you've got to watch this!!! it's hilarious! (thanks for the idea, cici). we're excitedly getting ready for christmas! fun times.
i went on the second annual black friday shopping spree with gina, jennifer and tiffany. we left after thanksgiving, stayed the night in anchorage and were standing in line at walmart at 4:00 a.m. we all got some fabulous deals, but just like last year, we wondered if it's really worth it (do we really save that much... or do we actually end up buying more cause of the deals we think are too good to pass up???). oh well, even if it wasn't money-saving, it sure was a blast. talk about an adrenalin rush!
jacob stayed home with all three kids. they surprised me by doing all the christmas decorating - tree and all! the boys were super-excited to show me the tree. our little 3 1/2 foot tree is perfect.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
excuse me, i'll be right back!
picture this scenario at the dinner table a few nights ago: jacob runs out of the room yelling, "excuse me, i'll be right back!" then about two seconds later ammon decides to follow him, "excuse me, i'll be right back!" abe didn't waste any time, "excuse me, i'll be right back!" before i knew it, all three of them are rolling in laughter in the bathroom.
what is going on? you might ask. let me explain!
about a week ago i was hanging out with some friends (i respectfully will not mention any names... hee, hee!) who have no reservations about releasing "the excessive gas flatus that is created in their stomachs and intestines" (the real dictionary definition for flatulence!). i came home pretty sicked out only to realize that my own family, excluding myself of course ;0) was not very different. i decided to put an end to this.
the new munyer family rule is this: if you feel a **boomer or a burp coming on, you must quickly excuse yourself by saying, "excuse me, i'll be right back," take care of your business elsewhere, and then return to what you were doing without making a big fuss. if a boomer or a burp accidentally slips out, then you simply say, "excuse me," and continue whatever you were doing without laughing, joking or again, making a big fuss. i explained to my boys (all three of them!) that ziya and i are princesses and don't need to be subjected to such smelly and gross exhibits of what i consider to be rude and disrespectful behavior (sorry to so many of my friends... this is just what i believe!). they agreed to both my reasoning and to the new rules.
my new rule has been in effect for just a few days now, and i must say, it is going pretty well. we've had a few slip ups (old habits are sometimes hard to break, aren't they?), but for the most part, everybody has been in compliance. for a while there, i think i believed that because i had a family of boys, flatulence was just my fate. thank goodness for ziya evening things out a bit. we will continue to be princesses and my boys will continue to be boys... just with a few rules to follow!
**i've never liked the word "fart." it just sounds too gross. we opted to call them "puns" (pronounced poons) and did so for a long time. however, my boys recently adopted the word "boomer" from their little friends owen and tate.
what is going on? you might ask. let me explain!
about a week ago i was hanging out with some friends (i respectfully will not mention any names... hee, hee!) who have no reservations about releasing "the excessive gas flatus that is created in their stomachs and intestines" (the real dictionary definition for flatulence!). i came home pretty sicked out only to realize that my own family, excluding myself of course ;0) was not very different. i decided to put an end to this.
the new munyer family rule is this: if you feel a **boomer or a burp coming on, you must quickly excuse yourself by saying, "excuse me, i'll be right back," take care of your business elsewhere, and then return to what you were doing without making a big fuss. if a boomer or a burp accidentally slips out, then you simply say, "excuse me," and continue whatever you were doing without laughing, joking or again, making a big fuss. i explained to my boys (all three of them!) that ziya and i are princesses and don't need to be subjected to such smelly and gross exhibits of what i consider to be rude and disrespectful behavior (sorry to so many of my friends... this is just what i believe!). they agreed to both my reasoning and to the new rules.
my new rule has been in effect for just a few days now, and i must say, it is going pretty well. we've had a few slip ups (old habits are sometimes hard to break, aren't they?), but for the most part, everybody has been in compliance. for a while there, i think i believed that because i had a family of boys, flatulence was just my fate. thank goodness for ziya evening things out a bit. we will continue to be princesses and my boys will continue to be boys... just with a few rules to follow!
**i've never liked the word "fart." it just sounds too gross. we opted to call them "puns" (pronounced poons) and did so for a long time. however, my boys recently adopted the word "boomer" from their little friends owen and tate.
Monday, November 12, 2007
middle child
it seems like not too many years ago when i used to laugh when parents (mine and others' alike) said stuff like, "you didn't come with instructions, you know." i think that in my own naive mind i thought they were just making excuses for not knowing stuff they were really supposed to know (how dare they!). i humbly take back any sarcastic or sneering comment i may have made about those parents who i thought didn't have a clue. here i am with three bambinos of my own... and more times than not, no clue about how to handle stuff that comes up.
like my middle child.
abraham was born just 19 months after our first son. he has always lived in ammon's shadow. not only has he always worn all of ammon's hand-me-downs, but if ammon does somersaults, abraham does somersaults. if ammon talks like a cowboy, abraham talks like a cowboy. his friends have always been ammon's friends (a few times he's gotten really lucky and got the younger sibling as his own friend). most recently, if ammon gets to go off to school every day, then abraham wants to do the same (but can't).
enter princess ziya. at the tender age of three, abraham found that he was not only a little brother, but a big brother, too! all of a sudden, mom is busier than ever and abraham is expected to do chores, to eat all of his dinner without whining, to independently don hat, gloves, boots and jacket (don't forget to zip it, too!), to go to the bathroom by himself, etc. (all things that ammon was not expected to do until he was a bit older).
to summarize, abraham is not the big kindergartener who has new and exciting news to tell every single day... nor is he the adorable baby girl who wraps anybody she encounters around her little finger. he's the middle child.
in the past couple of weeks, abraham has put his little size 12 foot down. and boy has he put it down! it's hard to pinpoint examples, but to put it mildly, he has become A BIT DIFFICULT. he hits, he yells, he name calls, he poops in the closet... he also loves to cuddle, to be called a "handsome gentleman," to be listened to (with undivided attention), to pretend to continue sleeping while i softly tickle him at the end of his nap, and so much more.
i finally did something right today. i ignored the fact that in order to have a happy evening, dinner should be served at 5 pm (which means it needs to be prepared before picking ammon up from school). the five loads of laundry did not get done. ziya's blowout diaper mess got wrapped up and put aside instead of completely cleaned up (gross, i know!), and the pile on top of the computer desk did not get sorted.
instead, i did play dough with abraham... for a really long time while ziya napped. we both smacked bubblicious bursts sour cherry storm bubblegum and i actually let him pop my bubbles. i made him a buzz light year teddy bear. abraham was "buzz 1" and i was "buzz 2." we had a war, and we had to dodge bombs that the bad guys threw at us. we then had to make our own mega-bombs to throw back. we also made a little dog cause there's a dog in the movie (ours is the good dog... not to be confused with sid's bad, scary dog). we had a great time. several times, i found myself laughing - the guffaw type.
our late dinner caused a few problems and there were a few disastrous moments when ammon tried to recreate the buzz light year game (he wasn't doing it just right). but the play dough date i had with my abraham was a real treasure and worth it all.
i'm learning. i'm thankful to have an observant husband who has noted some little things about abraham. i'll probably enroll him in swim lessons this winter (something to call his own). jacob and i are both going to try to spend more quality one-on-one time with him. and for sure, i'll schedule another play dough date. maybe we'll make woody this time.
i love my middle child.
like my middle child.
abraham was born just 19 months after our first son. he has always lived in ammon's shadow. not only has he always worn all of ammon's hand-me-downs, but if ammon does somersaults, abraham does somersaults. if ammon talks like a cowboy, abraham talks like a cowboy. his friends have always been ammon's friends (a few times he's gotten really lucky and got the younger sibling as his own friend). most recently, if ammon gets to go off to school every day, then abraham wants to do the same (but can't).
enter princess ziya. at the tender age of three, abraham found that he was not only a little brother, but a big brother, too! all of a sudden, mom is busier than ever and abraham is expected to do chores, to eat all of his dinner without whining, to independently don hat, gloves, boots and jacket (don't forget to zip it, too!), to go to the bathroom by himself, etc. (all things that ammon was not expected to do until he was a bit older).
to summarize, abraham is not the big kindergartener who has new and exciting news to tell every single day... nor is he the adorable baby girl who wraps anybody she encounters around her little finger. he's the middle child.
in the past couple of weeks, abraham has put his little size 12 foot down. and boy has he put it down! it's hard to pinpoint examples, but to put it mildly, he has become A BIT DIFFICULT. he hits, he yells, he name calls, he poops in the closet... he also loves to cuddle, to be called a "handsome gentleman," to be listened to (with undivided attention), to pretend to continue sleeping while i softly tickle him at the end of his nap, and so much more.
i finally did something right today. i ignored the fact that in order to have a happy evening, dinner should be served at 5 pm (which means it needs to be prepared before picking ammon up from school). the five loads of laundry did not get done. ziya's blowout diaper mess got wrapped up and put aside instead of completely cleaned up (gross, i know!), and the pile on top of the computer desk did not get sorted.
instead, i did play dough with abraham... for a really long time while ziya napped. we both smacked bubblicious bursts sour cherry storm bubblegum and i actually let him pop my bubbles. i made him a buzz light year teddy bear. abraham was "buzz 1" and i was "buzz 2." we had a war, and we had to dodge bombs that the bad guys threw at us. we then had to make our own mega-bombs to throw back. we also made a little dog cause there's a dog in the movie (ours is the good dog... not to be confused with sid's bad, scary dog). we had a great time. several times, i found myself laughing - the guffaw type.
our late dinner caused a few problems and there were a few disastrous moments when ammon tried to recreate the buzz light year game (he wasn't doing it just right). but the play dough date i had with my abraham was a real treasure and worth it all.
i'm learning. i'm thankful to have an observant husband who has noted some little things about abraham. i'll probably enroll him in swim lessons this winter (something to call his own). jacob and i are both going to try to spend more quality one-on-one time with him. and for sure, i'll schedule another play dough date. maybe we'll make woody this time.
i love my middle child.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Star Wars Halloween
halloween was a huge success! i started out the day by volunteering in ammon's kindergarten class. whew... talk about some excited (and hyper) 5 & 6 year olds! they carved a pumpkin, decorated their own pumpkins (rice cakes) with cream cheese frosting, "bobbed" for apples on a string, made crowns, did a cookie walk (like a cake walk) and lots of other fun stuff. it was fun to see how halloween could actually be educational! (shapes were reviewed for the pumpkin carving, numbers for counting seeds, science hypotheses for apple bobbing, art for the crown decorating, etc.) i was glad to be able to spend some time with ammon for his first school holiday.
later in the day, i took abe and ziya back to the school and we watched the costume parade. ammon looked like he was having lots of fun. as a matter of fact, he was so excited, i couldn't get him to slow down enough for a good picture!
after school, i forced ammon to take a nap. he wasn't very happy with me, but it made for a much more pleasant evening! we finally got everybody dressed (Darth Vader, Yoda and Princess Leia) to go to our ward's party. it was great. the kids' costumes were a big hit. there were tons of games and activities for the kids to play - toss the ring, duck pond, decorate a cookie, cupcake walk, spook alley (actually created by jacob and some of the young men), a trick-or-treat alley, and lots more. put all of this on top of a pizza dinner and we were all happy campers. the best part is that we didn't have to go outside at all! trick-or-treating in 30-35 degree weather? no thank you!
Monday, October 29, 2007
TAG
The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
so heidi says if i don't do this tag thing, my dog will die (i don't own a dog and if it weren't for the fact that my kids love dogs, i wouldn't even care to own one... ever) and i won't ever find true love (too late... already did!) and a swarm of mosquitoes will take over my lawn (the apartment lawn??? hey, that could be interesting!) and i'll have a bunch of years of bad luck (you know how many emails i've never forwarded to 10 of my friends and the threat of bad luck never came to pass?)... so i guess i don't have to do this! just kidding! actually, it's been fun to try to think about 6 interesting facts about myself. here goes...
1. i have an addiction. it's 24, the kiefer sutherland series about the anti-terrorist unit in los angeles. somebody loaned us five seasons on dvd, and we watched all five seasons in about 3 months' time. i'm a bit embarrassed to admit to this (that's a heck of a lot of t.v.) but it was lots of fun. i don't recommend doing it though... and i'll never do it again (until the next 24 season comes out on dvd, that is ;)
2. i don't spend money on music and i don't own my cassettes from high school anymore, but if i did either of these, i would listen to a-ha, tears for fears, thompson twins, and depeche mode.
3. i've been known to cry at sporting events, the kind that require serious training (ironman in coeur d'alene, idaho and the beginning of the iditarod in anchorage, alaska). to tell the truth, i sobbed almost uncontrollably. i think it's because somewhere deep inside of me is a girl with an unfulfilled dream. i have a lot of commitment issues that i need to overcome right now, but one day, mark my words, I WILL RUN A MARATHON.
4. since moving to alaska, i've become quite a domestic diva. i now patch my boys' jeans, sew buttons on jacob's shirts instead of shoving them to to the back of the closet, grind my own wheat and bake five loaves of bread every week or two, and sew or crochet baby shower gifts. i guess you could say that last winter was extremely looooong and i needed stuff to fill my time! it's been fun.
5. i love holidays. this past week, my boys and i made paper mache spiders (see posted picture) and we decorated our door for halloween. i think i had more fun doing it than they did! i was the only one who kept checking the paper covered balloons to see if they were dry and ready for the next step. i'm also learning to make clay tree ornaments for christmas time. i can't wait until we can put our little tree up!
6. even though my hair is going gray, my family is what brings me the most intense pleasure. the other day ammon proclaimed that he is going to get married in the temple so he can live with his family forever... my heart melted. abraham is doing a new little dance that involves shaking his skinny little leg... and my heart melts each time he does it. and ziya, well, all she has to do is smile at me... and my heart melts. and as for jacob... well, he owns my melted heart.
i'm now supposed to tag six more bloggers... but i don't think i know six bloggers! (and two of the ones i do know are already tagged). so i tag rho-bean, vero, cici and russ.
BOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
so heidi says if i don't do this tag thing, my dog will die (i don't own a dog and if it weren't for the fact that my kids love dogs, i wouldn't even care to own one... ever) and i won't ever find true love (too late... already did!) and a swarm of mosquitoes will take over my lawn (the apartment lawn??? hey, that could be interesting!) and i'll have a bunch of years of bad luck (you know how many emails i've never forwarded to 10 of my friends and the threat of bad luck never came to pass?)... so i guess i don't have to do this! just kidding! actually, it's been fun to try to think about 6 interesting facts about myself. here goes...
1. i have an addiction. it's 24, the kiefer sutherland series about the anti-terrorist unit in los angeles. somebody loaned us five seasons on dvd, and we watched all five seasons in about 3 months' time. i'm a bit embarrassed to admit to this (that's a heck of a lot of t.v.) but it was lots of fun. i don't recommend doing it though... and i'll never do it again (until the next 24 season comes out on dvd, that is ;)
2. i don't spend money on music and i don't own my cassettes from high school anymore, but if i did either of these, i would listen to a-ha, tears for fears, thompson twins, and depeche mode.
3. i've been known to cry at sporting events, the kind that require serious training (ironman in coeur d'alene, idaho and the beginning of the iditarod in anchorage, alaska). to tell the truth, i sobbed almost uncontrollably. i think it's because somewhere deep inside of me is a girl with an unfulfilled dream. i have a lot of commitment issues that i need to overcome right now, but one day, mark my words, I WILL RUN A MARATHON.
4. since moving to alaska, i've become quite a domestic diva. i now patch my boys' jeans, sew buttons on jacob's shirts instead of shoving them to to the back of the closet, grind my own wheat and bake five loaves of bread every week or two, and sew or crochet baby shower gifts. i guess you could say that last winter was extremely looooong and i needed stuff to fill my time! it's been fun.
5. i love holidays. this past week, my boys and i made paper mache spiders (see posted picture) and we decorated our door for halloween. i think i had more fun doing it than they did! i was the only one who kept checking the paper covered balloons to see if they were dry and ready for the next step. i'm also learning to make clay tree ornaments for christmas time. i can't wait until we can put our little tree up!
6. even though my hair is going gray, my family is what brings me the most intense pleasure. the other day ammon proclaimed that he is going to get married in the temple so he can live with his family forever... my heart melted. abraham is doing a new little dance that involves shaking his skinny little leg... and my heart melts each time he does it. and ziya, well, all she has to do is smile at me... and my heart melts. and as for jacob... well, he owns my melted heart.
i'm now supposed to tag six more bloggers... but i don't think i know six bloggers! (and two of the ones i do know are already tagged). so i tag rho-bean, vero, cici and russ.
BOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Monday, October 22, 2007
just trying to be safe...
i hate that i have to worry about crazy stuff... but i do! so this blog is now "invitation only." email me with addresses if you know somebody who might like to join our cool people club. no weirdos allowed :)
moose, moose, moose
the other day on the drive to take ammon to school, we saw a mama moose and her twin calves. i think they live in the woods near us. they'd crossed the street when abe, ziya and i drove back so we counted that as a different sighting (we were up to six). then after school we had to drop a letter off at the post office and there was another mama and her calf (eight). we drove all the way back home to get the camera for that one! then saturday we spotted the neighborhood mama with the twins just about a half block from where we live... that's eleven sightings in just three days (o.k., o.k. so they're mostly the same moose over and over... but it's still exciting for us!). and for all you non-alaskan friends... the coolest thing about all of this is that they are right in the middle of town!!!
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