Popcorn and a Movie

This was my solution for allowing the kids to have popcorn while watching a movie without making a huge mess.  They are sitting on a towel and Nicole was asleep, so it actually worked out quite well.The movie they have been choosing lately is “The Sword and the Stone” because they’ve been listening to the [...]

Homemade Treats From My Childhood

I think my favorite treat as a child was homemade fruit leather.  Both my mom and my Grandma O’Bryant made it.  I remember them making it in strawberry and in raspberry.  I loved the flavor and the texture of it and I never thought I got enough of it.

It was nice out

So I went out with the kids to play, even though I had cleaning to do inside.
Nicole enjoyed laying on her tummy in the dirt with her arms reached out as if to make upside-down dirt angels, she also tasted the dirt.

The family dynamics as they are now

Since moving to Tennessee and adding one more child, I’ve noticed some changes in how the kids relate to each other.
Isaac and Charlotte still get along very well and play together all the time.  It seems like they’ve been conspiring more and getting into more trouble since the move, but maybe I just think that [...]

The Car Top Carrier

There were eight people (6 kids, 2 adults) in my family growing up, but most vans only had seat belts for 7 so space was always an issue.  A car top carrier seemed like the perfect solution for baggage and it worked ok for us for a little while.  The straps would make this [...]

Charlotte(s)

Charlotte has missed all the little girls her age back in Utah.  In primary, there are no  girls in Isaac’s class and she’s the only girl in her class.  So the closest girl in age is in the class one year younger than her and ironically that girl’s name is also Charlotte.  If that wasn’t [...]

This picture makes me laugh

I came into the living room to find this scene, luckily I always have a camera close by. Editor’s note: Nicole is trying to sit in a tiny doll-size high chair.

Quality Time with Nicole

I find myself with very little time during the day to spend one on one with my children, so I do my best to take advantage of any extra moments throughout the day.  I do things like play games with them while we wait in the grocery store line or at the doctor’s office and [...]

Nicole’s New Bed

I have been wanting to see how Nicole would do in a regular bed for a little while now.   Everyday she runs into Isaac and Charlotte’s room and climbs into their beds, pulls the covers over herself, and pretends to sleep.  In addition to her enthusiasm for beds is that fact that Ila is sleeping [...]

A Childhood Moment

I started writing my personal history on this blog, I’m far from finished, but I can’t seem to find the time to sit and write for an hour so perhaps I’ll write a few memories here  and there and later compose them into my history.
My family didn’t take a lot of family vacations that [...]

All in a day’s work

So I had this idea today that I ought to write down what a day in my life is like right now.  I think I’ll look back one day and wonder how I did it, because there are days now when I wonder how I managed to make it through the day only to wake [...]

Forklift Family

My father’s favorite thing to do when his grandsons come to visit is to give them forklift rides:

So when he saw this picture of my grandfather he said “Mom, your family is a forklift family"

On a Typical Night. .

you might see a scene like this if you checked on the children after bedtime: Isaac will likely be found surrounded by non-fiction books.  He often has one propped up or will fall asleep with his finger in one.  The globe is not atypical.  He loves to study maps and other such things as he [...]

Grandma O’Bryant’s house Then and Now

I’ve wanted to go see my grandmother’s house since moving to Knoxville a few months ago, but I didn’t want to go alone so I waited until my sister Krista could come with me.
This is what the house used to look like and except for the fact that there were a lot more trees [...]

Nature vs Nurture. . . .really?!

I don’t think anyone who has had a little boy could make the argument that masculinity  is something that we train in our kids.  When Isaac was 17 months old, someone handed me a book full of trucks to show him.  I assumed the book would not hold his attention for long, after all it [...]

The tradition continues

This is old news now, but I thought I ought to update my blog and decided to scroll through recent pictures for inspiration and all of Charlotte’s recent pictures make me think of this event/story.
Charlotte gave herself a haircut.  I was lucky—it wasn’t too bad and it was on the verge of being much [...]

Excerpt from when Isaac was 3 and Charlotte was 1 1/2:

6.20.07 Today Isaac brought his toy jeep over to me and said “mom, want some noise” then he turned it on.  6.21.07 Today I took Isaac to the post office with me to buy stamps.  I let him put the money in, make the selection and then collect the change at the end.  As [...]

Excerpt From the Log:

I scrolled through my log and choose a date at random—here’s what I wrote on February 6th of last year:
2.6.09 Here are some recent things the kids said:  "I would sleep so hard that I couldn’t wake up. I’d be stuck asleep and you’d have to kiss me to wake me up. Would you kiss [...]

More posts to come. . .

Every so often I think I should write a blog post, but then I never do.  I blame the fact that I have 4 children and whenever I sit down to do something not related to cleaning, the house seems to fall apart.  The other night I updated my log of funny things my kids [...]

Zach at 33

On my birthday I’ll take some time to be a little self-indulgent and describe myself and some of the ways I’ve changed. 
I’m a bit plumper than I once was.  I’m about 185 lbs these days, where just a few years ago I was 155.  My hair is receding just a bit, but it’s at [...]