Perhaps We Are Back???

Perhaps the Rotter Fam may be back to blogging. I LOVE reading other's blogs and find it slightly irritating when my "regulars" that I stalk don't update! Ha! Look who is calling the kettle black on this one! If I can figure out how to get the Photo Bucket Ad to go away in the middle of my page, my hope is to be back up and blogging. For my kids. For myself. For the preservation of our families memories.

Our Little Picasso

Faith had her art work chosen and displayed at Gallery One for the month of December. She was soooooo excited!!!! We were all VERY proud of her, especially Jensen! Our little family of five got to go see it on "opening night" during our town's First Friday Artwalk! It was quite the affair in there with live piano music, appetizers, wine, LOTS of people and our VERY excited children. This is also were Jensen informed a room full of people that I call him, "Stupid!" Nice. Real nice, son. Story to follow...and JUST for the record, I DON'T call him stupid.

A Note for Jensen's Wife

FYI...when Jensen makes comments that may easily be offensive, he truly doesn't mean it. He's just a man. He can't help it. Men don't come wired the same as women. Please don't get upset when he says things like, "Mommy, you look so beautiful. You look just like a hippo!" Really. He truly meant this as a compliment. He was so excited and sincere as I know he will be in your marriage, too.

A Word, or Two, on Our "Duperhero"

The "Duperhero" in our house:
-Runs the fastest
-Shouts the loudest
-Taunts the most
-Flies the highest
-Sneaks the best
-Pushes the hardest
-"Un-nerves" like you wouldn't believe
-Loves to be rough and tumble
-"Gackles" (tackles) the greatest
-Bounces the best on the furniture
-Climbs to the highest of places to rescue a binky or piece of cake

But with, or without, his "Duperhero" outfit loves the deepest, helps the most, cuddles the sweetest, compliments like no other and gives the very BEST Eskimo kisses.

Oh, how blessed we are to have a "Duperhero" like Jensen in our lives! We love him greater then any Superhero strength!



Pictured here with his "Duperhero" bat costume, princess wand, and binky. I guess I owe a post on the reintroduction of the binky...

Faith's Snow Shoot

Love, LOVE, LOVE these sweet pictures of Faith in our first big snow if the year! The pure joy on her face is priceless and what childhood should be filled with. Jensen opted to stay inside, it was too "coady" for him outside that day.

Just Jacob...

A post devoted SOLELY to our Sweet Baby Boy Jacob. Who is ONE!!!! Just how did that happen? What a complete and utter blessing he is in our lives. A perfect addition to our little family. All of us Rotter's would agree that life wouldn't be the same without him. Jacob is just all around sweetness...with a bit of determination thrown in to complete the perfect package. Let's be honest, to survive with big brother Jensen...determination is needed for sure! :)

At ONE, Jacob...
-weighs 20lbs 13 ounces
-has 8 teeth
-is on the RUN (started walking at 10.5 months)
-says about 18 words including mama, dada, baba, papa, nana, up, more, ball, cat, dog, hi, bye, this, yea
-loves to give kisses and has progressed from his "African" tongue clicking to actual kissing noises to let us know he wants a kiss!
-Loves to "pet" mama when he's eating
-Still not sleeping through the night, but is getting better
-loves his blanket at night and rubs the satin edge while he falls asleep
-has mastered opening cupboards, finding toothbrushes, and eating out of the trash...all very desirable traits to have
-LOVES being in the mix with Faith and Jensen
-laughs at all the right times

Here are a few pictures from Jacob's Birthday. On his actually birthday we had cake at home which he loved. He picked up the entire plate and ate the cupcake that way. The next weekend, we had a swimming party/Haiti fundraiser for Jacob! What fun we had and what generous friends to donate to Haiti in honor of Jacob's birthday!

Create a photo slideshow

Christmas

Christmas in Photos:

Greetings From Our Family to Yours!

All things considered "tacky," this is our Christmas card for 2009. I could claim it's due to us being more environmentally friendly seeing as how 2009 was a big year for us environmentally. We potty trained Jensen AND signed up for recycling. Yes, both in the same year. I could claim it's to be gentle on the pocketbook, because last time I checked there were no coupons for stamps...you know me and my coupons. I could claim that even though I LOVE getting and giving Holiday cards, it's because Christmas cards really don't have much to due with the actual origin and meaning of Christmas, but don't tell Hallmark. But truthfully, I ran out of time. Somewhere between teaching, mothering, wifing (is that a word), being an accountant, personal shopper, elf, and spreading holiday cheer...I simply did not get to cards. I'm hoping for Valentine's cards, but don't don't hold your breath. My CPR card expired in the spring and I'm feeling a little shaky on my first aid skills.

For a small glimpse into our lives, feel free to scroll through the blog. If you'd like to be a regular "reader" on the blog, leave a note w/your email address in the comments. I usually keep it locked as private. Something a bit creepy about random blog stalkers (like myself) reading about the kids. BUT, you too, can gain membership for FREE...no coupons needed!

2009 has been a great year for our family from the birth of Jacob in January all the way through December it's proved to be a wonderful year for our family. Joe and I are loving each and every minute with the kids (okay, some are a bit more hairy then others) and are trying to treasure them, as we are already witnessing just how fast time flies.

Jacob (10 1/2 months) started WALKING this week. He looks a bit like a drunken sailor, but he's officially on the move! He is such a sweet, sweet boy who just takes "it all in" day in and day out. Still not a sleeper, but I'll take the middle of the night cuddles any day! He can't get enough of Faith and Jensen and is starting to interact with them more and more.

Jensen is our little "Joy Boy!" He can turn the saddest of situations into pure joy. Last week, I found him cutting the beard on my prized antique (it was my dad's-sorry I just called you an antique, dad) plush Santa. After a stern lecture and time out he was crying these HUGE walrus tears, and calling mommy a "Bad boy!" At my wits end I was saying (yelling), "Why, WHY would you cut Santa's beard?" He whimpered back, "My couldn't see his mouth!" All I could do was laugh. Luckily, I caught him just one snip in and Santa's beard was saved. If anyone is sad, he is the first to notice and cheer you up.

Faith is still creative and determined (gets that from her father) to the ends of the earth. She is on a bunny phase lately. As in, she's convinced she's getting a bunny. She writes letters about when she has a bunny, goes to the pet store to check them out, creates special bunny food, created a bunny trap in the back yard (in which a very large, brown-haired, brown-eyed, three year old "bunny" actually ate the carrots in the trap). On top of all of this she is the BEST big sister. She loves her brothers to pieces and goes to no end to be sure they are happy. We've even caught her in a few "white-lies" protecting Jensen.

Joe just rounded out his hunting season with a cougar. Whatever happened to bringing home a Christmas goose???? And WHEN is chicken season?!? All joking aside, we are really proud of him. He loves back country hunting and we love that it makes him happy.

I'm still busy teaching and loving being able to spend half of the day home with our kids and the kids of my teaching partner (we job-share, kid-share). The kids keep me busy and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Moments to Remember

Faith started Kinder Dance the first week of November and today she had her debut Performance, as a "Snowflake," and I had my debut as a stage mom. Let me tell you...LOTS of work. No clue how those moms on "Tots to Tiaras," or whatever the name of that TLC show is, do it. "Costume" for The Moments to Remember performance included the cute little outfit you see, blue eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, lip liner, lipstick, blush, a high pony tail with long tight curls and LOTS of hairspray.

You want the dirty truth? I don't own hair spray, a curling iron or blue eye shadow. Thank heavens for the Dollar Tree. I just knew I would need aerosol spray (we're after beauty tonight and not saving the environment) to hold that girls curls. Where is Aqua Net when you need it? The Dollar Tree saved the day, with classy "White Rain" aerosol hairspray. After 45 minutes, Faith's hair and make up were done and I used so much hair spray that she claimed she was tasting it through the air.

Being new to the "stage mom" scene, I went a bit overboard with the lip liner and lipstick. No biggie. Joe told her she looked like a real famous lady on T.V. named Blanche...you know, from the Golden Girls. Luckily she has no clue who Blanche Devereaux is, because if my "Old Maid" victory dance, complete with hunkering down like I was walking with a cane and saying my name was "Faith Old Maid Rotter," threw her into a tantrum last week, being referred to as Blanche might simply put her over the five and a half year old edge. Thinking she wouldn't want to be know as Blanche, the vain, man-hungry, Southern Belle, and KNOWING I'd rather her be more like, Rose or Dorthy (definitely NOT Sophia), I quickly fixed her lipstick into more suitable "snowflake" fashion.

Faith looked beautiful, twirled perfectly, LOVED the evening, and reiterated as we were leaving that she's NEVER playing soccer again (she previous post), because she only wants to do one activity at a time...and she's choosing dance! I couldn't be more proud of her!

Side Note: Wikipedia has some great facts on The Golden Girls. Now, I thought I was a fan of the show back in my younger days, but I never knew that Dorthy's brother, Phil, was a cross dresser. The things you learn on a Friday night around our house.

And just for the records, after reading all the character bios, I'm real conflicted over which Golden Girl I'd most like Faith to be like. Who would you choose for your daughter?

Reason #1,245...

...why we are cutting back on T.V. in our house; "We are attempting to preserve the vision of our children. Keeping our fingers crossed they have eyesight for things like, say reading!" Right below reason #1,244: "We watched SIX straight days of television during the supposed Swine Flu outbreak at our house, and we haven't been the same mentally since then and are hoping to correct the toon-headedness in our brains." Jensen would seriously be thrilled if he could actually climb IN the T.V.

"Jake"-O-Lantern

Yes...I KNOW he's chewing on a piece of plastic, but it was a great shot of his two lil' teeth. Isn't our "Jake"-O-Lantern so cute?!? Currently working on SIX new teeth. I think we'll all be happier around here when those bad boys show their faces around here.

Jensen Carl Rotter Boy is THREE!!!!

Much to his dismay, Jensen turned three on the 19th. You see, what he really wanted was to be "dibe" (five). For WEEKS he's been telling us, and anyone else who would listen, "My go-knee be dibe. Dibe like Daith. My dibe. My go cool. My sit in dooster seat." Translated to: "I am going to be five. Five like Faith. I'm five. I will go to school. I will sit in a booster seat. Sounds much cuter in his words, huh?

Now, we could have played along with this, but being the mean spirited family we are, we kept telling him that someday he'd be five, but he needed to be three and four first. This usually evoked a two-year old meltdown/screaming fit with words like, "No! My 8 then. My 10. My 6!" We didn't really think anyone would believe our 25ish pound son, that comes with his own personal translator, was ACTUALLY five. Maybe we're wrong, but we went out on a limb and celebrated his THIRD birthday in style with a Doggy Themed "Pawty!" He kept requesting a "green" birthday, but my creative juices weren't coming up with much for that theme. So doggy it was.

Jensen has come around to the fact that he's three (except for when (in his words) he's a baby and wants a binky) and had a great time at his party. He was so cute opening presents. He'd open one and all he'd want to do was play with THAT present and not open the others. Good thing he had Faith there to help him! :)

His most prized gift was a set of binoculars from Papa Rick and Grandma Beth. He loves his "nockers" and tells EVERYONE he sees, friends and foes alike, that he loves to play with his "nockers." Perfectly fine in CONTEXT, but things get a little uncomfortable when this is proclaimed to the random checker at Fred Meyer. And his "nockers" are no where in sight. Lovely.

Halloween 2009

Pumpkin carving 2009 was a blast! Momma got smart this year and we scooped our pumpkins outside. Notice the difference in warmth of clothing Faith and Jensen chose to wear. In typical "I'm too hot" fashion, Faith is sparsely dressed, sporting a cotton sundress and her new glitter Christmas shoes. Jensen on the other hand is always "coedy" (cold) and is bundled up like he's headed to the North Pole to whip up some toys for the Salvation Army toy drive. This particular day, I sided with Jensen...lots of layers for me!




This year it was FREEZING during trick or treating. I have some "great" pictures (which I am not posting) of the kids out trick-or-treating dressed as "Children of the Winter," staring coats, hats, mittens, etc. Believe it or not...those were indeed NOT their original costumes. I know. I know. Should have started with "Children of the Winter" but it just didn't seem quite original enough.

According to Jensen he was a Pirate this year. That is what he wanted to be and what we went shopping for. What we left the store with was a Power Ranger suit, which he still refered to as a pirate. Even after multiple attempts, by his sister, to help him understand what his costume it. It was really important to this said sister that he KNEW he was a Power Ranger. You know. The sister who change her mind about her costume FIVE times. On the day of Halloween. Costumes included bunny, cat, butterfly, butterfly princess and fairy. All revolving around a black leotard and black tutu. LOVE the creativity and imagination of both Faith and Jensen.

Below you see the cutest spider EVER! Don't think I've ever called a spider cute before. Those of you who know me well, know I'm not a fan of real life arachnids, but I feel in love with this Pottery Barn spider costume for our little guy! He was adorable and warm! Although getting him and all eight legs into the car seat was a bit of a challenge.

Because Some Days This is How it Feels...

You've gotta read my friend, Amy's, letter to Santa! So funny. Personally, I'm banking on Mrs. Clause, but I think there's a market in store for Amy's request. Sign me up!

http://amylmurray01.blogspot.com/2009/11/dear-santa.html

Pumpkin Patch 2009

What perfect weather for a day at the Pumpkin Patch! All of our lil' pumpkins found pumpkins that met their hearts desire.

Daddy-Daughter Date

Faith and Joe got to go to the Rodeo for a special night out. Jensen got to go to Winegars with mommy and Jacob for blue ice cream with sprinkles on top! An all around perfect night for everyone!

Thanks for the Rodeo tickets Uncle Neal and Aunt Janice! Our little cowgirl and her daddy had a blast watching the show and eating cotton candy!

Big Girls Don't Cry

Joe is out of the woods from hunting for a few days and I've been keeping him busy. In less then 16 hours he's done laundry, emptied the dishwasher, a round of baths and bedtime, vacuumed, watered plants, made a LARGE pot of coffee, made pancakes for breakfast, straightened the garage, and taken Faith and Jensen in for flu shots. See why things fall apart around here when he's gone? He's ALWAYS this helpful. Although, I've noticed during hunting season, he's a bit more eager to help. You know, less heavy sighs, and other signs of being completely irritated by chores.

When Daddy and the kids got home from flu shots this morning Faith bounds in the house and says, "I didn't even cry for my shot! We'll actually just a little at first." Apparently, she has a bit of an inflated sense of what ACTUALLY went down at the Valley Clinic this morning.

As the story goes from Joe: The whole ride down there she laughed and giggled and was EXCITED to get a shot. She was even going to go first so Jensen would see it didn't hurt and he wouldn't be afraid. THEN when the nurse walked in she was singing a different tune. Long story shortened into bullet format:

-Jensen had to go first and cried because he was being held down by Joe.
-Faith's turn resulted in being restrained by Joe (sitting behind her pinning her arms down, two nurses holding her down, one nurse administering her shot, SCREAMING like Joe has never heard before out of her during the preparations, and our Doctor (who hates being present for shots...he likes to be the "good-guy") rushing in to be sure everything was alright.
-THEN as soon as she looked down and saw the needle in her arm, all mayhem ceased and she declared, "oh...I didn't even cry!" Apparently all adults in the room were doubled over in stitches from fits of laughter.

Joe said on the way out she was strutting her stuff with a swanky little walk, flitting her sticker in the air with a HUGE smile on her face saying "That didn't even hurt one little bit!" The halls of the clinic were lined with people watching her leave like this after they'd all heard her in the exam room! That's our girl!!!! Never without "spirit" and drama!

And this my friends...would be why she got her Kindergarten shots at age 4 versus age 5. Dr. Larson knew she'd only get stronger and stronger and harder to hold down.

Dyson Update

If you recall in a previous post, I really like my Dyson vacuum. Okay, I LOVE my Dyson. I've already told Joe, if we are ever to divorce, I get the vacuum. He looked at me with a bit of a blank stare. Not sure if that's because he knows me well enough to know that the vacuum IS one of my favorite things or because it's the only thing I mentioned. No mention of the house, the debt, or even the kids. I just wanted to be sure I get to take my vacuum! And NO, divorce is not in our future. Anyways, back to my post one thing I love about my vacuum is THIS (taken straight from their website):
All Dyson upright and canister vacuums have:
No loss of suction
Root Cyclone™ technology means Dyson vacuums don’t lose suction power as you clean.

Wow! I love the fact that my precious Dyson is so powerful. Yet, for the past few months, it just hasn't been working up to speed. When working in "normal" mode it runs like a dream. When I'd attempt to use the hose, it made a terrible noise, lost all suction, and didn't pick up even the tiniest of Polly Pocket parts. I'm sure Faith has sabotaged it, after seeing numerous Polly shoes,whirling around in that cyclonic tank.

One of the deciding factors in splurging for the Dyson Animal was their fabulous 5 year warranty. This week, I had "Call Dyson" on my to-do list. Let me tell you how thankful I am that I did NOT get that done. Yesterday, I decided to attempt to unearth the problem myself. After a few minutes, I discovered just how easy it was to take off a few parts, even with the help of a five year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and a 7 month old. Yes. They love the "Animal" as much as I do.

Now, once again, Dyson advertises

All Dyson upright and canister vacuums have:
No loss of suction
Root Cyclone™ technology means Dyson vacuums don’t lose suction power as you clean.



Anywhere up there does it read: "Dyson suggests using the hose devise to suck up household objects like a knife?" Huh? Yes, I pulled a plastic baggie full of YUCK (a full hair cut full of hair, toys, rubber bands, food, stickers, etc.), you know all the "normal" things you'd suck up with a household vacuum, out of a 4 inch section of my precious. Including...a plastic knife. Really. I'm a bit confused why it couldn't make the hairpin turn, up the pipe into the canister. With all that Dyson power and all. Are you kidding me?!? A knife?! Now I'm not 100% certain how this happened, but for the record THIS IS NOT A SHOP VAC!

I AM happy to report that my vacuum is fixed and can't wait to tell Joe all about it when he gets home. He has been complaining lately how "YOUR Dyson doesn't seem to be all it's cut out to be!" Hmmmm....sabotage?!?

Jensen's Prayers

Every night (or at least most nights) when we put the kids to bed we "pray on them" (they call it) and then they say their own prayers. It is so, so sweet to hear what they pray about. Faith has the sweetest most innocent prayers and I love hearing her heart in work. Jensen on the other hand, prayers the same EXACT thing every night. It's touches my heart to hear him talk to God and also makes me giggle a little:

Chank-chew (thank you) for my mommy.Chank-chew for my daddy. Chank-chew for my Daith (Faith). Chank-chew for my Gake (Jake). Chank-chew for the hic-ups. We're assuming that one night he had the hic-ups and has just said it ever since!

The picture has nothing to do with his prayers, but isn't he the cutest?!?

"I'll Always Be Your Baby!"

Those are the words Faith said to me seconds before the last picture was snapped. Exactly 5 minutes and 18 seconds before we loaded her in the car for her first day of Kindergarten. Was she trying to make me cry? Is there some sort of competition at school for the kid with the most hysterical mother? Is THAT how she got to be "teacher's helper" on her first day. Way to go Faith! You made me bawl and won my heart over once again!

Today was such a bitter-sweet day for me. Faith is more then ready for school, but I'm just not ready to hand her over to the "world." I didn't sleep a wink last night, but I did manage to hold it together when dropping her off at school. Until...I walked away. Then I bawled like a baby. Baby? Wasn't SHE just a baby?!?

Anyways, Faith LOVED school and I loved that it was only half day. I think half-time is a perfect fit for her (and me). She gets one last year at home with me in the mornings, but gets to learn all about school!