Christmas, Tanners Big day and sledding

I haven't been much into updating my blog lately. I don't know if its just that I'm too stressed and in the evening when I do get the time to blog, I'm tired, but for whatever reason, I didn't blog about Christmas in fact, I hate to admit this, but I didn't take many pictures either. Sorry. I did get my Christmas tree though. As oddly decorated as it looks, its with the kids help and you can't just go and undo all their hard work.

So, here are the last few weeks leading up to this great day. Monday, December 15, I had my piano recital. That was my first major stress. It was in our home, so once that was over, we were able to get our tree. For the last month and a half, Tanner has been involved in a Draper City play, which has taken a chunk of our time every Tues-Thurs and Saturdays as well. Then for the two weeks prior, it was Mon-Thurs and Saturdays. I'm telling you, I have been SO grateful that gas has gone back down! So last weekend, they put that play on and then we were ready to begin Christmas Crazyness. On the 23rd, we had Tyson's grandmas family party, then it was Christmas Eve and we had my family party.
Then came Christmas. Oh Christmas!!! Yes, so my kids finally got to the point where their own excitement was what woke them up, instead of us waking them up. Well, that awakening came at 2:15am!! Yes, Tanner and Tyler woke up on their own that early! You might ask what we did at that point. Well, I think part of the reason I heard them, was because Jefferson was waking up to eat, so for the first little bit, they showed me what Santa brought, then as he was finishing up, I told them when I was little, I liked to get my pillow and sleep with all the toys Santa brought. That worked for about...it didn't work, they were still too excited to sleep. So I went back to bed while they kept looking at the new stuff. Well, for the next hour, they came in every 5-10 min. asking if it was time to open presents. At that point, Tyson told them to go down and turn on Disney Channel. That worked for about an hour. At that point, we figured 5:30 was good enough, so we let them encourage Jake to wake up. We opened presents and toys and in about 15 min, this long awaited event was over. Tyson's parents came over at 9am to see what Santa brought and at noon we went the their house for Christmas Ham and roast beef. YUM! Then we headed down to my families to open presents. That night, I went to bed only to wake up at midnight and bow to the porcelain God for the rest of the night. I hate the stomach flu! But I have to say, nothing brings off the Christmas poundage like throwing everything up and not being able to eat anything of real substance for the next 30 or so hours. Despite the little flu, everything was great. We had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a great new year.
Jake proudly showing his elmo knee pads Santa brought. He got a helmet as well and a Hulk Big Wheel bike. Sadly, this is the only picture we got of the gifts santa brought. We were so tired, I don't think it occurred until after the matter to take pictures.

Today, I decided to call the dentist to see if we should have one of Tanner's teeth pulled. So we headed down to Alpine so my mom could watch the other kids. So, this long awaited day has finally come for Tanner. He has now lost his first tooth and is very proud of it. I was very impressed with his reaction to the whole thing. They did numb the area of his tooth, but that tooth was out in less than 20 seconds. I have to say though, unless we have some real serious tooth issues, we won't be taking that route again. Not only does the tooth fairy have to deliver, but this tooth cost $54 to pull out! I wish I made $54/min. :)

Tanner looking horrified, but this is just because we couldn't get a picture without him looking drugged because his eyes would be half shut as the picture took.


Saturday, Tyson decided he wanted to take the kids sledding. I didn't go with them, because Jefferson has been trying to kick a cold and I didn't want him out in the freezing cold!! So there weren't too many pictures taken, but enough to show we do like to have fun with our kids. This was also Jakes first experience. He was so excited, but from what Tyson said once he got on the tube, he had other ideas of what fun was.

Where do they come up with these things!

Today, shortly after Tyler had arrived home from school, I received a phone call from the school. My first thought when I saw it pop up on caller ID was, oh great! Tanner is calling me sick! So, being the good mom that I am, I picked it up, braced for the request to pick my child up from school. It, however, was not Tanner, but Tyler's kindergarten teacher. Today, she had told the class that since tomorrow would be the last day of school for the year and they would be off track for the next three weeks on top of that (not looking forward to that one!), that they would have the fun job of taking shaving cream and washing the tables in the class room. To which Tyler quickly replied, I'm allergic to shaving cream, and my mom says if I touch it, I get really really sick. You can imagine my reaction when her teacher called to see if she was in deed allergic to shaving cream. For all those wondering, NO she is not. Tyler's way of dealing with something she doesn't like is to quickly add she's allergic to it. I hear it pretty close to daily, especially if we are trying something new for dinner. So I told her teacher this, and we came up with a solution to Tyler's problem of not wanting to touch the shaving cream. Anyway, I just thought it was funny that she would come up with an excuse, that isn't real, but she knows gets a reaction, rather than just saying, I don't like to touch that stuff, I'd rather do something else. Anyway, I'm putting this on my blog because I thought it was funny. And when I called Tyson to tell him, she started crying because she didn't want everyone to know about it. Does this make me a bad mom since I'm posting it where many more people will read about it? I just thought it was cute. Kids say the dardest things!!

Early bedtime...or not

I love wintertime. I love getting ready for Christmas and the anticipation of Christmas morning, the smell of Christmas trees, wrapping presents, everything. But I have to say, one of the things I like best, is daylight savings. Don't get me wrong, there are days that I'm not a huge fan of it, but on days when I'm ready for my kids to go to bed, its a good thing. It doesn't matter what time it is, I can tell them its time to get ready for bed, and we're on our way. Even if that time is 7:30. My kids aren't to the point of being able to tell time, while Tanner can tell time, it means absolutely nothing to him. For some reason, tonight at 7pm, it seemed a lot longer than it was, but that didn't stop us from getting ready for bed, so by 7:30, we were all ready for bed. Jefferson was already on his way to lala land and the kids were headed in that same direction shortly. So, by 7:30, all four kids were in bed, and we were good to go for the day.
Imagine my dismay however, at 9:30 when I got home from grocery shopping, and all but Jefferson were downstairs watching a basketball game with Tyson. After putting the groceries away though, I went downstairs and Tyler and Jake had just dozed off. I couldn't resist taking a picture, because not only were those two asleep, but Jake decided he didn't want his pj's buttoned up, so all but the top button were undone. Yeah baby! So here is that picture.

Also, while my husband doesn't read this, I still feel that I should just let him know how much I love him. I seriously don't know where I would be without him. He can tell when I'm nearing an anxiety breakdown and steps in and helps me think things through. The last few month of the year can be a bit hairy for primary presidency's and he's taken it like a champ, picking up my slack and helping out with the kids when I have primary things that need to be done. I just feel as though the last few months we've become so much closer! I know this is really sappy, but he's so good to me. Today while I was out shoveling our freshly fallen snow, (he tried to come out and take over, but I love shoveling - I'm crazy, I know) but since I was outside, he swept and mopped the kitchen floor and took care of things inside. Like I said, I don't know where I would be without him. I love you Tyson!

All Grown Up

By some definitions, this will probably put us in the bad parent category, but Tyler was persistent, and she's daddy's little girl, so those two things combined pretty much sealed the deal. Last night we went to the mall to get the kids shoes and Jake some winter pj's. Well, for a while, Tyler has been begging to get her ears peirced, so while we were there, we got her ears peirced. I know, we're crazy. But let me just tell you, it was 100% her decision. And when the girls did it, she didn't even flinch! Tyson was very impressed. When we got to the mall, she said maybe she wanted to wait until she was 7. Which we were fine with, but as we were passing the store, Tyson told her that's where she'll go to get her ears peirced. She then just wanted to go in and see what kinds of earrings they had. Once she saw the pink studs, she asked again if she could get it done tonight. Then she saw the pink flowers, and that pretty much sealed it for her. Tanner was more scarred than she was. He was pacing around the store plugging his ears, saying "tell me when its over." Like I said, she didn't even flinch. Anyway, its kind of hard to get a picture with both ears showing, and she was totally wanting to pose as well, so these are the best I got.

Pilgram Hats and Jumping Jacks

I recently subscribed to the Family Fun Magazine. The other day, I was looking through their November/December issue and saw these cut little pilgram hats. They were soooo easy to make. As anyone who knows me can attest, I am not a crafty person. All you do is melt a bag of chocolate chips, get big marshmallows, dip them in the melted chocolate, place them on an upside down kebler stripped cookie and once the chocolate has hardened, get decorators frosting and draw little belt buckles. Like I said, so easy.

We brought the johnny jumper up the other day. There has not been a single time I've put Jefferson in it, that he gets upset. In fact, the other day when I put him in it, he wasn't too happy to be put down, but as soon as he realised he could jump and turn around, he was off. Anyway, I just had to get some vieo of this cute little guy jumpin' about.

Thanksgiving FHE

Some days, you just feel that no matter what happens, its going to be a bad day. Sometimes those days go into weeks. These last few days would be like that. For some reason, we just get out of rhythm as a family and it takes a few rough days to get back into that groove. Today, was no exception. We were at my in laws last night talking about an inservice that my mother-in-law is required to attend on dealing with kids who have adhd, Autism, aspergers...Some of the things she was saying sounded really good to try on my kids. Well, this morning, as we were getting ready for school, I told the kids the rules of the discipline game we were going to be trying today. I would ask them once, count for ten seconds, ask them again, wait ten seconds, then tell them their concequence for not obeying. They both understood the rules and we were off. Well, later in the day, after Tyler got home from kindergarten, we got to try it out. She didn't do so well. She lost desert after family home evening. If you know Tyler, you would have thought I just cut a leg off. Next we have this evening with Tanner. I did this for getting him to put his coat and backpack away. He lost deseret after family nigth as well. Our lesson didn't go along with this little lesson we learned during the day, however when it came time to follow up on our agreement, things went down hill. They both started claiming that they have the WORST life. That they never get anything and life isn't fair. Well, I decided to nip this in the bud. So told them, that with Thanksgiving this week, we were going to make a list of all the things we were greatful for. To get our number of items we needed to come up with, Tyson said we should add all our ages together. So with Tyson's 30 years, my 22 years...ok, maybe its 28 years, Tanners 7, Tylers 5 and Jakes 2, we needed to come up with 72. We went around the family and everyone got equal say in our list. Jake of course needed some help otherwise we would have had all the Sesame Street and Barney characters. But without further adeu, our Thanksgiving list.
1. Family 2. Clothes 3. Elmo 4. Jobs 5.House 6. Toys 7. Talents 8. Barney 9. Car to Drive 10. Food to eat 11. Furniture 12.Babybop 13. Frindships 14. Gospel 15. Health 16. Neighbors 17. Shrek 18. TV 19. Piano 20. Education 21. Pictures 22. Turkeys 23. Cartoons 24. Mountains 25. Freedom 26. Night 27. Birds 28. New Toothpaste 29. Humor 30. Challenges 31. Grass 32. Air 33. Blankets 34. Play with kids 35. Church Calling 36. Zoo 37. light 38. Nursery 39. Bring treats home 40. Gym 41. Body 42. Ancestors 43. Child Center 44. Books 45. Good Advice 46. Jewelry 47. Time 48. Water 49. See Tyler Dance 50. Scriptures 51. Music Organizer 52. Teachers 53. Sippy cup lids 54. Dads good looks 55. Internet 56. Butterflies 57. Baseball 58. Wii 59. Music 60. Plumbing 61. Washing Machine 62. Christmas 63. Gas under $2 64. Jesus 65. New Years Resolutions 66. Movies 67. Presents 68. Treats 69. Someone took a chance on me(That would be one of Tyson's) 70. Building Family Memories 71. Princesses and Rainbows 72. Prophet 73. Santa 74. Snow capped Mountains 75. pet crabs 76. Other peoples junk 77. Coupons 78. Disneyland 79. Childrens laughter 80. Guitar 81. piggy back rides to bed

As you can see, we exceeded our added amount of 72. I think they might have gotten the point of this exercise...or maybe not, because they again, started complaining that they never get anything and wanted desert after FHE. Oh well, maybe after doing our Thanksgiving exercise at least ever Thanksgiving, it MIGHT start to make sense...or maybe not until they have kids of their own, but isn't that how it goes.

WARNING...its a long one...

Its official, this has, without any doubt, been a bad mom day. And I wasn't even with them for a chunk of the afternoon. What, might you say, would have made me such a bad mom today? Nothing in particular, but some days are better than others. So I just wanted to write a tribute to each of my kids, even though they don't read this, but someday, when I'm six feet under, maybe they'll come across this and see that I really did love them, and appreciate all the many little lessons that they teach me. And how much I enjoy learning how to be an eternal family with them. Wich some days, like today, can proove more challenging than not. But life is a process. You may not be interested in reading this, because these are just some of my personal feelings and thoughts.

Tanner
My dear Tanner. I know being the oldest is hard sometimes...trust me, I know. I remember a letter that grandpa Stauffer wrote me when I was having a hard time with all the responsibilities I felt were placed on me. Being the oldest is not an easy job. You will hear more often than not, that your younger sister and brothers are watching and following your example. They truely are, but I know that you are a good kid and understand what a huge responsibility that is. Your mom and dad expect a lot from you, and sometimes that will seem overbearing. Be patient with us, as you are our firstborn and we are learning through this process of parenting. You are so full of love. Not only for your family but for everyone around you. Just this week you told me how dad had given you an extra quarter to buy chocolate milk with at school, but instead, chose to have normal milk, because one of your classmates didn't have money for a drink. Even though it takes a few times of asking you to do something sometimes, you never complain to do what is asked of you. I love that you are best friends with your sister Tyler. Just this morning, as we dropped you off at your play practice, she said that sometimes when you are gone, she feels alone. Even when mom and dad are with her. I know the two of you were best friends before you came to this earth. Remember how much fun you have playing together, and strengthen your relationship. Tanner, I love you and am so glad that you came to me on the late Saturday night. Both dad and I were so excited to finally meet this little guy. Every night, while I was pregnant with you, dad would sing to you and read you Dr. Seusse books. After you were born, we continued this practice as we were preparing you for bed. This is something that has carried on with you even to this day. I love that you are always so happy, that you can be heard humming a little tune, not so quietly, but you always have a tune. And your love of reading has continued to grow. You are so smart and do so well in school. Keep working hard and all of that will pay off for you as you go through your education. I love you Tanner. Thanks for being patient with me as I practice my parenting skills and try to improve on them.

Tyler
Tyler, Tyler, Tyler...what can I say. I love you so much. I know we have our female clashes, but through each of those, we are becoming better friends and that is something that I hope will just strengthen as you get older. You have such a strong personality. You know what you want, and are not afraid to let us know what you want, and you are very good to stand your ground. I love that you are such a daddy's girl. There is no doubt that you are his little princess. You are so lucky to have an older brother that loves you and even though you guys fight at times, I love that you are best friends. You are a very social girl and have lots of friends. You were so anxious to come to this earth, that you surprised dad and me by being born only three minutes after getting to the hospital. You didn't want to wait for us to get settled, and that's great. Like I said, you know what you want and you'll do what you have to. I hope that you will learn how to tame that, and use it for good. You are such a good little mom to Jake and Jefferson, and even though you are not the oldest, Jake looks up to you and idolizes you. When you first started kindergarten, he had a really hard time and always asked when you were going to be home. I love that you'll play for hours in your own little world. Whether its with you dolls or your own imagination and the friends you see, that no one else does. I wish that you would perform while we were video taping you instead of claming up in front of the camera, because you're so cute when you pretend to be the Little Mermaid, sitting on the couch flapping your fin, (legs and feet). Everything about you is girl. Your favorite color is pink, and most of the time, you will be seen wearing a pink shirt and or pink skirt. You always have a rhythm to dance to. Whether its in the parking lot at a store with no music, or in the mall shopping around, listening to the music over the speaker system. I want you to know that I love you and hope that we can be best friends when you get older and get to the age when you don't want anything to do with your parents. But I hope that we can be the exception to that rule.

Jacob
What a little tease you are. Everything about you spells mischief. You have a very contagious smile. While at the same time, looking as though you're hiding something. I love this stage of life that you are in. Most people might say having a two-year-old is trying and difficult, I'm enjoying this stage so much. I love that you love baby so much. And I think its so cute that you have given Jefferson this name of baby, because Jefferson is to difficult for you to say. I love that you are so excited about everything. You are such a little boy. From immitating Hulk Smash by hitting your fists to the ground, to finding little bugs fascinating, and finding pure delight in torturing Tanner and Tyler. You are so little, its so crazy to me to think that you are indeed old enough to be going on the big boy potty and doing the things that you do. You are very independant, but at the same time, need your mom and dad around. I love that you look up to your brother and sister so much, and in your mind, see yourself just as big as they are. While I haven't had you around for as long as Tanner and Tyler, I still feel a special connection to you. Maybe its because you gave us a scare when you were first born, being so little. You don't realise how much of a difference a pound makes, until you're holding a five pound baby compared to a six pound baby. I love that you are still little so that I can cuddle with you. I love that you will let me still cuddle with you. I just want you to know that I love you and your tough guy personality for such a little guy.

Jefferson
My baby Budha! I'm not quite sure where all of your little rolls came from, but I love every single one of them and want to just eat you up. Even though you are only four months old, I still feel like you've been with me forever. I love your little smiles and the fact that any little thing will make you smile. I love that just stroking my finger across one of your chins will make you laugh. And that you find such great delight in the simple little things like riding on my legs like a horse or flying above my head as super baby. You like when we talk to you and I love the high little squils you make in the morning letting me know you are awake and ready for your daily dose of entertainment. I couldn't have asked for an easier baby to come as number 4. Even though I have felt an impact adding another child, its certainly not because you are hard. Its just an increase in numbers I'm trying to get used. But like a champ, you tag along for the ride and take what you can get. I love the fact that you suck your thumb. You are the only one that has taken on that little habit. While I would like it if you'd take a binki, I think that sucking your thumb is just as cute. I just wish you'd use it to soothe yourself instead of feeling like you need to be hooked onto me for that. I love you and even though you should be sleeping through the night, I love waking up with you and night and the extra time I get to just sit with you while no one else is demanding my time. I'll even stay up a little longer just holding your sleeping little body smelling your baby smells that I love so much. Thank you for being such a fun, cute and good little guy. I love you!

Every day I pray for the patience I need to be a better mom, and each day I'm working a little harder to put the patience into practice. I do love my kids and I hope they know that.

Family pictures

Before I start with the explanation of this post, I just have to say, we had a busy day as far as moms go. Today while I was teaching piano, Jefferson decided to try his hand at rolling over and went from his back to his front. YEAH!! He's done it two more time since then. He's almost there from tummy to back, but I'll give him a few more days on that one. Also, tonight while I was getting ready to start dinner, Jake came into the kitchen trying to take his shirt off, telling me he had to go potty. I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said yes, so we went into the bathroom, stripped him down and sat on the potty. I told him to go tinkle, I know, its a very grown up word, but after I said that, he went a little bit, so I got excited for him and he went some more. YEAH!! We might be seeing the end of his diaper days. I hope. He went again as we were getting ready for bed. I'm so excited. Now, on to the rest of the post...

A few weeks ago, I enlisted in my sister-in-laws help to get some family pictures done. For some reason, I have felt like we need to get a family picture. She did a great job! The hard part is getting four kids to cooperate so you can find a decent picture that someone isn't picking a nose, or making a funny face in. So, that being said, these are the ones that worked out and look good...now the decision as to which one of the family ones to blow up and hang on my wall. So, anyone who has an opinion, I'm open to them. These are the decisions I don't like to make.
I know a lot of these are very similar, but there is a slight difference.


I like this one. My sister-in-law is trying to manipulate the picture to see if they can't get Jefferson's eyes opened and Jakes hand out of his mouth. I hope it works.

These are just a few of the kids pictures. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.



We had to wake Jake up from a very short nap on the way up the canyon. He wasn't too happy about it, and as such, didn't really work with us on getting a good picture with his cute smile. Instead he has to have this terrified look on his face.

Invisible Moms...

My mom sent this to me, and I started to send it to those in my address book who might also be an invisible mom, but then realized, it would reach more if I posted it to my blog. So, for all you invisible moms, enjoy. Sorry, no pictures this time. :)


Invisible Mother......
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ..

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.
It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.


And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.*

Great Job, MOM!** *

Who says Lions aren't cute!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
It is now November 1st and all we have to show from Halloween are two bowls FULL of worthless candy!! Our day was actually rather busy. After Jake and I sent Tanner and Tyler to school, we hurried and got ready to see them at their school parade. I wasn't going to go, but asked both of them if they wanted us to come and they said yes. So we got Jake's Elmo costume on and Jefferson's Lion costume and headed out the door. We stayed for the parade then left with Tyler and headed up to Tyson's work to have lunch with him and parade our costumes around up there. When we got home, we cleaned up the house and got ready to trick or treat.
Jake wasn't a big fan of this thing called Halloween. When we got to the elementary school, we walked in the cafeteria where the parade was to take place and he saw a witch and that was the end of that. He didn't want to look at anyone and didn't want me to put him down at all. He was crying at first, but I settled him down after a few minutes. At dads work, once he figured out he got candy, he was ready to go for the day.

I wasn't going to dress Jefferson up, just because he's a baby and usually its too cold for the babies to go out anyway, but this year was unusually warm, so I was digging through the costume box and found a lion hood that my sister sent me for Tyler's first Halloween, I think. Anyway, I decided if I could find the rest of it, we'd dress him as a lion. He is the cutest lion I've ever seen.

We went to our church parking lot around 5:45 and did a trunk or treat, then about an hour later, came home and hit up the houses in the neighborhood for candy. Like I said, all we have to show from this wonderful day is two bowls full of candy. Can you tell I'm not a huge fan of the day we call Halloween? I'm not sure why I don't care for it. Maybe its the lack of self control to refrain from eating all the candy. I don't know. I'm just a boring person. At our trunk or treat, someone asked where my costume was. I told him I hate Halloween and he couldn't believe it. Oh well.
Anyway, I've got a few pictures of the kids. Tyler was Mariposa and Tanner was Prince Caspian. They had fun, and that's really what matters.
Tyler at the school parade
Tanner at the school parade

Just as a random thing, I wanted to post this little blurb of Jefferson laughing and somewhat talking better known as squealing. I have family that doesn't get to see him growing up so this is for them. The video is more laughing than talking. He'll be squealing and I'll take the camera out and he stops. So I'll still try and get better video with him talking. And for the record, he is just a hip flip away from rolling over! That was his big thing today while we were watching the intense moments of the BYU football game. I think I was more excited about him being so close to rolling over than anybody else was, but somebody had to break the tension!!

Jake Kung Fu Panda

I'm at my wits end trying to figure out how to get a video posted to this blog, without it freezing towards the end of downloading it. So I've caved in and joined the YouTube crowd in hopes that this will actually work. So here is the explanation of the video. We took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda when it first came out in theaters. First off, its a cute movie, one that Santa will be leaving at our house for Christmas. Jake really took to this movie and now, if you ask him to show you his kung Fu, he'll do a little heya and kick his leg. So that is the video. As you can see when you watch it, he wasn't wanting to perform, you wouldn't either if your mom was in your face with the camera two minutes after waking up in the morning. Sorry Jake. Anyway, he'll also do a hulk smash, or as he calls it, mash. Anyway, lets hope this works thing time. Enjoy!

Painting our Pumpkins

Since we purchased our pumpkins over the weekend, Tyson felt it would only be an appropriate family night activity to decorate them. Jake wanted to paint his to be elmo, but I don't think he knew quite how to translate that thought onto the pumpkin itself. So we got the same end result we do when he colors with crayons...scribbles. But Tyson had fun painting the other side of Jakes pumpkin when he decided he was finished. That time came when I said I was putting Jefferson in the bath. Jake decided to jump in the bath as well. Nevermind the fact that he'd had a bath right before our little activity. The kids loves getting in the bath. If you just mention the word bath, he has his clothes and diaper off before you realise what just happened.
Anyway, so here are a few pictures of our finished products.
Jake telling us he wants to paint elmo
Tyler informing us of her ideas to decorate. Everything had to do with some princess theme.
Tanner posing in dads work shirt...he wore holes in the elbows this last week so Tanner was more than happy to sport it for an art shirt.
Everybody say cheese!
Jake painting Elmo...or something trying to resemble elmo.
Tanner starting his pumpkins face.
Tyler's "princess". It has gold glitter paint so that quilifies it as princess, right?
Jefferson hanging out watching everybody paint. I promise he doesn't live in his bouncer seat, but he does like his seat.
The finished product. The little center one is Jakes elmo.
The finished product again, this time with the center one sporting Tyson's paint job. Its on Jakes pumpkin, just on the other side. Tyson decided to show Jake what he painted on the other side of his pumpkin. To that, Jake said No! Tyson then turned the pumpkin around to Jakes side and to that Jake yelled, Yeah!

Good bye off track

Well, we managed to make it through our three weeks of being off track, and nobody was too badly beaten. Just kidding, no one was beaten, but its not to say the thought didn't cross my mind a few times. I have to say, I owe Tanner and Tyler's teachers a HUGE thank you for taking them five days a week, most of the time, from 8:30-4:15. I don't know how some people do home school. I guess they are just better than I am. Three days into their break, Jefferson was old enough to finally be able to go to the gym's daycare, so that helped save my sanity. I'm back to going three days a week and it is SO nice. I don't know why I didn't find this help earlier. We didn't do much while they were off track because I'll be honest, it's just too hard to get everyone on the same page with four kids and one adult. By the time I have everyone ready, Jefferson is hungry and needing a nap. Once I get him fed (he can sleep in the car and more often than not, usually does), then everyone else is either wanting a meal or its snack time, then Jefferson is ready for something and its just a never ending cycle.
Anyway, with my mom being in Germany for the first half, we didn't do much. So once she got back, we decided it was time to take the kids for a field trip. My grandpa has been sick lately, so we decided to go and spend the day with grandma and grandpa great. Well, seeing as Jake would need a nap, we decided to leave for the hour and a half car ride, right around when he should be taking a nap. Key word: Should. He has gone three weeks now without a nap, and I'm not happy about it. Well, to test and see if he really truly is done with naps, we got in the car at 12:30. We drove the entire way and he didn't even get drousy. Well, that blew that plan. He's still at the point though, that if I go anywhere after 4pm, he's out in two seconds, which then messes up bedtime and its downhill from there. That's what ended up happening. So we spent Wednesday with my grandparents. Grandpa Great fell asleep before we could get any pictures with him.
Jefferson sitting in a Bumbo. He tolerates this seat. He's actually sitting in it happy a little longer each time. I think he likes being able to sit up and see.

Tanner and Tyler emptying the dishwasher. Their new job being off track. Jake likes to help as well.


So Jake has this terrible habit of coming in to our bed at night. We're so tired, most the time we aren't even awake enough to realise he's come in to our bed. This is one morning I guess he decided it was too bright in the room so burried himself in the pillows. He is really asleep in this picture.
Tanner riding grandma greats stationary bike.
Jake on the mini trampoline. The bike and tramp kept the three of them happy and busy the entire time.
Jake and Grandma Great.
Tanner and Grandma Great.
Tyler and Grandma Great
Jefferson and Grandma Great

Today, Tyson decided we would have a fun day since they would be going back to school on Monday. He decided he wouldn't even tell me what he had in mind. I did end up having a say in what we did though. He's been stuck on going to a pumpkin patch, so we did that first. We started this adventure at 3:30, and wouldn't you know, Jake fell asleep in the car. So Tanner and Tyler picked out a pumpkin for each of them. And we took a few pictures with Jefferson standing in some of the heads. After that, we decided to go to dinner at the Mayan. They've changed their menu and it actually wasn't too bad. Its not someplace I would go often, but it wasn't too bad. The kids enjoyed the divers and we got a few pictures of that as well. We were going to try classic skating after that, but we decided against that, just because the kids aren't old enough to be able to do that without our help and Jake would require too much assistance as well and neither one of us trusted our skills to hold Jefferson at the same time. So we decided to go to WalMart and get ice cream and rent a movie from RedBox. I think the kids had a good time and will hopefully remember this as a good time off track. We'll see what happens.

Tanner, Tyler and Jefferson at the pumpkin patch
Fun at the Mayan


Jake at the Mayan
Tyler at the Mayan
Tanner at the Mayan
Outside the Mayan. Sorry Jefferson about the toys in your face!!

And last but not least, Jefferson asleep. I know random picture, but I have to say, out of four children, he is the only one that will not take a binki and won't take a bottle. However, he is the only child that is turning out to be a thumb sucker. I love it!! I sucked my thumb when I was little and its something that I've tried to get all of my kids to do, to no avail. So, needless to say, I was a little happy when I saw him completely asleep with his thumb in his mouth!