Tales of Three

All I Want for Christmas St. Patrick's Day...

2009-03-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Seems that the boy who got his first tooth at age 5 months, walked at 8 months, and has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since, has now lost his first (and second) tooth -- before he turned 5!

The before:

And after:

Fortunately, Grandma got his tooth pillow done in time.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the pictures I received as a gift from the kids on Valentine's Day. Isn't my hubby creative?

Allowance

2009-02-09T06:54:00.001-08:00

Last night after dinner Noah and Doug were counting Noah's money to see if he had enough to buy a new Star Wars figure. This started the discussion of Noah being old enough to earn an allowance. He understood that Mommy and Daddy have to work to earn money and so he would have to work to earn money, too. He decided all on his own that he should keep his room clean and do as he is told to earn a quarter each day. He seemed really excited about it and cleaned his room (with some help) before bed last night to earn his first quarter. Here's a couple of pictures to document the moment.

Getting first allowance from Dad.

Putting it in his "money bank"

A Moment of Peace

2009-02-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

This doesn't happen very often in our house. All 3 in close proximity to each other and smiling (or drooling).

We've found a movie that they will all watch together... Baby Einstein!

Not For The Faint Of Heart

2009-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

IF YOU ARE AT ALL SQUEAMISH, SCROLL NO FURTHER!!

Below is a picture of what happens when a toddler stands on a rocking chair, with a puzzle in hand, next to a fireplace with ceramic tile surround.

This is your final warning...

I'm not going to be responsible for any adverse reactions you might experience...

Are you sure you want to keep going?

Okay, here it is...

I had no sooner walked into my office at work on Tuesday morning than I got a call from daycare asking me to come get Mara; she had fallen and cut her forehead and Shell (daycare provider) was concerned about scarring. By the time I arrived she had stopped crying and was even laughing and goofing around in the waiting room at the clinic. That story changed as soon as we walked into the procedure room. Fortunately I was able to calm her down enough to get the numbing cream on her forehead. She was not happy at all when the doctor was putting the stitches in but was a trooper. Once the nurses brought her Dora stickers and a candy bar she was back to her normal self. She hasn't complained at all -- yet. Doug will take her in on Monday to have the stitches taken out. We've been told that she will have quite the scar for a while, but nothing that bangs won't cover. Sigh.

On a lighter note, the following is a picture I took of Noah's wall.

Apparently this is how you keep the animals out of your room; though I'm not really sure what animals he's expecting -- Mara? Luke?

2009-02-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Mara recently received new winter hat and mittens from Auntie Suzie. I had removed the tags but hadn't put them in the coat closet yet. Doug tells me we keep our house too cold, but I didn't think it was THAT cold.

Just in time...

2009-01-31T14:41:00.000-08:00

So I resolved to be better at posting this year, and as my dear friend Andrea pointed out this afternoon, I've not posted all month. However, I do believe I that I qualified my resolution by indicating that while daily or even weekly updates may not occur, but I would most definitely update monthly. So, here is the monthly update... on the last day of January. Just in time.

EDITED: DOES IT COUNT IF I STARTED THIS POST ON JANUARY 31ST?

The first weekend of the month all three kids and I spent the weekend with Bapa and Nga-nga. I brought the camera an effort to capture pictures to update this blog, but failed to take any pictures. That's alright, though since the real gist of the weekend could be summed up by the drive down: Noah and Luke slept and Mara talked the ENTIRE WAY DOWN!! Ugh! Sorry Mom & Dad :)

Two weeks later we made the same trek to Red Wing, only this time both Noah & Mara talked the whole way. All I could think of was how nice a minivan would be and how much money I could make by inventing a soundproof screen. We finally climbed up out of the bone-chilling cold and were able to spend some time outside.

There was quite bit more snow at Grandma & Grandpa's -- so much so

that once deposited into a snow bank, Mara was pretty much stuck.

The kids had a great time making "snow ice cream" and even more fun eating it.

This month also included Luke's Dedication. Kind of last minute since we didn't realize it was scheduled until two weeks before hand (okay, only last minute for family who live more than 30 minutes from our house). Here are a few pictures from the evening. (Yes, the quality is poor, more support for my bid to get a new camera).

At the church with Dan & Jenni, who's little Caleb is 1 week younger than Luke.

With Grammy and Bumpa

With Grandma & Grandpa

Happy pictures at the end of a long day are not my family's forte.

Finally, it wouldn't be a monthly update if I didn't include a few pictures from today. My friend Andrea (who keeps me accountable for updating this blog) called this morning and invited us to join her family at BK for lunch and playtime. Who could pass that up. I didn't get pictures of the whole gang, but here are a couple of Noah and Mara playing.

Now, if you made it all the way through this post, kudos to you. I will attempt to make them shorter, hence updating more than once a month, BUT, no promises :)

New Year's Resolution

2008-12-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

So... since it is a New Year and tradition would have us make resolutions that we are ultimately doomed to break... I will follow suit in resolving to keep a more interesting and therefore updated blog chronicling the daily (or weekly or monthly) ins and outs of raising three children. Stay tuned for more pictures, updates, and maybe even a new format (if I can figure that part out). Until then, check out some of the other blogs I read to see how it should be done.

Christmas 08

2008-12-30T18:40:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have not been sucked into Facebook, as I have :)

Me and My Three Kids (and Mara's "golly")

"Santa" left a big suprise under the tree for Noah Christmas Eve. He came into our bedroom Christmas morning and asked "who left the Polar Express Train under our tree?" It has been a big hit with both him and Mara. I'm just glad it's only going to be out for 1 month a year.

Noah got a Star Wars Clone Trooper helmet from Grandma and Grandpa -- he said, "this is what I've always wanted!"

Auntie Lizzy brought some "snow bunny" attire back with her from Colorado -- isn't she adorable?

Mara got a princess vanity complete with jewels from Grammy and Bumpa. Noah said he wanted to be the prince and asked Mara if he could "decorate" her so she could be "beautiful". When she told him no, he decided to decorate himself.

Baby Luke Is Here!!!

2008-10-19T12:21:00.001-07:00

Luke Henry made his enterance at 8:45pm Saturday, October 18; 30 minutes after we arrived at the hospital! He weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and is 21 1/4 inches long. Both Luke and I are doing well. More details and photos to follow... I promise!

Update

2008-06-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Okay -- so I know that I have be bad (really bad) at keeping this blog up to date. I'm not making any promises at change, but will make a vallient attempt. So... here are a few recent pictures and a brief update.

Noah and Mara continue to enjoy each other's company -- most of the time. Noah thinks it is great fun to teach Mara new and enternaining (and sometimes scary) faces, as evidenced above.

This is our first picture of the newest edition to our family. It is amazing what technology can do! We've been told it's a boy (and have the picture to prove it -- though we won't share it here :). He's due the end of October and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival. Please disregard the "Mary Kate and Ashley Olson" lips -- it's just the angle :)

Makin' Cookies

2007-12-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Noah and his good friend Myles had a great playdate yesterday. They hadn't seen each other in several weeks and were very excited to spend some time together. In between playing trains and "bad guys" they had time to help me make some cookies. Two boys, two bowls of powdered sugar, some chocoate, and lots of energy = one great big mess... and a ton of fun.!!!

Havin' Fun

2007-11-22T19:48:00.001-08:00

Doug snapped this picture the other night while the kids were playing before bedtime. They have so much fun together. Mara is learning very quickly to hold her own against her brother.

Halloween

2007-11-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Halloween. Both kids had a great time trick-or-treating and came home with loads of candy. Since Mara is too little for most of her candy, Noah decided he would give her the stuff he didn't want (Goldfish & Animal Crackers) in exchange for the stuff Mom and Dad didn't want (anything non-chocolate). Worked out great for everyone!

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a "non scary" ghost costume! Fortunately, WalMart had white sheets on sale for $2.50 and good friend Myles had a white-hooded sweatshirt!

What a cute puppy she made!! Notice the red splotches all over her face -- apparently she was having a reaction to the medication she was on. It looks a lot worse that it actually was, she didn't seem bothered by it.

Noah had a great time carving pumpkins. His the the one on the left. Mara's is the on the right. She pretty much wanted nothing to do with the pumkins and screamed when we tried to take her picture with them.

Dancin' the Night Away

2007-11-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Noah and I attended a family wedding a couple of weeks ago. Mara was sick, so she and Dad stayed home. Though I wish the rest of my family could have been there, I was excited to have a pint-sized dance partner. Little did I know that I wouldn't stand a chance next to the beautiful flower girl (my cousin's daughter Anna).

Here's a picture of another cousin, Trevor, getting in on the action.

Apple Jack's Orchard

2007-11-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Amidst a mostly dreary and cool October was one spectacular Saturday. We were fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of that sunny day and head out to Apple Jack's orchard with Doug's brother and his family. The kids had a great time climbing the hay pile, pulling Dad in a wagon, dangling on tree limbs over a stream and shooting apples out of an air cannon. Here are some pictures of the day.

Noah need a bit of help pulling Daddy.

Aren't they cute!!

With just a little bit of help from Dad, Noah was able to hit the targets way out in the field.

Birthday Party

2007-09-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mara's birthday with some of our extended family this weekend. As you can see from the pictures, Noah was very helpful to his little sister... good thing she wasn't into opening gifts. She did enjoy her cake, though. She was somewhat tenative at first, but as soon as she got a taste of the frosting there was no stopping her.

The Wrath of Mara

2007-09-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

We caught a few photos of Mara in the midst of her "aaaahhhh's" and "eeeeeeeh's". In adult speak that translates to "You're in my way" and "Hey you, stop ignoring me and pick me up." She certainly knows how to get noticed. One of these days we'll get it on video and you can hear her incessant demands.

A little girl's room

2007-09-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

It only took a year for Mara (and me)to get her "girly" room. While Noah and Doug were visiting Grammy and Bumpa in LaCrosse I took opportunity to finally paint and decorate Mara's room. Grandma Ericson made the quilt and accessories and they have been sitting in the room for the past few months just waiting for a pretty shade of pink to be put on the walls. I still have a bit of accessorizing to do, but there is only so much a person can accomplish in one weekend (especially with a baby around). Mara obviously doesn't have much of an opinion, but apparently the boys of the household feel there is a bit too much "girly". When I asked Noah what he thought of Mara's room, he said, "It's pink." Doug echoed the sentiments.

I also took some time to reorganize Noah's new room but still have to put the curtains and posters up. Hopefully I can accomplish that yet this week. I'll post pictures of his room when I have them.

Labor Day at the Simonson Cabin

2007-09-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

This is a bit out of order, but we just received some great shots from our weekend at the Simonson cabin in Wisconsin. Our kids, along with cousins Morgan and Geoffrey, enjoyed swimming, kayaking, and fishing. The weather was perfect, the food was good, the wine kept flowing and the company was outstanding! Thanks Bob and Esther for the great weekend!

Cousin Emily taught Noah how to kayak, but as you can see, he was a bit frustrated that the current kept bringing him back to shore.

Mara wasn't too sure about the water at first... it was kinda cold. As long as I kept my hand on her bottom, she was content to lay back and watch everyone else.

Renaissance Festival

2007-09-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Since Saturday was such a beautiful day, we decided to step back into medievil times and venture to the Renaissance Festival. We had a great time watching juggling acts, knights and their horses competed for the honor of jousting, and eating giant turkey legs (mmmmm....). Noah thought it was particularly funny when people commented on his "steed" (he was riding on Doug's shoulders).

Noah got to ride on a miniature pony and an elephant.

Mara was too little to go on the pony and elephant, but she was satisfied in petting the goats and sheep. Although I'm not so sure they were excited about her.