The Mickelson Family

We're alive...

2012-01-13T16:13:00.003-07:00

We'll see if I can be better at this in 2012 than I was last year. Photo taken on 12.30.11 in Mesa, AZ, and Zach got all of his hair chopped off a week later. Happy new year everyone!!

Its here...

2010-10-27T14:45:00.002-06:00

That's right. Ski season is here. If you're willing to work for it. Ryan went backcountry skiing today in the La Platas and was so excited to have his first ski day fall in October this year.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Preschool rules.

2010-09-08T23:05:00.004-06:00

Sam had his first day of preschool today and we've been getting him ready by telling him that he has to keep his potty-mouth in check. When Zach was four, I was mortified by the children who said things like Sam says. Now I realize that they probably had three older brothers teaching them things to say that sound a little bit comical coming out of a four year old's mouth.

This morning, I drove Taylor and Clay to school and Ryan stayed home with Sam and got him breakfast. While he was eating, Ryan discussed how Sam needs to go to school and use good words. He said, "You can't use bad words at school, Sam." About five minutes later, Sam said something about a poopy diaperhead. Ryan said, "Remember, we just talked about not using naughty words." And Sam's rebuttal was, "You said at school, Dad."

I picked Sam up from preschool and on the way home he was telling me about how they made a list of Preschool Safety Rules. He told me that he raised his hand and when he was called on, said, "Don't mock your brothers while you're pushing them." I laughed and he said, "Mom, Miss Melanie didn't think it was funny." Poor Miss Melanie and poor Sam. I see a long year in the time out chair ahead.

This one...

2010-08-31T18:07:00.002-06:00

... used to tell me I was his best friend. Now he tells me he wants to go live with Grandma and Grandpa.

... used to say "I love you". Now he says, "I don't love you"

... used to use markers to make me pictures. Now he uses them for body art and coloring his brother's dresser.

... used to want to hang out at home. Now he constantly asks for play dates at his friends' homes.

... is in some kind of phase, still funny and sometimes sweet, but maybe he just hit his teenage attitude eight years too soon.

The wait is over!

2010-08-24T20:35:00.001-06:00

Zach and I have been looking forward to this...

I didn't get it at midnight like Zach and I used to with the Harry Potter books, but I was at the bookstore on day one. Hope it's as good as I want it to be.

Back to School!

2010-08-23T08:17:00.002-06:00

From the exclamation point in the title, you might think I'm excited to have my kids back in school today, right? Well, kind of, yes.

We had a great summer together. The boys went to lots of camps, spent time apart while one or another was at grandma's house, we went on our big adventure that we do every summer to Oregon. I loved having my boys around. Then over the past week I started to feel a little bit differently. They started bickering - a lot. And it all came to a head last night when Sam threw a Wii remote because he and Taylor were having a difference of opinion about what to watch. The remote hit the TV, and I lost it.

It also didn't help that they looked like this for most of the summer. For whatever reason, grooming habits go right out the window when they think that no one's looking, but I still had to look...

Everyone got a fresh haircut on Friday, and today I made them line up outside for the conciliatory first day of school picture. Nevermind that I forgot to make them lunches on the first day of school, I have the picture. Sam still has a couple of weeks before preschool starts, but he wasn't going to miss out. He couldn't look at the camera, though, because there was an audience waiting at the end of the driveway.

Clay's buddies all arrived just as I lined up the boys outside. Of course they were all hooting and hollering throughout the process of getting one decent picture (there wasn't ONE decent picture) and so I took revenge as they scurried like rats away from me as I turned the camera on them.

Clay's going into sixth grade which is middle school here. He's super excited to go, just like Zach was when he went into middle school. Zach's going into eighth grade and dreading it, but secretly just a little happy because it's the last year of middle school.

I'm not too nerdy yet for Taylor, going into second grade. He let me walk him to school and into his classroom. He let me help him put away his school supplies in his desk. He even let me give him a hug before I left. Sweetest kid ever!

Hoping for a fantastic 2010-11 school year!

Friday the thirteenth.

2010-08-13T15:38:00.004-06:00

Let's just start with a sigh, and I better remind myself that there are still hours and hours of this day to go.

Signs of a bad Friday the 13th for me include all of the following. All of which actually happened.

* My car started sluggishly today and I immediately noticed all of my radio presets had gone away, so I knew there was a battery problem. I had a church activity to get to, however, and I just drove it and decided that if I had to walk home, it wouldn't be the end of the world. And it started again when it was time to go, not as easily as usual, but it got me home.

* I had to go to the grocery store. It's desperate when I run out of milk, and Albertson's had cereal on sale, so I went farther from home than normal to shop. Ryan advised me to drive his Land Cruiser instead of my car, and told me where I could find the spare key. He didn't want me to get stranded.

* I got stranded. When I got back in the car, with Sam and Taylor, a bag full of frozen things and two gallons of milk, plus a whole lot more, the key wouldn't go into the ignition all the way. I tried for fifteen minutes, over and over, and it wouldn't go in. Of course I called Ryan to find out if there was a trick and he said, "Try and turn the key over." Sheesh, like I hadn't already tried that. I called everyone I knew (that wouldn't be horribly inconvenienced) to see if someone could get me home. I would have walked, but it was two miles that would have felt like twelve with Sam, Taylor, two gallons of milk and the bag full of frozen items. Finally, Taylor said, "I see Lauren's mom! Ask her." Lauren's a girl who was in his class at school last year, and she lives in the same general vicinity, but I don't know Lauren's mom very well, so it was a little mortifying, but I asked. She wasn't headed home, but she said, "I hope someone would do the same for me if I was stuck." So we made it home.

* I opened the garage door to get my stuff in the freezer, and Taylor was walking through with one of the gallons of milk when he dropped it, the lid burst off and milk flew all over the garage. I immediately imagined the stench of rotting milk in the heat and got the hose and a mop. I decided I needed to capture a picture of the carnage in order to make myself smile instead of bursting into tears, so I ran in to grab the camera while Taylor was mopping. The camera was gone.

* Half an hour later I got Ryan on the phone after searching my house to find my camera for that long only to find out he had taken it with him to the hospital today. Relieved to say the least!

* I got back into my own slow-to-start car and went to Clay's class at the children's museum where they were showing what they'd learned this week in his "Let's get cellular" class. He tried to isolate DNA from my cheeks and show it to me, but it didn't work. I cursed him, too. While I was there, I realized that I'd forgotten to change my milk-splashed clothes before I ran out again, and the stench of rancidness was now stuck to me. Then Taylor, Sam and I headed out again to make sure Taylor got to piano lessons on time.

* We were stood up. No piano lessons today.

I am sorry there is no picture to accompany my whining. By the way, it was a bad hair day to boot. Hope yours has been better than mine!

. Eight . Nine . Ten .

2010-08-09T07:57:00.005-06:00

We've been talking for awhile now about what a fun birthdate for Zachary this year. Turning fourteen on 8.9.10. I know that I say this about every child on their birthday, but seriously 14? How did I get here?!

Zach's really a joy and I'm honored to have him for a son. He makes me smile and laugh, he's not afraid to just walk up and give me a hug, and best of all, he's not embarrassed to be dropped off at school and tell me he loves me as he's closing the door.

Fourteen things about Zach on his fourteenth -

{ One } Zach is always willing to try new things. He doesn't necessary love everything he tries (football) but he will step out of his comfort zone and go for it.

{ Two } Zach hasn't yet figured out how to smile for a camera. When I pull out the camera, he freezes, and with as often as that is, it makes him quite uncomfortable.

{ Three } Maybe this is more about me than him, but I'm totally jealous of his gorgeous skin. Soft and brown. He often has to tell me to stop petting his arm when we're driving. :)

{ Four } Zach loves math. LOVES it.

{ Five } He's such a great helper. I can ask at any time and he's willing to stay with his little brothers. He does most of his own laundry and always does whatever he's asked. Ryan and I are always so impressed that he may not do it with a smile, but he will do it.

{ Six } Give Zach a board and that's his sport. He's been snowboarding for six years and developed his love of wakeboarding last year and then couldn't wait to get to Oregon to spend a week out on the lake with my brother. This year he discovered the surfboard.

{ Seven } He had, for a lack of a better word, a crappy year in the seventh grade and is consequently dreading the start of school in two weeks.

{ Eight } Zach loves to read, and loves getting caught up in a series of books. He's currently really looking forward to Mockingjay coming out in a couple of weeks.

{ Nine } He was gone for nearly two months this summer which was really strange. Space camp, Utah for three weeks with his grandparents, Scout camp, then to Oregon and back to St. George.

{ Ten } Zach is an amazing hunter. Ryan always tells me how patient Zach is and how, even when Ryan is telling him to take the shot, that Zach knows when it's time.

{ Eleven } He's an outdoorsy kid. Loves to camp, hunt, ride horses, mountain bike.

{ Twelve } He wants to be an architect and has since he was about seven. He loves to build, draw and he recently finished his architecture merit badge and loved it.

{ Thirteen } Zach's funny. He always has a joke and loves to share it.

{ Fourteen } He and Clay are best friends and I'm always so happy that they have one another, especially this year as they both go to middle school.

Happy #14, Zach! We love you.

Loving summer!

2010-06-29T21:53:00.003-06:00

There's nothing quite like taking advantage of every second of these long days. I'm really loving this summer!

Space Camp

2010-06-24T20:56:00.006-06:00

June has been all about camps. Taylor started us off with Cub Scout day camp, which was actually his first cub scout activity after turning eight last month. Clay had a week of baseball camp, thankfully just a short walk across the river away from our home. Taylor spent a week in Utah with his cousins (before BYU camp) where he went to different day camps every day (the favorite being Super Hero camp). Clay and Taylor had their incredible week of BYU football camp. Zachary hit the jackpot this year, however, and got to go to Space Camp.

Last fall, at Zachary's first parent/teacher conference, his math teacher, who is also the Space Camp club director, asked us if we would consider letting Zach go to Space Camp with her and the group of kids already signed up. There were meetings twice a month during the school year and lots of fundraising. (I loathe fundraising.) Back in October when we first signed him up, June 5th seemed really far away, but suddenly here it was and off he went.

Space Camp is in Huntsville, Alabama, so this was a big adventure for us. Trusting Zach with a bunch of other kids and a couple of very patient teachers. They took a bus to Alburquerque where they flew out of for this trip.

Zachary chose the Aviation Challenge option at Space Camp. He got to put on fatigues every day, do flight simulations in actual aircraft, get dumped in the water and learn how it feels to be rescued by helicopter, and so much more. As an added bonus, he came away with his Aviation Merit Badge. He had lots of details right after he got back and for the first hour after I saw him, but since then says, "It was fun. I want to go back next year." Nothing like a teenager to share.

The kids couldn't take cameras unless they were disposable, so I was really at the mercy of the adults that went along to take pictures of the kids. Unfortunately for me, they mostly took pictures of the Space Camp activities instead of the Aviation Challenge kids. I didn't speak with Zachary the entire week he was gone, and so when I finally got the above picture in my email the day before they came home, I was just relieved to see he was alive and smiling.

This is the group of kids that Zach went with to Alabama at the graduation ceremony. My super cute kid front and center, and like his mom, in flip-flops whenever possible.

I ~heart~ Bronco.

2010-06-21T10:26:00.003-06:00

We're just back from a fantastic week in Utah where Clay and Taylor went to football camp at BYU. I love that they get to have this experience and once again I was totally impressed with the camp, the coaches and of course with Bronco Mendenhall. He's amazing and really inspires each one of the little boys at camp to be great players, but more importantly to be great people. He again this year coached the boys to remember what's important in life in this order - Faith, Family, Education, Friends and Football.

The camp was four days - Monday through Thursday. And this year for the final day of camp the boys were treated to spending the day at the stadium and getting to play where the BYU football team plays. It was so fun for those guys to get to be on the field. One of the players came and played with the kids and they had a great time playing football.

Sam had a great time running through the stands, had me take a picture in the B, the Y, and the U in the student section, and then when Cosmo came to the stadium, spent quite a lot of time following him around. Zach came with a book and read...

To finish up the day, the boys found Bronco, had him sign each of their footballs and Taylor had him sign his shirt again this year. I love that Bronco is willing to pose and take the time with all of these boys. What an amazing guy!

Raising loyal Cougars!

Just a quick funny...

2010-05-21T13:46:00.006-06:00

I will catch up... I will catch up... I will catch up... If I say it enough, it might happen.

I've always thought December was the busiest month of the year, but now I'm convinced it's May. Four boys in school/preschool and all of the field trips, school programs, class parties, tests, final projects to turn in, etc., are weighing me down. Ryan decided to lighten things up a bit by having the father and sons outing this weekend instead of waiting until summer. I thought I might get caught up on a little photo editing, cleaning up the house or maybe doing some laundry while they're gone, but a friend decided we should go to dinner and a movie with our manly households away, and I think that sounds like more fun.

But here's one photo I had to share. We were downtown last weekend having lunch and the boys were sitting on the curb eating their cheeseburgers. I noticed that Sam didn't love his burger, but until I just looked at this picture, I didn't realize why. He's loving the pickle. The best part (that I didn't really capture) is that he eats it like watermelon until there's just a little rind (pickle skin) left.

I'll be back, eventually.

Announcing...

2010-05-04T14:37:00.002-06:00

Taylor is that old. I can't believe it. He's actually getting baptized on his birthday. It's early so we can start his birthday off right. We'd love to see you there!

Sitting patiently.

2010-04-18T19:42:00.008-06:00

I don't particularly consider any of my children to be patient. I don't really possess that characteristic. I thought I did, but my dear husband informed me that I was mistaken. It's hard to pass on or teach the things which we lack.

This past week there were a few events in which we had to sit. Patiently.

On Tuesday evening we got to attend the school district's choir and orchestra concert. In the past Clay has played the viola and was in the advanced orchestra. He traded in his viola several months ago in favor of the gifted and talented math program (they met at the same time during the school day) and was therefore just a singer this year. I missed watching him play the strings, but alas, his first love is math! There he is, super cute, on the front row.

Because this was at the high school and wrestling practice at the high school, Taylor came straight in after practice and got to sit, patiently, through the concert.

Saturday evening, my dear friend's oldest son had his Eagle court of honor at our church. We took all of our boys. Our less-than-eager oldest scouter, our super-excited-to-be-an-eagle-by-thirteen newbie boy scout, our almost brand new cub scout and our fourth child. They loved it. Loved checking out Collin's merit badges. Loved seeing him get his fancy new eagle gear. Loved the banana split treats. But it involved an hour (plus) of patient sitting.

Sunday morning. Three hours of church and lots of sitting!

By Sunday afternoon, Taylor's patience was wearing thin. We got to attend Clay's concert for the Durango Children's Chorale at another local church at 2:30. They were joined by a concert choir from western Texas and they were all really fantastic. I have a feeling I've just seen Clay's final choir performance. He felt coerced into it in the first place by his piano teacher who is also the director for this choir and really hasn't enjoyed it. But I always tell him not to hide his talents under a bushel. He doesn't care.

This concert was an hour and we knew better than to take Sam to sit anywhere for one more hour, so Zach stayed home with him. We also know better than to leave Taylor home with Zach in the middle of the day. Taylor has his own set of rules and doesn't really enjoy Zach being the boss. And so Taylor came along. But he'd sat enough...

At 3:25, Taylor leaned over and said, "Is this what it means when they say 'it's been a long day'?"

We are THAT family.

2010-04-13T14:49:00.006-06:00

I know a lot of families that are all boy families. There's something about where I live... I don't know what it is, but there are a bunch of us. I was sitting with another of the "boy moms" I know last week and we were having a conversation about it. She said that when people find out that she has three boys, they give her that look that all of us boy-only moms get and ask about the craziness of her house. She said that it's not that bad at her house, but my family comes to mind.

We really are that family. The one with four truly fearless boys. The ones that are not afraid of getting hurt and not afraid to take the highest jump on their skis or bike. Definitely not afraid to take the dare. Not afraid of being the smallest kid on the football team lined up against the biggest. So not afraid to try a new sport when other kids on the team have been playing it for years. Not afraid to run after their brother in a snowstorm and get driven back home in a police cruiser. Not afraid of being seen in the ER twice in one month.

On the way out the door this morning, Taylor asked me if I'd ever posted the picture of his big jump. He did the jump with the sole purpose of having a shot of him getting big air. I just didn't get the shot. I did get the takeoff and so I'm sharing it. Not because it was terribly impressive, he ended up crumpled at the bottom of this twenty foot hill in tears, and asking while sobbing if I'd gotten a good picture. It's all about the challenge, and none of them are afraid to step up to it.

We are the family of no fear. (Except for me. I live in a little bit of fear of what they'll do every single day.) Just don't look at their hair and sing "Ch-ch-ch-chia..."

already?

2010-04-08T13:20:00.002-06:00

I just put Clay's registration for football in the mail. For this fall. Already.

Baseball season hasn't even started yet, but we're already registered for the next thing.

Do you all wish you had four boys? I'm super lucky. (That wasn't facetious.) I'm super lucky!!

Knock on wood.

2010-03-29T14:33:00.004-06:00

About a month ago, I took Taylor and Sam to wrestling practice. While I was there I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. She is a mom to one of Clay's football teammates, but also happens to be the office manager of the orthopedic associates that we are now considering to be our primary physician. I saw her and we started talking and I said, "I haven't seen you in so long, it must be because no one has a broken bone right now." She said, "You better find some wood to knock on." I laughed and ignored the advice to be superstitious. And sure enough, last week she came and found Ryan and I in the waiting room when we went to have Ryan's ankle break looked at. We had a laugh about the "knock on wood" conversation of a couple of weeks previous and then went on.

Yesterday afternoon, Ryan and the boys and I were talking about who in our family has broken what bones, who has broken the most (Sam's broken three bones, but Taylor's broken his clavicle three times as well as his leg), and who has cost us the most in medical bills (Zach still has that one hands down with his expensive arrival into the world). Clay and Zach congratulated each other on being the only ones to still remain unbroken, and I thought, "Please don't jinx me."

Sure enough. This morning at 11:30-ish, the phone rang. I recognized the middle school's phone number on the caller id and really, really hoped it would be Zach on the other end of the line. It wasn't. It was the school nurse. In P.E. today, there was a game of hockey, and in defending a shot, Zach took a stick across the hand.

Maybe I should try knocking on wood next time. Maybe it will help.

Keeping things interesting.

2010-03-24T14:02:00.003-06:00

So we've been busy! The last day of ski school was on March 6th, and Sam and I just hung out in the bunny hill area at Purgatory for the afternoon. Lucky for us, we ran into some friends and Sam had a blast playing in the snow. Also, lucky for us, we have so much snow that we will be skiing until the beginning of May! Yay for ski passes! We're definitely getting our money's worth this year.

Sam has found his shadow. I caught him in the act in the late afternoon sun and of course I think he's the cutest thing ever...

We headed to beautiful St. George, Utah for spring break. It was not warm, but it was snowing at home, so we felt great about things. I'd love to share the pictures from the boys, Ryan and Ry's dad in Las Vegas at the BYU game and cruising the strip (in a car, safer that way), but after finally just getting his point and shoot camera back from his friend in Idaho, Ryan left it again in his dad's truck. (I just sighed.) We did a lot of swimming, reading, Wii-ing. We did a little biking and riding in the Rhino with Grandpa. We even had a fun afternoon visiting some great friends from dental school (love you Twiss family!).

This is the most beautiful thing about St. George. I love to see the temple. Surrounded by the red rocks and the snow covered mountains beyond that, it's just gorgeous.

Home from our spring break, back to school for a day or two, and then my sister Lisa and her kids arrived from Arizona. I have a friend who hooked me up with four passes to Purgatory for the week so that the McDowells could snowboard at will. I took my kids out of school for a day and it was a blast. A bit slushy by about 3, but still perfect.

In between the gaming, skiing/snowboarding, school, piano, etc., Clay and Taylor finally started working on their pinewood derby cars. Ryan usually enjoys building these and commits about a month of evenings to it (I might be exaggerating slightly), but these didn't have the same effort put in and sadly we had the worst Mickelson showing to date. Taylor got to participate, but isn't a scout yet. He displayed Tayloresque sportsmanship (not good) and was just psyched about his medal and winning several of his heats. Clay came in fourth place and got a trophy that he promptly tried to throw away. It was the same trophy that everyone took home last year, even down to the plate on the front with "2009" on it. The real highlight for all of us was Clay receiving his Arrow of Light. I'm so, so proud of him.

Taylor and Sam are wrestling this year. Sam isn't wrestling in tournaments this year while he gets used to the idea of wrestling. He enjoys the warm up at practice, but the actual wrestling after that doesn't interest him in the least. Taylor is loving it and really loved his win and his fourth place medal. The wrestling tournament was on Ryan's birthday and following the meet, Ryan thanked Taylor for winning a medal on his birthday and said it was the best present he could have gotten. So sweet Taylor took off his medal and tried to put it around his dad's neck.

The other exciting thing that happened to Ryan on his birthday was his first motorcycle ride of the spring. On his way home, he came around a corner that he noticed previously had quite a bit of broken glass. While watching the glass, he hit the painted crosswalk strip, the bike tried to go down and in saving the bike he broke his ankle. Thankfully, it's not horrible. He fractured the tip of his fibula, but the worst part is probably the sprain. He's in my old boot (the doctors and nurses marveled at my large feet and that the boot would fit my husband) and using crutches until he can put his full weight on the boot. I'm enjoying having a fifth boy to chauffeur until Ryan can put enough weight on his foot to push on the gas. (I am not sighing now, even though Ryan thinks I might be.)

Yes. Life is interesting. I'm just not sure it needs to involve so many broken bones at my house...

It's spring break!

2010-03-08T19:16:00.002-07:00

I'm looking outside and it doesn't feel like spring. While we just had rain at our house today, I watched cars driving through from higher up covered in snow. Spring break before spring is actually here-- well, I'm not a fan of the timing.

I am looking forward to a little bit of this. Or at least sending out the boys to do a little of this...

My kids come by their dare devilness naturally. My father-in-law has some mad skills!

ski colorado

2010-03-05T23:54:00.002-07:00

I pulled Clay out of school yesterday so that he and I could have a day of just us. I love getting the rare one on one time with my big boys and have really loved the ski days. In fact, I just found out that our ski season will continue through the first weekend of May, so we'll probably be doing it again sometime...

Because Clay is in ski school all day on Saturday, I rarely get to see him skiing. I had fun watching his fearlessness as I stood at the bottom of the double-black diamond run he wanted to ski and watched him come down, seeing him fly off of the big hills in the terrain park, and showing off his flip.

I love this kid.

Eagerly awaiting ~

2010-03-02T13:58:00.002-07:00

Last night, Ryan and I took the boys to see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Clay had read the book, really enjoyed it, and we were congratulating ourselves for actually making it through the first two months of the year with a successful family home evening each Monday night. Besides us, the theater was empty with the exception of one other couple. That poor, cute, young couple. Sam doesn't get the concept of whispering and had a lot to say throughout the movie.

The funny thing was after the movie ended and we were driving home, the boys could only talk about the trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The two minute movie trailer made more of an impact than the two hour movie.

Here it is... Push pause on my playlist, turn on the sound on your computer, and enjoy.

You may not get it. I'd be with you, but last November I actually picked up the fourth Diary of a Wimpy Kid book when I was in Costco for the boys. My sister and I laughed so hard as I was reading it aloud in the car to her. Boys aren't always great readers, but I know a whole bunch of them that are readers because of the Wimpy Kid books, two of mine included.

And I think that Greg is my Zach. That line about middle school and kids that haven't hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with gorillas that have to shave twice a day. Yes, that's Zach. He often reminds me that he is the fourth smallest kid in the seventh grade.

Pick up a copy of the books, every Costco and Sam's Club has them. And then, like the Mickelsons, you too can eagerly await the movie.

... and more snow.

2010-02-24T22:05:00.002-07:00

Sheesh... I just received a phone call - Yes, just, at 10 pm - that there is no school tomorrow for Zachary because of too much snow on the roof of his middle school. All of the other schools are on a two hour delay to evaluate the snow levels on those roofs. It's enough!!

On the plus side, now I can safely take the NyQuil and not worry about oversleeping. G'night all~

snow

2010-02-19T22:58:00.006-07:00

Today I was caught off guard when I looked outside and it was snowing. It's been warming up and I've just been starting to think spring. Why? I don't know... I'm just ready for it. Alas, it's not to be.

Is anyone else getting the crazy amounts of snow that we are? Come on! We've had eight feet of snow at our house this winter. Eight FEET. Guess what? I looked at the ten day forecast and eight of those days show snow.

I really want a beach vacation, but I guess I'll have to settle for some fab Colorado skiing. Feel sorry for me?

Know your Pixar?

2010-02-10T08:42:00.002-07:00

I love the Pixar movies. My infatuation with all things Pixar began with Buzz and Woody and has continued with the fabulous characters of Dori in Finding Nemo and Mr. Incredible. Etc., etc. I also love our DVR. Monsters, Inc. was recently on Starz and so it, along with Ratatouille, WALL-E, The Incredibles, and Cars are currently on the DVR with the easiest access when Sam needs his Pixar fix as well.

Yesterday, Zach and I got our ski day. Sam went to preschool and then a friend picked him up. So following his hard four hour day at preschool, he had a three hour playdate. (She's a good friend!) Sam came home, and by 3:15, he'd put on his pajamas and was laying in the middle of the family room floor asleep under a blanket. Ryan came home after work and carried him to bed. We knew it was too good to last all night. We knew he'd get hungry or need to use the bathroom, but we tried anyway. Of course, he woke up. At 8:45. I fed him dinner and a big glass of milk. And then I knew he'd want to play. He played with cars and built his Duplos for a while, and then I asked him to sit and watch a movie in the hopes that if he just held still that he'd go back to sleep for the night. I asked Sam what movie he wanted to watch and he said, "Russell." I racked my brain. What movie is "Russell"? Because he'd been watching a lot of, as Sam calls it, Monsters In-copp-erated, I thought of that slithery monster.

Turns out, he's not Russell, he's Randall. And Randall wasn't who Sam wanted to watch before bed. What I forgot is that UP is currently at our house from Netflix. The boys watched it a couple of days ago and that funny little scout with all of his merit badges is their new favorite Pixar character. I loved UP. I just don't have it ingrained in my brain like the rest of the Pixar movies.

That picture is so cute that I get it. Why they think he's so funny. I just have another list of characters to memorize so I don't get it wrong again at 10:30 pm.

Some of the fun stuff

2010-02-07T23:00:00.004-07:00

I could complain (and often do) about some of the stuff that happens here. For instance~ the last time I blogged, I commented that Zach and I were getting ready to take off for a day of skiing. We dropped off Sam at preschool and got started on our 25 mile drive. Part way up, I received a phone call from the school nurse that Taylor had an earache. He asked if he could give him a dose of Tylenol. I happily agreed and asked if he was okay. The nurse said it was a little bit red, but after some Tylenol, he'd be able to go back to class.

Zach and I parked, got all of our gear on, took the bus to the village to get on the lift, and then the phone rang again. This time it was the student teacher in the first grade. She told me that Taylor was in so much pain that he wouldn't be able to make it through the day and he was crying and so sad. I called a couple of friends, but with no luck. I told Zach that we weren't leaving without doing one run, so we did. One run. Let me also say that Taylor is a known faker and a dramatic exaggerator. I didn't want to think that he'd intentionally ruin our day, but I confess, that's exactly what I thought. I picked up Taylor, Zach put on a pair of jeans and I took him to school, and in the meantime I made an appointment with the pediatrician. Guess what? Taylor actually had his first ever ear infection. I felt a twinge of guilt for being so annoyed all day, but stayed annoyed.

See? I complain. But most of the days are good...

{ Ski racing }

This was a fun one. Ryan's a member of one of the local rotary clubs and every February they have a fundraiser at the ski resort. As part of the fundraising, they recruit kids to race. Taylor scored the gold medal for the under twelve division, and Zachary came in third in the teenage group. Clay, who is ultra-competitive, didn't get to race this year because he was in his ski class all day, but he did land a couple of 180s and did a front flip (yes, while on skis).

{ Snowdown parade }

Snowdown is one of those funny local things that, to be honest, we don't really partake in. But we do really love going to the parade every year. It starts at dark and the kids always come away with a lot of loot. Beads, candy, local coupons... And I always embarrass my family by asking a random stranger to take a picture of us.

{ Knitting }

I've knitted and/or crocheted a lot over the years. Off and on. I learned in the first grade from my teacher when there were cold days and there were kids who didn't want to go out to play at recess. I knitted and crocheted quite a lot during my last year in Cleveland when some overachieving friend showed off her felted bags and crocheted beanies. I've knitted a couple of scarves since we moved here. But over the past few months, my friend Lucy put together a group at church and found an amazing lady to teach us. I've been on a roll... In the above picture I knitted the hat Zachary is wearing and my scarf, I knitted scarves for Taylor, Sam, Ryan and my sister for Christmas. If anyone wonders why I haven't been blogging, it's because I've been knitting. It makes me happy to actually finish a project once in a while. (Because I'm famous for my unfinished piles of projects.)

So wrong.

2010-02-04T08:08:00.004-07:00

Remember that song from the eighties, "Eye of the Tiger"? I do, vividly. Because my high school mascot was the Tigers and the song was played to death. Zach and I are here at home having already sent everyone else to school and getting ready to go skiing for the day. (If you're an advisor at Zach's middle school, just ignore that.) I heard "Eye of the Tiger" come pouring out of Zach's room at full volume. You can't miss the beginning of the song. But then the voice... It just wasn't right. I asked Zach who was singing on his version. He said, "I know it's not the real singer. It's someone named Gloria Gaynor." I had to laugh. Then he clarified by telling me, "Clay had 99 cents left on his iTunes and wanted the song, so he bought the cheap version."

For future reference - don't allow your kids to waste their iTunes gift cards without pre-approval.

Just today.

2010-01-30T21:51:00.006-07:00

It's been so, SO long since I've blog posted that now I'm just kind of ashamed to come back. But then I got this email requesting that I update my blog (is it embarrassing to admit it came from my husband?), and so I just thought I'd start with today.

Clay and Taylor both take ski lessons at Purgatory on Saturdays. Clay's start at 9-ish and Taylor's are in the afternoon. Not really convenient, I know. Lucky for me, I drew the early time slot today and Zachary agreed to come along to snowboard with me (I ski) for the day. This actually worked out well so that Ryan could take Sam and Taylor to sign up for wrestling. (Smile. I am.)

As soon as we drove into the Valley, we saw a hot air balloon up in the sky, and as we drove a few miles farther, we saw a whole bunch of them getting ready to lift. I literally gasped because it was so beautiful to see all of that color lifting out of the snow up against the blue morning sky. It was stunning. Thanks to my almost obnoxious need to have my camera along, Zach and Clay got pictures as I flew down the road.

We dropped off Clay at the ski school meeting area and then Zachary and I headed up. We had a blast. The snow was perfect, the weather was nice, the sky is blue and it seemed to be truly the ideal day. Then we got to the farthest point from the village and Zach's strap broke on his binding. Such a bummer. He patched it together and really still looked amazing as he snowboarded. We stopped and had lunch about halfway back, then went to a snowboard shop and 10 minutes and $8 later, we were back in action.

Ryan had called at some point in here to tell me that Taylor was safely at ski class, but they'd forgotten his pass today. Apparently it all worked out and he was still able to ski. I was anxious to talk with Taylor's instructor to see how he's doing. I met Clay with his teacher at 3:30 (when class is supposed to end) and got the glowing reports about how well "race

day" went and what a fantastic skier Clay is. And then I waited and waited for Taylor to turn up. I had parked where I could see the kids coming down the mountain to the designated pick up area and so afterstanding outside for fifteen minutes, I got cold and sat in the car to watch for him. At 3:55, I was starting to get worried. Zach, Clay and I discussed the possibility of checking ski patrol (because it wouldn't be surprising to find T. there), but then I saw an instructor that strongly resembled Taylor's ski coach. But he was alone, and getting back on the ski lift. I shook off the thought just as Zach said, "I see him!" He pointed to the far left where the tubing hill is. Sure enough, a red coat, blue helmet, black pants and red booted little boy was climbing the hill towing a tube. I grabbed the camera and ran over. Sure enough, there was a

n abandoned set of skis and poles at the bottom of the hill and Taylor at the top ready to come down. When I asked T. how come he hadn't told me he was done with ski class, he said, "I just wanted to have a little fun." It would be frustrating if it weren't also so funny.

This also made me start off late for the next event of the evening. Ryan and I needed to go to an open house for a young lady we know who was just married last month. I quickly showered, changed and we ran out the door. She looked beautiful and her husband seems really perfect for her.

A friend from church had asked me a few days ago to see "When in Rome" with her this evening and was planning to pick me up at 6:40. At 6:33, my cell phone rang and Clay was calling to tell me she was at the house waiting for me. We pulled into the driveway 5 minutes later and it all worked out fine. The movie was cute, silly but cute. Especially if you're looking for a reunion of these two...

That's today. Maybe now I can get back into the groove.

Happy New Year.

2010-01-07T17:11:00.004-07:00

We went out of town (for a whopping ten days) for Christmas for the first time in many years and I think I'm just barely starting to recover. I had to finally get around to a couple of things today... taking down the Christmas tree and laundry for starters. But I also realized that I was down to a mere 2 pictures available on my camera because it's been so long since I've been hooked up to my computer. Here are a couple to welcome in the new year. The boys (in case it just looks like chaos to you) are doing 2 0 1 0. After getting my Christmas card in the mail, I had a couple of friends along with my sister telling me how photogenic my boys are. The 2010 picture just goes to show you how much they're not, but how lucky I was to get a great family picture for 2009.

This one is just wishful thinking. I don't mind winter. I enjoy skiing. I love watching the boys ski and snowboard. But it's all about the snow. If it's going to be this cold, I'd prefer the snow come with it. (And I love it when I have a cute bit of preschool art to hang on the refrigerator for a little while.)

We wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, resolution-free 2010.

Merry Christmas to all...

2009-12-23T08:25:00.002-07:00

December Events { #8 }

2009-12-18T16:36:00.003-07:00

There's nothing quite so fun as the last day. The last day of school. The last day of summer. The last day before winter break.

School's out for a couple of weeks now. The boys finished up 2009 ~ which sounds so crazy. The day started off really great. Taylor's first grade class walked to a nearby assisted living home to put Christmas and winter decorations on the doors of the elderly folks living there. Taylor, Sam and I met them there rather than letting Taylor walk on his freshly freed leg on all of that snow and ice. He was disappointed to not walk until he looked at a couple of his classmates crying about how cold they were after walking in the 5 degree cold morning. It was nice to let the kids visit with some of the people living there, to have the cute first graders sing some songs, and Taylor and his friend Sam even played their songs from last weekend's recital.

Taylor went back to school and met his classmates there. And after lunch, there was a school sing-a-long of the fun Christmas songs. It was a "wear your pajamas to school" day, and it was really sweet to see this room full of 500-ish kids singing fa-la-la-la-la.

Taylor's class had a Christmas around the world theme for the class party and I found someone to make me some really delicious tamales to share. They crafted, shared gifts and ate lots of yummy treats. I really enjoyed the contrast between the first grade party and then walking down the hall to Clay's class wear the fifth graders had on loud music, low lights and a limbo stick. :)

Just in case you don't recognize this kid, it's Taylor. He wasn't happy with last week's haircut and gave himself a bang trim yesterday afternoon which was consequently buzzed after the realization that there was no saving it...

December Events { #7 }

2009-12-17T23:51:00.002-07:00

Tonight was Sam's preschool Christmas program. It was so adorable! There's nothing like a bunch of three and four year olds quietly singing along with their teachers, shaking jingle bells and dancing along.

Ryan was out of town for this cute concert and it was up to just the mom to get four boys to this cute concert. After many years of attending concerts, I thought about how much easier it would be for me to leave Zachary home with Clay and Taylor and just attend with Sam. However, I also thought about how many of those concerts have been Zach's over the years and how nice it would be for the older brothers to support the youngest. After attending the concert, I'm still thinking it would have been easier to leave them home, but Sam loved having his family sitting right there on the front row grinning at his every move.

He couldn't keep his halo on (which actually seems very appropriate... not a terribly angelic child), but he sure was cute!

December Events { #6 }

2009-12-17T17:10:00.001-07:00

After three and a half long months, Taylor is finally back in two shoes today. It's been a rough fall and I think that he's really excited today to know that he doesn't have to put on a boot, wear a cast, or use crutches again anytime soon (we hope).

December Events { #5 }

2009-12-16T17:43:00.005-07:00

School events may not seem to count as big events, but Clay spent a month in preparation for the fifth grade country big book presentation and yesterday was the culmination of all of the efforts to make that happen.

Clay's country was Bolivia. He worked very hard to learn about Bolivia, write a short story incorporating Bolivian facts, he made a Bolivian treat for his class and we went to a good friend to find a "good enough" Bolivian ensemble (consisting of an Irish bowler hat and a Mexican blanket). His class did Central and South American countries while the other fifth grade classes took on Asia and Africa. I have to compliment the teachers for working so hard with these 90-ish kids and making such a fun social studies project come off so beautifully.

This was Clay's super delicious treat that we agonized over for the taste of Bolivia. These are Cocadas. So yummy, but tricky to bake (maybe because I can't bake). I highly recommend these if you're a coconut fan. Mmmmm....

The other exciting school event was today when the high school and Zach's middle school had bomb threats and were evacuated to other locations. I picked up Zach at the rec center where he was sitting very bored until I rescued him. He helped me with my Christmas shopping and we actually had a fun afternoon together. I'm not encouraging bomb threats, but I'll take the quality time we got as a result!

December Events { #4 }

2009-12-13T17:33:00.004-07:00

This afternoon, after church was shortened to two hours from three because of the dumping snow, Clay and Taylor had a Christmas piano recital at a local nursing home. I was so touched that my boys' piano teacher thought to do this. It was nice for the kids to get to perform for someone other than family and also for these elderly people to have some Christmas cheer.

Because of the weather, several kids didn't make it, but Ryan has a good time taking the trusty Expedition out of four wheel drive to slip slide all over the roads.

Taylor (with some motherly accompaniment) played Jingle Bells. He was followed by Clay playing Carol of the Bells. I was really proud of both of them. They both had practiced long and hard for this performance and did a great job. Carol of the Bells is a tough one.

At our last recital, the boys' teacher Amy told us that she was looking for some parental involvement to make the Christmas recital last a little longer. I dug up a piano trio that my brother, Jay, my sister, Lisa, and I did multiple times when we were kids. It wasn't Christmassy, but When the Saints Go Marching In is always fun. I recruited my good friend Lucy and then Amy is sitting in the middle. We had a good time playing it together.

I really love the look of excitement on all of these kids faces as Amy led them in a few songs to sing after already having played on the piano. Maybe not excited, but still all super cute!

December Events { #3 }

2009-12-13T17:15:00.004-07:00

What we thought would be our third December happening... well it didn't happen. Clay's fifth grade choir and orchestra concert was bumped to January due to an illness in the music instructor's family.

So instead, our third fun December thing was the San Juan Basin Dental Society's annual Christmas party. Ryan's the president this year. It's not terribly time consuming, but it is just one more egg in his overflowing basket of things to do.

The party was at this adorable restaurant called Kennebec. They found this back corner to tuck all of the dentites back there together so that they're not analyzing everyone else's teeth while they eat. (I'm just kidding.) This is a group that I don't normally see for most of the year, so (#1) it was really fun to see all of them and (#2) I wasn't really comfortable breaking out the camera to take their pictures. I held off until the end, everyone else scurried for cover and Ryan kindly just continued his conversation while I took a picture of the room where we had our party. I know, I'm a dork.

Family pictures - 2009

2009-12-07T23:04:00.008-07:00

Last spring, my sister-in-law (a Utahn), sent me a link to her friend's blog - Giveaway Today. I entered a few times, and to my great surprise, one day I clicked on the site and saw my name listed as a winner of a photography session with Sweet Memory Garden. We made a very quick trip to Utah a few weeks ago to have our pictures taken, caught a BYU basketball game while we were there, visited the Brick Oven and hung out with Ryan's family for a few hours.

Angie is the photographer for Sweet Memory Garden and she was so fabulous, especially dealing with Taylor who was still on crutches and talking him in to not having them in the pictures. We met in Lehi and I loved the beautiful buildings and especially the red walls. My kids loved the blue slug bug. Angie posted more of our fun session on her blog here. I'm so looking forward to hanging some of these on my walls!

December Events { #2 }

2009-12-05T19:44:00.003-07:00

Tonight was the annual Christmas party at church. I always really enjoy this one. It's so nice to see the people I go to church with and don't get the time to chat with while at church. It's nice to have a really Christ-centered Christmas event. It's always so wonderful to hear the children sing Christmas music.

Unfortunately, we didn't really plan very well. Ryan and I both thought it started at six, but we got there and everyone was finished with dinner already. My friend Dixie said, "You showed up right on time!" I said, "Really, there are so many people here already." And she started laughing and said, "No. It started at five. But we're finished so you can have our table." Oh, well. We got the kids food, we ate by ourselves at the table right in the middle of the room, and just as Sam was about to take his first bite, the announcement was made that it was time for the kids to come up and sing. Well Sam refused because he was in the middle of dinner, but I did manage to pry Clay and Taylor away to sing the three songs. I played the piano so Ryan was kind enough to take some pictures. I think he was a bit embarrassed to be the only flash in that dark room, but always a great sport.

Taylor heard church and decided to dress up. Button down shirt and blazer with his jeans and big black boot (the cast is off now). Isn't he cute? And I didn't do very well with my Clay arrow. He's in the green plaid shirt and doing his best to hide in the back. :)

December Events { #1 }

2009-12-05T19:30:00.003-07:00

It's shaping up to be a crazy, busy December. I actually love that. The hustle, bustle of the holidays. There are just a lot of things going on this month and in my attempt to journal them for myself, I'm forcing the rest of you to read along and see what's happening here.

Last night (December 4th) was Clay's end of season football party. I know that it seems like so long since his season ended, but I'm convinced it took that long to put together the 51 minute (you read that right) highlight movie. We watched it last night with the really loud soundtrack and Clay's already watched it again today. Suddenly football season didn't seem that long ago.

Each boy was introduced by the head coach who gave a long speech about the what made each kid special to the team. Clay's was kind of a "despite his small size"... speech. Clay isn't a fan of attention and so got up and frowned his way through getting his trophy and t-shirt. Until Coach Ryan got a hold of him.

This is the Falcons bringing it in for one more cheer. Next year they won't have the same team name. The sixth grade teams have something else. Hopefully all of these boys get to stay together and keep these same overzealous, crazy coaches.

I should have taken a picture of the back of the shirt as well. It had the boys' 11-0 record along with the score from each game. At the end of the season they had scored a total of 380 points and had 26 points allowed. Brag it up, guys.

Commercialism at its finest.

2009-11-03T08:02:00.009-07:00

This morning, Zach and Clay had come up ready for school and I asked where Taylor was. They both said he was still down in his room getting ready. Breakfast came out of the oven and I asked Clay to get him. He'd been sleeping late and came up still in his pajamas.

Taylor is a boy who has so much hair that it can be really scary if not washed everyday, but it was too late for that. While he was eating breakfast, I brushed through the knots and then stepped back and said, "Taylor, you've got a puff." Clay laughed and said, "Looks like Bumpits!" And Zach chimed in with, "The hot new style. Sticking off the corner of your head." Taylor didn't think it was quite as funny as the rest of us...

Long overdue...

2009-11-02T18:46:00.004-07:00

Clay's football season started on August 3rd and nearly three months later, it ended on the 24th of October. He had such a great season. I think he'd like to play more, but when you're a ten year old that weighs 57 pounds and played against multiple kids weighing in at 250+, then I guess you take what you get. He played wide receiver, a little bit at tailback and on the kickoff return team. Honestly, for me, watching him fly down the field on kickoff return and tackle a kid way back was kind of the highlight for me. He's speedy and earned a couple of nicknames from the coaches. "Bullett" from his special teams coach and "spiderman" from the defensive coach. "Spiderman" was explained to me by Coach Dave as Clay getting low and casting a web around their ankles so they can't move.

The Falcons ended up 11-0 on the season and only allowed four touchdowns throughout those eleven games. It took them until the last game of the regular season to let another team score a touchdown. It was probably good for them - made them realize they weren't infallable.

I loved this season. It was so much fun to see these boys play as a team. To watch Clay improve as a player and just be so tough. And of course in the end, it was really awesome to see the guys win the Four Corners fifth grade Championship. Congratulations, again and again.

Confused.

2009-10-29T16:36:00.002-06:00

There seems to be a little confusion with the weather. The leaves are still changing. All of the trees in front of Ryan's office are still green with hints of red at the top. Three days ago we were wearing flip-flops. It's only October, but it snowed yesterday, overnight, and for part of the day today, so the boys all got out their snow gear to wear to school today. Clay arrived home late after staying at school to decorate his classroom for the Halloween parade and party tomorrow, and as soon as he walked in he told his brothers to get their stuff on to go play in the snow while it lasts. Sam came up telling me he was ready to go outside and asked me to zip up his coat. Then I looked down at his feet. Sam hasn't given up the flip-flops just yet.

Progress

2009-10-28T21:11:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday morning we finally made some progress with this broken leg! What an exciting day. We had our seven week visit and Taylor got that long, heavy cast taken off.

A couple of weeks ago when we went to see Dr. Forrest, she decided to put a new wrap over the top of Taylor's cast. He'd been dragging his foot a bit and so the bottom of it was pretty worn. It added an extra fun dimension (not really) to getting the cast off. It was thick and so long and with the bend in the knee it just took a bit of time and effort to get it removed.

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when the cast came off, but I was unprepared for how much sand was on top and under his foot and how trashed his skin was as a result. I took a bit of time and gave him a good scrubbing in the sink and he gave himself a good scratching (really disgusting, lots of dead skin).

I also was unprepared for how skinny his leg was and how hairy it was. That sounds weird and this picture does not do it justice but that leg had piles of blond hair.

And then Dr. Forrest introduced us to a beautiful thing. Gore-Tex. Yes it's a Gore-Tex liner that looks kind of like bubble wrap and now Taylor can bathe! Oh happy day. It's lighter, he can bend his knee, it's cuter. And it works with his ninja costume.

We scheduled our next appointment for December 1st and it may or may not come off that day. I didn't really envision three full months in a cast. And crutches. Ugh. It snowed today and a seven year old on crutches and snow just don't work well together. But we're getting there.

Progress. It's a beautiful thing.

We're reading

2009-10-13T12:56:00.010-06:00

I'm reading a book right now that I'm really loving. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's so enjoyable and so well written. I never do this, but I keep finding myself dog-earing pages that I want to go back and re-read. Unfortunately it's the library's copy and so I will return it (already a week overdue) and forget all about my quotables. But here are a couple of my favorites... "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book and that tiny thing will lead you on to another book, and another bit will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive -- all with no end in sight, and for no reason other than sheer enjoyment." And one that just made me smile, "... I much prefer whining to counting my blessings."

I'm not the only reader in my house. Ryan has always been a reader, as a kid resorting to the encyclopedia when he ran out of material. I think it's currently more that he reads when he is out backpacking or camping, or unfortunately awake in the night due to insomnia. Here's his amidst his hunting gear while he and Zach and Ryan's dad are out hunting for the week. He's been going through an Ivan Doig phase for a while now and he loves them. He's also been suggesting that I read them, but mainly I've been trying to keep up with my book group reading along with quite a bit of young adult fiction this year as I try to make good recommendations for the most avid reader in our house.

That would be Zach. He loves to read. Loves it. He devours books, takes them everywhere, has been known (often) to be found reading in class when he should be doing regular classwork. He just finished Ender's Game, which I've never read, but he thought it was fantastic. I think Zach goes through two or three books a week.

Clay is not much of a reader. He's the one in my house that struggles with a desire to read, but find him a book that he's interested in and he'll actually sit for fifteen minutes. :) He's currently working his way through the Harry Potter series.

Taylor has just discovered his love of books. He's turned into an amazing little reader since the beginning of the school year and really loves the Magic Tree House books. I guess it's a good thing that there's about a hundred of those. His homework for school is reading a book to a parent for 15-20 minutes. It's one of the nicest parts of my day. Sitting with Taylor and letting him read to me. I have struggled with some of the books he's brought home. Johnny Appleseed's biography about killed me one night. There's nothing like trying to pronounce the names of Native American tribes.

Sam is just happy to have someone read to him. And really I just thought I was being funny a few nights ago when I took this picture of him.

I'm almost done with mine. Any recommendations? or good young adult for Zach? Let me know. If you don't, then pick up a book.

Lighten up.

2009-10-04T18:09:00.003-06:00

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. My grandmother has been ill and about a week and a half ago I got a text from my sister letting me know that my mom was taking my grandma back to the hospital. After hearing the advice from the doctor at the hospital in the town where I grew up in eastern Oregon, my mom decided it would be best to get her to a larger hospital in Boise where she could receive better treatment in a cardiac care unit. Ryan cancelled his plans to leave town and instead stayed home while I flew up to Boise to be some sort of strength to my mom while she was trying to cope with what her mom was going through. It was hard. When I was growing up, my grandma was the coolest person I knew. I love her so much and it was hard to see her so frail and sad, lonely and hurting. I left after a few days feeling like I'd been of little help, tired from sitting in a hospital for days and felt so much joy being greeted by my family when arrived home on Sunday morning.

On Monday morning, Ryan dropped off Clay and Taylor at their school while I dropped off Zach at his. Sam and I made the hour drive to restock my barren shelves at Sam's Club and I started feeling a little better about things on my way home. As I was unloading my car, my next door neighbor came over to chat. He was talking with Sam when I walked out of my house and seemed down. He said that he had just wanted to let me know that his wife had passed away after having a heart attack the previous morning and proceeded to tell me of the events of the previous few days while I'd been away. I asked when the funeral would be so that I could attend and he said that his wife didn't want them to have a funeral, so they were planning a life celebration instead and invited me to come. Sunday at 2:00.

I confess that I wasn't really that excited to go. I knew I'd miss the 2:00 session of conference, and I'd be leaving the boys alone so that Ryan and I could go. I watched General Conference this morning and Thomas S. Monson's talk just really hit me hard. He said, "It isn't easy for those who are young to understand the loneliness that comes when life changes from a time of preparation and performance to a time of putting things away. To be so long the center of a home, so much sought after, and then to be almost suddenly to be on the sidelines watching the procession pass by. This is living into loneliness. We have to live a long time to learn how empty a room can be that is filled only with furniture... We cannot bring them back, the morning hours of youth, but we can help them live in the warm glow of a sunset made more beautiful by our thoughtfulness and unfeigned love." I thought of my two lovely old grandmothers living alone, their empty homes and their quiet lives. I thought of my next door neighbor and his very recent loss. I knew I couldn't stay home.

As Ryan and I left, we told the boys that we were headed to the rec center. Zach and Clay knew why we were going and we left it at that. We didn't stay long. We gave hugs, we offered help and then we came back home.

We arrived home to see Taylor and Sam in their swimsuits. They heard "rec center" and were ready to swim. First of all it was Sunday, so that wasn't going to happen, but Taylor has a cast on... What were they thinking? I have to say it lightened my mood, and then seeing Sam run around outside in a swimsuit and snowboots in sixty degree fall weather just made me laugh. I know this time is fleeting, but loving these moments while they last.

On the bright side...

2009-09-22T16:29:00.002-06:00

I've finally found a use for all of my singles.

The ones I love.

2009-09-13T17:20:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a good day. Clay's team won their football game. Zach had a fun day at a fly fishing class. Sam got wet. Taylor practiced. No one was injured. Ryan took Zach and Clay hunting and they had a great time together.

It's all good, right? These are the ones I love. The ones that make every day worthwhile.

I'm not complaining...

2009-09-13T16:38:00.004-06:00

... well, actually I am. It's been a rough week. Mostly for Taylor, especially for Taylor, but it hasn't been easy for his parents either.

This is how he looked on Monday night after arriving home from the hospital. What I didn't know then is how painful this was going to be. Monday and Tuesday nights weren't restful but filled with doses of Lortab, as little movement as possible, and lots of tears. Because the splint wasn't a full leg splint, every time we moved him (i.e. getting to the bathroom) his leg bending was pulling on the tendons on the back of his calf causing him to scream. Really scream. It was really awful for him.

By Wednesday morning we were both dreading and excited about visiting the orthopedic surgeon. Taylor and I were both anxious about how he was going to get into the office. He suggested that I leave him in the car and go inside for a wheelchair and that he'd be okay to wait there for a few minutes. Sam and I ran in and got the wheelchair and it really saved us, along with the really lucky parking spot right in front of the building. He even smiled a little when the nurse gave him "Brave Bear" to hold and he had a matching splint.

Another problem for Taylor was having to get new x-rays to see if the bones had shifted at all since the originals were taken Monday. The nurse told him it wasn't going to hurt, but having been his sherpa for the past couple of days, I knew otherwise. But again, we got through it with a few screams and lots of tears. He was disappointed this time around not getting to take copies of his x-rays with him, but his doctor assured him that if he wanted to check them out for show and tell sometime that he could do that. Here's his gorgeous spiral break on his tibia. So grateful it's not into his growth plate!

This was probably the most painful part of the day. Getting that long stocking put on his leg to go under the cast. The doctor was so great here. Telling Tay stories to keep him distracted and having Taylor pick out his wrap. Ryan had arrived at this point. I was so happy to have him there. Dad is it! Having Dad there was really awesome for Taylor and another great distraction from the pain.

And of course, being SO boy, he went for the camo wrap. Matched his camo shorts. He's in a long leg cast for the next month and then he goes to a short leg for another few weeks. It looked all shiny and new on Monday...

... and here it is today. Signed and loved. I took him into school just for recess on Thursday morning so that his friends could sign it. I wish I had a picture of all of those cute kids signing his cast, but someone had to hold the leg, the pens and hold back the mob of six and seven year olds.

On Friday afternoon Taylor went to crutches training school at a physical therapist's office to learn to use his new crutches. I hadn't let him on them before being taught how to use them for very good reason - I know Taylor. And after an hour and a half with the PT, he was doing really well, but was really exhausted. Honestly, it was hard to watch him learn, but I was very grateful for the kind help.

He's been putting them to good use since. He cruised around Clay's game on the track practicing yesterday, he's been going up and down the stairs in our house with great alacrity. He's stumbled and fallen a couple of times, but seems to be doing really well. Sam's driving Taylor a little crazy because he keeps taking them to play with them himself, but what does one expect from a little brother?

I'm making it sound mostly positive. It was a hard week. I spent the week emotionally drained from watching this sweet boy struggle and cry and hurt. I'm grateful to my good friends and family who buoyed me up this week. Phone calls and notes and bread left on my doorstep saved my sagging spirits.

Taylor's supposed to head back to school tomorrow, but I'm having mixed emotions about it. He's a tough kid, much tougher than his mom.

Today ~

2009-09-08T10:02:00.005-06:00

Today Sam went to his first full morning of preschool. He's so excited to be BIG and go to school like his brothers. I'm grateful for his outgoing personality and for a child that doesn't cling to my leg when it's time for me to leave.

Today, even though Sam has moved on a become a preschooler, I still have company at home. Taylor broke his leg yesterday at the first fall ride for his mountain biking group and so he's hanging out until he can get a cast put on. We get to go see a new orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. Ours retired and we get to move on to a new one. How many people do you know that have not just a family pediatrician or family doctor, but a family orthopedic surgeon? We have got to stop breaking bones here!

Today I'm looking out the back windows and so happy to see a newly stained deck (thanks Ryan and Clay!) and a retaining wall that's finished. 2009 summer projects are complete. Let the 2010 list begin.

Today I'm admiring my accomplishment of canning peaches yesterday. I've never done it. But I do have this amazing mom who could talk me through it from a thousand miles away. They're so pretty. When I pulled out the first three jars, Tay said, "We have one jar a year for the next three years. Good job, Mom." I think he's hoping to not have to eat them.

Today is another day of football. Another. Day. Of. Football. But I'm grateful that they're busy, active, occupied and exhausted. I really just love these pictures. Clay running the ball and consequently getting tackled on the 2 yard line by a guy three times his size. Zach lined up in his first game at cornerback.

Today I should be cleaning my house. I will be cleaning my house. Just as soon as I get off the computer. Just as soon as I pick up my preschooler. Just as soon as I give my seven year old more Lortab.

My budding artist.

2009-09-01T19:15:00.002-06:00

I'm never surprised when I am trying to print something and find that I have no paper left in the printer. Between Sam and Taylor, they manage to go through reams of paper in no time. Today Sam presented me with this gorgeous picture of me. I thought it was adorable. Especially the triangle dress.

I'm not much at comparing my kids with each other. Mainly because my memory is so pathetic that I can't remember yesterday, let alone 3, 6 or 9 years ago. But it seems like a pretty spectacular picture for a three year old.

Growing up.

2009-08-12T13:17:00.007-06:00

I remember when Zach was a little guy, we'd go to the park or the swimming pool or the hockey rink and even church and I looked at the teenage boys and felt a little mystified by them. Scared of ever having a teenaged boy, worried about the moodiness that comes with growing up, not excited about the smell of them, thinking they were just so old. But here I am. With a now teenaged boy, and I'm going to be here for the next sixteen years. It's funny how scary these years seemed ten or thirteen years ago, but now that I've watched him grow into a thirteen year old, I look forward to (almost) every bit of it.

Zach's birthday was on Sunday (the worst day of the week for a birthday in my humble opinion) and it was just so overshadowed by the fact that he was leaving for his 50-miler at 6:30 the next morning. We missed really having a fun celebration and a birthday party. Instead we packed up his pack, organized him, weighed the backpack (23 pounds) and sent him to bed early. I look forward to him coming home on Saturday and getting to give my thirteen year old a big hug.

This is why!

2009-08-05T08:29:00.002-06:00

I had a conversation this summer with Taylor.

"Mom, do you know why I'm such a good mountain biker?" "No, why Tay?"

"Three reasons moms...

1. I'm really fast

2. I'm not afraid

3. I'm super cool."

Love the confidence!

Utah.

2009-07-25T22:34:00.003-06:00

{ June 12 - 19 }

Oregon.

2009-07-25T22:33:00.010-06:00

{ June 19 - 28 }

Durango.

2009-07-25T22:33:00.007-06:00

{ June 29 - July 5 }

While this was technically not part of our summer vacation, it felt that way because my brother Kelly came with his family to celebrate the Fourth. With family in town, we felt like it was a vacation... fishing, rafting, biking.

Arizona.

2009-07-25T22:32:00.003-06:00

{ July 6 - 11 }

Sharing the love

2009-07-22T13:01:00.004-06:00

There's this guy in my house and he loves to fish. He doesn't get to go as often as he'd like to, but once a year he gets out and fishes for a great cause. In a couple of weeks, the Dos Mosca tournament will raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Ryan is asking for donations if you're willing. We have great friends and family and are grateful for any support you'd like to send his way. Go here to do that. Thanks so much!

Some of summer.

2009-07-22T12:06:00.004-06:00

This is some of our summer in Durango. Yes, one of these days I'll post trip pictures, but it takes so, so, SO long to photoshop my wrinkles out of every picture. I'll just post some of these guys, because they're already wrinkle free.

~ Scouting ~

This is something new to me this year that I'm so grateful for. Scout camp. Who'd have thought? By default I'm Clay's Webelos scout leader, and while I was working with Clay on his scouting stuff (by doing things like taking him to see Wicked) it suddenly occurred to me around the beginning of June that Zach was nowhere in boy scouts. Through a lot of (I hate to say nagging here) encouraging, Zach got his tenderfoot, second class and just needs his board of review for first class rank. He earned his water sports merit badge in Oregon and then nine more at scout camp. Way to go Zach!

~ Staying cool ~

We have this beautiful river that runs through our cute town and it's so close to us that we take advantage often. Ryan comes home, throws on his swimsuit and grabs whoever wants to go along. It's usually all of the boys. They're loving Ry's fancy new tubes and the cold water.

~ Purgatory ~

Because we buy our season ski passes in the spring, it includes all of the fun summer stuff in addition to skiing and snowboarding. We finally picked up our passes and made it up to ride the alpine slide, miniature golf and bungee trampoline. I don't even try, but Clay and Taylor loved getting on the trampoline and flying high. Riding the lift with Sam is all the adrenaline rush I can stand. At least when Taylor fell off this winter, he landed in snow, but if Sam fell off now...

~ Spending time with friends ~

On Monday night, we went to the home of our supercool friends to swim and barbecue, have family home evening and obviously, catch frogs. The frog bit wasn't part of the invite, but Taylor and his new buddy Jackson were showing off some big ones. What you can't see in the picture is that in the process of posing the frogs for a picture, the frogs relieved themselves all over the floor in the family room. Luckily there were lots of leftover 4th of July napkins to clean up the mess. (Michelle, I'm laughing to myself as I write that.) We had a great time. The personal sized lake is way fun and I'm looking forward to crashing while the hosts are out of town next week. :)

There's a smidge of what we're up to. Loving summer. Someone asked me this morning if I'm ready to send the guys back to school. Not even close.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-07-14T16:38:00.003-06:00

Besides the fact that he was clearly going for the opposite of a mohawk here, there's a whole bunch of things wrong with this picture.

In case you've forgotten...

2009-07-06T09:37:00.003-06:00

This is us. Pretty hot, right?

I've been traveling and I'm just waiting on a windshield replacement (the guy's outside right now) before we head out again for a week in brutally hot Phoenix. Horrendously long pictorial updates are sure to follow soon. Two roadtrips to go and the summer travels will be over!

* Faith * Family * School * Friends * Football *

2009-06-18T14:04:00.004-06:00

Clay and Taylor spent the week at BYU football camp - and if they learned nothing else, I'm happy they learned the lesson that Bronco Mendenhall taught them. In order of importance * faith * family * school * friends * football *.

Football camp was so great. It was held in the indoor practice facility at BYU and so rain, sun, cold or warm didn't matter. Camp went on. Camp started each day with a member of the BYU coaching staff. Bronco Mendenhall was there on day one to start them out and Clay was sure bummed when he realized that Bronco wouldn't be there for every minute of the four day camp. He told them on Monday that he wanted them to memorize his motto, and that he'd be back on Thursday to make sure they had memorized it to remember what's really important. He said that he'd call up a couple of kids and if they didn't know it, all the kids would be doing push-ups.

Well, wouldn't you know it? Taylor got called up as one of those kids. Bronco said, "Do you all have faith in this teammate to get it right?" A chorus of "no's" went up. Taylor said with all of the Taylor confidence we know and love, "Faith. Family. School. Friends. Football." Cheers.

The coach then gave them all a talk on believing in your team and supporting one another instead of putting one another down. I loved it.

After talking with the boys, the coach offered to take pictures with the boys who had parents there, or autograph something if they'd like. I don't think he intended for every single boy to get in line, but every single boy did. T-shirts, shoes, footballs, water bottles were autographed. Pictures were taken. And here's mine...

I was already a fan of BYU football and now I'm a fan of Bronco Mendenhall.

Mud.

2009-06-11T10:19:00.005-06:00

Last night was the first of a series of Short Track races in Durango. Clay, Zach and Taylor all rode -- in pouring rain and consequent mud. Sam even got a number and followed the racers on his tricycle. I wasn't there for it, but did make them pose for a picture when they got home. None of them were happy about being made to wait. I especially love picture number two and laughed hysterically myself when I opened it up on the computer. They were just so cold and wet and muddy and just ready to strip off the biking clothes for a hot shower.

Chad, the man who started it all, told Zach at practice today to check out the DEVO website to see the sweet picture of him in the pouring rain. Go here to see that.

I can't tell you how excited I was about scrubbing down the seats (thank goodness for leather) and getting to vacuum before our first event of the day at 9:00 this morning. Mud and boys go together, I should just get used to it.

Seriously.

2009-06-08T17:06:00.003-06:00

In some ways it seems like football season just ended. Yet here we are again. Clay finished his last mountain bike ride of the spring season this morning at 10:00 and by 10:15 we were at the football field picking up pads, a helmet, pants and his red penny. At 10:45 we were in seeing our favorite dentist to have a new mouthguard made. At 12:15 we were getting used to the idea of putting on pads and lacing up pants. At 12:30 we went back to the fabulous dentist for the finished product. At 12:40 we were back home finding the missing ear pad from the helmet. (It was found in Sam's hand.) At 1:00 an excited boy walked into his first practice of fifth grade summer football camp. At 4:00 a tired boy walked off the field.

This week is Durango football camp and next week he's going to Cubs football camp at BYU. Get used to it blog readers... You'll be seeing these images through the end of October.

Rafting New Mexico.

2009-06-07T21:05:00.004-06:00

Several months ago, a couple of little postcards arrived in the mail. The first one I looked at had Ryan's name on it and said that he had unfortunately not drawn a permit for the Rio Chama this summer. The second one had my name on it and gave me a little Congratulations. My first thought was, "What is this about?" Then the realization of what it was hit me and I thought, "Oh, crap. I have to go."

I am not a camper. I really don't love sleeping on the ground (no matter how thick my air mattress is). I don't love the challenge of getting my contacts in every morning when everything feels a bit dirty. I don't love changing my clothes in awkward circumstances (on the ground in a tent, or else out in the open where I might be seen). But my hot man (see photo below) made it really fabulous. He did all of the shopping, all of the cooking, most of the packing and humored me once in a while by letting me row the raft.

The Rio Chama is in northern New Mexico. I have been known to do plenty of mocking of the state of New Mexico. I scoff every time I see a yellow plater (NM license plates are bright yellow) driving through my Colorado town. There's something about the nearby state that always makes them inferior drivers. The bit of New Mexico I drive through when I head to Arizona is not the prettiest bit of the world. I have to say that the experience with the BLM employee when we were putting on the river did nothing to make me feel better about the state. The fee to put on the river was paid to two separate groups. The family that owned the ranch with the river access received $4 per person, and the BLM asked for $5. I paid the ranch owners fee and then went to pay the BLM. Unfortunately, no one was to be found, so we filled out the envelope, put our slip of paper saying who and how many we were inside and then I went in search of the correct change to put in with that. I was directed to a little cabin and there found the ranger who was supposed to be outside taking our money and checking in our group.

I received change from her and then gave her our envelope. But she didn't remember this and about 10 minutes later came back to us as we were loading up the rafts and asked for the money. I reminded her of the exchange and she said she'd go back to her cabin and look for it. Ten minutes after that she walked back over to us and said she'd be happy to take a check for the $55. At this point I used my loud voice to remind her of our previous conversations and that I had really given it to her already. After my angry outburst she pulled Ryan aside to call me a liar. After a heated exchange with him she said, "Don't let this ruin your trip. It's on my shoulders to find it." Ugh.

Eventually we got started and it was all but forgotten. We were in this gorgeous canyon with perfect weather and my opinion of New Mexico completely flipped. We'll see if it flips back when I drive to Arizona again in a few weeks.

Ryan's good friend Jonathan, his family and his dad joined us for this adventure. Their little girl Lucy and our monkey Sam really hit it off and had a fun time together whenever we were on land. As long as we were in the boats, we kept it to family. Here's us as seen from the Donnaway raft...

Sam spent much of the time on the boat hanging over the side saying, "Help, save me." Just delightful.

Zach took a great liking to the back of the boat. His own private deck back there. It's kind of how he likes things. He's older and cooler and often finds the rest of us to be a little annoying. He's going to be a teenager this summer. Does that explain this sudden too coolness?

There's something about a campfire and camp food that tastes so great. I'm not sure that one could set a marshmallow on fire at home and think it was very good, but Sam did it over and over out there and thought it was "tasty" every time.

I don't want anyone thinking I have any rafting skills just because I'm seen at the oars here. I was just hoping to burn off a couple of the thousands of calories of s'mores that I'd consumed the previous evening. I think Ryan referred to my being in charge of the raft as "pinballing down the river". Bouncing off side to side. I did end up with sore shoulders and a couple of blisters. Probably all I really burned off was the skin of my palms instead of the marshmallow calories on my thighs.

This is the Donnaways raft out in front of us. Just loving the scenery here.

It's all boys here. And so there's always a little scouting going on. Clay managed to pass off his entire Outdoorsman section in his Webelos book while we were out here. Clay's the only Webelos scout in our ward and so by default, I'm his (uncalled) den leader. I took advantage of having Ryan in this contained environment to do a lot scout education.

We were all exhausted after the trip. Sam fell asleep almost immediately and in the fine art of the brotherhood, one of the other boys made him into a hat rack.

In the end I was so happy that I joined my family on this rafting trip after missing out when Ryan took the older three boys last May. Next time I get a mystery postcard maybe I'll do a little cheer. Please. You know I'll still be thinking "Oh crap!"

This is Sam.

2009-06-01T17:15:00.004-06:00

This is so Sam. He clearly dressed himself today from the layered shirts down to the enormous shoes. Backpack, bike helmet and case of crayons - ready to go. He makes me laugh every day, many times each day. What a funny, exhausting, satisfying, silly age. I love Sam. I just wanted to share a glimpse of what every day is like...

Memorial Day Weekend.

2009-05-26T10:51:00.003-06:00

We had such a (mostly) fun weekend! Hope yours was great as well.

It didn't really start ideally. On *Friday* evening we went out to dinner with good friends of ours who moved away. We're just so sad to see them leave, but we understand moving on to different things is part of life. We wish them the best~

*Saturday* was the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. It's a 50 mile road race from Durango to Silverton. And of course, we live in the mountains, so it's not flat. We live at 6500 feet above sea level. Silverton is at 9300 feet and the road hits two passes over 10,500. So a lot of climbing and a lot of fast downhills.

Ryan's BFF Alan made the drive from Utah to do the ride with Ryan. He broke his leg skiing four days after signing up for the Iron Horse, but was undeterred. He rode with 9 pins in his fibula and a hiking boot on his left ankle to keep it as still as possible. They took it slow but still made it into Silverton before the slag wagon could get to them.

I love the third picture here of Al riding up towards the second pass. The stretch of road out behind him says a lot.

The highway closes for the Iron Horse beyond Purgatory (our ski resort), so in order to drive up to Silverton, we had to be past Purg at 8:00 am. The boys and I made big plans to drive the 25-ish miles past Silverton to Ouray to go to the hot springs there. Imagine how bummed we were to arrive in Ouray at 9:00 and see that the hot springs didn't open until 11. Aww... to be the mom in this scenario. Luckily it wasn't raining and Ouray is quite possibly the most beautiful little town to be found anywhere, so it wasn't a bad place to be stuck. We played at the park for an hour, then headed to a little artisan bakery and had our second breakfast. So delicious. We stopped on the way back and took pictures of waterfalls and old silver mines. Then we stood in the road in Silverton and cheered racers in to the finish line.

On *Sunday* we had breakfast with some friends that were in town for a couple of days. I love seeing people and catching up on life.

*Monday* morning, Ryan and Zach headed out for a mountain bike ride. They were out for a couple of hours and I think it was good for Ryan to loosen up the muscles after the brutal ride of Saturday. He loved seeing how much Zach's riding skills have progressed through riding with his DEVO group.

While they were out, the rest of us relaxed and enjoyed the idea of not having to be anywhere. I took a shower and then came out to see Sam cozied up in our big chair. He'd covered himself with a blanket and set himself up to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks on Clay's iPod. I'm amazed at the things kids can figure out. They always have to explain how things work to me, but the three year old being this self-sufficient is almost unnerving.

Ryan and Zach came back and we all went out for pizza for lunch and then went to the movies. Such an adventure getting six of us into a movie. We arrived 25 minutes early and were lucky to get to sit together (not on the front row).

Taylor and Zach both had DEVO rides scheduled. We dropped Zach at home to get to his ride on his own, then drove out to where Taylor's was meant to be. Apparently there had been a hail storm while we were in the theater and Tay's ride was cancelled. Ryan had brought our kite along to fly while Taylor was on his ride. We flew it for a while and Taylor rode around in the valley where the ride was to have started. Looking at the weather at that point we would never have known that a storm had blown through, but it is Colorado. It changes quickly. Kind of like life.

Lately ~

2009-05-20T13:16:00.006-06:00

The "lately" posts are the only way I can keep up. So here we go...

{ Concert #1 }

Zachary, being who he is, informed us the night before his final band concert of the year that he was having his final band concert of the year. There was a concert right before Christmas that went on for hours - we had all of our kids with us, we didn't expect the high school band to use up most of the concert time, and we were totally miserable. Going in to this concert, I went with low expectations. However, Clay and I (we weren't making the mistake of taking Sam again) were pleasantly surprised. The sixth grade band played three songs. Zach played the bass drum on the first song (the top picture - dark brown hair is all that's visible of him), the bells on the second (the second picture - yay he's grabbing his music. Quick snap a picture of him!), and the tambourine on the third (we saw the tambourine in the air on the dramatic finish, but that was all we saw).

The rest of the concert was mostly good. It was part of Zach's grade that he remain for the entire concert. But there are certain songs that shouldn't be attempted by middle school concert bands. i.e. Stairway to Heaven and Bohemian Rhapsody.

{ Spring }

Still loving the spring flowers.

{ Concert #2 }

This is what I got to do for my birthday, attend the fourth and fifth grade orchestra and choir concert. I have these little guys and they always get stuck on the back row. I snapped a picture of Clay beforehand to ensure that I'd actually get a picture. This was my favorite concert in years. Probably due to the fact that the regular music teacher is on maternity leave and they brought in this cute, fun girl to teach for the last three months of school. Wish we could keep her.

{ Field trips }

So many field trips to finish out the school year. Zach is actually sitting here with me now as he's skipping one - it was a good decision. Clay went on an overnighter to an archaeological dig site about an hour away from here - near Mesa Verde National Park. Taylor went on a walking field trip to the fish hatchery and the library. And I got to accompany Clay to the Silverton Mine Tour. The hour and a half to two hour bus ride got the best of me and I found a friend's dad to ride home with - and Clay and Peyton were really thrilled to get home before everyone else.

The mine tour was actually pretty cool. Silverton is this tiny little town about 45 miles north of here. Lots of mines there. We got to wear the hard hats and yellow coats to save us from how wet and drippy it is inside. It was cold - they tour guide said 47 degrees inside year round. Riding the train in and being dropped off was a little eerie, but it was fun to go on a field trip with one of my boys.

{ Just wondering }

The deer haven't been looking so great lately. Yes they're everywhere. I could take a picture of one or several every single day of the year. This one was standing by my house when I drove in from church on Sunday. They're just not looking very healthy and I'm wondering if they're just losing the extra fluff for summer.

{ Watching }

This weekend was the U.S. National Slalom Team Trials on our river that runs through town. Ryan was a gate judge for the races and spent much of Saturday and Sunday perched on a rock near gate ten. There he is in orange in the first picture.

Ryan wisely rode his bike down to the park where this was at. I foolishly drove and it took me longer to find a parking spot than it did to drive there. I love watching athletes who are so talented at what they do.

{ Running around }

I'm looking forward to life mellowing out a little as school gets out tomorrow. ... Who am I kidding?

Please insert title here ...

2009-05-19T23:12:00.004-06:00

I couldn't think of an adequate title. Maybe it's because I'm tired and I'd really rather be in bed right now. But there's this naughty monkey living in my house that took a nap this afternoon that ruined him for bedtime. And now here I am blogging and listening to Sam watch Phineas and Ferb.

Just for the record, I think Phineas and Ferb is hilarious. It took me a little while to get past the triangle head on Phineas, but now I just laugh. This is what Sam is watching right now and I'll end up humming for the next three days...

Tonight as I was getting ready to park it on the couch to watch my DVR'd episode of American Idol, I was thinking I needed a treat to eat - or something to bribe Ryan into sitting with me since his favorite (Allison) got booted. Mine (Adam) is still in there so I've been happy to watch until the end. We'll see if it's a happy ending tomorrow night.

These are so de-LISH. And I actually usually have all of the ingredients for this one in the house. Unfortunately for me, someone had picked away at the bag of chocolate chips until there was nothing left and I had to run to the grocery store for a bag while I was out getting Zach from scouts.

Magic Skor Bars

40-48 saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Line large cookie sheet with saltine crackers. Boil together butter and brown sugar for 4 minutes. Pour butter mixture over crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 4 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for an additional minute, then spread chocolate evenly on top. Sprinkle with finely chopped pecans. Cool a little, but not too much before taking out of the cookie sheet. (This one also came from my Favorites cookbook)

I am sick to my stomach from eating way too many of these tonight. On the other hand, they're totally healthy since I used multi-grain saltines. :) I'd like to thank Taylor for being my hand model and note that these were still warm which is why the chocolate still looks all melty.

I'm going to try and talk the monkey into going to bed now.

{ Seven }

2009-05-15T16:39:00.003-06:00

Today is my funny Taylor's birthday and after the three days of Clay, I was determined to be done in one this time.

Taylor's class went on a walking fieldtrip to the library and fish hatchery today so I couldn't get in to take treats to his class until 1:00. It was actually perfect because those kids were all so hot after that long(ish) walk and Taylor had requested ice cream bars or sandwiches instead of cupcakes (yay for me!!!). I was actually thinking ice cream was going to be a mess, but Tay's teacher was thrilled with a cold treat.

We sent out this invitation to seven friends last week and amazingly all seven kids were able to come. I guess that's what happens when a birthday party is right after school instead of on Saturday when there are team sport commitments.

With the seven friends plus Clay, Taylor and Sam, I walked ten boys - TEN - home from school today. I thought I was pretty brilliant including walking home time in my party time, but I wasn't really. They all ran and I think it was 1:35 when we walked through the door. Even my little Sam ran all the way. One cute friend who was bringing up the rear told me that I should have planned the party for a day when they hadn't had a long fieldtrip already -- his legs were tired of walking.

The first things the boys did were put on their padowan costumes. (moms, don't be thinking I'm super crafty here. Felt is fab.) Then they all crafted a light saber. I found these plumbing insulation tubes at Home Depot and they were the perfect length and size for these guys and they didn't hurt when the crafting turned to light saber fighting. The other fantastic new find is colored duct tape. Who knew? I was roaming through the dreaded Wal-Mart earlier this week and stumbled across this big display of colored tape that had me giddy. I thought they came out really cute. I was told that yellow was an inappropriate color for a light saber - I should have bought green instead.
We played Star Wars bingo to see who got to pick out masks in what order. They saw the masks and all wanted the Anakin Skywalker mask, but they picked them in the order that they scored a bingo. Surprisingly there wasn't a single argument when I told them how we were picking masks.

I had one of these posters for each of the boys, but saved one to play "stick the light saber to General Grievous".

Okay. I know this is very homemade. But thankfully the six and seven year olds thought it was "awesome". And I didn't have to spend $25 to get a Star Wars cake with figurines to lose afterward.

The boys unmasked ~

I just thought this one was darling of Taylor. Just patiently waiting to blow out his candles. I still can't get over the fact that Taylor is seven. I started with six and the boys reminded me that I was getting it wrong.

My last Jedi mind game was the boys using the force to find the magnetic forcefields (paper plates duct taped to trees) in our foresty yard. This started out as a brilliant plan. It was taking lots of time and the boys were all having a blast. That was until one of them slipped and fell and somersaulted backwards into a thorny bush. ~ dramatic sigh ~ It was a bummer. I got the tweezers and some benadryl and cleaned him up. And thankfully his mom is one of the two that I know pretty well and she understands... But of course it was during the tweezing and cleaning that the rest of the parents arrived. I just felt flustered and embarrassed.

And then I felt a little relieved that the party was over.

I love this cute Taylor. He was so excited to have a birthday party and get to invite his friends over. He's been hugging and thanking me for a week. Taylor's kindergarten teacher told me that when they were walking past our house on their way back to the school from the fieldtrip that Tay looked at the house and the Happy Birthday sign and said, "I love my mom." So I guess I got the best gift.

Never say never.

2009-05-13T14:07:00.007-06:00

One of those things I said "never" to happened today. Pause for the dramatic *sigh*. Ryan says I'm really good at that.... the dramatic sigh.

I'm married to a hunter. I don't get it. I don't pretend to. I just love the guy so I accept the hunting. The hunter is raising hunters. Two so far. Clay has had his first spring season of turkey hunting and shockingly proved himself to be far less patient than his normally impatient older brother. (Which is to say, he hasn't gotten a turkey yet.) That's okay. Sometimes I think it would be great if they all went out on day one of whatever season it is, get their tag filled and are done with it. However, there's something to be said for not getting the tag filled. Now remember everyone, this is Sue's point of view and I'm clearly not speaking for the entire Mickelson family here. When the tag isn't filled, there's no animal to worry about. While I did enjoy the elk meat, I can't say that I want to eat most wild animals. Not interested in bear or deer or antelope or ibex. Etcetera.

Back to my point. I have always said that I would never have an animal on my wall. Well guess what? Zach's bear is in my living room now. Thankfully I have a wall that's wood and it doesn't stand out quite so much. *sigh*

Here she is. Complemented by my still-hanging-in-there birthday flowers my sweet husband gave me. At least she's not looking at me.

Mother's Day.

2009-05-12T17:11:00.008-06:00

Yes it's a late post - Mother's Day has come and gone. I hope that all of you moms were appropriately celebrated and waited on by your children.

I woke up to my boys' excitement for me to open presents. I think the highlight of the morning was actually the cards. They gave me the new Hallmark cards that sing when you open them. I don't know the name of the song, but the card from the boys had that Gloria Estefan song that says, "Get on your feet.... Stand up and take some action..." So we were all dancing around our living room first thing on Sunday morning. Some of us have more rhythm than others and Ryan and I were rolling watching a certain child of ours try to dance. In the midst of opening gifts, reading poems and letters written by my boys, checking out the handmade gifts and admiring my new griddle, Taylor brought me breakfast -- a diet coke and a carton of raspberries. Heaven.

After church I asked Ryan to take a Mother's Day picture of me with my boys. I probably should have combed some hair before the picture, or maybe it's just time for Clay to get his feathers for hair cut.

I love these guys. I really feel so blessed to be a mother to each one of these boys. I have trying moments, but that's because I don't know what I'm doing, not because I have naughty kids. I'm so grateful for the blessing that they are in my life and that I have such wonderful kiddos.

Just so you know...

2009-05-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

Finishing up kindergarten (again)

2009-05-07T20:58:00.003-06:00

To wrap up Taylor's kindergarten year, his lovely teacher Mrs. Greenberg had a student led conference day. I loved getting to do this with him last year and really looked forward to it again this year. Unfortunately for me, Taylor only invited his dad this year. Fortunately, I ignored the invitation and Taylor told me he was glad I came.

He took us on a tour through his room. We got to see the math he's done, he showed us the self portrait he made for the occasion, his writing journal, the class chicks (baby chickens, not cute girls), and we even had a quiz to give him on things he's learned (what is your favorite oviparous animal?). I enjoyed the self-exploration quiz that Mrs. Greenberg had each child fill out. This is him working on it...

1. Things that I learned in kindergarten. (Taylor's answer) ~That whales have blow holes.
2. Things that I loved about kindergarten. ~Take Home Journals
3. Things that I did not love about kindergarten. ~Nothing
4. Things that I did really well this year. My best work was.... ~Writer's Workshop.
5. Things that I could do better next year. ~Homework.

(I have edited to correct spelling - he still spells very phonetically. And I love his short answers on paper because in person, Taylor is very verbose.)

Taylor just loved having Ryan here today. Dad is IT. He loves his dad so much and he was very excited to take Ryan through every bit of it today. Here they are in the reading corner. I sat down and said, "This is my favorite spot in your classroom." He said, "Not me!" Much too quiet of a spot for Taylor. He actually loves to read at home, but too many people around and too much talking to do to sit quietly in a classroom of good friends.

Taylor's self portrait just made Ryan and I both laugh. The yellow hair with a patch of dark brown on top. The triangle nose. Just so funny. I also feel like I need to explain the beard drawn on Taylor. Today was Field Day. Remember field day when you were a kid. Races, ball games, kite flying. So much fun. Taylor's included face painting and he and his friend Sam both had these beards drawn on themselves. Clay came home with two very footbally dark lines under his eyes. Taylor... full beard.

The final bit of the tour was a picture taken of each child with their parents. I might have done something with myself today had I thought about this, but then Taylor has a beard so maybe I don't look that bad in comparison.

Racing

2009-05-03T16:24:00.003-06:00

Zach's first mountain bike race was yesterday in Nathrop, Colorado. Ryan took him over on Friday and they had a great time together. The pre-ride was Friday afternoon and then he raced yesterday morning. This was his division. He just looks so little there in comparison with most of the other kids. That's Zach on the front row, red glasses

I think this was a great learning experience for Zach. He finished and told his coach and Ryan that his rear brake rubbed through the whole thing. They tried but couldn't fix it, so it's another thing on this bike to tune up. That's the fun bit of owning a new bike - getting it all put together so it works and it's still not there. Zach loved getting to race. He came home today proudly wearing a new t-shirt from the race.

Loving spring ~

2009-05-02T22:44:00.002-06:00

I'm loving spring. It's my favorite season - watching everything come back to life. With a couple of trips to greener parts of the country under our belts already this spring, I can see how those living in warmer climates might take the change of seasons for granted. But every year when the first day of spring rolls around, I do a little happy dance. I love watching those first flowers pop up out of the ground, the leaves start to bud and trees turn green. I love the colors of spring - the pinks, yellows and whites. My boys have been so excited to point out "popcorn trees" as we are driving around. I took this picture outside of Ryan's office a couple of weeks ago and just loved the vibrant colors of the yellow and blue.

Unfortunately for me this spring, allergies have kicked in and I've had some days where my eyes have itched so bad that I've just wanted to scratch my eyes out. Rubbed them raw. I'm really quite stunning to look at right now. This morning I woke up to the glorious sound of rain on my metal roof. Clay was excited about a spring rain to keep everything green. I was just happy to know the pollen was going to be rained out of the air.

Ryan took Zach to his first mountain biking race of the season a couple of hundred miles away from here - farther east in Colorado. Luckily for them, the rain didn't make it that far and Zach had a dry race. They headed back west to Montrose to visit some of our great friends from dental school and got to drive through snow getting there. That's another fun thing about spring in Colorado. We'll be getting snow until the first day of summer...

We all scream for ice cream.

2009-04-29T21:34:00.003-06:00

Tonight I had to pick Clay up from DEVO (mountain biking) at 6:00 and then Zach had scouts at 6:30. In the twenty minutes we had to kill between one and the other, I decided to be the fun mom, forego actual food and go to Baskin-Robbins for their annual 31 cent scoop night. That's right, for a mere $2.00 I bought everyone an ice cream cone (actually two for Clay after he licked his first cone so hard that it went flying right off into the parking lot). And being me, I had my camera along to get my picture of the day. When I went to snap a picture, the fire department "mascot" jumped into the picture with the boys and, of course, completely distracted the boys.

The 31 cent night is actually a benefit for fire departments and our firemen were there scooping ice cream and outside letting the kiddos sit in the truck. A very fun twenty minutes of today~

On the third day of Clay's birthday...

2009-04-20T16:56:00.003-06:00

I brought cupcakes to school for the class celebration today. Taylor's birthday is on a Friday next month. Maybe I can wrap it all up in one day. ~ crossing my fingers ~

Last Friday, I asked Clay's teacher what a good time would be for me to bring in a treat today. He told me that 11:00 would be good. This morning Sam and I arrived at the school with 28 cupcakes at 5 minutes til 11. No one there. I wait in the classroom until 11:30. No one came. I had to be somewhere else at 11:45, so I left the cupcakes and a note on Clay's desk, then took Sam and my camera and left. I pulled out of the parking lot and as I did, saw Clay in my rearview mirror waving at me. I drove back around and talked to him while he was playing four square with some other kids. He told me they'd had a fire drill just before 11:00 and that his teacher just decided to keep them all outside to talk about the ecosystem. (I was screaming a little on the inside.)

When I came back to the school at 2:50 to pick up the boys, I ran inside and got my Rubbermaid stuff from Clay's classroom. The teacher (this is a man, by the way) said, "The cupcakes were great. We missed you - we sang Happy Birthday and had a great time." (On the inside, I was thinking - I want to kick you in the shins.) I smiled and thanked him for taking the time to celebrate Clay's birthday - then dragged Sam and my Rubbermaid back to the car.

I probably shouldn't even post my inner thoughts, but there they are.

The first time I made the frog cupcakes was when Clay turned four and he took the to his preschool class in Cleveland Heights. Here we are on his tenth birthday still making the same cupcakes but with a Necco wafer twist this year. I think he's only got one more chance at these with next year being his last in elementary school.

{ Ten }

2009-04-19T21:15:00.002-06:00

It's totally cliche to say it, but how does time fly so quickly? I just can't believe that Clay is really ten. It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was born.

Clay is so quiet for most people that they don't really get him and what a teaser he really is. What a facade he puts on for the general public. Once you've earned a trusted spot in his heart, though, and he really lets loose. But that's a hard spot to get to... Outside of those of us in this house, maybe a few cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents and of course his closest friends, he is so shy and contained.

My ten top adjectives for Clay at ten ~

~ competitive! Holy cow. This should probably take up five of the words. Clay wants to be the best at everything he does. He wants to win. He loves games and sports. Clay has this group of boys in his class at school that are really a bunch of brainiacs and they're all trying to outdo each other all the time. In fact, it's been so good for Clay this year that I requested that the four of them be kept together next year. The teacher paid back the greatest compliment and said he'd not only like to keep them together, but he'd like to move on with them and still be their teacher.
(Clay with a new game to beat us all at.)

~ brainy. I guess I really already covered that with competitive. He's a smart kid and it sure makes it easy as parents to show up to those school conferences and always see his stellar report cards. Not bragging, just grateful.

~manipulative. We've called him "the manipulator" for years now. With his quiet demeanor, Clay manages to make himself look like a different person and has people so fooled. He also has a couple of noisy brothers that he has figured out how to work... It's not a good thing, it just is.

~ talented. Clay is a great singer, pianist when he tries, an amazing wrestler (though he's also a quitter there), and mathlete (which is not a word).

~ small. He gets pretty excited if he isn't the smallest kid in his grade - and with about 85 kids in his grade, that's saying something. He's little, but he makes up for it in attitude. We used to call that "little man syndrome" in college. I sure hope he grows someday!

~ sports fan. Give Clay a reason to like a team, and he's instantly a crazy fan. Yesterday we turned on the TV and he was flipping through stations and found the Indians playing the Yankees. The Indians were up 20 to 4 at that point, yet he found himself hooked. Had to watch! (Here's Clay with a new BYU football jersey from Grandma and Grandpa Mickelson. Clay's number one team.)

~ techie. Clay loves the gadgets. His iPod, the MAC, the Wii. He knows how to use it all.

~ intense. I can't tell you how many times during each day I see Clay's face looking just like this. So serious and focused.

~ loving. Of all my boys, he's the one who's quick to help out each of his brothers. He genuinely loves each one of them and helps them out. He's not necessarily patient, but he does love them. I love to see him with Sam as he does little things for him and with him every single day.

~ loveable. It's so easy to be Clay's mom. He isn't generous with saying "I love you" but he is good at showing it. He's easy to hug, will still sit on my lap (for small periods of time), and is usually pretty quick to help.

Today wasn't the funnest of birthdays. I hate to say it, but Sunday's probably a bummer of a day for a kid to have a birthday. Standing up in front of all of the other kids at church and having them sing a birthday song to him is torture. He didn't get to take a treat to school on his birthday. He didn't get to have his party on his birthday. He did have some fun presents to open, though, and he did get me to make him his favorite food - stuffed shells. I'm so grateful to enjoy Clay every day and have his influence on me. I sure love this boy!

Party on!

2009-04-17T22:56:00.002-06:00

Today was Clay's tenth birthday party. I met my really great friend Beth shortly after we moved here. We hit it off quickly because my oldest two boys are the same age as Beth's two boys. Clay and Harry have been friends since they were four. Their birthdays are just a couple of weeks apart and so Beth and I decided to just have one party for both of them. Fortunately for me, she also volunteered her house and so I had it really easy for the party. The boys each invited a handful of friends, overlapping on a couple, and we planned an after school party for today. We were actually hoping for gorgeous weather so that we could be outside, but with snow off and on over the past couple of days, it was clear we weren't going to get so lucky.

Ever since Clay was in kindergarten, I've really liked the group of boys that he's gone through school with. They're generally very kind, considerate, friendly kids. There are a lot of them, though, and the class sizes for Clay's grades have always been much larger than the rest of the grades at his school. It's funny, though, because without fail, the teachers have told us they'd rather have a this class of 25 or 26 than the grade ahead of them with 17 per class. Just really great boys.

Beth was pretty clever when she ordered the birthday cake. We had one cake decorated differently on two sides so that they each had their own (in a way). This picture makes me laugh a little. The candles on the right are being blown out by Sam, who was sitting on the end of the table. He just couldn't help himself. We actually had to re-light all of the candles after he blew them out on his own. I also love Beth's enormous Hannukah candles. So much more fire to work with than your standard birthday cake candles.

To keep twelve boys busy for two hours, we decided to have a bunko party. Most of these boys are really competitive. Several of them played football last fall, others are really in to soccer, and we actually had the party today because so many of them were involved with baseball. They all want to win. They had a blast playing and Taylor even asked me if we could do the same thing for his birthday next month. (I'm not sure that six and seven year olds can sit that long.)

Clay with two of his favorite friends - Peyton and Jake. Those two boys were rolling for the biggest loser of the day and trying to win by not winning. They were really funny here and cheering every time they got nothing.

With this many kids, Clay ended up with a ridiculous amount of stuff. Maybe it balances out last year when I refused to have any birthday parties for any of the boys. (They get expensive and exhausting!)

I love this kid. I'm so happy to be Clay's mom. He's so funny and quiet and noisy and silly and brilliant and just my favorite second child.

Favorite Chex Treat

2009-04-17T08:15:00.005-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe that I love. This is another one from my Favorites cookbook - some of you have it, and for those that do, tell me how to get my hands on another copy to give to my sister.

Last month, my sister Lisa and her family came up from Arizona for their spring break. We had a blast together and we had her kids up snowboarding (on the slush) four of the days they were here. One afternoon after coming home from Purgatory, Lisa told me that she was craving a recipe her friend Angela makes for every party they go to together and I asked her what it was. She described this Chex mix with chex, golden grahams and coconut. I told her that I make that too. We got out the cookbook, bought the stuff and made it up. So yummy. I took it to the pinewood derby and it was a hit there as well. After making it again yesterday, I practiced my pathetic food photography skills and here we are.

Favorite Chex Treat --

1 (12 ounce) box Corn Chex
1 (13 ounce) box Golden Grahams
2 cups flaked coconut

Mix cereal and coconut together in a large bowl.

1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup butter
1 (4 ounce) package slivered almonds

Mix sugar, corn syrup and butter in saucepan and boil 3 to 4 minutes. Pour over cereal mixture and coconut and toss to coat. Add slivered almonds and toss again. (If almonds are added at first, they stay on the bottom of the bowl.) Spread out on wax paper to cool.

~ This is actually called Boyer's Chex Treat for those of you with the cookbook, but I don't know the Boyer's so I changed it. ~

Now then, all of that tasty treat is needing to be worked off, so practice your downward dog. I walked into my living room yesterday and this is how I found Sam. It was so funny. Downward dog across a leather chair. Mine doesn't look this good (and I've never tried on a chair). I picked up my camera before he dropped. Because lately, if Sam catches me with a camera, he goes into full poser smile mode and I loved this just like this.

Today

2009-04-11T11:33:00.003-06:00

There's always a lot going on here... I guess that's life.

Today, Ryan and Zach get to build a new bike. Zach's new mountain bike arrived yesterday, after he'd finished with his team ride. He's pretty excited about the new bike, and I think Ryan's pretty excited for him. In fact, Ryan just came home from the library after checking out a book on Bicycle Maintenance and Repair to make sure that he gets it put together correctly (and doesn't have to pay the bike shop to do it for him). I love when boys have projects!

Today, I have to go to the grocery store. I haven't really been (except for milk) since we came home from Hawaii, and it's getting desperate. I've been doing what I always do when I do the big grocery store trip - looking at the ads, reading recipe books, putting together coupons. Yes, I'm an ad and coupon shopper. And I love it when I can look at the bottom of the receipt and see that I've saved 30% (or something like it). I just don't love going to the grocery store, and I really don't love having to put away groceries when I get home.

Today I'm realizing that Spring is going to be busy. We had March off for the most part. Ski and snowboard lessons ended the first weekend of March and we went a few days in March, but were mostly off. DEVO started this week (the Durango Devolopmental Mountain Biking team) and this is the first time I've had three kids in DEVO. Taylor and Clay both have one 2 hour ride a week and Zach has two rides. Add that to piano lessons, cub scouts, and boy scouts and my chauffer card is full.

Today Clay signed up for football. Yes, football. That's in the fall. There is a summer football camp in June and I guess they're just trying to get a head count for that so that there's enough equipment, staffing, whatever.

Today Sam is a sickie. He has a nose that's getting chapped and raw from all of the blowing and wiping. Poor kid. He's still mostly enjoyable to be around, though, so that's something.

Today I have to figure out what to do about Easter baskets. It just escaped me that Easter is already here and I have a dinner to plan and boys to think about.

Happy Easter everyone.

Hawaii

2009-04-06T20:27:00.002-06:00

I wish I could share the beach and the sunshine and the sound of the waves along with pictures-- I wish I could still be enjoying them myself.

We loved our trip to Hawaii - I think more than I anticipated we would. (Ryan will tell you there were too many rocks on the beach, but the amazing snorkeling might make up for it.) We spent 7 fabulous days on the Ka'anapali Beach in Maui and I'm missing the beach bum-ness of it.

{ saturday 3.28 }

Because we live on the same side of the country as most of our relatives now, we generally travel by car when we go anywhere. So my kids haven't been on an airplane since we moved to Colorado. We felt like the Clampett's going on vacation. We were towards the back of our plane flying out of Durango and as it started taking off, Taylor and Sam let out big "oooohs". That was the first time we heard giggles from other passengers. Then we hit turbulence immediately because we live over mountains, and the kids started laughing really loud as they got butterflies in their stomachs from the plane movement. At that point, heads started turning to look at these kids. We laughed. Then about ten hours later, when we were getting into our rental minivan, the Clampett family struck again with oohs and aahs over the shiny new minivan and the sliding doors on a car. (Just a glimpse of what our traveling day was like.)

Ryan's parents - Janice and Mike - were extremely generous, and wanted to take their kids and grandchildren to Hawaii, where Mike served an LDS mission when he was a young man. Ashley and Ken and their kids Maile, Michael and Xander came from Utah with Janice and Mike and beat us to Hawaii by a couple of hours. We were greeted at the airport by Janice and Mike, along with a lovely lady that Mike baptized many years ago and her son.

This is the view from the balcony of our hotel room. I loved having the sliding glass door open so that we could listen to the sound of the waves and the wind blowing the palm trees. I got spoiled fast.

{ sunday 3.29 }

We had a lazy morning after the long flights of the previous day. We had scheduled a whale watching tour before we went on the trip and went into Lahaina to get on our boat. This is as close as we got to a picture of everyone together during the whole vacation. Unbelievable, I know. I'm usually better about getting group pictures, but I failed miserably here.

About fifteen minutes into the boat ride, we suddenly see this mommy humpback whale breach - ten times in a row. It was crazy. We were all just so excited to get to see it and the girl on the microphone doing the tour was just giddy, so we knew we were seeing something pretty spectacular. However, we got spoiled fifteen minutes in, and with an hour an forty five minutes left, we all kind of just wished we could turn the boat around. It's like seeing the finale before the rest of the fireworks. Seeing blowholes and the occasional dive after that just wasn't the same. Unfortunately, most of our gang got a little seasick. I think I was the only one that stood outside through the entire ride.

Sam and I at the end of the boat ride - sleepy and windblown.

{ monday 3.30 }

We probably should have waited to book a 5 hour snorkeling trip until after we had done a 2 hour whale watching tour to see whose stomachs could take another boat ride. But we didn't. Ryan's mom had never planned on going, but after the first boat trip, Ashley bailed along with her kids and we left Sam at the hotel with them (which was fabulous for us).
The snorkeling trip was unbelievably cool. We all rented a neoprene shirt to keep us warm - Taylor modeling his below. We started by going to Molokini Crater. An island preserve that's south of Maui. The snorkeling is supposed to be amazing, but the wind was blowing so hard that it made it a little tricky for our beginning snorkelers. Each of the boys braved it, though, and I was so proud of them for trying. Ryan said that it was pretty amazing, but I had Taylor at my side and was just happy to see any fish and not just the side of Taylor's face.
After Molokini, the boat headed over to Turtle Town. The reef there was just stunning and we all saw turtles. After Ken pointed one out to us, Taylor and I followed one for quite a while and when it came up for air, it came up right under us and we had to pull back to keep from touching it. (I didn't want to break any Hawaiian laws by touching a turtle.) Ryan actually took these pictures. The one he and Clay got behind was huge. Such a fun experience.
On the way back in to port, we saw more humpback whales and a couple of dolphins. We all loved today.

{ tuesday 3.31 }

Ashley called at the very early hour of 6 am in order to sign us up for the hotel's lei making class. I couldn't believe it, but the boys were all actually really excited to make a lei. When I saw the eight inch needle, I was a little nervous, but Taylor was the most patient of my boys and got the most flowers on his. It was fun to sit in a circle with my boys, Grandma, Ashley, Maile and Mikey and sew flowers together. I think Ashley missed her calling in life. She should be living in Hawaii making leis.

A lot of leisure time at the kid's pool. It was a beautiful spot - something really for every kid in my family. Zach spent his time going up and down the lava tube slide. Clay swam or rode the slide with Zach. Taylor chased his cousin Mikey around the pool area and got in and out of the hot tub until he got kicked out - then snuck in again later. Sam played in the shallow area of the pool. Loved it!!

{ wednesday 4.1 }

We rented boogie boards for the kids to use at the beach. There was a reef right in front of our hotel, so we had to haul the boards (the towels, the boys, the stuff) down the beach to get to waves we could put the boards on. Ryan and Zach lasted longer than the rest of them - Zach in his funny glass bottom board.

We - all thirteen of us - went to dinner in Lahaina. Sounds crazy, I know. We ate at the aptly named Cheeseburgers in Paradise and caught this gorgeous sunset while waiting for our table.

{ thursday 4.2 }

Ryan, Ken and Mike went golfing, so the boys and I had a lazy day by the pool. It was perfect. Ryan had fun golfing with the guys, but said it was really windy and never knew what was going to happen when hit the ball.

We went to a luau on Thursday night. It was fun and entertaining. I should have stuck with the pork and the pineapple. There was a lot of food and most of it wasn't that great. The show was a great time and the boys are still talking about the fire dancer. I included a picture of Ryan's and my favorite parts of the show. You can decide who liked whom. I also loved this picture of Janice and Mike.

{ friday 4.3 }

Clay went to Haleakela, the dormant volcano on the east side of Maui, with Ryan's dad, Uncle Ken, Maile, Mikey and Xander. That left Ashley and Janice with a lovely, quiet day by the pool, and Ryan and I took the other boys down to the beach. Actually, Zach babysat in our room for about an hour while Ryan and I went out snorkeling on the reef in front of the hotel. I just loved that we had a little while to do that together and really couldn't get enough of getting to see the sea turtles swimming underneath us. We did see a couple of really big barracuda swimming within just a few feet of us. Ryan pointed them out and all I could do was run that song through my mind and try to remember if they're dangerous. We didn't get eaten, so...

Taylor really wanted me to post a picture of him body surfing. He actually did better body surfing than I did with the camera in capturing it.

By late morning/lunchtime, Zach and I both came down with a bit of a problem that laid us up for the rest of the day. We both slept and/or vomited for the rest of Friday and it was a bit of a bummer. Ryan took Sam and Taylor to a different beach where they collected shells and coral and found hermit crabs to play with.

{ saturday 4.4 }

We had one more super fantastic morning on the beach and had Ryan's dad capture a picture of us together there. I didn't linger very long. Zach and I headed up to get all of us packed, and shortly after we left the beach, Ryan said they saw three big sea turtles swimming right there in front of them.

After (finally) getting all of our stuff gathered, packed and back into our rental minivan, we had another fun afternoon shopping and dining in Lahaina, then we decided to head across the north side of the island to the airport. Across winding, and including miles of single lane, roads. The landscape was just stunning and we took breaks to check out the beautiful landscape. The boys were really digging this spot above Kahalua bay where they were literally swinging on vines through the jungle.

Flying out of the Maui airport was a little different than flying out of Durango. Took forever to get through it all and just get to where we could relax and eat before we got on the plane.

{ sunday 4.5 }

After a night of not really sleeping on the airplane and just wanting home to curl up under a blanket and take a long nap, we arrived home to a very cold house. The pilot light had gone out in the heater while we were gone and our house was in the mid-forties. So cold.

Just want to close it out with a ~mahalo~ to Mike and Janice for the fabulous trip. It was truly unforgettable.

One for the road...

2009-03-28T09:13:00.003-06:00

We're packed and ready to head to Maui for the next week, heading to the airport in about 45 minutes. I was just unloading all of my pictures onto my computer to make room for all of the big fun, and had to share this one that keeps making me laugh.

Sam is bronzed and ready for the beach.

Hope you all have a fabulous week. We'll do our best to do the same.

The Big One!

2009-03-22T21:00:00.002-06:00

Ryan's birthday came and went this week without my publicly acknowledging it. Which actually was probably just fine with him. I think this one filled him with dread and was mentally really hard to take. But what's a bigger number? Big deal. He doesn't look any older than he did last week when he could say he was in his thirties.

For Ryan's thirtieth birthday, I got together with Ryan's mom and his BFF Alan and we had a fabulous surprise party for him. This was another one of those big, significant birthdays, but this time Ryan wasn't interested in a big party, but was more into ignoring it. We went to Arizona last week, and this week my sister and her family were here all week for their spring break, so to be honest, getting a birthday party planned was feeling difficult at best. Thank goodness for Ryan's amazing staff. They had a big celebration week and did something every day this week in honor of FORTY. On Wednesday, we did lunch and cake & ice cream at the office, and that same day, they had forty balloons delivered to the office along with a ribbon/badge of honor he got to wear around all day.

The pinewood derby was held on the night of Ry's birthday. Clay and Ry have been building the car since January and throughout that time Ryan said that the first place trophy would be the perfect birthday present. I couldn't bring myself to post the photo in which Ryan is standing next to the winner's dad looking crushed while the other dad is grinning (I do exaggerate a bit), but thought I could post the one with Clay and Ryan after they had both finished shedding their tears over getting second place. "There's always the district race!"

Ryan and I did sneak out to dinner alone after the derby while Lisa came back home with all of the kids. Thanks Lisa!
I just wanted Ryan to know that it was a big deal to me even though it didn't end up feeling that way. Somehow, you grow up and until the invention of Facebook, birthdays went largely ignored. I think I have the coolest, funniest, greatest husband around and wanted to say Happy Fourtieth Birthday, Ryan. I love you!

Sheer volume!

2009-03-08T21:15:00.002-06:00

With a title like that, one might think that I was going to start talking about my hair. But if you know me, then you know my hair has no volume. This has more to do with the decibel level of living life in a house with four boys.

After nearly forty years of living life with one deaf ear, Ryan recently got a hearing aid. I think he has mixed feelings about it. You know that phrase about turning a deaf ear? He could literally do that. When he was tired of listening to me talk at night, he just had to roll onto his left side and it was like the chattering stopped. He was just telling me how loud our house suddenly seems to him, and I just thought, "Um, yeah!" Well, he went back to the doctor for his recall to see how it's working, and the doctor took the hearing aid and hooked it up to his computer to check it out, and said, "You live a loud life." It's not just the drills at work either, it's life with four boys.

I have no picture to post for noise level. I'd love to just post a video with the constant shrieking, loud music, shouting, banter, arguing, laughing, cries for help, guitar hero, etc. I'd love to have you feel the vibrations in the floor with Zach's stereo booming underneath - a constant stream of Good Charlotte, Bon Jovi and possibly the Beach Boys.

It's a loud life.

Getting proof.

2009-03-07T08:02:00.004-07:00

Sometimes taking a picture is about getting proof of an event actually taking place.

Clay had an orchestra concert on Thursday night (which could be his first and last). He has complained about playing the viola for much of this year, but after the concert as we were walking home, he mentioned that he might do it again. I'll believe that when I see it. Knowing about his lack of affection for the viola, I thought we'd better get a picture of him playing while I had the chance.

This one is just proof that my boys can momentarily stand in the same frame without killing each other. It's time for spring and more time out of the house, because other than school and skiing, it seems that they've been inside a lot! We went for a walk to the library last weekend and this was taken just below the library by the river. It's one of my favorite things about where we live - right by the river trail - and being able to walk or run or bike with the sound of the river nearby.

Proof of the kookiest smile I have ever seen. Taylor lost two more teeth this week. Both times at school. I kind of think he pulls them out at school so he can get the cute little tooth holder to get it back home. The tooth fairy is really pathetic at our house, and he finally got money yesterday morning for the tooth he lost Thursday and the one on Monday. For you dentites - he lost E and N this week. He lost F in December (still haven't seen any sign of a new tooth) and he lost Q when he was 2 or 3 and fell out of a hammock and it broke. This smile cracks me up with his two permanent teeth in on the bottom and missing everything around them. (I actually keep crossing my fingers that everything will come in soon.)

Who decided?

2009-02-25T18:56:00.005-07:00

I've had this question three times already and with my fourth child I'm asking it all over again. Who decided that the two's were so terrible and that when a child turns three he's suddenly going to turn this corner? Does "the terrible two's" just sound great with the alliteration, because "the terrible threes" just doesn't have the same ring to it?
In my experience, two year olds aren't so bad. Sure they're messy, difficult to understand and precocious, but now I've got this three year old who is feisty, disobedient and a back-talker. Sam thinks he's hilarious, I think he's exhausting. He knows way too much for a three year old and as the fourth boy, will probably always know too much for his age.
Last night, I decided to give him a haircut and try to make him at least appear a little more innocent by getting rid of the unruly hair. Clay also became a victim of the clippers and I think they look fabulous now. However, it didn't change his attitude and I actually got a phone call from his "kiddie-garten" teacher this afternoon to discuss Sam's behavior today (I was really thrilled).

Here he is eating his dinner tonight. Soup after he poured his milk into it.

Isn't he charming? No, not really. A terrible three. (I still love him, though!)

Living up to his nickname!

2009-02-20T15:27:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I had another one of those afternoons that just shows my lack of good mothering skills. On Thursdays, I take Clay and his friend Harry to their piano lessons up at the college, and I usually just park the car, read a book, and try and tune out Taylor's complaints about having to sit in the car for an hour. Sometimes we go to a park, but with all of the snow, I just haven't for a while. During the hour we were sitting yesterday, Taylor mentioned a few times how bad his shoulder was hurting. But then he comes with a great reason every week why he should be taken home to hang out alone rather than wait for piano lessons to end. We got home at 4:30-ish and I started dinner and ran out the door by 5:00 for parent/teacher conferences. Taylor's conference was first and his teacher started out by asking how his shoulder was feeling and if I'd gotten her message. She left the message after school and I was gone, so I was feeling pretty silly about now for being so in the dark. He had fallen on the ice at first recess (maybe 10:00) been to the school nurse (who was formerly the school custodian. I know.) and been sent back to class. After finishing with conferences, I went home, looked at his shoulder and knew that his clavicle was broken. He broke the same one in the fall of 2006 so we've been down this road before.
As soon as I looked at his shoulder, I had him put on his shoes and grab a jacket and we went to the ER. We have a surgical hospital that has a really fast ER and I know that going there I won't have to spend more than an hour start to finish. He was taken in, put in a gown (which of course he complained about - "I look like a girl!"), and then the doctor talked to him. The doctor just shook his head and smirked when Taylor told him that he fell off the ski lift last month and didn't get hurt.
This picture shows his right collar bone bent at a crazy angle instead of straight. He's a good sport...

He went in to get his x-rays and asked the nurse who took the x-rays if he could have a copy. I love this about Taylor. Just so bold and personable and friendly and charms his way in to anything. Also before leaving the ER, we were told that Taylor needed to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon next week. The doctor asked if we knew one, or if he could recommend one. Since Sam has had three broken bones in the last two years, we have a great relationship with an orthopedic doctor and just can't wait to have another excuse to see him. (There was some sarcasm there. I love Dr. Kircher, but would rather run into him at the grocery store than have broken bones.)

So now he's pretty bummed because he doesn't get to go to his last two skiing lessons and won't be wrestling and can't go to PE for 4-6 weeks. When the doctor told him that he can't do anything physical (fearing he'll fall) for up to 6 weeks, Taylor looked up at me and mouthed, "Hawaii". (We're going for spring break). I told him that Hawaii is right at the end of that time and he let out a big sigh of relief. Funny.
I came home and called Kate (his Kindergarten teacher) to tell her that it was in fact broken and she said, "I knew it!" And then apologized for believing the school "nurse" and not calling sooner. She told me she'd come up with fun projects for him during PE time for the next month, and then asked me to call the school nurse and tell him he has a broken bone. I didn't get to call the nurse this morning, because he called me first thing to apologize for not believing Taylor. Um, yeah...
Clay came home with this fun package of letters and a gift from his classmates and teachers today and it just made Taylor's day. He sat and read letters over and over.

ER is a tough nickname to overcome. I might have to come up with something else so as not to jinx him for life.

Snow.

2009-02-12T20:45:00.002-07:00

It's a love/hate relationship. On the one hand, we live in a ski town. It's completely driven by tourism and snow = skiers. We're a skiing and snowboarding family and when a family spends as much as we do on ski passes, lessons, equipment, etc., lots of snow = fun family days and money well spent.
On the other hand, there's snow as an obstacle. Snow removal is a pain, and snow on the roads can be a big bummer. For instance... we were planning to go to Utah this weekend (four day weekend for the boys) to go visit Ryan's family and I had big plans to see a great college friend I recently reconnected with on facebook (I'm so bummed, Kari!). We were planning to go to the Draper, Utah LDS temple open house on Friday afternoon - reservations we made back in December. Unfortunately, approaching snowstorms have made us reconsider that and we are spending the long weekend at home - probably spending 3/4 of it skiing.

Yesterday I had made plans to go skiing with Taylor at Purgatory. It was a school day, but having him skip kindergarten for a one-on-one day with one of my boys didn't seem like a big deal. At about 6:45, he came into my bedroom, fully dressed for school, hands in pockets and looking at the floor, and said, "Mom, I think I should go to school. I'm so sorry." At which point I heard Zach pipe up and say, "Well, I'll go!" I took Zach. We had just gotten 28 new inches and had just the best day. With four kids, getting to spend any length of time alone with one of them is precious and we had a great time together. We laughed, shivered, marveled as I saw for the first time the actual spot where Taylor fell a couple weeks ago, and just had so much fun.

Funning around

2009-02-07T22:04:00.002-07:00

I'm all about the good time... This week was mostly good, with the exception of not being able to talk Clay into signing up for wrestling again. It's really killing me - not because I love the wrestling crowd, but that Clay is such a good wrestler but just can't stand it. I think it's the anxiety. * sigh * He proved today that he can still bring home a medal without being a wrestler. Ryan is in a rotary club and signed Clay up for a rotary fundraiser ski race this morning at Purgatory. Clay took the silver medal in the twelve and under division. It was fun to see him with the medal and so excited (or as excited as this stoic boy gets).

Zach is in this funny club at school. I just about died when he told me he was dropping out of the Knowledge Bowl team to join the Lego Sumo Wrestling club. But he's always loved legos and I'd rather have him a little nerdy than doing other stuff that I've been hearing the middle schoolers are into this week. (You'll have to call or email me if you really want details - my blog is G rated.) The first tournament (seriously, I'm laughing to myself as I write this!) was on Wednesday after school and he was pretty excited to have the fan support of his brothers and the giant camera of his mom. This is him and his partner before the tournament. They came in fourth place and he's already plotting how to reconstruct for the next time around.

And the final picture today... My Wii family. This is prior to Ryan giving himself a makeover and us growing out Taylor's hair on his Mii so that it actually resembles how long his hair currently is. It's funny how we see ourselves. Sam loves the Wii Mii's and gets so excited when we turn it on and can point each of us out. By the way, I am loving the Wii Fit. Nothing better than turning it on, stepping on and seeing your BMI. (That's body mass index, nothing to do with BM - bowel movement.) That didn't sound like a glowing endorsement, but do I love the boxing workout.

Follow Up...

2009-02-05T18:37:00.004-07:00

I'm obviously not great with the follow up, but the ski patrol was. We got this card in the mail yesterday from Taylor's new ski patrol buddy.

Taylor thought getting this card was the coolest thing ever and immediately decided to send him one in return. He sent one of the Kung Fu Panda valentines (complete with temporary tattoo) that we had just picked out and asked me to write a note to make sure that Allen used his tattoo. I wrote the note which assured Allen that this would NOT be Taylor's last encounter with the ski patrol...

The reason we have nicknamed Taylor "E.R."

2009-01-24T18:26:00.002-07:00

The boys have ski lessons every Saturday. Zach starts first thing in the morning and then Clay and Taylor have their lessons at 1:00. On Taylor's first ride up the ski lift today he somehow managed to fall off from forty feet up. His ski instructor wasn't sitting next to him, and the two kids sitting beside him tried to save him, but he fell. We haven't had any significant snow in quite a while so where he landed was packed and he still put a hole in the snow a foot and a half deep.

Ski patrol arrived and by that time Zach was on the lift overhead and shouted down that he was his brother. They told him to stop at the ski patrol station at the top of the mountain and give them his parents cell phone numbers. Clay also rode overhead, but since Tay had landed on a double black diamond run, he couldn't believe it was really Taylor down there. (Of course Clay is all logic and never imagined Taylor would have fallen.) The ski patrol guys checked out Taylor, but said it wasn't long before Taylor was on his feet throwing snowballs at them.

By the time Ryan got the call, he had made it to the back side of the mountain and it was about 40 minutes before he got to the ski patrol office. When Ryan came in, he said that it was a crazy scene with a large crowd gathered to make sure this little kid was actually okay. Zach was in there with Taylor already, along with Tay's ski instructor (who Ryan said was visibly shaken).

Ryan took Taylor into the medical clinic at the ski resort and had him checked out. They made sure nothing was broken, looked for blood in his urine to check for internal injuries and also checked for blood behind his eardrums. Everyone was amazed that he somehow escaped this fall without an injury.

Ryan and Taylor finished out the day by skiing the bunny hill while Clay finished his ski lesson and he came home looking no different than when I sent him out the door.

Slacker

2009-01-24T09:46:00.003-07:00

It's been a little while. Obviously.

So I'm just sharing a bit of what we've been up to at our house. I gave up traditional scrapbooking ages ago. Just too much to keep up with, especially when I feel the need to edit every picture in photoshop before I print them. I was pretty excited about my friend Becky's project for this year - an album with a picture and a little bit of journaling every day. Here are a few of mine from the last month. Remember, this is not meant to be stellar photography, just a glimpse of my every day.

12.30.2008

I love this smile. It's so Sam to be this happy all of the time and I just adore this face.

1.1.2009

I looked out my window and saw this beautiful sunset. We'd had four feet of snow in December and while a pain to drive in, made my street just gorgeous and loved the contrast.

1.10.2009

This is just inevitable - Sam ending up in my bed. Seems like most mornings he makes his way up and crawls into bed after Ryan gets out.

1.18.2009

Clay was really ill. He spent a week at home and we actually thought he had Pertussis until the test came back negative. He had to stay home for a week, he coughed until we all thought he was going to throw up and he just got a bit of cabin fever. He was SO excited when he finally got the all clear to go back to school. This was a Sunday and I walked in the door after church and was greeted by Clay who had made peanut butter cookies while we were gone. It was just sweet and a testament to what can happen to a kid who has had it with computer and video games - he bakes.

1.20.2009

It was a really long weekend for the middle school kids. Zach didn't have school on Tuesday. He and I wanted to go to Purgatory, but there was still this three year old to figure out what to do with... So he suggested we go see Paul Blart instead. We had a fun time going to a matinee together. We've seen a lot of movies in the past month. Must be the weather.

1.22.2009

Big surprise, Taylor sitting in time out. This is him just hamming it up while spending his six minutes in a chair.

Growing up

2009-01-04T16:41:00.002-07:00

At church today, Sam made that big transition from getting to go to nursery and playing with all of his little buddies for an hour and 45 minutes, to going to Sunbeams and having to sit quietly next to all of his buddies instead. For those of you who don't know Sam personally, he's not much of a sitter and he's not really very quiet. It was a challenge. But here was the highlight for him. Going to class and having his teacher give him his CTR ring (which stands for Choose the Right). He came home and showed all of us his new ring and now, almost 3 hours later, he still hasn't lost it. Just loved this picture --

Ski season is here!

2009-01-02T16:52:00.002-07:00

Zach, Clay and I finally made it out and hit the slopes today. I'd love to have been there sooner, but the sprained foot kept me away. Clay went up with a friend last week, and Ryan's been out a couple of times in the fresh powder, but groomers are more my speed. We had a great day and I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of our bluebird day.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T21:31:00.002-07:00

Wishing you health and happiness in 2009~

(Just in case you're wondering what they're doing, it's 2 0 0 9)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:34:00.002-07:00

We've had a really fabulous Christmas so far today. Presents are done, I've already had a nap, everyone's playing games and/or building legos and checking out their new goodies. I might be the happiest person of all at my house because of this...

Ryan replaced the camera that I parted ways with at Disneyland. I'm so ecstatic!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day.

Accessorizing

2008-12-20T16:46:00.002-07:00

Because I can make an accident out of absolutely nothing, I'm sporting a new accessory this week.

Just walking down the stairs, my heel slipped off the bottom step and I rolled it. There's nothing like laying on the floor feeling stunned and in pain, and seeing five faces looking at you from above like you're totally crazy. Funny, sort of.

My budding photographer

2008-12-16T22:39:00.007-07:00

There's a monkey at my house who likes to steal the camera and take pictures.

We've done this before, but it was just so funny tonight because I was looking for my camera. I knew I'd just scrolled through a couple of pictures earlier and then put the camera on my dresser. But when I went to grab it again a little while later, it was gone. I thought I might be crazy (I actually am), but I really knew it was there. It took me about half an hour to figure it out, but I realized that Sam must have made off with it. Sure enough, I went to his room, found him asleep in bed, camera in hand. The last two are taken in bed - looking towards a stuffed animal and at the ladder up to Taylor's bed.

Snow Day

2008-12-16T22:39:00.004-07:00

Last night we knew a big one was coming, and after about 4 inches of snow had fallen, Clay and I went out to shovel the driveway. This is what I walked out to see...

So cute.

This morning, Ryan turned off the alarm at 5:15 and fell back asleep only to have the phone ring at 5:45. I'm not an earlybird, so when the phone rings and it's still black out, I panic. Thankfully (or not) it was the school district's automated system telling us it was a snow day. This was way more exciting for the boys than it was for me. Normally not a big deal, but with winter break rapidly approaching, there's much to do. That and I had to cancel lunch with three of my good friends.

More snow coming, and the boys are hoping they end up with a three more snow days this week.

All Taylor wants for Christmas is....

2008-12-14T13:53:00.003-07:00

... his two front teeth. He lost one on the bottom years ago after he dropped out of a hammock and landed on his face. Then last night he came up at about 11:30 to show me his tooth he'd just pulled out and the new smile. Kind of jack-o-lanternish.

So I'm kidding about Taylor wanting his two front teeth for Christmas, but I'd like him to have them back.