On Christmas Eve, for a special family home evening, Margie (Scott's mom), spoke about Henry B. Eyring's talk about recognizing the hand of God in our lives on a daily basis.
One thing that was noticed was the fact that on a daily basis we may not see it unless we make the effort to take notice of it.
She handed out A Notebook to each of us, labeled "The Hand of God in our Lives" on the cover, for us to write in everyday.
This assignment is actually something I'm pretty excited for, because as a missionary I always wrote the little things that Heavenly Father did to help me and my companion every day. At the time I was writing in it, the blessings didn't seem that huge...just everyday life. However recently I was leafing through it and got pulled in and just started reading and reading, and I couldn't believe how many miracles came to me during my mission, and everyday for that matter. Things that seemed insignificant back then, now amaze me...especially knowing the things that I know now.
This afternoon, there were already several things that we wrote down. One that was the most prominent to Scott and I was that we had each other and Crystal on Christmas. Obvious, I know, but I really sat and thought about all the lonely people in the world who have nobody during Christmas. It's one of the loneliest holidays of the year for some people. I thought about people who were less fortunate that us. We're by no means well off right now, but I'm not just talking about money. I'm talking about people who are suffering right now because of death or tragedy, or something else. I thought about the widows and widowers as old or young as they may be, alone without their husband or wife today.
Back when I was still working as a dental assistant, one of the women I used to work with, would always tell us about her husband. One day he was really in the dog house because he sent her flowers during work, which he didn't usually do. After the oohs and ahhs from the us at the office saying how sweet that was, she laughed and said..."yeah, he's an idiot." She then told us what he did and why he was in so much trouble. I can't remember exactly when, but a few months later, he was killed in an accident, and all of us that were gathered there laughing, were at the funeral. I'll never forget hugging her and crying when she whispered in my ear "ALWAYS appreciate what you have. Always." I still think about that day. I loved my friend, and it hurt to watch her go through that. It hurt even more because she didn't have the blessings that come from being LDS.
The longer I thought about how lonely or sad people are on this holiday and why that may be, it made me pretty sad...but also extremely thankful. It makes me want to think twice every time I get annoyed and roll my eyes when my husband or child do something I disapprove of. If anything ever happened to them I would feel completely lost. They truly are who I am. They are my life.
It's so easy to get distracted with the Christmas shopping, and parties, without stopping to really reflect. This vacation has kept us busy, and it's been one thing to do after another for this past week. I always try to think about the Savior this time of year, but sometimes I don't take ENOUGH time to think about specifics.
So this year for Christmas, one of the things I'm most thankful for is my family. I will have them forever.
The Savior made that possible.
I'm so glad that Margie handed out those notebooks for Christmas Eve. It's already made me stop and think about a lot, and it's probably the best present I got this year.
Anyway, I highly recommend starting one, as just having one is turning out to be a blessing in itself.
I hope you all have a
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
A happy family, is but an earlier Heaven...
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Preggo again
Sorry to those of you I haven't told yet. It's a long story including an actual false negative on a pregnancy test when I first suspected what was going on with me...so naturally I didn't even know what was happening at first. Not to mention the many scares that my crazy body brought on once I found out for sure. So I didn't say anything for a while to a lot of people mostly because I didn't know if the outcome would be happy or not. Anyway, I figured enough time has passed to make sure the world knows, since my pot belly is now visible, and people are finding out anyway. We find out if it's a "He" or a "She" next month. I think having two is still scarier for me than having one was, mostly because I still don't know if I have the ability to handle two...guess we'll find out soon enough.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
3 years!!!
Monday was our third Anniversary.
We were able to spend it out here in Philadelphia, which is great since we had a babysitter and we could go out to eat. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory. It was nice to take some time away and chill out together as a married couple.
We love being married to each other. Having a bad day when your married is still ten times better than when you have a bad day as a single person.
When you're too old to really care about your birthday coming up again, your spouse cares for you, and makes you enjoy it anyway.
We're officially out of the "newlywed" stage...at least they discontinued the show "newlyweds" after 3 years, so for us, that counts. (:
If the third time's the charm, than this year is going to be even more awesome than the last two!
We still make each other laugh every day; not to mention we understand each other's humor.
We still say "I love you" every day, and we mean it.
Even though some people thought we were a little impulsive for getting engaged after only a month and a half of dating, we know just as much now as we did then, that we make a great pair, and we can't live without each other.
We both knew after only a week of dating that we wanted to marry each other, even though neither of us told the other yet. We both had really strong spiritual confirmations about it. Later on we discovered that both our patriarchal blessings have very similar descriptions about our marriage and how to choose whom to marry. There's a line in both our blessings that's almost word for word about our relationship.
Of course, like all married couples, we disagree and sometimes argue, but it seems that every night before we fall asleep, we're completely in love and whatever we were bantering over is completely forgotten.
We're so thankful for our marriage, and even though it's only been three years, we know it's only the beginning of our wonderful life together! Cheers! (:
We were able to spend it out here in Philadelphia, which is great since we had a babysitter and we could go out to eat. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory. It was nice to take some time away and chill out together as a married couple.
We love being married to each other. Having a bad day when your married is still ten times better than when you have a bad day as a single person.
When you're too old to really care about your birthday coming up again, your spouse cares for you, and makes you enjoy it anyway.
We're officially out of the "newlywed" stage...at least they discontinued the show "newlyweds" after 3 years, so for us, that counts. (:
If the third time's the charm, than this year is going to be even more awesome than the last two!
We still make each other laugh every day; not to mention we understand each other's humor.
We still say "I love you" every day, and we mean it.
Even though some people thought we were a little impulsive for getting engaged after only a month and a half of dating, we know just as much now as we did then, that we make a great pair, and we can't live without each other.
We both knew after only a week of dating that we wanted to marry each other, even though neither of us told the other yet. We both had really strong spiritual confirmations about it. Later on we discovered that both our patriarchal blessings have very similar descriptions about our marriage and how to choose whom to marry. There's a line in both our blessings that's almost word for word about our relationship.
Of course, like all married couples, we disagree and sometimes argue, but it seems that every night before we fall asleep, we're completely in love and whatever we were bantering over is completely forgotten.
We're so thankful for our marriage, and even though it's only been three years, we know it's only the beginning of our wonderful life together! Cheers! (:
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Horray!!
Last night Scott finished his last final and won't have to go back to school now for the rest of his life! We went to wingers last night to celebrate with Crystal at our side. We're really happy that he's done with school now.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Happy Holidays from the Itris!!
This may take a minute to load depending on your computer, but be patient...it's worth the wait!
Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab
Friday, November 30, 2007
Festival of Trees
We went to the festival of Christmas trees at the South Towne Expo Center this afternoon. For those who've never been, they have Christmas trees decorated to every possible theme you can imagine. Anyway I'm posting a couple of the trees that Crystal liked the best:
Elmo Christmas Tree:

Snowman Christmas tree:
(Crystal loves snowmen)

And the Star Wars Christmas tree
(You have to zoom in to appreciate the detail)

.
Crystal Screamed at the Nutcracker tree...she's terrified of nutcrackers, don't ask me why. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that one. After we had enough of looking at trees we went to Black Angus for an excellent meal and called it a day.
Elmo Christmas Tree:
Snowman Christmas tree:
(Crystal loves snowmen)
And the Star Wars Christmas tree
(You have to zoom in to appreciate the detail)
.
Crystal Screamed at the Nutcracker tree...she's terrified of nutcrackers, don't ask me why. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that one. After we had enough of looking at trees we went to Black Angus for an excellent meal and called it a day.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
November/Thanksgiving
Okay people, sorry it's taken a while to get on the computer. This break has been pretty crazy with the holiday season, and it just seems to keep going and going. Thanksgiving was great. We spent it at Lisa's parents home and actually ate early since Denise and Jared (Lisa's siblings) had to go to work. After the feast we just hung out at the house and picked at leftovers for the rest of the day if we got hungry again. We watched some thanksgiving movies; "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," (which is a tradition in both Scotts and Lisa's family to watch every year for thanksgiving), and "The Ultimate Gift," which just came out this year, but we like it, so we watched it as a big family as well.
After Thanksgiving we went to temple square during the weekend to show Crystal the lights and enjoy some holiday fun with Todd, Megan, Johnny, and Dani. (From scott's side of the family.) Then we went to Macaroni grill to enjoy some warm food because it was freezing.
We also set up the Christmas tree, which is fun with a nearly two year old because she was so excited she couldn't stop squealing the whole time. Daddy would unwrap an ornament and give it to Crystal, and Crystal would walk it across the room to Mommy and Mommy would hang it on the tree. Now Crystal insists on watching T.V. on the floor next to the tree because she likes to be next to it at all times.

So we've been having some fun.
Getting ready for Christmas is always fun. We went and bought some toys already (also during thanksgiving weekend), to get some holiday deals and get Crystal's presents ready. Just being in the toy store was an exciting field trip for her. The great thing about toddlers is they don't really care about the expensive stuff yet. When Lisa was three she wanted a little plastic alligator to play with in the tub. When her youngest brother was about that age he wanted a bag of marbles to play with. Crystal seemed the most happy by a little mock cell phone and some plastic bath toys...(she's obsessed with bathtoys, much like her mom was).
We're also planning on going to the Festival of trees tomorrow since Crystal is so obsessed with Christmas trees.
In a few weeks we're taking off to spend our Christmas in Philadelphia with Scott's family, which will be fun because we don't get to see them that often. Scott's parents are nice enough to fly us out there as a graduation present to Scott...who's graduating in a couple of weeks. Life has been busy and will continue to be for the next couple of months with some of the stuff that we have planned and some other things that have come up.
Well sorry if this update has been a little long and maybe boring. I'll try and do better next time. Here are a few more pics for the friends who love to look at pictures and don't get bored by them:
After Thanksgiving we went to temple square during the weekend to show Crystal the lights and enjoy some holiday fun with Todd, Megan, Johnny, and Dani. (From scott's side of the family.) Then we went to Macaroni grill to enjoy some warm food because it was freezing.
We also set up the Christmas tree, which is fun with a nearly two year old because she was so excited she couldn't stop squealing the whole time. Daddy would unwrap an ornament and give it to Crystal, and Crystal would walk it across the room to Mommy and Mommy would hang it on the tree. Now Crystal insists on watching T.V. on the floor next to the tree because she likes to be next to it at all times.
So we've been having some fun.
Getting ready for Christmas is always fun. We went and bought some toys already (also during thanksgiving weekend), to get some holiday deals and get Crystal's presents ready. Just being in the toy store was an exciting field trip for her. The great thing about toddlers is they don't really care about the expensive stuff yet. When Lisa was three she wanted a little plastic alligator to play with in the tub. When her youngest brother was about that age he wanted a bag of marbles to play with. Crystal seemed the most happy by a little mock cell phone and some plastic bath toys...(she's obsessed with bathtoys, much like her mom was).
We're also planning on going to the Festival of trees tomorrow since Crystal is so obsessed with Christmas trees.
In a few weeks we're taking off to spend our Christmas in Philadelphia with Scott's family, which will be fun because we don't get to see them that often. Scott's parents are nice enough to fly us out there as a graduation present to Scott...who's graduating in a couple of weeks. Life has been busy and will continue to be for the next couple of months with some of the stuff that we have planned and some other things that have come up.
Well sorry if this update has been a little long and maybe boring. I'll try and do better next time. Here are a few more pics for the friends who love to look at pictures and don't get bored by them:
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Fake Smile
Crystal has a fake/courtesy smile she uses whenever we've asked her to smile for pictures lately. The problem is, it looks nothing like a smile and she just looks like she's crazy. I had to get it on video before she stops doing it and it'll just be a memory. Kids can be so odd...but they make me laugh.
fake smile from Lisa on Vimeo.
fake smile from Lisa on Vimeo.
Friday, November 2, 2007
How we spent our Halloween
This was a fun and memorable Halloween. First, we ran to the Grocery store to pick up a pumpkin to carve for Crystal at the last second. Then we headed over to Lisa's parents house to get ready for Halloween night. We got Crystal dressed up in her bumblebee outfit, and then Lisa carved the pumpkin for Crystal. Crystal got to watch and really enjoyed it. Once it was carved, she immediately played with it, and looked for things to hide in it. After that was done, we immediately started helping Lisa's dad for the preparations in the scare fest, that was to follow in the front yard. For those who don't know, Lisa's parents go all out for Halloween. There are all kinds of gross and scary things on display in the front yard, from impaled heads, to bloody corpses on nooses. The real fun, however, is on Halloween night, when all the men in the family along with some of the neighbor boys, participate in scaring any brave trick or treaters who come to the door. On Halloween, all these boys replace the dummies in the front yard with themselves, and jump out and chase children all over the yard. They had smoke machines, strobe lights, sound effects, and a professional amplifier with a microphone where Lisa's dad would scare the children with his evil laugh when they would try and ring the doorbell. Lisa's brother, Matt, would be posing as a corpse in a coffin, that was also on display in the front yard and pop out at anyone who came near. He asked Lisa to do his makeup. Lisa used some latex, fake skin, oil paint and fake blood to makeup his face and it took a couple of hours, but looked great. In the meantime, Scott got dressed up in an extremely scary Devil Costume to pose as a statue at the front door, opposite the witch statue that Lisa made with her mom which was pictured in an older post. Crystal is afraid of the devil costume, so we had to hide her with grandma where she watched beauty and the beast, while he got dressed up in it. Anyway, when kids were getting close to the door, Scott would break his statue pose and try to grab them, which was usually a huge shock as you can imagine. He made many children cry this year. Jared and Mike, (Lisa's two other brothers) were also dressed in scary costumes and mingled themselves in with the display to scare the children. As sneaky as it was, it's also a little funny to watch little batman see a dummy come to life, and turn and run down the street as fast as he can without looking back. All the kids who were brave enough to make it to the doorbell were rewarded with king sized candy bars, and large packets of skittles. The really little kids that made it, got the most candy since they were so brave. So we did try and make it worthwhile for them. Every year, the whole neighborhood looks forward to the scare display in the front yard at Lisa's parents house. There were a lot of groups that came this year...so many in fact that it took nearly an hour longer than other years to shut down. Obviously the parents who had sensitive children knew not to bring them to the house, but it's a lot of fun for the kids who want to see how brave they are. During all the scaring, Lisa took Crystal around the block to go trick or treating for the first time. Crystal took to it like a duck to water. The only problem was that instead of saying "trick or treat" she'd say "More candy?" when people would open the door. After they would close the door she'd look up at Lisa and say "Nother house?" She got so used to this routine that sometimes she would embarrass Lisa when a neighbor would take out the candy by digging both of her little fists in the bowl and trying to pull out as much candy as possible to stuff in her bag. After trick or treating, we went back to the house (the scarer's kindly stopped scarring long enough to let us in the house) and crystal got out of her costume, and immediately went through her bag of candy, unwrapped all the suckers, and made a sucker bouquet to lick as she toddled around the house. Lucky for us, Crystal doesn't really like candy, and after a few licks gets bored and gives up. Crystal would take a plate of broccoli any day over a cookie. We have no problem with that, and as a result, don't really have candy at home, so we don't know what we're going to do with it all. So far, she's just been laying it all out and organizing it into little piles...but once again, won't eat it, which is perfectly fine with us. When the boys finally shut down the haunted front yard, we sang happy birthday to Lisa's mom, who's birthday is on Halloween, and we all had some cake. Everyone enjoyed themselves this year.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Clean teeth
As a dental assistant I saw many unspeakable things happen to peoples mouths when they didn't take care of their teeth. This has made having clean teeth a big deal for me, and as a result, I always try to make sure Crystal's teeth are clean too. (Little kids with big cavities in the dental chair is a heartbreaking sight).
Anyway, I'm glad to report that Crystal loves brushing her teeth. As a matter of fact, she's slightly obsessed with it, and would do it all day long if I let her. When I tell her it's time to put the toothbrush away and do other things she gets really upset and cries and cries. I guess if I were a nicer mom I'd just let her do it all day, but I'm afraid she'll spill water everywhere if I'm not watching her, and I don't want to deal with the mess. Here's a 12 second clip of her brushing her teeth. The background music is Scott playing his xbox.
Anyway, I'm glad to report that Crystal loves brushing her teeth. As a matter of fact, she's slightly obsessed with it, and would do it all day long if I let her. When I tell her it's time to put the toothbrush away and do other things she gets really upset and cries and cries. I guess if I were a nicer mom I'd just let her do it all day, but I'm afraid she'll spill water everywhere if I'm not watching her, and I don't want to deal with the mess. Here's a 12 second clip of her brushing her teeth. The background music is Scott playing his xbox.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
LET THE GAMES BEGIN.....
Welp, it's about that time. I am really not looking forward to this since I potty trained two of my brothers and my cousin when they were toddlers and it was horrible. Of course I was much much younger, so I'm hoping that it will be easier for me this time around. She's still pretty young though, so I'm not going to pressure her. POTTY ON DUDE!
Pushing the limit
I told Crystal today that she was not allowed to get off the couch while I went to make her chocolate milk, because I didn't want her to take out all the toys I'd just put back into her box. She knows when I mean business and knew that I didn't want her off the couch until I got back at all. I explained to her that when I got back she could come off the couch all she wanted, but not until then. The problem is like all toddlers she gets bored fast, so instead of climbing off, she just found a more interesting way to sit on it....she took her pants off and climbed to the very top. When I came out she just waved at me. At least she's obedient.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
"Honey!"
Crystal is having her friend Gabriel (the son of Scott's friend, Mark Owens) over everyday this week for an hour or so, and for some reason when he came over yesterday she decided that she needed to refer to him as "honey" instead of Gabe. I guess she just copies what she sees at home. She did this the whole time he was over. If you listen carefully she keeps saying "Thank you honey!" every time she hands him the ball.
Crystal is ready for Halloween!
Here's Crystal looking festive for the season. Unfortunately by the time we were done taking pictures it was naptime so she had a tantrum in the last picture...but it looked really funny cause of the outfit, so I posted it in the slideshow.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Lazy
Friday, October 12, 2007
Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours
I am currently in the process of reading a really great book called "Making Children Mind Without Losing yours" By Dr. Kevin Leman.
Dr. Leman, is a well known psychologist and the author of 21 books on marriage and family, and also has been a guest on Oprah, The view, Regis, Good Morning America and many other popular television programs.
Unlike many psychologists, he is a very devout Christian and father of five, who believes in incorporating the Savior in all family aspects, including how we discipline our children.
The book, is largely based on the scripture Ephesians 6:1-4 which states:
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Of course, not being LDS and not using the King James version, his quotation is slightly different, however the idea is the same, making it applicable to LDS parents as well as those of his own religion.
A lot of what he writes is how our relationship with Christ can make us a better parent, and a better friend to our children.
One of the key methods he uses in parenting is called Reality Dicipline, which incorporates establishing a healthy authority over your children, holding them accountable for their actions, letting reality be the teacher, using action more than words (instead of warning your child a thousand times what your going to do if they keep up negative behavior), and living by your values.
He explains the differences between healthy and unhealthy discipline, as well as explaining why children misbehave and what to do about it.
He also gives informative and simple suggestions to everyday issues in raising kids like picky eating, temper tantrums, sibling rivalry, attention seeking, lying, forgetting, talking back, bedtime battles, potty training, watching too much TV, road trips, dangers of life, peer groups and many, many other issues that parents continually deal with. His suggestions can be applied to children from as early as 2 years old up through the teenage years.
He has entire chapters on setting suitable allowances, curfews, and privileges, and how to use them as a means of discipline when the child misbehaves.
Accountability is a big deal to this author. He explains that children as a whole in society are growing up without learning to be accountable for their own decisions, and as a result, struggle when they start to grow up and enter the real world.
Something I also like about him is that he makes it clear that child rearing is an art form, and a lot of times you have to go with your gut. He also explains that although his book offers many suggestions, that it is up to the reader to decide what is appropriate to use in their home and what they choose to do without.
Not all of it is easy, especially how he emphasizes on remaining calm as a parent when your child is acting up, and to be careful not to discipline them in the heat of anger and frustration. However, his suggestions make a lot of sense, and I hope to practice many of his suggestions with my own children.
Anyway, I recommend this book to all my friends out there who are raising little children of their own, and would like to look at some new options on ways to teach your child how to be responsible and successful, while using authority and decisiveness to show your children that you care about them.
I bought it used, on amazon for four dollars including shipping and handling, and I'm sure you can all find it for the same price if you just buy it used instead of new, which I also recommend. Have a nice day! (:
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Fall season is here, so far so good
Sorry it's been a while since we stuck in some new posts, (a special apology to Liz). I guess it's easy to get sidetracked into the daily stresses of life and loose track of the little things. September was a good month. Not too much new going on around here. Crystal has become obsessed with the magnets on the fridge, so we bought the little alphabet letter magnets, which have become her new favorite pastime. It actually comes in handy as a great distraction when she starts getting whiny. Lately as soon as she acts up, one of us will say something like "Go find me a letter J." She then gets a huge grin on her face and runs to the fridge and stares at it for fifteen minutes until she finds out where the J (or whatever letter we ask for) is hiding and brings it to us. Now that it's October, we're helping Lisa's parents with their somewhat famous Halloween display in their front yard. Every year they successfully frighten all the young trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood with their decorations, smoke machines, sound effects, etc. They go all out, and as a result, many in Lisa's family look forward to Halloween every year. We'll be sure to post a few pictures when it's finally all set up. Conference was awesome, as always. We look forward to reviewing the talks for the next six months to catch anything we may have missed when Crystal would get loud...but hey, that's parenthood, right? Other than that, nothing too new happening. Here are some fun pics of Crystal being Crystal to pass the time:
Halloween decorating
Another haircut
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Elmo is religious
So every night before Crystal goes to sleep I run through a little prayer with her. She loves to pray with me, and is very obedient when asked to fold her arms. Her favorite part is saying "Amen!" at the end. As a matter of fact, she doesn't call it "praying", she just refers it to doing "amen". Well the other night after we said our prayer together we read her usual Elmo book. On one of the pages Elmo is bending over and laughing with his arms crossed over his belly, and when we got to that page, Crystal brightened up and said "Elmo amen too!" I never looked at it that way before, but she did...what an observant little girl!
Strawberries
Crystal is addicted to strawberries. Lisa offered her a cookie and then took out a crate of strawberries for herself to eat in front of the television. (Lisa loves to eat fruit while she watches TV.) However when Crystal saw Lisa bust out the strawberries she dropped her cookie which she only licked without biting and took the strawberry Lisa was about to eat right out of her hand. Every time Lisa would try to eat a new strawberry Crystal took it away from her to eat it first. It was really funny, and Crystal ate almost the whole thing by herself. Unfortunately, her outfit isn't going live to see another day.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Dinosaurs
One night, we were watching Night at the Museum at home when Crystal noticed the part where the big skeleton of the T-rex came to life. It terrified her, and she then developed a fear of anything dinosaur.
She usually overcomes her fears when we let her see up close how something works and how harmless it really is. For example, when she was younger she was afraid of the vacuum until we showed her how it worked and let her touch it.
Well, it just so happens that the worlds largest Dinosaur museum was only 10 minutes away at Thanksgiving point, so we took her there yesterday to check it out.
She really enjoyed some dinosaurs...


and was still afraid of others.

She usually overcomes her fears when we let her see up close how something works and how harmless it really is. For example, when she was younger she was afraid of the vacuum until we showed her how it worked and let her touch it.
Well, it just so happens that the worlds largest Dinosaur museum was only 10 minutes away at Thanksgiving point, so we took her there yesterday to check it out.
She really enjoyed some dinosaurs...
and was still afraid of others.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Fight Night
Lisa's brother, Matt, has been into boxing for the last 6 or 7 months. He has been working with a professional trainer/boxer, and had his first real fight last weekend on Saturday, September 15th. The place was packed, and there were 8 fights that night, but Matt was last since his fight was the main event. Not only that, but they paired him up with a professional boxer in his age and weight range, even though Matt was a rookie. The fight ended up as a draw, but Matt had the biggest punch of the whole match, when he knocked the wind out of the kid, and sent him to the ground. Not bad for his first fight. Good Job Matt!
Little housekeeper
Crystal loves to help keep the house clean. Unfortunately, I can never find the broom because she takes it everywhere, and I have to keep her from throwing things we need in the trashcan, because she found them on the floor. Yesterday she threw away my Mp3 player, her pajamas, some toys and her Sunday shoes. It's a good thing I looked in there and found them, or they would have been lost forever.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Hogle Zoo
Today was Crystal's first visit to the Zoo. She had a great time and especially enjoyed the Ape exhibit. Even after watching them she played on the Brass Ape statue outside for a while before we finally had to tear her away...but she kissed it goodbye. There's nothing more rewarding to a parent than watching their child's pure delight at the world around them. When she laughs and smiles at the world, it makes us feel like the happiest and most blessed people alive. After the Zoo we ate a late lunch at a nice Italian restaurant. What a fun day!
Bored in the car
On the way back from the zoo crystal got bored so we sang "Winnie the pooh" to keep busy. Even though she enjoyed singing, she still had a case of the wiggles, as you'll see here:
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Angry Crystal
I was on the phone with my friend Paula and was telling her that even though Crystal can get excited, angry, and hyper often and in extremes, that she usually backs down with a verbal warning. This video is a classic example. Scott and I told her she's not allowed to play with anything on the entertainment center and she got angry and yelled at us, but like always, began to back down when we told her not to be mad. Also, just so you're aware, we gave her a big hug after she showed that she was sorry/sad. The other reason why I posted this is because I think it's hillarious when she's angry.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Nail Biting!
Crystal has developed the habit of biting her nails...something both her mom and her dad do as well. The problem, however, is that lately she's been biting when there's nothing left to bite, and consequentially puts herself into a lot of pain by biting down to the skin. Then, she comes crying to mommy and daddy cause her fingers hurt. Well, in order to stop this habit we purchased nail biting polish and applied it today, and even though it's been making her gag she still won't stop putting her fingers in her mouth. Hopefully with enough gagging she'll figure it out, but so far the future looks bleak.
This is a picture of her biting her nails again an hour the polish was applied...
it's not the brand, cause I tasted it and the stuff tastes absolutely awful.
Here is a clip of her gagging over the taste while biting again, about two minutes after I took the picture above:
What's a parent to do? Hopefully she'll get tired of gagging and stop. I didn't even know a one year old could get into the habit of biting their nails.
Crystal on drums
I've been uploading my video clips on youtube because google video has been giving me problems. Anyway here is Crystal trying to help Uncle Jared play on his electric drum set. Sorry it's kind of dark, Jareds bedroom is just a dark, messy, cave.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Going out to eat
Crystal loves to color while we wait for our food when we go out to eat. Sometimes she gets bored. This is typical Crystal...
This little woman can't hold still to save her life...but she loves to pose for pictures:
This little woman can't hold still to save her life...but she loves to pose for pictures:
Friday, August 10, 2007
Haircut
Thursday, August 9, 2007
A little update...
So it's been a little while, but thats because our family room computer got a virus this week, and crashed...after messing with it all week and trying to save it, (but still with no luck,) we're using the laptop. We're still fighting it though, we don't cave easily. Anyway, here's a little bit of what we've been up to...
Scott finished this semester of summer school with his ridiculously strict teacher who made him write 10 pages a week, and is taking a 2 week break before fall semester. It looks like he will graduate in December. Yay!!! After that he can get a better job and we will be able to afford some stuff.
Lisa got a haircut. It's now above the shoulders and she has bangs. She was hungry for a change of some kind, so she did it to her hair. Lisa loves change.
The Bourne Ultimatum is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Lisa and Scott give it a HUGE two thumbs up. Probably the best movie of the summer in our opinion. Jason Bourne is for Americans what James Bond is for the Brits. Long live Jason Bourne!
Here is what Crystal's been doing:
Eating her vegetables

Looking cute for church

Pouting when she doesn't get her way

Taking naps with Daddy

Playing in the kiddie pool

We also went and hung out at Bridalveil falls, Crystal loved soaking her feet in the freezing water...



Anyway, life is good and all is well.
Scott finished this semester of summer school with his ridiculously strict teacher who made him write 10 pages a week, and is taking a 2 week break before fall semester. It looks like he will graduate in December. Yay!!! After that he can get a better job and we will be able to afford some stuff.
Lisa got a haircut. It's now above the shoulders and she has bangs. She was hungry for a change of some kind, so she did it to her hair. Lisa loves change.
The Bourne Ultimatum is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Lisa and Scott give it a HUGE two thumbs up. Probably the best movie of the summer in our opinion. Jason Bourne is for Americans what James Bond is for the Brits. Long live Jason Bourne!
Here is what Crystal's been doing:
Eating her vegetables
Looking cute for church
Pouting when she doesn't get her way
Taking naps with Daddy
Playing in the kiddie pool
We also went and hung out at Bridalveil falls, Crystal loved soaking her feet in the freezing water...
Anyway, life is good and all is well.
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