The Goodrich Gossip

Hilarious Max

2012-02-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

For FHE we have been working on putting together 72 hour kits, so for the first time we went and got backpacks at Goodwill. We found the perfect sized lighting McQueen one for him and he has since taken it over and has been carrying it around with him about 40% of the day for the past 2 weeks. "My bagpac" he says over and over. It is now filled with as many stuffed animals and books he could fit. And for all that might wonder, he even sleeps with it.

One night he woke up crying so I went in to see what was the matter. He kept saying something over and over in between sobs. While he's been getting to be pretty chatty I can only understand so much of what he says. After a full half hour of crying in my arms I finally figured out he just needed his new stuffed shark. A boy needs his shark I guess.

Another night time adventure. Max woke up wanting the light on, which he pretty much wants on any time he goes to sleep. We've even started to unscrew all the light bulbs to keep him from turning them at night. That night I decided to try something new and gave him a couple of glow sticks. It took two seconds and he was quiet and calm. Funny man.

For Christmas the boys both got swords from Grandpa Larry. Who knew that dollar store swords would be the hit of the season? Well, the boys of course got into numerous fights and one time Max was fighting when Levi didn't have his sword so I explain to Mr. Max that we don't use our swords when someone else doesn't have one too. So he quickly drops the sword to the floor and says "I don't have sword".

Ask Max if he's a good guy or bad guy. "Bad guy". Every time. I think it might stem from when they were playing and someone told him he was the bad guy. Now when asked I'm the bad guy too.

I once asked Max if he's poopy. "No, you poopy" and then proceeds to check my pants. Oh, FYI I was good.

A Fiverr Birthday

2012-01-29T18:56:00.000-08:00

So I've discovered a site called Fiverr. Everyone might already know about it but I don't, I'm not exactly the most 'hip' or 'with it' person in the world. It was late one night and I went a little crazy. It's a site where people are willing to do random (clean) things for $5. Here's two of the three things I got Jason on it for his b-day. I know they're things I probably could have pulled off myself but it's easier this way also I think it's a clever way for someone to make some extra $$. I think this might be my go-to birthday site. Most things made me laugh hysterically.

I just loved this one.
I went with the turtle because when we were at BYU one day we were walking by the duck pond next to our apartment and saw these turtles on a log sitting in the sun. Jokingly I told Jason to get me one. Yeah, he caught it and we took it to our apartment. Sadly it didn't eat turtle food because it was a 'wild' turtle so we had to take it back to the pond but he bought one at the pet store we could keep. It was fun but stinky. This was actually how Jason got into fish.

Eventually he died which happened to be on the 4th of July and he just threw it in the garbage. Didn't even let me give it a proper burial. It was then I realized we had a slight difference of opinions when it came to animals. Luckily I loved him too much to hold it against him for more than a few days.

Oh also funny story about that turtle, while I still have some of my memory. We lost it a couple of times. Once it took forever because he had gotten himself up on his side and wedged himself in between some cans in our food storage. We never thought to look for him there, almost thought he'd escaped out of the apartment. Silly turtle.

Now it's noodle time.I went with this because Jason is always writing J hearts K or J&K everywhere he could, especially when we were first married in Utah. In the snow, on the ground, on our windshield, and yes, even in noodles. I even have a picture some where. So I thought I'd return the favor.

Happy Birthday Jason. Hopefully surprise #3 will be here soon. It's hilarious. At least in my head it is. But then again, most things are, reality might be a different story.

Sleepover

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

For some reason I decided it would be fun to let the boys have a friend sleepover. We haven't really had many kids over during the holidays because I was so dang busy and we were all missing having our friends come over. So we decided to have our good friend Cameron over for the night.

First we started of playing, then more playing. And then some more running around.

They helped me prepare dinner and gobbled it up
Everyone that is except Max who deemed it as 'yucky'
Then it was train time.
Followed by cooking making, bath and pajama time so they could snuggle in and watch Kung Fu Panda 2,
which they loved.
Bed time was a lot easier than I expected. They all quickly climbed up the ladder into Levi's bed and all seemed so content I couldn't bare to separate them, though I told them I would if they didn't behave. I put in a book on cd on and they were out in no time.

When I went in to check on them when I went to bed Cam was half way on Max so they made an X and Levi's foot was dangling out one of the slats, but they were out.

What I really worried about with the three of them in one bed is that they would wake up at 5am which is a lot earlier than we normally get up. And I'm not at my best at 5am, ask anyone. Max wailed for a second at 6 but must have gone back to sleep because they didn't get up until 8, which was way later than they normally are up. We are definitely do this more often.

In the morning we had waffles and milk then headed off to a ward playgroup to ride scooters and play with other kids in the church gym. Finish it all off with a happy meal picnic and it was a great morning. We were all sad to see Cam go home but he'll definitely be back. At least that's what he said.

After he left Levi told me he wanted Cameron over again and Jackson too (his cousin and other good friend since they were babies). I just love little boys.

Slush Day

2012-01-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Last week there was supposed to be a huge snow storm. But not for us, this was the most we got. I had been up really late the night before, per usual, and at about 1am there was a gorgeous powdery half foot of snow outside. A part of me really, really wanted to get everyone up and make a snowman. But sleep is just too important. Luckily, sort of, Max had woken up crying so I tiptoed in and we peeked out the window for a few minutes.

The next morning this was what we had, and a few hours later it was all gone. Oh Oregon. I love you so.
The boys still loved it and we had a snowball fight. And by snowball fight I mean I let the boys throw handfuls of slush at me. This lasted only a few minutes because we didn't have gloves on and Max eventually freaked out at the cold. But it was fun enough to do it several times that morning.
Maybe we'll get enough snow to make a real snowman sometime this year.

Hoodie

2012-01-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

For Christmas the boys got some hoodies from their great Grandpa Jim. I don't think this was the one intended for Max but he has taken it over and wears it every chance he gets. He loves the lizard, to stick his hand in the pockets and see how much stuff he can carry.

Talking to Strangers

2012-01-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

I'm going to rant for a moment. Bare with me anyone who cares.

Levi just asked me "Mom I shouldn't talk to strangers right?" I paused. Several months I would have quickly said, 'Right'. But recently I read a book that has helped me to get a little different point of view on parenting called "Free Range Parenting".

I'm not huge on parenting books, partly because I don't have a ton of time to read like I used to and partly because in any book or article you can find just as many articles to contradict it. So I try more to go on what I feel is right for us and our kids, what the pediatrician says and what I have learned from talking to friends who have gone through what I have.

The reason why I decided to read this particular book was because it was highly recommended by a mom who I think is amazing and knew that if she recommended it, it would be a good read.

If I could sum it up in one sentence it would be that the book is about taking a step back and not over parent kids. It talks about how things are so different from when I was growing up. Walking to school? I did that every day by myself all through elementary school and even on some days Jr. High and High School (they were both pretty far). Now? Hardly anyone does it. Playing outside without shoes and a coat? I loved it but now, what IS that mother thinking???? They might catch a cold. Going out front to play some kick ball or hide and seek with the neighbors? My streets seem practically deserted. When I drive around rarely do I see kids playing, even on sunny days. It's makes me a little sad sometimes because I remember all the good memories I have of playing hide and seek with friends, building a fort in the orchard behind our house, or playing in the rain barefoot in jeans and a tee shirt.

Now we live in a time where we allow fear to dictate what we will and will not allow our children to do because we see this as dangerous times, with threats of child abductions, abuse or worse and believe it is all on the rise. Because of this it would be unsafe and negligent to give our children any of the same freedoms we had to roam roam neighborhoods without parents. So their lives have become a series of planned activities making them extremely supervised and very scheduled.

In reality we live in much safer times than when I was a kid. Yeah, I didn't know that one but it's true. Also I found out that there has never been a substantiated case of a child getting poisoned by Halloween candy. Ever. But media likes to hype things up because you don't get ratings from news stories talking about how the streets are have gotten safer or to stop worrying about any poisoned candy.

In one part of the book it talked about how we have all been taught to tell our kids not to talk to strangers. If they were lost what would they need to do to find their parents? TALK TO A STRANGER. We teach them to find a police man or something but what if one isn't there? Just the other day I was in a department store and I saw a little girl of 4-5 alone. I look at her, and she at me for several moments. Then she told me she was looking at the toys and lost her mom and dad. I took her hand and we soon found her mom. Me, a stranger, was able to help her.

As a missionary all I did was talk to strangers everywhere I went. I loved being able to talk to and meet new people I otherwise would have never come in contact with. Even before that if I was riding a bus or airplane, while I would at times be nervous talking to a stranger, I was always glad I did and I learned that people, as a whole are good and not out to steal from me or try to kill me.

The book emphasized that instead of teaching kids not to talk to strangers to rather never go with a stranger. And as soon as I read that I decided that is what I wanted to do and to teach to them. I don't want to my boys to think that the world is a fearful, dangerous place full of people wanting to take them away and hurt them. But that overall people are good and wonderful to talk to, just don't ever go anywhere with someone without talking to mom or dad.

It was a great read and gave me a lot of hope for the future.

The end.

Sunday Dress

2012-01-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today I taught Levi what the word 'snazzy' means. Lately I've been working on some baby girl presents for friends of mine having girls and I had so many ideas running through my head for things to make for them. It made me a little sad that you can't find much for boys out there. But luckily I figured out how to make ties and I adore looking at my boys in them. They are just.....snazzy.
Oh, and Jason made up a little key with a chain that attaches to the vest and goes in the pocket. Levi loved it.
Brothers.
On a different note. Hilarious things that happened at church today.

- Max was asked to get a hymnal and he went to the complete opposite side of the room for one despite the fact that he passed 15 or so on his way to get 'the one'. Typical Max.

- During the Sacrament song Levi spied a boy in front of us, someone from his class, playing with a race car. He goes up to him, in very loud voice tells/yells that he's not being reverent. It took a few moments for us to get him calm. Then during the sacrament prayer all us adults who had watched the whole thing were trying desperately to contain the laughter. This is one of many reasons why we sit in the back row week after week.

On the not so hilarious side:
- Levi is doing great as a CTR4 and has been singing really well. He even got a sticker for singing so well. He loves it all.

- Max also loves nursery and when I went in to do some stuff for my calling and he saw me he didn't even freak out.

- I am figuring out my calling and enjoying being in with the kids. I loved doing singing time but I still get to help out some times. Also it is a lot less work on a weekly basis which is good, but I still miss it a bit. I'm sure I'll do it again someday and until then I'm enjoying one of the best music leaders I've seen and taking notes.

More Office Updates

2012-01-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is just for you Larry.

The office 'remodel' is going great. The desk was finished and brought upstairs earlier this week. I am in love. It's huge and with all the new organization and things off the desk it gives me lots more room to work rather than just pile things.
A lot of stuff is going to be up on the walls and off the desk giving easy access. I'm still working on a magnet board and a necklace and jewelry organizer for finished products and works in progress.
Jason finished the shelves and put them in the other day and I'm working on organizing it . There are perfect spots for everything, the printer, my tumbler and other jewelry gear and even my sewing machine, laminator and silhouette. Also we're putting a countertop on it for extra durability. We met with the guy the other day and it's going to be a dark green/black super strong slate. It's very pretty and I can't wait to see the finished product.

We just bought a new chair, Jason is working on building a foot rest/shelf under the desk for my feet (cause it's so high) and also for storage, he's out to get a long power strip so I can easily plug things in as well. It's all coming together and I'm very excited about the whole thing. Best Christmas gift ever.

Group Shot

2012-01-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

When school picture time came to Levi's preschool I wasn't going to buy any because they are ridiculously expensive. Truthfully I just wanted to get a quick copy of the group shot from someone but we got the proofs free of charge and I couldn't resist.

He sure is handsome.
And here's the whole crew, Teacher Kim and Teacher Martha.

Now

2011-12-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

Often my posts are 2 week behind, because that's just how life is some times, at least around here. But despite the fact I have tons of pictures and things I need to write about, I thought I'd take some shots of what's going on right now over at La Casa de Goodrich.

Right now I'm working on a couple non-jewely related craft projects. Hate to say I'm a little 'jewelryed' out after making it non stop for pretty much a month and a half. But I'm just about ready to do some orders and get back to it. Also I've been admiring these bad boys Jason put up for me a few days ago. Aren't they awesome????
I'm doing an office re-model for my side of the room because while the system I was using to run my shop was working a year or so ago it's just not cutting it for me and the amount I do now. I've been wanting to do this for almost a year now and it never seemed like a good time but now things have slowed down enough for me to get to it also I made a good amount from Christmas sales and can afford it. So tonight one of my tasks is to continue cleaning out my desk and craft area. It's a mess. Ok, more like a disaster.
This is the reason why I'm getting it all cleaned up. Jason's been working designing and now building my custom desk. What a fella.
Tonight I made chicken and dumplings with smoked chicken brought all the way from Moses Lake. The boys actually loved it. Max vacuumed not only his carrots and my carrots but another bowl full of it. Levi just wanted meat.
Then we made some rice krispies. Green ones.
The boys are enjoying a Friday night show, some episodes of "Wild Kratts" they got for Christmas. They sure love those guys. And now Levi knows more about many animals than I do!

Card Parade

2011-12-30T18:51:00.001-08:00

Every year I love getting cards and family pictures of some of my favorite people. I usually have them up around the house or in my office then at some point around February I realize I can't keep them because I'm trying REALLY hard not to be a pack rat, so I end up throwing them away. This year I thought I'd scan them then I'd have them forever!!! Here are the ones I've scrounged up.

Oh, by the way, I don't do Christmas cards but rather Valentines Day cards. It has helped to lessen my holiday stress level a number of notches.

The Baileys - I love Jen, she was in my ward in Bethany and we went to a number of playgroups together, do FHE group together and she is one of the reasons I'm really sad I'm not in that ward any more. I could talk to her forever.

The Carriers- Krissy was my visiting teaching companion for a bit in my other ward and I love talking with her. We did a number of craft shows last year and I got to know her really there. Her daughter is a hoot, Paige, and was in Levi's primary class.

The Hancocks - I've visit taught Tanya ever since we've lived in the house and now am in the primary presidency with her. She's pretty much amazing and I think of her every time I hear a Justin Bieber song.
The Keelers - I serve with Corrin (not pictured) in the primary presidency and could hang out with her all day long. She's fun, crafty and always has great ideas. Also her son is in Levi's class and they're getting to be pals.
The Sanders - My long lost friends who moved to Utah. I love Nicole, she was one of my best friends when she was living here. You know one of those people whose house you could stop off at and hang just because you were around and had some time. It was great. We have a lot in common and was sad when she moved. I got to photograph a 'birth experience' for her with Gavin and it was my first time seeing a live birth. Amazing!
The Youngs - They are a ton of fun. I love it because both our boys are pretty much the same age and have some similar personalities and I can totally relate to what life is with two young boys. Also it's always a good time when Danielle is a girls night. Yeah!
The Wilmarths - This is my Aunt Kathy's family. I'm so glad we found them. We didn't think we had any cousins but turns out we did! I also got to photograph Andrew and Lisa's wedding last year, it was a challenge but I learned a ton and am grateful I got the chance.

Time for a Change

2011-12-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Last year when we got money from the boys from grandparents and other family members for Christmas we decided we would get a bunk bed when the time came. We hid the money and forgot about it and found it, then hid it, forgot and found it again. So awesome to find a big chunk of cash you totally forgot about. Probably not very responsible but fun.

We decided a month or so back to finally trade in the boys beds for a bunk bed. They love it and were thrilled about the whole thing. Jason even let them watch a movie on the top bunk the first night. He snagged a picture of it all. Some how a movie is much better on the top of a bunk bed or in a fort. I think it's a law of nature.
We let them sleep together that night because they just looked too cute. Not a great idea though because they ended up kicking each other and waking up pretty early.
One of the sad things though is I can't really kiss Levi very easily when I check in on him before I go to bed. Also since we have an awesome popcorn ceiling and dark carpets the floor is an even bigger mess than it was before. But overall operation bunk bed was a big success.

Stuff.

2011-12-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm working on getting stuff posted but I have been in insane work mode for the past 2 weeks. I haven't gone to bed before 2am, sometimes 3. It kind of feels like I have a newborn. Kind of.

I'm just going to let my fingers and mind go at it because I have visiting teaching in 10 minutes and need to get something written.

Levi has been gone since Wednesday. He's with my dad and his cousins in California. That spoiled kid. He went to Disneyland, Seaworld, had his first trip on an airplane. Lucky duck. I kind of wish I could have been there for his first time doing some of those things but in reality none of that was going to happen any time soon. And he got to be with his family.

I miss him terribly. The house is definitely quieter without him but I miss his hugs, his constant "I love you's", his asking me everything about everything. At the same time I have also been able to get a ton done with only one kid. So good and bad. I just can't wait to see him tomorrow (or the next).

After a 8 year absence of church choir, I have finally started going again. Weird to say that long, but I counted. I haven't done it since sophomore year at BYU. Then I went on my mission, got married (Jason wasn't a choir person and I didn't want to go alone), and I had kids and then NEEDED my Sunday nap. Now I still can kind of nap but get to sing. It's been good so far. I miss singing a lot sometimes.

I have some fun surprises for Christmas for the kiddos, friends and family. We'll see if I can pull it off. I wish I would have gotten started earlier on some of it. Last year I had most of it all done really early. Oh well. Live and you learn.

Got to go. I'm exhausted and never got my nap today. Only a week and a half of this craziness (well of staying up past 3 most for me). Ahhhh. But I'm not sick of making jewelry yet. Still fun, so HA!

Tis the Season

2011-12-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

Of craziness that is. At least around my neck of the woods. But it's all good , life would be boring without a little bit of insanity.

The boys are getting excited for Christmas, mostly Levi. Max doesn't really realize what's going on but he's excited because Levi is. He told me his list and everything on it involved a remote control. If you let him talk about Christmas, Santa or the countdown he gets really excited and his voice gets really high pitched. It's adorable.

On the subject of Christmas I'm trying to go simple (well, simple for me) and have been thinking more and more about the true meaning of Christmas and trying to figure out how to teach that to the boys. It's so hard sometimes with all the stuff going on, sparkly fun things, and other great holiday events. I'm just trying to find a balance. I guess I was just really put off with the over commercialization of Christmas when I started seeing holiday stuff in stores in Halloween. Really people?

Speaking of commercialization at Christmas....I am almost done with craft shows. This year has been interesting, some were very good and some were very bad. I think next year I'm going to be very selective and not do so many. Maybe just a couple. It's a lot of work to do them and a big sacrifice for the whole family. But I usually have fun and get to meet interesting people at them.

Yesterday we had our ward Christmas party, which was fun. I almost had a mental breakdown trying to figure out how to get my gingerbread birdhouse to stand up. I survived it and so did Jason. The result was great but involved many tears of frustration and a lot of hot glue.

Also at the party my mom, Levi and I sang. Mom was asked to play her guitar and do a song so she choose 'In the Bleak Midwinter', which we've done dozens of times. As she and I were practicing an hour or so before (yeah, that's how we do it round' here) in the last verse I saw Levi mouthing the words as we sang. So I asked him about it and he said it was a poem they were learning at preschool. It was adorable to hear him repeat it and he knew it all. So we roped him into singing the last verse with us. He was reluctant but obliged.

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepard, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what then can I give him, I will give my heart.

He's such a sweetheart and did a great job singing loudly, though he was a little on the squirmy side for a lot of it. But twas to be expected. As we sang together I realized why my mom was always roping us kids into singing with her growing up. Heck she even does it to me now. It's just an amazing feeling performing with your child and to see them do something well.

On a sad note a dear family friend, Tiffany's, husband passed away very suddenly this week. Brooke, her cousin, happened to be over at my house that morning she found out. We both just burst into tears, and I'm not the crying type. I can't even imagine what she is going through. Especially to be so young, and they're expecting their second daughter. I've been thinking about her all week and at the same time trying to appreciate the wonderful boys in my life. I don't know what I would do without them.

It's All About the Hair

2011-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Good news. Levi (and of course Max who is sure to do anything Levi does) will let me do his hair! He finally let me in time for his preschool picture day. Here's Mr. Max with his 'crazy hair'. Yeah baby!

Intense

2011-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

Any time uncle Isaac is around you will be sure to see this image at some point. I watched him play the other day. He's quite good and I'm pretty sure he's better than me.

Produce

2011-11-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

After harvest I got right to work with all the produce. I canned salsa and spaghetti sauce.
Dried tomatos, onions and tons of apples. Here's to a tasty year!

Grapes

2011-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

This years birthday was great. I knew it wasn't going to be big and fancy because I had my first holiday show a couple days later and it was really just bad timing. But it was still wonderful none the less. I actually had the boys off to the babysitters for a lot of the morning so I could get some work done which is really what I love to do. I don't need fancy parties or a big dinner. My ideal day would be to be in peace and quiet (no fighting) and creating. Maybe watch some good movies or something. I'm not picky.

Jason made sure it was a good one. He cleaned the house, took care of the boys and got me my 'cake'. This is what I ask for every year. Fruit. Not the apples and oranges but more 'expensive' ones that I don't keep around the house, especially when it's not in season. So I got a big bowl of grapes, mango, papaya, pineapple, pomegranate, avocados and Greek yogurt.

I was nice and shared the grapes with the boys. They brought it to me and we ended up sitting down right there in the middle of the hall and munching on them. Yumm-o.Jason also had the perfect day planned for a month later when things were a little less crazy. He got the nicest room at the grand hotel. It was the fanciest hotel I've ever been to. Then we went to Cinatopia to watch the new Twilight movie in their fancy parlor room, which was amazing. We don't go out to movies a lot and never like this. I loved it. Then we did some shopping and I got my hair cut. It was perfect. I am so lucky to have such amazing boys around me who love me and spoil me.

Sugar High

2011-11-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

This year's Halloween was full of fun, parties and tons of candy. The boys loved every minute of it.
We had a big ward Halloween party and Trunk or Treat. In the building each room was filled with fun kids games and activities. They had a blast.
Dillan, Sienna, and Nancy came and they seemed to like it. I think at first the kids were overwhelmed because there were SOOOOOO many kids and people running around. It was a little crazy. But after a little bit they got comfortable with the insanity and were all smiles.
Cuties.
Then the boys went home and counted their loot.
Max very carefully stacked his goodies. Once they'd arranged it just so, we let them go crazy. They even shared with everyone else.
The next day, the real holloween day, we went to circle park and everyone in Bethany ward parked there cars around it and we all did another trunk or treat. Again, the boys loved it. Max was so cute saying 'trik, treat!' and 'tank ou'
That day Levi had decided he didn't want to be superman that time, and decided a king was a better fit for him for the day. So we dug through our costume box and here's what he came up with.
Someone did the in the back of their truck. I was mesmorized. But who doesn't love dry ice?
Licorice anyone?
For the most part my kids ran around the playground. One of the boys we know was a mummy and part of his costume came off leaving a big strip of fabric to play with. These two chased and chased each other. She was tough!

Kid Day

2011-11-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

This year was our second annual Kids Halloween Party!!!! Fun again, as always. It was a divide and conquer sort of thing and I love doing it with these moms because I know they will do what they say they are going to do. Being on so many activities committees in my life there are always some people you get kind of nervous about that they might not do/bring something or even show up. So it's nice when you don't have to worry about it at all.

Levi was Superman, Max was one of three Spidermen, there were two pumpkins, and an alligator, dinosaur, a lizard and a lady bug. It is fun to see these guys run around in costume.
Buffness.
As always the trains were quite popular. A candy walk. They were so funny because you could tell they were still all learning the game. Max loves these things and spent quite a lot of time in it.
Isn't Brady awesome?
Food. Even better if Jackson's there. They both insisted on sitting next to him.
We'll see everyone next year!

Thankfulness

2011-11-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

A lot of people I know have been doing their 25 days of gratefulness and I thought I'd do it as I went along here. So be prepared. This is a long one.

Day 1 Today I'm grateful for carpooling and great friends who are always there to help. It's amazing and Levi loves it. It lets me relax and just have fun with Max before nap time and not have to stress about anything. Thank you Katey and all my other amazing carpooling buddies.

Day 2 I am grateful for my husband. Oh so grateful. He helped me set up for a show today and has always been so wonderful and supportive with my 'work' though it took him a little bit to make him believe I could actually make money doing it (it too me a while to believe that myself!). He has such great ideas and can turn my crazy rambling plans and turn them into not only a reality but usually something much better than I would have ever done myself. He's amazing and I'd be completely lost without him.

Day3 I am grateful for the roof over my head. Never in a million years did I think I would be living in my grandparents house and with my grandmother no less, but I am so grateful that we are here.

Day 4 I am so grateful for visiting teaching. Sometimes, ok, many times, it is hard to not only do it but to have people do it for me but I am always grateful that the time was made. Through the visiting teaching program I have met and made countless friends and sisters who I otherwise might not have naturally been drawn to. They teach me, inspire me, help me in times of need and I know, no matter what there are so many wonderful women who would, in an instant, drop everything they had to help me.

Day 5 I'm grateful for my madre. She works SOOOOO hard. Puts in 14 hour days at work at times, sometimes more, finds time to come be with my grandma several times a week, is with her all weekend long, takes care of her medicine, finances, and does all her shopping. I am pretty positive she is the best daughter ever. She has always sacrificed so much for people. Growing up it was us. As I think back I realize how little I comprehended how much of a sacrifice she made. But she was always there to take us to our dr.'s appointment, which were many. My sister and I had braces that needed to be adjusted at least once a month sometimes twice and thinking back that must have been HUGE for her to do. She worked across town, our HS was miles away but she always took time off to do it even though she had a very demanding job, had 5 kids and was going to school full time. She was always at every single play, choir concert, or any other event we did, and even paid full price each time. Yeah, she's amazing. Oh, and she's never said no to babysit either. Yeah, we're that lucky.

Day 6: I'm grateful for my knowledge of the gospel. I know it's true and no matter what happens I know that will always be a constant in my life. On days like today when my kids are crazy during sacrament (Max screamed out the loudest dinosaur roar you've ever heard when the bishop was speaking. Talk about embarrassing.) or while Levi was being the wiggliest little sunbeam during program practice and overall church was a bunch of craziness, I had to remember dispute it all, it is true. I have gotten astonished looks when I've mentioned church goes for 3 hours or the fact that we give 10% of all our income or spend hours and hours on a serving in a calling for free. I'm sure they think to some small extent that I'm insane. But I know it's true and it's not hard when you know it's true.

Day 7: I am so thankful for mail. Weird to say but I really am. Often times as I see mail trucks going around doing their business I think about how absolutely amazing it is that we have a system that can get mail from one side of the country to the other in a matter of days, and if needed hours. Logistically speaking it is incredible what they do every day. And while I might whine and complain that such and such didn't arrive in time I fail to remember that even 50 years ago I would be waiting weeks and a hundred it would be months before reaching a given destination. What a marvelous time we live in.

Day 8: I am grateful for good friends. Tonight I got to go to two girls nights and hang out with some of my favorite people, people who I love and who I know love me. It's great to know that while you are leading your life and it might seem like your the only one struggling with whatever it is your dealing with, that there are people around you who are doing the same thing and together you can somehow make the burden seem a little bit lighter. I am so grateful for people who I could say pretty much anything to and it wouldn't phase them at all. They wouldn't judge or think less of me for saying it. Girls nights are definitely the cheapest form of therapy.

Day 9: I am grateful for my office. For my place to be away from everything (kind of) and create. It is where I compose myself from all the insanity that is constantly flying at me. I am not joking when I say I might go insane without it.

Day 10: I am grateful for my pregnancies. I know, if anyone knows me they know I hate being pregnant. I'm pretty much a big, uncomfortable meanie for a year. But today I talked to someone who has gone through a number of miscarriages and I can't imagine how hard it must have been. It would not be something that is easily forgotten. And for that I am grateful for my health and being able to 'easily' bare children.

Day 11: I am grateful for modern medicine. The boys and I went to McDonalds for dinner to give dad a break and Max got his fingers smashed in the bathroom door. It was awful, blood everywhere. I panicked and it was just a very emotional night. We ended up in urgent care and the next day getting an x-ray (nothing too serious, thankfully). But I am grateful we have doctors, medicine and so many things to keep us strong and healthy.

Day 12: Today I am grateful for children. Not just my own but for other children as well. Childhood is something you only get to do once and it goes by so fast. I love to do fun stuff for the kids around me and hope to bring smiles on their faces. After being a mother I can really see why we must 'be as little children' if we want to enter into heaven. They are such amazing examples to me!

Day 13: I am grateful for my primary calling. Today we had the primary program and they all did such a wonderful job. I can't believe I get to work with them and serve them. For 8 years I did activities, activities, activities and I am so lucky to get to be around these sweet children.

Day 14: I am grateful for work. I've pretty much worked since I was 16 and the only 'break' I had was during my mission and a couple months after Levi was born. I have always been blessed to be able to work when I've needed it. I am grateful for my little store and how much I have been able to do because of it. I never really though I'd make real money at it, but I have always been abundantly blessed with income when I've needed it.

Day 15: I am grateful for this blog. It is a TON, TON, TON of work on top of everything else that I do. Some days I just want to quit it all because it is just one more thing I have to do in my already busy life. Then I go look at pictures from a year or two and am grateful I took the time. These next 20 years or so are going to be crazy busy raising children, but one day they will be gone and out of the house and I know I will be eternally grateful for the time I took taking pictures and writing their stories.

Day 16: I am grateful for the temple. No we didn't go today. We've been trying to find a time to go with our temple swap family but we've got some tricky schedules, especially with the holidays approaching. The last time we went I loved it and realized how much I truly missed it, not because of any huge epiphanies I had while I was there but merely because of the peace inside. It literally felt like I left all my stress, worries, and anxieties (which are a lot) right at the door and all I felt inside was peace and calm. I can't wait to go back.

Day 17: Today I am extremely grateful for my Max. He is such a sweet heart and I can't resist that little voice of his and how he is learning new things each day. One of my favorite things in the world to hear is his giggles. It melts my heart. I can't imagine our family without that little guy.

Day 18: I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. It is such a great feeling to do something nice for someone, even if it's something small. And I am always grateful when people have allowed me to do things for them. It makes me happy.

Day 19: I am so grateful for my Levi. We spent pretty much the whole day together, just the two of us. We were mostly doing errands for me, stopping at a bazaar then going to the gemfaire on the max. He was such great company. I just love that kid. He asks about 10 questions a minute and is so curious about life. He has an amazing imagination and love of life. It is never a dull moment with him around. Today would have been extremely boring without him.

Day 20: I'm grateful for tithing. I know, it might sound odd. But I love it. Today was tithing settlement and it felt so good to say we were full tithe payers. Tithing is pretty much the only commandment I can comply with completely and it feels good knowing that despite my lack of faith, charity and patience I do pay my tithing perfectly. What a blessing.

Day 21: I am grateful for Family Home Evening. We have gotten better and better at the whole thing and now have Levi getting into the act. He always reminds us what day it is and what we are all doing. When he chooses activities it usually involves playing cars, trains or a game and if we let him decide for treat he like to pick the ice cream shop. I look forward to many a fun family home evening with those boys.

Day 22: I am grateful for good teachers. Today was Levi's preschool's harvest feast and I am got to see him interact in his school environment. His teachers are wonderful and you can tell how much they love these children and the work they do.

Day 23: I am eternally grateful for my husband. Today, when he got home I was pretty down. Tired, not feeling great and sick of my kids fighting. So he put me to bed, took the boys and made waffles for them for dinner and when I woke several hours later the boys were playing downstairs and the whole house was clean and everything set out for thanksgiving dinner. He's amazing and I am so lucky to have him for my eternal companion.

Day 24: I am grateful for modern technology. I love it, though it can be a source of distractions at times. I was able to do most of our Christmas shopping online and get a number of ideas for some handmade ones I'll be doing. What did people do without it? I've used it for so many great things. Like preparing lessons or music time. It's an amazing resource.

Pumpkinness

2011-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

This year we never really ended up carving pumpkins, it just didn't happen. But we did get to decorate some over at our cousins house. It mostly involved them putting stickers on pumpkins. But they loved it. I love how kids can be so easily entertained sometimes.
Sienna and Nancy with the princess pumpkin.
Levi worked VERY intently on his. He definitely worked on it the longest, even stayed while the other kids ate cupcakes. Now that is a true artist. Dillan, also very engrossed. Man that kid's adorable.
And Mr. Max with his 'M' pumpkin. He was very proud of it. Then dad started putting stickers on his face to which he started laughing hysterically which of course made everyone else laugh hysterically. And then there were mini cupcakes. The end.

Plumper Pumpkins

2011-11-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Pre-School is amazing. Partly because of all the fun field trips they get to go on. For this one we all got to go to a pumpkin patch, called "Plumper Pumpkin Patch". It was our first time going but probably one of my favorites so far.

See how excited they are? We'd been talking about it for weeks.
Our friend Everett showing what to do with a pumpkin. This is teacher Krista and the Plumper Pumpkin lady teaching all about the different kinds of pumpkins and gourds. Very informative.
They were quite attentive. NOTE: they kept their hoods on pretty much the entire time, insisting it was going to rain, which in Oregon is a pretty safe bet. After that began all the fun slides and other kids activities. There were at least 5 big slides. So awesome. Here's some funny moments I caught.

Levi's pal Isaac who he carpools with. Another kid in his class. Don't worry, no one was hurt, they just laughed it off. What tough pre-schoolers. Max and Abe mostly just played on the stairs, a little too scared to go down. At least at first. Max thoroughly enjoyed being around all the 'big kids' he followed them around and copied whatever they were doing. It was very sweet. Levi, Isaac and Kade showing me their muscles. Max likes to play tough, but this calf kind of scared him. When he saw everyone else going and petting it he was in. They had these hand pumps you could pump water out of down a pipe and it would float a duck. Unfortunately it wasn't really work despite all the arm work Max and Everett put in. They were at it a while, convinced they would get water no matter what. I was helping Levi with something and lost sight of Max for a second. Talk about a scary 30 seconds!!! But he was just at the top of the stairs with all the other kids. Sweet Kade Haroldsen was so nice and kept trying to convince Max it was ok to go down the slide. Didn't work, going up and down the stairs were enough for him. Hayride!!!!And we HAD to check out the tractors.
Maze #1.Another slide, they're such boys.
Maze #2
Levi with Teacher Kim. It was very cute to see them interact. He ran up to her and grabbed her hand to tell her something extremely important. He sure loves his teacher.

Yummy snacks.

Maze #3. They were very frustrated with this one so we cut our way through and picked out our pumpkins. On our way out Levi insisted we get smaller, baby pumpkins so the bigger ones would have side kicks.

Sunday Goodbye

2011-11-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

After all the harvesting and cider making it was finally time to say good by with a good old fashioned sword fight, Goodrich style.
Then grandpa pulled out his gun.
Levi was too involved in battle but Max was completely fascinated.
He came back though, with a vengeance! That boy is definitely a fighter.

Then we went outside to check on the praying mantis the boys had found earlier, which they then put in a box and made a 'habitat' for it. Levi was enthralled with it because he loves bugs. Until they get to close that is.

It was a great couple of days at La Casa de Goodrich. Thanks for having us guys!

Mmmmmm Cider

2011-11-13T22:58:00.001-08:00

Cider making isn't something we've done every year, it's usually every other year for us. But that's fine because it's a ton of work. Totally worth it though because fresh squeezed homemade cider is about 100x better than anything you could find in a store.

We use this cider press Larry has to make it.

First you chop the apples (well FIRST you pick them and give them a good washing)

Then turn a crank which chops the apples into a nice mush.Once the bucket is full then you put a top on and start pressing.Me and the boys gave it our all.
Jason or Larry usually have to help with this part. I think they secretly like it because it makes them feel super strong. Which they kind of are.

Result? Awesome homemade cider.
After, ok in kind of the middle/end part, grandpa got out the riding lawnmower to give Levi a ride, which was pretty much the coolest thing ever to him.
Then I even got a chance on it with Levi who is quite a good driver. Sort of. Mostly he was just along for the ride.

So were these hooligans.

The Reaper

2011-11-13T21:34:00.001-08:00

Harvest 2011 was great and I have the pictures (and produce which is all dried and canned) to prove it.

This year we got something new, carrots.
Larry and his eagle eye spotted a small patch that hadn't been harvested right before they were going to turn the soil over for the next crop. I'll have to admit, it was probably one of my favorites because it was such a suprise what you got when you pulled at those green tops. It could be a tiny baby carrot, a giant one or even one with many little 'tentacles'. We got three big buckets from just a couple feet. Amazing.
When I say we got there RIGHT in time, I mean it.
or in some cases hitched a ride.
At this point I got pretty busy and into picking things so I let Phillip take the camera for a whirl. Not too shabby.

I guess everyone convinced Willy to eat an onion.

Ha!
These are definitely pictures taken by a bunch of boys. I was off getting onions and I'm pretty sure it went down kind of like this: "Hey, Phillip look how far I can throw this onion"
"Let's see if I can hit someone with it"
"Onion power!"

Just my guess but I'm pretty sure that's how it happened.
I love the pics Phil got with Levi and Al though, he sure loves his uncles.
Cheese! It took a couple of suckers and fistfuls of goodies to keep Max from freaking out because this was all during his naptime. Grandpa was prepared though.
I took my camera back. I can only trust a group of boys with my camera for so long. Levi found a baby carrot. It was "so teute".
After we headed to Grandpas favorite burger joint.

They scarfed everything down pretty quick. Harvesting takes a lot of work ya know.

Holiday Decor in a Fish Tank

2011-11-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

I have been downsizing my fishkeeping hobby this year. I am down from 4 aquariums ranging from 150 gallons down to 2.5 gallons. Now I just have a 29 gal aquarium in the bedroom, and a 33 gal aquarium in the dinning room. I just finnished draining and cleaning the 150 over the weekend. I need to touch up some paint on the stand and get it sold. But I though it would make a nice place to grow some holiday plants, some amarylis and some paperwhite flowers. I have the space and lights for it, why not use it. From there, things started to get bigger. Now there is a bunch of moss and leaves and Kendra really likes the idea of adding some frogs because plants aren't fun enough for her. We will see about the frogs. I am trying to resist another hobby.

Moments

2011-11-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

So I have literally over a dozen posts I need to do, all the fun Halloween stuff, Washington trips , but I've been crazy busy with holiday stuff already. I already did one Bazaar, just set up for another 6 week long one tonight and realize I have one more I'm doing Monday. Holy cow what did I sign myself up for???? But then there is only one more show which should be ready to go in a couple weeks then that's it. I'm pretty sure I'm insane.

But here are some things that have made me smile the past couple weeks.

- Max has now decided, whenever the opportunity presents itself, to instead of going in his car seat, to climb up to the drivers seat and yell "Me drive! Me drive!" while I pry those little hands off the wheel and strap him in kicking and screaming. It's hilarious. Frustrating, but hilarious.

- Levi and I went to the dollar store today and he got to spend the first dollar he ever earned. He gets a quarter every time he takes out the recycling which is about once a week, so it's taken some time. His item of choice? A green robot with a couple of cannons or something in their hands and a lazer. He was quite excited.

- We have been prepping for our children's program the last couple weeks. This is Levi's first year and since I'm in the primary presidency I get to see him in action. Last Sunday as they went through a couple songs in their spots, I was busting a gut pretty much the entire time looking at Levi. Most of the time he made binoculars out of his hands and looked around. Singing for the most part but 'wearing' binoculars. Later he told me "It's so I could see Sister Thomas better". Great reasoning. The rest of the time he was wildly rocking back and forth like a clock pendulum or singing 2 inches from the girl in his class's face, which telling from the looking on her face, she did not appreciate one bit. (later he told me he wanted to sing to her). SO FUNNY. All the other sunbeams? Even the one who is usually running around? Yeah, they were pretty much still and singing. This should be a good one, I can't wait. I am pretty sure I HAVE to video tape it.

- Yesterday we took a trip to mars on the couch. They've both been into outer space stuff and astronauts lately. It was quite fun pretending to look for space rocks and drink space milk.

- Today when Max went to get babysat I was shocked, amazed and completely dumbfounded when instead of having a hissy fit, grabbed her hand and went, no problem. Wow. Several months ago that never would have happened. I was even prepared with a bunch of leftover Halloween candy to bribe him with. He's gotten so much more independent lately. Kind of bittersweet.

Trapped

2011-11-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Since he has switched to a crib, Max has spent a fair, I'd say 15% of his time, sleeping in front of his bedroom door. He'll grab his stuffed elephant (he uses it for a pillow), his blanket and a stuffed animal bunny Mr. Floppy or now it has more recently been two small stuffed beavers. It's quite hilarious, though it often means I have to push the door open to put him in his bed and say goodnight for the night. It's very cute and slightly silly, which I love.

I suppose there is no exception of location because while we were up visiting Grandpa Larry's he did the same thing, though this time he didn't have his elephant. Since the doors are up slightly higher than ours we saw this:
L.O.L.

A Day in the Making

2011-10-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last week Levi informed me that it was Big Al's (the ginormous alligator) birthday. His 1st if anyone was wondering. He told me we NEEDED to throw him and all the other animals, who happened to have their birthday on the same day, a party. On the list of things to prepare included a game, food, a card, presents and balloons.

We got some stuff done that day but couldn't finish with everything. Little by little we got all the bits and pieces together and had our day. Location: living room couch. The boys dragged out every stuffed animal we had and lined em up.
First order of business? Sing Happy Birthday. Or scream it.
Such enthusiasm!
For the gift we settled on heart stickers for all. Levi was EXTREMELY excited about the whole thing. Max took his cue pretty quickly.
Fishing seemed like an appropriate party game.
There were a lot of party animals in the crowd. The boys made sure everyone had some food that they made themselves. Mr. Chicken got pancakes. He loved em.Everyone even got a kiss. Every
last,
one. It was a fun afternoon. Levi's even been scheming for their 2nd b-day which he keeps telling me is soon. We're working the concept of years, weeks and months. He'll get the hang of it someday.

Larry 5-0

2011-10-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we took a trip to Washington to celebrate Jason's day's 50th (wow, your getting pretty old there Larry! Haha, jokes on me, so am I. Jason found three grey hairs on me the other day. It happens to the best of us I suppose).

It was a fun trip. The boys and I got to watch Richelle frost and decorate his 'Fifty Sucks' cake. The boys loved the lollypop idea. Cake AND candy? Yes please.
Fun huh?

Well Larry is crazy with a capital 'C' and decided to make a huge meal for all his friends and family. I mean, take-a-couple-days-off-work-so-I-can-work-my-butt-off-ON-MY-BIRTHDAY-cooking-for-everyone-FROM-SCRATCH crazy. It was a great spread though. Smoked salmon, turkey, chicken, beef, baked potatoes and chile from scratch, stir fry. Yeah, he's pretty loco. But it sure was tasty, so no complains here. This is how the boys like to party if your wondering.
Game day shirts on, rolling on the floor.

Here's a hug of Levi and grandpa 'Narry'. It's the best I got, my camera was being weird.
Apparently Larry was a root beer chugging champion back in the day so Richelle thought he needed to see if he was still #1.

Note, the guy next to him won, though was was at a slight disadvantage if you notice the size of everyone's bottles.
Max following suit. It's in his blood you know.

Guess who was the first one in line to the cake/sucker table??? He hovered around it during most of the party, biding his time. I guess it paid off because he was the first one to get a slice of cake.
Later that night the boys gave Larry his presents and cards. We tried to have the boys pick out cards in the 'grandparents birthday section' but that's pretty limited and they were of course drawn to others, so we let them choose whatever. Levi picked a transformer one that was made for someones's 7th birthday but we just changed the # and Max picked out something with a tractor I believe.
We had been asking them, especially Levi, for weeks what should we get grandpa. His reply was always "tractor tools and tractor parts". Since we don't have a lot of tractor parts or tractor tools stores around here we ended up getting screwdrivers. Levi got him a set of mini ones and Max got the larger ones. Levi was very excited about the whole thing.
Oh, and when I asked him how we should wrap it Levi insisted on wrapping them in foil. It was actually a great idea because they were able to do most of the wrapping themselves and we didn't have to use tape. I think he got the idea from Sesame Street......
Happy Birthday Larry!

Levi

2011-10-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

I can't get over how much I love this boy.
Oh, here's the cute thing he said the other day (he says about 10 things a day that make me smile) but we had just gotten and watched the Living Scriptures DVD of Nephi and the Brass plates. Later he comes up to me and says "When I get to heaven and see Nephi I'm going to tell him, his is the best story EVER!"

FINE!!!!

2011-10-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

This was from last week. I don't remember what I was doing but I was probably trying to get something done and it just wasn't working out. The boys were yelling at each other every two seconds, they were destroying the house and needless to say I was very frustrated. Wierdly my reply to it all was "FINE! Let's make some cookies!" I knew that would keep them from killing each other and would contain the mess to the kitchen.
And it did. We had a blast.

Some people have asked my favorite sugar cookie recipe I use so I'll share. I stalk this blog and got her recipe and use it. It is ah-mazing, I promise you'll love it. You know what makes the difference? Almond extract, I love it.

Party On

2011-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

Levi is planning a party for his stuffed animals. He walked in and told me that today was their birthday and George (his curious George stuffed monkey) wanted a dinosaur party and Chickee (stuffed chicken) wanted a dragon one.

Animals are all set up on his bed and he is preparing some food from our play kitchen and has brought in their party game, the fishing one where you have poles and catch the fish. Now he's working on a card for them.

Max is kind of running around with food his his basket yelling party, party, party!

I'm surprised they haven't asked for balloons yet. It's only a matter of minutes. Better go find some. It's party time!

Tragic

2011-10-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I can't help smiling at this crying face, it's just too adorable not too. Ok ask me if I still think it's cute 1/2 hour into screeching and I'll be singing a different tune. I guess things are a bit more pleasant when your not in the thick of it.

Safety First

2011-10-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Even for monkeys.

Simple Joy

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Can I just say I love watching my boys play?

Hero Vision

2011-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Levi: Mom can we watch Spiderman? (it's the vintage 67' collection, super cheezy and the only superhero thing somewhat age appropriate)
Me: Sure.
Levi: I LOVE Spiderman. He's so strong, just like dad!

I love this age so much, where to them dads are superheros, mom's their best friend, and grandparents are the coolest people ever.

FYE

2011-10-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Typical of most kids (I think) the boys take FOREVER to finish a meal. Levi is pretty good about eating most of what we serve with a bit of prompting on a couple of things but he eats it. Little bite by little bite. Max just doesn't want to eat anything we serve him. Unless it's anything breakfast, hot dogs, rolls, fruit, and some times broccoli. He'll usually eat whatever grandma serves up downstairs, even it's the same thing. It's a phase, this is just a phase. Right?

So lets just say dinners are slow going. Jason and I usually finish up before they've finished 3-4 bites and then we try to not pass out sleeping watching them eat. Many times they end up getting a little silly toward the end, especially Max who opts to eat very little but we stay to be with Levi while he finishes.

What a crazy kid.
"Doing karate."
I couldn't help but put this one in, he looks so happy!!!!

Bored to Death

2011-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone is excited about the fall and I kind of am, but at the same time I really miss my nice/semi-nice-and-not-so-rainy summerish weather and being to play outside. I think the boys miss going to the back yard too. Now we're stuck inside (or going to an indoor play place), which is fine, I guess part of what you sign up for when you live in Oregon.

But all that indoor time means we can do more of what my boys love most, crafts!!!
These are definitely my boys.

Spookyness

2011-10-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

I know that some people might have visions of me crafting all day laboring on holiday decorations and such, and while I would love to do it, I know that for practicality's sake, priorities and my own sanity, it's just not going to happen. In reality I only do one or two holiday crafts and accumulate a little at a time. This year I only have a couple for Halloween. I did a wreath (I have been working on my interchangeable one and finally just got around to switching out the summer one)
Then I found this idea online, magnetic spiders. SOOOOOOO awesome.
The boys love to play with them, though it took a little bit to convince Max they weren't real.
We put them outside and inside just so we didn't have to stand in the rain while the boys played.
Oh, and I HAD to take a picture of this guy. I had him last year and Max was pretty much oblivious to everything, he was only one after all. This time when the gigantic spider was put up by the stairs he completely freaked out and refused to come down at all. For the first couple of times I had to carry him past to safety until Levi and I had convinced him it was just a toy. SOOOOO funny. I know, I'm horrible but I've got to get my kicks where I can.

FHE

2011-10-06T23:55:00.002-07:00

Family Home Evening has always been something I wanted to make sure I did with my kids. We didn't do it much in my family, for a bit when we were little but after my parents got divorced it didn't really happen due to the insanity that comes with a divorce, my mom going to school full time and working full time. But has always been my goal to be consistent about Family Home Evenings.

We've been doing a FHE group this year which has helped tremendously. It's crazy getting things ready but when it comes to getting an activity/lesson/song ready the day of all I have to do is pull it out. There's always something fun, I even use them for other random times throughout the day.

It used to be that Jason and I did the lesson or activity but a couple of months ago Levi started getting in on the action and now we rotate lesson, activity and treat between the three of us with Max as the designated 'helper'. Levi loves it and looks forward to it every week. He loves picking what to do and being able to participate.

This week Jason had the lesson and did a felt story of the first vision. I'm always suprised how much Levi remembers, I don't think I knew that much when I was his age. Max usually just throws random parts on the felt board.
For the activity (mine) we went to the store and got Grandpa his birthday present, the boys were very excited about it. And Levi got to pick the treat. His choice, the ice cream shop of course. It's a great gelato shop close to us. Smart pick buddy. I'm sure am loving our Monday nights.

Strike!

2011-10-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

Last week the boys were invited to a friends birthday party and since they are way into bowling, it was at a bowling ally, how cool is that? The boys were thrilled. It was a family affair so Jason and I tagged along. It's been quite a while since we went but the boys caught on pretty quick.
Max, you still look adorable even in a bowling ally. He wanted all the balls and put his face next to where they are spit back out. So I found something to distract him.
Success. Dad showed Levi some techniques that didn't involve thowing the ball but more rolling it. SLOWLY. He still jumped and down nearly every time.
Mr. Max too. He used the ramp thing but didn't seem to mind and was quite thrilled with the idea of shoving it down as hard as he could and then doing a bunch of jumping/dancing moves afterwards as well.
I'm pretty sure they lost, but they had a great time and afterwards even got some amazing cupcakes. Holy cow they looked like they took forever to make. If you notice there are crowns around each one and when we first approached the table Levi's seat had a pink crown. You should have seen is face, he stayed standing back almost two feet before he even got close. I guess even a chocolate cupcake with lots of frosting wasn't tempting enough to have him get anywhere near one with a pink crown. He made me switch it to a green one immediately. Max could have cared less, frosting is frosting to him regardless of color. On THAT he is not picky. Once Levi sat down he quickly noticed a pink star wand was set in front of his table setting. Yeah, that was shoved down towards his brother as quick possible. My funny boy.

Hilarious Levi

2011-09-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

"Mom, Max took my motorcycle. You need to handle him."

His new word of the week: aggravated. "Mom I'm aggravated at Max"

"Is pooping healthy?"

After getting dressed in PJ's Levi tooted to which I told him that was gross. "But it makes bubbles in the bathtub"

Note: From reading this you can tell two things. The boys fight WAYYY too much, but from what I've heard most siblings do. Also we talk far too much about bodily functions around here.

This one's more sweet than hilarious:

Levi loves learning about the body and how it works (luckily he's never asked about where babies come from) but he had been talking about foods being healthy or not and I had told him some foods, like a lot of french fries and pizza are not good for the heart to which he said "If our heart didn't work, we couldn't love"

These are from a year ago (again cleaning some things up in the blog)

We were in the grocery store and after saying hi to the lobsters in the lobster tank he says "Goodbye lobsters, good luck!"

"Mom, I can't sleep. I'm not tired. It's tricky."

Touchdown!

2011-09-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the gym for the first time in months. To confess I haven't done much since my 10k several months ago. I did the same thing last summer, I don't feel like exercising much when it's so nice outside and I suppose I just like my lazy summers.

As we were driving I got to talking about what they were going to do there, hoping to help Max prep for it because when we were going before he would freak out when I left. I reminded Levi there is drawing and other craft stuff and a fun conversation ensued.

Me: Are you going to draw?
Levi: No I'm going to exercise. Play exercise, so I can be strong!
Me: That's great, sometimes people exercise on a treadmill, some bike, some play, and some do sports.
Levi: One day I will do sports too.
Me: You sure can. We'll have to wait until kindergarden but then you can do whatever sport you'd like. Which one do you want to do?
Levi: Football! Then when I am big, I will play BYU football!
Me: *Smiling* That would be great, you'd have to practice a lot.
Levi: I will. And then I will play BYU football and be on tv. You can watch me, then you'd turn on the tv and say (in high 'mom' voice). "What!?! That's my boy!"
Me: I sure would.

He's only watched this season but I suppose we have another cougar fan on our hands! And Levi who knows but you might just play there yet. If that's the case you can bet I'll be the craziest football mom ever. Whatever you do bud, it's gonna be great!

My Little Ones

2011-09-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

I was going through some old posts and cleaning out some of the old ones that were never posted, this one was from July, 2 years ago. We went to a concert in the park when Max was just a few months old. They are so little!!!!!!

Here's Levi and our friend Emma. I remember he refused to take off his tie that day.
Mr Max!!!!! He looks like a little old man. I love that face.

Update

2011-09-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Nothing terribly interesting going on round here, just livin life. But here are some highlights for those of you that MUST know.

Firstly Levi is LOVING preschool and so am I. He goes 3x a week for 2.5 hours in the afternoon. We go to the preschool a little before class start then him and Max can play on the play ground. This is good especially for Max so he can get the last of his wiggles out because once we drop of Levi we go home and he takes a nap and usually wakes up just before we need to do pickup. The timing is perfect and its a good guaranteed 2 hours of work time in my day. Nice.

Also despite the glorious break I get in the day I love it because Levi truly does. He loves being around all the kids, his fun teachers, and all the art/craft projects they do daily. Ask him how it's going and he'll enthusiastically, with arms in air shout "Great!!!" Ah, the preschool life.

One thing that's kind of hard to change is sleeping. Since Levi doesn't get a nap or even any quiet time he gets tired pretty early so we've moved up the bedtime because we've found that, for the most part, regardless of when they go to bed they pretty much wake up at the same time every day (lately that's been 6-6:30, 7 if I'm lucky) so to make sure he gets enough sleep we have to put him to bed early and on school days can't stay up like he used to when family comes over. It's been an adjustment for me because no more of this staying up till all hours working, it usually has to be before 12:30 or so or I'm completely dead the next day. We're all adjusting.

Also he's been extremely helpful lately. He's still a great picker-up-er and now has a new job taking out recycling. He loves it because it's a 'big boy job'.

Max. Now what's up with that little prince? He can now open doors, he couldn't before. He loves to pick out his own cloths and pretty much always wants to wear big brothers shoes. Oh, almost every time we drop Levi off for school or someone picks him up he freaks out because he think he gets to go to. In some ways that makes me a little happy just because he'd really go and be fine if I let him which I don't think he would have done a couple months ago. Also there have been a number of times lately where he'll go with Jason smiling without completely freaking out because he's not with me. All right!

Right now they're playing with legos and Levi refuses to play with the girl lego people and says he only likes boy legos. "I don't like lego girls, I only like lego boys. I hate lego girls. I don't like them because they're girly and I don't like girly". Well now.

Me? Super busy with shop stuff. I'm getting ready for the holidays and re-doing some stuff in my store and re-doing some pictures which is taking for-evha. But little by little I suppose. I've actually been cooking dinner's lately. I was getting back into the swing of things and had my dinner menu scheduled out but then it was extremely hot and because we are on the top level and have no air conditioning I refused to cook. Then I was completely dead sick for a week but now we're all better and I'm cooking more regularly which definitely helps out with the routine.

Jason has a new fish tank and has been working on setting it up and taking apart the big tank and piecing it out. Also he just started studying again for his APICS certification exam for work. I wish I was as good of a test taker as he is. I'd be stressing out about it, but it shouldn't take him too long to get.

So that's the current state of the Goodrich's, crazy as ever.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

2011-09-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Levi is a true crafter. He loves everything about making something. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because I do it a lot and try to get them involved in whatever I'm doing.

For his birthday he got an awesome kids craft book, well a couple of them actually. We are so lucky to have amazing friends who know my kids so well. Anyways we flip through them at least every other day to find different crafts to do and things to make.

Here's his first one, a paper plate spider. We made them and spent the rest of the day playing with them on and off, having them talk to each other, dance around and fly through the air.

Puppeteer

2011-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Lately Levi has slowly been weaning himself off of naps and now he really only does it once in a rare while. I got 4 years of it though, so not bad.

This day it was pretty warm and we had been doing lots of stuff so he was pooped. So pooped he fell asleep playing puppets and didn't even take them off. He sure loves them. If your ever around him you should ask him to do puppets with him, he says some pretty hilarious stuff and even has a great puppet voice.

If your wondering who these guys are let me introduce you to Fred the Frog and Charlie the Monkey. They are best friends and go on some pretty crazy adventures.

Buried Treasure

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for different 'adventures' for me and my boys to go on. Especially around our house because, let's face it, sometimes it can get pretty dull and routine.

This summer the 'Man of the House' made another, bigger sandbox that the boys have been playing in like crazy. They love it. So I decided I'd make it a little more exciting and put some 'treasure' in it for them to find. I figure they would love it because I had done something similar with buttons last year and seashells but they've since been claimed by our many little visitors.

I found half of these at a garage sale for $.50 and some more for $1 at Goodwill.
I threw scattered them in the two sandboxes,
kicked some sand around to 'bury' them,
and voila! Instant adventure. Levi then took the stash he had found, put it in his bag and re-buried it so his brother would find it. He's such a kick in the pants.

Sometimes Ya Gotta Brag

2011-09-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of those braggy, my husbands awesome sort of posts. So beware.

I am so lucky to have such a handy, creative guy. I'm pretty sure he could make anything if he set his mind to it. He sometimes gets down on himself saying he could have done it better or this and that is messed up but I think it's all amazing. He just works on such a bigger scale and with so much cooler tools than I do. Here's some of his recent stuff, okay, mostly stuff within the past year.

His big fish tank stand he made a while back. I love all the molding.
His new fish tank stand. We're switching things around and replacing our bigger tank with this smaller one. I love the wood finish. Also you can't see it but there are two hanging lights above it. They look awesome. This was my birthday present last year. A custom made, large enough to fit Costco spices, spice rack that fits right inside the pantry door. I love it and don't know what I did without it. He was working at a machine shop at the time and they let him use the machine to cut out the plastic pieces. This summer he built a retaining wall in the back yard to level things out a bit so we could move our trampoline from the only sunny spot in the yard to a slightly shadier area. Then he had the idea of making another, bigger sandbox right next to it. Genius. Whenever we have kids over they always fought over our tiny sandbox. Now there's two. All that needs to be done is putting covers on them!And what I have been DREAMING of for almost two years. Cabinets that go on either side of the fireplace to put all the toys and such, making tons of extra space. One is filled with toys for the kiddos the other is 'mine', though it's really stuff for the boys but just stuff that needs to be more supervised. Also there is a big bin for Levi's stuff, like his special books, some toys that is just for him when Max is napping.

Hilariously, I said that once the cabinets were in we weren't going to use the fireplace as toy storage.....hasn't happened. Maybe once we redo the fireplace.
I love, love, love them. He did it all by himself (though he did order the doors). Eventually there will be bookcases on top of each that will go to the ceiling with some nice molding around it and the TV will be over the fireplace, but that's for later. I am sooooo lucky to have such a clever, creative, handy guy. He just makes me smile.

Jump for Joy

2011-09-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Guess who has joined the ranks of school attendees?
Yeah!!!!!!

He was SOOO excited and has been asking for weeks if it was the day. And the big day finally came. Preschool. Early, 6:30am I was greeted not by the usual "I love you mom, ask me what I dreamed about. " but it went something more like this. "Mom, what day is today?" Me: "What do you think?" Levi: "Today I go to preschool!"

I love these pics because as I was asking him to stand still for a shot or two he slowly turned around so I would take some of his backpack.
After Max woke up I found Levi talking to his little bro. "Today I am going to go to preschool. One day when you are big you can go to preschool too. First I go to preschool and when I'm done, I go to collage!"

Later when we were having a friend dropped off to play, when his mother came in Levi started right in talking about it. "Today I'm going to preschool. Isn't that great?!?!" and as he did it he was doing some hands out motions cause he just couldn't contain himself.

This is his "mom-are-you-seriously-taking-more-pictures-of-me?" look.
His "preschool-is-probably-greater-than-the-North-Pole,-Disney-Land,-and-all-the-grandparents-houses-combined" look.
Pure bliss. The day has arrived.
And lastly his, "I'm-so-excited-I-can't-stop-wiggling-and-we'd-better-get-out-of-here-soon-or-I-might-explode" face.
Your such a big boy sir Levi.

P.S. The day went great, he loved it and is definitely going back tomorrow. By 5:30 or so he had passed out in his room and it was a very early bedtime for us all. It'll take some work adjusting to the new schedule but totally worth it!

Tastebuds

2011-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

My boys are such posers. I think it's probably because they've had a camera in their face since they were born and probably figure everybody has someone taking pictures of them through out the day. One day they will know know just how weird I am. I'm guessing it will be around 13 or so....

Here I had my camera out and Levi wanted to show me his taste buds. We just got a book all about the body and how it works from the library. It amazes me how much he remembers. Later that day, only after seeing it once, he could tell me where all the different 'tastes' are on the tongue. I couldn't even remember.
Max, true to form, had to show me his tongue too.
And his nose. Those red fingers, if your wondering, are from our strawberries. They have been growing like crazy. So a lot of times we'll go out to water them and have them for our morning snack.

A New Friend

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

When I was doing some vinyl cutting on my Silhouette machine I knew I would have a little bit of extra space. Not wanting to waste it I came up with this little guy:
While my boys were sleeping I snuck in and put him on in their room on the wall right next to the door. They noticed him right away and named him "Fred".

Lessons on Looking Tough

2011-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

For part of Levi's b-day one of the things we did together was make superhero crayons. We found old broken crayons, took off the wrappers, broke and sorted them.
They showed me their manily muscles.
Max learned a thing or two from his bro. The key? It's 20% muscle, 80% awesome tough guy face.

My Little Squirt

2011-09-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Max has finally figured out the art of using our squirt 'guns'.
He was thrilled and couldn't help giggling everytime he shot it by himself.

Rollin'

2011-09-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!!!!

Daddys shoes

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure I took 30 pictures similar to this and this was the only one where I got them both semi smiling and looking at me at the same time. They are so handsome. Why I love this pic:
Max's hand in his pocket
Both boys pulling up there shirts (we show belly buttons round here, just in case they disappear)
Levi's eyes half open, this is a look I have in many shots
Max's silly growly face
Wearing dad's shoes, some which don't match
Grocery bag on the floor, a normal occurrence
Peach crisp made with the boys

Oaks park

2011-09-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

What's a summer without going to Oaks Park? I must admit this year was a lot funner than last because Max actually got into it and was semi patient.

Plans had been made, things got crazy and we ended up going with Scarlett and her new boyfriend, though they haven't officially termed it as such, but they are exclusive, so they basically they are. It was nice having two extra sets of hands to help with the boys, especially since Max couldn't go on many rides and there were a number of them that Levi needed a person with him, so me or Aunt Rose got to be with him.
Max was so cute. There was an airplane ride next to a motorcycle ride. They were the favs. He stayed on each for several go arounds, the people there were so nice and just let him stay if he wanted. He went back and forth between them a number of times. I think he would have been happy doing that all afternoon.
So happy!
Max and I watched on while they went on the Ferris wheel. I would have loved to go on it with him but by then Max-o was exhausted, it was 3 hours past his nap time and I wasn't going to put anyone though his crankiness.
We barely got out of the parking lot before they passed out. It was a good day.

Well Groomed

2011-09-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Pretty much anytime Uncle Jared is over Max insists on brushing his hair. He does a nice job, though it usually ends up with his hair swept over his face, Justin Bieber style.
Got to get those sideburns.

Berry Day!

2011-09-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Your always in for lots of excitement when the Whites are in town. The boys, as usual, were in heaven with all their cousins and crazy uncle who is basically like a kids anyways.

We did what we normally do when they're here, play a lot and since I'm usually running around with boys running circles around me it's hard to take pics, but I did get some.

Because we didn't get to celebrate Eli's or Jared's birthday's we (ok, mostly I) decided to do a birthday dinner. Dinner was Elijah's pic, grilled cheese and for dessert we had fresh berries we picked earlier that day, pound cake and whipped cream. Elijah was excited.
Ok, really excited, memorized in fact.
Max might have had a bowl or two. And Henry, well you couldn't keep him away. Levi just kept sneaking into the berries.
Did you know there are such things as black raspberries? They are called black caps. Max kept sticking his fingers in them, olive style.
Will-O might have even had a lick or two.
Jared got a huge Costo bag of peanuts from my mom. Mom gives interesting gifts sometimes. Good but totally unexpected. Jared loved them, he could never turn down a ridiculously large amount of peanuts.

Pure awesomeness, and a picture of me.
Nese got all the boys a bunch of puppets. They freaked out about it and we played with the for a good while. Levi has the BEST puppet voice ever, and now so does Max though it's pretty squeeky.
Elijah found Aunt Roses shoes and couldn't help trying them on. Who could resist those bad boys? Max, not to be out done, had to strut his stuff too.
Nese was kind enough to give massages to the boys. Henry was first.
And Max, of course, had to immediately after. Notice a pattern????It's a good life.

Blah, Blah, Blah

2011-09-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

Some times I just feel like typing, like my fingers are itching to type. I've always loved to ever since my grandpa got us started practicing on his computer all during the summer when we were kids, it was our 'home work' along with a math computer game. Grand fun. But we loved it and now we are all pretty good typers and it's always been a blessing to me, especially whenever it came to finding a job.

These past few weeks have been weird. I don't know why but I feel a little overwhelmed, even though I'm doing what I usually do. The only difference, I think, is the boy's sleeping habits, which affect me greatly. Lately both Max and Levi have both been getting up at the crack of dawn, which is really 6:30/7 or so, and for me, miss "she-who-stays-up-till-2-or-3-in-the-morning-most-nights-and-hasn't-gone-be-bed-before-midnight-in-probably-years" it has been a stinky adjustment.

I suppose it had to happen at some point. That means we've had to make Max's naps earlier and even started doing a much earlier bedtime most nights. Levi hasn't been taking his naps but is pretty good about having a quiet time though. Right now he is 'reading' a stack of new books we got at the library on my bed and Max actually went down without much of a fight.

Also we took away Max's pacifier for good. I kind of hate it. If it were up to me we'd probably have it for a lot longer. He was only using it during his nap time, nothing else. It made everything so much easier, just give him it, his blanket, tell him to go to bed and he'd run off to sleep. Now it's kicking and screaming, many times ending up with him crashing next to the door and only sleeping for a short amount of time, giving me like zero time to get my work done. I hope he does better in the next couple weeks.

Parenthood sure changes you. Goodness sakes you learn a lot. Speaking of not knowing a ton about kids, my sister is dating a guy I LOVE. I like him better than all her other past guys times 1000. The hilarious thing is he seriously knows nothing about kids. We went out once and I kept mentioning needing to get Max down for a nap and he asked, seriously, "what's up with kids and naps, how much sleep to they actually need?"After a great big chuckle, I briefly informed him about the direct correlation between children's grumpiness and their sleep Then when we were with my brother and his new baby he looked at him and asked "is he ok??" pointing to the baby's shirt half wet with drool. SOOOO funny. Anyways, we all like him and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Today we went to the library and picked out some new books. The first five minutes were great, Levi brought tons of new ones to look at with me while Max brought over all the chairs for us. Then he saw another kid his age with a book and decided he HAD to have that one. I made him give it back then he flipped, all the way out. As I had a bag full of books in one hand screaming child in the other, the lady I opened the door for gave me a kind smile and said "It's ok, I have one of those too". Dang. I'm that mom. Oh well. Least we got some books, but that is why I refuse to go grocery shopping with kids. No way, no how. At least not right now with both. Mama's only got so much patience.

Levi news......he's so excited about going to pre-school in a couple weeks and asks if we're going pretty much every day. He's been crafting a lot lately and I finally cleaned of their art table in my office so they have a spot. We've made a spider, painted a lot, made a train from a kit his grandma gave him, made me a necklace and bracelet combo. Max is pretty into it too. Also he's been playing with a ZuZu (???) pet he got for his b-day. It's decorated with silly bands and stickers. His name is 'hampy' the hamster. I love it when Levi does his puppet/animal voice. So cute. And he's been asking about doing a sport. When I ask he says he wants to do them all. I don't know if we're ready for it, we'll see how things are when school starts.

That's it....for now. I have a ton of pics and other stuff but I just felt like writing.

Thirsty

2011-08-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Lately it seems that Levi has been SO thirsty for knowledge. He loves books and so we've been going to the library a lot, despite the fact that I am always a criminal there with all my fines. I just like to think of it as making a charitable contribution which allows me keep the books longer than permitted, or until I can find them.

He has his quiet time everyday where he goes off and 'reads' a pile of books. It's amazing because even if we've read it only once he knows most of the story and can recite it pretty well. He loves all kinds of books, animal books, bug books, train books, Bernstein Bears, Richard Scarry ones, The Magic School Bus, and anything educational. Like today we spent a good half hour looking over a kids atlas talking all about the north pole/artic regions, and the northeastern part of the US. He loves ones about bugs, body parts, about the earth.....He's such a good student right now. We're even working on having him write his name and he can actually do it! It's kind of crazy looking but it's there. So if your wondering where your b-day thank you card is we're working on them cause he's writing his name on every one!

A Quick Visit

2011-08-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

While we were at Jason's high school reunion his mom happened to be having hers at the same time, they both graduated from the same high school, how cool is that?

After we finished our reunion we hung out with grandma all the next morning before we had to head off.
Bet no one can guess where we're at. A park? Nope. Right outside IHOP. Yes, we are those people. At least it kept them pretty busy and kind of out of trouble.
Grandma Tami helping Levi figure out what's for breakfast. Spoon.
After a breakfast fit for the Goodrich men (and women) we headed off to a park to let the boys play in the water and get some wiggles out before the long ride home.

They loved it. But by the end I think Levi D. was tired, probably from staying up way too late the night before in the hotel jumping around on the beds the whole night and the night before that hanging out with Grandpa Larry and Grandma Richelle riding around on their tractor late into the night. It was a fun, busy weekend full of some of our favorite people.
I wonder if these boys know how lucky they are. Who has 4 grandmas and 3 grandpas?!?!? Talk about spoiled.

First Date

2011-08-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm like 2-3 weeks behind on everything I thought I'd post this. I just got back from the best date night with my little man.

Tonight a family friend of ours, Jena, got married over at the Crown Ballroom. I knew it was going to be longer and semi formal so I ended up taking Levi and making a date of it. We had so much fun just walking around down town looking at the shops on the way there, talking about how big a city is and how different it is from where we live.

While we were waiting for guests to come (we actually got there early, a shocker, I know) we discussed what a wedding is and what happens. He's been talking a lot lately about 'when I'm married' or 'when I'm a dad'. I personally think he would be the best dad/husband ever, but I suppose I'm a bit biased. It was just so sweet to hear him talk about when he will get married.

During the ceremony he was pretty good, about the same as in church, kind of squirmy and draped all over me but quiet and every once and a while would whisper "I love you mom" in my ear or give me a kiss. Gosh. What a sweet date.

After it was finished he waited patiently, well, explored patiently, while dinner was being set up. Luckily he found some of his buddies and they ran around a bit and tried to see if they could get away with playing some of the rocks they had without anyone noticing. Boys. And for dinner, he actually at some meat and green beans without any face or protest. That's my man!

While I ate and chatted him and the boys hit the dance floor to show some moves. And after a spectacular performance from the bridal party and the daddy daughter dance, he whispers in my ear that he wanted me to come dance. And dance we did. By then we had a couple buddies KJ and Cameron with us cause I was trying to keep and eye on while their parents were doing other, family of the bride type things. We had a blast busting moves to strobe lights and fun music.

After a cupcake and a little more dancing, including a slow one where I got to hold and rock him, we decided to split and figure out where we parked the car.

It was a fun night and I would go on a date with him anytime. I'm so lucky to have my wonderful little man! I can't believe he's mine.

Fun in the Sun

2011-08-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

I love my boys. As cheesy as that sounds I have to say they are my most precious gifts. I marvel at them daily and how Heavenly Father has entrusted me with their health, safety, education and spiritual well being. It's a big responsibility.

Anyways. I just thought I'd say all that before I mention some of my not favorite parts of it all. It is something I have to tell myself often multiple times a day, especially when they are fighting or throwing temper tantrums. Ahem. Max. Caugh, cough. I love him dearly, he's such a good snuggler, gives the best hugs and kisses, but right now a horrible sharer. His favorite word? MINE. I'm pretty sure it's said at least 100 times a day. No joke. Totally a two year old to the core.

But while their is fighting going on far more often than I'd like to admit, I've found that when there is water, there is actually very little fighting. I love it, water is amazing. So because the weather has been so great lately and to curb all the fighting, we have spent a lot of time outside running through the sprinkler, playing in the pool and 'watering' the strawberries.

This particular time Levi, for some odd reason, thought it was hilarious when he would suck in his belly then stick it out. I had my camera and he insisted on documenting it. I love that my boys love having their pictures taken or at least don't mind it for the most part.
Best pic I got, Max is eating an orange. I love this picture for SO many reasons. Max, you are one of the coolest kids I know.
Treat time.

Conell Reunion

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went up to Jason's 10 year high school reunion. It was fun, for me mostly because one of Jason's best buds from high school was there with his wife and son. We hung out with them a lot in Utah when we first got married. I sure miss those game nights with them.

Here's their son, Jaxon, what beautiful eyes he has.
Dad likes to throw him around too.
The boys instantly saw some other kids next to us who had brought toys and thought they'd go over a drool a little hoping someone would have pity on them because they had to endure parents who neglect to bring toys at such an occasion.

They ran around for a good while, chased kids, climbed hills and paused every 15 minutes or so when a train would roll by the park right next to us, lucky boys. But towards the end Levi got a little tired and decided he needed to 'rest a little bit'.
But he was up in no time ready to play on one of the trains nearby.

Later after the official reunion picnic we hung out a little and went to dinner with our friends.
The boys decided to try out their photography skills. Not to shabby. I'm in love with Max's face lately. Not that I didn't love it before it's just seems like it's been extra cute lately. This is what I get when I ask him to make a face. So cute I can't handle it.
After dinner we got a hotel room and me and the boys hung out watching old cartoons, reading every book we had brought with us, singing songs and telling stories in the dark while Jason went off to the 'adults only' get together. Why do reunions always have events in bars? We didn't get to sleep until late and Jason said he had fun hanging out with old friends without having to worry about the boys. It was a fun, short weekend trip. See you next time Connell! Next time we come we're totally trying out the new waterslide.

Game On

2011-08-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone who has had a conversation with me regarding video games knows I pretty much hate them. I have been known to play a game or two but over all I consider them a complete waste of time and was glad Jason has never been too into them. Every rare once and a while he'll get into a computer game for a couple weeks but then quit. Long ago we decided, at least for now, no video game systems for the boys or us. We almost broke down and bought a Wii but decided against it. Who knows, one day we will but for now we're good without it.

But the boys have found that Uncle Isaac, Aunt Rose, and Uncle Jared all have some pretty fun games on their phones. So they'll usually hop up on their lap and with their sweetest smile and cutest voice ask if they can 'please play just one game?' It's fun to watch them 'play' and bond with their aunts and uncles, and hey, if I had something other than a brick for a phone and some little nieces and nephews around I'd be doing it too. One day.

Fair time!

2011-08-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

We love the fair, just can't pass it up. The boys first saw the tractors and had to hop on. Good thing they allow it because their was no stopping them.
This year we ended up spending most of our time in a younger kid area, I don't know if they had it last year, but I'm sure glad they did! They had tons of activities perfect for little ones and they were FREE!!! Holy cow fairs can get expensive.
Levi tried to figure out the hula hoops, but they were kind of tricky.

So they just decided to throw them.
I wish we had a tunnel like this at our house.......Jason.......?
As I was looking over this picture all I could think was how absolutely gorgeous my little boy is (and his bro). Even with mustard and ketchup on his face.
We ran into our friends and the boys were in heaven.
We made our way over to where they had a tent with a couple of spring horses set up. Once Max found them there was no getting him off. I did make him get off once to share, he didn't like that one bit. Check out the intensity.

And we couldn't very well leave without having an ice cream from the dairy barn, best ever. All the boys got cones and I got a shake. Max took two licks and decided he'd test out my generosity. I relented, but really, in that trade off it's a win win.

Outdoor Life

2011-08-12T01:05:00.001-07:00

Recently we went to hang out with the family at Lake Merwin, it was a quick day trip and we had fun mostly just relaxing.

Jason showed us the awesome tree house he found last time. We all went up and Levi was obsessed with the pulley bucket. He has been insisting that he needs one for his tree house/club house. I think that's an awesome idea bud!
Max was VERY nervous about being up so high. He mostly just sat next to me and didn't move much.Except to pick his nose.
and stick his fingers in his ears. The Goodrich life. Totally uncut.
While dinner was being made some bites were taken out of a bowl of nectarines. When I saw this I first laughed, then wanted to go get Max to tell him he shouldn't do such things. Why I thought him? He's very into eating one bite and then wanting another. I think he just likes first bites. After a little investigating and inquiring, turns out it was Levi, though I don't know why cause he totally knows better. What silly men I have.
I made cupcakes. Several weeks before I got some awesome, huge decorating tips which I had resisted trying, wanting to bake only if there was a reason and this was as good as any. So easy and so pretty!!!
All the kiddos. They were in heaven. I'm glad we have some younger family living close to us.

A Little Help

2011-08-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Levi: Hey mom, look at my new trick!
He jumps with some sort of twist onto the lovesac.
Me: That's a pretty nice trick there.
Levi: Yeah, my other brother and other dad helped me with it.
Me: Huh?
Levi: Heavenly Father and Jesus helped and told me how to do it. They know some pretty good tricks!

Hmmmmm

2011-08-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Just one of the few fun surprises I have come to expect since becoming a mother to toddlers.

Parkside

2011-08-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

We never say no to a trip to the park.
Yeah, I got this. He was really nervous about this at first, but he finally did it by himself (kind of)

Interview With a Three Year Old

2011-08-01T01:21:00.000-07:00

What is your name?
Levi

How old are you?
Three

When is your birthday?
On August

What are Daddies for?
They're for fixing stuff, they're for helping kids and helping you write

What are Mommies for?
They're for time outs. They're good at giving children's time outs

What do Mommies do?
Helps kids draw

What is your favorite food?
Ummmmm, let me think about it (taps his finger to chin ) Sandwiches! and Mac N' Cheese

What is your favorite TV show?
Let me think. Superhero squad (yeah, he's NEVER seen that show. We have go fish cards with them on and that's the only contact he's ever had with it) It has lots of superheros, and I like superheros.

What is your favorite treat?
I'll give you a clue, it starts with M. Marshmellows!!!

What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?
Mac N' Cheese but sometimes we run out, but it's ok tomorrow we'll go shopping for some Mac N' Cheese (that is what happened at lunch today)

How do you show Max you love him?
Drawing with him and take turns with him playing with Shrek and Pinocchio

Where go you want to go on an adventure?
To the jungle with a snake. The snakes that under rocks they're pretty nice. The ones that live under ground are mean. Jungle snakes are selfish.

What is your favorite color?
Green. Green. Green. And red, yellow, green, white and blue and red and orange and red and pink and red and black and what else? Green.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A police man. And I'll have a police car and my husband will be the police girl. Police girls stay at the police station. And we'll have police kid.

What is your favorite story to read?
The Lion King. Yeah, because he's a lion and lions are my favorite animal, not penguins anymore. I changed my mind. ***Roar roar roar***

What is your favorite toy?
Buzz Lightyear. Because he's a space ranger, and Woody thinks he's not. He can't fly, he falls with style.

What is a cool trick you can do?
gets up and hops like a frog "That one"

What is your favorite game to play?
Candyland. That's my favorite one, and star wars (which he's also never seen, some other kids he knows are really into it), cause I'm good at shooting. And pretending I'm a knight ***ching, ching ching***. The good guys have the green light saber.

"Ask me what's my favorite animal!"
A tiger. Tigress is a tiger. Tigers are scary and they hunt.

This kid seriously cracks me up.

Artist

2011-07-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

While I was working Max decided to access his inner artist. Pen in hand, old phone bills to draw on, he plopped himself down under dads desk and got to work.
There's nothing I love more than baby legs.
He might have missed his paper a bit (note the marks on the arm).

Yard Crashers

2011-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

For this years outdoor summer project we, (ok, by we I mostly mean me) decided to do the back corner of the yard so that we could put the trampoline there making it easier to see the boys while they play and also to use the side yard for more plants because it's the sunniest area we have back there. All this meant building two retaining walls because it was a pretty steep hill.

I wish I took some before pictures to see the differences, but trust me, it's a big change. Pretty much all of the area he filled in was not usable, empty with just a couple bushes. It's all been a really big job and I don't think I could count the number of man hours Jason has put into it all. He really is the most amazing, cleverest, handiest, hardest worker I've ever met. I probably would have given up after a couple hours. I would have liked to help him more but I mostly tried to keep the boys out of his hair the best I could.
But the boys have liked to go back and 'help' when they can, mostly just because then they can use their shovels and other tools. Max is usually the more enthused of the two, he's always loved to follow daddy around the yard doing whatever he does. If he hears the lawn being mowed you better bet he'll have his boots on and be out there as fast as those cute little legs can carry him.

What a hard worker I have. If there were some sort of natural disaster I am pretty sure the only reason we would survive, and that's including the rest of my family, is because of Jason.
Collaborating.
Max's idea of shoveling mostly involves him flinging rocks and dirt around.

Levi isn't quite as into it but is pretty good about thanking dad for his hard work.

After several sessions of working in the yard and trying to steal dad's gloves whenever they were off, Jason found some just for Max. He loves them and has been pretty obsessed with gloves ever since.
More yard details later. The trampoline is now moved and Jason decided to put a new, bigger sandbox next to it. It is the perfect place.

The Taste of Summer

2011-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Homemade jam is now a household staple. I made a pretty big batch last year and a month or so before my strawberries arrived for the 2011-2012 season we ran out and actually had to buy some. Let me tell you, after you've had homemade for so long anything but is absolutely disgusting. I didn't like the store bought stuff one bit and refused to eat it until we got our strawberries.

This pic is from our little 'garden' in the front yard. I've tried growing stuff in the back but with three huge trees and a sound barrier wall (we're right next to the freeway, well, it's one road away, but I've always liked it, sounds kind of like the ocean) it makes for a pretty shady yard. So we've decided to do strawberries and blueberries in the front because there is just a lot more sun. This year is our second year with them and they have taken off! They are producing a handful or so a day. Probably never enough to can or do much with, but we love to go out there to pick and eat them every day.
We finally got our two 30lb buckets of already picked, cut and washed berries from a group purchase we do through church and we were ready to go. Two of my amazing friends even came over to help. So with 6 crazy kids running around pulling out pretty much every toy we own, being distracted with Micky Mouse Clubhouse and generally wreaking havoc on my house, which actually a pretty normal occurrence around here, we were able to get about 45 pounds of strawberries made into jam. I don't even know how many jars that made, but it was a lot. We finished it off with some homemade bread. Perfect.
Kid tested, mother approved. My how to.

Those who really know me, know I don't like to follow directions. I'm more the "let-me-take-a-quick-look-and-I-can-figure-it-out-on-my-own" type of gal. When we got the instructions for the jam I was totally overwhelmed so we broke things down and actually wrote everything on paper plates which we stuck to the cupboard while we worked. It worked great and I thought I'd write it down for later use or for anyone who wants to know. And FYI I did a few batches of raspberry jam later using the same 'recipe' and it was amazing.

All this is made with reduced sugar because my kids don't need more of it, trust me, and I think it's just TOO sweet with all the sugar they require. Also I personally would rather taste more berry than sugar.

Recipe
5 cups berries
1-3 cups sugar (for strawberries I did 2, raspberries 1 1/2)
1 packet of pectin

Directions
Put fruit in pan
Stir in pectin
Sit for 10 minutes
Bring to boil
Add sugar while boiling
Boil for 1 minute, stir consistently
Remove and skim foam (we didn't have any....)
Ladle into hot jars, leave 1/4" room
Put on lid and put into canner

Flashback and Feeling Old

2011-07-27T08:28:00.001-07:00

When I think back to high school it feels like I was JUST there maybe only a few years ago. Then I get to thinking and realize it's been a bit longer than that. Collage, a mission, marriage, two kids. Yeah. It's been a while. Plus I have a couple grey hairs to prove it.

Some people I know hated high school but personally I loved it. I had great friends, enjoyed learning and had fun with outside activities. I always think back to it with fond memories. Now I was never super popular, but I knew most people and got along with everyone in all the different 'groups'. So when talks of my 10 year high school came up I was pretty stoked to see some people I hadn't since then, though I was a little bit nervous because I wasn't sure who would show up and if I'd be sitting alone. I made a pact with Miss Becca M. that we would go together so at the very least we would have each other to talk to and I can never get enough of her, so win win.

It was held down a bar and grill in downtown Portland, which was interesting considering I've been in very few bars in my life. But we had a nice reserved area with lots of room to mingle.

A quick group shot. Me, Eric Fisher, Britta Sorensen, Brandon Ellison, and Roby (I don't think I ever knew his last name, he was like Prince and only needed one name I suppose)
This is Britta. She is amazing. When I was in high school, especially during my freshman and sophmore year, I was super shy and looking back now I realize I had really low self esteem. Britta, as well as some others, was one of the people who changed all that. She always made me feel like I was the most amazing, coolest people in the world. Other people had told me things like that but it was usually people from church or my relatives. I just always felt better around her. She is smart, hilarious, and extremely genuine. Everyone needs a Britta in their life. I wish we lived closer but I'm glad she I could see her while she was in town.

As we were saying our good byes, not knowing if we wouldn't see each other for another 10 years, I gave her a big hug and even got a little teary as I thanked her for her friend ship that had meant so much to me at a time in my life when I needed it.

And one of my favorite people ever. Becca. I'm so glad she lives around here and that she's married and has kids now , because lets face it, after you have kids, that's about all you talk about. At least I do. I am so excited for our kids to get old and play together, and if I can arrange it, getting our kids married (though, one of us would need to have a girl for that) It would be a dream come true if I were related to her. And I can guarantee she would be the best mother in law ever.

She is one of the nicest, friendliest, most genuine people I know. Also pretty dang crafty to boot. I miss our sewing party sleepovers. I know. Who has sewing parties in high school? We did, which paid off for her cause she's now a designer at Columbia Sport. Lucky girl.

Over all it was a fun night, though I wish some of my seminary/Mormon friends would have made an appearance. I know a bunch of them live around here, I just don't get to see them a lot. Kevin Vial and I were the only ones to show up. He said that he had talked to a couple of people who refused to come cause they 'got old and fat' to which he replied we all did, then gave me the best compliment ever when he said "Except for you, you look a lot skinnier". THANK YOU KEVIN!!! I am probably going to live off that compliment for a couple years at least. Hopefully the at the next 10 year reunion I'll see even more people and maybe even be a little smaller.

Changes

2011-07-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

This week was the first week as the Westview Ward. The sacrament went a bit longer than usual because of so many new people getting called, including myself. I bet it's a lot of work calling a whole new ward. I am now the 2nd counselor in the primary and am with some amazing ladies, all of which came from Bethany, so I know them, bonus! I'm going to miss doing music, which I loved, but it will be a good change and I still get to be with the kiddos. Also I'm a little relieved in some ways because pretty much every Saturday night was spent frantically working on the next day's music, which was usually a bit elaborate. Now it seems more administrative, organizational stuff during the week, and I actually have to go to meetings, but they should be fun with all the hilarious sisters I'm with.

Also primary should be interesting because for one it is a LOT smaller. Instead of having 140+ kids we have only 85 or so, a majority of them boys. In the older kids classes girls heavily outnumber boys and in the younger classes (Jr's) boys rule, some classes having only 1 or 2 girls and one without any.

This week everyone met together and it was a blast, the music person they have is AMAZING and is the wife to my choir instructor at BYU, small world. The bishop made an appearance and everyone pretty much attacked him with hugs. It was so cute. And the most hilarious thing is the primary president's son, who will be in sunbeams with Levi, must have had a cup full of sugar before he came because he was insane, running around his mom who was talking, pulling on her dress. The other counselor tried grabbing him and he kept hiding behind the podium, in the corners and anywhere. She doesn't really know him and neither do I but I picked him up and tried sitting with him in the back which didn't work but luckily one of the other ladies who knows him better got him, was actually able to hold him and took him to dad. It was a nice mix between frustrating and hilarious.

Tomorrow we are meeting and trying to figure out teachers. We'll see how it goes!

On another note Jason is still the assistant ward mission leader and my mom is having her records transferred so he can actually have a calling in our ward.

Independence Day

2011-07-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July this year and I am so glad both boys were old enough to really have fun with it. This time last year Max was barely walking so it was cut short and he was a little grumpy for most of it.

First we started off going to a pancake breakfast our ward puts on for the community which was followed by a kids parade and fun activities.

We had to hit up the park because slides are way too fun to pass up.
For the parade Levi and I decorated our wagon the day before with banners, and tons of flags. It was pretty easy to do and I think it turned out great. I also made up some captain america shirts for both boys, party for the 4th, partly because they're into superheros. Win win.

They both did great walking the parade route, Levi mostly walked with me while he followed some of the kids throwing candy out to the crowds.
After bouncing in bouncy houses, going on slides, throwing balls at the dunk tanks we took a hot dog break while Max showed off his balloon sword and ray gun.
He took no prisoners. And even called in for backup. Eventually a truce was made.
Mostly so Levi could vacuum up his hot dog.
After that we all went home for a much needed nap. It was heavenly. I personally think everyone should have a nap everyday.

Jason fired up the grill for burgers and other tasty food. While we waited for it to get dark, we pulled out the water balloons which took forever to fill but was TOTALLY worth it when I heard the giggles whenever one exploded on the ground. They loved it.
To start the night we pulled out the pop-its, which we had been playing around with pretty much the entire week before. They LOVED them, though it took some practice to get them to throw hard enough to pop.
Max had the most hilarious method to pop them. Basically it involved him doing a sort of yoga warrior pose, making a tough guy face and throwing it with all his might. It was so fun to watch. We first lit off some of the really fun fireworks, for Levi it was one shaped like a motorcycle, Max it was a race car and I had some sort of dragon. This one they were WAY too close and it did what we weren't expecting by popping like crazy. We just thought it would zoom off. Terrified Levi who ran and pretty much stayed at a good distance from them for the rest of the night.
After that we moved on to sparklers. Levi was extremely skeptical (don't worry, we got some shoes on him) and was pretty much nervous the entire time. He only did one and refused to do any more after that.

Max on the other hand had zero fear and wanted to hold the sparkler up close to the top. Try as we might to get him to hold it at the bottom, he wouldn't budge. So we put away all the sparklers and just had him wave his flag around which he basically did the rest of the night. Finally it was dark enough to do our 'big fireworks' and we spread some blankets out while Levi directed dad which ones to do when. Not long after our neighbors came out and joined us and holy cow did they put on a show! I'm pretty sure none of those were legal, but they sure were cool!

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

2011-07-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today our ward got split up. It's all happened so fast, I can't believe it! They announced last week it would happen, today we had the meeting telling the specifics, and next week we are in a new ward, new building, new time.

I kind of like it quick, I'm not so good with good byes. I remember when Farmington got split up when I was a youngin' and it seemed like it took forever to happen from when they announced it to when it happened and that EVERY meeting, get-together and activity was full of speculations, roumors, and sad good-byes even though no one really knew if they were not in the ward anymore. Most stayed, hilariously, only a couple families went to a new one! I prefer the quick and painless route. We also did that on my mission, where we were told the night before, on a pretty random day, if we were going to a different area or having a change. It was nice you didn't have to worry about it and just kept on with the work.

Anyhoo. People kind of knew it was going to happen just because we couldn't stay as we were long, our ward and a number of others are HUGE. Primary was over 145 kids with an attendance rate of like 95% and apparently other wards were the same. It's funny though because the ward is one of the smallest geographically, everyone within a 1.5 mile area. We'll now it's pretty much half that!

Here's how it went down, we are now in the Westview ward! Everyone moving over to the new ward is released, so we'll see what happens on that front.
Also sadly, Levi is the only one moving from his sunbeam class, though we have 4 classes and hopefully some of the others are moving over too. He's going to miss them as well as his teachers, the Simmons, they are great! But the good news is we still live close to everyone and most of the kiddos his age are going to be going to his same elementary school and I believe all in the same jr. high and high school. And about half of his preschool class is from Bethany, so that will be nice to see some familiar faces.

Overall we're excited, a little sad because I am going to miss some of my favorite people ever, but the adventure continues!

Aliens

2011-07-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

Levi: Did you know aliens have green blood?
Me: Where did you hear that?
Levi: Star Trek

This is my mother's doing.

I Don't Want my Children to Be Happy

2011-07-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

I am not a very eloquent person. Normally I don't say the right thing or can't express in word or text what my heart might want to convey. I read an article that mirrored my own personal feelings so exactly I'm going to pretend they came from me though I could never write something so perfectly written. I'll change it when necessary, take things out that don't quite apply. Article is found here.

Dear Max and Levi,

My goal as your mom is not your happiness. In fact, I spend at least half my day making you unhappy. If I had a nickle for every tear that falls in this home on a daily basis, we wouldn't need to worry about college tuition at all.

Happiness is fleeting. That means it doesn't last. It's a quick feeling that comes from a funny movie or a heart shaped lollipop or a really good birthday present. It's great. I love to be happy. But happiness is a reaction that is based on our surroundings. And our surroundings are so very rarely under our control. Even when - especially when - we think they are. So no, I absolutely don't want you to spend your life chasing something that has so little to do with your own abilities. You'll just be constantly frustrated.

There are two things I desire for you. There are two things that I spend most of my time as a mother trying cultivate in you. Happiness isn't one of them.

The first is, I want you to be content. Being content is so much different from being happy. Being content is not based on your surroundings. Being content comes from within. Contentment is a spirit of gratitude. It's the choice you make to either be thankful for the things you do have, or to whine about the things you don't have.

Being content and grateful leads to consistent joy.
Paul talked about being content. Paul said that he had "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." And Paul was in some rotten situations, kiddos, really rotten.

How could Paul be content whether he was in prison or if his life was literally a shipwreck? Because Paul was constantly seeking to be in the will of God instead of his own, was constantly sacrificing his own comfort for the sake of the gospel, and was constantly being confirmed, strengthened, and blessed by God because of his obedience. He was given a supernatural power to do things that most other humans could not do. And guess what? The bible tells us (in Ephesians 1) that God will give you the exact same power! If you want it!

Which leads me to my second desire for you.

I don't want you to be happy. I want you to be holy. That means, I want you to seek that heavenly power to make you content. I want you to want the Kingdom of God more than your own kingdom. And that's hard, that is so hard. And that usually means passing up a lot of what the world considers happiness. But it means that you will achieve blessings directly from God that most of the world never dreams of because they are too occupied with the achieving the perfect birthday present!

This means you may be poor, 'in want' as Paul said, and that's okay. It will never, ever be okay with the world for you to be poor. So you'll be up against the world. But not your dad and me, because it was never our goal for you to be wealthy - at least not in the way that the world considers wealthy.

We love you so much. You will never even grasp how much we love you until you have children of your own, and then you'll get it, and then you'll apologize for the ways you treated us ;) But our goal is not to please you. Our goal is to please our Heavenly Father.

Love,
Mommy

Definitions

2011-07-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ask Levi what the definition is for jail.

"It's time out for villains!"

On the 4th while Max was still napping and we were waiting to start smores and fireworks, we were channel surfing and stumbled on an old school Batman movie. I mean 1966. It was the most awesomest, cheesiest, extremely fake punching, horrible acting, movie I've ever seen. I couldn't stop laughing. We don't really let the boys watch superhero movies/shows, all of them are so dark, violent and just not what we want them seeing so young. The only way Levi knows about all these superheros are from what he asks us, some snippets of commercials, and seeing products in stores. That's it. But this movie was irresistible. So tame, cheesy, and full of hilarity yet it totally entranced my lover of all things superhero.

Any ways. We later got to talking about 'bad guys' and what happens when superheros get them. "They go to jail" I told him which he of course asks, "What's jail?". I had to pause for a moment to try and explain what a jail is to my sweet 3 year old. "It's where people who make bad choices go to think about what they've done, and try to be better". That's all I could come up with. "Oh, like time out", he said. "Yeah, kind of like that".

Exploring

2011-07-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to find new places to visit, especially when there only minutes away. We've passed this place so many times but finally decided to take a look. The boys loved it and I love that we now have a new park so close.

I lived within minutes of a duck pond growing up and have many great childhood memories of trying to get ducks to eat out of our hands, chasing them, and feeding them. So Levi and I raided our cupboard, completely depleting our stash of carbs and headed off. Within seconds of pulling out our offerings, honking ducks began to make their way towards us, lest they miss out on such a 'tasty' treat. They swarmed around us and it was obvious they knew the drill and were not afraid of us in the least bit.
Then they got a little too friendly and made this mamma pretty nervous. Max too.

We walked and walked and walked. Max ran for a lot of it though, those little legs sure are fast!

PB&J's. I am pretty sure if our family had personalized food pyramid, they would make up the base of it.
And how could we go anywhere near water without practicing our rock throwing skills?

A Lucky Day

2011-07-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Look what I spotted the other day!

Just so you know, L (Levi), D (Dean), G (Goodrich).

June Craft Day

2011-07-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Levi loves crafts, wants to do them pretty much every day. He also LOVES being around other kids, so I figured I'd set up a couple of kids crafts days in the summer.
We made various crafts out of toilet paper rolls. They all got pretty into it, at least for the first minute or so, but I pretty much knew that was going to happen!
Hailey was pretty crafty and made a bunch of pink sparkly creatures. So girly!
Levi also pretty much was painting, gluing and helping most of the time. We made a monster, a crazy guy, an owl, and a butterfly. But eventually he was drawn in by all the shrieking and giggling going on and said "you finish while I go play". Deal. He ran off leaving me to finish up.
Max? He basically painted long enough to get a picture then ran off to swing. He's been way into playing superman lately.
Don't they look like they're having fun!?!?! We'll see you guys in again soon.

Friday-ness

2011-07-08T15:02:00.001-07:00

So this is all ramblings, mostly due to the fact that my house is a disaster (more so than usual) and the boys are napping so it's actually quiet and I don't feel like doing anything super productive.

We just got back from the zoo. It was INSANE. So insane that we actually didn't go to the zoo. I looked forever and couldn't find parking, even in the back. We kept going so far back we got to the Rose Gardens and ended up going to the big park they have there. Levi got over not seeing penguins, which he really wanted to see, and Max could have cared less and went with the flow. We'll go to the zoo some other, less crowded time.

They both had a fun time running around, and it was terribly funny to see Max walk around the 'upper levels' of the playground. He was crouched and walked really slowly. He's kind of afraid of heights. They chased a squirrel, a bird, Max fell in a bush running down a hill, Levi practiced introducing himself to new people. It was quite funny to watch, he's so sweet about it. I think some kids don't get him because he looks so big, like some of the 6 year olds we met, but still is only 3 almost 4 and talks like one. He was doing so good and trying so hard to meet new kids. He just loves to be around other little people.

At the park we even got ice cream from an ice cream truck, a first for them. Overall a good, semi-stress free, fun time. I'm glad we went, despite the fact that I almost didn't because my house is trashed and even worse I have an extremely bad sunburn I got Tuesday so basically anytime I move it hurts. Going to the park chasing kids with it didn't sound fun, but we took it easy.

In the car we (by we, I mean Levi) watched a documentary on ants. He loved it.

Tomorrow is the German Jamboree (Jason's family reunion) and I won't be going because I have my 10 year high school reunion. Man I feel old, yet at the same time pretty young. It seriously feels like I just graduated and that I'm still 17. But I'm not and I've even got a few stands of grey hairs to prove it. We'll see how it goes. My BFF Becca from high school is going with me and I don't think I'd go without her, I don't talk a lot to people from high school, not that I don't want to, just limited time, energy and such. It should be interesting.

Also I have to go to the gem faire to buy supplies for my shop in the morning where I hopefully don't break the bank. So many sparkly things. I love it. But all that going on means I can't go to the family reunion. Bummer. I always loved going. EXCEPT the year Levi puked all over me. I wish I could forget that one. At least that part of it. Definitely on of my top 10 most embarrassing moments EVER.

Trying to figure out what to do for dinner. It is one of the things I don't like doing much lately due to the fact that no matter what I make someone, or everyone, isn't going to be happy with it and it literally might get thrown on the floor.

Right now Jason is working on building a retaining wall in the back yard, we are moving the trampoline and dreaming and scheming of all the things we want to eventually do back there. The wall is this summers project. He is doing an amazing job and I can't believe I married someone so clever, handy, and hard working. Every day it looks better and better, he comes home from work and gets right to it. I might have even dug a little bit, which is only 1/100th of what he's done but I'm trying to keep kids out of his way, work on dinner, the house and such.

AHHHH! I hear the boys. Max at least. He slept the last five minutes of the ride in the car. I sure hope he doesn't think that was his nap.

Lazy Lunch

2011-07-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Summer days are the best. And no joke, we have picnics a LEAST once a day.

No Words

2011-06-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

To my sweet, kind, smart, generous, hilarious, fun and creative boy. I can't put into words how much I love you. Every day I love you more and more and just want to freeze time. You keep getting better and better.

I am so proud of how generous you are with others how good you are with sharing, I can't believe it sometimes. You are normally the one who gives up what you have for another, though it can be very hard for you at times, especially when Mr. Max insists on taking everything you have. You are so patient with him. And even with other kids when they want to play with your toys you usually give whatever it is up.

Almost every day you come to me wanting to do 'make a craft'. I'm pretty sure you get that from me. I think you could spend hours surrounded with glue, pipe cleaners, google eyes and paint. And if you can recycle something while crafting even better! It's so sweet. I foresee some great craft days in the future.

And I don't know how it happened but you have become SOOOO helpful when cleaning the house and doing other chores! You were already pretty good at it but would drag your feet sometimes and not do such a great job. Now I tell you to clean the living room and you do it!!! Everything's off the floor and for the most part in their rightful place. And you hardly ever complain when I ask you to do something. You are seriously the most helpful boy I've ever met.
Lately it seems like you've been soaking up information like a sponge! Several times a day you totally amaze me with all the big words you not only know but know how to use correctly. Hypothesis? What 3 year old knows how to use that?!?. Habitat, omnivore, herbivore, therapod....to name a few. Genius.

One of your favorite things lately is to learn about bugs, you love them. We went to the library today and about half the books we got were bug related. You've also been fascinated with bug/creature/animal documentaries on the Science, Smithsonian channel or Animal Planet, basically anything if it has to anything to do with 'creatures'. I'm pretty sure you can name more bugs than I can.

You are so inquisitive, wanting to know everything about everything. Most of the day is spent talking to me, asking questions about this or that and why things are the way they are. It is wonderful to see how your mind works. I love seeing life through your eyes.

Every day I get dozens of hugs and kisses from you (no exaggeration there) and many "I love you Princess Tendra"s scattered in random moments throughout the day. You love to snuggle with me and would sit on my lap reading books for hours if I let you. You melt my heart on an almost hourly basis.

We are best friends and I can't wait for all our fun adventures ahead of us!

Man Day 2011

2011-06-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

It was a good Father's Day round' here (at least I think so!) A couple days before I let the boys go crazy with painting a poster for dad. They loved it.
Morning of "we" made breakfast in bed before church and remembering what happened Mother's Day with the boys wanting to join, had plates for all three boys ready to go.
When we were at the store looking for cards Levi knew instantly what one dad 'needed'. Guesses? It was a superhero music card. They both loved it, in fact Max carried it around opening and closing it for quite a while before he let me put it in the envelope for good.
And for the present, I asked Levi what he wanted to get dad. After a couple seconds of thinking he said "A transformer!" I laughed and told him to think hard about what dad would like and he said "A transformer, I broke his old one." Awwww! Jason had a transformer from when he was a kid that the boys had been playing with till it broke. So the seemingly selfish gift actuaully is pretty thoughtful.

Despite the fact the tranformer was for dad, he talked about it at least once a day till father's day, wanting to play with it, saying "Dad is a good sharer".
Now it is sitting in our bedroom on the dresser and is 'daddy's toy' though I'm pretty sure Levi has played with it a lot more than his dad, unless Jason pulls it out and plays with it when I'm not looking.
Then later in the evening we had some buffalo steaks on Jason's big Father's Day gift, a grill fit for the manliest man I know. We've already used it numerous times and hope to use it a lot this summer!

Hilarious Levi

2011-06-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Levi and Max were having differing opinions about something to which Levi says "I'm not going to be your friend anymore!" So I pull him aside to talk to him about how that's not very nice to which he said "But Elmo said he wasn't Zoe's friend anymore". FYI this is referring to "Elmo in Grouchland" a favorite around here. I don't know if he was getting the whole concept, Elmo was not being nice, it was a bad example not a good one.

While we were eating dinner.
Levi: "When you eat it goes in your nose (I think he was referring to smell), in your mouth, then belly and out your butt!"

"This is the best ______ ever!" he says this about just about everything.

"I have a climbing emergency here" when talking about the mountain of pillows and blankets he likes to climb.

"Abra-kadabra" he'd been perfecting his magic skills and putting things in hats then pulling them out. We might just have a magician on our hands.

After eating green beans, chili and cornbread (EVERYTHING on his plate, which was pretty amazing) said "I'm stuffed like a turkey"

Levi: Mom, do bugs drink?
Me: They do. All animals need water.
Levi: Do they pee?
Me: Yes but it's usually it's just a little bit because they're so small.
Levi: I think my hypothesis was wrong. I need a new hypothesis.

(Later we asked him what a hypothesis was "It's an idea you can test". My kids a genius. I think he gets it from me.)

New vocabulary words (his choice, not mine): therapod, arachnid, omnivore, herbivore, carnivore. Thank you Dinosaur Train!

"I wish I was a llama" , "I wish I was a superhero", "I wish I was a ninja turtle". I heard him quietly saying this to himself one day. He's so funny.

When he was supposed to be on his way to bed he runs up to Nesie, throws his arms around her and says, "I think you need to read me this story because you are the best reader ever!" He TOTALLY has grandma wrapped around his little finger.

Max was having one of his moments during snack time where he threw his bowl of cut up oranges all over the floor. I did what supernanny would have me do, ask him to pick them up and when he said no, put him in time out. Then I brought him over to do it for the second time, "NO!" another time out. Again asked him to pick them up, and I suppose he wised up because he actually did. Levi witnessed the whole thing and when he finally picked them up said, "Max, now you're being responsible."

Cruisin'

2011-06-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Crusin' Sherwood, a car show that I heard was kid friendly. I thought it would be fun for the boys, who love themselves a good automobile.

Unfortunately Jason had to got to work so Aunt Rose decided she wanted to hang with us. I'm sure glad I had her, I might have gone insane otherwise.

The boys loved the car the got to go in (at least Max did for a whole 5 seconds before he freaked) it was really cute and had a super obnoxious horn so you know they were all over that.
For some reason this is one of my favorite pics. Max and Levi really liked the cars but there were SO many that by the end of it all they weren't really impressed. Max is doing his best to hold onto his balloon, Levi had let his go. Hilariously, he asked if Heavenly Father would have fun playing with it.
The model trains were a huge hit. I bet if we came to look at them for an hour or so they would have been just fine with it.

We got some snacks and a snow cone or two. I'm pretty sure the bag of kettle corn was gone in less than ten minutes and the boys hardly even touched it. It's my kryptonite.

Apparently Aunt Rose's snow cone was better than mine because they were all over her. I was fine with that though.
We even found some ants they could stare at for a bit.

Announcement

2011-06-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

No, not pregnant, so don't ask!

But I thought I'd publicly announce today, on Father's Day, that I have the best husband, father of my children, ever. He's just the best and I can't get over it. He puts up with a lot.

Every day he gets up and ready for work before any of us even flutters an eye, goes off to work for 8 hours, then comes home and takes care of us. When he gets home he usually spends time playing with the boys while I'm trying to get my sanity back, sometimes even letting me get in a little bit of a nap. Then he works on household stuff, mowing the lawn, cleaning, cooking, errands (often with a boy or two in tow) while I get work done or make dinner. He takes such good care of us and completely spoils me.

To my boys he is known as "King Daddy", Papito, Mr. Fix-it of all broken objects, a living breathing jungle gym, the strongest man alive, shoulders to sit on, and according to Levi "a superhero dad".

To me he is my best friend, my cheerleader, my personal GPS in all my directionally challenging moments, a sound board for my crazy ideas, a personal engineer to help make any idea I come up with a reality, my new gym buddy, the best hugger in the world, my personal pedicurist (spoiled, I know), and my absolute perfect match.

Jason, I will forever be grateful you asked me to marry you. You are the most wonderful husband ever and the best dad ever. We're so lucky to have you!

Helvatia 10k

2011-06-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ever think to yourself "I can't do that?" yeah, I do that with a lot of things. When my sis first proposed us doing a 10k a while back I was not so thrilled with the idea (but at least it wasn't the Hood to Coast which she's been trying to get me to do for years). But then I started running for longer and longer distances and thought, why not?

I did about a million times better than I thought I would, especially after the 5k I did the week before which was pretty much torture for me without my music and in the crazy heat. Luckily it was overcast and my ipod was charged and ready to go. I even had a fantastic friend Danielle of mine doing the half marathon (I have no idea how anyone runs for THAT long without dying. She did great!)
Scarlett did an amazing jobs as well and totally smoked me!
I was overall happy with how it went. I finished 6 minutes faster than I had done the week before, didn't stop once, and wasn't even last!

My pace was pretty steady and I even passed a bunch of people and stayed past them. I know it might sound bad but I LOVED passing people, a number of who were literally half my size.
Though I was exhausted by the end, I was SOOOO happy to have accomplished my goal. I'm pretty sure I'm doing this again.

All Wrapped Up

2011-06-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

While we had the Carsten's over for a BBQ, Reagan showed the boys a fun new game. I think it was called 'Mummy' and apparently Seth had been wrapped up many a time with layers and layers as a kid. Levi loved it.
Dad even got into it and wrapped him up tight, making him look kind of like a taquito.
Joy.
Max on the other hand would have nothing to do with being wrapped up and protested the use of his favorite blanket. One day he'll love it.

So Sophie

2011-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

While Emily was visiting we got to have Sophie all to to ourselves for a couple hours. She did great, though Max, as he has done in the past when there is a younger kid in the house that I'm paying more attention to, had a number of mommy moments. He'll learn. At least I always know he loves me right?

The boys wanted to play buttons with her so we pulled them out. She was a little skeptical at first but that didn't last too long.

A Rose Cake for Aunt Rose

2011-06-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I'm just so silly for making things as much as I do, but I love making stuff for people espeically if I know they'll like it (after all, who wants to put time and effort into something someone might not like?). That's why I've been into cakes and such, it is a guaranteed handmade gift I know they'll like.

So a while back I saw the perfect idea for a cake to do for my sister over by Amanda at I Am Baker, one of the blogs I stalk. It just screamed "Scarlett", at least it did how I saw it in my head. I added my own little twist with the actual cake because an all pink center just seemed to fit my sister, also known as Aunt Rose to my boys, perfectly.
For the actual cake I used a white cake mix to keep things simple but I switched out applesauce for oil and egg whites for eggs, probably just to make me feel a little less guilty for all that rich vanilla buttercream frosting. Mmmm. I used three boxes, started with it white, added a bit of pink gel food coloring for every layer (some red for the darkest), stacked them and did a layer of frosting covering the whole things. And as far as the roses go it was EXTREMELY easy. Just use a large 1M star tip and make swirls. Looks way more complicated than it is. Just circles.
Happy Birthday Aunt Rose!

Hanging with the Carstens

2011-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

We love going to the Carsten's house. It's fun being around family and for me I especially have always loved it because it is one of the few houses I feel I can go to with my kids and not be completely stressed out about them getting into things or getting into too much trouble. Their house is really kid friendly and full of fun stuff.

Seth graduated and Emily and little Sophie were visiting so we got to see everyone and have a great pancake dinner.
Both boys were SOOO good with Sophie, Max even shared a little.
Levi was quite the gentleman and was super considerate and aware of her, I was so proud.
They also showed her what fun is all about in their world. It mostly involved digging in the dirt and in this case throwing clumps of it at a big board. She seemed into it.
And then they attacked Reagan with rockets.
Games were played with Uncle Monte (a huge hit because it involved a bulldozer and knocking things down) And cookies with ice cream were munched on. It was a good night and according to Levi "the best time ever!"

Super Speed

2011-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to be good about exercising lately and so for part of that I have been signing up to run in events, it just gives me something to work towards.

This one I even got Jason to do it with me! We ran the Starlight Parade 5k in Portland with a group of people from our ward. The theme our group was patriotic so I decided to do superhero shirts for Jason and I since we will be doing a superhero party for Levi soon.

Doesn't he make a great Captain America?
Yeah, check out those guns! I am Wonder Woman, NOT promoting WWF like some people thought.
And I even got to do it with my amazing friend Rachel (who did a great job by the way)
To be quite honest this was probably the worst run I've ever had. Ever. It was the hottest day we've had so far this year (I think), the run was hillier than I thought it would be and my music wasn't working. I have NEVER run without music, it helps to motivate me more than I thought. I was super slow but I didn't stop running once and I didn't finish last which is always my goal.