Birthday Boy Jonah!

While I have been neglectful to my blog, I ask for it's forgiveness as I try to catch up, once again, over the next few days.
We just can't get enough of birthdays around here. Jonah just recently turned 6 and for the life of me I can't remember where I put those last six years. As I watch my children grow, I try to revel in every moment and conveniently forget that I am aging as well. Not that 31 is that old, it's just closer to 40 than I would like to believe. Can I get an "amen?"
Anyway, I digress. Jonah had an awesome birthday! We had an Indiana Jones themed party for him and Cole (I just couldn't do two parties) and each of them invited a few buddies. It is amazing to me how 11 small people seem to occupy and fill every corner of the house. We invited new friends from Jonah's kindergarten and for most of them it was their first time in our home. Of course everything was an adventure, just as Indiana himself would have had it. Enjoy the pictures from the party. I couldn't have done it alone. My sweetie and my brother were both quite instrumental in the success of the day. I had this great idea to let the kids shoot blow darts at a scary native instead of the usual "pin the tail on the whatever" game. I gave each child a straw and a q-tip that had been cut in half and dipped in poison (ketchup). It made the perfect dart to blow at the bad guy, which was beautifully created by my illustrator brother, David. Damon was less than thrilled with the mess that it created, but he was very patient and waited off to the side with a cleaning rag. Good man...I know this picture is dark, but I made a pretty cool Indian Jones hat cake. The "sand" around it was crushed up graham crackers and I placed little jewels around it. I forgot to buy a number 6 candle, but I had a 1 and a 5! Thanks to the dollar store, each child got their own Indiana Jones hat, a candy whip and a bag of treasure. We even sat at the table and made paper snakes and our favorite librarian (Buddie) read stories. It was great afternoon. I hope Jonah loved it as much as we did. Happy birthday, Indiana Jonah!!

Cole is how old?

Look at that handsome little face. Can you believe he is already three? Saturday our little Colie had a big birthday. So many things have changed over the last year. When he turned two, Cars were the big thing. Now it is Star Wars. He made out like a bandit this year and acquired quite a collection of "guys" as he calls them. We even outfitted him with his own light saber (life saber, as he calls it). I especially love it when he runs around with the light saber and sings the Star Wars theme song. What a little champ.

Last year Cole wanted a Lightning McQueen cake and I did a decent job. This year he wanted Yoda and I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I regretted after I was finished that I had used chocolate cake instead of red velvet cake for the Yoda head. That would have been awesome when we cut into it! Oh well.
The whole day was great. We went with Buddie and Boppo to see Madagascar 2, took pizza to Grandpa Gombert's house, ate cake, opened presents and then went home and watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What a super great day with just our little family.

We are so grateful for you, Colie, and are so happy that you are such an important part of our family. You are our favorite three year old.
Happy Birthday, Little Jedi!!

Happy Halloween, Aarg!

I see because of the obvious lack of comments on my last post, except for Nancy (thanks!), I need to return to the lighter side of my life for my blog posts. So here's our official Halloween entry. We decided this year to go as pirates and have Cole dress up as Peter Pan. He's pretty fierce with a sword, so we knew he was up to the challenge. Halloween is the beginning of my favorite time of year. October through January are the months that I long for every year. I love the spirit in the air and in my home and look forward to all of the family time we get. It is just so warm and toasty all over. Hmmm, toast.It was actually my first year to get "Halloween-ed out." Between parties with friends (Rogers throw a wicked party), school parties, church parties and the actual Halloween night, I was pretty tired of being the "Buccaneer Beauty," although my sweetie seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. We are very fortunate to have children who only enjoy trick or treating for about two blocks. Then, when their buckets are about halfway full, they declare themselves done and we head home. I love that the greed of Halloween candy has not set in. I hope it never does.Well, I hope you all enjoyed this entry better than the last one! Have a super fun Fall! It is the shortest season of all but, in my opinion, by far the best. Love you all!!

A New Day...

Alright friends. Buckle in because I'm going to write some unpopular things in this entry. But, when my children look back at this family journal, this is one event that I want them to remember. I want them to know how their mom felt and the special memories our family shared on November 4, 2008. And while I know that I am publicly outing our family as Democrats, those of you that really know and love us, and I mean really know and love us, will understand and it will hopefully give you pause to think.

At dinner time on November 4th, we turned on CNN. We don't usually have TV on at dinner, but we considered this a special exception. We explained to the kids what we were watching. That the new president of our country was going to be decided tonight. Unfortunately my kids did not get the chance to see us vote. We took the opportunity to vote absentee through the mail to avoid the lines. However, in the spirit of celebration that we were making our marks, that we were showing appreciation to all those who lived and died and continue to do so for our freedoms and rights, I walked out to the mail box, placed my ballot inside, raised the red flag and yelled into the empty street "Rachel Sutherland has voted!!!" and silently said a prayer that this election year would be different.

So, back to election night. We pointed to the lower right corner of the screen where electoral votes were being tabulated. We explained to the kids that Obama needed 270 votes to win. At that point the count was 8 to 3 in favor of McCain. After dinner the kids ran upstairs to play Candyland while Damon and I settled in to watch till the bitter end. Periodically, Jonah would run down the stairs and look through the banister to check the count on the screen. However, the kids had to go to bed before the results were announced and the next morning, Jonah ran into our bedroom, jumped on our bed and asked "Did Obama win?" I gave him a hug and said yes to which he said, "I vote that Obama will have a great time as president." I vote for that too. Just not too much fun.

While some may only see that a Democrat has won over a Republican, I choose to see the amazing change that has come over our country. The vast majority of citizens actually feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, that their votes actually matter. There is a sense of hope, of risen spirits that our country desperately needed.

It is time to set aside our fear. I know that it is comfortable and easy to do what we have always done, to vote the way that we have always voted. That luxury is gone and was never really an option in the first place. What a blessing we have in America and in the Gospel that we have our agency. That those of us raised in the church can take what we have learned, what we know to be true and put it to work to make good decisions, ones that ensure our freedoms and please our Heavenly Father.

Do I think Obama is perfect? Heck no. He's a man and he's a politician. Not the most stable of combinations. But right now, he is our best shot at making the necessary changes that need to happen to our economy and our government. The fact that our family chose to vote Democrat has zero bearing on our testimonies and our beliefs. It doesn't make us any less in our Heavenly Father's eyes, simply because we didn't do what everyone else around us was doing. Our excitement does not only come from who was elected president, but at the prospect of something new and different for our world. Nothing great was achieved by people who simply did what was done before.

I want to live my life like the famous bumper sticker, "Quiet women rarely make history." I challenge you to back away from gossip and assumptions. Do your own research if you have a question. I know it is much more interesting to listen to radical statements and assume the worst about someone, but instead, encourage the wave of positive thinking that is sweeping the country and do your part to keep it moving.

I pray that I'm right. I hope that my children look back at this entry and say, "That must have been hard for Mom and Dad to do, but I'm glad they did it."

Two more kids?

My dear sweet husband has been after me for some time to have another child. I smile, maybe laugh, give him an assuring pat on the back and go back to the endless loads of laundry, dishes, fruit snack wrappers and yucky little drips around the toilet that come from living with three males. While I may have a hand in the laundry and the dishes, I claim zero responsibility for the bathroom mess.

So, my dear friend Michelle and I came up with the next best thing. She and her husband had the faith to allow Damon and I to watch their children, Thomas and Taylor, for 5 days while they went on vacation to Japan. It is only day two and things are going great. I actually had to pause for a minute this morning when I realized I actually had to do Taylor's hair. I've had it pretty easy with two boys. A little water and some gel and we are out the door. However, I was very proud of myself. When Michelle called to check in this morning at 7:45 a.m. I was showered and dressed, the children were dressed and fed, backpacks were ready by the door, the dishwasher was unloaded and loaded with the dirty breakfast dishes, beds were made AND the kids were quietly watching a morning cartoon show. Ta-Da!! Go ahead, ask me what time I got up this morning to make that all happen. 5:00 AM!! Oh, well, at least I was proud of myself.

The following few days will detail what we do while Michelle and Emmett are away so that they can check on their little ones through, as Tommy says, cyprospace. Have a great time on your trip guys!! We love you!!

Cole, Thomas, Jonah and Taylor are bowing down to the "Shine to Media" as we call it. Cartoon Network came out with a Star Wars cartoon and it gave me just enough time to whip up a big pot of spaghetti. Thank you George Lucas!

After baths and jammies, everyone came downstairts to decorate Halloween cookies. Exactly what they needed right before bed - more sugar...

Taylor loves to be nude, much like her Aunt Roo (just kidding, kind of). Bedtime is no exception. Emmett and Michelle warned us that she likes to take off her jammies and to promise her a candy if she could keep them on all night. I took it one further and promised her chocolate chip pancakes in the morning if she stayed dressed. When I checked on her when I went to bed, this is what I found at the end of the couch. Apparently she has heard about my cooking and decided she could risk it.

Invisible Poop

One of my favorite things about Jonah is his ability to tell a story. Honestly, there are times that I wish he would just cut to the chase. I don't need to know every last detail. But I have to remember, no matter how insignificant it seems to me, it is absolutely critical to his 5, almost 6, year old mind. Today, I was grateful that I had the patience to listen to this story, because if I had cut him short, the story simply would not have even been remotely as hilarious as this one he told me over lunch today. Bear with me as I try to share it with you as it was shared with me:

"Mom, you know what happened on the playground today? I had to go potty, and I felt a little bit of poop come out. (I'm silently saying "Oh no.." in my head) So I went to the bathroom and pulled down my pants but there was nothing there! But I could still feel it! When I pulled down my pants again, there was something glowing! And ya know what? I think it was invisible poop!"

The only thing lacking in this retelling is the expressions on his face as he told this tale. He told it with such conviction that I was actually thinking, "Wow, invisible poop. Who knew?"

Go Lightning Lions!!

Ok, I think we are up to fun thing number 4: Jonah started soccer! I had no idea that they made cleats, balls and shin guards so small. Jonah's first game was last Saturday and these boys were the picture of good sports. The team that they played from Longfellow Elementary had very obviously been playing for a while and were more than likely quite a bit older. "Slaughter" is the word that comes to mind when I think of the score. But I have to hand it to the self named Lightning Lions. They ran out there and had an awesome time. Practices have also been fun as they have played "games" with Coach Nate to teach them the basics. Jonah is confident, excited and continuing to learn how great it is to be on a team.

Here, the Lightning Lions are checking out the other team, trying to figure out their stragedy, I mean strategy.

Getting their game faces on...

Jonah helping his team mate, Jonah (yes there are two of them!) on the field.

Way to go Jonah!!