Blackson's Blog

Oh Baby Baby

2012-02-15T21:13:00.003-07:00

Seth and I got to see an ultrasound today of Baby #3. We were so excited it was like Christmas morning. And the verdict is that it is definitely a BOY!

Isaiah is thrilled that he will have the brother he's been praying for (we just pray he'll be okay with sharing his room). Charlotte's not really sure what's going on. Half the time when I ask her what's in my tummy she says, "Pancakes!" or whatever else that I've been eating.

National Pie Day

2012-02-09T20:26:00.004-07:00

So it's been a couple of weeks since National Pie Day on January 23rd....Regardless, Seth came home for lunch that day and talked about all the different kinds of pie they were eating at work and wondered if I was going to make a pie for dinner .... maybe chicken pot pie?

Oh why not? It's one of my favorite kinds of pie and I'm always looking for an excuse to eat it. So this is the lovely result. He was thrilled!

100 Days of Kindergarten

2012-02-09T20:23:00.002-07:00

Last week Isaiah got to celebrate 100 days of kindergarten with a party and lots of fanfare. He and I completed this project for his homework by gluing 100 items to the paper. I think the teachers' goal is to help the students learn to count to 100, and I'm impressed that Isaiah is quite close.

Exploding Volcano

2012-01-22T20:12:00.004-07:00

My Mom came this past week to play, visit, and make projects. She helped Isaiah make a volcano, then we exploded it about 20 times.

The kids were thrilled with this classic science project. It was pretty fun!

Don't you love how it runs all over the counter?

Isaiah requested that we also take a video so "Grandma can see the volcano explode!"

Here Comes Baby #3!

2012-01-12T20:34:00.002-07:00

I have rarely been so thrilled by a doctor's appointment, but today I got to see my baby swimming around on the ultrasound. The doc said it looks fantastic and healthy and was wiggling so much she had a hard time taking measurements.

Here it's holding up its hands by its head, and you can see the little belly too. We also saw a strong heartbeat and a beautiful spine. My due date is still right on July 6th, so it will always get fireworks near its birthday! Next month we find out if it's a boy or girl.

Sewing with Children

2012-01-10T20:48:00.003-07:00

Recently I've been reading a book called The Creative Family, which is about how you can incorporate more creative time with your little ones. I'm amazed by the author who teaches her children to sew, embroider, knit, tie dye, take photographs, and even paint with henna at ages as young as three and four.

So the other day when Isaiah was fidgeting with all of the widgets and knobs on my sewing machine, I stifled the urge to say, "don't touch that!" and instead I asked him, "Would you like to learn how to sew?" He responded with an enthusiastic "yes!"

I gave him a piece of scrap fabric, taught him to raise and lower the pressure foot, change the stitch settings, put the needle into position, and of course, to step on the gas pedal. He loved it and instantly became quite proficient!
After he ran over his scrap fabric with about 20 different lines of stitching, he said he wanted to make a project. I figured a pillow would be the easiest thing, so I let him cut out the fabric and iron it (even lowering the ironing board to his height — so cute!) and then he sewed around it with only a little guidance. Here's his finished product:

Of course, this looked so fun that Charlotte wanted to make something too. She chose a purple floral for her fabric, and helped me pull out the pins as I sewed around her pillow. Then she had a ball filling it with stuffing. It was a great way to spend an evening creating with my favorite little people.

New clothes, new creatures

2012-01-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

I'm thrilled to admit that my kids love to dress up. Well, Isaiah's had the knack of it for years; Charlotte has only recently been introduced to the idea. My Mom gave each of the kids their own dress up box for Christmas and they're having a ball.

Adventures in the City

2012-01-04T10:06:00.009-07:00

For a family outing last week, we went to Salt Lake to see the lights. I love that city and miss living there! Seth thinks it's old hat since he still works there. However, his parking pass came in extremely handy.
The lights were beautiful as usual, and the kids loved walking around Temple Square.
We went inside the Visitor's Center to see the Christus. It was lovely and warm, though crowded with people.

Anytime you can squeeze in time to ride the train is wonderful. We also took Trax to get to the Gateway and have dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. Yum!

We also took the kids to the Church History Museum, and wouldn't you know it, they had a quilting exhibit! Here are a few of my favorites.

There were a few hands-on exhibits for the kids to play with, but there were so many people that Charlotte and Isaiah tried out the rocking chairs and not much else.

There were of course, also nativity sets on display, but my favorite by far was this gorgeous painting. Called Flight Into Egypt, it's one of my new favorites.They also had an actual size statue of the Angel Moroni, which is placed on top of the temples. It was fun to see up close!

Our Little Nativity

2012-01-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve at the Blacksons we dressed up the kids and let them act out the Christmas story while Grandpa read Luke 2. They were all adorable.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-31T11:37:00.003-07:00

Here we are Christmas morning. It was difficult to get the kids both to smile at me instead of play with their toys.

Isaiah loves his Egyptian mummy set and played with it uninterrupted for hours. He wouldn't even stop to eat. I wish I would have time to sew him a mummy costume. He's wanted one for months.

Here's a pict of all his loot. He wouldn't join the picture.

Charlotte had fun with her cash register, but got frustrated too. Why won't those coins come back out?

I was hoping she'd like her pet snake more than she did (she loves snakes for some reason), but she does love her froggy pillow pet.Seth gave me a Kindle! I'm excited to read a lot of books on that. He also gave me some fun books and three awesome movies that I've wanted for a long time. They're all cartoons, but great ones.
Seth is thrilled with his video game (which he ordered and I wrapped) and he likes his scarf, shirt, and cologne too.

Gingerbread Village

2011-12-15T14:07:00.002-07:00

I found an adorable gingerbread kit of a little village at Kmart and decided that this would be fun to put together as a family. So last night we lined up our gingerbread pieces, piled on icing cement and sprinkled candy on the houses, the table, and especially the floor. It was a fun creative project, and one that the kids enjoy eating!

Lovely Layton Lights

2011-12-12T10:41:00.005-07:00

On Friday we took the kids to walk through the Christmas lights. They were in heaven! The lights in Layton are pretty funny .... they have Christmas lights covering all kinds of shapes, from cars and frogs to dinosaurs, dragons, and fish. We had a lot of fun.

Jolly Old St. Nick

2011-12-09T11:37:00.004-07:00

A special visitor came to see the children at our ward Christmas party this last weekend. Was it worth waiting in line for an hour to get a candy cane? They would say a resounding "Yes!"

Spooky Mummy

2011-12-09T11:32:00.001-07:00

No matter that we have our Christmas tree up...Isaiah's still into costumes. I guess it didn't help that we checked out a pile of Halloween books from the library, reminding Isaiah of his mummy obsession.

Ah, for Cuteness

2011-12-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Seth!

2011-12-01T15:46:00.002-07:00

This week we celebrated Seth's birthday. The kids loved handing him gifts, and he and I had fun going to a yummy Thai restaurant for dinner.

This was his favorite gift, I think, a fabulous fancy coat!

Who Needs Toys?

2011-11-29T20:24:00.002-07:00

We've been ordering our Christmas gifts online, and recently one came in a giant box. This box could have been the gift! The kids love playing "special delivery" and pretending that they're arriving here as gifts to us by mail.

Installation Art

2011-11-17T14:03:00.001-07:00

Is a great place to eat lunch!

trick or treat

2011-11-04T07:37:00.002-06:00

I love this haunted house drawing that Isaiah did. My favorite is the ghost floating out of the chimney...that or the spiderwebs attached to the trees.

Here's how they ended up costumed for trick or treating on Halloween: Chef Seth, Pikachu, and a little dragon with pigtails. They came home with literally buckets of candy, which of course I taxed heavily. I don't think I'll have to buy chocolate until Christmas.

I Love My Mummy

2011-10-31T15:03:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!

Hay Days

2011-10-30T20:54:00.004-06:00

Since the kids are finally over their colds, we made it to the last day of Day's Farm's Hay Ride. They drive you through the pumpkin patch, where you can pick your own pumpkin (or 3 or 4 because it is the last day). It was a fun little adventure and the kids loved it.

Isaiah's love of skeletons made him fast friends with this little guy.

Charlotte wasn't to be outdone by finding a witchy friend.

Ward Halloween Party

2011-10-30T20:48:00.002-06:00

Friday night we broke in our costumes at the Ward Halloween party. Since Isaiah couldn't wear his Hulk mask, Seth did a great job painting his face green. Charlotte stole the show in cuteness and kept her wig on for most of the night. Seth snapped a few photos for us as a tourist and I pretended to love all things spidery (though we all know that's a lie).

Ninja Party

2011-10-19T14:45:00.002-06:00

I haven't taken any pictures lately, so here's a drawing of Isaiah's for you to enjoy. He drew this troop of ninjas in art class. Sorry the paper is wrinkly. Before placing his pictures carefully in his backpack to bring home, Isaiah wads them up in a ball.

Monster Love

2011-10-10T09:37:00.004-06:00

Here we feature another amazing homework drawing of Isaiah's. Hopefully it brings as much joy to your day as it does to mine!

Halloween crafties

2011-10-10T09:35:00.001-06:00

We should do more projects like these. The other day Isaiah made a q-tip skeleton, which Charlotte painted a pumpkin (with water!). They had fun.

If you shower for too long...

2011-10-07T17:03:00.002-06:00

the kids might start playing with knives.Thankfully, it wasn't a dangerous knife sculpture.

Millions of Peaches

2011-10-03T13:17:00.004-06:00

Okay, not quite millions. Last week I canned three batches (21 quarts) of peaches. Oh yum! I wish I had done three times as many, but that was just not going to happen. Oh well. I'm sure we'll enjoy these ones!

New Family Photos

2011-10-03T13:01:00.004-06:00

I am excited to finally share my new family pictures! We had them taken last month by RLT Photography and they did an amazing job! We're thrilled with the results.

These two cuties light up my life. They play together pretty well at home, too.

Ah, the newly popular standing shot. I like this one, though.

My boys in blue...
Us girls in purple...

Individual portraits for the kids turned out great, too.
Charlotte's of course includes a portrait of her lovely. We can't go anywhere without that!

Me and Seth: still very happy after 8 years together!

Beauty All Around

2011-09-29T14:51:00.007-06:00

I took a photo tour of my yard for a little floral inspiration today. I have to give a lot of credit to the sprinkler system...I can practically ignore my plants and they're thriving!
These little babies are called Four O'Clocks. I scattered a handful of seeds my neighbor gave me about two years ago...now they're threatening to take over. I love them!
The purple asters and pink autumn seedum went wild this year. I had no idea these perennials would grow so large. They're filling up the park strip nicely.

These happy little ferns and trailing vines are in a pot by my front door. The flowers in there all died...
I let the sunflowers run riot through the garden. They're everywhere...crowding out the corn, shading the zucchini (it still grows mercilessly), and bending over the tomatoes. Some of the heads are HUGE! I'm going to have to come up with some weird bird-feeder projects to have something to do with them all.

I think corn is adorable. And this year it was so yummy, I wished I would have planted the whole garden with it.The roses, as usual, have been beautiful. When we moved here the rosebush was so small and covered with weeds we didn't know it was there. Now its six feet tall. Apparently, roses loved to be pruned (and weeded and watered).

Fare Thee Well

2011-09-19T21:12:00.007-06:00

My oldest nephew Zach just left on a mission! I teased him that I remembered his baby blessing day and how his mom cried then, too, but mainly because his mini white tuxedo didn't fit.

This weekend we attended Zach's farewell and then a dinner party at his house afterwards.

Friends & sisters.
My Mom, my sisters, and me.

All sorts of yummy stuff. I wish I would have had the time (and the insulin levels) to try everything.Cousins Isaiah and Isaac are great friends, and I swear, look a lot alike.

Me and Julie.
My fabulous Dad. He played a gorgeous piano solo at the farewell.

Brothers David and Pete look a lot alike, too.

Me and Seth. Aw.
Cousins Chloe and Natalie. Love the black and white dresses.

Charlotte fell in love with these little kiddy chairs.

So her cousin Aubrey had to try one out, too.

My brother Dan and his littlest, Brooklinn.

Introducing Skelley B. Bones

2011-09-19T21:03:00.004-06:00

It doesn't take Isaiah long to find a new passion, and his latest one is skeletons. I found a pattern for a sock skeleton and just couldn't resist.

So here's Skelly, Isaiah's new best friend:

He has bendable elbows and knees (no one's ever had such soft hinges), a soft embroidery rib cage, and a smile that will make your bones weak.

To top things off, my Mom just "happened" to have a skeleton costume in her closet. Isaiah now wears it constantly and goes around the house like this:He even wore some of the outfit on our drive home. Glancing in the backseat to check on the kids, I burst out laughing to find this:

What a kid!

Few things are funnier than hypnotized people

2011-09-19T20:59:00.002-06:00

This weekend was so fun! We spent some time in Idaho and I ended up going to Spud Days in my hometown of Shelley. Sadly, I missed seeing the tug-of-war held over a massive pile of mashed potatoes, but I did catch the hypnotist show after lunch. My sister-in-law Courtney even volunteered to be one of the lucky ones to relax on stage a make us all laugh.

Here's everyone in their deep-sleep pose:Besides losing at Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, trading lotto tickets for thousands of dollars in fake cash, and singing karaoke, our hilarious volunteers also entered a body-building competition. They went all out in their poses and flexing; a few even got down and did a handful of pushups. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. It was great.

Autumnal Apples

2011-09-16T07:57:00.003-06:00

It must be fall .... my neighbor Salina came over with bags of apples the other day. "I'm up to my neck in apples!" she said. "Here: you have some!"

So I made some pie. It was yummy.

And I canned some apples so I could make MORE pie later. Yum!

Make Some Happy Trees

2011-09-13T13:10:00.002-06:00

Some of my favorite things in the universe have to be art drawings from kids. And now I have my very own source! It melts my heart every time Isaiah brings home a picture he's made at school. Yesterday it was this delightfully happy tree, so I just had to share.

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

2011-09-12T08:11:00.004-06:00

This weekend we went to Ogden Nature Parkway, which is a fancy way of saying we saw a birdhouse exhibit. Along an avenue of trees, there were dozens of birdhouses to look at and enjoy. Here are some of my favorites:
An amazing castle!

Something reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland's friends.

A sly kitten waiting for a birdie meal.

The temple (pre-remodel).

Noah's Ark: forever a classic.

An entire town from the Old West. Looks like a fun place to visit.

Or you could just hang out in this boot.

Some remodeled propane tanks put to creative use.

And a homey two-story made completely out of wine corks.

There were a few caged exhibits of birds of prey there as well. Charlotte loved the owls. Isaiah liked the hawks and eagles. They both had a lot of fun climbing on things.

And were generally just plain cute.

We successfully avoided the outdoor wedding they were having there (although everyone kept asking us if we were part of the wedding party). By the time we found the Visitor's Center it was closed, and then it started raining. But on the whole, I thought it was a really fun little outing.

Climb-y Spidey

2011-09-07T21:32:00.002-06:00

Homemade V-8

2011-09-07T21:22:00.002-06:00

After years of waiting for just the right moment (and enough tomatoes), we decided to make my mom's and grandma's amazing Tomato V-8 juice, which Seth and Isaiah can never seem to get enough of. Here's how we did it:

Step 1: Pick an insane amount of tomatoes
These two boxes we got from Day's Farms U-Pick. We also grew enough for a full batch (it takes 5 gallons) plus enough to make lotsa salsa.

Step 2: Dust off the juicer and shove all the ingredients through it:
Isaiah asked us: How do you know the right ingredients to use?
Seth: Grandma gave us the recipe.
Isaiah: Well, then how does she have the recipe now?
Seth: She kept a copy of it.
Isaiah: Well, did she scan it into the computer?
(talk about a boy growing up in a technological age....)

Step 3.1: Borrow your neighbor's large stockpot.
Step 3.2: Cook the juice down for hours until this lovely foam goes away.

Step 4: Process in jars and take a picture. Can you see me?

First Day of School

2011-09-06T21:01:00.003-06:00

(I imagine that I meant to post this earlier.)

Isaiah began kindergarten last week. I am so excited! He is a little less so, although he loves recess, meeting new friends, and surprisingly, practicing penmanship. I am proud that he is learning to follow rules, stand in line, and do homework.
He loves his new school clothes (especially the shirt with the skulls on it) and his Toy Story backpack that has handles and wheels.

Painting Projects

2011-09-06T20:59:00.003-06:00

My parents visited this weekend, and in wonderful grandma fashion, my mom brought the kids toys to play with and projects to paint.
The kids loved painting their roosters. Charlotte still calls hers a chickie. And isn't her hair just awesome?

Summer Primary Party

2011-08-29T08:22:00.005-06:00

Last week our Primary had a summer party for the kids. They had so much fun!

Charlotte happily splashed in the kiddy pool.

Isaiah originally wanted to keep his "piranha", but later gave in an popped it in the game.
They also got to play beachball volleyball, have a sponge relay race, and eat as many popsicles as possible. It was a happy afternoon.

A Lovely Birthday

2011-08-29T08:10:00.002-06:00

This weekend I celebrated my birthday and what better gifts could I receive than a pile of books, dark chocolate cake, and lots of well wishes from family and friends? It was a good day.
Thursday night Seth and I had dinner at a little cafe in downtown Ogden. It was antique and weird, but a funny experience. Seth loved the clock with bullet holes in it from the restaurant's bar days. I loved my quadruple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

When I gave Seth my wish list for gifts, he glanced at it and said, "These are all books."

"I know! You can just go to the bookstore and get it over with!" I said. The kids went with him. Charlotte threw a fit that she couldn't buy them all; Isaiah convinced Seth to get a picture book of Sleeping Beauty for "me." (He loves that story — it's got an amazing villain that turns into a wild dragon.)

I also got phonecalls from all of my sweet family, gift cards from more family and friends, and thanks to Facebook, a whole parcel of Happy Birthday posts. I am blessed!

Wild Things

2011-08-10T07:01:00.002-06:00

Our garden this year has once again taught me some big lessons.

#1. If you grew sunflowers last year, then rota-tilled the soil, you'll have sunflowers peppered throughout your garden. They'll grow in random places like this:
My Dad says I should have plucked them out, but I just couldn't do it. Aren't they pretty in their randomness?

#2. Eighteen tomato plants is WAY TOO MANY for 30-square feet of dirt. Look at this jungle!

#3. Planting the neighboring box with "early" plants in late June, um, didn't really take hold. I should have spread out that tomato love.

#4. Zucchini actually grows! I'm a late bloomer for this revelation, because my zucchini plants have NEVER worked before. This year, I've already harvested about 5 baseball bats. I should check this plant more often. Zucchini bread, anyone?
#5. Cantaloupe might need a trellis. What are the chances it will just use the sunflower stalks to climb on? Won't this be a fun experiment?

Dino TERROR

2011-08-10T06:55:00.003-06:00

We took the kids and my nephew Porter to the Dinosaur park the other day. We packed a picnic and hoped for a fun morning. But while Isaiah was thrilled by the life-size statues of dinosaurs (complete with roaring sound effects), Porter was terrified. I felt so bad for him! He started crying and begged to leave. We took him to the playground, but Isaiah was the only one to ride a dinosaur and brave the volcano slide.

Say what you will, I'm becoming an environmentalist

2011-08-08T20:33:00.008-06:00

I've always known it was a good idea to recycle, but I never thought much about it until Isaiah fell in love with garbage trucks. And movies about the dump.

Watching mountains of trash pouring into the landfill had an effect on me. So did Isaiah's recent admonishment when he said, "Mom, we should recycle."

So the other day, we went on an adventure to our local dump because I heard that they have a FREE recycling program. It was amazing! We can take cardboard, paper, aluminum, cans, milk jugs, paint, batteries, you name it to the recycling center. And it doesn't get thrown in the landfill, like someone told me once, and it doesn't get burned, like someone else told me. It actually gets sent to real recycling plants and made into new materials. I'm thrilled. It's going to be my new hobby to collect recyclables and drop it off monthly.

The Layton landfill is close to the water treatment plant, which has a beautiful demonstration garden of how to be waterwise. So we called it an environmental day and went there too.They have examples of front and back yards that have significantly less grass, but use beautiful native plants. Aren't these gorgeous? I'd love for my yard to look more like this.

The kids had fun wandering through the walkways and dry creek beds and climbing on everything imaginable. Charlotte kept taking off her shoes, as usual.

Porter, Charlotte, Brynlee, and Isaiah took only seconds to get themselves completely wet in the rock water fountain.
They also have raised vegetable beds, like the kind we have built. I think next year I'll grow cabbage just for the exotic look of it.
Ah, beautiful hanging baskets. Always a goal to reach for.
Here's one of my recent favorite plants: sweet potato vine. I'm buying some early next year! This year they were all out by the time I got around to it.

A Day of Trains

2011-08-07T16:06:00.003-06:00

My sister-in-law Courtney visited last week with her three cute kids. We had a blast going on fun outings. Wednesday was the day of trains. We took Frontrunner to Ogden Union Station. The kids were so excited to get on "the big train."

The boys and the girls were thrilled to be riding the train — an adventure in itself.Charlotte happily sat on my lap for most of the way.

At the train museum, the kids saw model trains, got to blow a real train horn, and best of all, climb on actual trains.
They have no fear of heights here.

Isaiah and Porter see how far out they can get on the big black engine.
Brynlee, Charlotte, and Porter take a peak out the window of old engine.

Smith & Edwards

2011-08-03T10:24:00.004-06:00

On Saturday we spent some quality shopping time at Smith & Edwards. It's a wacky store that has everything from army surplus, foam rubber, and canning supplies to candy, cowboy hats, and kitchen gadgets.Charlotte enjoyed relaxing in this strange little chair.

Isaiah talked us into buying him a 3 foot long gummy snake.

And Seth made me laugh with his hat choices.

Puppets

2011-08-03T10:22:00.001-06:00

Last week the library put on a little puppet show. The kids just loved it. We laughed a lot at Marvin the Monster and his doggie Woof Woof. Isaiah volunteered to help with the Five Little Chickadees song. He did a great job wiggling the wings and flying to and from the tree.

A Friendly Monster

2011-07-31T21:11:00.004-06:00

This is our new little friend. Isaiah and I made him the other day out of paper. (We printed the pattern online.)
Surprisingly, he took almost an hour to build, and I had to laugh at myself for the painstaking taping and cutting and folding that I spent so much time on.Isaiah was pretty happy with the finished project....for a few hours. Then he left it on the counter and forgot about it. So I'm proudly displaying him on my stereo. I need to think of a cute name for him...any suggestions?

A few more things....

2011-07-31T21:06:00.002-06:00

Walking to the parade, we passed the Ogden temple, which is now being completely renovated. It was cool to see the whole thing torn apart and being worked on. I am excited to see the revamped version in a few years when it's finished.
We also kept walking past this rock, which Isaiah kept climbing and begging me to take a picture of him on top of it. Charlotte of course had to join him. It turned out pretty cute, even if we don't actually live at Colonial Court apartments.

Ogden 24th of July Parade

2011-07-31T20:57:00.005-06:00

Last Monday we decided to go to the parade in Ogden for Pioneer Day. We should have showed up an hour late. Since we sat at the end of the parade route, it took forever for anything to come past us, and all the entries were about a full city block apart. We left halfway through. But here are a few highlights of the fun things we did see.

I liked this old-timey police car.

Here's a lovely pioneer float, handcarts included.

All the pretty girls rode horses. Do you think she has hair extensions?

I loved this marching army of missionaries, singing Called to Serve enthusiastically.

Partly for me because I love bagpipes, I also took this photo for my Mom, an alumna of Ben Lomond High School.

Charlotte and Isaiah have lovely Miss America waves. They got a few tootsie rolls for them.

Fabulous fire engine.

I liked these stagecoaches. We also saw a cowboy shootout.

Look at this gigantic American flag! It was beautiful.

Here's the grand marshall float winner, with models of the old style of the Ogden temple along with the new one.

Seth's New Website

2011-07-26T15:01:00.002-06:00

Seth recently launched his new website, which showcases his many design and illustration talents. Check it out at this address: http://sblackson.com/

Also keep looking at his fun Sketches blog, where he posts a new drawing each day. http://sblackson.com/blog/

Jamberry

2011-07-24T20:40:00.001-06:00

It's jam season! A kind neighbor gave me fresh raspberries, and another told me a secret to doubling the amount of jam you can make, so I bought one carton of strawberries for a full batch. And this year the jam set up perfectly and tastes great! Yum!

Sillies

2011-07-24T18:38:00.003-06:00

The other day the children put on random articles of clothing. Charlotte wore her swimsuit, summer hat, and church shoes on the wrong feet. Isaiah put on feety jammies and gloves.
They make me laugh. Acting so carefree and so much like, well, children.

Beautiful St. George Temple

2011-07-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

During our weekend to Southern Utah, we planned extra time to make it to the St. George temple. We've often passed through but have never been able to go with kids in tow.

It was just lovely! I love the temple's brilliant white walls.We snapped a few pictures after our evening session; it looks gorgeous all lit up at night.

Hiking at Cedar Breaks

2011-07-19T16:28:00.005-06:00

To counteract Friday, where we drove for 4 hours and sat through 7 hours of plays, we decided to go on a hike Saturday morning. We drove past Cedar City to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was beautiful!

We hiked around the rim of this beautiful gorge, through trails that had sheer drop-offs and no railings. We commented often on how glad we were we didn't have to keep children from falling off.

There were handfuls of colorful wildflowers growing everywhere.
I was also impressed by these fierce-looking trees, most of them bristle-cone pines.

Costume Display

2011-07-19T08:11:00.003-06:00

At the Shakespeare festival there were a couple of beautiful costume exhibits. I was impressed with the lavishness of the costumes.

Wouldn't it be fun to wear stuff like this? Presuming I'm not the one doing the dishes, of course.

This was from Cleopatra ... I love all the Egyptian gilt and glamor.
Seth stands next to some Hamlet attire.

This cap has more than just a few feathers.

The Shakespeare Festival

2011-07-17T17:06:00.007-06:00

I've dreamed of attending the festival in Cedar City for years. This weekend, my parents came to stay with our kids and Seth and I took off for the weekend to finally go. We loved it!
Here we are with a bronze statue of Willie himself. We were able to see two amazing plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream (hilarious!) and Romeo and Juliet (dramatic and beautiful — especially under the stars).
I was happily surprised at how low-key the festival was. I expected choking hoards of people and zero parking. Instead, the campus was small and friendly, only a thousand or two people were there for the weekend, and everything was easily accessible.

The open-air Adam's Shakespeare theatre is a gorgeous reproduction of the Globe Theatre. This is where we saw the evening production of Romeo and Juliet. It was so wonderful to hear so many of those famous lines in a live production, and most especially to see the balcony scene on an actual outdoor balcony.

In the evening, actors presented the Greenshow with little skits, songs, and juggling numbers. I was in awe over all the costumes, these and especially the ones in the plays. Gorgeous, well done, and definitely worth coming to the festival again!

A Bit of Culture from Greece

2011-07-14T08:49:00.006-06:00

Ever since I read My Family and Other Animals, I've longed to visit Greece. All those whitewashed buildings and painted blue doors surrounded by tranquil blue water...I could get used to that. The closest I've come is through the summer series at our local library. Last night they sponsored a mini-recital of Greek dancers. Led by a woman named Cynthia from Greece, these jr. high kids had lovely costumes even if they lacked a lot of confidence. It was fun to clap along and shout "Opa!" every now and then. During the second half of the show, the audience got to stand up and learn a simple step to the Zorba. Charlotte and Isaiah loved holding hands in the big circle and doing the kicks out to the side.

Chinese Dragon

2011-07-14T08:44:00.003-06:00

Isaiah's primary teacher noticed how much he loves art projects, so the other day she brought him about 5 wooden puzzles to put together. This Chinese dragon is the first one we attempted, and it turned out pretty cool! Next we did a charming cottage, but it got broken before I took a picture of it. Then we tried a pirate ship, which I didn't dare attempt and which drove even Seth to tantrums. Charlotte stole the tiniest pieces and stuffed them down the sink. Then Seth got to replace the pipes and the trap underneath the sink. It was still probably easier than putting together the boat...

New Bed

2011-07-10T07:22:00.001-06:00

Charlotte loves her new little bed, or her "big girl bed" as we're calling it. And she can safely climb in and out of it herself.

Little Milestones

2011-07-08T20:58:00.004-06:00

It's such a bittersweet moment when our baby starts climb out of her crib without help (other than her monkey toes). But as Seth says, she's so cute how can we possibly get mad at her?

And yes, we put up the toddler bed. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

Fourth of July Parade

2011-07-08T14:07:00.007-06:00

Here's to being patriotic! We attended a local Fourth of July Parade this year and I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids. Here are some fun highlights:

The Idaho Falls Police has a bagpipe marching band: I love it! Bagpipes have such an awesome sound.
What's up with these shoes? They're called Kangaroo Shoes and are apparently the latest thing in exercise. They say you can run in them, but I wouldn't dare.

If you're going to wear a full suit of long-john underwear, wear it with panache.

Besides candy, the kids were given these darling pairs of sunglasses.

And I always thought "a painted horse" was just an expression.

I loved these dancers in their bright costumes.

Someday I want to learn to juggle, but I'm going to skip the unicycle thing.

My all-time favorite costume of the day: this gorgeous lady sporting her retro dress (complete with apron) and smooth-riding bike. I'm trying to gather the courage (and the wardrobe) to wear outfits like this all the time.

Playtime

2011-07-08T13:49:00.002-06:00

The kids always love going to Grandma's to play with all of her new toys.Charlotte thinks this dollhouse is pretty amazing. She carefully lined up all of the chairs and named the dolls to correspond to our family: Mama, Dada, Zay-Zay, and Char-Char.

Isaiah and Porter alternated between building massive log houses and then destroying them. At least they were happily occupied for awhile.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

2011-07-08T12:35:00.006-06:00

Our week in Idaho included a LOT of fun for the kids. Among other things, the kids got to "fish" for prizes, which they loved.Charlotte can't wait to hold her toy.

Isaiah is wondering what he'll get next.

Ah, these prizes are fun! Sunglasses, bubbles, and a harmonica. Charlotte doesn't know about holding it with your hands, yet.Here's Isaac sporting his cool new shades and clutching his coloring book.
Eleanor immediately sat down to read her pop-up book.

Seth let out the puppies to play! Charlotte and Emily come over to investigate.

Brad takes my advice to give the puppy a kiss.

This one seems as big as Eleanor.

Isaiah captured one on his own, but it kept trying to run away.

Charlotte knows just what to do behind the wheel. Oh my!

Later we tried to get the famous grandkids picture, but as you can see, though our subjects are adorable, they weren't always the most cooperative.

I think this one is the winning photo!

Earring Hanger

2011-06-28T08:05:00.001-06:00

So I've been on the hunt for a cool earring display/organizer, and I saw a lovely DIY idea online made out of a picture frame and lace. What do you think of my version?

To Grandma's House We Go

2011-06-27T14:41:00.004-06:00

Ben and Stefanie and their kids visited this weekend and we've had great fun! Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to Grandma Gubler in Bountiful.

The neighbor boys let the kids try out his battery-operated monster truck. Isaiah took Charlotte for a ride around and around the driveway until the battery ran out.

Grandma's flowers are gorgeous, as always.
I love her ideas for hanging planters.
And how about this bright outdoor rug on the patio? I definitely need one of these.
And here's Seth showing off his new Voltron shirt Isaiah gave him for Father's Day.

Summer Nature Project

2011-06-27T10:57:00.001-06:00

Isaiah loved making leaf boats. I know they won't float ... since they're made of rocks ... but they sure are cute.

Forest Friends

2011-06-24T21:13:00.006-06:00

Do you have any forest creatures to keep you company when you go wandering through the pine trees? We do! Don't they look like wise, happy guides to meet along the way?

The Braided Up-Do

2011-06-24T21:07:00.002-06:00

Jessica gave me the idea for this amazing hairstyle two years ago. I finally attempted it on my own today and loved it! It kept my hair off my neck to keep cool for summer, but I still felt like it looked cute. Sorry the angle is a little weird. It's really hard to take a picture of the back of your own head.

Nail Party

2011-06-24T21:06:00.001-06:00

I painted the kids' nails for the first time yesterday. They loved it. Charlotte's are pink and pink; I forced Isaiah to stick with blue and silver.

Visiting Daddy for Lunch

2011-06-24T06:54:00.002-06:00

We decided to take our annual pilgrimage to visit Seth at work. I'm not sure why we hardly ever go ... the kids loved seeing where Daddy spends his day and saying hi to all of his work friends. We went to a little restaurant called Nachos Libre, a hilarious place based all on the movie. Added to the kitschy coolness was a man in full Nacho luchador costume parading out in front of the restaurant. Coloring pages always help, too.

Fun with Food

2011-06-21T15:39:00.003-06:00

Recently I found a hilarious library book called Play with Your Food that had all kinds of cool creatures you can make out of produce. The jack-o-lanterns were by far the most amazing, but Isaiah was stoked about the octopus and begged "can we make one the next time we have bananas?" So we did! Isaiah said our is even cuter than the one in the book "because ours has a little smiley face and those eyes." I need to do stuff like this more often.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-21T15:37:00.001-06:00

The kids were so excited for Seth to open his presents, but we did wait until we were all out of our pajamas. Isaiah picked out the Voltron tshirt, and Charlotte gave him the chocolate (and then wanted some of course). I love the Superman apron I made for him. Isaiah has a matching one. Now I need to get them both cooking!

Family Reunion Fun

2011-06-13T20:55:00.010-06:00

This weekend we went to Twin Falls for a family reunion with my mom's family. We also stayed with Rachel and her family and had a great visit with them.

I regret not taking any pictures at the reunion. It was great to see cousins and their cute kids, as well as all of my aunts and uncles. We went swimming at a hot springs pool that had a fun waterslide and boiling hot tubs, ate yummy food, and came up with family cheers. I was glad we went.Here's Charlotte modeling her new swim suit and Isaiah showing us his tough muscles. They both had a blast swimming and cried when we got out. Seth and I cried over our sunburns. Next time: waterproof sunscreen.

At Rachel and Brad's we went to Shoshone Falls. It's impressive!

Here's Seth keeping Charlotte safe.

Then we let the kids run on the grass and climb crazy trees...well, Eleanor couldn't quite make it to the top.
Here's Seth, Brad, and Nicholas looking tough.

We played "the cookie game" where you use only your face muscles to move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth. Hilarious to watch! Here's the kids giving it a shot.

And we got them all cleaned up and ready for church Sunday morning. No small feat with six small children. On our drive home later that afternoon, Isaiah kept asking, "but why do we have to leave?" He was ready to move in.

Rachel has such cool ideas

2011-06-13T20:47:00.004-06:00

Here's a post in honor of my sister-in-law Rachel, who has a million amazing ideas...for storage, organization, kids, you name it. We visited her home this weekend, and these are just a few of my favorites.Here's her kitchen "command center" with a place for everything.

Her toy room is bright and happy. I want to make one of these banners.

Because they never play pool, they turned their pool table (it came with the house) into a lego table. So not only do they not have to clean up the legos, they never have to step on them, either.

She built this garden trellis herself. I just love it. Functional and gorgeous.

Thanks for all of the awesome ideas, Rachel!

Lazy Lego Days

2011-06-09T07:27:00.002-06:00

Some of these sick days we stay in our pjs, watch cartoons, and then build stuff out of legos. The other day we watched Howl's Moving Castle. Isaiah then wanted to build a lego replica of that awesome castle. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Thankfully, he let me take pictures of it before he smashed it back into little pieces.

Extended Family Pictures

2011-06-03T06:56:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago my family was able to take pictures of everyone all together. It was so neat! I love the bright colors and the way they all turned out.

Here's me, my parents, and my siblings.

For years, my Mom has dreamed of one photo with all 21 of her grandchildren. Here they all are!

And here's our little family (lovey included).

Ah, Weddings

2011-06-01T20:42:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Seth's cousin Daniel got married so we tagged along as part of the wedding party. The reception was in a gorgeous indoor tropical garden called Le Jardin in Sandy. Everything was gorgeous and romantic, with chocolate crepes and a chocolate fountain to boot.

Pigtails

2011-05-29T21:09:00.004-06:00

I think Charlotte's cuteness factor increased exponentially when I discovered that I could put pigtails in her hair.

Charlotte Turns 2

2011-05-29T21:03:00.004-06:00

Birthday! Birthday! We kept telling Charlotte all day today that it was her birthday. She's starting to understand all the fun and surprises behind the happy word since we celebrated Isaiah's birthday just two weeks ago. We gave her a little Radio Flyer trike (with a small trunk to carry her lovey), a bundle of books, a sunhat, and a Hello Kitty purse with lipgloss. She was overjoyed. She also loved blowing out the candles on her chocolate birthday cake, as well as getting to eat the first piece.

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-29T20:53:00.002-06:00

Isaiah's last day at the Busy Bee Preschool was on Thursday, held with a little fanfare, musical numbers, mini graduation ceremonies, and even cookies. Isaiah waved to me and yelled "Hi Mom!" when I came in, which was a proud moment. He sang along with the other students to show off the songs that he'd learned. And he marched in with his cap and gown, stood up to the microphone, and announced he'd like to be a Superhero when he grows up. Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Debee. I know he'll miss her because he already asked if she's going to be at his new school.

Rainy Days are for Fort Building

2011-05-25T11:20:00.002-06:00

There's been a lotta rain here lately, and we've all had (still have) miserable colds (I'm trying not to complain, but seriously, two weeks of hacking and my throat on fire and the kids not sleeping....) So we stay in our pjs a lot and we built some forts out of the couch cushions, which I then did not vacuum. Ah, is it nap time yet?

Hooray for Music

2011-05-25T11:09:00.002-06:00

This weekend I had my first ever piano recital as the teacher. (I'm a reluctant teacher, so I only teach my cousin's two kids — Kacie and Michael.) Since everyone needs the chance to perform, we scheduled our own little recital. To help fill at least 10 minutes, Kacie and Michael each played 3 songs, and Lynnette and I played 2 as well. It turned out great! We were all sufficiently nervous but remembered our songs, Lynnette's family came and was a gracious audience, and we all ate chocolate cookies after it was over. Whew!

Isaiah's Birthday Party

2011-05-18T18:56:00.001-06:00

It was a small affair, since we all have wretched colds. I felt so bad for Isaiah to be sick on his birthday. He has tired, bloodshot eyes, but he at least had plenty of energy to play with his massive amounts of new legos. And his new Number 5 tshirt from Grandma was perfect to wear on his 5th birthday!

Little Blacksons

2011-05-18T16:49:00.004-06:00

This weekend we were able to spend time with both families, and both Grandmas are intent on getting a picture with all of their grandkids. We had 5 visiting on the Blackson side, and Grandma was prepared with their adorable shirts numbered in their birth order.
Isaiah is used to doing his superhero jumping shots whenever we get the camera out. He made Seth snap this one.Brothers Kyle and Calvin are pretty cute.And so are these two siblings.
Calvin and Isaiah had a thrilling time hunting lizards, then tending them in little cages that Grandma bought for them.
I love these blue eyes.

Whopping Big Party

2011-05-18T16:28:00.006-06:00

This weekend we had a huge family party for my Mom's birthday, and I was pleased at how well everything turned out.

Courtney did amazing on the decorations — everything looked festive!

Here are my nieces Natalie and Brooklinn

My mother and sisters in law helped me make dozens of colorful flowers out of tissue paper. All of the little girls loved choosing some to take home as party favors.

We set up a table of family pictures over the last three decades. It's so fun to see old pictures and how much our family has grown.
My niece Brynlee tries out the word search

The boys are always entertained by a game of basketball and little kids by a gym floor to run across.
Jeff and Megan talk and laugh with Zach and Alicia.

Me and my sisters Cheryl and Julie

We ran the classic egg-and-spoon relay. Both kids and adults were fun to watch.

Everyone made cards for both Mom and Dad. Porter colored a life-sized portrait for them.

Porter and Isaac had fun with their balloon prizes.

We played a group drawing game where everyone had 20 seconds to draw something, then had to pass their paper to the left. After about 10 people had a chance to add onto each drawing, we had some awesome masterpieces to laugh at.

My Latest Fetish

2011-05-11T07:15:00.001-06:00

It doesn't get more granny than this: my new obsession is making quilted hot pads. Can you believe it? I'm not sure how I turned into this person, but man, these turned out so amazing that I just keep making them. They make fabulous birthday gifts. Everyone needs new hot pads for their kitchen, right?

Happy Anniversary

2011-05-09T12:00:00.005-06:00

to us!
Today is our 8th anniversary. I love my sweetheart and I'm so glad I married him. Here's to much more happiness and fun adventures.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:13:00.002-06:00

Isaiah drew me a Mother's Day card in Primary today. I was sitting by him and asked him to draw me and him holding hands. I absolutely love it. On the inside, he colored huge swaths of the paper in purple. Then he said, "Look at the inside, Mom, it is so girly."

A Very Dirty Weekend

2011-05-08T21:02:00.007-06:00

We're talking about massive amounts of dirt, here. And not from a mole problem. From a self-inflicted, I-wish-we-had-a-sprinkler-system ordeal. Seth's amazing brother Caleb and his wife Billie Jo came to help us put in a full lawn and flowerbed sprinkler system. They put in 12-hour days Friday and Saturday while I tried (a bit unsuccessfully) to keep everyone fed and the kids out of the dirt. We have some major cleanup left, but it is going to be awesome to water the lawn from now on simply by pushing a few buttons.

Don't you dare take my picture or I will run screaming from the room

2011-05-03T08:27:00.001-06:00

Daddy's Little Protege

2011-05-02T10:25:00.003-06:00

She thinks all those buttons are super cool. I guess I don't blame her. Maybe we'll teach her how to play tetris. Probably not though if it's this much fun when it's still off.

Easter Pictures

2011-05-01T20:48:00.006-06:00

For the last two Sunday's we tried to get a cute family Easter picture, but to no avail. We couldn't get one where everyone was smiling (verses bawling) and not holding things in front of their faces or running out of the photo. Actually, we couldn't get one with all of us in it, either.
Eventually we'll probably break down and hire a photographer :) Can they work miracles with children who hate having their pictures taken?

Brother and Sister Bear

2011-05-01T20:41:00.003-06:00

I realized that I've been sewing a single sock doll during crochet club for the past month and a half. So Thursday afternoon I decided to just finish it off. Dishes be damned. Isaiah peeked over my shoulder. "Who's that for mom? Is it for me? I'll love this bear if it's mine." How could I turn that down? It turned out so cute that I decided to make a purple one for Charlotte while she napped. She calls it a kitty, but loves having a twin bear to match Isaiah's.

The Boy Wonder

2011-05-01T20:36:00.002-06:00

Last week Isaiah decided to be Robin, because, he said, "we haven't made a Robin costume yet." Good thing we had those green gloves from the Poison Ivy costume and that fabulous utility belt from the batman costume.

My New Favorite Poem

2011-04-27T08:41:00.003-06:00

Last night Seth and I went to book club, which this month was all about poetry. We each shared one of our favorite poems. Stephanie shared this one:

Crayon Pirate
There was a single line of blue crayon
drawn across every room in the house.
What does it mean? I asked. A pirate
needs the sight of the sea, he said and
then he pulled his eye patch down
and turned and sailed away.

—Brian Andreas

Going Hunting

2011-04-24T21:52:00.003-06:00

Our kids were lucky enough to go on three egg hunts this year. As soon as Charlotte caught on to the idea, she loved finding Easter eggs! A few times she ran so fast to pick them up that she fell and spilled her basket.
At the ward egg hunt, Isaiah proudly found one of the Golden Eggs filled with money.

The Annual Egg Decorating Party

2011-04-24T21:45:00.002-06:00

I guess it was just the two of us, but Isaiah and I still had fun coloring Easter eggs this year. Now how am I going to eat two dozen boiled eggs?
We also made little bird's nest treats that were both yummy and cute!

Marvelous Mud

2011-04-22T17:13:00.002-06:00

Last week Isaiah got a hold of the garden hose and turned boxes full of dirt into boxes full of mud. He was ecstatic. I'm glad he had fun, and I'm thankful for bathtubs and running water to help me clean it all up.

Isaiah discovers a new skill

2011-04-20T13:51:00.000-06:00