questions

I stole this from an old mission friend's blog. I thought it was kind of fun and simple to do. The instructions are to answer with just one word....I challenge any of you do copy the questions and give your own answers....liz, nik, shaila, mandy, meg, april, sherin, gina.....yeah, all you sisters!

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand
2. Where is your significant other? bed
3. Your hair color? brownish
4. Your mother? home
5. Your father? retired
6. Your favorite thing? babies
7. Your dream last night? unsure
8. Your dream/goal? music
9. The room you're in? closet/office
10. Your hobby? papercrafts
11. Your fear? dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? date
14. What you're not? asleep
15. One of your wish-list items? ipod
16. Where you grew up? Moses Hole
17. The last thing you did? facebook
18. What are you wearing? jammies
19. Your TV? smudged
20. Your pet? nonexistent
21. Your computer? friend
22. Your mood? denial
23. Missing someone? yeah
24. Your car? van
25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? Target
28. Love someone? Kendall
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? recently

Noah's book.

Well, it took me almost a year, but I finally made Noah's little brag book. Carolee was so kind to make one for Eli and I just had to have one for Noah too. Obviously I still need to add the pictures, but I'm just so glad to have this much done. I'm sure this is only interesting to any of you who are into papercrafts or scrapbooking, etc., but I had to show it off anyway, because it is a huge accomplishment for me.

October 2008

Halloween 2008.

Is it me, or is he just getting too big too fast?

Da boyz!

Go Dawgs!

Grandpa Griggs with Noah. Grandpa just turned 94 years old!

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!