The Dockstaders

Friday, July 1, 2011

Yosemite

Over spring break we took a day trip to Yosemite. It was beautiful!

Abby's 7th Birthday

This year the kids birthdays were really low key, no parties, just family.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The CHIN

If you have known Carter for any length of time, you have likely seen "the chin."

"The chin" first appeared when we got a cat about a year and a half ago. Carter needed two hands to assault our cat so the chin became the weapon of choice. Carter will chin brother, mom, aunts, uncles, grandmas, inanimate objects, the air. It is usually accompanied by shaking and a little growling.

After taking my abnormal psychology class I am 90% positive Carter is CRAZY. (That is the correct medical terminology.) Seriously, he might be ADHD but time will tell.

Anyhow, I am grateful for Carter. He brings a special something to a life that could at times be boring. He has forced me to learn a level of patience that I did not think I could.

Another fun one for the memory book. Carter loves superheros. He especially loves Ironman (see above picture). So, when he sings a common children's song, he has affectionately changed the words to, "Twinkle, twinkle little Stark."

Abby's 7th Birthday

April 12th Abby turned 7 years old. In an effort not to spoil our kids too much (or lazy parenting), we did not do a party this year. Dean and I took Abby to dinner at Red Robin then had a cupcakes at home and she opened her present.

I can't believe my baby is seven years old. It really feels like last week she was just a baby. It doesn't help that she is really tall and mature for her age. Sometimes when I talk to her it feels more like chatting with a friend than with a young child. I love her so much and I am proud of the beautiful person she is.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Updates and TMI

It's update time again.

Abby is doing well in school. She received the Star Reader award last month. Her last report card she had straight A's. Abby is such a blessing to our family. She rarely needs discipline and is helpful around the house especially with her brothers.

Abby does have issues with her wardrobe. She is kind of picky about what she wears. She only wants skinny jeans. Also, the other day I bought her a grey shirt with Mini Mouse on it and she said, "I don't wear grey."

Carter is a special boy. I have said it before, Heavenly Father sent me Carter to teach me patience. Carter is a sweet, loving helpful boy. Carter can also go from happy to rage in less that 3 seconds.

Carter is having a hard time adjusting to his new primary class. He wants to stay in his "small class."

Carter has a new activity he likes to do with his cousin Jacob. He likes to play a video game he calls Monkey Con (Donkey Kong) or as Jacob some times calls it, Honkey Donkey. They could sit and play all day, typical boys.

Grant is still a big sweet boy. At his 18 month appointment he was just under 30 pound and 2 ft 10inches, (90% and 95%) but that was in January.

As of Monday morning we are passy free. We went to Powell's candy store and I let him pick out some candy to exchange for his bag of pacifiers. He was fine all morning until nap time then he was mad. He cried for an hour then I got him out of his crib and he fell asleep while I held him. That night he cried for less than 15 minutes then fell asleep. Today he cried for less than 10 minutes then napped so I will say we are done.

Dean is getting close to his weight loss goal and is lookin good. I am so proud of him. He is eating healthy food and plays basketball twice a week. He seems really happy.

CAUTION DON'T READ PASS THIS UNLESS YOU ARE OK WITH READING GROSS, REALLY REALLY GROSS DETAILS ABOUT ME.

Okay, so I have been having some issues lately. At first I thought I was just lactose intolerant. Things were getting worse and I finally went to the doctor. After telling her about having run to the bathroom one morning three times within a 15 minute period she said she thought I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

She ran some test, really gross test that involved going number two into something that resembled a plastic hat and scooping into vials for testing.

So, I don't have a genetic disease, a parasite, or anything else growing in me. I am going for a follow up and I want to get some more info.

For now I am avoiding dairy and also fried foods. It is pretty sad to say goodbye to some of the foods I love.

Well, I told you it was gross. Anyway, my purpose in post is so that if I call you last minute and seem to be giving you a lame excuse of not feeling well, you know why. I am not being flaky I am spending some quality time with my toilet.

Friday, February 18, 2011

F-Bomb

Abby's weekly progress report came home and I was shocked to see. . .

So, I asked Abby what happened that she said the "F" word and what exactly did she say.

She told me that in class she was using glue and said, "This freaking glue doesn't work." Her classmates heard her and went and told her teacher that Abby said the "F" word.

Not so coincidentally, two days before at book club we had a discussion about not using substitute words for curse words. I thought to myself that I really do need to watch my mouth because I am totally guilty of doing that.

So as if to make a point this note comes home from Abby's teacher. I felt really bad because Dean never says that word and I knew it was my example she was following.

Anyhow, I, my sisters and mom have all decided to stop using "Mormon potty words" and only use nice words so I can be a good example for my kids.

So, if you hear any of the following come out of my mouth, please feel free to judge me openly:

crap, freaking, flipping, gosh, gees, stupid, idiot, darn, dang, dumb, and any of the like.

December

I know this is super late but here it is.

Making Christmas goodies with cousins. (Unfortunately, Carter being a disgusting boy did unmentionable things to our cookie dough, rendering them unedible.) We had lots of fun making them.