The Digital Camera Phenomenon

I'm having a hard time getting a cute picture of my two-year old. I try to get Kristen to pose for a picture or even better, I try to hurry and take a picture of her when she's not aware of what I am doing. What I usually end up with is this cheesy face that is still for two seconds until I take the picture and then I hear, "I wanna see." My attempts at posing her are shot and the element of surprise is long gone.

I realized today that this phenomenon is widespread. Kristen had two friends visiting and I was trying to capture a photo. I got them all set on the stairs and as soon as I took the picture, I heard in three-part unison, "I wanna see." No chance of getting a second shot. They were off the stairs in a blink and crowding around the camera. At least Sophia and Bella smiled.

Swimming lessons are almost done!

You know, I don't think the issue is so much in over-scheduling your children but in over-scheduling the "mom taxi". All three girls have been taking swimming lessons this fall. Kristen in the morning and then Amy and Misha later in the evening on Tuesday. I am so glad that tonight is the last night. I am ready for a little break in my schedule. (By the way, if you ever want an excellent swim instructor at Carbon Valley Recreation Center, try to schedule with Gretchen. She is an older lady and a fantastic teacher. She only teaches during the fall and winter sessions.)

On the day after Thanksgiving

I think we are beginning to feel turkey overload. On Thursday we drove to Stapleton to meet Chris' Dad. He is a pilot for Southwest Airlines and had an overnight in Denver. We enjoyed a Thanksgiving buffet lunch at the hotel restaurant. There were a lot of pilots and airplane crews staying at this particular hotel. One little boy was so excited to see them all; he ran through the restaurant declaring, "They ALL fly airplanes." over and over again. My daughters, ever the divas, thought it most appropriate to dress for lunch.

We've enjoyed a couple days of doing very little, though I did roust Chris out of bed this morning before 7 am (I don't think he was too pleased by this but at least it wasn't 4am!) to go do some Christmas shopping.... And even though we weren't at the store right when it opened, we still found what we needed.

I am thankful for time to spend together with my family. We've been sledding and shopping and have watched movies galore.

On the third day of Thanksgiving...

Top Ten Reasons I am Thankful for My Husband

10. He ALWAYS puts the toilet seat down. Always. Growing up with four brothers, I had many rude awakenings in the middle of the night. Not so pleasant.
9. He washes the dishes most every night after dinner.
8. He is a hard worker. If he takes on a task, he is dedicated to it until it is finished. Often a rare quality in a world of slackers.
7. He is a wonderful example to our daughters of what a husband, father, and man should be. He honors his priesthood in ways that are faith-promoting for our girls.
6. He can "do" his daughters' hair now. Seems to be an acquired talent.
5. He mows the lawn.
4. He lets me put my cold feet on him.
3. He often pushes me outside of my comfort zone to try new things.
2. He is friendly, outgoing, and fun.
1. He loves me and I hear "I love you" often.

On the second day of Thanksgiving...

I am thankful for the convenience of grocery stores. I can go and purchase what I need without a lot of effort on my part. One hundred years ago, if you didn't grow it, raise it, hunt it, or preserve it, you just didn't have it.

On the first day of Thanksgiving.....

Okay, so yes I do know that there aren't any "days" of Thanksgiving, but I decided that I wanted to write thankful posts this week. Last night I had one of those "wow" thankful moments. Kristen had fallen asleep at 6:30 pm. With church at 1 pm this year, she has missed her Sunday nap for most of the year (I am so looking forward to 9 am church in January). She woke up around 10 pm, crying, disoriented and hungry. I gave her a snack to take back to bed with her--I didn't want her to be too awake. I left her a couple of minutes to eat it and then returned hoping she would go back to sleep. You know kids, they don't always go along with the plan. So with pitiful tears threatening, I wadded a blanket up for a pillow and laid down beside her. After about a minute, I could feel her shifting off her pillow and so gently touching her head to mine. Her little hand softly touched my face, and I was so overwhelmed with gratitude to be the mom of a sweet little angel--make that three sweet little angels.

The "How" says "Boo"!

We have had a lot of sickness in our home for the past month. It started with the barfing a couple of weeks ago and we are now just on the tail end of colds. Misha never got sick more than a slightly stuffy nose. Lucky her. And Chris didn’t get sick at all—lucky him! I was sick for two weeks with a head cold that started to get better and then settled in for a longer stay after my flu shot. They say the shots don’t make you sick, but I would disagree. Amy got pretty sick after her shot, so maybe the flu shot doesn’t necessarily MAKE you sick, just enhances your sickness if you happen to have something when you get the shot. That’s my philosophy.

Kristen’s language continues to improve but there are some things she says that are pretty memorable. She has a really difficult time making the sounds for c, k, and q especially. So at our house “cow” becomes “how” and “moo” is “boo”—the how says boo. When I ask her to do something and she is in a compliant mood, she’ll say “Otay Mommy”.  I love that one. Reminds me of The Little Rascals.

Both girls had Thanksgiving feasts at school yesterday. I brought rolls for Amy’s class (though I mixed up the time with Misha’s feast and arrived a half an hour late). When I arrived with Kristen in tow, a police car was sitting in front of the school and a fire truck was just coming in to the parking lot. We tried to keep out of their way, but they were headed in the same direction as we were: to Amy’s class. I guess one of the little boys in her class had a seizure and had passed out. It took the paramedics some time to assess his vitals, but they ended up wheeling him out of the room strapped to the stretcher. Poor kid. Most of the kids weren’t even able to finish their feasts as their teacher, Mrs. Romero, took them all outside to keep them out of the way. Kristen and I helped to clear the tables in Amy’s room and then headed over to Misha’s class to help out with her feast. Kristen started to cry around 12:30 (nap time), so I took her home and put her to bed. Always the enjoyable part of my day!

Sadly, she doesn’t always feel like sleeping. The other day I came back to her room after I could still hear her making noises, and she had pulled the packages of wipes out of the dresser, opened two of the packages, and pulled wipes out one by one to fill the garbage can. What on earth goes through that little mind? We have had to “baby proof” her bedroom. Chris says she is like a prisoner in lock down. Any time we find something else that she has gotten in, she loses the privilege of having it in her room. There are minimal toys in there, no lotion (that was a mess), no air freshener (another mess but a fresh smelling carpet), no alcohol for hands (yet another mess. The carpet not only smells good but is also disinfected.), and now the wipes are high up on her shelf in the closet. What will her crafty mind think of next?

Eight is Great!

Hard to imagine that your baby can change so much in such a short amount of time. Amy turns eight in a couple of weeks and is excited to be able to finally attend Activity Days in Primary, celebrate with a birthday party, and be baptized. Her baptism is scheduled for December 29, 2007 at the Longmont Stake Center at 10 am. We would love to see you there!

Halloween Pictures

Getting Started

Thought I would join the blogging generation as a means to share pictures and keep family and friends up-to-date on what we are doing. So, we'll start with some fun Halloween pictures. Enjoy!

The Family Kline