EUtopia

December.....

2012-01-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

Do you remember that month called December? Yeah? You do? So do I. It's actually my favorite month of the year. Yes it's true. I'm one of THOSE people. The type that absolutely love and adore anything Christmas-y. The whole kit and caboodle from the cold (hopefully white) weather, to the decorations, to the craziness. I especially love the beautiful carols celebrating our Lord. It is the one time of year I actually decorate stuff. The one time of year you can actually count on me baking stuff. The one time of year I usually go a little over the top. (Okay maybe it's not the only time I go over the top just a little, but it's definitely the most over the top.) I plan months in advance what all is going to go down during that special month of December. Yes I said months, and yes I'm serious. Just ask hubby, or really anybody that's known me for more than 30 seconds. Now even though I love Christmas, I'm not an early Christmas-er. I'm actually a little bit of stickler about that. Christmas starts on December 1st, not before and not after. This year was no different......

Actually it was.

Really different.

Most of you know why so I'll just skip ahead to Christmas Day shall I?

What?

I can't really hear you, there's too much protesting going on.

No skipping you say?

Okay fine. I'll tell it in pictures, since I'm pretty sure that's what you're begging for anyway, right?

December 1st 10:05 AM
Sleepy and bored

11:25 AM
Not so sleepy and definitely not bored.

12:30 PM
A little wet, then dry and snugly

12:50 PM
Back with mom and Dad

4:40 PM
Waiting for big brother and sister

4:50 PM
Hello

December 1-4th
The Hospital

December 4th
Going Home

The First Week

The First Month

Today

There you have it folks. In living color. The reason why this December was different.
Pretty cute reason if I do say so myself.
Thanks for scrolling along.

Oh and just in case you missed his name Emma's got your back......

Andrew Paul Eucker
December 1st, 2011
11:25 AM
7 lbs. 8 oz.
19"

11-11-11

2011-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Only a bit behind but here's what we did for Ben's birthday party. On his birthday, 11-11-11 at 11:11am! (We couldn't resist) It was a great hit with all involved.

Enjoy....

And here's a little video of the "town" in action.
It's a "quick before somebody needs me" type of video. Sorry.

Strangely enough, or I guess not so strangely considering kids tend to enjoy the thing you least anticipated, almost all the kids favorite part was cleaning up..........figures.

Then, because giving a bunch of five year old a license to drive wasn't fun enough we were crazy enough to go on a scavenger hunt to find Ben's birthday present. Here's the treasure at the end.

By the way. That is Ben excited. He maybe a bundle of supercharged energy but when it comes to getting or finding something cool he's usually pretty "chil-lax",as Will would say, about it. And yes I have no idea actually how to spell that made up word, which I'm pretty sure reveals my age and all together lack of coolness. Oh well.

We rounded out the day with an inaugural ride, it was dark so the ride was short, but overall I'm pretty sure this adorable five year old had a pretty darn good birthday. Wouldn't ya say?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from the Dalmatian Plantation or the

Dalmatian Herd, whichever one Ben is in the mood for.
(Better pictures to come later, hopefully)

Guess what Ben's up to.....

2011-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

So Ben's was the man of the hour yesterday and got to go to......

GYMNASTICS!

Jumping, running, climbing, swinging, it's basically tailor-made for this kid. I was only able to get one video as I was trying to coral Emma, but it was of the "best part". So without delay here is Superman Ben.

First day of school.....

2011-09-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

I know it doesn't look it but he'd been asking us at least five times a day for the last three weeks if he got to go to school today. Well today we could finally say YES!! Another year of preschool is off to a great start.

We also attempted to get a family photo via the "guy with the longest arms holds the camera out and clicks the shutter" tried and true method.

Obviously it's not exactly tried and true for us. Oh well.

A First....

2011-02-11T20:24:00.001-08:00

Big day today...

Emma cut a tooth!

Does she scoot? No.
Does she crawl? No.
Does she roll over?No....
Well, actually, it's rumored that she can but the
feat is elusive and has yet to be seen with the naked eye.

Does she move under her own power really at all? Nope.

But a tooth? You betcha.

PS. I'll get around to posting something about the holidays sooner or later or ever later.

Emma Laughs.....a lot

2010-11-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

3:00

2010-11-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

Three minutes of sentimentality.

Hall - o - ween

2010-11-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, or a drum roll, which really is a shame because these pictures are definitely worth a drum roll, a really full, fantastic, marching band drum roll, but I guess a run on sentence will do...Halloween pictures!

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Trick - or - Treating in the mall

After Halloween, indulge mummy, photo shoot

If pictures are truly worth a thousand words, this next photo speaks volumes.

My secret

2010-10-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

PS. Stay tuned for ridiculously cute, over the top delightful, sinfully charming, and criminally adorable Halloween pictures.

Yes, my children really are that good looking.

Caught Red Handed

2010-10-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today I caught Ben red handed.

What was he doing, you ask?

Well Emma had just settled down for a ~~long~~ short winter's nap (a.k.a. night time (a.k.a. not sleeping in the dark)) and was a bit fussy...just a bit. I was doing my motherly duties by ignoring her wails while rinsing poop out of the days pink pants and momentatirly forgetting about child #1.
Then I hear whispering coming from our room. Uh oh. Our room and eldest child rarely mix with satisfactory results. Checking my reserve tank of patience, because let's face it by this time of day I'm definitely well into my reserves, I very stealthily poked my noggin' around the corner and saw...

...a very sweet older brother whispering "I love you Emma" over and over into the baby monitor. He doesn't know it's only one way and she can't actually hear him. Somehow that makes it even sweeter. I almost dissolved into a heap of weapy "I love my munchkin so much. He/she is the sweetest and/or cutest ever" goop right there on the spot.

But then child #1 turned around and asked "mommy, do you have another baby in your tummy?"

Hmmmm........

Not so cute.

Excuse me while I do a few crunches...

...and maybe go for a run.

A Couple Things

2010-10-12T13:50:00.001-07:00

I'd like to share two things that have changed...nay...revolutionized my life!

Behold #1...
Okay stop laughing.

I mean it!

Please?

Okay. Fine. Laugh.

Are you done now?

Moving on.

So why did this revolutionize my life? I'll tell you...

I hate laundry.

A lot.

A whole heck of a lot.

Mountains loads of a lot.

So much so that I'll ignore it.

Ignoring laundry is normal you say? Probably a little bit. But when was the last time you ignored laundry long enough that when you finally got around to it there was 14 loads of it?!?!? And I'm not talkin' just got home from a trip and have to wash everything that even touched the car, kids or suitcases ignored laundry. I'm talkin' normal everyday, non-sports season clothing piling up in mountains on the floor ignored laundry. It's kind of funny really. Mountain loads of laundry....mountain loads of laundry hating. It just seems symmetrical or something. Well that was just a couple weeks ago for me. And a little while before that. And a little while before that. And a...well you get the picture. It didn't help matters that we've got to go down to the complex laundry to do laundry and PAY to do. I know, I know technically you're paying to do laundry at home too, but it just seems so much worse somehow when you see those precious quarters that you've scrounged from the couch cushions get gobbled up by those machines. So between my loathing of laundry and quarter eating monsters it was just way to easy to look at the laundry basket and say "...hmmm...I don't think there's quite enough whites/darks/brights/coloreds for a load yet. I'll do it tomorrow. "

Presto.
14 loads of laundry.

Que revolution...

Now I can no longer make the excuse that there aren't enough whites/darks/brights/coloreds yet for a load. Bag full = full load. No more mountains. ~~No more loathing.~~....Nope there's still laundry loathing, but just in smaller, manageable batches.

So in conclusion I still hate laundry, but I'm in love with my laundry sorter.

In fact I'm going to marry it.

Next weekend. You're all invited.

But don't tell Tyson. He'd be jealous.

Now for #2...

Okay all you book snobs who think that (insert the name of your most hated eReader here) is the work of the devil stop judging me.

Judging is not a good thing. Didn't your momma teach you that?

Stop it!

Alright that's it, I'm telling! Be right back.

Ha got cha! Don't worry I'm not a tattletale but I knew if I threatened you'd think twice, or at least part of twice, once, or maybe even a half, about judging me again.

So the Nook.

Yes, I've converted. I used to be a judger too. There I was high on my bound paper horse staring down at all those electronic sell outs thinking "I could never like reading a book off of a computer! I'm a purist." It's true. I thought that. Especially the last part. But then....my mum sent me an unexpected package. Now let me tell you. I LOVE getting packages. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Somebody took the time to drive down to the local post office because they were thinking of me. Pure love! It almost doesn't even matter what's in it. Packages are always good. Even.....

I'm sorry, what was that?

Oh right...the Nook.

Sorry.

So yeah. Mum. Unexpected package. Nook. Skepticism.

Yup that's what came next. Even though I was immensely excited about the package, and let's face it a new gadget is just plain cool, I still wasn't feeling the love for eReaders. So what did I do? I played sudoko on it. Naturally.

Then I played more sudoko.

But then I thought. Heck, I've got it I might as well try it out for real.

I've got ~~two words~~ seven words for you: Library books without going to the library! Yup that sold it for me. I currently have 17 books out without ever leaving my house! Then I've got the 30 some odd free books that I downloaded off of Barnes and Noble. Hee hee hee! I'm rolling in words!

So even though I love the library, and really wish I could take all of my pasty whiteness over there more often, the reality is that that just ain't happening. So something that brings the library to me. You got me. Hook. Line. Sinker.

PS. It's also has the web.

PPS. It also plays music.

PPPS. And Audiobooks

PPPPS. And it's easier to juggle one of these while nursing then a book. Just FYI.

PPPPPS. By the way. I'm marrying this too.

PPPPPPS. The weekend after next.

PPPPPPPS. You're all invited.

PPPPPPPPS. Don't tell Tyson....

PPPPPPPPPS... or the laundry sorter.

PPPPPPPPPPS. They'd be jealous.

PPPPPPPPPPPS. These two "Things" have also revolutionized my life.

Sorta.

Just a tiny bit.

Cowgirl

2010-10-08T16:24:00.001-07:00

Especially for Grandma....

Cowbell

2010-09-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Somebody once told me I needed more cowbell.

Really?

Cowbell?

Whatever.

How 'bout a video instead.

Big day....

2010-09-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day. Why? You ask. Because today was the day that two of my most favoritest boys started the next big phase in life.

This guy started college...

This guy started preschool!

Can you believe it! In my head Onion will always be that little boy informing me that the brio train tracks he's playing with are, and I quote, "your bones" (sorry no little onion picture, which is too bad because he was/is super cute) and Ben will always be this cute little thing...

But for better or for worse for everyone else these boys are growing up, so without further delay the obligatory first day of school photos.

The fam...

So excited walking just wasn't fast enough!

And look who showed up to surprise us! What a treat!

Already anxious to wave us out the door.

Backpack...Check
New classroom...Check
Computer (A.K.A. a scrabble board)...check

Hugs hello...

...hugs good-bye.

An abandoned sister.

His personal heaven.

Meanwhile....Emma decided to have an adventure of her own.

A safari with Mr. Dangly

Evolution - the short version

2010-08-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

You know you're tired when....

2010-08-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

....you go to bed at a reasonable hour (cough, cough)...

...want to see what time it actually is...

...hit your "super power light in the dark" button on you ironman watch...

...and...

...nothing...

...you try it again...

...nada...

...drat! It must be broken..

...it is an old watch after all...

...sigh...

...then you realize...

...it helps if you open your eyes first...

Did I tell ya...

2010-07-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

...we moved....

AGAIN!

So how are we doing? Well let me tell ya...

Tyson turned himself into a squirrel...

and then ran away.

Ben has regressed (so did the camera apparently)

Emma contemplated taking the plunge....

...but then decided to ship herself off to Canada instead.
(Take care of her grandma!)

And the toys staged a revolt!

As for me?

Well I still have some shred of sanity.

Somewhere around here.

I'm not really sure where.

Probably in a box.

huh.....

2010-07-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ben just peed in his Tonka dump truck.

I laughed.

Manically...

...to keep my sanity.

Daddy - Daughter communication

2010-06-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Dads...

2010-06-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

....this is for all of you out there.

Especially you...

and you...

and you.

Enjoy!

PS. Here's the "funny one"

Who ever said men can't multitask.....

2010-06-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

....has never met my husband!

Watching TV, playing computer games, AND rocking Emma.

funky

2010-05-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

The other day Ben said that Emma couldn't come in his room because "it's just too funky" he also needed to change his pants because they "smelled like...funky"

.....hmmmm....

......interesting......

Ben vs. Emma, A Study

2010-05-18T11:55:00.001-07:00

Do cows like running shoes?

2010-05-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know, why don't we ask....

Our mother's day.

2010-05-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

It was a good mother's day.

Emma made her first appearance at church, following which the boys walked home. So cute in their suits.

We all took a nap. Emma even cooperated and slept for a good chunk.

Then the piece de resistance
.....Dinner.....
Lamb and Goat cheese enchilada with almond mole sauce!

Yes it was as fancy as it sounds. It took Tyson more than eight hours over the course of two days (not including the three hours of scavenger hunt grocery shopping trying to find all the ingredients) to make it. He even figured out how to cold smoke the lamb with a make shift smoker. I am sincerely sorry that I didn't take any pictures of that process. Oh, and make sure to take note of the prettiest flower ever. My "daisy" picked especially for me by Ben.

After stuffing ourselves silly on gourmet morsels we visited the cows....

...And had mini photo shoots. Both kids were very accommodating. I think maybe dad gave them a heads up to the whole mother's day thing. Usually the camera is their cue to run away/cry/make faces/spit up.

This is a little blurry, but I think there's not much sweeter then a dad with his baby.

This one is just funny, and cute.
It seems like she finally realized who her parents are and is quite scared!

Showing off his new "running" shoes.

Of course after conversing with cattle we had all built up an appetite for dessert.
One of my favorites ...Fruit Pizza!

It was a good day.

Happy Mother's Day!

1 week and 29 years

2010-04-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Emma's one week birthday and Tyson's "Golden Birthday" (a.k.a. 29 on the 29th) Emma's we celebrated by getting a six hour chunk of sleep. YEAH! Tyson's we partied like the animals we are. Below are pictures of what Tyson came home to. Ben was the one that artfully arranged the balloons, mom and I did the rest.

As you can see many presents were involved. 29 actually. Don't worry they weren't expensive or really very interesting. The boxes mostly consisted of things like 29 Jelly Beans, 8 bouncy balls, or 16 peeps.

I think it was a most enjoyable birthday, despite the unfortunate requirement of attending school, but the jury is still out on who enjoyed the 29 presents thing more....Mom and I while coming up with and searching out each item, Tyson while opening them, or Ben while helping daddy open them...

...he did a similar dance for almost every present!

And because I'm sure all of you were wondering what Emma was wearing for dad's big day, here's the outfit.

And also because I've somehow neglected to post a single thing since Monday, sorry about that everyone, here's a slew of more cuteness.

This onesie we thought was particularly funny; especially since we paired it with pink pants.

I think Ben was feeling left out. Every time we started taking pictures of Emma he wanted in on the action.

You can't have a slew of cuteness without at least one of the original Eucker cutie.

Ben and Emma

2010-04-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

Finally! The computer has cooperated. I hereby present both pictures and video of just Ben and Emma. Enjoy!

Home again, home again, jiggitey jig!

2010-04-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well today real life settled in. We took Emma home! Without all the nurses hovering around helping I feel more of a burden than ever with my inability to do anything, but hopefully that will change quickly! Here are just a few more pictures. The first few are just before we left the hospital and then of course there's the "oh my goodness, she's so tiny in that car seat" pictures, followed by just another few cute ones.

More hospital photos and a.........VIDEO!

2010-04-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

In no particular order here is more cuteness....

I keep trying to upload a video of Ben's first moments with Emma (super sweet!) but for some reason it hasn't worked yet. Hopefully soon.

1 down...6570 to go

2010-04-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well we made it through the first night dispite Emma's, the nursing staff's (who where just doing their jobs and where ridiculously nice), and my pulse rate's (which absolutely refused to get much above 40bpm resulting in an alarm going off every few minutes, unless I was drugged which then shot it up to 110 bpm along with a fever) best efforts. So here's the reward of our survival....lots of pictures!

WAITING FOR EMMA.....

EMMA MEETS THE WORLD...

EMMA MEETS MOM AND DAD...

EMMA MEETS BEN...

I clicked the shutter a half second too late. Ben's expression was actually directed towards Emma before he got distracted by all the cool machinery mom was hooked up to.

There will be more to come, including video; but they'll have to wait till we're discharged. I think I lost more sleep over trying to get these photos posted right using the hospital's lousy internet (the ONLY complaint there is about this great facility) then I did over Emma, the nurses, and the beeping machines combined!

Off to the hospital......

2010-04-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

....freshly scrubbed, showered, and ready to go.....

....sort of....

...stay tuned...

Countdown....

2010-04-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Countdown To Emma

How I'm feeling...

2010-04-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

With less then a week to go everyone's curious how I'm feeling, sometimes that even includes me. However, I've narrowed my feelings down to a top ten....

10. Excited
9. Panicked
8. In Denial
7. Overwhelmed
6. Stressed
5. Sad
4. Nostalgic
3. Panicked
2. Scared
1. Panicked

How I'm looking...

2010-04-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

With less than a week to go this is what I look like....

Yes, the picture is crooked and a little fuzzy. But hey I thought with a three year old photographer it's not too bad.

What I'm doing....

2010-04-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

With less than a week to go this is what I've been doing....

I started this quilt over two years ago when I first heard a friend was expecting a little girl. After working on it night and day since then (i.e. whenever the feeling struck and I had a working machine) I'm finally done. It will arrive just a little early for her 2nd birthday!

I also "started" (a.k.a. bought the fabric) this project a long time ago.

No it's not a storage bag for Ben, although he would fit. It's actually the mother of all diaper bags. And no it wasn't supposed to be that big. Oops. I guess it'll hold the nursery and the baby.

Not exactly imperative projects at this point in time. I've been working on them whenever I've been in the denial mode. Obviously I've been in denial a lot.

Today.......

2010-04-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

The weather today was this.....

So we sang...

Or maybe we made biscuits...

...Or maybe we got new skates ...

...and didn't take them off even to eat...

...Or really at all the next few days...

...Or maybe we visited Grandma and Grandpa...

...and showed our prowess at walking with skates on...

...Or maybe we learned about computers...

...Or maybe we fell asleep in the middle of playing...

...Or maybe we celebrated Easter...

...Or maybe we just looked cute...

...Or maybe these are all the things I've been meaning to post about and just haven't gotten around to it!

But it really did snow today.

Young Mothers

2010-03-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

So I wasn't at our home ward this past Sunday, but Tyson told me something that the high council speaker shared. I loved it and just had to pass it on. Speaking of young mothers, in paraphrase, this is what he said.....

...I have never seen any man as tired as I've seen young mothers...I take that back I've seen it once when I was in Vietnam on a flight heading back to base. There was a group of Navy Seals with me who had spent the last week being hunted by and running from the Viet Cong before we were able to pull them out. They were as tired as young mothers...

Yup, sometimes that just sums it up, doesn't it?

A True Canadian

2010-03-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

Dispute having to wear skates that were way too big, not staying upright for more then two seconds, and being quite worried that he wouldn't get to meet Emma since mommy fell (don't worry we explained that since I only fell on my knees and not my stomach he'd still get to meet Emma) he LOVED skating!

This made me, as a Canadian, feel much better; especially after discovering that Ben is slightly disturbed by hockey! Apparently we really drilled home the fact that hitting and pushing are bad choices. After thirty seconds of hockey he started asking, with a very worried expression, "Why are they pushing?" and "Why are they being disobedient on the ice?"

Hmmm....maybe we should hold off on the hockey thing till he's a little older.

In the mean time we'll stick with arranging his nap time to be during key games and only allowing him out after the "disobedience" is over for the medal ceremonies, where he'll ask "Why is everyone singing in the tabernacle?" and "Why are they holding broccoli?"

You have to admit, from far away they really did kinda look like broccoli.

Important Day

2010-02-26T21:09:00.001-08:00

Well today was important day, for two reasons.

1) This is my 50th post, and apparently in the blog-o-sphere that's supposed to be one of those milestones or something. So.....Yeah 50 posts....moving on......

2) Finally, with 7 1/2 weeks left in this pregnancy, I have pulled out my BeBand and unbuttoned my pants. Yes you read that right. Exciting. Yeah I finally look pregnant-ish. Depressing. Boo having to wear bigger pants.

Okay quit rolling your eyes. Our life really is monotonous and uneventful enough that these two things make it an important day.

This morning........

2010-01-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

......we learned that this (ignore the trash please).........

=
the top of the fridge no longer being a "safe" place to put the good stuff.

Big Brother

2010-01-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

So lately Ben's been going through a lovely phase. You know the phase. It's the phase where at the end of the day you're left not only questioning your sanity about deciding to increase your spawn, but also desperately racking your brain trying to remember where you put the receipt for your first offspring so that bright and early tomorrow morning you can march him right down to the store where your got him and return him. Yup that's the current phase. Of course pregnancy hormones and mood swings aren't helping much. But then....a glimmer of hope, a moment of pure, unadulterated cuteness. Like last night. Emma was being particularity active so I asked Ben if he wanted to feel her saying "hi".

He did.
He felt.
He giggled.
And then.....

He jumped onto the couch arms raised above his head, Rocky style, and started chanting in utter glee "I'm going to be a big brother! I'm going to be a big brother!"

Alright little punk, for that one moment of adorable sweetness all is forgiven.

Name and Pictures

2010-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

It was sure interesting to see what name everybody thought we'd choose. For awhile there I thought for sure our pick would be left in the dust, but it pulled through in the end. That's right we've decided to name her...

Emma Jane Eucker

or "just Emma" as Ben says. He's not convinced she gets to have more then one name. We're working on that.

There's also been some of you who have been wanting prego pictures. Can't really imagine why. They're not that attractive, but to appease my adoring public here you go.

Hmmm.....one of these things is not like the other........

And the gender goes to.....

2010-01-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

So you've waited for awhile, I guess I'll go ahead and spill the beans.

It's a ...........

GIRL!

I think most of you already knew that, but there's your official, go get it notarized, announcement. To say that we're excited is a major understatement. With Ben's approval we've even already chosen a name.*** Want to know what she'll be called? Why don't you guess. I've even narrowed the field for you over in the left hand column.

Cruel and unusual you say for making you wait for information, yet again. What can I say? I like forcing you into becoming repeat readers!

***We reserve the right to change, alter, or discard any and all names at will without prior written or verbal notification. But we don't anticipated a change.***

Arctic Blast

2009-12-08T14:43:00.001-08:00

"Arctic Blast". Now there's a term I just know that we're all waiting to hear from our local weather man...er...person. Unless you're from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada, or some other really cold place I'm not sure if you've ever truely appreciated what that term REALLY means, I know I didn't...until now. Let's see today we were treated to a lovely temperature of 8. Yup that's right single digits people! We've had single digits for the past week, with the occasional foray up to 10 and if we're lucky 12. Not so bad you say, well then just add in some seriously strong, even colder wind on top of those lovely numbers. Then what do you get? An icicle formerly known as Leah and tumble weed in your stair well. Still not so bad? Well then you're hardier then I am.

PS. Check this out.....
Boy or Girl you ask?
We know.
Do you?

November!!!!

2009-12-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

Do you see? Do you see? Look at the title! It says November! Woo Hoo! I'm caught up!

Okay self indulgent moment past, moving on.

November brought what Ben has been looking forward too for quite sometime. His Birthday!!!! Grandma Eucker and Auntie Lyssa came up for the occasion. Unfortunately Grandpa couldn't come, but we skyped him in. The day before Ben's birthday we took him and his cozy coupe down to "cozy coupe road", which is the foot path that runs in between Pullman and Moscow. He had so much fun driving, running and looking for worms that he made himself sick, literally. The next day, Ben's birthday, We took the poor guy up to Spokane to go to Target (his favorite store) and by the time we got there he was running a fever. It was a short trip. After a nap and some "special" applesauce (laced with drugs) he was feeling better though. But, unfortunately for Tyson Ben only took one bit of his brownie "Sodor" cake that Tyson had slaved over the night before. Sigh. Oh well.

November adventures didn't stop after birthday fun. Two days after grandma and auntie left we got snow!! We might be crazy but we like snow in our household. Despite both Ben and I still feeling a little under the weather we just couldn't past up the white goodness. At first Ben wasn't convinced that dressing up like a marshmallow was such a good idea. He got over that pretty darn fast though. There was just enough snow to go sledding! Word to the wise, baking sheets only work so well. A day and a half later the now was gone so we hightailed it to walmart to buy cheap sleds. We're prepared now!

After the snow things were pretty quiet till thanksgiving. We headed up and over the cascades to spend it with my parents. While we were there we got to spend an afternoon with the Howell cousins. This is the only picture I got of them while trying to catch bubbles, but they had a blast. Ben couldn't wait till the school bus dropped off Carver right in front of the house! Those two boys produced wind energy with their enthusiastic waving to each other. As soon as Carver's feet hit the ground he took off at flank speed toward Ben. I would provide pictures of those two playing, but you wouldn't actually be able see them through the blur.

Thanksgiving itself was an adventure. My family and a friends family had volunteered to but on a dinner for the homeless at a local church. We had done this several years in a row a while back, but it's been about six years. A dinner was very lovingly prepared for 75. Five showed up! Apparently the church had discontinued it's regular weekly meals for the homeless so the church was no longer part of the homeless routine. We got a good laugh out of it, enjoyed a good meal, and took home enough left overs for weeks!

Well folks, that's all she wrote....for now. Hope you enjoyed the ride. See you in real time. (Hooray!)

PS. Ben also said good-bye to diapers this month. Finally!

October

2009-12-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

October will be an even slimmer post. No collages even. There was more sickness to be had. The only thing that we did that was even remotely blog worthy was carve a pumpkin or "bumpbin" as Ben calls it. (Apologizes in advance for the ridiculously poor photos. I was playing with the lighting/flash/exposure and never quite got it before the moment was gone.) No we don't even have Halloween pictures. Ben didn't dress up as anything and ending up just staring out the window at all the other kids (yes, I know...sad..) so if there were Halloween pictures they'd only be depressing. But as far as pumpkin carving I'm not sure if Ben knew what to think. I think he tried to find it interesting....

"What IS that stuff?!?!?"

"ewwwwww"

"I think I'll just watch from here thanks....

That's not it dad. It's got to be a little further to the left!"

"Hmmm....you're still not doing it right!"

"Fine just do it yourself then!"

"Hey, that didn't turn out so bad...thanks to me!"

After all was said and done, and everything was a bit cleaner Ben decided he loved "his bumpbin" and was very excited to show it everyone. As long as you could decipher what he was actually talking about.

September....

2009-12-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well September came and went quickly. We checked out a local park and a near by hill at sunset. We decided the park is the best one around and the hill will be a perfect July 4th perch.

Ben and I also spent a week and a bit on the road visiting grandparents, where he got to go to the father and sons camp out with grandpa Eucker. Ben LOVED it, and that's an understatement. He got to ride in grandpa's truck, run around willy nilly in a field, throw balls, eat hot dogs, and see trains. He wasn't a big fan of not sleeping in a bed though. A few minutes after trying to go to sleep Ben told grandpa "lets go home to bed". So they did. Luckily the "camp ground" (it was a local horse farm) was close enough they could go back in the morning and not miss anything. The rest of the visit was spent at the zoo (one of our favorite places) and hanging out in the backyard. We also spent some time with the Davidson grandparents but I managed not to get a single picture of that.

The rest of September.....well.....two words:

SWINE FLU

We're Back (again)! & August

2009-12-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

So we're back from over the cascades and some inexplicable force is compelling me to continue catching you all up from the summer before I can tell you about life now. I don't know why. Like I said inexplicable force. So lets push through and get to December! Besides I've heard from a handful of people that they actually like all the collages. Huh, who'd a thought?

August.....

In August basically two things happened. First being the 2009 Eucker Family Reunion. It was only three days, but boy did we pack it in. We started off by surprising Grandpa with a new DSLR camera for his birthday. We promptly gave him ample opportunity to use it by going to the zoo and Washington Park playground. Of course no childhood would be complete without the obligatory "naked in the bath" pictures....

We followed that eventful day up with one full of playing in another park (what can I say, kids love parks), playing wii, tie-dying shirts, playing in the backyard, and just hanging out....

Really the highlight came on the last day....family pictures....in tie-dye!

As you can see the boys were especially cooperative!

Alright now that you all think I'm insane for thinking that family pictures was the highlight. Here's the REAL highlight.....The 2009 Eucker Family Olympics!

Now that was fun. Grandma made each kid a flag from the country of their choice. Ben represented Canada, of course! The two oldest girlies even made anthems for their countries! Very cute and well written I might add. Events included an obstacle course, ball tossing, and creative driving across the yard. There was even an opening ceremony and medal ceremonies (no closing ceremony, by then attention spans had been lost). And yes the adults also did the obstacle course, but those pictures and video will only be sold to the highest bidder.

Sadly the fun had to come to an end and so did our time in Portland. The second event of this month was moving to Pullman for grad school. Moving is rarely fun, but at least Ben thought the truck was just about the darn coolest thing. He had to explore every inch of it at least a dozen times.

I didn't actually get any pictures of the moving in process. I was too busy, I don't know, moving or something. But I did get a few pictures of our first few adventures. Namely, the annual Lentil Festival Parade, (yes you read that right, lentils) exploring the local arboretum, (where the boys actually were surprisingly cooperative for mom's camera practice) sending Tyson off to his first day of school, (he once again cooperatively stood for 30 seconds for the standard first day of school shot. Too bad it turned out so dark, and small in this collage) and discovering our tub has sprouted a fungus. Oh boy, Pullman's going to be fun!

That's a wrap! (for August)

So long for now....

2009-11-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

So bright and early tomorrow we're off to tackle the cascades. If you don't hear from us by December it means we've decided to become permanent snow people. Have a great Thanksgiving. Remember what it's all about. And it ain't about the turkey.

July

2009-11-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

So if you thought last month had a lot of collages, well sorry to tell you, but you're wrong. This month has A LOT of collages. Remember the warning and proceed with caution.

First off on the agenda for the month of July was, or course, the 4th of July. We celebrated by spending the day at great grandma Schultz's house, watching the neighborhood parade, eating good food, and of course getting kinks in our necks in an attempt to see exploding lights. Being the excellent insightful parents that we are, Tyson and I were positive that Ben would enjoy the fireworks this year. Which I'm sure he did from under the blanket were he insisted on hiding after the first two minutes of the show. I bet he enjoyed the fireworks almost as much as he liked the little green frog that came over to visit that night.

Okay so really he hated the fireworks. In fact it took a whole week at the high end spa and resort Maison de Davidson for him to recover. His recuperation activities included...perfecting his tractor driving techniques, water aerobics with masters Jeremy and Monica, grueling endurance (for his mother) hikes, introducing Onion to the finer points of literature, cruising down the strip on a scooter, and of course giving the owners of Maison de Davidson pointers on how to improve their establishment (what can I say, he's a fan of head cutouts). He even found time to volunteered his translation skills on a phone call to Auntie Dubai! Meanwhile his mother, recognizing that besides the hike her services were not need (or indeed wanted), she took off to the far corners of King County shooting pictures with grandpa. And yes those are real dogs.

Enough with the fun stuff, on to more serious matters. Annie and Aaron's wedding. Following are the bulk of collages for this post; and since wedding photos tend to be rather self explanatory, without further ado....

The Pre-Party
(a.k.a. the relaxed "come hang out" version of rehearsal dinner)

The Prep

(a.k.a. hours and hours of digging, shoveling, chopping, shopping, cooking, sewing, planning, and primping)

The Ceremony
(a.k.a. the ceremony)
The Official Photos
(a.k.a. as official as they get when it's the sister learning on the job)
The Party
(a.k.a. the super cool, butt kickin' "reception" that included Guitar Hero, a blow up obstacle course, a beach and a samurai sword for cake cutting)

And that's the end of a great event! But not the end of the adventure. Right after the wedding, with barely a moment to breath, off we whirled to Canada (sans daddy, curses on the need to work). Now that was an adventure. This is all we jammed into that week....

...over 24 hours in the car, hiking to the horses, playing with grandma and grandpa Redd, riding with Uncle Dave, skipping rocks, catching grasshoppers, bumper boats, golf, giant maze, dancing in the rain, Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, old Idaho mission, run away flip flop catching, an abandoned maze tour, bear watching, a cousins wedding, A&A's wedding dinner with the Redds, buffalo burgers, pizzas and cream, America's Most Interesting Museum, playing with cousins old and new..... oh and sleeping somewhere in there.

Well that covers all the major events, but just for fun here's some other random photos.

And that's July!

PS. If you click on the collages they'll actually get big enough where you can see those ity bitty pictures.

June

2009-11-16T09:04:00.001-08:00

****WARNING: the next several posts will have a plethora of picture collages. Those who chose to continue should proceed with caution. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with the cuteness/sillyness/greatness of the colleges stop reading immediately and come visit us!****

June. Now you all remember June. It's that month that happened awhile ago that's smack in the middle of the year. Nope not that one flip one more calendar page. There you go. That's June, and that's just how long I've been remiss with this blog. Yes I am hanging my head in shame. But moving on. This was our June........

We moved out of our little place, into the parentals big place
Leah went on an overnight to the beach, without any kids in sight!
Went on a reconnaissance mission with mom and Joann to check our where we'll be spending the next 5-6 years of our lives. This is what we found...

hmmm....this will be an adventure

Of course the most important event was attending our niece Lydia's baptism! It was a wonderful weekend trip. The whole Eucker clan drove up on Saturday morning to spend the day with Lydia and her family. The first half of the day was spent at the farmer's market, or more accurately the playground located next to the farmer's market.

Much fun was had. I mean come on. You have cousins, puddles, and an old kick ball all in the same place and fun is inevitable. Of course the best part was the baptism it's self. If was wonderful to be there and support Lydia. She looked beautiful and happy. We are so proud of her!

We tried hard to teach Ben about baptism before we went. We thought we were doing good till that night when his prayers went something like this..."thank you for going to Lydia's baptism, her sins washed away, and Ben's sins washed away...sad!" hmmm...well I guess we'll have to put a little more emphasis on the "this is a good thing" part.

This great weekend was capped off with an overnight stay with the Davidson grandparents, where we got even more playing time in and a formal introduction to the newly painted kitchen.

Nina had brought home a little jumper for Ben from her trip to France. Sunday morning Ben and Grandma had to have a serious conversation about how to avoid the embarrassment of having matching outfits.

Sunday afternoon we discovered how much Ben likes corn on the cob. He "helped" Uncle Onion shuck the corn by bringing each ear inside to grandma. Of course by the time each ear made the trip from the porch to the kitchen a Ben sized bite was missing from each and every one. We're lucky they weren't cooked yet or else he probably would have gone ahead and finished 'em all off.

All in all it was a weekend very well spent. I think Ben thought so too, maybe, I don't really know. This is all we could get out of him almost all the way home....

Well that about wraps up June. Of course there was all sorts of playing, messes, and memories besides these but that would take a novel. However, just in case you're not overwhelmed yet and stopped reading to come visit us here's one more collage from June. Hopefully that will push you over the edge.

Off the edge

2009-11-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

I know, I know! You've all been wondering if we've fallen off the face of the planet or something. Well we haven't. At least not yet. We're hanging on by a couple fingernails....

drat...

I broke a nail.

Alright one fingernail, but we're still here. I even plan on trying to catch up on the last several months in the coming days. At least, that's the plan. In the meantime however, since I know the person you've really missed is Mr. Benjamin....

Some of you may remember this. Ben was seven months old. This is the first and only time he's ever fallen asleep other then actual nap times.

At least until a week ago....

We wondered when energizer boy would run out of steam. I guess it takes about three years or... it always seems to be at meal times. Maybe he's trying to tell me something about my cooking, or lack of....

either way, good to know.

For Aunite and Uncle Dubai

2009-11-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

He loves them! It was the perfect thing. He spent a solid hour reading them before we pried him away for dinner. Which is definitely saying something. Even his favorite toys he'll only play with for maybe 20 minutes before moving on to something else. Thank you!

Wonderful Wedding

2009-07-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

So I know it's been just shy of forever since I've posted anything. Someday I'll catch up, but right now I'm posting pictures of Annie and Aaron's gloriously fun wedding. I figure if I don't do it right now I won't do it till after many more adventures and thereby incure the wrath of way too many family and friends. Of course I'm on the road so all the following pictures are SOOC (straight out of camer). They'll look better after some time in the digital darkroom. Enjoy!

PS. Because of some computer issues I could only post a few. Sorry!

Seriously good giggles!

2009-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

So this is kind of a long clip, but I promise it's worth it. We were visiting bop bop and gum gum one Sunday afternoon and Ben discovered a box of pop-its in the game cupboard. We couldn't resist, we had to show him. He LOVED them! It takes him a little while to really get giggling, but just wait....it's the best sound in the world.

Dude, what's with that?

2009-05-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

So waaaaayyy back in April my family came to visit. Well my family are foodies, which we love, because we get to eat stuff other then mac and cheese when they come to town; which also means leftovers. Yum! We're usually pretty good at eating everything before it goes bad, but every once in awhile things meet the trash can. Well this was going to be the case with this tomato, but then I noticed a small hard bump just under the skin. Me being me I grabed a fork to puncture the skin and see what it was. This is it....

I don't know about you, but I've never seen a tomato sprout before. Weird.

Simple Prayers....

2009-05-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

There is perhaps nothing sweeter than the simple prayers of children. But you know sometimes you just really have to laugh. Especially when they, with all the sincerity the little guys can muster, thank Heavenly Father for "the buttons on the piano".

Two Mothers......

2009-05-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

I re-wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote this post, but it always came across cheesy. All I wanted to do was show my two beautiful moms and say how great they are and how much I love them. So here they are..... (I know that Ben is a little distracting, but with Ben is the only times they'll actually let me take their picture)

Aren't they beautiful!
They are great and I love them tons!

Someday

2009-05-07T15:31:00.001-07:00

I know that someday, altogether too soon, I will miss this. I will miss rows of cars carefully lined up all over the house. I will miss calls of "mommeee" at too early o'clock in the morning. I will miss that stubborn little face staring at me in cute defiance. And I will miss miniaturized crocs found in groups in the middle of the floor. Sometimes though I have to remind myself of this and enjoy it while it lasts.

New Boxes

2009-05-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were wondering where Ben's box was in the previous post. Here it is...

...or maybe this is it...

...you choose.

(Hurray for pictures back!)

Moving...

2009-05-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted the last few days because our computer has reached the "possible imminent death" stage, and I've got some pictures and video I really wanted to post so I thought I'd just wait till we could get another computer up and running and transfer all the important files (aka cute Ben's pics) over to the new beast. Well I was told that I needed to post something and I should just draw pictures. That was an excellent idea, until I realized I had no way to scan in a picture either. So here on Tyson's school laptop I pulled up good old Microsoft paint and did my best. Voila! My masterpiece (Monica I expect a post on Alberti's Window analyzing the brilliance of this piece)!

It's entitled "Moving Boxes" and is supposed to channel my paranoia of death from falling boxes. It's also basically what our humble abode looks like at the moment; stick figure and all. So if you don't hear from me in awhile send a rescue squad. I'll be under a pile of boxes!

My Sweetheart

2009-04-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweetheart's birthday (yeah!). He's getting old. He forgets his age, his phone number easily escapes his grasp, and he's getting gray hairs in his "beard". Yet he can still spout off more details then you knew existed about almost any event in history, he actually knows the answers to all the rhetorical questions people ask, and he can learn anything in ten seconds flat! He thrives on learning and discovery. A science geek through and through. But that's only what you all get to see. I get to see the part that does the dishes I've left in the sink, the side that lets me sleep in even though I know he's just as exhausted, the side that everyday chooses to spend his time doing things I know he'd rather not just because it makes me smile. What can I say, I'm madly in love with him gray hairs and all. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

hmmm...not so much

2009-04-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

So kinda funny story. Yesterday while working on a quilt I decided that I just had to make a skirt. I have this one knit skirt that I just LOVE. I'd wear it everyday in the summer if my kid didn't render that impossible within the first five minutes of the day. So I decided I need to make more. The picture in my head goes something like this...nice simple black knit circle skirt with appliqued red flowers. Well as you can see from the picture (don't look to close, it's really not that flattering) there are no flowers; and here's why. I've never made a skirt in my life, nor have I ever worked with knits before. What made me think I could do this I don't know, probably insanity. It started out okay. I pulled out my favorite skirt (or as I like to call it, my lollipop skirt), used it as a pattern and just started cutting and sewing. Well, it doesn't fit quite right, due to a cutting error, but I at least know how to fix that part, and I wished every other minute that I had a serger, but what gets me is that I couldn't for the life of my hem the darn thing. Is there some secret chant you need to know in order to hem knit? At first I thought that it was the curve of the bottom that was giving me problems. After unpicking the hem twice I decided to just cut it off and have a straight hem. Well I couldn't hem that either, not to mention the fact that apparently I can't cut straight and the hem had a couple "peaks" to it. (Luckily that doesn't show too much.) So way too many hours later, most of which was spent unpicking, which is probably my least favorite activity in the world, I had a skirt that I couldn't hem, didn't fit right and really is basically see through. Sigh. I tried. My dear husband made it a little better with his suggestion of lining it with a fun color and then making those "peaks" more prominent, so it looks like it's on purpose. Which is a great idea, if only I knew how to line things. So really the up shot of all this is 1) I need serious help in the knit department. 2) I should think before I cut. 3) That picture is one I'll stash away and never show anyone ever again. And.. 4) This would be a lot easier if I had a serger. Anybody know where I can find a cheap one, or someone want to donate to my pathetic cause?

PS. Sorry for the long, rambling post. As you can see I have yet to make peace with the skirt. Maybe tomorrow.

Just for Steve

2009-04-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

So this post is dedicated to our friend Steve, the Lichen King. Whenever we see lichen one of us inevitably mentions Steve. Last summer up in Canada we saw this specimen and decided to take pictures. We had grand plans to make the pictures into a card and send it to him. We even composed a cheesy, poorly written poem for the inside. Well Steve here's your card in electronic form.

"Thinking of you"

When ever we see a colorful rock
We are filled with a powerful shock

We think of Steve and what he would say
"Why that's a Petraphillaorangea!"

Over the River and through the woods.....

2009-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Okay so we didn't go to Gum Gum's (Grandma), but she did come here, along with Bop Bop (Grandpa) and Uncle Onion (Uncle William)! It was a blast! Here our the highlights of their extended weekend visit.....

Of course there was a visit to the train...ah...I mean Zoo.

Reading with Onion and Gum Gum (not pictured)

Playing "hide and seek" Ben style.

Ridiculous looking donuts.
(Yes that is actually bacon on that maple bar)

And last but certainly not least...techno dancing.
Fortunately for all of you what you don't see in this video is that all of us were enlisted to join in the fun, including the flops. But the sight of us all jiggling around would have probably scarred you for life. Consider yourselves saved.

All together a wonderful, but too short few days. Full of good food, good fun, and great family! We even got to video chat with Annie and Aaron, who have now been dubbed Auntie and Uncle Dubai. We only wish Nina could have had some part in it. Maybe next time!

Change is good?

2009-04-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I decided to change things up a bit with the color/layout. Take the poll over on the left and tell me what you think!

Try and try again....

2009-04-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

Like so many red blooded half American parents we got Ben a cute new outfit to wear on Easter Sunday. Also like so many red blooded half American parents we wanted to get a picture of him in his cute new sweater vest outfit. Well like any red blooded half Canadian two year old Ben didn't quite agree, but we tried.....and we tried....and we tried......

....this is the best one we got!

Happy Easter! We wish you all the spirit of the Lord in your lives. He Lives!! And He will come again.

Naked Noodles

2009-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

We have a long standing tradition in our house of "naked noodles". It originated when a set of new parents realized that it was just easier to strip their children down to diapers then to attempt to revive an outfit after a spaghetti sauce ambush. Below is a clip of a local "naked noodles" expert explaining the intricacies of this superb dish. However the interview is in benglish and we have yet to find a translator. Our apologies.

In the jungle.....

2009-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

Ben's been begging to "go zoo". We've been super busy, and the weather hasn't been all that, but we were finally able to go on saturday. Ben adores the zoo! He loves that train and the fact that he's got so much space to move. He's such a runner that we had to get one of those kid "leashes" so we wouldn't loose him. Luckily the monkey is his pal and hangs onto his epi-pen for him. So for those far away, especially Auntie Annie, here's our day at the zoo.

We're Friends

2009-03-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

Today Ben and I were sitting on the kitchen floor drinking our cups of water. He looked at me with such sweet earnestness and said "Friends, We're friends mommy." I live for moments like those.

We're cougars (again)!

2009-03-19T16:37:00.001-07:00

Last week Tyson was accepted to WSU's School of Molecular Biosciences to pursue a Ph.D. After much thought and prayer we have decided to accept the offer. We are beyond excited! Of course we are also sad that we'll be leaving behind family and friends here in beautiful Portland. But a new adventure awaits!

Meet Green!

2009-03-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of our family. If you ask Ben he'll say his name is Green. He's soft, comfy, and smells like febreze. Meet Green....

Of course before being fully accepted as a member of the family Green was subject to some rigorous testing provided by our in house expert.

Test #1: Check out that leg action!

Test #2: Are you Dizzy yet?

Green pasted with flying colors.

I know it seems really silly. But I am super excited to finally have a rocking chair. Especially this one. It reminds me of the chairs at my grandma's house.

Big Boy Bed-ish

2009-03-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ben has finally decided to take matters into his own hands and climb in and out of his crib. We being somewhat responsible parents, of course responded by taking the side off his crib to give him a "big boy bed". He LOVED being able to get in and out so easily. In fact he was so excited that he would frequently race over to his bed to get in it, forget to put on the breaks and crash right into the side. By the end of the day he had a good half dozen bruises on his shins. Of course he still couldn't get over the fact that it's still so darn fun to climb into the crib.

(He was trying to retrieve a lost toy)

Of course we were interested to see how this first night of freedom would play out. How many times we'd have to put him back in bed, how long it would take for him to fall asleep, and how many toys would he be sleeping with by morning. So this is how it went.....

Pre-bath time and tickled pink with his "new" bed.

All tucked in and pleased as punch.

We said good-night, turned off the lights, closed the door and waited.......and waited......and waited. 8:30....9:00....9:30....not so much as a peep. At 10:30 we decided to check.

Dead to the world.

We did our parental duty and moved him back into bed. He barely noticed. Silence the rest of the night. A little later....

...still in bed and still sound asleep.

In the morning it was same old, same old. Despite the new found freedom he sat on his bed and called us "dadddeee come back!!!" "mommee big hugs" till we came to get him. All together an overwhelming success. What can I say, he's well trained.

Up and at em'!

Happy Birthday Onion!

2009-03-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

So it's my little brother's birthday today. He's affectionately known as onion, and not because of his aroma (he actually smells quite lovely for a teenage boy), but because that's what it sounded like when Ben tried to say William. Now he'll be stuck as Uncle Onion. I think it has a nice ring to it. I asked Ben if he wanted to sing happy birthday with me. I was doubtful, but he joined right in. Without further ado EUtopia Productions presents...Sir Benjamin the Small singing his version of happy birthday! (Accompanied by his not so vocally talented mom.)

Like father, like son.

2009-03-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

There's not really anything interesting to say about this picture. I just love it so much I had to share. Ben is definitely a daddy's boy.

Just gas...

2009-03-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Ben is obsessed with gas as of late. Whenever he's smelling a bit fishy and we ask him if he needs a diaper change he nonchalantly states "gas, just gas". Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's not. Well the other night at Young Women's (I get to work with the youth or our church), during a particular quiet moment he let out such flatulence you'd have never though it had come our of a pint sized person. It of course sent the girls into hysterics, which only increased when Ben looked at me and informed me, with a knowing look, that it was "just gas". I have included a sample below.

For the Aunties

2009-02-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

Ben wanted to say hi to his far away aunties. He expects all aunties to dance when instructed and hug on cue.

Ode to Carver (and his parents)

2009-02-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

I have an awesome nephew. His name is Carver. He has a blond buzz cut hair, an angelic face, and a smile that's contagious. He runs and giggles with more abandon then I've ever seen. He watches and concentrates so hard you can practically see the wheels turning behind his big eyes. He talks to you with his hands as well as his words. He eats hearty and hugs with all his heart. He loves his sisters. He also has sensory processing disorder. But I love him. Few know what SPD is, and most will never know. Unfortunately I'm sure there will be some in his life that will laugh at his expense because he is "different". I'm also sure that more will recognize his worth. But for now he's in the most capable hands I can imagine. I watch how his mom and dad calm, teach, and love this boy. I am overwhelmed with respect. I know that there are many frustrations, mistakes and tears mingled with the triumphs. But I also know that he could not have been placed in a better home, in better hands then he is now. Rachael, Derek, and Carver, I love you. I admire you.

Grapefruit

2009-02-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

We splurged on a bag on grapefruit today. It's quite possibly my favorite fruit. I brought it home, pulled out my fabulous red bowl, which I love, stuck them in it in no particular order, and voila! The kitchen smells like grapefruit, the dinning room smells like grapefruit. It's happiness in a bowl.

Thoughts on Internet

2009-02-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

You know I was so excited to get the internet back, and I still am, but at the same time I'm glad that we had a little hiatus from the web. It put a lot of things in perspective. Without the internet, or indeed a radio or TV, for all intents and purposes we were cut off from the normal flow of outside information. We had to fall back on the old standards of phone books, maps, and libraries to find what we needed. And keeping up with family and friends became nearly impossible. (Especially since we didn't have long distance and I'm a horrible letter writer,which is a little ironic because receiving snail mail is just about my favorite thing in the whole world.) We lost contact with too many good friends and fell behind with important family information. But despite all that I actually enjoyed (most of the time) not have the constant connection. It was nice knowing that every little piece of information or media that came into our home was under our control. There was no junk mail, viruses, or crude material that could bombard you at the push of a button. We were oblivious of the latest crazes, gossip, or news, and found that 99% of the time we weren't missing much. Hours of our day weren't being sucked up in mindless browsing and window shopping. We found that we had more time to read a good book, clean the house, work on hobbies, and stare out the window at our beautiful world. But really we found that we had more time and room for each other and the Lord. Over the past year our home has become more spiritual, more of a sanctuary, and indeed more of a heaven on earth. I do not doubt that there were many reasons for this, but I am positive that not having the internet was a big part. The world had been put on hold. So even though I am thankful beyond words to be once again connected with those I love, I am grateful that for a brief moment in time the world went on without us, while we discovered a little bit more of the Lord and what really matters.

Curent Covet

2009-02-19T16:47:00.000-08:00

For all those that don't already know (maybe two of you) I LOVE and collect giraffes. I don't really know why. I just think they are beautiful, amazing creatures. So I just thought I'd share my obsession with my current covet. These are measuring spoons. How awesome (and a little useless) is that!! I tell you what if I had $30 bucks to spare I would buy both sets!

So you think you can dance?

2009-02-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

I love being a mom! This is Ben's current favorite song. Which of course translates into hours and hours of repetitive listening and dancing. At least it's good exercise.

Year in Review

2009-02-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

Seeing as we've been off line for WAY too long, there's been several request for some pictures of Ben in retrospect. So...ta da! The above collage. These of course are just a minor sample of our favorites. Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)

Dr. Suess Art Work

2009-02-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

For some reason I really love this piece of art. It totally belongs in Whoville. The artist would also fit in in Whoville, but I'd miss him too much. Anybody else have Seuss Art?

Glamour Shot

2009-02-11T14:35:00.001-08:00

So in the relatively recent past I decided to chop my hair off. A lot. About a foot and a half. I went for the "pixie" cut. Which I just love! I shower, towel dry and viola. Great hair. My absolute favorite part however is the spectacular bed head.

Homemade Spectacular

2009-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

So I have to admit I read this on my sister's blog and before I even made it to the bottom I thought "woah something made by Rachael! Totally on that wagon!" and immediately signed up. Of course it was after the sign up that I read the catch. So here it is, as promised, by the legally binding comment I posted on Rachael's site. I have to say though. I'm pretty creatively weird so sign up fast! It will be great.

okay so the first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you.my choice.made especially for you.of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 i make no guarantees that you will like what i make!

2 what i create will be just for you.

3 it will be done sometime this year.

4 you have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque.i may draw or paint something. i may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, that's for sure.

5 i reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

the catch? oh the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog.the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

Favorite Things

2009-02-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that one of my favorite things are these little feet. I'm sitting here at the computer freezing cold (can't afford heat), hungry (too lazy to move), with Ben cranky and sick in his room. Not napping I might add. Altogether not one of my happier moments, yet this picture gets me every time. A sweet little reminder that although I might want to return him to the store were we got him from at the moment, it is just a moment.

We Blog

2009-02-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

The Ruler of EUtopia has deemed it fit to establish this blog that we may chronicle the proceedings of our kingdom.