Diet Coke Monologues

I LOVE

2011-04-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

I love you, Russ because:

you email me cute little love wishes

...and...

when I tell you that I watched The Bachelor in the middle of the day with Case (b/c Case was sick and needed some down time), you tell me “that’s awesome”.

I love you, Layne because:

you climb into bed with me like you own the place

...and...

you give the whole family secret letters in between their sheets. There’s nothing like hearing the crinkly-crinkle when you get into bed and then getting to read a special message from Layne.

I love you, Kord because

I have to remind you that your baseball cup does NOT go on the kitchen island.

I love you ,Case because

you come in with your 3 year old sweet voice and say, “Mommy, I ‘ave good news ‘nd bad news. My bad news that I miss toilet ‘nd pee on my pants. But good news I ceaned it up all by self.”

I love you, Hadley because

I have to say “Hadley, since it’s morning and you got your shower, you don’t have time to look in the mirror and talk to yourself for a really long time. When you shower at night you have time, but not in the morning.”

LUCKY LEPRECHAUNS

2011-03-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Why yes we DO love St. Patty's Day? Why do you ask?

Darn you Leprechaun! We thought we'd caught you in our trap. But NO...you got away somehow.

Breakfast: green waffles, lime yogurt, green apples, green milk, green water, green straws. green clothes.

Nasty! That naughty guy peed in our toilet.

Lunch: Octopus on green "seaweed" mac & cheese, of course.

Dinner: green pizza dough, celery, green bread sticks, green apples. We even got dessert today! Mint ice cream!

Russ does a lot better with the pink milk on Valentine's Day than green milk on St. Patrick's Day. I try to make it minty green rather then puke green :) What a good sport!

Goofy Goobers

2011-02-23T21:48:00.001-08:00

JJJump is the BEST 3rd birthday e-v-e-r! IT'S JUST SO FLUFFY!!!

Note:1. My super cute little man on his 3rd birthday.

2. My Hadley who wore a winter hat to bed the night before because "My whole body feels great but my head is SOO cold."

3.My selfless Layne as she bubbles over with enthusiasm for Case's big day.

It's the Fox Hop!!

Yep, we're a well-rounded family

Russ and I were upstairs on a Saturday morning and Case is having a disagreement with Layne about something. Then he calls out to her, “If you don’t stop I will throw a fit, then I will kick you and then I will hide”.

My Kord and Hadley got to go skiing for their first times this season.

WOW! That family LOOKS like they've been out looking for the perfect tree all day...we're a little haggard.

Layne (5 years old) family night lesson. She was holding a picture of someone getting baptized. She started, “My lesson is on prayer, I mean, baptism. After you get baptized...” Then she changed to a picture of someone getting confirmed. “…you get the holy ghost.” She took a deep breathe and a pause, then continued, “In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”. I L-O-V-E H-E-R!!!

Case woke up SCREAMING one night. I ran in to see what was wrong. He was having a nightmare so I loved him and held him. Then he finally stopping crying enough to say what the dream was about…”Hadley take away my cheerios”. Ah, to have that be the worse thing that you can imagine happening.

Important highlights

2010-11-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

I don't have time to properly blog, but I thought that you'd like to know what I've been up to.

Just a quick recap of the highlights of the last week:

Skimmed a curb and popped a tire on a big hill (then changed it & got a new one)
Organized and ran the luncheon for a funeral
Babysitting for a friend who has a baby
Stubbed toe and broke it
Broke (then fixed) the dryer 2 days before all the family came in for Thanksgiving
Made hundreds of bows and sold them at two craft fairs
Organized and made group gift for Mom’s 60^th b-day
Had the kids write birthday cards to my mom. When I asked Case to come draw for grandma, he decided to dictate it for me to write…so I did. It read, “I don’t want to write to ganma. NO NO. I no want to color. I no want to get da paper. NO NO NO.” Why yes, he is 2…and yes, I did actually send that to my mom.
Bought a Turkey for Thanksgiving
Bought another turkey for Thanksgiving after Kord left the freezer door open and ruined all the food inside
Had surprise overnight company
Helped more then usual in kids classrooms for Thanksgiving projects
Send a birthday gift to Hadley’s school teacher, only to realize that it’s NEXT month on the 19^th, not this month.
Cell phone broke. Forced to mail it in 4 weeks ago - still no phone.
Didn’t set up auto bill pay for the utilities and got my very first, “Water turn off notice” on my front door

So much to be thankful for at this special time of year...JK...there really IS so much to be thankful for.

I LOVE YOU, MRS. SUN

2010-10-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true...I love the sun. Layne says that's she's a girl...hence the Mrs. Sun.

Layne and her very, very best friend in the whole world.

How can it be that we've never taken pix at the dentist. Situation Rectified.

It's pretty great to have your dad in scouting. He's there to give you your first merit badge. In fact, it's the merit badge that he and his father wanted to do together--coin collecting. The Lord had other plans for Leland, but now Russ got to work on it with Kord. I love this man.

Mom (Pauline Jones) had the kids with her for a couple days while Russ and I went to Bend, Oregon to play (biking, tennis, relaxing). While we were gone they had oatmeal. Grandma asked what kind of sugar they would like. Hadley said, “white”; Layne said, “brown”, so Case looked around at them and said, “blue”. My mom being who my mom is, got out some sugar and dyed it blue for my baby Case. I love my mom so much.

My baby Layne is in Kindergarten.

Hadley came to Russ and asked what kind of jobs she could do as a teenager. Russ suggested babysitting, Taco Bell and Safeway. Hadley thought for a minute and then said, “No, a smart job. You know, a job that smart people do. Like computers.” They went on to have a great conversation about possible job choices.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Bend, OR!!!

Why yes, I DID put my pants back on by myself...and yes, my mom is out of diapers for all time!!!!!

12 year in the northwest...I think we're officially locals...we went canoeing in the rain and it was a BLAST. We LOVE that these fantastic lakes are 1 mile from our house.

August over already!?? NOOOOOO!!

2010-08-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Grandpa Merrill's house this summer. TONS OF FUN! We had big days so Layne and Case would crash pretty hard when it was bed time.

When we went to my dad's house two years ago, Kord crashed this golf cart into a tree. They were a little nervous about that for the first...four seconds. Then they went tearing across the property. We didn't even end up in the river--I call that a success.

I traveled by myself with all four kids from coast to coast and I kid you not, I read on the plane. It was only for a few minutes, but still. I had to borrow Harry Potter from Hadley since it hadn't even occurred to me to bring a book--who would have thought I'd have time to read. There are perks to your kids being a little older.

These, my friends, are bird dogs. When I was a kid, we ate these when we went out on the sailboat. We, of course, mocked those powerboaters with their big engines and small IQs. Evidently, when you get old--it's okay to have a trawler--since my dad just traded the sail for the motor. Okay, back to the bird dog recipe: Make a slit in a hot dog, put cheese (preferably processed) into the slit. Then wrap the entire thing in bacon and cook. Yep--absolutely disgusting, but Adam and I used to love them. So I made then when we were there. I stuffed a TON of veggies into my kids though to help offset the nastiness.

Why yes I AM SUPER MOM. I took the kids to Philli and NY all by myself. Have I mentioned that I love these kids?!

Then we came home and played with our best buds.

While we were gone, Russ wrote, "Spent the day mt biking at Lewis River Falls - ended the day by jumping off the falls - a good day. But...., I'm ready for my sweetie to come home ... There is a pair of pants in every room of the house - I haven't seen a vegetable in over 10 days - I've gained 4 pounds - and I'm in serious smooch withdrawal. Come home Nicole, come home."

And "I love my wife dearly... miss her when she's gone. But I've eaten red meat 5 nights in a row. The cherry on top? I noticed a note on the fridge tonight that says... don't forget the honey-do while I'm gone. I thought that was an excellent idea so I drove to safeway and bought a nice big honey-do. I love honey-do even more than cantaloupe. What a gal, always thinking of me."

Then when I got home there was cole slaw in the frig. Gross. So I asked Russ if I could throw it away. He let me know that he bought it a couple days ago because he realized that he really needed to eat a vegetable. WHAT!!???

Cole Slaw is NOT a vegetable.

July...I've never looked better

2010-08-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you who did not see my facebook post (or the family newsletter...thanks a lot Mom), I thought you'd like to see my "before" shot. Some of Russ family are doing a weight lose contest. I thought everyone should see what I look like before the contest. Wish me luck!!!!

Holy fun batman! Ben and Rochelle and lot's of their clan (we missed you Lars and Hans) came out and played with us. We showed them what a northwest fireworks lawn (or cul-de-sac) show looks like...none of this Utah sparkler stuff for us!!

We convince Ben and Rochelle to let us have the three younger kids for a while before everyone else came. It was CRAZY fun!!! We're Avatar the Last Airbender ADDICTS. So they all dressed up for opening day--including Leif and Sven getting arrows shaved into their heads.

What a bunch of troopers. We all went to Shi Shi beach on the Olympic Penninsula. It was miles of hiking into the beach and then a couple days of living on it. This is after we've already hiked out, so though we look pretty hammered, it was SUCH a great memory and was so great.

Grandma Katie came to play too!!!! We baked, hiked, swam, and waited until 2PM every day for the sun to come out...I'm not going to lie, the weather was tough on me until about mid-July. We had SOOOO much fun with you Katie, thank you for coming!!

Okay, so I think it's cool that we're all exactly one head apart in height (except for Russ, he would ruin it so he took the picture...I love you snoogally-woogally pie). The crazy part is that 4 weeks later Kord was up to my nose and Hadley has grown so much that Layne only comes up to her chest.

GO THOMAS'

The kid was turning 11 and he had never had a gun cake...what kind of Thomas' are we. We rectified that ASAP!

HOLY BUSY SPRINGTIME

2010-05-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Congrats Kord on your Arrow of Light...followed immediately (within minutes) by your baseball game. Quite a night kid.

Case and his best bud...seriously, best bud!

Yep, that's a "5" pizza. Happy Birthday Layne

Purple Polka-dot Poodle Party

Soca star

Crazy fun with Grandpa Merrill

Thanks for coming to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and cousins

Hadley was talking on a pretend cell phone when she turned to me, “Mom, do girls ask boys out on dates”. “No, Hadley, you wait for the boy to ask you”. So then I hear her on the pretend phone again, “So would you like a date?” “Hadley, remember we don’t ask the boy, we want them to have to come to us.” “I know Mom, I was just asking him if he wants to come to my house and eat a date…like what Jesus ate.”

Hadley's school party...They made school supply kits for kids in Haiti...and a HUGE pencil cake for Hadley.

Cousin fun gets a little tiring.

Kord borrowed a decibel meter for his science fair project. Which, of course, means that we had WAY too much fun with it. First, they stuck it in my face while I was talking on the phone(rude!)...and then they put it to Case. For the record, I hit 84 decimals chit-chatin' it up on the phone.

It's the HADLEY SHOW

2010-05-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

WOW. It really has been the Hadley Show this last little bit.

Now I just need it to be "Hadley Lane" or Layne.

WHAT TIME IS IT...GIRL TIME!

We got to go the Cats the Musical...just the girls. Hadley and Layne were on the edge of their seats the whole time. We were on the first row, first balcony so they had a great view (thanks again Dad). I NEVER thought that I could get sick of the music, but turns out that after listening the soundtrack about a MILLION times, it gets a little old. Every time I start to lose it though, I realize how excited I am that they love it as much as I do. Girls rock!

You see, in Ms. Dallasta's class you can earn Cat Cash throughout the year. Most kids spend it in small increments...10 here for erasers/30 there for stickers. But not my Hadley, she had her eye on the prize. So she's been saving all year and got to be Teacher for the Day. Check out that teacher. There was no messing with her. By the end of the day she had her notebook all filled up with the naughty things that kids had done (I kid you not). In fact, it started at home with, "Case poosht the techer Msr Thomas" and ended at school with, "Dmechry cold me a Grandma and Alin colled me Osy Osborn". I can't make this stuff up.

All the kids go on Daddy Daughter Dates and Boys Night Outs with Dad. No one ever wants to do it with Mom. Well, my Hadley finally decided that I was good enough for her so we went out on our first ever Girls Night. It was super fun to spend a whole night with this chica.

My sweet, sweet Hadley decided to get baptized. It was beautiful. And since it was the Thomas', also eventful. Russ got her all organized and was about to start the ordinance when they stopped him so he could switch to the other side and raise his RIGHT hand not his left. Cracks me up. Grandma Jones made the dress (gorgeous) and Hadley was ALL glows the entire day. She decided that she wanted to play the piano and have her cousins, siblings and friends sing. So that's just what she did. I love this sweet, beautiful little person. Congratulations Hadley.

Spring Break

2010-04-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

My mom was here over spring break so she got to go with Layne on her field trip to a puppet show. She's never gotten to take any of my kids on a field trip so it was super fun for them.

Case is pretty much addicted to Grandpa Jones. They just hung out the ENTIRE time Grandpa was here.

It was snowing up on Prune Hill an hour before the Easter hunt started. We're used to rain, we're not so used to cold. Another great Easter hunt memory. Kord was too old this year (crazy that my baby's too old) so he helped Case. It was pretty adorable.

LAYNE GOT THE GOLDEN EGG!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HADLEY!!!!! She got her ears pierced for her birthday.

AHHHH. Easter

Okay, so we headed off to Tillamook over Spring Break. We went to the cheese factory and (of course) had to end our trip with Tillamook ice cream. But not so "of course" is that we decided to get the "Tillamook 38 flavor tour". They call out each of the 38 flavors as they put them in the huge bowl and then sing us some crazy song about the ice cream. I could totally tell how excited everyone behind us in the huge line were. They were THRILLED to wait around while we got it. Of course, with 42 kids like we have, really it was practically the economical chose to get the crazy big one.

I love the Oregon Coast! We explorers this great area, checked out the lighthouse...

...and the octopus tree.

Momma's birthday and such

2010-04-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Kord (right) and his best buds

NIIICE

I went out of town for a couple days and, of course, there were some hilarious things that went down while the momma was gone. Just two:

1.Turns out Russ pulled up in front of the preschool and just let Layne out as if she’s in high school and sent her in. Obviously in preschool you have to walk the child in, sign them in, and get there stuff put away. When she walked in by herself the teacher said, “Did you drive yourself here?”

2.Russ couldn’t find diapers (which were of course in the closet) so he went to safeway and bought some. I asked him what size he got. “6”. I thought that was pretty good since Case wears 5’s. I asked him how he knew what size to get. Russ said, “one bag had a picture of a little baby just lying their doing nothing, the next had a little fat kid who could sit, one had a kid who could walk, but one had a little kid running –and I thought, ‘oh crap, my kid can run’, so I got that one”.

When I got home though, the the house was clean-ish, Russ made my favorite homemade empanadas, Kord made this yummy birthday cake(note the 30 plus 3 candles), the girls made an AWESOME music video for me, and tons of great homemade gifts. I LOVE this crazy family.

My little man and his best bud

While the girls were away (at Cats the Musical) the boys will play

AHHHH the Children's Museum. Layne, Case and I have made quite the weekly tradition (thanks Grandma for the pass)

WHAT!!! Case is 2 !!!???

2010-02-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

Of course, Case HAD to get his first Wii game...I mean honestly, he WAS turning 2 for crying out loud. It's about time.

This boy CAN'T live without trucks.

And THIS boy can't live without building. This time it's a catapolt to launch the plastic chicken.

Thanks for the chicken Grandma, it's amazing how often it comes in handy.

GROSS. No friends are going to want to play Uno at the Thomas house after seeing the way we play here.

Okay, so this goes something like...what do you get when you cross a banana with a mitten.

Actually, I just love the little tiny hands that fill this mitten. I needed some way to show how teeny they are (hence the banana). I love these kids.

RUSS' blue truck from childhood. Russ' cat would crawl into the back and Russ would launch it down the stairs. Yep, you read correctly. Then Russ would open up the back of the truck and the stupid cat would walk over and get back in so it could go flying down the stairs again. Of course, as soon as my kids heard the story, their first thought is:

but we don't have a cat.

And their second thought is:

but we DO have rabbits.

NO KIDS!!!

Why is my life full of so many crazy stories!!??

2010-02-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

AHH Valentine's Day...

Wednesday night: Layne (4) starts screaming. Turns out, she poked herself in the eye. She was running to hide from Case and was running with her fists in thumbs-up position. She poked herself with her thumb. We decided (incorrectly) that it was just the skin beside the eye.

Thursday: By 11AM (why yes I AM the worst mom in the world for waiting so long) we decided that we really needed to go in. She had a huge scratch on her cornea. NIIIICE. FYI we had a nice family discussion about running with your thumbs tucked in :)

Friday: Russ and I went to dinner and then I gave him Gettysburg. So Russ, me and KORD (yes he was still awake when we got home so he wanted to watch it) watched GETTYBURG for Valentine's. NIIIICE again.

Saturday: 6AM Russ did this little ditty in...what else...church basketball. So we headed off to the urgent care at 9:30. I had a hair appointment (ladies, you know how you never want to miss that) at 10:45 so I ended up getting Russ through the x-ray and back to the doctor and then headed off to the stylist with all FOUR kids. Which, ironically, I scheduled for Saturday so that I wouldn't have to worry about the kids.

Saturday afternoon: This story actually starts 10 days previous. I just wanted to go the the stake dance...JUST ONCE for crying out loud. Well, Russ wasn't so excited and then ended up coming home with tickets to Monster Jam for Saturday. lovely. This weaves into the previous story since, evidently, he thought that Monster Jam wasn't enough to get him out of the dance so he had to do THAT to his foot too!

No d&$% foot injury was going to stop Russ from bringing his boys to see vroom-vrooms so he hobbled, jumped, and yanked himself to the Rose Garden arena. What a cute daddy

Sunday: Well, how could you beat the precursors...I did the fun little valentines things for the kids in the morning but than that was it. I even forgot to make the milk pink for crying out loud. No pink mashed potatoes. No pink soup. I'm such a loser.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S WEEKEND!

I'll do better on St. Patrick's Day

Doings' in winter

2010-01-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

Mom to Case (almost 2 yrs old) “Honey, that is not chapstick, that is a gluestick”

Hadley wrote a verb book in first grade. So it was “Kord runs. Dad works. Case plays. Mom eats.” REALLY. Are you kidding? At least is wasn’t “Mom drinks”

These kids crack me up. We went on an excursion down the hill from my house complete with checking out the big ol' waterfalls, getting SOAKED by Jamie's d%#$ dog running through the muddy water, 8 kids having a ball hiking 2 miles on rocky trails, and calling Jamie's husband to come get us back to our cars after we ended up on the other side of Camas. Thanks Tim!

Layne and Hadley were discussing their aversion to Grandpa Merrill’s pool because it has a vacuum that drives around on the bottom and looks a little scary. Hadley said, “I’m scared of those things”. Kord, immediately and calmly replied, “Yeah, Sam lost a cousin in Montana”. Sam is Kord’s best friend from down the street.

It's Salon Thomas

Oh yeah--give me a piece of THAT action.

Lowe's Kid's Workshop days.

Tea party! Having a sister is the best!

Hadley played basketball this year. Her team was the only team of all girls. They didn’t exactly dominate the league, but they were ALL smiles the whole time. Hadley got the first basket of the season. At half-time of the last game, Hadley was practicing some shooting and wasn’t making the baskets. She ran over to Russ and I with all smiles, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” Then we talked about how she was TOTALLY going to get one last basket of the season. With 30 seconds left in the game she plowed through the huge boys on the other team and got her basket. After the game, she came up to us with a huge smile and all the confidence in the world, “told you I’d get it”.

Long story short:

pineapple can dropped on toe
tough kid
middle of night...screaming
Russ tried to heat needle and poke hole in toenail to release pressure and blood
Didn't work...called Dad...said "right idea, wrong tool, try a paper clip"
wisp of smoke, spurt of blood, faint smell of branding cows in the air (so says Russ)
Happy Case...asked for fruit loops

ODE TO THE BURTONS

2010-01-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

What will we do without the Burtons? What will our lives be like? How will Camas survive without their hilarity? How will Nordstrom Rack’s doors remain open? (Kristen and Scarlette, it’s all up to you now…oh, let’s admit it, Shawn too!)

There are so many things that they have given us.

Kendra made sure to leave the largest possible carbon footprint that she could, now another town gets those plastic bags and gasoline fumes.

For the nod of agreement that went through the congregation when Mike Convey was announced as counselor to the Bishop, and the gasp of shock and awe when they announced Bruce—you will forever be remembered.

We need your stories! How many people have put their child’s finger in a ziplock and driven to the hospital?

The question is: will some lucky guy be at the urinal beside Bruce in Kentucky and get a commentary on the great quality of Gap socks---that’s a lasting first impression for Russ if ever there was.

What will we do without Kendra—from being the BEST enrichment leader with the kookiest committee(besides me of course) to the one and only semi-compassionate service leader—Prune Hill ward will be at a loss.

Maybe Bruce will beat his record with the Camas dry cleaner and some lucky dry cleaner in the east will get 58 of his shirts at once to launder.

It’s not fair that Kentucky is getting an awesome kid who makes faces on the eggs in the carton…and all we get is the d$#% rain.

Whether it’s scout trips, business trips or providing service to others, Bruce seems to run into a higher than average number of people pooping in strange circumstances—you can't put a price tag on that!

Perhaps we should warn Bruce’s new ward leaders. If you have him come on scout trips, understand that you’re not adding one more leader to supervise, but one more kid to manage.

From laying down the law that frappuccino IS coffee, to making your very own “fancy pants”, you’re going to be missed and those Louisville people don’t know how lucky they are.

I mean honestly, how many people do YOU know who take a year off of work to manage their friends on Facebook.

601 miles

2010-01-01T00:39:00.000-08:00

OH, one more thing...

...I went 601 miles in 2009!!! I joined a challenge in January to run 500 miles. Some was running outside, some on my treadmill, but I did it!!!

I LOVE…

2010-01-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

…that Kord knows all the words to the Yukon Ho song by Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes)

…that Hadley eats Dad’s super-hot Kim Chi soup, but that she eats it with one hand on a glass of water and the other hand holding a napkin to wipe the spice off her lips, both of which are used between every bite of soup.

…that Hadley sings alone with her piano playing, “When the dog bites, when the cheese stinks, when I’m feeling bad, I simply remember…”

…that Layne spends 4 ½ minutes EVERY time it’s her turn on Parcheesi because she has to do a crazy shacking dancing with the dice, toss them (there-in knocking all the piece on the board askew), re-arrange them in whatever order she finds the “prettiest”, etc, etc.

…that Layne loves that her hair is ALMOST down to her bum but doesn’t want it any longer because “I don’t want to have to pick it up to pee”

…that Case’s response to “Casers, it’s 8:30 why hasn’t anyone put you in bed” is, with a shrug of the shoulders, “I know” instead of “I don’t know”

…that Russ comes home from work, grabs me, throws me back over his leg and kisses me like he has for 12 years now. Happy New Year!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

2009-12-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

What happens at 6:30PM when Case wakes up at 6AM and won't take a nap. The excitement of Christmas could only keep him awake so long.

2 DAYS!!!!!!

2009-12-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

We just made cookies for Santa so we're moving right along. I'm so excited!!!!! I actually had a hard time falling asleep last night cause I was imagining Christmas morning. What a dork I am!

Russ (and all of us) made these awesome "sweet sushi" boxes and treats for our neighbor gift this year. It was super fun.

Whatever...he's almost 2...totally old enough to be the saw-holder when we cut down the Christmas tree. I'm the best mom ever

LOOK AT THAT!! Not just the adorable kids, but also the gorgeous world. We live in the most beautiful place on earth.

My boys enjoying a moment

I've started selling my hair pretty's a little bit. If you need any...I'm here...and not ridiculously priced like so many are.

Russ and I went to Claim Jumper on our anniversary. Russ got ribs and I got this pasta thing. So then we got this awesome cake too. We NEVER get dessert at restaurants so it was fun. I had only eating 100 calories all day (I was saving my calories for dinner) and I had burned 650 calories on the treadmill that morning so I was feeling pretty good about it. Then Russ (darn him) happened to see the calorie chart!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH. My pasta was 2600 calories. I didn't eat the whole thing, but still!!! The cake was 3600 calories. Again, I only ate one layer and there were 6. BUT STILL!!!! I was nauseous for two days thinking about the number of calories that went into my body in a 60 minute period. Needless to say, I've been running 5 miles every day this week trying to work it off.

Fall Fun!

2009-11-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Since we're almost at Thanksgiving, I thought I'd get Halloween up. Hadley in the red dress decided to be a party planner...seriously, what am I going to do with that one??!!

I'm sorry, but when Layne gets a hold of the camera, I think the best pictures are taken. AHHH, I love this kid!

Scary fly!

"We are the champions, my friend." We had our annual fun. We raked up those leaves (millions since we live on the forest!!!) and jumped, flew, and slid into them.

Why yes, Hadley's mom DID make that awesome sign and (though you can't see them) the matching hair pretty's. Then, since Hadley's mom isn't available to brag for herself, she made the witches hats for each of the soccer balls on the sign (as seen above) since this game was on Halloween. She must be THE best mom ever!

OKAY, I DID IT. I'M DOING FACEBOOK.

Oh, and by the way, wish me luck on the northwest winter this year...last year was the first year that I had a problem with it. And now since sunset is currently at 4:30PM and I workout in the PITCH black, pouring down rain from 6-7AM...just wish me luck. YES I KNOW I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO...I'M JUST ASKING FOR SOME LUCK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

WOW! THAT'S PATHETIC!

2009-10-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so evidently I decided to take a hiatus from blogging. It's just that SOO much has been going on. Okay, so here we go...I'll do a family entry and then one for each munchkin.

AHHHH!!! KC ROCKS with her Diet Coke T gift!!! Thank you! We got to hang out at the Reid reunion AND the Merrill reunion this summer. Why yes, I did travel (mostly alone w/ 4 kids) for 21 day...thank you for asking. Actually it was WONDERFUL. It's SOOO nice to have no more teeny tiny babies. I LOVED the stage and I'm LOVING being out of it too.

And just a side note, we (me and the kids) made it home from Solitaire in Utah in 11 1/2 hours. We only stopped once in Baker City (after a prayer while driving cause the car said I only had 13 miles of gas when I finally pulled into the station...oops). I don't believe in Benadryling my kids, but I don't think that a little dehydration hurts. "Okay kids, no drinking until we're within 30 miles of the rest stop and then drink like crazy".

Yippy for my adorable cousins and sister-in-law

We hung out at Solitaire and played and played and played some more.

THEN...Nicole and Russ needed some alone time. Thank you Mom for taking the kids. It's been 2 1/2 yrs. since we had a weekend with no kids. We went to Bend, Oregon and biked, climbed (Smith Rock), played tennis and had a ball! Russ is into full out downhill biking (like riding the ski lift up and going down double black diamonds!). So I was super thankful that he just took along his normal bike and we got to bike hard, but not scary.

Then, as if watching the kids wasn't enough, Mom got me the awesome enormous mirror that I've been eying for over a year! Merry August Christmas to me!!

The Life of Kordo since May

2009-10-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Russ had the sex talk with Kord. The next day was Sunday and we have late church so all the kids were hanging out playing on our bed. Hadley, Layne and Case went downstairs. Russ and I were talking and Kord was reading his book on our bed. Suddenly Kord jumped up and headed for the door.

Nicole—“Kord, what’s wrong”

Kord, with a waving gesture of the hand—“Isn’t there something YOU TWO would like to do”

______________

Kord's team got 2nd place in LaCamas Little League! This is his 6th season playing. It's hard to believe that Kord(2nd from the right) has done anything for 6 years!

During the season, we headed off to Seattle for Little League weekend at the Seattle Mariners game. Yep, that's Kord calling his hit.

Do-do-doodoo-doo-dee(that's the circus theme song...trust me). Layne learned how to ride a two wheeler, Kord decided to show her how...on HER bike.

Kord and Russ have BOTH gotten into downhill biking. On their WAY to the trails, Kord took an 8 foot biff straight down into the blackberry bushes on the right. NICE. We decided that he needed a full out mountain bike instead of a BMX bike. So, ironically, though I have two pix of Kord on bikes, neither one is actually HIS bike.

Yep, Kord decided that he needed to build himself a stool...Have I mentioned that I love this kid!

Hadley Shmadley's

2009-10-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here's that super fun weekend of Seattle Mariners baseball and the amusement park. This is the BEST family ever!!!! They're so fun.

When in Rome :) We went to Colorado for Russ' family reunion. It was SOOO fun and some of the beauty for the kids is the freedom of back dirt roads! Hadley had a BALL with her cousins.

Yes, we've already been to the orthodontist.

Just trying on Mom's wedding dress.

Rockin' awesome first day of school. This is 'Foxy". He's in front of our school and, evidently, is a carnivore. Kord and Hadley were both super excited about their new shoes...Layne and Case could care less.

Layne-y Bayne-y's

2009-10-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

We can see TONS of awesome fireworks from our house. So we had some friends over and had a ball. Of course, Russ and our friend went crazy on fireworks too so it was hilarious.

Well, I (Nicole) have tried a garden and it's just not working for me. I know it's because I have to invest in doing a raised garden (we have crazy red clay dirt here). So in the meantime, I just take the kids down to Sister Christensen's house down the street. Her garden is by the road so I just show the kids all about gardening and what to do and what's going on...I'm the best mom ever. Who needs to actual lead by example...honestly, I use the "Lead by Sister Christensen's example" philosophy. It's totally working for me. Layne did, however, decide to grow some sunflowers. Since they're considered a weed to farmers since they grow so easily, we DID manage to get some...though most were eaten by the deer. :)

Layne and her super cute friend. SOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!

It's the classic learning how to ride a bike in the church parking lot...it's a four year old MUST.

On our trip this summer we got to spend lots of time with Rochelle and her family. WE LOVE THEM!! Layne and Case also discovered the electric truck there.

"Wait Dad, let me get this straight, I have to wear a helmet to ride a scooter down the driveway at our house, but (if Mom doesn't see) I DON'T have to wear one to go flying down bumpy dirt roads on a motorcycle." YEP

Layne got to play with Grandpa Merrill in Utah too

Beautiful Bride Layne

Why yes, Layne DOES enjoy "borrowing" the camera and taking some candid shots

Layne and her mini-me. All ready for school. Layne and Hadley both do this every morning complete with the head.

Another great year of preschool begins!!!

Caser's

2009-10-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

I'm generally apposed to shirts with words. But honestly, we have to give the shout out to Uncle Adam...and the zombies. And yes, I think he may, in fact, be pooping in the picture.

Okay, so Case is hilarious! He NEEDS his cowboy boots (that were Russ' when he was a little guy) and his camo hat. I LOVE IT!!!!!

What a naught little monkey. I turn around and there's Case wondering through the house with a ball of cookie dough. Do you LIVE in a barn? Yep, he grabbed it off the counter and was enjoying a little snack.

I crack me up-they crack me up

2009-05-18T14:04:00.001-07:00

A few classics:

1. I woke Layne up the other day and she was in NO mood! She threw her head under the pillow and said, "NO!!! I hungwy. I mean, I tirsty. I mean, I TIRED!" I LOVE my 4 year old!

2. So Kord's eating his lunch last week at school. Yum, Mom put a hard-boiled egg in there. I love when she does that! Here, let me crack it open. OH CRAP! Mom did NOT put a hard-boiled egg in my lunch...she put a RAW egg in my lunch.

Yep, way to go Mom. Hadley's lunchtime is later then Kords, so she was digging into lunch and Mrs. Pierce walked by, "Hadley, is your egg hard-boiled."

"I don't know, I think so."

"Let's check"

Yep, Mom gave BOTH kids raw eggs.

Then we have these pix. Layne and Hadley played with the camera last night. Note to self ladies, if you decide to do things that you're not supposed to do (like climb on the treadmill and banister)--DON'T document your misdeeds with photos. This is a lesson that you should keep for the duration of your mortal existence.

Wowzer. It's been a while!

2009-05-13T13:55:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's a peanut butter, refried bean and olive sandwich. But don't worry, Layne had water with it, so all is well.

Hadley wanted a "7" birthday party. Soooo....we went to the 7 continents. She's from Argentina. We had the big map on the wall and added each continent as we went there. We had Kangaroo hopping dress-up relay races in Australia, Churros in South America and on and on.

Happy Easter

Layne loves to give directions while I'm driving. "Left Mommy; right at the next stop sign," etc. So I told her I wanted to stop at the gas station on the way home from preschool to get a Coke--yes, it's a rather frequent occurrence--what of it! Anyway, she directs me to the chosen destination and announces, "Here we are the the Coke Station, Mommy". Not gas station--coke station.

Russ always finds funny places to hide Easter baskets. He makes these kids WORK for their candy!

Seriously, I love this kid. This is his eraser army. He's been collecting them all year. Each division has it's strengths and specialties. Man I love this kid!

Happy Birthday Layne! (It's a whole month after Hadley's, but I've been a flake about blogging). She got a watering can and decided to water our new apple trees...in the rain, of course. AHHHH Washington.

Layne was Pinkalicious for her party. Honestly, if you don't have the book you need to get it! So we had Pinkalicious games and fun. All these little tiny pink people crack me up!

Hippity Hop Races...of course!

Yippy for new sand in the sandbox! All four of my kids were playing at the same thing, at the same time. Yippy for kids!

That's MY man!

2009-03-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

I MARRIED THE FUNNIEST, BEST MAN ALIVE!!!

For Valentine's Day, Russ got me a scale--in his utter and complete defense I really wanted it and asked for it. Plus, he didn't get me any ol' scale; he got me the top of the line that tells everything from Body Fat to BMI to ounces of Diet Coke consumed that day.

So, to supplement the scale he gave me this:

AAAAAAHH Motherhood

2009-03-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY got the x-ray with the illusive pendent (see Jan. 24 post)in it. As you can see, there's no question that it's in there--Ahhh, the colon.
Yep. Molly Homemaker in the flesh! Teaching Layne how to grind wheat (I've learned that this is a garage job rather then a kitchen job..yes, I learned the hard way).

About 6 weeks ago I decided that I'm not going to cook meals anymore that no one eats. So I quit with the pasta salads, jumbo shells, stirfry's and decided on the four meals that I know they will eat--tacos, spaghetti, homemade pizza and chicken. So that's what I've been cooking for 6 weeks. There are variations (roast on Sunday, 7 layer dip with homemade tortillas, etc.) But pretty much I'm sticking to the diet. It's totally working. Dinner is boring, but everyone eats. So with that, I, of course, make the pizza dough with whole wheat every time (and use low-fat turkey pepperoni among other things). We're going through a lot more whole wheat these days--I'll tell you what!

So I took the kids to the high school production of the Sound of Music (since I'm NOT taking them to Wicked with Russ and I in a week--YIPPY FOR WICKED!!!--thank you Dad!). So I'm feeling like a good Mom--giving a little culture to there baseball, soccer, Avatar lives. So as we're leaving I ask them how they liked it:

Kord: "UUGG"
Hadley: "Ask me again tomorrow"
Layne: "It gowd. It just tooooo long"

AHHH Motherhood

Then we get home at 10PM so they're exhausted and we get them straight into bed--so Hadley ends up crying in her bed because we didn't read scriptures, "you don't understand how important reading scriptures is to me."

It's like "Walk your child to school day". Are they going to remember all the awesome amazing things I did with them--the helping in their classroom every week, reading to them daily, coaching their teams and listening to every problem. Or are they just going to remember that one time I didn't let them walk to school on "walk your child to school day". Never mind that Case was two weeks old, we live a mile from the school uphill, and it was pouring. I really pray that they remember the good.So Hadley passes out (as evident from the "Father of the Year" story). So I mentioned it to the pediatrician. She was a little...concerned. "She passes out? How many times?" "Oh, 6". "WHAT!? She's passed out 6 times and you're just telling me now!"

In my defense, they've all been linked to seeing her own blood or not eating for a long time. Plus, it took 3 1/2 years to get to the number 6. So anyway, we had to get an EKG to make sure she's all good. Honestly, how cute is that! I'm totally glass is half full--"Come on Hads this is totally a photo op"

Nurture not nature

2009-02-18T14:18:00.001-08:00

Yep, that there's Case's 1st birthday. February 16th--PRESIDENT'S DAY THIS YEAR!!! We got him started with the RIGHT party. He's no jack ass.

Honestly, does every mother on the planet have this picture. I sure have one in all four kids scrapbooks. It's the..."I think it's so fun to pull all the toilet paper off" stage. That's the scientific term.

So I always write a note to Hadley (and all my kids) on her banana in her school lunch. I didn't do it one day last week. When she got home she told me she had something for me in her lunchbox. When I opened it, there was her banana peel. She had taken a red pen and wrote, "I love you Mom" on it.

She's THE cutest kid ever!!

Feet and Eat

2009-01-24T14:06:00.001-08:00

I love these little feeties! Even when Russ and I get a call from the sitter on New Year's saying that Layne swallowed the pendent from a necklace. Honestly, she's 3 1/2 not 1 1/2. So after making sure that she was breathing and after googling it to find out what to worry about and what to look for--we waited...poop stick in hand. Yep, that's right folks, we were checking poop for 13 d@%$ days. Of course, she was on fiber and mineral oil so it was nice and frequent too.

After four days without any results, we got an x-ray. I was thinking that it probably wouldn't be there (either she didn't swallow it like she said, or we missed it coming out the other end). So after the x-ray I was helping Layne get dressed behind the little curtain and I hear the x-ray tech say, "Is that a pendant? It looks like a pendent." Oh HELL!

So, long story short...er. 9 days later still no pendant so we got another x-ray and it was gone. That was a little bitter sweet. Honestly, after 13 days of poop checking, you're really wanting the satisfaction of seeing the thing.

Layne was concerned too. "Mommy, but where did it go". I reminder her of the digestive system (a discussion we have had many times over the last 13 days). Her response, "But Mamma, I want to put it on and wear again". Nice!

Just so we're clear, I will not be using a poop stick ever again...honestly, what was the point, she still ending up having to get the x-rays. Live and learn.

The pendant had the Tree of Life on it...evidently it was "most desirable".

Not your average Christmas card

2008-12-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

You know you need a new year to come along when...

...not only do you give up on sending out a Christmas card, but you don't even get a Christmas e-card out in time for Christmas. So here's my New Year's e-info.---pathetic!

I just started blogging a couple months ago and I don't have very many entries. So I'll just refer you to the few previous posts for what's going on with us. Instead, here's a day in the life of the Thomas family--enjoy!

Father of the year…

Russ was busy at the computer one evening, researching taxes, buying guns, planning for the impending attack of mindless zombie hordes or whatever it is he does in there, when outside the door he heard Hadley jump from the piano to chase Kord, a little thing they do every night.

Immediately following that event Russ hears a loud thump at the base of the stairs. Thinking that Case, who he was “in charge of”, had fallen down the stairs he heroically jumps from his chair and dashes to the scene to find Hadley lying at the bottom of the stairs. Relieved that it isn’t Case, he asks Hadley if she is OK. The only reply he gets is a soft whimper. Figuring that she is playing up her “injury” so she won’t have to return to her piano practice; he again asks Hadley if she is OK, followed by a gentle nudge with his foot. She again whimpers but continues to lay face down on the floor. Satisfied that she’s OK and simply trying to avoid piano he returns to his important work at the computer.

Several moments later Nicole reminds Hadley that her piano practice isn’t done and Hadley begins to cry. “Oh, Hadley”, Russ says, your fine, go do what mom asks”. Another few moments pass when Hadley stumbles into the kitchen and Nicole calls out, “Russ!! Did you just leave her there? She’s bleeding!!!!” Russ jumps back to his feet and runs to the kitchen where Hadley is in her mothers arms.

The dazed look in her eye is something Russ vaguely remembers. It’s that same foggy look she had right after she passed out from the sight of blood after cutting her finger awhile back. It turns out that when she jumped up from the piano to chase Kord she only made it as far as the stairs where she passed out from jumping up too quickly. As for the profuse bleeding from the mouth… when she hit the floor, a recently loose tooth had been knocked from her grill and had flown halfway across the room. We finally found it by the front door.

If only the story ended there… dad also forgot to play tooth fairy later that night so she woke up with a sore lip and a big envelope of nothing under her pillow. Nicole gave her a $5.00 the next morning in proxy. Yep, Father of the year, that’s Russ.

As I am pushin' perfection, it's no problem for me to mock Russ. Honestly, he's so lucky to have me...and we him.

Merry Christmas!

Goofy Goobers

2008-12-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been having a FANTASTIC fall. It's been ridiculously gorgeous up here. In my 10 years here, I don't think I've ever seen the fall colors this vibrant. We've been too busy, but we're working on that. I've always said that we're not going to be a crazy busy family. So I've said that each child can only have one sport at a time. That's great but when you multiply that times three kids in sports, then you add piano lessons (I'm thinking it's not fair to claim that as their one activity), and cub scouts--suddenly things get a little crazy. Then there are the parties, friends over and on and on. So we're working on finding the most important things and cutting other things out...Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated. Anyway, here's some fun that we've been having...

A women after my own heart...cookie dough and diet coke--check me out being a good mom--it's caffeine free!

Kord was the chairman in fourth grade play...this was BIG. He was front and center with TONS of lines. He did a great job, so Layne and I made GI-NORMOUS cookies for all.

How you know when it's gone from a recession to a depression

Our AWESOME cousins came for Thanksgiving. In an attempt to bribe the older cousins (who aren't even in this picture) to come, we bought Rock Band. "OOOHHHH great Mother of Rock Band, please, allow us the opportunity to engage in the noble pursuit of Mississippi Queen".

They won

Okay seriously, the boy's freakin' adorable!

Yep...adorable

I know it's been a while, but Halloween was the normal hilarious and fun...

...except for Hadley, she was the sick Karate Girl. It was pretty pathetic.

There's more

2008-10-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, here are a few more highlights:

For part of family night, we decided to try some MRE's that we had with our food storage...they were a big success with the kids...as you can see.

Honestly, I've been working for 11 years on my husband. I buy his clothes for him--steering him away from the wife-beater shirts and the AC/DC attire. But the simple truly is...once a hick, always a hick. This is how hicks go mole huntin'.

Yep, they got inside a sleeping bag, got reading material, and bounced their way down the stairs—while reading. It’s the Bouncing Books reading program!

Holy hilarious. This is my 6 year old's and 9 year old's version of changing Case's diaper. Case kept crawling away with his bare bum. Holy funny!

Me and my little guy!

Layne (3 years old) LOVES the movie The Grinch with Jim Carrie. She wants to watch it constantly. It’s a little disheartening to random people in the grocery store when she looks at them and says, “I’ll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!”

This summer we went to Maryland to see my Dad. My brother and his family went too. The plane ride was great too. Especially when the guy beside us left and found another seat. Ironically, I thought the kids were doing amazing at the time. If he thought that was bad he would have needed his oxygen mask if he had been with Case at his peak.

Hadley was calling the nugget shaped pretzels “nuts” as we were getting ready for lunch. It was driving Layne crazy. She was getting so frustrated with Hadley, “No, Haley, it NOT a nut. It a pwetzel.” So we sat down to lunch and Russ asked Layne to say prayer. She said, “Fadder, pwease bless that Haley not call pwetzel a nut. Name Jesus Cwist. Amen.” I’m figuring we’re doing to good job of teaching Layne that prayer is talking to your Father in Heaven about things that are going on in your life rather then just saying the same thing over and over.

AND IT BEGINS

2008-10-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

HELLO ALL!! Between Diet Cokes, I DO have time for some family fun. We love the crazy northwest coast. It may not be 95 degrees and sunny; the rip tide would pull you out to your death if you go out past your ankles...but hey...it's home.

My Hadley is...well, she's Hadley. What a hilarious little person. She's in the first grade now. Last year she decided that Ethan was just dreamy! So she talked about him and played with him. I became friends with his mom and when she found out I was Hadley’s mom, it was “OOOOHHHH, Hadley”. Evidently Hadley was a little bit of a stalker. So Hads and I had a talk about being discreet and “playing hard to get” as it were. So the next day she came home from school and nonchalantly mentioned, “I told Ethan that I love him and that I want to marry him”. Well, I guess she decided to go with the direct approach instead. I guess it worked because by spring Ethan was head over heals in love with Hadley. Now they’ve decided to just be good friends.

She was THE most gorgeous flower in Alice in Wonderland.

She has found her athletic calling. Soccer. The soccer bulb came on a few weeks ago and she has been a scoring/dribbling/corner kicking machine ever since. She practices dribbling in the yard and talks about playing indoor for her coach when the weather turns.

Kord recently joined the "Science Olympiads". An after school competitive team based program. Last weeks team challenge was to build a contraption out of straws, a small amount of duct tape, and other materials that would protect an egg in an 8 foot fall. Their team didn't win but in Kords words, "at least the egg didn't explode everywhere, it only cracked".

Kord is also playing flag football again this fall and usually finds himself playing quarterback because of his size and hands. Today was a historic moment in his career as he scored the go ahead two point conversion on a QB sneak in the final seconds to win the game. In two seasons of play that was his first score so he was pretty happy. So were we.

Layne has devilishly charismatic older siblings and sarcastic parents to guide her development so we have no one to blame but ourselves for her wit and charm. Hadley came in way past bedtime a few nights ago and complained that Layne was being naughty and not letting her get to sleep. Layne than ran to the top of the stairs and instead of protesting her innocence put her hands on her hips and in a nanny nanny boo boo tone of voice yelled "that's riiiiiiiight". It was a kind of a "and watcha ya gonna do about it moment". Well, what dad did about it was stifle laughter for several minutes and then having lost all credibility as a disciplinarian let Layne fall asleep in our bed. She just started her first year of pre-school and loves being a big girl like Hadley.

Case is moments away from crawling. He has finally broken out of the basement with regards to his weight percentile ranking that we were worried about. It might have to do with the fact that he is eating us out of house and home now that he has been introduced to solid foods.

This summer we got to go back to Maryland and D.C. to hang out with Dad. The kids loved seeing the declaration, national archives, library of congress and other sites they remember from "National Treasure". Kord spent a lot of time devising a plan to steal the important national documents, in the end he stole the Declaration and bolted for the door. Okay, it was the $10 replica and we DID pay for it...but we had tons of fun with it.

Then we proceeded to the National Gallery of Art. I was explaining Seurat's style and discussing how we thought he did it. In a flash, Kord said, "Yea, it's bumpy" while raising his hand and touching the painting. AHHHHH. It was all in slow motion for me. I couldn't stop him before he touched it. Well, I obviously spent some time helping him to understand the magnitude of what he just did. After all was well, we all love to laugh about it. Honestly, how many people do you know who have touched an original Seurat.

Since that was only a day after he drove grandpa's golf cart into a tree--Kord had an eventful Maryland trip.

The kids also had a great time getting to know Grandpa and the bottom of one of the many tributaries to the Chesapeake. Grandpa towed kids around the river day after day attempting to throw them from the tube.

I'm still working on Halloween costumes. AHHH. The issue is that every year the kids want more complex costumes since they know that mom will do it. "Mom, how about you just make me Eragon with a life sized dragon to ride. And not the way it looks in the movie. I want it the way it looks in my mind from reading the books. " Russ is still working with the young men. He was released as the YM president and put right back in as the Venture advisor. He loves it, none of the administrative garbage and all of the fun.