December Entry Part 1

What a busy, exhausting, filled to the brim month! I love the whirlwind of activities, and I tried to purpose in my heart to just soak more of it in this year. To make more of an effort to be present and ENJOY. Enjoy friends. Enjoy family. Enjoy food. (yeah!) Enjoy the gifts that God has given me and be thankful for his ultimate gift of sending his Son to be born into this world.

This year was supposed to be a "Kale" Christmas, but since Dad is overseas, we chose to stay close to home and go to Alaska in the summer when the weather is nice! ((fingers crossed)) We had the privilege of staying with Josh and Heather for the first part of our stay, and then with Chad's grandparents Roger and Norma the last part. The kids had so much fun with their cousins getting to play with them all the time at Josh's and Chad and I enjoyed getting to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and talking basically picking their brain about "life" and their memories together from childhood. I am so thankful for my extended family!

Here are some snippets from our activities from December!



The Ugly Sweater Party. I think this picture of Jeremy, Chad, and Jon speaks volumes of their personalities... (this one is for you Dad)


The girls...Chad liked Candee's sweater the best because she just looked like you could cuddle up to her and get a glass of milk and some warm cookies.... (I'm pretty sure that I saw his grandmother wearing this exact same one at Christmas.)





Levi working very hard on the cookies he was supposed to be making for his daddy. I think only a 1/2 of a slobbery Santa made it home to Chad..




Speaking of Santa, Heather Marie worked painstakingly on this Santa. He was gorgeous I tell you.


Heather Marie's mom, Meg. She is such a gem. Every holiday that we visit Washington, Meg is always inviting us over to some sort of party. All of them Cookie Parties now that I think of it; my kind of girl.




This is my best bud. She was always checking up with me, "Hey B, you gonna eat??" Hey B this, Hey B that....what a little personality she is...

I know you will all be waiting on pins and needles for the second post so stay tuned! And Happy New Year! Time to watch the ball drop.....

What I'm Thankful For

First Thanksgivings

Cosmic Bowling with the fam

Naps after a full Turkey belly

Sweet Nieces who take the time to play with their adoring younger cousins

Thoughtful nephews who color pictures for his tiniest baby cousin

Helping hands to make Thanksgiving dinner so yummy (thanks to my assistant for the posed hand)

Relaxing reads afterwards

Family

Halloween Sweeties

Let me see that Tootsie Roll!! (It was stuck in my head all day; she had the dance moves and everything.:)

Feeling much better! Thanks for your prayers.

"Which way to the Pacific??"- Amelia the Aviator

My Cuties

Bathtime

Poor little Bubba soaking in his oatmeal bath. He's actually doing much better.:)


Waiting patiently....err, not so much...




Now that's better.. don'tcha just want to squeeze her?

Over the River and Through the Woods

excepppppttttt, everyone came to me this time! I had the pleasure of hosting my Aunts Ramona and Debbie, and Grandma Kale (known as Grandma George to the kids) this past week.



(The timing couldn't have been better for their visit, because the morning that they left, Levi broke out in Chicken Pox. Or Chicken Bawks. Or Chicken Bites. Etc.etc.etc... He's obviously been kissing to many hens on the sly. Anyway, back to 1986. I mean, 2009. Yes, Chicken Pox still exist folks. Can you believe it? Ah well, that's another post. Back to the visit with the fam.)



Anyway, these gals are gals after my own heart. They love to go, go, go and do, do, do; we are definitely related. Some of the highlights included a Scarecrow Stroll through the Botanical Gardens, picking apples at a local organic farm, making applesauce and fruit leather (hello Mrs. Jacobson), roasting pumpkin seeds, having an early Thanksgiving dinner complete with learning how to make "real" gravy (I will never eat it again after seeing it made), buying a 20 lb. sunflower head so I could roast the seeds, a visit to the pumpkin patch and petting zoo, and of course a little "antiquing". I had such a nice time with them and so did the kids. Thanks for your visit guys! Here's a few random photos, because what is a post without pictures??



Aunt Debbie looking like she's up to something. Probably killing some flies.



Pumpkin Seeds. Yum-o.


Thanksgiving (sorry you missed it)

Homemade applesauce

Great Grandma George with the girls

Emme

Can this baby be a whole hand already?

I tell you 40 times a day to put the baby down, she's not Superman. But you love babies and can't help but want to squeeze her. I love that about you and I hope you become best friends. You put on wearing your "church clicky shoes" even when wearing sweats because they make you feel pretty. You love to put on lip gloss,eat marshmallows, dress up, hit your brother because he's a pest then play "baby octopus" with him for hours, and snuggle in your cat sleeping bag every morning. Riding horses seems to have become one of your favorite things to do at preschool. And Josie the horse loves you. You have a sensitive spirit and I hope you keep that forever. I love you Emme Kate. Happy 5th.

Little Missy's favorite hangout

it's like a typewriter and everyone else has a computer

ok, so i've been doing some thinking about this blog thing...i'm doing a poor job of keeping it up at best, and i need to be more directed with my time now that I have three littles!! (i.e. facebook...blog......Facebook......blog.....FACEBOOK....blog..if you catch my drift)....



But in retrospect, I wish I still owned a typewriter (did I ever own one?: no) because something in me just can't let go (read: clutterbug)



So in the interest of those who still aren't Facin' or Spacin' here is my contribution to you.



This is my newest babe. And she is a baby doll, let me tell you. I am soaking her up!! She's 5 months now and sitting up and scooting around! Yes, I know, I have told her that moving is against all rules until she is at least 9 months old, but she doesn't listen. The nerve.

So for now I will keep up the blog and hopefully all three of you will keep reading my sporadic posting and ramblings about my life!

Who do you think she looks like??

Emme at 5 months

(pic of Levi by Kamalamadingdong at 6 months)

Summa Summa Summa Time

So here's something new that I've been up to! Have you ever heard of meal swapping? My good friend/college roommate Beth got me started on making meals ahead of time, freezing them, and then swapping with some friends! Currently we have 8 peeps in our group and have had great success with getting yummy dinners. We all meet for ice cream once a month, but first we throw open our trunks and let the goods start rolling! Mexican casserole, Chicken stir-fry, Meatballs, BBQ hamburger, etc...that's what on the menu this month. I love it; plus it keeps me out of the kitchen when I'd rather be outside in the summer!



Kim and I swapping, writing our instructions for baking last minute




Nayibe and I sitting in the trunk with our coolers. Fill 'em up girls!:)

Meme Tag from Amanda

Friday, June 19

a meme-

Eight Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Being finished with Potty Training!
2. Fitting back into my pre-pregnancy summer clothes
3. Getting new tennis shoes
4. Seeing my family for the holidays
5. Having lots of time to scrapbook
6. Soaking up this newborn stage of Claire
7. Paying off the hospital bills (so we don't have to give her back!:))
8. Going to the coast for vacation in August!

Eight Things I Did Yesterday:
1. took some maternity pictures for an awesome family
2. washed sheets
3. made chicken pot pie for dinner
4. Washed and folded laundry
5. talked to Gretch, Nat, and Mom
6. Browsed a scrapbooking magazine
7. nursed Claire 6 times
8. tried to be domestic since this week has been hectic and the house is showing it!

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. be a runner and enjoy it!!
2. go to a concert in the park
3. visit my sisters more often
4. have fresh flowers all the time
5. have an RV
6. catch up on my scrapbooks
7. get a new wardrobe
8. be more patient with Levi

Eight Shows I Watch:
1. The Office
2. House
3-8. Whatever happens to be on when I sit down for the night!

Eight Favorite Fruits:
1. strawberries
2. fresh pineapple
3. grapes
4. raspberries
5. fuji or pink lady apples
6. clementines
7.
8.

Eight Places to Visit:
1. Singapore
2. Africa on Safari
3. India, on a short term mission trip
4. Boston
5. Hawaii to relax
6. England, Scotland, Ireland (it's one trip)
7. Australia
8. Spain

Eight Places I've Lived:
1. Alaska
2. Lynchburg, Virginia
3. Wildwood, New Jersey (for a summer)
4. Aiea, Hawaii (for a summer)
5. Oklahoma City (for a minute)
6. Boise, Idaho
7.that's it.

Eight People to Tag:
1. Gretch 2. Nat 3. Mom 4. Katie L. 5. Heather S. 6. Heather H. 7. Dawn 8. Sherry

Cutie Girl

My little "big" girl. Here are her stats from her two month checkup.

16" head circumference (80%)

25" length (90-95%)

13 lbs. 12 oz. (90-95%)

I don't make milk, I make heavy whipping cream. :)

If she were edible, I would eat her up.

Seeing Things

Most days I get caught up in just the daily part of living but today I was inspired to actually take some time and see things. Some day I am going to miss this so I want to write it down.




My sweet girl. She found her thumb yesterday.


My other sweet girl. She was determined to sleep in that laundry basket, but I talked her out of it.


Levi cuddled up at nap time. He had a hard day being a pirate at gymnastics.

Pictures

Sorry about the Memorial Day pictures! I ended up just posting them on Facebook because it is waaaaaay easier than blogger to upload. But during my free time this week I've been photoshopping some pictures of a sweet little newborn. You can go to http://photos.philldog.com/ if you would like to view them! I have really enjoyed the satisfaction of a completed project.

Memorial Weekend-ugh....

i'm having trouble uploading my pics of the weekend, so while i struggle along, take a look at my pretty little reader..

Finally

Just in case you had forgotten, I did have another baby recently...:) Here are some pics of my beautiful girl...

She has recently started smiling, however I can't seem to catch it on the camera. And believe me, I tried. I was crouched next to this bouncy seat for a solid 10 minutes waiting.... but I caught my oldest yardbird stealing a few kisses...

As you can see, Em loves her. A little too much sometimes and I have to tell her to back off. But she is such a good helper too and she loves her little "buji, buji" ( I have no idea what it means, she made it up..)

I love having a newborn in the house again...if only they stayed that little.....(and slept through the night of course.:))

the new one

Claire Elisabeth Phillips
Born March 20, 2009
8 lbs. 11oz.
20 1/2 inches


Whew! Sorry it's taken so long to blog..(g and n). I am feeling pretty good right now so I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog! Plus, mom took the kids to the pet store, the little lady is swinging, so basically I have the house to myself. :) Here are some pictures from the big event!







Things went smoothly at the hospital and now my mom is here helping with the transition to home.