a happy christmas

i'm sure tons of things have happened since my last blog post but i really want to keep this one short before i forget what it was i wanted to write down. i'll start off with makayah. as diva-ish as she is, she can be so sweet and so cuddly. during bedtime, i usually read a story and sing a couple songs for the kids before i turn off the light. but this night, makayah held me tight around my neck, kissed my nose and said, "i wuff oo!" then she crinkles her nose and gives me her shy, cheesy smile. she melts my heart. :) her new thing lately though, is doing everything on her own! it's kinda driving me nuts. just tonight, i was trying to help her put her jammies on and she turned away and yelled out, "NO! I DEED EET!" meaning, "i'll do it." and she'll say that with just about everything from feeding herself to dressing and undressing. oh boy.. anyway, this christmas we got our christmas lights out a little late, seeing as we just got back from arizona, and sam just finished with his LSAT. however late a start we got, we did get them out and i had isaiah and makayah help me out. isaiah helped string the lights around our two pathetically tiny shrubs, makayah helped me plug in the lights, and taadaa! isaiah breathed in ever so carefully and said, "mom, it's beautiful. this is gonna be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" the night before christmas eve, we heard a knock on our door. it was our bishop from our boundary ward. he looked down at isaiah and makayah and said, "we heard you were good kids this year so santa wanted to stop by and visit!" both isaiah and makayah (wide-eyed and oh-so excited) ran out without any shoes on. i grabbed them both and slid on their boots and slipped on their coats, i swear it was like trying to dress up wind-up toys. they ran out in the snow said hello to santa, took a quick pic, and happily took their treat inside. makayah wasn't so sure about the picture taking part and having to sit on his lap. she screamed but once she got her goodies, all was well once again. on christmas eve, we shook things up a bit by going out to our friend's home for dinner. when we got there, tarzan's mom asked isaiah, "where's my hug?" isaiah gave her a puzzled look, shrugged, and said, "i don't have it!" and ran away to play with his good friend tarzan. after a yummy meal and lots of laughs, we headed home. we had soooo much to do. we had the kids put out christmas coke and cookies for santa and we all hung up our stockings...then off to bed for the little ones. sam and i raced around to locate and wrap the gifts, fix the tree that the cat had destroyed and knocked over, tidy up the house, and hung up all the leftover christmas lights we could find...ALL OVER. and just before i was about to turn in at 2:30 in the morning, sam yelled at me to come outside. i went out, and we watched a red fox walking up our street. the snow was falling and everything was aglow from the white wintery reflections. it was heavenly. we were hoping to be able to sleep in, but at 5am, the kids were up. "WOW! SANTA CAME!" "LIGH! - LIGH!" i somehow managed to corral them into our bed and we all slept until 7:30. it was snowing when we woke up, and the house was glowing with twinkle lights, and the kids couldn't be more happy. christmas is always so much more fun with kids. we hung out and watched a couple movies, went sledding, and had our christmas ham. it really was the best christmas ever. :)

frogs say 'mugub' and pirates say 'arg!'

i was walking down the hallway one morning when isaiah came into my path and said, "mom, frogs say 'mugub'." actually honey, i think they say 'ribbit.' "no mom, you're wrong. frogs say 'mugub'" my bad, who knew? now that isaiah is four years old, he's discovered a whole new range of intelligence and independence that was just waiting to burst forth. and now a year older, i guess he feels he can. he used to bring me his 'woogly' clothing items - socks or shirts that were turned inside out - and he'd say, "mom, can you fix this, it's woogly." the day after his birthday he brought out a t-shirt and said, "mom, this is woogly, i can't fix it!" 'isaiah, you're four years old now. four year olds can fix woogly things by turning them right side out. try it.' and so he did. and after a couple minutes, taadaa! "mom, i did it! i did it 'cause now i'm four and i can turn things outside in!" no hon, right side out. "oh." anyway, i tried something different this year. i actually invited more than just two people over for his birthday! its not that he didn't have very many friends last year...but more because, i really didn't want to deal with 10 screaming children running amock in my house. BUT, i felt a little braver and bolder this year, or maybe just suicidal. whatever it was, i really wanted isaiah to have a great birthday party. he thrives on playdates and any excuse to get together with friends and make new ones. so, the theme was pirates. isaiah and i made the invites with constant reminders, "don't forget my friend....so and so, and so and so." the list ended up to be about 12 kiddos long. oh boy. as expected, there were lots of laughs, some tears and squabbles, and a yummy pirate ship cake to smooth everything over. whew! i'm just glad sam was there to keep everyone in line. in the end, isaiah loved it all; his face beamed when he saw the balloons and streamers, jumped up and down when he saw the pirate party hats, and i think the icing on the cake was his absolute favorite. what can i say? i love making my son happy. :)

Who is "cool" and who is not

So in our efforts to be cool, involved parents Monika and I dressed up this year for halloween...actually she always dresses up, it is me who decided to be cool and involved and this is the result of that effort. My brother and I dressed up like one of our favorite movie characters of all time, can you guess who? We went to the ward party dressed like we are in this picture and it became immediately clear who was cool and who was not. Those who asked who or what we were supposed to be were not cool, those who yelled from across the gymnasium "FREEEEEEEEEDDDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!" were. So to all you cool cats out there thanks for being "cool" and for all those un-cool people, keep trying and watch some more rated R movies! PEACE!

little big mouth and tricky treaters...

so i think i'm almost two weeks behind with this. oh well. i know i've been promising the grandparents a view of the halloween pictures. i told isaiah and makayah we'd have to take pictures before we went out trick-or-treating. isaiah sighed and rolled his eyes, "sorry mom, but that's not a good idea." oh really? that's his new thing to say these days. "mom, that's a bad idea." tough luck, kid. ;) they were so excited to get dressed up my little princess... and my ninja turtle! we took the kids out for about an hour. they ran from house to house, bubbling with excitement. CANDY!!! isaiah would forget to say "trick or treat." lucky for him, makayah was there, "TREAT!" the unsuspecting treat givers would crouch down with their bowlfuls of candy, and makayah couldn't wait. she'd stick her tiny hands in and grab handfuls of junk. oopsie. we'd tried to prompt some sort of politeness, but all isaiah could say was, "NEXT HOUSE!" at least makayah gave her version of thanks, "taynt too!" with two pumpkin-full bags of loot, we were on our way home. anyway, it was my first time on the halloween trek. usually i'm the one to stay home and pass out candy. i'm so glad i went, i loved it and we all had so much fun together.

Change has come to America

Why the Crowfoots voted for Barack Obama

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/33211544.html

A family music video by Sam

Here is a video I made using imovie, I was just kind of goofing around with it, take a look, tell me what you think? The artist is M.I.A. and we got into her when we were in Europe.

let it be..

Isaiah has two moods: happy and whining - but mostly he's a happy kid. I stumbled upon isaiah playing with his "guys." i asked him what was going on and he said," this bad guy is in jail with his pet dinosaur." we finally bought makayah a pair of silky pajamas so she'd stay out of our drawers. she loves wearing these and will pose for us every time she puts them on. ready for winter! now, here's the top five: 1) we were all hanging out, munching on a bowl of grapes. isaiah took a small cluster and when he was done and the stem bare, he began to fling it to and fro, walking towards the staircase.he poked his head through the banister and flung his empty stem down towards the first floor. sam yelled out, "hey!" isaiah jerked his head around and stood frozen to the spot..."uh, oh." sam continued, "did you just throw the stem downstairs?" isaiah panicked and looked side to side, i'm sure he was trying to find the best escape route, and then he stammered, "no dad, it was a helicopter." sam stood up, "if i check and its not a helicopter..." isaiah threw his arms and legs out making a little x with his body, blocking the entrance to the stairway, "no dad! don't check!" sam stomped closer and closer, isaiah's eyes widening with each step. when he got within two feet of isaiah, isaiah made a run for it! he scurried down the hallway, ran into the safe haven of his room and slammed the door. sam didn't check, for all we know, it very well could've been a helicopter to him...but we did have a good laugh. 2) storytime began as it always does at the provo city library, with a magic genie puppet and a theme for the day. on this particular day, the theme just happened to be stop and go. the "teacher" as isaiah likes to call her, brought out a visual aid - a stop sign. isaiah who had pushed hisway through the chaotic crowd of kids, was of course, front and center - and very much smashed into the "teacher's" personal space. the "teacher held up the stop sign and asked the noisy bunch what the sign was. isaiah jumped up and down and yelled, "its an OCTAGON!" the "teacher", wide-eyed, looked at her assistant and whispered, "wow, what a smart kid!" now, i'd like to take credit for that, but i do not have any recollection of ever talking about octagons...who knows?? the first time i ever heard him speak of octagons was when he was in the kitchen helping me with dinner. he looked down at our chicken-wire patterned linoleum and said, "hey mom, there's octagons on the floor!" i don't know where he gets this stuff. :) 3) i suppose i can't leave out miss sassy pants. so, the sweet before the sour. she has learned to say prayers and it is so fun to hear her try to talk and try to pronounce things. if there is a word she can't say, she'll babble out something incoherent. that reminds me of a video i just took of her. we returned from the grocery store with a carton of yogurt. she loves yogurt and was trying to tell me she wanted some. i asked her what she wanted and it was so intense and growling, "grhugorwt!" it really sounded nothing like yogurt. lol. i'll have to post the video it was hilarious. 4) for some time now, makayah has taken to raiding my closet and makeup drawers. first she'll head toward my shoe rack, grab the pink heels, wrap a silky scarf around her neck, pull her purse up on her shoulders and wobble her way to the front door looking back over her shoulder, "Bye! Bye mom!" 5) But mostly she loves to make messes. we'd just returned from the grocery store and we brought in the groceries. as i left to get the second load of stuff, makayah had managed to open a carton of eggs and began splattering them across the kitchen floor. isaiah ran out to me, "mom! she's making a mess!!" a similar disastrous event involved yogurt. i got one small carton out for each of them, left for a second, and when i came back i found makayah had dumped her yogurt all over the floor and was now lapping it up on her hands and knees like a hungry kitten. all these events popped up into my head when i listened to president monson's talk during general conference. sure, it may not be the most fun to spend the afternoon wiping up slimy raw egg, or slimy yogurt up off the floor. and it does drive me crazy when isaiah gets into one of his whining moods or when makayah screams her lungs out to get our attention. but someday, i won't hear the sound of little boy's play-fighting noises, or new words being uttered and practiced. i know i will miss hearing their feet thud down the hallway, miss holding their little bodies during storytime, miss their tiny hands wrapped around my pinky. already, the evidence of isaiah's tall and heavy body is bittersweet, but its comforting that he still likes to snuggle. :) so, i cherish the moment, as president monson so wisely instructed, lucky for me, they are still so little. :) so bring on the dirty laundry, the sticky floors, and the smelly diapers, because a mommy is what i was meant to be.

Mama's Little Helpers

my excuse for not writing in a while...my kids have been driving me nuts. i feel like i've been running an endless race and have realized i've been going about things all wrong. but before i go on, the stories must be told because they are quite funny in retrospect. so here it is: for the past few months, makayah has forced me to take the role of cinderella. like there's not enough work for me to do already. i'm not sure if she intentionally destroys things to prove some point to me, or if she is just plain curious, "will the sticky, slimy, strawberry yogurt taste better if i lick it from my hair, or if i lick it off the kitchen floor?" what better way than to actually do it! next up, "lets splatter a carton of raw eggs on the floor, one by one - here and there, so there's less groceries for mommy to put away." great helper, right? but my favorite was when she and isaiah woke up especially early one morning, snatched a muffin, scuttled her way into our bedroom and sprinkled her muffin all along the side of our bed. thanks, babe. isaiah, my firstborn - and therefore far easier to train, is vigorously against mess-making and quietly ate his muffin at the kitchen table. makayah, i've noticed, is all about the attention-grabber. whatever it takes, from biting her brother to strutting around in princess dresses, sunglasses, and mommy's high heels. on the other hand, isaiah has taken a less-destructive, but equally annoying approach to getting our attention. his tactic - the whine coupled with fake crying. good grief! between the two, i'm just counting down until bedtime! but i have to admit, that both isaiah and makayah have provided great comic relief throughout the day, and i just can't stay mad.

Thank goodness for ECE

first off, i really love sam's creative design he's brought to the blog. i never had the time or patience to dilly dally with this spread or that song...and thankfully sam is great at it. with his greater interest and increased input, i've had more time to devote to some other pressing matters...like raising my kids! :) i've been feeling a little crazed lately and i don't think it has anything to do with the weather change, but more to do with the fact that makayah loves to dump her yogurt on the floor just to hear the squishy, splashy sound it makes. anyway, i've noticed that i tend to have times when i'm completely focused on my children and all my energy goes into being involved in their daily activities, and then things turn slightly and the backyardigans become my babysitter once again. lately, i've felt a little lost without a color-coded schedule on tacked onto the door of my fridge - yes, i'm a little ocd. BUT, it does help calm the nerves and create a more organized and productive feeling throughout the day. and i need that. the past couple of months being an early childhood educator, i know what i am supposed to do to really get the most out of this young age-hands on, age-appropriate activities. however as a full-time mother, sometimes you just need a break! so i will say, i do appreciate the television in MODERATION. the struggle is trying to find the right balance of actively being involved and taking that much needed break once in a while to work on non-household projects and hobbies. so once again, i've created an updated schedule to help me keep this balance and prevent me from falling into my uphill/downhill cycles. i finally broke out my preschool lesson plans from my byu preschool teaching days. and i think it may be helpful to some of you mommies who, especially during the winter, are scrambling for activities. here is the basic schedule and you can cut and paste where you like to fit your needs. every good and productive schedule needs to have an underlying theme to create a solid foundation. you can either ask you child what he/she is most interested in learning about, or if you child is too young to give you an answer, you can decide. since it happens to be the month of october, and the fact that isaiah is crazy about pumpkins, pumpkins it was. with the project approach, it is important to remember to include your theme into your hands-on activities. Theme for the Month: Pumpkins Monday:Art/Creative Focus Tuesday: Emergent Literacy Focus (Reading/Writing - for pre-preschool children it usually tends to focus on a letter of the alphabet or the letters in his/her name) Wednesday: Math and Science Focus Thursday: Library Day and Picnic/Playground Day Friday: Music Focus AND Movie and Popcorn Day This is a very general schedule intended to be flexible enough for the various families out there. however, i do have more detailed activities such as our "morning wake-up stretch", circle time, and accompanying story-time activities if you are interested. the hands-on themed activities are usually very simple, so keep that in mind. you don't have to wear your brain out trying to think of things to do. a simple nature walk with your child, noticing the changing colors of leaves, or crayon rubbings of various textures will suffice.

Ladies of our life

isaiahisms

we decided to head up to the parking lot just below the "Y" and have a picnic dinner. we drove in and parked among the throngs of college students "hanging" out there. as soon as we find our spot and begin to enjoy our amazing view of utah valley, isaiah proudly announces, "dad, i have to go potty - pee, dad." groan. we just got here. so dad says, "well, lets turn around and go home" (a 5 second drive). isaiah replies, "no dad, i'll just go here and find a bush." chuckle, chuckle. "isaiah, you can't go pee here because there are too many people around." isaiah thinks for a moment and says, "dad, i don't care - they can't stop me."

Led Zeppelin, GnR, and us guys - Together Forever

I guess since the blog is titled, "The Crazy Crowfoots" I should include more tidbits about my family and not have it be all about me, me, me. So in other news Isaiah has really taken a shine to heavy metal music. Now before I continue I would like to point out that I have introduced him to various genres of music and in no way shape or form have I favored one over the other. Pavoratti and Salt-N-Peppa, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. Blacklodge singers and Blackstreet, Janice Kapp Perry and .....well actually Janice Kapp Perry was all Monika but you get the picture. As early as last year my then 2 -almost-3-year old son knew Bob Marley Songs by heart and would come into our room early in the AM and sing, "get up, stand up...stand up for your right!" However he also knows primary songs by heart and many other things......now that I think of it, he can quote movies ("Party on Wayne......), memorize story books, imitate people (me) and throw a ball like a major leaguer! Like I was saying Isaiah really loves the sound on the guitar and rhythmic beats of rock music. It all started when I was driving a few months ago and the kids in the back were screaming their heads off. I thought I would play a CD really loud and make a fun game out of trying to get them to shut up. So I reach up and grab the first CD I could get (A Knight's Tale Soundtrack) and put it in. The first song? We will Rock You by Queen. The ever famous boom, boom, clap! Boom, boom, clap! Boom, boom, clap! surged through the speakers and the kids as if discovering sweet mana from rock heaven stopped their crying and started nodding their heads to the song. I looked at Monika and she at me and we both started smiling. It was awesome. Not only did we find a way for some peace and quiet, we also found a way for us to enjoy the time in the car as well. Upon this discovery I being who I am and never the type to kill a party started whaling away on my air guitar. Isaiah and Makayah loved it! He picked his up as well and started jamming to the music. Although he has not been practicing as long as I have he was still pretty good. A natural I dare say. So sweet was the moment of driving to the store, windows down and my son in the back rocking out to We will Rock You. I was proud as could be. Well the song came and went and the kids wanted more, and more, and more and more. They have listened to that song so much that they wore the CD out! So some time goes by and I am sitting in front of Itunes at our house listening to music and Isaiah comes up to me and says, "Daddy, I want a CD." So I reply, "Sure, what do you want?" He replied. "This one that goes.....boom boom clap, boom boom clap and I AM IRON MAN!!!!! DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DA NA NA NA NA....." you get the idea. So I sat him down on my lap and picked at random some songs I though he would like. I tried to turn him on to some of the classics you know, Biggie, 2pac (all clean of course) and others but Isaiah was not having it. All he would say is "Dad, just turn it off," or "play a good one now." Trying to please his inner rock god I scrolled down my 3 thousand or so song list and Isaiah would only stop me at the songs with either a hard steady beat or whaling guitar solo. And it was not just any rock song either that caught his ear. He is very particular, a pre-school connoisseur in Spiderman undies and mismatching socks. He liked Black Sabbath's Iron Man, but none of Guns and Roses. He loved Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song but not Rage's Bulls on Parade. He wanted AC/DC's Thunderstruck but not Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion. It was if he was sampling all 31 ice cream flavors before committing to a cone of HARD ROCK-Y Road. I was in awe as I watched him listen to the first 30 seconds or so and then either give me a nod or shake of the head as he deemed what was worthy of his 3 year old ears. The kicker were his eyes as he was thinking, "yeah this is good" or "turn this crap off" I could see the little wheels turning away as he concentrated. He was in top form. At last the playlist came to an end and we had about 16 songs or so, not all rock, but most. In the end he had chosen about 12 rock songs, 3 or 4 techno songs and some from the Curious George soundtrack, go figure? Having obtained his approval I inserted a CD into the mac and with a buzz and some whirring our future memories started to form. If I die a young death, let it be known to my children that I was a cool dad. Not just a father who lets his kids do whatever the heck they want, but someone who offered them guidelines and showed them all I could about the world and everything good in it. Now I am 100% positive there are those out there who are thinking that I am a terrible father who lets his kids listen to devil music, drink coke and eat nothing but candy. And truth is not too far from the accusations, however there is much more to the Crowfoots than all that. I love my kids. I cherish my kids and I teach them the gospel. I spend time with them and the time I spend is doing something we can build a mutual appreciation of for years to come. Music, sports, camping, movies (kid ones, not the Godfather), books (Recess Queen anyone?) family history (I just bought books about Chief Crowfoot for the kids when they get older) and yes even the scriptures. They know about Jesus, Nephi, Ammon (not the uncle, the prophet) and all the others with cool stories. They also have their classical music CD's, and lullaby and preschool mixes as well. However now they have something a little more appropriate that they can crank up and wail away on air guitar as they jump off the couches and furniture with their dad playing to thousands of screaming imaginary fans, and you know what? Somehow Barney songs just don't quite have the same effect.

Stun-gun Coyote (not my real name), it is about time!

So listen....I have had a little victory today, a small tidbit of personal triumph I guess you could call it. Turns out that today my homeboy "Rabid Fox" (not his real name but a pseudonym to protect his real identity) and I each scored our personal best on a practice LSAT under actual test conditions. I have scored higher in the past... but not under actual test conditions elbow to elbow with other wannabe law students. Although my score was not exactly the kind of thing I want to display in the sky like the Batman logo, I am still happy with the progress that I am making. Leaps and bounds it may not be, but the battle is raging forth, onward to victory, that illustrious goal of acceptance to a law school. Sooner or later it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine. Anyone who knows me knows that patience is not one of my strong suits - I cannot stand stupid people, or drama queens - however persistence, good old fashion effort with a capital "E", and the prospect of working a dead end job for the rest of my life while others whiz past me in the fast lane as I putter down the road in a one-eyed Chevy Luv truck keep me motivated. Today, oh day of days I can sit back, look at my progress and say, "It is about damn time I started to show some signs of improvement. Finally daddy is running with the big boys!" Of course immediately after these words depart from my mouth I will take a deep breath, grit my teeth, look at the still incredibly long and hard road before me and take another step, and then another, and then another.....

Elders ET and Yoda

Here is a picture of me and my comp in the foothills of Las Vegas, it was around Halloween time and we had some masks in the back and decided to take a picture. I just found this not too long ago.....good times, good times

A weak, weak, week.

As most people know I am planning on attending law school and am currently putting my application together. A big part of that is the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), which by the way is in 2 weeks. I realize that its looming date finds me extremely unprepared and despite success on practice tests in my study, I have not faired well in actual test conditions. Therefore I am pushing my test date back again. Those in my family are starting to get frustrated, I am frustrated and embarrassed. So I guess I will not be turning in my application early as hoped. Oh well, the good news is that I feel good about my decision and have a great friend who I will be studying with on a regular basis. Good ol' RF the genius! I often tell my wife that she married beauty, not brains and that I am sorry I could not have both. She of course smiles at me, give me a hug and says "that is all right with me." I am lucky to have her.

Let's mix shiz up

As I was sitting back one day checking out the blog, I realized that it was a bit more feminine than would prefer. I mean that is cool and all, since it is mostly housewives who are into this stuff, but still, I would like to be able to show "my friends" my blog. I want to "Samanize" things a bit. For years it has been Monika taking the reigns, now it is my turn to showcase my beautiful kids, hot wife and all the stuff people brag about to their friends. I took the liberty of adding music that I like, (Monika too) but mostly me. Also I put pics on the side that reflect another side of the Crowfoots that I think make us unique, and so I hope you all like the new format. Probably most of the house wives out there will find it a bit immature, childish or down right rude, but guess what... who cares? If it offends then I guess you can blame it on me, if it is cute, blame it on my wife. Either way we have each other's back and are laughing (her) or gushing (me) quietly in the background while our spouse takes charge in displaying our family in the light they feel is appropriate for the time. So thanks for visiting, hang out for a bit, listen to some music if you like, check some pics or vids and then be on your way. Peace!

sadly, it has come to this...

hey friends and family, i just received some weird emails from strangers in the land of blog...so, we will most definitely be going private. it's such a hassle, i know, i've been putting it off for as long as i could. so if you could all send me your names and email addresses, that would be lovely!! love you all...friends and family that is. ;) please send the emails to schweetiemb@yahoo.com (i will only add if i know who you are...so please send your names as well -thanks again!) p.s. if you haven't already noticed, sam's made a few 'improvements' to our page ;)

Local Cookin

Here I am @ my buddies performance in South Calgary the last time I went up to Canada. I hadn't seen him in 10 plus years and the night we reconnect I decide to see his band. They are really good - although you cannot tell by the audio of my ghetto-ass camera - they have a bass, keyboard and drums and they ROCK! The name of this band: "Thee Thems" Jon Clark, ya did good son, ya did good!

Best Buds - Father and Son

Me and Zayah, we really are best friends

bunk buddies

isaiah and makayah have been sharing a room for about a month now. back in june, makayah began crawling and diving out of her crib, and she just wouldn't stop doing it, no matter how many times she got hurt. silly baby. so, we bought a bunk bed off of craigslist for $75 and spray painted it white - i just couldn't stop there! i wanted to make the room a little more neutral. bye bye jungle room. i admit, i was a little sad to see it go. i painted isaiah's jungle room when he was only a year old. it was good while it lasted...and i think the new bedroom is just as great. at least the kids seem to think so. just after i finished painting (i tried to keep isaiah and makayah out of the room as best i could - but isaiah was so tempted, he kept trying to sneak in) anyway, like i was saying, i finally let isaiah in and he looked around his room, wide-eyed, and said, "wow! thank you for painting my new room mom, IT'S PERFECT!" and then he gave me a hug and a kiss. that's all i really wanted. :) i love making my kids happy. here is the before picture of isaiah and his jungle room. taa daa! the new "jungle" room. although i had to paint over my previous work, i really enjoyed having a blank canvas again. the bad thing is, if/when we ever move, it'll be sad to part with it. but for now, we'll all enjoy it. the best part...an extra room for our office!! yay!

liar, liar, pants on fire!

it happened all of a sudden. i wasn't expecting it at all, though, i SHOULD have. isaiah with his creative mind, began "coloring" up the truth quite a bit. on our way to the albuquerque airport, just after our very short visit to see uncle chris at his homecoming, i looked down at isaiah's most favorite pants...his "camo" pants. there was a huge rip in the knee and it hadn't been there before - not even a worn down spot. so i asked him, "isaiah, how did you rip your pants?" he began, "well, mom. i was wrestling a bear and then he just wrecked my pants!" really?? "um, no. actually, i was riding on a dinosaur and he ripped them with his teeth!" is that so? "hmm, yep." i just hope this doesn't spread. my little liar. i'm gonna have to do something about this - after i write down all the good ones! makayah on the other hand, is still expanding her vocabulary. i'm not sure if i wrote this one down...but, she's taken to growling certain words, like "milk." i bursted out laughing the first time i heard her say it. and now she continues, just to get a laugh. and her favorite nonsensical phrase is, "eet, eet, NANA!" she sorta sings it. i listened as she said it for the 50th time and laughed, "i don't know why that's so funny!" isaiah was nearby, giggled, shook his head, and said, "me either!" however rascally they are, and however destructive makayah is, they sure do brighten up my day with the crazy funny wit they inherited from their daddy!

more on canada...

so we're back home in provo now. but i'll share some of our last shots in alberta. sam met up with us last thursday, what a LIFESAVER! the kids went crazy without him there, screaming hysterically, crying out, "WHERE'S DADDY?! WE MISS OUR DADDY!" and drama queen makayah began showing signs of illness, which later disappeared once she saw her daddy the next day. thank goodness! however, before i get into when sam came, here are some things that went on just before he showed up. earlier that week, we took isaiah to sam's uncle to give him some "batman teeth." unfortunately, he had a couple cavities, but they decided to just cap all his molars so we wouldn't have to go through this a second time. good thinking! so we made our way up to edmonton - which is a four hour drive from calgary...well, without kids i think it would be closer to 3 hours. anyway, isaiah and makayah loved visiting their crowfoot cousins. they had such a blast playing with all the cool toys, but i think they loved the trampoline the best. once or twice, we had to tell isaiah to stop bouncing so makayah could actually jump. but, isaiah just had too much fun bouncing her to the ground, and she- for a while, laughed her head off...and then several minutes later, she finally had enough. once she was off, i came on...its been years since i've had a trampoline. i think its time to get one! so this was all the night before isaiah went into surgery. i was a little worried about it, hoping that isaiah wouldn't be too sad. so, to ease my guilt, i allowed him to stay up until midnight, playing with his cousins, banging on the drum set, and playing with the pool table. the next morning went by in a blur. we arrived, isaiah was knocked out (whew!), and then he woke up a half hour later. he was pretty upset. but the thing was he was so out of it, so disoriented. it took me a couple minutes to console him and calm him down, and then he was fast asleep. after his half hour nap, he woke up dazed and confused...but happy. so here he is with his new set of batman teeth. the great thing is, he thinks they're pretty cool, and i'm not about to argue with him! and as they eagerly awaited their daddy's arrival, they had a blast with grandpa crowfoot and the tractor rides! so a couple days later, on thursday, sam flew in. that night he hung out with one of his long lost friends, and went to his punk concert. the next day, we went to the calgary zoo... after renting a wagon for our two little monkeys, and grabbing a bite to eat at the zoo cafe, we were on our way...first stop - the hippos. they were so incredibly close, i've never seen them that close up before. i seriously could've touched one, if i wanted to risk losing my limbs. but it was awesome, and the kids were mesmerized. it was makayah's first trip to the zoo...ever! and she ate up every minute. she tried making animal noises...mostly puppy barks, in an attempt to communicate with the various beasts. its so much fun to see things through their eyes...i mean, to only be in the world for two short years, so many new and wondrous creatures to see, the entire world yet to be explored. every animal fascinated her to say the least. and here is our little zoo veteran. lucky isaiah had the chance to see the brand new baby gorilla snoozin' right by the glass. the mama gorilla tried to wake her baby up to take him away from prying eyes, but the baby was OUT! isaiah sat by the glass watching the baby for several minutes when finally he turned to me and asked,"mom, when am I going to have a baby blother?" hmm. someday isaiah, someday. once i read that the daddy gorilla was thirty years old, i just had to get a picture of the two overprotective fathers. we tried taking a family shot here...but makayah wasn't in the picture-taking mood, and tried to slip out of the shot before daddy could snatch her back in...she's fine, really. ;) Anyway, we had tons of fun. and lots of laughs with everyone! there are so many more pictures with the uncles and grandmas and grandpa...so i will make a slideshow, i promise! love you and miss you!

"we're in CANADA!"

"are we there yet? are we there yet?" after 2 days of traveling, i could finally tell isaiah, "YES! we're here!" i wasn't sure how the long drive up to calgary was gonna go without sam. but thankfully, gramma crowfoot (sam's mom) was able to drive up with us. and thank goodness for portable DVD players!! so, it really wasn't too bad. the kids were great until around 8pm (their bedtime) and an hour later we were taking bubble baths and jumping on the hotel beds. needless to say, isaiah and makayah just couldn't wait to get to CANADA. as soon as we drove onto the acreage, and isaiah saw gramma and grampa's house, he yelled out, "i see CANADA!" a week has gone by since we arrived and we've had soooo much fun. the day i thought i was going to need 3 root canals (and turns out i was being a hypochondriac - sam's uncle deb said there was absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth, but that he'd give me the root canals if i really wanted- and i'm sure he thought i was crazy, because i actually did consider this, but in the end decided to take the splint to end my teeth grinding...and after a new toothbrush and tube of colgate sensitive toothpaste, my teeth really did feel all better!) so anyway, like i was saying, after the non-root canal situation we bumped into great granpa crowfoot. he was soooo excited to see the kids and we took advantage of the photo op. after a while we said our goodbyes and headed for drumheller and the "awesomest" dinosaur museum. we tried to get most of the ferocious t-rex, but it was pretty dark...and spooky! isaiah asked why the dinosaurs had to die...hmm, maybe cuz they'd stomp us to death with their monstrous feet! ...or swallow us whole! by the way, isaiah has a killer smile! mwah! i love this little guy. on our way to the prehistoric past...the kids just couldn't wait, they were like jumping jellybeans-the excitement was just too much to bare! lost in the jungles of the crestacious period (???), who knows!? and of course, my baby pakayah just chillin' next to the stegosaurus. "mommy, i'll never get to ride on a dinosaur.:(" here's your chance isaiah, hop on! makayah was fascinated with the turtle...so much so that she fell off the little step stool and took her frustration out on me, and gave crusty looks to everyone around us trying to cheer her up. "i don't think so..." the triceratops was my personal fave... the wooly mammoth was pretty cool too! makayah and her grandma crowfoot! after the going through the exhibits, we were starved! so after we snagged two dino-pinchers from the gift shop and pizza from the cafe, we were happily on our way back home. we had such an awesome time with grandma crowfoot...thank you!! after seeing all the dinosaurs, isaiah is obsessed! can we read a dinosaur book? can we sing a dinosaur song? we sure missed our daddy though! so we're saving the calgary zoo for when he meets up with us tomorrow!!! there'll be more posts later on. it took me a while to find the cord to download these pictures! love and miss you all!!!

picnics, fireworks, powwows, and FAMILY!!

since i'm behind an entire month, i decided upon a picture journal. so here goes. just as soon as i had them all spiffy and ready to go to church, makayah pulled out her little flower barrettes i had made and proceeded to lie down in the dirt in her white dress. agh! isaiah on the other hand loved looking like his daddy in his suit and tie. He tried to stay as far away from makayah, and her messy hands, as he could. this summer we took advantage of the warm weather and lots of outdoor picnics. gotta love the watermelon! ...or in makayah's case, the rind. :) we're not the type to go powwow hopping, but this year was an exception. sam got into a drum group (great hobby for him), and i made isaiah and makayah a grass and jingle outfit. so why not wear them out? besides, they love getting their bag of treats and dollar bills after the tiny tots dance. daddy and our kiddies at the heber powwow. i sooooo much prefer the outdoor powwows to the arenas. this time it was actually fun to go, set up our blanket and chairs and enjoy the fresh air...oh, and lets not forget the frybread! and you can't go through the month of july without lighting fireworks! sam's family happened to be in town and we had a "blast" while they were here. caught up in the firework smoke! isaiah helped daddy light some of the fireworks while makayah would creep up close until she heard the popping noises and then she'd turn and run away. it was so funny to watch. sam's mom stayed with us for the fourth of july.;) despite our late start, we lucked out and got great seats! i sat in front of the bleachers with the kids so they'd be closer to the action. :) this happened to be the first parade for makayah which would explain her, "what's going on here?" look. isaiah loves parades, however, he seemed to be at the wrong place when the parade characters would be giving out hi-fives. he was devastated and almost heartbroken because "nobody's giving me a hi-five!" frown, cry, frown. so when daddy saw the BYU float coming he sat right up front with isaiah, and i was ready with the camera. and lo and behold, the awesome and famous fui came to the rescue. all the kids who had crowded isaiah out before were non-existent this time around, and fui zeroed in on isaiah gave him a hug and a hi-five, crouched down and took a picture with my son! isaiah beamed and everything was all better. :) and a little cotton candy never hurts! here we are with daddy finishing up our monster sized box of fireworks we bought from costco. the only problem was our snooty neighbors across the street who ended up calling the fire marshall on us. we heard the knock on the door, there was supposed to be a fine, but he was nice enough to give us a warning. after he drove off, sam yelled out at the top of his lungs across the street, "ARE YOU HAPPY!!" wow, what a day!! with the vicious heat wave this month, we couldn't resist getting wet, playing in the sprinklers, or heading off to seven peaks. makayah likes to take it one step further, though, and roll around in the mud! makayah just can't resist getting into things...here she is with primer on her head. she'll do anything for a laugh! this past weekend just happened to be sam's birthday. to celebrate the day before, he went hiking mt. timpanogos with his cousins. his dad and brother also came in for a quick visit and it was a very nice surprise. we also went out to kamas and jumped into the raging falls. it took me a while to work up the courage to jump into the ice cold water, but i finally did and it was soooooooo much fun. sadly, sam had left the camera in his hiking clothes so we didn't get to take any pictures. oh well. surprisingly though, makayah loved being dunked into the stream...and isaiah jumped into the kiddie pools twice. he's such a brave kid! so that's most of our news for now. my family also came and spent some time with us this month, but they will be in the video section that i will post soon. yes, i promise, SOON! :) love you all and happy birthday aaron!