Happy New Year!

Okay, I was going to send out a New Year card because the Christmas card was just not going to happen. Now I think the New Year card will not happen and so instead of delaying and sending a Valentine's Day card I'm just going to post the New Year's card for everyone to see. I know this is incredibly lazy of me and to those of you who sent us cards-they were sooo... appreciated an fun to get in the mail. Anyway here are the three prototypes--which one should I have mailed out?

The fate of the yellow blankie--

When we had Ian we did not know we were having a boy. (We didn't think we were having a girl either.) It was just up in the air due to a very old and fuzzy ultrasound machine. One of the advantages to this was we received many "neutral" colored gifts of clothing and blankets. One of the blankets we received from Dave's cousin Natalie was a pale yellow fleece blanket. When Ian was about 3 months old we discovered he was attached/in love with this blanket. They have been inseparable ever since. (Picture Linus and his blankie and you'll get the general idea.) Ian still at 4 likes to have "yellow" close by. Well, last week he and yellow were in the kitchen and Ian thought it would be a good idea to grab a candle that was warming at the back of the counter and pull it forward spilling warm (thankfully not hot) wax all over the floor, cupboards, yellow, and hands (once again thankful it wasn't hot). Ian was not hurt, but yellow is now covered in green pine smelling wax! We are going to try to iron it out, and save him-any other ideas on how we might salvage him would be helpful. Ian is recovering, but when Dave told him yellow was dead we had a major breakdown (what was Daddy thinking!) Santa might bring a Spider-man blankie for Christmas or we might cut yellow into smaller pieces for Ian to carry around in his pocket, like in the book "Owen".

Ginger(salt)bread Men

Here is the finished product!

This year Ian and I decided we needed some more decorations for our tree. We have up-graded to a larger tree and even with all the decorations on the front-none facing the wall-our tree looked a little bare. We decided to make salt dough gingerbread men to hang on the tree. Ian did a great job rolling and cutting out the gingerbread men. We put cinnamon in the dough to give the men a nice brown ginger look and it also made them smell yummy! They baked all day and smelled so good. Ian was confused as to why we couldn't eat them. He would have broke his teeth on them they were so hard. We sprayed them with clear spray paint and glued on buttons and little pieces of scrap material-they look so cute. I'll have to post a finished product. Ian had a great time with this activity, but both he and Dave are now demanding the real thing! Dave came home with 4 jars of molasses the other day hoping to move the process along-so I'm off to make gingersnaps/gingermen.

'

Birthday Buddies

Miles is 1! He had his birthday a few weeks ago, and I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. Miles and Dave share the same birthday and Dave always calls Miles his birthday buddy. For their birthday's this year we had a little birthday party with the grandparents. Ian was probably the most excited of all. He got to open every present while Miles played with the wrapping paper. Ian and I had made a vanilla cake and decorated it with blue and yellow stars. I put it in the fridge so the frosting wouldn't melt and all day long Ian kept opening the fridge and asking if he could touch the cake. We also made a pumkin cheesecake for Dave. Here's to hoping that Miles' second year is as easy and fun has his first was. Happy Birthday cutie.

Trying to be a photographer

A couple of weeks ago we came home from pre-school and the weather was so perfect I thought I would try to take some pictures of the boys. We have a really big willow tree in our yard and all the leaves were bright yellow and that warm bright Indian summer sun was just casting a great glow on our front yard. I dumped Miles in the leaves and just started snapping-thanks to digital I can take as many as I want right? I was snapping fast but out of about 50 shots hardly any looked good. He was so wiggly and so fast! I turned my attention to Ian-"Look at the camera-Smile-hold still-no look this way!" You get the general idea. Ian was just as bad as Miles and as I was shooting each picture he would start to run towards the camera to see the picture on the screen on the back. All I have to say is - Marissa you are so talented, we will be calling soon to get some family shots done.

Grandma's 80th

My Grandma Spendlove turned 80 this month, doesn't she look amazing! We all got together for a family birthday dinner. It was a lot of fun to catch up with family and to visit with my grandma. Happy Birthday Grandma-we love you!

Cute Cowboys

Ian and Grandpa with rocking horse.

At the first of the month Ben came over to play with Ian. Ian has a rocking horse that my Grandpa made for him and it is the neatest rocking horse I have ever seen. My Grandpa is incredibly talented when it comes to carpentry and my Grandma helps with the details (saddle, hair, blanket, etc.) Grandpa made this horse for Ian a couple of years ago-he made one for every great grandson who is the oldest in their family. Ian and Ben each donned a cowboy hat and took turns rocking all morning long. The best part about the horse is that as you rock it will slowly move across the room! I hope Ian and his kids treasure and enjoy this rocking horse for years to come.

One Month Later...

Well, if you are still checking this blog-I am sooo.. sorry I have not posted for so long. I was recently called as the Primary President and granted it might be one of the least time consuming branchs of the church to preside over but it seems to have encroached into every aspect of my life and thus the blog has suffered. Maybe we could discuss spotlight ideas for next year or who should be the new sunbeam teacher--any ideas? Anyway--here are a few posts to up-date you on what we have been up to.

So sick...

Okay, so maybe I over did it on the Halloween candy, maybe the popcorn I don't know, but the day after Halloween my stomach was protesting something. I called Dave at work and being the incredibly sympathetic and wonderful husband he is he came home to take care of the kids while I hunkered down. He was holding down the fort fantastically bringing me juice and medicine and telling me how I needed to stay hydrated when about dinner time he came in and said "I don't know how you do it, it's like herding cats." I laughed as hard as my sore stomach would allow-I had never thought of it that way. Now every time Miles cries or whines he sounds like a crying kitty!

Happy (turtle infested) Halloween

I think Halloween might be my favorite holiday, but with a last name like Noel I should probably keep that a secret. I just love the dressing up, the pumpkins, the scary movies, the fun music, ghost stories...My dad use to always joke that he wanted us to have Halloween weddings with orange and black decorations because he liked Halloween so much. This year we had 2 little turtles at our house; one that was effected by green ooze and the other not so much. Ian was so excited to be a Ninja Turtle-at the ward party he kept whipping out his sword to challenge any Spiderman, Batman, or other unsuspecting superhero to a duel. On Halloween night Dave took him trick-or-treating and then we went over to the Mair's for some chocolate milk and popcorn. (They were passing out beanie babies at their house!) Ian has had a great time dumping out the contents of his bucket after each meal to pick out a treat. He must be related to me because he goes right for the chocolate-no Laffy Taffy or Smarties for this boy-he even liked the Almond Joy! Hope you all had a fun and spooky Halloween.

Spooky Faces

Monday for family home evening we carved our Halloween pumpkins. We really need to start buying the styrofoam ones. The pumpkin guts gross out Dave and it took me forever to get all the innards out. Ian being 4 is unable to carve, but he did pick out his pumpkin at the store and he instructed me to make a silly face. I'd say they all look pretty spooky with their faces all lit up.

Blast to the Past

Last weekend we headed north for a Ricks College Symphony Orchestra Reunion. Reunions have such a stigma about them and I have never braved a high school one, but I loved being involved in the music program at Ricks and I thought it would be great to re-live my one claim to music stardom. We went on a campus tour (I don't remember Ricks being this small). It has grown, but I remember complaining about having to walk from Dorm 4 down to the Snow building! There are some beautiful new buildings the temple being the one that stands out the most. It is practically right on campus and just sits up on the hill all white and shiny with the bright blue Idaho sky as a backdrop. After the tour we went to a special performance of the Halloween Concert. The orchestra was amazing (was I really once up on that stage) and the whole show was so entertaining and fun--Dave even enjoyed it. After the concert they had a special dinner for Dr. Call and Bro. Neilson who are turning the orchestra over to someone else next year. It was a fun trip-although I wouldn't recommend the Rexburg Best Western.

Green Beans and Meltdowns

Dave took Ian to the store on Saturday to purchase a few things for mom. They went to the produce section to purchase the salad that I insisted we eat with our Little Caesar's Pizza. Dave was checking out the produce when he heard Ian about 20 feet away gagging and about ready to throw up. He ran over and Ian was eating something and apparently not liking it too much. He dug it out of his mouth and asked him what he was eating. Ian pointed and said "Those green beans." He was pointing at the Serrano hot peppers! They headed for the drinking fountain and Ian ended up carrying around a root beer to cool his wounded mouth while they shopped. When they reached the checkout Dave made Ian tell the cashier he stole a pepper and after a re-telling of the story the cashier said he had paid enough for his hot mistake.

Ian's had quite the adventures when it comes to shopping lately. Today at Old Navy he some how got up on the table of sweaters and was crawling around in them. I immediately quarantined him to the shopping cart and he promptly threw a tantrum for the rest of the shopping trip (we left without buying what I had picked out). When Dave came home today he asked what happened at Old Navy and Ian said, "Meltdown."

Fish and Apples

So, the other day I decided we needed to eat better. Of course this decision came after a trip to the gym and a visit to the scale. The boys and I prepared to go shopping list and all (Miles ate the list about 5 minutes into the shopping trip). Yes, we are usually a one stop buy everything at Walmart kind of family, but I decided we needed to eat fish to be healthy and thier meat department is a little lacking in this area. I told Ian we would go to Harmon's to buy fish. We got to the meat counter and Ian was fascinated with the whole salmon-head and all. I bought a pound of shrimp and we headed home. We arrived at home and Ian promptly asked if we could have fish for lunch. I was not going to cook shrimp so I pulled out a can of tuna. He was so excited-"Yea-we're having fish." I started to put it on the bread and he looked confused, "Mommy where is the head?" He thought I had bought the whole salmon and somehow got it into the can! I told him the butcher chopped off the head. He has had tuna on every sandwich for a week now, and apparently is so interested in fish he told James Mair (his friend Ben's dad) all about the fish he eats for lunch.

Now, the apples--Cameo apples are my favorite (book clubers I haven't tried honey crisp yet). They are big and crunchy, tart and sweet and they just taste like fall. They do not sell these at Walmart so while we were at Harmon's we bought a bag full of apples as well. These are "Mommy's apples" Ian gets the little Gala's from Walmart. So, fish and apples for lunch have been a hit at my house-mmm, maybe apples chopped up and added to the fish would be good?! :)

Hide and Seek

Yesterday Ian kept begging me to play hide and seek. So, into the bedroom I went to start counting to 10 while Ian went of to hide. Now his hide and seek abilities have improved, he use to sit on the bed in his bedroom and yell for you to come find him. I said ready or not here I come and off Miles and I went to find Ian. I was surprised to not hear anything-Ian usually starts to laugh or yell due to excitement. I started looking in closets and saying "Where is Ian?" Pretty soon I heard a thumping on the coat closet door and there he was hiding on top of all my purses. Then off I went to hide. I opted for the shower in the bathroom because I could stand up. I forgot how fun it was to wait quietly in anticipation of someone to find you and if you are lucky enough you can scare the liver out of them by yelling boo at that exact moment. Ian found me and my boo made him jump. We played a few more rounds with Ian getting better at finding new hiding places each time. The excitement did take over though and eventually I could hear giggling, banging, and ghost noises coming from where ever my little disappearing boy had gone to hide.

Useless info. you all were just dying to hear!

I have been tagged. Okay Gretchen here it is..8 semi-interesting, useless, strange, and unusual facts about me.

1. I taught junior high for 4 years. Some say I was crazy. I did enjoy it most days, but there were days I wished I had majored in something a little more predictable. I taught math (which I did not major in-I was really good and pretending I knew what I was talking about), U.S. History, Utah History (I think I learned most of this info at church), and World Geography (learned this from reading National Geographic).

2. I can not swim. I took lessons as a child and had to re-take level 3 twice and then I just quit going. I still do not like deep water. Someday I would like to take swimming lessons, but I've heard it's hard to teach and old dog new tricks.

3. I have worn glasses since I was 6 years old. Now I am so near-sighted I am far-sighted. I really can not see anything without my contacts or glasses. Growing up I had some wonderful 2 inch thick glasses when combined with bad eighties hair--I was a knock-out!

4. Lately I have been into watching not what is currently on TV, but what use to be on TV. I have been checking out old TV series from the library. My favorites lately are MacGyver--this one is mostly for Dave, but who doesn't love a great adventure, Remington Steele--Handsome man with British accent, and Gilmore Girls--someday I will talk really fast and say lots of smart and witty things.

5. I hate shopping! Yes it is true most women love to shop for clothing. I absolutely detest it. It's a combination of being a tight wad with the money and having the longest legs and biggest feet ever.

6. I love to clean and organize things. I absolutely love to throw things out, de-junk, vacuum, dust, straighten, scrub...you get the idea. Strange it is, but I believe it is in my genes (Thanks mom and grandma Lee). My new favorite is the magic eraser--scrub off scuffs in a second-who wouldn't call that fun?!

7. I have a terrible sweet tooth. I think that one came in the genes too (thanks dad and grandpa Lee). If there are sweets in the house especially any baked goods, I just can't keep my hands off of them. My mom use to say we were a cake a day family--chocolate buttermilk being the favorite.

8. My favorite place in the whole world is Grand Teton National Park. If we were billionaires we would live there. My parents met there, we vacationed there as kids, I worked there for 5 summers/1 winter during college, and I met Dave there.

I was never very good at tag-so anyone in my friends/family side bar that wants to pick up on this one go for it.

Mild Miles

My little guy is growing up, and he is such an angel baby. He has always been an "easy" baby--very little crying, easy to please, he can entertain himself, lots of happy baby noises, slept through the night at about 8 weeks, likes to be cuddled, he is just a sweet kid. He has been so much fun lately--big smiles for everyone (especially Ian who is his favorite), he likes to crawl over and try to suck my face while I am doing Pilate's, he crawls around the house looking for Ian when he is at pre-school, he gets down-right giddy when daddy comes home. Ian is my intense one-Miles is my mild one. Here are some recent shots of my cutie.

Like I said Miles rarely cries, but when he does I can't help but laugh because he looks so cute with that scrunched up nose and frowny mouth.

Looking for big brother!

Ready to crawl anywhere.

Helping with the laundry.

March of the Elephants

Ian and Dave watching for elephants.

Here they come!

There they go--

A few days ago the circus came to town. We decided to go downtown to the Gateway to see the elephant walk. Dave called us at the last minute from work and said he would meet us there. We arrived early along with all the other stroller pushing, baby sling wearing mom's and staked out a great spot to view the action. We waited in great anticipation to see the circus parade; especially Bello the elephant who was having a birthday! We waited for about 25 minutes and then we saw the parade coming. I myself have never been to the circus so I was very excited to see what it was all about. As they came closer we could see a man riding on top of the first elephant. Then about seven huge and impressive elephants marched by to which Ian's only response was, "Mommy, they stink!" This whole march took approximately 45 seconds--it was impressive (the elephants even held each others tails) but it seemed almost comical that it was so short lived. We all just kind of sat there after the elephants had past looking at each other and wondering if that was really it.

The Cake

This post is for my sister Mindy. She is a certified Wilton Cake decorating instructor--which means she can make a cake look amazing. Ian requested a Ninja Turtle cake for his birthday, and if Mindy lived closer she would have been put in charge-but since she doesn't I was left with the job of making a red velvet (Ian's favorite) cake look like a mask wearing, sword toting green fighting machine. After a few phone calls to Aunt Mindy here is the result-

Raphael the "Red Ninja Turtle"

Ian is 4!

Last week was Ian's 4th birthday! I can't believe he is growing up so fast. For his birthday we took him and his friend Ben to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was so much fun! They had a great museum with robotic dinosaurs that might give Ben nightmares (we explained they ran on batteries). They had a great playground, an educational center, and about every dinosaur in life like recreation that you could imagine.

Ian and Ben about to be eaten by a sharp toothed dino.

Ian and Ben riding a croc.

Ian and Ben in front of the Stegosaurus.

Ian and Ben having a discussion about dinos.

Osha bars

You know those bars in every car above the window? My husband and I call them osha bars because when you grab onto them you're usually careening around a sharp corner and you might be tempted to cry out "Oh sh**" Anyway last night we were on our way home from the in-law's and Dave was driving. We went to turn onto our street and Dave slowed the car way down while I reached up to grab the osha bar. Ian asked "Daddy why are you slowing down?" Dave said, "Because every time we go around this corner your mom grabs the osha bar." Ian replied, "The ocean bar, what is the ocean bar?" Dave gave a brief explanation minus the use of any profanity. We continued to our house and as we pulled into the drive way I reached up to grab the bar again to which Ian said, "Daddy, Mommy is grabbing the river bar!" Osha, ocean, river its all the same in the mind of a 3 year old. What a funny kid!

Fun at the Fair

Today we went to the state fair. It was so much fun. They had all sorts of things for Ian to do, and I had forgotten what fun it is for kids to see all the farm animals. They had a pretend farm set up were Ian was the farmer. He fed the chickens and collected eggs, picked apples, planted a garden, then harvested the garden, fed and milked a cow, went to market and got paid for his hard work, and then we went to the store were he bought some cheetoes with his hard earned money. We went to the animal barns and saw goats, cows, and sheep. Ian is fearless around animals. In the goat barn there were some baby goats that were very cute. Ian scratched their little heads and would have taken one home if I had let him. When we saw the sheep he put his cheek right against the sheep's back to see how soft he was. We also went for pony rides. It was just like a merry-go-round, but with real horses. Ian's horse was named Red. It was a very fun day--maybe we'll try the rodeo next year.

Food Critic

Okay, now how can you be picky when your food choices consist of mashed up veggies, mashed up fruit, and mashed up dinner? Ian would eat just about anything. Miles on the other hand has some very strong opinions about what goes in his mouth. Orange veggies are okay, green veggies sometimes, baby cereal-yum, any stage 3 baby food is gag city, mashed potatoes elicit whining and tears, and baked potatoes equal stomach convulsions and trowing up all over mommy. In the above picture Miles is spitting at me in response to the stage 3 chicken and rice dinner I just tried to put in his mouth. Maybe with his sensitive palette he will grow up to be a master chef or a food critic or just plain hungry who knows.

Peaches--Yummy Peaches

Here are the last of the old pics--These are some peaches on the tree in our backyard. We didn't get many this year due to Dave's late and aggressive pruning (he cut away about half of the tree), but the peaches we did get were huge! They have been so yummy! The last peach pie is waiting in the fridge for dessert tonight.

Miles Hair Cut

More pics from the SLR--Here is Miles new hair do--we cut it about 2 weeks ago. What a handsome boy. The bruise on his nose is from an unfortunate tumble down the stairs. He will be 10 months in a few days and I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. He is still just a little bit of a thing weighing in at a whoping 16.3 lbs. I am looking forward to fattening him up with ice cream when he turns 1 and can eat dairy.