it's all about the layering

she dresses herself.

 her bedtime ensembles are even more impressive.

it's all about layering.

and the little mermaid.

always.

oh to be almost 3 {ballet}

first day of ballet.

"bow-way"

at dinner she told us that the spinning at "bow-way" was the favorite part of her day.

she wore her ballet shoes to sleep tonight.

i took about 123 pictures.

and 3 videos.

i can't ever imagine watching her dance will get old.

she was timid at first.

needed me to sit next to her and do the stretching with her class.

then Emilia, her dance teacher, went around asking each little girl what their favorite princess name was.

the first little girl said Ariel.

max didn't need me after that.

she scooted to her carpet to stretch and warm up with all of the other little girls,

and when it got to her she named her favorite princess.

tinker bell.

???

that's what she said.

i was 100% positive she was going to say Ariel, 

but she must have thought she needed to be original.

or just got stage fright.

or maybe today it's changed to tinker bell.

either way,

it was the princesses that helped max do "bow-way" with me behind the observation window.

even though i was so glad i got to sit with her for the first 10 minutes of her first ballet class.

{tap was a hit too.}

{she even showed sean her "heal/toe" move on the kitchen floor when he got home from work.}

on her way out of the tap room,

she tried to go back into the ballet room for more.

and then asked me how many sleeps before it was time to come again.

oh to be almost 3.

letters to Beth {GUM dreams & bras}

Dear Beth,
last night i had a dream that i was buying you bath salts for a bubble bath at harmon's. when i got back to your dorm room {we were back in college again, but we had our babies with us. not our older kids, just our babies, but they weren't really there we just knew they were--and you never even lived in dorms when i knew you, and the dorm was attached to harmon's, and it was BIG dorm room, so this is all weird anyway--dreams, sheesh}. anyway, when i got back to your dorm room your mom was vacuuming the carpet--there was TONS of dog hair, like TWO INCHES thick on the carpet--i am just now realizing the symbolism of the thick HAIR and you--are you laughing yet??? b/c i'm laughing really hard at how smart was brain was while i was sleeping to dream about bath salts, vacuuming, and thick animal hair with you. HAHAHAHA!!!!! SO your mom had a yellow dyson ball vacuum  and she was all "see, just like that! look at how great it sucks!" and she did the entire room, and the edges, and then told me i paid too much for the bath salts. and then chase woke up needing at bottle at 2:45am and my dream with you ended, and then i dreamt about my friend linsey sleeping over at my house, and then i was home and this girl that i used to cheer lead with, melissa goulet was walking through my front door, and then all of a sudden i was going boating to this private beach island, and then i was back at a hotel at the boat dock and i ran into this boy named terrance that i went to middle school and high school with, and i told him that i had run into my old boyfriend there earlier, and then his older sister told me she reads my blog, and that she couldn't believe i was still nursing chase, and then we were in this elevator with mirrors on every side, and i couldn't talk right b/c i had all of this super sticky gum in my mouth {i have this gum in mouth in dreams ALL OF THE TIME. it is SO ANNOYING.}. i think it's always white gum, but it's so sticky and thick, and i can't get it off of my teeth. it gets all stuck, and i have to use my fingers to pull it out throughout the entire dream {this part is the same every time}, and it never really gets out by the end of the dream, but after awhile it gets out enough to where i can talk normal, and for the first time last night IN my dream i decided to just throw the gum out so i wouldn't chew it ever again, but i never got home {that's where i remember thinking the gum was that i needed to throw out}, and i don't know if my brain ever officially THREW the gum away, so it might still be there waiting for me in my next dream. i have 2-3 VIVID dreams like this every night, and i always wake up and remember all of the details, except for once or twice a year when i don't. sean has about ONE dream a year that he remembers ever. do you have dreams like this? do you remember your dreams? what do you think the gum is all about?

and, i didn't quit nursing. i love the after you nurse part too much. change of plans. back at it again, but only for 3 times a day b/c i just dont have enough milk for 4 times, so i feed him a bottle of formula in the afternoon after his nap. he only drinks about 3 ounces, and then he just wants cheese and carrots with little puffs in his high chair.

and last but not least, my two favorite things my kids said to me yesterday:

#1...while brennan was soaping up his body with a luffa full of bubble soap he says, "buttcrack is my favorite word. i can hold my breath for 30 minutes! i can, yep, i really can."...and then he let me wash the conditioner out of his hair and asked if he could play with my phone while i got max out of the bath. oh and this morning he told me "max thinks she is the queeeeeeeen of this house, but SHE'S not."

#2...max starts ballet today. she calls it "bow-way". it's the cutest cutest thing. i braided her hair for her. she and i went to target last night by ourselves, and left the boys at home, to pick out a little pink leotard and black tights. the bras were right by the dance stuff. a big display of neon colors for teenage girls, and max walks up to a bright blue one with polka dots and goes, "i need these for my boobs."

i hope you have a great day! and don't have any dreams about gum in your mouth. what the heck is that all about anyway??? it's gotta be all of that radon from the mountains. still haven't gotten our results yet. i've actually forgotten about it completely, except when i remember.

OH and i made chocolate pudding at 10:30pm last night, and then paced around my kitchen and the tv room while it set up so i could eat it right before bed with whipping cream and chopped up reese's peanut butter cups. it's was AMAZEing:)
love emily

letters to Emily {grocery day & stuffed animals}

Dear Emily Gibson,

Today was grocery day, which is always an adventure. Ever since my Bryce gave me a bike and a bike trailer for my birthday it has been my companion every week for grocery day. I love it. I don't think about how heavy the groceries will be when I ride the bike, but when riding the strassenbahn or the bus you feel every ounce and pound you are carrying. I love to just ride free, along the beautiful rhine-necker river, viewing the castle on the hill side (yes the hills really are alive with the sound of music), and returning home with the experience completely mine. It is my time. And I do enjoy it. I love grocery day.

But today I didn't ride.

I rode.

The bus.

Joy.

Not really.

The previous week Bryce and I rode our bikes up to an Abbey which is so beautiful, I wrote on my blog about it, we had hot chocolate on Christmas Eve there, and countless date nights up there. Anyway, it's great but I didn't want to have to pull Bear on the back of the bike (Smith was at school). So we switched the part to Bryce's bike (which I can't reach the petals) that attaches the bike trailer on. Anyway, I went down to ride my bike but the part was on Bryce's bike and I just didn't feel like getting tools out and switching it. So I thought, "hey, I haven't carried my groceries home by hand in a long time. Why not?"

Bad idea.

I got to the store, had my list. Gotta stick to the list! (Us girls with budgets know)

I thought I could handle it.

I walked out of the store with a backpack of produce, two full bags of meats, grains and whatever. Then two packages of diapers. Two.

I was so close to just dragging the load along the cobblestone streets to the bus but my pride gets to me in public places, and I don't want to draw too much attention to me. So, I carry them which seems like miles, get on the bus, get off the bus and I just said, that's it, I dragged them along the street to my flat the whole way! So funny!

I love that my mom sent you a package by the way!

She is hilarious. Did you know Bryce and my mom will talk on the phone for hours? I think it is great. When I was young I always knew that my husband would get along with my mother. I just knew it.

She is sending me a package as well, she calls it her mexican food package.

It is the best since it is impossible to find mexican food here in Heidelberg.

I hope you are doing well.

Have your kids all recovered from being sick?

Did you figure something out for Chase?

We ate swiss fondue tonight, with a girl from Switzerland we know. It was delicious!

Cheese fondue.

wonderful.

Basically anything with cheese. Right?

These are pictures I took to day. Today.

We had fun, and Bear was a in a good mood, I thought you would like these.

I played stuffed animals with Bear today, the giraffe had a brilliant idea to go on a vacation with the blue bear, the blue bear was hesitant and not convinced, so the giraffe told him all the places he would take him, like the Rhine falls in Switzerland, and the castle in Leichtenstein, the giraffe almost forgot Prague!

The blue bear said, "okay" and started to pack his things. I think the saga will continue tomorrow.

The giraffe and the blue bear are traveling Europe together tomorrow.

Let's see.

My shower will be the Rhine falls.

The couch book shelf, definitely the Liechtenstien Castle.

And my living room will be prague.

Maybe next time we can go to Thailand or something.

Anyway, I love you and hope you are having a happy motherhood day!

love you

Beth

smelling cookies without baking soda

"i smell cookies!!!!!!!"

-chase ray's brain

......

the kitchen aid starts mixing,

and they all come a'runnin'!

even baby man chase knows what's going on now.

he put his little nose up on my warm oven for 5 straight minutes smelling those cookies bake.

i couldn't stop laughing.

and then max and brennan fought over who was going to be standing on the stool scooping cookie dough, until they were both crying and chase got tired of waiting around.

 his path of destruction is easy to follow.

i was on the phone the entire time with my stepmom sandie, 

and forgot to put in the baking soda.

the cookies came out more dense than normal,

and i couldn't figure out why.

until i remembered 4 hours later,

that when i was on the phone and everyone was crying, 

and chase was taking everything off of the shelves in the pantry,

i

forgot

to

add

the

baking

soda.

{still tasted great. in case you were wondering.}

how we spent our MLK day.

so when you do your radon test on a friday,

and plan to mail it in on a monday.

make sure that the monday is not a holiday.

with the post office closed.

but if you did do your radon test on a friday,

and the post office is closed on a monday,

don't worry,

you still have 24 hours before you have to mail it in anyway.

...

how we spent our MLK day,

NOT going to the post office:) 

we stayed in our pa-jaaaahhhh-mas until 11:30, 

only got dressed b/c cade called.

max waves goodbye to spiderman brennan as he walks to cade's house, 

where he spent the ENTIRE day. god bless susie swensen.

max was in boots, brennan's coat, and her underwear only. it reminded me of swim team in high school--man i loved those deck coats in the fog at swim meets. then she asked to stay outside and play after, and protested on the front porch for 5 min, even after i closed the front door on her. 

my utah kids and their thick blood don't care if it's 12 degrees outside, and they're only in their underwear. 

i LOVE it! but that doesn't mean i want to stand out there in my underwear. 

even though i had on pants. 

and a shirt for that matter. 

this isn't where i was going with this.

chase helped me with laundry.

and then he found the potty.

and the potty water.

and helping me with laundry was over.

 {crimpy hair from her braids yesterday.}

and then max climbed into her crib while i was nursing chase,

and fell asleep for two hours.

and woke up happy and smiling,

and asking if i wanted to "pay wit" her? {play with}

and then she lined up her ponies on the kitchen table and ate peanut butter toast and sliced pears,

and asked to watched ariel.

and i made chili.

the end.

life is like a pudding cup {brussel sprouts recipe}

 

{b/c the crunch is almost more important than the whipping cream. thank you holly!}

.....

this morning i cut everyone's hair and made pudding cups.

2pm church means we have LOTS of time for extra stuff.

like haircuts and pudding cups.

so all day brennan kept opening the fridge and staring at the pudding cups.

it was so cute.

he kept telling me how his favorite part of this entire day was pudding cups,

and how he just couldn't wait to eat his pudding cup after dinner.

so he ate all of his brussel sprouts and lasagna, 

and could hardly contain himself while i swirled his whipped cream and chopped nuts for his pudding cup.

for the next five minutes it was absolute silence.

THEN...

the following occured:

1. brennan drops chocolate pudding spoon onto the CARPET under kitchen table.

{DANG CARPET under my kitchen table. it was bound to happen.}

2. get hot rag to clean pudding off of carpet.

3. while cleaning up spoonful of pudding, 

brennan drops his ENTIRE chocolate filled pudding cup 

onto the CARPET under my kitchen table.

{DANG CARPET under my kitchen table.}

4. i declare i'm calling jaren tomorrow to have the hardwood installed.

{we are laughing, and then telling brennan to be serious now, give him serious eyes look.}

5. get the oxi clean spray in the laundry room and scrub out half of the chocolate pudding,

leave half of pudding stain soaking in oxy clean.

6. brennan finishes his pudding cup, i go rinse out rag.

7. go back to cleaning up pudding, see some pudding blobs,

decide to eat pudding blobs

{don't want to rub it in deeper, and why waste good pudding?}.

8. and then all of a sudden i'm tasting oxy clean.

b/c i forgot i had already sprayed them with oxy clean two minutes before.

and that's when it hit me.

things can always be worse.

and then you go back and think hey, that first worse wasn't bad at all compared to this worse now.

when the spoon fell we were so bugged about having to clean up a spoonful of pudding from the carpet.

whining about our carpet under the kitchen table.

and then when the pudding cup dropped, that spoonful of pudding didn't seem so bad anymore.

and then when i was eating pudding sprayed with oxy clean, 

cleaning up pudding off of the carpet didn't seem so bad anymore.

and so i looked up at my kids and sean and i said,
"life can always get worse, so no matter how bad you think things are, 

things are actually pretty great b/c just the way they are. 

because in five minutes you might be eating oxy clean and cleaning up TWO pudding cups 

instead of just one."

they all looked confused, but it made me a little bit happier that all i was worrying about tonight was cleaning up pudding cup off of my carpet and tasting oxy clean in my mouth.

WINNING!!!

and in the words of the great stephanie nielson, 

"heaven IS here."

it

really

REALLY

is.

even with carpet under my kitchen table, pudding cup on my carpet, and oxy clean in my mouth.

b/c that is the cutest little sack of potatoes line up to bed you've ever seen!

:):):)

"it feels like you're cutting my skin off. are you cutting my skin off? you're like an evil scientist mom...{quietly mumbles the following}...i knew this was a bad idea. this was a BAD idea. are we done yet? why did we have to do this?...ok, i like it. i look like Cade." 

-brennan 4.10 yrs old

 .........

BRUSSEL SPROUTS

{my dad's way}

1. cut brussel sprouts in half. 

{i also like to cut off their stem end a little too}

2. drizzle extra virgin olive oil in pan, 

and place brussel sprouts flat side down on pan.

3. chop red onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, and garlic-- 

sprinkle over top of brussel sprouts.

4. cut four raw bacon slices in half, 

and then chop into 1/2" squares, layer over top of veggies.

{my dad cuts most of the fat off, 

but i like the fat so i leave it on, plus it's less work for me.}

5. turn pan to medium heat, let sizzle for about 7 minutes 

to brown bottoms of brussel sprouts.

6. use spatula to saute veggies for about another 5-7 minutes.

{we like ours a little crunchy, 

just make sure the bacon gets cooked.}

7. serve hot {in my opinion it can be your entire meal, but tonight it was a side to our lasagna.}

ENJOY!!!