Reasons

Reasons for flying a family of 5 to Utah for only 3 days:

Reason #1- Chase's baby blessing. We have always blessed our children at home. It is such an amazing experience to be surrounded by family and friends when blessing the baby. I am so grateful to be married to a worthy priesthood holder. For Chase's blessing, we had Lance's entire immediate family there and our friends, the Nields-- who have been able to attend every one of our childrens' blessings.
Reason #2- Lance's sister, Kelly is leaving on her mission tomorrow. We are so proud of her. She is going to Chile and I can't wait to hear all about how thew MTC is kicking her butt! :)
Reason #3- To have a faux Christmas with the Rasmussen family. The kids LOVE getting together with their cousins and aunts and uncles and of course, Grandma and Grandpa. They were spoiled like crazy for three days and loved it.



Reason #4- On the 8 hour (including layover) plane ride out there, the kids were PERFECT! Even Chase did not so much as make a peep. It was dreamy.

Reason #5- We couldn't get enough of Rockband and karaoke with Lance's brother, Collin and his wife, Rebekah
Now, reasons why we are crazy for flying a family of 5 to Utah for only 3 days-

Reason #1- TOBIN. On the flight home, Tobin, Chase and I were seperated from Lance and Zoie by a few rows. I didn't mind at the time. Tobin is an easy-going, well-behaved kid. I was sure he would sleep on the 4 hour flight from Phoenix to Tampa. I was wrong. Instead, he talked non-stop. Loud. And he peed on the seat. I went to change him and it was only after a 20 minute wait for the bathroom that I discovered I had grabbed Chase's bag by accident. So I made Tobin wear a pair of Chase's sweatpants. Reminder: Tobin is 2 1/2. Chase is 2 1/2 months. Hilarious. And humiliating.Reason #2- Stomach bug. Zoie, me, and Tobin. Enough said.

Reason #3- Twenty degree weather.

Reason #4- There are so many friends that we love to visit out there that we did not have time to see. Next time, guys.

We had the best time and wished we could have been there longer. Thanks, Rasmussens! We love you guys.

Bad Mom

Zoie fell off of the top bunk yesterday during nap time. I heard a loud thud and a piercing scream-- the kind of scream that a kid can't fake. It was a scary few moments, trying to calm Zoie down to assess the damage. It wasn't hard to assess- her forehead was swollen to immense proportions. Once she calmed down and got some Motrin in her, she was back to her usual self and hasn't complained since.

None of this makes me a bad Mom. We have safety precautions on the top bunk. Zoie admits that she was hanging upside down talking to Tobin when she fell. There was nothing I could have done to prevent the accident.

What makes me a bad Mom is that I can't seem to look at her without noticing a striking resemblance:

Seriously, the pictures don't do this giant forehead lump justice. People were actually gasping as I walked her into preschool this morning. She is proud of her battle wounds and couldn't wait to show her friends.

A Thanksgiving Musical

Last night set records for the most hilarious holiday-- I am sure of it.

At a delicious, traditional turkey dinner with our friends, we shared our thoughts of thanks and gratitude for our many blessings.

Then we threw all inhibitions to the wind and played this into the early morning hours:
What ensued was over six hours of laughter. Gut-wrenching, gasping for air, my stomach and cheeks muscles are still sore, kind of laughter. Non-stop.

I see a new Thanksgiving tradition in the works.

Here is a picture of our friends, the Garcias-- singing their hearts out. (I can post this picture because they don't read my blog). Just be grateful that I am not posting one of the many videos I took.

Giving Thanks

We have so much to be grateful for this year. Going around the dinner table, everyone has to pick just one thing that they are grateful for in that year.

So in 2009, I am grateful for Chase.


Of course I am so grateful for all of my kids, but as of this time last year, we were done having kids. Heavenly Father went through much trouble to be sure that Chase came to our family. As an added bonus, he made this little baby good and easy (a first for this family).

And I'm grateful that I was, at last, able to capture this kid's smile in pictures (albeit fuzzy, out of focus pictures). Enjoy.

A Thanksgiving Horror Story

It is a dark day, complete with torrential downpour. A Chevy Tahoe pulls in to the local branch of the post office. A happy (albeit chubby) mom climbs out and proceeds to strap a newborn into her Snugli carrier. She then whisks out the umbrella stroller and straps in the one year-old boy she babysits. All the while, a rambunctious two year-old and four year-old climb out of the now empty SUV.

The gang slowly make their way into the crowded building-- struggling to all stay beneath one umbrella. She gets in line and congratulates herself for making it this far. She eventually achieves the coveted position of front of the line. As she is called to the counter, chaos erupts.

The one year-old manages to elude his strap and is now standing dangerously on the stroller and is screaming. As the mother tries to re-strap him, the baby she is "wearing" cries out in discomfort at her bent over position. The two year-old who has managed to escape the mother's grasp in all the chaos has climbed to the top of a nearby counter and falls dramatically to the floor. The four year-old who was instructed NOT to touch the nearby greeting cards now has a handful of them.

Gasps and murmuring from the very long line that the frustrated mother is now holding up. She smiles and pretends everything is fine and attempts to mail her international package. She has filled out the wrong customs form. In the time it takes to re-fill out the very unnecessary form, three out of the four children are in the midst of full-blown temper tantrums. The mother can feel all eyes on her back.

Just when it seems that things could not possibly get more humiliating, the mother begins to laugh. Hard. It is just too much and too hysterical to do anything but laugh. The antsy crowd of onlookers is sure that she has lost her mind. She very well might have.

In related news-- Mom and Dad, I have mailed your package. The very last one you will be receiving from me. Expect it in 3-5 business days.

Advice Needed

One of the items on my "Things I Want to Accomplish Before I Die" list is to take beautiful pictures. As I have made abundantly clear previously, I have no nice equipment-- nor do I have any natural artistic talent.

But I am obsessed with pictures. I love looking at them and I love lugging around my old, scuffed up Canon and taking pictures until my children are seeing stars.

I have decided (on a whim, of course) that I would like to learn to take pretty pictures now-- while my kids are young. I think I will regret it if I wait. It is just plain wrong to have such great-looking kids and not be able to take good photos of them.

I have no desire to be a professional photographer-- just to take photos in which my children do not have red eyes. I would also like to be able to capture their personalities in a picture and not be embarrassed to hang the pictures on a wall.

I need a good camera, but I don't know where to begin looking. If you know of a good camera for beginners-- nothing too complicated or fancy, please let me know. And please keep in mind that I am cheap. REALLY, REALLY cheap. (Like-- I have been known to balk at the prices at the Goodwill cheap). But if you give me an idea of the type of camera to look for, I can start scrounging around for a good deal.

I just don't have a clue where to start. I'd appreciate any and all ideas!

Hubba Bubba

The bowl of Halloween candy has dwindled into a mess of stale bubble gum and cheap lollipops. (Honestly, if the ingredients don't include chocolate-- consider it a waste of money to buy the candy!)

Last night, Lance decided to blow the biggest bubble possible out of Double Bubble gum. He had moderate success, but changed agendas and began to see how many pieces he could conceivably fit in his mouth.

After 20 pieces of sickeningly sweet pink gum, we ran out.

My first thought was, "What a sweet Dad that he would do all of this to entertain his kids." (They really were enraptured by it all.) But as I looked at his big goofy smile stuffed to the brim with pink goo, I realized that he would be doing this whether the kids were here or not.

I just love that goofball.