Ties and play-doh!

It seems like every time I go shopping for Sunday clothes for my boys, it's become almost impossible to find white shirts without the ties included, much like this set:

Normally that wouldn't be such a bad thing...a shirt and a tie for $10. However I'm totally convinced that they only use their leftover, ugly fabric for these "bonus" ties, thus I keep them only for back-up purposes.

So today, as per usual, was a little chaotic getting out the door to church. It was time to go, Glen was long gone at his early meetings, the kids are in the car, and Adam didn't have a tie...so I grabbed the only one I could find--a lovely lavender creation that came with one of his white shirts.

He immediately protested that he couldn't possibly wear a GIRL tie.

Hehe! A girl tie! Why else would they make lavender ties?!

Boy, Ellie's ears perked right up at this exchange and moments later she happily claimed that tie as her own and put it on without hesitation, while Adam went to church without a tie.


Then on the ride home I asked the kids usual after church question, "What did you learn about today?" and got the following responses:

Emma--"I learned about prayer and how sometimes you have to wait for your answer..."
Adam--"I can't remember."
Ellie--"I learned about play-doh and made a ball."


How dull my life would be without my houseful of kids!

Could it get any better?

Seriously...look at the weather forecast for this weekend!


We often make plans for Memorial Day weekend, but I have to say I am so looking forward to a long weekend at home. We'll scrub the bathrooms, mow the lawn, and such...but that's it! We won't have anywhere we have to be and with weather like this I imagine we'll be doing a lot of this (and other outdoor activities)...

And hopefully a good dose of this (sleeping) as well!
I hope you all enjoy your long weekend and that your weather forecast looks similar to ours! Happy Memorial Day!

Anything Boys Can Do...

Girls can do better. Or so the song goes.


Well Ellie discovered one of the few exceptions to this statement...peeing in the backyard. After observing Adam "watering" a tree, Ellie just had to give it a try too.

hehe...we'll have to work on that one.

A Tuesday in the Life

Here's a typical Tuesday in our household:

6:20--wake up/shower/get ready/make lunches/get kids ready for school
7:30--take Spencer to school
7:50--take Cami to before-school Fitness Fanatics program
8:30--Emma catches bus to school
9:15--take Adam to preschool
9:45--drop Ellie off at her friend's house
10:00-12:00--help in Cami's & Emma's classes at school
12:10--pick up Ellie
12:30--pick up Adam
1:00--feed Ellie lunch and put her down for a nap
1:30-3:00--spend time with Adam, do laundry, check email, pay bills, etc.
3:20--Spencer comes home
4:00--Emma comes home
4:30--drop Emma off for piano lessons
4:45--pick up Cami from Girls' on the Run and bring her to piano lessons
5:30--pick up Emma & Cami from piano lessons
5:45-6:15--prepare and eat dinner/help kids with homework (yeah we eat a lot of hot dogs and leftovers on Tuesdays)
6:20--bring Spencer to the church for basketball/Scouts
7:30--bring Cami to the church for activity days (this one's only every other week)
7:30-8:30--entertain tired kids at the church
8:30--pick up Spencer & Cami from church (doing our bedtime routine in the car by reciting memorized scriptures & singing songs)
9:00--hurry up and put the kids to bed as soon as possible
9:30-??--clean up and recover from the rest of the insane day and wait for Glen to come home so we can watch our DVR'd American Idol (at least for this one last week)

...then collapse in complete exhaustion.

Long overdue...

Just after plopping down every cent in our possession to buy our house 7 years ago, we realized that there were a lot of things we still needed to buy...lawn mower, rakes, shovel, grill, weed whacker, etc.

So we did what every other broke American would do--we robbed our change jar and hit every yard sale in a five mile radius to search for what we needed in hopes that it would last until we could afford a new one! (Okay, maybe most broke Americans would have just maxed out their credit cards instead...)

After seven years with that old yard sale lawnmower that left its users drained of energy...Glen finally got a shiny new self-propelled lawnmower that practically pushes itself up our hills! I'm not sure who was more excited about this purchase...the two people who use it most, Glen & Spencer. Or me who expects our lawn to stay looking much nicer now!

Then as an annual Mother's Day tradition (a week late) we added a good dose of color to the yard with some petunias, impatiens, dianthas, and salvias.


Combined with our blooming azaleas and rhododendrons and neatly trimmed lawn, our yard is looking very fun and springy right about now...now if we can just keep it that way!

(Just as an aside--Adam took these pictures, including this amazing close-up of our azalea bush).

Gas pains!

After seeing gas prices of this sort in California...

I wasn't quite so sad about spending $3.63 a gallon to fill up our van yesterday...

and I'm trying to forget that in Adam's baby book (5 years ago) I had written down the gas prices as $1.50 a gallon!!!

What are you paying these days?

Huh?

I felt really badly when I left town on Thursday night, since it had been an extraordinarily crazy week and I had not gotten as much done as I'd intended to before I left. One of the tasks I left Glen with on that night was baking up some Amish Friendship bread starter and getting gifts for the girls' teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.

Being the trouper that he is, Glen trekked to the store with all the kids to find gifts, then labored well into the night baking up a big double batch of the Amish Friendship bread.

The girls were quite excited as they went off to school on Friday morning with prettily wrapped bread and gifts in hand, so excited that they went out to the bus stop, which is just a few doors down and across the street from our home, a little early so there would be no chance of missing the bus.

After a few minutes of being down at the bus stop Emma came racing up to the house crying because the owner of the house where the bus stop is, had run over their backpacks and bread which were on the sidewalk next to their driveway. (If I had been home there definitely would be a picture of the crumbly mess to share with you, but alas I was 2000 miles away with our only camera in my hands).

They didn't care about their backpacks, nor had they feared for their own safety, but they were both heartbroken about the squashed bread. Thankfully Daddy came to the rescue--quickly wrapped up two new loaves (thank goodness for the double batch) and sent them back on their way; hoping that was the end of the strangeness of the day. When Cami came racing back to the house shortly thereafter, Glen had no notion of what else could've possibly happened...

...thankfully there were no more crushed pastries or tire tracks across their homework. The lady was just feeling a little guilty about her driving mishap so had offered (more like stuffed) $12 into Cami's hands and then driven away.

Ummm, yeah. That was a little weird.

Girls weekend in California!

Here I am back on the other side of the country. It was wonderful to be able to get away and spend time with my family who seem to have spread themselves all over the country...but boy am I happy to be back home again, as I was definitely missing my five little sweeties and my one not-so-little sweetie!

I was not too sad to find out that I missed out on a soggy, cool weekend here at home while I was enjoying the sunny, albeit windy skies of San Francisco!


I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever manicure and pedicure and hope to not wait another 35 years for my next one. (If you're wondering which fingers are mine, they're the ones that look freakishly long with the French manicure.)

We ate at the "Beach Chalet" overlooking the Pacific Ocean where I enjoyed a Monte Cristo sandwich, in honor of one of my favorite books of all time, "The Count of Monte Cristo"!

The sights of San Francisco seemed just a tad different than when we took a family trip here a couple of years ago. Driving down Lombard Street, oohing over the Golden Gate Bridge, taking our Bay Adventure Cruise into the SF bay, seeing the bright colorful row homes, and marveling over the beauty of the Pacific Ocean...while quite enjoyable, I kept having to catch myself from trying to turn to the nearest child or sister and share these wondrous sights!


It wasn't all sisters this weekend! My highly eligible 34-year-old brother Nate came to hang out with us on Sunday where he proceeded to whomp us all at Settlers of Catan, as per usual! If you happen to know any fair maidens living near East Bay, CA who enjoy outdoor activities and board games...just let me know!


How can I leave out these two cuties? My nieces Madeline and Bridgette accompanied us on all of our adventures and made sure I didn't leave the weekend totally child deprived!


What would a girls' weekend out be without a good dose of chocolate? We about ate our weights in overpriced chocolate ice cream treats at Ghirardelli Square!


And of course we had more than our fair share of silliness, late night chatting, and giggling fests!

Thanks to Kristina for doing a wonderful job hosting and thanks to AnnaLisa, Karey, Heather, Mika, Mom, Kristina, and Nate for making the effort to come and make it a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend (and to Matt who flew to VA from Oklahoma to help poor Pete and Glen with all of the kids)! And to Glen--you're amazing! Thank you for all the sacrifices you made so that I could participate in this. Thank you, thank you, thank you...you're the best!

What an awesome family we have!

Happy Mother's Day!

"Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."

That would be the Golden Gate Bridge you can faintly see behind us! It's been a wonderful weekend out here with all the girls, but I'm sure missing my family right about now...especially today!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you mothers out there, especially my Mom and Glen's Mom, a very Happy Mother's Day!

We love you!

California Here I Come...

Right back where I started from!

I may have only lived there the first few months of my life, but I'm excited to be heading back tonight to the land of my birth (and without kids)!

We're holding the first ever Crain girls retreat, including me, my three sisters, two sisters-in-law, two newborn baby nieces, and my Mom.

I truly have mixed feelings about leaving Glen to hold down the fort over a super crazy weekend, which includes chaperoning an all-day field trip on Friday, sports on Saturday, Spencer giving a talk in a Stake Priesthood meeting on Saturday, and Glen being the "Primary President" for the day on Sunday, so all the mothers can go to Relief Society.

So while he's busy getting a taste of my days--planning two sharing times, helping Spencer with his talk, taking kids all over creation, doing chores, keeping kids happy, and fixing dinners...I'll be getting a massage, a new hair cut, reading books guiltlessly, eating out at fun restaurants, and seeing the sights in San Francisco!

I'm hopeful that it will be as fun and relaxing as its meant to be, but while I may be hanging out in California, my heart will be back home in Virginia...missing my five sweet kids, amazing husband, crazy life and all!

Check it out!

Check it out! Cami's in the Washington Post today!

A few weeks ago the Washington Post announced an essay contest for kids to write a 100-word essay about how their teacher is inspiring (in honor of Teacher Appreciation week). On a whim, Cami decided to enter and labored over how to keep her thoughts under 100 words.

Out of over 350 entrants, Cami ended up being the elementary school age winner for the entire DC region. Her teacher and principal (and us) were invited to accompany her to an awards ceremony downtown where Cami and her teacher were presented with a sundry of awards from the varying sponsors of the contest (inspiredteaching.org, 96.3 radio station, Barnes and Noble, and the Washington Post). She came home with several armloads of goodies and a nonstop smile!

Here is the winning essay:

"Mr. Stephens has taught me many important lessons that I needed to know. My favorite is, 'Everybody is good, but nobody is perfect.' This helped me understand that everybody makes mistakes, and we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves; but at the same time [he] encourages us to try our best. He makes sure that everyone understands what is expected and helps everyone to succeed, even if they need another chance. He makes learning as exciting as it can be by telling interesting stories from his life to go with each lesson. He is an honorable person who[m] I admire."

Click here if you'd like to read the entire online version, which includes Mr. Stephens' comments but not the pictures.

Way to go Cami!!!!

Three Piggy Opera...featuring Emma Kristine!

An opera we'll sing of some pink piggies three,

Pink piggies three, pink piggies three,

An opera we'll sing of some pink piggies three,

A story familiar to you and to me.

Now each little pig he did work very hard,
work very hard, work very hard.
Now each little pig he did work very hard,
To build a house with a pretty green yard.

The old big bad wolf - he was hungry for pork,
Hungry for pork, hungry for pork.
The old big bad wolf - he was hungry for pork,
So he sneaked into town with his knife and his fork.

So much of this story is scary you know,

Scary you know, scary you know.

So much of this story is scary you know,

So only brave people sit in the front row!

Oink! Oink! Diggity dear,

The Three Piggy Opera you're now going to hear.

Oink! Oink! Diggity dear,

The Three Piggy Opera you're now going to hear.

Isn't first grade awesome?!!

Little did we know...

Eleven years ago this week we were...


*Unpacking our boxes and feeling pretty excited about Glen's first "real" job at E & Y in Baltimore. The $38,000 salary was six times what we'd ever made before!

* Lamenting over our super high rent payments of $650 a month...twice the rent amount we'd ever paid before.

*I weighed exactly what I do now (...I don't think this would qualify as bragging since I was eight months pregnant with Cami at the time).

*Missing the much lower Utah food prices

*Really longing for the Varsity Theater--edited movies and a low price, how can you beat that?

*So excited about Glen's corporate passes to the Baltimore Aquarium, Maryland Science Center, and Baltimore Zoo!

*Wondering where all the nice high school kids work at, since every fast food restaurant and grocery store were filled with people who didn't speak English

*Really hating the fact that our junker car didn't have air conditioning...being pregnant during the summer in Baltimore...yes it was miserable!

Somewhere in those eleven years we started calling this area "home" and here we are sixty miles south, but still loving this area!

I'm too young to have a teenager!

Thirteen years ago today I was very excited to be giving birth to our first baby! I was 22 years old (barely) and had just finished finals a couple of days before. He was born on a Sunday night at 8:53pm and even when the doctor made fun of him for his giant banana shaped head then sent me home all of 12 hours after he was born...we didn't care a bit. We were so in love with our sweet new baby boy!

Ten days after he was born we packed up our little Dodge Shadow and drove all the way to Baltimore for Glen's first internship with E & Y. We didn't know a single soul, had a brand new baby, and I had just come from a full semester of school and 2 part time jobs...I was definitely feeling more than a little lost!

We ended up making many wonderful friends that summer and grew to really love our new life as parents!


At the end of that summer we trekked back to BYU, then did it all again the next year...this time with an active one-year-old. The summer he was two, we made the trek out East one more time and haven't left since!


Over the years with lots of healthy foods...


and plenty of exercise...

and more exercise (some things never change)...

We now have an awesome teen-ager living in our house!

Happy Birthday Spence! We love you and are so proud of who you are!!!!