Carolina Chronicles

Things to do in NC if you come visit:

2012-01-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

We are on our way to North Carolina...still a week or so 'til we actually get there, but since I'm updating my blog, I figure I will put a few more pictures of our summer in North Carolina. Here are some local things that are fun to do.

Home of NASCAR, of course there is a really cool go-cart track. This one has about 5 different tracks that you can race on.

I wish I was bigger....

There is one just for little guys.

This is a big park nearbywith a carousel, train, petting zoo, zoo, splash park, & big playground.

There are also several lakes nearby.

At this state park we rented canoes for $5.00 and paddled around.

The girls with Mr. Joe.

We saw lots of turtles & birds and other wildlife. There is lots of hiking to do at this lake and several state parks in the area. This is also the place where Hailey got stung 7 times by Yellow Jackets. Not good! Mr. Joe rescued her and crushed them all in his hands. She couldn't wait to get back to Aberdeen, where we she would be "safe" from Yellow Jackets. Sorry Hailey, welcome to the south. Hopefully we can avoid future attacks.

Not too far from Daddy's work is an awesome park with another Splash park, two big playgrounds and this train which runs all they way around them. It is a beautiful train and only costs a dollar to ride....cheap if you only ride it once. I think we rode it 3 times a day while we were there. (x's 4 people)

We also went to this little recreation park several times which has some slides as well as a pool and two kiddie pools.

Sounds like fun!

Ya'll come see us now!

Carolina Beach

2012-01-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

This is for my friends who suggested I should update my blog...Thanks for making me feel like someone cares about what is going on in our life. I will try to do a better job. So I guess I'll start where we left off and try to catch up.If you haven't heard yet, we are moving to North Carolina....this week. We got to visit there this summer...we didn't know at the time we'd be living there soon. Here are some pictures of our weekend at Carolina Beach.Hattie our little surfer girl spent all her time boogey boarding in the waves.

Hailey our shore bird, a little afraid of the waves, loved digging for seashells and playing in the sand.

Leif our land lover wanted nothing to do with the water and spent his day as far away from the shore as possible."When are we leaving?"

2011-05-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already been another year!

LJ loves tractors...so a tractor birthday it was! This was a picture of him from the baby animal fair. It matched the decor.The outdoor cookout and picnic migrated to the playhouse. This is LJ's new little buddy. They are so cute together.
His friend is actually almost a year older..but they play so good together.Jay Jay from Grandma & Grandpa W...We have to watch the video every morning now. He says "I want to watch airpane." Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!Cheese!
And of course a John Deere Electric Tractor!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa J!He has ridden this every day since. We have to make sure it is charged every night...and the only way to get him off is kicking and screaming.

He usually rides it for 2 hours every day. We have real tractors around our house all the time driving up the road and working in the fields next door and across the street. He thinks he is just one of the farmers.

I looked out my window the other day to find this..I guess since he has mastered the tractor, he now can figure out the four wheeler. He can barely reach the pedal. Does this look funny to anyone else?

Grandpa & Grandma J Visit

2011-05-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Riding with Granpa on the Ranger.

Swinging with Grandma!

Yellowstone!We are so spoiled to get to live this close to Yellowstone!We usually go every year in May!

Black Wolf that we followed for about a mile as he ran along the road....rumor had it that he was being chased by another pack and was wounded.
So Cool!

Spring is....

2011-05-20T14:50:00.001-07:00

Mountain walks in the melting snow.

Sliding @ the park.Easter Egg Hunts Baby Animal FairsTime for TractorsTime for Hanging out with friends. And still cold in Idaho......

Birthday Rug

2011-05-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom & Dad! It's Beautiful! Just what we needed in the entry way! Happy Birthday to Me!

Winter Skiing

2011-05-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Wolfe Mountain in UT

H 1's first time for downhill. A big thanks to our friend Cheri who taught H1 everything she knows. I didn't trust myself to go on the lift with H1.But a few quick lessons with Cheri and there was no stopping her. First it was "don't help me daddy."Then it was "Mommy, I can teach you to ski."

I definitely couldn't keep up with the 6 year old doing a wedge straight down the hill. I like doing my nice S curves slow and under control. They were always waiting for me at the bottom. I'm glad Eric has someone who can keep up with him.

H1 also picked up cross-country right away. She could actually keep up. Skiing is not always easy with a 30 lb weight on your back. But H2 and LJ loved it as well. Skiing with Grandma & Granpa @ the Nordic Center.

Trees & Snow

2011-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

These Pictures are for my mom who wanted to see what our new trees look like.That's because when my parents were here in October, my dad spent an entire day moving dirt to help us build mounds for the trees.(If you notice, there is a four-legged border collie in the bottom of the picture.)These Pictures were taken in November after our first snow.Which reminds me of the "Snow Princess"... Also built after the first snow.

She turned out to be quite the phenomenom.

She eventually bent all the way backwards with her head on the ground, making a tunnel and never breaking apart. She must have had amazing abs.

Here she is in the middle of a blizzard. She looks kind of pictureque.

This is a ground blizzard at Sunset. It was really pretty too.

Fast Forward to January, and this is my house with the trees now.
The trees really help the place look more "finished", although it is far from finished.

We still need a yard and a lot more trees.Here is the house from the back...Those are my ski tracks.

We now have 30 acres of wide open cross-country skiing. Behind our house is a hill that the kids sled on. On this day the girls and I skied out to the hill.

LJ is in the backpackAnd of course we took our new 3-legged dog along.

I have to say that losing a leg has not slowed this border-collie down.

(She ran out in front of the bus.)

Hattie trying out my skis.

Butterfly Birthday

2010-12-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Our Sweet Little Butterfly
4 years old

Poor little broken winged butterfly.

We kept these wings nice for an entire month waiting for her big day.

Then, just before the party, mom made the mistake of saying, "go get your butterfly costume on". My grown up 4 year old got the stool out and got down her wings all by herself....

I think that is just God's way of teaching me that everything is not going to be perfect like we want it to be. And it's OK. Even if she is the only one at her party with her wings broken.Do you know of any sweeter 4 year old?

Face Paint compliments of Dad!Happy Birthday Butterfly!

Surf's UP

2010-09-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Surf's Up Hattie!

Sassy, Sweet, Spunky, Silly Sparkly, Spectacular ........Six!What appears to be a surf party to everyone else, to Hattie is really a

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale Party...

Hattie is Merlea. (Thus the mermaid tail.)

20 friends and all their parents = 40 guests! Surfboard Handmade by Dad!

All the guests took a ride to get a surfing bracelet or surfer dude necklaceSeahorse Pinata!

Little brother who picked up a little stick and wanted to hit the pinata too! Surfing Barbie with Surfboard from the year she was born.

Fun with friends @ the pool! Fun with Dad!

Happy Birthday!

Look Who is One!

2010-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

One year ago I had a baby boy.

Then two days later we moved to the country and began building a house. My goal was to have his first birthday in the new house.

We recieved our occupancy and moved in on his 1st birthday.

What a year his little life has been! This was a celebration for us all.

A Buzz Lightyear Birthday!

I had made the cake @ 10:00pm the night before and then set up the table first thing on his birthday. We moved all day long and then stopped at 7:oo pm to have a birthday party.
Looking spiffy in his birthday clothes.I think everybody except Leif blew out the candles.LJ is my only child to eat his first piece of birthday cake with a fork. But that's how he wanted it. He wanted a fork and was not about to eat it with his hands. It was so cute.
Feeling satisfied!LJ had lots of help opening gifts. The cutest little smile. "Cheese!" Happy 1st Birthday Baby Boy!

It's all done!

2010-06-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well, kind of...we still have to put in a yard and landscaping.The hard packed dirt around the house makes a great place to ride bikes for now.Eric did the rock work and stained the front door.
The Garage is definitely one of my favorite parts of the house. Dad helped with the rock on the front of the garage.
Stairs up to the kids bedrooms and commons area @ the top of the stairs. Front entry with "study" on left and guest bedroom on the right and my new yellow Toms in the middle.Entertainment center. Kitchen.Some things are self explanatory.

Master Bath with a glimpse into our bedroom.Our bath tub with a glimpse of the shower, minus the glass shower enclosure...which we now have.Laundry/mud roomView from the top.H1's room, which both girls sleep in for now. Yes...it really is that pink. Sometimes, especially after you have painted an entire house... ceiling, walls, doors, and trim, you have to decide if it's worth painting something over or would a five year old girl love it that color anyways.

LJ's room, one of my favorites...and he has a private deck.

I didn't take a recent pic of H2's room.

But its a light green with a really cool pink butterfly ceiling fan.

Another favorite is the kid's bath between the girls'rooms.

Back of the house...the back porch now has a black porch swing on one side and a lovely set of black metal table and chairs. I love coming home to this view of the mountains, and if you look closely you can see the "lake" or resevoir in the distance right about the roof line.View out our dining room window. That's about all!

Cruisin' and Crawling?

2010-02-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

This Picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. He has been on the "verge" of crawling for about 3 weeks. If you set him down on the ground, he immediately gets on his belly and tries to go somewhere. One thing he is really getting good @ is cruisin' around the couches and around this play toy. His new thing is to wrinkle up his nose and "smile" @ us while breathing very heavily. He does this about 24/7 when he's at home with his family. He doesn't do it so much when we are out with other people.

These pictures were taken last night. Mostly he gets up on his knees and makes all the action of crawling, but doesn't go anywhere.When he does go somewhere it is usually a "crawl" mixed with a lot of wiggling and it goes sideways. The Bear Crawl. He seems to prefer this over "crawling" on his knees.It's not pretty and it doesn't look like a crawl, but he can definitely cover 6 ft. and you have no clue how he got there.
The wrinkled nose.
The sweet smile.

Uncle Ben & Drywall

2010-01-27T14:19:00.001-08:00

Since Uncle Ben had pretty much nothing to do and nothing was really going on in his life at the moment, he decided to come for a short visit and help us out with some dry wall. Which was really nice considering he had to sleep on the couch

in our 2 bedroom house and share one bathroom with this family of 5.

The girls really didn't seem to enjoy having him here.

But we put him to work helping put up drywall in our new house.I sure hope he knows how to use that thing.

The girls taking a break and having a chat with Uncle Ben.
The funny thing is that it was almost totally dark in the middle of this room. My flash was the only light, but the girls were just sitting there in the dark drinking their drinks.

These are their little observation chairs. They like to pull their chairs up and watch "Mr. John" our contractor while he's working. I think..... he likes it. He seems to get a kick out of having an audience.

The whole time they are saying "Mr. John, what are you doing? Mr. John what's that?" Or laughing at him as the tape and mud are falling off the wall behind him.
EJ earlier in the day working up on the scaffolding. Uncle Ben and EJ had the girls and our neigbor's kids up on the scaffolding earlier and we were giving them a ride around the living room. I never have my camera at the right times.
The girls upstairs.

Thanks for the Help Uncle Ben and for being away from your family during a very crazy time!

Ice Skating

2010-01-27T14:01:00.001-08:00

There is an ice rink in "town" that we like to take the girls to.Cheese!

It's free, but it's not maintaine, so it's a little rough.

Sitting on the log and getting ready! We hope to have a rink just like this someday in our back yard.

(A little smaller).

H1 skating fast!

H2 getting up from a crash!

Getting a free ride back with Dad!

Blog Updating Marathon-5 posts in one day

2010-01-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

So after our last house posting, we had several friends come out and help deck the roof. Thank you soooo much (Dan, Jason, Mike,Don)! I had no idea how scary it was until I went up myself. Then EJ spent a lot of time in the cold wet rain sheeting the house. (Thanks again Jason for helping.) Then EJ almost fell off the roof and we kind of went through a period of disenchantment with the whole house building thing. Thus, I kind of lost my enthusiasm for blogging. And then we moved again, had Thanksgiving and then E went to Israel and I went to visit family. We are now back on good terms with the house building thing, and I have now found a day to start blogging again.

So after the roof was decked and the sides sheeted, the roofer finally started roofing. Those are packets of shingles up on the roof. My parents came out to help and my dad finished a lot of stuff that had to be done in order to get our rough-in framing inspection. He spent a lot of time up on ladders (which is not exactly his favorite thing) in my house that has an 18 foot ceiling. I believe he left some of his blood on our walls. Thanks for all the help and self-sacrifice! After the rough-in, we had a million decisions to make as the plumber, electricians, and heating and air guys all came in and did their stuff.My dad and EJ wrapped the entire house.Our good friend and soon to be neighbor also helped with the wrap. So, then EJ went to Israel and I went south.
When we left, they had about 1/4 of the house sided.

Ok, here is the most recent picture I have of our house. Although it actually has a garage door on it now. So I'll try to take a more updated picture as soon as I can. Double 5 inch traditional lap siding. Harbor Grey -Mastic Siding. The porch posts will be built out to 6x6 and painted white(linen) and have rock about 1/3 of the way up. The windows will be all wrapped in white(linen) metal, there will be a wood porch and the front door will be stained a cedar color with the side lights painted white with grids. There will be rock around the front door area. A metal roof still needs to be put on over the porch. The garage has Timber Stone cedar shakes in the eave (by Mastic). It will shortly have board and batton siding (We just ran out) across the front, with rock about half way up each side. It does have a garage door, not shown in this picture, with Stockton Colonial windows and bean straps and handles (handles & straps not yet applied.)

Side of the Garage.

Below are some houses in a neighborhood that I used for inspiration for the board and batton, rock, garage doors and cedar shakes.

Zoey our mouse killing machine....better than any cat...leaping and darting and making her rounds across 10 acres. I try to take her out there whenever we go. She definitely knows that it is our land. She is ready to be a farm dog.

Back of the house. LJ's room will have a deck off the 2nd story. And there will be a wooden deck under the porch on the back with the posts built out and painted white (linen.)

Back of the garage.

The insulation has been blown in and the dry-wall is almost complete. It will take a couple of weeks for the mudding and taping and then it will be time to paint and tile. More decisions!

Christmas

2010-01-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is almost always spent with our good friends (who are also a long ways from home and family) eating fingerfoods, exchanging gifts and having a birthday party for baby Jesus.I love the lights on the Christmas Tree and think they are so magical. As a kid I use to lay on the couch at night and just stare at the tree. Christmas morning!Santa of course ate the cookies and chocolate milk we left him.Here the girls are sitting at the new table they got from Grandma & Grandpa Jackson. (Dad stayed up late putting it together, so it was there in the morning.) LJ's big gift! New Bathrobes from mom & dad!
H1and H2 both got Ice skates.

Here they are practicing on the rink in the living room. (We actually took them to a real outdoor rink the next day. I just forgot my camera. They loved it and did great! Double runner blades.)

Check out this video. (We had recently watched Ice Princess.)

Group Hug! Thanks Dad..(Santa)! Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

2010-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

I'm so Thankful for my oldest child who is healthy and loves life.Thankful that even in a small..small...town we were able to find a small...small Christian Preschool @ the Mennonite Church. (Only 4 girls in the class.) Thankful that parents were invited to a "Thanksgiving Feast" The girls performed several songs and did a puppet show about the 1st Thanksgiving!I'm Thankful for H1's best friend who kept popping up during the puppet show.
I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tinkerbell Birthday

2010-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Our little pixie just turned 3!

One of my favorite parts of being a mom is making birthday cakes. I'm not very good, but its fun to think of creative ideas.

The girls all made Tinkerbell Bracelets.

Happy Birthday Cute Girl!

Maybe This is the Year....

2010-01-09T10:02:00.001-08:00

For the Vikings to be in the Super Bowl!

I became a Viking Fan by marriage almost 14 years ago. My kids have become Viking Fans by birth. Every game they get on their gear and do cheers for the Vikings.

This fall, Grandpa & Grandma Jackson from Minnesota got the kids some real Vikings Gear to Wear. H1 has made up several cheers all by herself and has taught them to H2...They are very enthusiastic for at least the first hour of the game.

LJ watching the big game with Dad.The girls were Viking Cheerleaders for Halloween.
EJ's birthday fell on a Monday night game, so we of course had a Viking Birthday Party!

Stay Tuned for an Exciting Play-off Season!
And think of us if the Vikings actually make it this time!

Construction Break: A quick trip to Jackson Hole

2009-10-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

It snowed the whole time and we couldn't see the Tetons.We still had a fun time driving over the pass and seeing the mountains. It was the Patterson's first time to Jackson.Jenny LakeIt was a cold but fun anway kind of day!

How to Build a House Step #6: Add the Trusses

2009-10-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

What a fun Day! A lot of Progress Fast!The First Truss!JP Hooking up the trusses!J & J in action.

Myself in action!

E working on the garage.
The finished product...or not so finished...still a long ways to go!

Step #5: Repeat all over for Second Floor

2009-10-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Gymnast J setting the top plates.
E hanging out on the second floor to be.View from my bathroom window.View out my bedroom Window.View out our kitchen window.View out the front door.View inside the living room.

View from the outside looking into Grandma & Grandpa's room.
After decking the second floor...up go the walls again.

Holes for the porches.

Multitasking.

H 1's Room! At last!H 2's room! Soon she will have to pick up her own toys! L J's Room!
E & J hanging out on the back wall.

The Joberston Clan...Always to be found nearby!

How to Build a house: Steps 3 & 4 Decking & Framing

2009-09-28T19:28:00.001-07:00

Deck the floor under a beautiful Sunset. Go over the floor plans with your contractor. Bring in your father-in-law to do some cutting.Bring in your good friends from Arkansas to help frame up the house.Go up with the walls!

A lot of teamwork is involved.

Make sure you work until dark every night.

Getting the entire exterior of the house framed in one day! Priceless!

How to build a house: Step #2 The Foundation

2009-09-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Pour Concrete Footings: As seen below. (Let sit for a week or two while concrete guys are busy with bigger and better homes.)

Put up the formsFill the forms with concrete.Remove forms for a nice foundation.Start on the support walls and floor joices:

Make sure your foundation plan matches your house plan so you don't have to go back and cut concrete. It's very expensive. We'll let you know how much.Always include cute pictures of the kiddos.
Happy 4 Month Birthday Baby Boy!!

Labor Day Hike

2009-09-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Teton Canyon

The backside of the Tetons: It's Free and No CrowdsAt the beginning of the hike, everyone was walking.
And stopping to pose on every log.

Mommy take a picture of this.And this...And this.....Mommy needs to get in at least one.

By the end of the hike, everyone wanted a ride.A good Labor Day!

Ballerina Princess

2009-09-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

This 5 year old's favorite movie is Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses. So we had a Barbie, Ballerina Princess Party.Two Ballerina Princesses Ready to Go.All the Ballerina Princesses (New Friends)Actually the entire population of children at our little church. They have one Sunday School class and this is it. The youngest is 2 and the oldest is 7. (The boys came as Super Heroes.) Mom's Masterpiece.

We had a "real ballerina", our pastor's daughter, come teach the girls a dance.

The girls loved it. It was very precious.

Pin the tiara on the scary looking "Barbie" Princess GenevieveOpening Gifts. Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

A post just for the boy

2009-08-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

"I'm not happy up here."

"I'm very happy here!"3 1/2 months: This is his new favorite place to be.Look @ that face...handsome & intelligent!

How to build a house: Step #1 Dig a Big Hole

2009-08-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

Dig a big holeLevel it with a laser as you go along.Make sure you have cute observers standing by.

Play "King of the World!" on the piles of dirt.

Observe your handiwork.

Play with your friends in the "basement".8 Hours Later:

Take a family picture to remember what it looked like.

Front Row to the Farm Life

2009-08-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Even though we are not farmers, we live on a farm and are right in the middle of thousands of acres of crops. A few weeks ago was wheat harvest. All over town the beautiful golden fields of waving wheat were being combined. My two year old can recognize and tell you what a combine is. This is the field right across the street from our house. Right across the street. See there is our mail box in the bottome left corner.

These are all pictures I took from my front porch. The fields in Idaho are so beautiful because of the mountains in the background.
This isn't a very good picture because of the lighting, but I just wanted you to see how up close and personal we are with farm life.

Below is a picture of the local crop duster. We hear him flying by almost everyday on his way to someone's farm, and we almost always see him when we are driving to the next town. (My two year old can also tell you what a crop duster is.)
Today, We heard the crop duster really close. I looked out my bedroom window to see him lined up and coming straight toward my window. I thought he was going to fly right in, but at the last minute he hopped up and over the trees and my house. So we went out front and had our own private airshow as he flew back and forth all around our house. Literally feet from the ground, power lines and our house. In the above picture he is lined up coming straight at us from across the street.
Here he is flying just a few feet above my front yard. How cool is that. He is very accurate with his spraying, so we felt very safe, but I'm glad he didn't crash. Now you can see why we have a front row to the farm life... and we are getting quite the education. Even the 2 year old.
Stay tuned as in a few weeks the Great Potato Harvest Begins... The whole town shuts down for 2 weeks, even school is out for 2 weeks because every man, woman, child, and beast along with their trucks are out in the fields harvesting potatos. Think about that the next time you eat "Real Idaho Potatos." We have potatos on our side (pictured above) and back, so we again will have a front row seat to all the action.

Our Pool, American Falls Resevoir

2009-07-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

When we are home, we go to the resevoir almost everyday.

Best Friends

This is the boat dock that the kids like to jump off.

Leif Today

2009-07-01T16:12:00.001-07:00

Here is Leif Today...(I haven't posted any pictures of him since he was born.)

At 1 & 1/2 months old...he is really smiling. Especially at his Daddy. Eric just has to look at him and Leif is all smiles and just coos at his daddy. I think it is because he is home all day long with just girls. I took his bib off for one picture and was immediately reminded of why he had it on in the first place. Isn't he a cutie. This laundry basket just always happens to be around when I need to put him down for a second.

The Move

2009-06-10T13:24:00.001-07:00

The girls got front row seats to the big move and drove Grandpa crazy singing as loud as they could all the way to the new house.Our cute little farmhouse which is totally remodeled inside.Our lovely shaded backyard, complete with trampoline, sandbox and horsey swing. Thanks to Grandpa Winter and Eric for putting up a nice fence, disassemling and reassembling the tramp, to Grandpa for the new sandbox and horse swing.

The horse swing is so much fun!! It goes really high and around and around in circles. It's one of those things that you always wished you had, but you never did.The best things about living in the country:

Walks with Grandpa.Mountain Views on all sides.Gardening with Grandma Lola.Picnicking @ the lake by our house.It's like a water park but totally free! Playing in Rain Puddles...

Taking a bath in the huge whirlpool tub @ the end of the day.
Not too bad for renting!

Thanks Mom & Dad for all your help moving, packing & unpacking and taking care of kiddos! Exhausting! Let's not do that again for awhile...

Thanks Lola for helping take care of kiddos and for the garden and flowers out front... we had a lot of fun!

Dance Recital

2009-06-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

The Ballet Troop Before the Show

Waving goodbye to the crowd.

The girls changed costume and prepared to tap.Not much tapping actually takes place.
Such a cutie!
I love this next picture, because it shows H1 with a real smile and having fun and that's the point of being in dance.
Her favorite part of the show is getting a flower at the end. She talked all day about getting a flower at the end of the show.

During the dance, the teacher stands on the side and the girls can watch her to remember their moves. We sat on the wrong side, so during the first dance, we mainly saw the side of her head because H1 watched her teacher the whole time. (I had moved to get better pics.) So between dances I told H1 to look for Grandma and daddy and smile at them. The result: She actually listened to me and looked for Grandma and daddy, which means she didn't watch her teacher, as you can see in the videos below. Oops! Oh well. It was still cute!

Leif Daniel Jackson

2009-05-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Introducing the newest member of our family.9.6 pounds and 22 inchesLeif Daniel Jackson

Proud Sisters!

Excited Little Sister said, "Thank you mommy, Thank you for my brother."Responsible older sister is so mature and helpful!We are now officially the Jackson Five!

The Ant Watcher

2009-05-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

Spring has always brought a little trail of black ants in our back door. This year, H2 has discovered these ants and is constantly on the look out for them. If she see any....she immediately starts yelling....."Mommy can you get him? Mommy get this one." And as long as there is an ant insight, she will not let me rest. She also has taken it upon herself to go upstairs and get a whole wad of toilet paper saying,"I'll get him...I'll get him mommy, I'll do it by myself."
Earlier this day she was laying flat on her belly in her princess dress getting an eye level view of the ants, but I wasn't fast enough to get my camera. She had asked me how the ants got out. I told her through little cracks in the door. When I found her this time, she had the door open and was telling the ants to "Go on little ants...go outside....go out the door ants."I have sinced sprayed the door frame with ant spray and haven't seen any since.

H2 Counting Ants (She interchangebly calls them ants and spiders).

4 1/2 and 2 1/2

2009-04-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

There is a difference between a 4 year old and a 4 1/2 year old. And there is definitely a difference between a 2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old.

4 1/2 year old:

As her little sister was trying to find her tail so she could be a bunny. The 4 1/2 year old very emphatically told her, "H2, you are not a rabbit." So I told her "Your sister can pretend she is a rabbit....you like to pretend you are things all the time. You like to pretend you are a princess." That's when she told me "Mommy, big girls do not pretend! Princesses are real! and I am a real princess, and Hannah is a real princess, and Kayden is a real Super Hero!" (Okay..glad big girls don't pretend.)

Several times this past week she has told me she is "not going to be H2s sister anymore!" (Good luck with that one.)

Yesterday as we were discussing what I wanted her to do. She said several times "Mommy I don't want to do it your way!..I want to do it my way!" I told her she could sure try that and see what happened, or she could move out on the street and live by herself without a mommy and daddy, and then she could do things her way. (She decided she didn't want to do that.)

She's also trying out new things on me. For example when I got out puzzles for her to work on yesterday, and I was busy minding my own business, doing housework, she would yell at me. "Mommy, don't talk to me right now...I'm busy." "Mommy, you need to leave me a lone for a little bit." (I understand that I have probably said something to her like this in the past, but it was under different circumstances.) It is weird to hear it when you are in the next room folding clothes.

2 1/2:

So far, the 2 year old has been sweet and funny and a blast. This 2 1/2 year old is a whole new ball game. She has stepped up her game just in time for a new baby to arrive and is trying to drop her nap too...I'm not going to let happen if possible. I need her to nap.

"I can do it by myself!"

This started on a walk last week. Every time she says this, she wrinkles up her brow and looks at us with very serious eyes and a pouty mouth. "I can do it by myself!" She wanted to push her John Deere Tractor down a very steep hill coming home from the park. Boy did she do it By herself!

Then she wanted to dye easter eggs "By Myself!" And she did. No one could help her. Every egg was brown, and all our dyes ended up brown, but she did it By herself!

Easter morning she held up her hand like a stop sign and shook it at us and informed all of us that she was going to find the eggs "By myself!"

Yesterday she wanted to put on her pullup "By Myself!" If only she would go to the potty By herself! She puts on all her shoes and shirts "By Myself!"

Independence is good, but yesterday during her "nap", the first time I went in, she had taken the blanket down off the window that I use to darken her room, had on a night gown, a backpack, and all her drawers open and clothes on the floor. So I undid all the damage laid her back down, with a book, her blankie and a drink. (She has always been such a good napper.) Then I hear her knocking on the door a little while later, and she had A & D ointment all over her body, all over the dresser, all over the wall, and all over the door. Not to mention diapers out and all sorts of other stuff. (Did I mention we are in the middle of trying to show our house.)

This morning she told her sister... "keep your hands to yourself!"

Her favorite things to say to me are "Not yet mommy, not yet!" (When I want her to do someting) and "Now mommy, right now! "(When she wants me to do something.) And if I don't do it fast enough she gets right in my face and says "Now mommy!"

Still cute and funny...
The other day when she wanted me to dance, and I told her I was too fat...(8 months pregnant). She said "You're not fat, you just have baby Leif in your tummy." I thought that was pretty insightful, and it made me feel good to know that a 2 year old could see that I'm not really fat.

On our walk to the park, we passed a rock retaining wall and she exclaimed "It's the great wall of China!"

She's still cute and funny, but also a whole lot of energy bent on destruction as well.

Easter Morning

2009-04-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

Easter Goodies from Grandma & Grandpa WinterPre-Egg Hunt: "Happy Easter"

Where's the Easter Bunny?

What did you find?

"Thanks Easter Bunny!"

Easter Dresses, Shoes, and Purses from Grandma & Grandpa Jackson

There's a natural smile.

Can't get a good pic of H2 these days.

Crazy Stuff

2009-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is a new sport in the Jackson House, trying to catch the stuffed animals as they fly off of the fan.

All three videos were cute so I had to include them all.

We don't let our kids jump on the bed, but it just kind of spontaneously happens in their excitement.

Overheard the other day:

As the girls were making some kind of great creation in the living room, not sure if it was a castle or what, H1 excitedly ran up stairs saying "And I'm going to go....get....my....Mermaid!!!!" H2 quickly followed her saying, "And I'm going to go get my.....I'm going to ....I, I'm, I'm going to go get...I'm going to go get.....What am I getting?"

This morning: H2 came up to me with a sewing tape measure..I forgot exactly what she said...but it was obvious she wanted to measure me. So I waited patiently as she meaured me from the waist down and then concluded..."You're big."

Life with 2 little girls

2009-03-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

We take hide'n seek seriously at our house.

Random Conversations from our house this week:

Monday: After a weekend home alone with daddy, H1 came in carrying her running shoes. (She never wears running shoes...they're not girly enough for her.) She wanted to wear them and said that Daddy told her they were cool and would make her faster than Benjamin. (I've told her that many times.) I asked her what she had worn with her running shoes with on Saturday, She said pants. (She never wears pants and always throws a huge fit.) I said "I thought you didn't like pants" , She said "Oh I guess your right, pants are more fun." Daddy evidently has more influence than I do.

Wednesday: While 20lbs heavier and 7 months pregnant, I was walking up a very steep hill, pushing a stroller carrying 60lbs worth of girls in it, into a brutal head wind. The windshield was down so the girls were protected and it made a nice wind catcher. (I was pretty proud of myself for being out and walking.) H1 said, "Mommy can you go faster?" They are used to running, and I was moving at a snails pace up this steep hill. I told her No for the reasons listed above. She said "Oh, well when you get to the top of the hill can you go faster?" I told her I would try, but it was doubtful. Then she told me that "Well, Daddy can go faster." I told her that was very true.

Friday: H2 was looking for the doll house mommy...I think the mommy was eaten by our dog, so I told her we'd need to get a new mommy. As I was talking to her about possibly buying a new mommy H1 walked in and was a little perplexed at why we needed to buy a new mommy. Very concerned she asked "Can't we just buy you?" Awwhhh! She thought we were going to buy a real mommy. It pierced my heart. As much as she and I go round and round with battles, she still wants me for her mommy. I gave her a big hug!

Fun Times with Cousins

2009-02-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

While my husband was flying around the world (New Zealand & Australia) for 10 days....the girls and I took the opportunity to reunite with some family members in OKC.Lee & Dora Jean Austin's Great Grand Kids (Minus 5 in Missouri)Grandkids of Steve & Bonnie Winter with newest addition recently arrived from Ethiopia... Little E.The girls in their coordinating outfits

H1 with her favorite girl cousin

climbing the tree in front of Grandpa's House

At OKC's Botanical Gardens My sister has a very nice camera and took a lot of really good photos of Little E. This is the one I have, but he had so many cute expressions during his Photo Shoot. (See my sister-in-law's blog http://www.winterinethiopia.blogspot.com/)
H1 bonding with her newest cousin. He likes to push things.At the zoo with Little E & Uncle Ben.

Little E also likes to dance.

H2 & Little E enjoying the view of the fish tank together. 2nd Cousin's 4th Birthday..Princess Party2nd and 5th cousins.
Coordinating Cousins @ Church on Sunday. No Cousins here...just a random picture of H1 & H2 showing off some skills.

Sledding Last Saturday

2009-02-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

It has not snowed for at least two weeks, but the snow on the ground is hanging on. It's as hard as a rock from freezing and thawing, but it still makes for good sledding....just don't fall off. H2 walked to the top of the hill by herself everytime in her heavy little snow boots. She didn't ever accept the free ride, unlike her older sister, who gladly accepted the free ride everytime.This is the park @ the end of our street.
"Slinging" in the snow according to the 2 year old. For some reason she substitutes the letter L for the letter W. She also says "slimming" in the "slimming pool."
"I want to walk daddy." (She's a trooper.)
Heading to the car, H2 finally decided to take a rest.

Feeling Better..

2009-02-05T18:46:00.000-08:00

The afternoon after I typed my last post I was saved by our good friend. He is a young man who is staying with us, and as he walked in at 3:00 that afternoon, I started crying and asked him if I could just leave him with the girls for an hour so I could maintain my sanity. I think he was a little perplexed but of course told the crying pregnant woman that he would gladly do whatever. So, I left by myself with no one in tow, just walked out the door and got in my car (what an amazing freedom so many people take for granted) and went to a coffee shop and ordered a cinnamon-sugar bagel, a hot chocolate with whip cream and marshmallows, and sat on the big couch by the fire place and read People Magazine for an hour. Amazing how that can really make you feel better.

I also got my new stroller that day. I'm so excited about my new Baby Trend Sit and Stand. As you can see from these pictures, I can fit three children in the stroller. The part of the new baby brother is being played by the baby doll in the front seat. H1 can stand, H2 can sit, and the front seat adjusts to hold the car seat. H1 & H2 can actually sit side by side on the middle seat, and as H2 really wanted to prove, you can actually fit 4 kids on the stroller.

Today is the day

2009-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

I wish I were not a mom..... I wish right now I was a working woman with no kids, who could wear nice outfits to work and work out when I got home and was free to go anywhere at anytime without this feeling of heaviness that has to follow me everywhere I go, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I've never gone out after work for cocktails with friends(I've never had alcohol in my life.) ....But right now, that just sounds so fun and freeing.
(I'm also emotional, tired, and pregnant and I've just hit a wall today.) This is how I feel right now. I really wish for at least 5 minutes I was not a mom

Curls.....Cute or Crazy?

2009-01-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Having a cute little blonde with curls was always a dream of mine....never a reality. I have straight, straight hair. My first daughter has straight, straight hair. But my husband has curly hair, and now daughter number two has curly hair. It sounds precious....if you know what to do with them.Here are her curls in their natural state after a bath.
Normally I spray her hair with detangler and brush it out straight and it ends up kind of wavy.

I have no idea what to do with it. So my sister suggested curl enhancer. So I bought some curl enhancing spray gel. All I did was spray it on and run my fingers through her hair.

Here's the result.
We weren't so sure if we liked the reuslts. So I brushed the curls out and here's what we got.
Shirley Temple, So I still need help....Any ideas?
She is truly precious...curls and all.

Putting the Girls to Bed?

2009-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Found at the Jackson Home on Sunday Night 10:40 pm. We had friends over to play cards and they left around 10:00 pm. (Not really that late at the Jackson home.) After putting the girls in their pjs, Eric read them some books, but then I noticed it was really quiet in there. This is what I found. Moral of the story is if you want y0ur kids (& husband) to go to bed easily just keep them up really late.

Sea World

2009-01-13T11:55:00.001-08:00

First up was the dolphin Show

After the dolphin show, the kids were very sure that they wanted to sit in the "Soak Zone" for the Shamu Show. We warned them.. and they said they understood.This was the kids Before Shamu...I'm in the brown shirt mid-picture...you can see the kids down close to the front row. They didn't stay down there for long.
After the show...My favorite thing was the dolphin interaction pool.We got to feed and pet the dolphins I used to love dolphins as a kid and had dolphin posters, jewelery, etc.

I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer...this trip was so good for my soul.

We got to see the Sea Lions @ feeding time. They were so loud and funny.

And finally the Clyde and Seymour Show. (They had those same names when I saw them 13 years ago in San Antonio, Tx.)

Disneyland

2009-01-13T11:13:00.001-08:00

As soon as we walked in the park we got see Goofy, Mickey, and Pluto

Adorable Disney Hats Definitely an affordable & great souvenir.Names monogrammed on the back for free.

We traveled to San Diego & Anaheim with our good friends and Grandma & Grandpa later joined us to go to Disneyland & Sea World.

First priority for our girls was meeting the princesses

And their favorite...Princess Minnie.

I think if we would have gone back later we would've met the others.

Our only regret was that we didn't see Cinderella.

Mickey Mouse
Pooh. (This little one's favorite.)

We took a lot of pictures and rode lots of rides. Grandma & Grandpa were adopted by the other family as well. Both Grandma & Grandpa pushed lots of strollers and carried lots of tired kids. Overall it was definitely a magical day!

Sunny San Diego

2009-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful break from the Idaho Snow and Cold....La Jolla CoveSeals @ La Jolla Cove We stayed at the Hilton Spa and Resort on Mission Bay. We had our own beach front and heated pools with fire pits to sit by @ night.

Girls @ the Koi Ponds @ our hotel.

Mary & Baby Jesus

2008-12-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

I walked into the girls bedroom tonight to find my 2 year old in the laundry basket with her blanket over her. She said "I'm baby Jesus." "I'm baby Jesus." Then to her sister she said, "Are you Mary?" Immediately the 4 year old grabbed her blanket and put it around her head and sat down by the "manger". The 2 year old began to sing "Away in the Manger" and then "Sing it H---" to her older sister. I took a couple of pics and then we tucked the girls into bed, turned off the lights, and gave them hugs...at which point the 2 year old rolled over and said to the 4 year old "Good night Mary." To which the 4 year old responded "Good night baby Jesus."

Christmas was Snow Much Fun!

2008-12-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

I think overall we got close to 20 inches of snow over the last week.

I loved it....but of course I didn't have to shovel the driveway everytime.
Check out the wall of snow at the base of our driveway. It is almost up to Eric's knees. They had shoveled it clear the day before. This was all brand new snow from overnight. We definitely had to dig out if we wanted to go anywhere.Eric and Jason Morehead began to dread every time it began to snow.

The girls loved it...They got to go sledding. I don't have any pictures of that because, my camera is in Oklahoma. Thankfully, these pics are brought to you courtesy of Eric's parents who stayed with us over Christmas.
Deep Snow!

We began building a snowman in late afternoon. But of course...we have 2 little girls obsessed with princesses. So the snowman was a little more creative.

The Snow Princess in all her glory!

If we would have put her in the front yard, sure she would have made the evening news.

It's a Fish!

2008-12-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

That's what H2 said about what she saw on the ultrasound machine.

Actually before that Eric asked her what she saw on the screen. She said very clearly. "It's a baby boy." That was before we knew what it was. And then later she said "It's a fish." But, a brother is what her sister and her were hoping for. H1 really wanted a brother. We had to prepare her the night before in case it was a baby girl. Eric and I both felt in our hearts that it was another girl. But.......

It was a baby boy on the ultrasound machine! So the girls are going to have their wish come true. H1 can't wait for spring. She's going to teach the baby all about how to play with trains and to ride a bike, etc. She says her job is to make the baby laugh. They are both so excited and so are we. We just don't know what we are going to do with a boy yet. But I'm sure we'll figure it out.

It's Beginning to look a lot like......

2008-12-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Festival of the TreesThis was a fundraiser for our hospital that takes place every year.

They have every kind of Christmas tree you can imagine, which are all up for bid. I just forgot to take pictures of the trees. The best part was the Christmas Play which allowed all the kids to join in "looking" for Christmas at the end of the play.
It was H1's big moment. She kept smiling @ us and we knew she loved being up front.This elf was the star of the play.Picture with friends.

They also had an electric train set up that was so neat, coloring for the kids, and downstairs was a princess party. We didn't go to the princess tea party this year, because it costs alot. But I think we will budget it for it next year. It might as well have been disneyland. The girls watched all the princesses downstairs and were so excited. One little girl, about 3, was dressed up as Snow White and had come up stairs with her parents to look @ the trees. H2 squealed at the top of her lungs...multiple times..."It's Snow White! It's Snow White!" Poor little girl.. she had no clue she was famous. H2 ran over to her and got right in her face and waved at her saying, "Hi Snow White! Hi Snow White!" The little girl just kind of faded behind her mom. We were laughing so hard as we tried to drag H2 away. I literally had tears in my eyes. We can't wait to take her to Disneyland for real in January.

And of course Santa himself! This Santa was cool, way better than the mall....he is a real "grandpa" and he had a real beard. We got a really nice 5x7 picture with him for $7. Beats the $25.00 the mall charges to sit on some weirdos lap. (And it all goes to help the hospital). I definitely recommend the festival of trees and think we will make it a tradition from now on.
I highly reccommend this video. I haven't seen the girls dance so much in a long time. I especially like the fact that they have several songs, including "Away in the Manger", that are specifically about Christ's birth. They even have the kids dressed up in the characters of the Nativity and interview them about who they are dressed as. It's not quite "Christian"...but they definitely celebrate what the first Christmas was truly about. I got mine for $5.00 @ Ross.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Have a Wiggly Wiggly Christmas!

Turkeys

2008-11-27T19:10:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving, Eric and I are so thankful for our two little turkeys.

They are so much fun and such a blessing.

We are also thankful for out new little turkey, which will be joining our family sometime around May 12th. We will find out if it is a boy or a girl the week of Christmas! What fun! We could definitely use a boy around here to balance out all the pink, but another little princess would be three times the fun.

It's Official

2008-11-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

We have a Reader....

Just don't ask her to read the whole book. She gets a little overwhelmed and wants to go play. We're just working on a few pages at a time.

My Friend Pooh

2008-11-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

H2 really wanted a Pooh Party for her birthday. I'm not sure why it never occured to me to actually get her a Pooh Bear. That would have made sense wouldn't it have. So today we were in JCPenney and we saw the cutest Pooh. She immediately grabbed it and held it tight and was so excited about the Pooh bear. As a parent of course I wanted her to have it, and again I thought..."why didn't I get that for her birthday?" But her birthday has passed and Christmas is coming up...I really try not to buy my kids things spontaneously, but instead make them wait for a special occasion. Then I remembered that she had gotten birthday money from Uncle Ben & Aunt Rebecca and it was still in her piggy bank waiting for something special. So the sweet girl got her pooh, and I got the money in the piggy bank. And Ben & Rebecca got her the best gift of all.
H2 is also allergic to milk, cheese, milk chocolate etc. Since not everybody knows this that she interacts with, I'm trying to train her to realize and say that she can't have cheese. So it was funny on Sunday when she walked into Sunday school for snack time, they have a variety of cookies and snacks the kids can choose from including cheese crackers, H2, unprompted, just walked up to the teacher and shook her head emphatically and said "I can't have cheese". It was so cute. So I asked her to do it for the camera just for fun. See below.

What two year olds do....

2008-11-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

I remember my first daughter doing this when she was about this age. I have some videos of her, so I knew I needed to get some videos of my youngest also. This is what she looked like when I first found her. This is what she looked like a little while later. And yes all of the stuff from the first picture was still on her. When I undressed her,....crying with resistance of course, she had on 14 articles of clothing, not including her own clothes. Big sis didn't want to be left out if the camera was involved.
Of course, it was cute that day and I took lots of pictures. But then when it happened again the next day, and then every time I turned around....and then when I had to wrestle my property off a screaming child everytime.....it started to become not so cute. But these videos are still pretty cute.

I didn't realize that I was taking a sideways video.
(Please ignore my messy room.)

Fun memories!

Two Years Old!

2008-11-09T20:10:00.001-08:00

Can't believe she's two!

We celebrated with Pooh!

How sweet is she!

Singing Happy Birthday with Friends:

Opening Gifts:

Reading Cards:

Trying on the goods:

What a happy day!

Happy birthday precious girl!

It would be nice if Cinderella wore jeans once in awhile.

2008-10-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Overheard this morning: (The brief version.)

"Mommy, can I wear a beautiful skirt today?" (She wears a skirt everyday.)

"I'd really like you to wear jeans today. Your sister is wearing jeans. I think you need to wear jeans today."

"I don't want to wear jeans!" (Arms crossed emphatically.)

"I think it would be good for you to wear jeans once in a while."

"I'm a princess and princesses don't wear jeans!" (Fists thrown down to sides.)

"Princesses wear jeans sometimes."

"No they don't!"

"They do when they play. Look at these jeans, they have hearts on them."

"They have bones on them and I don't like bones!"

"Those are arrows that go with the hearts. They stand for love."

"I don't like arrows!"

"Sweetheart you need to wear jeans because you need to learn to appreciate the things you have."

"Princesses don't wear jeans!" (Through tears.)

"Sometimes they do wear jeans"

"Cinderella, Belle, and Snow White don't wear jeans!"

"Sweetheart, those princesses aren't really real, they are just a story."

"They live in a real castle! They are real!"

"They are just a story, but God is real and he is the true King...and because you are his child that makes you a true princess."

"Is God a girl?" (I almost have her jeans on her now.)

"No. God is a man..? ..a boy..?... a male."

"Princesses are real!" (A final emphatic word of defiance.)

(Silence.)

"Mom will you tickle me?"

He's the Man

2008-10-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Not only did he bring home this cool shirt ....

He also brought home a $25.00 gift certificate to Red Lobster. WooHoo!

Way to go EJ!

Goose eggs, skirts, & a pretty heart

2008-10-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have a goose egg on my forehead from my 2 year old who ran up, dove and head butted me as I was sitting nicely on the grass at the park. I saw stars and had to lay back for atleast 30 seconds because it hurt so bad. It involved my sunglasses somehow, and I'm not sure how she did not get hurt, but she only laughed, got up and ran off.

As I was watching my 2 girls playing in the park in their skirts and tights I was reminded of the conversation I overhead between the two of them this morning. You see the four year old only wants to wear skirts. Thankfully my mom was here last weekend, and she helped stock her up with tights so she could continue to wear her skirts for fall and winter. And the four year old only has a few pairs of pants for winter, but I'm not buying any more, because she doesn't wear them. The two year old has a lot of pants, and only two non-church skirts. The bad thing is that she has caught on to this wearing skirts thing and now she only wants to wear skirts. (I don't want to buy a new wardrobe, when she has lots of perfectly good pants.) So this morning the two year old ran into her room and opened the closet, which I was in because we were playing hide and seek, yelling "I want my dress, I want my dress." So I helped her put on some tights and one of the two skirts she has. She immediately said, "I pitty" (pretty). Then she ran into the four year olds room and said "Look @ me...I pitty." We can always tell when the two year old feels pretty because she starts swaying or spinning in circles singing "La, la, la.... la, la, la."

So before I finish the conversation between the girls I further have to explain about the Four year old. There are many days that she comes down the stairs, saying "Look @ me mommy, don't I look gorgeous? All my friends are going to say that I'm so beautiful." So then I have to talk to her about the fact that she is beautiful, but her friends don't care what she looks like, they care how she treats them. We talk about how being kind and obeying your parents are things that really make you beautiful in your heart. Something along those lines. We have that conversation a lot.

So this morning when lil sis ran in and said "Look @ me....I pitty," Big sis told her "Your not pretty, your heart is."

And after that we went to the park.

It's not Arkansas

2008-10-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

I miss the fall in Arkansas, but Idaho is still pretty in it's own way.
My parents arrived just in time to take all the furniture and pull all the carpet out of our house.

Since we were displaced for a day and a half we went for a drive.

These pictures are from Kelly Canyon which is about an hour and 15 minutes from my house.

We saw about 5 bald eagles "fishing" along the river.

Then we drove to Swan Valley, my dad's favorite spot.

Tree climber

Wanna be tree climber.

H2 got dedicated @ church on Sunday.

Grandma brought the girls new outfits. Aren't they sweet. Here they are on our new carpet. I didn't get a single picture of my parents with the girls. Not sure what happened, except that we were all working the whole time to patch and paint wall and lots of other stuff. Thanks for all your help mom & dad!

Falling behind....

2008-10-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Fall for me has been very busy, and therefore something had to give. If you haven't noticed, my blog has been untouched for about 4 weeks. So sorry to all my 5 faithful blog readers if there are any of you left. As I am typing this I am realizing that it is not so hard to post and I'm not sure why I haven't done it in so long. So here is a quick recap of the last month:H1 started soccer.
Hubby is the coach now that our coach quit.
H2 is still H1's number one fan.
And H2 is still cute!

Hubby's Parents came to visit.

We went to Crater's of the Moon Nat'l Monument.The we dug 16 test holes on the land we want to buy. Turns out it was too shallow to dig because of the lava beds underneath...bummer. So they said we could buy the land across the street, which you can see behind hubby.The kids waited patiently through 3 hours of digging.More Soccer Games. Grandma bought the girls costumes for Halloween.

(H2 and her good friend preparing for life on the farm.) We went and looked @ the land across the street....dug test holes. Everything was good. Then they decided they didn't want to sell us the land across the street. So now we are back to looking @ the first property, which we like better, just trying to figure out how to make it work. One thing we know for sure, is that we are ready to have some land so the kids can run and play.

My parents came to visit this past week. We were so busy getting our house ready to sell. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Property in Aberdeen

2008-09-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went out and took another look @ the land we are bidding on.

The girls decided to take their horses for a ride.
It looks just like a flat piece of farmland from the front.

View to the East.
View to the South View to the North

My husband and girls standing where we would possibly build our house.

View from the back of where we'd build a house.

The two posts in the middle is where the driveway would come in.

My husband is standing in the middle of where the driveway would be. We'd build to the left and the other family to the right.

Aspen Trees

No Man's Land- Not farmable due to lava rock, but a great place for kids to play.

Field behind the house.

The Girls were busy "building a house".

The view to the northeast. We'll put a tree there.

Birthday Party!

2008-09-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

Someone special turns 4 on Wednesday. But since we have soccer and youth group Wednesday night, we had a little party with a few of her best friends on Sunday evening. This was not quite the masterpiece I was imaging, but Birthday Girl said "Mommy, this is the best cake ever. It's got spots all over it. How did you ever know?" I felt like I had made a masterpiece. We put the top "tier" of the cake in the freezer

to celebrate with our family Wednesday night.

Look @ those two beautiful girls!

"Cheese"! We had hotdogs with our friends before we had cake!

I don't think the birthday girl got to blow out her own candle.... She had lots of help. (She will on Wednesday.)

This was the calm before the storm. We (all of the parents) tried to keep the kids sitting on the couches as Birthday Girl opened her gifts. It started out organized, but then all chaos broke out, and everybody helped B.G. open her presents too. It was comical. I was trying to take pictures and lil' sis of course was the worst. (I was really proud of B.G. because she didn't seem to mind all of the help.)
This was a puppy from Grandma for her dollhouse.

I think her exact words were "Oh how wonderful! It's cool. I like it!"

The Poser

2008-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Two weeks of staying in a hotel with a water park and eating out every night... equals two spoiled little girls.

This is not the hotel we stayed at for two weeks,

this was a different water park on the way home.

Big Sister really wanted to pose for every picture.

You can barely see lil' sister's hand behind her in this picture.

Lil' sister started watching Big sister.

Lil' Sister is starting to pose now too.

Big sis never new she had a copy cat.

Here is a video of Big sis posing for that perfect look after her slide.

More Posing....

Big sis loved going down the waterslides for 2 weeks, but never by herself. At the end of the 2 weeks going down slides, big sis very confidently went down the big slide by herself. In fact she had never gone down the big slide yet by herself, we were at this brand new pool and we were walking from the kiddie pool to the big pool. Myself leading followed by big sis, lil' sis, then dad. I went around the corner, put my stuff down and then looked at the big pool as a tiny girl came down the slide and went under and then doggie paddled to the side. I first thought. "That little girl is going to drown." Then, "Oh she has on floaties." Then, "hey that's ______!" My husband then came around the corner and I looked at him and he looked at me. We both thought the other had let her go down. We both thought that she was with the other one. So as she passed the stairs she had just run up them and had gone down this 4-story slide all by herself. If anybody asked me if she would have done that, I would have said "no way". "She is too scared. She will never go by herself". Well, she proved us wrong, and got in trouble for going off by herself.

Here is a short video of her going down with Dad!

We survived Survivor....

2008-08-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

"There can only be one..."

That was the theme for Survivor this year. There can only be one God.

Exodus 20:3

12 Adults. 43 Survivors. 3 tribes. 1 God.

Nobody was seriously injured, nobody drowned, we didn't get eaten by bears, we didn't burn down the forest...To me it was succesful . But really, Andy McCune did a great job speaking. The challenges, tribal councils, tribe devotions all went well. I'll try to get more pics from our photographer to post.

Dad and Mom were a tremendous help, watching kids, cooking meals, and helping set up challenges. The RV that my parents rented with their own money became the Survivor headquarters for all meals and first aid. We had more than one patient in the RV late @ night. All the other adults kept commenting about how my parents were awesome and such servants to all these people they didn't even know. Thanks Mom & Dad!

We were home one day from Survivor, and then off to Fargo, ND for 2 weeks.

And then we got busy......really busy!

2008-07-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

From Minnesota we drove 10 hours to Missouri for a 4th of July Family Reunion.

The girls with my mom eating s'mores.

Holding (strangling?) a kitty from my Granpa's farm.

Blowing Bubbles in the Gasconade River.

Jumping in Granpa's River...Oh to be a 1 year old.

Eric & I left the girls there and drove for 2 days back to Idaho and then went Immediately to Old Faithful Christian Ranch where Eric was the speaker for a week. I didn't take any pics @ OFCR because we were too busy. I flew home to get the girls on Friday, was back home 24 hours later with the girls.

We were home for 4 days before off to another very small church camp where Eric spoke again.

We took the girls this time.

Palisades Mennonite Church Camp

Dipping in the freezing cold waters of the Palisade Resevoir.

Enjoying the sunshine on the Dock.

Mom got to float the snake river.

That's me waving in the middle.

Here is a picture of our little A-frame cabin we stayed in.

We will be home for a week and a half and then we have our SURVIVOR camp with our own youth group. A day later we will be road tripping out to Fargo, ND for a week and a half. Crazy two months. I think we will only have been home at our house 14 days out of 55 days.

So what does life look like at home?

As I was working on the computer today the girls came in and said, "We're ready for the snow." (It's 88 degrees outside). So I took their picture and as they walked out the door the oldest said, "What a beautiful snowy day it is today."

Good Times with Grandma

2008-07-02T16:14:00.001-07:00

Grandma's house is hard to beat....

First there is her vegetable garden.

I helped Grandma pick vegetables for dinner and then gave the leftovers to two little rabbits that live in Grandma & Grandpa's yard.

Grandma also has a cool picnic table & pool just for us!

Here we are in action in the pool!

Grandma's house is near the Mall of America.

Nickelodean Rides @ the Mall of America!

Hattie & Grandma on Blue Skidoo!

Grandma took us all to get our nails done!

Hailey's tiny toes!

Hattie's toes!

Grandma's House has Princess Cakes!

Sparklers!

And a fireworks show! (Thanks Grandpa!)

All this fun made one little girl a bit tired!

Thank You Grandma!

Good Times with Grandpa!

2008-07-01T21:40:00.001-07:00

What can make a grown man bark like a dog, crow like a rooster, and jump into a kiddie pool?

Either there's something in the water, or two little girls have got his heart!

Everytime Hattie & Hailey went down the slide, they'd give their grandpa a hug!

A Hug for Grandpa!

Watching for Airplanes!

Roger and Lola live near the airport, and an airplane passes over about every minute or two. Hailey and grandpa sat outside watching airplanes for about an hour. Hailey would say "Airpane...it's coming." Since then she keeps her eyes on the sky and lets us know when she sees one.

"Airpane.....it coming."

Hailey being silly with Grandpa!

Road Trip Day 4 - Lake Minnewaska!

2008-07-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is the lake Grandpa grew up swimming in!

Hanging out in the lifeguard boat!

Hailey was feeling photogenic, so I had to take some close ups!

Bathing Beauty!

Hanging out with Papa after drying off!

Lake Minnewaska Overlook.
It is only one of thousands of lakes in Minnesota...no kidding!

Road Trip Day Three: The Farm

2008-06-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Uncle Eldred's Farm in Starbuck, MN

This is where Eric's dad, Roger, grew up. Roger is the youngest of 7 siblings. Eldred is the oldest brother and is 80 years old and still farming crops. This is also where Eric spent many of his summers and developed his love for agriculture and helping famers.

Riding the ranger with Grandpa! Oh my! They rode and rode and rode, probably for two hours .... and again the next day!

Eldred and his son Darwin farm 1,900 acres by themselves! No help.

Needless to say he has a lot of cool tractors! Here is a short video of Hattie driving the track!

Road Trip Day Two

2008-06-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Billings, MT to Fargo, ND

Nothing but driving all day...and the promise of a pool @ the end.

We finally got to Fargo @ 9:40pm and the pool closed @ 10:30.

We went down this slide as many times as we could until 10:30 pm, had Taco Bell @ 11:00 pm, and then we all shared a king size bed.

Road Trip 2008

2008-06-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

Day one: Pocatello to Billings, MT

First stop, a field of wild flowers in Island Park!

From there we continued onto Yellowstone, where we saw lots of animals. We saw bison, elk, a fox, an eagle, a black bear, & a grizzly bear.From Yellowstone we headed out the northeast entrance andover beartooth pass.At the bottom of the pass we found this beautifulcascade and stopped for a short hike.

Beartooth pass is only open from mid-june until mid-october. We were way above the tree line and it felt like we were on top of the world. It was beautiful!

The lakes on top were still frozen and we drove through areas of snow at least 10 feet high that had been cut out for us to drive through.

When we saw these mountain goats, we stopped for another short hike and to let the girls throw some snow balls before heading down off the pass.

The Big Race

2008-06-21T13:39:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it was in the small town of Aberdeen, Idaho and there were only 19 runners. (This was their 2nd year to host the race.) But H1 (trying not to use real names) has been training and was excited for the "big race"

Whenever we run at home, we run with the girls in the running stroller. H1 always has to go put on her "running clothes" and we stop at the end of the block & she runs home. So the plan was for us to just run for fun as a family and then let H1 run to the finish line , the last 100 meters or so.

It was a little chilly before the race.

We started off running together, but Eric's competitive nature wouldn't let him run "slow" with me when he could obviously run faster. There were about 4 guys up in front of us, and Eric took off and caught them all pretty easily, while pushing the jogging stroller.

He says it was Hattie that urged him on saying

"Go faster Daddy!" "Pass him Daddy!" "We're in the front daddy"

So Eric was far enough ahead that as they came around the last corner he told Hattie to get ready to hop out & run. He stopped and got Hattie out & they ran in the last 100 meters together. So Hattie officially "Won the big race".

Here is H1 checking out her medal!

Oh yeah! Mommy did finish 4th overall and was the first female finisher. (There was a cross-country runner from Aberdeen that was pretty good that I ran with most of the race.)

I know this is not the greatest picture, but my thighs look thinner here!

We celebrated by eating a pancake breakfast served in the Aberdeen Park! What a great way to spend our morning as a family. We'll do it again next year!

In the Good Ole' Summer Time...

2008-06-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day with friends, playing in the pool and the sand box, jumping on the trampoline and eating popsicles(and an ice cream cones).

We really didn't pose them for this picture. They were all just sitting there swinging and eating their popsicles. I had to grab my camera just to record this memory for later.

Finally...Summer in Idaho!

2008-06-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Actually I think it is only a high of 72 degrees today ....but we'll take it!

It's better than the 50 degree weather we've been having.

So, after 3-4 weeks of dreary cold fall-like weather,

we're pretending like it's 92 degrees out today. Atleast we have a nice solar-heated trampoline to warm up on!

Some more videos to watch...

Blowing Bubbles

Forward Rolls on the Trampoline

Quality Time

2008-06-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

I asked "Daddy" to spend some quality time with the girls by giving them a bath.

I guess this is what quality time looks like.

H2 loves the water!

This Flower is No Pansy

2008-06-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

Actually, it is a beautiful Pansy, but it's definitely not a wimpy plant. My dad brought it from Seattle in a suitcase on the airplane. It arrived at my house with no blooms and dad planted it in the rocks. There is has decided to bloom (Beautifully) where it was planted. Dad also planted some creeping flox in my rocks. I think he was inspired by his recent trip to the Buchart Gardens in Canada. Although mom says that she is married to Johnny Appleseed and that he plants things everywhere he goes. Thanks Dad! My yard is looking lovely!

Eric did a little landscaping to improve the home front.

Thanks Eric! These flowers are beautiful!

For the Grandparents

2008-06-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

I really don't expect everybody to watch videos of my children, but this is a good way for the Grandparents to see how the girls are changing & growing.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Forward Rolls

More Rolls....We do alot of these @ our house.

Hailey's Vocabulary

2008-06-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hailey is almost 19 months and has a huge vocabulary. She'll repeat anything you ask her too. But some of her favorite and most common words and phrases are.... "Help me mommy" "Help Peas" "Hattie" "Water" "Puppy" "Kitty" "Kak, Kak" (duck)

She loves all animals and their sounds. Some people say second children are quieter because they have an older sibling to talk for them. Not Hailey. She talks as much if not more than Hattie did. And she only has one volume. Loud. She is very friendly and says "Hi" to everyone we pass in the store or on the street. She loves her sister Hattie & follows her everywhere. She is so adorable, but very onery and into everything. She is like a Kamikaze Pilot and we have to keep rescuing her from trouble.

Here is one more short video just for fun!

Why you want to have little girls

2008-05-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

This was Hattie's first dance recital....

Hattie was a beautiful ballerina!

Tap was fun too!

Not sure if it was more fun for her or for us....

Here is a short video clip of her dance to "Tiny Ballet."

The "Prima Donna"

Hattie's #1 Fan!

Hailey eagerly watched & clapped for all 24 performances.

Singing in the Rain

2008-05-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Wishing I was singing in the rain........

Yellowstone Bears

2008-05-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

Six Bears in one day!! Now that's a good day in Yellowstone!

We have been to Yellowstone 4 times in the last 3 years and have never seen a bear...

Bear #1 Big Grizzly Far away walking through the snow

Bear #2 Adolescent Grizzly Running down the Road-Lost? Scared?

Bear #3-5 Mommy Black Bear and her 2 cubs in the tree

Bear #6 Adolescent Grizzly in the Trees not far off the road

Baby Animal Day....Every child's dream

2008-05-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

Baby ducks, baby chicks, baby bunnies, baby cows, baby goats, baby sheep.....

This baby duck almost lost his life to the grip of an 18 month old.. We then learned to not let our youngest (H2)touch the littlest animals. Our precious little girl was like a giant monster who wanted to snuff out their little lives. Not on purpose of course, she just couldn't control her overjoyment at seeing God's creation up close.

Don't drop her H1!

I'm not sure what would've happened if H2 had gotten her hands on this lil' rabbit.... but she really, really, really wanted it bad!

This is a baby miniature pony....you can't get any cuter than that!

Petting the piglets (which were terrified & huddled together)

At this little fair every child had a balloon. Therefore every few minutes we saw balloon after balloon escape and sail way up into the sky. Thus H2 picked up a new word.... "Oh Noooo"
For every balloon that we watched sail away, H2 said "Oh Nooooo" at least 10 times.

I think she was really enjoying practicing her new word....the way that she had to form her mouth to say Noooo, and the way the word sounded on the breeze.... the power and free will to hear her own voice at any time..... I promise she said "Oh Noooo" at least 100 times in 10 minutes.
And finally a horse drawn wagon ride to end our day with the animals!

Friday Favorites

2008-05-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

So as I snuck into my room to read everyone else's blog today, my girls were playing down stairs nicely.....too nicely. I knew as they were playing quietly that I really should get up and go downstairs because most likely they were doing something they shouldn't....but I just wanted to read a little more. Not hearing any screams or glass breaking I continued for a few more minutes...finally my mothering instinct couldn't stay any longer and I went downstairs prepared for the worst. Surely there was going to be milk all over the kitchen floor and they would be ice skating in it, or surely there would be dish towels everywhere and they would be "cleaning" or having a picnic. I reached the bottom of the stairs...the living room was clear & clean...turning the corner, prepared for disaster.....the kitchen was clean too. But alas, there were my two girls...the three year old and the one year old sitting on top and in the middle of the kitchen table "brushing" their hair with hair brushes and lots of detangling spray...lots and lots of detangling spray. Needless to say both their heads were soaked and a mess, but it was a lot better than what I imagined. (And they smelled nice too.) Damage control was pretty fast and easy... I really deserved a lot worse for letting them play so quietly...but today... I lucked out. I do love detangling spray... a quick fix to "bed head" and tangles.