Spice Girl

Since birth we have known that Poppy is a spicy girl. Last night at dinner she (using her very expressive non-verbal communication) indicated she wanted the bottle of Tabasco sauce. She then proceeded to suck on the top of it.
Her father thinking she would learn her lesson decided not to intervene. To our amazement, she liked it and went back to suck on it again.
After a few licks she decided she wanted a drink of water.

Oh yes, she is quite the spicy girl!

Oscarisms...

Recently My four year old has become an expert an a variety of topics. And for the things he doesn't know he isn't afraid to ask.
While driving he asked me "mom what is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean?" My response was "Europe" then he says "your what?". This just leads to more conversation on the other continents.
Next: Fire building...Yesterday I decided to build a fire in our new fire place. After chopping some kindling and other wood I began to "build" the fire. Oscar then informed me that I hadn't chopped any kindling and that I didn't know how to build a fire. I assured him I cut kindling and that I did know how to build a fire. He didn't believe me until I actually built the fire. Then tonight Oscar was helping Rick build the fire and he said..."we have to use the little ones first...then the medium ones, and then the big ones."
For dinner the last few days the items on the menu haven't been his favorite. We have still managed to force the food down him...reluctantly. He then informed me that if I would make things he liked than he would eat by himself. Needless to say we had apple waffles tonight. He ate very well and had second helpings. Amazing what a boy can fit in his stomach when it is his "favorite". During prayers tonight he said "thank you for the lovely dinner". I guess he really did like the waffles.

More Christmas pictures...

Thanks Grandma for the sweet Pajamas! Oscar wanted to wear his all day. We love them!

Christmas Review!

Christmas...Yes, we have had a great Christmas. What could be better than sparkling lights, yummy food, super cute kids, a fabulous hubby! Life is good!

Here is a picture outline of our Christmas holiday. The first is Oscar at his pre-school "winter" program. He was so funny. All of the other kids would be singing and doing the actions and Oscar would follow...a couple seconds behind. I wish I knew how to post a video clip. If I figure it out I'll include it.
Next, Oscar and Poppy woke to find that Santa did in fact visit our house. Oscar even received a return letter from the jolly old fellow. He was delighted that Santa enjoyed the licorice, milk, and oranges he left for Santa and his reindeer.
Santa left a fun race car track which, after acquiring some batteries that Santa forgot. Oscar and Ricky spent hours racing each other.
Poppy received her first-ever doll and stroller. She has spent a lot of time running into walls chairs, etc. She likes to stack things on top of her baby. She's quite the little girl.
Christmas afternoon we participated in the blue monkey Christmas 5K run. Participants were encouraged to wear costumes. Rick was adorned in Pink tights and lovely Super-cape. I was wearing the Tutu...Oscar was the red dragon, Poppy the sunflower(bring back memories of Halloween?).
The Edge family runners were first to finish...not that it was really a race or anything. It was a fun run in a bit of rain.
Later we continued to play with the bundle of toys that we acquired from Grandma's etc... Today was somewhat of a flash back to yesterday in the toy department. I spent most of the day picking up and playing with the menagerie of Christmas items around.
We have been so blessed to have great family members, good job, home, life is good!
Merry Christmas -Happy New Year blog world!

Busted!!!

Today was the day of mischief around our house.
After discovering a tampered-with present. I found the evidence of the culprit on Poppy's rear-end.
Next, I came into the kitchen to find Oscar with the play kid phone taken apart. He assured me he could put it back together. Here you see the re-assembly process. To his credit he did a great job.
Then tonight, Rick had set out ingredients for caramel popcorn to make with his scouts. I went spinning and when we returned we discovered that one of the cubes of butter were missing. We assumed that Smiley must have eaten it...package and all. Bu,t then discovered he had taken it by his bed for a mid-night snack. If you look closely you will see the cube of butter(partially eaten) next to the TV cabinet by his bed.
Today, I am the Mother-detective. Like most days around here it's difficult for my kids to really get away with much...I do after all, have eyes in the back of my head.

Tradition...Tradition...

Traditions, the fun things we do together as families that when one thinks back to a certain holiday or event immediately our brains process the thread that pulls all of them together, traditions.

This year we are going to be experiencing our very first Christmas with just us four (five if you count smiley) family members.

Among other activities we experienced the joy of making a gingerbread train! Betina, Kenneth, Eden, and Oakley joined us in the fun-filled process of creating a candy heap of a train!

Here are some pictures of last nights FHE ginger experience. You can get a glimpse of the Workman's train in the background.

Oscar really enjoyed making the train but was quite disappointed when I informed him we will not be eating it until Christmas day. This morning after breakfast he said "mom I just can't wait till Christmas to eat it!" He did manage to knock a small piece off and I allowed him to eat the piece. I wonder if this will become a pattern? Him accidentally bumping it????
Tee next item to report is that I have completed a few projects that have been lingering in the back of my mind for days!!! Oscar and I sorted through our toys today and organized them into tidy little containers. We also sorted out the toys we no longer play with and will take them to good will tomorrow!!! Woo hoo! To some this may seem trivial, but the thought of getting new toys for Christmas, just to be stacked on top of all the other toys was weighing heavy on my clutter conscious brain!
We can now have Christmas! This also was what Rick wanted for Christmas. He asked Santa to get rid of some things for his Christmas present. Therefore I have now killed two birds with one stone. I will ask the Good Will to give me a receipt, and then I'll wrap it up for my hubby for Christmas. (Rick if you read this you can just act surprised on Christmas morning!)
The last picture is the finished product! If you are wanting a fun project to do here is a link to the train recipe and templates. There should be one more train car on our train but we ran out of space on our wrapped cardboard. Good thing about that is that we could eat the leftovers!
If you have any other cool tradition ideas leave me a comment and we'll see what cool traditions we can develop.

Week in review...

Oscar and Poppy share a snuggle on the blankets I had pulled out of her bed while changing her sheets. Poppy is binky-ing on her hair and Oscar likes to rub his chin on her soft hair. I think binky-ing is genetic but as I said before, it came from the Rickster side of the family.

Next, we have Oscar's debut as "Joseph" in the ever-so-famous "joy school" production. He really wanted to be a King(wise man). However, since there are only two boys and two girls in Joy school...Oscar conceded to being Joseph since Kade wanted to be the Inn keeper.

I think this is what parenting is all about! School plays, teacher conferences...we had teacher conference with Oscar's other preschool teachers. We discovered that he is a pretty average kid who loves to play with other kids and likes to be playing more than doing work sheets. (Big surprise!) Yah, well they didn't tell us anything to important to report...sorry. They did mention that he is a perfectionist of sorts and that when other kids are doing things wrong he likes to intervene to put them in their place. They said he isn't violent but can be voiceterous (is that a word?) at times.

Next, we have the Chinese food. Oscar keeps saying that Chinese food is his favorite. So, last Saturday we had real Chinese take-out food. He loved it and the chop sticks. Here is a picture of him eating my not-so-authentic stir fry with the same set of chop sticks.

Last but certainly not least here is the typical picture of Oscar on Santa's (Bro. Creger's) lap. I should make clear that we have told Oscar that Santa was real at one time but that now we celebrate the "spirit of giving" or what we like to refer to as "Santa". Although he knows this it appears that he is still a believer. I don't mind that he believes in Santa, I just have a hard time thinking that I'm not telling him the truth about something. Therefore I made the executive motherly decision to explain that "Santa" isn't real.

Ever since Oscar could barely talk he wanted to know if things were "real" or not. He would ask me things like...Mom is that a real bird? I would make the clarification that yes, it was in fact a chickadee. Then he would want me to clarify if things like monsters, spider man, batman, etc... were real or not. So, now that we have arrived at the belief in Santa (even after my clarification on the matter) I've decided to step back and see where his imagination takes him. (after all, I'm not the one encouraging it) At dinner tonight he said a lovely prayer and asked that Santa would be safe so he would be able to deliver his presents.

Speaking of Oscar prayers. Friday morning I taught an early morning spin class. So, Rick was around with the kids when they woke up and we got to say family prayers together. Oscar wanted to say the prayer and said "Thank you that daddy has a job and makes money so that we don't have to live in a tent and eat bugs." He was very sincere and it made me proud as a Mom to know that my child appreciates the sacrifice his dad makes for our family.

Another funny thing he said was...this morning Rick said "Oscar you should go light the fire". Oscar replied "no dad I can't play with slitches". Yes, we now have another word for the Oscar dictionary.

As for the Popster...she currently has 3 mollers coming in and I'm reminded of my two least favorite things: Immunizations and teething! They both turn my otherwise delightful child into a monster. Not the pretend kind. We are talking the ornery, winy, poopy, fevery, biting, and miserable child. Every time I start to think that aliens have abducted my wonderful child. I realize that they have teeth coming in!

Lastly, and then I'll close this forever long blog entry. If you want to read details(pseudo details) about our disastrous family photo shoot, and about Oscar and dad fighting over what we get to listen to on the car stereo. You'll have to check out the oatmuncher's blog.
happy trails!

Happy Winter Day!

Happy Winter Day! Yes, today I went snow shoeing with some ladies from a ward that does fun activities! If I didn't like Pullman so much I would think of moving to Colfax to hang out with the the cool girls that are in the Colfax ward.
Luckily Betina invited me to go along.
We had a great time and I discovered that I really enjoyed snow shoeing through snowy fields.
Prior, I had thought that skiing was the only way to go. After clopping through some piney woods and snowy fields I discovered it was great fun!

Here are a few pics. 1st Kelly, Betina and I. Then there is a pic of everyone but me...I'm taking the pic.
Thanks to my sweet spouse we now have a fireplace! I came home this afternoon from snow shoeing to find a fire ready to go and Rick had taken the kids shopping. It was so nice to have a nice warm and toasty fire!
I've included a pic of Rick's handy dandy tile and fire insert installation. He did a great job...Don't you think?? What a great hubby!!! Happy Saturday to you. I'm now going to go drink the nice warm tea that Ricky made for me.

Operation!

Thanks to Oscar's wonderful Grandma, we now have the game "Operation". You may recall this game from your youth. The game where you try to pull out fictitious body parts with a pair of tweezers. If you touch the metal edges with the tweezers, the nose lights up and makes a really loud buzzing noise.
Last night Oscar found where I had conveniently placed the game for future (few years down the road) use. Being the nice mommy that I am, we put the batteries in and I carefully showed him how it worked.
The first few times it beeped his eyes got really big and he would jump with this hint of confusion and dislike on his face. He was hesitant to take his turn knowing that he inevitably would hit one of the edges and it would once again make the BUZZZ! After a few minutes of contemplation he decided to take the plunge. Straight for the butterflies in your stomach. With a loud BUZZZZZZZ he dropped the tweezers...looked at me, eyes tearing up, and starts to cry. Yes, Mr. doesn't like loud noises, crawled onto my lap and cried because of "OPERATION"! It took him quite a while to recover. I finally convinced him to try again and I would take the batteries out.
Don't worry grandma...the game is a big hit, minus the batteries.
Oscar has never liked loud noises. He would cry over thunder, fireworks, gunshots (at a parade), and any other loud or otherwise disruptive noise. He is a sensitive kid. He has a soft heart, sensitive ears and a great imagination.
As For "Operation" I think he will leave the batteries out.

Backyard Treasure!

Oh, Christmas tree. Oh, christmas tree. The children love decorating.
Oh, christmas tree. Oh, christmas tree your patchy places are intriguing.
We love to watch the little lights glow. We see the ornaments come and go...
Oh, Chritmas tree. Oh, Christmas tree...we hope you survive Poppy's pulling.

Here is the Edge family tree. He is quite large and pretty. Oscar and Poppy have been having a great time decorating and undecorating it.
Oscar is currently in the process of dipping pine cones in glitter to add to our trees beauty.

Princess Poppy!

Around our house we have a royal highness...yes we have the Princess Poppy. She not only is the boss, but she demands that her requests be granted! (Typically these requests come in the form of increased volume of grunting and forceful bodily gestures.)
The Princess is only a little over one and yet has the authority of those much older than herself. While shopping, visiting grandparents, attending church, etc... she knows just what to do to captivate all persons within her vicinity. She puts her hand on her hip and bends over slightly all the while looking upward, staring into the eyes of the person for whom she wants their attention. If this attempt fails she then proceeds to make her presence known by either loudly requesting attention, or by lovingly snuggling up to them.
It's too bad we all can't be a princess such as her. Can you imagine what would happen if good ol' George W. was to walk into every room of dignitaries and put his hand on his hip, stoop slightly and then proceed to charm them all with a smile?
It does leave one to admire such charismatic abilities. I wish I could throw a tantrum one minute, demand attention the next, and still be considered adorable! It just doesn't happen that way in the Mommy world.
Just this morning as I was trying to make oatmeal for two VERY demanding hungry children. I found myself wanting to wine back in response that it takes more than 10 seconds to make oatmeal!!!! Yet, I knew that if I were to wine and complain, it would fall on deaf ears. Yes, they would still ignore my tantrum and demand that they want their bellies filled at this very moment.
That is how it goes for us servants of the Princess. We conform to requests merely to avoid the conflict that is sure to arise if we were to otherwise ignore the request. This I like to call "choosing my battles". Hopefully in the end, we have a princess who charms, and a prince (Oscar) who listens and obeys and a mother who has her sanity still in tact.

Winter Wonderland

After a week of busy life and not blogging...I attempt to catch my loyal readership up on the Family. Here we are today at the park sledding.
It has been so pretty here with a bunch of snow and cold enough temperatures to keep it on the ground.
Rick tried to convince Oscar that snow tubes are better than sleds...But Oscar was not convinced. Therefore, Rick got a tube and Oscar a sled. I think both of them like to have their own specific preferences!
Poppy was a human sea-star decked out in Oscar's old snow suit and boots. She liked the snow for the first half hour, then the only time she was happy was when she was going down the hill with us.
Oscar loved sledding. He seemed to never get tired or cold. Rick and poppy went home and left Oscar and I there with smiley to play and walk home later. It's a good thing that the palouse is so hilly, because I convinced Oscar to walk home with me so that he could sled down the hills on the way home.
Smiley the Dog nearly caught himself a duck! The Pond was mostly frozen over so he could have better access to the slow, cold birds. While sledding we had to tie him up so that he wouldn't torment the poor birds.
Yes, it was a merry winter day at our house. We chopped down our Christmas tree from our back yard. It is so tall that it pretty much goes to the highest point of our vaulted ceiling.
We had a great time decorating and Poppy still is playing with all the decorations. (I'll include more Pictures of the "Princess" later).
Have a happy winter day!