More Morris Madness

Holy Matrimony

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:42:00 +0000

So this post is mainly so I can remember this conversation to tease my kids with later, but maybe you'll get a kick out of it, too.

Tonight the kids and I were out Boo-ing (leaving anonymous Halloween treats for friends), and in the car, we were chatting. Well, somehow the conversation turned to the fact that Addison wants to marry Pearson's friend Jake. This is something she mentions often, but keeps secret outside of our family. I asked her if she'd told him, and she scoffed, "No, Mom! I can't tell him that until I'm old enough! I'll tell him when I'm a grown up." I asked her how she planned to tell him. She said she would put it in a note so she didn't have to tell him to his face. Pearson pragmatically agreed with this approach, saying, "Yeah that would be embarrassing!"

So I asked what she'd put in the note. She said, "I'll just say, Dear Jakey. May you... Could you get married to me? Love, Addison" Pearson was concerned his mom may laugh at it.

Pearson sat silent for a minute or two and then said, "I know who I wanna marry. I wanna marry Aleece. She goes to our church and I know her. And she's pretty. And she's always ALWAYS good in Primary. I'm mostly good but I've been bad in Primary, too." (Good to know they both have their lives planned out...)

I asked. "What if Aleece thinks 'Oh, I only want a boy who is good in Primary like I am!'" He again pondered silently. "I'll be good in Primary now," came the earnest reply. Ha! I'm shocked that this is a motivator at this early age, but hey. I'll take it!

Goodbye, tooth!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Addison hit a milestone today! First tooth lost! She was very brave and she is very proud of her new gap! Yay, Addison!

I had a baby.

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:24:00 +0000

So. We had a baby 2 weeks ago. She is perfection in every way. I am going to try (*try*) to update our family blog so that we can share a little of what's going on with us!

Here's the birth story if you're interested, or just skip down to the pictures!

Emerson Anne Morris was born August 15, 2011 at 2:07pm. She weighed 6lb 13oz, was 20 inches long, and has two giant dimples. I was scheduled to be induced on the 18th, a Thursday, and on Monday was having pretty painful contractions. I was determined to have the baby a little earlier, so I went to the hospital. Although my contractions were fairly intense and frequent, they weren't very regular. Luckily, they decided to keep me, and broke my water right before noon.

They asked me right away if I wanted an epidural, and not knowing what lay ahead and thinking I had hours of labor to go, I said I'd like to wait and see if I could handle it on my own. Well, apparently the water breaking was all my body needed to kick into high gear because my contractions started to get REALLY intense. I was breathing through them, but couldn't talk (or be talked to) when I was having one. I started to really worry that if they were that painful that early, I was in for a world of hurt and it would quickly be too late for the epidural. So I changed course and asked for the epidural around 1 o'clock.

Well, of course, all of the anesthesiologists were busy and couldn't come right away, and by now my contractions were KILLING me and right on top of each other. I just knew that I had waited too long and it was going to be too late by the time one got there. I was begging, literally crying begging, for anything, ANYTHING, to help the pain. The anesthesiologist got there and thought he was funny making jokes while I was dying, and at that point, NOTHING WAS FUNNY. Ugh. I may have called him a swearword.

Even after the epidural was in, it didn't kick in right away, which upset me even more. I thought it was instantaneous, and it's so not. I think I was an 8 when they got it in and it was less than 30 minutes from getting it in and Emerson being here, and if I had to guess only 10 or 15 of those 30 minutes was the stupid thing working. And I was so not graceful with the pain. I was screaming and acting a fool. I was so embarrassed after. But honestly, I've never even conceived of pain like that. It all happened so fast, it was really hard to process. I was dumbfounded when they handed her to me.

But of course it was more than worth it in the end. She is perfect, and I haven't had any complications or much pain at all after the delivery. So far she's been a way easy baby. She eats and sleeps and poos, and even in the night she just wakes up to eat and then goes back to sleep. We couldn't be happier, or more blessed. Seriously, every time I have a baby, I just want 10 more babies!

Mango, you vile poison!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:39:00 +0000

Every once in a while, I get this rash on my lips. Maybe once or twice a year. It's tiny, tiny little bumps and redness (both hard to see because of where it is) on my lips that get really itchy. I thought it might be an allergy, but it seemed so random and far apart that I'd never found correlations. Oh, and the best part is that my lips get all swollen, too. *sarcasm* Most people might dream of a way to double the size of their lips without surgery... But, have you met me? Swollen lips are not doing ME any favors. Essentially, it takes my least favorite feature, that are already too big, and makes them HUGER and REDDER! Uuuuuugh. (And please no lip compliments. I know everyone wants full lips, but I really don't like mine.)

Anyway, like I said, this has happened for years and I just deal with it and then it goes away. Well I got one earlier this week, and did some Googling. Of course, most results deal with rashes that are MUCH more severe (read: disgusting) than this. Seriously, don't Google "lip rash" unless you want to see some nasty. But then I stumbled on post where someone described a seemingly identical rash, and one of the responses contained these little words:

I have the same rash on my lips. I get it when I eat mango.

Get the crap OUT! Look what's on my counter:

Started with 8. Now there are 4. I ate 3 of them. Oops!

I just bought mango for the first time in FOREVER a couple days before I got this rash!! More googling led me to this blog post, where someone else had the same epiphany.

Yeah, so, after 30 seconds of research, I consider myself an expert and have self-diagnosed myself with a mild mango allergy. I have discovered that mango trees are related to poison ivy (or something like that) and the chemical that causes a reaction to poison ivy is also present in mango sap (I think it's the sap), which is on (or maybe in?) the skin. Apparently, you can eliminate most of the allergens by washing the skin with soap and water before you cut into it, but some people with major allergies will still react to it.

So now the question is... will I stop eating the delicious mango, or continue risking this obnoxious disfigurement? That's a tough call...

TOOTH EXTRACTION!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Before:

During:

And after:

Homemade Easter Shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Ok, I know what you're thinking...is this a craft blog now? I never post, and when I do, it's to show something I made. Whatever, I like makin' stuff, and (at least for the time being), the kids LOVE wearing stuff I make!

Here's the shirt I made for Pearson, which I copied off this Flickr photo. I did it using freezer paper, there's a good tutorial for that here.

Addison's is appliqued and then machine stitched on, and is a copy of a shirt I saw here.

So here they both are, but...

They're even cuter on some adorable kids:

This is them trying, unsuccessfully, to high five:

Until the next time I make something I love, adieu.

My favorite thing I ever made!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:15:00 +0000

Well, right now anyway…

Saw a fab tutorial here for making a messenger bag out of a pair of cargo pants. The next day, I was at Goodwill, finding some cargo pants!

It was pretty easy, and I looooooove how it turned out! This one is for Addison, clearly, but I also have one planned for Pearson. I’m thinking these can either be their library bags, or maybe their church bags. We’ll see!

And, yes, I’m totally on a sewing kick. Can’t wait to show you what I have planned for Addison’s Valentine’s dress!

Random Quotes

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:50:00 +0000

"They have good food here."
- Addison, in the middle of church, in reference to Sacrament (bread and water, for crying out loud!).

"They eat sushi in China. With forkchops."
- Pearson, during a discussion about how people do eat raw meat, which was spurred by his comment that he hates things that eat animals... to which we responded that people eat animals... to which he responded that people only eat COOKED animals... to which we responded that no, people eat raw animals sometimes, too. He was watching March of the Penguins at the time. And yes, we corrected him on the China/sushi thing. But not on the forkchops thing. Because I think it's precious.

(Also, how sad is it that it takes a picture on my blog for me to notice that my son desperately needs a haircut...)

Escuela en la casa

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:40:00 +0000

No, we’re not doing Spanish yet… But if anyone wants to buy us some Rosetta Stone, we can try it! Ha! If anyone’s interested, here’s some of the home school stuff we actually have been doing:

Letter writing is a favorite. It’s good practice for penmanship, spelling, and sentence structure. But more than writing them, getting their own envelopes in the mail with their very own names on them!

A favorite of MINE is the Story of the World. It’s the history of the world, told in way small children can understand. We started with nomads, but we’ve gotten to the point of them learning to grow crops and tend animals. It’s surprisingly good.

A favorite for phonics are letter tiles. I saw these on a homeschool blog and it’s been one of my best purchases. The kids love them and they can be used in so many ways. For instance, our favorite game is me giving the kids the letters of a word and having them put them in the correct order. Addison’s would be 3 or 4 letters, and Pearson’s would have tricks in them like ‘ph’ or ‘ough’.

I’ll be honest: math has been the hardest for me to understand HOW to teach. Manipulatives help. Like these linking cubes. Used for patterns and simple addition for Addison, and used for carrying and multiplication for Pearson.

Jerad and I went to a used book store to look for homeschooling books, and found a couple gems. Like this child’s science text book. It’s simple enough that Pearson can read it on his own, and includes lots of basic science information.

Overall, still LOVING the homeschool thing. Our biggest challenge has been, and even I’m shocked by this, finding time for it! It’s so easy to get side tracked by other things, from visitors coming over, to play dates, to errands that need to be done, etc. etc. etc. I’ve alternated between happiness with a casual schedule and panic that we need something more regimented. It’s especially hard because I have other things begging for my time as well: the house, my consulting gig, my CASA stuff, church calling and activities, and trying keep both my children and myself “socialized.”

When I left my job, I thought I would have time coming out of my ears! Time for sewing, time for reading, time for my BLOG and projects long neglected, all on top of my other responsibilities. All I can say now is… HA HA!

Homeschool: Day 1; and other stuff...

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Well, we started our homeschooling today. A LOT of things went wrong. It could have been a really, really awful day. But somehow, it wasn't.

It started here:

9:30 AM: Kids bundled up to go out in 20 degree weather (which, with no sunshine and wind felt more like 5 degrees, but whatever). We were headed to the library. We've (I've?) decided to take a more casual approach to their curriculum, at least this semester. Our main objective will be a project-based approach similiar to Reggio-Emilia, which I've talked about here before. Very child-led, very natural learning.

Most books I've read did not recommend any formal curriculum for Kindergarten at all, although it's available. We plan to focus most of our time and energy on our projects, the kids each picked one to start with, but I am supplementing with some phonics, math, and light history and science.

SO, we'd planned on getting out the door by 9, but our discussion of what we were going to find out at the library, and why we were going, and how we were going to accomplish it took longer than I thought. No problem. Here we are, ready to head out the door:

Well... turns out... the library doesn't open until 10. D'oh! Oh, and um, it's not opening AT ALL because they don't have heat today... which, of course, we didn't figure out until we'd sat in the parking lot for a half an hour waiting for it to open...

No problem, we say. We'll go home and work on phonics (or "Language Arts" as Pearson likes to call it)! We do, and it all went swimmingly, if I do say so myself. We moved on and did a little art afterward. Before long it was lunch, then reading time, then quiet time, and then time to get Gillie from school (we're picking her up from her school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and she and her baby brother will be with us all day Tuesday and Thursday). So we clean up a bit and get ourselves all bundled up again. But wait! Where are my keys!? After what felt like an hour (actual time: 3 minutes), we discover them here:

D'oh! Not shocking, really. Ask Jerad. (Wait... don't... it infuriates him...) The most surprising part was that it took me so long to look there. Anyway... We're off! And that all went great... except...

Well, you don't belong on the kitchen table, Side-View-Mirror. You belong on the passenger side of my truck! Yeah, I hit a mailbox. But I firmly maintain that the tiny (miniscule!) force with which I hit the mailbox could not POSSIBLY have caused the mirror to hurl itself from its perch had it not been for Jerad's recent incident pulling out of our driveway. I won't embarrass him by detailing his very nearly pulling the same mirror off by being a couple inches too far right to clear the carport post, and I certainly won't tell you that he probably unknowingly cracked the connecting piece between the mirror and the truck before I yelled for him to stop and that pointed out that he was about to rip it off. No, I won't do that. Suffice it to say that I have a possible explanation that would take most of the blame and some of the shame off my own shoulders, but that I'm far too gracious to conjecture like that. :)

All the mishaps aside, I had a wonderful day. I think I mentioned that I've been kind of panicking since our plan had started into motion, but all that was totally gone from my mind and heart today. I loved every minute of it, and felt so lucky to be a part of their education in such a way. Granted, this was only day one, and we have a LOOOOOONG way to go, but today, I felt totally at peace with my decision and that was more than I could have hoped for.

============================

In other, unrelated news, here are my favorite things I gave as gifts for Christmas. Given how long this post is getting, I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves.

Handmade Christmas gifts for Addison and Gillian:

Assorted cookies, baked with Nikki for family members:

Packaged with care:

Hope everyone had a great holiday season! I know I did!

New Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Well, it's begun. Sorta.

As most of you know, my family is embarking on a new adventure: homeschooling. My last day at my job was yesterday, and my role in our home changes. Change is difficult. Even a change that you wanted, even a change you knew was coming, even a change you're sure will be a good one. I've been, well.... freaking out! Is homeschooling crazy!? Will my kids be happy!? Will they learn what they're supposed to!? Will I be able to handle it?! Will we be able to get by on our newer, tighter budget?!

I'm feeling nervous but excited. I'm not sure the kids know what they're in for. Addison is thrilled by the idea of being with her mom all day, Pearson is more skeptical. We'll see.

We won't begin in earnest until the new year. I'll use this time to finalize plans and learn ever more about this homeschooling thing.

Wish us luck. We're gonna need it!

Also, we had the BEST time at our Disneyworld family reunion!! We so need to do that more often, family!

Officially private!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Now that it's officially private, let me know if you're using Google Reader and want to add my feed! I will email you instructions! Testing, 123. Testing....

To be continued...

Pasta with plasticy brûlée, anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:54:00 +0000

I was making one my favorite go-to meals, which by now I know like the back of my hand. The noodles were done, while I still had a minute or two on the sausage and cauliflower in the oven. So, I did like I always do, and drained them in the sink, then rested the colander over the pot I’d cooked them in.

As I got the baking sheet of meat and veggies out of the oven, I smelled something funny… aaaaand promptly ignored it. I needed to give the sausage another couple minutes to cool so I could chop it up before combining everything with parmesan cheese, olive oil, and parsley. La la la.

Cut to a couple minutes later: I hear a weird sizzle in the noodle pot. Not like water, it was more hissy and bubbly. And now, the smell is DEFINITELY burning plastic. As I lift the colander off the rim, I can see green columns dripping from the bottom, into the pot, where gooey plastic sat gurgling angrily.

Yeah, the burner and pan had been left on HIGH HEAT that whole time. Doh!

My kids will never let me live this down. “Mommy, that was AWFUL!” and “Mom, you ruined that green thing forever!” and “DAD! MOM MELTED DINNER!” Saddest of all, I think my pan might be ruined:

RIP, favorite pasta pot.

PRIVACY!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:08:00 +0000

So, I've wanted to make my blog private for a while, but didn't think it was worth it since most Readers don't support authenticated feeds (translation: people who use Google Reader and the like would not be able to get my site on their readers). I know that I can't remember to manually check particular blogs, so didn't want to make that the only way to see mine.

HOWEVER, I seem to have found a work around. Essentially, I would provide you a different feed to plug into your reader. The feed itself isn't technically protected, but it would be impossible to guess it, so it accomplishes the same thing. If you already manually check my blog, meaning that the way you view my updates is directly from my blog, and not through a reader, nothing will change for you except that you will have to be logged into your Google account to view my blog.

SO, I need to send invites to invite people who want to continue to read my blog. Just send an email to me (if you don't have it, it's just my first name @ gmail.com), and give me the email address that you use to log into Google (it's usually but not always a Gmail account). Also (IMPORTANT) let me know whether or not you use a reader. If you don't use one, again, nothing really changes except that you have to be logged into Google. If you DO use a reader, I will send you instructions on how to get my feed in your reader.

So there. Privacy AND convenience.

I'll leave it public for a couple weeks to make sure I get everyone. I hope everyone makes it through the transition! Don't forget! Send me an email!!

Because this guy deserves his own post!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:16:00 +0000

I've noticed that this guy hasn't gotten much blog love lately. He's not doing any sports right now, his birthday was ages ago, and he's less likely to humor my desire to film pointless interviews than his sister... sooooo... yeah.

I decided to dedicate this post to my absolute most favorite 5 year old in the UNIVERSE! Facts:

1. Pearson is really good at math. He can do multiple digit addition with carrying, and has been working on multiplication. I was really good at math when I was a kid, but I never LIKED math, so I stopped taking it as soon as possible. I'm hoping he does not follow in my footsteps.

2. Pearson's reading progress skipped from like a 2 or 3 to like an 8 or 9 overnight! It was so crazy. He'd been doing basic reading, sounding some stuff out, but not really reading on his own, and then BAM! He's reading EVERYTHING. I don't remember when it happened, but it really did seem like he wasn't reading and then the next day he was!

3. Pearson is asserting his independence all over the place. He knows EVERYTHING and I am wrong ALL THE TIME. I have no idea where he got it from. I hear I was an easy going, never arguing kind of child, just like I am as an adult, so it's baffling.

4. Pearson has a great name. I love it.

5. Pearson is REALLY good about doing "chores." Granted, his chores consist of keeping his room clean, making his bed, and letting the dog out to pee, but he's GREAT about doing those things (his sister is NOT!!!). I think it's about time to start adding things to that list! Honestly, I think he could handle a lot more responsibility than I give him.

6. Pearson grinds his teeth really, really bad. Like you can hear it from across the room when he's doing it, it's so loud. His dentist doesn't seem worried, so I guess I shouldn't be...

7. Pearson's favorite food is boxed macaroni and cheese. Much to my dismay.

8. Pearson is VERY complimentary. He loves to tell people what they're good at and what he likes about them.

9. Pearson sometimes mouths his words after he says them out loud. For instance he might say, "I can't find my shirt" and then he will immediately mouth those same words without saying anything...

10. Pearson's bottom front tooth is EVER SO SLIGHTLY loose. The dentist pointed it out when he went this week. It's very slight, I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't showed me. He is very excited about this milestone, although I am sure it'll be months before he actually loses the tooth.

BONUS: Pearson finally learned all the words to his favorite songs on the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. It's not at ALL annoying that he sings them almost compulsively! ;)

I was not kidding about the pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:12:00 +0000

It's probably a good thing that I couldn't get to all my photos, because "culling down" is apparently not in my vocabulary. Between pictures I got on my phone, pictures my aunt AD emailed me, and pictures I'd already uploaded to the web before I started the OS upgrade, I think these 957 pictures are sufficient...

Without further ado, testing my BlogPress iPhone app:

Addison the "baby panda"!

Pearson looking rather creepy as a mummy!

Addison and Gillie in costume!

The decorations! Ugh, I love Halloween!!!!

Mmmmmmm! Vanilla vanilla cupcakes!

Goodies for the party-goers. These were pajama pants I made.

The paper mâché bat piñata.

Addison taking a whack!

Dainty Dorothy taking her turn.

Miss birthday girl pretending to be shy!

Party people!

Addison and her school buddies!

4 generations in one photo. We were so glad my mom came! Pearson and Addison are delighted by "sleepovers".

Saying goodbye to Aunt AD, we had SO MUCH FUN with her!!

Addison was disappointed when her birthday WEEK was over, but she's adjusting well back into a world that doesn't revolve around her...

- Posted from my phone, so errors don't count!

I know I'm behind!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:51:00 +0000

I know I'm 2 weeks behind my weekly goal of blogging, but I swear I have EXCUSES!!! You see, my aunt visited, my daughter had a birthday party, my mom was in town, we're upgrading our computer operating system with a clean install, I got sick, I had a deadline at work, and my house burned down!

Ok, ok, my house didn't burn down, but I was on a roll, and I went for it... what can I say? I'll catch you up on all of the above as soon as my computer at home is updated! PICTURES GALORE!

Recent Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:34:00 +0000

So in between answering life's greatest unanswered questions ("Why is a button on your shirt and a button that you push called the same thing?", "Why does alcohol hurt a boo-boo?"), here is some of the other stuff I've been up to:

First of all, I've been LOOOOVING this whole Nikki-not-working-while-she's-on-maternity-leave thing.

We've been able to go to the park:

And to the zoo:

The highlight of which was this sea lion being every bit as enamored with the children as they were with him:

The kids LOOOOOVE the Halloween Store. Check out that creepy baby prop! The head rotates and everything!

And yeah, I totally let them do things that probably make the sales people twitch, but hey, I've bought gumballs from the little machine, so we're even, right?

We actually let the kids take an impromptu swim the other day in like 70 degree water. I thought they were INSANE, but they were having a blast so who was I to argue?

And of course, I've gotten lots of hands -on time with this guy, who is impossibly cute:

And can I just tell you how excited I am about it being Halloween season?! The clothes the kids wear, the decorations, the pumpkins, the crisp weather... it's all marvelous! Why can't it be October all year long!?

And last night I became positively OBSESSED with home movies of my kids. Seriously, it's bordering on unhealthy. I can't help it! The videos catch so much that photos never could. They way they used to talk, and walk, and move. Ugh, it's killing me! I was tempted to post like 50 of the old ones here, but that would be boring and weird, so I decided to compromise and show some RECENT video of the kids to show the stuff the pictures can't. These are actually from the same day, a few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to drop them off at school.

First up, we have the kids headbanging to Marilyn Manson's version of This is Halloween. I warn you to turn DOWN your speakers before pushing play! By the way, the headbanging and the dance moves were complete improvised. These kids are nuts:

Next up, we have a quick interview with Addison. I had to get on camera what she currently wants to be when she grows up. It's... unique.

Isn't it romantic what she wants to be?! A princess mom, with a beautiful dress, who dances with her husband. She also wants 8 (!!!!) kids -- 4 boys and 4 girls, natch -- and a brown and pink and yellow princess dog. She's given this much thought, and reminds me ALL THE TIME that this is her life's plan. Completely cute, and also kinda scary...

Impromptu Tea Party

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Ok, this is old at this point, but I wanted to share anyway, because it was so sweet!

After some questions and not-so-subtle hinting from Addison about her silver tea set, Grandma offered to throw Addison a little tea party with silver and china and EVERYTHING! Addison was delighted! She had pink lemonade in her tea cup and we were served lovely cookies (100 Calorie packs of chocolate something-or-others) and fresh cucumber sandwiches.

And her Gi-Gi (my mom) was even there to join in. Thanks, Grandma, for being the only person I know who would break out her fine china and real silver for a private tea party for a 3 year old! And that's why we love you so much!

Soccer Stars!

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Well, not exactly, but still. Addison and Gillian have started their soccer season, and if they're not the best players out there, I'll be darned if they're not the cutest! Precious, I tell you.

Here we are, mid-run, looking quite serious about what we're doing:

Here is Addison, famous for running down the field while intently watching the cheering section:

Which invariably leads to one of her dozen or so falls throughout the game:

She's a tough cookie, though, so it's ok.

By the way, I am making a goal of blogging once a week for two months. I figure if we suffer through the lame for a while, it's bound to get interesting again eventually, right!? Let's hope!

A test of will...

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:46:00 +0000

No T.V. for one whole week! None. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

And yes, it applies to mom and dad, too! Scary!

But I do plan on cheating with a Netflix movie after the kids are in
bed one night!

What's black and white and red all over?

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:53:00 +0000

The little dress I whipped up for Addison this afternoon! I used this incredibly easy tutorial from Martha Stewart to do some sorta-smocking at the top, and it was all easy from there! Addison LOVES it and I'm so proud. Best of all, I made it from RIDULOUSLY cheap fabric from Ikea, so it's also one of her least expensive items of clothing! Woo hoo!

Open Letter to the Lake: A Photo / Video Essay

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Dear Lake,

Thank you so much for the marvelous vacation I shared with my family this weekend. It was a break we needed very much-- to reconnect as a family, laugh and play together, and enjoy your natural beauty.

We are especially grateful for the endless entertainment you provided to the kids, sans batteries and plugs. They needed it, too, even if they didn't realize it.

The serene water and lush shorelines were the perfect backdrop for our photos, which I will treasure always.

You challenged my children to not be afraid of climbing the rocks, swimming with fish, and yes, even jumping off cliffs!

You gave us time to bond with Grandma and Lee, and reminded us how grateful we are for them.

We will miss you, Lake, and can't wait to come visit you again.

123 to the Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:19:00 +0000

We went to the zoo today for the first time in a long time, to check out the new "Birds and Bees" exhibit with Grandma. We were SO sad when we found out the normal seasonal exhibit, the Butterflies, wouldn't be coming this year, but decided to give it a chance... As you can see from the pictures, we were glad we did! The kids got sticks with a seed cluster clothes-pinned to the end of it, and the birds would sit on the stick and eat the seeds! Big hit!

And of course, no trip anywhere with Grandma would be complete without a treat, so we grabbed to some Dippin' Dots-type ice cream before we left. Here, Addison is questioning her flavor selection...

Yesterday was a good day

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriece Morris) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:46:00 +0000

I watched Addison practice writing her name.

And laughed at her goofy faces as I took pictures.

And smiled because I couldn't help it.

I made bread dough, enough for 3 loaves throughout the week.

And made a big batch of chicken salad because Jerad is bored of peanut butter and jelly lunches.

And let the kids make quick work of the leftover ingredients.

I played pirates with this guy.

And adored his enthusiasm.

And loved when his sister joined in.

And watched contently as they enjoyed each other.