One year ago today. Here are some never-before-seen (some graphic) photos.
Before & After
Then & Now
A couple of weeks later. The white on top is not teeth, of course, it is just his gums healing. 
…And today. I asked him to show me his teeth. He heard ‘cheeks’.
Fred was sitting on the second stair trying to lift something when he lost his balance and fell flat on his face on the hardwood floor. He got a bloody nose and a fat lip. He had been eating string cheese and I kept finding left-overs that looked like chips of teeth. But I did a thorough check of his 3 front teeth and they all felt sturdy. I think there is an unseen and unconquerable force that causes kids to hurt their faces when photo sessions have been planned. 
I’m not exactly sure how this happened but it involved closing her eyes, leaning back in her swing and colliding with Fred’s swing. With the bridge of her nose. She looks like a Neanderthal. Both of her eyes turned black.
When I hear Fred singing, “nee nah, nee nah” (“clean up, clean up”), I can expect to find something like this:
Panda Puffs and mangos. (I put the cereal that was spilled on the counter back in the box because it is organic and expensive and tasty.)
Finally, it is warm. I had to pick up all the hats and boots and coats and gloves that were scattered around the yard before I turned on the water.
Fred helps himself to anything on the counter. This happens so much you think I would learn my lesson.
Licking the ice cream lid.
I love City of Rocks, ID. It is a great place to camp with kids—plenty of rocks for them to scramble around and on. (I’m just realizing this year might be difficult with Fred.)
And lots of good climbing. Easy, hard, trad, sport, right-off-the-road, or hike-in-approaches. 
Last time we went we had a babysitter come along but this year the Gunns are coming so Danika can tend the kids. JUST KIDDING, DANIKA!! We will never leave you alone with the kids. I might try to get a babysitter again.
Anyway, we are going again May 8th & 9th. We would love to have more people come along. So, will you come?
I’ve been a bad blogger. I’m going to do a little catching up on this family record of ours. Prepare yourselves.
We started coloring eggs after putting Fred down for a nap & waking Stella up from hers (she was sick). Fred didn’t stay asleep.
I gave him a sucker to keep him busy. It didn’t work.
Trying to get an acceptable picture of Stella. Failed.
The egg hunt. As soon as Fred discovered the candy inside he changed his focus from hunting to consuming.
Chloe had a soccer game right after the hunt so she was wearing her cleats. Very effective. Hand-me-down slip-on Vans—not so effective. 
Afterwards, we went to the Reichner’s for some more egg coloring, egg hunting and scavenger hunt.
Stella is really good at throwing up. She never cries. It doesn’t bother her at all. It never has. She’ll just come down to our room in the middle of the night and say, “Mom, I threw up.” She doesn’t even need a drink afterwards. She’d make a great bulimic. You know, if it wasn’t a deadly disease. She threw up five times yesterday: bed, bowl, toilet, carpet, carseat.
Chloe had to take a snack to school and our cupboards were bare. So I HAD to go to the grocery store. When we pulled into the parking lot Stella told me she thought she might throw up in the store. I had no choice. We risked it and I considered it a success that we made it out without an accident. It wasn't long before I realized that throwing up in the store would have been a good thing. I could have left it up to them to take care of the mess.
She’s only frowning because I’m taking her picture. She sat like that for ten minutes on the way home. I guess she doesn’t chew her noodles. Those little suckers slithered their way into the depths of the carseat. I had to take it apart to clean it.
Want to hear more about throw up? Ok. This is what Fred slept in:
I heard him crying last night at 12:30. I let him cry for a few minutes to see if he would go back to sleep. Then I got up and got some milk but then he was quiet so I put the milk back in the fridge and went to bed. The worst part is that he had eaten a chili cheese dog for dinner. Dan bought these sausages that are chili-cheese flavored. We were out of groceries so I fed one to Fred. I don’t know how he was able to sleep with that stench.
They are fine. They haven’t acted sick at all. I, on the other hand, am very sick of cleaning up throw up.
I finally cut Fred’s hair. The back was getting too long. I liked to think of it as the euro mullet since that seems to be hipper than the rat tail. In my defense, his hair curled and didn’t look so long. I actually liked it long and would not have cut so much off but I wanted to keep a ponytail’s worth for… a keepsake? I guess. Chloe was fully against me cutting it and was certain it would look dumb short. I don’t trust myself so I just snipped the ponytail and then let my mom finish the rest.
He’s my big boy now.
Over a month ago Chloe had her first piano festival. I didn’t post about it because I didn’t have any pictures or video and nothing clever to say. But I filmed her today! So now it doesn’t matter what I write. But I guess I should explain. A festival is where you perform in front of judges. In a room. By yourself (that is the reason for no pictures). They judge you, write down some comments and send them to your piano teacher. Chloe practiced really hard and received a ‘superior’ rating (that’s the highest). I’m very proud of her.
Here she is playing ‘Cookies’ and ‘Alpine Melody’. She’s a bit rusty since it was a long time ago.
And here is a song she is composing. It doesn’t have a name but it has some lyrics. “I love you. I love two. I love three.”
I really want to blog more. Just for us. To look back on. I just keep getting behind and then I don’t know where to start.
I’m flashing back to last Saturday. It was a busy day. Dan had a primary teacher meeting at 9 then I took the girls to the church for a primary activity. Fred went right to Dan and rested his head on Dan’s shoulder. He wouldn’t come to me. So I left him. I went back for him about 30 minutes later and he still wouldn’t come to me. He even pushed me away. He’s not usually such a daddy’s boy but I was glad because I got to go grocery shopping by myself.
After primary the girls had lunch and then went to a birthday party from 1-3. I cleaned. Fred napped. Dan worked and put up shelves in the office. (I’ll post pictures later. When I get back from spring break in St. George.)
Then we took the girls skiing. This is the first time we had gone with them since their ski lessons. It was really fun. Since Chloe learned to get on and off the lift by herself I was able to snowboard. She is really good at turning and stopping. Stella is really good at going fast. She didn’t want to go slow. But we were afraid she would wreck so we kept yelling, “pizza!” (snow plow). Then Chloe tried snowboarding. We got home at 9:30. Good day. 
Our own March madness. Involving no basketball. Just pictures from March.
2002. Chloe.
2003. Chloe.
2004. Chloe.
2005. Chloe.
2006. Stella.
2007. Sup. On a table.
Stella, Chloe & Baby Bear
2008. Stella, Fred & Chloe.
2009. Chloe, Stella & Fred.
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Before we know it he'll be eating caviar and sipping tea with his pinky out.Dan worked in a bike shop through his teen years. He has always liked bikes and dreamed of owning his own shop. Well, it is finally happening. He and a couple of friends are the new owners of SBR Sports in Orem, UT. No, we are not moving down there. We are not planning on making a living off the shop. We are hoping to survive the first year and then have it support Kyle (he’s the one that will be running the store) and Angela. One day we hope to make some money off it.
We would love to hook you all up but it is a small business in a bad economy. If you are reading this then you are probably a friend or relative. We will happily give you a discount. But please don’t ask us to give your brother a deal. Unless he has cancer and his house burned down or some other deserving reason. In fact, if you have a healthy bank account maybe you can offer to pay more. Just to help us out :).
We have spend the last two weekends down there clearing out all the junk and repainting. There is still a lot of work to do and we hope to have a spiffy shop soon. Little by little. If you have any skillz let us know and maybe we can work out a trade. Anyone know how to drywall a ceiling? Electrical? (Nate?).
SBR Sports
Wish us luck!
I’m posting more than anyone cares to know about our playroom. It is my favorite room. When we moved in the ENTIRE house was painted that peachy tan color with a darker tan trim (see previous post). We had all the doors and trim painted white and most of the house painted this light bluish color. I meant for it to be gray and I don’t love it in the rest of the house but I really like it in the playroom. I love having a playroom. Upstairs. With a door. 99.9% of the toys we own are in this room. Everything is organized, as you will see. 
I know the ‘keep calm’ poster is way over-done. Does it make a difference that I bought it years ago from England before they were mass produced in the states in every color? Well, I still like it enough to keep it up and I think it is perfect for a playroom. The other two prints are from etsy. 
We had a large map hanging above the table and chairs but Fred kept pulling it down. 
I think the previous owners used this as a bedroom. This alcove had been framed into a closet. We ripped it out.
I used to get so nervous when the kids came near me while I was running on the treadmill. It also keeps them from playing on it.
Dan always complains that we have too many toys. I have snuck out quite a few toys since the move. For my own satisfaction of being organized I’m going to list all the toys. (skip this part.)
More toys
Kids love this trampoline.
The girls always lay the futon down because they like it to be their stage.
Fred actually brought that leotard to me to put on him. Chloe added the skirt.
The girl’s room is basically done. I hung up all the art I have been collecting. I’m not sure about it. So I’m going to think about it for a bit. I’ll post pictures of it soon. The next room I’ll tackle will be my…don’t know what to call it. Not an office because I don’t work in there. Not a craft room because I don’t craft. My computer/storage room. This is going to take a lot of organization. And some help from Dan to install some shelves. Hopefully he’ll find some time soon.
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