Happy 6th birthday to my little Benny Boy!

Most people stop all their celebrations after Christmas. Not us. We just keep on celebratin'. Brian's mom's birthday is 2 days after Christmas and Ben's is 3 days after that. This year we all went to Boondocks on the 27th for a family party with Brian's fam. It was so fun! I didn't think that we were going to stay for 4 hours but that's what we ended up doing. Even Addie was completely happy walking around looking at everything. On Ben's real birthday we usually keep it kind of low-key and have a friend party a few weeks later.

A little look-back on Ben's 6 years of life:
I hate not having a scanner so these are of course pictures of pictures which = blurry.
Ben was the BIGGEST baby I had ever seen. He was born at 7 lbs 2 oz so he was very average/small. But he sure grew fast.
1 year old

2 years old

3 year's old

6 years. Whoa, I cannot believe he is 6! That is old age.

Here are the two birthday kids, Mary Ann and Ben at Boondocks.

For his birthday, he opened presents first thing in the morning and then went and hung out at my sister Sinika's house. Later on I was asking him what he wanted me to make for his birthday dinner and he said, "Something with garlic bread... Pizza". Well, I couldn't argue with having that for dinner all I have to do to make that is press 7 numbers into the phone. I asked him if he wanted me to make a cake or cupcakes and he said, "Nah, I don't want any of those."

"Do you want an ice cream cake or a pie?"

"No."
"Well, you have to have something. Ice cream sandwiches?"

"Yeah, okay."

Every time we started singing Happy Birthday to him he would say, "Stop! You can't sing that until it's time to eat the ice cream sandwiches!"

Luckily we had super skinny candles that fit right into the ice cream sandwich holes.

Here he is, the big 6 year old. Sometimes when I start to feel bad that his birthday is so close to Christmas I just realize that his birthday is more spread out. No one else in the family gets 3 days (or more) of celebrations for their birthdays.

Ben makes me laugh every day of my life, he is so funny and silly. The other day I asked him if he wanted to come out and play in the snow while I shoveled and he said, "No." and a few seconds later, "Aww, who am I kiddin'." and he went to put on his boots and coat and came out with me.

He LOVES robots and wants to be a roboticist when he grows up. He is so snuggly and fun. Happy birthday cute boy!

Once upon a time, I wanted pictures taken...

I was so excited to get our family pictures done. I had to use a variation of a buying process that I learned from my brother-in-law called the "buy now discuss later" program. :) Only I hadn't bought them yet I just made the appointment.

This is what would have happened if I said to Brian, "Hey, I want to get our family pictures done."

He would say, "Oh, is your sister coming over to take our picture?"

I would say, "No I want to get professionals done."

He would say, "Well, alright, we can go to JC Penny's"

So this time I just had to say, "We have an appointment for pictures on this date. You know so-and-so in our ward? His brother and sister-in-law take pictures and they're really good."

He said, "How much does it cost?"

"Blankety-blank-blank-blank."

That is the amount of the pictures by the way not the swearing that ensued afterwards from Brian.

Actually, I gave him the wrong price because they had just raised the prices and I had looked at the old pricing and after I told him what I thought was the price, I saw the new pricing. I just thought, well, I'll save up the extra amount and then it will seem like the same price. There was a 3 month wait so I had some time.

So, I didn't end up saving the extra amount. And when we were on our way to the location of our pictures he asked how much it was again.

"Blankety-blank-blank-blank."

That was the swearing.

By that time, the kids had horrible colds with constant runny noses, but there was no rescheduling for 3 months later. We just had to wipe noses every few seconds so it didn't show up in the pictures.

Everything worked out though. It ended up being my Christmas present. Now, I'm not saying everyone should do family pictures this way. But I just HAD to have really nice ones at least once in my life. And there was no way it was ever going to happen unless I took some serious measures.


Sidenote: Brian didn't actually swear, he just said words like, "WHAT?" and, "I thought you said it was going to be..." and "other-such-things-like-that".

New family pictures

In November we had our pictures taken by Peekaboo Photos. It was so awesomely awesome! (I'm short on adjectives)

It was supposed to be an all outside shoot but it was so cold that they took us to their studio for some warmer shots.

San Francisco

Last Friday I went for a quick little trip to San Leandro, CA for my brother, Eric's, graduation from chiropractic school. It was so fun to be there for that and I really felt the excitement of all those graduating, especially for Eric, of course! If anyone is interested in an amazing Chiropractor in the SL valley, look him up. Under Dr. Eric. He he.

My mom, Eric, me, and Sini. This is such an awful picture of me but I had to document that I was there! Sini's husband Adam was there too and Tagen's sister and mom. I was expecting it to be warm there since I always hear about California's warmth but it was quite chilly. I couldn't ever warm up! I guess I realize that California is a big state and there are different weather patterns all across it.

Dr. Eric and Tagen

We headed out to downtown San Francisco for a little shopping. Sini and Adam know where all the best places are. I still get a little culture shocked when I go to big towns and San Francisco isn't even as big as some others. I heard several different languages all around me and there were just so many people! Everyone was all bundled up in their cute hats and warm coats, except for us with our light jackets thinking they would even be too warm.

Sisters!

Me riding the trolley. Okay, okay, I wasn't really riding it. I just jumped on one that wasn't being used. I had to have the souvenir trolley picture!

We also went to Berkley for a little shoppin'. Such a cute town of what I saw of it. They had the cutest toy store! I wanted to buy everything!

We came back Sunday night just after the big snow storm on the weekend. It was frigid! Once again, all we had were little jackets cause we didn't want to have to deal with big coats on the airplane. There wasn't a window scraper in my mom's car (that was parked in the airport lot) so we had to try and use an umbrella to scrape the ice off. FREEZING! Our hands were so cold we had to take breaks sitting in the car and putting our hands in our armpits to try to warm them up. The heater took forever to warm up too. We got enough ice off to be able to see the road and I figured that the car warming up would melt the rest. I was wrong. There was still so much ice on it by the time we got home that my mom had to scrape her windows clean in her driveway.

It was a fun little get-away. The kind that gives you a break from the kids and then makes you wonder, why on Earth would I ever want to go on a trip without my little cuties!

Christmas countdown box

This is my favorite Christmas decoration. I do need to put something behind it to cover the unsightly cracks in it though. The camera flash really highlights them.

I love finding things small enough to put in it. Some are from ornaments that we had when I was young, some are ceramic people from little Christmas town sets and my friend Chelsea gave me some from her countdown box that she didn't need anymore. (Thanks, Chels!) On the 24th we always put in a little baby Jesus. It's so fun for the kids to choose one every day. It really lets us see how close we are to Christmas. It seems like we just barely pulled it out and I can't believe how fast December is going by! 10 more days until the big day!

Hello, goodbuy

No, I didn't buy this from Target but that was sure fun to say.
Goodbye to the old Sony,

hello to the new Canon.

Thanks so much everyone for your input on cameras. You are all so nice to help me! So the thing is I had already bought the Canon PowerShot SX110 IS. I had it under my tree unwrapped until I was going to need it (before Christmas, of course). I didn't even realize that it used AA batteries until I had seen a review for a different camera and it said they didn't like a certain camera because of that reason. I hadn't even thought to check that. So that made me nervous. I was thinking of returning it for another one. I tried to look for reviews (for this specific camera) but they were hard to find. I may have been looking in the wrong places. One thing that helped me was that I read on one site that I shouldn't get something that is too fancy if I am not going to know what I'm doing. Cause I was going exchange it for get a bigger, fancier one than this. I also read that you should always try a camera out before you buy it. That's a little hard but I decided to pull it out and try it. This one had EVERYTHING that I liked so it was just the battery thing that I wasn't sure about. I didn't know that they made lithium batteries in the AA size so that helped me feel better. Well, once I pulled it out and started using it, (with no charging of the battery) I just decided to keep it! I hope that I am happy with it. I really LOVE it so far! (for 2 days he he) It has way more megapixels and way better optical zoom than my old camera. And I loved that camera too. I got some lithiums and they say that they last 7 times longer than regular batteries. A big reason that helped me was that Rena and Carly both have the same camera as this and that they love it too. Thanks guys!

It's been fun playing around with it. I didn't know how to turn on the flash at first and then when I realized how to do it, I felt a little slow. (No I haven't read the manual yet.) So my first few pictures had some blurry moments. But I think it's fun to see some movement.

This was me sitting in front of the TV taking a picture of BenAnd this was me not moving at all but zooming in. Ben saw the picture on the camera and he said, "Hey, you can see my freckles!"

That red light in the background is our tortoise heat lamp. I promise we do not grow marijuana.

Personal history. May be boring to persons who are not me.

The earliest memory that I can think of is a time that was so quiet in my house and I was just lying on my stomach on the floor just staring at dust flying through some sun rays that went to the floor. It was so quiet. I am guessing that all the older kids were at school and maybe my little sister Sinika was taking a nap or something so that would make me 4 or 3. I also remember a time when I snuck a cookie and my older sister Michelle chased me around the house for a while to try to put the cookie back. When I was tired out and cornered, I took a bite. She stopped chasing. I was probably about that same age.

I guess that's the earliest I can go. I remember when I was in a neighborhood joyschool preschool and it was at the Lindhart's house two houses away from mine. Everyone was putting their hands in red paint and stamping it onto a paper with a cute little poem about how we will grow up but someday our little handprint will be missed. I know that's what it said because I always saw my next door neighbor Aleesha's hanging on her wall for years later after that and I read it then. Anyway, I wouldn't do the handprint. The teacher said that my mom would really like it. No. She tried several times but, no. I just didn't want to do it. I can remember that so clearly that surely I should have more memories of when I was that age but I guess everything else blends in with my family life and so I can't distiguish how old I was.

I remember my Kindergarten assessment. I was so shy that I wouldn't even talk to the teacher. I guess they kind of need to see what you know during the assessment and see if you can even speak English. Mrs. Jacobsen said that if I didn't talk then I wouldn't be able to come to Kindergarten. But I guess they let me start. On my first day, I went with my next door neighbor, Aleesha. I walked right in with her and sat down next to her on the carpet ready for the first day. The only problem was that she was in the other class. I had just followed her right into her class. When they did roll call, they had each person stand up when their name was called. When they called "Lindsey?" Two girls stood up. Me and another girl. I can still remember her face exactly. We just stared at each other. Her name is Lindsey too? But I'm the only Lindsey. They asked which one had this certain last name and it wasn't me. Soon after, we heard in the next room (there was only a partial wall between the classrooms) the teacher call "Lindsey? Lindsey?" The other Kindergarten teacher took me over and put me into the right class. We had the funnest toys in that class. A little wooden kitchen with little dishes and a stroller with dolls. So fun for playing house. I wonder if the teacher brought in all those toys herself, cause that's not what they have in my kids' Kindergarten nowadays. I'm not sure if it was the first day or one of the next days, I came home so excited saying, "I talked to the teacher!" I remember singing the alphabet and singing the months of the year in that classroom.

I've always been able to remember every teacher that I had in elementary school. I could rattle them off in order whenever called upon to do so. Maybe I'll try and remember something about each grade that I was in for future posts. Stay tuned. Or tune out.

I have a question about cameras:

Does anyone have any input on which is best when a camera uses a rechargeable battery vs. alkaline batteries? I'm trying to decide on a camera for myself. My current camera has a rechargeable battery and I like it fine enough. One that I am looking at is the Canon PowerShot SX110 IS and it uses AA batteries and I'm not familiar with a camera like that, I like it cause it's a little smaller than others like it. The other one I am looking at is the Nikon CoolPix P80. It seems like a lot of people love this one but it's just so much bigger than my current camera. Is it really worth it to carry around a bigger camera? Do you know any pros and cons about different batteries? Any advice?

It's that time of year

Christmas shows that I love the same as or more than when I was little:

-A Charlie Brown Christmas
-How the Grinch Stole Christmas (original cartoon)
-A Christmas Story
-Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Christmas shows that I really, really don't like:

-Frosty the Snowman
-Any sequels to Frosty the Snowman
-Any sequels to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Shiny New Year, Island of the Misfit Toys)
-Any sequels to Charlie Brown movies (The ones where the drawings are different and the voices are different and the story lines are just boring.)

I really don't like that I liked all Christmas shows when I was little. Some of them are soooo dumb. I feel like I should protect my kids and not let them watch the bad ones and save them from the stupidity. But of course they will have to watch any of them if they see that one is on.

I will be adding to this list as I remember more shows. he he :)

little tree

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don't be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i'll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed
you'll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they'll stare!
oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we'll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"

--e. e. cummings

This is Elli's 'trying not to laugh' face.
That is one of my favorite poems. It is so sweet that it makes tears come to my eyes every time I read it. I know, it's silly, but I just love it that much.

Concert week

On Saturday I went to the Coldplay concert with Sinika, Adam, and Adams sister Megan and her boyfriend. I just have 3 words for it:

It was AMAZING!

Thanks for the pictures Sini!

I also have 66 more words for it: (Ha, ha, I'm a nerd!)

I loved the huge video screens. Even though we were up way high we could still see everything. I loved the confetti and the lasers and all the lighting and I loved when they came into the audience and sang a few songs, and I loved when the whole audience sang parts. I also loved that there were seats to sit on when I got tired.

It was so fun, I couldn't believe when it was over that 2 hours had passed. It went by so fast. The only bad part, and it wasn't really even that bad, but the lady next to me at one point was standing and I was sitting and she was airing out her sweater (it was pretty warm in there) and so I was wafted with warm sweater air right in my face. Eww!

Also, last Monday, we went to the Of Montreal concert and it was quite a show too. They also had confetti, oh wait, it was feathers that were shot out over the audience, and they had costume changes and actors on stage and don't forget the fantastic songs! Even though 85% of the people there were little teenagers, it was still so good and I loved it. The whole time I just kept thinking, this must be what it was like to see a David Bowie concert back in the day. Not that I'm a big fan of him but he just reminds me of him a little.

I don't go to as many concerts as I used to when I was younger so this was a bit out of the ordinary to have 2 in 1 week! I guess I'll need to have a long break from it all.

Men and their facial hair

A few months ago Brian let his beard grow out. It got pretty bushy before he shaved it. I asked him why men want to grow their beards out long sometimes and he said, "Just cause we can."
Well now he is telling me he wants to try out this here mustache:
I think he is serious.

HELP!

I peeked in Elli's room and found Addie playing house...

More like playing IN the house.

The Tooth Fairy is very busy at our house

Natural gas

My sweet, well-mannered son, Ben, just informed me that his gas smells like "joy and flowers... and sometimes macaroni and cheese".
(Joy and flowers said while laughing and mac and cheese said with serious wonderment.)

Here come the chompers!

Addie's top 2 front teeth have finally broken through! Yay!!! She's been a little behind in the teeth department. Now she can bite into things. By that I mean food things. Not really fingers or other things that I don't want her to bite. That's not what I'm cheering for. Before she could only just mush things up with her gums (and bottom teeth). Look out food! By the way this picture was taken a few weeks ago so she did not have the top teeth yet. She was just pretty much sucking on the carrot. Also, don't mind her dirty shirt, it was evening and close to the time of taking off the dirty clothes.

Her doctor said at her 1 year appt. that from 12 months to 18 months they go from saying 0 words to about 10! One month ago (at her 1 year appt.) she could only say, "Dada". She has already picked up a few more since then. So far she says:

Dada

ball

turtle

boo

Mama

uh-oh

and in sign language she says "moon" and "milk"

This is seriously such a fun time when they start saying things. I love it! Their teeny little voices are just music to my ears!

Halloween '08

Gummy teeth

This year Elli was a fairy, Tinkerbell to be exact Ben was a Jedi Knight (young Ben Kenobi)And Addie was a little bee

This is Tanner, Ben, Elli, Addie and Kadee peeking out from behind Addie.

My flash wasn't working in some of these so sorry for the darkness. Elli and Ben's cousins came over to go trick or treating with them. It rained a little but it wasn't too cold like in years past.

I love this action sequence:

So serious.

Me and Addie hung out at home and passed out candy at the door. Addie just laughed at all the kids at the door. Not at their costumes but that there were so many kids coming to her house.

This year the kids drew what they wanted their faces to be and I cut them out.