it's wike cwissmiss!

I'll never cease to be amazed by living in Arizona.
Grapes woke me this morning to exclamations of "IT'S SNOWING!"
Of course I did not believe her.
I was mistaken.









It's a crazy world in which we live in. (to quote Paul McCartney)


Here are a few pictures of Grape's fun birthday party. I highly recommend 'Minute To Win It' games for entertainment. What a riot! (it's a television game show where people have 60 seconds to perform silly tasks and if they succeed they win lots of money)















She had soccer practice on her birthday. Look how nice it was outside! February!











The boys love when we play outside while Grapes practices.




This is her second set of cupcakes. (The first, for the friends party was yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The family party was Chocolate cakes with white frosting.) I decided after this- one cake or set of cup cakes will have to be sufficient. Whew!

Happy Birthday, Cutie!

Grapes is Great!

Today we are thankful for Grapes!! She is 7 years old today, and I am so thankful she is part of our family!
She is smart and funny. She is kind and thoughtful. She is beautiful. She is confident and detail oriented. She loves animals and art. She loves being outdoors and playing sports. She reads SO well. She is always learning and making meaning from her experiences. She amazes me with who she is and how well she knows who that is. I love this girl SO much!
Here are a zillion pictures to celebrate her today.

Today was brought to you by the letter... S

Today I am thankful for the letter S. S is the letter for all three of my favorite boys, and today

S is for SICK.
S is for soda (ginger ale)











and saltines











and stay on the couch all day watching stuff.

We (and I mean all 5 of us) were lucky enough to get an awesome something that wiped us out. Sunday night I got to wake up multiple times with two puking monkies (are there any S words for puke?) and then in the morning the littlest one joined the fun. By noon on Monday I, too, felt pretty stinky. The poor Doctor is also suffering.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, because this is my month of thanksgiving. SO just so we are clear: I am thankful for a body. I am thankful for an immune system that can help me get better when I'm sick. I am thankful for Netflix for keeping us entertained as we melted into the sheet covered couch. I am thankful for short noodle soup

which was the only thing that made me feel a bit better yesterday. I am thankful for Pencil's ability to be STILL busy and able to climb onto the table, computer, toy boxes and step wall, because that means he's learning and inquisitive even when sick. (right??)

A house... a Home

Today I am thankful for our home.

In Wisconsin we lived in an upstairs apartment. It had two bedrooms and one bathroom. It had a washer and dryer (in the kitchen) and a balcony so we could enjoy a little outdoors. It lasted 4 years and treated us well.




We came from that two bedroom apartment to having an actual house in Arizona to call our own. It has been such a blessing!
We have 4 bedrooms now. (one is the craft room/office/guest room. one for the boys, one for Grapes, and the master for us)

We have 2 bathrooms. (let me tell you, this has been SO nice!)














The master bedroom (exists!) and has a walk-in closet and full master bath. WITH big tub.

We have a back yard where the kids play for hours.














We have a garage big enough for both cars.
And we have a separate kitchen and laundry room. OH- the luxury!! No lint in my dinner, and no dinner in my laundry. We also have great appliances. (milk was on sale for 78 cents a gallon last night, so I bought the limit of 4 gallons. My awesome frige holds 4 gallons like it's no biggie. sweet!)













We have space to play and space to relax. I am so thankful that we are here and together.

I got a new attitude!

Recently, I had a moment of introspection. (really 'good' migraines do that to me. While I try not to vomit I ponder things) Thank you, eye doctor, for shining a bright little light into my poor eyes.

And I realized that I am again falling into one of my worst habits. Being that kind of person.
I think we all have an idea about that kind of person... the one we don't want to be. I thought I might catalogue all the traits I wish I didn't possess or catalogue the traits I aspire to as seen in the magnificent people I know and love... (you know who you are. Please tell me you know who you are. I cannot possibly name each person and their many goodnesses, for I would inevitably neglect to mention one of you and thereby break my own heart) But it is by your good influences that I have come to the epiphany of the day.

If I want to change, in order to be more like the steady, trustworthy, loyal, dogged, and selfless people who seem to have surrounded me through my life, (is the Lord sending me a message?) I must choose to see what they see. I must have an attitude of Gratitude.
Psst, Whit. You're a few months late.
I know. I know. . . . BUT- I think this month I will put more effort into being thankful. (next month? who knows...)

Today, I am thankful for my Husby.

In Sun Valley, Idaho summer 2005

I don't want to embarrass him, but I can't help but be blinded by his sheer awesomeness. (he's so awesome!)

He is dedicated and a hard worker. Not just anyone can graduate from Medical School. I am convinced they try to bludgeon any scraps of sanity out of the students there, with the volume of workload alone. He emerged victorious! I feel cool to just know him.

Last May

He is Intelligent. See above.

He is funny. and fashionable.

Our Engagement Pics

Doctor Socks... and my sandals. The holey toe is my favorite part.

He is good. To the core! and sweet. and humble. I have never been so painfully aware of my own pride as when hanging out with this boy. He has SO many reasons to brag. (he'd really dislike for me to list them here) but he doesn't. Even to me. He just isn't like that. Ever. it sort-of kills me. in a I-love-you-so-much-can't-I-tell-anyone?? please?? kind of way.

He is cute.

That dimple there- it's a heart stopper.

He is my favorite.

The Lord truly blessed me more than I can ever hope to be justly worthy of when this boy came into my life almost 12 years ago.

Spring of 2000 when we were BYU buddies

Life's Big Questions

Do you ever find yourself facing questions you know you'll never really answer?

What is my personal question/statement ratio on a given mommy-day?

When will Socks decide he can go potty on his own?

Who decided noisy toys were a good idea?



Did Pencil open the diaper cream with his teeth?















How did Grapes get so smart? (seriously?!)

Mom, what is dis fing do? --Sock

Why did my child do that?

Who is cooler- Buzz Lightyear or Spiderman?

What is so interesting about toilet water?

Will I really get a cavity if I collapse into bed without brushing just this once?




How do you say 'no' to a face like that?









Why did my child do that again?

Did Pencil just say 'dude'?

Can the peanuts in my mmmpeanutbuttermmm count as a vegetable if I cross my fingers?

What will it take to make me as cool as the Doctor?

whewe dat wecktangyoulow fing? itsa amilow, not a zoo amilow a FAWM amilow... in a wadder? -- also Sock.
This one was repeated ad nauseum for about 4 1/2 hours until Grapes got home and pieced together that he was looking for the dissolving animal pills (rectangles) that were farm animals.




Why aren't mermaid tails always made with blankets?









and the question truly on my mind right now:
Why can't the dishes just do themselves?

More Frozen Still

I know my last post was about surviving frozen water lines.
This one is about issues with the Natural Gas lines at the same time. Because the weather was so cold, the demand for natural gas in our area exceeded supply to the extent that the pressure all but disappeared. The gas company had to shut everything down and re-start. Efficiently (and conveniently, I might add) the re-start included having to come to each home individually to get gas (and warmth) back.

*Side note here, I feel slightly redeemed in my weakness of the past few days. It was, after all, the second coldest night EVER in Tucson. Also, by way of explanation, I was unaware that the gas was out when I was in the middle of 'frozen pipes situation.' I thought I felt SO cold because I was a wimpy. Then friends from church called. (My visiting teachers and then Home teachers too) They asked if we were OK and if we needed help getting warm until the gas got turned back on. "Hold the phone!" I thought. When I checked my thermostat all the pieces came together and I realized that I was cold because it was COLD. I'm quick like that.

So we had another adventure!

We bundled and bundled, and prayed that the heat would be back soon. (I have never wanted a hot shower more... but our water heater uses GAS. nuts.)

The kids wore two pairs of PJ's each.





They also spent a lot of time in their sleeping bags.





We all slept in the boy's bedroom so that we could utilize body heat to our advantage. The air mattress is in the foreground, and Grapes slept on the floor in front of the dresser. Sock and Pencil were in their own beds.






This was what my thermostat said when we woke up.



Grapes' school got cancelled. The Doctor didn't have to go in to the clinic (YAY for the clinic month.... sadly, Friday would have been his last day there anyway) So we snuggled and watched Hook and then around 7:00pm the Gas man came.

Hooray!! (PS. Bless the Gas man. Poor people were working 24/7 to get things back on track. He looked a fright, but still took care of us with a smile. AND in like 2 minutes!)