try to make the weekend something to look forward to and this time we got up and for breakfast made Monkey Bread together which was a fun treat. Later the older kids got to try something I remembered my good friend Amber D. telling me she had done with her kids a few years ago. Kennedy and Kohen got to build temples out of sugar cubes and they were pretty thrilled to be using glue for once in their little lives. And they actually did it for quite some time until Kohen discovered he was playing with sugar...building temples out of sugar cubes is now officially Kohen's favorite activity.

Videos

This took place when Aly and Kennedy were trying on some new $30+ dresses that I got for under $10!! Woo hoo! Anyhow, Kenna was in love and ran up the stairs and surprised me with this little performance- considering she has only seen this scene maybe 2 times. I of course grabbed the camera and had her do it again, you will have to excuse Aly's appearance. If you have never seen The Sound of Music, I doubt this will be cute to you, just f.y.i.

Now Kohen, well, he is quite the talkative little guy. In the middle of pretend play he will often run up to me and go off on some emotional rant about something make believe, in this case I believe it was about breakfast. I had interrupted his flow by getting the camera so this is a very mellow version of the usual. 10 points to anyone who can understand what he is saying!

Kohen's First Drawing

For some reason I LOVE when little children draw people, you know, circles with sticks jutting out of them? Well, today Kohen drew his very first person ever and I love it. He shows Nathan and I and tells us that "This is Santa." (notice the hat with the pom pom on top) and then he kind of sheepishly follows up with, "I didn't give him a bag cuz his arms are a little small." Oh my goodness Nathan and I busted UP! And Kohen is so expressive -always using unique facial expressions and hand gestures- that to see him explain the picture was just a parental treat. Seriously. What kid draws Santa for their first person drawing ever? I wouldn't be surprised if he was already trying to earn brownie points for next December.

Chariots Of Fire

Haven't I been pretty clear that Nathan is the runner in our family? Okay. So then what do you think inspired me to suggest I go running with Nathan and the kids this evening? Yeah, I think I've been desensitized by watching all of the running that Nathan does like it is no big deal and thought that "it wouldn't be that bad"-oh man, if you could hear me right now I am laughing so hard I'm snorting...Nathan often goes running with his super athletic 16 yr old cousin Kim and takes 2 of the kids in the double jogger stroller. Well once the kids got wind that I was thinking about going they were totally begging me to go with and all excited and it must have caused me to have a moment of temporary insanity because I agreed.

Let me just preface this little story by saying that I haven't done any consistent cardio since I was very pregnant with Aly. Aly is now 22 months old. But I guess you got to start somewhere right? Starting off both Kennedy and Kohen wanted to run. This was fine. Totally cute too. Kennedy has the weirdest run, but somehow it totally works for her. And Kohen actually kept our pace for a good 20 seconds before he needed a short break in the stroller. I would just like to point out here that I can totally out run Kohen. So yeah, I'm not a total loser.

We met Kim at the corner and started up a long low grade hill. My lungs felt like the combustion chamber in an engine and with each breath I took in I am wondering how long I could possibly have left to live. I am totally ready to cheese this little 'run' and walk home but the Super-Athlete-Kim and the Amazing-Marathon-Man-Nathan keep encouraging me to push through it. My pride keeps me going through mile 1. Pretty soon the little hill drags out into a serious incline and I start walking but with really fast moving arms to keep up appearances. Kohen -back in the stroller at this point- is totally on to me and starts shouting encouragements like "Keep going mom, Keep going! It doesn't hurt, Mom, keep going!" It was so dang cute, but it was killing me as I was huffing and puffing up that hill like the Big Bad Wolf. I didn't want to let Kohen down so I started to jog when he was watching me and walk when he wasn't. This technique worked very well for when Kim or Nathan would look back to check on me, I got super good at it. Mile 2, I finally convinced them to just go at their regular pace and not wait for me cuz they were doing that like, granny shuffle trying to let me keep up. I don't know why their shuffle was still so much faster than mine. Dang.

So then , Mile 3, I was on my own...cue Chariots of Fire music...Eventually I did make it home. I was able to cut a corner of the entrance to our street and see Kennedy sprinting to our house. She probably did more actual running than I did. I am glad the children have a love of running from their Dad's example. They may have a love of eating junk food from their Mom's example. In fact you are welcome to come over for dessert tonight. I will be serving up Ibuprofen and huge slices of humble pie.

Cherry Blossoms 2008

Last week I met Nathan downtown after work with the kids. The Cherry Blossoms were at about 90% of their full bloom- in my totally unscientific opinion- and were amazing. I wanted to try and get some good pictures of the kids there this year and I have to thank my friend Jessie because she let me borrow her awesome camera, which up-ed my chances of getting a good picture even though I am certain I didn't use the camera any where near it's full ability. It was still super fun to play around with. There are all of these professional photogs down there, several had all manner of tripods, gadgets, and serious demeanor's to take pictures of the blossoms and I'll admit I felt felt a bit like one of them shooting pictures with a suh-weet camera... only you guys will know the truth!! lol. Anyway, thanks again Jessie, we had a great time.

Two of my favorites

National Marathon 2008

On Saturday Nathan ran the National Marathon through D.C.. They have these cool things called "Pace Tat"s- that you put on like a fake tatoo and it has what all of your projectied times should be according to what you want to run- so that all you have to do is look at your arm to see if you are on track etc. pretty cool I think...and maybe in a strange way a little sexy...I'm just saying! ;)

It was a lot sunnier and colder -go figure- this year than last and with the wind chills at 7am it was straight up frigid. I wanted to quit and I was just a spectator. Nathan's cousin Peter and his *girlfriend Jen (*read following post for the changing of Jen's girlfriend status) came down and rode the Metros all over with me to catch him at different mile markers and cheer him on- I was so grateful for their company and Metro hopping skills -the kind even Napoleon would be jealous of. Nathan tried a new thing this marathon called Negative Splits (I know, sounds like something only the Peking Acrobats should be doing) where basically you really hold yourself back in the beginning and then continually go a bit faster and you end up passing hundreds of people which is super good mentally, and supposedly you aren't feeling like you are going to die mile #20. Well, apparently it worked because Nathan beat his best time by several minutes and finished in 3hours, 39 min!!! Trust me, that is good. He said that mentally it was his best race ever because by holding back in the beginning and not getting caught up in the initial excitement of the race and overdoing it, he took his time and didn't even feel like he was running a race until mile 17-never thought I would write the last 12 words.... I am SO proud of him and impressed with this race...in the freezing cold...running (voluntarily, mind you)...for 26.2 miles.

March 29, A Big Day

So Saturday, Nathan's Marathon day, is also his Big Tom's birthday. Happy Birthday Tom!!!!! We all went out to eat at Outback to celebrate. But it turned out to be an extra special night because between the time Peter and Jen left Nathan and I at the marathon and seeing them at dinner- Jen's girlfriend status changed to that of Fiance'! Peter and Jen are engaged!!! We are so excited for Peter and Jen and grateful for their example being all "smoocherations" (a favorite word coined by Big Tom) lately, causing Nathan and I to reflect on that special time in our life and not forget to do a little "smoocherations" ourselves. Congratulations Nathan, Congratulations PB&J, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

Side Walk Chalk & A Time Out

My parents sent some sidewalk chalk for Easter and it has been 7 days of nagging to go out and use it and the kidlings have been denied each time for several reasons, weather being numero uno. So when Nathan came home from work on Friday (oh wait that means it's only been 5 days of nagging...it's seemed like a lot more than that.) he took the crew out to play. As you can see they had a merry old time and Kennedy drew several things that were cute and Nathan drew them a 'scop-scotch' so Kennedy could play and Kohen could chuck a rock around without getting scolded.

Then we have Aly. Aly has decided it is funny to run out into our street. Our street is not busy, we are always near by, but she thinks it is hilarious to run out and have us come after her. Today as a van turned the corner onto our street she decided it was time to make a break for it. Don't worry, the van totally saw her and stopped far back and Nathan was right on her and this time she was in literally zero danger. But it is the principle- and I don't expect a 23 month old to understand why it is dangerous- just that it is and we don't go out in the street- especially not laughing and running! So Nathan picks her up, carrying her inside and sternly telling her 'no'. Aly doesn't appreciate sternness and so she was crying by the time he got her inside for her time out. She cried big 'ol crocodile tears (tangent: has anyone actually seen crocodile tears? And what classifies them as 'big'? Anyone?) and I couldn't resist the compulsion to take a few pictures. I love the last one. She looks pretty sitting there all seemingly repentant and, you know, not run over by big van.

Spring Favorites

Daffodils. They are my most favorite spring flower. Not just because they are a cheery bright yellow and such a sight for sore eyes after months of gloomy winter greys, but also because they appear to be heralding in spring time. They are always the very first flowers out and they trumpet the chilly weather away. By their very presence they assure us that warmer spring weather is mere days away. I totally couldn't resist running out to the median where these are planted to snap a picure.

This was one of my favorite Easter pictures. Moments like this are so rare and to catch it in a picture is just a treat because it is tangible proof that stuff like this does happen once in a while!

When I tried to get the three children to stand together for a picture, out of nowhere Alyssa turned to the nearest stair and totally lost it. But one of my favorite things that she does when she cries is cover her eyes- so dramatic- and even though none of us know why she felt so strongly about not taking a picture with her siblings, her break-down was pretty funny.

Easter Pictures

Sunday afternoon this was what I was doing making us late for church- taking pictures. If you have ever seen my children post-church you know why the 'before' picture was imperative. Earlier we had skyped (web cam) with Papa John and Papa Dixie so they could get a preview of the Easter clothes. Kohen was told many times that morning how handsome he was- and though he was looking pretty dapper it was more of an attempt to get him to keep it all on, as far as Nathan and I were concerned.

At church we sat next to a cute 16 yr old girl named Lauren. Kohen, apparently feeling confident in his stylish vest and tie, was talking in his man-voice to Lauren at one point saying all casually, "You can come to my house and watch a movie and we can have pizza, how 'bout that?" Everyone on the row with us busted up. A few minutes later, still using his man-voice he says, "My Dad has a Dad, his name is Norm. Don't worry, you'll meet him someday." Where does this stuff come from? I guess a little confidence goes a long way. After Sacrament meeting Lauren even took Kohen to Sunday school class- He wasn't acting all shy or smitten- he was totally casual and like it happens every day...what a boy.

The Easter Bunny Visits!

Trying to distinguish between the traditions of Easter (bunnies, eggs, candy, etc.) vs. the true meaning of Easter (Christ's Resurrection) we have started doing the traditions on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. So Saturday morning the children were so excited to come downstairs and hunt for where the Easter bunny had hidden their baskets. When it comes to Easter Baskets the bunny who visits our home keeps it under $10 per basket, and she is totally chintzy on the candy. One Peep, one Reeses egg (leaving 3 from the 6 pack for me) and two plastic eggs with jelly beans in them. I have no idea why I am so stingy with the candy except for that I hate having it around cuz they are always asking for it, crying for it, and causing me irritation. It wasn't much of a problem though this time because they had all eaten their candy in a matter of moments and it was done...phew. It's not like they don't get candy from 'Papa's' and teachers and friends so don't even try and make me feel guilty. Love how Aly is frantic to tear open her treat...those Eggs are my favorite too.

Old Habits

Man. This post is a bit embarrassing to share. I have to apologize to my Dad in advance. He has disliked this habit of mine since as long as I can remember. And I so wish I could say that I had kicked it but to be honest, since I've had children it has only gotten worse. So often I will think of something I need to do or buy and the only way to ensure it might happen is to write it on my hand. Papers get lost, planners aren't always readily available, sticky notes get misplaced...you get the idea... I'm making excuses. I know. I feel sheepish every time I am somewhere with other adults and my juvenile compulsion is exposed or discovered. Anyway, I'm not just sharing this to humiliate myself. I was wondering if any of you have any ideas for me that might work as efficiently and be a bit more discreet???
Speaking of putting writing where it doesn't belong...Kohen found a pen and out of no where did a little drawing on the wall. He then proceeded to draw a line as he walked all the way upstairs and into the kitchen...Nathan and I estimate it is about 30-35 foot line. Arghhh! He was set to the task of scrubbing the wall but it is quite a large job and I fear you will always be able to see where the wall was scrubbed in certain lights...Is it me or does he look proud of his handy work in the first pic? Nothing a bit of elbow grease couldn't fix. :)

Are Sisters the Crabgrass in the Lawn of Life?

My my, how times don't change. I took the picture of Kennedy working on Kohen's hair and the look on his face was total dejavu to about 3 years ago. Poor kid. Kennedy somehow talked him into letting her do his hair and when I came into the bathroom I found that about every hair product we own was now being generously applied to Kohen's head. Kennedy was super serious about her work. Like an artist in creative anguish she would get frustrated when he moved his head and when his hair wouldn't 'stand up' in front like how Dad does it. Notice how in the last pic she is holding Kohen's face so his hair can be properly seen by the camera and Kohen is giving his best fake smile and just hoping the torture is almost over and he has earned some sort of special sibling points with Kenna.

Okay, I had to include the video so you could see Kennedy in action. Don't miss how she tells Kohen to turn the other way at the end, lol, she cracks me up. PS- please excuse Kennedy's post-braid scraggly hair.

My 28th Birthday

I swear I just did a post like this for myself...I can't believe I have had two birthdays here in VA. It was a bit of an odd one in that Nathan was at work all day and so I was doing all of my regular Mom duties. But my phone rang off the hook with birthday well-wishes and my email too, was full and made me feel loved. As I said my morning prayers I found myself thanking Heavenly Father for allowing me 28 years and unexpectedly I started thanking Him for gifts I've been given, a wonderful husband, 3 healthy children and the list went on and on until my legs started cramping. Taking a hind sight view of my life all I could see were the blessings and there were literally too many to count. Even the trials I have had are really just hard-earned blessings. When you overcome an obstacle in life you usually gain an amazing amount of knowledge (that by then seems like, 'duh. why didn't I realize that before,' for me) and strength, patience and who knows what else. After my prayer I just sat there amazed at all that I have been given and even more amazed at how little I recognize it. Birthday spankings? I'm thinking I need all 28! I hope that I can be better this year in appreciating blessings as they come, in whatever form.
Anyway, thanks for indulging my little rant there. Nathan made dinner and had even gotten and ice cream cake -cake batter ice cream, my fave- and I opened a couple of gifts and cards when Kohen suddenly decided that I didn't have enough and was trying to get Nathan to take him to the store so he could get me 'some-ping' else. I eventually convinced him that one of his colored pictures would be great and so he and Kennedy sat right down to color me birthday pictures which was sweet. The best treat of all was when I got to for go putting the kids to bed with Nathan and head out for some relaxation at Target...by myself...Happy Birthday to me.