Martin Family

A Transformer, A Superhero, and a Space Ranger

2011-11-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween! Megatron
Thor
Buzz Lightyear

Thanks, Danelle, for the great pictures!

One of the best things about these pictures is that, for the most part, they are original poses; not much coaching from the sidelines. Especially G. He was totally in character.

We had a super-fun Halloween. Once M got the hang of what exactly was going on with the trick-or-treating, he couldn't wait to get from house to house. It's times like this when living in a townhome community really pays-off.

All was well until the house with the cloaked man who yelled in my face and startled me. After that, instead of, "I want to go to the next house!" from M, it was, "I want to go home! Where's that man?" Even the morning after he asked, "Where's that man who yelled at you?" Thank you, cloaked stranger, for soiling my 2-year old's Halloween.

But, at the end of the night, candy buckets were bursting, children were happy and hyped, and Mom and Dad settled them down for a long fall's nap....then took care of each child's candy tax.

Halloween Prep

2011-11-02T14:12:00.011-04:00

After an ill-fated Family Night Activity to pick out pumpkins at a local nursery (got there after it closed and ended up getting pumpkins at Walmart...), we "carved" out some time to transform the pumpkins into Halloween jack-o-lanterns!

All 3 boys were a little squeamish about scooping out the pumpkin guts. These are the same kids who use their clothes as napkins and tissues. And come in from playing outside covered in mud.

Can you make a face like your jack-o-lantern?

Voila! M LOVED seeing them lit up.

Hat Model

2011-10-30T21:13:00.007-04:00

This is what you get when you have a friend who's a photographer.

MP Photography

McKay and I go over to play with our friends. Danelle says, "I need to take some pictures of the kids in these hats my friend made for her Etsy shop; can Mack be a model?"

Sure thing!

Random II

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Continuing with pictures of our summer in no particular order...

A visit to Utah means a visit to Cougar Country (Provo)!
Eating at Brick Oven

Playing with Grandma's Playmobil/Star Trek collection
One of many daddy/son/cousin/uncle football games
Hanging out at First Dam in Cache Valley, UT. Canoeing, feeding ducks, playing football...it was a lovely time.

Back to Provo

Enjoying popsicles and cousins on G&G's patio
Cousins

First day of school: 1st and 3rd grade

Random

2011-10-19T14:33:00.013-04:00

For the grandparents far away, I present....a smattering of pictures from the summer. In no particular order...
G hesitantly feeding goats, sheep, and a llama.
L feeding same animals, trying to seem like he wants to, but not really getting too close.
M loving same animals eating the feed out of his hand. Who needs a cup?

L climbing the rock wall.
This statue creeped M out and inspired G to imitate.
Mama climbing the rock wall...to the top, no less.
M wondering what this strange thing is in our hotel room. Fascinating!
G's "unloading the dishwasher" art creation.

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

2011-07-07T16:02:00.011-04:00

I've been sitting here typing, deleting, re-typing, pausing...frustrated that I can't express my thoughts and feelings of the past few days since learning of the passing of our dear friend, Wes Truman. I felt a need to put in words the profound influence for good that Wes and his wonderful wife Lori have had on our life. My heart is heavy and full of feelings and thoughts that I can't seem to put it into words. But I need to try.

Each life that touches ours for good

Reflects thin own great mercy, Lord;

Thou sendest blessings from above

Thru words and deeds of those who love.

Almost 9 years ago, Cory and I moved into Deseret Towers (DT), single student on-campus housing at Brigham Young University. I had just been hired as a Hall Advisor which meant I was going to supervise 200+ freshmen (mostly) girls in my building. The job itself was a tremendous blessing as I was expecting Lucas and Cory was going to school. It allowed me to be at home more than not while still bringing in income and providing medical insurance. It soon become evident that the greatest blessings of this job were the people we would be privileged to know, including our dear friends Wes and Lori Truman.

Never has anyone been blessed with such exemplary people as co-workers as I was with my "DT Family". Here are some of us (sorry you weren't there, Marie!) reuniting 3 years ago. Lori is to my right, only weeks away from welcoming their 2nd child (and first son) into the world.

What greater gift dost thou bestow,

What greater goodness can we know

Than Christ-like friends,

whose gentle ways

Strengthen our faith,

enrich our days.

In November 2005, at the age of 24, 6 months after their first child (a daughter) was born and a month shy of their 3-year anniversary, Wes was diagnosed with brain cancer. Wes and Lori faced this life-altering news with courage, faith, and optimism like I have never seen. I'm sure they were terrified and questioning and wondering.....but at that time and throughout Wes's 5-year battle they exemplified true faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. Pure faith.

Theirs is the ultimate love story. Through them I have learned more about charity. Charity in a marriage and charity for others. Sometimes when it seems life is going so well for others but not for ourselves, we tend to begrudge others' successes and happiness. Never, ever did I get that feeling from Wes and Lori. They have climbed mountain after mountain with seemingly no valleys. But, they always found the valleys; the things to be grateful for, the beauty and blessings in their life. Not only that, they truly shared in the joy of others without feeling sorry for themselves. That is a remarkable gift and incredible example for me. To not only stand by people during the hard times, but, perhaps even more difficult, to cheer them on in their good times even while you face the most difficult obstacles anyone can imagine.

Wes and Lori are true testaments of the reality of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Some might say at his passing, as he fought a painful battle with cancer and leaves behind a mourning wife and 2 young children, "How can there be a God? How could a merciful, loving God let such suffering happen?" I answer, "How can there NOT be a God?" It is because I know there is a God and that this life is only a part of the eternal nature of our spirits that I -- and Lori and her kids -- can find peace. And it's not blind faith. Anyone who knew Wes could sense divinity. I want to live my life that way, that through me people can know of the reality of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior.

I've thought about faith as I've thought about the Trumans. We -- along with many other family and friends -- have prayed for Wes. I had no doubt he could be healed. I also knew that it had to be the Lord's will. At times, I've thought, "Is that a cop-out?" Is saying "The Lord's will be done" really just a lack of faith in what He really can do? Or is it just me wanting to believe there is a God, but being able to excuse seemingly "unanswered" prayers? No. Definitely not. I am learning that true faith in Jesus Christ means not just believing in Him, but believing Him. Truly giving our will to His. So while we, and so many others who love Wes, had faith that he could be healed, we also had faith in our Savior's plan for him.

When such a friend from us departs,

We hold forever in our hearts

A sweet and hallowed memory,

Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

("Each Life That Touches Ours for Good", Karen Lynn Davidson text, A. Laurence Lyon music)

We have been brought closer to the Lord through Wes and Lori's life. Our hearts ache for Lori and their kids. May the angels that welcomed Wes home now, joined with Wes, surround you, Lori, Lucy, and Spencer. We love you, Truman Family, and will sorely miss you, Wes. Until we meet again.

(I have treasured this picture for years as it reminds me of true friends. Wes is on the left, then Adam, Eric (other members of that "DT family"), and Lucas. They were putting together a swing set they had given us when we moved from DT into a house.)

For a glimpse into the influence Wes and Lori have had in this world, read this memorial blog.

For the Grandparents

2011-05-07T19:39:00.005-04:00

M loves the Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr. books (i.e., "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?"). Here he is naming the animals in "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?" This one is particularly cute because the animals in this book are endangered species, so the names are less common than just naming a duck, cat, etc. There is a panda bear, bald eagle, water buffalo, spider monkey, green sea turtle, macaroni penguin, sea lion, red wolf, whooping crane, and black panther.

Paranoid

2011-05-04T22:42:00.001-04:00

Freaked out by the Internet. I'm going private...so if you want to read my (as of late) tri-monthly updates, please let me know and I'll "invite" you.

You Know You're a Childbirth Educator When...

2011-02-03T14:48:00.005-05:00

I am in the middle of teaching my first series of natural childbirth education classes. I am a "provisionally affiliated" (read: in the final step -- teaching a class -- of certification) Bradley Method (R) Instructor. I love it! Cory and I took classes when we were pregnant with Lucas and have used it for all 3 of our births. I've been wanting to teach for years and am so excited to finally be doing it.
So, friends, I bring to you, "You know you're a childbirth educator when..."
1. EVERY time you see a Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control store (with the acronym VABC out front), you read it as VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).
2. You are excited when your Birth Atlas arrives in the mail!
3. You have your pelvis model lying around in preparation for a class, and your 8 and 6-year old boys pick it up and say, "WHAT is THIS?"
4. You hear same 8 and 6-year old boys tell their friends about their mom's "Bradley".
5. You take your "Growing Uterus Charts" and emotional signposts of labor visuals to be laminated, and the girl ringing you up says, "Cute" (pointing to the faces on the signposts of labor).....because she didn't know what else to say?
6. You have words like "uterus" on your family's blog
7.Every time you see a pregnant woman in public, you think, "I wonder if she knows her options..."
8. You find yourself able to relate even seemingly unrelatable things (i.e., your husband's job as a DC lobbyist for a trade association) to childbirth and/or the modern mismanagement of maternity care.

Cory's Dream

2011-01-06T21:31:00.002-05:00

This is Cory -

So I usually don’t write much on the blog, but I had a dream the other night and I had post it, just to see what you think it might be about. I usually have strange dreams, but this one took the cake.

It starts out with Janna, me, and my parents at what looks like a large university campus somewhere in the Northeast. Not sure why or how I know it was in the Northeast, but for some reason in the dream I seem to believe we are somewhere in New York, although I can neither confirm nor deny this. Anyway, the four of us are walking around at this large campus and we come to a large and spacious building, and I think, ok crap, I was hoping I wouldn’t be one of those people…

Wait, wrong dream – we were walking around this large campus in warm weather. We made our way to a very large building, made with brick, lots of windows, and had a glass dome top. We entered the building and quickly made our way to the top floor (one of those weird dream deals when you are one place for one moment, then in a totally different place the next, but I knew I was in the building). We were at the top floor to attend what apparently looked like a large, swanky party, complete with a big band and lots of food. Oh, and I need to mention that during that weird dream thing, Janna somehow disappeared. She was with me outside of the building, and then she wasn’t with me when I was inside with my parents. Anyway, I didn’t seem to mind, because while at the swanky party, I went straight for the petting zoo. Yes – there was what looked like a petting zoo at the party. Weird – but this is just the beginning.

I somehow got roped in to being the person that had to feed the large walrus sitting in a pen that had foam padding a foot high to prevent the large, one ton animal from getting out of its pen. Well, even in a dream I had enough sense to say “no thank you” to feeding the walrus, and then took off my apron and white sanitary gloves and put them in the trash. As I did this, I saw my parents dancing together on the dance floor. Not to hip hop or anything – now that would have been a great dream – but to big band music. Anyway, for some reason, I then decided that I needed to find a restroom. Now, typically in a dream when I have to use the restroom – well, you get the idea, but that wasn’t the case in this dream. I just wanted to see the building’s bathroom. I asked, and someone told me that it was on the bottom floor. So while I can imagine great looking buildings, I obviously cannot plan one out very well.

Anyway, I get to the bottom floor using another one of those magical dream warps and walk around trying to find the bathroom. Instead of finding the bathroom, I find rooms full of workout equipment. Bench presses, squat racks, free weights – you name it, rooms full of them. I then saw a sign above a small door that said “bathroom”. I opened it, and there was just a small sink sitting there, no room for anything else. Above the sink was a mirror, and I saw myself – with jet black hair, looking 15 years younger (yes, 15 years), and I was wearing shorts and a hoodie. I honestly remember thinking in the dream that I wasn’t very well dressed to go to a party, but none the less, I decided to leave the weight room area and I went up some stairs that led to a large open area on the north side of the building I was just in. There were some statues of people apparently important to this university, along with a large grassy field with some people playing ultimate frisbee and flying kites.

Apparently not that impressed, or impressed to leave said area because somehow I knew what was coming (…), I went back down the stairs and started walking down a long hallway, past all the weight lifting rooms. There must have been 5 full size, glass enclosed basketball courts on either side of the hallway, followed by 20 or so racquetball courts. It was all very new looking. To this point, my dream has been somewhat comical, but this is where it gets very weird.
I get to the other end of the hallway which led to the outside, no doors leaving the building. On either side of the exit were stairs leading up to the south side of the building where my parents were (I assume) still dancing in the top floor of the glass-dome building. I decide to walk up the stairs on the right hand side, and as soon as I get to the top, I look back towards the building. There was a field – well, not really a field, but about 100 yards of open area between me and the building. There were people walking on pathways and sitting on benches – just talking. I then heard a noise and turned around. Looking up in the sky, I saw two large objects, both of which I quickly surmised were meteors. Both were coming in at a wicked fast rate, and both landed just on the north side of the building. I saw a large explosion, with debris quickly filling the air behind the building. Bricks, glass, dirt, a statue, cars – a lot of things were flying in the air above the building and heading toward me. So I dove down the stairs and found cover in the hallway where the racquetball courts were.

After a few seconds, the sound of the explosion died down and I looked at the other end of the hallway – nothing but rubble. I then start to walk about of the exit, but in another one of those weird dream things, I have Gabey in my arms. He was scared, but never said anything in my entire dream. As I walk with Gabey in my arms out of the exit, I see Lucas walking, dazed, dust all over him, with a blank stare on his face. I called to him and he ran toward me, pushing a bike with a bag on it (in the bag were boxes of granola bars and water, so we were set!). I asked him what he was doing here (like I even know what I was doing there) and he said he was trying to find his grandma and grandpa. He had some locator on his wrist and it was directing him to where my parents were – pointing into the building. I told him that he would not go into the building but I would check it out to see if it was safe. We walked up the stairs to get back to the south side of the building – again, debris everywhere – and we started to walk down a sidewalk leading to the entrance of the building, I saw people running out of the building, but a fire had started on the second floor and I could tell that some of the floors were gone. I told Lucas that we couldn’t go in and that we had to find a way out of there (sorry mom and dad, but you’re on your own. Maybe you could ride the walrus out of harm’s way).

Anyway, in another one of those weird dream warps, we (Lucas, Gabriel and I) were standing just outside of a medium-sized tour bus, trying to barter our way on to the bus. We got on, and started to drive away. As we started to drive away, I saw the building I was just in – the one with the swanky party and weigh rooms – and it was completely demolished, except for the front. Nothing but a large crater was left starting from the front of the building past the large field were the statues and people were playing frisbee (once again, sorry mom and dad, unless you were able to escape on the walrus, you were probably doomed).
As we were on the bus, I got suddenly remembered we had three kids, not two. I asked Lucas where McKay was (since apparently he was in charge of him) and he said that he was with mommy. Phew! While I had no idea where Janna was, at least I didn’t forget McKay! He was her problem, wherever she was.

I then got Lucas and Gabey to sleep and overheard some people saying that it was an alien attack. I thought “how foolish, it was a meteor.” Not two seconds later I look out my window and see two fighter jets take down what looked like some type of alien space craft. My last thought of my dream – “Oh crap, it is aliens. We’re all screwed…”

So tell me – what does that mean?

A few things I get out of this –
• Swanky parties and dangerous petting zoos never work well
• Never go to a university in the northeast with my parents – it won’t work out too well
• If Armageddon hits, find Lucas. He’s got the granola bars and water. Oh, and a bike
• If I ever own/run a gym, make sure I build a bathroom with at least one toilet
• If there are two large fields, one with statues and people playing frisbee, and another where people are just sitting and talking, always choose the latter
• People in glass buildings won’t be protected from meteors

M Turns 2!

2011-01-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

The party continued the day after Christmas to celebrate Mackie's 2nd birthday! Helping make his birthday cake all decked out in his new chef's attire, thanks to Uncle James (the family Pastry Chef) and Aunt Sophie. Pants, monogrammed jacket ("Chef McKay"), apron and hat. Pretty darn cute.

His favorite parts: blowing out candles (did it twice),

and opening more presents!

LOVE this. This is his new face.

McKay, smile! (this face)

McKay, pretend you're mad (this face).

McKay, let Mommy do it (this face).

McKay's catch phrase: "Mackie dood it!"

Love you, Mack Attack!

Glimpses of Christmas Day

2011-01-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning dawned....

with excited kids,

and a bug for Cory.

I was feeling much better by now, but Cory decided he wanted to try (and M was still not 100% for another week). We had to wake M up, but once we got downstairs, he was awake and ready to open presents.

L did a really good job not only being excited about what he got, but also being excited for his brothers.

He spent much of the rest of the day putting together Lego's.

We spent the day napping, putting together toys, playing new Wii games, and calling family. We had planned to host a Christmas dinner with some friends, but ended up cancelling, as we did not want to give them a virus for Christmas (fortunately, we rescheduled for a New Year's dinner). Instead, I pulled out all the stops and fed the few of us with an appetite corn dogs; what says Christmas dinner more than that?

Christmas Eve

2011-01-01T13:51:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve morning dawned....
with a "Santa Bowl" football game for Cory,
and a bug for Mommy and Mack.

M had been up for several hours Tuesday night throwing up, but acted fine Wednesday. Thursday he was at it again, and cuddled and slept much of the day. I got a milder version of the bug, so I slept most of the afternoon Christmas Eve. I knew I'd have to be on my game for the evening. By Christmas Eve night, I was feeling a little better, though I still didn't have much of an appetite for our traditional junk food supper. Neither did M.

Writing letters to Santa and preparing a tray of goodies!

Another family tradition is to act out the Nativity. McKay played the part of Joseph to my Mary, Cory was the narrator, Lucas doubled as a shepherd and wiseman, and Gabey was the angel.

Unfortunately, they weren't exactly clamoring for this portion of the evening's festivities.

"Why do we have to do it again?"

"We already did one at church!"

But, once we got going, I think it's safe to say we all enjoyed it.

The kids opened their new jammies, then we all snuggled up to watch "The Santa Clause".

It seems we may have confused McKay when, at the end of the night, he picked up the doll he had so adorably cuddled earlier as Baby Jesus, and said,

"Baby Santa".

Well...we're working on it.

Christmas Preparations

2010-12-30T16:56:00.019-05:00

December found us...
Decorating for Christmas...

Looking very handsome...(And older!)

Participating in our church's re-enactment of the Nativity...

While M was too young to actually be in it, he did get to try on G's donkey costume.

Though our church has done this every year since we've been here, this was Gabriel's first time actually doing the play. The first year, he was too young. The 2nd year, he had a meltdown on the stage, and last year had had some crazy allergic reaction during the dinner before the show that nearly sent him to the hospital.

A stable donkey. An adoring shepherd.

L graduated from being an animal this year, and he even had his first line: "Let us go to Bethlehem."

(I bribed G to endure the rehearsal the morning of by allowing him to bring his Superhero Look and Find book)
Making and delivering Christmas cookies and candy...

And being excited for the big day!

Mormon Cheese

2010-12-20T14:12:00.005-05:00

This is Cory - just thought I'd post something from a recent business trip of mine.

I recently went to St. Louis with a group of bakers to tour the Monsanto facilities there. The night before the tours, we went to dinner at a nice restaurant close to downtown STL. After being seated, the waiter brought us our appetizers, starting with a cheese/spread selection with bread. He was going through the different types of cheeses and announced that one cheese was made by Mormons. Perplexed, I asked one of the bakers there (who knows I am a Mormon and was also questioning what he just heard) if I heard that right. He jokingly asked me if I knew about Mormon cheese, seeing that I was a little confused. When the waiter came back, I asked him if this indeed was Mormon cheese. He affirmed that it was Mormon cheese, that the Mormons had been making this delicious cheese for centuries. Things started to click then - I asked him where they made the cheese - he said somewhere in Pennsylvania. Ahh - you mean Amish cheese. Now the waiter seemed confused, not knowing the difference. One of the other bakers sitting at the table then helped the waiter out, saying something to the effect that "it couldn't be Mormons - they were kicked out of the East a long time ago."

In all, the dinner was great and I am relieved. I was worried that I was not fulfilling some responsibility of being a Mormon, now having to make up for 14 years of not making cheese...

Gabriel Turns 6!

2010-12-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Gabers! Gabriel started off his birthday week with a bang as we headed to the ER with him the Sunday night before his birthday. He had a wicked asthma attack that wasn't responding to anything we were doing, so we had to take him in. Although we are not strangers to doctors/hospitals/ER's with Gabey, it has been a long time since we've had to do that. By his birthday (Tuesday) he was doing much better, but I still kept him home from school one last day to make sure he wasn't going to need his nebulizer every 4 hours.

Here he is, doing much better the night of his birthday. What a handsome little boy! We had tacos for dinner (his absolute favorite) and ate cake.

A very Gabey face.

Caught everyone off-guard in this picture, apparently. The one on the right has them all looking a little less stunned.

On Saturday we hosted a small "Superhero" party. Gabriel is a fan of all things superhero -- particularly Spiderman and Batman. The kids were invited to wear their Superhero costumes (in case you're wondering what Superhero Lucas might be, he is Gambit from the X-Men, of course) and enter the "Superhero Defense League Training Academy". We put them through some rigorous tests of speed, agility, marksmanship, and others to earn their Superhero title.

Speed Test: Hot "Spiderman" (i.e., Hot Potato)

The marksmanship test: Armed with webbing (a can of silly string), they were to web the villains as held up by Cory, while avoiding the innocent bystanders.

The final test came when the Evil Dr. Doomsdilly (his title kept changing) came and stole the cake. The Superheroes-in-training had to apprehend the fiend, tie him up, and get the cake.

Fortunately, they succeeded!

Here is the newly appointed Superhero Defense League!

Love you Gabes; we had a lot of fun celebrating with you!

McKay Loves the Kitchen

2010-11-30T21:59:00.000-05:00

McKay absolutely loves to help out in the kitchen. Sometimes he loves to help so much that he'll make a mess (i.e., dump out pasta on the floor) so he can clean it up. He helped me make several things for Thanksgiving dinner.

Helping Daddy make our pizza for our family's traditional "Pizza Night/Movie Night" on Fridays.

And creating towers out of various pantry items.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T21:41:00.012-05:00

Cory and L started off Thanksgiving morning bright and early playing in our ward's (church congregation) Turkey Bowl. L was really looking forward to playing football with his daddy. Unfortunately, it was raining and cold, so it wasn't quite the experience he was looking for. When they got home, he jumped in a warm shower (for a long time...this kid could stay in the shower forever if we let him) and everyone had some hot cocoa while we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a quiet Thanksgiving this year; just our family. Lucas was really concerned about this. "Why aren't we having it with a bunch of people?" Apparently, we're fun to hang out with...but not THAT fun. In the end, I think he tolerated us and we had some fun together.

Little M was my best helper. He helped me to make the rolls...

mash the potatoes, and set the table. Anytime he sees me starting to cook something he pulls over a chair to the counter and says, "Hep! Hep!" I'm loving it while it lasts.

Since I was the only one cooking, and cooking for my picky eaters, I kept debating how much to actually put myself out. I decided homemade rolls were non-negotiable. Mashed potatoes, a must. Cranberry sauce...yes, but homemade not necessary. Turkey...a half, seasoned, pre-cooked turkey from Trader Joe's worked just fine, thank you. I only had to warm it up for about an hour and a half. Although, Cory and I are debating if future Thanksgivings will involve turkey...not necessarily the favorite part of the meal for either of us. Actually, it seems many people I talk to could do fine without the bird as part of the festivities. A ham instead? We also had jell-o, green beans, and stuffing (once again, homemade not a must).

For dessert, I made pumpkin pie and peach cobbler, and we invited some friends over that evening to share that with us (along with other treats they brought). Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

Halloween

2010-11-18T15:43:00.008-05:00

We had a Mad Scientist, His Assistant Igor,

And the Mummy Monster they created (who wanted a glob of green goo on his cheek, a la many superhero stories of green goo gone wrong).

Brothers

2010-11-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

Same shirt. Same age. Different Martin boys.

M's First Haircut

2010-11-16T15:15:00.006-05:00

I guess it was time. Mackie's hair was looking pretty shaggy. Time for a visit to Daddy's barbershop.

Is that the same kiddo?!

We're Back

2010-11-16T14:41:00.007-05:00

Thanks to my generous father-in-law, we have a camera and are back in business! Because, really, who are these blogposts for but the grandparents?

Lucas and Cory recently finished up their flag-football season. Cory coached the Broncos through a fantastic season! Their record (3-2) shows only part of the story.
As one parent put it to Cory, "You took them from a herd of cats to a football team." No small feat for a group of 7-8 year old boys (and one girl). Coach C and L after the last game. Cory had fun coaching these kids. If he had his druthers, he would coach football full time (not necessarily little league). A little bit o' Martin history for you...when we were first married, Cory's career path was to be a high school football coach. But, being the good man that he is, he sacrificed that dream for a career more fitting to supporting a family.
Of course, the next best thing to coaching football is to manage government relations for a major trade association...This is L's BFF, M. These two have been great friends since they met in Kindergarten.

Who is that grown up kid? Is that MINE? The end-of-season team party. These kids were on our baseball team last spring, and we rounded them up for football.

G and siblings of fellow team members (except for D at the far right, who is a team member). Cute kids my boys run around with, right? We've been lucky.

After receiving his participation medal from Coach, L poses.

If Only You Could See It...

2010-10-27T21:09:00.003-04:00

But I'm loving the leaves right now. Spectacular. The forest behind our house alone is lovely. I asked Cory if he'd noticed a particular spot of trees that you drive by on the way into our neighborhood......
crickets chirped.

In Which I Explain Why I am not Posting

2010-09-28T21:10:00.002-04:00

Our camera broke.
I could post without pictures, but...blah.

Plus, I don't love blogging. Have I mentioned that? Not a big fan. If I get in the groove, it's not so bad. When I'm out of the groove (like now)...

Uh, Wendi, if you're reading this, then the camera thing...yeah. I feel a little sheepish. So now not only do we need to buy a camera for ourselves, we need to replace your "loaner" (for a year +) that broke.

Yes, I am embarrassed.

Maryland Science Center

2010-08-18T10:45:00.023-04:00

We spent a day at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore with our friends the Maney's (Wendi and her kids Jordan, Spencer, and Landon). Literally, a day. This place was so incredible we were there from around 10:45-4:30ish. Everything was hands-on and the kids had a wonderful time. Thank you to Wendi for taking pictures since I didn't have my camera.

First stop, DINOSAURS. The kids got to uncover fossils, create dinosaurs on the computer, crawl in dino footrpints, and more!

Paleontologists Gabey, Spencer, Jordan, and Lucas.

McKay loved to climb up on all the little info booths and "listen" to the information on the phones.

There was an awesome kids' room where we spent a good deal of time, and probably could've spent more. Here's McKay playing with a water playground thingy (does that paint a descriptive picture for you?), Lucas and Jordan building a run for a ball, and Gabey playing with a large pin mold. This room had everything to build, push, manipulate, engineer, dress-up, and basically have a ball.

A classic picture of Gabers. Look for this one on Cory's new profile pic on facebook.

We spent some time in the "Newton's Alley" exhibit, where there was all sorts of hands-on activities to learn about electricity, force, motion, and all that smarty pants Newton stuff. Below we all take our turn pulling our weight up using a pulley system.

In the "Wonder Warehouse" portion they used this fandangled thing to make circular air puffs. OK, so I'm not the science whiz, but it was cool and we had fun. There's G dancing in front of screens with recorded people. Why? There were sensors next to them, and the more you moved, the more they laughed. So, the "sillier" the kids got, the more the people laughed. Totally G's kind of thing. Jrdan and L are busy creating some crafts.

Here Gabey and I take our turns on the bed of nails. You laid down on the surface, then the employee pushed a button to raise the nails under you. Yikes! You see G's face in the middle picture? That's before the nails. The pic on the left is after the nails are poking through.

Jordan and L in the "Human Body" section trying to figure out how to piece together a human skeleton.

Putting L's vital organs in the right places (stomach, kidneys, liver...).

Landon and M near the end, just after M woke up from a 20-minute power nap.

Final stop, the space exhibit. I think I told the boys to pose like astronauts...I'm guessing G is demonstrating weightlessness?

So, yes, this was an amazing place to visit and we all had a lot of fun. Thanks for going with us, Maney's! Let's do it again next year!

And you're invited to join us, too.

More Mackie

2010-08-18T10:40:00.008-04:00

Sorry, 3rd child. Your brothers got 1-year pics...
You did not.
But I got to you at 18 months!
Thanks to my friend Wendi for taking McKay's pictures for me. Here are some of my favorites:

Messes

2010-07-16T15:35:00.000-04:00

Entrepeneur

2010-07-14T15:25:00.004-04:00

Lucas crossed a rite of passage of childhood:
Opening a lemonade stand. He wanted to expand it to include food. At first, he thought he should have healthy things like apples and carrots (because isn't that what your children would buy from a food and drink stand? You know mine would), but we convinced him that those might not sell so well. Instead, we went with homemade chocolate chip cookies and flavor ice. Business was pretty good, especially after he took it upon himself to walk over and inform the men working on re-mulching our neighborhood playground that they could refresh themselves at his food and drink stand. What a salesman!

Incidentally, the words on the sign are representative of how it felt to be outside that day. And the looks on Gabriel's face are representative of...well, of Gabriel.

Preschool Graduation

2010-07-07T17:18:00.000-04:00

Last month Gabriel graduated from Little Hawks Preschool. He went to a nearby high school, where the program was run by a licensed adult and taught by students enrolled in the school's early childhood development class. We had a rough start to the schoolyear, but we all persevered and, in the end, I think he had a fun year! Here is the happy graduate. They all received awards, and Gabriel's was "Mr. Firepower".

Gabriel and Jedidiah ("Jedi") became good friends.

After the "ceremony", they had a beach-themed party with boardwalk games. McKay loved being a part of that action.

Mr. Firepower after a stop at the face-painting table.

Bumper Stickers and Stuffed Animals

2010-07-06T10:00:00.003-04:00

Driving in the car yesterday, Lucas says,
"Mommy, stop texting me!"
M: "What do you know about texting?"
L: "On the back of that car it says,'Tell your mom to stop texting me.'"

Nice.

This morning, Gabey says,
"Mommy, I don't love Mr. Piggy anymore (Mr. Piggy is a favorite stuffed animal given to G by Uncle James when he was a baby)."
"Oh, why not?"
"Because I have to do too many chores and I don't have time to snuggle with him (this after feeling put upon because he had to make his bed...as he does every morning)."
(stifling a chuckle) "Well, I think he knows you still love him, and you can snuggle with him at night."

A few minutes later, G comes downstairs carrying Mr. P. Crying, he says,
"Mr. Piggy is too old and we have to give him away!"
Where did this come from?
"We don't have to give him away! He's fine."
"He has a hole!"
"Well, I can sew it up with my needle and thread."
"Nooooooooooo!"
Whoops. Never mention needles to G.
"It's like he's going to the doctor and getting stitches!"
"But he's too old and we have to give him away!"

By this time, G is beside himself.
I don't know where this came from or where it's going, but wish me luck.

I Found a Pirate Sleeping in my Bed

2010-06-23T15:54:00.000-04:00

It's been fun...

2010-06-21T14:36:00.001-04:00

...having the Scott and Brooke Rasmussen Family live near us for the last 8 months. They moved to Arlington in October for Scott to begin training as a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department (as Lucas puts it, he works for Obama). We have loved having them here and took advantage of spending a lot of time with them. Over the last couple of weeks, before they left for their first post in Africa, we did a few final hurrahs. We spent Memorial Day together in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Always fun at the beach! Uncle Scott was the only adult brave enough to go into the COLD water.

Filling up with sand.

McKay was digging in the sand...
and flipped some on Gabey just as I took this picture of him and Linc.

Tadders and Mackers were content to play in the sand.
The cousins also did sleepovers -- one week at our house, the next at the Rasmussen's. Below are the attempts at photographing the 4 boys -- Lucas, Lincoln, Gabey, and Tad -- the morning after the sleepover.

The Monday before they left, we met up at a spray park in Arlington. I first saw one of these a few years ago when visiting my friend Angie in Meridian, ID. What a great idea! There are fountains and splash buckets at the park. It's free, and the water part is open Memorial Day through Labor Day.
We wore the kids out.

McKay was having a wonderful time in the water.We were sad to say goodbye and miss them already. We're excited for what's ahead for them and look forward to hearing all about their adventures!

Natalie and McKay

2010-06-16T17:04:00.001-04:00

"McKay, I just love you so much!"

--Cousin Natalie

Bubbles

2010-06-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

Lately, McKay will hold his index finger to his mouth and blow.
Translation: I want to go outside and blow bubbles!

Walking!

2010-06-14T16:43:00.003-04:00

Almost 18 months old, but M has finally decided walking might be pretty cool!

NY

2010-06-03T10:25:00.014-04:00

Diana and I took a Moms' Weekend Off in New York. We took the bus up Thursday evening (after a near miss....we were too late for our original bus, but were able to catch another a half an hour later) and stayed through Sunday afternoon. Her Great Uncle Dan -- who lives in the West Village -- kindly provided the place to stay.
Friday morning, after a leisurely breakfast (ahhhh) at The Busstop Cafe near Dan's apartment, we boarded the Subway and took off for Central Park. Here we are in the Shakespeare Gardens with the Old Swedish Cottage behind us.
Now, I find NY an absolutely fascinating city. It is great fun to visit, but I have to think it would be hard to live there. Central Park is its redeeming factor as the most non-city getaway within the city. Here I am at Belvedere Castle in CP. It's perched atop Vista Rock and overlooks Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn.

Diana is posing for me with the Ghost Busters building in the background. Ya know, the building where Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis turn into dogs and the GB's fight the alien lady sporting the flat top.

What else to do in CP? Rent a rowboat and paddle around the lake! I just needed a pretty parasol. We enjoyed rowing around, trying not to paddle in circles, taking in the view, and chatting.

Next, it was on to the Met! We spent a few hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Obviously, we couldn't see it all, but were able to peruse several exhibits.

There was a special exhibit showing the changing perceptions of women from about 1890-1940 through fashion. We also dappled in some Roman and Egyptian exhibits (including some artifacts from Tutankhamun's burial), paintings (Degas, Monet, VanGogh, Manet), Medieval Art, and ancient European furnishings. By this time we were ready for dinner and a show! We found this great-sounding French/Italian place in our guidebook. Of course, we should have realized that, since it was in our guidebook, we were not the only ones who knew how great it was. Lesson #1: Make reservations for dinner. We were wandering around near the Theater District looking for a place to eat. Mind you, there's no shortage of places to eat in NY, but we didn't want to settle....we wanted an experience! But, as curtain time was drawing closer and our stomachs were getting louder, we finally stopped in a pizza shop. And you know what? That huge slice of NY pizza tasted ohhhh sooooo good. Off to Cort Theater to see Denzel Washington in "Fences"!

There was a little pastry shop right outside the theater so, while everyone else waited in line for the doors to open, we didn't. We figured we already had our tickets...no need to wait. We'll just sit and enjoy a tasty little French somethin'-somethin'. And that we did.

Here is the stage (taken before the announcement to please not take pictures. Whoops). We were almost in the very last row of seats but, since it was a fairly small theater, we could still see everything just fine. It was a wonderful performance. In case you're wondering, Denzel transfers just fine from screen acting to stage. All the actors were incredible. It made me remember how much I LOVE going to the theater. The play was set in Pittsburgh, 1957, and highlighted the life of an African-American family. Afterwards, I was trying to decide if I liked it because it had Denzel and because it got incredible reviews, or if I honestly liked it. I concluded that yes, I did like it -- I enjoyed the story, the acting, and the experience.

And, we coudln't just take off and not try to catch a glimpse of Mr. Washington outside the theater, could we? Of course we couldn't. So there he is. He's the one in the black baseball cap. Trust me.

We trudged through Times Square at about 11:00 to get on the Subway at Grand Central Station. Part of the fascination of NY is that one would have no idea what time it was based on what is going on outside. But, while NY partied on, we put our tired little Mommy-on-vacation (one being pregnant; not this one)-selves to bed.

Apparently, I only had enough energy to take pictures of the first day, because I got nothing for days 2 and 3.

Saturday was spent in swarms of people. We went to Chinatown for dim sum for breakfast (yummy!) and wandered around the shops to find souvenirs for the kiddos at home. We also had to stop in Little Italy for some cannoli. Yum again.

Our original plan had been to go to Ellis Island on Saturday but, Lesson #2: Reserve your tickets for Ellis Island in advance. I know; that should be a "duh". Like we were the only ones wanting to go there on a Saturday in May. But, we didn't factor that in, so the ferry tickets were all sold out. We decided instead to go with our closest friends on the Staten Island Ferry. It gave us a chance to see the skyline and pass by Lady Liberty.

That evening, we met up with Diana's bro-in-law Daniel-- who is attending law school at NYU -- and Uncle Dan for dinner. We went to an Italian Restaurant in the East Village, where we got to sit on a quiet patio in the back. Ahhh. Daniel invited us to a midnight movie, but we declined.

Sunday we went to church with our fellow brothers and sisters in the gospel (isn't it wonderful that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same everywhere you go?), then boarded the bus home.

Thank you, Cory, for holding down the fort while I was gone. I had a wonderful time!

King's Dominion

2010-05-22T20:50:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Cory and I dropped the kiddos off with Scott and Brooke one Saturday and headed to a kids' park.

We went to King's Dominion Amusement Park and rode roller coasters ALL DAY! I was so excited to go someplace without carrying around a lot of stuff (i.e., kids and kid gear), that I didn't even take the camera. This is The Intimidator, which just opened this year. What a RIDE! Seriously, we were going so fast that as we opened our mouths to scream we were sprayed by our own spit. It was like those cartoons where the character is going so fast their lips are flapping around their teeth. It goes up to speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour.

And you see that big drop? An 85 degree angle. Can you feel your stomach in your brain even as you read that? Unfortunately, this one did me in by the end of the night. We'd been riding all day -- sometimes having our brains jostled around in our heads (this one wooden roller coaster gave us a severe beating) -- and I was fine. But, after our second go on this one around 9:00, I about lost it. So, we called it a night.

But it was great fun!

Graduation

2010-05-19T20:35:00.008-04:00

He did it, Folks.
Actually, he did it about 5 months ago, but now he walked the walk.
Last weekend, Cory graduated with his Master's in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University.
Whoot, whoot!

Mom M. came all the way from Washington to join in the festivities. We were glad to have her here with us. Mom and Dad R. planned to come, but en route from my brother David's graduation from Penn State Law School to DC, Mom got sick. Their valiant effort is recognized.

A funeral or a graduation?

Congratulations, Cory! We're all proud of you!

Our Weekends for the Next Two Months

2010-04-15T10:50:00.007-04:00

The Spring 2010 Baseball Season has begun! We've got Gabriel playing T-ball with the Yankees, and Lucas playing A-ball (machine pitch) with the Dodgers. Here they are before we headed off to their first games of the season. Gabey was so excited, and he kept his uniform on all the rest of the day following the game.

This is Gabey covering 3rd base. Not sure how many balls he'll catch with the mitt on his head, but...

Lucas is focused. Tell him the rules, where to go, how to do it, and he'll do it.

Gabey is a bit more of a free spirit.

He was sitting down in the grass, spinning circles, putting the mitt on his head, doing push-ups and jumping jacks...being Gabey. By his 3rd (and last) bat, he just kind of sauntered to 1st base.

They each bring something completely different to our family and, obviously, their teams. Wouldn't have it any other way!

Should be a fun season!

Myrtle Beach, SC

2010-04-09T09:35:00.028-04:00

For spring break last week, we headed south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was somewhat of a last-minute decision as we were closely watching the weather to make sure it would be beach-appropriate. It was looking good, so we booked our stay at the Springmaid Beach Resort and left the following Wednesday. After we checked into our room, we thought we'd ask about an upgrade, since it was obvious the hotel was not full. Well, friends, it never hurts to ask. We were upgraded to a larger suite with a kitchenette for the same price we were paying for the smaller room.

Sunset on the beach, taken from our room's balcony.

The water was COLD.

Lucas working on his strength training, and Gabey working on his plumbing ambitions.

Fun with sand.

Evening kite-flying on the beach.

Awwww.

Gabey has come a long way from our first big visit to the beach in Hilton Head. He now likes to play in the waves with Lucas and me.

Being pushed by the waves as they roll in (and filling up with sand).

McKay liked the feel of the sand on his feet. He did NOT, however, like the feel of the icey-cold ocean on his feet.

We colored Easter eggs,

and got a visit from the Easter bunny Saturday morning.

I found an egg!

Hey, why didn't Cory throw me in the air?

There was a pay-per-ride amusement park that the kids loved. My children can be somewhat unpredictable as far as thrills and rides, so I didn't know if this would be a big hit. But it totally scored.

Watching the sunrise on Easter morning.

Relaxing on the balcony one last time before heading home.

First Day of Spring

2010-03-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

We had the great idea to go to Great Falls to have a picnic and celebrate the first day of spring. It was a gorgeous 75 degrees!

Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea.

Plan B. A nearby playground.

Also a lot of people with the same idea.

Plan C. Hang out on a field so picnic and play football and soccer.

Score!

At one point the game turned into a "shirts and skins"...if you know our boys and their cousins, you can guess who took us up on the skins part.

Gabey and Tad are about 2 1/2 years apart. But, as Brooke put it, "They speak the same language."

McKay

2010-03-26T15:50:00.011-04:00

McKay likes to... Play in the ashes in the fireplace (whoops).

Color (whoops).

Help do the dishes.

Put things on his head.

Be outside.

Wear his food.

Watch the goings-on outside.

He also likes to tell you what a lion and a monkey say, sign baby, apple, more, please, thank you, and water, and climb up the stairs.

Love this boy!

Creepy

2010-03-03T15:52:00.001-05:00

I was walking around our neighborhood the other day with McKay and came across this on someone's porch: First, I was a bit creeped out.

Then, I had to laugh and go grab our camera to take a picture.

Is this welcoming?

Or a threat?

Bring on Spring

2010-03-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

With the arrival of March, I feel like the door on winter is closing. At this point, I'd kind of like to just slam it shut, but I must be patient.
This is the wonderful thing about winter: It makes you really appreciate spring!
Yes, there may be still be mounds of snow, but we are in the month of the official first day of spring. And so, to celebrate, I bought my first bag of the season of these little gems.

Not only are these tasty, they also make me thing of spring and of my friend Em(ily).

So, to spring, and to Em!

(p.s. I also love the Reese's peanut butter eggs at this time of year, which are also tasty and remind me of my sister Julia).

Do you have a favorite Easter/spring candy?

Fluffy

2010-02-28T15:46:00.004-05:00

I love this kid's hair. He and his cousin Natalie have the same hairdresser.

The Man's Mini-Van

2010-02-23T09:59:00.001-05:00

Thank you, James, for this version of our new car! Perhaps this will help with Cory's coming-to-terms.

My Dream Car

2010-02-22T20:18:00.007-05:00

As of Saturday, we are the proud new owners of a Honda Odyssey!
Huzzah!
Posing with my dream car.

This will make life a lot easier!

Maybe Cory's not as thrilled as I am about it...

The inaugural family ride...to church!

We test drove a Honda Pilot, but as soon as I saw the cargo space (uh, NONE) and the room in the 3rd seat (could comfortably seat 3 children McKay's size who need no leg room), I knew it just couldn't be.

I *heart* my mini-van!

A Little Bit of the Every Day

2010-02-17T14:37:00.010-05:00

We survived "Snowmageddon". We ended up with about 3 feet of snow, a record-breaking winter, no school or work for a week, and a lot of time together. Not bad, really. Not bad at all.
Let the record show (if you can tell me what TV characted used to say that, I'll send some snow your way), however, that I am now officially done with winter. Although, the 20-foot high snow banks all over the city tell me otherwise.

Now, a little bit of the day-to-day around here...

"I didn't 'do anything..."

A common occurence. When McKay is finished eating, he starts throwing food off his tray. Not just dropping. Chucking it. I've tried for months to get him to do the sign for "all done". He just laughs at me. In fact, of all the signs I do with him, the only one he will do is "baby",whenever he sees his baby cousin Natalie.

Lucas decked out in the "Armor of God" after a Family Home Evening lesson.

Another one of McKay's favorite activities: unrolling the toilet paper. I usually remember to shut this bathroom door, but, if I don't, he will find it. I laugh, he laughs, I carry him out and shut the door. The other day, though, I found him playing with the toilet lid. Whoops.

Gabey likes to draw on his face (I believe this particular time was...warrior paint, maybe?). And, judge me if you must, but I generally don't fight this battle. One time, I even helped him draw a beard a moustache. He uses it to pretend to be various things/people in whatever he's acting out, and it washes off easily.

Other random musings and events of late...

* I recently bought a lettuce spinner at Costco. It has changed my life. No longer do I have to try to dry drenched produce.

* McKay has taken to folding his arms (clasping his hands) whenever he hears the word "blessing". Before any meal, I say, "it's time to say a blessing" and, just like Pavlov's dogs, the hands clasp. Sometimes he'll even do it for family prayer. Yes, it is adorable.

*We have this neurotic cardinal that runs into the boys' window in their room. I'll hear "Bonk. silence for a minute or two. Bonk. silence for a minute or two. Bonk..." This happens at various times of the day. Sometimes multiple times a day. Sometimes there will be several days between episodes. The boys get a kick out of it now.

"Mommy, the bird is there again!"

What is she (we know it's a girl by the brownish color) doing? I don't know. But it makes me think of the neurotic cockatiel we had when I was in high school. He chewed his feathers out, then met his death one day when he saw his reflection in our toaster and flew into the side of it, breaking his neck.

Or was that two different birds?

I don't remember. All the cockatiels we had were neurotic.

Maybe birds with neurosis follow me.

This is why we will never have an animal.

P.S.

2010-02-07T20:28:00.001-05:00

We've been looking at possibly getting a Honda Pilot this summer.

Sure would come in handy NOW.

The Grand Total Is...

2010-02-07T19:47:00.002-05:00

Around TWO FEET! This is the 3rd snowiest DC winter on record (needing only one more inch to surpass the current No. 2 in 1995-96, and nine more inches to surpass the current No. 1 in 1898-99). The snow stopped around 5pmish on Saturday, and this is what it left us... Pretty sure that's our car in there.

You can see how much was added on after our initial dusting of the railing.

Our back fence.

Our neighbor's tree branch.

And the best part is...it STILL isn't over!

Another storm's rolling in Tuesday-Wednesday to drop another 4-8".

The good news is that we get a lot of time together, good exercise when we shovel, and a LOT of sledding and snow-fort building!

And it's Not Over Yet...

2010-02-06T10:50:00.010-05:00

The snow started Friday morning at about 10am, and is supposed to continue until about 7pm tonight (Saturday). We haven't left the house since early yesterday morning, and don't plan to until (maybe) tomorrow. We have games to play, books to read, Valentine's to make, Valentine's cookies to make, naps to take, movies to watch, sledding to do, and snow to shovel. Gabey in his "fort" on our deck.

Cory did a quick shovel Friday night at about 9:30pm. Here it is then.

Here it is this morning at about 10:00.

The deck last night at about 9:30pm.

This morning at about 10.Gabey is standing in a hole on the deck.

Trying to relieve some of the weight of the snow off of the deck.

More to come!

In Which We Visit Fort Washington and I am Humbled

2010-02-05T10:35:00.012-05:00

For MLK Day a few weeks ago, I packed up my boys (Cory was working) and took them to meet up with Scott and Brooke and their kids at Fort Washington. It is located on the Potomac River in Maryland, just about directly across from Mt. Vernon (on the Virginia side of the River). It was originally built in 1809, but over the next several decades saw many changes and upgrades. It was in and out of commission through WWII, after which it became the property of the Department of the Interior. This is a view from the visitor's center to the entrance of the fort. This place totally looked like a place Ghost Hunters would investigate.
Originally, I had planned on going into DC and visiting either the Native American History Museum or the Museum of American History, both of which were having some special events. Then Scott presented this plan, and I begrudingly went along. That's right. I totally played the martyr. "I don't want to go to some lame fort...blah blah blah..."
But it was the perfect thing to do. It was a gorgeous day, there were no crowds, it was really interesting, and the boys l-o-v-e-d it. And so, this is a post in which we visit Fort Washington and I am humbled. Climbing on cannons in front of the barracks. Of course, throughout the entire visit, the boys were staging a battle. It was awesome.

We'll call this "McKay being forced to be in a picture -- because the other boys are busy throwing sticks into the water-- so Mommy can (unsuccesfully) try to capture the look of the Fort and its grounds from various places."

See above caption.

From inside the fort. One thing about a place with a lot of deciduous trees...it is gorgeous three seasons out the year. But, in the winter, it looks like death.

This room was situated at the entrance of the fort, near the prisoners' cells, for the guards. You see that orb on the lefthand side? It's gotta be a disgruntled guard haunting the place.

Or the light from the doorway...

I think we'll have to go back in the spring with Cory.

Speaking of Lucas...

2010-01-20T15:01:00.008-05:00

Last Friday was "80's Day" at Bush Hill Elementary. Sadly, we did not have acid-washed jeans, flourescent shirts, or a mullet to work with, but this is what we came up with: A blazer with pegged jeans. What really cracked me up was when I wanted to take the picture and Lucas said, "How did they stand in the 80's?"
"Uh, pretty much how we stand now, kiddo."
"No, they did it differently. Probably like this."
Click!
Perhaps he'd been inspired by this 80's picture (perhaps '90, which was dangerously close to the 80's) of his Uncle James:

*Picture pulled from facebook and used without permission...I hope it doesn't get me in trouble.
Or, perhaps it was "Blue Steel"?

Lucas Turns 7

2010-01-17T16:32:00.012-05:00

Lucas wrapped up our month-plus of celebrating (beginning with Gabey's birthday in November) with a bang! He asked for a Super Mario birthday party and I was happy to oblige (happy to have a reprieve from Star Wars and Transformers). Cory and I put our heads together (and enlisted a little help from the Internet) to come up with a pretty fun little party! Each of the kids was given a green (Team Luigi) or red (Team Mario) hat as they arrived. We ironed on some Mario pictures (which we downloaded from the Internet) to some plain T-shirts and let the kids decorate them with fabric paint and markers. After the shirt decorating, it was time for the Mario obstacle course. Here is Team Mario, at the starting position. They had to climb down the ladder, jump over "lava" (red crepe paper blowing from a fan), slide down the stairs, crawl through McKay's playhouse door, throw three balls through King Boo's mouth, knock down the city of blocks, and then slide down the basement stairs to defeat Bowser. Once they knocked Bowser over (with plastic bowling pins), they broke through his "castle" (box) to find the key to unlock Princess Peach.

Team Luigi, ready to go.

Bowser and King Boo

After the awesome obstacle course, they played charades, ate pizza and cake, and watched a Super Mario cartoon as the parents came to pick them up. Cory and I were a little worn out by the end of the night, but we had fun doing it. And Lucas had a great time, which, of course, made it all worth it!
We love you, kiddo! Happy Birthday!

McKay Turns 1

2010-01-10T15:58:00.011-05:00

Christmas night I was wrapping presents again...in preparation for McKay's first birthday! We let him "open" presents in the morning (he was re-gifted toys the other boys had played with at that age-- and loves them just as much as they did!) and geared up for the big bash that evening. My aunt and uncle were in town visiting their son and his family in Leesburg, so they all (and Scott and his boys) came over for dinner and cupcakes. We had fun wishing Mackie a Happy Birthday! Here he is devouring his cupcake. After a few pokes at it, Daddy put some in his mouth to give him a taste. That was all he needed.

I love balloons!

Poke, poke

(So they're out of order. I don't even try to fight blogger on picture moving anymore. I've taken the zen approach, and we're getting along much better.)
What good-lookin' parents he has! :)

McKay obliged when Cory REALLY wanted to blow out his candle.

Happy Birthday, Mackers! We love you!

Christmas

2010-01-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas 2009 proved to be wonderful and magical!
For starters, Cory wasn't sick, I wasn't in labor, Gabey didn't throw up, and Lucas didn't wake up at 2:30 am Christmas morning (not that last Christmas wasn't memorable in its own way..I'll reminisce about that in the McKay's birthday post).
We enjoyed Christmas Eve festivities with the S&B Ras family, complete with a junk food supper (a tradition we've carried over from Cory's family), personalized emailed video messages from Santa Claus for each kid (VERY cool...in fact, in Lucas's words from his letter to Santa that night, "magical!"), Christmas jammies, and a re-enactment of the Nativity. A happy shepherd.

A wiseman, pointing to the star in the East.

An angel delivering the glad tidings to the shepherds (wait a minute...he bears a striking resemblance to the wiseman...)

The cast: Shepherd 1 (Lincoln), Sheep (McKay), Shepherd 2/Wiseman 2 (Gabey), Wiseman 1/Angel (Lucas), Mary (Brooke), Baby Jesus (Baby Natalie).

*not pictured: Joseph (Tad), most likely feeding the donkey after the long journey

I love Christmas jammies! And the boxes they come in!

Matchy-matchy Super Mario jammies!

Ready to see what Santa brought Christmas morning.

We'd told the kiddos they couldn't come wake us up before 6:00am. 6:00 on the dot, Lucas was whispering in my ear, "Mommy! It's 6:00!" Cory went downstairs to prep the ambiance (music, lights, fire) and Lucas woke up Gabey (we let McKay sleep; he joined us at about 7).

Santa did not disappoint (not to mention generous grandparents and aunts and uncles).

As it should be, Christmas day was spent (in jammies) putting together and playing with new toys, playing new games, eating too much, calling cousins and grandparents, and reading new books. Lucas said what we all felt (and how I always remembering feeling as a child), "I wish today would never end!"

And, although that day did end, the good times continued as we celebrated McKay's 1st birthday and enjoyed having Cory home for the entire week after Christmas!

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T21:16:00.002-05:00

I saw this quote from an Apostle in our church on my sister's blog and found it very inspiring.

"...as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterday however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future -- faith always has to do with blessings and truth and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."

-- Jeffrey R. Holland

*From a talk given at Brigham Young University, January 13, 2009.

The National Tree

2010-01-04T20:33:00.009-05:00

Two days before Christmas, we went with Scott and Brooke (have I mentioned how fun it is to have family out here?!) and their family to the National Christmas tree. I had the brilliant idea to begin the evening's festivities with dinner at IHOP. 2 reasons this was a brilliant idea: (1) Since I knew both Brooke and I would be doing a lot of cooking over the next week or so, a night off sounded perfect, and (2) kids eat free. Voila! Here we all are at IHOP...I don't know why you can't see Lucas or Tad, but they were there.

Then, it was off to the Tree.
And now, if I may be completely honest (which I will be, because if I can't be on my own blog, well, then...what's the point?). I remembered why we didn't go last year. You see, our first Christmas in DC (2007), we made the trip to see the tree. After messing with the metro, the cold, and tired kids, however, the actual time at the tree was hurried and not quite the magical memory we were hoping for. Last year, then, we weren't rushing out the door to do it again.

But, another year had passed, our memory was dim, Scott and Brooke are here now, and it seemed like a fun and festive thing to do.

Festive, yes.

And we are smiling in the pictures.

But...after messing with traffic, finding parking, C-O-L-D, tired kids, whiny kids (because they were cold and tired)...

All I'm sayin' is, if you're in town to visit us next Christmas (which we would completely welcome), and you want to go see the tree, please do not take offense if we say we'll wait for you back at the house with a crackling fire and hot chocolate.

Scooter

2010-01-04T15:09:00.001-05:00

After the Storm

2009-12-23T15:10:00.005-05:00

Laugh-Out Loud Funny

2009-12-20T20:28:00.002-05:00

My sister-in-law Brooke showed me this post from her cousin's blog. Before I read it, my brother Scott told me it made him laugh so hard he couldn't breathe. No way, I thought, could it be that funny.

I laughed. A lot.
http://natalielarson.blogspot.com/2009/12/not-so-jolly.html

Baby it's cold outside...

2009-12-19T15:04:00.003-05:00

Biggest snowstorm in the history of the world - or so DC media would want you to believe. Either way, it's a pretty big snow storm for the DC area, and we're only about half-way through the storm (when the pics were taken).

Happy Birthday, Gabey!

2009-11-24T14:49:00.009-05:00

Gabriel celebrated his 5th birthday! We were very glad to have my parents in town for the occasion. We celebrated over the weekend with bowling, cake, and friends and family. On his birthday, we were glad to have my little sister Alison in town. She and I braved Wendy's with 5 little boys to wish Gabey a Happy Birthday (we were in charge of nephews Lincoln and Tad). A great time was had by all!

McKay loved the balloons.

We love you, Gabers!

Sea Dogs!

2009-11-10T14:45:00.003-05:00

Lucas just wrapped up his fall baseball season with a team party. He really enjoyed his first season doing machine pitch.

We couldn't have asked for better coaches. Coach Randy's on the left and Dominic's in back. They each have a son on the team, and have been coaching together since their boys started in T-ball. Lucas was put on their team for T-ball last spring, and I requested that he be with them again this fall. As long as they're coaching, we want 'em! They have fun with the kids and are able to teach them life skills as well as baseball. Go Sea Dogs!

I Love Costco

2009-11-05T20:23:00.004-05:00

For many reasons.
Like for the fact that nothing in Costco comes in small quantities.

I was checking out the other day when the cashier asked the usual, "Do you want stamps?" Normally I politely decline. However, this time, I realized I did, in fact, need stamps.
"Yes, " I said, and she handed me (what I assumed was my book of)stamps, which I shoved in my purse.

Later that day, I pulled the stamps out of my purse and did kind of a "What the....?!?" then started laughing.

I am the proud owner of $43 worth of stamps.

Only at Costco!

Pumpkin Picking

2009-11-03T13:44:00.009-05:00

Trunk-or-Treat

2009-11-03T13:39:00.006-05:00

The night before Halloween we did trunk or treat at our church (this has become my new favorite way to do trick-or-treating). Here is our Clone Trooper, Scarecrow, and Frankenstein.

Here is the whole crew, which includes cousins Lincoln (storm trooper) and Tad (Spiderman). We are THRILLED to have my brother Scott and his family living by us! They just moved to Arlington from Michigan for Scott to do training to be a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department. Brooke was home with 2-week old baby Natalie, but Scott and the boys joined us for trunk-or-treat.

Crazy Hair Day

2009-11-03T13:31:00.003-05:00

Since Lucas is long overdue for a haircut, we had some great material to work with for crazy hair day at school!

Halloween

2009-11-03T13:18:00.004-05:00

Ready to go trick-or-treating.A disgruntled Batman at the end of the night.

We had a great Halloween.

Well, most of us.

Gabey wasn't a fan of many of the "festive" decor at some houses we went to (like the one with the lifesized dummy that the homeowner dropped behind you from a wire as you walked up the driveway).

Scott, Lincoln, and Tad joined us on our trick-or-treating trek. Besides the 5-minute downpour midway through our evening, the weather was perfect. No jackets necessary.

We ended the night with a small sampling of candy, putting exhausted children to bed, and settling down to the computer for an episode of "Ghost Hunters".

Lifting Burdens

2009-11-01T02:37:00.000-05:00

Lifting Burdens

Happy Birthday, Cory!

2009-10-13T16:55:00.001-04:00

We celebrated another year of Cory's life last week. Unfortunately, his party was a little muted due to Lucas's recovering from a sickness and Gabriel being in the middle of one.

On a good note, the ice cream cake I made looked much better than the one last year!

Love you, Cory/Daddy!

Gabriel's World

2009-10-12T16:47:00.000-04:00

A little peek into Gabey's world... This is a picture he drew on his second day of preschool. He told me this is a picture of his friends flying. See the one in the bottom right-hand corner with the extra line protruding from his down-turned mouth? That's his tongue sticking out and his eyes are dropping because he is tired.

"Look! Mommy! I'm a sloth!"

Even Superman needs to sleep.

Batman.

(He also has a Spiderman costume that he has worn all over DC and Northern Virginia).

FIRSTS

2009-10-11T16:18:00.010-04:00

FIRST time Lucas fell alseep while saying his nightly prayer. Cory and I had to chuckle...only because we've done it many times.

FIRST time my children wanted to watch General Conference. This is an opportunity twice a year for all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hear the words of our Prophet and church leaders.

Listening to 4 2-hour sessions (2 Saturday, 2 Sunday) of adults talking is not every child's dream. This year, I finally got smart and printed some coloring pages and other activities to involve them in Conference. It really was a special weekend for us to be together and hear the words of our Prophets and leaders.

FIRST signs of fall. It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are some yellow leaves on our trees in the backyard. Fall is my favorite time of year.

Gabriel's FIRST day of preschool!

Just to Get That Off

2009-10-07T22:15:00.001-04:00

I had to get that creepy pig-person picture off the top of the blog.

Stay tuned for a real post.

Overheard at our house...

2009-09-21T20:35:00.002-04:00

Lucas, who was sick today, came to me with a worried look on his face.
"Mommy, am I going to get the swine flu? Because I just pulled a hair out of my mouth."
(stifled chuckle) "No, sweetheart. You're not going to turn into a pig. Sometimes hairs just get in our mouths."

Perhaps he had seen this creepy picture that my sis-in-law Maida posted on our family website.

Thanks for the nightmares, Maida!

The other day, Lucas to Cory,

"Daddy, don't tickle me, or I'll go into hyperdrive!"

"What?"

"Hyperdrive. Isn't that what it is when you breathe too fast?"

"Ohhhh...I think you mean hyperventilate."

Tonight, Gabey, on the floor, to Lucas, on the top bunk,

"Lucas? Are you awake? Luuuuucas? Are you awake? Luuuuuuuucassss are you awake? Luuuuuuuuuu..."

"Gabriel! When I don't answer it means I'm not awake."

Good night.

Lucas Gets a Hit!

2009-09-21T15:34:00.003-04:00

Lucas started machine pitch this fall and thinks it is "way more fun than T-Ball!" This was his 2nd game and his 2nd hit (I meant to be filming for his first hit, which was also in this game, but the batteries died. Thankfully I had brought along more!).

Back to School

2009-09-11T15:31:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again.

Lucas started first grade, though not without some reservation. He loves school and adored Kindergarten...but, he kept telling us before school started that "Graders always get in trouble." He was a little grumpy after the first day and we finally pulled it out of him that his class had gotten in trouble a couple of times for being too loud. It's not like the teacher was yelling, it's just that my rule-following, people -pleasing child (the apple does not fall far from the tree) felt like HE was getting in trouble when the class was, even though he tries so hard to do everything "just right". This did not sit well with him.

We had a good talk, another priesthood blessing from Daddy, and the second day was much better.

Here's to a fun year!

Oh, and lest you think I've left Gabey out, he will start preschool in October at a local high school. So you can look forward to another back to school post.

Oh, and lest you think I've left CORY out, he also started school...his LAST semester!

Hide and Seek

2009-09-07T20:51:00.001-04:00

One of our favorite games to play as a family is hide and seek. Even McKay gets a kick out of it.
This is a typical reaction when he finds us.

A Final Salute to Summer

2009-09-05T19:03:00.016-04:00

Diana and I decided to pack up the kids and head -- sans husbands (who had boring things like "work" and "school") -- to Chincoteague Island, VA. Her mom, Judy, has a house on the island where we were able to stay and enjoy one final summer hoorah.
To be honest, about 25 minutes into the 3 1/2 hour drive, we both thought we should turn around and forget the whole thing. Picture if you will....
2 moms and 5 little boys in a van, ages 6, 5, 4, 2, and 8 months. Everything seemed fine...until it wasn't.
McKay started crying and Gabe - Diana's 2-year old -- was crying because "I want to hold McKay's hand!".
Actually, both were just very tired, and kept feeding off each other.
McKay would cry louder, Gabe would follow suit.
Then, from the back of the van, "Mommy, I have to go pee!!!" This from Emmet.
Followed closely by, "AAAAAaaaaahhhhh! Mommy, Mommy! There's an ant in the van!" This from Gabey, who is apparently terrified the ant will bite him.
McKay cries. Gabe cries. Emmet has to go. Gabey's sure the ant will be the death of him. Lucas is somewhat fearful of the ant because he's sure it is a red ant and will bite.
Oi.
Fortunately, all was resolved and the rest of the drive was uneventful. Just the typical, "Are we in Chincoteague yet?"
"How many more minutes?"
"Are we still in Maryland? When will we be in Virginia?"

Ahem.
So, we get there. And,let me tell you, I am in LOVE with this island. It's not big, it's not commercialized, it's quaint...just my thing. I mean, how could you not love an island that has these guys roaming around free? Actually, these wild ponies are on Assateague, the neighboring island to Chincoteague, where the beach is.
*Note: Some of the following pictures are out of order as I am too lazy to fight with blogger. Alas, it was an ill-fated trip as far as hanging out at the beach goes. We drove up Monday and planned to spend Tuesday and Wednesday at the beach, then head home Thursday. We got all loaded up (not a small feat, mind you) and drove to the beach on Tuesday morning. The wind was wicked as it whipped (nice alliteration!) the sand painfully against our legs and made for a wild surf. We stayed about 2 minutes.

The wind was slightly less boisterous on Wednesday, but still didn't make for a relaxing day on the beach. So, we stayed for about 10 mintues. All the beach pictures were taken in those 10 minutes. But, the beach is one of my favorite places -- a love affair that I think is starting to rub off on my children -- and is always fun to see, if even for only a little bit.

How did we spend our time, then?

We ate at "Woody's BBQ", an outdoor restaurant complete with hammocks,volleyball, tetherball, and other outdoorsy games. A PERFECT place to eat dinner with 5 kids!

Here's everyone enjoying our dining experience at Woody's.

Pre-dining entertainment.

We played mini-golf.

More of Woody's...

More of the beach...

We played games together, had ice cream, played at the playground, and rented bikes to bike a 3-mile loop on Assateague where you can enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the marshlands and wildlife. This was nothing to sneeze at, as Diana pulled her two boys behind her, and I pulled my 3 (McKay in an infant seat directly behind me -- where he fell asleep -- and Gabey and Lucas in a trailer behind the bike - where Gabey fell asleep).

Despite my initial misgivings about doing this without husbands (how could shepherding my 3 young boys on my own be a vacation?), we had a great time and I am glad we went.

Most importantly, I realized that while we were away I had a much easier time being "in the moment" with my boys.

I didn't worry about housework and to-do lists like I do too much at home.

I just enjoyed being with them.

Now to be able to do that more in the day-to-day.

Farewell, summer 2009.

Mack Attack

2009-08-27T19:50:00.010-04:00

A.k.a., McKay, Mackers, Macker-loo-eez, Mack-ee-looz....8 months old now!

Weekend

2009-08-25T14:03:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, our plans morphed from an overnight stay in Lancaster, PA to visit the family-oriented theme park "Dutch Wonderland", to a day of yard work, playing in a fantastic rainstorm, and dinner at IHOP (where kids eat free after 4!).

You know, changing plans isn't always bad.

THIS is what all the fuss was about?!

2009-08-24T21:22:00.003-04:00

Remember my post a while back lamenting that we had not gotten the digital converter box for our TV, so I was unable to watch my fave dance show?

Well, we got the coupon and we got the box.

And you know what?

LAME!

We got more channels before the box. Furthermore, the ones we got didn't skip in and out because it was "unable to find signal".

On a side note, when we try to "adjust the signal", it sounds like an old Atari game. So that is one good thing.

I am through complaining.

Nothing Short of Miracle

2009-08-13T14:40:00.016-04:00

Some miracles you can buy.
After 2 unsuccessful attempts at individual swimming lessons for Lucas and 1 for Gabey, we just finished a 2-week, 8-session group lesson with miraculous results. The pictures of Lucas doing a front float are a far cry from the little boy who wouldn't put his face in the water when this all started. And Gabey, who wasn't quite as hesitant as Lucas, but not thrilled with the idea, was turning somersaults (literally) underwater by the end. Huzzah!

Thank you to my friend Wendi for (1) suggesting this pool for the lessons, and (2) taking these pictures with her fancy-schmancy new camera.

Solids

2009-07-29T22:07:00.001-04:00

They're a hit!

Utah

2009-07-27T20:55:00.003-04:00

McKay and cousin Scout

BFF's Lucas and cousin Alex

Jumping to Uncle Andy at the lake

Gabey using my nursing shield as a superhero cape while sis Al laughs and McKay makes a classic McKay face

Mommy, look how high I climbed!

Climbing at Daybreak Lake in South Jordan.

Swinging at the lake. Isn't a he such a little Cory? Especially when Cory wears that hat...twinners.

Rasmussen cousins, minus Lincoln and Tad (missed you, Scott and Brooke!)

Blogger and I are having issues and I cannot move my pictures. Thus, you get ALL the pictures first then ALL the words.

We returned from a 2-week (1-week for Cory) visit to Utah a couple of weeks ago. Always fun to visit the Motherland. Highlights of the trip included....

1.Being with family

2. Taking the kids to the Utah Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House, with Grandpa giving us the tour.

3. 4th of July bbq

4. Playing with cousins

5.Getting a speeding ticket after dropping Cory off at the airport after deciding last minute to not go to the family reunion (a big reason we had gone to Utah at this time) in Idaho because McKay was sick. So, it was just me and my boys at my parents' house. Fortunately, my sister Ali came to babysit us for a bit, and my brother Andy and his family. We went to the Daybreak Lake and played.

6. Talking to my mom while we were both up at unreasonable hours of the morning...me with a baby, her with her crazy sleeping schedule

7. My sis Al taking me to get a new swimsuit. I haven't been swimming suit shopping for about 15 years because I've worn hand me down suits. Ha!

8. Going to the pool with my sis Jules and my mom and our 5 kids...how did THAT happen (the 5 kids part)?!?!

9. Watching family videos so my sis-in-law Maida could laugh at me wearing my hideous headgear (OK. I laughed, too).

10. Visiting Provo and BYU

11. A make-up consultation, thanks to my madre

12. Meeting our newest niece/cousin, Scout, and being able to be at her blessing

13. Meeting my future bro-in-law

McKay and his cousin Abi...she liked to give him "love pats" and he liked to pull her hair.

Southern Virginia

2009-07-26T15:22:00.005-04:00

Virginia Beach

Colonial Williamsburg

We took a quick trip this weekend to Williamsburg and Virginia Beach. Unfortunately, the 2 hour drive to Williamsburg turned into a 4 hour drive due to traffic, so we didn't have a lot of time to spend there, but it was fun to get a taste of it. Cory and I decided we'll have to go back for a little us only vacation next spring. Any volunteers to watch our children for a weekend?

We stayed the night there -- how excited were the boys to stay in a hotel (very) -- and then drove an hourish the next morning to Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach was the most crowded yet of the beaches we've been to out here (VA, SC, and DE)...then we realized this is the first time we've actually gone to the beach in the middle of summer. We all had a great time.

Lucas is getting braver about going farther out into the waves with me. A year ago Gabey wouldn't go near the shoreline, but this time he was playing in the waves as they crashed to shore and wasn't phased when they knocked him down face first. McKay was intrigued by the water running over his toes, and was then lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves.

Lucas is ticklish

2009-07-12T21:34:00.002-04:00

Lucas and His cousin Alex Playing Twister

2009-07-11T12:26:00.004-04:00

We just went to Utah for a vacation and Lucas and his cousin Alex were able to spend a lot of time together. Here is the latest video of them -

We are NOT Moving

2009-07-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

We are happy to announce we are not moving.

For the last 3 years, we have moved around this time of year.
In fact, the summer of 2007, we thought it was so fun, we did it twice.

But, this year, we are staying put.

Thank goodness.

McKay Growls at his Mirror

2009-06-26T16:07:00.000-04:00

To Uncle James and Aunt Sophie

2009-06-23T16:16:00.000-04:00

For ME?!

Thank you!!

Indiana Lucas and Nevada Gabey

2009-06-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Cory got the "Lego Indiana Jones" Wii game.

My boys think it's great fun, and are now fans of Indiana Jones (although we've told them they will not see those movies for several years).

Inspired by that, a couple of weeks ago Cory started telling them bedtime stories with the adventures of Indiana Lucas and Nevada Gabey.

Here are the heroes of the story, whips and all.

Endings

2009-06-21T15:55:00.007-04:00

It's that time of year.

The 3 other moms and I wrapped up our little co-op preschool two weeks ago. Here are the kids at the little "graduation" party we had.

Lydia, Rachel, Emmet, Gabey, and Adalynn.

Gabey took his diploma and said, "Mommy, is this what I do with it?"

Yes, Gabey. That's exactly what you do with it.

Lucas's last day of Kindergarten at Bush Hill Elementary was this last Thursday. Here he is with his teachers, Ms. Gallego and Mrs. Barrett.

To celebrate the official start of summer vacation, we went to lunch at Wendy's on Thursday. Gabey can have their fries, so we all got to enjoy it. What a treat!

Let This Be a Lesson...

2009-06-17T20:47:00.002-04:00

On why you should not procastinate.
Remember how, for about a year, we were told we'd have to switch from antennas to digital converter boxes to get any channels?
Remember how they moved the date back 4 months for procrastinators who had not yet gotten said boxes?
Here it is. 4 days after the switchover. The Martins still did not get the box.
No big deal....
EXCEPT THAT I AM MISSING MY FAVORITE SHOW!
So You Think You Can Dance is on, but instead of watching it, I am providing a voice of warning.

If you procrastinate, you might not get to watch people do the Samba.
Sigh.

Thought for the Day

2009-06-04T18:17:00.001-04:00

Or week, or month...until I get around to a new post.

"Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order."
--Anne Wilson Schaef

And how.

Things I'm Coming to Terms With...

2009-05-22T13:35:00.002-04:00

Kind of.

* There is no such thing as being "caught up" on housework.
* My post-pregnancy/summer Virginia humidity hair. It is curly and frizzy on the bottom and straight on top.
* Other post-pregnancy features. Uh-heh.
* Once your children start school, their life goes into warpspeed.
* It is getting warmer and there will be bugs in the house, including those nasty spider crickets.
* The entire planet is sleep-deprived.

Yawn.

To Leif, Christy, and Hyrum

2009-05-09T16:48:00.003-04:00

We are so glad you came to visit us! We had a lot of fun with you here and miss you already. Too bad we didn't take one picture when you were here (LAME). Thank you for coming!
Love,
The Martins

Because he's cute

2009-04-29T11:04:00.003-04:00

Awesome Head of Hair

2009-04-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

Cracks me up.

Easter

2009-04-24T10:00:00.000-04:00