Thornatopia

Birthday x 2

2010-05-09T20:28:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Joseph! For those of you that do not know, his birthday is May 1st. Happy Birthday Bethany! She was born on May 2nd. This post is for them.

See that light in his eyes? That boy knows a tool when he sees one. This is just a cheap double a run screwdriver. We let him have some screws and some wood to use with it. As soon as he opened it he decided the laundry room was his work room. You may notice the small tool on the table in front of him. That is a fork, knife, spoon combo. The Knife had a bit of a run-in with my file. Now it is just barely butter knife quality.

What good is a tool kit without a flashlight? This one has a lanyard to hang around his neck.

Here he is with his entire horde from his birthday.

This was the cake. It was quick and messy, but it at least mostly resembles a wrench. Joseph told his grandma K. "That was a good tool birthday."

One day later...

Doesn't she look happy to be born? She has only cried once since she has been born, and that was when they drew blood. She will fuss quietly when hungry, but that's it.

Isn't she beautiful?

The kids all came to visit at the hospital. They were sure fascinated by that baby.

Abby loves her own bellybutton, so, when she saw the baby she justbarely glanced at the face, but could not get over that cool umbilical stump.

Emma and the baby. It is nice that she can hold and feed the baby unassisted.

Joseph loves her too, but requires more careful watching.

Ethan more than any of the others is excited about taking care of her. He is such a tender hearted boy.

Abby Blog

2010-04-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we got so many good pics of this girl today, that we decided to do a blog just about her.

She loves 'bawberries' this one. You have to be careful not to leav any stems or ends on the table after you eat one because she will go back and try to pick off pieces you missed.

I got her to run to me by showing her where her tricycle was. She had just been trying to turn over the neighbors trike (the red one on its side in the background). When she saw hers she came a runnin'.

She is so funny. A more cheerful girl you will never meet. She loves climbing in laps, or up into beds and sitting on people and saying "Hey there!". Her favorite song is "Happy birthday". She tries to sing it and whenever anyones sings it to her she lights up. Laura was pretending with Emma and had sung it, but to Emma. Abby said, "Abby! Abby!" When Emma's name was used.

Don't worry. She peed on the floor, not the chair. We figured that since she had already evacuated her bladder and looked so cute we might as well get a couple of pictures.

This girl, any time she sees an animal says, "Oh! Cow!" often followed by "Raaaar!" It doesnt matter if it is an elephant or a duck. It's a cow to her.

She loves stuffed animals. They are all bears. I think it is because we have this really old board book called 'Me and My Bear' that she really enjoys. All these different stuffed bears, you know.

Well, that's it for now! Ty

New Baby

2010-04-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is. My lovely wife and the one that has struggled valiantly these past 8 months with a baby growing inside her. Fortunately, the last ultrasound we got some great pictures and video.

This is the face. to the left is a hand and the chin followed by lips then nose surrounded by a dark area that has her eyes. Although this picture does not show it, this is definitely a girl.

Well, I may have put the same video up twice, but everybody loves a great re-run, right?

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yessiree, its here and gone!

EASTER!!!!!!

Ready, set, go! The kids had 3 egg hunts this year and the pictures are all out of order. This is from the one in our back yard on Saturday. It was just a little one.

Here we are at our friends house. We were invited there for egg dying and a hunt. We had the hunt indoors because we were likely to be blown away if we tried to do it outdoors.

Isn't this girl adorable. Note the sand in the corners of the mouth. That is rather common since the installation of the sand box.

Yep, the master at work. This guy is our expert finder. At Todd and Sandy's house he found 17 eggs. He still hasn't come down off that sugar high.

Emma found a few eggs at the Potter's house. (That would be Nathan and Jenny -they are trying to edge out Thornock as the most popular last name in the Ward with three families of that name.)

The End. Joseph enjoying an egg before getting ready to go home.

We had a great Easter weekend. Hope you had one too!

Here comes the neighborhood.

2010-03-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Disneyland, we're givin' y'all a run fer yer money now. Well, it'll be a while yet until we have quite their resources, but we have just put in a sandbox and a see-saw in the back yard.
Here is an update photo of Laura and company. Thankfully, in just about a month (a bit more really, but don't tell Laura) they will be parting company.

Here is Joseph. In the background you can see the teeter totter and the play structure. It is able to withstand them, as I have had it Missionary tested and approved (I don't have those pictures, unfortunately). The play structure had been given to us a year ago by Chad's neighbor. The kids love it.

Here is Ethan in the new sand box. The kids have had fun. Tomorrow I imagine Ethan will be excited. We just had a bit of rain today so tomorrow the sand will be slightly damp. Great for building sand castles.
All the neighborhood kids love to come over and play here now. One day Laura looked out and 4 neighbor boys were in the sand box, but all our kids were inside the house.

Well, That's it for now!
Ty

Super Heroes!

2010-02-14T21:35:00.001-08:00

Yep, here they are. I know, they look just like ordinary kids, but come 7:00 or later (that is to say past their bed time) and their minds become somewhat droopy and agitated they become superheroes!

Here is Abby. The older 3 were all practicing karate in the living room and Abby decided that she wanted to join in on the fun. Note the unzipped pajamas. That is so that she can access her bellybutton. If she has any power at all I believe that it must be associated with that button.

Next up, Joseph. Getting this guy to pose was difficult. I caught this pose just a split second after he shot that yellow balloon at me that you see in the top picture. When he is a superhero he is always Superman, Spiderman, or Batman. The only ones he really knows, although he has not seen any movie of them (except, maybe a highly edited version of Superman IV).

Ethan, as you can see, has the pose down. He is sane enough to not really try to fly like superman. An that is who he pretends to be. No muckin' around with second best.

Emma is hilarious and really the whole reason for this posting. You see, she has a really very original alter ego. She is TISSUE GIRL. That's right. With lightening speed she is able to shoot toilet paper out of her hands. (Just beware the enemy with a spray bottle) She has gone around the house from time to time rescuing people and performing small acts of kindness all in the guide of Tissue Girl.

Faithful mascot #1. Actually, I just was excited that I caught a picture of a bird actually doing something interesting. Not just sitting there, like, umm... most of my pictures show.

This little guy is the last of his kind to hang out here. Our neighbors cut down their walnut tree last year and all our squirrels high tailed it except for this one. He must prefer juniper berries or something. Anyway, we are glad to have him around.

A Rummy Tumm Tumm

2010-02-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this has been a week full of bellies. As you may know, Abby's favorite body part is her bellybutton. When she found a pen, well, what else? She kindly displayed her artwork while I took a picture.

Here is Joseph's belly incident. Apparently food tastes better if it is first transfered to the skin. I don't know if her was successful in his attempt or not.

And finally, here is the belly we have all been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for. Laura officially reached her third trimester this week. Yeah! We can feel little kicks and things now. Barely.

This picture was just too cute to pass up. Emma and Abby were taking a bath together (don't ask me why the hoppy ball was taking a bath too, I haven't a clue) and this was one of the pictures that Abby was smiling in.

Yes, love hurts. As do knives. Ethan has borrowed my pocket knives on occasion throughout the past year and has show himself to be very responsible. Nary an incident due to carelessness or to foolishness. So, we gave him a pocket knife. He did wonderful for 2 weeks. Always put away or in his pocket. Very responsible. Unfortunately, he did something foolish (our fault I guess). Against our warnings, he stuck the point directly into a piece of wood and it closed on his fingers. Much blood and crying and 3 stitches later he is fine. But it still hurts. Now what do we do about the knife?

Bye.

Ethan's Birthday!

2010-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, This isn't Ethan, but I got the picture out of order. Isn't Joseph a handsome kid? I don't know why he had a zoned out expression, probably one too many shots of the flash gone off.

Here he is! The birthday boy! He wanted a tool birthday, so his cake is in the shape of a toolbox. Lucky for me that just means a decorated rectangle. At least it wasn't a dancing elephant party.

One, two, three, blow! I dont remember if it was one breath or two, but because of all the little kids, I would not be surprised of it was more on the line of 12 breaths.

Emma had given Ethan this Nerf flying disk thing that is supposed to turn into a football while it flies. What really happens is that as soon as it touches anything with any amount of force, it explodes into a football with wings. Not an easy thing to catch, unless you're Harry Potter.

We went to the park after the festivities, played on the play equipment, etc... Emma decided to show off for the camera. Funny how she can be an utter goof-ball and still be pretty.

Abby. Cute as ever with her main source of nourishment. I am sure that she was on her way to get it replenished when I took this.

At the party we painted bird houses, opened presents, pumped the kids full of sugar and sent them home to their parents. They (the kids, not the parents, except for us) had a lot of fun.

That's it!

Ode to a camel

2010-01-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

Oops. Wrong picture. Not a camel.

Oh Camel! Noblest of creatures! Mighty and strong.

Friend of man, docile and calm.

You who befriends us with a smile.

A rather towering friend at that.

Hey! Do you see what that dirt bag is doing to my daughter!

True story. We found this camel just outside of Grandview. I had to stop and get some pictures, and it seemed friendly enough, so I let Emma out to pet it, with somewhat disastrous results. Luckily, I got a hold of Emma before she got over the fence. Both she and Joseph were hysterical for about 5 or 10 minutes. The camel had claimed her hood as spoils of war, but I drove the van down about 40 feet and the camel stood in front of it, allowing me to hop out of the car and run back, reach my hand under the fence and get the hood.

Now it seems funny. To everyone but Emma that is.

Here is Abby last night (or maybe the night before) sharing a tortilla with the dog. Disgusting, but funny.

The End

2010-01-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

Well, This is the end of our break. I know, I know, I shouldn't complain about having to go back to work after having a 2 week break, but it is so nice I could probably weather my way through a bit more.

We had a fun time this week between sledding, building snowmen and snow forts, then seeing them all melted by the following day. We all had a slumber party in our living room after watching a Scoobydoo movie on New Years.

A couple of days ago we went and visited great grandma and great grandpa. I had fun taking pictures of the birds.

Sledding with the kids on the old bridge over the rail road tracks. The bridge, once a thrill for driving, is now open only to pedestrian traffic. The kids had a lot of fun.

Ducks on the river.

This finch allowed me to get fairly close.

But not too close! Here she is taking off!

Finch on the feeder out at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Okay, so this picture is a bit blurry, but it is a classic Joseph expression

Two of my beautiful children expressing their love for me.

Abby was outside petting the neighbors dogs through the fence.

Ethan posed for me under the tree in our front yard.

It was a great break!

Christmas is coming...has come... and gone.

2009-12-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

Looks like a parade to me.

Emma Helping Abby on the tricycle.

Abby likes my camera.

Joseph on his bike.

Ethan on his new Bike.

Here are the little girl Pics. Top is a profile, below is a face with one hand up near the mouth, and the other arm and legs extended toward you.

Midway through Christmas break and a lot has happened, not the least of which is Laura's youngest sister getting married. Yeah! It had been a long two year wait for Becky while Spencer served a mission in Japan, but, she resisted all other offers, and now they are happily on their way to a happily ever after.

They were married in Boise, Laura's family (us included) terrorized the hallways of Extended Stay America for about 3 days, without having to pay extra damage costs. Laura was bustin' her bellybutton with excitement at seeing her family after a year and a half drought.

Speaking of busting bellybuttons, Laura is performing another umbilical miracle. We have ultrasounds of number 5 and (drum roll please) ...its a girl! We have thought of Madeline, Molly, and Bethany as names. Our current pick is Bethany. We will see how long it lasts.

Christmas was fun. Ethan and Joseph got bicycles and Emma a doll house. The boys also got nerf darts for their dart guns (visitors beware). That Ethan is a good shot! We had a gunfight and I can't tell you how many times I was pinged in the forehead.

One week left of vacation. We will see what fun we think up.

The Nudesies

2009-10-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you remember that musical made a few years back called the Newsies? Well, in our house we have the Nudesies! These little bare cuties were too much to resist, the camera had to come out.

Doesn't Joseph look the part for the musical? He is even doing some dance moves! too bad the camera takes such dark pictures. Emma got some birthday money from her Grandma K and chose to buy a barbie swimming pool with a lifeguard chair. I was going to take a picture of all the naked barbies chilling in their pool on our bathroom floor, but their must have been a tsunami before I got a chance because it was all a wet chaos when I got back. Next time she will play with it in the bathtub and save me some grief:) It was all so fun though.

Happy, Happy Birthday

2009-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Emma's birthday. The big 7 now. I know, I know, we were 3 days early, but we thought that if we did it on the weekend previous that it would be easier than during the week. We may have been mistaken. This is how it went.

6:00 Was that really the alarm? It's the weekend, turn it off.
6:02 Never mind, Joseph (on our floor woke up)
6:03 Never mind again, he is back in bed.
7:00 Kids bouncing on the bed. Time to get up. Breakfast? What's that? It's the weekend, find it yourself.
7:30 Time to go work on the roof. Work, work, work, (break for breakfast -thanks Sister Shea!)
work, work, work.
11:30 get kids read, make lunch, damage control.
1:30 we are late, get in the car. I SAID GET IN THE CAR! Fine we are leaving without you.
1:50 Everyone in the car? Check. Buckled? Check. Okay, let's go get to the primary activity.
2:00 Arrive at the primary activity (half hour late). Carve pumpkins. Eat ice cream. Get tackled by 15 5-year-olds (okay, it was probably only 6 or 7 kids, but it FELT like 15.
3:20 Go home. Clean up the lunch mess we didn't get put away. buy frosting, mix up and bake cake, send all the kids to time out so that we can get some things done and have some fun.
6:00 let the kids out of time out (just kidding, they were let out earlier). Eat hot dogs, fruit salad. Don't touch the cake sitting 6 inches in front of you. Don't touch that frosting. (they actually did do pretty good about it).
6:30 Happy birthday Emma! Presents. Smear lipstick on my nose and juggle.
OUCH! Ethan that HURT! Party is over. Stop the bleeding. Lay down to prevent shock. Do I go to the hospital? Are you crazy? Too cheap for that. It will heal. Eventually. Maybe.
7:00 Okay kids. I can tie balloon animals in bed for you. Frog. Lion. Sword. Muppet guy. Don't let Abby have them. She will choke if she gets them.
8:00 kids all in bed. Drinks of water all around. Drinks again. Again. That's enough. NO more. Again. Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom.
9:00 Done. Finally.

Okay, I did take a bit of poetic license. That is more how it felt.
I did get a pretty good gouge in my lip from Ethan's headbutt. It was unintentional, but it hurt like crazy. The kids really did have fun yesterday.

Pictures:

Emma posing with her new bike. Emma's cake It is a chicken man cake. Her design. The thing that looks like a frown is exactly that. Joseph was washing dishes and was Joseph Santa.

Illegal Aliens

2009-10-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

To start at the ending...
Laura and I took a little jaunt up to northern Washington this past weekend and kept on goin'. We had decided that since we were only a few miles from the Canadian border it would be fun to go and see it. We drove up, got confused, and couldn't turn around until a trooper said "Welcome to Canada, Let's see your ID." We apologized profusely, and said that we just wanted to get back to the states, so he turned us through a barrier and sent us back up to the US border patrol. They were much more strict. The had us get out of the car, leave our cell phones, go into a building while they searched it (the car, not the phone), then they scanned our licenses and asked us questions about our birthplace and marriage place. We figure that by scanning our licenses it brought up other vital records and they questioned us about those. Anyway, an exciting ending to a trip.

We had originally gone up for a conference. It was at the Semiahmoo resort and spa. Boy was I glad the school footed that bill. It was nice. As any loving parent would do, we ditched the kids and Laura and I went alone (that is except for Abby who managed to hitch a ride with us). It was right on birch bay. We had fun looking at the herons, and the resident bald eagle. Laura saw a seal and of course there were gads of seashells. We even awkwardly ate at a very nice restaurant to the tunes of Abby screaming because we wouldn't let her pull the table cloth off the table. It was good food though.

We came home late Saturday night, picked up kids and fell into bed. That's it!

PS The grass in our back yard is starting to fill in a bit YEAH!!! Hopefully if we can keep the dog from digging too many holes we will have a back yard with a real yard by the end of next spring.

Ty

stress reduction

2009-10-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, I am the kind of person that, when I get stressed I find something to do. Since I am far from a perfectionist, I happily engage myself in a multitude of things at a mediocre level. The thing is, I think I must be getting far too stressed out at work because I have found myself at times thinking "hmm... should I juggle, crochet, tie ballon animals, draw, go outside and play with the chainsaw?" and many other frivolous pastimes. But, having seen a snapshot of the things I like, is there anything new I can try that would not be life threatening (I know, I know, those crochet hooks can be nasty, but a guy has got to live a little right?)

Ty

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

2009-07-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ty tried out a unicycle for the first time. He said it was a humbling experience. Here is Joseph pushing his favorite friend Blue Guy on the swing. Looks like Blue Guy is having a good time!
Ethan Underwear Head!
On the 4th of July everyone took a refreshing illegal dip in a public fountian. Neil assured us that everyone does it. Here's to peer pressure.

Our cute kiddos

Hey Everyone, it is soooo nice to be back home again! This has been an eventful summer. We stayed at my sister Sarah's for 4 weeks while Ty finished his master's degree. She is one brave lady to take us all in. Together their were 10 children in the house. She also has our youngest sister living with her. When we were trying to find someone to care for our dog Tip she said "bring her along ,too". What a great person! We had lots of fun together. Unfortunately I can't get any of our good pictures off the other camera yet, so these will have to do for now. Here is my beautiful sister Sarah and her little baby Sammy. She would probibly hate it that I posted this picture of her, but I think she is always pretty. After four weeks in Idaho Falls we went to Utah to see some of Ty's brothers and spend 4th of July weekend. That was fun to see them again! The best news of the summer.....Ty now has his Master's Degree in the Education of the Deaf! Way to go Ty that took a lot of work! So far I have covered the good. Now on to the bad and ugly. On our drive home from Idaho Ethan said he wasn't feeling well. We got an hour into the trip and he threw up. We pulled over changed his clothes, got him and his car seat cleaned up and continued on our way. He threw up again, but we were ready this time. To make a long story short, our 10 hour drive was a 13 hour drive. A couple of days later Emma threw up in the Lowe's parking lot things went from there. Everyone in the family got it. Abby had it the worst.
After about a week of the stomach bug in our family we had a few healthy days and then a mysterious fever showed up. Everyone but Ty got the fever. This time I got it the worst I have been sick for a week and on top of that now I have an infection. The doctor put me on intibiotics for the infection and immediately I got this killer nonstop headache. I don't remeber ever having a headache that bad. If I moved my head at all, or even my eyes my head would just pound. It was a beast! We found out it was a side effect of the meds. I stopped taking them and the headache is much better. Anyway, enough about that. We really aren't trying to be hermits, in fact we can't wait to see everyone again and maybe go camping:)

What's new this Spring...

2009-06-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hi! The title of this blog is "what's new this spring" First off, we now have a side yard garden. Sort of. As you can see it is a work in progress but we are excited. Ty is putting in an old fashioned brick path. We planted some perennials, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and a grape. Hopefully when it fills in in a few years we will have a lush vegetable-filled, bird-friendly, flower-growing paradise.
The Ottomans are coming!

This is Ty's latest woodworking project. We wanted an ottoman for a while and so he used Mother's Day as an excuse to make one. It turned out better than we expected. The top lifts of for storage. To bad the picture quality is so poor or you could see the coloring better. In a couple of years we will probibly replace the cushion for a thicker one. Now we can kick up our feet and watch a movie. This is also another fun piece of furniture for kids to jump off of. Fortunately the lid is 3/4" plywood so it is practically bomb proof.

Here's our cutie!

She is so fun to photograph because she is a happy baby! Our flowers have been very prolific this spring (including clover and dandilions). Abby loves to pick and eat them out of the grass.

These pictures were turning out so well I just kept taking them. Abigail is ten months old now and so much fun! She scoots around the house on her stomache, picking up whatever is in her path. She just started pulling herself up against furniture. She is very cuddly and has lots of personality!

That's all for now. We will be sending more pictures this summer of our adventures in Idaho.

2009-05-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well, time has flown by and Laura thought that we needed a new post with pictures for people to check, so...Here you go! (some of them are kind of fuzzy -we've been experimenting with a new kid-friendly camera)
Top to bottom: Pillow fight! Kind of. The boys were supposed to be changing their sheets. They decided jumping had to figure into that job somewhere.
You can't see it well, but Abby just polished off a bunch of sweet potatoes. (No they are not hiding in her cheeks, that is their normal size)
Daddy getting crowded off the bed by a little bed hogging angel.
This is Joseph's innocent look. He wears it all the time. Let me tell you he gets a lot of use out of that look just after all kinds of trouble. Really, he is very sincere about his apologies for any trouble, but being three it all just comes naturally.
Joseph and Abby in the bath. Gotta have something to black mail them with when they are older.
Emma looking pretty. She just lost her first tooth to a kindergarten baby carrot. She came home really excited. Reminded me of how I tried to think up plans for knocking my teeth out when I was young so that I could get a LOT of money from the tooth fairy.
Here's momma! Prettiest picture yet on the blog. (She told me not to type ___________) edited by the chief of staff
Ethan reading a book. I can't see what it is, but it is probably all about bugs, engines, or something else informational. You can't hardly get him to pick up a story book, but if it is informational, he loves it.

Family news.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Whew! Yippee!!!!

The end.

Ty

2008-10-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Okay, pictures. Emma in bed. Ethan, in my bed. Laura an Abby. Me studying my brains out, and Joseph in a fitting (both figuratively and literally) shirt.

Laura had herself a Lemony Snickett morning here recently. Joseph had gotten up in the morning and had blood all over his face. Just a bloody nose in the middle ofthe night, but it looked terrible. We did not have milk, so my morning cereal routine for the kids was thrown off. The kids didn't midn the pancakes, but it made me late for everything else that morning. When I had finally gotten myself all put together I went to open the front door and the latch was stuck. It didn't matter what way I turned that handle the latch stayed firmly in place. Ethan was running late for the school bus, so Ethan and I ran out the back and around the front. Laura was a bit grateful for the stuck door at the moment because Joseph, his face still a bloody mess could not run out and see Ethan off. Laura dashed out to get Emma ready and when she finally got out to the car with the kids she had discovered that a neighborhood kitten had been stuck in the van and left a present on Emma's seat. Stressfull, but funny now.

We had Emma's birthday here a week ago. She had about 10 friends over and 1 neighbor boy that had invited himself. They all went over to the park and took whacks at a pinata (5 and 6 years old is too young for that) I ended up breaking it. The kids all had a lot of fun, but it was hard to herd them. I made cupcakes for the kids that turned out fairly nice, but I think we don't have any pictures.

We had all gone to Portland on the weekend of the 10th. I had meetings down there for work. I teased Laura a few days before because she wanted to plan it all out. She asked if I knew where we were staying yet I said casually, "Oh, the Hilton, I think." Little did I know. THey booked us at the Hilton Homewood suites. The nicest place I have ever stayed. It had a livingroom, kitchen, and a big bedroom. In each there was a bigscreen plasma tv. It had a real breakfast in the morning, USA Today waiting for us in fornt of our door, and other amenities we did not have time to enjoy. It was great. The following night (friday night) we stayed at Laura's aunt Margaret's house. Not as fancy, but the hospitality was much better. On Saturday we were debating about going to the beach, but we decided that driving an hour there, an hour back and 3.5 hour home would be too much to be fun, so we all went to the zoo instead. We ahd a great time. Probably the funniest thing was that after we had gone through and seen seals, polar bears, giraffes, and many other exotic animals, Ethan and I were on the way to the bathroom and he shouted excitedly, "look Dad a squirrel!" I thought, isn't it funny how 1 ordinary animal out of a cage can be more fun than an exotic inside.

Emma has really blossomed in school. She has a lot of friends. She says that every day she says a prayer over her food and tries to get her friends to do the same. She spoke to one girl recently and the girl daid, "oh, I didn't think you were my friend anymore." Emma said, "I everybody's friend!" It is so nice to have a girl that is excited about the gospel.

Laura was in the school with Ethan recently and they say the nurse come out of the office. Ethan said, "Hi ya nursey!" She got a big kick out of it then as she was walking away he said, "I like her. I wish I could keep her."

Abby is getting bigger. She is smiling often at people now and actively batting at toys. She is a lot of fun.

Joseph has reached a developmental milestone. He can now climb over a child gate. Hooray! HE siad something really cute recently. He asked, "Grandma grandpa mission?" "Yes, Grandma and Grandpa are on a mission." "Jojers mission too?" "Yes when you are older you can go on a mission too." "Yeah! Jojers Grandma Grandpa!" He thought he would see them because he would go on a mission. He said a similar thing to Laura also.

Big news in Laura's family. Is the anouncment of the Kansas City temple. Melissa (her sister) is expecting her first baby. Sarah just found out that she will be having another boy. That will be #6 for her. 5 boys and 1 girl.

As promised

2008-10-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Here they are! More pictures.

At the top you see a more recent picture of Abby in her blessing dress. Two pictures of the house. Emma posing and Ethan doing what he does best. And another picture of Emma with her much beloved barbie dolls.

That's it!

Ty and Laura

2008-10-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

Whew! It has taken a while to get back here! Things have been going well for us. Ethan went through a bit of a time where he did not want to go to preschool and he literally had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the bus every morning. Thankfully he is past that now. Emma has a birthday party comming up and she has a list of about 20 people that she wants to invite. We are trying to narrow it down a bit. She is enjoying kindergarten and is beginning to learn about reading. She is excited about it. Joseph has now gotten tall enough to unlock and open the front door. We are still trying to figure out what to do about that. Thankfully he seems content most of the time to stay on the block. We have had a couple scares where he has run around the corner. The recent problem has been that there are a couple of stray kittens in the neighborhood now that the kids adore. Ethan and Joseph are constantly letting them in the house. Not that Laura mids too much..., but we can't have a cat. And that's final. Period.
Abby has started getting really chubby (that is in comparision to our other kids. Nobody compares to Chad at 2 months). She has started to smile some. Now we all work hard in hopes of getting a glimpse of a smile. Neil told us his baby smiles like crazy all the time. We are obviously jealous.
Okay pictures. A moment of bravery on my part. Yes, Ethan really did cut my hair, and not too bad a job he did of it either. Ethan and Joseph made a cake. The sprinkles mostly ended up in their mouths, but, that's okay. Emma and Joseph playing in the mud, and Abby about 3 weeks ago. Abby had a bump on her nose and head from when Joseph got into the room and dragged her off the bed and dumped her face down on the bathroom floor. We were none too happy. Laura went into shock. It was pretty scary because she was so tiny. We will add another post so that we can show more pictures.
Ty

sick

2008-09-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it is a good thing Laura is not sick or we would have nobody to take care of us, the kids and I. This past week was my first week in school. We got one little girl, a kindergartener, that showed up for the first time on Thursday and was just scared half to death. It is a good thing that I have aides that care about our kids. One stayed and played with her by the door for about an hour and a half before she felt comfortable enough to finally come sit down. The rest of the day for her alternated between crying and timidly going places. Luckily my students were all understanding and helpful to her also. Friday started out the same, but over all she had a more comfortable day.

Here at home we are all fighting colds. We are using up tissue and cough drops as quick as can be. Even little Abby is sick. With all the kids sick they are getting up more at night and we are getting less sleep.

I got started making a bench out of the left over fencing materials I gathered from Chad's place. It is to the point that the general shape can be seen, but it still looks bad. I will post a picture of it when it is done. It will have a hinged seat so that we can store garden tools in it. If you know anything about this little house you know that we can never make too much extra storage.

Ethan starts pre-school tomorrow. He has been so excited. He has a new little blue back pack. Laura is going to sew on some little sports ball patches. Yesterday we went clothes shopping for him at -where else?- yard sales. 10 items for 5 dollars is a price you can't get even at Walmart. Emma really enjoyed her first week at school. She has made a few friends there, she says. Laura has really enjoyed her going to school too. It has made her life easier and she is excited about Ethan starting school also. Well, that's it for me!
Ty

Yikes! They are almost here!

2008-09-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Pictures: This is our duct tape ad. Joseph would not keep his diapers on, so this was our alternative. He pulled the sticker off the packaging and put it the only sensible place a 2 year old would put such a thing. On his belly. The other is Laura holding the baby. Aren't they cute!

Well, as I Have to hold the baby anyway, I thought that I may as well peck at the key board with one hand. We had a good memorial day. Yesterday we discovered that we have a two year old boy that can climb out of his crib. Our options were to move him to a kennel (not really, in case anyone without a sense of humor is reading) or to a bed. Now we need to figure out how to keep him in bed. Last night we were suckers and let him fall asleep in our bed rather than letting him cry it out. The battle has not yet begun for tonight.

A couple days ago Ethan said "If someone swallowed a bunch of BBs would they be the Man of Steel?" We got a big laugh about that. He also went to bed crying last night "All

I want is some duct tape!" He is a funny boy. Little Abigail has ring worm on her cheek that is pretty bad right now. She wants to be held constantly. If we set her down she wakes up shortly after and begins to cry. It is easier to just hold her most of the time.

Emma went to her first day of Kindergarten on Friday. She loved it and has been excited all weekend to go back on Tuesday. Ethan sure missed her while she was gone. He tended to follow Laura around.

Today I finished putting up the back fence. We still have the main trunk of the tree that we had chopped down lying in our yard. Todd and his friend may come back for it sometime, but I doubt it. If they do then they can cut it up into small enough sections to roll through the gate. The fence is constructed entirely out of Chad's old fence, with the exception of two 2x4s that I had to buy for stringers, the cement, nails, five 4x4s, and gate hardware. I think all told we were out less than 90 dollars. That's about the cheapest fence I ever hope to build again. The cedar boards that we got from Chad were great. They were each at least a full inch thick. We got enough extra that I am making an outdoor storage bench for hoses, garden tools and such.

This last week I interpreted for 2 big events in the school district. It was fun. That was my first real time interpreting and I was happy to do at least an okay job of it. Our Deaf aid in the classroom said that I did a good job anyway.

We have decided that we need to get rid of our dog. She is the sweetest little Labrador Retriever. Really tolerant of the kids rough handling, but with the new baby and my Masters it has been hard for us to take care of her like we should. If winter were not approaching, then we might keep her longer, but I don't want us to neglect her through the winter. So, if anyone wants...?

Well Class starts for me tomorrow. I will have 3 kindergarten kids, a 2nd grader, a 3rd grader, a 4th grader and 2 5th graders. I will also have a couple other kids for reading only. This is the biggest group I have had yet. In part that is because we have contracted with other districts to provide services to a couple kids. I have spent more time this year organizing and getting ready than any year in the past. I have great expectations of a smooth beginning. I have decided (in conjunction with the Special Education Director) to be a bit hard nosed about my schedule and to not make exceptions for the Specialists (art, music, etc...) because if I do, then I will not have a schedule cohesive enough to teach the core academic subjects.

Well, I have probably gone on long enough.

See Ya, Ty.

Well, well, well

2008-08-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, The cake, Me figuring out how to use the new hex wrenches (any ideas?), Emma posing (still my birthday), then Joseph the fireman and Laura with the little one.

As you can see by the title of this post I am in a rather uninspired mood. I am, though, behind in the things that I should share. First, I had a birthday! Yeah! I think. I am not sure if I should be excited anymore. The big three-o. It was fun. I enjoyed making the cake, and the kids enjoyed eating it. Abigail's eyes are begining to clear up more. She has pretty dark blue eyes, just like all our other kids did at that age, but eventually the Thornock genes will dominate, I am sure.

Ethan got a little fire fighters outfit at a yard sale (Joseph is in the hat above) with a little toy ax. All day yesterday he ran around in this yellow rubber suit waving his ax and trying to chop down the trees in the front yard. He bit the "blade" of the ax to narrow the taper. Now, supposedly, it is sharper so it will cut better.

Emma starts school next week. I think that she will do fine. She has great phonemic awareness, wonderful story telling and expressive and receptive language. She knows a few alphabet letters. She will be fine. She will. Surely.

Laura has been dropping pounds so fast that she has to jump out of the way or they hit her toes. She is worried about Emma starting school. They have full day kindergarten here, so Emma is in for some long, grueling days.

Joseph is into everything. He is saying prayers well now-for a two year old, that is. Emma is "Memma Bear" Ethan is "Buhee (buddy) guy" and Joseph is "Bobef" His prayers are often punctuated by "Buhee, Shhh! Prayer!" He has learned when he has already messed his diaper, but he tends to use the right hand check, so changing a diaper now often involves a run to the sink and antibacterial soap first thing.

I am excited about school. I found out that my paperwork will be reduced to about 1/12 of what it was prevoiusly. I am so relieved. I will have between 6 and 8 full time students this year and 3 or 4 part time students. That is a pretty good size load. We are looking to expand the program if we can, and it is looking like a better and better possibility and we are getting to be known as a pretty good program in the area.

Well that is about all I have time for tonight.

For the first time!

2008-08-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

This is Emma earlier this summer at the water park in Rexburg.
Joseph same place...
Ethan also.

Hi there everyone! This is my first post and we will see how they go. Today was my first day back in workships for school. We were learning all about teaching writing, not that the workshop will reflect at all on my blog.

As you may know, our little Abbigail Rebecca Thornock was born on the 14th of this month at 10:47 in the morning after an agonizing morning (more so for Laura than for me) begining at 2:00 am. She was born weighing in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 20 and 1 half inches long. She had a bit of trouble breathing at first and they had her on a little respirator for a few minutes before she figured it out on her own. Afterward she and Laura were both fine, although I found the hospital food a little traumatizing. Above is a picture. Laura's Mom and youngest sister Becky came to help out and the have been wonderful. They took the other three children down to Portland for 2 and a half days so that Laura and I could focus on the Olymp- I mean the baby. They have also done a lot around the house.

The house is moving along. Using the boards that were unfit for use on Chad's back fence, I created a fence spanning the alley sid eof our backyard. I still have a 10 foot section open that I have left to put up. Other improvments include: a front step makeover, a painting of the front door, and some beginings for making basement steps. I had recently had lawnmower troubles and, expectedly, after I fixed it it still didn't work. I talked to Grandpa and he asked if I had checked the sparkplug. I tell you, my sparkplugs need to be checked, because as soon as he said that I remembered that I had disconnected the sparkplug before working on it so that I could keep my lifetime electrocution count below 50. Well, after our enlightening talk, I reconnected the sparkplug and the mower started like a dream.

Emma is getting excited to start school this year. Ethan found a ratty old pair of army pants his size and wore them about 4 days straight until he threw up on them and they had to be washed. Joseph is growing like a weed and uttering some 4 word sentences now.