The Martin Five!

Playing at the Park

2011-03-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

It has been pretty rainy the last few days...um weeks...months?? around these parts so when it was nice and sunny on Saturday I decided it would be a nice day to head out to the park just around the corner. Sometimes the idea of heading out with just me and the three kiddos is enough to make me ready for a nap but I'm really trying to get out and do more stuff and especially free things! It only took us 15 minutes to be all dressed and ready to go (miracle!!)We took the long way to get there so I got a bit of a workout pushing the stroller with the boys in to and Evie in the moby wrap but once we got to the park everyone had lots of fun! I even got some cute pictures with my phone! Now if only we could get a sunny day and Brad's day off to match up...

Calvin is 2!!!

2011-03-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

so cute snuggling with daddy after a bath

Calvin is two!!! It seems crazy that my sweet little boy is two....that is until I remember that he is a big brother so he better be two...haha

On his birthday our poor boy wasn't feeling so good. We ended up getting up and heading off to the doctor office to find out that he had bronchitics and an ear infection(his first ever) but he was still just as happy as could be.

here are all of our Veggie tales cake pops ready to be eaten all up

A few months ago Calvin came up to me and asked for a veggie tales cake and I told him for his birthday and from then on he reminded me every day about his veggie tales cake. I decided to make two of his favorites from the show, Larry and Bob, and Calvin was so excited! We had a party at home for him and we were happy every one that made it was able to come (even risking getting sick and all!)

Calvin is such a sweet little boy! He loves to follow Sam around and they play really well together. He is a very smart little boy! He is learning his ABC's and counting and I can hear the two boys singing together after bed time. He talks very well (in fact he already is beyond the 3 year old expectations in the "books") and my favorite things are when he comes down saying he loves us or wants some loves! He is very sweet with his baby sister and loves to make her giggle! I love you my sweet little snuggle bug! Happy birthday!!!

Evalynn's Four Months Old

2011-01-08T03:06:00.000-08:00

Yes I know that I haven't posted about Christmas yet but I will... Evie turned 4 months old on the 5th of January so I thought that I would put up her monthly photos to show how she is growing. She is such a happy little girl! Evie has started to really use her voice and her favorite time of day to chat is right after the boys are put to bed. It's almost like she wants to fill in Brad and I about how crazy they were all day! She loves to watch and laugh at Sam and Calvin and they are pretty quick to entertain her! We have added more formula to her diet and it seems to be working as she is starting to get a bit of chubbs on her, but she is still pretty little. She has started to wear some of her 3 month clothes but as you can see from her 4 month photo they tend to be a bit baggy still. Evie started rolling over from her tummy onto her back and she has also started to try to hold and grab her toys and loves to pull her blankie up over her face just like Sam did at her age. She will pull her blanket up over her face when she is sleeping and if we try to take it off she gets pretty mad at us. At least it is a crochet one so there is lots of air space but it is still a little scary to me. She sleeps for a good 6-7 hours a night and then wakes up to eat and sleeps for a few more hours so I'm starting to get some good rest also! I can't believe that she is already 4 months but at the same time it feels like she has always been here. We all love our little lady!!!

Evalynn's Blessing

2010-12-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at church Brad gave Evie her name and blessing at church. It was a very sweet blessing! Evie garbled a bit during it but she tends to talk to daddy when he is talking to her anyway so it was cute. The boys did really good and Sam kept telling me how cute Evie looked in her dress.

I decided to make Evie's dress because the boys both wore the same outfit Brad wore when he was blessed but it just wouldn't work for a girl. I found a cute crochet pattern and decided it was time to try my first outfit and I would have to say it turned out pretty great! I was a little worried about it because this is the first time I had made any clothing other then hats but it was really not that hard as long as you can read a pattern. Mostly it just took a long time because it was done with such a small hook but it was well worth the effort! Evie looked so cute in it and I'm so glad to have something that we can keep for other baby's in our family to use and hopefully for our granddaughters some day. We were so glad to have everyone that was able to make it come to be there for Evie on her first steps on our Heavenly Fathers path for her!

Two week check-up... well almost four week check-up

2010-10-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

We took Evie for her '2 week check-up' yesterday. Yes I know that she is almost 4 weeks... I really suck at getting us in for well baby/well child/OBGY appointments all the time but oh well.... When I took her in at 2 days old she had lost some weight and was down to 5 lbs 14 oz but that was all fine because most nursed babies lose some weight but gain it back. I forgot to call and make her next appointment but we did have the home health nurse come by this past week and when she came we were sad to see that Evie was still at 6lbs and 2.5 oz. This had the HHN a bit freaked but told me to not let the baby go more than 2 hrs between feeding and came back the next day. Well the next day when we put the baby on the scale she was 6lbs 2 oz so we called the dr and set up an appointment to just check her and started her on formula. When we took her to the Dr she was up to 6lbs 4oz so they thought that that was looking better and now we are getting her weighted next week 3 times to make sure we are getting a bit of chubs on her. I wasn't so shocked by this because we had a bit of the same issues with Calvin when I tried to nurse him as a newborn. I really did try to exclusively nurse Evie but I guess I am really one of the few woman that just can't produce enough milk. I really always looked at it as not so much that "breast is best" but more as a "healthy and growing baby is best" and if that means formula and nursing then great! Other then the low weight Evalynn is doing great! She is a pretty calm little girl. She really only tends to cry when she is starving (so most of the time that has been not much crying because she was always eating!) She is really calm and alert. She loves to look around and move her arms and legs. The boys really love her and are always wanting to give her loves and kisses. Yesterday I was cleaning up a spill on the couch and she was laying on the couch and Calvin was standing next to her leaning in and out would kiss her little hand each time he leaned in. It was so cute! Sam loves to come into my bed in the morning and gives her kisses and always is saying "oh she is so cute!" They are both really sweet with her but a lot of the time they need to be reminded to be gentle. Brad when back to work on the 20th and it was hard at first but we have really been working out the bumps of me being really out numbered. In fact I'm even going out with just me and the kids a lot now. It takes a bit more planing but we seem to have getting in and out of the car down to an art now. I even took the three of them to Ikea yesterday (Now that Sam is 3 and potty trained he gets to go in the play place) It was really kinda fun... But the cries of my sweet little girl are calling for me to feed her so that is all for now! We have been a little camera crazy so enjoy!!

Little Miss Evalynn

2010-09-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Evalynn Marie Martin was born at 2:59am the 5th of September! She weighed in at 6lbs and 8oz and is 18.5 inches long.
Here is how it all went down... My due date was the 10th but with needing to be induced with both boys the dr pretty much thought that this time would be the same so when I went in for my last appointment we pretty much talked about when we could induce (Sept 17 would have been that day because the hospital requires you to be 41 weeks) I left the appointment more than a little sad but at least I had a set date. Saturday seemed to be going just like any other day had. In fact I had some people call to check in for an update for baby progress but at that point I had nothing to report. Around 7pm I started to have a few contractions and by 7:30 I started keeping track of them (in the past once I start keeping track they tended to just fade away) By 9:30 they seemed to be getting closer. Around 10:30 they were averaging about every 5 minutes apart. Brad and I decided that if they got to about 4 apart by midnight we would head in to the hospital. Well by midnight they were at the 4 min mark and I was thinking that I would like an epidural! We got the boys up and in the car and headed over to Brad's parents place to drop off the boys. We then rushed off to the hospital because at that point we were down to 2-3 mins apart. We got to the hospital at 12:50am and they got me all set up in triage to see if this was the real deal. Well they checked me and sure enough I was 7cm dilated.... Yep I said 7! I had never gotten past a 4 without an epidural with both boys so I was pretty shocked! They got us into our room and had everything all set so I got my epidural about 20 mins after we got into our own room. We were all set up by 2:15 and we all thought that we would have about 2 hrs before she was here.... Boy were we wrong. Our nurse went out to get all of the paperwork done up but when she was gone I started to feel a lot of pressure so I told Brad to call her up to let her know... Lucky for us while Brad was looking for the phone she came in and I was like 'I think I need to push' and sure enough I did need to push! They called in the dr while I was trying very hard to not push...Who would have thought that it was harder to not push than it is to just push?! They got all set up in record time and let me push... and then right away I was told to stop pushing because the baby's head was out... Yep it was just that fast! One push and she was out! We didn't even make it to 3am! She is a very sweet little girl and we all love her to bits already! The boys seemed pretty happy when they got to meet her and now that we are all home they have loved giving her kisses. Sam loves to watch her in her bed and tells her in a very sweet voice "It's okay Evie" Calvin seems really happy to point at her and say "Baby!" over and over and they both love to give her kisses and loves! So far she is a pretty good sleeper and has slept for a few good stretches. She is eating well even with me trying to just nurse her. We got out of the hospital around 1 today and are glad to be home. The boys are now in bed and Evie is taking a little snooze. I would have to say I feel really great for just having a baby less than 48hrs ago and we all seem to be doing pretty good at adjusting to a family of five... Lets keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way!

We're Alive!!!!

2010-08-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I see it has been almost a year since our last post... Yeah I know I kinda really suck at the whole blog thing but there are a few reasons for the giant gap of posts. First we moved last October to Bellevue. We really love our "new" place and are really glad to not be planing another move this year for sure!! It was our 4th move since we got married so I'm glad to not need to pack this time again this year! About a month after our move our computer died... Yes we have been computerless for just under a year now! It has been hard to not have one but we did get a PS3 for Christmas so we have had limited Internet through that but I wasn't able to blog from it. So now for some catch up..... Sam is now 3 and is one crazy little man. He loves to run and play. He also loves to play the PS3 and the Wii. He seems to be able to run them better than I can. I guess it really is a learning curve that my kids will have from so much younger than I had. He has been fully potty trained for a long time now but we still have not master the nighttime yet. I think that a big part of that is it takes him a long time to get to sleep still at night so I am leery of waking him to pee but we have been working on it more as of late. He is such a smart little man. He knows all of his ABC's and can tell you what they all say and will tell me all the letters he sees. It seems to be rubbing off on Calvin also because he will repeat what Sam says. Sam really loves his little brother and the feeling seems very mutual. Sam is always making sure that we get some for Calvin too when I get them goldfish or fill up their cups. Calvin will be 18 months in a few weeks and is as crazy as his brother. He is running around all the time. He is a really happy little man and is learning new words every day. He loves to talk even if you can't understand a lot of what he says. He loves to play with cars and drives them all around the house. They both love to play monsters and I can hear them roar all the time... In fact a lot of the time that is how I know he is awake from his nap. We love our boys and we have fun everyday with them!!! Brad is still working at Wyndham and we are waiting to hear back about a new "job enrichment" he put in for. He seems to like his job and is really good at it and it has been good to us. Now that we live a lot closer to his work it is nice that he doesn't have to spend so much time in the car everyday. The boys get so excited everyday when he gets home so that they can give daddy loves! He is such a great dad and the three of them love to play together. I have been doing well. As you can see from side I have swallowed another baby seed and are ready for our new little one to come on out any day now. We also are going to have to change the name of the blog because we are getting some PINK in our world. Yep that's right we have a little girl coming! We are all excited about our little girl coming and the boys love to rub my tumming and give her kisses. I also have been working on starting up a business to sell my crochet baby items. I have been mostly just been selling to people at church but now that I have a computer I'm also going to opening an Etsy shop. I really love doing it and I think that what I make is pretty darn cute. I really can't wait to have this little girl to try on all of but last year I started making hats and it has just gone from there! So that is pretty much what we seem all seem to be up to and now I will add a few of the cute pictures from the past year.... Enjoy!!

My Big Boys!

2009-09-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that Sam is almost 2 and a half and that Calvin is 6 months old?! It is crazy how fast time flies. Sam is such a smart little boy. He loves to read. He and daddy go and pick out new books at the library every few days and Sam loves to sit and read them. In fact some mornings it is the first thing he wants to do. He is also learning his ABC's and can tell you a few of the letters and what they say. He has moved up to a big boy bed and seems to be doing well with it... He was climbing back into the crib so we ended up turning the crib around backwards so that it is to high for him to climb. He also thinks that if he tells me that the letters above the beds are different then that is who's bed it is. He will point to the "Calvin" letters and tell me that they are "S,A,M,D,O,ABC's... See mama... Sam's bed!" It is pretty funny. He can sing pretty much anything and everything. We can hear him in bed singing songs from "Les Miserable" to "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam". He loves to go onto Youtube and find all kinds of songs to watch. Some of his favorites are the songs from Madagascar.... We are pretty sick of "I like to move it, move it" but it is a hoot to see him singing and dancing to it. Sam pretty much is better at working the computer that Brad and I combined and loves to pull up the blog to see pictures of his Papa and goes on my facebook to leave notes to all. Sam has learned how to count to 10 and we are now working on getting up to 20. It is crazy how much he learns and remembers every day! We have been potty training Sam off and on for the last month but we have been really working on it this past week. I'm happy to say that Sam has been diaper free for 3 days now and hasn't peed on the floor in those 3 days. We did have one accident when we were out at the store but those are to be expected. He was just on his little potty seat but now that he has learned that he can pee standing up he is really into going on the big potty! I'm so glad that he has taken to it so fast and well! I can't believe how many less diapers I have to change now and how much longer the box is lasting!
Calvin is growing like a weed! I just packed up all of the little baby clothes and I couldn't believe how tiny they look compared to him. He was weighed just this last week and is at 16 lbs. He is such a happy little guy. He talks all day long and thinks that Sam is the funniest guy around. They will just sit and laugh at each other for most of the day. He is rolling over and pretty much rolls anywhere he would want to be.... like if he sees a piece of paper on the floor. He will roll over all of his toys that are around him to get to that paper! It is always so funny what kids love to play with. He is able to sit alone for almost a minute now and will sit for a few more with pillows around him. He isn't crawling yet but he seems to be getting closer to it every day. He really wants to chase after Sam so I don't think it will be much longer! This last week has been a long one for poor baby Calvin... He has always been a really congested sounding baby and this last week it has been bad. We have been to the Dr office 3 times already and head out again tomorrow. He is getting a breathing treatment every 4-6 hrs but they don't really seem to be helping a lot. He also had to get some chest x-rays done but they came back clean so no risk of pneumonia. I hope that we will be able to find out what is wrong and that we will get it all fixed up. It doesn't seem to get his spirits down at all and he is very happy and smiley to everyone!
Our camera is dead so I have had to resort back to Ol' Crappy that seems to be pretty indestructible but for every good picture there are about 10 craptastic ones so it really gets on my nerves to say the least but here are a few of the nice pictures of the boys!

Soft Baby Skin

2009-09-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

From the time that Sam was pretty much born his arms and legs looked like this

It was so sad. We tried all different kinds of things with very little improvement. He would scratch until he was bleeding and then more. People would ask if he his legs were burnt but even through it all Sam was a happy little guy and very rarely was upset by it. When we went in for his 2 year check we asked his Dr about it. He sent us home with a cream for his legs and a priscription of Bleach baths (1/4C of bleach for a half full tub 2-4 times a week) and wet pajamas... Yep WET PAJAMAS... like I soak the arms and legs of his pj's before bed and then put them on him and send him off to bed..... Well we left the office a little skeptical to say the least but fast forward a few weeks and....... TADA!!! NEW SKIN!! You would never know that just a month ago his legs looked like they did. We are so happy!!! in fact I even go a week between clipping his nails now instead of every other day like it was before! Yeah new skin!!!

Very Sad

2009-08-16T23:38:00.000-07:00

=

A very sad and photo free me!!!

Calvin's formula spilled all over my diaper bag and killed our camera.... I'm now very, very sad!!

June!

2009-07-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

So June flew by! On the 3rd Brad and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We went up to Snoqualie Falls and got out of the car to see them (we have driven up to them quite a few times because it is a really pretty drive and we go on drives when we want to talk) but we hadn't ever gotten out to go and see them, see we thought that it was a big long hike (it so wasn't) and we aren't really the hiking type... We were so happy that we went! It was so much better then I though it would be... We even did the half mile hike down to the lower view point and even survived the hike back up the hill...um mountain?!

Image from here

After we went out for supper and it was really nice to not have to cut someones food up or rock a crying baby with half my meal left! Thank you Bev for watching the boys! Some times I can't believe that we have been married for 3 years... They have been very busy! I love Brad so much! Three down forever more to go.... And I can't wait!
The next week I decided to have an adventure..... I took the boys over the mountains and through the woods to Granmas house. It was Calvin's first long road trip and my first long drive outnumbered. I got the car all packed up and we headed out at 5:30 am. I thought that the boys would sleep the whole way but like most well laid plans they didn't... Sam was awake for all but 30 mins of the 3 hr drive and Calvin was awake for the last hour. There was a 10 mile stretch were we all cried but it was about 20 miles before we got to mom's so we just stuck it out. We had a lot of fun visiting. It was the first time mom got to see Calvin and she loved it and so did he! Sam loved going out in the garden with Papa and loved picking strawberries. Sam loves to spend time with his Papa and now will pull up the pictures from our trip and point out Papa.

Sam and Papa watering the garden

Sam loves water

Papa and Sam chased Mommy and Granma... I got this pic right before I ran for it!Sam was trying to get more water

We had a lot of fun bumming around the Tri-Cities and it made me want to move there so much! I love the small town feel there and how friendly everyone is over there. I think that it would be a great environment for our children to grow up in. We went to the park and to the river and had lots of fun in the sun. (our first day there we went to a BBQ and the kids there wanted to know why he was so white... I told them that we didn't have as much sun where we lived... After I told mom and she said "well he almost glows in the sun he is so white!" I'm proud to say when we left he wasn't quite so pastie) There was movies in the park one night and we went. Before the movie they had music and fun for everyone. They had a Bounce House for the kids and I took Sam in. He had a blast! At first I thought that he would be scared but he just went in and stood his ground. Even with kids twice his size. In fact he loved it so much that when his turn was over I had to go into the bouncy house to get him out! Once it got dark the movie started. We watched Madagascar 2. Sam LOVED it... He sings "Move it, move it" all the time and even goes on youtube to watch it ALL THE TIME!!!Calvin loves to chill out in his Moby carrier

While we were there I decided to introduce Calvin to the world of food in the form of baby rice cereal...well more like baby gruel but you know... It took him a few weeks to really get the whole swallow thing down but now he is up to two meals a day and we are going to start adding in some of the good stuff this week... fruit and veggie puree.

Here it comes

First bite in

Not so sure

After his first meal... Not so messy but you can see why we call him a baby Lemar

We had lots of fun visiting and all to soon we were heading home. We got home in time for Brad's birthday and Father's Day. It was nice to be home and Daddy had missed his boys and they had missed him! What a fun and crazy summer and that was just the start of it!!! Lots more fun to come!

What Can I Say?!

2009-07-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Okay... So yeah... I bet you already guessed that I suck at keeping up on my blog..... When I started this blog I thought that it would be great.... I could do my journal with pictures and I could share it with everyone.... I guess I should have know that this would be harder for me then I first thought... I have a whole box full of half filled journals that tend to span no longer then 6 months... But from now on I will TRY to keep up on here more... I think that part of it is that my days are so much the same most of the time that I don't see how anyone else would want to hear about it but I will try to keep up more... I mean I will only be a crazy young mother with little ones for so long (after that I will be a crazy old mother... or just plain crazy... who knows!) and one day I will look back and wish I had noted the sweet little things my family did once upon a time... So here is me starting fresh!! Wish me luck!

Sam is 2!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Sam's 2nd birthday! Where has the time gone?! We started the morning off with his wake-up picture(we don't like the flash much!!)

After Sam woke up we headed over to the Martin's house so that I could make the cake... I saw this idea on bakerella and had to go with it!

Can you guess what they are yet??

Looking more like it...

TaDa... aren't they the cutest thing?!

We have a lot of "Bibbits" in our house from Sam's quilt that my mom made him to his potty chair so I couldn't resist!!

Once Daddy got off work we got the party started! Sam got loads of gifts and wanted to say Thank You to everyone! When he opened his gifts we told him to go say thank you and instead he brought the gift back over to who it was from waiting for them to open it so he could play with it! He did pretty well but we did have a few melt downs due to the fact that he didn't have a nap.

We sang happy birthday and he cried the whole time but once it was all done he sure did like eating his "bibbits" and so did daddy!!

Happy Birthday my big little man!!!

I'm a Quarter!

2009-05-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

On the 14th I turned the big 25... yep I'm a quarter! It was a nice day! It started out the best way for me. Brad had the day off so I got to sleep in! Somehow he even kept Sam in the living room so I didn't have any knocking and crying outside my door! Once I got up and had a nice long shower(again without knocking and crying... How did he do it?) I got to open my gifts! I got The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and a new work out that I have wanted from the time I saw the first infomercial! Here are my gifts with Brads wrap job
See how happy we all are...

Except Calvin... He got to tired and fell asleep.

After present time we dropped the boys off at grandmas and we headed out on a date! We went to Bellevue for my favorite...Sushi!
We love this place!! Yes Brad is doing a very bad Asian face.... He is so bad!!!!!

They have a little conveyor belt that the food rides on and we just pick up whatever looks good!
We ate like pigs and had a nice stack of plates at the end. After food we went to the mall and just walked around. It was nice to just be out and about without the boys! We went back to get the boys and had cake. I had lots of calls from all of my family from far away and it was nice to chat with the ones that I talked to! It was really nice and I had lots of fun!

The PlayOff Beard.

2009-05-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

You Miss 100% of the shots you don't take -Wayne Gretzgy-

As anyone can tell, that can tell anyone. I have been a fan of Hockey since the great puck to the great Wayne Gretzgy's face incident of 19..90...something. Ask John he knows about it, EA SPORTS ITS IN THE GAME.

So Last year I decided in the interest of my son's dual citizenship and in the interest of taking up the interest of my wifeys proud heritage (the beaver is a proud and noble animal) I grew a play off beard. Oh you crazy superstisious Hockey fans and your ears. That's almost as silly as MJ wearing his North Carolina shorts under every game. Ask John he can tell you about that one.

Detroit Redwings were always my favorite team, probably becuase as a young child they were the only team that wore read. Red meaning Love in the language of flowers though in a very special case (The Geranium) Determination. John couldn't tell you that one. Not so smart are you coupe!

With out warning however something very special happend to my Redwings that year (last year) They won. Was it the determination of the players? The love they had for the game? Maybe if your into Ron Howard adaptions of history. I am not, it was obviously my Play off beard. 100% victory rate in the Stanley Cup and I look to go 2 for 2 this year as they pull a head of Anehiem and are one step closer to winning again. It isn't the work of one man that wins Hockey games, but one fans Beard.

Bradly Martin.

Still Alive!!

2009-05-03T22:22:00.001-07:00

Well I'm sure that you have been wondering where the heck we have been!! (WHAT!?!? You haven't been wondering?? Well you should... We are very important people that do very important things....) We still have yet to have Easter and at this point I think we may have to just fake it for the photos for posterity purposes. We still haven't been able to make it over to my mom's for it but we are hopping that we will soon.
I guess one of the reasons that I haven't put up a new post for so long is because I don't like posting without new pictures of the boys (new pictures of me can stay far, far away) and guess what?! I think that Sam threw away our camera charger... We got a nice camera for Christmas the year Sam was born and it needs a spacial charger for the battery. Sam thinks that it is a phone and likes to carry it around and talk to it but it has been missing for over a month now. I have searched high and low and cannot find it anywhere in the house! I think that he may have put it into the Diaper Champ and flipped it into the stench and doom that is the dirty diaper pail and that is somewhere that I will NOT go in! I have tried to take a few pictures with our old (read crappy) camera with little success. But here are the few decent ones I was able to snap. I have ordered a new charger and it is on it's way right now.. I can't wait!! Calvin is getting bigger and was 11lbs and 4oz the last time he was weighed. He is now 2 months old and is getting to be a lot of fun. He is smiling now and will coo at you when he is happy. He really loves Sam and will smile at him all the time. We have been blessed with really happy and content babies! He sleeps anywhere between 7 and 10 hours a night and wakes up and eats and then will sleep for a few more. He is a lot like his big brother! I have been doing really well! We seem to have been able to get into a pretty good rhythm and things are good! We have really been loving the nice weather we have been having! We are able to go out and play. Sam really loves the bubbles so we spend at least a half hour out on the deck blowing them!
We spent today with my Aunt Sandra and Sofie. We went to the beach and had lots of fun! Sam loved throwing rocks and sand but you never knew what way they were going to fly so you had to keep a good look out! I wish we could have gotten some pictures but we all know why that didn't happen! It is always so nice to get to see family! We can't wait to go and visit them some time this summer!
We are heading into our busy time of the year! With May and June comes a lot of things to celebrate. We have Mothers Day and Fathers Day of course but we also have Sam's, Brad's and my birthdays and our wedding anniversary and lots of extended families birthdays too! So this will be a full two months and I'm sure we will have loads of posts so stay tuned!

SHHHHHHHH!!!!!

2009-04-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know that a lot of people have been putting up their Easter blogs but not us.... well the reason is that in our home Easter has yet to happen.... I know right?! How could you just put off something like that? Well let me explain.... Sam is little and has no way of reaching the calender let alone understanding it... We were going to head over to my mom's for Easter like we did last year but on Friday she gave me a call and said that we would have to put it off a week... She is fine but was a little sick and knew that she didn't have the energy for the two boys... Well it was a good thing because we all have the nasty bug that is going around. Sunday we all were to sick to even get up and go to church. Mom and Jim are heading over to this side of the mountains on Thursday and Sam, Calvin and I are going to head back with them and stay for a bit and then Brad is going to come and gather us up to go home. Mom had already gotten the Easter stuff so to save myself a few pounds I decided to only have one basket to eat instead of two!! We will be getting a post up on how our Easter went next week or whenever it happens....

Here are a few pics from last Easter... I would say look how big Sam has gotten but he still wears this outfit to church... hahaha the joys of having a child that grows slowly. all of his cloths last a whole lot longer!
Don't you just love the pout face?!

Yummy Mummy

2009-04-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

So Tisha makes these awesome baby products and is having a giveaway and I wants me a new stylish diaper bag! Check out her stuff at http://www.yummymummymaternity.ca/

Me behind the curtain

2009-04-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

So lately I have been reading a lot of blogs by mom's. I have been blog-stalking (as I call it) you know... when you go and read peoples blogs that you don't know or you went to school with or went to church with but you don't really know them... anywho I do it.. I was reading some and they were talking about the truths about being a mom.. you know.. the things that you do but act like you don't.. I really liked this idea. I have been feeling a little isolated lately. We moved not to long before Calvin was born and I still haven't really found a good fit in our new ward. We were in the same ward from the time Brad and I were married and even though we didn't move that far it is sad to not see the familiar faces at church. I know it will just take some time but it is still hard. I wasn't really one to go out a whole lot before and it is even less now. Most of my days are spent at home counting down the hours till Brad gets home. I look at a lot of the mothers I know and I don't know how they do it! Their homes are clean and they always have supper on the table... That is so not me! I feel like I'm failing most of the time! I look around my house and see dirty clothes and toys that need to be picked up and dishes in the sink and I don't know where to start and how to fix it. Brad tells me that it is fine... after all you just had a baby and no one expects you to be perfect.. I have to admit it helps a bit but I can't live on excesses forever! Before Calvin was born Brad would say it was okay because I was pregnant... but I have come to realize that for most of our marriage I have been either pregnant or just had a baby so I have to stop using those as excesses.... It's hard... Really hard! There is a big part of me that just wants to continue to be an ostrich and keep my head in the sand but that does no good at all! I find that a lot of the time I feel like I'm letting my boys down. There are a lot of days that we all stay in our pj's and don't eat the most healthy food....(Sam's eating chocolate chips from my big Costco bag right now and I'm letting him because that way I can type...) Our TV is on almost all the time... in fact it is the first thing Sam does when he gets up in the morning. I don't think that I'm a bad mom just one that is taking the easy way out at times. I find at times I'm yelling a lot more than I ever thought I would... Sometimes I feel like it's the only way to get Sam to even look at me. I really miss talking to adults!! Most of the day my conversations consist of the ramblings of a 22 month old and that leaves something to be desired...but then if I do get to talk to adults all I have to talk about is the kids! It's a total catch 22! Don't get me wrong I love my boys more than I ever thought I could but it is hard to be a mom! there is always more that needs to be done and not enough time to do it in!
There are a lot of happy things too! Sam is turning into his own little person everyday. It's amazing to see how much he is learning every day... Calvin is still in the "little blob" faze but every once in a while we get a little smile from him and I know it is only a mater of time until he is just a wild and crazy and fun as his big brother.
They say that time flies when your kids are young and that you'll look back and wonder where the years have gone... I hope that I will be able to look back and be happy with what I see! What about you?

My Happy Thought

2009-03-24T22:00:00.001-07:00

My sweet husband brought this home for me! It even has a handy ipod download so now I can take Edward everywhere I go!!!!!! Now if only I could afford a Kindle so I could fit the books in my diaper bag.... *sigh*

Calvin's One Month Photos

2009-03-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm not a great photographer by any means but I have been doing some reading and am trying to get better at it and who better to practice on then my boys...

My life load after load after load......

2009-03-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

So Calvin is now one month old... Sam seems to be adjusting well but there are some hick-ups. He really loves his baby brother, almost too much at times. He will try to rock him in his swing... maybe a bit on the hard side... my favorite part is that if I tell him to be gentle and soft he will continue to rock just as hard but say "soft, soft, soft" while doing so. It is quite funny but we can't let Sam see that. He also will try to pick up Calvin any chance he gets. It is very scary for me but really cute at the same time. He loves to point out his eyes (well really try to poke out his eyes but he does that with Brad and I also) He will also bring the baby his soother (pacifier for you Americans) and force the baby to take it. He also loves to feed him his bottle... It is all very sweet really! But onto the hick-ups..... I do laundry every day... now I know that most households have a full load everyday but I'm washing the same load everyday! Sam for some reason will un-zip or take off his bottoms of his pajamas and undo his diaper and pee in his crib. He will do it every night but if he has sweats on for his nap he will do it also. This leads to full on temper tantrums in front of the washing machine... There is stomping and growling and screaming and crying for the precious blankies! The whole thing is very frustrating for me because he doesn't even try to undo his diaper when he is up. I guess it is just time to start potty training him but I don't know if it will change anything at night. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will all work out well! Sam also seems to think that he should get to nurse when Calvin is. It makes things a little hard when I'm trying to keep the baby eating and keep Sam at an arms length away. There are a few more hick-ups but I'm sure that we will get them all ironed out with in the next few weeks and months. All we can do is pray and keep the washing machine going!!

My sweet baby boys!

2009-02-25T00:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it but Calvin is already 9 days old. He is such a sweet baby! At his 2 day Dr. appointment Calvin was 7lbs and 10 oz. And when he was weight yesterday he was 7lbs 12oz so he is almost back up to his birth weight of 8lbs. Here are a few pictures that I took... I guess I'm a little shutter happy... I already have over 150 pics of him ( I love our cannon camera) He is a really good baby. He seems to take after Sam a lot when it comes to sleeping. From the start they love to sleep.. Calvin will sleep for a good 4 hrs and then wake up and eat and go back down for another 4 hrs. I guess it is their way of making it up to me for how little sleep I get at the end of my pregnancies...lol
Sam is doing really well with the baby. Brad and I have dropped in rank. When I went in to get Sam up yesterday I went in and said hi to him and he said "Hi baby!" He loves to hold him and kiss him and poke his eyes... He will also try to calm him down when he is getting his diaper changed and then Sam will take the dirty diaper to the trash for me. Sam is acting a little crazy but I'm not sure how much of that is just the fact that Calvin is here now or if it is that we are all going a bit stir crazy from being home more. The cutest thing is that Sam will try to read Calvin his books. Sam love the book "There's a Monster at the end of this book" and Sam will try to read it to Calvin.... His favorite page is the one that says "Shhhhh" he will put his little finger up to his lips.. It's so cute!

Oscar Party

2009-02-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

The Oscar Party is over and the competition of who made the most correct Pics is the same as last year. Once again my wife whooped my butt which isn't fair because I pretend to know so much better when it comes to film. That is to say this year wasn't with out its Token wins and losses.
Since it's likely anyone reading this hasn't seen any of the films I'll just get to the major Awards.

Best Picture: Slum Dog Millionaire. Big fan of Danny Boyle but didn't see his movie
Best Actor: Sean Penn. Yah so what, a token Oscar for playing a gay Man. That is hate speech to even think that! He portrayed Harvey Milk (the courageous man for being openly gay in San Fransisco) better then anybody else and he let all us commie homo hating bigots understand clearly the shame we should feel for not supporting prop 8 (or would it be supporting prop 8? I don't know I don't live in CA) which CA voted no on. He let us know how important and sacred a right the sanctity of marriage is and how ashamed our grand kids will all feel for denying every person's right to be joyously married to the Person they love! He did not thank his wife Robin Wright Penn...

Best Actress: Kate Winslet. She's been nominated so many times I suppose it was about time she won. I didn't pick her, I didn't see The Reader and probably wont. Oh well at least she didn't go on and on and on about things that don't involve actual film and acting.

Final Talley AMY 12 and Bradly 8. I lose 2 years in a row. CURSES!

Here He Is!!!!

2009-02-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Introducing Calvin Thomas Martin!! He was born Monday February 16th 2009 at 7:25 pm. He was 8 lbs and 19 inches long! We went into the hospital Monday morning to be induced. Things went really well. Sam went over to grandma Martins and played with his cousins to wait for the call. Everything went really well. They had me all hooked up and had my Pitiocin started by 10 am. We just had to hurry up and wait then. Things were moving along really well by 3:30 and I got my epidural at 4:30. I told the Dr that now we had about 4 hrs till baby... They didn't really think that would be happening sense I was only 4cm and -3 still. I tried to get some sleep and got a few hrs but woke up at 6:30 sick. They checked me and I was 6cm and his head was a -3 still. Well then the contractions came on hard and fast! I pushed the magic epidural button but it wasn't doing a whole lot so they called the Anistiologist in to give me a top up. After they toped me up I asked them to check me again and low and behold we were 10cm and his head was at a 0. They called the Dr in and told be to go ahead and try a few pushes.. Well we pushed once and they told me to stop because they could see his hair and had to get everything all ready. We called everyone to let them know that we were going to start pushing at 7:15.... Ten mins and 5 pushes later Calvin was here!! He is a great baby!! He loves to just lay quietly and look around him! Brad's family got to the hospital about a half hr later and Sam came around the curtain with a big grin on his face! He was a bit apprehensive about the baby but gave him kisses and was happy... I think he really had more trouble with seeing me in the bed. Everyone got to goo and gaa over Calvin and then we said goodnight to everyone and settled in for the night. Calvin did really well.. He is a good sleeper just like Sam was and is! We got a few 4 hr stretches so that was great! We got to head home yesterday around 6 pm and went and got Sam from grandma's house.. There Calvin got to meet the rest of the family. We are really glade to be home again and getting into some sort of routine. Sam really loves to look at Calvin and give him kisses and hold him... He tries to get down and wants to take Calvin with him.... We will have to keep a close eye on that one!! But they are really cute together!!

Still in there!

2009-02-13T23:41:00.000-08:00

Just so you all know we still don't have a new baby!! I guess my kiddos just love being inside so much that they stay in there until they are forced out... The big induction will be on Monday as long as everything is good at the hospital..... unless he decideds on his own to come out..... That would be nice but I highly doubt it!!!!!!!!!!!

But the counter says 0 Days left!!!!!

2009-02-08T00:53:00.000-08:00

So here we are again!!! We have hit the big Due Date but as you can see we are still lacking a cute cuddly baby! I'm not really all that thrilled with being pregnant still but hopefully it will all be over very, very soon.... We are keeping our fingers crossed!! We will let you know when baby gets here....if he ever does....*sigh*

Catching Up

2009-01-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well somehow the end of 2008 has past me and so has most of January. I guess it’s time to get some Christmas photos up on here. The ones of Sam in the cute Christmas pj’s are Christmas Eve… Then he decided to have a massive diaper leak at about 4 am and had to get his blue pj’s on.. Sam was a lot of fun to watch opening all of his presents. As he opened each thing we had to set it up for him. Once he got the magnadoodle he didn’t want to put it down. We would ask if he wanted to open a present he just cried “NOOOOO” until we started to open the next thing and then he was all for opening gifts. All and all it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait till next year when there will be two little boys opening toys… After Christmas we all took turns getting sick.. It wasn’t fun and I’m really glad that we are all better now. Now we are just trying to get the last few things ready before the new baby comes. Sam is very excited about the baby coming. He loves to lift my top up to see my belly and say hi and give the baby kisses and blow raspberries. He thinks it is really funny. He also loves to chase the baby with a flashlight. He puts the light on my belly till the baby moves and then he laughs and laughs and then puts the light up to his face almost like he know that the baby is moving because the light is in his eyes. It is really cute to see how his mind works. So here are some pics of the belly. I tend to forget to take them… The one that is my bare tummy has my finger in my belly button . It never popped out with Sam either.. I guess when your belly button is like 2 inches deep it won’t pop….lol. We are just shocked that there is a bottom to the pit that is my belly button.. lol. The pic of me with my hair down is me pregnant with Sam (yes I’m wearing the same top… that’s what happens when you have two babies in less then two years. Hahaha) I guess I’m about the same size but I feel a lot smaller this time… I don’t really know why but I hope that it is because this baby is smaller then Sam was… What do you think?! The last two pics are what happens a few times a week... The washing of the blankies... Yes he still has one (we have a double of the dark blue one) but that isn't enough he stands outside of the door and crys for them almost the whole wash time.... It's sad and funny and pathetic....

The Curious Case of Brad enjoying a Film.

2009-01-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

There comes a time in every overly anal film viewer’s life when he says I wish time could go in reverse. Back to a time when a script was inspired by a message told in a story that can bring thought to the mind and perform a violin solo on the strings of the heart. A time when romantic films were written to help you better understand the phenomenal choice you made when devoting yourself to the one you are with. To a time when the violence and disasters of life were met with a solemn promise of hope. Where a secondary character isn’t there to promote a catch phrase sold world wide on a T-shirt. David Fincher (director) has created such a device with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The film is about a boy born as a 80 year old man who ages backwards. The people he meets through the life he lives. That’s actually about it as far as synopsis goes. Though on the surface of everyone you meet we all know there is a much deeper story to what a face can tell. A story of Love, loss, regret, forgiveness, Life, Death, and Time.
Brad Pitt and Cater Blanchett are in top form. The chemistry between them at times is uncomfortable as a Truck driver and a Hemmy and at other times as beautiful as a newly wed couple who haven’t discovered the inconvenience of monthly rent. The most heat achingly profound and honest love story I have ever seen. You can literally see Benjamin falling in love with Daisy in multiple scenes in addition to see his heart break in others. His best performance to date. Though Brad Pitt isn’t the only one burdened with the task of aging a character. Cate Blanchett is right there with him growing older and wiser. Both performance I am certain will be snubbed by the Academy which is truly in my opinion the mark of an astounding performance.
The remaining cast all have there typical stories however the stories never come across as clichéd. Loving your mother is a cliché, being a best friend with an outcast is cliché, knowing the love of your life as a young girl is cliché yet no performance or character comes across as cliché. It’s all fresh and profound like we are experiencing it all along with Benjamin Button for the first time. For a running time of 3 hours or so this was quite a relief.
There is so much this movie has to say however it doesn’t say it. It promotes the most beautiful and important of messages with out ever becoming preachy. Nothing ever seems forced or contrite. Nothing ever seems dishonest or Condescending. Almost like a memoir of an actual man that actually lived that was terrible at the art of Fabrication. For example if I wrote a memoir it would be titled “The Life and Times of the perfect Husband” I like the sound of that.
In short, I enjoyed this film. I can’t say enough about it but find I just end up repeating myself. I recommend this film be viewed by everyone and in edition the special edition from Costco when released in 8 months also be purchased and above all else please see it with the one you chose to be with.

All that Gliters is not Gold

2008-12-30T22:27:00.000-08:00

~Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm!
Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, dad.
Homer: Why thank you, honey.
Lisa: By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Hmm. How does it work?
Lisa:It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock!
Homer:Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you?
Homer: Hmm... Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

The Golden Compass based on the children story by Phillip Pullman is an unlikely hero’s journey into the darkest rooms of the unrelenting mind and soul. The film is about a director who failed to juggle several different plot points, character motivations, and CGI talking animals. A would be epic adventure turned epic Failure as they say.
The first problem the film has is every character goes on and on about Dust with the utmost urgency? What is dust you ask? I don’t know. The story never really tells you. Nicole Kidman playing a very capable Mrs. Coulter wants to read the world of dust so my guess is it has something to do with Scientology.
Mrs. Coulter the head of an evil organization kidnaps poor bucked tooth awkward looking British kids to separate them from there CGI animal companions? Why would she do such a thing? Your guess is as good as mine.
Don’t worry though the brave and courageous Lyra is off to save these poor kids and make things right. She is a very special courageous and gifted child? Why? Because we are told she is. She also has the uncanny ability to read the Golden compass. What does it do? Why it tells the truth! What truth is that you ask? Why your guess is as good as mine. Lyra often reads the compass and we get to see some dusty images of things that the audience already knows anyways. For example, the characters kidnapping children are bad. GOOD THING FOR THAT COMPASS TO LET US KNOW!
Along the way Lyra befriends a lot of characters that are much more interesting in there other movies. Sam Elliot as a (you guess it) cowboy. He claims to be an aeronaut but he wears a cowboy hat talks with a Sam Elliot accent and of course has a six shooter. Also befriending an Ice Bear named Iorek who is a very un amusing Drunk. She helps him get his armor back so he decides to pay her back by becoming her Chewbacca as it were. The relationship the bear and child have in the story is very heart warming and you can’t help but feel disappointed at the loss of depth in this train wreck of a film.
So off Lyra goes to discover the secret of missing children, dust, and the worlds in parallel universe. All the characters she meets can not stress enough how important dust and parallel universes and even Lyra herself all are. Why they are so important? Well apparently we the audience aren’t cool enough to know why.
The film really loses it’s way after the Bear WWE match settles and Lyra finds the missing kids. How to escape this prison of British kids! WHY THE FRONT DOOR! Lyra clearly had to ask the compass how to get out of this one. If only I had a compass to ask why New Line would bankrupt themselves with this garbage. Then again maybe some things are better left unknown.
For those of you wondering why I haven’t mentioned Daniel Craig? The reason Is he has a bit part and is of little importance. I’ll beat a dead horse and tell you not to worry though, we are told he is very important. The actual character Lord Asriel Is very important to the plot but I guess the director was never told why.

Worst Film I’ve seen this year.

Going Stir Crazy

2008-12-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

So we have been having a lot winter... more so then we are used to in Seattle area. In fact it is snowing right now as I type. The snow is not really that big a deal to a Canadian girl like me but to all of the Seattle people this is big stuff... The limited amount of plows that they have here don't get the job done and people don't seem to understand that cars+hills+ice+not so good drivers = a lot of accidents!!! The WADOT has asked people to just stay home but Brad's job does not pay him if he isn't there and they seem to like to wait until he is already on his way to cancel work. So he has been taking the Subaru to work and leaving the Echo at home.... well sort of at home he couldn't get it into the parking lot so it is across the street. To say the least Sam and I have been going a little stir crazy... He loves to get into anything he shouldn't... Here is what he was into when I was on the phone with Brad. Yep that's the baking soda box.... and look how proud he is that he is making it "snow" inside... At least he is happy and hey my carpet smells good now...hahaha

Life's Adventures Tag Brad

2008-12-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

What I've done is BOLD

1. Started your own blog on Live Journal! I hate movies there to
2. Slept under the stars my Apartments under the stars
3. Played in a band Rock Band for the wii ALEX GRINDER!
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity Im a regular George Clooney
7. Been to Disneyland yes...and its meh
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo I still be singing solo's all the time.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch Everything is art though my eyes, so it counts.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning The super Shits must have been a result of this one
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables everyone had this project in Elementary school
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight I still have those with my wifey
22. Hitch-hiked I've gotten lost several times
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill at least one time a month
24. Built a snow fort Zubright Zubrie Snow Fort Mountain!
25. Held a lamb Dead and Alive
26. Gone skinny dipping With limited Shrinkage
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse of the Heart
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset Not on purpose, I was overnight security and it happend
31. Hit a home run Reigning Wii champion
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara falls in person Yes my good buddy Niagara falls all the time
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors What Mormons haven't been to Utah?
35. Seen an Amish community Read above explination
36. Taught yourself a new language EN CHI CHAN CHAN CHAN
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied I'm Low Maintenance
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing Every kid climbs rocks
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke My family has a karaoke machine
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant Poor man's gotta eat to man
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight Yes but it was not Sexy at all
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling In a pool, Maui will vouch for me
52. Kissed in the rain It's Washington. Kissed in Sunshine is the more unlikely
53. Played in the mud I am king of Mud Mountain
54. Gone to a drive-in theater Tomato Juice Powah
55. Been in a movie Just my Arms
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business Business of Sexy Husband and Business is Booming
58. Taken a martial arts class yes, I got all the way up to Yellow Stripe.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen I live to serve
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma Your Blood will Spill!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter It had a clown face. Me and my pops at the air show
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy I still have my Sand Shrew pokemon card
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar Rich Parents
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle-
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper School Newspaper HA, yes I'm a loser
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox Didn't I ever tell you how I got these scars? Why So Serious
89. Saved someone's life Friendship Saves lives!
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club How else can I share my Brilliance?
93. Lost a loved one- At Tahoe, she as found wondering around the lake. Crazy wondering Maycee. Oh and Austin my cousin Died. My son's middle name is Austin
94. Had a baby-My wife has but I stayed away from the business end. I passed a kidney stone named Urethra Franklyn
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone I still own a Cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee Several Bees, I rocked the hive with rage and anger. Sad story

Life's Adventures Tag Amy

2008-12-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

What I've done is BOLD

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars- like for the whole summer one year
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch-hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort- I’m Canadian after all
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted-well my granma had one done of me and my sister.. It’s at my mom’s place
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling-I went scuba diving in a pool in landlocked Alberta
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie- The fabulous "Afternoon of the Retarded Dead" costarring Camilla Aikau
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business-does a lemon-aid stand count?
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle-
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one-
94. Had a baby-it's hard but for me the pregnancy is the really hard part
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-13T21:22:00.001-08:00

Here is our Christmas tree. I have to say that I think it looks pretty good. Brad and I bought this tree for $10 our first Christmas. It's has served us well. Sam loves to crawl under it and look up into it. He has been pretty good at not touching it to much and when he does take off an ornament he either tries to put it back on or he will say "uh-oh" and brings it over to us. Maybe some year we will get a real tree again but for our time in rentals this one seems to do the job in style.

Sam

2008-12-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was the annual Martin grandson pics. For her Christmas cards Bev (Brad's mom) takes all of her grandson's (that's all she has... our new baby will be grandson # 6) to get pictures done and sends that out as her cards. Last year we went to Babies'r'us and they sucked! They took like one pic of each of the kids and were like 'there you go...' so to say the least we didn't go back to them this year. We went to the picture people. They were really good.... expensive but good. So here is the newest professional pic of Sam. Isn't he just the cutest?!?!

Robot Parade

2008-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery. -Comrac McCarthy. THE ROAD.

Wall-e is the cinematic achievement full of beautiful ironic scenery lovable characters (or is it a lovable character) and solitude of epic proportions. Wall-e (the cutest non fuzzy Pixar creation to date) is built to serve a human race that has seemingly disappeared after leaving there mess behind. Perhaps our eccentric Robot hosted a house party while his parents were a way? Oh Wall-e don’t you know best friends never stay to clean up? What ever the reason the earth is in a complete mess and Wall-e is left all on his own (if anything is cuter then charming eccentric its lonely charming eccentric) to clean up the filth. Sounds like a green peace Tour de force right? Well it is and it sickens me however in this garbage maze of save the environment propaganda hides the delicious cheese of Sci Fi Brilliance.

The kipple effect! Miles and miles of garbage piles converted into a skyline of Trash Buildings, did Wall-e build all these or is he in Seattle? Mechanical Maintenance engineers and a single cockroach the only thing left civilized? Is Wall-e Lonely? Can a robot dream of electric sheep? Is there really this much tribute to Phillip K Dick and Richard Matheson's stories this early on? Even if you haven’t read the works of those two Sci Fi Horror juggernauts you can still appreciate the irony. That is until Eve shows up then we are introduced to the work of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke. Eve I think is suppose to be categorized as a “girl” robot. She has sudden mood swings and blasts anything and everything though has a touch of remorse when destroying an allready destroyed cruise liner, oh the irony! She and Wall-e hit it off but unfortunately for Wall-e Eve is more interested in her Directive then living with him in his junk yard planet. That’s right, Eve is a working Girl.

Eventually we blast off into space and find out the mystery of where everyone alive went (something cars didn’t care to mention) it’s a utopian society where everyone is cared for and work is a thing of the past. Truly a far better life then anyone could ever hope for, or is it? Very Isaac Asimov, very Sci Fi!

After these occurrences we get into the heart of the story by which I mean the feel good Disney bait and switch. The silent slow and cinematic pace is replaced by rushed dialogue (there’s dialogue now) earth history montages a Bologna space captain representing every single human character that didn’t receive a voice actor credit and a Very disappointing all be it touching ending to an other wise fan boy shout out to sci fi genius. Kind of reminds me of the time I watched A.I. and I Am Legend. Such potential *sigh*

Whats this? I must have missed the point? You Cleary don’t believe in the power of Love Bradly you cynical old fool you. The connection (I believe its DSL) of Eve and Wall-e fits right up there with Belle and the beast in heart string pulling fuzzy warm ness! Lonely old adorable Wall-e showed us all that a connection of love changes the heart (or hard drive) of a person into something better to something beautiful! Truly a message that out shines the over bearing Hippie green peace crap right? Well I’m going to have to disagree with you and agree with our old psychotic friend Friedrich Nietszche “The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters.”

Other then the third act I would say this is the best Pixar film to date. Its absolutly marvelous in appaerance and charming in character development (that is befor the Oscar Meyer Weiners show up) but like pervious Pixar films it seems to throw an ocean of endless depth in your face asking you to "JUMP IN THE WATERS FINE" only to find yourself with two broken legs on a shallow reef of unimaginative feel good crap endings. Thanks Pixar for the shallow puddle of an ending but I think I'll stick to drowning in your ocean of brilliance begennings.

definatly reccomend a viewing just not a repeted one.

Brad's "little" Twilight Review

2008-11-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

Teen Girls everywhere (and Maui) giggle with excitement as Twilight hit’s the silver screen. A film adaptation of Stephenie Mormon Meyers first published book with the same Name. Personally I think this film could have been Robert Pattinson walking around with his shirt off while smiling at the audience spouting “Hi there I’m Edward Cullen” and it would have easily still made its 70 mil opening…If not more. While enduring the screaming wedding proposals to Edward Cullen and the wailing tears of teens everywhere when Edward settles for Bella instead of them lies an actually pretty Decent film.
Meet Bella, a girl who feels way to grown up to live with her mother and step father while they live out there own teen fantasies. She decides to move to Forks with her father to get away from it all. Kirsten Stewart batting her eyelashes as if she took method acting from a humming bird and chewing her lip as if she bit hard enough shed reach the tootsie pop center is the prefect Bella. We can all easily ignore her and put our selves in her place which I’m told is the point.
Bella in all her monotone outcast living just cant fit in, though fitting in to Forks appears easier then fixing an election. Until she meets Edward, from here on out she realizes she does have a purpose in life. To stand in for every teen girl in the audience while Robert Pattinson brilliantly portrays the sexiest vampire of them all. Especially sexy next to the train wreck looks of the rest of the Cullens, so that’s why they cast an ugly Alice!
Pattinson has an astounding chemistry with the viewer, truly a transcendent performance. He emotes with the best of them showing doubt, fear, restraint, and even Love (awww) though for some reason the word love is never said (pffft)
Stewart as Bella is channeling Natalie Portman’s performance from attack of the clones. I’m afraid of losing you she says with all the conviction and power of a sack of door knobs. Everyone needs door knobs right?
The remainder of the cast is there but it doesn’t have to be. The film seems more interested in showing you the best parts of the books and what you feel they would look like rather then showing you the best part of the books to remind you how you felt when reading them. In this sense the film is very much rushed which is strange at a 2 hour running time. It flew by faster then Vampires playing baseball. Nothing seemed developed. The scenery is beautiful (defiantly not filmed in forks) and Bella and Edward staring at each other is of course “touching” (she does her best work silent) but there is so much left unsaid its almost disappointing. I myself was upset that the deep romance Bella and Edward had for each other was summed up with a 2 minute starring contest.
Carlisle my favorite character is another strong example of this problem. What is his story? how did he come to be? Take it away Edward “Carlisle made me what I am..” Thanks for that back story Edward, anyone else get one? No that would take away to much staring time and pointless James and crew killings.
James actually gives an amazing 2 second performance, watch for it. I am being extremely serious (played by Cam…something, its an odd name. he’s from Tacoma).
The film is flawed as is expected from such a low budget. It seems the top priority was to get teen girls to scream at the screen, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. But I couldn’t’ help but feeling disappointed at this decision because it seems this Robert Pattinson is a brilliant actor stuck in a film that doesn’t ask him for brilliance. Just shirtless-ness. Cam as James is stuck as a Saturday morning cartoon villain but let’s us know (and possibly other directors) that he can be brilliant as well even if it is for 2 seconds. I know its hard to ask a lot of an origin story but when they hack up your favorite scene from the book you can’t help but feel disappointed especially when the actors are perfectly capable of doing that favorite part Justice.
I’d give the film a meh but under the circumstances of how I came to see it (Husband and Wife date, Wife really wanting to see it) it was great. I only wish all the films my wife wants me to see with her are as great as this.

My "little" Twilight Obsession

2008-11-26T21:07:00.001-08:00

Okay so I might not be one of the teen girls that camped out for the books or movie releases... (I did send Brad to go get me Breaking Dawn at the midnight release party even though I had a copy coming in two days... I had finished reading it before that copy came) but I might have been just as excited as all of the other fans. I spent most of last week on my couch re-reading all four books again before we went and saw the movie. I mean what else am I going to do with all of my "free time" thanks to the Braxton Hicks contractions I'm having. Well Brad and I went to go see the movie on Monday. I was a bit disappointed with some of the way the movie went but all and all I was pretty happy with it. I was sad that some of my favorite parts were different but I felt it was pretty true to the book. So if you ask me it is a thumbs up! I am looking forward to the next three to come. Now I just really wish it was on DVD so I could be as obsessive with the movie as I am with the books. I know I drive Brad nuts sometimes with my insane reading habits... I mean I read over 2000 pages in like four days but whatever... Right?!? I just really get swept up in the books.... I really think that if he wants to blame anyone it is Maui's fault!!

Get with the times

2008-11-23T23:38:00.000-08:00

Well I guess it's time to get virtual. I will try to keep this up to date and with me home all day with Sam and growing his little brother I guess I don't really have any excuse... except of course the whole having a one year old and another due in a few months...but I will try to keep this more up to date then my facebook or my myspace seem to be..