Life of the Lowry's

Time Flies!!!!

2009-11-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

My baby is 5 months old!

I never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies the older you get. Just yesterday, she fit on my chest. She hummed and purred like a little kitten. Now, she is squirmy, curious, full of smiles, and trying to grow up too fast. She has two bottom teeth- one more out than the other. Today, she rolled over for the first time- back to belly and then belly to back. She started to suck my banana and then bit a chunk off. I am sad that she is growing up so fast, yet, it is so exciting to see what she is going to do next. She is already forming her game plan to start crawling. World beware! WE LOVE YOU SHANNON! Thank you Heavenly Father for her!

I am famous for my millions of pictures. I am also famous for not being able to pick just one picture! Here is another slide show of her from birth to 5 months. I tried to pick pictures not already on the blog!

Our Summer

2009-11-15T23:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it is time to catch up on the blog. Our summer was AWESOME! It was the best summer I can remember having up here. The average temperature was above 67. There were times when we were close to the 80s! We got out the sprinklers and played! Our water is so cold! We started out the summer alone. The kids and I would often take walks, ride bikes, rent movies, and play at the lake. The kids loved to catch fish and play in the sand. We saw a lot of geese at the lake too. Grandma and Grandpa came up in time to watch Sarah play soccer! She averaged 2-3 goals per game. Two games she had 4 goals! She was fast and caught onto the game quickly. We passed the time waiting for the baby to come by going to the zoo, going to Lowe's to do the build & grow workshops, playing games, and watching the kids ride bikes and play in the couldesack. Sarah learned how to ride a two wheel bike in the the spring. By the end of the summer, she was riding like a pro! Scott is very close to riding with two wheels too. We were visited by my cousin and her kids from New Mexico. My kids loved playing with them. We toured the state by going to the the wild life conservatory and the glacier. It was so cold at the glacier! We also went looking for whales. It was really fun to see them! We took G & G to a lot of fairs and parades! Our city has a lot going on during the summer. We were so excited once the baby came! We got to have dad with us! Unfortunetly for me, I had to endure a two week marathon of Bones. Thanks Shane for that! We fought over the baby. She was and still is a calm, happy, easy-going baby. Mom still trumps Grandpa! The summer went by so fast! I hope next year is just as nice!

Family Pictures

2009-08-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Sarah is 6yrs old and in 1st grade!

Scott is 4 yrs old and in preschool!

Shannon is 2 months old!

Blessing Day

2009-07-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Shannon's blessing day.

She wore the same dress and shoes as Sarah did.

She looked so pretty!

I love Scotty in this picture!

A Few of my Favorite Things....

2009-07-14T23:55:00.001-07:00

Scott took this picture!

2009-07-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

I love daisies! They are such happy flowers.

Every year I take me kids to the daisy patch and take their pictures.

Bear Paw Festival

2009-07-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

(Blogs irritate me! Why can't you move pictures around once they are on the blog!!!! This should be down farther but I accidentally deleted it.)

The family and I went to the Teddy Bear picnic. We pigged out on hot dogs and cookies. The kids played games and played on the grass. The kids even got their faces painted. Scotty ended up having some kind of reaction to the paint on his right cheek. He had a sword shaped rash. We built veggie cars for the derby. The car Scott is holding went 10 feet. It beat the winner by an inch. However, we were disqualified because we did not meet the 3 or more wheel rule. When we put a third wheel on it, it fell apart at 4 feet. Oh well. I did my best.

I promised the kids that if we saved our money, we could go on

carnival rides at the festival. They ended up getting to ride more

rides than I had planned. Scotty suddenly developed a fear

of rides he has ridden before. Sarah rode her favorite rides...dragon

roller coaster and the viking ship. Scott freaked out on the viking

ship, skipped the roller coaster, and rode the younger rides.

It was still fun!

At the parade, Shannon was making some pretty funny faces.

They actually passed out candy. We had a few problems though. They would give candy to Sarah and not Scott. If they gave them candy, the kids would take one piece and move away while the candy-giver would try and give them more. Or, they would by pass the kids and give candy to the group next to us. Finally, the mother next to us clued in on our frustration and made her kids share with us. Scotty finally became more assertive and went after the people to give him candy. It was actually quite funny!

Shannon worn out from a tough day of looking cute!

It was hot and humid!

Scott finally crashed.

Common scene!

2 Weeks Old!

2009-07-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Time flies so fast! I can't believe Shannon is 2 weeks already!

Dressed for Sunday

2009-07-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

Shannon went to church today for the first time. She got to wear her new pretty pink dress. I had some pretty dresses saved for her in a tote. However, it seems to be the only tote we cannot find. I am devistated to lose those dresses and sweaters that Sarah wore.

Shannon will be two weeks tomorrow. I cannot believe it!

Time flies when you are really enjoying it! She is growing so fast.

The kids just love her!

Scotty calls Shannon "his princess".

Tried to take a nice picture.

It took us a while to get Scotty to hold still!

Scotty's pose cracks me up in this picture!

4th of July

2009-07-05T01:01:00.001-07:00

We spent our 4th down town at Delany Park.

Here we are waiting for the parade.

This parade was a lot better this year than years past!

I painted stars on the kids' faces to avoid the begging for face painting!

They thought they were cool!

Watching the floats go by.

Slight wind made mom cold.

Sarah showing off her hula hooping skills.
She competed against an older guy.
She kicked his butt!
Scotty decided to try a different style of hula hooping.

We did our own celebrating in the back yard.
The kids pulled on poppers and watched them explode.

We did sparklers. This is as dark as it was going to get.

It is about 9 pm.

Happy 4th of July!

My new sling. It is so handy!

Hi Daddy!

2009-07-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

Just waving hello!

Monkey boy!

Our New Addition!

2009-06-24T21:19:00.001-07:00

Shannon Beth

Born: 6/22/09 at 5:52 pm

8 lbs, 1 oz

20 inches long

Less than an hour old.

Delivering her was great! So much easier than the other two. In fact, the doctor and nurses had me laughing and coughing. The nurse put me on oxygen which made me cough. She was coming out and I had had a coughing fit. Well, everytime I coughed, she would come out a little. The staff would laugh. The doctor said that if she came out on a cough, I should name her Robitussin. We laughed really hard. The next morning, he came in and asked how little Robitussin was doing.

The family all together! The kids were so excited.
This was their second visit. She is 12 hours old.

First hair wash- maybe 20 minutes old.

Sister is finally here! Maybe 3 hours old.

Shannon taking everything in. Few hours old.

Relaxing with dad.

Getting ready to go home.

Grandma and Grandpa finally get a turn to hold her.

See her waving!

Finally at home. She is 18ish hours old.

Sleeping...looks just like her siblings. Same mannerisms.

1 Day old.

Kid pictures.

2009-06-10T00:21:00.001-07:00

I had my camera out these last few days.

I snapped a couple pictures of the kids that I thought I would share.

Our favorite rock.

Beluga Point.

Silly Scotty!

2009-06-06T13:40:00.001-07:00

Scott thought it was funny to dress up like Sarah! I knew something was up when I heard him giggling all the way down the hallway!

Scott had to wait for a story while I talked to Sarah.

This is what I came back to.

I was only gone for 5ish minutes.

I guess I will have to read stories to him first!

At least he made it to O before he was asleep!

Cute kids...

2009-05-31T23:04:00.001-07:00

Every Sunday, Scott and I battle over his clothes.

He has cute ties, shirts, and pants.

I got him this simpler outfit but we still had an issue.

If shorts and superheros were welcomed at church,

the fighting would probably cease!

Are little boys usually this picky about their clothes?

They have to be cool...

"I'm not handsome! I don't want to be handsome mom!"

Daddy...

2009-05-31T23:02:00.001-07:00

We love you Daddy!

The Tooth...

2009-05-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Standing in Costco, I was wiping Sarah's mouth and checking her teeth when I noticed she had a tooth growing in behind her other teeth. I check her teeth a lot and I have no idea how I missed this tooth growing in. Well, this tooth is big and growing far behind the front teeth.

(Well, since the front tooth came out, the tooth is moving forward. However, it is pushing against the other incisor. She is going to need braces!)

See the tooth! It is behind the front right tooth.

Sarah does not like pain--any kind. Is there really any child who likes pain? Scott can handle some. After I wiggled it for a day and a half, I got it super loose. She got to pull it out.

She got it!

Shocked and I think a little grossed out.

1 tooth down, 20ish more to go?

Tooth Fairy came. She made it all worth it!

Inflation! 4 whole quarters!

(She won't let me touch the other teeth.

The dentist said we need to start working on

loosening the other front teeth.)

Reading Together...

2009-05-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures.

Sarah worked hard making an ABC book at school.

She showed Scott what each page was of.

Sarah's Last Day

2009-05-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Sarah's class put on a program for the parents. As always our luck, Sarah is put behind a wiggle worm. I had to constantly move to get a clear view of her. She was a cat in part of the program. She was so cute. Her class danced for us too.

Afterwards, we had a hotdog picnic at the park.

It was fun. All of the Kinders know me since I am the preschool teacher down the hall.

Sarah's class were Kinder-buddies to my preschoolers.

One of Sarah's buddies. She is also a teacher's kid.

They lived in my room after school.

12 Days of Summer

2009-05-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

My sunburn!

Two days of sitting outside watching the kids ride bikes and field day at school.

The sun was amazing!

Enjoying the sun at breakfast!

It is often a joke that there are only 12 days of summer up here. Ironically, the last few summers, that has been true. The warmest days are always the last few days of school. We now are rainy and cold. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the warm weather comes back!

We really need it!

Soccer Star

2009-05-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

My soccer star! This is her first time playing soccer ever! She is a natural!

Practice before the game. She is learning how to handle the ball. She was a little confused about what to do. When the game started, we pulled her aside to tell her what to do as the other players played. She picked up on it quickly! She is one of the power players of the team!

Heading to the front!

Breaking Away!

Score!

Sarah now averages 2 goals a game! One game she scored 3.
I just wish Scott was old enough to play! He missed the cut-off by a few months.

Scotty's Bike

2009-05-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

I finally got pictures of Scotty riding his bike. He is such a boy! He has on his 'fire' helmet.

"It is so cool mom". Once he gets his bike moving, he is so fast! He has grown up so fast!

Sarah has her Barbie riding with her. She was going so fast! She was trying to race Scott but he isn't ready yet. She is even starting to zig zag!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T23:04:00.001-07:00

To all my friends, coworkers, and sisters, and my mom: Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all had a good day!

Being a mom is the best! It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It is also the most difficult thing I have ever done! Of course, my kids are a combination of Shane and my genes. No wonder they are very smart, determined, hard-headed, creative, funny, and energetic kids! Oh yeah, they are pretty cute too! (I wish they would hold onto those blue eyes.)

They never cease to amaze me! I am so lucky!

PS... I am 8 months pregnant, so I look huge! I feel like I am 13 months pregnant!

Bikes

2009-05-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sarah finally learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike. She has been riding on a bike that only had one training wheel. She lacked the confidence to figure it out.

Once she had a cheering crowd and no training wheels, she was cruzing within an hour.

Way to go Sarah!

She now has a new bike. She chose a Barbie bike. It has a little Barbie bike connected to it so her Barbie can ride with her. If you look closely, her Barbie is riding her bike.

(Look at the handle bars.)

Scotty got a new bike too. I don't have a picture of him yet.

Grillin'

2009-05-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

We finally got some nice weather. So, we broke out our grill. It is our first grill in 5.5 years!

We couldn't have on in the condo. Shane was so excited!

He learned that my meat had to stay on there forever!

Roasting marshmallows! Yummy!

The incredible, bearded boy!

Stylin' Sarah!

School Babyshower

2009-04-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

My school threw me a baby shower. It is the first time I had a baby shower knowing what sex the baby was! It was fun having a pink, girly shower. People donated money for a changing table. We also got a lot of cute clothes, diapers, and gift cards.

Jennifer made the diaper cake. It had 161 diapers in it!

Jennifer (my awesone TA), Me, and Robin (the other preschool teacher) threw the shower for me. Not pictured is Sarah's teacher. She helped throw it too. Thank you guys!

My little helpers to open presents. The little girl is in my class as a Buddy Bear. She thought that the doctor was coming to deliver my baby. She was so excited to see the baby!

My mentor from last year made this quilt! It is so pretty!

Easter

2009-04-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Church Easter egg hunt.

Dying eggs. Only one hand was green!

The kids had to search for their Easter baskets! They were so excited! They got water bottles and playdough. Smart choice for playdough? I guess we will see....

Counting eggs. They got to go on an easter egg hunt the night before.

The bunny also put them on an easter egg hunt.

Caught!

2009-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Reading Twilight. He read 3 out of 4 in a week. He admits to not being able to put the book down. He needs to find time to read book 4. He liked them!

2009 Ice Show

2009-03-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the ice show for spring break. We haven't been to it since Scott was a baby and we pulled him around in a sled. It was neat going to the show. We saw the sculptures in the light and in the dark with all of the cool lighting. The kids had fun playing on the ice slides! These are only a few of the pictures we took!

A day in the snow...

2009-02-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Since we had no school today due to the holiday,

we spent part of it outside.

It was finally warm enough to go out of a little while.

We made it up to 35 degrees.

It was really fun to watch the kids play. They are getting so big!

On the way to the snow hill. The kids pretended to be a train.

We went to the park and played. It was so nice and warm. Instead of using the sleds the whole time, the kids found that their snowpants on ice work just as good. They had a lot of fun!

Dad gets to do the work!

Going home in style!

Ice and Windy Day!

2009-01-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is utterly amazing! In the 5.5 years we have been here, we have never had two days off in a row. We have only had one snow day and one late start day. Today, it was too icy and their were hazardous winds. It is amzing that after survinging negative temperatures, we have ice days on +36 and +45 degree days. I guess everyone just needed some stay-at-home days. The real bummer is that Sarah was going to recieve an award today at an assembly.

Snow day? Ha Ha... Ice day!

2009-01-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well, can you believe it?! They canceled school. They never cancel school! We were awoken this morning with a stream of phone calls starting at 5:30. School is canceled due to icy roads! We have spent the last few weeks in -3 to -20 degree weather. This week we have +10 to +36 (heat wave!) and we have an ice day. How funny! It really does feel like a heat wave! I am just thankful we are not further up north! They reached -50 for a while last week!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

Did Santa come?

Before...

Waiting to open presents...

After...

Sarah's HAUL! She's practicing to help with the baby!

Scotty and his HAUL!

Scotty got his Flash!

He was so happy to play with all of his toys!

Santa stopped in the garage. He even left some money to fill the tool boxes!

Put together.

(My) New Car

2008-12-25T15:44:00.000-08:00

Isn't the car just pretty! The color just about matches my washer and dryer. I told Shane we needed to put a big bow on the top of it. He could hold a brown bag and a box of tissues!

He wouldn't go for that. It is so nice, and it drives in the snow!!!

Real Santa?

2008-12-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

We went to the church Christmas party. Guess who showed up! Sarah is starting to ask questions. She wanted to know if this was the real Santa Claus. Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun.

I was incharge of taking pictures with Santa.

Hey Santa!

2008-12-15T23:08:00.001-08:00

I hosted a Holiday Family Party at school. Look who showed up! The kids loved it! They of course loved the goody bag too!

Happy Birthday Betsy!

2008-12-14T15:39:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Betsy!

Great Expectations...

2008-12-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

We are pregnant!

We are due around the end of June.

Yes, I do realize we broke tradition.

Sarah's new dress

2008-12-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

Isn't she cute! Sarah got a new dress.

Snow

2008-12-07T21:44:00.001-08:00

So, I laughed really hard when I read Betsy's post about the snow day. Snow day, what is that? The new teacher I work with was really surprised when the principal told her not to expect any snow days. I think since Shane has worked for the district, we have had 2.5 days. One was a late start day. It has to be really bad to have a snow day. We are more likely to have ice days. I dread the days when we have ice skating rinks everywhere! It becomes bumper cars on the road. We had about one foot of snow come down the night before school on Monday. We just make sure the kids have all of their snow gear with them. I have to say how nice it is to have our own yard to play in! Even ESPN likes to play in the snow. We have a huge pile of snow in the cul de sac. One day we will go out and play on it. Do you remember King of the Hill!

A boy and his cat...

2008-12-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

Scotty and his cat. ESPN follows the kids everywhere.

This poor cat is dragged everywhere but truly loved and adored!

Santa and Reindeer

2008-11-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

Now, here is an excited boy!

Shane could hardly contain his excitement waiting for Santa.

Shane, Santa is always watching you!

The day after Thanksgiving, we went down town to the tree lighting ceremony. We waited to see Santa pull up with his reindeer. We got to pet the reindeer. Santa's crew is incredible soft. Unfortunately, we didn't get to talk to Santa. The line was too long and slow!

Van vs. Caribou

2008-11-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Story time...
So, I have often believed that my promptings come through my feelings. I also have issues with driving in the snow especially at night. Well, Shane wanted to dive North to help process some meat. He wanted to leave Friday night after the school carnival. The kids wanted to go too. The original plan was I was going to stay home and he would take the kids in the car. Well, I felt sick to my stomach. Shane was trying to make me go. I hate the drive with a passion. It is six hours of torture for me. It is not an easy road to travel especially in the winter. It is only neat when the northern lights are out- rare occasion when the sky is clear. Anyway, as I was trying my best to control my stomach, Shane finally asked if I would be willing to go if we slept for a few hours. I immediately felt a little better. We would be taking the van. Well, we over slept by an hour. We finally hit the road and forgot something. We looped back, now hour and a half behind. The weather and the road sucked! I was worried about one big hill 2.5 hours into the trip. We made it. Not 5 minutes later, where we normally pull over to sleep when we are tired (where all the snow machiners play) Shane slowed down due to the caribou sign. What sign? I only see moose signs up here. Anyway, Shane yelled hold on... I looked up to caribou in the road. In my infinite wisdom, I threw a blanket up to cover the kids and me from glass. Bam... I don't really remember the impact. I remember the horror of realization...why did the caribou not go through the windshield? Holy Crap! I immediately started to freak out. Shane got out to look at the van. We flagged down a truck. We both turned around. We found the crash site. (Today in church we talked about taking care of God's animals. This was not one of those moments. However, we did feed some families though.) Anyway, we hit 3. We killed a family. Two big ones, and one little one. Not a good moment for me. The biggest one, which Shane said was the female (again, not a good thing to know) was fighting for her life. The man in the truck got his gun out and came over. Immediate freak out! I yelled for the kids to cover their ears and close their eyes. I covered them up with a blanket. I should have followed my own advise. Stupid, stupid, stupid... I watched as the man shot the caribou three times. Each time, it yelled and kicked its feet. It was kicking the van. He finally pulled the caribou over to the side snow bank. I lost it! That was worse than hitting them. As I cried, reality really hit. Two families could have been lost that night. If the car had been driven, I would have lost my family. I prayed and prayed and prayed. Thank you for our lives! I am so sorry for the caribou. It was hard to explain to Sarah why mom was losing it! Damage: two broken mirrors, lost head light, damaged frame, 3 caribou. We reported it in the next town. On the bright side, families would be fed. We also found out, earlier in the night, a fatal crash happened in the same spot...hence, another opportunity to have lost my family. I am thankful for promptings! My husband is learning to trust my feelings. I know how much he hates to when it comes to traveling. Oh, and for those of you who wonder why we didn't put a caribou in the back of the van, it is against the law. We got pulled over a few miles later. I am glad we didn't put one in the van. It is amazing to look at the van. It doesn't look like we hit three caribou at the same time. The van is considered total. We are now looking for a new vehicle.

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Of course, our real trick or treating was done at the church house for trunk-or-treat. We only had two wards there. It was very small this year. It was also so cold. First time in years there was no snow on the ground.

We went to Trick or Treat town so we could wear our costumes inside. I had two super kids... Superman & Supergirl.

Carving pumpkins... it was so gooey!

My little monster!

Civilization!

2008-10-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo! We got a Target in Alaska! We are also getting a Kohls! Now if we could get a Shopko and some good food places, it may not be so bad to live here. Oh, I would like Disney on Ice... Is that too much to ask for?

Playing in the Leaves

2008-10-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

We had leaves for about two weeks before the snow came! It was so nice to have our own leaves to play in! Both Scott and Sarah helped rake leaves.

Family pictures

2008-09-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

It is time for a new family picture. The lighting wasn't bad. The tree colors were awesome! We used the timer on the camera, therefore, Shane or I had to run for it after we pushed the button. There is no perfect picture by my expectations. Some of the pictures weren't bad. We really had to bribe Scott to get him to hold still. Let me know which one you think is best.

I sacrificed myself for this picture. A few minutes before, I slipped on some you know what (my biggest pet peeve of dog owners!) and twisted my left ankle and my left knee landed on a rock. My knee is so sore. I can't go up and down the stairs or sit for long periods of time. Most of all, I can't kneel. This week at work will be really hard! Scott took this picture for us. He pushed the button and I cropped it.

Sarah Skating!

2008-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Sarah got invited to to rollerskating with her friends. She has never been skating before except on ice skates. She is normally really well patted with ice skating. She was really frustrated for a while at first. Then she was able to calm down and enjoy herself. Right before we left, she really had a hard time due to being tired. Her friends were faster than her and really didn't want to skate with her. The soundtrack reminded me of skating when I was younger.

For her first time, she did really well!

Sarah used the wall for support. We finally moved her out to the middle of the rink.

She skated better out there!

Sarah's friend was just too fast for her.

Her friend finally slowed down enough to skate with her.

Sarah and her friends. So happy!

No Teeth Lost part 2!

2008-09-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

When I stood in line to sign up for children, there was no disclaimer about all of the fighting, cuts, and blood. Tonight, my Sunday nap was cut short! Shane was hollering and the next thing I know, a bloody Scotty was coming through my door. Scott and Sarah were horsing around in Sarah's room. Something happened (we are getting conflicting stories) and Scott hit the side of the toy shelf. It seemed really deep, so off to the Emergency Room. Three hours later...the cut gets glued together. I love our medical system when an adult with a sprained ankle gets treated before a three-year-old with a split open head. Overall, Scotty did really well. Now, we just need to make it through the night. At least, no teeth (and thank goodness no eyes )were lost this time!

Sunday Best

2008-09-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Scotty got new church clothes and looked so cute! This is his first tie! He had his cowboy boots on. All day we tried to get him to not tuck his pants into his boots! When we picked him up from nursery, his pants were tucked into boots. We were so proud of our hillbilly son!

Since I never talk to anyone anymore, I thought I would give a quick update. We are doing well. I spent all day yesterday cleaning out the garage. Shane put up a ceiling fan. Thanks to the ____ people who built this wonderful place, it took all day to put it up. We are busy working and sleeping! I feel like that is all I do. Although, I was truly excited to find out that ASD fought the state and won, now making it so I don't have to videotape myself teaching. This was a newly state requirement for new teachers to change their professional teaching certificate from initial to professional. I am so relieved! It involved a lot of extra work! Shane is just as busy as I am. He is really enjoying our Wii. The kids love to play with him. Sometimes Sarah kicks his but in bowling and boxing. It is amazing how good she is!

Sarah is liking school. My favorite time with her is on the drive before and after school. She asks the best things! Our last conversation involved batteries, both big and small, in everything. She is very observant and insightful. She also created a matching game in her class. Her classmates try to compete against her, but she always wins. They cheer her on! She has a really good teacher!

Scotty is as crazy as ever. He is such a BOY. I could go on for days about the things he does. Oh, what a BOY! He is still very much into everything superhero related. These kids miss their grandparents and wish they would call! We are jealous of both sets and the fun they are having!

Mow today...Rain tomorrow

2008-09-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

It finally stopped raining for a few hours that we finally got to mow the lawn. We got a great deal on the mower. This was the first time we mowed the lawn in our marriage and in our new house!I love the smell of fresh cut grass. I also remembered how much I hate the smell of dog poop. Keep in mind that I like dogs, however, I have a real distaste for owners who do not clean up after their animals... Anyway, the smell followed us into the house. I have a no shoes in the house rule, kind of an Alaskan thing. Well, Sarah was having one of those days where she cries over everything, and she proceeded to cry and throw a fit about how much it smelled in the house. So, I changed the garbage. A few minutes later, we discovered that Sarah was the culprit. She was the one who stepped in the freshly mowed dog poop and dragged it all over the house. She doesn't obey the shoe rule on a 'whenever I feel like it' basis. Putting it nicely, mom was not herself for the rest of the night.

Scotty's Room

2008-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some of pictures of Scott's room. This room causes me the most amount of grief. When we bought the house, this room was yellow with pink trim. The green covered the yellow. Eight coats of primer and white paint later, you can still see pink in the trim. Anyway, this room is a danger to everyone! Saturday, Scott lost all of his toys! I love having space to take away toys until they have to earn them back. I know that I was just as bad growing up.

No teeth lost!

2008-09-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

What started out as a power battle with learning the consequences of our actions, really turned into a painful consequence for her actions. Sarah is learning that her actions result in not so fun activities. She was playing with the collapsible cat carrier without permission. So, she was asked to break it down and put it away. This is a hard task that she had to work at for a while. Though many tears, and a short break away, she was able to break the carrier down. However, it turned into a mess. Dad yelled, I think she lost a tooth...As past experience has shown, I don't do well with that phrase in an emergency type situation. Luckily, all her teeth were intact. But, her lip was torn up pretty badly. As she was breaking the carrier down, she pushed against it and hit her face. Her lip is pretty swollen. Poor Sarah, some lessons are hard to learn!

Yee haw Cowboy...

2008-09-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks Grandpa! I finally earned my boots! They are awesome! I wore them everywhere today! In the words of Woody, "Yee haw cowboy... Hey howdy hey, I am looking good!"

Grandpa...you are my favorite deputy...Love, Scotty

Beluga Whales

2008-09-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

We got an early wake up call that the Beluga Whales were starting to migrate. So, we jetted down to Beluga point, hiked to the rocks close to the water and watched. We saw a lot of them!!! It was so exciting. A few were even within 20-30 feet from us. A few of the mothers brought their babies close by. I had no idea that babies are grey and turn white when they grow up. When you looked out into the ocean, you could see the white spots miles away. We were really only a few miles out of town.

New House!!

2008-09-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

We finally sold our condo and bought a town house. The official date was July 30,2008. However, we couldn't move in until the 5th of August. It was a big effort supported by the help of my wonderful friends! Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you. To finish off the move, Scotty decided I needed more stress in my life and broke the van. He broke the turn signal, and $325 later, we have a new turn signal. Lesson: Children don't listen. Rule #1 of the day was No Playing in the Van! I needed 15 minutes to load the final items and mop the floor. While we were at Schucks trying to figure out the the problem, we had a freak rain storm with thunder and lightning. In Anchorage, thunder and lightning are rare. It really matched my mood!

We are finally in our place. Shane has been emptying our storage units. We have been painting and organizing. Both kids have their own room and a shared bathroom. But, they feel the need to always be in mine. It took forever to get phone, Internet, and TV. It is sad how dependant on technology we are! We are enjoying it so far. I love the bar stools!

To Kindergarten we go....

2008-08-26T02:04:00.000-07:00

Sarah is now in Kindergarten. I can't believe it! I cried all the way to school. I cried after I dropped her off in her classroom. I got to watch her stand in line, walk to her classroom, and hang up her coat. I even got to sit with her at lunch. It was fun to watch for her around the school. Sarah would smile and wave. I love having her at my school. She is the only one who can tie her shoe. Her teacher says that she is doing great.

Quote of the day: (Driving in the van passing a construction site)

"Mom, does the big bad wolf live around here?"

"NO, why?"

"Then why are they building that house out of bricks?"

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-08-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

I am too young to be 30!

Happy Birthday!!

2008-08-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!
My baby is 5! Sarah had a party at our new house with a few friends. She had a My Little Pony cake. She got Little Petshop toys for her big day. It is hard for me to have Sarah be 5 and getting ready to go to Kindergarten. When she was a baby, I had a hard time letting her go anywhere. I always needed her with me. Besides Shane, she is my best friend. When she was born, she was so familiar to me. I felt like I have known her forever. I am excited to know her forever. Sarah, mommy loves you!

Shane got extra lovin from all of us! Who knew that 13 would be such a lucky number for me! Shane, I am thankful for the last 11 years. Happy Birthday Batman!- Love Scotty, Sarah, and Karen

Twilighter!!!

2008-08-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

I am now not afraid to admit that I am a huge Twilight fan. I did in fact go to the Breaking Dawn book release party! My best friend, Pauline, went with me. We lost horribly in a tug-o-war contest. Pauline has a rope burn to prove it. Of course we were up against a few high school boys. I wonder if they actually read the book. Anyway, I had my book in hand at 12:25 am, Saturday morning. I finished Sunday morning at 5 am. I would have finished it sooner, but I couldn't totally neglect my kids for the whole day. It was sooooo good!! I can't say anymore since my friends haven't finished reading it yet. I have already reread so many chapters. If you get a chance, I recommend reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It was so good, I read the first three books in a weekend! One of the best love stories ever!

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

Justice League?!...

2008-08-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Scotty had a super hero party. We invited six little boys and Sarah. Each child got a cape to be a super hero. They even got superman body stickers (tattoos)to match. We fought the bad guys using blow-up bunching bags. They had batman and superman on them. I was informed by everyone that superman and batman are not bad guys. They just don't make blowup bad guys. One little boy was so upset that we were fighting with superman, that he took superman away and guarded him. It was funny. Scotty went to get him. The next game was throwing ammo (marshmallows) at the bad guys. Some of the ammo made it in their mouths, some on the grass, and some were bitten in half to stick to the bad guys' heads. We then had a pinata. Everyone got to hit it hard. Good times! Scotty got everything he wanted and more. He carries superman and batman around with him everywhere. When he takes them in the car, he makes sure they are under his seat belt. Sorry about another slideshow. It is the only way to show all my pictures. What is the term..paparazzi?

Afterwards, we went to the Golden Corral for lunch. Everyone commented on superman being in the house. Oh, the next day, we found a man with the same tattoo as Scotty. Does superman have a catch phrase. For the life of me, I can only think of Buzz Lightyear's, Underdog's, and Mighty Mouse. The man at the comic book store thinks it is funny I don't know anything about superheros or villains. Oh well. Thanks to Scotty, I am sure I will know in no time.

My Scotty is 3!

2008-07-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

It just seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant with Scotty. He was such a wonderful surprise! He surprises us everyday! He came into this world with a bang at 7:05 AM! I remember that while I was in labor with him, it felt like he reached back and then punched my water bag open. He keeps those fists and legs swinging. I can't imagine life without him! He is so funny, caring, loving, sweet, persistent, resourceful, thoughtful, adventurous, spontaneous, and smart. He tells me everyday that I am a good mom. He cheered on Sarah the other day as she was learning to ride her bike without one of the training wheels. He shouted, "You're a big girl Sarah!" He cheered us all on when we were bowling. Today he told me that turtles don't have teeth, but bears do. Thanks to him, I am starting to learn more about superheros, especially Superman and Batman. Who knew there were so many heroes out there? Scotty loves his sister and his cat ESPN! He loves Superman, Diego and baby Jaguar, the color green, elephants and making their sounds, dancing, running, Ammon, Alaric, and Tao, playing dress-up, and eating popcorn. He grew up so fast. He has really kept pace with his older sister.

Words cannot express how thankful I am that he chose us to be his family!

We love you Scotty!

Happy 3rd Birthday!-Mommy & Daddy & Sarah

Someone looks familiar...

2008-07-29T00:54:00.001-07:00

I always felt like my kids looked so much like my siblings. I found a picture of Betsy and Sarah at the same age. They do look a lot a like. The funny thing is I have a picture of Sarah cooking iwth the same Tupperware set.

I wish I could find my younger pictures of Chris.

Scotty looks a lot like him too sometimes.

New Slideshow at the bottom of the page!!!

2008-07-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

The hero and his princess...

2008-07-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

What would the world be like?

2008-07-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

So, we had another wonderful rainy day. The kids spent the whole day playing trains until I couldn't take it anymore. They took turns torturing each other by running each other's train off of the track. I finally made them stop and we went shopping. I don't know why I do that to myself. Shopping with these two is starting to be next to impossible. I can't imagine three of them, but Scotty sure acts like two kids. I knew I was starting to go insane when I was yelling at the top of my lungs, down the isle at them, in the party store. I got everyone's attention. Everywhere we go, they know the names of my kids! However, we had things to get...like shoes and underpants. What would the world be like without superheros and sparkly shoes?

Favorite!

2008-07-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

I stand corrected!

Shane is my number one favorite thing!

But, in my defense, I did say "a few of my favorite things".

I love you Shane!

Super Scotty

2008-07-28T00:57:00.001-07:00

Here is Super Scotty in his favorite outfit with his hero: SUPERMAN

The countdown to the super hero birthday party has begun...

3 days until he is 3!!

Visitors from a far...

2008-07-28T00:38:00.001-07:00

We were surprised by visitors from far away.

It was fun to see family we don't see very often!

We sure miss you guys!

Daisies....

2008-07-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog!

To kick off a new technological advancement for me (blogging),

I decided to share a few of my favorite things...

I love my kids! I love to take pictures! I love the sun!

I love daisies!

So... I combined them all into one photo shoot.

This was an unusual day for us. It was warm and sunny.

No rain for a whole day!

So, I grabbed my kids and their cousins and we headed for the daisies.