too cool

 

 

This morning as I was driving, Claire informed me about the biggest problem in her life.

"I'm just too cool," she said.  "It's just that I do so many cool tricks and I am so cool that everyone wants to be like me.  That's my problem".




A problem, indeed.



Happy Halloween!

i just have to laugh

In the last hour, Emmy threw up- forcing me to cancel her little piano performance at her "mini-musicale" (and she had actually practiced this week!  The shame!).  Instead, I ran Kate to her piano lesson, and should have listened better as Claire rolled around in the backseat, moaning about her stomach hurting.  She had refused to eat lunch today because cheetos were not on the menu, so I just figured. . .well, it doesn't matter now anyway.  That's because before I realized I should have listened to her, she started throwing up.  I'm pretty sure she threw up a gallon or so.  It was so stinky that I had to roll down all the windows so I didn't join her.  And ever since she threw up, she's been sneezing and every time she does, more throw-up comes out her nose.  Kind if hilarious, if I do say so myself. 

(I know, it's gross- but I've never seen anything like that before in all my 12+ years at this cleaning-up-throw-up gig!)

Oh, and in between the two throwing-up episodes, Sam just happened to call 9-1-1.  Which means that police came to my door mid-chaos.  You know, just to make sure we were all okay and alive and such.  Hopefully we presented a believable picture.  I suppose it must have been.  Enough that Miss Police Officer called and cancelled the panic button at the station, anyway.  What is the luck that those numbers would roll off his chubby little fingers?  I'm thinking Sam the Man is our lucky-ticket-to-win-the-lottery kid. 

Courtney called just as I was cleaning up the car and I had to tell him that too-bad for him.  Cuz he was missing all the excitement, you know. 





I just have to say there are some days that go so differently than what I had planned that I just have to laugh right out loud. 

claire turns four!

 

Claire had a great birthday! 

 

We started the day off with birthday donuts and a special tea party with her friend Reese.  Two cute princesses, I would say!

 

 

This past summer, we noticed (because how could we not notice?) that Claire was struggling a bit. Our normally happy-go-lucky little girl was all the sudden not herself. While at Lake Powell, she mentioned a few times that she wanted to be the baby because everyone wants to hold and play with the baby. Boy! Whenever I have one of those moments when I realize one of my children are not feeling enough love, despite my best efforts otherwise, it hurts my heart a little bit. Courtney and I talked about it and decided that maybe what Claire needed was her very own "hot date" with Mom and Dad. She was thrilled with the idea and looked forward to it the whole day!

 

For our "hot date" we went to find Daddy some new church clothes (where Miss Claire was the best saleslady in the store, of course) and then to Wal-Mart (sorry, Uncle Shawn) to find Claire a big girl bike!  She knew instantly which bike she wanted, and after a quick spin around the store on her new wheels we were set! 

 

Next, it was off to dinner and then to the movie theater to see "Brave".  One thing about our Claire at age four (and three, and two) is that she doesn't have a shy bone in her body.  She talks to everyone she sees, and we have to keep a close eye on what she says!  The girls say that we have no family secrets!  While at the movie, Claire stood up, walked up the steps to the only other people in the theater, a mom and daughter.  She had plopped herself down and was discussing the better points of the movie with them before I could retrieve her.

Like all of mom and dad's "hot dates, we ended the night with ice cream.  A perfect ending for our girl!

 

We sure love our Claire! Spunky and smart, she's our favorite four year old!  We're already looking forward to another hot date!

found this poor little guy dressed up like a princess

. . .and doesn't he look happy about it?

 

I have to admit, sometimes I have held Sam in my arms and wondered if he would look all that different than my girls if only he had a little pigtail or something.  Weird, I know- but all I've ever known are girls.  So I had to laugh the day I rescued him from his sisters dressed in a leotard, tutu, and a pigtail.  And not one bit happy about the whole charade.  It was instantly apparent.  There was no way he could pass as a girl.  Even in a tutu. 

 

Sure enough, he's all boy. 

lake powell with bop and the boys

 

Immediately following the WO-JO weekend, we drove to Lake Powell to meet up with Grandpa Bop and the Croney Boys.  We were sad that Grandma didn't get to come, as she stayed home to nurse Nana and Papa.  Since we were driving from Moab, we went a different route than usual and the girls were ecstatic about our ferry drive!

 

Sam was an instant fan of the water!

 

The girls were big fans of accompanying Bop to the marina for fuel and ice cream cones.  Here, Claire is wearing hers!

 

Claire and Daddy SURFED!  Claire was mostly worried about making sure all of her friends got sent a picture of her big adventure.

 

We made the looooong trek (by boat, that is) to Rainbow Bridge.  I had seen it several times but Courtney and the girls never had.  That part about taking the kids to see Rainbow bridge in real life?  Check.

 

Of course, Lake Powell wouldn't be Lake Powell without a little bit of cliff jumping.

 

Grandma always makes sure the kids have a stockpile of glow sticks, which they use to throw off the top of the house boat and then jump in after when it is dark.  This year Ryenne did some fast talking and collected enough to make a floating light stick/water bottle sculpture.  Always the artist, that one.  It was actually very cool. 

 

Another happy trip to one of our favorite places.  Happy trails, Lake Powell!

the wo-jo's hit southern utah

 

 

In July, we spent part of a week in Southern Utah with the Wo-Jo (Wood/Jones) family for our annual reunion.  Needless to say, we had a GREAT time!  Uncle Nate and Aunt Shelly were in charge, and chose a beautiful cabin that the T&L gang sometimes stays in when they work in Monticello.  The kids were in heaven playing with their cousins and exploring.  The only bummer about the reunion was that the Harris family couldn't come on account of Aunt Alyssa having a baby (seriously, what kind of an excuse is that?).  We also missed Grandma Jones, who was quite sure she needed to stay to cuddle Baby Ethan! 

 



 

A favorite outing was taking a little hike to some Indian ruins.

Aunt Haylee and Emmy.  (We are sure Emmy could have been Aunt Haylee's daughter!)

We also drove into Bluff, the town founded by the Hole-In-The-Rock pioneers.  We explored the Bluff Fort and had a picnic.  It was so hot outside, and Shelly and I had to laugh when we took Bridger and Claire into the bathroom and had a hard time pulling them away from the hand dryers when they realized it did a pretty good job of cooling them off!

The kids were pretty excited to find out that one of the pioneer's names was Samuel Wood!

 

 

We ended the day by checking out the Four Corners, which the kids thought was pretty neat-o.  Especially all the "real" Indians they got to see selling their goods.  I think they could have spent a million bucks on the treasures they found there.

 

 

(I can't remember what Claire had in mind with this marker incident, but I do remember it was done with a permanent marker!)

One evening we drove to a nearby reservoir and let the kids play around a bit.  The plan was to let them go fishing, but that didn't prove too successful.  They did, however, find a bunch of crayfish and thought that was the coolest thing EVER!  Despite the rain, they had a blast!

 

Getting ready to go fishing.   (Oh, my. . . me thinks that guy is good lookin'!)

 

 

Our last adventure was spending the afternoon at Lake Powell.  We found a great little place to spend the afternoon.  Everyone, adults and children alike had a perfect afternoon playing in the sand, swimming, and jumping off cliffs.   As always, Lake Powell was a hit!