I wish I had time to blog, but here's some pix...

And, Spot makes 4. . .

Adorable Photo taken by my sweet friend Jody. J.A.C. photography

Little Nicholas Rusty came in his own good time. I went in for induction on Thursday but he must not of felt up to it, because he didn't make his appearance until Saturday.

Most people think he looks like Bridge, but Bridgey finds this offensive:

"He does not! He doesn't even have teeth!"

And, when we brought him home, Bridge kept poking at his eyes trying to see if "those grow in later" like teeth do.

The kids are enamored by little Spot, and he's just a doll. He's rarely set down between his adoring dad, sibs, and me.

Stats: Born: Jan. 29th, 2011
Weight: 7ils 13 0z
Length: 20inches
Cuteness: a perfect 10

"Where do babies come from?"

While shopping for the baby yesterday.

Bridgey: "Mom, how did Spot get in your tummy?"

Mom: "Heavenly Father." (we've been over this.)

Bridgey: "Yeah, and you have to be an adult and get married, but how does the baby get there?" (it's like he knows I'm keeping something from him)

Mom: "Well, the Mommy and Daddy ask Heavenly Father for a baby, and then Heavenly Father sends a baby to the mommy's tummy."

Bridge: "Oh, ok."

Mom: "Phew." (cue: laughter from surrounding shoppers)

Man, he's been interested in how this baby stuff works lately. How the baby comes out, and how he got there. I'm doing my best to satisfy his 4 year old curiosity, and maintain his innocence. Because when I asked these questions as a 6 year old I remember getting more than I bargained for. I've been grossed out ever since.

Fin's new Mullet

I have to say I am feeling a twinge of regret for a few things now, namely;

-leaving hair scissors within reach of a two year old. -ignoring the naughty little pitter-patter of footsteps I heard during nap time today.
-and for all the times I complained about Fin's "whispy... straggly... unruly hair".

As, now all there is to say is:

Butchered.

When she came down the stairs smiling, scissors in hand, I felt like I had been gut checked.

I have to say I was surprised at my own reaction I always thought I'd think it was more funny than anything, take a roll of film and call it good. But no, my reaction was more of a involuntarily gasp, in which she doubled over in hysterics at!

I think she thought I was playing with her, so of course, I needed to straighten her out. After all, Hair, is no laughing matter.

After giving that naughty 2 year old a hefty lecture about who is and is NOT allowed to use the scissors, she turned to me, with her little lip quivering and said,

"Mommy? You be nice to me??" Her plea was so disarming, it even made her freshly cut Mullet seem darling.

Baby #4 due to make his/her debut Febuary 1st. . .

We're super excited about Baby Rusty/Tuesday/Scout/Rockwell/Ollie/Mc-something (love those Mc surnames).

I went for the detailed ultrasound last week, but that little cutie would not turn towards the camera, and so we get retakes tomorrow morn.

Hopefully, he/she is less camera shy this time and we can figure out if we should be looking for he or she names. We're having trouble this time finding names we really like.

Any ideas? We seem to lean towards cowboys names for boys and what Jess's sibs insist are "exoctic dancer" names for girls.

Another news clip. . .child rescue. . . I'm kind of misquoted.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Child Rescue's Concert on Fox News

 

Salt Lake Billboard

Our very own Radio Ad! Whoop. . .Whoop!!

GIVEAWAY: MODBLOG Thanks Bree your amazing!!

Learn more at: www.candlelightserenade.com

Anthropology $300.00 Giveaway!! If affairs with stores were possible, this would be the one!

Look at this delicious Giveaway from Modevents it's so fun, and really I'm not sure I want to encourage more entries and lessen my chances but I will. After all it is to help spread the word about Child Rescue, their mission to stop Child Sex Slavery, and the benefit concert coming up August 21st.

And, here's just a few of the $2500.00 in prizes you could win for spreading the word! Quick pass it along, help out Child Rescue and possibly your self!! There's family photos, shabby chic type baby gear, gift certificates, jewelry, photography lessons and more being donated to help a great cause. Thanks Bree, your amazing!!

Indecent Exposure. . .

Where Bridgey is concerned there is a constant struggle between mad and amused, even sometimes amazed at his mischief.

I ran into pick up a script from my mom's doc and when I returned, Ky complains, "Bridgey peed out your window".

Sure enough there was pee proudly streaking my side door and window and a big grin on the 3 year old in the back. I should have been furious, since I know very well he could have held it, but the image of a little three year old casually watering the flowers, out the driver side window, just makes me laugh. He is so proud of his new ability to stand up, cracks me up.

Poster of Summer Fun

A friend of mine made a Fun Summer To Do List for her and the kids. I think we might try that.

Any ideas what should go on it?

-Lemonade Stand (it's so cute! It's an old metal trolly that we modge podged and stuck a red umbrella in the middle of).
-Farmers Market
-Circus
-Garden (poor plants I bought them 3 wks ago, and they're still sitting out back waiting to be planted)
-Canmore kids hike
-Make frilly/tacky flip flops with a glue gun and pom poms?
-Scavenger Hunts are always fun. . ."Bigger-Better"
-Homemade popsicles

. . . just like Jesus said.

Last night after Ky's cute little recital we went on a Mommy/Ky date and ended up discussing Stranger Safety in the middle of which she explained that I shouldn't worry, she knew just what to do:

"If a stranger grabbed me, I would say, "Touch Me Not."
. . .Just like Jesus."

Show up Naked with Food. . . a "open door" policy.

This is the name of one my dearest friends BLOG (CLICK HERE). She's amazing and I love her ideas! She is an advocate for marriage and has a very simple idea:

Feed and Take care of your man. I agree wholeheartedly.

When you put your spouse before yourself, you invite him to do likewise.
Lose yourself in the service of your sweetheart:
He'll reciprocate.

I promised to. . .

Let you know how you can help save children from being kidnapped and enslaved, here's one great way.

Check this website out, and donate 5 minutes if you can, to push send on some emails to corporations who have the power and the financial backing to really stop slavery.

If you get a chance to donate any amnt of time to this, please leave a comment, I'd love to see how much help we can generate just between friends. And, if you can pass the challenge on via blogs, facebook, etc. that would awesome too. :)

Scary mom's and roll away poo's. . .

Bridgey: "Mommy, you should put make up on so you don't look so SCARY."

He really took that FHE lesson on honesty to heart.




One of the funniest kid quotes this week happened at preschool, it was my turn to host. Bridgey's little friend came up to me taps my knee and say' so polite it cracked me up: "Excuse me, I . . . pooped my pants. Two Poops."

Sure enough, he was right 2 poos. Every mom know what I mean when I say it's a little tricky trying to pull off underwear filled with poo or poos. This was not one of my better times and those poos escaped, and as they are rolling across the bathroom floor this cute little guys says, "Well. . . that's awkward. .. " Who say's that, as a 3 year old? I was cracking up, he's the cutest kid!

And, finally what's with the weather this week? I love the snow. . . but in June? Poor little Bridge woke up Wednesday, took a look outside, and with the cutest frowny face said, "Mom, I don't want it to be Winter again." Neither does anyone else, buddy.

I'm sure you've all seen this, but it really just cracks me up.

Finally feeling empowered instead of just depressed...

Many of my family and friends know that Jess and I, along with some family and good friends have finally launched Child Rescue. Yay! It's off the ground and running and I can't believe the miracles that have taken place in the past 5 months.

There are so many wonderful people (Lindsay you know who you are) who have been gone above and beyond donating time, and resources. We've even had people call us asking what they can do or if they can donate, it amazes me. I wasn't expecting this sort of response.

It's just like Justin Dillion (from Call and Response) says There are children crying out , literally, now it's just up to us: How we are going to respond?

When I first started learning about trafficking and the sex trade, I felt hopeless, kind of paralyzed by my discouragement, how do you fight something so big? But, I continued along Jess' side anyways. It's not like I could say,

"I realize these horrific things are actually happen to children, but it makes me too sad to hear about." (although that's how I felt, it's still hard to hear about). Some days I can tell the children's individual stories and not skip a beat, other times it just hits me, my throat constricts, and I know I could just have a cry fest all by myself (today was one of those days).

Interestingly as I continued to learn and research I began to feel inspired and empowered by all the good works going on all around me. While it's true that there are brothels and children being exploited in just about every North American city, there are also good people fighting and responding to these crys in every city as well.

While there are great people fighting against these evils, there aren't yet enough to make a permanent societal change. That's where Child Rescue comes in. We hope to educate everyone we can about what's happening a few blocks from their houses, at local truck stops, spas, salons, old wearhouses.

Our hope is that you will get fed up enough that you will respond with an outraged voice loud enough for the lawmakers and politicians to take action and provide the local law enforcement agencies with enough funding, manpower, and legislation to end child slavery.

Please stay tuned for ways you can get involved and respond. They're are so many ways you can just help in only a few mins or just from home. Thanks for reading friends, this is dear to my heart.

Our First Child Rescue Concert! Dashboard Confessional, Relient K, Steel Train

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Sendn a Shout out to all the Minivan Mama's!

Makin' Minivan Mama's proud everywhere!

"Where my MotherFathers at?"
"Straight own'n bake sales with my Cupcake Skills."

SLAVES: The going rate this Spring? $90 Bucks.

Many have deemed us a "Disposable Society", due to products built and sold so cheaply, that it has become the norm to consistently buy, throw away, and repurchase. But what about:

"Disposable People"?

"One thing I learned recently from reading Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery is that a practice that is growing in the fishing industry, which one of his interviewees, who was a policeman in Thailand, called the most violent type of slavery today, is where small boys are taken onto fishing vessels for ten months straight; they work 20 hours a day, they're kept alive on amphetamines, and at the end of the ten months their reward is to be shot and thrown in the ocean. You wonder why your fish is so cheap. I believe that we might want to at least be thinking about paying a little bit more money for the social and environmental impacts that we have in the way that we live." -Devin Stewart January 27, 2009

From the mouth of Babes. . .

Thankful Goodnight prayers.

Kyanne is thankful to "be an inventor, soon" and that she could "discover so many new things at the park with Best friend Lexi". (I'm assuming this is in reference to the lady bug that peed in the palm of her hand, I think she was more bemused by the golden goo than perturbed by it. That a girl. The intrigue of Buggy whiz.

Bridgey was thankful for his "babysitters even though, I don't like to be babysitted. And, for all my girlfriends, even though they messed up my room."PS. Bridgey's prayers are priceless. Often I find him saying his morning prayer, kneeling, bum up in the middle of a room, with a squeaky voice he reserves for small children and Heavenly Father. It is honestly so sweet, I unfailingly walk away teary.

Two other little convos worth repeating,

Ky's statement after Jess finished explaining sin and the need for the atonement. "Well, when I'm eight, I'm just not going to sin, dad." Said so sincerely and matter of fact. Like 'I pick option one, sin seems like a bother.'

Why is it important to dress modest?
"So, if a policeman pulls you over, you don't go to jail."
Seat belt safety. . . dressing safely, I confuse them all the time. I'm not sure how she came up with this but her serious tone of voice left me straining to keep a my face straight.

Adventures in London

• The open palm crosses all language barriers. They weren't interested.

• Eating a helpless little dead little snail. A bit squishy, and salty. . .

emmm... like snot.

• London Regret #1: Not making over to visit the Royal guards in front of St. James Palace. The 10 year old in me would have really liked to make silly face or two at the guards and see if they really don't react.

• Regret #2: not smooching in one of those cute red phone booths, in a cramped, germy sort of way it seemed kind of charming.

• Loved the caramel, rosted nuts from a vendor on the London Bridge. We have to make two visits.

We saw The Queen show, "We Will Rock You". Great show!


The Tube in London. Mind the Gap.

• London was just as I imagined, Darling! Picadilly Circus, Big Ben, Westminister Abby, Buckingham Palace, Fish and Chips, the National Gallery of Art.
  

• Above we have my Favorite Traveling Friend, for obvious reasons: Ridiculous, handsome and FUN, all in one!
  

• Most of all I just loved being there with Jess. We weren't in a hurry to do anything in particular just, play together, relax, and have a ball, and so we did.