A Bear, a Bug, and a Pig

Back to School

2011-09-07T21:35:00.000-06:00

All three of my little rascals headed off to school this year.

Ethan into third grade

which he likes except for, you know, the school work.

Joanna into kindergarten

I don't know if there has ever been another little girl so ready and eager to be in kindergarten.

The two of them get to ride their bikes together in the morning. Ethan is such a great older brother, helping Jo with her bike lock and making sure she gets to class.

My baby is somehow old enough to go to preschool. Ginny is taking over Joanna's spot in Mrs. Kent's class.

Is there anything sweeter?

Oregon Part 2, The Woods

2011-09-02T20:30:00.000-06:00

Before starting our long drive home from the Howard camping trip in Oregon, we stopped to do a hike through a beautiful forest and estuary at Coos Bay.

It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful trip.

Oregon Part 2, The Beach

2011-09-01T19:40:00.003-06:00

From where we camped with the Howard family in Oregon it was a short jaunt to the beach at Bullards Bay state Park close to where the Coquille river flows into the ocean with the Coquille River Lighthouse at it's mouth.

Oregon Part 2, Camping

2011-08-31T20:14:00.010-06:00

On our trip out to the coast with all the Howards we camped in a beautiful campground at Bullards Bay state Park. Grandma and Grandpa lived it up with a rented Yurt while the rest of us roughed it a whole fifty feet away from the flushing toilets and hot showers.

Oregon Part 2 , Portland

2011-08-30T19:35:00.003-06:00

We headed back to Oregon in June after school got out. This time it was for a coastal camping trip with all the Howards. The kids most likely won't remember the very long drive but I'm sure they'll remember the awesome hotels we stayed in (of which we didn't take any pictures). Matt had a lot of hotel points saved up from all his trips to Wyoming and we used them all. These kids have no idea how spoiled they were.

What we did get pictures of was our little stroll through the Oaks Bottom wildlife refuge along the Willamette river in Portland.

The frogless "frog viewing area"

This path earned an "awesome" from Joanna for it's pacman motif

Fryer Family Campout

2011-08-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

The Fryer clan finally did it. We've talked about having a big family camping trip for a while now.

My dad rented an RV, Doug borrowed some canoes and kayaks and we headed up to a beautiful area in the Manti-La Sal mountains with twin ponds.

There was a lot of kayaking

Matt and Ethan

and crashing of said kayaks

Ben and Ethan

and taking lazy rides in kayaks

Ben and Annabelle

and swimming

and thinking about swimming

and riding in the back of the truck between the campsite and ponds

and hanging out with cousins

and lazing in the hammock (really, camping is so much better with a hammock in the shade somewhere)

and hiking

Matt, Andrew, and Cocoa

and whittling

Andrew, Ben, and Kent

and making of tie-dye shirts.

Repeat.

Ben and one of the beavers. There was also an Osprey that made quite a few appearances.

I think I'd call it a success

Matt, Joanna with my dad's puppy Snickers, Dad, Andrew and Alexis

(Some of you may be thinking "hey, some of those pictures look familiar". I borrowed them from your facebook. Thankyou.)

2011-08-28T16:43:00.000-06:00

For as long as I can remember this has been a familiar view:

This piano has been one of the constants in my life. I've been playing on it since I was five years old, at least actual tunes that is. I was plinking out my own "music" long before that.

Yet this year, along with so many other things once constant, even the piano has changed. It no longer sits in my mom's living room, but in mine.

Don't ask me how I feel about that. You have a fifty-fifty chance of getting excitement or tears. At least I get the delightful chance to watch history repeat itself:

Mom

2011-05-27T19:13:00.000-06:00

My mom passed away May 5th.

She was beautiful, inside and out, and if I was asked to

describe her with one word it would be kind.

She was infinitely kind.

Ethan's Baptism

With my niece, the last picture taken of her.

My mom's home was a haven.

She made it a place we all loved to be.

Greg with his little girl and my folks on Easter

With Ginny.

I miss her.

We all miss her.

Obituary

Oregon

2011-02-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

The Howard family made the trek out to Oregon to Visit Marci and her family. We kept it a secret and didn't tell the kids until we showed up at the airport very early in the morning.

Nothing hypnotizes kids quite like a tv show consisting of people in shiny suits trying to fit through human shaped cutouts in moving foam walls while avoiding being pushed into a pool of water.

After landing we spent the day in Portland before heading to our hotel in Eugene. More accurately, we spent the day in Powell's Books, a really awesome bookstore. The next day Marci and Brandon took us out to the coast.

Ethan and Joanna made the trek to the top of the Yaquina Head lighthouse.

Matt was on the lookout for new birds to see and mark off in his book.

The girls were very excited to see green grass and made good use of it.

Down below the lighthouse was a sheltered little cove where seals were sunbathing.

The kids did some beach combing and wave chasing.

We had dinner in Newport and saw some sea lions on the docks. Ethan heard them barking "ohr, ohr" and came up with the joke "how does a sea lion make decisions? He asks, should I spend my money "ohr" save it. Clever kid.

A little farther down the coast we walked around some tide pools as the sun was setting.

more sleepy seals

The next day we did Eugene.

After a morning at an awesome park we headed to Voodoo Doughnuts.
Ethan got one covered in marshmallow with bubble gum, Ginny went with sprinkles, and Joanna got one the size of her head.

Slowly but surely she nibbled away at it.

Realizing she wasn't going to stop herself we convinced her to save some for later.

We walked around the University of Oregon campus, visited parks and the library, and swam in the pool a lot. We went to church with Marci and Brandon in the spanish speaking branch and had awesome burritos at their friends' resteraunt where there was also a lot of spanish spoken. Add that to the fact the Brandon only speaks to Rocky in Spanish and Ethan came away from the trip thinking everyone in Oregon only speaks spanish

It was an amazing five days.

Stories

2011-01-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

To give Ethan a little more practice with reading out loud he's taken over the job of reading bedtime stories to the girls.

As a reward he gets a chapter of a book read out loud to him by his dad. Right now they're reading the classic, Wayside School is Falling Down.

Hair Cuts

2011-01-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

The gal who cuts our hair has some sort of magical power over my kids. They all sit quietly and let her do her thing with minimal complaint. Ginny got her first official haircut to clean up the whispy ends leftover from her baby hair. I was worried she might loose her curl but it actually made her hair curlier.

The biggest of miracles is that Joanna lets her do "fancy stuff" to her hair. I'm not allowed within ten feet of her with just a brush let alone a ponytail holder.

Ginny however is definitely more of a girly girl.

Ginny...

2011-01-23T22:00:00.004-07:00

The reason why I can never find a dish towel when I need one.

Christmas

2011-01-22T22:00:00.001-07:00

We had our traditional Christmas Eve with Matt's family in Ogden a day early this year, giving us a chance to be home for Christmas. Everyone got their new pjs.

This was the first time we'd ever been home for Christmas with our kids, and I really liked it. We watched Charlie Brown Christmas and the Nativity and made cookies and tucked everyone into their own beds.

The kids slept in and we had a relaxing day with legos and new games and puzzles. Matt's folks came up from Ogden to visit and see the new toys the kids got.

Christmas just keeps getting better every year.

Making Christmas

2011-01-21T22:00:00.002-07:00

Any parent can tell you that Christmas gets about a bazillion times more exciting when you have kids. You know what makes it a gazillion bazillion times more exciting? Making your gifts. For two years now we've tried to make as many of our Christmas gifts as we can, and this year we brought the kids in on it.

Joanna made snow globes for every one on her list. I helped her with the paint and glue and she did all the rest. For Ethan's gifts we took leaves that we had collected as a family last fall in Logan Canyon and pressed them. Then Ethan mod-podged them to votive candle holders.

In school Joanna made a calender for us,

and Ethan made us an ornament and coupon book for doing extra chores.

I built farm house style doll beds for my girls and nieces Rocky and Daisy. My mom made the quilts and pillows and even the mattress pads for the beds. She put a lot of work into those blankets and they turned out so stinkin' adorable.

For Matt's present I had to learn a new crochet stitch and ended up with a cozy new hat for him.

That book with the cute little bird on the cover was one a several journals Marci hand bound.

Marci put a big chunk of last year into making all sorts of gifts. Besides the journal she printed up a cookbook of recipes she collected from friends and family and bound them by hand in cake mix boxes. (We've made Aynna's flautas just about every week since Christmas). She also collected a bunch of wrappers and folded them and pieced them into awesome little bags.

Marci also made treasure boxes for Joanna and Ethan:

Ethan loves the idea that his is a secret treasure box made out of Treasure Island.

I've mentioned the wonderful books Jill made out of our blogs:

I get a little choked up every time I look through mine.

Aunt Jilly gave the kids hand painted t-shirts which my kids would wear every single day if I let them.

My artist brother Doug gave us a print of one of his best paintings of the year. I love it. There was an empty spot on my wall that it fit perfectly in.

Doug's wife Terresa gave me one of her beautiful hand bound journals, and Doug brought out a pile of sketches he did way back.

This is of me around age 3 or 4. Pretty priceless.

And last of all, I crocheted. A lot. I made afghans for each of my siblings (which I never took pictures of), two plesiosaurus', and one beluga whale for the kiddos.

A lot of people put a lot of time and energy into these wonderful gifts, and all that effort and love is really what makes them so wonderful.

December

2011-01-20T22:00:00.007-07:00

Just before Thanksgiving we got hit with a blizzard. All of Northern Utah was warned to be home by 3:30 or else. School let out early and we hunkered down. Just as predicted, at 3:30 on the button a gale whooshed through and we couldn't see the houses across the street until late into the evening. It was awesome. The snow blew sideways for hours. Compared to what the East got a few weeks later this wasn't all that big of a deal, a drift a few inches deep against our front door. But I think it's something our kids will remember for years. We found out at Thanksgiving that it only really got Cache Valley and the rest of Northern Utah was left cursing the weather folks for making a big deal about nothing. For us it was perfect. No school or work the next day and mounds of fresh snow to play in.

After a wonderful Thanksgiving we moved on into Christmas mode.
I mean it when I say it is impossible to get a picture of these kids without someone pulling a face.

December is, of course, the month of parties. We started off with Matt's work party which gave Matt and me a chance to have a free night in Salt Lake by ourselves and the kids got a sleepover with a Grandma who loves to spoil them.
I think we can label this past December as the year we forgot to bring our camera to anything, so I'm grateful for generous people who volunteered to take pictures for us.
We had lots of family parties. The Isaacson party, complete with Santa:

Nativity

And Zombie pinata.

Our ward primary did a beautiful nativity at the first ever 22nd ward Christmas party:


Ethan the donkey, kneeling in the middle watching Ginny, the wandering angel.

Joanna arranging her halo.

Matt had a few days of work but for the most part was home a lot. Which was very nice. Especially since December has also meant we turn our house into a little Santa's workshop, making all our Christmas gifts.

2011-01-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

January is two thirds over. I guess it's time to stop using the "November and December were so full and busy I need to just relax for a while" excuse and start being productive again. My first project? Finishing up with posts that should have been on here a long time ago, because thanks to a wonderful gift I received for Christmas, I realize how priceless this little piece of the internet is for me and my family. Matt's sister Jill spent hours and Matt's mom paid to turn my blog (as well as three others) into a beautiful book, preserving these memories of our family in print. Reading through it there are so many stories and pictures that I had forgotten about and I was so grateful that I had blogged about them. So I'll do some catching up for a while. I have no excuses to not, especially since my kids have been wonderful about keeping themselves entertained lately. Like this for example:

Last week, while Ethan was at school and Ginny napped, Joanna stayed busy giving all her stuffed animals collars. They were all decorated differently and came complete with a jingle bell and a penny (the name tag).

Ethan is 8

2010-11-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

My baby boy is 8 years old now.

We celebrated with cupcakes and presents.

Ethan asked for a big Lego set for his birthday. We spent Halloween evening after trick or treating "helping" him put it together.

I love Han's smirk.

Of course, it only took a day for it to return to it's original state.

And, with turning 8 came Ethan's choice to be baptized.

A Ninja, a Butterfly, and the Cat in the Hat

2010-11-05T10:09:00.001-06:00

Joanna asked to be a pink and black ninja with a polka dot belt for Halloween. I was happy to oblige. This year I actually got the costumes made without having to stay up til three in the morning to finish. Joanna tried it on and decided, um, no. I'm going to be a butterfly like I was last year. The ninja costume apparently made her feel "crumply". Oh well. Ethan liked the idea and happily wore his blue version.

I used freezer paper stencils to paint a dragon on the back (Joanna's had a pretty cool panther) and Matt folded a few paper throwing stars to tuck in his belt.

I made Ginny's hat out of felt and after round one of sewing it was taller than her. So, a little bit of shrinking was needed. She was a really good sport about wearing it but decided to up the cute factor by using it for her candy bag.

We went up to the old neighborhood to see friends and trick or treat. Joanna was happy to see that butterfly was the "it" costume this year.

The Pumpkins:

Joanna's was very reminiscent of last years:

Ethan's looked like all the robot/alien/monster creatures he draws:

And Matt went with everyone's favorite action hero with a chainsaw for a hand:

2010-11-03T12:51:00.000-06:00

It amazes me how much I can get done when the girls play nicely together for a morning.

Crazy Hair Day

2010-10-20T09:52:00.000-06:00

Another school year, another red ribbon week. Which of course means crazy hair day.

Yes, Ethan is still missing that front tooth he lost last Thanksgiving. I just have to keep believing the dentist when he says it will come in. Someday.

Vernal

2010-10-09T03:11:00.001-06:00

For the longest time, Ethan had it in his mind that Vernal was the greatest place on Earth. That tells you how much we travel as a family. We went there when he was four and it was his first experience with a hotel that he could remember. Not only did he get to sleep in the same room as us, the hotel had a pool and he got to swim to his little heart's content. Ever since then he would ask over and over "when are we going to Vernal again?" I think what he was really asking was "when do we get to stay in a hotel with a pool again?"
Things worked out that Matt was in Vernal for work over a school holiday so we joined him. While Matt was out in the desert looking for cactus, I took the kids to the Field Museum. For those of you unfamiliar with Vernal, UT, it's right in the heart of dinosaur country. Joanna's love of dinosaurs was just budding, and she was soooo excited.

And seriously. I challenge anyone to get these kids to keep a straight face when a camera is pointed at them.

Ice Skating

2010-10-08T03:08:00.000-06:00

Another round of skating lessons. Ginny is counting down until she gets to join in.

Ethan does the hockey skating. He learns hockey stops (where he sprays people with ice) and skating on one leg (because they're always doing that, those hockey players).

There's a funny duality to Ethan. He has plenty of fears. He's nervous about monsters and hates to be alone and likes a light on when he sleeps and every noise makes him jump and shout "what was that!?" But he has no fear of bodily harm. The kind of fear that, as his mother, I wish he had. He doesn't think twice about jumping from somewhere high up, he rides his bike like a crazy man, and when he skates, it's as fast as he possibly can. Which is frighteningly fast. When he gets close to the wall, does he slow down? No. He gives himself an extra push and braces for impact.

It was Joanna's first time on skates. She thought she should be able to skate like an Olympian from the get go, and bravely slid out onto the ice. She promptly landed on her rump. Hard. After the tears abated, she decided to take it a little more carefully. She slowly migrated from clutching to wall

to clutching her teacher

to almost skating by herself.

By the end she was able to go it alone. Very slowly. And she got used to the inevitable fall.

Good thing she has an awesome older brother who saw it as his personal duty to cheer his sister up and get her back on her feet.

Bird Refuge

2010-10-07T08:42:00.000-06:00

We love taking the kids out to the bird refuge west of Logan. We started going to help Matt practice his bird identification. We keep going back because it's beautiful.

And because the kids get to do one of the top ten things kids love to do. Throw rocks into water.

Splash Pad

2010-10-06T03:46:00.007-06:00

We were lucky enough to see a lot of Marci and her family this summer. One of the first things we did with her was go to the splash pad.

Ginny preferred to hang out with Grandma, Baby Daisy, and the snacks rather than get anywhere near the water.

Wild Flower Garden

2010-10-05T03:44:00.000-06:00

Matt's wildflower garden really took off this year. The blue flax came early and stayed all year. Then the poppies in pink and orange. When summer was in full swing the black eyed susans and about five other types of gorgeous flowers I can't name took over.

It was a favorite spot during hide and seek games, and who wouldn't want to plop down right in the middle of it?

Owly spends most of every day hunkered down underneath the blooms, napping away.

Visit to Doug's

2010-10-04T09:00:00.000-06:00

My beautiful niece graduated and spoke at her graduation so we made a trip down to my brother Doug's in San Pete County to see her.

My kids absolutely love visiting Uncle Doug's. Not only do they get to see their cousins whom they adore, they get a chance to ride on a horse.

And this time around Doug's neighbor took them for a spin in his fun toy.

Joanna Turned 4

2010-10-02T05:17:00.016-06:00

We didn't get any pictures of her with presents and cake but we are by no means lacking in pictures of Jo.

She does a great wiggle dance

Ginny Turned 2

2010-10-01T05:00:00.002-06:00

Our baby is slowly becoming less a baby,

and has become enamored with babies herself.

There was no coyness with the cake this year.

Camping, This Year

2010-09-30T05:14:00.072-06:00

Fast forward.

We camped in a different place this year. With no river close by, other forms of entertainment were needed.


Leaf Rubbings

This year's relaxing spot was the hammock.

The last morning was spent playing Rock Game which consisted of throwing rocks in a box while singing "rock game, rock game".

We came home through Bear Lake this year and stopped to let the kids swim and play on the beach.

Camping, Last Year

2010-09-29T05:00:00.001-06:00

So yes. It took me over a year to get around to this one. The main reason? I took over a hundred pictures. All of them stinking cute. How do you Pick?

As always, there were lots of games.

Fun toys

Matt trying out the stilts

And the best part, lots of cousins.

I participated in the river float this year so we don't have pictures of that. We do however have a bajillion pictures of the outdoor living room all those inflated river rats turned into.

They were really comfy.

Watching Summer Fade Away

2010-09-28T21:43:00.000-06:00

* * *

It wasn't planned, but I took a break from posting on this here blog for a while. Which really isn't fair to all of you. How can I be so selfish and not share the incredible adorableness that is my kids? I ask for your forgiveness.
So here goes. A new post every day for the next little while. Some of them go back a ways. Enjoy.

2010-07-06T09:07:00.001-06:00

There's even more garden pictures & bloggin' over on Matt's blog with his Lawn Wrangler 2: Part B.

Garden

2010-07-04T22:16:00.005-06:00

The garden is three times bigger this year and we're very excited about it. There's lots of good things already coming.

Matt wrote a post about it also that you can find on his blog here. He has a bunch of great pictures of the kids.

Budding Entrepreneurs

2010-06-26T23:17:00.001-06:00

Ethan and Jo put a lot of work into this little lemonade stand. They colored in their sign and squeezed all the lemons. They hauled the chairs and table and cooler. They developed a good sales pitch to yell at passing cars: "You look thirsty! I've got something here that can help!" And they had a lot of fun doing it. They didn't care that their only customer was their mom. After about an hour they closed up shop, having run out of lemonade since it was a warm day and they got thirsty.

Tents

2010-06-25T23:40:00.002-06:00

We've got a tradition going where every Friday night we make a tent of blankets in the living room and the kids get to sleep in it.

The kids love it and I can usually get them to go to bed a lot earlier. It's a win-win situation.

Busy Bug

2010-06-22T22:50:00.005-06:00

Joanna makes me laugh every day. She gets lost in her own little world for hours. She builds and plays with her animals and is always just busy, busy, busy.

She loves the show Dinosaur Train because she loves all things scaly or slithery or slimy or crawly. She'll set up railroad tracks all over the house using different mediums (in the picture above she used blocks but she has also been known to incorporate books or cards or marbles).

When not constructing her own Union Pacific, she is building castles for her favorite toy, aptly named Castle.

Note the "Monster Truck" parked out front

Something inside her thrills at the idea of lining things up and arranging things for display. She has put her skills to good use lately by making me bouquets of "not mommy's" flowers,

as well as bouquets of playdough.

I was informed that all the empty cans are lined up to form the vase

Joanna doesn't move much while sleeping so her bed has become Owly's favorite place to crash at night.

From Soccer to Baseball

2010-06-16T16:06:00.005-06:00

Another round of sports for Ethan. The age group Ethan was in this year for soccer had the kids actually play a position instead of setting them loose to follow the ball over the entire field like a pack of hounds after an elusive fox. Ethan still preferred playing goalie.

I think that's because he likes to pretend like he's a soldier defending a fort. Hence the "shooting" at the ball.

When he wasn't playing goalie he was happy to let the more aggressive kids handle the ball while he followed close behind to cheer them on.

And now we're into baseball. Ethan had his first game this past week. He played catcher for the first two innings

and got a hit both times he was up to bat.

Matt got recruited to play first base coach

and as always, the girls were great little cheerleaders.

Joanna called this "Ethan being happy in the sun"

Dirt

2010-06-14T11:20:00.004-06:00

How does one keep one's children and house clean when they have this in their backyard?

We're working hard on making our backyard into something more than just a paradise for bindweed. We asked Ethan to help us move the dirt around when it first got dumped. He was a good little worker, but after a while he asked if he could go play on it with the girls because "It's a big pile of dirt and I'm a kid". There's no arguing with the boy's logic.

Yeah. I haven't written many posts lately. I have a ton of adorable pictures and stories. One of these nights when Matt's out of town I'll by some miracle feel ambitious rather than exhausted and catch up.

Don't mess with these Easter egg hunt skills

2010-04-12T22:06:00.000-06:00

Still Here...

2010-03-02T16:08:00.007-07:00

...though not much exciting to report. We're just trying to make the best of this not so great winter. February is the only time I hate living in Cache Valley, and oh man, do I hate it. So, what do we do when it never gets above 15 degrees and the air is deathly to breathe?
We read

We watch the birds on the many feeders that Matt has to refill almost daily. Our regular visitors: house sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, house finches, pine siskins, spotted towhees, gold finches. And the family favorite, black-capped chickadees:

We even got a sharp shinned hawk one day, attracted by the flocks of small, edible birds. We can always hear a flicker or two, and we have an owl we've seen once on an evening walk and hear most nights.

We also nap a lot

and do make believe

Super Hero

Stoic Heroine

and get all cozied up in our space PJs

And head down into the basement room we finished off.

Check out the beautiful bookcases my dad built

And when we can't stand being indoors anymore, we escape up the canyon to breathe some clear, non-inversioned air and get all good and warn out.

Just for fun, I'll share this sign we found posted by Ethan outside our bedroom door ( a no cat zone).

Holiday Catchup Part 2

2010-01-14T20:48:00.009-07:00

Just before Christmas we have the annual party on Matt's side complete with pinata...

...visit from Santa...

...and nativity.

The day before Christmas Eve we went to the museum at Hill Airforce base with Grandpa Dick.

Grandpa got to show off the plane he works on.

And these cute little cousins held hands through the whole place.

Christmas Eve everyone got their new pajamas.

Matt and I had so much fun with this Christmas because we made most of the gifts. Matt drew beautiful pictures of birds and framed an amazing picture he took while in Alaska. I crocheted hats and scarfs and made these tutus for the girls.

Along with washer necklaces and jars of homemade spice rubs, we were a regular santa's workshop all December.

Holiday Catchup Part 1

2010-01-14T19:19:00.001-07:00

Events in the Howard home over the past few months:We got a cat. Owly. Very affectionate with a little stub of a tail.

Ethan lost three teeth in one week.

We had Thanksgiving with Matt's family and played some Rock Band with the cousins. I have some video that I am just dying to embarrass them with five years from now.

And of course, the snow came.

Ginny was disappointed she could no longer scoot around on her bike.

Matt built a big hill for the kids to sled on out front.

And the hallmark of Howards in winter, rosy cheeks and noses.

There's a Mouse About the House

2009-11-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the website The Toymaker? Very awesome, very fun. We made up these little marble mice and spent a fun evening sending them all over the kitchen.

Ginny was designated as the one to fish lost marbles out from under the oven, her hands being the only ones that could fit.

And, as is her way, it took her only two seconds to go from happy and giggling to needing to go to bed right this very second.

Most commonly heard phrase that night? "Oh no! I've lost my marbles!"

A Boxer, a Butterfly, and a Bat

2009-11-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween

School Parade

Pumpkin Carving

Picture Posing

Parade and Pizza Party in the Old Neighborhood

Post Trick-Or-Treating Collapse

2009-11-17T20:04:00.001-07:00

The small screen on the Nintendo DS encourages sibling togetherness.

Mail Time

2009-11-10T21:40:00.004-07:00

Cards in the mail from Grandma are the best (especially if they have a kitty on them).

Halloween Decorations

2009-10-28T19:37:00.003-06:00

Vampire

Some people spend hours and/or tons of money to decorate their houses for holidays. I farm it out to Ethan.

Witch

Pumpkin

Black Cat/Jack-o-lantern

"Welcome to the Haunted House"
(It's hard to tell in the picture but he wrote "hanid hous" in scary squiggle writing)

Crazy Hair Day

2009-10-23T10:00:00.003-06:00

One more way in which Ethan expresses his inner Calvin. Just try and take a picture of him without him pulling a face.

Can you say no to a face this sweet?

2009-10-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

Ginny, using her abundance of adorableness to try and mooch a sip of daddy's drink.

Trampoline Hair

2009-10-05T20:25:00.001-06:00

Captions Welcome

2009-09-24T23:08:00.003-06:00

I assume Joanna set this up. It seems like her kind of thing.

Fourth of July

2009-09-23T22:19:00.005-06:00

We're traveling back in time a few months for this one. Our old neighborhood up the canyon puts on quite a show every year for the Fourth. And when I say quite a show, I mean the astronauts in the space station were probably sitting up there with popcorn enjoying the show.

The pictures really don't do it justice. Matt made a video of it, which helps give a better idea of the insanity.

Howard Family Fun on a Friday Night

2009-09-17T23:47:00.001-06:00

You can do some pretty cool things with a sweet camera, a box of sparklers, and a light saber.

Look close, can you spot the Joanna peeking out?

Sky View Homecoming Parade

2009-09-16T19:02:00.002-06:00

I've never been a fan of parades and I think it's because I always went to the wrong parades. The big city ones are fun for about ten minutes, then boring for the next two hours. But once we had kids we started going to the small town parades, first South Ogden, then Smithfield when we moved up here. That's when I realized the key to a good parade. Candy. The excitement for a parade can keep up as long as the candy is flying.

Jo came home with three times as much candy as Ethan this time around. I don't think she's any faster or better at collecting it, I think Ethan has just learned to be picky.

Snow Bear PJs

2009-08-25T22:20:00.002-06:00

The snow bear pajamas have become a rite of passage for our kids. They start wearing them as a baby, and stop wearing them as a toddler.

Ethan

Joanna

Ginny

Cousins

2009-07-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

After they moved to Oregon, we missed Marci, Brandon and Rocky something terrible. It was so fun to have them back in Utah for a few weeks, and we're already looking forward to when they'll come back for another visit.

Dinosaur Park

2009-07-24T07:00:00.005-06:00

Can you call a summer complete without a visit to the dinosaur park?

Just for fun here's Ethan age 6:

and Ethan age 3:

Another Summer, Another Batch of Swimming Lessons

2009-07-22T07:00:00.004-06:00

All three kids in the pool this year. Ethan and Jo in their own classes and Ginny with me in water babies. It was great because it took up every morning for two weeks, most of which was while Matt was in Alaska so the time flew.

Sports

2009-07-20T14:50:00.005-06:00

Ethan played soccer and t-ball over the past few months, and he definitely enjoyed soccer more. It's his kind of thing because he never has to stop moving. He had a silly grin on his face every game, even the one during a snow storm when half the other kids came off the field bawling because it was so, so cold. He surprised us by being pretty good too. Before his first game Matt said he would be happy if Ethan got at least one goal during the season. He got three that first game. So of course after that we became horribly competitive parents and had to hide our disappointment if he didn't score. He truly loved it though, whether he scored or not. And he was definitely one of the more entertaining goalies. Being in front of the net was like being on a stage and he had to show off his moves.

The t-ball season just wrapped up, and I can't blame Ethan for being relieved. It might get to be more fun when he gets into the older leagues where people actually get out and the entire team doesn't bat and run the bases every inning. I have to brag again though, because for the last few games they turned it into coach pitch, and Ethan always got a hit. I'll have to try and remember that and try to forget watching him pick his nose for ten minutes straight.

Birthday Cake

2009-06-03T13:21:00.003-06:00

Ginny turned one year old! We had both sets of grandparents up to our place for a little party.

When it came time for the cake, Ginny loved the candles and singing. But then she stuck her fingers in the frosting, realized it was gooey, and didn't want anything to do with it. We tried to get pictures of her eating her cake but she wouldn't let a bite get anywhere near her. Oh well, we thought, more cake for us. Later, after the grandparents had left, I came upon this:

That's my little piglet.

Six

2009-05-22T01:41:00.004-06:00

My friend Sue tagged me on her blog to pass on this random dive into the photo album that is our computer's memory.
So here goes:
Sixth folder, sixth picture, blog about it.

Looking at this picture my mind goes in a dozen different directions at once. Ethan is around 11 months old and we were just about to move out of the house on 36th street in Ogden that we'd been renting for a little over two years. Look at those cheeks! He certainly was no light weight.
He's sitting on the bear chair which Matt's sister Marci gave him for Christmas. Normally I'm very opposed to large stuffed animals, but that chair has been well used. Matt and I have both taken more naps on our kids floor using the bear chair as a pillow then I could count. It's been a usual spot for story times, a landing pad for daring jumps, and the ultimate end-all weapon in pillow fights. It's a lot flatter now than it is in the picture.
The backpack and folders on the couch in the back are a sign that the semester was in full swing for both of us. I was working at Weber State Credit Union and Matt was at UPS. We were just starting the transfer from Ogden and WSU to Logan and USU.
Ethan was such a good little baby, happy and easy going. I just can't believe how quickly he has grown from this chubby little cherub into the stretched out kid he is now. I miss having him as that snuggly little boy but I'm also glad to have the boy he is today.

Marci, I think your's is the only blog I read that hasn't been tagged yet so you're next!

All dressed up and nowhere to...splash?

2009-05-19T10:37:00.002-06:00

So the kids have been trying to persuade me that it's time to put up the pool. They've been trying since last November, but now that we've had temperatures in the 80's I'm starting to actually listen to them. Joanna made the most convincing plea this morning when she came out dressed up in every piece of swimming paraphernalia we own. I guess today's the day.

Sick

2009-05-07T10:08:00.001-06:00

We've got the King Kong of stomach flus rampaging through our house right now, smashing some of us into weeping piles of misery while the rest of us cower in fear, waiting for the moment it spies us and reaches out to crush us with it's cruel hand.

So far Ethan and Jo have been the ones to suffer. I've never seen these kids so sick for so long. Ginny has had a fever and sleeps a lot, and Matt and I have escaped so far with only sympathy nausea and exhaustion.
On a lighter note, our bird feeder is finally being visited (we've seen lazuli buntings and ruby-crowned kinglets) so the kids have something to watch out the window as they loll whimpering on the couch.

Heavy Reading

2009-05-01T01:40:00.002-06:00

Yes. That is Shakespeare, the complete works. Just a little something to wind down with before bed.

Spring Break

2009-04-21T07:37:00.000-06:00

Ethan's only wish for Spring Break was to stay in a hotel. It didn't matter where as long as it had a pool. That left our options fairly open so we opted for a night in Salt Lake. We took the kids to the aquarium while we were down there. The fish elicited the expected oohs and aahs, but what really got the kids excited were the reptiles and amphibians. Snakes and turtles and frogs and caymans. Throw in a couple of bird eating tarantulas and the kids were in heaven. Joanna is terrified of dogs but she didn't think twice about putting here face right up to a spider the size of her head.
On the way home from Salt Lake we went to the annual Isaacson family Easter party. It's Matt's side of the family with all his aunts and uncles and cousins. They roast enormous hot dogs and have an easter egg hunt.

Ginny with Grandma Janet

Ginny with Aunt Jill

It's always a great time, and every year the kids go from excitedly inspecting their haul

to sugar induced meltdown

to passing out in the car.

Laundry

2009-04-19T21:26:00.004-06:00

This is another set of pictures I've had saved up.
Man I've got cute kids.

New Kitchen, New Aprons

2009-04-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Well, mine is a few months old. A wonderful friend gave it to me for my birthday, saying every baker needs a cute apron. I happened to find where she bought it and saw kid versions. I couldn't resist. Now Joanna doesn't consider herself, or me for that matter, completely dressed without an apron on.

Baby Animal Days

2009-04-11T08:00:00.002-06:00

The American West Heritage Center, here in Cache Valley, is a living history farm. Life as it was at the beginning of the 20th century is reenacted all year long. Every spring they have Baby Animal Days, a festival where the newest additions to the farm are shown off. It's a blend of a mountain man rendezvous and petting zoo.

Exploring a dug-out cabin

Every corner of the grounds has something to keep the kids busy. There's the hatchet toss

Pony rides

And new to us this year, cricket eating.

Joanna looked at the bug, then looked at Matt like he was crazy. Didn't he know that bugs are icky? Ethan on the other hand, Mr picky eater himself, didn't hesitate.

I don't think we'll be returning to that booth next year.

Ginny, as always, was the best baby ever.

She happily watched everything that was going on around her, and especially loved the baby animals

which of course is the whole reason for going to Baby Animal Days.

Duckling

Rabbit

Joanna preferred to have someone else hold the animal while she petted it.

Chick

Looking at piglets

One More

2009-04-09T20:00:00.002-06:00

When Joanna decides it's time to sleep, she sleeps right then and there.

Naptime

2009-04-08T13:14:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the month of silence. We bought a house which was exciting and scary and time consuming. I promise that in time I will add posts about what the house looks like and what we're doing to it, but for right now, just know that we love it, it almost immediately felt like home, and Matt and I are blossoming in our new roles as Mr and Mrs Fix-It.

Ethan

I've had this folder of pictures waiting to be posted for a while. It's amazing, the wave of love and adoration that floods you when you see your sleeping babe, regardless of whether or not they were a holy terror not 15 minutes earlier. It's hard to pick favorites so this will be a mostly visual post, and sorry for the repeats but they belong in this one. (It's easy to tell who is who thanks to each child having their own identifying blanky close at hand).

Joanna

Ethan and Joanna after swimming lessons

Ginny

Joanna

Ethan, one of many times having fallen asleep while reading Calvin and Hobbes

Sunday afternoon

Ethan couldn't resist a bed of warm, soft clothes

Matt and Jo

This was back in the bakery days, when I would work from 3:00 to 7:00 in the morning and blessed the fact that Ethan still took long afternoon naps.

Post Thanksgiving nap

For his first three years Ethan was on such a good schedule that he never fell asleep somewhere other than his bed. Except for once, at a demolition derby. Go figure.

Joanna can fall asleep anywhere

Ginny and Cousin Rocky, doing what babies do while camping.

Baby Ethan, one week old.

Trying out the new bunk beds at Grandma Janet's.

Baby Ethan

Joanna

TV Cuddle Quilts

2009-03-09T15:02:00.000-06:00

My mom made these for my kids for Christmas. With my kids tendency to become obsessive about blankets, these of course are now required for any kind of quiet activity. You can't see it in the picture, but the other side of Jo's has the alphabet on it, thus it is lovingly called "my ABC bwanket!"

Froggy (otherwise known as Fwoggy)

2009-03-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Joanna received Froggy as a gift for her first birthday.

He was instantly loved, but didn't become the favorite until Joanna was two. Then something clicked. I think Joanna figured out that it was easy to hold on to the back of his head and make him look around, giving him a lot more personality than the other stuffed animals. Whatever it was, Froggy has gone everywhere and done everything. I've already shared about storytime at the library when Joanna was suddenly sitting next to me whispering "look at Froggy" and Froggy had taken her place in the storytime circle.
He's also gone bowling

played with trains

Gone trick or treating

and enjoyed a good dinner at El Torro Viejo.

Occasionaly he will be shared with Ginny, but that kind of generosity only lasts for thirty seconds at the most.

2009-03-05T14:00:00.001-07:00

Ethan with a very young mom and dad

I think we're just about through the worst of winter now. The end of January through the first of March is the hardest time for me. It's too cold and the air is too crummy to spend much time outside and we all get cabin fever bad. But the other day was in the fifties and I opened my windows and took five walks with the girls.

Ethan

I've been saving up some cute one liners and stories, and I'm throwing in a bunch of baby pictures of all three kids, just for kicks.

Joanna

Ethan said that Matt's new name is now "sneaky go to work guy".

Ginny

Back in December when everyone had their Christmas lights up I was driving Jo down the street to pick up Ethan at a friends house. It was dark and every house was lit up. Jo stared at the lights for a while then yelled "I found Krit-mas!"

Ethan

The kids love watching old Looney Toons cartoons. For a while I could here Jo in her room talking to her animals and saying "say your pwayers". I didn't make the connection until I brought home some big carrots and she got excited, grabbed a carrot and recited the whole Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd cartoon where Daffy is Bugs' double:
"alwight wabbit, say your pwayers"
"I dare you!"
"Cut!, bwing in the double!"
"alwight wabbit, say your pwayers"
"I dare you!"
"BANG!"
"Makeup!"
I don't know if it carries over just reading it, but it was adorable.

Joanna

Matt: "I'll be home at dinner time"
Joanna: "No, be home ah cereal time!"

Ginny

Ethan: "Does this apple taste mellow?"

Ethan

Some Joanna translations:
Zeldard = lizard
Chickenhawk = rooster/eagle/parrot
cawwy monsers (with shoulders shrugged up and scary fingers) = scarry monsters
bemadda = banana
pee-madoh = piano (she uses this one when she reenacts the Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom is playing a concert and Jerry is living in the piano with resulting chaos)

Joanna

Ethan, in the shower, sings out the NPR All Things Considered theme song, then:
"Here's the news, the bad guys blew up the Earth and God made another one. That's all the news for now."

Ginny

Life is Better in a Box

2009-02-23T17:22:00.002-07:00

Little Trooper

2009-02-13T09:47:00.004-07:00

Ginny's had kind of a rough go of it the past few months. Shall I just list of few of her troubles?
1. Right before Christmas she got a bad flu followed by a very bad cold. The flu threw her digestive track for a loop and she still isn't able to get back to solid foods. Her insides think about it, then send the food right back.
2. Her two bottom teeth broke through.
3. Some kind of upper respiratory infection went through our kids. The older two weathered it just fine but Ginny got an ear infection and the beginnings of pneumonia.
4. The antibiotics for the ear infection leave her with a pretty nasty diaper rash.

So our poor little Ginny is constantly having medicine shoved into her mouth. Besides the prevacid and axid for her reflux, there's the antibiotics and ibuprofen and tylenol.
The great thing about Ginny is she smiles through all of it. We may hear a wimper when the ibuprofen wears off, but about 99% of the time, she's still giggles and grins.
What a great baby.

Silly Puddy Woes

2009-02-07T04:42:00.003-07:00

"My head is stuck to my pillow!"
Not something you want to hear at 3:00 am.
Poor little Ethan fell asleep with silly puddy in is hand. In the night it transferred to his pillow, and then with the turning over that happens in sleep, spread to three different parts of his hair.
Thank heavens for google. Olive oil left to sit for a minute helped to break it down enough to be encouraged out with a comb. There were some tears and some cries of "just use scissors!" but it came out in the end.
I pulled out a hot wheels car that I had stashed away and gave it to him for being brave and we both went back to bed feeling like champions.

My Favorite Sunday Afternoon Activity.

2009-01-26T10:21:00.002-07:00

Cheese Part 2

2009-01-17T08:18:00.004-07:00

Ginny is our smiliest baby by far. Ethan was a good smiler but he was nearly 8 weeks old before popping out with a grin. Joanna's smiles came earlier, but she was always a little stingy with them. Ginny's smiles came even earlier and she gives them out like it's easier than breathing. Sometimes she even has a little grin on her face while she's sleeping.
For the past little while she's been getting really good at mimicking. Stick out your tongue, she'll stick out hers. Nod your head, she enthusiastically copies. And with smiles, it seems like she has noticed that we have a lot going on in our faces when we smile at her, so she has tried to follow our lead.
She smiles, then scrunches up her face, then lets out a giggle and looks at us like she's so proud of herself for figuring this out.
What a doll.

Cheese

2009-01-12T17:28:00.003-07:00

Joanna paid very close attention when I was taking pictures of Ethan and his missing teeth. She watched how he maneuvered his jaw to best show off the new gap. Now it's hard to get her to smile for a picture without mimicking the lost tooth pose. Silly grins abound lately.

Good Bye FIghty

2009-01-09T08:39:00.003-07:00

Our pet beta Fighty went to fish heaven sometime during the night last night. He was a good little fish, he lasted two months shy of a year. There was debate about whether to tell the kids outright or try and sneak a new "fighty" into the bowl. Telling the kids won out, and we didn't have much to worry about. Ethan was sad for about two seconds and then moved on with his life. It'll take a couple days for him to process it (already his usual slurry of 'what if' questions have been replaced by questions about death), but for the most part, he's just accepted it as part of life. Fighty will be missed though, and thanks to Joanna calling all fish "fighties", he'll be remembered for a while to come.

Tooth Number Two

2009-01-05T14:55:00.003-07:00

New Years Eve: Out with the Old

2008-12-31T19:42:00.003-07:00

For the past while I've been keeping a close eye on Ginny's mouth, watching for any sign of her first tooth. It didn't occur to me that there was another mouth in the house that I should have been watching a little closer.
Late in the afternoon on New Years Eve, Ethan came in with a concerned look on his face after playing outside.
"Mom, I fell and bonked my mouth and my teeth are funny now."
That put a concerned look on MY face. Upon examination of the "funny" teeth, we concluded that the two lower front teeth were "very wiggly." Only a few hours later, Ethan lost his first tooth. Literally his first tooth. That was the first one to come in when he was a baby, and now it's the first one to be put in the place of honor underneath the pillow. It's neighbor is acting eager to follow.

Thanks to the big gaps in his teeth, it's kind of hard to tell anything is amiss.

Cousins

2008-12-23T06:10:00.003-07:00

Matt's sister Marci and her family are home for the holidays from Eugene. Ginny loves having her cousin Rocky around to do tummy time with.

Christmas Program

2008-12-19T08:00:00.003-07:00

All the kindergarten classes at Ethan's school put on a Christmas program yesterday. They've been practicing for weeks and we've been hearing bits and pieces of songs around the house. I was really impressed with how many songs those kids had memorized. I also had no idea how many songs there were about Santa.

Marci, Brandon and Rocky were able to come up and watch it with us. When we walked into the gym, the kids were already sitting up on the stage. I loved that Ethan saw all of us show up and just wiggled with excitement.

My favorite was when they sang Silent Night. They sang the first verse and then hummed the melody while they did the first verse in sign language. Silent Night has been my favorite Christmas song since I was in Sonoma Valley Children's Chorale and we learned the whole song in german. To hear it in those sweet voices (and I swear I could pick Ethan out) and then to see it in yet another language. Oooh, I had goosebumps.

Ethan's favorite, the one he's been singing around the house the most, is I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas. I don't know if it's because he likes all the naughty things in the song, or if he secretly wonders it about himself.

All in a row

2008-12-17T12:37:00.008-07:00

Joanna's passion lately is lining things up.

Add that to Ethan's penchant for a jumbled pile and you've got a recipe for trouble.

Decorating for Christmas

2008-12-12T20:32:00.007-07:00

Ever since Ethan was one year old, decorating the Christmas tree has been a favorite event of mine. In years before that, I'd always enjoyed getting out the ornaments, remembering the stories that came with each one. But add the excitement of a toddler running back and forth between you and the tree, hanging every ornament within the same square foot of tree space, all with such care you didn't know their chubby little fingers were capable of. Oh man, it's bliss for me.
Trying to capture the beauty of these precious little faces lit up by the Christmas lights was a difficult task due to the fact that their precious little bodies don't stop moving. So we ended up with a lot of blur, but that's kind of how the evening ends up being. A blur of excitement and tradition and Christmas stories and hot cocoa and Christmas songs.

Joanna doesn't remember last Christmas all that well, so she's having a hard time this year understanding what the big socks hanging on the wall are for.

And even more kids stories

2008-12-06T14:49:00.015-07:00

I wonder sometimes if these little stories I share are as cute to the rest of the world as they are to me. Maybe not, since I think my kids are the epitome of cuteness, and I know there are other moms out there who think their own kids hold that status. Either way, I know there's at least two sets of grandparents and a smattering of aunts and uncles who get a kick out of my kids so here we go with round three of my own version of "kids say the darnedest things".
We've been transferring photos from our old computer to the new one, so I'm going to throw in a couple of oldies but goodies towards the end.

I leave the kids in the car to run in and pick up my contacts. When I get back in Ethan says "We talked about it and (he throws his hands up in the air), none of us knows how to drive the car!"

Joanna ate a banana and carried the peel around for a little bit. Then she put it down in the middle of the floor and yelled " 'atch out! Don't swip!"

Joanna: 11 months

Ethan: "I'm going to wear my skull sweatshirt because I'm awesome and I look awesome in it!"

Ethan: 4 1/2

Aunt Jill: "Whoever says 'I'm a geek' wins!"
Ethan: "I'm a geek!"
Me: "Ethan, do you know what a geek is?"
Ethan: "umm...."
Me: "It's like a nerd. Do you know what a nerd is?"
Ethan: "Candy!"

Joanna: 1 year. Ethan: 4 1/2.

These last few are thanks to Ethan's vocab program in kindergarten.

"My favorite word is....The!"

Joanna: 1 year

"I'm not sharing. I'm a happy miser!" ( I think this one is thanks to Daffy Duck )

Ethan's silly face: 4 1/2

Ethan's playing in the creek bed with Carson, smacking a shovel against a rock to make sparks. I call for him, telling him it's time to come home and he yells back: "No! I want to linger!"

Joanna: 14 months

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T16:23:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving just isn't complete without an after feast nap.

Skipping Rocks

2008-11-24T10:36:00.007-07:00

We headed out a little while ago to do some hawk spotting. We ended up out at the bird refuge teaching the kids to skip rocks.

Ethan got the hang of it and got a high score of 4 skips. Matt got one that we lost count on but was at least over twenty.

Joanna's still figuring it out.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2008-11-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

This is Joanna one year ago.

This is her now.

I know I've already used this picture before, but I just love it. Those cheeks, those gorgeous eyes. She's a doll.

Blessed is the Thumb

2008-11-12T13:22:00.002-07:00

There are two, and only two, responses we get when people see Ginny sucking her thumb.
1. Oh how cute! She's sucking her little thumb!
2. Uh-oh, you've got a thumb sucker.
Now with both my girls (Joanna was and still is a big thumb sucker) I have put myself in the first category and added a "Thank heavens!" In my experience, thumb sucking=good sleeper.
There is many a dire warning that comes (unsolicited) from those in the second category. It will mess up their teeth (no problems yet with Joanna), it will interfere with eating (again no problems here). It's such a hard habit to break. Hmm. Now we haven't come to that bridge yet, but I have hope, since Joanna has kept the thumb sucking to times of distress and sleepiness.
And really, when it comes to getting good sleep during those first years, you'll take anything that will help. When Ginny first sucked her thumb and followed her sister down that path, I swear I heard the Hallelujah Chorus playing softly in the background.

Cold days are upon us

2008-11-05T18:13:00.004-07:00

Of course the fates would have it that we'd get a slushy snow storm and freezing temperatures the week that Matt is in Vernal.
I still force the kids outside, but we don't last long. Ginny's usually the first to complain, having never known cold before in her life. Joanna's nose becomes as red as a cherry and starts running like a faucet. And even for me, the lure of chatting with the ladies starts to be trumped by the lure of hot chocolate.
Ethan's the only one that doesn't seem to mind the drop in temperature. He never seems to notice what the weather is like (some of you may remember the trouble we had getting him to dress in anything but sweat pants and long sleeve t-shirts when the temperature was in the 90s this past summer.)
I knew it was inevitable, this move towards winter. And I should be grateful for the long Indian summer we had. So I guess I'll just accept that I can't go out in flip flops anymore, curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, and dream about when summer will come again.
Ethan, not too long ago, enjoying the last warm days with his friends Aubrey, Carson, and Jake