What our future holds

The lucky city whose citizens Rob will be saving from incontinence, impotence, and infertility is.....

 Boise, ID! 

I never thought I would say these words, but I am completely thrilled to be moving to Boise. I went with Rob for his interview and fell in love with the town instantly.  I felt like I had come home (strange, because I've never been there).  Boise is like if Salt Lake and Ann Arbor--two of our favorite places--had a child.  I love it.  Love. it.

Tiny Prints

It's time for Christmas cards again!  This year I am thrilled that Tiny Prints is offering free prints for bloggers.  I have often drooled over their designs!  Some of my favorites from their Christmas collection are (I haven't picked mine yet...):

Love the bold stripes

How fun are these little ornaments?

Tri-fold. Love.

I would love to do a square card. But let's be honest, I don't want to pay extra for postage.

I think my favorite thing about Tiny Prints is that if you find a card you like, for many designs you can select from a couple of color and card shapes.  It's awesome.  I don't know how I'll pick just one.  And I'm not just saying that for the free cards :)  Here's the link to shop for your own:

While we're talking about Vivian...

1. The teeth. We got these trick-or-treating. The other 2 kids were bored of them in about 20 seconds. Viv's obsession lasted for days.

2. The outfit. Most of these items of clothing are parts of matching sets. No 2 matching pieces made it into the outift. You can tell she's TRYING to match.

Also, I just put a boatload of pictures up on Flickr from our trip to Northern Michigan in October.

Little Miss Sunshine

Oh Vivian. How do I begin to describe her? She is such a character. This is a collage of her while we were taking her 4-yr pictures, I think a lot of the shots capture her pretty accurately with her funny little attitude. She really is a ray of sunshine, she is constantly cracking me up. She is also very sweet and kind, always taking care of others. Today we were riding in the car, and she randomly said, "I'm thinking of Daddy. I'm telling him I love him in my mind." Then a few minutes later, she said, "I'm Sweaty Tomato. Start calling me Sweaty Tomato."
A few nights ago, Sam woke up crying with a fever at 3 a.m., and the crying woke Viv up, too. She was so caring with him. He said he was thirsty, so she went and got him some water, even put ice cubes in it. He was upset and didn't want ice cubes, so she cheerfully volunteered to go take them out. I was still trying to calm him down, and I asked her to get the thermometer, and she went right away and got it. Very sweet. She is pretty fascinated with blood, and likes to watch surgery videos with Rob, so we think she might be destined for a career in health care.
One of her new favorite lines is, "You're my best friend." She and Sam say this to each other all the time, especially when they want something the other person has. The other day she cracked me up by adding (ever so honestly), "You're my best friend.... today."
Viv is the one who will say what's on her mind, including asking "Why does that boy (a man, really) have strange hair?" or ask very loudly of the 80-yr old lady at the gym in a tank top, "Why do you have such crazy arms?" Twice. Did I mention loudly?
We've had a number of repairmen at the house lately, and she follows them around asking questions about everything they are doing.
Miss Viv is just herself, and I doubt that will ever change. And I love her.

Little Miss Toothless

Goodness, does she look grown up or what? The bottom tooth has been gone for a long time. The first top tooth came out in some taffy and was swallowed before Grace realized it was gone! The other one came out the next day with some help from Dad and dental floss.

Grace is becoming quite the writer and likes to surprise us with little notes that she leaves in our shoes or under our pillows. This one is my favorite. "I love you because you make pizza."

No DNA test needed

We showed Sam the picture on the left and asked him who it was. He said "Me!" We told him it was actually his dad, and he got very confused :) Eventually he figured it out, but you can certainly see how he would make that mistake!

Spring

So after my post on everyone being sick, everyone got sicker :) The girls both came down with fevers. Sam got an ear infection, ruptured an eardrum, and then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Viv had the stomach flu for 5 days, and Rob had it for 2 (then he took step 3 of his boards--and passed!). Everyone is fine now, knock on wood!!!

Anyway, I know I shouldn't complain since we have not had any flooding or tornadoes, but I have never been SO ready for Spring.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to:

Playing basketball (had to post this outfit)

Listening to bedtime stores with Aunt Kristy

Spending plenty of time on the swingset

Going on walks

Loving all the green, finally!

Being forced to pose in front of tulips

Picking dandelions

And more dandelions, then being forced to pose in front of the "popcorn tree"

It's time for bed, maybe I'll post again someday :) Meanwhile, happy Spring!

He Only Looks Innocent

One of our kids' favorite books is "No, David!" by David Shannon. They

all know it word for word and chime in enthusiastically. I think they can relate to it, plus they love the page where he runs naked down the street. A few months ago, we got to this page:

and Sam said, "His mom is in the bathroom!"

Because that is exactly what happens at our house. Here he is on the counter getting into his stash of Easter candy. That little stinker!

Sick days

This is sick Sam, sleeping on his shark pillow and snuggling with his favorite bunny that was actually mine when I was little, and he also has to have his puppy in bed, and his puppy flashlight. And 2 blankets. Right now he has a big red patch on his cheek from where he wipes his nose across his face. Gross.

I am sick of winter. And sick of sick kids. And I'm pretty sure my kids are sick of being sick. Everyone was healthy in January, but other than that someone has been sick pretty much since November. Please please please can Spring get here already? Even though I hate to be hot, I might have to add Phoenix to the list of places I'd be willing to live--goodbye snow shovels and mittens and runny noses.

Grace is growing up

Grace is growing up so much and is having some great experiences. This year she has made the most amazing progress in her ability to get up in front of people. She has always been terrified of performing in any way--preschool programs, saying a scripture in church, dance recitals. She would get very clingy and cry or just refuse to get up. This year her kindergarten teacher has been instilling confidence in her and the change has been amazing to witness. For the Primary program in sacrament meeting last Fall, Grace got up in front of the whole congregation and said her line without any hesitation. This last week they had an assembly in school, and again Grace popped right up and said her line loud and clear. I was SO proud.

I have also been thrilled to see Grace having her own spiritual experiences. I know these are the experiences that will give her a solid foundation for the rest of her life, and I hope that she will always remember them. In Primary a few weeks ago, they were listening to a song and I happened to be sitting by Grace and she turned to me and said, "I feel warm inside" and I was able to tell her that was the Holy Ghost. The little girl next to her started goofing off and Grace said, "Sssshhhh, I'm feeling the Holy Ghost." So sweet.

Then last week after the assembly, we got in the car to go home and I had kind of parked in a snow drift. We were stuck, and I wasn't really sure what we were going to do. I got out of the car and tried pushing but that was completely pointless. I got back in and tried backing out one more time, and this time we got right out. Grace said, "I blessed the car Mom! I said a prayer and we got out!" Her innocent faith is just so sweet. And I was really grateful that we got out :) And the next week I was going to take some pictures but it was so overcast I had almost decided it was pointless, but decided to go try anyway. Grace said another prayer that the sun would come out, and sure enough, by the time we got to our friends' house, all the clouds had dissipated and the sun was shining bright. Grace was thrilled, and so was I.

I am so grateful for Grace's example and that she has a strong desire to do the right thing.

The traditional New Year blog post

2011 promises to be a big year for our family. The light at the end of the residency tunnel is starting to get bright, and that means we have some big decisions to make. We will be looking for the perfect spot to settle down. That's an exciting prospect, but also kind of scary. With residency and medical school, it was definitely temporary, so it seemed like an adventure to try living somewhere new. This time it will hopefully be long-term, so the pressure is on.

So, our big resolutions this year are:

• Find the best possible job in the best possible location
• Get the house 100% ready to sell

Other things to look forward to this year:

• Sam and Viv both in preschool this Fall
• Grace finishing kindergarten, oh my!
• Viv going to speech therapy
• Sam getting potty trained
• Getting some house projects finally crossed off the list (new carpet, pleeeeease!)
• I might have to find someone to barter with to make those darn valances

Hurray for a new year!