Grinch turned Grizzwald...

Isn't it amazing what a child can do to change you?! In the past, Chris has been less than enthusiastic about putting up Christmas lights. This year, he was initiating the process before Thanksgiving was even over and he even said, "Ruby sure would like that Santa Clause" when we were walking by the inflatable lawn ornament sculptures at the store. I guess it happened to me too. I used to vow that my kids wouldn't fall prey to wearing character clothing...but I now think that Ruby looks precious in her Tink shirts or Alice in her Elmo jacket.

Anyway, the outside of the house is decorated partially now. The garage is on the side of the house, so other than a few lights in bushes leading up to the front door, it is hard to notice the garage work Chris went to. Anyway, he assured me it isn't done, but regardless, I'm not complaining!

Baby Diaper Mama?

Alice has really gotten into the baby thing lately. One minute she will be cuddling the baby saying, "baby go night night" and then in the same breath she'll just drop the baby and move onto the next thing. Today, it was our first diapering of the baby doll. I don't know why this corresponded with her removing her own diaper, but I guess that is a good reason to get her dressed right after she finished breakfast (maybe it would deter her?). Anyway, I had to help of course, "Fix it, Mama!" but it was darling anyway.

With our first, we were so pushing for Ruby to do teh next thing, that by the time she said a word or took a step, it felt like it was primarily our own doing. With Alice, we are amazed when she does new things (daily) bacause we aren't drilling her all day with the next thing like we were with Ruby. It is fun to watch her discover!

Ruby: Birthday Girl

We had a pre-birthday celebration at Oma and Opa's house the day after Thanksgiving. Ruby got to open a few presents, and she really liked them! She got Gabriella from High School Musical from Hailey and Emma and a nice winter coat and Barbie from Oma and Opa. Though she didn't really know anything about the movie, HSM...she loves Barbie's that sing, so that was the biggest hit. We have spent some time on youtube looking at some little excerpts from HSM and she talks about it all the time now.

Ruby with helper, Alice.

Uncle Jordan and RubyDaddy went and got Ruby this fancy cupcake. She was really excited about it!

Santa Baby

I am married to the tradition of annual pictures with Santa. I don't really know why, I guess because I still did it with my family when I came home for Christmas from college. Anyway, I learned a few years ago that Santa gets to our mall really early in November! I always have their Christmas dresses early, so I head over before Thanksgiving and I don't have to wait in line! The best thing is that they will really spend time taking pictures so that your kids actually look at the camera. In our case, Alice wasn't feeling Santa one bit, and Ruby got tired of smiling, so I still had to buy the CD and do some Photoshopping in order to get the right picture. Anyway, we like this Santa because he is close to our house and he has a real beard!

Since You've Been Gone

I can breathe for the first time...


So Ruby's favorite song for like two long years was "Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. Better than some song about a farm if you ask me, but it got old none the less. We listened to it all the time. Ruby can sing every word...even the "S" word ("stupid love song") which I usually turn the volume down for only to hear her happily belt it out knowing it is her one freebie.


So we hadn't listened to the song in a long time. Ruby moved onto "Jesus Take the Wheel" (Carrie Underwood) and "Popular" (Wicked Soundtrack). She makes music requests all the time, but one day she asked for SYBG again. For some reason, this was the day that Alice was going to zone in on music because since that day (three months ago), Alice has asked, rather demanded "Since You've Been Gone" EVERY time we get in the car she starts on me about it and doesn't take "no" for an answer.

It is really entertaining to hear my two year old belting out the chorus. She knows it and loves it. Any tips for getting her onto another song?

Farmer Great-grandchildren

My uncle John has been working on the finishing touches to a fabulous family movie documenting the life of my grandfather, Warren Farmer. As part of that, he asked me to make two pages of the grandchild generation to include in the video. Here are the simple collages I made...
Ruby was the first great grandchild of Warren and Wilda Farmer. Ruby was my great grandmother, "Grammy Farmer's" name, which I wanted to use since it was a significant thing for her to be the first born great grandchild. Wilda wasn't a name I could really wrap my mind around, so I went with my grandpa Farmer's mother's name, Ruby.

Safeway.com

So I tried online grocery shopping like five years ago when it was first introduced. I didn't really love it as much then as I do now due to the fact that now, I lug two kiddos around who want everything in sight and inevitably throw fits while I am trying to get in and out of the store. (They need to make free cookies really hard to eat so they last the whole trip!)

Anyway, about two months ago, my Alice really started acting up in public because she will not sit in the cart OR walk--she only wants to be held--and only on my right side to boot. Anyway, so I desperately turned to safeway.com.

I AM SOLD! I got free delivery with my first use, but I expected I'd need to tip the delivery guy. Not so! He was extremely enthusiastic and helpful and brought all my food inside and even took the 20 gallons of water to my storage in the garage...I figured he was working up to a big tip. Before I even tried to tip him, he let me know that they aren't allowed to accept tips. How great is that?!

Everything I ordered was there and all paid for. They separate out the stuff that needs to be refridgerated, so you just pop that stuff in the fridge/freezer first. It is really great.

So since the first time, I have never paid for delivery...maybe three more times. I just google "safeway free delivery" and a ton of options come up. The cool thing is that you can sit there and enter coupon codes and if they don't take, it just lets you enter another one. I entered about four today and two were valid. I got $10 off and free delivery ($9.95 value).

I have a friend who shops this way and she loves it because she plans her meals, makes her list and then sits down and buys ONLY what is on her list. No extra stuff that she doesn't need or shouldn't eat. She figures that even if she pays for delivery it still saves her money just for that reason.

Going to the grocery store at 11:00 at night and getting home at midnight and then unloading and putting everything away was such a daunting task! Now, I can shop at 11PM and go to sleep and then have someone knocking at my door in the morning with all my beautiful groceries.

One suggestion: they have a substitution thing where if you order for example "Best Foods Mayo" and they don't have it, they will substitute another brand, or another flavor or something. I didn't really think much of it, and the first order, they didn't have all the rice milk I wanted so they substituted the vanilla flavor. We don't use the vanilla flavor, so this wasn't a desirable substitution for me. From now on, I just select "no substitutions" on everything, that way, if they don't have it, I don't wind up with something that doesn't work for my family.

They are very customer service driven and I just have to rave about my experience for all you mothers out there who are tired of juggling kiddos at the grocery store!

Dan in REAL LIFE

Don't miss this movie! There are few movies that I would recommend to everyone...but this is one I just love. We saw it this weekend and it is a really great romantic comedy with endearing relationships and the right mix of everything. Really. See it.

I was tagged...

Tag Rules

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I'm trying to think of things that people might not know about me...

1. If I could go back to school/work full time, I would want to be one of the following: a naturopathic doctor with midwifery training so I could take care of all women's health including delivery, a socio-anthropology major at UW, a photographer, family therapist or child/youth social worker.

2. When I was young, I looked old. I was twelve and my mom took me in for portraits and the lady at the desk asked if I was there for my senior pictures! I didn't even know what senior pictures were! I was in a swimsuit catalog at the same age (the summer between 5th and 6th grade) posing with people in college! The modeling gig was short lived, I was just on vacation with my family in McCall, and some nice woman who started her own business was making a catalog. She did it all pretty much herself and was in business with the same catalog for awhile...but it wasn't some fancy job. Still, I felt like a rockstar. Notice the Swatch watch and the cool geometrics! I don't think very many people would know about this! I think I earned one free swimsuit or something!
3. I've only been a patient in the hospital one time. For some reason I was just talking about this with my mom the other day. I think I was like twelve and I was in excruciating pain and I couldn't sleep. My mom took me to the ER and the doctor asked me if I was sexually active and I said "no." He obviously didn't buy it, so he asked my mom to leave the room and then he asked me again! Answer still the same. Keep in mind that I did look much older than my age. Anyway, it turned out that I was...constipated! Of all the most embarrassing things to have wrong with you! So that was my big hospital experience...oh, wait...I was there again after I gave birth to Ruby, I was transferred there! I almost forgot...so twice. The second time I had to have a DNC. Whew...that was another experience!

4. I love reality television and I know why. I like to be in other people's business, but I am an adult and I know that the lives of others are private and personal and painful and not to be taken lightly. And I don't take them lightly...after all, I have a life that is personal and private and painful too. That is why reality television is so great! I am essentially invited to be in someone's personal business with no commitment of discresion or privacy. I know that is lame, but it is the truth. I get to sit and stare at someone while they get their heart broken or while they celebrate their birthday or pass out on the ground and I don't have to pretend it isn't entertaining and I can call my friends and talk about it and I can pause, rewind and watch it again. What a great invention!

5. I don't like it when people tell me their dreams. Not their aspirations or hopes, but what they dream at night...for example: "I was in this house that was different then the house where I grew up, but it was the same and I was moving through the walls running away from Buggs Bunny and he was running away from my neighbor in college and then we were at a Subway eating only pickles and I was pregnant but I didn't know it..." what is to like about that?

6. I don't make beds. Why?! I love getting into a heap of blankets and pulling them over and around me and not necessarily getting the same layers over my whole body. This is a big part of my personality too. I am predominately a red personality, and I don't lack opinions a bit, but I don't require many specifics regarding physical things like how the towels are folded, if there are crumbs on the bottom of my feet, or how the dish washer is loaded. I am a detail person in some areas, but there are lots of things that don't grab my attention. I would like to say that I don't sweat the small stuff, but it isn't all small stuff that I don't sweat. Just some. How did that happen?!

Tagging: I'll tag Lynz, Jeff, Heather and Sage...but no rush, and if you hate tags, don't do it! :)

Rainy Photoshoot Day!

This was an interesting day for family pictures, but rain or shine, we had to get these pictures done! You might notice that we had lots of pictures in the same location...that is because of the rain. I took pictures of four different families!

Disney Princesses on ICE...

My present to Ruby for her fifth birthday was to take her to see Disney Princesses on Ice. It is uncanny how many of her friends have birthday within literally days of hers, so I got together with two of my friends with like birthdays and six of us went to the show together. So it was Ruby and I, Kiley and her mom Kelly and Sarah and her mom Nicole. As usual, anything with the Disney name on it was over the top!! I was shocked a few times at how spectacular the whole thing was. Really. If you have a little girl who loves princesses, it is a MUST SEE! I know the pictures don't do the show justice at all, but I had to post them anyway! Happy Birthday, Ruby! Kiley, Ruby and Sarah with their roses after the show.

Malificent's dragon totally breathed FIRE! AMAZING! Ruby and the girls were actually scared at this part! It was really something else.

On the 7th Day We Rest...

I'm sure to some it isn't considered a restful day when you attend church for three hours, but I love our peaceful Sundays. No shopping, no parties, no yardwork, no housework, no work...we get home from church and have a bite and then we enjoy the afternoon like no other, just together. This Sunday, we watched some family movies and had a little family time talking about the meaning of Christmas and my parents were here, it was nice.

Alice in Pigtails

I love pigtails! Alice looks so cute in them! She isn't crying because of her hair, she was actually really excited about them, but was upset about something and started crying when I went for my camera. Still cute though!

Chicken

So out of the blue, Alice started calling her number 2 diapers "chicken". One day I was changing her diaper and she was saying "chicken, chicken" over and over again. Ever since then everytime she goes, she says, "Mommy, I have chicken, Mama." All of her questions always start with "Mommy" and end with "Mama". I love it. Other diaper quirks include requiring "medicine" (diaper rash cream) EVERY time I change her.

Just this week she used the little girl potty for the first time. She took right to it, but it isn't really something I am overly anxious to fully encourage. Sometimes I get it out for something fun for her to do.

Cousins: Best Friends

Nathan, Alice, Ruby, Hailey, Sarah and Emma

There is round one: Ruby, Sarah and Hailey who were all born within nine months of each other and then there is round two: Alice and Emma born eight days a part and Nathan only trails by four months. Such a fun bunch of kiddos.

Sarah, Ruby and Hailey are all going to be in the same grade.

They love each other and look so forward to any chance they have to be together.

Ruby and Sarah

Little Nathan

Ruby and Sarah goin' crazy playing

Little Carson

This weekend was nice. We took a little three hour drive to Pasco, WA to see our nephew Carson for the first time. He is sweet as can be, and all my siblings besides Braden and Amanda were able to come. It was really fun for the cousins to be together, which I'm sure is evident from the pictures. Thanks to our hosts, Robb and Heather!

P.S. Lynz...can't wait to take pics of Max

He came from Mimi...

My girl Mimi deserves a post about how great she is. You've no doubt heard a lot about her on this blog...she was the founder of the organization that raised $35,000 for a friend that she visit teaches. Her kids are all over this, and her family picture is below. She just posted niceties about me on her blog, so I have to get her back, and it is long overdue...even if we are the only ones who really care about our gushing posts. Most of you don't know me to be a gusher, so eat it up lady! She edited down her post because she didn't want it to sound like she was in love with me. If the below comment sounds like that, it is because I AM!

Mimi: Pantene commercial hair grows on your head. You are photogenic, you are an optimist with the power to make all things that you are optimistic about happen, you don't take no for an answer, you are always right (I am too, isn't it great?), you get to wear the pants in your marriage...I ENVY that, you were an EFY counselor...they never even called me in for an interview and I totally applied, you have SISTERS...FIVE!, you are patient times 100, you are unassuming in ways that make things that bug me roll right off you. You are such a positive person and I love you!

Where did he come from?

I ask the question because that is a Mimi-ism. But honestly, where did this kid come from?! He is so cute in these pictures! I'm even posting them before I edit because they are so cute. Meet Jensen.