Gotta Dash

When I was growing up I swore up and down my kids would never have a dog. For the first 10 or so years of my life I spent being terrified of dogs. It didn't help that the earliest memory I have of a dog is a stray my aunt took in. I went to move the bowl of food it was eating and it scratched my bare belly. It scared me so badly that I spent my childhood trying to crawl up my mom's body faster than lightening whenever a dog approached.

Then one summer day while Brandon and I were staying with our Dad and Sarah Jane in Vegas during summer vacation, they got a dog. I didn't know it at the time, but that dog was mine. My dad knew how scared I was of dogs. Having grown up with a couple himself, he wanted to break me of my fear and share the joy of a pet with me.

So one night after dinner they took us outside to wait on the lawn for a "surprise." A truck pulled up with 2 dogs in the back. The owner took the younger dog out and walked him up to us. "Surprise," called my Dad and Sarah, "this is our new dog!" I was mad at first and didn't want to stay the remainder of the summer there.

We spent the entire six weeks with him trying to come up with a name. He was a beautiful, rust colored Rhodesian Ridgeback. We tried naming him after former U.S. Presidents but none of the names stuck. Then one day we were trying out the name Razor. A neighbor heard us calling to him and thought we said Frazier and asked if it was after Kelsey Grammar's TV character. Well, the name Frazier stuck and because we've always had elaborate pet names, his full name was Frazier Mowri Lion King of the Meadows. Mowri was his mom's name, the other dog in the truck that night. Lion because Rhodesians are lion hunters in Africa. And King of the Meadows because he was king of Las Vegas, baby.

Although we only spent time with him during our summers in Vegas, he did help me get over my fear of dogs. When my Dad and Sarah finally moved to Salt Lake I was used to him and didn't mind him, but also didn't really interact with him too much. He was always just there. He had his little dog bed in the middle of the hall, farted like no other, and howled when my dad played the harmonica.

Then during one of our every other weekend stays at my Dad's, they gave us some bad news. Frazier had suffered from hip dysplasia the last couple years of his life and the meds just weren't enough to keep him comfortable anymore. He nipped at a neighborhood girl one day while out for a walk, something he had never done before. Before it could happen again they were going to put him down. That was on a Friday night.

The next morning my Dad and Brandon took him for his final walk, to the vet around the corner. Sarah, Cooper, Riley, and I waited on the front porch. It didn't really phase me until we saw them come around the corner, empty leash in hand. They both had tears in their eyes as we gathered for a family hug outside on the lawn. As we pulled away a few moments later, my dad looked down at me with tears streaming down his face and said, "You know we got him for you."

Brandon had a dog in high school. Sobe, after the drink. I was mostly annoyed by all the hair she left all over everything. One day she needed expensive surgery. My mom and B had decided to put her down. He was leaving for a mission soon and she didn't want Sobe to be sad for 2 years while he was gone. Except the vet had a nurse or someone who wanted to pay for the surgery and then take Sobe home with them. That night I cried listening to Brandon cry. I was sad for him. Sobe was a sweet dog and I had grown to love her too. Then I imagined her waking up from surgery, probably in pain, looking around for Brandon. It broke my heart, even though I didn't really like her.

So I swore off dogs for my children. Not because they have sad endings, but because I never really got close enough to the dogs to want one of my own.

I don't know what changed, but sometime between then and a few months ago, that all changed. Suddenly I wanted a dog really, really bad. We talked about it on and off for a few months. On Saturday we decided to go to Petsmart "just to look." Famous last words.

We knew we wanted a puppy, one we could train and that could grow with us from the beginning. There were a lot to choose from. Right away I fell in love with a beagle. She was cute and loved the attention. She had me as soon as she laid her chin on my lap.

At the same time John was a couple kennels down asking if he could wake up a little black basset hound to play with him. It took a moment to even get the dog out of his cage, he did NOT want to come out. He was shy and quiet and averted his eyes when we tried to look at his face. John started petting him from a foot away and the next thing I know he's got the dog laying on his shoulder, completely relaxed and in love. It was so cute! He warmed up a little and the boys started petting him. The dog just lay there enjoying it. We were sold.

One hour and a whole lot of stuff later, we were the new owners of the cutest little 5 month old basset mix you've ever seen!


He was really tired and slept most of Saturday. That night he slept in his kennel and we didn't hear a peep. Sunday was crazy trying to get ready for church and timing the dog's {ahem} needs. He whined and barked for the first time since we got him when I put him in the kennel for church. For the first couple days when we took him out he just wanted to lay in the grass and sleep. It was so annoying. Yesterday we were throwing out names and I rattled off a few of our favorite movie character names. Dash from Incredibles came to mind and we all agreed that it was a good name.

Today was the first day that we've really been able to see his personality come out. He is exploring the house more and more and when he walks it isn't hesitant and shy anymore, it's a little bouncy, like a puppy should be. He LOVES the boys! His tail wags whenever they are near. He loves to lick them and they love it too. Coen loves him which makes my heart soar because he was a little afraid of dogs up-close before. I think the fact that Dash is a puppy and is smaller than Coen makes a huge difference.

That being said, last night was a hard night for Dash. He kept whining in his kennel and it kept waking Coen up. They both ended up sleeping in our room; Coen in our bed and Dash in his kennel. By 1:30 we were all sleeping soundly. The barking and whining have deterred Coen from his loving Dash quite so much but I know that as we all adjust they will become best of friends.

I'm already becoming one of "those" dog owners. Today I took Dash to the vet for the first time. When Dr. Cupp commented on how healthy he was, I was beaming with pride as though I was the one who had gotten him to that point. Finding out how much he weighed was just as exciting as seeing Marshall or Coen being weighed when they were babies. Speaking of babies, I also find myself using a baby voice sometimes when I talk to him, you know the one. "You're so cute. Oh yes you are. You're such a good boy!" etc. The vet also told me how good natured he was - score! We chose a good one. Anyhow, it took all my will power not to post about him all day on facebook.

Marshall has thanked us numerous times for getting him a puppy "just like [he's] always wanted!" Tonight he told me he loved his new brother. I'm so excited to be taking this journey along with my kids.

Well folks, that's the (somewhat long) story of how we "Gotta Dash." Haha, get it?

Journaling for me, pictures for you:

Saturday night, so sleepy

Sunday morning, a little melancholy

Sunday afternoon, basking in the sun (who can blame him?!)

Sunday afternoon, looking handsome!

Why?

Yesterday the boys and I headed outside to soak up the marvelous rays of sun. Out on a lounge chair in the middle of the grass, was our new downstairs neighbor, a girl about my age. We introduced ourselves and we started chatting.

My guess is she's about my age, maybe a couple years younger. She lives with her fiance, they just moved here from Michigan. She mentioned looking for jobs and I asked what line of work she was in. She asked me next. I told her I stayed at home with my boys. "Really?!" she asked, sort of shocked, "Did your mom stay home with you when you were young, is that why?"

I gave her as good of an answer as I could after being caught off guard. "My mom watched kids after my parents' divorce when I was 4 so she could be home with us. She did that until my brother and I were in school full time, then she went to work outside the home. I've just always wanted to be a mom and I can't imagine leaving them everyday; it would just be too hard."

It never occurred to me that people would find that weird or different. You know, growing up in Salt Lake and all. I started to really think about it though, about her reaction. It dawned on me (though not for the first time) that growing up in Utah IS weird. It's totally different from any other place on earth. I knew this growing up but now I'm living proof.

I've thought a LOT about why I don't work outside the home. There have been so many times John and I have discussed it. To make my degree pay for itself, to make it worth it, how wonderful it would be to have a second income. We could have so much more financial freedom, own a house, be further ahead than we are. But each time, I come back to the same conclusions.

1. I can't balance life when I have too much going on. When I was in school my house was a constant disaster, we ate out all the time, I never felt like I had enough time with Marshall, or John, or sleep (precious sleep). I shut down when my plate is full and I get too overwhelmed.
2. I honestly can't picture leaving my kids every day. Enough said.
3. Working in my field wouldn't even make it worth it to work. I figure by the time taxes, wardrobe (because sweat pants aren't allowed pretty much anywhere), child care, dining out more, and splurging because I feel like I deserve it if I'm working, I wouldn't come home with enough to make it all worth it. Maybe if I hadn't failed intermediate accounting that career would have been worth it.
4. I just don't feel like it's what I'm supposed to do right now. I'm open to working, some day. Who knows when that may be. We talked about starting this fall, it could be when my kids are all grown up, it could be when they're pre-teens. I still cling to the dream of having preschool in my basement or getting my masters and teaching. I just don't know but right now I KNOW it's not the right time.

These are my thoughts I go over whenever I start to get materialistic or house hungry. I have to keep myself grounded in why I chose this life that I did.

So when my neighbor asked me why, then asked if it got old staying home every day, I said "yeah, but I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Called To Serve

I wanted to get a second week under my belt before I posted about my new calling (and just in case they decided I wasn't lying and I really can't sing and released me on the spot) because I'm the new Primary Music Leader!!

Four Sundays ago as I was getting ready for church, I got a feeling I would be getting a new calling. I've heard of this happening to Stake Presidencies and Bishopric members but Choristers?! Anyway, when I got to church John told me, with a smirk on his face, that I had to go meet with the Second Counselor of the Bishopric immediately. He pulled me into a room, with a smirk on his face, and because John already new from Bishopric meeting that morning he came too. He started ever so slyly by saying "We're going to release you from nursery but keep you in primary." "Ok," I thought, "I can teach a primary class." But before I finished that thought he continued, "And ask if you would be the Primary Chorister?"

I laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. And so did John. And the Counselor. Because apparently in the Bishopric meeting when they talked about this position for me, John laughed out loud and told them "Go ahead and ask, but she can't sing." He told me this as we all regained composure from laughing and I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes.

Obviously I said yes and told him that John wasn't just being mean, it was true and I'm the first person to admit that I severely lack the ability to sing on key. Other than that though, I was SO excited about the calling! I love being with kids and being able to teach and prepare fun things, so this really was right up my alley.

Immediately I started preparing by listening to the new song, "If I Listen with my Heart," it is a beautiful song, but a hard one to learn in my opinion. I also found about 10 blogs of experienced choristers or others who serve in primary. Thank goodness for crafty people, their willingness to share their talent, and the ever incredible world wide web! I found a million ideas then headed to Michael's to buy materials. Can I just say I love that place?!

Anyway, I got my craft on and made a "Can of Worms" for junior primary. Inside are wiggle worms with song names on them. Whoever wiggles really well gets to pick a song/worm from the can to sing. We do a few of these when the little ones get restless.

For senior primary I already had a book from Deseret Book called "Super Little Singers" that has "helps" in it that you just cut out and laminate. So I cut out some fish, put paper clips on the mouths, and made a fishing pole. The fish have numbers on back and I have a master list of songs that correlate to the numbers.

I also gathered visual aids for "I Will Follow God's Plan for Me," and printed pictures for "If I Listen with My Heart." There are so many more ideas out there that I can't wait to try, but I figured that was enough to get me started.

So far weeks 1 and 2 have gone well. We have some great kids in our ward and I have no shortage of helpers. They're all very respectful and well behaved (our last ward was somewhat...irreverent) so I'm really impressed.

This will be a fun year as we prepare for the Primary Program! I know we learn and grow in each calling He places us in and I'm so excited for this opportunity!

(Now I just hope when the bishop sets me apart next week he receives divine inspiration to bless me with an amazing singing voice.) ;)

And with that, I'm done knocking my inability to sing. I think I've told anyone in the ward who will listen to me :/ I'm just going to focus on preparing the kids and having fun!

Snowventure

Yesterday we got about 10-12 inches of snow so of course that meant that we had to go play in it today. The boys rolled around in it. Coen almost drowned in it, it was thigh-high for him in some places. We took a walk where there is normally a sidewalk then came home and had hot cocoa. The pictures of the boys in the snow are actually from our snowstorm in January and the hot cocoa ones are from today. Coen's first real time out in the snow!

Marshall was so excited he just started rolling in it!

Our Winter Wonderland

Coen about to dive in!

Made lots of snow angels!

SOO happy to be playing outside in the snow! We waited a long time for it to snow enough to play in. Marshall kept complaining about not being in Utah where it snows all Winter. We also had to explain that just because it is Winter doesn't necessarily mean it has to snow, too.

He kept walking a few steps then just sitting down.

Sticking his tongue out to catch snowflakes.

Running

"Where's your hot cocoa?"

Aww :)

Licking their cocoa mustaches.

Last but not least, I absolutely love the way Coen says "hot cocoa," listen in the video below.

Boys will be boys?

This is what happens when you ask your son to go get dressed for the day and make his bed. He gets halfway dressed then starts play fighting with his brother who has been distracting him by jumping on the bed while he's trying to make it. ((Sigh))


February 9, 2011

Can you hear the sound? My speakers won't play from the web at the moment.

Coen

A friend of mine here in KC does a fabulous job of doing comprehensive monthly updates on her 2 kids. While I am not dedicated enough to do this every month I love the idea and since it's been awhile since I blogged I thought it would be fun to document the different things they've been up to.

A couple months ago Coen decided to start skipping his afternoon nap by climbing over his crib rail. Since naptime is critical to mine and Marshall's school time I decided action had to be taken, this boy was NOT giving up naps! He's not even close to ready because when he misses a nap he is CrANkY all afternoon. So I bought a crib tent. It came in packaging marked "Sent From Heaven." Not really but it could have been!It took all of 5 minutes for him to realize I meant business the first two days. After that it was a breeze! I read him 2 stories, turn on the music, and let him pick out a book to take to bed to read to his foo-foo.

Nighttime however has not been so easy. He started waking up at 1:00am (could he be reverting to old habits?) and would not go back down in his crib. To keep Marshall from waking up to his crying we started taking him to our bed to sleep. I swore I would never let my kids do this after 3 months old! Even if we were able to get him back to sleep and back in his crib he wakes up again at about 4:00. It's the weirdest thing to me that those are the same hours he would be awake during when he was a baby. It is so hard for me to sleep with him next to me kicking and sleeping upside down with his feet in our faces!

We've come to the conclusion it's because A) he wants his own bed because he wants anything Marshall has and a bed is one of those things and B) he is in love with my duvet, he sighs like a newborn about to nurse when he gets tucked in with it. He loves to fall asleep in Marshall's bed too and has actually spent the night with him a few times. Bunk beds are in our near future!! Let's hope they do the trick.

Coen is putting more and more words together and everyday I understand him a little more. John and I think it is hilarious when he says daddy because it comes out "GUY." We don't know if it's because he can't say daddy or if it's because John is a guy. It's especially funny when we're woken by his 1:00am cries for "guuuuuy! GUUUUUUYYYY!"

Coen loves to sing every time we get in the car. His favorites are Old MacDonald, the Alphabet Song, Popcorn Popping, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Wheels on the Bus. Yet he absolutely refuses to participate in singing time during nursery. There are some roads that he chants "weeeeeeee" while we drive down them because of the resemblance to the hilly road we take John to work on. Other times he just whines and yells.

He has noticed a difference in his car seat versus Marshall's and doesn't like having a 5-point harness when Marshall is just in a shoulder strap and booster seat. His booster seat at the table has also been shunned. He won't sit on it because Marshall doesn't have one. He also insists on moving a chair to whatever side of the table Marshall is sitting on and whines and points "Mahshow" until we move him.


Coen likes it when I tell him what color his things are while we're playing. He'll hold up a block before he stacks it and I have to say the color. He loves counting but doesn't do too well past 3.

He loves to walk Dad to the door each morning on his way to work as he waves and says, "bye, Guy!" a million times. He gets very mad though when Dad takes Marshall anywhere and he gets left behind.

Last week I made a new recipe for dinner. Marshall showed me 2 thumbs up and in an attempt to copy him, Coen gave me 2 pointers up. Marshall then changed his to 10 fingers up. Anyway, now whenever Coen likes something he's eating, he'll hold his 2 pointers up and do a little dance in his seat. It's hilarious!

Coen refuses to eat soup! I've made different soups this winter and he won't even take a bite of any of them. Weird boy.

The boy still loves his stuffed foo-foos and is always carting them around with him. On this day I found him reading a Spot book to all 3 in his rocking chair.


After months of being blamed for acts of vandalism and mischief, Coen has turned the tables and can now stick up for himself with the line, "Marshall did it!"

Marshall

This 6 year old has matured so much lately. He is a great conversationalist, is very loving and affectionate, and is a wonderful brother to Coen.

The other day Coen slapped my face, thinking it was playful. When I told him not to and he did it again, I took his hands and made him hit himself in the face lightly but firm enough for him to know how it felt. Big brother Marshall came to his rescue and said, "Hey! Don't hit my brother!" What a good protector he is....when he's not the one instigating it.

Marshall is so fun to teach! He picks things up really fast and has an amazing memory.

In math we are working on memorizing single digit addition and subtraction facts. We're in the last chapter of our kindergarten math book, studying fractions, and we'll be moving on to a first grade curriculum already!

Reading is coming along really well! We are on lesson 85 out of 100 in "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, " love this book! He gets frustrated easily however and so reading is not his favorite subject. This book pushes him so to mix it up I let him read Bob books to me, that are easier for him and boost his confidence. I also get him beginning reader books from the library and he gets excited about reading "real books." I've tried uploading a video of him reading on here but both times my attempt has failed.

Last week we had another snow storm and ironically our week's unit study was on snow and winter weather. Coen was sick and took a morning nap, so Marshall and I spent the morning learning how to make paper snowflakes. We also made snow ice cream, a favorite of mine growing up, and pipe cleaner snowflakes soaked in a crystal solution.

We also read just about every book they had on snow and winter at the library. Some people walk out with 1 or 2 books, I walk out with 1 or 2 bags. I'm sure they just love stocking my books on the hold shelves :/

Marshall has an inflated sense of self, to say the least. He hates being told he's wrong, will argue with John over the dumbest things (or should I say John argues with him...), he is not happy when he loses during a family game, and thinks he can do anything better than anyone. I'm hoping humility comes with age.

Marshall had his awards ceremony in karate a few weeks ago. It was so cute how nervous he got beforehand. He was worried about not passing his white belt test. Needless to say he was ecstatic when he received his yellow belt!

Marshall and his Sensei

So proud!

(Blurry camera phone pictures, better than nothing!)

Marshall's jokes are still nonsensical:
Marshall: "What do you get when you buy a dog, a sign, and a hot dog?"
Me: "I don't know, what?"
Marshall, laughing: "A horse, horse."

So it was extra funny when we heard this exchange in the backseat:
Coen was talking to himself in incomprehensible toddler language and then laughing at himself. Marshall says to him, "Coen, your jokes aren't funny because nobody understands you."

Last week during the storm we were watching the snow fall down and Marshall said, "It sure is a blister out there."

He misses his cousins Laine, Eve, Jacob, and Andrew. And is sad that he moved away right as Sam and Simon were moving back to Salt Lake. He still talks about his best friend Asher and all the fun places we used to go with him, Heather, and Oaklie.

Marshall no longer complains about going to church. He had an incredible teacher last year and I credit her for the change. Before we moved here it was torture to get him out the door and to go to his class on Sundays. Now he looks forward to it! He has another great teacher this year too. It is so neat to see him learning about the gospel and seeing his understanding of it grow.

Along those lines, Marshall and I are using a scripture study program in our homeschool. Each day we read, then answer questions, learn a memory verse, practice copywork (handwriting), and do a fun activity like draw a line from the BOM character to what they did in the story you just read, or a word search, etc. It really helps Marshall retain what we have read and gives us something to discuss.

John and Marshall just finished watching all the Lord of the Rings DVDs together. It was cute to hear John explaining the characters and plot to Marshall. Marshall loves spending any time he can with his dad. It was good male bonding.

A couple weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner. Marshall and Coen were seated at the little table which has an outlet with an extension cord in it right there on the wall that is slightly loose. Out of the corner of my eye I see Marshall use his fork to try pushing it back in the socket. His fork slipped down onto the metal prongs and POP! sparks flew. Luckily he was okay! I'm thinking it was God's way of blessing us for feeding the missionaries ;-)

We're glad you're safe, Marshall!

Lately

We didn't celebrate New Year's Eve like I had planned in my head. I was getting over a cold, I was sad about my Dad leaving, and just overall exhausted from all the fun/stress of December. We did however have the annual Bradley Family Fondue! John and I had a huge pot all to ourselves and it tasted just like his Dad's. Mmm, I love this tradition :)

John had Monday off and took Marshall bowling. I'm so glad they got some one-on-one time...that didn't include Xbox.

On Tuesday we all started back to the grind (is that the right expression?) I woke up with a renewed energy for a great new year and decided to steam-vac my carpets. I've made this my New Year's resolution the last couple years because it's super easy and only takes a couple hours ;) We also started back to school, much to Marshall's chagrin.

Wednesday morning Coen decided to wreck havoc on the dining room carpet. I had run out of vinegar (used it in the steam-vac) the day before and had only done the living room, thankfully. He had figured out how to unscrew the cap on a do-a-dot marker, black, and painted a good little patch of the floor. Urgh.

Marshall had his annual well child physical at the doctors on Wednesday morning. He is still in the 97th percentile for height and 90th for weight. He passed with flying colors on all the tests - count to 20, draw these 4 shapes, what is this color?, say the abc's, and then, the doctor asked him to skip. Being my son, the boy has very little coordination. The doctor was concerned and ironically John and I have been too but just thought it was genetic. So we're having him assessed by a physical therapist. If there is anything that can help him, I'll do it because speaking from personal experience, it just sucks to be one step behind everyone else in dance class, urh, karate as it were.

On Thursday Coen found a pair of scissors and the half-empty box of Otter Pops on the bottom shelf of the pantry (stupid!) and cut a few open over the carpet in the dining room. On Thursday while dinner was cooking and John was playing Xbox with Marshall, I fell asleep when I sat down on the bed to get dressed for a workout class at the church. During the 20 minutes dinner took to cook, Coen decided to spill not one, not two, but THREE drinks onto the freshly steamed living room carpet!!! RIGHT in front of John who was too glued to the Xbox to notice. Thoughts of smashing the stupid machine in with a metal baseball bat ran through my head, but alas, we don't have a metal baseball bat.

On Friday we escaped the disaster waiting to happen that is our apartment and went to a friend's house to play and celebrate another friend's birthday. Luckily my little tornado left her house in tact.

Saturday morning was filled with lazing around the house all morning then finally deciding I needed groceries. At some point during the day Coen decided to get into the do-a-dot markers again (black and orange this time) and did-a-dot every few inches all across the living room floor. Let's see, that's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Five, Five days and my carpets actually looked worse than they had before I steamed them.

I sat that boy on a chair and told him he was in big trouble and that painting carpets was a no-no. Do you know what he did? He crossed his little arms over his chest, gave a big "HMPH!" and turned his face away. I stared at him for a minute and as he peeked to see if I was smiling, which I definitely wasn't, he scowled at me then turned his face again.

That night John and I made Risotto and I fulfilled a fantasy of his...co-cooking in the kitchen. I'm more of a stay out of my way while I do this kinda gal, but hey, anything to keep the hubs happy :) I organized the boys' toys in their room and was able to step out after lights-out without stepping on any Legos. Woohoo! Coen fell asleep early, as he had not taken a nap, which gave John and myself some time for games with Marshall before his bed time. After the kids were down I read by the fire in my cozy sweatpants while John hunted down Inception at a Redbox. We watched the movie while the fire burned then went to bed and cuddled.

Being all cozy and warm and tucked in made me glad for the simple things - my {crazy} family - black paint and all.
Top left corner has one of the drink spots

Grandpa Kirk comes to KC

My Dad and Pippa came over Monday morning ready for a Kansas City adventure! After playing with the boys for a few hours, we ventured out after lunch. Our first stop was the Jazz District and Jazz Museum. The Museum was closed on Mondays, but we were able to see the lobby thanks to a nice gentleman who let us in and gave us a little background on the African-American history in the area. Since the Jazz Museum wasn't opened, we headed over to The Money Museum, a Federal Bank here in KC. That night after dinner, the adults watched Knight and Day after the boys went to sleep.

::Pippa plays with Coen in his bedroom::

::sending the car straight into some animal figures Pippa had set up::

::Marshall sneaking in to surprise us with a Snap Circuits board that he set up to launch this fan into the air::

::Outside the Jazz Museum the boys found a giant teddy bear::

::Outside after our tour through the bank::

::Inside the boys were able to design their own currency and choose denominations and designs for their money::

::Back at the house that night (and every night) Grandpa Kirk read stories and helped tuck the boys into bed::

::Here are Marshall and my Dad playing with Marshall's new game, Rush Hour Jr.::

On Tuesday afternoon we had the boys' favorite sitter over while Dad took us all to see True Grit at the theater. We came back to a delicious stew Pippa had cooked for us. After dinner the adults were able to play a game of Blokus.

On Wednesday we all headed downtown to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I was a little worried about how the boys would do in an art gallery. Marshall tends to complain when we do anything deemed as "adult" in his eyes and has a huge tantrum. I printed off a list of things for him to look for in the paintings at the museum and we did a scavenger hunt. He did really well, learned a lot, and actually had fun, not complaining or whining once. In fact, when it was time to go, he asked if we could stay! Outside in the sculpture garden, my dad played hide and seek with him just like he used to play at the mall with me and Brandon.

After a little R&R we met back up at our place and headed out to dinner while the boys stayed home with the sitter again. My dad took us to Fiorella's Jack Stack where we had some of the most delicious barbeque Kansas City has to offer. When we got home it was time to say goodnight and send them on their way.

We had such a good time having them visit us. My dad and I have been through a lot of ups and downs and have come out on the other side. I love him so much and will miss him a lot! John and I both commented that our favorite thing was seeing Dad and Pippa playing and interacting with the boys.

Thanks for coming all this way to visit us! We love you guys!!

Our Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
"I can not find my charger!" I squealed like a mouse.
"My old point and shoot will have to suffice,"
I muttered in spite as I turned out the lights.

Aside from not being able to find the right lens or my camera battery charger, we had a wonderful first Christmas in Kansas City! On Christmas Eve, John made us his mom's tomato soup, an old Christmas tradition of theirs. We were able to Skype with his family and see all our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins doing their traditional singing and nativity reenactment.

After getting off-line we told Marshall Santa wouldn't leave presents if he saw his toys scattered all over his room. We finally got the place clean, just in the Nick (haha) of time! We came out to the living room to sing songs and read the account of Jesus' birth in the scriptures while Marshall acted it out with a nativity he made earlier in the week.

On their way to bed, the boys found their new pajamas lying in wait for them. Nice and cozy, they settled in and went right to sleep so Santa could come.

::The obligatory "jammy" picture::

:: Coen had not been sleeping well all week and spent most of Christmas Eve night either awake, or tossing and turning in our bed. That's why he looks so happy::

:: Just in time for Christmas day, Coen learned how to do a "canned" smile. I love it, it's so goofy!::

::It's called a stocking for a reason, guys!::

::A wise Santa gave Coen his very own "guys" to play with so he wouldn't have to bother big brother when he's playing::

::Marshall found a Toy Story watch in his stocking::

::Excited about a Zoob set from Grammy::

::Coen plays with his new transporter from Grammy::

::John shows off the new emergency light/radio his parents gave us!::

::Every time we go to Target or Barnes and Noble, Marshall stops to play with a Tag in the store. He's been begging for one and I found a great sale, so Coen gave him this. Marshall was stoked!::

::Almost done unwrapping, Marshall started to worry Santa had forgotten his request for little robots, but Santa came through and bought him Zibits::

::Marshall gave Coen some nesting suitcases, knowing how much he likes to open and shut things with his toys tucked inside::

::I love Coen's expression as he opens this construction set from his cousin::

::Coen's big gift from Santa this year was a Toy Story 3 play set, complete with Buzz, Woody, Lotso, and some Aliens.::

::Marshall's big gift from the red guy was this play set for his Zibits robots::

::Marshall concentrates as he creates something with his Pixos from Grandma Sarah::

::Trying out the new Tag Reader::

::Coen tests out his new Fridge Phonics set from Grammy. His favorite is the button that sings the Alphabet Song::

::Marshall enjoyed playing his new Leapster games, Cars, and Dinosaur Discovery::

::John played Xbox all afternoon, his perfect Christmas::

:: Coen loved the tool set we gave him::

I love watching my boys on Christmas morning. We had so much fun staying in our jammies and playing with their new things all day. We had my traditional Christmas Casserole for breakfast, along with cinnamon rolls and grapefruit. In the afternoon, Coen and I took naps while John and Marshall bonded over video games. Later that night we had leftover soups from the 2 previous nights' dinners and watched the boys' new movie, Curious George 2. It was a fabulous Christmas!!