Baby Eva

Here is Baby Eva. She is so sweet and I was thrilled when Andrea asked if I would take pictures of her.

These first two are my favorites, I think. She is just so precious.

I think Eva looks so much like her big sister Elise.

I absolutely fell in *LOVE* with this picture, so I played around with it a lot.
Love it, love it, love it.

Grrrrrrrr.

I decided to close my door and pretend my kids aren't here, because I am feeling very exasperated with them. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, much of that is more my fault than theirs. Ruff. Jethro and Hazel have been fighting ever since Jethro got home from kindergarten, because Hazel has some fun stuff she got from a birthday party and she's not sharing, and even though it's all pink and sparkly, Jethro is feeling left out.

And Ethne strung out all of my feminine supplies all over the bathroom floor and hallway, and why didn't I put a child lock on that drawer after the first ten times she did that? I don't know.

And when I only had one child with me today because Jethro was in school and Hazel was at a birthday party, I tried to practice the organ but it didn't really happen because the one child I did have was Ethne, which is the one who demands to be on my lap always or she screams, and then she has to put her feet on the keyboard, or in any other way keep me from practicing.

And I was trying to do something fun with the kids and make a cool Thanksgiving banner, but then Jethro wanted to help more than I wanted to let him, and he was sad. So then I wanted to let him help me again, but he wrote in pen on 0ne of the letters and I sent him to his room, and then finally thought I would let him help again, he wrote on it again! Ruff! So then I banished him from helping forevermore, but felt bad cause was the point really to have a cute banner or have fun making a banner with the kids?

And all my dishes are not done because last night while I was making chocolate chip cookies I opted to read a book while they were baking instead of doing the dishes, but the really annoying part is that it wasn't even good.

So. Really it's not such a bad day, I'm just exasperated. So, instead of trying to get the dishes done or do anything else productive, I'm just posting cute pictures of my kids to remind me how much fun they are. Cause they are.

The kids watching Duck Tales this morning. Ethne looks like she's really involved. Ha ha. Being a big girl on a chair. She stayed for all of three minutes, but isn't she cute?


I took this picture out the window yesterday when the kids were playing in the backyard.

Ethne eating a green tomato that she found on the counter. She squawked when I tried to take it away.

Jethro and Ethne sharing Jethro's blanket.

several non-related items

Daddy and Hazel came home from church and since our house was freezing cold, got into bed to read together. Aren't they so cute?

Oh, and how could I forget? Another day, another fiasco during sacrament meeting. Actually, it wasn't as bad as last week (since it was my kids and not me causing the embarrassment). Anyway, Brett was out with Ethne, so before I went up to play for the rest hymn, trying to avoid shenanigans of a sort that happened once before, told Jethro and Hazel "Stay right here on the bench when I go up to play the organ. Don't move or go anywhere." So, I go up, start playing the hymn, and hear Jethro YELL, "MOM! MO-om!! HAZEL HAS TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" Grrrrr. I thought for sure Jethro had enough sense that he would know he can't yell to me up on the organ, but apparently not. But--you know, it was me that told him not to go anywhere. Luckily, a friend grabbed Hazel and took her to the bathroom so that Jethro didn't continue yelling throughout the entire song. (THANK YOU!) When I went back down and sat by Jethro again, he told me my face was red. Fabulous. He was actually felt really bad when I sternly told him that he is NEVER, under any circumstances, allowed to yell at me when I'm up at the organ. He started to cry and said, "I didn't know, cause I'm little. You're big, and Ana's big, etc." It was sad, so I had to console him and say it was all right since he didn't know. Never a dull day.

Kami (still on Arizona, Florida, and New Mexico climate--poor her in Chicago this winter) and her cutie-cute girls!

Kami, by the way, not only took our fab pictures, but let us stay overnight at her house on very short notice, watched our kids while we went to the temple (and while she was holding a fussy Ethne, she sat down and started nursing her without thinking, and then looked down and realized it wasn't her kid. ha ha!), and fed us yummy homemade pizza. Three cheers for Kami! I love family.
Awwww.


Kami's not the only one to get cool hats. (Although you can't see the hat very well in this picture, Hazel's face is so funny.)
This is what Ethne looks like after I tell Jethro to feed her some yogurt. Ha ha--she looks like little Jack Frost.


And Ethne's favorite thing--get out all of the things in the drawers in the bathroom. And if she can't pull them open, get to them by the devious route. (She did this at Kami's house too.)

MANY family photos - YAY!!!

The stars were aligned, and all my hopes for our pictures were fulfilled. 1. We drove to Chicago so we could take the pictures on the beach of Lake Michigan. (That in itself is a huge feat, because Brett is so anti-Chicago. But I begged and pleaded, and in the end, he gave in. Sheesh--he must *REALLY* love me. (Plus, I had the very convincing argument that we should go to the temple anyway.) Oh, AND he wore a sweater that he was opposed to, but I thought he looked super great in it. Poor man.) 2. The weather was not too cold. (Cold, definitely, but not too cold.) 3. We all looked decent. 4. Kami, aka GREATEST SISTER IN THE UNIVERSE, took some...scratch that....many fantastic pics!! Here are some for your viewing pleasure. Kami makes it look easy, eh? (However, I didn't post my two favorites, because I want to make some kind of Christmas card, and if that happens I want it to be a surprise.)
P.S. It's really hard to get five people to look at the camera, smile, keep their hands down, and keep their eyes open. So Brett and I yelled at them a lot, cause that always works to make kids smile, right?


I liked this one, because Brett's hands are making a perfect heart around Hazel's! When I showed him, he rolled his eyes and said, "Don't post that." Too bad. ;)

I thought Jethro was so cute in this picture.
One of the many outtakes. Haa ha. Love Ethne's headband.

And, did you really expect me to have a post-of-many-pictures, without a kissing pic? Here it is. How romantic. ;)

Random funnies

Do you guys all remember what may be the greatest show ever--Animaniacs? Remember "Good Idea, Bad Idea?" I can't remember why, but it came up in a conversation Kami and I had the other day. Well, here is something to jog your memory, or if you've never seen one (WHAT?!), here's a sampling.


Good idea: Feeding stray kittens in the park.
Bad idea: Feeding stray kittens in the park to a bear.

GI: Taking a deep breath before jumping into a swimming pool.
BI: Taking a deep breath after jumping into a swimming pool.

GI: Kissing a loved one.
BI: Kissing a total stranger.

GI: Doing your own yard work.
BI: Doing your own dental work.

GI: Dressing up for Halloween as a pirate.
BI: Dressing up for Halloween as a pin~ata.



GI: Whistling while you work.
BI: Whistling while you eat.



GI: Taking up a new hobby like bird calling.
BI: Taking up a new hobby like buffalo calling.



GI: Playing cops'n'robbers in the park.
BI: Playing cops'n'robbers in the bank.'



HAHAHAHAAA!

So, it was a good idea to tell Brett that he had to pick up "extra shifts" to pay for his motorcycle, but now I actually have to pine away at home while he's gone. But...I managed to keep myself occupied with a book and a cup full of icecream (with milk, of course) in the tub, ignoring the dishes to be done and front room to clean (Kami and I also had a conversation recently about the Catch-22ness of self-discipline. You can desire for more, and say to yourself, I just need to have more self-discipline to be more disciplined, but it would TAKE discipline to discipline yourself to get more. see?) anyway... I read a Great Brain book. I'd never read any before, but picked up a couple at the last library book sale I went to a while back. The author, John D. Fitzgerald, tells memories of himself and his brother Tom, who's great brain is always conniving or swindling, when they were growing up in a small Mormon town at about the turn of the century. It's very interesting cause they aren't Mormons. I've read the book that's more about his parents--not targeted to a young audience like the Great Brain books--called "Papa Married a Mormon" and it's really good. ANYWAY. So, because I thought there were some parts that were way funny, I will share. (Obviously, feel free to skip if you aren't interested.)

So, Tom's parents make him use his great brain to help this girl out, and she's really grateful by the end. (By the way Tom is 11 and John-the narrator-is 8).

"Then that worst part of the mushy business came. Dotty looked at Tom and walked over to him. And I'll be a four-legged frog if she didn't kiss him right on the lips.
Poor old T.D.'s ears lit up like red-hot coals in a fireplace. The shock petrified his great brain. He just stood there with a dummy's expression on his face as Mamma and Dotty walked toward our house. I waited for Tom to come out of his shock, and when he didn't, I grabbed him by the shoulders and began shaking him.
"Did it hurt that much?" I asked.
I knew I would have probably dropped dead if a girl had kissed me.
Tom came out of it sudden-like. "Don't be silly," he said. "Dotty was just showing her appreciation for all my great brain did for her."
"Boy!" I said. "I hope I never do anythign that makes a girl appreciate it that much.""
Ha haa.

Their older brother Sweyn, got home from Salt Lake City, where he'd been going to school and started acting all condescending to his brothers.
"This was bad enough, but the day after he got home, Sweyn pulled the dirtiest trick he could on Tom and me. He started going with a girl, and of all the girls he had to pick, it was that stuck-up Marie Vinson. If ever a fellow felt like disowning a brother, it was me. All I heard from my friends was, "Sweyn's got a girl. Sweyn's got a girl." If Sweyn wanted to disgrace me and Tom, why couldn't he have kicked a dog, or beat up an old lady, or somethign not as bad as going with a girl."

Funny stuff.

Pride goeth before a fall (oh, and lots and lots of pictures)

So, I sooooo mortified myself today. I was getting too cocky and WHAMMO! I got slapped upside the head for it. See, I've been doing all right on the organ lately (a lot because since the old chorister moved out of the ward, I've been able to pick the hymns, so I pick the easy(er) ones), and not practicing nearly as much as I used to, and it was all cool, but THEN today happened. We got a new chorister, she picked a harder song, a really good, rousing song, but more difficult for the organ, and I tried to get away with not practicing as much as I should. Oh, it was brutal. I seriously MASSACRED the hymn. It was really, really bad. And it was a long, 4-verse song. It started out BAD and got worse, because I kept getting more flustered and then everything went down the tubes. After it was done, I considered not returning to church until we move, which won't be all that long after all, so I'd only be inactive for a little less than a year probably. Anyway. Deep breath, and moving on. Guess who's going to be practicing the organ MUCH more faithfully now?

So, we went outside today, and I got some really fun shots! (And to think at first I was actually trying to tell myself I should just leave the camera inside for once. Pffeh--good thing I ignored myself.) The first collage is Hazel on the swing.
Love this one!


And for some unknown reason, Brett let me take pictures of him. What a looker I married. Whistle!
I don't know just what it is between these two. Maybe it's because Hazel was born on Father's Day. But anyway, they have this thing. Brett's just head over heels for her. He doesn't even try to deny it. I have so many pictures of them together, but they're just so cute. That's one of the wonderful things about getting married to someone...even after years of being together and you think you know them pretty completely, then a little girl comes along and you see a whole new side of them. He says things like "She's sooo adorable," and even the word "angel" comes out of his mouth. Did you really just say she's an angel Brett? Yes, yes he did.

And this cute guy. This picture doesn't really look like him, I think. It makes me think of a little boy from England or Ireland or something. Maybe one of the boys from War of the Buttons. (If you haven't seen that movie, you should. I'll review it in greater depth sometime soon.) Anyway, he was busy driving his jeep all afternoon. Did I tell the story of how when we were trick-or-treating, a lady opened the door dressed as a vampiress, and as we were walking back down the drive, he said, "She's beautiful. But you're the most beautiful." He always says I'm the most beautiful. The guy flatters most admirably. Thanks Jethro.

Motorbike

Okay, even though I was against the idea of buying a motorcycle, and no matter what I may have said or may say in the future about it.....riding it is muy divertido!!!

And this is how Brett looks with his goggles on.

Which reminds me of this guy, kinda.

Hello again.

I noticed that I had way more posts in October than usual. Are you all sick of me yet? Anyway, here is Ethne with her birthday cake. I made her a birdie cake because of how Uncle Blake started calling her little birdie.



And here she is on her birthday present. She has gotten so good at rocking on it, and getting off, and can almost get on by herself.



And here she is with Elena in the tubby.
She was so lucky to have cousins come over for her birthday. We also got to go to the Pumpkin Patch. It was lots of fun. By the way, the kids all LOVED Ana so much! It was great to have a fun new cousin all of the sudden who was so nice to them. She is a sweetie.

And some more birthday tutu pictures, because they are fun. I love this one, but it was fuzzy. Ruff.

And this is the same as the one I posted yesterday, but it's worth a close up too. :)

Oh, and I just thought I'd let you know that I watched the A&E version of Tess of the D'urbervilles and it's better. But interestingly, both movies changed the part where she kills Alec. In the book she just does it while he's sleeping, and in both of the movies he's awake, which makes it seem more brutal. In one movie version, he's kindof mocking her and in the other he's still protesting his undying devotion. Neither of those, as I said, happened in the book. Sorry that I just gave away most of the ending, but I doubt any of you who hadn't read that book were going to. Anyway. So long.

Most beautiful 1-year-old!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ethne!!!! She celebrated her big FIRST birthday by walking farther than she ever has--probably about 6 steps or so. She'll be cruising in no time. Another trick she just started doing is shrugging her shoulders. It is soooo cute! What a sweet girl.

We had a party with cake and stuff this past weekend when Aunt Kami and cousins Ana and Elena could come. It was fun and I will post pictures of it later, but for now, here are some pictures of Ethne one year ago. How quickly it's gone by! We LOVE you Ethne!!!