and, of course, gracie

I used to worry if Grace was maybe a bit too busy. But, while it has been a super treat for me to have her home with me this last week, I have come to a new appreciation of how busy she likes to be. 

Grace LOVES school. This is no surprise. She is sad on half days, and even sadder on vacation days. She thrives being around people and having back-to-back tasks. Her progress reports have been really good, all 96%-100% marks except in handwriting. Her hand writing is where it should be developmentally, they just have really strict grading standards at her school - good thing it is just kindergarten! I love talking with her about the things she is learning. She is always so surprised to discover that I know a thing or two myself. Her reading abilities are growing and she is enthusiastic as ever about every assignment, recitation, and project that comes her way.

These pictures were taken at her class Thanksgiving presentation. She got to be a turkey with her best buddy, Taylor, during the play.

Piano lessons and dance class have been big highlights for her so far. She has a really easy time with the piano. I am grateful that I don't have to nag her about practicing - she is always willing. She is obsessed with doing pages out of her theory book. We are already into a second one. Often, I have to remind her to actually go play on the piano during her practice time. I'm trying not to push her hard as I know that practicing and weekly lessons will be a part of her life for the next several years. But I'm so so glad she enjoys it.

The dance studio we go to switched to new management shortly before we started. They didn't have a big Christmas recital this year, but instead had several smaller performances at the studio. Grace's class did a tap routine to I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. Grace was super excited and didn't miss a step. Of the three focusses in her class, (ballet, tap and acrobatics) Grace still likes tap dancing best. I have casually asked her if she is going to want to do dance next school year too. She says she would love to do dance if she can play on Grant's soccer team as well. This won't be an option and when I pin her down to make a choice she isn't sure. Oh to be an only child!

Whenever she has a minute to spare, she can be found rummaging in the 'art cabinet' for a project to work on. This girl always has an idea in her head that needs materialization. She is always on the move.

We are so grateful that she is the oldest child in our family. More to her credit than my own these days, she has nearly perfect manners. She and I were talking the other day about secrets (more specifically how daughters don't keep secrets from their mommies) and she said, "I only have one secret." "Will you tell me your secret?" "Sure." Whispering, "Last is best. It is always nicer to let others go first. It makes me happy." She has regular 6-year-old moments that are less than great. But for the most part, she remains optimistic, inclusive, and thoughtful of those around her. She loves being Eden's big sister and Grant's best buddy.

grant lately

The biggest news in Grant's life lately is, without question, the last several weeks he has spent playing soccer. Our next door neighbors are serious about soccer. When Augie (above, right) told us he was going to coach a team for his son, Mattias, who is Grant's age we were quick to sign up. It is a great league that is hosted by a very local mega church. Their pre-k leagues play 40 minute, no-goalie games inside a field hockey ring (no out of bounds). They play same genders against each other. And, if the coaches are attentive to it, they have a prayer at the end of the game. Grant got to play with two of his best buds from our Church, Will and Jameson, and loves playing with Matti. I don't think any of the other families on our team, coaches included, attend CCV. But we all loved the league and will be back with Coach Augie in the Spring.

The name of Grant's team was the Torros (bulls). Coach was sure to get jerseys that match the color of his favorite South American team from Uruguay. The boys got the real futbal experience- plenty of Spanish at every practice and game! We loved it. The Torros were not very mighty in battle. A lot of our boys were on the young end of the age scale for their division. But they certainly improved throughout the season. At the very least, Grant learned how to run. It was something he had a hard time getting all his boney limbs to do before. By game 6 he was sprinting around like a regular kid. We consider the whole experience a huge success.

Matti, Grant, and Will. These guys are such buddies. Grant would get teary at the end of every practice and every game (not exaggerating) and would ask (beg) to go home and play more soccer. Or to go over to Mati's house to play more soccer.

Will, Grant, and Jameson. Can't wait for Spring season to start!

Other than his soccer outings, Grant is busy with preschool and with being toted around through Grace's schedule. If given the choice, he will skip school every time. But he genuinely enjoys going. He knows all his letters and the sounds they make. He can write several of them. He is quick with numbers. With thanks to Grace, Grant will sit and work on projects for long periods of time.  When I sit down to read to him, he will choose one book and ask for it to be read over and over again. This is opposed to Grace who will bring a stack of no less than 20 books to the couch.

If you were to ask him, he would say that he doesn't take naps anymore. In reality he still gets a nap almost daily. I pick him up from preschool and then we head straight to Gracie's school to wait in the pickup line. It is a good 45 minutes from the time I get him to the time we are walking through our door with Grace. He almost always falls asleep in the car within a few minutes of being picked up - especially if I bring his blankie. And on days that Grace comes home via carpool, Grant still sneaks in a little shut eye.

He has one edge of his blankie that he finds, even when he is asleep, to lace around his fingers. When he cuddles and sleeps his little fists are balled around this satin strip. The fabric is wearing paper thin in some spots...

We spent a majority of this year trying to tame his sensitive gag reflexes (remember how he would throw up his entire dinner if we tried to get him to try something that didn't suit his fancy?) and I'm happy to report that those days have been behind us for a little while now. I still find myself often feeding him bite by bite, particularly when we are having salad, in order to get him to eat. It is completely ridiculous. But he will eat every bite I put into his mouth when, if left to his own devises, he would rather do anything, including starve to death apparently, than lift a fork to his own princely mouth. I guess I should be grateful that he will down milk and fresh fruit like any three grown people put together. There have been plenty of meals where we have resorted to letting him have an apple, a banana, and a cup of milk. The picture above was taken on such an event, as a matter of fact. During the weeks that he is growing, however, look out. He falls asleep anywhere, any time and eats and eats and eats. I understand this only gets more pronounced as he gets older, right? Awesome.

Perhaps tied with kicking a soccer ball, Grant's favorite pass time is playing Wii. It is something we have had to reign in tightly. There are time boundaries and we have started requiring some chores from him before he gets to play. It is wonderful currency to have as his parent though. He is still prone to grouchiness. All I have to do is threaten taking away his Wii time and frowns are replaced with dimpled smiles every time.

eden these days

Eden is a fun and delightful kid. She also has a strong mind and can be feisty, feisty, feisty. She will lay her head on my shoulder and pat my back as quickly as she will arch her back and kick me in the gut. But interacting with her is becoming easier as her communication abilities grow. Her first vocal word was definitely "mama."She uses it to get my attention, or Cori's attention, or to ask anyone nearby for whatever it is she wants. She uses sounds to say "all done" and "bye bye." And, most recently, has begun nodding and shaking her head to answer 'yes' and 'no' to questions we ask her - an extremely useful development. These things plus the few hand signs she was using already give us a way to help her be happy despite the bouts of fitful behavior that arise from time to time.  Pictured above: Eden had absolutely no interest in sitting with Santa. She didn't cry or scream, she just wouldn't sit.

Her favorite activities of late: Giving random treasures a tote in the doll stroller. Looking at books. Pointing her index finger accusingly while at the dinner table. Following Grace and Grant around as much as she can. Emptying drawers and cabinets in reach. Sweeping the kitchen floor (with a broom and everything). Wandering the halls during the 2nd and 3rd blocks of Church - just three months until nursery time, so help me! Dancing when she hears music. Making animal sounds.

She loves to climb up and down the stairs. She'll climb up on chairs and run around on the couches. She is fearless about climbing around the play sets at the park. She isn't as crazy as some, I know. But we have to keep our eyes on little sis all the time.

She has a scowl that is famous with those who are around her. You would think I could get a picture of it. But she is able to go from scowl to smile pretty quickly. 

Eden has finally grown some hair! It is usually a crazy mess. I do try. I like to think the fluff of cornsilk around her head highlights those blue eyes. But people mostly comment on the hair.

 Her daddy is her favorite pal. I can't say I blame her.

me and cori

I have been so sporadic with the blog this year (a great resolution for next year perhaps?). Before the year is out I really want to write a bit about Cori and me. 

Several months ago, it was time to start looking around for Cori's next career move. Ultimately, we were faced with two really great options. One was an exciting opportunity that would have taken us out of Honeywell and landed us in Northern Nevada where we would love to stay long term. It was very tempting. We opted to stay put and continue our path with Honeywell for another stretch, something we feel will be better for him in the long run. It is a great new role for him here and, best of all for me, we didn't have to move! Let me just repeat that. For the first time in our married lives we did not have to pack a box, nor put our house on the market after just 12 months (or less) in our home. Its a big deal. We are super grateful.

Cori is still serving as our ward's Elder's quorum president. His dedication has been a service to us all. He gets out running and had fun playing on our ward's softball team a couple of times (regional champs!). He works hard keeping our yards looking nice. Who knew there was so much to know about desert landscaping? 

I feel like the last several months for me can be summed up into one word: running. I am glad to have been anxiously engaged in so many things. Most literally, I have been plugging along my training schedule for the half marathon I'm running with my sister in 3 weeks. Cori gave me one of my Christmas presents early for my long Saturday runs (pictured above). 11 miles feel better with some water and chapstick on hand. I'm at the top of the waiting list to be on our ward's Ragnar team for their race in February. Fingers crossed! I want to run one so badly. I've also been going to a boot camp twice a week. I'm feeling more and more confident about the race in January. And I have been eating every-holiday-thing in sight, so it is a good thing to have so much exercise every morning, I guess.

I have been teaching piano lessons for about 5 months now. I really enjoy it. I took on just three students. Gracie does a pretty good job babysitting, but I won't be increasing the load until Eden is older.

I have also really enjoyed my new calling in the Stake Young Women's presidency so far. There was so much to do and figure out right after we got called in. But now we have gotten through auxiliary training, a regional youth activity, and regional youth conference, and we feel like we are able to approach our responsibilities more proactively. This is good because we are already working on Girl's camp and there is trek coming next summer as well... The sisters I serve with are simply amazing. I feel like I have learned so much about about the YW program as well as Church administration.

We are really loving our life in Phoenix these days. It is nice to feel settled and at home knowing we will be here for another year or so.

cousin time

Cori's BIL, Cory, has work that brings him to Phoenix once in a while. This time Brittany and their three boys came along for a visit. I kept Grant home from preschool nearly the whole week and we had so much fun playing!

We took a hike. A certain boy was on a mission to peepee on a big cactus. Two other certain boys were happy to join the quest. I decided not to include the picture of mission completion. But they were pretty happy about it. Our hike landed us at the park.

Tiffany and Brett were here for a couple of days too. We ate dinner a la the fire pit,

and spent a day at the zoo.

We had a super fun night down in Tempe/Mesa. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a huge hit with the little people. 

And then we wandered the lights at the (very uncrowded) Mesa Temple grounds.

We were so sad for them to leave! Good thing we get to see them again in a couple of weeks. 

Thanksgiving 2011

I didn't get very far catching up... I am determined to get some done today though! We had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving holiday and hope you all did too. We got to host my family. They all graciously agreed to travel to Phoenix. The weather stayed lovely for them and we enjoyed each other so very much.

The Saturday before their arrival, Cori and I got the Christmas boxes out. There are many purists out there who will snigger at me for this. But I love having Christmas set up for Thanksgiving day. Especially here where the Fall season leaves no stamp whatsoever on our surroundings. With the halls decked, things feel so cozy and festive. And, to me, the messages of Christmas and Thanksgiving are the same. We celebrate Christgiving, or Thanksmas if you rather, all month long. Plus, we wont be seeing my family over the Christmas holiday, so it was a nice setting to get some of our traditions in while we were all together.

One of these now-annual traditions is to do a little bell ringing. I didn't get a picture of it this year, unfortunately. My mom is a bell ringing enthusiast. She performs with a bell choir that is organized through the Methodist Church in our home town. Mom got a little color coded bell set for the kids to learn on last year and we have had a lot of fun ringing carols together. Grace was able to play all by herself this year.

Other things we did during their visit:

Playing lots of games, like Pretty Pretty Princess.

Making several potholders. Grace is a sucker for a project. She latched right onto the loom Grammie brought along. Potholders were successfully completed for all our guests by the time they left. And a trip was made to the craft store to buy Grace her own loom before Grammie went.

Lots of music. I feel blessed to come from such a musical family. We sang with bells. We sang with guitars. We sang at the piano.

Plenty of food. Our Thanksgiving spread was a huge success (if I may say so myself). I wish I had taken a picture of our turkey when it came out. Perfection! We brined it and then roasted it with a cheesecloth blanket that had been soaked in butter and apple cider. I also traded out green bean casserole for brussles sprouts (the Michael Symon recipe that was featured in last month's Food and Wine) and must confess that I was expecting to get some flak for it. But they were a hit. Other menu items included roasted butternut squash, spinach salad, pineapple and mustard glazed ham, my Grandma W*s butter rolls, herbed potatoes, apple pie, coconut cream pie, and pumpkin pecan pie.

I feel ready to eat it all again.

Everyone had to take a turn on Just Dance before pie time.

Visiting new places. We made a trip out to the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale. It was so much cooler than any of us were expecting. There are hundreds of exhibits of instruments from all over the world. Each exhibit has the instruments on display as well as a large TV monitor that is playing videos of the instruments being used. Each ticketed visitor gets a set of headphones that automatically picks up sound from which ever monitor is closest. It was, ironically, the quietest museum I have ever been to. Sara, Cori and the kids are pictured above in front of the Steinway exhibit. It was fun to show Grace all about how pianos are made. ( And how I would love having, playing, and caring for a Steinway of my own! Maybe someday...)

The museum did have one exhibit for making noise. It is located on a separate floor behind closed doors and full of sound screens. That was easily one of the noisiest places I have ever been. Certain people loved it.

We did a few other things not pictured. 

Sara and I knocked out two of our training runs. We ran over 10 miles while she was here!

Cori played in a turkey bowl Thanksgiving morning. His cleats gave him a nice blister :( but he had fun.

Dad took us to dinner at an Italian Restaurant called Sassi up in the foothills of North Scottsdale. That place is n.i.c.e. and the food... Sheesh. 

We went to the movies and saw Hugo in 3D. All the big kids loved it. I found it particularly magical. My mom bawled nearly the whole way through. Grant and Eden quickly lost interest.

Thea shared some of her photoshop jedi tricks she is learning through the course of her college education. (None of which are featured in any of these pictures.) I would really like to take a class someday.

We also found a place in the neighborhood to take some photos. My friend who lives around the corner from this locale met up with us and snapped pictures on all our cameras for us. 

I love these people so very much.

The biggest treat of the holiday was just having so much time together. I can't remember the last time we all got to give so much uninterrupted attention to one another.