Christmas Eve out on the town...

We decided to take the kids to Temple Square to see the lights and go to dinner at Trolley Square on Christmas Eve this year. This has been an annual outing that we usually do earlier in December, but our schedules and the weather this year had us waiting until the night before Christmas. We had a fun time, but the weather, unfortunately, didn't cooperate. We were pretty much in the middle of a blizzard. Here's a few pictures from our adventure.
Connor found his long lost Italian twin at "Tucci's" Restaurant at Trolley Corners. He was so thrilled.
Kyle's tonsils are healed and he was happy and ready to eat some "real" food with us.



Temple Square was lit up beautifully and it was just kind of fun to be there so close to it and feel the holiday spirit. The beauty of the sites made you forget you were cold (for a minute)!

SNOW BIZ

Megan performed with her kindergarten class last night at the school's Christmas play pre-show.

It was the cutest Snowman dance set to a music medley which was really clever and original. Definitely not something you've seen a dozen times before.

I had several people comment to me that I need to get her enrolled in dance classes! She was so cute and it was one of those moments that I wished I could embed in my memory to last forever.

I know I am prejudice, but she definitely had her moves down and her hip action was awesome!

Megan was front and center and hamming it up as usual!

Snore no More

Kyle got his tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday morning. He was thrilled when the nurse presented him with a little red pig beanie babie named "snort" as soon as he checked in. I have to laugh at how fitting the name was because the main reason we knew Kyle was having problems with his tonsils was his incredibly loud snoring that he did while he was asleep. I have never heard a four year old snore so loudly. So, he made it through the routine surgery and is now having a good time being spoiled with all the popsicles, ice cream, jell-o and pudding that he wants. I took a couple of pics with my cell phone before they took him into surgery, and it was quite amusing to watch him get loopy after they gave him a medication called "versed" which made Kyle quite happy, dizzy and goofy. He was especially intrigued with the patterns and lines on the curtain surrounding our little cubicle. A four year old seeing tracers isn't something you get to witness too often!
Here he is showing off his bugs bunny band aid that he was especially happy with. Just look at his eyes-- he's definitely feeling no pain!

Let It Snow

We got dumped on today. While we were sitting in the warm shelter of the P.G. rec center, watching Jordan play basketball, the skies decided to open up and dump a heap of snow on our little world.

When we came outside, we were greeted by huge flakes and a lot of very scary roads. I was happy that Mr. Alaska was with me and could handle the driving duties.

When we got home, the kids started running around, squealing in delight and catching the snow on their tongues. Instead of worrying about shoveling, and getting all the snow gear dug out of the garage, I think I'll just go inside my nice warm house and watch it out the window. Maybe we will get a white Christmas!

Kyle's World: volume 2

This kid continues to amaze me. He is full of stories. He is full of goofy ideas. He is full of it!
Casper is apparently still striking as the naughty ghost that lives somewhere in Kyle's shadow. He is (of course!) to blame for the empty advent calendar yesterday.

Kyle's world is full of fantasy and funny words.


His name and identity continue to change.

He knows how to spell his name and tells everyone right after he says it

"My name is Kyle. K - Y - L - E.

He stood on the 'K' at Megan's classroom the other day for a good 20 minutes, repeating "K is for Kyle".

His new middle name is: Floober Fleeber.

I was kind of shocked (don't know why anymore) when he told me the other day that he had changed his middle name from Andrew to Floober Fleeber.
I asked him why, and he said he just likes it, it's an "awesome" name.
Well, I was cleaning the living room the other day and he was watching Dragon Tales on TV. I heard one of the characters say the words "Floober Fleeber". I looked at Kyle and said "OH, floober, fleeber?"
And he smiled and nodded "Yep, my middle name!"

He has been singing a lot of songs lately and he has his own lyrics to most of them. Here are a couple I've overheard:
"This old man, he played 2, he played knick knack on my power ranger"
and
"You better watch out, you better not pout, you better not whine, you better do your chores, you better not hit or bite or kick anyone either" -- all in tune mind you!
and
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells are falling on the house, the horse knows the way to get us out of here before they fall on us and the sleigh"

His favorite thing to play is sword fighting. If he doesn't have a toy sword handy, he'll turn almost anything into a weapon. He does incredibly dramatic stabbing and dies into a heap on the floor. He never drops the sword though! Notice how it's neatly tucked under his arm, even though he's completely unconscious. A very talented knight.

Self Control

How do I teach my children this?? I am strugging and apparently failing. I bought the kids these chocolate advent calendars to count down the days to Christmas. I remember having these as a child, and opening ONE door each day to get the little surprise behind each door.

December 1st:

I looked forward to each day, excited to find out what picture or treat would be behind the next door. It's December 7th today, and I know that I clearly explained the proper procedure to Megan and Kyle when we brought them home from the grocery store last week. However, I found the following evidence in the garbage can this morning.

December 7th:
This must have just been another box of candy to Kyle and Megan. It just took a little extra effort to get the candy out of the box!!

Kindergarten Christmas Tree

Yes, I'm here. Still alive and Kicking. I'm happy. I am BUSY. I am excited for the holidays.
I am still having camera issues.

Our family got our Christmas tree up tonight and had a great time looking at all of our ornaments and remembering the Ghosts of Christmas Past, when they were younger and sillier and much more creative. The art projects that so many dedicated elementary school teachers initiated have a special place in our Christmas traditions. It would be awfully boring to have a perfect tree with perfectly matching ornaments and fancy decorations.

I prefer the hand made treasures each of my children have brought to me over the years and handed me with sticky hands and dirty faces but smiling with pride at their masterpieces.
Merry Christmas from a tired but grateful Mom today!

Thanksgiving (Five Year Old Style)

Today I had the pleasure of attending Megan's kindergarten feast to celebrate Thanksgiving. No matter how old you are, or how much the world has changed, one thing hasn't: Kindergartners still make vests out of paper grocery bags, pilgrim and indian hats, and eat a feast on the floor of the elementary school hall the week of Thanksgiving. It does my heart good!
Pilgrim Meg...
Indian Meg...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Blonde Hair is Spreading!

Yes, as some of you have noticed, Connor also let my friend, Tonya, put blonde highlights in his hair a few weeks ago. Jordan had her own hair highlighted the same day I did, but after mine turned out to be a little blonder than planned, she asked that hers be less dramatic. I think because she already has a lot of blonde in her hair, the result wasn't very noticeable. After Jordie, two of her friends decided they wanted to try some highlights. We were on a roll. Max, who has spent most of the past years with little or no hair, trying to please his Dad, I think, couldn't be left out of the fun. So, he really went blonde! It's amazing how far a bottle of bleach and toner can go and our neighborhood has definitely gotten their money's worth out of that little trip to Sally Beauty Supply!

All Kyle wants for Christmas

The other day while we were shopping for the basic necessities at our favorite place -- Super Wal-Mart, Kyle spotted his Christmas wish. A huge transformer that has been advertised on tv a lot and he has seen in the new hit movie that has recently been out on video. His eyes got really big and he looked at me and said "that's what I want for Christmas, Mom!" I said, "wow, that is pretty cool, Kyle, but it's a lot of money!" He asked me how much money it was. I answered "a hundred dollars".

He then replied "well, you have had a hundred bucks before, haven't you Mom?" I said, yes, but I never had spent a hundred dollars on one toy. I saw his little brain spinning and then he said slowly: "have you ever had a hundred bucks when you were at Wal Mart?"

I had to laugh at his reasoning:

I just love 4 year olds, especially smart ones!

Team "Mana" powers to victory

Today was the final day of Jordan's volleyball season. Her team won 1st place, and Jordan had the pressure of being up to serve at the very end of the third game, the tie breaker. The score was 13 to 12, and they only play to 15 on the third game. So, congratulations are in order that she made us proud and served those last two balls with all the skill, power and prayer that she could muster, winning the game and the tournament. Yay!

Her team's name was "Mana" which is a polynesian word meaning "great power".
Her coach was Hawaiian and she had a good experience with her first competitive volleyball team. She also played with her Young Women team at church, so she's definitely had a lot of practice and improvement this season. I'm proud of her for her dedication and perserverence even on the Saturdays when she had to play for both the church team and the Rec. Center. It's been a rewarding experience watching her improve and have fun! I have to admit the only part I'm not going to miss is all the taxi driving to and from the practices. But, I guess it's just something that goes with my job title so I better get used to it!

Costumes Revealed!

Will the real baked potato please stand up??

Here you go-- thanks to my friend and neighbor, Holly, who brought her camera to the school parade in the morning and went trick or treating with us on Halloween Night. The only person not captured is Jordan, who has entered the years where trick or treating is not done with Mom and the little siblings anymore, but out with a group of wild teen agers who are trying to prove their independence and maturity (by trick or treating -- now that's a little ironic!)

The baked potato idea came from a mad dash to find something that Connor would agree to being. He's got a "rep" to protect, as you all know. I think he's been a football player the majority of his life and last year was an army man. When I thought of the idea of wrapping him in reynolds wrap and going as a baked potato, we thought it was clever and quite original, however, he ended up being an incredibly HOT potato! When he removed the aluminum foil after the morning elementary school parade, his t-shirt was dripping wet from sweat. He decided to forego the uncomfortable mess and go as a "scary guy" (I guess) for night time trick or treat. I thought his make up looked kind of like Gene Simmons from "Kiss" but I think he was going for anything that might get a reaction from the girls!Max (or Maxine) was the best and most real looking red headed girl -- the daughter I always thought I'd get! His little freckled face looked so cute under that wig, and I was the most disappointed with losing the pic's of him because we had really good poses and up close shots, but we'll settle for the fact that the memory was at least captured for our future viewing pleasure.
Here's Megan and her side-kick- Arianah. Those two are definitely trouble with a capital T.Kyle was the ninja turtle, of course. Since he couldn't stand having the red fabric across his own eyes, we ended up tying it over the turtle's head instead, but it worked!

I think this turtle's main problem was keeping his candy bucket from dumping out at every house with steps! Gotta love halloween!

So many words of wisdom, so little time!

Today was one of those days when I felt like I repeated myself a million times trying to get the kids to listen, and basically felt like a broken record providing them with background noise, but not one of the requests or reprimands actually sunk into any of their brains.
I received this little clip from my niece a few weeks ago in an e-mail. As I viewed it the first time, I had to laugh, because I think I've said almost all of the things this woman sang about. I'm more than sure that I've heard them come out of my own Mother's mouth thousands of times!
Just a little fun for the end of a long and tiring day of errands, dental appointmnts, and too many "mom words" that left my mouth!

Failure to Blog

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:
failure
Part of Speech:
noun 1
Definition:
lack of success
Synonyms:
abortion, bankruptcy, bomb, botch*, breakdown, bummer, bungle*, bust, checkmate, clinker, collapse, decay, decline, defeat, deficiency, deficit, deterioration, dog, downfall, dud*, failing, false step*, faux pas, fiasco, flop*, frustration, implosion, inadequacy, lead balloon*, lemon*, loser, loss, mess, misadventure, miscarriage, misstep, no go, nonperformance, nonsuccess, overthrow, rout, rupture, sinking ship*, stalemate, stoppage, total loss, turkey*, washout*, wreck

I have no pictures of my cute little kitty, ninja turtle, red headed girl, warty witch or even the baked potato!!!

And not for lack of trying. My Mom sent me her digital camera by UPS 2nd day air just so that I'd have a camera for Halloween because ours is still broken. I get it today, in time. I put freshly charged batteries into it and take gobs of pictures of the kids, really excited that I'll have some new images to Blog for the first time in a while. Instead of reading the manual and learning the new camera's functions, I get button happy and start pushing things like I know what I am doing. I know how to do one thing -- delete all my images. I hit a "format" button that I now know (after reading the stupid book) is "an irreversable action and data cannot be recovered at a later time."

Well, Bummer is an understatement! I'll bet you can't even figure out which kid wore which of the above mentioned costumes. So, I think I'll post a little survey to see if you're even close to guessing correctly. Come on you guys, humor me and help me try to salvage my perfectionist image by making a game out of my botched Halloween memories! If any of my friends or neighbors have pics on their cameras, maybe you will get to see sometime in the future!!

I will continue to try to live my CRAZE-y and complicated life -- one day at a time.

A Sister's SWEET Surprise

I turned 37 on Thursday. Ugh. Birthdays when you're a Mom and it falls on picture day at the Elementary School. Even more fun. This year I woke up to a whopping migraine headache that was so bad I wanted to close my eyes and forget that it was even my birthday. No joke. I felt awful, and after seeing the kids off to school, I jumped slowly crawled back into my warm bed and went back to sleep next to Kyle, who was still snoring soundly beside me.
I ignored the phone calls, knowing that it was probably someone wanting to shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" at me, and even though their intentions were generous and thoughtful, I couldn't even manage to reach for the telephone.

At noon, my neighbor and friend who had been worried that I hadn't appeared to be in the land of the living yet, came over and said "you can not stay in bed on your birthday!"
She did a series of pressure point massages on me and I drug my aching body to the shower. I was then surprised by a different friend who brought me chinese food and balloons for a lunch time surprise celebration. I couldnt' disappoint her kind act, so I stomached as much of the food that I would normally be chowing down, and told her I was going to lay down for a little while until the kids got home from school.

I listened to the voice mails from several family members, my parents, and a couple of friends, even Dave, and cried for two reasons: My head still felt like it was cracking in half and because of their sweet messages. My sister, Heather, then called to tell me to expect dinner and a surprise to be delivered that evening. She had called and ordered it because she was working in Wyoming, and our original plans for her to come out for two nights had to be cancelled.

When my "surprise" arrived around 7 p.m. -- a kind looking woman came to my door holding the largest birthday cake I'd ever seen. The picture I have doesn't do it justice. Our digital camera is currently broken, and my only resource to capture the beautiful creation was my cell phone camera, which is not great. Custom Cakes by Anne brought me this wonderful Vanilla Butter Cream Cake with flowers made out of sugar that even sparkled like there was glitter on them. It was to die for!! Let me tell you, it was better than any wedding cake I've ever tasted, and looked like it was the bottom tier of one.

Thank you Heather, for making sure that I got a Birthday Cake this year! You are a truly magnificently sweet and awesome sister.

I guess Jordan has MY genes!

I'm not sure if this is bogus or not, but it's kind of a fun thing to try out with pics of your kids!

Finding the Answer:

to an age old question:

"Do Blondes have more fun?"

Since I've been a red head for my entire life, I've never even bothered to worrry about the answer to that one.

Last week, however, I unintentionally became a little blonder than planned when I had my dear friend put "a few blonde streaks" into my hair. I had done this once before a couple of summers ago and had liked it, so I wasn't at all nervous about it.

After about ten minutes of talking with Tonya and the kids, I ventured into the bathroom to see how my hair was coming along. What I saw was very BLONDE!

I immediately jumped into the shower and washed the bleach out as fast as I could and then got out and tried to start styling it. While I was blowing it dry, Megan walked in and said "Why do you want your bangs to be WHITE?" OK, trying not to panic, remember Megan is only five, so maybe she's not too good with her colors yet.

It turns out, I look ok as a blonde. I've had nothing but compliments for the past several days and since I don't have a choice but to live with it, I've gotten slowly used to it and decided it's a fun change. So, do Blondes have more FUN? Well, I would say not anymore than any other girl who feels good about herself, has a new hair-do to sport and who's been told "I Love your Hair!" repeatedly by everyone she comes into contact with! So, there's your answer-- the change and the attention the blonde hair has brought me has definitely been fun, but in my mind and in my roots, I will always be a RED HEAD!

Updated on Oct. 22nd:

Picture Available upon Request!

This is the best you are going to get for now, I was trying to wait until I get my camera back from the repair shop, but you guys are stalking me for a photo! So here's a really bad and blurry one I took of myself on the cell phone - not even very colorful so you'll have to use your imagination-- I've been corrected by Kyle-- my hair is "Cherry Blonde"!

Rock Springs Road Trip

ME and MY GANG took Off to Heather's for the weekend for fun with cousins, power shopping trips and sister birthday bonding. We're both October girls, maybe that's why we get along so well!? Heather's is the 1st and mine is the 18th. Even though 10 years separates our age, we actually have more in common than any of our siblings. Heather is a blast and I thank her for the spirit lift, the generous gifts, and being such a cute and fun FRIEND as well as my baby sister! I often remind Jordan how far apart in age Heather and I are but that now that we are both adults, we are as close as two sisters could be. (Jordie sometimes needs a little reassurance that Megan, the sister she prayed for-- remember? is going to grow up too one of these days!)

Even the sage brush covered flat roads between Evanston and Rock Springs didn't bore this group who kept entertained by singing our hearts out to our "COUNTRY DRIVE MIX CD". We belted out every top 40 country hit that had anything to do with the weekend or hitting the road! By the last leg of the trip, Jordan was convinced that we were good enough to form our own country band and go on the road professionally -- can you say DELIRIOUS??

After our Saturday night shopping spree, we came home and played dress up in our new duds, Heather even entertained us with her Harley Davidson wigs that she bought online on a whim one night -- OK Heath, the "Linda from the wedding singer" look just isn't you!

Heather bought me some new high heeled boots that when I wear just can't help but walk with a little attitude. Megan quickly dubbed them "Mom's sexy boots!" We had a good laugh about that one.

Jordan and JaNae had fun reuniting and catching up in their newfound independent teen world and went out to the movies and spent their time talking, listening to music and surely talking about boys, although they'd never admit it.

Connor, Devin and Max spent the weekend being boys and doing what boys do best-- getting dirty, making weird noises and playing the play station.
Kyle and Miles were joined at the hip and weren't seen without a sword or toy gun in their hands for three straight days. When we arrived, Miles took one look at me and said "did you bring my best friend??"

They wanted to wear their hair in mohawks which Miles refers to as "Rock and Roll hair".
The little girls (Madison, Megan and Brooklyn) had a Big time Barbie Extravaganza and played House until we weren't sure what was real and what was part of their make believe world. Madison and Megan are both pretty bossy, but neither one seemed to figure out that the other thought they were the one in charge!
So, ten kids and two silly sisters had a blast of a weekend, doing spontaneously different things and the change of scenery seemed to be just what I needed. You really haven't lived until you walk into a restaurant and say to a hostess, "two adults and ten children please" -- yep we were even brave enough to take them out for dinner! Heather's laundry and clean house surely suffered, but it was worth it!