Frozen Dark Chocolate

Today Cooper told me that he heard dark chocolate is healthier if you freeze it.

Me - Wow, that's cool I never knew that. Why is dark chocolate healthier frozen?

Cooper - Well it takes out some of the moisture that is bad for you.

Me - Really, I didn't know that moisture is bad for you.

Cooper - Well .... I don't know. . . (with a little smile)

Big Brick House and Shopping

Austin and I have missed our brick house in Michigan since we moved here and have been dreaming of the big brick house we will buy someday. There are a couple for sale in our neighborhood - one in particular that a friend from Austin's work is selling. She keeps telling him to that we should buy it. I like that girl! Anyway we talked a little about this - it's a great time to buy a house in that price range and an ok time to sell our house in it's price range. I started getting really excited and planning my life around this when Austin the negotiator and reality hit. "Well, if we are really serious about this we should look around rather than just buying that house in our neighborhood when we don't even know if it is the best deal."

UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Why must we continually triple-source (or I guess that right term is triple-bid) every freaking thing in our life?? I was getting so excited. Maybe Austy was going to let us slap up a for sale sign on our house tomorrow (just with a realtor, not with me taking a real estate class to save the real estate commission - what's $15,000 or however much it would be anyway? I just like the easy way) and then put in our offer on the house in our neighborhood. But we have to come back to the "getting serious" part. I started lamenting this to Austin, "Why can't we just take a risk, just go buy that house, even if ours isn't even for sale yet, or why can't we just move somewhere really cool like hawaii even though we don't have a job there and just hope for the best or why can't we just spend all our money on cool stuff and not worry about the dumb IRA or 401K or 705J?"

Then he just looked at me and smiled and we both started laughing. I think we are still batting this idea around a bit - but are probably in this house for awhile. It's not really a "need" to get a different house after all and is easier to just stay. So today i decided if we are staying here and not doubling our mortgage and utility cost, I should definitely start spending more money! That is like $6000 dollars of saved costs! I got a pedicure today and bought some clothes and it was a really good day!

I am wondering how Austin is going to feel about this post for several different reasons.

Will's Own Personal Punching Bag

This morning Will came down in his underwear - not a real big shocker - and he informed Austin and I that he is wearing Cooper's "private cup." You know, the aforementioned "pee-wee cup, world's smallest cup." And by the way, Cooper has never actually worn this cup so Will wearing it wasn't too gross, especially since he informed us that he had two pairs of underwear on - underneath and on top of the cup.

And this was the greatest part for him - he bent over and started punching himself in the cup saying, "look guys, it's my own personal punching bag!"

We have omitted any pictures for decency's sake.

Friday 4:22 a.m.

This morning at 4:22a.m. I woke from a deep sleep and heard Paris talking and the TV on in the other room. I walked out of my bedroom and found this:




Cooper told me that he heard Paris crying in her bed and coughing - she has a cold and can't sleep - so he got her up and took her downstairs to watch a movie. He assured me that I could go back to bed - he would take care of Paris until she felt better. This sounded good for a little while so I did go back to bed but of course I couldn't sleep because I was listening to see what would happen. After about 20 minutes Paris started sounding tired so I got up and put her back to bed and forced Cooper to turn off his movie and go back to sleep.

This is just an example of what a great helper Cooper is with Paris. He will often get her up while I am still sleeping and take care of her. He also puts her in the carseat and stroller and feeds her or helps her stop crying. I am pretty much ready to hire him as the full-time nanny and pursue my career of some sort.

A Day with Paris and Cooper

Will has been at camp all week so Cooper, Paris and I have been spending some quality time together. It's been a little tricky because Cooper is happiest if I am taking him somewhere and spending money on him or buying him every meal out. Or he could just play the Wii for 24 hours straight, so our priorities have been a little different. But today was a fun day. After we dropped Will off at camp we came home and took a nice long 1 hour walk to the produce stand at the other end of our neighborhood. Unfortunately it was still closed so we didn't get any produce. Cooper had a few things to say about that - also he thought we were going to the other produce stand by the rock store and then told me that I "lied" to him. He has been saying this to me quite a bit lately. So we had a chat about what "misunderstandings" and "sometimes plans change" are.

After our walk we went shopping at Old Navy where we found tons of great shirts for Cooper to wear for 2nd grade next month. I even talked him into this funky one that is like a mechanic shirt. I also picked up some jeans and a t-shirt for Paris. I could have bought about 700 other things for Paris but am trying to hold back because she really has a lot of clothes already, though we are nearing the end of her baby shower bounty of clothes and I will get to shop more for her! (Have I mentioned that shopping is my favorite hobby and can make me happy anytime - whether its for food, clothes, yarn, makeup, shoes, etc. - Austin loves this hobby of mine the most)

After shopping we went to the dollar theater to see Nim's Island. It was a great movie, very happy and inspirational and a great message. By the way I LOVE the dollar theater here. It is actually decent inside and I can get a large popcorn, drink and tickets for the whole family for like $12.

We enjoyed the movie but I think what Cooper and I enjoyed most was how Paris kept telling us "no-oooh" when we asked her if she wanted popcorn - of course she gobbled it up anyway. I think she may turn into a whiner because her no is pretty bratty - though funny in a way and since Cooper and I kept cracking up she'll probably keep saying it.

My favorite part of today was that Paris has started saying "mommy" to me. Not just Ma or Mam in a yelling voice, but this cute little voice saying 'mom - mee". She is going to be so spoiled! She has Austin and I wrapped around her finger and she can't even talk much yet!

I need a fellow knitting fiend

Is there anyone out there who can feel my pain at not finding the perfect yarn, or perfect substitute yarn for a project? Who understands the frustration at not being able to find Lana Grossa Royal Tweed yarn in color #34 anywhere? Let alone find it for less than $10.60 a skank(skein)? And by the way I need 8 of them plus shipping from Italy. And I don't even know if I will like the sweater until I have put in the 2600 hours to knit it. Yet, I do these projects over and over again and knit and rip out(by the way, this is called "frogging") and knit again. And I still love it!

I am just looking for a yarn soul mate who I can talk to about this. My current friends and relatives roll their eyes and start yawning anytime I mention these subjects. I am open to all ages.

Will's First Talk

On Sunday Will gave his very first talk in primary. The topic was missionary work so Austin let him wear a couple of souvenirs from his mission in Japan. Will was the most excited about the outfit of course. Austin has an amazing way of writing hieroglyphics for the kids' talks so that even if their reading competency isn't there yet, they can still give the talk by themselves. Will actually did an excellent job that only he could hear because the room was so noisy and no microphone on the podium (a fact Austin has lamented only about 4000 times so far.)

A Very Crazy Day

This afternoon and evening were very chaotic with our family celebrating my little brother Skyler's birthday. We had cake, many kids running around and screaming (mostly ours) and even ice cream.






Then Cooper decided to see what would happen if he threw wooden skewers over the banister on the upstairs balcony - It's almost impossible to see in this picture but he managed to throw a wooden skewer into our ceiling. Austin didn't want us to laugh and support such mischief but I thought it was quite hilarious (not that I am condoning spear throwing in our household). You can see a very slight line to the left of the ceiling fan that
is suspended about 20 feet in the air.


After cake and ice cream Cooper wanted to play Wii Fit (shocking I know) but we wanted him to go to bed so he pouted for a few minutes and then stomped up the stairs saying, "Fine I'll go to bed now since everyone hates me." Will must have also trotted his way into bed because a few minutes later we checked and found this - - - -

Sweet Manna From Heaven!

Gotta Teach 'Em Early

I stepped into the bathroom yesterday when what to my surprise did appear - a precious baby already on her way to learning the grand tradition of her father and grandfather! Just need to get the potty-training part down!

A hilarious sidenote - Austin has told me that many important conversations took place with his dad in the bathroom.

Our Dainty Lady

Paris enjoys a great bowl of four-day old leftover pasta with gourmet straight-from- the- can spaghetti sauce.

Our New Babysitter

Will got himself stuck inside this long stroller box and we thought - what a great idea! This box could be our new free babysitter. Just stick all the kids inside and we are good to go for a few hours at least - especially if we leave some goldfish and a pillow nearby.

Happy Fourth of July!

If we're in town, the Indian Trail Fourth of July is a classic event we can't miss. It is actually kind of a boring parade with too many local 4 year old beauty queens and local government BUT they do throw candy and have a group with several beautiful horses and ponies to look at. Plus, if you need to get service from Computerdoc.com - they're there. We also enjoyed the Motorcycle Ministry float and Harleys.

Another highlight of the parade is the location right near Bruster's Ice cream where you can get a dino sundae to enjoy during the parade. Will's shirt enjoyed the sundae too.

Cooper is making sure he has a prime location for collecting candy.

We had a fun time lighting off fireworks that evening and celebrating our independence!

More People we Love in Oregon

any


We love our Nana in Oregon. She made the trip special for the kids by playing with them and having a wonderful fun backyard to play in - complete with a forest, trails, trampoline and basketball hoop. We loved seeing her and getting squeezes every day.

Destiny is the most precious girl in the world! She is almost 13 years old but still plays with the kids and loves them. She is the person that the boys were the most excited to see (don't tell nana and poppy).

There are also many other people we love and miss in Oregon ( but we don't have pictures because of the aforementioned camera malfunction.)

Multonomah Falls

On of the most amazing sites near our old home in Oregon is Multonomah Falls. You can hike to the top of these huge waterfalls in the gorge and take pictures and see excellent views. Austin took his mom, Will and sister Destiny there for a day of fun.

We're Back!

It's been awhile! We've been in Oregon, LA and crazy land trying to get back to North Carolina. Our fun trip included lots of cousin time and nana and poppy time for the kids. We also got to see our great friend Dave finally take the plunge into marriage! He married an awesome girl named Jessica in the LA temple. We also spent lots of time with "the team" and their amazing wives and families. miss you and love you all! Lots of pictures (except for the many many that got accidentally deleted from our camera - too sad to think about) to come!