Gratitude

I was thinking that it had been a while since I'd made a post, but 2 months? Bad Sharon! I guess I've been a little preoccupied with everything else in my life lately. I've let a lot of housework go while I've played with the kids and I've spent more time with friends in my neighborhood.
Today is a glorious grey, rainy and cold day. I love these days. Maybe I'm weird, but sometimes I like the excuse to stay in and do "rainy day" type stuff. Today I sit fiddling at the computer while Eli is playing with brown play-doh. Why brown? Well it used to be different colors...they have all been blended. Since he's totally happy with that, I am too. Maybe some day he'll want individual colors again, but until then, why spend the money?
I am also thinking today of how grateful I am for a good husband. And I'm not just saying that because he made the bed 2 days in a row! (I have no recolection of him EVER doing that in our marriage so far-without being asked, that is). When we do find the time to spend together discussing our family, goals, desires, ideas, etc., it is so nice to see that we are still on the same page. No, we don't think exactly the same way, but we have the same goal in mind. That is both refreshing and reassuring.

Bikes and Bread...

They have nothing to do with each other, except for the fact that they are two things my boys have enjoyed immensely lately.

We've been trying to teach Eli how to ride his bike. Grandma Stark found him one that is just the right size with training wheels! He loves to sit on it, but we're still working on the peddling concept. The helmet was a huge hit and he barely would remove it to sleep. He insisted on keeping it on while playing at the playground later, even though the bike had been left at home.

Thanks big brother!

Bread...

So, I took this bread making class a few months ago. A sweet sister in our ward who has been baking bread her whole life showed us how to make whole wheat bread. I was eager to attend, since I have tried to do this and failed miserably. It shouldn't be that hard to follow a recipe, right? Wrong! Bread is a fickle beast and I knew I needed an expert to show me the tricks of the trade. The loaf I made at the class turned out so nice I was excited to try again at home. Sister Smith told me that she will make 2 loaves worth of dough in her bread maker and then take them out and shape them in the loaf pans to bake them. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I tried it. Um, mine kind of worked, but not super great. Try #2 was worse. Then, one day I decided to go for it again. I tried different methods each time: put the flour and dry things in first then pour the wet yeast mixture over the top, try it the other way around....and so on. This new time I thought I'd mix it a bit by hand just to make sure it got going. I put the bread maker in my laundry room, thinking I was so smart to not have it taking up space in my microscopic kitchen (anyone who knows how small my kitchen was in Pullman will understand when I say that this one is smaller...seriously!). It takes a while to do its thing and I figured the timing would be just perfect. I could shape the loaves when the babies were sleeping and not have to be bothered. No, that didn't happen. It seems I didn't have the pan all the way stuck in the machine because at some point it had popped out and the dough was just rising and not being kneaded at all. I was so sad. I had ground the wheat myself, and to waste 6+ cups was tragic to me. Not only that, the babies were up and Eric was bored. I got grouchy really fast (no surprise there either). So, I did what any good mother would do. I got out the dough, squished it all together and tore off a hunk for each kid, Okay, not for Noah, that would be bad. I showed Eric and Eli how to knead the bread and just to get out some aggression and frustration and stuff I showed them how to spank the dough! I wish I had a pic of Eric's face when I first spanked the dough as hard as I could! I think he was scared. Then I smiled at him and said, "Now your turn!" He whacked his hunk as hard as he could. Soon, the 3 of us were kneading and spanking and whacking and laughing our heads off! Noah was happy sitting in the middle of all of us playing with some toy. We shaped our loaves and stuck them in the pans. I am not kidding in the least when I say it was the best bread I have ever made!

Eli's very own loaf. It was small and he ate it all himself. He was so proud!

Noah is 1!

Happy Birthday to Noah!

Well, actually he's 13 months today. But, since Mommy has not been a very good blogger lately, his birthday pics are being posted a month late. Oh well, at least they got taken, right? The fun thing is that Ryan and Tammy and the kids were here just the day after Noah's birthday, so we actually had some family to celebrate with. Noah was not shy at all about digging in to HIS cake...we had to hurry and cut him off a piece so we could have the rest!

Eli couldn't resist making his own mess with the cake. No surprise there, since he looks like this at every meal AND he seems to need to copy Noah lately!

My little one...

Though it's been a stressful year, I cannot begin to describe how blessed I feel. Noah came to our family a little quicker than we intended, but I can't imagine our lives without him. This one tiny person adds a balance to our family that makes everything seem just right. He's nearly always happy (except of course now that he's one and wants Mommy always!). It seemed like he came out laughing and smiling. His giggles are contageous and we can't get enough of them. Now he's walking (trying to run!) and can't seem to learn everyting fast enough.

What a wonderful, adorable and delightful little person you are Noah! WE love you!

Soccer Season!

Saturday was Eric's first soccer game of the season. It's been a couple years since he played on a team, so I was a little worried that he would be somewhat behind. Never fear! I guess playing everyday at school during recess time has kept him up to pace....somewhat. Sadly, his team did not win. They lost 1-5, but, guess who scored that one goal? Yup, Eric! Way to go! YOU ROCK!

Summer of Babies!

Okay so I had a birthday the other day and the best present of all was the call from Florida informing me that my newest neice had been born just about an hour before! Wahoo!

I had 4 sisters-in-law pregnant at the same time this year: 2 of Kendall's sisters and my 2 brothers' wives. Not only that, all these babies were born in a nearly perfect pattern: 1st Paul on June 7th, then 17 days later came Ashley on June 24th, then 17 days later came Alex on July 11th, then 21 days later came Cassy on August 1st! Way to go Cassy, you ruined the nice pattern of every 17 days, but at least you came on my birthday! (Once I have permission, I'll post pics of them all).

My lovely sister informs me that I'm next. Don't hold your breath! I've got 2 kids to get out of diapers first!

Today was a day that I really should have had my camera...we took the kids to Riverfront Park in Downtown Spokane. It was super warm and there is this nifty fountain thing that the kids can run through and get soaking wet. Dispite a little knee scrape (Eli, of course) The kids had a blast. It makes my heart so happy to see Eli and Eric play and have fun together. The moments are rare, probably for many reasons...I cherish the ones we get.

Fun with Dad in the park. Puyallup, WA, July 7th.

Eli and Greggers...just being 2 year olds!

One might wonder...do I ever put clothes on my kids? Well, yeah, but it's summer and it's hot and I have a 2-year-old who makes up his own mind about when clothes should be worn. Yeah, he's also trying to potty train himself, so that adds to the mayhem.

Noah holding strong in the bath with Eli. He's the more mellow of the two, but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out tougher! He might have to, just to survive.

Day at the park to say good bye to Nikki...She's off in Mississippi now. Sad, but good for them, right? WE miss you Nik!

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Uh, was that pre-marriage? Oh well, then, I don't remember. Ha! Seriously, it was a totally different life! Hmmm...1998-recovering from a traumatic relationship (yes, I was doing that often for a few years), working for NuSkin in Provo and playing a lot, yup, that about sums it up.

What's on my to-do list for today?
Well today is over in about 20 minutes. But the major to-do was to go to Post Falls for a Birthday. Check. Oh yeah, and go on the walk. Check. Laundry was done yesterday...Yee haw!

3 Things you might not know about me:
1. I met my husband on eharmony.com. Yes, we really did and we should probably request a lot of money for them to use us on their commercials.
2. I love Swedish Fish. The gummy kind.
3. I'm a tool girl: power, kitchen, whatever...It's common to hear me say, "You must use the right tool for the right job!"

3 Bad Habits of mine:
1. I am the queen of procrastination. I've had an entire life of getting things done at the last minute and not really having things turn out badly. That's not really good reinforcement for changing my ways, now is it?
2. Watching brainless t.v. when I could be doing something WAY more productive.
3. Staying awake because I'm afraid of getting woken up by a baby. Sounds weird, but it never fails...if I try to nap or go to bed early, I'm very rudely woken up by some kid jumping on me or screaming. It's just better to stay awake and go to bed late.

4 tv shows/movies I love:
-Lost
-Greys Anatomy
-America's Got Talent (not for the judges, but some of the people are just so interesting!)
-Get Smart (I laughed harder than I had in a long time)

4 books I love:
-The Palace of Illusions
-Twilight series (yeah, I got sucked in too)
Um...That's about all I've read recently. Do toddler books count?

4 jobs I've had:
-age 16 - Arbys, by far the worst job ever!
-Assistant Event Coordinater, by far my favorite job that paid me money.
-telemarketer, 2nd worst
-Mommy, the hardest, but my favorite.

4 places I've lived:
-Laguna Niguel, California
-Fairbanks, Alaska
-St. Paul, Minnesota
-Pullman, Washington

5 of my favorite foods:
-Ice Cream (usually vanilla with soft fudgy swirls)
-Thai food
-Pasta
-Cheese
-Bread

People I'm tagging:
-Liz
-April
-Carolee
-Whitney Wright