Giveaway!

Today we're giving away a FREE first aid kit over at my other blog, Safely Gathered In. Be sure to check it out!

Flashback Friday - Pigtails

Hannah, Molly, Emma

This is kind of an infamous picture in my family. If any of us mention the "pigtail picture" we all know exactly what they are referring to.

From the time I found out Abby was born, I hoped she would have lots of hair so I wouldn't have to wait long to give her little pigtails. Fortunately, I only had to wait until she was about 11 months old! At first they just stuck up straight, and then they curled under just perfectly. Now her hair is long enough that she gets 2 little pigtails right behind her ears.

150K

My car finally hit 150,000 miles! And it's still going strong. Ok, strong is a probably not the right word. It's still going, surprisingly. Every day I turn the key, I wince and close my eyes and hope that it will start. So far, so good.

After a lot of discussion a few weeks ago, Garrett and I decided that the next time we buy a car, it will probably be a hybrid. The price of gas has finally hit about $4 here, and we said that hopefully by the time we need a new car, hybrids will be a few years old and we can buy a used one.

However, just a few days after our discussion, Garrett's mom sent us an email saying that she was considering buying a car, and was wondering if we'd be interested in buying her old one from her! We talked it over and got some outside opinions on the subject, and decided that it would be a great car to have - much more reliable and safe for us to be driving around. The monthly payments are doable, and while it doesn't get as good gas mileage as our old car, the price is so good that it will still be cheaper for us in the long run to take this offer.

So, we are excited! It's a 2003 Saturn Vue, and it has most of the bells and whistles a person could ask for. We're really looking forward to this "new" car... now we just have to agree on which car of ours to sell! (Garrett's really attached to his '93 Rodeo, but that's even worse off than my current car... We'll see.)

The Toy Closet

before

When I was little and we lived in NH (the first time), we had a big basement with a toy room. Dad built some shelves that went along the entire wall, and it was just great for keeping all our toys organized. Unfortunately, we don't have a basement, or a designated toy room, but we make do.

We have a countertop that separates our kitchen from our living area, and underneath it there's a cabinet, where we keep Abby's toys. It's the perfect de-cluttering solution, because for a while we just had her toys in a "neat" pile against a wall in the living room, but I really didn't like how messy it made the room look! So I cleaned out this cabinet and it's just great. I have a goal that Abby's toys will ALWAYS fit in here. Sure, many of them are "baby" toys that she'll grow out of soon, so we'll store those away when we need to, but I want to keep her "current" toys always in here. I think it's a good way to keep myself from buying her too many things. She plays with the same ones over and over again anyway, so it's just fine. And sure, she does have a few large toys that don't fit in the cabinet, and that's ok too.

Anyway, I decided that since I'm going to keep this as the "toy cabinet", I might as well organize it so that it can hold as many toys as needed! I bought these cute little bins at Target and they are just perfect! I may get one more and put it where all the stuffed animals are - those are usually kepts on a shelf in her bedroom anyway.

after!

Flashback Friday - Garrett

Garrett's birthday is tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Garrett! We love you!

HE'S DONE!!

Garrett finished his Step 1 Boards today!!

I am so proud of him. We'll find out his scores in about 4-6 weeks. Thanks to everyone for the support and encouragement he's gotten during the last couple of weeks.

I took a picture of the happy boy as he came home today:

Some advice, please!

This Thursday, my parents are coming down to watch Abby while Garrett and I go on vacation for NINE NIGHTS! Can you believe I'm leaving my baby for so long? Thinking about driving away and leaving her behind makes me want to cry! Sometimes when I leave to go to the gym in the evenings, she stands in the front doorway behind the glass door, waving to me, and it breaks my heart.... and I'm only going to be 1 mile away, for an hour! This time, we'll be gone for 212 hours, and we'll be about 4600 miles away (we're going to Maui!!).

Do any of you have experience with leaving your kids that you'd like to share? Is there anything we can do to make it easier? I mean, I'm telling myself that it's really good for her to spend so much time with my parents (and it is), and it's really good for Garrett and me to get away together. But we have never left her overnight before, and it's tough!

Don't get me wrong... I am SO excited for this trip. I am excited to have Garrett all to myself (we'll be with his family, but still). I'm daydreaming of sleeping in... evening walks on the beach... napping on the beach... just taking care of myself and no one else... and best of all, doing ANYTHING I WANT TO on the plane! It's a very long trip to get there, and just the thought of THAT was enough for us to decide not to bring her. She'd still be on our laps, and that would just be too hard. Additionally, there's a pretty drastic time change, and that would be really rough on her. When we went to UT in April she never really adjusted to the short time change, so that was another big factor for us.

So anyway, I'd love some advice. We're going to be bringing Garrett's laptop, which has a webcam, so that will be nice. Also, having her stay in our home with my parents helps a lot too - she'll be in an environment where she is comfortable, with people who will do a good job.

Wish us luck with leaving her! Now excuse me while I go shed a few tears in anticipation...

Happy Father's Day

Hannah, Dad, Mike

I found this last week in the bottom drawer of our filing cabinet. I wrote it when I was in first grade.

In case you can't read it: "My Dad's name is Chris. He has brown hair. He lets us drive on our stop 'cuz it is not busy. There are only two or four cars go by. He is nice. When I am done with a piano book he takes me to Toys R Us to get a toy. Dad I love you so much. My Dad is 36. He beeps the horn in the car at houses just in case I know them. But I don't."

Aaah yes, the horn-honking. If there was anything Dad knew how to do, it was how to embarrass his children (purposely, of course). I don't remember him doing it this early on (apparently he did, though!), but I do remember middle school. We went to the private school and there were no buses, so Dad drove us to school 3 days a week. It was the WORST. When we got about half a mile from the school, Dad would roll down his window and start honking his horn, and he would yell, "Here come the Siebach kids! The Siebach kids are coming!" He'd do it all the way through the parking lot, then he would honk the whole way driving out. I remember as we were driving in the parking lot, we'd be yelling for him to please, please stop, and sometimes I would even almost cry. It was SO embarrassing. Clearly, I forgave him though.
And I can't forget to mention what a great dad Garrett is. One of my greatest joys is seeing how much Abby loves her Daddy. Garrett plays with her every chance he gets, and it's just so cute to see how her face lights up when Daddy comes home.

She's definitely a Daddy's girl.

Flashback Friday - "From Cumorah's Hill" - 1997

In July of 1997, the youth in our stake performed "From Cumorah's Hill", a musical presentation with a chorus, soloists, and readers. It was an incredible experience.

As I listened again to our program the other day (we recorded it on CD's), I was brought back. I remember piling into our leaders' cars and making the monthly trips down to the Portsmouth building for rehearsals, which were always fun. We had 30 youth from our ward participate, which was great!! We'd divide into singing parts, and I remember sometimes I would play the piano for my group. That was back in the day when, for some strange reason, I thought I was a soprano. In fact, after listening to the CD, I'm convinced that probably half the girls who sang soprano in that program should have probably been singing alto! There are some pretty high notes!

I love the "From Cumorah's Hill" program. It's a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and how it can help us in our day. The first track of our CD is President Pouliot speaking about this, and I just love it. I have always loved hearing him speak, and that also takes me back because he was my stake president throughout most of my youth.

One funny little story: just the other day I was reading through an old journal (I was de-cluttering, and when I came across it I just had to read for a while!). Anyway, we didn't get the From Cumorah's Hill CD's until about a year later (at our 1998 Youth Conference, actually). Here's a short paragraph from my journal (please note, I am only 14):

"We got back from swimming and went to the Church building and guess what! THE "FROM CUMORAH'S HILL CD'S WERE IN!!! Last year they said we'd get them before the end of summer, then it was Christmas. Next President H moved and everyone gave up hope. I am so happy! They sound ok. The audience is kinda loud. Let me just say, THE PERFORMANCE WAS BETTER. We listened to the CD while we had root beer floats and watched the movie of the day's work. It's been almost a year exactly since the performance. When we found out they came in, Courtney and I ran to find Shauna. She and Katie were in the bathroom. We said 'Guess what!!' They were like, 'What?!' We said better than boys, and better than money. They couldn't guess. COME ON! We told them about the CD's."

Maybe I should share journal entries more often... they're pretty funny. And embarrassing. And that's a good combination, if you ask me.

This girl was made for walking

When Abby was just a few months old and couldn't crawl yet, people always said "Oh, enjoy it while you can... when she starts crawling, she'll be into everything!" Eventually, she began to crawl, and yes she did get into things, but thankfully it wasn't so bad. Still, people said, "Oh, enjoy it now! When she starts walking, then she'll REALLY be into everything."

Well, now Abby is walking (and running!) like a pro, and I have to say.... I LOVE it! I love her independence, and I love not having to carry her around constantly. It used to be so hard to bring her places - like the park, for example - because she would want to be out and about with the other kids, but she would just crawl around in the dirt and sand, getting filthy. Now that she walks, though, I can just let her go and watch from a distance as she toddles around and climbs on things. Sure, she still falls sometimes and she does get dirty, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before she could walk. I love this freedom that we are both enjoying!

Isn't she the cutest? But I'm just a little biased.

PS - Learn how to make strawberry jam today over at my other blog, Safely Gathered In!

It's the Final Countdown

11 DAYS! It seems like we've been waiting forever for June 19th to come, and now it's just 11 days away.

Garrett takes his Step 1 Boards that day, which is probably the most important test he will ever take in medical school. How well he does will determine what kind of doctor he is qualified to be. And while he's not sure yet what he wants to specialize in, he wants to keep his options open, which means that he has to do really well. It's nerve-wracking! I remember a couple years ago when Garrett was studying for the MCAT, and I was thinking, "wow, this is really stressful. When the MCAT's over, then we can finally relax." But, that wasn't the case... getting into medical school consumed our thoughts, and so that was the next big thing. I remember during that time I was thinking, "Ok, once we're in medical school, then we can relax. Yes it will be hard and stressful, but once he actually get in, everything will be fine." But the stress just never ends! I don't even know if Garrett will be able to relax during his 2 week break after the Boards, because he'll be nervous thinking about third year, which starts in the beginning of July (and is rumored to be the busiest school year of your life). Where is the light at the end of the tunnel??? I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist.

Last weekend I was talking to Garrett about our trip (we are going to Maui!), which starts 2 days after his test. "Hawaii?" he said, "Oh yeah... I haven't even thought about Hawaii." Poor guy.... that's how stressed out he is!

I know Garrett isn't happy that the test coming up so rapidly, but I'm ecstatic. He hasn't had a decent night's sleep in over a week because he can't get anatomy/ physiology/ pharmacology/ pathology/ biochemistry/ genetics to stop racing through his head. Poor guy.

And *I* miss hanging out with our couple-friends, which he hasn't had much time for in weeks. I know, aren't my complaints so minimal compared to his? But I want my husband back!

Garrett, if you're reading this... I miss you. See you in 11 days! (really, I'll see you in about 3 hours, but it will only be a shadow of you, because your brain will stay on study-mode and we probably won't be able to have a real conversation. But it's ok... for the last week or so I've been saving up all my thoughts and conversations I've wanted to share with you. We're going to be taking a 15-hour trip together on the 21st... be prepared.)

Flashback Friday - Eagle Court of Honor 1999

Mike, Hannah, Emma, Molly, Mom, Dad

I don't have much of an explanation for this - just some pictures. I remember that in order to get his driver's license, Mike had to have his Eagle Scout award and know how to play 50 hymns on the piano, so this was pretty significant. Mike and Danny C. had their Eagle Courts of Honor together, which made the day extra special for everyone.

The C* Family

All About Abby - May 2008

Abby learned a lot in May!

She likes to feed herself with a fork and spoon now, and while that's very exciting, it's also messy. Unfortunately, the dining room table sits on a carpet - I need to get one of those cheap little rectangular rugs to lay under her chair.

She always remembers to pray before meals - sometimes she even reminds us! When we all sit down to eat she pushes her plate away and folds her arms. Sometimes during the meal she'll even push her plate back again, fold her arms, and start talking in a high-pitched, but quiet, voice. It's so cute, and it's really rewarding to see her pick up on things like that.

She also does a few animal sounds - she can imitate a dog, cat, cow, and a monkey. She also does a great fire truck!

Abby LOVES the game "This little piggy...". She comes up to me and grabs my big toe and starts wiggling it around, murmuring something that sounds roughly like "This little piggy..."

I think I can safely say that Abby's favorite time of day is when Daddy comes home. Lately, I've been going to the gym every evening as soon as he gets here, so Abby and Garrett have an hour of daddy-daughter time. They usually go outside and water the little vegetable garden, and they also play lots of hide and seek. It's so fun to see them play together.

A few of her new words:

"Hey!"

cheese

fish

JJ (her friend's name)

No

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

No, I'm not pregnant.

My friend Abbie and I have started a new blog! We are really excited about it, and we hope that people find it beneficial. It's a food storage and emergency preparedness blog. Prophets have been telling us for years that we need to build up a supply of food storage and we need to be prepared for emergencies, and I don't know about you, but I struggle a lot with that. Like most people, I'm on a tight budget, and my house is small so it's hard for me to even know where to keep all that food. Plus, I just don't know HOW TO DO IT! Where do I start? How much food do I really need? How long can canned food be stored? And what in the world can I make using all that wheat? All these unanswered questions have kept me from getting started. And that's about to change!

Anyway, today is our "launch" day - our first official post is up, and it explains our whole plan. I really hope that the work we put into this project will benefit as many people as possible. We want to be a reliable resource for everyone who visits. And even if you are totally prepared and you don't need the blog, I'm sure you know people who, like me, just don't know where to start. Tell them to start at our blog! We're learning too, and it should be a lot of fun.

Click HERE to visit our new food storage and emergency preparedness blog!