You wouldn't know it but...

Marianne is a certified terd. Just today she gagged herself repeatedly while walking around the house, making herself throw up twice. She chewed chunks off the sponge on my mop while I was helping Beau in the other room. She devoured a glue stick like it was candy...well like it was Chapstick, actually, because she's done that too. Yesterday she dug into one of my plants and ate the dirt before spreading handfuls at random around my house. She enjoys doing the same thing to my dishwasher soap packs. And all of this when she wasn't occupied upending trash cans and taking plates out of the drawer. I might survive all this, but you can be sure my house will never be the same. (Does permanent marker come off piano keys?)
She definitely needs a more watchful mother, that's for sure.

Marianne the Great and Terrible

This post is full of Marianne Goodness. (And Badness. You'll see.) The Bug is a mess of contradictions these days. She still loves her bananas, but only the peel (not the inside). This is not okay with me because the peel makes her gag. Her gag reflex is powerfully strong and she seems to enjoy making herself throw up whenever she's buckled in her car seat and I'm driving.

She loves to play in Colonel's water but hates to take a bath. She wants a bottle in her mouth at all times, and although she prefers it full, she'll suck on it empty all day if you let her. She wants to be snuggled, but don't you dare try to hold her like a little baby - she wants to see everything. She is a momma's (and daddy's) girl, but lately she will happily snuggle a total stranger if given the chance. She loves you to tell her she is so pretty, but will not keep a hair clip in her hair for more than two seconds. She will beg for yogurt or applesauce, but only wants to play with it, not actually eat it. She loves to throw toys and climb on top of any obstacle and possess any and all stuffed animals within a two mile radius. She loves music and loves to dance and loves to have people sing to her. She'll even chime in every now and then with a cave-man style singing voice.
And now for the photo gallery:
Here is Marianne with a blanket her Grandma MaryAnne made her.

I can't remember what she was inspecting on her hand. I was just so proud of being able to get her hair into a braid! Isn't her outfit cute? That was before I accidently shook an open jar of marinara sauce in the kitchen and got half of it in her hair and on her clothes. I forgot that I had loosened the lid and...It's times like these I wish I knew how to get stains out of clothes. I also loved that she fit into those boots - the same ones Beau got to wear.

Her eyes look so blue here. They are set off nicely by her super cute hooded vest! I love that furry little thing - especially the ears and bows on the hood.

 Marianne loves Colonel. He gets a little nervous around her (I think he's seen her power and lack of finesse...), but he's still really good with her.

 And here is the Marianne Badness. This happened the same morning that I was making cinnamon rolls for Jacob's birthday, cutting out wood and etching glass for teacher gifts, packing up a half dozen graham cracker gingerbread houses for Jacob's class, packing up the crock pot, milk and hot cocoa for Jacob's class, and trying to be dressed so I could run the kids to school. Notice how she was even dressed? It's no wonder my heart rate quadruples some days when I'm trying to get too much done at once.

 Yes. So proud.

 And here is Marianne a few nights ago. Excuse the toilet and trash can shot. What is she doing, you might ask? Well, I told her she needed to take a bath and I was running the water. If sound could accompany this photo, you would hear her crying like someone had chopped off her leg. She DID NOT WANT TO TAKE A BATH. She cried throughout the whole ordeal while I held her down and poured water mercilessly over her. If I let go for more than two seconds she would try to penguin dive out of the tub...and with her slippery little body she would have had her way a couple of times if I hadn't caught her.

 Oh how I love this crazy little monster. I'm so glad she likes me. I'm so glad she is chock-full of personality. I so hope I can survive her toddler years and still have a little left to hold on through her teens.
We shall see.

Connecting in Flagstaff

After New Year's, Rus headed back to work and the kids and I headed to Flagstaff for a few days of relaxing, cozy fun. It was COLD there. There was still a lot of snow on the ground. So we hung out inside, spent most of the day in our jammies, had dance parties, ate so much good food, and played goofy games involving matches and toilet paper rolls. (Two different games.) But most of the time, while Amy and I sewed or stamped cards or baked or organized her drawers, everyone else looked like this:

 The appropriate caption for this picture is, "Our Family is Connected."

*Yes, this shot was staged, but I assure you it is a completely accurate representation of how they spent their time.

The toilet paper roll game was really goofy but fun. Amy hung a broomstick horizontally with two rolls of tp hanging on it. She unrolled each roll just a little bit and then attached a candy coin to each with a clothespin. The kids took turns trying to shoot the toilet paper, make it break (and make the coin fall), and then eat the coin as a reward. They loved it, when they weren't too busy complaining that they missed. I got in a shoot-out with Amy and totally whopped her. Naturally.

I love Sarah's face here. I'm not sure if it helped her aim though...

Another thing the kids loved was having some brand new baby kittens to pester love. Amy is a pet foster parent. I had no idea there were such programs around, but evidently...

It's actually not a bad gig. The animal shelter calls and asks if she is willing to take care of cats or dogs (I'm not sure if there are other animals), for a certain (and limited) period of time. The provide the food, and if the animals get sick or are too hard to take care of, she can return them. Awesome, huh? So she was foster-parenting a momma cat and her five kittens. Bekah and Sarah spent hours with them everyday.

Marianne was pretty good on the trip. The second we walked in the door after our five hour drive, she went straight to Amy and hugged her for a good long while. Then she forgot she liked Amy, and was super clingy for a while. But then Mike got down (literally on the floor), and played with her and she was super happy again.

I wish she were more predictable around people. Sometimes she likes them, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she'll walk up to random strangers and ask for a hug, while other times she refuses to even let Rus hold her.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip and I'm so grateful we were able to go. I am waiting for the golden vacation where I don't have to worry about my kids sleeping all night and I don't have to hold anyone for hours at a time, but until then...at least I have a terrific and understanding sister who puts up with us all anyway.

Jacob the Seven Year Old

 Right before Christmas, Jacob turned seven. He, like most children, has been looking forward to his birthday for the last six months. He knew there would be no party, but he would get a date with Mom and Dad (which actually happened after Christmas), and command of the menu for the day. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, meatballs for lunch, meatloaf for dinner (I know. What kid likes meatloaf? My other children suffered through it, I can tell you that), and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. He also got to take hot chocolate to school for his class. Here he is with Beau. I love how much my kids love their siblings when they're with them at school.

 And he got to spend his birthday money from Nana. He spent it on an emperor scorpion that he named "Stinger." It's little now, but it may grow to be five or six inches long. It eats live crickets. It recently got its own heat lamp. Jacob LOVES it. I don't mind it, but I really don't want to touch the crickets...

 Jacob got a new nerf gun...

 ...targets...

 ...nerf bullets...

 ...and what's that long narrow gift completely wrapped in duct tape from Uncle Jacob?

Of course. It's a Red Rider BB Gun. Awesome. Don't shoot your eye out, kid.

He got to go out and shoot it the next day and really enjoyed shooting his targets and old soda cans. Beau may have loved it even more than him.
Jacob wanted his cake to have animal figures on it. I did the best I could:

The hippo was mostly submerged in the water and the elephant and rhino were battling. The cheetah was enjoying a mini version of pride rock. It was a hit!
Uncle Jacob, DeAnn, Russel and Zaya came for dinner. It turns out that Marianne and Jacob are soulmates. She LOVES him and cries when he leaves. Probably because he teaches her awesome things like how to knuckle bump.

Jakey,

(my Jakey),

I think you are totally awesome. You are the sweetest big brother to Marianne. You are thoughtful and want so much to be a good boy. You are an awesome artist and a creative thinker. You know how to put things together just like your dad. I love your chocolate chip eyes and your silly smile where your nose gets all scrunched up. I love that you tell me things that worry you and talk to me when you're having a hard time.

You are super special to me and I love being your mom!

Happy Seventh Birthday!

More Christmas

Since there were too many more pictures to share in the last post, I thought I'd just do a post of pictures and captions...(caption above picture)

Beau was really happy to get this Rescue Bot toy from Nana...he just didn't feel well so his happiness wasn't so apparent.

 Dad got to stare in wonder at his new digital frame, complete with pictures from his mission and random pictures from family get togethers

 Rus even liked Marianne's Big Bear

 Cutesy and a silly upside-down Bug. Cutesy is teaching me about doTERRA essential oils. We called her stash "the pharmacy."

 Beau and his new shelf from Grandpa and new soft blanket from Cutesy.

 Bekah's coveted Little House on the Prairie collection from Nana

 Marianne with her new horse from Nana and baby blanket from Aunt Katie and Claire

 Beau. Studly Beau with his new soccer ball from aunt Katie.

 Studly Jacob and his new ball from aunt Katie.

 Marianne got dressed by her two grandmas. Nana provided the dress and tights and Cutesy gave the sweater. I provided the bright yellow door for her to dance on.

 See? I told you she's a rockin' dare devil!

 All of the cousins (minus Marianne and Katie's kids) on New Year's eve.

Marianne was in a silly mood and couldn't stop tackling Beau. He loved it.

Christmas 2012

As always, the month of December is a total blur with SO much going on that it is so hard to keep track - and to keep the blog up to date. (It doesn't help when our modem dies and the new one takes its time getting here, either...)
But it was a good month - with both good and bad things happening that make me realize how blessed I am to be a mother and to have happy, healthy kids to love and take care of. I didn't have a big project to work on this year like I usually do and it was so nice to work on little projects with the kids or do something totally random and spontaneous.
My favorite parts of the month were:
* Going to the bell choir concert with Bekah and my neighbor Kate. It was a beautiful concert - unlike any regular concert I've ever attended. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Carol of the Bells tied for favorite.
* Going to the same neighbor Kate and her husband Roger's annual musical Christmas party. All their friends and neighbors come and everyone sings along and/or plays instruments. There were two flutists (floutists?), a violinist, a celloist, two guitarists, and a hammer dulcimer-ist. And there were many other instruments to play and share from cymbals to bells.
* Teaching my kids about serving others anonymously. We did special things for another family and my kids really enjoyed being sneaky and keeping such a big secret. And it just so happened that as they helped another family every Saturday morning, our Saturday mornings (and all the jobs and cleaning that go with them), were so much happier and more peaceful.
* Working in the garage. Rus got it in his head to make me a little side table for Christmas. And then he thought, why not make three at the same time and give them away to siblings for gifts. Our family had his sister Carla for Christmas and my brother Jared, so they each received a beautiful curly maple side table.

I really enjoyed working with Rus; he has learned so much about the different tools we've acquired over the last year and how to sand and finish a piece to make it really stunning.
Look at this! It has a native New Mexico walnut for the top and the drawer front. I absolutely love the character of the wood.

I also was able to do some fun little projects with the kids. Bekah helped me to make a little motorcycle "puzzle" for Jacob and Beau. I designed it several years ago for a gift for a friend, but I had never made it for my own kids. I think it's super cool, but Beau gets really frustrated with putting it together. And Jacob can't seem to keep track of the pieces.

* Having my parents visit. It was SO fun to have my mom and dad come for Christmas. And especially to have them stick around for a few days after! My dad and I played in the garage, Rus and my dad went shooting, my Mom and I decorated my room, and the kids soaked up all the extra attention and love. If we didn't have a stomach bug visit at the same time, it would have been perfect.
* Christmas eve was really nice - we made a special dinner (which I only stressed a little about when my meat thermometer suddenly died and I had visions of seriously overcooking a really expensive piece of meat that my mom bought...maybe chicken is better...), and then later we all pitched in to act out the nativity. The wise man on the left was a little cooky, Mary has the same fondness for Bekah's beanie that Bekah has, and Beau made an excellent shepherd. My dad was Joseph, I narrated, and Rus was really happy to not be the donkey this year (we used the rocking horse instead). My dad read "The Night Before Christmas," and "The Great Walled City," which is a story we always read Christmas eve when I was a kid, so it was a great flashback. We put the kids in bed and then my dad and I played scrabble for a while to make sure the kids were really asleep before we set everything up. (I might have lost the game...but really we had to end early, so who's to know what would have happened in the last few turns. I could have made that 75 points back...)

Aren't we all cute in our Christmas jammies? (Even though it's a bad picture...)

Christmas morning was full of happiness...new books...(thank you Nana!)

...new friends...Marianne loved this big ol' bear. Have I mentioned that she loves to rock on the horse? Standing up? Holding on with one hand? Oh yes, she is a daredevil.

Beau made Bekah a special bag to hold her Lalaloopsy dolls. He picked out every piece of fabric and ironed it himself. He even drew me a picture of what it should look like. So cute...

The Bug and I holding Big Bear.

It was a really special time for the kids and for me. I am so grateful for the amazing life and sacrifice of my Savior, without which we would not celebrate his birth! I hope you all had a peaceful and merry Christmas!

I just realized I have many more pictures to share...another post!