the shafer family

baby pepper

2011-05-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

my friend meghan took these shots of pepper a day shy of her 3 week mark. here's a few of my faves...

she totally has an outie :)

here's the entire gallery if you care to take a look.

squished boys

2011-04-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

my sister hailey pointed out to me that i haven't posted very many pictures of my kids lately. so here's a few of the boys eating apple jacks (don't judge) and pineapple for dinner after an afternoon at the pool in march. they love to sit on these high bar stools at the counter just off of our kitchen. we only have two stools and all three of them squish onto both of them for almost every meal. its one of my most favorite sights ever...

a better day than yesterday....

2011-04-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

i woke up earlier than usual, started some laundry and did a little cleaning around the house.

watched some general conference.

went with some awesome friends to get pedicures and lunch.

wrote some thank you notes for baby girl gifts while watching some more conference.

but this i think made my day: after the second session of conference i was getting ready to run some errands when joel runs in the house and asks if he can go to the pool because some of his friends were going. i told him it was too cold, plus dad was was taking a nap and i had to go to costco. "sorry kiddo, there's no one to take you to the pool right now." he ran away for a minute and then came back holding a piece of paper and a pen. "okay mom, what are you getting at costco?" i started naming a couple things and he started making a list for me. it was completely adorable, tickled my funny bone, and made me totally giddy with happiness. here's my costco shopping list by joel:

p.s. we call broccoli "trees" in our fam, just in case you were wondering...

i'm so grateful that we can wake up every day and be a little better than the last day. and thanks for all your encouraging and justifying comments.... a girl needs to feel like she's not the devil sometimes.

on a roll

2011-04-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

a bad roll that is...

i haven't had the best day.

yelled at my kids a lot (they haven't been on their best behavior either).

called out a lady on craiglist for falsely advertising a baby bouncer i was trying to buy from her.

grumbled and complained to ben about the little girl that lives at our apartment complex who is always bossing my kids around.

and last but not least, i said something pretty rude to this guy who lives in our complex. this man, and older guy, lives in the apartment right next to the spa at our pool, so he often comes out and complains about the kids being too loud or other such nonsense. and EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a conversation with him, i'm not exaggerating here, he gives me at LEAST one piece of unsolicited advice about how to parent my children. here's our conversation today:

man: "wow, those kids sure don't mind the cold water."

me: "nope." (i always try to keep it brief with him hoping he'll get the hint... no such luck)

man: "you know i've lived here 5 years and i have the only pool side apartment in the whole place."

me: i just kind of nod. uh huh. i'm thinking, here it comes....

man: "you know you should really make sure that those kids don't jump into the spa or they could crack their heads open..." (are you kidding me? do you think i'm an idiot and let my kids jump into the spa?)

me: "i can take care of my children on my own, thank you."

he kind of just looked at me stunned and then hobbled off after a minute. why whitney? why? why couldn't i just say, "thanks, i appreciate your concern for my kids." or "yes, they already know they aren't allowed to jump in the spa, but thanks for looking out for them" but no, i couldn't do it...

do you ever feel like you've become the worst version of yourself? i just feel so angry and confrontational today. i think i just need to go to bed and start over tomorrow. and thank you one and all for listening to my negative rant.

Helplessness Blues

2011-03-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

Fantastic song by a band from my neck of the woods, the Fleet Foxes.

Helplessness Blues

convo with joel

2011-03-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

joel: i can't wait for april 28th.
me: why because the baby will be here?
joel: ya, but especially because when the baby comes out of your tummy, we won't have to go to church.
me: ummmm... you still have to go to church. mommy and the baby will stay home for a couple weeks, but you guys and daddy will still go.
joel: what?! that's not fair! i want to stay home from church like lindsay young and her baby.
me: well, when you push a baby out of your tummy, like mommy and lindsay, i'll let you stay home from church...
joel: okay.

apparently he thought he won. so naive.

A Miracle Story by Ben

2011-02-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

My educational/research experience in physics trained me to be a critical thinker. I see a result and I immediately question it in my mind. Let's be honest, nothing is ever completely correct after the first try.

*Disclaimer: I had a little too much fun with the links on this post.

This repetitive mental exercise has made it a bit more difficult for me in my post-collegiate adulthood to be quick to believe some of those fantastic stories that are so commonly shared in the Mormon culture. You know: the most-likely-embellished or makes-you-think-they-are-embellished miracle stories of the chicken-soup-for-the-soul kind (I'm sorry Mom - I had to - but this really does end well).

Don't misunderstand. I'm really not a cynical person and I do want to believe other people and their crazy-awesome stories, but my first reaction is mostly that of skepticism.

Apparently, I have been missing the point (we'll get to that).

I submit to you the photographic evidence of artifact #1

This is a very special journal to me. It has the journal entries of Whit and I immediately after the birth of our first son, the study notes from my experiences as a teacher at the LDS missionary training center, my struggles with school work in physics, and...oh, yeah, it's been M.I.A for the past five years (last journal entry was on the 26th of February 2006).

I lost this journal the day of a conference at the Provo Tabernacle (the 26th) and I remember being so distraught that it was lost that I called the building managers several times to recover the lost journal and even went there physically to look at the lost and found and never was able to find it. I remember kneeling down in very genuine and sincere prayer to ask for its safe return because it meant so much to me. Since my loss of this journal I have, even recently, had several moments of sadness recalling the many important things that were written therein and thinking "man, I really wish I could have that journal back."

On the 11th of December some fantastic LDS service missionaries were hosting a concert (not originally scheduled for that shift, by the way). For some reason when they arrived at the building the wife felt a real urgency to go through the Lost and Found items. She happened upon my journal, which apparently had been found years later, and some other important objects belonging to other people. She thought she would just take all this stuff home and sort through it there, which she had never previously done. The following Friday the Provo Tabernacle burned as well as everything inside it. All that was left were the exterior walls.

She was able to find and contact my parents and then me. I'm not going to try and describe how grateful I feel to have that journal back. I have those precious moments for me and my posterity because an LDS service missionary decided to act on her feelings and because I have a Father in Heaven who knows how much those written words mean to me and how much they may help me or even others down the road.

I realize that this was all for me. Sure, I hope that this brings other people some hope and maybe even some of that warm fuzzy feeling (that expression always sounds so cheesy to me, but look at me, I'm still using it) that we all get at first when we hear these miracle stories. Maybe it will even help increase your faith in God. But really, in the end, the purpose of this experience was to teach Ben something about Ben and his Father's love for him.

Whether or not you believe in God or whether or not you look at this like I usually would is really irrelevant. I'm sharing it because I believe it was a real miracle.

And because this is my blog :)

latest projects

2011-02-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

my sister in law, kadi, gave me this great idea to cover a canvas in fabric for my bedroom last summer. so i found some fabric that i was in love with and stapled it to a 24x36 canvas and hung it on my wall. voila! ...instant color and fun added to our room.

i recently bought some coordinating fabric to make a few throw pillows for our bed. here's my first completed pillow...

that nightstand on the left side of the bed i painted last spring. my friend, lindsay, literally had to hold my hand while i picked out paint and primer and handles and then painted it all. i totally love the way it turned out. here's how it all looks together (ollie saw me taking pictures and just had to hop in)...

and here's ollie because he's so cute...

zoolights

2011-01-05T16:45:00.001-08:00

we headed up to the oakland zoo the week before christmas to visit the zoolights exhibit. i saw some 2 for 1 tickets on one of those groupon type sites, so i thought we would give it a whirl... we are terrible at getting out and doing fun stuff as a family around the holidays, so i thought if i purchased the tickets, it would actually happen. success!!

there's a train ride that goes around the whole park to look at all the lights, although i was a little annoyed to find out that the tickets to ride the train were NOT included in the tickets to get in the park to see the lights. it was still worth it, though, because the train was a HUGE hit with all 3 boys. so even though we ended up spending more than we anticipated on this activity, i would recommend it, especially if you have crazy train-loving children like mine.

sadly, i didn't take a picture of us on the train, but here's a couple of shots of joel and kadin on the car ride.

look what i did!

2011-01-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

for some reason, when any project i do involves wood and paint, i get really proud of myself when it's actually completed. here's a cheap DIY that i just finished today... just in time to put away with all the rest of my christmas decorations. sad. but i will be so excited to pull it out next year! isn't it cute?! (no i didn't come up with the idea myself... i'm a shameless copier)

my christmas gift to you

2010-12-20T11:53:00.001-08:00

i'm surprised at how many people i've talked to who haven't heard about the christmas special disney released last year called "prep and landing." totally delightful for kids and adults alike! you can watch it on hulu here. its about 20 minutes long.

and here's a little stocking stuffer.... the prep and landing sequel that came out this year: "operation secret santa." complete with betty white as mrs. claus (i love her)! this is about 7 minutes long.

these shows are the perfect mix of witty hilarity and tender sweetness. ya, they both totally make me cry, but that's nothing new these days. :)

enjoy!!

sad.

2010-12-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

the provo tabernacle burned down this morning. i totally started crying when i heard about it. i know its just a building, but its a special building in provo. i attended a lot of events in that building during my time at BYU.... stake conferences, firesides, musical productions. they're not sure if they'll have to demolish it, but i hope they can rebuild it. it wouldn't be provo without it.

you can tell in the photo below that the whole roof is gone.

here's some fun news....

2010-11-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

"...i can't believe we're gonna finally have a sister!"

on kadin's plate at lunch today...

2010-11-18T14:44:00.001-08:00

sliced apples, applesauce, and apple juice. sometimes there's no reasoning with this kid... and i love him for it. what a character.

joel's 1st movie

2010-11-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

joel and kadin are in the habit of snatching our powershot and taking all sorts of pictures and videos with it. it stresses me out a bit having them tote the camera around all the time, even though i've given them rules about how they need to treat it, but it's been really fun to look at the pictures they capture. some of them get deleted, but lots of them turn out to be great pictures that i never would have thought to take. a child's perspective. i love it.

last week ben found some videos and pictures joel had taken during an afternoon of imagination. so ben edited them into a little movie and joel picked the music. it cracks me up that kadin is sleeping in the background at the beginning.

ollie is talkin' up a storm....

2010-11-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

need some happiness?

2010-10-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

listen to this...
sigh. i miss singing.

Amazing radness in a balloon

2010-10-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is Ben.

So, I've been fascinated recently by all of the amazing graphic designing going on these days, especially with stuff having to do with colors (see www.signalnoise.com for examples). I just saw a post about this new outdoor luminarium (totally made up word I think) exhibit on one of my favorite websites (kitsunenoir.com) and I was blown away.

Here is the link to the people who designed and implemented this unique "experience" for the public:

http://www.architects-of-air.com/the-experience.html

Take a look at the video. I seriously want to see this in person.

"dude, this thing is so awesome!"

2010-09-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

that is what ben has said about 53 times tonight since coming home from the ward youth pool party bearing this:

they were playing pool basketball and he was attempting a slam dunk from the edge of the pool and one of the kids pulled his feet out from under him (it was him and another leader, our good friend Ed Harman, against all the boys).

i most definitely think that this is NOT awesome.

write 750 words a day

2010-09-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure why, but i signed up for this challenge after i read about it on kate's blog... she's my beautiful and amazingly talented cousin-in-law who, by the way, is an fantastic writer. i hate writing. and i, unlike kate, am not very good at it. but maybe it will help me get all the jumbled thoughts out of my head and then i won't be so cranky all the time. oh wait, maybe i'm cranky because i'm the mom of three wild boys (which is also one of the main reasons why i'm insanely happy). but i digress... if you need a good excuse to journal, you should sign up for the challenge. hopefully i can keep at it every day. if you miss a day, they put you on the "wall of shame." HAHA!!!

stealing hearts everywhere

2010-08-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

on tuesday last week for a last summer hurrah before school started, we took a trip to the beach in capitola with our good friends, the geddes. there was a group of people right next to us that were in love with oliver. he decided to go ahead and sit down with them and chill.

lizard catchers

2010-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

joel and kadin are completely obsessed with snakes and lizards lately. friday at the park they caught this tiny little guy:

they were SO excited about catching it and they were just so sweet and gentle with it. it was pretty cute to watch them taking turns holding it and passing it back and forth to each other. joel keeps telling me that he wants a python for a pet. ummm.... dream on, joel.

crazy kids

2010-06-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

with three boys, no matter what precautions ben and i take, there's bound to be countless bumps, bruises and trips to the emergency room in our future. so i try really hard not to freak out when my kids do stuff like this:

a few minutes after this video, joel got the swing going really fast and couldn't hold on while the swing was whipping him around. he flew like 6 feet before landing. yikes. he bounced right up totally laughing his head off. are anyone else's kids like this?!?!

Some thoughts about a very touchy subject

2010-05-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hello readers-of-this-blog,

Yesterday I watched the movie trailer for a movie about the infamous California Proposition 8. The movie is entitled, "The Mormon Proposition." Then I watched a video by some of Whit's friends from college, who argued for homosexual marriage.

I have heard, both in person and through other media, and read many arguments against such a proposition. For those who aren't familiar it was a proposition to have marriage remain between man and woman only. Many who were against Proposition 8 have inquired, "if you claim to have any kind of a heart or love for others at all, how could you vote for such a thing as to deny a group of people the opportunity to claim their relationship status as 'married'?"

As a very sensitive person (believe me, I have been a sensitive boy from my youth, just ask my parents and siblings) who voted for the proposition, this statement has caused me to meditate and ponder in great length about my decision to vote for such a denial.

In my sincere and honest soul-searching, I have come to two significant (for me, at least) conclusions about my decision:

The ability to separate the act or life-style from the individual is the key to remaining a loving individual and still stand for principles that are difficult for many people to swallow. Some participants on BOTH sides of this issue have tremendously failed in this regard. Because I feel a bit like I am on the defense here :)...I can name several people (not just one) who are homosexual, who I love and respect. I love Mike for his ability to make me laugh and I respect him for his untiring work ethic. I love Paula for her hugs every time I see her. She brightens my day. I love Pam for her terms of endearment that make me feel good about myself. There are several others as well, but these are a few of my most recently made friends and associates who are homosexual. Obviously, this isn't "proof" to anyone who is reading this that I am sincere or without any guile at all. If you really want to know, ask my friends and associates if I have treated them with any more or less respect and love than others and put me to the test. I'm not perfect at all, I know, but to genuinely love and respect everyone around me is, I believe, a gift I have been given. Not once during my voting or my support of Proposition 8, or ever since then, did I harbor feelings of animosity or hatred towards those who voted against the proposition, homosexual or other.
What is so beautiful about this country is that you can actually stand up for moral and ethical principles that you believe in and you have the means given to you to fight for them. I'm not just talking about my own beliefs, here, people. If a coalition of Mac Users for Georgia Domination (MUGD) wants to require everyone in the state of Georgia to only purchase and use Apple computers, that is their privilege and their duty, if that is something they truly believe is worth fighting for. I'm sure the Apple company employees would support that! I realize that this particular example is a bit ridiculous, but when my state asks me to take a stand on one side of the re-defining-of-marriage line I will stand on the side of marriage between man and woman every time. That is my privilege and my duty just as much as it is for homosexuals to stand and fight for their side. I must stand where I, personally, believe is right on every issue that is brought before me.

Now I may not be on the same side of an issue as another individual, but this certainly does NOT give me the right to persecute and belittle that person, or treat them any differently than anyone else.

Who is fighting for or against individuals here? Not me. I can look in your face, whether or not I agree with your position, and truthfully tell you that I love and respect you, and that because of who I am and what I believe, this is where I will stand.

Some may be reading this right now and may still think that I have a shriveled heart and a dead soul and that I care not for the feelings and the beliefs of others. If this is the case, all that I can do is to invite you, as the author Charles Dickens wrote long ago, to "Come in! Come in! and know me better..."

Love,

Ben

funny joel

2010-04-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

last monday for family home evening we talked about how jesus loves others and all the different ways he served the people he was around. in particular, we talked about how he healed a blind man and gave him his sight.

so today at church, our aunt laurel was sitting next to joel and drawing a picture of bat for joel. as laurel was drawing, she told joel that bats can't see. laurel left to sing with the choir and as she was walking away, joel leans over to me and says:

"mom, mom! did you know that bat's can't see? maybe jesus can give them a blessing and then they can see again!"

haha!

and just because you can't have a post without a picture of cute boys....
*side note - joel is holding oliver because oliver wanted so badly to knock all the blocks over!

Oh, to be a stay-at-home mom...I mean dad

2010-03-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

Whitney is in Washington D.C. with her mother and 5 sisters, so I took today and Thursday and Friday off of work to be with my boys...and because we can't really afford to have someone else take care of our kids during three entire work days.

After a day (which, let's be honest here, is not sufficient to really make any conclusions), I could totally do this. I mean, be a stay-at-home dad. I woke up, had breakfast with my boys, got everyone to their preschools on time, fed some lunch, played some old-school supermario brothers and some other non-video games like wrestling and playing "monster," and designed and constructed pretty much the most awesomest train track ever built (Whitney recently bought a ton of tracks cheap from the internet).

Now we're going to eat dinner at Denny's, not because I don't want to make dinner (I totally know that's what you were all thinking), but because that's our tradition every time mommy goes away for a couple of days, just on the first night that she leaves.

Can anyone match the fatty goodness of a choose-your-own-grand-slam meal complete with bacon and sausage? I think NOT!

I'm sure the whole stay-at-home thing gets really old really fast, and it can be way harder lots of the time, but, Oh, what a pleasant day this has been :)

a tisket a tasket....

2010-03-15T13:32:00.001-07:00

three dudes in a basket.

and if you wouldn't mind.... i'm a finalist in a giveaway for a photo session by this girl. click here to vote for me. just leave a comment with the word "whitney." thanks!

baby legs. not legwarmers.

2010-03-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

so ya, technically they are legwarmers, but the "legwarmers" i purchased are called "baby legs" and oliver IS a baby. the word baby does not imply a specific gender, does it ben?

i have 2 reasons for putting baby legs on my kid:

1. if you hadn't noticed, oliver is a bit rotund. :) i still have yet to find a pair of pants that button around his chubby tummy. i'm serious. i got out a pair of joel and kadin's old size 2T jeans (oliver is only 13 months old), complete with an adjustable waist of course, and even though they are 5 inches too long on oliver, they are too small in the belly. solution: a cute onesie and baby legs!!

2. i just like them. i think they are darling. and i think they are especially darling on oliver... my precious, chubby dude. i mean how can you resist this kid?

i'm 100% positive that ben has NEVER purchased one single item of clothing for any of our children. so i offered to let him take over this job and then i would let him have his way in the "legwarmer" debate. i thought that was fair. he decided not to take me up on that offer. and why would he? he doesn't care what our kids wear... other than baby legs, of course. and i LOVE to buy clothes for our kids. for me, it's one of the many perks about being a mom.

so thanks for all your input... all your positive reinforcement, and even for all your "NOT OKs" :) but this girl is stickin' to her guns. and ben has consented. thanks babe! you can pick out our next kid's name.

thank you uncle sam

2010-03-08T09:25:00.001-08:00

we got a pretty good chunk of money from our tax return this year (those child credits are fantastic... hmmmm, maybe we should just keep having kids). so mr. fedex dropped this off at our house today:

ben was so beside himself with delight, he left work early (hopefully his boss doesn't read this). this thing is ginormous. 27 inches. of computer. it seriously cracks me up. its bigger than our old-school tube television. i guess we don't need our tv anymore... at least until we spring for a big flat screen with next years tax return.

the minds of children

2010-03-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

so i promise to post a follow up on the heated "legwarmer" debate :) but i had the cutest conversation with joel and kadin the other day and i wanted to write it down before i forgot it.

ben was in virginia over the weekend, so patrick kindly agreed to watch my kids (play wii with them) while lindsay and i went running with the girls on saturday morning. here's what we said on the drive to the primary activity 10 minutes after i picked them up from the young's house:

me: so did you guys have fun playing the wii with patrick?
joel and kadin: ya
kadin: mom, why is baby cooper gone?
me: well, he had to go home to live with heavenly father and jesus.
kadin: he's not at his house?
me: nope :(
kadin: but he's at the hospital, right?
me: well, he went to the hospital because he got sick but then he died and he went to heaven.
joel: but how did baby cooper get to heaven?
me: that's a good question, i don't know. maybe he floated up to heaven. what do you think?
joel: oh, oh, i know mom! i think Jesus has magic.
me: you know joel, i think you're totally right... i think Jesus IS magic.

almost every time i talk with my kids about cooper, its inevitable that i end up in tears. but there's something about their sweet, innocent perspectives that brings me peace and comfort.

Legwarmers? For boys? Really?

2010-03-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

This is Ben again.

So, I walked out of our room after putting some clothes away today and what to my wandering eyes should appear? My son...in legwarmers.

I inquired of Whitney whether or not this was some kind of joke. Maybe she was just putting them on him for giggles (remember the tutu post).

But no, my wife, bless her soul, actually bought the legwarmers with the idea that outfitting our little boy with these travesties-of-fashion-design-borne-from-the-80s are actually completely normal and ok for a little boy to wear.

Well, Whitney, I have two words for you: NOT OK.

Not even close.

Just to prove my point further I did a bit of image searching on Google. I searched for every conceivable phrase involving the words "legwarmers" and "men" or "boys" or even "babies." I DARE anyone reading this to find more than 3 or 4 photos of men, boys, or even baby boys that are actually wearing legwarmers. Most likely what you will all find are photos like this:

I couldn't even find a photo of Richard Simmons in legwarmers...at all.

This being said, it's time for all the people reading this to give their answer: Legwarmers for little boys - fashion victory or fashion faux pas?

Women, get your husbands involved. We don't want biased results now do we!

strangers shmangers

2010-02-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

a couple of weeks ago oliver had his 1 year check-up at kaiser (can't believe this kid is a year old already!!). he had to miss his afternoon nap for the appointment, but he was still happy as a clam toddling around the injection waiting room. then he walked up to this man and held out his arms and the man lifted oliver up and sat him in his lap. oliver was totally transfixed as the man bounced him and made hushing sounds. and within minutes oliver put his head on the man's chest and started to take a little siesta. i just had to snap a shot. the guy and his wife were pretty amused. love this kid.

random silliness

2010-02-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

a few random happenings from the last several days:

1. a NON-ode to costco.... i went to costco last friday evening. it was a kid-free trip that was pleasant and quick until... i get to the checkout stand. i bought two different pairs of shorts for joel that were different prices. the guy scans the more expensive pair twice. except i didn't notice until i was checking over my receipt as i was walking out. i sigh and roll my eyes and hop in the returns line to have them fix it. i wait 30 minutes only to have the guy tell me i need to go to the merchandise pick-up counter. walk back to the merchandise counter, wait 15 minutes. they finally get around to helping me and the lady hands me back my change, receipt and costco card. wait in line at the exit for several more minutes to get a smiley face on my receipt and notice i don't have the stupid shorts! lady forgot to hand them back. i go back and get them and FINALLY walk out the door. nearly an hour of my time wasted for a mere $2.19... all because my cashier was flirting with the cart loader girl. oh costco, how i love thee, how i loathe thee!

2. i went to the park with my kids yesterday. it's just me there and two other women i don't know with their kids. a guy shows up with his son and... his guitar. he starts playing and singing romantic songs like "unchained melody," "all i have to do is dream" and an assortment of beatles love songs. he was totally going for it... singing passionately in all of his warbly-voiced, off-key glory. i'm pretty sure he was there to pick up chicks. an hour later (yes he's still singing away at this point), the two other ladies and i left the park within a few minutes of each other. as i'm walking away, i turn around and the guy is packing up to leave. what do you guys think? was he serenading all the ladies to try and get a phone number? or maybe he just wanted an audience and his audience left. i'm gonna go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt.

3. a typical night in the shafer household. please don't call the CPA on us, but i think this is pretty hysterical (the video is kind of long but you can get the idea from the first minute and a half or so):
there's probably a little too much testosterone around here.

laundry day

2010-02-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

my laundry day used to be monday. in the last 6 months it has gradually been pushed back one day at time, due to my laziness. and if it wasn't for ben, our clean clothes would never make it back into our closets and drawers. ya, see those shirts hanging on the back of the chair? who knows how long they have been there. so right now friday is my laundry day. but i didn't finish the laundry today. hmmmmm. i guess saturday is my new laundry day.

Belated Valentine, 2010

2010-02-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I want to ruin such a glorious previous post with a silly one, but I'm committed now.

I just want everyone to know that this is BEN.

Yes, I have posted only one blog post in our family's entire blogging history. Yet, incredible as it may seem, I totally beat Whitney to the punch this time.

If I didn't post a single thing right now aside from "I love you Whitney, and I'll love you forever" I could still claim a victory...because that's what love is all about, right?...winning.

That's right. I win.

Winner! (with both hands stretched up as far as they can go and jumping in the air, like this)

Really though Whitney, I must tell the world, or at least whoever reads our family blog (yes, you) a few things about me and my only love:

In any given game between Whitney and I, chances are, she'll win. I would like to say it's luck, but after such a large sample size it has to be statistically accurate to say that Whitney is just better at winning than me. She is just smarter. I mean, look at her. That's the hottest smart girl I have ever seen (that's a puzzle book on her lap, by the way).
Although I am an extremely touchy-feely type of guy I had never had the guts to kiss a girl, hold her hand, or, ahem, make out...before I met Whitney. She was, of course, just too delicious to pass up.
Much to Whitney's chagrin (not so much of a cuddler, Whitney) I looooooove burying my head in her bosom in a man-i-love-you-so-much-please-grab-my-head kind of a way (get your minds out of the gutter people, you know who you are).
Whitney is a runner. Whitney is a fighter. I was bewitched by Whitney from the beginning not just because she is, um, gorgeous, but because, after getting to know her, I saw in her a motivation and a drive unmatched. Keep fighting Whitney. Keep running.
The most breathtakingly beautiful and dedicated mother in the universe? Yes!How the crap did I ever dupe her into this relationship thing? I'm smarter than I look, eh!

So here's to my goddess divine.

I wash the dishes for her.
I bathe the boys for her.
I clean the house for her.
I run marathons for her.
I work for her.
I cry for her.
I live for her.

And I would trade all the wealth in the world and my own life, in a second, just to hold her hand and to feel her perfect lips kiss my head.

opposition

2010-02-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

you'll have to bear with me on this post. i've never been eloquent or good with expressing my thoughts in words, so this might be a bit lengthy and jumbled.

most of my friends and family who read our blog already know this, but some don't... just over two weeks ago i received an email from a good friend in my ward. she and her husband had to say goodbye to their 19 month old son, their only child, early that morning. their sweet, little cooper. i had just seen him the week before at mcdonalds, tugging on his mommy's arm while she was chating with me and a couple other friends. so precious, so young, so hilarious, so cute, so vital and alive. then he got sick and in less than 24 hours he was gone. just like that. so shocking. i spent much of the day in tears grieving the loss of this precious little soul. i especially felt and still feel overwhelming sadness for my dear friends and the rough road ahead of them... they have to spend the rest of their lives on this earth without their son.

then later that same day another friend from my ward, one of my best friends, gave birth to her third child, her first girl. such happiness! such joy! one precious mortal life ends and another begins. how can a person have all these intense feelings in one day? i almost felt like i was going to explode. i bet many of you who know these same people had similar feelings.

and another experience of contrasts... a different friend in my ward just gave birth a few days ago to a baby girl with anencephaly... the back of her skull and part of her brain are missing. my friend found out early in her pregnancy that this was the case and she and her husband were told that their baby girl would likely die in-utero or during birth. there was a possibility she would survive birth and live for minutes, hours, maybe days, but not much longer. she and her husband and their 2 year old son have waited for many months, with heavy hearts i'm sure, for their baby girl to come into the world, knowing they might not even get to see her as a living, breathing being. and now she is here. baby corinne. and by some miracle and grace of god she has survived. my friends have been able to hold their sweet baby girl. kiss her, smile at her, enjoy her, LOVE her. what a wonderful thing a new baby is! a new member of your own, little family. someone given to you by heavenly father to look after and serve and love. but only too soon, they will have to say goodbye to her. i can only imagine the myriad of feelings that they are experiencing right now, but i would imagine that they are experiencing utter happiness mixed with intense sorrow and grief. but doesn't the bitterness make the joy that much sweeter? i'd be willing to bet my friend jen wouldn't trade this time with her corinne, hard as it may be, for anything in the world.

but that doesn't make it any easier, does it?

amidst all these thoughts i've had running through my head, i went back and read some of the archives from my friend molly's blog. molly and her husband vic lost their only child lucy to a tragic accident about a year and a half ago. a blog post she wrote about three months after lucy's death just absolutely sang out to me. she was talking with a friend, who had also lost a child, about the depth and understanding they had gained of life because of the tragedies they had both experienced. she then quoted a blog post from another friend which reads:

"A recent essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education made the following point (ht: Andrew Sullivan):

I for one am afraid that American culture's overemphasis on happiness at the expense of sadness might be dangerous, a wanton forgetting of an essential part of a full life. I further am concerned that to desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic, to settle for unrealistic abstractions that ignore concrete situations. I am finally fearful of our society's efforts to expunge melancholia. Without the agitations of the soul, would all of our magnificently yearning towers topple? Would our heart-torn symphonies cease?

This is something I've been thinking about for a long time. Obviously, feeling happy is a good thing, but what about feeling sad? One of the most interesting parts of Mormonism, for me, is its fundamentally tragic view, not only of life, but also of the afterlife. Good and evil, happiness and sorrow, must always exist together, because there is a necessary "opposition in all things." Even God cannot reconcile the competing contradictions and thus, in Mormon scripture, we find a "weeping" God. God is love, but loving means caring, and caring means as much sorrow as happiness. It seems to me that Mormonism does not promise so much a life that is happy, but a life that is full; not a pleasant life, but a rich life; not an existence of unending bliss, but of eternal creation. And creation is often born out of sorrow, like a heart-torn symphony.

So, next time you are sad, be happy that you are sad. A life without sadness is not a divine life. It is not even a human life. It is a life without love."

isn't that the coolest perspective?!

but that STILL doesn't make it any easier, does it?

why heavenly father? why my dear god must i, and those i know and love, and those i don't know, and the whole world experience such pain and grief? such overwhelming sadness? i have experienced some of my own sorrow in this life with the passing of my brother joel 13 years ago. i have also keenly felt the sadness of others. when i met my friend kristen and we cried about the loss of both of our brothers. when molly lost her sweet lucy. when my friend emily lost her husband, john, the love of her life a few months ago. when jen and eric learned that their baby girl couldn't stay with them for long on this earth. when lindsay and patrick lost their silly and cute little cooper. and death is not the only time grief is felt. loved ones who have lost jobs or are unable to find employment. grievous sin that has changed the lives of loved ones forever. the inability of friends to conceive a child... they want it so badly i'm sure they can barely breathe. friends who become ill or have cancer. beloved family members who fall away from the gospel. friends who have a precious child with special needs. the list goes on doesn't it?

but i know the answer to that question... the answer to why we must experience overwhelming sadness. the answer is BECAUSE WE MUST. we knew in the premortal existence that we would experience great sorrow and trial on this earth. not only that, but we were ready to welcome it! can't you just imagine us all up there with heavenly father and jesus christ, just chomping at the bit to come down to this earth to experience it all? ...pain, joy, sorrow, pleasure, grief, laughter, guilt, health, sickness. "bring it on!" we cried. without all these experiences on this earth, we can't become like god. in this world we are put through the refiners fire so that we may, line upon line and precept upon precept, become what only god knows we can be.

and at the heart of it, at the center of it all is our brother jesus christ. our savior and redeemer. who suffered in the garden of gethsemane, hung and died on the cross and then was resurrected and lives today. he suffered every pain, sadness, loss, and even every happiness and joy of every human being that has ever walked and will ever walk this earth, so that he might ease our burden and make it possible for us to become perfected and return to our heavenly father with our families someday. even then we will not be free from sorrow... god surely is not, is he? but when we return to heaven and are exalted, we will know joy in way we cannot possibly imagine at this point in our lives.

oh how grateful i am for my amazing, strong parents and my beautiful, hilarious sisters and my smart, funny brother-in-law and my darling, crazy nephews.

and for ben's side of the family. those insanely wonderful and fun people who i am now connected with forever.

and for this funny kiddo:

and this sweet dude:

and this blue-eyed angel:

and especially for this handsome man:

this is life. and oh how truly awesome it is. in every sense of the word.

"you've got a nice flat head, flat-head"

2010-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

our little ollie man is sportin' a blue camo helmet. i'm sure most of you have seen kids here and there wearing one of these, but in case you aren't familiar with it, it's to reshape his head. he has plagiocephaly. he's been wearing it for about 6 weeks now and amazingly enough, we can already see improvement. he has to keep it on for 23 hours a day... but he doesn't seem to mind it and he still looks pretty dang cute.

WOW!!

2009-12-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

we raised almost $6000 in the auction for emily jones! i'm so excited! how freakin' cool is that?!

auction for emily jones

2009-11-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

many of you may have heard about the tragic accident that claimed john jones in the nutty putty cave in utah last week. ben and i were lucky enough to know john and his wife, emily... we were in the same ward at BYU before we moved out to california a couple of years ago. john and emily were the most amazing couple... with the most contagious smiles and so full of love and faith. truly marvelous people.

my heart aches for emily, who is left without her best friend to care for their fourteen-month-old daughter, lizzie, and unborn child. my heart also aches for the family, especially john's mother and father. i cannot even imagine the sorrow of losing a spouse or a child. my brother, joel, passed away when i was a senior in high school from a tragic accident and now that i am a parent of my own children, i can see but a tiny glimpse of the pain my parents have been through and what john's parents must be going through now. you can read the family's statement here.

stephanie over at a daily scoop is hosting an auction all this week to raise money to donate to the john and emily jones memorial fund. head on over to check out the first auction and keep checking back this week to see lots more. some of my stenciled onesies are going to be up for auction. pass the word along if you would please! if you don't see anything you would like to bid on and you would like to contribute to the fund, click here. you can also email stephanie at stephaniewaite@gmail.com if you would like to contribute something to be auctioned. hopefully we can raise a good amount of money for emily and her little ones. what better gift can we give this christmas season?

we did it

2009-11-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

well folks, we reached our goal. we finished the richmond, virginia marathon in under 4 hours. 3:59:38. just by the skin of our teeth. i'm not gonna lie, the last 6 miles felt like i was literally in hell. at mile 20, i was so sure that i wasn't going to make it... i mean i knew i would finish, but i didn't think i would make it in under 4 hours. i must be one ornery and stubborn cuss because i MADE myself do it. and by the time i finished, i'm not sure i could have pushed myself ANY further. seriously so stoked to be done.

doug, ben's brother, was amazing... his first marathon and he totally rocked it. ben was my rock... he stayed with me to the end and helped me push myself when i was so sure i couldn't do it. thanks babe.

the grandpa pjs

2009-11-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

with each new baby, i get excited to pull these rad jammies out of the storage box. kadi and i bought these when joel and carter were babies. joel wore them, kadin wore them and now oliver is sportin' them. and if we ever have a girl someday, she'll wear them, too.

i must not have taken a picture of kadin in the grandpa pjs, which seriously makes me want to cry, but here's a cute picture of him in jammies at about the same age.

carter on the left, joel on the right with kadi. joel and oliver look A LOT alike as babies... if it wasn't for oliver's blue eyes, i would almost have a hard time telling them apart.

our little ballerina

2009-11-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

i hope oliver forgives me someday, but he makes the cutest chubby little ballerina.

for those who have lost...

2009-11-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

my friend, molly, who lost her daughter, lucy, in 2008, just launched her new website, "a good grief." it's a wonderful place for those who have lost a child to connect. you can also make a donation to help families pay for a headstone for their child who has passed on.

family pictures

2009-10-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

meghan has done it once again. and my kids actually hammed it up this time. here's some of my faves:

hautelook

2009-09-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

anyone heard of hautelook? you can buy all sorts of different fantastic designer and popular brands at greatly reduced prices. their sales for a specific brand usually only last from 36 to 72 hours and their stuff goes fast, so you have to be quick! just bought this michael stars cardigan... so excited! if you get friends to sign up, you get a $10 credit per person towards purchases, so click here to sign up and then tell all your friends.

7 months

2009-09-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

ben put oliver on this little riding car the other day and it struck me how big and grown up he is starting to look. every time i look at this kid, he makes me giddy. he's such a joy to have in our family.

the virtual horse

2009-09-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

what will they come up with next? let me introduce you to the "iGallop." apparently, it's supposed to work your abs. oliver will demonstrate for you, assisted by aunt mo mo.

sassafras pants

2009-08-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

me: "joel, right before you go to bed you have to sit on the potty."

joel: "but i'm pretending to be a frog and frogs don't have penises."

what?!?!?!?!

i almost let him get away with it because, one, it made me laugh REALLY hard, and two, his uneducated guess was right... yep, i totally googled it.

"this is the greatest thing of my life."

2009-08-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

that's what joel said directly after ben taught him how to blow water out of a blue pool noodle.

hehe.

i certainly hope not, joel.

the tricycle

2009-08-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

so this morning, i was tearing through the parking lot of my complex... i was late to meet a friend for a long run and low and behold.........

OUR TRICYCLE!

the culprit had left it on the basketball court. did i take a moment to do what i should have done last time (stop and put it in a safe place)? you bet your little fanny i did! i slammed on the brakes and threw it in the back of the car. the tricycle has been restored to us! it totally made my morning.

and something else to make you smile, cute kids in the bath tub....

joel and kadin wanted to get swaddled up like oliver. i love that kadin is pretending to be asleep...

cement cereal

2009-07-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

aka rice cereal. i swear, no matter how much i wipe, that stuff never comes off his face.

oliver is 6 months now. wow that went by fast. i realized as i was typing this that i don't talk about oliver's demeanor very much. he is an absolute angel. the perfect third child. both joel and kadin were pretty good babies, so we were sure that we would have a tough baby this time around, but he's the best tempered out of the whole lot. maybe if we ever get a girl, she'll be just like me and give us a run for our money. :) anyway, oliver is such a joy to have in our family. he's so happy, hardly ever cries, sleeps like a log and eats like a champ. and those bright blue eyes and his squishableness (if that's a word) are just irresistible . this kid's chunkiness seriously astounds me. so for your squishing pleasure...

oliver and his cousin tyler. tyler was born about 3 1/2 months after oliver.
ben's dad made this cradle for his babies long ago... we took a picture just like this of joel and carter (tyler's older brother) right after joel was born. joel and carter are 3 months apart, too. we just HAD to recreate the cuteness!
and a little video for fun...

eye candy for triplets

2009-07-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine had triplet girls about a month ago. i made some onesie sets for them and they just turned out too cute not to share.

bandaids

2009-07-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

we've been swimming a lot this summer... about 3 or 4 times a week. the bottom of our pool is literally like sand paper and joel is all over the place when he swims resulting in this....
and some tears...
but he still keeps going back for more. kadin is cold blooded like his mommy and sticks to the spa most of the time, so he doesn't end up with so many owies. see he's happy...

cat and gabi's wedding

2009-07-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

one of my best friends, cat, was married at the end of june. her husband, gabi, is totally stellar.... i couldn't think of a better man for her. ben's parents were kind enough to watch the kids for us while we hopped over to denver for the event.

posing.
doing the dew after a LONG day.
us with the happy couple. sorry your eyes are closed, cat... i guess we should have taken another one.

brothers

2009-07-23T18:03:00.001-07:00

lucky dogs

2009-07-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

i hate to rub it in, but ben and i won VIP coldplay tickets from a drawing at ben's work. we get free parking, a free meal and really awesome seats. ben's good pal from work was in charge of drawing all the names for a bunch of concerts and she knew how desperately ben wanted to see coldplay... i think she rigged it, but she swears it was legit. :) lucky us.

in other news... joel left our tricycle out in the breezeway of our apartment a couple of weeks ago. we were heading out the door that evening and i didn't want to take the time to put it away. i thought, "who's gonna steal an old, rusty tricycle?" think again. the next morning, it was gone. nice. it was a hand-me-down, but i'm stilled bummed. next time, i'll know better.

mr. happy

2009-06-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

oliver is 5 months old today. as you can see he has quite the sturdy base, so he's starting to sit pretty well.
tummy time.

camping in the redwoods

2009-06-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

we went camping a couple weeks ago with some good pals the drummonds, the harmans and the laytons. fun times. here's a few shots.

joel whizzing around on his new scooter. i know... he doesn't have a helmet on. he has one and he knows he's supposed to wear it, but he snuck off without it, the stinker.

new beds all around

2009-06-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

well not for ben and i, but for all the boys.

bunk beds!

and a new crib for ollie. $150 at target! ...and it's darling. can't beat that.

embarrassed.

2009-06-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

i'm am officially a moron. i was waiting in line for gas at costco tonight and my car dies... out of gas. apparently the 22 gallon tank that they advertised in the handbook of our new honda odyssey minivan is really a 19 1/2 gallon tank. i called out to this indian guy filling his tank in the line next to me to help me push the van forward. wow. my car is REALLY heavy. a couple more indian guys in line behind me hopped out of their car and helped us. good thing i was next in a humongous line that i had been waiting in for 20 minutes already. i was so embarrassed my hands were shaking. thanks to good samaritans number 1, 2 and 3 for helping out a silly girl.

4 months old

2009-06-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

chubby man oliver enjoying checking out the world. this kid is so sweet and pleasant. i can't believe he's already 4 months old.

trip to washington

2009-05-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

ben had a conference in portland for work a couple weeks ago, so we all got to tag along in our new mini-van. kadi just had a baby, so we were so stoked to see the new little guy and visit with his family. here's a few pics from the visit... sadly, we didn't get any of baby tyler. :(

this is the view of silver lake and mount st. helens from the porch of ben's parents house. so ugly, right?

boating on silver lake.

this is the assumed position of joel and carter when on the boat.

big joel.

how cute are these boys?

stencil tutorial link

2009-05-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

several of you asked how i did the stencil projects. click here for the tutorial i used. super easy. if i can do it..... ANYONE can. :) you can download the stencil for the bird on the tutorial. the owl stencil i kind of just made up myself from a clip-art picture i found online. happy stenciling!

one more stencil...

2009-05-29T12:28:00.001-07:00

look what i created!

2009-05-28T23:09:00.000-07:00

i'm not the most confident crafter but i was so excited about these things.

bird stencil...

i copied the idea for these tree cards off of a card making blog, but i just think they are so gorgeous...

i didn't steal the idea for this one... :)
and here's me modeling my first successfully hemmed pair of pants... yay! i can sew!

three months old...

2009-04-27T20:11:00.001-07:00

...and bigger than life. literally.

heartattack

2009-04-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

a couple of weeks ago, ben walked in to joel and kadin's room to do the nightly check before going to bed and found...

an empty bed.

he said his heart skipped a beat. was joel kidnapped?!! then he looked a little closer...

we love that these guys are such good buds.

for your squishing pleasure...

2009-04-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

i'm pretty sure these are the most irresistibly kissable cheeks i've ever seen.

first visit to the ER

2009-03-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

we lasted 4 years and 5 months with no visits to ER... i think that's pretty good considering we have 2 high-energy little dudes. anyway, kadin and joel were racing each other through the house and kadin ran smack into the corner of the wall and split his head open. rad. five stitches and doing just fine.

and check out this little chunk. 7 weeks old and weighing in at just under 14 pounds. we make some seriously solid babies... :)

brothers

2009-02-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

joel and kadin LOVE their little brother. i guess i was a little worried they wouldn't take to oliver but they can't seem to give him enough kisses and hugs.

kadin was really sweet with oliver the moment we walked in the door from the hospital... very cuddly and lots of kisses.

joel was a little scared of oliver at first. he wouldn't hold him for about a week, but now holding him is part of his bedtime routine.

hopping aboard the crazy train

2009-02-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

we took kadin's LAST diaper off this morning. yep, we're potty training little dude #2. "you're crazy!" i hear you say. ya, pretty much. maybe the sleep deprivation from all the night feedings is affecting my mental capacity, but the diaper purchases are taking a toll on our budget... AND it's supposed to rain all week so it's a good week to stay in... AND life is already tough right now with a new baby to take care of so why not add another log to the fire?

bring it on. i'll catch ya on the flip side.

in the meantime, here's a picture of little dude #3...

precious little dude

2009-02-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

my friend meghan took some newborn shots of oliver last week. thanks again meghan! you seriously rock.

introducing...

2009-01-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

oliver michael shafer

born january 25, 2009 at 7:25 pm
7 lbs 9oz
20 inches long

sleeping, eating and pooping like a champ and totally cute as a button

all cleaned up after the birth and looking at his mommy
kisses from daddy
oliver has a little jaundice so he has to use the bili-blanket (aka "the tanning bed")
ben is already messing around

a little mid-breakfast stretch

2008-12-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

this morning i turned around to find joel and kadin like this:

here is the conversation that ensued:

me: what are you guys doing?

joel: we're stretching!

me: oh ya? that's cool.

joel: ya. we have "crummies in our tummies." we have to stretch before we finish our breakfast. (100 points to anyone who knows what book that quote is from)

looking for entertainment? search no further than your local toddler.

holiday laughter

2008-12-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

has anyone seen this gap commercial with jon heder yet? seriously cracks me up. may your holiday season be filled with joy and laughter!!

reading time

2008-11-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

i just LOVE that my boys LOVE to read. it drives me crazy when they practically empty their bookcase and bring ALL the books out to the couch or to my bed, but the cleanup is totally worth it when i see them doing this...

sniff, sniff... the surfer locks are gone

2008-11-25T10:22:00.001-08:00

so i finally submitted to cutting joel's hair... ben made me do it. :)

here's the before:

here's the after:

i forgot to take a before shot of kadin's hair, but it looks pretty much the same. i keep his hair pretty short because it's so stick-straight and fine, but he's darling anyway...

the sweetest day ever...

2008-11-24T09:14:00.001-08:00

okay, this is about a day that was NOT the sweetest day ever. on thursday i put my boys down for their nap at around 2:00. after going in the room several times, administering a few spankings and trying desperately to get them to just go to sleep, kadin came waddling out of their room at about 4:15. he was COVERED in poop and both boys were freaking out. why can't i just use my nose sometimes?!! i'm sure he'd pooped a while before that and that's why they weren't sleeping. and i felt terrible that i spanked them for goofing around when the problem could have been easily solved if i had just paid attention and used my head. anyway, the sheets and blankets were smeared, the crib was covered, there were chunks ground into the carpet and, of course, kadin and blue doggie were a mess. he had swung his leg over the side of his crib to climb out and... you get the picture. sick, sick, sick, disgusting, sick. so after a bath, some serious carpet scrubbing and a load of laundry (complete with some intense stain treatment), everything and everyone was clean and fresh.

about 20 minutes after i finished the clean up, i was blowing bubbles for the boys. they were having a grand old time, squealing with joy... swatting, popping and running after bubbles. smack! head on collision. kadin came out unscathed, but joel was clearly hurt as he was sobbing and carrying on, which he never does... kadin is usually the one that gets injured from their wrestling episodes. joel had this huge black and blue goose-egg swelling up under his eye. i had to pin him down to keep ice on the bruise and it was not easy. it was all very traumatic and tragic for joel. i couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh for him... he was very dramatic. needless to say, i got a great workout that afternoon... and joel is sportin' a sweet shiner.

joel pouting about having his picure taken.
"okay, i'll humor you and smile, but i won't look at the camera." anyone else have a hard time getting their kids to look at the camera? drives me nuts!
ben and joel wrestling... is it any wonder that joel has a shiner?!!

24 hours in sacramento

2008-11-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

ben ran the run the river half marathon in sacramento on the 15th and i'm just gonna say that he pretty much rocks. his goal was to get under 90 minutes... he came in at 1:28:03. he placed 7th overall and 1st in the 25-29 age group. can you tell that i'm such a proud wife?

while we were at my parents that weekend, grandpa bill set up one of the train sets for joel and kadin and they were in their element all day long. between the dogs, the trampoline and the trains, there was constant entertainment for the boys which resulted in never-ending happiness for me.

tagged

2008-11-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

jackie tagged me and i thought this one was pretty fun. and easy. which is important.

this is the fourth picture in the fourth photo of our iphoto collection:

this is on our trip to hawaii a couple years ago... looking kinda dorky on our hotel bed.

i tag morgan, janaya (she needs things to blog about, even though today she had 2 posts in one day) and jillian (i want to see if she even has a fourth folder of pictures).

costumes, candy and cuties

2008-11-04T22:10:00.001-08:00

ben took the boys to the ward halloween party while i was out of town for the weekend. he had to give them suckers before they even got to the party so they would calm down and put their costumes on without freaking out. ben said they were seriously a mess by the end of the night as you can see from the pictures below. but that's what halloween is all about though, right? ...letting your kids gorge themselves on candy while making a sticky mess for you to clean up. they had a great time, so it was worth it.

joel was a bat (or a "batty-bat" as he likes to call it).

kadin was a monkey.

i was so sad i missed it, but at least i have this cute shot to make up for that.
on halloween night, we took the boys trick-or-treating with a couple of their favorite friends, sam and charlie. kadin insisted on eating the candy he had received after every house, so we had a hard time moving him along as fast as the older three boys, but they all had a good time and got plenty of candy. one great thing about having so much candy in the house is that i have some excellent leverage to get my boys to eat their broccoli (they call them "trees") and carrots. they have to eat three of each before they get a piece of candy. totally genius. except they are probably eliminating all the healthy benefits of their veggies by immediately eating sugar. oh well. i do what i can.

6 1/2 months

2008-11-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

i haven't been very diligent at documenting my pregnancy like i hoped i would. oh well. here's my ever expanding belly at 28 weeks or 6 1/2 months or how ever you like to say it.

moral support

2008-10-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

just a little something to bring a smile to your face... i took this back in may when we were potty training joel. kadin was such a fantastic cheerleader for joel's pooping efforts. maybe i can recruit him to be MY pooping cheerleader after i deliver my baby. happy pooping to all!

pregnant brain

2008-10-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

i was making some crumble topping for blueberry muffins the other day and look where i dumped the teaspoon of cinnamon. yep, right into the flour tupperware. whoops. ben decided we should just mix the cinnamon into the flour. a little cinnamon makes everything delicious, right? i made some chocolate chip cookies the next day and they were decadent as usual. phew.

my darling mr. four-eyes

2008-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

ben almost failed his eye test this summer when getting his california drivers license so he took a trip to the doctor a few weeks ago. he came home after picking up his new glasses this week and said, "i could've been seeing things!" any brian regan fans out there? speaking of brian regan, the eye doctor informed ben at his appointment that his left eye is bigger than his right eye and ben totally almost burst out laughing. "it doesn't affect your vision at all, i just thought you would want to be self-conscious for the rest of your life." hmmmm. thanks doc. here he is again posing to look studious. isn't he cute?

i love you my sedu

2008-10-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

this just arrived in the mail last week. a birthday money purchase. it doesn't catch my hair or pull on it. love it, love it, LOVE IT! maybe i'll actually do my hair every once in a while now.

the new husky

2008-10-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

sorry for the delay on the husky report. thanks for all your great suggestions! we gave joel the new husky about a week ago yesterday. in the end, we decided not to lie to him about the fact that this wasn't his real husky. here's basically what happened:

me: "mommy and daddy have something for you joel." ben pulls out the husky from behind his back.

joel: "i don't want a NEW husky! i want MY husky!" he takes it and throws it aside.

ben and i look at each other like, "crap."

me: "this is husky's brother. husky sent him to keep you company."

joel: "but i want carter to bring me MY husky from the beach." (carter is joel's cousin, just 3 months older than joel, who was very concerned when he heard about husky being gone. he offered joel to come and help him look for husky. very sweet, but he lives in washington.)

me: "well bud, i'm really sorry but i don't think your husky is coming back. it's husky's brother or nothing." (this is breaking my heart!)

kadin: "i want him!"

joel: "NO! he's MINE!" (joel grabs the dog)

nice. that's all it took. the prospect of his little brother getting the new dog instead of him. and he hasn't parted with it since. i took this picture about five minutes after the introduction. notice how beautiful and shiny and fluffy and plump husky is? it won't last for long. it's only been a week and he's already filthy. also, notice that kadin has his blue doggie with him, too. we need to start investing in TY stuffed animals. this is ridiculous.

RIP husky

2008-09-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

it finally happened... on our trip to the beach this past labor day, joel lost his beloved husky dog. husky has been a constant in joel's life since he was born... a precious friend that he has toted along almost everywhere and cuddled with every night for almost four years. he's been pretty sad, but i almost cried when ben repeated what joel had expressed in his prayer one night last week while i was at yoga:

"dear heavenly father, we thank thee for mommy and daddy and kadin and joelie. please bless the toys and the food (this is the exact prayer he says every time, no matter the time of day, despite our encouragement for variance)." he pauses. "please bless husky that he can be not scared at the beach. bless carter to be safe when he brings my husky to me. and bless husky that he can have fun in the surfing. in the name of jesus christ, amen."

seriously tragic. so we just HAD to order another husky... and it's on the way to our house as we speak from those folks at amazon. but i'm a little worried how he's going to take to a brand new husky. obviously joel's going to notice that it's not the same dog. he's no dummy. any suggestions on how we should handle it? what we should say? how to introduce the new husky?

a quick question

2008-09-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

so has anyone else who's been pregnant before had the distinct feeling that your baby is about to fall out while you're, say... blowing your nose? or maybe while pushing your poop out?

just wondering.

maybe it's time for some kegels.

we're having...

2008-08-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

a boy!

crazy huh? i guess ben and i are just meant to have little dudes. i sure love our little guys, though, so what could be better than to have another? he looks really healthy and is measuring right at 18 weeks.

details

2008-08-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

thanks for all the conrats you guys! so i'm 17 weeks along and i have an ultrasound scheduled for this wednesday the 27th. hopefully we'll have a cooperative babe that day so we can find out the gender. we are hoping for a girl, but we're pretty partial to darling, little boys... so, of course, we'll be elated either way. my due date is january 28. kadin's birthday is january 21 so they'll be almost exactly 3 years apart.

as for the half marathon i ran.... i was 5 1/2 weeks along at that point and it was the weekend before i started getting tired, sick, nauseous, etc. if i ran it a week later, it wouldn't have gone so well. :) i'm running another half marathon this weekend and i assure you that it will probably take me a good 15 minutes longer to finish this one. but i'm grateful that i've been able to continue running and push through my yucky, sick weeks... i have my running buddies to thank for that. running has helped me to feel better, though. on the days that i didn't get a run in, i felt MUCH more pukey. but i'm feeling pretty good now. YES!

i never took pictures of myself pregnant with my first two babies, so i decided that i'm going to take a picture of my budding belly every month this time around. here's 4 months along:

take a gander at kadin's "special" shirt

2008-08-20T10:32:00.001-07:00

see whitney run

2008-08-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

on may 31 i ran the all women's "see jane run" 1/2 marathon in alameda with a couple of cute girlies, maren and kristen. it was an absolutely perfect running day in every sense of the word. it was nice and cool outside... it was a fast, flat course with a fantastic view of san fran and the golden gate across the bay from us... and best of all, i felt incredible. i love those kind of runs. i just wanted to post a sub-2 hour race and i did just that, finishing in 1:56:35. note to self: screaming and waving while running by does not make for a good picture.

the victorious finishers. kristen on the left, maren in the middle.

santa cruz sweet santa cruz

2008-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

it's a long standing tradition for our family to camp at new brighton beach near santa cruz over memorial day weekend every year. this year was as fabulous as ever... lots of catching up with old friends, tons of beach time, a visit to the monterey bay aquarium and, of course, gobs of yummy food and campfires galore. we took lots of pictures of the kiddos. they're the good lookin' ones anyway...

joel and kadin snuggling together on their air mattress.
jellyfish.
checking out the hammerheads.
"i'm a whale mom!"
tearing it up on the longboard.
best brothers... with a hammer.
cutie pie boys.

oh yeah

2008-08-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

anybody else watch the americans upset the french relay team in the mens 4x100 meter freestyle swim last night?!! absolutely incredible. it was almost midnight and i was jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs with my kids sleeping in the next room. man, i love the olympics. you HAVE to watch the replay here.

catch up

2008-07-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

i have been the worst blogger lately. i'm lucky if i get two posts a month in. so, in the next week or two i'm going to try to post all the stuff we've been up to over the last few months. let's start with the los altos hills pathways 10k that ben and i and some friends of ours ran on may 10. this was seriously the hardest race i have EVER run... and i think that includes any of the marathons i've finished. well, maybe not THAT hard, but take a look at the elevation profile:
ya, seriously psycho. ben totally rocked it. he finished in 46:27 and got 1st place in his age division and seventh place overall! now we have this trophy on our dresser that literally looks like they nailed 2 blocks of wood together. that's brook, kaylynn's boyfriend, with ben. he finished third in his age group. he luckily ended up with a nice medal instead of a trophy that looks like a... well, you know.
as for myself, i wanted to get under an hour and i did it just barely coming in at 59:54. that's about seven minutes slower than my fastest 10k time, but i'm just happy i finished alive. thanks to lindsey, who kept me going on those crazy hills... and for e-mailing me her pictures from the race as ben and i, once again, forgot our camera. here's some shots of all of us loco runners after we finished.

the girls
the boys
all of us
afterwards, we all met at hobee's for a delicious, high calorie breakfast. if you ever run across a hobee's in california, i suggest the blueberry coffee cake. divine. it was a totally fun morning.

up tomorrow (or the day after)... santa cruz camping bliss!

giveaway

2008-07-29T09:33:00.001-07:00

click this to enter to win this:

totally darling. good luck to you and good luck to me! :)

ummm...

2008-07-13T13:08:00.001-07:00

so this morning, we're sitting in church and kadin starts singing, "bow chica wow-wow, bow chica wow-wow..." ben and i couldn't stop laughing. nice songs we teach our kids, huh?

and proof that kadin is seriously one of the sweetest kids around (usually)... i was laying on the couch today after church and kadin climbs up and says,

"do you want your bwankie on, mommy?"

"yes! that is so nice of you, kadin!"

"here you go, mommy."

he throws the blanket that we keep on the back of the couch on me still folded up. as i'm unfolding it and throwing it over myself he says,

"there you go. is that good?"

geez, i just wanted to kiss him.

family portraits

2008-06-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

my friend, meghan, snapped some fabulous family pictures for us a few weeks back. here are some of my faves:

check out her smugmug page if you live in the bay area and want an amazing photographer that doesn't cost too much. and click here to see more shots of our silly little dudes.

livin' the life

2008-06-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

was anybody as excited as ben and i were on tuesday for the release of coldplay's new album viva la vida? we pre-prdered it on itunes two months ago and what delight to have it magically appear in our itunes library overnight. this music really makes me happy.