Playing Catch-Up | February 2011

**Note: this post contains homeschool highlights**

I used to blog all the time. Then "it" happened (the new baby wreaking havoc on my body) and I read 542 books in three months . . . all while in a prone position in my bed, with mold growing on the neglected dishes in the sink, and unchecked kids making epic messes all over the house (okay, I exaggerate - a little). In the meantime, though, stuff still happened: my kids did cute things, grew, experienced, and created; our home got some face lifts in various places; and our backyard had a major overhaul (that is still ongoing); then there were holidays, birthdays, and such. I want to be a dedicated blogger again, but for now, I'm going to create a few month-by-month recaps to catch me up to the present. Then I'll try to be better. TRY. I'm not making any promises, folks. :)

Oh, something else you might notice . . . I'm no longer editing or watermarking my photos. These are either straight out of the camera, people, for better or worse, or simply brightened in Lightroom, or edited a long time before this post. I just don't have the time anymore to Photoshop every photo I want to share. Someday I'll be able to revisit my beloved creative outlet - seriously, I adore Photoshop - but, for now, these will just have to suffice.

With that fair warning, here's life with the Bagels from WAY back in the day, all the way up to the present. :)

Oh, and many of you may have seen some of these pictures already as I have posted a few of them on Facebook more diligently than I have updated this great blog of mine.  Is Facebook killing the blogging star?

P.S. January recap here.

In FEBRUARY this year . . . .

- the boys made Lego creations -

- Poppy Seed explored his play garden, and got stuck -

- we painted and created in the backyard -

see photos here

- we cruised the grocery store -

see photos here

- we made Valentine's Day crayon hearts as per directions found here -

- the boys made good use of the whiteboard (including Daddy in a random disciplinary act that he made Cinnamon Raisin sign.  I think it had something to do with wasted toast.) -

- Poppy Seed ate his way through church meetings -

- the boys reenacted the popular nursery rhyme "rub a dub dub three [boys] in a tub" -

- the Bagel boys got their creativity on with pattern blocks, Legos, clay, and paints -

- we drew more on the various white boards around the house (like my attempt at a beaver?) -

- Asiago and Cinnamon Raisin learned about Mercury and made flour and water models of the poor pockmarked planet -

- Poppy Seed explored his home -

see photos here

- Poppy Seed contracted RSV -

see photos here

- we found Poppy Seed standing up in his crib for the first time -

- the boys watched a movie . . . in strange (and painful looking) positions -

- and, it snowed in San Diego -

see photos here


Videos of the Month




That's all for February, folks.  Tomorrow, March.  Hooray for catching up!  :)

Another Bagel

Back in October, I took "the" test and passed. We've got another little bagel in the oven over here! We are so excited to find out what our new little "it" is. I'm hoping for another boy. I love boys. But ultimately, I'll be just as excited with a little girl since that will be a new adventure altogether. I just want a healthy baby.

First trimester was abnormally rough for me.  I was down and out for the count for a loooooong while.  I've finally emerged from the relentless clutches of nausea, but I still don't have that amazing second trimester feeling that typically follows.  I'm still tired and still feeling low many days.  Our family has had TONS of help from friends and ward members (meals; cleaning; errands run for us; you name it, we've received it). We are so blessed to be surrounded by people willing to serve us needy Bagels. :)

We're due in June sometime. I'm about 15 weeks along. Hoping to find out the gender shortly after Christmas.

Halloween

Our Halloween activities included:

~ Trick or treating at Sea World with our buddies, the Cranes

~ Ward chili cook-off and trunk or treat

~ Halloween costume photo shoot with a knife-wielding ninja, a cool ghoul with a bloody dagger, and a spooky skeleton baby

~ Neighborhood trick or treating on Halloween

~ Organizing the candy haul

Hope you had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We're looking forward to Thanksgiving with thank-filled hearts. And, of course, I'm listening to Christmas music on Pandora while I post our Halloween pictures. :D It's never too soon, people . . . .

Tree Huggers

Family came and went this last week.  We gathered for the semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was wonderful.  The boys had a great time with their cousins and we even got to visit Sea World together on Monday.  One funny moment was when Jalapeño's sister asked if she could do a load of laundry and he answered, "Sure, as long as you don't make fun of our methods."  :D  This is one of those best-kept-secrets of the world, so listen closely.

2 Tbsp. Baking Soda
1/3 Cup Vinegar (I use distilled white, but my friend uses apple cider)
Double for large or particularly dirty loads

Throw it all into the water as your washer fills up.  (I've read that even those with front-loading HE washers can use this method, though I didn't read extensively on that subject since we aren't among that privileged class.  :D)

That's it!  It's so cheap.  Can double as food storage.  Can be purchased with food stamps.  Glorious, right?  But how does it work, you say? Well, the baking soda cleans the clothing, stripping smells and whatnot.  It can't blast tough stains, but pre-treating with lemon juice sure can (or so I've been told - I'm still using my Zout until it runs out).  The vinegar allows the clothing to dry without storing static, even without using a dryer sheet (I'm serious.  No static.  None.  Zip.  Zilch.  Don't believe me?  Try it!).  It's also a disinfecting agent.  The baking soda + vinegar method leaves your clothes unscented, but fresh.  If you want scented laundry, I've read that you can add a couple drops of your favorite essential oil to the wash cycle.  I haven't tried it though.  Or you can still use dryer sheets, just for the smell.  I don't, though.  I like knowing that I can give my teething baby a wet washcloth to go to town on without worrying about all the lingering chemicals he's siphoning out of it and into his system.  :)

So Jalapeño dubbed us tree huggers (I still shave my legs, though . . . occasionally!), sister laughed, and we're making ends meet in this gorgeous but costly San Diego climate.  WIN!

Wallace

"It's like no cheese I've ever tasted." - Wallace, A Grand Day Out

They were entertaining Poppy Seed.  Cinnamon Raisin totally looks like Wallace to me.

How to get a black eye:

**photo tip-of-the-day: shoot an action sequence and capture a precious story forever**

Step 1 - Read a book to your baby brother.

Step 2 - Get whacked in the brow bone by said book, wielded by said baby brother.

Step 3 - Prove you're tougher than Superman by resuming leisure reading with perp.

Step 4 - Lay down the law.

CINNAMON RAISIN exacts his revenge on POPPY SEED by refusing to let him off the chair.  :)

Well Looky Here

I've got myself a pretty new blog face. What do you think? I like it. The only problem is . . . it doesn't bring back brain cells and I can't think of a darn thing to write about! That is to say, I come up with stuff to slap up on my blog all day long, but every time I sit down to write about some of it, I can't remember any of it. Go figure. Does that ever happen to you?

So, I'm using the new Blogger interface. It's different. Not bad, just different.

Okay, that's boring.

Um, it's 2:32 in the morning and I can't sleep because Jalapeño (see our new bagel identities in the spiffy new right sidebar) is away. :(

And also because Poppy Seed is waking up every 30 minutes. The stinker.

Asiago and Cinnamon Raisin have been having a grand old time with school this last week and a half. I'm much more organized this year and we're absolutely mowing through stuff as a result. It's great fun. But I'll write more on homeschooling later as I have much more I want to say and now I'm finally feeling tired enough to try my bed out (yay!). Since this was all so fantastically riveting, I think I'll leave you with the uplifting scripture passage that I have on our weekly assignment schedules for school:

Doctrine and Covenants 88:118 

"Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith."

I love that learning "by faith" is so easy to do in our home/school environment. God is [appropriately] a part of every subject.

Cute Baby Alert

To see more of darling William, click here.

Pip's New Quirks and Milestones

Pip has the best sad face.

Our little Pipilo is walking all over the place now.  It took him the longest of our three boys, Buddha and Bugga both starting at 10 months. But then, Buddha skipped crawling completely and Bugga was a lot skinnier than our chunky Pipster.  It's so fun to see him totter about on his solid, stubby legs.

But my favorite thing about him at almost 14 months is his growing cognizance.  He is becoming more interactive and can remember things and repeat them.  Here are some examples:

- When I put my pointer finger to my lips and say "shhhhh," he'll stick his pointer finger right into his mouth like a lollipop and blow air around it.

- If I ask him, even out of the blue, to do the elephant sound for me, he puckers up his lips and does an air zerber.

- He loves repetitive projects and is very visibly proud of himself when he completes them and we all clap.

- He likes to give people high fives.

- He says "woah," and "down," and "hi" (with whatever he's got in his hand being held to his ear).  And he says all these in appropriate and applicable moments.  He even cries "owwww" when he's been hurt.

- He does the sign language sign for milk when he wants to nurse, only he does it with the hand attached to the thumb that is being vigorously sucked on in his mouth.  Actually, sometimes he does it with both hands.  It's really cute.

- Once on my lap, after conveying the desire to nurse, he'll fling himself to his preferred side and look up at me expectantly.  I love it.  He's such a ham.

- He's still one of the most smiley babies I've ever known.

- He's super ticklish everywhere, but especially up and down his back/spine.  I love tickling him there because it makes him bury his face in my shoulder while he giggles away.  I like cuddling any way I can get it.  :)

- He DOES NOT like loud noises like lawn mowers and garbage trucks make.  He startles very easily and any time he hears something like that, he double-times it to my side, crying all the way.  Poor kid.

- He gives open mouth kisses with his tongue sticking out.  Mmmm . . . wet and slobbery.  Just the way I like it. :)