MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sorry, but this is as close at it is going to get to an actual Christmas card this year. I've been so busy that my head is spinning and we just haven't sent them out this year.
Love ya all! Hope you have a Happy Holiday!

Christmas Letter:
This year has felt like a roller coaster ride. It was wild, and we can`t believe it is over so quickly.
Nate has been busy this year building a shed in our backyard.
Dixie is busy with kids as usual, and still keeping very busy with primary.
Maddie has started preschool this year, and loves it. She enjoys singing the new song that she brings home each week with her paper sack puppet. She is also enjoying singing class this year.
Ryan has grown up so fast. He loves playing with balls, and can eat more fruit than any of us. He thinks he is all grown up and roaming the house all day (or should we say destroying the house all day).

We hope this Christmas Season finds you well and happy.

Love, the Packers

Nate's Blog Tag

Ok, I've been tagged by Dixie. I have a hard time picking favorites, but I'll take a stab at it. And each of my lists is by no means in any order. Completely random. And let it be known that I did not read Dixie's post before writing my own. So I did not know what her answers were before writing mine.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
Lost
Eureka
House
Heroes
Prison Break
The Office
My Own Worst Enemy
Fringe

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
Drove my car
Ran 2 miles
Worked
Played with the kids
Watched TV with Dixie
Cleaned the kitchen
Shipped a package
Checked my email

8 Things I Look Forward to:
Retirement
Summer
Vacations
Summer
kids growing up
Summer
A better job
Summer

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Joe's Crabshack
Olive Garden
P.F. Changs
Ruby River
Panda Express
Mara's Cafe
Any place serving pizza
Quizznos

8 Things on My Wish List:
Happy kids
Happy wife
Take the family on a vacation to a far off country.
Ride a camel in the desert
Lose weight and be in awesome shape
Fly a plane
Go scubadiving in Australia
Learn to surf

8 People I Tag:
I don't know very many bloggers, so I tag... Clint.

Crazy Eights

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Lost
2. The Office
3. Seinfeld
4. Prison Break
5. Chuck
6. Friends
7. Heroes
8. Local talk shows (just for their recipes)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Tried a new pizza recipe.
2. Laundry -and again today, :(
3. Bought new towels, yay!
4. Got the kids to bed early.
5. enjoyed two of my favorite shows with my hubby
6. came pretty close to forgetting to pick up my daughter from preschool (time goes by fast when i'm enjoying my free time a little too much)
7. organized the bills
8. a lot of counting

8 Things I Look Forward to:
1. no more diapers, or diaper bag or stroller
2. the holidays
3. the holiday food and treats
4. the holidays (and busy schedule) being over
5. disneyland next summer
6. date night
7. Christmas morning (this year will be very exciting)
8. free time to clean my house (but who knows if that will ever really happen)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. PF Changs
2. Tepanyaki's
3. Olive Garden
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Famous Dave's
6. Ruby River
7. Cafe Rio
8. Red Robin


8 Things on My Wish List:
1. a clean house
2. a clean house
3. a clean house
4. my house is driving me crazy, can you tell?
5. free time for myself
6. new couches
7. more storage
8. a new vacuum

8 People I Tag:
nate packer and anyone else who wants to

TAGGED

This was so cute and worked out so cool that i couldn't help but do this tag again. The first tag i did was the third folder and picture, but when Shalamar tagged me it was the fourth folder and the fourth picture. Our pictures aren't in alphabetical order, shal, but they are in order of the year so that took me to 2004, and as you can see, this was the most important thing that happened to us that year. Maddie was born! She was 4 lbs. and 18 inches long.


Here's how it works:
go to your pictures folder and open the fourth folder and then the fourth picture. post that picture with a description.

I tag: Brooklyn B, Brook B, Kristina, Ashley, Natalie, and Kallee

Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween. Maddie had a blast, and Ryan loved going along for the ride and the free candy. Maddie loved trick or treating and thinks we should do it again next week, and has already planned out her and her brother's costumes.
The kids had a blast at their Halloween party as grandma's and grandpa's. It included a fish pond game, and pin the nose on the pumpkin, as well as lots of yummy food and decorating pumpkin rice krispie treats.
Earlier in the week we carved pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. But, not so much for Ryan. He was getting pretty frustrated that he couldn't use a sharp cutting tool and that it was taking so long. Maddie was absolutely ecstatic when we lit her pumpkin outside.
My favorite part of the night though, was this conversation that took place right after Nate cut the lid for the pumpkin.
Maddie: Is it a Jack-0-lantern yet?
Nate: No, first we have to put our hands inside and pull out all that stuff.
Maddie: (pause and gross face) No way am I doin' that!
Ryan on the other hand, no problem.Also, earlier this week Maddie was able to meet her new cousin for the first time. All day long she kept saying "Oh, he's so cute!" She would not leave that baby's side the whole night long. She was thrilled to see him. Thanks for sharing him with us, Packers!

picture tag

i thought this one was kinda fun from megan's blog. so here goes. plus it's quick... maybe one of these days i'll get around to kallee's tag ;)
Here are the rules:

1:open you picture folders.
2:Go to the third folder and pick the third picture.
3:Post it on your blog with the story behind it.
4: I am tagging everyone that reads this!since my picture folder is organized by year it took us back to 2003, and this picture was Christmas morning at the packer's. becca looks so young doesn't she? but still as cute as always.

LOOK

another maddie comment for uncle jordan:
nate and i were driving home from my parent's one night and we pulled into the carport, but didn't get out of the car because we were listening to the lyrics of a song, so we kept waiting for it to finish. well, from the back seat maddie climbed out of her seat belt and stood right behind the two of us, and said, "LOOK, Ryan and I are tired and we need to get out now."
LOL, we just cracked up.

recipe exchange blog

Check out my other blog.
It's a blog i've created to share and exchange recipes.
feel free to join in if you're interested or invite others who may want to join. all they need to do is email me so that i can add their name so they can post.
here's a link:
www.kissthecook3.blogspot.com

Blessings

Maddie said something so sweet the other day that i just had to share. Last week when she was feeling really yucky from her surgery there were lots of things to try to help her feel better. Nate bought her a fish that was ready at the house when she came home from the hospital, and balloons, and stickers, and coloring books. Whatever we could think of to keep her mind off her pain. Well one day she was really bad and I asked her if she wanted her dad to give her a blessing. She said yes and we gave her one and we also said many prayers with her in those next few days. It was a great learning experience for her about prayer. Then one day as she walked into the kitchen, she looked up at the fish sitting on the kitchen counter and said "Fishies don't help you feel better, only blessings." How sweet! How cool it is to be the mother and have the opportunity to teach my daughter how important blessings are, and how grateful i am to have a husband who holds the Priesthood and can bless our family with it.

I need your help! & Maddie's surgery

I need some ideas of things that maddie can eat for the next few days. I'm running out of ideas!!! We bought a bunch of popsicles and ice cream, but the freezing cold things kind of bother her going down. She wouldn't even eat jello for me today because it was too cold. She's been so upset the last two days because she keeps wanting to eat everything and when i tell her she can't she just cries. She even tried to sneak away with a fruit snack yesterday, but was caught. Anyway, i feel like i'm all out of ideas. ANYBODY? Also... is there anyone else who can remember how long their kids/or themselves were on medication? Every time i try to wean her, she gets in too much pain.
So, about the day of the surgery. Maddie did so well. I think she did the best because she didn't really realize what was about to happen. She was just going through all the motions. I know i probably shouldn't have lied to her, but oh well, it helped so much. What happened was... the week before she was freaking out every time i mentioned that she would be getting her tonsils out, so i simply dropped it by telling her that we would go and see the doctor and that she could tell him that she didn't want her tonsils taken out. (so see i didn't really lie, she can tell him whatever she wants, but that doesn't mean we'll do it) Anway, that helped her a ton. I still continued to tell her what it was like at the hospital so that she didn't have any surprises. I told her to look for all the funny pjs and hats that the doctors and nurses would wear, and that she would get to wear a cool gown. It made that morning so much easier for her, cause she just did whatever she was supposed to and didn't make a fuss about any of it. She was excited to have a new stuffed teddy bear they left on her bed... she loved the gown w/ tigers on it that she wanted to take it home... she wanted to ride out to the car in a wheel chair (i think because she thought it was cool), but when she actually saw it, it brought back memories of my grandma being in the care center with a wheel chair, so she changed her mind. She told me that those are for old people. haha, it made me laugh.... When it was time to go she stepped right into the wagon, and nate wheeled her down the hall to the operating room hallway. She was still very shy and didn't say much to the doctors or nurses, but I felt so much better to have her on her way with no crying or anything.
The morning went very smoothly, but the funniest thing was...... (and actually i shouldn't really say it's funny because it could have been very traumatic, but for maddie it wasn't cause she didn't dwell on it too much.) When the nurse came in to have us sign all the papers and such... she said "so we're getting our tonsils taken out today?" and maddie put her hand over her mouth in shock.... because she's so shy she didn't say anything, and then after the nurse left she didn't mention anything, so we just turned on the cartoons and went with it. Then after she came out, they wheeled her bed back to her room and when she saw us she started to cry because it hurt. then someone (don't remember who) said it hurts when your tonsils are out, and in her crying she stopped for a second to ask "did they take my tonsils out?" Luckily we were able to calm her down fairly quickly and we got her some medicine which helped and she was good. She's been doing really well at home as long as she has taken her medicine. Although she has been very needy and whinny.
k, so the other funny/lame thing that happened at the hospital was not from maddie, but from me......... i am such a whimp (?sp) i was standing up to maddie's bed to calm her down and help distract her mind from the pain for about 20 minutes or so after they brought her in and i started to feel light-headed. I didn't pass out, but i felt so close to doing it. I almost laid down on the floor because i felt it coming, and was trying so hard to avoid passing out. I had to put my head down and drink water and eat crackers to stop my body from shaking. It was so silly because there wasn't really anything that triggered it, other than the knot in my stomach combined with the hospital smell, and me standing up to maddie's bed. crazy, i know.
so, that about sums it all up. we're so glad that it's behind us.

500 Miles!

I'm honestly not trying to make a habit of this, writing right after Dixie does. Maybe her telling me about her dream caused some subliminal need for me to write every time she does. But actually I'm writing this now, cause she mentioned in her last post that she was going to write more details, so I'm hoping to get this in before her next one, so hers will be on top for a while.

I just had to share a personal milestone I hit today. 500 miles on my bike! Well, since I started tracking it anyway. I've got a little speedometer on my bike that tracks all my miles and other stuff. I started tracking it some time last summer when I started commuting to work. For your information, 500 miles is about the distance from here to Nebraska. Or Kansas, whichever floats your boat. It also happens to be about the width of Egypt.

Also, I've seen a couple weird things the last few days of my commute. On Monday, I saw not one, but TWO Walmart shopping carts on the side of my bike trail. And they weren't anywhere close to a Walmart. I kept wondering how them little guys got so far away from home!

And then this morning I saw an old dude walking backwards across a bridge. I think he was doing it for exercise or something. Just strange. But now I can't figure out if he was on the correct side of the road or not. You're supposed to bike on the right, walk/jog on the left. So I was on the right side of the road, about to cross over I-15 on the Church St. bridge. But he was on the sidewalk that goes across the bridge on the same side. Since his back was to me, I figured he was walking away from me, on the WRONG side of the road. (not that anybody really cares what side of the road you're on when you're walking) But anyway, I crossed the road so I could go across the bridge on the other side, I really wanted to stay on the sidewalk across the bridge, cause it's kind of narrow. So as I was passing him, I looked across the street, and realized that he was walking backwards.

So he was on the right side of the road relative to him, but he was walking backwards, so technically I guess he was on the left side of the road, relative to the direction he was walking. So which side was he on? I'm confused.

Maddie was amazing!

I don't have a lot of time, but i thought i'd let you all know that maddie did so good at the hospital that i was so proud and happy. She's in a lot of pain still, but handling it fairly well, and i'm just so glad that everything went so smoothly. I'll post the details another day, cause there are a few funny ones. (sorry i guess i always think my daughter is funny) :)

Pwned!!!

Ha, the other day Dixie told me about a funky dream she had where she had posted something to the blog, and then I posted something right after her, so nobody was reading her post, just my stupid nonsense post, and it really made her mad. So I'm just doing this to tick her off.


Just kidding. Scroll down and read Dixie's post RIGHT NOW.

(If any of you are wondering what pwned means, stop wondering, it's internet geek jargon and you won't understand it)

UPDATE!

Sorry it's long.
- Well, we are just about done with the shed. YAY! It feels so good to say that. Nate just has a few little hooks and things to put up inside and then load all of our stuff into it. It has been a long project, but it looks amazing... and it will be cool to say that Nate built it (with a little help from friends and family THANKS).

- I am feeling overloaded with housework, and everything! I actually have felt that way most of the summer. Hopefully after we get a few more things out of the way, then i can focus and get my house back in order.

- Ryan is into everything. Keeping him from climbing and getting into things (especially the toilet) is a full time job. The bathroom has become his coveted place to be, simply because he isn't allowed in there anymore, and he spends all day climbing on top of the chairs to reach the kitchen table and the piano. He is now a force to be reckoned with. Which explains all the fighting going on at my house. Ryan gets into stuff, maddie gets mad, they scream and hit, and then cry because they both get in trouble.

- Because of all the fighting, Maddie is having a hard time, and said the funniest thing a few weeks ago. She was in trouble once again for hitting her brother, and after screaming in her room for a few minutes, she came out and we sat down to talk about it. I asked her if she could think of a better way to fix it if Ryan gets into her stuff. She was pretty upset and then finally just said "Why don't we just throw him out" and she was dead serious too. I had a hard time not laughing, and kept reasoning with her, but she just kept saying "no, i just want to throw him out." needless to say we still had to keep talking for quite a while longer to convince her that there were better alternatives.

- Maddie gets her tonsils out next wednesday. For some reason she panics anytime we talk about it... therefore, the reason for my earlier post. I have been trying to think of ways to calm her down, but i'm afraid we are just going to have a screaming girl at the hospital. Funny thing happened when we were trying to determine whether or not we needed them out.... She had to do a respiratory test overnight, where they gave us a machine to clip on her finger to wear to bed, to check her breathing through the night. It had a red lazer on it, and so her finger looked red. I put it on after she fell asleep and then she woke up in the middle of the night and came into my room and said she just had a terrible dream about ladybugs getting her fingers. poor girl. i took her back to bed and showed her this thing she had to wear on her finger and she asked me if it would help keep the ladybugs away from her finger. :)

- Long overdue pics from maddie's first day of preschool. She is having a lot of fun going to preschool and loves to show me what she made each day when she comes home.


- Long overdue pictures from camping. Ryan looks so grown up, but still doesn't know to not eat the sticks or rocks.
Here's Nate telling scary stories.
We went swimming the next day at Pineview.

- The MADDIE-ISM for the week: (you probably had to be there, but i thought it was pretty funny.) So, Maddie was told to find her shoes so that we could go to the store. She asked Nate for help to find her shoes and he couldn't really help her so he asked "where did you have them last?" Maddie said "on my feet."

k, i'm kinda freaking out

Maddie is scheduled to get her tonsils taken out next week, and since i've been trying to prepare this week, i'm starting to panic. I was doing fine until yesterday when i finally had all the arrangements set, and then when i started to wonder how it would go, i called a friend because her son just had his taken out last year and asked her a few questions. I was feeling pretty good, and was trying to think of how and when i would talk to maddie, but i wasn't too worried until today. I was preparing maddie for the fact that i was going to stay after school today to talk to her preschool teacher to let her know that maddie wouldn't be to school next week and maddie started to cry and put her hand over her mouth and said "I don't want my tonsils taken out." it was pretty sudden, and i hadn't even mentioned much about her getting her tonsils out, just that she would miss school.... but oh boy, her fear made me loose it. thankfully i did a good cover-up for her and reassured her for just a minute and then quickly changed the subject and she was fine, but i've been sitting home for the last hour while she's at school just worrying my head off! I'm sure it will come and go, but until then i'm trying to think of everything i can to help her prepare.

National Talk Like a Pirate Day

Avast me hearties! Tomorrow be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I expect all of you to parrrrrticipate! And in commemoration of this here fine day, I'd like you all to view me favorite veedeo on this here special day. Here be the link:

http://fny21.blogspot.com/2007/05/pirate-convention-on-snl.html

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!! Aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!

sweet innocence

wow, this summer seems to have flown by. i've been so busy i feel like i didn't get a chance to enjoy it, and yet there were many fun things that we did, so i can't complain. with all our busy-ness i haven't had any time to blog. but i wanted to write down a comment before i forget. my brother-in-law who is on a mission in japan, said that he loves hearing all the funny things that maddie says, and since i print our blog off for him, then you all just have to endure all my daughter's silly comments, so that uncle jordan can hear from maddie.
background for the story: we were outside at my mom's when our neighbors dog was tragically hit by a car. it was so sad, and yet there was no way of avoiding it because of how the dog ran out into the street (long story), but we were all there to see it and this puppy was about 2 or 3 months old, so she was still learning not to bite... therefore maddie calls this puppy, "the little doggy that bites." so, then the other day i was trying to explain to maddie about my grandma after she passed away. i told her that she was ok, and that her body just stopped working and that she was happy in Heaven. so, then maddie asked me "Is she up in Heaven with the little doggy that bites? and all the other doggies because that's where all the doggies go?" it was so sweet, and she obviously had remember the conversation about the dog too. Then later, last weekend, was my grandmother's viewing and funeral, and as we walking into the church and i explained to maddie that we were going to see great-grandma, she asked me, "Are we in Heaven?" It's those sweet innocent moments when your kids say something that just take my heart!

More shed updates

I think it's been a while since I posted recent photos of the shed, lovingly nicknamed "The Guest House" by my aunt Anita. So I thought I'd post a couple of the latest shots. Well, just one or two really. But it's almost done! I would actually be done by now, (and not be in the dog house) if hadn't of gone golfing on Saturday. Ok, that was a stupid move. Live and learn, right! Anyway, as you can see, I've just got a bit of siding on the top, some on the door, and then a bit more on the back. Thanks Dad and Jaron for helping me get the door on, that was great help! CURSE you for asking me to go golfing! JK, not your fault. :-) Anyway, here are some pics.

the chocolate

Ya, I do know of Nate's secret love affair with food! He has many "dates" on the side during lunch hour. ;) And, I'm sure many other wives would be bothered by this, but not me... cause otherwise if I give him grief, I may just chance losing my one and only CHOCOLATE!, which i cannot live without :)
K, well enough silly stuff... i really wish i had time to write about all the crazy things that have been going on lately, but life has been just that "too crazy." I spend ALL day taking care of, monitoring, and lotioning our kids. Their skin has been out of control, we found out maddie has some food allergies, so we've been tracking that, and ryan's been teething and wants to be held all day. So, that life right now.... nothing but kids! and i've been told many a time to enjoy it while it lasts because it wont last long....so i'll try. :)

Help me watch my weight

Ok, this is slowly turning into Nate's blog, cause poor Dixie doesn't have time to write, and I'm sitting in front of a computer ALL freaking day. So I hope you don't get bored with my rants. Not that I don't keep busy at work, but I have a few minutes every now and then. And at least this one isn't about the shed! I just thought I'd share my exercise/weight woes with everyone. Now don't get me wrong, I don't look at myself as obese or anything, but I would like to get rid of the gut, and just get in better overall shape, not to mention my cholesterol is off the charts! (thanks Dad grandpa genetics)

I've been riding my bike to work this summer (except I've kind of dropped off while working on that shed), and been running on the days I don't ride. And I've also started a pretty cool pushup program you can find at HundredPushups.com. It's supposed to take you from however many pushups you can do in one set, to being able to do a hundred pushups in one set in about 6 weeks. Don't know that I'll actually reach that, but it's a good measurable program that keeps me doing at least some bit of weight training, since I don't make it to the gym enough. And I have already noticed a measureable difference in the number of pushups I can do. In the first 3 weeks I've gone from being able to do 22 to being able to do about 35 in one set. I'm happy with that kind of improvement. Hey, let's face it, if it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all.

Anyway, it's going pretty well, but exercise alone just ain't gonna cut it. So I just found this cool little site called TweetWhatYouEat.com. It's basically a food and weight diary online. By itself, it's not anything special, but paired with Twitter.com, which is a service that lets you send updates via your cell phone, it's pretty nifty. Now I can enter everything I eat, with the associated calories, via text message from my cell phone! Anyway, I don't know how long it will last, but I'm going to try it out, cause heaven knows I eat/drink too much crap. And perhaps tracking it will allow me to keep tabs on myself a bit better.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, if I know think that someone else might be looking at what I'm eating, it might just give me that little push to eat more healthy. So feel free to see exactly what I've been eating or drinking by checking out my food diary at www.tweetwhatyoueat.com/diary/paqman. Ok, yes, this will allow Dixie to see EXACTLY how often I eat out. Ouch! You ever feel like sometimes you are cheating on your significant other via food? Sometimes I do. What if she thinks I love the food more than her? Ok, I'll stop there.

I just started it today, so there won't be much up there for a bit, but hey, I'm willing to try anything to get rid of this gut!

And if any of you have similar woes, and are interested in trying it, it seems pretty easy, and I could show you how to get set up if you want. Ok, enough from me. Dixie, your turn!

Shed Updates

So with the help of a neighbor, and my bro Austin, we got quite a bit of work done on the shed today. I also did quite a bit yesterday. I built the loft inside, the work bench, and we got the rest of the walls, roof, and tar paper placed on. She's ready for shingles and siding! Here are a few pics of the progress.

Our Latest Project

This is Nate. You know, the guy who created our original PackerWorld.com website, and secretly wishes he could get that one to catch on, but keeps posting over here because it's so darn convenient, and you all are already looking at this one? Anyway, I did some work on our shed this Last Saturday, and I wanted to share it with you. I've been building the walls and trusses for the last month or so, and they've been sitting in my carport just waiting to be put up. So I've finally got it up. Just need to finish the roof, siding, and the door, and we're all done! Here are some pics, hope you like.

Happy 08/08/08!!!

I figured in honor of August 8, 2008, AKA - 080808, I would crash Dixie's blog and put a lame joke up to honor our friend, the number 8. What did the number zero say to the number 8?
Answer: "Nice belt!"

Maddie's Birthday Party!

For Maddie's birthday we had a little party! She loved it and was so excited! There was quite the crowd there. We made party hats and played games. Her primary teacher made her a butterfly cake for her birthday!

Christmas in July!

Yup, that is what i'm calling maddie's birthday this year. For a couple of reasons. One - both my kids were spoiled beyond belief this year. and two - for two weeks before life was so busy, just like it usually is at Christmas time. We had father's day, nate's birthday, family birthdays, ryan's birthday, holidays and staying up late and visiting family and then maddie's birthday. It felt insanely busy. Also, we had a friend who was cleaning out their toy room and gave maddie this play kitchen with dones of dishes. They also gave my kids lots of other toys that they were getting rid of, so the morning of maddie's birthday we set them all out in the living room. Ya, it felt like Christmas.

kids say the darndest things

so maddie can come up with the funniest things sometimes. yesterday she walked around all day saying "Well, it's better than nothin'." I think she said that once after i fixed her shoe. she must have gotten it from a movie. Anyway, she made me laugh when i called her to come down for dinner and on her way, just out of the blue, she passed ryan sitting in his highchair and cupped her hand around her mouth (like when you tell a secret) and she told Ryan... "tell mom, she's crazy" her tone and everything sounded just like the little kids on Meet the Robinsons. She cracks me up.

Just for Dad!

Just for Dad, we took a picture after we buzzed Ryan's hair, so he would recognize him when he gets back. haha It was just getting too long, and since this kid hates getting his hair cut we went with a buzz so it would be faster, plus it will be longer before i have to get it cut again.

Kids Portraits

I had the kids pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link to view them for anyone who would like to.

To get started click below and enter the Customer Name, Dixie Packer:
https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0883104958TARSHR

New Swing Set!

Thanks to a stimulus check this year... we got the kids a swing set! I had Nate put a sandbox underneath because Maddie can spend hours playing in sandboxes. It has been wonderful!! I think I was more excited than the kids because it really just means more things to keep our kids occupied while i can have a minute to get something done... or just breathe. We are just really glad that Nate was able to get it set up before he went out of town for business for two weeks. I'm sure it will be very helpful for my kids to have something to keep busy with while he is gone! Thanks Dad!!

Ryan's Birthday!

Ryan's birthday was a while ago, but life has been so busy that i'm just getting around to putting up pictures from it. Ryan is getting so cute! This last week he learned to fold his arms for the prayer. He wasn't much fun for a 1 year old birthday though... for some strange reason that kid doesn't like frosting or cool whip, so he didn't do much with his cake. He was born on my dad's birthday, so i made two cakes one for Ryan and one for my Dad..... as you can see from the pictures, my dad tried to show Ryan what to do with the cake, but Ryan wouldn't have it. Ryan has been having a blast with his new toys! Thanks to all of you who came to his birthdays and gave gifts. We really appreciate all the wonderful family and friends we have!!!!

pictures

this website is entitled "these are a few of my favorite things" because of course, all you will see here are pictures and stories about my kids.... i probably should wait until i have three kids before it is officially "a few", but for right now 2 kids is plenty for me.

first time

so, now i'm a first time blogger. i mostly needed a spot to keep track of all my friends blogs. thanks to my cousin robert who created carlson junction so i can keep track of family. now if just everyone else i know would use it, then i'd be able to keep track of everyone. and then probably neglect my kids even more than i already do. or i guess i should say neglect my house more than i already do, because my kids get fed and taken care of, but my house almost never gets cleaned. thanks goodness for toilet drop-ins that clean at every flush. :)