Benjamin: Super Hero (in training)

Laura thought it would be fun to put goggles on Benjamin. He looks like a wannabe super hero.

A Very Merry Christmas

It's the best time of the year! No snow in California, but lots of cheer.

On Christmas Eve the whole family gathered, including some guests at my parents house. I think the final count was 36 people. It was busy. The kids did the traditional hunt for presents - it was all wheels this years, with vehicles (bikes, scooters, etc...) for the young grand kids. We had dinner (mmmm, great food), exchanged 'secret pal' gifts, and grand girls all got princess dresses and danced the night away.

We stayed that night at my parents house so the kids could stay up late and enjoy the party. Santa figured out how to get the toys to the right place, because the next morning, the kids had full stockings. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying this morning:







Girls with their scooters from the Christmas Eve hunt:





In the afternoon we played it pretty low-key, mostly hanging around - no formal dinner or anything (typical Headley tradition). I took the girls along with Kory to see the Harwoods. We went with Aunt Cyndi & Aunt Kory to see movies. Laura and I took the girls to see Despereaux, while the aunts saw something more adult (Frost & Nixon). The car ride was fun. Then, to end the night we pack up the cars and got tired kids home to bed. My Mom sent us home with yummy party potatoes. Laura and I will snuggle up now to watch a Christmas-themed movie.

I hope everyone had a great day. We sure did and have our wonderful family to thank for all the time and effort they put it to make it so fun.

Christmas Letter 2008

This letter was sent via snail mail and is reprinted here for everyone. Want something like this in the mail next year? Email me.

As many of you may know by now, we have set a tradition in our Christmas letters. For the past 5 years we have either announced the arrival of a baby or the announcement of a baby to come. Why break tradition this year?? It's true - this Headley family of five will become six by next June. The girls are very excited, and Ben is, well, maybe when the baby comes, he'll understand and be excited too! We will find out just after the New Year what we will be expecting (we like the 'surprise' to happen earlier).

Aside from our baby news there have been many recent changes in our lives. As many of you already know, we recently moved from Boulder back to the bay area in California. Our employer, Google, initiated the move, and Joel now manages a new team, which is exciting. We're very happy to come back home, closer to family and old friends. The girls love living around all their cousins and grandparents. And Laura's parents are ecstatic to have grandchildren live somewhere near them.

Also, we're very sad to have left Boulder. We lived in the greatest neighborhood out there - Heatherwood, with a wonderful community, school, and Church group that we truly miss. We left behind new, life-long friends and are trying to find excuses to go back out and visit. If you're interested in moving to a great place, our house is on the market.

Benjamin has changed so much over the past year. He's gone from baby to toddler and is doing his best to keep up with his sisters. He babbles, saying some words clearly. If you listen closely, he'll spew out a full sentence: he gets intonation and tempo, but needs to work on pronunciation. If you've been following our blog, he has had lots of colds, and they have prevented him from normal weight gain. We've gone through a lot of tests, which don't show any abnormal or serious conditions - that's a good thing - we're sure he'll be fine in the long-run. It's fun to have a boy around the house. Very different already from having girls. He's much more physical - likes to climb everything, but he'll also settle down to cuddle. He frequently laughs, a deep guttural laugh, that brightens our whole house.

Collette has been a busy 3 year old. She started preschool in September and is desperate to get back into a preschool here in California. She bugs her Mom about it just about every day. She became quite the tricycle rider in Colorado (like her mom). She's also our household clown. She keeps us entertained with her singing or stories. And she has the unique talent of playing all the characters of an imaginary game with dolls, figurines, or stuffed animals.

Abigail is our big helper. She will be starting kindergarten now that we are in California (differences in age cut-offs allow this in CA, not CO). She is ready and excited. We've had a tough time getting all of our paperwork in order since many of our things are packed away in storage, but, hopefully, she'll begin prior to the holiday break. She has grown so much in the last year and will soon become the master artist she aspires to. Well, if there were a master coloring book artist, she would take the cake right now!

Laura is busy. And tired. Busy and tired. That says most of it. She has three little kids at home with her all day right now and she is busy making one more. She had found a really nice routine in Boulder of preschool runs, gym workouts, and date nights with Joel. Since moving here, it's the opposite routine. But Laura's happy to live around sisters again (in-laws that is) and living in state that has a Chevy's and Fenton's ice cream.

If you'd like to keep up with us, please check visit our blog. We update it regularly, and there's a copy of this letter with links to specific posts, in case you want to read more about the tidbits we've included here. We are thankful for the many blessings in our lives at the moment and try to reflect on those often in this difficult time for many. We are grateful for our family and of course for the birth of our Savior especially this time of year. We hope the best for you and your family.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays
Laura, Joel, Abigail, Collette, & Benjamin

Kids Are Flexibile

Collette and Benjamin are flexible.

I think these are funny pictures.

Moving Redwood

Sometime last week, my brother sends out an email asking people to help him move redwood. What for? How much? I don't think anyone knew, but all the 'boys' nearby chipped in to help out. Last Saturday, early and in mud, we moved six large redwood tree stumps for use in a young men lesson/activity.

Unfortunately two tailgates were damaged in the process. But what I love about my family, no one is too bothered by this. At least, I think so :)

First Day of School: Abigail

Abigail's first day of school today. She starts kindergarten for the first time.

Both Mom & Dad were a little sad to see her off. It's the beginning of lots of new things, exposure to kids we don't know, etc... Abigail was a bit worried about making new friends, but both Laura & I think she has a knack for it.



Abigail gets a late start, because we just moved to California and needed to get in order her paperwork. There's not many first day photos that have a Christmas tree. Mom & Dad are still in a state of shock.

Product of Boulder (or you can chalk it up to good parenting)

So Abigail and Collette are deep into a game of evil witch and her submissive servants. Abigail, as many of you may guess, is of course the evil witch. Collette and Ben are her servants. Many of you may be thinking, "what could she possibly use Ben for? He wouldn't be a very good submissive servant" and you would be correct. So she quickly dismisses him as a servant and tells Collette this (which is what the title* would be referring to): "He is of no use to us!!! But he is still a good boy. Go throw him in the recycling at once!!!"



*Boulder as a city has recycling containers everywhere~maybe more so than regular trash cans it seems at times and has city wide pick up of household compost. They are very eco-friendly.

Connect with my life on the web

So, Google released Friend Connect recently, which allows any website to add social features to your site. Join this site on the right nav ->

Would love to hear if people find this useful. If you have a blog, it is easy to set up. Easier still if you're using blogger (ignore the 'put these html files on your site' step, and blogger automatically verifies).

Sign up and we can share our lives on the internet - hmmm, or don't, if you don't want to share :)

Update: you can learn more here.

Christmas letter

Our December 2007 Christmas letter

As letters passed, we've announced new additions to our family. This year is no different. Benjamin was born 29 June - a healthy, happy boy with big eyes and a wide grin. The girls love him. Abigail will sing to him, and Collette will spend time entertaining and tolerating his grabbing and pulling at her hair. We thought their love for him might have faded as he grew older and not quite so little and innocent- but instead the more he can do- rolling over, sitting up, taking the toys they give him, the more they seem to enjoy him. Mom and Dad love him, too. He has been a joy to add to the family, an especially easy baby to make smile and laugh (though not quite the sleeper Collette was).

We've been in Boulder, Colorado for nearly a year now. We've spent a lot of time remodeling the kitchen - new cabinets, new floor, new ceiling, and lights. There is so much more we'd like to do but there aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week - and so on. Laura is tackling the girls room - removing wall paper, painting, etc.. and will enlist Joel to work while he takes time off in January!

Laura stays busy with many neighborhood and ward activities - not to mention three little children. We're a part of a great neighborhood full of other young children that get together regularly. Also, she's gotten serious about a book club. She has enjoyed all the books so far and recently blazed through a trio of vampire books in less than a week.

Joel has enjoyed working at Google in Boulder. The company has grown into a new building with more space and more people. The kids love going to Google and playing with the video, massage chairs, big bouncy balls, and the enormous climbing wall. Every once in a while we spend a Saturday afternoon spending family time at the office.

Abigail turned 4 in November and is doing great. She attends a preschool just two blocks up the street and enjoys it. She likes being the biggest sister in the house and often reminds the other kids of her authority. She's convinced of her princess-hood - wearing dresses, rings, crowns, and heeled shoes frequently. Maybe someday she'll get married into a royal family and support her aging parents. In California she would have started kindergarten in the fall, but in Colorado she'll have to wait one more year.

Collette is our busy body. She'll turn 3 in May and is often the source of humor in our house. She enjoys physical challenges (eg., climbing to the top of anything) and perseveres until she finally gets what she wants. She plays well with Abigail, and isn't as enthusiastic about princess stuff, but loves taking care of 'babies,' including Ben. She's like Joel - happiest at home with family.

We sincerely hope that your holidays have been enjoyable and fulfilling. Abigail was singing a song to us that she made up herself the other day. In essence, it was a song of how Jesus was waiting with Mary and Joseph in the manger for Santa to come. At least she's almost got the true spirit of Christmas! We pray that you all have found it in your homes and lives. Please continue to stay in touch with us.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We love the holidays at our house and took the time last night to decorate the Christmas Tree.



Abigail & Collette acted as if they were opening presents as they went through each ornament, putting them up on the tree. Note decorating the tree with kids means there are a lot of ornaments all in one spot.

Thanks to Grandpa for bringing over a Christmas tree stand.

Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving in Middletown with the Spikers. It was great food and fun. The girls played with the dogs while we spent our time playing Hand & Foot (the card game the Campie's taught us).

Also, with Abigail steering, the kids rode down the driveway in a wagon. 

Last Day in Louisville Ward

What can I say? We'll miss the ward. Great people - great conversations. 

This is Benjamin with Jon. Ben loved to hang out with Jon.

Ugh: We're Moving

The packers are here, and there's still a lot for us to make sure they do / don't pack so it gets to the right place (temp. housing, storage, or even on the plane).

Update: Everything is in boxes. Laura & I got really sad. The truck comes Monday. There's still much to do.

Laura Rides a Bike

So, we dropped the girls off at pre-school today. They rode their bikes up. We brought their bikes back to the house, because we're picking them up in the car to go to the mountains.

I rode Abigail's bike home, and Laura took the tricycle. I quickly snapped this picture.

Saturday night games

Our good friends and neighbors, the Campies, came over after putting their kids down to play games. They've introduced us to Hand & Foot. It's fun, but Bill & Meredith aren't used to staying up this late.

I missed an opportunity for good pictures today, though. We had a goodbye party and many friends from the neighborhood, work, & church dropped by to help us eat food. I intended to give Abigail the camera with instructions to take pictures. Bummer. I took this one to make up for it.

New Google Swag

Just ordered some fun things from Google. The hats & bouncy balls are a big hit.

Because I'm inspired

Not all of you may be as inspired as I am by Obama. But I love this video. Thanks Meliss

Halloween: Some Professional Pics

At the neighborhood Halloween party, a professional photographer took some pictures of the kids. You can find more of the photographer, Shawn Lortie, at his website.

Even the young are affected by the election...

So tonight I warned the girls the TV would be on Mommy's show all night until they went to bed. Around 6:30 we were all sitting around the TV eating pizza. There was a quiet moment and Abigail spoke up. I literally couldn't believe what her little mouth said. She turned to Collette and said, "Let me tell you something, Collette, I've seen a lot in my life and this is BIG"

I seriously just turned and stared blankly at her.

Then the same girl when she got out of the bath and had put her princess pajama dress on and had her hair combed started singing around my room and ran to a mirror and said, "There once was a girl who loved looking at herself in the mirror...."


Oh My Gosh.

Did you vote?

Here's a look at who is the next President

Hooray for Google Gadgets!

Halloween!!

Halloween and the day before were super busy days for us. This is a long blog post mostly for family that want to see every moment of things that happen with these kids!! For the rest of you, hang in there :)

Thursday the girls had their Halloween party/parade at preschool. They had some super cute songs that they sang to everyone and then paraded around the school for all to see.

Here's Collette during her star performance:


And Abigail doing just the same. The girl to the left of Abigail is her BFF, Amelia. She will greatly miss her...


Collette right before the parade started~


I don't have a picture of Thursday night. We had our trunk or treat at church. It was a lot of fun with a good turn out. Some people really did a lot to their cars. It amazing to see the lengths people go to... it's a goal when I don't have three little kids to drive me crazy running around a parking lot, caring less where I'm at!

Friday morning we had a neighborhood Halloween party. This is one of the many reasons I will miss my neighborhood so much. Everyone came together and put on a great party. People donated their jumpy castles, talents of photography, making food, painting faces... all kinds of stuff. And this is nothing unusual for our neighborhood. Love it. The kids had a great time.

Here's the cutest turtle I've ever seen!!


Here's Collette getting her face painted.


And Abigail...


Here are some of the kids at the party. Some were too busy to get in the picture~ like Abigail who was getting her face painted at the time. Collette and Ben are on the far left of the picture.


After the neighborhood party we went downtown to Pearl St where all the stores handed out candy. It was madness but fun for the kids.


Here is Collette in a dream come true...she loves anything that is dressed up as an animal. Well, it's probably because she believes there are 100% real.

Again the cutest turtle ever!!


We then came home, had dinner and went trick or treating around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half and really didn't even make it all that far!!

And of course, at the end of the night Abigail was in love with her hair and make-up so she had Dad take a picture!

Cousin-ly love

I took this picture 18 October in California. We went to the farmer's market with Debbi and her kids.

I love the family affection being expressed here.

Here are some more photos:

Now that my phone is widely available at T-mobile stores, I can post photos that have been modified with cool Android apps! Talk to my brother, Jordan for your purchasing options.

Update: added slideshow of other pictures from this day.

Are you kidding me?

Cost per gallon $2.319: Superior, Colorado - Costco

I'm surprised we filled the van for under $40. 

Amazing. I'm sure cutting production will 'stabilize' the price. Thanks OPEC.

Update: On 10 Nov, Costco gas was $2.039. Beat that CA - please.

Tom and Jerry

Awhile back Ben fell off the couch. There are times when the kids fall down and I pick them up and see if I can find where they've hurt themselves. I knew Ben fell pretty hard but I assumed it might be the same senario. I pick him up, don't see anything, feel badly for him, and let him go play. But instead, I picked him up and immediately there was a HUGE bump on his head.

He was screaming and Abigail wanted to see what happened. I showed her Ben's head and she said, "It's like Tom and Jerry!!" I thought it was so funny that to her, a big giant bump that immediately rises to the top only happens in Tom and Jerry. These aren't the best pictures of it but it's what I could do at the time:

Girls on Bikes

I come home (again) from another trip to California. The girls, as they told me over the phone earlier, are each getting better at riding their bikes. This was something initially difficult for Abigail, but she's gotten over her fears and is riding her big-girl like a champ!

Go Abigail & Collette!

Even though I'm not going to win something...

My good friend Raysha has started her own business. She makes ADORABLE diaper bags, burp rags, aprons etc.... Please check out her site and take a look around!!

http://www.simplysunshineray.blogspot.com/

Few days left in California

I've had a nice time here in California with Laura and the kids. A lot has happened! We've looked at schools and neighborhoods for our move back, spent time with family, reconnected with old friends, and mourned the loss of another.

While I'll be traveling back and forth, we'll plan to be moved back before Thanksgiving. So, if we missed you this trip, we'll be sure to see you during the holidays.

And for our friends in Colorado, we're going to cram as much visiting in as possible before we move back to the west coast.

Chatting with Abigail

Last night I was out and had a babysitter here at the house. Brooke is around a lot, even when she's not babysitting and we love her. She text me this conversation between she and Abigail because she couldn't stop laughing. This is the epitome of Abigail. Here is what the text said:

So Abigail got hungry so I gave her a yogurt. And here is our conversation:

Abigail: Um, excuse me,sometimes when I eat yogurt my arms get tired
Brooke: I'm sorry
A: Well is there anything I can do about it?
B: Like what?
A: I don't know...like somebody could maybe help me?
B: I am not feeding you your yogurt
A: Oh. Okay

Chatting with Collette

Often Joel thinks I'm too hard on Collette whenever I have to repeat myself to her. And to a degree, he's probably right. But I wanted to illustrate a typical conversation with Collette to let others know of my daily battle and why I get so frustrated when I have to repeat myself over and over again. Here's what happened tonight:

We're out on the front porch having a treat. Abigail is dressed in her Halloween costume. A man walks by and asks Abigail why she's dressed up. She explains. He walks away. Collette asks,

"What's his name?"

Me: I don't know, Collette. I don't know him
C: No, what's his NAME?
M: Sweetheart, I don't know. I don't know him.
C: No! What's HIS name?
M: I DON"T KNOW HIM, Collette. I don't know his name
C: But what's his NAAAAMMMME?
M: Seriously?
C: what, Mom? Oh, look a grasshopper.....

It's funny when I write it for others to laugh at. But really...not so funny when this happens ALL THE TIME!!! Bless her heart. We love her.

Ladies and Gentlemen~ We have lift off!

So finally, Ben is walking! He's been "walking" for awhile but still really seemed to prefer crawling to walking. He can get there so much faster and when he has to race two big sisters to a toy~ he's gotta get there quickly! But as seen in the video, he is seeming to prefer walking. He did it all over the house tonight. I might even have to bust out some shoes now (which I never put on my kids until they are serious walkers). Yeah for Ben!!!

Happy Birthday Mom (a late blog post, I know)

So my parents came to visit. They left last week. I'm really behind in my blog posting... Anyway, they came for a few days and we had a great time. There would be more pictures if they hadn't forgotten their camera. Relying on me is not a good thing. I often forget to bring my camera (many times in important situations). While my parents were here my Mom was able to celebrate her birthday. The girls were really excited to wake her up in the morning with balloons and cards. They also decided it would be fun for Grandma (Gma as they call her) to spend some of her birthday at Chuck E Cheese, because that's what someone should *want* to do on their birthday, right?

So my Mom gives in, happily, to the idea of Chuck E Cheese on her birthday. I thought to myself, "what a good sport!" However, the idea of my mother's selfless act all changed once we arrived at Chuck E Cheese. This woman was a mad woman!! She was challenging everyone to games, doing all she could to win tickets, and dare I say, upset if she didn't win the most :)

One game that she challenged me to was a water shooting game. I'm sure all you parents with kids that go to Chuck E Cheese have seen it. You shoot the water at the bulls-eye and whoever fills up the fastest wins. We must have played this game 4 or 5 times because...well~ what can I say? I'm good!! Actually the machine seemed to malfunction once or twice but the times I did win- she would immediately challenge me again. I knew my Dad was competitive but really after all these years, I had no idea my Mom had such a competitive streak to her as well. Especially at Chuck E Cheese.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for coming out here. We all had a good time.

The other students

I thought I should give Abigail and Collette their attention as the students in our house as well. Wednesday was the first day of preschool. The very first day for Collette and Abigail is a seasoned vet by this point. Both of them love going to school so much. I'm so happy that when I drop off my kids at preschool and see other kids crying~ I don't have to deal with that. Yeah for 2 1/2 hours with just one kid!!

This was right before we left the house.

The Student

Yesterday Joel started playing his saxophone. Usually when he does this, Collette goes running for the play saxophone. She did, as usual, but then she left to go pet a kitty out front. So, Ben picked up the play saxophone and started playing with Dad. You should click on the picture to get a better idea. The funniest part when you do that, is that you will see that Ben pulled out his pacifier long enough to play the saxophone and then returned it promptly. We've got to do something about that, I know...Sorry the picture is not great, but it was too cute not to post!



Oh, and please don't pay attention to the messy room they're playing in!

Sweet Abigail....

Many times on Sundays I arrive at church later than the rest of the family because I've let Ben finish out his nap. This Sunday didn't seem to be any different. Ben went down at 11 (church starts at 1) so by noon, I was deep in getting the girls ready for church. I was just getting lunch on the table when Ben woke up more than an hour early. Needless to say, I just finished getting everyone else ready and had Joel take everyone to church and leave me to try to get ready as fast as possible and meet them there.
Victoria, our neighbor and friend, was sitting behind Joel and the kids during Sacrament. She leaned forward and asked Abigail where I was. Abigail responded, "She's still at home getting prettier."
Thanks Abigail.

Visit to Estes Park during Heritage Days

Saturday, we were going to make our first trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Well, we didn't quite make it. Though, you'll see the mountains in the background of some of these pictures. We decided to stop in Estes Park and stayed there. The lake was a beautiful, windy site. A goose lingered close and both girls were interested. I got a few pics of the girls and Ben huddling together at the lake. 

Below you'll see Collette stalking the goose.

Everyone (with Dad as photographer) stopped to take some pictures by a creek (Big Thompson River? - more like a creek to me).  I love some of the expressions Ben is giving below. 

Just before dinner, the kids stopped off at a petting zoo. 

My two favorite You Tube Videos

Okay~ I just want to share my love for these two videos. If anyone else gets a laugh out of these like do, it was worth putting them up. First we have my absolute favorite right now. I watch this thing way too much. It reminds me a lot of the city I grew up in. Yes, there are girls JUST like this that I went to high school with. Please enjoy the show:



Next we have the video that was brought to my attention by my friend Alisa. As soon as I saw this, I called my sister and made her watch it. For those who haven't enjoyed this video on Alisa's blog, please enjoy it here:

An afternoon at the movies

I took the kids to see the new 3-D movie Fly Me to the Moon. The kids enjoyed it and I semi enjoyed following Ben around the theater. I wouldn't normally even put these pictures in here but I have to point out and make sure everyone else laughs at Abigail in these pictures. Do you notice anything about her pose? She is literally posing the same in all, on purpose. She never even takes a bite of that popcorn she keeps pretending to put in her mouth....