Family

My Mom Kathy, Amber, Pheobe (Me), Jenny, Heather, Sam, and Sadie

While we were in Utah at the family reunion my Uncle Kent pulled out his camera and took a few pictures of my Mom and her kids and grandkids.  We live in different areas and it's rare to have everyone together for pictures.  It just reminds me how much I like family pictures.

I love seeing how we all look alike and different.  It's fun to compare old and new family photos to see how people have changed.  I like having a picture to look at to remember what my family looks like.  I live at least 1000 miles away from every one of my family members.  It's nice to have a way to "see" them sometimes.

I love my family.  I pray for them daily and think of them more than that.  I'm grateful to have them, and wouldn't trade them away even if I could.

Family Game Night

Cameron and I decided to make every Sunday night Family Game Night.  We started last week, and this past Sunday we had our second game night.  We will start after dinner, and play until it's time for bed.  A treat is important to incorporate as well.

We love traditions.  We do Pizza and Movie Night on Saturdays.  We do date night on Fridays.  We do Family Home Evening on Monday nights.  We are really excited to make a pattern of Family Game Night every Sunday.

Last week we played Uno together.  This week we played Winnie the Pooh Candyland.  It was great to play a game that everyone could understand and enjoy.  Everyone knows their colors, so it was a pretty easy play.  More than anything though, it was fun sitting down together and enjoying the evening.

Britta is going through a phase where she wants us to help her with everything.  EVERYTHING.  Some things annoy me (especially when I KNOW she can do it for herself!), but other things I don't mind.  For this game Britta asked to sit in my lap and we played together.  She had a hard time moving her Piglet piece, so I would help with that.  It was actually very cute.

The other kids did fine playing alone.  Maddy won first place.  It took us a while, but finally Cam and I  came in second.  Then it was bedtime.

Sunday is already a family (and religious) oriented day for us, so this is a perfect addition to it.  The trick will be getting dinner done early enough that we aren't delaying bedtime so we can finish our game and treat.  The kids don't mind much, of course.  It's always harder to get extra tired kids to go to bed though.

So far I've loved it.  I'm looking forward to dusting off some of the old board games, and also to adding a few more to our collection.  The kids are getting old enough to actually play them with us, too!  What fun it is to have these beautiful children and watch them learn and grow.  What lucky parents we truly are.

Encore!

The kids' final Texas Stars Concert was a hit.  We headed over to the Round Rock library for one last performance including Maddy and River.  It had been 10 days since their last practice, and I was a bit concerned about how smoothly things would go.  They had fun, and were really cute, regardless.

I wanted to get a still shot of each of them before the performance.  I told Maddy that if she didn't smile I would put the picture of her scowling up on the blog, so here's holding good on that threat.

River was just so cute the whole time.  He waited where he was asked to.  He did as he was told.  He sang the best he could.  He did the actions as well as the best of them.  I was really proud of him.  I'm glad he wanted to do the choir.

So, though I know I have already posted about this choir, I wanted to post a few more of the video clips I took since they are so fun.  It makes me wish I had a better digital video camera, but for now these will have to do.

Wedding in the Family!

My kids play really well together.  I love hearing them upstairs playing pretend.  Oftentimes they will play uninterrupted for hours.  This was one of those times.

When I was growing up my sisters and I played "House" often.  We would take turns being the dad (though if I recall correctly, my sister Jenny had more than her share of turns).  It was a fun game.  So, since I have plenty of experience with it, I recognized the game of "House" that was going on with my own children.

Things were set up very well.  The roles aren't as difficult for my kids.  Maddy's the mommy (though I've seen her be the baby in the past), River is the dad, and Britta is their child.

This time they decided to start at the beginning.  When I peeked in on them, River was wearing his church jacket and the girls were dressed up, too. When we asked River why he was wearing church clothes he said, "Because I don't have anything else to get married in!"  Of course.

They even had fancy rings.  You can't get married without rings!  I love that River's ring is a pink hart. I love even more that he doesn't mind (and probably really likes it).

Maddy had Britta hold her video camera for the ring ceremony.  I am posting their wedding video with permission.  My very very favorite part is the ending.  You have to watch it all the way through.  River's reaction is hilarious.

Cam and I were talking, and at first thought it was cute that River was just going along with the game.  The more we thought about it though, the more we agreed that he was having just as much fun as the girls.  I'm glad they all enjoy playing together.  Though, I'm glad their pretend marriage vows are not binding.

Making Myself Famous

Because of the kind of work that I do, I've become very sensitive to my online image. I want to have complete control over what somebody might see if they googled me.

Hang on, I realize that may sound funny. It kind of sounds like I do either very secretive or questionable work. What I really mean is that because I work in an online industry, dealing with company websites and customer sentiment, it's painfully clear to me just how important it is to think through what kind of public image I want. Depending on what I want people to think about me, I need to take steps to curate my online presence.

Now, before you think this is a post about online privacy or something silly, let me reassure you: this is all about ME.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking through what I wanted to convey and then setting a variety of things up. I crowned all of my efforts with an about.me profile page.

About.me is a website that lets you create a homepage for yourself, essentially. I have a big fat picture with a brief bio and links to all of the social media sites I spent so much time thinking about.

And here's the important part, the site is doing a marketing push in the form of a contest that will put winners' profile pages in a billboard in Times Square. And I can only achieve this frivolous goal if you visit my page and vote for it. I'm in the top 10% right now! (You could even vote for it once a day, if you really had nothing else to do.)

With your help, I just might be able to have my 15 minutes of fame before the end of this year! It's probably all downhill from there, so I'll have to come up with some post-fame plans for my life. But I'll worry about that later.

Oh, yeah. Visiting that page will also introduce you to the other efforts I've been making to carefully curate an online presence.

Mother Nature

Maddy: "What does Mother Nature look like Mommy?"

Pheobe: "Mother Nature is pretend.  She's not a real person."

Maddy: "No, she's a real person, with wings!  You've seen her reflection in the waterfalls haven't you?"

Pheobe: "Uhhh... no."

The Right Hat

Britta found the perfect hat for sidewalk chalk drawing while at my Grandma's house.

Dates with the Kids

Cameron and I do date night every Friday night.  Sometimes we go out.  A lot of the time we stay in.  We alternate planning activities.  It's a lot of fun, and has been critical in maintaining our relationship.

As good as we have been about date nights with one another, we haven't been as good with doing dates with the kids. It's something that we often talked about, but never got around to scheduling.  So, this past week we decided to schedule in dates with each child.  Each child will get a date with either Cameron or myself once a month (for now).  We decided that we wanted to keep it low budget (trying to keep it below $10 or so), and right around an hour or so.  The idea is to do something where there is opportunity to converse and interact.  We will alternate who goes with whom.  This month Cameron took the girls.  Next month I will take the girls.

Today was my date with River.  We went out to lunch at Chic Fil A, just the two of us.  It was really good to sit with him and eat and chat.  He was so cute.  The food was good, and the company was great. It was a short date, but totally worth while.  It was so fun to spend time with just River.  No distractions.

Especially as the children get older, these dates are going to be a great way to ensure the lines of communication are always open.  If they are able to talk with us from a young age, it's more likely they will be comfortable talking with us as they grow up.  Besides, Chic Fil A -- YUM.

First Day of "School"

For those of you who don't know, we keep our kids home for their education.  However, it's interesting how the schedule for the schools for the kids around us (and friends and family from other areas) really does affect us.  The kids had a lot of fun this past week because their neighborhood friends were done with summer camps and were able to play with them the week leading up to school.

School finally started this week.  The schools nearest our house began today.  For the occasion, and since I was headed out to Georgetown to pick up milk anyhow, the kids and I went to Berry Springs Park in the morning.

The park was almost completely deserted.  There were absolutely no kids out.  It was almost eerie.  We arrived around 10am. The temperature was in the 80's, but we knew we didn't have long before it was too hot.  I'm sure that had something to do with the lack of kids out, too.

We hadn't been to this park since last fall.  I had been hoping to come when the grass was green and the trees were, too.  The trees were beautiful, but the grass was yellow from the drought.  It is still a beautiful park -- even without the stream that normally meanders through.

The kids were happy to meet the mules again.  They came prancing right over when they saw us.  I love that the kids can pet them and watch them while we are visiting.  It makes me want to plan a trip to a farm when it cools down a bit (hopefully next month!).

From there the kids hit the swings.  I was happy that the kids took turns pushing one another -- even if that did result in Britta tumbling backward a few times (while pushing).  They had a great time.  We stayed for about 45 minutes before we decided it was getting too warm.

I was really glad we ventured out.  I've been sick with different things for the past month, and it was refreshing to take the kids out to play.  I'm sure the next month or so will be challenging (typically I'm nauseous for the first trimester or so), but I will press on!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Top Questions answered:


Q: Number FOUR?! Weren't you done at number three?
A: Have you ever known my first answer to be the answer I stick with?


Q: Why didn't you tell me before?!
A: Before what?


Q: Do you want a boy or a girl?
A: Yes.


Q: Are you feeling sick?
A: Yes.  Thank you for asking.


Q: Are you going to name the baby after me?
A: No.  Wait... who's asking?

Matching Books!

It's fun for sisters to have matching books.

Due February 2012

Due March 2012

Due April 2012

Texas Tax Free Weekend

Until moving to Texas I had never heard of a "Sales Tax Holiday".  For one weekend every summer (generally right before school starts), the state of Texas does not collect sales tax for clothing and shoes.  It's kind of neat!  I didn't take advantage of the sales last year (after all, it's only $1 savings for every $10 spent), but this year we decided to venture out.

Cam and I decided to make a day trip out of it.  We drove with the kids down to the Texas Pie Company in Kyle TX.  It was about 40 minutes south.  After grabbing two small yet delicious pies, we headed a few more minutes south to the Tanger Outlets in San Marcos.

The kids weren't happy about the shopping.  It started out a bit more rough than we'd hoped, but after some bribes of treats and surprises, they did okay.
I had a hunch that there would be crowds, but I was still a bit surprised at the mass amount of people out shopping.  We grabbed some shirts from Old Navy, and then we went to the Columbia Outlet.  I love that store.  I was hoping to find a coat for River.  He doesn't have one at all, and I love the quality of the Columbia jackets.  I found one online, but was hoping to find a better deal in person.  No luck.  The selection for the kids' clothing is a bit lacking there.

Right when we walked in I spotted a pair of shoes that were on clearance for 70% off.  I'm a big fan of getting $45 shoes for $12.  AND they were Maddy's size!  She was pretty thrilled with them, and they fit her great!  Total Score!

Then we found the most adorable coat EVER.  Britta fell in love instantly.  It is pink, of course.  It's also a Bugaboo that retails for $120.  It has a zip out fleece liner.  I REALLY tried not to get it.  Britta has a hand me down coat from Maddy, though it is stained a bit with dirt.  What threw it over was when we went to the register and they told us they'd give us an extra 10% off our purchases if we signed up for their email list.  Done.  I grabbed the coat.  No tax.  Extra 10% off.  We got it for half of the retail cost.  Second SCORE.  I know this girl is going to want to wear this thing daily once the temperature dips below 100 degrees and we get some cool weather in a month or two.

It was a very successful shopping weekend.  The previous day I had taken Maddy to the Old Navy by our house to have her try on jeans.  That girl is so skinny!  It's impossible to find pants that fit her.  We finally settled on the size 7 slim and got a few pair for her.  I also let her grab a few shirts that were on sale as well.  It's really important to have clothes that you like, and that FIT.  She's pretty happy about it, too.

So, I think it was worth venturing out in the crowds.  It's definitely not worth obsessing over or anything like that, but it makes for a fun shopping experience when you don't have to mentally add on another 8 - 10% for tax.  Kudos to the state of Texas for giving us a break one weekend per year.

Texas Stars

Our bishop's wife has been doing a little community children's choir every summer for the past decade or so.  She's the same person who has also been doing a little choir at the elementary school for the past 17 years.  Maddy participated in the elementary choir, and was eager to join the summer community children's choir as well.  I knew summer was going to be a busy time, but I decided it was worth a bit of craziness and enrolled both River and Madalyn in the choirs.

River practiced every Wednesday morning with the younger children.  Practice was held down the street at the bishop's home.  He's never sang in a choir before.  I wasn't sure how we would do.  I was pleasantly surprised.  He seemed to really enjoy it, and only got in trouble for misbehaving once (okay, that was a bit of a surprise because River is always really well behaved!).

Maddy practiced at the community center by our church building every Thursday.  She, of course, did great.  She really enjoyed it.  I frequently heard her practicing her songs at home.  It was fun to see her doing the choreography, too.

After practicing all summer they had their first performance!  I don't go to group performances much.  It had completely forgotten that you have to arrive early to get good seats.  Cam and I sat with Britta near the back of the room.  It was really hard to see.  It was especially hard to keep Britta happy.  I was sad that I could barely see River.  It was still fun to see what we could, but I was disappointed.  Luckily they have another performance at the library in a week.  I'll be sure to arrive earlier for that one!

It was extremely difficult to get clear pictures with the lights so low.  I did grab a few video clips of the kids singing though.  Very cute!

The littlest kids were so cute!  They were great with the actions, but their little voices were sometimes hard to hear.  They definitely made up for the lack of volume with the cuteness factor though.

For this song Maddy's little choir wore white gloves.  With a black light it looked like floating glowing hands!  This was Maddy's favorite song.  I only got a quick clip though.

Trek Family Reunion

Ever since Cameron and I went on the Pioneer Trek with our stake as a "Ma and Pa" to 9 teenage kids, we've been trying to plan a time for everyone to get together again.  Summer is such a busy time!  It seemed that at least one person was out of town at any given time up until school started.

We finally settled on the Friday before school started again.  I sent out the invite, only to have it pointed out that we had a prior engagement that evening.  So, we rescheduled for the night before.  It took a few inquiries, but we finally heard back from all but one person.  Everyone that I had contact info for was going to be able to make it!

Our little party was fun.  We hung out.  We talked.  We laughed.  We ate pizza.  We played Apples to Apples.  We watched Psych.  It was just a lot of fun to be together again.

As I was getting RSVPs from different kids it struck me that I felt a bit like an actual parent.  I wanted all of my "kids" there.  I was really sad to think of anyone not being able to be there.  I missed everyone.  I didn't want to get together as a family with missing members.  As it was we had one boy I didn't have any contact information for (he moved out of our stake), and one that was still on vacation.  I'm already thinking about our next gathering so we can catch everyone.

It was so great to see everyone.  It was a slightly different dynamic at my house instead of in the great outdoors, but it still had a familiar air to it because of the company.  I'm so glad to see all of my kids are still doing well.  I hope, as this next school year begins, that things only get better for them all.

Creepy Little Thing

When I was examining the fallen tree in our yard I noticed a little visitor climbing right on the broken trunk.  We see lizards around our house often, but most of the time they are pretty tiny.  This guy is not tiny.  He was probably about the length of my hand with his tail extending out another few inches.

It was neat to see him, but I didn't think much of it until I saw what he did.  CREEPY looking.  I caught it in a video clip so you can check it out, too.  It sort of reminds me of something off Jurassic Park.  Gave me the shivers.

I love that there are various creatures in our yard.  I prefer them to be completely harmless like this guy.  He might look creepy, but I know that's about as far as it goes.

Oak Tragedy

Sunday afternoon as the kids and I were sitting down to lunch we heard the worst sound ever.  There were sharp breaking noises the sound of something scraping down the side of our house, and then a slam.  I couldn't tell if what had happened was inside or outside.  Maddy looked out the back door from her chair and screamed.

After scolding her for screaming inside the house, I looked outside for myself.  I felt like screaming, too.  One of the beautiful oak trees from the backyard had split in two and a branch had fallen.  It was leaning against the side of our house!  Nooooooo!  It blocked our backdoor and one of the windows in our living room.

I love all of our trees and even before assessing if there was any damage the thoughts that were going through my mind were how sad I was to lose the tree.  I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears over this one.  It's not like I could just up and replant a giant tree in our backyard.  It took decades to get to be the size it was!

Cameron was in a meeting for church, but I called him and left a message explaining what had happened.  We texted back and forth a few times.  I determined that there was no damage to the house, and so Cam went back to his meeting.  There wasn't anything he could do right then anyhow.

I went outside and surveyed the scene.  The more I looked at it the sadder I became.  It was one of the biggest trees in our backyard.  There was already a big gaping hole in our canopy of branches over the backyard.

The strangest thing was there was NO WIND.  The weather was calm and sunny.  There was no outside force, that I could see, that made the tree branch crack and fall off.  I looked around to see if there was a gang of squirrels I could pin this one on.

The only conclusion I could find was the tree was hollow.  Perhaps the drought weakened it too much and the weight from the branches was too much.  I don't know.  We are thinking of having an expert out to look at that tree and inspect the rest in the yard as well.

Our neighbor Brad saw what had happened and offered to come over Monday or Tuesday with his chainsaw to help us clear the branch away.  We weren't sure what we were going to do otherwise, so it was a welcome offer.

Brad came over Tuesday after work and the men started in on the branch.  It had been a bit of an inconvenience to have it blocking our back door.  Our gas BBQ grill was also hidden behind the branches.  I even had to pull out the charcoal grill for Monday's dinner!

River was overjoyed by the chance to help clear the tree branch from the yard.  Helping clear away the branch was all he could talk about since it fell on Sunday.  He was a good little helper, too.  He did a lot of picking up branches and putting them into the pile in our front yard.  I didn't have to do a thing.

After a few hours of chopping it was all gone.We still need to take our leaf blower through and clean up the debris, but for the most part it's clear.  Aside from saw dust and some stray leaves, you'd never know a giant branch had fallen in our yard.

We only have a gas fireplace, so we offered up all the firewood to Brad.  He and his wife Betsy have TWO wood burning fireplaces in their house.  Brad told the kids that when it gets cooler they'll light a fire in a pit in their yard and invite us over to roast marshmallows.  Yum!

For how enormous that branch was, we are extremely lucky that absolutely no damage occurred to the house or any of our property.  By all means, that branch could have really done a number.  I am so grateful it did not.

So, the branch is gone.  It was more than half the tree.  The remainder of the tree is not pretty.  We still haven't decided what to do.  It's so huge that we're tempted to just leave it be.  It makes me sad to look at it though.  It's just a reminder of how beautiful it use to be.  What it once was it will never be again.