ice cream and the tooth fairy

Can you say lack of routine? The kids got ice cream for breakfast! (okay, it's a snack before breakfast) It was just something fun to kinda celebrate Ryan's Homecoming. Don't mind the green ice cream cone stuck in her teeth!

Ryanna lost her second tooth last night and the Tooth Fairy gave her a gold dollar coin! She was so excited!

ryan? who's ryan?

en·dur·ance

Pronunciation:
\in-ˈdu̇r-ən(t)s, -ˈdyu̇r-, en-\
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1: permanence, duration

2: the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially : the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity

3: the act or an instance of

enduring or suffering

---------------------------------------------
Speaking of enduring...this is the final lap in my summer alone!

Hooray, hooray, he's on his way!

Ryan's coming home TODAY!It actually wasn't as hard and bad as I thought! He's only been in Boise, but that's plenty far away from here. His absence was still felt by my heart and the emptiness in my children's lives. Eleven weeks! That's 77 days. That's just a couple weeks short of a TRIMESTER of a pregnancy. That's approx 1/5 of a year! Eleven weeks of being with my children night and day. Eleven weeks of no breaks, except when my gracious friends would relieve me for a couple hours so I could shower or grocery-shop in peace. (thank you!) I have talked with some people that have said to me, "Well at least your husband's not in Iraq or somewhere like that!" While this is true, it didn't make me feel ANY better. Absence is absence!

Some things we've done this summer:

-I actually read a book! I neglected the kids, but hey! I finished a BOOK!

-I got a terrific bread recipe and I can now make homemade bread

-I got ALL THREE of the baby books current
-I got ALL THREE of the kids' scrapbooks current

-I got new furniture for the living room (oops, Ryan doesn't know yet, I totally forgot to tell him! My grandparents gave me a brand new couch, a loveseat, two end tables and matching lamps)

-I turned 27, Carter turned one, Ryan turned 29 -Ryanna lost her first tooth (and the Tooth Fairy slept in and forgot and barely was able to sneak her 'payment' under Ryanna's pillow in time!)

-Carter started to walk (actually, run is more appropriate)

-Dawson discovered Transformers

-Carter said his first word which was "LOOK!" (huh? Where did he learn that? Or am I more impressed and enthused by my daily life than I thought, therefore repeating it often enough to make it my son's very first word??)

-We went to the waterpark a whole bunch!

-I've made several things on my Janome machine

-I've been released from Nursery and I'm now the Primary Pianist (hooray! Easy calling) -Saw Mamma Mia in the theater a couple times, but not enough as I wanted -Taught Ryanna and Dawson the words to a few ABBA songs (by accident! But, I'm so proud) I'll hear this around the house, "Don't go changing your emoooooooshun....lay all your love on meeeeeee!"

-Had family at my house to visit, went down to Boise and visited more family, went around Idaho, Utah, Montana and Wyoming to visit more. (whew)

-Watched more movies and episodes of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Family Matters" than I care to admit (yes, they play between midnight and 2 am daily)-As the children and I went through the FORCED togetherness time, I have learned more about them and I love them so much more. They are truly the most wonderful and precious spirits and I believe they have been chosen to be put on this earth at this time. They are simply amazing.

On the other hand, I have started to lose it, I think. I couldn't find the remote control to the t.v. and after I gave up looking for it, I finally found it. IN THE FREEZER.Ryan, I cherish every day together and am so proud of you for the sacrifices you have made for the investment in our future. You are my love, my ballast and my dearest friend. Welcome home.

(Wait, before you take your shoes off, would you mind taking out the trash?)

To my dear family and friends, thank you for your calls, your notes and your prayers/fasting on our account. Your support and love was (and IS) felt by our family. Every effort in our behalf is sincerely appreciated. Love to you all!

you did what?

Ryanna wanted to play miniclip.com this morning, and so she turned on the computer, got onto the internet, and then proceeded to 'GOOGLE' miniclip! She found it, but the point is that my six-year-old can figure out how to use a search engine?! Yikes! I was both amazed and concerned. She isn't ever on the computer when I'm not looking, and I've 'beefed up' the security. But still, where did she learn that?!

Speaking of google, one of my old piano students told me about 'elgoog' being the google mirror. (oh, I miss Jordan!) Type it in and see what comes up! Everything's backwards. What clever google people!

What a smart cookie!

angela and the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day

Oh my goodness....this is what my day looked like yesterday. It's a bit dramatic and quite out the of the ordinary. It was a very hot day and while it was blazing OUTSIDE, it was just as heated INSIDE.

My children were driving me nuts! I absolutely ADORE them and they're wonderful little spirits...most of the time. Whining, crying, hitting, yelling, and more hitting DOES get on my nerves after about 11 STRAIGHT WEEKS of being with them night and day!

I wanted to watch the new BBC version of Sense and Sensibility...I started it at 1:30 pm. That was after I watched Persuasion while I folded laundry and was interrupted a thousand times. I love to watch Dominic Cooper, ahhhh!




I yelled out to Dawson in the front room to STOP jumping off the couch!

I used my brand-spakin' new KitchenAid Santoku knife that I got for my birthday and not paying as much attention as I should have, I missed the green onion I was chopping and clipped my thumb and sliced it right open, making it bleed EVERYWHERE.

I started freaking out since I didn't know how bad the gash was and I had to think clearly enought to turn off two burners that dinner was cooking on so I could attend to my poor thumb.

I ran and grabbed my Melrose and drenched my thumb. I only bled through one washcloth, so I knew that I'd survive. I only left the kithen for a couple minutes, long enough for me to get it bandaged up. I held it together until I walked into the kitchen to clean up my bloody mess...

AND I SPY CARTER ON THE TABLE, TOMATO SOUP ALL OVER HIM AND THE WALL AND THE CEILING! This was a fantastic, terrible, horrible, very bad mess! It was awful!! He was covered in tomato soup goop from head to toe, and it's on the table, wall, ceiling and anything else in a two-foot radius. I was BAWLING by this point. Just then, he looked up at me, laughed and then dumped a cup-full of Goldfish crackers onto the floor, adding to the mess.

By this point, I'm laughing so hard, crying just as hard and seeing stars.

I was furious at my throbbing thumb, hysterical at my newly cleaned kitchen as it was now splattered with blood and tomato soup, annoyed at my darling son, I was wanting to get back to my movie, I had clothes strewn about the house and Dawson kept wetting his pants on the bathroom floor!!

After it was all said and done, and after the 2-hour process of getting the kids to bed, I was FINALLY able to sit down and watch my movie! Thank you to my two sweet friends that brought me chocolate and ice cream! You both are wonderful, thanks for letting me drown my sorrows in calories. I felt much better then!




I ended up just super gluing my cut shut, because it was so deep and wouldn't close by itself. Krazy Glue to the resue!

I finished Sense and Sensibility at 11:30pm. TEN HOURS after I started it.

All because I yelled at my son to stop jumping off the couch.

ahhhh, home

Can you believe it?! It's been TWO YEARS since we moved to our little house here! How blessed we are that we found such a wonderful house, incredible landlords and a good ward. It's hard to believe that it's been two years and we're only two sememsters away from graduating. I remember moving in and sitting down admist all the boxes and thinking, "Three years is going to be a very long time." But it hasn't been!

And I thought that I absolutely, positively could NOT live without a 24-hour Walmart!


*Moscow, Idaho is located in northern Idaho, nestled between Moscow mountain and the beautiful undulating hills of the Palouse.

*Population 21,291 (in October 2003...I'm sure it's grown since then)

*Elevation 2,583 ft.

*Points of Interest in Moscow; Moscow Hotel, Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, Moscow Carnegie Library, Nu Art Theater, Skattaboe Block, Appaloosa Horse Museum, McConnell Mansion Museum, and University of Idaho.

*Local Festivals; Latah County Fair, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Moscow Mardi Gras, Moscow Renaissance Fair, Rendezvous In the Park.

*The Farmer's Market is from April-October every Saturday morning. (which we love)

(Moscow isn't THAT big, and yet I've only been to TWO places mentioned above. I gotta get crackin'!)

coming in november!

Yippee! The movie is coming on November 21 instead of December! Who wants to go?

(I'm opening a can with this next sentence...Nicky, I'm making you go...ha ha just kidding)

first grade vs. preschool

This morning we got up, braved Walmart and bought the kids' school supplies. Ryanna was just BOUNCING off the walls from wanting to buy everything she saw. $100 later...

In addition to her school-supply-list she begged me for the following, and claimed that "I'll NEED this in first grade, Mom!"

-a child-size umbrella
-a new DVD of Nim's Island (which we already OWN I should add)
-a candy bar
-a new bath toy

She's definitely her mother's child, she can make up a perfectly good excuse why we should buy whatever pops into her head.

What we needed for Ryanna:

What we needed for Dawson:

He was so thrilled for his new lunchbox (which he won't need, they'll feed him at school) and I had to talk him into buying him new undies. Silly boy!



Didn't need anything for Carter:
Whenever that one curl falls onto Carter's forehead like this, it's his Link-Hairdo. What a cutie!


What I needed:
The kids got fun stuff and I bought myself something fun too! Aren't these snazzy? I should have bought Ryan his OWN pair, because I KNOW he'll steal mine!

commencing today

"Roses are RED

Violets are BLUE

Graduation is here

And your feet smell like stink!"

~Barbara Park (taken from a Junie B. Jones book)

To my sweet sister Ashley,
Congratulations on walking the line today! Sorry we can't be there to support you, but we're there in spirit and couldn't be more proud. I need you to fly up and stay at my house for a weekend so you can help decorate it with all of your good ideas and your interior decorating degree! We're so thrilled for you, you ROCK sista!

this time last summer

One year ago Carter was just a little peanut!

xie xie, arigato, danke, mahalo

My emotions are very close to the surface right now, I blame my family as I just put them on a plane, headed in the direction AWAY from my house. Thanks a lot.

I wanted to tell my family (the Holdaways and Christensens) thank you so much for the past few weeks of fun and memories that we'll look back on with fondness. It was delightful as we played games, ate yummy food, went on very LONG roadtrips, had new experiences and got sunburned together. I love each and every member of my family and I'm so grateful for them. It was fun to see my cousins on both sides of extended families, and to meet their new children. We are blessed indeed to rub shoulders with such tremendous examples of faith, devotion and love.

Thank you for your support this summer. Thank you for the many prayers and phone calls. Thank you for my fun birthday parties (turning 27 rocks!) and everything else you all did to make our summer possible.

to kristin and jeremy

Happy Anniversary to our sweet friends! Hope you have a great day!

(I need some bigger pictures than this, don't I?)

don't worry, it's not a habit

My Aunt Susan has a very HIGH toliet, it's higher than a regular-sized one. Having said that...

This is the conversation I overheard between her and Dawson:

S- "Dawson, are you okay?" (as he comes sauntering out of the bathroom, shoulders drooped)
D- "Yeah, I am."
S- "What's the matter?"
D- "Well, I couldn't reach the toliet, so I peed on the floor instead."
S- "Ahhhh, that's okay."

Me- (as it finally registers exactly what happened and what the mess entails) -"WHAT?!?!"

Aunt Susan was as calm as can be and just about flipped my lid! I ran into the bathroom and cleaned it up as fast as I could. (giggling hard while I did) It was hilarious and so embarassing! It's definitely a FIRST for him.