The Idaho Chadwicks

New Glasses

2010-06-15T13:40:00.003-06:00

Sidney wore the metal liner off her old glasses and then her skin started to have a bad reaction to the metal. So to get rid of the sores and green skin, we had to get her new ones. I like them better then her old ones personally.

Can you get more Girlie?

2010-03-17T14:52:00.001-06:00

Fun Hadley Pictures

2010-03-17T14:49:00.002-06:00

Arts and Crafts

2010-03-17T14:35:00.006-06:00

Some time ago my Sister-in-law Tiffany designed a room for Sidney. When she did that she made this cute board with her Initial on it. Now that Sid and Allie share a room Allie wanted one for her. Well we can't make one for her and not for Hadley right. So we made one with an "A" for Alex and one with a "H" for Hadley. They really turned out cute!

The Toothless Wonder

2010-02-20T15:09:00.003-07:00

Sidney lost three teeth in three days and they are all in the top front of her mouth. There not the first to go, she has lost 2 prior but these look the best. She has three more loose teeth but we thought we had better leave those in for a bit so she can at least eat. Anyways the pictures are the day she lost the second one and the third day when she lost the third one (she kept making faces). The tooth fair now has us on speed delivery...

2010-02-13T19:16:00.004-07:00

So we are now use to life in little Pocatello, we had a party for Hadley on her birthday Jan. 30 and I will try to get pictures of it from my mother. This past friday was mine and Allie's birthday so we had a party with her little friends. She wanted a Strawberry Shortcake cake so that is what I made. It took a while but it looked good when it was done. I have also attched some random photos of the girls growing these la st few months.

Pocatello Part VI: We. Have. Arrived.

2009-11-07T10:27:00.001-07:00

So after a hiatus from blogging (a side-effect of, well, my laziness plus lack of internet service plus settling in at a new place plus an increasingly scattered mind), I'm back. And the great news (not that Tyler blogging isn't great news. I mean, c'mon...)? After a year of commuting to school from one place or another, we're finally in Pocatello. Now instead of driving an hour plus to class and work, it takes just five or so minutes to get to campus. And if I'm feeling green, I can even ride my bike (which I plan on doing as frequently as the weather permits). Sure this house is smaller than our last. Sure Pocatello's a bit strange (but, hey, so are we). But it was either this or life on the street because our last rental got sold out from under us and we had to leave. So why, we figured, not make our way south?

Now we're calling free (though I'm sure that won't last for long *knocks on wood*), the girls have new friends just next door and potential friends in the ward/neighborhood, and we're closer to our Utah families. Oh, and? I won't have to commute anymore...and just as winter sneaks up on us. Happy, happy day.

Go along with Birthdays

2009-10-21T18:06:00.004-06:00

My Father also had his Birthday and I tried my hand at a second cake on my own this time. He loves to golf so he got a putting green cake. The golf balls did not work out that well but the grass did, (thanks for the tip on that Taryn), it did take me several hours just to do that grass though. All in all it worked out well and we had a great party. Even my sister Bri in China got to Skype in for the fun. Love you dad hope you enjoyed your day!

Speaking of Birthday's

2009-09-18T00:00:00.003-06:00

My Mom had her birthday party in August and I wanted to do something fun so my dear sister-in-law Taryn helped me make a cake. (By the way thanks a ton Taryn couldn't have done it without you). The fun part is that when we were little she would leave notes for us on the white board at home and at the end she always drew a picture of a flower with a caterpillar on the left and a butterfly on the right. It was her "with love" signature of sort. So I made it into a cake with love!! Get it? Anyways I think it turned out cute! Love you mom!

The caterpillar, grass and lady bug are
made up of cupcakes!

Sid's Birthday Pictures

2009-09-17T13:36:00.002-06:00

So here are the pictures of Sid's party, thanks for sending them to me Brit. She had so much fun and we were all tired at the end of it.

Play Hard, Crash Anywhere

2009-09-16T19:37:00.001-06:00

Hadley worked so hard helping mommy clean the house and playing that she was tired enough to sleep here. Don't worry I moved her to her bed as soon as I took the picture!

Old and New events

2009-09-15T16:16:00.002-06:00

Back in July Sid had a big Birthday party however all the pictures are on my sisters camera, (she will send them to me soon, right Brit) I did have this one picture of her cake. It was sure a fun party and now my Sid is six years old and in the 1st grade. My house stays much cleaner now that she is at school all day. Fancy That!

Hadley is just growing like a weed, a sister teasing, not afraid of anything or anyone weed. This picture is her on the little potty she is training very well because she wants to be big like her sisters. I can't believe she will be two in Jan.

The real big news of the day is that today was Alex's first day of Pre-school. She LOVED IT! Thank goodness, she is my shy child and I was worried about her going on her own. She had no fear and no problem however. She can't wait until Thursday when she gets to go back. This picture is her coming out from class.

2009-09-15T16:04:00.002-06:00

We had our good friends the Norths up this past weekend and while they were here the kids wanted to go see the Temple so we went. They loved it and the river with the falls.

Also while they were here we went to Leo's for some food and fun. Hadley really liked this ride.

Over Labor day weekend we went to Ogden to see family and friends, while we were there my little brother took us boating. Hadley got her first ride on the tube and she really had fun. Once she got off Mom and the older tube went for another ride that was a bit faster.

On Potty Training, Tooth Fairies, and Hunting Ducks

2009-07-27T12:35:00.002-06:00

Since my last post on this topic a month ago, I'm happy to report that we've only had a limited amount of sans potty water making (I think I can count the incidents on one hand, though I'm still knocking on wood. Hear that?) and she's been doing excellent at night: we still put a pull-up on her, you know, just in case, but she wakes up with it dry every morning.

Now if only we could convince her there are no tiny monsters living on or near the lamp in their bedroom (don't know where that idea came from) maybe she'd sleep through the night and we'd have fewer things to keep us up at night.

On a similar note, Number One had a repeat night visitor a couple of weeks ago when she lost her first two teeth, the second just days after the first. The first night she said she felt T.F. walk across her pillow and trade the tooth for moolah. Luckily, she didn't wake up because, well, she may have discovered that T.F. is a bit bigger than she expects and doesn't really look like this pic. Oh and that, in this case, she isn't exactly a she.

And on a final note: Number Three's taken to hunting ducks---of the Usborne kind, that is. Grandma gave them all The Usborne Book of Fairy Tales and she discovered the joy of the hunt. I think she could spend hours turning the pages, pointing to hidden water fowl, yelling, "Mom! Ducky!" Who says kids don't have much of an attention span?

Ah, the endless wonders of toilets, teeth, and ducks.

Adventures in Potty Training

2009-06-26T10:13:00.004-06:00

So apparently, big girl underwear was the trick.

We've been trying to get number two toilet-trained for, um, I don't know how long---a while now---and just when we think she's in the rhythm, the record skips and we have to start the song over and over and over again. Yet, serendipitously, we ran out of pull-ups the other day and I put one one of number three's diapers on her. Apparently such diapers are not the in-thing for three-year olds this summer, because she took it off and opted for panties instead.

And she hasn't had a daytime waste incident (meaning away from the pot) in the few days since.

I only hope the record continues.

And yes, let's all knock on wood.

Bold and Blue

2009-06-18T13:55:00.001-06:00

I just caught wind of this, in which I'm featured (at the end of the first page) in bold, blue letters as winner of the Ford Swetnam Poetry Prize.

Pulitzer, I'm on my way.

Sid's new glasses

2009-05-20T17:10:00.002-06:00

Well she can finally see! She looks good as well!

Flowers

2009-05-09T14:45:00.001-06:00

My flowers are coming out, yeah spring!

New Bike

2009-05-09T14:39:00.002-06:00

Tyler is working hard with Sid to get her to ride her new bike. As you can see, she still liked to lean a bit.

Easter Dresses, Easter Shoes

2009-04-19T12:43:00.006-06:00

Here are the Dresses I was talking about. Alex would never take it off if we let her. We do let her where her new shoes, and they never come off, not even for a nap!

Easter Visitors

2009-04-13T20:24:00.003-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa Ames came up to spend Easter with us and buy was it a blast. We had an Easter Egg Hunt followed by a Easter egg throwing war between the girls and grandpa. The bunny came and Grandma Ames got them way cute dresses which I will post a picture of the next time I get them to put them on. Grandma and Grandpa Chadwick got them new church shoes and Sid and Allie gave me a little fashion show, so you get to see those pictures now. We also had an amazing rainbow for Easter. Tyler took that picture right on our front porch, I have never seen a brighter rainbow. It was really just a great weekend.

Alien in Idaho

2009-04-13T20:21:00.002-06:00

E.T visited us the other day and we just had to take a picture. This is Hadley in Sidney's coat. So Cute!

The Three-Year-Old

2009-04-13T20:15:00.003-06:00

These pictures are from Alex's birthday back in Feb. She had Grandma and Grandpa Ames, Aunt Brit and Uncle T come up for a few days. Then Grandma and Grandpa Chadwick came up for an overnighter. That is why there are two cakes. Aunt Taryn made the cute Book Cake for her which she loved. It was very fitting because SHE LOVES BOOKS! She also loves her Crunch Berries so Grandma Chadwick got her her own box. Good thinking Grandma.

What? It Snows In Idaho?!?

2009-04-13T20:06:00.003-06:00

This winter was cold up here in ID but we had fun anyways. Tyler liked taking the girls outside with him when he would shovel. They were so cute.

Pucker Up!

2009-02-24T17:23:00.002-07:00

(Just don't get your screen wet kissing back...gross!)

Update Me...

2009-02-24T17:14:00.002-07:00

...please!*Sniff, sniff*

come on and double it...

2009-01-21T16:23:00.004-07:00

Because one dose of curls just isn't enough, here's dose number two of our doublemint twins.

And now, time for the obligatory (if hokey) question: Aren't they just so cute?

Okay, that's enough.

Link away now before you OD on cuteness...

Curls anyone?

2008-12-30T18:35:00.002-07:00

Is this not the cutest curly head you have ever seen? "Why yes, yes it is".

Christmas

2008-12-30T18:21:00.002-07:00

We got to spend the weekend before Christmas in Utah with family. We had four family parties and one funeral. My grandfather passed away and his funeral was the Monday before Christmas. He is in a much better place now and it really was a good thing. We had lots of fun with the girls, and they got way too much stuff from grandparents, aunts and uncles (spoiled little buggers).

Here are a few of the things the girls got.

Our new home!!!

2008-12-08T16:42:00.006-07:00

This is our new digs, I have included a few pictures of the living room, kitchen and back yard. Aside from what you see here we have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 gas fireplaces upstairs. Half of the downstairs is finished and half is not. The finished part includes a family room (with another fireplace), a bed room and a bathroom. The unfinished part has room for 3 more bedrooms. There is also a storage closet, a storage room and the laundry room. We just got snow today so you get to see that in the backyard.

pocatello, part iii: on the move

2008-11-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Finally.

The stars aligned. A portal opened in the economy. The hand of God has been revealed.

And we're moving to Idaho Falls.

That's right. Idaho Falls. I know it's not Pocatello, but it's across the border, we have a source of income there, and it will cut my drive time in more than half. On top of that, it means we get to have a place of our own again—with a two car garage nonetheless. A definite upgrade from the in-laws' basement.

So if you start seeing more posts from me, you'll know I've finally shed the scales of depression from my life and I'm blog-ready again.

That or I'm getting a bit more sleep because I won't be plagued by as much commuter-lag.

Either way, we're moving.

Finally.

Enough said.

family pictures

2008-11-17T12:28:00.005-07:00

Sorry it has been so long; I will do some more posts soon with all of the fun things we have been up to. For now here are our cute new family pictures!

clarification, anyone?

2008-09-17T14:49:00.003-06:00

In her comment on "pocatello, part ii", Shiree wonders:

So, what's happening with your Ogden house and what are your lodging plans in Pocatello? (I didn't quite catch that from the post, I am clueless about water in the living room and everything....)

In the interest of keeping our readership informed (although most of you might already know this), someone is in the process of purchasing our house in Ogden. So by the beginning of October, we should be lodging somewhere in Idaho, though where is a completely other question. At present, your guess is as good as mine. It will, however, be somewhere in the Southeastern portion of the state.

And, yes, about that water in the living room. Around last Thanksgiving, we heard some water dripping in the wall. Yes, I said in the wall. And down the ceiling. And behind the paint. So we did the only sensible thing we could do and put some tarps on the roof to hold off the rain and tore out the ceiling. Hence, water in the living room, pouring from a couple of cracks in our roof (tar and gravel, anyone?), all over the floor. What a mess is right. This is what it looked like.

The next day, I patched what I could and put up some new sheetrock to keep the cold out. And that's how we lived with it until a couple of weeks ago when the rain found its way in again.

Hence the new roof.

I'm sure that will make our buyers happy. I know it sure was fun for us (and all the family members that broke their backs helping us put down new sheeting and rolled roofing. Thanks a million, by the way. We love you all!)

Confusion abated?

another dam day

2008-09-17T14:41:00.003-06:00

Near the beginning of August, we ventured out onto Pineview again to celebrate Grandma Ames' birthday. Here's a documentary of our rousing experience. (No pictures of Tyler this time. Tragically, he died when he and Brit's husband, also named Tyler, collided mid-air when the tube flipped and the laws of physics came into full effect. Not really about the whole dying thing though. Both of them came out of it alive, but neither got back out on the water that day. In fact, I might never again...)

brown, brown...

2008-09-12T13:19:00.006-06:00

Since starting Kindergarten, Sid's "learned" her colors (she already knew them, but the review is good) and they've started on their letters. I think now they're up to E. My favorite thing about the colors is that her teacher gave them pictures to color that showed a little monster representing the color doing some action that rhymes with the color. (Picture that, if you can.)

Here are some examples:

Red: A fuzzy monster stands next to its smiling head, one hand resting on top of the head. (Macabre, I know. What are they teaching my kid here?!) And the poem:

"Red, Red,
Forgot its head."

Green: A masculine looking fuzzy monster with a crown on its head and ballet slippers on its feet does a ballet move--a pirouette maybe?--in the center of the page. And the poem:

"Green, Green
Is a dancing queen." (I'm not even going to comment on this one!)

Orange: A fuzzy monster eats an orange. And the poem:

"Orange, Orange
Ate an orange."

Brown: (This one is my personal favorite.) A fuzzy monster reaches down to pull up its pants. And the poem:

"Brown, Brown
His pants fell down."

Aren't colors wonderful?

As for the letters, Sid read her first words the other day: sheep, baa, our, and coats (from an animal book). I helped her with the sounds of the letters and then we put them together. She's learning so fast. Pretty soon, she'll be reading heavy stuff, like Nancy Drew or Twilight.

I can't wait...

pocatello, part ii: happy trails

2008-09-12T11:42:00.010-06:00

Tyler's double posting again. He just can't get enough of this blogging thing.

Well, so far, not too bad.

I've made it to Pocatello fully clothed and (mostly) prepared for my classes.

We finally (Hallelujah!) have a contract and a new roof on the house. So, if things go according to plan, there will be no more water in the living room and we'll be living somewhere in Idaho's wide expanse at the beginning of next month.

Sid's enjoying kindergarten, although she's sad that we have to leave our house behind. (Believe me, babe, if we could take it with us, we would have moved already!) She actually asked me the other day why we couldn't find a school here for me to go to. I was wondering that myself. I especially wonder why the University of Utah had to reject me twice when I applied there a couple of years ago. I'm still bitter about that. (Go BYU!)

The only thing I'm not crazy about right now (although I'm living with it due to a newly formed reliance on caffeine) is the commute from Ogden to Pocatello. Granted, it is better than, say, the barren drive from Orem to St. George and takes much less time. But that one hour and forty-five minutes on the road is time I'd much rather spend doing something else...like reading or writing or being with my family.

Or sleeping. Sleeping is good. I never get enough of that.

I can't even listen to the radio much, because it turns static-y about halfway there and doesn't really come back until you're right outside of Pocatello. And it's almost not even worth trying to tune something in, especially since there's not really much decent on once the signal gets stronger.

As it now stands, I get a lot of thinking in. Sometimes this is helpful because I can revise or expand the ideas in my head (way too much going on in there!).

Last night, I actually turned my brain off for a few minutes, though, and made some tunes of my own. Nothing radio worthy. In fact, Sid's and Allie's songs are much more substantial and entertaining.

Oh well.

Maybe by the time this commuting business has run its course, I'll be someone akin to Mozart or Beethoven or Shakespeare. Don't expect it though. And when I try to share my commute-developed talents with you, just smile and nod. Eventually the travel lag will wear off and I'll come to my senses. At least I hope I will, anyway.

Until then, wish me/us happy trails.

whazzup?

2008-08-25T11:11:00.002-06:00

Hadley and Uncle Kip's hat...oh and Uncle Kip

You wanna piece of me?

Not quite as cool on the right way, is it?

sour much?

2008-08-25T11:05:00.004-06:00

This was Hadley's reaction to her first few spoonfuls of sour baby food--apricots with pears and apples. She's since become accustomed to the tingling jaw and will eat half a bottle without flinching.

pocatello, part i: this is exactly how I've pictured things going in my head

2008-08-25T10:55:00.007-06:00

(Tyler's double posting today: this can also be found here.)

And so it begins. I can’t believe that the summer is over. I can’t believe that we are actually going to have to start living the mayhem that we have been preparing for………….

-An email sent this morning by my wife

I woke up this morning to a riot of butterflies in my bowels, partially, I think, because I have to commute to Pocatello from Ogden three times a week (for the time being—if only our house would sell. *Frustrated sigh.*) and partially because I had a dream last night that I was stranded alone someplace unfamiliar (it might have been during the final moments of a track meet in Idaho State’s stadium—I know, I know: too much Olympic track and a sort of flashback to high school, though I’ve never run in that venue).

At least I wasn’t stranded and naked, though. Now that would be embarrassing.

Come to think of it, it would be worse if I walked into my first class late and naked and with the heavy legs of my nightmares that make it impossible to run away. *Shudder!*

To make matters worse, I’d missed the very first class of my doctoral program, which starts today at 4:00.

In Pocatello.

And I’m driving from Ogden, just in case you missed that.

And I have a tendency to be late for things, though I don’t usually leave the house without my clothes on. So I’m hopeful…

Even my wife is nervous for me, which just makes my butterflies riot more. And that makes me feel like a little kid about to leave my parents for the first day of kindergarten.

And that brings more butterflies to the riot, this time because our oldest actually starts kindergarten later this week and I’m nervous for her.

All in all, it seems, the Chadwick's are in for a big week.

Wish us luck—or at least that we’ll all leave the house fully clothed. That would definitely be a step in the right direction.

falling in love with real food

2008-07-30T10:13:00.004-06:00

We recently started feeding Hadley solids, if you consider carrot and sweet potato mush solid. I tried starting her on rice cereal a little while ago, but for some reason she didn't like it--maybe because it tastes horrible--yes I tried it--or rather doesn't taste at all. She likes it so much that she's decided to wear it as often and as liberally as she can.

Now if only I could get her to use the spoon herself without speckling the house in orange-colored puree...

"picture me, daddy"

2008-07-30T10:05:00.000-06:00

Whenever Allie sees a camera in action or inaction, she walks over, looks up, and, with her gorgeous blue eyes wide and her most subtle (or not so subtle) smile says, "Picture me." And unable to resist her toddler wiles, I do picture her. Here are two recent results of her request.

five going on twenty

2008-07-22T11:09:00.000-06:00

For Sidney's fifth birthday, we threw her a swim party. She said she had fun, but I'm not so sure...I think she was expecting more presents (as if she didn't get a hundred too many!).

pineview dam family

2008-07-21T10:03:00.000-06:00

On July 5, Kip and Camille (the sister-in-law whose father owns Fred's Marine in Layton, Utah, took the Ames family to Pineview Reservoir for half a day of tubing and wake surfing. As you can tell from the pictures, most of us made it out alive...

story time

2008-07-21T09:03:00.000-06:00

One of Sidney's and Allie's favorite spots: on Grandpa Chadwick's lap behind a good book (or two or three, sometimes even ten). I'm sure they'd be quite content to spend their lives listening to someone read.

watch out for the rooster

2008-07-21T08:59:00.000-06:00

One of Sidney's more frequent faces: bottom lip out, the perfect perch, as they say, for the rooster to land on. Allie, on the other hand, is quite content just to laugh at her older sister's feigned discontent.

who's the nerd?

2008-07-21T08:50:00.001-06:00

One of these grins is not like the other; one of these faces just doesn't belong.

(Full disclosure: I, Tyler, didn't know she was actually taking the picture. Either that or I'm just a big cheeser, goofball, nerd, minus the glasses--at least in this picture that is--and wanted to stand out. You be the judge...)

hippity hop, hippity hop: sidney's a preschool graduate

2008-07-21T08:25:00.000-06:00

At the end of May, Sidney graduated from Hippity Hop Preschool. We're pretty sure that she was at the top of her class-with parents like us, how could she not be? As you can see by this picture, she's excited, but a bit unsure about the future: "Work or college? Ivy League or local?" We are extremely proud of her for her commitment to education--on non-school days, all she wanted to do was go to school--and know that she can and will succeed in whatever she does (even if she decides Ivy League and leaves her parents in the shadow of the west).

Hippity Hop Preschool, class of 2008 (Sid's five from the left, as always at the center of attention).

Sidney and Teacher Brooke.

halfway there

2008-07-09T11:07:00.000-06:00

Hadley's just recently, in the past few weeks, learned to roll herself onto her belly. This is what happens when she gets there: She's all smiles for a while, making fake coughing noises to get our attention until she starts fussing because she doesn't quite know how to roll back onto her back. I'm confident, however, that she'll learn quickly...infants, toddlers, and kids don't know any different than to learn fast (especially to do the things you don't want them to), do they?

summer snow bunny

2008-07-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

While I (Tyler) was de-junking kitchen drawers, Allie found this stocking cap. Pointing at it, she said, "Mine?" then, "Pud it on." So I slipped it over her golden locks and she smiled. Isn't she the most adorable (yeah, that's right: adorable--I'm the proud at-home father of three girls; I can use the word adorable whenever I want!) two year old with her huge blue eyes, little nose, half smile, and the remnants of baby fat still clinging to her cheeks?

three monkeys on the bed

2008-06-23T13:35:00.001-06:00

We caught these three monkeys on our bed last night when we were winding down for the day. As you can see, that can be a difficult thing to do when your kids are so cute and full of energy.

Needless to day, most nights we let them stay up far later than they should...

our house is a very, very, very nice house..

2008-06-23T11:38:00.000-06:00

Since it's in our family's best interest to move to Pocatello before Tyler starts school this August (especially since driving up there from Ogden three times a week would put us into bankruptcy due to the outrageous price of gas and he doesn't really want to travel Greyhound for four hours a day--as exciting as that sounds), we need to sell our house. We wanted to get the word out via blog so here's our ad, the links to our online postings--one on ksl.com, the other on utahrealestate.com--and some pics.

If you know anyone that's looking for a great home in Ogden, send them our agent's way (see the sidebar for a permalink to this post and for our agent's info).

This (approximately) 1,656 square foot, 4 bedroom, 1 ½ bath, multi-level home sits on a 0.16 acre lot within walking distance of the 9th Street climbing rocks and Bonneville Shoreline Trail North to the east and Ben Lomond High and Horace Mann Elementary to the west. The spacious, fully-fenced backyard has a newly established lawn (as of July 2007), an in-ground trampoline, a large dog run, and a 10 ft. by 10 ft. storage shed. With updated paint (inside and out), three upstairs bedrooms, a recently finished basement, an open floor-plan, and a large kitchen with a great view of the mountains, this home is a must see!

Front of house.

View to the north east.

The backyard (and Sidney teeter-tottering).

Main level: the living room and kitchen.

Upstairs: the full bathroom and three bedrooms.

Basement: the laundry area, half-bathroom, family room (Sidney coloring), and fourth bedroom (currently a toy room).

two raisins in the sun

2008-06-21T17:06:00.000-06:00

The girls got to play with some of the neighbor's grandkids today. They had a big water slide and popsicles--a kid couldn't ask for more.

Popsicle brain freeze...

At the Melting Popsicle Convention.

Allie up...

...Allie down...

...Allie proud (and Sidney cut off)!

Sidney up...

...Sidney down...

...Sidney cold!

Hadley, being camera shy.

"Oh, there it is," she says.

Hadley, Dad, and dimples.

Hadley, Dad, and halitosis.

can't say they're not related

2008-06-21T16:59:00.000-06:00

When I (Tyler) got home from running yesterday morning, I found these two matching ragamuffins lying in bed together. The little one (Allie) is always trying to take my spot, so I finally let her. Even though her genes say she's Dad's, she acts an awful lot like her mom.

welcome to our family

2008-06-19T16:57:00.000-06:00

Beginning in August 2008, we (finally) begin the final phase of Tyler's education, this time at Idaho State University (Pocatello), home of the Bengals. He'll be pursuing a Doctor of Arts degree in English as Jess works toward completion of her PHT-Putting Husband Through-and the girls toward their PDTs-Putting Daddy Through. When we're done, it will be a day of rapture, quite literally, as Jess keeps reminding him, because the end of the world will probably have come. Then our lives can be defined less in terms of degrees and more in terms potatoes.

By that time, this is how we imagine our family will be:

Tyler and Jess, beyond their academic lives, will be old and decrepit, curled up in front of a fireplace all day watching reruns of Scrubs, Bones, Lost, House, Heroes, and Celebrity Circus (not really on that last one), waiting for their daughters to get home from some social function or another, and wondering whether or not they took their last dose of medication.

Sidney, now five and ecstatic to begin Kindergarten this fall, will have probably joined her dad as a college student. She will probably still be into playing princess; love purses, babies, cell phones, and writing; and excel at putting her parents in their place with her remarkably apt insights into being grown up.

Alex (Allie), now two, will finally be toilet trained and beyond the point (we hope) of slipping into our bed at night and taking up the middle half with her sideways sleeping. She'll also still enjoy playing princess; love purses, babies, cell phones, and writing; will more than likely be close to joining her sister and dad in college; and will also excel at telling her parents how it is.

Hadley, now four and a half months, will also be toilet trained (we really hope-that could make for an odd social experience!) and will continue to run her family's lives as she does now, though with fewer bottle feedings and less crying. She'll have an excellent vocabulary, far beyond the spitting and mumbling she does now, and will be nipping at her sisters' heels as our third purse-baby-cell phone-word-loving-know-it-all princess.