Family Photos

We had our annual meeting with the Bishop of our ward and he asked Aislynn how old she was to which she replied, "ten" without pause Buck reminded her, "You shouldn't lie to the Bishop!"

Mikey was sooooo excited to get a jacket just like his dad's -- he could not keep the smile off his face. He says he is growing up like daddy now. I still can't get over my blonde kids -- seeing the pictures just makes me feel like the one that doesn't belong. good thing it was me who gave birth so we know for sure! :)

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

My #1 Baby is already 3 - and here's his adorable school picture. He's picking up on all the bad words other kids say and is complete with a bruise on the forehead, a true little boy!

#2 Baby is 2 although she seems much older because she copies everything Michael says and does. Grandpa Tim says she looks like she's ready for college already - how time flies.

Running Late on Halloween, bear with me! We had a great time with my friend from school and his beautiful wife and daughters...but for now it is my b-day and this is how I am spending it.

I started the twlight series after my sister-in-law Megan gave me the first two books for my birthday. I am REALLY zoned out of law school at the moment and decided to distract myself with reading. Actually, I was not able to sleep because I am really stressed and picked it up at 2 AM to try and put myself back to sleep -- however, I loved it so much I finished it by the beginning of my Constitutional law class at 3:00PM.

Then, I started the next one that night and finished it (New Moon) by the end of the next day. I didn't like this as much because Edward wasn't it most of the book, but I just love juvenile fiction, so these were right up my ally -- and my hubby got me the soundtrack that came out yesterday and I got my best law school friend to start reading it, so we can go to the movie premiere on Nov. 21st! WOW, what a teenager. First love though, who doesn't remember theirs? Boys and girls raise your hands.

NEXT - because I LOVE to serve, I am doing a fundraiser, where I have collected pledges toward my big night, where I am in competition with other law students and alumni to see who can eat the most chicken wings in 15 minutes. I really am shooting for 40 wings...we'll see how it goes. I raised about $1,000 so thanks for all who supported me. This is going to help families in Central American have food/clothes during the holidays.

The big 26! But Mikey said I was only 16, so that made me feel great. I won't mention that earlier he also asked if those were my boobs down by my belly button...we'll leave that out of the equation. Oh aging, isn't it splendid! Hey, I still get asked to be on the co-ed intramural basketball team, so I can't be too old yet.

Isn't She LOVELY

If you can't tell, I think my daughter is the most beautiful baby ever. That is why I take a million pictures of her, because every outfit looks cute on her since she has just the right amount of baby fat and adorableness. (I'm sure that's a word)

These are part of her 2 year old birthday pictures. Her hair is naturally curly, but I like to enhance it with curlers every once in awhile. I always grew up wearing curlers, but everyone always comments that they never see little girls with curlers anymore. She is very accustomed to them and she can even sleep with them in. But, where the beauty ends, the attitude begins!

It was crazy trying to get her to take pictures. She won't sit in one place for more than 3 seconds, let alone trying to get her to smile or pose. She always has an idea of what she wants to be doing and will gladly throw a humongous fit if she doesn't get her way. Even though I am very consistent with not giving into her fits, she keeps them coming. I am sure her strong will should help her out in life and she will never get walked all over, so there's the bright side.

This is my favorite one. We got the cute Baby Phat sweater while we were in Yellowstone of all places and it was rediculously cheap for designer, so I had to get it for her. I can justify the price, since we got her skirt from a garage sale! She usually tears out her headbands, but she was kind enough to leave them in for her pictures.

Now a little bit about Aisy - She LOVES mirrors and talking on the phone. She just sings all the time. She likes itsy bitsy spider, twinkle little star, lion king songs like "hakuna matata" and "I just can't wait to be king", and "I like to move it move it" from the Madagascar movie. It's funny because she just always has a song in her head and inline with that, she is always dancing.

She likes to eat with her hands. She knows how to use utencils, but prefers her hands. She loves pretties of all sorts, necklaces, bracelets, hair pretties, ribbon, and make-up. She speaks very well and is the best talker in her pre-school class. The teacher says she also acts as an interpreter because she can understand what the other kids are saying and then tells the teacher what they are saying. She doesn't mind being dirty, having food all over her face, or dirt between her toes.

She listens much better to daddy than mommy. She likes to sing "digging up bones" with Dad and she loves to cuddle cheek to cheek. Instead of saying "Mommy hold me" - she says "Mommy, I hold you" and she will give me the biggest hug and just cling on like a monkey. She loves her brother. Everywhere she goes in the house she says "C'mon Mike" or "let's go play upstairs, K?" Much credit to him, he goes along with it most of the time and just lets her be the leader. What a big personality for such a little girl.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

The Annual Flag Football Tournament
for Drake Law School Students was the last Saturday in September. The rule is that only law school students and their significant others can play. It is 8 on 8 and single elimination. Here's our team below, made up of most of my best law school friends and 2 spouses.

Back Row: Chris (spouse of Cholla), Cullin, Matt Sease, Justin (my spouse), and Craig
Middle Row: Miguel, Stephanie, and Matt Kaufman
Bottom Row: Wendy & Aisy, Chris, Natasha, Cholla, Megan & Mikey, Rick

Since Rick doesn't generally like playing football, he was kind enough to watch Mikey and Aisy during the games. They love him and he is soooo much fun it is probably a let down to have to go home with mom and dad and not uncle Rick.

We had shirts made for the game. Our team name was Bills of Attainder. It's a legal term that we were tested on last year even though nobody had it in their notes and I think the teacher may have mentioned it once, MAYBE. We each came up with our own "Bill" name. I was Bill Mama, Justin was Bill Doe, there was an Un-BILL-ievable, Farmer Bill and others that were pretty great. We had lots of fun together, which was good since it lasted from 9AM - 3PM and it was a HOT HOT day.

Justin was the star quarterback. You can see me on the far side of the line with the awesome green knee socks that game me a really nice tan line. I also have some sweet sticky reciever gloves on, even though I only got one pass and I didn't complete it! ooops, let's just say I'm better on defense. We won our first two games. The second one was intense and there were some questionable calls by the Refs. But we won by a point. In the championship game against last year's reigning champs, we killed them mostly because Justin had an amazing pass to Craig that was almost the entire length of the field and Chris Kemp had a great run back for a touchdown. SOOO, moral of the story, it's nice to have fun, but it's always MORE fun when you WIN!

These are the Days

Most people who know me understand that I am not a home body. I have to be on the go doing something from morning until night. So, when my kids are with me - they get to come along and I am always trying to find fun things for my kids to do...but these are their favorites right now.

Earning a quarter by being good, so they can take it to the mall and get some candy. If you notice, they are getting the same thing. Because although they have their moments, for the most part my kids are two peas in a pod. They play together everywhere they go and their relationship works mainly because Mikey does what Aisy says.

"I want to ride Marty" is another favorite. The carousel ride at the mall happens about once a week and aislynn always gets to ride Marty the Zebra and Mikey is just happy to ride alongside her. What a great brother.

Here they are standing on top of their fort in the basement. When we do stay inside it is always an adventure and I thouroughly enjoy playing make believe with my kids. To the point that Buck has to tell me to not be so realistic and talk about scary dragons and witches because my kids may have nightmares, what can I say, I have a flare for the dramatic.

Here we are at the playgound at the zoo. What one does, the other must as well. This only becomes problematic when there is only one of something and they haven't quite grasped the concept of taking turns. We are working on that, along with asking nicely for something back when the other steals it!

Here are Aislynn's pretty princess slippers. I had to include this because Grandma Becky gave these to her for her birthday and these are the only shoes she MUST keep on. Everytime we get into the carseat, she takes her shoes and her socks off immediately. She got the fat hobbit foot gene from me and so is inhibited by uncomfortable shoes. However, she thinks these are so pretty it is a task to get her to take them off. Good find Grandma!

As I got these costumes over a month before Halloween, they are getting their use. We try to use them at least once a week during imaginative play time and sometimes they like to sleep in them as well. It makes me feel better that they get so much use since I probably spent way too much money on them.

That concludes our fun adventures for now. But I have more to come shortly! I am just in the middle of a couple mid-term tests, so that is eating up LOTS of time.

To The Dentist

Maybe I am just a little behind, because this is the first time I have taken my kids to the dentist. I remember going to a fun dentist in Utah that was specifically for kids, so I tried to find a good one for the kids that would be similarly enjoyable...as enjoyable as possible when at a dentist.

SO - boy did I do a good job. The waiting room had video games all along the wall, plasma screens playing kid DVDs and toys toys toys! Then, when they call you back, they had Aisy and Mikey get their pictures taken of their big smiles. After that they take them to the colorful chairs, and of course the aids are all wearing fun character scrubs. We practiced all month with me being the "dentist" and having them say "AHHHH" and I would check out their teeth and help them brush. But, before the lay down and open wide, they showed the kids all the tools they would be using and what those tools did, then they showed them the new toothbrush, toothbrush cover, flosser, and little timer, then they got to choose their flavor and now it was time to clean those teeth!!

They lay the seat back and there is a movie screen above each seat and the kids have headphones to listen to the movie. I sat by Aisy to help her stay calm and they both did so well with the cleaning.

Then Dr. Wade came to see them and drew a little kite and wrote "Good Job" on the pictures that were taken earlier and had them lay back again and he counted their teeth and told them they did such a great job and then said they could both have 2 prizes from the prize box. One because God made only 1 of them and another for being so happy!

Wow, a christian doctor, praise the lord! (as my brother jeff would say) I really was so happy with my choice and the kids are excited to go back, can't ask for much more than that.

I really need to get out more!

I Guess I totally Missed My Era, thanks for encouraging me to find out Ash! - I must be a sucker for the tight jeans, colorful make-up and frizzy hair. Although I did love those aerobic outfits, I'll have to post the one I had as a kid!

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Happy Birthday Aislynn & Other Summer Fun

This Saturday, September 6, 2008 - we celebrated Aislynn's 2nd Birthday at a nearby Des Moines Park with my next of kin, fellow law school students and their families! I actually invited more people who weren't married and didn't have kids, but they are closest thing to family, as I see them every day and depend on them for alot of different things. So, here's the birthday girl on part of the new-age jungle gym they have here. No more woodchips or tire swings, this place was high tech.

This is Sami Craven (3), Maggie McCullough (4), and Michael (3) on the cool play structure.

This is McKenzie Craven (9 mos) in the Shark ball pit, it didn't really go with the princess party theme, but it only cost $5 and I thought it looked cool, so we set it up!

Here are Mikey and Sami eating their cupcakes. Nothing like loading the kids up on sugar and letting them run it off. We had a lunch and then the kids just played on the swings, jungle gym and slide. I bought a bouncy house, but it hardly got used because of the lure of the jungle gym and open grass to run around in.

Miss Aislynn had cupcake all over her face most of the day, wouldn't let me do her hair today, (which was unusual) and she also wouldn't wear shoes, so her feet were extremely dirty. When it came time to open presents, Aisy was too interested in playing and didn't open a single one. I guess she really takes the "it's her party and she'll do what she wants to" attitude. Overall, it was about 3 hours of fun with friends, Matt, Rick, Miguel, and Megan were also there -- these are the "uncles and aunt" we've adopted. They are great people and make my law school life bearable. Luke and Linda Craven are the parents of Sami and Kenzie, Dave and Katie McCullough are Maggie's parents. Not too many people are married with kids in law school, so it's nice to have a couple of friends who know the particular parent struggles.

Some more Aisy -it's her day, so why not a few more pics of my pretty princess? She's only 2 once, thank goodness because that "terrible" saying might apply here!

But those big puppy dog eyes sure do make it hard to give timeouts or do anything besides kiss and cuddle my little chub. Her new saying when she pees in her diaper is "I poop myself mommy". We tried potty training at the beginning of August, but she is NOT ready for that. She just was hit and miss and didn't mind having pee running down her legs, so we will wait maybe until Christmas break to undertake that feat again.

This was our other summer fun - we had the chance to spend a couple days with Brynn and Caden when they came to visit Iowa. We went to the Library and watched a movie, then we went to the Burger King play place, the park, the pool, and finally spent time jumping on the tramp. They had so much fun and love to see their cousins. The age differences worked just perfect because Brynn and Caden were good helpers with Mikey and Aisy.

This was at the Dysart park before we went to the pool, not sure exactly what it was, Caden says it is some canon of sort and I believe him because he is so smart and a great reader.

This was on the way into the pool, Bryn and Caden helped with Aisy so much. They made sure she was safe crossing the road and couldn't believe how much she was talking. Bryn kept saying, "I just love her little voice". Bryn and Mikey splashed in the pool together most of the time and Caden swam in the deeper water and did flips and canon balls. He is a great swimmer. Aisy went down the little frog slide once, but didn't really want to be in the water that much.

I will also have to post a little bit about our yellowstone trip and tell my bear story, but that will have to wait until next time.

Best Summer, EVER!

Well, it would be hard to beat the fun in the sun, every day at the pool with Rochelle, Brynn and Caden, that made up our last summer, but I think the kids just LOVED having their "looney Meg", as she has been affectionately nicknamed, here for the summer.

It was probably a big eye-opener to marriage and young children, and a great birth control method, for her to live at our house this summer. (probably remarked how she didn't want her marriage or children to be...like I used to do before I realized how little control I have in all that)She pampered us, cooked, did laundry, took the kids to see wondrous things like the "Holy" Mammoth (Mikey couldn't understand the whooly concept), Pool days, Zoo days - we had an elephant mom and baby visit our small zoo and they do camel rides and a new baby giraffe was born this last month too!

They often mixed up the mom and meg and just called her mom, which was appropriate since whenever we were out in public with me, meg and the kids people would think they were hers anyway. Our duplex neighbors moved in a month after we did and thought that Justin had two women and that Mikey was my kid and Aislynn was Meg's because they just couldn't fathom that Aislynn was mine when she looked so much like her aunt. It's a good thing I was the one who gave birth or else I might have been questioning it too!

Meg also helped with our spanish instruction. I have yet to convince Buck to speak spanish to the kids full-time and in fact, I probably speak more spanish to them than he does, but Megan is a secondary education Spanish Teacher major, so she taught lots of vocabulary to the kids. Mikey's favorite is Gato = Cat and Aisy mostly likes elephante = elephant, because she doesn't pay very much attention and I think that's all she remembers. Mikey also likes to say Adios Che and we used the "Muzzy" spanish teaching DVDs that are put out by the BBC - not that great but the kids liked them and they would copy what was being said on the TV. We'll see how the whole spanish thing comes along. Mikey has a great memory for the vocab, but sissy doesn't seem too interested.

Anyway, we will miss having Meg here. Justin will miss his nightly wheel of fortune partner, as I am no competition and I think Meg was ahead on the W/L record. But, I'm sure she's enjoying the single life again, being able to take a shower whenever she feels like it or leave without packing the whole house. Yet there is just something about the big hugs and kisses these little ones offer to readily and being able to see their excitement about everyday life that reminds me why they are so wonderful.

Of course, with the end of summer, comes the beginning of school for me and part-time daycare for the kids. Mikey has moved up to the pre-school class and Aisy is in the 2 year old "Explorer" class. I really like the daycare they are at. They are flexible with my schedule but more importantly they have the same teachers move up with the kids, so Aisy's teachers are in the new room too. They also do many great activities and have lesson plans and structure that help the kids thrive.

Their first day was only 2 hrs, since I only have one class on Mondays, so we started off the day by going to the zoo - yes, those are harnesses - the only way to travel with two toddlers who won't stay in a stroller.

Mikey with his Nemo backpack and all the school supplies he gets to use now that he is in the pre-school class, like markers and scissors and the lined alphabet pad. His favorite friends are Max and Jayla.
Aislynn doesn't like to pose for pictures, she's just too much of a busy body with her own agenda. I think she is soooo much like her dad because whatever she wants to do is the most important thing and don't even try to redirect her. She also has a nemo backpack because she wants everything the same as her brother...sound a bit like me, second child syndrome.

(But I can capture a fleeting moment of pure emotion every now and again as seen in the picture below - we were trying for a good 2 yr old pic but I got this instead)

Fun Times

Okay - I don't post often enough and that could be the fact that we have moved twice since my last post and so I am staying true to my blog title if nothing else.

These pics are from last summer at my Aunt Amy's doing corn. We love spending days there because Aunt Amy has the most fun toys and yard and my kids love corn! It was good to see Gpa Dale and Gma Jo too. We miss our Waterloo and Hudson family.

Now I am getting ready for another semester, so maybe in another year I will post again! haha.