Tag

I got tagged...and now....TAG, you are it!

4 jobs I have had:
1. Right of Way Associates(7 years) - an office that does easements for the city and such.
2. Target - Stocking shelves overnight.
3. BYU Maintenance staff - Scrubbed toilets and cleaned up the junk after b-ball and football games.
4. Mommy - The best and most fulfilling job in the world.

4 movies I could watch over and over again:
1. Cheaper by the dozen (the first one)
2. Gone with the wind
3. Night at the Museum(Dallin has watched it like 50 times)
4. Tommy Boy

4 places I have lived:
1. Beaverton, Oregon
2. Rexburg, Idaho
3. Provo, Utah
4. Various California cities (Merced, Santa Rosa, Elk Grove)

favorite tv shows:
1. Lost
2. The Office
3. Any home renovation show
4. Racheal Ray's 30 minute meals

4 of my favorite places I have been:
1. BYU
2. Hawaii
3. Chile
4. The beach

4 favorite foods:
1. Chips and Salsa
2. Fruit (especially watermelon and strawberries)
3. Olive Garden Salad
4. Mongolian BBQ (stir fry)

4 websites I check daily:
1. Blogs
2. Yahoo email
3. Craigslist
4. Peters work stats

4 places I would rather be:
1. Hawaii, Please!!!!!
2. Oregon
3. Any Ocean
4. With family

4 friends I would like to TAG--YOU'RE IT!!
1. Anyone with the last name Dickinson or Sharp
2. All other blogger friends, except Danielle who tagged me.

Come on, it only takes a few minutes and it is fun!

The Adventures of Lucy and Cilla Part 4

We went to the Drive In movie two times this week. Last night we went to the Simpson movie. It was very crowded because it was opening night. Lucy was not sleeping during that movie. We liked the movie. Lucy gives it thumbs up and 5 stars and a rad stamp. I liked it, but thought there were a couple of crude parts. Lucy was mad that I took her picture while sleeping! (Lucy: a.k.a.heidi dont take pics of me while im sleeping!!!)

Lucy the photographer has been taking photos of the kids all week. Here are a few samples.

Lucy also did Eden's hair
Dallin has discovered hats. He discovered this look all by himself. The kids are really into colors lately. They want to know what color everything is or come tell me if they already know.

Here is a Video of Tanner walking. I have seen him go farther but we have yet to capture the moment on video. You get the idea though.

The Adventures of Lucy and Cilla Part 3

Today Lucy and I went shopping for baby clothes because we know so many pregnant people right now. Sorry John and Sarah we didn't find quite the right thing for you guys but we will keep looking. We did find some cute coordinating but different outfits for the twin girls coming in October. Then for lunch we went to Johns Incredible pizza. We had a great time playing around there too. Tanner is walking more than crawling now but he falls a lot. I will put a video as soon as I get a good one of him really going.
We picked out a new shirt for Eden at the store and we were all girly and exited about it.

Lucy and Dallin on the Tea cups. The were spinning the whole time so I was glad not to be on there with them. I don't know how they didn't get sick.
Tanner loved all the flashy lights on all the video games.
Lucy and Dallin rode the roller coaster.


This afternoon the kids played outside with water and jumped on the trampoline.

The Adventures of Lucy and Cilla Part 2

Lucy and I have been having a great time. Last night we rented some movies and watch Arthur and the Invisibles with the kids. When Peter came home we watch The Premonition. That was pretty freaky. Lucy had seen it before so it was very difficult not to give anything away. We did french pedicures on our toes to pass the time.
Today we went to the Jelly Belly factory and had a tour. This is the grand entrance.

They shrunk us down so all the jelly beans looked really big.
Nice bean pond!
Eden and Tanner hated their hats.
Lucy found a new friend.
Souvenirs. Lucy collects key chains and smashed pennies. Zoom to see the penny logo.

The Adventures of Lucy and Cilla Part 1

This is Lucy and Peter's Scrabble game. Notice the awesome words they invented as well as improvisations with paper and cracker! Obviously Cilla was not there for this game. Peter is always trying to get away with inventing words in scrabble but I would never let him, so this is really his dream come true. Don't forget to click on the picture and see it big.

We went swimming with the kids yesterday and it had two awesome outdoor kiddie pools with lots of equipment. It was very fun and sunburning. This is the shower area.
Eden was very brave and loved to jump in the pools into our arms.
Tanner was very overwhelmed with the water everywhere but was a real trooper.
Afterwards, Lucy had her first In-N-Out experience. She gives it a thumbs up and RAD stamp.

This is Lucy taking an awesome flip off the diving board. All the other kids were just jumping in.

Road Trip!!!

Last week I decided that I needed to take the kids home to Oregon. It was Dallin's last week off of school and I figured it may be our last chance for a while. So my little sis Cami came over and Tuesday morning she and I and a car full of kids took off toward home sweet home. The kids actually did awesome (thanks to a DVD player). You wouldn't even know Dallin and Eden were in the back most of the time. Tanner and baby Claire did pretty good too. Our first stop at home was in Monmouth (near Salem). My sister Elizabeth just bought a brand new house there and we were very exited to see it. They had to buy a four bedroom home because they have 3 boys and are now expecting twin girls in October. That just would not have worked in their little 3 bedroom home. Also, her husband Maurice just started a new job working for the state in Salem so everything worked out perfectly. There house is great and should fit a family of 7 just fine. Bed time was hard being away from home and this picture represents two hours of Mommy's hard work. Shhhhhhh...just tiptoe away...After the first night I just let them stay up until they were too exhausted to fight it.
Wednesday we took the kids to see their friends Arwen, Noah and Joshua. It was so good to see them. Then I went to my sister Laurel's house in Beaverton. She let me host a lunch for my two childhood friends Angie and Amy. It was so good to see them and each of their little babies. Amy has lost 40+ pounds in the last few months so it was fun to see her new look. That night we went to Larry and Michelle's for dinner and all the Oregon Dickinson's came. The kids had a GREAT time with their cousins. I noticed that Dallin had improved a lot being around other kids lately. Afterward, we went to Larry and Lori's and spent the night in Heidi's old room.
Tanner had us laughing so hard when he was playing peek a boo with Lucy in the playpen. He would totally squish his face when he would duck down. What a funny little guy. Wednesday morning Lori made a yummy pancake breakfast and took me out to buy a new skirt. Then we met Larry for lunch at McDonalds and the kids played at the indoor play land for a long time. That evening we went back to my sister Laurel's and had a dinner with my parents and siblings. That was a grand old time. Dallin and Eden played with more cousins and I realized how much I was missing my parents. We had a BBQ and visited outside until it got dark. My 3 sisters and I stayed up late and had a slumber party (okay, we went to bed before midnight, but we are old mommys now). Friday we made the trek back home to Cali and brought along Peter's littlest sister Lucy who is 10. She will be staying with us for a week and a half. The kids just love her.

Once we got back to California the road tripping didn't stop there. Peter's old college buddy Rod called and told Peter he would be at Lake Tahoe this weekend. We haven't see he and his family since graduation (literally, we actually walked with them). We drove the two and a half hours on Saturday and met up with them and their 2 little girls. We had a nice BBQ dinner at their relatives cabin and then set up camp at a nearby site. This was the craziest camping experience ever. The main reason being the BEARS!!! Rod's wife's family has been camping there for like the last 30 years and they had lots of bear stories. I guess they are all over the place. Once I saw the site I believed it because each lot has a lock box to put your food in. You can't even lock any food, toothpaste or lotion in your car because they have been known to break the windows and open car doors. Okay so after hearing about 10 different bear encounter stories I was pretty much freaked out. We had a campfire and roasted smore's and all was good but I was dreading the nights sleep. I made sure to go to the bathroom twice before bed because there was no way I wanted to get up in the middle of the night. We also forgot tanners playpen so that made things tricky too. After sleeping for about an hour I woke up with a full bladder. Determined to hold it I lied there awake hearing every little sound outside the tent. The kids were also tossing and turning a lot which woke Tanner up and so I had to hold him for a couple of hours trying to get him to go back to sleep. I hated being awake because with every noise I was sure that a bear was going to slash through the tent at any moment. I heard dogs barking in the distance a few times throughout the night which was not a good sign. Several hours later I finally asked Peter to tell me the time. I was hoping it was like 5 or later because I was beginning to be in a lot of pain. It was only 3:30! I decided that waiting until morning was not going to be an option and told Peter that I was going to risk the walk of death to the bathrooms. Luckily Peter and Rod went with me and it was uneventful. In fact, thankfully, I don't have a bear story to tell. Just a long night and a sore neck from sleeping with kids all over me. At least now I can say I did it and we actually had a good time.
This is tanner and Claire on the way home from Oregon

This is beautiful Lake Tahoe. I have never seen such blue water in a lake before. It reminded me of the Caribbean a little bit. So gorgeous.

Pizza Time

Last week a friend and I took the kids to a pizza place in Stockton called Johns Incredible Pizza. Wow, a total Chuck E Cheese upgrade. For one, they have and all you can eat buffet with a very large salad bar, specialty pizzas, soups, pastas, fries and all kinds of desserts and even ice cream. Way better food than other places like that and all you can eat at a really affordable price. They have five different dining rooms with different themes and we ate int he movie room where they show cartoons on a huge screen. It was so nice because the kids were happy for a lot longer than a normal restaurant setting. The game area is great too. They have a little kid area that is gated so even Tanner had a great time. We rode a tea cup ride and Dallin rode a little train. His favorite though was a simulated roller coaster. They have bumper cars too but we didn't do those this time. Eden was too chicken to do anything but she loved the toddler area with Tanner. Anyway, I was exited to find a fun new place for us to go that is family friendly.

Other than this, last week we saw Harry Potter and I started going to the chiropractor because of trampoline induced whiplash over the fourth of July. Yes, it is as painful as it sounds. Tanner's new record is 8 steps, so he is just gradually getting more and more brave. He can totally stand up from sitting way better too. We had some friends over for dinner last night (the same people that had that awesome wedding). I feel like I am finally making some friends that I can hang out with so that is very nice. Life is so great and I feel blessed to have so many good things happening right now.

I almost forgot, yesterday Peter and I sang a duet in sacrament meeting. I have no idea how I talked him into it but it went really well. Peter doesn't have a lot of confidence so he doesn't think he is very good, but he is awesome! He must really love me to do something like that. He says I owe him big time.

The pics turned out really blurry but you get the idea. This is the train ride.
Tanner enjoyed the cookies for dessert and got them all over his face.
The toddler area is a little tikes dream land with all kinds of little structures.
This is Dallin and his new friend Jack. They are in the same sunbeam class at church. I really enjoyed watching Dallin as he has become so much more socially involved and initiating play. This is the roller coaster ride. They just look at a tv screen while the ride moves back and forth and up and down but they way they reacted you would have thought it was real. They did this one 4 or 5 times and couldn't get enough.

Happenings...

The kids are just so fun and cute that I want to talk a little bit about what they are all up to as well as mommy and daddy:

Tanner-He started really taking steps yesterday. His record is 5 in a row. He also started standing up without help from props. From past experience that usually means he will be walking all over within a week or so. Still just a happy little guy. Tanner can wave but he just can't seem to get the clapping thing down. Instead of his hands coming from opposite directions and hitting they both go the same way back and forth and never touch. It is cute because he almost looks like he is dancing swinging his arms back and forth. He says mama and dada and nana, which means no. He even shakes his head and waves his arm when he says it. I guess he hears me saying it to him and his siblings a lot.

Eden-Eden is our little tiny petite little thing. I think Tanner will probably catch up to her in weight soon. I think she only weighs about 25 pounds. She loves to cuddle with mommy and say grown up things that mommy says like "oh my goodness" and "I don't know either". When you ask her how old she is she will hold up 2 fingers and say "two". If you ask her how old Tanner and Dallin are she can also hold up the right fingers and tell you how old they are. She knows she is cute and can wrap any of her nursery leaders right around her finger. She is definitely in a tantrum phase and can't believe that mommy ignores her meltdowns. So now she just lays down and pouts until she gets tired of it and then finally comes and gets some cuddles when she is ready to be happy again. She is also a fruit girl just like her mommy. She would absolutely live on watermelon and strawberries if she could.

Dallin-This is one happy kid. Dallin has made so much progress since we have moved here. He is talking SOOOO much more and noticing people around him too. The other day I was playing a game with Tanner and had him laughing. I looked over and noticed that Dallin was watching us and grinning. That is so great because it shows not only that he notices what is going on but also that he can be happy for others(empathy!!!). Dallin also likes to cuddle with mommy when he is not too busy and builds wonderfully elaborate train tracks for his trains. His best friend is definitely Eden and those two keep one another quite entertained. I am so glad that he is not an only child, it would be too hard to keep him busy all the time by myself. Dallin is also doing great at church and even going to primary now(no more nursery). He has a little way to go with it but he has improved tremendously.

Mommy-Still changing way too many diapers for my taste but I really try not to think about it too much. I constantly have dry hands from washing them about a million times a day. I love playing with the kids and trying to make life an adventure for them. I love nurturing them with lots of hugs and kisses and making their owies feel better. I also like to do things that help me remember who I am as an individual like exercising, reading, sudoku, ward choir, getting dressed up for a date and little shopping trips whenever Peter takes a couple of morning hours off. After a stressful couple of months and weaning Tanner I noticed I had gained a little more than I was comfortable with so I have been working really hard to get back down to size. That has been going well too, but I have to admit I get a little grouchy when I am hungry. I am beginning to feel like a stinkin rabbit from eating so many veggies, but it works.

Daddy-Still my night in shining armor. I just love greeting him at the end of the day after he has worked so hard for his family. I try to pamper him as much as possible, but probably still not as much as he deserves. He loves being with the kids more than anything and very very rarely takes any time at all for himself. When Peter works this hard, he usually starts talking in his sleep more and this summer is no exception. A few weeks ago we were watching TV before bed and saw that commercial for Subway where they are making fun of McDonalds. We laughed at it but that night in his sleep he told me to move my badonkadonk butt over! Funny, a little insulting, but still funny. He has also been known to quote the kids cartoons in his sleep. We are becoming drive in movie regulars with all of the summer blockbusters. It is a nice way for Peter to wind down at the end of the day. He doesn't have to miss any work, the kids fall asleep on the way there and that way we don't have to pay for a babysitter and it is only 4 dollars on tuesdays! Peter's weight has changed quite a bit too. He has lost 10 pounds this summer. If you know Peter you know he didn't need to loose an ounce. He says he is just too hot to have much of an appetite and kind of lives on gatorade. I keep his car stocked with Snickers bars and such and make him huge plates of food for dinner, but he just can't eat it all like he used to. I think it is all muscle loss because he has such a low body fat percentage.

Yesterday Peter had one of his funniest experiences on the doors ever. He does run across crazy people here and there, but this lady takes the cake. Upon opening her door and seeing Peter's Clark Pest Control Logo, she immediately began to scream at him about how much odacity he had to come to her door and how much she hates pest control before Peter even said a word to her. He had already put a flyer on her door knob but decided it would be best to just walk away. She continued to scream at the top of her lungs as he began to walk away and became outraged about the flyer. As she started screaming even more about the flyer Peter decided just to keep on walking so she opened her door and yelled "Sick him!!!" Her three poodle dogs proceeded to run after Peter and nibble on his ankles. Trying not to laugh, Peter continued to walk away. The woman was so outraged at this point that she started chasing Peter herself and threw the crumpled up flyer at him and screamed "CHEMICAL LOVER!!!" All of this and Peter had never even said a word to her. It is so refreshing to see someone so concerned about our environment :)

Happy 4th!

Our holiday was not the most adventurous, but we had a lot of family time which is something very special right now. Peter worked of course but came home by the late afternoon. We swam in the kiddie pool, jumped on the trampoline and set off a few fire crackers. We are having another heat wave here so it was about 100 degrees. That is for sure my hottest 4th of July ever. Later we went to a nearby park and watched fireworks. It was a very fun day. Eden got traumatized by the first firecracker that we set off and then she covered her face the rest of the time. She would only look if I told her that the spinning ones looked like flowers.
Dallin has decided that our double stroller is now a triple. He likes to ride in between the seats and Eden doesn't mind so I guess that works. When it was time for fireworks it was still like 80 degrees out.
Dallin LOVES fireworks and was begging for more the whole time. Tanner had a really tight grip on Peters hands but also liked it. Eden was hiding under her blanket the whole time. I finally talked her into peeping one eye out by telling her that they looked like princess sparkles or that there were just little ones. Poor Eden.

This was the shot of the day with Eden the supermodel.
The kids really liked swimming and even Daddy joined in.
I had a good time getting close ups of the kids faces as you can tell.
Why is there a naked baby on the trampoline you ask? That is a very good question.
Dallin can really get some air now. He is growing so much lately. He looks like a little boy now and not a toddler. It is amazing that our kids are getting so grown up. Yesterday he found some nail clippers and clipped his own nails. Apparently he is a big boy now.

This is the cutest little video from before we moved of Dallin and Eden in the rocking chair. This was totally them, I just caught them being cute. They are singing the rock a bye song that I sing to them, which my mother sang to me and her mother sang to her and so on.

Old Fashioned Fun

We had another fun weekend. Because we have definitely given up on taking our kids to a movie theatre we decided to try the drive in. The kiddies were up way late but I don't think that is bad every once in a while. We decided to see Ratatoille, but I think the kids were more exited about being there than the movie itself. We pulled the back bench out of the van and used it as outdoor seating. Tanner was very good to stay in his car seat and hang out. We had a great time, but we were definitely ready to go home by the time it was over as everyone was getting tired and less cooperative. Overall a great activity for summer fun. I believe part of being American is to make sure to go to the drive in movie at least once in the summer. It takes me back to childhood memories I guess (Back to the Future when I was five for example).

On Sunday we visited Cami and Dan again over by San Fran. We barbecued burgers and laughed the whole time. Only Cami can make me laugh that hard. Definitely worth a two hour drive. With the 4th coming up, I have my first real twinge of homesickness as we realize that we don't have any family or friends to do anything with. I guess we will do a few fireworks at home and then go see a show nearby. It is weird because we are used to having too many places to get to on the holidays. I guess we will just have to enjoy our little family all by itself and that is not bad either.
If you look close you can see Dallin's little blue feet as he was sleeping in the van. He woke up as soon as the movie started.
What a trooper. We didn't want Tanner to be crawling around in the glass laced gravel so he was just happy to sit in his car seat. Poor neglected kid number 3.