How these kids stay so dang tiny...

After dinner, nearly every night, the kids randomly start doing this when Mom turns on her "Doin' Dishes" playlist (don't you have a playlist specifically for chores?).



That's how they stay so thin :)


P.S. Remember this way back when (scroll down to the bottom)?  This dancing thing is tradition around these parts.

That Boy O' Mine

I'm pretty sure that I have mentioned what a fun little terror Porter has become these days. Emotional tirades, constant stubborness, and vicious biting is all included in this adorable boy's day (the first ten minutes he is awake, that is). But with these new little adventures comes the most exciting part of raising a little person: the never-ending expansion of their minds. Every day this boy learns something wonderful and new. From new favorite books (Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?) to new dangerous places to climb and play (and new ways to make his mom scream in terror). He also discovered just how much fun Cup Of Noodles are:

I was trying to convince Porter of the merits in eating dinner since he seems to think that it is optional these days :)

Teachin' Him Early

I recently realized that I have not posted any pictures or videos of Porter-Pot lately... and too be honest, it is because the kid is such a stinker that I can't get a decent photo of him. He goes into stealth mode whenever he sees my tiny, pink camera; that or he just screams no at me and runs away. He has really taken to the "terrific" twos.

Anywho, OP taught our boy something that is completely essential to any guy's education:

That's my boy!

11 Down, 2 To Go...

#11 has proved to be quite difficult since it is the only Article of Faith that doesn't start with "We believe". But these girlies persevered and came off conquerors.

Oh, and Pipes isn't picking her nose as it may look, she is actually biting her nails (a slightly better habit, I suppose)!

I Rock! Guitar Hero Said So...

I sneaked a video of my family rockin' out on Guitar Hero, World Tour last night. Orrin was playing bass, Piper lead vocals, Adi was swinging around a guitar (playing, I guess?), and Porter was the background dancer *ha, ha*- he makes a mommy proud :)

Adi gets a bit snippy at the end... her attitude keeps getting bigger and bigger (and my temper shorter and shorter).

Camera Shy?

Recently, Porter seems to go into hiding whenever I bring out the camera. Watch:

And here is the picture I was able to snap before he started pulling out plastic baggies from the drawer across the counter:

And yes, Porter is in dire need of a haircut. I've been putting it off since October, but I just LOVE his curls...

A Few of Their Favorite Things

I have been a tad on the preoccupied-side lately (Christmas break with three kids will do that to you), but here are the kiddies fav Santa presents:

Adi wanted a Kit Kittredge American Girl doll. Have you seen how much those things cost? It's a bit steep for a little girl who rarely plays with dolls. So I got the brilliant idea to get one of Target's off-brand dolls... I mean, she's five, she won't know the difference will she? Yeah right.

I shut off the camera and told her that sometimes Mrs. Claus designs special dolls for special girls, and that this one was made to look just her... it worked! She now loves it and named it Charlotte Harlot Merrill (she is really into rhyming and just says anything that comes to mind- we don't have the heart to tell her that harlot is not a very nice name).

Piper had been asking for these two since the movie came out, and luckily I grabbed them before all the stores ran out :)

And Porter-Bear got the trike that he has had his eyes on everytime that we've gone to WalMart for the past three months.

And I got a new camera- WAHOO!

On The Night Before Christmas,

the girls did a performance for our viewing and listening pleasure,

Porter did some active listening,

and some cookies and milk were left out for Santa and oats for his reindeer (we had no carrots).

We then watched the cartoon version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and tucked all the kiddies into bed. Adi, however, had quite a difficult time staying in her bed, and Santa almost got caught quite a few times!

Singing It

Yeah Whitney and Chris for getting the girls the awesomest gift ever- Disney's Wii game Sing It! All three of the kiddos LOVE it... it is exactly what they all love to do. Sing and dance? Heck yeah!

Here's our lil' star in the making rockin' out:



*It also puts all of those useless DiSney lyrics that I have floating around in my head to use!

An Inquisition at Breakfast

Would you like to see just how smart my boy is?

OK, so he's not exaclty a linguist, but doesn't he wear his food well?

*Toot, Toot*

We've been working on learning the Articles of Faith as a family for the past six months. The girls learned the first eight at lightning speed, but the last few have been a bit of a struggle. Last night, I was trying to say #10 without looking, and my girls corrected me and then finished it without my help:

That's my girls!!

Porter is a good sport (and no, I haven't taken away his bottle but his time with it has been cut back). I'm hoping he is learning these subconsciously and one day, after he starts talking, of course, he'll be able to prattle them off with the girlies (it's a wish, ok?).

They're Animals!

Unfortunately, none of my Trick-or-Treating pictures turned out :( But I did get this video of Porter-Pot trying to figure out why he had to put his first candy into a dumb old bag:

For the rest of the night, Porter would get upset whenever we tried to get him to put his candy in there...

We visited the Hogle Zoo on Saturday- and let me tell you, it was the perfect day. It was overcast (but no rain) so the sun wasn't beating down on us, and the temperature was just perfect! So, there are some benefits to living in Utah.


(That's Pip's ticket sticking out of her pocket)

Porter didn't much care for this pose...

And this one is my favorite pic of the day.

Now, you might be asking why I always have pictures of the back of my family. I'll tell you: my children are animals and I am extremely lucky to get a picture of even their backside! Porter automatically turns away from the camera when he sees it, Adi puts on a cheesy grin and Piper strikes her sae ole pose of tilting her head to the right side and smiling. So, to get one good picture I usually have to snap at least 20. No joke.

Let's just say that my kiddos are little celebrities with their own personal papparazzi stalking them...

The Lil' Pumpkins

We finally carved our pumpkins. I've been putting it off since I hate gutting the darn things, but, thanks to the unrelenting insistence of Adi, we carved 'em up for Family Night. Adi drew her own face on and I cut it out for her (although she was fully prepared to do the cutting herself). Piper insisted on a heart somewhere on the Jack O Lantern, and Porter just wanted to play with the top.

I most especially love the picture of Pipes since it is a rare occurence when I can get a pic of her without all of the attitude!

And this one is for Porter's Dad:

He is SO the next Troy!

One Reluctant Cowboy, One Punk-Rock Fairy, and One Witchie With Attitude...

Yes, I know. It's been a while.

I've been rather busy and just plain preoccupied. Lots of changes happenin' around here, but I would rather not discuss them right now, thank you very much. Maybe later...

Anyway, since the days till Halloween are dwindling, I decided to take the tricked-out kiddies out for a pre-run of the costumes and a mini photo shoot (Courtney-style). We went to my Auntie's house since it is way fun for the kids and she has some cool landscaping going on back there.

If you remember last Halloween's costumes, I had a theme: Wizard of Oz. This year, the girls wouldn't go for a theme (no matter how much I tried to coerce them), so we ended up with these:

And:

And, last, but never least:

Thanks Leanne for the use of your yard and for entertaining my kiddies with your horse!

And yes, please hold your applause, I made these costumes. Porter's was the easiest since I just had to make the chaps and vest, Adi's was wonderously simple also, but Piper's was a little bit of a pain (it doesn't help that I don't have the patience to read the instructions all the way through so I end up doing a lot of unpicking).

So, there you go, all of my family who have been begging me to post their costumes. What do ya think?

Oh, and here's a video especially for Dad:

P.S. Adi tore the tuelle on the front of her dress whilest climbing on the playground. I wanted to cry. Hopefully it is fixable, though :)

Daddy's Boy

Porter is OP's biggest fan. That boy follows his daddy everywhere and likes to do whatever Daddy is doing. He even sits on Orrin's lap for long spaces of times while OP's engrossed in his game of Warcraft. Amazing, I know.

This is a little clip to show you all why Porter thinks his Daddy is the bomb-diggity:

And here's an extra-special clip of OP's swinging abilities (I had to put this video on since right after I turned the camera off Orrin said, "You better not put this on your blog."

Famous last words.

The Mystery of Porter-Pot

I am finding many differences in raising girls versus raising a boy.

Girls are emotional. I can deal with that. Dancing is a favorite past time as well as sassing. Watching singing movies always calms them. They like sparkly things, pink things, and heavy, heavy make-up. I get it.

But boys... what can I say about boys? Porter likes to smash things, not because he is upset, but just to watch it crumble. He loves making people scream. He likes his boots that have a velcro strap and he likes buckles (they can entertain him for an hour). No TV, unless Daddy is watching the fishing channel or UFC. Seriously. Puppies rock and flies enthrall him. Plugging anything that fits into the light socket is always a good idea, as is climbing onto anything and everything that could possibly topple over and bang up his head.

He also enjoys biting Piper. Just Piper, no one else but her. And he doesn't do it because he's mad- I could understand it if that was the reason. He smiles and thinks that they are playing, meanwhile Piper is literally covered in bite marks (she is currently sporting 4 such scars).

And he still doesn't talk.

By this age, Adi and Piper could practically talk in full sentances (I have the footage to prove it). But Porter is happy with the following simple sounds: Ow, Oh, No (usually he just shakes his head, though), Lolo (animals), Da, Nana (when something doesn't go his way he calls for my mom), Nae Nae (Adi) and, my favorite, WHOA. He seems to have forgotten how to say Mom.

Here is a sample of my little creature in his natural habitat:

Strange, huh? He is just lucky that he has those adorable dimples or I probably would have pulled all of my hair out in frustration by now ;)

Ignore Me, My Son Does

Porter is a champion at ignoring people. Especially me.


Here is a little clip of Porter at his best:

Such a stinker.

**Warning**

I am warning you now- if you don't sometimes find little girls crying funny, don't watch this. However, if you can find the comedy in such a situation, please feel free to watch the show:

Let me set you up before you watch: Adi was having a bad day. There was a lot of whining (mostly because I wouldn't let her play with her friends). I was too preoccupied in my own matters (putting off making an apron for a shower gift that was tonight) to take the time I should have to make her feel better. I was at my wit's end when Adi kept coming inside after I insisted they stay out while I made lunch. She was crying and complaining so I told her that she was more than welcome to stay upstairs until the food was done.

I could still hear her crying from her room. Finally, I stopped what I was doing and went up to be with her. This is what I heard:

Okay, so the sobbing pulls on the heartstrings, but it is so funny! She was singing "I Miss You" by Miley Cyrus while she looked at our family picture.

The girl is just a bit dramatic.

I did feel a little guilty though.

He's Trouble Now

Thanks Heber for the Adventure Bag- Porter is just figuring out how useful and functional it is!

I had a theme song for Piper when she was about this age. Ever heard the song Trouble by Pink? Well that song now fits our little Bear Cub to a tee. He gets into everything, he climbs on everything, he hits everything, and he picks his nose.

He is turning into a little boy instead of a baby.

Our Hometeachers came over tonight, and the boy was out of control! He was running laps around the dining room, shaking the lamp, climbing up and down the stairs and screaming for attention. Where did my cute lil' baby boy with the deep dimples go?

Well, he still has the dimples, but usually when I see them I know that he is up to no good...

Here's a clip of how we entertain our hyper-active monkey.

Such Good Lil' Memories