What a dog brings to our home-

-It gives our kids a new place to sleep.
-It has taught Norah to slap her shins-rather than her thighs- smack her lips and yell, "ruffy, 'mere".  She has also enjoyed the pecking order this has provided her.  She is super good at pointing her finger,  and saying, "no ruffy!"
-It has also taught our kids new words ... none of which I'd like to mention.
-Every time he runs away- which is a daily event- I'm getting exercise as I'm chasing this fluffy dog for 45 minutes while all the neighbors think I'm the crazy women with an out-of-control life.  The other day, as I was chasing Charlie I asked Asher to watch Norah so she didn't go into the road.  I hear Norah screaming and look over to see her lying in the middle of the street screaming, while Asher is trying to pick her up.  I guess the neighbor's suspicions are pretty accurate!
-He has given our kids an opportunity to practice their hair styling techniques.
-They've learned anticipation- The other day Evie asked me, "When's Charlie going to die, because I want to get a chinchilla now, and you said only one pet."
It has also taught our kids a new level of love.  It makes me happy to watch them curl up around him and want to love on him.

Good times.

Doesn't fall far from the tree...

It's funny how much I can see Brian and I in our kids.  I think Brian is super intelligent and I hope to make up for brains with my desire to be a nice person.  

Asher is super inquisitive, and loves to learn.  In fact he'd often rather watch a documentary on space, alligators, the Sphinx, and dinosaurs than watch batman or spiderman.  Such a smarty pants.  But oh my, he is sometimes so quick to temper!  He never procrastinates.  If you ask him to clean his room when he's done playing he'll just get up and do it then so he doesn't have to worry about it.  Evie on the other hand will intentionally fall asleep when I ask her to clean her room.  I really don't know if she knows how to pick up anything!  Then when she looses privileges "oh tat's otay mommy"- it doesn't even phase her, except her blanket, that thing is untouchable!  She is super mellow and overall she is just happy, so helpful with the kids, loves to help me cook, is so kind and has so much patience.  The other day she and Norah were both laying on Brian falling asleep and instead of Evie asking to be tickled she was tickling Norah's face.  What 3 year old does that?!  She's just a sweetie.

I think on many levels we're still trying to figure Norah out, so I can't tell who she's takes after yet.  She is spunky and starting to talk so well.  She calls herself No-nee, which I absolutely love!  She learned the word awesome today, and everything is cute! but my favorite is when she says, darn-it, anytime something goes wrong.   She's our little monkey, if mom or dad isn't holding her grandma is.  I'm excited to see her continue to grow into herself.
As I was thinking of each of our kids my heart just grew so proud and grateful.  I really think my kids are amazing!  I'm so proud to be their mom and love to learn from them.

Mother's Day

Brian had meetings in the morning but he had done all the prep so Mother's Day morning I was served a heart shaped doughnut in bed.  Then I had flowers and sweet cards from all my favorite people.  They have nailed the art of Mother's Day.  My cup runneth over...

St. George Fun

We decided we needed a mini vacation for a few days so we headed to warm St. George.  My sister and her family came with us and it was so fun.  The kids all love each other so much.  In fact Norah can only say a handful of words and one of them is "KortneyKyla".  We ate at "resternaunts", swam at the pool, went to movies and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt.  It was the perfect get away, and I think we'd like to start making a tradition of it.  Only next time we'll find a better place to stay...  

Charlie Nelson Forsberg

We did it!  We are officially dog owners.  We've been talking about getting a dog for months, but we finally found one that fit our family perfectly.  He's super mellow, mostly potty trained, doesn't shed, doesn't bark a lot and SO patient with the kids.  He lets them carry him around and I even caught Evie pulling him to her with his hair, obviously not recommended but he still was okay with it.  The other day Evie was trying to sit on him and she told me she wasn't sitting on him, but petting him with her bum!
Asher picked his name out.  I suggested a whole bunch of names and he comes back with, "How about Charlie Nelson Forsberg."  So that's what he will be known as.  Anyway I really think he's the cutest thing and we're glad he's a part of our family!

18 Months

Norah was such a stinker this day!  She would not smile for anything.  I finally had to ask some lady if she had any food in her purse to distract Norah and help her quit screaming.  I love this little girl to death, but my goodness she can be the orneriest thing you've ever seen.  She really is just difficult!  When she's not giving us heartache she is the cutest thing and I want to gobble her up, but honestly that's not nearly as often as I would like it to be.  Right now she loves beeping; when she walks backwards, when she is shutting doors, and when something is in her way it's always, "beep, beep, beep, beep."  She's still teeny, not even 20 pounds!  Love her.

The girl's loves

 Norah loves to play with dolls.  She carries them around, feeds them, pushes them in the stroller, she's a great mom.  She loves chap-stick, especially eating it. She loves pineapple and she loves getting super high fevers-103.8! when she's teething, (she probably doesn't love it but she does it really well!)  Evie loves to take care of Norah, and does a wonderful job of it.  She loves to dress up and she loves to pretend she's reading.
And most importantly Evie and Norah are loving each other!  They're so dang cute together and nothing makes me happier than to see these two silly girls be such great friends.

Good Bye 2010!

Another wonderful year.  The year 2010 has included a few great events.
-Asher started school, and LOVES it.  I'm amazed at how much he's learning.  He's able to read simple words and is consistently getting better.
-I was released as Relief Society teacher and am back in Primary.  Stake Primary Secretary, again :)
-We finished our sprinkler system and seeded our HUGE back yard.  I can't wait to get the swing set up and have the kids spend countless hours playing outside!  (Have I ever mentioned Brian is a really hard worker?)
-We bought a rental house.  Yikes- that was a much bigger project than we had anticipated! (Again, Brian is amazing!)
Notice in the picture, Brian has 3 kids on his lap.  The kids swarm to him and won't let him out of their sight!  That's nothing new for 2010, just thought it needed to be said!

I think that's pretty much it, just day-in day-out, busy crazy life...

Christmas

Santa came and brought all kinds of goods. 

Asher loves his scooter, can't keep his eyes off it in fact.

 Evie's dress-up trunk is her favorite even when she's tired.

And Norah was completely content in her new car seat looking at her animal book.

   It was a wonderful Christmas!

Issues...

I have serious issues with waste.  There are no outlines for the way my thoughts work.  I can throw out the rest of my dinner, and the food that's gone bad, but I'll keep the hand mixer that only has one beater, or the shoe that has lost it's mate.
I can't handle when things are still working and are just a little dinged up or need a little tinkering, and are thrown away.  In the garbage.  For permanent! I just am certain someone could use that!  I know it may be misconstrued as a pack-rat but I bet I can make it better.  I hung on to our kitchen table that Brian HATED for years, because it was a good table still and if we took it to the DI somebody would buy it that didn't really appreciate that it was solid wood and just a real sturdy table.  I found a chair in a house scheduled for demo and pulled the rusty thing out determined I'd get all the rust off and paint it and make it beautiful again.  After a year Brian threw it out, because he knows me well enough to know I have great intentions but often lack the carry-through.  So if he threw it out he knew that I would be upset, but I would never be able to throw it out myself.  Then a little while ago they did the neighborhood clean-up where you put all your junk and garbage on the curb and the city takes it away to the dump.  Well my neighbor across the street had set out a wicker chair.  It was a little wobbly.  I decided not to take on another project, (Brian would be so proud of me), but as the dump truck pulled up and the worker sat on the same wobbly chair to take a pretend rest I started crying because it was obviously strong enough to hold his weight and then it was in the dump truck and crushed.  No one would ever be able to use that chair again!  It was so sad to me.  I feel like I was raised during the depression refusing to throw anything away because you never know when you'll need it.
I've since been with Brian a few times to the dump for the yard waste, etc.  I found a sturdy crate on the side of the huge trash mountain that I wanted to take home, but Brian REFUSED to stop! But it wasn't garbage, it was in perfect condition!  So so sad.
So that's all, I just thought I'd share one of my many issues...

My Sweet Sensitive Boys

Asher is just like his dad and wears his emotions on his sleeve.  Asher's favorite Christmas song is Away in a Manger.  He likes it because, "it makes me feel like I need to cry a little."  He came home from school one day and wanted to learn the song Hush Little Baby.  I looked up all the words and we literally sang it for the next 3 hours.  We had to sing it slow and quiet so he could feel the song.  He loves when it makes his eyes water.  What a sensitive boy.  As for his dad, I'm nervous we're going to be a mess the older we get.  We watched a show about believing in Santa and the spirit of Christmas and I was surprised when I started to cry - I mean it was about Santa for crying out loud! But then I looked over and saw Brian crying too.  I think our family may be in trouble!

She's a walker!

That's right Norah is mobile!  Fourteen months and ready to discover the world.

Many faces of Halloween

Our house was full of all kinds of creatures this Halloween.  Brian had a work party on Thursday, we had a ward party Friday and then trick-or-treating on Saturday.  We had a batman, a princess, a bee, a lion, and 3 ghosts!  And that's without Brian and I dressing up.  The kids were able to bring in a lot of goods, and since we didn't want the kids to get sick it was up to us to perform our parental duty by picking out all the good candy for ourselves.  It was a happy halloween for all!

Happy happy No-a, No-a!

Happy #1 to our sweet Norah!  I started calling her lamby a little while ago and it didn't take long to realize that name doesn't fit her at all.  She is just as spicy as her brother!  We had our families to the park for a cupcake themed birthday party, where everyone decorated their own cupcakes and Norah got to enjoy a giant cupcake.

I love this age!  She's starting to really understand what is going on around her, and learning all the life lessons that pertain to a 1 year old.  She is still tiny being only the 4% in weight.  She is a fierce crawler, speaks great gibberish, and gives us her "pretty smile" on command perfectly.   She is my favorite little thing!

The first day of School!

I thought for sure I'd be one of the mom's that gave their kid high-five on the first day of school and walk off unshaken and refreshed with the new sense of freedom.  We'll turns out I'm not completely the person I thought I was!  When they called them in their classroom my eyes welled up with tears and I was the mom looking through the window to see exactly what he was doing.   Brian pulled me from the window and gave me a reassuring hug.  I guess I was just realizing the next time my son wasn't in school he would be graduating from high school.  He might as well be getting married!
I did enjoy the freedom that comes with only having 2 rather than 3 kids for 7 hours, but I learned I'm not as tough as I thought I was!

The Ash Man

Asher had an awesome Super Hero Academy birthday party with his best friend Preston.  We had all the kids show-up dressed as their favorite super hero and taught them all the necessary lessons for a successful super hero.  They had to walk over hot lava, find the krypton in the bat cave, and shoot the villain with silly string.  I think the kids had a good time.

Some of my favorite things about Asher are as follows:
-He is so stinkin funny!  I'm constantly laughing out loud.
-He has the best memory.  He'll remember things from 3 years ago- yes from when he was 2- with perfect detail.
-Whenever he wants something he knows I'll say no, he always says, "please mom, I'll give you lots of hugs and kisses and flowers!"  I have to admit I've caved in a few times with that bribe. :)
-Oh, he is the most determined thing I've ever layed eyes on!!!  His clothes are a constant, every single day fight, along with his shoes!  Even the thing he loved the day before suddenly "doesn't feel right".  Most of the time this isn't my favorite attribute of Asher, but I recognize the great strength his determination will be in his life.
-He loves school.  Every time he is sitting still, he is writing.  It's fun to see his desire and dedication to learn.

I love you Ash- you make me smile and I love you more everyday!

Happy Birthday Evie!

Her new bike

Evie had birthday #3 and it was great.  She started riding Asher's bike a few months ago, so she was super excited when we showed her her new birthday bike.  Here are a few of my most favorite things about sweet Evie:
-She is so nurturing. She always wants to take care of everyone that will let her. In nursery they refer to her as their little mother. She loves to take care of everyone, even the kids her same age.

such concentration

-She LOVES Norah! I honestly think I've only seen her get mad or frustrated at Norah a handful of times. She always wants to show her everything, talk to her, sing to her, and include her in all the important choices Evie needs to make. She'll even share her blanket if Norah needs it. She always calls her "No-a, No-a".
-Anytime she dresses-up or wears necklaces she always says she getting married. I have no idea where this came from, but she definitely loves the idea of being a bride.
-She loves to dance and sing. I think she has a real talent with music. She can listen to a song a couple times and repeat it word for word with the right melody. She listens to music every time she needs to sleep.  She always says, "sing me songs, I'll do it."  She wants to sing the lullabies to us rather than us to her.  She is always filling our home with her sweet little voice.  My favorite songs she sings are, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I Love to See the Temple and Families can be Together Forever.
-She is such a smart little thing!  She counted to 39 all by herself the other day and can write her name, Asher's name, mom, dad, and even Norah if you tell her the order of the letters.
-She loves to shop. She tries everything on over her clothes. She also looks at the tags... she has no idea what she's looking for but she looks because that's what you do when you shop.

-She loves to dress-up in general.  Anything and everything, as the picture with her cousin Kortney shows.  We love you Eves you're our most favorite special Evie.

GiRLs TriP!

I can never get enough of these gals!  We only were able to make it to Park City for two nights this time, but it was so good for my soul!  Our conversations never are dull and maybe a little too honest, but that's what true friends are all about.  Love you ladies!  You're most beautiful women I know.
(thanks for letting me steal your collage Kristi)

She did it!

Well Norah officially sleeps through the night!!! I finally bucked up and did the sleep training. This has to be my absolute least favorite thing to do with kids, more so then potty training. I hate listening to them cry knowing all I have to do is pick her up and maybe give her a bottle and she'd stop crying. But I decided it really was worth the 2 nights, (she did really well), of crying for both of us to get a full nights rest.
She is 9 months old and has been pulling herself up to furniture, is all but crawling and gives the cutest smile you've ever seen. She has the bottom front two teeth and then the two cuspids on the top. She looks like an adorable jack-o-lantern.

All by myself

Yesterday I went shopping to dinner and a movie ALL BY MYSELF! It was pure bliss. That's all, just wanted to share my excitement.

Imaginary Chicken/ Tom & Jerry

Asher still has an imaginary pet chicken. It's about the size of a penny. The greatest thing is Evie is also seeing this phenomenon. Sometimes we even feed the little chicken tiny pancakes, the little drips on the griddle. This chicken still lives in Asher's pocket except when it's doorbell ditching our house. They think it's the funniest thing to knock on the door and when I answer they want to make sure I invite the chicken in.
On another note, my kids LOVE Tom and Jerry. We watch it all the time at our house. It's probably not the greatest show for them to watch since it's all about hurting each other, but if it's been around since the 50's it's gotta be okay, right? Anyway, Asher was so funny the other day. He kept rewinding the same part over and over, probably 15 times. I finally asked why he was rewinding it and he looked at me and was teary eyed. He had me watch it with him and there was a part when they were being nice to each other. He said, "I just really like it. They're being so nice." He continued to watch it and each time getting teary eyed. Evie was teary when she was watching another show where the penguin didn't have any parents. (I promise they do more than watch TV.)  I love that they are so sensitive and sweet.

Aren't they beautiful?!

Preschool Graduation

Our cute Asher finished preschool. He loved it and his teacher was amazing. I can't believe how much he learned and what Evie has learned hearing him. He knows the days of the week, the months of the year, even simple math. And he learned so many cute songs to go with letters. He still will break out in songs that I've never heard before. He's getting so big! Where does the time go?

Norah

Norah is already 7 months old!!! I tell you time is flying! She's hit all the milestones including rolling over, sitting-up and laughing! She's eating everything and grabbing everything. She loves her special blanket, along with the rest of our kids. It's funny how they recognize this blanket as early as a few months old. She's still not sleeping through the nights... but I get to hold her one or two more times a day because of it... She has this little tuft of hair. The rest of her head is all but bald except the very front, a reverse receding hairline. Her cute ears poke out and she loves her feet tickled. She laughs every time she sees herself in the mirror. She's our cute cute girl.

Happy Easter!

Special Date

Evie just earned a special date! A few years ago we started this special date idea. Every good choice they make they get rocks to put in their jar and every bad choice rocks are taken out. Once their jar is full they get a special date with either mom or dad. They get to choose what we do. I love this form of discipline/bribery. It's amazing how much they focus on earning rocks and how easy it is for me to enforce taking rocks out for bad choices.
Evie earned a majority of her rocks from being the sweet girl she is. Anytime she gets a treat or some kind of privilege she immediately follows with , "what about Asher?" Not to say she didn't loose a fair share of rocks by acting like... well a 2 yr old! She may be sugar and spice, but she definitely is not lacking sass!
Evie and I went to the Gateway Discover Museum. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. Usually the kids always choose Brian to go with them, (it's ALWAYS dad, no matter if they're hurt, want to play with someone, or take their turn to put that kid to bed, it's always "I want dad.") This time I volunteered myself. It was so nice to spend one-on-one time with her. We just played and pretended until they closed. Then we got ice cream and a toy of her choice from the dollar store. It was so fun for both of us. Asher's last date to the movie theater.

HAWAII

Heavenly! It was such a wonderful vacation! Everything about it was amazing, well maybe not the tsunami evacuation part of the trip, but even that was made pleasant by the hotel accommodations.
The hotel was amazing!!!! We stayed at the Hilton on the big island and the rooms were really nice, but the hotel as a whole was unbelievable. The food was my favorite. They had a breakfast buffet that was to die for! Brian teased me saying that the breakfast was going to be the only thing I remembered about the trip and to be quite honest it really was one of my favorite things. (I've decided since I'm used to eating hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and peanut butter everyday, I've found a whole new appreciation for food.) This picture from our room just doesn't do it justice.
We went snorkeling and it was beautiful. The coral was so close I started to have anxiety that I was going to scrape my belly because it was so shallow. On our way to our snorkel destination, we saw three whales! We were probably 100 yards away from a 30 foot mama and her baby. And then we saw another large one, as well as two 8 foot mana-rays. It was amazing.
We had massages, which Brian thought was a huge waist of money and time, but since we didn't pay for it I figure it's okay for him to take one hour of doing nothing! We also went to the volcanoes to see the continuing lava flow. Unfortunately we weren't able to get too close, but we could feel the heat from under the rocks below us so I guess that's close enough.
We played in the water at a black sand beach, so neat. And being in Hawaii of course we also went to a Luau. Brian and I both were pulled upstage to try to dance with the amazing hip swingers. I'm sure we looked like idiots. It's funny I would've never done this 10 years ago. I don't know if it's just age and being more comfortable with myself or if Brian's carefree attitude has worn on me, but I had a lot of fun making a fool of myself.It was hard to leave the kids, especially Norah, but it is so nice to have my time with Brian, not having to share him with anyone else for 5 whole days. Thanks family and Mandy who played with our kids for us.
This is "we're in Hawaii!" face

Yearly Questions

ASHER
1. What is something that Mommy always says to you? “yes"
2. What makes Mommy happy? "making good choices"
3. What makes Mommy sad? "When I make bad choices"
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? ”jokes"
5. How old is your Mommy? “30”
6. How tall is your Mommy? “30 hundred and sixty pounds”
7. What is her favorite thing to do? “help and play.”
8. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? “shower”
9. What is your Mommy really good at? "bingo"
10. What is your Mommy not so good at? “bingo.”
11. What does your Mommy do for her job? “written" I guess because I'm typing.
12. What is your Mommy's favorite food? “broccoli.”
13. What makes your Mommy proud? "Shows on the stage like Johnny Cash."
14. What do you and your Mommy do together? “Play.”
15. How are you and your Mommy the same? “Sometimes we wear the same shirts”
16. How are you and your Mommy different? “you're bigger than me and I'm smaller than you and Evie is smaller than you and Norah is really smaller than you."
17. How do you know your Mommy loves you? “You like me.”

1. What is something that Daddy always says to you? "No and Yes"
2. What makes Daddy happy? "When I play with him and when I hug him and when I kiss him."
3. What makes Daddy sad? "When I make bad choices."
4. How does your Daddy make you laugh? ”Like this, (his arm up and his mouth open singing opera"
5. How old is your Daddy? “31.”
6. How tall is your Daddy? “Very tall."
7. What is his favorite thing to do? “Play with me and make me laugh.”
8. What does your Daddy do when you're not around? “He goes to work and to the store.”
9. What is your Daddy really good at? "violins, and guitars, and drums."
10. What is your Daddy not so good at? “I don't know.”
11. What does your Daddy do for his job? “Go to work."
12. What is your Daddy favorite food? “I don't really know. Not chocolate."
13. What makes your Daddy proud? “When I laugh at him and when I play with him."
14. What do you and your Daddy do together? “Play with all kinds of stuff”
15. How are you and your Daddy the same? “sometimes we wear the same shirts."
16. How are you and your Daddy different? “My dad is bigger than me and I'm smaller than him."
17. How do you know your Daddy loves you? “because he loves me so much in the whole live planet."



EVIE
1. What is something that Mommy always says to you? “a secet (secret)."
2. What makes Mommy happy? "My dad."
3. What makes Mommy sad? "a leaf." ( I think this mean when she leaves)
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? ”Maybe Noa (Norah)."
5. How old is your Mommy? “I da know.”
6. How tall is your Mommy? “Four."
7. What is her favorite thing to do? “Four”
8. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? “At the tore(store)"
9. What is your Mommy really good at? "At the tore."
10. What is your Mommy not so good at? “Not the tore.”
11. What does your Mommy do for her job? “Weed the books."
12. What is your Mommy's favorite food? “Wice.”
13. What makes your Mommy proud? “a T.B. (TV)” ?
14. What do you and your Mommy do together? “Maybe a ellipoter (hellicopter).”
15. How are you and your Mommy the same? “A mommy and a mommy.” (they match)
16. How are you and your Mommy different? “Back and a front.”
17. How do you know your Mommy loves you? “I isten (listen).”


1. What is something that Daddy always says to you? "A name."
2. What makes Daddy happy? "A fawer (flower)."
3. What makes Daddy sad? "And you sad too."
4. How does your Daddy make you laugh? ”(Laughing), Like tat (that) way."
5. How old is your Daddy? “Two, no I two. Brian is four and Asher is six.”
6. How tall is your Daddy? “Bigger and bigger."
7. What is his favorite thing to do? “Like, like treats.”
8. What does your Daddy do when you're not around? “When I answer the door.”
9. What is your Daddy really good at? "A lights."
10. What is your Daddy not so good at? “Not like cookie.”
11. What does your Daddy do for his job? "work."
12. What is your Daddy's favorite food? “Chicka nuggets.”
13. What makes your Daddy proud? “Proud, proud."
14. What do you and your Daddy do together? “ I da know.”
15. How are you and your Daddy the same? “ I da know.”
16. How are you and your Daddy different? “Yeah."
17. How do you know your Daddy loves you? “I da know."

bounce house blues

We thought Evie broke her ankle but it was just very badly sprained. This bruise is 10 days after the collision. I made Brian take her in because I didn't want the questioning from the doctor since we've previously been in twice for dislocated arms! Poor Evie. She still plays it up occasionally. She was able to walk with a limp about a week later, but even a month out she'll still saying, "Daaaadeeee, cawry me, I tant walk".