One whole week of snow...every day

Sledding at the volcano park. Pretty great sled hill, Liam loved it Anders went down once and said no more, thank you. Elleory has been sledding outside so much that we have had to put our foot down and make her come home to eat, and participate with us in pre-Christmas fun stuff. She has a lot of friends in the neighborhood who are out sledding and sliding with her.
Anders is our little worker bee, He LOVES to scoop the snow, I think he has shoveled the sidewalk in front of the house as many times as Brian has. As long as snow isn't falling on him from the sky, he is happy to be outside. He however HATES his snow suit, and wants to be cold. ("NO pants! I want to be cold.") He insists on having his "kiki" so his mouth stays warm.
Kid logic...

We had a great big wind storm one night that blew all of the snow off the roofs, and made these awesome drifts in the back yard. Then it snowed on top of them again, and again, and again...

Liam LOVES snow. He loves his snow suit, and his coat, he LOVES his boots. He loves everything about this weather. He loves to lay in it, to play in it, to eat it...

Christmas Day 2008. Yet another 6 inches if snow. Beautiful white Christmas!

Bring it on Garden Gnome!

Anders, Mommy, and Daddy had an epic snow ball fight while building snowmen in the front yard.

How could this angel be so naughty???

Liam has 364 and 1/2 days to make up for this morning. So far, for next year, Santa is bringing him coal. We've already received the phone call.

Please pray for him...

Merry Christmas

(I'm posting this for journaling reasons... Most of you will receive a copy of this in the mail. Enjoy again.)

So I've started our Christmas Letter a few times today... The first said "Merry Christmas! To our Family and Friends" Then the scream comes from downstairs.
"MOM!!! Liam's done..."
So I clean up that mess, and go back to start again. "Hello to our dear ones"... to yet another,
"MOM!! Liam's doing this…"
So needless to say after cleaning up the junk drawer from off of the floor, and wrestling away a pack of gum (chewed, with wrappers on), picking up and re-folding the laundry, unclogging the toilet, putting the decorations BACK on the Christmas tree, all the while trying to let you all know we are alive and well, isn't going to happen this year. I give up. Liam needs way more attention than one ten year old and a video can give him.

We are indeed alive and well. Elleory is a bit frazzled from being Mama’s helper but I’m sure she will survive, and a pedicure bribe won’t hurt. Liam might survive until he's two...his college fund won't. It will go straight to all of the damage he does to our home. Anders is at times a very mellow three year old, who loves to color and sit and do piecezzles (puzzles). He usually add commentary to the Liam episodes like
"Liam, leave the tree alone, or Mama's gonna take Christmas away!" Which has NEVER actually come out of my month, but I totally laugh at it. Or my personal favorite,
"Liam, Mama's gonna spank you in the butt!"
So as you can see things just go at our house, expectations, dreams of peace, and harmony...yep they go... right out the window! I'd love to write the traditional letter, telling you all about the year, but this is a way better picture.
Please take time to catch up with us at our blog, (which I update during Liam's nap time.) www.icebergstockholm.blogspot.com you’ll get a big picture of the year, and how things are (really) going, a little window into each family member’s life.
We love each of you, and wish you Joy, and Peace and Harmony in your home.

Merry Christmas!
Love, the Bergholms

A little bit about Brian...

Because I never seem to mention him. One year for Valentines day he asked me to write him a letter, which I'm proud to report, I did. I'm doing it again this year as part of his Christmas present. So bare with the mush, this is more for him than for you. (Two things first, I'm bound, just by opening my proverbial mouth, to say something to embarrass him and secondly, I'll probably tell a gross lie. Because, in my lack of understanding his job, calling, etc, I will get something wrong.) That being said...

I love Brian! And I wish I had more to talk about concerning him. Honestly it not because he's never home, because he is, he just rarely does anything stupid enough to write about. He NEVER runs around the house with his undies on his head. He doesn't really have any free time to read books, so therefore can't expound about them. He still hasn't read and is not interested in Twilight. He is tired enough most of the time to only make it half way through any given movie.

He can however tell you what is happening in the markets, why the price of gas, corn, gold, is raising, falling, stable, who is doing well in which division, playing which sport. What the price of Microsoft stock is at this very moment, who is giving a talk on Sunday in church, and what the weather is going to be like in ten minutes. He is also a pretty good judge of how long it will take him to drive home from work, and from what I hear from the guys at church, he plays basketball well and is always very polite on the court. He very rarely drinks anything but water, and he looks great in Jeans. ( Just thought you'd like to know.) He is also a really particular photographer, so he runs the camera most of the time. We don't have many pictures of him, because I'm NOT a very discerning photographer, (or housekeeper) so most of my pictures of him get deleted, because I took a picture of him standing in front of all of the junk on the counter etc...

Brian is a good man, a great father, a fantastic worker, and a true asset to our lives. He is in his third year working for Microsoft. I still have no idea just what exactly he does, but I'm pretty sure he does it pretty well. He is working as the second counselor to our Bishop at church which is a very big responsibility. He enjoys that work, and I think if he had the choice and the means, he would do only volunteer work. I admire this about him. (Being a full time volunteer, I just want a job that pays me...LOL)

I'm really blessed to have Brian in my life. I'm fairly certain the kids feel the same way. We are pretty lucky. I love you, Baby!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I actually took the time this week to sit down and read a book. Our Christmas stuff is done, packages sent (that is a blog for another time.), kids presents wrapped, stocking stuffer's bought, Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners' planned (but not shopped for.) neighborhood gifts done, the list could go on and on, but I'm done gloating.... So I sat down to read a book.

This is a book that my friend Tommy told me about several months ago, and that has been on my wait list at the library for MONTHS, I finally got sick of waiting, and borrowed Tommy's copy, only for the copy I'd ordered to show up at the library. (I was a little afraid to open the book as the cover picture looks just like Harley, and I still get a little teary about him.) I could not put this book down. It was amazing. I cried all the way through the first chapter, I cried in the middle, I cried all the way through the last chapter, and at places between. I cheered on the protagonist out-loud on a couple of occasions. In short, I love this book.

I don't want to spoil it, if you decide to read it. The story is basically this... the struggles of a family as told from the perspective of the family dog. A highly human dog who is obsessed with opposable thumbs, and saying the right things, at the right time. It is told on the eve of his death, as a remembrance of the things he has learned about being a man, because he is certain that he will come back to earth as a man, after his life as a dog. It is a beautiful story, and make you wonder just how much the family dog understands. Interlaced into the story are life lessons he has learned from his owner, Denny who is a semiprofessional race car driver. The most true of all is the adage, "the car goes where your eyes go." Which is so true of life. Your life goes where your eyes go...gives you a lot to think about, huh?

For those of you who need to know before hand... there is swearing, and I'm fairly certain that someone takes the Lord's name at some point.

The name of the book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Hope you read it... it would be fun to discuss it with someone.

Plunk and Plug

We go each year to the great after Christmas sales and generally score some pretty cool stuff for way cheap. Last year we picked up a new Pre-lit Christmas tree for 17 bucks... We figured that A.) it was pre-lit...not a whole lot of work, and B.) If the boys destroy it, it was only 17 bucks.

This purchase has revolutionized how Brian and I look at Christmas!! PRE-LIT... who knew?!? Everything should come this way. We have decided that 'Plunk and Plug' is our new Christmas decoration motto. I'm even all for not putting up lights on the house next year. I'm sure we'll be able to find something that we can just take out of the box, and 'plunk and plug'. Instant Christmas, no fuss.

This leads me to wonder...Are we getting old before our time, or are we falling into the lazy trap. OR... are we just realizing that we have WAY better things to do with the little time we have before Christmas? I'd like to think it's the last suggestion. Our little men are really enjoying our new Christmas tree. Especially the turning it on turning it off part. Brian is really enjoying the 'only took about 30 minutes to get the whole thing going' part. ( Three pieces, Three plugs...ABC, Plunk and Plug...) Elleory is loving that we have a big tree this year. I'm just happy that the boys are not pulling it over...yet.

What I realized as I was decorating the house and setting out our Nativity collections this year is how happy I was with just that. It was easy, and so exciting for the kids, and quite possibly the most calm part of the night. The boys are getting a lot of use out of the little people nativity that my friend Becca sent last year. Liam carries around Baby 'SHESUS' pretty much all the time, and Anders re-arranges it every couple of minutes, and adds new characters. The little ponies, and the cast of Madagascar have been to the stable. ("Holler at your boys"). I'm happy about this because to me that is the real reason we should celebrate Christmas. It's not about the Tree, the lights, the gifts... it's about Baby Jesus, and helping our children to see the importance of that very special event in their lives.

I'm pretty sure that Jesus would approve of our new philosophy of 'plunk and plug', he might even add "take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy your kids" too.

News!!

I was driving home this morning from the gym, and heard that New Moon the new Twilight movie will have a different director!! Yea! That's it...

At The Park With Daddy

I think everyone should have a video like this in their collection. I warn the boys every time we go to the park not to walk in front of the swings....

Possibly I need to talk to Brian as well.

Captain Underpants and El Nacho Libre

This was our post-Thanksgiving dinner entertainment this year. Anders got big-boy undies, and wanted to open the package to show "Tolten" (Our neighbors' son Colton, in the red undies). The boys actually decided to put the "hats" on themselves. All of the adults in the house were laughing/crying...it was a riot. I thought I'd share these with the entire world, and not wait for their wedding days. (By the way... I do have one picture of Elleory with the pants on her head also, but we will try to save her dignity, as she is a bit older...)

Liam, Anders, and Colton

Anders looking his most savvy AND intelligent.

Captain Underpants

El Nacho Libre

We of course egged this whole thing on by taking pictures. But why not?!? Save the memory for posterity, so when our grandchildren are wondering WHY their parents are so very weird, I can pull out the pictures and say "That's why!"

We finally helped him figure out the real use for undies. Cute butt!

Anders calls these the "Whyking-Queen diaper".

I'm thankful for a good laugh with friends this year.

Snow, Snow, Snow!!

I'm home for the weekend for my sister Julie's new baby Mya's Blessing. It's a little like a christening in other churches except no baptism, because we don't believe that babies need to be baptized. Her husband Brian gave Mya a beautiful Blessing, and because this is a big family event, pretty much everyone has come to visit. It has been really wonderful to see my family. I love hanging out with my sisters (and Kir) and my mom, who still wins hand and foot every stinking time we play...

The best part has been waking up to snow each morning. The weather man predicted 1-3 inches and really only a 40 percent chance, if that. So it was a real surprise to wake up to it. I miss the snow, and I mean the REAL stuff, not the two inches we get in Seattle occasionally. I mean the BIG snow...put a base in the mountains snow, the "how fast can we get to the resort to go boarding" kind of snow. That is the kind of snow I miss. It's also the kind of snow that makes you wonder how much milk you have on hand, because it's not worth the work to go to the store to get more.

Really the ONLY thing missing is Harley...He loved to play in the snow.

We (this is a grand we, because I was still in the house) got Daddy's tractor stuck this morning plowing the driveway so we could leave for church, and it was a pretty slippery drive. But oh so much fun. It is still snowing a little bit now as I'm writing at 6pm and we have around two feet of snow. Mom and Dad are at the airport with my brother Doug, I'm assuming that he is leaving, and that his flight has not been cancelled, we haven't heard from them.

I took pictures for my little family back in Seattle so that they could enjoy the snow too.

This was Saturday's snow. It was gone by the time the sun went down.

This was this mornings snow, I took the pictures around 10 am. We couldn't see the mountains in the distance. Sadly, not snowman snow. Just powder.

Oh...Twilight

First I'm going to start out saying HOW VERY MUCH I love the Twilight BOOKS. I think Stephenie Meyer did an awesome job with the story, the characters, creating a world with in a world. Fantastic... I always have something to read, Thanks Stephenie.

That being said, I thought the movie was pathetic. It was frustrating to me that it was almost a parody of the book. In fact the whole group of women I saw it with, we pretty much just laughed (hysterically) our way through it. Poorly directed, over-acted in very crucial scenes, so much so that it striped them of their power, and Bad, Bad Edward. Not even remotely cute... BAD BAD Jasper. What was with HIS hair and the bug eyes? Did the director forget Jasper has the calming influence on everyone? He looked like a paranoid drug addict. Aaahhh, I missed Alice, the way she is written, and when in the books was Charlie an Alcoholic??

I did like Bella, I thought she was OK, I think the brooding- trying -to- figure- out-Edward shots were very good. Maybe the only part of the movie that was truly true to the feel of the story. I do have to say I did enjoy the "Bad Guys" they did the best acting in the whole movie.

So going into it, I had very low expectations...I knew this was a teen movie. But I think that the director forgot that at least half of the Twilight fan are adults. I'm hoping that if they do the next book into a movie, they get a new director, or more budget or something... maybe they will "Hulk" it and start over with a new cast (except Bella) new writer (maybe Stephenie) and maybe just maybe, they will actually film it in Forks?

It is scheduled to make 70 million on opening weekend, and I do plan on seeing it again with my Mom and Sisters this next weekend... if only for a laugh.

Please Stop Smoking so Elleory Can Breathe!

Elleory has asthma, not a new thing for us, but not something we deal with frequently at all. She has had probably had ten attacks since her diagnosis in 2004, which averages two attacks a year, not bad for asthma when you consider the thousands of people who have attacks weekly, daily...


This week we have seen firsthand how scary asthma is. Elleory, bless her, had a full blown asthma attack that landed her in the hospital. She fought bravely, and hard to stay out, but in the end, she really needed to be there. She was such a trooper. I had NO IDEA how much medication or how many times a person can get nubulizer treatment and still be able to stand! She started out Monday morning with three treatments in one hour and then an oral steroid to keep her airways open. Then back to the doctor that afternoon for more nebulizers, then two more at home before bed, two in the night. Only to start it all over in next morning. It took most of the day for her doctor to decide that she really needed to be at the hospital. So off we went, I have to admit to breaking a few laws to get her there before the last treatment wore off.


Once at Seattle Children's, we started it all over again. By seven in the evening, we were admitted and she had had 2 hour long nebulizer treatments and a huge dose of steroids. Her heart was racing, she was ravenous, and totally jittery, and scared to spend her first night in the hospital. But, her air ways were open, for the first time in days. The goal at this point was to get her to a treatment every four hours, then every six hours, than she could go home.


Once again, she did a beautiful job. Her night went as well as could be expected. She saw a doctor or respiratory therapist every hour, and even got a little sleep. The next day went by slowly as her treatments got spread out, and her breathing got better, but she was isolated to her room so that "just in case" she wouldn't catch anything in the hospital. The hospital has a therapy pool (92 degrees) which was calling her name, but sadly the answer was "NO WAY!" I guess chlorine is a trigger for asthma attacks. Don't want that again. We spent the time reading, playing board games, and watching TV. She did get a nap in once the nurses didn't need to see her every hour.


Hospitals are interesting places for me, I'm at once very aware of the emotions that are involved with having a loved one there, and intrigued with the "clockworks" the goings on around me. Maybe it's my desire to get an education that would involve hospital things, who knows... but I find I'm drawn to the door to watch, and listen. There was a little girl next door to us that was Liam's age who was also very intrigued with the goings on. She was there due to a fall on the playground in which she needed stitches by her eye, that, then had gotten so infected that her eye had swollen shut. She was staying in the hospital because she needed I.V. antibiotics. Her recovery was amazing to watch. Her eye slowly emerged and as the swelling went down the bruising came up and was brilliant colors, purple, and yellow. Her parents just walked behind her for hours, following her around and around the unit, while she watched the people. She was discharged in the morning, much to her parents relief, I think. She was the only kid who was curious about Elleory and the only one Elleory was curious about. She missed her brothers.


Finally after the endless hours of hospital purgatory, we saw the doctor and were released. Oh blessed day! Even I was getting a little restless. She is home now and recovering beautifully. We saw her Doctor on Thursday and Friday for "just checking" check-ups. Saturday was her first doctor free day all week. She had a friend over to play "quietly" Saturday night and is resting this morning.

So all in all a scary week. Our "take home" from this is: Drugs are OK, Asthma is scary, but manageable, and we are once again very lucky and grateful.

All I Want for Christmas...

Is a Coach Tote Bag,
a Coach Tote Bag,
oh a Coach Tote Bag,
Gee, if I could only have a Coach Tote Bag
then I could wish you Merry Christmas!

This song is dedicated to my sweet sister Lindsay. Who has a Coach Tote Bag, sitting in her closet.

Sequels

I just finished a very interesting book. I actually listened to it, because that's how I get any book "read" now-a-days. It literally took over my life. The name of the book is The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins. (Fabulous book by the way) I read it because I had a recommendation from someone. I'd recommend it to all of my friends as well. HOWEVER, little did I know... It's the first book in a "projected trilogy". Are they "projecting" that maybe it won't be?!?

I'm getting to the point that I need the whole story NOW. So Please if your going to suggest a book for me to read, and I hope you will, PLEASE, suggest ones that are already all written. I'm getting to point where I'm sick of waiting. Harry Potter, Twilight, Uglies, Blue Bloods, now this. I'M NOT GOING TO LIVE FOREVER! Geeeechhh!

Rain Rain Go Away

We have had an unusual fall. Not a whole lot of rain, and not a whole lot of "unusable" days. Today is one of those, however. Elleory and the boys have school off, for Veteran's Day. I made Elleory put on an hat and gloves to go outside to play today, and the boys wanted to stay inside. I'm racking my brains for something to do, cookies? Play-doh? Then I notice that Anders is conked out, so I guess I'll balance my checkbook. So much fun!

We did go up the street to the new pet store in our neighborhood. It's called '"Raining Cats and Dogs". They sell outrageously expensive small dogs, most of them mixed bred. Today they had pure bred English Bulldogs, the Male was $3500. But the one that caught my eye was the Golden Retriever-Poodle. Such a sweet little guy. Liam and the puppy kissed about 20 times, and Anders kept sticking his fingers inside the puppy's mouth. He will grow up to be BIG, and was so sweet. Only $900. Even though I'm completely in love, I remind my self about the very small yard that doesn't even serve my own children's best interests. (The money wouldn't be a problem because SURELY, I could sell one of my children.) Maybe someday... But I guess right now while we are in the middle of toddler hood, I'll just have to continue to window shop.

Elleory played with the kittens also $900 a piece. (IF we got a cat, it would definitely be the free-from-a-box-outside-a-grocery-store variety.) And Anders and Liam really enjoyed the cat jungle-gyms, and dog toys. "I want to buy this" was the comment I heard most in the store. We left without much fuss and came home to watch our current favorite movie "the Aristocats". Which reminds me...I remember Corbin telling me as a little girl, "Your not a lady, your nothin' but a sister." Which is a line from that movie.

I'm enjoying today's break, but I'm glad life will start up again tomorrow. Maybe the rain will stop so we can play outside.

iPod/ Zune Tag...finally

My Sister sent this to me but I didn't have an iPod at the time. So Brian bought me a Zune for my bonus this year, now I can play... here's to you Lindsay.

Ok, here are the rules:
1. Put your itunes/music player/cd player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT!!! NO CHEATING!
4. After you've answered all the questions, tag three other people.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? Through the Morning, Throught the Night- Robert Plant and Allison Krause

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Home Life- John Mayer (sounds about right)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? There's More to Life Than This - Bjork

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Come Back to Bed - John Mayer (HEHEHE More like GO back to bed)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow...Yep

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Hard to Handle - Black Crowes

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS? (BawHAHAHA) Nothin' - Robert Plant & Allison Krause

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Vultures - John Mayer (Again BawHAhHAHA)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FREQUENTLY? Daylight - Coldplay

WHAT IS 2 + 2? 3x5 - John Mayer

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Viva la Vida - Coldplay (pretty apt!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE? In a Little While - U2

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant and Allison Krause (possible my favorite song currently)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Kite - U2

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE? Killing the Blues - Robert Plant & Allison Krause

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Gravity - John Mayer (YEP...)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? God Don't Make Lonely Girls - Wallflowers ( I did not cheat... But don't you think that appropriate?)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Death and all His Friends - Coldplay (How did it know that???)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Politik - Coldplay (again... how did it know that???)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Daughters - John Mayer

I tag.... SUZE, HEATHER STONE, and MELANIE. Good luck!

Flu Shots and Pumpkin Carnage

Meanest Mom in the Whole Wide World! I made my guys get flu shots today. We aren't happy. Liam cried THE WHOLE WAY HOME!!! "My weg oowwy, my weg oowwy." Only to stop crying and start back up again "my wee-wee oowwy, my wee-wee oowwy." I guess he has a ouch-y Willy on top of a sore leg. I bought him "sighs" (fries) on the way home, which I never do, (apples or oranges only) just for a little peace and quiet. Never got any...

I guess life goes on. Nap time is shortly. Thank goodness for small miracles.

On a creepier note... Douglas sent through the pumpkin carnage picture, but I need to figure out how to get it off my phone and on to my blog. Very Cool Doug! Glad to see the tradition continue. Amazing how similar yours and Anders were! SPOOKY...

I'm so NOT P.C. Like you didn't know that already...

Just some cute picture of my "Wild Indians".

Anders came up with the idea to color "weefs" today while "Wee-m" was sleeping. He got so excited that he went in to wake "Wee-m" up. Could of shot him there and then... I found feathers on a scrape book c.d. I have and away we went. I had the idea to make the head dresses. Anders loves his, Liam isn't too sure about it. But it's a great photo opportunity anyway. And you probably thought I was going to write about the election...

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to you!
You live in a zoo,
You look like a monkey
and you dress like one too.

Happy Birthday to Daddy and Corbin. (The one in the middle in the kilt.)
Hugs and soggy kisses from Seattle!

Anders' Ode to Uncle Doug.

One of the things I miss about not living around my Family is the Pumpkin Carnage that Douglas produces every year. For those of you who don't know about this, I'm going to spare the description, because inevitably it just makes us all look a little loony. Because we all think it's funny. So this post is for those Johnson's who get it...

Anders did this all by himself. Not the carving, the stabing. (So I guess this is also Anders' Ode to Uncle Dan as well.) We left it because, honestly IT IS funny. Anders must have the gene. I wonder if it's recessive or if it's a dominant boy gene. And whose side of the family it comes from.

I miss you guys!! And Doug, I'm waiting for pictures.

It's Halloween All Day Long!

This is not one of my better posts and the pictures went in backward, so bear with me...

Elleory's contribution to our Halloween feast.

Trick-or-treating at Daddy's office.

Candy, Candy, CANDY!!!

Like we needed more sugar... frosting!

Decorating Halloween Sugar Cookies.

Our Halloween was really fun this year! Elleory had the day OFF of school so we were able to start our festivities at Breakfast! We went trick-or-treating at our friends office at 11 am, went grocery shopping in our costumes, had friends over to decorate cookies. YES, I made sugar cookies from scratch, cut them AND baked them. I know, AMAZING! Then, when it was nap time, we loaded up into the car and went to Brian's office to Trick-or-Treat. Each year at Microsoft each building hosts the staff's children for Halloween, mainly because it rains every stinking year. So the kids are warm and dry and they get an AMAZING amount of candy. Liam was especially funny, He would take the candy, unwrap it and suck on it then leave it at the next person's office. We finally had to trick-or-treat for him. I think I threw away 10 suckers in one hour. He was a sticky, over sugared mess by the time we got home.

When we did get home we had our annual Halloween Feast. Enchilada Mummies, Ghostly Greens, and Veggie Bones. I'm actually going to put a recipe on the blog for the best salad dressing I've ever had, hands down... after dinner Elleory went around the neighborhood with her friend Whitley Johns and her Dad. Brian, the boys and I stayed home to hand out the Microsoft candy to all of the "friends" that came around. Brian and I went as old hippies for the evening, as I was rag-dolled out. The boys went to bed around 8, and I followed soon after. It's hard to stay up when you start your day at 5:30. We skipped our annual scary movie, which is a tradition I miss, but again, no point when your falling asleep on the couch during scriptures. Besides I wanted to watch "Watcher in the Woods" and Brian is too chicken.

The recipe for Green Goblin Dressing:

Put 1 cup packed fresh basil, 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in the blender and blend on high speed. Add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; and blend until smooth. That's it. Absolutely the best dressing I've ever had.

The Mystery of the Missing Bike

A NEW MOMMY DREW STORY, by Kate.

The rash of stolen goods started to go missing on a rainy night about a month ago. The neighbor across the street from our little family left his garage unlocked and his cars were broken into. A suspious person had been seen wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood. Yet another neighbor spoke a few days later of loosing things from a car parked on the street.

We spoke to Elleory of the need for caution in these dangerous times, and asked her to put her bike into the garage at night. Sadly, she ignored us. The crimes in the neighborhood continued. Late one afternoon, I noticed that Elleory's bike was not on the front porch, I congratulated her for finally putting it away. "No Mom, I didn't put it in the garage like you asked and now, I am distraught, (sniffle)and saddened (sob) by my disobedience because my bike has been stolen. " (this is how the conversation should have gone, but no...not nearly that much remorse, mostly just shoulder shrugging and a lot of "I dunno"s) Her bike was well, and truely gone.

"Did you ride your bike to school? Or to the park, and forgot it?" I asked later that night.
"Don't be silly Mom, I'd totally remember if it was at school. It's been stolen. I guess you'll just have to take me to get my new bike. Now we don't have to worry about what to do with my old bike."
"AS IF" I mock. I'd like for her to be just a little more repentant, and down trodden. At least for a couple of days. I'm just trying to decide at this point if I should call the police and make a report or not. Because truth be told, we DON'T have to worry about what to do with her old bike now.

Time goes by (about a month) and the neighborhood gang of children start to ride their scooters, so Elleory can join in with the playing. Elleory seems less distraught every day (if she could be LESS distraught), and is still planning on spending her hard earned money on the new bike of her dreams.

Wednesday mornings bring the business of the day early. First the gym at 5 am for my 9 mile run (only on Wednesdays, Mom). Next band carpool at 7:40am. ( the band meets at the Junior High School) Then get ready as fast as I can to drop off the boys across the street and race to Elleory's classroom where I help with MATH GROUPS (ironic, huh?). This morning was more tight than normal and I was running about 5 minutes late. I ran up the hill to the school in my new very flat mary-jane Keds, (which are not made for running I might add) I race past the bike racks and skid to a halt. There in the bike racks is a bike that is identical to Elleory's. I walk past the bike rack every Wednesday morning, just when I'm on-time it's swarming with kids, and I hadn't noticed the bike sitting there. I make a mental note to talk to her teacher about stealing Ellie for 5 minutes after math groups to check it out.

Elleory gets to school one half hour late on Band days and therefore misses most of math groups. So today as she wanders in I flag her down and say:

"Hey! I think your bike is in the bike racks."
"No Mom," she replies very curtly "someone else has the same bike as me, remember?"
I of course remind her that she will not speak to me in that tone of voice... Then she gets this look on her face. The "Holy Crap! I totally remember riding my bike to school and forgetting it" look.

We run down stairs to the bike racks were I hold the door open so she can go out to look at the bike.

Yep, sure enough, her bike, her helmet, her lock, her bike registration number. THE WHOLE NINE YARDS!!!

She sheepishly walks back into the school, goes to the classroom, retrives her bike key, and undoes the bike chain.

"I just don't remember parking it here, I always park it over there." she points to the fence by the walkway behind me.

I just shrug, and say "I Dunno, maybe you parked it over here once and forgot it."

Shrug, grin. (I'm at this point hoping that she a.) feels really stupid so that this will never happen again and b.) hoping that she doesn't. Momory loss is a hard reality of mortality.) She heads back to class and I ride her bike back down the hill to home.
Mystery solved.

I guess the proof that she learned anything from the experience comes when she gets home. If she puts the bike in the garage, or not.

A Very Merry Birthday and other Ramblings about Anders

I get so excited about Halloween that I really blow it in terms of reporting about other important events, such as...Anders birthday. He lived to see three! I promise that we are not planning to hurt him, it's just that he has actually survived all of the high adrenaline activities that he participates in. The newest is couch jumping. It starts with Anders climbing on to the back of the couch, then aiming for the mini trampoline, he jumps as high and as hard as he can. Most of the time he makes it, other times he misses. Most of the time it's pretty stinkin' hilarious. The other activity, is hill surfing, on the little muffin man car. He has not learned to stand up to surf yet. (Thank goodness!) He wears out a pair of shoes a month doing this little activity. He rides his bike to the top of any old hill, then turns around and goes down as fast as he can push himself. He uses the tops of his shoes as brakes. Most of the time, there are no cars coming, but I do stand at the bottom of the hill as a traffic break/"car coming" warn-er. No major accidents...YET. Just the shoes...

ANYWAY... we celebrated Anders birthday on the 23rd, the actual day! He took "happy cake" to his class and wore the Birthday Hat for all of 30 seconds, and sang the "Happy Birthday" song for the rest of the day. We got him a Lego Thomas the Train set, which he went nuts over. (somehow, he knew what it was before he opened it...we have a mole.) We spent the evening playing at Chuck E. Cheese's spending "money". The boys kept yelling "MORE MONEY!! MORE MONEY!!" Brian and I spend our time there chasing one kid or the other, and waving at each other from across the room. But, the kids are completely occupied for two whole hours and we only spend around 20 bucks. Totally worth it. We got home, and had more "Happy Cake" (a hostess cupcake, because I wasn't going to spend another 10 bucks on a second cake.) and even more singing. We built the Legos and then went to bed. All in all a pretty good day! We are so lucky to have him in our family. Anders and Charles E. Fromage

Best in Show

With only 6 days left until THE BIG DAY, we had our costume trial run tonight at our ward Fall Festival, (read Halloween Party). Brian, who never dresses up willingly, complied beautiful this year and as a result, won the most original costume in the contest. We were going for Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)because we found the perfect stick on a walk in the woods, but I just never found the exact right wig, so at the last minute we changed it to Moses, who also carries a big stick. He was a total hoot. For a guy who never dresses up, he sure plays the part well.

We also had Jay with us,
our Brother-in-law, also a non-dresseser-upper. That just doesn't go over in my house, so, we set him up with pirate clothes. There is NO WAY someone in our scope of influence won't dress up for a Halloween party. He played along nicely.

The rest of us looked fabulous, but we didn't even score honorable mention. Anders and Liam went as DRAGONS, Liam in full regalia, Anders headless. Elleory was a PIRATE PRINCESS, she looked really great!

I went as a rag doll. It's a funny story about the dress, which is the inspiration for the whole costume. I found it at the Gap on the clearance rack and I loved it. It was $8.97, so I just grabbed it. I didn't try it on in the store. I had my little entourage, and it just wasn't going to happen. SO, I got home, put the kids to bed, and then tried it on... FAT LADY IN THE CIRCUS!!! I just burst out laughing and started to plan my costume then and there. I might do some re-working on it after Halloween, because I still really like the dress. It just needs to be a different color, or something.

Anyway, there will be more pictures after Halloween. Congratulations to Moses.

Life on Pause

So, we(this is a grand WE, meaning the kids) have a virus, the general throwing up-fever-rash, bring life to a complete stop, virus. I'm going insane. I finally just took the kids to the doctor today so I could leave my house. Sad excuse to see the doctor, but you do what you have to do.

Anders looks like he has the chicken pox, which he doesn't. Liam, has a rash that needs a anti-bacterial ointment. How do two children who share everything (toothbrushes, cups, toys...etc) come up with two different rashes?!? I'm assuming that Anders will start with the new rash soon, but I'm keeping my chin up, and hoping that maybe, he won't.

Elleory is, after missing four days of school, just fine.

I've hired my usual babysitter for two hours this afternoon, because the doctor assured me that the boys are no longer contagious. I think after I do my run I might go buy a fumigator, and nuke the germs lying around the house. Hopefully life returns to normal tomorrow. We'll see....

I found Anders sleeping under my bed yesterday. I had him set up watching Robin Hood ON my bed, and apparently, he needed a littler space. This virus was really hard on both the guys, and they slept thought most of it, only waking up to throw-up, which is exactly what Anders did, right after I took these pictures.

Today we took our spawn...spawning!

There are certain things that occur in the North West that make it worth the 10 months of rain. July and August, for instance, are beautiful months when the sun shines and it gets warm (hot for a few days). In the month of October, is the Salmon Spawning, or as they have officially dubbed it in Redmond this year, Salmon SEEson. Today we took the kids to see the fish. Salmon are not attractive fish, but it is so cool to see them swimming up the little streams and fighting to get home...to procreate then die. The kids were so excited to find the fish, which in our area are sockeye, so they are bright red and easy to spot. We think they were wild salmon, not farm raised. There is a way to tell that has to do with a fin that gets cut off of a farm raised fish. We saw around 12 fish in the area where we went. The biggest was around 24 inches long. (There was a HUGE dead one, probably 36 inches, but his tail was missing, so, we won't count him.) Liam would spot them fairly easily, and get so excited, then he'd throw a rock in the stream and move on. Anders wanted to touch them and go swimming. Elleory would run ahead to see if they were any bigger than the last. Brian and I were just so amazed by the whole process, and glad to see the children enjoying it so much. However we were both sad not to see any salmon jumping over logs, or up waterfalls, like you see in the nature shows, this is just your average everyday commute home...upstream...really tired. I always feel a little guilty, after I see how hard the whole process is, with how easy it is to cook and eat one of them. Maybe we don't work hard enough for our Salmon. (But then that gets me going on the whole fishing thing...) We discovered today, from a 'Native' that it's the first week in October that is the best time to see them. I guess by the time you get as far into the month as we did they are almost done, and I guess a little smaller and more tired. Elleory and I made a promise to write it on the calendar for next year. Brian got a great video of two salmon swimming. Might make you want to join us on next years' outing.

At the end of the day, Brian's convention was WAY geekier then mine...

So we had two too-cool-to-pass-up events this weekend that we made time for and scheduled in pen on our calendars. The first was last night when Brian and I went to the U District in Seattle to a really cool old Gothic church to hear Neil Gaiman read a chapter from his new Graveyard Book. (If you are interested in seeing exactly what we saw, go to www.neilgaiman.com and the video footage is on his blog, the entire chapter) We enjoyed it immensely, as he is a fantastic reader, and the story was very good, funny, frightening etc... The chapter he read was the longest chapter in the book, and it took over an hour, but it was beautifully done. After a short intermission, he showed a few clips from the upcoming Coraline movie which comes out in February 2009. (Not one I'd recommend for children under 8, it's very Nightmare Before Christmas meets Stephen King... Brian was a little worried about seeing it. I can't wait!) Then answered questions for another half hour. All told it was around 2 and half hours of fun for me. Brian also enjoyed himself which I think surprised him.

Anyway it's always interesting people watching at events like this. Neil Gaiman started out as a comic book writer. He is very unkempt and badly in need of a good haircut. So there were the comic book contingent, U Dub students, who were NOT comic book followers but there to meet an author (generally the giddy teenager types), and then the truly interesting people who feel like it's appropriate to dress up as character from the book, or like they never actually left the battle fields in the south, after General Lee surrendered. I guess I'd classify them as the "artsy type". I feel into the largest group of people, those wearing black, and Brian won the award for wearing the most color. ( He wore this great shirt that is purple and khaki and blue striped. Subtle colors, pretty metro... very sexy.) All in all a great evening!

Now on to Brian's too-cool-to-pass-up event/convention. BLOCKCON 2008. Lego heaven. Like I said, his was way more "Star Trek" than mine. It was really cool and I found, to my surprise, that I was really enjoying myself. Brian was facinated by the "Lego Geeks" (I apologize, but there is NO OTHER WAY to describe them. Even Brian thought so. Yes... all children of God, but...) Brian started taking pictures of the people more than the actual art pieces.

It was like LegoLand, but on a much smaller scale. Anders and Liam had a bunch of fun playing in the toddler Lego Pit, and only Liam had a squirmish with another kid. Anders had a break down when he decided that all cars need real roads, not just pretend ones, and then we had to go, but all in all the boys did beautifully. Elleory was wandering around with her friend Drew and his parents and I didn't get to see her reaction to any of the displays, but she was ready to leave when we asked, and voted on her favorite.

So I'll post pictures of Blockcon 2008, but not of the Graveyard Book reading. We forgot the camera.

The Jedi Council discussing the matters at hand.

Rebuilding the Death Star for a speed record. NOT JOKING!!

Not a boat show, a LEGO show!

A Lego version of Seattle.

The Graveyard Book, first chapter, read by the Author

So I was reading my favorite authors' web page and ran across this... just click on the play button and hear the first chapter of his new book read by himself. This is why, exactly, he is my favorite...he reads his own work so you hear it exactly like he thought it, and he's British, the accent doesn't hurt. I'm so excited to get my SIGNED copy on Friday when Brian and I turn into Neil Gaiman stalkers and go to the reading in Seattle. Brian isn't much of a fan of anyone really, but he agreed to be my date. I'll tell more about it after! ENJOY!!

University of Life

I'm putting in an email my Mom sent to me a couple of days ago, instead of forwarding on to all of the people in my mail box whom I think would enjoy it or benifit from the advice given. I'm passing it on because I think that it all makes sense. Sometimes I wish I got class credits from the stuff I learn attending the School of Hard Knocks (Life U.) I take on-line course work occassionally through emails from Mom, who turns out to know a bunch of stuff! So enjoy, I hope you learn something too. (BY THE WAY... My Mom did not write this(that I know of) but practices most of these principals.)


1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more.
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut) This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality oflife.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus'
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

Superman

Before you start to read this particular entry go up to my play list, scroll down to the very bottom and turn on R.E.M. Superman.

OK, got it? You need to wait until the music starts... wait for it, keep waiting...wait...Now read...

Just this past week as we were driving down the road to go somewhere, probably speech therapy, and this song came on the radio. Anders pipes up for the back seat and says

"I love this song!" (he has never heard the song before)

I say, "I love this song too."

He says back, " me too."

This is the end of the whole conversation. I'm blogging about it for the reason of celebration. Last July 3rd (2007) Anders had a surgery to put tubes into his ears because he wasn't hearing. In June(2007) we had had his hearing tested, (because he wasn't speaking) and found that he wasn't hearing anything. Tubes are usually placed because of reoccurring ear infections. As of July 2007 Anders had only had one ear infection, but if you were able to open his head to see his sinus cavity, you would see that his Eustachian tube were bent,(all children's tubes are bent, and will straighten as they grow, but Anders are bent in such a way that prevents them from working correctly.) and his head was completely filled with fluid to the point of deafness. We were very lucky to find an ENT who also felt the urgency to fix the problem, and placed the tubes three days after seeing us for the first time.

Now imagine being deaf, and SUDDENLY being able to hear. Going to sleep, and waking up as a hearing person. Life would be amazing overwhelming! Everything you hear would throw you off, airplanes flying in the sky, a car driving by, birds in the trees, music in the car, everything would be new. Now imagine you have no words to use to express your fears, excitement, etc. What an over-whelming sensation! This is where all of Anders therapies and therapists have come into play, and thank goodness for all of them.

The reason for all of the celebration is just this... our son can hear, can speak, and most importantly can function in a world that is amazingly overwhelming. We still have moments when things are a bit too much, but we also have moments where he can hear and point out the airplanes flying overhead or sit back and enjoy an REM song in the car. We are truly blessed.

The Hump

I feel like I've done a lot of Blogging about Liam. Maybe because he seems to be the one doing the most changing lately. This week Liam hit "the hump" in language development. Sounds bad huh? "The Hump" is just this... when a child goes from being a first words user to being a combiner. (These are very technical terms that speech therapists use) A combiner is a child who uses more than two words in a sentence, or uses signs with appropriate words, more than two to form a sentence, in an act of communication. So this is how the week went, and I have to say I never noticed this big of a jump with either Elleory, (who started as a combiner, lots of words right away,) or Anders who has been slow to speak, yet very consistent in his progress. Back to Liam... On Wednesday I noticed that every thing that came out of Liam's mouth had a pronoun attached, "Liam's toy, Mama's juice, Mine blanket" etc... This is a great deal! Thursday, everything had a "NO!" attached to it, IE "NO! Liam's toy, No Liam's juice, mama's juice." This is all very incredible to me, but this is what it boils down to. We have come to the point were Liam notices and is VERY vocal about fairness. Last week, when Anders stole his toy we had tears but Liam went about his business and found something else. This past Wednesday came "the hump". The 'I'm going to scream AND use words when Anders takes my toy AND I'm going to cry and throw the fit as well. By the way, I want that toy back.' hump. Great language progression, fantastic communication! What this means for me, is more refereeing with Anders, more negotiating with Anders, more time-outing for Anders, yet on the other hand, easier communation with Liam at least. It's a strange balance. Anders of course has something to say about it..."freakin' kid!"

Quotable quotes

I really have nothing to write about so far this week unless you want to hear about the enrichment meeting saga, which really isn't a saga, more of an irksome quirk in my ward. Or about the mom in my neighborhood who thinks I'm crazy. I don't know why, or what I did, but she told my Physical Therapist, who we see in common, and I guess they had a bit of a discussion about me. Still investigating that one. Anyway the big news is I found the quotable quotes book hat we keep around to write the funny things our kids say. (It was temporally lost in our closet, and we have been forced to write down the quotes on pieces of paper, that I then filed in the bin by the phone, and when it was finally overflowing this week... needless to say there has been rejoicing on my part over the finding of the book! And just so my mom knows, I found it right were I was looking for it, in a pile.) I thought I'd share some.

Elleory- "Well, I don't know how to put it, but you guys can move when I have my own apartment, 'cuz I'm not leaving." -on the subject of potentially moving back to Colorado in February 2008

Also, while listening to a U2 CD in the car, and practicing her air guitar, Elleory said" it would be so great to learn to play this song on a real guitar...in six easy lessons.

Anders- (really only has 2 quotable quotes so far.) "MORE! HOLE! NOW! Please..." requesting donut holes. This represents Anders first more than two words sentence, a HUGE breakthrough on the speech therapy front.

Liam- Had his first quotable quote on Sunday. As the Deacons were bringing the sacrament closer,and closer to our pew, he yells " Our Friends, Our Friends!" Pretty much blew the mood around us, but at least it was funny!

I have more, if you are ever interested. But for now, I'll leave it at that. These children are my joy!

Tender Mercies

I normally don't pray over my computer. NORMALLY. I normally don't delete important things either. Somehow, and he explained it to me but as I'm NO GENIUS when it comes to computer things, my friend DAN "THE COMPUTER GENIUS" PRICE found my deleted blog entry!!! Something to do with old email. All I know is that my First day of fifth grade blog is back up, and almost all is right with the world! THANK YOU DAN!!! (And, Thank you Heavenly Father for sending computer genius' into my life!)

Elleory's "first day of school" tragedy

CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!! So because I'm SO VERY LAME with my computer skills, I accidentally deleted the post about Elleory's first day of school. True, I was messing around with the edit feature on the blog, but I should be able to undo it somewhere!?! Elleory is pretty crushed needless to say. I guess I will leave well enough alone from now on.

Three Whole Hours

Now that school is back in full swing I have a new treat this year. Three whole hours to my self, all alone...just me. AHHHHH bliss! I didn't plan on this until November when Liam turned 22 months. But genius child that he is, he was accepted into his preschool class 2 months early. Actually it has more to do with Anders being in the same class and that the number of students was at the low end, and that he is just ready to start. So off he cruises to preschool with Anders for an hour and a half on Tuesdays and Thursdays and enjoys every minute of it. He is such a big,(and big)kid. You would never know that technically he isn't suppose to be there. He just walks in goes right to "work" without even looking back. Right next to the school is a great LITTLE mall. It is mostly food court, with probably 20 restaurants, all food from different countries around the world, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Greek, etc. No "fast" food anywhere. At the mall there is also a library branch, and a Joann's and a Michael's, oh, and an Old Navy. So plenty to fill my time. Today I ate lunch at the BB-Q restaurant, pretty good BB-Q, and read Elleory's library book on Magellan. Pretty interesting stuff. But the best part was the time alone. True, I am paying for it. but it's worth every penny!

The First Day of FIFTH, yes, Fifth Grade

OR IN OTHER WORDS, MAN AM I GETTING OLD!!!

The 'Please don't take a picture, walk me only half way to school, and I will quit talking to you when my friends show up' day of school. I guess we knew this was coming, and honestly I'm OK with this... I actually think it's kinda funny. I'm not sure Brian feels quite the same way. Elleory and Brian had the half walk to school and I'm afraid to say little miss, Daddy got sneaky pics of you! It was a good day (I guess) I over heard her tell the neighbor that her math was hard. She told me about the great view of MT. Rainier she has from the window that her desk is by, and how she LIKES being on the edge of her classroom because she seems to be able to work better. I'm already impressed with her teacher, who gave ME first day homework, an essay on Elleory, due by the 12th of September. As I am an expert and will try to keep it at essay length and not write a book. I'm impressed that she wants that imput, most teachers, I find want to find out on their own about the little quirks that make their kids tick. I digress...
All in all It seems to be an OK begining. I'm just shocked at how fast the years are going by, In my reality, I'm too young for a fifth grader!

Death of the Ziploc Box

It went back into the trash this morning. No one noticed. It was well loved and had fulfilled the measure of it's creation, and then some. (Smashed completely flat by the trampling of little feet.) It was replaced last night by a younger slimmer model, (isn't that always the case??) one that hadn't the need for the plastic surgery of church library tape. It will remain forever in the corner of my heart, and in the corner of Anders mind, and I'm positive that long after the trash man has come and gone he will ask me "Where my boc go?"

Happy, Eppay... Cheeeeezzzeee.

Happy, happy in person. Enjoy!

The Ziploc Box

This box is flippin' hilarious! Anders is so proud of his box. He got it out of the trash on Sunday morning and thought it would be a great car holder. It is... it holds a ton of cars and is just right for his little hands. So the funny part of the story goes like this. He insists on taking it to church. On the way to church he falls asleep, (great kid!!) so I carry him into the building, lay him down on the pew, and go back outside for Liam, who is also asleep. I get back into the church, (I'm gone for all of 35 seconds) to find Anders awake, and looking for his "boc-o-cars". I send Elleory back out to the car to get said box. Anders spends the whole of Sacrament meeting driving the cars up and down the lid of the box. Totally quiet the whole time. So the end of the meeting rolls around and Anders is all packed up to go to nursery, BEFORE the closing song and prayer. When suddenly he realizes that his Dad has not yet seen the box. So out the pew he goes, box in hand on his way to show Daddy. I catch him by the back of his shirt, and am explaining that we have to sing and pray THEN we can show daddy. The poor chorister, my friend Sharla, is practially in tears from laughing at the situation (or it could be that it was her son's farewell talk and she was still crying about that, but she was definitely laughing at us) So I have Anders by the back of his shirt, and he is trying his hardest to get to Daddy. Amazingly he is been very quiet about it. Then the Prayer ends, and I let him go. He is to the stand in Olympic record time, holding the box like he has the most expensive, valuable thing imagable, has this angelic look on his face, and is shoving people out of the way, because he has the most important thing in the world to show Brian. I think Brian gave him the right amount of attention, and praise for the box because next thing I know he is on his way to nursery, box in hand to show his teacher. At this point I have to do some serious wheeling and dealing to get him to trust me with his treasure. Luckily the lid started to fall off and I got to take it with me to get fixed. I used an enormous amount of tape to fix the holy grail of boxes. The things we do to make our kids happy. So today is Tuesday, and the box is still holding a place of honor, and being taken everywhere we go. It has to stay in the car when we get out, only because of it's fragile state, and the museum quality tape job that is holding together. So below are the picture we took with the box. The smile says it all.