Butterfly House

There is a butterfly habitat in a neighboring town, so I thought we'd give it a try. The trip went smoothly until we pulled into the lot and saw that not only was the Butterfly House next to the beach, it was next to a playground and a splash pad. After some convincing, we decided to see the butterflies first and then get wet.

For all of you in Santa Barbara, you should know that this little exhibit didn't come close to comparing with the Butterflies Alive! exhibit you can see now through mid-September. The Butterfly House boasted dozens of butterflies in their garden, as opposed to more than a thousand in Santa Barbara. Despite its modest scope, it was very beautiful and the docents were friendly and informative.

Recent Adventures

We have been pretty busy, so I've been quite remiss in the blogging. To catch you up on things I haven't blogged yet, here are the CliffsNotes:

-Kevin was captain of an on-base intramural volleyball team. It made us all miss Team Condor. To see how they fared, watch the slideshow.'

-Kevin had a birthday. We celebrated all day and all night and had lots of fun showing Daddy just how much we love him.

-Stellan had his "Show Off To Your Parents Day" at gymnastics. OK, it wasn't called that, but that's basically what it was. I've included a video of his performances at the bottom of this post for you grandparent types, and anyone else who has a strong resistance to boring-to-just-about-anyone-but-family-of-child-that-is-not-yours videos. I would like to point out that this took place less than 12 hours after we got home from a cross-country plane ride, so it's a miracle he was even standing.

-The McKneeleys came to visit us. Melissa served her mission in Houston with me and Kevin, and Stephen was the ward mission leader in an area where Kevin and I spent 7 months. 10 years and 4 kids later, here they were at our front door! We were happy to offer them a place to crash on their way home from their Disney cruise. Come by again soon, McKneeleys!

-We baked. I know, not a banner item for most families, but we're not really bakers. However, when Kevin was charged with delivering a cake for a coworker's birthday, I busted out my Food Network Magazine and we rocked that cake. Entertaining and delicious. Watch the slideshow for details.

-We have spent this week with Natalie and Amanda, daughters of a friend who is chaperoning Cub Scout camp with her son Devon. Stellan has had the best time ever with "The Girls", who love to play with him and his toys. We've been busy exploring the lake, rivers, parks, our backyard and Stellan's new preschool (starting in the fall). Today they are with their dad, and while I'm enjoying the downtime, I miss hearing them say,"Can we do your hair after we make flowers out of pipe cleaners?" Girls are so fun.

Gymnastics May 2011 from Krissie Cook on Vimeo.

Father-Son Camping, Mom-Daughter Snuggling

Stellan and Kevin went on the annual Father Son campout with lots of friends from church. Things seemed dire on their way out of town, what with the torrential downpour and thunderstorm. But it stopped long enough for them to pitch a tent, eat some dinner and hang out with friends. It poured all night, proving that our tent is very close to waterproof, and then cleared up in time for morning adventures.

While the boys were gone, Rachelle and I spent pretty much the whole weekend doing what we like to do best - cuddle. Really. I just plopped her down in the living room with some toys and started reading The Hunger Games. She would play for a few minutes, then crawl over to me to snuggle. Then she'd play for a few more minutes and then she'd come over with her toy to snuggle while she played. Sorry there are no pictures, but I'm pretty sure no photo could do this weekend justice to the memory I'll always have of me and my super snuggly Angel Baby Rachelle.

When are you going camping again, boys?

Santa Barbara, I Miss You Already!

My dear friend Monica married Ian in Santa Barbara and she was kind enough to invite me. I was thrilled to share that happy occasion with them both. Their reception was at the Museum of Natural History, so it was like a double homecoming. The reception was lovely, I have reaffirmed how much I miss all my Museum friends and also how glad I was to have grandparents there to babysit my kids.

While we were there, we also got to see my sister Jenn and her kids (including brand new baby Noah - so precious!), go to National Astronomy Day (thanks for letting me a couple of planetarium shows, Javier!) and celebrate Mothers' Day with 3 of my 4 moms. What a great trip.

46

46 months old and 46 weeks old. Exactly. Today.

Tia Steph!

My sister Stephie is one of the most awesome and funny and smart and sweet people I know. So we were so excited to have her come visit us for a few days on her way to a work conference in Tampa. We had a great time together, and Stellan can't stop talking about all the fun things we did with her. Come back soon, Tia!

Happy Easter!

Because you grandparents just eat it up, here are some Easter photos of our family. If you'd like any prints, let me know. Special thanks to our photographer, Tia Steph.

Road Trip!

In case you didn't know, we live only an hour from the Alabama state line. So on a recent trip the Birmingham temple (the closest one to us), we stopped at the Florala State Park on a lovely Saturday afternoon. After such a nice time there, maybe I should cut Alabama a little more slack.

Angel Baby

Comes complete with halo. Perfect afternoon trampoline weather not included.

Choice And Accountability

When Stellan does something he shouldn't, I ask him to stop or to switch behaviors. If he repeats Bad Thing A, I then mention to him what the consequence for another repeat offense will be. It only took a few tries for this to degrade to this:

Me: Stellan, please stop Bad Thing A or Consequence B will occur.

Stellan: If you invoke Consequence B, I will retaliate by resorting to Bad Thing C.

Me: If you resort to Bad Thing C, you will then earn yourself Consequence D.

Stellan: If I am subject to Consequence D, you will suffer the wrath of Bad Thing E.

And so it goes. I've found various strategies to stop this cycle, because I really don't like encouraging his creative little mind to think of of the meanest naughtiest things he could possibly do to upset me. But sometimes he does come up with some funny stuff. Like this one from earlier this week:

Me: Stellan, you can either leave the store with me right now, or I will pick you back up next week when Rachelle and I come back. [Not serious about this threat, but close enough be being serious that it comes off sounding pretty truthful.]

Stellan: But if you leave me here, I'll have to take someone's car. And we live really far away from here, so it will take a long time to get home. And I'll get sleepy while I'm driving the other car and I'll fall asleep and crash it. And then I'll get hurt.

Good thing he decided to leave with me!

A Life More Open

Our house is a bit older, and as a result, there are some things that occasionally fall apart. But after today, I'm starting to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

#1. Our mailbox is wide open. The door rusted off on one side, and then the other. Now the mailman just leaves the whole door inside the box with our mail.

#2. A big storm blew our trampoline net off completely. Now it sits wide open. Don't worry, we'll get a new one soon. Come check it out anytime - you can see it easily from the street because our gate is wide open - it won't close.

#3. Our door frames are pulling out from the wall. This nice open gap also means nails stick out of the frame, one of which left a nice bruise on Rachelle's forehead the other day. She is tough, though, and is using it as impetus to walk all the sooner. Yeah.

#4. This one's the kicker. Today our garage door broke. I don't mean the mechanism that opens and closes the door is not functioning; I mean the door is broken. As I was pulling out of the garage, the door came down on our car. I managed to get it back up with the help of a neighbor, but a bolt on a hinge that holds two panels together is toast, and some of the wood has splintered apart. The door is broken. Tonight we'll go to bed with the garage wide open.

Late night addendum: Apparently this is theme that transcends our household. Tonight at choir practice, I left Rachelle to wander the choir chairs under the watchful eye of the choir at large while I filled in for the missing pianist. She found an open mousetrap (this kind) and was discovered with it stuck to her face. Some kind sopranos swept her away to the bathroom for some soap and water, but stopped short when they noticed her skin coming off with the adhesive. Don't worry, she's been completely de-stickified quite humanely by a very attentive mother in a very soothing bath. Poor little mouse.

Not Forgetting Stellan

Lest you forget he is being lost in the shuffle, here's the latest on my brilliant Stellan:

• He is taking gymnastics, and rocking. After his very first class at our new gym, they immediately bumped him into the 4-5 year old class, even though he was only barely three and half. Now, for the summer, they are putting him in the advanced 4-5 boys' class.
• He got his first two-wheeled bicycle. (It was a steal at $7 from our local thrift shop; we then outfitted him with new training wheels, helmet and pads.) He's getting faster all the time.
• He is loving words. He says them out loud to himself all the time, then comes up with rhyming words and sounds. He also likes to make up Spanish words.
• He is kind of a know-it-all. At the park a couple of weeks ago, one of his girlfriends invited him to ride on the airplane with him. He responded, "Actually, it's a space shuttle." He then proceeded to prod her into agreeing and finally rode the shuttle with her.
• He loves building things. We spend hours of our day with his multiple marble tracks, his car tracks, his train tracks and his blocks. One of his favorite things to do is construct a Rachelle-proof enclosure made of blocks to hide his marble in.When the weather is decent, his construction efforts extend to the dirt pile out back.
• He says awesome things. Here's a good one: we were at our local science center, which we visit almost weekly. An older couple came through, explaining that their 4-year-old granddaughter was coming to visit and they wondered if she would like this museum. Stellan quickly told them about his favorite exhibits and reassured them that he loves our museum. Then he added, "We love it because we're Museum People. Right, Mom?" No arguments here.

Meet Rachelle

I'd like you to meet my adorable daughter, Rachelle. Not newborn Rachelle.

Not 3-month-old Rachelle.

Not 6-month-old Rachelle.

I'd like you to meet this Rachelle.

Today she passes a special milestone; this is the day I celebrate the fact that she has been in my arms as long as she was in my uterus - 40 weeks plus 1 day. She is more amazing each day. Rachelle is a sweet and loving baby, quick to flash a smile at her mama, her daddy or her big brother. She is much more quiet than Stellan was, but just as curious and eager to explore. She is furniture cruising, trying to stand on her own, eating more than her big brother does in a day and charming everyone she meets. I love her so much, and so I'm going to go all mama-crazy and show you how cute my sweet Baby RaRa is. You'll find a slideshow of some pictures I took on the trampoline while Grandma and Grandpa Cook were here. I've also included a video of a typical Rachelle encounter; I dare you not to smile when you see the look on her face. And finally, for comparison's sake, a photo of my daughter and a photo of her mother at a comparable age.

Rachelle at 9 Months from Krissie Cook on Vimeo.

My Newest Nephew

My beautiful sister Jenn delivered a beautiful baby boy this morning. Noah, you are so cute! I can't wait to meet you.

Grandma and Grandpa!

Kevin's parents came to visit us for a week, and we sure had a great time with them. I loved watching my kids enjoy their grandparents, and Kevin and I were both really grateful for all their help around the house. We love to see them come, hate to see them go and hope they'll be back soon!