Truitt Time

My Teaching Portfolio

2012-02-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

It's finally done! I'm not done with the entire class yet - still have to finish a couple of write-ups of my experience with my mentor teacher and my evaluation of the course itself - but I have finished and published the web site that is my teaching portfolio. It's the major project of the final lesson for this course. As soon as I finish the rest of the lesson today, I can submit that and then schedule the final for the week of the 13th. One 3-hour essay-writing final later and I will have completed Latin 4770!

So here is the website. It doesn't look like much, but it is a compilation of a lot of work over the past 8 months...

http://web.me.com/ehtruitt/Latin_4770_Teaching_Portfolio/Welcome.html

Look what I did!

2012-01-28T11:39:00.000-08:00

As part of the Latin Teaching Methods course I am nearly (halleleujah!) done with, I had to create a PowerPoint presentation for one of the reading passages in the textbook I use. My professor liked it so much, he added it to the class website and to the Wheelock's Latin web site. I'm ridiculously excited about it, so I had to share! On the Wheelock site, scroll down to the section on handouts and powerpoints and find my name....

http://www.wheelockslatin.com/wheelocksteacherguide.html

http://rlafleur.myweb.uga.edu/latn4770/powerpoints.htm

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Trying on the costume last night, "just to see how it feels," and in honor of carving the pumpkin. Matt loves to watch "Nightmare Before Christmas" around Halloween, so in honor of the tradition we have a Jack Skeleton pumpkin face. The helmet technically isn't part of his costume, but he couldn't find the mask that goes with it. The mask doesn't really fit or function well anyway, so it won't be used. We have other plans...

Step 1. Spike the hair in place of having horns. Outline the grand design on the excited boy's face.

Step 2. With engineer-like precision, begin applying the yellow...

Step 3. Sit still! Sit still! Okay, yes, you can smile at mom while she takes pictures.

Step 4. Dad, how long is this going to take? Contrast color being applied.

Step 5. Whoa!!! I am looking awesome!!!!

Step 6. Blow dry the face so the paint is dry before the boy is allowed to move anywhere else where he may bump against something that smears off or absorbs wet face paint.

Step 7. Starting to look familiar? Time for clothes!!

Step 7 1/2. Explain to Hannah that Christopher is almost ready and that we will go trick or treating soon. Yes, she can play with the taken apart computer while she waits. Yes, she can hold Christopher's sword while she waits...and waits...

Steps 8-10: Pose for the camera! Anybody recognize the character? It's not Darth Maul, but very closely related. He's a character from the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series.

Complete with the double-sword.

Which can be used together or apart. Got to love the options!

What a team!

Savage Opress. No, I'm not kidding. That is his name. I'm not making it up. But I did manage to capture a little bit of beautiful sunset behind the fierce warrior apprentice.

One more pose with Savage and Jack. at the end of a fun evening of trick or treating. We left part of his haul out as a donation for the tooth fairy. She's going to come pick it up tonight and go share it with other children who maybe didn't to go trick or treating and didn't get any candy. She leaves a present in its place.

All artwork from this evening - Savage Opress and Jack Skeleton - created by Matt Truitt. He's got skills! I took the pictures. :)

As promised....

2011-10-01T13:20:00.001-07:00

The picture of Matt in his referee outfit!

The beginning of soccer season!

2011-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Christopher was so excited for soccer to start this year! Even though we were lucky enough to get the earliest game of the day this morning, it was still pretty warm in the sun and the boys played for a full hour. He still loved it - and it was more organized of a game than two years ago when he was in the 4-year old league....

The prerequisite picture of him in his new soccer uniform before the game absolutely had to include his lego pyramid!

Warming up before the game. That's Christoher in the front, with his face turned away from the camera...my fault...

Christopher got to be the goalie in the 2nd quarter. He was thrilled! He did great, stopping three goals. Unfortunately the other team was made up of boys all about a foot taller and a year older than our little guys, so (even though they don't technically keep score) our team was beaten soundly. A hard lesson for the little ones, but it is only their first game and they're learning to work together as a team. See the referee in the fancy black and yellow outfit? It's not Matt. But next week it will be...so stay tuned....I guarantee pictures.... :)

Halftime pep talk. Christopher is #2. Again, the shot is from the back. I'll work on it, I promise....

July - Matt's birthday

2011-09-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

Christopher decided to dress up for Matt's birthday morning. So he went into the closet, pulled out an old suit jacket and slacks and dress shoes. He was pretty proud of himself!

Cousins came over after the birthday lunch for some swimming. Then it was time for presents and Christopher couldn't find the time to change out his suit before helping with presents.

Matt got miniature lemon cakes for his birthday. He usually gets a lemon cooler cake from Costco, but for some reason they didn't have them for his birthday this year. Imagine!

Birthday present from the cousins for their engineer uncle!

Developing Self Reliance: Our Story

2011-08-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Our friends just started this new blog and I'm so excited to share it! Read the "Our Story" and then explore the rest of the site. Even though they just started it, they're off to a great start with ideas for how to use zucchini and squash from a garden. I've seen the transformation of their yard over the years and it is amazing to see what they're able to do with the time and resources they have!

Developing Self Reliance: Our Story: "My husband, Todd, and I have six children (ages 1-13). We are busy just like you and just like you, we are figuring out how to make self-re..."

Karate!

2011-07-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

I'm going out of order now, putting up a current event before catching up on the past. I hope you can all forgive me. ;) Christopher did his first belt testing in karate yesterday and moved up from white belt to 'high-white' belt (they add a black stripe). He was so excited! And he looks really cute too:

He's wearing the new belt and holding the old one. They earn stripes on the ends of the belts for getting notes from home and friends for service, and for passing off different forms they learn. We're going to take a little break for a couple of months as school starts and we get settled back in to that routine, but then we'll pick it back up again. I need to see how the schedule shakes out between his school, me teaching 5 classes at my school, and the soccer team we signed up for several months ago before we went back to karate! This kid has definitely got the energy for all of that - I just need to see if I do! :)

November 2010

2011-06-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

I am rocking and rolling now! Not a lot of detail, but I'm at least posting the highlights and remembering a few things. November brought one significant change for us as we decided to move Christopher to another school. It's difficult to explain without sounding snobby, but he wasn't learning anything new. He was so far ahead of most of the class in reading that he was being singled out to work on something else while the other class groups learned their alphabet and what sounds the letters make. When he started choosing easier work so that he wouldn't have to sit by himself, that really concerned us. When the teacher told us her biggest challenge was keeping him challenged - and then did not provide any kind of plan for how she was going to do that - we knew it was time for a change. We moved him from Zaharis Elementary which is northeast of us, to Franklin Elementary which is just about as far southwest of us. But there is a big difference in the curriculum: Franklin works about a year ahead of grade level academically. He was able to be with the same age of kids and still be challenged and learning new skills. This school uses the Spalding method and does phonograms to help with reading. They are also really big on penmanship and within just a few weeks Christopher's handwriting had noticeably improved. He was much happier at the new school and made new friends quickly.

A slightly out of focus picture. Christopher's old class was sad to see him go and gave him a cute going away party at the end of their "Harvest Festival." We moved him to the new school the week of Thanksgiving. His old class sent him home with the costumes they had made for their Thanksgiving lunch and also gave him a cute book where each of his classmates had designed a special page.

He also got to bring home his math book from the first kindergarten class. He was very excited about these items and wanted to make sure I took two separate pictures of him with each thing - oh, and also the sucker.

Thanksgiving Day - We gathered the boy cousins together for a picture in the backyard following their after-lunch soccer game. Dara's boys are so wonderful with Christopher. From left to right, looking at the picture, are Adam (12), Arch IV (15 at the time, now 16), little Christopher in the middle (5), tall Aaron in the back (14), and Austin in front of him (7, now 8).

Matt's dad, Darrell, in the plaid with his sister Susie next to him, his brother Rob in front with the glasses, and his dad Herman. Herman and his wife Joy always make it out for either Christmas or Thanksgiving each year.

October 2010 - Part III - Halloween Night

2011-06-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Our traditional Christopher & Hannah picture for Halloween - Darth Vader and The Witch

Christopher and his best buddy Caleb as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker

Caleb's dad as Obi Wan Kenobe - The link between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is now complete

Not long after Halloween - These kids can't get enough of the costumes, but this day was just a "get your helmet and a weapon" day. The unique creation modeled by Hannah was Matt's early creation of an open-faced Boba Fett helmet.

October 2010-Part II

2011-06-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

I'm realizing that I've forgotten how to get these pictures to do what I want. When they post, they're in the opposite order of how I uploaded them and I can't get the top picture to scoot down for me to give an intro. So...the late middle of October led us to Boo at the Zoo. The Phoenix Zoo puts on a great Halloween celebration for the kids. Christopher got to throw bean bags at pumpkin faces.

A couple of pictures with some mascots. One of Christopher's favorite 'puppet people' has always been the "Moo Cow" from Chick-Fil-A and he always makes an appearance here. This year it was especially nice because they did away with the Mascot Parade (after one of the people in the puppet suits last year had to go to the hospital with heat stroke - it's still hot here, even in October) and had them all set up in the barn at Harmony Farm. Cooler for everyone involved.

A little promo for a movie that came out last fall...

Christopher and Caleb's first attempt at a sleepover fell somewhere during this time. Caleb ended up missing his mom and going home, but they had a fun time setting up for a movie before bed time.

Back at the zoo - the goats in the petting zoo at Harmony Farm. They let the kids brush them and they show off a little by butting heads with each other. A good time was had by all.

October 2010 - Part I

2011-06-17T10:14:00.001-07:00

We went to Utah over October break last year to visit my family. The kids got to walk through a corn stalk maze at a farm.

My sister, my mom, and me.

Most of the cousins outside together. They needed to get outside and run off some energy after dinner!

Collin was fascinated (obsessed) with the iPod touch. And Christopher was more than happy to show him how it worked.

Jimmy, looking like he smells something funny over his right shoulder (probably me) while Christopher 'drove' one of the old tractors out at the farm.

September 2010

2011-06-16T22:05:00.001-07:00

I'm still working on my goal of not being a full year behind on this blog, and September is making that easy. The main event of September was my birthday. Not because it was anything significant. Mostly just because it was apparently the only thing of which I have photographic documentation for the month. My favorite kiddos made this cute sign for me and put it up before I got home from school that afternoon. Apparently I was so excited about taking a picture of it that it didn't occur to me to make my bed first. Oh, well. It was a really cute sign! Beyond that I can't really remember what I did for my birthday. I know my 7th grade Latin class sang to me - they were pretty excited about my birthday. I probably went to dinner too...I'm seeing more and more the point of updating the blog as things happen....

Use the force...

2011-05-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

I got an email this week about Christopher from his school teacher:

Emily,
Here is what happened:
Christopher asked me a question, don't remember the question, but it was funny. I started to chuckle and several students looked at Chris. When they looked at him he raised his hand midway in the air, swept it from left to right and said "this is not the person you are looking for." It was hilarious and I laughed off and on all night. I shared his story several times. He is so clever and adorable. Thanks for bringing him to Franklin!!

I feel the guilt...so here is August of 2010

2011-05-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

So after a month went by and I hadn't posted anything new to the blog, my sister-in-law sends me a message saying, basically, "What was that about being back to blogging?" She's right, and I need nudges like that, so here goes. I believe I left off last July, so here is August - at least as far as I remember it:

Christopher started kindergarten on the same day that I went back to school too, but he was a first-time student and I was a first-time teacher. No pictures of my first day of school, but here is Christopher's.

I was worried that he would get nervous and want me to take him to school, but he was so excited to ride the bus that he jumped right on and never looked back. I was hoping for a picture of him getting on the bus, but he got on there so fast that this is all I got as the bus drove away:

I'm back.....

2011-03-20T20:56:00.001-07:00

In more ways than one! I'm back to blogging after nearly nine (!!!!) months. I got caught up in the Facebook craze and I'm getting a little tired of it. And half my family doesn't do Facebook anyway, but I can send them email updates from the blog, so that works.

And I'm back from a week long vacation in Florida. As soon as I figure out how to upload all of the pictures from the camera on my phone, I will post some of the those.

In the meantime, I'm tired and going to bed. It's been a long week, my body is still recovering from the travel, the touring, and the time change, and I'm going to bed. The lesson plans can wait until tomorrow to be reviewed. The steel-cut oatmeal is happily sitting in its soy milk in its pan on the stove, getting ready to be tomorrow's breakfast. The boy is in bed with the Motrin and Amoxycillin on board to treat the double ear infection he woke up with this morning. The suitcases are all unpacked and everything is put away. I'm calling it good enough. Time to brush teeth, wash face, and go sleep.....

Newest member of the family

2010-07-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Meet Bella, the newest addition to the Truitt home. She's the little one. The other one is Pooter, The First Feline. Christopher named Bella - so there is absolutely no intended reference to a certain series of books or movies....he decided her name was Bella and there was no turning back. I found her outside of a CVS Pharmacy, scared, skinny, and also starving for attention. I just couldn't leave her. She's a very sweet girl with quite the loud motorized purr. Pooter wasn't too sure about her at first, but they're getting along quite well.

Bella really likes to watch TV. It's pretty funny. This is a blurry shot of her being captivated by EVE on WALL-E. The other day the credits for something were scrolling down the TV and she was standing on her hind legs in front of the screen, trying to reach it with her front paws. Quite the character. She also LOVES to play! If you're dangling a string in front of her you'd better hold on tight because she's likely to yank it right out of your hand and run around the house with it in her mouth like a trophy!

Easter Eggs experience The Force

2010-06-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

I feel so tech savvy today. I actually figured out how to do this all on my own. Yes, I'm very proud of me.
But enough about me - I am posting this to brag about my son. This is from Easter - hence the Easter eggs. Christopher's new obsession is Star Wars and he was convinced that he had "The Force" and was able to use "Force Push" on the eggs to make them stop moving. He was so excited about it that he wanted me to take a video on my phone so I could send it to his daddy. It took me this long to get the WiFi on my phone to work well enough to finally upload the video. Baby steps.....
The audio is not great, except for my loud voice right next to the phone. He insisted that I give him a "Da-da-da-daaaa!!!" introduction so that he knew when to start.

Easter 2010

2010-04-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

The lovely, blurry photo above was the end of the hunt for the Easter 'backpack.' Grandma takes care of the Easter basket, so we fill his backpack - I mean, the Easter Bunny fills his backpack with non-candy things for him to find Easter morning. We had a little bunny toy that we put in our room and tied a string to its foot that he followed to find the backpack.

Okay, we let him have a little bit of the candy supply from Grandma's surplus, but after checking out the cool star shaped of the candy in the tube, he was more fascinated with the green rabbit key chain that had been on top.

Sports ball easter eggs. Cool.

"How did the Easter bunny know to give me books?!?!? Did you tell him I can read now?"

My baby will be five on Friday!

2009-12-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

A friend shared this wonderful poem with me. I was going to save the post until his actual birthday, but found I just couldn't wait. So I'll post it in celebration of his last day of being four years old.

Mother

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

By Blythe

I crave my son as night craves the day. He brings forth in every way, every single piece of my soul, seeping out around me as I go forth in the world forever changed by his love, forever molded by his essence and forever grounded by his being.

He changed me. Not for the better or the worse. He changed me in every imaginable way possible so that I am no longer a woman unto myself but a mother unto the world.

His vision, his soul, his wondering eyes and forgiving heart tell me each and every moment that he is my guide and I am forever lost in his vision. Not lost in shadow but simply no longer a shadow of my former self.

I am his mother. The mother he chose, the mother I promised I would become. I am her now. Standing strong, embracing all that is wrapped in the womb of motherhood. The brilliant sights, sounds, visions, and apothecary of love… in every moment of every day I celebrate the woman he discovered when he was born. The woman that emerged just as he did.

I love her as she is the perfect vision in his eyes and now in her own. I take this not for granted but for my heart to expand and multiply.

"Lucky I'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been..."

2009-06-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Thirteen years ago today....

The rest of April...

2009-04-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

The human pyramid, from top to bottom: Caleb, Dalon, Christopher and Andrew. We were doing an activity during preschool and they decided we needed another game.

We went to In 'n' Out Burger a couple of weeks ago on our way home from the zoo and they gave Christopher a hat. He immediately proclaimed it to be his baking hat and pulled it out the next day when he was cooking some Play Doh pizza for me.

This child loves to cook creatively. On this day he asked me for a few paper plates and some forks because he needed to set the table for his "Peanut Butter Mud Pie Brownies" treat with Mr. Nobody (the pretend friend we have at preschool) and Sweetums (Muppet Show anyone?). I should have clued in to the potential project when he kept asking me to refill the water can that he uses outside when he plays in the dirt...

It's ALIIVVVVVE! My garden that is. I was so excited to see the growth that I had to take more pictures. Here is my first tomato:

And a big ol' green Anaheim pepper right there in the center of the plant! Beautiful.

Easter at home

2009-04-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Since Christopher got an Easter basket full of candy at Great Grandma Nell's house on Saturday before Easter, we decided to have the Easter bunny bring an Easter "backpack" with other stuff in it to our house on Sunday morning. Since we have 8:30 church, though, we didn't quite get to it before leaving for church. On the way home from church Christopher said "I wish the Easter bunny was coming to our house too..." My reminder that I hadn't set up his Easter stuff that morning. So I told him that the Easter bunny had come and had hidden something for him in a place where Christopher likes to hide sometimes. So he started searching...

Ah hah! The Easter bunny left a clue: an Easter chick in the closet. And right behind it....

The Easter Backpack! How did the Easter bunny know he needed a new backpack? What's inside? A book, a couple of Hot Wheels cars, a Fraggle Rock video (good times), and one tiny candy thing - a pez-type dispenser that is shaped like a Wii remote. Hard to see in the picture, but it's there somewhere. Kind of a basic package, but he was happy with it!

Family, family

2009-04-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit us last weekend and we took them up to Usery Pass for a really nice walk. Christopher was quite excited to show the huge rock on the Merkle Trail to his grandma & grandpa that he doesn't get to see as often.

This weekend we had the family Easter egg hunt out at Grandma Nell's house. Grandma enjoys putting various artificial animals and flowers in her yard. This week she had a couple of ducks and, for some reason still unknown to us, an alligator. So Uncle Matt and cousin Aaron decided to create a little scene of their own.

Matt's mom & grandma threw me a bone by getting two things for the kids that weren't candy: hula hoops and bubble wands. This picture doesn't look like much, but it actually manages to capture the scene on the front lawn as the kids were running around throwing, rolling, bouncing, and doing all sorts of other activities with the hula hoops.

They also bought a dozen eggs for each child (!!!) to color. Christopher enjoyed this part. His version of it would best be called "speed dyeing." He dipped each egg in a color just long enough to cover the egg in the liquid and then out it came, making room for the next one. He favored the blue a lot because it is the fastest color to take hold and is immediately darker than the others.

Comment and question

2009-04-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

The marigolds are going in today to try to help keep buggy critters away from my plants, but does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep the grasshoppers from lunching on my lettuce plants?

The garden - one month later

2009-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can tell, but the plants have actually grown in a month and nothing has died! What you see snaking all around the plants is my soaker hose. It's a great way to slowly water the garden, but the smallest hose was 50 feet and not incredibly flexible, so it became an abstract art project to wrap it around all the plants without crushing any of them.

My tomato plant, starting to flower. Yippee.

East to west view: 2 rows swiss chard, 1 row lettuce, 1 row bell peppers, then cilantro, onions, tomato and anaheim peppers.

Flagstaff

2009-04-05T17:35:00.001-07:00

It's been a while because of Matt's work schedule, but we were finally able to get away for some really good family time up in Flagstaff. Here are Matt & Christopher walking the edge of the wall at the park.

Christopher and Matt on the play structure. It's not that I don't try to be a part of this, but Christopher had really been missing his daddy since he'd been at work so much, so I was okay with being relegated to the role of photographer.

Our sweet boy at the bottom of the slide.

A father and son bonding moment - shooting cans with the BB gun.

More March pictures - Phoenix Children's Museum

2009-04-05T17:26:00.001-07:00

Christopher and Caleb had a very fun day at the Phoenix Children's Museum over spring break. It was pretty crowded and crazy, but they still had a great time. Here they are on a motorcycle that was obviously stationary but they could work the clutch and pretend to put gasoline in it.

We went outside for a picnic lunch. There were already old quilts laid out on the grass and it was a very pleasant picnic. At first the moms couldn't figure out what these concrete pipe things were for, but the boys figured something out.

One of their absolute favorite rooms at the museum was the grocery store. There were little shopping carts, a produce stand, a bin with dried peas in it that you could scoop onto a scale, a little room behind them here where you could put your groceries back and the kids could then restock the shelves, and the checkout stands where they could pass the groceries in front of a little laser light that would beep. They didn't want to leave. This picture was of both of them at the checkout stand, but Caleb's favorite thing ended up being the bulk bin with the scales and Christopher found his true calling in life as a stock boy putting the groceries back.

Another thing they had outside by the picnic area was this window stand where they could spray water on the different windows and then use little squeegies to clean the windows.

There was also a bike lane where they had different types of tricycles for the kids to ride through a pretend car wash and around plastic cones and curbing.

March - The zoo and my garden

2009-04-05T17:08:00.001-07:00

Christopher and Caleb at the zoo. In the course of about 10 minutes, while we stopped for a snack, they both managed to fall down and skin something. Luckily, Caleb had brought his "first aid kit" with colorful bandages in it, and they had to stop and pose for an "owie picture."

Trying to see over the wall at the prairie dog enclosure.

Somewhere along our path they had each picked up a stick and it was quite the process for them to figure out what to do with their sticks while we were trying to get them to pose for a picture by the frog. They kept trying to put them down the backs of their shirts. Didn't look comfy to me, but it's hard to convince the boys of that.

A highlight of the month: MY GARDEN! Matt built the garden box for me - their is mortar between them there bricks, that thing is sturdy and not going anywhere - and I headed to the nursery for some plants. The lovely bin in the background is my compost barrel. From front to back we have red swiss chard, green bell peppers, cilantro, green onion, anaheim peppers and tomatoes.

Just a view from the other side. Tomato plant in the foreground. Still small, but it gets better as time goes on. I'll post those pictures too at another time. I'm just excited that I got it in! Basically a salsa garden, with the exception of the swiss chard, which is just yummy when you saute it in some olive oil with some minced garlic. Mmmmm.....

February - Slow picture month

2009-04-05T16:32:00.001-07:00

This well-shaded picture is from one of the days that preschool was at our house. I took the picture because I thought it was so funny and cute that when the four boys are playing baseball, they have worked out their own system: one hits, one fields the balls, and the other two sit on the grass like a couple of old men and watch. They pulled the chairs out and set the whole thing up by themselves.

I inherited an amaryllis plant from Matt's mom after Christmas. It had been sent to her as a gift but it was a planter with the bulbs in it that you had to water and maintain to start the flowers growing - and that is really not her thing. She doesn't have living plants in her house. I managed to get them to grow and the flowers were so beautiful that I wanted to share.

January - as far as it is uploaded correctly

2009-01-31T21:58:00.000-08:00

I still have a few January pictures on my camera, but here is what is already on the computer so far and therefore easier to upload at this time of night.

We went to the zoo a little over a week ago with Christopher's friend Mia, her little sister Kendall and her mom Alyson. Mia's mom has a really sweet camera and took some great pictures:

How cute are those smiles? I mean, really!

This was the first time I've ever been there when both of the cheetahs were up and walking around. It was pretty cool to see. When we went around a half hour later on the zoo tram, they were both lying down again and you could only see one of them. I'm so glad she got this picture the first time around.

Sheik and Cookie. Beautiful and impressive.

The tiger - I don't remember his name - all the way down at the bottom of the enclosure. I can see him better in this picture than I could with my own eyes when we walked by. Told you it was a good camera.

A picture from my phone, which is the closest photography option I had available when Christopher got out of the bath and grabbed his comb and created his self-titled "funky up" hairdo. This is created by combing all the hair on one's head straight up. Excellent.

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

Santa Pictures

2008-12-16T22:15:00.001-08:00

We finally did our time at the mall to get our Santa pictures. Christopher was so excited he could hardly stand it. I got the picture of Christopher with Santa and they were chatting for a little bit and then Erin & Hannah arrived, so we tossed Hannah in for a quick pic before our turn was over. I think these shots turned out pretty well.

2008-12-12T14:11:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christopher is 4!

2008-12-12T13:34:00.001-08:00

We can hardly believe that it's been four years since our sweet boy arrived. So here's the "then and now":

December 4, 2004 - Christopher James Truitt makes his grand debut.

December 4, 2008 - No longer a baby, but still pretty cute...the one on the right...no, your right...not the gigantic mouse!

Cute Halloween idea

2008-11-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

Just had to share this really cute idea that my super clever and creative friend Melanie did with her family for Halloween this year. They are the five little piggies:

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-14T10:14:00.001-08:00

We were visited this Halloween by a skeleton pirate!

"Aaargghhhh! I'm SCARY!!!!"

Apparently even skeleton pirates can sometimes be quite charming.

They're willing to take dads out trick or treating and show them the ropes. 'Which ropes?' you ask. Well, with a skeleton pirate you can never be sure, so you must be careful.

Hmmm...this skeleton pirate seems to have been putting on a good act at the start, but the scary thing didn't hold up too long. Here he is sharing some grins with Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street (a.k.a. Hannah Hathcock)

Whoa! The skeleton pirate costume disappeared later that night to reveal our little Christopher again, only to be replaced by something really freaky going on with his eye. We'll have to get someone to take a look at that...

We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and can forgive the fact that these pictures are two weeks late!

Bargain Shopping!!!

2008-11-14T10:06:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have never had a really huge love of shopping. I don't enjoy poring over the ads and I don't love the actual going out and doing the shopping. But at the risk of sounding like a huge commercial...I signed up for CouponSense a few months ago and was so proud of my savings on a couple of recent shopping trips that I literally lined everything up on the counter and took pictures so I could share my joy. :)

This shopping trip was to Fry's and between the sales and coupons I got 50 items including milk, oatmeal, potatoes, cookie mix, carrots, sour cream, soap, Zatarain's rice mixes, tortillas, bagels, Powerade, and water for $14.40!

This trip cost me $24.92, which doesn't sound as impressive as the other trip, but I got a few more bigger items like cereal, more water, Puffs tissue, orange juice, yogurt, canned tomatoes, soup, cat treats, bagels again, and herb tea (multiples of everything). On both trips I saved about $79.00.

I am a slightly bigger fan of shopping than I used to be. Coupons and sale watching are definitely worth it!

Just one of those moments

2008-10-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

I simply had to share this because it was one of those little experiences that reminds and teaches you of so many things.

We were driving to church this afternoon and Christopher suddenly asked me why someone we know doesn't go to church. I was trying in my own bumbling way to explain to him that not everyone goes to church. He asked why some people don't go to church with us. I answered that some people do not know about the gospel and do not know what it is that we believe.

His simple response was: "We believe in Jesus Christ."

Maybe you had to be there, but maybe some of you have had those teaching moments from your own children as well. He pretty much summed it up for me and reminded me that in spite of all the other things we think about and worry about and are trying to accomplish each day, that is one basic truth that can answer everything.

2008-10-07T23:36:00.001-07:00

Christopher had preschool at Kate's house this Monday and she included this in her email to the other moms about what happened that day:

Quote of the day:
Christopher, "I don't know what I'm going to be for Halloween yet"
Caleb, "You could be a mosquito"
Christopher, "Maybe when I get a little older I can be a mosquito."

I couldn't help but laugh! I love the way their minds work!

Yes, I'm posting twice in one week. Check the window - was that a pig flying by?

2008-09-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to me on Tuesday! The always flattering blowing out the candles picture. Thanks to Erin for the cute, yummy little cake and thanks to Hannah & Christopher for helping me blow out the candle!

Matt brought me some beautiful flowers. The bananas, onion and tomatoes were already part of the decor. Yes, I know I need to clean off my counter....

Christopher and William. This picture was completely candid and I honestly was standing right next to my camera when they did this, so I snapped a quick pic. We take care of William on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Christopher gets to be a big brother. He's pretty good at it.

School Field Trip

2008-09-24T23:29:00.001-07:00

"Joy School" has started again for Christopher. This is our second year of doing a home-based preschool and this year we're with three other moms and now have four boys in our group. Last week Dalon's mom Kate planned a fun field trip for the boys to Papa John's pizza. Here are the pics:

Christopher making his own personal pizza.

Watching the pizzas go into the oven.

Waiting patiently for the pizzas to be done.

I think in this one they were actually waiting to get started. From the back of the picture to the front are Dalon, Christopher, Caleb and Andrew. Caleb did school with us last year, but Andrew and Dalon are new. It's a completely different dynamic than last year, but the boys are starting to be really good friends and have fun playing together.

Enjoying the fruits of their labors back at Miss Kate's house. The boys were so excited about making their own pizzas and Christopher now asks me if we're going to go make more pizza every time we drive by a Papa John's or see a delivery truck.

September...so far

2008-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

"And I know what you're thinking. But my clothes aren't on backwards, my head is!" ("Meet the Robinsons," anyone?) When he first got dressed, just the shirt was on backward. Then he went in to go potty and came out and the pants were on backwards too. When I pointed this out to him he replied "Mom! It's okay! I can do it however I want to!"

"Don't take my picture! I'm just going to ride Daddy's motorcycle. It's no big deal!"

Me, Angie and Christopher at Angie's baptism. Congratulations, Angie! We're proud of you!

One of the storms we had earlier this month woke Christopher up during the night, so he crawled into our bed around 4 a.m. and proceeded to sleep in longer than he has in years. He looks pretty comfy, doesn't he?

The dangers of being domestic....

2008-09-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

No, I did not decide to get some weird purple triangle tattoo outlined in red as some sign of solidarity with - is there a group that has a symbol like this?

I tried ironing last night. Yes. That is the shape of the top tip of my iron. Exactly. Ow. The funny thing is that I really couldn't precisely describe how I ironed my own hand. I was on the third shirt, I think the shirt started slipping off the board, the iron was in my right hand...somehow the two met and I sort of melted my own skin. Christopher keeps wanting to touch it. I keep trying to explain that touching an "owie" makes the owie feel worse and not better. So then he wants to know how long it will be before it feels better...

Strange rumblings in the night....

2008-08-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

We are having the craziest storm here tonight. We had huge winds, blowing rain, and then from inside the house we started noticing a lot of light flashes outside and neverending thunder sounds. Which is what it was. There is nearly constant lightning in the sky, but horizontally, up in the clouds, not from sky to ground. And the thunder isn't stopping. Hasn't for a good 20 minutes at least. I'm waiting for the 10:00 news to see what the weather man has to say, because I'm sure this will be the lead story. Any weather around here usually is, but this is truly unusual. I've never seen anything like it before. I tried to get a little bit of video, and if I ever figure out YouTube, I'll try to post it, but it probably won't do justice to what we've been seeing.

Matt's Saturday night

2008-08-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

No pictures for this one, but Matt got to go to the Diamondbacks vs. Florida Marlins game last Saturday night. Misty May-Treanor, half of the Olympic beach volleyball gold medal winning team, was there. Her husband is a catcher for the Florida Marlins. Matt said they put the camera on her at one point so that you could see her up on the fancy new screen at the ball park and she held up her gold medal for everyone to see, and the crowd went crazy! He said it was a lot of fun!

A few more Utah pictures

2008-08-12T09:09:00.001-07:00

Here's the closeup of Collin. Real baby men wear purple.

At the resting point of our Snowbird walk, Christopher took over the camera: Here is me with Jimmy, from a lower point of view.

Here's an almost centered, just slightly skewed picture of Jimmy and Daisy, taken by Toph.

A quite nice picture of the scenery around us.

Finally he handed the camera back to mom and posed for one last shot before heading back down the hill.

Utah trip

2008-08-12T08:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Utah the first week of August to be at the blessing of my brother's new baby. It was a really good week!

We stayed with my parents in Taylorsville. They have a canal that runs behind their house. Christopher liked to go out every morning to feed the ducks. Here he is with my dad. You can see how the duck feeding went: one piece for the ducks, one piece for Christopher, one piece for the ducks...

Christopher had a very good time getting reacquainted with Grandma Hail. We live so close to Matt's parents that when we got to Utah Christopher was saying: "I have two Grandmas? And two Grandpas? Cool!"

The star of the trip, little Collin Matthew Hail. We got a closer picture of just the baby, but this really captured how sweet Christopher was with him. He wanted to help with everything - holding him, feeding him, making him laugh. It was fun to watch. At one point he said "Baby Collin is my cousin? Another cousin? I'm going to have to come visit him again more!"

On Friday we drove up to Snowbird with Jimmy & Daisy to meet up with my parents (my dad was up there for a conference for a few days). It was very pretty and we had a really good walk up to this lookout point. Christopher climbed up on this bench and proceeded to give directions: "Mom. Take my picture right here. Just like this. Wait, let me look out at the trees. Okay, now!"

Christopher with Uncle Jimmy. Toph got tired about halfway back down the trail, so he got to ride on some shoulders and take a little break.

Pure relaxation

2008-07-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

I promise I did not stage this shot, but I simply had to take the picture. I went in to put something away in Christopher's room last week and there was Pooter. Completely crashed out with his back feet tucked under the sheet, his head on the pillow. He figures he's a member of the family, so why can't he use the other child's bed when it's available?

Flagstaff weekend

2008-07-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Flagstaff with Matt's parents and our friends Jason & Erin. We went to the Highland Festival on Saturday (pictures will be posted soon) and then after the boys went home on Sunday, the girls stayed for an extra day to play a little more.

On Monday morning we went to the Deer Farm. Christopher was more interested and excited about it than he has ever been before.

Petting the pygmy goats. They were pretty passive this time around, so maybe that made it easier for him.

Outside the deer farm is an old tractor. We tried getting pictures of Christopher and Hannah together on the seat, but that didn't work out too well. They were fighting over who got to drive. So they parted ways and Christopher decided to "fix" the tractor while Hannah snuck back up into the driver's seat.

Erin, Hannah and Christopher. Same goat as before, I believe.

Summer activities

2008-07-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

No earth-shattering events, but just some recent happenings:

Christopher loves building towers now out of quatro blocks that are taller than he is. Then the fun part - knocking them down! Which is impossible to capture on camera.

Swimming with his buddies Decker (middle) and Caleb (right side of photo). They're all such good swimmers now that they can get to that step by themselves.

Singing "Happy Birthday!" to Daddy. All day long he was asking when we got to celebrate Dad's birthday and he truly loved singing to him, helping him blow out the candle on the birthday brownie, helping him eat the brownie, and helping to open the birthday cards too.

Yesterday when it started raining, it was still sunny. A strange combination, but really pretty. It partially accounts for the completely washed out lighting on this picture since I was on the darker front porch. Anyway, as soon as Christopher saw the rain he ran to get his umbrella and his "rain boots" (the snow boots Grandpa Hail got for him when we were in Utah for Christmas last year). Christopher has been watching the late afternoon/evening cloud buildup typical for this time of year and hoping for rain for days.

Rain, rain, go away...

2008-07-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. We just got about three inches of rain in about two hours. Our lawn is a pond, the streets in front of and behind our house are streams, the drainage wash behind the house is literally flowing like a river (you can even hear it flowing), and Matt is out draining the pool because it was almost full up to the top. That's a lot of rain. We also had some really close lightning strikes. It's welcome rain, but it sure was a lot at one time. I'm actually curious to watch the news tonight and see what the technical rainfall amount was. Only in Arizona does the weather become the top story of the night when it rains!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

2008-07-09T07:18:00.001-07:00

Happy 35th Birthday to Matt!!! He's a wonderful husband, father and friend and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. If you'd like to call him and wish him a "Happy Birthday," please feel free to call or email me and I will quite gladly pass along his cell phone number for all to use, all day long!

Almost done...

2008-06-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Our back yard is almost finished, but I just couldn't wait any longer to post the "before and after" pictures. There is one tiny part left to do, and that's to put some pavers down in a couple of areas around the pool - places for chairs and maybe a patio table - but the other side of the yard is done!

Here is what the yard looked like before, maybe a couple of years ago. The previous owners decided to "landscape" by throwing down bermuda grass seed - ALL OVER THE YARD. For any of you familiar with bermuda grass, it's very difficult to get rid of. We starved it, weed sprayed it, and hacked it out of the ground for a little over a year. This picture is from February 2006. Christopher was helping Matt beat on the dead grass a little bit:

Fast forward a year to March 2007. The pool is done, the border for the grass got done, and then we laid sod and threw a few boulders down in the dirt around the lawn. This was just after the sod went down. These next few are composite pictures since we can't get a shot of the whole yard in one picture. The top view is to the east side of the pool, the bottom left view is west of the house, south of the pool, and the bottom right view is the east side of the house, south of the lawn.

Fast forward one more year to March of 2008. The plants are in! Trees, flowers, shrubs, except for the east side of the house, which really won't change much.

Tah dah!!! Just a few short months later, the gravel is in and everything looks much more finished. That big dirt patch just off the pool deck is where the pavers will go so that we can someday get a patio table and chairs. The actual patio is just too small to put anything on and still be able to walk on it. The pictures don't convey the actual changes very well, but it has been quite the process and a lot of work by Matt. If you want to see the real thing, come see us some time!

Texas trip

2008-06-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

At the end of May we went to Texas to visit Melisa and Joshua and Amelia. We had a good time and we're grateful for their hospitality! They're also good tour guides.

We went to a snake farm. We actually got to touch the albino reticulated python (I think that's what these are) and I got to hold a ball python too. Too bad we had to fly home or we could have bought one for $40! :)

Then we went to San Antonio and toured the riverwalk and took the boat ride. That's us in the back of the boat. It was hot. And humid. Poor Christopher was just dripping sweat by the end of the ride and even passed up ice cream in favor of cold bottled water. Matt and his dad also explored The Alamo.

We got to go up to the lake house owned by Joshua's boss and the boys got the Sea Doo up and running. Matt went out first with his mom and Christopher.

After Matt & his dad flew back to AZ to go back to work, Grandma and I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese one morning while Melisa got some shopping done. They were both quite excited when Chuck E. came out to visit. Christopher had to show him his new cars.

A crib box makes for great play time. Amelia was quite content, in bunny ears and pajamas, to color in one of the boxes, while Christopher and Grandma had a fun time driving the other one on all sorts of errands.

1st year of "preschool" - Done!

2008-06-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

We did a home-based preschool this past year with two other moms and we rotated which house the boys went to each week (2 days a week). We could hardly believe when it was done, but in May we ended the year. And we absolutely had to have a "graduation" party!

With cute hats.
And diplomas.
And pictures with the moms who taught these sweet boys at Joy School. Miss Karen and Decker are to my right in the blue shirts and Miss Nylene and Caleb are on the other side. It was a fun year for the boys and we're doing it again next year.

One more picture from April - I just had to

2008-05-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Christopher was getting ready for a bath. Matt went outside to do something in the yard. Christopher got distracted from the idea of the bath and had to go see what Dad was doing. Mom grabbed the camera. And here is the result.

Old MacDonald had a farm...

2008-05-11T09:44:00.001-07:00

We've had a few extra critters around here lately. Yard work, spring time - the types of things that bring all sorts of new life around.

Christopher has really gotten into putting on Matt's straw hat and going outside to check on the plants and see if any animals are visiting us.

Not too long after we put plants in the back yard, one of our rosemary bushes became a sanctuary for three baby rabbits. Right here you can see at least two of them.

Here's a better shot of one. They were just hanging out under there for a few days. They didn't run away or even move when we got close, but they were probably too young to know any better. So yeah, there were three. Then the next day there were two...and the next day one...we told Christopher that the mommy had just been coming back to take them home...

Then a pair of birds decided to build a nest on top of our front porch light. Four eggs, and all four babies hatched and lived. You can just see the tops of their fuzzy little heads here. I couldn't really get any pictures of them as they got older because of:
- the momma bird. Standing sentinel over her little brood. The parents both starting getting pretty agressive with people who came up on the front porch once the babies had hatched. They wouldn't actually touch anyone, but they would be really loud and fly pretty close. The babies have now grown up and flown away. So we cleared the nest. Then two days ago, another nest was built. And the cycle begins again.

More March fun - Jimmy & Daisy visit

2008-05-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

Jimmy and Daisy graced us with their presence in March, and we were very glad to have them! Christopher was just this close to filing a formal petition to be adopted by them...

We had a picnic at Fountain Hills while they were here, and had to do some silly poses while the fountain was going off. This is Jimmy, "not feeling so well" after we ate lunch...

This is Christopher, "blowing off some steam"..... he struck that pose all on his own.

This one is a little dark, but there is nothing better than some quiet time with Uncle Jimmy, listening to the iPod.

This picture was the first picture I took with my camera phone. Completely unrelated to Jimmy & Daisy's visit. But still undeniably cute.

It's about time for an update....1st quarter 2008

2008-05-04T11:27:00.001-07:00

Christopher started sleeping in a "big boy" bed on January 4th! We took the guard rail off about a week later and he's fallen out a few times, but in spite of our wanting to keep him contained in the crib, he was ready for the bed.

Ummm...how to explain this one? Well, Pooter is a big cat with lots of long fur. He tends to pull out clumps of fur and either scatter them like kittens on the carpet around the house, or swallow them. The swallowing part results in nasty furballs which he tries to chuck up on our bed around 3 a.m. So I started shaving his fur. Then the clippers stopped working. It was a couple of days before we got the new clippers, so we had to snap this shot of poor Pooter with his reverse mohawk in the meantime. :)

Grandma Nell gifted us with a very large amount of grapefruit at the beginning of the year, and Christopher got quite good at helping Matt juice them in the mornings.

Bandanas are just cool. He didn't this one off for at least an hour.

Easter came early, but we actually managed to get a picture with the Easter bunny at the mall this year. This is Christopher with his friend Joseph. I actually took this picture on my new camera phone and somehow managed to upload it to my computer! Yay for me!

Christmas pics - Inside

2008-02-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

Christoher and Ellie looking at the Christmas I Spy book.

Personal home theater. Waiting for the rest of the family to wake up Christmas morning.

Ummm...thank you Uncle Jimmy for helping Christopher get started on his modeling career.

More "macho" shot with Daddy and Nerf guns.

Okay, back to the cars. This picture is a little dark, but he loved simply lining up his cars and bringing the Mac truck to come visit them and show them the new place to park.

Christmas in Utah - Outside

2008-02-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

We went to Utah for Christmas to see Emily's family. Here are some pics of the outdoor fun:

Yep, he looks pretty cute all dressed up for sledding. This was Christopher's second time in snow but first time sledding. He had multiple layers of everything going on here. It was COLD!!

The obligatory family shot. Actually one of the few of us all together. Christopher's attention is still on the sleds. He wants to keep going.

Christopher had a really good time running around in the fresh snow with his cousing Ellie, and being chased by the "snow monster" who was so cold that he wouldn't take his hands out of his coat pockets.

Every time we turned around Christopher was trying to eat the snow.

Or he was falling down in it. And then trying to eat it on his hands and knees. It's sad how those Arizona boys can get around a little too much snow. It's so foreign to them, they just lose their senses. :)

Late Christmas update - Part 1

2008-01-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

I'm pacing myself (extremely) at updating our blog with Christmas pics this year. We basically celebrated Christmas 3 times. The first time was on the 17th with Matt's family. Christopher's favorite gift was a garbage truck. It lifts a garbage can and dumps it into the back, has a driver, makes the backing up beep noise - Christopher couldn't have been happier with it!

Then we had a little get together with our friends Jason & Erin on the 19th. They gave him a Disney movie version of the Scene It game. He was thrilled just identifying all the characters on the outside of the box. He was also potty training and was currently running around with no pants on, so Daddy provided a little bit of prop placement to get the G-rating for the blog.

Our Christmas Card

2007-12-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

Santa picture

2007-12-16T07:36:00.001-08:00

First we practiced at home with Pooter and Christoper wearing the Santa hat. It went well.

Then we went to the mall the next day and Christopher worked on his funny smile for his picture with Santa, but it was still good. And then he got to ride one of the reindeer that are visiting the carousel. Quite exciting.

The birthday boy!

2007-12-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Our little boy is now three years old! It's hard for us to believe. Here are just a couple of pictures from his birthday at home. We had a family birthday party at Matt's parents' house earlier, but we didn't have our own camera there.

Not quite sure what he's doing with his hand on this one, but he was pretty excited about the "TV game" (his name for video games) for the Wii that his daddy got for him (you decide for yourself which "him" the game was really for). :)

This one is fuzzy - don't know why. Three candles on a brownie. And he blew them all out himself while wearing Daddy's baseball hat.

Halloween pictures

2007-11-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Christopher was much more interested in Halloween this year than he was last year. He enjoyed trick or treating more, but he got tired of it pretty quickly and just wanted to go back to the house and help Daddy to pass out candy. No pictures of that part, it was too dark.

Last week he and his friends from Joy School had a little Halloween party where they did a parade for the moms and then sang some songs they'd been learning.

He really, really enjoyed helping Daddy gut the pumpkin!

One of our neighbors had a skeleton costume from a few years ago that she let me borrow after she saw Christopher's costume at the Trunk or Treat at church on Saturday. So we both got to dress up as skeletons last night. We went to a neighborhood party by Grandma's house before coming back to our house, and that is where we got our faces painted. Christopher was not wanting to pose for pictures at this point. He wanted to head out for the candy!

Daddy got him to give us a good smile after we got home and before he headed to the bathtub. He had a really good time being "scary."

It's been a long time but...

2007-10-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

We have actually been doing things. I just haven't posted them on the blog lately. But even when I do, who's really looking at them? Sigh. Send us some comments, people!!

Christopher found some heart stickers and proceeded to experiment with body art.

In Flagstaff last month Christopher helped me get every bit of frosting off the candles from my birthday cake.

This one absolutely had to be posted. "Christopher lets Uncle Arch hold him." It was a "read" letter day. Get it? ;) This is serious progress in Christopher and Arch's relationship.

Back at home on my actual birthday, Christopher helped Matt put the candles in the cake and then he sang "Happy Birthday" very sweetly and helped me blow out the candles. Matt wore his SPAM shirt for the special day.

Then Christopher helped us eat the cake. And here began the great debate: use a fork or use his hands? It was a tough choice, but the hands won out. And then the bathtub removed all evidence of the crime committed against the poor piece of cake.

I want to be a cowboy...baby!

2007-08-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

Christopher got to go horseback riding in Flagstaff this past weekend. The horse was named Ahab, and the guide put his own hat on Christopher for the ride. Christopher had a really good time!

Happy Birthday to Matt

2007-07-26T15:31:00.001-07:00

Matt's 34th birthday was July 9th. We got together with his parents and his sister's family to celebrate the day. Christopher helped his cousin Angie put the candles on Daddy's birthday cake.

Then he helped him blow the candles out.

And since he is getting on in years, Matt also needed help unwrapping his presents. Christopher was so excited that kept singing Happy Birthday to Matt and also telling everyone that it was his birthday too. Matt got a super soaker water gun from the nephews for use in the pool. It's getting well-used!

Finally

2007-07-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

Christopher is starting to be more interested in trying to dress himself - part of the 2 1/2 year old "I can do it myself" phase, which is loads of fun (sometimes). He actually did get that shoe on completely by himself. And he was very proud.

We are finally getting some rain. This was the first we had received in months. Christopher and I got out our umbrella, shook the dust off, and walked to the mailbox. The picture is kind of dark, but he had taken over possession of the umbrella (once again, "I can do it myself!") and so I was sheltering on the porch.

June - part 3

2007-07-15T19:57:00.001-07:00

Yep, you should scroll down to part 1 if you're just starting. I didn't turn my brain back on before posting these pictures and I should have done it backwards!
Post trek:

Hanging out with Hannah in the new backyard grass:

Trying on "big boy" underwear for the first time:

Although he looks like he's posing, he was actually telling me to cut the tag out of the back. Underwear models are so sensitive...

June - part 2

2007-07-15T19:50:00.001-07:00

Christopher also went to the lake and dug under rocks with a stick...

and looked for ladybugs in the grass with Grandma. He had a great time while we were trekking.

So did we for the most part - except for when Emily's foot very nearly got run over by a handcart wheel. Luckily the wheel didn't roll all the way over or we're pretty sure something would have broken. As it was, it merely got really squished. Could have been worse!

June

2007-07-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago, Matt & Emily went on a pioneer trek with youth from church. You can't see us, but here are some of the kdis from our group pulling the handcart. This was an easy stretch of the trek, flat with no rocks. It wasn't all like that. We'll have more pictures of that later!

While we were gone Christopher went up to Flagstaff with Grandma & Grandpa Truitt and experienced the joy of being the center of the universe when Dara and the cousins arrived. He got to: Watch movies with Aaron...

...see deer and goats and peacocks at the deer farm...

...go horseback riding for the first time...Grandma says he was a natural...

...and go bowling for the first time...I think a contraption like that would help my score significantly...

Progress of a Yard

2007-06-30T23:04:00.001-07:00

Yard prepped: raked, rolled, ready for curbing.

Curbing.

Sod laid. Still looking a little bit like patchwork.

3 weeks later. The lawn's first haircut.

A little bit of perspective on the layout of the yard now. And Matt jumped right into the pool after mowing the lawn. It's pretty hot here now. I think our temps for the week will average 111. Because of that, it looks like we'll be waiting until October to put in the plants and rock around the outside.

2007-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Driving the fire engine. He was very interested in the firefighters who were standing off to the side.

When the clown asked him what balloon shape he wanted, Christopher immediately said he wanted an elephant. Then she asked the color and without hesitation he said "Blue!" And there's Grandma Nell. :)

Waiting in line with Grandpa to get on the train. He was being tickled, but still was maintaining the "you can't make me smile" line of thinking.

Ah ha! Grandpa won the prize! Maybe Christopher just didn't want to smile at the camera, but Grandpa still managed to get him to laugh for the profile shot on Grandma's lap.

We are working on the "waif" look. How do you think it's coming along?

Trip to Thomas

2007-05-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Flagstaff with Grandma & Grandpa Truitt & Grandma Nell to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Here is a slight glimpse of Thomas. Christopher did enjoy seeing that. We couldn't really get much closer since people were waiting to board the train.

Christopher was slightly overwhelmed. We couldn't get a single smiling picture, but he wasn't crying! Here is the hay maze.

He got a temporary "tattoo" of Thomas on his hand, which Grandpa helped him display for the camera. Still no smile.

There was an ambulance that he got to climb around in. You must look stoic when on an ambulance.

He also liked climbing up onto the fire engine. Really. He did.

2007-05-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Don't these two good-looking guys look cool? Christopher was helping Daddy back his truck out on his way to work and just had to have sunglasses on too.

Christopher is getting pretty good at the act of sharing. These are toy Easter eggs. The cat wanted them on his back and Christopher obliged. Then Christopher actually asked me to take a picture of it. He was so proud of himself. The cat is currently working on his application for sainthood.

Just some cute stuff

2007-04-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Christopher got a "fire engine hat" a couple of weeks ago. He was trying to convince me that it looked so cute on him that he should get to wear it to bed.

Even a 2-year old has got to earn his keep somehow! Actually, he seriously wanted to vacuum. I had pulled it out and he managed to turn it on and start working. Good kid.

This was simply a cute smile. He was showing his Big Bird and Cookie Monster dolls to the cat (the tip of whose tail is visible right at the bottom center of the picture - it's grey, hard to see).

At the Renaissance Festival with our little friend Hannah. As we walked in we passed a chocolate shop offering free popsicle sticks dipped in melted chocolate.....

Christopher just had to stop and visit "Mother Goose" at the festival. He walked right up to the bench, sat down and let the goose sit on his lap. He was giving it hugs and the whole scene was so cute that people behind us were taking pictures of him.

A Typical Day

2007-04-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

When Daddy gets home, it's time to head to the bed for play time! First, Christopher needs to warm up by flexing his muscles.

Then a little bit of upside down time to stretch those legs.

Then it's Daddy's turn for a workout by doing a few "boy lifts" and some mind-to-mind connecting with his son.

Then we hand Christopher over to his mama for some tickle time.

The next day Christopher decides that Pooter was left out of all the fun and needs to play with the newspaper ads - just for a change of pace.

Taking it easy...

2007-03-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

There is nothing quite as relaxing as "reading" the Sunday comics after church while waiting for your lunch to be prepared.

On the go

2007-02-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

These are not the "smiliest" pictures of Christopher we've ever been able to get, but he's at the stage where he doesn't like to hold still for long - or follow directions like "smile!" But they capture the essence of what we've been up to in the past week or so.

Christopher loves to bring a couple of stuffed animals with him when we go for walks. He likes to make sure they are safely buckled in on the other seat of the wagon.

He likes to help Dad get ready to leave for work. Christopher does the "quality control checks" and makes sure that the engine revs just right and that the horn button still works on Dad's motorcycle.

Last week we met up with Mema and cousin Austin at the zoo. We couldn't get any pictures of him in front of any of the animals, but he & Austin had a great time climbing up on things. This is a bench just inside the entrance of the zoo.

This is a huge stone frog by the jungle part of the zoo. Christopher didn't really feel like looking at the camera, but Austin was still trying to get him to smile.

Christopher loved the playground section of the zoo. This is a slide that is shaped like a huge saguaro. He enjoys slides and had to go down this one several times before he was satisfied.

Christopher's year so far

2007-01-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Christopher got a new friend, whom we very creatively named "Monkey." This picture was taken the day Monkey came home and Christopher wanted Daddy to see him right away, so we were emailing pictures to Daddy.

Practicing his budding skills as a photographer. He likes to hold the camera, facing whichever way is most comfortable at the moment, and says "Smile! Click!"

Ready to read before nap time. I told Christopher to go get on the bed and get ready to read while I finished something else and when I walked in he had gathered all of the stuffed animal friends that are in the "reading room" up onto the bed with him. They were all quite interested in reading. They make comments, point at pictures, the whole nine yards. Christopher's toys are very interactive!

Christmas with the Truitts

2007-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

These pictures are so not in chronological order, but the important thing is that I'm finally getting them posted! This Christmas we got to meet Christopher's newest cousin, Amelia for the first time. Here she is with her dad, Joshua. Her mom is Matt's younger sister, Melisa.

Christopher had a great time playing with the other cousins on the Truitt side, Dara's kids: Adam, Angie, Austin, Aaron and Arch (left to right). He didn't participate in the snowman building, though, because he was busy napping.

Christopher was fascinated by all of the fun ornaments on Grandma Shirley's tree. This was the Saturday before Christmas.

Christmas morning at our house: Christopher was a little more into unwrapping presents than he was last year, but after about 2 gifts he just wanted to play and couldn't be interested in unwrapping any more gifts. He got several fun trucks this year and that is perfect for him.

He got a really cool wagon with seat backs, cupholders, all the bells and whistles. We're going to use it on our next zoo trip!

Christopher decorated gingerbread men for the first time this year. This involved his mama squeezing on some icing, Christopher putting on the candy, and then Christopher removing and eating the candy. It's a good process.

We went up to Flagstaff the Wednesday after Christmas and got snow that same night. Two minutes after being out in the snow for the first time, Christopher declared "I love snow!" And then Mema showed him how to eat it - right when he thought things couldn't get any better.
We had it all this Christmas: sun, snow, and lots of family!

Thanksgiving amendment

2006-12-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

The family picture is missing two people: Jimmy - he was taking the picture, and Jimmy's daughter, Ellie. She was already back at her mom's house for the day. Here is a picture of Ellie with Christopher. It's a little dark, but you can still see the gap where her front teeth used to be!

Thanksgiving - Only a month late!

2006-12-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

My goal is to have Christmas pictures up around the New Year - okay, maybe Valentine's Day, but I'm trying to be optimistic!
We went to Utah for Thanksgiving to see Emily's family.

Christopher shared some of the music from Daddy's iPod with his uncle Jimmy.

Cold weather was a new thing for him, so he had to get all decked out in his long pants, sweatshirt, jacket, hat and closed-toe shoes. We don't use those things much in Arizona!

Here's the whole family, use your magnifying glass: From the left, Jennifer and Ben, Scott & Kathleen, Stephanie, Sergio, Jimmy's wife Daisy, Emily, Christopher in front of part of Synthia's face, and Matt with Emma and Dana sitting in the chairs in front.

Christopher with his cousin Dana. Aren't those precious smiles?

We went to see our friends Todd & Beth at the end of the week. It had been a long week for Christopher, so he and his Bear took a nice 3-hour nap.

Christopher's 2nd birthday party

2006-12-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Our baby suddenly (or so it seems to us) is not a baby anymore, but a walking, talking, funny, happy little boy! We had his second birthday party just a little over a week ago. He got a little overwhelmed and spent the last part of the evening playing cars with Mema in the back room, but here are some shots of his more social moments.

Mesmerized by the flames.

The frosting was his favorite part. He took a couple of bites of the cupcake and then decided to concentrate on the good stuff. At one point he just leaned over and started licking the frosting off the top of the cupcake.

Elmo is a new obsession. He likes to watch the "Elmo's World" part of Sesame Street in the morning. This toy has buttons and snaps and zippers and all that good stuff for him to learn to do.

One of the other favorites of the evening was this huge dump truck. He promptly dubbed it "Big Truck" and plays with it constantly. We had to explain to him that Big Truck doesn't get to go to bed with him.

We love this smile! Our friend Jenny made some really yummy #2-shaped sugar cookies for Christopher's birthday. They had frosting and different colors of sprinkles and M&Ms on top. Christopher especially liked the "candy." He also enjoyed naming the colors. He's getting pretty good at that!

2006-11-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

The Great Pumpkin - and his daddy!

Christopher loved holding the candy bucket. He would walk up to people and say "Candy, please!" but he wanted them to hand it to him so he could put it in the bucket himself. Then when he felt like he had enough, he started handing the candy back to people.

Everything seems to be running! The sheer descents are going here. There is a bench right underneath them, so when it's really hot you'll be able to get in and sit with the water flowing over you. We're looking forward to it!

FINALLY!!!! Sort of.

2006-11-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

I simply do not understand the blogger thing and how it works. I finally got one picture to upload, but now I can't get any others. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime here is the filled pool. The little posts to the right will be where the diving board is going.

At long (?) last

2006-11-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to post pictures for several days now and haven't been able to get the pictures up for some reason. But the pool is finally done! I will spare you the pictures of it plastered but not filled. If you want those, submit your request and we will consider it. I would love to show you the pictures of the pool filled and the sheer descents running, but I've tried three times just today and can't get the pictures to upload. So I'll have to leave you in suspense. I also want to post pictures of Christopher on Halloween. No luck. Stay tuned....

Almost there.....

2006-10-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

Last week Christopher and Grandma Nell (and mama, the photographer) went to the Botanical Gardens and spent some time with the monarch butterflies.

We also made pool progress. Decking is done. It's hard to see in the bright sunlight, but it's a very neutral, hard to describe color called "fawn." Lovely.

Next came the fence. Another hard to describe neutral color but it had a name instead of a number. It's darker than the deck, but somewhere in between on the colors of the house. It works.

Next will be the interior and then we fill 'er up!

Tile is done!

2006-10-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Next step: decking coating on Wednesday. Stay tuned.....

Heaven for the boys!

2006-10-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Christopher got sheared this week by a really scary lady at Great Clips. I told her I wanted it shorter, but she didn't hear the part about using the scissors on top. She took the clippers right over his head. Luckily Grandma Truitt is on vacation for three weeks and it'll have a chance to grow back a little before she gets home! She likes it a little longer than this.

Nothing like a big pile of dirt to keep the boys occupied for awhile in the evening. Matt ended up with an eyeful of dirt when Christopher pulled his arm back for a big throw, but after a lot of rinsing we think he'll keep his sight in that eye. ;) Christopher later discovered how to slide down the backslope on his belly, just like the slide at the park!

Decking is done!

2006-09-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is the view from where the diving board will be.

Here is the opposite end, the play pool (shallow) side. The next step is for us to pick the tile.

We are constantly amazed by construction

2006-09-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

We had no idea that they were going to come out today to frame out the decking. It's a little disconcerting to wake up to the sound of voices and hammering in your backyard. But it brings us one step closer. With 100 degree temperatures forecast for all this week, we're wondering if we might get some use out of this pool this year after all!

Pictures of the other babies

2006-09-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

The cat who still thinks he's the only child. He still loves sleeping in bowls & sinks.

The son who loves the cat like a brother.
Christopher got some sunglasses this week and he's modeling them here while standing in a box and asking Grandma for "more" singing. He likes having her sing "Pop Goes the Weasel" and he sits down in the box on the "Pop!"

Next phase completed

2006-09-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me what can be done with rebar! The steel went in Monday and Tuesday. We thought we would have to wait for a couple of weeks for the shotcrete to be done, but they came today. Now it actually looks more like a pool! We have to spray it down a few times a day for five days to slow the curing process and help prevent large cracks from forming. Then the next phase goes in at the end of next week.

The pool has been excavated!

2006-09-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished dig! The left picture is from the diving end and the one on the right is the play pool end. All of the white layer that you see along the sides of the dirt is the hard clay. It's like natural concrete. They had to use a nasty-looking pick attachment to break through it. But it's done, and the plumbers will be here tomorrow.

2006-09-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Trying again. The last picture didn't post.
And I've added one showing how he likes to watch TV.

The things they learn on their own....

2006-09-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

We swear we didn't teach him this - well, I suppose I can only vouch for myself, but I've never known Matt to be a nose picker. The problem is that if you laugh, which is hard not to do, it only encourages him!