love on ice

this valentines day was really special.  a dinner out, love notes from dad, fondue dessert, school break, and visiting grandparents were some of the sweet highlights... but, the kids fell in LOVE with an afternoon at the ice rink! 

4 minutes in, a determined jack ditched his walker and was off on his own.  he spent the next hour falling repeatedly and trying again.  without a tear, he insisted on learning it on his own.  he had decent stability and very wet pants.  but while holding on the ledge, he accidentally braced himself on an opening door-  resulting in a major crash and his first loose tooth!  he sat out a few minutes but soon headed back out to the ice.  he quickly regained his composure and was steadily skating independent by the time we left!  he has since asked multiple times since if we can go again!

kindin might have stuck to using the walker except that she was almost in tears with frustration that jack was skating independently.  she tried to hide her competitiveness but suddenly burst out, "mom, why is jack so much better than me?"  she spent an hour hanging on the ledge until her mom finally convinced her to partner up.  as soon as she did, she gained the speed needed to steady herself and she immediately had the hang of it!  kindin also loved it! she even offered to use her own money to fund the next iceskating excursion.

dolly had the princess on ice experience with two adult hands in hers at all times.  naturally, she loved every second of gliding effortlessly and when finished, boasted that she didn't fall once!

becoming strong

kindin comes from a long line of worriers and she has certainly inherited the worry gene.  lately her nervousness has been at an all-time high (i.e. avoiding multiplication tables in school, waking with bad dreams, and insisting on drs appts to ensure she's cancer free) and helping her through it has really had me contemplating weaknesses.  in the Book of Mormon, we are given a simple promise that through Him weak things will become strong.  given the nature of weaknesses, I'm certain the process is more complicated than what's given in scripture.  I think I can safely hypothesize that as we faithfully wait, a loving Heavenly Father gives us strength indeed not only to overcome but also increases our strength in other talents as a sort of compensation.  and I've seen this with kindin.  as she becomes strong, she shines with strength.  she is a nurturer, an organizer, is wholeheartedly willing to obey, intelligent, and full of integrity.

my little patriot

one of jack's favorite things about school (besides PE) is the patriotic song of the month.  this month, "I'm proud to be an American" has really struck a chord.  very often, he walks in the door humming it!  he is frequently singing it at bathtime.  and the other day, I giggled to overhear he and a friend bellaring the song while playing video games together!  ... i suppose it's all in the name of superheros saving America!

she's smitten

dalia has been slapped with many nicknames.  it seems her name easily lends itself to imitations (dolly, wolly, lolly, polly, walia), her birth order gives her perpetual nicknames of endearment like 'little one', and her boisterous temperament has us often calling her 'crazy'.  if asked, she prefers 'lolly' but she's particularly smitten with "polly wolly doodle all the day"!  in the most serious of faces, she'll say something like, "can polly wolly doodle all the day have a cookie please?" 
  

i vote for aug 20th

our dec 20th anniversary gets overlooked in the Christmas festivities.  (for those of you with jaws dropped because YOUR anniversaries involve special outings and elaborate gifts, let me explain:  there is no date night because we are almost always at a Christmas party or leaving for Christmas break; there is no gift exchange because we've just used our Dec 25 budget; and even flowers are dismissed because they will just die in an empty home while we're away.)  this summer, a return to fort Collins (and pseudo-celebration) opened my eyes to how special YOUR anniversaries must be!  and with my new enlightenment, I'm working to convince dave that august 20th is a much better anniversary! don't YOU think so too?  (honey, are you listening?!?) 
this dec 20th, our 10th anniversary, we were coincidentally (but unplanned- again, i vote for aug 20th) vacationing in our honeymoon spot- aka "parry-dise".  for obvious reasons, it was a very special place to be on our 10 yr mark.  we disappeared on snowmobiles, built gigantic snowmen with grandpa, hauled kids and cousins up and down the sledding hill, relaxed on a snow couch built for chatty sister-in-laws, and took very adventurous kids and omi on a snowy hike up the mountain!  ...we laughed and played!  then and now, dave's ability to laugh and play are two of his finest qualities and i treasure his ability to help us laugh and play through life -10 yrs later!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

a friend for all ages

over the last two years, this mama has been feeling age creeping in!  while i'm not going to describe the objective and subjective observations that validate said aging, I did recently divulge to my dear friend who I was recently able to reconnect with.  after all, amber has gone through so many important  milestones  with me- everything from math 119 at byu to grad school and from 2003 weddings to 2006 babies (and even subsequents).  we've celebrated lots of zany birthdays together and have even been roommates a couple times*!  so it feels like she really has been through it all with me.  after all of my whining, I felt so refreshed when she said, "I'm not ever considering botox!"  Oh thank you dear friend for embracing another life stage with me!

 

 

*roomies in phoenix!

hustle bustle version 2013

this post comes early because... I'm getting things done early this year!  thus, my random musings for the holiday season 2013:

for the first time since having accompanied my own peers in yw, I played the piano publicly!  (ironically, I was accompanying the yw again.)

speaking of, the kids are constantly jealous of the fun the yw must be having without them.  so we held a minute to win it playdate with leftover supplies.

 

 

k and I went to see a friend perform in the nutcracker... mature things like this now hold her attention (at least until the last 5 minutes when she asked, "does she ever wake up?") 

 

 

the first and only dusting of snow. (both kids were sure that school would to be cancelled)

 

 

the hilarity of school papers.  jack had a paper about the gifts a family gives to eachother.  a gift that my dad gives me is "hugs."  and a gift that my mom gives me is "my lunch."  kindin had a similar paper about giving gifts to others.  she would give her dad "candy because he likes it" and for her mom she "would go to the store to get groceries because she hates doing it." 

 

k got 3 teeth pulled.  poor girl will likely repeat this process a few more times in the upcoming years with an extra small mouth and an extra tooth.

 

 

for crazy hair day, I successfully carved out a david beckham cut and a pinkie pie look for the kids.

 

 

I'm trying to finish dolly's baby album.... my office space always looks like this!

 



 

and... the Eichmann family efficiently celebrated thanks-mas this year.... otherwise known as thanksgiving on thursday and Christmas on Friday.  grandma had some gimmicky (but adorable) props to ensure the snap of a picture or two!