Campout

Kelsie planned a family campout for tonight. The girls were so excited about it. We had a picnic dinner, put up our tent, ate smores, read books by flashlight, and then we were ready for the big sleepover.

The Problem: the 3 year old boy is the only camper left in the tent at 11 PM. The girls tossed and turned for an hour or so and then opted to abandon the campout for their own soft beds. Somehow I had a feeling this is how it would end. I'm pretty sure the girls inherited my love for "roughing it".

Four Months

At Four months old and he is the happiest, most content baby I've ever seen. He never makes a peep. He just hangs out and watches us and grins whenever anyone comes near him. He really is a delight. The other day I walked in to check on him. He had spit up and his entire face and head was drenched in spit up, but he was lying there cooing and grinning up at me like there was nothing wrong at all. He is such a sweet and happy boy.

He is rolling both ways and he LOVES his toes. The minute I lay him down he is grabbing his toes and sucking on them. I think a baby grabbing their toes is the cutest thing in the whole world--I love it!

fall 2010 book

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Earthquakes

We haven't been too committed to getting our 72 hour kits and emergency supplies in order. We've had a several emergency situations in the last couple of years (frozen pipes, a blizzard where the power was out for hours and John couldn't get home, and a contaminated water supply) that were wake up calls to me and made me realize how important it is to be prepared. The problem is I didn't do much about my realization. I mean we now have some water and food stored in the basement, but really, nothing too impressive.

But the earthquakes that have shaken our little city in the last 2 days have finally stirred me to action. We have had 3 earthquakes in the last 2 days. They were all in the same spot with the epicenter being less than a mile from our home (magnitude 2.5, 2.8, 2.8). The first one was kind of exciting and fun, the second one was down right scary. It occured at 2:30 AM and shook the house enough that it brought my girls running downstairs and woke John. So I lay there in the middle of the night and of course my thoughts got away from me and I was imagining that the "Big one" is coming and it's going to be right here. So I started planning how I'd get my kids home from school (if I ever send them again :) and then I remembered I never sent in their school emergency kits this year, and then I wondered how long we'd survive on the water supply we have, and then I realized how bad I've been about getting our 72 hour kits put together beyond what my mom gave us for Christmas one year. I know a lot of these thoughts were just middle of the night thoughts of an already anxious person, but they have finally moved me to action and tomorrow we are putting together our 72 hours kits. It took a couple earthquakes to move me to action, but at least I was moved. John, on the other hand, doesn't think I should get too carried away. He reminded me that we are 1/2 mile from Walmart and he will gladly walk over and pillage for whatever we need. :)

Today

John flew out to CA at 6 AM. Carter woke up crying that he was sick at 7 AM. I took the girls to school and taught preschool. By this time it was 11:30 and Carter had a temperature of 102 degrees. Matson came home from the babysitter and I noticed white spots in his mouth. By 2:30 we were at the doctor. We spent $70 at the doctor's office and the pharmacy and brought home 1 little boy with an ear infection and a baby with thrush and RSV. I'm ready for Spring.

Christmas

Santa brought: A gymnastics Barbie for Emily

An Easy Bake Oven for Kelsie

A roaring, walking T-Rex dinosaur for Carter that he was competely terrified of! He spent the first half of the morning on my lap, trying to stay away from that scary dinosaur. :)

And then here are the girls with their big surprise from mom and dad....American Girls dolls. They were SO surprised! But I think I enjoyed it even more than them. It was so fun to surprise them!

Emily with her Kirsten American Girl doll
Kelsie with her look alike doll--she named Kelsie

John is doing a good job taking care of the newest members of the family. We spend a lot of time babysitting dolls these days.

Carter's favorite gift was this fire truck from his Aunt.

Matson with his Christmas loot. His favorite was a little doggy the kids picked out for him. He can't get enough of it!

Matson with his Christmas puppy.

Baby's 1st Christmas