Saturday, July 4, 2009

Summertime Fun

I keep thinking things are going to slow down and I will get back into the habit of blogging again but I never seem to have enough in me at the end of the day to write down my thoughts. Life with three young kids is very busy. We have been trying to keep busy this summer too.

Kennedy had her dance recital about a month ago. She did really well. She was in a group that performed a ballet routine and a tap dance. Kennedy was front and center in both dances.

Kennedy and Tristan had two weeks of swim lessons. Kennedy took right to the water but Tristan never did much. I think he doesn't like the idea of not being able to touch the ground. That is kind of scary when you think about it. Jack and I would sit in the baby pool while the other two were in lessons. He didn't like it much at first but now he loves going.

There was a vacation bible school at the church where Kennedy went to preschool. Kennedy and Tristan were able to attend that. I had never heard of vacation bible school until last summer when a church by our house had one and I took Kennedy. She had so much fun she talked about it for months after. I think she and Tristan really enjoyed it this year too. Every once in a while Tristan with break out into, "Jesus in my heart, Jesus in my heart".

Jack turned one on June 10th. He is just growing up. He's a busy little guy. I can't keep up with him. He will empty a drawer and while I'm cleaning that up he's making a mess out of the toilet paper or something.

We are still trying to get Tristan fully potty trained. He has had such resistance to #2 for some reason. We are at our wits end. If anyone reading this has any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them. I feel like we have tried everything. He doesn't respond to incentives at all. At this point I am wondering if he will just have to wear diapers for the rest of his life!



Happy 4th to all. Be safe and have fun.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Busy Spring, Busy Summer


Kennedy has her last week of preschool this week. I have a pretty busy summer planned for her. On top of company and traveling she has two weeks of swim lessons, three summer camps, tap lessons and horse riding lessons. She has had a wonderful preschool year but she is excited to start kindergarten. She is doing well with her writing and she is starting to read well too. Last week they had dress up days at preschool. One of the days she was supposed to dress up like a character in a favorite book. She thought of Daisy Head Maizy. You can see her in the orange dress in the above picture. There is also a picture of her playing baseball. She is also enjoying dance and her recital is in two weeks.

Tristan is excited to have his sister home more. However, I wonder how many days it will take for him to realize that he had it pretty good while she was at school. (He gets a whole three hours to himself with no siblings (Jack napping) every day). He is a busy three-year-old. He enjoys playing outside and with his trucks still. He is starting to write his letters. He'll take swim lessons with Kennedy and also a tumbling class this summer.

Jack's new nickname is tsunami Jack. He destroys everything in his path. His favorite things are emptying any cupboard (see picture above) or drawer, lifting the toilet lid and seat, climbing the stairs, and unrolling the toilet paper. Chris and Christi work too hard, are exhausted at the end of the day, don't get enough sleep and can't wait for a vacation.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tristan's Birthday



Last Friday my little Tristan turned three. He is such a sweet boy. He asked me if we could go on a picnic for his birthday. I made us a nice lunch and we picked up Chris from work and drove over to Duke Gardens. It was quite busy but we found a secluded spot and spread out our blanket. The kids enjoyed biscuits and jam, fruit and chips. I let Tristan pick out some cupcakes at the store. We had a few presents for him to open, one being a soccer ball that he and Kennedy were able to kick around after lunch. Later that day we colored Easter eggs.
Tristan was a little confused and wasn't sure why he was getting so much attention and why he is three now when he just started to understand that he was two.
Jack turned 10 months on the same day and I think we are in trouble. Check out this picture and imagine what kind of mischief he will be into when he turns two!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hair cut


Kennedy has had long hair for quite some time now. She has been throwing out comments lately like, "I want hair like yours, mommy", "when will I have short hair?", etc. So we took her this weekend to have her hair cut. It looks pretty good on her. I wish it would have been long enough to donate because she has really good hair (besides the cowlick b
ut she kept that!). She seems to like it. I think it will be good for summer. What do you think?

In other news, Jack is now 8 months old. He is crawling all over the house. He loves that he can do this and his favorite place is the vents in the floor. He moves himself over them and pulls them out of the floor--I think we're in for it if he is doing these kind of things already!
Jack has two teeth now and he loves to use them. He loves eating. His favorite things to eat are crackers, especially graham, cooked carrots, and anything mom will give him that's homemade, like pancakes, muffins, waffles, etc.

I guess I better report on Tristan too. He is such a sweet little boy. We started potty training him when Mom and Dad were here in December. He has done pretty well so far. He still has some learning to do but that will come with time. He is registered to start preschool next fall at the same preschool as Kennedy attends. I can hardly believe it. His 3rd birthday is in April and he has grown up so much in the last year. A few weeks ago we had to speak in church. I was the first speaker and Chris sat in the congregation with the kids. My topic was "teaching your family reverence for the sacrament." As I was giving my talk Tristan came up onto the stand. Daddy couldn't get up fast enough so I just kept on with my talk. It was mere coincidence that my very next comment was, "Children learn by example". I probably had 20 people tell me how funny they thought that was and wondered if I had planned it. Tristan is always keeping me on my toes.
Chris and I are managing to keep busy. We are painting our bedroom this week and having a playset installed in the backyard for the kids. We are excited for these changes.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Balsamic Roasted New Potatoes

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 TBS minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary*
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme*
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds small new potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, optional
Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add potatoes and next 4 ingredients. Toss. Remove skillet from heat; place in oven.
2. Roast potatoes, uncovered, at 425* for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar, toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered 6 more minutes. Serve immediately.
*1/4 tsp. dried herbs may be substituted for fresh herbs. If you have to choose between the two herbs, use rosemary.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Seven Months Old

Jack turned 7 months old on Saturday. We got some pictures taken at Target but this one is just one I took at home. It seems to me like around 6 or 7 months my babies all change drastically. They turn into different babies--not infants anymore.
On Saturday morning I noticed Jack's first tooth finally poked through. He's been working on that for over a month now. Finally. . .

Jack can now sit up. Each day he is able to sit up more and more. We had pancakes for dinner last night and I gave him a few nibbles (well, more than a few--he ate at least one whole pancake) and he loved it. He gets cuter and cuter every day.

I know it's just a matter of weeks before he is crawling. Poor kid doesn't get as much floor time as the other two had. He spends more time in a car seat than Kennedy and Tristan did but we're working on it.
Kennedy sure loves her little brother. She likes to take a blanket and make a little "tent" over Jack and they play and giggle under the blanket. He knows when she walks into the room. We sure love him too.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

3 Kids, 3 Messes, 3 Minutes

For some reason I find being a mother of three young children completely draining. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?

This morning was just a typical day, nothing unusual. Breakfast was served and all was calm and then all of a sudden. . . . . .

Mess #1

Kennedy decided to feed Jack some puffs--I was ok with this because it allowed me to eat my cereal in peace. Kennedy turned to put away the puffs and the container spilled on the floor and Jack started crying.


Mess #2

Tristan leaned over the table to look at the puffs on the floor and spilled a full cup of milk all over the table which then spilled onto the floor saturating the puffs.


Mess #3

I picked up the crying Jack and leaned over to pick up the puffs container and inadvertently pressed his "spit-up button" and he barfed all over the floor.


Yep, just a typical morning!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Good bye


We said good bye to Grandma and Grandpa today. It was nice to have them here for a few weeks. We enjoyed having family around for the Christmas and New Year Holidays. I think they are probably pretty tired considering what we have put them through.

We started potty training Tristan and he has been doing ok. The first two days were pretty intense and then we were all so frustrated that we decided to put the diapers back on and forget about it for awhile. Then we discovered that he didn't want to go in the diaper anymore. He is really good at holding everything in but getting out is another story. He did a little better today but I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him. I pray this will get better each day!

Cornucopia Salad

¼ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbs. sugar

1 head green or red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces
1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
2 avacados, cut into chunks
2 apples, diced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:
½ cup sugar
1 tsp grated onion
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard
¾ tsp poppy seeds

Combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. Caramelize slivered almonds by mixing with sugar in a small skillet and stirring constantly over low heat until lightly browned. Spread on foil to cool, then break into pieces. Toss salad ingredients, almonds and dressing just prior to serving.