12 Eyes...and Jam

Bee has been struggling with reading for awhile.  She mostly read by seeing the first letter and just guessing a word that begins with that letter.  Then sometime in the last few weeks, she decided to put on Two's glasses to read.  And amazingly she began reading better.  So I decided, maybe it was time to have her vision checked.  Believe you me, I felt like a horrible mother when after we left the eye doctor with a prescription that he knocked down a few levels so she wouldn't be legally blind....well not quite, being a little dramatic, but he did make a lesser prescription.  Just crazy to think 3 out of my 4 are farsighted....Where did they get their eyes?

But the best part of the exam that just made me smile, maybe a proud mom moment, or a proud teacher moment but the nurse put the letters up on the wall and said, "tell me what the letters say."

Bee looks eyes all strained...and says "buh, duh, kuh, tuh, mah."  I just smiled, because she told her what they say.

She is so excited to get her glasses, and I am so excited to have her be able to see. 

Just makes me wonder, if you know Bee, you know her stare, if she really was staring, or if she was just trying to focus and see you....just a thought.

The kids and I picked our pears. 19 gallons of pears!

This last weekend I made, with the help of my mom, some pear jam.  She gave me some plum, peach, peach-raspberry jams that she had made.  Still carrying a load of pears, that the kids made, I decided to make some more jam/sauce yesterday.  So I whipped up a couple batches of strawberry-pear sauce/jam.   When G came in last night as I was making it, he commented on how it smelled so good, that we needed to make waffles or pancakes or crepes.  I agreed it sure smelled good.

So this morning I woke up to the kids making pancakes.  They had all kinds of shapes going. Then they opened up a jar of all the jams we have, including the cherry syrup our neighbors gave to us yesterday after we dropped off some pear jam.  They poured the jams into their own bowls and began taste testing.  Their first favorite was my moms peach raspberry then my pear-berry.  It was really cute!  Such cute kids.

And I am going to work on pear raspberry tomorrow, or maybe Thursday....or Saturday??? I don't know but I still have a ton of pears, and still many growing on the tree.  But am so excited that I canned by myself and it wasn't as hard as I thought...though i just finished cleaning up the kitchen from my mess...but that is more out of shear laziness. 

Pears anyone?

And Eric is coming home for three days this weekend, got a sitter for Friday night!!!!  and ......older two are having oral surgery on Monday...I guess not really oral surgery but sedated dental work, lots and lots needs to be done, and we are going to do it all in one shot. Glad Eric will be here for it.

520....really

this will be my 520th post! wowsers...I was just thinking that I should post some pictures....and then noticed 520 and thought wow pretty cool....anyway I never really posted many pictures from this summer...it sure was a busy one.  So here you go...a heck of a lot of summer photos...

Two Graduates from Preschool!

Preschool class of 2010...What a cute bunch!

That's TWO in the purple dress and glasses...Singing at the top of her lungs!!

Miss Melissa giving her, her diploma...

Two proudly watching her other friends receive their diploma.  I am so glad she had the experience of attending preschool and enjoying it.  However I wasn't preprared for some pomp and circumstance (is that how you spell it?? and say it?) I think if I had know I would have invited grandparents, aunts and uncles, and DAD, because I was the only "single" person there!  :)  Congratulations TWO off to Kindergarten you go!!!

If I've told you once...

Eat all your lunch......wait is this a picture of your unfinished lunch......Do not open the oven door while something is baking!....wait you opened the door to get this picture didn't you??

And um well don't look directly in the sun or at least try to take your portrait outside.....

I have told you before....don't play with mom's camera! 

especially when your hands are covered in chocolate pudding and you are aiming the camera at your mom when she is telling you to put the camera down, not such a pretty face!

(as I was posting this Two said..."oh I took that, you should see the other one I took of the spaghetti Os...too cute! love my budding photographer!)

Cleaning out Files

My body has left me home from work, sick in bed with a laptop and digital pictures to hang out with.   It hasn't been too bad of  a day minus, the many trips to the restroom.  My parents took the girls and the boys and I have just been hanging out.  It has been nice. 

Eric took G-Man to get a much needed haircut this morning. This is a picture of him earlier this month. His bangs were in his eyes this morning. 

 I must say though, I am a MEAN MEAN HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD MOM.......not because I let him go several months with out a cut, or a brush most days, but because I laughed so hard when he came in.  Not sure what they stylist was thinking but he gave him more of a bowl cut.  With my advanced degree in haircutting, OK I watched the video when I got my clippers, I trimmed him up a little more, making his bush look more like a boy hair cut rather than a Dorothy Hammel Cut...He is much happier and now has stopped crying and said he will go to school now. 

This is taken after I fixed it!

I am not normally so mean with laughing at my children, but it really was bad and he had every reason to cry and I should of been more loving, but glad he let me kind of fix it up.  I tried to take the roundness out of his bangs. And the fullness off his back.  He is a darling little boy. And so glad he let me cut his hair, but a friend just stopped by and said....LAUGHING...."you got your hair cut!"  hope he doesn't change his minde about going to school and being teased.  Though I assured him that it was more shoking to see his handsome face than anything.  He then said "well after we played he didn't say anything more about my hair, I guess people will just get used to it, like he did."   Yes they will and you do look handsome!

T-Rex, I must say is a much happier boy with out his sisters around, well besides the fact that he is crying right now, but he has just been playing and doing his own thing.  Granted he did take the girls dolls, and bring them to me in bed to babysit, while he drove his train to "mcdonalds" to get me some fries and a coke.  He has also enjoyed pushing around a stroller with out someone taking it from him.  

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the girls. 

And while my insides have been flushing themselves clean, I have been downloading and organizing all my pictures....

Its hard to believe this was a year ago....my birthday!

And here I am this month.....

And look at little T-Rex....last year

And here he is today:....

Time sure is flying!   Here I am with G-Man last year at this time too...

G-Man Stands Alone

Here in the great state of Utah, they do what is called Reflections...not sure how many other states do them but they didn't do it in Hawaii or Texas.  Anyway its a state wide art contest.  There are all kinds of different categories.  Bee did an amazing floral picture using dried flowers, she got a recognized award and stood among crowds of other young budding artist.  Though I am saying this not just because I am her mother, but her picture really rocked and I think the judges didn't know what they were doing. 

Well Eric took the kids a few weeks back for the awards night at their elementary school, and as I had stated Bee stood in a crowd of many, so it wasn't so obvious that her parents didn't bring a camera to capture the award ceremony night. 

When it came to the 3D art, guess who was the only one in the WHOLE school that submitted a 3D art??  Yeah G-Man....so he walked up to the stage as Eric chased down T-rex,  and when he noticed the silence, G-Man standing alone, and the principal asking if he had gotten a picture, Eric felt as a deer in headlights. Not only did he forget his camera, and his son was standing alone, and there was a large silence over the audience but he was chasing down a two year old.   

So tonight as he took the older three to the ceremony, I made sure he walked out with a camera, because what if G-Man is the only one in the district that did 3D art....can't have another one of those awkward bad parent moments again. 

BEAUTY is snow fallen on a castle.....or something like that was his title.

Christmas Day in Photos!

G made a Santa Block as a card and thank you for Santa.  Though it still sat on the mantel in the morning and he asked if Santa even saw it.  He did and was very grateful! Just didn't have time to take it.

This is Two as she walked out and saw her Santa chair! So happy!

This is a little out of order, but Tuesday I had realized we hadn't had or been to a Christmas party this year.  So I called and invited a few of my friends here over.  However since it was last minute many had plans, go figure :) but gratefully two good friends didn't and we had a blast. I think I might throw more parties even if Eric isn't around.  We had fun!Here is T-Rex playing with his train that his Papa built for him. Pretty impressive!

G-Man wearing his new PJS and his new favorite baseball cap...GO COUGARS!!! (even if his dad professes to be a U fan he loves BYU!!!--thanks uncle soren!and all decked out like a little skater dude!! Hed go outside for about two minutes and come back in freezing...figuring out that summer outdoor toys are not great Utah Christmas gifts. But he still loves it and as I speak the kids are scooting around on it with T-Rex's ride on train attached. Bee had an interesting request this year for santa "$12 in cash."  So he did give it to her with a few other things.  She got this canvas bag and put her "special" gifts in it, her doll, her new wallet with $12, her makeup, her barbie, some card games. She has carried ti around ever since.  G-Man commented that next year he is going to ask santa for $20....Better start saving for these cash Christmases. So happy to have a new brush and a little petshop! She tried to fit the house in her purse, just not big enough!

Here is T-Rex using his new tools to fix stuff, he loves tools and went around just "fixing" everything, including his new trains and trucks.

Hope y'all had a very Merry Christmas!!

December in Photos

Eric

Eric my love turned 40!  We celebrated by going to dinner to our favorite RED ROBIN and then off swimming in an indoor pool, of which I was wary because it was in the low teens. But we had a blast. Then on his real birthday we woke up and had breakfast pancake, and then met his brother and sister for lunch. The roads were icy and I just found out that his sister was in a car accident on the way home!  Thanks for meeting us and making it a special day and I am so sorry you had an accident.  I feel so bad!The Breakfast pancake is one of our family's favorite traditions.  Each layer is buttered and either jammed or fresh fruits (usually depends if we make it to the store the day before) and again usually topped with whipped cream, but these were filled with homemade peach jam and some tasty razelberry jam. 

SNOW!!!!! SNOW!!!! SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The beginning of a giant snow man!It is getting bigger....and well never got a picture of the finished dude.

T-Rex Never laughed so hard as he did, in the snow!!  I wish I owned a video camera. He would just throw him self down in the snow and laugh as he slid down our little hill.  Then he would thrust himself up with out touching the snow with his ungloved hands.

Then Miss Two decided to cut her bangs, however this picture doesn't do her cut justice, other than the fact that those bare spots are where her hair is cut to the scalp!  Nice job Two, and the best part is Eric was almost an accomplice...he at least was watching her and her brother T-Rex cut chunks out of their hair.  At least it grows back.

Nanny and Papa came to visit!  We love when they come to visit!  And appreciate all they do for us! The kids loved sitting around and talking with them, we even talked them into going out in the cold to see the awesome lights of downtown, after a day of baking, and store trips.

Today we hung out with most of our Simonsen family and had a wonderful time!  Thanks for all the singing and entertainment and yummy food...and GIFTS!  Love our family and feel so blessed.