The sweet tooth generation

Peyton- Mom , who are these chocolates for?

Nancy (mom) - They're for the family.

Peyton- Can I have one?

Nancy- Sure, take one and then put it away. I'm going to have a quick shower. You just stay in my room and watch T.V.

Peyton - Okay!

( 8 min later, Nancy done showering, clothed and refreshed)

Peyton- Mom, can I have another chocolate?

Nancy - Did you only have the one before?

(SILENCE)

Nancy - Peyton, how many did you have?

(Silence continues)

Nancy - Two? Three?

Peyton- I'm not telling

(Nancy opens the chocolate box and takes a look)

Nancy- You ate the entire first layer!

Peyton- Oh! There's another layer. Can I see? ( looks underneath and eyes begin to sparkle ) Mom can I have another chocolate?

missing my nephew

You know, as much as I love living here in Portland, I never stop missing being near my family. My nephew is 5 weeks already and I haven't even met him. I probably will not get a chance to meet him for at least another 6 months if not longer.

I live and breathe by my sisters facebook photos and often steal them from her page. How else are my kids going to see their cousins. And so for my own enjoyment, and to ease my aching heart, I am going to sit back and stare at this photo montage.

Aren't babies a HOOT ?

That smile was for me, I know it.

Hi doll face!

All the Mann's men. Miss ya boys!

Saturday habits

I have found myself sounding and thinking more like my mother every day. It was inevitable, and I truly don't mind. She is an extraordinary women. Many things I was taught as a child, have proven to be extremely beneficial in my adult life. One of which is Saturday Chores. I choose to call them "Saturday Habits", they are not a chore, they are positive habits which will be used for a life time.

Now let's not get delusional. Many Saturdays rolled by where I complained, moped and stomped my way through the "habits". And there were too many Saturdays to count where I simply didn't help at all (Sorry Mom). But I have surprisingly fond memories of sticking my hand into an old hat or bowl and pulling out the paper slips which contained my "habits" for the day .

Now that my children are older and require some responsibility,this tradition has continued in my own little family. We don't draw our "Saturday Habits" from a bowl, but we do have a standard list that each child must complete.

• pick up and put away anything that was left on the floor in your room
• strip your bed
• put on new sheets
• clean your bathroom

Alyssa and Peyton, I have been extremely impressed with the way you complete your "habits". They are always done before 10:30 am. Little or no complaining is heard. And you always come give me a hug when you are finished. I'm proud of you. Keep up the good work.

That fitted sheet is always the trickiest.

rub a dub dub

Pull just a little bit harder!

scrubbidy do

Nice job getting all those bubbles off.

8 Months

Hi Little bumkin. Aren't you such a handsome boy. Did you know that you are 8 Months today? Hooray for Camden! Let me tell you what you have been up to this last month.



Physical Strengths:

• You are quite the little wiggle worm. We can't keep you still for a moment. You always want to be on the floor, scooting around and getting into mischief.
• We love the Little crawl that you have developed. We call it the "Flinstone crawl". You will rock back and forth on your knees, but then push up onto your toes, and scooch yourself forward with your toes a wiggling and your arms a pulling.
• You will use any solid surface to try and pull yourself up on. Your face dive into the book basket when the side caved in was particularly hilarious.
• Your father and I have bruised legs and chins from the amount of jumping you do while standing in our laps. But we're glad that you are having fun.
• Tooth number two made it's appearance on January 13th, and it is still reeking havoc on your nap and bedtime schedule.
  
  

Personality:

• Stubborn as a mule come to mind. Yet that is keeping with the Bui, Easthope, Palin, tradition.
• You love to mumble "bababababa" over and over and then end with a roaring laugh, like you have just told the funniest joke. We end up laughing with you, so I guess your "joke" was a success.
• You love to have grunting wars with your sister and brother. It is amazing how you can mimic their exact sounds and fluctuations.
  
  
  

Favorite Activities:

• Laundry days are your favorite. You love to be surrounded by warm, soft, freshly cleaned clothes and blankets. You get a kick out of taking a ride in the laundry basket up the stairs as mom prepares to fold the various loads.
• We have discovered a very mechanical mind under that fly away hair. If it involves sorting or building you are attracted to it. As of late, you have embraced Peyton's bin of cars. You will pull them out one by one, inspect them and then place them to your left. Once the bin is empty, you flip it over and then crawl away.
• You love mega blocks. I can see that you and Peyton are going to be great friends.
• Peek a Boo - it's a classic
• You have learned how to turn the pages when reading a book. Of course this makes it difficult to finish reading the page before you want to turn it. We don't mind. How else can you get through 10 books in under a minute.

Favorite Books:

• Moo Baa La La La - has made a come back
• Opposites
• Let's count funny bunnies
• What's wrong little Pookie

Favorite Songs:

• How much is that doggie in the window?
• Where is Thumbkin?
• And any song that your sister randomly makes up while holding you.

Progress in Food:

• Face it, you love to eat, and will eat anything, but if we had to pick some favorites..
• apple cinnamon puffs, cheerios, and pureed mango
• You also love crackers, and pieces of bread
• The classic fall back food - Pears mixed with rice cereal

Growth Chart:

• Well you wear 12 month tops, and 9-12 month pants
• Your next official appointment isn't until next month, then we can really bring the low down.

Odds and Ends:

• I truly believe that you would easily be able to pick out any member of our family in the dark. All you would have to do is touch our face. You are constantly feeling, poking, scratching, and rubbing our faces, not to mention the inside of our mouths. Future Dentist? Perhaps!
  

To clean or not to clean

This is where my poor little monkey had to take his nap today ( an over sized bean bag ),

BECAUSE...

This is what the entrance to our room looked like

And this....

And this.....

Is what the inside of our room looked like.

Do you ever get overly ambitious about the size of project you can accomplish in a short amount of time ?

Today I made an attempt to clean under our bed. Our bed frame is such that you basically have to disassemble the entire thing in order to move it or clean it. I certainly filled my strength training quota for the day and made some disgusting and fascinating discoveries.

Under the bed was a sea of paper, fleecy sheets, crayons, markers, half eaten lollipops, sucked on jelly beans, chewed gum, and of course a swarm of dust balls. After repeatedly telling myself that I will no longer allow the children in my room, I made a glorious find. Tucked, or more appropriately wedged under the far corner of one bed frame leg was a shimmering silver. Hooray I thought. I'm not only cleaning but I'm going to find enough change to pick me up a junior bacon cheeseburger for lunch. But it was much better. Lying there for the last several months were the keys for the back door.

You see, we had a new patio door installed downstairs, It was great because, my thoughts were, we could come home from a walk, park the jogging stroller in the back and unlock the back door. Not to be. The keys quickly went missing and were never able to be used. A simple thing I know. But to someone who has been looking for those darn keys for months,it was a joyous discovery.

What Not to Hang

I was blessed to be raised in an immaculate home. My mom actually enjoyed cleaning, and took pleasure in forcing that joy upon us kids. I of course now am grateful that I learned to clean at an early age. It is comforting to sit in a clean home and just enjoy your family. But there is one talent that my mom possessed which definitely did not get passed down to me. She has an eye for design, and every nook and cranny in her house is decked out in gorgeous manner. My house however, is certainly a work in progress.

My friends have seen a need to assist me . They keep an eye out for objects that would look good in my home when they are on their own shopping endeavors. They then call and tell me where to go and what I have to buy. I appreciate this no hassle approach to shopping. This beautiful Families are Forever plaque was a result of such a tip.

I now face the dilemma of how to place the shelving around it. Hence the paper cutouts of shelf forms that I happen to possess. I have tried several different layouts, and still have come to no serious decision.

When Chet came home for Lunch today he decided to help me out. And so below we see a man's take on what a decorated room should look like.

Is anybody in need of a GATOR fan at their house. Mine seems to be getting in the way.

Peyton's Prayer

Mornings with school children always seem to move at a frantic pace. It's fun to watch the kids busying about their daily schedule.

They pick their clothes, have showers, brush teeth, choose a breakfast, pick a morning snack for school, fill backpacks and search for shoes. But there is one moment of time during the morning where chaos halts and calm ensues.

Right before jumping in the van and heading off to school, we gather together for morning family prayer.

Today Peyton was asked to pray. I was impressed by his thoughtfulness. It was obvious that he had been paying attention to the activities the day before and offered a touching prayer to start our day. From the mouth of my sweet babe came these words.

" Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for our family. Please bless Alyssa that she can make good choices today. Help her to stay with good friends. Help us to have a good day at school. Bless daddy to do good at work. Please help mom finish her house work and teach Camden. Help Camden learn to crawl better. Thank you for a car so we don't have to walk today. Bless that we be helpful. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

DOUBLE TAKE

How much is that baby in the window?

The one with the slobbery face.

How much is that baby in the window?

I sure hope he doesn't take my place.

Camden discovered himself this week. He has always enjoyed looking in the mirror. Lately he has seemed confused how mom could be in front of him and holding him at the same time. But the real kicker came when he made his way to the mirror himself, sat up and tried to play with the child in front of him. He was desperately trying to stick his hands in this intruders mouth, and smack his hands, but darn it that little boy just wouldn't budge. In essence he was jealous of himself. For a moment I got a glimpse of what it might look like and possibly be like to have twins. Yep! I'm happy to have just one strong minded little baby.

Welcome to Gator Nation

We are the Champions! yes, the Gators won the National Championship last night with a rousing victory over Oklahoma.

It was a push and shove match all through the first half. Both Defences appeared sloppy and disorganized, resulting in a 7 -7 tie at half time. Chet would disagree, stating "No, they showed good defence , Oklahoma got into the red twice and were stopped both times by Florida." A true fan is always bias.

However the second half showed Florida's strengths, and amplifies Oklahoma's weaknesses. Tim Tebow, known for his leadership abilities rallied his team together to score again in the 3rd. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that Oklahoma was able to match the score, tying the game at 14 -14. The Gators then had to settled for a field goal bringing the score to 17 -14. The turnaround of the entire game, and the dominance of Florida shone through a mere 4 plays after this field goal when strong safety Ahmad Black, snatched a deep pass out of the hands of Sooners wideout Juaquin Iglesias at the Gators' 24. This frazzled Sooner Quarterback Sam Bradford, his second interception toss of the game, and he never recovered.

Florida clinched their victory with 3:07 to play, from the Oklahoma 3-yard-line, Tebow took the snap, started as if he would crash through the left side of the line, then leaped and flipped a pass to David Nelson. Florida now ruled the game by more then 7 points, and would remain there with a final score of 24 -14.

It was a dooser. Moments of strain crossed my face, anxious churning of the stomach, and deafening screams damaged the ears. But all is worth it for the happiness of my number one fan, Gator in heart and soul, my Husband.

This is what the number one fan looks like after staying up all night celebrating.

Silence

The power of SILENCE is seriously underestimated. I hadn't realized how loud my house had become in the last three weeks. Kids were home running around, playing the computer, blaring the TV, turning up the radio, and pounding on the piano. New toys were humming around on the floor, Nintendo DS's were singing out their music, and children regularly made up new games that required yelling, leaping,ball smacking, and whistles.

It is amazing how easily we adjust ourselves to the noise. As a mom, I am an expert at tuning out anything unimportant and continuing with my work. However, there could be a plane crashing into my neighbors house, and I could still hear Camden waking up from his nap.

And so this week began and I heard something I hadn't heard in a while. SILENCE!!! Oh bless you SILENCE. I have missed your warm blanket of comfort, the way you whisper nothing into my ear, and your ever soothing and relaxing monotony. The kids are back at school, a regular nap schedule has resumed, and you SILENCE, my dear friend, have returned.

The 1st with a first

January 1st is more then just a date in our family, it brings with it another first. Camden cut his first tooth today. He has been miserable the poor thing. Making teeth is rough business. After soaking through two shirts with ounces of slobber, it was time to investigate. I carefully prepared my pointer finger to enter the unknown, and upon gently swiping the lower gums, I was shocked to find sharp bumps hitting my Finger tip. Thankfully we are fully stocked with Tylenol, Ora gel, cold cloths, and chew toys. Ever the individual, Camden has separated himself once again from his siblings. He is only 7 months, and getting his 1st tooth. They were both 10 months. I hope this doesn't mean that he will have worse teeth then them. No Cavities yet in our family. Let's all knock on wood together, shall we!

The classic gnawing on your lower lip to ease the pain look.

Camden getting very annoyed with me after trying to get a picture of the inside of his mouth, unsuccessfully I might add.

Happy New Year!

How do you ring in the new year? With friends of course. Things can get pretty tricky when everyone you know has two or three kids, it requires staying up past 10:00, and Babysitters are non existent ( Stake Youth Dance ).

Solution! Host a family friendly New Years Eve Party. And that is exactly what we did. We had a blast. Or at least I did. I hope our company enjoyed themselves as well. We were pleasantly surprised by how well the kids did. They were so good at entertaining themselves and each other. Everyone snacked on food, played games, watched dare devil stunt men on TV, caught a few football moments, talked non stop, and changed the occasional diaper.

The best part, you didn't feel obligated to stay until 12:00. If a child was spazing out, or an adult was just plain too tired, then off to the comforts of home they went. This may have to be a regular thing at our house.

Our kids made it to the end with their Nintendo DS's stuffed in their faces. I don't think they even realized that is was 2009. Peyton stayed up longer then me, or Alyssa, or anyone else in the family. Oh! to have that kind of energy.

Thanks everyone who came to enjoy the night with us, You were great company.