The PA Dixons...who happen to live in Rhode Island

c-i-n-q-u-a-i-n

2011-11-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight the kids and I sat by the fire and read Junie B., First Grader Cheater Pants, which is hilarious. Even my 9 year old still loves when I read about Junie's crazy antics, and I love the good lesson that cheaters never prosper. What really captured the girls imagination was a poetry assignment that Mr. Scary, the teacher, gave to the class, to write a cinquain. It has a specific format that the girls wanted to try as soon as we finished the chapter. Here are the results:

Candy
sweet colorful
digested crushed licked
yummy gone wrapped up
Sugary

by Kylie

Mice
cute smelly
squeaking chewing running
I like white ones
Rodents

by Kate

Not bad for a first attempt, right? If I wrote one, I think it would be about chocolate. What would you choose?

Are you being served?

2010-12-03T16:49:00.001-08:00

For her sixth birthday, Katie wanted to have a tea party and I have to admit I was totally excited. Who doesn't love a tea party? We pulled out all the stops, making hats, applying make-up and hiring a British servant for the night to explain the rules of a tea party and serve all those lovely delicacies (okay, I was the servant, but I was quite proper-no rubbish, you know). With that in mind, enjoy her pictures along with a few quotes I've found about tea.

“Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones - the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically”

“Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea”

“Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.”

“There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea”

“Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.”

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire.”

“Tea pot is on, the cups are waiting, Favorite chairs anticipating, No matter what I have to do, My friend there's always time for you”

“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.”

Halloween

2010-11-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a happy Halloween. For us, it started on October 1st with decorating and delivering cookies to our friends on holiday plates. It's been a fun month and it went quickly. The kids were invited to a birthday party where they were asked to dress up, so they broke out their costumes early. Here we have an angry alligator (that gator is easily put out these days), a fairy and our favorite witch. Colored hairspray was important this year.

The eldest informed me that when she turns eighteen, she would dye her hair pink. Rebellion started in the womb with that girl. When I told her that she should color it for Halloween, she gave me a shocked look and asked if I would really let her do that. When I said that I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise, it was a joyful moment and I haven't heard a word about when she turns eighteen since then.

This costume was actually mine when I was little and my 'bama' had made it for me. It was fun to see one of my kids in it as I can remember trick or treating in my great grandparents neighborhood and wearing it. Afterward, I'd go back to their house, dump out my candy and organize it into piles of 3 musketeers, reeses, etc. It makes me think that somewhere, my great grandparents were smiling watching my son wear it.

I have the cutest Han Solo, don't I? Originally, I wanted us to be Lily and Herman Munster, but there's always next year. Nate is young enough that he wanted to be a part of our cool group, so he dressed as Luke.

On Halloween, Nate was a clone. By the way, it was nippy noodles out there. We should have dressed for the ice planet of Hoth (a.k.a Norway). Our neighbors invited us over for a party before trick or treating and then out we all went. We zipped around the neighborhood for an hour, then we came home. Seth built a fire, I made tea and the kids dumped out their candy and organized it into little piles. I watched them and smiled, remembering my own little piles.

How was your Halloween?

My birthday lasted a week!!

2010-10-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have perfected a system wherein my birthday lasts a week. How? I'll tell you. First, we go to Pennsylvania for a weekend for an Arts Festival that my mom, sister and I attend every year. We eat yummy gyros and truffles. Sometimes we buy artsy stuff too. Meanwhile, my dad, Seth and the kids go to Pumpkinville. I went to Pumpkinville every year as a child, though it is way cooler now.

There were no cow rides when I was growing up. Or pumpkin donuts. I love that my kids get to go the same place I went as a child.

The first time we measured Kylie against this pumpkin she was 16 months old.

As part of my extended birthday we went back to State College to visit. It was so wonderful to be back. This is Kylie's old school.

Our great friends, the Waynes, invited us to dinner. We all enjoyed being back at our old home.
We had to visit Seth's Alma mater, and no trip would be complete without a photo with the Nittany Lion.

Since we hadn't driven enough already, we spent part of Columbus Day visiting friends in Hershey and a few tours through Chocolate World. We ended up driving 1200 miles over 4 days.

We took the tour about four times. Something interesting happens when you smell chocolate for over an hour--you don't feel hungry for it anymore. Therefore, my hypothesis is that I'd be much thinner if we lived in Hershey or worked in a chocolate factory.

My gurlz

My birthday ended yesterday when me and my friend, Deborah, visited Salem. We had such a fun time.

Yup, I got to see the House of the Seven Gables. I think I'm going to have to reread Hawthorne as I read this book in the seventh grade.

She's real, people!

The final thing we did before we left Salem was watch a mock trial using the transcripts from the 1692 trials. It was sad. Truly sad. This woman was accused of witchcraft by one of her servants and would've been hanged except that she was pregnant. The hysteria ended before she gave birth and therefore wasn't put to death. But a lot were.

Whazz up?

2010-09-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, for some reason I was weird about this book. Despite the fact that I have loved every book Stephenie Meyer wrote, I didn't think I would like this one. I loved this novella and the perspective that it provided into Eclipse. The funniest thing is for each copy of this book she sells, she's giving a dollar to the Red Cross. He-he. That kills me.

Our 1997 Nissan Altima has been stranding us off and on for awhile now. We loved this car, her name was Sally. Like Lightening McQueen's girlfriend. You know, the Porsche? Well, they were both bluish and that was all that mattered when Nate fell in love with that movie. RIP, Sally.

This is our new Honda Civic. It doesn't have a name yet, but when that changes I'll let you all know.
The project that never ends. Sorry about the crooked shot, but you get the point. WE FINISHED THE FRONT. Sort of. We still have to do the door/frame and put up the black shutters. But still. It's progress people. Hope you have a great week!

September

2010-09-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

September is that magical month where children in Little Rhodey go back to school. This year, Katie started Kindergarten and Kylie entered third grade. Both girls like their teachers and are doing well. Kylie brought home a note on Friday asking that we get her eyes checked. She's thrilled. She wants glasses. Who knew?

Katie was so excited on the first day that by the time I'd gotten up she was dressed (with shoes) eating her breakfast.

We've also started painting our house. Whose horrible idea was that, you ask? Erm, it might have been mine. But anywho, we've got great little helpers.

We started on the back of the house and everyone was part of the scraping for the first day.

Don't you love the goggles?

Now we're working on the front of the house. We've had to cut down most of our bushes and have stepped on the rest. We'll figure that out later, but the color on top Spanish Moss is our new and improved look. I'm also taking two classes at RIC, so I've been feeling super busy.

On another note, Nate has started dressing himself for Sundays. I didn't used to let him because he wanted to wear holey jeans or sweatpants, but I think he's got the idea now. In his words, I look like a little Daddy.

Snap shot of a summer.

2010-07-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

We've had a LOT of crazy things happen this summer...starting with these 11 babies born to the "sister" hamsters we got from the neighbors. They were really cute, but no.

We were so lucky to get a visit from some of our State College friends before they move to Malawi, Africa. Here they are at the zoo.

This is the day of Kylie's baptism. I can't tell you what an amazing experience that was for our family. We were so happy to have both sets of grandparents with us for that special day.

Kylie wanted a low-key party-love that girl. So she had a Nancy Drew party. Here are some of the detectives.

I'm only showing the gifts because she got so many books. It warms the heart. It really does.

One of the things we did while the grandparents were visiting was take them to Newport on the Cliffwalk where the Vanderbilts, Astors, etc. built their summer homes.

We also visited the Museum of Natural History when we took Seth's parents to New York City.

Nate has moved from a toddler bed to a twin bed and therefore got his room painted. He decided on 100 acre sky and...(drum roll) Cars bedding again. He loves that car with all of his little man heart.

What have you been doing this summer?

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to camp.

I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing my neighbor's lawn.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Confessions of a T-Ball Virgin

2010-05-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Our little Katie got the opportunity to join a t-ball team for the next two months and I was really excited for her because that girl's got some hand/eye coordination. The only problem was that we found out about it the day before the game and I, having never played ball, didn't know what to expect. Here is what I learned:

1. Must take a catcher's glove (sad, I know).
2. Girls with extremely long hair need pig tails.
3. A water bottle would also be helpful.
4. Coaches are scary.
5. Coaches with 3 kids on the team are really scary.
6. Never turn your back on whichever child has the ball or bat.
7. It is perfectly acceptable for 9 kids to all rush the ball.
8. By second base most children have forgotten why they are in the field to begin with.
9. This is going to be a lot of fun.

And the rains came down and the floods went up

2010-04-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

...and the Dixons didn't get washed away.

When we were considering this house almost a year ago now, I remember checking the paperwork to see if it was in the flood plain. It wasn't. I mentioned it to Seth and quickly continued to peruse the paperwork.

Now that we are recovering from a 500 year flood (yup, none of this weak 100 year flood business for us), I realized just how important that little box checked "no" was. And I'm grateful for how relatively easy this emergency has been for us because that was something we paid attention to. But we were still woefully unprepared for an emergency.

Two days ago, when the rivers swelled beyond their banks we woke up with no power. I rummaged around for a flashlight and couldn't find one that fit the batteries we had available. I blame the kids. As the situation around us began to escalate I knew we were safe, but I had an unsettled feeling. Maybe because our church has been counseling us since before I was born to have some cash on hand and have some food storage tucked away-just in case.

Many circumstances are beyond our control, but I know I would've felt better if I'd been as prepared as I know I should be. It's taken a 500 year flood, but I finally realize how important this advice is.

Here is a link showing flooding that is all within a few miles of my house:

Thoughts on kids who grow up without permission

2010-02-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

Several things have happened over this past week that alerted me to a "growing" trend.

First, Katie lost her a tooth. She's five, so it shouldn't have shocked me...but it did. Kylie has been our jack-o-lantern girl for so long that I didn't realize the torch had been passed to my baby girl. A second bottom tooth will be falling out within the next few days. My kids seem to be all or nothing when it comes to loosing teeth.

Second, after our children woke me up very early this morning (okay, it was 7 a.m. but dang it, I like to sleep in on Sunday) I sent them to go read books so I could sleep a little longer. When I got up, I looked in the girl's room and saw their beds were made. I could hear them downstairs, so I went down and found both girls dressed for church and they had made their own breakfast. My mouth fell open and I blinked a lot before I came to my senses and complimented them.

When did this happen??? I can feel that we are moving into a new phase as a family and before long I'm going to need to hide my car keys and mascara. My sister-in-law, Trisha, always says that when we do our job well as parents we eventually put ourselves out of business and this week I've seen that glimmer of independence in the girls. Thank heaven Nate is a little younger and a bit more dependent. I still need to be needed!

I know there is still plenty to do though, not just for Nate, but for the girls too. Here is the tricky thing Kylie did. After her sister put her tooth in a porcelain tooth-shaped container on the night stand for the Tooth Fairy to pick up, Kylie snuck her sister's tooth under her pillow...making life harder for the Tooth Fairy who couldn't say anything about it the next day. Don't worry, Katie got the dollar.

So a word of warning: keep an eye on your children, they might be up to this shenanigans too.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love

2010-02-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about marriage for a long time, as far back as I can remember. By six years of age I had my children named. I must have been reading Ramona Quimby at the time (remember how she named her imaginary daughter after Chevrolet and thought it was the most beautiful name?) It must have been a Car & Driver era because that's how I felt about Mercedes--I couldn't imagine a better name.

In my teenage years I had ideas about the traits my husband would have: rich (yup, it's a trait), smart, a business man, handsome, a take-life-by-the-horns type or older and brooding.... I'll spare you the rest.

Then I met Seth. He was younger than me and that was a strike in my book (being a cougar in THAT sense hadn't become fashionable yet). He completely lacked in the taking-life-by-the-horns and brooding departments. He had fuzzy dice hanging from his car mirror-I kid you not. That alone almost ended it. But he was cute, smart and kind. When trouble came (as it always does) his maturity and communicativeness bested mine and not by inches, but by miles. Best of all, he treated me like a princess. And he still does.

This week I toast Seth. I love you, sweetie.

Road rage

2010-02-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been spared my ranting and raving about driving in Rhode Island--your number is up. The stories I could tell. Now, you may think perhaps I'm the problem. Consider my evidence. 1. Our car insurance tripled when we moved to this state. 2. People sent us youtube clips mocking the drivers of Little Rhodey. 3. In a national driving survey, Rhode Island drivers were found least likely to understand and implement driving laws. So there.

Yesterday was a bad day in the car for me. By time I nearly crashed into a woman that was running a red, red light (as in the two cars ahead of me had already crossed the intersection) I was crazy angry. The kind of muttering to myself that makes my kids really quiet. I could almost hear them saying to each other, "Sh, don't draw attention to yourself. She's on a rampage." It made me feel a little bad.

Fifteen minutes later and still in the car, I started giving Kylie a hard time for having no patience with her siblings and telling her how we can't control other people blah, blah blah. The epiphany came then. I had no moral high ground. Zero. Zilch. It stopped me mid sentence. I felt certain that as I learned how to model that brand of self discipline my kids would learn how to copy it.

So, I'm going to learn to count to ten and drive more cautiously. I'm going to learn to laugh so my kids can learn to laugh too.

Okay, so I stole this from someone else's blog today.

2010-01-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

I was reading a blog that a friend of mine contributes to and they had this great quote. I think it's a message that we all need to hear again and again to remind us of the great potential we all have.

Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence authomatically liberates others.
--Nelson Mandella

The five year goal

2010-01-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Last fall, Seth and I enrolled Kaitlyn in a preschool on his campus. Because it is run as a co-op, we would need to volunteer 4 hours a week. Kaitlyn never got to go because we couldn't get finger printed. Apparently, there is a line as long as the state waiting to be fingerprinted and the police told Seth they couldn't possibly do it until March 31st--even though it was still October.

Fast forward to last week. The state police are lighter on their feet than the local police and the fingerprinting was done. The co-op called and left a message on our answering machine saying they had another spot open up and Nate could go as well. I listened to the message and stared at the cabinets. I would be...alone? The by-myself-and-nobody-needs-me kind? It was a bittersweet moment, and I wondered what I would do with myself.

This past week I started putting my goals into motion. I filled out my application for RIC (where Seth teaches) to get a BA in English. I've started writing more and felt happier for it. I applied for a job with the Census Bureau so I can attend the BYU writer's conference again and start planning my trip to England to see the sites I've written about.

That said, my goal is to be a published author within the next five years. Remember, you heard it here first.

The Dixons take Manhattan

2009-12-20T17:36:00.001-08:00

Seth & I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary on Tuesday and, to celebrate, we decided to take the family to New York City. In the past, we've been lucky enough to make the trip alone (thanks Mom), but we decided it would be fun to try making the trip as a family. A small miracle occured along the way-we didn't have to stop at any bathrooms. That's progress, people.

Here's Katie-cakes on the subway. She kind of reminds me of Randy in a Christmas Story-she can't really put her arms all the way down.

Nate could put his arms down, he just didn't want to. Here we are catching a train down to Battery Park to take the ferry out to Staten Island. The kids love ferry rides (it was the only thing they talked about after we visited Boston) and I wanted them to see the Statue of Liberty.

I hate to say it, but my kids are wimps. Kylie walked from the subway station to the ferry, only to collapse in the elevator. She wasn't alone; Kaitlyn collapsed as well, but not as photogenically. Maybe it was the 10 pounds of winter wear I had them dressed in.

Our gift from our French friends.

Does this island look like it belongs somewhere remote and peaceful? This island is just off Staten Island, but it seems so out of place. On every side you find all of the industrial trappings associated with a busy harbor with this little gem in the middle of it all.

Our little geographer in the making. He loves maps, just like his dad.

A serendipitous moment: the unexpected tree at the Stock Exchange. We ended up liking this one more than the Rockefeller Tree.

Just another day on the subway. Kylie's got her careworn New Yorker face on.

Free hugs, get 'em while they're hot.

"All aboard to Santa Land!" The kids loved our conductor and this place, the decorating is so extensive they leave it up year round. I also loved it because the line moved rather quickly for the biggest department store in New York City on the last Saturday morning before Christmas.

Decisions, decisions...

The man himself. This is the first year that my kids didn't treat Santa like he had an extra eye or a communicable disease.

Like I said, the Wall Street tree was better and less crowded.

One of the things I love about Kylie is her ability to surprise me. When I asked what she would like to see in New York City, she replied, "Balto." I thought she'd give me a generic answer, but instead she taught me something. Me, "What??" So she (a second grader) explained to me (age unknown) about the dog that saved the town of Nome, Alaska.

The kids came to life in Central Park. All of the whining ended, no one needed to be carried and it started to snow. Although they enjoyed the things we took them to, in the end they just like climbing big rocks and running around best. I guess Olmsted knew best.

"The enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system." --- Frederick Law Olmsted
Central Park's designer

Live Free or Die-NH

2009-08-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, we took an extended weekend visit to New Hampshire to stay with my aunt and uncle. Live free or die is on their license plates and tells you something of the people who live there. We had our first outdoorsy adventures in a long time. Generally, our time outdoors is going to the playground or, more recently, the beach. Our first full day in NH we climbed Mt. Piper and picked a gallon of blueberries.

The kids got tired, but mostly they walked. Round-trip this was a two mile excursion uphill-yes, both ways:)
My aunt Janet made us a blueberry pie and then sent us home with the rest of the blueberries. Yummy.
Our second day we spent canoeing and swimming on Lake Squam. If you've seen "On Golden Pond" with Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, this is the lake. It's gorgeous. Notice how you don't see any cottages? They are required to leave the trees along the shoreline and build behind them, pure genius.

Nate became a blueberry connoisseur. We picnicked on a huge rock and, while wading around, Nate found blueberry bushes and helped himself.

Fun swimming with Daddy.

Seven or seventeen?
Okay, this lake is full of huge boulders. They freak me out. Even though we were in a canoe-thus only two inches down in the water-I could imagine us tipping or getting a hole in the canoe. No wonder they chose that particular problem in the movie.

My Uncle Gary hoping to see some wildlife. Overly hopeful with my loud children in his canoe.

Loons. They had a baby with them but I couldn't get him in the photo. They have the most beautiful call.

On our final day of the visit we went to the Squam Lake Science Center where my aunt works. It's very child-friendly and has a lot of animals native to the area. I like this photo of the kids.

Let's go Cougars...let's go! I mean, We Are...Penn State! I have conflicting loyalties.

The girls in a faux bear cave. They loved this.
Nate and my aunt studying what a bear eats.

We walked through a marsh area on our way to the exit and I saw this Monarch. We had a great visit that Nate can't stop talking about.

Life in Little Rhodey

2009-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

If anyone out there still checks to see if I have updated my blog, I have two things to say. First, thanks! Second, sorry-I've been really busy. This picture is a large part of why I've been busy. I hated the wallpaper in this room and determined that as soon as the ink was dry and the keys to the house were in my hands I'd attack this room with vigor.

And I did. It fought me every step of the way. Sections of wallpaper pulled old paint off the walls. Wallpaper, I've realized, is used to hide a multitude of sins-all of which are a headache for the person foolish enough to pull off the wallpaper.

Twenty plus hours later, I let the girls chose the color of paint and initially regretted it. It was too bright for a subtle person like myself. However, this wasn't my room. It was for the girls and they loved it. After all the bedding and pieces of decor were added I had to admit I liked my girl's bold tastes.

My friend Deborah, who was been such a help to us, invited us to Scarborough Beach our first week. There was a large group of us, mostly kids, and they discovered 5 starfish. The girls had no intention of touching them, but Nate is always a brave boy.

Not a great photo, but home to 5 starfish for the duration of that day. They also found eels...ick.

Kaitlyn, who will never look at the camera if she can help it.

We decided that if we were going to live within five minutes (literally) of a zoo we needed to be members. So far, we have visited three times and learn a little more each time.

Kate and Nate.

Kaitlyn is touching a wildebeest hide and Nate is reaching for an elephant tooth.

Kylie loves the giraffes and has an amazing memory for the facts that she's been picking up on our trips to the zoo.
This is a harbor seal and the really cool thing is that we have them here in Rhode Island. I would love to see one out in the bay.

Our move has been good so far. The kids are getting used to the house and making new friends. We miss all of you back in PA and hope you are well.

Almost famous...

2009-06-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

After four years out of Utah, I had the opportunity to return for a writer's workshop at BYU. We didn't talk about Stephenie Meyer much...not more than ten times a day, anyway. The bag of apples they gave us were bruised, but they made a great photo op.

Memorize these faces. This is the future of young adult chic lit.

Each morning we had a workshop with author, Janette Rallison. Okay, so I look terrible, but isn't Janette cute?

Here is where Seth and I met so long ago.

I love BYU's campus and the mountains. I enjoyed learning, visiting old friends and making new friends-it was a great week.

Nate's birthday-aargh.

2009-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

When I told Kylie I needed to put Nate's birthday pictures on our blog she said, "What? His birthday was a month ago!" Observant, isn't she?

Anyway, for those of you who know me well, I never have the patience to do desserts like the one seen above. However, my good friend, Megan, was willing to help the cake-decorating-impaired person that I am.

We had his party at Spring Creek Park. My kids always want their parties here so they can play in the sand, water or on the playground. It's a beautiful park and we will miss it when we move.

The wee Miss Kaitlyn Grace. Don't be fooled by that sweet face, she'll make you walk the plank.

The birthday boy. Please note the pirate pinata. After Kaitlyn's Jedi party, all my kids need pinata's now.

Nate, Lucy (who he either hugs or fights with), Kaitlyn, and cousin Dani.

Our neighbor Jonny, cousin Ben (the spy), Kylie and cousin Natalie (ice skater extraordinaire)

Seth and our little ninja. Nate loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and has picked up their moves-watch out!

Craig, Seth and Trisha

Everyone who comes to State College has to get their photo with the Nittany Lion...it's a law. We are so grateful we could have this day with the Oceanside Dixons.

Hats off to Dr. Dixon!

2009-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today Seth received his PhD after years of hard work and we were lucky enough to be surrounded by our family. I love this photo of Nate.

Craig & Trisha's family is here with us and we are excited to spend time with them this week.

The cousins have had a great time playing together. They made a huge mess and loved it.

The elusive Ben Dixon. Apparently he wants to be a spy and is working on his computer skills.

The hooding. Seth's adviser, Deryck Holdsworth, sat with him and walked across the stage with him as well. I liked the symbolism of him staying with Seth until the end.

When crossing the stage, Seth was handed the 'real' certificate of graduation.

I love this photo too. Deryck has been fantastic. We are so grateful for his intelligence and wisdom. Congratulations, Seth!

Life is a beach

2009-05-03T16:35:00.001-07:00

We met my sister, Chrissy & her husband, Tom, at the beach house on Topsail Beach. My parents drove down with us and we had adventures like Nate throwing up in his car seat.

But we're here and loving every minute of it. Nate has been asking for the beach since we left here last year-I'm glad we can finally give him what he wants.

Seth is the best beach dad because he loves doing all the same things the kids do. From this small beginning came a huge sand castle.

My happy boy

The dunes

I'm not quite as fun at the beach, but I do enjoy burying the children. They thought it was fun too.
The intercoastal waterway runs behind our beach house and we have a dock. We tempted the crabs with pepperoni and were able to catch a few. Kylie was terrified of them to begin with but eventually stopped running away:)

The Little Red Hen

2009-04-24T19:06:00.001-07:00

This year, Kylie's class performed two separate plays so everyone could perform. Kylie was in "The Little Red Hen" as a chick.
The little boy next to Kylie in this photo is the Little Red Hen-what's with that? Next they'll have a white Othello.

This is my chick.

Kylie had a great line that she repeated, "We'll help you, Mama." She's good at that at home too.

The Wrong Trousers

2009-03-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

Nathan had a Wallace & Gromit (which he calls"Gomace and Hammus") moment this morning after using the potty. We told him to put his pants on and, seeing a pair of pants on our bed, assumed they were his. The look on his face was so cute when he realized he had the wrong trousers. We decided to see how Daddy's would fit. Here is the result.

Great Expectations

2009-03-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

I've realized our children do not have great expectations. A number of small incidents have accumulated over the course of the week that have led me to this conclusion. Today, for example, we took a ride and admired the agricultural land outside of State College. We saw calves and they were cute, despite the smell. Then "it" happened.

Kylie saw the ugliest, more dilapidated trailer that man put on earth, about fifty years ago, and gasped. "Oh Mommy! Look! It's a trailer!" She loves trailers. I don't mean the spacious, nice ones they make now. I mean the ones you find in the woods. The uglier, the better. She does not get this from me, nor does she get it from Seth.

We were almost home when I said, "I hope you get a job, Seth". Then Kylie interjected, "You should be a cable guy!"

I honestly have nothing against cable guys...unless they happen to have PhD's. So now I'm sitting back imagining Kylie's life in fifteen years. I see an ugly but homely trailer. I see her husband sitting on the couch in his cable-guy uniform with his arm around her, watching all the free cable his job entitles him to.

Daddy-Daughter Dance

2009-02-14T06:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Last night Seth took the girls to a dance at the church...and locked the keys in the car(he-he).

When the girls got home they both told me they ate lots of junk food. They were very pleased with themselves...until Kylie came out at 9:30 p.m. to say her stomach hurt.

This is Eowyn in the picture with Kylie. She is practically family as she lives across the parking lot from us and both the girls adore her.

The Sweetest Place on Earth!

2009-02-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we decided to drive to Hershey, PA so we could go to Chocolate World. For any of you that don't know what 3 kids crammed in the back of an Altima looks like, this picture is for you.

They had solemnly promised not to fight on the 100 mile drive there and did a great job. Please notice we aren't wearing coats-it was a beautiful 50 degree day:)
Please note how absurdly photogenic my husband is-it's not fair. This is the Chocolate World Tour that takes you through the chocolate refining process.

I can't begin to tell you the power these singing cows yield. We talk about them, sing the songs they sing...they are the most influential cows on earth.

At the end of the tour they give you two free samples. We took the tour 5 times, you do the math. The chocolate store is in the background with its cornucopia of fattening products.

The girls had those syrup bottles on their heads too, but by time Nate caught on they had moved on.

We caught the Chocolate World band and parade-a first for us. Kylie tried to hug them.
I took this picture no more than 5 minutes after we got in the car. The kids actually napped.

I'm handsome

2009-02-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Nathan has noticed Seth's Sunday dress and wants to be just like him. Today he noticed that Seth uses hair gel so Nate got a copious amount for his own hair. When he was primped he looked at me and said, "I'm handsome."

One Good Egg

2009-01-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

Seth came home Thursday night, just like it was any other evening. We sat down to eat before he dropped the bomb on me. In a rather offhand way he said, "I finished my dissertation. I'm defending it on Wednesday, February 25th 10am-12pm." Just like that. The 500+ page monstrosity that has made our children think daddy was born with a laptop attached to his body is finally done! Congratulations Seth! I love you!

Has anyone seen Nate?

2009-01-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

The kids and I are on our own today as Seth is doing some Klondike-thingey where they go freeze outside all day. So I decided I would make pancakes because the kids love them. As the pancakes got close I yelled for everyone to come eat and everyone did...except Nate. I could hear him yell, but I was busy flipping, cutting and covering three plates of pancakes in syrup. I called for him again. Couldn't he just get himself to the table? We prayed. I got everyone drinks. Where is Nate? I finally got back to his room and realized he needed rescuing but did I rescue him? Not at first, I needed a picture. I've got my blog to think about, after all.

No new windows for me, thanks!

2009-01-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

SPOILER!!! I'm going to complain through this whole post! If you don't want to read it, kindly scroll down to Fuzzy Feet!

When I got a note on my door a few weeks ago stating they would be replacing the windows in our apartment my first thought went something like this, "What idiot would replace windows in January?" Do we live in Southern California? No. Is it above freezing? No. As I write this it is 19 degrees.

I called & told them our windows were fine, I hadn't asked for new windows. They said they'd get back to me. I got a note on my door last week saying they'd put it off until February. Whatever.

Today when they came around our side of building 6, I got a bad feeling. I began imagining crazy scenarios like blockading one door with the piano and the other door with the armoire...after all I have three sick kids today and it's naptime-the sacred time of day that keeps mothers sane.

So I called the office and when I asked them why they were doing this in January, do you know what they said? The company that replaces the windows said it was fine to do it in January, each window would only need to be out for 30 or 40 minutes. Now those guys are geniuses; if I ran a window replacement company in the Arctic during a recession that is exactly what I would say. Finally the pack of retards that run this complex agreed I didn't have to get new windows but hung up acting put out and annoyed by my bad attitude. Did I miss something?

Fuzzy feet

2009-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

In our continuing fight against the cold, everyone got slippers. I took one shot of Seth & the kids and it turned out great...usually I have to take 5 to get everyone smiling.

Just Dance

2009-01-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

What do you do when it is zero outside? This week when it was cold, dark and icy
so we decided to dance.

Kaitlyn wanted to listen to sunshine in my pocket (a.k.a. pocketful of sunshine)

I love this one of Nate. He is such a white boy.

John Travolta would be proud.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2009-01-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Kaitlyn couldn't wait to go outside and play in the snow. It took 5 minutes to get her ready; after spending 2 minutes outside she said, "I'm done, I want to go inside."

Nate didn't let the cold slow him down. After 2 hours outside he still screamed and kicked as I carried him inside.

Miss Independent. I was grateful that one child could get back up the hill without help.
I really like this picture...it shows what a cuddle-bug Kate is. Seth always looks good in photos.
Seth is pulling the sled up the hill and Nate is enjoying the ride...playing in the snow is tiring.

Kylie needed a break too. Under the snow, the ground was covered in a sheet of ice.

Totally funky science

2009-01-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

Do you know as much science as a six year old? Do you know what you get if you mix red cabbage juice powder with water and baking soda? Blue.

Do you know what you get if you mix red cabbage juice powder with water and citric acid? Pink!

What if you then mix them together? Purple. Kylie loved feeling like a scientist-the fact that the experiment was pretty was icing on the cake. I liked it too.

Kaitlyn quotes of the day

2009-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

First quote:
We were in the dairy section of the store when Kaitlyn noticed someone's lip gloss on the floor; I had seen it too and was trying to get by it before she noticed.

"Hey mom, can I have that lip gloss on the floor?" she asked.

"No Kate, it doesn't belong to us," I replied. At which point Kaitlyn crossed her arms, scowled at me and pursed her lips.

"You just won't let me steal Mom," she grumbled.

"Nope, you're not suppose to steal," I told her.

"Well, do you know why I want to steal? Because I lost my CTR ring and now I can't choose the right," she explained patiently. Is she cute or what?

Second quote:
As she finished her dinner she enthusiastically told me, "I finished all the garbage you gave me!"

Knock, knock...who's there?

2009-01-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

For any of you who do not know, first grade is the year knock, knock jokes come into fashion. I giggled to myself happily when Kylie came home with her first joke. One day I ate lunch with her at school & about 5 kids were telling me jokes at the same time (the same joke, mind you). Katie & Nate have picked up on telling knock, knock jokes as well, their jokes go something like this:

"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Table"
"Table who?"
"Have you forgotten what you eat dinner on?"

Then they go back & forth with everything in the house, laughing at each one like it's the funniest thing they ever heard. I love it.

Snow days and budding artists

2009-01-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

Artist number one--The weather is horrible today; freezing rain and hail so school was canceled. The cars are covered in a layer of ice so it was a "hunker-down," stay-at-home day. A great day to get out the art supplies.

Artist number two

Artist number three is proud of his painting. Unfortunately, he made a mess.

Why I have troubles supporting the arts at home.

One dollar combined with getting to feel like Cinderella equals child labor.

Nate

2009-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

"I'm two"

Each night we have to unscrew Nathan's lightbulb and lock his door
to keep him out of his toys and contained.

Nathan resents this of course and often lingers by his door
to talk, blow raspberries at or shoot the occasional passerby.

The Holidays

2009-01-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Santa came!

We had a great Christmas, even though Kylie didn't get anything.

Except my meebas-she'd been putting the word out for months that she wanted one.

Heaven help us.

New Beginnings

2009-01-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, but I'm lazy. I haven't finished the journal I had as a missionary yet. As New Year's is a time for resolutions I have decided to do it so all of you can see how cute the kids are and enjoy the funny things they say and do.