Scott's New Look

Scott is going through a phase right now.

A geeky, teenage, dress-up-like-your-favorite-video-game-character phase.
It started about two weeks ago...

Scott brought home a brand new lab-coat he received from his counselor at school. The coat instantly reminded him of a character in a new video game: Inspector Cabanela.

Inspector Cabanela is from the video game, Ghost Trick.
He likes to dance everywhere he goes, even up and down stairs.
Here's a clip of him on YouTube:

Using the lab-coat and his character as inspiration, Scott began to assemble miscellaneous items throughout the house and began creating a new look for himself. He found an old discarded red scarf in the laundry room. He grabbed a black Darth Vader t-shirt, turned it inside out, and wore it under his lab-coat. He also put on his new black Sunday school shoes. He made a pretty good Inspector Cabanela, I thought.

Scott dressed up as Inspector Cabanela EVERY DAY last week. Surprisingly enough, the school had no issue with him dressing that way. In fact, his Social Studies teacher, Mr. Fries, even offered Scott extra credit if he wore the same outfit every day for the rest of the school year. Scott, of course, has accepted that challenge. But even that did not prepare me for what else he was doing to fit into character... Scott began dancing. DANCING IN SCHOOL!

Turns out there was a dance in the same video game called "The Panic Dance," which was danced by another character: Officer Bailey. Here's the video:

Scott memorized the dance moves after watching this clip a few times. Without even practicing, Scott began dancing this dance in one of his classes at school one day. When we asked him why he did, he simply answered he was bored. Then he did it again in another class. And again in the lunch room. Before he knew it, Scott was dancing this geeky dance all over the place! He was a hit! Everybody LOVED it! Scott loved the attention he got, and it made him more popular in his school, too. Everyone began recognizing him as the lab-coat dancer. His schoolmates began capturing his dance moves with their cellphone cameras, which resulted in Scott ending up on YouTube:

All I can say is WOW. Is this really the shy, anti-dance boy who used to cringe at the thought of being the center of attention?

David's 6-Month Photo Shoot

He's so super cute!

The Highlight of My Day: March 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in March 2012:

Thu 3/1/12: My little girl was delighted to see the snow this morning. Mother Nature decided to dump a few inches of snow on us last night-- the first real snow of the season. Lizzy had to go outside on the porch and dance with her snow boots on.

Fri 3/2/12: Scott and Lizzy had a blast playing in the snow today. It was very fun to watch them. I was so glad the cousins came early enough to spend time with Scott and Emma before they left. I could tell it made Scott and Emma happy. I also organized three shelves in the pantry this evening while the kids were having fun. I found some long-forgotten candy that the kids were more than happy to help get rid of.

Sat 3/3/12: Brad and I took a stab at making homemade tortillas tonight for dinner. Who'd have thought that making tortillas could be such a fun little at-home date? The tortillas turned out pretty yummy, too!

Sun 3/4/12: Brad told me this morning that David has been rolling over for the past few days. WHAT? How did I not know this? Apparently, he only felt like rolling over while Papa was watching him. Now he's rolling over much more frequently. Silly boy! Oh, and Amanda came to visit us today! We loved having her over. The Bruce Clan and the Clarks came to visit, too. It was a lovely Sunday.

Mon 3/5/12: I enjoyed looking at family photos today. I love my family.

Tue 3/6/12: We had a pretty heavy snowstorm tonight. I went to the library by myself and picked up "Mockingjay" and "Breaking Dawn Part 1." Looking forward to reading the last book of the Hunger Games!

Wed 3/7/12: I introduced sweet potatoes to baby David tonight. He LOVED it!

Thu 3/8/12: Lizzy and I built a cowgirl snowman today while we were playing outside. The air wasn't cold at all, so we did not wear jackets. We uncovered an earthworm while we were rolling the snow around in the yard. Lizzy named it Lucky Charms.

Fri 3/9/12: Brad and I dropped off Lizzy at her Aunt Marilyn's house before heading over to the stake center to hear Brother Brad Wilcox speak for our Stake Women's Conference. He was an excellent speaker.

Sat 3/10/12: I enjoyed hearing Colleen Terry speak at the morning session of our Women's Conference. I liked her emphasis on being happy, even if circumstances aren't exactly the way you want them to be. That stuck out to me more than anything else.

Sun 3/11/12: I enjoyed watching house-buying shows on TV today, then I watched Brad do some house-buying homework on his spreadsheet, and I looked at some houses online. Fun stuff!

Mon 3/12/12: For Family Home Evening tonight we played one of our favorite family games: "In Plain Sight." I stumped the boys pretty well on my turn. I stuck the Catwoman Lego figure on the lamp in the living room, and the boys looked and looked and could not find it. Emma was the only one to find it without any hints. Go Emma!

Tue 3/13/12: I love Daylight Savings! It was lovely going to the library tonight with the sun still up. We ended up going twice, because we forgot to grab the bag with our returned items on the first trip. Brad and I talked a lot about "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" on our trips to and from the library. I love talking to him about books.

Wed 3/14/12: Lizzy learned how to open the front door today. She escaped into the yard and came inside carrying a small bouquet of white, yellow, and blue crocuses. Spring is almost here!

Thu 3/15/12: I fell in love with house today. *sigh* I haven't felt that much infatuation in a while. Looking forward to owning a house in the near(ish) future!

Fri 3/16/12: I picked up my mommy from the airport tonight! I am looking forward to spending the weekend with her! When we got back to the house it was almost midnight, but my mom was so anxious to show us our gifts we spent the next hour going through everything in her luggage. Lots and lots of clothes for Emma and Lizzy!

Sat 3/17/12: Best St. Patrick's Day EVER! Having my mother in town has been a blast! We had a yummy green breakfast, consisting of green french toast and green tropical smoothies. We went to Woody's for lunch, then Wheeler Farm right after, and Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. In the afternoon, my mom watched Lizzy and David while Brad and I spent some one-on-one time with Emma. We bought Emma a new mattress for her bed and went shopping with her. It was lovely!

Sun 3/18/12: I made a yummy St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight! Shepherd's Pie with corned beef and cabbage. Scott made some hot chocolate, which we drank with homemade butterscotch biscotti.

Mon 3/19/12: I took a little nap this afternoon to make up for my busy weekend. Lovely!

Tue 3/20/12: Got another Reader's Choice book from the library tonight: "No Biking in the House Without a Helmet."

Wed 3/21/12: I had a great time in bed with my two cute little kids this morning. Lizzy had fun entertaining her little brother, who was completely fascinated with her.

Thu 3/22/12: Brad and I took the kids (minus Scott) to the park tonight, after dinner. Emma and I spent a great deal of time on the bridge overlooking the duck pond. I let Emma borrow my camera and she took snapshot after snapshot of pretty things she saw. She's got a good eye for great shots.

Fri 3/23/12: Brad and I watched the Hunger Games today! It was well done!

Sat 3/24/12: Brad and I were pre-approved! YAY! Marilyn babysat for us while we were gone, and I invited her to stay for dinner after we got back. We had salmon covered in white Parmesan sauce with rice and spinach. YUM!

Sun 3/25/12: I made pizza casserole today-- a recipe I found on Pinterest. It was an instant hit! Everyone loved it. In the evening we drove around Bruce and Loralee's neighborhood and looked at houses. I'm excited with the thought of owning a house.

Mon 3/26/12: I found my lost library book! HOORAY!!! I had been looking for it for over three months, and today was the last day I could turn it in without having to purchase it. I felt like I was led right to the book, even though in my mind I told myself I had already looked in that spot a few times, as well as Brad. I'm very grateful for answered prayers.

Tue 3/27/12: I'm so excited about seeing houses tomorrow! I can't wait!

Wed 3/28/12: Brad and I went with Ben to look at houses tonight. We saw three in the area we're interested in. Didn't put down any offers, but it was still a very positive experience.

Thu 3/29/12: I bought Wicked tickets today! Yay! Lizzy and I headed downtown and spent an hour on Temple Square before meeting Rick, who sold us the tickets. It was nice. But the biggest news is... (drum-roll) we put down an offer on a house! YAY! We're number 5 on the list, so chances are we probably won't get it, but still, I'm having fun picturing myself in that house. I'm very excited!

Fri 3/30/12: I loved seeing my two little ones playing with each other this morning. Lizzy enjoyed holding her baby brother.

Sat 3/31/12: We enjoyed watching the first two sessions of General Conference today. Emma, Lizzy, David, and I went to visit Loralee and the girls for dinner. We drove by four on-the-market houses that I've been following, including the one we put an offer down, and Emma was very excited about it.

Cutest Little Kids

Get ready to see the cutest little kids, EVER! I took these photos yesterday when Lizzy asked to have her little brother on her lap. They were so cute together, I had to rush to get my camera. This morning when I was loading the pictures up, I started tearing up when I saw how cute the photos turned out. I LOVE my kids! They are so, so cute!

Grandma's Visit and St. Patrick's Day

My mother came to visit us over St. Patrick's Day weekend. Her visits are always a treat, especially now that she has little grandchildren to spoil. Baby David LOVED his grandma, and Lizzy had a blast with her, too!

One of Lizzy's favorite games to play with Grandma is throwing the ball down the slide. Grandma is a great sport and very fun to play with. I could hear Lizzy screaming with laughter from every room in the house. I'm sure the neighbors heard her, too.

My mom is so good with children! Lizzy loved all the attention.

Grandpa North took us out for lunch at our favorite diner: Woody's.

After Woody's we headed over to one of our favorite places, Wheeler Farm.

The baby animals were adorable!

We love it when Grandma Whitcomb comes to visit us! Hopefully we can see her again soon.

Meet Lucky Charms!

Here's a snapshot of Lizzy's new little friend, Lucky Charms.


She named it herself without any coaxing from me. I personally would have named it "Slimey" or "Sammy." Maybe even "Wormtail" from Harry Potter, or "Wormtongue" from Lord of the Rings, but that's only because I'm a grown-up and think too much. "Lucky Charms" is a very charming, original name for a worm, plus it's named after Lizzy's favorite cereal, which makes it absolutely perfect.

Have fun living in our yard, Lucky Charms!

Spring must be right around the corner.

David is 5 Months Old

The little guy has been doing this all week...

Rolling over onto his tummy.

and this...

Sucking his thumb.

And he's also been eating this....


He's growing up!

Snow is Yummy, According to Lizzy

"Mommy, look! Snow in my mouth!" She opens up her mouth to show me. I guess she doesn't realize it has melted already. "I get some more, Mommy!" She takes off running. I can hear her bare feet padding against the tiled floor. The sliding glass door opens and shuts a few seconds later. I can hear her footsteps approaching once more. "Mommy, LOOK!" She shows me her finger which has a thin layer of snow perched on it. She sticks it in her mouth. "Mmmm!" There's nothing quite like having snow for breakfast, especially if you're only two.