The Ellsworth Family

Christmas 2011

2012-01-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

So, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth over here. Just keeping busy. Looking back I didn't really take any pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas this year. It was a nice relaxing Christmas. Christmas Eve we spent just as our small little family. We had our traditional steak and potatoes dinner, with Dickens Pudding for dessert. I think Reuben was the only one, of the kids, that enjoyed the steak and no one except Ryan and I enjoyed the dessert, but hopefully the rest will learn to like it as the years go on. To me it isn't Christmas Eve without the food traditions. My mother is such a wonderful cook and all of us looked forward to her special holiday meal traditions. After dinner we had the kids open some pajama pants that I had sewn. Then the kids schemed and talked Ryan and I into letting them open their present from each other. (We put all of our names in a hat on Thanksgiving and draw out a name of someone else in the family, the kids love this.) Ryan and I decided it wouldn't be the end of the world if we gave in and that it was actually a good idea because this way the gift from the family member wouldn't get lost in the chaos of opening presents in the morning. It ended up being wonderful! We all played the game Reuben received and Lincoln could not stand to part with his squinkies from that moment on, the girls loved their hand picked presents too. After some cookies were put out for Santa it was off to bed.

Lincoln saw me working on these pajamas and just had to have super hero pajama pants just like Reuben's, luckily I had enough to be able to make both of them.

Here's the gang holding their presents that they purchased for each other in the family.

Christmas started with opening of presents and then going to church. It turned out to be a relaxing afternoon followed by dinner at our dear friend's house.

My Boys

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I just had to include this picture.
Most mornings are spent like this. The kids finish waking up in front of the t.v. More often than not Lincoln will snuggle up the Reuben or at least sit right next to him. They truly are such good friends or as Lincoln likes to say "best bubby". We have fantasized of someday owning our own home and having more bedrooms and space. The cute part is Reuben still always says he wants to share a room with Lincoln. Don't get me wrong they do have their moments when they would like to play without the other, but I know they really do love each other. As a mother moments like these just melt my heart.

Gingerbread Houses Throught the Years

2011-12-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

Making a gingerbread house at Christmas time has become a tradition in our house. Ryan and I both love to make these. So I think a competition might be in order one of these years. Boys vs. Girls old school style :)

2011

2010

2009
We took a little break...

2008

2007
(That is not Lincoln next to me. I am 7 months pregnant with him in this picture. Can you tell they are brothers?)

2006

My wonderful mother at my childhood home

2005

We were still living in married student housing

Nutcracker

2011-12-12T13:06:00.001-08:00

On Friday the girls and I went to see the Nutcracker. We went with a couple of Evie's friends and their Moms. Kaitlyn brought her best friend, Lauren. It was such a fun night, just us girls.

Grace and Eve
(Grace and her Mom gave all the girls a locket. They were a huge hit!)

We are so lucky to live near such beautiful theaters. We were in the last row of the top balcony but it wasn't too shabby for are awesome deal we got on the tickets :)

Kaitlyn and Lauren
(it was hard to take normal pictures in the theater because it was dark in the room and the flash was blinding us)

All of the little girls

Brutus

2011-12-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

Evie's kindergarten teacher is so creative and lets each child in their class have a turn being "lucky buckeye" for a week. They have a special activity that they get to do every day such as; making a poster, bringing in pictures, show and tell, estimation station (where they can put whatever they want into a plastic bag and the class guesses how many items are in the bag), and bringing Brutus home for the weekend. In case you don't live in Ohio, Brutus is Ohio State's mascot, he is a buckeye. On Monday the "lucky buckeye" gets to share what they did with Brutus over the weekend. Here are some pictures of Eve with Brutus.

We love to go to our church's historical sites every year at Christmas time. They put on a phenomenal display of nativities. This year there were over 600! There is no charge to go and you don't have to be a member of our church. Eve took Brutus with us and Evie dressed up like an angel.

Riding in the car with our Brutus and Brutus from school.

Christmas party

2011-12-07T06:09:00.000-08:00

We had our annual church Christmas party last weekend. We had a dinner, Nativity, coloring for the kids, a cookie decorating station, blanket tying for charity, and the big guest was Santa. This year is so much fun because Lincoln really gets it. He was supper excited when Santa appeared. Lincoln sat on his lap and then had his eyes glued on him while the other children had their turns. On another note this year was Kaitlyn's first year not sitting on Santa's lap, they really do grow up too fast!

Temple Trip

2011-12-06T06:01:00.000-08:00

Where we live it takes us two and a half hours to drive to the closest temple. Since it is so far it is always an event! We went down with our friends the Wilde Family. We switch off watching the kids so that all the adults can go inside. This time we hung out in the chapel across the parking lot and let the kids play. We had to get some pictures of all the kiddos! It was a wonderful trip, hopefully we can go again soon!

Going to the Zoo

2011-12-06T05:55:00.000-08:00

I had a Friday free from babysitting recently. Lincoln and I thought that it would be fun to go to the zoo with our friends. We packed a lunch and headed to the zoo's rain forest. Lincoln and Jayne are so adorable together!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

We love Halloween over here! It was a party all day long.

Lincoln's preschool started off the day with a party. I only got this one picture, but they played games and had some treats. Lincoln asked to take his costume off while he ate, but he wore his costume for the games.

In the afternoon, the elementary had their annual Halloween Parade. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes. Following the parade Lincoln and I were lucky enough to get to help out with Eve's classroom party. I forgot to bring my camera for the festivities :(

After dinner we geared up to go trick or treating in our neighborhood. We were joined by 7 other families! It was our biggest group by far. We are missing one family in the photo, but you can see how large our group was. Our poor neighbors didn't know what they had coming. Can you tell Link isn't too happy in the photo? He was standing by Reuben and Ryan couldn't see him in the picture so he had him move to the front of the group. Lincoln wasn't a fan of that idea. He sure loves his brother! It melts my heart! I ended up staying at home to pass out candy and be a home base for those who wanted to come back because they were cold.

And they are off!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T06:04:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night we carved our pumpkins together. I love how they turned out this year!

Lincoln - ghost, Eve - Hello Kitty

Kaitlyn - panda, Reuben - four ghosts

Girl Scout Camp

2011-10-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was able to go camping with Kaitlyn's girl scout troop. It is hard to believe that I have been their leader for almost 6 years now! We went camping with all the girl scout troops from our town this weekend. It was such a fun and beautiful time of year to go camping. The trees are all changing colors which made for beautiful surroundings and there was a Halloween theme to the camp out since it's October. We started off the first night having a scavenger hunt. The following morning a naturalist came and brought a couple of owls and a possum. That night we had a monster bash (which I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of). There were carnival games, dancing, and of course everyone was in costume. The last morning we celebrated Juliet Low's (the founder of girl scouts) birthday. Our girls had fun with the troop we shared a cabin with, it was a just a great camp out over all :)

We made a craft during our free time inspired by this.

The other troop included us in on their doughnut eating contest

and their bobbing for apples game

Here is a photo of all the girls from our city that were at camp.

Apple Farm

2011-10-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

This fall I was able to go with Eve and her class to an apple farm for their field trip. It ended up being a beautiful day! The kids learned about apple trees and how the farmers harvest their apples. Then they were given a taste of apple cider, Yum!

Eve

2011-09-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Eve turned the big 6 this year! She was super excited about her birthday this year. She did get confused about her "real" birthday and friends party, since they were not on the same day it end caused some tears but in the end everything worked out.

Her party was a Hello Kitty party this year. We played Hello Kitty, Hello Kitty; where one person would hide Eve's stuffed animal hello kitty while everyone else was out of the room and then they would enter the room again and try to find it.
I have to mention my score at the dollar spot. Yes, those lunch boxes were at the Dollar spot in Target! Perfect timing!

We played meow; where everyone sits in a circle and one person sits in the middle with their eyes closed. Once the center child has their eyes closed everyone switches places and then the child with their eyes closed points in one direction. Whichever child they point at in the circle says "meow, meow" and the center child has to guess who it is.
We played a couple more games and then had cake. I was a little bummed that it didn't turn out as well as the one I made on her real birthday, but she still liked it :)

Kates

2011-09-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe my daughter turned 11 this year! It is really crazy and hard to wrap my head around! Next year she will be able to start participating in our youth program at church which is CRAZY!

School started the day before her birthday this year. Kates was super excited to start another year and be able to see her friends on a daily basis.

Kaitlyn's cake was not my best looking cake this year, but it sure was tasty! She requested chocolate cake with ganache frosting, she is definitely my girl!

Instead of a party this year she opted for a sleepover with her two best friends. We had to do them on separate weekends because of scheduling conflicts. Lauren was able to come spend the night on Kaitlyn's real birthday. We did a bunch of crafts and had cake!

Mount Rushmore

2011-09-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Utah Ryan asked if I wanted to take a detour and see Mount Rushmore. I said sure but was a little hesitant because I didn't know how much time it would tack onto our already long trip. It ended up just adding a few hours and was a fun little break in the long drive. We arrived around dinner time and let the kids run around a little and took some pictures and then we were back on our way. I've always wanted to see this landmark! I am glad we were able to make the stop!

Loafer Mountain Hike

2011-09-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Reuben just loves Cub scouts and especially the day camp. Well, this year there was a scheduling mix up and he didn't get to go. I told him that instead of going to day camp, why don't we talk to Grandpa and see if he and a couple uncles want to go backpacking while we are in Utah. He got extremely excited about it. What turned out even cooler was the fact that Grandpa got on the phone with all of my brothers, turning it into a spontaneous family reunion. Jason and his family drove in from Texas, which was a real treat. Mark, and his family, are now living in Utah Valley, after being in New Zealand for 4+ years. So after 5 years we were all, once again, reunited. It made for an exciting week.
For the hike we decided it would be fun to hike the Loafer Mtn Trail, just like when we were kids. Unfortunately, Daniel decided to develop a medical condition which necessitated a shoulder surgery. He was unable to attend our overnight excursion, doctors orders.

Here are a multitude of pictures from the hike.

Reuben with his cousin Jonah, with Aunt Sherrie in the back. These three lead the pack the entire day. They did awesome. We all remembered the hike to be about 4 miles to the top of the mountain. It was, however, 7 miles. Ooops!

The views, all of the way up, were simply spectacular. This is Reuben, of course, with Mt. Nebo in the distance just off his left shoulder.

Grandpa and Reuben.

Objective one: Reach the saddle on the ridge (Grandpa is pointing to the saddle). Uggh! It was a climb straight up the mountain side. NO SWITCHBACKS.

Reuben, Mark, and Aunt Sherrie in one of the many mini breaks working our way up to the saddle.

Jason, Matt, and Devin bringing up the rear. It looks like they will just fall off the world. Still working our way to the saddle.

Yip still working toward the saddle. This push for the saddle is a whole lot longer than I remembered.

There were dozens of wildflower varieties in full bloom. It was gorgeous. This is one of the 2 short switch backs heading to the saddle.

Objective one: complete. Grandpa and his sister, Aunt Sherrie, posing in the saddle. Aunt Sherrie is trying to demonstrate her age, 60. She doesn't realize it is backwards to us. We won't confuse her. Grandpa turned 61 on the second day of the hike.

Objective 2: Reach the camp location. A saddle behind the top of the mountain. Reuben is pointing to the top in this picture. The saddle for camp is in the "V" right over his right shoulder.

Mark and his son, Jonah.

Reuben and Jonah. We took a long "packs off" break in the first saddle on the ridge.

The whole gang (minus one brother: Daniel).

Now we make a push for camp destination. We have to work our way along the ridge toward the top of the mountain.

This is where we say good-bye to Aunt Sherrie. It was great to have her along for the first part.

At this point we were starting to run dangerously low on water. There are frequently glaciers on the back side of the mountain and even the north side of the ridge. We, however had not seen any sign of snow to this point. We starting getting nervous that there may not be any. Luckily about 300 meters from the camp site we found a glacier which we were able to get some water from.

Jason.

Devin.

Uncle Matt brought a sling shot, which Jonah and Reuben just loved and shot every tree in site from the camp area.

Unfortunately this picture doesn't do this sight justice. We camped in a saddle just behind the top of the mountain. We had the most amazing view of the valley and other wilderness areas to the north. It was breathtaking, literally. The height of this saddle is approx. 10,000 feet above sea level.

Another view of our camp.

Mark and Jonah.

The overnight gang.

The top. This is, unfortunately, the closest we were able to get to the top. We had run out of time.

Going back down. Reuben and Jonah lead the charge.

Sego Lily: the Utah state flower. Just about the only place you can find it is in higher elevations. (Sorry for the blurry picture)

Today's Objective: get to the cars. Here Reuben points to where the cars are.

About an hour from reaching the cars, Aunt Sherrie met us with a gallon of orange juice. She said she ran out of water on her back the day before, and said all she could think about was how great it would be to have some orange juice. We all appreciated her thoughtfulness.
This was a very memorable trip which I will not soon forget. We had such a good time with my brothers, dad, aunt, and cousin. Not to mention the time Reuben and I got to spend together was priceless. I think Reuben is hooked on hiking, and I love it!! I have to give Reuben huge props. He carried his own pack with sleeping bag, water, clothes, ground cover the entire time without a single complaint. I'm so very proud of him.

Natural Water Slide

2011-08-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

On my Dad's birthday we all went on a hike in Alpine to a natural water slide. The hike was a hot one without shade, but it was fun to cool off at the top. The natural water slide is a waterfall made from granite rock. The water is all glacier or snow melt from the mountain which made the water really cold! Two of my nephews were brave enough to go down the huge slide and a couple of kids, including Reuben, went down a smaller one. Most of us just had fun wading in the pools of water, while all the Mom's there had their blood pressure going through the roof that their little one's wouldn't get hurt or fall down the drop-offs all around us. I am really glad we all went, it was really neat to see.

Aunt Sherrie

2011-08-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

I think everyone should have an Aunt like Aunt Sherrie! She is the best with kids. Many of Ryan's best childhood memories include Aunt Sherrie, hiking or doing some other fun thing with them. We headed to her house one morning while we were in Utah. She was nice enough to let us ride on her horse, Goldilocks. She owns ten horses, chickens, goats, a huge garden, and a hay loft. Which equals heaven in my kids books! We seriously could have spent days at her house. I am so thankful to have her in my life and for my kids to be able to know her too!

Lincoln has loved tractors ever since I can remember. He loved climbing up onto this one

All of the kids had fun feeding the goats

Reba and Lincoln became friends

The chicken laid an egg just before Reuben and Sherrie checked the coop.

Salt Lake City

2011-08-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

We were able to take a trip out to Utah this summer. It was a family reunion of sorts for us. It had been eight years since my siblings, our spouses and children had all been together! And five years for Ryan's side. It was SO good to see everyone, watch the kids play with their cousins, and meet some nieces and nephews for the first time.

Our first Monday there we visited Temple Square.

The first stop was at the Conference Center

Next was lunch and we got to see the cubicles my parents work in for their part time mission.

At lunch we ran into one of our favorite Sister Missionaries. She is serving on temple square but was able to come out our way for a while and serve at the sites next to us.

Then we went to see the temple up close

These girls cracked me up! They wanted pictures of "just" them, everywhere! I didn't post all of them though

Can you find the hiding, pouting boy?

The last stop was the Church History Museum

There was a wonderful exhibit geared towards the kids. They had fun trying to lift the gold plates.

Dancing! They could have done this all day!

There were a bunch of other centers which is didn't get pictures of. If we lived closer I think we would definitely spend more time there.

The exhibit next to the children's one had quilts! Of course I had to stop and look at these.

Underwear Rocks!

2011-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

I can officially say that everyone in our house is potty trained! After 11 years with no breaks in between of having at least one kid in diapers sometimes two.

Lincoln is potty trained!!

To celebrate this momentous occasion Ryan bought me a new (smaller) purse!

Going to the Zoo

2011-07-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have to pinch myself sometimes! I am really so blessed to have Rochelle and her family in my life. They surprised us with a family pass to our local zoo! I was speechless when she emailed me to let me know about the surprise. I still am. I just feel so blessed to have such an amazing friend! It is more than just a zoo pass. She is an amazing friend and I won't get all mushy on the blog, but you get the idea :)

A trip to the zoo together seemed perfect! There is a new Elephant exhibit at our zoo that is huge. The zoo really did a fantastic job if I say so myself.

My husband's a podiatrist, so I had to take a picture of the elephant's foot bone.

Crazy best friends

I don't take enough pictures of this beautiful girl! I love her so much! She is growing up way too fast.

I love watching them together. They are such good friends.

This bear was just hanging out. He was so cute! Grace took one look at this bear folding his arms and said, "Look the bear is praying". I love kids, they see the world in such a wonderful way.

The zoo has a neat butterfly exhibit. I was lucky enough to have a little visitor.

I hope we can go together many more times this year!

Summer Days

2011-07-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have to give a shout out to my kids. They have been wonderful this summer. We have been stuck at home A LOT because I have been babysitting so much. I feel bad that we haven't been to the pool more or doing other fun things but they really have been great sports about it. I love them so much. We are going to Utah next week! I am SO excited to be with family and also to have a little break! It will be wonderful!

The kidos decided to randomly have horse races! I love it when they all play together.

July 4th

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

To top off the fourth we had a BBQ with some games and then headed out to see some fireworks.

Ryan missed the BBQ part but was able to join us for the fireworks. People need to stop fracturing their ankles on the fourth :)

We had a shoe flinging contest.

A watermelon seed spitting contest

A human pyramid

I don't have pictures but we played water balloon volleyball too

The kids getting all comfortable while they wait for the fireworks to begin. This is what trucks are made for (at least in my opinion). We had quite the crowd this year! It was so fun to be surrounded by good company! The best fourth! I can't wait for next year!!

Our Hike on the 4th

2011-07-20T11:39:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful friends the Wilde's invited us to go on a hike on their favorite trail. Hiking has to be one of my most favorite things to do, it is so relaxing! This was a great way to start off our fourth of July celebrations. We packed a lunch and ate next to a stream. Here are a bunch of pictures I stole from their blog. (since I forgot my camera) Ryan had to work unfortunately hopefully next year He'll be able to join us in the fun.

It was fun to see Reuben climb on this tree. It reminded me of playing in the woods behind our house while I was young. There were several trees like this one that I loved to climb on.

Here's the whole gang of kids! I love them all! I feel blessed to be able to have them all in my life.

Check Out My Craft Blog

2011-07-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.allsnugasabug.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2011-06-30T06:04:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Ryan!

I love this man more than words can say!

Here is an example of what a wonderful father he is. Ryan is sporting his father's day tie that the kiddos made for him.

Evie and Lincoln

2011-06-27T08:47:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd share a cute picture of two of the kiddos.

National Quilt Show 2011

2011-06-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again! I look forward to going to this quilt show all year. This year definitely did not disappoint. I went with my wonderful friends Rochelle and Jackie this year. (Janeen couldn't make it this year because her son's birthday was the day of the show, we missed her) I spaced taking a picture of the three of us! We were having too much fun I guess :)

This year we spent the night close to the quilt show instead of making the long drive there and back in one day. It made the trip so much more relaxing and who can complain when you get to spend even more time with your best friends? Friday night we went to a huge mall that was mostly outdoors. It was so fun to window shop and walk through Tiffany's for my first time. Our trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to Graeter's and to North Market. But the majority of our time was spend at the quilt show. Here are some of my favorite quilts from the show.

This Santa's workshop quilt won the best of show and is being judged as a "master quilt"

This quilt had chenille that the quilter had made. There were several quilts with chenille at this vendor. I really would love to try my hand at it sometime.

This quilt was teeny-weeny, maybe 12x12. I am already a drawn towards all white quilts.

A Getaway to Falling Water

2011-06-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I were lucky to go on a little getaway last week. Our wonderful friends, the Wildes, watched our kids to make the trip possible. Ryan and I stayed at The Summit Inn in Pennsylvania. It was an old fashioned classic lodge/hotel. In its day I am sure it was quite the place, Ryan and I could just picture women in the 30's with their swimming hats on, swimming in the extra long pools. We also imagined the banquets and weddings that have probably happened it their many banquet rooms. It was fun.

There was a beautiful view from the porch and pool area.

(Ryan and I thought it was funny that we both packed pretty much identical outfits. Can you tell we've been married for 12 years!)

Here is a glimpse of the pool behind me and there was a pool inside just as large as this one.

In the morning we were able to go to see Falling Water, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The house and the surroundings were truly breathtaking.

I loved how these stairs went right into the water

There is almost the same amount of square footage of living space outside as inside. Every bedroom has it's own outdoor space.

This is the front door to the home. I loved the water feature and soap on a rope built in to the house to wash your hands before coming in.

Photos inside were not permitted, so unfortunately we don't have anymore photos. We truly enjoyed the whole visit.

12 Years Ago Today

2011-06-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

June 12, 1999

June 12, 2011

12 years ago today I married my best friend! The time has flown by!

I Love You Ryan!

Eve Lost Her First Tooth!

2011-06-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Eve lost her first tooth today! She has anxiously been waiting for this wiggly to finally come out. Today was her lucky day! Hopefully the tooth fairy won't disappoint tonight :)

What to Read???

2011-06-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished The Hunger Games series and before that the Help. I would love some good suggestions on what to read next. I always forget what people have recommended when I am in between reads. So what have you enjoyed reading recently?

School's Out For Summer

2011-06-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

getting off the bus on the last day of school

Our bus stop crew

The kids are officially on summer break! It has definitely already felt like summer because of the hot days we've been having and pretty much every night at either Kaitlyn or Reuben's baseball games. I love it! (I didn't get to the bus stop in time to get a picture of Kates )

Memorial Day Parade 2011

2011-06-01T07:53:00.001-07:00

Eve's Daisy troop

Reuben's baseball team

Kaitlyn's baseball team

This year three of the kids were able to be in the Memorial Parade in our town. Eve was so excited for about a week before that she was going to be able to be in the parade this year. Ryan had to work so Lincoln and I cheered of the kids from the sidelines.

Girl Scout Mother-Daughter Activity

2011-06-01T07:31:00.001-07:00

This year our Girl Scout Unit had a paint your own pottery (flower pot) activity for daughters and their mothers. (Ryan unexpectedly had to work so we had a little man there too) Eve painted Rapunzel on her pot with her hair twisting all the way around her pot. Kaitlyn did a beautiful design with dots, stripes and squiggles, she has become quite the artist :) My pot I painted shades of blue and did yellow lights all over, we'll see how it turns out. We get our pots back in a couple of weeks. It was fun to hang out with my girls! I feel so blessed to have them for daughters!

Spring

2011-05-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

This Spring we have had so much fun watching this little Mama sit on her nest.

It was so exciting to see her three little babies peek out ready for some food. (you can barely see their cute little heads) After they hatched they were cute little pink newborn chicks.

In this picture you can see the baby Robin's heads sticking out while their Mama sits on them to keep them warm.

The last couple of days we have watched them grow beautiful feathers. This morning when I looked they were all gone. How fun it would have been to see them learn to fly. We've had so much fun watching this whole process. Their nest is right outside our sliding glass door which has made it super easy to keep tabs on them.

Good luck little birdies!

Spring Break

2011-05-24T07:09:00.001-07:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging. Life has been super busy. Spring break this year seemed to slip away this year. I had one day off from babysitting, so as a family we went to the Children's Museum. The kids were stoked! We went and they had a fun time until we went in the massive sand room. (note, never go in the sand room :) Lincoln ended up with a face full of sand. We spent the next half hour flushing his eye with this little eye cup they had there (I guess it has happened before). It broke my heart to hear my little boy cry and scream in pain. Finally we decided to take him to the doctor to make sure all the sand was out of his eyes. Lincoln refused to open his eyes from the point he got sand in his eyes until we were sitting in the patient room at the doctors. Luckily Lincoln had not scratched his eyes and the sand was out as far as the doctor could tell. The doctor gave us some drops to put in his eyes to keep them moist in case there was some more sand hiding out in there.

Despite the crazy Children's Museum visit, we all seemed to have a good Spring Break. The kids had fun doing crafts at home and playing with their friends.

Les Miserables

2011-04-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

This last week I was able to go with Kaitlyn's girl scout troop to see Les Miserables. It was such a wonderful night. I remember my parents taking me to see it when I was in sixth grade at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and it being impressive. But this time the story just clicked with me. I absolutely loved it!!! The music is beautiful and the message of how this man was able to turn his life around for good, it was amazing. I was telling Ryan that it reminds me of the story of Alma the younger in the Book of Mormon, a little. I also was touched by the men fighting in the war and the lives which were lost. I have two brother-in-laws who have been deployed and through the play could empathize with how hard it would be to sacrifice everything for what you believe in. Also it touched my heart to watch the actor as he came back from war and so many of his friends were not able to. How hard it would be to see all that you do in war and then to come back to normal life. I probably read way too much into the play, but I loved it.

Ryan and I were able to go see the play together two days later. This picture is with Fantine and the little boy who sings "Little People".

Overnighter at the Zoo

2011-04-11T05:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend Kaitlyn's girl scout troop and I were able to spend the night at the zoo. The zoo always does a phenomenal job with their programs!

This baby rhino is only one or two months old. He was running like crazy everywhere. Baby rhinos come out 500 lbs., their poor mothers!

This owl's name is Hootie. He was super cute. I guess owls like him only live one or two years in the wild but he is fifteen years old, since he is taken care of at the zoo it has prolonged his life.

I love these girls! It is hard to believe that we have been a troop for five years!

Pinewood Derby

2011-04-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Reuben was so excited to participate in his first Pinewood Derby! He had fun working on his car with Ryan. They didn't get to spend as much time on it as they hoped since Ryan has been working more hours than any sane person should. But Reuben was happy with how his car turned out and is already planning his for next year.

Mario and Luigi K'nex

2011-03-23T15:32:00.001-07:00

(The Luigi motorcycle stands up great. My kids just had fun posing it.)

We were lucky enough to try out some more K'nex this week. We were sent the Mario cart and Luigi sets for free in the mail. The only catch is to blog about what we thought about them. The kids were super excited to open the package as soon as it arrived. Reuben was stoked that they were Mario and Luigi! Everyone huddled around the table to put them together. Both sets went together really easy. The only negative feedback for the sets is; on the Mario one the rocket booster/exhaust pipes fall off really easy, as for the Luigi set when you press Luigi on the bike to ride it then the motorcycle breaks in half unless you support it right. The positives were that they are easy to put together, very cool characters, and the Mario Kart propels forward if you pull it back and then release it. When all is said and done I would definitely recommend both of these sets! The kids were fighting over who would get to play with them first!

Nacho Libre

2011-03-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Nacho Libre has become a new member of our family. Reuben reminded him of his outfit a week ago and it has been like pulling teeth to take it off, even for bedtime. I have put it in the laundry just to have it pulled out and and Nacho insisting on wearing it. Yes, he does respond to "Nacho" and actually refers to himself that way. Luckily I babysit full time from home so we don't have to worry about changing to leave the house. He had fun posing for these photos :)

Blue and Gold Banquet

2011-02-26T08:12:00.001-08:00

Last night was Reuben's cub scout Blue and Gold Banquet. I (Ryan) remember as a kid my older brother, Matt, had a Blue and Gold which they had to decorate a cake. It must have been in October, because it was a halloween themed cake. Matt and Dad built a fence of pretzels and ghosts of marshmallows in a pumpkin patch. In my mind it was a perfect cake and I thought it was so cool.

With Reuben's banquet each boy and their father were to bring a decorated cake that they did together. The theme was "...seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning…" (D&C 88:118). So with a great coach (Kristen) we endeavored to make a cake together. Reuben and I worked for a few hours on this cake and feel great about how it turned out. Kristen was awesome, while I'm sure it just killed her not being able to help. She stood by and watched.

The teddy bear was 100% Reuben's creation, while the rest we worked together kneading and rolling out the fondant. We had a blast working on this together and Reuben was so proud of it at the display.

Boys Day Out - Monster Jam

2011-02-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we thought we would try something new. We wanted to take the kids to an activity that they would, hopefully, never forget. Kristen recently took the girls to "Toy Story 3 on Ice" and last weekend the boys and I got to go to a Monster Jam. I have never been to one so I was just as excited to see the trucks as Reuben and Lincoln. Reuben and I tried to guess who of the great trucks would be there. While it was a long shot I was hoping for one of my childhood favorites Big Foot, but my other favorite Grave Digger would be awesome. Reuben hoped for Grave Digger or Donkey Kong. To our great surprise our common favorite appeared.

I hope I am not too much of a dork to say this, but it was TOTALLY AWESOME. The competition ultimately came down between Grave Digger and Tazmanian Devil, as pictured above. In the end Grave Digger dominated, with a tire that exploded at the end of his run. How exciting!! Reuben and Lincoln enjoyed the show, too.

The entire time Lincoln sat with his hands over his ears, though he also had ear plugs in. Everytime a truck came out he yelled "no". But when all was said and done he could not stop talking about the big trucks and the loud noise, in fact he frequently plays with his trucks saying, "vrooom, too loud". We all had a great time together and look forward to the next event we can do together.

Big Boy Bed

2011-02-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

I was out running errands the other night at the kid's bed time and Ryan was home with the kids putting them to bed. While I was gone Ryan gave Lincoln the choice of sleeping in his crib or in his big boy bed. He picked his big boy bed and hasn't turned back. Knock on wood he has done really well with it. To be honest it breaks my heart a little to have my baby all grown up and out of his crib. We went to the store and he picked out "Woody and Buzz Lightyear" sheets for his bed which he is in love with.

Lincoln is 3

2011-02-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

Lincoln turned three this week at our house! It is crazy that my baby is 3 and not really a baby anymore. I love this little guy! He has a huge grin most of the time and loves to dish out his kisses to everyone in the family. He is all boy and loves to play catch or anything else his big brother is doing.

Lincoln is obsessed with tractors so a tractor cake seemed in order. He has been into tractors for awhile now and never really wavered to anything else. Maybe he'll be our farmer.

It was so hard to get a picture of him next to his cake this year because Lincoln was singing "Happy Birthday" right along with everyone.

We're Here

2011-02-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't known what to post about... It is snowy and we've tried to stay home as much as possible. But here are a couple of photos to let you know we are still here :)

Lincoln found a great hiding spot when I took the contents that were in the cabinet out.

Reuben had to make a mask for a book report at school. He read star wars the clone wars, so here he is as Anakin.

Ryan in the news

2011-01-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

Ryan was on the news! He helped out in a homeless clinic yesterday and was caught on camera. Don't blink, because you might miss him :)

Bowling

2011-01-29T06:59:00.001-08:00

This month we were so lucky to have my parents visit for two weeks. We had a pretty low key visit, because I babysit full time from home. But we were able to get out a couple of times :)

One night we went bowling at the largest bowling alley in the U.S.A. They have 96 lanes and it is actually hard to get a lane to play on, on the weekend nights because they are full. But we got lucky to be able to play without a wait. It has been such a long time since we have been bowling that Eve had never gone before. It was so fun to see Lincoln get really excited and say "I throw the ball".

My birthday fell on Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this year so the kids had off school. If you live here in Cleveland, on this holiday every year all museums are free. We tried to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but the line to go in was out the door and to the curb. So, instead we headed to the Natural History Museum and the Case Western Historical Society. I wish I had taken some pictures but I totally forgot to.

I also forgot to take pictures of my parents during their visit here. We LOVED having them and can't wait until we can be together again.

Toy Story 3 On Ice

2011-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

My Grandparents gave our family a check for Christmas to buy some gifts from them. Ryan and I decided to buy tickets to an event for each family member instead of more toys for the kids. This ended up being a huge hit and I think will become a tradition for us. The girls and I were able to go see Toy Story 3 on ice. It was so fun just to be out on a girls night with my girls. The boys are going to be going to see a monster truck jam in February.

When Barbie came on Eve said, "She is BEAUTIFUL!"

Then there was a ton of Barbies which was even cooler!

Glasses

2011-01-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

At the kids' school they did a vision test this year. Reuben was sent home with a letter that he might need glasses. So I made an appointment and sure enough he does need glasses. His prescription isn't super high but it definitely helps him. He also has a stigmatism in his right eye. We were able to get in on the buy one get one free at the glasses store. Here he is sporting his new look. The girls are a little envious, but being really good sports about it. I totally remember when I was younger and wished that I could get glasses and braces. I ended up needing both, and then they weren't as cool. Hopefully Reuben continues to love them because I think they are super cute!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

We were so blessed this Christmas to have Ryan home for two weeks! It just so happened that he was on his general surgery rotation and two weeks-off are automatically built into that rotation! We could have just stopped there because that was the best present EVER!

Kaitlyn was the first one to wake up this year. As soon as Lincoln woke up he said, "It's Christmas time!" These pictures show what "Christmas Time" was like at our house.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without Reuben putting together Lego sets. Kaitlyn is jamming out on her new ipod shuffle. Kaitlyn's reaction was priceless when she opened this gift! She was so excited/surprised to actually get a shuffle. We had told the kids that this christmas was going to be pretty small this year. But through many blessings we were able to provide a wonderful christmas for the kiddos.

Dad putting together gifts

Lincoln played all day with Woody and Buzz. His monologue between the two was hilarious! He got us to laugh so hard we cried a couple of times.

Eve is so proud of her babies and pillow pet

I was so excited for Christmas dinner when I got to use our china, which was handed down by my grandmother, for the first time. We are so thankful for the wonderful families which were able to celebrate Christmas with us.

Feasty, Fousty, Flatty, Cutty, or Claw

2011-01-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

I (Ryan) remember a game we played, when I was young, with my Aunt Sherrie called "Feasty, Fousty, Flatty, Cutty, or Claw". She played the games with the kids at a family reunion about 5 years ago, which the kids just loved.

In this picture Kaitlyn is laying face down and Aunt Sherrie and my niece, Naomi, are around her playing the game.

The game is played by the person which is "it" lays face down on the floor with their eyes closed, the rest of the group sits around the person. They silently decided among themselves which of the choices they will use then chant "feasty, fousty, flatty, cutty, or claw". Their hands are made into feasty position (pinching), a fist (fousty), open hand with palm to the person (flatty), open hand in a chopping position (cutty), or a claw position (claw). The person laying down has to then guess which one of the choices they are demonstrating. If the person guesses incorrectly they then receive a treatment of the guesture (humanely) to the persons back. This continues until the person guesses correctly. Officially at the time they guess the correct one they quickly look behind them to see if anyone is left in that position. The last person left in that position is then subject to being the one that lays on the ground.

During my recent time off we thought it would be fun to try this game on the kids again. They had a great time and it was fun to remember old times.

Here we have Reuben is laying down and he apparently chose wrongly as he is receiving the claw treatment.

Family Sleepover

2010-12-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know how we won the friend jackpot! We feel so blessed to have MANY wonderful friends, like the Wildes. Our families were able to have a family sleepover to kick-off Christmas break. The men were in charge of the meals. Jeremy made killer pizzas for dinner and Ryan my out of this world omelets for breakfast! The kids had a great time playing and being with their friends. The adults had fun hanging out and playing games on the Wii. Rochelle and I even were able to run to target while Jeremy and Ryan played games on the Wii. We had so much fun and look forward to doing it again, often!

The boys had fun posing for these photos

Jayne with the bed to herself (at least for a couple of minutes)

Goodnight! The kids did great going to bed! It was amazing!

I am posting this a little while after the sleepover... Rochelle is being induced today and we are so excited to meet their new little one! The Wilde kids spent the night last night so Jeremy and Rochelle could go to the hospital early this morning. Grace was so cute when see woke up she said "I wonder if my Mom and Dad are at the hospital". All of the kids are so excited to meet their new brother or sister.

The Reason For The Season

2010-12-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

The other morning Lincoln and Eve decided to play "baby Jesus". Eve is Mary and I am guessing Lincoln is Joseph. They set up their own little manger scene.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

Have I ever said how much I love this time of year?I love all of the traditions, the excitement and happiness that comes this time of year. I must admit it is definitely a little bit more stressful now that I am an adult and mother of four. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it the "best" Christmas for my kiddos and hubby like the ones I had growing up. But in the end everything always turns out great, this year is no exception. I am so thankful for all of my many blessings!

One of our traditions that we have done for the last couple of years is putting together a ginger bread house. Ryan was home last night and we didn't have anything scheduled, so it was the perfect night. This year Lincoln really got into helping decorate the house with the few candies he didn't eat. Kaitlyn and Reuben really brainstormed some good ideas for the house this year! It was fun to work all together!

Ryan was the mastermind behind the fence. I love it when the light shines through it like stained glass.

Country Lights

2010-12-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Last night we were able to go to Lake Farm Park for their Country Lights. We started out with the kids making their wooden toys with the help from an Elf.

Kaitlyn decided to make a panda bear with her Elf.

Reuben made an airplane. He took a long time painting his plane to make sure it was just right. It looked great!

For Lincoln there was no question about it. He made a tractor.

Eve had a wonderful Elf helping her. She was one of the first kids that started her toy and was the last done by far! He even had his own special stamp to stamp on the bottom of her toy. Our good friends the Smith's and the Greenway's went with us. Eve and her friend Madelynne both made castles and painted them pink. Eve's Elf even let them press the button to make it snow in the workshop.

Next stop was to visit Santa. There was a line to see him, but Lincoln sneaked up to the front of the room and sat down to watch and wait for our turn. He told us he was going to ask for candy but ended up really asking for Woody for Christmas.

After the kids were able to talk with Santa we went on our tractor pulled wagon ride to see all of the pretty Christmas lights. Last stop was the barn with the horses, sheep, pigs and goats. It was a great night. We love this tradition of going every year.

My Boys

2010-11-15T10:31:00.001-08:00

The last two weeks Ryan has worked A LOT which is really an understatement. One night last week I was getting ready to hop in bed after midnight, Ryan was back at the hospital because he had been paged, when I heard Reuben crying. I went in to see what was the matter, his legs were hurting him so bad. He said he couldn't even straighten them. Reuben couldn't come down his top bunk because he was in so much pain. So I carried him into my bed and told him that he was growing and that even though it hurt a lot it would go away. So I rubbed his legs till he fell asleep. In the morning Reuben hopped out of bed excited and announced that he definitely felt taller! He even wanted me to measure him because he was convinced he had grown. I had to smile! That night we went over to our good friends' house for dinner and Jackie asked Reuben if he had grown taller. He was so excited she had noticed and of course said YES!

The night that Reuben had the leg pain I had had a girl scout leaders meeting which I brought the kids to, because Ryan was still at work. The meeting lasted longer than normal and Ryan ended up coming home and getting the kids. Then he put them in bed while I was still at the meeting. The next morning I was excited with Reuben that he had grown taller :) and then Lincoln woke up... When I went to get him out of his crib I saw that he had gone to bed with gum in his mouth the night before! I just had to keep smiling because my poor husband has been SO tired and didn't even notice that Lincoln had had the gum in his mouth. Luckily the gum was all over his hands, chin, neck and shirt. But not in his hair or sheets! What a blessing! I just couldn't stop smiling about what an eventful morning it had been and it wasn't even 8 am yet!

(This picture is from a different day but you still can see Lincoln's mischievous side)

Undercover Turkey

2010-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Eve came home with a homework worksheet that had a picture of a turkey on it. The instructions said that turkeys don't want to be caught this time of year so please help your turkey with a disguise so that no one will be able to tell they are a turkey. Eve immediately thought of dressing her turkey up as a princess. This was a "family" project, so I helped a little. I love projects like this!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

We were able to go trick-or-treating with a couple of friends this year. It was a beautiful but chilly night but we all had a lot of fun!

James was amazing and wore his stilts trick-or-treating. Our sidewalks around here are not the most even, so we were all pretty impressed! He was the B.F.G.

Here is the run down of costumes:

Lincoln was Nacho Libre (his all time favorite movie) in the picture he's wearing a sweatshirt because he was freezing. We will take some solo pictures of him soon.

Eve was Ariel/ a mermaid

Reuben was a mad scientist at Jayne's party, a secret agent in the school parade, a baseball player at the church halloween party and a cowboy on halloween. (As you can't tell he couldn't make up his mind)

Kaitlyn was a s'more. (A little bit of bragging here, but she won for the best costume worn by a girl, at her school halloween party.)

School Halloween Parade

2010-11-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

On Friday the Elementary put on a parade around the streets surrounding the school. I love this yearly tradition to see all of the cute kids so excited and dressed up in their costumes.

When Eve woke up that morning she could hardly contain her excitement for the parade. She was convinced that she was going to be able to ride in a truck and wave to everyone and throw candy. (She has watched Kaitlyn and Reuben in our town's Memorial Day Parade for a couple of years and thought that this parade was the Memorial Day one.) It was pretty cute.

Eve wanted to be Ariel this year. I totally lucked out and found this costume at our local grocery store for $3.99! (I love a good deal!!) Reuben had a hard time making up his mind this year. He ended up being four different things, one costume for each party/event we went to. Luckily he used stuff we had at home because this had potential of getting pretty expensive. So, at school he dressed up as a spy (suit coat and Ryan's fedora). Reuben did such a good job blending in that I didn't get a good picture of him during the parade. This is the best I was able to get.

Blue Man Group

2010-10-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on my blog posts... The other weekend Ryan and I were able to go with our awesome friends to see the Blue Man Group. It was so fun to go on a double date and have a night on the town! Rochelle is the best at getting the smart seats (only $10!!). The performance was even better than I had imagined! Afterward the Blue Men were in the lobby to give "autographs" (a blue hand print) and take pictures. Rochelle made the night even more memorable when she had the Blue Man put a handprint on her tummy. None of us were ready to end the night so we went out for some yummy frozen custard. Mmm. Here are a couple of pictures of the night. Rochelle was so nice to email me these because I forgot our camera.

These huge balls were thrown out on the audience and passed back and forth. They had different colored lights that would turn on in them to sync to the music. The tech. people for the show were amazing!

This Blue Man couldn't stop starring at Ryan and how tall he is. The Blue Men don't even break character in the lobby, they keep their expressionless face and don't talk at all. So all he did was motion lots of times with his hand how tall Ryan was and did a lot of starring.

Holden Arboretum

2010-10-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

We ventured out to Holden Arboretum the other day as a family and went on a walk/hike. I have no idea why we haven't been there before! It is GORGEOUS! And was so relaxing to go on a walk with all the beautiful autumn colors around us. We are definitely going to have to go back soon.

Lucky Buckeye

2010-10-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Eve was Lucky Buckeye in her class last week. (kinda like being star student) Her wonderful teacher is a HUGE Ohio State fan so she has made her whole classroom into an Ohio State theme. Being Lucky Buckeye, Eve was able to make a poster to hang in the classroom about herself on Monday, bring in pictures to show on Tuesday, bring in a bag full of stuff for her class to estimate the number of items which were inside of the bag on Wednesday, on Thursday she was able to show and tell, and on friday Eve was able to bring Brutus home for the weekend and write a journal entry of what they did together to share on Monday. So if you having gathered by now, being Lucky Buckeye is one of the best things ever! It was a fun week!

I love my Man!

2010-09-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday night I selfishly asked Ryan could you do something special for me this week. I have to say Ryan does stuff for me all the time; always washes the dishes that need to be hand washed (because it is not my favorite), works an unreal amount of hours every week, helps with countless other things around the house where needed, he is always giving me a hug just when I need it, I could really go on and on. But for some reason I was pms-ing, tired and feeling sorry for myself. Yeah poor me right :) So Ryan comes home on Tuesday after working 13+ hours and brings me this...

Yeah he loves me! Not just that he "got" me something did it mean so much but that he really has a stressful week at work and even had to stay up late working on a paper to present today. Anyways. Now that you see how selfish I am, you can see that my husband is a saint! I love you!

My Boys

2010-09-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

I love my boys (and girls, of course)! When I came back in the house after taking Kaitlyn to the bus stop I found these two cute boys laying on the couch watching a show. Reuben had gotten Lincoln out of his crib for him.

Pinkalicious

2010-09-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Evie was lucky to be able to celebrate her birthday with one of her best friends. Evie and Lilly are only two days apart which is kinda fun. The girls had a Pinkalicious Party themed after the awesome book.

We played find the pink things in the room, painted fingernails, and made pink necklaces.

For lunch our menu was: pink waffles, pink yogurt, pink lemonade and strawberries. For dessert there were pink cupcakes with pink frosting and pink sprinkles. We threw some Strawberry Shortcake cupcake sticks in some of the cupcakes because Evie really wanted to incorporate Strawberry Shortcake.

Pink and red balloons. Kids and balloons are always a hit. The boys had fun making a pile of them and jumping on the balloons.

I love these girls. I can't believe that they are five already and are in elementary school! Check out this photo of them two years ago!

Happy Birthday Eve!

2010-09-12T11:16:00.001-07:00

It has been one big party at our house with having the girls birthday's back to back. Evie turned the big 5 this year! Eve was also able to start kindergarten this week which was really exciting! We love to have Evie in our family. Eve gives out the best smiles and one of my favorite things that Evie does is when she sings in the car. Some songs are made up while others are ones which she has learned at church or school. It makes me smile because it is super cute and it reminds me of my sister.

Eve on her birthday requested macaroni and cheese and hotdogs on the side for dinner. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream. Eve asked, "You're going to make my princess cake, right?" the day before her birthday. So, I didn't want to disappoint. I must say her cake turned out better this year than last year's cake. Let's just say I am definitely still learning... I have to say Barbie looks pretty good considering Lincoln was caught starting to undress her.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

2010-09-06T05:38:00.001-07:00

Kaitlyn is officially in the double digits. She turned the big 10 this week!

Kaitlyn is such a blessing to have in our family. She is such a kind and loving girl. She is definitely growing up and is a huge help and loves to hang out with the adults.

On Kaitlyn's birthday she picked stuffed shells for dinner and rolls. For dessert She decided on brownies and root beer floats. In this picture Kates was trying to decide on what to wish for.

Kaitlyn's big present was her own sewing machine! Here she is testing it out. She also received some fabric to make a quilt.

The day after Kaitlyn's birthday we had her party with her friends at our house. Her theme this year was Pandas. So of course we had a Panda Pajama Party!

Each girl received one of these felt pandas

For our craft each girl was given a wooden cut out of a bear to paint. After they were dry we attached a magnet strip to the back so the girls can hang them up in their lockers.

In their favor bag each girl received one of these Japanese erasers and black and white candies (hershey kisses and tootise rolls)

Chocolate Chocolate cake! Yum!

First Day of School

2010-08-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

School started this week at our house! One of the kids asked me if it was still summer even though they are going to school now. It is kinda confusing with the beautiful weather we've been having here. Growing up we always started school on the day after Labor Day and for some reason it felt like fall. Not in August though,it is definitely summer time still.

This year we have three kids going to school! It seems crazy that they are old enough to start.

Yes, my little Evie is in kindergarten now!!!! For some reason it just seems like she really is too little to be going to school all day now. It is so hard for Ryan and I to see these kids grow up!

Big brothers are the best! Eve asked Reuben to help her up the "Big Steps".

I didn't get to take a picture of this one... but Kaitlyn is in Middle School this year!! Am I really old enough to have a kid in middle school? Kates seems to be loving it. Some of her highlights are decorating her locker and switching classes.

Tomatoes!

2010-08-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

There are few things better than tomatoes from your own garden...

Luckily the deer didn't see these ones.

Pillowcases

2010-08-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

While my parents were here my Mom made pillowcases for the kids. Kaitlyn was able to sew her whole pillowcase with Grandma. I am sure she will remember her time sewing with Grandma forever!

Happy Birthday Dad

2010-08-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to my wonderful Dad!

We were so lucky to have my parents here on my Dad's birthday!

We love you Dad, a.k.a. Papa!

I love this picture because Dad was counting to ten and then let the kids blow out the candles with him. He is so good to include them and always make them feel special.

Captians Baseball Game

2010-08-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

This summer we were lucky enough to go to three minor league games for the price of one. We weren't so lucky that the first two games were rained out. But we still had a lot of fun going to all of them.

To the last game my girl scout troop, which I've been the leader for the last couple of years, came too. Then after the game the girls, my co-leader and I were able to camp-out on the outfield. We set up tents and then enjoyed watching Toy Story up on the big screen.

Ryan caught a foul ball at our third game! Reuben was able to have most of the players sign the baseball after the game.

Lincoln had fun poking the girls and making them laugh.

2010-08-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

2010-08-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Rochelle posted this article on her blog. I love it. I feel like it totally describes me.

What you don't see...

By: Tiffany Gee Lewis
Posted in Mormon Times 20 April 2010

What you don't see, when we all march into church on Sunday morning, is the chaos of the morning that happened just 10 minutes earlier.

What you don't see, when you look at my four little boys in their suits, is that the 7-year-old is wearing Dad's socks because we couldn't find his. And they go all the way up to his knees.

What you don't see, when I pull out the lovely quiet book I made a few years back, is that below it, in my church bag, are five baggies of smashed raisins because I haven't cleaned out the bag for months.

When you enter my house, with its shining entryway, you don't see the three loads of laundry dumped on my bed. Or the dirty pots I stashed in the oven. And you will never see the interior of my minivan, not until I find the time to vacuum it out.

When you admire the hand-sewn pajamas I made for tall the kids, we don't talk about the three nights I got no sleep to make those.

If you look on my blog, you will see pictures of homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. You won't see my confession to popping in a frozen pizza THREE times last week for dinner.

Or the night we ate Cheerios for dinner, dry, because we were out of milk. There is a zoom on my camera for a reason. There is a delete button for a reason.

I don't think we're all playing a part. We naturally want to put our best selves forward, so that is what other people see. They don't see what's going on behind the scenes. I like to think that good parenting is like a duck on the water. What you see is the gentle, almost effortless gliding, not the furious paddling that happens underneath.

I keep a mental list of about ten people I want to stalk by camera, from morning to night, to see how they do it all. Are they up at 4 am? Can they survive on three hours of sleep? Do they have a housekeeper? Because I drop balls just as fast as I can grab them. My intentions are of pure gold, but they come out as tinkling brass, at best.

I started a blog last fall. I dragged my feet into it for many reasons. One of the main reasons I hesitated was I didn't want to be anothercontributor to the cyberspace guiltosphere out there. Especially where mothers are concerned, do we need one more reason to feel guilty?

Because from the looks of things, other families are happier, their houses are cleaner, their marriages are better, their clothes are more stylish and their craftiness is even more crafty. Their lives are perfectly lovely, while my kids are running around screaming in their diapers.

My worst fears were confirmed last week when I got an e-mail from a friend who asked, "How do you do it all? Your column, your blog, all the things you do with your children? You're amazing!"

I looked around at my house, at the six bins of winter clothes waiting to be transported to the garage, at the sewing projects stacked against the wall, at the state of the toothpaste crusted to the sink... I let things go, a lot of things.

A spanking-clean house is not a high priority for me. I'm a big believer in mud and its importance in a child's life. The time I take to write is time away from scrubbing that bathroom sink. I would rather read with my kids than shop at the mall, so I am certainly not up-to-date on the latest styles. I've been listening to the same music for 20 years because I can't seem to keep up with the latest music scene. And I require a lot of sleep.

We all have priorities. For some, it is keeping a spotless house, and they are good at it. For others, it is writing, or exercising, or serving others. And yes, there are some who seem to do it all, the Benjamin Franklin's of the world. I tell myself I don't have to be them. And also, Benjamin Franklin was not much of a family man. Even he let things go.

What we don't see, when we look at each other on Sunday, or on blogs, or in our shiny kitchens, is that we all have different talents and unique situations. I tell my kids all the time: Life is not a race. The only person you are competing against is yourself.

What we forget to see, when admiring others, is our own personalfinish line.

Locks of Love

2010-07-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn has been growing her hair out for the last two years (with just a couple of trims in between) for locks of love. So, just in time for the hot weather she was able to have it chopped off. She is such a sweetheart. I am so proud of her for doing this and her selfless giving! She is such an example to me!!!

Plus, whoever gets her hair is going to have the best looking wig on the block! Who wouldn't die for that hair!

A Visit From Utah

2010-07-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have my brother and his family come for about ten days! They made the super long three day drive from Utah to see us! The cousins hadn't seen each other in 2 1/2 years, so to say they had a blast together would be an understatement! They enjoyed having sleepovers every night and playing together 24/7!

We were able to go to the John Johnson farm, see the Kirtland Temple and go to historic Kirtland.

One night Valerie (John and Becky's oldest) babysat for us while we went on a date to Chagrin Falls. Here is a picture of John and Becky.

The kids had fun getting ready for the fourth of July and made necklaces and bracelets

Dante is our knight in shinning armor and Evie is our princess, of course

We were able to go to Penitentiary Glen. It is a cool park that takes wild animals that are hurt and nurses them back to health. There are cages with the animals which they have helped but can't send out back to the wild. There is also an awesome bird watching room in the visitors center which is set up so you can see all different kinds of birds. We also saw butterflies in the butterfly garden.

I didn't get pictures of going to the beach, playing in the sprinkler and all of our other adventures. We had so much fun having the Massaglia's visit!

Cub Scout Day Camp

2010-07-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

This was Reuben's first year at day camp for cub scouts. He loved it! Being the youngest of three, I never had a sibling in cub scouts and never knew about all the fun stuff that cub scouts included. Reuben had so much fun with shooting BB guns and doing archery. Every day when I picked him up he would pull out his target to show me all of his awesome shots he made. He even received a patch for shooting his BB gun so well! He also had fun panning for gold, making crafts and lots of other things. It was a great experience and I think he is already looking forward to next year!

On the last day of camp there was a picnic for the scouts families to attend. Each den did a skit for everyone. Here are some pictures of Reuben's.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T08:38:00.001-07:00

I feel so blessed to have these wonderful men in my life! Thank you for all that each of you do and for being the great fathers that you are!

Hocking Hills

2010-06-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

We were able to start off our summer with a camping trip with friends to Hocking Hills State Park. Our family had been to Hocking Hills three years ago and loved it, so we were so excited to go back! It ended up being a blast! I love to go camping! We even had a huge down pour with lightening and thunder on our second day. We were so thankful for a water resistant tent which we could feel a river of water going underneath the tent and luckily not inside the tent! The camp ground even had a pool for the campers which was so nice after our long but beautiful hikes.

Upper Falls

All of the kids we went camping with except for Olivia. (she was napping)

Maggie, Eve and Lilly, these girls love each other so much!

If you can see the band-aid on Evie's head, it is covering her four stitches she had put in the night before we went camping. She was walking into the garage and wasn't looking and walked right into the edge of the open car door.

Lincoln really wanted to take a bath in Devil's Bathtub, but I wasn't too crazy about the idea.

There were so many caves the kids could climb in.

Everything was so beautiful there. There is so much green everywhere. I could feel the Spirit so strong as we walked around and enjoyed the beauty and peace there.

Old Man's Cave

Reuben and Trey

Fourth Grade Celebration

2010-06-20T07:40:00.001-07:00

In our town Elementary School only goes through fourth grade. So, for the fourth graders which are graduating from Elementary School they have a celebration/ceremony. They receive diplomas and get to watch a video that was put together with a skit and lots of pictures from the year.

Kaitlyn and her teacher. Mrs. Dugan was gone for about half the year because she was on bed rest and then gave birth to two beautiful girls.

Kaitlyn and Lauren, one of her best friends from school.

Why do I even try?

2010-06-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

Growing up in Utah, I (Ryan) have really enjoyed wildlife. I loved seeing the deer, squirrels, rabbits and other critters scurry around and enjoyed the occasional sightings. Dad taught me to appreciate gardening which in the few years past I have come to love. I have been working on my green thumb a lot this year and have taken great pride in the two gardens that I built and planted. We have lots of delicious herbs, vegetables, and fruits. I have learned, however, that one cannot enjoy the animals of nature and plant a successful garden in the same environment.

You end up with this:

This is our poor little green pepper that just hasn't had a chance.

Our tomatoes were thriving with a multitude of blossoms and small fruits forming but now they are, essentially, twigs.

These were rows of lush beets, spinach and peas, which will not likely recover.

K'nex

2010-06-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

My awesome friend told me about an opportunity to try out K'nex and that we could even keep the sets that would be sent to us for free as long as we posted on our blog about how we liked them. I was all for it! Who doesn't love free stuff! But I did not expect to get this much free stuff! We ended up getting 11 sets, with sets that were appropriate for my two year old all the way up to my nine year old!

The first set of sets they dug into was, of course, the Sesame Street sets. They turned out super cute! The kids loved them. I must say from a mom's stand point I love the containers they came in as well as the toy itself, they are cute and there is a place to store all the parts when the kids aren't playing with them.

I can't believe I didn't take any more pictures of the kids playing with the sets. Overall the biggest hit was the motorized k'nex. They have a battery pack/motor part that makes them hop or move. They are super cool! My kids did need help with one or two of the steps when they put the sets together, but it was no big deal. The kids got a kick out of one of the robots that looked like Wall-e!

From the mommy point of view the kids definitely love the k'nex. I loved getting the bin of k'nex as well to put parts in and to let the kids use their imagination. I am so thankful for this opportunity and would definitely recommend these products!

Ode to the Snickerdoodle

2010-06-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Oh Snickerdoodle, Oh Snickerdoodle

Why must you call my name!

You taste so yummy in my tummy.

I just can't get you out of my mind

I know when I try on my bathing suit I will be in a bind.

You are my Kryptonite

But, I still eat you morning, noon and night.

Oh Snickerdoodle, Oh Snickerdoodle

Memorial Day Parade

2010-06-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Every year our small town has a parade on Memorial Day. Kaitlyn and Reuben were able to be in the parade again this year with their baseball teams. Evie and Lincoln have fun picking up the candy that is thrown by everyone in the parade.

Our friend who has a position in the city borrowed Ryan's truck for the parade

Reuben Gets Baptized

2010-06-06T11:51:00.001-07:00

I can't believe Reuben is 8 already. It seems just yesterday he was riding his blue scooter at Wymount at full speed down the hills, bouncing of trees and rolling down the grass. While he still loves to do these things he is much bigger, faster and bold about it. He has an infectious smile which we all absolutely love. He is known in school for his playful attitude and wit.

Last week we had an incredibly fun and busy week. With all Grandparents in town and even Uncle Matt, we had Reuben's baptism.
The announcement picture was taken in front of the Kirtland Temple door.

This picture was used in his program. We took this picture in the School of the Prophets, within the Whitney store in Kirtland. Reuben was pretty excited that he sat on a stool that just recently President Monson sat in when visiting Kirtland.

I think these pictures of the baptism speak for themselves:

It was such a neat experience. I'm sure Reuben will always remember his baptism. He is very proud of the fact that he got baptized in roughly the same area, and the same way that some of the old saints were in the beginning of the church. We are so very proud of Reuben and his decision to be baptized.

Doctor Ryan Ellsworth

2010-06-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Class of 2010

Ryan being hooded by Dr. DeMore

Introducing Dr. Ryan Ellsworth

I am so proud of this guy! Ryan has worked so hard for this! It has been a long time coming and feels a little surreal that school is over.

Ryan and his parents

This is Ryan's clinic group, who he spent a great deal of time with in the final years of school. They have each become very good friends.

Kristen, Ryan, Mark, Stacy and Ginger

Ryan and Mark have put in a lot of long hours together over the past four years! We will miss them!

I can't believe this is the only picture we got of Matt, but Ryan's oldest brother flew out for the graduation. I seemed to somehow miss getting any pictures of my parents! I don't know how that happened, I am sorry Mom and Dad!

There was a reception at the school after the graduation. We walked around the school and Ryan showed our parents where he has been living the last four years. The kids were super excited to sit where Ryan usually sat in class.

Lincoln

2010-05-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

I can say Lincoln is officially obsessed with tractors and trucks. Thank goodness for youtube, you make it possible to make dinner without a little boy being upset.

Preschool graduation

2010-05-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

Eve's preschool had a cute graduation last week. They sang some songs and then each received a diploma. Eve was pretty proud! Really can't believe she is going to start kindergarten next year. She still seems like my little girl.

I didn't find out until after the graduation that Eve's other teacher didn't make it to the graduation because she had a mild heart attack that day and was at the hospital. We are so happy that she is okay and back to her self now!

Grease

2010-05-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

The other night I was able to go see Grease with some of my friends. It was so fun to see a live show. Taylor Hicks made a special appearance in the play. Here he is coming out of the ice cream cone singing.

After the play Taylor sang one of his songs from his new album. Watching him sing made me miss going to concerts. I will definitely have to go to one with Ryan sometime soon.

Here we are a little star struck!

Thank you girls for a great night!

Extreme Make Over: Barn Edition

2010-05-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

Before

After

Among other projects that we have been busy with during our break between Ryan's school and the start of work, we painted the shed.

Ahoy Thar Matey!

2010-05-06T09:37:00.001-07:00

This picture is of Reuben on his actual birthday. He picked to have brownies and ice cream for dessert. Reuben was so excited that he had cub scouts on his birthday and is sporting his uniform in the picture.

This year Reuben really wanted a Big Foot themed party. Yeah, not the monster truck the legend. Ryan and I thought, okay we can make this work. We thought of having the boys go on an expedition to see if they can find any evidence of Big Foot. Ryan would dress up in costume and the boys would be able to have a couple of "sightings" of Big Foot. So we looked for the costume and found that Big Foot costumes aren't cheap (who would have thought).

So we had to ask Reuben what his second choice was for a theme. Reuben picked a pirate theme which ended up being much easier! The boys dressed up like a pirate, decorated treasure chests with markers and jewels, played get the gold in the bottle, smashed open a pinata, and played treasure treasure who's got the treasure.

Happy Birthday Reuben!

2010-04-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Look who's turning the big 8

Happy Birthday Reuben!!

I love this boy! I feel so blessed to have him as a son. It is hard to find this kid without a smile on his face. He is a caring, loving little boy. Reuben loves to make people laugh, which is one of the reasons he wanted fake mustaches for his birthday.

These are the cup cakes he brought to school to celebrate his birthday.

Kirtland Temple

2010-04-26T06:58:00.001-07:00

I (Ryan) took this picture of the Kirtland, OH temple last year. I had told Kristen what effect I wanted with fairly particular environmental circumstances. She came home from church, as I was home with a sick kid, and told me that the day was perfect for the picture I wanted. I immediately grabbed my camera gear and my assistant, Kaitlyn. We went to the temple and 20 minutes later I had the picture I wanted.

Now I must give a shameless plug. In an effort to survive through residency, financially, we have decided to post the picture on the blog with the hope of selling a few copies. The link for the purchase of the print is in the right column of the site and will remain there. I will print the picture on archival quality photo paper and ship it to you.

It can also be viewed and purchased by visiting my website: www.ryanellsworth.com

Thank you for viewing and your support.

The Many Faces of Ryan

2010-04-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ryan surprised us and decided to shave his facial hair off. He decided to shave it in phases. Which is your favorite?

Arlington Cemetery

2010-04-24T14:40:00.001-07:00

While in DC we went to Arlington Cemetery. With all of the times we have been to DC in the last 10.5 years, I (Ryan) have never been to Arlington Cemetery. It was a very humbling experience.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This picture was taken shortly before the changing of the guards. They change every 30 minutes. They stand at one end for 21 seconds, turn and walk 21 steps to the other side, where they stand for 21 seconds, etc. 21 is symbolic of the 21 gun salute which is the highest honor one can receive at a funeral. The main tomb which you can see is the unknown soldier from World War I and on the ground in front of it is the tombs for WWII, Korean, and Vietnam. However in 1998 the remains of the Vietnam Soldier were exhumed and identified with the help of mitochondrial DNA. I wish you could read the inscription on the tomb, it reads: "Here rests in honored glory an american soldier known but to God."

Headstones

Contrary to popular belief the headstones are not lined up for aesthetics. They primary purpose of their arrangement is to symbolize soldiers in formation.

Best view in town

This is the final resting place of Pierre Charles L'Enfant. He was a revolutionary soldier from 1775-1783 and engineer. He was instrumental in designing the city of Washington. What a great place to rest. Pictures just simply don't do justice. This spot has an amazing view of the heart of DC. You can see, obviously, the Washington monument, the capital, and many other monuments on the mall.

Just behind me, while taking Pierre's grave, is General Lee's home. When General Lee took up his position to lead the Southern army the North decided as a disgrace to him they would bury the dead on his property. Kinda ironic how it has become one of the most honored places in the area.

When visiting DC, I highly recommend a visit to Arlington Cemetery. Don't wait as long as I did.

Just Plain Cute

2010-04-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

While we were in D.C. Ryan caught Kaitlyn and Lincoln sitting in the grass watching the garbage truck (Lincoln is obsessed with any kind of truck or tractor lately). Then the other kids joined them...

Happy Easter

2010-04-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

On Easter we had a little easter egg hunt at my parents. The weather was beautiful so we were able to do it outside this year. I was only able to take pictures of the younger kids because the older ones were way too fast.

I thought it was cool that this egg was the exact same color as the flowers on this bush.

After dinner Ryan, Kaitlyn and Reuben went to see the outdoor monuments in D.C. I stayed home and put Eve and Lincoln to bed. Ryan took these great shots.

National Arboretum

2010-04-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

We visited the National Arboretum. Our friends are both horticulturists so this was a must see for them. While we normally would not put this on our list of must see, it was actually quite cool. We are so glad we went.

A large koi pond near the visitor's center which had HUGE fish.

They had a large collection of cool bonsai trees. These are both over 100 years old.

Lincoln is just chillin' atop our friend. What a life.

These pillars were in front of the capital when Lincoln was inaugurated, so naturally we had to get a picture of our Lincoln in front of them.

Last Visit to D.C.

2010-04-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break we headed down to my parents house. We were so lucky to have our friends the Wrights come with us for a couple days. They hadn't been to D.C. in a long time and their kids had never been there. So, we went and saw as much as we could in the couple of days they were there. It was a lot of fun. We went to a couple of the Smithsonian's and to the National Gallery of Art on our first day. We of course ate at the Old Post Office Pavilion for lunch, which is basically a mall food court minus the mall. But they had something for everyone, I have good memories going here as a family growing up. Here are a couple of pictures of our day.

I titled this post as our "last trip to D.C." because my parents have sold their home. They will be moving out in a month and a half. I get teary even writting this in my post but my parents have lived in this house since I was four. So, it really is home. I am excited for my parents because my Dad can retire which is wonderful! So, look out all you in Utah you might have one of the best couples move into your ward soon! (They are still house hunting) I love you Mom and Dad!

More pictures of Spring Break to come!!!