Someone's getting older!

The Rocket Scientist had a birthday last month! It was simple but fun. He and Cute Girl always ask for cheesecake for their birthdays. It was really good. And then he opened his one, lone present. A new iPod Nano! He was very surprised and I don't think I've seen him without it since. He was absolutely chomping at the bit to set it up.
After we opened presents we got a babysitter and headed out for dinner. We ate at Sakura, a Japanese sushi bar and teppan grill. It was yummy food and so fun to be out for his birthday.

I have the best husband in the world

I have often reflected on what makes different marriage couplings work. I think that my husband is the absolute best one out there (as I hope all wives do, respectively), but I don't know that there is one absolute perfect match for everyone. There is, however, definitely some pairings that work better than others. I don't know that there are many people who could deal with my husband's particular brand of goofy-self-assured-I'm-too-smart-for-my-own-britches personality. But that's just all the better for me.
Now that didn't have much to do with anything. It's only mildly related to the next part.
Monday night we went to the Rocket Scientist's softball game. We've been once before and I swore we were never going again because it went way past bedtime. Handsome Face is ok but Cute Girl does NOT do well with sleep deprivation and I due to seminary, I get to deal with the late-night repercussions on my own. But Monday afternoon it was made clear that while we didn't have to go, the Rocket Scientist really wanted us to be with him. Since it was fall break, I decided that a late night might not be so bad so we all went. Once we were there I felt bad though because the kids just wanted to play on the playground instead of watching their dad. We only saw the last 15 minutes or so of the game. Handsome Face did enjoy yelling "HI DAD" at the top of his lungs though.
When we got home Cute Girl was AWFUL! She screamed and tantrumed all through their shower and everything else. Handsome Face just got ready for bed and then looked at books while he waited for his hysterical sister. When they were finally in bed I collapsed in the family room. I really needed to clean the kitchen as every surface was covered but I just couldn't. I was too tired. Then, while thinking out loud to myself, I lamented the fact that there were no clean bowls for breakfast. So now I had to clean the kitchen. But instead the Rocket Scientist cleaned off all the counters and loaded and ran the dishwasher while I sat there and watched. I felt bad the entire time but he ignored all my protests and did it anyway. He's the best.

Father's Day

We're back and playing catch-up again. Our Father's Day this year was an absolute disaster! I got home from Girls' Camp the day before. I was supposed to go and pick up the last present but instead I completely crashed! I spent all afternoon in bed.
Then next morning we were lounging in bed when all of a sudden I remembered it was Father's Day and we only had an hour to get everyone ready for Stake Conference. I jumped up to go make the Rocket Scientist's French toast but he insisted he didn't need it, that I would only get stressed out doing it, and that he would rather have me happy on his day. So I finally gave in and went to shower since I was the only one who needed to. When I came downstairs, the stinker was making his own Father's Day French toast! I tried really hard to get mad at him but how do you get mad when it's his day?
I don't even know what happened the rest of the day because I was still completely out of it. He did get to open one gift - Fablehaven Keys to the Demon Prison. The next Friday we went shopping and he finally got his new wheelbarrow. And for our anniversary at the end of the month I finally made the fortune cookies that were supposed to be from the kids on Father's Day. Next year I'll make sure I don't go to Girls' Camp the week before.

Some Catch Up

I think I can officially say that no one in my family is sick anymore. We had a whole month full of at least four ear infections, a virus that hit EVERYONE, conjunctivitis in 6 eyes, and bronchitis (that was me).

Cute Girl made this train track herself. I was amazed because I have NEVER figured out how to use those funny triangle-shaped tracks.

We've been to the doctor five times since the beginning of the year. I'm soooo tired of prescriptions. And I never want to see pink blobs of amoxycillin on my counter again.

Handsome Face playing the trombone

Now for some updates. Did you know the Rocket Scientist plays the trombone? He is uber-talented. So talented that on Monday he was actually lamenting the fact that he has so many talents and doesn't have time to develop them all. Boohoo. But back to the trombone. He could only ever play around on it because he didn't have any sheet music. So for Valentine's Day I got him some John William's music. We spent all last Saturday listening to the 1984 Olympic fanfare and the Star Wars' Imperial March. The kids thought it was awesome.

My snobby kids eating fondue for lunch

Then on Saturday evening we had friends over and ate fondue until 11 o'clock that night. It was a bit late for me as that was the first day that I had felt well in over a week but it was still fun. The Rocket Scientist makes really yummy fondue. We no longer go to the Melting Pot.

And speaking of food, yesterday my friends treated me to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe for my birthday. It was so fun. I love going out to breakfast. And my kids were even reasonably well-behaved. Cute Girl was actually quite the angel. I love it when they grow out of being stinkers all the time.

Hodgepodge

I did not know when we got married that the Rocket Scientist is good at winning things. Seriously, he is. Last year he entered a contest at work to design a new logo for some program with missiles. His design won and I got an extra few hundred dollars tacked onto my paycheck. Later in the fall our insurance's health newsletter called for original whole grain recipes. I told him to submit his red bean and rice soup recipe. And it won too! He scored a $100 Amazon gift card.
So with $100 burning a hole in my pocket I turned to Amazon. I'm supposed to be keeping it to buy all the gifts that we have to buy over the next few months but I can't help but look for all the children's books I would like to buy. Then Rachael started posting about books and now I'm really itching to buy some.
We don't have a ton of books but we do have some great ones. Right now, Handsome Face's favorite book (and so his bedtime story EVERY night) is Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett. Ours came from a Cheerios box via Uncle John. We love that he saves all the cereal books for us! The book is so cute and our copy is also in Spanish so we read it in both languages simultaneously - me reading the English and the Rocket Scientist reading the Spanish. My kids love yelling pinguinos! at the top of their lungs.
And Rachael inspired me to track down a book sale. I got a whole bag full of books for $5.50. I couldn't even get one on Amazon for that price!

Let the wild rumpus start!

Who doesn't need a little Max at Thanksgiving?

Blast Off

On Wednesday, after a very lazy morning, most of the Crapo clan went to the Air and Space Museum. I was planning on staying home with my kiddos but at the last minute Cute Girl got permission to go. Handsome Face was soooooo sad that he had to stay home and take a nap. But boy did he need it. He slept all afternoon.

This one is my absolute favorite!

While they were away, my sweet mother-in-law Karen helped clean up the kitchen and even went out for the last minute groceries (my fridge just won't hold enough food for 17 people for a week). I decided to get the dinner going. The Rocket Scientist was supposed to be in charge of homemade bread and coq au vin for dinner but I knew that if I waited until he got home we wouldn't be eating until 10pm! And it's a good thing I started too, because in true Neil Crapo Thanksgiving fashion, he injured himself the moment he came home. In some weird freak accident, a sliver of metal from his belt buckle pierced his nail and became embedded in his nail bed. Ouch. He spent the rest of the night trying to get it out while I made his fancy dinner and peeled the apples for his pie, a tradition that started on our second Thanksgiving. He has seriously been injured EVERY holiday since then, although it's usually happened during the Turkey Bowl. Next year he can plan on making spaghetti and a frozen pie because I'm done!!!

White Christmas

I have been berated for not posting in a week and a half but when your house is invaded by hungry holiday guests, computer time seems to disappear. More on those lovely people later.
Saturday we picked up a Douglas Fir to adorn our living room. Cute Girl loved picking it out. We set it up that evening in our new tree stand (which was $5 at Wal-Mart vs. $25 at Lowes - Score!). Then Sunday evening we set about decorating it. Cute Girl was beside herself with impatience. Here is Handsome Face in time-out for some type of misbehavior. He was probably touching something he wasn't supposed to.Unfortunately my camera kept wanting to set off the flash which made awful pictures. But when the flash is turned off on my camera the auto-focus doesn't work. And since I don't have a tripod I have blurry pictures. So sad!This one is especially cute. Too bad it's not in focus.

See the three red balls? This is typical of Crapo children decorating. The Rocket Scientist did his best to redistribute when their backs were turned.

While we were sipping hot chocolate and listening to carols we heard a loud blast of wind. This is what came with it.Lovely, lovely hail. It's not exactly snow but we'll take what we can get.

And just to prove I was there, here is a not so lovely picture of me unpacking ornaments. I think Handsome Face took this picture.

And now is where I put up a lovely picture of the finished product. Except that while we were upstairs putting the kids to bed we heard a huge crash. Apparently once all the ornaments went on the tree became front heavy and crashed to the floor. We got a wet carpet and three broken ornaments. Luckily the penguins were fixed with a little super glue. We adjusted the tree and the next day I redecorated the tree (I guess the Rocket Scientist didn't really need to redistribute the ornaments after all!). So I'll post a picture of the new and improved tree soon.

Let them eat cake!

We had a birthday last week! It was so fun. And the chocolate-sour cream frosting was yummy.

Why I have the best husband in the world

I napped and read all afternoon yesterday while my husband made me this. From scratch alfredo sauce with sauteed mushrooms and shrimp, homemade French bread, and steamed broccoli. And then he cleaned the kitchen.

She really likes fettucine.

Three Little Monkeys

Weekend Recap

The Rocket Scientist has Friday off every other weekend. I delight in having a three-day weekend so often, but recently we haven't been able to take advantage of it due to illness and injury. This means that all my home improvement projects and family activities have been put on hold.

This weekend we were blessed with a healthy household (relatively speaking) for the first time in a month and a half. So we took full advantage of it.
Friday was spent sanding my hutch (lucky Rocket Scientist), grocery shopping, and cleaning. I love feeling so productive and accomplishing so much, but I fear I'm the only one. So to redeem the day for the rest of my family we had a pizza picnic in the family room and watched a movie from the library. Here's Handsome Face. He saw my root beer and put his wide open mouth directly over my cup. We all got the hint.Saturday morning we spent running errands in town. I hate running errands in town for it takes all day. But we started out with a yummy crepe breakfast. They were a big hit. Especially the whipped cream. Handsome Face liked his plain and kept wanting more and more and more. I finally left him in his high chair with a pile of them so I could go shower. I didn't think he would ever stop eating!

We got home that afternoon and the kids and I took naps (I had a headache) while the Rocket Scientist pulled the weeds in the front yard. He gets all the best jobs. When we all woke up he grilled for us. I love not making dinner.

The Program for Today

We're making donuts today. I love donuts. Especially when they're hot and fresh and made from scratch. We only do this on special occasions as the process takes so much time. But Abby saw pictures from Christmas of our donuts and she wanted some so I said I'd make them.
That's the good part of today. The bad part is that Handsome Face is on his third day of fever, Cute Girl slept horribly and wet the bed because now she's coughing and started feeling awful (she wouldn't stop shivering after I cleaned her up and put her back in bed), I'm coughing, and the Rocket Scientist has a bum shoulder again and can't do anything. Oh, what a day.

Christmas In St. Louis

We were hoping for snow (at least Cute Girl was) but it wasn't meant to be. We did, however, find a carousel that she enjoyed very much. This is her second ride with her grandmother.Christmas morning was tons of fun. But neither of the kids liked waiting while all fifteen adults opened their presents before they could open another one. I think next year we'll just let the kids open them and be done. We weren't even half-way through before Handsome Face was done. He would scream every time we tried to give him a new present. After the Rocket Scientist opened a gift card box consisting of two blocks of wood screwed together with a screwdriver he would only play with the wood. Silly boy. They both got light sabers in their stockings. Cute Girl already lost hers at G'ma Shoaf's. Handsome Face pushes his along the floor and makes vacuum noises.

I think this picture is funny because we both have our eyes closed.

She loved this dress and immediately put it on over her jammie pants.

I love how I'm too lazy to take the red out of his eyes.

She's wearing her dress and her new REI Camelbak-esque backpack. She wore it ALL DAY. Oh, and Dad's helping her learn Spanish.

Yay for new dresses! From Shabby Apple no less.

The Max shirts. What could be better?

My life has become crazy busy. Strange, as I stay at home with my children and have no car. But about a month ago a mother's group was organized in the neighborhood. It's been so fun. We have playdates at one of the neighborhood playgrounds almost daily. And every other Wednesday we have a picnic. The kids and I have loved it. The kids have friends and Cute Girl is really coming out of her shell. They're also getting tons of exercise. Speaking of, I am too. Half the moms go running/walking in the morning and even though we don't plan it, we run into each other most of the time and then we end up spending the whole morning together. But it eats up all my free time. Hence I don't ever blog anymore. Maybe I'll get better. We'll see.

But here are some pictures from the past few weeks.The Rocket Scientist's Apple Pie

How he puts shoes onStealing Dad's Cheerios because his aren't good enough