Blog Archive

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dangerous Mobility

Our hayride to the pumpkin patch at Day Farms.

Awaiting the ride to the patch:




All aboard!




Ella found her pumpkin.

Daxton found his.


Collin and Josh found their pumpkins.





Carving our pumpkins:









It's funny the things we stress over for that off-chance that you may get hurt. Put your seat belt on, don't forget to wear your helmet, wear tennis shoes when you mow your lawn, carry the scissors the right way. Yet, here is my 8 month old child who is in constant danger every second she roams my household. It doesn't matter how often I vacuum, there is always something in her mouth: leaves, hair elastics, paper or popcorn kernels. She's starting to stand up to things as well, then will topple over and hit her head on something: tables, stairs, drawers. I think she would be safest completely covered in football pads and a helmet (can you get those in a size 12 months?) Don't get me wrong, she does enter the "baby jail" and bouncing chair every so often, but she's only good for about 10 minutes before she's eager to be free and explore my dirty carpet. I'm actually excited to have her walking soon, thinking that it may alleviate some of the problem....but I suppose that just shows how naive I am.

Joshua

"Dax, if you want to be a man you have to learn how to tie your shoes first."

We were in the car last Friday driving to Provo with my Uncle Larry and my mom to see my sister Kelli perform. Larry was visiting from Hawaii and was talking about the culture there. Because Hawaii is so expensive, many families live together in one household. The parents of the family work multiple jobs and don't buy any frills until the house is paid for. Pretty admirable, no? Then, when the oldest son gets married, he and his wife take the master bedroom and the parents sleep elsewhere......to which Joshua replies,

"Oh, kinda like in the Old Testament with the birthright?"

I'm like, 'Who is this kid?' We were all laughing, and Josh couldn't figure out why.

Josh was the headless horseman for Halloween this year. As soon as it came in the mail he was wearing it. Here he is doing computer games.

Bobbing for apples.








Daxton

"Mom, can I play my game time?"

"Not today Dax, it's Sunday."

"But the clouds are blocking the sun so it's not Sunday anymore."

Dax continues to be sweeter than candy. Now don't get me wrong, this boy has begun to throw tantrums again. They consist of him saying someone isn't being very nice and then running to his room and closing the door behind him. But a few minutes later, he is out again, smiling and ready to apologize. But back to the sweetness of this little curly dude.

The other morning we were up doing the breakfast thing and I was asking everyone what they wanted. My orders consisted of honey nut cheerios, Wheaties, and hot chocolate with toast. About to throw a pity party, I said, "Do you know what I want? I want someone to ask me what I want for breakfast and then I want to sit down and actually have the chance to eat it." (yes, gearing those comments toward my husband who was sitting down eating his breakfast and reading something on his fancy-shmancy phone.) Then here comes Dax, off his stool and over to the toaster. He puts a couple pieces in.
"Dax, what are you doing?"
"I'm making you some toast, mom."

I love this boy. Also, he now asks me each morning if I am feeling itchy, then I stoop down so he can scratch my back.
Iron Man. Bobbing for apples.



Ella


Ella drew a cute picture of me the other day. I went down to grab the laundry, and came back up to look at the picture again only to see it covered in scribbles. When I asked Ella what happened, she replied,

"You got electrocuted."


My little witch.
Playing catch with dad----in a tutu, with a jacket on, winter gloves, and flip flops.



Ella began to steal the neighbor's bike this week. I admit, it is a pretty sweet ride, complete with streamers and white tires. But it was becoming a problem, nonetheless. So, in my attempts to solve the problem, I thought I would purchase Ella her own bike. Browsing the KSL classifieds I found a perfect 12" girls bike, purple and pink for $15. It had no training wheels, but I knew we had some at home that I could attach. The problem? The training wheels were too big and Ella was stuck pedalling in place, calling it her "exercise bike." Well, I didn't want to go to the store and pay $8 to get training wheels, that kinda' defeats the purpose of getting a cheap bike in the first place. The solution? She had to learn how to ride a 2 wheeler.



This girl is a maniac. She now rides that little bike everywhere! Sidewalk, grass, around and around in circles in the driveway. It's fun to watch. I can't wait to strap some skis on this girls' feet this winter to see what she can do!

Amelie
My little witch's sidekick. Amelie with her cousin Topher.


Standing up to dad's legs.


Where did my baby go? I turn my head, expecting to see a little baby cooing and smiling at me, but all I see are enormous thighs shuffling their way all around the house. She's standing up to everything, opening and closing drawers, and even climbed up the stairs today. It's crazy how fast time is flying.

Wow, I love this little chica. She continues to smile all the time. She loves to laugh too, especially at her brothers and sister. They just get a kick out of her, and she them. Her two little teeth have poked through on the bottom too, and she is enjoying baby foods and cheerios. She still has yet to sleep through the night, but we'll get there eventually.

Cameron

Cam took the boys camping and climbing this past month in St. George. The boys had a blast, and I think Cam had an enjoyable time as well.











Cam is in the process of getting us some new bindings so we can rip it up this winter (well, he will rip it up and I will just try to make it down the mountain with no broken bones.) We will both be skiing on ZAG skis this winter (of course.) Cam is close to selling off his inventory of skis. He actually traded some skis to a guy who is going to build us a new deck, so that's nice.
We're 3 wild and crazy guys....(SNL)






Cindy



I hosted my annual Halloween party again this year (much to the chagrin of my husband.) I chose to dress as Tippi Hedren, from "The Birds", though most people had no idea who I was and thought I was just some lady with black birds all over her. Seriously? Am I that old?

And despite the drizzly wetaher, we had a great time trick or treating.

Until next month!

Friday, October 01, 2010

G.I. Jane

I was driving down Main Street the other day, trailing behind a public bus. Staring back at me were enormous letters reading, "Make this Halloween Sexy," complete with a girl dressed up as a vampire with cleavage longer than my arm. Seriously? Since when did Halloween become sexy? What is sexy about ghosts and goblins? We received the 'Halloween Costume 2010" magazine in the mail the other day, and flipping through the pages I discovered costumes of the following (I kid you not):

Mystic Seductress
Sexy Scallywag
Sassy Baroness
Devils Delight
Medical Mary Jane
Officer Sheila
Cutie Salute
and my all time fave,
Babe-A-Lonian Warrior

If your into the super-hero look, they also have "Sexy Robin" and "Sassy Iron Man."

It seems that gone are the days when girls could go out as some of my favorite past time Halloween costumes:

Lumberjack
Rocker
Princess

Or some of my friend Wendy's great costumes. One year she was a warming blanket, another, tinfoil.

In my book, Halloween involves dressing up and having fun. Paint your face green and carve a jack-a-lantern or two. You know, trick or treating? Sigh. It shouldn't involve having one day a year where women who don't normally "walk the streets" appear as though they should.

We visited the local fishery in North Ogden this past month and took the kids fishing. The place was great and each kid caught 2 fish (though they could have caught hundreds, but mom and dad only have so much money in our pockets.) The place even guts them for you (so Josh didn't have to partake in that traumatic event again), and afterward we had fish for dinner. You can see all the trout in the pic below:







Joshua

"Mom, being bullied feels like eating rotten cheese."

Joshua earned his "Bobcat" this month in scouting. It's been fun to open up his book and work on things together. The scouting program is a great thing. I love that it teaches about all areas of life, from hygiene to fitness to taking pride in you country.

It's Autumn time which means Soccer season! Josh is a lucky boy because (after much pleading on my behalf) Cam agreed to coach Josh's team. After 5 games they are still undefeated, and Josh has score 2 goals (after scoring he jumped up high with both arms raised, like he was the champion of the world. It was great.)
Action shots on the field. Their team name is "Orange Flames."




Josh at Pack Meeting, "Rain-gutter-ragada!"

He decorated his sail to look like the American flag. Josh's good friend, Tate, is behind him.

I need to teach that boy to turn his peace sign around so he doesn't look like he's giving us the bird.



Daxton

"Mom, where's your CTR ring?"

"In my jewlery box."

"Well you need to go get it so you can choose the right."

and in the car the other day,

"Mom, when we get home can we play this song in there so I can show you my moves?"

and finally

"Dax, do you like your primary teacher?"

"No. I just like toys."

Guess who turned 5 this month? This year Dax wanted a "football" party. He had his first friend birtday party this year as well. We made some jerseys, played some football relay games, and frosted cup cakes. It was a good time.
All the friends eating cup cakes and having a drink. We made red and blue jerseys for the kids.

Daxton's football jersey. #5, of course.





Football cake for his party. Trying out his new skis, boots and gloves; anticipating the snowfall!



Aunt Lisa sent an Iron Man costume in the mail. Personally I think he makes a great Iron Man.


First day of Preschool.


We gave Dax some skis and he can't wait for the snow to fall so he can try them out. This year should be a fun one as now we have enough skis for Ella to join in the fun!

Daxton also started preschool this month with Mrs. Cyr. He LOVES it and makes sure he has his monthly preschool calendar hanging in the kitchen so he can review what is planned for each Tuesday and Thursday.

Ella

Ella was doing her fake cry while I was washing her hands the other day,

"Ella, why are you whining?"

She immediately stops her cry, looks at herself in the mirror and while flipping her hair says,

"Because I'm an actress."

Ella can play with just about anything. I find her on multiple occasions playing with the toothbrushes, hair elastics, candles, even the can opener. She will give them each a voice. Generally there is always a mother and a daughter and thankfully the mother always says nice things like, "Hon, how was your day?" Or, "Did you sleep good last night?" The other day the daughter elastic said to the mother elastic,
"Why are you clear up there?"
"Because I am your mudder and I love you."

Ella started dance this month with her good friend Molly (Molly is the daughter of a best friend I grew up with and we took dance together as well. How fun!) Ella is really enjoying it and is twirling around the house as we speak.


Ella hanging out with me and Amelie while the boys were riding the alpine slide. Ella and Molly, dance buddies.
Ella showing me her moves.

First day of dance.


Amelie

At seven months, this baby continues to grow at light speed. She is currently my little G.I. Jane, army crawling all over the house. I give her two more days before she full on crawls because as I type she is pushing up on her knees, rocking back and forth.

She seems to be passing little "milestones" at such a rapid rate. She rolls over one day, then is rolling all over the house the next. She started scooting, and will soon be crawling everywhere. I even caught her pushing up onto her feet the other day. I have a gut feeling that she will be my earliest walker.

Cuddling in mom's bed.
Matching jammies.

Sitting up.


She is such a smiley baby and brings sunshine and happiness wherever she goes.




Cameron


Cam climbs early morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Momentum in Sandy. He has started a new climbing regiment that has left his limbs so tired at times that it's hard to open up a carton of milk. Needless to say, his veins are popping out of his arms (oww oww!)


This month has been yet another reminder at how thankful I am to be married to this boy. We are different in just about every way possible, which is what makes us so perfect together. I feel so blessed to have a boy who loves these 4 kids as much as I do and who works hard so I can continue to stay at home and raise them. I love that he teaches our boys how to be boys--skiing, climbing, biking, rock climbing, basketball, soccer......he does it all!


We were both a little weary to have him Coach Josh's soccer team this year (he yells). But many different parents have told me what a great job he is doing, and it's evident because all the boys on his team have improved so much with the 5 games they have played. Great job hon! What about coaching basketball this winter?


Coach Eggertz.

Helping the kids fish.


Cindy


The bubble is on the pool now, so no more sunrises. I was feeling kinda guilty for taking away Cam's basketball (since he used to play Monday, Wednesday and Friday before I started swimming,) so I gave him Wednesdays back. The other day I grabbed something and was touching the arm doing the grabbing and guess what?! I have a muscle again! It's nice to start toning up again.
Dressing up for the football party.



We went to the Alpine Slides this past month to check out the fall leaves and have a fun ride. It was great, and the kids had a blast. Cam and Dax paired up (you could hear Daxton yelling weee's and whooppees about half way down the mountain.) Josh rode solo (notice the trail of 3). He didn't weigh enough to get his sled going fast enough. And Ella and I rode together, "Mom this is so much fun!" I love living in Utah and being able to drive up into the mountains and see God's beauty all around.

Halloween is soon approaching and I am in my element! Eeeeee heeee heee heee heee!