Ethan's Guitar Solo (with Libby on backup)

The lyrics:
Oh I love my family!
I like Christmas!
And so excited that (Libby: "I so 'cited!") Santa came when we were asleeeeeep!

Ethan's Story

The kids wrote books this morning inside empty cereal boxes. Then Ethan "read" me the story he wrote. "Once upon a time an alligator and a shark lived in a river. They jumped out and grabbed someone. Then they ate him...alive. And I love everyone except Grandma and Heidi and Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma."

Grocery Shopping with Kids

There are joys of parenting no one tells you about. One of them is going grocery shopping with a almost four year old boy and a two year old girl the week before Christmas. They don't tell you this because no one would have children if they did. It goes like thus:

Before even leaving the house it begins. "Mom I want a toy at Winco (the grocery store)" from the boy child. "No, we are not getting a toy at Winco." He responds "Write toy on the list, T-O-Y, toy." "No, we are not getting a toy" They manage to get out the door and get everyone buckled into the car. Half way to the store the boy starts kicking and screaming because he has to go potty. NOW! Understand that the store is scarcely over a mile from the house. In the two minutes between the house and the store he is going to explode, and he is letting everyone know in a very loud speech the situation. They park the car and rush to unbuckle everyone because there is no time for wet pants right now. And then a miracle happens, the minute the boy child is unbuckled it isn't quite so urgent that he use the potty. They dash into the store through a pouring rain. Of course all of the giant double seater shopping carts are dripping wet. Off they troop to the bathroom, letting the boy do his business and trying to use the cheap brown paper towels to at least dry where the kids bums will sit.

Then the shopping begins. "I want apples" from the girl. "We have some at home" from the Mom. Pouting ensues. Further into the store "I want candy" from the girl. "No we don't need candy" from mom. The girl with a quizzical look "It no dood for mine body?" Well at least they listen sometimes. The boy child: "It is a special treat". Mom swells with pride. It is her one brief moment of grandeur. It was brief. If someone had taken the time to count the girl would of said "I want...." a total of 825 times and the boy 463 times. Then a fight ensued over who got to hold the marshmallows for the boy's birthday cake. That was a battle that all parties lost and many bitter tears were shed over. The same battle was then fought over the chocolate chips with the same results. Then the same battle over the peanuts, same results. Then the same battle...well you get the picture.

The checkout counter was finally spotted. An end was in sight. The children helped put the groceries on the belt. Another battle started over who got to put the eggs on the belt. Mom won that round and thankfully there were no casualties. Then the children spotted the curly Santa straws. By this time they are both out of the cart so they can "help". The boy grabs one off the display. "I want this" The mother says through an exhausted haze "No, but maybe Santa will bring it to you." The girl child grabs a handful of straws "Santa bing tis to me." "Maybe, but right now you need to put it back." Then they must bag the groceries. They love Winco because it is cheap, but bagging your own groceries is the trade off. Of course the children want to help with this. The boy child keeps pushing the button to move the belt, coming perilously close to crushing the once-rescued eggs. The girl child keeps trying to push the giant cart out of the store and running over poor unsuspecting shoppers. Then they spot the marshmallows. Exact repeat of original fight, only now it is over who gets to put them in the bag. Mom finally lets the girl child bag them, retrieve them and let the boy child re-bag them. Peace, such as it is, is momentarily restored. The mom manages to remember to pay for the groceries and make it back out into the pouring rain. The boy child and her both realize the boy isn't wearing his coat, it is under forty pounds of groceries. The coat gets dug out the the boy partially covered with it. Everything and everyone gets loaded into the car and head home. The dad is home by the time they return. "How was the store?" Mom responds, "Oh, about normal."

Ethan-Soon to be World Famous Photographer

Winter Wonderland

We got several inches of snow about a week ago. The kids were in heaven. So much white cold joy had been dumped in their very own backyard. After we made the snowman we had a rousing snowball fight. It is so fun that the kids are finally old enough to enjoy things like this. The poor snowman toppled within hours and was completely melted by the end of the day.

Christmas Tree

We are so excited for Christmas. Alright to be honest right now only the kids and I are excited. Michael is to bogged down with finals to find his Christmas spirit. Only three more days though and then he can celebrate too. The kids are loving redecorating the trees fourteen times a day, thankfully we don't have very many breakable ornaments. The pictures are a little weird because I had the camera on the wrong setting.

Our new pets

It's kind of hard to see them in the picture but I have about 500 red wiggly worms that live in a bin in my laundry room right now. We can't have a compost pile and being the hippy that I am, I just couldn't keep throwing out our food scraps. That is where the worms come in. As long as I keep their bedding moist they are more then happy to eat most of our food scraps.
The kids love to look at and feed the worms. Ethan will touch them but Libby just squeals and scoots away when I pull one out.

Kiss it bet - ter!

A few days ago as she was running around playing, Libby stubbed her toes. Naturally, she started to cry. Momma picked her up, loved on her, and asked her if she could kiss them better. "Yeah," came the shattered reply. So momma kissed her little toes better and set her on the couch to recuperate.

A few moments later, Katie looked over, saw the scene below, and asked Libby what she was doing. "Kiss...my toes...bet - ter!" And how! She was just going at it, so Katie got out the camera to capture the moment.

"Ethan, don't listen to your father."

Ethan has a water bottle with a strap. He had this strap draped over one eye and exclaimed "I can only see out of one eye!" On a lark, I told him to run as fast as he could from the living room, down the hall and to the front door.

Of course he listened to me, because he is a very obedient boy. He darted toward the front door, narrowly missed one wall and grazed the corner of the next one, knocking him down and disappearing him behind the couch.

Katie and I immediately laughed heartily and silently. After a few moments Ethan fussed and came over to us. We checked him over to make sure he was okay.

Katie then taught him a very valuable and important lesson that will serve him well all the rest of his days: "Ethan, don't listen to your father."

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Decorating Pumpkins

I bought our pumpkins hoping with full intentions of carving them. Then I realized that a two year old, a three year old, and sharp knives just wasn't going to work for me. So instead I pulled out the kid's paint and they had a ball.
Libby decided that her pumpkin was fully decorated and she needed a blank canvas. After spending a fair amount of brain power on the problem she came to a lovely solution. Just look at all the naked blank skin. Painting that would be good. I think by the time we were done she had more paint on her then on the pumpkin.
Our kids showing off their works of art.

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. It is the first year Ethan has really understood what Halloween was about. Back in September he started asking about trick or treating. Libby got into it once she realized there was candy in it for her. We took them over to Warm Springs to do a little trick-or-treating. It was so much fun. There were all sorts of costumed kids running everywhere and people had went all out decorating their houses. We only did about one block, but that was plenty of candy and excitement for our kids.

We're going to pump YOU up!

Monsters

I would never of bought fake teeth for the kids. I think they are so, so gross. But we went to a birthday party and they sent all of the kids home with these. They ran around the house pretending to scare everyone and everything. The kids were so excited that it might of even been worth the slobbery plastic teeth. Not that it means I will buy them more next year, or that their current ones haven't mysteriously disappeared, but they sure had fun while it lasted.

Guitar Lessons

So my last guitar lesson is next week. I am kind of sad. I've really enjoyed taking lessons and I seem to understand what he is trying to teach, mostly. I can even play a few songs, some of them almost up to speed even. The kids love my guitar.

Libby's Revenge

A week and a half ago our poor Libby Sue was struck down with a bug. She threw up a couple of times and ran a low temperature, but other than that seemed just fine. She was just as pleasant as always (which isn't very). It didn't slow her down at all.

Fast forward three days later. I catch Libby's bug. All though now it has mutated. Now it is the disease from Hades. It involves a lot of puking and pooing. And don't even think about farting. It's not going to end well. Stomach cramps that makes a woman who gave birth twice, bend over in agony. Two days into the abject misery that had become life, Ethan is struck too. Vomit coats every surface in the house. The washer runs all day, just trying to keep up.

One day later, Michael is struck. We all sit around staring at each other from sunken hollow eyes. That is when we aren't pushing each other out of the way to get to our single toilet. All of us that is, except for Libby. Libby is skipping and hopping and singing her way around the house. She is beyond pleasant. Her life could not be any better. For five days no one has asked her to eat a single vegetable. She is living primarily on PB&J and crackers. The juice flows freely. Ethan doesn't care what toys she plays with. Her life is all she has ever dreamed of.

Out of our half crazed eyes, we realize the truth. She is enjoying this. She has infected us on purpose. It is all part of her master plan. Now that the illness is starting to subside a bit, I resolve to keep a close eye on her. I don't think we will live through her next plot.

Christmas Project

I have a favor to ask of all of you. I have decided to make Ethan a jean patchwork quilt for Christmas. Alas, I have to holey sad jeans to use. So I am sending out a request to all of you to please give me any jeans you may otherwise be throwing out. He is getting a twin size bed from his Grandma for Christmas, and I would like him to have a cute quilt to go with it. Just let me know if you have anything I might be able to use. Thank you ever so much.

Aunt Amy and Uncle Rob's wedding

September 1st, Michael's oldest sister got married to the love of her life Rob. Or as the kids call him Wob. It was a very happy wedding. Everyone was so glad to see Amy and Rob married. They are so good together. Ethan was the ring bearer and Libby was a flower girl.

Amy had paper fans and candles for wedding centerpieces. Half way through the ceremony of course one of the children caught a fan on fire. We all expected it to be Nick, but it was Ethan. I was sitting right next to him and was completely oblivious. Judy, a dear family friend, had to catapult over me and snatch the fan. She rolled it on the ground to put it out. Then is flared up again. So Georgette came running to the rescue with about an ounce of water in a water bottle. Between the two of them they managed to get it out. All of this was carried out the grand tradition of silent movies, as the bride and groom were still exchanging their vows.

Libby thankfully didn't catch anything on fire, nor wreak untold amount of devastation. She simply enjoyed all the praise centered on her. She was awfully cute, even if I am biased.

Computer Crash

I have a lot of cute pictures of the kids to post but unfortunately we have had a computer malfunction. All of our pictures are still there but just not very easy to access. I've been hoping Michael will get it fixed soon, but he is really busy with school. Also his job is making him work mandatory overtime. So I just haven't harassed him about fixing the computer to much. But as soon as he has time, you better believe I will be all over him. Then I will get everything updated.

Libby is TWO

Elizabeth SueEllen/Libby/Libby Sue/Sue Boo/Naughtiness/ or just plain Sue turned two on Saturday. It's hard to believe. I still think of her as a baby, but I guess she is not. In case anyone is curious the cake is peanut butter cake with chocolate ganache. She loves, loves chocolate. She is definitely my child.

She of course got overwhelmed by presents and had lost interest by the end. She did love this little bake ware set I found for her though. The little measuring spoons and cups and things are accurate and dishwasher safe.














Almost better then cake and presents was making her Uncle Rob catch her 826 times while she jumped off the table. Then Ethan got in on the act. We are not sure if Uncle Rob will ever be the same.
It was a fun party, but Libby was quite ready to go home by the time it was over. It is so nice having the park close to our house.

Camping in Crouch

Michael had a two week break between summer and fall semester so we went camping at his grandparents' summer cabin north of Crouch in Garden Valley. We could've stayed in the cabin, but we like camping. Plus a lot of my family came up, so it just made things easier. We had a lot of fun. The first night we were up there was the best day to view the recent meteor shower. It was incredible. The shooting stars left huge trails across the sky. We just put the sleeping bags on the ground, laid back, and watched for a couple of hours. We probably each saw a couple of dozen. We also played in the river a lot and even floated it a few times. If you can call having to get out and walk because it was so shallow floating it. But we kept on doing it.

The whole gang, minus Krys who is taking the picture. This was on the second to last morning, so everyone is a mess. The kids spent the whole time just covered with dirt and sand. They have never been so happy.
What would camping be without smores? Granted we were on burn restriction, so we made them on the grill. The kids didn't seem to mind.
Libby got bit right under her lip by a wasp the second day we were there. She only cried for a minute, then made a full emotional recovery. Her fat lip, on the other hand, lasted the better part of the day. All the adult made a fuss over her because she looked so pathetic. I don't think she even knew what they were fussing about. She just liked the attention.
Everyone getting ready to float the river. Ethan and his favorite cousin/person in the whole world, Isabelle, thought they could float down the river without an adult.

Michael may never forgive me for posting this picture of him, but everyone else should just be thankful it's not a picture of me in my bathing suit. We were a little sad to come home after all of our fun and no deadlines, but alas Michael has work and school.

Health Update

So as most of you know, the molar pregnancy thingy came back. My hCg levels got down to 124, then they started going back up. So they sent me to an Oncologist. The Oncologist prescribed chemo shots. So I went in every day for eight days and got a shot in the rump. Every other day it was actually a shot in the arm, to counteract the side effects of the rump shot. The shots made me tired and for a while I had mouth sores, but that was all. I have been told repeatedly that this is one of the easiest cancers to treat and the easiest chemo to tolerate. My last hCg level was at sixteen, the goal is five or below. I should achieve that in the next week or two (it takes awhile for the chemo to take full effect). After that I will still need to get my blood drawn monthly for a year to make sure it doesn't come back again. I am feeling fine, just frustrated as the doctor bills are coming in. Holy Cow, we shall be broke forever. Life is good and we are hoping this is all behind us.

Super Cute Cupcakes

I really liked my sunflower cupcakes. I think if I make them again though I would put them on chocolate cupcakes. I think they would just look better against a darker background. But they tasted really good, lemon with lemon curd centers. Yummy!

Grandpa Wood's Memorial

We spent the weekend of the 7th in Crouch, Idaho. We were attending a memorial service for William E. Wood (Michael's maternal grandfather) who passed away back in December. Michael's grandparents own a cabin up there, and as the cabin was full, our family set up our tent up on the property. It ended up being more of a family reunion. We ate way to much food and spent most of the time by the river trying to stay cool. The property backs right up against the Payette River. There is a little beach the kids enjoyed playing in. The whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and babies floated the river together. This picture was taken before we left. The river was really low and my poor bum got very beat up by the rocks.
Ethan loved playing in the water and actually waded out past his knees. It was enough to make this mother proud.Libby loved all the attention she got. This is one of the only pictures were she isn't caked with dust and/or naked. She really likes naked, the little exhibitionist.
This is the lady of the hour, Grandma Wood. This was right before we went home. The kids were tired and had no interest in having their picture taken. Libby is wearing her swimsuit cover because it was the only thing she had left that was even close to clean.

Potty Training 101 Part Duex

We have decided to give a go at potty-training Libby. Recall she is just 22 months old. She has decided, however, she does not like her diaper anymore.

He has gone on the little potty a few times. Twice yesterday #1 and #2. She has also gone on the floor and outside on numerous occasions. We are attempting to use a method described in a book (so you know it came from Katie). It talks about all animals having an innate need to not soil themselves, and as humans, we break them of that by putting them in diapers, then we have to re-train them back to what they already knew when they were born.

So, we are trying to re-train Libby to pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty. Yes, I am her father, but I still feel like a dork when I say it so many times a day. "Libby! Do you need to go pee-pee in the potty?" Her answer is always the same: she scrunches her face and says "No." She'll sit on the potty five or six times before she eventually goes on the floor somewhere, usually in the vicinity of, but rarely in her potty. We think we are making progress, so we're going to keep up with it.

An aside: For those of you planning to have children in the future, secure a residence with as little carpeting as possible. It's just easier. Trust me.

Weybright-Goodsell Wedding

Our friend, Kortnai Weybright, was married a few weeks ago to Philip Goodsell. Pic below, video here. The "We miss you" part at the end isn't for you, unless you live in Missouri and your last name is Henderson. :P

Fishing at Duck Valley

Michael had a few day break between the end of spring semester and the beginning of summer term. So we went fishing with his mom and dad and sister Kristal. The children were in heaven, until about day three, at which point everyone was grumpy and out of sorts. Ethan loved going out in the boat with Grandpa. Grandpa hits the fish with a piece of wood to knock them out. Ethan got really, really into that. "Hit its tail. Make its tail dead. Its tail is still moving. Hit it." I hope he doesn't turn into a psychopath.

Libby also loved going out in the boat. But she didn't like the fish part at all. Any time a fish came near her, she would scoot away squawking. As much as they loved the boat the favorite activity was throwing little stones into the water.

This was the biggest fish we caught while we were up there. And yep I caught it. I was still pretty sick while we were up there, so please excuse my appearance. And I really didn't want to touch the fish. I was being a sissy girl.

Dying Eggs and Easter Morning