Preschool Pics

Miriam and I attended Emma's preschool class last week. I'm doing the preschool scrapbook pages for this month, so I got to go take some pictures of the kids. It was fun to be a "fly on the wall" (as much as that's possible with a 5 month old baby hanging in a sling off the front of me) and see what Emma does at preschool.

Here she's playing on the playground.

And eating her Teddy Bear Biscuit that she made earlier in the day. They've been "studying" teddy bears for the past few weeks. Now, they're on to studying farm animals which will include a visit to a local farm. She is very excited about this excursion. In other news...

Hannah and Miriam are sick with colds, sore throats, etc. Hannah was home from school Friday and will probably be tomorrow too. Needless to say, sickness has not helped Miriam's sleeping habits. Not only is she up during the night, but it's almost impossible to get her to sleep at night. She's up for hours just crying no matter what we do to try to help her. This is tiring for Ryan and I and is compounded by the fact that neither Ryan nor I were getting much sleep before Miriam got sick. Ryan's been working at night into the wee hours of the mornings trying to get a big project done for work. This project was stressful for him and became even more so recently when Washington Mutual, the company he works as a contractor for, was bought out by JP Morgan Chase. We are waiting to see how all the dust settles as the two companies merge and as they figure out how Ryan's company, CB Richard Ellis, will fit into the mix.

AND, I've not been sleeping well because I got the cold/cough bug that Hannah brought home from school in early September. I had it for weeks when, last week, I started having bad chest pains. As crazy as it sounds, the pains were bad enough that one night I thought I was having a heart attack. I went to the doctor the next morning and was diagnosed with costochondritis. Essentially, I have inflamed cartilage in my chest. Not totally sure what caused it, but I think it has to do with weeks of coughing to the point where my ribs said, "ENOUGH!" Anyhoo, the doctor says "it will get a little bit better every day." Hmmm... that's helpful.

So, Ryan and I kind of feel like the walking wounded/exhausted. It was nice to have General Conference this weekend and just take it easy. We all took naps this afternoon which we haven't been able to do in a long time.

Hannah and Emma put an umbrella over Miriam in her bouncy seat. All three of them loved it. Hannah and Emma were so excited they couldn't even sit still for this picture. Miriam continues to be unimpressed with her solid foods. Here she is tonight, eating some applesauce. Yum? Boy, if she doesn't like applesauce, we're in trouble. Maybe we'll just feed her coupons.

P.S. Jenni, notice the flower clippy in Miriam's hair? Thanks for the inspiration!

Beginnings

Summer is now officially over and we're well into our first month of school. Before the school year started, I gave Hannah and Emma hair cuts. It was hard to cut all of that pretty hair, but they seem pleased with their new 'dos. Ryan almost cried when he came home from work the day I cut their hair, but he kept his composure and eventually decided it was fine.

Here's Hannah, Miriam, and Emma eating breakfast before Hannah's first day at school. Pink frosted mini wheats, Cheerios, and milk is the breakfast of choice.

Hannah sporting her pink pack. You may not be able to tell, but she's so excited the buttons on her jacket are about to burst.

Here's Emma, a few days later, outside her Preschool. She'd been waiting for this day for 2 years. She cried when Hannah would get to go into Preschool class and she couldn't. Now it's her turn!
Emma having a Teddy Graham and Apple Juice snack at Preschool. When her teacher announced the snack for the day Emma made the most excited face you can imagine. So much so that the other parents in the room were chuckling and whispering, "she must like those Teddy Grahams!"
So, Hannah started First Grade, Emma started Preschool, and Miriam... well, Miriam started solid food.
She doesn't love the rice cereal or oatmeal. Does any baby like that stuff? None of mine have seemed to. Miriam always makes a horrid face when the first spoonful reaches her tongue. She'll even do a full body shudder to emphasize her dissatisfaction. We'd hoped a bowl or two of cereal would help her sleep through the night again since she stopped doing that about 6 weeks ago. No luck so far.
So now we're back in the swing of school, dance classes, homework, show and tell, fundraisers, and book orders. Hannah has homework 3-4 nights each week and, unlike when she was in Kindergarten, she actually likes doing it. Emma tries her best to distract Hannah from doing her homework - just because she's so excited that Hannah's finally home and she wants to play. I've been trying to keep Hannah on task by sitting her and Emma at the table and giving Emma a pencil and paper so she can do homework too. Emma's imagination takes over from there and she'll draw pictures and write stories until Hannah's done. Miriam is content to roll around on the floor. She can roll both ways now and can pivot on her tummy to get to most things she wants. I keep forgetting her new-found mobility. The other day I put her down on my bedroom floor and walked away to take care of someone else. When I came back to her, she was halfway under my bed, trying to roll under it! Oh, boy.

We Had A Great Summer

Here's a quick review of our summer - in pictures! Enjoy.

One day, while Ryan was away at Girl's Camp, we painted our toenails! Thanks to Samantha for the picture idea and to Ashlee for the suggesting the use of a highchair for baby toe pedicures.

We rode the Duck! Here we're on Lake Union in Seattle. We went with Ryan's family and had a blast. Who knew amphibious war vehicles could be so much fun? The other day Emma said we "needed to go ride the Duck again."


Miriam liked the Duck too. Despite the wind, yelling, music, and rocky ride, she fell asleep in my lap.

We took family pictures with Ryan's family. Above, Aeneas and Natalie are helping Gracie (the girl's cousins) get to the picture location. Antonio and Kristin are to the right.

We threw rocks into Puget Sound. Pictured are Antonio, Gracie, Staci, Emma, Hannah, and Natalie.

We spent a week on the Oregon Coast with Ryan's family. We all had such a great time and made so many fun memories. We flew kites (you may notice the kite is flying itself in this picture), played games, watched games, soaked in the hot tub, built sand castles, fed seals, ate saltwater taffy, and toured a cheese factory! Our camera never seemed to make it out of our bag, so we have very few pictures. Hopefully, everyone else will send us copies of theirs. Hint, hint.

We barbequed at both Grandma's houses and enjoyed visiting with Julie, Dave, and little Natalie from New York.

We went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Kane.

We swam at the pool with Auntie Ann, Grandma Carlson, Auntie Julie, Uncle Dave, and Natalie.

??? This is just a funny Emma picture.

Grandma Carlson and the girls taught cousin Natalie how to play Water Monster. Water Monster is any game played outside that involves lots of water and screaming.

We almost went crazy.

We played at the beach.

Miriam and Hannah bonded.

It was a great summer. Thanks to all of our family who traveled so far to come visit us. Memories are made of this!

Long Time No Posts...

So between a vacation, having family in town for two and half weeks, and 95 degree plus weather (I stop functioning when it gets over about 87 - that's why I live in Seattle), I haven't found time to update the blog. Trust me, it's not the only thing I've let slide. It's amazing how gross carpet can get when it hasn't been vacuumed in 3 weeks and you have 3+ children and twice that many adults running around on it. Yuck. I've been feeling guilty about my lack of attention to cleaning, blogging, etc. I was encouraged today, however, when I found this post by one of my favorite bloggers:

http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/2008/08/having-it-all-together-i-think-not.html

I liked Crystal's post because I can relate to her feelings of wanting to do so much and sometimes being able to accomplish very little. Oftentimes, I feel like I'm accomplishing very little because I'm so busy just feeding and maintaining the relative happiness and cleanliness of 3 little girls. During the times when I feel overwhelmed by what needs to be cleaned, folded, washed, or swept, I can get down on myself for not doing EVERYTHING well. Not keeping everything perfect.

Like Crystal, it has been hard for me to come to terms with the reality that this is a season of my life when some things I'd like to do have to be put aside while I focus on the things I need to do. There is always going to be a Cheerio or two under the kitchen table needing to be swept. That same kitchen table will usually have a smudge of yogurt or peanut butter needing to be wiped up. Some toy - ok, I'll be realistic - MOST of the toys will be left out and need to be put away. The ironing pile may never be conquered and I can't forsee a day when there isn't any dirty laundry that needs to be washed or clean laundry that needs folding. This is simply my reality and I'm learning to be okay with it.

I'm trying to include my girls in some of these homemaking tasks in an effort to spend more time with them while teaching them responsibility and the importance of work. Hopefully, they're having some fun along the way too. I am. For example, yesterday morning, Hannah, Emma, and I dumped five loads of laundry on my bed, turned on the Olympic's Women's volleyball match and folded while we watched the game. While folding, we talked about how to play volleyball and we got very excited about all the great blocks and spikes. The laundry got folded and we had fun. Today, they asked if we could watch more volleyball! Maybe some of you have been able to find ways to get chores done with your kids and have fun together at the same time. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

So, I will be posting more pictures on here soon, but not today. I've got some vacuuming to do.

How We Roll

One of the many reasons I love my car is that I can fit three car seats across the middle row.

The girls enjoy sitting together and making each other laugh. Hannah reads stories to Emma and Miriam and holds in the pacifier when Miriam's crying. She also mops up all the spit up that inevitably erupts from Miriam during every car ride. I like having all the girls close to me so I can reach them and pass them Kleenex, drinks, books, etc.

Looking at all these car seats makes me think I should buy Graco stock. Hmmmm...

We Can Boogie

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Mango-a-go-go Madness

A new Jamba Juice just opened up in our local grocery store. Now, we can get Starbucks and Jamba Juice with our bread and milk! Starbucks doesn't tempt me, but, oh the smell of Jamba Juice makes my mouth water. Anyone who's ever walked through the Wilk at BYU knows what I'm talking about. Well, if you love Jamba Juice as much as I do, visit http://www.jambajuice.com/ to get a printable buy one get one free coupon! Look for the link on the right hand side of the screen.

As with any deal like this, you might want to call ahead to make sure your store is participating in this promotion.

Thanks to the Centisible Sawyer, my favorite deal finder.

An Afternoon at the Water Park

Last Saturday we spent our Saturday afternoon at the local water park. Ryan swam with the girls most of the time while I hung out with Miriam in the shade.

Diaper Diva

Hannah, resting in the sun.
Emma doing the same.

Hannah showing off her new smile. Her front tooth *finally* fell out... in her bed... while she was sleeping. That's how loose it was.
Miriam's tummy time.

Ryan and the girls in the pool.
Emma working on her jumps. Ahh, floating in the pool on a hot summer day. It doesn't get much better than that.

4th of July Camping Trip

For the 4th of July this year we traveled to the ocean to camp. It was Emma and Miriam's first time camping... and Ryan and my first time camping with 3 children. Vacation? Not so much, but we had fun and the girls had a blast. As always, click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

Even in July, the coast in Washington is pretty cloudy. Hence, the coats and hoods. Here's me, Emma, my Uncle Curt and Aunt Diane, Teddy, Ann, Hannah, and Ryan.

Ryan loves to build sand castles. Here he's working on the moat.
Hannah LOVED the waves and ran in and out with Aunt Diane.
Emma wasn't so sure about the waves or water, but she liked building sand castles.

Miriam slept through our beach adventure, snug and warm in a sling.
Hannah skipping in and out of the surf.
After the beach, Grandma washed the sand off. Ryan's holding a stick with a huge beetle bug on it. A camping treasure.Before dinnertime, Hannah ("look at my LONG legs!"), Teddy, me, Emma, Grandma/Mom, Miriam, and Ryan.

Hannah, Miriam, Emma - during a Miriam diaper changing.

Hannah jumping on a tree branch.

Grandpa snuggling Miriam.
Here's how we found Hannah one evening: sitting by Grandma's Yurt, reading a book. I think Emma's trying to convince her to come play. I think she has a squirt gun in her mouth. Yup, this picture captures their personalities pretty well.
Ryan and the girls eating breakfast one morning.
This is what they looked like after visiting the beach on a drizzly morning.


Fireworks over the ocean! Washington's best kept fireworks secret, if you asked us. We love it, but Hannah covered her ears and cried. Too loud for her.

Miriam's chillin' in her car seat covered with a bug net to keep the mosquitoes away.
Ryan cooking biscuits over our fire. He takes his biscuit cooking very seriously.

Emma and Hannah playing in the top bunk of our Yurt. Yurts are sort of like a tent cabin, in case anyone is wondering.