Updates long overdue...

First and foremost, here is a current picture of all of us, since it has been ages since we've updated pictures...



Life has been busy, it always is, and I always say that, but it's the truth, so there it is. The kiddos both start swimming lessons tonight and they run for 2 weeks, every Mon-Thur from 5:30-6, so our evenings will be a bit of a mess. The kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pool and the water though, so it should be fun and I know I'll rest a little easier when I know they both have learned some pool safety and swimming skills.

We've also been busy at the house painting and cleaning and furnishing. Craigslist has become our number one furniture shopping resource and so far it has paid off. We FINALLY have seating downstairs, which means yes, we finally have furniture downstairs. Don't laugh, we've learned another couple we used to know in Cardiff just moved up here and they have the same problem we do - too much house and not enough furniture. :) I'll work on taking some pictures so you can see our furni finds.

We also survived our first Sofia haircut. Ben and I were playing hockey in the loft when she comes out of the bathroom with scissors in hand complete with hair in-between the blades. We fixed it and it all went surprisingly well. She talks about it all of the time, so she still isn't over it, but we lived through it.

Benjamin is officially potty-trained and we rejoice that when we finally put our minds to it it was easier than we thought it would be. He makes us laugh every day with the silly things he says and does. He constantly turns his simple stories into songs that he cracks up singing and his laughter is contagious. He dreams that one day he will wake up to find that it has snowed ice cream and in a perfect world he would get to live at a sports park and play baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey everyday. He also likes to skateboard and he is a daredevil.

Sofia is still a girly-girl but also a bit of a tomboy. She tells us every morning that she dreamed about soccer but she loves play Ariel and sing - which is the most incredible thing ever. I had no idea that a child could be so out of tune, but she is. She also loves Dora the Explorer and wearing chapstick. She'll walk around the house with her hands on her hips and when she isn't the sweetest thing ever she is a ball of complete attitude. She is the sweet cuddly one and I wonder what I would ever have done without her.



Life is good, as you can see, busy and good. We love all of family and friends, especially the old friends we still get to see and the new friends that make our new home more comfortable.

** A BIG thank you to Carrie Elton for taking our pictures! If you ever need family pics for anything and you live in Utah, get in touch with Carrie!**

Sportacus Saving the Day!

Most of you have probably never heard of Lazy Town. I had never heard of Lazy Town and thought it was strictly BBC, but lo and behold, it was on Nick Jr. for a while and it has given Ben an answer to the perfect superhero - one who plays sports and owns every piece of sporting equipment there is and uses it to save kids who are in trouble. Here is our little sportacus.



It's acutally really cute when Sofia climbs somewhere and yells, "Sportacus, Help!" and Ben sometimes comes to her rescue. (Mostly he runs the other way)

Why, Why and Why?

You know how most kids hear something like, "pick up that toy," and ask, "Why?" then you answer and you hear, "Why?" and you keep hearing "Why?" as the response to everything that you've said and you start to question the intelligence of the little beast asking you. I have one of those kids now. In true toddler fashion, Benjamin's favorite question has become "Why?" - but like the smarty-pants that he is, his ABSOLUTE favorite question is, "Why, Why and Why?" It's like deep down he knows where the conversation is headed and just to make it more aggravating he asks why up front. It flusters me, honestly. Like my first repsonse would never fully answer his burning need to KNOW why his toys have to be put away, why he can't sleep with 3 or 4 baseball bats in his bed, why ice cream is not a good breakfast food and why it is unsafe to climb the banisters. However I will also say that besides policing his sister, this is really the only bad thing Benjamin does lately. He still doesn't understand that he doesn't NEED a hockey stick in every color, but for now he is willing to simply add things to his Christmas list and for that I am grateful.

Sofia is at the streaking stage that Ben was at last Summer. I guess I should have known that it was coming, but no one else had even heard of a kid ripping his own diaper off whenever he pooped, so I thought Ben was going to be the lone exception. I was wrong. So Sofia drops trow whenever she poops and it's gotten us thinking that we may have found another use for duct tape cuz really it's gross and we just had the carpets cleaned. She is a fighter and won't let Ben push her around which is a good thing, I guess, but it leads to LOTS of arguments where Sofia is yelling, "No Ben!" and pointing at him and Ben is shrieking and telling me that Sofia is saying a bad word. Yes, he thinks "no" is a bad word. It's frustrating, but then funny, so I guess every cloud really does have a silver lining.

Charles is working from home and thanks to a donated desk, he is no longer operating off of two saw horses and a sheet of MDF. I have almost finished unpacking the kids' stuff, Sofia's room is painted, her curtains are up and we are starting to hang things on the wall. I still have two boxes full of clothes in our bedroom that don't have anywhere to go because I can't figure out where my dresser will fit. Charles is helping to draw up plans to put some storage in the closet which will solve that problem. I am LOVING the upstairs laundry room because I used to not like taking the laundry downstairs and the kids ask to take a bath everyday because they say, "there is a pool in here!" (They are referring to the tub in the master bathroom.) I will post a picture of the outside of the house and will not bother you with the inside since there isn't any furniture downstairs and the pictures I have of the kids' rooms are stricly "before" pictures.

There isn't much else going on. We've spent the last two weekends back down in San Diego sharing with our friends some amazing times in their lives with a birthday, a baby blessing and a wedding. We're gearing up for what people up here call "the hot part of the year." Which we are told starts around Memorial Day and lasts until Thanksgiving. A Dad at the park told Charles the hottest he's seen it get is 113 in the summer - he claimed it "wasn't that bad." I will be breaking out the kiddie pool again and soaking, I think. Here are some pics to keep you entertained...


You've gotta love Yo Gabba Gabba for teaching kids to make a funny face!



It wouldn't be Easter without a bucket on your head!




Out new home. We LOVE guests!

Praises to Chuck E. Cheese!

A huge thank you to Chuck E. Cheese!!! I was a little nervous that Ben wanted his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, but it ended up being perfect. Since we're in the process of moving we needed a location away from home and this was AWESOME! The food was better than I remembered - not great, but better than I was expecting. The kids had a BLAST playing and we didn't have to set up or clean up a thing. We are so glad that there is CEC not too far from the new house!

Happy Happy Birthday Sofia Dear

Sofia is oficially 2!!! Can you believe it? We can't! Everyday she is saying more and more, including the announcement to Ben, "This is MY room!" She is sassy sometimes and sweet other times and we love her dearly. Here is a list of the things we love most about Sofia (and by "we", I mean me.)

1) The lady-like way she belches mid meal to make room for more food.
2) The way she runs at you full-speed to give you a hug.
3) When she pets my hair and snuggles with me.
4) That she's not afraid to poop in the potty.
5) That MEAT is her favorite food group.
6) That she can kick a soccer ball - hard!
7) Her sweet smile with spaced out teeth and all.
8) That she doesn't cry when she gets her shots.
9) That her belly-button can be an inny or an outie.
10) Her awesome dance moves.
11) That she balances like a gymnast or a dancer.
12) That she can climb as well as a 4-year old boy at the park.
13) That all dogs are named Bolt or Marley.
14) That she uses her stuffed piglet as a teether and a pillow.
15) That she sings "Yo Gabba Gabba" and primary songs all of the time.
16) When she says, "aw, cute" everytime she sees an animal.
17) Her soft curls.
18) The way she bounces and moves around when she runs.
19) That she holds her fork in one hand and eats with the other.
20) That she is the perfect combination of tomboy and girly girl.

Sofia has blessed our lives so much. She is so sweet and caring and loves making friends. She has been the best friend Ben could ever have asked for and she makes everyday a little more exciting. Happy Birthday fia. We love you!

Chicken Nuggets

I noticed that most posts tend to be more focused on Ben and I apologize, but Sofia is at more of the "silent movie" stage of her existence where as Ben has something to say to everything and he has a hard time not talking. Well, to make all of the Fia fans in the world happy, we have another Sofia story...

Lunch time on Friday was like any other lunch time. Ben wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, because that's what Ben likes, and Sofia, the carnivore, wanted meat. The easy cure for a meat craving in our house is the Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets from Costco which I plug because they are cheap, and they make me feel like a good mom because they have whole grain breading. (I know, who am I kidding, right?) So I make Sofia a sensible portion of nuggets, 3, which she eats with ketchup for dip and a giant scoop of cottage cheese. I will also add that she ate a banana about an hour before this. Three nuggets down and Ben asks for nuggets. When I get the bag out of the freezer Sofia points and says, "more plate." Which means she wants more nuggets on her plate. (I think it's obvious what she means, but I don't want you to be confused dear reader.) 2 more nuggets on a paper towel and she seems happy. I got to put the nuggets away and I hear, "more plate." Where the heck did the last 2 go. I scan the floor for the dog and utter something to myself, it probably does not bear repeating. 2 more nuggets in the microwave and I leave the bag out. I go and tell Charles that his daughter is eating nuggets number 6 and 7. I come back and the next two go in the microwave. I am seriously questioning her ability to eat all of this food. So after nugget number 8 is down and number 9 is missing an ear, I put the nuggets away and tell her I am cutting her off. I think she could have eaten 11, maybe 13, but I REALLY don't want to see what nugget puke looks like. All in all, Sofia amazes us with her ladylike appetite and the way she burps during a meal to make more room for meat!

Washable Markers

So most of you know we are gearing up for another move. Hooray, really, but I HATE to pack. I also hate to unpack and I know that this time around is going to be messy since we have had things in boxes for the last 10 months and we've managed to survive. BUT, that is not the point of this entry. Since we're moving, I've been trying to pack a box or two a day on the days that I am not super busy. Thankfully, today was one of those days. I figured, since I was at the kitchen table I could pack a box and let Ben and Sofia draw on the windows with the AWESOME window markers their Grandma and Papa Jackson gave them. I could hear the gentle squeak of marker on glass and wasn't worried when I hear Ben shriek, "Mom, Fia's coloring herself!" And indeed she was. She had eaten half the tip of the marker, so her lips were a vibrant purple color, and she had managed to get a good coat of crayola purple on her belly and both arms. Me, being the picture of motherhood, took her out to the car to get the camera rather than washing it off. We did eventually make it into the bath where all of the evidence easily soaked away, but it made for an interesting morning. I promise to post the evidence this weekend. For now, I'm off to bed.



'Night.