first day of kindergarten

jared started kindergarten today. he was so excited to go and insisted on wearing a sweatshirt. i tried to tell him he would get hot, but he didn't care.

isaac was so cute this morning. when he saw what jared was wearing, he went and got his sweatshirt too. he starts preschool next week.

my nathan - spoiler alert: the following could be sappy

a very young nathan

nathan as a toddler

nathan as a kindergartner

oh little league... what a cute smile

yes that is nathan on the right with some great hair

nathan's senior picture - what he looked like when i first met him

a few reasons i love my husband:

the thing that attracted me to him in the beginning was how laid back he was about almost everything. now, sometimes (read, most of the time) it really gets on my nerves because i want him to be as crazy and passionate about everything as i am. but, i still love that he really couldn't care less about a lot of things.

how shy he can be around everyone but me. i feel like i have a backstage pass to a concert where occasionally the bouncer lets me through a door no one else is allowed into. once i am back there, the place is phenomenal.

my nathan is a handy man. there has not been a single thing that i have asked him to do that he hasn't been able to figure out. from running new electrical cables for a light to making a built in entertainment center from scratch, to installing tile and kitchen faucets and figuring out why the cable is not working.

he is a very compassionate father.

that 3 of the 6 pictures that nathan actually smiled in are featured above. the others are our wedding invitation and a couple of wedding pictures. i don't know why i love him for that, but i do.

even though he is losing his hair and has gained 2 or 3 pounds since we met, i still find him HOT! and best of all after 3 children (read, shrinking saggy boobs and a mom butt) he still finds me HOT!

he puts up with all my Sh!t and knows all the terrible things about me... and he still loves me and wants to be with me.

he is my best friend. i tell him things i would never dream of telling anyone else and even when we are really upset with each other, i still want to cuddle up with him in bed. even if he says it is too hot.

who does amelia look like?

isaac around 9 months old
amelia around 8 months old

jared around 9 months old

I thought for a while that amelia looked exactly like jared, but it is clear from these pictures that she does not. however, she does look more like jared than isaac. isaac is just his own breed... he is such a cutie. but then again so are all of my kids.

my brother shane can be embarrassing ....

my oldest brother shane can be quite entertaining. he posed for nathan to snap the above pictures, while we were all waiting to take family pictures. he claimed that he was looking hot. roni and i both felt like we were going to vomit.

it's official... i am getting old

this is the random darth vader cake that he wanted. he has never shown any interest in the man before this cake.

my jared celebrated his 6th birthday on august 15th and he starts kindergarten next tuesday and i am turning 30 in two months. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

jared's birthday was a fun day. we went to seven peaks waterpark with shane and roni and their kids. then we had cake and ice cream later than night with the grandparents. jared is so excited to be getting older and to start school.

this morning after he had sat in time out for hitting isaac, i told him that he was responsible for his own actions and his own feelings and he needed to learn that there were acceptable ways to express those feelings. His response was, "I am not in charge. You said you are in charge of me, you're the boss."

i love my children.

new family pictures

last sunday, we took family pictures with my side of the family. while taking these pictures, nathan snapped a couple of just us. it is so hard to take pictures with children. strangely, they just don't cooperate like adults. it was very hot too, which made it even worse. it was nice to finally get an updated picture that we can hang up in the house.

president james e faust

i was saddened to hear of the passing of president faust this morning. i know we aren't supposed to have favorites, but i really like him.

in october of 2004, nathan and i took jared and isaac to the university of utah hospital to visit nate's mom after a surgery. we were waiting for the elevator when the doors opened and an older man in a wheelchair along with two mean dressed in suits started to emerge. i pulled jared back towards me so that they could exit. at first glance, i thought that guy is so familiar. as he was pushed from the elevator, he looked right at jared and said, "hello there". as soon as he said it, i realized who he was. it was president faust.

my favorite president faust story, given in a conference talk, (Nov. 1997; The Weightier Matters of the Law:Judgment, Mercy, and Faith) is this:

"I fear that some of our greatest sins are sins of omission. These are some of the weightier matters of the law the Savior said we should not leave undone. These are the thoughtful, caring deeds we fail to do and feel so guilty for having neglected them.

As a small boy on the farm during the searing heat of the summer, I remember my grandmother Mary Finlinson cooking our delicious meals on a hot woodstove. When the wood box next to the stove became empty, Grandmother would silently pick up the box, go out to refill it from the pile of cedar wood outside, and bring the heavily laden box back into the house. I was so insensitive and interested in the conversation in the kitchen, I sat there and let my beloved grandmother refill the kitchen wood box. I feel ashamed of myself and have regretted my omission for all of my life. I hope someday to ask for her forgiveness."

i really liked this story because it was sincere (i remember he had trouble controlling his emotions) and showed that even great, respectable, spiritual giants have regrets from their life.

we've lost the second tooth

jared lost his second tooth last night. it has been loose ever since he lost the other one, but was a little more stubborn. it was the bottom-right tooth this time. AND again, being the forgetful mother that i am turning out to be, i forgot to remind him to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. i promise that i will remember tonight.

dinner with nate's parents

nate's parents came over for dinner this past sunday. the kids always love it when the grandparents come over and they tend to get a little crazy! nate made a pork tenderloin for dinner and nate's dad brought corn on the cob from his garden. it was yummy. for dessert, i made scones (pan bread). it was a pretty uneventful evening but a good time to relax and visit. even though they only live a short distance away, we don't really get together very often to just hangout.

before his parents left, we snapped a couple pictures of the kids with their pa and nana.

nathan and his mom

nana and the kids

pa and the kids

our first tooth fairy visit

the tooth fairy has officially visited the Harwood home.

last thursday, while at pa's house, jared's bottom-left tooth came loose while eating corn on the cob. jared played with it all night and all the next day until around 4:30 pm when he finally yanked it out. nathan snapped this picture with his camera phone right afterward.

a couple of days later, (i kept forgetting to remind him to put the tooth under his pillow) the tooth fairy came to visit and left jared 4 quarters. he was so excited.

i need a new nanny

after all the trouble the kids have been causing at home, sylvia has given her two weeks notice. it would be a lie to say that i am surprised, because i am not at all. she is afraid something bad might happen while she is there and she just doesn't want to be responsible for that, which i complete understand considering she doesn't enforce rules or apply any type of discipline.

i will miss how clean my house is when i come home though.



so if anyone knows anyone who wants to watch 3 kids a couple times a week, let me know.