Classic Finn

I have some stories that are so classically Finn that I had to write about them. Finn is 10 and about 6 months ago he started to hit his stride as a "tweener"- with attitude , eye rolling and full blown sarcasm. This has kind of taken me by surprise because he was such an easy baby, toddler and kid. He has always been obedient and sweet- rarely giving me any trouble. Don't get me wrong, he still is a sweet, good boy- but he has gotten more vocal and opinionated about our family, his role in it and the way I run it. I know this is all normal for his age and it will probably get worse before it gets better. But it is also fun to watch his personality develop as he becomes his own person. So on to the stories.

Last week we went to the Oquirrih Mountain Temple Open house. I was taking my 4 kids alone and didn't want to chance swearing in the temple so I had arranged a babysitter for Suzie. My brother and his wife live just minutes from the new temple, so I called and asked my sister-in-law, Amber to watch Suzie. They have a little girl, Emma, who Annie and Katie love to play with. So when my kids asked who was watching Suzie and I told them she was going to Emma's house, Annie said, "I want to go to Emma's house." I said, "No, Annie you are going to the temple." To which she complained, "But I don't want to go to the temple." Finn, overhearing this, piped in (and I'm pretty sure with an eye-roll thrown in for good measure) ,"None of us do, Annie."

After going through the temple, we were walking out and surprise, surprise my girls had to go to the bathroom. There were some port-a-potties outside that we used. As we were coming out there was a boy about 8 years old crying on the sidewalk. I went up to him and asked him what was wrong. He replied that he couldn't find his mom. So I told him I would help find her. We were walking back to find someone official to help us and I asked him, "What does your mom look like?" He paused for a second then desperately said, "I don't know. I can see her in my mind but I can't tell you." We found a security officer who helped him find his mom. As we were driving home I was smiling about how that little boy knew what his mom looked like but couldn't describe her. So I asked my kids, "If someone asked you what your mom looked like, what would you say?" I got answers like, "She's tall." "She has brown short, hair." and "She has blue eyes." Then I, fishing for compliments, said, "Would you say she's pretty?" Finn looked at me slyly and said, "Maybe." Then egging him on said, "Would you say she's skinny?" Then Finn looking at me sideways said again, "Maybe." Then laying it on even thicker I asked, "Would you say she has a smile that lights up a room?" Then Finn, without missing a beat and with a gleam in his eye said, "Maybe if she brushed her teeth every once in awhile." Ahh that's my boy!

Annie's Happy to You

This post is brought to you by my awesome friend Kamille- who is a computer genius- and showed me that you can actually just put your camera card into one of those tiny slots in your hard drive and you can download your pictures from there. I must say that I felt a wee-bit retarded when she showed me this, since I consider myself one of the more computer savvy woman in my family- which doesn't say so much about me, but rather it speaks volumes about how much my mom and older sister know about the computer. (Love you guys:) Anyway I started this post back in June and never finished it because that is when I discovered I had a missing camera cord. So get ready for an onslaught of posts from the summer! (Really- who are we kidding here- maybe like one or two...if I'm lucky!)

Annie turned 8 this month and when Suzie woke up the morning of her birthday and saw the balloons and sign hanging up, she said, "Annie's Happy to you!" with such excitement and endearing innocence that I hereby proclaim birthdays in our family referred to as "Happy to Yous" henceforth and forever. So let it written, so let it be said. Note: You can only wield this kind of birthday changing power if you are the mother. In relation to birthdays, dad has the slightly less powerful task of paying for all the festivities. And festivities we had. Here is a recap:

Annie getting ready to eat her "8" pancake.

For her party we rented a bounce house and snow cone machine and I am under a sister-contractual agreement to mention here that I copied my older sister- Michelle's- idea for a birthday party. She had this exact same birthday for her boys back in May.

All the party girls!

We also had a pinata- again just like my sister. I included this picture because it makes me laugh. Suzie is really showing that pinata whose boss with those broom bristles. It s a good thing she is blindfolded or that pinata might be swept to death.

And of course the pinnacle of Annie's 8th Birthday- her baptism.


We are so proud of her and her decision to be baptized. She is a beautiful girl inside and out. Our family wouldn't be the same without our Annie-bananie!

A quick camera cord update

So we got home from our Yellowstone trip tonight and Eric was looking at the pictures we took on our trip. He was sitting at the computer less than an hour after we walked in the door and asked, "Hey, Kari - have you found the cord to the camera yet?" I paused for dramatic effect- pretending like I really had to think about whether I had found it or not- then responded disappointedly, "Oh no- not yet." He just nodded his head, but I'm pretty sure a seed has been planted in fertile soil. We just have to wait and see what I can reap. Do I know my husband or what!?!