Minus 3.25 gallons of milk

A few months ago I announced to our blogging world that Mike and I were participating in a Biggest Loser contest with my family. Today was the final weigh in, and I am pleased to announce that together, Mike and I lost the weight of 3.25 gallons of milk. When you think about lugging an extra 3.25 gallons of milk around, we were really proud of ourselves to get rid of that much in just 18 weeks! We each managed to lose 14 pounds, so our family is now 28 pounds lighter. It helped put it in perspective today at the doctor's office when I saw that Evan weighs only 24 pounds, so Mike and I lost more than the weight of our child!

We knew you'd let us brag about our success here, and we're just so happy to be a little slimmer this holiday season. Mike lost most of his weight through sheer willpower in shunning all things sweet and fattening. Since I love treats way too much, I had to significantly step up my exercise routine and have thoroughly enjoyed my gym membership. I've also had to make sure to choose healthy snacks and moderate my treats, but I think I'd be a very grumpy person all around if I had to completely cut out sweets.

So the great news is we're both a bit more slim and trim for the holidays. Unfortunately, neither of us is to our ideal weight, so even though the contest is over, we are still on the bandwagon and planning to lose more.

The results from the biggest loser in my family are still being tallied, but I'm 99.9% sure that the winnings will go to Kara, who exercised like a banshee and has extreme willpower in her eating. I think we all knew when we started that she would likely win, but at least she got us motivated to do something about! Seven of us in my family participated, and when I get the final number I'll let you know how much we lost, but as a family, it was a significant amount. I guess there is something highly motivational in reporting your weight each month to family members, and not one of us was going to be the fatty who didn't lose weight that month, so we all did well! Way to go, Family!! I'm proud of all of us.

Below are some pictures we snapped last weekend before we went to Mike's work Christmas party. Mike's thin waist is hidden by his coat, but he looks great!

Top 7 of 2007

Since we mailed off Christmas cards to many friends far away with no news but our blog address, we thought for those diligent enough to look us up, we've give you a quick year-in-review with our Top 7 of 2007.

7. Saddest and funniest blog post of the year, compliments of Mike: http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/10/we-want-mommy_21.html

6. Wild weather in Texas led to two visits to our tornado shelter, severe flooding, and the girls pretty much panicking every time it rainedl
http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/04/tornado-pictures.html

5. Some ridiculous number of doctor visits, for everything from UTIs to wheezing to chicken pox. I think I am quickly earning my pediatric RN degree!
http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/03/pox-continues.html

4. And the award for best video of the year goes to Katie as the Rodeo Queen:
http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/04/kara-and-daves-visit.html

3. Guitar Hero was a delightful summer fling.
http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/06/hard-rockers.html

2. One of Mike's many home projects! We are grateful for all he has done to add sweat equity to our home!
http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/05/running-into-brick-wallliterally.html

1. And our favorite--Mike and I enjoyed 8 blissful days in Hawaii (thanks to Allan and Brenda for the wonderful gift of watching our kids so we could go!), compliments of all his frequent flyer miles, hotel points, etc. from his constant travel. We feel like we thoroughly explored Maui and Oahu and were amazed we could fit so much in in such a short time! Lots of pics and travel journal for anyone looking to plan a trip to Hawaii anytime soon. http://mikekatiefamily.blogspot.com/2007/09/aloha-from-hawaii-day-1.html

Thanks for your interest in our lives! We are doing all the fun, normal things kids these ages do.

Brooke (7) is doing piano lessons and soccer, and she is a total bookworm. After finding her sneaking in to her closet at night to read (Katie was secretly delighted), Grandma and Grandpa B. sent her a reading light and she loves to read as long as possible before bed each night. She loves school, friends, playing outside, and being helpful and responsible. Brooke is into pioneers this year and right now loves wearing her pioneer dress on a regular basis, sewing, crocheting, and reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books. We just went to "A Little House Christmas" play, and with the girls dressed in their pioneer dresses someone asked if they were in the play--they were delighted!

Megan (6) loves kindergarten but last week I told her she had five more minutes to play with her friends and then it was time for them to go home, and after five minutes, she responded, "Mom, you don't know what a real minute is! At school a minute is a LONG time." Megan is our family comedian, and also would love to have Mom to herself for hours each day. She was a star soccer player on her team this year and is begging to begin piano lessons (and as soon as she masters reading, Mom will begin to get serious about piano lessons). She still loves to cook and help out around the house.

Evan (18 months) is a joy and delight. His darling blue eyes melt my heart and he pretty much gets what he wants most of the time, unless it involves swordfighting with butter knives (his latest favorite trick). If you scan through our blog, you can see that these last six months have been a practice in keeping him all in one piece, but I am hoping he is maturing because we haven't had any severe trauma since the October stitches. He is now almost 18 months old and we are counting the minutes until he is officially in nursery.

Mike is still enjoying his work at McKinsey & Co. and we are delighted he is working in town right now. He's Mr. Handyman around the house, and in his spare time he manages to find some quality time for Halo 3.

Katie's life is business as usual--lots of fun and friends, piles of laundry and dishes, and a house that could always use a little more cleaning than I seem to make time for. I am enjoying serving as Primary President with the kids at church and love being in primary with my girls each week. I feel like in my 30s I'm maturing into a place where I am truly enjoying all the small moments of motherhood and take delight in an afternoon at the park with the kids or the chance to sit down and play a game with them. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends who constantly make life fun and exciting for me and my family.

Most of all this holiday season we feel abundantly blessed with our good job, a warm, happy home, and wonderful friends and family. We are looking forward to enjoying holiday time with our family and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Language explosion

It's just so fun to have the little guy start talking! I guess if you wait five years between kids, you can oohh and ahhh over all these fun little milestones like first words again.

Evan's first words were go, mom, and dad, and he said them all before he turned 1. Then NOTHING. He loved to yell GO anytime, but we couldn't get him to even attempt to say another word until at least 15 months. But he is now finally trying to say lots of things, and is so cute about it! This week have have branched out into two syllable words, and I'm proud to announce that his first two-syllable word was "baby" and his second was "doctor." Yes, I guess when you visit the doctor twice we week all winter long, it's not surprising that would be one of his first words. Sometimes it feels like we go to the doctor more than the grocery store . . .

But anyway, Brooke was home sick on Friday and told him we were going to the doctor, and he looked right at her and repeated, "do-ter." So cute! He's now mastered "night-night" with a wave and today he yelled out "apple." We're so proud of him! :)

For as quick as he is to want to try new things, I think his trying to say new words is darling, becuase he wants to say them right so the first times he tries to say a new word, you can see his lips and tongue moving, but he doesn't say any sound. Then hopefully with enough encouragment, we get him to actually vocalize the sound and it comes out in a little whisper. A little family cheering and we can usually get him to say the word.

Okay, this post is long enough that really only the grandparents are probably still interested at this point . . . but we thing EVERYTHING Evan does is delightful and funny, and we're so happy to have him talking with us!

Games, Games, Games

I grew up in a family who loved to play games. However, as an adult Mike and I started to get tired of regular party games (Catch Phrase, Pictionary, Scattegories, etc.) and for a few years quit playing games, until we discoverd Settlers of Catan. This is an awesome game (and Cities and Knights is even better) because it involves strategy rather than just simple roll of the dice. After several years of regular Settlers games, in 2007 we decided to explore the world of board games and try to come up with some other fun strategy games.

We have especially enjoyed introducing Brooke and Megan to some new games because I really can't stand to play CandyLand or other kids games, and it's so refreshing to find something we all can enjoy together! Besides, games are so educational, teach winning and losing, and are a great way to get in some fun family time.

So for anyone who hasn't completed their Christmas shopping, here are a few of our recent favorites. But you might first want to start with this great article on games, with plenty of gaming suggestions at the bottom:
http://hfog.blogspot.com/2005/12/educational-gaming.html

If you are going to purchase games, I would also recommend his website for affordable games with shipping prices you'll like: http://housefullofgames.com/

Here are our favorite games to play with Brooke and Megan:

Ticket to Ride--teaches great U.S. geography, mapping skills, counting, colors, etc.
Memory--rather embarrassing when they beat us, but they love it!
Blockus Trigon--great math and geometry skill-builder
Set card game--another patterns game (no reading required)
Zooloretto--haven't actually played this yet, but the reviews are great and it's one we hope to get soon
Speed Scrabble (Brooke is just learning, but I think she can get it!)

Favorite adult strategy games:
Settlers of Catan
Cities and Knights
St. Petersburg
Carcasonne: The City (great for two or more players)
Thurn and Taxis

There are many more games we are anxious to try, but off the top of my head, those are my favorites at the moment. If you have any "thinking" games you love, I'd love to hear about them!

Finally, I just have to give a shout-out to Todd and Stephanie for always being willing to make time to play games with us--our kids have learned to go to sleep at each other's houses so we could continue in teh gaming tradition that we started before Abby was even born, and it's been a fun four years of games! Thanks for the good times!

Christmas fun!

The Dallas Christmas parade! Mike's work gets us nice bleacher seats and has a yummy warm brunch afterwards with a visit from Santa. It's one of my favorite holiday events, especially when the weather is a temperate as it was this year!

Decorating gingerbread houses--thank goodness for Walmart's pre-made gingerbread house, so all we had to do was mix the icing and put the candies on! Fun for all, and so little stress for me. (Added bonus was not having bags of candy left when we were done!)

This Christmas I took a tip from my friend Mindy and put a fun note with a Christmas activity for each day of December in our advent calendar. The girls have been so excited each morning to get up and find out what fun thing we are doing that day. Favorites so far have been the Christmas parade, going out to dinner for Mom's birthday, and decorating the gingerbread house. Tonight we are playing Christmas songs our our chimes, and they'll enjoy that as well. It's been a little more planning for me to make sure we find fun things to do, but not much because I have just included the fun holiday things I would normally enjoy doing with the kids, and it's made it a special time for them.

I have been a tardy blogger lately because of Christmas shopping and Evan's continual illnesses. Thank goodness for online shopping so I haven't had to go out as much this year, and I only have a couple more gifts to go and I'll be done! I think this is the earliest I've ever started, and the earliest I've been done.

Evan has had another cold, which turned into another double ear infection and wheezing, so he's back on steroids for his lungs, breathing treatments every four hours, antibiotics for his ear infection, Tylenol for his pain, etc. Poor kid is a walking drugstore, and since Friday, he has been MISERABLE. He just follows me around, sucks his thumbs, and begs to be held or put back to bed. I am in awe by how much he is sleeping. Today he finally got out of my arms and played for about 30 minutes, so I am hoping he is somewhat on the mend. It is 3:10, and he has literally only been awake for 4 hours since he went to bed at 7:30 last night, so hopefully all this extra sleep is healing his body. Poor guy. I hate to see the little ones sick.

Kids will be walking in the door from school in just a minute--thank goodness for wonderful neighbors who have taken and picked the kids up from school all week while Evan has been sick and sleeping! It takes a village . . .

Busted!

Evan has gotten much better recently about understanding that you only write on papers, so I'm not sure what happened Sunday night, but I think when he found that he had shut himself in the bathroom and couldn't get out, couldn't yell loud enough to get anyone to hear him, and suddenly remembered he had a red marker in his hand, the temptation was too much to bear and he wrote all over everything--the stool, the tub, the floor, the door, the wall, etc.

Thank goodness it was washable so the only lasting damage is to our flat paint, which nothing washes off of without taking off the paint. Oh well--another excuse to paint the bathroom I guess!

Christmas cards

Isn't it the silliest dilemma? I am trying to decide if I should send Christmas cards this year (I think I've sent them every year for the last 8 years or so, so why should it be this hard to decide this year?)

The Pros

• I actually have a decent, recent family picture (usually, lack of a picture is the #1 reason I threaten not to send Christmas cards).
• I love getting Christmas cards from all my friends and seeing what everyone is up to.
• I am a person who doesn't like to lose track of old friends, so I feel obligated to do my part to stay in touch.

The Cons

• Mike thinks it's a silly waste of money to spend $0.69 on each card when email is free (cost of 41 cent stamp and printing of Christmas cards at Costco--about as cheap as it gets).
• No one else in my family sends Christmas cards with any regularity, so why should I feel inclined to?
• Writing the Christmas letter--when you have nothing new to report (no new job, no new address, no new baby), what is there to write about except brag about your great family vacation and how good your kids are at soccer? (I seriously think this is the hardest part--I have no idea what to write without sounding like the proud mother that I am!)
• Time, time, time. Maybe I'd be better off playing games with my kids than looking up addresses and putting together Christmas cards?

So anyone who has an opinion, go ahead and weigh in . . . should I send them out this year or let this be our year to skip it?

A picture is worth a thousand words

So here's what we've been up to . . . Thanksgiving in Utah, a day trip to Provo to indoctrinate the kids about the glories of BYU . . . this was lunch at the Creamery on 9th with Kara and Dave and family.

The crew on campus . . .
Enjoying fine root beer and pizza at Brick Oven for dinner.
A hay ride with my family, who was all together for Thanksgiving weekend because of Dan's wedding.
Playing in the leaves at Grandma and Grandpa B's house.

Smores and a campfire in the back yard with lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Plenty of board games. The new one for this trip was Thurn and Taxis--very fun!
Dan and Autumn at the temple with Brooke and Megan. The two very handsome men in my life!

It was a great trip, great time with family, and so glad we could all be there!

Sunday morning with twins? Not sure it's for me!

So, we're babysitting 16-month-old Jameson for 5 days while our friends down the street are on vacation. Things have been busy, but going okay. Jameson is pleasant, plays well with Evan, and definitly doesn't run as fast, so in a lot of ways he's easier. But simply the notion of having two 16-month-old boys to take care of us a lot. On top of it all, Evan is getting over a cold and has some type of wheeze in his chest that is not going away so this weekend we have been pumping him full of steriods and giving him Albuterol treatments every three hours. If he wasn't already a wound up kid, he is now literally bouncing off the walls.

Despite the craziness of our Saturday (flu shots for the girls, a ward baptism, a parent teacher conference, a soccer game for Brooke, a year-end soccer party at a restaurant, a New Member social for our ward, and chaperoning the stake youth dance, plus giving Evan five twenty-minute breathing treatments), we survived the day and the kids got to bed and everything worked out okay. It was just our Sunday that was shot. Mike and I finally got to bed around 12:30, only to be woken at 1:00 because Megan had wet the bed, and then bawled for 20 minutes because she couldn't figure out why I couldn't dry her wet snuggle blanket fast enough for her to sleep with it again. So eventually we went to bed.

Everything ran smoothly Sunday morning until we realized that despite our best intentions, we left for church at 8:26 instead of 8:20. So although our church is only about two blocks away, all the seats in the chapel were filled by the time we got there, so we sat in the folding chairs in the back. The boys both squirmed and fussed the whole first part of the meeting because we couldn't/wouldn't let them down because they would run away. So after the sacramaent, all six of us with all our bags marched up to the front two rows vacated when the deacons went to sit with their families. Evan and Jameson were MUCH happier after being let down to at least stand on their own. That worked fun until the girls got our some pens to draw and Evan threw the biggest fit when I wouldn't let him draw with pink pen in the hymnbook. So Mike marched him out. Then it was time for the ward choir to sing, and I would have just skipped it but Brooke has been practicing and DYING to sing with the choir, and I had to go up. I quickly handed Jameson to a friend and went to sing with Brooke. Megan sulked because left her in the bench alone. Jameson didn't like the hand-off, so he joined Mike and Evan in the hall. I went out to retrieve the kids and Evan had snot running down his face and Mike tried to convince me to let him take them home. I insisted that we could handle his, so we marched both boys back into sacrament meeting. (I think this now like the third time I have been in the aisle in just 40 minutes.) The boys last a mere five minutes before both of them were crying, and Mike and I stood up and marched back out again, leaving Brooke and Megan on the bench. We just kept marching straight to the car and Mike took the boys home for playtime, and early lunch, and naps. I went back to sacrament meeting and apparently Megan had gotten up to follow us out, so our good friend Todd had gone to sit with Brooke and Megan until we got back. By the time I got back, I sat in the bench next to Todd and we finished sacrament meeting.

I have always admired moms who managed twins, but after all the feeding and diapers of this weekend, I can see that twins is truly a full-time job!! I think I'll happily take my babies one at a time.

Evan goes back to the doctor tomorrow for his wheezing and hopefully will be doing better, although he still doesn't sound great. We have actually really enjoyed having Jameson with us this weekend though. The girls have risen to the occasion and have enjoyed playing with the babies, feeding them, and even getting up early and setting the table for breakfast in an effort to help us get out the door and to school and church on time. It's so great to have girls who are such wonderful little mommies!

Evan on the slide--thankfully, no broken bones yet!

Evan on slide from katie on Vimeo.

The Cutest Kids!

All dressed up on Sunday morning. Thanks to the time change, we got up early and have enough time to snap a few pictures! Evan had to be restrained to get in the picture . . .

Quote of the day

Brooke: "Mom, Evan can write X's! But he's writing on the walls so you'd better come take his pencil away."

I have seven very large, very dark X's all over my kitchen and hallway that Evan drew for me today. This morning he scribbled all overthe wall while Mike was home and Mike scolded him. Later tonight I saw him quietly walk over and get a wet wipe and try to wipe off the wall, so I know he knows better. Who to punish? The girl who left the pencil out twice in one day, or the curious 16-month-old who would rather color on the wall than obey?

I think I'll wait a week or two before I try to re-paint, since I'm sure this problem is not yet solved.

Happy Halloween!

Evan loved scooping out the pumpkin. We thankfully tossed him in bed before the true carving began. He just can't be trusted around knives!
Brooke LOVES her pioneer costume. She has worn it several times a week since we got it in September.
Evan is very appropriately our naughty little monkey! At last count, he ate three candy bars, two suckers, and one bag on fruit snacks while I tried to hand out candy to the trick or treaters. He was perfectly content all night so long as there was a treat in his hand.
Megan had about five costumes to choose from, but at the last minute this is the one that won out. Dad's shirt makes a great lab coat, and I'm not sure why we buy these elaborate costumes when borrowing a few items from our friend, the doctor, makes a great costume!
The trick or treaters head out for a night on the town!!

Girls' Weekend

So, while Mike was home saving children from themseles, I did have a lovely weekend in Utah! I went to my soon-to-be sister-in-law's bridal shower at my parents' home and had a great time catching up with friends and family. Then I headed to a cabin with my girlfriends from business school and had two great days of shopping, playing games, and staying up way too late. I feel so blessed to have such inspiring women as my friends, and we all felt lucky to have such supportive husbands while we got away for the weekend. Thanks, Mike!

I especially loved that it snowed all day Saturday and we just drank hot chocolate and enjoyed it!

Carmel and chocolate dipped apples were a very yummy late-night treat!
Shopping at the outlets in Park City was also lots of fun!

Evan's recovering!

Evan with stitches and a black eye (eyelid).

The wound after the stiches are out.

He got his stitches out on Friday and the doctor said they look great and very clean, so hopefully once the redness goes away, he will heal up nicely with minimal scarring. I am using Vitamin E oil and next week will start Mederma, so hopefully we can keep his face looking like it should! The stitches haven't slowed him down at all this week, and I feel like I have run a marathon to keep him from bumping his head again and reopening the stitches.

Evan turned 16 months old this week, and I had one of those scary realizations that Brooke and Megan are only 16.5 months apart. I can't imagine how Evan would handle himself if I were delivering a baby in two weeks! I can't imagine nursing and keeping him climbing on the table or trying to slide down the stairs head-first (just to see if he can) while trying to feed a newborn. Brooke wasn't necessarily an easy baby, but compared to Evan, she was just fine!!

Airfare deals

Since I love to travel and have always enjoyed finding good deals on airfare, I thought I'd share a site I just came across. Check out www.farecast.com and you can check out fares in any market for the last 90 days to see if what you are looking at is a good price. They also use a prediction tool to let you know if you should wait for a better price or buy now.

Nice tool to have! (Now I just have to plan a trip . . . :)

We Want Mommy!

Mike here.

Katie has been off with her Kellogg girlfriends (Thursday - Sunday) and I am sooooo glad to have her back. Sure - her job is tough - I wouldn't want it, but in fairness, this has been her job and then some!

Thursday was uneventful. Katie was here to help get the kids off to school and then I took her to the airport. The rest of the day was pretty easy. Kids came home, played with friends, we ate dinner and got them all to bed. But Friday took a turn for the worse. First - Katie picked the worst possible to day for me to "watch" the kids. I was scheduled to be at work from 7:30 to 6:30 conducting interviews all day long. That may not sound too bad, but when you factor in a 45-60 minute commute - it was awful. We had to wake up at the crack of dawn and get everyone ready and off to separate houses before I left (school doesn't start till 8) so the girls went across the street and Evan went to our friends house. The girls were fine, but Evan was apparently sick... something I didn't know since I got him out of bed, threw clothes on, and stuck him in the car with a bottle of milk. He was half asleep when I dropped him off.

He was scheduled to start at Farnsworth's, go to Hiatt's, then a babysitter was going to pick him up at 2 and watch him the rest of the day. Unfortunately, Hiatt's kids got really sick (and I didn't know this) and they had arranged with another family to watch him. This is all fine except Evan got a fever, runny nose, lots of diarrhea and was probably a problem for Fairbanks. I finally got a 5-min break at 3 only to find out that he had been passed around to different houses and was sick - no fun!

I didn't get home until 7:30 and the poor babysitter was late for her planned activities that night. The girls were DYING to go to their school fundraiser (the sock hop) that night so I skipped dinner, packed the girls and sick Evan into the car and went to the Sock Hop for dancing, carnival games, and lots of treats with nuts (fun.)

We got home at 9 and I was relieved to put everyone to bed. Then like any responsible parent with a spouse out of town, I sat down to play a new video game (Halo 3 :-) and lost track of time and stumbled into bed at 2:30 in the morning. (don't tell Katie)

I was joyfully woken up at 6:30 to to angelic (whining) cries for food. Needless to say I wasn't super chipper that morning. By 10 though I was alert enough to get a shower in and then the girls and I cleaned the house - vacuum, 2 days worth of dishes, mopping (Katie really owes me now_ and putting away all the toys. The house looked great. I sent the kids across the street to play and got some more "quality time" with my XBox while Evan napped. By 2:30 we ran out the door for soccer.

Then the fun began again. Brooke and Megan's games overlapped and Megan plays some 20 miles away. We had hoped to play the 1st and 3rd quarters and take off in time to make the 2nd and 4th quarters of Brooke's game. Unfortunately, traffic didn't cooperate and we got there just after kick off. We left right as Brooke's game began, but it took us 30 minutes to get to her field since we were stuck in all the post game traffic to/fro Megan's field and by the time we got to Brooke's game it was halftime. I went to get Evan's stroller and noticed a nice smearing of poop all over his stroller as I set it up. What? - I checked Evan and sure enough he had had a GIGANTIC, diarrhea bundle of joy in his shorts.

Better still - Dad isn't really used to packing a diaper bag so I was at the game, late, with NO diapers and 2 dried out wipes I found under the seat. I sent Brooke running to the game and left Megan to watch Evan in the car as I headed to the bathroom to get some paper towels. Of course they used blow-dryers, so I stole 1/2 a role of toiled paper, got it damp (not as smart as it sounds,) and went to the car to try and clean up the stroller, car seat, and Evan. (I also found a gallon zip lock bag that was full when i was done :-)

I finally got him cleaned up, but with no pants or diaper, I put him in a stroller with a diaper change pad (loincloth style) around him. I buckled him up and went to the last quarter of the game but they only had Brooke play the 3rd quarter so I missed out on seeing her. I was so embarrassed about Evan's naked state that I sat on the opposing team's side. I am sure the our team's parents thought I was a little weird and I yelled at the kids from across the field to hurry over and wouldn't come over :-)

Next we ran (still perpetually late) to the ward party after a quick stop at home to replenish pants (because Megan managed to spill her entire soda can full of lemonade over the back seat on the way home). It was supposed to be a ward chili cook-off, but by the time I got there, there wasn't a spoonful of chili left. It was 6:15, the kids were starving, I was stressed and "pooped-out". I let the kids stay for 30 minutes to play games with the other kids and headed off to Sonic for hamburgers and ice-cream. For 10 short minutes, I was a hero and all was well.

Sunday was supposed to be better. The girls were super helpful and we all made it church 10 minutes early. Sacrament meeting was great and I headed off to Sunday School thrilled that Katie was on a plane and heading home. Somewhere in the middle of a great discussion about Ephesians, Evan was playing on the other side of the room and while running, tripped and fell face first into a chair storage cart with a very sharp metal corner. I walked over to get him since he was crying, but one of the mom's over by him said "Oh no - its bad, he's bleeding!" and of course the entire Sunday School class stopped to see what was happening. He was crying loudly and blood was dripping down his face! He had a huge GASH out of his head about his eye and I knew I was headed to the emergency room. Thankfully, I took my suit coat just before he was handed to me because I got blood all over my white Sunday shirt. A nice man gave me a damp handkerchief which somehow prevented him from ruining his shirt.

Of course at this point someone volunteer to get Katie and I told them (the whole class - who were obviously freaking out afraid his brain would leak out for all the blood) she was gone. One of my friends offered to drive and we headed out to the emergency room knowing that someone would figure out that my kids would need to be picked up after church. My buddy drove our van while I tried to patch Evan up while he screamed, cried, and desperately tried to make the wound bigger. It may look ugly, but I had to do something to stop the bleeding.

I had to so something to try and stop the bleeding and try and pull the skin a little closer together. (It may look ugly - but he wasn't exactly holding still...)

We got the emergency room and thankfully only one other person was there. The check-in nurse quickly put it into perspective when I came through the door and she said "it isn't his eye is it??" So glad it wasn't!

We proceeded to the operation room where they had a great table with a TV for Evan to watch. He was great and calm at this point, but then a nurse came in and wrapped him up with his arms at his side so he couldn't move. I held his torso down while another nurse held his head and the third nurse stitched him up. (There was another nurse there too, but I think she was just for overhead's sake.) 13 stitches in all. I'd estimate that the cut was 1 1/4 inches long and it was a good 1/2 centimeter deep.

The nurse did a great job sewing him up and I think it will heal nicely if we can keep him from re-injuring it (which will be VERY difficult). I really wish I could buy him a football helmet and strap it on these days.

Katie was on the airplane for the whole thing so she had no idea until she called as I pulled up. I made it until a few hours before she got home before the hospital - I guess I can't be trusted alone with the kids in the future... ;-)

We are so thankful to have her home!



Here are more pictures - not for the squeamish.
A picture tells a thousand words... just seeing his tears make me cry.






At least they have a TV there to keep them entertained. (plus a toy he stole from someone at church, which came in very handy as it kept his hands occupied)

Here is the finished product. Evan was dripping with sweat from struggling and crying/screaming so loud.



13 stitches in all. Nice work by the nurse. She said she does A LOT of stiches in the ER.



the bandage lasted about an hour - then he pulled it off. They said he will probably get a black eye for the next few days.

We love Mike!

Can I just say how great it is to have some extra bonus time with Mike? Since we got home from Hawaii, he has not be traveling and has been lucky enough to be working from home, and we are all so grateful for the extra time with him!! He and I have enjoyed dropping the girls off at school together and going for a nice walk before he settles down to work. He makes me lunch each day, he plays with Evan, he lets me go run errands while Evan is napping, and he gets to give the girls a hug each day when they come in the door from school!

Evan thinks Mike is the coolest friend around, and he constantly runs to the office looking for him. Tonight while I cleaned up dinner, Mike and the kids wrestled and had a great time, then he took Evan upstairs to play while the girls and I played Memory (impossible to play with Evan climbing on the table). Megan beat me--she has an amazing memory, even when I'm trying!! Mike helps with dinner and dishes, and helps clean up the house.

It won't be long before we're back to work life as usual, but we are enjoying every moment of this time with him right now!!

Evan's antics

The videos are self-explanatory. He is sure an adventure!


Evan on the table from katie on Vimeo.


Evan in the sink from katie on Vimeo.

Pumpkin Patch

One of our favorite traditions is going to the Pumpkin Patch in town--usually several times a year. It is free, outdoors, and great fun! This was our first visit this year, and it was so hot we all had to buy a snow cone (even Mom) to cool down! Evan hated it--too many people for me to let him run around on his own, too hot, and I made him stay in the stroller.

It's really fun--they have a hay bale maze, inflatable toys, a hay ride, snow cone shop, and lots of other fun things to climb on and run around it. The kids love it. I'm hoping it will cool down so we can go another afternoon this week or next.

Girly screaming - Update

Part 1 - Since some wondered - that is an Orbweaver spider, or simply, a yellow garden spider. Thankfully, they are harmless to people but they have very large webs and can be a nuisance. That and more info about texas spiders at http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/l-1787.html

Part 2 - I let it live 3 more hours so I could show it to Brooke and Megan. Then, it met an untimely death at the end of my 5-foot SHOVEL. (did you think I'd actually get close enough to squish it with my foot?)

Ever scream like a little girl?

I did today. -Mike.

One thing I hate about Texas. (that is a 4" fence slat if you are curious)

How many ways can Evan endanger his life in just one week?

A week ago right now I was just getting on a plane to come home from a very relaxing, fun vacation in Hawaii. On Sunday afternoon, the girls and Grandma and Grandpa B. started telling us how Evan learned to climb on chairs while we were gone. As they left, Brenda laughed and said, "I'm glad I got last week and you get this one!"

This week has been a study in patience. Poor Evan has discovered that he can climb on anything, his favorites being the piano, my counter in the bathroom, and the kitchen table. (He also discovered he can open the toilet lid and "fish" and climb up the slide outside and all over the play set.)

Let me set the scene. Thursday night Mike was out of town, so after dinner the girls and I hurry to clear the table as Evan is already trying to climb up. I pull him down three times as they help me clear. He screams bloody murder every time I stop him, and he runs right back to what he is intent on doing the minute I let him go. I load three dishes into the dishwasher, then sprint to the table with dripping hands because he is already on top of the table, swinging the light, and I grab him as he tries to set his SECOND foot on top of the high chair tray. He screams and I set him on the front room with the girls and his toys. Repeat that like 6 times--exactly. Three dishes, screaming Evan, quick save before he rolls off the table with the high chair.

So we escape to the back yard where he manages to get himself onto the slide and start down it, but while looking very pleased at himself, topples over the side onto the hard ground below.

I could go on and on with his escapades this week. He went MIA for 30 seconds today and by the time Mike found him, he ran into our bathroom just in time to break his fall as he fell off the countertop (Mike caught him before he hit the tile floor). I cannot let him out of sight for even one minute (literally).

When I'd finally had it one day, I tried to just go upstairs and get him to watch The Wiggles. He loved it for about two minutes, and then pushed every button the receiver so many times in a row that I was sure he had broken it. So much for TV as a helper! He doesn't like it--way too BORING.

Amazingly, we have had only one bloody tragedy this week. Friday night Mike and I were going out to dinner with some friends. We went outside for five minutes to wait for the babysitter to get here, and Evan picked up a tennis racket the girls had been playing with. He was walking on the sidewalk with it and stumbled and hit his fingers. I cannot figure out how it happened, but when I picked him up I immediately saw that he had ripped his entire fingernail off on his right-hand pointer finger. The root of the nail was laying on the outside of his skin. He started to scream and I ran for the house to wash him up. He is amazingly tough because he calmed down so quickly, and with my sweet neighbor's help (thanks, Beth!), I cut the last tiny thread it was hanging from, washed him up, and bandaged it up. With a bottle of milk, he was suddenly quite fine and went right to bed.

We went out to dinner as planned, but he woke up fusing at 3:00 a.m., and suddenly I realized I had no idea if I had done the right thing for his poor finger, so I went to the internet to see how to treat it. Everything I could read talked about people taking their kids the to the ER, and I thought how calm I was to just bandage him up, kiss him, and send him off to bed (and leave to go out to dinner). So I laid awake worrying that I hadn't done enough for him. But thankfully when I talked to the nurse this morning she told me I'd done just fine and to just keep it covered and clean and to watch for infection. Poor Evan. His little finger is sore and today he's been happy to leave the gauze wrap on because it hurts him and he doesn't want to bump it. Tonight when I changed the bandage, he just held his finger out and let me do it--so sweet.

I swear if I can survive this kid, it will be a miracle. I HATE 15 months old. I remember Brooke at 15 months being SO INTENSE and throwing huge, horrible tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted. So much that I just had to let her lay on the floor and cry and sit by her so she wouldn't hurt herself. Megan was a much more mellow personality and she didn't hit that out of control tantrum phase, but she was a climber and seemed to be into everything all of the time. Little Evan seems to have Brooke's intensity and Megan's climbing interest, and I just hope he and I survive this stage. He only has one speed, and it is fast, so I feel like I am running to keep up with him (literally, tonight I was sprinting down the street catch him when he got a little bit away from me and decided to make a run for it . . . )

I might consider a fourth child if I could guarantee a mellow one! :)

Saved by the FDIC

Who ever heard of banks failing in 2007? Sure, during the Great Depression, lots of people lost their money when their banks closed their doors, but who knew it still happens? We found out last week that Netbank, our bank of the last 8 years, failed. Thank goodness it was FDIC insured, or we would have lost every cent we had! Literally, it is our only bank, savings account, CDs, etc. So aside from retirement savings, everything was in there!

Basically, the government shut them down last Friday. I'm assuming it was because they didn't have enough in their reserves to cover their loans. Because of the FDIC, we didn't lose any money, and ING Direct bought them out and instantly became our bank. Kind of a weird experience. Since we've talked for awhile about getting an in-town bank, today we went and signed up for a new bank account. Over the next few weeks I need to get all our bill pay, direct deposit, auto withdrawals, etc. transferred over to our new bank--not a fun thing to come home from vacation to do!

Not to mention that while we were in Hawaii, the police seemed to think our Discover card got copied and suddenly Discover shut it down on us. So now I not only have a new bank, but a new Discover card number and account and need to get all those auto withdrawals changed, etc.

Can you imagine the financial disarray we are in right now? It will take a couple of weeks to get sorted out, but all will be fine in the end.

I have always believed in insurance, but after having a van stolen and a bank fail, I am even more convinced that insurance is not only important, but NECESSARY!

Day 7--Waikiki Beach, Manoa Falls, Chinatown, and the North Shore

Wow! Did we try to cram everything possible into our last day? Saturday morning I realized I had not yet taken time to just sit on the beach and read a book, and I really enjoy that, so I laid on my mat on Waikiki Beach with tons of other people and read my book while Mike body boarded for two hours. He caught some great waves--not too big, not to small, and had a great time remembering how to body board again. Unfortunately, about 50 other people had the same idea and while I took a few pictures, I had no idea which one was him! :)

Waikik Beach--the Royal Hawaiian is the pink hotel in the background.

Finally, we knew it was time to check out the hotel and get on with the end of our trip. We had a quick shower and left for a delicious brunch of omelettes and coconut pancakes. Then we hiked Manoa Falls. It is just a few minutes outside of Waikiki, but is in a rainforest. Within minutes we were dripping sweat because it was so HUMID, but we enjoyed a beautiful mile-long hike to the falls. So nice to see a bit more of beautiful Hawaii before we left.

Mike had never been to a Chinatown, so we did the complete tourist thing and took our guidebook and followed a walking tour around Chinatown. So many sights and smells reminded me of my mission in Argentina and some of the shops I saw there! We enjoyed being immersed in a culture within a culture.

When we left Chinatown, we had two hours before we had to return the car and head to the airport, and the only thing we really still felt like we needed to do was head to the North Shore and see where the surfers really do their thing. So we drove as quickly as we could out to Haleiwa, "Surf City," which is this very quaint town just before you hit the big surfer beaches. I would have loved an afternoon to wander around the town and check out the beaches, but we only had a few minutes. We grabbed a burger and some famous Matsumoto Shaved Ice (best we've eaten yet!) and headed to the beach to eat and watch the surfers. When we had no more time to spare, we raced back to the airport and jumped on our plane. We nearly missed the plane because security took so long in Honolulu, but we got on and I even managed to get a bit of sleep on the way home.

It felt like the perfect end to a perfect trip. We are so grateful to Allan and Brenda for giving up their time to come watch the kids for us--that is the nicest gift anyone could give us! It's a bit of a shock to the system to be home, but it is also nice to be back to our routine and enjoying our children and being together again.

Day 6--Pearl Harbor and Hanauma Bay

Is our trip almost over? We are so sad to think that we are approaching the end! We tried to sleep in this morning and take advantage of not having any kids here to wake us up at the crack of dawn! :) After a leisurely start, we checked out of our hotel (using hotel points for all our hotels and we had to make a change), and headed out to Pearl Harbor. We got inside at 10:30 and got tickets for the 11:45 tour, which gave us just enough time to wander through the museum there and learn what we wanted to before going out to the USS Arizona memorial. It was a sobering experience to see the ship and learn just how extensive the tragedy was. We both appreciated the video clips of the day that we were able to watch because it gave us better perspective about the tragedy. On Dec. 7, 1941, over 2400 people were killed in one of the greatest surprise attacks ever. Every battleship in the harbor was either sunk or damaged, and most of the planes from our air force as well. Mike and I just couldn't help comparing it to the feeling of the Sept. 11 attacks--such a shock to have happen on U.S. soil, so many lives lost, and such a uniting factor for our country. The memorial is very well done and worth a visit on a trip to Hawaii. This was not a fun thing, per se, but such an important historical event that everyone needs to appreciate and understand the sacrifices our country has gone through to give us the freedoms we have today. The USS Arizona was never raised from the harbor and rests under about 6 feet of water. The white memorial (above) rests over the ship and you ride out into the harbor to see the memorial. The remains of most of the 1177 sailors who died on that ship are interred with the ship. The picture below is one view of the USS Arizona.


After we left Pearl Harbor, we grabbed some lunch and drove out to Hanauma Bay, the best snorkeling spot on Oahu. It is a beautiful bay, nice sandy beach, and lots of tourists, despite the $5 per person entrance fee. Mike and I were excited for an afternoon of some beautiful snorkeling, only to be so disappointed when we put our faces in the water! The water was churning, silty, and had very low visability. The corals have been stepped on by so many people that they just looked dead compared to the beautiful reefs we saw on Maui. We swam all around one side for awhile and then tried the other side to see if we could see anything better. We did find a nice patch of reef further out that had some fun fish, which made for a nice afternoon. Despite the crowds and the damage to the coral, there are still lots of pretty fish up close and near the beach, and many first-time snorklers were delighted with what they were seeing. We saw a couple of turtles as well, and that is always fun. Mike got some more great pictures, and we had a nice time.

We left the beach and wanted to see one more beach just up the road where body boarding is popular. We got to Sandy Beach around 5:30 and the surt was up and plenty of boarders were in the water. After watching them for a few minutes, Mike just had to get in and try. He spent a fun hour in the water trying to remember how to body board!

Finally we headed back to Waikiki to check into our last hotel and get some dinner. We picked up take out from the Cheesecake Factory and checked in the Waikiki Beach Marriot. Nice room, great view of the ocean, and a yummy dinner. Tonight we headed out for a walk around busy Waikiki. I think our best description of Waikiki is that it is like the Magnifient Mile (in Chicago) on vacation. Lots of street performers, tons of people out walking, dining, and shopping, and just a general excitement in the air. Great place to spend a Friday night if you like the nightlife--not so good if you like the quiet. It's 11:30 and I can still hear music from the street down below, even though I'm on the 19th floor. Still, it's a fun experience to try out the famous Waikiki Beach area. (We haven't even walked on Waikiki Beach yet--that is what we're doing tomorrow!)

Day 5--Oahu, Temple, and the PCC

We left beautiful Maui and flew to Oahu on Wednesday night. We checked in to the Royal Hawaiin hotel, which unfortunately was a big step down after our suite at the Grand Wailea! The Royal Hawaiian is on prime beach-front property on Waikiki Beach, but it seemed quite old and run down and while the room was fine, it was just nothing spectacular. The appeal of the Royal Hawaiian is that it still retains the feel and flavor of early Hawaiian resorts--rooms decorated in old-style Hawaiian decor, etc. Above is a picture of our room.

Thursday morning we got up and left for Laie to visit the LDS Temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center. The drive was absolutely beautiful and our first impression was that Oahu is much greener and therefore overall more beautiful than Maui. (Nothing can beat the Road to Hana in my book, but Oahu is beautiful everywhere.) Laie is about an hour away from Waikiki, and when we got to the temple we took some pictures out front and then I realized that my wallet was not in my purse. You can imagine my shock to open my purse and find it missing. We didn't know what to do, but after searching the car and wracking my brain, I decided to call the hotel and have them see if I had left it in my room by chance. Thankfully, after a stressful 15 minutes while the hotel security checked for us, they found my wallet on the dresser in our room!

A few more phone calls and then we were finally able to attend the temple, which was peaceful and such a nice experience to enjoy together on our trip. We also got our cheapest food of the trip in the temple cafeteria afterward--just $4.25 for lunch for both of us! :)

After lunch we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center to tour the islands and enjoy a luau and evening show. We really enjoyed the authenticity of the PCC and seeing the dances and traditional costumes from the Pacific Islands. We enjoyed an IMAX movie about coral reefs, and felt like after all our snorkeling we even knew the names of some of the fish we saw!

After sitting outside to watch the Canoe Pageant, we were hot and sweaty so we enjoyed a shaved ice--our favorite Hawaiian treat!

We went to a luau for dinner at the PCC and enjoyed watching lots of dancing while we sampled traditional Hawaiian foods, including kalua pork and poi. I hated the poi, but the pork was quite tasty! We ended the night by watching "Horizons," which is the dancing show at the PCC. We especially enjoyed the fire dancers! I think everyone who comes to Hawaii needs to see the show just to appreciate the different Pacific Islands. It was a very fun day, and we were exhausted at the end of it!

This is the pig from the luau--they slow back it wrapped in bamboo leaves and cook it with hot stones.