Motherhood 301

Dear Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Brent Passey) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:53:47 PST

I have issues with the US Postal Service. On December 12th we attempted to mail a package from Harrogate, TN to Amazon in Lexington, KY. This shouldn't take long. In fact, according to Google it should only take 15 hours to ride my bike from my house to Amazon's Lexington offices. I could leave and get home in less than two days if I had the stamina.

Unfortunately the USPS decided to ship to Memphis, then Cincinnati, and currently I have no idea where it is going. All I know is it left Cincinnati on December 20th and has not made it to Lexington yet. This seems like poor planning on the postal service.

All they needed to do was follow that red line. It would have taken about 3 hours... maybe less, but now we are sitting on 15 days. Oh Amazon, I hope you get my package soon.

Sincerely,
Brent

Monster Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:59:04 PDT

We had a deliciously fun and Halloweeny breakfast this morning.

The girls loved creating their own monsters.

To read more about our monster day (and see pics of the kids), check out Because Babies Grow Up!

Studying General Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:11:59 PDT

Elder Richard G. Scott

Brent and I started our official review/catch up/study of General Conference. He missed the Saturday morning session and one of the talks that inspired me to action was Elder Scott's talk in that session. I loved his powerful testimony of the scriptures and their value as friends in our lives.

When I was studying at the University of Utah I took Teachings of the Latter-day Prophets. In it our instructor had us watch different conference talks from the general authorities. He consolidated the talk onto one page and gave it to us to use while we watched the talk. I really liked marking up the written text while feeling the Spirit through listening to the general authorities teach the gospel.

I decided to do the same thing to study conference. It really helps me stay awake! As we watched Elder Scott's talk tonight I was reminded of the power of the scriptures. I loved his analogy that the scriptures "can become stalwart friends." Here are my favorite quotes:

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high."

"To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship."

"A memorized scripture becomes an enduring friend that is not weakened with the passage of time."

"Jeanene (his wife) confirmed early in her life that those who consistently read the Book of Mormon are blessed with an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a greater resolve to obey His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the divinity of the Son of God."

My plan of action for this talk is to memorize the 8 verses Elder Scott quoted in his talk and then to re-memorize the scripture mastery scriptures from seminary.

If you want the one-page version of Elder Scott's talk, you can download it here.

The next talk I want to study is Elder Ian Ardern's talk, A Time to Prepare. Here's the one-page version of his talk, as well.

What talks inspired you to action?

Self-Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:02:50 PDT

We had a great first month of homeschooling. We learned about the ocean and finished up with a field trip to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. That could be a post all in its own so I think I'll save that for later. This post is about a must do at the beginning of the school year: self-portraits!

I had thought about it and meant to do it, but hadn't done it at all. Then we started doing art with another homeschool family following their curriculum and lesson two was about portraits and self-portraits with the assignment to do one.

I wasn't sure what we were going to get. Sammi has been drawing lots and lots lately, but I didn't know if she'd be that interested in a self-portrait. Boy was I wrong! The lesson was great because it talked about emotion, clothing and setting for the picture and Sammi made very conscious choices about each in her picture. Here it is:

Elli is always along for the ride on the more formal instruction lessons and I wasn't sure what to expect out of her. But I am very impressed with how she filled the page. And I love her orange hands!

Sammi was having such a blast that she created two more pictures. I love the story she wrote to go with the second one. She did it all on her own, no help from me! She's getting pretty good at sounding out words, if English wasn't so tricky, she'd have it mastered!

Bedroom at Night

Eating Breakfast

Here's the transcription, in case you need help. No cheating, though, this is only AFTER you've read her story! I am sitting at the table. Eating at the table and I am having breakfast.
Here's the deal, she still says breafkast which I think is adorable. I say it correctly as does everyone else, but I haven't specifically told her she's not saying it correctly. I love how her spelling reflects her pronunciation: brefgist.

Mud Daubers

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:01:46 PDT

We found something similar to the picture below on the back of the jogging stroller and the bike trailer:
When we peeled it off and broke it open, we found something inside I wish I had never seen! I hate spiders. And there were too many spiders. But these spiders were all dried up. They were grown up spiders, red, and shriveled. Looking something like this:

My toes curled at the sight and my whole body cringed thinking of what could possibly have created that fate for those spiders. I told Brent it would forever be a mystery because there was NO way I was researching that on the internet! Imagine the pictures I would find. Yuck! But as a twisted luck would have it, a friend knew what they were and filled me in.

Wasps. Specifically organ pipe mud daubers. They make the mud tunnels as nests for their larvae. Then they sting the spiders and cram them up the tunnels so that when the larvae hatch, they have a meal waiting for them. My toes are still curling thinking about all this awfulness that happened in our very own carport.

If this is any comfort, Wikipedia says, "Organ pipe mud daubers are also an exceedingly docile species of wasp, and generally pleasant to have around, as they serve to keep spider populations down. Stings to humans are very rare, bordering on non-existent, although if squeezed, they will sting in self-defense." Lovely.

Brent has decided against hugging them, even though we are grateful they keep the spider population under control.

Using Our Family Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Sat, 28 May 2011 09:20:18 PDT

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

You can get up to 5 free cards for Father's Day right now at Shutterfly! I just paid a buck for shipping and tax for this cute card for Brent.

Family Photos 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Sun, 22 May 2011 19:48:46 PDT

It was time to do family photos again. The last time we did this, Elli was barely older than Scott is now. Hard to believe it was that long ago! These ones were done by a fabulous friend here in Tennessee. We love how they turned out.

The best part, they are already hanging on my wall. It feels great to have all the empty frames filled. Our family picture was is Elli's favorite wall in our house. She loves naming everyone and gets SO excited when she sees all the people she loves.

Amen

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:13:42 PDT

At church today Elli acknowledged the end of the sacrament prayer not with her typical "amen," but rather with the second half of the ABC song. I'm guessing she sang the first half in her head during the prayer. I can't explain why, but I got a lot of joy out of that moment.

Pre-Spring Break

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:47:54 PDT

We got to go to Colorado again this year for Brent's convocation for OMT. I look forward to this trip to see my dad, Kim, brothers and nephew and niece. Not to mention my fave friends from my high school days. We had so much fun! Here are some pictures to show just how great the trip was.

All the cousins.
It was such a fun dinner seeing them all interact together.

I love sleeping pictures! This is Elli when we arrived at Julie's house.

I went to bed with this beautiful sight.
I had to turn on the light just to get the picture. So glad they didn't wake up!

It's always so hard to get a good family picture. This one epitomizes the trial of parents to get everyone looking at the camera with a pretty smile.

Sammi's first kite-flying experience. She loved it! I love that I got to share it with her. Thanks Julie for having awesome kites and thanks to the Colorado plains for all the wind.

Isn't he the cutest? I needed a place to set him down while I took off my jacket and shoes. It struck me as so comical that I just had to take the picture. They were kind enough to stop the conveyor belt and let me get a good picture.

We had a fun but very exhausting trip. I didn't realize how adjusted we are to the humidity of Tennessee nor how much drier the climate in Colorado is. Poor Scott was stuffy the whole week. But from the moment we left the airport in Louisville, he has been clear and gunk-free. It's good to be "home!"

Two Months, Too Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:24:57 PST

Scott joined our family two months ago. It seems like he's been a part of our family forever and also that those two months have gone by way too fast. He no longer looks like a newborn. His little cheeks are filling out. His cry is changing to a "waaaa" or "maaaa" when he's hungry or his diaper is wet. He sleeps about eight hours at night waking only once sometime between 2 and 4 and then sleeping till 7. He's been a little colicky, but I still feel really blessed to have such an agreeable baby (again!)

We've had a lot of fun moments over the last two months.
The girls loved this dinosaur outfit. Elli commandeered the short-sleeved shirt that came with the set.
Brent and the girls built snowmen. Sammi took this photo.
Sammi holding baby Scott.
Elli holding baby Scott.
We took Uncle Will and Aunt Sara to the Pinnacle to show off the beautiful area where we live. There are remnants from the Civil War spread around Cumberland Gap National Park. The walk up to this canon is one of my favorites.
I love this boy's smile. He is always ready to brighten my day with this happy face.
I woke up to this beautiful sight this morning. We spent the night in Johnson City at my friend's parents' house. The three of us snuggled in bed after Scott woke up about 6:30 and were able to sleep until 8. I love that they are sleeping in exactly the same position.

Brent has Another Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Brent Passey) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:05:14 PST

I recently started plying around with another blog. You can find it at brent.passey.me It has a little bit about me and some of my drawings and things that I make on my computer. I don't know how often I will update it, probably once or twice a month.
If any of you want to do your own blog, or website, with your name I (or Amber) can set that up easily. Just let us know.

Fun at the Hospital

noreply@blogger.com (Brent Passey) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 12:36:54 PST

Yesterday baby Scott came. The girls were very excited to meet him. As you can see here, Sammi was ecstatic.

Here is another shot of Scott. He likes to sleep... that's my kind of boy!

Sammi and Elli gave Scott these stuffed animals. They have been waiting forever to give them to him. I think they bought these almost 2 months before he was born. Sammi gave the giraffe and Elli gave the monkey.

Amber has a wonderful mom that was happy to give here a good foot massage after Scott came.

After getting to see and hold her little brother Elli decided that sitting down and playing a game on my phone was a good way to relax.

Overall, it was a pretty great day. The girls were pretty tired at the end (so were mommy and daddy).

Baby Scott

noreply@blogger.com (Brent Passey) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:57:30 PST

Born today! 8 Lbs 6.7 oz, 21 inches. Good looking kid!

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Brent Passey) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:51:31 PST

Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:12:14 PST

My, oh, my! These girls have got way more fashion sense than their mama! Check out their amazing ability to accessorize:

Summer Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:22:24 PDT

The girls and I had a lot of fun while Brent was at his Air Force training this summer. Here are a few pictures, but you can also read more about our summer fun adventures over at Because Babies Grow Up!

And Baby Makes 5

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:02:02 PDT

Many of you saw the announcement on Facebook quite some time ago. But if you didn't see it, here's the news: we're adding another baby to our family!

We're really excited for baby number three and Sammi is thrilled with the gender! If you want to find out, check out my post over here. You'll also find ultrasound pictures and you can even listen to the baby's heartbeat.

Sorry to reroute you, but it just looks so good over there!

Baltimore Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:24:23 PDT

We took a fantastic trip to Baltimore to visit Ann and Andrew. They worked really hard the whole time we were there to make it to "favorite" aunt and uncle status. (Others beware: you have a hard act to follow!)

Now that we live in the middle of nowhere, no trip to a big city is complete without a stop at Target. Sammi insisted on getting her picture taken on this big red ball outside the store. So of course little sister, Elli, also insisted she get her picture taken on the other one! They are quite the pair. Sorry, we only had our phones for pictures so most of them aren't that great.
While in Baltimore we visited the zoo on a ridiculously hot and humid day. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who thought to go and the zoo was overrun with school groups. It was Brent's worst zoo experience and my second worst (the absolute worst for me involved a lot more crying.) We also visited the Science Center and had a fun, fun time there. We loved the dinosaurs and the lie detector test and the science in action room. Oh, and we had tons of fun in the little kids room with a water table, a play zone, a building area and a giant thing where you push the pins through back and forth and make hands, faces, feet and all kinds of shapes.
We spent a fun day in D.C. We made the mistake of asking a police officer the best way to the Smithsonian museums. He sent us up a boring street about 8 blocks. Only to find out when we got there that we had been one block from the museum we wanted to go to when we asked him. Must have been his first day. We walked 5 or 6 miles that day, but we got to see one museum, eat lunch in a quaint little burger joint and see the Washington Monument lit up at night. The girls were troopers with hardly any complaining or fussing from them. They loved the strollers and the times the chose to get out and run around. It was a long day and there was so much more I wish we could have seen. But in the end, we loved what we got to do. (Which also included visiting with a former companion of Brent's from his mission. We chatted for about half an hour in the shade outside the White House.)
Brent and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the D.C. temple, thanks to great babysitting by Aunt Ann and Uncle Andrew. We needed to do some laundry so our church clothes would be clean. We were a little behind schedule with that and the dryer was taking longer than we thought. We were worried we'd miss the distribution center and we desperately needed to make a stop there. We kept checking the clothes and they weren't dry. Then at the last moment when we could still make it, I checked one more time. My skirt was dry, Brent's pants and shirt were dry. I checked the rest of the clothes. NOTHING else was dry. It was all too damp to wear! We felt the like the Lord blessed us with that little miracle so we could get to the temple and the distribution center before they closed. We had a lovely time and were able to do sealings. We were a part of a family file set and witnessed a whole family, mom and dad and their son and 6 daughters, sealed together. The mom of that family was also sealed to her parents. It was so cool to see a whole family at once be sealed together.

Sammi's highlight was playing blocks with Aunt Ann and Uncle Andrew. And she loved attending the baptism with them on Sunday after church. My highlight was all the friends and family we got to see who happened to live out there as well. Brent's was discovering my friends' media center and making plans to build his own (probably not actually his highlight, but the most talked of thing since we've returned.) And Elli loved going to the park across the street and all the chances she had to play, play, play.

p.s. We're looking forward to seeing more family in a few weeks!

Earth Day

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:59:32 PDT

So I've been lovingly and severely reprimanded by people who see me every week about not updating this blog. So, for them but most especially for those who don't see us every week, here are some pictures from our Earth Day today.

These {above} are from the park. We had lunch there and then played till nap time.

We cleared out the tomato garden from last year and prepped the soil for planting flowers. There's still a bit more to do before it's ready, but hopefully Brent will be able to dig up the rest of the grass to make the area bigger. I took the ones above and Sammi took the ones below.

There were at least a dozen of her feet. She was so pleased to be taking pictures of herself.

Christmas Presents Are Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:30:45 PST

We had a great Christmas. We only took a few pictures during our whole trip. I can't believe all the photo opps I missed. Ah well, I've got great memories.
Here's a picture of the Passey Christmas morning tradition. I've heard all about it and it was so fun to be a part of. Before any one can go down and see stockings, everyone lines up at the top of the stairs. The youngest are in front and we arranged ourselves by age with the oldest in the back. Now, I am the oldest of ALL the siblings, but I pulled the mother card and got to stay in front to help Elli down the stairs. We waited there until Grandma or Grandpa rang the bell then we all filed down to the family room to check out our stockings and open presents. So fun!

We got a few presents to hang on our walls. I got them all hung up yesterday and this morning. I'm very impressed since we have other pictures that have been waiting since we moved in to be hung! And as you can see, we still have a few empty frames that I need to print pictures and fill.
Claire gave us the picture at the very top. It's a collection of architectural details that together spell PASSEY. I think it's a great addition to our family picture wall.
Mom and Dad Passey gave us the FHE assignment board. We're doubling up on assignments for now. We may or may not end up with enough children to divvy out all the assignments :) So far in 2010 we are 100% with doing FHE weekly. Man, that feels good!

This picture cropped funny so excuse the great white space above! Mom Passey sewed pillows for our bed when we moved out here. For Christmas she made matching window coverings and framed some of the fabric. Our room looks a little more designed now. It's look totally professional if it weren't for the piles of laundry that need folding!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. I'm looking forward to 2010!

Giveaway and a New Button

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:44:34 PST

There's another album we're giving away over at Because Babies Grow Up. Sammi liked this one, as well as Brent. I think it's clever and catchy. Come enter for your chance to win it!

Also, I finally have an updated button for the new look that Brent helped me put together at Because Babies Grow Up. He got it done just before school started. He's my hero, as always...

Christmas Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:59:02 PST

Since you've been asking, here's all I want for Christmas from my Amazon wish list. We opened Christmas presents last night and Brent gave me a Black and Decker Food Processor (which was #1 on my list) and some simple but elegant glass serving bowls. Now I can serve vegetables and mashed potatoes in something other than the pots they were cooked in! I feel so grown-up.

The girls and I got headphones for our flight to Utah. They practiced wearing them this morning while watching Curious George. I've loaded the computer with Sesame Street podcasts so I'm hoping we're good to go! We also gave the girls Color Wonder by Crayola so they can color and I don't have to worry about them destroying anything. They also got several books that I'm excited to read with them.

Brent got his #1 from his wish list, too: Sketchbook Pro, which is a art studio program where you can free hand your drawings with his tablet computer. It has really cool effects for adding color, like airbrushing. I'm hoping he'll let me fiddle with it too! Other things Brent's interested in include a book light for reading at night, new sheepskin slippers like the kind from L.L. Bean.

Laptime Songs for Mommies

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:46:48 PST

This month has been crazy busy around here. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with a couple other med school families. We've been doing the library thing and the church thing and the playing thing. Sammi has recently become obsessed with Dora. So we do the Dora thing during Elli's naps.
But the reason I've been most busy is I've been putting together my very first eBook! Well, it's not just mine! Brent did an awful lot of the design work and the technical stuff I couldn't do. But we worked together and got it done. It's all I envisioned it would be. I won't bore you with any more details about it, but if you want you can check it out here.

Oh, and in case you haven't heard, I have a giveaway over at Because Babies Grow Up for a VTech Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike. Very exciting! Come enter to win it, please!

Now that this project is done, I'll get some cute pics of the girls up. I promise!

Last Pics from Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST

These were from my camera that I took before we headed to our friends. If you look closely you can see the sparkles on Elli's eyelids.

Clean House

noreply@blogger.com (Amber P.) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:41:26 PST

I didn't need Nicey Nash and her crew to get my house in shape. But I need need two days and a little (okay a lot of) help from my babysitter. Here are the results.

This is our house in Tennessee, from the inside. These images have never been captured before and I'd like to state for the record that they were ALL taken this morning. The only rooms you don't see are our bedroom, the office and the laundry room/downstairs bathroom. All of which still look like they've been hit by a tornado :)

Ah, but relish the clean. Isn't it beautiful?
This is the first room you wee when you enter our house. The toys are to the right and the seating area is to the left of the door.
At the top of the stairs, you enter the kitchen. Not as big as I originally remembered, but we enjoy the cozy feeling of working together in the kitchen.
The dining room is next to the kitchen. We are still working on the matching chairs we bought. The green ones only need to be primed, but the others needed to be stripped and sanded. Sheesh, that's been a lot of work!
This is the family room. We finally got the ottomans to match the couch. They also match the stairs in the corner and the window treatments Brent found.
This is the upstairs bathroom. I just mopped the floor! Go me :)
This is Elli's side of the girls' room.
This is Sammi's side of their room. You'll notice her pink cat from Uncle Kim. She still loves it. The fleece blanket folded up at the end of the bed is from my friend Anela and has flags on it. I love that blanket.
While running around taking pictures, Sammi ran around behind me smearing more and more blue yogurt on her face. What a character :)

Elli finally deciding to look AT me and smile. Thanks, darling!