Happy Holidays!!!

I'm only back at the gentle proddings of so many, I know that I have neglected my duties for far to long but the winter cold has set in and being compelled to stay indoors may make me blog just a little bit more. As you can see we visited Santa at my mom and dad's ward party and he was a hit with everyone except for little Evie. She stared and stared and then scanned the crowd for mom with those terrified little eyes, she couldn't get away from him fast enough. We have been getting ready for the holidays, baking cookies, wrapping presents, budgeting (oh wait what is that) and getting Lucy and Evie's big gift all ready (I have spent many a late nights getting it just perfect!) I have but a few holiday traditions that are in my mind classics that hopefully I can continue in my own home.

1. Christmas eve homemade pizza...nothing more delicious!!

2. The nativity (except now we all fight over not doing the roles, Loron I still think you make the perfect angel and Brady...well you know what role best suits you!)

3. Christmas PJs who doesn't love them? JD did forget to get me them last year and as much as I pretended it wasn't a big deal...it kind of was (hint hint).

4. All the kids sleeping in the same room ( that one has kind of dwindled seeing as how some of the husbands don't really want to share a bed!)

5. The longest night of the whole year.....STILL

6. The famous holiday unwrapping games thanks to many sleepless hours!! Thanks dad!

7. Staying in your jammies until late in the afternoon until your finally compelled to wear a little something new!

8. Christmas day movies which JD and I usually fall asleep in.

9. I LOVE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

10. Being with family and friends!!

This Christmas is a little sad cause although I will be with lots of friends and family a few of my favorite people will not be home for christmas. It is so hard to have everyone scattered allover the place but wherever all of you are MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Here There and Everywhere

Well as you will soon see the Clark crew has literally felt like we have been here, there and just about everywhere. To start out our adventures back in May we took a trip to California to see our favorite Aunt Jamie and to see all the beautiful princesses at DISNEYLAND!! I really do think it was a toss up between who enjoyed it the most!! Courtney and Ryan were able to come along for the adventure as well which made it even more fun for all of us (thanks guys for helping out!) Lucy's favorite ride was Splash Mountain, as the ride went on she liked it more and more and at the final SPLASH her laugh was more than worth the trip down there. I really forgot how magical it is for little kids, I can't wait to do it again. Jamie was super good to us and took us to some fun parks and of course some delicious restaurants. We really enjoyed every minute of being down there. Afterwards the girls and I took another plane ride over to see the Powelsons in their new home a in Fernley, NV. Summer of course was a perfect host and we loved being in their home. It has such a nice feel there and Summer has made it look so great (surprise, surprise!) After all our adventures we were ready to get home and start the big move to Raymond!!

JULY 1st
Well of course July 1st is a highlight of our year....not just because we are proud Raymond folk but because it is the one time that we know that the Powelson family will venture up here, but we also had Brady's girlfriend Hollie come see what life in Raytown is all about. We did the usual candy parade where grandma Marilyn ran out and got candy for the kids and maybe a little for herself, afterwards we had a fantastic BBQ and mom and dad Woods!! Of course July 1st was extra special with the grand opening of the new pool. We spent many hours up there (and yes I had to sport the suit).

EVIE TURNS ONE!!
It is true, a whole year has gone by and now that little baby has officially turned one. I could hardly believe it, and part of me didn't want to. We decided to have a "WATERMELON" party seeing a how Evie is somewhat fanatical about that juicy watermelon goodness (I think it has a little something to do with all the watermelons I ate while pregnant with her). We knew it wouldn't be a birthday without some of favorite family and friends come over. We had a great BBQ with watermelon jello, watermelon, watermelon punch, and of course Evie's very own watermelon cake. Thanks guys for making it such a fun day. Here are some of our favorite Evie moments of the past year.
1. 7 haircuts (2 professionally done)
2. always happy and smiling
3. when you are tired you like to pinch and scratch at our skin, I have a permanent scab on my neck that just wont heal up.
4. When learning to walk we thought you looked like frankenstein cause you wouldn't bend your knees.
5. you love to eat...especially fruit.
6. you love to play with your sister Lucy and follow EVERYTHING she does!
7. you do not like your hair done...go figure!
8. you are very busy and are into everything when given the chance.
9. you say mama, dada, up, puppy, birdie (sounds the same as puppy), hi, nana, and when we ask you how old you are you put your little pointer finger up and say "one"
10. you love the phone and walk around pretending to laugh!!
Evie thanks for being such a great part of our family!!!


WATERTON
Of course the summer wouldn't be the same without at least one trip to waterton. We took a small hike up to Blakiston falls...the perfect hike for little people. Always reminds me of how much I love the summer time!!

Here there and everywhere part 2

MAGRATH DAYS

Well of course summer just wouldn't be complete without Magrath days...the candy at the parade (I have to admit I think they got more candy than in Raytown....Ryan I guess there is something that Magrath does better). JD rode on his 10 year float, he took Lucy on board, and the 1 of them got more than soaked. Magrath days eve we went to JD's highschool reunion..can you believe it has already been 10 years...I feel like we were just in highschool planning our attire 2 weeks in advance just so that we could look just perfect come Magrath days. It was really fun to see everyone, and actually see how everyone has changed (for the record I think JD looks even better than he did 10 years ago...hope that's true for his 20 year!!) After the parade we went back to the Clark's house with all the family, food and treats...of course Bonnie's desserts never disappoint. Lucy loved the fireworks, she kept saying, "oh that's my favorite!!" Evie on the other hand didn't quite know what to do with all of the noise, she was a little sensitive to all the noise and would jump with each boom!!

RYAN & COURTNEY CLARK
The Clark family had a more than

welcomed addition to the family. Ryan and Court FINALLY decided to tie the knot. With all of the festivities and planning the wedding day snuck up on us. The night before the wedding they had the family dinner at the Magrath Stake camp grounds...it was SO much fun, and the perfect place for the entire family. There was a little program at the end and Lucy sang "No one like you, or as she said "No one LIKES you" she did such a cute job and has been singing it since. The next morning was busy, helping with Court's hair, helping make the bouquets, and of course trying to make our little family presentable. Evie of course wouldn't keep the bow in her hair, but they did look kissably cute. As for the newly married couple....Courtney was a stunning bride, and Ryan was such a happy and handsome groom. We were just so excited to be a part of all of the excitement and of course Lucy was more than excited to have her favorite friend Courtney become her favorite Aunt Courtney. Thanks again for letting us be a part of your special day!!!


UTAH TRIP
Of course our summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to our favorite vacation spot....Grandma and Grandpa Mac's house. We have kind of made it our little summer tradition to go down there and stay at there place for a few days. It really is one of our favorite places to go. Grandma Mac is so welcoming and the perfect little grandma, the girls just love her, which would be difficult not to. Grandpa Mac is great to visit with, he has had more adventure and experiences than most would have in 10 lifetimes. This year we went to the Treehouse learning museum in Ogden (right across from the temple). It was so much fun for the kids, with more things to do than what we could fit into our few hours there. They had dressup centers, music, art and history rooms...it was such a great place, I would highly recommend it if you ever have the chance to go. We also got to go and see Ryan and Court's new little apartment at BYU, I was a little jealous that they live down there and get to be poor students...oh I miss those days! All in all our summer was busy and more than full of adventure....summer comes and goes all to fast, and as the nights get colder I realize just why I love summer so much.

SOLD!!!

Hurray our house has finally SOLD!!!! I am going on a no cleaning strike for right now! So we were at disneyland getting ready to climb on the Indiana Jones ride when our realtor Geoff called and said we had an offer. WHAT...if I had know I would have gone on vacation months ago. After negotiating we settled on a price and let me tell you it really felt like the happiest place on earth. We are so excited except that we have to be out of our house on May 29th, and I don't get home until the evening of the 11th! Oh my I am already feeling a little bit stressed and hope that it all goes okay. If there is anyone dying to have a packing party just let me know and I will have plenty of fun for you, or if there are any good packing tips to make this easier I'd love to hear it! Oh, and if you are wondering where we are going, we did get the house in Raymond which means we can move right in and not have to worry about building! Oh man I can hardly wait to be out there and get to be closer to family and friends!!

Spring has Sprung

Evie was such a mellow baby but is really showing us her colors the last couple of weeks, she is not shy of personality, I think Lucy will have a perfect little partner in crime!

Evie is crawling EVERYWHERE!!  Oh whatever happened to the days of laying them on the ground and when you came back they were still right there....the fun is only beginning that much I do know.

Evie got a kick out of the swings

What better thing than bare feet...kiss em sunshine!!

Spring has Sprung and I think I'm not alone when I say...IT'S ABOUT TIME!!  Finally the sun is shining and I can say goodbye to the seasonal despression (until next winter).  We really have been taking advantage of this weather and I PROMISE I will not complain once about being TOO HOT!    Bring on the freckles!!

"Chloclate" milk moustache 

When we go to the park Lucy wears out the swings

Lucy: hey mom I found a mole on my bum...that makes me old like you!!  

Lucy has put some serious miles on this bike, I don't know if that helmet would really help in a high impact crash but at least she's ridin in style.

Saba Dave took her on an adventure to the spill gates, she collected alot of branches, grass but mostly dust.  

Renesme

A while back at a night out with the gals my friend Linds B commented that as she read the book "Breaking Dawn" (twighlight series) and read about the baby Renesme she thought of Evie. Compliment, Yes, fortelling the future, Undoubetly so!! Yes my cute little human baby has turned part vampire in the past days and is making me think that weaning might be sooner rather than later. I don't know if our feeding time is healthy for either of us. Jd said that all he hears is sweet talk and then "NOO NOO, OUCH, NO NO!!" "EVIE STOP, THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" followed by tears from a not quite full Renesme, ie. Evie, and me saying, "I'm sorry for yelling at you!" I have tried staying calm and collected but when those little fangs get near, the hysteria seems almost inevitable. Whatever shall I do?
I have had people say tap on their lips...done that.
Flick them..no way. Bite them back...ya right. Yell at them...not working, just makes her laugh.
Bottle feed...enticing.
If there are any vampire survivors out there with a little bit of advice WE would love to hear it!

diagnosis...female!!

I have known for quite some time that I had a serious problem, I can't even remember when I realized I had this disorder, if you will call it that, but I feel that since everyone is airing their dirty laundry I might as well get mine out there...it is time to come on out of the closet so that we can work together on managing what has been dealt to us. What is it you wonder? I was in the shower the other day and have my routine, part of which is keeping a scrubber in there, and as I am rinsing the shampoo from my hair I am scrubbing the shower with the sponge under my foot. I rarely "just" talk on the phone, there is dinner to be made, kids and husband to be fed, dishes to be done, diapers to be changed and beds to be made, etc....I don't remember the last time I watched TV without a pile of laundry to be folded or blogs to be read. I rarely can just sit in the car, there are phone calls to long lost friends and family, songs to be sung, kids to be entertained or yelled at I find my parenting skills or lack there of gets extremely creative when confined to a small, fast moving vehicle with no place for "time-outs". Do any of these "symptoms" sound familiar? You may have what I like to call Obsessive Compulsive Multi-tasking or OCM for short. So put down that laundry and watch your TV, sit and talk on the phone for once, and instead of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time lets just devote ourselves to setting, and completing VERY small defined goals.
P.S. Thanks for letting me sneak peek into your lives and realizing that I'm not the only one falling short of the perfect mom, wife and friend marker, maybe with all of our minds and ideas combined we can make it that much closer to being where we want to be!!

 

The Bob

 

The Bangs

The Flip 

I thought that I should post a couple of pictures of Evie to redeem her and myself just to let you know that I do try and work with what we have.  Evie is on the move non-stop now, she is crawling all around trying to get into everything and has become my little shadow following me around from room to room.  She also loves patty-cake and says both mama and dada...get this she said mama first!!  I knew I liked her!  

BED HEAD

 

GOOD MORNING!!!

Life at 4!!!

 

Who could ever imagine 4 years could fly by so quickly but be full of SO many memories.  Lucy is officially 4 and according to her, life begins at 4.  Lucy had heart pancakes with whipping cream and strawberries, hashbrowns (her favorite) for breakfast, then she went to church where she gave the scripture and prayer in primary.  She got up there and recited Moroni 10:5, she did such a great job and I couldn't help but feel like I was going to burst at the seams I was so proud.   After we had her favorite family over for her birthday celebration. (Nana, Saba, Ash, Dave, Grandpa & Grandma Wood)  What was on the menu you ask?????  Exactly what Lucy wanted ARTICHOKES..(doesn't every 4 year old want that?)  we also had homemade buns with ham, fruit salad, broccoli salad, veggies and dip and to finish it off we had a PUPPY CAKE made to order with a blue bow and hat that said "Lucy"!!  The presents were once again more than we could have asked for (a perk of living near family).  Lucy got so many great things from princess books, a new apron to sidewalk chalk, barbies, a bike and dora bubbles...there were so great gifts and hopefully her expressions as she opened each one are thanks enough!!  Here are just a FEW things that I hope to never forget about our Lucy!

Lucy has the most contagious laugh that comes right from the core, anyone that has heard it knows what I mean.

Expressions!!!  From the hands to the eyes you are full of character and life.

Cuddling...the closer the better!!

If everything could be BLUE...your favorite color.

You Love to cook and bake...we will sure get alot of use of the apron.

You are such a good mommy to your babies...and can't wait til you are old like me.

Your memory is like a steel trap, what goes in rarely comes out.

You are kind and loving and a great older sister.

You have a wonderful imagination, you love to make up games and songs, and sing all day long.

What does a 4 year old wish for you ask?  Blow out the candles and you will see!!

"That I can have all of my family together!"

Lucy you have made our life full of adventure and joy.  I don't think that your dad or I could have ever imagined that we could love someone as much as we love you.  

7 months and growing...

I can hardly believe that little Evie is already 7 1/2 months. Here are just a few things Evie is up to!

I've learned to rock back and forth on my hands and knees and crawl...backwards. This causes more frustration than freedom seeing as I get farther away from what I want.

I roll ALL over the house, and have become mom's vacuum cleaner.

I love to eat...but only when I feed myself.

I cut my first tooth, no it is not a lower central but it is one of my laterals.

I had my 4th haircut, and mom has forgotten how many times she has cut my bangs. (I make a very big fuss when anyone touches my hair)!!

I am VERY happy and social and love when people talk to me.

I have now moved into my own room and mom and I are sleeping alot better.

I cluck with my tongue and say what sounds like "ba bye".

I love my sister Lucy and giggle with her all day.

I love to play peek-a-boo.

I am really starting to realize who mommy is, but rarely make a fuss as long as someone is talking to me.

I have many nicknames: Evietastic, Evie doodle, The Claw, Evinrude and Charlie (gpa peanuts).

I still fall asleep fastest when I am bundled like a burrito.

I can make the room light up when I come into it!

Evie thank you for being such a fun and wonderful part of
our family!!

Deep thoughts by Lucy

 

LUCY: "Mom when Humpty Dumpty was a hard boiled egg did he have a spirit"?
MOM: "Well most of the eggs that I know don't have spirits and Humpty Dumpty was just a story".
LUCY: "I think that when Humpty Dumpty fell his spirit went to heaven".

House for sale

 

Well as some of you might know we put our house up for sale quite some time ago and have been patiently waiting for the market to pick up a little so that I no longer have to maintain a show home. We really were in no serious rush to sell but, now I am feeling a little of the pressure, so we have really started to pray for our house to sell, but there is somebody in our house that I feel may be sabotaging our efforts.

MOM: "Hurry Lucy lets clean our house someone is coming to look at it so that maybe they can buy it!!"
LUCY: "But mom (in that whining voice that they do so well) if someone comes and takes our house we will have to be hobos and live by the river!"
Evidently we have been watching a little too much of KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL

MOM: "Lucy make sure you bless that our house will sell."
LUCY: "I don't want to sell our house, I just love it...maybe we could just push it to Raymond."

DAD: "Lucy remember to thank Heavenly Father for our house and bless that it will sell."
LUCY: "Dear Heavenly Father bless that our house will sell...Even if I don't want it too!!"

So we are making a little bit of head way...anyone in need of a new house? (just don't tell Lucy)

25 things

I get such a good laugh at everyone's 25 things about them and I really wondered if I could even think of 25 things about myself..sad cause aren't we supposed to know ourselves better than anyone else?

1. I think I was born worried. I try to act calm and collected but I am probably worrying about my kid and just possibly yours especially at playgrounds (aren't they supposed to be fun for all?)

2. I wore a bow or something in my hair until grade 9. Explains why my girls always have something in their hair.

3. I LOVE old people. My favorite job was working in a seniors home and loved having cookies and milk and chit chatting...I think I can talk to them better than those my own age.

4. I love cheese. Back in the day it wasn't uncommon to put a big hunk of cheese in the microwave and eat it melted (we thought it was amazing when microwaves came out). Every now and then I do it, but instead of hiding the evidence from my mom I'm hiding it from JD.

5. I am terrible at sending thank you cards...so THANK YOU belated or in advance!!

6. I was always the shortest in my class so for pictures I insisted on having cute shoes.

7. I love having kids but admit I really don't like being pregnant.

8. I don't know if I could say I hate texting but pretty close I want a response right now, what ever happened to good old fashioned talking.

9. I cry everytime I watch World Vision. when I was younger my dad told me I couldn't watch it anymore.

10. I am not the nicest person when I am awakened...I plead the fifth cause I am usually half out of it.

11. I won the Hope of America award in Utah in grade 6 and still don't know quite what that meant.

12. I love love love my kids and have a hard time being away from them.

13. I have an intense fear of my kids being taken away from me...if they are out of my line of vision I go into panic mode.

14. I hate winter driving. I know I live in Canada and will have many more years of it but I really feel the stress of winter driving has shortened my life span.

15. I love to cook and quite possibly eat it too.

16. I want a minivan...I've spent MANY hours convincing JD of the conveniences of owning one.

17. I love fresh flowers especially tulips...maybe cause that means spring is here.

18. I think I suffer from seasonal depression...I am so much more fun and motivated when the sun starts to shine!!

19. I could live with my parents or my in-laws and be perfectly fine, at least then I know my laundry would get done.

20. I would rather clean the bathrooms 5 times than fold and put away my laundry.

21. I love Shirley Temple and have sung many of her songs in musical theatre.

22. I was quite dramatic as a kid and now when I watch Lucy and all her drama I wonder how my parents did it.

23. I like to entertain in my home mainly so I don't have to leave it.

24. I am terrible at telling jokes..and even worse at understanding them.

25. I married someone that teaches me how to love beyond what I thought was possible.

Who am I

Nurse, doctor, chef, chaffeur, prince, princess, evil stepmother, maid, laundress, carpet cleaner, ...so I don't know what exactly my description would be but I think all of these would fall under the mom category. Evie last week started coming down with a cold and then a couple of days later started tugging on her ear, so off to the doctors we went to see if that was the cause of our sleepless nights, and YEP she had a ear infection. So we put her on amoxicillin to clear up the infection and I also was giving her probiotics so that she wouldn't get thrush - in other words we were having fun. Yesterday I started to notice a few spots on her back but I thought well I don't what I thought, but today I went to give her a bath and I noticed that her whole back and tummy were covered in a bright red rash!! I took her to a walk-in clinic were I waited for over 2 hours so that the doctor could confirm my diagnosis. She has a penicillin allergy...poor poor itchy little baby!! But no more ear infection. Anywho while I waited with Evie, JD took Lucy to costco on their date and did the shopping and had a costco hot dog. I know you say disgusting and so do I, but it is one of her simple pleasures in life and I wont buy them for our house so I do justify it once a month. Well tonight Lucy was in bed and I heard her coughing (no biggy) and then I heard what sounded like a gag (no biggy from Lucy) but up I got and went in and took one look at her, swooped her up out of bed and well we didn't quite make it hence the carpet cleaner title. I think that with my speed coupled with the upchuck force we hit just about every thing that we possible could with such extreme force and had the maximum splatter. I promise I will not post any pictures so that our night of clean-up doesn't lead to your night of clean-up. Well off to bed...wish me luck!!

SISTERS

I always say that a girl needs a sister and lucky for me I was blessed with 3 fantastic sisters. I know that with women comes a little drama but I feel that aside from the pinching, scratching, pulling of hair and tears over clothes we made it out pretty good.
Summer never ceases to amaze me. Whether it be her menus or her decorating and style sense I am in awe at how much talent one person can have. It seems that anything that she tries comes out looking like it was clipped from a magazine. If you sense a little jealousy there is, but thankfully she is great at sharing her wonderful ideas and is the source of much of my inspiration.
Linsey, well she has the personality that I always wanted. I was born to worry and mother and wished that I had a touch of Linsey's humor and fashion sense. She can always make a person laugh. Lins is full of adventure (hence the living in Australia) but she also has a soft side and is a great listener and has been at the end of many tearful conversations.
Ashley has been through just about everything with me. We slept in the same room for 13 years of my life and I think that she has been witness to me doing more stupid things than anyone else (parked cars and falling in public places). She has a great sense of fashion and has been more than helpful with my kids and also when I was pregnant, sick and completely unmotivated she stepped up cleaned what hadn't been done in quite some time.

Needless to say I am very grateful for my great sisters who are my best friends and was ecstatic when I found out that Lucy was going to have a sister. I watch them together and hope that they love each other even when they don't want to.
Nobody can get Evie to laugh like Lucy does, and Lucy of course loves to make her laugh. Lucy is usually the first one to greet Evie after her nap, I often find her right beside her in her crib. Lucy wants to be a part of everything even the changing of diapers and says she can't wait for Evie to sleep with her so that she can be her mommy. Here are just a couple of sister moments:

My mom was here one day and Lucy and Evie were on the bed together. My mom came down laughing and said what a great babysitter Lucy was, which made me wonder just what was going on. My mom walked in and found Evie sucking on Lucy's toes and when she asked Lucy what she was doing Lucy replied "she likes to suck on them!"

I came in to find Lucy trying to nurse Evie and when I asked what she was doing she said "I'm trying to feed her with my chesties but they are not big enough I WISH they would grow!"

My Life

I knew that I was really in for a great day...it all started with the southern Alberta wind last night. I felt as though I was in a wind tunnel and wished my house would be picked up and placed somewhere that the wind never blew. I watched JD sleep like a baby...well better than our babies cause I was up with them and envied his ease of sleep. The day started out just the same as always at 6:45 "mom can I have orange juice with special stuff", "go ask your dad!" I thought my job was done but much to my dismay it wasn't made to the expertise that mommy makes it. So I fixed what wasn't really broken and back to bed I went. After breakfast I went to the gym and justified my lack of excersion on my lack of sleep and finally gave up and back home I came. After lunch, with Evie asleep, I laid next to Lucy who within minutes fell asleep after insisting that she hadn't yawned yet, and therefore she didn't need that nap. I was so excited to have a nap of my own because I was starting to feel a little bit fluish. Within 10 minutes Evie was awake and so was I. So since me time was not an option, Evie and I went downstairs to do a little laundry..but remembering that I was feeling a little fluish I decided that the laundry could wait and Evie and I could take a nice, relaxing bath. We splashed around for a little while and then I heard the little footsteps of Lucy who was already dressed down to her skivvies ready to join the fun. Finally after we had all turned into prunes we climbed on out, I was still tired and achy but I learned 3 things:

1. My baby rolls are not near as cute as my babies' rolls, but well worth it

2. My time is never as fun as our time

3. I have the best job in the whole world

organize, organize, organize

I kind of wonder why I make new years resolutions cause they mainly are things that I am really not good at, which is the whole reason they were neglected in the first place. One of the many things I decided to do this year was organize my house...I didn't quite realize what an undertaking that has become. For all of you that wonder where my disorganized things are I dare you to just look in my drawers or closets..I am the master at hiding but then never seem to know where to find it. I have found a whole new love for ziploc bags that everything can just fit into and you can label it and put it in cute containers. I also have found a whole new appreciation for exceptionally organized parents that I know wonder how they raised such a pack rat (I admit it...I really am). .Thank you mom for taking the time out of your busy schedule to help me even though I was embarassed for her to see my inner workings...and she cleaned things that I honestly really even never thought to clean...do you clean you shower caddy that hangs from the shower head or are you like me and just assumed that "hey it gets cleaned ever time you shower"!?! Nonetheless I am learning that I feel so much better when there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.