Two Man Circus

I caught Travis and Isaac developing their "talents" this morning. As soon as they get their act down it's off to the circus for them.

(You can turn the music off by clicking on the pause button at the very bottom of the page.)

What are you thinkin'??

This crazy pair of boys...This week, out of the blue, but on more than one occasion, Theron asked, "Mom, are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" followed by some off the wall thing that he was "thinkin'". Today Isaac asked the same thing, "Mom...are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" I asked what he was thinkin'. I was at the front of the car laughing quietly to myself after hearing him say, "I'm thinkin' we have just got to keep our earth clean." mmm...nope! That wasn't what I was thinkin'...but let's do.

A Passing...

The Prophet of our church President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away tonight, a little over an hour ago. He was ninety-seven years old and the oldest leader in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I feel at peace about his passing and am excited for him to be reunited with his wife. Although he is not the only Prophet to have served the members of our church in my life time, he has been serving in this capacity since I was fifteen years old. I have looked to him as an example to follow my whole adult life.
I will always remember him as the Prophet who led the charge to scatter the earth with temples. I will remember seeing him time after time in TV interviews, proclaiming to the world that we are disciples of Jesus Christ. I will always be grateful to him for this simple little poem he wrote and put to music.

Don’t ever forget to pray.
Don’t ever forget to pray.
Kneel down ev’ry night and morning.
Don’t ever forget, don’t ever forget, don’t ever forget to pray.

I sing it to my boys at night and we try to obey this command. I feel indebted to him for motivating me to teach my boys to rely on the Lord day and night. I feel confident that he worked so hard, even into his ninety-seventh year, to serve the children of God because he knew of Gods love for each of us.
President Thomas S. Monson will follow in his stead and proclaim the same truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
To learn more about President Hinckley click here.

Out of the Running for Best Mom of the Year

I am sure I will be booted for this one. Can you guess why?

Leaning tower of shoes

I caught Trav taking a picture of this tower of shoes. I can only assume that he wanted to capture this memory in a photo. So many small things like this will be lost from our memories before we know it. This tower is constructed almost daily by the boys after we ask them to help us put the shoes in the shoe basket.
When I looked at the picture I thought, "No wonder there are always shoes on the floor BY the basket rather than IN the basket." Somehow it is quite obvious from this view that we need a bigger basket.

Mac 'n Cheese

 

As I was making lunch for my boys this morning I wondered, "How many other moms across the country are serving their kids Mac 'n Cheese today? How many served it this week? Month? Year?" I'll never know but I guess...a lot.

A Whole Lot of Lovin'

This has become the nightly ritual after family prayer. These crazies are best friends, who some days fight like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day there is no denying they love each other.

A Celebrity

Trav's roommate from college came to visit us (actually he was interviewing for a residency position at OSU but we like to think that we are cool enough to visit). You all would have thought he was a celebrity. Every few minutes the boys were asking if Craig was here yet?...and whose bed was he sleeping in?...and was he going to live with us now?...and does he like Star Wars?...and can he sit by me at dinner?...and is he going to drive in our car with us?...

Well the secret is out now that Travis and I feel pretty much the same way...can Craig live by us?...can Craig be in our ward?...we really want Craig and Jessie to come to Columbus for residency. Is it against the "friendship rules" to pray that Craig doesn't get his first...or even his second choice in the match? Craig think...BUCKEYE!!

Code Breaker

I love this kid!! He cracks me up. Travis was off today. This morning we were getting ready to have breakfast. In my fastest mommy spelling code I asked Travis, "What do you think about going to the M-O-V-I-E T-H-E-A-T-R-E T-O-D-A-Y?" Isaac's eyes lit up as he shouted, "We're going to the movie theatre!!" I'm still puzzled by this preschooler.

Crazy Crowd

Isaac and Theron have discovered that Charlie really knows how to have a good time.


They are so good to play at his level in the Tupperware cupboard, roll on the kitchen floor, or go up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs.

I had to scramble to find the camera before they moved on to the next crazy activity.

So thoughtful

Tonight at dinner Theron smashed his bread up nice and flat. He gave it to Trav and said, "Here dad, this is for you. Happy Birthday."

Trav said, "Oh, thank you. I'm going to save this for later."
To which Theron replied, "Dad, there are letters on the bread that say 'you have to eat the birthday present now'."

Who wouldn't want this scrumptious birthday treat?
Especially from this boy? Mmm.

Christmas card funny

We got so many great Christmas greetings from all of you this year. Yes, I know it is the middle of January. If I seem to be living in the past it's only because we got a straggler Christmas letter yesterday (and that's ok). There was a line in this one that won funniest line of the year (actually it's two).

Here it is:

• "Alisa has her hands full with all the kids and the house. She says that her days seem to be nothing but feeding, changing and laundry--I told her I knew she was exaggerating because she also does the dishes, keeps the house clean and breaks up fighting boys."

Congratulations to Aaron and Alisa for making me laugh this week.

Better When We're Together

I can't seem to get enough of my four boys these days.

Trav and I laugh a lot together. I'm exhausted by the end of the day but when we lay down to sleep I don't want the conversation to end. I look forward to a phone call from him mid-day and of course when the king returns home each night the whole castle is in party mode.

Isaac is leading me through an exciting trail of firsts. Isaac has his first loose tooth. Somehow I find that all of his concerns about the tooth fairy's visit melt my heart.

Theron gives the best hugs and I think he secretly hopes that my arms will get stuck to him when I am hugging him, as has happened on several occasions. He doesn't fight or try to squirm away like Isaac, he just giggles uncontrollably and hugs me back. Sometimes I really don't want to let go.

When my sister Allee was a baby I remember hugging her and wanting to squeeze her so tight because she was so cute. I remember that feeling every time I see Charlie. I eat up every moment I have to spend with him. His smiles, squeals, and sqooshy funny faces keep me feeling young as I roll around with him on the floor trying over and over to get him to perform.

I was asked yesterday what I do in my spare time...I try to fill it up with more and more of this. I love these boys.



We intended this photo to be sent out to all of you along with a Christmas greeting but...time slipped away from me too quickly. If you follow our blog you know all about us. If not...then start.

Charlie's first Birthday

Charlie's first birthday was yesterday the 8th of January, 2008. Here are a few highlights. First, the glance...

...the touch and taste...

...the plunge...

...caught...

...the gift...

We just can't get enough of Charlie around here. He is so sweet, so cute, so playful, so fast, so quiet, so sneaky, so loved, so everything. Happy Birthday Charlie boy!

Our Christmas Story

Our Christmas story goes something like this...

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger, while her father held her headdress on;”

“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd said to himself, Let me go down even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto me.”

“And he came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe...

“...being chucked on the floor so Mary could sit in the manger.”

"Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem....and they presented unto him organic truffles, mint hot cocoa, and some gift wrapped in gold paper."

"And when they were come into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother and thought, Wow, it's a little crazy in this place."

"And the shepherd returned glorifying and praising God as he drug his sheep back to the field."

"And they all lived happily ever after except for the sheep who had skinned knees and a sore belly."

Shepherd's Dinner

I was first introduced to this Christmas tradition when I went home for Christmas with Trav before we were married. We all wore these head dresses and ate our meal on the dinning room floor. It was a meal of potatoes, carrots, meat, berries, nuts, and sweet potatoes (and probably more) all cooked in individual sacks of parchment paper. Judy's post is much more interesting and includes a recipe. I have really come to enjoy this tradition.

Several days after we returned home, Theron came running up the basement steps with all of our pirate bandannas from the dress up bin requesting that we have another Shepherd's dinner. The feast wasn't quite the same but attire was pretty close. We thought about the Shepherd's dinner we had before Christmas and were all feeling a little closer to the crew we left behind in Chicago.

Feeling Lost

We got home from Chicago late on Sunday night. We were just settling in when I heard, "OH, MY GOSH!!!!" I ran into the bathroom where I thought for sure Travis was looking at a big black hairy tarantula who had been living in our home while we were gone. Nope! It had just occurred to him that we left our computer in Chicago. It would be pointless to try to describe how desperate and hopeless we have been feeling. I can't even effectively blog (no pictures). Amazingly life goes on. We hope that before too long we will have so many exciting pictures to post and holiday happenings to report on.