Kid Strata

At first they tried tried this standing.  Silly kids.

We All Become Our Mothers

This post is in no way meant to offend my dear mother, the greatest of all mothers, ever.  That said, I must admit that there were times during my youth when I felt that some of mom's traits were...not the way I would EVER do things.  I went so far as to dedicate a journal entry to "Things I Will NEVER Do When I am a Mom".  Needless to say, almost 12 years into motherhood, I've done all of them.  And of course, high on the list was my vow to always keep an immaculate house, devoid of laundry piled high, dirty dishes in the sink, half-done projects laying around, etc.  I think I did a fairly decent job for a while.  Then, I had a fourth child.  All my proclamations of cleanliness have flown out the window.  It's a great day if I get showered and dressed in something other than yoga pants.  

The other night, whilst making dinner, shuttling one kid home from piano and off to soccer, a husband off to bishopric duties, trying to get homework done for the boys, finishing up some volunteer work for Grayson's class, and thinking that since it was finally less than 85 degrees that it might be nice to make rolls with dinner, I had a look around and was shocked to realize that yes, my kitchen isn't that far off from that of my mom's in the mid- 1980's.  So I guess I've come full circle- and proud to do so!

 Of course you don't see into the laundry room, where dirty clothes were threatening to cross into kitchen territory.

 I must admit, though, that the rolls and cinnamon rolls were pretty much perfection.

In case you're wondering, I actually got the place cleaned up before 9pm...so that I could trash it again by 7 am the next morning, of course!

But thank you, Mom for teaching me that just because my house looks like a hurricane tore through sometimes, that it isn't what matters in the end.

Faces of Brooke

I think this little girl is changing everyday.  She's losing her newborn look and turning into a chubby little smiley baby.  We think she's pretty cute, especially with hair bows made by Auntie Susie!

Unfortunately, this is what we do the most: lots and lots of time in the  car.  4 times a week we wait for about 25 minutes for Carissa to get out of school after we pick up Grayson. Luckily, Brooke is happy to hang out as long as she doesn't have sit in her seat!

Brooke Bradford's Baby Blessing

We celebrated two special little lives joining the family this past weekend:  first, Kyle was sealed to Susie and Tyler on Saturday, then everyone was kind enough to stick around for Brooke's blessing on Sunday.  Miraculously, we were all ready on time, even, which is no small feat considering there were 16 people staying in our little house!  Here we are headed into church.  Lee had already been there for 3 hours by the time we arrived, but I had my helpers to carry all my stuff in. 

 Little Miss Cute in her special blessing outfit, handmade by Grandma Shanna almost 12 years ago for Carissa.

 Scott, Jerehmiah, Lee, Tyler and Kirk completed the blessing circle for Brooke.  How lucky to have such good men to bless her!

We missed Erin, but I was so fortunate to have my amazing Ali and Susie with me.  This was Ali's 3rd trip to LA in just a few months, a city she insists she "hates", but I'm beginning to wonder if maybe she is harboring a secret crush on the southland...

                                                Grandma Pam was here, too!

 The beautifully delicate, handcrafted works of art, painstakingly made by Susie of dusty pink satin, especially for Brooke Lucile on her blessing day.  They completed the outfit perfectly!

After the blessing we headed home for a big lunch and hours of hanging out, cousins playing and more eating.  Thank you to all who came and supported us and to those who were with us in spirit!

The Greatest Gift

Besides finally getting that baby sister she's always wanted, Carissa got the other greatest gift that a baby sibling can bring:  a ticket out of sacrament meeting.

Thank you, mother's lounge, for your comfy rocking chairs and cold A/C.  Carissa and I plan to spend many hours in here in the near future.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Of all the Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah has to be our favorite.  We look forward to our 3 day weekend every September so we can head to the beach for the best weather of the year:  warm ocean, bright sun, and no wind!  And because most people still have to work, there is no traffic and easy parking!  This year we opted for Topanga Point off the PCH.  It's a smaller beach, but the surf was big enough for the kids, the water was clean, and the swimming was fantastic.

 Brooke seemed to enjoy her first beach outing.

 Grayson loved frolicking in the waves.

 Derek caught quite a few, and even lost a tooth when his board slammed him in the face.

 Always happy at the beach!

 This was right before a massive wave hit the board just right and snapped it in half!

 Doing what she does best.

All wiped out after so much sand and surf.  Next week:  Yom Kippur!

Chauffeur Needed

These 3 kids went back to school about 3 weeks ago, which means that Brooke and I get to spend a lot of time in the car these days!  

I was so overwhelmed by the prospect of shuttling all three kids to different schools at essentially the same time AND having a 1 week old, that I enlisted my wonderful mother-in-law to come help me the first week.  She helped handle the craziness of the morning (lunches and breakfast for 4 ppl heading out) and with the drop-offs.  I absolutely couldn't have done it without her.  Thanks Pam!

Carissa heads to Nobel Middle School this year.  Located in Northridge, Nobel is the top middle school in the district, has 2500 students, and the traffic is an absolute nightmare!  She's handling it all very well, however.

Grayson is at Topeka Elementary, which is a few short blocks from Carissa's school, in a lovely little neighborhood. He let us know right away that he's the "tallest, fastest and smartest kid in his class".

 Derek continues on at Balboa Magnet in 3rd grade.  Due to the timing of drop-offs and pick-ups, he gets dropped off 30 minutes early and usually picked up at least 30 minutes after school's out.  Luckily, he prefers it this way, as it gives him ample time to play handball, mostly with his friend, Joshua, who is the "first best 3rd grader at handball".  Of course, that makes derek the "2nd best 3rd grader".

We're expecting great things from these kids this year, but realistically, I'm hoping to just get them to school on time all year!