Ariel's first playdate

Yesterday we invited several moms and their children over for lunch. I initially did it for Lucas. He has preschool twice a week and music class once a week. That leaves two days with not much going on, which drives him crazy. There were several kids that came yesterday in the one year old age range. Ariel was LOVING it. I thought she was too young to get much out of a playdate.

Tired

I am dying. Daylight sayings is killing me. Instead of sleeping in an extra hour my kids have decided to wake up an hour earlier. This morning was 5am. It is insane. Not only are we up way too early, but the grouchiness by noon can be unbearable. It is now 8am and Ariel is down for her first nap. Lucas is ready for a nap too, although he will never take one. To look at the bright side of things, I was able to get the kids fed and the house cleaned by 7 this morning. Here's to making it through the day.

It's all Greek to me...

Yesterday while I was in the Target restroom, (I very rarely go to Target with my kids without having to make a visit to the restroom) I had an interesting conversation. Lucas was in the stall and Ariel and I were pacing in front of the bathroom sinks waiting and waiting. Many people came in and out of the restroom. "What is taking forever?" I peeked through the centimeter gap in the stall and saw Lucas' underwear, pants, and shoes on the floor. "Lucas, pick up your pants and put them back on. Why are your shoes off?" I continued talking and instructing him so we could get the heck out of the bathroom. At this point, a lady walked out of one of the stalls and asked, "What language is that you are speaking?" Was she serious?

"English," I said.

"Oh, I know part was English, but what else?"

"Just English," I repeated.

"I was sure you were speaking something else to your son. It sounded beautiful (this is how I chose to remember it when she might have in fact said interesting). I was thinking it was Greek."

We exchanged smiles and she left.

As long as I can remember, I have been told I speak extremely fast, but Greek? Come on!

Baltimore

I used to attend international hair shows or conferences several years ago while I worked in a salon. Attendees would be selected as models by cutting edge stylists to demonstrate their latest ideas. I would inevitably come home sporting a new hairstyle so drastically different than my previous one that I was sometimes unrecognizable. When I told my parents we were in Baltimore for a plastic surgery conference, my mom asked if I was going to be a model for a new technique. My dad got a little worried that I would be unrecognizable when I returned home this time. Unfortunately, nothing changed other than the five pounds I gained from all the good food.

I must share this experience at my husband's expense. When we (Mike, Ariel and myself) got off the plane in Baltimore, I asked Mike where the conference had booked us to stay. He replied he was not sure but thought it was the Inner Harbour Sheraton. I asked if there was a shuttle to the hotel. He had no idea about shuttles, taxis or trains. I was frustrated. After a little research, we found it was probably best to pay the $40 and take a taxi to the hotel. We hauled all our baggage over to the taxi curb, into then out of the taxi, then proceeded to check into the hotel. There was no reservation for Marion in their system. They have no Internet connection in their lobby and Mike was confused, embarrassed, frustrated, and avoiding eye contact with his wife at any cost. Luckily, the hotel manager allowed Mike to go into the back room and use their computer to see if he could find his confirmation code for our reservation. Oops! Wrong hotel. We then gathered our two carry-ons allowed by airline regulations, plus our luggage and our baby in her Bjorn and went outside to walk the "few" blocks to find our hotel. This is what I wish I had a picture of -- us sloshing through the rain with our arms full of bags and baby, dragging our luggage through puddles and walking in circles to ask directions. The best kodak moment was the look of disbelief on the faces of people looking out of their office windows. Priceless.

A Week in Baltimore

Megan Barnhurst and her kids came down from Philadelphia to hang out with us and we had a great visit with them.

Sonic

Isaac teaching Ariel how tp play his DS.

Ariel getting some game time when no one is around.

Isaac and Ariel disagreeing who's turn it is.

Ariel excited after mastering the third level.

Halloween

Dumbledore, Hedwig, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Harry and Harry.

Trying to take a few pictures before trick or treating turned into such an ordeal.We realized everybody was starving and in need of dinner. We hit McD's drive-thru and within minutes Lucas had spilled his chocolate milk all over Ariel's owl costume.
After much walking and knocking doors I decided to turn our car into the Hogwarts Express. All the boys would ride on the running boards along the side of the car and hop on and off between houses. It was a lot of fun. Ariel really enjoyed being the train engineer standing on my lap behind the steering wheel sans costume.

trick or treat

preview

This is a little preview of the boys Halloween costumes. They will both be Harry Potter. Lucas will run his fingers through his hair and say "I look like like Harry Potter." Isaac seems a little disappointed because HE thinks Lucas looks more like Harry. The best part of their costumes are the magical powers they bring. It is amazing the spells these boys come up with.

Sushi

The other night we went out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse and introduced Mike's dad to sushi. Denise has had sushi with me one other time and was sharing a roll with Isaac. She told Isaac he could have the clump of avocado on their plate since he is crazy about avocados. The big problem was the avocado was actually very hot wasabi. You can see from the photo Isaac is reaching for his water. Denise started laughing so hard she hid her head under the table.

insult

This picture just kills me. Lucas looks happy and in good spirits. To fully appreciate this photo, you should know he was throwing out the ultimate insult, "Soren, you're little." We were walking home from picking Isaac up from school. On the way home, we walked past Lucas's friend's house. Lucas's friend, Soren, just happened to be outside. Lucas must have felt big in that Spiderman costume with the muscles included.

snips and snails and puppy dog tails

My friend Cori sent this email that has me in belly laughs. My boys call doing these types of things "experiments". Somehow being called an experiment makes it appropriate behavior.
You find out interesting things when you have sons, like ...
1.) A king size water bed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if
tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy.
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still can't walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

KiMoNo

Ariel modeling her kimono I made yesterday. I saw this cherry fabric at the fabric store, which happens to be my new favorite hang out--I have decided to give Target a break. Back to my point. I saw this fabric and it matches Ariel's Robeez perfectly and I bought a yard of it. I lay in bed the other night not able to sleep trying to think of what I could make with it. This is what could happen to you too if you move to a small town and your husband works a lot.

Random

I am quickly posting these random photos taken this past week. We made a little vacation out of going to the St Paul temple. We had fun swimming in the hotel pool and lounging in bed with a television. Isaac is a major tree climber. When I cannot find him, I go outside in the back yard and call his name. Consistently he will drop from the bottom branches of some tree. There are several abandoned apple trees where he finds apples to eat. He says he just looks to make sure there are no worm holes. This grosses Mike out.

Tagged again

Everyone in our family has now been tagged except sweet little Ariel. I am sure her turn is coming up so I am including her 6 list with the rest of the family.
Ariel likes:
1.Mom
2.Dad
3.breast milk
4.Isaac and Lucas
5.cheese (what do you expect-she was born in Wisconsin.)
6.baby dolls and dogs

Isaac:
1.I like to go to school
2.I like playing with friends
3.I like to watch movies
4.I like reading books
5.Likes reading and memorizing the Articles of Faith in the scriptures
6.I like making projects and experiments

Lucas:
1.preschool
2.music class (Lucas says "preschool and music class" with such pride. Proof he is big like Isaac.)
3.friends
4.Boots, Dorothy, Glinda, Diego "What about Dora, Lucas?" "Kate likes Dora." he says.
5.baking stuff with mom
6.maraschino cherries

MIKE:
1. I try every night to go to bed early and rarely am successful. When I do, I think it will help me get up early and get more done. I usually end up sleeping just as long.
2. I am the most unorganized, organized person I know. I can't stand not being organized, and am always trying to be organized. You would think I do not have a clue on how to be organized. Always working on it.
3. I hate being late to meetings, especially church- but am usually running late. The clocks in our house, car, my pager are all set ahead, but again this is a challenge. Are you seeing a pattern here? (look at #1 & 2 above)
4. I have the best family. I am always amazed at how blessed I have been.
5. I love reading the news. Fascinated by what is going on in the world.
6. I carry a grudge around that my inventions always get patented by others. Pump sneakers- my idea, tablet notebook- elementary school.

Motherhood

It kinda cracks me up how moms don't let something like a 20 lb human get in their way from getting things done. I am making my kids Halloween costumes and Mike must have thought it was funny how I was trying to balance Ariel while doing it. These photos remind me of all the things I have seen sisters, cousins, and friends do with a child in their arms.
I also wanted an excuse to post some photos of me looking so fabulous. I must have worked on my hair either all day or all night!