7th Heaven

If You Give A...

2010-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

If you have young children, then you are probably familiar with Laura Numeroff books. Some of my children's favorites are "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" and "If You Give A Moose A Muffin". (If you haven't shared Laura Numeroff's stories with your children, please do! They'll love them!)

With that theme in mind, the following is my personal version:

IF YOU GIVE A BREE A BLACKBERRY

BY: Cara

If you give a Bree a blackberry

She'll set aside her Eggo cereal

To free up her hands

For smearing said blackberry all over her legs

And arms

And face and clothes.

If you give a Bree a blackberry

She'll be mighty proud of the mess she's made of herself.

If you give a Bree a blackberry

She'll expect a bath right away

Even if you've got someplace to be

So if you give a Bree a blackberry

She's going to want a bath to go with it.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Felicity's First Day

2010-08-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

Since she knew what preschool was, Felicity has been asking when she could go. She has looked forward to being a student, just like her older siblings. She has anticipated riding the bus to preschool with her BFF Brynna. She begged for a backpack. She asked lots of questions.

And then, yesterday, it was our last day together before she became a student. Once I made sure her backpack was full of school supplies, I decided that a few more things were in order.

First, and most importantly, Felicity needed a haircut--her first haircut, no less!

Never did you see a little girl more excited for her first haircut!

Here's a BEFORE picture.

Lucky girl, Felicity. She was able to watch a movie of her choice while she got her hair cut. She chose "Space Buddies". Felicity loves the puppies.

Yes, her hair really is that thin and strawberry blond. She got it from me. That's what I looked like as a little girl.

Felicity held very still through the whole process.

When she was done, Felicity asked for her hair to be put in a ponytail. The stylist even sprayed Felicity's hair with gold glitter! She felt so pretty.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, the stylist didn't cut much hair off. Felicity didn't actually NEED a haircut, but I had promised her one before her first day of school.

Since we were already there, I decided to treat Bree to her first haircut as well!

Bree held onto a water spray bottle while her hair got cut.

She actually held very still.

Bree enjoyed sucking on the water spray bottle, too. Silly girl!

Here she is getting her first bangs....

Sittin' pretty.

Let's go! Bree's ready to drive away.

Obviously the stylist didn't cut much hair off Bree either, but she did tame Bree's mullet!

Today was the big day. The day I sent my Sweet Felicity away to school. It was a big step of independence for her, and an important one, too. But it was nonetheless gut-wrenching for me. Felicity and I share a special bond--we have since the day she was born.

I've been told that she's my "mini-me".

Her daddy walked her to the bus stop this morning--I didn't think I could do it. I sent them with the camera so Rich could take a few pictures before the bus pulled away. No sooner did the bus pull to the curb than Felicity tried to jump on it. Rich had to call her back to catch pictures!

She couldn't wait to go!

Of course the BFF's chose to sit next to each other.

And they're off!

I couldn't believe how much I missed my Sweet Felicity while she was at school. And oh, how excited I was to meet her at the bus stop this afternoon! While we ate lunch together today, she told me all about her day. What a great one it was! And so, you guessed it, she can't wait to go back again tomorrow. I already feel as though she is slipping away from me...

Which makes me even more grateful that she and I had a special day together yesterday. After the girls' haircuts, I took Felicity to the shoe store for some new sandals, and to McDonald's for lunch.

Here is the little doll that came in her Happy Meal. Felicity named her Little Cinderella.

Once home, Bree down for a nap, we ate together and I read her stories. Then she watched a movie and I painted her nails and put make-up and perfume on her. We had a nice day together.

I'm hoping for many more.

Cara

For The Love of Shoes

2010-04-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Like any self-respecting woman, I love shoes. As a little girl I always wanted to play dress-up with my mom's shoes, though I was never permitted to.

Now that I'm a mother of three little girls, I find that my daughters like to play with my shoes on a daily basis.

Mostly Bree just likes to chew on my shoes like a puppy, though someday that will change. Someday she'll want to model them like her sister does.

Felicity's first word was "shoes".

"Boots" came soon thereafter.

High heels. The higher, the better.

I'm a model...

You know what I mean...

And I do my little turn on the catwalk...

Daddy's shoes are a little harder to fill!

But Felicity makes them look good.

So pretty. All dressed-up with nowhere to go...

So Felicity changed back into her regular clothes.

And now it's time to play with Mom's make-up. Something else I always wanted to do as a little girl and was never allowed to. But shoes are still Felicity's favorite.

I'm happy that my girls want to play and use their imagination. Even when they make a big mess in the meantime.

Cara

How Many Times?

2010-04-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many times Richard and I have told the kids to not play ball in the garage. It's really not a safe place to play. The garage is full of tools, power tools, lawn equipment, chemicals, etc.

About 90 minutes ago, Elijah, Mimi and Felicity asked if they could play out back with the dog. Sure. No problem. In fact, it would do me a favor to have fewer children under foot while trying to make dinner with one hand.

Little did I know that the three of them moved their little party to the garage a while ago. Did they ask to play in the garage? No. Did I know they were in the garage? No.

A few minutes ago there was a loud noise that sounded like something had shattered. Gritting my teeth, I followed the sound out to the garage. On the garage floor lay what once was a beautiful slab of granite, now consisting of many chunks.

Not long after we moved into our house, we bought the slabs of granite with the intention of having them installed by a granite contractor. In the meantime, we had changed our minds on the color scheme we wanted in our home and chose a different granite.

So we have been storing the first-purchased slabs of granite in our garage for about three years, planning to sell them with the hopes of recovering some of the $2000 we spent on it.

But that dream, along with the granite, have been shattered. Apparently Richard and I are not allowed to have anything nice.

Whatever.

Cara

Bring On Monday

2010-04-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Normally I hate Mondays. Rich has to go back to work, we all have to get up before the sun to start our day, tons of laundry awaits me, and I know Felicity will ask where we are going and expect to be entertained. But tomorrow has to be better than the past two days have been.

As I contemplate the events of this past weekend, I can honestly say, "Good Riddance!" Yesterday is a day I hope to never experience again. The kids fought non-stop while we tried to scrub house. Mimi decided to play mommy to Felicity and boss her around all day. Dallin spent hours looking for a lost, overdue library book--which he still hasn't found. Elijah did nothing but play with Bree and wander around the house. Richard and I didn't get showers till just before bedtime. And while we were having dinner--leftovers--Bree launched herself off of Dallin's shoulders and hit the tile floor in the kitchen, likely giving herself a mild concussion.

I'd never been so scared as I was last night. I screamed so loud that Felicity was frightened. Bree didn't cry right away and quickly lost all color. She became lethargic and began to sweat profusely. My girlfriend, Christa, a pediatric nurse, came to check her out. By the time Christa got here, Bree was perking up and moving around. I think the incident took 10 years off my life.

If that wasn't enough, about an hour later, Bree was reaching for a toy and smacked her head on the leg of one of the end tables in our family room. Later that evening, Elijah was playing with her and the two of them bonked heads. Ahh! Three times to poor Bree's head in a matter of 90 minutes.

Today, Bree was pretty fussy, especially at church. You would be, too, if church was during your naptime! She made it through the first two hours of church, and then we cut our losses and went home. She slept for 10 minutes in the car on the way home, and that's it. Still, she didn't go down to bed till 7:15pm. Ahh... Finally. But wait--she was up again an hour later. Of course Richard was gone during this time at a church meeting with Dallin so I didn't have him to help me soothe Bree. That was frustrating since Rich has the magic touch with Bree at bedtime.

Finally everyone is in bed, asleep, and thus I must follow suit. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be a better day. Please no more head injuries!

Cara

It's Good To Be Bree

2010-04-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

On April Fools Day Bree was 11 months old. Where did the time go? I followed Bree around with my camera that day to catch her in various activities.

When you are 11 months old, you should spend the day at the Denver Childrens' Museum with your brothers and sisters...

...and touch everything you can get your hands on

...and be happy

...and hungry

...and put everything in your mouth.

When you are 11 months old, you should make a really big mess in the kitchen for Mommy to clean up.

When you are 11 months old, you should call all of your friends on your toy phone...

...and make time for your Jedi training.

When you are 11 months old, you should play with toys bigger than you are, and try to get them into your mouth...

...and pause for a picture.

When you are 11 months old, you should be able to read yourself a book...

...and program your favorite shows into your DVR.

When you are 11 months old, you should put your bib on before you eat...

...and then take it off...

...before feeding yourself some yummy delicious yogurt melts.

When you are 11 months old, you should explore Mommy's kitchen in your underwear...

...and put your little hand prints all over her stainless steel appliances.

When you are 11 months old, you should remain in your underwear while exploring Mommy's family room...

...and then take a break to play with one of your own toys.

When you are 11 months old, you should take advantage of your sister laying on the floor and climb all over her.

When you are 11 months old, you should suck on a binky, a habit you gave up 9 months earlier, because it feels good to your swollen, teething gums.

And when you are 11 months old, you should finish your day nursing on Mommy's lap.

It's good to be 11 months old, and it's good to be Bree.

Cara

Monkey Bizness

2010-03-30T13:41:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday morning, Tera and I took our little ones to a new place in town called "Monkey Bizness". My little ones and I had never been there, so we were excited to go.

What a fun place for crawlers and toddlers! Bree enjoyed all the open space to crawl on and explore (until the building became over-crowded). Bree just learned to crawl a couple of weeks ago. It's a whole new world for her.

Tera's little Ethan had a blast. He is an experienced walker and climber, and an adventurous one at that. So Monkey Bizness was right up his alley. At Monkey Bizness, the rules state that everyone must remove their shoes before entering the play areas. That part is perfect for Ethan, too, since he doesn't like to wear shoes.

There were lots of different surfaces with different textures for Bree to try out.

Felicity loves slides, and Monkey Bizness has no shortage of them. Felicity gave each one a try before choosing a favorite.

Here's Brynna, posing for me. Isn't she gorgeous?

Felicity enjoyed riding the tractors around the play areas, too.

It wasn't long before Felicity begged me to take her to the art room. She loves to paint. Doesn't her hair look pretty? She was so proud of it.

That's a funny smile, Felicity.

That's a funny smile, too, but a pretty picture you are painting.

Bree is starting to get the hang of stairs. This is both scary and exciting for me as a mom.

This slide became Felicity's favorite. She went down it dozens of times while we were there. I even had Tera hold Bree for me so that I could go down this slide with her once. It was fast!

That smile says it all.

Here Felicity is acting like a true monkey--just hanging around.

Like the amazing mom that she is, Tera took Ethan down the slide. Again, and again, and again...

This was Brynna's favorite slide.

This is Felicity's impression of a caged animal.

I took Bree down the slide with me and few times. It was fun for a while until my broken tailbone began to ache.

Ooh! This is fun for Felicity.

What a fun and exhausting couple of hours. Bree was asleep before we left the parking lot to go home. Good times.

Cara

When I See You Smile

2010-03-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

"When I See You Smile"
-Bad English

Sometimes I wonder if I'd ever make it through
Through this world without having you, I just wouldn't have a clue
'Cuz sometimes it seems like this world's closing in on me
And there's no way of breaking free, and then I see you reach for me

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in, I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you baby, and everything's alright, everything's alright

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain
When I see you smile, baby when I see you smile at me, oh yeah

Baby there's nothing in this world that could ever do
What a touch of your hand can do, it's like nothing that I ever knew hey

And when the rain is falling, I don't feel it, 'cuz you're here with me now
And one look at you baby, is all I'll ever need, it's all I'll ever need

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain
When I see you smile, baby, baby when I see you smile at me

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in, I wanna quit the fight
Then one look at you baby, and everything's alright, hey everything's alright
So right

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain, yeah
When I see you smile, yeah I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, oh yeah, baby when I see you smile, smile at me

This song is dedicated to you, my sweet Bree, for making me smile.

"When I See You Smile" was a popular song when I was in high school. I loved it then, and I love it now. Not long ago I was listening to a 90's channel on Music Choice, and this song came on. Immediately it made me think of you.

You give me so much to smile about.

You find joy in the simple things in life--like a warm bath...

...and hamming it up for the camera...

...and playing with toys...

...and getting dressed up, even if you don't have anywhere to go.

Let us not forget the best part of your smile: your dimples!

Oh, yes, your dimples slay me...

...especially when you are discovering something new.

Like the dishwasher and stairs in the pictures above.

Yes, when I see you smile, I can face the world, I know I can do anything. I love you, angel.

Cara

An Engineer In The Making

2010-03-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Dallin is an engineer in the making.

Last week Mimi broke the handle off my make-up mirror (the second mirror of mine she has broken in the past couple of months). Since the mirror was inexpensive and can easily be replaced, I wrote it down on my shopping list.

Today Dallin noticed the mirror's handle was missing. When he got home from school, he pulled out his erector set, and designed and built me a new handle/stand. The new stand even allows for me to tilt the mirror up and down at different angles. Don't that beat all!

Since Dallin was a little boy, he has enjoyed designing, building, and working with his hands. Even as a toddler, if his favorite toys were confiscated--such as his beloved vacuum--he'd just build new ones to play with. Dallin is passionate about Legos, Tinker Toys, erector sets, Mega Blocks, and Lincoln Logs, just to name a few.

As a little boy, Dallin was fascinated by big equipment (excavators, bulldozers, compactors, scrapers, etc) and would spend hours watching the progress at construction sites. Dallin also loved small equipment like power tools. So in love was he that his favorite bedtime stories were his daddy reading to him out of the Home Depot catalog. By age four, Dallin could site and name six types of saws. He also knew all major brand names and where they could be purchased. A trip to Home Depot was never complete without obtaining an updated tool catalog to study with the younger siblings.

Semi-trucks are another passion of Dallin's, one he can talk about at length. So if you are ever in the market for a semi-truck or road train, Dallin can recommend the best brands to you such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Western Star, or Mack. Dallin can also draw any model of said trucks, with your preferred features.

But vacuums were Dallin's first love. Even as a baby Dallin was enraptured by them. I can remember leaving my vacuum out in the family room all day when he was little; it made him happy. Sometimes I would vacuum my family room many times in a day, because it would calm Dallin down. As Dallin got a bit older, he would play with the vacuum, using the on-board attachments to his liking and make his own sound effects. Any time we went to a department store he would beg me to take him down the vacuum aisle. He could look at and study vacuums for hours. When he went to anyone's house, the first thing he would ask is, "Do you have a vacuum? Can I see it?"

Over the years, our family has had to retire old vacuums and purchase new ones. When we have needed to purchase new vacuums, Dallin is our guide. He asks about the suction power, amps, available tools and attachments, whether the vacuum is bagless, and how often the filters must be changed. He is a true asset.

I'm surprised that he has never taken one of our vacuums apart to find out how it works...Yet...

At age 11, Dallin can still spend hours building with his Legos. He has created some amazing things!

If you want to know anything about the above Lego creations, check out my blog of the same name.

When building and designing, Dallin has the patience of a saint--even when it comes to a house of cards. Check out these pics.

Oh yes, Dallin is an engineer in the making, and I couldn't be more proud.

Cara

That Saturday Was A Special Day

2010-03-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Given the recent bad weather, I write this next post to remind myself that just a few short weeks ago we Coloradans were blessed with a gorgeous Saturday. As a family, we took advantage of it and instead of working inside, we worked outside before playing.

Since the previous Saturday we had washed all of the windows and screens on the house, it was time to scrub all the blinds.

First Dallin washed our driveway with Rich's power washer. That was a big job and required a lot of work in order that we could do the real work!

One by one, Rich pulled each set down from the windows and placed them on the driveway.

That's me scrubbing dirty blinds with the car washing brush. Knowing that we were going to work outside, I put on old clothes and decided to save the shower for later. In this picture I am wearing a jacket, but before long I was able to shed it.

After I scrubbed, Elijah rinsed. He liked that job. A lot.

When we were all done, Elijah took a break with Bree. He is so amazing with her.

Mimi and Felicity took a break by riding their bikes at our park across the street. But before they took off on their bike ride, Mimi thought that Tyke the dog looked as though he needed a break from the sun, too. So she let Tyke borrow her sunglasses.

He looks cooler already, eh?

Tyke's future's so bright, he's gotta wear shades.

As if scrubbing blinds wasn't enough, after a short break, I then shampooed Tyke. Sadly no one took pictures of that. Sorry.

When all was said and done, it was an exhausting day. A great day, but a busy one. There's nothing like that fantastic feeling of accomplishment and knowledge of a job well-done.

Cara

P.S. Now we can't wait till we can start taking care of the lawns again! Our family loves to work and play outside.

Spring Storm

2010-03-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Funny, but I thought yesterday was the third day of spring. So what's with all the snow? Yesterday afternoon it began to rain. The rain turned into snow. The snow turned into a storm. Huh?

The storm became so severe that Rich spent 75 minutes driving home from work instead of 25.

I was supposed to drive 25 minutes to church last night for Enrichment, but given the road conditions, stayed home.

It snowed the rest of the day.

After the girls went to bed, Rich and the boys went outside to shovel our enormous driveway.

This morning when we woke up, the snow was no longer falling, but had in fact fallen all night. So even though Rich and the boys had the driveway cleared last night, there were another six inches waiting for them today. Rich, the boys, and Mimi, too, all shoveled again.

Elijah flexes his muscles.

And gives a thumb's up.

Half done!

What's gonna work? Teamwork!

Our next door neighbors, George and Amber, own a snow blower, which they were kind enough to allow Rich to use after a while.

Once the driveway was clear, Rich had to go back to using the shovel out in the street in front of our house. The snow in the street was so heavy and wet that the snow blower wasn't working properly.

Mimi helped Rich shovel in the street. Yep, she's standing in a puddle of water. Her snow boots were soaked when the job was done and she came in.

Some pictures of our park across the street from our house where the kids and I played just two days ago.

I was so excited for spring to finally come, but this weather is more like winter. What's the deal? Bring on real spring weather! We are ready to be outside riding our bikes, playing ball, grilling, and spending time with our friends. After all, it is nearly April...

Cara

Getting Adjusted

2010-03-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Every two to three weeks I have an appointment with my chiropractor to get adjusted. Three years ago I slipped on my icy driveway and broke my tailbone. Ever since I have suffered headaches, neck, back, hip, and most of all, jaw pain. It sucks! But when I regularly see Dr Powell, I generally feel better and experience less pain and discomfort.

I have been going to see Dr Powell every other Monday morning, taking my two youngest with me. Felicity always brings toys and snacks with her. She is not a problem. For months now, when I have gone, I've strapped Bree in her stroller while I'm being adjusted. With a clean diaper and a belly full of milk, she is normally content during my appointments. If she becomes fussy, she's more than happy to play with my keys or lipgloss.

Today was the exception. She screamed the entire time I was there. Nothing would make her happy. In an attempt to console her, I held her until the doctor was ready to see me, rather than lay face-down on the exam table relaxed as the doctor would have liked. Bree's screaming got to me after a while, and I was unable to relax at all.

So instead of walking out of the doctor's office feeling better, I don't feel any different at all.

Needless to say, I won't be taking any children with me to my next appointment. Here's hoping the next time is more beneficial!

Cara

You Know That Catching Up Is Hard To Do

2010-03-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

So once again I've fallen behind on my posts. The following is a summary of the past few months in 7th Heaven.

Yep, we're going way back--back to December 2009 when our family put up the Christmas tree in preparation for the big holiday.

Aren't these the cutest stockings you ever did see? Richard's sister, Donetta, makes stockings for each member of the family. Bree got hers in the mail in time for the holiday.

Bree was very helpful when it came to decorating the tree.

Bree grabbed onto this tray of ornaments, and didn't want to let go!

Look at our beautiful stocking display. Thanks, Aunt Dot!

Pretty tree.

Daddy and Bree make laundry fun.

Thanks for helping, baby. Here's a kiss for you.

Just a few days before Christmas, Tera and I took our kids to the Flatirons Mall to see Santa. Everyone was excited about it until it was our turn. Then Felicity freaked out and refused to let go of my leg, let alone sit on Santa's lap.

After we saw Santa, four of the five kids posed for the camera...

...while Felicity pretended to sleep in the stroller.

This aluminum water bottle was an early Christmas gift to Rich from his boss. Bree commandeered it.

No one dared to take it back from her, given the smile on her face.

Christmas morning. Time to dump out the stockings. Bree got new hair pretties.

Dallin was pretty stoked about the Star Wars gloves Santa brought him.

The best stocking stuffer from Santa was a bottle of Sprite shaped like an ornament. Dallin, Felicity, Mimi and Eli all cheered.

Bree was excited about all of her stocking stuffers. Not really. She couldn't care less.

The proverbial diet Coke shot.

Santa (I, Cara) filled Rich's stocking with personalized coupons, such as homemade chocolate chip cookies, a bubble bath, and others I can't write about in this blog. As of today, he has not redeemed any of them. Whatever.

Grandma and Grandpa Spears gave Mimi a Build-A-Bear and some outfits to dress her in.

Rock on! Dallin got a new razor scooter.

Wow. Those are some big presents.

The force is strong with Eli. Dallin will look menacing with his Nerf dart gun.

Santa brought me a new body pillow. I wore the last one out.

The force is also strong with Felicity.

Felicity loves to dress up. She was excited that Santa brought her another dress to add to her collection.

Mimi tried on her sleeping mask for size. And look: slippers to match!

Dallin opened his Nerf dart gun, but Rich put it together.

The red dress Felicity is holding up is not for play. This is her Christmas dress to wear to church. Both Bree and Mimi got the same dress, too.

It's dress-up time. It's Barbie time. Good times.

Eight months nursing, and still going strong.

But when Mom goes out alone, Bree drinks her milk in a bottle.

Sometimes Bree likes to play with water bottles, empty or not.

A bucket full of toys, and no one in sight to compete with. Does it get any better?

How about a piggyback ride with big brother Dallin?

How about with Daddy?

Bree loves bath time. Check out those leg rolls! Someone get some butter for those rolls!

Oh, yeah. Bree's a water dog.

Eli and Mimi take time to teach Bree new words on the Barbie laptop.

Duh.

Bree and me.

Nine months nursing my beautiful baby girl.

Play time for Bree.

Bree weighs in for her nine month check-up.

Rub-a-dub-dub, three Chubbs in the tub!

"F" is for "Felicity", "F" is for "Four", and "F" is for "Fun"!

On the night of your fourth birthday, you should chow-down on a McDonald's cheeseburger.

And pose for a proverbial cheeseburger shot with your siblings.

And open presents from your mom and dad.

And get more dress-up dresses.

Don't forget to pose with your presents in your pajamas.

And most of all, please enjoy your egg-free birthday cake.

Raise your hand if you're jealous of Bree's long eyelashes.

Lucky Bree. Felicity's gonna read you a story.

In December Richard was in a minor car accident, during which his car sustained some front-end damage. Instead of taking it to a body shop, Richard ordered new parts and fixed his car himself.

The broken bumper had to come off.

The damaged bumper re-enforcer had to go, too.

All done! Good as new.

Felicity's birthday party was simple. She and her friends watched "Enchanted" while eating the mini pizzas they'd made.

Yummy egg-free chocolate cupcakes.

Miss Messy-Face makes a wish.

Brynna enjoyed licking the frosting off the knife.

Miriam was all smiles.

Shea thought the cupcakes were finger-licking good.

Mimi had a great time decorating her cupcake before eating it.

Miss Messy-Face had no complaints.

Here's the whole group. What a wild bunch.

Mimi had a messy face, too.

Morgan did, too.

Present time!

Looking back now, someone should have washed Felicity's face before we took these pictures.

Felicity got some awesome gifts.

Felicity and Bree are best sisters.

Richard is pretending to share his chocolate milk with Bree.

But she thought he was serious, and now she wants it!

Ten months of nursing and we are still going strong.

A couple weeks ago Richard kindly replaced the blades on my windshield wipers. Forgetting that the wipers were spring-loaded, he let them snap back down on the windshield. This caused a small deep crack, which over the next four days grew the length of the windshield. Needless to say, the glass had to be replaced. Such was our excitement last week.

Out with the old!

Ahh! Naked car without a windshield!

Here comes the new one! I can only imagine how heavy that piece of glass was.

My pretty white car has a brand-new windshield. I can see clearly now, the cracks are gone! There goes $240...

I promise to never get this far behind again. I vow to stay current from now on!

Cara

'Round, 'Round, Get Around...

2009-12-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

...We Get Around! As you all know, we live in Dacono, Colorado. However...

...my doctor is in Louisville

...Felicity's doctor is in Longmont

...Dallin and Elijah's doctor is in Brighton (with a second office in Commerce City)

...Mimi and Felicity take gymnastics lessons in Frederick

...we attend church in Brighton

...we attend Stake meetings and conferences in Northglenn

...we make weekly visits to the library in Frederick or Erie

...we grocery shop primarily in Thornton and Westminster

...I visit teach sisters in Brighton and Lochbuie

...I attend Relief Society Presidency meetings in Lochbuie, Brighton and Fort Lupton

...I attend weekly Weight Watchers meetings in Northglenn

...meetings for La Leche League are in Firestone

...Richard fills the gas tanks wherever he happens to be that day

...in the summer months my kids and I spend every Friday at our favorite parks in Northglenn and Longmont

...my hairdresser is in Longmont

...our indoor mall is in Broomfield

...my favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot and Rock Bottom, are in Louisville and Westminster, respectively

...the kids' favorite babysitters, Marissa and Rebecca, are in Firestone and Thornton, respectively

...Dallin and Elijah attend scouting activities primarily in Brighton

...Krispy Kremes donuts is in Northglenn

...we have a family pass to The Childrens' Museum in Denver

...Richard has seen home health patients in: Fort Collins, Windsor, Loveland, Johnstown, Milliken, Longmont, Poudre Canyon, Ault, Greeley, Berthoud, Eaton, La Salle, Platteville, Brighton, Boulder, Gilcrest, Wellington, and other unincorporated areas of Weld and Larimer counties

Whew! We get around! Do we do anything here in Dacono? Yes. Dallin, Elijah and Mimi attend school at Quest Academy. Other than that, no!

On the road again...Just can't wait to get on the road again...

Love, Cara

Nobody Lives Here; Nobody Visits Often

2009-11-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

"Nobody" lives here; "nobody" visits often. Or so it seems. Why do I feel this way? Well, quite frequently "nobody" is responsible for a lot of mistakes, accidents, crimes, cardinal sins, etc. I figured I should take the time to blog about "nobody" since "nobody" seems to be a member of my family. Here are just a few examples of the things "nobody" has done:

Exhibit A: my Mary Kay rose lip liner lying on the edge of my bathtub. Clearly this is not where I store my make-up, and clearly this is not how I use it, either. Notice the rose-colored seam on the wainscoting next to my vanity. Though you cannot tell from the picture, my lip liner is now almost gone. Last week it was new. I've maybe used it three times. I asked around. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit B: my jewelry box, my necklaces a knotted mess. I don't have much jewelry, and what I have I take care of. I NEVER spin my necklace carousel as the result is always a knotted mess of chains. Have you ever spent time untangling eight pendants? The last time I tried, I gave up a couple of hours later. When my mom came to visit in July, she spent a few hours finishing what I had started. My mom lives in California and only visits once a year. I don't have the patience to try again, and I don't want to wait until she visits again next year. Therefore, I am very careful with my chains. Again I asked around. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit C: the hood of Richard's car. As you can see from the picture, there is a large scratch which was applied with pressure in a circular motion. Clearly the scratch is intentional. Since Richard and I just paid off his car a little over a year ago, I assure you that we do our best to care for it. That means not scratching the paint or inflicting any unnecessary wear or damage. Again I asked around. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit D: my leather family room couch. I love my leather couches. They are so easy to clean and care for and classic--never going out of style. Apparently it's too much to expect for people not to hit my furniture while vacuuming or ram toys against it while playing. It's also apparently too much to expect for people to leave the damaged area alone and not cause it further damage (don't pick and peel at the damaged area and remove the wood finish!). Again I asked around. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit E: my beloved piano. When we first moved into this house, I placed a glass jar of candy on top of it. One night Richard and I went on a date only to return to find that the candy jar had been broken and the top of the piano had been dinged and scratched. Again I asked around. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit F: walls, corners, baseboards, door frames, etc. I acknowledge that accidents happen. But once they do, must they be picked and peeled until they become an eyesore? I don't think so! But again, "nobody" did it.

Exhibit G: the stainless steel appliances. Two days ago Richard spent a lot of time polishing all of the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, a job neither he nor I enjoy. It takes a good amount of time and the polish is expensive so we don't do it everyday. Today my fridge looks like it never got cleaned and polished. Who is responsible for the ugly prints marring the once shiny surface? "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit H: the candy jar. Halloween candy was abundant two weeks ago. Funny, but I have to keep refilling this jar. Richard and I prefer chocolate and could give or take the "fruity candy" you see in this picture. So why is it that every few days the jar is nearly empty again? Richard and I don't waste our calories on the "fruity candy". Since it's the chocolate candy we can't resist, it's in a separate jar in a cupboard above the refrigerator, where I can't reach it without dragging a chair over to climb up. So who has been eating all of the "fruity candy"? "Nobody" has.

Exhibit I: my casual dining room table. As you can see, a small section of the finish is now missing. "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit J: my kitchen cabinets. "Nobody" did this, too.

Exhibit K: my dryer. Once upon a time my brand new dryer came with a large sticker offering important information such as the model and serial numbers. In the instance that said dryer needs to be repaired and parts have to be ordered, model and serial numbers are vital. As you can see, all that remains inside said dryer door is residue where a sticker once resided. Why is the sticker no longer there? "Nobody" did it.

Exhibit L: the lock on my master bedroom door. Growing up I was taught that when Mom and Dad lock a door, you should respect that locked door--not yank and pull at that locked door until it breaks. But the lock on my master bedroom door is broken, necessitating the acquisition and installation of Exhibit M below. "Nobody" broke this lock the final time, beyond repair.

Exhibit M: the solution to the now defunct Exhibit L. It only cost a few bucks and took Richard just a few minutes to install, but I nonetheless wish it hadn't been necessary. But "nobody" struck again.

Exhibit N: Mimi's lingerie chest. As a little girl I only dreamed of having bedroom furniture fit for a princess. Mimi has it. So why are there teeth marks on the drawer? Mimi owns the furniture, it is in her room, but "nobody" did it.

Exhibit O: Mimi's bedroom blinds. Yes, the blinds in Mimi's bedroom are covered in teeth marks. "Nobody" did that, too.

Exhibit P: the railing going up the main floor staircase. How on earth did chunks of the railing get taken out? All I know is "nobody" did it.

Exhibit Q: the hand towels in the boys' bathroom. That would be pen ink on the white towel. "Nobody" was responsible for it.

Exhibit R: the hole in the basement couch. I know who did it, and you do, too. "Nobody" did. No matter that Richard and I searched for more than a year for this couch and then spent the next 12 months paying it off. "Nobody" still did it.

Exhibit S: the entertainment center in the basement. No matter that this was once a piece of furniture Richard and I loved and proudly displayed in our family room. It has since been the victim of much abuse. Who is the abuser? "Nobody" is.

"Nobody" lives here; "nobody" visits often. Thank goodness each member of my family is more important than these things. Each member. Including "nobody". I still love "nobody". Each and every one of them.

Love, Cara

Do The Dew

2009-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

It's a well-known fact that at about six months old, all babies begin reaching for any and all things within their grasp. Bree is no exception. This afternoon while Richard was holding Bree, he was indulging in a diet Mountain Dew. Given that the soda can is bright and shiny and was within Bree's grasp, she reached out to touch it.

Bree is a very helpful baby. She was anxious to assist her daddy with his soda.

After all, drinking a soda is a job for two people and three hands.

When Richard finished his can of soda, Bree wanted it. Big surprise! But since giving an empty soda can to a baby is never a good idea (she could cut her mouth or fingers on the sharp opening) Richard sat her on the counter and gave her a new can to play with. As we all know, a full can of soda is heavy. Especially for a baby.

Notice the look of determination on Bree's face as she reaches for the can.

Almost there, baby!

Gotcha! Now how do you open the darn thing? How does the good stuff come out? Bree didn't know so she tried the only thing she does know: nursing it.

"I'm a model, you know what I mean..." Where's my paycheck? Bree is the new spokesmodel for diet Mountain Dew!

What do mean, diet Mountain Dew isn't for babies?

You mean it won't taste like Mama's milk?

Then I don't want it!

I'll bet you didn't know that Bree's new drink of choice is diet Mountain Dew. Okay, not yet. But if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, someday it will be.

Love, Cara

Eli's Baby

2009-11-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

If ever there was a boy who loved his baby sister more than Eli loves Bree, I've never met him. All through my pregnancy with Aubrielle, Elijah most anxiously anticipated her arrival. He spent hours rubbing my pregnant tummy for good luck and resting his hands on my belly feeling Bree move. Whenever I sat down on the couch, at the dinner table, on the bench at church, Eli insisted upon occupying the seat next to me. So even before she was born, Aubrielle and Elijah shared a bond and a love for one another.

This picture was taken the day I brought Aubrielle home from the hospital. Elijah could hardly wait to hold her in his arms for the first time.

I know it is said that a brand-new baby doesn't smile, but I swear to you that at just a few days old, Elijah was able to make Bree smile.

I quickly learned that if I set Bree down for even a minute and Elijah was around, he was soon to scoop her up. Here Bree is naked because I was in the process of changing her diaper and outfit and I had hopped up to wash my hands. When I came back to the family room to re-dress Bree, Eli was already playing with her.

Elijah has a great personality and is a lot of fun. Aubrielle is drawn to him for that, and many other reasons.

Aubrielle knows that playing with Elijah doubles as exercise.

Get ready, Bree! Eli's about to kiss you!

Pucker up, baby!

Not only is Bree Eli's favorite plaything but she's also apparently a hat.

Aubrielle and Elijah make plenty of time for cuddling.

Elijah learned the hard way not to place a baby with a full belly of milk on his tummy. Yep, that would be baby barf on Eli's shirt and neck. He was such a good sport about it. He laughed it off.

As if he needed to point out who was responsible for the mess.

When Eli comes home from school he is always anxious to play with Bree. Eli misses Bree while he's away at school, and I think she misses him, too.

Elijah is the best when it comes to making Bree smile.

Elijah gives Aubrielle a lift.

Eli is more than happy to give Bree a ride, and to change her altitude.

Given their beautiful and rare relationship, I am more than happy to let Eli think that Bree is his baby. It warms my heart to witness such love and devotion between two of my children and I pray that as the years pass, that relationship will only get stronger. Eli is destined to be an amazing father. After all, everyday Eli is witness to the example Rich sets as a father. Is there a better teacher than that?

Love, Cara

Marvelous Lego Creations

2009-10-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a Super-class Star Destroyer, the largest kind of transport and assault ship piloted by the Galactic Empire. The crew is possibly 100,000, due to the crew of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer being 1/8 of that (an Imperial-class Destroyer is one-eighth the size of a Super-class).

I based this off of the Episode V (5) Star Destroyer, Darth Vader's Executor, the one that was always after the Millennium Falcon. These massive beasts were always the Empire's little "enforcers," as they went from planet to planet, maintaining the peace that the empire always needed to work in. The Emperor, A.K.A. Darth Sidious. His Star Destroyer was called the Eclipse II.

Shown here is the back of my model. As you can probably see, there are two sets of reverse thrusters, each with four engines on it. The one close-up is a back-up thruster, with the other being the hypersonic set. This set allows the Destroyer to make the jump to light speed and beyond, since most Destroyers have at least a class three hyperdrive. Above the thrusters, there is the very back of the Destroyer, which holds the command bridge tail fin.

This is the front needle of the Destroyer's massive hull. As you can see, there is a sharp end at the very tip of the nose cone, and that is mainly for show and speed when in hyperspace. No Destroyers have this sharp of a nosecone at the front of their hull, though. This is just my perspective of how the Destroyer would look actually shrunk down to be about the size of this model.

This picture shows that each and every Star Destroyer was very heavily guarded and protected. The part between the forward heavy turrets, the piece that looks like the inside of an engine, is the shield generator. This is something that can be placed in or on almost any place on the Destroyer itself. The large turret that has two barrels and each one pointing in a direction is the rotating ball blaster cannon, which can aim and shoot at two different targets, at the same time!!

This picture shows the main hypersonic thrusters. Like mentioned before, these are the thrusters that carry the Destroyer into hyperspeed and beyond.

This is another picture of the Star Destroyer, from a main point of view. Noticeable are the cannons and the heavy laser turrets, at about the middle point. As well, there is the large nose cone that enables faster speed through hyperspace.

This is a picture of the Republic (early clones)'s first X-class starfighter, with two guns: one on each fixed wing.

The main people that pilot these things are mostly Clone Pilots and Clone Marines. They flew these in the Prequel Trilogy, or the first three episodes. But, in one of the books in between Episodes IV and V, Han Solo finds one on Kamino, the origination planet of all the Clones. Here, there were facilities that were always working, 'growing' the clones.

This is a side view of the ARC-170 Starfighter (ARC meaning 'aggressive recon'). You can see the front landing gear, just underneath the nose. Also noticeable are the side guns, each having an orange light on the barrel.

Now, you can see, that the S-foils on this neat-o fighter don't stay closed but open up, to remain in fighting position. The landing gear that folds out from the nose is not noticeable on this particular photo; they have been folded up into the nose.

This is a rear view of the ARC-170. It reveals there are some smaller guns (missile launchers) that are not as noticeable as the other guns. They are on the very back of the gun barrels, on the S-foils themselves.

This probably looks familiar. I wonder what it is? An AT-ST, of course! These, like the Super-class Star Destroyers, are used by the Galactic Empire. AT-ST stands for All-Terrain-Scout-Transport. There is a much larger version of this particular walker, the AT-AT, which stands for All-Terrain-Assault-Transport. The AT-ST can carry only three or four for a crew, whereas the AT-AT can carry at least forty or fifty for a crew, including troops and other weapons being transported to the battlefield, including speeder bikes.

Most of the people that would use these would be spies and scouts. These are mainly used as a replacement for AT-AT's where they cannot fit, they are not needed for a job (they provide firepower enough to destroy a small transport in minutes), etc. These AT-ST's were used on the battlefield of Endor. in Episode VI.

This is a rear view of the AT-ST, and it reveals that these particular walkers had many joints in their legs. My model only has three joints per leg, and is very hard to stabilize, but it definitely is recognizable.

As you can possibly see from this photo, the AT-ST had a few guns on the side and the bottom of the cab. The ones under the cab are heavy blaster cannons, and the ones on the side of the cab are light repeating blasters.

These are only some of the "Marvelous Lego Creations" that I have constructed, but these are some of the best that I have not easily erected.

Love,
Dallin(Lego Master)

Is It Too Much To Ask?

2009-10-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Is it too much to ask...

...for my husband to get up with the alarm instead of sleeping through it or turning it off to "lay in bed for a minute"?

...for my husband to let me know when he's going to be home from work each night without having to ask him everyday?

...for my children to do their chores?

...for my five-month old baby to take a nap?

...for my sons to pee only in the toilet bowl?

...for my children to not pick their noses in front of me?

...for my family not to have skid marks in their underwear?

...for my children to not wipe their boogers on walls, clothing, towels, hair, etc?

...for there not to be a spill at the dinner table?

...for my daughter to not get food in her hair when she eats and toothpaste in her hair when she brushes her teeth?

...for my family to not burp and fart at the dinner table?

...for my children to not play with my cell phone--to not change my ringtone, turn my ringer off altogether, or download games, etc. which will later show up on my bill?

...for my children to actually put their trash in the trash cans and their dirty clothes in the hamper?

...for my sons to wash their hands after using the bathroom without being told?

...for my children to not stay in the shower until they turn into raisins and use up all the hot water?

...for us to have a good morning?

...for there not to be screaming in my house?

...for my children to not hide things from me and each other?

...for my children to not remove my bookmark from whatever novel I might be reading so that I lose my place and while searching for said lost place spoil the book for myself?

...for my children to not eat my Weight Watchers and diet food, especially since I buy them the real thing which tastes so much better and costs less money?

...for my family to say "thank you" once in a while?

...for there not to be any complaints about a meal I've just prepared?

...for me to not have to wait till lunchtime to finally eat for the first time?

...for my laptop to be available to me when I need it?

...for my children to not leave fingerprints on my stainless steel appliances and any and all glass surfaces?

...for my family to not wake up the baby before she's ready to get up in the morning?

...for my DVRs to actually record what I program them to?

...for my husband to not make the children mad before he up and leaves for work, leaving me to deal with the meltdown?

...for my family to leave me alone when I am using the bathroom by not following me in or talking to me from the other side of the door?

...for my family to not talk to me while I'm on the phone?

...for my children to respect when my bedroom door is locked and not yank and pull at the handle until they break the lock which then has to be repaired for the hundredth time?

...for my family to exercise common courtesy and common sense?

...for my life to not be so difficult and chaotic and reminiscent of "Groundhog Day"?

...for me to have peace?

...for me to have time to myself?

Apparently it is. Sorry I asked!

Cara

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2009-10-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Twenty-two months is a long time to wait for a haircut, but Mimi did. Yep, her last haircut (other than a bang-trim) was in December of 2007. It was at that time that Mimi donated her hair to Locks of Love. A couple of months later she received a certificate from Locks of Love thanking her for her donation. Mimi felt so good about what she had done, she vowed to donate her hair again once it had reached the minimum length necessary for donation (10 inches).

Mimi has been asking everyday for months if her hair was long enough to donate again. A couple times a month I would break out the measuring tape to see. Well, this month's measurement showed that her hair had finally grown enough to donate without relieving her of all her beautiful blond hair.

So last Wednesday night while the boys were at Scouts, I took Mimi to a salon so she could get her hair cut.

Mimi was so ready for a change. She had no second thoughts!

No matter that she had beautiful blond hair. Mimi wasn't selfish enough to keep it all but instead was ready to share it. Here's one last picture of her from the back.

Before Annette (Mimi's stylist) cut Mimi's hair, she bound it with rubber bands.

Then the cutting began.

Mimi proudly displays the hair that is no longer attached to her head.

Annette then led Mimi to the sink for shampooing.

Mimi held very still while Annette trimmed the little hairs on the back of her neck. She pretended to be a popsicle!

Mimi's neck is now exposed!

Annette blow-dried and styled Mimi's hair. Mimi stared at her new reflection in the mirror. Oh, how different she now looked.

The finished product. Absolutely adorable! When Annette announced she was done, Mimi shouted, "I can't wait to do it again!"

While Mimi and I waited for Daddy to pick us up, she read a magazine and savored the sucker Annette gave her. Lucky girl.

The next morning before school, I curled Mimi's new hair. So pretty.

Check out her newly exposed neck!

Side profile.

Not to be left out, Felicity wanted her hair curled, too. No, she still doesn't have much hair, but I did the best I could with what she does have. She also wanted her picture taken.

Felicity's neck is still exposed. She often sunburns there.

Side profile.

My pretty girls.

A lot can change in two years, but I bet that sometime in 2011 Mimi will want to do this again. Am I surprised? No. Afterall, it feels good to be selfless. Isn't that what the gospel is all about? Service? Richard and I must be doing something right.

Love, Cara

The Force Is Strong With Felicity

2009-10-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

Daddy, will you please buy me a light saber so that I can complete my Jedi training? The dark side of the force is strong, but with proper training and the correct light saber I can bring balance to the force.

Until I get a real light saber (#1 on my Christmas wish list) I'll have to make do with Mommy's turkey baster.

Felicity, having completed her Jedi training under the tutelage of Yoda (the Jedi master), pauses for a quick picture. After this picture was taken, Felicity hopped into an AT-TE and continued the fight against Darth Vader (the Sith Lord).

Let it be known that Richard helped me to write this post, as I know nothing about Star Wars. My entire family, myself excepted, is obsessed with Star Wars. In fact, most nights our conversation around the dinner table is all about Star Wars. I just don't get it. That's when I tune out and stick my nose in a book. But that's another post for another day...

Will someone please get Felicity a light saber? She'd like a green one. Just like Yoda's.

Love, Cara

Baby Bling

2009-10-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

At the tender age of five months, Bree is already a seasoned model. Here she is modeling the latest in baby bling.

As we all know, Bree loves to suck her fingers. Sometimes she doesn't even remove them from her mouth when modeling.

Case in point. This is Bree's "I love you" pose. Whew! Modeling is exhausting!

Side profile.

Another side profile.

Aww! Could you just die? This smile is a killer, and one that Mom and Dad cannot say no to.

Bree enjoys her modeling career. She works for food: boob juice.

I know it's generally the rule that too much of a good thing is bad, but does the rule apply to a super cute baby? I don't think so!

Love, Cara

Autumn Is Awesome

2009-09-21T14:51:00.001-07:00

Autumn is my second favorite season, spring being my favorite. Given that autumn officially begins tomorrow, I felt it appropriate to list some of the reasons I love this season:

01) The kids are back in school! This is good on so many levels. First off, it allows me to miss Dallin, Elijah and Amelia. Secondly, it allows me time alone with the little girls. Thirdly, it allows me quiet time and no fighting in the house. Yes, someday Felicity and Aubrielle will fight, but for now they don't and I appreciate it.

02) Warm clothing is the norm. I love to wear jeans and T-shirts and thick socks. When I'm home I enjoy wearing my robe or sweater over my clothes if I get a little chilly, and I love a good pair of fuzzy slippers. When I leave the house, in place of sandals I wear high-heeled boots under my jeans that come up to my knees (these help to keep my feet and legs warm and give me much-needed height).

03) Reading by the fireplace. Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Is there anything better than reading a great book and feeling the warmth of the fireplace, while enjoying a cup of hot cocoa?

04) Soups, stews and chowders. 'Nuff said.

05) Cuddling to stay warm.

06) The warmth, smell and ambiance of scented candles throughout the house.

07) Anticipation of holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and the music associated with them.

08) The changing colors outside. Can anyone argue that it's beautiful here in Colorado?

09) Basketball season begins. Go, Lakers!

10) New fall shows premiere! That's a whole post in itself.

For all of these reasons, and many more, I love autumn. God bless this autumn to be good to us (unlike autumn of 2006!)

Love, Cara

Man Date Straight Up

2009-09-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday night Richard and his best friend JP went out on a man date.

Our story begins at 5:00p.m. Thursday evening. Our family and the Schneider family were outside at our park enjoying the gorgeous weather, knowing we should all head inside to feed our families and get our children into bed. First my cell phone rang. It was our neighbor Tammy. Since I didn't answer my phone before it went to voicemail, Tammy then called Richard's cell phone. She called to say that her family was under the weather and were in possession of four Colorado Avalanche tickets they were consequently unable to use. She wondered if Richard and JP were interested in using them.

Duh! No-brainer! Of course the guys wanted to use the tickets, are you kidding?!

Tera and I said our goodbyes and shepherded our children into the house for baths and a quick dinner (Top Ramen, watermelon and banana bread, all well received). JP ran to The Olive Garden to pick up dinner for Tera and me, then ran back home to pick up Richard before heading to the game which began at 7:00p.m.

For all those who are wondering, of course Tera and I were jealous of Richard and JP. We would have loved to go. Thank heavens we had good TV to watch while the guys were at the game: the season premiere of "Survivor" was that night!

Anyway, here are the pictures that Richard took from his seat in the 13th row behind the goal. I'll turn the journaling responsibilities over to him now since I wasn't there. So jealous.

Here is the outside of the Pepsi Center as seen from the bridge crossing the railroad tracks from Elitch Gardens, an amusement park. The Pepsi Center is home to many sports teams, concerts and conventions.

Here is the view going up the escalator from the main entrance up to the level where you get to the seats.

For those who have never been to a hockey game, JP and I included, the game is fast-paced and non-stop action.

Here is a face-off in the Dallas zone. This is how the game is restarted after a stoppage of play.

Here are two players getting better acquainted. This means they are fighting. The gloves come off, they grab each other by the neck of the jersey and start swinging. The refs in the striped shirts will allow the players to keep fighting as long as they are both standing and they are still swinging at each other. In this case, after about 30 seconds of fighting, the two players stopped swinging and were allotted 5 minutes each in the penalty box to do some soul searching.

Our seats were in the 13th row from the ice, but I wanted a picture from the ice level. All that separates the players from the fans is the boards on the bottom and the glass on top. The glass protects the fans from getting hit by the puck which is made of solid rubber. Every time an errant shot by a player would hit the glass, the fans in front would duck since it was coming so fast.

This is visual proof of what happens to a fan who jumps out of their seat when we scored a goal sitting in front of JP's nachos. Notice the added cheese and sour cream. We hoped this eager fan would enjoy a lasting momento of the game.

Here is the famous Zamboni. Between each period, there is a 17 minute intermission where the players leave the ice, rest, strategize, sleep, throw a party who knows. During the intermission, there are two Zambonis that drive over the ice and resmooth and recondition it for the next period.

Here are a few pictures of the hockey action. As you can see, the pictures are a little fuzzy because the players are in constant motion.

Now and then there is a stop of play and I am sure the players are very grateful for the chance to catch their breath.

All in all, JP and I had a great evening. We got to experience a professional sporting event that we had never had the opportunity to attend in person. As with all such events, watching it on tv does not even compare with the live action.

When given the opportunity for a man date on ice, we prefer ours to be Straight Up.

To finish this fairy tale, I must not have been a very good date. JP did not hold my hand, he did not walk me to the door, and I have yet to hear from him about a second date. I shall have to perfect my man date skills.

Still waiting for the second date,

Richard

Hangin' Around With Dad

2009-09-13T14:14:00.001-07:00

Bree enjoys hangin' around with Dad...

...by the straps of her overalls.

This is Bree's imitation of a duffel bag.

Now Bree is a trophy!

The next time Richard flies on an airplane, Bree will be his carry-on luggage. Here they are practicing.

Steady, now, Daddy's gonna let go...

Ta da! Bree is balancing on her daddy's right hand! (And did so for a record 25 seconds)

Who knew overalls were so multi-functional? Bree's daddy did. Who knew Bree's daddy was crazy fun to hang around with? Dallin, Elijah, Mimi and Felicity knew. They all had their turns being Daddy's favorite little toy.

Love, Cara

The Exersaucer

2009-09-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

Once again the Exersaucer has taken up residence in our family room. Where recently the baby swing sat, the Exersaucer now resides. It is a milestone in the life of a new baby--grow tired of swinging back and forth and desire more freedom.

Such has been the case with Aubrielle. Intent upon growing up too fast, and demanding to stretch her legs, Bree graduated from swinging to spinning, reaching and playing.

Happy to be upright, Bree is all smiles.

The first time Richard put Bree in the Exersaucer, he and I were struggling to get dinner on the table, so imagine our delight that Bree took right to it.

This is cool!

Look what I can do!

Warning! I'm about to sing my angry song!

Unfortunately for Richard and me, and the hungry kids waiting on dinner, Bree's contentment in the Exersaucer didn't last long. Oh, well. The five minutes of freedom to use both our hands was put to good use and much appreciated.

Having been down this road with four other children, I know the day will soon come when she'll tire of the Exersaucer, too. But until that day comes, Richard and I are grateful for those occasions when Bree can entertain herself and be contained while doing so!

Love, Cara

For Girls Only

2009-09-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday Tera, Shelly, Sarah, Jen and I put on a party for our daughters. What kind of party, you ask? A mani-pedi party for girls only.

Tera made the beautiful invitations (she even wrote a poem), Shelly and I made all the food, Sarah brought the decorations and party favors, and Shelly offered to host at her home. Thanks, Shelly!

The party began with Sarah passing out party favors and jewelry for the girls to wear.

Felicity was very happy to receive a pink crown!

Mimi chose a green crown and necklace to compliment her summer dress.

Clockwise from top: Lauren, Maddy, Gabby, Shea, Katelyn, Anslie, Brynna, Felicity and Mimi.

Mimi enjoyed soaking her feet in rose water in my foot spa.

Cotton between the toes isn't very comfortable, but it is very necessary for keeping the toes separated for painting.

It was fun to pamper my Mimi.

Tera gave both Brynna and Lauren the royal treatment.

Just like in a real spa, Mimi read a book to relax and pass the time while I worked on her feet in Shelly's kitchen.

Pretty legs and feet, Mimi!

Cute toes, Felicity!

Once all the girls had received their pedicures, they were served a nice lunch while their toe nail polish dried.

Felicity was thrilled with the food selection. Who doesn't love peanut butter and honey / jelly sandwiches with fruit and cheeseballs and cookies for dessert? All of us moms on Weight Watchers were jealous!

Mimi had no complaints over the food, either.

Richard used a heart cookie cutter to shape the peanut butter and honey sandwiches I made.

When lunch was over and cleaned up, we moms gave our daughters pedicures.

Love the pout on your purple-glossed lips, Brynna!

Felicity chose "purple potion" for her nail color. Nice choice.

Felicity looks pretty, head to toe.

It was a delightful party and everyone left looking more beautiful than when they came. Lucky girls. I never had a party like that when I was little!

Love, Cara

A Conversation With Felicity

2009-09-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Mommy: "What's your favorite animal?"

Felicity: "The cheetah."

Mommy: "Why the cheetah?"

Felicity: "Because he can run so fast!"

Mommy: "What's your favorite movie?"

Felicity: "Sleeping Beauty."

Mommy: "Why is it your favorite?"

Felicity: "Because Prince Philip marries Sleeping Beauty."

Mommy: "What other names does Sleeping Beauty have?"

Felicity: "Briar Rose and Aurora."

Mommy: "You're pretty smart."

Felicity: "Yep."

Mommy: "What's your favorite store?"

Felicity: "Target."

Mommy: "Why?"

Felicity: "Because Daddy takes me. He always lets me ride in the cart. I just hang out with him and have some time alone."

Mommy: "That sounds like fun."

Felicity: "Yeah."

Mommy: "What do you like to see at Target?"

Felicity: "Polly Pockets, soap, lotion, pictures, phones, and rollercoasters."

Mommy: "They have rollercoasters at Target?"

Felicity: "I don't think they do. No. They don't."

Mommy: "Hmm."

Felicity: "Target has computers. Not rollercoasters."

Mommy: "Okay. If you say so. Does Target have groceries?"

Felicity: "Yes."

Mommy: "What are groceries?"

Felicity: "Wet things that have Target bags."

Mommy: "Like what?"

Felicity: "Mom, we're done talking. Can you make me a bracelet now?"

HUH?

Love, Cara

Mimi No Front Teeth

2009-09-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing Richard and I are on a first-name basis with the Tooth Fairy. Yep, once again Mimi has pulled out a tooth during the night, surprising Richard and me with another gap in her smile. Just a little over two months ago Mimi's smile was two gaps wide.

20 June 2009

And now it is three gaps wide.

This is what Mimi looked like when she rolled out of bed yesterday morning.

Mimi was very proud of herself and her new smile. In fact, she even bragged that she takes after her daddy because she enjoys pulling teeth out (Elijah also has the same sickness). Mimi was also proud of the fact that she pulled the tooth out before her daddy could get to it. Ick.

Get a load of that bed head.

That's scary!

And here's the infamous tooth.

Richard and I have warned Mimi not to pull out too many teeth for fear that she will have to start eating from the side of her mouth, or worst case, drinking her meals through a straw. She just laughs.

Could it really be that Mimi truly enjoys pulling out teeth for the fun of it, or is she saving up for her college education? Should the latter be the case, she's going to quickly run out of teeth and Richard and I will have to take out a second mortgage to finance her hobby / habit! I only exaggerate a little...

Love, Cara

A Big Day For Aubrielle

2009-09-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today my sweet Aubrielle is four months old. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone by. As much as I am enjoying this stage of her life, I can't help but feel sad that I can never get those first months back.

At four months old, my sweet Bree is a smiling, giggling, toothless angel who has a special fondness for her daddy, her brother Elijah, her mommy's milk, and sucking fingers, amongst other things. Bree hates riding in her stroller and car seat, but doesn't mind the Baby Bjorn. She loves to be cuddled and kissed and doesn't mind being tickled. Most of the time. She is a joy to have in our family, and tons of fun.

This morning I took Aubrielle to see her pediatrician for her four month check-up. Check-ups are always exciting, yet nerve-racking for me. I am always anxious to hear what the doctor will say, and eager to learn about the growth and development gained since the previous appointment. Because Elijah and Felicity were both tagged "failure to thrive" during their first year of life, I was once again relieved to discover that Bree is thriving. Very well, I might add.

At her two month appointment, Bree weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces and was (I currently can't remember and will have to look it up) inches long. At four months, Bree weighs 13 pounds, 1 ounce and is 24 1/4 inches long and still in the 50% percentile (she was at two months old, as well). Yeah!

During Bree's appointment, Dr Dickerson asked if Bree was rolling over. I told her that yes, Bree did roll from her tummy to her back, but not the other way around. A few minutes later I laid Bree on the exam table on her back so Dr Dickerson could look in her ears, and TA DA! She rolled to her tummy!

As is the case at a four month check-up, Aubrielle had shots in both legs today. So sad! Even this fifth time around as the mom of a little baby, I still can't stand to watch shots being administered. I hate needles myself, so I feel for my children each time they have to endure the pain that needles inflict.

Not long ago Tera commented on the fact that Aubrielle makes clicking sounds when she nurses. This is true, and I didn't think much of it at the time. However, I thought to mention it to Dr Dickerson this morning, and the correllation between the clicking and excessive spitting up. It makes sense that because of the clicking, Bree was swallowing lots of air and spitting up more than necessary. Dr Dickerson sent us to an otorhinolaryngologist (ENT, or ear, nose and throat specialist). Dr Morissey was able to see Bree right away--we practically walked right in! Dr Morissey determined that Bree was tongue-tied and needed to have her frenulum clipped, allowing for further extension of her tongue.

The procedure was simple: a little Lidocaine to numb the area and snip! snip! All done. There was a little bleeding and a lot of crying, but by the time we got back into the car, Aubrielle was sleeping peacefully. I'm quite sure she's forgotten all about it by now. Having the procedure done should better facilitate nursing, but time will tell!

So far, so good. She has nursed well the rest of the day.

When Bree woke up from her nap, Elijah was home from school and ready to play with her, as he is every school day.

I hope Eli and Bree are always such good friends.

Once dinner was ready, Richard brought Aubrielle to the table with him.

And set her right on top of his dinner plate. He said she looked so delicious that he wanted to eat her for dinner!

But Bree had other ideas. She wanted to eat along with us! It will be a while before she sits and eats at the table, let alone uses utensils.

Bree had her dinner later.

While I worked on this blog!

A kiss from me finished off her meal.

And then we were both happy.

Tonight Bree practiced sitting up.

And had some tummy time.

And tickle time. Richard loves to tickle his baby girl.

Is it any wonder that at the end of Aubrielle's big day, she would be ready to go to bed?

It was a big day. So goodnight, pretty baby. I love you.

Love, Cara

Fingers

2009-08-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Fingers. They come in all shapes and sizes and colors. Fingers do lots of wonderful things. My mother' fingers play the piano and organ and type about 100 words per minute. My father-in-law's fingers also play the piano and organ. My mother-in-law's fingers cook and journal and serve in the church. My father's fingers garden and write wonderful letters to my children.

My husbands fingers do it all. His hands are strong and masculine and skilled and willing to help. My hands and fingers also do it all (except for pump gas and take out the trash). Fingers are important parts of our bodies and it would be difficult to live without them.

Believe it or not, three of my five children were born with chocolate-coated fingers. Oh, yes. It's true. Well, it must be. Why else would they suck on their fingers as if they were the most delicious thing they'd ever tasted?

Dallin never sucked his fingers. Neither did Mimi. Elijah sucked his fingers until he was 2 1/2 years old.

As you can see, Felicity is still a big fan of her fingers.

And she doesn't just suck on them.

The first couple months of Bree's life, she was soothed by a binky.

The binky days were nice while they lasted.

Or some time in her baby swing.

The days Bree was content in her baby swing were nice, too. But they are just about over.

Or someone's loving arms.

Shelly loves Bree. She really loves to hold and cuddle and kiss her.

Bree falls asleep on her daddy's shoulder almost every night.

I remember when Bree was happy to have me hold her all the time, and I was happy to oblige her.

But lately, Bree has joined Felicity and Elijah in the finger-sucking fan club.

"Who me?" says Bree. "I don't suck my fingers!"

"Bet me!" says Mommy. "Here's the proof!"

Don't her fingers look yummy?

And talented! She sometimes gets her index finger up inside her nose while sucking the others!

Most of the time, if Bree is sleeping, she's got her fingers in her mouth. Isn't she beautiful? Is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping baby?

Occasionally, Bree will suck on the fingers of anyone who happens to be holding her at the time.

Case in point! Poor Daddy!

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I sucked my thumb until I was nearly 10 years old. It took my parents dangling something I really wanted in front of my nose (getting my ears pierced like all my girlfriends) to get me to stop. Admittedly, I might still do it to this day if it wouldn't ruin my teeth and my social life. Yeah, I liked it that much.

Elijah no longer sucks his fingers and I hope that someday I won't have to dangle something they really want in front of their noses to get them to stop. However, what goes around, comes around...

Just for fun, Dallin and Elijah posed for some pictures showing some of the many things their fingers can do:

Like make funny faces.

Like do the "Mr Spock".

Like making shadow puppet dog.

Like popping making a popping sound from inside the cheek.

Like supporting your body for a headstand.

Fingers do amazing things.

Love, Cara

Pretty Princesses

2009-08-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Felicity's best friend Brynna spent the day at our house. Not five minutes after Brynna arrived, she and Felicity both shed their day clothes and put on princess dress-up dresses. That was at 8:45a.m. The girls wore their princess dress-up dresses until Brynna went home just shy of 5:00p.m. Needless to say, they had a good time together. These are just some of the many things pretty princesses Felicity and Brynna do:

Pretty princesses know how to accessorize with handbags.

Pretty princesses know how to "strike a pose".

Pretty princesses are proud of their baby bumps.

Pretty princesses greatly anticipate impending motherhood.

Pretty princesses see the joy in giving birth.

Pretty princesses hug and kiss their babies.

Pretty princesses happilly swing their babies, even though it's often a 30 minute commitment.

Pretty princesses take good care of their young, making sure they get their beautyrest.

Pretty princesses always take important phone calls.

Pretty princesses appreciate homemade cookies.

Pretty princesses often engage in "Ring Around The Rosy".

Big pretty princesses are protective of little pretty princesses.

Pretty princesses love babies. Especially real ones. Smoochy, smoochy, Bree!

Occasionally pretty princesses share their riding privileges with their baby sister.

Unfortunately sometimes pretty princesses get hurt and it becomes necessary to administer first aid.

Pretty princesses enjoy resting on their laurels and riding in style while someone else does the work.

Pretty princesses are pretty cute, wouldn't you say? I'm happy I've been blessed with three pretty princesses, and grateful they have friends who are, too.

Love, Cara (former pretty princess)

Measuring Up

2009-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight Richard came home from work with a new jacket, compliments of his employer, Mountain Valley Health Care and Hospice. As soon as he showed it to the kids, they wanted to try it on. Especially Felicity.

That Felicity wanted to wear something that belongs to her daddy is no surprise to us. She adores Richard and wants to be close to him. Of all the kids, Felicity most looks forward to Richard coming home from work at night. She misses him so much during the day that it's quite normal for her to ask a dozen times each day, "Can we call Daddy?" I do my best to oblige her, when I am fairly sure it's a good time for Richard. Today she took matters into her own hands by climbing up on the kitchen desk, turning on the phone, and dialing random numbers, hoping that Daddy would answer. Pretty cute.

So here she is, modeling her daddy's new jacket. Richard teased Felicity that it's a bit small for her. Richard is nothing if not silly.

Felicity loves her daddy THIS MUCH!!!

Can you believe the shameless advertising? Disgusting!

Elijah decided it would be fun to get in the jacket with Felicity.

It warms my heart to know that my children love their daddy and want to be near him, even if it means wearing his clothes. As a little girl I enjoyed wearing my daddy's shirts to bed and it makes me smile to see my own children do the same. Pretty cute.

Love, Cara

Boy Meets Wall

2009-08-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Temper, temper! Not long ago Dallin was sent to the corner, and he was not happy about it. This is what happens when Dallin stands in the corner too long. Boy meets wall. Heel meets drywall.

Richard was not happy--to say the least--to come home to a hole in the wall. Literally. He has worked in what one might term a "hole in the wall" before and has been grateful to come home to a clean, tidy house. Needless to say, he was just as upset as I was over the damage our home suffered. So upset, in fact, that he asked Dallin to pay for the repair of the wall. It took him a few weeks and a lot of lawn mowing, but Dallin earned enough money to pay for the supplies necessary to right his wrong. Then Richard fixed it.

First, Richard had to cut a hole bigger than the damage to allow for a scrap piece of wood to be inserted in the wall.

The scrap of drywall now could be placed and secured to the scrap piece of wood, to cover the hole.

The edges of the drywall insert were covered with special tape to cover the seams.

Next, Richard had to cover the seams with multiple layers of drywall mud to smooth out the hole.

After sanding the patch, the spot was ready for a fresh coat of wall texture and paint.

Now that the wall has been repainted, the damage is undetectable. How grateful I am that my husband is such a good handyman. His skills and willingness to fix things has saved us a lot of money.

It was a tough lesson for us to teach, and a difficult lesson for Dallin to learn, but I'm pretty sure that the next time Dallin loses his temper, he won't damage anything.

Love, Cara

It's Written All Over Her Face

2009-08-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Who ate all the cherries? Well, it's written all over her face!

And if you ask me, she doesn't appear to be the least bit sorry. In fact, she looks rather proud of herself.

When my children and I pack lunches and spend the day at the park, I always pack myself a box of raspberries. They are my favorite fruit, and often substitute for my treat of the day.

Who ate all of Mommy's raspberries? Again, Felicity isn't embarrassed to have been caught red-handed. Or rather red-faced! "Here's the empty container, Mom! Those raspberries were great!"

In the summertime, our family enjoys fresh fruits, even at dinnertime with our salads and hot vegetables. Felicity loves oranges, and these pictures may tell you one reason why...

Oranges? Well, she can't get enough of them. Yes, it may seem as though I am complaining that I can't keep fruit around my house. But the truth is that I'm delighted my Felicity loves fresh fruit so much. After all it's good for her, and not all children so willingly eat it, let alone ask for it like she does. Along with a love of the gospel and a love of reading, Richard and I seem to have also passed down a love of fruits and vegetables to our children. Hey, there are a lot of worse things we could have passed down to them!

Love, Cara

Pull My Finger

2009-08-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

Never would you see a girl wear a shirt that says, "pull my finger". But boys will be boys. Need I say more?

By the way, if Dallin asks you to pull his finger, just say, "no!"

Love, Cara

Long Hair

2009-08-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

It's true that we always want what we do not have / cannot have. In Felicity's case, the thing which she wants most and does not have is long hair.

Big sister Mimi has long hair. The funny thing about Mimi is that she asks me at least once a week if her hair is now long enough to cut and donate to Locks Of Love, an organization which collects hair donations and manufactures wigs and hair pieces for those who have lost their hair due to illness or disease. About a year and a half ago, Mimi donated her hair and is excited to do it again.

Mimi is six years old, has long hair, and goes to school. Thus, Felicity wants to be six. She thinks that when she turns six, she will have "arrived". In most cases, Felicity emulates Mimi.

Now I've got to give credit where credit is due: Felicity came up with the "mop hair" idea on her own one day while I was folding laundry. She discovered the mop head within the clean laundry, divided the cloth strips in half, and carefully positioned it on her head. Voila! Long hair!

Thinking she wanted to be part of the fun, and so that her little sister wouldn't be the only one with a common household cleaning tool on her head, Mimi donned one, too.

I am grateful for this moment in my daughters' lives when one chose to join the other instead of making fun of her. I am also grateful that something so simple facilitated hours of entertainment for two of my children. If only it could always be so easy...

Love, Cara

Summer: We Had Fun, And Now It's Done

2009-08-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been nearly two months since I've blogged. I sorta fell out of the habit and my consequence is that I have so much to record. I know this blog will not be a quick one.

1 July 2009 Bree was two months old and had a visit with her pediatrician. She weighed in at 10 pounds, 9 ounces, and measured 19.75 inches. In other words, she was doing very well.

3 July 2009 brought my parents, Mike and Lanna Spears, to our home in Colorado in order to witness and participate in Aubrielle Elise's blessing the next Sunday, 5 July 2009. How wonderful it was to have my parents with me again! On the 4th, Richard's folks joined in the party.

Leave it to boys to never grow up. Here Richard and my dad are leg wrestling.

No complaints from the peanut gallery about the yummy barbeque dinner!

What a cool dad, JP! Dry ice to make ice cream. Far out!

The kids loved the ice cream JP made.

This is the rocket JP shot at the park across the street after the 4th of July barbeque at our house. It was awesome!

My dad is smart. Though it meant Elijah would get his birthday present a month early, while Grandpa Spears was in Colorado, he took Elijah shopping for the gift of his choice to avoid spending twice the amount of the gift on shipping alone. As you can see, Elijah chose a skateboard. He is posing in front of Grandpa Chubbs' hotrod rental car.

Aubrielle honored Grandpa Spears with a smile. =)
Grandma Spears taught Dallin the art of Sudoku a few years ago. Now whenever they are together they enjoy solving Sudoku puzzles.

Mom is a yoga / pilates istructor. A couple of times she showed everyone some moves.

Mom and I had many scintillating conversations in the kitchen. Wish I could remember what we were discussing in this picture. The state of our economy? Not likely!

Grandma and Grandpa Chubbs love their newest grandchild (#18 for them!)

Grandma Spears loved to hold Aubrielle and play with her. I think they bonded.

Grandma Spears (my mom) is a fantastic grandma. She loves to help with the kids in any way she can. One night while visiting us, she asked Richard what she could do to help. He told her Aubrielle needed a bath. She said, "No problem." I sure wish she lived closer to us. California may as well be the other side of the world since it's more than a day's drive.

On 7 July our family joined the Schneiders for a trip up in the mountains for hiking, fishing and picnicking. It was a beautiful day to be outside and after the hour-plus drive to the site, we were anxious to stretch our legs so we hiked first.
Ready to go hiking up the mountain in the picture below...

Gorgeous, isn't it?

The hike was exhausting for Aubrielle. She was ready to go home!

Hiking, fishing, and lots of good food to eat, but Elijah had to find something to climb, too!

Elijah loves to fish. This is his first attempt which yielded no fish. That was okay with him.

Felicity was more than happy to share her bath in the kitchen sink with her baby sister. This was Bree's first bath in the kitchen sink, and she was grateful for her sister's arms to hold her tight!

On 24 July, I joined my girlfriends for our monthly "Moms' Night Out". Knowing I was going to be away from Aubrielle for more than a couple of hours, I pumped some milk for her. Richard said Bree took to the bottle right away and without any fuss. I think I am offended at how easily she accepted a replacement for me...

Wednesday 29 July through Saturday 1 August, our family went camping in Fort Collins with the Schneiders, Haakmeesters and Hornfecks. We had a blast and look forward to doing it again next summer. The KOA site we stayed at offered lots to do...
Though this digger at the playground was broken, Mimi still wanted to play with it.

Jake chased us all around the park wielding his light saber.

Lauren just hung around.

I had a lot of fun at the park with the kids.

I've always wanted to be taller, but not this tall!
Even Bree had fun at the park!

Ziplock eggs for breakfast!

Tera and I agree that no matter what you cook while camping, everything tastes better over a campfire.

All the kids took turns fishing.

Doesn't she look peaceful? Is there anything better than a nap outside on a beautiful day?

Out for a walk with my baby, armed with a burp rag.

Hey, Elijah! The jumping pillow is for jumping!

Who doesn't love a s'more?

Felicity spent time in the big pool with her daddy.

Elijah's hairdo is compliments of JP. It's so him!

Erich and JP threw Dallin into the pool quite a few times. Dallin was a good sport about it.

Dallin slapped the water a couple of times going in. Check out his leg!

JP bought Drumsticks for all the kids. It was particularly nice for Felicity because the ice cream in them didn't contain eggs.

Am I surprised that Eli tried to get the whole ice cream cone in his mouth at once? No way!

The whole group gave the Drumsticks two thumbs up!

Bree nursed while I watched the kids swim. The sun sure was bright that day! (31 July)

Lauren and Elijah are hams, that's for sure!

Bree took a nap in the rec room while the other kids watched "Star Wars" and the moms and dads played card games.

Tera and Ethan take moment to pose. Not fair that even while camping Tera looks good!

Erich and Chloe nap together. Camping is exhausting!

Mimi enjoyed the exercise equipment in the rec room.

Lauren was often a big help with Bree so that I could use both hands to help prepare meals. She's going to be an amazing mother.

Tera made Eli a birthday pancake in the shape of an "E".

Star Wars toys for Eli's birthday. Slam dunk, Dad!

Elijah also got a RIPSTICK, which consequently got returned to the store and exchanged for Star Wars memorabilia. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh Richard?

Today Bree is 3 months old and still no one makes her smile like Elijah does. (1 Aug)

Happy 14th Anniversary, Richard! (4 Aug) It's your turn to entertain the fussy baby.

It's August and Bree is now 3 months old and still a fan of her mama's milk.

At the park again and trying to sleep. (7 Aug)

Close to Mommy is where I wanna be!

On 8 August, Richard and I went out for the day. One of the many things we did that day was take Bree to get her ears pierced. She didn't appreciate the gesture, nor did she appreciate her daddy restraining her...

But when it was over, I nursed and cuddled her and she forgot all about it.

On 9 August our family went to a birthday party for a neighbor at Splitz Bowling Center. It was a lot of fun for the kids since they'd never bowled before. Here's Mimi posing with her bowling ball. It looks a bit heavy for her!

Dallin really got the hang of it quickly, and had fun doing so!

Elijah had great form and a great time.

Richard says that holding Bree while bowling was good luck!

Here is Bree: Richard's good luck charm.

17 August was the first day of school for Dallin, and Dallin only, since he is now in the sixth grade (middle school). It was also my first day of jury duty since I neglected to send in my request to be excused. Because Elijah and Amelia didn't have school yet and I didn't have anyone to watch the kids, I walked into the court house pushing Bree in the stroller, my three other children in toe. The jury commissioner was not impressed. She took one look at me and my brood (little did she know I was sans one child!) and told me to fill out a form and be excused. That was fun. Not!

18 August @ 8:05a.m. meant I was sans three of my five children. Richard asked before he left for work that morning when the party was starting. Ha! Poor Felicity. She was heartbroken to leave Dallin, Elijah and Mimi at Quest Academy. Poor me. I had to entertain her all day. We both couldn't wait for the older kids to return home from school!

19 August meant another Weight Watchers meeting. I weighed in at 105.2. When I got pregnant with Aubrielle, I was 102.5. I'm very close to my goal of getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight. It's very exciting for me! I am sure enjoying my old clothes again.

Today is 20 August. Yes, this post has taken me all week to put together, but now I am caught up. I never want to fall behind again.

It was a great summer filled with many fun activities including swimming lessons, story time at the library, summer movie camp, the park, the Denver Childrens' Museum, camping, company, and many barbeques. Summer: we had fun, and now it's done!

Love, Cara

The Denver Children's Museum

2009-06-28T18:45:00.001-07:00

Every Friday Tera and I take our kids to our favorite park in Northglenn, a tradition we began last summer. This past Friday, for a change of pace, we spent the day at the Denver Childrens' Museum. Armed with season passes and packed lunch boxes, we made the 25 minute drive without incident. Upon arrival we lucked out with front row parking. It was gonna be a good day.

The first exhibit we visited was tailor-made for children like Dallin and Elijah. There were things to build, walls to paint, and electrical circuits to re-create. Also in the exhibit was a monster truck tire laid on its side so it could be climbed on and in!

First Mimi, Felicity and Brynna selected building blocks.

Mimi really got into her work. She donned a construction vest and pushed her wheelbarrow to collect building supplies (giant Legos).

Felicity enjoyed helping Lauren, Mimi, and Brynna build a skyscraper.

Jake got in on the action, too!

Ethan helped to choose building blocks for the big kids. He is very selective. Adorable, too.

Lauren built the skyscraper taller than she is!

Brynna is a construction cutie.

Felicity is a cranky contractor.

Dallin practiced his electrical skills by creating a circuit that motorized a small fan.

Elijah and Jake agree that electricity is cool.

Roll on, Elijah! The shade you chose to paint that room is very nice.

Time for lunch! It was a beautiful day so we ate outside. Near the entrance to the museum is a giant black cow named Hopscotch which the children are allowed to write on with sidewalk chalk. Dallin, Elijah and Mimi climbed on Hopscotch's back to eat their lunch.

After lunch, Mimi, being part daredevil, jumped off the cow's back. She is Elijah's disciple.

Brynna really enjoyed her lunch. She earned an award for "The Best Messy Face".

Just before we left the museum, Dallin took a moment to pose with Bree.

Felicity posed with Bree, too. Talk about a couple of tired girls!

Our day at the museum was well-spent. All nine (yes, nine) children had fun and were worn-out by day's end, so we'll be back again soon. None of them gave Tera or me trouble at bedtime! Why can't every day be so good?

Love, Cara

Manual Labor

2009-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Manual labor is good for naughty children. 'Nuff said!

Cara

Mimi No Front Teeth

2009-06-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

If Mimi belonged to a tribe, her name in that tribe would be Mimi No Front Teeth. As you can see from this picture, Mimi is now missing both of her front teeth.

The first of her front teeth was extracted by her daddy last week. Yes, my kids have learned that daddy likes to pull teeth for some odd reason and if they don't wish him to pull out a loose tooth, they'd better not let him know they have one!

The second front tooth was extracted by Mimi herself. And in her bed, during the night, no less! That's right--Mimi surprised Richard and me yesterday morning with her new smile and blood on her bed linens!

Mimi is enjoying her new smile and her new voice. At times it is difficult to understand her, due to the escaping of air when she speaks. Richard teases that she now has a lisp and a whistle and calls her "rough and toothless" instead of "tough and ruthless". So far Mimi doesn't mind her new nicknames and is laughing off the teasing comments. We'll see how long that lasts, though.

Mimi is also enjoying the challenges that come with eating while missing so many teeth. (She has also lost four teeth on her bottom jaw, too). Here are some fun pictures:

Mimi loves fresh fruit. Good thing apricots are soft.

But the pits aren't!

Carrots aren't either, though I doubt that fact will keep Mimi away from them.

Never to be left out, Elijah struck a pose with carrots, too. He looks like a walrus showing off his ivory. Fear the tusks!

Obviously Elijah's mouth is bigger than Mimi's because the carrots are a tight fit for her. Not the case with Elijah.

Though cherries have pits, too, Mimi thinks that losing teeth is a bowl of cherries. To her, losing teeth means a visit from the Tooth Fairy who always brings greenbacks!

Mimi loves apples. She had one for lunch today and was grateful that I sliced it for her. I think if I had handed her a whole apple she'd have either laughed or cried.

Mimi looked cute enough when she only had one front tooth missing.

But was that good enough? No! She had to make the gap bigger!

Who would've thought that pulling teeth was so much fun for Mimi? I guess she got that from her daddy. Or maybe from her Aunt Dena (my sister) who used to pull her teeth out during church to get out of Sacrament Meeting... Strange! Whoever Mimi got it from, she needs to be stopped or by next week she'll have to drink her meals through a straw!

Love, Cara

Little Things Mean A Lot

2009-06-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

This month my girlfriends and I have chosen "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman as our book club selection for June. By the end of the book, each reader is able to determine which of the Five Love Languages he or she speaks and understands best. Hands down, my love language is "Acts of Service". Richard speaks my language well.

Richard does so many nice things for me and for our children everyday. I'd be willing to bet that most of the nice things he does for us, he does without recognizing them for what they are: Acts of Service.

Here is a list of some of the little things Richard does:

1) He keeps my gas tank full. I do not pump gas. I repeat: I DO NOT PUMP GAS. In the nearly 15 years that Richard and I have been together, I have had to pump gas twice. Both times you can be sure that I cursed liked a sailor the whole time.

2) He takes the trash cans out every week and brings them back in. I have never had to do it. Yuck!

3) If a toilet gets clogged, we close the lid and use one of the other four toilets in the house for the rest of the day. Richard will unclog it when he gets home that evening.

4) With much alacrity, he exterminates any bugs and spiders that happen to get into the house. He also disposes of any mice caught in traps.

5) Even though Richard works on his feet all day on the job, he happily comes home and helps out around the house wherever he is needed.

6) Every Sunday Richard spends hours with Dallin and Elijah on their cub scout assignments. He wants them to earn their Eagle Scout honors just like he did as a boy.

7) He is happily our resident handyman.

8) He is quick to use his priesthood for the benefit of our family and anyone else who may be in need of such a service.

9) Every morning while I groom for the day, Richard brings me a pitcher of water to drink. He knows I am not quick to take care of myself and that if I see the water in front of me I will drink it. As a breastfeeding mother, it is vital!

10) Richard never complains about going to work each day. He is a good provider.

11) Every night when I head upstairs for bed, I find that Richard has turned down our bed and carefully placed our 9 decorative pillows in a corner on the floor.

12) Every fast Sunday Richard makes breakfast for those of us who can't fast. That's all of us girls. This has got to be hard for him to watch us eat in front of him!

13) Each morning before going to work, Richard helps me start my morning work around the house. No doubt Richard would much rather get up later in the morning than get up and work before he goes to work.

Those are just some of kind things Richard does for us. I could go on and on. It has been said that "little things mean a lot". I, for one, agree wholeheartedly which is why I do all the things I do. It is one of my goals in life to teach my children this very same principle. And so, because Richard is a busy man, I asked the children if they would like to do something really nice for Daddy. Dallin and Elijah said that they could mow the back lawn for Daddy. And though our back lawn is very small, in the summertime when the grass gets long and thick quickly, it is a big job.

Here are some pictures of Dallin and Elijah happily at work:

Dallin and Elijah are getting started. It's a beautiful day to be working outside.

Dallin and Elijah are never too busy to smile for the camera. What hams!

Elijah is the original ham, for sure. He's cute and he knows it. He also knows that if he does a good job on the lawn he'll get a treat.

What's gonna work? Teamwork!!! Dallin and Elijah are a great team.

Dallin knows that doing manual labor like mowing the lawn will build muscles and draw the attention of any chicks in the vicinity.

To my muscles: Burn, baby, burn!

Mr Tyke is our resident supervisor over all lawn mowing jobs. He gave the boys two paws up!

Once again, teamwork works.

As you can see, Dallin and Elijah are very focused on the job at hand.

I'm sure the boys are glad mowing the lawn doesn't have to be done every day.

The grass was so long and thick. The boys had to empty the grass catcher multiple times!

Felicity "helped" with her Yard Crew toy lawnmower.

Okay, so it wasn't all work and no play. Here Elijah is trying to blow up Mimi's skirt with the leaf blower.

And here he is doing the same thing to Felicity, even as she tries to run away from him.

Let's get it started, Mimi!

The finished product. Excellent job, guys! You're hired!

It was a big job, and a gorgeous day, and when it was over, Dallin and Elijah were tired, hungry and very thirsty! They each downed a can of soda pop, and a lot of lunch.

I know that Dallin and Elijah have enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment, that comes from a job well done, but even more they will enjoy seeing the look on Daddy's face when he discovers what the boys have done to surprise him. We can't wait to witness his reaction!!

Love, Cara

The First Six Weeks

2009-06-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

As difficult as it is to admit, Aubrielle's first six weeks have come and gone. So sad! Although it is certainly nice to be completely healed from my surgery, and able to participate in all activities again, I would go back if I could and do those first six weeks again. And again. And again. They are my favorite.

Bree has changed a lot since she was born. Most noticeably, she has grown and put on weight, and her cheeks have filled out. Her umbilical cord has come off. Her right eye, which had a plugged tear duct, has finally stopped draining. Her eyes are open and she is alert a lot more. She is an excellent nurser and a good napper. The best change in Bree is that she smiles now. Ooh, I love it! It's the best!

Aubrielle loves to be held and cuddled by her mommy and daddy, and her siblings, too. Dallin and Elijah love to hold her so much that they have even been known to fight over her. They especially love to push her in the stroller and buckle her into her carseat. Elijah has even been changing her diapers lately! Yes, the boys are very helpful with her. Hopefully that won't change.

It's easy to see that Felicity cannot wait for Bree to be big enough to play with her. Felicity is constantly trying to put toys in Bree's hands and tell her what to do with them. Of course Bree doesn't understand. I think she just likes being spoken to. Mimi has recently learned to read books on her own, and most mornings she can be found reading to Bree. Again, Bree doesn't understand, but nonetheless enjoys the attention. It warms my heart to see Mimi reading to her baby sister. So special!

So far, Aubrielle doesn't mind riding in the car--most of the time. This is perfect for us since we often go places. It's great when she falls asleep in her car seat and stays asleep even when we reach our destination. I know that this will not always be the case, so for now I am grateful. I am also grateful for the times that she falls asleep in my arms or at my breast. These are special times which I cherish.

Sometimes I don't remember when we didn't have our sweet Aubrielle in our family. She is a necessary piece of our family puzzle and having her in our home fills a void.

I love that Richard comes home from work and lights up at the sight of Bree. It's wonderful that she seems to brighten his day. She is his little princess and has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. When Bree is fussy or tired, Daddy is sure to comfort her and lull her to sleep.

Since she was born, Bree has been nursing every couple of hours. At times Richard and I have to wake her up to nurse because she has been sleeping too long. Other times, she doesn't seem to want to sleep which can be frustrating to a couple of tired parents, but most of the time she wakes during the night to nurse and goes back to sleep. I know that this period of her life will be gone in the blink of an eye and so I am enjoying every minute of it. The night nursings are particularly precious to Bree and me because they also involve Daddy. When Bree wakes up, Richard goes to her nursery to change her diaper and grab a burp rag. He then brings her to me in bed to nurse and crawls back in with us. When Bree is done nursing, Richard takes her from me, burps her, and puts her back to bed. I am so grateful for a husband who wants to be such an integral part of our baby's life.

It's hard to believe that Bree will be two months old on the 1st of July. Time doth pass so quickly with a newborn baby. What an awesome experience and responsibility raising children is. Being a mother is what I aspired to be, as a little girl, and I am lucky that Heavenly Father has entrusted me with two handsome sons and three beautiful daughters. I am blessed.

I am also blessed to have friends who love Bree, too. Here is a picture of Tera holding her. Tera is more than a friend, though, and I'm glad she'll be an integral part of Bree's life, too. Aren't they both gorgeous?

Life is busy with a new baby--I wouldn't have it any other way. But now that my sweet Aubrielle is sleeping, I should be, too. Goodnight!

Love, Cara

Bree's Bedroom

2009-05-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

When we first moved into our home in Colorado, Richard and I decided that the bedroom next to ours would be painted, decorated and furnished as a guest room. I chose a bed set for the queen guest bed first, then the paint and accessories. Richard then went to work on it. For more than two years, it was simply the lavender guest bedroom, seldom used. (Connected to the bedroom is a full private bathroom that Richard also completed--wainscoting, crown molding, pedestal sink, and all.)

I have always loved lavender. When Richard finished the rooms, I loved them, too. It was such a pretty change in my house.

Last year when we received the promptings that our baby was ready to come to our family, we didn't know where we would put him or her. Not wanting to give up the guest room, but needing a baby nursery, we compromised. Here is the result:

As you can see, we kept the guest bed and made a nursery, too. It works out well. Little Bree can grow up in this room. Hope she grows up to love lavender like I do. We tell her it's her signature color. So pretty--just like her.

Love, Cara

Life's Not Fair

2009-05-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I just had a baby 2 weeks ago. I'm still healing, trying to regain my strength and mobility. It's been my goal to improve a little more each day since Bree was born. That's just what I've been doing. Until last Friday when I woke up not feeling well. Thankfully I already had an appointment with my OB that morning for a 2 week post-op so while I was there I had Dr Austin take a look at me and do a throat culture. Friday afternoon I got a call from his office that the rapid strep test came back negative. Thank goodness. However, as the day went on, whatever I had was making me miserable.

Friday night was a nightmare. Saturday morning I woke up feeling even worse. I spent the day in bed, and then the night in bed. Today, thankfully, I feel a bit better, though still not up to par. Did I mention that this weekend I've missed some truly great weather? Ahh! Life's not fair. Did I mention that I've basically had to stay away from my new baby other than nursing, so as not to get her sick? Life's not fair. Did I mention that my poor husband has had to do everything on his own while I convalesce? Life's not fair to him, either.

I didn't attend church the last two Sundays before Bree was born, and I haven't been able to attend since. I miss it. I would like to get back in the saddle again with my calling and other responsibilities. I hate being sick! I hate to not be productive! I hate not being able to help out my own family, let alone others.

This past week as Richard has gone back to work, our family has received dinners from ladies around the neighborhood. It's been such a blessing. We also have dinners coming this week, too! We have great friends who have extended their hands in service towards us, and we are so grateful.

Here's hoping I can get back on my feet soon and return the favors.

Love, Cara

Buzzkill

2009-05-10T12:06:00.000-07:00

Since I just had a baby, and have been recovering from major surgery, Richard has been home all week taking care of us. He has been cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, checking homework, doing his own homework, running errands, and playing with the kids so they don't get bored. The best part about Richard being home and in charge this week? He has barbequed our dinner every single night (except for Friday when the winds were so strong that his flame wouldn't stay lit so alas, the chicken was oven-baked).

Richard was so busy this week, he was hardly afforded a moment to sit down, let alone relax. Yes, filling in for me is a tall order--my standards are very high. Along with the list of daily chores were a few extra jobs for him to do. One of those extra jobs was to take Dallin and Elijah to our local SuperCuts for long-overdue haircuts. (While there he was supposed to get one, too). At any other time, I am the one who cuts all my boys' hair. But as I am currently unable to stand and work on my feet for the necessary 90 minutes it usually takes me, I felt it time to break tradition and have Rich pay (cringe!) for haircuts.

Well, said haircuts never happened this week. Last night I told Rich that the boys could not go to church looking so homeless and unkempt, and ha, ha, he should just buzz their heads. I was kidding! After all, Dallin has the most beautiful red hair. I remember buzzing his head the summer he was 3. I cried the rest of the day. Yes, it obviously grew back, but I was nonetheless devastated.

Back to last night. The middle two girls were in bed, and I sat in the family room nursing Bree to sleep. I took her upstairs to bed, and as I headed back downstairs, I realized Rich and the boys were nowhere in sight...

Bzzzz.... What's that sound? Bees, pray tell?

I followed the noise and was led to the garage where Rich had already buzzed Elijah's head, and was in the process of buzzing Dallin's. Of course I had to get the camera. Then I laughed. Then I cried. I know it will grow back, but I'm still very sad. Rich said it was fun to do, and both Dallin and Elijah love their new do's. And it is almost summertime.

I'll get over it. When it grows back.

Love, Cara

p.s. The boys' favorite part of the new hair do's? Their hair is already done.

Biker Chick

2009-05-10T11:14:00.001-07:00

Little does Richard realize how very tightly he has been wrapped around Felicity's little finger. It only took two visits to the bike department at Walmart for Felicity to wear him down and convince him that she couldn't live without a new pink and purple bike--helmet and pads, too. Now she can ride with her older siblings and the other kids in the neighborhood. She's a big girl, now! Of course she's still learning and is thus prone to crashing and falling, but overall she's getting the hang of it. Dallin was 7 when he learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Elijah learned on his 5th birthday. Mimi was only 4 1/2, leaving high expectations on Felicity to learn before age 4 1/2. Just kidding!

Seeing Felicity on her bike sure makes me want to get back on mine. Five more weeks till I can join her. I can't wait!

Love, Cara

P.S. Isn't she cute? She's ready to go burn rubber--someday she actually will!

Beautiful Baby Bree

2009-05-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, allow me to apologize for being out of touch since the birth of my beautiful baby Bree. I have not wanted for anything this past week except to nurse, change, bathe, burp and hold her. In fact, I have been quite content to do nothing else, including eating, sleeping, reading and socializing, all of which normally sustain me. This first week with Bree has been so precious and I haven't wanted to miss a thing. Already I feel sad that her first days have passed.

Aubrielle is a joy to have in our family and we wonder how we ever lived without her. She is such a beautiful baby (nope, I'm not biased). Turns out she was the missing piece of our family puzzle and with her we are a more complete unit.

Each of Bree's four older siblings have had multiple opportunities to hold and love on her. Each one of them has been of assistance at times that I've needed a burp rag, diaper, binky or blanket. I only hope their willingness to help will not soon die out, especially since there are only two weeks left of school. Once all the kids are out on summer break, I'll need all the help I can get, being on my own with my brood.

Yesterday Aubrielle had her one-week check-up with her pediatrician, Dr Dickerson (love her!). It was at this check-up that Dr Dickerson was able to determine just how well Bree is progressing, given her weight, height and head circumference. At birth, Bree was 7 lbs 9.5 oz, 19.5 inches long, with a head circumference of 14.25 inches. Not bad, considering she came out of my small body. At yesterday's appointment, Bree was 7 lbs 12.5 oz, 19.75 inches long (head circumference was the same). We all know that babies lose weight in the hospital after birth. Dr Dickerson was thrilled that Bree had already surpassed her birth weight in one week! Well, she is a champion nurser.

Having had children before with whom I've had weight-gain concerns (Elijah and Felicity) I am so grateful that my baby is doing so well. It does my heart good to know that she is growing healthy and strong. Thanks to all those who have offered prayers on her behalf.

Love, Cara (proud mom of 5!)

P.S. We are now truly living our own 7th Heaven!

Announcing The Arrival of Aubrielle Elise Chubbs

2009-05-01T19:36:00.000-07:00