The Land of Little People

Quick Update

2011-10-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been so long without an update, a picture, a story or anything. We have not fallen off of the face of the earth, it's just that life has gotten away with us again. School started and added extra challenges with two gone all day and two big helpers here. Scouts start up again next week and we have a Wolf cub scout already and are the den leaders for him. I have broken 4 sewing machines trying to get stuff ready for the county fair and school. Our primary program was the 3rd week of September and had great participation from 3 of my 11 primary kids, we combine with another ward for the program. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things here and on my crafty blog and post some of the fun things and projects we are planning for Christmas and other occasions as they come up. We've even been working out our sewing ideas for the monsters to do for gifts. I hope everyone stays safe and has fun, we actually had our first snowfall yesterday night.

Look a Like Meter

2010-07-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

I was randomly going through old blog posts and came across this one:

http://alittleinsanity.blogspot.com/2008/10/look-like.html

I was curious what it would say about the kids now, compared to then, as to whom they looked like. It looks like we still have a pretty even keel in who looks like whom.

Tolman Look-alike Meter

2010-07-13T17:56:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Tolman Look-alike Meter

2010-07-13T17:51:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Roots - Geneology

Tolman Look-alike Meter

2010-07-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Tolman Look-alike Meter

2010-07-13T17:37:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Lost relatives

Nevan driving already?

2010-05-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

Nevan very carefully handed Daddy his blanket and took the keys and put them in the right spot and everything.

Unpacking

2010-05-17T19:23:00.001-07:00

Whilst unpacking, I had to be creative on how to keep the kids preoccupied without them thinking that mommy was doing something much more fun. At one point in time, when I had the camera handy, Nevan started crying and in an effort to get him to stop, he always says "Cheese" for the camera, I took his picture. I later discovered why he had been crying, the bump shows up more on the camera than it had on his head.
This is an outfit my sister gave us for Keileigh, she loves it and it's perfect for our weather right now (by the way, we also discovered she loves the Barbie movies, thanks to the same sister)

Sunday of the Family Gathering and Home again

2010-05-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Once again, no pictures until later, but we did have a great time seeing everyone and getting a chance to visit. We did miss those who weren't there.
At one point in the afternoon/evening, Keileigh found the pretend make-up kit and was having a blast with it. She and her cousin convinced their favorite aunt to paint their toes.
Reading with said aunt

"Roar!" The kids loved getting the dragons from the happy meals.

I don't know what summit or pass this was, but it was weird seeing snow in spring.

Family Gathering in Utah

2010-05-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

My camera wasn't out for a lot of the pictures, so I have to depend on my super siblings that had cameras and were taking pictures.

This was at 4 in the morning as we were leaving, they were able to go back to sleep after they were all loaded up, but it was still really early.

Crossing the Salt Flats

We took some time to go look at some bunkbed options for our new place and the kids had a blast at the furniture store.
Keileigh really liked this bed

Naptime was a major after all that driving
The Oquirh Mountain Temple

Teatime?

Where's your eyes?

2010-05-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

I asked Nevan if I could take his picture while we were unpacking the toy boxes and he had to show me the "new" train he had found. Then I asked him if we could see his eyes in the picture and he obliged by showing me where they were.

Randomly Cyrus

2010-05-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to take a lot of pictures of the kids, but keep getting random shots when the kids agree to take pictures, Cyrus doesn't give his approval, he just stares at me until he starts laughing.

Sinking Feelings

2010-05-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

The most popular place for a bath lately seems to be the sink. Nevan will almost always talk Mormor into letting him have a bath while she is doing the dishes and this time the sink was still full of water when Cyrus decided to poop clear around his diaper and get everything else icky.

Nevan's PJ's

2010-05-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

He will not stand still for me to get a good picture of these pajamas, but I love the way the three fabrics came together.

Three Months Pictures

2010-05-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Baby Blues (Eyes that is)

2010-04-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

So two kids have blue eyes, at least for now. Knut's are slowly starting to change colors from a blue to more of a gray. But Cyrus' eyes are a gorgeous blue right now. In fact, they are such a great blue that everything seems to match them and make them stand out, at least to me.

Major Goings-On

2010-04-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

We've had some really big changes in our lives as Nolan has gotten a new job and hence we've had to move and Knut has changed schools. We are now living in a much smaller town with only a branch to attend. We have a two bedroom, two bath apartment with a great view of the mountains and you never know when the phone will ring for Nolan to go take care of something. Two days after we officially moved, we went down south for a family gathering for a baptism and two blessings. It was a lot of fun, but my camera barely every came out, so I'm dependent on other family members for pictures. I'll be posting some stories with their corresponding pictures soon.

Updates

2010-04-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

So many things have been happening lately, I have gotten sidetracked so majorly that I haven't even taken pictures off of the camera. I will be getting to it very soon as we get more settled in and I find the time to get to the computer. Until then, enjoy this video taken just a few weeks ago of Knut reading us our story for the day.

Another Great Giveaway

2010-03-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

The person who does this blog, Desirae, finds some totally awesome stuff! I would be so excited to get either one of these two things:
Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

and this one:
Tumble Tubes

The all purpose sauce for us big kids and the tubes for the little ones.

Wee Share: Prima Princessa

2010-03-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across an awesome blog that reviews great products for kids. Having the four of them can be very difficult to find good products that we can all appreciate. Keieligh has started pretending to be a ballerina, like the one in the "Tin Soldier" on Fantasia 2000. This webpage is doing a great giveaway right now for what looks like a really good dvd, Prima Princessa Ballerina. Check out this blog for yourself and see all the great things to be found:
http://weeshare.blogspot.com/2010/03/review-giveaway-prima-princessa.html

Keileigh's hair

2010-03-11T18:43:00.001-08:00

Trying to do Keileigh's hair everyday can be quite a challenge. She does not like to have it brushed or washed or anything. I have had to become quite inventive in trying to do it. We have discovered that she likes to wear her crown and different hairbows, as long as they match, and then we can do her hair, but they have to match and that makes for quite a lot of hair bows. I do straighten my hair with a flat iron occasionally to help with the frizziness of it and today Keileigh saw me doing it and asked if I could do it to her hair. I've been wondering for a while what it would look like straight and here was the chance to see. She looks so different to us, but she says she likes it. I don't think we'll be doing this everyday, but it makes for an interesting change from our normal frizzy fluffball.

Nevan, on his own

2010-03-11T18:28:00.000-08:00

I feel like poor Nevan has been shuffled off to the side lately while we adjust to the various things going on around here. It also doesn't help when he runs and hides whenever the camera comes out, unless he has Mormor around to protect him. This was a day when he decided that Mommy had to know all about the "hat" he had found. He told me the story three or four times, but refused to tell it again for the camera. Oh well, he really is a talkative little guy right now.

Talking up a storm

2010-03-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

Cyrus tries so hard to communicate with us, here are some of the moments we've been able to capture.

We are just that cute!

2010-03-11T18:12:00.001-08:00

Daddy was cleaning the van out and took the car seats inside the house. They thought it was a lot of fun.

Danielle-these are for your project, if they don't work, I can always take more, but they said that they were "cool and cute"

Mormor- Here she is in the hat and sweater, she wanted to wear the sweater for three days in a row, she loves them!

Showing off baby brother

Cyrus' 2 month pictures

2010-03-11T18:01:00.001-08:00

Cyrus has reached 2 months! We love having this little boy in our family. He is so happy all the time and the other kids love to help out. Nevan even tries to bring him to mommy when he cries. Knut and Keileigh discovered that Cyrus is ticklish and love to try to make him smile and laugh at them. He has great head control and even tries to sit up. He watches the other kids running around and wants to join them in the fun.

Random pictures

2010-03-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

Nevan discovers books

We're all together

Waiting for the babysitter so mommy and daddy can have a date

Cyrus smiles

2010-02-08T14:35:00.001-08:00

This is the hunt for the ever elusive smile from Cyrus. He smiles all the time, that is until the camera comes out.

Keileigh's Pink Princess Tea Party

2010-02-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Keileigh had a birthday. Yes, that does happen every year, but this time we actually had a party for her. All the girls her age are in the primary class ahead of hers, but they are only a month or two older than she is. She picked princesses for the theme and we did the rest.

A week before the party all the little girls received these:

These are the goody bags/party favors we threw together over a week, I sewed out the fsl goody bags and bookmark and we found some notebooks and suckers that matched the theme perfectly. The little girls also got crowns to wear and then we decorated some wands and played pin the crown on the princess.

For snacks we had cheese sicks and meat sqaures, grapes, strawberries, cheese crackers and pink applesauce.

Keileigh wanted a strawberry cake with pink frosting, we made them into heart cupcakes.

Opening presents

Who knew?

2010-02-03T09:47:00.001-08:00

Who knew that "My Little Ponies" were magnetic? I didn't until I went in the kitchen for a drink and discovered this:

Siblings

2010-02-03T09:33:00.001-08:00

These are all together, even though they happened over a few weeks of time, just to keep some posts consolidated.

This is the very first picture taken of all four kids together. Note the distance between Nevan and Cyrus. It has taken a while for Nevan to warm up to Cyrus and this was one of those days where Nevan was just not in a good mood for anything.

Keileigh loves her new little brother and will walk up to me and say "Mommy, can I hold Cyrus now?"

I had set Cyrus down on the lovesac for a few minutes and came back to discover Keileigh and Knut keeping him company.

This happened just the other day. I put on a movie for Keileigh in my room to keep her occupied for a little but while I did something or other and I turned around to discover all three in my bed right as Cyrus was waking up. So I asked Nevan if Cyrus could sit next to him for a picture and Nevan started saying "Cheese!" I quickly arranged them and it worked, up until Cyrus started fussing for attention of the Mommy-variety.

Sewing for Keileigh, again

2010-02-03T09:26:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know, I sew a lot for Keileigh, especially this time of year.It has become tradition that for every birthday the kids get a shirt or pajamas from mommy. This year Keileigh chose this fabric at Walmart all on her own. I pulled out the pajama patterns in her size and let her pick which one she wanted. She picked one that was a top and pants, but being worried that we didn't have enough fabric for that one, I used a diffferent one that called for lace and ribbon, so we went out to the garage and found some that matched perfectly. Once they were finished she had to put them on and wear them for that night and the next day too. It's a definite change in colors for what I usually make her, last year was pastel vegetables and hearts. She also has decided that pictures are a lot of fun if it is her idea.

Playing together

2010-02-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Nolan's been working on someof the computers and he put one together for the kids with linux so they can't connect to the internet. They have to earn their game time by doing chores or homework. Nolan finally found a game that all three could play together and they have a blast.

Liken It's "Jonah and the Big Fish"

2010-01-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

There are very few movies that all of the kids and the adults in the family can agree on watching every Sunday, but the Liken It movies all qualify. We try to watch only "Sunday" movies on Sunday which is usually church movies or a musical. The Liken It movies definitely qualify as both. When we got the set of movies almost 2 years ago we got the soundtracks and the movies. The kids love to watch and hear the stories they have been reading about in their scriptures. We also put the cd's in the car to listen to while we drive to church or everywhere else. The cd's have two parts, the vocals and the instrumental tracks. When the vocal part ends, the little voices from the back of the car say "We want to hear it talk please." They have also started singing along, I think their favorite is "Samuel the Lamanite", with the favorite song being about the "Tarchery Corp" (the Nephite Archery Corp) and yesterday we got a great rendition of "All's well in Zion."

Right before Christmas the cd for the next movie came out and I received it as a birthday present. It went immediately into the cd player and has become a favorite of mine. the songs are great and very singable and I can't wait to get to see the movie/play. It should definitely live up to Liken It's high standard of quality and performance and be a memorable experience for all who attend.

Christmas Quilt

2010-01-19T16:05:00.001-08:00

I have been working on and off on this quilt since August and the goal was to have it done by Christmas for someone's present. With everything that was going on, it did not happen, I had issues with inserting some of the seams and then my machine went into the shop and then I had a baby, you can see where the time problems came up. Well, since pictures were asked for, I finally got to pin it together and prep it for quilting and here are the pictures of some of the different sections of it.

First Picnic of the Year

2010-01-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is for my mom. The weather was about 50 degrees and they really wanted to go outside so Nolan cleaned off their table and let them do exactly what they wanted to do.

One Month

2010-01-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

Cyrus is one month old! We survived one month! Wahoo! I have tried with all of my children to take pictures once a month on the same date each month with the same animal. Each child got different animals and Cyrus got this delightful elephant that I love and am trying to find just the right music box to go in it. I have also discovered the main reason why for the first several months baby pictures are all of babies asleep. They like to move around. I snapped a good twenty pictures and these were the only ones that looked remotely clear and good. We are very grateful to have Cyrus in our family and as he becomes more active and alert, the other kids are starting to interact more with him.

My Cutie Pie

2010-01-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

As her birthday approaches, I have been doing some sewing for Keileigh. I've had this fabric for a few months now and finally felt like trying to figure this pattern out and make a "twirly" skirt for her. She had picked the pattern and told me that she needed all the different skirts and shirts to match and that we would need to find her just the right shoes and everything to go with it all. This outfit was for her birthday, but she told me that since it was done she needed to wear it and look cute, her words not mine.

Siblings

2010-01-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Trying to assimilate a new baby into the family can be difficult sometimes, but today Knut announced that he wanted to hold his baby brother Cyrus and he wanted me to take his picture. Keileigh decided to get in on the photo op, but Nevan was not getting involved with his. Though later on he looked at Cyrus and announce "Baby. Cy'us." Also we had t take pictures for Oldermor in Norway, the shirt and the booties are ones she had sent a while back, right after Knut had been born.

Shh, he's sleeping

2010-01-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

Cyrus still spends a lot of time sleeping, which is good, since Knut was home from school for two weeks and that is a really long time. But I love to watch them sleep and the different positions they can end up in are really cute.

Big Fluffball-a triple threat

2010-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

My sister Beth had our names for Christmas this year and she got us an awesome cd full of Thanksgiving and Christmas stories. While we had been discussing possible gifts though, I knew she knitted and the kids had recently both picked out some different yarns that they wanted Mommy to make them something with. I am only a beginner at crocheting and so I had mentioned to Beth that I could send her the ayrn and she could make stuff for the kids because she is better than I am. Well Keileigh's stuff came in the mail and she got very excited. I told Keileigh she was my little fluffball, but she turned and looked at me and said, "No Mommy. I'm not little. I'm growing. I'm a big fluffball." Anyway, they turned out cute and she totally wants to take more pictures, but they have to be of the vest with the scarf, it can't be the vest or the scarf on their own.

Christmas morning

2010-01-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

I know there are a lot of pictures here, Christmas morning was very full. We feed the missionaries breakfast and then opened presents while on the phone with several of the gifters.

Opening stockings, got to love the dollar store, Nevan and Cyrus got their stockings this year even though there wasn't anything in Cyrus' at least I got it made this year.

Ready to open presents, the guys all got matching pajama pants and Keileigh wore her old Christmas nightgown.
Opening the presents from Grandma and Grandpa

Cyrus received four blankets and a big stack of burp cloths to match, they are such a great size

Nevan got a blanket that said "I make dirt look good", which if you know this little boy is perfect for him.

Keileigh received a pack of chalk and a custom chalkboard

Knut got a quiet book/photo album of Gospel ABC's

Keileigh also got Rosie the train, she loves to play trains with all of her brothers and it is important, at least to her, that some of them are girl trains

Mommy got music for her music maker all the way from Alaska

Daddy got a dvd on World War II and a pie plate

Then Mommy started talking more to Grandma and the kids got to play with another toy, they all got hobby horses, Keileigh named hers Emily Marie and Knut's was named June. Nevan just kept saying "pa-da" when asked about his

New veggie movies, at least for us they are new

While Nevan was opening this, Knut said "a box, that's awesome!" Nolan and I both remember playing with blocks like this when we were little and Nevan had fun for a few minutes stacking until he got distracted by something else.

Then Knut started to open his next rpesent and said "Wow, another box, that's so awesome!"

Inside were two speeder bikes with Luke and a storm trooper, he was really ecited

Cyrus was there, but not really involved, he slept for the most part

Keileigh got a lot of acccessories for her baby doll, we love DI, we got ehr a stroller, and changing table/bassinette, a carrier and a diaper bag, she had to get baby out and was pushing her around for a few days

Nevan snuck a few minutes checking out some of Knut's toys

Reading a book from the cousins while we take a few minutes to calm down after a disappointment

Yes Jared, Knut thinks it's a cool book too

We were visited once again by Santa this year and we were blown away by some of the gifts. Knut and Nevan got cars and puzzles and Keileigh got princess jewelry and a Princess barbie complete with horse. As a family we received the dvd "Up" and Cyrus got some more diapers, always a welcome gift.
If you made it all the way to the end, congratulations. We spent the rest of the day watching some of our new movies and then made pizza for dinner.

Ward Christmas Party

2010-01-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

If you think about it a lot really did happen between my due date and when baby actually came.
At the ward Christmas party, there was a great presentation on the Christmas story from the bible with people acting out all the parts, but somehow we missed it. Nevan very badly wanted to see Santa and sit in his lap, Keileigh agreed to stand next to him and Knut refused to even go up on the stage.

Keileigh colored a picture of herself and her little sister, we didn't know what I was having and she was adamant that it was a girl.

Knut drew himself and his little brother.

Someone let Nevan lick the dessert spoon, what a mess.

Nevan's Birthday

2010-01-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to Hop 2 It for Nevan's birthday and then had a nice family dinner out. Not to extravagant, but then again, I was just hoping the baby didn't come on Nevan's birthday.

Nevan's new outfit just for him with "choo, choo"s on it.

Nevan loved having Daddy all to himself to help him climb, slide and play.

Keileigh had a hard time at first because she didn't have anyone helping her and some of the other kids there were not being too careful of how rough they were being, but Knut soon took over as her big brother and helped her climb up the tall slides and into the bouncy places and even helped her get unstuck a couple of times.

Not photoshopped, just how weird my camera was being

Come on Daddy, I'm not done having fun!

At the restaurant, Nevan insisted on having Mormor all to himself

So we cheated and he got brownies, he was just happy to have something for the candles to go on so he could blow them out.

Catch up

2010-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

So, Nolan finally got me set up with my own computer and now I can do some more updating and playing around than I was before so December will be a bit more in depth than some of the previous months, especially since a lot happened in that month.

Cyrus John Tolman

2009-12-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

So, as many of you know, something totally awesome happened this past week in our family. Almost two weeks late, and just in time for my birthday, the latest addition to our family arrived. It took a couple of days for us to debate, deliberate and decide on his name, especially since we wanted to be surprised when he came as to what he was. It was another totally awesome waterbirth for me and the midwife says that if she is my midwife for the next one she'll let me get in the water sooner for relaxing than she did with this one. Once he decided to come there was no time for anything but greeting him. Cyrus was 8 lbs and 21 and 1/4 inches long with reddish blond hair at birth. The kids are slowly starting to warm up to him. Keileigh's first reaction was, "But Mommy, I wanted a little sister!' and today she has deigned to call him "Mommy's baby" and give him kisses. Knut is as excited as can be to have another brother and Nevan is not really pleased, but willing to try to figure out how to share Mommy. We will be taking more pictures this week as we work on incorporating Cyrus into our family with the Christmas traditions going on this week.

If I don't post before then, I hope everyone has an awesome couple of holidays coming up!

At 4 in the morning as we were preparing to leave the birthing center.

Just a day old

Taken this morning right before church so Daddy would have a picture on the camera to show anyone who was interested. And no that isn't a bruise, it's a birthmark and he does have the Parker pout.

November's Going's-on

2009-11-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

Things keep rolling on here. We've gotten snow a couple times now, but just barely enough for the kids to get excited and to think that Christmas must be here soon. Nevan loves to go outside to play with it, but it's too cold for Mommy and Daddy gives up fairly quickly too. Knut has progressed so far in school he is going back to half day classes. It is great seeing how far he has come in just a few short months. He loves to write sentences and has started sounding out the words for himself to write out without asking.

I hosted a Shutterfly party and received a free 8x8 book and a set of Chirstmas cards. I did the book for Nevan of birth to 2 years, so of course I had to take some recent pictures and he is a ham when the camera comes out.

Life in a bucket

This was the cover of the book.

As we get settled in, we are getting more involved with different activities and at a local ham radio meeting we got to listen to a presentation by Idaho power about electrical safety. It was kind of freaky to see those sparks and definitely a good reminder to be safe and aware of all the potential hazards around us.

The kids have been having lots of fun earning game time with Daddy. The current favorite game to play is a driving/flight simulator. They don't really do too bad, just Keileigh keeps thinking she can take her hands off the wheel and still go in a straight line.

The snow didn't last too long on this day, but it was enough for them to get all bundled up in their new jackets and scarfs and go stomping. Nevan loves to watch it come down and will yell, "(s)now, (s)now, come see" and drag whomever is closest to the window to watch too.

Once there was a snowman, Nevan's most favorite song to sing in nursery

He loves to sing it over and over

Christmas pictures

Sewing Projects

2009-10-29T14:50:00.001-07:00

So, I know that I haven't really posted much over the past summer, but I have been sewing and crafting and generally keeping busy. Here's some of the projects that I've started/completed.

I made three dress for Keileigh for this summer using t-shirts and matching fabrics with some slight variations to the skirts that she loved to wear for twirling.

Same dress pattern, the square was set straight on this one instead of on point like the pink one.

Here's the last of the dresses, plus the boys ties, they are so easy to make and so much fun with the different fun fabrics available.

One of Keileigh's friends had a birthday and knowing how much he liked dinosaurs, I made him a dinosaur carrier.

Windy-this was the quilt I was working on for so long. I did a different variation from the ladies in my ward quilting group. Theirs were more tree skirts with some interesting angles. I drew this out on paper and liked it so much I had to make it. Finding the right fabrics was difficult, I searched really hard for the center fabric, but I couldn't find any the right shade, so I did the stitches in pale shades of the same color as the fabrics on a piece of white fabric.

For Knut's birthday he got a new shirt, a tradition we've done for the past couple of years, that he gets to pick out the fabric.

Spoiler warning: Rick and Desi don't look at the next few pictures unless you want a preview
This is a Star of Bethlehem quilt with snowflakes embroidered in the corners.

For Knut's backpack this year we got a simple backpack and then he got to pick the designs that went on the pocket, in case you can't tell that's a knight and a sword.

My favorite pair of jeans developed a hole and I covered it with some great designs before it got too big too be saved.

For those that have been waiting for the pictures of this project, here it is. Knut got a new jacket and Nevan got one to match. Knut picked the fabrics, he says the fleece was fluffy, and we were able to get all of it as remnants so it was cheaper than if we had bought it on sale.

This was a project that someone asked me to make for them for their little girls and Keileigh got to model it so I could get a good picture. The fabric is Fancy Nancy and I embroidered their names on the aprons and hats.

Most of October

2009-10-29T14:28:00.001-07:00

So now that I'm almost caught up, here's the highlights from October.

The first weekend in the month was Oktoberfest/Harvest Festival and one of the restaurants had a little train set up, the kids loved it and then they got to walk down the street and look at all the vendors and choose what they wanted to eat or do.

The Sunday morning of General Conference we woke up to discover that the predicted rain had instead become snow. The kids had to get out in it for a few minutes before the sessions started to play in the first snow of the season, at least for us.

Daddy has been having a lot of fun with the kids as we've been building up our K'nex and Lego sets through the thrift stores and ebay.

Having a little snack, they just looked really cute, and then they saw the camera flash and smiled.

Knut had official school picture day, so he showed the others how you were supposed to sit very still and then smile when you were told to. We decided to take our own pictures instead of buying the schools, way too over priced for such a simple thing as 1 picture.

Have you ever been this tired? He really did not realize I was sitting right next to him. He had refused naptime all day long and then just barely half an hour before bedtime decided that it was late enough for him.

Sewing Projects

2009-10-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

So as many of you know, I love to sew. Keileigh decided yesterday that the princess dress we had would not work out for her. Her words were that Sleeping Beauty had three fairies to come and change her dress pink. I think she meant that she needed fairies to come help change her dress so it would be better. So yesterday we went looking online for ideas to make that we had on hand or that we could throw together because we thought our ward party was tonight. I went to one of my favorite web pages and found that two of the patterns I'd had my eye on were being offered for free this week to use for costumes. I was able to make her a fall/pumpkin fairy tutu with wand and crown for all of about $4. Not bad for making it in one day and then finding out the party was cancelled and she wouldn't get to wear it until Friday for the school carnival or maybe Saturday for the trunk or treat. So anyway, here's the link for the patterns if anyone is interested in these. They do have a lot of potential, especially for different holidays and even with the range of sizes they offer.

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/Fancy-Filled-Tutu-BONUS-40-tutu-recipes-too.htm

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/Festive-Vests-6mth-10yrs.htm

Catching September

2009-10-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

So another county fair, and I forgot to get a picture of an elephant's ear again. Keileigh was being a bit pouty so she didn't get what she really wanted. Nevan was really excited for the trains and the horses.

Idaho Nachos anyone?

On a special day out with mommy and daddy we found a fountain while exploring that the kids got to explore.

This is a regular happenstance, they will hear the movies playing and just have to go sit down for a few minutes. Anyone want to join us in the movie aisle?

Update for August

2009-10-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

Not much happened in August, but there were two county fairs. The first one was really small, but the kids had fun because they got to go see all the animals and even pet some of them if they were brave enough. We took a couple of accidental road trips, misdirections were found on line and were believed, which took us almost all the way to Utah on back roads.
Keileigh was hiding from the splashes from the dogs jumping into a really big pool.

Checking out the newborn chicks.

Nevan with his feet in the Snake River, the others wouldn't get close to the water.

Keileigh all ready for Church on one of the rare mornings she wakes up happy.

Think they are trying to tell me they are big enough for something special to happen? Good thing we had enough dollies for each of them to have their own.

We also had a really big deal when Knut announced that he no longer wanted to go to Mommy's school, it was too crazy and he needed to go to a grown-up boy school. He got to start kindergarten and he loves it. He gets to ride the bus and the first day of school, he got on and never looked back.

Stuff from July

2009-10-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, the ward had a camping trip and someone loaned us their rv for the weekend, which was great since it rained the whole time we were there. Knut got to toast his very first marshmallow and Nevan wore the sweater that Grandma had made and every one thought he was an oompaloompa.

We had a birthday celebration and when asked, Knut said he wanted to go to the forest to find the Ewoks. Can you tell he loves Star Wars? We borrowed the RV again and even set up the tent too.

Knut got to talk to Grandma and tell her all about his stuff. He is getting better about actually answering questions when he is asked them.

Someone gave Nevan some chocolate, what a mess!

There's a cool place up here called Hop 2 It for the kids to play at and one of the parties for one of Keileigh's friends was held there.

We went to the ice caves, out past Shoshone.

Nolan on the ice down in the cave, Nevan stepped down, but once the water touched his feet he wanted out.
They were being soo cute while I got the snacks ready for church and Keileigh helped Nevan find his scriptures so he could read them too. Keileigh was telling Nevan about the Nephites and the Lamanites and showing him where they were in the book.

Catch up

2009-08-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

So it's been over a month since I've posted, but yes we are still here and keeping very busy. I do have pictures of everything we've done, but of course I'm almost never on that computer so I forget about uploading and sharing. We've been camping (twice, in June and July, with the ward and for Knut's birthday). We've been to the ice caves and to the Snake River, Nevan put his feet in, but the others wouldn't go near. Knut has officially turned 5 and started kindergarten. He says today went much better and that he learned. Keileigh has learned her letter sounds and loves to imitate the Leap Frog letter factory movie. Nevan is working on teeth and expanding his vocabulary. Right now his favorites are "uh-uh" and "no way".

Still in Boxes

2009-07-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

We've been repacking some things and packing up snow clothes and the kids commandeered my box for a while. They were driving somewhere and Knut got out a couple of times to bring them hot chocolate.

Life in a Box

2009-07-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Someone got a cupcake!

2009-07-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Super Nevan

2009-07-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

Nevan loves to run around the house being a super hero like his big brother and sister.

Promontory Point, UT on Monday

2009-07-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

As if visiting the temple and having lunch and then faced with the long drive home wasn't enough, we made a side trip out to Promontory Point. Before leaving South Jordan though, we stopped at Panda Express, one of the many restaurants not found within a good distance from us up here. The kids had a blast, they love chinese food, Knut likes the chicken, all of the different flavors we get and Keileigh loves to eat the carrots and rice. We also had to stop and get some more transformers m&m's. Thanks Rick, I'm totally hooked on strawberrie'd peanut butter m&m's now.

Anyway, to the trains, the drive there was long and very lonely, totally off in the middle of nowhere, but Knut was totally jazzed about seeing the trains since there aren't very many up here for him to look at. We got to see the trains leaving for the night. Keileigh didn't like how loud they got when they blew their whistles, but she said "good night" and waved when they went away

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

2009-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

One of Nolan's friends was able to get tickets for the open house at the same time we did and Shalynn was able to come as well with some of her friends kids. The temple was gorgeous and Nevan fell asleep right at the beginning of the movie they showed before going in (he stayed asleep until we got to the sealing rooms). I'm not sure the kids really understood what we were looking at or why we were there, but it was great to go with them just to let them see a temple since we keep driving past so many.

Here are the pictures from outside the temple afterwards.

Church on Sunday

2009-07-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

We went to church on Sunday with Shalynn and since Nolan went to visit with his aunt and do some computer stuff, we walked the few blocks over to church. Keileigh had a blast sitting with her cousins and getting to look at the same pictures they were looking at and one of them even colored a picture for her. Nevan was his usual antsy, wiggly self during sacrament, but he really loved the nursery. I stayed in the nursery with them, since it is my usual calling, to help if needed. Nevan fell in love with a certain car and would not let anyone else play with it. It had a horn and made motor noises and brake sounds and was just his size. After church it started raining, which the kids loved, but was kind of difficult for us to walk home in. We watched a family movie afterwards and actually got all the kids to sit down peacefully together. Just another relaxing evening in the middle of all that busyness.

The Museum on Saturday

2009-07-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the Wilford C. Wood Museum and got to hear some great stories and just visit with family. I didn't get to spend too much time inside as Nevan decided it would be way more fun to run around and make lots of noise. I also wasn't getting to pay too much attention anyway because my allergies were going off something awful. I'm going to weed through some of the pictures from that day because Nolan was taking shots of everything, which amounts to 125 pictures from that event alone.

Thanks so much to Brianna and Steve for keeping track of Knut and Keileigh, they decided you guys were pretty cool people to hang out with.

Nevan waiting for everyone to come back, he would walk from me to the front door and then sit in the very center of the doorway for a few minutes and then get up and walk back to me to repeat the whole process all over again.

Afterwards we went to get some of Nielson's Frozen Custard, a family tradition, for lunch and then we had a game night at Shalynn's and just visited, it was great.

Sorry about the dalay

2009-06-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yes I know, we were in Utah until Monday, but I haven't posted past Friday. I didn't want anyone to feel like I was trying to publish a book or anything and then I got sidetracked. I'm going to try to catch up again in the next couple of days, but as we are taking the kids on their very first camping trip, it might not happen right away so don't hold your breath.

Wedding Reception

2009-06-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

One of Nolan's cousins got married the same day so we went from Salt Lake to Ogden for the reception. One of funny stories is that while we were at Temple Square we were discussing getting an umbrella stroller because Nevan is just too big to carry everywhere. Keileigh piped up during this and said "Yes, it will keep us dry when it rains, right Mommy?" She knew a little bit of what we were talking about and wanted to contribute. We really liked the idea we had for the basket so of course I had to take pictures. The reception was nice, outdoors, there was a nice breeze, what we saw of the cake was pretty and the bride and groom looked really happy.

Our basket was a months worth of Family Home Evening Lessons. We found some awesome ice cream mugs with a recipe for Oreo milkshakes which led to the book with Book of Mormon FHE ideas, including the Oreo Earthquake Escape lesson. We also included some other dessert mixes and a plan that belonged to Grandma Tolman.

While we were there, Nolan remembered that one of his old friends lived close by and they were able to stop in for a little visit.

Temple Square

2009-06-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

After the mines we went to Temple Square while some people did a session and the rest of us and the kids had a picnic and roamed the visitor's centers and museums.

Keileigh was having a blast just being cute and wanting her picture taken.

Kennecott Copper Mines

2009-06-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

We had a family breakfast the next morning, but of course with chasing the kids I didn't get any pictures. But all in all, they were pretty good. I thought this sign right after Thanksgiving point was pretty great, especially when one of our family members is a "Kate."

We went to the Copper Mines and I won't put captions on all the pictures, but Knut was very impressed with the Mighty Machines and wanted to know all about them and where they were taking the rocks and ores. Keileigh decided that it was ok for Brianna to be a friend was went around with her.

Dinner for the Recognition of Wilford C. Wood

2009-06-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

I was informed about a month ago, that there would be a special dinner celebrating the life of Wilford C. Wood and that there was a slide show of his life and an oil painting being done to be shown at the dinner and that all of his descendants would be invited. We immediately checked the calender and discovered that there were several other reasons to be in Utah that weekend and that would just be the icing on the cake of an awesome trip for us and for the kids.
We got to sit next to a second cousin, his wife and his brother, and the man who was the head of the Church's historical department and his wife and another woman whose friend had helped put the whole thing together and had given her a ticket. We all shared memories of this awesome man and the different things we had learned. We thought it was hilarious that about the only thing I remembered from those early childhood trips was getting to brush the teeth of a statue of a bear.
It was really great to watch the slide show and see the pictures and hear the remarks and to be reminded that even though you might not hold a majorly important calling or be asked to do really big and important things, sometimes the whole journey is made worthwhile by just being "a really good friend" and being the best person you know how to be.

These first three are for Steve and Brianna:

President Monson looking at the painting of Wilford C. Wood:

Kenneth Cope's guitar, Merridee requested this one:

The great grandchildre who were there:

A close up of the oil painting:

Misc family members:

Again for Merridee, with Kenneth cope, who was really cool with being interrupted in the middle of his dessert for this picture:

Recent Vacation

2009-06-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to break up these posts a bit so that the interested people looking at these can either go one by one or can jump to the ones that interest them. We got to take a trip down south recently and spend some time with family and friends. We did a lot of different activities and I don't have pictures of all of them, just the ones where I either didn't have the kids or one of my awesome super siblings gave a hand with the kids and then we just let them play and made sure they played nice. It was kind of hectic getting so many people together, but it was really worth the effort since we didn't get to travel for Chirstmas and we hadn't seen most of them for at least a year, some of them way more than that.
The kids were awesomely understanding and great with all the driving we did, from place to place and getting there. When we left here, Knut asked if we were going to go to our new home. We told him we were just going visiting and he said ok. But when we came home he got really concerned and told us we needed a new "real" home to go to.

Swimming, Swimming

2009-06-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

What you can't really tell from the pictures is that the pool was filled directly from the well, so even though it was in the upper 80's the water was really, really cold.

Rock Creek Park

2009-06-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

We have been exploring the area and we discovered this awesome park that gets Nevan really excited. He loves water and tries to climb in.

They are just too cute!

2009-06-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Digging Holes

2009-06-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Shoshone Falls

2009-06-02T11:49:00.001-07:00

Farmer Nevan

2009-06-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

He's my Buddy!

2009-06-02T11:37:00.001-07:00

Exploring

2009-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Nevan has been having an adventure with Nolan while he tries to get the ground ready for the garden.

Pink Trains

2009-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so they aren't really pink, just a faded red. But Keileigh was having fun letting mommy take her picture.

I 'nuggle you!

2009-04-29T16:47:00.001-07:00

We got up the other morning to discover this lovely scene.

Helping Juice

2009-04-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

We've been making fresh juice almost every morning and the kids love to "help"

Joyful Abundance

2009-04-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

This is the life.

Big Boy Helps himself

2009-04-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, this happened a couple of times, but Mormor was organizing the kitchen and decided on the perfect spot for the Cheerios, Nevan discovered this spot and loves to help himself.

Button Pusher

2009-04-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

He's never really cheerful unless there's a button to push.

Visiting Trains

2009-04-29T16:05:00.001-07:00

On one of our many recent trips down south, we visited Union Station in Ogden. The kids had a blast.

Thomas

2009-04-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Can you tell we love Thomas?

It's been a While

2009-04-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been a long while since I posted anything, since Keileigh's birthday, and that was almost two monthes ago. Life here has been hectic with several trips down south to visit with family and a funeral and work and then another just recently for conference weekend. I'll do some catchup posts with stories behind pictures soon once we can figure out why Nolan's computer doesn't like new windows, but since my computer died, I have to wait until some one else can watch the kids or they are in bed and then kick Nolan off of his computer. I don't like being a meanie like that, so it just waits. I hope everyone is heving enjoyable spring weather in this week before Easter Sunday and that life is good for all.

Nevan gets a Bath

2009-02-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

Mormor was cleaning the other day and Nevan wanted to help, so he got put in the sink where he could watch what was going on and clean himself and get the floor ready for mopping too.

Super Heros in the Snow

2009-02-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

So we had another snowfall that only lasted for a few hours, but what an hour or so of fun the kids had! We put their superhero capes on over their snow suits and jackets and let them work off some of their energy. By the time they were done the snow was almost all gone and their capes and jackets were drenched. Especially Nevan who kept trying to crawl around in it and pick it up.

Keileigh receives a Package

2009-02-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

Keileigh was really excited to receive a special package from Grandma. The kids had a blast with their super hero capes and Keileigh got a fairy blanket with matching pajamas. She's also wearing her new nightgown from Mommy that has sort of become a tradition of a nightgown and dress from Mommy for her birthday. She also got a new Kimberbell doll named "Anne" with a nightgown to match Keileigh's, but the pictures won't stay rotated and I'm still trying to figure it out.

Keileigh's Birthday and Snow Princess

2009-02-25T23:24:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Keileigh! Since it snowed and the kids wanted to build a snowman, we had an adventure. Knut said it had to be a princess since it was for Keileigh, and they were very upset when it melted a few days late.

Nevan in the Snow

2009-02-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Nevan's first time in the snow was after it had come down some more, and really only stayed for a few hours. Keileigh also had fun trying to hit daddy with the snow.

First Snow

2009-02-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

This is the day after we got there, there was some snow on the ground, just a little patch, but the kids wanted to test out their new jackets. Knut had seen snow before, about two years ago, but Keileigh had been sick and hadn't wanted to do anything on that trip but snuggle close.

Snowballs! Now what?

The Big Move

2009-02-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry, it has been a while again, so this goes in spurts and waits, but we're still here and still getting settled in. I'm just going to post a few pictures with the stories behind them, but we have arrived.
We started out with three drivers and three vehicles, went through 5 states, passed by 7 temples, crossed several rivers, dealt with two carsick kids, 5 of the 7 of us got a flu at the end, dealt with a power outage and "snow with mountains underneath."

Driving away from the house for the very last time

Our last Sacrament meeting in CA, Boyd's blessing

The set up in the car, Keileigh and Nevan needed the most attention so Knut got the backseat all to himself and did very well just watching the scenery and reading his books

Little button pusher at the hotel, also Knut took this picture, he wanted to push buttons too

Swimming, the kids had a blast

Breakfast before visiting the cheese factory after the power came back on

Something they ate turned their tongues different colors

This is how well he did sitting in the back, he loved reading the "Thomas Seek and Find" book they received from Grandma

White stuff all over

Welcome to Idaho!

First pictures in Idaho!

All caught up (Mostly)

2009-02-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, that takes us up to the move, which I think I'm doing pretty good if I've gotten all that done and I'm only three weeks behind. I still have to get the pictures off of the camera to organize them first, but we've got some great shots of the kids first snowball fight and Nevan's introduction to snow. Lots of good stuff coming up soon.

Tooty-Ta

2009-02-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

We took a break in the midst of packing to go to Music and Movement time and one of the songs they were doing in the month of January was "Tooty-Ta", which for those of you that remember is like "Singing in the Rain" from Girl's Camp or Girl's Scouts. This version just says the actions to the music and the kids get to dance to the upbeat music. Knut loved this song and will still dance to it, Keileigh thought we were crazy and Nevan just clapped, since he's just learned how to do that.

Thumbs up!

Elbows back!

Feet Apart!

Knees together! (for knut it looked the same as feet apart)
Butt up!

Tongue out!

Eyes Shut and turn around! He tried really hard, but he had to peek.

Packing the Toys

2009-02-11T06:01:00.001-08:00

Nevan decided to help with the packing by emptying his toy box, then sitting in it and then putting the toys back in.

Helping Pack

2009-02-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

Someone checking to see if the boxes were packed right.

Just like Daddy

2009-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

Bowling for Buzzards!

2009-01-30T08:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas

2009-01-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

I have a ton of Christmas pictures since we were visited by Santa in the form of our bishop who said that "a family" had put together presents for our family. We took pictures of the kids opening all the presents and then burned a CD for the bishop to give back to "the family" that had shared with us. The kids had a blast, lots of tearing of paper and squeals of delight. We were also invited to dinner with another family, which was totally awesome and very delicious. A tip we learned this year, if you call any meat "turkey", Knut will eat it, but it has to be "turkey." I'm only going to post a few pics since I don't have making a slide show down yet, but if you want to see the ones of them opening your gifts, let me know.

New Carseats

2009-01-26T01:09:00.000-08:00

Nevan was finally big enough to be put into a forward facing car seat and Keileigh was ready to be moved into a booster seat, but the chest buckle on Keileigh's seat was broken. So that means buying not just 1 but 2 new car seats at the same time. Not that difficult, right? Wrong, try doing it with three kids in the middle of a major (for Southern Ca) rainstorm on your birthday, and guess what? This is the highlight of your day. We were able to get a really good deal on Keileigh's seat, the store was clearancing that style because new ones were coming in in January and Nevan's was a convertible, rear or forward facing seat. Even though Keileigh wanted the pick one, and they were out of the pink ones, she says that Mommy can just make her a new cover for it. We were also able to find a great deal on a better replacement camera, I'm just still trying to figure out the picture transfers from memory/sd card instead of from disc.

We had to rearrange the carseats since everyone was facing forward and since Keileigh's new seat needed a different seatbelt too. So Knut got the back.

Another Birthday

2009-01-26T01:01:00.000-08:00

Another one of Knut's classmates had a birthday, a Thomas pajama party. They had three different train tracks set up, plus some of the GeoTrax sets, plus some crafty stuff for the kids-reindeer cookies and foam magnets. The kids had a blast playing with their friends and Nevan learned how to climb up one step and then stand up all by himself without holding on to anything.