lilo's tool belt

a big thank you to aunt laurel for the cool tool belt, roll of tape, flashlight, and tape measure. it's perfect.

xoxo,
lilo and us

christmas morning

lilo and the lego castle


totally appropriate shirt for this kid.




santa left a note telling us that rudolph loved licking the salt we left on a plate for the reindeer. he also said that oreos are his favorite.

the bronx zoo

my little monkeys in front of the monkeys


the friendly gorilla


h and her friend m in front of the giraffes

these kids can't get enough of animal visiting. lilo keeps talking about the gorilla and the "big whale up dare" (from the natural history museum).

christmas week in review

lilo with his tool belt


christmas day- even though we had big intentions of "cutting back" this year, santa was generous. papa and I got new "bike-cycles" as lilo calls them. we have been wanting them for years and finally bit the bullet. h got a new desk. a few weeks ago she said to me, "mama, i don't really want toys for christmas, i just want a desk- and maybe an alarm clock." that's what she got. santa did bring her a few toys and games and a webkin. jojo scored a lego castle (took santa 3 hours to set up after hours on christmas eve) and a ninja turtle-psycho toy from H*#@! i bought it sort of last minute when i was worried that i had not bought enough for him. sheesh- not recommended! lilo was thrilled with his new tool belt from aunt laurel complete with a flashlight, a roll of tape and a tape measure. he wore it all morning and marched around for the pictures.


wednesday- we went into the city to go to the natural history museum. it's like going to the dead animal zoo (BYU's Bean Museum) times 10. it was a little crazy-crowded, but we managed. h's favorite part was the african wild dogs, jojo liked his pizza lunch and "fire chips" (doritos) at the museum food court, and lilo loved the "big whale up dare." there is an enormous blue whale model on the ceiling of one of the rooms.

thursday- our wonderful and trusty babysitter anna came over and papa and i went on a shopping/errand/lunch date. after doing a small amount of damage at the gap, we went to the sears appliance outlet center and bought a slightly dented but otherwise brand new freezer to put in the basement. Yahoo! I must be getting old to be excited about such a thing. I've wanted one for a while because my "upstairs" freezer is much too restrictive for my over-the-top costco freezer food binges. oh, the possibilities! we also had a wonderful lunch at california pizza kitchen. the thai chicken and mango tandoori chicken pizzas are like CANDY to me. that evening we had dinner at our friend carrie and mike's house. yum! mike made some oober delicious potato and cod pancake with an amazing chutney and then some fabulous haitian rice and beans and salmon. oh, so good!

friday we headed east again for the bronx zoo. it was a perfect day for it. the sun was shining and it was almost 50 degrees. i love the zoo in the winter months because it is never crowded (or humid). h's favorite was, again, the african wild dogs- this time they were alive. jojo and i loved the gorillas. one was a real crowd pleaser. he (or she) came right up to the window and watched us while eating his (or her) lunch. lilo loved the whole thing. it was practically impossible to extract him from one exhibit to the next. he is just like his papa. he also loved riding on the bug carousel.

i'll post more pics later.

saturday we test rode our new bikes! it was so much fun. we borrowed a bike stroller thing from mimi and pulled jojo and lilo and rode to the park that is a few minutes from our house. it was another almost 50 degree day with the sun shining. oh boy, i am out of shape! i don't know if my legs will work for church tomorrow.

okay, i am tired. good night.

christmas eve... full of joy

we had a relaxing christmas eve. we didn't make any big plans. we just stayed home and spent the entire day together. it was wonderful. the kids got along for the most part, and it was just plain nice.

my brother's brother in-law jared passed away this past weekend. you can read more about him here. he was only 30 years old and leaves behind a wife and daughter. as sad as their story seems, they are comforted by the knowledge that his spirit is alive, he is no longer suffering and they will be together as a family again. though i didn't know him, his death has made this christmas more meaningful to me. what a beautiful gift the life of jesus christ is to all of us. without him, death would be final. our families would not be eternal.

i feel blessed to have this knowledge.

a new puppy for christmas...

for our neighbors, not for us. did i trick you? h's friend brought over this cute little ball of fluff on christmas eve. h was so jealous she could hardly speak. i have always told her she could get a dog... when she is 18. she wants one desperately. i never want one... desperately. i am no fool. i know it would be like having a perpetual 18 month old (minus the diapers, but not the poop). something that i would have to keep a constant eye on, clean up after, walk etc, etc. sorry, not interested.
i sound mean, but i just have my hands full right now. i don't know if i will be able to say no to her forever, but for now the answer is absolutely not.

then i saw lilo with the little pooch. could he have been more in love? it was the cutest thing. he giggled, mauled and smooched the thing. don't get me wrong, the answer is still no, but i may be willing to let them have one sooner than h's 18th year. maybe when lilo is in school and i can devote some time to training and all of the other crap (no pun intended) that goes along with having a dog. i can't believe i am even considering this. i hate dogs! i guess i just love my kids and know that dogs are good for kids.

jojo liked holding the dog, but was more worried about her peeing on him than cuddling- he takes after me. plus, he has been bitten by a totally unprovoked strange dog before and doesn't take chances.

thoughts?

happy birthday paga!

"paga" is what lilo calls our nephew cameron mcneil (papa's oldest sis laurel's oldest kid). today is his birthday and he is traveling home for christmas in sunnyvale, california.

he and his wife katie are the closest relatives we have here in the FAR east. they are the best. we get to see them often and are so happy to have them near. if not for cameron, my freezer would never have been defrosted, my pantry door would be on the floor, my children wouldn't have anyone to torture them silly. thanks cam-ron for everything you do for us. we love you and wish you a very happy birthday.

bedtime delay tactics...

lilo "fell" into this basket. we all laughed. then everyone decided to play in the baskets. then papa and mama thought it was funny enough to take a picture. bedtime delay tactic in progress. then h decided to pout. more bedtime delay...



eventually everyone went to bed. the end.

christmas decor...

not sure what we are all shouting, but check out the kid on the left- seriously sucking down the royal icing... little monkey!



our tree (not a wild balsam like in the past, but pretty anyway). now i know why lilo didn't want to wear his lame skunk costume on halloween- he wanted to be something cool like "pidaman!" sorry about the twisted picture- i'm not 'puter savvy enough to turn it around. katie, where are you?



papa has ocd with how the icing is applied, so we let him have that job. lilo's job is to eat as much candy as he can within reach

cuddlefest

a few days ago i found lilo and jojo cuddling with blankies and pillows on the KITCHEN floor... doesn't this look comfie? the ninja turtles were also cuddling.

christmas fun...

this is a response from my sis-in-law, kristine.

rules: copy, paste, answer, send...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper with cute ribbon!

2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? REAL all the way. we like to get a wild balsam which is kind of skinny and sparse- it is it's own kind of pretty.

3. When do you put up the tree? usually the first or second weekend in december. we are not usually organized enough until then and i can't do it alone so we wait until papa is around. we did it on the 7th this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? sometime around the new year

5. Do you like eggnog? yes in small doses

6. Favorite gift received as a child? i don't remember a favorite, but once i got a make-up making kit and i got all dolled up and uncle doyle started laughing when he saw me. i was so sad. i don't know why i shared that, but not to make him feel bad for sure.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, i have many. i love them. most of them child-friendly, or so i thought. jojo and lilo have broken a few pieces of my wood scenes this year by dropping them on the hard wood floor- sad. i think it is important to have some (or at least one) that the kids can touch and play with- because they will try whether i allow it or not. i remember not being able to play with mom and dad's white ceramic one and i totally understand why it was restricted but i think the problem could have been solved by getting one that was not breakable. lilo loves to say, "bake-able."

8. Hardest person to buy for? papa's parents

9. Easiest person to buy for? H. she is going to score this year.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever got? can't remember

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? i love sending and receiving christmas cards. i absolutely love it, but i am struggling with all of my junk mail (christmas cards not considered junk mail) and all of the waste paper we accumulate and i sort of wish i could allow myself to just be happy with emailed cards, but i'm not there yet.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? the grinch who stole christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? whenever i want to

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? i don't think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? chocolate covered marzipan. i also love mim's fish soup on christmas eve

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? clear always

17. Favorite Christmas song? once in royal david's city

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay at home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen, rudolph (did i miss any?)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? an angel that papa bought for me for my birthday in greenwich village about 10 years ago

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve? one- usually jammies

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? travel congestion

23. What I love most about Christmas? papa gets a whole week off of work and we just stay at home and play

more photo shoot...

silly billies...


this is what else they did during my well-planned photo shoot...


headstands...


a pillow fight...


lilo left the room during the pillow fight and returned wearing these lovely boots.

torture chamber photo shoot...

the first shot of the night


just after lilo pushed jojo off of the chair


lilo looks like he is going to pop a vein in his forehead while shouting, "cheese!"

i've said it before. my children are IMPOSSIBLE to photograph. tonight i attempted to get a nice shot for our christmas card. once again, proof that there is no such thing as a GOOD shot of the three of them together AT THE SAME TIME... little turkeys!
new jammies donned, bribes prepared, baths taken, hair trimmed and combed and this is all we could muster.

i feel like crying.

happy hanukkah!

thanks to jojo's jewish preschool we get to celebrate hanukkah in addition to christmas. lilo came along for the ride. bring on the latkes and applesauce!

happy 2nd birthday lilo!

i can't believe this little punk is two!

he has a mild obsession with elmo so i made a red velvet cake (elmo colors) and put elmo toys on top. last month we started our marathon of family winter birthdays and he has the song down pat. i bought him this kid dust buster. it is the best toy ever. it looks just like my real one and it really sucks small things. he carries it everywhere- even to jojo's school. he's such a helper! it is really, really hard to believe he is two.

holiday cheer...

not sure why the picture doesn't show up, but if you click on the icon thing, you'll get the idea. be patient.

Great Christmas Present Idea...

A Great Big BOX! We got a new dryer a few weeks ago and I asked the delivery guy if I could keep the box. He said I could, and he had another one in his truck that I could have too. The kids have had SO MUCH FUN with these things. They've colored on them, made doors and windows in them, used flashlights in them, hidden in them, made forts, rocked them back and forth like a ride, and had "sleepovers."

Who knew?

Funny Story

Jojo woke up this morning with a fever. He also has a sore throat and watery eyes. He has been complaining most about the watery eyes so I gave him some benadryl. I told him it would take about 10 minutes to start working. I didn't really know how long it would take, but I figured he might have some relief by then. He asked me about 10 times if it had been ten minutes and I kept reassuring him that it would be soon. Then he stopped asking and I was busy making his lunch. I looked down and this is what I saw. Yep, it takes about 10 minutes, kiddo. Good to know.

Thank you sisters for your beading parties at Mom's!

We celebrated H's birthday with a jewelry-making party. It was so fun. I just re-created what we used to do at mom's around the dining room table. We had such a great time. I bought plenty of beads, some little jewelry boxes and a felt place mat for each child and the girls each made 2 or 3 bracelets. Then we served pizza and apple slices, and a chocolate chip cookie cake and that was it. Easy-peasy and so much fun.

Happy Halloween!!!

I know it is the middle of November, but I couldn't find my camera cable that connects to my 'puter so I am FINALLY posting our pics from Halloween. Papa arrived home from a business trip at 5:30 just in time to trick-or-treat with us.

There is no such thing as all of my kids cooperating for a picture, but you get the idea. Lilo REFUSED to wear his costume. He was supposed to be a skunk (lil stinker). H was a pink power ranger, and Jojo was superman.

The last one is H in her school parade.

It's fun to be out of the closet

I've been a lurker of blogs for over a year now. The first blog I read was of a friend and her family in crisis. I clicked on to one of their comments and discovered mormonmommywars. I became a lurker, was entertained, couldn't stop reading and continued to find other interesting mormon mommy sites. I love finding people I know from any part of my history through their friends and family blogs.

I've discovered that most of the mormon family blogs are of newlyweds. I've read
"we love each other so much and are expecting our first little one soon." a time or ten. I'm amazed how many of us mormons look alike.

I personally only have a few friends my age in real life who blog... yet, but since this is so fun I hope more of my peers join the blogosphere. It's a great way to keep in touch.

Tagged by Kristine...

I have been tagged by Kristine. The rules...player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves at the end of the post, player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for the rules.

Here are six things about me that I hope most of you don't already know...

!. I have no idea how I am going to come up with six things.
2. I HATE long toe nails. They are just plain sick and wrong. If you have them, cut them please. They hurt my thoughts. And they are gross.
3. I love to stalk blogs and I feel like it's wasting time by doing it, but I do it anyway.
4. Please don't pop your gum around me. I don't mean popping big bubbles. I mean the kind where you fold over your gum in the back of your mouth and make that little popping sound. It makes me CRAZY!!! I don't know why. I just can't stand it. If you decide to do it around me, I will open your mouth and remove it with my BARE fingers. If you don't believe me, ask dad.
5. I used to pay my little brother to pop his zits. I know, gross, yet satisfying!
6. When I was little I kept a stash of pacifiers in the back corner of my closet and I remember going in there for a fix when I was 7!!! It's true. Lilo is almost two and I don't have the guts to take his away yet.

I am tagging Melody, Katie and Madeline Mc... everyone else I know that has a blog has been tagged already!

Family Home Evening- 21st Century-Style

Papa is in Holland (the booger) so tonight for family home evening we did a video chat with him on the computer. We've had the equipment for a long time and we've done lots of chats with grandparents, but this was the first time we have done it across the ocean and for FHE. I think we might be missing one of the operative words here- Family HOME Evening... We miss you so much papa! See you soon.

Speaking of boogers, Liam handed me one yesterday. Thanks cute stuff! And thanks "Paga" aka Cameron for teaching him that lovely word!

I'm feeling picture happy today

Last week for FHE we decorated a gingerbread Halloween house with Grandpa and Grandma. That head in the bottom corner of the first picture is Grandpa. Fun times...