A Place for the Lady

Since the Three Men were wondering what pictures of me as an Eddie Bauer model had to do with them, I decided to start my own personal blog. You can find it here. I hope to update it often. It will be for my musings alone, and this blog will stay dedicated to its original purpose - to share the crazy adventures of our family. Thanks for tuning in!

Getting Out of Dodge

We love living in the Tri-Cities. It's dry, sunny, safe. It can just get boring in the winter.

We've been spoiled by the family-fun offerings of Columbus & Kansas City. Luckily, we live close enough to civilization that we can escape.

We had a great weekend visiting my family. It began Saturday with a trip to this fine establishment:

to get these fine dressers for the boys:

that I have been dreaming about for a good long while.

On Sunday we celebrated Great-Grandpa Brown's 76th...

...as Great-Grandma gave Parker a mini-class on playing the organ that has been in our family for generations.

There was plenty of rough-housing with Grandpa...he took a good, long nap after playing horsey for two wild boys...

And pancake-making with Grandma (where's the pic of this?)

Then on Monday we headed back home, but not before stopping at Snoqualmie Pass for a little tubing fun...

I was psyched to go until I saw the hill. Yikes. But when Parker was gung-ho, I knew I had to be. And, of course, it turned out to be the most fun we've had in forever. I don't know how I managed to escape taking a shot of the 12-lane Highway Hill of Tubing Bliss. Maybe it was because I was I was too busy scrambling out of the way of other crazy tubers sailing toward me at 40 mph (a thrill, indeed). But, this is a shot of us on the peaceful rope tow.

T-bone was done with the thrill after an hour and opted to defrost in the lodge with hot cocoa and a brownie.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and a yearly tradition is born! Anyone wanna join us next year?

Peter Turns 31

It was Peter's "Baskin Robbins" birthday last week - the big 3-1! We had fun celebrating as a family. The boys put signs all over the house. He got his free Red Robin Birthday Burger, the Royal Red, with added sauteed onions and barbecue sauce. Every man's dream, right?

I let the nice baker guy at Albertson's make the cake this year with this sinful chocolate number that I knew Peter liked.

My favorite picture was this one, when he opened his new ipod. He was so surprised! He also got Qwirkle (a new game we discovered over Christmas), a subscription to ESPN magazine (that would be the picture of the boxer's smokin' six-pack on the table), money for a new office chair & a long-awaited tool chest!

It's amazing what this man has been able to accomplish by his 31st birthday. Thanks for being born, honey!

America, The Next Time You See Me...

Tonight starts the season premier of the Biggest Loser (I just call it the BL). Upon getting voted off, the contestants are famous for letting America know they still mean business about losing weight at home. Well, I'm here to let you know that I mean business.

So, yes, by next winter I WILL be looking like an Eddie Bauer model. Ha. But seriously, aren't these motivational? Let me know if you want me to stick YOUR head on one.

My theme for 2010 revolves around 30 MINUTES. You can always find 30 minutes in your day for a worthy goal. Mine? Read 'em:

READ for 30 minutes a day

(anything on the internet doesn't count - we're talking books here).

CREATE for 30 minutes a day

SWEAT for 30 minutes a day

PLAY for 30 minutes a day (with my three men)

and

PRAY for 30 minutes a day (collectively)

What are your goals for the year?

The Toothy Dental Floss Massacre

Act One: We see a very distressed boy. A distressed boy with a first loose tooth. A first tooth hanging by a thread. The anxiety coming on for days now. How much longer can he stand it...

Act Two: He looks up to find his worst nightmare...Dad with the DENTAL FLOSS!! Noooooo!

Act Three: Fearless brother attempts to defend helpless boy.

Act Four: (Omitted for graphic content.)

Act Five: The act has been committed. The evidence? See the bone that here lies. (insert angel chorus.)

Act Six: Our hero emerges victorious! The tooth may be gone, but the boy lives on! And that poor new tooth that has been held hostage from behind for weeks is free at last!

New Years 2010

Happy 2010! We rang in the new year with our good friends the Amundsons & the Laws. Unbelievably, we all made it 'til midnight (Jon, barely). I am seeing the effects of it right now as Tyler is throwing a fit by my feet. But it was worth it. Good food, good game time & conversation, good fun.

Today the kids went out with Peter and played in the new-fallen snow. This is the tallest snowman they've ever made! I was impressed!

Reflections on 2009

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? We all made it another year together healthy & happy!
2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? Parker being diagnosed with ADHD.
3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? The joy of gardening.
4. What was an unexpected obstacle? Our fence nearly blowing over in a windstorm.
5. Pick three words to describe 2009. warm, beautiful and blessed.
6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2009 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you). FUN WITH MONEY.
7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2009 (again, without asking). I GOT LICENSED!
8. What were the best books you read this year? The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
9. With whom were your most valuable relationships? My family- husband, children, parents, siblings…and my close friends.
10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
Feeling a lot more comfortable with my surroundings (friends, school, neighborhood, ward, etc.)
11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally? Learned more about how I let external factors influence my behavior.
12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually? Not a big year for growing spiritually. Kind of sad. Trying for more of that in the coming year.
13. In what way(s) did you grow physically? I think I put on ten pounds! Ha! I did start a gym in October. That’s a good start.
14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others? I learned (and continue to learn) how to be a cheerleader for my three men. I need to be there to support and instigate growth in them.
15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home? oh, decorating, for sure.
16. What was your most challenging area of home management? LAUNDRY & DISHES. Also keeping my office organized…eek.
17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? too many hours on the computer…
18. What was the best way you used your time this past year? any and all time spent playing with my kids and husband.
19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year? that I’ve still got a lot to learn…and that temperance is the key to success.
20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.
Mae West: 'Too much of a good thing can be wonderful! '…but you’ll pay for it eventually!

The Polar Express

A couple of weeks ago we surprised the boys by taking them for a ride to the North Pole. It was so fun to pick up Parker from school and head straight onto the highway toward Hood River, Oregon, with them guessing all the way as to what we were doing! We gave them hints every half hour and then finally let them in on it when we got there by playing the theme song to the Polar Express movie. They were SO excited.

The train ride itself was a huge hit for the boys. We invited Grandma & Grandpa Stewart to come - Grandpa is a train nut! My darling friend Amy made them engineer hats for the trip and they looked so cute & cozy in their pjs and robes! We boarded and Tyler vigilantly watched outside the window for the train to start its journey northward! We were served hot chocolate and cookies and heard the story of the Polar Express as we traveled. The conductor punched our tickets all crazy just like the conductor on the movie! Once we got to the North Pole, Santa joined us on board, visited with each child, and gave them their own silver bell! How exciting!

On our way home we sang Christmas carols with the elves and we are proud to admit to being the loudest row in a competition singing of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We ended the night at Pietro's Pizza (nostalgia) in Hood River and spent the night at Grandma's! What a magical night!

One Magic Christmas

We enjoyed a wonderfully fun & relaxing Christmas at home this year.

A little different than last year's adventure.

8 Years...

...2 kids, 4 states, and ** pounds later, we are still in love!

The best years of my life, babe!

Thanks for askin'...