Happy Birthday Don and Rachael

I was gonna think of another witty poem about these pictures, but they speak for themselves. I am lucky to have two driven, successful, confident, yet fashion-challenged older brothers (see Kevins post from months back). Don, the oldest, turned 38 yesterday. Happy Birthday Gramps. The gift is in the mail.


We are also lucky to have an intelligent, beautiful, and patient sister-in-law named Rachael. She has gotta be pushin' 40 as well. Happy Birthday to you too, and thanks for making everyone else in the family feel tall. Here is a "floating head" picture of you!

prophets

on monday we learned of the passing of president gordon b hinckley. so that nite we had a family nite about prophets. calvin got really excited and said he had a "propet" in his room, so he ran to his room and came back with his "trumpet". close calvin.

and now his new favorite song is "follow the prophet." bc the first verse sings about how "adam was a prophet" (adam and eve) but calvin thinks this is his cousin adam bc every time we sing he says "now sing josh was a prophet" "now sing emily was a prophet" we haven't gotten to the whole women and the priesthood discussion yet!

it is strange to think that calvin & oliver will grow up with a new prophet since president hinkley was the prophet during the most formative years of my life. when i was a freshman at BYU we slept out overnite "to see the prophet speak" at the marriott center. yeah right, we just wanted an excuse to stay up all night with boys. i should look up that devotionals bc i don't remember a word he said. but i will never forget the moment he walked in the auditorium 30,000+ people stood up to sing "we thank thee oh god for a prophet."

faith of children

church every sunday for three hours with two little ones, sometimes in the back of my head i question why?!!

and then when calvin is saying his prayers and w/o any guidance says "and please bless daddy, no futbol owies"

you know why.

scott scraped his elbow playing football and calvin was really concerneed when he came home. so that night he knew to ask heavenly father to bless his daddy.

and today on our walk through the latest discovery a fabulous tropical forest park w/in minutes of our house. again unprompted my little calvin said "mommy, heavenly father made the trees"

what a lovely walk in the park we had as he told me everything heavenly father made for us.

firsts

yesterday we noticed a little whit spec in oliver's bottom gums, his first little tooth. i tried to get a photo, but the flash seems to make it disappear. aren't babies supposed to be up all night and fussing when they are teething, we love u ollie!

today, calvin had his first little, face-in-nasty-dirty-grocery-store- floor tantrum. he wanted to ride in the double car grocery cart, but oliver still can't sit up alone with much strength yet and last time he kept bonking his face into the steering wheel every time we moved. so i couldn't budge on this one. calvin could not use the car cart. so he threw himself down on the floor, and yes it was nap time and i was pushing it which accounts for most of it. the solution that finally worked. he would be peter pan and navigate our ship through banana island. we bought onion balls to throw at the lost boys and captain hook oranges for the crocodile. he really is such a good little helper. right now, he still likes tinkerbell, but i am sure his dad will change that soon. yesterday at the library he turned the balloon puzzle pieces sideways so they looked liked tackle futballs and decided they needed to go for a touchdown.

while trying to get calvin to put away his landry we started talking about jobs. my job is to put away the dishes, i tried to convince calvin he is supposed to clean up cars and put his clothes away. and according to calvin daddy's job is "paper." which all you family lawyers will appreciate, bc isn't that what u get stuck doing all day anyway. so daddy is a "paper lawyer"

and supposedly Jesus is coming to our house to play cars, i hope he likes it here!

sneak peak

everyone wants to see our hous and i have been waiting for all the rooms to be clean at the same time to go around and take some pictures. i finally realized, that is NEVER going to happen. at least not all at the same time. unless i want to be more of an uptight control, neat freak than i already am and i don't. i wish i could learn to not let it bug me, but i have not quite mastered that yet, scott is quite good at it. oh well!

the wall hanging above his crib is there to remind me daily, my gma made it and it says "cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow becasue babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. so quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep, I am rocking my baby and babies don't keep. "

and the other reminder i need a lot

"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all."

take a look at the video i posted on youtube of ollie's room!

gotta go, calvin wants to read his dino book and eat mcqueen snacks from gma. if you don't knwo what a mcqueen snack is then u are missing out!

An Ode to Oliver's Privates

I have something to tell you
But you need not shed a tear,
I arrived back in the summer,
But my nuts are not yet here.

I have five little fingers,
I have five baby toes,
But ask about my testicles,
And noone really knows.

I think I'm getting bigger,
I see it every day,
But I don't feel like a man yet,
Cause my balls are M.I.A.

I do not understand it,
Its wearing on my pride,
I have a little wee-wee,
but my balls are still inside.

I like to grab my dingy,
Tho Mom wishes I never did,
I just need some balls to handle,
Like Iverson, Nash, and Kidd.

Today I go to doctor,
To get an ultrasound,
And find an explanation why
My balls will not come down.

So think about lil' Oli
The one who poops and drools
And hope the Navy doctor,
Will find his family jewels.

Written by: Joy

its potty time

calvin has pooped in the toilet three times now.... i think i need to read a book to learn how to do this right. right now he just wants to try to get potty treats (aka leftover chirstmas candy his mean parents didn't let him pig out on)

any favorites?

don't hot it

most moms keep a book of cute kids their children say and this is mine, so if you are bored, read another blog!

today i was gettting calvn a turkey dog and i put it on his plate and as i was walking to the microwave he said, "don't hot it mommy"

too cute.

and yesterday as i was reading him a book about philadelphia (which made me miss it terrribly) i was trying to tell him the picture was of the schuylkill river (pronounced SKOO-kill, Dutch for Hidden River) and he just kept syaing "no, mommy, that is not school that is water!" and william penn was not william penn, but rather Captain Hook.

he is loving Captain Hook right now, which makes me so happy bc i always try to introduce him to the good old classics and he usually gets bored.

dishes no more

i don't even have words to express my happiness at the sound of the quiet hum of my new portable dishwasher doing my dishes while my children sleep......

i have not had a dishwasher since we left Virginia in August. This is the best $100 I have EVER spent in my entire life!

calvin notices

the things calvin picks up on and can now express have been making me smile lately.

yesterday, we went to check out a family gym (basically you can bring your kids to a play area while u TRY to excersice)

when i put on my running shoes to go calvin said "mommy, ur go running like daddy?" (ok, it has been awhile since i put on my running shoes, thanks calvin)

yesterday we talked about what people drink

"daddy drinks daddy bobbies" (any soda)

calvin drink big boy bobbies

oiliver drinks mommy bobbies

and momy drinks, mmmm, water"

this morning i woke up to a little boy by my bed, "ur still sleeping mommy?"


often he sits at he computer and says, "i need to see my cousins" or he lays down on the floor and starts dialing the phone becasue "i need to call gma bubbles"

and everytime he falls, he jumps and and unpromted states, "i ok mommmy"

"i need gma bread" (homemade bread gma cookie send us)

"i need your salary daddy. buy food, buy cars" (calvin's abbreviated understanding of what we try to teach him about daddy working to take care of us)

and when it is 11 am and i still have not gotten dressed, calvin tell me, get your clothes on mommy!"

fresh fish doo doos

as a suprise for scott, the boys and i stopped by the little fish market on base yesterday. they catch fresh fish every morning so for $3.50 i bought two swordfish fillets and made a yummy dinner! calvin liked seeing the fish, but didn't understand why they were in ice rather than swimming in water....

scott wants to eat more seafood, but i am still learning to like it, living on an island, i figure now is a good time. i am always looking for quick , healthy recipes and i think fish may be my new solution. a quick marinade and grill for a few minutes and you are set. white, mild fish is where i am starting and so far soooo good! but i guess i am spolied with fresh fish...

try this one if you like limes, i serviously doens't even taste like fish with all the flavor that the swordfish just soaks up. we ate couscous and "popper beans" (edamame) with it bc i know calvin will eat that and then we just hid little bits of swordfish in his couscous and he had no idea, well he watched scott with a skeptical eye, but scott hid it well.

and mom, this is so easy.....you wouldn't even mind making it!

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (had to use bottle)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt (kosher)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 pinch cayenne pepper (i didn't have any)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 fresh swordfish fillets

In a medium bowl, stir together the lime juice, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, ginger, basil, thyme, parsley, hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, and oil. Place the fish fillets into the bowl, cover, and marinate for at least 10 minutes, or preferably up to 3 hours.

Preheat broiler or an outdoor grill for high heat. ( i cooked it on a grill pan)

Place fish onto the grill or a broiling pan. Discard marinade. Grill or broil fish about five minutes each side, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

i was going to take a picture and post it all cute, but we ate it too fast....

Goodbye 2007

We said goodbye to 2007 at Okuma, a resort on the northern end of the island. Thanks to all of your well earned tax dollars, we only spent $8 on a beachside campsite with 3 other families that we have met here. Our tent was right beside this clump of trees. Our little 4 man tent was tiny compared to mansion tents everyone else brought, but oh well.

It was surprisingly cold for Okinawa, in the 50s and windy the whole time that we were there.

See...snot=cold.
Hence we were bundled up most of the time. We got there at about noon on New Years Eve, set up camp, and did a little hiking and exploring.

Calvin did this most of the time (sitting on his booty), and did not lift a finger to help set up (or take down) the campsite. There was a playground close by, and with lots of friends there he ran around constantly for hours until we put him to bed around 930 or so. He went right to sleep in the tent, which bodes well for future camping trips. Earlier in the evening, Calvin had his first go-cart experience. He was excited, but got pretty nervous when Dad starting bumping the other drivers.


After bumper cars, moms and dads stayed up and played some games and roasted some mallows. We watched fireworks from the tent, as Oliver had just woken up. The next morning, we had a good breakfast, packed up, and drove farther north to Hedo Point, the northernmost point of Okinawa. Incredible views and the water was amazing. Blue and extremely violent.



Overall, a very enjoyable New Years, even without the chinese food and banana splits.