Soy un Hijo de Dios

The kids sing "I am a Child of God" in Spanish to their Grandma Ruth:



The kids are participating in their annual primary program this upcoming Sunday and they were asked along with a few other children in the ward to sing "Soy un Hijo de Dios." We have been practicing a little bit each day and they are getting excited to perform. It has helped me recommit to speaking to them in Spanish as much as possible (I all but fell off the Spanish-speaking wagon during my pregnancy/4th trimester with Nathan). I really want them to be bilingual, but it is harder than I ever anticipated it would be at times. People often ask me if they speak back to me in Spanish. They respond almost exclusively in English but seem to understand almost everything I say to them in Spanish. It is on my never-ending to-do list to work on their verbal skills someday before they leave for college :).

Girl's got Heart

The Kids Sing their Latest Primary Favorite

Singing to Grandma Ruth a couple of days ago. My favorite part is when Maddie does her "army" action.

Some Recent Photos

What do you mean, you don't play baseball

and garden in your swim suit and rain boots? Huh...

A photo of Nathan's daily torture session, aka tummy time. 

He's been spending a lot of time mostly naked as it has been super humid and hot around these parts lately. The boy loves the vibrate option on his bouncy chair.

We went berry picking last week and it turns out the kids are much more efficient blueberry pickers than they were last year. We ended up picking about 12 cups of blueberries. The kids were thrilled. I let them eat a few on the way home and we still came home with 5 and a half pints. Later on that afternoon I went upstairs to feed the baby, and when I came down, all 5 pints were gone! That's 10 cups of blueberries! A measly half-pint was all that remained, and the kids were working on it when I found them. 

Ryan had just come home when I caught the kids in the act. Without going into detail, let's just say I overreacted a little bit (Can't a mama just make some blueberry muffins? That's all I really wanted...)So much so, that Ryan now often jokes and says, "Is it as important as eating a couple of blueberries?..."

Maddie plays ball.


Isaac sings to Nathan.

From the Mouth of My Babes (and a video)

Maddie is giving a talk in primary tomorrow about how prophets teach us to live the restored Gospel. Here she is practicing for the camera. She had me write down exactly what she wanted to say (and corrected me if I didn't get it word for word--"It's not President Monson, mom, it's President Thomas S. Monson"). About 90% of the talk ended up being her words. It just took a few minutes to convince her that, just because it is Mother's Day tomorrow, it's not necessarily appropriate to deviate from the topic and just speak about all the ways she helps me to be a better mom.





Last night was the annual "Fathers and Sons Camp Out" with our church. Ryan didn't have to work so he made plans to take the boys camping for the first time. Ryan is not a camper. Neither of us are. In fact, in the 8+ years that I have known him, we have never been camping once, I considered this a real labor of love for our sons. Isaac, of course, was thrilled with the idea. When he got home from school yesterday he kept talking about how it was going to be the best night ever. It should be said that Isaac knows very little about camping. In fact, I think the great majority of his ideas about what camping is come from reading the Book of Mormon in I Nephi about Lehi's family living in a tent in the wilderness. That said, when Ryan got home from work, they pulled a few things together and were getting ready to head out the door.
"Dad?" Isaac questioned, "What exactly are we going to use to kill all the animals?"


Against his will, I was putting Davis to bed tonight. He was trying to come up with excuses about why he needed to leave his bedroom but I wasn't buying any of them. He looked at me and asked, "Why are you ruining my life!?"

Because It's Been Awhile...

Maddie sings Silent Night


Isaac sings his favorite Hanukkah songs.

Merry Christmas!

The Farmer Takes the Life and the Cheese Stands Still

A Few Current Favorites

Image Source: Amazon.com

Phillipine brand dried coconut. I have long been a fan of their dried mangos, but this coconut is my new favorite treat. I have only ever seen it at a Utah Costco, so I asked my parents to bring me a bag when they came for a visit recently--instead they brought me four. That's just how they roll. Ryan thinks it tastes just like Styrofoam. I think that's great--more for me.

Ikea's Kids-Eat-Free-Tuesdays. Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Clearly their chocolate milk is a hit.

I get chills every time I watch the trailer for the newest Les Miserables movie. I haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time. In case you have been living under a rock and haven't seen it, you simply must check it out. Anne Hathaway, you get my Oscar vote.



This essay on Motherhood makes me smile. I love writers who can articulate so well how I am feeling like this one did.

And lastly, a video of each of my three favorite little people:

Isaac sings his favorite primary song, Nephi's Courage.


Maddie's rendition of Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam with some dancing. She made me promise I would post this one to the blog.



It is a running joke in our family that Davis has never had a thought that he didn't vocalize. He is ALWAYS talking. Always. Adorable and exhausting all rolled into one. Without him knowing, I grabbed a little bit of footage of him looking at a book in hopes of catching a glimpse of what he is like at age two.

New Videos of Davis and Maddie

Davis with his current favorite book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus


Maddie shares her "a-mazing" church talk. She refused any help on Sunday morning and marched up to the podium all by herself. It was pretty cute.

Some Recent Video Clips

We got blasted with a couple of feet of snow yesterday. Here is a clip of Isaac enjoying it. When he woke up on Saturday morning he came to me and exclaimed, "It looks like the North Pole outside!"

Davis got this Leap Frog magnet game for Christmas---hello? Why didn't I buy this cool learning toy years ago? It can occupy him for significant amounts of time and it's teaching him his letters with no help from me. Be careful when you listen to him say "W" because you just might die of cuteness.

We couldn't leave Mads out. A friend of mine was in junior primary the other day and told me, "Maddie was made to be a sunbeam!". She seems to love everything about it. Below she sings the song they are learning this month.

Christmas 2011

Isaac and Maddie playing the part of Joesph and Mary during the Nativity on Christmas Eve. 

The manger. We were able to have Brooke and Jeremy over as well as some friends from church. We always have a Mexican fiesta on Christmas Eve and this year was no different.

This Shepherd who wouldn't sit still long enough to be photographed. 

Ryan got home from work on Christmas morning a few minutes after the kids woke up and I was able to keep them entertained upstairs until he could be with us.

Maddie in her new princess dress, socks, and jewelry. The blue earrings are my favorite. 

Ike and his dragon tail. My sister-in-law made one for each of our kids. They are adorable and are already being used  to play dress-ups.

My kids love to watch videos of themselves from this blog and their very favorites are the ones from Christmas morning. I'm sure the following videos will be hits in the months and years to come as well.

Checking out their stockings.


Maddie opening a Christmas present.


Isaac and Maddie riding the gifts given to them by their grandparents. As you can see, Maddie is just as accident-prone on a bike as she was her tricycle. If you listen you can hear her sing "Angels We have Heard on High" as she rides. Maybe she shouldn't be multi-tasking so much.
I'm always a little melancholy when I think about the Christmas season coming to an end, but we are looking forward to what the next year has in store for our family.
Bring on 2012.

Madelyn Ruth @ 3.5 Years

Next week our Mads will cross the 3.5 year mark. 

This picture pretty much sums up her personality for me. 

•  Maddie is kind, thoughtful, sticky sweet ("Mom, do you know who I love more than anyone else in the WHOLE WORLD?...YOU!..and Isaac and Davy and Papa..."), feisty, demanding, fiercely independent, determined, and unpredictable. 
• She loves to help out unless it involves cleaning up toys.
• She is as friendly as she was 3 years ago and makes new friends anytime we go out in public.
• She loves to eat just about any fruit, candy, carbs, carbs, carbs, and carrot sticks. She rarely eats anything I make for dinner without a lot of coercion. 
• Like most three-year-old girls she also loves princesses and Rapunzel is her favorite. She wears her Rapunzel dress just about everyday. 
• Her favorite colors are pink and purple and I overheard her tell Isaac that she would be happy if the whole world were pink.

She loves her brothers and loves to fight with them, too. You wouldn't believe how fast she can turn on the water works in an attempt to get her way.

• Maddie is my little sidekick. This past semester I was called to team teach an institute class downtown and she and Davis come with me while Ike is at school  Maddie insists on wearing a dress and tights, too, because I am required to dress up. 
•  She loves school and has recently shown a growing interest in learning how to read. I have been doing lessons with her in the same book I used with Isaac. We are about halfway done with the lessons and I am really proud of how far she has come--it's hard work learning to read (you'll have to turn the volume all the way up if you watch the video--it's a little muffled).

• She insists on picking out all of her own outfits and I usually let her have full reign in that department...even if it means snow boots in the summer or socks on top of her tights. I do, however, make her get dressed if we are going out. She loves loves loves her pjs so this is often a battle with us. Just yesterday, in fact, though I reminded her several times that she needed to get dressed, she wasn't ready when it was time to go. So I made her leave the house in her underpants. She was not happy but she was ready with clothes on in plenty of time this morning =)
• She is still small for her age. In fact, she and Davis currently wear the same size footsie pajamas (2T).

Making a paper countdown chain for Christmas.

Just this morning I had the following conversation with her:

Maddie: "When I am thirteen I am going to be a mama, too!"

Me: "Uhhh...or maybe when you're twenty-three...or even thirty?"

Maddie: "Yeah, or twenty-eighty!"

Me: "Sounds good to me."

She is constantly cracking me up and putting a smile on my face. I will continue to record the funny things that come out of her mouth for as long as she continues to say them!

Recent Random Videos (Mostly of Davis)

At the end of this video you will see just how far Davis is willing to go to be like his sister.


What happens when Davis and too much bath water combine.


D's rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Should I lay off the Veggie Tales?

I just recently purchased a smart phone and for the first time tonight realized that I can take video with it and then upload said video to youtube with just the click of a button. I may be late to this party, but how cool is that?

Lately Isaac has been making up all sorts of songs, and below you will find the song he made up for me tonight at bedtime. I am certain that he found some of his inspiration in this video. Not sure quite what to think of it, but Ryan has been telling me that I need to lay off the Veggie Tales with the kids or Ike will be asking to go to Vacation Bible Camp before we know it.

My only response to that is, "What's so wrong with Vacation Bible Camp?"



After I uploaded the video, I started to watch a few videos that I posted about this time a year ago. I cannot believe how fast kids grow up. It doesn't seem fair that the days can sometimes drag on and on but yet I blink and they are a year older. These childhood years are so so short, so here's to enjoying them as much as I can while they still think I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Here is a video of Maddie from almost exactly a year ago singing her favorite cartoon jingle:



And here is one of Davis. How could I have forgotten how super-chubby my little Chancho was???



And I wonder why Davis is such a loud child...

Whenever I Hear the Song of a Bird

Here is the latest favorite primary song in our house. In an effort to give Maddie equal air time (Ike seems to unintentionally drown her out when they sing together), I videotaped them separately, Maddie singing the first verse and Ike the second. The only problem I ran into was that little Mads didn't want to stop at just one verse, so you get the whole song from her and just the second verse from Ike.

I wish I could have fully captured Maddie's outfit today---Sparkly Unicorn shirt, Princess skirt, and Dora snow boots.

It's 80 degrees outside today.

These are for you, Corey!

Broken or Spoken?

In this video Isaac and Maddie are singing the primary song, "Love is Spoken Here." It is their current bedtime request, so they hear it just about every night. Isaac sings "love is broken here" instead of "love is spoken here." I'll try not to read into what that means about how he feels about his childhood...and poor Maddie sounds like a barking seal with her horrible cough.


Here is a video of Big D. He loves to stand on his own but prefers to belly flop when he gets tired or excited instead of trying to take a step or two.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas in pictures:

Dinner at PF Changs with my parents and siblings--it is the only time all year that we are together without children (we missed Brooke and Jeremy).

After we ate, my dad gave aprons to everyone--cute flirty ones to all the girls and manly ones with chef hats to all the boys. Here he is donning his chef's hat.

We started the tradition of going out to breakfast on Christmas Eve the first year that Ryan and I were married. Now the kids join us as well. Here is Ike at Einstein's Bagels. He is showing off his cinnamon-sugar-coated fingers.

Maddie insisted we take a picture of her fingers as well.

Christmas Eve with my parents always includes Mexican food and Henry Weinhart's rootbeer. Here Ike is downing his first cold one. 

My cousin Katy with D and Maddie. She is always so nice to our kids.

Brian was in charge of blended drinks this year. It's about time somebody put him in charge of something.

A Kodak moment when Maddie spontaneously embraced Harper instead of bossing her around.

Ike the shepherd before the first annual Christmas Eve nativity.

Ryan and Ike mowing down some Mexican food.

Ike and Fischer playing shepherds.

Davis and Harper sharing a smooch before the big production.

Maddie the angel.

Livy and Jake played Mary and Joesph.

Maddie loves Jake. The other day she told me that he was her best friend.

Believe it or not, Davis is the smallest (well, youngest) baby in the family and therefore won the role of baby Jesus.

The babe and I.

The production in action. This was taken right before D wriggled out of Livy's arm and landed on his head.

It didn't seem to faze him too much. When the shepherds started using their canes as swords, we wrapped things up pretty fast.

As expected, D's favorite Christmas gift was wrapping paper.

Ike and Fischer in their twin pjs on Christmas Eve.

Ike and his Monster Truck Lighting on Christmas morning.

D doing a little bit of baby yoga in between opening presents on Christmas morning.

All three kids on Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, I ran out of picture-taking steam by the time we got to Ryan's parents' home. I did get a couple of shots. Here is Maddie wearing her new kracker crown.

Ike with the race track from Grandma Mary-Ann and Grandpa Lynn. He was in heaven.

We had Ryan's parents out for dinner and FHE right after Christmas. Here are Maddie and Grandma playing puzzles together. 

D and Gramps playing with cars.



Bring on 2011!

Ike and Maddie Open Christmas Presents

Sing me a Song

Here are the latest video clips that I captured this afternoon while the kids were singing some of their favorite songs. Maddie singing Estrellita (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Spanish)and then Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree.Isaac singing Real Gone from his favorite movie, Cars, while simultaneously bossing Maddie around. As you will notice, he makes up any words that he can't remember/doesn't know. He gets that skill from his father. Maddie jamming out to her favorite cartoon jingle.

I never get tired of hearing her sing Popcorn Popping, especially the little finger action she does when she says, "It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be..."

I can't get enough of his mega chubby cheeks and smile!

Will Sing for Chocolate

Here are a couple of videos of Maddie and Isaac singing their latest tunes. I had to bribe them with chocolate, but figure it will be worth it in the future for posterity's sake.



And yes, those are Isaac's Go, Diego! Go! undies that Maddie is wearing on top of her pajamas.  Her fashion sense at such a young age makes a mama proud.