Starting Over

Hayden started preschool this week. I should be sad that he is gone from me three days a week, but at the same time I know how much he loves it and learns so much from it, so I'm actually a bit happy to see him go. After I pick him up, the ride home is filled with stories about who he played with, whether he slept during quiet time or not (always a no, I wasn't tired, I just read books), what he had for lunch that day, and what he learned from his teachers. We even let him pick out a special blanket at Target to leave at school for quiet time, and he bypassed Spiderman and Cars for a Wall-E blanket that he is super proud of.

Jeremiah started school this week too. It is hard to have him all to ourselves for a month and then have him go back to the same old school schedule, basically gone from sun-up to sun-down. He has five classes (four classes plus a writing class) and he is in the process of submitting resumes and cover letters for his internship next year. He is a bit stressed about the whole thing, it's a lot of work, but I know he'll get a great internship somewhere. He is so hard working, he pulled out of law school his first year so well even considering how painful his first semester was with the loss of his dad. It just shows how determined he is to be the best lawyer he can be.

I am in the process of trying to get back into a routine, too. It's been crazy this past month, we cleaned when we had time, dinner was whenever we could fit it in, and nothing was on a schedule. Hayden asks daily where we are going, and thinks I'm joking if I say no where, he was spoiled this past month! I've been trying to fill my days with something, whether it is laundry, dishes, baking, or running errands... I guess I was spoiled too. I used to be okay watching tv, playing with the kids, and doing normal "mommy" things. Now I feel housebound if I'm in the house for more than 6 hours at a time.

By the way, Roman is just going with the flow. He could care less if we go somewhere or if we stay home. He is just happy to be with others, playing with his toys, and cuddling with his lovey. Although he does ask for Daddy (and Hayden when he's gone), and loves to watch for Daddy to come home. So I suppose this is a starting over process for just about everyone.

The rest of the summer

We have had such a busy summer! Besides the vacations posted previously, we also took time as a family to venture outside of our little comfort zone, otherwise known as our house. We did a little online research and found some fun activities around the area and took full advantage.


We went back to the Toledo Zoo on a not-so-hot day and had a blast. We've been a few times but this zoo is big enough that there are places there we hadn't yet visited. We visited the bird house, there are even parts where they let birds fly around in the rooms and the kids thought that was great - so did I as long as they didn't make any messes around me! We also visited the aquarium so we could see all the "Nemos" as Roman puts it. They had a ton of different kinds of fish, some really ugly ones (one looked like a floating brain!) and there was even a little dark room where you could look at flashlight fish, they let off these lights like a slow strobe light. We were going to visit the butterfly exhibit but it cost extra, and since we had no extra cash, we decided to make our own little butterflies:



The littlest butterfly, the Romanfly. It's a little ornery, seeks trouble, but super cute.

The Haydenfly is super intelligent, loves to be crazy silly, quite independent, but still super cute.

Antenaes appear on the mommyflies. Isn't she the prettiest mommyfly you've ever seen!?



We also visited the Taste of Maumee, a suburb of Toledo. We went there last year and decided to attend this year. Jeremiah tried some tacos from a Mexican place he'd never heard of, I went for a pulled pork sandwich, and the kids tried Donato's Pizza. The fun was really at the kid's carnival, they had these little 25-cent games they could play and no matter what, they won a prize, even if it was like a Tootsie Roll. They came home with a lot of silly little toys and candy but they had a blast. Hayden even got a shark painted on his face, which he loved.

Hayden's shark. At first I thought it was a whale (this was before she drew on the teeth) and Jeremiah was offended that I thought Hayden would choose a whale for his face painting.

Hayden hitting beanie frogs into a garbage pail. He and Roman both won blue blow-up swords which, surprisingly, ended up hidden in the closet after some fierce sword-fighting.

Roman showing off the bracelet he won in the penny toss. He also apparently loves Papa Murphys.

Hayden also finished his t-ball lessons, the YMCA had a little ceremony after his last game with snacks, juice, and a medal ceremony. Hayden felt so cool with a "gold medal" around his neck. Can you guess who enjoyed watching the Olympics as much as we did?

Hayden with Coach Chris and his gold medal.

We went up to Ann Arbor because I really wanted to visit Trader Joes up there (why oh why can't they open up one here?!). While we were up there, we visited the Children's Hands-On Museum. It was so much fun! Everything about the museum was interactive and the kids couldn't get enough of it. They could dress up like fire fighters and drive a fire truck, see a real ambulance, learn how houses and cars are built, how springs work, how our body works, and a ton more. My favorite part was when Roman rode this little bike and as he increased speed the wall next to him lit up to show a skeleton riding a bike, it was to show how our bones work to pedal a bike, but it freaked him out. It was hilarious. I tried to have him ride again to get it on tape but he refused to go near it. Even Jeremiah and I learned new things and had fun!

Roman playing at the water table. He could have stayed there all day.

Hayden in the ambulance. He got to play with all the buttons and then we talked to him about what ambulances are really for, showing him the back and all the first aid items there.

Roman loves anything that makes noise, especially things I might find obnoxious. Which is why I love that we don't have a floor piano and why Roman loved running on it for so long.

We finally broke down and took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. We were supposed to go for their birthdays but we never found a good night to take them. They were screaming with joy before we even got out of the car! It was a lot of fun watching them play all the little games and go on the rides. Their favorite was the air hockey game, even though Hayden won every time because Roman had no clue how to play the game. He loved it when Hayden would hit the puck into his goal because then Roman would get the puck out and hit it, he thought that was the best part, even if he lost the game because of it. It was a little ghetto, not as cool as I remember the Tacoma one being, but it was fun for the kids. Next time, though, we will not be eating there. Their pizza was worse than frozen pizza! But now that the kids have been, it's a great place to use as a bribe for good behavior!

Can you tell this was not Roman's favorite? I think it was a little high for him.

I think a ride like this is more up his alley.

Hayden, on the other hand, thought it was great and wanted another round of it.

Jeremiah was really excited to attend the German-American Festival. He had yet to have a great bratwurst this year, and knew that if was going to ever get one, this would be the place. I probably would have been just as excited if a) I liked bratwursts, which I don't, and b) the weather wasn't soaring into the high 90s, translating into pregnancy terms more like a million degrees. They had inflatable toys for the kids to jump around on, and Hayden got a soccer ball painted on his arm. Jeremiah got himself a great bratwurst, said it was delicious, I'll just take his word for it. Then the boys all got themselves some Toft's ice cream while I went for a cream puff which I guess is German but I always thought it more of a French thing.

Roman inside an inflatable maze. At the end he had to climb this little rock wall before he could go down the slide, he fell down the wall like ten times and giggled every time. Hayden was out of there in like 2 minutes, Roman took quite a bit longer but loved it.

Jeremiah eating his brat while Hayden works on the German potato salad. About this time a lady across the table spilled her beer and didn't bother to tell me that it was all over our stroller and, with my luck, on my new purse. After I realized this, I started to cry because I was afraid the beer had ruined my purse, which by the way smelled like beer and the lady gave me this look like "What are you going to do about it?" and I was like I'm doing it! I'm crying! Luckily a little water on a washcloth took away most of the stain. See why we don't drink?! It ruins other people's purses!

After our fiasco of a dinner, these girls were doing a dance on the roof of one of the beer stands. They had jackets on and then stripped them off (like stripped them off like strippers) and all the guys went wild, although I think the one on the right is a guy himself. The music was super loud but the kids liked watching them do their little dance. I made Jeremiah take the picture so it didn't look like I was loving the girl-stripper dance.

Other things we did that I didn't have our camera for:

• Attended a Mudhens game thanks to the judge that Jeremiah had his externship with. Hayden loved learning more about the game, Roman just loved that part of the dinner buffet included cookies, which ended up being most of his dinner.


• Went to the Northwest Ohio Rib-Off. I got a pulled pork sandwich (love these!) and Jeremiah got a brisket/rib combo and we got some fries. It wasn't the best pulled pork I've ever had (RJ's is still the best!) but it was fun to attend, there were a ton of people there and we were there long enough to see Weird Al Yancovich perform - not necessarily a dream of mine but it was entertaining.


• Found an outlet mall about an hour away that is run by the same company that owns the outlets in Park City. So it was a little bit of homesickness that drove me to choose these outlets over others, although it didn't help it also had Old Navy, Children's Place, and Gap.


• Went swimming at the YMCA, this was Jeremiah's first venture to the Y, the kids knew what they were doing more than he did! Roman is definately past any water shyness, he ran from the zero-entry pool and started to jump into the 5-foot pool, he made the lifeguard really nervous. Jeremiah worked on swimming technique with Hayden while I chased Roman around the pool. I think next time we'll try a life jacket just for safety.


• My brother Kory visited with his fiance Ana Lee. They were traveling back from Kory's job in Virginia to Utah. I'd met Ana Lee in April when I visited Utah, but did not know that they were that serious so I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to her. I had a lot of fun getting to know her and talking to them about their wedding plans. She even brought Toblerone for us, which of course Jeremiah sort of took over but that's okay, I hid my share =)

Vacation Part 2

I am a blogging slacker, and I should hang my head in shame, but luckily several of my friends (and family!) are slackers too, so I figure it could be worse right? We've just been really busy, and I'm enjoying my packed schedule for a few more days before Jeremiah starts school again *sniff* I'm okay, I'll survive.

We were blessed with the presence of my mother-in-law Josette and my sister-in-law Amy for a week towards the end of July, first part of August. It was daunting to have family visit our house, we've only ever had Carissa and Adam and they don't care how messy our house is, but we were adament that our house would be spotless for my in-laws (if you've ever been in Josette's house, she's sort of a clean freak, I wasn't about to let her show me up!). Besides the need for our house to look nice, I was determined to make some great food to show off my cooking skills. Hopefully I impressed them a little? My favorite recipe that I made for them is Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cheesecake. No really. It's amazing. You really have to try it sometime. Or use it to bribe someone, I guarantee it will work.

Anyway, they arrived here on Sunday afternoon and we spent the evening letting them rest from their flight...oh wait, I guess "rest" isn't the word since both of my kids were crazy excited to see more family and were super hyper. Hayden had been asking for Nana Lafranca since he learned that she was coming, and it was nice for him to finally see her so I didn't have to hear "Is Nana Lafranca coming today? Tomorrow? The next day?.." and so on. Roman was a big fan of "Mamy" (Amy) because she was, as always, full of life and he loved her energy, probably because right now energy is not even in my vocabulary!

Monday Jeremiah took Josette and Amy to Kirtland, both the temple tour and the LDS sites tour. I took the kids to Carissa's house for naps and to hang out with her a little bit. I knew that taking them to Kirtland would just mean me chasing them around and trying to keep them reverant for the others on the tour, and they enjoyed seeing their cousins a little more. After Kirtland, Amy - in all her kindness - treated us to an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. I thought the kids were going to jump out of their skin they were so excited! We went up to the room to unload and went to one of the hotel's restaurants for lunch. It was great to see them eat their dinner, all we had to do was threaten not going swimming and they'd take huge bites =) Needless to say, we all got our swimsuits on in record time and went to the huge indoor waterpark. I can't begin to explain how excited the kids were. They have a great toddler area with slides and water toys, but my kids even took it a step further and braved some of the waterslides (Jeremiah had to push him down one of the larger ones, but it's okay, he survived). Roman was most surprising, because just a few weeks ago at the YMCA he wouldn't let go of me in the pool, and suddenly he's running for waterslides and the lazy river. Jeremiah and Amy went on some of the adult waterslides, but mostly we all hung out together and watched the kids play in the water. The next morning we ate at the hotel and Josette and I took the kids back to the waterpark for another few hours of play while Jeremiah and Amy went to Cedar Point with Adam for the day. I almost took the kids but I'd have to pay full price for me, which would have been pointless, I don't even think they let pregnant women on the kiddie rides! Besides that, the heat was horrendous and I wasn't about to deal with that the whole day. After the waterpark, Josette and I drove back home with the kids for well-needed naps and errands.

Our only family picture at Great Wolf Lodge. The rest are, as you probably guessed, all of the kids!

Here's a video of the kids going down the slide at the toddler area. The waterpark is bigger than this, but being by myself with the kids the next morning, the toddler area was the only place I trusted to keep them safe.

The rest of the week was just as busy. We tried Tony Packo's for the first time, Jeremiah doesn't even like hot dogs but he said Packo's hot dogs were delicious. I opted for a chicken sandwich so I can't really tell you what I think of their hot dogs. Maybe next time. We also went to the zoo on what felt like the hottest day ever. Amy bought us little fans attached to water bottles so we were misting away most of the day, so much for straight hair! We had a lot of fun taking the kids around to the different animals, the zoo finally opened up the petting zoo area, and Amy and Jeremiah took the kids into the aquarium. We were more than happy to get back in the car and turn up the air conditioner.





We took the kids to see Wall-E. Amy had seen it before but she was a good sport and saw it again anyway. Hayden actually enjoyed it and sat in his chair or with Nana for the entire movie. Roman, on the other hand, lasted about 45 minutes, and after that it was shoe-throwing and attempts to run up and down the lighted stairs. But he is still a Wall-E fan and recognizes him when he sees him.


On the last day here, we took Josette and Amy up to Frankenmuth, Michigan. It's a little Bavarian/German town about 2 hours north. It has the world's largest Christmas store, and after an hour and a half we left with just a few purchases but could have bought a lot more. It is huge, and that is a complete understatement. We finally drove into downtown Frankenmuth and got really excited. There are little shops and restaurants everywhere. They had a little princess/fairy shop that I got Olivia's birthday present at, and where I will probably splurge on a few dress-up items for our little girl next time we go up. We shopped around for a good part of the day, walking up and down Main Street, and ate at Zenders, a place famous for their fried chicken. It was a little pricey, and I found out I'm not a huge fan of German food (nor am I fan of eating at restaurants when my kids have not had naps!). It was a lot of fun and we can't wait to go back there again next year. They even have a huge outlet mall, now that we know that we can somehow incorporate that into our itinerary...and believe me, we will find a way.








We had so much fun with Josette and Amy. It was sad for them to leave, we won't see them again until the winter (if Amy would only commit to a Utah Christmas!).

Today should be a holiday

I know I have a ton of blogging to do, but it wouldn't be because I am slacking. With Jeremiah on his summer break we have been busy doing everything we don't normally get to do during the school year, mainly just hanging out as a family and actually taking time to get to know our surroundings. But that's for another post...

Today is our six-year wedding anniversary! I know, there's nothing special about the number six, but it's still our anniversary and I thought I'd share that with everyone. We went to Applebee's last night and had the best server ever (except for you Adam!). Not only did a get my Asian Chicken Salad craving out of the way, but I got a caramel apple slider for dessert that was amazing. We were going to see a movie but of course nothing is out in the theaters right now that is worth seeing, so instead we walked around the mall and picked up some groceries for our anniversary dinner that I made tonight (ham steaks, funeral potatoes, and eclairs). You know the eclairs at the grocery store suck when I take a bite and know that I can probably make them better myself, and I've never even made eclairs! That's my next cooking adventure!

Jeremiah bought me a new purse for our anniversary. It's a Fossil brand, and I love it! Last week we went to the outlet malls and I got a Fossil wallet that totally matches my new purse, I must just be super smart...or a mind-reader? Anyway I feel very chic with my purse.

Jeremiah's gift, on the other hand, will probably only prove what a dork he is, but he's been asking for it for awhile. I only know of one other person who will probably think he's pretty cool for getting this (and this person *coughJOEcough* has his own dorky collection of figures)...

For those of you who are lucky enough not to know who this is, it is "Master Chief" from the Halo games that Jeremiah plays on XBox. It looks sort of like a GI Joe for our generation. I also got him the new Final Fantasy game for his Nintendo DS.

I was going to put a picture of us on our wedding day, but we moved all the rooms around to make space for our new addition (55 days and counting!) and I misplaced our CD-rom of wedding photos, so as soon as we become organized again, if that ever happens, I'll post it.

Just a shout out to my dear husband who is currently playing Wall-E with the kids on XBox (they are loving it, he is doing a good job pretending to). He really is great, even with law school squeezing out every minute of his day, he manages to find time to help me around the house and play with the kids so that I can have a break. He has been a lot of fun to have around these past few weeks, we have done so many things and he has really tried to make sure the kids have a good time, even if we are at the outlets and they are stuck in their stroller. Happy Anniversary Jeremiah! Love you!

My Dorks (who I think take after me)

The other evening at my water aerobics class, I was forewarned that the water was freezing and the best way to get used to it is to just jump in. I hate getting my hair wet (usually the class doesn't get it that wet) but not wanting to seem like a sissy, I jumped. And up went my tankini top. Who makes maternity tankinis so loose?! Apparently Old Navy does. Luckily I was still underwater as I realized my Janet-Jackson moment and fixed anything that needed to be fixed before coming up from the water. Seriously, Old Navy...more coverage!

In my footsteps, my children have their dork moments. Here's a picture of Roman and Hayden giving us a "thumbs-up" sign. Notice Roman's idea of thumbs...

Hayden also had his "moment" earlier the same day. Hayden was taking a nap in my bed, which is a little high off the ground. About 15 minutes after putting the kids down, we heard a huge crash, and since Roman is in a crib, I knew that Hayden must have fallen out of my bed. I felt really guilty that I did not put a pillow on the side to ensure he wouldn't fall out, something I normally remember to do. He had a HUGE goose egg on his forehead and was crying for a while, and when Hayden cries you know he's really hurt. I spent the next hour pampering him, both to make him feel better and to squash some of my own guilt. What kind of mother am I?! So about an hour later, I ask him if he rolled off the bed and he looks at me and says, "No, I was just doing flip-overs." What?! Here I am beating myself up for his fall, when the whole time he did this to himself? Hayden's "flip-overs" are front flips that he taught himself to do. So, I've learned not to let him nap in my bed anymore, and he's learned that flip-overs are really only meant for the floor. Oh, and we signed up him for gymnastics at the YMCA next session. He really needs an outlet.

Vacation Part 1

As Jeremiah so obviously stated to me earlier this week, I've got a lot of blogging to do (Robin, I know how you feel now!). I've finally found time to post about our trip to Niagara Falls and Palmyra, even though it's creeping up on 10:30pm and I'd love to just be asleep right now. This Diet Pepsi better do the trick!

Mom and Dad arrived late Friday night, I was so excited to see them again! It is sad to be here and not be able to see family nearly as often as I'd like, I'd been counting down the days to see them for weeks. Saturday morning the boys went golfing, the girls went to the outlet mall with the kids. I had a great time. Children's Place had half-off their clearance items, and although I didn't find anything for the boys, I got some great deals on baby girl stuff, even her first pair of tights! Saturday night was dinner at RJ's, a staple if you ever visit Kirtland. I had the best pulled pork sandwich. Carissa reserved us second row seat to the "This is Kirtland" production. I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out really good! I loved the singing and the dancing, there was humor yet you could feel the Spirit there, even Hayden and Roman sat still most of the time. Carissa played Marinda Hyde and Olivia played Julia Murdock Smith, she was so dang cute up there. Kory made a "surprise" visit and met us right before the play started. He is currently selling security systems in Virginia Beach and made the 9 hour drive to see us all. Sunday we went to church and afterwards had a bbq where I tried Giada's grilled pineapple with nutella. It turned out really well, probably doesn't help I love grilled fruit.

We left Monday morning for Niagara Falls. Kory didn't have citizenship verification so we stayed on the American side, which doesn't give you quite the view as you'd get on the Canadian side, but we got the full effect when we went on the Maid of the Mist. It's a boat ride you take that takes you right up next to the falls. It's so close, in fact, that they give you blue parkas before you board, yet the wind is so strong that you have to hold the parkas down just to keep yourself from getting soaked. It is only because I am supermom that I was able to hold Roman, keep his parka on, keep my parka on, and balance him with my pregnant belly on that boat, seeing that I was not in a place to have something to hold on to.

Our dang cute family on top of the observation deck. See my belly?!

Hayden, Olivia, and Roman on our way back to the dock. The parkas kept them dry except for their hair. We all gave up trying to keep their hoods on. Jack stayed on the observation deck with Carissa and Adam.



The falls to the left are the American Falls. The falls you can sort of see to the right is Horseshoe Falls in Canada, which is usually the Niagara Falls you see pictures of. It is an amazing view from the Canadian side, we were only able to see it while on the Maid of the Mist.

We were next on our way to Palmyra, and we were so sick of driving! Everyone was looking for a reason to not drive in the car with the kids (all four were in Carissa's minivan). We finally made it and decided there was time for one tour before dinner. We went to the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center where we went on a tour with the missionaries. After the tour (in which our children thought every couch was a trampoline) we hiked the hill to the statue of Moroni at the top. And by hiked, I mean really really hiked. That was quite the climb for two pregnant women. My dad ended up pushing us up the last hill, which of course Adam got on tape if you want to laugh at us. I didn't expect the hike so I didn't have my camera, but the view was beautiful from the top of the hill. We ate dinner at a homestyle restaurant in town, and with four children with no naps, it was SO MUCH FUN! =) Roman only wanted to drink soda and pound his fork in his plate. Hayden at least ate his dinner. And although my dinner wasn't fabulous, I ate Jeremiah's bread pudding and it was todiefor! I don't even like raisins but they were amazing with the apple cinnamon bread pudding.

The next morning we toured the Grandin press where the Book of Mormon was first published. You learn so much during the tour and really appreciate all the events that took place leading up to the publication of our beloved scripture. Part of the building contains the actual brick from the 1800s, other parts are replicas. It is amazing how books were printed back then. Each letter needs to be placed in order with the correct size and font. Even with a visual explanation of the printing process, I really couldn't tell you exactly how it's done, it really is that confusing. So it was obvious a lot of work went into the print of the Book of Mormon, but of course it was worth it.

The outside of the Grandin press. The door is the original door, I only remember this because it was hard to open and close!The press where the Book of Mormon was printed. After the letters are set, they are inked (thanks to the rollers on the left in the bowl) and a page is printed.

This is where all the letters, different sizes and fonts, were kept. Imagine if you tripped and knocked this over? Luckily there were ropes keeping us from getting inside, otherwise Jack or Roman would have probably done just that!

Our next stop was the Palmyra Temple. Isn't it gorgeous? We couldn't do a session inside the temple because we had the kids, so we walked the grounds and let the kids do some running around.

Part of our family outside the temple. I have no idea where Jack is, and of course we are missing Celeste's family!

Our final stop was at the Joseph Smith farm and sacred grove. We toured the Smith's first house, which was so small! The parents slept downstairs just off the kitchen, and the children slept upstairs, with the girls and boys in separate rooms. It was in this house that the Angel Moroni appeared the Joseph Smith. We also toured the other Smith home, which was built later. It was quite a bit larger. It was amazing to see how productive the family was. They had a farm that allowed them to obtain most of their food from their own land, including an apple orchard. They also owned a cooper shop that made and repaired barrels. Joseph Smith used the hearth of the fireplace in his second home and the cooper shop to hide the golden plates from men seeking to steal them. Of course, my favorite part of the tour was entering the sacred grove, and it's not just because we could finally let the kids run free again. As Carissa stated, I didn't expect the sacred grove to be as large as it was. I knew that we would not know the exact location where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph, but then I didn't know that walking through the grove would take half hour (in which I carried Roman the whole time because we was afraid of the snakes, which were really sticks, but you have to love his imagination). Even with the children running around, it was so easy to feel the Spirit as you made your way through the grove. I knew as soon as we entered the the grove that we were entering a special place. It crossed my mind that it was in this very place that the events began to unfold that would bring the LDS church into existance, and how grateful I felt for Joseph Smith and his huge amounts of faith and obedience that allowed these events to take place.

A picture of the Sacred Grove along one of the paths. You can barely see Jeremiah up ahead. Even with the kids it was really peaceful, and luckily covered in trees so we barely got wet when it started raining.

While the adults learned more about church history, the kids were more interested in playing with the rocks.

Overall we had a great vacation. It was a little stressful at times traveling with four children (ages 4, 3, 2, and 1) but they were troopers, even without naps and after sitting for hours in their car seats. I love church history and learning about the lives of those that lived in the early years of our religion. I loved spending time with my family and was really sad when we all had to go our separate ways. No matter how much time I spend with family, in the end it is never enough.