la vie en Runia...

a birthday girl...

2011-03-02T17:28:00.012-07:00

Today is a big day.

It is somebody's birthday! And she's extra special. :)

Special enough to inspire me to come out of my blogless world and step back in to webwide sharing time.

Anyone know who it is?

She's not a kid, though she's a kid at heart, to be sure...

You won't find a single person on this planet who doesn't love her.

And you'll probably run into a few people who have a secret crush on her/want to be like her.

I know I've run into lots of those people.

She is kind, she is fun, she is gorgeous, she is optimistic, she is bright, she is brilliant, she is humble, she is generous, she is a friend to all, she is a fabulous cook, homemaker, mother, wife, grandmother, daughter, sister, teacher, leader, and cheerleader. She is the ultimate cheerleader. :) Just having her in your life will make your life drastically better.

To know her, is to love her...

Are you guessing Betty White? Well its not... her bday was in January.

It's Tammy Runia of course!

Nobody would believe that she's older than 32... and I won't say which milestone bday this is for her, but it rhymes with shmifty. :)

She is a woman to celebrate, and today, we celebrate her!!!

(she skipped town this week, which was pretty smart of her- since I was trying to figure out how to pull off a surprise party... I guess she dodged that bullet... She's full of humility and brains, that one!)

So since she's gone, and since her phone isn't working, and since my kids have been asking when we're going to take balloons to Gammy's house and sing to her....

I thought I'd bring our love to her.

So here's some little love notes that Jaac wanted to write "withOUT any help, mm-kay mom?"

And a few spontaneous couch pictures of the kiddles...

(gracie was very decisive about her 'party dress' for the party picture, and wanted to wear her pink glittery {tacky} frilly dressups) (and her hair... wow.)

And Piper is suddenly growing out of cute outfits that gracie used to wear, but i'm still trying to strrrreeetch them out as long as i can. I miss tiny outfits when they grow out of them. Silly cari. So basically, i'm just saying that the kids weren't primped- and the lighting wasn't great- but i know that Gammy loves her grandkiddles in any kind of condition... even when they've just peed their pants all over her clean bathroom. ;)

So I hope that somehow, Gammy can feel how much we love her, from so far away.

I hope she knows how much she means to us.

How much brighter our lives are, because of her.

I am so thankful for her, for being Ryan's mom, for raising him to be the most amazing person. And for blessing our children with wonderful genetic traits and gifts.

I look at my husband, and my kids,

and feel so fortunate that they have so much of her goodness inside of them.

And that I can look to her example as a guide... and bask in her glowing Christlike radiance.

What a remarkable woman. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

WE REALLY REALLY LOVE YOU!

(Jaac says I should type: "I love you 50 dollars!")

and she knows exactly what that means.

we're not in november anymore...

2010-01-27T08:22:00.005-07:00

Is it really the end of January?

Really? Wow.

In all the NewYearsResolutionMaking, I was thinking of maybe

trying to do a blogpost every day for the new year...

*uh, that hasn't happened.

I was going to organize all our closets and declutter the basement...

*nope, didn't happen. and the clutter is making its way upstairs. ahhh!

I was going to workout harder, better, more, and maybe get training

for a marathon, or another 50/20...

*ha! (the phrase LOL comes to mind)

so, since I'm feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt for blogging right now, instead of cleaning or organizing, or running, or writing thank you's and birthday cards, or taking loads to D.I., or teaching my kids something, or helping someone, or planning some upcoming events... I'm going to try to quickly post about our: November.

Then when (i originally typed 'if') I get some stuff checked off my lists, and I can actually feel better about the condition of my family/home/life, I will write about the rest of our 2009, and have some fun going through all our pictures from Christmas in Hawaii and all that good stuff. (bytheway hawaii, i miss you)

Sound good? Good.

Soooo... november. The first week we have almost a dozen birthdays in the family. On the 6th is cousin emmett's, (and we wish we coulda been close by to celebrate with him, but luckily we got to have fun together on our hawaiian holiday) and also Gabrielle's- My "dearest, darlingest" sister... I was about her age when she was born. which is crazy. she is a truly beautiful girl, inside and out. someday I hope I figure out how to be more like her.

We got to hang out with my family for her bday, and have some "its a tradition Pink Cake",

and she let J & G 'help' her blow out her candles... they love their auntie gabby!

We tried to get a picture of her and gracie- since it was both of their bdays, and the Sunday we got together for gabby happened to be on the 8th, gracie's birthday. It was funny trying to get a picture where they were both opening their eyes/looking normal, and it was comical....

ATTEMPT #1:

ATTEMPT #7:

ATTEMPT #19:

WE HAVE A WINNER!

The cute birthday girls, G & G...

Gracie's birthday was just a relaxing Sunday, and we basically let her do whatever she wanted. Which for her, is a really good day! :) When she woke up, she opened her presents and was deliriously happy. The best $6 I've ever spent. Thank you dollar store! Tutu: $1, candy purse: $1, pack of wands: $1, stick pony: $1, bag of animal cookies: $1, cute wrapping paper: $1.

Birthday bedhead/pajama pictures: priceless.

Honestly, what's not to love about this girl? She's been driving me crazy/keeping me on my toes lately, and has some sort of sixth sense for finding trouble & making horrific messes. It's scary. But that's for another day, another post...

Thanksgiving was lovely... we are blessed to have most of our families so super close. There's always a bit of juggling with time and schedules, but we got to see a lot of family, and enjoy catching up with them all. It was nice that a lot of them traveled here to Utah, from Texas, Oregon, California, NY, etc so that we could see them! And the kids are surrounded by amazing loved ones- I'm grateful they have such great examples and friends among their relatives. We are very blessed.

Well that's November. 2009. Feels like it was yesterday. Time is whooshing by, that's for sure.

mine...

2009-11-08T21:47:00.003-07:00

There are so many cliche phrases running through my mind today...

"I can't believe my baby is two years old..."

"It seems like just yesterday that she was born..."

"Why do they grow up so quickly?"

"I feel so undeserving to have such a joy of a daughter."

Yes today is Gracie's birthday... and she is truly someone to celebrate.

My brother Austin was recently talking about how she basically has two temperaments:

number one: super chill, and number two: super fun

I know I'm biased, but she is just the spunkiest, sweetest, brightest, prettiest, funniest, cuddliest, snuggliest, most playful and most delightful little girl. She is a firecracker, and keeps me on my feet, but I love it. I love how she adores her brother, and how she calls him "yak"... I love how she squeals with excitement when daddy comes home... I love how attached she is to her blanky, and makes sure that her dolly always has her tiny blanket too... I love how teensy-tiny she is, and how huge her smile is... I love how she seems bulletproof, and that even though she is such a daredevil, she's also tough and doesn't notice that she's hurt... I love that she's not into all the princessy stuff yet, and isn't prissy, but still quite a bit sassy... I love how much she reads, and her tiny little voice when she's reading to herself out loud... I love how I can't leave her alone for more than three minutes because she will create such enormous messes... I love how she can brush her teeth for hours on the stool at the sink, while I try to do her hair, and I love that even though she has a mullet, it is wavy and curly and is nothing like my hair... I love how she says "hi!!" to everyone we see, whether we are at the grocery store or the park, and how she makes people smile so easily... I love that she has such a huge appetite for life, and goes full speed, but then loves to stop and have peaceful snuggle time... I love that when I hug her, she squeezes SO tightly, and says "mine!"

Happy Birthday baby girl! I guess you're not such a baby, but we'll keep calling you 'baby' and keep you our tiny little girl forever and ever! We love you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, that isn't really related, but I thought I'd share:

I've been waiting for LiaMolly to come out with a new kids line, and its finally happened.

Four years ago when I was pregnant with Jaac, Ry and I were shopping and stumbled on THE cutest little kids' hat on clearance at anthropologie. If I could ever design kids clothes, this look and quality would be what I would attempt to create. Ever since that purchase, I've been scouring the internet for other ridiculously affordable treasures by this amazing designer... I've been lucky to find a few little dresses for the same price as a dress at walmart!

Now I have to be patient and wait for these gorgeous dresses and coats and skirts and hats and scarves and gloves to go on sale, and just hope that gracie stays tiny so that by the time they're a deal, she can wear them for a long time!!!

can i just say...

2009-10-06T11:31:00.008-06:00

that i love these little people.

so much.

i realize that my posts are very wordy.

i've always been a chatterbox...

i remember nearly every teacher since kindergarten,

saying in parent/teacher conferences,

that 'cari has the potential, but she sure is chatty!'

so i'm going to try to keep it shorter and sweeter...

and just say that i really love our pandaboy and our little ladyloohoo...

and I'm really happy going through these pictures which captured this time in their life-

they are best friends, but they know just how to drive the other one crazy...

and we all feel a little bit of the craziness, most days...

but that particular day, there was a moment where they had clean faces and kept their shoes on, and smiled and played together in the orchard...

in the very last week of the warm summer, right before mister frost rolled into town...

what a great summer it was.

i love these little people.

so absolutely much.

dinner in a pumpkin...

2009-09-24T02:36:00.000-06:00

Oh, the sweet crispness of fall, how I love this time of year!

A common question we've all been asked: What is your favorite season?

Mine?

I have so much love for every season.

I enjoy running through rainstorms, and the blossoms of spring...

I love the pure freedom of summer, the beach, the lakes, the farmer's markets, and the trips...

I love fall, but am always surprised by its actual arrival, since the anticipation feels so long. Then there are the few glorious weeks of sweaters and boots and autumn-colored mountains and soup, and then...

Snow! Oh how I love me some snow. I pray for it... I can sense when its coming... The whole world changes when it snows- its softened in a way- so clean and beautiful. It ALWAYS snows on my birthday. In fact, it has always snowed on significant days- baptism (huge storm, making family members' traveling difficult, {sorry}) , wedding (huge blizzard, again sorry folks), birthdates of both my kids in February and November... It really is magical and I love it.

But back to fall.... isn't it lovely?

The motivating feeling of a fresh new school year, even though we're not in school {sigh of relief!} that makes me want to re-organize and re-prioritize! and General Conference! and halloween costumes and decorations! and dinners outside, up the canyon- basically a lot of family togetherness!

There is one thing about this time of year that I always DREADED.

Dinner in a pumpkin.

Ever since mrs. Martha showed this recipe for stew in a pumpkin, it has become more and more popular. she has made it seem glamorous and desirable. dare I say, trendy.

Back in the days of just Cari and Austin, and then Brady too... we knew that on halloween night, amongst all the festivities and candy collecting, we would be required to partake of the most disgusting meal on the planet. I'm gagging right now thinking about it.

I googled "dinner in a pumpkin" and the image results were too disturbing, but this is pretty similar, with grey ground beef and chunks of celery. I'm dry heaving again, must stop describing...

We weren't allowed to participate in any of the trickortreatering until we had finished up our entire ration of the slop. Oh it was bad. both of my parents won't say whether or not they ever ate it... and it probably is worse in my memory than in actuality, but you can ask austin- it was awful.

SIDENOTE: for a comical take on Halloween, please find Jerry Seinfeld's book, or even better watch his standup about it! ("what did you say? someone's giving out candy? who's giving out candy? everyone we know is just giving out candy? where? when? I gotta be a part of this! I'll do anything... ... I can wear that.") :)

In spite of the tragic meal tradition, my halloween memories are great ones... My parents were SO creative with our costumes, and went all out. They were amazing!

I'm Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese,

I really think so.

with the nickname care bear,

this costume was a no-brainer...

(and yes, I still answer to 'bear')

(wizard of oz theme with dad as scarecrow and mom as witch)

Little Miss Muffet and the Spider: (and mom rockin the 80's fashion)

I had to put this picture in - Austin's spider face makes me laugh out loud:

The tooth fairy and tube of toothpaste- always a crowd pleaser:

Austin's head was naturally perfect for the role of frankenstein.

and my temperament was obviously fitting for my wicked witch get-up...

Such good times! Such good memories! It's fun to go through the old photos and think back to 20 years ago...

and this one I don't think was a halloween costume, but I have so many pictures of me as a cowboy or cowgirl (depending on hairstyle/length!) My mom's Texas pride runs deep...

Speaking of my mom, and the reason why I was thinking about Dinner in a Pumpkin today...

It's my mom's birthday!

September 24th!

Last year we did a big ol' shebang with lots of family and friends, and even her parents who flew up from Houston to surprise her... and this year will probably be a lot more low-key

{I'm kind of relieved since last year I was a basket-case trying to keep all the plans a secret, and doing invites, and rsvps, and super-spy work, and making food and her giant cake... yes very relieved!} BUT, we will be celebrating her fabulousness... and Jaac is demanding that we make her a cake WITH a candle :)

She is an amazing woman...

She has an enormous heart, and a gift of empathy greater than anyone I've ever met...

She loves traditions and decorations and hostessing and quotes, and dishes and cakeplates...

We love her. She always gave us our vitamins, encouraged us, and taught us the gospel.

She puts up with my headstrongness, and chaotic approach to life, austin's sarcasm and raptor impersonations, brady's 'bardy' moments, gabby's desire to act 18 when she's really 13, and Natalie's decision to stay 12 forever. She is the perfect mom for our family, and we are lucky to have her.

She looks for the miracles in life, and like Albert Einstein said: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

(she probably has that quote in vinyl lettering somewhere and I haven't noticed it yet... !)

Mom, I hope this year brings you many miracles, and that you enjoy it!

I love you.... Happy Birthday!

And to everyone else, happy fall!

Mostly good times...

2009-09-11T12:00:00.000-06:00

most of our wedding pictures are the cheesiest poses of us looking into the distance!

At our wedding reception almost 5 years ago, we were blessed to have many people come to celebrate our happy day... surrounded by family and friends, we felt so much love and support, and amounts of generosity that compelled us to feel undeserving and yet thankful.

Once we got home from the honeymoon of bliss, and we began to open presents and create our first home/apartment... I had a darling box that I started putting the wedding cards in...

{okay, I should probably mention a personality flaw of mine. I have a problem with boxes. and bags. and cards. I keep them. if they are cute, I cannot get rid of them. and even if they aren't so cute, I usually try to stash them away too... BUT, in my defense, I reuse them! Poor ryan is puzzled by my compulsion to hoard the so-called 'garbage' and organize them in closets and drawers. I've even caught him trying to throw some away, but I remind him that he too collects things- computers, record albums, rockets, airplanes, and all things Sony... :) and then he usually makes some comment about all the sentimental "old" things that I'm holding onto such as my great-grandma's yellow table, and my grandma's sewing table, and my daybed from childhood, and so I give in and let him throw away the cute FAO Schwartz bags from our trip to NYC a year ago... he's right- I do have a problem!}

anyway, in the box of wedding cards, among all the bright and cheery wishes of congratulations, and promises of wedded happiness forever and ever and ever, there was one note that stuck out from the rest. It was just that- a note. Written on a kitchen memo note, with a border of vegetables and raised flowers. With the words,

To the Runias,

May you have a life of mostly good times.

Love, (ryan's neighbors who shall remain nameless)

The note immediately took a prime spot on our refrigerator. All by itself.

"... a life of mostly good times..." :)

ha! such wisdom in those words! My amazing mother-in-law {who deserves an entire blog about her amazingness, and who coincidentally is also a bag-keeper} was the one to really help us realize the humor, and the truth in the wish we'd been granted.

For marriage isn't meant to be perfectly-perfect times, all the time. Sure, it was the best time we had ever experienced, but after awhile you have to step out of the selfish 'us' phase and begin serving others. When you add in all of the real life complications, and when other things are added to the lists of priorities, sometimes the spouse {husband} is the one who suffers.

Like when you have 2 kids under 3...

and your wife who needs her sleep doesn't get her sleep, and spends more time and money on the kids clothes than hers, and the laundry is stacked on top of the furniture that you once painted together, and the car you once loved is stuffed to the brim with carseats, strollers, crackers, and juiceboxes. In fact, Everything is stuffed with crackers and crumbs and trinkets from the toddlers. Nothing is clean... nothing is sacred. Where is a husband's sanctuary?!?

Well, for a few hours this week, Ryan and Cari found it... on the golf course...

9 holes of fun (okay, actually we only made it through 6 holes because we wanted to go to dinner and get back in time for the cute little babysitter to get home on a school night) good quality us time. I know that a lot of people do the 1 date-night a week rule, but we haven't been great at that. We usually do something with the kids, which is wonderful, but also slightly hectic. Okay, really hectic! Sushi night with us and the kids isn't a date! Even if those kids love edamame! So now we have learned a great lesson. Plan a date, and don't cancel it for ANYthing.

{also, it was so great to squeeze in some time with my brothers, before Brady went up to school at BYU-I and Austin continues to travel the globe.}

I can't tell you how much I love my brothers.

I'm a lucky girl to have them... and it was fun to see them marvel at Ryan's golfing skills. Even if he was just showing off cuz I was there, he was still impressive. 3 birdies, and most of the time his drive would land straight onto the green. and yet, he was patient enough to go along with me while I hit my ball 5, 6, or 7 times to make it onto the green, and even had to use my sand-wedge, and 'hand-wedge'!!!

So Ryan, I want to thank you for the mostly good times...

I'm so thankful for you and all you do for our little family...

You keep me laughing, and you keep me on my toes...

You put up with my quirks and faults, and even love me for them...

and I promise to get better about having date nights...

I can't wait to go to new york with you this fall, and spend a bunch of time with JUST you {and a million tourists}, and go the the old mission sites, and hold your hand while we walk along in the crispy magical autumn air, and go to the temple {obviously the truest of sanctuaries}, and stay at the Waldorf, and find that little jewish deli with my favorite matzoball soup and your turkey sandwich, and go shopping, and perhaps I won't try to keep all the cute shopping bags this time...

perrrrrrhaps.

midnight multitasking...

2009-08-29T01:38:00.001-06:00

I'm having one of those overwhelming moments.

It's late at night, and I had a delightfully simple day.

I'm up waiting for the washing machine to end, because I have to re-wash the shirt that Ryan needs for his golf tournament early tomorrow, since gracie squirted her juicebox all over his favorite shirt and the other clean clothes in the laundry basket.

{I love that he has a favorite shirt.}

I'm trying to stay busy so I don't fall asleep, so I can take it out and hang it to dry overnight.

Then I hear the doorknob to the kid's room turning---

usually it is a sound that I don't entirely enjoy, because it means that the babes have awakened, and break-time {and productivity} is over.

But tonight, my heart skipped with excited concern.

Did my pandabear boy have a bad dream?

Does he need to go to the bathroom?

Does he need a new pullup?

Does he want me to rub{wub} his legs{weggies} because his "bones hurt"?

Is he planning on climbing into bed with mom & dad, so we feel like we're sleeping with a helicopter?

I rush toward the room, and he is frozen in the doorway, with his hands shielding his eyes.

"Hi jaac-jaac, whats the matter?" I ask as I turn off the hallway light that seems to have blinded him.

"Hi mama....... I just miss you."

i melt. suddenly I'm a complete pool of melty mushy goo.

"Well lets turn you around and get back in the bed, eh?"

"okay mama, you nuggle {snuggle} me pweeeease?"

"Sure bud, okay, climb in..."

I crawl onto his little toddler bed, crowded with his blankies, books, and pandas, and I'm scratching his little back, watching his slowly blinking eyes. While I'm thinking how much I love this little boy, and that I can't believe how much he's grown from the first time I held him, I was fighting back tears, when suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by his raspy voice...

"uh, mom, can you scwratch my back bettah?"

I realize that being deep in thought had made my fingernails lazy, and they were not doing their job correctly. It was such a little moment, and probably only means something to me, and I probably won't even post this long late-night narrative, but it reminded me of when I was little enough to get my back scratched, and I would get annoyed if my mom would just scratch one little spot...

You see, we mamas have hands which are always moving, working, lifting, cleaning, wiping, waving, brushing, writing, rubbing, cooking, scrubbing, washing, decorating, typing, building, baking, or sometimes, scratching a little one's back...

But our minds are even busier!

Our thoughts are all over the place as we are busily going throughout the day (and nights)...

We are always multi-tasking, and lately, my extra "task" has been to really be in the moment.

To pause, and REALLY B E with my kids.

No drastic changes... our days are still the same, with train sets, spilled juice, dancing to Dean Martin, walks to the park, and wardrobe changes (gracie is always putting on new, funny clothes)... but I have changed. I'm desperately trying to pause the most random moments, when they give me a funny look that I don't want to forget, or when they say something hilarious, and we have a good laugh together.

I can't tell you how many mental pictures I've tried to capture this week. And I'm even getting better at bringing out the camera, so maybe I'll get organized enough to go through the pictures and document my dazzling children and their simple, yet enchanted life.

But maybe not, because I might just be too busy building forts.

random, sentimental picture of Jaac's first picture,

in all my labor-and-delivery glory...

Gracie face...

2009-08-03T10:28:00.001-06:00

The pictures are piling up in my phone, and I keep thinking about writing some grandiose post about our summer, but let's get real:
a. I'm not really going to take the time to do that, and
b. I'm pretty sure that there are two people that read these posts anyway... So i'm just going to put up random pictures, without any sort of order or captioning... Hope you (both) enjoy them... Love!

Mister Tromper...

2009-07-15T21:41:00.001-06:00

This kid had such a fabulous time up at Aspen Grove last week... But now it's up to mom to keep up with him again! Everyday he woke up at the crack of dawn (as usual) with one thing in mind: "let's go to trompers!" "it's tromper time now, mama?" He loved his group of friends and all the fun stuff that the couselors had planned for them! I think it's safe to say that my little baby boy is ready for preschool! Yikes, I'm not sure if I'm ready for it though!!!

It was so great to see all of the Wood family- Ryan has such wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins, and it's amazing to see how big the family is growing, and it all started with Papa Wood and Gabby! I'm so thankful for the examples of all the experienced parents, and I could see them grinning a bit when our little buggers were having meltdowns :) Thank you so much for such a great reunion!!! We love you all!

Gracie enjoyed herself, but came away with a black-eye, a chipped tooth, and a new clingy streak! I only have this one picture of her hilarious boo-boos on my phone, but Ryan took a bunch with his, and also some videos that we could send in to America's Funniest Videos... (I guess all parents think that the videos of their own kiddles are funnier than they actually are!)
so maybe we will spare you... :)

-- Posted From my iPhone

A test for Ry Guy...

2009-07-14T10:13:00.000-06:00

This is a test. From my phone.
While I'm playing 'Bonopoly' with jaac.
This is only a test.
In case it works, there are three things I'd like Ryan to know:
1- I love you more
2- your kids are pretty stinkin adorable
And 3- you don't have to pretend that you don't check the blog dozens of times per day! Now I can update it all the time, so get excited! :)

-- Posted From my iPhone

hey dude...

2009-06-17T11:16:00.005-06:00

Dear Nana & Botz,

Once again the Dude Ranch (family reunion) was wonderful- thanks for such a great week!

~ gorgeous horserides, check

~ daily fun at the water park (I want my own lazy river someday), check

~ insane amounts of insanely delicious food, check

~ tee time every morning, check

~ ryan smelling like golf for a week, check :)

~ matching t-shirts with the same print as the past 10 years, check

~ seeing how grown up all the 'little' cousins are, check

~ puffy tacos & riverwalking in san antonio, check

~ evening drives through "town", check

~ watching the super-tough & studly twins turn into goo while trying to get gracie to smile, check

~ more giant bugs species than I ever needed to see, check

~ Blue Bell ice cream, check-check-check!

~ a lil'bit less pale than we were a week ago, check

What a great time! All of the pictures of our kids are busy 'action' shots, and Jaac & Grace never stopped smiling! (my dad's observation about jaac-jaac was that it was like he was in the Groundhog Day vortex, where everyday he gets to wake up and do all the same exciting things, over and over again! So funny, so true!) On the third day, I woke up to him shaking me in bed, saying "mama, I want to go to the waterpark today please!" And you know that's a really long sentence for him!

Thank you for everything, I know it's a lot of work & sacrifice for you, but we all LOVE The Flying L, and we love you! :)

{and to all the passengers of Delta flight #4497,

I am truly sorry for the last 25 minutes of your flight. Truly. So sorry.}

"and please bless blady"...

2009-05-14T00:14:00.007-06:00

well okay. today was not one of my best.

sick kids all week equals no sleepy all week.

insane allergies (yes i am one of those allergy dorks) equals quasimodo red, itchy, puffy eyes.

messy house equals disgruntled husband.

far too optimistic in my project-to-time ratio, which equals 47 half-done endeavors {or half undone depending on if you see your glass as full or empty, i s'pose}

but...

BUT...

B U T . . .

in just 5 days, I will get to hug this guy again!

my favoritest person in the whole entire world!

(alright, I know that ryan is actually my numero uno, but he loves this kid like crazy too, so its all good!) see? :)

man oh man oh man oh man, am I excited for monday!

my little brother, Elder Brady Matthew Wright, will be returning to the happy valley.

after two years... 24 fast sundays... 104 weeks...

I could not be MORE PROUD of my brother. He has grown in a way that even I wasn't expecting- and I've had great expectations for this guy. What a blessing it has been to witness his growth, and to try to catch some of his contagious spirit of love, service, and testimony!

Brady and I have a relationship that I know is rare. I cherish it, and know that it won't change, even when our lives do.

When he left, Jaac was just 15 months old, and they were such little buddies! And now, at EVERY SINGLE prayer, Jaac says "and please bless Blady on his MISH-on, and please bless Tannuh on his Mish-on". (Tanner is Ryan's brother who is serving a mission in Hungary and has 1 year left!)

It has been so obvious to see the effects of Brady and Tanner's example to serve a mission.

Jaac's #1 song request is 'I hope they call me on a mission'

(which is such a nice break from our usual 'Mambo Italiano' and 'Fly me to the moon'!)

At just three years old, he has such amazing examples all around him...

His dad, his uncles, his grandpas, his greatgrandpas...

SO many men who honor their priesthood covenants, and who are some of the most Christ-like people I know. He has some enormous shoes to fill, and I hope that as his mother, I can teach him to live up to his potential. daunting task, i must say.

And gracie? well she and uncle blady will finally get to meet. I was pregnant with her when he ventured out to bring great southern souls to the gospel. in the weeks before he left, we had many talks about the lil' babe in my belly (lovingly referred to as fetus mccleatus), and how I thought if it was a girl she might be Grace. he approved, and gave me a few beautiful songs that he found that made it all fit just right. yes, they will have a little catching up to do, but i must say, it is highly unlikely that they won't fall madly in love within the first few minutes. that's my hope anyway. he says this Easter picture is his favorite that I've sent him:

It was such a treat to get to talk to both of our brothers on Mother's Day,

and I just hope that someday they will be able to see the blessings that have been poured out upon our families because of their willingness to serve The Lord!

Baarrrrddddeeeee, I'll see you in a few days!

I can't wait for the late night talks, the walks, the laughs, the maverick yogurts, and to see you finally snuggling the kiddles!

Love, Kiiiiiikiiiiii!!! :)

( there aren't enough memory cards for all of our crazy {embarrassing} pictures! )

onelip, tulip, threelip, four...

2009-04-28T14:10:00.018-06:00

~{ W A R N I N G: P I C T U R E O V E R L O A D }~

Last night we met up with the Runia fam at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point...

We go up there often, but we haven't been to the gardens yet this spring...

wow. gorgeous. beautiful evening, and a fun family night. Everyone loved it.

(ryan even had a great time, but that was largely due to the fact that there were ginormous helicopters taking runs to pick up water to put out a fire on the mountain in the distance... we kept trying to get Jaac, our helicopter lover, to look but everytime he would look straight at the bright setting sun, and then miserably say "I can't see it!"

poor guy, he was blind after the first couple times, but it was really funny!

anyhoo, here's some pictures...

mister mop-top:

and this little girl is such a fireball... most of the pictures are of her running away, or blurry cuz she's running away, or just a bunch of flowers because she ran out of the frame...

I was trying to get a nice pretty shot of her, but she wouldn't stop sticking out her tongue!

I'm not a 'portrait every 6 months' kind of mom, but if I can't get a normal picture of her soon, I might have to go to a professional! Help!

I lost count of how many times I said "Don't pick the flowers!" He's used to plucking up any dandelion he sees (since that's basically the only 'flower' in our little yard!)

I think uncle audie will need to help her with her 'blue steel' pose...

how cute are my inlaws? I mean honestly.

and finally, she's sitting still in the golf cart... {thanks to uncle nolan holding her!}

and this picture is for ry guy. because he took more pictures like this than he did of tulips. :)

Such a fun night out with the family... I'm hoping we make it out there again later this week!

short & sweet...

2009-04-16T01:10:00.002-06:00

A picture!

It's a miracle!

We {aka, ryan} have successfully transferred all of our 9 billion pictures,

and now I get to go through them...

So for now, enjoy gracie's sillyness.

That girl is always drooling... always smiling...

stalling...

2009-04-10T22:16:00.014-06:00

So, I'll admit that I've been putting off posting- especially anything

that requires pictures which are stuck in our camera...

Ryan is 'tweaking' our computers, which means I have nowhere to download

all our pictures that we've taken since christmas.... (i know, i know, pathetic parents)

So that sort of explains the randomness of my bloggingness... sort of...

Anyway, my friend reminded me of something that I wanted to share with {both} of my faithful readers...

A fabulous money saving wonder!

We all know I'm cheap. I like nice things, but I like cheap things...

and if I can find cheap AND nice things, all is well in my world.

I save everything that I think I will reuse, and I try to sttttrrretttccchhh stuff as much as possible.

I thank my great-grandmothers for passing that gene to me. My great-grandma Lucy would peel apart 2-ply paper towels, and wouldn't let you use more than a 1-ply square for anything. I just had a vivid flashback of plucking ripe raspberries with her in her backyard, and watching her meticulously taking care of everyone in her cozy home, and the smell of her special pillowcases, and running in from the heat to grab frozen chocolate chip cookies from her never-ending supply...

what a woman.

So, anyway, on to my money-saving find! I'm know I'm not the only one that has discovered them, but since my friend andrea hadn't seen them till today, {and she knows her baby stuff!} I figured I'd share the little wonder...

First of all, I must tell you that I am partial to Smith's grocery store. It's close to our house, they always have at least one brand of every item on sale, and they send me personalized coupons according to the things I buy the most. (and yes that did feel a bit invasive at first, but it's wonderful getting dozens of coupons every week that you know you'll use!) And they have a baby club, where you get a point for every dollar you spend on baby items, and at every 200 point mark, you get a $10 off coupon. So since I only buy baby stuff that's on sale or with coupons, or both... I end up spending a LOT less than anywhere else.

Everyone's happy.

Also, my kids have sensitive skin. Every baby/kid has sensitive skin. But when you combine Jaac's crazy bad eczema with his involuntary need to pick every little bump and scratch every little itch, you've got one rashy little guy. Not happy.

So of course, we've been through every brand of diapers and wipes, because of his rash-prone hiney. After just a few hours, we could tell which brand was a yes, and which was a 'not a chance', and so we settled with Huggies Supremes, since they seemed to cause the least damage. fine. but not cheap. not happy.

Over two years of coupon after coupon, and still testing a cheaper brand every now and then (and yes, we tried the massive box of normal huggies from costco, and those were a nightmare. luckily, gracie's tushie isn't too picky, so she eventually used them...) until just last month, I spotted a cute, bright green package of diapers called "Comforts"...

hmmmm...

could a diaper that is a fourth of the price that we're paying possibly work?

you betcha. better than huggies. {huh?} better than supreme. {gasp!}

better than heaven!

So get yourselves to Smiths/Kroger and look for the bright green package.

They're about $4.99-6.99 for the same size as the $11-16 Huggies, and there's usually a $3.00 off peely sticker attached to it. And you can print unlimited $3 off coupons online. Seriously.

And when your kids wake up in the morning without soaked jammies, you'll thank me...or thank comforts..... you'll be thankful.

{and, since I heard that the Easter bunny is bringing Jaac some "big boy undaweahs,"

we hopefully will only be buying size 3's for gracie, and no more 5's for the pandabear!}

{please no comments about my not-yet-toilet-trained-three-year-old. I've learned that its best not to rush a spirited toddler who doesn't like to be diaperless- especially if he's got dutch blood in him!}

{But PLEASE, any help on the dreaded training process is much appreciated!} :)

First day of spring field trip...

2009-03-20T08:06:00.002-06:00

Okay, so about 7 or 8 years ago, as a young nanny in Beverly Hills, my eyes were opened in a way that only I can appreciate. I love that now when I think back to those times, I don't remember the star-loaded affairs or grand galas... but I do remember reading time. Oh, reading time! The boys whom I was allowed to care for had exquisite rooms, filled with everything you could think of... more fabulous than any movie scene I've since seen... giant stuffed animal friends, custom bedding of the softest fabrics, furniture specifically chosen for them, and closets full of unopened Tiffany boxes of baby gifts, etc etc etc. But one of my fondest places in their rooms, besides the overstuffed-oversized-upholstered rocking chair, was the bookshelf. There were many bookshelves in the home and I took the liberty of speed-reading through most of them, but the children's books have a special place in my heart. At first I was drawn to them because I enjoyed reading the inscriptions on the inside covers... "with love from so-and-so" and "all the best, love you-know-who"...

but then it became a time of comfort and peace in a whirlwind world.

I could sit with a boy or two on my lap, and enter a make-believe place.

This morning I was transported back there, when I flipped open the laptop and opened the internet.

Google. . . First day of spring. . . in their clever little way, the google people made this:

If you were to ask my mom, she'd tell you that I've had a weird obsession with Eric Carle. I don't much mind, because of his brilliance as a children's author/illustrator. So inspiring, so creative, so whimsical... And so I think it fitting that his art would be chosen as a symbol of the first day of spring, and my heart skipped a beat when I was surprised by the image. I was immediately swept into that safe, calm place in children's books and it made me long for some sort of discount on all of eric carle's "very first library" collection so that I can fill my OWN children's little heads with all sorts of merriment! (they have some of the basics, of course, and the other day when gracie brought me both 'Polar Bear, Polar Bear', and 'Will you be my friend' to read to her for the zillionth time, I caught myself mid-murmur and realized how wonderful it is that she loves to read! And the fact that she turns around and walks backwards to my lap, even from across the room, makes her irresistible!) :)

So... I propose that we take a trip to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Its just around the corner, {in Massachusetts}

so don't worry, we'll be back in plenty of time for the kids to have their naps.

Grab your sippy cups and goldfish crackers, and meet us in the lobby!

And then if we have time, we can hop over to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden!

Alright, so maybe not today... maybe someday,

but for now, at least we can enjoy reading the books with our little ones!

{and enjoy the first day of spring!}

"We have eyes, and we're looking at stuff all the time, all day long.

And I just think that whatever our eyes touch should be beautiful, tasteful, appealing, and important." ~eric carle~

"I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun." ~eric carle~

Nature's first green is gold...

2009-03-17T23:38:00.020-06:00

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay.

{Robert Frost}

I vividly remember in high school when I first read this poem, and I often think of it when the seasons change...

Today was one of those days! Hall-lay-loo-ya, SPRING has arrived!

How can I tell?

1- Ryan called at the end of work today with the awkward "how do I get my wife to talk me into going golfing"

tone in his voice, and had an amazing opening to the golf season... (on hole 5 at Thanksgiving Point, he drove it 395 yards!

-and his gps gadget thing proves it, so its not like an exaggerated fish story :) Let's get this guy in a longest drive competition!)

2- our little patch of tulips {from when I planted them 2 years ago} has one last bunch that has survived,

and it's giant green leaves are gorgeous, just waiting for the bulbs to show themselves in full bloom... and I think they'll be yellow...

3- We went to the park, and the kiddles could finally take off their hoodies!

(jaac has an obsession with keeping his hoodie's hood on his head,

and it's cute and quirky, but if I EVER try to take it off, he has a fit and screams, "no mama, keep-a-hoodie-on!"

But when the warmth of the afternoon sun began to soak through our layers of winter clothing, we naturally wanted to feel

the sun on our arms, and the breeze through our hair (which in gracie's case is growing into a lovely mullet)

So imagine my excitement as I witnessed the little man as he unzipped his hoodie, then took his arms out of the sleeves,

{looking like a superhero with a hood instead of a cape} and then finally, as I watched with great anticipation,

but doing my best to look nonchalant, he took off the hood! With a simple "here mama," he handed it to me, and that was that.

Oh, how I hope to prove Mister Frost wrong when he states that nothing gold can stay...

for I am enjoying this time of nature's first green...

and I am blessed with all kinds of golden nuggets of joy...

and I want it ALL to stay!

Third's the best of all the game...

2009-03-01T22:18:00.003-07:00

Does anybody know where February went? :)

We have been busy, and as I imagined, I'm awful at any attempts of journaling... {shocker} I'll try to catch-up...

I'm not sure how much will actually get documented, but here's a start:

Jaac turned 3 on the 3rd! Such a big boy!

I am overwhelmed with love for this child of ours...

his explosive 'spirited' personality, his polite little manners,

his 'lingo' :) , what an amazing big brother he is,

that he is ALL boy, and that he's a mama's boy!

He is my little side-kick and I can truly say that I love EVERYthing about him.

We had a chill day, with Ry taking Jaac in the wee hours of the mornin' to a special birthday breakfast.

(Grace and I are not the early birds that the boys are, so we slumbered)

Unfortunately, it was some sort of 'free pancake day' at the denny's down the road, and when they pulled up, there was a line around the building. Seriously?!? So they returned, defeated and famished... so I whipped up our own version...

Jaac quickly figured out that "birthday" meant "I get anything I want," and he exploited that privilege to the max!

His requests were hilarious, ranging from geggies? (eggs) wif chechup? (ketchup) and clocklit meeeelk (chocolate milk)

and pips (chips) and nuckets (chicken nuggets) and memenems (m&m's)

{notice the junk food theme, I guess I'm more strict than I realize, poor kid!}

But trust me, this kid has more energy at the crack of dawn than most people can muster up with gallons of caffeine! Any excess sugar just makes him bounce off the furniture. {i'm being literal here, folks... there isn't a horizontal surface in our house that he hasn't conquered!}

Later my parents came and picked him up for a special birthday lunch, and then they took him to the toy store and got him more track for his train set.

He talks about the 'twack stowe' nearly everyday... thanks mom and dad!

We waited to do his party until Ryan's parents got back in town from St. Barts

(ahhh, lets take a moment to picture paradise... mmmm...)

Ryan's fam's tradition was to do birthdays at Chuckee Cheese, but after we had Jaac's 2nd b-day there last year, I said I wouldn't do it again

(too much chaos and too crowded, and way too much money!)

However, just recently, anytime jaac watches WordWorld, or anything on KUED, there are so many commercials for Chuckee cheese,

and he's been begging to go to "Ucky Cheese!" So we gave in and ended up there again!

It turned out to be lots of fun, especially for the birthday boy, who darted around all night, barely pausing for pizza, cake, or presents.

He was pretty much in sensory-overload, but luckily there was a lot of family there to rotate on Jaac duty!

Thanks so much to everyone for coming, and for always showing so much love to Jaac-jaac! He is one lucky little boy!

As he would say, "Gank you!"

I made a panda bear cake for him, since he's our little panda bear...

by the way if you want to see the commercial that we saw a few times in the hospital when he was born, (and the beginning of us calling him "panda beh") here's the youtube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J16vPEicmmQ

the ad is strange at first, but whenever little newborn jaac would cry, we started saying "Why so blue panda bear?" and it stuck... :)

It still makes me smile! I mean come on, buffet of manliness?!? :)

Happy birthday, little man, our panda, our chancho, our juice, our brother bear, our little comedian, our train conductor, our iphone swiper, our snuggy-snuggler, our back scratcher, our oldest child that made us a little family of three, just 3 years ago! Oh, how we love you!

Things I never thought I would do...

2009-02-02T23:11:00.008-07:00

** Dress my daughter in lace... but I can't wait for her to grow into this... she's still too tiny!

{From the time I was really young, I had a profound hatred of lace

and anything with lace on it... especially the really cheap, scratchy kind,

which I called "fake lace" ... Lucky for me that my grandma's amazing seamstress

talents granted me gorgeous lace-free dresses for all my twirling desires!}

** get to go to The Holy Land with my hubby, and his wonderful family...

(and its a miracle that we finally made it out of Hezikiah's tunnel!)

** do the 50/20... three times... 150 miles of insanity... and I'd do it again... crazy, eh?!

** start a blog!

Well, I have to say that I have been very cynical/skeptical about the whole blog thing.

I don’t mean to offend you fellow blogettes, but I thought that it was a

silly use of time, which would be better spent doing other things.

I didn’t see how I could just put everything out into the worldwideweb…

But this week the kids have finally started to take a nap at the same time (a blessed miracle),

and rather than taking that extra chunk of quality time to clean my house or shower,

I’ve been blog-hopping around through many people’s fun blogs.

Once I got over the guilty feeling of being a blogstalker,

it was really interesting to see what people are up to.

And it got my little brain a thinkin’… Maybe blogging isn’t a force of evil…

maybe it is a resource to take us away from our hyperdrive, instant-everything,

carpool-lane lives- and escort us back to a friendlier, slower, more trusting time.

Like when I’d visit my great-grandma {Mammaw we miss you} in her tiny little town,

or my Aunt Vicki’s even tinier town…where you knew everybody,

and you waved at EVERY car that drove by, and didn’t feel silly about it.

You could walk right in to any of your neighbors’ back (screen) door and just chat.

Converse. ‘Chew the fat,’ as my Nana would say.

People could watch their friends’ kids as they grew up, and laughed at the funny moments,

and prayed through the tough ones… they looked out for one another.

I know that our little ‘happy valley’ town is not a big city,

but I feel like we’ve lost the Avonlea charm…
So if this is a way to get a little bit of that feeling in my life, I’m on board…

hopefully it doesn’t make you bored. :)

So if you’re driving by our little blog, wave and say “hi”…

2009-02-01T14:19:00.000-07:00