An old, new, old item

Out with the old,And in with the new.It's been a few weeks now, but we finally got a dishwasher! Things have been a bit crazy and I just keep forgetting to write about it, but it has been a heaven-sent! My dishes stay washed and my kitchen is manageable. It is lovely! Here's the old-new-old part. I've had it for a few weeks (hence, old news), but it is new to us, but we got it from my parents who just bought a new one, so it really isn't a new dishwasher.

Oh where or where has my sweet baby gone?

As you all know, I adore Mercedes. She is sweet and happy and totally innocent...until yesterday. She started throwing temper tantrums!! Her first one was at church with all the other moms around watching. Lovely. Then last night Mom made a big mistake and forgot her binky at Grandma's house. She threw a huge fit at bedtime because she didn't have it, and then she woke up at 3:00 am and screamed at Kendall and I for about an hour and a half!! Daddy was so patient with her. He would talk to her in this very gentle voice and she would stop, then it was like she would arch her back and scream at him!! She is a total red-head! It sure made Kendall and I think though, and maybe it is time to wean from the binky if she's going to be that much of a stinker. So here is the part where I ask for advice. I've always weaned my others because I had a new baby coming and I didn't want to figure out whose was whose. So my question is this: at what age or circumstances did you wean your kids from pacifiers and was it easier when they were younger or older? I don't want a 3-yr old sucking on a pacifier, but if it is easier when they are a little older then I'm all about easy. Any advice? I want to hear your stories.(This is one of my new favorite pictures. I smile every time I see it because she is so mischievous looking, and it is totally her!!)

The Many Hairstyles of Avri

This post is mostly for my own documentation. Avri LOVES to be beautiful, and getting her hair done is one of the things that makes her feel beautiful. However, she will only try something new if it has a name. Hence, some of the strange names that these hairstyles have. But here are some of the do's that we have tried recently.

Venting Mom

There is a generalization that men are babies when they get sick. That has never been more true of anyone than Talmage. Talmage started getting sick on Thursday. He doesn't really have a fever, only occasionally warm, but he has a terrible cough and he gets tired really easy. And mostly he WHINES and CRIES all day LONG!! Ahhhhhh! I just want to scream sometimes. Last night he didn't hardly sleep at ALL!! At least, I didn't. Maybe he can sleep while he's crying, but I doubt it. I finally put him in bed with Kendall and I so that he would stop crying but I got kicked in the back and the ribs and Kendall took a blow to the nose. By 5:00 am I was ready to throw him out in the snow! So we put him back in his bed and he cried and cried some more. He wasn't even coughing or hot, just crying. When Avri gets sick she just snuggles on your lap and says sweet things like "Thank you Mom for taking care of me." and "I love you Mom, you're nice." Not Talmage! Please let's hope that this doesn't last any longer, or else...

This has been the look on his face for about 3 days straight now.

Now I'll put some better pictures. Maybe it will help me like him more today. I still LOVE him, but I don't have to LIKE him today.It drives Kendall crazy when on the rare occasion we find Talmage doing something "girly" like talking on the phone sitting in the princess chair.
Okay, I'm not quite as mad now. Thanks for letting me vent. :)

A Blast from the Past

Our latest ward activity was a 50's Sock Hop. We didn't get nearly the turnout that we have for some of the other activities, but it was seriously a BLAST! I know a lot of people who came that weren't planning to dance, and ended up having a great time! Of all the kids, I think Sadie enjoyed it the most. She danced and sang all night long. Even though she never got an afternoon nap she was happier than the other two until about 9:00! My big job for the activity was making this sign. My dad cut it out for me and I painted it and we strung Christmas lights around it. I thought it turned out pretty good.
My other time-consuming project-of-the-week was finishing the poodle skirts that I started in October! They turned out pretty cute. You can see in the above picture Sadie just wanted to play with the poodle. Here's the rest of us in costume.
We had some swing dance instruction and this cute petite little thing came and stole my partner! It gave me a good opportunity to take some pics.

Random bits of info

I'm a total slacker at this blog lately. I don't have any great excuses, just life in general. I keep telling myself that things will slow down...after Christmas is over...after Kendall's birthday...after the Sock Hop... but I don't think it really ever will slow down. So I need to get over it and keep trying to catch up with life. Here are some random pictures from lately.Mercedes continues to be cute.Talmage has been a ridiculous klutz!! This is a terrible picture of a very black ear. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Then a couple of days later he fell off a chair and hit his head on one of our stationary bikes and got a huge goose-egg that is now a gross bruise. Then a couple of days later he got his finger snapped in a mouse trap at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Ouch! It's time to get out the helmet and pads and wrap him in them.Avri is starting a tumbling class on Wednesday that she is SO excited about. We went and bought the leotard and shoes and she has been "practicing" everything she can think of.
What a funny girl. Does Mercedes look like a trouble maker or what?
No Mom, I'm innocent.
She is VERY good at Patty Cake now. She claps and she even does "roll it and pat it" and somewhat of a throwing it in the oven before she claps again. It's the cutest stinkin' thing ever!
Well, that's it for random pictures for the day.

Happy Birthday Kendall!

Yesterday was Kendall's birthday, so here's a shout out to tell him I hope he had a fabulous 26th birthday!! I can't believe that we're now closer to 30 than 20! He doesn't like cake, so I made him a delicious apple coffee cake for breakfast and that was when we sang to him.
Instead of going out for dinner we went out to a breakfast buffet (his favorite!) on Saturday morning. I made him bacon and guacamole cheeseburgers and we did presents Sunday night. We gave him a very cool backpacking camping hammock, a wheelbarrow, and this hat (modeled by Sadie).

And here are some pictures of Sadie because she is so stinkin' cute that I just can't get enough of her right now. Here she is on her very own newly finished rocking horse. It is adorable! The picture just doesn't capture how cute it really is. Thanks Dad!!
She doesn't like to keep her socks on...
And she loves to help with the laundry. But how can you get too mad with a face this cute?