Daddy's Little Angel

Hazel just had her 4th month anniversary and to commemorate the event, she got to have a photo shoot with dad in their Cardinals regalia. She also got to eat her first rice cereal, which was exciting but caused a shudder or two. She would much rather be eating Daddy's cookies and who can blame her? She also went to her well baby appointment which brought 3 shots and a very difficult afternoon. On the bright side, she is measuring in the 85th percentile @ 15 lbs.

Her best tricks these days are grabbing everything (she can grab her binky from my hand and then put it in her mouth - ooh! ahh!,) sitting by herself - well very almost, and getting Dad to pace the floor with her (she's generally a very good girl who'll play nicely with her toys, but when dad's around she contrives to be fussy until he stands up with her.)

She's also more aware of Tomas and tries to play with him. She even lets him lay on her head if that means they are playing. She also likes to play with Tomie's toys which, needless to say, isn't a big hit with the big brother. She even got a little pink sippy for her 1/3rd birthday so Tomie wouldn't continue to rip his sippy out of her hands, bop her on the head, and shout "mine!"

Daddy's Little Helper

Levi installed our bathroom sink today (hip hip hooray!) and every time I went to check on things I saw a certain shadow learning all the tricks of the trade. Aren't they a handsome pair?! I sure like 'em!

Family Fun in February

The first weekend of February brought many fabulous surprises! At first we thought we were going to spend the weekend doing chores, but then we found out Travis and his family were coming up for the weekend and decided to go hiking instead. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, Shay and her family arrived after a 24 hour, cross-country road trip of power. So we headed for an outing at the Temple Quarry Trail. The day threatened rain, but held out while we had some family fun in the partial sun!

As you can see, everyone enjoyed playing on and with the rocks!

As Grandpa Stratton would say, those kids had the legs of a wild kangaroo!
Perhaps that should be of a push-me-pull-you who are known for their very nimble feet.

Grandpa was fun to play on, too!

It was lots of fun to see ALL of the niechews on my side of the family. Tomie LOVED every minute spent playing with the cousins!

The surprises continued as Craig and his wife turned up, having run away from Orem to Mesquite to celebrate their anniversary. So, once Colt returned from a conference in Vegas, I managed to see my WHOLE family over one weekend! Not a bad exchange for a weekend doing chores. :o) Of course, work is fun, but well....

Snow was another happy surprise. Tomas saw it and promptly began making "balls!" to throw at his mother. He has a definite thing for "mi-mi" which, for those of you who are not fluent in Tomie, means snowman, and was convinced we could make one with the few flakes on our lawn. His obsession causes him to repeatedly point out the presence of snow on Pine Valley every time he sees it! Of course, his "snow, snow!" sounds like "no, no!" and I sometimes find myself getting aggravated before I realize he's basking in the joy of snow.

Oh, the unexpected treasures and pleasures of February! I hope everyone's month is also filled with love and laughter!

Grocerysmarts

So, I went to Albertson's today and purchased 92 items, spent $48.83, and saved $222.98. That, if I've done my math correctly, is an 82% discount on groceries with an average of $.53 an item. I can't cry about that, even if Keri did better than I! ;o)

My favorite deals were, and this is with tax included:
30 Betty Crocker cake mixes @ $.29 a piece (without any coupons!),
10 frostings @ $.62 a piece (with only a couple coupons),
12 Progresso soups @ $.45 a piece (with only a couple coupons),and
12 Pillsbury Grands @ $.12 a piece (with lots of coupons!).

Yippee for grocerysmarts and learning how to exploit Albertson's relatively effortlessly! Of course, the hardest part of great sales like this is knowing when to quit! Oh, and where to store all the stuff I bought.

A definite side benefit of my recent Albertson's trips is getting to see my cousin Christopher D. on a regular basis. I swear he LIVES at Albertson's! I used to rarely see him, but now he's my inside connection. Family rocks!

Word Verification Wednesday

While blog surfing this evening, I came across a most Saddie-like idea and it is this: a post dedicated to defining the comment word verification. I don't know about you, but I do this ALL THE TIME. That's one thing I like about blogging is that the word verifications have that could-almost-be-a-word kind of feel, unlike facebook which reads like a creepy license plate. So if you'd like to play along with me here are the rules, and don't be surprised if you find me commenting on my own post just for kicks and giggles.

Go to the comment box. Read the word verification code and give it a definition.

Please, nothing rude, crude, or unrefined.

Play as many times as you wish!

Don't like the word you got? Refresh the page until you get one that you like.

Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, and HAVE FUN!

Thanks Thou shalt not whine for such a fun idea!

Fantabliawesome!

This lovely neologism is the creation of my niece Aryn and her friend. I use it in this post to describe both her and her new pants that we sewed together. They are patterned after some crazy pants Levi got in the Philippines. We made all the sibs some a couple Christmases back and I have a million pair (they're great maternity pants) and so Aryn decided that she wanted a pair of these funky tie-on pants too.

Well, I am far from skilled when it comes to sewing and so I tend to cheat. Because of this I made a VERY simple pattern from Levi's originals and felt that Aryn could manage to follow it without much difficulty. So, I sized it down for her and we headed to my mom's house to use her serger and fancy schmancy sewing machine. Aryn didn't require much instruction and after doing about 75% of the work all by herself she produced these:



She did a great job and we had a great time together. Thanks Aryn for spending some time with me. Thanks Mom for the loan of the equipment and your house. Thanks Levi for keeping an eye on the short ones while I played Auntie for awhile.

PS How's about that new carpet, eh?! It's fantabliawesome too, though not as fantabliawesome and Aryn.

Titters, Guffaws, and Other Such Nonsense

I was having a conversation lasterday with the Blair family niechews about late night book reading and it reminded me of how my sister and I would stay up late reading Matilda together. I really don't know how many times we read it, but every time we came to this picture of Bruce Bogtrotter we'd bust a gut laughing hystarically. We'd have to put the book away for awhile before we could breathe again, but as soon as we'd open it up again the tears would start flowing as we laughed so hard we cried.
I can't quite say whether the picture is really that funny or whether the late hour rendered it so; regardless, I am very fond of Bruce-y's bulgy, misshapen form and goofy, satisfied grin. I am also grateful for all Quentin Blake's illustrations that will forever be linked in my mind to Roald Dahl's literary masterpieces.

So a shout out goes to the Blair niechews who love to read, to Shay who knows how to make me cry :o), and to my missionary cousin Tyson for inventing the word "lasterday" when he was but a wee little thing. That word has found much use in my vocabulary since its creation. I love you all!