Who knew.....

For christmas I got one of those expensive flat irons that work miracles on hair. I can't believe I straightened in the dark for so long with one of those cheap imitations. Since Christmas, I have straightened my hair, Quincy's hair and Reece's hair (yes, Reece's hair is long enough to straighten). Someome told me these little miracle workers made awesome curling irons too. How can that be.....a straightner and curling iron in one? So I tested it out on Quincy. I thought she looked adorable in those curls- she had another opinion. " I hate it" were her exact words. I told her I didn't care how she felt about her curls just smile and let me take a picture. By the time I picked her up from primary she managed to have her hair almost completely straight again. Where did she get this determination and spunk?

Christmas Pictures

Santa Claus

Kids tend to have a love/hate relationship with Santa. They love what he represents (gifts) but the idea of getting close enough, to the bearded stranger, to whisper one's desires tend to invoke protests accompanied by tears and shrill cries of "NO"! We witnessed this very scene, earlier in the day, at the mall. Trey happens to be one of those kids that can't get on Santa's lap fast enough. He ran right up to him and just wanted to sit there. Quincy doesn't mind the sitting on lap part but i guess she starts to unravel when she has to tell him what she actually wants for christmas-hence the finger in the mouth and Reece, well Reece is just too old to sit on Santa's lap- at least according to Reece.

Testing Testing......

Trey is supposed to visit the pediatric allergist every six months to see if he is still allergic to the allergens he was allergic to prior, which is pretty much everything,(wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts,shellfish, cats and dogs, horses, etc). This visit is NOT covered by insurance and costs about $350. Since I am so cheap I thought I would just expose Trey to tiny amounts of food containing the above allergens and if he broke out in hives, vomitted or stopped breathing we would know his allergies were still intact and I would save $350. Of course I AM KIDDING. However, it just so happens that the above scenerio occurred inadvertently the other day. See we were shopping at Costco and all the yummy samples were strategically place at the end of almost every isle. I was quickly whisking by so Trey wouldn't spy a single bite and then BAM we were caught in a cart jam, as often happens in Costco, right in front of the veggie burger sample table. Veggie burger- can't be too bad, right. I let my guard down and allowed Trey to partake of the small sample before checking the ingredient label. As he chowed down on the tiny morsel of veggie burger I quickly scanned the nutritional information. UH-OH! eggs, wheat and dairy (LESSON #1-never feed him ANYTHING before checking nutritional info). I quickly swiped his mouth removing what was left of the unswallowed sample but I knew I was too late. He was already swelling up and itching like crazy. Where was my benedryl (LESSON #2-never, never leave home without the benedryl). Obviously we dashed to the car and headed home. As I glanced in the rearview mirror I could see Trey wasn't looking good. And then it happened. Yup you guessed it-vomit all over. Poor little guy. I had mixed emotions about the vomit. I was grateful because he was able to discharge the morsel of veggie burger and his swelling went down after that. But then there was the cleaning up part that's not so much fun.
So to conclude the results of my unscientific, accidental test.....YES Trey still suffers from those pesky allergies.

Anatomy 101

I have to get this on record- someday it just might come in handy as good blackmail material.
Yesterday when I was changing Trey's diaper he kept saying, "my peanut hurts". He was obviously referring to his penis. I kept telling him it's called a penis but he insists on referring to it as his "peanut". WHATEVER. Well- Trey was standing in my bathroom when I got out of the shower today. As I began toweling off I noticed a look of grave concern on his face. I mean this kid was bewildered about something. "Mom", he gasped, "where is your peanut"?

A picture update

My blogging seems to be taking a back seat to the busyness(is that how you spell that word)? of the season but I did want to post some recent pictures.

Quinn doing his fatherly duty-hanging the Christmas lights.

Our neighbors came over for dinner and games tonight. Their son, Alex, can be very aggressive and tonight Trey got the brunt end of that deal. Alex managed to scratch his eyes pretty good.

For the safety of everyone we decided to chain Alex to the table. That lasted about 2 seconds because we didn't want him to scratch up the table with the handcuffs.

Reece enjoying the outside and trying NOT to smile for the camera.

Quincy finally agreed to a haircut- she loves her new do and is always willing to smile big for the camera.

Things that make you go huh????

Yesterday Quinn was teasing Quincy about having a fat tummy. I mean he was totally teasing her BUT me, being miss serious, told him to knock it off because I didn't want her to have issues when she was older. Quincy asked, in a very serious tone, "what's an issue". HUH????

This morning Quincy wouldn't wake up so I started playing Christmas music on the piano and Trey came in yelling, "no church, mom. no church".
HUH????

Trey's favorite DVD, at the moment, is Barbie Princess and the Pauper. From this movie he has learned the valuable phrases, "shut-up" and "you idiot". HUH????C'mon Barbie clean up your act!

Reece wrote his Christmas list yesterday and prefaced all his requests with, "If I'm not on the naughty list, I would like.....". So what if he doesn't get every present requested will he think he's on the "naughty list" and have "issues" when he gets older?

Sayornara Toothfairy

Tonight Reece lost a tooth.
Reece: Mom you're the toothfairy aren't you?
Me: No I am not.
Reece: Mom tell me the truth- you are.

What's a mother to do?

Here we come 1970 style

Our neighbor is celebrating his birthday 70's style. We are off to bowling, clothed in our 1970ish polyester digs. Can't wait to see what everyone else looks like.

Show me the minutes

Lately I have been pondering how I spend my discretionary minutes. I decided to take a personal inventory and wasn't impressed with my findings. What I discovered is I need to be investing my discretionary time much more wisely. My husband is number one where I need to start. Quinn gets a few precious, sometimes not so precious, minutes each day while I allow facebook, children,Larry King Live, friends, e-mail, domestic duties, exercise, reading, etc . to consume my day. Quinn is a definite assesst to my life and my children's lives so I guess I better pony up and start investing my minutes in one of my strongest assests. I believe when we know better we do better. I know better therefore i will do better.

p.s. just a side note- Tonight my kids and I had the privelege (spelling)??? of co-habitating with the Walker girls (Alyssa-10, Rachelle-8, Lydia-5, Sarah-2). WOW! They are really fantastic gals. I enjoyed hearing about their school day- Since Reece is a child that reveals very little information and I teach Quincy's preschool (if you can call it that) so I know what her school day is like. I also enjoyed soaking up all the tidbits of useless -BUT very entertaining- pieces of information that only 10 & 8 year old girls can dish out.
my heart melted as I observed these girls mothering Trey, Quincy and Reece BUT by the far the most enduring moment was witnessing Sarah and Trey interact. They are both two, well Sarah will be very soon, so there were some tense moments but for the most part they played cohesively with genuine concern for each other. It was really really sweet.

I know who I am......

Today in Relief society we discussed how knowing we are divine daughters of God can assist us in navigating through this life. As I pondered that question I kept thinking about the 10k race I ran, October 25th. I trained for the race and felt prepared going into the event. Miles 1-3 were easy for me. Mile 4, I hit a wall. My legs started to ache, my breathing began to labor and I really just wanted to stop and walk. I kept telling myself, "you're a runner- you can do this. you are prepared- DON'T STOP!". I slowed my pace but kept running. Mile 5 my legs stared to loosen up again and I fell into a rhythm. Once I hit mile 6 I felt strong and was able to pick up my pace. When I crossed the finish line I was so proud of myself. Not only had I ran the whole distance I had also accomplished my goal of running 10 minute miles. The belief that I was a runner kept me running through mile 4, even though I was desperate to walk. My life has been littered with "mile 4's". I have caved into temptation and spiritually walked, even stopped, when I needed to stay running. Fortunately through the sacrifice of the Savior and His atonement I can repent of my mistakes, continue "training", for the "10k" of life and prepare myself to more successfully endure "mile 4's" -running the whole time even when I want to walk. The knowledge and belief that I am a child of God, with divine nature will keep me strong when I want to be weak. I hope that when I cross the finish line of life and meet my Savior that both He and I will be proud of me.

Falling for Fall

Fall is my second favorite season. Spring is top on the list. Two activities I love in the Fall are carving pumpkins and playing in the leaves. We have several mature, beautiful trees in our yard that provide much needed shade in the hot summer and lots of falling leaves to rake in the pre-winter months. Today the kids and I enjoyed, an unseasonably warm day, of frolicking in the leaves.

Quincy on top of her leaf pile.

Reece on top of his leaf pile.

My three little birds in their nest of leaves.

It's raining leaves.

What a cutie pie.

Quincy and I hanging out on her pile of leaves.

Last Monday we carved our pumkins.

Reece with his finished project.

Quincy with her pumkin- she really loved her pumpkin.

Trey going to town on the gunk.

What came over me?

I am not a crafty person. I also don't like messes. I realize the combination of the two might be the cause of my children missing out on some potentially, memory makin' fun, so I am trying to get over myself. I saw these Halloween shirts in a parenting magazine. The directions seemed simple enough and the mess factor was easy to control. Wouldn't ya know it- we had fun and I daresay made a memory.



All you need is: 3 white shirts, 1 box of orange fabric dye, black permanent marker, rubberbands and your imagination. You can make one big pumpkin on your shirt or several little ones, depending on how much fabric you bunch up and rubberband. After you rubberband the fabric follow the cloth dye instructions on the box. Once that step is completed your ready to make the pumpkin faces on the shirt, using the black felt pen. I outlined the faces for Quincy and she colored them in. Reece was on his own and Trey helped me color his pumpkin face. Of course Trey used a washable marker while I used the permanent one.
p.s. DO use a bucket to dye the fabric. DON'T use your white sink. Bleach will NOT completely remove the fabric dye from the surface.

Trey turns "2"

Trey turned 2 on Friday, October 17. I can't believe he's already two. Where has the time gone? And look how much he's grown. Trey has been such an amazing addition to our family. I will freely admit having 3 children has almost pushed me over the edge. C'mon 3 is a tough number but our family wouldn't be the same without this little guy and we love him so much.
His favorite activities include; playing with Quincy- he loves, loves, loves his big sister, wrestling around with Reece and Dad, riding bikes outside, swinging, jumping on the trampoline, going to "Lena's" (Selina's) house, playing hide and seek, reading books, watching Elmo and swimming. He has no fear of the water. He jumps right in, holding his breath, and floats to the top. I am trying to teach him to flip over to his back but he will have none of that yet. His favorite foods (which are limited because of all his allergies-no eggs, nuts, dairy or wheat) are: taco soup, beans, rice, instant oatmeal, otter pops, tangerines, frozen peas (thanks Walker's), corn, apple slices, grapes, veggie chips, from Trader Joe's, and popcorn. He hates soymilk and soy ice-cream. Thanks to his older siblings his vocabulary is large but the phrases he seems to use most are : "don't Quincy" (insert Reece, Mom or Dad), and "Mom (again insert Reece, Quincy or Dad) what are you doing"?and of course the ultimate 2 year old phrase.....WHY??????????

What a cutie pie.

Hey blue eyes-

All smiles

Ok where are the smiles?

Now he can't seem to smile without the tongue coming out.

Where's Waldo?


Grandma Dance flew in from Seattle to celebrate Trey's b-day with us. Thanks Grandma.

It's always fun at Grandma's house.....

Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house is a paradise for Quinn and the kids. It has taken me years to acclimate to the dirt and ruralness of Riverside, Idaho. I am finally learning to appreciate this town for what it is and not dwell on what I wish it was. I would spend much of my time engaged in the daunting task of keeping my kids clean while on the farm. Now I don't even bother. A little dirt won't hurt, right?

Quinn and the kids hauling corn stalks to the field to feed the cows.

Quincy and Trey preparing dinner.

This is one of my favorite pictures. This is in the backyard at Grandma's house.

Every year they have a big fire, at the bottom of the field. They burn all the scrap wood and who knows what else.

Jackson brought his horse over and gave the kids each a little ride.

Quinn took the kids and some cousins fishing. Quincy was the only girl and she caught the first fish. Go Quincy.

Grandma Peterson always cooks fabulous meals. For breakfast we had crepes with homeade maple syrup and homeade raspberry freezer jam. Yummy.