Merry Christmas!!!

To all who I have failed to get a card out to, more than I care to admit:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Santa, Santa, Ho-Ho-HO

Princess's preschool had a fun Christmas party. They went in their pajamas and learned all about The Polar Express. Santa came and they got to sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. T-man wanted a light saber. Princess wants make-up. I am in trouble with that girl. The Little One was just happy to get her candy cane and get off his lap as fast as she could. We will just have to wait to see what Santa brings.

Heber's Dairy Keen

The Train that caused all the excitement

Choo-Choo

Over the weekend, we braved the storm and headed up to Midway. The disappointing thing is that we headed up specifically for a sleigh ride with Brett's family and ended up missing it because of the weather and traffic. We lucked out and got a rain check for our family so we will be making it up when the weather is a little better. We ate at the Dairy Keen in Heber and the kids had a great time. They loved watching the train go around the top of the ceiling. They were also so very excited to get their conductors caps.

After we headed to Brett's parents place in Midway were the kids got to swim and the adults hung out and ate RED VELVET cake. I should have taken a picture. It is almost to pretty of a cake to eat. We watched Mama Mia and I really wanted to do the sing-a-long version, but the boys declined. Then, about 5 minutes into it, they were really wishing that they would have had the words on the screen to follow along with. I KNEW IT! We had to head out early the next morning for some serious men's church basketball and a few b-day's party, but it was fun to get a way for a night.

T-man practicing his photo skills:

Choo-Choo

The Little One was so excited to see this Choo-Choo Train at the Dairy Keen in Midway. For about 30 minutes she acted like this. She is so animated and so fun to watch. All the people around us were getting a kick out of it as well.

Christmas Photo Shoot

I realize it has been a while since I have posted. It has been busy, as it has been for everyone. I just have a harder time being in my routine when my husband is home every day to throw it off. Anyway, I just wanted to post some pictures of my photo shoot of the kids on Sunday. I had a really hard time deciding which picture to use. I really was so tempted to use some of these, but when I put them on the card, it didn't look quite right. But here they are for your viewing pleasure. And then there is the picture of how I manage to end up making one of my kids cry at the end of the shoot because they won't take just one more picture. This one is my absolute FAVORITE:

The Royal Ball

Blowing out the Ariel Cupcake

The Royal Promenade

My husband makes fun of me for referring to this one, as the Princess. But seriously, when you get to know her, how can you not. We had to fill out an "All About Me" poster for her birthday for preschool. Here are her responses for you to be the judge:

1. Favorite Color: PINK

2. Favorite Food: Pepperoni Pizza

3. Favorite Animal: Pony

4. Favorite place to visit: Disneyland

5. When I grow up I want to be a: PRINCESS

6. If I had one wish , I would wish for a: BIG ARIEL DRESS FOR WHEN I GROW UP.

Brett wanted to know if we should break it to her know that her dream of being a Princess when she grows up isn't all that realistic. Of course I let him know that she can live the dream now. We had a Royal Ball at our house with lots of little Princesses running around, with a few knights, superheroes and football players. The kids had fun and the Princess squealed in absolute delight when opening her presents. It was always "just what she wanted". I am partied out for now. So many birthdays in so little of time.

Definite Jazz Fans

We went to the Jazz vs. Kings game last Friday night. We went out on a limb and took both kids, T-man and the Princess. We had a good time and the kids did great. "P" lasted half the game and T-man sat through the whole game. It is so fun to watch him and sit with him. I think he actually gets it. For the most part. He knows when to cheer, he chants along with the cheers, he pays attention. But his very most favorite part was getting sprayed with 4 cans of silly string by the Bear (thanks, Smitty). He actually thought it was AWESOME. Although, I am not so sure all of the unsupecting, inocent bystander fans thought the same thing.

T-man after being sprayed and a pile of the Gooey mess.

Because of recent game attendance by an older brother, P was convinced it was her turn for an autograph session. She was so cute. She would look at Brett when a player walked in and ask him if he was a player. If he said yes, she would take the marker from him and walk up to the player and ask him if he would sign her "Shert". She was so excited when D-Will finally came in and signed her shirt. She was golden after that, but we still got a few more. Here is to her pink D-Will jersey. And here is a special thanks to Linda and Smitty for treating us so well!

AK-47 SIGNING D-WILL SIGNING

THE FINAL PRODUCT LINDA, SMITTY AND KIDS

Thanksgiving Feast

T-man's kindergarten class put on such a cute program for Thanksgiving this year. They did such a great job and had some of the cutest songs. He was King Fernidad and did great on his part. Afterward we went to his classroom and had some Thanksgiving food. There is so much to be grateful for...

The Old Cliche

You know the one, the one that says "Stick out like a sore thumb". Brett and I went to the U OF U/BYU game last week and wore blue. I really was NOT thinking about it, I had to run out the door and grabbed my warmest coat. I cheer for both teams-BELIEVE IT. I know people who think you can't, but I do, so get over yourself. My husband cheers for BYU and will cheer for the U unless playing BYU. I got one picture of us in blue amid the pool of blood all around us. It was fun to get booed and yelled at. I guess we just weren't prepared for the animosity that would be shown toward us. I know this is a little late, but I've been busy.

Boa Constrictor

Eating Scorpions

A Slitherin' Selebration

T-man turned 6! In honor of his birthday, we had a little party at our house for some of his friends last week. We had the SCALES AND TALES guy come to do a reptile show. He was so entertaining and kept the kids attention. He did some crazy things like stick a huge scorpion in his mouth and had a ton of fun creatures that the kids could all touch after the show. Our favorite was "Naners" the mighty python at the end. T-man didn't want to touch the reptiles (I can't really blame him) so instead of him getting wrapped in Naners I volunteered Brett to do the honors. He wasn't as sold on it either but was willing to take the thing all by himself, all 12 feet of it. I thought I might have nightmares for days of things crawling around in my house, but luckily I have had no thoughts of it!!!

To Put it Gently

I have been deliberately trying to put off this post because I don't want to come across whiny and disheartened. I don't want to bash Chase to pieces by simple literary phases. I physically would like to see some of those crooked, heartless CEO'S of the company and look at them in the eye, then show them my three cute kids, my hardworking, honest husband, and ask them how they can feel good about themselves. I will never bank with Chase again and I would encourage any of you out there to take a good hard look at where you are putting your money before you put it there. I can't imagine having someone who could care less about its employees take good care of your money. Don't think I am lying to you if I said: if the company were to come crashing down, those CEO'S would be the first to take their share of the money and run. And leave the little guy to defend for himself. Over, and over again.
So.
We are in the next phase of life. The one where we try to figure out what we want to do when we grow up. I have encouraged Brett to think about going back to school for years. It looks like that day is finally here. It seems like a necessity to have stability in a very fragile, teetering world of economics, unemployment and pure chaos. It may not be the answer, but in hopes of long term assurance, I have never doubted the ability of education to keep you in the game of life. In the mean time, some wise counsel I received from my father will be put to use. I believe it went something like this: "Get an education. You never know what will happen in your life. It could be divorce, death or just unemployment, but you will need something to fall back on". And that we do have.

"Best Day of My Life"

Last week Brett took T-man to a Jazz basketball game. Brett's gracious aunt was busy and couldn't use her 4 8th row tickets, so she offered them to us. I had the never ending Region Volleyball Tournament I was in (which, by the way, we ended up taking 2nd in, but I consider us winning it. Me and my neighbor didn't make it to the game, and we had beat this team before!). So they went with a neighbor and his boy. The boys had so much fun cheering and dancing, and even made it to the jumbo tron. After the game, Smitty text Brett to come down to the family locker room. T-man is a huge fan of Andre Kirelinko, was wearing his jersey, and just couldn't resist asking him to sign it. He was a little shy at first, but once he saw how easy it was, he got into the grove of asking others. Yes, that means he was asking others to sign someone else's jersey. Deron Williams said to T-man as he was signing, you need to tell your dad to get you a D-Will jersey. Brett tried to explain his daughter had one, but it didn't go over like he was hoping (Yeah, my 4 year old daughter has your PINK jersey!) They ended up getting Paul Milsap, Ronnie Brewer, Ronnie Price, and Brevin Knight 's autograph. He was so excited! He kept telling Brett how it was the "Best Day of My Life!". He wore the jersey for 4 days straight, and I haven't decided how I am going to wash it yet. Any suggestions would be great. I think I will just have to hand wash it and keep the signatures out.

Veteran's Day

taken from ldsliving.com
"Veteran’s Day
Veteran’s Day was originally known as Armistice Day, because the eleventh hour of that day—the eleventh of the eleventh month—marked the end of World War I hostilities in 1918. It was renamed in 1954 to commemorate veterans.
Currently there are about 25 million living veterans.
About 48 million Americans have served in the military since 1776.
“Veteran” comes from the Latin vetus, meaning “old.”
Veterans may include anyone who has served in the army, excepting those with dishonorable discharge but including those who may not have seen combat."

The school my son goes to has a Veteran's Day Assembly every year. The Veteran's are invited to come to a continental breakfast before the assembly. After, they go to the gym for an assembly where the kids sing songs and recite poems. Speakers, who are Veteran's, speak to the students. Each Veteran is then recognized by name, the branch of service they were in, and conflict they served in. It was such an amazing tribute to the Veteran's. There were at least 6 from WWII. Many were brought to tears. It is such a great thing to instill patriotism in our young kids and to help them understand the freedoms we enjoy. I actually was in charge of the assembly this year, and can sigh a breath of relief that it is over.

The Link

Here is the answer to all of your questions as to why people are going private:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4699330

Not Possible, Ok...Maybe

I don't think it is possible to get any more Princess and girly and pink and all that than this:

P to Brett: Dad, I want pink teeth so I can be more like a Princess.

Seriously, What??? Random! Only a little girl who loves Princesses could understand.

Halloween, Finally Over

Stitch, Princess Ariel, and Little Bee

I didn't realize as I was taking these pictures that I really didn't have very good shots of the kids, I am hoping my father-in-laws camera did a little better than mine. The kids had fun going door-to-door although the younger ones wore out quicker than the older one. The little bee was so cute at saying "tank oo" and not afraid at all to reach in and grab some candy. We have way more candy than needed in any house at any given time. We only had about 40 trick-or-treaters this year, but I got smart and gave out pretzels so we aren't stuck with leftover candy!!! I know, I am the boring one on the block, but when it is all said and done, you are grateful I passed those out instead of more candy. I am glad it is all over...until next year.

It Brought the House DOWN

My cute little family has been hit by a tsunami in the last 24 hours. I don't know what happened, but it started with the little one and ripped through the rest of us like watching the wave of a crowd at a football game (that one is for all of you fans out there). I keep thinking we are through the worst of it, how bad could it really get, but only time will tell. Let's just say my night consisted of tossing and turning until 2 in the morning, getting up and watching Cinderella with my 18 mo old only to empty my stomach by retching it into the sink. Sorry if that is too much information. I had gotten about 1 hour of peaceful sleep when my 3 year old came in and told us she had thrown up on her self. Then my 5 year old came in and said he was "freezing". We all made it back to sleep for a few hours. I have managed to sleep most of the day, eaten very little, and have had aches and pains I didn't know were possible. Five loads of laundry later, I think I will need a week to catch up on the whirlwind that has hit our house. I will work on some cute Halloween pictures soon. Brett seems to be alright, thus far. He complains of occassional nausea and pain, but if that is all he has, he is far better off than the rest of us.

Proof that All I Ever Needed to Learn I Learned in Kindergarten

I put the song on just for you Nancy although I think she may have the tune a little wrong. These are a few songs T-man has learned in Kindergarten. I just love the songs. I know the rest of you will even though you probably won't be able to understand them~

Costume Party

Our friends in the neighborhood had this great Halloween party last week. I was so surprised at everyone elses costumes. Everyone was so creative!!! Except for my husband and I. I tried to explain to him that it was a "couples" costume party, that we needed to go as something together. He worried about himself and headed to the Home Depot to get himself a "Painter's outfit" and left me in the dust. Oh well. I got to smell a stinky mask for about 2 minutes instead. Don't I look great as some old guy in a polyester jump suit?

Artwork at its Finest

We carved pumpkins last night and had to get the creative juices flowing when the kids started to ask for things that we weren't so sure how to do. My favorite part of the whole night was watching the little one start to cry as we showed her the inside of the pumpkin. She couldn't stop saying "YUCKY" and running away from the whole thing. She even freaked out when one little lone pumpkin seed fell from my hand onto the table. She didn't help us much, she played in the toy room the whole time. The other kids loved watching us even though they were a little reluctant to help us much more than that. They were most excited lighting the matches to start the candles. Pretty typical.