Happy 4th Birthday Brad!

Today Brad turns 4 years old. It's hard to believe it's really been that long. I can't imagine my life without him. He is incredibly funny, super sweet and insanely aggravating all at the same time. For his birthday I decided to ask him some interview questions and here's what he said:

Favorite color: Orange & Yellow
Favorite food: Corn Dogs
Best Friend: Anela
Favorite book: If I ran the Zoo
Favorite movie: Ratatouille (even though he hasn't watched it in months)
Favorite thing to do: Eat Pizza
Favorite animal: Dinosaur
Favorite word: Birthday
Favorite joke: "Knock, Knock" - "Who's there?" - "Justin" - "Justin who? - "Justin time for lunch!"

And here are some birthday pictures - enjoy!

Scrap Pages

I've mentioned before that I'm on the Creative Team for Lindsay at Spinky Dink Scraps. Well she's expanding her designs in a big way and I've been busy doing some new pages with her kits the last couple weeks. Here's some of my work!

These 2 are using Future Star and are both from May of 2006 when Joe graduated from the University of Utah:



These next two are both made using All Good Things.

This is Brad & Jayden at the family reunion in August

This is one of my favorite pictures of Brad

And these last two are made using Corduroy & Lace Reloaded.

This was the first time Lucy, Jack & Carly met.

This is actually a re-make of one of my first ever digital scrap pages. I think it came out better this time. In my defense, this was taken just a few days before Lucy was born and Tenille still had a couple of months to go.

I really enjoy digi-scraping and it's a great activity for those few minutes of quiet after the kids go to bed since I don't watch TV any more. Oh yeah, did I mention that I don't watch TV any more? Well, I watch some PBS kids shows with Brad and Lucy, but those don't really count. It's not really by choice. You see, a few months ago Joe presented this idea to me where we would get rid of Dish Network and our DVR and replace it with a Home Theater PC which Joe would build. We would be able to get regular TV channels and watch any show that was online (which is a lot these days) and he would work it out so that we could use a computer program like a DVR. Well...let's just say it hasn't gone as planned. We do get regular TV channels, but the DVR thing has never worked and I just refuse to watch TV without being able to skip commercials and fast forward through the stupid parts. I have watched 3 or 4 shows online, but frankly it's kind of a pain. All this boils down to me just not watching TV any more. And you know what...mostly I don't miss it. Obviously something is going to have to change when American Idol starts again, but until then I'm sure I can find plenty of other things to occupy my time.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I almost got out of bed at 10:00 last night to come down and write a post when I realized that it was the last day of September and that I will have missed a whole month. Then I decided I cared more about sleep than my blog. Ha ha!

Well, September has been one of changes for us. The biggest change has been Joe's new job. After a very long hiring process (5 weeks between second and final interviews!) Joe was offered a job at Amerinet. This is a big step forward for him and takes him back to the health care industry which is something he knows. The last 2 years at Marquette have been stressful and not as fruitful as we would have hoped, but I'm very proud of him for sticking it out and using it to find something better. He'll be working closely with his former associates at Intermountain Health Care and he's very excited about that. I think it's going to be a really good thing.

Another change is that we're in the process of trying to buy a new house (I was going to post a link but just realized that's not smart blogging). Actually we've been "in the process" since April. It's a short sale, which is the biggest misnomer in the history of real estate. A couple of weeks ago we actually got a signed purchase contract back, which is much further than we've ever been before. The house is around the corner from where we live now, which is a plus for us because we love our neighborhood. It's a bit bigger than our current house and has a much better layout for us. The kids would both have their own bedrooms near ours and we would have a family room which means I could get the toys and books out of our living room. I'm still not holding my breath, because this whole process has been pretty much a joke, but I'll keep you posted.

Both kids are doing well. Brad never stops talking. Ever. I'm blaming that on his Tibbs genes. I'll take the blame for his overactive imagination, but they have to claim the non-stop talking. When he's being especially vocal Joe always says, "Hey Brandon!" If you know Brandon you'll know it's true.

Lucy is 16 months old - crazy! At her 15 month appointment she was 23 lbs and 31 inches. She has 13 teeth with 3 more on the way. I swear she's been teething non-stop since April. I wish they would just come in so it could be done. Lucy talks much more than Brad did at this age. She calls us all by name and has some cute funny phrases like, "I want a snack." She's quite the little dancer much to her daddy's chagrin.

We've had a great summer with lots of hiking and biking. It just starting to get cold and I think that's coming to an end. I'm very sad about that, but I do enjoy the nip in the fall air. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon!

This is what happens...

...when you're too tired to even finish your Corn Dog.

A Hiking We Will Go

A couple of weeks ago Joe and I took a drive up Mill Creek Canyon and ever since then we've been wanting to take the kids hiking up there. Today we took the afternoon and headed out for a hike. Unfortunately we didn't do a whole lot of research on which trail we should take before we went, but we looked at a couple of things on my phone on the way there and thought we knew where we were headed. The Elbow Fork trail was described as being an "Easy" level hike which "follows the road at low altitudes and is well shaded with beautiful views of Mill Creek Canyon." I'm sure that the Elbow Fork trail is just that. What I'm not sure of is what trail we hiked. I think we went up a trail on the south side of the road when we should have been on the north side.

The trail we took was beautiful, but it was not "easy". It had a lot of switchbacks at the beginning which took us straight up the face of the mountain and it pretty much continued uphill from there. I have to say that even though the hike was far more difficult than we had planned, we still had a great time. Brad was amazing. He walked the whole way with very little complaining. He did turf it a few times, but with no major injuries and nothing could damage his positive attitude. Lucy rode in the back-pack and was a trooper too. We hiked for about an hour and a half in the fresh, clean air and I think all of us felt great afterward. Here are some pictures for you!

This is the view of the canyon from about half way through our hike. You can just see the city where the mountains meet in the middle. You can also see how the air gets dirtier the further down you get. :(

Here's Lucy chilling in the back-pack. It looks like she's blowing a kiss, but really she's stuffing her face with goldfish crackers.

Joe and the kids. It's a good thing he can carry Lucy like that because I don't think I could.

The kids and me.

Brad leading the way. This was my view for most of the hike. He really did an amazing job and I was really proud of him.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that while we were hiking I got stung for the first time in my whole life. It really hurt!! Luckily it turns out I have no major allergies, so disaster averted.

Playdough

I got a playdough recipe off my friend Joy's blog a couple of months ago and have made it twice now with huge success so I thought I would share!

1 c All purpose flour
1 c Warm (not hot) water
2 Tbs Cream of Tarter
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1/4 c salt
1 pkg Unsweetened Koolaid (Optional...I haven't actually tried this part)
Food coloring as desired (I add mine after it's cooked so I can do several colors in 1 batch)

You combine all the ingredients in a pan and mix it until it's smooth. You then put it over medium heat and stir it continuously until it's one big ball. Then take it off the heat and knead until smooth. I then separate it into smaller balls and add different food coloring to each one. If your playdough is sticky even after you've cooked it you just put a little oil on your hands and knead it in - don't add more flour.

I like homemade playdough so much more than the stuff from the store. It's smoother and smells better and is super easy to clean up. If it gets dried on anything you can just dissolve it with warm water. Plus, if your kids eat it (as we know they will) you know exactly what's in it and don't have to worry.

Enjoy!

Brad-ism 7/20/09

I know I just posted yesterday, but this was too good not to share.

This morning before I left for work Brad was making a house out of the kitchen chairs and a blanket. Lucy was being "helpful" and kept pulling the blanket off. Brad was getting pretty frustrated and I was trying to keep her away, but I was trying to get ready to go and she kept at it. After a few minutes I heard Brad quietly from the kitchen say,

"Dear Heavenly Father, Please help my baby sister to stop ruining my house. Amen."

I had to try so hard not to laugh, and I figured if it was that serious I really better keep her out of his hair. Glad to know he's at least getting the message that he can pray any time he needs help.