The Chandler Family

Wild life..

2009-03-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

So we haven't seen any bears or mountain lions yet (except for Klave who found a bear with her cub just 20 ft from him! Scary!) but on the way to the post office the other day Naomi did get attacked by a yellow lab. These two huge dogs squirmed out of the gate as their owner was coming out and just barreled into Naomi and clenched their teeth on either side of her forhead, then scraped them all the way across. Now that was really scary, the poor girl was terrified! The thing that baffels me is that the next day she wanted to walk past the same house! It doesn't look pretty but luckily she's ok. Pics later... maybe?

Unwilling conversion

2009-03-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Just to let everyone know what's up, we have converted to the Amish lifestyle, no, not by choice. We absolutely love it here in California, the weather (which actually isn't that different from other places we've lived), our ward (totally rocks, maybe even more than Ferndale 1st ward, maybe), Klave's job. It's all going really well. Only we haven't sold our home in Moses Lake so we've had to sacrifice many former necessities the hardest being the internet. And since we got kicked out of the library, I'm kind of nervous to go back. Also we don't have cable or satellite, which we can do without but then the wires on our car radio melted out when we charged the battery so we have no contact with the rest of the world besides our cellphones. Luckily we've made some good friends here so once in a while I can get online and touch base with the rest of the world. We're living in a really small town right now, that's really close to Klave's work. Everyday we take a walk to the post office to get our mail and then walk around almost the entire town and stop at the school playground for a while. There is tons of hiking and outdoors stuff to do around here, so especially when it gets warmer we'll be taking advantage of that. I've been running with a friend and her four dogs, up on a mountain trail and as you go into the park there is a sign that says, "Beware of mountain lions" I don't think I would go without her dogs. Once when she was running alone with her dogs, a bear came pummeling down the mountain and across the trail right in front of her. There is so much wildlife out here, it's pretty cool to see it all. Well I'll have to post some pictures next time, or just come and visit!

Just kickin' it

2008-12-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

The girls and I are having fun on our way to California. We haven't quite gotten there yet. It's been about five weeks since we left Moses Lake, we spent 3 weeks in Seattle with my brother and his family but they were leaving for Hawaii so we moved on down to Weiser for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun there. Klave got to take four days off to come visit us. He totally surprised us and got there four hours earlier than we expected him. All of the girls missed him so much, but not as much as I did. Nora just clung to his leg the whole night and just kept saying Daddy, Daddy! She is definitley a daddy's girl. We went to Klave's cousins' wedding at the Courtyard Marriot. It was a pretty wedding but after the ceremony as we went into the reception Naomi was totally confused. "Why didn't they get married? They just kissed, they didn't even go to the temple." She was very disappointed. But not for long, those girls didn't leave the dance floor all night long. They are party animals! We had such a blast dancing all night with all of Klave's family.
Klave went home on sunday and then a couple days later Klave's parents left for a conference over in Boise. We were left with Kassee and Maycee Klave's teenage sisters. It was a blast because we got to do all the chores on the ranch. Feed the chickens, the dogs, the horses and the calves. Let the sheep out and bring them in at night. These girls are hardworkers, well that's what I was trying to teach them anyway. After 15 minutes of crying because Naomi got dirt in her flip flops we got down to business and they really loved it. They are kind of sissies like their mom, they don't like to get dirty. Here's Lucy taking a bath in the mudroom sink at Grammee and Papa's.

So now we are down in Utah with my family for a little while and I'm praying we'll be in California by Christmas!

And she's off....

2008-11-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here's Lucy at seven months! Does that seem soon for crawling to anyone else? It's probably normal but I can't believe how fast she is growing up! She climbs like a monkey too. It's so much fun watching all that she can do. Sometimes Nora will play with her a little and it's so cute. Usually she wants to sit on her or step on her but the other night I heard all this squealing in the other room, so I peaked around the corner. Nora was sitting in front of Lucy fake laughing the best she could until Lucy would laugh enough that her pacifier would fall out. Then Nora would quickly put it back in Lucy's mouth and start all over again. When Lucy stopped laughing Nora would just take the pacifier out for her and then plug it back in. So sweet!

We're Movin' On!

2008-11-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

...and hopefully up! About two weeks ago Klave accepted a job as Assistant Livestock Manager on a ranch in California! Oh yeah! Well I always thought it would be cool to live in Cali, it's just that I was imagining more like San Diego or Sacramento. Instead we are headed to the Mt. Shasta Valley. I believe that is the place. I haven't really been there yet, which seems kind of crazy. The other thing that is more crazy is that I just got off the phone with Klave and he is sleeping in his car tonight down near the ranch, but he is loving life! He has been itching to get back to working with livestock so this was our chance and here we go. We packed up all our stuff and left our home praying that it sells really soon! I'm staying with Dan and Grace in Sammamish, WA with the girls until a)we sell our house, b) the ranch gives us a house to live in on the ranch, c)we get a raise. We are having fun so far but you can only go so long without your own space.

So I know I have been away from the blogosphere for a really long time, there are about a trillion things I want to post about but I thought at least I should let my friends know where we are....and if they are moving to Moses Lake, there is a really great house for sale right now.

Happy Birthday Nadine and Naomi!!

2008-09-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we've had these girls for four years now!!! They are really growing fast and they are so much fun.

We were talking about which friends they would invite to their party and they said, Lanie, Rachel, Ashlynn, Brynlee and Melissa. I'm like, "Who's Melissa?" They were talking about their Aunt Melissa in Utah. Well it worked out really great because David and Melissa had vouchers for Delta that they had to use before December so they flew up for their birthday. David and Melissa are such fun visitors to have. If you want to laugh and have an awesome party, invite David and Melissa. Friday they woke up to all their cousins and David and Melissa to play with. Melissa and I decorated the cakes. We made a princess and a castle one made of cupcakes.
They got a bunch of princess "action figures" and a witch and princes. (They were actually Anakin Skywalker and Obi One Konobi because, Where in the world do you find Prince action figures?) Then they also got a new bike helmet and a ton of princess dress up stuff. Here's Nadine admiring herself in her new heels and jewelry.
Nora also really loved the cakes, here is a video of my little snitch.

We went to the water park on friday with David and Melissa and Dan and Grace and their family. Dan and Adelaide
Uncle David, can you read the secret message in his chest hair?
Aunt Melissa and Lucy

These video's are Klave on the flow rider, he makes it look so easy!
David and Lucy taking a nap

The day after the water park we went fishing at the hatchery. Actually the kids are the only ones aloud to fish but we all had a good time. Last year we caught about 13 fish but realized once we got home that that is way too many fish to eat. This year we left with just 3.

Nadine with the worms

David and Naomi

Dad and Nadine

Nora and "the big one"

Do you think this post is long enough?

Adventures in Sammammish

2008-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to have family in Seattle. We love to go over there each month and hang out with our family and go to the temple. This last time Klave went on to Bellingham for training while the girls and I stayed in Sammammish with the Stevenson's. The coolest thing that happened while we were there is that at the temple I sat next to a friend of mine from girls camp, like 12 or 15 years ago. It was so crazy to see her. Julie Pack was her name then now it's Bown. Her and her husband and 2 kids moved there about a month ago. Jen and Amy, do you guys remember her? She is so funny and energetic. Hopefully we can meet up again or maybe she'll start a blog?
Another cool thing we did was go to the Pacific Science Center. There is so much to do there we could have spent a few days but only had a few hours. The kids really loved the bugs!! Here are a few pics of them with the gargantuan cockroach! Nadine is not afraid of anything!

Naomi was trying to be brave but she must have too much of her mom in her to allow her to touch something that nasty.

I totally saw that coming!

We went through the butterfly pavillion, which was really cool if you like butterfly's. They are so pretty but I just don't like anything crawling on me. I did it for the kids though and prayed that one wouldn't land on me because I really didn't want to freak out in front of all those people. On the other hand Nadine couldn't keep her hands off of them.

There were some really bright ones and ones that were just huge! It was hard to get a real good picture of them though. But here are some cute kids and a fairy.
Outside we had a picnic and they had all sorts of high powered water sprayers you could play with.
Here's Lucy on her second day with pig tails. I love it! Since then I trimmed her hair because it was all bald on the sides and uneven on top. I cut about an inch off. Her hair is pretty thick now, just too short for pig tails.

The next day we decided to take all the kids on a hike. I love hiking and I forgot how much I love it. In Moses Lake there really isn't anywhere to hike, so this was really exciting. I guess I expected that the kids would think it was really cool too. Here's the group, Nora 2, Nadine and Naomi 4, Jacob 5, Sam 3, David 7 and then Grace is holding Adelaide who's 1 and I'm holding Lucy 5 mo. I think we do some crazy things sometimes but we always have a lot of fun.

This hike was so beautiful, it felt like we were walking through the rainforest. Trees everywhere and about halfway through it really started to rain. The hike was about a mile and parts of it were pretty steep but the kids did really well. They haven't really been hiking before so some of them complained but we'll definitly do it again.
We hiked down to the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls, amazing isn't it? I was so glad that crazy guy was out there fishing so you can see how huge the falls are.

Here are the falls again from the top. It kind of terrifies me to look over the railing. I always stand back a few feet. Can you imagine the terror I felt seeing my kids hanging on the railing and swinging their feet over the edge? There are bars close enough they can't fall through but I just about had a cardiac. And Naomi kicked Jake's flip flop over the edge, I think she was disappointed it landed in the grass on the side instead of in the water.

Always room for one more!

2008-08-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

A week ago we got to have alot of my family come and visit. I love it because we never just have one person or family come visit. As many people as can get school and work off and as many people as can squeeze in the car will come too. We had Liz and her three kids come (we missed Brayden, who had football) my mom, Annie, Michelle and then the last part of the week Grace and her kids came too. All of the kids played together so well and were really excited to see eachother. It was a blast!
The first day we walked down to the park by the lake and had a picnic and practiced our baby drops. I don't remember it hurting so badly when I was in 3rd grade. Liz had a pretty sweet bruise behind her knee all week. That night we went to the movie in the park. We saw Enchanted, I can't believe with all my girls I hadn't seen it before. I loved it.
Elizabeth has turned into a maniacal, rock hard, workout machine, so we "got" to workout with her a few times. It was great except that I couldn't straighten my legs for a week, they were so sore. We also spent a day at the water park. We all took a turn on the flo-rider. You can see on the slide show a great wipe-out picture of Klave. He actually did the standing up one where the rest of us did the body board side. It's great fun just make sure you have your swim bottoms on good. It's dangerous that way, just ask Annie.
In the outrageously hot weather we also conquered the Wild Horse Monument hike and a cookout at the sand dunes. The hike is actually only about a quarter of a mile, if that. But it's steep and we had a lot of kids. The cookout at the sand dunes we all agreed was something we would definitley remember. It's not like the sand dunes in Rexburg that you can play on and slide down. It was more like your worst nightmare. Building a fire to roast hot dogs when it's 100 degree weather and smores where the chocolate is melted before you open the package. Sand in all of your food. I guess I was getting desperate for exciting things to do in Moses Lake. I only wish we took some pictures.
One of my favorite things is girls night out with my sisters and mom. This year it was Klave and 11 kids so we put them to bed before we left. We went to dinner at El Rodeo(good food) and had so much fun talking. We have so much fun together, I laugh so hard with them and my cheeks always hurt by the end of the night from smiling so much. It's too bad we live so far from each other, but it just makes the reunions that much sweeter.

And you will be bless!

2008-08-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

On my mission the Africans would always say that. I love it! Anyway I have so much to blog about which I will get to someday, but right now I just have to say how blessed we have been. I'm amazed! I have really wanted to get serious about getting our food storage this year and have been working on it as much as I can. You just have to know that when you want to do something the prophet asks you to do, Heavenly Father is going to help you do it. Soooooooo, on with the list. Twice now someone has called us that is moving and decides to just give us their food storage and emergency preparedness stuff, hundreds of dollars worth of food and supplies!!!! A free deep freezer, free flats of strawberries for jam, a great inside deal on some heavy duty storage shelves. I know there is more that I'm forgetting at this moment but basically our storage room is overflowing. I see how the Lord blesses us way more than we deserve, it makes me want to be so much better!

Cirque du Chandler

2008-07-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Do you see a resemblance?

2008-07-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

This morning at breakfast there was a live fly on the window near Nora. She reached over with her pointer finger and smashed him, just like that. She's got skills!

I love to see the temple

2008-07-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

Usually we go to Seattle each month so we can of course visit Dan and Grace but also to go to the temple without worrying about finding a responsible, fun, available, and most of all cheap babysitter. For the month of June we missed our chance to go before they left town the last half of the month. So did we give up? NO. Not totally anyway. One day after Klave was done with work we drove down to the Columbia River temple which is about an hour and a half away. There is a stake center there with a field and sand volleyball pit and drinking fountain, so Klave watched the kids while I went into the temple. It was so great to go inside and I enjoyed every minute of it. It's so peaceful there. I come out feeling totally refreshed for life and find Klave just about unwound. Nora I think just had pants on and was filthy, Nadine and Naomi were digging in the sand pit, equally dirty and Lucy was laying on a blanket crying. Klave is a great dad but I think he just needed some more resources, like snacks, swings, toys, etc. Anyway I come out ready to watch the kids and he's like, "That's ok, I can't leave you with these kids. They're crazy!" That was really nice of him to be so concerned for me but inside I was thinking, "What do you think I do every day of my life?" I tried to get him to not worry about it and go ahead inside but he persisted so we ending up just heading back home. The girls love going to the temple. They spend most of their days pretending like they are going to get married, so they really wanted to take their white dress-up to the temple and get their pictures taken. They loved it and we got some pretty cute pictures. Here you go...

Psycho in real life!!

2008-06-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

So, a few days a week I go to the church and workout with some other ladies while our kids all play in the gym and on the stage. It's great, we have fun and our kids do too. There are about 10 little girls that come with their mom's and they are all 2-5 years old. This last week once I got to the church which is about .5 miles from our house I realized I forgot Lucy's pacifier which is crucial to being able to workout the whole time. So I called Klave to see if he could drop it off on his way out. He said yeah but he was about to get in the shower so it wouldn't be right away. After about 30 seconds I realized I couldn't wait so I just decided to run home and grab it before we started. I got inside our house and heard the shower running and my dark side took over. I could not resist the temptation to pretend attack my unsuspecting hubby. I stealthily tiptoed to the bathroom, (he didn't even close the door!!) postitioned myself just right and snatched open the shower curtain.
Poor, poor Klave had soap all over his face and was swinging blindly at his assailant. I was laughing hysterically and almost crying. Partly because I felt so badly for scaring the living daylights out of him. That really made my day, all throughout the day I would think about what happened and start cracking up all over again. At the end of the day is when the terror set in. Klave came home from work and said, "I've been thinking all day about how I'm going to get you back." Not fair, I get scared way more easily than he does!

My girls

2008-06-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Just a few things about my girls. I've noticed that everything is considered "fair", no matter the outcome as long as it's determined by eenie meenie miney mo. Their favorite car is "the one that Daddy gave you, Mommy" it's a '91 Subaru Loyale. It's a real beaut. But they would rather ride in there than in Klave's work car, a 2007 Honda Pilot. I think it's because it is really loud, we have to roll down the windows because the a/c isn't that great and because one of them has to ride in the front seat so we all fit. (Don't worry there are no air bags.) Whenever we arrive somewhere they yell, "Don't open the door, I'm going out the window!" Nadine loves to dig for worms it's just that she usually stretches them so far that they break, then she has to find a new one. The other day she was just playing with one and I was watching her as she stretched it out and not really thinking almost put it in her mouth!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH luckily I stopped her before it made contact! She must get that from Klave. Naomi loves to stash stuff under her desk, like her clothes, even though she has to walk past the dresser to get to the desk. I always find a pile of things I've asked her to put away right there under the desk. Nora wasn't really talking yet or saying any words which kind of worried me, because she's almost 22 months old, but she has the greatest expressions. I would try to work with her to say some words and she'd try for a while and then shake her head and try to cover my mouth. Actually the last few weeks I've been making it a real focus and praying alot for her to be able to learn and she had been trying so much more. You still can't understand most of what she says, but she's saying things and tries to copy us. She's such a sweetie.
Lucy is starting to smile alot more and laugh a little too. I can't wait till she can defend herself from all of her overadmiring sisters.

Another story about Nadine, a while ago she came and sat on the couch across from me and says, "Remember when Naomi got sick at church...." and on and on for probably 5 minutes relating every detail about what she was wearing and everything that happened that day. At the end of the story she's like, "Do remember that mom?" "Yeah I do" I said. Then she says, "Oh, I don't."

It seems like I write down alot of the crazy things they do, but they really surprise me often at the profound things they say. This morning we were reading in our scriptures about the Nephites preparing for the Gadianton robbers to come down to fight them and how they made armor to protect themselves. I was explaining to them what armor was and then Naomi asks, "So, how can we protect our bodies?" I was impressed at how thoughtful that was and they had a lot of good answers to it too. I sure love these kids.

The Winnecook Ranch

2008-06-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

Over the last weekend we took a trip to the church ranch where Klave did his internship in Harlowton, Montana. You probably have never heard of it because only a few people live there Well not really but it's far enough out there that our phone didn't get any kind of coverage until we'd left and been driving for an hour. Some of the highlights of the trip were throwing stuff off the bridge, trying to catch the bunnies that were everywhere, seeing horses, cows, antelope, jack rabbits galore, deer, elk, and our favorite an otter. The otter was the best, we saw him swimming through the river so what do you do? Throw rocks, right? It was cool because wherever we would throw a rock in the water he would swim to that place, so we ran him around for a long time and got him to come really close to us.
This is where we would get our water if we decide to homestead there.

We also went exploring for fossils and went to the buffalo run that is there on the ranch. A buffalo run is where the indians would herd the buffalo up and over a hill but on the back side of a hill is a cliff where they would break their legs and then the indians could eat them. That sounds pretty morbid but it was interesting to see it. There also was a wall of rocks shaped in a "v" and the buffalo would run through the point of it and the indians would hide behind the rocks to scare them through it. (Erin I hope you are not totally disgusted by this post, sorry!)
That's the buffalo run behind the girls.

The drive took about 8 and 1/5 hours but it was really beautiful and it was so fun for Klave to go back and see old friends and reminisce.
.The Jacobson's, our friends we stayed with.

(Travis, Bekah, Emmett, and Seth)

On the way home I was really excited because we could stop in Spokane and go to a store that's not Walmart. Wahoo, I planned to stop at least at Old Navy and get some clothes for this in between stage of pregnant and not pregnant body. I was searching the racks and talking with but not watching my girls when the alarms start blaring! Nadine had opened the emergency exit door. "ok girls, that's alright, just touch the clothes and nothing else ok?" A few minutes later the maniquin next to me starts losing limbs, and an arm comes crashing to the ground. Nadine and Naomi just stood there wide-eyed. That's as far as the shopping trip went. I just can't shop under pressure. We tried a fabric store also for just a few minutes and then headed for Wingers. At first I was kind of bugged that I didn't get to buy anything that it seemed I'd been waiting forever to buy, but quickly enough I realized it really didn't matter. We had such an awesome trip not because we went to an extremely cool place but because we had so much fun together as a family. The whole time I just felt like I was on cloud 9. Everyone was happy for the whole trip (with 5 girls that is not always the case) and I totally could never ask for a better time. I love my family sooooooo much!

Nadine's excited to hold Lucy and get her picture taken.

Springfest!

2008-05-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Springfest here. There were so many fun things to do which is good except then all the babysitters in town are out having fun too. So we did what we could with the girls and that was fun. We watched all the dance and the gymnastic groups in town perform and we went to the carnival. Nadine and Naomi were so anxious to go on the rides. First they saw the YoYo, you know the one with the swings that goes around and around. They really wanted to go on that one, "Do you think you could go on that one?" I asked. Oh, yeah, it's for little kids they assured me. I told them that I didn't know if I would even go on it. Naomi looks at me like I'm crazy and says, "Mom you can't go on that, you'd break it!" So apparently I'm a little larger than I realized.

"Cheese!" This is the expression Nora gets when she's ready to have her picture taken.

We really had a great time but Klave and I both never realized how many weird people there are in Moses Lake, I guess a carnival just brings them all out of the woodwork. Seeing all those Jr high kids also makes me really nervous about my girls growing up. Kids that age get so confused about what's cool. Recently someone told me that psycologically 3 is the same as 15 as far as attitudes go. That was a little scary for me to hear but way motivating to work extra hard now so that when 15 rolls around things can go more smoothly.

Sammamish again

2008-05-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

The first part of this week the girls and I spent in Sammamish again while Klave went on up to Bellingham for a training meeting. We had a great time as usual playing with cousins and I get to visit with my sister in law Grace. They are such a great family and she is one of those super moms that I'm always trying to learn from. This time we went to the children's museum in Seattle. Besides having to park like a half mile away and carry the kids through the rain to the museum (my arms were so sore the next day, so at least I got a work out) we had a really fun time. First there is an art room with paints and clay and collage stuff and they just go to town with it and it doesn't matter if they make a mess! It was wonderful for all of us. Then there is a room with ping pong balls that's kind of hard to explain but really cool, a story telling room, a fake restaurant, a fake grocery store and so many fun things. I'm sure we'll be back, next time with a stroller.

So here's a funny story about Naomi this weekend. She asked me if she could color and I said, "After dinner because we are about to eat." So she asks Grace if she can color and I say, "Naomi, is Grace your mom or am I your mom?" Like, you need to listen to me. The next day Grace was talking on the phone and asked Naomi to stop playing the drums so she could hear. She just kept on playing so I go in and say, "If Grace asks you to stop playing the drums, then you need to stop." She looks at me and says, "But Grace isn't my mom." It took me a minute to sort that one out in my mind. How to explain when to listen to others and when not to. Kids are so smart.

Still alive.

2008-05-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still alive. We have been so busy! It's crazy that something that sleeps so much can take so much of your time.
As some evidence of how busy we've been... I made chicken noodle soup last night and when I was doing the dishes I found the cut up chicken that was supposed to go in the soup. I didn't even notice it was missing when I was eating it. Klave didn't mention it either, bless his heart.

Klave's parents have a sheep ranch, so each year we go down for lambing season. This year about 500 sheep will lamb within a months time. We went down to "help" for a few days and then we blessed Lucy there on sunday. Weiser is about half way to our house from where my family lives, so they all came too. That was my Dad, Mom, 3 brothers, 3 sisters, 4 spouses, and 8 kids. Klave's parents were so nice to put them all up. We all had a blast. Here are a few pictures,

Nadine and Naomi and cousin Mason on the tractor with Grandpa Chandler

Amanda taking the kids for a ride
Klave's getting ready to feed the sheep. He really did the most work of all of us. This is what he really wants to be doing for a living, doesn't it just look natural to him?

Friday night we had a weiner roast it was best to keep us all out of the house, we were all so filthy

I was surprised at the courage of my siblings. My city slicker brother, Dan a lawyer from Seattle jumped in and helped with castrating 8 of their horses. Liz a return lamber of 3 years now helped pull a lamb out of the ewe and drove the tractor! My nephew Brayden 8yrs old milked a sheep and drank it's milk! Everybody was out there helping grab the lambs as soon as they dropped to the ground. It is so much fun but you do get really dirty. It's like the Weiser version of Fear Factor. Dan taking the new baby lamb to the shed.
Aunt Maycee and Nora
Brayden drinking the fresh squeezed sheeps milk.
Dan living up to Brayden's example.Nora checking the sheep with Grandpa Chandler. Aunt Liz and Carter feeding the lambs.

The day we got back from Weiser it was Cinco de Mayo. I had been planning for like two weeks to make paper mache pinatas with the girls and then have some friends over for tacos and family home evening and pinata fun. The time just crept away and things didn't go quite as planned. We ended up grabbing some food from Taco Bell. Here are some pictures of our pinata fun...

Ok it wasn't really a pinata, just a brown bag from Safeway, still it worked pretty good and since it was their first pinata the girls didn't know the difference. I wonder if they ever use brown bags for pinata's in Mexico?

Now here are some random things.
Thank goodness for blogs, having one really reminds me to take pictures. I got the camera out the other sunday to get some pics of the girls and Nadine wanted to help me, here's one she took, not bad for a three yr old. She also loves to take pictures of her dolls, but I usually delete those ones.

These girls are so much fun. Everyday they just make me smile so much. Even though somedays I think I'm going to go crazy keeping up with them, I just can't help but smile at all the funny things they do. Each night even though I could probably fall asleep standing up by the time it's time for sleep, I crawl into bed but I really don't fall asleep for quite a while because I just think about how much I love them and what I can do better and I almost always feel guilty that I haven't shown them enough love.

Every family home evening Nadine and Naomi want to sing the princess song for both the opening and closing songs. The princess song is just randomly singing the names of all the princesses and pretty girls they know. We got the last go round on video....

Nora has a real love/hate relationship with animals that I don't understand but it is so funny to watch. She loves to touch them but once she does she freaks out. Here's a video...

I also keep forgetting to write down all the funny things they say, but one that I remember at the moment was around Easter time when I had a bunch of those Robin egg malt ball candies. I found one that was really tiny and I said, "Look Nadine a little baby one." She took it and looked at it for a minute and said, "She wants her mommy!" Pretty clever huh?

We love Lucy!

2008-04-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

So on wednesday the 2nd I was supposed to be induced but they called and said they were too busy, but maybe tomorrow...on thursday they called and were too busy again, but maybe tomorrow...then on friday they told me to come right in! Then I started to panic, was I really ready? Ready or not, it was time. We got to the hospital at about 11:00am. After five tries they got the IV started and then we waited and waited there was really almost no progress until 8:00pm and then things got going and she was born at 12:53 the next morning!

(This is us waiting. We played Farkle and Klave rocked my world!)
Here's our little ray of sunshine- Lucy

She was 19.25 inches and 8lbs. 5oz.

It took us forever to decide on a name, and then we finally settled on Lucy after we came home from the hospital. All the nurses were so helpful and each time they came in they had more suggestions for names. I think they get extra worried sending a baby home without a name.
It's so much fun having a new baby around. Nadine, Naomi and Nora really love her. Today Nadine told me that she didn't know it was going to be a real baby. I've had my mom here for a little over a week and she spoils me so much, she just comes and works her little heart out taking care of me and the girls and Klave. Dan and Grace and their kids came over from Seattle too and that was great to have someone to play with Nadine, Naomi and Nora while I was at the hospital with Lucy. I'm so thankful to have such a supportive and helpful family!

Family Pictures

2008-03-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

So, I really have been trying to get even a snapshot of our family in this stage that I could post but we can't seem to get an acceptable one. And, I bet it just gets harder the more children you have. So here I have a picture of each of us on the same day. Almost just as good, right?

Here's Nora-cha-cha, eating one of her favorites, pesto. She is just so cute and squishy. In nursery there is a little boy named Rorie that thinks so too. Whenever it's time for the lesson and they all have to sit down, he always sits on her, because he loves her. Then the teacher says everyone hold hands, like stand in a circle and hold hands and he just holds her hands, both of them. So sweet.

Here's Naomi-cakes, she is always making us smile. She really is sweet and tries to keep the peace in our home. I'm sometimes surprised at both her and Nadine and how selfless they can be for three year olds, we have totally been blessed with good children. Naomi is like her dad in a lot of ways, specifically, she's definitley a night owl and is the last to fall asleep of the girls and maybe even of everyone sometimes. And she can sleep later than anyone.
Here's Nadine-bean (a.k.a. Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Snow White or any Disney princess, Dora, etc.) This little girl is pretty creative and usually is the ring leader out of the three. For the past month and probably more she has been a bit obsessed about her swimming suits and spends so much of the day transferring them from her backpack to an ice cream bucket to the couch then to a grocery bag and on and on. Then she'll ask me, "What should I do with my swimsuits now?" She's a little fireball!
Here's Klabey, Dad, Prince Eric, the witch, the beast, and so much more. What a babe! Nadine and Naomi already know that he is the one they are going to marry. Klave has been working hard on our yard and investigating the stock market so we can retire rich, plus his real job and calling and just keeping us all happy. He is so good at it too!
Ok, I guess since I am a part of the family I should also make an appearance on the blog for history sake at least. This is Amanda, 38 weeks pregnant. This has really been a great pregnancy but the last few weeks have become pretty torturous. If any of you have experienced restless leg syndrome you know the kind of distress, agony, torment etc. that I have been going through. But alas just a day more. Unless something happens before then, I'll be induced on wednesday, that's April 2. Yahoo!

Three curly sue's...

2008-03-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

I love having 8,30 church, besides having the whole day after church to relax and be together, I get to put sponge curlers in the girls' hair each saturday night. So here is the before picture.

I couldn't believe I actually got curlers into all of Nora's hair, I never thought she'd sit through it let alone keep them in all night. Sunday mornings are a breeze, I just take out the curlers, stick a bow in it, and voila!

This picture doesn't show the curls all that well but they are sooooooooo cute.

Third time's a charm.

2008-03-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

It's just too bad when this phrase is referring to the color you paint your kitchen! I was so excited to get our kitchen all painted and finished and be done with painting and just put our house back together until this....

The picture actually makes it look a lot better than it was. I did most of it when Nora was taking a nap but when Klave got home he's like, "Don't even finish painting it." It was that bad. A little too retro for us. So we wait a week for paint to go on sale again and Klave took on the job. I wasn't sure of the color we wanted but just something neutral I told him. This is what he interpreted by neutral...

A little too reminiscent of those colorful houses you see as you fly over Mexico. I really wanted to be nice about it but after just a few hours (ok it was more like moments) I knew I couldn't live with it. That night I went and got one last can of paint. Neutral...

Not as exciting as the first two options but something I can live with a lot easier. I guess I appreciate it that much more now.

It's a pink.

2008-02-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

So in case you can't tell from the little icon we have on our blog panel, we are having another girl! It's the age of specialization right. I think Klave was hoping for a Klave Jr. but not this time. I think it's because he talks on his cell phone all day and it kills his boy sperms. I heard that that will really affect it.
0I'm ready to go with a new letter of the alphabet for this one's name, I was thinking Quincy, or Avery, or Bailey. Klave says, "How about Nincy or Navery or Nailey. I guess he's not ready to break away from the N's just yet. Any ideas?

My personal fashion consultant.

2008-02-21T22:44:00.000-08:00

At bedtime each night, Naomi always lays out pajama's for me. She loves these bottoms that are yellow with pink stars on them. They are alright I guess but being pregnant they aren't as comfy as usual. One night I opted for a more comfortable pair and the next morning she totally reprimanded me for not listening to her. I couldn't believe she remembered and that it meant so much to her. She is always making me laugh!

Good times in Sammamish

2008-02-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

So, once a month we get to go over to Sammamish, right by Seattle so we can go to the temple and visit Amanda's brother and his family. We always have a good time. This time Klave went up to Bellingham for a few days of training and so the girls and I hung out with Grace and her kids. We went to this place called Kids Bounce. They have all those inflatable slides and rooms and obstacle course. It was like a barrel of monkey's!
Nadine and Naomi just kept going and going and Nora couldn't go anywhere because everything was too bouncy.We had all the kids race through the obstacle course, Grace's kids Jacob and Sam, Nadine, Naomi and then Grace helped Nora through. I would have done it, in fact I tried but there are spaces much too small for a very pregnant woman to squeeze through.

Nadine rocked the house on the obstacle course, she even lapped everyone once. The rest of them got a little distracted I think. Naomi found a ball part way through and wanted to take it the rest of the way with her but had to fight another little girl over it first. She won!

I took Nora down the huge slide, it took me a few moments at the top to get up the courage. It was really weird because all these little kids are whizzing up and down it but it seemed kinda dangerous from way up there. I've become such a scaredy-cat since having kids!

Go Big Bend!

2008-02-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago we went to the Big Bend Community College boys basketball game to see Klave's cousin play. They are ranked pretty high in the division and played a team that is not even ranked and lost in a close game. It was a bummer because Paul, Klave's cousin didn't even get to play! Just the same we all had a blast, especially the girls. Nadine and Naomi got pom pons from the mascot and some nice people sitting next to us. All three of the girls "got down" with the rest of the college girls, dancing along with the D.J. The mascot kindof freaked out Naomi with his plastic head. She kept hiding from him and saying, "Mom, I don't want that guy to look at me, he's scary."

Klave and I had a great time watching them and visiting with Uncle Kirt and Aunt Verna and their other son Brian and his "friend" and Paul's girlfriend from BYU-I. I think what made the evening for Nadine and Naomi was the half-time entertainment. Two groups of girls about their age did a dance performance with cute little costumes. They were pretty much in awe. I'm excited to get them into tap dance or something like that. They'll have such a good time.

Check it off baby!

2008-01-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

This table was given to us by our neighbors, once again I don't have a before picture, but we refinished it and put new legs on it and now it's done! I'm checking it off the list! As a resolution I want to finish all the projects I had started so they don't have to be around to drive me crazy once the baby is born. It feels so good!

Just another week.

2008-01-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

It seems like whenever we get up early to study scriptures or do whatever, the girls somehow sense it and wake up too. No matter how early. So this is Klave doing his scripture study. It's hard to make a habit of getting up early when you don't get any more done than if you woke up late. We'll have to find a way around this.
It has been so cold here that we've mostly just stayed inside. I had to make it a point to get out this last week, some fresh air is always good. Also it has been so cute watching Nadine because she is so helpful and sympathetic to Nora since she fractured her arm. She'll help her up onto chairs and when they went outside she helped Nora down the step. She is so sweet.
Blackeyed Nora (it seems like it keeps getting worse)
So something that is funny that I'm figuring out is how to get Nadine and Naomi to work. They are pretty much obsessed with princesses. The other day I was doing the dishes or something and they mentioned how I was like Cinderella the way I was sweeping or something. So I'm like, "Yeah I'm like Cinderella so I do all the work." Next thing I know they are jumping to do every job because they want to be Cinderella and if they get all their work done they get to go to the ball.(Only that part never really happens) It's alot of fun. Sometimes though they start pretending to be the stepsisters and rip at my clothes and stuff.

Crash and Burn

2008-01-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

I guess Nora just doesn't get enough attention as it is, she keeps on having these serious injuries. This summer she almost severed her big toe completely when she pulled the glass, blender pitcher out of the cupboard onto her foot. Then the whole rash episode, then yesterday she was just sitting on the girls' bed bouncing on her rear when she fell forward onto the trundle bed and fractured her arm! Poor girl! She kept trying to crawl and would just fall on her face because her arm hurt too bad. The doctor ordered x-rays yesterday but we didn't find out till today that it was really fractured so this morning she was playing and fell again but couldn't catch herself with her hurt arm and hence the black eye!

She doesn't so much like having the splint on but seems happy to have a built in hammer.

Weekend warriors!

2008-01-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

This last week we pretty much didn't sleep. We, ok I decided and Klave luckily went along with it, that it was time to retexture our walls so we could finally paint them. Something happened to our before pictures, which is too bad because you don't see wood textured walls very often. Here's what it looks like now.

We spent one full week with these two couches in our kitchen along with our washer and dryer and our desk. Yeah it was a bit cramped, but it just makes me appreciate the final product that much more. We retextured the ceiling and walls and repaired all the cracks and holes. It's so nice to have fresh walls. The only thing now is that I'm afraid to hang anything up!

Back from the dead

2008-01-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

About mid-December we were in Boise so Klave could have shoulder surgery and get back on track with his basketball career. His shoulder kept popping out of place whenever he'd reach too far. The surgeon took pictures of what they saw when they opened him up and you could see how things were literally torn up inside his shoulder. This picture is right when he was waking up. He was pretty funny to be around because he was trying make all kinds of jokes but didn't make alot of sense, like asking the nurse for her number! He went to the physical therapist tonight and he was really impressed with all that he can do already but told him to take it easy and not lift anything for three months.

2008-01-01T11:31:00.001-08:00

Ok, so this is back-tracking a long, long way but I wanted to include these events in our blog. This is Amanda's whole family, all together (woo hoo) for David's wedding in Ogden, UT. They got married on October 20th and it was a blast getting all together. There was a couples shower, a wedding dinner with stellar entertainment (all the siblings), some late nights laughing and visiting including the night before the wedding when David brought all the guys home early from playing basketball because he had sprained his ankle. (David is the groom) Poor guy. It was so fun to see everyone and get to know Melissa better, she is a great fit for our family.

2008-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Bear Lake, UT for the Strength of a Bear Stevenson family reunion, all of Amanda's brothers and sisters. There were 29 people there. We rented out a cabin that was three levels and had an awesome view of the lake. I'm sure without 29 people in it, the cabin is pretty large, needless to say it was "cozy". Despite the lack of leg room, we totally partied for four days, hiking/walking, hot tubing, eating, playing football, and eating some more.

The kids made neckalaces and had a talent show and had the chance to earn an indian name. Here is a picture a Nadine in the process. How it works is the indian brave comes before Chief Sitting Bull (Grandpa) to recieve an indian name, so then they have to obey the code of silence and "spread their wings" while the chief lifts them with only a few, clawlike fingers under the armpits from off the ground onto a chair and then back to the ground. From personal experience I can tell you it is excruciatingly painful. I was amazed at how all the grandkids actually did it! I think the Chief is a lot softer than he used to be!

We had the Stevenson Family Olympics in the gym at the church. We competed in high and long jump, sit-ups, push-ups, sit and reach and an obstacle course. There was some serious competing going on and I know some people were sore for many a day. The best was the races to the end of the gym and back. I so wish I had a video of the 50+ race, my mom against my dad! It was sweet seeing them run their little hearts out.

For everyone I think the pinnacle of the reunion was the inaugural SF3, Stevenson Family Film Festival. Each family had to put together a film and present it. Of course there were awards, but I was totally blown away at how awesome they all turned out. Amanda's oldest brother Dan put together a clip of the highlights. Enjoy!

This is just a sample of them, I wish I could put them all on here for you to see. If you really want we can probably work out a way for you to see them. A high standard was set for the next SF3.

New Skills

2007-11-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

So, our kids have acquired some new skills this week which have me a little worried for the future but right now they are still cute and funny.
Nora has picked up from somewhere a few different techniques of pouting. I don't know where she got it, Nadine and Naomi have never been big pouters, maybe from her Dad. The pouting can be so theatrical and forced it just makes me laugh, except when she starts hitting herself on the head, that just makes me sad. She'll usually will walk a little ways off and bury her face in her hands and start crying, or into a corner or lay on the floor and cover her face. It's so cute I'll have to get a picture or video sometime, which shouldn't be that hard because she does it over almost anything.
Nadine has learned the skill of manipulating people, mostly Naomi falls victim to this one, poor girl. Yesterday Klave was watching the girls and told them not to get into the gum. After a few minutes Nadine came in and announced that Naomi has gum. Klave goes in to investigate. "Naomi, do you have gum?" Naomi says, "Nadine gave it to me!" Then again at church during sacrament meeting Nadine leans over to Naomi and sweetly asks if Naomi wants to sit on Mommy's lap. Naomi gets up on my lap and Nadine smiles and stretches her whole body out over the cleared bench. She's so sly!
Naomi doesn't have a special new skill this week but her favorite thing to say lately is, "Sorry!" "Oh, sorry Mom, I was going to sit by you." "Oh, sorry Mom I forgot." "Oh, sorry I didn't know." It's really sweet whenever she says it. This is one skill I hope stays around a while.

Look-a-likes?

2007-11-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

Ever since the David and Melissa's wedding Nadine and Naomi have been naming their dolls after all of the relatives they can remember. It's funny to see who they choose to be who. All the way up until the video the pink carebear was David and the doll with the long white pillowcase dress was Melissa. I think the stage fright got to Naomi and she renamed it Grace. They had so much fun at the wedding and so far the highlight of their lives was being able to hold Melissa's dress up off the ground so it wouldn't get dirty!

Finally Halloween

2007-11-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Finally we post our Halloween pictures! It seems so long ago but we just threw away our jack-o-lantern at the beginning of the week so it couldn't have been too far past, right? We took the girls to the trunk or treat at the church, they were pretty freaked out at first with all the older kids in maskes and scary costumes. About half way through the parking lot Naomi started saying "Trick or treat" and was getting more energetic about everyone giving her candy. I don't know if Nadine ever really liked the idea of taking candy from strangers. At some of the cars she rathered not get candy than approach these people she didn't know. That's probably a good thing I think. The best part of the evening for the girls besides being princesses and wearing makeup and glitter was passing out candy to the kids that came to our house. Now they keep asking for it to be Halloween again(:

Measles?

2007-11-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

So, this morning Nora woke up with this ugly rash! We were just waiting for it to go away but by the afternoon it wasn't any better and she was so sad. Our neighbor across the street is a nurse so I took her over there, like I always do before going to the doctor. (That's one reason to stay where we are) She thought maybe it could be measles and that I should take her in. That was a little scary, I don't really know anything about measles except that no one is supposed to get it anymore. So we went in and it turns out it was a reaction to the amoxicillan that she was taking for her ear infection. Still not good but better than the measles!

The Chandlers in Moses Lake

2007-10-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I'm so excited to have a blog and keep up a jounal of our family's comings and goings. Lucky you that get to read our journal!! We moved to Moses Lake at the beginning of this summer into our first house. When we finish the landscaping in the front yard we'll get you a picture. We spent the summer hanging out here and rotating our time between the Aquatic center, the lake (yes there is a lake in Moses Lake), our backyard and all the family that came to visit. It was a great summer and it felt so good to have some space in our home and a yard. Here are some pictures of the girls at the lake, sorry but there won't be any pictures of Klave or I in swimsuits this year.... and probably not next year either.

The girls love to make "cookies" out of the sand, Nadine is holding one in her hand. Nora took the pretending a little too far and really kept eating the sand. SICK!!

Birthday Party!

2007-09-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

August 28th was Nadine and Naomi's 3rd birthday. What a party! They woke up to 70 balloons (a full package) in their bedroom, thanks to Klave's extraordinary lung capacity and love for his girls. We did our normal day stuff and then at night we made the trip to Tri-cities for a Chuckie Cheese party. The girls had a blast on all the rides and getting to choose how to use their coins. Nora hitched a ride wherever she could. They didn't care nearly as much about the amount of tickets won as Klave and I did. But they both went home with two tootsie rolls and a ring.