Friday, May 30, 2008

Random Sampler

Excuse this post, it is quite a concoction of random things that have happened over the past few weeks. For some reason I have never gotten around to blogging them, so I decided to throw them all together on one post just to give everyone a glimpse into what we have been doing lately.
Luke played the role of the big bad wolf in the Kindergarten production of The Three Piggy Opera. He practiced his parts so much at home and was very excited to have so many solo's. He did absolutely great! I have a darling video of his singing/acting that I will post when Rick can help me (I hate being so bad on the computer!). Here he is in his wolf costume after the show. I think he really relished his role as the big bad wolf because he would even play the part at recess as he chased some of the girls. One day after school I asked him what he did at recess and he said that he was being the wolf and chasing the girls all around. I wanted him to play more with some of the boys in his class so I suggested that he asked some of the boys to help him chase the girls. He looked at me and said, "but I like being the only boy chasing all of the girls." Of course you do!

Of course Noah had to get in on the action, too!
Even though I have more baby blankets than you could ever need, I decided that each new addition deserves one blanket made just for them. I knew I wanted to use that soft, fuzzy, bumpy fabric that is all the rage right now for this little guy. I went to the fabric store to get it and almost died when I found out it cost $13 a yard, but I figured that I was only making one blanket so it was okay. I did the back in some stripped flannel and ended up with enough extra to make a little comfort blanket with ribbons, too. Like all craft project I take on I ended up HATING the finished product! No matter how many times I measured and cut, I could not keep the green fabric the same as the flannel. The problem is that the "darling" green fabric is stretchy, and the flannel is not. So by the time I had the edges bound it looked terrible. But, after trying so hard I just finished it and know that I will never show it to a real seamstress! I hope the baby doesn't notice the bad sewing.
Just for all of my friends who I don't get to see anymore, I thought I would throw in a recent picture of me. Here I am in all my pregnant glory. Sorry for the choice of clothes, but I had just gotten home from teaching my last yoga class (yahoo!) last night when I had Rick take this picture. I usually don't try to dress in the tightest clothes that I can to show my round tummy! Even though I haven't forgotten how uncomfortable it is during your last couple of weeks, it is always surprising how those little feet can irritate your ribs so badly. I can't believe that I am down to two weeks. In some ways it seems that time will never pass, and on many ways I am dreading the day to come (a topic for a different post about the perils of having a third baby when your two year-old is a terror!). Oh well, ready or not this little guy is about to come.

Ah, spring soccer. I don't know why they even try to have soccer in the spring here because the weather is usually so crappy that it isn't even enjoyable. Luke's little soccer league only had 8 games, and three of them were canceled because of rain or snow. They did make one up, but not the other two. The games that did actually get played were pretty cold!
Luke had a great time playing on his soccer team this season, which is good because they were the worst team BY FAR! I was so glad that he didn't seem to notice that they lost big almost every game (they did tie one). I have never seen such a terrible group of soccer players as was put together on Luke's team. Now don't get me wrong, Luke is no David Beckham, but at least he knew which goal to try for. There were literally kids on his team out on the field with their shirts over their heads doing somersaults! Other kids would come in and out of the game at will whenever they wanted to play, and there were two kids who thought that the point of the game was to jump on the ball whenever it came close! Needless to say, they were terrible. Luke enjoyed himself though and wants to do it again next year. I guess you can call that success!
A few weeks ago as Rick was bathing the boys and my dad and I were watching the Jazz game, there was a very loud bang on the window of my parents house. Right away we knew it was just a bird flying into the window. Perhaps a suicide attempt. No, it actually happens quite often because my parents have so many window in their house that the birds can see all the way through and they don't realize there are windows in their way! My dad went to check it out and came in saying it had been a hawk that flew into the window and was taking it's last breath. I went and told the boys that after their bath they could go outside with grandpa and see a dead hawk. Well, much to our surprise when we took the boys out to see the "dead" hawk it was really alive. It was so stunned by it's recent blow to the head that it let my dad hold it and the boys pet it. Of course my dad had his Birds of North America book right out to show the boys just what kind of hawk it was and give them some interesting facts about it. Always the scientist. The boys just thought it was cool to pet a real live hawk.

On May 20th Rick and I celebrated out 10 year anniversary! I can't believe that 10 years has come so soon. I have always imagined our 10 year anniversary to be celebrated somewhere on an exotic beach or a fabulous trip to Europe, but bad pregnancy planning spoiled that! We did leave the boys with my mom and sister (thanks mom and Giselle) and went to Salt Lake on a little date. We actually had a really fun time because we went to the same places we went the first time we met. It was fun to eat at the same place and play mini golf at the same place we did 11 years ago this summer. Back then I wouldn't have imagined that in 10 years I would be about to have our 3rd little boy, but even that night I did know that there was something special about Rick (and it wasn't just his rear view, although that was one of my first real memories of him). I was going to do a wonderful post with pictures of our wedding and a picture of us now, but for some reason I couldn't even find a picture of our wedding in my parents house! Oh well, maybe next year. (That is what I am saying about the big vacation, too!)

Finally, one last item to note, we just got our house plans delivered yesterday! Okay, it is just the first tiny step of a huge building process, but at least we have started moving. I am so excited!

16 comments:

Billie Sue said...

Oh, I am so excited to be the first to post. Actually, it is 6:00 pm here in Blackpool, but it is barely 11:00 am there, so I guess you haven't had this posted very long. What a fun post! It was good to see the boys again and actually I had never even seen or heard the hawk story--which shows how much I have actually had to do with my own family for the last few months! You still look very good, Olivia and I am also praying for you that Noah turns into a complete angel once Eli is born. Either that or Luke will turn into the "real" boss and take charge of Noah (or perhaps Noah will take charge of Luke!). Anyway, it will all happen and all will be well. The team took 2nd in the world in the Standard Competition and tonight is their Latin competition. I watched the rehearsal today and my prediction is that the Germans will take first with the Chinese second and it will be a dead heat between the Austrians and UVU for 3rd and 4th. If the kids all work together and are "on," they can do it! We are at an internet cafe, so I won't risk the time element any long. Know that we love you and miss you. We will be home soon. Giselle thinks I shold drive to LV with her on the 7th to see the baby on her way to Phoenix. We'll see. Love you all!

Billie Jo said...

Very great detailed post!!! I love all the stories. For a stay-at-home mom you have the best post and most exciting times with those boys. I can't wait til you get the house going and Noah can have a plave to go and sweep and "build" stuff. I love the baby blankets. I didn't even get one done for Mia. I think we all know the 20 month thing kind of kicked my butt and since I still had a baby I wasn't prepared for another one however, she seemed to live so I am sure Eli won't notice if the seems aren't perfect. I think you are the greatest mom. When we were at the park I thought what a great mom you are and I should try to act more like you and plan things for the kids. I am sincerely praying for both you and Eli that the magic ball will drop and Noah will be the greatest big brother.

Stephanie said...

Olivia,
I'll excuse the post if you excuse my comments for being long, random and addressing most of your post!

If there is anything that I can tell you from these last two months it is to RELAX right now and enjoy just having the two- I know how you feel about Noah, and yes, it will be a nightmare for a couple of days/weeks, but since I know how fantastic your mom skills are, I am not too worried about you! Plus, an added benifit that you have for this third one is FAMILY close by-the move might just pay itself off right there! And HORRAY you are almost DONE! Fun to be pregnant, more fun to have a cuddly newborn in your arms!

Seriously you are making me look bad, I bought some dinosaur material back in March to do one of those bumpy blankets in red for Aaron and I stil have the material sitting in the closet- my excuse is the heat right now, but still...

AND I am SOOOOO jealous of how great you look for being 38 weeks pregnant-ok from the front you look prego now, but the back hardly looks that way (sorry, that's probably a little weird to have me commenting on that...but it has to be said that you look amazing still!).

Wow! You made a milestone! 10 years is awesome! (I think my favorite part of being married is that the happy ending keeps going, and going, and going...and it keeps getting better and better) So my anniversary wish for you is that yours does too! just think..you are now only 40 years away from being GOLDEN! :)

And finally, Hooray for your getting your houseplans back! I am SUPER excited for you- and super jealous too!

Cassondra said...

YAY for your house! I'm really excited for you to have that in motion!

I loved seeing pictures of Luke's kindergarten Opera. He looks like he enjoyed it and I'm sure he was fantastic! I'm looking forward to seeing video. I know how you feel about relying on your husband for computer help. I'm the same way and it's really annoying. I know I should just take the time to learn the things I always wait on him to do, but...you know.

I think your blankets are SUPER cute and I admire that you were brave to just go for it. Eli will love it; at first, because it's soft and, later, because you made it for him. You're awesome!

You look AMAZING!! I bet people don't even believe you when you say you're about to deliver! And seriously, I wish I had your drive to work out and stay fit! You are an inspiration!

Very cool picture with the hawk! I love when rare things like that happen and allow our kids unique experiences. Your dad is the man to be so prepared and able to teach them so much on the spot!

Congratulations on your anniversary! Reliving your first date is a really good idea!

Will you do me a favor and email me your number again??

Chelsea Johnson said...

Please don't leave us in the dark, did the hawk end up living????

You look amazing and I love how little your butt is! I am 8 months post-partem and don't even have as nice of a lower half as you do!

I'm glad you and Rick finally got to get out and do something and rekindle the romance.....ha ha ha! How much rekindling can you really do 9 months pregnant?

You hadn't told me about the houseplans, so I am very excited, but you'll have to fill me in on the rest of the details you were worried about.

We are so excited to see yo soon! Castor oil, baby!

The Gunnerson Family said...

We can only assume that the hawk DID live. Dad put it on a branch in one of the trees when we went in the house, and later that night it had flown away. Dad did think that it sustained some minor brain damage and/or spinal injury because one of its claws couldn't really open or close very well. Poor bird, I hope it flew to safety and was not dinner to a local fox!

Emily said...

Okay. Those are the coolest RANDOM things ever!!!!!

Olivia, you are ONE HOT MAMMA!!! Can I just BE you??

I can't wait to see you this summer! I'll be in Oakley from June 23rd to mid-August. So, between having a baby, building a house, rescuing endangered birds, and entertaining your charming boys, you BETTER make time for your long lost BF!

Jadi said...

It was fun to hear about what you guys have been up to lately. I think your baby blanket turned out great. I always feel the same way about my finished sewing projects too! Maybe that is why I haven't sewed anything for almost a year! :)
Luke made a cute wolf. I wish we could have been there to see it. Good luck with the new baby. We are excited to see pictures of him and wish we could be there to see him in person.

Haylee said...

WOW! That was a lot to catch up on! I love the blanket!

Foote Family said...

Olivia, you look fantastic!! I only got smart enough to workout with number three, but I will definitely do it again if there is a #4. I hope that your new little one comes sooner rather than later!Your blanket looks great! We are always our worst critic.

Luke looks like he had a great time playing the Big Bad Wolf. Will you brave another soccer season? Ryan tried soccer, but he is just a little too aggressive for the sport. I think he did too much tackling for the sport of soccer. He'll just stick to football and baseball. We may try wrestling when he gets older:)!

Congrats on 10 years!! I remember going to your reception. We'll hit 11 in December and like you can't figure out where the time has gone.

I'll go ahead and answer the questions you asked me on my blog. We'll be in Japan until at least next July, when Duane's command is over with. I am now in my fifth Masters course, Public Admnistration, and should finish up just as we move. It is a lot of work, but I know it will be worth it!

We are hoping to be in UT for Christmas. We would love to come see you!

Giselle Rasheta said...

Wow, so much to blog about! I love random blogs with a mixture of topics...it's better that way because that's how real life is. I love the blog.... Luke is so talented, so I'm happy for him being the wolf, and it's okay to let him chase the girls :) I love the baby blankie...who cares if it's perfect as long as you made it for your baby, right? And, you do not look nearly pregnant enough... But you do look great. I love you, but my time here is up. Take care, and I'll see you soon before I head to the furnace, oops, I mean AZ.

Giselle Rasheta said...

Oh, and congrats on the house plans. That is HUGE!

The Pili Aiga said...

I keep checking for the birth announcement :) I can't believe you only have two weeks to go and you look AWESOME! I'm excited for you. I bet you can't wait to see how cute he is. So how's Utah? email me...I need details for future reference :) piliaiga@cox.net
Beck

The Cox Family said...

Fun post! I think it is awesome that Luke was able to be the star of the Opera! I sure it was a great production. The boys look too cute to be the "big bad wolf"!
As far as your blankets, I love them. They are better than anything I could ever do!
That picture of the hawk is incredible. Earl and the boys are very lucky to be able to actually touch a hawk. It is probably an experience that they won't be able to do again.
It was fun seeing you guys today and I am glad that Billie Jo was able to save Noah from falling on his head! You look amazing and I wish you the best of luck in the next couple of weeks!

Hilary said...

I found your blog through staci's blog and I just have to say that you are one hot pregnant lady. WOW you are SO fit. I want to look like you when I have a bun in the oven. Hope you are well!
Hilary (smoot) Zwahlen

Stephanie said...

dear Luke, maybe we could play soccer this summer in Utah wen i visit from Brendan.