for sale

First up, a sweet and temperamental 7 year old. Loves to talk and that is usually a good thing, but today - my head and ears are saying otherwise.

Then there is a really cute 5 year old that apparently does not need any parental direction in her life because she already knows all of that!

Up next is the sweetest 2 year old that speaks so well you can understand him clearly. At 2am and 4am included.

Yes, I know I have more sweeties, but so far these are the only ones that make the cut.

C, just pointed out to me that these are OURS, but he said it would be alright if only I claimed them today. Shocker.

Don't judge me. You all know what I am talking about here.

Okay, so I wouldn't really sell them. That's illegal. But I would let you borrow them. For Free!


(Offer expires when they are less annoying, whenever that may be. Man, they are driving me crazy today! Hey look, there's another gray hair - perfect!)

Acting like a 2 year old

For those of you that might be concerned that a kitchen table is too big for a toddler or an infant to eat their food. Now you can rest assured that indeed it does not matter, for they simply just use the floor.

Nooshie decided that he wanted some frosted flakes as an afternoon snack, he was going to be generous and share them with his eight month old baby sister. How kind.

After they were finished picking through the pile of cereal on the floor, KD began rolling all over in it & Noosh decided to play in it with his feet. He happily smashed every single piece into the carpet. Repeatedly. and I let him.

Look at that face... How could I honestly say no?

Bread Worthy

What is it about bread that makes it a hot commodity? Seriously?

This once non-existent staple in my house has now made its ranks back into being in the top 3, along with diapers and toilet paper.

We go through a minimum of 3 loaves a week! It used to sit in the bread basket for an entire month and one loaf would go moldy before it was used up.

At what point did we pass the point of no return?

It all started with the baby and her incessant need to eat. Toast was easy, and perfect for her little mashers to chew. It was like waking a giant. The kids all re-discovered toast like it's supposed to be something they only heard about in a fairy tale. I once heard it existed, but I had never seen it before.
Come on people - its toast! Toast!

Then there is the need to butter the toast. Just start calling us the Butterton's instead of the Howerton's. I should just buy a cow and churn my own butter at the rate we are going through it. The kids must think that there has to be more butter than toast because I can rarely see the bread hiding under the butter when they are done. Can anyone say clogged arteries?

Now, our favorite two year old sits at the kitchen table and attempts to make his own PB &J sandwiches. I have attempted to help rescue the bread from what can only be considered bread abuse, but he is insistent. So the bread continues to be wiped into oblivion in his attempt to spread the peanut butter. And you might as well forget about ever wanting to eat a peanut butter sandwich in my house. The knife used to spread the delectable afternoon snack has been licked no less than 100 times, while the attempts of spreading on the bread were made. I am sure that there is more saliva in the peanut butter than there is peanut OR butter.

Now that you are all hungry and really wanting to come to my house and eat a sandwich, I will conclude this wonderful story of my life as a stay at home mom with another cute picture.
Enjoy!

Inspired

I am going to confess something that I am honestly a little ashamed of. I don't discuss it because it embarrasses me. You can even stop reading this right now, I will understand, don't feel bad - I'm just venting. You can't say I didn't warn you.

I have to confess that I do not feel like an amazing mom or an intelligent person. I have been called both of these and they are most definitely a compliment, but to me I just don't see it or even feel as though I compare. I see myself as a homely housewife, struggling to find balance with her own appearance, her ability to be a really good mom and the house that is desired to be kept immaculate. I simply just am not and can not.
There, I said it out loud. No taking it back now.

I was married briefly to a high school boyfriend just one year after I graduated. I did not go to college because of this. I worked. The marriage was a learning experience for me and it ended just as quickly as it began. I grew a lot, but mainly spiritually, even though I didn't realize it then.

Fast forward to now. I feel as though not going on in my education has hindered who I am. I feel dumb when people speak intelligently with big words. I got street smarts and common sense and honestly thought that it would be enough for me. I now find myself desiring to go back to school.

I need to gain the self confidence to have an intelligent conversation with someone that does not include "knowing lines from Napoleon Dynamite" No offense to Napoleon or anyone who quotes lines, I just need to make better use of my time.

Recently, I was inspired by other mothers. I mean I am always inspired by other mothers, but for some reason, there are some really amazing mothers that live in this cold region of the states. Not only do they speak intelligently, but they have the housewife, crafty mama, organized and put together part down too.
It is a big desire for me to be that put together and still maintain a house that is organized, crafts for the littles and have an intelligent conversation. Sure we all have a little clutter with toys and books - but I don't let anyone go upstairs on purpose. I simply cannot maintain my house the way I used to when it was just the two of us, or even just us with two kids. I find myself feeling like I am drowning a little here. I have the desire, but never the time. So please don't touch the top of the bookshelve or look behind the tv. It's been a while since it was dusted.

I used to think that the weather was making me feel this way, but really - it may be that I sit in my house day after day and stare at the potential and think that if some motivation could just fall from the sky and land in my lap - I'll do it. So far no luck. There are days that I just want to pack it all up like we're moving just so I can start over, it seems so much easier. I also think that I just need to get out a little more. I get excited when my phone rings and its actually someone calling to talk to me and not a doctors office calling to remind me of an appointment.
I stare in the mirror every time I pass it and think of ways I can improve my look. It generally has a lot to do with the hair, cause it is the easiest fix - and then it gets me wishing I had the same body I had nine years ago. I don't even remember what it's like to be that skinny, and the cute clothes, don't even get me started on the clothes. I just might weep.

So without making anyone feel sorry for "that poor woman" I will stop my whining and just deal with it. I will continue to pretend that I know that the intelligent thing you just said totally made sense to me, and I will always apologize for my house and the toys that you just tripped over. This is my life right now and I will do my best to make it look easy to have this many kids, but deep down you'll know, I am really waiving a little white flag. There is no super mom here. Just an ordinary plain jane living the dream as a housewife. Who's inspired now? :)

more teeth, please...

It's a Beaver!

It's Spongebob!

No.

It's KD!

she has FOUR teeth now! What a beautiful smile!
She is doing well considering the gallon of drool that falls from her chin every day!

She is still as cute as can be and putting anything and everything in her mouth.

She rolls every where she wants to go and is trying to figure the crawling thing out. She has a slither move thing right now and it works for her. She has also been standing up against things for longer than 30 seconds without tumbling over - she is gaining that balance needed for standing on her own.
She is officially on the move and there is no going back!

I also think that she is looking a lot like her daddy, what do you think?

Winner!! Winner!!

I've WON!

Ok, so maybe not like hit the jackpot and giving everyone who reads this a million dollars kind of a win, but whatever!
Actually, I was tagged for this Kreative Award from the Other Howerton six. Not related. We accidentally met as they were nominated for this award a couple of weeks ago and her friend put in our blog address of Howerton6 instead of spelling it for theirs. Kind of cool!

So here goes some attempt at trying to be creative, since that technically is the name of the award. I am supposed to name six things I am thankful for. Please don't get bored while reading. I'm reaching a little here :)

These are all my favorites and just because I mention something I am thankful for at number 4, it does not mean I am less thankful for it than number one. The fact that it made the top six, means it really rocks! Also keep in mind, that I did not list everything, so no bickering - m k?

1. I am thankful for my mom! She is such a wonderful woman and example for me! She has been my solid support through a lot of the BIG events in my life and she does so with out being judgemental. She has taught me so much and I continue to learn from her. Thank you mom!

2. I am also thankful for my husband! Who also is very thankful for my mom, so don't go getting any ideas, since she is number 1. I mean really, how do you not thank the one person that loves you more and more every day even when your having a bad day? He rocks! He works so hard and has made many sacrifices for our family. He is always doing things to make our life better. WE love you so much!

3. I am thankful for my kids. All of them. I love their spirits and happy smiling faces. They bring me a lot of joy. Silly or challenging, they make me a better mom and how can I not be thankful for that!

4. I am thankful for Whitey's watermelon sherbet. Yes, I know, a little silly, but ice cream made the top six. Right along with chocolate, brownies and everything that is so dreamingly yummy and fattening! Yay for calories - which brings me to number 5.

5. I am thankful for Yoga and Pilates. While I do not have the most perfect body, these things make me feel better physically and emotionally. It makes me realize that it is ok to indulge a little and not feel so guilty.

6. I am also very thankful for the smell of a little baby (the good ones anyway). I love the chubby cheeks, adorable dimples, toothless smiles, thunder thighs, pudgy fingers, and silly little giggles. There is nothing more awesome than having your baby tell you she loves you with her eyes.

Ok, so now its your turn, 6 things you are thankful for. I am supposed to pass the torch and nominate people I know. It was hard to not nominate everyone I know, but I needed to leave some for you to pass this on to, so here goes some pretty cool blogs:

1. One in a Million - go for it girl!
2. Learning and Growing - can't wait to see it!
3. Adolescent Family - this is going to be a good one!
4. Make every Moment Count - gonna love it!
5. Wise Family - time for some more fun!
and drum roll please.......
6. its a tie! the Adam's Family and My Curly Hair Days! - YAY!!

Childs play

Chan, Beans and Nooshie were all playing nice this afternoon and I just had to share the humor with their imaginations. This is just a little excerpt, but I couldn't keep up. :)


Beans was playing as the mom and Nooshie was "the kid". Chan was playing as a soccer player and the theme was that Beans was going to take Nooshie to a soccer game.

Chan: How bout you guys wanted to meet the players so you have to come early.
Beans: Ok.
Beans: Hey there player, my kid wants to meet you
Chan: Hi!
Beans: Hi!
Chan: you want my autograph son?
Nooshie: yes
Chan: I will even tell you my year I was born, how bout that?
Beans: Ok
Chan: I was born in 19... um, 19... um, how about 1925. No wait! I'd be dead already. How bout 2000.
Beans: Ok, thanks for your autograph player.

(Chan's voice as the announcer for the game): "Introducing this player born in 2000!"

~This would make the player just eight years old~

Chan: Beans you are supposed to cheer.
Nooshie: he's a jerk
Beans: I know
Chan: That was funny!
Nooshie: Go Winner! Go Winner!

Challenges and Changes

I'd be lying if I didn't say, I'm glad my kids went back to school today! I love their laughs and their beautiful smiles, but man oh man I can't stand the whine!

Why is it that sharing and picking things up is just so hard to do? Responsibility goes out the window and kindness is on their own terms.
Being a parent is something I have always desired but once they start to talk back, I wanna give them back.
We have special moments here with cuddles, loves and hugs - and if they didn't out weigh all the bickering, name calling and mess making - I wouldn't understand the value of raising such great kids!

I know I speak often about what a challenge Chan is, but he has the sweetest spirit too. If I could have one wish, it would be that Autism would have a cure. Answers to life's questions about how to raise a child that really is like a puzzle. I only wish I had all the pieces so I could put him back together.
I think the hardest part is the not knowing. Not knowing when he will explode into a meltdown or because you looked at him the wrong way. Not knowing if the hug you give him can be felt as a warm fuzzy or if it's just someone squeezing him a little too tight.
I have seen the light that shines in him and there are days that if I didn't know what existed inside, I would probably give up.
There are days that an hour with him is a lot! Then there are days that a whole day is not enough! Probably the biggest puzzle I will ever accomplish in this life and I intend too!

The children had the opportunity to watch the inauguration at school today. I am so glad that the school did this. Our kids have had a lot of exposure with the presidential race at home and to see that carry over is really neat. Nooshie kept walking around the house saying "look, Bawak Obama! " it is just the coolest thing to see that even our two year old is aware.

I have hope that today, as we introduce a change in the nations capitol, that a new light will shine.
We as the American people expect much. Our home welcomes Barack Obama as the President of the United States. We are excited and anxious to see the changes that we hope will take place in the next four years. It was awesome to watch the ushering in of a new President and to witness the excitement that not only exists in the nations capitol, but in many homes across America. History was made today.

I am not going to debate this with anyone as I believe that we all have the right to our own opinion. So, may God bless this nation. Bless our homes and enrich our lives as we are all invested in this historical event.

"Obama is the president. He was starting to be the President at 11:00. We got to see it on the screen. We got to see his speech and stuff! " Chan - 7yrs

" Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America. We watched it in the auditorium at school." Beans - 5yrs

And just to keep the cuteness level up, KD playing in the kids colorings and star wars toys with a sticker stuck to her face.

Road Trip!

well, if you can really call the next biggest city a road trip, then we totally left town!

A view of Des Moines from across the frozen lake.

The Iowa State Capitol building located just off of Pennsylvania Avenue!

With 6 days off (the kids, not me) we knew that some time out of the house was deemed absolutely necessary. C worked his magic (aka people in high places) and acquired us 6 tickets to Didney on Ice, some hockey tickets to the Chops and then negotiated an upgraded 2-room hotel suite for FREE!

It was a lot of fun and the kids did a decent job of sitting in the car for the supposed to be 2 1/2 hour one way car ride. The weather did not participate on the way there. We soon realized the 30 mph winds were not only blowing snow onto the roads, but that there was ice. We witnessed at least 3 cars go in the ditch and just missed a couple of roll overs. The freeway was lined with no less than 15 cars and semi's that lost control. So we spent about an hour longer on the road than planned, but we were safe. The kids were so glad to see home again that they have spent there precious time just messing it up. Today we clean! Yah, for me!

Daddy and KD at the hockey game!

Nooshie cheering for the Chops!
he was playing on the seats and hit his head~ poor little guy!

Chan and KD.
It is amazing to watch Chan at a hockey game. This will forever be a true love for him!

KD sitting in her own seat!

Beans, so glad to be watching a Hockey game!

Didney on Ice. This was probably the coolest costume.

Nooshie really enjoyed watching the cars, but he kept covering his face with the Mouse and his friends

Chan and his ice cream!

Beans Couldn't wait for the show to start! Did I mention we were just 5 rows off the ice. It was a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday Dad

My Dad, my friend, Oh how I loved your stories, your wonderful laugh and giant bear hugs.

NeVeR to be fOrGoTtEn.

FoReVeR in our hEaRts.

yOu are so dEePly missed.

A birthday is something always to be celebrated, even in death. For through your Birthday, we celebrate your life.

Remembering you today.


Mom, our prayers and love are with you also.

Baby, it's cold outside!

I sit here and enjoy a fantastic cup of hot cocoa, while we stay inside to keep warm. The weather has been hovering in the below zero's with huge wind chills, throwing us into 20 and 40 below zero temps. The national weather service putting us in a wind chill warning. It is recommended to not leave your home unless necessary. It is stated that frost bite will occur within 10 minutes in this weather.

It is Exactly a year ago today, that we arrived in Chicago from Seattle. The weather was also just as cold with wind chill advisories blasting us on the tv screen. It was clear within minutes of being in the Midwest that our winter coats were no longer going to be any good here. (Don't get me wrong, the Midwest is a better place to live since we are here :)

The sun is shining and very enticing for the kids today. I was forced to explain what frost bite is. I may have been a bit extreme with the black fingers and then they all fall off part, but they are no longer asking every ten minutes to go outside.

School has been canceled for the second day in a row and then is followed by an already planned 4 day weekend. We had ideas of driving to Des Moines this weekend and catching a hockey game, but have changed our plans just a tad. We are still leaving town, but more like Burlington or Moline (just across the river). We will stay in a hotel, as if we are farther away from home and have gotten tickets to Disney on Ice for the kids. Please send warmer weather our way!

With love from the land of cold! It could be worse, it could look like this:

Baby Days

Its lunch time for KD and I was serving some yummy baby food from the jar. She seemed to enjoy it. But then.....

She stopped and looked at me very intently.

I wonder if my mommy will think I am really crying?

is it working yet?

Maybe some hands moving will make this appear more real...

What? What do you have there?
Come just a little bit closer.

Yeah, that's what I wanted.

Mommy's lunch

Not mine.

Yeah. mmmm, this is the good stuff and mommy gave me the rest of hers.
I am that good!

Tomorrow, I'll be 8 months old.
Watch out world, I got this place figured out.

My Happy

There are times when while doing general daily tasks that it hits you. The spirit is stronger. No special reason, but you feel it. The feeling is an undeniable great feeling of sunshine and happiness. It is radiating from the inside of your soul to the outside of your body. It makes you smile. You want to shout your happiness to the world and you never want this feeling to fade.

I love this feeling. If only every day could begin and end this way. The feeling that you are surrounded by angels and all of them know you personally and love you more than you know. A heavenly hug. Something to be desired, like a child with an ice cream cone. What a wonderful world this would be. What a happier mama I would be everyday, no matter the tasks or events of the day.

The gospel means a lot to me and there are times I feel as though I am very hungry for the spirit. I consider Sunday's to be my re-fueling. When there is no church or a reason I am unable to make it, I become saddened. I yearn for this. I know that I can still pray and read my scriptures in the comfort of my own home, but there is nothing like the spirit that has just taken residence in the chapel. The feeling of a combined spiritual renewal is just like no other. It is the reason I continue to attend church even though I know the chances of actually hearing a talk or lesson from start to finish are very slim.

I know that being a mother is my most important and divine calling in this life. I know that my entire focus of raising my children needs to be grounded with the gospel and then branch out with family, values, manners and love. I hope that when the world is drowning in possessions and false dreams that I would have done my job as a mother and that my children will walk tall because they were loved with the gospel.

winter antics

As the cold settles in and Winter really begins, our first thought is on making sure we stay nice and warm. In the winter we tend to get lazy. If we need to run to the grocery store, we take turns leaving in the bitter cold so we do not have to take the kids. We watch a lot of movies from the comfort of our couch and we consume a lot of comfort foods. Suckers are always included in this category and it seems that KD had found one that got away. She unwrapped the sucker and went to town. We let her have it for a little bit since we think the effort was totally worth the reward.

Nooshie set up his own little fort on the couch and hunkered down for some personal and uninterrupted coloring. Peek a boo!

The kids took turns taking their own pictures with the camera. At least two out of 162 turned out to look like something recognizable .

We have also come to the conclusion that Chan, is probably getting tired of always being inside. He decided he NEEDED something out of the car. C said we should let him go get it, so Chan put on his boots and his coat and went outside. The next thing I know, he is jumping on the trampoline. While it is still snowing. Wearing shorts and snow boots. Who knows if he actually got anything out of the car... :)

"THE" package!

Okay, so if it is not obvious by the expressions on their cute little faces - They LOVED everything!
The unexpected package in a pretty box from Grandma arrived and I no longer could contain the volume level in my house. There was a lot of hootin, hollering and jumping around and I hadn't even opened the box yet.

I barely lifted the adorable little dresses for KD (Thanks again for feeding my addiction, I love it!) out of the box, when Nooshie no longer able to contain the movement of his arms DOVE into the box. He quickly pulled out the one thing he knew was his. "My SPIDEMAN!" I wish I had taken a video.
Chan laughed and laughed about his shirt and he ripped the lego pen packaging to shreds trying to get it out as fast as he possibly could. Beans tried to convince me, she would not be cold wearing her outfit to school tomorrow. We comprimised. She's wearing it the rest of today, and then to church on Sunday. :)

Thanks for thinking of us Grandma! We love you and miss you!

Chan's Shirt reads: I try to be good, but I take after my Dad!
Beans is holding an upside down Thank you card she made for Grandma. It's in the mail!

I am old now, apparently

My favorite 7 year old asked me, oh so normally today:
" uh, mom? is this like it was in the old days? you know like when you were a kid. "

I am officially my mom. (No offense mom. It is actually a compliment.
except the old part. :)

The stories of walking 5 miles to school, uphill, one way, in the snow, with no shoes.

I am now that mom.

Thanks Chan for making me so old :)

2008 Great Posts

Their have been some pretty great things that our kids have done. We have been lucky to get some of this on video.
These were great moments from 2008, and were not saying that just cause we're their parents. Although that does have a lot to do with it.

Chan's "Carefully" left us laughing for weeks!



Then there is Nooshie's Napoleon Dynamite repeat:




And the "frosting" epsiode

I LOVE dresses!!

if you have seen This. Then you know that what I am about to show you is also just as cute!

I LOVED the little tea garden Japanese style dress that RJ made, I knew I wanted one for KD too, I almost dreamt about it, but I didn't.
So, after looking at fabric for 2 hours at Jo Ann's. RJ and I came up with enough fabric for 2 different dresses, both Amy Butler patterns.

This one is an original Amy Butler design jumper dress and is just adorable. It can be worn with or without something underneath and is meant to be long (ankle length).



RJ is going to sew the Japanese style dress for me too. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can sew, but I am not as good as she is. I would hate to mess it up.

If you didn't already know it, I am sort of a dress dork. I can never have too many dresses for the girls and I plan weeks and even months in advance. Last month church was cancelled 3 separate times. I am now off schedule on the dress rotation because of that. KD will actually grow out of several without even getting the chance to wear them.

We made the jumper dress one size larger at a 9-12 months, so that she wouldn't outgrow it before we get the chance to wear it. Here's hoping!

I say We, like I did a whole lot. I cannot take claim. RJ ended up sewing it together and I watched. So if watching is helping, then I can claim it, otherwise I just made us sandwiches as we talked. I did however want to do something with the left over scraps of material, so I made a matching bow made out of the fabric and then put together a bib and burp rag to match also. Nothing over the top or difficult. KD will only be drooling and spitting up on these.

The bestest part of my day

Every day after school, (yah, school is back in!!)
Anyway, every day after school I talk about the day with the kids. I ask them their favorite part and we go over any papers or things in their backpack.

Today, mine went like this:
"What was the favorite part of your day Chan?"
"um, it was lunch.
yeah.
lunch.
Cuz we had hot dogs and some yummy stuff."
"well, that does sound like a great part of the day."

Then out of no where 20 minutes later, I get this:

" you know what the favorite part of my day is mom?"
"What was the favorite part of your day, Chan?"
"It's being your son."

I totally melted and of course had to share with everyone I know!
Moments like this don't happen often and especially when they come from Chan. This is just the coolest thing ever! I love this little boy so much!!

I also did this today:

KD, keeping busy in the ribbons

Nooshie playing upstairs with one of his friends. They were being quite, so I decided to check in on them and found this mess. I could only laugh.
Apparently it is only fun to play when you can take out each toy one by one from every bin. The best part is that they didn't dump anything they just kept digging until every toy was no longer in the toy box. Oh, the joys of being so little :)