Little Men

Phone Pics

2012-02-11T00:35:00.004-05:00

My kids make me laugh. You should all know them.

I say that a lot- but they are pretty funny. Here are some pictures to prove my point.

Side note: I'm watching The Voice on Hulu and man! It's awesome.

The boys are having a hard time parting with Ben ANYtime he has to leave the house.

This was one of those mornings. Hahaha

Self Portrait Sunday!

What?! This is a fleece body suite thing that is a size 18 month. Um... Grant wears a size 4. I wish I would have gotten a picture of his legs- the outfit was almost to his knees.

I know I posted this on FB, but it cracks me up. Henry has SUCH a funny sense of humor. He told me needed a diaper, didn't need a new one but insisted that he have one. So he helped Ben pick up his teacher the airport looking like this. Funny.

POPCORN! Winnie the Pooh!!!

For the love... this kid is awesome. A little sassy (a lot sassy), but so freaking funny!!!

...And Henry and Me! (I don't know why blogger separated the one with Grant from this one... hmm)

Star Wars

2012-02-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

In case this is your first time visiting our blog, and you have no idea about anything regarding US, let me inform you on a little secret. We like Music. Ben is a music major and I have been singing and pretending to play the piano all my life. It doesn't shock us that our children enjoy music as well. Grant seems to be very quick at picking up on all things musical. It's never been a huge deal to us, we have him listen to all sorts of music, things from Disney to the Beatles to Glee (Ben hates that last one), but recently he has been shocking us with his musical ability.

It all started (or we first noticed) back in August when we went to California to visit Ben's family. We spent one day at California Adventure. We saw/heard (can you see me in the middle of a huge crowd? No.) the "World of Color" show where they had a huge medley of all sorts of Disney songs. The next day or a few days later, Grant was randomly singing "Reflection" from Mulan. This was strange seeing as we hadn't watched that movie in MONTHS. Then we realized that he must have heard it at the park. Someone wondered if he was in key, so we looked it up. Sure enough, the child was singing in the same key as the movie. Crazy. Since then, we've tested him randomly on certain Disney songs. I think one night, he got 5/5 songs right! hahaha... it's a pretty fun game.

So this next story is the most awesome. We have been watching Star Wars lately, and Grant has gotten into it. On Sunday, we were having dinner with some friends. After Grant turned a paper airplane into the Star Destroyer Ship, our friend, Stephen, started singing the Darth Vader theme song. Grant said, "No- you're doing it wrong," and then started singing the EXACT same song a few notes higher. At first I thought it was odd, then I realized he probably was right- as far as the key. So we looked it up. And guess what? Grant was right- Stephen WAS singing it wrong :) Take a look!

That was him this morning before I found this YouTube video of the same song.

Darth Vader Theme Song

Pretty funny!

Chicken Cordon Blues...

2012-02-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

Do you grow up listening to the music your parents liked to listen to? My family sure did. Thanks to the amazing Spotify, I can listen to most of these songs again (I'm sure Ben thinks I am nuts!). I was listening to an album from Steve Goodman. My dad got me hooked when I was younger with a song of his called, "Lincoln Park Pirates," look it up- it's awesome. Anyway, he's a musician from Chicago who died too young :( He's got great songs that I think are beautiful and I could re-publish them on an album if I thought my voice were worthy of doing so. ANYWAY- I came across a certain song of his that made me laugh really hard.

Chicken Cordon Blues

I'm all about eating healthy, but I also understand and appreciate the delight-fulness of meat and potatoes. While some people all over the place (friends at church, college friends, facebook friends) are going a little overboard about eating healthy (in my own mind... I'll be proven wrong when I get to heaven- don't worry), this song pretty much made my day. I'm glad that Ben doesn't do this to me, and I'm glad I don't do this to him. For the record- we're eating a million times better now than we did 4 years ago (have you SEEN pictures of me then? I keep thinking I am pregnant in those photos with Henry- but that didn't happen until a few months later!). And I'm all about eating healthy- trust me- I just don't worry about it the way others do. We love hamburgers and we'll never cut those out :) With all that said, enjoy these awesome lyrics (and if you want to look up the tune, it may make you laugh).

When I first met you baby, you fed me on chicken and wine.
It was steak and potatoes and lobster and babe I sure felt fine.
But now all you give me is seaweed and alfalfa sprouts
And sunflower seeds and I got my doubts -
Babe, you left me here with the Chicken Cordon Bleus.

My stomach's so empty and all I got is food for thought.
And I've been sittin' here thinkin'
'bout the twenty pounds of groceries we bought.
We bought ten pounds of brown rice and five more of beans
And five pounds of Granola and you know what that means,
I'm just a regular fella with the Chicken Cordon Bleus.

[Spoken]
Now won't you to play me them fat licks!

I'm starved for affection and babe, I can't take no more.
You know this stuff is so weird that the cockroaches moved next door.
Babe, can you see that old dog, he's out in the street
He's got a big smile on his face 'cause they let him meat.
And babe I got the lemon and the Chicken Cordon Bleus!

Babe, I'm goin down to the bakery
And I'm going to find me a jelly roll
And some cannoli.
Some French pastry.
A chocolate éclair don't sound too bad.
How about some lasagna?
You know fat is where it's at.
My shadow disappears ...

I hope that makes some of you smile. Worried about being fat? Don't be- fat is where it's at!!!

Hello? Anyone?

2012-01-25T20:27:00.003-05:00

Why on earth am I blogging? I get so sad when I see "0 comments".

Anyone else feel this way?

Eh... oh well. I'll keep going for myself.

With that said, I'm trying to find great ways of de-cluttering and organizing our house before we move in the next 8 weeks. I found this site- Simple Mom: Spring Cleaning. I'm excited to start our CLEANING and organizing before we go and move into another place. Do any of YOU have blogs/websites that help you tackle the craziness? Maybe I'm only friends with neat freaks, but I don't' even want to let a repair man in my door right now because my house is a pig pen. What helps you!?

Some beautiful pictures

2012-01-23T02:27:00.000-05:00

My cool sister in law sent me some of these nice pictures. I thought I would post some here for my enjoyment. Thank you, Alison Worthen (alisonworthenphotography.com) for the pictures. I love them.

Anyone spending anytime with Grant recently may have noticed his funny way of pointing. He turns his head and aligns his fingers with just one eye- we can only assume it's because he sees two fingers when he points. Funny kid.

Our little family at Temple Square on Christmas Evening. Henry's face is hilarious. Nice shot, Alison!

On Christmas day, we went to church at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Here are all the boys. Three generations of "Worthen" boys (and Scott and Ben).

Christmas Eve, we ate dinner at Texas Road House. This is a rare shot. Ol' Man HOLDING a grandchild. But if I remember right, Grant was running around, and he is allergic to peanuts (not so badly that he has reactions to the air at the roadhouse). So my dad picked him up so he wouldn't trip and fall in the pile shells and nuts. Too kind!

Fourwheeling after Christmas was fun as well. This is Leanne, Laurel and myself getting a self portrait. There were petroglyphs all around. Pretty cool.

What the January???!

2012-01-06T19:36:00.001-05:00

I am amazing.

Obviously- I mean, look how many times I posted on my blog in the past 2 months!!!!

**blank stares**

I had mentioned how we had been using our nice camera to take pics, and Ben likes taking pics in RAW format. BUT we found our little camera right before we took off to go to Utah for the Holidays and I have been taking some pictures on my phone. Before I get to the first of what will hopefully be many catch up posts, I thought I would update you all on our lives thus far.

I'm sure I'm friends with all of you on FB, so this may not, be news at all. We are done in Indiana (sad). We LOVE it here and we're sad to go. But why are we leaving? I don't have a college degree. I only had a little bit left before we took off from Idaho, but I was a good little wife and followed Ben- I say that with a bit of satire-ness, but I'm so glad we did. Ben was accepted (let in the back door) to Indiana University and we've had an amazing 3.5 years in this amazing town. I don't know about Ben, but I am going to start praying yesterday that we come back here some day! Anyway, we are moving to Rexburg, ID so I can quickly (and cheaply) finish my bachelor's degree in Recreation Management. I'm taking one online class right now then I'll be back on campus in April. Things just kind of opened up in our lives to let this happen. We feel that it's VERY important for me to have a degree in case I need to use it (plus, the education alone is worth going back to get). We're not thrilled about living in Rexburg again, but we'll make it work. We have vowed (and I mean VOWED) to not stay longer than 2-3 years.

Let's see- what else!? My two little boys are now 2yrs old and 4yrs old. I'm such a bad mom- I should have posted about it! Henry's birthday was first on November 13th. He was pretty sick, and wanted NOTING to do with opening his gifts. Grant's birthday was later that month on the 30th. We had his FIRST official bday party with some kids he sees every week. It was train themed, and he loved it (I can't speak for the boys who came to play!). Grant has finally grasped the concept of "getting gifts" and because his birthday and Christmas are pretty close, he is now in the "I want this" mode. Good thing I have 11 months to break him of that until it starts all over again.

OK... I'll stop boring you with WORDS! Here are some photos off my phone. Enjoy :)

I'm not a great mom- in the sense that I feel I have failed my children on being a good teacher for them. They have toys, and yes, they're learning, but I feel so lame compared to other parents. With that said, I kept coming across these sensory boxes for little kids. Um, my kids LOVE THEM! This one was the November theme. It would keep BOTH boys busy for a long time (that is unheard of in this house). I made one for December and I need to do another for January (or for the winter season). Go do this if you haven't.

The night before Grant turned 4! These three guys are my life- and they are so cool! Also, Henry is funny!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT! He did not love this for the first few minutes (see my FB page with the video I posted). But it was fun to have 65 balloons in our house for a while.

The boy's grandparents got them these cute build a bear animals- and creatively named "Dog" and "Bear."

PS- we like pizza.

Bloomington isn't as cool as Lake Forest, IL- BUT they did have a tree/square lighting ceremony- complete with a clown? Odd, I know.

Too many people- but our cute little family at the ceremony!

These 3 monkeys kill me. They are my favorites.

Mmmmmm... who doesn't love Chocolate?

Don't you wish your girlfriend were as cool as mine???

Katie is amazing, and these apples taste even better than they look!

A few Collections of Pictures

2011-11-20T15:41:00.001-05:00

Ben and I have been taking pictures using the RAW format on our camera. That means that my high quality desktop computer can not read them. I'm sure there is a way to download a program that will do that, but remember when I'm lazy? Me too. So here we are, a month since I've posted anything, and I finally have access to Ben's MAC. sigh... love. I put together a few collages of what we've been up to, most of which you've probably seen on good ol' facebook. But here they are anyway. Enjoy ;)

This is, as the collage states, the Hickory Ridge Fire Tower. It's pretty cool. We would have taken more pictures, but it's literally a tower that is 110' high, so our priorities while climbing were on making sure our children didn't die. But it's an amazing view of Monroe County. You can see why we love it here so much! And for the love- our boys are pretty dang cute :)

Here are the boys in their cute costumes. Hooray for felt, right? Grant had a little badge and star that is being covered up by his bag, but he's still cute! And Henry was a great candy pass-er-outer.

And here's the entire family (well, in separate pictures). We had so much at our Trunk or Treat!

Here is our cool looking house after Ben was thru with it! We finally bought a smoke machine and had a blast spookifying our little entry way. As far as trick or treat-ers... WHATEVER! We live on a cul-de-sac, but we're the 2nd house on the street off the main street. Well, everyone and their mom came to trick or treat on the main street, and we hardly got any people at our door! Sad. So anyone who did come to our house got a few handfuls of candy. I even gave a bag of candy to one of our college friends who lives in the dorms. But we had fun taking the boys down our street. Grant's first door that someone answered was funny. He went to step IN the house and tripped, thus face planting it in the entry way. We're so awesome at parenting that we started laughing. He was fine, but we thought that was a perfect way to trick or treat for the first time. Good job, Cletus :) We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and that your bellies are primed for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Henry Ford Overload

2011-10-30T02:41:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I met my mom in Michigan and we went to the Henry Ford/Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. I love this place- I have a lot of childhood memories from when I was younger, so it's really awesome to take my kids there now. Here are some photos from the trip. Enjoy :)

There was a "Wizard of Oz" exhibit in the museum- this was a part of the Kansas part of it.

I'm sad Ben hasn't been here yet, because there is SO MUCH about planes!

"My bologna has a first name..." This particular wiener mobile is from 1952- my mom says that's a good year... :)

More at the OZ exhibit.

A REAL LIFE turn table. Grant loved the train yard... weird... I know.

Waiting in line for the wicked old carousel.

Old glass... cool.

I love two things about this picture- 1: the spinning wheel and 2: the way the window is propped open. Pretty awesome.

This is the OLDEST windmill in the United States.

The boys.

And what a great way to end the day - going back to the Oz Exhibit and watching a little bit of the movie in this awesome red arm chair.

We LOVE this place and you should check it out too!!!

Ben the Magician!

2011-10-18T23:18:00.002-04:00

This is keeping the boys busy lately- trying to figure out Ben's magical ways.

PLEASE excuse the night time mess that happens in our house. I'm sure everyone else's homes are spotless after a day full of playing, right?!

Picnik Love

2011-10-15T15:57:00.003-04:00

If you haven't noticed by now, I like picnik.com. You can edit photos or combine them and make collages. It's pretty awesome. And the premium package is only $2/month! Woohoo! Today I learned how to use picnik to make prints. I'm really excited about the one I just sent into Sam's Club to be printed (only an hour to wait!!). Our home is pretty old. And it's a rental, so there isn't much we can do to fix it up. I've had a hard time trying to make it OUR HOME because of this. In the boy's bathroom (the one we let people use), there is an odd piece of wood with three hooks on it. It does not match anything, but it's mounted to the wall. We use all the time so it's not like it's useless. We also have Ben's teacher (now colleague) stay with us when he's in town and uses said bathroom. So this is what is being printed right now- soon to be put on a canvas and mod podged.

YEAH! I'm so excited. I'll post pictures when it's hanging. (so maybe tonight??) Is this lame? If so- I'll not hang it and only have wasted $3. I'm basically giggling right now as I look at it. Enjoy your weekend!

*****UPDATE*****

Here it is all done. A little darker than I'd like- but I love it!

I still need to fix the edges and I'm thinking of how to do that.

Dinner

2011-10-11T19:01:00.003-04:00

Making dinner in this house seems to be something I'm not very good at. You can add that to my list! I found this pretty simple dinner that I'd share and tell you what I did to make it better!

The recipe is called Chicken Enchilada Puffs and I found it on a blog called TidyMom.

The recipe calls for 6 ingredients:

1 package jumbo crescent rolls

3 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

3/4 cup cooked chicken (diced or shredded)

1/3 cup enchilada or taco sauce

2 teaspoons enchilada or taco seasoning mix

1/4 cup Mexican shredded cheese for sprinkling

What I did to make it better (or a tad bit healthier) and CHEAPER

(meaning- STORE BRANDS BABY!) was this:

-Less/reduced fat rolls

-3 oz Neufchatel 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese

-2 chicken breast cutlets- so hardly any chicken

-I forgot to add the cheese till the end, so YEAH! No cheese fat in ours and it worked out just fine!

-AND I added an entire package of Kroger (store brand) Mexican Style Frozen Vegetables.

**These frozen veggie mixes are now my favorite thing to cook with. I know that there is nothing like FRESH veggies- but the fact that these are the kind of veggies one would put in a Mexican dish is AWESOME! They also have Italian Style, Asian Style, Stir Fry, and MORE! I'm so excited.

This dinner was awesome and because I added the veggies, it made it so I now have left over mix in my fridge for a taco or something tomorrow. So simple. So yummy. Grant LOVED it and Henry- well- he picked at the bread.

I don't know what to feed him............................

MAKE IT!

Good and Bad

2011-09-29T12:40:00.002-04:00

I've been struggling lately with feeling like a good person/mom. Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad mom. My kids probably watch more movies than they need to. While we have a quasi schedule, it's not like everyone's I see. I loathe giving baths, so I don't do it everyday (and I make Ben give them baths). We eat meat- and more than maybe some would like, but it's not the only thing we eat. My boys are CRAZY! They run away when ever they get the chance (why did Henry have to follow in his brothers footsteps!?). Grant's not in a pre-school and I've been slacking on my plan to do home school pre-school (we do things every now and then). I started working about 1-2 days a week. I probably sit in front of the computer more than I should- and I'm trying to make sure I am only on it when the boys are napping/sleeping. I hate doing the dishes, and I'm not the greatest at cleaning things up right away. My personal scripture study and prayers have been at a low I'd rather not think about.

With all that said, it's not a pity party. I've been able to sit and think about things that I think I and our family do well. I LOVE doing laundry. I love the smell of clean laundry and I'm fairly good about getting it folded right away (I say this with two loads on my couch right now... hahaha). My home is not a disaster, but it most certainly looks like we live in it. And to be honest- I don't know how well I'd enjoy the "sterile" look of cleanliness- I don't know how mom's are able to keep such nice looking homes. Part of me thinks that something/one gets neglected. And while I have very crazy children, they have some of the best manners I've seen. And that IS a result of my trying to teach them something. In the morning, Grant says, "Good Morning, Mom! How are you?" Then I'll answer and he then says, "I'm doing well, thanks, how are you?" That makes me so happy. They always say please and thank you. They are great kids- crazy- but great. My husband is awesome. He loves me and he loves our kids, and all of us know it.

So the deal is this: no one is perfect. I'm the farthest thing from it- but I'm trying. I think it is important to be concerned about what YOU (me) are doing to be better, and about your own standing with the Lord. I feel guilty enough from my own conscience- I don't need other people judging me. And really- at the end of the day- I think what's also important is if you are worthy to go to the temple- AND if you are- are you going??? How many people spew what others should and shouldn't be doing- but then aren't attending the temple? Isn't' that what's most important? Isn't that we're all trying to be worthy to be a part of? Let's stop the judging (me included!!!!!!!!) and start making sure we are ALL at the temple as OFTEN as we can.

Anyway, I'm off to go buy things for a Pinterest craft! hahaha

-Rochelle

Halloween Happiness (and stuff)

2011-09-27T20:07:00.001-04:00

Hello!

I've been getting WAY TOO excited about Halloween over here. Can you tell?

The homemade pumpkins are from THIS website. The Pumpkin Pancakes can be found HERE. And the cookies can be found HERE. I also made some banana pumpkin muffins. All three of the recipes were made with one LARGE CAN of pumpkin puree. Awesome, right!?

With all of THAT said, I've discovered PINTEREST. I was really nervous that it would take over my life. I told Ben on a few different occasions how I wasn't sure if I was going to join, but I gave in. While it HAS taken over my life, I have also USED tons of things (in the week I've been a part of it) that I've found. All the creations from this post were pinterest finds. If you are not on Pinterest- beware. It WILL take over your life, but it's so amazing, it is worth it. What is it?? It's basically a social online bookmarking website. Pretty awesome.

Another thing- I have a small house. The majority of my things don't have a home, so sometimes (all the time?) I feel overwhelmed by the clutter that takes over. My kitchen has very little counter space & I've tried a few different ways to keep produce out of the fridge, but I have still been short on space. Then on pinterest I saw an idea about hanging baskets on the wall. I didn't feel like going out and buying any new ones (because I'm cheap! Surprise!!) and I remembered I had some left over wire baskets from our metal shelves that I am not using. I decided to add those to the little wall space I have in my kitchen. I also hung up my pot holders that REALLY do take up space in my small drawer. The spices on top of my stove hood is something I've been doing for a while. Those are IKEA containers with magnets on the bottom. I originally bought the metal magnetic bars, but I had no space to put them! Here is my kind of over crowded stove area! I love it. When Ben saw the baskets, he said, "Okaaay." haha... Oh well- I'm the one making food on the stove.

Well- I hope everyone is doing well. I have some AWESOME pictures of the boys from the past week or so, but they are all in RAW format and they won't upload to our awesome PC.

I'm 12 again

2011-09-14T23:35:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I feel just like that... 12 again.

With no particular details, I hate feeling left out. Some days I feel like I am perfectly happy here, then other days I wish I had my friends from college here with me. I miss having a best friend. Someone to call to do anything with. Now that I don't have that (did I ever, really?), I feel like the girl with glasses and pants too short that no one wants to hang out with when I ask anyone to do anything.

On a brighter note, Henry likes to give me hugs on his own now. Grant is getting so smart and his vocabulary and word choice & arrangement (is that what I mean to say) is pretty amazing. Now- if they'll just calm down a little, I might begin to think about when we want to have another child (a year? two?), until then- I'm grateful I have a very part time job so that I'm able to get away and talk to adults (and junior high kids... is that better than a 2 & 4 yr old?) and make some grocery money.

Catch Up Part 2 (or 3)... DISNEYLAND

2011-09-11T10:50:00.003-04:00

We love Disneyland.

I didn't think I'd love going over and over again, but I don't really get tired of it. I mostly love California Adventure (but these pictures are from the Disneyland day). And I love that the boys have such a blast. Isn't that what it's all about?

The Castle. Grant loves the castle (can you tell?)

TEA CUPS! This was so fun with all four of us.

Grant's favorite thing (other than meeting Mickey Mouse) is the roller coaster in Toon Town. You'd never guess with how he covers his ears whenever something loud is heard.

And they were SO exhausted by the end of the day! These cute boys had a blast!

More California.

2011-09-05T20:28:00.002-04:00

One of the days in California, we went to lunch with Ben's grandma and then played at her house afterward. It was fun, and I had so much fun with the camera.

Basically we played with bubbles the entire time.

While this is out of order, our last morning I made Ben take me to Paramount Ranch. I was really excited because this is the place they filmed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (which I am currently watching via Netflix DVD). Unfortunately, FORD was filming a commercial for the 2012 Explorer (or something)... so we could only walk along the perimeter of the ranch. It was still so fun (but wicked HOT).

This is the train station that they build in the 3rd season.

And finally- DR QUINN'S OFFICE!! I'm such a dork, and I'm proud :)

Catch Up PART 1

2011-09-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

I didn't think we really had much planned this summer, but lo and behold- our summer is over with, and we were busy! Ben is now teaching his first semester of college and I am loving the lower stress associated with not being a student anymore. Now if I will only finish up my degree so we don't ever have to think about it anymore!

It's been super hot, so we have been inside, watching LOST. oops. It's so good, and we're almost done with the series. But we did take a break and go to California to spend our annual Mathews Family Vacation. It was so fun! We love Disneyland and California Adventure- we could go ever trip :) Enjoy these fun pictures from the beach. (Also- I'm too lazy to do any collages right now!)

Second Chance

2011-08-10T23:30:00.000-04:00

Remember that brocolli that looked like it was dying?

(see last post)

Look what I found today!!

FLORETS!

And here are some on the other plant.

They still look like they've been attacked, but we'll see if these things make any progress.

And the FIRST HARVEST OF THE YEAR!

BASIL

I felt so cool going outside with my basket and snipping off the basil. I got about 3 cups worth today out of my 5-6 plants. So what did I do?

Make PESTO! of course!!

If you've ever made pesto, you know how you need TONS of basil to make a decent amount. I froze the rest of the pesto in 5 TINY muffin cups. I figure I'll snip each week and continue to make some pesto. It's SO GOOD. And it is NUT FREE- as are all things in this household (usually!).

Garden Ups and Downs

2011-08-01T14:34:00.000-04:00

I started a garden back in the spring. I thought things were going well until I drove past the community gardens and saw a lot of the same things I was trying to grow in full bloom! That's when I realized I must not have a great green thumb. Sigh. I think we may have messed up the soil, but oh well. My friend said to try Miracle Grow. At this point, I figured nothing was going to help, but it was worth a try. I did that and when I came home from Utah two weeks ago, my garden was HUGE!

Kind-of.

I'll let the pictures describe what has gone on.

This is the first sign of an ACTUAL vegetable in our garden!!! I think it's so cute and I can't wait to watch it keep growing.

Remember the book, "The Hungry Caterpillar?" I guess we have the actual story in our garden!

This was/is our broccoli plant. Isn't that so sad? I think instead of a caterpillar, it was the BUNNIES! "The bunny, the bunny- Oh I HATE the bunny!" haha

And here is the other broccoli plant. We never got around to building the cage for the garden box.

This I think WAS a bug or insect. Green beans. They used to be in a circle with branches making a teepee. When things DID grow, the bugs ate then. I only have that one tiny one in the front struggling to survive. But I think it's a lost cause.

This is my baby!

It's my jack-o-lantern plant!! It starts in the right hand corner of the box and then comes down OFF the box and is about six feet long. I'm SO EXCITED for the pumpkins to grow... IF they grown.

Here are some of my basil plants. They smell GREAT!

And this is what happened to my carrot box. Bunnies (I think). Notice there is nothing there.

Sad. There used to be about 30. Grr.

All in all- I'm not too bummed.

This is the FIRST time I've ever attempted something like

this and it seems to be a great learning experience.

Hopefully I can keep it all alive through out the HEAT that is consuming Bloomington.

My Boys :)

2011-07-28T12:03:00.000-04:00

These boys are testing my patience a lot these days. I think it's because it's "heat advisory" hot outside and out AC isn't awesome, so we're stuck inside a dark house trying to find ways to have fun. BUT- they are really starting to love each other and it's super cute (they are also starting to fight a lot, and that's not so cute!). They also are growing up so fast. Enjoy these cute pictures :)

Henry is turning into quite the comedian.

And Grant is quite the musician!

And between the two of them-

there is a LOT of love!

"It's the Gateway Arch!"

2011-07-18T12:35:00.000-04:00

On our crazy road trip back (which I'll blog about next time... I've done way too much this morning already), we decided to stop at the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Over a year ago, we got Grant some World Landmark Flashcards and he's learned all the United States ones. We drove PAST the arch last year around midnight on our last trip to Utah, and he would say, "Did we see the Gateway Arch?" So this stop seemed appropriate for the boys. And holy moly- did they LOVE IT! (the green grass and shadow is the Arch's shadow).

I thought Henry would be a little scared, but nope! They loved every minute of it. Also, U2 was in town so Ben took some cool pictures of their stage being erected.

It was after all this fun that our car wouldn't start and gave us an extra day in a hotel with a kids pageant going on. Blah. But here are some pictures of us all on the ground AFTER being up so high.

Dinner and some cute kids?

2011-07-18T12:24:00.000-04:00

We had some dinner with the Jacobson's on our last night in town. What a bunch of cute kids.

Then Leah remembered a picture we took back at Christmas in 2009.

So we re-did the picture using new children :)

HAPPY 4th

2011-07-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

We had a nice little 4th. We went swimming in the morning in Sandy (but it was REALLY cold!). Then we hung out and got ready for dinner at Ben's sister's house. We watched a bunch of street fireworks and then headed to Jordon High School to watch the HUGE fireworks show. Ah- what a nice night. And thanks to Todd (and possibly Ben) for the fireworks pictures. I can't remember WHO had the camera at that point.

CONGRATS!

2011-07-18T11:57:00.000-04:00

The main reason we went to Utah was so Ben could play at his good friend's wedding. It was such a lovely reception outside. Ben played with three other amazing jazz players, Jay Lawrence, Denson Angulo, and Kurt Reeder. The food was good and the music was amazing. As the night drew to a close, Nathaneal, Ben's friend, played the saxophone on a number. It was awesome. Congrats to the new bride and groom!!

Silver Lake Stroll

2011-07-01T11:22:00.000-04:00

My two sisters and I with all our kids went up the canyon to have lunch and take a little walk around the lake. There was still a TON of snow so we didn't get to do the entire loop, but the kids had a blast anyway. My nephew took his shoes off and mountain goated it the entire way. The puddles were WAY too tempting and the kids enjoyed it like it was going out of style.

After the walk we "cooled down" by some jump roping. These pictures are pretty awesome.

I love being around my family. We're all such great friends and it's hard being in Indiana sometimes- so far away from them. We'll have more adventures as the week goes on (with Ben's family too) and I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Indiana to Utah

2011-07-01T11:16:00.000-04:00

We are in Utah. We took a nice, LONG, 3 day road trip to get here. I have to say, our boys only complained a LITTLE bit. They REALLY are some awesome travelers. And I didn't even have to get out all the toys I brought for them. I guess that will make the return trip even better.

On our way, we stopped by the Kearny, NE overpass Museum thing. I thought it would be GREAT for little kids. Nope. Grant cried a we took the escalator into the museum part and asked if we could go home the entire time. Oh well. He was free. The trip was also full of amazing sunsets. I think I took about 20 pictures of the sun going down WHILE we were driving. Pretty funny. We camped, stayed with friends and the boys had a great time. Enjoy :) (I'm making the picture large even tho it disturbs the side bar info... oh well).

iFROG

2011-06-22T09:19:00.000-04:00

Last week was a tough, but fun, week. I spent it in Franklin, IN. That's about a 45 mile drive from where I live now. The week was a training week for iFROG (Indiana Facilitator Recourse and Opportunity Group). It was all about challenge courses and learning how to facilitate them. You have all done SOMETHING related to this, I'm sure. You know, "Team Building Activities!" It was pretty remarkable. I had to be OUT THE DOOR before 7am (if ANYONE knows me- they know I don't wake up that early) and then I would drive an hour there and back. I didn't get home till around 5:30 everyday, and I was more tired than I've been in a LONG time. I met around 10 people who really are such amazing people. I feel like I've known all of them for such a long time. That's something I love feeling about people- that you've known them forever. The group of people was pretty diverse. I was there because I want to be working whenever I can at the local Challenge Courses (low ropes or high). One woman was there because she is in charge of the high school peer mentoring group where she works and she wanted to learn how to use this stuff in her class. Another woman there works as a tobacco prevention specialist at her local schools. The information we learned this week will help her out LIKE CRAZY! The week was full of outdoors, bugs, laughs, laughs, laughs, moments of uncertainty, tons of successes, many failed attempts, and over all, full of great people. I don't think I was planning on enjoying myself as much as I did. But I'm SO GLAD I DID IT! Now I am certified and can work at a bunch of different places here... which is something I have missed since moving from Idaho. The last day of training, we did a high ropes course (I LOVE THOSE!). Here is me just after I did one element blindfolded- about 35 ft in the air!

Home at Last

2011-06-19T21:31:00.000-04:00

My little brother came home from his mission a few weeks ago (same weekend as my little sister's high school graduation) so we went up to Chicago for the festivities. Here is a little collage of the airport.

Laundry, sigh

2011-05-29T01:17:00.000-04:00

Our washer is acting up, and we haven't had the time (really?), energy or money to get it looked at and fixed (tho I know what the problem is... it's the timer). So for the last two weeks, we've been taking our clothes to the laundromat. I only wash them and then I bring them all home (our dryer is working JUST fine). Today I decided that I would hang some clothes up so I wouldn't have to use the HOT dryer as much. This is my living room at the moment.

Kind of awesome.

It smells so good. I should do this more often!

In and Out

2011-05-29T01:11:00.000-04:00

Not the amazing burger joint.

I'm talking about being IN and then getting OUT!

We had a F-1 tornado hit our little town the other day. We are/were safe, but there are TONS and TONS of trees down- ALL OVER. I felt like we were cooped up inside for so long (or it just seems like that when there are tornado sirens blaring all day). We tried to make the tornado time as much fun as possible for the boys ~~so they didn't sense our fear.~~ I think it was a hit! They are now obsessed with all things flashlights.

I put up a sheet and we did shadow dancing and hand puppets!

This is Grant's duck.

Pretty awesome.

Today (Saturday), we GOT OUT! We headed off to Leonard Spring Nature Trail, but the trees were so badly down that we could go to the waterfall. So we did the easy hike instead. Grant is SO FUNNY on little hikes! He is constantly running, kicking rocks "out of the way" and making it his own little adventure. What a funny kid. Click on the picture/s to see it all up close. We saw a small cave, awesome fallen trees, tracks and wife's butts (thank, Ben).

Enjoy!

(I made it xtra large so you can see the pictures better)

I CAN SEW!

2011-05-29T00:12:00.000-04:00

Not Really.

My friend gave me her broken sewing machine before Henry was born. I finally got it out and had it fixed (Hilary- it's still working!). I found this awesome tutorial on this AMAZING blog called Made (this link is for the tutorial) and I made them into flat front shorts. Not too shabby for not having sewn ANYTHING in over 15 years.

Teeth and Stamps

2011-05-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

So Henry has those little crayola hand stamp things. I bought them for Grant but he figured out how to put his fingers in them and that was the end of his stamping days. I got them out for Henry one day and he enjoyed them a little too much.

He has also been teething. Ah- WHEN DOES IT END? (rhetorical question) Here is just one picture of (I swear- like 4 teeth/molars) the teeth that are coming in. POOR KID :(

Clean Boys

2011-05-27T14:21:00.000-04:00

Don't you just LOVE clean kids? I love it! And this picture is just to die for.

Learning to Write

2011-05-23T15:23:00.000-04:00

Grant has been doing REALLY well when it comes to learning his letters. He's learned what letters say and can tell you word for each letter. He's our little smarty pants. However, our friend made this app that TOTALLY helped... it's so fun! It's called, "Alphabet Zoo." Look it up.

I saw someone do this and thought it was brilliant. Learning how to write letters in pudding.

It was a throw back to an old college FHE night (pudding pictionary)!

So here is Grant and Henry learning/playing in the pudding!

HE LOVED THIS!

Canoeing!

2011-05-20T17:01:00.000-04:00

Our little town has SO MANY COOL THINGS! For $6 you can rent a canoe and have at it! The boys did a great job. We didn't realize how late it had become until we got in the car and it was PAST nap time! oops. But we had a blast! Even Henry was having fun.

A few things I learned on this trip:

1. I need to loose the weight I have gained in the last few months!

YIKES! I had to edit the photo because it was pretty bad.

(ya know- sometimes you don't know how bad you look until you see a picture! Look at my gross arms! AHHH)

2. Both the boys love to paddle

(for Grant that means splashing and for Henry- it means dragging his paddle).

What a blast!

We are Crazy

2011-05-18T11:33:00.000-04:00

I've decided that my little family is a bit on the crazy side. We're getting ready for summer. I think all we need is this cold front to go away, the pool opening next week and a pass to the beach and we are READY TO GO! Here's a fun little collage of some of the things we've been up to since Ben finished school! (Grant helped me with the collage!)

HENRY

2011-05-15T13:49:00.000-04:00

Our little tank is 18 months old :)

He is such a fun little kid. At the moment, he is laying on his stomach, feet in the air, playing with my phone while swaying to Les Misserables in the background. He speaks his own language while understand what we say. Our little athlete. No fear. Loves to wake you up with kisses and hugs. He really is such a great kid! A goober, bruiser and sweet child.

Now- GO TO NURSERY!

Learning to Jump

2011-05-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

When I was little, my siblings and I would put pillows and blankets at the bottom of the stairs. We would stand on the banister at the top of the stairs and then jump into the pile of blankets. It was awesome. It should come at no surprise that my children find the same joy in jumping off the couch!

Green and Red

2011-05-13T17:40:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day was Sunday and my sweet husband surprised me with 2 Dozen long stem roses. They were/are BEAUTIFUL! I'm so grateful for him and also to be the mother of our little crazies :) They are so much fun and occasionally test our patience (I know- they seem so innocent!).

I have never gardened before but I hear that it's pretty tasty! I decided to jump on the sq ft garden band wagon- and I'm so excited we did! I am seeing things pop up looking healthy. I am sure that I'll be updating the one reader of our blog ALL THE TIME about how our little garden is doing. We have planted cucumbers, broccoli, basil, pumpkins, watermelon, squash and a few more. We are waiting to plant corn, but it all looks so promising right now! Enjoy :)

1 Baby, 2 Baby, 3 Baby Birds

2011-05-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

We have nests all over our house and yard. We recently took notice of the 3 baby birds on our porch light. Ben got these amazing shots of them. Don't worry- the birds were out of the nest the NEXT day! Talk about good timing.

Click on the photo to see closer pictures.

The far right picture is the mom and dad birds.

Music Master

2011-05-12T13:04:00.000-04:00

Shout it from the Mountain Tops!

BEN IS DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!

JOY TO THE WORLD!

2011-05-01T23:40:00.002-04:00

OSAMA'S DEAD!

Not to make light of a beautiful hymn, but really- Thank God!

(and I do NOT use that in vain)

Everyone remembers where they were when the planes hit the Twin Towers and sent us into this horrific war. I remember not really getting it at first, but then feeling numb when I went home. I remember feeling so exhausted.

**at this moment the President of the United States is making his official declaration**

I'll post more in a bit.

#ok- I'm back#
Anyway- I remember the way America was brought together.
I remember seeing flags on people's cars.
Many candle light vigils.
And many fears for what laid ahead.

Thank GOD that he is gone, but God Bless all those who CONTINUE to fight for us.
God Bless America!

Watch Out World

2011-04-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

I have started a new blog. It's not to replace this amazingly popular blog ;) but it's a place I can safely? express my opinions without it clouding up my family blog.

It's called, "PLACE OF REST." You should check it out. I'll warn you- it's my unfiltered thoughts. If you know me- you know I can be a little head strong about some things I think about. This is everything from religion to politics to soap boxes!

PLACE OF REST
http://voiceoflittlerock.blogspot.com/

I'd love for you to come check it out.

Productivity

2011-04-04T14:59:00.000-04:00

I have mentioned before how reading other women's blogs can be a tad depressing. Why? It's hard not to realize everything I don't do while I see these amazing blogs. "Today I built a house!" Well- not that intense, but you know what I mean.

When General Conference was over (A world-wide conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints twice a year. The President of the church-The Prophet- and his the 12 Apostles speak on topics they feel are important for us to hear... the text of the conference will be available tomorrow), Ben and I were talking about what we each learned. His first, and smart, response was, "I learned that I need to tell you that I love you more often." Good boy (he actually tells me that a lot already. I didn't think that was something he should have heard!)!! When it was my turn to answer, I remembered Richard G. Scott's remarks about his wife. The way he described her brought tears to my eyes. I want to be described like that! And I know I am NO WHERE near that description.

With all that being said, I think that subconsciously motivated me to be productive today!! My boys and I have been sick all week and weekend, so our house was needing to be cleaned. The dishes were piling up and the laundry was backed up due to a couple loads of just vomit clothes! hooray. Anyway, it's only (or already- depending on what world you live in) 2:30 and the kids are both napping. Because this is the closest thing I have to a journal (I know- another thing to work on), I want to REMEMBER what helped get me motivated... because I know I'll need the reminder tonight, tomorrow, and 10 yrs down the road.

Here is what I've done so far :)

Dishes (Ben helped). But I still have another sink full to get going.

LAUNDRY! Ah- laundry.

The two loads on the top are to do laundry, the dark are the folded, and there is a load in the washer and dryer. I also put the two ALREADY folded clothes of the boys away (not pictured).

ROLLS!

I'm actually most proud of these. Grant helped. We made these for lunch. I thought he may be more inclined to eat his lunch if he made the bread himself. I'll do another post later about that.

While I still have a lot more to do, I'm feeling good about what has been done. I could stop and focus on the things I have NOT done (like shower, put MY clothes away, clean the bathrooms, vacuum the floor, go through things in the garage for a yard sale this weekend... the list never ends).

If you're reading this and need motivation to do ANYTHING on your to do list, here it is! I DID IT (or I'm starting to do it)! That means you can too.

But I'm sure if you're reading this, you are one of the moms I would love to be like :)

Bird Nests

2011-03-31T11:59:00.000-04:00

We didn't know when we moved into your new place that we were home to all the birds in the area. We keep finding bird nests all over! There are more, but these were the easiest to take pictures of. It's actually really nice. I don't mind at all. Henry LOVES birds and points to the sky when he sees one and starts getting really excited. Our last place had a bunch of birds flying around, but we also had a bunch of feral cats that liked to eat the cool birds.

Here are the cool Bird Nests!

Right out the front door. I use the garage and never walk through the front door- Ben pointed this one out this morning.

Hard to see, but right in the middle of that bush.


I have been keeping an eye on this one. I'm excited for when there are eggs in it!

Is it summer yet?

2011-03-27T13:47:00.000-04:00

Do you ever find your home looking like this after a playdate?

My kind of town, Chicago is...

2011-03-27T13:32:00.002-04:00

My sister and brother came out to Chicago from Utah for a Choral (as in choir and singing, not a reef) Convention. I packed the boys up and headed to my parents for a fun one day hang. We went downtown Chicago and went to the Shed Aquarium. It was so fun! The kids dressed up like penguins and got to play on this awesome little slide and tunnel playground thing. Then we went to Ed Debevic's- pretty awesome. My pictures are all from my phone, so sorry about lack of quality! I've also FINALLY discovered ways to make collages (if you haven't noticed)! Hopefully I can get somewhat caught up on my blogging.

2011-03-27T13:04:00.000-04:00

I know I posted this on Facebook, but here it is again. I had so much fun making these. It was REALLY easy. We put up a white sheet, took pictures of them (hardest part). I had Ben hold the boys still by making them laugh. At first I didn't want them smiling, but I think it looks so adorable with the boys laughing at their dad :) Then I uploaded the pictures, printed out the pictures, cut around the faces (make sure to KEEP the hair details!! so cute), the use that as a stencil on a black piece of paper. Cut and glue on some cute scrapbooking paper. Frame and the end. I think I'll so some of Ben and me one day. I think I spent less than $10 on this- and that was including the frame. Oh- the black paper is some textured scrapbooking paper that I thought would look nicer than construction paper.

Make Up

2011-03-27T12:50:00.000-04:00

If you know me in the slightest, you have probably noticed the lack of make up. My family likes to poke fun at that fact. But I never really felt like I needed it. Especially after I spent a month in southern Utah and I was not allowed to wear any, I came to realize how much I didn't need it. Well, I was tan and in the sun all day when I was there so of course I didn't need it! I have noticed how uneven my skin has become, so I bought some make up. I am now in LOVE with Bare Minerals/Essentials. It is awesome. Here are my before (no making fun) and after photos. Not too shabby.

Pirate Treasure

2011-02-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

**I posted pictures from California below this post- don't miss it!**

We lock Grant in him room for naps and and at night (he is an escape artist). The lock on his door is turned so he can't get out unless he has something to use as a "key" (like a coin). He came out of his room once this week and said, "I had a good nap" after only 30 min- but I heard him playing the entire time. When I went to inspect, there was a coin on the floor next to the door. Today, while changing his sheets, I found 2 more "pirate treasure" coins (Chilean money from Ben) under his pillow. Yes, he is an escape artist indeed.

Also- Valentine's day was Monday. On Saturday, Ben left in the morning to grab some milk and stuff. Later that day- Ben said, "Henry- let's go show mom how you can play the piano!" I said, "OK!" And walked around the corner to the piano and started to watch Henry hit some keys, then I noticed a dozen roses on the piano. Ben had, at SOME point- I don't know, bought me roses and put them together and had been patiently waiting most of the day for me to find them. I suck. It's not like the piano is in a closet in the garage- it's just sitting in the front room! haha I'm a dork. Here are the pictures I took yesterday (4 days after he bought them) of the roses. They are BEAUTIFUL!

Thank you, Ben.

I love you!!

And of course, some pictures of the children (isn't that why we HAVE a blog?)

I want Henry to stay this size forever. He rules.

I don't know why I love this picture so much- but he looks like he's SO OLD!

(I know- you can hardly even see his face!)

California: Part 2

2011-02-17T21:13:00.000-05:00

DISNEYLAND

Here are some pictures from out latest adventure to Disneyland.

Again- from the phone.

Ladies and Gentlemen- My child is THAT child.

He is impossible to take a picture of.

He's waving.

On the Dumbo ride.

Admission? pricey.

Lunch? pricey.

Not eating said lunch? NOT Pricless- it was $8 down the drain.

Thanks, kid.

WE'RE AT DISNEYLAND!!

Pirate Treasure. Woot Woot!

And under this picture is Ben's younger brother, Todd.

I can't seem to work blogger tonight.

I will have a caption contest for that picture.

California: Part 1

2011-02-13T14:55:00.000-05:00

We went to California again (I'm sure the majority of you reading this know that because you were there too!) for Ben's sister's wedding. Here are some pictures from the wedding day!

These are all off my phone- so sorry about the lowish quality of them. We forgot our camera!

Ah- Grant being a CRAZY kid while waiting for Emily and Shark/Mark to come out from the temple.

Henry. Just as crazy as Grant. Sigh. But SO CUTE :)

I love my boys!

I like this picture. From left to right:

Grandma Mathews (Ben's Grandma), Carol (Ben's aunt)

and Great Aunt Jenalyn and Great Uncle Dick.

Ben's Grandma was so funny- she asked Ben where his wife was and if he had married a 16 yr old. Ben said, "I hope not!" And I said, "Yeah- Ben? Where's your ugly wife at?" Good times. She is a RIOT. I love her so much.

Kissy kissy

Grant and Drew were cracking me up! They were holding hands and dancing together.

Awesome.

Sigh. So tired.

Here is some break dancing from Grant. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did/do.

Winter Wonderland...?

2011-02-02T17:45:00.000-05:00

A huge snowstorm hit the mid west yesterday/today. However, this far south missed out? on the snow but got the rain in the freezing weather. Here are a few picture of the iced over trees and grass. Pretty cool.

This picture along with the ones above were all taken at the same time of day. (Afternoon-ish?)

But this picture was taken a lot later that day/night. I wanted to see how much the ice had grown...again- kinda cool.

These pictures crack me up. HELLO HAIR! haha... Henry had his first haircut recently and wow- he is just like his brother. Even with sitting in a car and watching a show- they both move and fight SO BAD that the end result isn't even worth the money. Bleh. Oh well. I love the first of these two pictures. They are really becoming friends :)

"Hi! This is my friend...."

2011-01-22T00:17:00.000-05:00

Grant and Henry love their new trains. I thought I would introduce you to the new family members here in our house!

(Taking pictures of these trains was Grant's idea)

This is James.

This is Thomas.

And this is Toby.

And here is our blond haired blue eyed- HENRY!

And here is our pale skinned too much haired Grant!

The trains are a great source of bargaining. And we ALL seem to have fun with them!

Hope everyone is having a great winter!

Channel Island Harbor/Beach

2011-01-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

I had been posting picture from my camera, so here are some more pictures from our REAL camera. Beware- there are TONS. And if you've missed any posts (because I did about 3 in a row), they are below.

Ah- the joys of hanging out with his "Buddy Ol' Pal Grandpa" and eating a Jelly sandwich.

This is from when we were on one of the Tall Ships at Channel Island Harbor. Grant is "steering" the boat.

Miss Emily (Soon to be Mrs. Shark!) She's so pretty!

Grant steering the ship, again.

This is at the beach just at the end of the harbor- but on a different day. The people it looks like Grant is running to are strangers- but don't worry- I was just out of the picture on the left running with him.

Really? Cutest picture. Ever.

Grandpa and Henry. Henry loves this man.

Running back to Dad. (can you tell it was cold?) Ah- and Grant with his Muppet run and bouncy hair!

More of Henry and Grandpa.

Henry ate it. If you look at the picture closely- you can see the water on his face.

SMILE! You're all wet and cold!

I thought my dad would like this picture. Grant dancing (most likely running) on the beach.

Picture of Grandpa and Henry and Surfer in Ben's sunglasses.

Word.

'Sup?

Such love :)

This is my favorite picture. I just can't get enough of Henry's little face here.

All in all, we had a GREAT time in California! We are going back in a few weeks for Emily (pictured above) and Shark's wedding. We're so excited. DISNEYLAND here we come. This one evening at the beach was cool. Grant wanted to say HI to some surfers, so we did. The cool surfers even asked Grant if he was going to be a surfer when he grew up. Grant smiled and said yes. You know- Grant's got the "Rad Moves!"

Out and About

2011-01-06T11:59:00.002-05:00

Here are some of the fun things we did when it wasn't raining! Enjoy :)

Grant learned how to golf! Wow. He is STILL a runner- and thank heaven for Ben!

Then we did the bumper boats!

As I've said before, it rained the first week we were in California. All these fun things we had planned had to get put on hold. Then when the rain stopped, EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM were out in DROVES at every and ANYTHING that was fun. For instance- Disneyland SOLD OUT 3 days in a row. NUTS. With that said, we made our way to the LA Zoo. It was just as busy as everything else- but we got in free (thank you Laura!). So- here are the boys being a little annoyed that they can not get out and run because their mom is a paranoid woman with anxiety issues in large crowds :)

Then we went to Channel Island Harbor where we saw these awesome Tall Ships.

This is a Deck Gun that shoots a 3 pound ball. I love Grant's face in this!

Aw- cute excited kid!!

If you are ever given the chance to go check out these ships- you should!! They are awesome.

Merry Christmas, 2010

2011-01-05T02:39:00.002-05:00

Here are the Christmas adventures. I don't know why we didn't do a better job documenting- I mean- we had two phones with cameras and two ACTUAL cameras- and this is what we got. Enjoy :)

Caroling with some of Grandma and Grandpa's friends (yeah- the boys lasted about 3 houses!)

Grant as "Joseph"

He was in charge of Baby Jesus. Isn't he the CUTEST?

Grant with Ben's cousin, Jadie (sp? sorry if it's wrong, I still think you're cute!) as Mary. Nothing wrong with a 15 yr gap between Mary and Joseph, right?

Ben's Uncle Paul has a baby named Small Paul. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and doesn't quite know what to do when someone (Henry) doesn't want his love. This little "love fest" ended with Small Paul pulling Henry's hair! Awesome.

"Good morning?"

HELLO HAIR!

Henry makes the best faces.

What would you write as a caption for this?

OK- pardon the random red dots on my face!

But this is classic "I'm a mom who just bought my kids gifts and I want them to be as excited about them as I am" look.

TRAINS!

Santa was a little bit awesome this year, if I do say so myself!

California Dreamin'

2011-01-03T12:03:00.000-05:00

We got to California on the 19th, and it rained almost the entire time leading up to Christmas (and it's raining now. boooo). Here are some of our wet adventures- Enjoy :)

Boy cousins!!

Me and Grant at the LA Temple to see the Christmas lights

I love when we get tired Grant in the car. This picture is awesome.

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. This is an ACTUAL piece of the Berlin Wall. Crazy.

AIRFORCE ONE! This is the actual plane (not a replica) of AirForce One that was used for seven different Presidents. It's so.so.big.

When the rain stopped one day, we hurried to a park and did a little four-wheeling. But just as we got there, the sun went away and it was SO COLD. Boooo Who comes to LA to be cold? lol

Well, that's the end of this post. I'll do more later! Don't miss the posts below if you haven't seen them yet. Fun pictures.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY figured out how to get pictures from my awesome phone to my awesome blog :P I am sure most of you have seen MOST of these pictures because I post lots to FaceBook now (because it's super easy with my phone). I thought with the down time we seem to be having while it RAINS here in "Sunny California"- I'd get a bunch of posts up and running (thank you to Jamie for the inspiration). Enjoy!

It's not THAT cold! (yes, yes it was, actually)

First time using the Snow Man Kit my mom gave us to build an AWESOME snowman. I love how Grant's in awe.

Don't you love my stockings? Don't worry- you can make them too!

Step 1. Construction Paper.

The End.

I'm so classy

Too cold to play outside, so here we are playing with scarves and bandanas while the boys help me pick up my room.

"There's been an accident........"

haha

SNOW MAN DOWN!

BAH!

I bought these $1 hats at Target a while ago- and the boys (and Ben and me) love to play with them. This is our construction worker son, Hank.

U-G-L-Y!

You ain't got no alibi-

You UGLY- hey hey

YOU UGLY!

Well, maybe just the sweaters. Hooray for an AWESOME date night with AWESOME friends while we Ugly Sweater Partied it up! GO MEC!

Well, I'll slowly (or quickly- depending on this RAIN) be putting more posts up- so don't miss out.

Also- 10 points for the person who can guess what the word of the post is.....???

Baby it's Cold INside :)

2010-12-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

I got these adorable sweaters for the boys and decided to take some pictures of them in them. I didn't really PLAN on a "photo shoot" per say- but I saw AFTER we took them how funny the boys look. Check it out!

"Hello? Mom? Can we not take pictures right now? I just got out of the bath and I'm freezing."

(Also- notice the extent of my creativity. CONSTRUCTION paper stockings with the worst Christmas Tree I've ever drawn.)

"chEEEEEEEEEEEse"

Can someone get this booger out of my nose? I mean, come on... I am FREEZING!"

Henry is so funny. He either has those somewhat blank stares on his face, or he's laughing at something Grant or Ben has done. And by the look on Grant's face, I wouldn't be surprised if that's why he's smiling in this picture. Glad I've got goofballs for children.

I love how different my boys are:

Dark vs. Blond

Pasty vs. Olive skin

Husky (though he's thinning out a LOT) vs. Skin and Bones

Talks-O-Lot vs. Great Fine Motor Skills

Rocko Mini vs. Ben Mini

These boys really are the best. I love them so much. And I'm sure anyone who gets to spend 5 minutes in the whirl wind of their day love them almost as much as we do.

little men, man, and a snowman

2010-12-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

We had our first snow over the weekend and our boys got a GREAT taste (figuratively and literally!) of it. Grant LOVES the snow- and Henry had somewhat of a hard time dealing. I think he was mad that it was hard to walk around. Hope you enjoy a glimpse into our Saturday morning snowman building party. Enjoy!!

Oh, the JOY of cold cold cold cold snow.

"Really? You want me to LIKE this cold stuff? Eh- we'll see."

My favorite part about this picture is that you can tell we didn't finish raking our leaves. Haha. Later that night, I went to a friend's house who's snowman looked like perfection. Ours, while double sided (you'll see in a minute) was full of fall debris.

"Don't worry, Dad! I'll kill the snowman with my gold club!!!!"

Our snowman is about 7 ft tall. Ben did one side, and this is him sculpting the snowdude's face.

Here is the snowman that Grant and I made (or rather- that I made- as evidenced by Grant running away).

BAH!!! I love this kid.

SMILE!

And here is Ben's SnowDude.

Are you ready to ROCK!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!

Birthday Boy

2010-11-15T15:19:00.000-05:00

Henry is 1!!

It is so strange to think that an entire year has gone by since he was born. Henry is so sweet. He is SUCH a momma's boy. He cuddles, blows kisses, walks all over, plays with cars, loves Apple Jacks, can fall asleep on the floor when he's tired, loves- LOVES his brother and lights up when his dad walks into a room. He can clap, wave goodbye, sign "please" and LOVES pretzels. We are So glad he's in our lives, and we couldn't have asked for a cuter little guy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY!

Yummy cupcake!! I didn't pull the camera out until after he finished his cupcake.

Who's got two thumbs and loves baseball??

2010-11-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

THIS GUY!!

Also, he turns ONE on Saturday. Sigh.

We're loving the CRAZY warm weather this week, so we've been spending a lot of time outside.

Have a happy weekend!!!

:) & :(

2010-11-08T15:20:00.000-05:00

New tire swing is fun

Eating sticks is not.

Fall fun

2010-11-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

Some cute pictures from our days this week.

Henry loves playing outside. He has COMPLETE meltdowns when we come inside.

Grant loves his bike! And Henry loves the swing.

I could push him all day long in that thing, and I think he'd love it just as much!

This is awesome. I caught them BOTH reading books- back to back.

After getting the oil changed and grabbing lunch, we ran inside to put kids down for naps. After running to the bathroom, this is where I found Henry- exactly where I put him down when he was awake. I guess he was sleepy!!

(part two)

2010-10-31T00:32:00.000-04:00

Here is the second part of the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village post. If you didn't see that previous post, make sure you check it out below.

The second day of our trip we spent it in the Museum. I felt so bad that Ben wasn't able to be there. Everything we would see would make me stop, take a picture and then send it to Ben. Here are a few pics from our fun filled day.

This plane is cool. Henry Ford was trying to make 'model t' planes that everyone could buy. I guess that idea didn't take off as well as the cars.

"It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage.

But you'll look sweet, upon the seat of a bicycle built for...

10?"

OH.MAN... TRAINS!!!!!

Grant loved them. (so did I)

They have the COOLEST stuff here.

Look closely.

I was so confused when I saw this for the first time. But it's a replica (made with pieces from the original) of the first passenger train in the United States (or the first in New York or something). But it's a carriage on tracks! So cool.

"Oh I wish I were an Oscar Myer Wiener!!"

What's up!?

The Museum is in the most beautiful building. I could LIVE in this hallway. It's so pretty.

We had an amazing time. I love this place and I can't wait to go back. We saw SO MUCH more than what I posted. They have the chair that Lincoln was shot in (complete with blood! ew), also the car that Kennedy was shot in, they have Model T's driving around the village, lots of other really neat stuff.

This is from last week. We bought a swing and put it on one of our trees in the backyard. The boys both LOVE it! This picture is cute. I sent ALL the boys out to rake the leaves while I got some work done inside, and when I went to check on them, this is what I found :) I love my family. This is such a sweet picture. Ben is such an amazing father- and our children love him so much- as do I. Hope you like our pictures!

Henry Ford & Greenfield Village (take one)

2010-10-29T17:51:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posts, but I've been busy. I went to Michigan a few weeks ago with the boys and my little sister while Ben finished up playing in the musical, RENT, on campus. Growing up, my family went to Detroit, MI to visit the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. If you have not been, go. It's amazing. And it may be one of my favorite places :) It was an AWESOME trip- beautiful landscapes and some awesome learning (for me). We had quite the adventure. I may have to post these pictures in a few different posts- so please be patient with me. My little sister took around 300 pictures over the weekend, so there are SO many to choose from. ENJOY :)

Our trip started just fine, but when we hit South Bend, the car wouldn't start. We were able to get a battery jump from one of Ben's band member's family (they were SOOOOO nice). Then we got back on the road and drove for another hour or so. Well, we needed more gas, and the the car didn't start, AGAIN. Luckily, there was a truck stop and service station for trucks across the street from the gas station. They took care of us. Our batter was TOTALLY DEAD. He put in a tiny fork lift battery to just do some tests, and the car was working better than with our HUGE battery. sigh. We bought a new one and was back on the road. A quick 6 hour trip turned into 12 hours. Awesome. But let me tell you- the pizza we had delivered to the hotel was AMAZING. Maybe? worth the dead battery. haha

Greenfield Village is a place that Henry Ford created back in the day for education purposes. He was friends with Thomas Edison, so his house and workshop are here. Also, they have tons of carriages, old cars, old houses, trains, etc. It's like stepping back into the early 20th Century, and I love it.

Grant has gotten into Thomas and Friends after I bought him some books. Needless to say, THIS was his favorite part of the entire trip. TRAINS! This train is, I think, 1 of 6 working steam engines left- and the only one in the Midwest. Cool. We rode it.

Grant enjoying being OUT of the stroller. Funny kid.

A rare picture of me. Ben got me an iPhone so I could have the internet with me at all times. It came in handy with our car emergency 24 hours after getting the phone. Thank you babe!!

I don't know what this house was, but it is BEAUTIFUL!

This is a replica of a slave's cottage. Nuts.

Well, it was hard to see ALL the houses while we had two crazy kids. We mostly walked around the village. If anyone wants to go back there with me, I have a pass, and I can get a guest in :) Stay tuned for more pictures from the AMAZING museum.

And also, stay tuned for our HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!!!

Autumn

2010-10-06T17:03:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite time of the year. I probably say it all the time, but it is. Growing up, we were probably the only people on the street who RAKED OUT OWN LAWN! haha It's kind of a sore subject with some siblings. This week, I put Grant to work.

"MOM! I raked the leaves!"

Our leaves are changing (as I'm sure everyone's are too), but this summer was pretty dry, so I hear that the leaves won't be as beautiful? Anyone know if this is true?

He loves this hat.

Don't you love the ketchup on his little face?

"Look what I found!!"

Ben will be playing guitar in the IU Theater's Department's production of RENT this week and next. I'm going tomorrow... it should be WICKED AWESOME! We love you all and miss you!

Heart is Full

2010-10-03T15:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I'm not the best at preparing for General Conference. Sometimes, I fall asleep during the sessions. I'll be honest, I didn't know until I was an adult that there were sessions on Saturday. However, I have had a good month when it comes to hearing the Word of God. I thought I would take a minute and share some of my thoughts on everything.

Two weeks ago, Elder Holland came to our little stake here in Indiana. While many things were said that touched my heart, he spoke directly to ME about "sucking it up." haha That sounds a bit harsh, or odd, but honestly- that's what I walked away with. While we all have bad or hard days, it's important to "endure!" (and endure it WELL!) If we focus on our own problems, then we can't be useful as members of the church- specifically, we can not help others when we're being selfish. So- "suck it up" and "get on with it!"

That helped me when I heard the Relief Society session last week. So many good things, again, were said. But I was struck with the obvious realization that while we meet as sisters each Sunday, our responsibilities don't stop there. We are a society that gives RELIEF! We should be not only helping the sisters we see each week, but we should also be mindful of those who are not members of the church.

I love what everyone has said so far during the past two days of conference. While President Monson spoke this morning (or this afternoon- here in Indiana), I prayed that I would REALLY KNOW that he is the prophet. I don't know what I was hoping would happen, and it's not like I think he is NOT the prophet, but I wanted my testimony of him to be stronger. While listening to him speak on gratitude, I was COMPLETELY overcome with the sense of LOVE that he has for each one of us in the church. I have never met President Monson- I've sung for him and had dinner in the same room as him twice, but that's about it. He doesn't know my name, but he knows who we are- and he loves us. HE LOVES US! My testimony of him as our prophet and mouth-piece for the Lord was strengthened today.

Speaking of GRATITUDE, I wanted to express my gratitude for my little family. I love them so much. Henry is an amazing little boy. He loves to play, stand on his own, and he gives smiles and laughs to anyone! He lights up everyone's day, and I am thankful for him. I am LOVING watching him explore and grow. He is a smart little boy who has completed our little family (at this point in our lives).

I love Grant so much. He gives me a run for my money. I think a lot of times that he is too smart for MY own good :) While I am struggling most days with the amount of energy he has, I am thankful for his love. Not just for me, but for his dad. He has told me and Ben on a number of occasions that "you are my best friend" followed with a hug and kiss. Someone told me last night that he is about the same as 3 kids rolled into one! While that might have been annoying to hear, I was glad to hear it! It was nice to hear that he REALLY IS a handful, and that I am not an awful mom because I feel overwhelmed a lot. But Grant gives hugs and kisses. He dances. He sings. I am grateful for the JOY that he brings to our lives- to MY LIFE. He loves his brother and helps him, pushes him, and pulls the bait and switch with toys so that he can take what Henry's playing with. But I LOVE that :) I love him, and I am grateful EVERYDAY for him.

Ben. What more can I say that I haven't already posted all over this blog...? I love him with ALL my heart. He is my best friend. He knows just what to say to make me feel better. He is worthy of the Priesthood he holds and he helps me be better. He works SO hard for our little family, and I think I complain too much. He is the LIGHT OF MY LIFE! I am so proud of him and all he has done, all he does, and I'm proud of who he is turning into. I feel so LUCKY everyday to be his wife. I mean, do you KNOW who my husband is?? haha... he is BEN MATHEWS! I am so grateful for him. I KNOW he loves me, and I love him. Together, we have created a crazy little family that I am so thankful for.

I am grateful, most of all, to my Father in Heaven. I am grateful for His love (especially because I don't deserve it). I have gratitude in my heart for His son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. The 3 boys in my life are all a result of the blessings I have received from my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I hope you all enjoy conference, and if you haven't watched or listened or read it- just go do so!! It's the best.

Love, Rochelle

Fun at the Park

2010-10-01T23:34:00.000-04:00

More pictures. Indulge us.

We LOVE THESE KIDS!

2010-09-26T18:09:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Here is ANOTHER post. I hope you don't mind... but I need to be better about posting for ME- not for everyone else. So this is really for me.

I am trying to be social in our new ward, so I went to the ice cream social before the Relief Society Conference (SO GOOD, by the way) last night. While chatting with all the women at my table, one said, "Oh- are you the one with a blog?" I said, "uh- I have one, and it's SUPER lame!" She laughed and said, "Hmm. Someone wrote next to your name, "blogger" the other day. I was hoping you were one of those famous bloggers." I about wet my pants! The day more than the few of you read my blog is the day hell has frozen over- that's what I think. So- enjoy my world famous blog everybody :)

Yummy Brownie Cookies I made for my sister

Also, Yummy Orange Dreams with Choc. Chips

Beautiful bridge along a trail we love

Grant learning how to ride his bike. yeah- not as easy as he thinks!

Cute, right? Ben and his boys. I love this picture.

Henry enjoying a pretzel while we go for a walk

WHAT WHAT!?!?! IU IU IU

Happy Birthday, Chile!

2010-09-24T19:16:00.000-04:00

Ben served his mission in Chile- and their Independence Day was on Saturday (Sept. 18th). We made empendads at about midnight to celebrate. Here are some pictures.

We made two batches. Ben searched for a recipe for the dough and found a great one! Then when we tasted it, he said, "it's REALLY salty!" I agreed. Then we realized that the recipe called for TWO TABLESPOONS of salt. hahaha... guess someone didn't post that right. Our second batch was better, but still not perfect. We'll work on them next year.

Here are the boys. Don't you love sick boys with runny noses and SORES on their noses? And don't you love sleepy boys who have nasty attitudes? Yeah- so do we :)

Little Boys

2010-09-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

Just some cute pictures.

We're LOVING our camera.

Ben took this one:

Sometimes I can't get over how much he looks like my brother

AH- happy kid

My sister gave me the idea to take the wheels off (one wasn't working anyway)

This way, he was able to practice biking- he was in Heaven!

I love this-

"I WANT TO PLAY!"

Fall

2010-09-18T17:47:00.000-04:00

I love the fall. Autumn is my favorite season, and I wish it were a little cooler right now, and I wish the weather would stay in the 60s for a solid 3 months. Sigh.

Nothing has really been going on lately. We're STILL trying to get our house unpacked and looking cool. I have WAY to many WHITE walls that need help. I think in a few months, it should be pretty cool in here. Our kitchen is so much better than our last one so cooking in this one is getting me excited. I have found some cool websites to help with dinner, so we'll have to give those a shot. Let's see, what else?? Oh- Elder Holland is coming to Stake Conference tonight and tomorrow. I don't know if both of us will be able to make it to the adult session- we just don't know anyone anymore to babysit- PLUS- there is some jazz fest in Indianapolis tonight so the only non mormons we know will probably be there. eh. We'll go tomorrow for sure. OK, I'm done rambling.

We recently were given a cool camera, and I finally played with it today. Obviously, I am NOT a photographer. I will never claim to be AND I will not be opening my own studio anytime soon. So, you're welcome.

...and we're back...

2010-09-01T19:53:00.012-04:00

Hello everyone!

Did you miss us? I'm sure. We are now moved in, not totally unpacked, started school, and in
a ward. This is Ben's last year of Grad School. What's next? We have no idea. Maybe stay here, or maybe find a job somewhere else. I LOVE it here, so if it's our last year, I really need to JUMP on it and start doing things that are around.

We got our internet up and running today (just on the mac, not the pc) and we have new TV. THANK HEAVEN for "On Demand." I think I am having a love affair with the free shows. Sigh. Anyway, now that we're back online, I thought I would share about our last few weeks. We drove with the boys (and my little sister, Laurel) to Utah. Can you believe it? We went out on I-70 and came home via I-80. We love road-tripping. The speakers in the front are blown so we hardly listened to music. I love that. I love talking to Ben. Plus, my iPod isn't working at the moment (GRRR). We had fun hanging out with family and friends.

I don't have much else to say because it would take forever. Here are some pictures from my phone until I can upload some from our camera (as soon as I FIND all the cables). ENJOY :)

My brother, Kyle, dressed Henry up. Kyle and Henry are twins. haha

Henry and Cousin Jack Jack. All of Henry's weight is in those CHEEKS!
Total miles from our road trip. WHAT?!!?
We bought a little IKEA chair for Grant, and the boys had a wonderful time
helping Ben put it together.
And here it is!
So- here is a glimpse are our messy home.
We bought those Expedit (sp?) shelves from IKEA. We also got the desk that attatches to it, and I LOVE IT! Now I need to fill the cubbies with all our books, toys and stuff!
Here is a quick view from those tall shelves to the kitchen, dining area, fireplace and the cool ceilings. We are really happy with this place.

Our new couch/bed! We love this too. Hooray for IKEA!
I have cleaned the house up since the pics were taken!!

Hope everyone else is doing well! We miss you all :)

Last Week

2010-08-01T13:46:00.001-04:00

We are moving this Saturday exactly 1.4 miles away. We will be in a new ward and in a HOUSE! We are beyond excited (minus the moving out of our ward- I think we were finally getting to know people... after two years). Our new house isn't bigger, per say, but it is a ranch style, two car garage, and has a big FENCED IN YARD! Also, Ben and I have a bathroom IN OUR BEDROOM for the first time in our marriage. That's pretty exciting. We are slowly packing this place up. I am about to bust out garbage bags in a minute because I don't feel like being as organized as I originally planned :)

To top this week off, Grant, Henry and I are sick. WHAT!?! I swear, when it rains, it pours. Why is it that when BOTH kids get sick, I get sick too?! (don't answer, I know why!) I just think there should be some sort of immunity staff that is given to parents when ALL the kids are sick- don't you agree? haha

As we begin a new chapter in our lives by moving, I have been reflecting on our first two years here in Bloomington. WOW! Talk about the Lord directing our lives. I am still floored that we are where we are. Next spring, Ben will have a Masters in Jazz Studies on Guitar and will be looking for a REAL JOB! It seems too far away, yet so close. We are hoping to stay here as long as possible. We love it. We've had odd trials here and there and also some crazy family health trials to deal with. I am so eternally grateful for the Gospel in my life. I have seen the Lord answer prayers right and left. He really knows each one of us and how to help us through trials. These trials are all for US, and then for those we can help one day. I am so thankful for the knowledge of a Savior who makes it possible for us to become our best selves. Life is amazing, and we should all smile more!!

With all that said...Enjoy our pictures!!

Grant and Chloe showing each other some love.

Grant's a regular stand up comedian!

UGH!! Love him, but not loving the wandering!! He is into everything.

Grant at the hospital... why cant they just charge for the tiny tiny pill they gave him and nothing else? They should have a "lesser ER" open at night for when it's not SOOO serious it needs immediate care but enough that you shouldn't wait till tomorrow. GRRRR

Video Overload

2010-07-10T22:22:00.000-04:00

You gotta Shake, shake, shake your wiggles out!

1st Article of Faith

Purging

2010-07-10T19:27:00.000-04:00

We are moving in less than a month (YIPEE!!!!!!!!!).

(basically down the street)

But at the same time, we are moving. We have to clean house.

We've been purging ourselves of things/clothes we've taken from one house to the next but never use. I about wet my pants when I saw how much stuff came out of our MASTER CLOSET.

This is nuts. So beware:

The first two pictures are of what we are giving (or what we gave) away:

Trash:

Keeps (just for me), but the boxes are empty.

This is EVERYTHING I own.

It includes, dresses, shirts, skirts, socks, camping gear, pjs, pants, etc.

I would like some new clothes :)

Now, time to get rid of everything else in the house!

Movie Marathon

2010-07-09T00:23:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time, Ben and I did a movie marathon in a theater one day.

We saw Cars, The New World, and The Break Up (we think).

While reminiscing about this, Ben said, "when are we ever going to get to do that again?"

sigh.

However, we love our children more than movie marathons.
Don't worry.

Sick Week

2010-06-26T21:36:00.003-04:00

The end.

Just kidding. But we've been sick all week, and it's been Ben's first full week of the second summer term here at IU. He is so busy, and is only in 3 classes (boo). He is in a theory class, Leonard Bernstein in Political History somethin' somethin' class and orchestra. "What?! Orchestra, you say?!" Why yes!! Ben does not suck at the stand up bass. So I get to see at least one concert of him not playing latin, jazz, or latin jazz music this summer!

The sickos in the house would be all of us left behind. This is Henry's first real "illness" and he is handling it well. Grant has been kinda a baby. Haha. I feel like I am comfort nursing a lot because I don't want to bug our neighbors by letting Henry cry. Oh well- 6 more weeks till we move! YEAH! But man, I hate being a mom and sick at the same time. It's tough. I also hate it because I feel like I have to ask Ben to do things that I normally feel bad asking him to do (like helping out a LOT, not just a little). Grant was indoors from Saturday night to Thursday (when we went to the library), poor kid.

Well Henry is CRAWLING for real. Not just his half army crawl and scooting thing. He has realized that he can get around the house a LOT FASTER when on all fours. But I think he just needed to gain the strength it takes to carry his heavy load around :) He loves cars, trucks and swords (we discovered today). He is CRAZY about Grant, and Grant is a little annoyed with that (he is Mr. Independent). His FAVORITE thing to do is BOUNCE and BOUNCE and BOUNCE in his bouncer/excer-saucer thing. He could do it ALL night. (SORRY FOR ALL THE CAPS... I am realizing I do that A LOT!)

Grant is doing well. He is getting into his own version of terrible twos. It's not BAD, but just annoying. He likes to talk back/repeat what I'm saying. We are doing the "when I count to 3, you better be..." and he likes to imitate that. However, the counting to 3 WORKS! And I love that he knows WHY he's in time out (when I actually get to 3). Ah- he's growing up so fast. But that's just his "terrible" side. He's actually quite the kid. As I type this, he is fake laughing over and over again. Um, so funny. He still loves to sing- in fact- that's how he's learning his articles of faith. He knows the first two now. YEAH! We're so excited to move and have a FENCED IN YARD for him to get his energy out. Man. he is WIRED everyday. He's like a dog- haha.

Here are some phone pics from tonight as we sit home alone waiting for Ben to come home from making money- Hooray for GIGs!!!!!!!!

Grant and his blanket.
Do you think I should start training him off the fingers thing??
Ah, cutie pie Henry.
Here he is crawling
and getting into the piano...
bad boy ;)

Life

2010-06-21T17:31:00.008-04:00

When I have a question about how old Grant was when he started crawling or talking, I am able to turn to our trusty blog and figure it out. Don't worry, at this time 2 yrs ago (or same age as Henry), Grant was pulling himself up in the crib and figuring out how to stand on his own. I think Henry is taking his sweet time. While he crawls- he's not the fastest, or the most gracious. He just does his own thing. One more thing to add the "DIFFERENCES between Grant and Henry" list. That's ok! We love them both SOOO MUCH! Here are a couple pics/videos from the phone. Enjoy.

Being Lazy. He loves to kick things- tables, people, you name it!

Ah- loving the summer. We had a water fight the other day and he stayed like
this the rest of the day. Awesome. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!

(ok, I am having issues with the video. I'll try to do it again later- sorry)

Hip Hop will make ya...

2010-06-18T19:50:00.000-04:00

JUMP! JUMP!

Here are some pictures from a trampoline extravaganza.

SO MUCH FUN!

Chloe admiring Grant's jumping ability

Henry feeling left out

Laurel, Grant, Chloe and Holly

Check out Grant's locks of hair :)

Henry jumped too!

We are so lucky to have so many people who love our little guys.

Here is Ol' Man pretending like he doesn't care about his grandkids.

Riley and his mini-me

Holly loving some Henry

Ben turned 30 at the beginning of the month.

Here is his surprise party :)

After Ben was surprised. I'm so glad he had NO IDEA!

We love food!!

And fun friends who came to celebrate-

Hilary, Molly and Josh

Ben's fun school friends

And a sleepy Ol' Man after all the fun!

(also- don't miss the post below!)

Once Upon a Time...

2010-06-18T19:23:00.000-04:00

We blessed Henry. Haha. This was back in February. We finally got the pictures from my mom's camera. I love being really photogenic. It makes me really happy. haha

The Men: Nate, Bishop, Ben, Henry, Barry and the Ol' Man

Ben, Henry, and his parents- Barry and Louise

Us and My parents, Ol' Man and Anne

Also, here are some pictures from California last month. Man, I'm ALL SORTS of out of order!

Grant at his 2nd Major League Baseball game. This one was the Angel's against the Ray's.

With his Grandpa, new hat and awesome sweaty hair.

I have more pictures, but I'll just keep them to myself! haha. Summer is ON IT'S WAY and we are getting BROWN! I love tan little kids. Super cute. More pictures and fun to follow.

Wow, this wind is coming out of nowhere.... wait a minute...

2010-06-14T21:31:00.001-04:00

So we're sitting at home, Rochelle is watching Colonial House and I'm studying up on tube amp repair. I get up to grab a snack, and as I'm in the kitchen the wind picks up like crazy and it's raining sideways, lightning and thunder everywhere. Out of nowhere. Like instantly...
So I, being completely paranoid, immediately think there's a tornado coming. I go to the computer and click our Bloomington weather.com bookmark (which I have set up for just such an occasion), and I see two different tornado warnings at the top of the page. Here's one of them...

TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 800 PM EDT MON JUN 14 2010 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

SOUTHWESTERN BROWN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...

SOUTH CENTRAL MONROE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT

* AT 758 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED 8 MILES SOUTH OF BLOOMINGTON...AND MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THIS DANGEROUS STORM WILL BE NEAR...

CHARLES DEAM WILDERNESS AROUND 810 PM EDT...

WOODVILLE HILLS AND YELLOWWOOD LAKE AROUND 815 PM EDT...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

The words "TAKE COVER NOW" are extremely intimidating. Especially after reading the whole alert. I mean, if it's that urgent, don't you think they ought to put them at the TOP of the page??? I could have used that minute and a half to get out of the tornado's way already, thank you very much.

So we booked it to the closet under the stairs, grabbed flashlights and the radio and told Grant we were hiding and let him play with a flashlight. Henry got a little nervous. Rochelle was way calm. I was on edge the whole time. Maybe borderline freaking out is a better way to put it, under my calm and collected Dad-Facade. I'm not afraid to say, tornados scare me out of my mind. Earthquakes I can do. I kind of enjoy them in a morbid way. Tornados, no thanks. You can keep 'em.

Fortunately we're fine. We heard reports that there was a funnel cloud just down the road, but whether anything actually touched down we don't know. Anyway, tornado scare over. My heartbeat is back to normal. I think.

And then there was this insane sunset. Like nothing I've ever seen.

And a cool rainbow

-Ben

When I'm 122 Years Old...

2010-06-14T14:01:00.000-04:00

I'll have to renew my library card.

It expires 10/27/2107

Catch up

2010-06-09T01:15:00.000-04:00

We've been busy the last month or so. Ben finished his school year so we celebrated by going to California. We took two cameras, so this is just a post with one camera. The baseball game is on the other along with some more pics as well. To be honest, it was warmer here in Indiana than in LA, but we managed to have a good time :) Enjoy!

Grant finally in his OWN seat without a car seat. Not too bad!

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Drew and Grant playing in the water

KISSES! My Lips are stuck :)

DISNEYLAND

Grant loving Tom Sawyer's Island.

Pirates. He loved everything pirate.

Driving Goofy's Car

MICKEY. MOUSE.

Ben says that he was SPEECHLESS. Which is unheard of for Grant.

WOW!!!!!!

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

Ben and Henry ready for fun and learning :)

Hahaha.

I can't stop laughing.

We didn't get many pics at the museum, but this makes up for the lack of photos.

I love Henry.

OK.

I'm sleepy.

So was Grant tonight.

He's NEVER fallen asleep at the table.

Oops, he didn't nap today.

I'll try and post more pictures sometime soon.

The pool is open, the parks are buzzing with kids, and we are there!!

...With a little help from my friends...

2010-06-03T01:39:00.000-04:00

We are alive. I promise :) Please forgive the slowness of me getting around to posting pics of the last month or so. They will be up soon.

I just found out about my dear friend's daughter, and I thought I would use this post to ask for some faith and prayers. My friend's 3 year old daughter had a tumor removed from her abdomen last week. Test results show that the cantaloupe sized tumor was cancerous and she will begin chemo today to make sure they kill any cells that may be hiding in her little body. Please say a prayer (either out loud, in your hearts, or even put her name on the temple roll) for Ashton. Not only for Ashton, but for her brave parents who have to hold her hand while all they can do is stand by.

I'm sure many of us know someone who has been touched by cancer- or anything terrible for that matter. I am coming to realize how precious life is lately. We never think anything could ever happen to us. We always seem to be the one person or family that is untouchable. Natalie (my friend) and I used to dream of who we'd marry and how our children would play together (remember, Nat?). I wish I could do something, and this is one of the ways I want to help- to get more people to practice their faith and help petition the Lord for peace and blessings on behave of her family. I know that any of us in the same situation would want the same.

Overflowing Heart

2010-05-07T00:27:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. No excuse other than the simple fact that I haven't taken any :)

I love Bloomington. I mean, I LOVE BLOOMINGTON. But sometimes, it's really hard being away from familiar faces of friends and family. It is ALSO hard having a busy husband who is doing his best to get an amazing education, and is thus sometimes hardly ever around. I know many other woman who have this "problem," and even have it 10 times worse than me. I find myself complaining a lot. I complain about things I don't like, people who bother me, the fact that sometimes- all day, I feel like a single parent. I try really hard to be logical about things, and I try to get advise from great people... but sometimes, I feel defeated. Sometimes, or a lot of times, I'm tired (not depressed tired, but just tired).

Last night, I drove home from Chicago after visiting with some of my family. I decided to call a few friends I haven't spoken to in a while. First, I called Anne. I love Anne. She is one of my absolute FAVORITE people in the world. She and I have a really special bond that formed when we were both going thru some tough times in college (mine was NOTHING- but I acted like it was). Anne ALWAYS makes my day. Whenever I need a pick me up, I call her. In fact, her name in my phone is, and always has been, "ANNE!" Anne warms my heart in a way few people can. I love Anne. Everyone needs an Anne in their lives.

Then I called my friend, Kelly. Kelly and I have been friends since my sophmore year in high school. She is awesome. When she called me back, she said something that kind of woke me up. She said, "You look so happy in your pictures on facebook!" I paused and then said, "I really am happy." Again in our quick conversation she said, "I'm so glad you're so happy!"

Today, I watched the Mormon Messages called, "My New Life." Now, this is my attitude (at least this evening)...

I am really happy!!! I may be overweight right now, and I may not enjoy some things about our life, but I am happy. I have a testimony in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that it is because of HIM that I am able to be my BEST! I am able to be forgiven. I love my Father in Heaven so much- though I know I can show Him more. He blesses me everyday with what/who I have in my life- and BELIEVE ME- I do not deserve an ounce of it.

My husband is the most amazing person I've ever met. He's not perfect, but he is perfect for ME! He is the most amazing father I have ever seen. He is so helpful. I've never met someone who is as kind as he is. His love for people is astonishing. Today he read some books to Grant. I don't know if he noticed I was watching, but I loved every second of it. Our children ADORE HIM. He is so wonderful. I married FAR above myself, and I am holding on for the best ride ever. (ugh- as I read this to myself, I am finding I can't find the right words to describe how much me means to me)

Grant is awesome. He is always quoting Backyardigans as if it's his own language. He loves to sing, dance, give high fives, hide, "read", run away whenever he gets a chance and drink chocolate milk. He loves to look for airplanes in the sky (and he can see them even when I don't!). He is his daddy's son. He LOVES to tinker around with everything. He is too smart for OUR own good. Grant is the best first son someone could ask for and the best older brother (right now, that is!).

Henry. I just want to stare at him all day. My favorite thing to do with him is get my face close to his, and he feels my face all over. He grabs my cheeks, my mouth, my chin. He stares into my eyes, and I can just FEEL how wonderfully precious he is. He is so ino cent (it won't let me publish that word, I guess). He is so pure. He is the perfect second child. He is so laid back and he just loves. You can tell. Henry is a beautiful gift from my Father in Heaven.

With three guys in my life like those- and a testimony I adore and cherish, why would I NOT be happy?!

Tonight, my heart is overflowing.

Do You Feel Better?

2010-04-19T23:50:00.000-04:00

Last week on Facebook, I made a comment about how reading some people's blogs makes me feel like a crappy mom. I had one friend say that she sometimes feels like that after reading mine (I think she must have been smokin' somethin'...! jk). I don't know how many others feel this way- it's never really BAD, I mean, I don't get depressed over it- but sometimes it just makes me sad that I am not more proactive about things, and that I am a little bit (or a lot) more lazy than I'd like.

SOOOOO

Every now and then, I am going to start posting something that will help YOU (whoEVER is reading this) feel better about yourselves. hahaha... I can't believe I'm going to do this... but guess what?

I AM NOT PERFECT! (hahaha... as if you didn't know)

Saturday was a really rough day for me. I got really mad at Grant A LOT. I was not very good at keeping my calm. I was also very frustrated with Grant yesterday (Sunday). I was not as Christ-like as I should have been. I found myself appologizing to my two year old a lot for my actions and words (mostly words).

SOOOOOO

Do you feel better?

Love, Rochelle

The Kids Who Stare at Goats

2010-04-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

Let's see... quick recap for the last week or so.

Easter. Conference. Chicago.

That pretty much sums it all up! And here are some pictures to prove it.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!

Grant was excited for...

...THIS (I'm so awesome)!

Henry got a book. He likes it.

Our friends, the Lindsey's, came over for an Easter Egg Hunt.

Here is Luke and Grant running out to it

(but the hunt was in the grass... not the driveway).

I love this picture.

Grant was just running around, so Henry started to snag some eggs.

Henry was a HUGE fan of Conference- here he is listening.

My older sister and her daughter are in from across the pond (England),

so I went to Chicago to spend some time with them.

This is Holly's daughter, Chloe (with an umlaut).

She and Grant are only 7 months apart, so this is the closest

age difference between him and all HIS cousins.

Chloe is making out with Henry. haha

Grant and Chloe "baking" with Grandma Word.

Chloe put them on the baking sheet, and Grant would eat them.

Can you see him snitchin' it? Don't worry- I taught him that.

Aw. Chloe loves Baby Henry.

'Sup?

Isn't this hat the BEST??

At Lamb's Farm in Lake Bluff.

This is also

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE GRANT

Looking at a bird?

Chloe and the FAVORITE Aunt Scoobies :)

Grant LOVES the goats

Here is Grant saying, "HI! My name is Uniqua!"

This is the last picture before I ran out of memory.

I think he's deciding which goat/sheep he should chase

(and CHASE he did!).

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Easter.

I am so grateful for a Savior who has made it possible for me to be where I am.

There is NO WAY I would be able to have the blessings in my life if it weren't for HIM.

He Lives.

I've Got Love

2010-04-04T01:19:00.000-04:00

For these crazy kids.

I love that I only got a pic of Grant's eyes and nose.

Kinda like THIS ONE!

Oh Yeah... I fried my ONE arm. Nice.

(And I am not pregnant... just fat! YEAH!)

{insert creative/witty title here about spring break}

2010-03-23T20:18:00.000-04:00

Spring Break came and WENT. Boo. But we decided to have some fun. Because I'm usually really good at writing novels/long picture books on here, I'll try to keep the captions short (also because there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many pictures!!) so you can enjoy looking at our cute kids :) hahaha Enjoy

MONDAY

Henry's 4 month check up went as follows:

Height = 24 3/4" = 50% (cool... already WAY ahead of Grant at this age)

Weight = 16 lbs 2 oz = 75% (wow. Grant stayed in the 5% for a LONG LONG time! Way to eat and NOT SPIT UP, Henry!!)

Rental Agent (is that what they're called?) totally canceled on us. Boo.

***VISITING TEACHING!***

Want to check out this month's message??

It's a GREAT one! I spent 2 and a half hours at the appointment.

It was so fun. Why have I been so bad at this?!

TUESDAY

Headed up to Chicago, and though we may die if we continued to drive behind this.

Here is Grant and Henry enjoying our little road trip up to Chicago.

Then we hit up this cool place for kids called "Belaboos" in Valparaso, IN.

They had a water room, ball and slide room...

...a pizza parlor and dress up room...

(that is Grant blow drying his hair like mom)

...and a train room that all the boys enjoyed.

WEDNESDAY

The next day we checked into KEY LIME COVE!!

They have an indoor water park (sorry- so pictures of us IN the water)

and tons of fun things to do around the hotel. TOTALLY worth going!

Henry was SO excited to go swimming for the first time!

THURSDAY

The rest of the time in Chicago was just spent hanging out.

I spend a lot of time at the BEACH growing up,

so we took a walk with the boys to my childhood playgrounds!

(please ignore the quadruple Worthen Chin- just look at the dog and Grant...

...by dog I don't mean me!)

CUTE HENRY! We <3 him.

FRIDAY

Then we went to the mall to get Grant's hair cut and to let him play!

SATURDAY

We drove home.

HOwever, this is the cute boy we took to church with us

And here he is being a baby- he did this all on his own!

Ah, and here's our REAL baby- not so tiny anymore!!

a few more pictures

2010-03-09T21:25:00.002-05:00

This is a FOLLOW up to a blog I just put up... so don't miss it!! (scroll down!)
Sorry, my internet has been wiggin out... here are a few more pictures.

Well, mostly of Henry. Enjoy.

This is all the kids in the "gigwagon." (I just got corrected on how to spell said wagon... haha...Ben's funny) Ben was nice and switched cars with me for the day. I love how the camera focused on the middle carseat, and not the boys.

ODE TO HENRY

Do I need to say anything? Best picture ever.

Also, Grant wore these pjs when he was a year old.

Here he is helping me blog. He's a great helper, and you GOTTA love those target pjs!

Perfection

2010-03-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

I have been feeling like I need to change some things in my life. One of them is to be more organized, and to do things that suck up my days so I am not sitting around my house being Eyore waiting for Ben to get home (because I love him so much... I when he's gone!) To combat this, I've decided to GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. Here is my 2nd day of my new schedule...

I had a Great Day today. Not only did I remember my camera, but I took it with me to the Zoo, and not only did I take it to the zoo- I captured our GREAT DAY WITH the camera. I am glad I called my friend, Ashley, because we had a blast with ALL OUR BOYS! She has 3, and I have 2, so we piled into the suburban and enjoyed the last week of Winter Prices and went to town... so to speak. Here are pictures from the zoo. Enjoy!!- there are a lot- so be ye warned.

Grant is SUPER excited to be at the ZOO!!

I love this picture. It's a seal, and that is my friend's son, Carter.

A penguin. Grant loves them... can you tell??

And another.

And the attempt at yet another... but it's just Henry...

So disapointing. haha

DOLPHINS!!!!!!! Can you see the one in the background?

I was trying to get the dolphin swimming above us, and you can KINDA see it on the bottom left hand side of the picture, just above the rim. But the picture turned out WAY COOL regardless of how lame my attempt at getting the dolphin shot was!

We saw some Elephants. Mom and kid. Everytime I tried getting the baby, it would turn around like this. Thanks a lot.

Also, there were some bears that were playing. Cute.

Then a Bald Eagle. I guess it didn't impress me much because we see them in Yellowstone-

but way to be diverse, Indianapolis Zoo!

Here is a little monkey/baboon? that was running all over the place. He reminded me of Grant.

(it's a cropped close up of an ALREADY zoomed pic... sorry)

This was AWESOME! A NEWBORN BABOON (I think it is breast feeding...)!

It was nature at it's best! (for a zoo that is)

We saw a guardian who wouldn't leave the mom's side, and then when we walked past

again, the mom ended up smacking this other baboon... amazing.

Giraffes. I love this picture.

And some more.

Doesn't this make Polar Bears look like peaceful animals?

HA! That's what zoos do!!! They make beasts look like beauties.

(so I have a few more, but it won't load anymore... is there a limit as to how

many you can put up? I'll just do another post... so stay tuned.)