"When heavenly father creates all the babies in the town will he be tired?"
Teig

Fishing, Soccer and painting in the spring

 Joren has been begging me to take him fishing since he got this new tackle box from his dad.  He has it filled with all kinds of "fishing" things that he has gathered. He loves his new fishing vest and overalls. Eirik was just dying to practice using a hatchet and Teig liked feeding the ducks and fishing for worms. This awesome beach is right by our new house!

Teig started his first team sport last night! We have decided that as a family we all support each other and go to each others practices and games as often as possible. It made Teig feel so special to have his brothers there supporting him. He was adorable! It was sprinkling on us the whole time, but it did not spoil our fun. Yeah for Teig!

 

 First Soccer practice!

Last night was magical for me. The boys all got wooden birdhouses in their Easter baskets so we spent the evening painting birdhouses and reading this wonderful book of Dinosaur poems called Dinothesaurus. Juni wanted to paint too so I gave her a big paintbrush and a bunch of ketchup in her high chair. She loved it.

Did you know I can chew through bones. " Teig

Weekend in the Bend Sunshine

We spent from Friday to Tuesday in Bend. It was a beautiful sunny weekend.
Jeanette was so generous to let us stay with her. We had a ton of fun. Jeanette got to take care of some horses and cows for a friend who was out of town so on two different days we got to visit this gorgeous property and see the animals and jump on their trampoline.
We went to the High Desert Museum. It had an outdoor pioneer home and shop and mill. There were old fashioned kids games that we all had a ton of fun with. The kids got to try drilling with an old fashioned drill and got to dig with small shovels into little wheelbarrows. They could have stayed there all day. They had so much fun. I loved the gorgeous sunshine, the stick games, the people in costume and the wonderful animals and plants.

Jake says he loved going to the skate park, having fun with my cousins, going hiking, and watching TV.

Eirik: today we are coming back from Bend. We were there for spring break. While we were in Bend we did some really awesome things. 
1. We went to the skate park. Me and Jake and Joren had a lot of fun there.
2. We also played baseball. Aunt Jeanette, me, Jake, Joren and my mom played baseball at the same park where we skated.
3. We went to a gift shop at this awesome museum.
4. We saw a pioneer exhibit.

Teig at 3 1/2

Did you know that my heart gives me lots of kisses before bed. And I'll give you a million kisses before bed.
I will give you a giant pet squid but I will tell the squid not to spin its tentacles around because I love you. And I will make you a robostick. Did you know that my star wars blanket is powerful and can turn into a dragon? Also my pet crocodile can help you. He can speak English and play with me because he can clap and scratch me like Scratchclaw. It doesn't hurt me because I'm on Julie-X-C-Strong mode. Joren goes on strong mode which means he can break through our fists.
I love my skinny jeans and my Detroit Tigers clothes. They are a tank top and shorts.

(I (mom)peeled them off him after he wore them night and day for 5 days. I hid them on the washer. Within one hour he found them and put them back on.)
Since christmas Teig has been singing the tune of Jolly Old St Nicholas, without realizing it, with all made up words. Our favorite is when he sings "I don't know what I'm gonna say. I don't know what I'm gonna say. I don't know what I'm gonna say...." it's become a family song because he sings it so often.
Also I will tell you one more question. I will give you a pet whale. I also have a pet named Scratchclaw. He does bad fings like hides stuff and sneaks candy. At night he stays up and plays wif his toys. He petects me from all the scary monsters.
Mom, if Scratchclaw rips the sink in half, don't worry, I will tape it back together with the blue tape Joren gave me because he didn't want it anymore.
I wuv you mom. I only want the star wars blanket on me, but I owey wike the scratchy side on me. Also I rowwy, rowwy, rowwy rowwy, ROWWY, want to do it mysef!
I know, I know.. Goodnight sweet Teig. I love you too!

Eiriks baptism!

Today was Eiriks baptism!
It was an amazing experience. Our family and friends packed the primary room. There was standing room only.
I remember when Eirik was blessed at how overwhelmed I felt by the power of all the worthy priesthood holders surrounding Eirik for his blessing. It was the same today. The strength within that circle of men combined to bless and call down the power of God in behalf of our son was incredible. Paul gave Eirik a wonderful blessing. The spirit was present in abundance. I wish there was a better way I knew to describe how it feels to feel the Holy Ghost. I guess I'll just say that the room felt like it was glowing and swelling with energy and warmth. My parents and Patty and John all shared their testimonies in their talks. Patty shared that when she was 7 and she was in a big car accident she remembered being very hurt and going to the hospital and crying and crying until she could not cry anymore. Finally her father came into the room and gave her a priesthood blessing. She said she stopped crying and felt a great comfort. She said a spirit came over her and she could feel herself healing. She also bore witness that when she and John work in the temple the veil is very thin and they witness beautiful things.
My dad shared a story too. He said that Eirik was lucky to have parents who care so much about him. He said that without the Holy Ghost who knows what might have happened the day that I swallowed a penny as a baby and was not breathing. My dad did not know what to do but the spirit prompted him to lift me up by the feet and smack my back. When he did the penny came out. It was really cool to have the grandparents give joint talks because we got to hear all their testimonies. Eirik gave a great testimony too.
Men in the confirmation circle: Paul, Ben Aanderud, Grandpa Rallison, David Law, John Clifford, Dave Friedman, John Falk, Cory (Emily's husband,) Danny Falk, Steve Rallison. Bishop Chandler conducted and he was fantastic.

Roller coaster

Yesterday morning i thought I was pregnant and I thought we were buying a farmhouse on the river. By evening, I was not pregnant and we decided not to buy the house on the river. What a roller coaster day! What a stressful week!

Eiriks 8th birthday

For Eirik, his 8th birthday could not come fast enough. The waiting has been excruciating for him. His expectations have been high and especially this week he has been under a lot of pressure. Turning 8 brings a lot of firsts. We have been preparing for his baptism. We have been making his first science project. He has Tae quan do belt testing this week. We bought all his scout stuff to become a cub scout. He finally got his pocketknife he has dreamed of for years. He has also been getting a lot of homework and his reading challenge has been demanding. It's exciting to see him grow up and shoulder all of these new reaponsibilities with grace and eagerness. Tonight we threw him a friend party. It was a blast. He had 8 guests, Jeffrey, Ian, Ben, Nate, Evan, Mary and his brothers. When they got here we gave them nets to catch frogs in our pond. Then we made leather mystery braided bracelets and we gave them their goodie bags. We made a campfire on the back porch and roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Then we gave them glow sticks and took them on a night hike. It was a gorgeous warm night, the only night of the week without rain. We saw crocus blooming on our walk. We always call them Eiriks flower because I told them they were blooming in our yard for the first time the day I brought him home from the hospital. After the hike we sang to eirik and he blew out candles and we had bites of key lime pie bars and opened presents. Then they went tot the tent to watch a movie in the tent with sleeping bags. It was 10 pm when all the boys went home and I snuggled Eirik to sleep in the tent. He felt very brave sleeping out there by himself. He said it was a perfect birthday party. He is wonderful. I am so proud of my Eirik.

overheard this morning...

"Once I saw a parent watch tv"
Joren

I'm too busy to write a poem....

Rushing, chasing, pushing, racing
straining creases, forhead deepening
laughing, playing, hugging, kissing
Hurry along children
Mother in haste

Pet coyote by Teig

One time I saw a coyote in my serious water in my submarine and he couldn't hold his breath much longer and he was my pet coyote. And ven he had a satchel where I hang into and ven he had a fing that goes on a horsey and ven I hang onto it and ven he runs. And vats my best coyote. We better get him. My serious water is in my serious lab and my wab is far away! We better get vere. I hear my coyote calling for me. My wolf is about to get eaten by a whale. Vere are a lots of whales. Vere are two teenagers and two babies and two moms and two dads. And all ve whales are trying to bite my coyote!

The draw of design

I went to work with my brothers two days last week and did a faux finish on a a bunch of pine to make it look like reclaimed barn wood for the ceiling of the kitchen in the del prado house. The hours passed like minutes and I had to tear myself away. I enjoyed the creative process so completely. Davy installed it as I painted and it looked amazing. The collaboration was a blast. Tracey told me he wanted me to stage the house and told me to start collecting furnishings and accessories to get it sold. My mind started reeling with excitement.

Last night Paul said he was worried about me. I guess he could see that spark ignited in my eye or maybe he felt how my spirit had been snagged by a distraction and I was suddenly preoccupied. I'm not sure how he knew but immediately he could sense my heart was wondering. With all that my family needs, if I get distracted my family suffers. I tell myself I will stay up later, I will do things while the kids nap, I will make sure they have good sitters so I can work but the reality is that the family is not as strong when I am distracted. Having a family is supposed to help us learn to be unselfish. I know that it is not very many years that they will be young. I want to invest in each of them while they are little. I want no regrets about the time I was willing to put in. I just want to work AND do it all as a mom and it is not possible.  Every day is a choice.

Juniper Gayle Age 1

Joren's nighttime creative juices brewing:

"My head is so heavy because i have so many heavy ideas. I want a cave to live in. In my next house I am going to cut it in half and make half of it a museum. I will have a whale skeleton and a cave. I want my own real dinosaur skeleton. I want my own pet turtle that's real and alive and I want to study sea turtles and I want a real mermaid suit that moves around. It needs to flexible so I can move around and twist.I just can't sleep because my head is exploding!" Joren

like a hundred dozen special

I like to make sure Teig knows how much I love him. I asked him if he knew how special he was to me and he said, "I'm feeling like a hundred dozen special to you." Teig