Sunday, August 23, 2009

Happy Anniversary!



7 years
2 degrees
3 kids
some craziness
countless memories
lots of love

I love you, Babe!


Mmmm, tasty.

(Evan, Sheridan, Jack, and Adam at the Oquirrh Mt. Temple Open House, July)
This morning our friends watched the kids so we could go to the LDS Ouqirrh Mountain Temple dedication (it's pronounce "ocher", like the color). Over the past months the temple has been open to the general public for tours, but with the dedication it becomes sacred. It was really cool to participate in a dedication on our 7th anniversary--it was a great reminder that temples allow our family to be together forever and a very peaceful and spiritual way to spend the morning.
After the dedication, we had a tasty brunch with Corey and Jenni. I made my FAVORITE pancakes, pikelets from New Zealand. Corey got as addicted to them as I am so I thought I'd share the recipe (I make a double batch at least weekly and we all gobble them up!). Sheridan calls them "baby pancakes" since they're silver dollar sized and because they're a little sweet, they're delicious just plain (of course, they're also delicious slathered in butter or dunked in yogurt or topped with fruit and powdered sugar, or nutella'd...the possibilities are endless!).

(from the Edmonds Cookery Book, New Zealand)
1 c flour (I do half whole wheat and half unbleached flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat egg and sugar until thick (I just use a fork to do this). Add with milk to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (overmixing results in rubbery pancakes). Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture from the point of a spoon onto a hot nonstick gridle (I set my gridle to 375--if yours isn't nonstick, grease it lightly). Turn pikelets over when bubbles start to burst on top surface. Cook second side until golden. Makes 8-12. (I like them best hot off the gridle without any toppings--they are slightly crunchy on the edges and sooo tasty!)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Back to school, back to school...

Jack is certainly proving to Dad that he's no fool.
Preschool started on Tuesday for Jack. He's attending an in-home school this year--Little Learners--and his teacher is fabulous. She did the kindergarten testing for all the kids and (no surprise) Jack knocked it outta the park. He was a little nervous about going to a new school, but he had SO MUCH FUN!!! His first field trip is in 2 weeks and tomorrow I'll get to spotlight him.
He's growing up too fast! Somebody slow him down!!!
Here he is in front of his preschool! He's got his nervous/excited face on.
He chose the apple shirt--he's a mac, not a pc. His teacher said "he's certainly got a lot of personality!". That's good, right? :)

Caught in the Act

Finally! I'm getting one of my favorite videos (ok, one of our only videos!) of Sheridan off the camera and into the bloggasphere. This was back in June. Forgive the lighting. Live the dream.
She's been singing this song for MONTHS and loves to pretend she's Cinderella. Usually she gets some comb action going, too.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Not a good thing...

Well, for those of you who know my extended family (the Birds), it has been a rough few weeks. My mom was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer and had a hysterectomy--that was supposed to take care of the problem since uterine cancer is generally localized and is less aggressive.

My mom has Multiple Sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, so there were some complications with recovery--pnuemonia, congestive heart failure, etc. It was a little scary, but she finally came home on Monday (hooray!). Things were looking up.
Unfortunately, they found free-floating ovarian cancer cells during the surgery. Ovarian cancer isn't as 'friendly' as uterine cancer, so things are looking less cheery. Chemotherapy for 6 months is now in her near future. So, for those of you who do know my mom, your prayers will be MUCH appreciated. Heck, those of you who don't know my mom can also pray for her--I'm pretty sure God listens to people who don't know my mom as well as to those who do! My family tends to keep stuff like this on the down-low, but I know lots of my friends who love my mom--and I don't want to forget to tell someone!
Thanks for listening--I may not feel much like talking about this in person or over the phone, but it makes me feel better knowing that, nonetheless, friends will know what's going on.
Peace out.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Victory is Ours (or, the post about pee)

I'm probably jinxing myself...but one must celebrate a victory as it comes, non?

(that was french for "no")
We started doing the full-time potty training on Saturday.
No, it's for Sheridan, silly. (This post might be a little gross for the super-clean--come on, it's about potty training, of course it's a little gross!)
I've been a little...mmm...reluctant to potty train Sheridan. Maybe terrified and resistant would be better descriptions. Jack was not an easy child to potty train ("not easy"? try horribly frustrating). I was not in a hurry to repeat that. However, she's been showing signs of readiness for a few months. With travelling and such, though, there was no way.
So, now the company has departed and we have no further adventures planned for this summer. When the kids had a viral rash this weekend, I figured there was no better time. 
Saturday we started. The princess underpants were a DEFINITE incentive (thank you, Grammy!). She's only had one or two accidents each day since then. But...
no poop.
Typical. she did NOT want to poop on the potty. This girl is normally more regular than metamucil, but she wasn't having it. 
Today I looked up some stuff online about potty training the non-poopers. One site recommended no underwear so they can feel the difference. After she failed to "go" at her usual time on the potty, I tried it. Whilst perusing another "potty" site, I heard a "thud, thud, thud" on the floor. 
Thank goodness I turned around and caught her before the 4th rabbit-like turd hit the floor. Fortunately she'd a little less loose than normal (that would have been DISGUSTING). I whisked her to the potty and she got the last out there (she couldn't even protest, just had to keep doing her business). Blessedly, Henry was far enough away that those...things...on the floor weren't a problem until I could get her onto the potty. While she finished up, I cleaned up (hoorary for Lysol!) and we celebrated with a potty dance and popsicles (don't worry, we sanitized everything in sight first!).
And tonight, wonder of wonder and miracle of miracles, she pooped on the potty of her own volition. 
Tomorrow will probably make up for it all.
Happy pooping!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Why we love the beach...

Henry loves some one-on-one time with Daddy.
Sheridan loves the excitement.

Jack loves the sand. And his cousins...
Ali loves time with all the family.

Tyler loves it all.

Random shots with Grammy and cousins (including the 4-headed monster)