Sunday, January 10, 2010

general catch-up

have you ever had so much to post that you find you can't post any of it? that's what's been happening with me. more and more events and cute/interesting/fun things kept happening and blogging about it got more and more overwhelming. which is silly, of course, since first of all, i like blogging, and second of all, anything with a name like "blog" should obviously not be stressed over. anyway.......... i have learned a valuable lesson. blog about one event at a time. and don't move at christmas. AND i know i shouldn't start sentences with 'and'. but (or 'but')..............too bad.

here we go.
gretchen turned 6 dec. 21st. she had a "fancy nancy" party. it was splendiferously fabulous. occasionally, i find myself using some of fancy nancy's words. they are fun to say. gretchy had a great day--i'm glad i can still please my 6-year-old.

gretchen's birthday was a big day for pace, too. he finally figured out how to do "thumbs up". he also got to reenact the blowing out of the candles several times. i think we relit them 6 times. which was great, 'cause gretchy turned 6. totally fitting.
a couple of days before christmas a bunch of families in our ward went camping at a local campground (this was before the FREEZING COLD spell we are having right now). we opted out of an overnight stay, and just went for the evening. the campground is like 10 minutes from our house. perfect. the highlight of the evening was when a bird flew over pace and did its business on his head. he thought it was so cool. i guess he figured it added to the toughness of his camping adventure. don't worry, i took a couple of pictures and washed it off. there's a limit to the amount of coolness i can stand. the picture of the girls with their hands over their heads was taken after the bird incident. another flock of birds flew over as i was taking the picture. they were not taking any risks.
christmas was great. i loved every bit of it. pace got a guitar. he and loren jam on their guitars now. yes, pace even uses the word 'jam'. (real example: "i can't go to bed, mom. i jam with dad.") liesel and gwyneth got the percy jackson books. all 3 of us read all 5 of them in the next 5 days. i love fighting with my 10-year-olds about whether or not it's my turn for the book. i usually win, 'cause i'm the mom. loren stayed out of the fray and just started reading them today.
liesel and gwyneth did a photo shoot with some of their friends (who very sadly moved to missouri last week).
before the FREEZING COLD hit us, we spent a morning at a park in our neighborhood. the kids loved it. loren loved it, too. we played tag and did races through an obstacle course. great fun. i warned loren there would be pictures of him playing on my blog. he was okay with that.

other highlights/adventures:
1. doing fireworks on new years' eve. it's like we got 2 fourth of july celebrations.
2. riding my bike behind an old man on a bike. he was shirtless, had a beer gut, and was wearing bermuda shorts. only in florida. i passed him as quickly as i could.
3. watching the original star wars movies a billion times (loren bought them for the kids). pace LOVES to sing the theme song. his world is now filled with bad guys, light sabers, etc.
4. pace learning how to use scissors. nothing is safe.
5. pace learning how to whisper. finally! church is much, much better now.
6. the FREEZING COLD of the last week. the kids loved it. i did not. working out at 6 in the morning is way, way harder when you know it's going to be cold outside.

12 comments:

Poppy said...

Glad to see that you survived the move...can't wait to see the new place. I love all the pictures, but they make me sad! Your girls are so grown up! I still see Gretchy scooting across the floor on her bum and Madeline giving a great grumpy face and not responding when I try to talk to her! What happened?
Jesse turns 8 and James turns 1 at the end of this month, then Jess will be baptized next month...how did that happen?? I guess Madeline will be doing the same. Can't they just slow down for a little while??

Annette said...

Jenna and I have been competing for the Percy Jackson books, too...and we have been watching the Star Wars movies every Friday. And I start sentences with 'and'. But we didn't move or go camping. I guess I should put those on my 'to do' list!

Penny said...

Wow - lots to blog about, your right! It looks like you had a fun break with the kids. I can't believe that you can go camping in December - that's fun!

Also, please tell Loren that I think it is a good day that is willing to play at the park with his kids and be willing to have it in proof on the blog. That's how it should be.


Your kids are getting big. Your girls are tweens now - it's crazy!

Wish I could come with the girls at the end of the month and see you for real. Have so much fun!

Now, we need pics of your new house!

Emily said...

Your alive! You've definitely had a busy couple months! Yeah that the move is DONE! Now you get to look forward to a housefull of friends. If I wasn't going out of town this week, I totally would have been there!

Ellie said...

1. Hooray for a new post! We've all been waiting -- sometimes patiently knowing it takes time to move, sometimes not so much.
2. I've been planning to do a Fancy Nancy party for Sarah's next birthday (yeah, I know it's not for a while but it takes me a while to make a cute idea happen). Looks like Gretchen's party was fabulous.
3. How funny that getting pooped on made Pace's campout BETTER! I have received bird gifts 3 times and it has never really been something I considered "cool." Guess I need to rethink some things!
4. I start sentences with 'and' and 'but' all the time. My 3rd grade teacher will never know about it. And neither will yours!
5. Peter LOVES the Percy Jackson books. Everything he writes now has a main character named Percy.
6. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!! Do you have a plan to do something about the weather before we come? You are OBVIOUSLY the main attraction, but warm, sunny Florida is supposed to be a nice perk and we'd be a little sad to miss out on that one. :-)
7. Just have to say it again -- can't wait to see you!

Ellie said...

Oh, yeah...

8. I love both Gwyneth's and Liesel's hair in their photo shoot. It's usually pulled back in most of your pictures.

Joanne said...

I was so excited to see you update, but I know what you mean about it getting overwhelming when you have too many things that add up - when we got back from our Utah trip and I still hadn't posted about Sister Trip (or anything else that happened in December) I seriously decided to quit blogging altogether, because it was stressing me out. We'll see. Anyway, I love all the picture collages. Gretchen is darling at her Fancy Nancy party. I love Pace's thumbs up, and how he knows how to "jam". I was laughing about you fighting over the PJ books, because that's exactly what happened with us - the boys got them the day before we left to drive home, so the whole drive Tristan and I kept going back and forth. Oliver was smart and just decided to wait until we finished the first few to get started. I love G and L's hair, too.

Betsy said...

Wow have you been busy! Hope things have calmed down a bit for you!

Little Red said...

LOVE the update and pictures! I want to see the new house too!

Dave and Jen said...

You have been so busy. I wish I was there to help you out. Good friends are hard to find. Your the best. I'm like you i have so much to blog. I don't know where to start and plus we still dont have a camera. It's next on the list.

Rochelle said...

So fun to see you guys having fun. Did you move? It looks like all play and no work. :)

becca said...

You are the queen of picture collages! I love the camping one, with everyone protecting his/her head.
I read the first Percy Jackson book over Christmas, too! I have to get in line for the next ones.
It's so fun to see some boy elements in your life -- Star Wars and jamming being prime examples. Pace is such a cutie!
You moved? Again? More decorating to tackle -- if anyone's up for the task, it's you!