Jourggling...

So many cute things to post today, the vocabulary and thought process of an almost 4 yr old sure make for some entertaining memories, definitely worth jourggling about....how do you like that new fancy word I've made up??? Jourggling: Meaning to journal in blog form....if I say I'm "blogging" I feel like I have to be a professional that advertises or claims some expertise or something or other...but if I say I'm "journaling" well that seems like a chore that will never get done and never end....so I'm JOURGGLING!!!!

I'm pretty sure I have one of the funniest almost 4 yr olds on earth...I love to sit and ask her questions, and anxiously await her sometimes creative....sometimes logical...sometimes analytical and sometimes silly answers!!! The other day I noticed her sucking on her finger, and then shoving it up her nose....when asked why she was doing this....her reply: "So I can put water on my boogies, and make them soft so I can get them out.....see I can't (insert strong sniff) sniff it down so it has to come out"....I've never thought to try it, but hey...sounds logical...just might work!

Later that day we looked through an Ensign magazine that was all about temples...we talked about why he have them, why we go to them, how special we feel there, and how beautiful they are...of course we talked about getting married there and I explained in short the process of kneeling at the altar with the boy you really love and how you have to repeat some words and then you can kiss the boy and everyone there is so happy for you....she promptly got a terrified and semi repulsed look on her face, and angrily said "That is too scary for me?"...I tried to talk to her about what was too scary but she shut down...I approached the subject again later....to find out that she doesn't like to kiss boys and that it's icky!!!....awwww.....atta girl! You just keep that attitude for another 20 yrs or so! Of course, she couldn't be convinced that some day she would really want to kiss them and would like it ta-boot!!!

Every day Carter gets up at the crack of dawn....slowly now I've noticed a set pattern of funny rituals that she follows out each and every morning...lets just say this kids really likes routine and things done her way...first of all she goes potty, while in the bathroom she climbs up on the toilet to reach a shelf which up until recently held my few expensive and sentimental pieces of jewelry....well, she would take my jewels out or a little box and replace it with her cheap plastic ones...I would remove hers and put mine back that were always sitting on the counter waiting for me...until one day they were not waiting for me...after a slight interrogation she was able to promptly find my missing jewels in her room....I learned my lesson, they're now WAY up and out of sight even....HOWEVER there's one jewelry ritual I've let continue and it cracks me up EVERY MORNING...it's the BEST way to start my day.......when I awaken and slowly haul my fat pregnant and groggy self up the stairs to the bathroom...I'm greeted by this silly, slight of 4 yr old hand.....

....."Carter" I say....."were you playing with my earrings this morning?"....her reply.... "Um....(insert silly mischievous grin)...yes Mommy"....I say "I thought I asked you not to touch my jewels (although these are cheap, they are my fave, and I wear them every day)".....she says... "well, I just like them like that because now one is like a girl and one is like a boy".......

Do you see it??? The "girl" and the "boy"...the fuzzy picture is bad, but you get the point, by turning the earring back around it becomes a beautiful dress for a one legged princess!!! BAHAHAHA!!! It's our silly little morning ritual that melts my heart! 

 I don't have much on Owen today, except that the closer he gets to his second birthday which is only a month and a half away (WHATTT???) he amazes me with these bursts of development....he's grown so tall, although not any more proportionate to his BIG head...he's learning to be a big boy, and try to say words and talk to people instead of yelling and hitting all of the time...he's eager to sleep in a twin bed rather than a crib (but he still likes being caged and sleeps well, so for now he stays put...at least until he figures how to climb out!)....and although they have a love hate relationship he really loves to play with "Thissy"....and gets so sad now that......

 Sissy gets to go to preschool, from 10:30- 2 Monday through Thursday!!!

Today was her first day, we signed her up at the preschool across the street mid-year because after telling myself "She gets one more year of preschool, we'll just wait till next year"...I realized that the little big girl needed something special, just for her that made her feel big, important and special!!! We were going to put her in dance or gymnastics, but money goes fast and this preschool is free!!!

 We decided to take a few traditional first day of school photos, of course brother just HAD to be in a few! Look and this girls happy, excited, twinkly shining face!!! She was so grown up and brave about going to school, I think she could have quite confidently walked herself across the street, marched into the classroom and jumped right in...when we dropped her off she gave me a kiss and then off she went...the teacher reported she was a little hesitant for a while, but eased in, and was SUCH a GOOD GIRL!!! I couldn't be more proud....I didn't think I'd have a moment of..."golly, I'm leaving my baby girl with strangers for almost 4 hours" but I did, and silly me... the scariest part...leaving her in the midst of kids who could be mean and break her little heart...thankfully she has 4 or 5 friends that she knows from church and the neighborhood in class, so I knew she'd be fine!

Just kid stuff...

Well, the post title says it all....it's just kid stuff! Somehow I've lost the Word document journal that I've been keeping for the kids since they were each born....I'm going CRAZY trying to figure out what happened to it, knowing that there used to be a copy of each journal on each computer, OOOOOOOOH....I'm SO MAD! More like completely heartbroken....so until, or if I ever discover its whereabouts I'm going to try and pick up kid journaling on the blog every now and again....I've already missed so much that I won't be able to recall since the last entry on their old journals...So SAD!!!

All about my Carter Grace

 Well miss Carter, you're now 3 1/2 yrs old and spunky as ever. You're super healthy and active, you're most content playing by yourself deep in some imaginative play...most of the time the characters in your head are acted out by stuffed animals or dolls from around the house...you LOVE to collect random things like rocks, beads, twigs and coins...I find your "collections" ALL over the house in ALL sorts of containers like your tea pot, dresser drawers and play purses....your favorite dress up right now is your crown and wand, and you LOVE to wear the cross necklace that Aunt Kathy gave you...you love it so much, that for safe keeping you put in in a tiny blue velvet bag with drawstrings, and hung it around the neck of our Jesus statuette that is on the book shelf in the living room....gee I can't think of a safer place for such a valuable possession either!!!

In just one year you've gone from being stone cold to people to being the most flittering, fluttering social butterfly, when we walk into church you start saying " Mom, I need to go say hi to Bishop"... "Mom I need to go say hi to Tyson"....and on and on and on.....you've warmed up to almost EVERYONE in the ward, and you LOVE to say hello to each of them....even when church is starting and we have to sit in our bench you wave your hand and yell to say hello to someone!!! Just tonight you walked right up to a cashier at Safeway and said "Hi, my name is Carter"....WOW, you're such a brave girl and really learning your manners and how to make new friends, you certainly never hesitate to try to engage other kids on the playground or at church!

Your talking better and better, and making use of full sentences, of which you've been doing for a while, right now we're working on saying things like "Yes I am" instead of "Yes I'm are"...you're generally very obedient and quick to help, your job is to always empty the silverware bin from the dishwasher and you do it well, I think it's time to start giving you more chores! Lately you've become quite sassy, and have learned words like stupid and hate...and of course those lovely phrases shut up, no way, leave me alone and you make me mad/sad...you've become very emotional in the last few months, I'm not sure if it's because Daddy is SO busy and you miss him, or if we're entering another stage of girly development (I should know right? Since I'm a girl and all!) But you baffle me! At times I think I must be emotionally scarring you for life they way your respond to things, half of the time your fake cries and pleas for time alone give you away as just that...a fake! However you are very tender hearted, you aim to please and unless you're super tired, you're very kind and loving....it's been hard watching you branch out socially with kids, and have to muddle through disagreements and having your feelings hurt, but we do our best to help you understand and give you more social tools to help you learn and grow...you're a great student at everything, and are always eager to learn new things!!!

In quite moments while we snuggle, especially while you sleep...I LOVE to just study your face, you're SO beautiful and growing and maturing SO fast...I am starting to see more of myself in you, it makes me feel somehow even more connected to you....I'm SO proud to be your mom...loving you and your siblings and raising you all with everything I have will be the greatest thing I ever do!

All about my Owen Boy AKA Owen Beast 

Oh my...where to begin! From the moment we found out you were a boy, clear up to now you continue to surprise us! I never realized how innate the differences between boys and girls are...granted you have your own unique personalities no matter gender, but here are a few classic "boy" things that you have down like a pro: 

Anger and aggression: from about 8 months on you've been angry at the world, angry at mom and dad and angry at your sister and yourself....you get angry when you're hungry, angry when you're tired, angry when you bonk, trip or fall, angry when Sis even walks towards you, angry when mom has to get something done, angry to get your shoes and clothes on, angry to get them taken off, you get angry when you can't have what you want, and angry when you can't get where you want to go....you hit to make your point, butt heads to play and prove more points, you throw balls at peoples faces (and have really good aim and a strong arm ta-boot!) You grab your sister and push and pull, you hit mom and dad when you're mad, you attach yourself to my pant leg and pull and tug until you get what you want....HOWEVER you seem to be able to keep all of this in check when we're at church, at someone else's house or when we're in public.

Climbing Daredevil: Although you started out slow, not crawling until you were 11 mo's old, and not walking until 17 mo's old...you've made up for lost time, you run, prance, dance and gallop ALL about the house...you climb on the back of the couch and stand strait up...yes you fall off and even get your big head wedged between the sliding glass door and the couch...you try to do all sorts of acrobatic moves that will probably leave you with brain damage and broken bones.....I FULLY expect you to be the child with a new broken limb each year...you've now mastered using a stool to get at what you want, as well as the baseboard heaters, the dolls house, play chairs and dining room chairs, you don't hesitate to climb on top of the table or anything ELSE for that matter, and I'm pretty sure once you figure it out you'll be in the top cupboards, and be the kid that finds the Christmas presents in the top of our closet every year!

The Italian Fiesta de Navidad

Well, it's no secret and probably one of my favorite things about my family and Christmas time...we're ITALIAN through and through, LOUD, PROUD, lovers of food, fun and family....every Christmas Eve we have a GINORMOUS pan of homemade lasagna, eat until we bust and then cuss and discuss as Italians will do....well, you can imagine my chagrin when I was told that this year we were having a Feliz Navidad...una fiesta grande...meaning instead of that precious lasagna we were going to take our hand at homemade tamales and enchiladas...everything homemade right down to the sauces and salsas...although I do delight in Mexican food....my heart was aching and crying out for Grandma's lasagna....(Insert weeping and wailing).....Whatever, I went along with it without too much stink because I was exhausted and in this terrible pregnant hormonal funk, that had transformed me into a slug.....

Well, it all came together, was absolutely delicious, and true to my family's tradition was a loud, proud, and fun evening full of duets and caroling, the excited chatter of little ones, present giving, game playing, good eating, pure exhaustion and joy!!!

 My sister Brook and Nephew Parker practiced duets and performed quite well!

 My brother in law Randall bringing in an old tradition from his family, a bag of gag gifts that Santa leaves on the porch to add to the evening fun! The children waited in eager patience!

 Santa knew Great Grandpa DePiazza (the giver of the Italian genes in the family!) Needed some new glasses....I swear, this fella gets funnier and funnier the older he gets...he wore them proudly through the evening (either that or he's so old, he just forgot they were on!)

 Santa knew Owen had recently discovered a love for trains!!!

 After a very late bedtime, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....and Santa came sneaking right in to Nana's house....

 He drank all of the milk, ate a cookie real quick, filled stockings with goodies, left presents... then SPLIT!!! 

 Oooogling with mommy, while waiting for Owen to wake up!

 Owen could have cared less about opening presents...he ALWAYS wakes up SUPER hungry, so all he wanted to do was eat....and after his foil and chocolate snack, he remained angry through opening presents until we could have breakfast!

 I think next year I'm not even going to buy my children presents...all of the Nana's and Papa's are always so generous....and know just what we need and want....THANK YOU!!!

 Such a good Daddy to play princess barbies!

 Well don't you fear, I did get my lasagna after all...Christmas day we went over to my Grandma's house and visited, ate delicious food, and played games!

Carter took a moment to try on Great Grandma D's reading glasses....quite the look I'd say!

 Owen LOVES Great Grandpa D, they laughed and played a lot together!!!

 Owen taking a turn, sitting on the stool to sing the "ABC's"...he can't really sing it all, but there's a few utterances that sound just right, and he does get pretty close to the tune!

 My favorite moment of the day....my kids getting to enjoy the soft cuddly lap of Great Grandma D, while watching cartoons....I wish I was still small enough to fit on her lap without breaking her! I did get some good hugs, but man I sure do miss those days when I was younger...Grandma's just make everything better!

Catching up is hard to do...

When I started this blog 3 years ago, I had such grand ideas that this was my ticket to finally getting into a regular routine of journaling....well clearly the "regular" part has been an epic fail...but I do treasure re-reading past posts... I forget that many of those memories are tucked back in my brain, and voila reading our family journal brings it all flooding back!!! 

I think sometimes I'm so bad at posting because I feel like nothing exciting or blog worthy goes on in our lives...being a tired pregnant mom, at home with 2 kids gets quite mundane...who wants to read about that right???...Well I've decided that I do, because all to fast these days will be gone, and filled with school schedules and homework, sports games, bratty teenagers, choir concerts, student driving, dating and much more that I'm sure we'll be completely unprepared for!!!

So for now, I'm quite content with remembering Owen as the silly 18 mo old stunt man, who tosses that big noggin of his around, falls off of the back of the couch regularly and turns the foot rest into a slide so he can perform neck snapping daring deeds as such..... 

 And I'm content to remember LONG winter days gone wrong with cabin fever...turned right by a silly 3 yr old, who thinks changing her clothes 5 times a day is SO much fun, who loves being "Dora Spiderman" the superhero who's lifelong goal is to terminate "Owen Beast", and who LOVES Ariel SO much, that even when it's snowing outside...has to wear her swimsuit and crown so she can be a princess who swims underwater....***Note the breath holding, fish lips to illustrate swimming underwater***

I'm content remembering my husband as a hard working student, who juggles the demands of family, school and work quite well, as a man WHO LOVES his family, and because of his school schedule actually gets to see his small children develop and grow with a frequency that many men in a traditional 9-5 schedule don't get...

 I'm content remembering LONG LONG days of being exhausted with early pregnancy, and feeling my body undergo construction MUCH earlier than I recall with the other two....someday my kids will ask me what it was like being pregnant with them, how I felt, what I craved...already I forget some specifics of my first just 4 short years ago...what's going to happen to those memories in ten or twenty years??? Makes me want to cry....I know some will get tucked away, and other memories will get replaced with new ones..but these early years are so precious to me, and when I'm old and gray and possibly all alone...I want EVERY SINGLE MEMORY to keep me company at night, to warm my heart and fill my soul with peace.

Watermelon Feet Make a Tasty Treat

Of course today has been hot, but thankfully hovering in the 80's rather than the 90's..well what's better than a little left over watermelon from lunch to cool a person of.....not much, except for maybe an Otter Pop!!!

Sometimes I wonder if my children are the only random quirky ones mucking about.....Carter decided her pink rocker needed to be in the kitchen of all places.....whatever I said....does it really matter....nope....just keepin the peace around here on a hot day is just about all a person can ask for!!!

 How Owen ended up as King of the Chair I don't know (I was busy sewing!)  But I look over to discover my children actually playing together sweetly, Carter the servant and Owen the big Kahuna....being hand fed left over watermelon (yikes, not looking forward to that diaper!) I just thought they looked cute, and were being so pleasant, that I should take a few pictures.......just after putting the camera down to make a quick trip to the loo.................I COME BACK TO FIND..............................

 THIS.......stinky feet that had been running barefoot outside, nestled on the fresh sweet fruit that I myself was coming back for a bite of......YUCK!!! Perhaps watermelon has the same soothing and cooling effect that cucumbers do.......maybe my daughter is trying to tell me that we need to invest in yet another fan.....regardless of her reasoning, I passed on the snack....however Owen couldn't resist......

 I really should have stopped him, but I couldn't stop laughing...and lets face it, probably not the most disgusting thing he's ever put in his mouth....or the most disgusting thing he ever will!!!!

 Oh, the mischief these two get into together!!! SOOOOO much more to come I'm sure....still haven't figured out who's going to be the usual ring leader....we shall see!!!!

"Ta, da da da da da da"

If read properly this post title (in your mind) should sound like "Ta Da" sung with the following "da's" as notes going up the scale, but said/sung SUPER fast!!! This is something Carter has done since she was about 2 ish....we don't know where she picked it up, but we LOVE it....we ALWAYS get a good chuckle from it! She did it TONS last summer over such little things that she was proud of.....she hasn't done it in a LONG time, but yesterday she let a nice loud and fast "Ta da da da da da da" rip.....I started laughing and looked around to lock eyes with John to share that "smiley eye, so in love with our daughter" look......and OH SO SAD, but not surprising....he wasn't anywhere to be found......we're coming up on the week mark of him working in Wyoming, and although we've settled in to life as the Three Musketeers....we still miss him A LOT....especially Carter.....yesterday ALL day she was SO emotional, missing daddy, wanting daddy.....

 So after bath time, I decided to pull an old trick that worked like a charm for another Daddy's girl, who although is 27 yrs old and has a precious 3 yr old daddy's girl daughter of her own...still misses her Pa somethin fierce, and just wants a nice big bear hug, or golden kisses once in a while!!! When I was young, while my Dad was out of town working he allowed me to choose one of his T-shirts to wear to bed as a night gown so I could feel close to him, it seemed to always work....Soooooo, I let Carter choose one of John's old work T-shirts to wear to bed...of course she chose the "Ice Cream" shirt, once it was pulled over her head she proudly, loudly and quickly exclaimed "Ta da da da da da da da!" SO wish I could have shared that moment with John!

 As most nights, we killed a little time being silly, giving Owen a mo-hawk....dancing on Mommy's bed to the alarm clock radio....making funny faces and silly noises....tickling and giggling, and singing into the fan (come on you know you all still love that distorted fan voice)!!! We just wait, wait, wait and wait some more for the house to cool down, and the sun to fade so that the little people will settle down and comfortably fall asleep!!!

 Owen was passing out kisses....he still does the open mouth slobber kiss, which grosses Carter out so she forces his mouth shut by pinching his jaw closed....thankfully Owen finds it to be a great game and doesn't complain!!! We're all surviving quite well with John out of town....the first day or so are emotionally rough, and hard to get back into daily routine....but everyone has leveled out now.....unfortunately just in time for him to make a quick appearance and upset the apple cart again (we wouldn't trade our precious time with him though!) It feels like Summer is dragging on with him gone, but maybe it's this crazy thick and sticky heat that makes everything move in slow motion.....at least when I look at a calendar I'm shocked to realize we only have 6 weeks left of our "Summer"....ahhh, the life of college students...everything is defined by when school starts and ends....at least we get Labor Day weekend right after school starts, perhaps a camping trip will be in order!!!

Mud Makeup Mug

Today was such a HOT day, if I hadn't already planned to take the kids to Lewiston to Home Depot and Costco, we would have found some water to splash in, but alas, a trip to the "Pizza Store" AKA Costco was promised and much anticipated by one little girl! When we got home Carter and our neighbor friend Halli played outside while I cleaned the front room, the girls popped in and out of the house for more popsicles...etc.....when you hear "Look, we have make up on"......be prepared to see this!

 The girls had made a bowl of mud, and were painting "makeup" on each others faces....to top it off, they decided a little chalk drawn on the body here and there was a nice touch too!!! I just had to laugh....and GROAN...because the kids had baths last night....but oh well, I remember having glorious summer days as such....you know it's been s fun day when there's a bathtub full of dirt, and a pile of laundry  waiting for Mom to deal with at the end of the day!

 Daddy had a chance to call us amid the mud makeup episode....can you see on that muddy little mug, the sad little girl who misses her daddy SO much....the first day or so after he leaves she carries on like normal...then she gets sassy, whiny and very emotional over EVERYTHING....day 3 she's finally able to verbalize that she misses Daddy, only wants Daddy, doesn't like Mommy...etc.......hopefully we'll make it over the hump soon.....only then to have it all upset again when he comes home, oh well such is life!

 OH, that muddy mug makes me want to cry, what a sad and serious little lady...

 Owen misses John when he's gone too, there's NO mistaking his excitement when he gets to hear Daddy's voice on the phone, his face lights up, he gets a big jaw dropped toothy grin, and actually....can you believe it....for a moment...he is silent.....he's SPEECHLESS!!!

Fortunately for me, he's a little less emotional, and carries on as normal every day....case in point....crazy little climbing man child! He's now mastered climbing on the couches, getting on and off trikes, etc...climbing up me (rock climbing style or monkey style...you know dig in the toes, cling and swing!)He's mastered falling off the couch and my bed with grace and minimal crying, he's mastered pulling sister's hair, kicking her, pushing her, throwing toys at her head and annoying her by turning the tv on and off....and thankfully.....sweetfully.....mercifully.....he's mastered giving Mamma kisses and hugs!!!!