Train Museum

Well, it was time for another Hulbert Family adventure. We decided to take the kids on light rail to the train museum downtown. The train was really exciting at first...

Once we got there, we got to go in some old trains and see lots of cool informational exhibits. The kids loved the toy train exhibit upstairs - with a complete Thomas train table that Sam cried when he had to leave!

They also loved the model trains - you could push the button and make one of the trains go!

By the time we were waiting for the train to go home, we were a bit tired. Pearl did her job of telling us to get off at Hazel to eat dinner at spaghetti factory - she was very proud of her reading aiblities. Sam fell asleep at 6:30 in the car on the way home, and went straight to bed. Fabulous treat for mom!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with the Weir cousins, as usual. We ate the whole meal in a record 16 minutes, which was quite amazing. My mom always cooks the best food. Pearl said it was the best thanksgiving ever!

Thanksgiving Vacation Hike

Thanksgiving vacation - what do you do with your kids for a whole week? Tami and I decided it was high time to get some use out of the boots and take the kids for a hike down to the creek (which, unfortunately, this time of year is dry). It was great fun. We got to hike, eat lunch on a picnic blanket, and find all sorts of interesting things in the meadow. I don't often appreciate having 150 acres, I guess we should use it more. It's always more fun with friends, though! All I can say is, thank goodness for jogging strollers and backpacks!

Laundry Nirvana

Ok, so not totally... I have no laundry room. I'm lucky to fit a stackable washing machine in my bathroom. Which makes my bed the folding laundry center. Only, the problem is, it's hard to sleep on a bed that's covered in a very large pile of clean laundry. (often 5 loads or more...at least it's clean!!!). So, usually, I have a large pile of clean laundry on the floor next to my bed. Jared was a little tired of it, and he knows better than to criticize me...so he built me a laundry center. In the corner of our room, there used to be a bookshelf that harbored all sorts of interesting things. We cleaned it out, moved it to the office, and Jared built me a shelf for folding laundry with two large baskets underneath to hold the clean laundry that I haven't gotten around to folding. Now, we can use the bed for it's intended puropse! The other bonus is that I can fold laundry early in the morning (my best work time) while Jared is still sleeping:)

Thanksgiving play

So, Sam and Pearl have been playing together very well lately, which is good because thanksgiving vacation has started and they are going to be seeing a lot of each other. I'm a sucker for the Little People, so this year we bought the Mayflower and Thanksgiving Celebration sets. When it came, they played together with it for like an hour. This is how it went - Pearl make all the players do the right thing like sail across the sea and meet the Native Americans for Thanksgiving dinner. Sam said "ARRGH" and made the captain walk the plank and say "ow" when he hit the floor. Don't worry, Pearl has since corrected him (SAM, IT IS NOT A PIRATE SHIP!!!)

The next day, this is how I found them. Pearl was putting on a thanksgiving play, and Sam was obligingly sitting in the car seat she had dragged in for him as the audience. Pretty cute. He must have been tired (Mr. I don't think I really need a nap anymore) because he sat for the whole thing...much to Pearl's happiness, and confidence as a playwright!

Breakfast with Daddy

Yes, that would be whipped cream and sprinkles on his cereal. Dad was in charge. Enough said.

Sam's playdate

Ok, I have often thought that Sam is such a boy because he just came that way - and now I'm sure of it. Though, I must admit, I would never decide to clean the chicken coop while Pearl was on a playdate with Makayla, I'm certian that if I tried it would be a flop. Sam and Evan, on the other hand...rousing success. They wore boots, spent like 15 minutes playing with the chicken's water fountain, and got incredibly muddy. Then, I gave them a job to put shavings into the clean coop - this was a job that they took very seriously! Once they were done with that, Sam asked if they could "go a venture walk." So, of course, they headed straight for the old shed (which Pearl will not enter because it is dirty and spidery), find some plastic knives (what is it with boys and weapons?) and attempt to saw the walls down. Seriously, this was completely un-prompted. Evan kept bringing me sticks (well, logs, actually) and Sam marched around with his knife proclaiming "I a bad guy." Apparently, it was a great playdate because it ended in a bath!

Tell me the stories of Jesus...

We always whisper stories about Jesus to the kids during the sacrament. Today, I asked Sam "do you want to hear a story about Jesus?"

"Yeah, when Jesus builds the rocketship"

REALLY real tea party

Instead of a big birthday party, I talked Pearl this year into doing something special with one friend. Of course, that friend was Makalya, who she goes to school AND church with. Grandma Hulbert and Makayla's grandma took the girls to a real tea house in Sutter Creek. Apparently, it was a big hit.

The day started with a new dress with a long swishy skirt. I know, it's terrible, but she still thinks that sort of thing is "beautifulish." Then, they got to have a TON of attention at the tea house, and go in a bathroom that had a real vanity.

The funniest story of the day, was that lots of random strangers stopped to talk to the two darling little girls in their party dresses. One lady said, "oh, is it your birthday?" Yes. "are you 4?" no "5?" no "3!" No, silly, I'm six. Apparently, she's still small for her age. Which is just fine with me!

So much fun to have a tea partyish grandma!

Insane

There is an acceptable level of insanity in my life. I sometimes think there are more than 24 hours in a day and that I have superhuman strength. Let's take this week for example...Pearl's birthday, which means cupcakes for school and cupcakes for church, as well as a family party Saturday night. My friend Kathy's daughter getting married, which means 9 cups of lemon curd and four dozen black bottomed cupcakes. Oh, and the girl that cleans my house had a ton of school this week. We had parent teacher conferences, girl scouts, roadshow practice, and oh, I know, why don't I get 60 LBS OF APPLES AND DECIDE TO CAN THEM!!!!! 19 quarts and one sticky floor later, I'm glad it's done. I'm still just not sure how I did it...

Pearl turns six!

Here is Pearl on her sixth birthday. How cute is she? I'm sure I'll have more to follow about birthday parties and such, but I want to tell you some of the things I love about Pearl.

Everything is exciting to her. She gets that from me. She jumps up and down and says "I'm just so excited (squeal)!"

Everything is "ish." you know, pinkish, lady-ish, girlish, cuddly-ish.

She has an AMAZING imagination. She really lives in her own little world. Grandpa Hulbert definetly takes advantage of this, he teases her terribly because she believes EVERYTHING.

She is such a good girl. She tries so hard to do what is right, and she is a great big sister. I am so lucky to have her for a daughter!

Jared has a Beard

Ok, so those of you who know me know that I don't like facial hair on Jared - usually. The typical threat is that I won't kiss him unless he shaves. He'd been having a lot of late nights and all of the sudden the shaving went out the window - and it's funny I don't really mind. Yes, I have kissed him with his beard on - I just won't let him rest his head on my shoulder anymore! We'll see how long it lasts - my current stipulation is that it remain trimmed...

Sam's First Joke

Amy: Ok, time to go to Sam's Club.

Sam: No, we go Pearla's Club (laugh at his own cleverness)

More room redecorating

I just got these Stanton Peg boards and cork boards from Pottery Barn Kids today. I was trying to make this vanity last as a desk for as long as I can...it's small, and so is Pearl! So, I needed a solution for the TONS of paper she brings home from school. I think this will work nicely and will keep us out of a real desk for a long time...the challenge for Pearl is that she can only keep as much stuff as will fit up there...we'll see how that works!

I did put a magnet board and a peg board and a corkboard in Sam's room too, but it's not that exciting yet. We'll do pics of that after I get it painted and we get him a big boy bed in there:)

Now she just needs a few framed pictures above her vanity and it will be perfect...I'm thinking of putting some of Sara's flower pictures there in brightly colored frames that match her bedspread - something that is not pink! I think we have enough of that...

Redecorating Pearl's room is way more fun than almost any other room in the house!

Tagged 8

Ok, since Sara asked me to...

8 tv shows I like to watch
1. Ugly Betty
2. House
3. Monk
4. Alias (when I work out - fabulous stuff!)
5. Eli Stone
6. Pushing Daisies
7. Good Eats
8. Burn Notice

8 things I did yesterday
1. Potty Train (somewhat unsuccessfully, I might add)
2. Had cheetos and peanut butter and honey for lunch with Sam
3. Went to Grandma Weir's
4. Picked out fabric for valences with Annie (and actually made them today, I might add)
5. Patched and Painted in Pearl's room
6. Babysat Roko
7. Went to mutual, where I learned a rap and watched a wonderful synchronized water ballet number for our roadshow
8. Checked out election results

8 things I look forward to
1. Our planned trip to Italy (next time Jared has business there...)
2. Sam being potty trained
3. Pearl's 6th birthday - she's so excited!
4. My new neice
5. laundry nirvana (yeah right, like that will ever happen - it's never all done at once!)
6. Christmas
7. my paycheck:)
8. time out with my sisters

8 things Jared did yesterday that I didn't have to:
1. bathed the kids
2. took Pearl to school
3. went to work
4. checked election results at midnight
5. took Pearl potty at midnight
6. watched the kids while I was at mutual
7. halfway made his half of the bed:)
8. drove the corolla (he lets me have the nice car:)

8 things on my wish list
1. another baby
2. minus about 20 pounds
3. Headboard and footboard for Pearl's bed
4. little display bookshelves for over both of the kid's beds
5. Nikon d40
6. An extra day every week!
7. SAM TO BE POTTY TRAINED!!! Can I hire someone to do this for me?
8. Bunk bed for Sam

8 people I tag
Gosh, I don't even know if I know 8 bloggers...so I guess just Tami L., Lora, Maryann, and Amy K!

Room makeover

So, Pearl has had her own room for about 9 months now. We never had gotten a new bedspread finished for her, and no window treatments more than basic pulldown shades. I hadn't even patched and painted the brad holes on the drawers of ther bed (made by her Grandpa Hulbert, we are lucky to have that guy around!). So, it was time, and, as all re-decorating projects are, it was inspired by a really good sale at Pottery Barn Kids. I am lucky enough to have Annie working there, so when she sees a really good deal, she calls me and snatches it up for me. So fun. So, with a new bedspread, we took down our flower decals and my friend Kelly is going to paint us a birch tree. I actually also got valences done today (so much for potty training, we both needed a break!) which Annie helped me design. I think decorating a little girls room is so fun because you can do all sorts of crazy things, like pink walls, that your husband would never allow in your room! Pearl is happy to have things more finished, and I am happy to have some variation to ALL the PINK!!! Now we have just a few more projects for Grandpa....

Halloween

Here is a picture of our "after trunk or treat eat all of our candy party." Sometimes I think it would be so great to be a kid again!

Mom, stop taking pictures and just open my candy!

Battle!

Amy and Sam are locked in an epic struggle, neither side willing to give an inch.

Sam is defending his ground against the best the enemy can do. In the end he is sure to lose, but he is making a brave stand. Poems should be written about it. His long held strategy is to unnerve the enemy, to get her to decide it's not worth it.

However his tactics have increased in desperation and cunning, as the enemy's resolve increases. Weeks ago it was enough to simply have a simple accident and the enemy would give up. Last week it required a clever ploy, urinating on clothes not yet worn. This really got under the enemy's skin. It was very unexpected as the enemy has not had experience fighting against the kinds of weapons Sam brings to the battle.

Sam's first plan today was to win simply by attrition. He tried to soil all available underpants as quick as possible. 2 hours and 10 underpants later he reached this objective only to find it did not break this enemies will. The battle continued without underpants.

As the day has progressed his tactics are reaching a remarkable level of psychological sophistication. His current method of operating is to hold it while on the potty seat and not release until 1 minute after getting off potty seat. One well timed operation involved making a second mess not 5 minutes after the first while the enemy had her head turned away just starting to clean up the first. This was indeed deeply disturbing to the enemy, however it did not bring a end to hostilities. Quite the opposite, now the enemies fire has been lit. The full force of her considerable strength of will has been brought to the battle now. Now the cold calculating side has overpowered the weaker emotional side easily broken by potty-terror tactics. And there is something else, maybe just a touch of raw fury.

I fear Sam's untrained days are numbered. The enemy has declared that number to be less than 4. Will Sam invent new horrifically unsanitary and distasteful tactics? Only time will tell. One thing is certain, they won't work.

Let us hope, for the sake of the noncombatants here (Pearl and Jared) that this is over quickly.