Happy Valentine's Day! (Expanded)

Roses are red
Violets are blue,
Balloons make me happy
And walruses do too.

Here was Rus' Valentine. I won't show you the inside. But just know that the sideburn mustache was drawn per his request (as opposed to a handle bar 'stache or something else). Don't ask where the mustached-walrus theme came from. I don't know. But I loved drawing them.

I greeted Marianne in her bed this morning with a red helium balloon. It made for instant-happiness. She squeezed it so hard I was worried it would pop.

We had pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, like I'm sure 95% of the rest of the US did. I don't know why I feel the urge to always start the kids out on something sweet for Valentine's day, because they always wind up eating just under two tons of candy and sweets at school.

Then I went to work making and baking and pretty much ensuring that I would hate my kitchen by dinnertime.

I did.

I was super close to just ordering pizza, but I "put on my big girl panties" and just fried up that chicken like I had originally planned. We had chicken and broccoli for dinner. That was it. We all wanted to save room for homeade angel food cake and strawberries and chocolate sauce.

We fondued.

It was delicious.

It might have tasted better if I hadn't already eaten a half dozen of my brother's truffle cookies that he mailed me. He is awesome. The cookies were really small, fyi.

In addition to Rus' card, I also sent a mustached walrus to my dad. His poem read:

If roses are red

And violets are blue,

Who has the cooler 'stache,

The walrus or YOU?

 

Yesterday he texted me my poem. It said,

Roses are red,

In north Virginia as in ABQ.

What a wonderful friend you are

Flying to see Lindsey be as happy as you.

(I am flying to her wedding soon, hooray!)

I texted him back:

Yay thank you! Did you get yours yet?

Dad: No (sad face) how did you send it?

Me: Pigeon

Dad: Oh yah, thanks, I just washed it off my truck, what a load! If I'd known it was from you...

Me: Did you READ it first? It had a great punchline.

 

I am still laughing.

 

Last week Bekah, Beau, Jacob and I made Valentines. Bekah's were owls with a heart that said, "Valentine, you're a hoot". They were really cute and fun, especially the ones for the boys, which she gave "crazy eyes."

 Beau and Jacob made bug jar valentines that said, "Valentine, you make me go BUGGY." We hot glued plastic bugs to the paper jars. Here is Beau practicing his names. He's getting so big.

Hooray for a happy Valentine's day! (Tyler and Lindsey, my one with you is still my favorite).

Betty Jo Aves

Yesterday I attended the funeral for Rus' great aunt Betty. She was his mom's aunt, and while I had met her on a few different occasions, I never really knew anything about her. Rus' mom is a convert to the church, so her extended family is not LDS. The funeral was held at the Methodist church, a beautiful building with devoted patrons and clergy. It seemed that the pastors knew her very well and that she had devoted many hours of service to her church community. I was so impressed that the sermons were so well tailored to the kind of person Aunt Betty was, someone (I learned), who majored in geology and loved to pull off on the side of the road and chip off a piece of rock "thousands of years in the making" just to see what it was made of...someone who was a weaver and spinner and dyer of wool and also a weaver of many close and intimate relationships. I learned that she had a very strong sense of community and was always looking to bring her family and friends together. I learned that while she was opinionated, she was also able to graciously confront or correct someone, and that friends found they could trust her because she was very open and not afraid to speak her mind. Most of all I learned that I really missed out on knowing an adventurous, vibrant woman who could have taught me so much. I took away two things from her funeral, first that I should always have something in my purse to work on in case I get stuck somewhere (a habit of hers I would like to adopt), and second that I should never under-value the potential of a friendship with someone, especially someone who is younger or older than me.
I hope to never learn to like another person at their funeral!

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.