- "When I wake up in the morning I am going on the eptical machine to work off my cupcake!"
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- "Emma's got one of her beady little eyes on me!"

After yet another Gospel presentation to my daughter she paused in thoughtful contemplation and says, "I don't want to go to heaven!" I was shocked and asked, "Why not?" She earnestly replied, "I want to go in the backyard!"

Fun with family

We're having so much fun with Aunt Jen and Becca.

Unfortunately some of it was at Emma's expense!

We've colored, jumped on the trampoline,

read books,

and that's just the indoor stuff.

(I'll post more later.)

FYI

I probably won't be posting much this week. Auntie Jen and cousin Becca are in from MA for a visit! YAY!

A new kind of sibling rivalry?

"When Emma grows up she will die and go to heaven." - Charis

Q & A, with me!

Veronica asked me a question that I think most of you were also wondering, so I thought I should bite the bullet, answer and then deal with the comments good and bad...

Veronica:
So, what DO you do with your cart?! ;)

Me:
Um, When I first pull into the parking lot I really try to find a parking spot that is near a "return cart" center so I can return my cart without any hassle. That way I feel like I am being responsible and wise at the same time. If I am unable to find a spot near the "return cart" center then I usually leave my cart right where it is (next to the car). Unless someone else (Daddy, Mimi, etc.) is with me then I leave them with the children and return the cart myself. I do admit that I have left the cart in the middle of the parking lot on many occassions. I know a lot of people disagree with me but I have two defenses. One is a good one and the other is rather weak. First of all, I can't leave my children alone in the car while I walk 15 feet away to put the cart away. That just not wise. Secondly, there are a lot of teenage boys out there who wouldn't have a job unless there were people like me who left their shopping carts in the parking lot. (See, I told you it was lame!) Ok, comment away...I'm prepared for it.

Tell Tale Heart

Do you remember the sound machine that we bought for Emma a few weeks ago? Well, since then Emma has decided that she just doesn't appreciate it, so Charis has inherited it. There are many relaxing sounds available on the machine (ocean waves, rain, waterfall etc.) But Charis has chosen the heartbeat. It is intended for newly born infants. I personally find it a little creepy. Anyway, this thing is on all the time. Even when I turn it off the next thing I know, it's back on again. So now every time I walk into Charis' room my own heart skips a beat or two. It strangely reminds me of The Tell Tale Heart. Ahhh! Now I'm off to the store to buy a nightlight (for me)!

Bath time!

Earlier this evening Charis was in the bathtub and Ben was undressing Emma to put her in as well. As Ben lifted her up and into the tub, Charis said, "Now there's two bums!"

This was taken after bath time tonight...it's my two little hobbit babies! (I'm rather ashamed of myself for actually using a "Lord of the Rings" reference. Since I've never seen all the movies...and don't intend to...it must be a bad influence from my LOTR junkie of a husband. He has seriously watched all 11 hours of the movie plus all 12 hours of special features more than once!)

Randi, I'm thinking of you...it's thundering and lightning right now!

Where do they get these things?

Aunt Deidre gave us a bunch of Disney books from her classroom that she no longer wanted. They are the kind with full color pictures and the stories that go along with the movies (like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) The other night Charis brought me the The Lion King and asked me to read it to her. On the first page is a picture of Timon and Pumba. She asked what their names were and so I pointed to each one and said, "That big one is Pumba and the little one is Timon." She says, "Oh, yeah, Timon is a meerkat." WHAT?!? How on earth did she know that?
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Last night after church we were getting jammies on the girls and getting ready for bed. Charis started walking around the room swinging her arms very stiffly and saying, "Robot, robot, robot." I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm doing the robot." HUH?!? Where on earth did she learn that? (No, much to your surprise I'm sure, we don't do 'the robot' around here.)

Ahhhhh!

"Fairly tense experience"? I could think of other words to describe it!

Extreme Grocery Shopping

Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it.

(I of course don't have a choice, we have to eat now don't we?)

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Your ultimate goal is to have a fully stocked fridge and pantry, 2 happy, smiling children and a grocery bill that will also make your husband smile. In order to reach that goal there are a few challenges that you must complete in order to win. The first challenge is going to the grocery store at just the right time. You must not be there during feeding time, pooping time or screaming time. You must also ensure that all potty stops have been made beforehand, your diaper bag is fully stocked, the shopping list is in hand and your coupons are organized by aisle. The next challenge is to find the grocery cart with enough seats for both children. When you are unable to complete that challenge you will be faced with an even more difficult one...keeping the child that does not have a seat under control without having to pay for too much destroyed produce. Your next challenge is to navigate the aisles of the grocery store, checking each item off your list, making sure you are getting a good deal for your money while also making sure you are buying healthy food for your growing family. The next challenge is to properly apologize to and make appropriate eye contact with each and every senior citizen that your 3 year old roadblocks in the aisle (because the local retirement home always seems to make their weekly trip to the grocery store just as I am arriving also). After you have ignored the stares of the other shoppers at your screaming yet happy baby you may proceed to the checkout counter. The 16 year old checker-in training must now ask for assistance on every single produce item to make sure that he is charging the right price. (What 16 year old doesn't know what broccoli is?) After you have prayed and fasted you may now open your eyes to behold the total of your bill. With shaking hands you must sign the receipt and begin the hardest part of your challenge. Next you must safely cross the hot parking lot, remember where you parked your car and load two tired and hungry children into a steaming hot SUV. All the while you must also make sure that none of your groceries melt in the 117 degree heat. The toddler must go in first (for safety reasons), then the screaming baby, then you may finally put 25 bags of terribly heavy groceries and 2 gallons of milk into the back of the car. Now you are faced with a dillemma...you must make the right choice. Do you leave the empty grocery cart next to your car and drive away or do you walk 15 feet to put it in the "return cart" area (all the while leaving both children unattended with the car running...remember it's 117 degrees outside)? After you've made that choice, you must now convince your toddler that even though the seat belt is burning she must stay put! On the way home you must think of 3 creative songs to sing to keep the troops semi-happy. (The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It and 5 Little Monkeys are appropriate suggestions.) The last challenge you must complete is somehow (I haven't figured it out yet) get both children inside, all the groceries inside, your 6 month old down for a nap and your 3 year old sitting at the table with a snack without having any groceries spoil. Once you have completed your task you are then rewarded with listening to your now overtired 6 month old scream herself to sleep while being serenaded by Barney in the background. Congratulations! You have now lived two hours of every Monday morning with me!

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That is Extreme Grocery Shopping!

Lesson learned

Isn't it great that everyday we get a chance to learn something new? Well, yesterday Ben had just that chance. On Saturday we had gone to the park and on the way home Charis spilled some water in her car seat. So when we got home Ben got out of the car, put his keys on top of the car and took care of her wet car seat. Inadvertently, he forgot that he put his keys up there and didn't realize it until Sunday morning as I was driving my sister to the airport (in the very same car). I got on the 10 freeway and just as I was speeding up to about 65 mph I heard a clank, clank, clank, crash! I looked in my rear view mirror and saw something shiny bouncing down the road. I called Ben and we discovered it was his keys! So after I returned from the airport we drove back to the scene of the oops and searched the freeway for the lost keys. Sure enough we found some keys...well, some parts of some keys. As you can see from the picture we found part of the alarm clicker, part of his work key, part of the house key and a very mangled key chain. Fortunately, we did find the most important key which was to his desk...there are no duplicates. I thought it was particularly funny that we found the club cards...because those are so important! It was also humorous that the only 2 keys we found that were in nearly perfect condition were the keys to our parent's houses. Lesson learned...don't put keys on top of the car!

How the time flies!

Happy 6 months, Emma!

How to stay cool in AZ

Today we ventured out in the searing Arizona sun to cool off and enjoy some family time. (It was actually much cooler today...around 104.) We drove to Tempe Beach Park and played the morning away in the splash pad. They had sprinklers, waterfalls, water slides, sandbox and all sorts of other water ways to stay cool. Charis had a blast! She splashed and ran until hunger took over and it was time to head home.

Emma enjoyed the water too. She dipped her feet and hands then stayed in the stroller in the shade. (We have to protect our sensitive red heads.)

Ignore the writing on Emma's shirt...it doesn't mean anything...trust me! (I was just trying to keep her cool and covered so I put one of Charis' shirts on her. She's not a big sister!)

Another house guest...

We were surprised to find that we were hosting another house guest, but this one didn't ask permission to stay...and I was quite unprepared for it! This little guy was hiding under a chair in the living room and gave me quite a scare when I went to close the blinds yesterday evening. (Yes, that's a quarter next to it...I know it was super teeny...I still got the heebeejeebies!)

Build-A-Bear...Build-A-Memory

For Charis' birthday she received a gift card to Build-A-Bear. So on Thursday Aunt Deedee, Emma, Charis and I went to the mall to build a bear. Charis originally chose a purple hippo but I gently swayed her into choosing a brown and white puppy. This was my first time building a bear but Charis was a well seasoned pro. I discovered a little too late that Charis is terrified of the sounds that you can put in your bear. I started to show them to her to see which one she wanted to choose and she started screaming and saying, "NO!" (Ben later told me she did that last time she was there...oops.) After we stuffed the puppy, put its heart inside, gave it a bath and chose an outfit Charis sat down to name her puppy and write out the birth certificate. She aptly chose to name it...Charis. (She's 3 remember?)

After Build-A-Bear we were taken out to lunch by a very nice Auntie.

Ok, try this...

Click here.

I couldn't resist! Check this out!

Birthday Party

On Friday night we had some friends and Ben's family over to celebrate Charis' birthday! The kids swam and the adults ate. It was very fun!

Rainforest Cafe

We went to the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Charis' birthday but I think Emma enjoyed it more! Emma loves to stare at our one little goldfish so when she saw the huge fish tanks at the Rainforest Cafe she was in awe! Then Cha Cha the red eyed tree frog came out and Charis wouldn't go anywhere near him, but Emma thought he was great! When we sat down to eat Charis wouldn't let go of my dad. Every time he would pull away she would grab him and pull him back. I guess it was a little overwhelming for her.

4th of July

For the 4th of July we went over to some of Ben's extended family's house for a BBQ. We jumped on the trampoline, swam in the pool, and laughed together.

This is Charis and Ben's grandma (her great grandma).

Emma found a special friend in Papa. Just like when we lived back in CA, no matter how she felt Papa would always make her happy!

Mimi & Papa come!

Mimi & Papa flew in early on Wednesday morning to join us for the full week of activities. These pictures were taken just a few minutes after they arrived.

The Bathroom

Ben and his dad worked tirelessly to finish the bathroom floor this past week. It wasn't an easy job seeing as how the bathroom has a really funny shape. But the end product is amazing! They really did a nice job! Since we had Charis' birthday party on Friday night we were really hoping the bathroom would be done by then. So Friday morning they woke up early to finish sealing the grout and putting the toilet back on. Just as it was all completed, the toilet broke! It somehow got dropped and cracked the tank...off to Home Depot! So we also got a new toilet! I'll take a picture of the final product but the battery from my camera is recharging right now. Just getting started...Sorting tile...

Almost done!

Japan

Mimi & Papa just got home from Japan and brought these cute outfits for the girls to wear. They said that in Japan the children put these on after their baths so they can go out of the house if they need to and be cool. So we put them on after the girl's baths today.

Happy Birthday Charis!

Birth-day (July 6, 2004)
First Birthday (July 6, 2005)
Second Birthday (July 6, 2006)

Third Birthday (July 6, 2007)

Happy 4th of July!

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen?

Whistle while you work...

There must be a lot of whistling going on because there sure is a lot of work going on! Ben's parents arrived here at 3am on Monday morning. After catching up on some sleep Ben and his dad got right to work closing up the wall between Emma and Charis' room. Here is the best picture I could find of the "before" shot. This was taken before we bought the house. As you can see there was a bi-fold door between the rooms. That isn't conducive to having an infant in one room and a toddler in the other.

Those boys have been working hard and today they completed the wall (minus texturizing the drywall). Here is a sequence of pictures over the last 2 days.

It's just a big hole!

I could insert a funny joke about a stud here but come on...this is my father-in-law!

Now here's a stud! The wall's completed (almost)!

Just now they started their next project...tiling the girls' bathroom. Currently there is carpet in the bathroom (novel idea) so Ben and his dad are busy replacing it with nice tile. I'll take some pictures to show you.