Spring

Spring is a time of renewal. So I am going to renew my efforts toward blogging.  First of all, I am going to take a selfish approach and instead of trying to get pictures or think of things I think are funny, I am just going to ramble out whatever is going on in my mind or my life, so at least I have it recorded somewhere (that was the original idea, but the pressure of it being out there in the world made me feel obligated to entertain everyone).  It might still be interesting, entertaining, and even funny at times, but not on purpose.  Anyway, I rambled on about that more than I meant to already.  I'll probably still be a terrible blogger (how's that for a self-fulfilling prophecy?), but maybe I'll be better?!

Second, spring is when you work in the yard.  I am so proud of us.  Usually we just cut back stuff that looks dead, or take out stuff we don't like or don't know what it is or how to take care of it.  But this year we actually have a plan and have gotten some things done.  We now have grass in our front yard, instead of spots of dead grass, spots of moss, and a big patch of dirt where our tree used to be.  We also have 3 blueberry plants and negative space around them, as opposed what used to be next to our driveway, which was crammed with way too much stuff, most of which was overgrown and/or partly killed (because of our lack of skills and the 2 feet of snow last winter).  And finally we (dun-du-nu-NUH!) planted a garden.  I tried once 5 years ago at our house in West Seattle, but for several good reasons it was a terrible flop.  After all my work and sweat and time we got 3 carrots about 2-3 inches long and 1 or 2 cherry-sized tomatoes.  After that experience I was a little nervous about going through all that again only to discover that I really do have a brown thumb and am destined to kill anything I try to care for (luckily my children seem to be heartier and more resilient than plants).  But after going through all my excuses, I gave in and gave it one more shot.  If all goes ideal, in a few months we will have carrots, potatoes, spinach, zucchini, basil, cilantro, tomatoes, cucumbers and our very own homegrown halloween pumpkins, orange AND white.  If all goes terribly wrong we will have a patch of dirt in our backyard that will make me very angry to look at until we fill it in with grass again and move on enough that I can laugh at it.  I'll keep you posted.  Speaking of

 posts, this is getting too long, so I am going to end.  Happy Spring and best of luck with whatever projects you are undertaking.

P.S. This weekend is the father and sons camp out for our church.  Sam may or may not take Miles with him, the verdict is still out, but can I just say that one of the bonuses of having all boys (at least for now, it may all change in 2 weeks - I'm sure I'll post about it) is that for one 24 hour period every year you get peace and quiet and the house to yourself and nobody complains about it.  I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I can't wait!

Happy New Year!

I'm behind on blogging (again).  I had so many ideas of blogs, but in the interest of just moving on I am doing just that.  Here is a cap of 2008 in our house:

-Sam finished all of his requirements for his special education endorsement.  He now has the piece of paper that says he is qualified to do what he's been doing for over 8 years.

-We bought a mini-van.  A white one.  Yes, I am a mini-van mom.  sigh...  Two things I never wanted was a mini van and a white vehicle and now I have them both all rolled up into one.  But honestly, the whole circus of trying to buckle all 3 boys into the back of our wagon was getting out of control and I was getting desperate.  You do what you have to do.  Lest I sound ungrateful, thank you to my sister who made the mini-van and all of its comforts possible (I didn't know you could actually, as a family, get in a car and leave without someone getting gouged, screamed at, or body slammed, let alone in less than 13 minutes).

-We didn't move, or even switch callings at church. That's a first our whole married life.

-I discovered I love Tide.  I love how clean my clothes are and how nice they smell, even days after being washed.

-We didn't go camping, once.  My goals was at least twice, besides the ward camp out.  We got none, including the ward camp out.

-We made some trips: in February Miles and I went to visit my sisters in Utah; In June all 5 of us went to visit Sam's sister and her family in Tennessee;  In July Kincaid, Miles and I went to Idaho for my mom's side of the family reunion (a first since I was pregnant with Kincaid); in August I got to be a unit mom at girl's camp (a whole week of outdoors with a bunch of ladies ages 12 to grandma - what a blast!);  in September we went to California with most of Sam's family for Sam's Aunt Karen's wedding and spent 2 days in Disneyland while we were there (I'm not sure what was more magical, Disneyland or seeing 26+ Adams' all travel together in one plane, cram together in one bus [with their 50 pieces of luggage, 18 car seats, 6 strollers, 7 carry-on bags, and 4 leashes] and go together to various other places over the weekend without losing anyone or anything except a stuffed Piglet).  A note: I think IHOP is rethinking their" kids eat free with paying adult" policy after the Adams' family ate every meal there that weekend.

-Kincaid started first grade and therefore, all day school.  He loves it and has an awesome teacher.

-For my birthday Sam bought me a membership to the YMCA and I have been going 4-5 days a week every week (except Christmas break) since.  I haven't really lost any noteworthy weight or inches, but I feel great and have more energy, and can now run up the stairs or across the street to the neighbors house without getting winded.

-I went to my 10 year high school reunion.  Weird that I'm old enough for that, but we've already covered that subject earlier.  I hear from most people what a drunken waste of time and money theirs was; but honestly, I had a blast!  Everyone seemed genuinely excited to see what everyone else has been up to and sincerely happy for and supportive of what everyone chose to do.  I think I was tied with one other person for who had the most kids.  I got a few eyebrow raises and 2 "I'm sorry's" when I told people that I had 3 boys.  But one of the I'm sorry's was from someone who is the oldest of 3 boys and remembers what they put their mom through and the other one was so stinking drunk I am not sure he even knew who I was.  Apart from the drunken "I'm sorry" I am looking forward to my 20 year reunion, and wishing that there was going to a be 15 year one too.

-Henry has spent most of the year in what we call "Yanni-land."  Yanni is his nickname because that is what he called himself before he could say Henry.  And Yanni-land is an imaginary (or possibly 4th dimension) world that he co-exists in most of the time.  I will need to get a video of him in it some time, it is hilarious.

-Miles turned 1.  He is finally walking (although that was in 2009 in the past week, not 2008) is not allergic to peanut butter, is a major climber and is into everything.  His favorites are the used Q-tips from my bathroom garbage and the toilet brush.  (And yes, I do close my bathroom door, but there are 3 other bathroom users in the house and I can only spend so much mental energy thinking about closing bathroom doors).

-Thanks to Sam's "new" (acquired summer of 07) job, he can ride his bike to work and home everyday and he only has to leave 5 minutes before he needs to be there.

-Thanks to becoming a science/special ed teacher Sam has discovered deep down he may just have a repressed scientist.

-In November we removed the tree in our front yard.  We are planning to fill the muddy void with new grass this Spring and then maybe our front yard will look decent again.

I am sure there are plenty more noteworthy things that happened in 2008, but this is really long and I ran out of thoughts, so mercifully for those of you who are still reading this, I will end.  I apologize in advance for anything I left out.  Happy 2009 (yes, I know it's March).

OLD

Is anyone else weirded out by being an adult?  I mean seriously, I don't feel different than when I was 18, but I was recently looking at my life and what it consists of.  The following is a list of things that make up my life now (who is this person?):

I tell stories about things I vividly remember and then realize they happened 15 years ago;  I am watching my sugar intake and trying to find ways to get more fiber in my diet; I have 3 kids;  I have thought about getting a girdle (don't tell anyone);  I drive a mini-van; kids that I babysat are married and having kids of their own;  I drive my kids to swimming lessons, t-ball games, and play practice;  I am almost in my 30's; I am researching preschools;  I own a tube a Preparation H;  I look 10 years older than everyone else in the mall stores I like to shop for clothes in;  I have (not am) a babysitter;  I have said (more than once) "I remember when you were little" while someone in their teens rolls their eyes at me;  I am Mrs.______ or Kincaid's mom when I go to school;  I am not only a member of, but I "go to the gym";  I have found myself having conversations about laundry detergent, vacuum cleaners, and brands of diapers;  the only thing I remember feeling passionate about lately is potty training; I have asked my husband "do these pants make me look chubby?";  I consider staying in bed after 8am sleeping in;  The last 4 movies I remember seeing are either animated  and/or have an animal as the star character;  I get excited about the latest toasters, dishwashers, refrigerators, and/or microwaves;  I cry at any sentimental thing I see (corny TV commercials and Disney movies especially); I got a wheat grinder for Christmas, AND it was just what I wanted;... and the list keeps going.

Now before I get a bunch of protesting comments,  I do not think I am old.  I believe that 30's is still very young, and I don't have any problem getting older.  What gets me is the above description of things that I remember hearing my mom and other women I knew growing up talk about and realizing that's me now.  It's just weird that I do/feel those things, some of which I swore I would never do.  Is it just me, or is anyone else weirded out by this whole concept?

Henry's team

Henry loves super-heroes and bad guys and saving people and all that.  Lately he has been into setting up teams.  Sometimes there is just one team, sometimes there are good guy and bad guy teams.  Often he uses his legos and lincoln logs to make battleships and houses for his teams too.  They can get pretty elaborate.  Today he set up his team at the top of the stairs.  After stepping over it enough times I realized that I don't have any pictures of his teams.  So for posterity's sake, here is Henry's latest team.  It's a small team, but I wouldn't want to go up against it.

I am not even getting into how long its been since my last post.  I just wanted to give a little update on Miles.  He is days away from being 18 months and still not walking.  He has been cruising since early December, standing since Christmas, and "walking" (taking steps for attention, not for transportation) for 2 weeks.  I am not worried, but he is heavy and it gets messy having him crawl everywhere (think parks, doctor's offices, my floors after he gets into the candy canes, etc.)  But that wasn't why I wanted to post today.  I wanted to post his favorite word.  He can say mama, hi, night night, bye bye, what's that, wow, uh oh, grandpa/ma (ba-ba), and a few others that escape me at the moment. But his favorite, his response to everything is no.  I made a little video to show you.  Please ignore my sing song baby voice, I know its embarrassing.

Can you see how it makes it kind of hard to figure out what he wants?  I decided to make this video after he started crying randomly in the middle of a bite of oatmeal and after he calmed down he wouldn't eat anymore; he said no to everything I asked him and got mad when I tried to take him out of the chair.  So for once I found my sense of humor and decided to capture it instead of bemoaning it.  he could have kept going, probably indefinitely, but I ran out of things to ask him.

O Christmas Tree!

I love our Christmas tree.  For the last 3 or 4 Christmas's we have gone to the same U-cut tree farm and cut down our own tree.  I love it.  It isn't really far, but it is far enough away I feel like it's "trip."  Which may sound like a negative thing to some people, but I think that's part of the fun.  Plus its only $15 a tree, any tree, any size.  Yea for cheap trees!

Here is Kincaid and Miles waiting out the drive.

Henry had other ideas about how to use that time.

Miles and I browsing the grounds for the perfect tree.

Here is our family standing in front of our chosen tree before we chopped it down.  (And yes, the top does keep going above the top of the picture.  More on that later...)

Sam took the term "chop" literally.  He got out his Chuck Norris skills and went to town.  The saw in the picture is really just for show.

After Sam chopped down our tree we hung out with some friends and family that came with us while they picked out their trees and cut them down.  (Notice the word "cut" - no Chuck Norris skills involved.)  While we were waiting a rainbow came out, so I took a picture.

So we (by we I mean I) discovered that trees look a lot smaller outdoors next to 20 or so foot tall trees than they do in a house.  After Sam had cut about 2 feet off the top and brought it inside, it was clear it was not going to fit in the corner we had chosen.  I don't know if you can see or not, but the tree is leaning against the ceiling, and still not straight up.  Sam wasn't amused.  But I am sure you could see that.  (I love how Henry has his head cranked way back to see the tree).

We rearranged some furniture and did some more tree trimming (not decorating, trimming), and finally got it a size and shape that would work.  It's a good thing we have vaulted ceilings.  Sam says its ridiculous (because of its size. Its about 12 feet tall), but I love it.  It is probably the largest tree we will ever have, well it is the largest tree we will ever have if Sam has a say in it, and I am loving it.  

In  lieu of ornaments, besides ones the boys make or we are given, we make gingerbread cookies every year and hang them on our tree.  It is a long and messy project, but I enjoy doing it, and I love the way it looks and how our house smells like gingerbread and pine all during December.  

So for FHE (and a few more evenings), we made, decorated, and hung our ornaments.  Miles overheard me mentioning to Kincaid and Henry that any ornament that got broken they could eat, so he decided to help a few out.

Below:  Mission accomplished.  Notice the look on my face and the hand gesture toward Miles.  I had to remind myself (well, actually Sam had to remind me) that there are more important things than perfect gingerbread ornaments.

We had to borrow a mega-huge ladder just to decorate and put the star on the top of our tree (Thanks Wes and Amber).  But luckily the ladder reached high enough to allow us to reach the top, and with the star on the tree, there was a just enough room left above it to not touch the ceiling.

I love our tree!  

Miles was less than helpful during the first night of ornaments, so this is what he did the next night.  That's pizza sauce on his forehead and in his hair and a donut hole in his mouth.  He was having a great time.

This is our finished project.  We had to make some modifications from our usual methods of Christmas tree doings, but it was all worth it.  I love this tree (did I already say that?).  In fact I think this is/will be my favorite Christmas tree ever.  I would even write a song about it, except that someone already has. O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches...

Thanksgiving Day Pictures

I didn't get nearly as many Thanksgiving day pictures as I wanted, but here are a few that represent what we did for Thanksgiving.

Breakfast, yum! Too bad that's the only part of breakfast I got a picture of.

Sam seems to think Thanksgiving day means yard work.  It was not what I had in mind for a family holiday together, but we had just cut down a tree a in the front yard (hence the stump) and it was a mess, so I wasn't complaining.

I was a baking maniac on Wednesday. I made 2 pumpkin pies, an old fashioned crumb-topped apple pie and a chocolate turtle cheesecake.  The only one I got a picture of was the cheesecake, but the picture doesn't do it justice.  The cheesecake, when prepared correctly, is heaven on earth.  I had some issues (I didn't grease the pan), so it was lacking in the aesthetically pleasing department, but really, does that matter all that much?

The only person who was still in eating position when I stopped eating long enough to remember to get pictures was Miles. So here is Miles doing what we do best on Thanksgiving.

Here are a couple of pictures of Sam's family after dinner.  I totally forgot to get out my camera at my family's house (that was for dessert, I had several other things on my mind at the time:  pumpkin pie with whipped cream and chocolate turtle cheesecake for starters).

Thanksgiving was tasty and wonderful. And because my and Sam's sisters were in town we spent a lot of time with our family's over the weekend so for the first time in 7 years I got to actually eat leftovers after Thanksgiving.  I forgot how awesome that is.