I love my Wipeout!

O.k. so for those of you who I told last year you know how much I love Wipeout... well it's back and it looks like it could possibly be better than last year - I can't imagine how, but it's true!! When ever I watch it I find myself laughing out loud, not just giggling, even if I'm by myself. It truly is the best show of all time, except for LOST of course. Here's a little teaser for you, and please be warned that a trip to the bathroom might be a good idea before watching the show... ENJOY!!

Visiting Teaching Message

SO for those of you who have read the book you'll get a laugh out of this one, my friend Charis posted this and I stole it from her blog!

I think this would be so much more appropriate for say home teaching so that the men could be clued in on some of this. Although Tim once told me I didn't need to read the book because he is my Edward... he's so right in so many ways just not when it comes to the "honey do" list or doing things without being asked - I love you madly anyway!!

Snow.... REALLY?!!

O.k. so for those of you who live far away, and in hopefully sunny places, you may not know that those of us here in the great Northwest are still in the middle of freezing our tooshies off. I love the snow and all, but really it's the middle of April and snow is completely unneccessary at the moment. These were taken earlier this year, but I needed some pictures to illustrate my annoyance right now. In the pics below we have Moose who really loved playing in the snow for as long as he could stand it... and from left to right we have Tyler, Mackenzie and Ethan who begged Dad to cover them in snow. They thought it was pretty funny.

Ella and Brynlee stayed inside with me, where it was nice and warm... we also helped all those who "forgot" to go potty before getting suited up for the snow get undressed and dressed again. I also got hot chocolate ready which they thought was cool and I think it's the driving reason for even going outside in the first place... once you're cold you really do need something to help you get warmed up again right? To the left are Ethan and Ella, although they are 16 months apart in age they are the ones who get mistaken for twins most often when we go out in public now. Surely with so many kids there must be at least 1 or 2 sets of twins right?

Brynlee has the "cheeks to squeeze" and I'm not sure many of you know - except for Mikey and other long time friends who read this blog - but it's one of my pet peeves when big people pinch little people's cheeks. Of course that's probably why I have had such veluptuous kids... to get past that whole personal bubble thing and just let everyone love all there is to squeeze on my kids - i.e. cheeks, thighs and those creases around their wrists and ankles or should I say kankles? I do have to say that after Tyler and Ella Brynlee is a breeze to get dressed... with Ella it was like stuffing a sausage, stuffing very lovingly though. I do have to say that they are pretty irresistable and I've found myself giggling over how squishy and fun they are to hold and snuggle!

Taylor and Tyler

O.k., so every Monday morning I get to take Taylor (our cutest neighbor) and Tyler to their preschool and we have some great conversations! We've discussed things like princesses and their modesty or lack of, Halloween and Taylor not getting dressed up to go trick-or-treating this year because she was going to Disneyland, the weather, debates about whether the little cockroach in the movie Enchanted that gets eaten at the end of the song is really a cockroach or a crab, Spiderman (of course), scribbling as opposed to coloring, and many other funny things all of which I can't remember at the moment. The other morning Taylor had made cookies for the class and after we got started she had a little conversation with Tyler and here's how it went:

Tay: Tyler do you like jam cookies?

Ty: No.

Tay: So are you saying you don't want a cookie at class?

Ty: No, I only like chocolate chip cookies... my mom makes them.

Tay: Oh, o.k. later today I'll bring over some cookies with chocolate on them and green sprinkles on top and I'll bring Mackenzie and Sydney some too.

Ty: No I only like chocolate chip cookies.

Me: Tyler you don't want cookies with chocolate on top... just chocolate chips in them?

Ty: Yes.

Me: Even with green sprinkles on top?

Tay: I won't put green sprinkles on, I have pink and blue too.

It went on a little farther, but that was the best part of the whole cookie conversation. It's so much fun to listen to what kids have to say, it always makes me giggle!

IT'S A MOOSE!

O.k. so it's not really a moose, but it's our Moose. Here's a picture for you Seth so you can at least see what he looks like. Yesterday I brought home the newest, and furriest, member of our family for Tim's birthday/Christmas present. A few years ago we had to put our dog Max up for adoption because he was having all kinds of skin problems and we just couldn't afford (or bring ourselves) to actually see a "doggy dermatologist". It was a sad day in our house and we've waited a long time to get a new dog. Tim has always wanted a brittish bulldog, and since I don't have much of a preference - as long as it doesn't pee in my house - we started looking and researching all we could about the breed. We found a breeder in Sammamish a couple years ago we kept in touch with and about a month or two ago I contacted them to let them know we were ready. I was trying to keep it a secret, but in the end I had to let Tim in on it because he was about to try to get some abandoned bulldog puppies only a week before I was going to pick Moose up. So far everyone LOVES him and in true bulldog fasion he LOVES being the center of our universe! We'll post more pics of Moose and Tim when I get them downloaded, for now you'll just have to do with the ones from the breeder.

I know I'm the worst!

O.k. so I know I haven't blogged in a while, but we've had a lot going on and it's sad to say blogging comes in at the end of my day which usually means I'm braindead and about to crash. So here's an update on what's been going on with us. At the end of summer we got some really good pics of the kids riding bikes. Mackenzie learned how to ride with out training wheels, which she was very proud of, and everyone loves the scooters... Ella included.

Ethan is a wiz at riding the scooters, and at 2 years old he's got an amazing ability with all things physical and has the balance of a jungle cat. In all the many races they had he'd come in a close 3rd behind Mackenzie and Sydney. If Sydney ever came in 3rd or 4th her competitive side kicked in and the race "didn't count" and they had to start over again... she'll only be able to get away with that for another year or so before Ethan catches onto what she's doing. Tyler on the other hand doesn't really care that he wins he only cares when he's dead last.

Ella loved the scooter rides so much that this is what Tim would get whenever it was time to go inside. That girl was born to have the wind blowing through her hair and I wouldn't be suprised if next summer she was leaving everyone in the dust riding solo.

Tyler turned 4 this year and was very excited about all the presents, he caught on to the true reason behind the birthday party... lots and lots of new toys. We had his party a few days after his actual birth day and the girls took it upon themselves to inform him that he had already turned 4. He got really excited then and turned to me to let me know that since he was already 4 a couple days earlier he'd suddenly turned 5 on the day of his party. So I explained the best I could on how to "milk it for all it's worth" and I think he really appreciated my answer. Tyler is our logical man, and has blown us away with the ability to do math already... what a little genius he is!

Mackenzie was a little apprehensive when it came time to go back to school. I asked her if she was scared or nervous and she said no, I kept probing for an answer and finally it came down to the fact that she didn't think her 1st grade teacher Mrs. Heinz would be nearly as wonderful as her Kindergarten teacher was. About 2 weeks after the start of school she came home and said that Mrs. Heinz was really funny and has warmed up to her pretty quickly which we're very happy about. Mackenzie loves to read and has become quite the bookworm! Sydney has loved Kindergarten, but I was shocked to hear that she had been a little shy at first! She'll come home talking about the kids from her class and sometimes she'll ask what she can say to them, she loves to role play and has reported on several successful situations we had talked about. One sutation has been bothering her a lot, there are a few kids in her class who take the name of the Lord in vain and she's asked me several times what more she can say to them. She may be very dramatic a lot of the time, but I'm so grateful she gets what's important and isn't affraid to open her mouth and say something. It's amazing how often I am in awe of my children, and Tim and I are so thankful everyday to have them in our home and to be able to learn from them.

Memory Lane

I saw this on my friends blog, and thought it looked like a lot of fun....

Here are the directions....

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember...

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave a memory for you!

Thanks Heather, this is a fun one!