Volleyball Champs...3 Years Running

Beware, bragging ahead.  

Joey please don't kill me!!

Joey begrudgingly captained the Med Group Volleyball Team when we moved here 3 years ago.  Someone got wind of his having played in college.  Well, it turns out their team smoked everyone, no problem and Joey had a (volley) ball (haha) doing it (I kill myself).  The kids and I loved going and my friend Julie and I got totally into the games.  It was so fun to watch my husband jump like 4 feet off the ground and rip the opposing side a new one!!

Fast Forward three years later and they're base champions three years in a row!  I've never credited Joey on our family journal so I thought it was about time.  He pretty much rocks at volleyball...I should say that much.  My favorite part about watching him play is how calm and cool he is the whole time, calming everyone down in competitive moments, helping teammates feel better when they make big mistakes...it's sexy.  I'm such a female.  I could almost care less that he's good (okay, I like that too)! but am more interested/impressed by how "he treats others"...haha...lame.  I love you, Yoey;)  I'm so glad to see your competitive side taken down a few notches in your older age;)

xoxo

Babies and Loin Cloths

If you haven't seen this:

you should. 

 The kids watched it once and asked to watch it again.  I said "Yes" (because it's something I want them watching...educational...twice...AND free babysitting!)  Isaac:  "You're the best Mom ever!"  

What a brown noser;)  

So the second time through I didn't watch it with them.  I was getting some things done and I came out to find them dressed like this:

You leave them alone for 5 minutes and you come back to make-shift loin cloths!  Watch the film and you'll see how that applies!  Happy viewing!  You're kids will love it!

An Early Valentines Day

"I've fallen in love many times, always with you." - Unknown

Happy Early Valentines Day!

Seeing as I'll be out of town for Valentines Day and didn't want to miss out on the tradition, I decided to celebrate it a little early.

Our celebration consisted of lots and lots of hearts, none of them too fancy.  I used only things I had on hand but the kids were impressed.  (note to self:  how little we have to do to please them!)  They were out for a bike ride with Joey and I hustled my little bustle to get things cooked and set up while they were away.  When they came back and saw candles on the table they made me feel like the mother of the year:)  (even though the candles were orange!)

We had Macaroni and Cheese baked in a heart dish:

Green salad with heart shaped cheese and strawberries, heart shaped Red Velvet Cake (my Mom's tradition) and paper hearts and roses sprinkled all over the table.

As you can see I put NO effort into my photography...lame!!

The heart shaped papers we used to write love notes to each other.  My favorite one:

To Georgie:

Even though you bug me, I love you

Isaac

It's begun.  I used to pride myself as a mother for having children that loved each other so much.  Just in the last two weeks that has totally gone to pot.  Isaac has decided that Georgie drives him crazy...suggestions on curing this oncoming habit?

xoxo

6 months old: Our Sad little Sickee:(

6 Months:

Half a year as I explained it to my big kids;)  

She's sick as a little puppy, five days going with a fever, runny eyes and nose and as snuggly as your favorite teddy bear!  There's a small sick part of me that enjoys my kids being ill! (only the snuggly part, okay!  don't go reporting me for munchausen by proxy or anything!) .

Here's what Juliet is doing now days!

She's sitting up:

Reaching for things:

Drooling...a lot:

She got her first tooth just last night!  Smiling all the while!

Juliet loves her big brother Isaac.  I truly wish this picture wasn't fuzzy, but it is.  And I'm posting it anyway, because you can almost see how much they love each other.  When Juliet sees Isaac, her face lights up.  He's the kind of brother that strokes her, talks to her and smiles at her just enough to make her want more!  And he, of course, LOVES being loved by such a cute little thing.  

Dangling her around at waist height...that's gotta be comfortable

Me and my girls, picture courtesy of Isaac.

With my sick buddy

We've grown closer through her illness;)  tee hee;)  I carry her around on my back all day, sleep with her at night, wipe her snotty nose and eyes, inject her with Ibuprofen...how could you not grow to love someone deeper with experiences like these;)  But please get better sweet baby, please, let's wrap up this sleepless snot business!  We have Southeast Asia to see, a 26 hour plane ride to take and all of this begins in just a few short days!  

xoxo

Oh yes they call him the streak...

...look at that, look at that

Don't ask me how this got started.  But I totally encouraged them...okay, it was my idea!

 Out the back, 

Around the side

And through the front door...

And they loved it!  Even Juliet and Mr. Rules Daddy were giggling!

This is why we went private folks...why we went private! 

  Might as well invite all the neighbors now!!

Gran

I talk with my children a lot about their Gran, my Grandmother whom I never imagined I would miss and think about as often as I do.  Her name seems to come up every time I talk about my childhood or see a raspberry or make mashed potatoes.  I even watched an episode of Murder She Wrote the other day while I did some sewing.  It was her favorite TV show.  Hearing the theme song brought a somewhat mournful smile to my face.

Tonight when I went to lay down with Georgie after I got home from the gym she asked me to tell her a story from when I was a little girl.  I told her about the time I went to Utah on a plane with my cousin Aly...no mommies to hold our hands.  I told her about how I visited my Gran and played barefoot on her soft green lawn (I'm not trying to sound sentimental here, they had the best grass!!)and picked raspberries and cherries in her back yard.  I told her about how she bought me the silky blue nightgown that Georgie wears obsessively now despite the fact that its 2 feet too long for her.  On Sunday I gave her a necklace that had been my Grans, a dainty gold one with a tiny key dangling from it.  Mid story Georgie began asking me questions about Gran.  "Where did Gran get that night gown?"  "Where did Gran get this necklace?"  It seemed to me that in that moment my Gran became a person to Georgie.  And for some reason tears welled up in my eyes and I smiled.  It struck me that my Gran was living on in us.  I have always known, to some inadequate extent how much a Grandparent means to a child but I never considered, as a child, what they mean to adults...what great lessons and stories they provide for us as parents.  It was a short trip from that line of thought to my own parents who are so much a part of everything that I am.  I'm so grateful that my children have them.  I'm so glad that when Isaac is sad that he has Gaga to call.  That when they grow up and tell their children stories they'll be able to tell them how Papa dressed up in a costume every year for their birthdays.  How they drove an off roading vehicle with PopPop at Christmas time and swam many miles in Mimi's swimming pool.  We're writing each others stories every day and sadly, most of the time we don't even realize it.  It takes moments like this one with G to put it all in perspective.  As I think about my Gran I wonder if she knew, before she left us, what a big part of my story that she was.  I wonder if she knew that she would live on in us.  I doubt I ever told her, past the age of 12, because I didn't even know it myself.  I think it goes to show, that yes, undoubtedly we need to express our love for the people in our lives.  But more than that is that all of this goes with out saying.  It just is.  Good Grandparents are part of who we are.  They are the cozy blanket, the worlds best snuggle, the best present on Christmas Morning, the back scratch and the softest hands you've ever held.  They will always be the smile that arises on the face of a 4, 30 or 85 year old.  They transcend generations!  So for all the thanks you don't get Gaga, Papa, Poppop and Mimi, know it from your own experience.  You are the world to them, to us and to the generations to come.  

Private: I'm doing it too!!

Going private, folks!  When my friend posted on facebook that her most viewed blog posts were all pictures of her kids in bathing suits I got a little wigged out.  And I was about to post a picture of my kids in make-shift loin cloths! Ha!!  We'll save that for after the privacy begins!!

p.s.  If I don't know you I most likely won't add you to my readership;)  sorry!

A LONG New Years week post

Two days after Christmas we drove to Las Vegas to spend a week with JOey's family.  Three of those days were spent in St. George.  We had such a great time, and, once again were reminded that we live in BFE far, far away from family;(  Here are a few shots of what we did that week:

We met baby Ty!  Such a good, sweet baby!

Had some Lukey and crazy Georgie bonding time.  Luke is always sweet.  

Georgie, sometimes, is too cool for boys.  I'm sorry Lukey.

Playing in the Sand Dunes with Mimi

The Condo that Rosie found was awesome.  The kids were ecstatic about bunk beds and the "flat screen" (as Tanner referred to it;) in the bedroom.  Ashlee and I were a bit aghast at the iCarly episodes that they kept finding on NickJr.  I felt grateful that we don't have cable...do I sound like a homeschooling Mom?!

Juliet and Ty...sweet, sweet, sweet

Juliet was 5 months on this day, so here's a picture of her newest obsession...her feet;)  I don't blame you, Juliet, I'm obsessed too!

Can you find our big guys on the hill anywhere?  One morning when we were all getting ready to go hang out and swim at the Rec Center we realized we were missing Isaac and Tanner.  A short while later someone spotted them WAY up high on the hill immediately behind our condo.

Here's a zoom of their location.  They were so proud of themselves.

Juliet and Aunt Jennie 

Their baby pictures look a lot alike! 

 JuJu and Mimi!

PoPop brought his Rhino so that we could do some off roading.  The kids LOVED it, especially Isaac.  And I liked the idea a lot as well.  It's like 4 wheeling except safer.

 Aunt J and the boys

 Don't they look like nerdy bird watchers;)  

But they do look adorable in their matching plaid shirts Mimi!

Georgie LOVES Coop!

A pregnant Aunt Sara!  FINALLY!! 

 

 Buddies

Best Buddies!

All the "Grands"!

1

There we all are (minus Lizzie)! 

 How fortunate we feel to have friends that so happen to be our FAMILY!

Georgie, are you eating your boogers?

Christmas Night...in the tent.  I'll always have to wonder what's going on in there.

And We Woke Up To This:

Isaac made out with a TON of legos and spent his entire Christmas day building them.

 Georgie loved her new dollhouse and kept telling everybody how big it was.  "It's bigger than me!" 

  To brag a little bit (that's okay, right?), we were really proud of our kids on Christmas Morning.  As always, they waited in their rooms until we came in to get them.  I woke up around 7 am and heard them in there making guesses about what Santa might have brought them.  I made them wait a few more minutes while I brushed my teeth and threw on a necessary undergarment (I ain't 15 anymore;) and threw a few things together for breakfast.  They kept asking in their sweet little voices, "Can we come out yet?"

When I came to get them, they RAN out of their rooms with "Christmas Morning" grins spread wide across their faces.  Joey and I were concerned that maybe, possibly, Isaac might compare the size of his suitcase and lego boxes to Georgies doll house and think he got "less".  We were both so proud of him when he walked in and expressed sincere excitement for Georgie about what Santa had left for her.  In fact, his first comment upon seeing all the presents was, "Ooo, Georgie, look how cool!  A HUGE doll house!"  And then he moved on to his gifts.  They were both happy to take their turns opening gifts, savoring each one and saying "Thank You".  It was really, really nice.

We had a special guest this year:

Our Altus Grandmother, Ruth who we LOVE!!  She brought the kids some REALLY cool books ( I think I might like them more than the kids do!!:)  A few really nice things for me and a coupon for free babysitting for Joey (best gift EVER!)

 Here's Isaac scoping out Ruths gift from us.  It was one of the gifts I was most excited about giving this year:

An Ott Lite

Ruth is an amazing crafter/quilter/artist and this light is helpful for those types of projects.

Gigi and I making breakfast in the kitchen!  Georgie LOVES to cook with me.  For breakfast we had Apple Souffle, sausage, cheddar cheese scones, hot chocolate, juice and fruit.  (I only write this down for "future traditions" reference;)

Isaac in his new jacket

Baby's first Christmas!  Merry Christmas JuJu!!

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at The Jones Family's home.  We had a buffet style dinner where we provided our Snow Man cheese ball, Blueberry Spinach Salad, and Green Bean Bundles wrapped in Bacon.  All are Christmas traditions.  During the day, Joey was home with us which was nice.  We watched movies, got our house clean in preparation for Santa and attempted to go roller skating (wishing it was "ice") but the rink was closed

At the Jones' home the kids put together a nativity, and played a few really fun games.  It was the perfect short and concise evening that left us time to prepare for Santa.

Georgie got to play Mary in the Nativity.  She was so excited and took it very seriously!  

Isaac was a wise man but my camera ran out of batteries...bummer so no pictures were taken.