Redeeming Myself

We have been keeping busy as you can tell by my lack of posts. I feel guilty when I spend time reading everyone else's and not updating ours, so if you have the time to get caught up in the activities that have kept us occupied this past week, keep reading...

Is it normal to forget about an event that took place two days earlier until I see a photo... I feel like I'm losing my mind.

So about that last spider incident- I took a picture of the dang thing before I threw it in the garbage. I was paranoid about the babies hatching and crawling out the valve in the sippy cup. After thinking about it for a while I realized it was all a blessing in disguise. Had I not found the spider ON Kleven's bed when I did, I very well could have put him to bed with it later that evening... or worse yet, it could have left the eggs in his room and we would have had a serious problem. So just know that I wasn't trying to glorify our arachnid problems... but trying to point out how "lucky" we were. Anyhow- here's our friend: (the white circle above the spider is the egg sack neatly concealed in a tight web)

With Chris in school and working so much, I find myself hanging around my parents house a lot during the week. I figure if I'm not going to get anything done around my own house I might as well find things to do elsewhere. My dad gets home from work around the same time my two youngest brothers get home from school and that is Kleven's favorite time of the day. Dad has an amazing garden in the backyard and he lets the boys help him "work" in it. Kleven was in Heaven when they got to pick the carrots and wash the dirt off to eat them. Now he can't wait for the broccoli to be ready!

Ezra is just as cute as can be these days. He is in to everything and he's fast! He can make it from anywhere in the house to the tub in a matter of seconds when he hears the water turn on. He loves taking baths and splashes the WHOLE time. He rarely sits to play anymore, he would much rather stand, and he is phasing out baby food all together. Gone are the days of feeding ease... he screams until he gets a bite of whatever it is the rest of us are eating and he can smell mint choc.chip ice cream from a mile away. Now, if only I could get him to take a bottle... He likes to give "knucks" and scream at the top of his lungs for no particular reason. His personality has really bloomed in the past week or so. He is starting to seem like he's almost one! His looks are changing too! It's amazing how much he looks like Kleven did at that age-except Klev had NO hair.

We had our good friends Jeff and Jenny Johnson over for dinner on Saturday night. Jeff also served his mission in Russia and he and Chris met years ago at ASU in language classes. The menu was Russian so Kleven and I dressed the part by raiding Chris' mission souveniers. The hat Kleven is wearing is fur with ear flaps that tie under the chin. We had Borscht, pelmeni, piroshki, and black bread that smelled like coffee grounds. Yumm... We finished the night with Guitar Hero and Strawberry Cheesecake Klondike Bars (SO GOOD! try them!)

We also spent some time visiting Uncle Tyler at school where he flies helicopters. The boys LOVE going to airport to see him and to watch everything coming and going. Here's Kari and I with our little men checking out the helicopters.

Well, now that I'm all caught up for last week the current week is almost over and we have nothing to show for it. Tonight I've got a baby shower to go to so I'll be busy making little tiny bracelets and ignoring the laundry. HOWEVER! Friday we are having a visitor from Australia at my moms house for dinner. He is from Bryan's mission and is coming to the states for a wedding and wanted to meet our family! So~stay tuned for some fun stuff next time!

Spider Epidemic

I was folding a load of the boys' clothes on Kleven's bed this week and was searching for a missing sock among the sheets when I noticed I was being watched by an eight-legged freak! I know you're all probably thinking we live in some sort of spider-infestation, and I'm beginning to agree. It was a creepy little thing with a tiny head and huge backside-looks like an egg sack at first glance. I screamed, of course, told Kleven not to move from where he was on the floor, and ran to the kitchen for a weapon. I found a sippy cup (a disposable one) and lid near the sink and that is what I caught it with. It is now on top of the fridge... I saved it for Chris to see... and it is forming some kind of web on the inside of the cup. Gross! I Know! But its so interesting to watch! I have yet to find out what kind of spider it is, so it will not be squashed until I find out or until the cup starts crawling with babies, whichever comes first. Maybe we'll think of a name for it in the meantime!

I Joined the Club!

I know I'm months behind the craze, but I just wanted to let all of you who might care to know... I read all three books in the Twilight series during the past two weeks. It took me a few days to get a system going but I did it. I tried really hard not to ignore my children, so I would put a movie on in the playroom and sit in the corner reading, looking up from the page every few seconds or whenever I heard one of the boys scream. I have to admit that I liked the way it was written, but I did a lot of complaining about the characters... just ask Chris, and it took a few days to get over my imagination telling me there was a vampire in my house. All whining aside, I will definitely see the movie now!

Yes, I'm a Procrastinator!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year EVERYONE!!! I apologize for the delay- I blame my children and my husband- it was not on purpose. We had a great Christmas! I think Santa forgives the terrible-two's at Christmas. This was the first year that we actually made an effort with the kids to start some of our own traditions. Kleven and I made cookies- the kind you pop out of the pre-cut dough and put on the pan- so we could leave them out for Santa. He was out cold by the time we got home from Nana and Papa's so he didn't get to see them get put out, but the look on his face the next morning when he saw the crumbs and the empty glass of milk was one of those moments I hope I never forget. We were all very spoiled this year. On Christmas Eve we opened gifts and had a marshmallow fight at Nana & Papa's with all the Ayers'. Christmas morning we had breakfast and more gifts with my family. Instead of boring you with all the details I'll just let you look at the pictures!

Ezra with Nana & Papa & cousin Noah who claimed the youngest grandchild spot just in time for Christmas!




This is after all the gifts were opened... it took me a week to put the living room back together.

Kleven made sure Aunt Lani knew that baby Noah would be this much bigger next Christmas.

Ezra and Grandma Jayne reading his new books.

Another Busy Week

I had really high hopes for this week, being Chris' first break from school in MONTHS. I had a whole list of things to do around the house. Mostly things that have been put off for nearly a year- since we moved to the new house, like:

• caulking and painting the baseboards


• fixing the popping spots in the wood floor (we have had the kit for months!)


• a serious clean out of the garage


• move rock in the backyard


• trenching for the sprinkler system


• hang the window hardware so I can get cutains up


• paint our bedroom and bathroom


• re-paint over Kleven's masterpieces in various places around the house

Tuesday we headed out to the garage... Chris did more standing around than clearing out. I wasn't terribly upset at his lack of help since I had Bunco later and didn't want to break a sweat, but he kept standing on the driveway saying things like "Man, it feels so good not to be driving to school right now" or "It's so nice not to have to be anywhere" He sure has found some interesting ways to fill his time. I have caught him outside with Kleven on numerous occasions shooting at birds. He can't stand the fact that they're eating Tank's dog food on the porch so he is shooting at them with a BB-gun. Nothing says REDNECK more than sitting on the back porch with a gun and a bottle of rootbeer. The worst part is that we have view-fencing so everyone that walks by probably thinks he's off his rocker.

Do you feel bad for me yet? If anyone needs something to do in the next couple weeks, come on over!