Skidamarink

A few months ago, Aaron found an old children's song book at Grandma and Grandpa Fuller's house. He brought it downstairs and he and Grandma started looking through it. Grandma remembered this song and taught it to Aaron. It has been sung many times since.

Skidamarink is a very popular children's song with a long fascinating history. It was originally the grand finale song of the 1910 Broadway musical, "The Echo". Since the title is not a real word it has had various spellings over the years.

Though the original musical only lasted a few months, the song endured and was re-popularized in the 1950s by Jimmy Durante.

Typical Version of Lyrics

Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - love - you!
Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - love - you!

I love you in the morning
and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening
and underneath the moon;

Oh, Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - LOVE - YOU!

Thank you Aaron and Brian for your fantastic rendition!

Birthday at Chuck E Cheese

Friday, March 28 is Aaron's 4th birthday. We will be going to the Chuck E Cheese by the Katy Mills Mall that afternoon at 1:30pm. Anyone who wants to come and have their kids play at that time is welcome. We'd love to see you and play with you! If you have questions...just ask!

Happy Easter

With the death of Jen's father this week and his funeral on Good Friday, Easter took on a deeper meaning this year.

Needless to comment, it has been an emotional, sad, and difficult week for our family. But this Easter has been special as the promises of the Atonement and Resurrection have taken a deeper meaning in our life. Jen's sister Marcia and her Husband John blessed their week old baby Brycen in Church on Sunday.

This holiday wasn't JUST about death and sadness, but also about birth, life, and hope.

While less important, we had an Easter Egg Hunt today in the backyard. Aaron was an old-pro at looking for Easter eggs. But Brian, although a rookie, figured out the object right away.




The azalea flowers have been in full bloom this weekend, and provided a nice backdrop for our Easter family photo

In memory of...

Funeral services will be 11:00 AM Friday

at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
Cypress Stake Center on North Eldridge.
12310 New Hampton Dr

Interment will follow in Klein Memorial Park, SH 249.

Here's the link to the obituary in the Chronicle.

We do appreciate the love and support that we receive from family and friends.

we miss him already

For those who don't already know, Richard Fuller (Jen's dad) passed away Tuesday night after a year long battle with cancer. Details regarding his funeral service will be posted later. We appreciate all the love and support we've received this past year and the help we know we will continue to receive in the upcoming months.

From the Mouth of Babes

I've wanted, and tried, to do a blog entry several times this week...but life happens and so here it is Sunday before I make another attempt.

First the good news, my sister, Marcia, gave birth to a baby boy on Friday. They are going to call him Bryce and the pictures I've seen so far are SO ADORABLE! I can't wait to see him in person!

Next the bad news, my dad is back in the hospital and not doing so great. I don't want to go into details, I'm just too tired, but please everyone pray for him and my mom.

Lastly, at 9:50 tonight I went upstairs because I thought I heard Aaron moving around (keep in mind he is still 3 years old!). As I approached his room I found that his light was on and I got ready to send him to bed with gusto. However, I found him on his bed, reading The New Testament! He was reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. When I got there he was in verse 12 and when he finished his verse I started to read verse 13 to him. That made him cry though because "He wanted to do it all by himself" I laid there next to him and listened to him read all 27 verses, at which time I told him it was almost 10pm and that he should go to bed. We said our prayers and I turned off his light.

When asked why he likes reading the scriptures, his reply was "Because it talks about Jesus." When asked why ELSE he likes reading the scriptures, his reply was "Because is has so many books and so many chapters." When asked how he feels when he reads the scriptures, he replied "I feel GREAT-FULL"

He amazes me constantly and I am SO grateful to Heavenly Father for this amazing boy which I have the opportunity to help raise. I learn so much from him and I feel extremely blessed to have him as my son! I guess I'd better follow his example and go read my scriptures before I head to bed.

"Must Have Balance"

Daniel: When do I learn how to punch?
Miyagi: Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?

We were walking around the block this afternoon, when I told Aaron to try going really fast and then picking up both feet. Up they went, and off he went. He coasted 15 - 20 feet on his first try.

The things I did on Monday instead of housework!

Paul says I have a sickness and that I should name it. Maybe others suffer from this as well, or maybe it's just me, but even though my kids are 2.5 yrs apart I love to dress them in clothes that are the same or similar. Especially for church or pictures. I don't know why, but I just think they are so cute and that they are even cuter in the same clothes. Maybe it's called "Identicalitis" or "Crazy Kid Dresser Disease" anyway, here's another one of them in cute clothes taken just after I gave them both haircuts on Monday. Brian was super squirmy, so his didn't turn out nearly as well as I would have liked, and I think they are both too short in the front, but luckily their hair grows fast and hopefully I'll keep learning until I get it right.



A couple of years ago Marcia bought Aaron the tent, tube and clubhouse seen here. In our old house it took up the entire main room. I love this house! Having an upstairs game room for the kids where I can set this up is awesome. And it only takes up half of the game room too! Brian and Aaron both love it and play in it tons. Super cute. Thanks sissy!



I also did our taxes and laundry, but the vacuum is still sitting in the living room unused (except for the hair!)

Good news! Dad came home from the hospital Monday afternoon. My "Aunt" Rene Wojnowski is staying with Mom and Dad for a few days to help out. I was over there all day Wednesday and have plans to be there all day Friday too. Dad is doing great. He is still pretty weak, gets winded easily, but he sat up in the family room all day, ate well, and was really himself again. We are so glad to have him back home again. The boys really do adore him, especially Brian. He LOVES to sit up and cuddle with Grandpa. When Brian was born we thought he looked like my dad which is why we gave him the middle name of Richard. We don't think they look much alike anymore, but Grandpa is definitely one of his favorite people!

My kids are SO CUTE!!

Ok, so I brag a lot, but I really do think my kids are the cutest ever! I hope I have tons more just like them!

Lately, they've been doing some super cute things. Aaron says "oh yes" and "oh no" all the time. Here's an example.

Mom: Aaron, would you like a banana?
Aaron: Oh Yes Yes!
or
Mom: Should we turn the TV off now?
Aaron: Oh no! We don't want to do that!

We don't know where the "OH" came from, but it's pretty adorable!



His latest amazing feat is that he truly has learned how to tell time. He can look at the big clock on the wall, and with just a little help from me, can tell me what hour it is, and what the minute is and then tell me what time it is.

His other cute thing lately, is that when he sees something that he wants that someone else has, he suddenly wants to share. He understand what sharing is, but he now wants to share what other people have, not what he has. This lesson is obviously still a work in progress.

Brian has his share of adorableness too. Recently, when he smiles at us he also raises up his shoulders...scrunching them together. It just makes his smiles all the more precious!



Also, he is one of the easiest babies to put to bed. (most of the time!) We give him his milk, then his pacifier, then we lay him down in his crib. He lays on his back with his arms stretched above his head and says through his pacifier "night night." We love it!

Brian had his 18 month doctor appointment this week (we are so excited to send him to nursery at church tomorrow) and the doctor said he was perfect! His head measurements were in the 50-75% (slightly higher than average). His height was in the 75-90% (he's pretty tall). His weight was 30.5 lbs which is in the 90-95% (so he's a chunk!) Aaron was also weighed on the same scale and was 34.5 lbs. Despite being 2.5 years apart, they only weigh 4 lbs different!

In other news, my dad is still in the hospital (2 weeks now) but hopefully will be able to come home sometime soon. He continues to respond well to the treatments they give him and while there continue to be problems, everything is being worked on and we pray he continues to grow stronger everyday. The kids are doing great as we drive to the hospital constantly and they behave very well in the family waiting room.

Brian showing off his Signs

Paul was quizzing Brian on Tuesday about some of the signs that he knows and he passed with flying colors. He knows other signs too, and learns more everyday. I should bring him to my class next week to show him off...but he'd want to crawl all over me and not let me teach. He sure is adorable though!

Time to update

It's been a super busy week or two which is why I haven't posted lately. Here's a brief rundown. We went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate that Aaron had done such a good job potty training lately...he had gone several weeks without an , there was a YW activity, a dentist appointment, I took my car in to the body shop and went to BUNCO. We've had some play dates, story time at the library, and lots of time at Grandma's house. We feel like we've been really busy!

Then on Friday my father went for a radiation treatment and collapsed and had to be admitted to the ICU. He was there through the weekend, then was in a regular room for the next day or so. He was released Tuesday morning, but they had no business releasing him in the condition he was in and after meeting with his doctor in the afternoon was readmitted to the hospital. It's been a busy few days. Paul and I were both there to help Tuesday and Paul went with my parents to dad's doctor appointment. I am so grateful to my husband for being so loving and helpful with my family. Thank you Paul!

Monday Aaron had his evaluation through the school district to see if he has social delays. They were all very impressed with how amazingly smart he is, but they still want to observe him at preschool and see how he interacts with other kids. We won't know their recommendation or diagnoses for at least a month so I'll post more when I know more. We are thinking about not putting him in preschool next year though, just doing a home preschool co-op with other moms in the area. If you have done it and have any information to share I'd love to hear from you.

I do have some cute pictures and videos of the boys that we've randomly taken this past week and I'll put a slide show on to show just how adorable they both are. Sorry the bath one is dark...we'll try to fix it. By the way, Happy Valentines Day everyone!

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!