The Early Indoctrination of Children

Sadie has her New Year's plans..BCS Bound....AGAIN!!! How about you cougar fans?

Busted!!

For the last few days, I have been acting like a complete idiot. I locked my keys in the house on Thursday and had to go all the way down town to get a key from Chase (thanks again for the ride to the metro Erin) Speaking of Erin. She's a saint. About 6 months ago my car got towed because I parked it somewhere stupid. Erin came to the rescue and took me to the scary towing yard where I gave the yard manager a piece of my mind. Then about a month ago I left my keys at a friends house and had no way of picking them up because they were my car keys. Erin picked me up and dropped me off that night so don't ask me why I brought my keys with me or why I left them there. The next day Erin headed back over there to pick up my keys. And then there was yesterday. She found me sitting in my car trying to keep warm, took me to pick up Sadie from preschool and dropped us off at the metro station. Erin, believe me when I say I am friends with you not ONLY because you have my back 24/7 but for many more reasons.

Anyway, so back to my stupidity. Yesterday, while I was bringing the groceries in I thought I would put Sadie inside while I brought in all the heavy stuff. Bad idea. The little weasel locked me out of the house!! Twice I had been locked out in two days!!! She was standing behind the screen door with a little smile on her face which turned into a very concerned whimper once she found out I really couldn't get in. I think the stress of the situation caused her to panic and she started screaming. As calm as I could (standing out in 30 degree weather) I told her to turn the knob. She must have forgotten how to do the simple act she performed moments ago because the only action she provided was a pounding on the glass and a tantrum of tears. I bribed her with "pink gum" to get her to go downstairs and unlock the back door but every time I ran around the back she wasn't there. When I returned she was standing at the screen door searching wildly for me. Once I calmed her down she finally understood the concept of going downstairs, letting Mama in, and receiving a juicy piece of pink gum. A half an hour later I was in the house.

Also, yesterday I couldn't find my phone. I don't know if any of you have ever tried to call me and I never answer, I promise I am not screening calls. I probably just can't find my phone. I literally lose it once a day. It was out of batteries so even if someone tried to call me, I couldn't search for it by sound. Chase knew exactly where it was when he got home from work yesterday and plugged it in for me.

Today, Chase took Sadie to the grocery store while I finished up cleaning the house for our Utah/BYU party tonight. He tried calling me several times to get info about what to buy and finally came home (because of course I had no idea where my phone was at the time) and stuck the phone on me with a piece of duct tape. Maybe fanny packs will come back so I can take my phone with me wherever I go. Maybe I should get a utility belt. I don't know, but lately I've been scaring myself with how absent minded I am. Must be the cold weather.

This is what happens when Mom finally gets a night off!!

This is also what happens when you think someone is taking a picture of you...you look really weird. What happens next? You keep on dancing!!


This is us after we found out Chase took a movie instead of a picture...AAANNNNGGGRYYY!!
We got over it pretty quick.
We had some pretty good seats at the Jazz game. A ton of our friends joined us including the Cotti's, Jonas Anderson, Mike Nelson, Gardners, Chris, Holden, Curtis, and the McNairs. Even though we lost, we still had fun. Hooray for a night out on the town with out the kiddies! Jess and I were laughing that it took 6 attempts for them to find a babysitter. Where's Grandma when you need her?

Family Pics

Because Tommi Hymas (my favorite photographer) lives thousands of miles away, we decided to take family pictures into our own hands this year. We borrowed Chris Cannon's amazing camera (I want one too Chase...hint hint) and had Erin Mecham take our picture. Erin did a great job even while holding little Jude most of the time. We got a lot of great shots. These are some of the candids I took while testing out the camera. For those of you who I have addresses for, you'll be getting a Christmas card in the mail as soon as I can address them...which by judging how slow I am to update our blog, could be a very long time.

Great Falls...again

The great thing about D.C. is that fall lasts forever!! We have had such great weather out here that we've kept our coats in storage and headed out for hikes and walks all over the place. One of our favorite places to visit is Great Falls National Park. Sadie loved watching the kayaks and throwing rocks in the water. Not much else to say but that we had a slendiphorous (as my brother Nick would say) time!!

Baby Bear, Tutu's and Sleeping Beauty

I experienced deja vu several times this Halloween. We pretty much lived last year over again. I even had Sadie wear a very similar costume. Last year I bought her a chick/duck costume from Children's Place. It kept her so warm and she looked so dang cute that I went right back there this year and got a bigger and slightly improved version of the same thing. This year she was Baby Bear. I added some pink ribbons for a little femininity and definitely got my $10 worth. Originally I wanted Sadie to be Shamu. She still talks about "shampoo" the killer whale in San Diego and what better way to remember him than actually BE him. The only one I could find was $50 and it wasn't even that cute.

Sadie said she wanted to either be "Shampoo" or a "pretty pretty princess." My "Thomas the Tank Engine loving" tomboy is finally turning into a "girly girl." She asks to put a "pretty pretty dress" on daily and once it's on she twirls around the room doing arabesques while singing "once upon a dream." I felt bad not letting her be a princess but I couldn't pass up the last year I have to make her be whatever I want her to be....a cute little bear. I still feel like she's a baby and I suppose and I want her to stay that way as long as possible. The only way I could get her to put on her boring bear costume was to put her tu tu on over it.


I also thought a princess costume wouldn't be warm enough. We made a deal with her. If she would be baby bear for the night we would let her be a princess once we got inside. We ventured out to the Todd's neighborhood again and had a great time with all the family that was there. We started the night with some cozy soup (which Sadie gobbled up...hooray...I love it when she eats anything healthy) and headed out the door to trick or treat.


Sadie was in pursuit of lollipops all night. Once she got one, it was immediately opened and devoured. I guess it's my fault for limiting candy but once she had some she turned into a crazy and cranky little beast. She cried the whole way home because we wouldn't give into her having another piece of candy after she had already had a plethora at the Todd's. I don't like the way she behaves when it's around(candy) so I'm going to continue it's limitation as long as I can get away with it.


I forgot to mention that once we got back from collecting candy (poison) her cousin Grace gave her a "pretty pretty dress" that doesn't fit her anymore. Sadie was in heaven. She waltzed around the room singing "upon a dream!!!" over and over again. It was hilarious. She wears it over her PJ's everyday and walks around as if she were floating on a cloud. You can tell she thinks she's the spiffiest thing to ever turn a corner. It's fun to see her acting like a real princess but it's sad seeing her so grown up. Sometimes I wish I could just push the pause button on her.

A few more pics for all our enjoyment:-)

Sadie and her buddy Moriah at the ward Trunk or Treat. She found a lollipop there too and, as you can see, was pretty excited about it.
Her favorite things about Halloween (besides the candy of course) were all the decorations. She tried to touch every lit jackolantern and was very impressed with the blow up pumpkin (but was a little scared at first).



I just love this little girl so much. Apart from the occasional tantrums and whining, she's become such a fun little buddy to hang out with.

New Hampshire

This post is way overdue because I knew it would take me FOREVER to upload all these pictures and I've been procrastinating. Everyone knows I'm camera happy but when I get Sadie and her little cousins together I am practically camera INSANE. You have to stop me. Columbus Day treated us to a longer weekend so we decided to take the 9 hour drive up to NH and visit the Olsons.

Em is my older sister and had her first baby girl exactly a year before Sadie was born. They get along like peas and carrots so we try to blend them together as much as possible. It doesn't hurt that Em and I get along like ice cream and spoons. Chase was the third wheel most of time as Patrick worked at the hospital 24/7 (literally). We were surprised a couple of times to have him come home for a couple of hours here and there.


We made the mistake of telling Sadie we were going to see cousin Ruby right as we got on the road around 8 p.m. Thursday night. Normally we thought she would zonk out but she cried for Ruby up until about 11. When we finally told her we weren't going anymore, she fell asleep. It was a LONG drive but we finally pulled in around 5 a.m. to find we forgot to ask Em for directions. So there we were after driving around for 9 hours, seeking out a house in the middle of Lebanon (or in other words...the middle of the woods).

Chase drove the whole time so we let him sleep in while we took the kids out for a long walk. We couldn't have picked a better weekend. The leaves were GORGEOUS and the weather man granted us sun and more sun. It was fabulous!!! Our activities consisted of touring Dartmouth, Woodstock, hiking to lakes, and heading to the farm to pick berries, apples and pumpkins.

New Hampshire is a beautiful place. It's very picturesque and worth the drive. Of course we stayed up later than our bodies wanted us to talking and eating ice cream. Thanks for having us Em and Pat. Sadie still asks if the car in front of us is "Ruby's car." She misses her already. We of course miss them too. Family is the greatest. I wish we all lived closer. Ruby and Sadie both love books. I guess it's the Children's Hour gene shining through. Uncle Chase is the best at making silly voices and "bursting into tears" reading Angelina Ballerina. (She's a pretty dramatic little mouse.)
Sadie was so excited to pick her own berries. Her carton was always empty because the berries went straight from the bush to her mouth.
Happy little kid. There's nothing better than berry picking with Ruby!!
I love this picture. Chase was aching for a ski on the glassy water and Sadie was aching to disturb the ripple free lake with some...you guessed it...rocks!!

At the end of the day Sadie was really tired. You can tell from the dirt all over her face and baggy eyes that she had worn herself out.
What a guy. Have you ever seen such a hottie?

This is my favorite picture of Andrew. He was eating a granola bar and just couldn't finish it. I would love to be able to fall asleep like that.


Etherington grandkids, soon to be joined by two more on the way (Alice and Eloise).

Dad would be proud!!

I used to think that car camping was a total "red neck" thing to do. I was taught that real camping consisted of strapping everything you will need on your back (the less the better) and backpacking deep into the forest where no one could possibly find you. Us Etherington girls were lucky to grow up with a Dad who took us on these little adventures quite frequently and I have fond memories of singing silly songs, looking at the vibrant starry nights and getting lost bushwhacking with Dad leading the way(sort of). I have always wanted to carry on this tradition with my own children but often when we were asked to go camping in San Diego we couldn't imagine taking Sadie out and sleeping in a tent. I just didn't want to be the one with the screaming kid all night that wouldn't go to sleep. So we always said no in hopes that one day we would feel Sadie (and we) were up for the challenge.

Well the day finally came. Our buds the Gardners asked us to go with them and we decided that Sadie is finally ready to sleep in a tent. I do laugh now that I think about taking her backpacking because to me this seems utterly impossible. I don't think we could have carried a fourth of what we brought in our car on our backs. I have become quite accustomed to sleeping with not one, but two body pillows. They of course were in attendance along with Sadie's noise maker (equipped with batteries of course), a pack and play, a bazillion blankets, three layers of pajamas, three more pillows, and not to mention all the food we tugged along. At this point I'm thinking that a backpacking trip will be a few, if not several years down the road.

Sadie was a champ. Although she didn't fall asleep right away, she serenaded us with beautiful music while us adults talked around the camp fire. It was fun hanging out with the Gardners as we talked politics with some splashes of sports (can you imagine anything less with Chase and John in the picture). The next morning we were awakened by gun shots from the nearby shooting range and heavy bladders from not wanting to get out of our sleeping bags all night. Car camping is hilarious. I love that the kids just ran around the camp site getting filthy, picking up sticks, throwing rocks, and eating whatever was left in the bag I packed the night before. So I guess we are red necks but probably not as red as the people next to us with their trailers and rifles shooting bullets into the air. I'm glad Sadie made the trek from the car to the tent. I guess Hogan Fork, the Narrows, Wind Rivers, and the West Rim trail will have to wait. Until then, we'll just keep being red.

Cox Farms Again!!

One of the many reasons I was excited to return to D.C. this fall was for Cox Farms. I took Sadie there last year and she had so much fun going down all the slides, petting the animals and picking out her very own pumpkin. We went again this year with a larger crowd and Sadie had a great time again. However, after her first incident going down the slide by herself, she decided to refrain from these "extreme" sports for the rest of the afternoon. I put my camera on continuous and got this funny little film strip. She was very upset once she got to the bottom and I feel bad giggling at her expense, but the pictures are just too funny.



She did have a lot of fun on the hay ride with her little buddies Moriah and Mei li, watching the farmer milk the cow with Lizzie (they look either totally disgusted or just completely perplexed), and picking out her own little pumpkin at the end of the day. I love this place. I hope I can go again this year with Chase before they close down for the winter.