I've been tagged.

I don't usually do these things, but Amber tagged me well over a week ago and I'm just now getting around to trying. Hope someone learns something fun!

Ok, so on to the "rules" once you've been tagged...
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.(Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

L - Lazy - I hate to admit it, but I really am. If I could sleep for hours, lay on the couch and watch TV all day I would totally do it. Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on your view point) I have way too much to do to lay around. I HATE to clean my house (and it often shows) and dishes pile in the sink much more than I'd like to admit.
Y - Yeppers - Evidently I have terrible grammer, my 3 yr old started saying "yeppers" a lot...A LOT and while we started thinking he picked up this bad habit from preschool we soon realized, no...I'm the one that says "Yeppers" way too much. So much for my good example!
N - NOW - I'm really quite impatient. It is not a good trait to have as a mom of little ones either. It takes quite a bit of effort to watch them not do things right, do things slowly, and not interfere. I also am always anxious for the next stage...right now that's being impatient that I'm not pregnant again yet, but I guess Heavenly Father is trying to teach me patience the hard way and not letting me get what I want NOW.
N - Nice - Despite all the negative comments I just made about myself, I do think I'm nice. In high school my sister said I was the pretty and smart one and she was the nice one...but I think I'm nice too! I guess I'm vain though!
Ok...look out for me to be sending this to you now!

Caribbean Cruise

Everyone's been asking when we are going to post pictures of our cruise...sorry it's taken so long, there's just been a lot going on. If you are viewing on Google Reader, check out the actual blog to see the slide shows!

For those of you that don't know, we went on a cruise last week that left out of Galveston, went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, then back to Galveston. The kids stayed with Grandma so it was just the 2 of us and we had a GREAT time! We got sick the week before we left, fevers, coughing, just the typical cold/flu virus that had been going around. For me it turned into an asthma attack and I actually had to go to the emergency room for a breathing treatment, then Paul got sick the next day, then Brian and finally Aaron the day we were leaving. We felt bad leaving my folks with sick kids, especially with everything else they are dealing with (my dad just started radiation treatment) but we also knew they were in good hands.

Thanks again to my parents for all your hard work. My mom got sick while we were gone too! Thanks also to Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tom for dropping us off at the cruise terminal and for helping my folks while we were gone.

We were on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas and it is an awesome ship.

We had a cute little room with an ocean view, spent lots of time reading, playing games, and just relaxing. We ate GREAT (probably ate more than we should) and did almost everything there was to do on the ship. We swam in the pools, soaked in the hot tub, bought art at the art auction, took a massage class in the spa, took a class on a dominoes game called 42, saw a nice Broadway singing and dancing show, saw a magic show, saw an ice skating show, watched the fun Love and Marriage game show (like the newlywed game but with a newlywed, a couple married 20 years and a couple married 60 years), took part in a game show, ate at Portofino's (the nice Italian restaurant on board), ate at the Johnny Rocket's on board, ate at a midnight buffet, and lots more. There was always tons to do, but we relaxed and only did the stuff we wanted to and just played games and read a lot of the time.

At our first port, Montego Bay, Jamaica we took a bus ride up into the jungle and rode a series of 6 zip-lines through the canopy. It was amazing! Luckily neither Paul nor I are afraid of heights, but it was safe and we had a lot of fun.




Our second port was Grand Cayman and we took the tender boats in and our tour was a snorkeling excursion with 2 stops. The first stop was at a coral reef teeming with colorful fish. We were able to just snorkel and look at the beautiful coral and amazing fish. The second stop was not at sting ray city, but at a location 10-15 ft. deep where they routinely feed the sting rays so we again were swimming and snorkeling with the sting rays. They were HUGE. Larger than my arms outstretched and they ate squid out of my hand and swam around with us. We each got to pet them and kiss them (for luck) and we loved it. The water was just amazing and it was definitely our favorite port.


The third port was Cozumel, Mexico. The excursion we booked was to Passion Island (Isla Pasion) which is where they filmed a Corona beer commercial several years back...imagine white sandy beaches and a beautiful view. While on the island we ate a great buffet, shopped for our souvenirs, read our books, took walks on the beach, played in the water, and just relaxed. It was a lot of fun.

We did miss our boys and were glad to see them when we got home. Life is finally starting to get back to normal now. I was in charge of New Beginnings (a church meeting) last night and had a large group of young women and mothers (and some fathers) over to my house for a sit down dinner. Now that it is over I will get back to the business of putting my house in order. We look forward to having more friends over for dinner, playdates and games. If you live close please come over and play with us! We're officially ready for guests!

Not much of interest lately

Well, we haven't blogged much lately because life has been getting back to normal lately. As much as I love the holidays, I am glad to get back to our normal routine. Aaron is back in preschool and loves riding his skuut almost every day. He's getting pretty good at balancing on it, but mostly just has fun.

Brian got 2 new teeth lately and continues to just be happy. He is saying more and signing more all the time. I think the latest is "Thank you" simultaneously verbalized and signed. Totally adorable!

As for Paul and I, we're VERY EXCITED about our cruise which is in less than a week. Our next post will likely be pictures and stories from the cruise. My folks will be watching the boys and hopefully the boys will sleep well and be well behaved. Dad is going to be starting radiation soon, and hopefully it won't make him sick like the chemo did. Keep him in your prayers!

Lastly, tonight we had Family Home Evening and had the missionaries over for dinner. We had a new missionary from Avon, UT and he knew my old Bishop from Utah State (Noel Gill). It is a small world in the church! We did our songs and prayers, the Elders did the lesson, then for our "activity" we played "Trouble-pop-o-matic." It was really fun to see Aaron and the missionaries playing this children's game. Aaron's squealing with delight at the top of his lungs is quite an ear full, but it's enjoyable!

That's it for now...later!

Happy New Year - 2008

What a beautiful new years holiday. I overheard some people at church almost complaining about how the Christmas weather is so 'weird.' Granted, at home, I heard that there was definitely a white Christmas. It even snowed on Christmas Eve. However, I must admit that I like Christmas weather in Houston.

Here are some pictures from New Years holiday to back it up. We went to a nearby park and went for a bike ride. Aaron was able to ride his Scuut. By design it has no pedals, chain, or brakes. It's designed to teach balance on a bike. Not all the other distractions. My bet, and Jen isn't fully on-board, is that this is a better way to learn to ride a bike.

Aaron's bike - Part 1


Aaron's bike - Part 2

Merry Christmas

Since we haven't finished sending out Christmas cards I still reserve the right to wish a Merry Christmas.

Here are some pictures of Christmas morning.

Here are some pictures of the house. (as promised, but probably not anticipated.)

Moving In.

Moving into the new house and out of the old house was a paced methodical project. Jen, with some help from her mother, packed the house. Since the new house was only 1.5 miles from the old house, I would take loads over from one house to the other in the evening. We had some help from friends who helped us load a U-haul up with the beds, refrigerator, piano, washer/dryer etc.

One particular challenge that we encountered in moving the big stuff was moving the refrigerator. While unhooking the water line from the refrigerator to the old house, apparently, I didn't the valve turned off. As soon as the line came unattached I was immediately soaked. Water rushed from the pipe as I scrambled to tried to move the stubborn valve. Jen raced outside to turn off the water to the house. I did eventually get the valve shut, but not after gallons of water filled out kitchen. One of our good neighbors, whom we will miss, lent us his large wet/dry vac, and the kitchen was clean in 15 minutes.

The weather for the move was ideal. In Texas, moving in December is preferable to moving in August.



We are still unpacking. The massive pile of boxes has been moved from the front room to the garage. Although it is work, we are having fun setting up the new house. Deciding where to hang pictures and put stuff that doesn't have an obvious place are our challenges. We hope to be able to park in the garage soon.

Another quick update

I promise to try to post more pictures soon, but since I haven't gotten to it yet, I figured I should at least post something.

We've moved! We are officially in the new house and love it. Boxes are everywhere and we can't find all our stuff yet, but we are excited. There's tons to do of course, but we look forward to the challenge!

The old house is empty and has sold too! We should close this Friday and are so excited that someone else loved our house and wanted to buy it. That happened the day after we got back from Utah for Thanksgiving. We had a great time visiting our family in Utah and loved every minute of it (except for getting a cold that is!)He are some pictures.



Well, like I said, I'll try to post soon, but here's our new address for those that need it. Highlight the space below to see it

3015 Providence Oak
Houston, TX 77084

Quick update

I haven't had much time to post lately and don't have much time now before I run Aaron to pre-school, but here's a quick update on what we've been up to.

We closed on the new house on November 6 and are now excited and nervous about the move. The house is currently being painted and early next week will have new carpet and wood blinds in all the windows. We've done a few of the "fix it" tasks that need to be done, and others will have to wait until after we move in, but the house is in good shape.

Paul is out of town for Woodbadge Training (Boy scout stuff) Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Next week we'll work on moving more of our boxes from one garage to the other and some even inside the house once the carpet is done. Then we get to go to Utah for Thanksgiving! We are leaving on Thanksgiving and staying until the following Wednesday. When we get back we'll do the final push to move and will be in the house early in December.

Once this house is empty we'll probably have the carpets cleaned again...do more touch up painting and then just continue to pray that it sells quickly. We do have people showing it fairly frequently...a few times a week at least, so we are hopeful it won't take too long. Please keep us in your prayers for a good outcome!

Well, I've got to run, Aaron is having a meltdown about Brian turning the TV off. Wish me luck!

Family Home Evening

Every Monday night we try to have "Family Home Evening" where we spend time together. We start with a song and a prayer, then do a short lesson, then an activity of some sort, then close with another song and prayer and finally dessert. This week we were having some beautiful fall weather and decided to head to Mary Jo Pecham Park. I had made a pasta dish for dinner ( I just finished another session of "Once A Month Cooking" with my mom and sister), so after it was finished baking I threw it into a plastic container and we had a picnic. Once Aaron had eaten 18 bites (we counted of course) and Brian had eaten everything he could get his hands on, we let them play on the playground.

The swings are great, the boys had a lot of fun on the slides, and the Koi pond was a big hit with Brian this time. Aaron noticed the free mini-golf course this time, but we'll do that activity another night.

After playing on the playground we started our "FHE" with our song, prayer, and a lesson from the "Preach My Gospel" book (since all our regular FHE books have been packed already). Aaron helped read some scriptures and it is so adorable to hear his little voice reading. Then we had our activity of ring-around-the-rosie. We closed with our song and prayer and rice krispy treats then went for a walk around the lake before we headed home. Here's some pictures of the fun event. We love October weather!













And one more video...this was taken a week or so ago in our back yard. The kids LOVE the slide they got from Grammy and Grandpa Thomas last year!

The pain of the move

It's been a long time since I moved. I've lived in this house for over 6 years, and back then I had a LOT less stuff. I was single and I obviously didn't have 2 kids. Now I'm sitting at my computer sneezing and sniffling.

In less than a week we've put a lot of effort into cleaning out our home to put it on the market. It is now listed here and we had 2 people come look at it today. Before we listed though we cleaned the house thoroughly. As our realtor put it, we're moving anyway so we might as well keep packing. We've packed up kids toys, all our board games, re-arranged furniture and moved tons of stuff into our garage. I also cleaned the house thoroughly, on my hands and knees scrubbing everything. I guess I didn't realize how dirty the house had been. There's a lot of dust stirred up and Paul and I both feel like we've got a cold. Please pray for us that the house sells quickly.

As for the new house, we've gotten a lot of work done for that too. We had the inspection on Saturday (everything looks pretty good except it is FILTHY). Evidently it had been on the market for 7-8 months and it is just filled with dirt and dust. Yet another reason for feeling sneezy all the time. We've secured our financing (after long hours with several mortgage groups) and have signed all the paperwork and sent in our check for earnest money. We're going to get some estimates for re-painting the place and re-carpeting it too. Hopefully we can get that all lined up and done immediately after we close, but before we leave for Utah for Thanksgiving.

We still can't believe how crazy it is that we are moving. This has been one fast roller coaster ride. I can't wait until it's over and we are finally in the new house with this one sold!

So much to share!

It's been a little while since I blogged, and there's been a lot going on, so this may be long! (but it will be full of pictures on the different slide shows!)

First of all, here are just some pictures of the boys. Paul mentioned that no one had seen Brian's new haircut and they both look so cute of course!



Grandma went out of town for a few days so we hung out with Grandpa. We especially had a great time at the park.



We went to the mall with Grandpa too and there is a new play area for the little kids. It was really quite extensive and the kids loved it!



Brian is always a troublemaker these days and climbs on everything. He gets so proud of himself too. All I can do is shake my head.



Paul's birthday was a little over a week ago and after opening presents we went for a walk in my folks subdivision. We ended up at the gazebo where we got engaged and had our engagement pictures taken. Lots of great memories.



Lastly, our big news is that we are buying a new house. We got a really good deal on this house because it had foreclosed and we should close on it the middle of November. Now we're trying to fix our current house up so that we can sell it. Wish us luck!

Brian's latest update

Now that Aaron is in preschool, Brian and I get a little more one-on-one time and we love it. Actually he takes a nap first, which I love, then we get to spend time together. Today I was reading a magazine on floor of the living room while he played with a ball in the entryway. It was so fun to just watch him throw the ball on the carpet, then on the tile and laugh every time. He's still such a sweet, happy boy. I feel I can't call him a baby anymore now that he walks so well and understands so much of what we say. He follows instructions really well and surprises me all the time. Here's a few more examples:



1. For years we've had this routine for putting Aaron in his car seat (1 arm, 2 arms, click 3, click 4, click 5, kiss for 6 and hands on head for 7). Brian has the same car seat and I've said the same things for a while, but I usually gave him his pacifier for 7 since I knew he was little enough to not be able to get his fingers caught in the door or anything. This past week, when I've put him in his car seat he automatically puts his hands on his head after I give him a kiss! He's so observant and I love it.



2. He currently has a spoken vocabulary of 4 words and a sign vocabulary of 4 words (although he seems to learn more signs all the time, he just doesn't do them when I prompt him yet). His signs are: eat, more, milk and finished. His words are dada, mama, amen and my mom got him to say Grandma this past weekend. When we say prayers, whether on the food, or our nightly family prayers, or Family Home Evening, or even at church, he folds his cute chubbly little arms and at the end he actually says amen. It is so adorable!



3. He also loves to give kisses. If you ask him for a kiss he will walk over to you and with his mouth open WIDE dive at your mouth. Sometimes he'll get you just about from nose to chin. And sometimes he is in a kissy mood and just kisses you repeatedly! He's an animal. He can also blow kisses and gives high fives like a pro!



4. Lastly, the kid still eats everything in sight. He empties his bowl or plate at every meal (granted we find half of it in his lap or on the floor) and seems to never fill up. The first time he signed "finished" I was more excited that he was actually full than that he had made the sign!



Well, that's the update on the one year old. I'll update Aaron's activities again soon too.

Nature's Bug Zapper

We have the greatest backyard Bug Zapper. We share it with our neighbor just behind us. It's yellow and black and gives us all the heeby jeeby's. I had to muster up some courage to take these pictures. To give you a sense of scale... she is about 5" long with her body being about 1.5" - 2". She's big. I can see her from where I sit here on the couch.

Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus), or, Golden Silk Spider is a large orange and brown spider with the feathery tufts on its legs is well know to most native southerners. It is particularly despised by hikers and hunters, as during late summer and fall the large golden webs of this species make a sticky rap for the unwary. However, as is typical with most spiders, there is little real danger from an encounter with the golden silk spider. The spider will bite only if held or pinched, and the bite itself will produce only localized pain with a slight redness, which quickly goes away. On the whole, the bite is much less severe than a bee string. Typically, the webs are made in open woods or edges of dense forest, usually attached to trees and low shrubs, although they may be in the tops of trees or between the wires of utility lines. But ours has spun her web on our back fence.

When mowing the lawn or otherwise being in the backyard, I find myself ducking. I can't bear to exterminate her. She is pretty and has kept our back yard free of mosquitoes, flies, and other flying pests. So I guess we are both creeped out, and grateful. (mostly creeped out.)

Fishing and the Camera

Aaron, Grandpa Fuller and I went fishing a few weeks ago. Honestly.. it was the first time that I caught a fish. We all were having a great time until the camera fell into the lake.



Story of the Camera in the lake....

As you can see in the pictures the dock where we are sitting isn't super wide... Jen, playing the role of motherly photographer, capturing her husband's and son's first fish was maneuvering all over the dock with the nimble footwork of a billy goat. Just after snapping the pictures above, she slid the camera into her pocket and tried to edge herself around Grandpa. I don't think she noticed, but I saw the camera slide out of her pocket and gently splash into the lake.

When she realized what had happened and took over the duties of keeping Aaron from following the camera off the dock and into the lake, I jumped in after the camera. The lake is only about 4 - 5 feet deep where we are fishing. Initially I attempted to dive and feel around on the bottom with my hands. I quickly learned that my feet were better suited to find the camera sitting on the bottom. I found many other treasures on the bottom of the lake before I found the camera. It had spent 5 minutes underwater and was surely dead.

We took the batteries out, rinsed it with clean water, and attempted to dry it with a hair-dryer. Then we let it sit for a week ensuring that it was completely and utterly dry before attempting to turn it on again. When we did finally put the batteries in, it took five or six tries to get most of the camera functions to work... but the camera did work. And worked for about a week before it stopped auto-focusing. Then stopped working all together. After some effort we declared it gone.

Yippee! I get to shop for a new camera. Then I realized that the new cameras aren't as nice as the one we had. And they take different types of memory cards, and connection cables, and every other accessory.

I turned to eBay. I found our old camera for sale and started bidding. It took a few tries before I successfully replaced our camera with one identical for a great deal! Be careful... eBaying can potentially be addicting and time sucking!

But we have a camera again. So... the blog will continue.

Aaron's first day at preschool

Today Aaron started his first day of preschool. He attends New Hope Presbyterian Church Child Development Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to noon. His teacher, Miss Anne, is very nice and there are 12 children in his class (more boys than girls too). We're hoping he makes friends easily and learns some necessary social skills. Here are some pictures of him from his first day.

He ran right in and started playing with toys. I made him kiss me goodbye and then I left. I was a little sad leaving him, but he didn't care at all. He was having a great time.

When I came back to pick him up he was all smiles. He was telling me stories of what he did in class (something about playing catch with a blue square and a story about a grumpy lady...who knows!) He helped decorate his own bag to take back and forth to class and he's looking forward to Thursday. When did he grow up so fast?

Brian opens his presents

Although we started celebrating Brian turning 1 year old when the Fuller family was around yesterday was his actual birthday. He got muffins for breakfast (fyi, don't put a candle into a warm muffin...it will melt on the inside), grilled cheese for lunch and Grandma and Grandpa Fuller came over for fajitas and ice cream for dinner. Aaron loves all of Brian's presents and opened most of them for him too. I'm trying to be the referee today as Aaron cries when Brian wants to play with one of his own presents. Here's some cute shots of how the evening went!

Running through the sprinkler

Tuesday it was hot! We've had a week or more where the heat index has been 105+. We decided to run through the sprinklers and have a good time. We ate homemade popsicles, turned the slide into a waterslide, had running races and hung out in the shade. Brian didn't like being in the grass, but Aaron, Mommy and Daddy loved it all!

Reality TV

Paul took these videos a week ago while I was at BUNCO. I appologize Sissy if you don't get your hours in today!

This first one is of Brian walking and Aaron encouraging him.


Next we have Aaron reading his shirt (it says "Reading Club" by the way)


Lastly we have Aaron reading one of his favorite books Tickle the Duck

My brother got an iMac

My sister-in-law Kayleen has been playing with it and just made this movie about our time at the lake house. It's so cute I had to post it on my blog too.

Fuller Family Vacation

Jen's siblings and their spouses, Marcia and John and Marc and Kayleen, were in town this past week for the Fuller family vacation. We spent most of our time at Lake Conroe and although the jetski was in the shop and we didn't get the boat fixed until Friday night we had a good time just relaxing together. While we were all together we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday (July 28) and Brian's 1st birthday (August 16). Here is a picture and video of Brian eating his birthday cupcake!





Aaron and Brian had a lot of fun with their Aunts and Uncles. Paul and I of course were happy to let others play with them! Here's a few pics of the boys with their extended family.
Uncle John and Aaron

Aunt Nancy and Brian

Uncle Marc, Aunt Kayleen & Brian

Aunt Sissy and Brian


Of course we had to get a family group picture in!
The Richard Fuller Family




As for an update on my Dad: he has had tons of doctor appointments and both of my siblings and their spouses were able to go with him to spend more time with him. Dad is actually doing pretty well right now. After a frustrating full week in the hospital last month and then having to go back every day last week for IV antibiotics he's finally acting more like himself. He had a PET scan to tell us if the chemo was working and while the scan showed sites still active, they said the disease has decreased so we are encouraged. The doctor did worry about how bad this last round of chemo beat him up, so we're taking a 3 week break before we start any more treatment...that should give him a chance to get his strength back.