December 22: Random Moments that Make Up My Life

This is Warren's super helpful and obedient alter-ego, Captain Weirdo. When some job around the house isn't getting done, Andy and I often start wondering where Captain Weirdo is and what a good job he would do if he were here. We tease Warren that we don't know it's him and he still tries to convince us that it is just him. It's funny that he isn't sure if we're joking or not.

Family pictures are not fun to take. I really think it is the worst hour of my year. I almost wish I hadn't deleted all the rejects so you could see how hard we had to work just to get this slightly blurred picture.

Abigail makes the best faces. I think this one is so cute.

So last week we made 6 different kinds of cookies by doing one a day and then freezing them. We had a good time and I stayed mostly calm throughout the whole child-involved process, and I think they look so festive, so here is a virtual plate for you. Merry Christmas.

December 5: It's all about the legs...

For a long time, Avery has been able to stand unsupported and to walk using all sorts of furniture. She even was able to take 1 step to go from couch to couch, but she did this rarely. But tonight, we were all in the kitchen and I turned and there she was, taking about 8 steps across the kitchen! She was great! I grabbed the camera and took her into the family room for this video. Avery will celebrate her 1st birthday on December 18. Congratulations Avery!

Before Abigail naps each day, we read books together. Today I chose, “I am a Child of God,” a book illustrated with paintings by Greg Olson. As we arrived at the picture of the Savior seated with a little child leaning on His lap, Abigail said, “Mom, let’s sing, ‘I am a Child of God.’” So we did. I began with verse 1, and Abigail sang along, looking pretty confused. We finished and she said, “Mom , that didn’t go with ‘so my needs (pronounced knees) are great,” as she pointed at Jesus’ knees, prominent in the seated position he was painted in. Then I asked her to sing the second verse, and sure enough, she clearly sings, “I am a child of God, and so my knees are great.”

Warren's Thanksgiving Parade

"Lining Up"
Warren awoke with a burning desire yesterday morning to have a parade wherein he could throw candy (see the video at the bottom for a quick fulfillment of that dream). So we called some friends, gathered some pumpkins, costumes and other festive stuff and today we had the first ever "Friends and Neighbors Thanksgiving Parade." Our parade route was four houses long and back. Afterwards, we all played in the backyard and ate pumpkin cake. It was pure childhood fun. Happy Thanksgiving.

.

"Ready to Go"

"All Done"

November 8: Hold to the Rod

We have been reading about the Iron Rod (represents the Word of God) that leads to the Tree of Life (love of God/Jesus Christ) for scripture study. Inspired by that story this is what I found this morning when Warren excitedly got me from making breakfast: an "iron rod" of masking tape leading to a "tree," made from a brown towel trunk, green block leaves, and a box containing pears and...cheese. I suppose there's always room for personal application of the scriptures.

"And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit...it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit." 1 Nephi 8:11-12

"And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also." 1 Nephi 8:16

I am always touched by the simple faith of my children and the joy they have in learning and living the scriptures. Warren repeatedly says they are his favorite book and often asks for me to read them to him multiple times a day. So, if you feel like you'd like more joy, more peace in your life, take a cue from Warren--and from the parable of the Tree of Life--and experience the love of God by reading His word. I think I understand how Lehi must have felt, wanting his family, in my case, a lot of my extended family to "partake"; if you are reading this, consider it an invitation from me to take a leap of faith. "Come unto me [Christ] all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28). Ask God what His plan for you is--He'll answer. I love you all.

-Bekah

November 7: Welcome Home Andy!

After 5 days in San Diego for a Neuroscience Conference, we are so content and excited to have Andy back. Yes, life goes on without him here, but it sure is better with him here! Here is a random list of times I missed Andy:

1. Setting out my toothbrush and wishing I could put toothpaste on yours, too.
2. When I felt no peer pressure to floss my teeth, so I didn't a few nights.
3. Reading scriptures alone at night.
4. Sleeping in the center of the bed.
5. Sitting at the computer without your familiar presence on the couch, on your laptop,
behind me. (Like you are now...)
6. Unloading the kids from the car after G-ma/pa's Jennings house on Sunday night.
7. Getting Avery out of bed in the morning.
8. At the dinner table.
9. Not having any reason to cook--I like leftovers, and the kids just want PBJ's.
10. No Ron Paul updates each night--I started checking myself!
11. When I deliberately didn't open the window before going to bed each night.

We love you Andy/dad!

This video is the kids reaction when he walked into the backyard to greet the kids.

September 11: Just stories

Last night for family night we collected cans for the food drive at Montessori House. Here is Warren’s original door approach: “Can we have some cans because people are flying planes into people.” Yeah, we worked on that a bit before we went out. He did a good job, telling people his school and that they were having a canned food drive and would they like to give some cans?

Anyone who has been around Warren lately knows that he is pretty interested in tornadoes. So yesterday, Lindy had him over to watch a National Geographic special on tornadoes that she had taped for him. He didn’t say much about it yesterday, but today, he was telling me all sorts of tidbits from the movie, like, (in a super-dramatic voice) “Mom, an F-5 tornado is the worst kind of tornado there is,” and also all about the girl who hurt her leg being picked up by the tornado. And, “Mom, the storm-chasers who follow tornadoes get as close as they dare and then make a short video so they can get away safe.” And, while holding up a block with the number ‘5’ written on it, “This is the number of the strongest tornado. It can come and get you even if you are hiding in a basement. There’s nothing you can do, but pray.” We’re not sure if that is his unique thought or a quote from the movie, but either way, it’s pretty hilarious.

Abigail is really getting into the whole doll phase. She now changes diapers for her doll, puts on diaper cream, puts it to bed, brushes it’s teeth, tells me when Dolly (pronounced Dough-lee) is hungry and then proceeds to breastfeed her. It is so funny! It is also insightful, since Dolly’s feelings, moods and needs usually mirror Abigail’s.

August 4: Grandma Lindy's Birthday Dance

Warren says: "I love my family." I echo that sentiment. It was so f un to get all dressed up 50's style--or what we thought was 50's style--and party with family. It truly is bliss when your family and friends are no longer different groups of people.

Abigail says, "Mom and Avery." Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Avery was really diggin' that pretzel.

Warren says, "I;m running those [Sugar Daddy suckers] around to people." At the party we had 17 little cases of Sugar Daddy's and warren took it upon himself to deliver them to people all throughout the night.

Abigail says, "I love Abigail because I'm funny." Abigail is a crack-up and fills a room with her delight in the small things.

July Random Days

Some friends that moved gave us their playhouse this summer. Woo-hoo! Now we have the ultimate backyard for the pre-school set. But, anyway, it took some moving and assembly to get it over our fence and set it up in our backyard, and the day was stiflingly hot and humid. Andy was sweating buckets! Abigail looked at him, pointed to the beads of sweat dripping down his forehead and face and said, "Daddy, you raining." Warren said, "Dad, you must be really hot because water is coming out of your head." Here they all are, "napping" in the play house.

This picture does not do the storm justice. It was July 30th, I think, and we were irrigating and a HUGE rainstorm swept into Mesa. Our entire lot was totally flooded, up to 8 inches in some places. The funny thing was that I had just taken all the kids to the grocery store to get stuff for my mother-in-law's b-day dinner. I had gotten Abigail and Avery out of the car and onto the curb as it rained and had gone back to retrieve Warren when the heavens let loose and soaked me and Warren. The girls were getting saoked, even under the plaza's awning; luckily our plight was viewed by several nice beauticians in their shop and they ran out to rescue my kids and then got us towels for us to dry off with, and let us wait out the 15 minutes of downpour in their store. Nice people make me happy.

One day water spilled on the floor and Warren decided it looked like a map of the United States. He really likes maps; in fact, we're re-doing his room and it will include a huge wall mural world map on one wall--a la the Boyle's dining room, for those of you who have been there. I always liked that.

When I put on makeup, I always get some harmless blush color out for Abigail and a brush and let her put on makeup with me. Well, I wasn't paying that great of attention one day, and she put her brush in lipstick and did up her face. I told her to go look in a mirror since she hadn't seen herself yet, and she said, "Mommy, I'm a mess!" But a happy mess...

4th of July

This picture embodies Independence Day for me. We decorated bikes to ride up and down our street in the shade of the American flags that lined it. We went to a Cub Scout pancake breakfast that morning where I sang, "God Bless America." We spent the afternoon and evening with family, swimming, grilling, playing slip-and-slide/water softball and watching the CountryClub fireworks from lawn chairs in the backyard. It was great.

Avery lovin' the pool.

June 15-16: YUMA!

On our annual pilgrimage to San Diego, we stopped off for a day and a night in Yuma, AZ to visit my Aunt Johnell's family. It was so much fun! Besides eating super yummy food--I'm still thinking about the cornbread--we had a firepit and roasted marshmallows to make s'mores. Afterwards, the kids all tried to sleep in the backyard in a tent, but Warren and Kate both kept coming in for things--drinks, flashlights, pillows. Finally, they decided they were better off inside. But they sure enjoyed the tent the next morning! Here, they are trying to get out the dog door of the tent.
Left to right: Warren, Emma, Maylin--holding Amy, Johnathan, Abigail, Kate and Julie. If the child in the picture isn't my kid, it's my cousin! We had a such a fun time in Yuma! Thanks for sharing your food, your home, your hearts, your yard and your Wii!

June 11 2007: Fathers Day Prep

When I was about 10, I remember being so excited to go to "Kevin's Discount Store," in WW Plaza to buy my dad a gift for Fathers' Day. I still remember the tie: one in pink and one in dusty blue. They were made from some sort of terry cloth/cotton blend fabric and were kind of thin. In short, they were hideous. I like to think that my gifts for dad have improved since then. This Fathers' Day, we took pictures of the kids haolding the letters to spell "PAPO" and put them onto a photo collage tie from zazzle.com. Here are just a few of my favorites.

This picture we used for a gift for Andy's dad, Grandpa Gordon. We made it into a postage stamp, also on zazzle. I had so much fun making my own stamps that I made 3 more sheets.

Avery loved the rubber letters. She is chewing on one of them in all the pictures we took that day. I love her wide-open eyes in this shot.

Vintage Warren: flying through the air on a swing, roaring like a lion. I think this captures his spirit.

Warren's 4th Birthday Party: May 31, 2007

(All captions composed by Warren and dutifully typed by his mom) "Blowing out candles is fun, but I don't like when people blow out my candles and it's my birthday." (We had to sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles twice because one of W's friends stole his thunder the first time around and blew them out. I can understand his frustration--even I was annoyed.)

"I'm sliding down the waterslide."

"We're trying not to let us get touched by the water--(from the sprinkler)--and if I get touched by the water, I fall on the blood." I asked, "What's the blood?" "We were pretending the water was the blood." (This was so funny to watch; the boys would be jumping frantically, but when the sprinkler would change direction and come at them, one of the boys would sound the alarm and they all lined up against the net until it was clear again, whereupon they would resume jumping until the next time around.)

"It was fun shooting water guns."

May Birthdays: May 30, 2007

May is an exciting month at our house. First, Andy and I celebrate our anniversary on the 9th, then Mother's Day, then Abigail's birthday on he 17th--she is 2 this year, then my birthday on the 21st--I am 25 this year, then Warren's birthday on the 30th--he is 4 this year. It's pretty much a party all month long, considering we celebrate with the Lewis', the Jennings', the Peterson/Lewis Dessert Bash and often with the kid's friends and school, too. Anyway, here is a picture of tonight's celebration; even though it was Warren's birthday, Abigail and I blew out candles, too, since we were out of town on our birthdays. To celebrate W's special day, we had his favorite breakfast of pancakes this morning, then he took "Earth balls"--his favorite treat--to preschool and they did a special ceremony there celebrating each year of his life as he held the globe and walked around the wooden sun on the floor 4 times and Andy said something special about each year of his life. (I love Montessori preschool!) After school, we went to the Arizona Museum for Youth and had a great time playing. We stopped by Sweet Cakes on the way home for birthday cookies and then tonight after naps, we had one of his favorite dinners, spaghetti, followed by our carrot-cake birthday muffins. Okay, re-reading that, I realize the food sounds a bit over the top. My disclaimer is this: the pancakes and carrot-cake and spaghetti were homemade from fresh-ground whole wheat, the earth balls are 1 inch in diameter, and who wouldn't go to Sweet Cakes on their birthday to get a free cookie?

Peaches! May 15, 2007

We've had this peach tree 2 or 3 years, I can't really remember, but this is the first year we've had peaches. Last year we had a peach, but the birds got it first. This year, though, there were peaches loaded on all the lower branches of the tree.

Warren and Abigail have been watching them grow all Spring, and now it's finally time to pick them! One night before the fruit was ripe, after telling Warren about how the birds often eat the fruit off the tree, Warren prayed, "Please bless that the birds--and Abigail--won't eat the peaches off the tree."

Abigail navigating a wheel-barrow full of peaches.

After rinsing them in their bucket, Warren and Abigail enjoyed the juciy fruits of their labor. The first time Abigail ate a peach, she was a bit unsure of the fuzzy texture, but she soon got into it with the rest of us. I think Warren's face here says it all: Yum! We also filled gift bags with peaches to give to family and neighbors.

My Favorite Cabin Pics II: May 17-23

A photo opportunity gone awry! (My apologies to Avery :)

This picture personifies life at the cabin: thinking, chillin' and loving it.

Note Warren's face in the picture. I took this with a super fast exposure time to capture what his face looks like when he casts.

Note Avery's face in the picture. She is practicing what her face will look like someday when she can cast a fishing line, too.