Love Languages

I think all kids have a love language- something that you can do with them that you can tell they are just thinking, "wow, my mom really loves me!"  Shane's was always easy to figure out- read him a bunch of books.  Marissa likes to be read to as well, but for the longest time I never felt like I had figured out something unique to her that she really loved to do.  But I know now- the girl loves puzzles!    

She has a box of 8 24 piece puzzles that she has done over and over again.  She does them all by herself a lot of the time, which has been really nice, but she also loves me to sit next to her while she's doing them, and I gladly oblige because she is so cute when she's concentrating!  Needless to say I think Santa will be bringing her some more!

Happy Birthday Shane!

My little boy turned five last week!!!  That feels so old to me, he is school-aged now!  He got an elephant and a bald eagle like he requested, a couple new shirts (one of which he's wearing)

 and Spiderman and Rhinoman (Spiderman had to have someone to fight)

 He had school that day so he got to celebrate there and that night Josh was actually home so we took the kids for ice cream at Coldstone after dinner and to see the big musical tree at the outdoor mall.

 The next day Grandma Dettinger and Matthew came to celebrate with him

 We had baked potatoes with chili per his request and I made a white cake with white frosting and m and m's like he asked for.  So glad his requests are easy!

 I think he liked it!

 He opened Grandma's presents and had fun hanging out with her,

 and he was super excited when Carter stopped by with a present to wish him happy birthday.

I'm sure someday our kids will get parties, but they are so happy right now to just do things with us and it is a lot easier!

We sure love our Shaners.  At 5 years old he:
-loves animals still, whenever we go to the library he goes straight to the animal section.  I try to dissuade him from getting the super long ones because I know I will be the one reading it but somehow we always end up with a few and he will sit there forever and listen to them.  I think he knows more about animals than a lot of adults and I will say I have learned quite a bit from all our reading!
-is really into imaginative play, he is always playing that he is going on some adventure and Marissa and I are usually dragged along.  A lot of times we are going to discover new animals and he'll make up some new prehistoric creature, or we're the Octonauts and we are going on a mission, or we're superheroes fighting a bad guy, or we're going to a party... the list goes on and on.
-loves school, especially playing outside with his friends
-is starting to be able to write letters and sound out some words
-loves chocolate nut bars, cereal, yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and really does pretty good with most dinners.  Still hates fruit, except watermelon.  Will eat veggies if I mix them into his food, he tells me he doesn't want to see them.  And of course loves sweets, he chows them down until they are gone.
-super dramatic sometimes, knows how to sweet talk me, super silly most of the time, and a great big brother

We love you Shane!

Let It Snow!

We got our first substantial snow this weekend and we were glad that we didn't really have anywhere we had to be so we could just stay put and enjoy playing it.  And now that we have our own little hill in our yard we don't even have to go to Walmart to sled;)  And I was glad Josh was home to help me get the kids all suited up!  We attempted a snowman, but they are trickier than they look!

 Our little "hill" was just right for the kids.  Marissa was scared at first and didn't want to do it but once she tried it she was sold.

 We didn't let Sadie down for very long to play in it but she enjoyed being out with us

 After about an hour they were getting cold so we decided to come in but Shane couldn't help himself from staying out a smidge longer, he loves the snow!

And we love it while it's still white and fluffy, and December (not so much in April);)

Downtown Outings

Tomorrow is Josh's last day on this busy, long-hours rotation.  Not that  the next one will be easy per se, just that hopefully he will eat dinner with us/see Sadie awake more than 2 times a week!  There have been a lot of fun holiday-ish things going on downtown at night the past couple weeks and I've tried not to let the fact that it's just me with 3 small children deter me from checking them out.  And I've been proud of myself for making it there on my own because I have a HORRIBLE sense of direction and downtown is filled with one way streets!  One night the Festival of Gingerbread was free so we went there and had a good time     

 Sadie is happy in the stroller if I keep the rice rusks coming;)

 there were all kinds of different gingerbread houses, some of our favorites were Noah's Ark

 and Snoopy's doghouse

 they had lots of animated elf figures that the kids thought were pretty cool, and they let the kids each pick a free book too.

 Then we went to the Botanical gardens for their $1 night.  Marissa and Sadie were free already, and as I was trying to get the kids and the stroller through the doorway in one piece a man felt bad for me I think and handed me a coupon for one free admission, so I only paid $1 total ha ha.  It was all decorated for Christmas with different displays for picture taking and interactive things for the kids to do(that's Marissa with the play onion I didn't realize that she had managed to take from another area with her)

As I was trying to get us all back up to the parking garage without losing my ticket (which I still managed to do despite making a conscious effort not to, darn it! the attendant was nice and let me through for free anyway thankfully) I was wondering if it was worth the effort, but then when we were driving home, Shane told me several times, "that was another fun adventure, thanks for taking us there Mommy!  And you know, now I have seen that plant that was in my book (a venus fly trap), and so that's another cheeeecccckkk!"  Ha ha apparently he already has some sort of bucket list going on in that little brain of his?  I asked him what he wanted to check off next, and he said, "well, I have never seen a jaguar."  I'll work on that one buddy!

Thanksgiving 2013

It makes me smile to think about all the different Thanksgivings we've had in our almost 7 years of marriage: different states, countries, families, and degrees of conventionality.  We like to keep things interesting, and since I was making a very traditional dinner this year we had to spice things up by coming down with a stomach bug a couple days before.  We had mostly recovered with just a little queasiness left over, but the kids didn't eat one bite.  Well Marissa did eat her green beans, the one thing I just opened out of a can!  Good thing I knew beforehand it was mostly for us and for the fun of it and not for them!  Here I am with my first turkey, I think it turned out pretty good!

   I also made stuffing, cranberry jello, mashed potatoes and gravy, and gluten free rolls.   Way too much food for us but we had lots of good leftovers and I used the meat like shredded chicken in our favorite recipes and still have some in the freezer!  I got an 18 pound turkey for $10 and couldn't pass it up and I have definitely gotten my money out of it!

We also carried out one of my family's Thanksgiving traditions and went to the movies.  We saw Frozen, which was cute but a little too girly for Shane and a little too old for Marissa and Sadie.  Then I went out with the crazies to do some shopping while Josh put the kids to bed.  I don't like the idea of the stores pushing things back, but it is nice when your husband doesn't have Black Friday off!

We really have so much to be thankful for and most of all for each other and especially when we can spend time together!

BYU vs Notre Dame

It was a party at our house when BYU played at Notre Dame.  My mom, dad, and Bryce flew in from California, my brother-in-law Kevin flew in from North Carolina, and Jamie, Tim and Liv drove from Missouri.  I took one for the team and stayed home with the little girls (I gave up on bottles for Sadie awhile ago so we are pretty attached) so Josh took Shane instead.  He thought he was pretty cool getting to go with all the big people.   

 From all reports they had fun and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it was COLD!!!

The girls and I had fun hanging out while they were away

 I think Sadie enjoyed having a little person around who was so soft with her;)

 It was a very quick weekend but we got a lot of bonding time because everyone stayed in our tiny house:)  We packed in a lot of fun,

 cuddles and kisses,

 cousin time,

and fun with uncles and aunt.

 On Sunday John and Pat even drove down to hang out!

Thanks for coming everyone and for being good sports about our tiny house!

Before IMFM

These pictures were from what seems like forever ago, but was really just over 2 weeks ago before Josh started his IMFM rotation (where they run the inpatient service at the hospital and work long hours).  We had a family fun day and went to the Y and Josh and I did a spinning class and took the kids to dinner and a hockey game with free tickets thanks to his work (there are at least a lot of nice perks along with all the work).  

 The kids had fun, for an hour or so anyway, we saw a couple good fights, a couple goals, and they put this little girl on the Jumbotron

 She thought she was pretty cool.

Now we don't see a whole lot of him, he is always gone before they wake up and rarely home before Sadie is in bed, so he missed her doing her "more" sign (she did it for 2 days and then stopped, little stinker) among other things.



Today Shane asked me how many days it was until his birthday and I said "4".  He said, "and then after that Daddy will be home!  He told me that last night!" (when he gave him a kiss in bed last night when he came home at 9).

Tonight he got home at 8 and as I was tucking Shane in he said in his prayer, "thank you that Daddy could stop by home tonight" and after he was finished he said, "It was so nice of Daddy to stop by tonight!"

Oh, the sad but true commentary of our life right now.  Luckily they are all 4 week rotations so only 2 more weeks to go... of this rotation anyway!  And he loves what he is doing,and he is good at it, so that makes me happy, and I will always be happy when I remember that we made it through med school and he is living his dream as a doctor, and I am living my dream being a mom to these cute kiddos, as cheesy as it may sound, it is true and I remind myself of it daily.

Flurries and Funnies

We got our first little bit of snow this week.  Barely enough to tromp around in but the kids insisted on suiting up and going out.  

 Running down the hill is even more fun in the snow.

 This little girl always grabs the spoon from me and likes to stick it out of her mouth like this.

 She thinks she's so funny!

And Shane always makes me laugh.  A couple of the most recent funnies:

(As Josh is cutting something)
Shane: Daddy, be careful, those are scissors!!
Josh: I know bud I'm cutting something.
Shane: But Daddy that's the same hand as your hurt finger!

Last night as I was tucking him in he was really tired and was being super dramatic.  Somehow we got on the topic of him bringing snack to preschool on his birthday.  He said, "I'm worried if McKenna will like my snack."  I told him I thought he wanted to bring zoo animal crackers and she would probably like those.  "But if McKenna doesn't eat my snack my birthday will be RUINED!!!"  (I think somebody has a crush!)

What Would I Do Without Them?

Sometimes I have a little trouble keeping it all together.  Lucky for me my kids have my back.

Shane is good at reminding me about little things.  Like "Mom, do you have your backpack?"  (because I forgot it one time at the zoo park and we had to walk all the way back there to get it.)  

One day I was driving to a friend's house and couldn't remember exactly where it was.  When I started going down a dirt path I realized I had gone the wrong way and had to call her and figure it out.  The next time we went back he said, "Mom, remember to NOT go down that dirt road!"  

Sadly he's not the only one who needs to keep tabs on me.  

On Saturday I took the girls to Kroger and found a coveted "car cart" in the cart corral so I parked next to it and put Marissa in.  She was so excited, and then I realized I had left my wallet at home (hey, at least I realized it before I started shopping!) and I had to pull her out and tell her we had to go back home because I forgot my wallet.  The poor girl was devastated.

Flash forward to today when I dropped Shane off at school and told Marissa we were gonna stop at Kroger.  She said, "Mom, do you have your wallet?  And I realized at that moment that I actually didn't. Thank goodness I have my kids to keep me in line!  And cute Sadie, because it is hard to get too frustrated with yourself when you have chubby cheeks like these to kiss on.

Happy Halloween!

We stretched out the holiday with a few different celebrations this year (gotta make the most of those costumes!).  Our first celebration was "St. Anne's Spooktacular" where we trick or treated to the residents in a nursing home.  

 It was great cause it was inside and I think the residents really enjoyed seeing the kids.

 Marissa got her first piece of candy and clutched it tightly in her hand inside the bucket.

 Sadie loves her daddy!  This is the puppy costume Marissa wore 2 years ago, and Marissa is wearing the monkey Shane wore 2 years ago.

We also went to the trunk or treat at our church.  Carter wanted to hop in our picture, and I love how he is smiling and looking at me so perfectly and none of my children are ha ha.

 On Halloween day my moms group threw a Halloween party at the library and it was a lot of fun!  Here the kids are waiting for the pinata, do you think they were excited?

 Sadie slept through the whole thing which made it a lot easier to keep tabs on the other two!

 That night we dressed up and went to Chipotle for $3 meals.  Josh was a pirate and I was a killer whale, no picture of that necessary:)

 Chipotle is at the outdoor mall here and they had trick or treating there so we went by a few stores before we went home.  The kids loved these comic books the comic book store gave out.

 It was raining at this point, so we dried off a little in the car on the way home and the big kids went with daddy to a few houses in the neighborhood and called it a night.  We definitely already had more than enough candy!