Once again the kids loved your presents. Mary and Isaac fished all evening, Linda's puzzle is just at her skill level, and Abby was fascinated with the drum. Thank you from all of us.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Linda's birthday
For Aunt Lissi
Lissi--
It is much easier for me to post these here for you than to try to figure out how to edit them small enough to send you via email. Hope you don't mind.
These are videos of the kids opening the presents you sent to them for Linda's birthday. As you can see, once again you sent the perfect gifts. It is amazing that you can pick just the right thing when you're halfway across the world!
And Ed liked Isaac's present as much as he did!
It is much easier for me to post these here for you than to try to figure out how to edit them small enough to send you via email. Hope you don't mind.
These are videos of the kids opening the presents you sent to them for Linda's birthday. As you can see, once again you sent the perfect gifts. It is amazing that you can pick just the right thing when you're halfway across the world!
And Ed liked Isaac's present as much as he did!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
"Rascal"
For those anxious to hear about the end of the raccoon saga, here are a few photos. As a recap:
1. Candice hears crazy loud sounds like a dog stuck in the wall between the dormer windows in the baby's room. It's 11 p.m., middle of a rainstorm, and Ed is still at work. Animal control says its probably a raccoon, maybe with a nest of babies, and they don't take care of that sort of thing.
2. Ed decides he doesn't want to pay anyone $1000 to "humanely dispose" of the problem, so he sets up an elaborate sting operation, including holes in the wall for a webcam, flashlight, and my brother's heat covered in tuna juice. One night we actually see cute little ears on the webcam, but despite shooting off a round (don't worry--they were bullets that wouldn't pierce the opposing wall/roof), Ed misses. At least, we heard raccoon noise a while later and nothing in the wall smells yet. We're still waiting for the heat of summer... We try another set-up with peanut butter and honey, but nothing comes of it.
3. I decide to go up and peruse the attic, finding trails in the insulation, hollowed out beds over the bathrooms, and a pile of droppings next to a HUGE hole in the eaves (9"x17") that the builder had kindly left open due to it's difficulty to access.
4. Ed decides one freezing January night, again at 11 p.m., that it's time to cover the hole, so he tethers himself to the solar panel pipes and hangs upside down with his new pneumatic nail gun to cover the hole with hardware cloth. He had to scrape ice and snow off the shingles to make a place for himself. I was only a little nervous he'd fall to his death.
5. Thanks to a smart and courageous husband who is also slightly off his rocker, no more raccoon bothers the Stratford home. Next month we plan to open the wall in the baby's room and clean up whatever mess is there, of course also repairing all the holes we put in the wall. Oh, and of course we cleaned up the attic already.
1. Candice hears crazy loud sounds like a dog stuck in the wall between the dormer windows in the baby's room. It's 11 p.m., middle of a rainstorm, and Ed is still at work. Animal control says its probably a raccoon, maybe with a nest of babies, and they don't take care of that sort of thing.
2. Ed decides he doesn't want to pay anyone $1000 to "humanely dispose" of the problem, so he sets up an elaborate sting operation, including holes in the wall for a webcam, flashlight, and my brother's heat covered in tuna juice. One night we actually see cute little ears on the webcam, but despite shooting off a round (don't worry--they were bullets that wouldn't pierce the opposing wall/roof), Ed misses. At least, we heard raccoon noise a while later and nothing in the wall smells yet. We're still waiting for the heat of summer... We try another set-up with peanut butter and honey, but nothing comes of it.
3. I decide to go up and peruse the attic, finding trails in the insulation, hollowed out beds over the bathrooms, and a pile of droppings next to a HUGE hole in the eaves (9"x17") that the builder had kindly left open due to it's difficulty to access.
4. Ed decides one freezing January night, again at 11 p.m., that it's time to cover the hole, so he tethers himself to the solar panel pipes and hangs upside down with his new pneumatic nail gun to cover the hole with hardware cloth. He had to scrape ice and snow off the shingles to make a place for himself. I was only a little nervous he'd fall to his death.
5. Thanks to a smart and courageous husband who is also slightly off his rocker, no more raccoon bothers the Stratford home. Next month we plan to open the wall in the baby's room and clean up whatever mess is there, of course also repairing all the holes we put in the wall. Oh, and of course we cleaned up the attic already.
So how have we been?
It's been a while since I contacted the world, but not much has changed. This is one of the kids favorite dance party songs, first introduced to them in honor of Grandpa Taylor, Captain of Police.
Mary
Mary is seven, excited to turn 8 in July,and likes to throw tea parties. She is enjoying second grade and just this week is making a leprechaun trap. She has decided she's going to be a world-famous scientist when she grows up, that she will not change diapers: that will be Eli's job, because he's going to stay at home with the kids while she goes to work. She always tells me she wishes I worked and Dad stayed home because he's a lot funnier. I told her to take it up with her father--I'm ready as soon as he is.
She loves everything to do with dinosaurs, and her dream is to go to BYU to study paleontology. (We promised the kids our family vacation this summer will be a tour of dinosaur sites in Utah.) With Mom and Dad so heavily in the Social Sciences/Humanities, we need a scientist in the family. (I think Isaac will cover the Math.) She is playing violin in the school orchestra but doesn't like it enough to warrant carrying it around school two days a week. I've also tried teaching her piano, but she and I both do a lot better when she teaches herself from the books.
Mary has also developed a more willful and eclectic fashion sense than ever. She won't even admit to owning pants (she keeps throwing her jeans back in my room). I only have a say in what she wears when I fight for it, and I figure if she'll just let me comb her hair once a day then I've fought all the fight I want to fight. (Here she is jumping on the trampoline, hence the weird face. But would you look at all that hair!)
Isaac
Isaac is enjoying kindergarten, learning to read and can not wait for warmer weather. He loves cats, dogs and all other animals, but they are the first (besides Mom) to bear the brunt of any pent-up frustration. Last Halloween he wanted to be a dinosaur, so I made him a costume which he was thrilled with... until he went trick-or-treating and everyone told him he was "cute." He wanted to be scary. Sorry bud. I don't know how to sew scary.
He's also our budding photographer. For his subjects he particularly prefers toys, TVs, or his sisters.
Linda
Linda lately is the life of the party. At least SHE thinks she is. Just today I caught her trying to do her hair, a la mousse and toilet paper. She also has developed an aversion to clothing.
Linda is jealous that everyone gets to go to school but her, so we signed her up for preschool in the fall, two days a week. She met her teacher on Friday and the first thing she said was "I really have a headache." She's very independent and if I'm not watchful, she disappears out the front door (the only one she can get open) and wanders the neighborhood without shoes, coat, hat or any of the three.
My favorite dinnertime exchange of the last few months went as follows (and which says just as much about Mary's personality as it does about Linda's):
Mary: "Mom, did you know teachers have to have a little correcting book to teach Math? Why can't they just use their brains?"
Linda (with eyes pulled wide and arms out zombie-style): "Brains...brains...brains...brains..."
Linda is jealous that everyone gets to go to school but her, so we signed her up for preschool in the fall, two days a week. She met her teacher on Friday and the first thing she said was "I really have a headache." She's very independent and if I'm not watchful, she disappears out the front door (the only one she can get open) and wanders the neighborhood without shoes, coat, hat or any of the three.
My favorite dinnertime exchange of the last few months went as follows (and which says just as much about Mary's personality as it does about Linda's):
Mary: "Mom, did you know teachers have to have a little correcting book to teach Math? Why can't they just use their brains?"
Linda (with eyes pulled wide and arms out zombie-style): "Brains...brains...brains...brains..."
Abby
With great apologies to Grandma Stratford, who a couple days ago said "I can't even picture Abby anymore," here are a few pictures. She's chatting with us, blowing raspberries, and just yesterday converted almost totally from the army crawl to all fours. We are beginning to shut doors and cover light sockets. But she is still totally sweet and completely cute. And so quiet compared to the other three!
Life in Utah
The kids (and neighbor Will) with BYU's mascot Cosmo the Cougar at the BYU Family Christmas Party.
Because of the full apartment in our basement, we had missionaries living down there for about six months. It was a interesting experience, great for the kids, and the elders were always really helpful with the leaves in the backyard and snow on the walks. However, the kids are really excited about having the big empty basement to play in again.
Our cat Chaco ran away shortly after we moved here, and we were very sad about it--and sometimes still are. This is the new kitten "Chica" who, with claws," is not nearly so endearing as was the older and more subdued Chaco. However, until she and the kids completely destroyed it, I did laugh to see her climb this old window screen.
Friday, August 28, 2009
It's been a long but productive summer......
A. We had a baby. A very cute one, in fact, named Abigail Candice Stratford. She will be 3 months old tomorrow and bless my soul sleeps 10 hours a night. Still gassy all day, but at least we all sleep at night.
She was not particularly happy to enter the cold, harsh world, but she settled after a little while.
Our last visit with surrogate Grandma and dearly-missed friend, Mary Fullmer. (Wow, that sounds like she died! She's not dead--we just moved away.)
B. We bought a house and moved from Chicago, IL to Orem, UT, thanks to a lot of help from ward members on both ends, friends, family, and the Heavens. We adore the house and yard (the kids love the trampoline and safe cul-de-sac to run and ride in), have the kindest neighbors, and we have settled in fairly quickly and painlessly.
To be honest, there are a lot of things I really miss about Chicago, though:
1. Hyde Park Produce
2. our friends (yes, I think I actually miss the produce store more than my friends)
3. diversity (tan and blond, tan and blond...)
4. Lake Michigan
5. the entertaining Chicago politics
6. walking and riding my bike to do errands
Things I don't miss:
1. the traffic
2. the litter
3. fighting for parking (or paying
4. the U of C pressure (not that Ed doesn't feel academic and professional pressure here, but BYU is full of such incredibly nice people who really want you to succeed!)
Things that all suburbanites transplanted to Hyde Park would bemoan and I would scoff at that I'm now humble eough to admit I love:
1. my driveway
2. convenient shopping
3. letting my kids roam in the neighborhood and not having to make playdates for them to do something fun
4. drive-thru bank atm's (with four kids in the car, I want to open the doors as few times as possible)
We also now live by Uncle Pete, who has a very cool Jeep and a very cool dog named Panzer. Isaac asks nearly every day when he will get to see Uncle Pete again, who unfortunately works nights and can't come hang out as often as the kids would like. It's probably good for Uncle Pete, though, since they go wild around him. He's just so cool and exciting! (Mary was actually a little scared of the bald head and goatee at first, but she got over it pretty quick.)
C. We hosted Grandma Camp a month after moving in with my parents, siblings and all their kids. It was the first time in a few years every one of us could make it, and it was great fun to be together. Everyone was here for Abby's blessing on Sunday, and then we did all sorts of activities for a week. I really enjoyed hosting as well, especially since Mom was actually in charge and I didn't have to plan meals and activities. I'll be glad that the next time we host Grandma Camp or any other big shindig, though, I won't have to put my guests on air mattresses and ask them to bring their own towels! (Moving from student housing to a seven-bedroom home takes some time to fill in the spaces.)
D. Mary and Isaac started at a new school. This was a rather traumatic process for both Mary and I, since our school district has open enrollment and you can apply for schools outside your neighborhood. When I began looking at the various schools I had two necessary criteria: it had to challenge the kids so they wouldn't be bored, and I really wanted it to be within walking distance. I fell in love with Northridge Elementary and their specialty classes--an hour of art and an hour of music every day, great test scores and a devoted and experienced faculty. However, since it was so late in the year, chances were slim to none that they'd actually get in, so I geared the kids to be excited about Windsor. We went to Windsor's open house and met the teachers and then the afternoon before the first day of school, Northridge called with openings. Well, if you know Isaac, he didn't really care. His actual words were "I'll just let Mary decide for me. She can tell me all about it." But Mary--sweet, inflexible, intractable Mary--was beside herself. After using all my powers of persuasion, explanation, reasoning and bribery, I finally just had to lay down the law and tell her that Mom knows best and she must obey. She was sure that her good life was ending, but after a week she's content and excited and I don't think she even remembers there existed a school called Windsor.
And here are some other photos of the kids, just living the high summertime life in Orem:
We took them camping on the backside of Mt. Timpanogos. We only lasted until 8 a.m., but at least we did it. The kids had a blast, the parents not so much.
This picture was actually from back in Chicago, when the kids went to Vacation Bible School at the Lutheran church in Hyde Park. The had a great time, and I think the shirts they made say a lot about their individual personalities, or at least Mary's does.
And here are a couple videos:
Again, this is from back in Chicago. They just thought this spot was really cool, for some reason.
This kid is seriously wacky. When he figures out how to time his jokes a little better (i.e. no hyperactivity at 7 a.m. and dinnertime), he's going to be one funny kid.
Her blessing day, and another cute picture. This chair is workin' for her.
B. We bought a house and moved from Chicago, IL to Orem, UT, thanks to a lot of help from ward members on both ends, friends, family, and the Heavens. We adore the house and yard (the kids love the trampoline and safe cul-de-sac to run and ride in), have the kindest neighbors, and we have settled in fairly quickly and painlessly.
To be honest, there are a lot of things I really miss about Chicago, though:
1. Hyde Park Produce
2. our friends (yes, I think I actually miss the produce store more than my friends)
3. diversity (tan and blond, tan and blond...)
4. Lake Michigan
5. the entertaining Chicago politics
6. walking and riding my bike to do errands
Things I don't miss:
1. the traffic
2. the litter
3. fighting for parking (or paying
4. the U of C pressure (not that Ed doesn't feel academic and professional pressure here, but BYU is full of such incredibly nice people who really want you to succeed!)
Things that all suburbanites transplanted to Hyde Park would bemoan and I would scoff at that I'm now humble eough to admit I love:
1. my driveway
2. convenient shopping
3. letting my kids roam in the neighborhood and not having to make playdates for them to do something fun
4. drive-thru bank atm's (with four kids in the car, I want to open the doors as few times as possible)
C. We hosted Grandma Camp a month after moving in with my parents, siblings and all their kids. It was the first time in a few years every one of us could make it, and it was great fun to be together. Everyone was here for Abby's blessing on Sunday, and then we did all sorts of activities for a week. I really enjoyed hosting as well, especially since Mom was actually in charge and I didn't have to plan meals and activities. I'll be glad that the next time we host Grandma Camp or any other big shindig, though, I won't have to put my guests on air mattresses and ask them to bring their own towels! (Moving from student housing to a seven-bedroom home takes some time to fill in the spaces.)
D. Mary and Isaac started at a new school. This was a rather traumatic process for both Mary and I, since our school district has open enrollment and you can apply for schools outside your neighborhood. When I began looking at the various schools I had two necessary criteria: it had to challenge the kids so they wouldn't be bored, and I really wanted it to be within walking distance. I fell in love with Northridge Elementary and their specialty classes--an hour of art and an hour of music every day, great test scores and a devoted and experienced faculty. However, since it was so late in the year, chances were slim to none that they'd actually get in, so I geared the kids to be excited about Windsor. We went to Windsor's open house and met the teachers and then the afternoon before the first day of school, Northridge called with openings. Well, if you know Isaac, he didn't really care. His actual words were "I'll just let Mary decide for me. She can tell me all about it." But Mary--sweet, inflexible, intractable Mary--was beside herself. After using all my powers of persuasion, explanation, reasoning and bribery, I finally just had to lay down the law and tell her that Mom knows best and she must obey. She was sure that her good life was ending, but after a week she's content and excited and I don't think she even remembers there existed a school called Windsor.
And here are some other photos of the kids, just living the high summertime life in Orem:
On the deck in the backyard.
Mary and Isaac playing dress-up with their new friends Jared and Esther.
Linda showing off the sand from the watertable at the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum. What a cool place! Smaller, of course, but on par with Chicago museums.
This picture was actually from back in Chicago, when the kids went to Vacation Bible School at the Lutheran church in Hyde Park. The had a great time, and I think the shirts they made say a lot about their individual personalities, or at least Mary's does.
Yes, Linda is actually buck naked out in the backyard. She idolizes her brother and after watching him pee on trees, she thinks she can strip down and do the same. Her angle isn't quite as effective as his, however.
And here are a couple videos:
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Visit to see Aunt Claudia
The kids and I went to Missouri for a few days to visit my Aunt Claudia and had a wonderful time. Our one excursion (which was plenty) was to walk along the river/creek, wherein Linda discovered the joy of deep puddles and Isaac found his first worm. Age 5 and his first worm--we've gotta get out of this city.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
We try. We really really really try.
Family Home Evening.
The greatest trial and blessing given to the modern Saints, or at least those Saints with small children.
This one is before we even begin.... And this is Mary's closing song: "Do As I'm Doing"
The greatest trial and blessing given to the modern Saints, or at least those Saints with small children.
This one is before we even begin.... And this is Mary's closing song: "Do As I'm Doing"
Messing around with facial hair
I found these gruesome pictures on the memory card from my old camera as I was cleaning out my junk basket yesterday. They were just too good not to post for blackmail.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)