Happy Christmas Eve!

Good things the holidays are close together or I'd be writing every 6 months!! I vow to try to do better (again). . . Well, we're still working on the house in Heber. I ordered appliances this last week, and I went up on Monday (yes, for those of you here in Northern Utah, Monday) in a blizzard and can't believe we made it back alive - I had the three boys with me. When I got to the house, some subs were there working on the house next door - it was one of the subs the builder didn't pay with our money, so it was a little awkward. But always a good time to explain our side of the situation. I was planning to go inside and pick carpet colors for the house, but there was no getting into it. Maybe if I didn't have the kids, I could have killed myself, but I wasn't going to strand them up there. The guys told me they were supposed to get 17 inches of snow, so I promptly went back home, with more questions than answers.

Enough about that. How about the adventure that night. . . Jory's grandpa always has a Christmas party. Because there are so many great-grandkids - and all of us, this year we went to one of Jory's family's favorite mexican restaurants, El Farol's. So I was already wiped out - I had stayed up all night wrapping and getting Christmas all ready, then the white-knuckle drive to Heber. . . So I sat with the kids, Jory sat at another table with the baby. I kind of manned the doorway, so I was up and down. Eli ate a bunch of chips, but seemed fine. When his dinner got there, he ate one fry and then made a gagging motion - his face went pale and I grabbed him and ran for the bathroom - we almost made it, at least it was right in front of the dishwashing area and out of the dining room. He would have picked fruit punch to drink, though. So Jory changed him - thank goodness for the updated spare clothes always kept in the MV. Then not long after that Jax started gagging- I grabbed him and ran to the bathroom - holding him on his back so at least then it would be contained on him - he let out a little, but it wasn't too bad. So we did the obligatory family picture and bolted.

That night Eli was spiking a fever of 103, but he wasn't complaining, though he did have to go to the bathroom and didn't quite make it at about 3:00am, no biggie, but at 3:30 Jax woke up puking and did that about 3 times through the night. I was up, giving him a bath, waiting for his "budgie" (that can be blankie or binki, depending on what he wants) to wash and dry. Then have him puke on the couch - needless to say I went to bed about 5:00 am. Eli was hot all day but thank goodness didn't get sick again, and the two of them went to bed at 11:00am for a nap - Jax waking up at about 4:00 and Eli waking up about 5:30. Neither of them ate too much and Eli was still spiking a fever of 103. They went to bed, Eli ended his night by telling me he wasn't going to throw up, "I only did that one time at the cafe", and by telling Jory "I have a broken heart, Dad". So dramatic.

Eli was up about 5:30, again running to the bathroom, but he made it without going in his pants (whoo hoo). But he said his eye hurt - Dad does eyes. So he woke up Dad and we both noticed he was burning up - his eyes were just dry, so more tylenol and some eye drops, and he slept in bed with me the rest of the night - he is so peaceful to watch sleep. He did ask me, before nodding off, if I thought he was cute - I love that they ask me instead of just wondering - even little men know we don't read minds.

So Jory is off to work a half day, and do his annual Christmas shopping afterwards (which is now) - Jax just went down for a nap, and the boys are playing their Leapsters. . . Jonah told me last night that he is hoping Santa brings him good stuff for his stocking. I asked him what good stuff would be. . . He said "A box of the small candy canes, or maybe one big candy cane" I thought, what a nice, simple, not too greedy request - good boy - then he adds thoughtfully ". . . and a dog". Oh he will be sadly disappointed.

We will be going to the Kimball's house for Christmas Eve - for dinner and presents with the family. Tomorrow we will do our own morning and then Robyn and Todd will come out to us in the late morning. Then we'll have a buffet midday with them again. That's where we'll see Grandma Jeannine. Grandma Jeannine's 80th birthday is in just over a week and so we'll have a surprise party for her at Jory's Aunt Tammy and Uncle Jim's house - I don't need to worry about her seeing this because she still has a rotary phone - no computers live at her house :).

Jonah just came in and had gone to wash the screen of his Leapster - he says "Mom, this strange thing happened. . ." and is holding out the Leapster - dripping wet - he ran the whole thing under the faucet - OMGoodness!! Santa will need to rethink some gifts tomorrow!!

Well, hope there are some positive things you can glean from this - I hope that some people I sent Christmas cards to have found us. I always think how boring my life is, but then when I sit down I think of all of these things that happen that I want to remember forever. . . and that was just the last 2 1/2 days!!

I will look later to find out what friends have been doing - it takes me a day to do mine and a day to look at all of the fun stuff going on with everyone else. I'll also try to get some pictures on today or tomorrow!!

May you find peace in our Savior's love, especially at this time of year, and know that he was born and died for each of us. We are grateful for his life - for what he did for us!!

Thanks for bearing with me!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Well - a couple of weeks later - here we are again. . . no more snow to speak of.

The kids have had Thanksgiving festivities at their respective schools. My Mom and Dad are here and so it has been nice to go do things, at the same time it has been nice for me to get things done and talk to teachers and such that I couldn't do with the baby. We are doing great - so thankful for all that we have been blessed with - good friends, a good business, good family - we are SOOOO blessed!

Not much else has been going on - as many of you know, we have been building a spec home in Heber - hoping to turn around and sell it - obviously we've been working on it before the real estate bust. And now we're working with a not very forthright builder - so that has been the bulk of our time and stress. The kids are happy and healthy so we will not complain - just try to get through this and then learn from our bad judgment.

So Happy Holidays to you all - may you always remember to be thankful for what you have - and grateful that the Lord doesn't give us what we deserve :)

One Week into November

Here I am again - a week later and it was a good relaxing one. We had Jonah's parent/teacher conference this last week. His teacher didn't say much about him, she is wanting me to grade some math so she went over that most of the time - that is good I guess. . . he really is doing so well!!

As you can tell the first snow came and went - Jax had fun until he was stuck because the snow was just too high for him to get through. Eli and his friend Henry had a blast and even helped shovel for a second. I had taken my camera in to the shop the day before I took these pictures - it just stinks - the lighting is so bad inside with it - I hope they junk it - anyways I took these on my camcorder I got when Eli was a baby - not bad for a 2-in-1 that is almost 5 years old.

My parents are coming out the 18th to the 3rd of December - we are so excited!! AJ may come out - maybe with or without Courtney. That will be great. Jonah is sending his Flat Stanley to them first and Jonah said "do they know who I am" - that was kind of sad - but he knows AJ and Courtney know and love him.

Eli is a reading fiend - he says "I can read now because I'm 4" - yeah, most 4 year olds are reading chapter books like (the abridged version of) "Frankenstein". . . Even Jax will sometimes act like he is reading something.

Jax's favorite book is Eric Carle's "The Very Quiet Cricket" board book - he loves that it chirps like a cricket at the end - he also loves any Veggie Tales movie - he is the first kid we've had to figure out how to pop out the DVD's from the case - NOT GOOD!! You have to watch that one!! The only thing is that even if he begs for it to be put in (which he does- he follows you around holding out the open case to you saying "peese, PEESE". And if you do something for him, he will follow you around and say "dat doo" (translation "thank you") until you say "you're welcome" and whenever anyone coughs or sneezes, if he just hears it like in the store, he says "dess doo" for "bless you" - so polite!!

Jonah turned in his reflections photography of Yellowstone Park this last week - we'll see how he does - his grandma is going to take him on Wednesday to Library Night at school so he can show it off - yes, Robyn, brownie points for you!!

I will try to get a little slide show going soon - if anyone has any camera buying advice, that would be great - I am so frustrated with the Canon A560 I got last May!!!

Thanks for checking in with me - I start my new calling today, but I am already subbing in my old class today - it will be good though - Luke Lloyd is moving so I had already planned a party for him, so we'll just cover them both today!!

Is Halloween Over Yet?

I do love this time of year, but this year I made myself a little crazier than usual... - I'll get a slideshow together soon I hope. But I just wanted to say Hi - that I did serious Halloween partying and I survived. The funny thing is that I looked at the calendar for this coming week - NOTHING in the evenings!! Maybe I should get my VTing done this week, although I just saw everyone last week - that will teach me!!

New news is that I was released from my Primary calling at church today and called as the Relief Society Chorister - I know, Mom and Nicki, stop laughing!! There is a little story behind that too, but I'll update that later as well.

Well, I'm here and alive and well - Jonah has that hackey cough thing - he gets it with the change of seasons, as a lot of kids do, but we're doing great... Thanks for hanging in there with me!!

Tag - You're IT!!

Well, Kriss, here it is. Because I have a Mac, my picture file is set up somewhat differently, so I just did 8,10,8,10 - actually I came up with a picture of my wedding ring I took for insurance purposes first, but then changed the combination around a little so at least there was something to look at in the picture.

This is a picture of our house the beginning of last fall. I love the coleus and all of the colors. The plant in the planter just about died the beginning of spring because I had put it out too soon and it about froze to death. Good thing it is coming back, though. I love that plant. Any ways, here it is. . . now I'll tag Jamie, Kristi, and Capree. This tag is really easy. You go into your picture files on your computer, and go into the 10th folder and pick the 8th picture in that folder. Whatever random picture that shows up is now your new post! So easy!

Good thing for technology. . .

On Friday I iSighted (I know, it is not a word) my parents in North Carolina. My Dad bought us this nice computer back when Jonah was born. It seems like it would be totally outdated, and I'm sure it is a little slower than the new fab ones, but it works for us still. . . Anyways, he bought it as a Christmas gift so it would work with the iSight camera (like a video cam) so they could see Jonah as a baby because we were in California and they were in Iowa. We still use it from time to time, not as often as I should. But it is great to see them, and even greater for me to see my kids see them. We love you guys!!

The Crazy Life

Does anyone else find this time of year already crazy? I can't believe that it seems like every time I talk to someone, I am adding something to my calendar. I do enjoy celebrating and doing fun things for other people, but my big issue is that with the "real" holiday season approaching, what will I be looking at in the near future? Good thing I do know how to say "no" if I need to!! Crazy fun times!!

A calendar item. . .

For all of you in the neighborhood, I have been wanting to have Mary Ann Lloyd teach me how to cut my boys hair. She will be at my house on Tuesday, October 28th to show me, and any of you who want to know how to cut boys hair at 7:00 pm. Please come, and just hang out if you want - we'd love to turn it into a party!!

It might be easier this way. . .

After my last post, I was told that I am the worst blogger in the neighborhood (yes, they are all talking about me. . .:) and that people would have to wait to read my blog because it is so dang long. So, I will try to be better at doing this this way. Short, often and sweet (I can't promise any of these, but I'll try!).

A quick shout out to all those websites that let you download pictures and keep them there. Costco, Snapfish, and I even think Walmart have versions of these (I use Costco to avoid shipping costs). But the reason I love these is that if you have a catastrophe - and I did almost burn my house down last week - the are saved to an outside server - not just my computer. Oh I back my pictures up all of the time on my computer, laptop, and even DVDs, but in a fire, I assure you I will not be carrying out my iMac!! Anyways, just a thought. . .

Also I have a story about Jonah I wanted to share. I was delivering something to a neighbors house recently. It had been a while since I had seen her and actually talked to her and I noticed she had lost some weight. I told her how good she looked and she told me she had given up soda (see my side blog . . Ethan), and that she was drinking this green tea. She is a member and fairly active (as much as you can be with her last few callings) with a fairly inactive family. She is so generous so she directly went to her car to grab me a small bottle of this tea. I, not knowing much about teas, thought to myself that I knew the grandmaster of teas and would call Emily when I got home. I thanked this neighbor and she just said how she had turned to this instead of the soda. Meanwhile, Jonah had gotten out of the car and was standing with me. He looked up at me and, right in front of this neighbor said "Mom, are you supposed to have tea?" Wow - it didn't surprise me he noticed, but the fact that he didn't hesitate to say something in front of someone that may be offended, kind of opened my eyes. The neighbor quickly said "Oh I thought about that too but I think it is okay, you're mom will need to decide for herself, though." Now I could chalk this up to Jonah and his sometimes not being really socially appropriate - saying things that could possibly hurt someone else's feelings, but he was somewhat quiet about it and just asking in an innocent kid way. I thought about this after repeatedly telling Jonah how proud I was of him, and that I wasn't sure if I should drink it (which, it turned out, I shouldn't). It made me think about how strong our children are going to have to be in the years to come - socially life is so hard, and our kids need to be able to voice their thoughts and stand up for what they believe. I am so proud of Jonah!!

Happy Birthday, Mom & Dad!

Well, two things that I have found I love about blogging. First, it lets me catch up with my friends out there in the blogging world when I have time. It may be midinight, or when I’m out of town, but the blogs are there every day - that is GREAT!

The other thing that I am totally digging is that it gives me the chance to be nostalgic and think about things that are important to me, and lets me say it to everyone, especially when it wouldn’t be appropriate to call up my friends and say, “Hey, I’m feeling nostalgic about this. . .”

This brings me to what I wanted to post. Today is a nostalgic day for me. My dad’s birthday is October 6th, and my mom’s birthday is on October 8th. As a child, the 7th of October we celebrated them both - Dad would bring home a chocolate mint cake from Barbara’s Bakery (oh my goodness, I am salivating!) and we’d celebrate.

That made me get nostalgic about my hometown, Iowa City, Iowa. To be specific, downtown Iowa City. Iowa City isn’t great when you get to be a senior or so in high school or older but as a young teenager it was pretty fun. This was back in the day when parents could let their kids hop on the bus on Saturday afternoon, hang out down there, even if they didn’t really have any reason to go there. We’d go to “Every Bloomin’ Thing” and they’d have those pop-its and disappearing ink and fun “magic” stuff in the basement of the floral shop. Even back then I enjoyed looking at the cooking gadgets in the nice stores, led in there by the cool fortune teller in a box (a la "BIG"). We'd go to Younkers (like Macy's) and check out the new Swatch Watches and dream about buying Benetton sweatshirts in the Benetton store. We'd eat a cookie as we waited for the bus to come pick us up. Oh those were the days. . .

Then I started to think about my parents and how much I love them and all they have gone through with me. My parents are the best - and I know I say “I love you” all of the time, but, Mom and Dad, I really LOVE YOU GUYS!! Thanks for being my anchors - especially when it got rough out there. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BOTH!!

Thank you for reading me in my nostalgia. . . peace-out.

What a week!

Well, a little hiatus while we got back into the life of school school school!! This schedule stinks because Eli is afternoon preschool so the nap schedule is terrible for Jax.

So, this is my last week. . . Well, just Thursday through today. On Thursday, Jax woke up from his nap and had really red cheeks - I thought it was just from the crib, but it lasted the whole hour we pick up the boys. When we got home and I got him out of the car, he was burning up. All he wanted was to be held the rest of the night. It was nice, because he is definitely not usually the snuggly type, but he was getting really warm. . . and to top it off, he REFUSES to take any medicine. I got him to take some meltaway tablets, but he is right under the cutoff for two, so one didn't do a ton of good. We were all feeling fine, so Jory suggested it was teething. We had a regular 18 month checkup on Friday, which was perfect. So he was pretty good Friday - although he threw up a little (he was really cute - he came in to me and whimpered a little and pointed, so I got up and let him lead me to it at the bottom of the stairs - he looked sad, but kept running around as I cleaned up the Gatorade vomit). So we had his appointment and the doctor looked at his throat and said that he had a virus, although he was acting fine. The boys had a sleepover planned at Grandma's, so it was good that we only had to have Jax, but it would have been nice to get a babysitter just for one and go out to eat. But with this going on, I decided we should stay home. It's a good thing, too, because on the way home he threw up all over himself, and then that night his temperature got up to 105 degrees!! Jory had to go to the pharmacy and get Tylenol suppositories. That was fun. But it did work. The good thing is that at least when he slept he slept good to try to sleep it off.

Saturday he was whiny, but we just kept pumping the Gatorade - no milk, and a few crackers. It was rainy so we just dropped Jonah off at his soccer game and our friends brought him home (thanks, Barry).

While out, I ran to the gas station - and when I opened my door, I felt, and heard a small "pop". So I shut my door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't move at all. So I had to climb into the backseat and out - all windy and rainy on Eli and sickly Jax - while pumping the gas - in and out, playing with the door. So we get home, and, because I am my father's daughter, what do I do? I start trying to take the door apart. Of course with all of the electronics hooked to it, it is impossible. The one thing I have been blessed with, along with the gift to think I can fix anything, is the gift to know when I could possibly do more harm than good. So that didn't work. I didn't get it fixed that day - my warranty company was closed and I wanted to know what I was looking at cost wise, so I waited. At least I figured I could roll down the window and let myself out by opening it from the outside.

Meanwhile, Jax was getting better, which was good because Jory's family came out Sunday for brunch.

So, Monday comes and I take the car in and they get the warranty information to say they'll check if it is covered, because the warranty company told me this morning that they have to know what is wrong to know if it is covered. They take forever on the car, never call me - since my buddy Dave is gone, the new manager is not good at our Firestone. So I walk back and ask what is going on, they say "your warranty won't cover it" and it's $160 for a clip. I get about $20 taken off because usually the $50 fee they charge just to check it out goes toward fixing it. . . but they'd only take th $20 off. So, because I am my father's daughter, I decide to call and talk to the warranty company myself. . . the guy says that he is the only one there and that no one from Firestone had called that morning. So I go back and say that the warranty company is on the phone and will they talk to them because they haven't talked to anyone this morning. So they talk and it turns out I have $100 deductible. So I say "because you told me you talked to the warranty company and you didn't, can you take the rest of that $50 off?" He goes and talks to the manager and comes back and says that the manager said no, but he would do it. I had a rebate for about $30, so it ended up being about $55 out of pocket. Not too bad, but it did take 2 hours, and now we can't trust our car place - if anyone has any suggestions - PLEASE!!

So, while that was happening, my husband was with the boys. Jory was in the backyard getting the lawn mower and Eli was in the front, our neighbor, Alan, walked by and saw Eli and asked him where his parents were. Eli responded with "My mom and dad got shot". So Jory comes out and says "Hey, how's it going?" Alan says that he was just about to go call 911 because Eli says his parents got shot. It actually was probably a little believable because Eli is rarely out front alone, at least not for very long. . . No more Pokemon movies at this house!!

Then, Jory usually picks up the boys on Monday (THANK YOU JORY!), and he gets to do fun things with Jonah while waiting for Eli (I'm boring because we have the baby). So they go and pick out a football - I guess while they were in the store Jory asked Jonah 3 times if he needed to go potty because he was doing the dance. I happen to know Jonah is the kind of kid that doesn't go to the bathroom at school, for whatever reason, and often see the dance when we get home. He says he doesn't need to. . . Well, I know this because I took the boys to soccer later, and noticed in my car the floor mats all turned funny. I get out and go to straighten them, and they're all wet. Jory gives the kids snacks and water in my car, which, I know it sounds mean, but I don't because they ALWAYS make a mess with everything. So they can wait until we get home. . . anyways, Jonah comes back from getting a team mate we carpool with and I ask "who spilled water all over the car?" He looks right at me and says "it's not water" I say "what is it?" "it's pee." "Excuse ME?" - yeah. i know. GROSSSSS!! So I can't stand it - I call Jory to avoid beating Jonah - he tells me about asking him if he needed to go. . .WOW!! And Jonah's new thing any time he is in trouble is "I forgot" and it is starting to make us mad because he doesn't "forget", he just has other better things to do. . . besides use a toilet. Needless to say, he spent a lot of time in his room that night.

At bedtime, Jax fell off Eli's bed, putting a small gash (is that an oxymoron?) above his left ear, which reminds me - a couple of weeks ago my VT's were over visiting and Jax will sometimes not watch where he is going (imagine that!) and then he'll turn to watch. Well, he was watching us while he was walking, then he turned right as he caught the corner with his forehead!! I grabbed him as he wailed, and I let go to look at him and, well, you see the picture!!!

To top yesterday off, my father-in-law called to say that my SIL was in an accident and was at the hospital. She was needing an MRI. A girl with a suspended license was driving a pick up and ran a stop sign. Kristi also had the little girl she nannies in the car with her, and she was at Primary Children's Hospital. They both turned out to be okay, Kristi was home by the middle of the afternoon.

. . .Yesterday was NOT the best day ever.

Thanks for hanging in there with me - and my crazy life!!

August 2008

At Lagoon on August 18, 2008

Here is a short video of the boys on the mini bumper cars - so this is why 4 year olds don't have drivers licenses. . . It was funny - they came back to this and Eli isn't that well versed in moving the steering wheel to make the car move, so he would get stuck and then finally when he would quit throwing a fit and get moving again - he would make the car just go in circles about 10 times. He'd look around like "I want to go over there" but he wouldn't move the wheel so around he went. I was laughing so hard I was crying!!

Yellowstone Adventure! & more. . .

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone Park with our good friends, the Cole's. We had so much fun - Jax was quite cranky, though, so you'll have to ask Scott and Mylinda if they also had as much fun as we did.

We stayed in Island Park, which is about 40 miles outside of the West Yellowstone entrance to the park. We stayed in "Grandma's Cabin". It was just the right size for all 9 of us. We were able to see bison, elk, bald eagles and mommy moose. Jonah couldn't get enough of it - he cried that he had to go home to 2nd grade the last day we were there.

So now it's almost 1 month since Yellowstone. We had so much fun on that trip, though. Thanks, Cole family, for inviting us.

We've had the flu, Jax has had gastritis (throwing up daily for over a week), I now have a bladder infection - what a great way to end the summer!!

Jory and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this last Thursday, and tomorrow is his 33rd birthday. He is so hard to buy for - he has no interests, no hobbies, I buy him clothes for about every holiday - his mom gave him 3 shirts and ties last Saturday. I don't know - maybe some year we'll have the funds I could buy him a nice bike or a really big TV.

Jonah has played every day with the neighborhood kids - they run around in a pack and go from place to place. Jonah really has enjoyed playing with "the old" Shawn ("the new" Shawn moved in this summer). They are the last two to start school because they are the only ones on traditional. Jonah has enjoyed being at his house more because there is no baby (I spend most of my time saying "shhhhh!") sleeping, and he actually has a back yard. They tramp and scoot, and have lots of fun together.

Eli stays at home mostly. He is such a great kid. My only worry is that I see him in primary and he can not stay still to save his life!! He is smart - this last week he noticed that a sign the chorister held up matched her shirt - then she held up something and asked what color it was and he said "red, like James"- then she held up a sign with an owl on it and he said "like a great horned owl". It was so funny - everything is an analogy with him (maybe he'll ace that part on his ACT's in 13 years). He is so ready for school. We've been practicing reading and he does really well - it doesn't seem that he is phonetic, but really can memorize well. Jonah keeps reading - he actually read a chapter book this summer. We're trying to work on money and adding.

Jax is just so cute- he got this TERRIBLE rash after the gastritis - I guess his natural "flora" was gone so he had yucky stuff irritating it - it was red and bloody and he just screamed every time there was poop. My in laws babysat Jax for us to go to the Anniversary Inn last Friday for our anniversary and the rash started that morning - I felt so bad leaving him for his sake, but also with that bad rash for my in laws. They said he was very cute, though, at a wedding reception they took him to. He was very good and didn't cry at all. He is such a youngest brother!! He loves trucks and cars. He goes downstairs and plays with a little toy garage for hours. We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago - I'll try to scan some in.

Well, I'll post better, and more often - I have a ton of pictures to post - imagine that - Oh, I took the boys to Lagoon this last Monday - they are still too small for the big rollercoasters (not to mention whimpy). So it was like a very expensive carnival. But we were together, no stroller - here to there - the kids LOVED the bumper cars.

Anyways - I'll get the pictures out - thanks for checking back with us - yes we are here, barely. . .

Mommy Tag

I still need to finish up our trip, but Eli got "Mommy Tagged" and I had a chance to "interview" him, so here goes, before I loose it!

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Thank You"

2. What makes mom happy? "I say you are beautiful"

3. What makes mom sad? "That because you loose toys"

4. How does mom make you laugh? "Make me the best"

5. What was mom like as a child? "You were a baby"

6. How old is your mom? "I don't know"

7. How tall is your mom? "16 - let me count you (he counts 1-20) 20! 20 pounds" Now THAT'S what makes mom happy :)

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? "Play with me"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Taking the baby" (which I did last night, although it is very rare)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Toys"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Fun things"

12. What is your mom not very good at? "My whales"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Make food".

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Pizza"

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "That's because you are the best"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Sponge Bob Square Pants". I really don't think he knows much about him. (I hope)

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Play"

18. How are you and your mom the same? "The same hair". Okay, maybe back in Jr. High when I was blonde.

19. How are you and your mom different? "That's because we are a boy and a girl"

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because I find you are the best!"

How fun! Now we're going to tag Max and Brooklyn, to get a little younger and little older perspective!!

Up to Raleigh

My sister Nicki lives just outside Raliegh in Holly Springs, NC. She has 2 children from a first marriage, and just had her second child with her husband now, Robin. They have a really nice house and let us stay there the night we came in to North Carolina. We also came back up to Raleigh on the 4th to celebrate Nicki's birthday and also hang out with them for a couple of days.

We had a fun time spending Nicki's birthday with her, I think that is the first time in about 20 years I've been able to celebrate with her. Because the fireworks were rained out on the 4th, it ruined all of our plans for yummy dessert and that after fireworks, but we did that on the 5th. We had so much fun, it is actually the first time we've met Alison, Nicki and Rob's daughter who is a little over 3 years old. Nicki's daughter, Madison found a dog they named Munchkin (they call him Munch). He is such a great dog - if I were to have a bigger dog, I'd love to have him. He is a 7 year old yellow lab and was SO great with the boys. As you can see, Jax sat on him, pulled his ears, poked him, you name it. He would just get up and walk away. They played ball with him and just thought he was great. The worst thing was that Jax has this new "fun" thing he does, when he sees an animal, he squeals like a little girl being tickled - SO LOUD! After a while though he just laughs and follows it around, well, like a puppy! Thanks to Nicki and Rob for their hospitality - good food and great company!

The hotel we stayed in was PERFECT because you could sit on the lawn to see the fireworks. They were rained out on the 4th as I said so they had them on the 5th, which meant the kids stayed up late the night before we left for home. Because we were so close, though, it wasn't like they were out all night. It was going to rain on the 5th, too, so they let them all off about 8:30 so the kids were in bed by 9:00.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for the great hotel experience!!

We got off just fine at the airport - I would totally recommend to anyone if you can check in on the computer before going to the airport and then skycap your baggage - do that - now if you don't pre-check in and then go to the skycap, Delta will charge you $3 a bag! I love skycaps! Jax was a little more wiggly, and he threw up just enough to have a naked baby for 3/4 of the flight. The flight on the way home was over 4 hours - it didn't seem that long on the way there, maybe it was the extremely poopy diaper and the puke that just set me over. Eli was AWESOME - he just watched the dvd player the whole time. Jonah was very good too - it is hard being by the baby (on my lap) because he grabs at everything. But Jonah was very helpful. We were so glad to see Jory!! It was like Christmas again!

Thanks to my family for all the fun and hospitality - and Thanks Dad for making it all possible!!

Last Day in Calabash

So tomorrow we go back to my sister's house near Raleigh to celebrate the 4th of July (my sister's birthday, too) and then leave on Sunday the 6th. Today was our last full day in Calabash. This morning my parents took the boys to a nautical museum so I could pack - of course Jax has been napping 3-4 hours, but only a couple today, but I got most of our things together.

I got to go run errands alone for an hour or so - so nice to have a few minutes to actually think for myself!! We then went, you guessed it, swimming.

We came home had dinner and then got the kids dressed for the beach so I could take a few pictures of them at the beach - Eli fell asleep (can you tell) on the way and was out cold. But we got a few. . .

More and More pictures

The only thing that stinks about taking pictures, well, there are 2 things. . . 1- I have to choose only a few to post, and 2- I have to blog every second to keep up!!

On Monday we went to a really fun Alligator park. It was really nice and actually had a good variety of animals. We just took Jonah and Eli, Mom stayed home with a sleeping baby Jax.


We then hit the pool, of course. . .



. . . and then for dinner we went to Benjamin's - an all you can eat seafood buffet. It was SOOO good! You could have all the crab legs you could eat, all the shrimp, any way you could ever want it - it was Paradise! Even Jax gnawed on a few legs.

Oh - and Jonah realized today he has his FIRST loose tooth - it's about time, he just turned SEVEN, you know!


Yesterday morning Dad took Me, Jonah, and my cousin's 10 year old son (is that my 2nd cousin?)Jeffrey from Jersey to the driving range at the REAL golf course. Jonah had a blast, but now I think he knows why my score WAS more like 150 when I played with Dad. We really had fun, though.





That afternoon we went on our last jaunt to the beach. It was really fun - Jonah found this poor dead crab he carried around like his best friend, and, as is par for the course, Eli wouldn't get out of the water until he conquered every last wave. Jax, as usual, wandered and checked out all the girls, and tried to take every last abandoned shovel. He was pretty good about staying fairly close, for a 15 month old.

This morning Jax and I hung out outside and wandered the circle in front of my parent's house. It's nice, although I think he now thinks it's okay to wander into the middle of the street. It was nice for him to get out and just wander. He doesn't get to do that often here because there are no fences and a stream (that is actually all dried up, therefore just as scary) runs right behind their house. So he's not allowed back there, only in the front with someone with him. He actually can open all doors to the outside but one, so if you get bolted out of the house, you have to go to the back open porch to get in. Then Dad, Jonah, Eli, Jeffrey, and my Aunt (my Dad's sister, Jeffery's Grandma)Corinne went mini golfing and then to lunch - and a quick stop to Walmart (I can't believe I filled up a 2GB SD card!). We then went to the pool for an hour or so and then had dinner at Aunt Corinne's. It was a very nice day.

Out and About Fun!

On Wednesday we went to one of the outlet malls, and even let the kids have a second of fun. I really enjoyed it, and it is good for Jory, too, because we're traveling I can't buy what I'd really like to think I can buy:)





We found this snake right outside of my parent's house - thank goodness I found it, and I didn't have someone bring it to ME! My Dad had to check it out to make sure it's not the dangerous kind, I guess there are 2 kinds of black snakes here. He said it wasn't - I'm just glad we didn't have a chance to find out.


On Friday we went to this really fun walking outdoor mall called Barefoot Landing.

Jax, pushing himself.

Dad, trying to get cell phone reception.


Grandpa and Eli.



The boys on the carousel.

There was this Circus place that was like a knock off Build-a-Bear. The kids were all about it on the way in, but we decided to do it on the way out so we wouldn't have to carry the things all over. When we got back, Eli was throwing one of his, now infamous tantrums that he didn't want one. Fine. So we pick an elephant for Jax (really for Eli because earlier that is what he said he wanted) and Jonah gets it all fluffed up. Then Eli throws a bigger tantrum that he wants this monkey thing! Wow - what have I created!! So we do that and really give the elephant to Jax. Then, picking out outfits, Nonny was dressing them all and the boys kept changing what they wanted. I made them keep what they asked for, but by the time we got to the car, Eli's monkey, Domp, wanted to be naked - I guess that is why they are buddies.








An Airplane Adventure


After that adventure, we were going to see some alligators, but we were all too wiped out. So we had lunch, then took pictures of a COOL yellow airplane (as per Cabela's) and helicopter that topped a mini golfing facility.


We then went to a fun store, Paradise, that just had a bunch of touristy stuff and beachwear. It had this cool sharks mouth you could enter the store through, although we were the only ones using it, everyone else went through the regular front door.


On Saturday we were going to have train day, in honor of Sweeps, aka Eli. I had seen a bunch of ads for this Thomas the Tank Engine day at Toys R Us, so we hunted one down. Thinking it would be really fun, maybe get a picture with Thomas, or Sir Topham Hatt, but it was just a couple of train maps and a VERY short story read every 30 minutes, and a coloring page. That was it. BORING. But, we tried.


Then we had to kill some time so, to the OTHER outlet mall - this one had covered walkways, so it was not too bad to walk around there. The kids found this fountain to stick their feet in to cool off a little bit.

The BIG HIT of the day was when we went to this hobby shop that Nonny had seen an article about. Above the store was this space, about the size of a good-sized kids room, where these men had a model train set up that they were working on. Not only was it cool to see, but the boys were SO GOOD!!! They were quiet, they didn't touch a thing - Jonah had his arms folded almost the whole time without even being asked. Jax was a little wiggly, but he is not one for being held for any length of time. They were all so good!! And the men were very nice, and you can see that Eli even got to blow the train whistle and push other buttons. He was SO in awe - he couldn't move!! It was a great experience for us all!!








Sorry the video is sideways - I'll try to adjust it when I get a second.