December

Its been awhile and I have some catching up to do. Here are some happenings from the grand months of November and December.

Leah had her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. The tooth pulling experience was apparently very traumatic, and now she will not allow any force to be executed on future teeth, which must come out by themselves. She is planning on capturing the tooth fairy to use it for pixie dust, and is devising traps and fairy houses, so you'd think she would want the tooth fairy to come back again soon...

Speaking of teeth, Audrey has two. They are sharp. She is fulling crawling and pulling herself up and has quite an appetite. We all love her; Love to give her kisses and hugs and make her smile. She did not care for Santa.

Leah turned 6 and finally got a Rapunzel Barbie. We also had a birthday party and did crafts and made playdoh...I managed to underestimate (yet again) how much work it is to have that many 5 and 6 year olds at the same time. I also made the ugliest pinata known to mankind. If you can tell what it is supposed to be, please enlighten me. It took me over a week to make that thing out of newspaper and flour and glue, and we were happy to beat it to a pulp in the end (but it was surprisingly sturdy and Chris had to get out his baseball bat).

Samuel is always ready to strike a pose and make a silly face. He keeps us smiling. And brimming with pride. But he usually forgets what he meant to do in the bathroom and we find him 30 minutes later playing in the sink water with his lower half stark naked.

We've had several visits from our favorite friends, the Swensons of Las Vegas. It is a fun, noisy crowd! That Samuel and Anna get along really well...remind me to keep an eye on them when they are 14.

Chris and I went on a "field trip" with my coworkers to see a fellow TA perform in "Savior of the World" in Salt Lake, and it was fabulous. It was so great to spend a night out (without kids) and in the company of great people!

More coming soon!

Poduncadick 2011

We survived Poduncadick! August 11-13, 2011 (Perseid Meteor Shower), Strawberry Reservoir, Utah.

5 Popes

7 Duncans

5 Fosdicks

2 Days

3 Tents

6 Adults

11 Children

Lots and lots of dirt

We had a blast on our camp out where the children truly relished in the dirt. We pitched our tent at probably a 30 degree angle, amidst trees and stumps, but managed to sleep pretty well owing to our 2 inches of memory foam. Fun, not as relaxing as I had hoped, but I did manage to finish a book. Audrey was the easiest--she slept all night twice, and managed to stay quite cheerful and comfortable in the 80 degree days and 40 degree nights. It helped to have so many willing baby holders. We had only minor injuries and one potty accident. The kids tried all day to catch a pot gut, but in vain. We enjoyed the campfires and board games, french toast and fajitas, shooting stars and full moon, surprisingly decent flush toilets and most of all the company of fun friends. It was really nice to leave my iPod behind for two days and never look in a mirror once or brush my hair. I was the only one to get a lobster red sunburn, lucky me. It took a full week to clean up all the gear and I lost track of laundry loads at about 7. It was a great experience and I'm already looking forward to next year's camp out.

Some photo highlights:

1 jumbo marshmallow=28 birthday candles

Yesterday we had an awesome birthday bash. I like to do something different every year on my birthday, and this year I wanted to have a campfire (if you know me at all, you know that I am somewhat of a pyromaniac). The torrential rain ceased just in time to set up my new firepit on the patio and roast marshmallows with friends. We had a blast! I had friends come from all walks of life, friends from home, from college, from work, neighbors in the ward...It is so nice to be loved by so many people! Thank you all for making my birthday so wonderful and memorable!


We all know that marshmallows + chocolate + graham crackers= yummy deliciousness. Let the record show that s'mores made with dark chocolate is pure heaven!

16 Weeks plus Thanksgiving Dinner

Here is that standard side-shot of the pregnancy-in-process. I was very full after having just eaten Thanksgiving and its fixings, therefore it was a very good opportunity for the obligatory photo. Before you comment on whether or not you think I'm skinny for 16 weeks, please see the rules.

We had a superb time with the Swensons of Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving weekend, and all 6 children ages 5 and under got along famously. The little 2 year olds were especially cute admiring Ben, who is only 2 months old; the 4 and 5 year olds mastered the art of imaginative play famously. The adults were fully occupied by keeping all the little ones fed and clean (and making sure all the bleeds had band-aids), followed by keeping the kitchen clean, and discovered that engineering ginger bread houses is best left to engineers. There is hardly the need to leave the house much when there are more little kids than adults.

Liz showed me how possible it is to be a mom of twice as many kids as arms and to keep a house organized all without losing your mind, and I think it all comes down to that iPod touch...

We are especially grateful for good friends; For the option to simply sit around and swap stories; to laugh at ourselves and analyze family dynamics, figuring out why everyone needs therapy and how we will mess up our own kids and ensure them a spot in therapy, too; For good friends who have to like you even though they know all the dirt there is to know about you. And now our kids have no choice but to like each other by nature of being 4th generation friends. Isn't that great?

Christmas in a (very large) nutshell

So Lola (and Santa) has come and gone, Happy New Year is here, Samuel had a Happy Birthday, and I have a lot of catching up to do.

Christmas with Lola

Chris's mom Pearly, whom we endear with the Tagalog title Lola spent Christmas and New Years with us. Leah immediately latched on and shooed the rest of us out of the guest room, announcing "Girls only!" (I'm a girl, but apparently, I wasn't invited!) We had a wonderful time with Lola, who took us to "The Princess and the Frog," showered us with gifts, and filled our tummies with our favorite eats, including Cafe Rio, Tucano's, Wingers, Korean for Chris and of course, authentic Filipino food. (We have over 100 lumpia in the freezer!!!)

We had a family outing to Jumpin' Jacks, where in only one hour, you can wear out your children for an entire afternoon!

The blessing of Lola was not limited to food and fun. She also provided the parental reprieve we so desperately needed; evenings out, mornings in, dish-duty, diaper duty, snow-shoveling, you get the idea. And she certainly got on famously with her two grandchildren, who simply adore their Lola.

Leah was allowed to don her new Tinkerbell costume Christmas morning, which she wore day and night in the 48 hours following Christmas (when I made her dress modestly for church), at which point Lola bought her a Cinderella costume, complete with crown, magic wand and glass slippers, which she still desires to wear daily. (10 points: Can you count how many pictures in this post have her wearing the said Tinkerbell costume?)

Christmas with the Coombs'

We spent Christmas evening with our very best friends David and Michal, who showered us with gifts and, as always, good laughs. They love our kids as much as we do.

Christmas was a blast. We plan on going on some road trips this next year now that we have a portable DVD player for the car, our exciting Christmas present for the Napervillian grandparent contigency. Thanks Mom and Dad! (50 points: Anyone recognize the screen-shot?) And Chris has enjoyed not having any classes this semester so that instead of late night studying, he can do some late-night gaming on his new PS3!, which he got from Dad and Debbie.

My first attempt at homemade pasta was a disastrous failure, we're still working on all our new DVD's, the kids are loving their new toys and books, and the play table we got with all our Christmas giftcards has been put to good use. We are truly blessed to have such beautiful, healthy children, wonderful friends and family, luxuries such as toys and books and PS3's, but we know we owe all our gratitude to our Father in Heaven and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who provide a beautiful eternal plan.

P.S. Why am I not smiling in this picture? I had been vomiting for 24 hours on account of too much fudge.