Yes, We're Still Here

I get a lot of flack for not posting frequently enough. Here is my explanation as to why: I have now killed two motherboards in the past three months. Both incidents occurred as I was attempting to upload videos or pictures to post on the blog. The computer glitched and crashed right in the middle of my uploading. I am married to a computer engineer who has built a real "screaming-machine" of a computer. But he is ready to have me quit blogging all together. I guess even though he does this for a living, it's not as fun when it is his own project that he has to work on in his spare time that doesn't exist. I don't know how the rest of the world deals with not having a working computer and finding someone to fix it. I have just about gone mad after one week and I have an in house expert. Anyway, there is my lame excuse. Now, to update:
Ruthie had her First Birthday back in September. Being the third child, she had a great party, but Mom and Dad failed to take one picture to remember the event. This is the story of my life--you'd think I'd be better about things like that. Luckily, Grandpa came through as he always does. So these pictures are brought to you by Jim. Ruthie really knew she was the center of attention. She loved having all of her family in her home. (We don't get very many visitors WAY up here in Syracuse.) I've always done a multiple-choice activity for the kids' first birthdays to re-cap what they have learned for the year. They are questions like: What was the nickname Ruth received when she was born and who gave her the nickname? What is Ruth's favorite tub toy? What does Ruth do when encountering a new object? etc. I think Anna got the most right--Seth was pretty close too. (By the way, the answers are: Roopie, Seth, the xylophone sticks, and says "hi" like she has encountered a new object to torture.)
Now that I have a third child I am beginning to understand a few things about myself that only another third child could see. For example, Ruthie is extremely possessive. That is because the other two kids are constantly attempting to take things away from her. But, she will hold on for dear life and let them have it with her shrills. I'm a little obsessive about my things. I have to have every piece to a puzzle, every part to a game, every matching pair of Barbie shoes. Yes, this could just be because I am OCD, but I think it might stem from those early childhood years. I love watching Seth and Anna interact with Ruthie. She really is the center of attention. They absolutely adore her. I always felt like "the neglected third child". I realize now how untrue that is. I'm sure, knowing how incredible my older siblings are, I was just as adored. (Until I got a little bit older and then they started ditching me and telling me there were invisible alligators to block my path.)
Update Number Two: We had such a fun Halloween. The kids loved visiting the Pumpkin Patch and pretending to trick-or-treat for the entire month of October. The kids wanted to be Wizard of Oz characters. Anna was a beautiful Glenda and would say her line on que with perfect intonation: "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" Seth was a darling scarecrow and Roopie was Dorothy. As I was making costumes, the kids decided their "pets" needed costumes as well. Anna's dog, Lady, became the wicked witch, Richard Parker the tiger was the lion, and Roopie's kitty became Toto. I am rather glad Halloween is over. Next year we're going as ghosts with sheets over our heads.Well, if you don't hear from me ever again in the blogging world, you will understand why: I've driven my husband to madness with a third computer crash during finals and busy season at work.

Anna's Dance Performance

Anna started dance again the first week in September. She has been taking dance from The Virginia Tanner Dance Co.'s satellite location in Ogden. They immediately began choreographing a piece for a performance at the Children's Dance Festival at Weber State. I periodically ask myself why I drive to Ogden once a week for a dance class. This performance reminded me why. I was so impressed with how much these girls--especially Anna--learned in a month. It was so magical to watch her. I was amazed at how well she remembered what to do and when. She looked absolutely beautiful. Anna and I got to spend the whole day in Ogden. She had two performances in the morning and one in the evening. During our break we went shopping and went out to a "fancy restaurant", meaning Chili's. We had a magnificant time together.
(Anna is in blue with bouncy, curly hair.)

Starting School

We spent the last part of the summer getting Anna used to the idea of going to Kindergarten. We went clothes shopping, made a few bows and bracelets, and would drive by the new school to check the progress about once a week. Anna got especially excited when they put in the playground. Then we got a phone call that Anna's name had come up in the lottery for the charter school down the street. All of a sudden we were having to rethink a decision that we thought was already made. Oh, by the way, and they needed to know in two days since school was starting the next week--plus it was the two days that Rob was at school until the late evenings. After two stressful days of running to both schools, talking to everyone I knew about Davis School District, principals, and charter schools--in particular Syracuse Arts Academy, we decided to put Anna in the Charter School. This meant we had to find uniforms and readjust her to the idea of another school and of starting in four days. Anna was great! Her biggest concern was that she wouldn't be able to watch Playhouse Disney and what was Lady going to do while she was gone! Anna looked so darling in her knee high socks and khaki and navy uniform. Anna's first day of school was also her last day of swimming lessons, so we did the mad dash from one commitment to the next. Welcome to the life of Soccer Mom! She really enjoys her teacher, Ms. Beier. Her favorite part is recess and she likes sitting at the red table. She also loves riding to school with Dad every morning (she likes the smell of his car, which still smells like Grandpa Tidwell--it was his Honda).
Seth was ecstatic to start Preschool. After two weeks of asking where Anna was and when she was going to be home, he was so ready to start his own school. His "Lightning McQueen" backpack is bigger than he is, and he seems a foot too short to be a preschooler, but he sure looked cute walking to Miss Diana's. He created a master plan of having Anna come and pick him up after school on her Princesses Scooter and then he could ride his Spiderman Scooter back home with her. (Mom and Ruthie were in tote on this adventure.) Now I'm down to one twice a week for three hours! What a beautiful thing!

Ruthie: From Infant to Toddler

It's amazing how much your perception of your kids can change in a week's time. Almost overnight, Ruthie grew out of her infant stage. Last Saturday morning I discovered a third tooth. Later that day, Rob said to me, "You didn't tell me about her new trick!" I walked in to find Ruthie standing in her crib. I hadn't known she could pull herself up to standing yet!
She is interacting so much more with the two big kids. She absolutely adores them. What is funny is she seems to be the instigator. She tends to egg them on to get them to play with her.
Ruthie is also communicating so much more. She says small words like "Mama" and "Ba" (bottle) and "Dada". She'll raise her arms up when she's done eating. She has also started throwing temper tantrums. Despite her few fits, she is still about the most pleasant and happy kid I know. Granted, she is very much a Mama's girl and really does not like strangers. I've gotten to where I get really irritated if people try to interact with her while we're at resaurants, stores, etc. She'll immediately break down and begin to cry. It's always with the sweet little old ladies too! When she is at home, however, and around her family, she is one happy soul --with the craziest hair you've ever seen!

4th of July Weekend

We were so happy to be able to spend the 4th of July with the Mortensen Clan. Rob's sisters and Grandmother came in to town and we all had a big sleepover at Rob's parents' new house. We went to the Dinosaur Museum in Lehi, saw Wall-E (not worth the time or money, but the kids enjoyed it), spent hours on the slip n slide and riding scooters, watched John Adams in the theater room, enjoyed our own fireworks display brought to you by Rob, and had family pictures taken. These were some of our favorites of the kids:

Which one is which?

We were just noticing today how much our girls look alike. I thought I would post these to see if anyone else can tell them apart.

Summer Beginnings

Our summer began shortly after all of our daily activities ended. In other words, summer to us means lazy days. Anna had been in a dance class at Virginia Tanner. It was so perfect for her! Creative dance was definitely the way to go. Anna learned a lot and really enjoyed her teacher. The five-year-olds do not have a recital, but we were able to go and watch her in her last day of class. The rest of the year they do not allow parents to observe. It was so much fun to see her in action. They have a pianist that accompanies the girls as they dance. Anna did a solo dance for us that was so beautiful.

Anna also graduated from her preschool. They did a fun program and told the story of "Where the Wild Things Are." The kids had all made monster sock puppets to act out the part of the wild things. Anna is so excited to start kindergarten. We have been monitoring the progress on the new elementary school. We will see if she actually starts with the regular school year. We may be enjoying a little longer summer this year.
So as not to be too bored, we got right in to swimming lessons. Seth and Anna did so well this year. We were a little worried about Seth--last year he spent most of his time clinging to Mom and screaming, "I want to get out!" However, Seth really loved his lessons. He loved doing icecream scoops and superman. His teacher worked so well with him! Anna has turned into a little water bug. She spent all of her down time on the stairs dunking her head as many times as she could. That was unheard of last year!Ruthie has figured out she can roll just about anywhere. She can get across a room pretty quickly now. However, watching her roll looks almost painful. She pins one arm under her body and swings the other arm around in a wide arch to get her momentum going. The kids have taught her to verbalize with them, not in a quiet manner either. It is not uncommon to have a loud chorus of "AHHHHHHHH" echoing throughout the house.

I have discovered something about myself: I tend to move from one obsession to the next. It is rather sad, but there is a definite pattern in my life. For example, the past few months I've moved from quilting to High School Musical to obsessing over the closet, and now I am in love with a vampire. For years Rob and I have put off reading the Twilight series. I must say, when Jim and Jennie first introduced the books to us three years ago we mocked them ruthlessly. Jim, of all people, was reading a vampire romance novel! I take it all back. They are completely addicting and extremely entertaining. I now find myself counting down the days until the final book comes out (August 2nd for those who don't know.) I also find myself watching all of the news about the the upcoming movie in December. Lest anyone should think I have no life other than the twisting saga of Bella and Edward, I have recently come to grips with my love/obsession for ribbon. I have found I can blow more money on spools of ribbon than just about anything else. And if I happen to hit a 50% off sale, I tend to get a little crazy in the head. In the past, I've used the excuse of not being able to store all of my spools, but as of last night I have solved that problem, so Robert's and Hobby Lobby, watch out!

Organization is the Key!

During the month of April we decided we had had enough with our closet. Rob and I being the obsessive-compulsive personalities that we are, we decided to design the mecca of organization. In all honesty, Rob just wanted some cubies. But we couldn't just stop there! If we were going to do it, we were going to do it right! Rob came home from work one day and Tawanda had struck. I took a crow-bar to the existing clothes rack/shelf and ripped it all out. We actually enjoy doing this sort of project together. We both cut the wood and install it all, (meaning I hold the boards and hand Rob the tools). Then I take over with all of the caulking and painting. The kids were so excited to help. They strapped on their tool belts and were ready to get to work. We had another idea for them: they watched Dumbo three times, Toy Story, and several other cartoons all in one day. Roopie found contentment in the exersaucer or on the floor playing. Eventually she would just fall asleep. What great parents we are! We are now almost finished with the dream closet. Rob is in heaven with his eighteen cubies and a shoe bench. I absolutely love my twenty-six slots for shoes and will thoroughly love having drawers in my closet if we ever finish them. I got burned out after 40+ hours of painting and I haven't wanted to look at another project since. I'm sure it will only be temporary and I will be nagging on Rob about our next home improvement. Will it be the basement or my dream craft room next?

I Have to Play the Leprechauns Too?

March 17th Anna woke up early. I could hear her wandering around the house, but I simply rolled over until she aroused me with her usual, "Mom, I'm so hungry will you get me my breakfast yet?" Instead, Anna came in and said, "Mom, there is something strange going on here. The leprechauns have not turned anything in our house green!" I guess the previous year when we were living at Grandma Tidwell's "the leprechauns" had turned her milk green. So as not to destroy the imagination and dreams of a five-year-old, I quickly rolled my eyes and responded with some hoopla story about how they hadn't made it to our house yet. Then I sent the St. Patty's Day General off to preschool and wracked my brain over what I could turn green. I had overheard Anna tell her dad the night before she was worried the leprechauns would turn her dog Lady green. (For those of you who don't know: Lady is a stuffed dog that Anna bought at the dollar store when she was three. This dog is treated better than a real dog. She is truly a member of the family.) So as you can see from the picture, "the leprechauns" cleverly turned Lady's house green and gave her a lovely green bow. "The leprechauns" also attempted to dye the milk, but this leprechaun's dye was the gel kind and it took fifteen minutes to turn that milk a pale celery color. Anna was ecstatic to find that "the leprechauns had come!" Once I asked her to drink her milk she said, "Mom, it's green milk! That's so gross! I can't drink that!" At least Seth drank his milk so my efforts were not in complete vain. (If you look closely you can detect a green milk mustache on Seth's face!) We spent the rest of the day making leprechaun puppets and looking for little green men. I'm not Irish! I don't know how the rest of y'all celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but I guess from now on we're playing it like Old St. Nick!

Ruthie is still content rolling back and forth on the floor and playing with her "piggies." She could care less about rolling over or sitting up or moving period. Why would she need to when everyone comes to her! She really is darling and keeps the kids entertained with her giggles and squeals. She most particularly hates her rice cereal right now. She thinks waking up in the middle of the night with Mom is still great--why eat anything that will stick to her ribs! How did I end up with three poor eaters! Rob and I are NOT picky eaters--what's the deal with our kids! I even sampled the rice cereal with pears. It really isn't that bad! Come on Ruthie!

February Activities

We have all found a "latent passion" for new things this month. (It has not included salsa dancing, however.)
Ruthie has discovered her toes and her voice. She spends much of the day rolling around and playing with her piggies. She also babbles and blows raspberries and drools like there is no tomorrow. When she greets someone, she beams up at you and then has to touch your face. It is just a Ruthie thing, a little bizarre.
Seth has discovered a new love. Puzzles are always number one, but Play-Doh is the new fad. Seth played with Play-Doh for five hours straight one day this week. He didn't stop for a snack, a show, a puzzle, or even a potty break--which doesn't really matter since he is clueless on this concept anyway. He only stopped to show you his new creation and then he was right back and the counter making something new. (Anna enjoyed it as well--notice her pink flamingo--but got bored after the first hour.)
Anna and I have shared the same passion this month: High School Musical and High School Musical 2. Yes, we are late comers to the fan-mania, but we have spent all month singing the songs at the top of our lungs and learning all of the dance moves. I'm so glad I have a five-year-old to share my hidden desire with of being the next American Idol/Dancing with the Stars hit singer/dancer. With Anna, I can just let it all go and she thinks I'm wonderful. The second Rob walks in the door, I mute up. (By the way, Hannah Montana is also a huge favorite around here.)
Rob has been into economics and politics. (How exciting!) Actually, we both completely ignored the kids on Super Tuesday and watched the polls come in. We also watched the State of the Union. When Seth came in and saw George W. on the TV he exclaimed, "That's my cowboy!" I guess they share a common background, both being Texans. I won't bore you with the economics details. However, Rob did get accepted to BYU's EMBA program and will be starting this summer. I guess we'll be having more economics discussions around here for the next two years. (Yeah, me.)

Snowed In

I finally decided to get into the whole blogspot thing. I've been waiting for Rob to update our site, but after a very boring, very cold month, I figured I should find something productive to do with my time.

We returned from our marvelous trip in Mexico over the holidays to a very snowy and depressing winter. Vacation is wonderful, but it is always hard to come back to real life. Luckily we had a few things to look forward to. We celebrated Rob's 29th Birthday (next year is a big one), and Seth's 3rd Birthday. Rob's birthday wouldn't have been complete without a dark chocolate cake.
Seth's Birthday was quite the riot--a Backyardigans theme. We played musical spots and had a treasure hunt to find puzzle pieces. The puzzle, of course, made it a big hit in Seth's case. Grandma and Grandpa Tidwell were very good sports. As Seth was blowing out his candles, he began getting frustrated. The harder he blew the more spit he let fly. He finally yelled out, "Look out below!" and succeeded not only in blowing out the final candle but leaving a nice puddle on the cake as well. I don't know who started this marvelous tradition, but obviously it was not someone with children under the age of five. Next year we will be making two separate cakes.

Seth at Three Years Old

My only accomplishment for the month was to finish my snowman quilt, a project I started four years ago. It actually has been rather relaxing--a good break from the exercising and strain that my uncle Shane has been putting us all through. Despite the dreary winter, it has been nice to have an excuse to stay in my pajamas, stay home, watch shows with the kids (High School Musical has been the big hit around here) and just do nothing. Spring better come soon, however. I am not one to sit idle for too long.