Toone Family

Remember a few posts back when I introduced our family and described Lily's occupation as "Human Tornado?" Well, today that title fit. Take a look at my little sweetheart here. What the heck is that on her face? That was the question I asked when I first caught a glance of her. The answer wasn't far away; the case of watercolor paints in her chubby little fist outed her. I guess they just looked so delicious, she couldn't resist. Not long after she decided to sample the paint, she decided to give one of my chairs a kiss. Thank goodness this stuff is washable. (It was the second case of vandalism for this particular chair; it was recently the canvas for some of Lily's "artwork." Her medium? Blue pen.) Anyway, I cleaned her up and served lunch to her and Amanda. I don't know why I didn't just leave the paint on; I could have saved the paper towels and the time it took me to wipe her down, because it wasn't long before she looked like this:...

For many years now, I have been writing a sitcom in my head. When I hear a completely random and hilarious story, I always make a mental note to myself to include it in the sitcom. These stories come from family (actually, primarily from my sister Krista; I sometimes think her life actually IS a sitcom), friends, complete strangers and, of course, my own childhood, adolescence and (sort-of) adulthood. Never mind that I don't know anything about TV writing; this stuff is pure gold and is going to make me rich one day. A few of my favorite episodes: -- The one where your fifty-something manager at work, who describes herself as a "bobcat" in the bedroom, generously offers to let you borrow some of her lingerie for the approaching Valentine's Day -- The one where you randomly receive a Christmas card from an old acquaintance who, amidst the usual updates on work and kids, goes into GREAT DETAIL about the birth control failure that resulted in her most recent child --...

(This post was written by Logan) I typically don’t post on Kara’s blog, but after reading her last post, I really felt that I needed to clarify a few things. I was just going to leave a comment, but apparently to leave a comment, you need to have a blog of your own, (either that or you need to sign on as a guest which involves giving the blogger people your name, phone number, email address, mailing address, age, grade point average, blood type, social security number, bank account number, and credit card number. They also ask you to undergo a fingerprint analysis and a retinal scan.) I didn’t want to go through all that, and I happen to know Kara’s login and password. So I figured I’d just log on and make a post of my own. For those who enjoy reading Kara’s posts as much as I do, I apologize for interrupting your reading pleasure. Since this is a rebuttal to some unsubstantiated claims made in Kara’s last post, it will probably make more sense if you read her post before you read this...

So there I was – dutifully eating my spinach salad with low-fat dressing, contemplating tomorrow’s walk with the kids and wondering if my thighs and my skinny jeans will ever come to any kind of understanding with one another again – by all accounts, minding my own business. Suddenly, Logan walks through the door after a long day at his nerd convention (all right, it was actually the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics convention) and plops this little item down on the countertop. What is it, you ask? Oh, it’s just a 10-lb. bag of M&Ms. Wait a minute. A 10-LB. BAG OF M&Ms?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! Affixed to said bag was this note: Dear Kara, I have become aware of your recent commitment to lose your baby weight in an attempt to avoid purchasing an entirely new wardrobe. While that effort might be applauded by your mortal friends, we here in Hades think it’s deplorable. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to send you this little bag of “pick-me-ups” an...

Guess what I did today? It's something I haven't done voluntarily for nearly seven years. It's something I loathe. It's something I think I can no longer avoid. It's exercise. I don't really understand why people list 'exercise' as one of their hobbies. To me, that's like listing your hobbies as 'brushing teeth' and 'tying shoes.' What's so great about it? I don't have anything against exercise per se; I know that it's good for you and everyone is supposed to do it. BUT I DON'T LIKE TO DO IT! As I've tried to lose the weight from my third (ginormous) baby, I've realized that it's not coming off as easily as it did with the other two. I suppose this was to be expected -- though that doesn't make it any easier to take. Anyway, I decided that I'd have to come up with some way to exercise and still supervise all of the children. This is no small task. The only solution I've been able to ...

For those of you who don't like to hear people talk about how much they love their spouse, just stop reading now. I left my laptop out last night, and Logan came across the Word document I typed it in before pasting it into the blog. He added on a bit to the segment "What people say about me." Here's what he said: (This is Logan writing now.) A lot of people have commented to me about how “amazing” Kara is. What they mean by that is how much she is able to accomplish with three small children, a church calling that requires a lot of time and leadership, and the most beautifully decorated house on the block. I’ve also heard people say how sweet, and calm she is and how she “takes everything in stride,” which makes her a welcome addition to my family of neurotic freak-outers.What I love about her: Besides the fact that Kara is absolutely beautiful, she is constant and kind. Despite frustrations that are sure to come with all the stuff on her plate (I’m not talk...

It occurs to me that I haven't done much in the way of introducing our family. Drumroll, please...

Logan Full name: Logan Thomas Toone Age: 28 Occupation: Secondary Math Curriculum Supervisor, Student, Husband/Father Extraordinaire Hobbies/Interests: Working on cars, watching movies, eating out, hanging out with family, gardening, figuring stuff out (i.e., "The basement needs to be finished. I've never done framing, drywall, electrical work, plumbing or carpeting -- but I think I'll just do it myself.") Likes: seafood, sudoku puzzles, his Blackberry, going back to bed after eating a pancake breakfast, rock and roll, BYU football, road trips, getting his hair cut Dislikes: homework, radishes, driving to USU three days a week, hospitals, stuff that's broken, messy houses, when his sock is wrinkled inside his shoe, "social adventures" (his term for when I take him somewhere that he'll be expected to, you know, talk to people) What people always say about him: People always comment on what a hard worker Logan is -- and they're right! They also say...

I really love the look of the architecture in New Orleans. It always kind of boggles my mind that at the time pioneers were rolling into the Salt Lake Valley, the window pictured at left had already been in existence for 34 years! Considering that European explorers were settling along the Mississippi in the 1500s, this window is actually pretty new... This is very characteristic of the French Quarter; all the streets look a lot like this one. The yellow building is actually one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants (Nola). My favorite thing about the French Quarter is the courtyards and patios. You never know what beautiful oasis is hiding behind what appears to be a crumbling building! If I had a little place like this, I'd spend my whole life sitting in the shade listening to the water from the fountain.

This sandwich is called a muffuletta, and it was born in the French Quarter at a store called Central Grocery. That's where we went to get the muffuletta Logan's holding in this picture. The sandwich is made between two big pieces of round bread that are spread with olive salad (a defining muffuletta characteristic). Then they pile on salami, ham, cheese and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. When they put it all together and wrap it up, it seriously looks like a wagon wheel or something! One quarter of the sandwich was more than enough to fill me up. This was one of Logan's favorite meals. I recently learned that Jason's Deli, which just opened up a location near our house, serves some classic New Orleans cuisine such as po' boys (another type of sandwich), muffulettas and red beans and rice. We might have to try it out sometime!

My great-Aunt Gerry got this mask for Amanda from the flea market. As you can see, she loves it! The Mardi Gras beads were also from Aunt Gerry. I imagine that Amanda and Lily are the envy of every girl in the neighborhood because of their vast bead necklace collection -- or at least that's how I felt when I was little and beads came back from New Orleans for me. : )

There is a flea market open every day in the French Quarter. Apparently it's quite a sight to see on the weekends. I was there on a weekday, but they still had some fun stuff.

We're back! Actually, we've been back for quite a while; I just haven't gotten around to blogging until now. What do you think of the new layout? Logsn helped me customize things a little bit so the blog would look the way I wanted it to. Thanks, honey! You're the best! So our trip was great! It was really fun to get to spend some time together, eat really good food, relax...but by the time we were due to return, we were definitely missing the kids and ready to be home again. It does make me think that it would be great to be able to go to a different city each year with just the two of us -- just for the food, if for nothing else! I'm a little bit of a food snob, and whenever I know we're going to be eating out (which doesn't happen a lot unless we're traveling), I do major research into restaurants, reviews, menus, prices, etc. It always pays off -- we had some really great food in New Orleans! Makes me want to try some of the great food in New York, B...

You may be wondering about the strange mismatched header on the blog today. I started putting together a more spring-like motif, but halfway through, Blogger informed me that it couldn't complete my request. Bummer! Actually, the new look is sort of representative of the weather we have going on right now: starting to look like spring, but not completely leaving winter behind just yet. Logan and I go to New Orleans tomorrow morning! I think I really will miss the kids, but I'm a firm believer that parents have to take care of their relationship before they can really be good for their children. I hear a lot of people say, "There is nothing more important to me than my children. My children always come first." Well, maybe some people will think I'm a bad mom, but I totally disagree with those statements. There is no Toone family without Logan and Kara; it started with us. WE COME FIRST! Missing the kids while on a little trip is not the same as having gu...

Benson is named after my Granddad, Doyle Benson Rowley. Here they are together when Benson was five days old. Two of the most important men in my life!

So I've survived the first couple of weeks as a mother of three! I'm not going to pretend that this is something I've done on my own; I've had TONS of help and support from family, friends and neighbors. My mom was here Saturday through Wednesday -- not to mention the time she spent with the girls while I was in the hospital and Logan couldn't be around. My sister came up a couple of times (thanks, Lisa!), and I've received lots of visits, gifts and phone calls. Everyone has been so sweet to us! We truly are blessed. The next couple of days will bring two-week check-ups for myself and for Benson. We both seem to be doing great! I wish that this whole trying-to-prevent-my-body-from-producing-milk business would move along a little faster, but mother nature seems to have her own timetable for things. Benson is eating and sleeping like a champ; last night he slept from 12:45 until 8:00! During his wakeful periods, he is calm and sweet. We just love him! T...

Benson Clark Toone has made his grand entrance! I would have posted sooner than this, but the internet connection at the hospital was rather choosey about which sites it would link to and which it would not. Apparently my blog didn't make the cut; I could view it, but I couldn't sign in to make a posting. Anyway, here are the details: We went to the hospital Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. We got admitted and got me hooked up to all the monitors and stuff. After all the routine questions and paperwork, I was wheeled into the OR. I received an epidural, and the nurses started prepping me for surgery. The doctors and Logan came in a few minutes later, and just a few minutes after that (at 7:47 a.m.), Benson was born! When they held him up for me to see, it was obvious why I felt so big. HE was big! I was later informed that he weighed in at 9 lbs. 7 oz. My other kids were 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 7 lbs. 11 oz. Let me tell you, those extra two pounds make a difference! Anyway, I ...

I allow one pregnancy photo per pregnancy. It is always taken in front of the front door right before we go to the hospital. When you look at this picture, please keep in mind that the child inside of me weighs nine and a half pounds...

I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Benson in the hospital -- time I will always look back on and treasure.

To be truthful, Logan isn't any more excited about having a boy than he would have been to have a girl. The bottom line is, he's just plain excited! He adores having a son...