Harland's Happenings

I uploaded pictures from my camera and realized most of them are about something Har was involved in. A nice change from my pictures revolving around the kids! So I'm giving him a whole post...mostly to himself.

We watched a friend's kids the other day for an hour or so and this sweetie took a shine to Har. She brought him toys and bossed him and around and made him stay in this chair with her most of the time. Trust me, he likes the attention more than he's letting on in this photo.

We had a nice little rainstorm the other day. Nash wanted to go for a walk in "da wain" with an "umblella" (which surprising sounds a lot like gorilla in Nashanese "galilla")...Nash decided it would be best if Dad held the umbrella. The picture makes me think of a movie with a mysterious person of royalty too important to hold their own umbrella and being followed by their entourage.

The rain didn't stop my boys from the City's Saturday morning bike ride they'd been planning on for a month. Har and Dedan took the longest of the three routes used to end up at the park with booths of prizes, food and fun. It was all very wet, but they had a great time.

Bye-bye ni-night!

Nash has gone to bed the last three nights without a pacifier (his "ni-night")! Of course, the first night was REALLY hard, but he didn't even ask Harland or me for it last night. Hooooo-ray! My baby is turing into a little boy. Next step is getting the boy interested in using the toilet, so I can be finished with diapers. Hard to imagine having 3 big kids. Although, Emma is quickly growing up and out of the "kid" stage. I don't like that my little girl turns 12 this year. The next few years are going to fly by, and then I'll be stuck with boys...lots of boys. Potty training...that's all I need to worry about. Why do I let myself get carried away?!

Super Heroes

Before school was back in session my funny kids and our sweet neighbor, Taylor, had fun with their secret identities.

We had Miss Cloudy Underwear and Monkey Sock Face Girl.

(The girls gave everyone their Super names)

Super Ni-Night Man

and Mighty Magic Man

Bloody Nose

Scary for a mom to see this face...
I was relieved when we figured out he'd had a bloody nose and nothing more serious. (Gosh! I love those brown eyes!)

Carpenter Zoo

Dedan and Emma were playing ZOO last week with every toy animal (stuffed or otherwise) in one room. Areas were roped off. There were tickets and zoo money. It was fantastic, and my favorite was the placement of the lion at the base of the orchid plant. I love seeing my kids creativity.

Jack Black's double?

The other day I came downstairs after showering and Dedan took one look at me and said, "Mom, you look like that guy!" as he laughed and pointed at School of Rock playing on the TV. Thanks, son, thanks a lot.

Best of Christmas

I have nothing to blog for New Year's (yes, we were that dull), so I shouldn't feel guilty about just now blogging Christmas. The problem has been that I have more than 130 pictures from the week of Christmas. I finally had to go through and pick my favorite captured moments of fun to share with you...

When we stay with the Knowltons we have to separate our dogs at night or they will wake the kids with their playing and barking. First thing in the morning the dogs take turns sticking their heads through the cat door in Rachel's room trying to get to each other. It's even funnier than it looks.

My dad is Santa. Every year my dad humors his grandkids and grows his beard out so that he can live up to his nickname: Grandpa Santa.

Christmas Eve has been our designated family holiday my whole life. Most of which it's been here at the condo. This was the first year in a long while we had me, my sis (Tressa), my bro (James) and our families all here...in addition to many cousins. We were still a brother or two short, but it was wonderful to have so many of us together. Below is Har and the happiest baby ever, my niece, Riley.
Dedan shares his reindeer food to sprinkle on the grass...one better than carrots!
Emma's "candy cane" hair as Uncle Matt called it.

Christmas morning I was brushing my teeth & wondering how long before the kids were going to wake up when Dedan came in to tell me that he, Garrick and Tristen all had to go to the bathroom. When I said, "Ok," I didn't expect this...3 impatient boys peeing behind me all at the same time.
Always one of my favorite pictures...the kids waiting at the top of the stairs for all the parents/grandparents to get downstairs.

My MOST favorite picture from Christmas, because you can see the joy on Emma's face as she stares at her "new" guitar.

It isn't right that my sister can look so adorable first thing in the morning in her PJs.

Har and the boys all got custom designed, handmade t-shirts from Emma with their favorite candy on it. One of our traditions is going to the movies on Christmas day, so they all wore their shirts to see Bedtime Stories (we rate it 4 of 5 stars).

Acting my age

Har and I have 3 kids, a minivan, have been married for 13+ years, and are way closer to the big 4-0 than I care to think about. But last night I felt old for the first time in my life...

We went to a movie and dinner on an impromptu date last night. Sitting in the theater I was getting so annoyed with these kids (for the purpose of this rant "kids" are late teens to early 20s) sitting near us. It was not the first time in recent months I have been sitting in the movie and a blaring light draws my attention away from the movie screen. KIDS texting! And not just for a minute, but for a good portion of the movie. Didn't they just pay to sit and be entertained by a movie? Are their attention spans so short these days that they need to carry on texted conversations during the movie? Are they blogging about the movie while they are watching? Have their parents not taught them any movie theater ettiquette? Do they not hear the public service announcement before the movie begins that asks everyone to please turn off their cell phones? Seriously, I wanted to get up, take the phone out of the kid's hand, and tell him he could have it back when the movie was over....then it hit me. I am old. The thoughts running through my head were all things I'd heard my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, & old movie characters say out loud. I was one verbal step away from being T-H-E-M! {scream}

To make matters worse when Har was calculating the tip for our waiter after dinner he was complaining that the *kid* didn't even fill our drinks once and the tip he wanted to leave was less than 10% of our bill! {gasp} Grasping for my youth and some dignity I convinced Har to leave a better tip...he complained about it repeatedly.

Is there a solution to this problem or do I have to resign myself to comparing today's youth to the hardships I faced and complaining about their cavalier behavior? Help me!

RESULTS!

7 weeks of Boot Camp and...

I lost a total of 16 lbs. & 6 inches. Plus, I shaved a minute off my mile. Cathy, another boot camper, lost the same lbs. and inches as me...makes it hard to pick a winner. So we decided to split the cost of the next boot camp. Great solution I think!

My next goal is to lose 4 more lbs. before New Year's to round out my weight loss to 20 lbs. for the year.

Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who have been super supportive. I appreciate all the kind words, encouragement, and listening to all my goals/accomplishments/eating habits/struggles....you rock!

SNOW!

My bro, James, sent me this pic from his condo in Vegas. It snowed almost all day. We never had snow like this when I lived there. I think Har and the kids are praying for some snow here. It feels pretty darn cold, but I don't think it's cold enough. Bummer.

Stay warm!

Ward Christmas Party

John, my step-dad, apparently has the same Christmas outfit disorder as my wonderful mother. He wore his excellent shirt - which I bought for him - "Christmas begins with Christ" along with his Christmas socks. He decided no one would see his festive socks unless he wore shorts...to the church...when it was super cold outside. Other than the fashion, the ward party was great! We had a yummy ham dinner. Har, Emma and I sang Away In A Manger with the Griffiths (Sandy used to be on the Lawrence Welk Show) during the great program. And of course, the kids got to sit on Santa's lap!

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Rachel and I met in Culver City today to go see a taping of the Bonnie Hunt Show. We had a great time! She is a fantastic host...hostess. She came around the audience afterward and was so sincere and kind. She asked us to tell all our friends about her show. Since everyone I told that I was going to the show asked me "Who is that?" I decided I would do a little advertising for her here on my blog. You can even start watching her tomorrow...and look for me in the audience. If you're here in LA she's on ch.4 (KNBC) at noon. The rest of you will have to check your local listings...now I really sound like a commercial!