Eraser Story-

I came upstairs this afternoon and didn't see Owen in the living room so I went looking for him and found him in our bedroom where I'd put his art easel. This weekend he got some chalk & an eraser for the blackboard part (a prize for staying dry an entire day- wahoo!). Anyways, he was sitting on the floor holding his eraser rubbing a pen mark on his hand. He was sad & a little surprised when it didn't work.

Lemon Pie

Anyone that really likes a lemon pie that almost bites you back with very thick whipped cream instead of that no good meringue stuff and who doesn't care if it looks pretty, is welcome to come over tomorrow and help me eat it.

Domestic dispute (Emily vs. kicked open doorknob)

Do you ever feel like you get beat up being a mom? Whether it's as a human punching bag, human playground, the cracking skin on your hands from being wet so much from wet wipes and dishwater, pregnancy or the other million things that are just part of being a mom? Well, last week I took a hard hit when I was getting Ava dressed in her room when all she wanted to do was escape. While putting on her clothes by her closed door, that doesn't really close it more just gets stuck and jammed, I totally didn't think about Owen wanting to come in and especially didn't think about him kicking the door as hard as he could to get it open. So I was very much surprised as the doorknob whacked into my cheek bone. Anyways, I don't remember the last black eye that I had or the my last cry from pain. It's not awful but man it hurt. And this picture was the best I got before Matt came upstairs from putting Owen to bed- it was weird enough taking pictures of myself I didn't want to do while Matt was around.

My Little Leprechan-

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Found this pattern & some other fun St. Patrick's Day stuff here. I totally forgot it was St. Patrick's day until after breakfast so I feel bad I didn't do green pancakes. What other St. Patrick's day food is anyone else making today?

Honey-Do List

To do this weekend- put cupboard door over laundry shoot hole so Ava won't fall down it again and have to save her life by holding on with her little hands with her leg sticking up. (Sorry I don't have a picture- it was one of those things that after it was done, it's kind of funny thinking about her yelling for help with her little head peaking up).

Ava's Tear Duct Grand Opening

This morning bright & early we took Ava to the surgical center where she had her right tear duct poked open. It was a small procedure that took less than 20 minutes but I was still all nervous about the whole thing. The doctor went in through her tear duct and came out through her nose. He also left a tiny stent tube in there to make sure it doesn't close back up- although he did say leaving the tube in was probably unnecessary because he felt whatever was obstructing it pop as he went through. So, he left the tube in there just to make sure it didn't close up and he'll pull it out in three months (if it doesn't get pulled out before then- I've heard stories and can see the tube in the corner). So, after the surgery, other than the yucking waking up from anesthesia tiredness & confusion, and a little nose bleeding, she has been pretty happy with a clean eye. Here's a picture of her in her little gown & booties before the procedure.Well, I'm off to hopefully finish painting Ava's room.

Sometimes it's Rough Being a Kid!

I think every kid gets lots of bumps & bruises- here's Ava with her two fat lips. One she got the night before the other- poor girl. Also, her goobery eye that we had plans to surgically open this morning but because she's still getting better from a cold & cough we get to put it off 2 more weeks.

Happy Late Birthday Cathrine!

I get teary eyed every time I think one week ago from today my sister Cathrine turned 23.

A few of the very lucky nieces & nephews of you.

That Idle Isle pick was a real good one (thanks Chad).


This is a good one of you Cat :).

Bath Time

Cool water pic huh?

Our sweetheart Ava.

Quote of the Day

So, Owen's been coming along with the potty training thing but it's not quit there. Here's our conversation from this afternoon while Owen was playing outside-

Me: Owen do you need to go potty?
Owen: No
Me: Okay make sure you listen to your body when it needs to go
Owen: Okay mom, I already did and poop too.

Hooray for Owen!

Owen is finally figuring this hole make mom's life easier thing- hooray!

Little did we know Wednesday, at least this Wednesday night was not a good night to go bowling. Out of the two bowling alley's in town one was rented out for the night for Best Buddies (where we got to say hello to Patrick) then we went to the other one and discovered it was ladies league night. They did have one lane open so we waited for over 30 minutes for these people to finish their game but then they started another round and it was to late to wait longer. So we stopped at Charlie's for ice cream to make up for the lack of bowling that night.

Here's us waiting and watching the ladies league bowlers.

So the next day we tried again and pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. It was fun. Owen loved it and Matt showed us some pretty mad skills- I told him he should think about joining a league :).

Catch Up

Making chocolates with my sisters (missed you Lexie). Notice our awesome christmas aprons from my mom's collection.

Here's Ava in her Christmas dress that was started weeks before Christmas Sunday but mostly completed with the help of my mom & sister-in-law Emily the Saturday before it's debut. It was fun to make and learn how to sew and follow the sewing directions. Sunday morning was the first time Ava had tried it on- turns out it was kind of big for her. With a few safety pins, it worked great. Oh well, now I'm just really on the ball cause her Christmas dress is already done for 2009.

The Book Find 2008:
My parents have this great tradition called the Book Find that happens sometime before Christmas when we can all get together in person or over a webcam. My parents buy each of us a book and wrap it in different wrapping paper and then hide them. Then we get a little swatch of the wrapping paper our book is wrapped in and we all hunt to find our books. We love it. Matthew got "1776" by David McCullogh, I got the "Joy of Cooking" by the Rombauer family (awesome cookbook-it has pretty much everything in it with an easy to read recipe format), Owen got "The Mitten" by Jan Brett that came in a sewn mitten with little animals that are in the book, and Ava got "B is for Bear" by Roger Priddy.

Ava finding her book.

Giving Grandpa a hug just after finding his wrapped book.

Owen with his book & mitten with the animals inside.

Ava reading her book with Grandma. (I love her cute feet in this one)

Kelly Christmas Party:

Henry, Olivia & Owen enjoying some good food and each other.

Ava, Matthew & Owen watching the talent show where some serious talent is shown.

Christmas Day:
When anybody asked Owen what he wanted for Christmas he would say he wanted a jingle bell, I think from reading the "Polar Express". So on Christmas Eve before we went to bed Matthew did some good work wrapping some jingle bells in a little box with silver wrapping paper and a red ribbon. Then he placed it on the stairs where Owen would find it on his way upstairs when he woke up. On Christmas morning- Owen came running to our room with his little box. He was so excited that Santa had brought him some jingle bells. He even said, "Santa didn't bring me any other presents but he brought me a jingle bell!" He was just so happy & excited to get some jingle bells from Santa. Then we took him into the living room and his excitement continued as Santa really did bring him more presents.



Michael & Owen playing in Cathrine's new suitcase.

Mom & Dad Huff at Kelly's house after our yummy Christmas dinner.

Ava & Grandma

Emily & Owen reading Christmas stories under our Christmas tree.

After Christmas Fun:

Michael & Owen sledding on the little hill by our house.

Family picture on my birthday.

Dallin & Owen on New Year's Eve.

Truman, Madalyn, Michael, Tucker & Owen making a volcano at Becca's house.

Ava's cute little baby body.

Welcome Elliot Christopher!

Congratulations to my brother Christopher and his wife Emily Ann. What a cutie. We are excited to meet you Elliot. And congratulations to Tucker & Truman too- your going to be great big brothers.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Happy Holidays.

Happy Birthday Ava-

Happy First Birthday. It's crazy to think how it's already been a whole year since you joined our family. Here's some facts about you at 1 year old:
- You have 8 teeth & 4 molars.
- You love your big brother Owen- when you haven't seen him for a while you get so excited to see him again. You also like to tease him & copy him.
- At your 1 year checkup you weighed 18 pounds (7%) Measured 28.25 inches (23%).
- You love to look at & turn pages in books

- You love to eat any bite sized pieces of food you can pick up with your little fingers.
- You just started making a few animal sounds- your first was the bear and a few others are kitty, elephant & lion (sounds just like a bear).
- You were pretty stubborn about learning to sign "more" but now you can sign it like a pro and use it whenever you want something. Also just started turning your hand for Owen & the sign for dog.
- You love to empty out cupboards and occasionally like to put things away.
- You a sensitive girl- you often cry when someone else is crying and you usually cry if someone is wrestling or playing to rough in front of you.
- You love to stand up next to things and walk around if you have something to hold onto. Also you can stand all by yourself for a little bit until you realize you are standing and fall down.

-Can say Ma-ma-ma, da-da, and although your mouth is closed when you say it, when ever you see or hear a dog you make the same closed mouth noise over & over and you are sure about what your saying.

You are a real sweetheart. It's so fun to be with you and learn about you. We love you.


Ava really seemed excited for her birthday. She loved having people come over to our house. She is a lucky girl to have so many people that love her.

She was pretty good at opening her presents and was so excited to play with them. She just couldn't play fast enough with them. While she was playing with one toy she saw Owen grab her other new toy and she threw a little fit about it.

Ava snitched a cupcake off the table while I wasn't looking. It was good I guess because then I didn't have to worry about whether she would like the cupcakes or not :).

From her earlier taste-testing, she dug right into her cupcake and smashed it real good.