there's snow place like home for the holidays

 

stover boy now grasps the usefulness of keeping a sweatshirt on ('so i don't be chilly') and stover girl obtained a skin rash after too many hours of playing in the snow.  stover boy went down the snowhill by himself for the first time and stover girl giggled with delight while eating snow for the first time.

other home for the holiday delights:
stover boy loved meeting his two new infant cousins and stover girl loved another matching skirt with cousins.

stover girl played and stover boy slept while the adults enjoyed an incredible scavenger hunt. 

stover girl and stover boy enjoyed a thankful family home evening with their extended family. 

and of coarse, stover girl and stover boy loved their time both with their grandparents and with android.

...one last inevitable home for the holidays treat: stover boy threw up on thanksgiving morning and stover girl complained of a sore throat. 

london and paris- june 2010

this post is random.  this post is from the past.  this post is just because i always want to remember...


silliest attraction: jack the ripper tour

most loved: tower of london

funniest moment: a gargoyle surprise at notredame

unexpected love: the eiffel tower (it really is neat!)

best food: Laduree macroons (especially salted carmel)

best memory: chuckling together in 'the transporter' reminding the driver to stay on the left

 

most ironic moment: loving every minute away but crying each phone call home

...this post only tells some of it.  this post has me longing to go back.  this post makes me grateful for the family i shared this time with.

*and for the family who watched the kiddos!

'uncle green' comes to visit

the kids (and mom) were thrilled to have a very quick and quite unexpected visit from their uncle today... he came just long enough to witness stover girl bearing her primary program testimony all within one very long breath!  he came just long enough to help with one rowdy little boy during our 1:00 sacrament time.  he came just long enough for a stroll around the block.  he came just long enough to share pics among cousins.  and he came just long enough to enjoy a legendary family sloppy jo recipe for lunch.

deja vu

while putting stover girl to bed the other night, i re-arranged her blanket and discovered some stuffed animals hiding underneath.  i glanced at her and she said 'i was going to hide them; i wanted to have more than just my baby with me tonight.'  i immediately chuckled remembering my own bed full of animals all situated neatly in a row.  i remembered my stuffed animals net which held all my treasured friends.  and i thought of my own mother's sympathy to my cause as a child... her many nights of rescuing animals that had drifted from my bed.  with a smile i said 'i used to sleep with about 7 or 8 stuffed animals when i was a girl...go ahead!'

and while we're on the topic... any deja vu moments evoked by this little man's nighttime outfit?

family of four...

...plus a girl makes 5!  (stover fam will be expanding mid april)

speaking her love language

almost daily over the past year, stover girl has endowed stover mom and dad with an onslaught of pictures and crafts that she's lovingly made throughout her day.  often times, mom and dad can set their clocks to the timing of her pictures.  for instance, dad always gets one that she's completed during quiet time to enjoy after a long day of work.  and when mom leaves the home for more than an hour, there is a guaranteed picture at her bedside quietly waiting to be found.  sometimes her artwork surprises us showing up in cute hidden spots like our underwear drawer.  all of her artwork is delightful- particularly the pictures of mommy with outstretched arms and a smile on her face (giving mom the reassurance of knowing that she is mothering well).  and sometimes her artwork is humbling- like the time mom wore an unflattering dress to church and was drawn 5 x larger than usual renderings.  i'll admit that during practical moments, mom thinks 'argh- another piece of paper i have to slyly discard when she's not looking' or 'what a great therapeutic treasure to keep in my clinical box for when and if i wear a therapy hat again'.  however, in my more connected moments, her art brings me to tears and i'm aware that they contain all the forgotten thank yous and outgrown i love yous we still want to hear.

...last night, while stover girl slept, mom and dad decorated her door with some artwork.  we woke to hearing little giggles of hee, hee and enjoyed having her sound out and read the love notes we'd made for her. 

you win some, you lose some

it seems that no matter what lunch or dinner entre is prepared... one of my kids is happy about it and the other is not.  stover girl loves turkey sandwiches, stover boy does not.  stover boy loves chicken nuggets, stover girl does not. etc, etc, etc!  tonight's dinner was no exception; stover girl got her favorite cream cheese chix recipe and she was ecstatic.  (see proof below)

stover boy, on the other hand, was not.  he bowed his head in prayer and said 'Father, don't like it.'  then immediately left the table. 

 *of note: breakfast is an exception at our house- go figure, they can both agree on quite a variety of sugary cereals!

a quick update

stover boy has taken to sleeping on the floor rather than on his bed.  the first incident is believed to have been an accident.  however, the next time, he was on the ground sleeping complete with pillow, sheet and blanket.  and stover girl has taken to locking her bedroom door at night.  at first, she played stupid; however, she then acknowledged doing so to prevent a little boy from visiting while she sleeps!

a scary, scary halloween

this black cat got a big boy bed just in time for halloween!  (oh how stover mom had cherished his crib- the security of having children confined to a well-defined sleep schedule is the hidden joy of parenting.)  as much as i didn't want to threaten his established sleep habits, i had a realization that stover boy will soon visit his grandparents for both holidays and will need to be acquainted with a big bed in order to manage his holiday sleep.  with only a few weeks before departure, plans had to be made hastily.  there could be no mulling this one over as we did for stover girl with carefully made plans to include a family night about sleeping rules, gift-wrapped incentives, and predetermined consequences.  instead the planning process was a bit scarier: we hastily bought a new bed with an ensured same-day delivery, set up the bed amidst halloween party preparations, allowed one last nap in the crib, ran to the store to search for an incentive that would get good sleeping results, and waved the fancy incentive in front of a very tired boy at 9:00 pm as we put him to bed. 
has it been as scary as i thought it might be?  no...black cat has come out of his room a few times when he was supposed to be sleeping but is easily coaxed back to bed.

...i'm still a bit scared though!