Cousin Visit!

This past week my sister and two of her kids came to visit us. Adyson is six and was such a big help with Gabe and Porter. Ryder is four months old and wasn't so much help, but he sure is cute. It was so fun for Gabe and Porter to have a cousin to play with. The kids just played and played and played!

Here they are playing dress up. Adyson found my swimsuits and was trying them on, so Gabe had to put his on too.

We ventured over to the Air Force Museum one afternoon.

Monday John was off work so he came to the Aquarium with us.

Thanks to Gabe who took this stellar picture of me with my sister, niece and nephew!

Someday I'll have to make a collage of all the lorakeet photos we have. And no, I'm not kidding this is getting out of control. A lorakeet post is in the near future!

Porter checking out the Puffer Fish

I really wanted to give my sister a "memorable" experience. So I researched some restaurants in Cincinnati and thought we'd give this one a try. It had great reviews and who wouldn't remember this place? After driving through the ghetto to get there, we found out they didn't open for another two hours. We were starving and disappointed. We took a picture out front and asked a worker if we could just take a peek inside. We walked in and the owner of the place invited us back to the kitchen to taste the soup he'd been working all day. We did and chatted with him for a while. He asked us where we were from and my sister answered Utah. So he immediately asks if we are Mormon. Yes we are. Then he starts in on how he's just watched a reality TV show about polygamists. So my sister and I try to explain to him that no we're not polygamists. All the while I'm thinking we fit the picture since we have one man and four kids out in the car! Still makes me laugh, thinking about it!

Gabe and Adyson at El Toro where we finally ate lunch.

For John's family: Does this picture of Gabe look like anyone you know?

Gabe and Adyson

THEN and NOW

Jenny, Adyson and Ryder thanks for the visit! We love you guys!

Thank you Waste Management

What parent doesn't look forward to having a break from their kids once in a while? Lucky for me, Gabe goes to preschool, we have regular babysitting swaps, and date nights so I get plenty of breaks. I do get one break that is a little unusual, but I can always count on. It is from Waste Management. Every Tuesday afternoon I am guaranteed a five minute break while my kids are glued to the window watching the garbage and recycling trucks come around the cul-de-sac. It's not much, but five minutes is five minutes. Thank you Waste Management.

Boring Blog?

My cousin just posted on her blog about January being a boring month, so it makes boring blogs. So she's going to spice up her blog by posting something new about herself each day in January. Well, I would hate to thing of my blog being boring! But, I really don't think I can blog each day in January. So to liven things up on my blog here's 31 things (one for each day in January) you may not know about me, the blogger.

1. I hate American cheese.

2. My awesome hubby typically gets up with the kids in the morning so I can get a little extra sleep.

3. I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up and it bothers me.

4. I haven't worked out in over a month.

5. When I was growing up I hated wearing shorts because I got teased about my "chicken legs."

6. I think I have nice legs now.

7. I skipped the 8th grade.

8. I've never had a speeding ticket.

9. The other day while making cookies I was so grateful I had a KitchenAid doing all the hard work. Then I thought I would have really nice arms if I actually mixed the dough by hand when I did my baking. The pioneers must of had really nice arms. It's too bad they always wore long sleeves and never got to show them off.

10. My arms could use some work. I have bat wings.

11. I also wouldn't mind a boob job or tummy tuck. Just saying.

12. I have a hard time keeping my eyes closed during prayers. This has nothing to do with having to keep an eye on my kids. I've always had this problem.

13. If you are bored reading this you should be reading someone else's blog.

14. I've been pregnant four times. Yep, four first trimesters, ugh, and only two kids to show for it, but they are super awesome kids.

15. I took horseback riding lessons for nearly ten years.

16. I'm mildly OCD. No kidding, I've checked my symptoms on WebMD.

17. I don't think french fries or potato chips taste good enough for the amount of calories they contain.

18. I once stole a fork from the Olive Garden, but gave it to a homeless man along with my leftovers.

19. I've been to 34 states, as well as Canada and Mexico.

20. I dislike flying, it gives me anxiety attacks, but so did the first season of LOST. Weird since I loved LOST

21. I attended 9 different schools by the time I graduated high school.

22. Sometimes when I'm making dinner I pretend I'm hosting my own cooking show. Don't laugh at me until you try it!

23. People magazine is one of my guilty pleasures.

24. I love Jane Austen.

25. I don't like Shakespeare or the Nutcracker.

26. One of my favorite things ever is clean sheets on my bed. I never make my bed. If you see my bed and it's made, it's because I'm trying to impress you.

27. I'm afraid of dying and heights.

28. Last 3 Books I've read:

Al Capone Does My Shirts (liked it)

The Fountainhead (loved it)

The Book Thief (best book I've read this year)

29. One of my all time favorite quotes is from Marie Ramone: "To make the perfect meatball, the most important ingredient is the love. Without the love it's just a ball of meat."

30. Three years ago I didn't even know what a blog was.

31. My goal for the new year: to be a better mom.

How was that? Are you bored yet?

Happy New Year!

Last night we put the kids to bed, watched a movie and we were in bed by 10:30. We did wake up at 12 when we heard fireworks going off outside, told each other Happy New Year, then rolled over and went back to sleep. I'm pretty sure there are 90 year olds that party more than we do.

We did decide to get out of the house and do something fun on New Years Day, so we took the kids to the Cincinnati Zoo. We got to the zoo just after lunch and it was empty! The ticket lady said all of 30 people were inside. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. John even said, "I feel like we've broken in and are going to get in trouble for being here." Honestly, best day I've ever spent at the zoo!

Crikey! He's got me!

Porter splashing in puddles!

Porter, John and a cheetah

Really cool duck

Bowls of blood for the vampire bats. John is actually a vampire, so this was difficult for him. He kept licking the glass. So embarrassing.

Sea Lion, Porter, and half of me.

All I wanted was a New Years kiss, but look at the stink eye this guy gave me.

I'm not sure if fries were part of this chicken's special zoo diet, but they are now.

Giraffes!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Happy Christmas!

This was our first white Christmas in three years. The snow was a week old, but at least there was snow on the ground! This was also our first Christmas with family in three years! So a big THANK YOU to Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Rosie for coming to spend Christmas with us!

Here's a few pictures from our week:

John eats at this Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant frequently with his coworkers.

He loves the huge bowls of spicy soup. Hoping to clear his sinuses, we ventured to "Noodles" this week.

Even Grandpa and the kids got in on the noodle action!

The kids opening their jammies on Christmas Eve

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!

Kid Funnies

Here's a few funnies from my kids over the past few weeks:

The other day I heard Gabe pretending to order at a drive-thru window.

"I need a number zero, a Dr. Pepper, and that's it!"

Is it a sign we eat out too much if my child pretends to be at a restaurant or fast-food joint? Never mind, don't answer that.

Gabe has code named John "Combat Carl." So everyday when I hear Gabe yell, "Combat Carl! Combat Carl!" I know it's code for, "Daddy's home from work." Love it! You all know that Combat Carl was one of toy soldiers Sid blew up in Toy Story.

Sunday during lunch:

Gabe: (Burps) "Oops, my mouth just farted."

Me: " You mean you burped?"

Gabe: (laughing) "Yes. A mouth fart burp."

I was feeling very motherly the other day, so I actually combed Porter's hair after he got out of the tub. (I typically just use the good old finger comb for my kids hair.) Porter saw Gabe and said, "Mommy, what happened to Porter's hair?" Ha, ha! Love that my children are shocked by the cultures of refined society liked combed hair!

And last, a Porter funny. We stopped at Wendy's (I know, more fast food. Please don't judge me.) on the way home from story time at the library. I handed the kids each one chicken nugget and proceeded to drive home. I glanced back at a red light and noticed that Porter was sound asleep with the entire chicken nugget in his mouth! Guess he was super tired if he didn't bother to chew or swallow. I reached back and pulled the chicken nugget out of his mouth and he immediately woke up screaming. So I gave him back the chicken nugget and he promptly falls back asleep nugget in hand. Some kids need their teddy or blanket to fall asleep, mine just wanted his chicken nugget.

Poker Face

PORTER

Phone Calls

Gabe has started answering the phone at our house. So we're working on the whole phone etiquette thing with him. Last night our neighbor called and this is how the conversation went when Gabe answered the phone.

Gabe: Hello

Matt: Hi. Is your mom home?

Gabe: She's upstairs.

Matt: Is your dad home?

Gabe: No, I killed him.

Matt: Oh.

Keep in mind John gets killed several times a day by either a Jedi Knight or an evil villain. Typically his injuries consist of severed limbs or a beheading. So please don't be alarmed if you call our house and our four year old confesses to have killed us. Usually he puts "band aids" on our wounds and magically we are alive and well again.

It Snowed!

Gabe has been so excited to play in the snow this winter. So when he woke up and it was snowing this morning he immediately wanted to go outside and play. We only had a skiff of snow, so I told him when the grass was all covered with snow we would go outside. Well, it has snowed all day long, so by this afternoon the kids were able to go outside and play!

Hooray for snow and a fun daddy!