Combining 2 of my greatest loves: Seinfeld & Green Day :)

(Don't forget to scroll down and pause the music before viewing the video)

Something I forgot....

There is one thing I forgot to mention on my Easter post. The Primary sang in church- I love it when the primary kids get up front and sing! It was Rogue's first time, since he just turned 3. Elijah showed him where to go, and It was so cute to see them standing up there together. Just as they all started singing, Rogue spotted Travis, and called out "Hi, Daddy!", while frantically waving his little hand. Everyone laughed- it was so cute. He stayed up there through most of the song, moving his mouth, so that it appeared that he was singing, although he was clearly making up his own words. Mid-song, he made an early exit, but had barely made it off the stand when the song ended. Elijah caught up with him, and led him back to our pew. It was one of those sweet, precious, perfect moments.

Easter Weekend

Friday and Saturday were spent at our old high school. It was the annual Basketball Alumni Tournament. We got to see some old classmates, and Trav got to play some basketball with his brothers and old buddies. It's interesting to see these people, most of which I only meet up with once a year at the tournament. There is one team that is made up of a bunch of guys all from my graduating class, and I'm not sure that even one of them are married. Here I am, not only married, but with 3 cute little crazy mini-me's running wild through the stands, and cheering on their dad and uncles. We used to be at a same place in life, and now we're so incredibly different. Anyway, Trav's team played in the campionship game, and finished 2nd overall. Yay team Newton :)

That night, the kids stayed up late coloring Easter eggs before washing up and heading to bed. Then came Easter Morn- this is the first year that Alex is big enough to participate in the Easter egg hunt, and she was so excited to find them all and stash them in her little basket. Ashley taught a great lesson to the Young Women at church, and afterwards we drove out to my parents' house for a little family luncheon. I love deviled eggs, but only eat them on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, but I usually make up for the other days, by eating as many as my stomach can handle! I was so stuffed! Once we got back home, I passed out, and awoke just in time to put the boys to bed (Trav had already put down Alex), and watch Masterpiece Theater's continuing Jane Austen series. Ahhh- good day :)
We always keep our Easter baskets pretty simple, to better focus on the real reason for the holiday. Just a chocolate bunny, a few eggs, and a picture or two of Christ, to interject the spirituality of the day.

The kids like when I make letters, numbers, and shapes out of pancakes. Today, we made some "E"s for Easter.

Rockin' Threads

Of course most already know this about Eli, but he's a bit... eccentric. I usually give them their clothes for the day. On the days they choose their own clothes, I usually provide the 2-3 choices for them to select from. The other day, however, I just told them to go upstairs and get dressed. This is how Elijah emerged:

Date Night

Several months ago, Travis bought us tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's "Corteo" up in Portland. The night finally came on Thursday. We decided to make an overnighter of it, and we stayed at the Hotel Vintage Plaza.
It was so nice- we even had our own deck with a hot tub, overlooking downtown. After checking in, we had a bite to eat, and headed to our show. It was wonderful, as we knew it would be- we went last year, too. Travis & I both agreed that it was an amazing show, but not quite as good as last year's "Varekai". I think next year we'll take at least Elijah, but perhaps all of the kids. They'd just be mesmorized by it all- it's so much fun. If you have never seen it, I definitely recommend it. And if you have only seen the videos, they don't even compare to the live show. Last year, Trav bought tickets primarily because he knew I'd like it, but didn't expect himself to (he had seen the videos and was only mildly impressed). He ended up loving it though, and was just as excited as me to see it them again this year.... The next day, we slept in!!!! And took our time getting home. It was a great Date Night.
Even the tents are creative and distinctive.
Jumping from bed to bed- I think this would have been the kids' favorite part, if they had seen it.
This guy climbed a 16 foot ladder (no supports of any kind at the bottom- just a regular straight ladder), one rung at a time, then does a handstand at the top... amazing!
This was the opening act & one of my favorites of the night. These girls were hanging all over these huge swinging chandeliers.

Sand & Surf

Saturday morning we got up, and thought about how to spend our family day. We usually come up with a few choices for whichever boys' turn it is to plan out our day. Travis decided that we should give the choice of going to the beach, and a day turned into a weekend (at one point, we had changed our mind to Portland, but switched back to the beach). I ran around the house gathering up all of our gear, while Travis booked a hotel and loaded up the car. Then, we were on our way! After getting a refund on our first poorly chosen hotel, we ended up at D' Sands condos. They (meaning both the people and the rooms) were so nice, and a much better choice. We were right on the beach, too. There was a balcony out our back door, and Alex didn't come off of it for a good 20 minutes once we got there:

She loved it. We played on the beach, got rained out, wrestled around in the room:

, hung out on the balcony, fed the seagulls (pictures to come), went out for dinner, swam in the pool and hot tub (pictures to come), played games, hit up Pig 'N' Pancake for breakfast (SO good!), found a yummy candy store, went to the aquarium:

, went for a drive along the coast, had some delicious ice cream, played on the beach some more (pictures to come), had some dinner, and finally headed home. It was a lot of fun. We always look at condos when we're over there, because we always have such a good time. We realized that we missed out on an opportunity a couple of years ago. We ALMOST bought a condo right on the bay near Mo's, but ultimately decided to pass on it. Just two years later, it's already gone up $100,000! Crazy- that would have been a great investment. Oh, well. We'll see if we ever end up doing it, but I know if we did, we'd be over there almost every weekend. Anyway, I was trying to wait on posting, because my small camera, that I took a lot of pictures with is MIA. I'll just have to post some more once I find it....

Riken, Horton, and Alex

Riken- We have decided to give Riken away :( We've been struggling with the decision for quite some time. We were torn, because she really is a great & beautiful dog. The problem is, we just weren't quite ready yet. Trav and I always knew we wanted to get a dog for the kids, and had decided that a golden retriever would be the best choice for our family. We had planned on waiting a couple of more years at least, but then our neighbor had a litter of golden retriever puppies, the boys discovered them, and we were hooked. We have since found that we really were just not ready for it yet. We are gone so much, and have so little time to give her the attention she deserves. She is only 9 months old now, and has been trained, spade, and micro-chipped. As long as we know she is going somewhere that she'll get the love & attention she needs- we are willing to give her to a new family. I am so torn, but I've come to the conclusion that it's the best thing to do for her.... So, if anyone out there is interested, you are welcome to contact me via blog or phone.

Horton- For family night tonight, we decided to go see "Horton Hears a Who" at the Silverton theater. The kids all liked it, but Rogue got a little bit scared when the monkeys were trying to capture Horton in the cage :( Little Alex was grinning from ear to ear the whole time, sitting in her little highchair booster seat that we'd brought from home, stacked high with snacks to keep her busy. She was giving smiles, hugs and kisses through the whole movie, while the boys loaded up on their month's worth of sugar.

Alex- Another thing we did today was go to the pediatrist (I would have said "doctor", but we all know they're not REAL doctors, right Stefani?). I think that most of you know that Alex has very turned-in feet. When she was born, I was told that they would correct themsleves over time. Since they haven't gotten any better in the last year and a half, I decided to go see a specialist. And guess what he said??!! If I had taken care if it right away when she was born, it would have been an easy fix in just 3 weeks!! They would have put a little lightweight cast on her legs, that would not have bothered her as a newborn, but would not be successful or tolerated by a walking 18 month old. The good news is that it appears to be a problem with just the front of her foot, not her whole leg, and also that her feet are still fairly flexible, so we may be able to get them back to normal with out surgery or heavy casting. So, now she has to wear laced up sneakers on the wrong feet every day. After a few months, if there is no improvement, we might have to cast them. Poor girl. If only I had seen a specialist when she was born! So, when you see her waddling around with shoes on the wrong feet, you know why!

I Will Survive

Or, rather, I did survive. Public speaking absolutely terrifies me, so I dread the time that it becomes my turn to speak in Sacrement meeting. Today, I faced my fear. The bishopric had asked the Young Women's presidency to speak. The only one who didn't have to, was our secretary (lucky you, Stefani!). We were given our assignments about a month ago, along with the request of a musical number by the young women. A few days ago (yes, as you know, I procrastinate!) I finally buckled down and got to work. I had almost all of my talk written, when I decided that it wasn't the way to go, and scrapped most of it. Luckily, the new talk came to me pretty easily, and in the end, I felt reasonably confident about my talk. That does not, however, stop my stomach from aching, and my heart from pounding. As some of you may have noticed, I spent a fair amount of my time up on stage, prior to my talk, sitting with my eyes closed, or looking downward, taking deep breaths, attempting to calm my nerves. With each breath, I was telling myself, "be calm and confident, be calm and confident, be calm and confident...." I'm sure I looked silly, but it seemed to work. My nerves began to ease up, and once I started talking, they just melted away. Thank goodness. I think that is the best I have felt during a public speaking situation (I have broken into tears just at the prospect of giving a prayer in Sacrement meeting before- and I am not an emotional person). Perhaps I am on the way to defeating my irrational fear. Maybe then I can work on the ocean, and the sharks that lurk below it's surface... maybe not....

Movies & Munching

Today was Rogue's turn to pick the activities. We started with a quick trip to the movie store and grocery store. When we got home, we popped in movie, ordered a pizza, and munched on some snacks. We had rented 4 movies, so that is what we did for the ENTIRE day! Kind of nice to sit back, relax, and do absolutely nothing for a day. We watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", which I thought was quite good, despite poor reviews (what do critics know, anyway?). That was followed up by "Underdog", which fell under 'okay' for me, but fun for the kids. The others were ones we've seen before, but it was Rogue's day, and Rogue's choices (with, of course, a little persuasion from Mom on a couple, so that Trav and I would be able to stay awake). My only regret for the day, was missing the temple trip with my girlfriends this morning. Sorry girls- I should have written it in my planner!! Next time....

"In the Buff" & "We Got It"

Apparently, our little Alex prefers nakedness. She cannot be left to run around in just her diaper, or you will soon see a bare little bottom streaking through the house. And we most certainly cannot put her in her bed without pants on, or else when we go to retrieve her, she will be diaperless. Last night, she went to bed in full-on, "footie" pajamas. When Travis went to get her this morning, she was curled up in the middle of her bed, completely nude! That girl is crazy!

On another note- WE GOT THE PROPERTY! Yay! After a couple of counter offers, the deal is made, and now it's ours. We can't start building on it for a year, though, which is what we had planned on anyway, so it worked out perfect. Here's a house plan that we ended up finding that we love. We'll make a few small modifications, but I think it's the one :)

(This is the rear view of the house)

Crayon Cravings

I plan to take Alex to the doctor to ask him about this, but I thought I'd throw the question out here in blogland for the time being.... I heard that when pregnant women have those really strange cravings (sponges, dirt, paper, etc.), it's because there is something lacking in their diet. Does this apply to children as well? I feel like I give her a pretty well rounded diet, but this obsession of hers has me wondering. She will find any piece of dirt, fuzz, or any other random object on floor- and eat it. It's so hard to keep the floor 100% spotless with three kids, so she inevitably finds these little tidbits of deliciousness every day. A lot of times, I catch her, and fish it out of her mouth, but I am certain that there are plenty of times I do not. On top of that, crayons are her favorite food. If the boys drop a crayon on the floor or leave it too close to the edge of the table, it is gone in seconds. I've tried to just monitor drawing time, but as of today, crayons are banned, except during Alex's naptime. She'll also eat her taddy bears and blankets at bedtime, and she has a little hoodie sweatshirt with a fleece lined hood, which is missing chunks of fleece! What is with this girl? I've never had to deal with this before. First of all, it can't possibly taste good, but second (and most importantly), it can't be good for her. What to do??!!!

Carnies

Last night, Trav called home, and told us to get ready so that we could all go out to dinner together when he got home. Back over in Sublimity, the Wooden Nickel is a pretty yummy restraunt, and the bar is on the opposite side of the building. So, we thought we'd go to the wooden Nickel here in Silverton, but found that the whole thing is a bar at this one. There aren't a whole lot of options of places to take kids out to eat in Silverton other than mexican or pizza, both of which would not suit our dieting needs. We finally opted for Subway sandwiches, and a trip over to the little carnival next door. It's pretty small, but it was fairly easy to win prizes, and all of the kids walked away with a little something. The boys all went on the "Fun House", too- the favorite part being the spinning tunnel at the end. I need to start carrying my old little camera in my purse all of the time like I used to, so I always have it just in case we happen to do things like this that we didn't plan for.... It was a fun night for them, and we ended the evening with a long drive before taking the kids home and tucking them in for the night.

The Offering

Travis went to our realtor today to put in an offer on the property. I'm a little more anxious than usual, because this is going to be a much bigger ordeal than before. We have a long road ahead of us if we get the property. We'll wait a little while before we build, and then probably every weekend and many weekdays will be spent helping to build our house. Then, there's also the sale of our current home to deal with as well. I have no doubt that it will all be well worth the hard work in the end, but there'll be a whole lot of extra prayers along the way to help keep our sanity, I'm sure! :)

I'm Not Perfect

I have found that "concerns" about me have arisen. I'm not exactly sure the details of these "concerns", nor do I wish to know. It doesn't really bother me that others don't love every aspect of my personality. I don't, so how could I expect others to? I just thought I might take a second to say, "I know I'm not perfect." I will be the first to admit that there are many flaws in myself... but, I try. I know there are things I need to work on- many things, in fact. But, I am doing the best I can, and I am working on it....

Lots O' Soup

I LOVE soups. I can't eat the canned stuff, though. It needs to be the real deal made from scratch. Unfortunately, I'm not a great cook, and so I depend on my mom when I'm in need of a soup supply. Occasionally, we'll get together and spend the afternoon making some soups. Today she came to my place, and we made potato soup (my fav), ham & bean soup (my 2nd fav), and a new one- manhattan fish chowder. So, I'm all stocked up, and I'm going to be eating soup non-stop for the next week or so- YUM!

We Found It!

After years of searching, we have finally decided upon a piece of property on which to build a home. I was able to talk Travis out of Turner and Aumsville and end up in Silverton- yay! Thanx, hon. It's 2 acres just outside of town towards the falls. It's right on Silver Creek. It's beautiful (both to the eye and the ear), but is a bit of a concern as well. We have to definitely build a fence at the same time as the house to keep the kids safe. I think that they'll have so much fun throwing rocks in it, fishing in it, and exploring around it. We even found a floor plan that we really like, too. All of that said, it's not actually ours yet. We still have to go through the paper work, but I am excited about it!

Weekend Festivities

We spent our Saturday playing games. Well, first we hit up Olive Garden for lunch. Trav and I both had the soup, salad, and breadsticks. I have a bit of an issue with that meal, actually. The salad is great, and the breadsticks are the best around. As for the soup... I typically love soups, but I find Olive Garden soups a little lacking. They just fall under the "okay" category for me. Am I the only one that feels this way? I have always enjoyed anything I've ordered from there, so the whole soup situation is a big let down. Anyway, moving on. From there, we headed to an arcade in Salem called "Wunderland". What made it fun for me, was that I used to hang out there with friends as a pre-teen, and now my kids are enjoying it. Elijah loves computer and video games, so he was in heaven. Rogue's favorite was putting nickel, after nickel, after nickel... after nickel... into a slot that shot the coins into dump trucks. And Alex just liked to sit in the seats and play with the steering wheels of racing games. They collected a huge mound of tickets. We didn't want to end up with tons of little random toys all over the place, so they each chose one thing, and we left the rest of the tickets for the next little kids that came along. Rogue picked a yo-yo that broke on the way home, Elijah ended up with a pretty cool piggy bank that he carried around everywhere until Alex broke it last night, and Alex was delighted with her little necklace that disappeared the same day as well. So it was just the memory of it that will last, which is better anyway. Sorry I don't have any pictures of it. Keeping track of 3 kids in a place like that is too difficult on it's own without the added difficulty of picture taking. So, you'll just haveto use your imagination :)